The handcuffs were snapped around Victor's wrists as two Alliance officers lifted the injured man on to a stretcher. The bone sticking from his leg needed immediate medical attention before he would be transferred to a cell. "Thanks, boys." Victor said with a grin. Despite his black eye and broken leg the assassin wasn't worried. Hell, he and Jill had broke each other out of jail so many times they had almost turned it into an art-form.
The two officers lifted the stretcher together and started carting Victor out through the still crowded convention center. Victor glanced up to the projection booth where he last saw his love and smiled. After Jill took out Hackett and cleared up this whole fucking mess with the asari she'd spring him and they'd live happily ever after. Then he heard chatter on the officer's comms.
"We're bringing the other one outside now. Have medical standing by." Victor heard another officer say on the other end of the comm.
His heart started to race. If they had caught Jill that would complicate things, especially with the asari, but that wasn't all that worried him. The officer had mentioned they needed a medical team, was Jill hurt? He pushed the worries from his mind. Jill was the toughest woman he'd ever met. No way anyone got to her.
They moved him outside into the cold october night. The sirens on the police skycars and medical trucks brightly flashed red and blue. They propped Victor's stretcher up into a sitting position outside the back of an ambulance. "Hey can I call my mom to pick me up now?" Victor teased. The officer shook his head and went to assist a fellow officer who was bringing out another person on a stretcher. However this second stretcher had a sheet laid over the body being carried. "No." Victor muttered. It wasn't Jill, it couldn't be Jill.
Victor noticed his guards had all moved to the second patient and he quickly opened his comm link with Jill. "Hey, babe. I've been pinched. Finish up the job and spring me and we can finally be done with all this bullshit." He paused and looked at the body covered by the sheet again. "I love you, beautiful." He said and waited for a response that never came. "Baby?" Silence. "Jill, honey, say something."
Then one of the paramedics pulled the sheet away from the corpse and Victor heart sank as he saw the cold pale face of the woman he had spent nearly every day of the past 23 years with. The woman who was his best and only friend, the woman who he loved. Her dead face was locked in an expression of agony. "Jill..." He muttered as he shook his head and shut his eyes. "No!" He cried as he leapt from his stretcher and dragged his broken leg behind him as he scrambled towards Jill. He charged at the men surrounding her and threw them away from her. "Baby." He whimpered as he cupped her face in his cuffed hands. "Don't do this now. Please, God." He buried his face in her chest. "No...You can't be dead now. Come on, babe we're a team, you can't..." But there was no denying the truth so his sorrow turned to rage as two officers seized him and started to drag the assassin back to his ambulance. "I'm gonna fucking kill whoever did this! I promise you, Jill! They're dead! They are fucking DEAD!"
Miranda Lawson stepped out of the bedroom and closed the door behind her. She couldn't help but smile as she turned her head and saw Jack sitting on the floor next to the door leaned up against the wall. Jack looked up with concern in her eyes. "Is everything good? The baby is okay?" she asked.
Lawson sunk down to the floor next to her and leaned her head on the convict's shoulder. "The baby is perfectly healthy."
Jack smiled. "Good."
"Quite a day we've had." Miranda said.
The convict chuckled. "It was kinda fucked up wasn't it?"
Miranda placed a hand over Jack's thigh and lovingly stroked her leg. "It was." she agreed.
"You know it was pretty cool to see you deliver that baby. You're pretty amazing you know that, babe?"
The former Cerberus operative smirked. "I know." Jack rolled her eyes and playfully punched her lover's arm. Lawson smiled and kissed Jack on the cheek before she sat up straight and nervously balled her fists. "Jack..."
"What's up, Cheerleader?"
Lawson reached in her pocket. "There's something I need to tell you. Something I thought I'd never say to anyone."
"Is everything okay?"
Miranda locked eyes with Jack but didn't remove her hands from her pocket, her fingers resting on the ring inside. She had spent the last week trying to think of what to say or how to do this but Miranda decided that for once in her life she was going to be completely open. "I know we've only been together for two years, I know that there are a million reasons why we shouldn't work and for you to hate my guts. But... it does work."
Her lover nodded. "Yeah, it does."
"Before you Jack I had spent my life trying to understand my place in the galaxy. I thought I had found it before many times. But only now do I know that I truly have found where I belong. And I know I belong with you, Jack."
Jack smiled nervously. "What the fuck? Miranda, what's up with you?"
