It had been far too long since she had last played with her daughter like this, and Liara would be the first to admit that she loved it when the child asked it of her, but she was beginning to remember why Hide-and-Seek was her least favorite game of the lot.
She'd been searching the ship high and low for twenty minutes now with nary a giggle to tell her she was at least close to whichever dark hole her daughter had climbed into. Granted, the crew couldn't be relied on for honesty, they were all invariably on Beni's team, but they had seemed sincere when each and every one had told her they hadn't seen her anywhere.
The engineering deck had been her first choice; Beni usually liked to hide behind the spare crates in the cargo bay, pilfering a model ship to play with while she waited to be found. When that had turned up empty she had hurried to Miranda's quarters, hurriedly checking under the desk and bed before the XO returned. Nothing. The cockpit had been next, it was amazing the little places she could squeeze into when no one was looking, Joker was definitely one of Beni's favorite minions, but he had been genuinely puzzled as to what Liara was doing poking around his controls. Puzzled and a little offended; Joker made no secret that the cockpit was his territory and he reigned supreme.
Honestly baffled at that point she had torn the armory apart, panicked that Beni might have trapped herself in one of the weapons lockers again, rifled through the med lab, checking the emergency hatch for any tiny stow-aways and finally gone through the cupboards in the mess and the main battery. Not so much as a tell-tale flash of blue.
Liara had always tried to teach Beni the value of honesty; not only did it benefit her as a parent, but she found it soothed her conscience somewhat, knowing that while she and Shepard had certainly made the truth dance prettily to their tune, Beni need not resort to any such trickery.
Fair play was a big part of honesty, so Liara had assured Beni when she caught her learning card-sharp tricks from Donnelly, but she was going to cheat. There didn't seem to be any other way to win this particular game and though logically she knew there was nowhere Beni could really go she was still unreasonably concerned with what she might be up to.
She reached Shepard's cabin in record time, glancing about worriedly for her bond-mate; Shepard was a champion of Hide-and-Seek, it never took her long to discover her daughter's cache, Liara didn't want to know how she would react if she found out the little one had vanished. She could practically hear Shepard crowing over the Shadow Broker losing her own child aboard her ship. The taunts would never end.
It was the work of a moment to turn her surveillance gear to a new purpose, checking those areas she had already gone over once, opening the vid feeds to other parts of the ship she hadn't thought to check at the time. The crew's quarters were empty save for a couple of off-duty staff, the hallways were clear, her nursery was eerily silent, toys strewn every which way no matter how many times she was told to pick them up.
Liara shut down her equipment, increasingly concerned. Oh goddess, what if she'd climbed into that trash compactor? With a few rapid clicks and hurried commands Liara ensured the compactor had not been active for the past two hours and could not activate now until she gave the all-clear. It was the only possible place she could be.
She hurried to the door, already planning a stern talk for her too bold child; perhaps an object lesson was in order, if Beni could see what that compactor did to a block of stone it might give her pause if she ever chose to hide there again.
As she stepped through the door she heard a soft breath, a snuffle followed by the sound of smooth material brushing against rough carpet. Her racing heart slowed as she made her way over to the bed, lifting the sheets slightly to peer beneath.
"Shepard." She hissed.
Jane tried to sit up and ended up smacking her head against the underside of the bed, clutching her forehead and murmuring a string of profanities. Liara noted with horror that her daughter's eyes were flickering open, a soft giggle when she heard the naughty words her papa was spouting.
"Shepard!"
"Ouch! Sorry. It hurts."
Beni patted her head softly and Shepard winced, "Easy, kiddo. I already have a very nice lump there."
"Sorry, Papa."
"S'alright; not your fault."
Shepard flashed a teasing smile at her lover, "Mama should know better than to go sneaking up on Spectres."
Liara snorted, "Papa should know better than to keep vexing the Shadow Broker; most won't even try it once."
"Papa happens to know the Broker has a bit of a soft spot for her."
"In all seriousness, what are you doing under here?"
"Papa says it's the only place you can't cheat with your cameras." Beni chirped happily.
Liara's eyes narrowed dangerously and Shepard held up a placating hand, "I didn't say it exactly like that."
Beni frowned in confusion, "Yes you did."
"I didn't."
Beni's frown turned to a scowl, "You did. You said to hide under the bed because mama was going to cheat but she can't cheat without her-"
"Alright, alright. But my tone was entirely playful, Liara."
That sheepish smile was probably the only keeping Liara from hauling her out and pinning her to the wall until she begged forgiveness for her sins.
"Both of you, out. Now."
Shepard and Beni exchanged the sort of glance that really should have tipped her off. In her defense, she had thought them both sufficiently chastened.
No sooner had Shepard crawled from under her bed, followed by her equally sheepish daughter, than she scooped her up and bolted for the door calling a challenge over her shoulder, "We're it. You have one minute before we come looking. I dare you to find even one place else you don't have eyes. We're going to use them, payback is fair play."
Liara folded her arms, standing quietly in the center of the room as she heard Shepard's footsteps echoing in the hall. She wasn't about to play this silly game, there were more important things to do with her time. Besides, there were very few places her "eyes" could not see.
Of course, Shepard had managed to find one. In any case, it didn't matter. She wasn't playing. Not even once. This was just a ploy to get back into her good graces. She wouldn't even consider it.
Her comm flickered and Beni's voice filtered through, giggling through a countdown.
Liara sent a panicked glance to the door, casting around the room for somewhere she could fit; well, they had already used the bed once. Surely they wouldn't look there again.
Tomorrow she would have a word with Shepard about any other blind spots she might have discovered during these impromptu games. She had a sneaking suspicion she wasn't the only one that had cheated just a little.