Chapter Forty
Promises of a New World
London, Earth
With much of London spread out like a tableau before her, Susannah bent double, her hands resting on her knees as she gasped for breath. She glanced over her shoulder at the hill she had just summited, a paltry thing compared to the inclines she used to run up easily in Vancouver. Now her feet felt like lead weights. Her scarred skin felt as though it was burning all over again. All she wanted to do was collapse on the ground.
Despite everything, Susannah refused to feel sorry for herself. She straightened sucked in a few deep breaths, to the point where she looked only mildly bothered by her exertion. It was mid-morning, the Heath was already full of other joggers, dog walkers, and mothers pushing prams. Were it not for the cranes littering the skyline below, Susannah imagined that it looked much as it had done before the War. She turned her attention away from the view towards a uniformed man sitting on a bench.
"Ravi. Hey."
The officer glanced up immediately. His dark hair was slicked back perfectly, and he distinctively resembled an accountant as opposed to a soldier. At the sight of her, he fixed a toothy smile on his face. "Wildcard, a pleasure as always. How long has it been? Two years at least."
Susannah winced at the use of her academy call sign, a reminder of a youth when she had felt and acted as though she were invincible. It had been years since she'd seen Ravi Sharma in person. He'd chosen to fly a desk while she'd remained in a combat squadron. Nevertheless, he'd been a good friend. She shook his hand warmly before gratefully taking a seat. "Possibly three. Especially considering you couldn't make it to the wedding."
"You're never going to let me live that down are you?" Ravi laughed. "I would have thought that my wife going into labour was a good enough excuse."
"How is the family?"
"We're all doing well enough."
Ravi busied himself on his omni-tool for a few moments. He brought up a picture of his wife - whom Susannah had never particularly warmed to - and a plump, frowning toddler. Susannah nodded, adding in an appreciative murmur that she hoped sounded sincere.
"Which reminds me," Ravi continued. "I saw your wife on the news the other day, must get difficult? All the attention."
Susannah shrugged. "Not really, no. Lucy was the one with Shepard at the end, she's the one people want to meet. I'm more than happy to stay in the background while she poses for pics. I'm just another vet, better off than some."
"I read the reports. You were spaced and listed as MIA. You've got one hell of a guardian angel, Susannah. I have to say that you're looking good. Not to mention keeping in shape."
"About that…" Susannah paused, wondering if she ought to apologise before she went further. "Is the offer still open?"
Ravi raised his eyebrows. "From your last correspondence you made it clear that you didn't want to be tied to a desk. Very clear…complete with expletives."
"I did…and I'm sorry, Rav." Susannah winced. It hadn't been her finest moment. "I wasn't in a good head space at the end of the War. Other than that, I've got no excuse. Just tell me it's still open and I'll spend the next decade making it up to you by being the best damn administrator in the service."
"Forgive me for asking, Susannah, but what's changed?"
"I'm not cut out for civilian life." Susannah hated that she sounded conceited, as though she was above it all. She couldn't help it. Maybe it simply came down to the fact that was meant to be more than this. More than the sum of her crippled parts. "I need a purpose other than simply existing."
"And what makes you think that this will be enough?"
"It has to be," Susannah replied through clenched teeth.
Ravi was an old friend, but she wasn't about to admit her private fears. Especially considering she couldn't even tell her own wife. Susannah knew that Lucy would think it was her fault. Lucy would blame herself for not doing enough. Susannah needed to fix herself before something snapped.
Before she could spoil the mood altogether, Susannah forced a smile onto her face. "I make a pretty mean cup of tea."
"You make a meaner pilot," Ravi replied, unable to keep the pity out of his voice. He rose to his feet. "I can't guarantee anything, especially with your discharge, but I'll grease a few wheels. You'd be amazed how little red tape means these days. But are you sure this is what you want? The service is changing, Susannah, and – confidentially – it's not for the better."
"I know, Rav. But I'm sure all it needs is a good kick up the ass. I'm even better at kicking asses than I am at making tea."