Lawson smiled back at her and took her hand with her free one. "The pathetic thing is, before you. Before us. I don't think I'd ever been truly happy...not once. There was so many bloody things for me to live up to, my genes, my father, everyone had expectations for me to meet and none of them more extreme than my own. And I never was good enough. But with you... with you it feels like I'm finally who I'm supposed to be. With you, I'm happy. When I think about the woman I was when I first met you and what she'd say if she saw me now and the life we share, she'd say I'm pathetic. But I'd just feel sorry for her because I know nothing in my life that came before you mattered." Miranda intertwined their fingers. "This, what we have, it's the only thing that matters to me anymore."
Jack blinked back a few tears. "Miranda..."
"I love you, Jack. And I can't promise that It'll always be easy but I can promise that nobody will ever love you like I love you. I...I want to spend the rest of my life with you." She finally slipped the ring out of her pocket and Jack's eyes widened. "Jack, Will you marry me?" The convict sat in stunned silence for a minute a few tears fell from her eyes and she shut them and dipped her chin. Miranda's heart sank. "I...I'm sorry I..." Lawson stammered.
Suddenly Jack leaned in and planted a kiss on Miranda's lips. But this wasn't a usual Jack kiss. There was no aggression or hunger, only love. The convict wrapped her arms around Lawson and when their lips finally came apart Jack whispered one word. "Yes."
Miranda smiled. "Really?"
"Yes, I'll fucking marry you!" Jack cried and kissed her again.
Liara T'Soni cradled the baby in her arms. Her blue eyes lovingly locked on the small asari child in her grasp. Her daughter. Goddess, if her mother could have seen her now. A happy tear fell from her eye and Jane wiped it away. Shepard knelt beside the bed, one of her strong fingers being softly gripped by her daughter's tiny hands. Liara turned to her bondmate. "Are you alright?" she asked.
Shepard smiled. "Liara, I'm perfect. How are you feeling?"
Liara exhaled a heavy breath. "Exhausted."
Jane chuckled. "I wonder why."
"Would you like to hold her?" The asari asked.
Shepard stiffened up. "Sure." She said nervously. She had never held a child before.
Liara carefully handed the baby to the human and the Commander took her daughter in her arms for the first time. She was light and fragile and instantly Shepard had a powerful urge to always hold her close and keep her safe no matter what. "Am...am I doing it wrong?" Jane asked fearfully.
Liara giggled. "You're fine, love."
Shepard relaxed and held the baby close to her breast. "Liara, she's so amazing. I never thought It would feel like this."
"You're going to be a wonderful father, Shepard."
"So what am I Dad now?"
"Would you prefer she call her father Commander?" Liara teased.
"Dad's fine with me." Jane grinned and rocked the child gently back and forth.
"How did everything go with Shaw?" Liara asked with an increasingly tired voice.
"Not exactly according to plan. I had to give the data to Hackett but I don't really care about that now." Shepard said as she leaned down to plant a kiss on her daughter's forehead. She looked back up into her wife's tired eyes. "Liara...thank you."
"For what?"
"For what? For everything. I never thought I'd get to live a normal life, or get to settle down. Hell, I didn't even think I'd get married, let alone have a daughter. You've given me so much."
"Shepard, without you I'd still be off digging in protheon ruins." She chuckled. "Goddess, I'd probably still be stuck in that bubble on Therum. I haven't done anything for you that you haven't done a thousand times over for me."
Jane rocked her baby as she thought back on the evening's events."Between you and me, Liara. I think i'm done with all the excitement for a while."
Liara flashed a weary smile. "Me too. But I'm afraid excitement has a way of finding us anyway my love."
The child kicked and Shepard looked down. "Shhh," she shushed. "It's okay." But the baby still stirred. "What do I do now?" She asked as she looked up only to find Liara had fallen asleep. Jane smiled at the sleeping blue beauty and looked back to her child. "Hey, Benezia." Jane said in a motherly tone. "You know your Dad loves you very much. And she's never gonna let anything happen to you." Jane promised.
Kaidan Alenko leaned against his balcony railing with a beer in his hand and Rahna by his side. "Pretty crazy day." He commented.
"Helping Commander Shepard get to the birth of her daughter is definitely not how I thought I'd be spending my friday." Rahna chuckled and took a sip from her beer.
"You know it really is good to see you again, Rahna."
Rahna smiled. "You two, Kaidan." She took another sip and gazed out at the view of the city. "So how do you know the Commander?"
Kaidan sighed. "Long story."
"Well you'll have to tell me it some time. Maybe...next time?"
"Next time?"
"Well we are stationed in the same city now. And I don't really know anyone else. Maybe you could show me around next week."
"Y-yeah!" He cried a little too eagerly. "I'd love to." He said after he regained his composure.
Rahna giggled. "I see you haven't got any smoother."
