When Fates Collide
Chapter 31
~ ~ The Beginning of the End ~ ~
Citadel
Everything inside the council's chambers was on fire; the once pristine hall was now a burning apocalypse. Thick smoke filled the air as the exquisite trees and other precious materials that once blanketed the arena scorched. Huge chunks of the reaper vessel laid strewn about the cathedral; transforming the once serene palace into a war zone. The Citadel's warning system continued to resonate in the background as blazing snowflakes floated slowly downward. Scarce beams of artificial daylight streaked across the great hall, providing little illumination other than the various ambient glowing from several fires.
Stirring from unconsciousness, a dry raspy voice questioned, "What's that smell?" Kicking off a large piece of rubble from their legs, the confused woman began to take in her surroundings and what had just happened. Barely able to see from the lack of light, the breathless woman answered her previous question. I smell smoke. Disorientated, the female frantically searched for the source of the smoke. Looking down upon her chest, the woman desperately patted at a few burning areas upon her body with her gloved hands."Oh Goddess, I'm on fire! I'm on fire!"
Everything went dark before Tali heard a man's voice close by. "Captain Anderson, I found them!" A human male with short platinum blonde hair pulled away a large piece of wreckage from the makeshift cavern that shielded the squad members. "They are over here, sir!" Forcing his way into the dim space created by the fallen debris, First Lieutenant Duncan absentmindedly shined a bright light radiating from his omni-tool into their faces. Flinching from the sudden luminous beam, the suited woman watched as he entered the nook.
The young quarian was grateful to see the man, as her foot had been crushed by something during her frantic escape. She could tell immediately that she would not be able to put much weight on it. The two strapping young men with Captain Anderson were a site for sore eyes for her; after all she felt the worst of the danger was over. How much worse could it get now? They won didn't they?
A large plume of dust filled the air around the hidden team as the Alliance trio entered the crude tomb. Even though the thick cloud of dirt blanketed her face, the asari maiden could sense that Shepard was not among them in the rubble. Desperate, the woman looked through the haze and beyond the stabbing pain in her chest, before realizing she was right, the commander was nowhere to be seen Hopelessness clouded her thoughts as her normally radiant crest sunk low.
Believing she had lost the veteran soldier for good, the prothean expert fell into a daze of despair. The bemused asari did not notice a hand tenderly touch her shoulder nor had she even discerned the voices speaking to her. Gently clasping her shoulder and breaking her from the trance, Captain Anderson asked softly, "Liara, are you ok?" Dropping her head once more in anguish, the blue skinned woman gradually lifted her face, and nonchalantly nodded yes. Helping the young maiden to her feet, Anderson inquired what everyone was dying to know. "Where is Shepard?"
Hearing the commander's name instantly turned the professor's head towards the officer attending her. Shepard? It took a few painful moments before Liara realized the gentleman holding her was asking where the council's champion was, rather than informing her where she was. Glimpsing painfully back to her present squad mate, now being guided out of the rubbish, the daughter of Matriarch Benezia swallowed hard similar to the day her mother died. The young T'Soni was beginning to fear that Shepard, the woman she had come to idolize, had perished; saving the galaxy.
Trying to remember the last time she saw the green eyed woman, the powerful biotic recalled her shouting at them to run. For a brief moment, the asari maiden chastised the illustrious warrior for being so brave and courageous. She knew Shepard would give her life to accomplish her mission, but Damn her! Liara blasted. She didn't have to leave me in the process. A single tear escaped and traveled down her dusty face, leaving a trail of evidence to her heartache. Suddenly the weight of the galaxy came crashing down on the young asari maiden. In just a few short months she had lost her mother; her freedom, and now her bestfriend and lover. The blue eyed beauty's throat was so parched; it was unable to provide moisture to her lips. Void of all body fluid, Liara breathlessly whispered, "Oh Goddess!" as she imagined waking up the next day, without Shepard in her life, one way or another.
