Shepard slowly made her way through Illium, heart pounding in her chest as she inched closer to Liara's office. She had been stressing about seeing her again throughout the whole two-day journey. Now, standing in front of her destination, her chest felt like someone was hammering away at a drum. Taking a deep breath, she mustered her courage and ascended the steps. When she reached the top, she was greeted by an unfamiliar asari at the receptionist's desk.
"Ahh, you must be Commander Shepard. Dr. T'Soni said that she was expecting you today. Go on in," the asari said.
Nodding, Shepard turned to the doorway and paused. You can do this. You have to do this. Raising her head proudly, she opened the door and walked through. Waiting for her on the other side was Liara, sitting patiently at her desk. She saw Liara's face light up for a fleeting moment, but that was quickly replaced by an expressionless mask in the next moment. Taking a seat opposite of Liara, she gave her a warm smile. "Hey, Li," she said softly.
"Hello, Isabelle," Liara said neutrally.
Shepard couldn't help but feel hopeful that Liara was using her name again. It always sounded so beautiful coming from her mouth. "Listen, Liara. Before we begin I just wanted to apolo-"
"Don't. Not here. We will have that conversation later, where there is less chance for unwanted ears to hear it," Liara said, cutting her off. Shifting slightly, Liara continued. "I believe it is human custom to exchange gifts upon meeting, is it not?" Liara asked.
Nodding, Shepard pulled out the datapad that Miranda had given her. Handing it over to Liara, Shepard leaned back into her seat and waited while Liara looked it over.
"Shepard... i-is this what I think it is?" Liara asked, covering her mouth. Shepard could already see the gears turning in her head as she read the whole file.
"Yes, it is," Shepard replied. "Miranda filled me in on everything that happened while I was gone... and what you've been busy with since." Shepard could make out the bitterness in Liara's face at the mention of Miranda, but also strangely picked up on a bit of relief.
"How did you get this information?" Liara asked, curious.
"It wasn't me," Shepard replied. Seeing Liara slant her head to the side in confusion, she continued. "Cerberus gave me that information. Miranda was the one who decided to hand it over to me." She saw Liara begin to become agitated, but she held up a hand. "This is also Miranda's form of an apology."
Liara shook her head. "You'll forgive me if I don't believe you," she said.
Expecting this, Shepard leaned forward and stared Liara straight in the eyes. "Then I'll show you," she said boldly. She watched as Liara debated it internally, her various emotions playing with her expression. Finally, Liara let out a sigh and nodded.
"Find your center, Isabelle. Embrace eternity!"
Shepard felt Liara's presence flow into her, and she had never felt so complete in her life. To have her love joined with her again was a feeling she couldn't describe. She felt Liara waiting patiently beyond her mental barriers, pausing for Shepard to show her what she wanted to. Focusing, she pulled up the memory of her conversation with Miranda. Miranda's admission of love to her, Shepard letting her down easy, and their discussion on how she felt about Liara played through her mind. Throughout the process Liara was infuriatingly neutral, showing no hints of emotions or reactions to what she was seeing, except for a brief fleeting moment where Shepard explained her feelings to Miranda. However closed off Liara was trying to be, images managed to pass their way through to Shepard. Visuals of Miranda and Shepard naked together on a bed came to the forefront, along with the pure betrayal she felt. She felt how afraid Liara was whenever she was around her, and it broke her heart.
Moving off of that subject, Shepard switched it to Miranda giving her the datapad with the Shadow Broker information on it. She showed Liara how sincere Miranda was, and how horrible she felt about everything. Giving pause, unsure if Liara wanted to continue, she reached out. A small wave of reassurance came back to her. Then, Liara pushed forward to Shepard learning about everything that she had gone through to bring her back from the dead. Shepard felt turmoil come from Liara as more details came out. "It's okay, Li. I would have done the same thing for you," she said through the meld.
Shepard suddenly felt the meld sever, and she swooned slightly from the sudden withdrawal. Looking at Liara, she saw tears trailing winding streams down her cheeks. She leaned forward to wipe them away, but Liara turned and cleared them off herself. Sitting down, disappointed, she watched as Liara went over to a cabinet on the side of her office.
"I have my gift for you here as well. I hope you like it," Liara said as she pulled out a long case from the cabinet, placing it in front of Shepard.
Looking back up at Liara, she scooted forward in her chair and ran her hands over the sleek case. The case was elegant and beautiful. It was jet black, and its only adornment was a single blue flower petal in the center. Opening the case, her eyes widened, and she cast an astonished look at Liara. "Liara this is... amazing!" she exclaimed. Picking up the jet-black Black Widow, she admired the craftsmanship put into the weapon. She noticed that it felt almost as light as a standard assault rifle, enjoying the balance of it. She looked over the design, and immediately placed it down, feeling overwhelmed. "Liara, do those roses mean what I think they mean?" she asked.
"They did," she replied. "Whether they still do has yet to be determined," she said. Shepard could tell that she was masking her emotions, but couldn't decide what Liara was actually feeling. "Thank you for this data, Isabelle. I have much to plan for. If you would like you can meet me later to discuss more private matters."
Shepard shook her head. "I didn't give you that data for you to go off on your own, Liara. I gave it to you because I'm going to help you," she said. A fire lit inside her eyes, and she put up a defiant expression. "The Shadow Broker and I also have some unfinished business to deal with," she said in a violent tone that promised hurt.
