"Get her out of here!" Chakwas ordered. Shepard felt someone grip her arm and shook them off without even glancing to see who it was.
Liara hadn't opened her eyes again once they had closed. Shepard wasn't sure if she was even still alive, though she doubted the medical team would be bustling about as frantically as they were if she was not. Chakwas was tearing open sterile tubes, Miranda barking orders as she herself started to run IVs. The infirmary door hissed open and Mordin appeared, bustling past and going to sterilize, ready to render assistance in any way needed.
Though she didn't look up from her work, Chakwas knew her commander enough to know that she was still there.
"Her vitals are tanking. I need universal sterilization and we need to operate right now. I need everyone without a medical degree out of this infirmary. Get the commander out of here!"
Again she was taken by the arm, Kasumi's other hand landing on her shoulder as she tried to steer Shepard back toward the door.
"They need to help her, Shep," she urged as Shepard resisted. Garrus, who had entered on Mordin's heels, unceremoniously swung an arm around Del's waist, bodily lifting her from her feet.
"Let me go you fuck!" Shepard gasped, trying to twist to throw a punch. The motion seared pain through her broken ribs and cut her breath short, which was the only thing that saved the turian from a black eye…or worse.
It was only a few steps before they were out of the infirmary, and the instant the door closed he set her back on her feet. One arm slung around her middle, she half-hunched, breathing ragged, eyes closed.
"You ok?" Kasumi asked gently. Shepard nodded but didn't open her eyes. Lightly taking the woman's arm again, Kasumi gingerly steered her back to a bench in the mess hall. This time, Shepard didn't fight her, sitting down and gritting her teeth a little.
"She'll be all right, Shepard," Garrus told her. "She's in good hands, and she's a little fighter. You know that."
Shepard opened her eyes, looking at him balefully. Good hands or not, fighter or not, Shepard knew her luck. You could not be angry at the ocean for being an ocean, perhaps, but she had been hit by too many heavy waves, too many stormy seas, to ever even remotely trust it. If there was a higher power out there, it seemed determined to torture her, to punish her for some unfathomable crime.
Someone with a slightly less pessimistic view of reality might say it was not the universe's way of punishing her, but rather that these things were the grindstone upon which she was tempered, sharpened into the weapon that the galaxy needed right now.
However, grindstone or ocean, punishment or temperance, weapon or not, Shepard was only certain of one thing.
If Liara died, nothing else meant a goddamn thing. Not the Collectors, not the Reapers, not the trillions of lives inexplicably dependent upon her.
Nothing.
She was sipping at a coffee that Kasumi had handed her ten minutes later, when Kelly showed up with some dry clothes. Completely without shame or self-consciousness, Shepard stood up from the table and stripped out of her still damp clothing, changing into the dry jeans and button-down that Kelly provided. Fishing in the pocket of her wet cargos she pulled out the OSD, handed it to Garrus.
"Take that to Joker," she said. "It should have a location, even if it's just a system. I want him to find it and give me an ETA on how long it will take us to get there."
As the turian disappeared toward the CIC, Kasumi reappeared, having gone to change her own wet clothing. She seated herself beside Shepard with her own coffee.
Nothing was said. Shepard merely sat, sipping at the joe, eyes unfocused but dry. Kasumi, Kelly, and Garrus when he returned, respected her silence and said nothing, merely lingered nearby, occasionally casting glances toward the infirmary.
It was nearly four hours before the med-bay doors opened, Mordin and Miranda stepping out a breath before Chakwas herself. The instant she saw them, Shepard was on her feet, striding over with Garrus on her heels.
"She'll be all right," Chakwas told her. "She's out of danger."
Shepard's shoulders immediately sagged slightly, and she bobbed her head. "Good…good, thank you."
"We're keeping her out until tomorrow. The bullet fragmented and caused damage to both her heart and her lung, and she lost a lot of blood. The surgery was successful, however, and she should suffer no long term ill effects. I wouldn't recommend she go running any marathons for a while, however."
"That's great news, Doc," Garrus grinned, his mandibles flapping a little.
"Can I see her?" Shepard asked.
"For a little while…after you've been treated," Chakwas said sternly. "Rumor has it you have some cracked ribs that need tending. And no arguments, please. I treat you and then you can see her…not the other way round. Or I will forbid you from coming entering my infirmary until she's ready to leave on her own two feet, am I clear?"