He smiled, this time it reached his eyes. "Yeah, I know you are. Look, leave it with me and I'll do everything I can to get you back into blue." He turned to leave, then paused. "Hey, are you free for dinner later? You and Lucy should come over."
"You won't be getting any autographs. I'm playing bachelor while Luce is in Australia, but if the offer still stands, I'm in. It was going to be beans on toast tonight."
"Of course it does." Ravi laughed. "Still, Australia? Nice. You should've tagged along. You look like you could do with a bit of sun."
Susannah looked down at the abundance of freckles covering her pale skin. "You know the sun and I don't get along. Besides, she's gone purely for work, and it's someplace I'd never heard of. Blackheath? Hardly the Gold Coast."
Omega, Sahrabarik
At odd times throughout the day, often when it was most inconvenient, Myke found that her lips had curled into a smile of their own accord. She supposed the smile was simply a reflection of the way she felt on the inside, but she was sure that didn't stop her from looking like an idiot. Still, thoughts of Samantha Traynor gave her every reason to smile. The raven-haired human was undoubtedly the most wonderful individual Myke had ever met.
Feeling oddly guilty, Myke cast a quick glance towards Shepard. The ex-marine was currently sweating her way through a series of painful looking exercises on the floor. Their friendship meant a lot to Myke, but it was an entirely different kind of relationship from her fledging one with Sam.
It was far less intimate for one.
Damn! The affliction had struck again. Myke hoped that Shepard was fully occupied with her punishing exercise regime but, from the suspicious expression on her friend's face, she knew otherwise. Not wanting to embarrass herself further, she turned her attention away from Shepard, to the window. It was a view she'd already seen dozens of times and her thoughts easily strayed to pleasant memories. Simply being naked with Sam at first. The way their bodies meshed together. Then the sex, in all its variations. Myke had thought the movements of her tongue against Sam's sex clumsy and awkward, but the resulting climax had all the sounds of satisfaction. And Sam had told her as much afterward, in between lingering kisses.
Myke's smile widened and her cheeks burned with a fierce, contented heat.
"Myke?"
Her name jolted her out of her daydream. "Huh? What?"
Shepard paused mid push up. "Are you bored, Kasos? You look a little bored…or is it bothered?"
"No and nope," Myke replied shaking her head a little too vigorously. She most definitely was bothered.
"You know, you could always join me," Shepard suggested as she resumed her push ups. Despite the fact that she was only using one arm, she made it look effortless.
Myke snorted immediately and loudly. "You're shitting me, right?"
"Fine, sit there and be bothered." Shepard glanced up, grinning. "Still, it's nice of you to grace me with your presence."
"I'm always here."
"You used to spend a lot of time here," Shepard replied. "Let me guess, a certain Ops Chief is on duty, so you're settling for me?"
"I'm not settling for you!" Myke protested. She winced. "How'd you even know about me and Sam?"
"It's not exactly hot gossip on the streets of Omega if that's what you're asking. It just happens that this human you've been spending a lot of time with is also a close friend. I'd be remiss in my friendship if I didn't make sure you were both happy…and slap you whenever you get a gormless, lovesick expression on your face. Kind of like the one you've been wearing all morning."
"Is it that bad?" Myke asked with a wince.
"Sickening." Sweating slightly and breathing more heavily, Shepard finished her push-ups and shifted into a sitting position to stretch. "I don't suppose there's any point in asking you if you're happy."
"I'm happy." Myke nodded enthusiastically. "Although I'm still trying to figure out how all of this works. I've never had friends or a girlfriend. I suppose I should have said something. Is it good manners to tell your friends about your girlfriend?"
"Good manners…and it gives your friends ammunition for teasing," Shepard pointed out helpfully. "So, what's it like?"
Myke felt a rush of heat flood her cheeks. Her treacherous thoughts went straight back to the memory of Sam's naked body pressed against her own. It had been everything she'd dreamed of, and more. "Awkward at first, but Sam's a really good teacher. We-"
"Jeez, Kasos!" Shepard interrupted. "I meant being in love, not the sex. Those details are for the two of you to keep to yourselves."
