Merin was a quiet companion. Liara doubted they'd exchanged more than two dozen words on the entire trip. "You must be Agent T'soni. Get aboard," had been the extent of their conversation on the planet, and once Liara gave Merin the destination, the turian simply nodded and headed for the cockpit to set a course.

"Is there anything I can do to help you while we're in flight?" Liara asked, mostly out of politeness.

Merin regarded her for a moment, working her mandibles before she replied blandly in her gravelly voice, "sleeping quarters are that way," she pointed. "Find a rack if you're tired."

I've got some strange people on the payroll.

Liara made her way to the crew quarters. The room was small enough that if she spread her arms wide, she could touch both walls. At each end of the room, a double-bunk had been built into the bulkheads.

I've certainly slept in worse. Some of my dig sites didn't even have proper beds.

Liara crawled into the bottom bunk fully clothed. It was only a few minutes before exhaustion took her.

•._.••´¯``•.¸¸.•` ℓσѕт `•.¸¸.•´´¯`••._.•

Liara woke to the sound of an explosion, and Joker's voice on the overhead comm. "Kinetic barriers down! Multiple hull breaches! Weapons offline!"

The ship rocked again, and Liara was thrown from her bunk. She ran for the door, slamming the control pad and willing the door to open faster. Running at full tilt, her boots pounded across the deckplates. The scene was chaos: flames licked at her heels as a nearby electronic suite exploded. Bodies with familiar faces littered the gangways. Liara kept running.

"Where are you?" she yelled. She rounded a corner as another terminal exploded to her right. "Damnit!" Then suddenly he was there, standing in front of her, clad in his black N7 armor. His back was to her, but as she stepped closer, he turned to face her.

"Liara." He smiled softly.

She looked around in confusion. The Normandy was falling apart around them. The smell of burning equipment and the accompanying smoke filled the air.

"I'm dreaming." she whispered. He nodded, and opened his arms. Liara went to him and pulled him close, breathing him in. He placed a hand under her jaw, tilting her face up, and gazed into her eyes.

"Don't lose hope."

"Shepard-"

With a gasp and a ragged breath, Liara awoke to find herself back in the cramped bunk aboard Merin's freighter. She slammed her fists into the mattress, tears scalding her cheeks.

Goddess, help me.

Slowly, Liara pulled herself from the bed. Although she was certain she'd slept several hours, she felt lethargic. Walking to the refresher across the corridor, she splashed water on her face from the sink, and stared into the mirror.

Focus.

Liara opened the door to find Merin standing before her. "We're here."

Liara's blinked twice in surprise. "How long was I asleep?"

Merin looked at her, and her mandibles flicked once before settling alongside her jaw. "Awhile."

Liara followed Merin into the cockpit, seating herself in the co-pilot's chair. She looked out the massive viewport, and shivered at the sight. The debris field was all that remained of Arcturus Station, once the home of the Alliance and Hackett's Fifth Fleet. Nothing but a cold grave for some 45,000 people, now. How many sites just like this exist in nearly every system? The reapers killed so many…

The sensors chirped a warning; another vessel was approaching. A frequency opened on the ship's comm. A mechanically altered voice blared through the speakers.

"Vessel, this is the Vanguard. Identify and code in."

The words 'code in' were the first clue. This was one of her agents, requesting an identity challenge. Liara keyed up her own vocal distorter from her omnitool, and replied. "Vanguard this is the-" she turned to Merin with a shrug.

"Reluctant."

Liara almost laughed aloud as she turned back to the comm terminal. "This is the Reluctant. Sending that data now. I was held up at a poker game. Respond." Her own verification done, she awaited Feron's confirmation nervously. Liara tried to set aside the fact that her verification was a reminder of Shepard, and one of his favorite past times. She suppressed the ache in her chest, and waited.

"Reluctant, I am sending my data." Liara opened the data packet on the ship's computer. The data packet was a biometric reading: retina, fingerprint, and blood sample. Liara compared the biometric data to that stored in her omnitool. "Your identification is accepted. Proceed with docking."

The Vanguard pulled alongside, and began to extend a docking collar. Liara had only a few minutes until the collar pressurized, and she would disembark to Feron's ship. She turned to Merin.

"Thank you for a very pleasant trip."

Merin nodded. "The Broker ordered it. I obey, and get paid. You're welcome all the same."

The Reluctant computer chimed an all clear. Hard seal had been established between the two ships. Liara opened the door and smiled as she strode across the gangway.

"Liara, it's good to see you." Feron smiled as Liara crossed the bridge. Once aboard, he sealed the hatch behind her, and retracted his docking collar. Liara watched as Merin and the Reluctant turned back for the mass relay.

Feron led the way into the ship's tiny galley, the only real communal space on the Vanguard aside from the cockpit. As they sat across from one another, Liara tried to contain herself, but she was positively agitated. "What's so important that we meet in the middle of nowhere, Feron?"

The drell looked abashed. "Forgive me if I caused alarm, but I wanted to make sure you understood how important this might be. I won't lie though: it could be nothing."

Liara's face dropped. "Nothing? Feron, what-"

He held up his hands in defense. "Hear me out." Feron took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "I received a data transmission from a source on Omega two days ago. I wanted to bring it directly to you, and let you judge its importance."

Liara nodded, trying to curb her ire. "Feron, I'm probably a few hours away from being declared missing by the Alliance. Do you understand what happens to civilians who go missing with security clearance like mine? Once they figure out it wasn't a kidnapping, I'm going to be hunted down. I broke promises to friends, and have likely made some people very angry. Please tell me what's going on already."

