(I apologize in advance this is gonna get dramatic, nothing can be too easy but I promise a happy ending!)

And It All Seemed Harmless: Chapter 11

Buzzzzzzzz

"By the goddess…" Liara murmurs, digging deeper into the cocoon of blankets she had formed around herself on the couch. The mind of the semi-unconscious asari barely registers the sound of her apartment doorbell, and it isn't until it sounds again that the asari's eyes flutter open. Though part of the asari was tempted to believe the night before, and Shepard being in her apartment, was only a confusing dream, the rumpled sheet on the couch adjacent to her dismissed any doubt that it had been reality.

"Shepard?" The asari calls out timidly, worry seizing her thin body at the sight of the empty couch. Untangling herself from the blankets, Liara steps into action, taking deep breaths to control her mind from unnecessary panic in the event the soldier had just travelled to the kitchen or bathroom. The asari relaxes slightly as she notices the soldier's leather N7 jacket is still beside the couch, right where Liara had laid it last night when the soldier had started to overheat in her sleep. Shepard did not value many things, but she had an affinity for that jacket and wouldn't leave it behind, a likely sign that she had not gone far. Without a moment to agonize over what she would possibly say to a now conscious Shepard, worry propels the broker to the kitchen with quick steps.

"Really Shepard…." Liara says in exasperation as she inspects the commander-less kitchen. A part of her had been hoping to see the soldier leaning against one of the cabinets, a glass of water in her strong hands and a sheepish smirk on her flushed face like she was just a young soldier caught nursing a hangover at her lover's house. A twinge of annoyance catches her, and Liara realizes she is partially bothered Shepard is not there taking care of herself. Though the asari wanted to deny it at times, she was irrevocably in love with the often injured commander. But, she would never enjoy the soldier's negligence towards her own well-being, and few things gave her as much frustration as those moments when the spectre seemed to go out of her way to avoid prioritizing her own body. A lecture begins to build on the tip of the broker's tongue, though she dismisses it quickly with a deep sigh. As tempting as it was to give the soldier a piece of her mind for not fetching herself water and resting this morning, the events of the previous night had showed Liara the soldier was in need of serious care, not frustration. And she intended to give it to the soldier who deserved more love and understanding than she ever received.

As she turns on her heel to search for the spectre elsewhere in the apartment, her door buzzer sounds again, followed by several loud impatient knocks. "Shepard?" Liara questions, a worry piercing her heart telling her that maybe the soldier had woken up adjacent to her ex-love and fled, the position of her jacket by the couch only because the spectre had forgotten it in her hurry to get away from the woman that had broken her heart. Rushing to the VI panel beside her door, the asari taps a button to call the video feed of her front step to fill the small black screen.

To the broker's disappointment, her beloved soldier had not wound up on her front door somehow, but two currently unwelcome guests had. The first guest the asari knew only by reputation, her likeness and deeds having built a dangerous dossier in the information trade. Even with hundreds of fragments of information concerning the biotic, the truth of the woman's past remained a unclear mess as twisted as the tattoos on the her body. Subject Zero was a dangerous woman, and in Liara's opinion, a convict deserving of the time she had been sentenced to for the lives she had ended in cold blood without a second thought. Zero was a ruthless killer, that now stood on her doorstep.

Liara frowns at the sight, a bad feeling teasing at her mind. She was a very good information broker, yet her pursuit of information relating to Feron must have caused her to overlook news of Subject Zero's release from Purgatory. However, no matter the circumstances of Zero's release, Zero's accompanying partner fully baffled the asari. Subject Zero was a known enemy to Cerberus, and not known for rescuing commanders, only eliminating them. And Liara strongly doubted the other woman was with Zero to assassinate her company's investment, or in any way sabotage the employer to which she held such a strong attachment.

Miranda Lawson was no stranger to the asari, the two had held a professional relationship in the rescuing of her love's body, but the operative was not esteemed for her patience, and at the moment, the irritation on her face was clear. Liara sighs, she should have had the foresight to predict Lawson, Shepard's new XO, would come after the commander once she discovered her absence. The commander's job was a nonstop stream of missions, and she was likely already required in her armor on some dangerous planet or lab, an entire company of well armed soldiers firing on her.

The asari scowls. In a selfish sense, she was not about to let them take Shepard from her so soon when the previous night had made it clear the pair had quite the talk ahead of them, a talk that had already been prolonged for far too long. Aside from that, and more importantly, she would not allow them to take her commander to duty just yet when the soldier was so clearly unfit for battle, and in need of a day of rest before the entire galaxy attempted to kill her again.