"Oh," Myke grinned with embarrassment. "Um, it's nice…really, really nice. I don't know what I thought it would be like exactly, but it was nothing like this. I guess I always thought my first time would be with another asari. Humans are…different. Softer. Hair tickles. And the taste..."
"Again with the sex details!"
Myke narrowed her eyes. "You're kind of a prude aren't you?"
Shepard balked. "I am not! I'm a bloody marine."
The indignant expression on her friend's face almost drove Myke to outright laughter. She sat forward, resting her elbows on her knees, delighted at her discovery and determined to make the most of it. "So this means I can ask you questions? As much as I like Samara, she's not exactly forthcoming when it comes to the gritty details."
"Or you could just talk to Sam?" Shepard suggested with an arched eyebrow.
"Goddess no!" Myke shook her head vigorously. "Not about this sort of stuff. I was hoping you could explain something I saw in a vid once. One of the characters was wearing this fake cock. Surely you and Liara-"
"Shit, Kasos, you don't really have an 'off' switch do you?" Shepard interrupted. She rose to her feet and continued stretching, albeit with somewhat ruddier cheeks than a few moments earlier. "Trust me when I say you should talk to Sam."
Myke laughed contentedly. She settled back on the sofa, linking her hands behind her head in a relaxed pose. "Hey, it's the first time I've been able to talk about sex when I'm actually having it myself. And it's another part of your job as a friend – you know, to give me advice."
"Agreed. And it's a role I intend to take very seriously. If you want to try something, talk to Sam." Shepard retrieved a nearby bottle of water and took a swig. She paused and her brows furrowed. "About that, have the two of you thought about how this is going to work. Not the sex – you seem to have that all figured out – you being on Omega and Sam on the Normandy?"
"You had to bring that up?" Myke sighed, feeling immediately deflated. She'd been quite happy talking about sex. Why was reality always trying to ruin her life? "Yes…and no. I mean, the Alliance aren't exactly throwing their arms open to asari at the moment. There's no solution short of Sam throwing away her career and coming to live on Omega. And that's out of the question. She's not living here. I won't let her. Omega isn't the place for someone like Sam."
If Myke was being honest with herself, it was a dilemma that she had been stubbornly ignoring. However nothing could take away the fact that Sam would eventually leave Omega. She'd remained trapped, although taunted with the knowledge that there was someone in the Galaxy who was foolish enough to want to be her lover. She leaned forward and put her head in her hands.
A few moments later, the sofa depressed with an extra weight as Shepard sat down at her side. When the weight of Shepard's arm settled over her shoulders, she leaned into the hug for a moment. Myke remembered that Shepard was covered in sweat, but she didn't care. She was far more concerned about putting a stop to embarrassing sniffles that suddenly overwhelmed her.
She dashed them away quickly as she tugged out of Shepard's embrace. "Fuck! Sorry. I hate crying," she muttered. It was a lesson she had learned from a very young age. Tears achieved nothing. "I need to figure out what the hell I'm going to do, but it's impossible. Even if I come up with an answer, some moron could decide to go to war and throw everything into chaos. What if there isn't a place for Sam and I to be together?"
From her own limited experience, Myke hated war. She'd spent the Cerberus occupation in a state of fear – hiding, constantly living with nightmarish sounds in the distance. A part of her regretted that she hadn't picked up a weapon and done something to fight back, but it was the deluded part of her brain. She was a coward.
She'd expected to find excitement and danger as Shepard's friend. However all she'd managed to do was to get shot and held hostage by her own father. Hardly an impressive resume. Then there was the fact that her entire world view was limited to Omega. Everything she knew, her whole existence was built within a sheltered cocoon of her father's design. Despite growing up on one of the Galaxy's most infamous stations, Myke had no experience of the real world.
Myke snapped out of her thoughts when Shepard suddenly rose to her feet. Her friend paced to the centre of the room and stopped. "What if I made you one?"
"Huh?"
Shepard turned. Myke couldn't remember ever seeing such a determined expression on someone's face. It was both terrifying and invigorating.
