"Commander Shepard, I understand your anger, and you do have my apologies-"
"You lied to me and you lied to Liara. You tried to manipulate us both to keep us apart and for what? Did you honestly fucking think you could control me like a puppet, that I'd be your goddamn toy to jump at every snap of your fingers?"
"If that were true, Shepard, I would have implanted you with a control chip," the man replied coolly, regarding the hologram hovering before him. "I made a judgment call. We could not be sure where Dr. T'Soni's loyalties really lay and this mission is too important to risk petty distractions. However it has become clear that my judgment in this case was incorrect. Miranda made some very good points on your behalf and it is evident now that having you and Dr. T'Soni working together is best all around. You did an exceptional job assisting her in bringing down the Shadow Broker, and her new contacts and information network will be invaluable in the days to come."
Shepard narrowed her eyes. "Let me make one thing abundantly clear. Liara and her ship are not Cerberus property. She is helping me, not you."
"She is helping humanity by helping you," he pointed out. "That's enough for me."
"You've already proven I can't believe a thing that comes out of your mouth so I shall make this even plainer. If I so much as think a Cerberus uniform outside of this so-called Lazarus Cell has come within three systems of Hagalaz and Liara I will personally hunt you down. And this promise stands, today, tomorrow, and even after we stop the Collectors and the Reapers and I have shaken your mud off my boots. Stay. Away. From. Liara."
He let out a stream of smoke, his expression unreadable. "Understood, Shepard," he replied after a moment. "Miranda tells me you are heading to Korlus, to pick up Dr. Okeer. I look forward to reading the successful mission report when you are finished."
Shepard glared as the hologram around her faded away, the Illusive Man having terminated the call. She didn't trust the fucker one bit. Oh, he'd leave Liara alone so long as she was proving valuable to Shepard and the mission, but once that was done…once Shepard had given the fucker the tail-lights, she had no doubt Hagalaz would be at the top of the Illusive Man's 'to-do' list.
That's a bridge you'll have to jump off when the time comes. For now, you gotta get your head back together and get back in the saddle.
Heading out of the conference room she took the lift down to Engineering. The metal steps to the maintenance access area were still just as loud under her boots as they had been before. She paused near the bottom, sitting down and lighting a cigar, smoking as she tried not to brood.
"What the fuck are you doing?" A voice interrupted her thoughts. She glanced up, spotting Jack leaning on the wall nearby, watching her with a scowl. Shepard had just wanted somewhere quiet to smoke and think…she'd all but forgotten the biotic was lurking down there.
"Smoking," she grumped in response. Jack's glare only sharpened.
"I can see that," she sniped. "Why the fuck are you doing it on my deck?"
"Funny, I thought this was my fucking ship," Shepard replied.
"Yeah, well…I gotta live down here, and I'd rather not smell your shit-ass cigars."
Shepard was in no mood. The air filters on the ship snatched the cigar smoke and bore it away before any of it could linger, so there really was no danger of any odor sticking around. Jack was used to people backing down under her temper, insults, and overall freak-ass scariness, and she was just pushing, trying to see what she could get away with.
Shepard only glared and pointedly continued to smoke. Jack flapped her hand with a sharp, 'what the fuck ever', and strode back out of sight, heading to the bunk area near the base of the engine core. After a moment, Shepard rose and followed her.
"You finish reading those reports?" she asked, gesturing at the data pad sitting on the cot. Jack shot her a look, then nodded.
"Most of 'em," she said.
"Find anything?"
"Lots of shit," Jack said. "Names, dates, places."
"Cerberus really fucked you over, did they?"
"You could say that," Jack retorted. "They raised me in a lab facility. Did experiments, put me through torture, turned me into the lovely, sweet paragon of fucking righteousness you see before you. Your friends are into some twisted shit, Shepard."
"Watch who you're calling my 'friend'," Shepard warned.
"Or what? You'll smoke me to death?" Jack smirked. "Hate to break it to you, Shepard, but you're in bed with Cerberus, fucking their brains out. You're a blind, stupid, self-righteous little Alliance pussy who likes to delude herself into thinking she's in control."
That was the second time Jack had called Shepard a pussy. "Is that so?"
"Yeah, that's so," Jack retorted. "I know about you, Shepard. Government hero, you think your shit don't stink. You can use a gun, took out a few geth and shit and had some medals pinned to you, so now you think you're some kind of bad-ass big-shot. I hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but you have no idea what real pain and suffering is."