Liara considers opening the door and explaining the situation to her former colleague, but her face heats as she remembers the last time she came into contact with Miranda. The operative had witnessed the entire brutal exchange between the commander and her asari in the broker's office, and discussing Shepard with her in any context after, well, that discussion, was not something the asari was rushing to experience. Besides, the commander was a private woman, and if she wished to explain to the operative the situation in its entirety, Liara should leave her the freedom to do so.

The information broker taps a button to the side of her door VI panel, a voice recognition panel lighting up below the screen, ready for the asari's order.

"Please let our visitors know I am unavailable for the day. And please relay my contact information to Ms. Lawson's omni-tool should she have further questions. Make sure the operative is aware this is my home."

"Certainly Dr. T'Soni." The device chirps, and Liara turns away, satisfied the situation was in hand for the moment. Miranda was very astute, and would likely understand Liara's dismissal was a plea for some time with the spectre. As she begins to turn away again, the sound of the upstairs lavatory flushing causes a wave of relief in the asari.

"Thank the goddess, she's here." With a small smile, the asari begins to track towards the staircase. If the soldier was still struggling to rid herself of the alcohol in the lavatory, the least she could do was offer to hold her hair back. As her hand touches the railway, her door VI chirps again.

"Dr. T'Soni, I have been asked to relay a message. Your guest says 'If this door does not open in the next minute, she will expletive blow this door open.' Would you like me to relay a response?"

Liara quickly turns back to the door. From the censorship in the message, it had not come from the more reasonable of the pair, and she was not in the mood for a convict to damage her home.

"Please tell them I will just be a moment." Liara orders as she strides to her kitchen, locating a robe on one of the table chairs she had discarded there while studying in her little nook the other day. Wrapping the robe around her thin nightgown to preserve a bit of modesty, the asari steps in front of the door, commanding it with a press of a button to open to her guests.

"Ms. Lawson." Liara greets, ignoring the way the convict's eyes scan her body in the unprofessional attire. Miranda notices as well, and gives her companion a look of pure malice that the tattooed woman ignores.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I...believe you know why we're here Doctor." Miranda starts, looking past Liara as if Shepard would be standing right behind her. "Our common…. acquaintance has gone missing. And the ship's AI traced her omni-tool to this location."

Liara bristles as Miranda refers to Shepard as an acquaintance of the asari, harshly aware of the implication that the operative was well aware the relationship between them was so strained, they could hardly be called friends.

"I assume you are referring to the Commander...she is a grown woman with agency Ms. Lawson, is there a reason she is being recalled to duty in such an urgent fashion?"

"She is not being recalled to duty. The Normandy has a small window of shore leave on Illium for repairs." Miranda states, and Liara relaxes a bit, clearly relieved the soldier was not being corralled for a mission.

"If she is not required for duty, I believe the detail of shore leave allows the commander a bit of freedom to navigate the planet without being tracked by her colleagues…"

Liara starts, and Miranda's eyes narrow, clearly unamused by the asari's dismissal of the two.

"We are not here to babysit an independent soldier Doctor." Miranda replies, her tone cutting the tense air. "EDI...the same AI informed me that Shepard's vital measures were unusual. She was injured in the mission yesterday, so I believe it is a priority to check on her medical status. Is there something we should know about that status broker?"

If Miranda is expecting Liara's eyes to reveal any semblance of what she knows about the spectre's disappearing act, she is disappointed. The asari keeps a straight composure, her eyes revealing nothing.

"I do not take you as a fool Ms. Lawson, and I will not try to trick you and say the commander is not here. I will however ask you to trust that the soldier is in stable condition, besides a bit of veisalgia. You above all on your ship should know the extent to which I will protect Shepard's health executive officer Lawson. Now, I must maintain you leave here. I….don't usually have such a personal request, but Shepard and I really need to have a discussion before you take her, maybe you could come by later in the afternoon? I'm sure Shepard can call you…."

Jack, who had been standing by looking fairly disinterested in the conversation, snaps to attention at the asari's words. Taking a menacing step forward, the biotic faces the asari.

"That's not good enough you blue slut."

"Jack…" Miranda starts, reaching out to position herself between the two but the biotic pushes her away, stepping even closer to the stone-faced asari.

"NO. Is that fucking good enough for you Miranda?" Jack sneers, dramatically dragging her eyes over Liara again. "You should've put more clothes on before you opened the door. Maybe if you had, I'd believe your story whore. NOTHING you've said has convinced me you're not just another asari whore trying to get a quick fuck in with the famous hero of the citadel while she's vulnerable…."

