You know that awkward moment when you realize that the councilors had actual names?
Yeah, I do. I went back and fixed everything. :)
I am an idiot.
Anyway, please enjoy this chapter and review! I've also noticed that I've been having a huge problem with tenses for some words and I'm really trying to work on that. Keeping this in second person and being able to do that is harder than I thought. _
Chapter 19
Your name was Garrus Vakarian, and although you were used to the silence in the Main Battery, hearing it in the other parts of the Normandy was rather eerie.
The place was filled with almost more life than some of the more bouncy areas of the Citadel. There used to be someone or something always talking or laughing, especially after the Collector's defeat. Although the times before the victory had been less positive, there had still been activity nonetheless.
The state of the Normandy was now entirely different than that now.
You had just wished Thane the best, and he had been the last one to leave the ship that you knew of.
Even Joker and Dr. Chakwas had departed, but you sensed that their leave was temporary. The Med-Bay was still covered in papers and there was no way Joker was leaving without saying a few more goodbyes to EDI. That man was so damn attached to that robot.
You somehow wondered how they could form such a bond, and you then remembered how you had forged a relationship just like they had.
Yours was a little more real and passionate, though.
As you strode around in the Crew Deck, you began to reminisce about the things that had gone on there. You had thought that you had seen every possible activity occur on that level. From sparring to having a mini-rave, the Normandy's largest section had been a multifunctional space.
You never would have guessed that seeing it coated in a veil of stillness would be the most amazing thing you would witness.
This stifling peace was put to an end soon enough. The elevator doors parted, and you waited in the kitchen part of the quarters to see who it was.
You thought that you had a pretty good prediction.
You knew her smile in an instant and had memorized the curve of her face.
She was only a lady when she wanted to be, but she had so many other layers.
Commander, soldier, lover, fighter and occasional peacekeeper.
Her name was Liz Shepard, and she was starting to make you think that a human fetish wasn't such a farfetched thought anymore.
There was no reason to continue to have uncertainty about her feelings for you. Despite her constant mentions of commitment issues and your inter-species relationship doubts, the two of you had pushed through and made it to the end.
Was this the end?
You didn't think it was. She had asked you to come with her after the crew had departed.
Now that they were gone, you couldn't help but wonder if her offer still stood.
Did a woman like her really want a Turian like you at her side?
"As soon as we make our last step to the Citadel to drop off Joker and Karin, the ship is all ours. You want me to set a course for Palaven?"
You turned around and confirmed your prediction. Standing on the other side of the Crew Deck was the one and only Commander Shepard. She had let her hair down for once, and you noticed her suave yet sincere smile.
Her words had made an even bigger impression.
"I thought you didn't want to go to the wonderful fortified and strict planet that I call home. What changed your mind?" you asked.
She gave you a shrug in response initially. As she walked towards the counter that you were leaning against, she continued.
"I've never been there. They've got suits for the radiation, don't they?"
You paused and watched as she hopped onto the counter beside you. You knew that she wouldn't fit in there; although she could be as rigid as a Turian at times, her soft body wouldn't be able to withstand the climate. Finding food that the both of you could enjoy would be a challenge.
Did she know this?
"They're hard to come by." you admitted. "Not a lot of humans settle there. It's too…confining for people like you."
"People like me are pretty damn adaptable. You'd like it there more, won't you? If you don't, we'll go somewhere else."
Your reassuring hand was soon on her knee, and she looked away with a small bit of pink on her cheeks.
"Usually it's the man that's making sure the woman is comfortable, Shepard. It's not like I'm complaining about it, though."
She redirected her gaze, and this time it was fixed on you instead of the cold metal floor.
You weren't sure what she was trying to convey. It was almost as if her eyes were pleading with you.
"Look, I'm as new at this as you are. I just thought—"
You put a finger to her lips and suddenly pressed your forehead against hers.
She cared about you, and she would never know how much that meant to you.
"We're not new anymore." you purred, you lips only centimeters away from hers. "Now, I'm flattered that you'd put me ahead of your own feelings, but I really don't want to see you cooped up in a suit all day long because of some goddamn heat waves."
The distance between your lips was soon closed, and the way she carefully nibbled at the side of your mandibles between breaths.
"Commander? Am I interrupting something?"
And, like it never even happened, Liz slid off of the counter and out of your embrace.
It was with good reason when you saw who was standing in front of you, though.
Dr. Karin Chakwas, the Normandy's chief doctor, was standing in front of the entrance to the infirmary. She looked rather amused, but your lover's expression was quite the opposite.
"Karin—I mean, Doctor! No, we were just going over some last minute plans. Is there something you need?"
Although Dr. Chakwas was a mature woman, the smirk on her face made you laugh. She had a wicked sense of humor.
"Of course. I just came to collect the spare reports I had left. It was an honor to work with the two of you, by the way. I hope your scarring goes down…and that goes for the both of you."