Shepard scowled, but Chakwas wouldn't flinch or budge, merely folded her arms and lifted a brow with a stern look only mothers and doctors ever seemed able to perfect. Only when Shepard nodded her head in agreement, did Chakwas direct her into the med-bay.
"Sit still," Dr. Chakwas admonished gently a few minutes later, as she finished the binding. Shepard was fortunate. Her ribs were only slightly cracked, in the one or two spots they were actually still bone. The nanites were already busy at work repairing them, but Chakwas had bound them up just to be safe. Had Shepard still had her natural ribcage, the force with which she'd hit the lobby floor would have had results far more dramatic than a few tiny fractures.
Fatally more dramatic.
Knowing full well where Shepard's attention was and why she kept craning her head around, Chakwas reminded her, "She's going to be fine, Commander. I promise."
Finishing the binding she nodded to Shepard that she could pull her shirt back on, and stepped back to wash her hands. "Go on."
Getting to her feet, Shepard stepped away from the bio-bed and headed to the far end of the infirmary, where Liara lay still and silent under a sheet. She still looked pale, but better than she had before, and her face was serene. Shifting a chair over Shepard sat down, almost tentatively reaching out and taking the asari woman's hand in her own.
Though she knew Liara was beyond hearing her, she leaned forward and lightly kissed her cheek, her free hand gently stroking over the folds of her crest as she murmured in her ear.
"Hey, you…" she whispered. "Don't you know that I'm the one that's supposed to get shot? That's my job, Tianlán. It's what I get paid for. You start taking bullets instead and I don't get paid…"
Her attempt at levity fell flat, even to her own ears. Struggling against the heat rising in her eyes she bowed her forehead against Liara's neck.
"It's all right if you hate me," she murmured. "It's all right if you never want to see me again. I'm just a fucked up, boozing, angry little gutter-rat. But this galaxy is only a place worth living in, so long as you are living in it. You're smart and strong, and everything is better off because of you. Walk away from me if you have to, I could never blame you if you did, but please…don't walk away from that. Don't deny the universe your light, or nothing at all will ever be worth fighting for. If someone's got to be shot, let it be me."
She fell silent, just listening to Liara's soft breathing, her fingers still lightly drifting over her crest. A few moments later, and she heard Chakwas clear her throat.
Lifting her head she glanced over at the doctor, who approached with something in her hand. "I thought you might be interested in this," she said, holding her hand out. "She was wearing these underneath her shirt."
Shepard released Liara's hand and held her own out, Chakwas pressing something cold and metallic to her palm, a chain draping down.
Shepard stared dumbly a moment before it registered on her what she was holding. "These are my dog tags," she murmured, turning them over in her fingers. Her thumb moved over the imprinted metal, feeling each tiny raised letter.
She had honestly never thought to see them again. She had been wearing them the night the Normandy had gone down. At best, she had expected them to be permanently lost…at worst little more than hunks of melted metal mingled in with the remains of her hard-suit.
So many emotions passed through her as she looked at them. A marine's dog tags were more than just a means of identification. They were a badge, a signifier of what they had achieved and what they stood for. They were a reminder of their own mortality and a testament to who they were. A marine never took off their dog tags, even to shower.
She had thought all that lost, but here it was again, tangibly in her hand. Her fingers closed over them and she nodded mutely, before winding up the chain and tucking the tags into her pocket. "Can I stay…a bit longer?" she asked.
"Just a few more minutes," Chakwas said. "Then you need to rest. Of course, it makes no never mind to me whether you rest in your room or…say, on a spare bio-bed?"
Shepard nodded gratefully, resting her hand on Chakwas' when the doctor gently squeezed her shoulder a moment before retreating to her desk. Shepard then shifted her grip back over to Liara's limp fingers, drawing her hand up and kissing it softly before she bowed her head.
"Mother told me to protect you," Thug rumbled, his bright green eyes troubled as he regarded Eír. They were standing upon the launch pad, Shrive's small ship powered up behind them. The other asari girl was standing over with her parents, their conversation masked by the low rumble of engines.
"I know," Eír replied, lifting her hands to cradle his broad head. "And you are the best big brother a girl could ever hope to have. But we cannot live by Mother's path any more. Stay here, Thug. Finish your training. Find out what you want. It's not like we'll never see each other again. When you're ready to leave Tuchanka you can come and see us, stay with us if you want. You'll always be welcome."
"Do you know where you are going?" he asked.