Struggling to place one foot in front of the other, Liara came to the painful realization that she had been injured during her escape. The young asari glanced down and winced when she saw a thick trail of dark purple fluid oozing down her leg. Sucking in a gasp of air, she tenderly reached down and pulled out a large piece of jagged metal stuck in her mid-thigh with her trembling hand. To Anderson's surprise, the maiden did not cry out after removing the shard from such a nasty wound, he did however; hear Liara muttered under her shuttering breath something in her native tongue as she dug out the chunk of metal. Watching the professor pant as she maintained her refined composure, the senior Alliance officer attempted to hide his amusement, when he realized the maiden's words were clearly an obscenity. A fatherly smiled awaited the asari when she finished. Dawning the copper redhead's lopsided smile, the prothean expert smirked defiantly before taking a few limping steps forward with the help of Captain Anderson.
The sound of a large piece of shifting debris from the far side of the devastated plaza abruptly stole everyone's attention. The stunned maiden took a step on her own towards the clamor, as she lipped her heroine's name, "Shepard?" Hopeful the professor was correct, Captain Anderson also maneuvered towards the commotion. For a moment, the quintet froze, seeing if anything else stirred among the devastation. A period of time passed, far too long for the watchful group to believe the spectre was truly alive. Encouraged by the distinguished naval officer, Liara allowed Anderson to wrap a strong arm around her waist and help her out of the unforgiving waste land.
When their backs were turned, another loud ruckus occurred across the burning chamber. This time, the asari maiden was certain the noise she heard was not from the wreckage settling. Wiggling free from under the Alliance Captain's caring grasp, the century old professor stumbled a few steps forward. Everyone's heart broke as the young maiden whimpered, "Sh…Shepard?" Unable to hold up her own weight, the blue woman held onto a large rock beside her as she waited: praying she would see what was she was looking for. Shaken by the traumatic experience, the Thessian native closed her eyes and pleaded to her spiritual leader, "Goddess Athame, please let her be alive, please let her..." Liara's sentence had not yet finished leaving her lips before the asari's head shot up. A louder and more hopeful name leapt from the maiden's lips, "Shepard!"
About fifty clicks away, the glimmer of someone running behind Sovereign's remains caught the maiden's stare. The promising glimmer made the young asari's heart pound wildly as she pushed out a huff of air. In an instant, the prothean expert's eagerness was eating away at her, as she remembered the very first time she saw the green eyed woman. She had been self-imprisoned on Therum for several days before being rescued by the fearsome warrior. Liara recalled her heart pounding in her chest as someone, other than geth or an overbearing krogan, attempted to free her. Like then, the anticipation was killing her as she waited for the redhead to return.
A short minute later, a figure slowly rose above the devastation. Staggering to the top of a large slanted platform, the individual stood tall when it reached the peak. Shimmering like an icon on top of a statue, Commander Shepard released her bent arm as an enormous smile covered her face. It was unclear whom she was smiling at or why, but for those below her, it was for different reasons. Captain Anderson believed it was her military pride; thankful for successfully completing her mission. For Tali Z'orah, they could finally be relieved from the unsurpassable odds placed against them. One of the Alliance officers imagined she was happy to be alive, while the other thought that is just how heroes were supposed to look after a successful battle. However for Liara T'Soni, the smile was much more personal; for so many reasons. Captain Anderson was the first to move closer to the living spectre as he held out his hand to the approaching radiating officer. "Congratulations Shepard! You did it. You saved the galaxy!" Like he had been nothing more than air in the room, the commander staggered past the seasoned officer, never taking her emerald eyes off the reason for her delirium.
In close proximity, the redhead's smile widened as she quickly scanned the uniformed professor, happy she was alive. Without a single hesitation, the redhead cupped the maiden's tear stained face and planted a deep, wanting kiss upon her lips. Shepard continued to display her unrestricted affections for the young asari in an embrace that would rival any kiss in a romantic vid. It became crystal clear that the illustrious warrior did not care who saw the passionate exchange with the maiden. With closed eyes, the veteran soldier broke the kiss and swallowed the prothean expert in her arms. Nearly squeezing the life out of the woman, Shepard whispered, "Liara, I thought I lost you" as she pressed their bodies close.