The drell swallowed hard. "The source claims to have seen Commander Shepard on Omega. Alive."

Liara said nothing for a long time.

It's not possible. He's gone. The source is wrong. The source must be wrong. Shepard is everywhere on the vids these days. The source got confused, saw something they wanted to see… nothing more. He's dead. Shepard died on the Citadel after he activated the Crucible. It can't be him. It's impossible.

…or is it?

Liara thought hard for a moment. It seemed unlikely to her that a second clone of Shepard existed, aside from the one that had tried to steal the Normandy during the vessel's last dry dock. His resurrection was impossible without the Project Lazarus data, which was- at best- preserved on a Cerberus computer somewhere on a distant station with only a handful of people knowing its location; at worst, the data had been destroyed or lost.

The silence stretched on as Liara thought up and then ruled out possibilities. No vessels of any kind had left the Citadel after it docked with the Crucible- Liara had personally reviewed hundreds of hours' worth of gun camera footage from fighters, cruisers, frigates, and dreadnaughts that took part in Operation Shield. She knew, perhaps better than anyone, that Shepard was resourceful. She'd clung to hope in those days, watching film after grainy film, trying to find signs of life as the Crucible emitted its eerie red light.

It can't be. There was no chance for escape. No way for him to make it off the Citadel.

And yet…

Following the destruction of the reapers, with all haste, she ordered several Shadow Broker recon elements to infiltrate the crews tasked with salvaging the wreckage, looking for any sign of Shepard. His body was never recovered- a point she argued with Alliance Command ad nauseam- but the Admiralty had made a fair counter-argument: thousands of bodies would not be recovered. An overwhelming majority of both the living and dead that had been taken up to the Citadel via the Conduit would never be seen again; certainly none of them seen alive.

If I had to give odds on anyone surviving that mess, it would've been Shepard. But if that were true- if he survived…

Liara's breath caught in her chest at the thought, and she closed her eyes.

If that were true… why hasn't he come back to me?

When she looked at Feron, Liara realized she was standing, and had no idea how she'd gotten there. Looking around, and more than slightly embarrassed, she sat down. It took her several tries before she could speak.

"That's not possible," she said softly.

Feron nodded. "That's what I thought too, so I followed up on the message. The physical description matches- sorry, no video or pictures from the source-"

"What?" Liara interrupted. "Why not?"

Feron held up his hands again in defense. "Hey, I didn't say the tip was perfect. He didn't send any. Just a message, saying he'd seen something he characterized as 'odd'. He saw a guy who has an extremely striking resemblance to Commander Shepard working down in the shipping docks on Omega."

Liara's brow furrowed. "Why would Shepard be-" she stopped and shook her head violently, gripping her head in her hands.

It's not him. It can't be. Shepard is dead.

…But what if it is him?

"This is ridiculous," she whispered. And then, she was crying.

Feron looked about uncomfortably. "I'm sorry, Liara."

"It can't possibly be him, can it, Feron? He died on the Citadel… It can't be…" she sank into her seat, head in hands.

What if it is? The thought came again, unbidden, unwelcome into her mind. I can't go chasing ghosts and look-alikes. I need closure. I need this to be over. I thought this was over… Goddess, help me.

Closure.

Liara realized there was only one way to be truly sure. She sat up then, drying the tear stains from her face. She took a deep, cleansing breath and let it out slowly before turning to Feron.

"Where did our source last report seeing him, Feron?"

Feron sighed. "Liara, look… I know I work for you, but really… this is one piece of information I should've just forgotten about. Don't do this to yourself."

Every fiber in her body agreed with what Feron was saying; every fiber but one.

"Where, Feron?" she asked again quietly, not meeting his eyes.

Feron pulled up a copy of his correspondence with the source. "It was just the one sighting, on the docking ring. I don't know which dock specifically, or what ship he was working on."

Liara sighed in frustration. "The source didn't follow him? Why not?"

Feron shrugged. "Look at it from his perspective, Liara: he's there to report on strange or interesting things. No one told him, 'keep an eye out for Commander Shepard, he might be dropping by to do some heavy lifting'. The sources on Omega don't get involved much. Too much risk, not enough reward. They report in, that's it. The investigating part is generally up to me. If I want to follow up, I get a more senior agent to look into it, or, if the situation calls for it, I handle it myself."

Liara made a mental note to herself to sit down with Feron at a later date and work out a much more in-depth system for tracking their sources and information in the Terminus systems.

She stood from the table. "We need to leave. You're taking me to Omega. Now."

She gestured, and Feron stood, turning for the cockpit.

"I almost forgot this." Feron reached below the table, and came up with a small shoulder pack. After he checked the contents, he held it out to her. Liara opened the pack to find an M-4 Shiruken submachine gun. "If you're going to Omega, I thought you might want these. The bag's got some spare thermal clips as well, and a few phosphorous grenades on bottom." He sighed. "Let's get going."

She smiled and accepted the gifts. Then, she threw her arms around Feron's neck. "Thank you, Feron." She released him, and he headed into the cockpit.

Author's Note: How far will Liara go to discover the truth? This is a question I find myself asking as I write each and every chapter. I hope you're enjoying the journey as much as I'm enjoying writing it. Big Thank you to Owelpost for her eyes on this, and thanks to all of you for your reviews- it's always great to read your feedback :)

Until next time!

-Zero