"Omega, first," she told him. "Shrive knows a batarian man who is there on business right now. He works security and transportation for a colony, out on the fringes. He might be able to get us jobs there, help us get established until we figure out a more solid plan of what we want to do. It's a start, anyway."
He glanced over at Shrive a moment, before he made a reluctant sound, and looked back at his sister. "You just be careful," he grumped. "Not everyone out there is as nice as the krogan."
She giggled at his gruff attempt at a joke, then cupped his face again, kissing the tip of his nose. "I love you, Thug," she said.
He snorted, wiping a hand over the spot she'd kissed as if disgusted by the action. She knew better, of course, but he was for all intents and purposes, a krogan adolescent…and males in general were strange about such things.
Shrive parted from her parents and gave Eír a nod before she headed into the ship. Eír nodded back, risking a glance over at Misira and Buhto. Buhto seemed unconcerned about the whole situation, and Misira looked a bit too stoic for the expression to be natural. When she glanced at Eír, the younger asari self-consciously looked away, nodding at her brother as she picked up her bag.
"Well, that's it then," she said. "I'd better go. I'll…I'll see you soon, Thug."
He bobbed his head. "Just…be careful, Eír."
She could feel the weight of Misira's gaze following her as she turned and strode for the ship. She forced herself not to look toward the Matriarch, or slow her steps.
I do not need her approval. Nor does Shrive. This is our life, our choice.
On board and out of sight of the older asari, the weight suddenly seemed to lift off her shoulders. She stowed her bag as the airlock closed, and hurried up to the helm. The smile that Shrive gave her as she appeared was worth a thousand disapproving looks from Misira or anyone else.
"We'll be at Omega in a few hours," Shrive told her as Eír settled into the co-pilot's chair. "Might be there a day or two before we head for the colony, all depending on what Teful can arrange."
Filled with nothing but hope and excitement for the future, Eír could not stop smiling, leaning over and planting a light kiss on Shrive's cheek.
"A colony, together," she beamed. "Life as we choose it to be."
"That's right," Shrive agreed. As the yellow sky of Tuchanka was replaced with the deep velvet black of space, Eír fixed her eyes on the stars as if she could already see the planet they would someday call home.
"What is it called again? The world where we are going?" she asked. Shrive had told her before, but she had forgotten.
"Well, we still don't know for a surety we're going there, it all depends on Teful."
"I know, but I can hope, can't I? What was it called? I remember it had such a nice sounding name."
"Yes it does," Shrive agreed, removing one hand from the controls to take Eír's, giving it an affectionate squeeze before she pulled up the galaxy map. "It starts with an A…hang on, I have to look it up again. I've got it high-lighted in the navs. Ah…here we go."
She selected a command, the swirling holographic stars zooming in swiftly. In moments a glowing planet shimmered over the con, a serene orb of greens and yellows.
"There it is," Eír said with an almost reverent tone to her voice. "There it is, our new home."
Her eyes sparkled as if they held the stars themselves as she smiled at Shrive.
"Aratoht."
Shepard remained in the infirmary more or less constantly over the next twenty-four hours, leaving only briefly now and again as duty or biology demanded.
The OSD that they'd rescued from Tela Vasir was encrypted. EDI swiftly cracked the code, and with Joker's help they soon had the coordinates for the Shadow Broker's base. It would take the better part of a week to travel there, and Shepard gave them the green light to start on the way.
When Chakwas declared Liara strong enough to wake up and informed the commander she would be discontinuing the medications keeping her asleep, Shepard abandoned the asari's bedside for the first time in hours, retreating a few feet away, hands clasped nervously behind her back, her face expressionless.
As the medication halted, Chakwas watched the monitors a moment, before nodding. "Here she comes. She's waking up."
Much to the doctor's surprise, Shepard made no move to come closer, merely standing where she was, watching as the asari shifted, grimacing faintly before her eyelashes fluttered.
"There, now. Welcome back," Chakwas smiled as sky blue eyes half-opened, blinking in a fog of confusion.
"Helen," Liara whispered. "What…happened?"
"You were injured…shot…on the top of the Azure Hotel. Do you remember?"
"I…" her brows knit, then her eyes seemed to clear a little, widening a bit. "Vasir!"
She shifted as if intending to sit up. Immediately Shepard took half a step forward, as Chakwas took hold of Liara's shoulders, preventing the girl from rising.
"No, lay still," Helen admonished softly. "Trust me, sitting would be very uncomfortable right now. You were very badly wounded."