"Huh." Shepard scrubbed the end of her cigar out on the wall, looking askance at the other woman. "You know, Jack, I think it's time you started earning your paycheck. We're going to be on Korlus in a couple hours. I expect you locked and loaded and ready to go dirt-side when we get there."
Jack laughed with a snort. "Fuck, Shepard. You don't even defend yourself when someone insults you?"
"I'd have to care, first," Shepard replied. "Now, you gonna be dirt-side or am I putting you off my fucking ship the next time we hit Omega?"
"Don't worry," Jack smirked. "I'll go with you. Someone's gotta protect your pretty, lily-white little ass from all the big bad thugs. Wouldn't want you to break a nail."
The glass shimmered with the nutrient fluid behind it, a slow and languid shift of light and shadow that made the serene krogan face seem oddly surreal.
She had seen tubes like this before, on Virmire. Glass coffins she'd shattered with gunfire, slaughtering their contents decisively and without remorse. Some of the krogan within those had been little more than children, but would have grown into mindless meat-puppets bent to Saren's will.
This boy looked like an adolescent, if a very big one.
He's going to be a monster in size…if he ever grows up, Shepard noted, watching the way his head gently bobbed to the current flowing around him.
"Well that was a fucking waste of time," Jack sniffed, her arms folded as she glared at the dead warlord at her feet. Shepard looked from the tank to Okeer, his eyes still bulging, tongue lolling. The gas Jedore had flooded the labs with had killed him fast but not gently.
"What are we going to do with it?" Kasumi asked, also eyeing the tank and its unconscious contents.
"Why do we have to do anything with it?" Jack wanted to know. "You saw the other krogan. They were totally bug-fuck. So was Okeer if you ask me. Just dump it. Power it off. Let it die. It's useless."
"No, he said this one was different," Shepard murmured.
"Don't go all bleeding heart," Jack said bitterly. "This thing is a waste."
"I'm not entirely convinced of that," Shepard replied, then activated her radio. "Normandy, this is Shepard."
{We got you loud and clear, Commander,} Miranda responded.
"We have the facility secure. Bring the ship down and have Mordin meet us in the main lab, along with an extraction team."
{Understood, we'll be on the ground in ten.}
Jack sniffed again, perching herself up on Okeer's desk with a flippant wave of her hand. "Whatever."
Shepard removed her helmet, going to the console and starting to peruse the data. She didn't understand half of it, of course…that would be for Mordin to translate. Shepard had never been one for chemistry, biology, or genetics. What little attention she paid to anatomy was to simply find more efficient ways to put an enemy on the goddamn ground. Still, it was a bit fascinating.
Kasumi, poking about herself, wandered over to the desk and plucked up Okeer's spare omni-tool. As she accessed it, Jack eyed her. "So what the fuck is your deal, anyway?"
"My deal?" Kasumi asked, glancing up at her.
"Why the fuck do you listen to her?" she gestured over at Shepard, who was out of ear-shot. "You're smart, right? Sneaky. You take what you want. She's just some pussy Alliance hero who won't even stand up for herself. Why listen to her?"
"We're…talking about the same Commander Shepard, right?" Kasumi asked, confused.
"Yeah, the bitch over there," Jack said angrily, gesturing at Shepard's back. "Likes to pretend she's a bad ass, that she's all buddy-buddy? She's an ok shot, I'll give her that, and she held her own against those mercs and krogan and shit but…fuck. If she ever saw the inside of a prison, she'd fold. She'd be pissing herself in an hour."
"I highly doubt that," Kasumi answered. "You've got her figured wrong, Jack."
"Do I?" Jack asked sarcastically. "If she was in serious shit the moment she stubbed her toe she'd be whining like a stuck pig and begging for her life. Convince me that's not true."
"You know what meat-hooks are?" Kasumi asked, idly thumbing through the omni-tool's files.
Jack glowered. "Yeah, had them on a time or two. I'd like to skin whatever twisted fuck came up with that design."
"Yeah, so would Shepard," Kasumi smirked.
"Shepard's had meat-hooks on," Jack scoffed in sarcastic disbelief.
"Check out her left wrist sometime. Scars speak for themselves. In fact, you may find that there's really not that much difference between you and Shepard when you get down to it."
"Bullshit."
Kasumi shrugged. "I really don't care if you believe me or not. It's not my job to convince you of anything."
Drifting away from the con, she went over to Shepard's side and showed her some of the info she'd found from the omni-tool. Jack scowled after her, not moving from her spot on the desk until the Normandy team arrived, Mordin and Miranda at their head.
