Just some character interaction. Mainly because I didn't feel like writing any action.
Liara woke to the unfamiliar weight of another's arm across her waist. Unfamiliar but at the same time so very familiar, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Even if the events of last night weren't still fresh in her mind, she'd know it was Shepard holding her. She'd know the strength in that touch, her scent and the warmth of her mind, anywhere.
She rolled her head to the side and looked at Shepard. The woman was lying on her stomach, one arm pushed beneath her pillow, the other possessively slung across Liara. The sheets were bunched around her waist, exposing a long expanse of pale smooth skin that was smattered with scars and freckles.
For a long time she just watched Shepard breathe, watched the restless flutter of her eyelids in sleep. With her vibrant green eyes closed she seemed so defenceless, and so young. Liara never really thought about the fact that Shepard was young, especially so in terms of the Asari, but just as much in her own, human terms. Carefully, she reached out and rested her fingertips against Shepard's cheek, smiling as she unconsciously nuzzled into her hand. Afraid of waking her up, Liara pulled her fingers away and instead busied herself with Shepard's hair. She was rolling a coil of it between her fingers, enjoying its strong, coarse feel when she felt - more than saw - Shepard wake.
"Morning" Liara murmured quietly as hazy green swam into focus and landed on her.
"Is it?" Shepard's voice was thick, husky with sleep "I lose track" her gaze shifted from Liara's face to where the Asari's fingertips were wrapped in her hair "You have an unhealthy fascination with my hair" she smiled, closed her eyes and pulled Liara closer.
"I do" Liara agreed as she singled out an individual strand and examined it "It's longer than I've ever seen it now" she paused and considered the single strand of reddish gold "I like it"
"Hmm" Shepard hummed "It's a pain"
Liara released the strand and rolled over onto one elbow. She dropped a hand down and began to massage the tight shoulder in front of her. Liara's fingers were firm and Shepard arched up into them, moving over slightly so the Asari could dig down into the hard, tense muscles.
"I never want to move" Shepard groaned as strong fingers moved and pressed hard into the knobs of her vertebrae. A sharp click cracked through the room, ligament sliding over bone and Liara froze.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"Perfect" a slither of amused green appeared "but I need to move" Shepard sighed.
"I know" Liara flopped onto her back and stared at the ceiling. They never seemed to have enough time.
Shepard hesitated, and then stuck her head around the wall to the mess. Tali was sitting at the far end of the mess table, her legs crossed over a chair in front of her. A holo screen was switched on above her as though she had been watching it; it showed the rolling citadel news channel, but the Quarian had turned from the sight and was gazing towards Shepard when she looked around the side of the wall.
"Oh, Shepard" She said, swinging her feet off the seat and leaning forwards "Are you hungry?"
Shepard, realising she couldn't escape the social interaction, walked into the mess and sat down next to her "Actually I am"
"Good, eat this" Tali pushed a bowl of some sort of soup towards her "Lieutenant Vega made it for me. It never dawned on him that I wouldn't be able to eat it"
"Vega?" Shepard stirred the still warm broth.
"Yeah" Tali dragged the word out "He's strange, even for a human, kept calling me sparks..."
Shepard snorted and swallowed a mouthful of broth, surprised at how good it tasted "Why sparks?"
"He said I had lights" She groaned "And that I was quick, and jumpy" A sigh "Keelah Shepard, can't you ever have any normal crew?"
"Mm?" Shepard mumbled around a mouthful "If I had a normal crew, you wouldn't be here would you?" Shepard smiled a little "Sparks"
"You're feeling better?" Tali asked and then looked away "After Thessia I mean"
"You're asking me if I've calmed down aren't you?"
Tali faced her again, tilting her head slightly as she considered Shepard "Yes" she nodded "It's going to get worse isn't it?" Eventually, in a voice tight with emotion, she continued "Before the end, on Earth, it will be worse than anything"
Shepard stopped eating and looked at the Quarian, aware that something had shifted in their dynamic "Yes"
"Are you ever..." Tali squirmed in her chair, suddenly reminding Shepard of the shy, nervous woman she'd met all those years ago "Are you ever worried about what will happen, of how this will end?"