"A place for you and Sam to be together." Shepard said with no trace of their earlier, light-hearted banter. "I promise I'll make you one."
In that moment Myke was reminded of the soldier she'd first seen on Omega. The individual whose eyes had literally glowed. Over the past months Myke had thought of Shepard as her friend. Well, perhaps not right from the beginning. There'd been the first meeting where she'd fawned embarrassingly, but that hardly seemed to matter now. Shepard was always just…Shepard. Her first point of call whenever she was out of food in her apartment – which was almost every day. They'd wiled away untold hours talking about absolutely anything. And she hadn't hesitated before she threw herself into a fight alongside Shepard despite possessing no skills that would give anyone cause for concern – although the Turian in question had yelped quite loudly when she'd grabbed his flange.
Yet this was the same human who had stopped the Reapers. Myke didn't buy into the whole 'Shepard' myth that she read about on the extranet, but only because she knew how much Shepard herself loathed it. If she stopped and thought about it for any length of time, she couldn't help but feel a sense of awe at the things Shepard had accomplished in her short lifetime.
If anyone were to keep such a promise, it would be Shepard.
Myke suddenly wondered how she had managed to work her way into the confidence of such an individual. She was a nobody. However Shepard wasn't looking at her as though she were an inconvenience or an embarrassment, but as a friend.
"Although you've got to promise me one thing in return," Shepard said.
"Anything." Myke couldn't keep the hero worship from her voice.
"Stop looking at me like that." Myke responded with a guilty wince as Shepard continued, "I'm just Shepard. Whatever happens, that won't change. I'm relying on you to keep me grounded, Kasos."
Myke beamed. "I think I can manage that. So…about that advice?"
Her duty shift started in a matter of minutes, but Ash couldn't bring herself to summon any vestige of enthusiasm. She waited for the elevator in a vague stupor brought on by a restless sleep. There was no solace to be found in the world of dreams, only cruel repetition. Infinite worlds in which she made the same stupid mistake. Even constantly reminding herself that she was supposed to be a professional soldier had ceased to be as effective. Ash knew that simply functioning from day to day would never be enough.
How did it get to this? Ash asked herself, anger creeping into her thoughts. My happiness depending entirely on one person? She had never expected to be that person. That kid at school who cried for a solid week after being dumped, that marine distraught over a marriage breakdown. Ash's life had always revolved around the Corps, and that was how she had expected to spend the rest of her days. Then Miranda Lawson had happened.
The elevator doors opened, and Ash was both surprised and annoyed to find Traynor staring back at her. "Going the wrong way, Chief?"
Ash's bad mood was so tangible, it drove Traynor to stare at her feet. "Actually, ma'am, I-I was looking for you."
"Must be important to make the trip up to the Nest. Spit it out, Traynor."
"Um...you've got a message," Traynor said, managing to look her in the eye again.
Ash frowned. "I must've missed the memo that said you were back on comms. Clayton is more than capable of opening his mouth to tell me I have a message."
"I'm not…and he is, of course he is. It's just that the XO asked if I might be the one to let you know. It's from Mindoir."
"Why the fuck would I care if I had a message from Mindoir?" Ash willed the elevator to move faster. She hated taking out her frustration on Traynor, but the other marine was the only outlet available. Her heart thumped almost painfully in her chest.
"Um, I don't know…I thought-"
"Clearly you didn't think. I'm on duty, Chief. I don't have time for personal messages."
"Understood, ma'am," Traynor replied sharply.
The Chief opened her mouth as though to say something else, then thought better of it as she met Ashley's gaze. Traynor blanched and her gaze darted back to the floor.
"Was there something else?"
"I just wondered, with the repairs on the Normandy almost complete, if you had an idea of when we'd be shipping out?" Traynor asked in a rushed voice.
It was a question she had constantly been asking herself. There was no reason for the Normandy to remain on Omega, but Ash could not bring herself to say goodbye to Shepard, or to face a return to the drudgery of the Alliance. She scowled despite herself. "We're all keen to get the hell off this rock, Traynor. The Normandy will leave when her Captain decides, no sooner."