The salarian peered with intense interest at the young krogan in the tank, swiftly filing through the data that Shepard had accessed.
"Fascinating! Basis of research brilliant…but deliberately flawed. Okeer tried to compensate, much trial and error. Finally incorporated Collector technology, compensated for altered genetic tech-"
"Deliberately flawed?" Shepard asked.
"Yes. Basic research not Okeer's, probably purchased. Black-market intel, scientist seeking quick profit. Research deliberately flawed, however…sabotage perhaps. Strong similarity between original process data and data retrieved from base on Virmire." He took a contemplative breath. "Same geneticist."
"Same geneticist," Shepard echoed.
"The research on Virmire belonged to Dr. Droyas," Miranda stated. "He and Okeer share no known connection."
"Not quite," Shepard reminded her. "Droyas called in help, remember? It was Osco that corrected the flaws in his work and paved the way for viable subjects. The basic genetics work was hers, not Droyas'."
"Osco?" Jack suddenly piped up, jumping off the desk and striding over with a black look. "Did you say Osco?"
"Yeah, Gellian Osco," Shepard replied. "Means something to you?"
"That bitch was in charge of the project that experimented on me," Jack shot. "Her name was in the files. I didn't remember her until I saw her picture…Osco was here?"
"Doubtful. Simply sold research. No reason to believe she ever set foot here," Mordin shook his head. As Shepard looked at Miranda, the woman shrugged.
"Osco left Cerberus a long time ago," Miranda told her. "She was brilliant but mentally unstable, as you know. The Illusive Man did attempt to bring her back in a couple of years ago but she refused. Doubtlessly because of her personal vendetta against you, Shepard."
"We're gonna find that bitch!" Jack said hotly.
"Yeah, we get it," Shepard said sternly. "Unfortunately we have more important things on our plate than finding Osco at this exact moment-"
"Fuck you!" Jack snarled. "That woman kept me trapped in a room for years, and that's the least of what she did to me! You don't know what that's like, Shepard! We need to go after her!"
"We'll discuss it later!" Shepard retorted firmly, then looked at Mordin. "What's your opinion on the krogan in the t-"
She broke off as she was suddenly slapped with biotics. Far weaker than Jack was normally capable of, the blow was still enough to drop her off her feet and skid her over the floor a little. Immediately Miranda snagged the ex-con in a field of her own, the others leveling weapons at the tattooed woman.
Shepard grit her teeth, eyes sparking as she surged to her feet. Snatching off her gloves she threw them down. "All right, that's enough! Miranda, let her go! Weapons down, the rest of you."
"Shepard-" the Cerberus woman began, then blinked at the look on the commander's face. Lowering her hand, she let her biotics die, allowing Jack to move.
Shepard was pissed but she was not an idiot. Jack was a powerful biotic, but she was still subject to the fallacies of the flesh. Even asari could only wield biotics for so long before they exhausted themselves, and Jack had been using hers with enthusiasm ever since they landed on the planet. The fact that the slap was barely enough to knock Shepard off her feet when Jack could have put her through a wall was testament to the fact that she was about worn out.
Jack surged forward and Shepard met her, both women toe to toe and glaring in each other's faces a breath later. "I will mess you the fuck up, Shepard," Jack warned.
"Try," Shepard dared. Jack shoved her, hands wreathed in blue, the force just enough to stumble the commander back another couple of feet before she strode right back and resumed her position.
"That all you have?" she demanded. "Come on, Jack. Put me off my feet!"
Jack hit her again, and again Shepard only stumbled. Each biotic strike was weaker than the last. Once more stepping up Shepard barked directly in Jack's face.
"Come on! What's the matter with you? Biotics all you got? Make me fucking bleed!"
Jack let out a growl and swung her fist. Shepard took the strike on her jaw, turning her head with the blow and immediately following up with a hard roundhouse to Jack's cheek. The biotic stumbled back with a blink of surprise, then tried to swing again. Shepard landed a jab that bloodied her lip, took another belt to the chin, then rammed a fist into Jack's gut hard enough to fold the woman over, make her gasp for air. Hooking her ankle Shepard dropped Jack to the ground, kicked her over onto her belly, and pinned one wrist while snaking her arm around her neck, cutting off her air.
"Are you done?" she growled low in Jack's ear.
"Fuck you," Jack rasped. Shepard wrenched the arm harder, feeling bones creak.
"Are. You. Done?" she demanded again.