Shepard put her hands flat on the table either side of her bowl, and took a deep breath "That's a big question"
"Shepard you don't have to answer I was just..."
"Afraid?" Shepard cut the Quarian off, watching as she nodded her head and looked away "You know about Akuze don't you?" Tali nodded and shifted, resting her arms on the table as she studied Shepard "When we arrived the colony was desolate, deserted and destroyed. We didn't know what we were going to face, what had killed the colonists, it was..." Shepard paused "Creepy. Imagination can create a situation worse than any reality, at least that's what I thought" She sighed "When the attack came that night, I was terrified" Shepard drummed her fingers on the table, her gaze distant "I look back now and don't know how I survived" a sigh "but I think fear was a big part of it"
"You're saying that it's ok to be afraid?" The sound of Tali breathing was loud in the empty mess.
"I'm saying only the dead are truly fearless Tali" Shepard reached out and put her hand on the Quarian's forearm "What's bought this on?"
Tali studied the pale hand on her arm enjoying the alien warmth of it through her suit "You, Garrus, Vega and even Liara now, you're all so competent" she shrugged "I've seen you do things that I never could" She exhaled and seemed to slump in her seat "Keelah, I'm an engineer! I fix things"
Shepard took her time but when she spoke, she sounded thoughtful "If you go into a fight with twenty soldiers, you'll get twenty of the same opinion on how to solve a problem" she reached out for her spoon and turned it aimlessly on the table "The reason this team works so well is because I don't have twenty soldiers. It's good to be afraid sometimes Tali. Everyone feels fear; it's how you use it that counts""
The slight, tender touch and Shepard's voice, soft with caring, sliced through the tenuous threads that were holding Tali's composure together, and she sniffled "Really?" Tali sighed "You never look afraid Shepard"
"That's a responsibility of command" Shepard let go of Tali's arm and leaned back in her seat, a genuine smile creased her face as she ran her fingers through her hair "Would you follow someone's orders if they looked terrified? Acted like a shivering wreck?" She tilted her head back and stared at the ceiling, she could have said nothing at all, but for some reason she felt the need to be honest with the young Quarian "Tali, I've fought in some of the worst battles in modern Alliance history. I've been brutal and ruthless, disgusted myself and shamed my command. I've been a coward, I've run away and I've begged for my life" She looked at Tali now, her smile a ghost of its previous self "I've been shot and stabbed, more often than I'd like, and I've screamed and wailed in a fight" When she'd been younger, she would have boasted, listed all the times she'd succeeded, all the accolades and medals she'd won, but now she valued different things. She couldn't point at a moment in her life when the change had happened, but it had been a slow and painful change "Those few minutes, drifting through space outside the burning shell of the Normandy, when I felt my suit rupture" she breathed a deep ragged sigh and stared out across the mess, all traces of humour gone "I'm not sure I'd ever felt real fear, real, immobilizing fear. The kind that you only get when you know there is nothing else you can do, until that point" she looked down at her hands, nicked and scarred, but whole on the gleaming mess table. When she faced Tali, she was immensely glad that she couldn't see the Quarian's face; she didn't want to see the expression on it "I feel fear every time I step into a fire fight Tali, and I'm pretty sure that's what's kept me alive"
Tali's throat was very tight as she studied the human woman, thinking suddenly that she had no place asking Commander Shepard such questions "I'm sorry Shepard" Tali muttered "I shouldn't have asked you any of that"
"Why not?" Shepard shrugged "I come to you with engineering questions all the time"
"It's not really the same thing"
"Isn't it?" Shepard linked her fingers together "I've always been a soldier, why would you not ask me questions like this?" Shepard tilted her head as her eyes narrowed "Do you think less of me now, having heard all that I've said?"
Tali snorted and waved her hands in the air "No!" She shook her head "Shepard, if anything I think more of you"
"And there's your answer" She glanced at Tali, an expression of concern on her face "Are you alright?"
