Liara

I did not know what I expected. Perhaps I expected to see Serena's eyes darken further with confusion. Perhaps I expected her face to become a stone. Whatever thoughts blazed through my subconscious, I could not have predicted what happened next.

"I see." Shepard…is it even worthy of wearing her name?...spoke. "Perhaps the docking attendant got it wrong. Mix-ups happen. I apologize for the inconvenience, Liara. I can tell you're busy but I have to ask if you would mind…"

"We need information." I heard a saccharine, unwanted accent, along with the sound of my door opening once again.

My vision flashed white with disgust and rage as Miranda Lawson entered my office, strode to Shepard's side in a smooth, graceful movement, and laced her arm around the commander's waist. She looked entirely too comfortable in the position and I set my face into a fixed mask. If she were attempting to get under my skin with her little physical power-play, I would have none of it.

I glanced at Shepard, attempting to read her expression, but this form of her, as the one that had existed before she died, was entirely too difficult for me to read. No matter how much my skills had developed in that particular area, this one face, this one body, this one pair of eyes eluded my full understanding.

How is it that you can still do this to me, commander? I wondered. Do you even hold that rank any longer? Is the Systems Alliance aware of your unprecedented return or…

I averted my gaze from Shepard's face, but my eyes remained riveted to the toned arm wrapped around her waist. When I looked up, into Miranda's face, into her cold, blue eyes, I could see the unmistakable mark of triumph. She had the look of a well-sated conqueror, and it sickened me.

"You are in the line of procuring information, are you not?" Miranda asked, subtly drawing closer to the powerful lines of Shepard's body. "Or was I mistaken?"

"Operative Lawson, I do apologize for my shock at your demand and subsequent inquiry." I spat, full of hate as all parts of my psyche digested the scene in front of me. "I never thought that an organization as well-connected and informed as Cerberus would ever stoop to asking anything of me." my last words were acidic and I watched Shepard with my peripheral vision.

Her entire body seemed tense, ready to strike out or flee. But her eyes were as sharp as they had ever been, and they were compiling information and arriving at a conclusion.

"I wasn't aware the two of you knew each other personally." Shepard said, but the chill in her voice was not, to my surprise, directed at me.

Instead, she focused on Miranda, who drew yet closer to her. Biotic energy crackled through my veins, almost demanding to be unleashed. I had no control over what was happening here, and it was all moving too fast. Shepard's appearance…or the appearance of something like Shepard, only to be followed by a woman I had never stopped hating since the first time I had the misfortune of crossing paths with her.

I watched, pleased and surprised as, in a smooth, but ferocious, movement, Shepard all but threw the other woman away from her. Miranda caught her balance with a surprising grace and regained her feet with a svelte, though unsubtle, snap of her hips and toss of her long, dark hair.

Her arm was around Shepard's waist, I thought, shoving the image away when the memory began to burn in the pit of my stomach. Obviously Miranda has claimed ownership. This Shepard is hers…my heart began to ache, as though a scab had been ripped off an ugly wound to reveal a cavern of infection and dead blood…dead life. Miranda built her so…this closeness between them stands to reason. Who would…who would not love the one who gave them light and life?

"Is there something you want to tell me, Lawson?" Shepard demanded, and I shivered at the power in her tone. "Something that maybe wasn't fully disclosed?"

"I have already informed…" Miranda began, but Shepard cut her off with a glare.

"Don't." Shepard warned. "If you pour anymore of your goddamn snake oil on me, I'll set it on fire and burn you to death."

Something kicked in my chest when I felt the heat in Shepard's words wash over me. It felt like pride, like…no. It was not that. Could not be that. Whatever this incarnation of Shepard may have been, her scar was gone. Her flaws and her fury were no longer mine, nor did I want them. But part of me could not help but remember the sweeter times as, at the sound of Shepard's voice, my mind fell into old habits.

What in the Goddess' name is snake oil?

Miranda frowned, ruining the perfect symmetry of her features. "I have told you everything." Shepard's lip curled up in a sneer at the umbrage in Miranda's tone. "Cerberus has been nothing but above board with you, Shepard. Including about our dealings with Doctor T'Soni."

Shepard took a deep breath and her lips evened into a thin line. I found myself staring at her face, waiting for her to say something. Waiting for her words to fill the room and give it purpose and make me understand what was happening.

Where did she come from? What has brought her to Illium? How is it that she is working with Cerberus! I was with her when they found Toombs. Cerberus was at fault for Akuze! Cerberus killed Avi Rivera! This…this cannot be Shepard. No matter how much I might want it to be, if only to reveal the damage that she did me. If only to make her life understand what it once meant…and what its loss could do.

"You're trained well, Lawson." Shepard replied, slow. "And you're talented…in some ways. But, for someone who calls themselves an operative, you are a shitty liar."

"How…" Miranda sputtered, proving Shepard's words all too true.

"Because I'm not some Cerberus fucktard who's afraid of your rank." Shepard hissed, and I did not know if either of them noticed, but Miranda took a step backward. "Those baby blues are more than just icy as hell, they're transparent as fuck. At least to me."

At that, I saw sparks in Miranda's eyes, but this time she held her ground. "You do not seem to understand your place in all of this. While we may call you commander, that rank is not yours any longer."

"I wish to god it was." Shepard spoke, almost a growl. "My old crew wouldn't have lied to me." she looked at me. "Liara wouldn't lie to me."

"Wouldn't she?" Miranda sneered. "Talk to her, Serena." she spoke Shepard's first name, driving it like a knife into my gut.

Or at least trying to. I would not be moved.

"I will, the instant you get out." Shepard pointed towards my door, but Miranda did not even have the good grace to look abashed.

"I'll leave you and the good doctor to speak, Shepard." Miranda smiled, and I knew something had gone terribly wrong, something that neither Shepard nor I could account for. "I'm certain she'll be truthful with you about all of the other women she's fucked. And I am also assured that she wouldn't lie about all the needles she's shoved into her arms. Because, as a member of your old crew, Liara T'Soni most certainly wouldn't lie to you."

With a smile for Shepard and a wink at me, Miranda exited my office and left me, and the woman who had once been my entire galaxy, alone. I met Shepard's eyes and for a moment, I could almost believe that it really was her, restored to life, returned from the grave. Because her gaze was full of pain and full of sorrow.

Do not weep for me, Shepard. I thought, preparing for the conversation ahead. You lost that right when you became the wellspring of my tears.