"But Vasir…the data…"
"We recovered the OSD," Shepard stated. "Vasir is dead."
Liara's eyes shifted, seeing her standing there for the first time. "Shepard…" she murmured.
Chakwas glanced at Shepard, then lightly touched Liara's shoulder. "I'll leave you two alone for a bit," she said. "Try not to move too much."
Meeting Shepard's eyes sternly, Chakwas headed off toward her desk, out of hearing range. Shepard cleared her throat, stepping to the side of the bed, hands still clasped tightly behind her back.
"How are you feeling?" she asked. Liara's brows knit faintly and she lifted one hand, lightly touching the protective seal over her wound.
"I am…a bit tired, unfocused," she replied. "It feels as if a varren is seated upon my chest but…beyond that, I am fine."
"Good," Shepard replied. "Well, Joker and EDI were able to get through the encryption on the OSD and uncover Sekat's data. According to his numbers the Shadow Broker's main base is on Hagalaz, in the Sowilo system. We are en route now, but it will take us several days before we reach it."
"That is in the Hourglass Nebula," Liara murmured thoughtfully a moment. "There were previous indications but nothing concrete. I…thank you, Shepard. I cannot tell you what this means to me."
"You're welcome, Doctor," Shepard responded, then nodded faintly. "Well. I'm glad to see you're doing all right. I'll let you rest."
"Oh…okay…" Liara murmured tentatively, confusion in her eyes.
"I'll talk to you later."
Shepard turned and walked out, Chakwas looking up at her as she strode past, surprise on her face. Rising, Helen stared after her, then looked back at Liara before heading to the asari's side.
The injured woman was staring at the ceiling, her blue eyes gloss and fogged with more than mere pain medication.
"Liara?" Chakwas asked in concern. "Are you all right?"
"I will be fine," the asari replied softly.
"I don't know what's gotten in to her," Chakwas replied. "In twenty-four hours she's barely left your side. Garrus had to carry her out of here when you were first brought in. I'm surprised I didn't end up patching his hide too after that. And then suddenly…this? I don't understand it."
Liara blinked at her. "She…did not leave my side?"
"No," Chakwas replied. "She even slept on the next bio-bed…if you can call getting up every five minutes to check on you 'sleeping'. I don't think I have ever once seen the commander actually afraid before, until I saw her face as they were bringing you in. The woman was terrified."
Liara blinked, her lower lip trembling a little. "I feared she hated me…"
"Shepard?" Chakwas asked in shock. "Hate you? What do you possibly think you could have done that she would hate you?"
Liara simply shook her head, a weak hand banishing a tear before it could fall. Chakwas knew better than to press. If Liara got too worked up emotionally right now it would only hinder the healing process.
"Nevermind," she murmured. "You just rest for now. I'm not sure what's going on or why you would think the commander could ever hate you, but rest assured. What I've seen since the moment you were hurt is anything but hate."
"Commander?"
"Kelly, I am extremely busy," Shepard grumped as she scanned over the ship's reports, heading up toward the helm. Undeterred, the yeoman trotted after her.
"I understand that, Commander," she replied. "Dr. Chakwas wanted me to notify you that Dr. T'Soni is on her feet-"
"Good, she's recovering well then," Shepard said crisply as she arrived at the helm. "Joker, did you send down a work order to Daniels and Donnelly to trim the port thrusters by .7?"
"Uh, yes ma'am?" Joker replied, blinking up at her.
".7 is outside of the approved navigation specs."
"True, but-"
"Commander, you have not been to see Dr. T'Soni in two days," Kelly interrupted.
"I understand that, I have a lot of things on my plate, Yeoman," Shepard said testily. "We don't know what we're going to face on Hagalaz and I'd like to make sure everything is up to spec before we arrive. Which I cannot do if my pilot continues to tweak the system out of spec."
"Well, I ran the numbers, and while it is out of spec-" Joker tried to explain, only to be interrupted again.
"Shepard, you need to go down and see her," Kelly urged.
Shepard's eyes were hard as rock as she fixed them on her yeoman. "You are out of line," she said sternly. "Dr. T'Soni is in Dr. Chakwas' capable hands and from what you just told me, she is recovering just fine. I fail to see why my presence is necessary when I have work-"
Chambers didn't so much as flinch. "Work Operative Lawson can be seeing to," she said calmly. "And you have never questioned Joker's work orders before, nor his tweaks to the guidance and navigation systems. He knows what he's doing, and you know he knows what he's doing. You are indulging in busy work to distract yourself when right now what you need to be doing is going down to the infirmary and talking to Liara T'Soni, not hiding behind your duties and rank like a frightened child!"