Liara seemed pleased with her words, but she couldn't be certain.. "All right. We'll discuss everything at my apartment. Here is the address," she said, activating her omni-tool. "Why don't you come back later this afternoon? I have other work to take care of in the meantime... and I need to think things over."
Shepard nodded, wanting to give Liara her space. I can't fuck this up. I can't. "Okay, Li. I will see you later," she said. Closing the case containing her new weapon and picking it up, she gave Liara a warm smile. "Thank you for the gift, it is amazing." Liara nodded in response, and Shepard headed out of the door. Well, things are looking hopeful, she thought to herself, heading back to the Normandy.
No, no, no. This can't be happening, Shepard thought to herself. Everything was going wrong, and she had no control over it.
She had arrived at Liara's apartment only to find it shot up and Liara not there. After several frantic minutes, which had Shepard screaming at officials to get out of the apartment, she was able to locate an OSD that Liara left behind. She had been extremely relieved that Liara made it out alive, and couldn't help but admire how resourceful Liara had become. After deciphering the message, they had made their way over to the Draconis Trade Center to trace Liara's steps. That was where everything went wrong.
The moment they arrived the building erupted with fire, a massive explosion going off where Liara was supposed to be. Shepard stood, completely paralyzed from the fear of what was probably now a reality. Liara was supposed to be in that explosion. I can't think like that... it's not possible! Liara's smarter than that. She can't be dead... I need to make things right with her! She sprang into action, running to the building with no regard for her own personal safety. "Liara! I'm coming!" she screamed out, not caring if her lover could hear her or not.
Storming through the building, leaving Garrus and Miranda behind, Shepard blasted through any resistance in her way. Her movements were fluid, flowing together in an elegant form. She moved from cover to cover, taking out the mysterious operatives that were getting in her way. She finally made her way to where Liara was supposed to be, and opened the door only to find Vasir already waiting for her.
"They got your friend's contact, I'm sorry. I was a second too late," Vasir said.
"Damnit!" Shepard said, slamming her fist into the wall. "Have you seen any sign of Liara?" she asked.
Vasir shook her head. "I didn't. I'm sure we'll find your friend's body, we just have to keep looking."
"You mean this body?" a voice asked from behind Shepard. She wheeled around to find Liara walking towards them, her pistol aimed at Vasir.
"Liara!" Shepard exclaimed, her whole body feeling like it just lost thirty pounds of weight from the relief she felt. "What's going on here?" she said, confused as to why Liara was pointing Vasir.
"This is the person who tried to kill me at my apartment," Liara replied. "I doubled back, and found her rummaging through my things."
"Crafty bitch," Vasir said, using her biotics to destroy a glass window, sending the shards towards Shepard's group.
Liara threw up a barrier to block the shards. The second that the barrier was down, Shepard was on Vasir, tackling her out of the now open window. Holding on for a moment, she tangled with her until Vasir managed to land a kick and separate them. Shepard landed hard on her side as the wind was knocked out of her. She watched as Liara landed gracefully in front of her and then took off, chasing Vasir without even looking back at her. I'm alive, thanks for checking. Pushing herself up, she headed off after Liara, Garrus and Miranda not far behind.
She eventually found herself in a skycar port, and narrowly ducked out of the way of a pistol shot from Vasir. Rolling into cover, she pulled out her new rifle and thundered out a couple of shots in the direction the fire came from. Looking to Liara, she found the asari unloading her sub-machine gun into a nearby skycar, and Shepard refocused her aim. A couple more shots and they all had to reload. Before they could put new thermal clips in, Vasir leapt from cover and jumped from the port and onto an awaiting skycar.
"She can't get away!" Liara cried out.
Running to the nearest skycar, Sheprd thrust the door open and started up the engine. "She's not! Get in! Miranda, you're with us. Garrus, get back to the Normandy and let Joker know what's going on and get us some backup," Shepard ordered.
If Liara objected to Miranda coming with them, she didn't show it. She hopped into the passenger seat and impatiently tapped her foot to get the taxi going.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking," Shepard said, upset that Liara just left her without even a cursory glance.
"I knew you were going to be fine. I had to make sure Vasir didn't turn around and kill you," Liara spat back.
"Whatever," Shepard said, chasing after Vasir. The two skycars roared through Illium traffic, zig-zagging their way around oncoming vehicles and buildings. Making their way into a tunnel, they started weaving between the traffic, narrowly avoiding fatal collisions on the way. Up ahead, Vasir managed to knock a skytruck loose. It lost control, crashing to the floor and barreling towards their own skycar.
"Truck!" Liara yelled, alarmed.
"I know!" Shepard replied.
"TRUCK!" Liara yelled louder, gripping onto the console of their skycap.
"I KNOW!" Shepard fired back as she jerked the wheel, narrowly missing the truck and letting out a howl of laughter.
"Goddess. You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Liara asked.
When she caught up to Vasir, Shepard knew she needed to get her out of the air before she hurt someone innocent again. Jerking the controls towards Vasir's skycar, she rammed their taxi into hers. The resulting impact shook everyone in the car, but Shepard moved to the side to gain even more ramming room. Their back and forth skycar boxing match went on for several more moments until Vasir's engines finally waned and started to give out, sending her skycar plummeting towards a nearby building.
Setting down at the closest parking area, the crew got out of the car and began advancing to the building. Just as they reached the ramp to the main entrance, a transport blocked their way, more soldiers coming out. "Fucking damnit!" Shepard yelled out. "Dig in, this might take a while."