At that point the elevator opened onto the CIC. Ash could sense the relief in the air as Traynor scrambled out and bid a hasty, incoherent farewell. Ash went as far as to open her mouth to apologise, but no sound emerged. She stared for a moment of useless silence, before she managed to drag her attention back to the fact that she needed to relieve her XO.
Grenier was clearly surprised to see her. "I didn't expect to see you, ma'am. Did Traynor not let you know-"
"It's 2300, LC, you're off-duty," Ash interrupted. "Haven't you got something else you'd rather be doing than pissing off your CO?"
"With all due respect," Grenier said in a low voice. "We're in dry dock, there's absolutely nothing happening that would require your attention over the next hour. And-" he checked his chrono "-yes, I am off duty, so I can tell you as a friend to go listen to your message."
"You're treading on dangerous ground, LC," Ash murmured. She began to feel a dangerous sense of hope alongside the chronic guilt over her treatment of Sam Traynor. Regardless, her professionalism was severely compromised by the whole damn situation. It was a mess she was determined to sort out – starting with whatever news the message held. "Fine, you've got the bridge for another hour?"
Grenier suppressed a small smile as he nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
Ash spent every second of her walk back to the Nest fretting over the potential contents of the message. By the time the door closed behind her, granting complete privacy, she was past the point where she couldn't simply watch it. Instead she spent an agonising thirty minutes, alternating between pacing the length of the Nest and sitting in front of her terminal. All the while her treacherous mind conjured up increasingly dire scenarios. Ash convinced herself that it was a 'Dear John' letter, even though her fraying common sense reminded her that Miranda wouldn't resort to something so cowardly.
At the point at which Ash had sunk low enough to pour a finger of scotch whilst on duty, she set her jaw and opened the vid. The picture was grainy and intermittent, but just the sight of Miranda was enough to cause a painful knot in Ash's stomach. Miranda appeared as though she'd just emerged from a shower – her dark hair was damp around her shoulders and a steaming hot drink was clutched in her hands. Miranda's cheeks were a ruddy pink, as though she'd scrubbed a little too vigorously. Even though Miranda must have known that she was already being recorded, she remained silent for some time, a pensive frown marring her perfect brow.
The wait made Ash squirm in her seat until Miranda set her cup down decisively and stared directly into her monitor. Despite her crippling fears, Ash drank everything in – the icy blue of Miranda's eyes, her full, red lips parted in anticipation of speaking.
{Relax, Ash, this isn't what you think it is.} First and foremost, Miranda sounded tired. However there was an underlying energy to her voice, almost an impatience. {Although I should feel aggrieved that you would think me capable of doing it via message…but I know you, and I know how you worry. So stop. This isn't me telling you that we're over.} Ashley starred open mouthed at the screen as Miranda paused and drew in a visible breath. {This is me admitting that I was an idiot. I'm not throwing away the best thing that has ever happened to me, not over something like this. So I forgive you…if you'll do the same for me. I'm sorry.}
"Of course I do…but you don't have anything to apologise for, sweet cheeks," Ash murmured to the screen. A huge weight had disappeared from her shoulders. She slumped forward, staring in disbelief at the screen as her lover smiled with obvious relief. Ash had missed seeing that smile. She touched the screen, wishing she could feel the warmth of Miranda's skin beneath her fingers.
{I think we both need to face the fact that we can't continue like this.} Miranda continued. {We need to change…something. I don't have any answers at the moment, but that life we were talking about? The one with two kids and a dog?} Miranda paused thoughtfully. {Okay, maybe you didn't mention a dog…that was me.}
"I didn't even know you liked dogs," Ash commented softly. It was a somewhat incongruous image - Miranda Lawson playing with a puppy. However the more Ash thought about it, the more she loved it.
{I bloody well want that life. If it means we need to come clean about our relationship, I don't care about the consequences. We've already sacrificed enough. Whatever happens, we'll come to a decision together. Just, the next time you're lonely? Promise me you'll take care of yourself instead. I can't help it that mine are the only lips I want you to kiss. I love you, Ash.}
Ash felt more than a little giddy…and turned by the mere thought of Miranda's lips on her own.