Joker stared at the two women as if they had just turned into vorcha, shrinking back a little in his seat, and fully expecting to see the pretty redheaded yeoman get a few of her nice white teeth knocked loose. In all the time he had worked with Shepard, he had never seen anyone speak to her like that and get away with it. Even Ashley, when she'd tried to come back on duty too soon after an injury and dared to use the words 'with all due respect' with Shepard, had earned an acid-coated tongue-lashing that even his ears were still ringing from.
Instead, Shepard wordlessly flung the data pad at Chambers' chest and turned on her heel, striding back off toward the CIC and the lift beyond. Kelly awkwardly caught the pad, watching her go before she let out a shaky breath, and glanced at the wide-eyed Joker.
"I don't think I'll get away with doing that ever again," she said shakily.
"You're telling me!" he replied. "I was expecting the galaxy to be down a cute redhead."
Kelly arched a brow, then smirked as she tilted her head. "Cute, huh?"
"Uh…what's that EDI? Oh yes, trimming the nav specs. I'm right on that."
Kelly grinned as she turned and walked away, hearing EDI pipe up behind her.
"I did not say anything, Mr. Moreau."
"I know! Just shut up ok?"
Shepard's hand gripped tightly in her pocket as she stood outside the med-bay door. The rounded edges of metal bit into her palm for a long moment, before she forced her hand to loosen, forced herself to step forward enough to trigger the door.
As it opened, her eyes landed first on the two women at the far end of the room. Chakwas was standing beside Liara, who was on her feet if a little unnaturally stiff. Both looked over, and when she saw it was the commander, Chakwas made sure Liara was steady, then excused herself.
"I'll leave you two to talk," she said as she stepped past Shepard and out toward the mess hall. The door slid shut behind her.
For a moment, the two women simply looked at one another. Liara had one hand on the bio-bed, the other lightly pressed to her stomach. After a moment, she shifted with a faint wince, and Shepard strode forward.
"Hey, here. Not too fast," she murmured, catching Liara's arm lightly and helping her over to sit in a nearby chair.
"Th-thank you," Liara replied as she sat. "I…am still a little weak."
"Course you are. It's not going to go away all in one day," Shepard soothed, then seemed to remember herself. She drew her hands back, clearing her throat a little. Liara looked up at her, blue eyes pleading.
"Don't do that," she begged softly.
"Do what?" Shepard asked.
"Go away like that," Liara answered. "It is like you are close, with me, and then…you are so far away."
Shepard's demeanor didn't soften, and Liara's gaze drifted to the floor.
"You are here, and yet you are not," she murmured sadly. "Please…yell at me. Curse me if you have to, even strike me if you must. I can take all of that. I cannot take your indifference."
The stoicism cracked a little. "I would never hit you," Shepard replied indignantly. "Liara, I understand that I was gone. I know that people change. Two years is…things happen in two years. People change. They move on. You made it quite clear that you've moved on. I understand. I am…trying not to intrude."
"I-I made it clear…?"
"Yes," Shepard replied. With her neutrality shattered her anger was coming out, a far more comfortable emotion for her than hurt or grief, fear or heartbreak. "In your office. On that phone call. At the Trade Center…for fuck's sake, Liara…I fell five goddamn stories and you didn't even glance back!"
"I-I knew Tela would turn back, finish you off while you were laying there…I couldn't hesitate, Shepard. I had to get her away from you, make sure she didn't escape-"
"Because of your vendetta, your quest for vengeance on the Shadow Broker."
Now Liara's temper was rising. Tears running down her cheeks she gripped the arms of the chair, fury on her face as a weak wreath of biotics made her entire body shimmer.
"He tried to take you away from me," Liara shot. "Feron sacrificed himself for me…for you…and now the Broker has him. Were it Ashley, or Garrus, or Tali that had been tortured at the Broker's hands for two years, would you still say such things? Or would you be fighting with every ounce of strength you have to get them back safely, to make sure the Broker paid?"