"Get off me," Jack gasped hoarsely. "Fuck you, get off me! Yes, I'm done!"
Rising, Shepard hauled the smaller woman to her feet, fixing her eyes sternly. "We will discuss that feng mu gou Osco later. Is that understood?"
Jack only jerked her chin in a half-nod, backhanding a trickle of blood away from her lip. Looking back at Mordin, Shepard finished her question. "What is your opinion on the tank krogan? Is he viable? Stable?"
As if nothing at all had just happened, Mordin nodded. "Further in depth analysis of genetic data would be preferable but, from cursory look at data, specimen is hearty and mentally sound. May not be friendly but…cannot have everything."
"This trip may not be a total loss then," Shepard sniffed, wiping a hand under her own lip where Jack had clipped her. "I want this tank on board, put it in the cargo hold until I decide what to do with it."
"She's dangerous, Shepard," Miranda warned as they walked through the CIC. Shepard smirked at her.
"So am I."
"Yes, but you are not a biotic. She is. And a very unstable one. If she'd been at full biotic strength-"
"I'm kind of tough to kill, Miranda, remember?"
"Yes, but you can be killed. I think it was a mistake bringing her on board. Her instability, her history with Cerberus…this is going to be nothing but trouble."
"Look, I get where you're coming from, but I'm not scared of Jack," Shepard told her. "Biotics aside, she had a goddamn gun. She could have put a bullet in my face…she didn't even try. And I'd hardly be a decent marine if I couldn't take a punch."
"Even so-"
"Miranda, one day you're gonna have to trust me," Shepard told her. "I mean, really trust me. Fuck…when you get down to it I am Jack. I know what it's like to be trapped, to be hurt, to be angry. The only difference is I found a way to use that, funnel it, to shape it into something positive. She's never had that chance. I'll deal with Jack. You just make sure that tank is on board and plugged in."
"Are you going to wake the krogan?" Miranda wanted to know.
"I haven't decided yet. One step at a time, dong ma? I'm going to talk to Jack."
The biotic was back down in the maintenance area, and glared up from where she sat on the cot as Shepard wandered in.
"Fuck. You can't leave me alone for five fucking minutes, can you?"
"Guess not," Shepard replied, canting a shoulder against the wall. "You level?"
"What do you want, Shepard?" Jack asked in weary irritation. "We both know that if I hadn't burned myself out I'd have turned you into paste."
"Maybe. Believe it or not, I've taken biotic hits strong enough to break bones and still managed to get up and fight, so I'm not all that terribly convinced of that. So. Osco."
"Yeah, Osco," Jack said bitterly. "I'm going to find her, with or without your help."
"I know, but you're going to have my help. Well, sort of."
Jack eyed her and Shepard shrugged. "She took a pot-shot at me, a while back. She was working with Benezia and Saren and I guess when I shot the matriarch I made her a little steamed. She tried to kill me, and she'll probably try again. Give her enough time, Osco will likely come right to us…but that's only a maybe. So I'm going to have a friend of mine do a bit of digging, see if she can't put a firm fix on Osco for you. If we find her, well…we may just have to introduce ourselves."
Jack seemed genuinely surprised at this, giving Shepard a wary blink. "Really?"
"Why not? You're a bit wild but you do good work, and from everything I've learned about her this Osco is an unstable blight on the galaxy so…why not?"
"I don't fucking get you, Shepard," Jack retorted, then abruptly rose from the cot, striding closer. Reaching out she grabbed Shepard's left hand, glaring at her wrist. Shepard made no move to pull away and when Jack's eyes caught sight of the scars, she blinked again.
"Meat-hooks? That little thief wasn't kidding?"
Shepard just lifted a brow and when Jack didn't release her hand, she asked, "You proposing?"
Scowling, the convict dropped Shepard's wrist. "I really don't fucking get you."
"Nothing to get," Shepard replied.
"I got your word? About Osco?"
"My word," Shepard agreed. "So long as you know that if you ever take a swing at me again, biotically or not…I will put you the fuck out."
"Yeah well…" Jack nearly made a biting retort but held her tongue. "You kept your word about the records so…we'll see."
The soft blue holographic orb that was EDI's interface seemed to watch silently as Shepard first paced around the cargo bay, then sat on a work bench, lighting up a cigar. She had been contemplating the krogan tank for an hour now, silently brooding.
EDI was still fairly young, for an AI, and was still learning nuances of human behavior and expression. It didn't help that such things seemed to change a bit from individual to individual, and Shepard herself was very hard to interpret even on the best of days. Still, there seemed to be something more on her mind than simply whether or not to risk opening the tank.