Kaidan sipped on his beer and there was a silence between them before Alenko spoke again. "Hey you know this reminds me of a joke. A Hanar an Elcor and a..."
His joke was cut off when Rahna pulled him in close and planted a kiss Kaidan had been dreaming of for twenty years on his lips.
Jane silently crept out of the bedroom with Benezia in her arms, careful to not wake Liara as she left the room and padded into the living room. Shepard turned into the living room and cried out in surprise and shut her eyes. Miranda was laying on top of Jack on the couch, their lips locked in a passionate kiss and Lawson's hand buried inside the convict's pants. The two women quickly separated and sat up, a blush spread across Miranda face and a grin across Jack's.
"Is it safe? Can I open?" Shepard asked.
"Yes." Miranda said embarrassed.
Jane cautiously opened one eye and saw the two were sitting upright but Jack still had her pants undone. Miranda quickly reached over and buttoned her lover's pants back up. "Thankfully I don't think Benezia will remember that." Shepard said.
"I'm sorry." Miranda said.
Jack let out a laugh. "I'm not!"
Shepard inspected Jack's hand and found a beautiful diamond ring on her finger that wasn't there before. "It appears as though congratulations are in order." Jane said with a smile.
"Shit, she told you?" Jack asked.
Shepard sat down on the couch next to Jack with Benezia still in her arms. "She may have mentioned it. I'm really proud of you two. And you both went above and beyond for me and Liara today."
Jack rolled her eyes. "Shepard, we both owe you. So save your fucking thank you."
"So Commander, Nervous?" Miranda asked as she eyed the asari child.
"Are you kidding? I don't have a clue what i'm doing, I mean how do I know when to feed her and what to..."
"Don't freak out, Shepard." Jack interrupted. "You're gonna kick ass."
Miranda ran her fingers through Jack's hair. "Is Liara asleep?"
"Yeah. Didn't wanna wake her so I came out here. Plus I figured Benezia would want to meet her aunt Jack and aunt Miranda." She held the baby out to Jack. "Wanna hold her?"
"Hell yeah!" Jack cried enthusiastically.
Jane handed the child to Jack who cradled the asari in her arms with surprising grace and skill.
"So...now what?" Shepard asked.
Miranda smiled at her fiancée as Jack made funny faces at the asari baby in her arms. "I don't know, Shepard. But this is one of those rare moments where everything is perfect. Why not enjoy it?"
"Why are we here?" Shaw asked nervously.
Ereyla rolled her eyes and dragged the man out of her skycar as they walked inside the Alliance headquarters main building. "She wants to speak with you."
"W-What?!" Shaw cried.
"You did what you were supposed to today, human. You've proven your worth to the Matriarch and so she wishes to speak with you."
Shaw's heart started to race. "Alright."
Once they stepped inside Ereyla pinned him against the wall. "This is a great honor, human. And it should go without saying that if you ever do anything to betray her it will be the last thing you do before you meet a very painful end. Am I clear?"
"Clear." Shaw rasped out with Ereyla's muscular forearm pressed against his neck.
The asari released him. "Good. We're here because I assumed this building would have a vidcomm room. Am I right?"
"Yeah it does."
"Good. She likes to talk face to face."
They continued to move through the building towards the vidcomm room on the third floor. The Alliance ball had closed down the HQ building for the day leaving Ereyla and Shaw alone as they made their trip. "You mind if I ask you a question?" Shaw asked politely.
Ereyla sighed. "Ask."
"Why does she want Hackett dead?"
"Hackett is poking around in the Terminus Systems at things he should have left alone. If he was to continue to pursue his goals in the Terminus Systems certain things could come to light that were not meant to. That and the the Matriarch does not underestimate her enemies, Admiral Hackett is a skilled leader and an adversary worthy of respect. And he has become a problem and an element she can't control. So he has to be dealt with." Manipulating this human was proving too easy for Ereyla. All she had to do was tell him the truth about something as small as Hackett and he believed he was trusted. She read more than his memories during their meld and the asari knew every string to pull to make Aquilla's new puppet dance.
"I see." Shaw muttered. "And why do you work for the Matriarch?"
Ereyla turned her head. "I swore to serve the hand of Athame for my own reasons."
"Hand of Athame?"
"No more questions." Ereyla snapped.
They made their way through the abandoned office that Jack and Miranda often worked in together and into the large vidcomm room that every department at the Alliance HQ had. Shaw's heart was nearly beating out of his chest while Ereyla set up the call. Suddenly a figure materialized in the blue hologram before him. The Matriarch was strikingly beautiful, she wore long gown and a high peaked headdress that gave her an almost royal look. "Admiral Shaw." She said warmly.