"I'm here, aren't I?" Shepard asked. "I'm here for you, Liara. Because it's your friend that needs help. We're heading to the Broker's base right now, and when we get there I will do everything I can to take him down and help your friend. I-"
She broke off, shaking her head. "No. No, I'm not here to fight. I just…I just don't know where we stand, Liara. I don't seem to know anything, anymore. I can't…I can't begin to imagine what you've gone through the last two years but I know it's not right of me to just…it's not fair for me to just come back into your life and expect that nothing is going to have changed. I'm trying to be respectful, trying to…Li, I'm sorry…"
Liara's tears, silent as they might be, were her undoing. Stepping forward she moved to her knees in front of Liara's chair. Reaching out she cupped the asari's face, Liara hanging her hands from Shepard's forearms as their foreheads rested together.
A thousand words began to form, and a thousand times none would emerge. Finally Shepard managed to speak.
"I am here for you, Liara," she whispered. "However you need me to be. If you need me to fight for you, to listen, to set goddamn fire to something, I'm here."
Liara couldn't help a faint little laugh at that, sniffling a little.
Shepard smiled too, but it was far too brief as she continued on. "And if you need me to go away, I understand."
"No," Liara murmured, tightening her grip on Shepard's arms slightly, possessively. "No, Shepard. I do not know…I have been so hurt, so confused, for so long I do not even…I do not know where to start, I…just…no. I do not want you to go away."
"Ok," Shepard said softly. "That's a start, then. We'll start there."
The holographic image of the planet spun silently above the conference table on the Normandy, reflected in a dozen sets of eyes.
"This is Hagalaz," Miranda stated. "And this…is the Shadow Broker's base."
A small target circle highlighted a tiny area on the planet, right on the median line between day and night.
"We were able to pinpoint the exact orbital path off of the OSD that we were provided," EDI added helpfully. "However only our most sensitive scans even hint at a ship being present along that path. The storm masks it almost perfectly."
"So unless we knew what we were looking for, we'd never find it," Shepard commented. Liara, seated nearby, nodded.
"He hid the base well," she murmured. "The storm is furious and constant where the temperature differentials between night and day meet. The seas boil under the sun, only to snap-freeze at night."
"Unfortunately, our need for stealth and the turbulent atmosphere makes approaching with the Normandy directly an impossibility. And a shuttle is little better," Miranda frowned.
"Shuttle is at least quick and has the best chance of going undetected. How soon until we're in the system proper?"
"Thirty minutes," EDI supplied.
"Good. Have Joker put us in a wide solar orbit. We can take the shuttle to the planet proper and drop off a strike team directly on the hull."
"On the hull," Miranda echoed flatly, as if she couldn't believe her ears. "In an electrical storm. With wind gusts of 100 plus kph."
"I doubt the Broker is going to let us just swoop in and dock," Shepard replied dryly. "And his computer system is probably encrypted tighter than Garrus's ass."
"Hey!" the turian snorted.
"We'll adjust our mag-locks to hold in wind gusts of that speed and we have the best chance of remaining undetected for far longer by taking that approach. We can find a point of entry and bring down their defenses from the inside."
"It sounds risky," Jacob shook his head. "But it probably is the best plan we have. Without knowing more about their direct defenses, anything else risks us getting blown out of the sky."
"Joker can pilot us down in the shuttle," Shepard stated. "If anyone can navigate that storm he can. Once we're inside if we can find a way to hack their computer system or bring down their firewalls, we will. That'll give EDI control over the base and with luck, this will be over before the Broker even knows what hit him."
"Very well, you're the boss," Miranda agreed. "Dr. T'Soni can help us monitor-"
"I am going with the strike team," Liara stated matter-of-factly, before Miranda had even finished her sentence. Shepard leaned forward, fixing her with a look.
"Only if Dr. Chakwas clears you for full combat duty," she warned.
"Dr. Chakwas has already cleared me. I have some lingering muscle soreness but there is nothing that should impede my abilities. I am not staying behind, Shepard. We are rescuing my friend, following my 'vendetta', as you put it. I am seeing this to the end."
Shepard nodded slowly, clearly not entirely convinced of the idea but knowing that, short of tying the asari woman up, she was not going to be able to keep her there. That, and she was right. Had it been Ashley, or Garrus, or Tali in there…there was no way in fuck Shepard would have let herself be kept out of the action.
You cannot be angry at her for doing the exact same things that you do, she told herself silently, then scowled as she argued her own point. Yeah, but the things I do get me hurt.
She didn't know if she could stand it, seeing Liara get shot again.
"All right, we have our plan then. Let's get this done people. Garrus, you and Jacob will be on the strike team with Dr. T'Soni and I. I expect you to be in full hard-suits and ready to go in exactly thirty minutes. Dismissed."