"Shepard," she finally ventured. "I am not Chambers or Lawson, but I can listen and offer advice. Something seems to be troubling you."
Shepard made a small gesture with her hand, the cigar pinched between two fingers tracing small curlicues of smoke in the air. "Back on Korlus, when we were fighting those crazed krogan…one of them talked to me-well, to us."
"I saw this in your report," EDI responded. "He seemed disinclined to attack you and informed you of Okeer's experiments."
Shepard nodded, taking a slow draw on her smoke before letting it out. "That krogan…this boy here in the tank…I can't help wondering if I'm really so different than they are."
"How do you mean?"
"I was rebuilt, EDI. Re-grown. Maybe Miranda didn't use a tank but the basic principle is the same, isn't it? One small slip, one minor miscalculation and what would I have been? Mindless…crazy…-er."
"The krogan were mindless because of basic and deliberate flaws in research," EDI pointed out. "They are different than you are in that respect, and in the respect that you were restored from your own genetic remains and those alone. These krogan were not healed individuals but completely engineered from a dozen different sources. It is not the same."
"Maybe," Shepard said thoughtfully, then gestured at the tank. "I can still feel it with this one, though. He's not any different than I am. He's a living, thinking creature who was brought here because of someone else's ambition. Is he aware of us, do you think?"
"Readings indicate minimal cognition. His brainwaves show he is unconscious."
"Does that matter?" Shepard asked. "Even as advanced as it is, medicine has never been able to determine if people in comas are completely unaware of what's going on around them."
"You intend to wake him up."
"I think so," Shepard agreed with a nod. "I think I've meant to all along, I've just been trying to rationalize it."
"Be careful," EDI warned. "The krogan's mind is biologically healthy but he is still krogan, and his personality and reactions are impossible to predict. He is as dangerous as any of his kind."
Shepard hopped off the workbench, taking a final draw on her smoke before scrubbing out the cherry and tucking the remains behind her ear to be finished later. Striding over to the tank, Shepard activated the holographic interface, and then powered it down.
There was a rush as the nutrient fluid started to drain, the krogan boy within slowly sagging to his knees as his buoyancy was lost. With a heavy series of clicks the tank released and swung open. Falling forward, the boy blinked and coughed, vomiting up fluid from his lungs, taking a first gasping breath.
Shepard watched as the young krogan oriented himself, blinking a pair of rather startling blue eyes as he tried to focus. Struggling up to his feet, he shook his head, snorting a little more fluid from his nose, before his eyes fixed to Shepard.
It was like being hit by a rover. Shepard grunted faintly as her back slammed into the wall, nearly half a ton of muscle and heavy bone plates pinning her there. A forearm the size of her thigh pressed against her chest as the krogan snuffed at her, then grumbled.
"Human, female," he murmured. "Before you die, I need a name."
"Mine, or yours?" Shepard asked, taking shallow breaths. He was pressing on her hard enough to make breathing difficult.
Perhaps that wasn't the brightest idea I've ever had, she thought, as the young krogan contemplated a moment.
"Mine," he said at last.
"Feel free to name yourself," she retorted. "My name is Shepard. Remember that for when I kill you."
He growled, but looked oddly pleased at this response. If nothing else, Shepard's time with Wrex had taught her how most krogan thought. To earn and keep their respect you never backed down…even when you had no chance.
"I heard Okeer speak, at the end…" he rumbled. "Legacy…warlord…grunt. Hmm. Grunt. That will do. I am Grunt."
"Good, I know what to write on your tombstone then."
"Tombstone," he murmured, as if not familiar with the word.
Fuck, for all I know, he isn't familiar with it. Who knows how much he really understands?
"Let me make this plainer," she said sternly, narrowing her brown eyes as she shifted her head forward just a bit. "Let me go or I will fucking kill you."
"Huh! Little thing like you? I don't-"
Then he glanced down, noticing the pistol in her hand pressed firmly against his belly. He laughed a little, finally drawing back and loosening her.
"I like you," he said plainly.
"Good to know," she replied just as plainly, straightening and stretching her aching shoulders a little. "Now, we're going to have a simple, little discussion…short and sweet and to the point. I want you to join my crew. What do you want?"
"Want?" he blinked. "I do not know what I…I want. Okeer could not impart connection…his enemies are not mine…I have no purpose."
"Then I'll give you purpose."
