Past: Six Months Post War
"Captain Del Shepard-"
Fzzt.
"…for the Hero of Earth, Captain Delilah Shep-"
Fzzt.
"…crowd outside of Huerta Memorial hasn't moved in days, eager to see Captain Del-"
Click.
"Fuck."
"It won't be so bad as all that," Hackett said as he stepped in the door. Del was seated on the bio bed, dressed in her uniform, sans coat. As he stepped in, she tossed the vid remote at the small side table with an irritated snap of her hand.
"I just don't understand it."
"Don't understand?" He lifted a brow, turning his head and giving Liara a polite nod as she entered behind him, carrying Shepard's missing coat. "You all but single-handedly stopped the most devastating war this galaxy has ever experienced. You saved the lives of every person in known existence, and God only knows how many generations not yet born."
Then why do I feel so sick to my stomach whenever I think about it?
"Like it or not, Shepard," he continued. "You're the biggest hero and celebrity in the Milky Way, and they've been waiting for months to thank you."
Shepard's jaw was tight as she got to her feet. Liara helped her pull on the coat, buttoning the front and straightening the epaulets.
"Anderson was the real hero," Del told him. "Bailey. If it hadn't been for them, for those that died in that blockade so we could get into the Council chambers-"
"I know," he said. Liara finished with the coat and gave Del's hand a squeeze. Anderson's loss weighed heavily on Shepard still, she knew…made only the worse that his funeral and memorial service had been held while she was still in a coma. She hadn't had the opportunity to really say goodbye.
Clearing his throat, Hackett straightened a little, a vague smile appearing. "So, I hear congratulations are in order."
Del gave a faint, lopsided smirk before she ducked her head a little. Liara's smile made up for it as she looked at Del, still holding her hand.
"Yes, well…umm…yes," Shepard said.
"That's fantastic, Shepard. Liara. I'm very happy for you both."
"Thank you, Admiral," Liara replied.
"Well, if you two are ready, we might as well get this over with."
Shepard started forward, but Liara halted her motion with a gentle tug of her hand, before plucking up the cane that was leaning against the bedside table. She gave Del a look as she handed it to her, and Del sighed.
She could walk just fine, but Chakwas had insisted on her using the cane for the next week or two. Her full strength hadn't yet returned, and she tended to tire abruptly.
"No reason for you to take a sudden spill and undo all my fine work," Helen had teased.
The suite that Shepard had called home for the last few months was on the top floor of Huerta, and had been secured and guarded from the moment that Shepard had been brought in off the Orizaba. This was both to protect her from being overwhelmed by the general public, and from those who might have more nefarious intents. While it seemed on some level to be overprotection- who would want to hurt the woman who had saved their collective lives?- there was still the incident that had taken Traynor's life to be considered. Hero or not, some batarians and a few others still hated Shepard enough to possibly take a stab at her while she was incapacitated.
Alliance soldiers and hospital security had cleared their path through the hospital. It was outside of the building that would be the issue. Huge crowds had gathered, hoping to catch a glimpse of the woman who had stopped the Reapers. Even with uniformed intervention, it was going to be a mad-house.
Shepard would much rather have left the hospital from the launch pad on the roof and avoided the brouhaha altogether, but Hackett insisted it was important for her to make an appearance this way. She had been completely invisible to the public since V-Day, and seeing her healed and moving again would lift morale and reaffirm their victory.
"You aren't just a soldier any more, Shepard, much as you'd like to be," Hackett said. "You became a symbol of humanity the moment you were made a Spectre. Now, you're a symbol to every goddamn species out there."
Nan met them in Huerta's lobby. Beyond the doors, Shepard could already see the huge crowd, kept back by C-Sec barriers and uniformed officers. She suddenly felt her gut tighten, a clammy sweat breaking out on the back of her neck.
Her sudden fearful anxiety took her by surprise. She'd rather stay out of the spotlight, but it wasn't as though she were afraid of crowds. This wasn't her typical gut warning her, either. This was something else…almost closer to shame than actual fear.
"It is absolutely packed out there, from the door to the lake," Nan said as she reached them. "Thank God for C-Sec or we'd be totally swamped…Del, are you all right darling?"