While Shepard basked in her own embarrassment, you opened your mouth to wish the doctor a final goodbye. After all, she had performed life saving surgery on you.
"And in case I haven't mentioned it before, the two of you are such a good example of a cross-species relationship. I wish people like you had existed back in my heyday."
With that, she retreated into her quarters like she had never witnessed anything.
In that moment, Shepard came towards you again with a wide grin.
"A good example, huh? I never would have guessed."
She gave you a peck on the lips before leaving for the elevator.
Your name was Garrus Vakarian, and as you touched your own mouth in bliss, you realized something.
Where you lived didn't even matter anymore.
Your name was Liz Shepard, and what had happened in the last fifteen minutes of your life had been very questionable.
Fifteen minutes ago you had been confined to a cell that was much less welcoming than your penthouse. You had been driving yourself crazy. Looking back on those few minutes made you frown.
Had you really been driven to that? After a year of telling yourself that you weren't crazy, was it time to admit that you had lied to yourself?
Instead of continuing to be incarcerated for the third time in your life, you were now standing in front of a set of doors. You knew these doors very well.
Before a few particular events had occurred, the room behind them held a man more important than even Admiral Hackett. You had been the one to put him down after he went into a rogue state.
Behind these doors you had talked to dignitaries that some people were lucky enough to just look at in person during their lifetime. You had made outlandish requests and revealed secrets that had been unknown.
You had also stared at these doors with scorn and asked yourself questions that you didn't want to answer.
It was safe to say that you had done some memorable things in the room closest to your current position.
This time, though, a friend had brought you to this part of the Embassies for a particular reason: it was time to decide your destiny.
He was holding onto you by the back of your dress now. He had once respected you, and now you wouldn't be surprised if he thought that you were a lunatic.
Things were becoming more real in your mind now that you thought of it like that.
You had killed two men and you were out of the line of duty. This was no longer something that could be shrugged off.
Normal citizens would be charged with the death penalty.
You could hardly think of yourself as normal, but your opinion didn't matter. Your fate was in the hands of the Council.
Considering that these were the same people that had agreed that you were insane wasn't helping your case. In fact, looking like a messed up hooker right now also didn't assist your plans to at least get out of C-Sec jail.
After all, you were Commander Shepard, weren't you?
You thought of the last two cocky things that you had said to Commander Bailey. You thought of who was beyond the doors in front of you. You thought of Garrus, Joker, the men you killed and the ones who were still alive.
Your name was Liz Shepard, and something in that moment clicked in your mind.
You were crazy in a way that you couldn't even describe. You had been crazy like that all of your life.
There was no fixing it now, though.
There was only one thing you could do.
You had done it before your final Reaper battle and prior to facing off with the Collectors.
You stopped slouching, put on a composed face and shook off all of the signs of insanity that you thought that you could control.
You had a reputation to purify, and you weren't going down without a fight.
Your name was Admiral Steven Hackett and you watched as the Salarian councilor entered the room from a side entrance.
You thought that the Council would be more organized than this. What was once a trusted organization was now slightly frowned on by the public. They had done a legendary job while dealing with the Reapers.
Now, however, they were more difficult.
Someone being late to a meeting should not have triggered all of these thoughts in your mind. Instead of continuing to overthink, you stared at the main set of doors that led out into the Embassies. The room you were trapped in now was rather attractive. It had been modified to look like a boardroom that overlooked the beauty of the Citadel. Everyone sat around a massive glass table with comfortable chairs.
It was supposed to be a fine occasion, but the matter being discussed made it anything but.
After the fuss of getting the Dalatrass to her seat, the Asari councilor cleared her throat and spoke in a clear voice. She stood in front of everyone in almost a controlling manner.
"We can't wait on Commander Bailey, so this means that we'll have to move on and get started. I've called all of you here to discuss an issue that many of you thought was taken care of: the status of the former Commander Shepard. In case you haven't been informed, she was involved in a bar altercation last night that ended in the death of two Turian men. One was killed by strangulation and the other by a melee-combat application from an omni-tool. Both of these deaths have been caused by Shepard, who has been on house arrest for a little over a year. She has been diagnosed as a victim of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by the professionals at Huerta, and an extensive profile on her mental state is visible in these files which I have sent to your datapads."
Everyone suddenly began to check the devices in front of them, and you did the same. You had seen all of the information before, yet the rest of the Council acted as if it was new.
"As a diplomat, I suggest that the former—"
Everyone turned to look at the portentous set of doors that were placed at the front of the room.
They had been opened by the final member of the meeting, who had arrived fashionably late.
"Commander Bailey." greeted the Asari councilor. The Commander looked at her with a threatening glare, and it didn't take long for him to step aside and take his seat.
The remaining diplomat's jaws dropped.
Behind him was Commander Shepard.
"I apologize for being late."
Bailey's voice was gruff, but it wasn't like anyone was listening to him.
Your name was Admiral Steven Hackett, and this meeting just got a lot more interesting.