"M-Matriarch." He greeted her. "It's an honor."
"I am pleased to report the data I received from you has already proven quite useful. You've done well." She said.
"Thank you."
Aquilla looked to the asari beside the human. "It is good to see you well my friend."
Ereyla dipped her head respectfully. "Madame Aquilla."
"Unfortunately things did not go as planned with Admiral Hackett." Aquilla commented with a hint of malice in her voice.
"What would you like me to do?" Ereyla asked.
"I will discuss that with you in private. After you are done here I would like for you to return to the Lucen. We have much to discuss." Aquilla turned back to Shaw. "As for you. Once Hackett has been dealt with I will be free to fulfill my end of our arrangement. You will soon be the most powerful human in the galaxy with the Alliance at your command as promised."
"And the council?" Shaw asked.
"This time next week you and the new Salarian member, Councilor Mardok will be officially sworn in as council members." Aquilla promised.
"How do you know the name of the new Salarian Councilor?" Shaw asked.
Aquilla smiled. "Do not concern yourself with that. Farewell, we will speak again soon." And then Aquilla's hologram fizzled out.
"You will stay in Vancouver." Ereyla ordered.
Shaw crossed his arms. "Okay."
"I'll be keeping my eyes on you."
Suddenly Shaw's omni-tool chirped as he received an incoming message. He read it and his eyes widened. "It's Hackett."
"What does he want?"
"He wants to meet me in private!"
"For what reason?" Ereyla asked.
"He didn't say. What should I tell him?"
The asari thought about it for a moment. "Tell him to meet you here immediately."
Shaw did as asked. "Okay now what?"
Ereyla unholstered her pistol and handed it to the human. "Now you demonstrate to me just how trustful you really are."
The Admiral shook his head. "No! I can't!"
"You can't? Perhaps we misjudged your usefulness."
"Wait." Shaw cried.
Ereyla smiled and offered the gun again. "Prove to me your resolve."
With a shaking hand Shaw took the gun and stuffed it into the back of his uniform pants. "Only if there's no other way."
"Of course." Ereyla said with a smile.
"You can't be in sight when he gets here."
Shaw sat nervously in the main office bullpen for what seemed like forever until finally Admiral Steven Hackett marched into the room with his arms behind his back. "Admiral Shaw." He said in his gravely voice but it lacked the usual tone of admiration and respect Shaw had heard from him in the past.
"Hackett. You needed to see me about something?" Shaw was careful to not let his nerves show.
"Earlier today I was given an OSD that contained some very upsetting information."
"Anything the Alliance needs to worry about?"
"Yes." Hackett replied. "The data on the drive was about you, Shaw. I don't believe I need to tell you what was on it."
Shaw shut his eyes and his heart skipped a beat. He started sweating nervously. "Me? I'm sure that must be a mistake."
"I assure you. It was no mistake. I wanted to see you in private because given your history with the Alliance and the respect I have for your accomplishments during the war, I thought I'd give you a chance to explain yourself before I come forward with this to the rest of the Navy. So tell me...why were you working with Cerberus?"
Cerberus? Shaw thought. That's what this was about? He had thought his new partnership with the Matriarch had been discovered. How had Hackett learned of his dealings with the Illusive Man? "Where did you get this information? It could be a fabrication."
"I trust the source with my life." Hackett said.
"You...haven't told anyone else about this?" Shaw asked.
"No. I thought perhaps you might have a reason worth listening to. It seems I was mistaken. I'm sure you know why I can't let this slide. So on behalf of Systems Alliance Navy as Commanding officer of the fleet I'm placing you under arrest and discharging you from the Navy pending an official investigation. I'm going to have to ask you to come with me." Hackett said proudly.
Shaw shut his eyes and sighed. "Of course." He whimpered.
Admiral Hackett shook his head in disappointment and turned to lead Shaw out of the building.
BANG!
Hackett didn't know what had even happened before he was already on the ground crawling on all fours as blood poured from his chest out of the exit wound. Shaw's shooting hand trembled as he lowered his gun and advanced on the bleeding Admiral. "I'm sorry, sir." Shaw said sincerely.
"What the hell..." Hackett wheezed in air. "What the hell are you doing?" He asked as he sat up on his knees.
"What I have to, Sir. You have to believe that I never wanted this."
"You think you're...j-just gonna get away with killing me?" Hackett rasped.
"I guarantee he will." Ereyla said as she appeared from behind Shaw.
"What is this?" Hackett demanded. "You hired that man to kill me at the ball. And when he fails you shoot me in the back? Coward." Hackett said as blood trickled out the corner of his mouth.
"I always respected you, Hackett. I wish it hadn't come to this."