{Oh, Jack wants me to ask if you can follow up with Alliance HQ about the supply chain.} Miranda bit her lip guiltily. {I'm sorry to tack a request on the end of a personal message, but things are looking a little grim here. Any strings you could pull would be greatly appreciated. Talk soon. Lawson out.}
Although Ash felt slightly bereft at the end of the message, a sense of elation caused her to grin uncontrollably. She felt as though she had escaped from a life sentence with a mere slap on the wrists. Regardless of however they moved forward, she was determined to spend the rest of her life proving to Miranda how much she loved her. If that meant a puppy, Ash was fully prepared to face that challenge.
After the initial moments of childish abandon had passed – including swivelling around twice on her chair – Ash squared her shoulders and slipped back into the mode of Alliance Captain.
"EDI?" Ash asked the omni-present AI.
{Yes, Captain?}
"Can you ask Sam Traynor to come up to the Nest? I've got an apology to make."
As was her usual practice, Liara monitored several feeds simultaneously. Most required her full attention for less than a minute. She worked swiftly - absorbing, assessing, acting - before moving on to the next task. It was instinct, and a natural aptitude honed through experience. Liara dealt with a transfer of several million credits before casting her gaze over a series of alerts that had steadily been arriving over the last few minutes. She marked each as a priority before checking on the status of one of her secure uploads.
"That is everything," she commented, almost as an aside.
"You're not giving me much to go on."
"I know, Feron, and I apologise," Liara replied, turning her full attention to the live vid feed. The drell's face occupied much of the small screen. What little she could see of his surroundings were non-descript. He could have been anywhere. "I have no expectations about what you may be able to uncover. I am...unsure as to what it is I even want you to find."
"There will be something," Feron was unconcerned by Liara's uncertainty. "There always is. Are you prepared for what I might find?"
Liara paused. Considered her friend's question. "I do not know if I could prepare myself. Regardless of what you find, I need to know." Liara then rechecked her earlier alerts and felt the stirrings of disquiet in the pit of her stomach. Her instincts told her something was building. "Can you remain online for the next hour? I have a feeling-"
"I see it too," Feron interrupted swiftly, efficiently. He was a very good information broker. "Matano, Iera...the level of traffic is slightly unusual. I'll look into it. Give my regards to Shepard. Feron out."
Feron's image winked out, leaving Liara in the silence of her den. She bowed her head. The reports were momentarily forgotten as she dwelt on the original reason for her conversation. For all her experience she was unable to divorce her emotions from her work. Internally she reeled, a tangled web of loathing mingled inexplicably with hope. It was the latter she found difficult to reconcile.
"Li?"
Her entire body jolted visibly at the unexpected sound. She turned to find Shepard standing in the doorway, concern etched on her face.
"Am I interrupting?" Shepard continued. "The door was open..."
Liara shook her head. "Of course not. The door is always open for you."
Shepard smiled in response and ventured a few steps into the room. "You look a little pale. Has something happened?"
Extending her hand, Liara beckoned Shepard to close the distance between them. Some of her earlier fear dissipated as Shepard's fingers entwined with her own. Liara tucked her body in close as her gaze fixed pointedly on an image frozen on one of the screens. It soon became obvious that Shepard recognised the particular individual. The image was grainy as a result of having been enhanced from a distance, but the face was unmistakable. It had haunted both their nightmares. Isini Aegir.
"Aegir? I thought we put that demon to rest?" Shepard asked, her voice tinged with ice.
"Dead, yes," Liara replied softly. "To rest, no."
"Tell me what you need to do. Can I help?"
Liara turned and reached out to lay a hand on Shepard's cheek. Gently she directed her bondmate's gaze away from the screen, to fix on her instead. She bit her lip. "Shepard, I hope you will understand, this is something I need to do for myself...for us. I want to find out who my sister was."