Shepard managed a smile and nodded. "I'm fine, Nan."
"You look a little pale-"
"Just looking forward to being out of here, is all."
Hackett nodded to the two privates standing by the doors, then lightly touched her arm. "All right. Here we go."
As she stepped out on Admiral Hackett's heels into the bright artificial sun, thunderous shouts and applause washed through the air. Still holding Liara's hand tightly, Del shaded her eye from the brilliant light for a moment, cane hanging from her hand. She lowered it again, moving forward only when Nan gently prodded her in the back.
The crowd was unbelievable. The entire street was packed with bodies of every species, even a few elcor rising like low hills above the masses. A pathway between the hospital and the shuttle waiting near the lake had been kept clear but everywhere else were endless faces, waving hands, shouting voices, and snapping lights. Over the crowd, flocks of hover-cams swarmed like eager bees, capturing the moment for every professional and amateur news network or extranet feed galaxy-wide.
Shepard merely stood there for a moment, enveloped in the noise and the bright light. When she did start forward again, Liara at her side and Nan just behind, nearly every uniform in evidence saluted.
Just focus on where you're going, she thought, fixing her eyes on the shuttle and struggling not to grip Liara's hand too tightly. Her name was being called from every quarter, reporters and civilians both straining over the barricades or the shoulders of the restraining officers, reaching out or waving to try and get her attention. Someone threw confetti, and it spilled in rainbow sparkles around her.
They were halfway to the shuttle when a young turian girl, no larger than a four or a five year old, found a gap between one officer's legs and slipped through. Quick as a flash, she ran up to Del, who jolted to a halt, staring at her a moment before she released Liara's hand. Bracing herself on the cane, she went down to one knee to be on level with the child. The tumult did not fall to complete silence but it did die down significantly as everyone watched.
"Hello, sweetheart," Del said.
"I brought you a flower," the child said, pulling a battered, wilting little blossom from her belt and holding it out. A single pink petal broke free and drifted to the floor. Shepard smiled and carefully accepted the offering.
"Thank you," she said. "What's your name?"
"Sella," the girl replied. "A'cuz of you, my Daddy came home and didn't have to fight any more. Mama cried when he was off fighting. She doesn't cry now."
"I…I'm very glad of that, sweetheart," Shepard said softly. Sella suddenly flung her arms around Del's neck, hugging her tightly. Shepard hugged her back, clearing her throat roughly before she straightened to her feet, pulling the child up with her. Handing Liara her cane, she carefully carried the child over to the barricade, passing her over to the turian man that was waiting there.
"Thank you," he said, his voice thick and his eyes damp. Del nodded.
In her father's arms, Sella smiled with a flap of her mandibles, then leaned forward and kissed Shepard's cheek. Shepard lightly touched the young turian's head, nodding again before she stepped back.
Fuck. You are not going to cry in front of all these people, she thought as she accepted her cane back from the waiting asari. Liara's eyes were unabashedly damp, which did nothing to help Shepard's self-control.
Blinking, she focused on the shuttle again, gripping her wife's hand as it was slipped once more into her own.
"Let's just get home."
Present: 217 Post War
Irie studied Liara's face as they puttered around the kitchen, preparing enough lunch to feed two or three krogan. At 326 years of age, Liara was still fairly young as the asari measured things. Most her age were just settling down with their first bondmate and contemplating daughters, and here Liara had two grown and accomplished children, and a granddaughter to boot.
Throughout her childhood, what Irie remembered the most about her mother was her smile. It seemed she was always smiling, save on the rare occasion she scolded for one thing or another. Amusingly, it was usually her bondmate that was the target of the scolding, and not either of her children. Liara had always been a gentle disciplinarian to them, firm but loving.
Now, however, the smile was wan and fleeting, appearing now and again like a fish surfacing in a still pond, only to vanish once more a moment later. A line seemed to have set between her brows, her eyes hollow and tired. She looked older and more exhausted than Irie could ever remember seeing her.
"Mama," she said gently, reaching out and stilling Liara's hand as she arranged some vegetables on a tray. Looking at her eldest, Liara sighed.
"I am all right, Irie-"
"You do not have to lie to me," Irie replied. "Of course you are not all right."