"I thought I'd never see your face again." replied the young professor who had melted in the commander's arms.
Pealing open her eyes, the N7 officer looked to the woman behind the asari in her arms. Only slightly releasing her grip around the professor, the savior of the galaxy inquired with a wave of relief, "Tali, you ok over there?"
Slightly embarrassed about needing help, the quarian replied, "Yes, Commander." Leaning more weigh onto the soldier than she had before, the injured engineer quipped, "And here I thought your driving would be what got me." The Normandy's trio laughed heartedly at Tali's clever wit as they allowed the shock of the day's events to wash over them.
A grin and a wink followed a dry crackled voice, as her leader quipped, "Maybe next time."
Attempting to better position her injured foot, the suited woman added, "You can count on it, Commander."
Releasing the blue skinned beauty in her arms, the spectre strolled over to the wounded quarian and hugged her tightly, temporarily lifting her off the ground. Disregarding the surprised squeal, the hardened warrior held onto her beloved friend snugly. Submerged in the engineer's neck, the human muttered, "Tali, I'm so glad you're alive."
Gasping for air, the engineering genius replied as her feet once again touched the ground, "Me too Shepard, me too."
"Yeah, you sure are a site for sad eyes Shepard." Blurted the older man.
Releasing the virtuoso, the commander spun on her heels and faced her former commanding officer. Chuckling, as if there were some inside joke, the green eyed woman intended to accept the captain's hand this time. The senior officer immediately pulled the woman into a fatherly hug. "I knew I shouldn't have worried about you, but I couldn't help it." Letting the redhead go, the man continued to flatter the heroine as he patted her arms in disbelief that she had actually succeeded with her seemingly impossible task. "You really did it kiddo. You saved us all." Beaming from ear to ear, Captain Anderson declared, "I can't wait to see the look on Udina's face when he hears about this. He's gonna soil his linens."
Absentmindedly shaking her head at the man's spiteful reaction, the fearless leader caught site of her asari lover again. Realizing that not all was right, the commanding officer marched over to wounded asari. In an instant the seasoned warrior was thoroughly inspecting the maiden's body. As Shepard ran her hand down the professor's arms, she felt the asari shutter. The concerned warrior peered directly at the woman within her arms. A whimpering, "Shepard, I was so worr…" was silenced by the commanding officer's gloved finger.
Ignoring the dull ache in her right shoulder, the redhead interrupted, "Liara, I'm fine." Piercing emerald eyes stared deep into the asari's deep azure pools as the council's champion inquired, "Are you ok?"
Letting her crest droop, several more tears streamed uncontrollably down her muddy cyan cheeks. The maiden slowly lifted her chin up, tilted her head to one side, and cracked a half smile. Borrowing one of the hardened soldier's sarcastic lines, the young T'Soni recited, "I'll live."
Intense blue eyes peeked out from under the caked on mud, further stirring something within the former rogue soldier. Uncharacteristically of a snarky comeback, the human stood silent and smiled at her lover. Allowing the moment to seep in, the redhead reached up and again affectionately stroked the asari's cheek. For the first time in a very long time, a pleasurable feeling filled the hardened warrior's chest, instead of the pain she had carried all these years.
It was only when Liara shifted painfully that the Normandy's commanding officer realized she was hurt. Snapping out of an alluring trance, the emerald eyed woman slowly slid down the asari maiden's frame, inspecting every curvature the officer had come to know intimately. A tender and caring hand hovered over the open wound that was drizzling bright purple blood. Drawing in a sharp breath, the heroine examined the extent of Liara's injury. Once the concerned savior of the galaxy compartmentalized her own feelings on the matter, she quickly rose to her feet, and comforted the blue skinned beauty. Taking control as usual, the illustrious warrior reassured young T'Soni, "I'll be right back."