"Keelah Shepard!" Tali reached across and snatched up the Commanders hand, linking their fingers "Only you would ask me that after everything that's happened"
Shepard glanced down at their entwined fingers and felt a knot of worry deep in her stomach. Tali was right, she was unique in her team, not a solider but equally as capable. To Shepard she symbolised something greater than herself, an innocence that needed defending. She'd proved herself time and time again, but more importantly she brought calmness to the crew, a softness that Shepard wasn't sure anyone else could replace and it was something desperately welcome in the hardness of war. Shepard sighed and ran her thumb idly over the fingers linked with hers; she feared that the loss of Tali would devastate the crew more than the loss of anyone.
"What's that look for?" Tali asked suddenly.
"What look?" Shepard replied, trying to sound more casual than she felt.
"It was..." Tali paused and made an odd, sucking sort of sound "Far away?"
"I was just thinking, that's all" Shepard replied. Tali stirred something in her, the desire to comfort and protect "Just promise me you'll look after yourself Tali?"
Shepard could just make out Tali's smile through the haze of her face plate "Don't worry about me Shepard" Tali mumbled "I'm tougher than you think"
"Oh believe me, I know" Shepard let go of the Quarian's hand and pushed back in her chair, standing up and stretching as she yawned.
"Where are you going?" Tali asked, leaning back and kicking her legs out in front of her.
"Nowhere important, we still have some time and I have something's I need to do"
Tali nodded "Thank you Shepard"
"No problem" Shepard shrugged and gave Tali a slow, tender smile "Anytime" she added as she walked away, leaving Tali alone with her thoughts.
Liara walked into the CIC and was assaulted by a wave of activity. Garrus was standing with two human soldiers, his hip leant against one of the consoles, taking the weight from his injured leg. EDI was engrossed in her omni tool as a group of engineers observed her, and Traynor was... Liara wasn't actually sure what Traynor was doing. She was sat down beneath her console, with a strip of white fabric pooled around her like spilt milk and various tools were spread out along it. She held a strand of cable between her grubby fingers, studying it with cross-eyed intensity. Liara almost laughed at the look of determined concentration on the woman's face.
She smirked and made her way to where the specialist sat, surprised as two young men in maroon alliance uniforms touched their fingers to their heads in acknowledgement as she walked past. She nodded back to them, unsure of the correct way to accept the compliment and curious as to why it had been offered.
"Specialist?" Liara crouched down next to the woman "Can you spare a moment?"
Traynor blew out her cheeks and nodded "Of course, what's the problem?"
Liara bought up her omni tool display and cycled through information "I'm having some access issues with my network, some sort of high level interference" she chewed her lip as she surveyed the readout "I've tried to clear it up with no success, I was wondering if you could help"
"No problem" Traynor put the strip of wire between her teeth as she reached over for a data pad. After a few moments of studying she put it back down on the floor and removed the wire from her mouth "Oh that tastes disgusting" she made a sour face and wiped her mouth with her sleeve "I see the problem" she ran her fingers over the pad and paused, her face becoming sheepish.
"What is it?" Liara asked as rich brown eyes met hers.
"I was testing some filtering software" Traynor looked away "It looks like it might have been the cause" she shrugged and gave Liara a timid smile "Sorry?"
Liara looked at the young woman for a moment as she ran her hand through her dishevelled hair, a gesture not unlike Shepard "It's alright" Liara mumbled quietly "Can you repair it?"
"Of course!" Traynor leant forward and made a motion as if she was going to show Liara the data pad, but stopped herself. She looked uncertain "I suppose the mechanics of it aren't important, I'll get it done straight away"
"Thank you Specialist" Liara nodded and went to stand when suddenly warm fingers wrapped around her wrist.
"Liara, about earlier, in the war room, with the Commander" A sudden awkwardness made Traynor avoid the Asari's eyes, but if Liara was at all uncomfortable, she showed no sign of it "I... The Commander all but ordered me to treat her, I told her to go to the med bay but she..."