Wordlessly, Liara hugged Irie tightly, the two standing in embrace for a long moment, before the faint sound of an engine outside drew their attention.
"Oh, that will be Mel," Liara said, drawing back and self-consciously wiping her eyes. Irie looked toward the front door as the engine grew notably louder.
"She still rides that thing?"
"Whenever she is home, yes," Liara said with exasperation. "She has too much of your father in her."
"Now Mama, you know that's not possible," Irie said with a faint smirk. It was an old joke in their family. Most asari believed that the father species provided no true traits to their daughters, and that any actual similarity was merely coincidence or behavior learned from observation. Liara and her daughters believed quite differently- mostly due to Melara. She was nothing if not Shepard's daughter.
The two moved toward the door, stepping out onto the porch as the younger of Liara's two girls switched off the motorcycle with a final authoritative roar. Though it had no need of an archaic combustion engine, Del had modified it a long time ago to sound as though it did.
There's just something about that roar, Li. Rumbles through your veins.
Two riders climbed off the bike, shedding helmets. Liara went down the steps to meet them, embracing the taller of the two tightly.
"Melara…"
"Hey, Mama," she said, hugging her back tightly. Glancing up, she loosened one arm and waved it impatiently at Irie. "Well, get over here, Braincase. Your pretty little dress isn't going to get mussed."
Irie lifted her brows as she moved down the steps. "At least I know what style is, primitive."
"Yeah, la di dah…get the fuck over here and hug me you prima donna."
Irie laughed and joined the embrace, the three clinging to each other tightly a moment, before they stepped back. Liara, eyes damp yet again, turned toward the patiently waiting remainder.
"Daenys Sydney Navis, you had best give me a hug as well."
"It is good to see you again, Liara," Dae said as she hugged the older asari just as tightly. "Mom sends her best wishes."
The only child of Deirdre Navis and the late Sydney Rasler, Daenys was only a few weeks older than Irie. Though she was more or less the spitting image of her asari mother, Dae's gold-amber eyes were the spitting image of Syd's. She'd all but grown up with the two Shepard-T'Soni girls, and Liara looked on her as another daughter.
"Come on, inside," Liara said, urging them along with a faint smile. "You have good timing- we just about finished making lunch."
As they stepped into the house, Irie suddenly paused, staring at the empty play pen in the middle of the living room.
"Wait…where is Lily?"
The cartoon that had been put on the vid was lively and entertaining, the flashes of color and bright songs drawing young Lily's attention. Pulling herself up to a stand on the edge of the playpen, Lily chewed idly at the soft bumper, drooling copiously as she watched the dancing forms with large eyes.
Soon enough, however, she grew a little bored. Like her mother and her grandmother, Lily was a born explorer. New places interested her far more than cartoons, and she had enough independent stubbornness to defy even the playpen.
Only a few minutes after the start of the video, Lily was out of her confinement, crawling past the kitchen with only a momentary pause and glance toward the two within.
Down the hallway, she was greeted with closed door after closed door. Undaunted, she continued on, finally spying a shaft of sunlight. The door at the furthest end of the hall was open.
Babbling thoughtfully to herself, she crawled right in. The room was big and smelled nice, and more, there was a new friend to meet. Reaching the foot of the bed, she used the blankets to pull herself up to her feet, working her way around to the side, before her hand enthusiastically patted a knee.
"Faba!" she declared triumphantly, then beamed a toothless grin.
Dark brown eyes regarded the infant asari with mute surprise. Patting the knee again, the little one then lifted both her pudgy hands, opening and closing them in a clear demand to be lifted. Leaning forward, Del slid her hands under the baby's arms and pulled her into her lap.
For a moment, young asari and old human regarded each other with the same intent scrutiny, before brown eyes crossed and a tongue poked out. Struck by the absurd expression, Lily burst out laughing. Del grinned back.
"That used to make your Mama laugh too," she said, kissing the tiny forehead.
Outside the house, the rumble of a well-recognized engine began to swell. Getting carefully to her feet, Shepard lifted the child with her, and walked out into the hall, just as Liara and Irie departed for the porch.
Rather than go into the living room, she turned to a side room, opening the door. "I have something to show you," she told Lily conspiratorially.