Marching over to the larger of the two officers that Dave Anderson had brought along, Shepard spat, "How much can you lift Gunny?" The taller of the two men spoke first, standing nearly thirty centimeters loftier than his partner. He was the solider that had first discovered the ship's crew under the wreckage. The Alliance officer was well proportionate for his build, being around a two meters tall. The high and tight hair cut contributed to his impressive muscular build. Snapping to attention, a proud salute presided First Lieutenant Duncan's answer, "About 250 kilos, ma'am!"
Waving off the formal greeting, the redheaded woman addressed the other man. "Give me your belt."
The Alliance officer glanced at his partner to ensure himself what he heard was correct. The shorter man, who had dark olive skin, and black hair in a slightly thicker crew cut was far too muscular for his size. Standing nearly eye to eye with the council's champion, the man's dark brown eyes searched for a hidden meaning in the woman's strange request. Stunned by the odd demand, the soldier asked, "My what?"
"Your belt, man, give me your belt!"
Acknowledging that the heroin was being serious in her usual request, First Lieutenant Peterson feverishly removed the thick leather belt as ordered, and handed it to her. To his surprise, the woman tossed it over her shoulder as if he hadn't given it to her at all. She next spun back around and commanded Duncan to stand very still. The two officers briefly exchanged odd glances before the larger man shrugged his shoulders and did as requested.
The next thing to catch Duncan's attention was the galactic commander wilding a sharp metal blade inches from his chest. The crystal blue eyed man flinched at the closeness of the knife to his skin. "You might want to hold still LT" warned the spectre. Gritting his teeth, the man stood his ground as the harden warrior neatly removed the man's entire right sleeve with the sharp weapon. When she finished, Duncan examined his blouse with shock. It looked as if the seasoned soldier had used a pair of shears to remove the material from his arm. Holding the fabric up to her face, the hardened soldier then tossed it over her shoulder without a care in the world. The green eyed warrior then turned around and placed her hands on her hips, staring at the young quarian engineer. "Did you puncture your suit?" The mathematical genius replied "No" as she rolled her eyes under the scrutiny of her commanding officer. Returning her focus to the larger officer, that stood a nearly a foot taller than her, Shepard ordered him like she were speaking to recruits. "Ok big guy, you're carrying her."
Surprised by the instructions, Duncan glanced over to Anderson before asking, "You want me to what?"
"She's hurt. You're strong…" The council's champion motioned her hands in an animated manner symbolizing that of carrying the quarian like a baby. "… so, you're carrying her."
Glancing at his superior officer, the white haired marine frowned. Captain Anderson quickly answered the man's silent question with complete confidence. "First Lieutenant Duncan..." The man's voice chuckled as he spoke, "…I'd do what the spectre asks if I were you."
A mute nod thanked the captain before the N7 officer mused, "Now pick her up!"
Without further hesitation, the strapping security officer answered, "Yes ma'am!
Carefully bending over to ensure a safe and non-confrontational grip was achieved, the marine officer maneuvered himself and lifted the quarian genius in one swift motion. The masked woman attempted to protest the help, "Shepard really I'm fine. I don't need to be carted off like a…" Duncan's strength was immediately demonstrated as he picked up the light weight quarian, causing her to shriek out loud, "Oh Keelah!" Feeling the sudden weightlessness of her body, the relieved engineer quipped, "Well! Maybe this isn't so bad after all." The others laughed as the mathematical genius was effortlessly lifted off the ground. Giggling from being swept off her feet in such a gallant manner, Tali mused to herself, I have to remember to thank Shepard later for this, in deed.
The eyes of the beltless soldier abruptly gleamed as he calculated that the beautiful young asari was injured even more than the quarian. He leapt forward, believing he would be the one nestled against the maiden's enchanting body as he carried her to safety. "I'll carry the asari!" deemed Peterson.
All eyes froze and flickered between the deadly spectre and the clearly ignorant Alliance officer. Anderson thought, if looks could kill, when he saw Shepard's face. Shooting the man an extremely possessive glare, the N7 officer retorted, "I've got this one bub."