Liara looked levelly at the human woman "Specialist, you do not have to explain anything to me" she smiled "I understand what Shepard is like, if you hadn't treated her, she would have attempted to treat herself"
Traynor felt an immense release, as if from a weight or an unrelenting grip and she sighed, her shoulders slumping "I'm so glad, I can imagine what it looked like, you walking in and finding me with my hands all over the Commander" she froze, her eyes going wide "Not that that's what was happening, I mean..." She scrubbed her face with her hands "I'm an idiot and I'm babbling" Traynor was surprised when Liara reached out and gently touched her shoulder. When she looked up, the blue eyes regarding her were compassionate, yet the Asari seemed to exude a sense of strength and command that was compelling.
"Traynor" Liara smiled at her a little sadly "Please, do not worry about anything"
"It's just there's so much happening" Traynor shook her head "So many repairs, so many reports and..." she threw her hands in the air "I think I still have a lot to learn about ship life and war"
"No" Liara shook her head at the self recrimination in Traynor's voice "You do not need to learn anything else about war Specialist, I think serving on the Normandy will teach you just about everything"
Traynor was about to say more when she felt a subtle shift in the air in the CIC, like the change in pressure before an electrical storm. Every face turned towards the elevator as Shepard and Vega walked in. Shepard was dressed in her hard suit trousers, boots and a white t-shirt, a paladin pistol was tucked into the waistband. Vega was similarly dressed but his face was hard, his mouth set in a grim line, eyes distant.
"Garrus" Shepard called the Turian over and indicated the central area of the CIC.
Liara watched as Shepard and Vega called up a three dimensional display of sanctuary and began highlighting various areas on the map. Garrus folded his arms and nodded in agreement at something the human man said, his mandibles flaring slightly.
"What about here?" Vega asked, leaning over towards the map and expanding the area with his thumb and forefinger.
"Yeah" Shepard rested her forearms on the console in front on her and nodded slowly "That could work, touch down there and they won't see us on the approach"
"They won't see us?" Vega gave Shepard a strange look "Who gives a shit if they see us? We're going to steamroll them"
"Maybe" Shepard looked up at him "See here?" Shepard reached out and pointed at a small choke point on the map, watching as her hand passed through the display and back "We could sneak down here, they'd be unaware"
"Shepard?" Vega snorted "Why the hell are we sneaking?"
Shepard looked at the map, ignoring Vega for a moment "This will be a full attack, maximum aggression, momentum and violence concentrated on their HQ. We need to maintain surprise" She gave Vega a sideways glance "You wouldn't walk up to a guy in the street and say 'Excuse me, I'm going to mug you in a minute' would you?" She shook her head, shrugging fractionally "No you wouldn't, you'd walk up, kick him in the head, take his stuff and run" Now Shepard stood up "Silence in needed before the attack, music is needed for it"
"Music?" Garrus asked, tilting his head curiously.
"Yeah, a symphony of violence unleashed on the enemy" Shepard replied as she stared down at the map. Her focus was sharp but distance "Don't worry Vega, you'll get your fight"
"They teach you this music in the Alliance?" Garrus smirked but caught a sudden unmonitored expression on Shepard's face; a raw anguish, gone before he could be sure it was anything more than a cynical, brilliant grin.
"The Alliance?" Shepard folded her arms across her body "They taught me to close with and kill the enemy, in all weather, in all terrain, day or night" she shook her head "But it ended there. Right now, we are the sharp end of this war. Who the fuck are the rest of the Alliance? We fight, we kill. Cerberus won't trouble anyone else after this, ever"
"Boom!" Vega slammed his fists down on the console "Too right! Gods of fucking war!"
Liara watched the exchange with a sad sort of resignation. She'd accepted a long time ago that there were two sides to Shepard, but never had she seen them so completely opposite in such a short space of time. The woman who had been lay next to her only a few hours ago, seemed so impossibly far away from the tough, aggressive, hard edged solider that stood in front of her now.
"Hey" Traynor drew her attention with a gentle hand on her forearm "Let's hope this war doesn't drag on much longer"
Liara looked at the woman, surprised at how perceptive she was "If it does drag on for much longer Specialist, I fear there won't be much left worth saving"
"I think you might be right" Traynor sniffed and brushed her hand over her forehead, leaving an oily smear in its wake.