He seemed to weigh this. "Why?"
"We have great enemies, but I have a strong crew. You would make it stronger."
"Great enemies?" he hedged. "You do not exaggerate?"
"Our enemies threaten galaxies," she told him. Again, he looked pleasantly surprised.
"Huh. If that is true, then I will join you, Shepard. You seem strong. But if you are lying, if your enemies are not worthy, I will kill you."
"Fair enough," she smirked, finally putting her pistol away. "We don't really have clothing for a krogan aboard and it's probably not a good idea for you to go wandering about the ship…swinging in the breeze, as it were. We'll have to get you some suitable clothing and weapons."
"Weapons are good," he smirked, completely unconcerned with the fact he was utterly naked. "Food would be good too."
"EDI, have Miranda rustle up some pants at least that will cover our new shipmate," Shepard ordered. "And warn Rupert he's having a very big guest for dinner."
Grunt, wearing the largest pair of sweat pants that could be found, sat at a table in the mess not an hour later, shoveling down plate after plate of food. Shepard, perched nearby and nursing a coffee, watched him with a mix of awe and amusement.
"He certainly is big," Kelly commented as she took a seat nearby. "I don't think I've ever seen a krogan with blue eyes before. How…does he seem?"
"Fairly on the ball, all things considering," Shepard told her. "We had a little pissing contest and he decided I was worthy to live so…you know. That's always a plus."
"I know that you worked with Wrex on the original Normandy and are somewhat familiar with krogan, and I know we needed a heavy hitter but…well, I don't have to tell you to be careful."
"Who is Wrex?" Grunt suddenly asked, looking up at them and revealing he could hear their conversation. Kelly colored a little but Shepard was completely non-plussed as she answered.
"A krogan battlemaster and warlord I worked with a couple of years ago. A good friend," she replied.
"Did you fight many battles together?"
"Yes," she said, giving an almost nostalgic smirk. "Hundreds fell under our boot-heels, before our guns. All our enemies were defeated and fled before us."
"Ha! I like that," he grinned.
"I thought you would," she said with a full on grin. "Maybe someday you'll get a chance to meet him."
"The imprints tell me humans are soft and weak," Grunt commented, before taking another shovel-sized bite of food. "You look soft, but you do not act soft."
Shepard shook her head, then looked at Kelly again. "Can you see that he's set up properly in the cargo bay. He needs something to sleep on, maybe a console or two. Give him a chance to really read up on his people, figure some things out."
"Of…course, Shepard. I'd be happy too."
"Thanks. I have a phone call to make. I'll be in my quarters if you need me."
"I would be happy to, Shepard," Liara smiled at the small, holographic image hovering over the main console. "You are certain that Osco is the one that shot you on Noveria?"
"Miranda's certain," Shepard told her. "She says there's surveillance footage that Cerberus was able to obtain from the facility cameras that show her doing it. You may be able to find copies of those, too."
"I knew that Gellian looked up to mother but…what you are saying implies a…a deeper relationship. If such a one existed, I did not know about it."
"It may just be speculation, or it may be that Osco had feelings for Benezia that simply weren't reciprocated. Doesn't really matter at this point, I don't think. She's got connections to both Okeer and to Jack, she was working with Saren and she's taken at least one shot at me. That makes her a person of very high interest in my book. The last thing I want her doing is showing up with the Collectors or popping out of the woodwork somewhere trying to take another stab at me, and we have no idea if she has any remaining interest in Jack."
"I will expend every resource I have. If Osco is alive and so much as buys a loaf of bread in this galaxy, I will find her."
"Thank you, Li. I appreciate it. How are things going on Hagalaz so far? How's Feron?"
"Things are going relatively quietly, as a matter of fact," Liara replied. "I am spending my time learning all that I can about the Shadow Broker's network and operations. The amount of contacts and information he had access to is staggering, Shepard…beyond what I had even imagined. I could take a lifetime trying to just categorize it. Feron is still…resting, for the most part. He is starting to help me a bit, however, and seems to want to work so…I am letting him."
She looked up, her eyes soft. " I…I know it has only been two days but…I miss you, Shepard."
"I miss you too, Tianlán," Shepard replied gently. "Let me know as soon as you can any intel you find on Osco. I will call you again soon."
"I will, Shepard. Pleasant dreams. I will speak to you soon."
As the call disconnected and the holograph faded, Liara sighed a little. "I love you," she murmured, wondering when she'd actually get the nerve to say the words where Shepard could really hear them.