Thessia

Liara found her way to the small pavilion on the estate that overlooked the sea. She sat down in the chair that had been Benezia's place of peace, propping her elbow on the arm of the chair, watching the colors of the sunset through the glass full of Thessian Red. In her heart she felt the calm of the great sea…but also its emptiness. It had been decades since she had revisited the memories that had occupied her mind the last few days.

The darkest chapters in my life, Liara mused, taking a sip of the rich wine, letting the subtle, sweet burn echo down her throat, reminding her of the life she had led. However, those dark chapters were my times of greatest learning. In that meld, with Serena's help, I learned how to conquer myself…how to face the difficult moments and move through them. How not to hide from the harshness of the world. How I hope…how I pray that Sen will not learn her lessons in as roundabout and painful a manner as I.

Liara took another sip of wine and closed her eyes, listening to the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. The sweet music of the ocean reminded her of the tumultuous time when Serena taught her what true forgiveness meant. What it was able to do. Their joy had been infinite, but their true reunion short-lived. Liara had returned to the ship circling Hagalaz, and settled to the mission of becoming the Shadow Broker and changing the nature of the brokerage.

Serena had returned to the war against the Reapers via the Collectors. It was a war being fought in the shadows, the champions paid and conscripted by a terrorist organization. So much about it had been unusual, perhaps even wrong…but they had succeeded. Liara's lips trembled even now as she thought about the last vid-call before the Normany SR2 had gone through the Omega Four relay.

Liara had struggled not to cry, looking into the silver-eyes of her beloved, feeling as though they stood together even though light years separated them. They had spoken for as long as possible, and when words were exhausted they had maintained the link, content to simply see each other, drawing comfort from the truth of the other's mere existence.

Then Joker had approached the relay, plotted the jump, and Serena had been gone. Liara did not sleep for three days. She buried herself in her work, keeping her mind occupied, though she could not keep from thinking about her lover, worrying. The darker part of her had re-emerged, whispering sordid possibilities in her ear, showing her flashing images of Serena's corpse. Liara had made a valiant attempt to ignore them, and when her strength faltered, she called Zhira.

Her friend had been understanding, kind, speaking with Liara late into the night, keeping her focused on things other than the fact that Serena Shepard once more faced death and that this time, unlike the Citadel, unlike Alchera, Liara was not with her. Liara had ended the call in a better frame of mind. She had struggled with unceasing wakefulness, finding a kind and understanding friend in Feron, who had forced her to eat, to drink, and attempted to make her rest, though he met with limited success.

At the end of her sanity, at the end of her trust in love and in her lover, a call had come through on a viciously encrypted channel. Liara had answered the call, shocked beyond measure to see a battered and bruised Miranda Lawson on the other end.

"Doctor T'Soni, I don't have much time." Miranda says, her eyes shifting back and forth, a new light in them that is haunted and traumatized. "The Normandy is limping through the sky. We've made it back through the Omega Four, but we only have enough power for one jump, and only a prayer that it will stay together. We are…we…Cerberus is no longer our friend. We need a place to hide and regroup. Please, can we come to you?"

Liara does not think about the woman speaking the words, only that the words themselves ring with truth. She knows, by instinct, that this is not a trick, not a trap. The calm, composed Cerberus operative is no longer so calm and composed. She looks ragged and worn, even through the patchy connection and fuzzy visual that Liara has.

"Yes." Liara answers without hesitation. "Tell me what you need and I will have it prepared."

Miranda's shoulders sag with relief, and only now does fear strike in Liara's heart…if they are back from the Omega Four…if they have been successful…then she should be speaking to Shepard, not Miranda.

"We need a medbay." Miranda says, and Liara's heart drops into her stomach. "The ship took several bad hits; most of the equipment and supplies are destroyed and we have…we have several wounded."

Liara places her hand over her stomach, pressing in, attempting to control the acid threatening to bubble into her throat and choke her. Her lungs feel as though all the air has been squeezed from them, and she struggles to take even a shallow inhale. White spots begin to dance in her vision as what breath she is able to gather comes in short, rapid bursts that border on hyperventilation.

"S…" Liara's throat is as dry as a desert, she is desperate and unable to command speech. "…Shepard?" she at last manages to gasp the name.

Miranda's steel-blue eyes soften and fill with the mix of misery and agony that Liara knows the meaning of all too well. Whatever the second-in-command of the Normandy will say next, it is not good.

"We beat the Collectors." Miranda's light accent is much more pronounced, her words slurring with exhaustion. "Made it back to the ship and got in the air. Joker pulled us through the relay and Shepard went to the conference room and called the Illusive Man. We…we're no longer part of Cerberus, Doctor T'Soni. Not even me."

As much as the news heartens Liara, it does not answer her question. She had not doubted that Serena would disown Cerberus the moment the important work was accomplished. The fact that Miranda said that she had severed ties as well does surprise her, but she cannot dwell, not with her most important question still without resolution.

"Miranda, tell me." she orders, her heart shuddering in her chest, preparing to be run through yet again.

Miranda runs her hand through her hair in an uncharacteristic gesture of stress. "We didn't know." she murmurs and Liara nearly screams in frustration. "She told us she didn't want to be disturbed but…but the call was taking too long. I went into the conference room and found her unconscious in a pool of blood."

"Goddess." Liara's voice emerges in a whimper.

"So many of us were hurt." Miranda continues her explanation, attempting to appear stoic, though Liara can see that the woman is on the verge of losing her grasp on sanity. "The med-bay was destroyed." Miranda repeated herself. "She didn't tell us she was hurt. She was…she…"

"She made certain that everyone received medical attention before she did." Liara speaks when Miranda's voice catches and breaks. "Because that is the manner of woman she is."

"Yes." Miranda whispers her agreement. "She's critical, Liara. Chakwas and I are doing everything we can, but we're working with just our omni-tools and the most rudimentary of supplies…there's internal damage but we don't have the proper scanners or anesthetic and I can't operate blind."

"Get here." Liara orders, unwilling to hear more, needing not to listen, but to act. "Soon."

Liara shivered in the winter air and downed the rest of her wine. She stood up with one last glance at the sea before turning back towards the estate. All of a sudden, she froze in place. Her heart pounded in her chest and her thoughts were screaming. The wine glass in her hand fell and shattered on the stone walkway.

Liara had felt this sensation few times in her life. It held the most absolute foreboding, the cold grip of fear, and intimate intuition screeched for her to heed it. She had felt it when the Normandy limped to Hagalaz and landed in the docking bay. She had felt it when Shepard submerged herself beneath the ocean to speak with the Leviathan. She had felt it during the fall of Thessia, when the Goddess Athame had been dethroned and Shepard nearly lost her life falling into a pit. She had felt it when Shepard whispered farewell and charged for the stream of light connecting Earth to the Citadel.

In fact, this sensation, this knowing, had been always caused by Shepard. Liara had only been ever struck by this feeling when the fear concerned the one that she…loved. Something was terribly wrong, and though Liara did not know what, she did know who.

Liara broke into a run, opening her omni-tool and calling. No answer. Her intuition continued to scream at her, driving one foot in front of the other, ignoring the pain in her chest that usually kept her from over-exerting herself and endangering her heart. She did not bother to open the doors, instead splintering them with biotics, tearing through her home and out the front door of the estate. Her mind filled with the memories of the first time she had felt this acid fear in her chest, this knowledge that all was about to shatter. She let the memory come, and breathed a prayer, to whatever god would hear, for the one she knew was in danger.

Sen. Please be all right. Please.