Shepard swallowed, visibly struggling with her anger. "You know I trust your judgement, Li, but she was a monster. A monster that would have killed you without a thought, all because of a past that happened before you were born. It had nothing to do with you."
"It had...has everything to do with me, Evan. I need to make an effort to lay my family to rest...before I can start my own."
"I don't think-" Shepard began. She stopped and her eyes widened. "Your own? You mean…Liara...the last time we spoke about children, I thought it was me."
Liara shook her head. "It was never you. My fears were my own. Samara helped me find the cause, a way forward. I agree that this is not the perfect time, but somehow it feels right. I feel ready. It is part of the reason I want to go home, and the reason I need to know more about the life Isini led before our paths entwined." She paused. Her bondmate's face was sickly pale and Liara feared that she had said too much, too fast. "Evan? Speak please."
Shepard swallowed, struggling to contain her emotions. "You know I will support you in this, wherever it leads."
"And the other matter. A family?" Liara ventured. "I was cold the last time we spoke, if you have changed your mind-"
"I could never change my mind about having a child with you," Shepard said emphatically. "You really want to have a daughter with me?"
At Liara's responding nod, Shepard surged forward and claimed her lips in a fierce but tender kiss. Fear, anger - everything disappeared in the face of the contact. Liara couldn't get enough of Shepard's warmth. She sought out the depths of Shepard's mouth, her embrace, and desire quickly stirred. Shepard pressed her back. However when her legs hit the console, she was reminded of her priorities.
When she broke the kiss, Liara's breaths came hard and fast. In that moment the responsibilities of the Shadow Broker sat like a yoke around her neck, one she desperately wanted to be rid of. She needed to remain as close as possible to her bondmate, breathing in her scent, feeling the heat flooding from her skin. "I love you, Evan. More than anything, I want a family with you...despite everything. Is that selfish?"
Shepard's eyes were shining with unshed tears. "I made Myke a promise tonight, a promise that I would make a place where she could be with Sam. That's the same place I want to raise my daughters in. The only question is how soon I can make it happen."
Liara felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Give me an hour. I need to finish up here, then I want to spend the evening with you and no distractions."
A low hum of approval sounded from the back of Shepard's throat. "I don't know, I might have a better offer," she teased playfully. "I'll leave you to your work."
Stealing a last quick kiss, Shepard turned and practically skipped out of the room. Liara watched her go for the simple fact that she didn't want her bondmate to leave. Still, there was the promise of a quiet night together...or not so quiet depending on how events unfolded. Liara turned her attention back to her screens, willing the entire Galaxy to enter some state of inactivity that didn't require any attention.
Unfortunately the Galaxy did not share the same romantic sentiment. Liara frowned as she zoned in on the information she had been watching earlier. Traffic continued to increase across a number of systems. A realisation hovered just on the edge of Liara's grasp.
Shepard suddenly peered around the doorframe. "You know I was just joking about having a better offer right? I don't."
"Goddess," Liara whispered in horror. Thoughts of a pleasant evening with Shepard vanished in a single, terrible second. She closed her eyes for the barest of moments to collect her thoughts. When her eyes opened, she fixated on her feeds with a single-minded determination. "Evan, I need you to open a channel with the Normandy. I am going to need Ashley's full attention."
"Of course, what's up?" Shepard responded immediately, all trace of humour was gone from her tone.
"It may be premature, but we cannot afford to take such risks," Liara said, her fingers flying. She had an incoming communication from Feron in amongst at least a dozen other agents. At the touch of a button she diverted several. She brought the Broker hub in New Zealand online, cutting short Hannah and Mack's downtime. Her conversation with Shepard already felt as though it had taken place a long time ago. "There are several fleets massing near Alliance controlled worlds - no sources can offer any form of identification, but all signs indicate that they are hostile."
"Fuck. The Alliance's policies always meant that something like this might happen, but why now?" Shepard exhaled. "Liara…which worlds?"
Liara turned to look at her bondmate briefly. Adrenaline kept the fear at bay, for now. "Feros, Horizon, Elysium, Chasca, and...Mindoir."