"JACK NO." Miranda interjects, grabbing the biotic's shoulder in an attempt to pull her back from the now seething asari. "Jack you don't understand, this is Doctor Liara T'Soni not a random…."

"You're one to talk Subject Zero." Liara spits, her voice filled with such malice, Miranda could hardly believe it was coming from the usually soft spoken asari. The broker's body is shaking with rage, her frame lit by a blue energy as her anger became biotic energy. "I know more about you than you realize you WORTHLESS criminal. You're an experiment gone wrong, a Cerberus mistake always convincing yourself you had it worse than anyone else at your facility. Just so you can justify being a cold blooded killer because 'the world never gave you any mercy' when on Pragia, you were the only one given any mercy!"

Miranda tightens her grip on Jack as she lunges at the asari, the force of her charge against Miranda's hold nearly snapping both of the operative's wrists.

"Jack!"

"Shut up you Cerberus bitch!" Jack snaps, her nostrils flaring as she rounds on Liara. "Maybe I know more about you than YOU fucking realize T'Soni. Maybe I don't know where the fuck you came from, but I know you who you are to my fucking friend. I know you dropped her like any typical asari slut, leaving her just because her fucking mission to save millions of lives wouldn't let her stay on Illium and fill your azure while you followed some petty revenge plot."

"That's not…." Liara started, her eyes finally betraying pain as Jack's words cut her.

"True? The fuck it isn't T'Soni! If I don't know what I'm talking about, then fucking tell me, is Shepard more important than your goddamn pathetic mission, or are you just trying to keep us from taking her so you can hurt her again… do you fucking get off on hurting her?!"

"My mission is not…" Liara trails away, her eyes brimming with tears as she took a shaky breath. "I…"

"Not what?! Not more fucking important than Shepard?! Then fucking say it. Say you'd throw your petty grudge away for her, or you don't deserve her." Jack snaps, pausing her fight to get out of Miranda's arms as she waited for Liara's answer.

The asari doesn't answer for several moments, her silent sobs barely audible in the silence.

"I….can't abandon my mission. Shepard…..she….she…. would understand if she knew…."

"I do understand." The three whirl around to the source of the voice, the commander. Standing atop the stairs with an expression none of them can read.

Miranda quickly releases Jack at the sight, straightening her composure. It is clear the operative is embarrassed for her superior officer to have seen the entire out of control exchange that Miranda hadn't had a prayer of de-escalating.

"Shepard." Liara murmurs breathlessly, relief surging through her at the sight of her love conscious again. Shifting nervously, the asari wonders how long the commander had been standing there.

The soldier is hunched slightly from her injured back, her eyes still a bit bloodshot from the night before, and yet she looks powerful from where she stands. Her eyes soften a little at the sight of Liara visibly so upset, and then harden again, betraying her feelings at the asari's last answer.

Nobody moves as the Commander descends the stairs, the only sound Shepard's heavy footsteps as she strides past Liara and grabs the convict harshly, lifting Jack into the air.

"I understand that you care about me Jack. I do. But you do NOT ever speak like that again to Liara. Do I make myself clear?" Shepard states, her voice level, though strained as if she was struggling to hold herself back from tearing apart the biotic. Even though her friend had only been trying to protect her, Shepard had never been skilled at keeping calm when Liara was threatened.

"She doesn't fucking care about you Shep…"

"Am I clear!" Shepard exclaims, shoving the convict into the nearest wall for emphasis. Miranda flinches when Jack hits the wall, her face laced with concern as she watched for the tattooed woman's response.

"Shepard….I do not think that was warranted…" Miranda starts but Jack cuts her off, shaking Shepard's hands off of her.

"You got it ...Commander." Jack drawls bitterly, turning away from the soldier. "But don't come down to engineering to use me to drink away memories of that blue slut anymore." Jack snarls, and both Liara and Miranda tense, misinterpreting the statement and the relationship between the two. Shepard nods silently, not noticing the other two reactions to Jack's words, and turns to Liara.

The second she sets her eyes on Liara, Shepard's entire demeanor changes, the confident spectre rubbing the back of her neck nervously.

"Shepard, I…" Liara begins to explain, and the soldier shakes her head, wincing as if hearing the asari's voice was painful. It kills the scientist to see any pain cross the spectre's face, and the look silences her instantly.

"Don't Liara. I don't know how I ended up here, but I'm sorry. And you don't have to explain anything. I know how you feel about your mission. It's okay." Shepard says, her strong voice faltering at the end of her short speech. "I should go."

Shepard brushes past Miranda and Jack without waiting for Liara's response.