Still overly excited, the much junior officer conveyed, "But I can help carry her..." The man stumbled over his words, trying not to offend the woman, "…I mean the asari. I can help with the asari."
The savior of the galaxy immediately broke into her illustrious bad ass stance and furrowed her brow. Her piercing green eyes sliced through the stale air as she glared at the man. "I'm the only one touching this asari, marine." Liara could not help but smile, and blush a bit at the overly protective lover as she watched the redhead clearly win the standoff. Ending what little protest there was, Shepard growled in a warning tone rather than a question, "Got it?!"
The underlining message was quickly acknowledged by Peterson as he pouted, "Yeah I got it."
As the stern warrior was about to move closer to the injured professor, Anderson questioned, "Shepard are you sure, you're just been through a lot."
Softening her tone, the commander answered, "Never been more sure" as she winked at the captivating maiden.
Respectfully backing off, the fatherly figure responded with absolute admiration, "Alright then." Cracking his neck and rolling his right shoulder like Liara had seen Shepard do a million times, the gentle man offered, "Well, just to remind you, I'm not too old to help out." The man's chest puffed out as he disclosed, "If you need it."
A childish grin covered the commander's face as she divulged, "You will be the first one I call Dave."
The redhead had sent a very clear message, stay away from the asari, despite Peterson's pouting. However, her expression changed dramatically in those 12 seconds between the warning she gave the junior officer, and the one now looking back at the professor. Allowing her hand to trail down the asari's waist, the veteran soldier leaned forward and went down on bended knee. The prothean expert's head shot upwards as she felt the commander do a quick survey of the wound on her left leg. Barely grazing the exposed flesh as she examined the gouge, Shepard felt Liara's entire body quiver. A sympathetic "Ok then" was the redhead's only words; much to the professor's surprise. Surely she thought she would be receiving a lecture about not using her biotics to protect herself or how she should of hid rather than be out in the open.
Still on the ground, the green eyed woman pulled off the uniform sleeve and carefully draped it around Liara's slender thigh; concealing the thirteen centimeter gash. She then tugged at the man's belt and delicately wrapped it around the make-shift field dressing, ensuring she did not cause any more displeasure to the young woman. Shepard skillfully and tenderly stroked the sensitive injury, satisfied with her work. Returning to her feet, the commanding officer announced, "That should hold you until Dr. Chakwas can take a look at you."
A grateful and warm smile floated across the asari's mouth as she replied, "Thank you, Shepard. It feels better already."
Knowing the prothean expert was lying; Shepard bent her knees and slid under the maiden's left arm. The female warrior wrapped her right arm tightly around the asari's waist, assisting the wounded maiden back to the Normandy. The professor froze when she witnessed the galactic commander wince when attempting to comfortably situate herself under the maiden's weight. "You are hurt."
Pretending nothing was wrong, the council's champion maneuvered the asari's body weight off of her prominent shoulder and disputed, "No, I'm fine."
Horrified, Liara countered, "You hurt your shoulder" as she looked for evidence of an injury.
"No, it's nothing. I'm fine. Besides, I'm not the one spewing blood all over the atrium."
Making no attempt to advance forward; the young T'Soni shot back, "Shepard!"
Acknowledging that she had been caught in the lie, the N7 officer grimaced and lifted her gaze to meet that of her companion's. "Liara, I'm not letting you out of my site again. Now you can either come peacefully, or I will be forced to throw you over my shoulder?"
The maiden's eyes shot wide at the blatant comment. But to her surprise, she rather liked the suggested scenario the savior of the galaxy proposed. However, looking at their battered uniforms and surroundings, the ravishing asari felt that was better left for a later time.
Knowing that the asari's mind was whirling elsewhere, Shepard quipped, "So what's it going to be, Liara?"
Calming her galactic heroine with a single word, the maiden softly responded, "Peacefully."