Hackett spit blood on Shaw. "Well go ahead and finish the job."
Ereyla looked to Shaw. "Do it." she ordered.
Shaw raised his quivering arm again and Hackett put on a brave face, not closing his eyes but staring straight in his shooter's. "I can't." Shaw said and lowered the gun again.
Ereyla rolled her eyes and snatched the gun from the humans hands. "Never send a human to do an asari's job." She said and fired three shots into Hackett's face. The Admiral's head practically exploded and his limp body flopped to the floor. "Pathetic." Ereyla muttered as she holstered her gun.
The Lucen- In Thessia Orbit
Matriarch Aquilla was in command of the galaxy's largest private fleet and at it's head stood the Lucen. A massive dreadnought class ship that spent most of it's time in orbit of the asari homeworld. Ereyla moved past a few fellow asari as she made her way to Aquilla's personal cabin. She had known the Matriarch for hundreds of years but seeing her in person still made her nervous, but she had good news for the woman.
Ereyla opened the doors to Aquilla's cabin and stepped inside. The room was breathtakingly decorated with ancient asari relics of the past. A piece of the Athame Codex was carefully preserved and displayed over Aquilla's desk and of course the large cryo chamber that was installed on the right wall. That feature always caught Ereyla's eye. She swallowed hard and walked towards the Matriarch's desk passing a few more statues of the Goddess and her guides Lucen, whom the ship was named after, and Janiri.
"What news do you have for me, Ereyla?" Aquilla asked in a calculated and graceful voice. The web of her black face markings caught Ereyla's eye.
"Admiral Hackett is dead. Tomorrow his ship will suffer an unfortunate drive core malfunction and explode in Earth Orbit. Hackett will be presumed killed in the accident by the public and Shaw's position in the Alliance and on the council will be unchallenged."
Aquilla smiled and rose to her feet and traveled around her desk to place her hands on Ereyla's shoulders. "Well done, my friend." She leaned in and planted a quick kiss on the other asari's lips. "I am pleased to see I can still rely on you."
"Always." Ereyla promised.
"With Hackett dead we may continue our operation in the Terminus."
"I heard rumor of a batarian who is amassing an army to take down the Shadow Broker. He could be worth funding."
Aquilla crossed her arms behind her back. "The Shadow Broker? Very good. Perhaps this batarian can deal with that problem for us. What is his name?"
"Killian Tagar." Ereyla answered.
"Fund him." Aquilla ordered.
"It shall be done."
Aquilla smiled. "The day of asari transcendence is close at hand after all these years."
Ereyla glanced over the Matriarch's shoulder at the cryo chamber. "What of Felina?"
"What about her?"
"With the Broker dealt with she is the last loose end to tie up."
Aquilla waved her hand dismissively. "My daughter is hardly worth concern. Besides once she learns of the bait the naive girl won't be able to resist coming right to us."
Ereyla smiled at the human woman still in stasis inside the cryo chamber. "Then perhaps saving the life of this Marion Corvus human all those years ago was the right decision after all."
THE END
.
.
.
.
Shepard, Liara, Miranda, Jack, Kaidan, Aquilla, Felina and Marion Corvus will return in "RISE OF THE ASARI"
Notes- I hope that was a surprise to all you Veiled Asari readers. Yes Marion Corvus is alive and she will be back and kicking ass soon! For those of you unaware of her I suggest you read the story of her and Matriarch Aquilla's daughter Felina in "The Veiled Asari". I'm sorry this chapter ran so long but I had a lot to wrap up and to set up at the same time. I almost titled this chapter "Hackett Out" but I thought maybe that would be a bit of a spoiler. So yes, poor Hackett has been put out to pasture, Shepard and Liara's mission was a failure and Admiral Shaw will soon be sworn in as the new face of humanity. We'll be seeing plenty of him in the future too in addition to a bunch more characters than I've already confirmed in my biggest series ever "Rise of the Asari". I've been setting it up for months now and every story I've told has all been leading to one massive action packed finale that you won't wanna miss. Until then you can expect one last Miranda and Jack side story titled "Revenge of Subject Zero" to be coming soon, probably this week and it will be set right after this story. And another story, "Shepard and Liara Versus the Baby" for all your fluff needs! Oh and if your curious about Killian Tagar (the batarian mentioned in the final scene) if you haven't already you can check out my old series "Shepard's Last Mission" which actually takes place after this story to see what he's all about.
Thank you so much to all the followers of this story and to all you amazing people who reviewed! It means so much to see you guys reading and supporting my stories. Hope you enjoyed this story, I'd love to read everyone's thoughts on it in the reviews!