An equally mischievous thought crossed the illustrious commander's mind before she muttered, "Good" but in the back of her mind, she half heartedly hoped the asari would have said over the shoulder.
With her favorite asari at her side, and Tali safely in the arms of strapping young officer, Shepard taped her ear piece as she began to move down the corridor. "Normandy, this is Shepard do you read me?"
Still jubilated after defeating Sovereign, the snarky pilot shot back, "This is Joker, Shepard. Boy; am I glad to hear your voice." Not allowing his superior officer to speak the pilot rambled on, "Oh man you should have seen the Normandy Commander, she was awesome."
The patient commanding officer cleared her throat, attempting to get the aviator's attention, "Ahem".
"And we did this huge dive. We must have been doing like mock three. Can you believe it? Mock three inside the Citadel arms."
Another loud cough sounded on redhead's end, but to no avail as the scruffy beaded man continued to boast. "And there were all these other ships. It was totally awesome. I mean there were Turians, Geth…" The rambling pilot was beginning to get to the exhausted spectre as she glanced over to the maiden in her arms, as usual, there was an adoring smile awaiting her. The two shared a knowing chuckle as the man ranted. "…and Asari. Oh, Commander you should have seen it. The destiny ascension fired up her guns. I mean you could feel her reeving up inside the ship." Imagining the pilot was using his hands to help animatedly describe the scene, Shepard patiently listened, "And then she comes out of no where and then BAMB! She blew that son of a bitch out of the sky."
The uplifted quarian mentioned with a mixture of humor and impatience in her synthesized voice, "Good thing no one is bleeding to death."
The redhead coughed much louder that could not be mistaken for anything but politely requesting to speak.
"Oh yeah, sorry. I didn't mean to swear over the comm anymore, but Commander, you should of seen it. I mean they will be talking about us for a zillion years. I mean the Normandy is going down in history."
A short and insistent shout vented over the line, "JOKER!"
"Yeah? Oh sorry. I forgot to ask, how is everyone down there? I mean Garrus is about to come out of his skin waiting for news from the ground crew."
A sarcastic tone interjected, "You know I'd tell you, if you'd let me get a word in edge wise."
Realizing he had been rambling, the outspoken aviator caved in and gave his superior the floor, "Oh sorry about that. What is your status?"
"We are all alive, but we are going to need Dr. Chakwas' assistance."
"I hope nothing too bad commander."
Shockingly, the aviator waited for his commanding officer to reply. "Nothing too bad, but we need to get on board as soon as possible."
"Copy that Commander. However it's a zoo out here right now. There are too many ships in the immediate area. I'm not sure how we can get to you."
Following the conversation, Captain Anderson offered, "Joker, there is a secret allocated hub on the lower sector of the Presidium. It is normally reserved for visiting diplomats. I have Udina's access codes. I'll make sure the Normandy can dock there, and it's not far from where we are now."
As usual, the snarky pilot did not use the Alliance officer's full title. "Copy that Captain." By the time the senior officer received a thankful nod from the savior of the galaxy, Joker came back on the line. "We have the access codes, and the doc is standing by. See you in a few Commander."
"Copy that Joker. Shepard out." Ushering the group along, the seasoned veteran instructed, "Alright, we've got help on the way. Let's get moving."
Pressing her aching body into the professor's, that felt more like a sideways hug than chaste help, Liara squeezed the redhead's hand; stopping her in her tracks. When the spectre looked up at her concerned, the prothean expert whispered only loud enough for the woman carrying her to hear. "Thank you Shepard. Thank you for everything."
The human's cheeks flushed brightly, making her feel like a twelve year old again under the dirt and grim on her face. "You can thank me later Miss T'Soni. But for now, let's get you back to the ship."
"Copy that Commander" quipped the asari, using the formal military title.
Catching the professor's attempt to poke fun at her, the N-7 officer retorted, "I've gotta stop melding with you so much. You're beginning to learn too much."
Causing the human's head to snap back in shock; Liara quickly returned, "I doubt that will ever happen."