She entered the study. Ranks of guns, all securely locked in their various display cases, ringed the room. A wall held sixteen different bladed weapons, including a pair of katana and a krogan shaktho. Medals rested against dark velvet on a wall of shelves, almost lost amidst several trophies. Pausing in front of the shelving, Shepard pointed to one of the trophies. "That's your Mama's," she told the infant. "Most of these are. And this…"
She plucked down a picture frame, moving back to the study desk and sitting with a weary sigh, the child on her lap. Showing her the picture she tapped it. "…this is your Mama when she wasn't much older than you."
Little Irie beamed for the camera, a single tooth showing around where she was chewing on a rag doll. Lily reached out and patted a hand on the picture. "Fa," she said.
"That's right. She couldn't keep from trying to eat her toys. I bet you do the same thing. Couldn't keep her cooped up either, she always managed to escape and go wandering-"
"Wait…where is Lily?"
As Irie's alarmed voice floated in from the hall, Shepard looked up, clearing her throat. "In here!"
A moment later, Liara and Irie appeared in the doorway, the latter striding over and taking the baby. "Lily! Sweetie, how many times have I told you not to climb out of your pen! You woke-"
"Oh, she didn't wake me," Del said with a dismissive wave. "Besides, I was just telling the little nub about how you used to do the same thing. At least she kept her diaper on."
Irie colored a bit and shook her head with a faint laugh. "Bába!"
"What? It's the truth! You know how many times we had to chase your little naked blue ass through the house-"
"Del," Liara said, shaking her head.
"Well, we did! C'mon then, where's my hug?" As Shepard got to her feet, Liara's hand automatically reached out a little, then withdrew a bit. Shepard glanced at her, then hugged Irie tightly, kissing her cheek.
"How are you feeling, Bába?" Irie asked, searching her face in concern. Del snorted.
"Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine. That lunch I smell?"
"Yes, it is nearly done," Liara said, then looked at her daughter. "Irie, if you don't mind checking on it?"
"Of course, Mama."
Carrying Lily, she turned and stepped out of the study. The moment she was out of view Shepard sagged, her hand slapping down on the desk, Liara catching her arm as her knees seemed to give out.
"Del, sit," she said with concern, urging her back into the chair once again. Shepard obeyed, fingers trembling where they still rested on the desk. Liara knelt in front of her, gently brushing a hand over her hair.
"You should not have carried the baby," she said with gentle patience, her brows knit. Shepard shook her head with irritation.
"Be damned if I can't carry my own granddaughter," she said.
"Shepard-"
"I'm fine, Li, I'm just…exhausted."
"I know," she replied, searching Del's face.
For a human woman only a few weeks away from turning 250, Shepard looked remarkably hale. Modern medicine had finally stretched the average human's lifespan to 175 years but it seemed it couldn't go much further than that without extensive enhancement. Del was an aberration, thanks to the nanites in her system and all the modifications she'd been given during Cerberus's Lazarus project. Though Del was technically only 249 if one counted the years before her first death over Alchera, she had still lived long past expectations.
Miranda, genetically engineered from the ground up from conception, had made it to 231, just a few years longer than her self-prediction of 'half again as long as average.'
Thanks mostly to the nanites, but slightly to her Native American genes as well, Del did not look her age. A few lines had sunk into the corners of her eyes and mouth, faintly wrinkling her forehead. She was no longer quite as physically robust, but neither had she developed the skinny, bowed frailty that most humans attained by their hundred and twentieth year. Her mostly metal skeleton did not wear down, her spine did not compact, and irritations like osteoporosis and arthritis were not a factor.
Her hair was the greatest indicator of her years. All sign of black had been lost two decades before, leaving a streaked patchwork of silver, gray, and white. Her dark brown eyes, though constantly weary these days, were still keen as she looked at Liara.
Yes, she looked hale enough…but looks were eternally deceiving. The truth was, Del Shepard was dying.
Her implants and her reconstruction had vastly extended her years, and by themselves, they could continue to function probably another four or five centuries without falter. The problem wasn't in the tech, it was in the organic. Human cells and DNA could only repair and replicate so long, even with the best modern therapies and treatments. Time, in the end, always wore them down, and time was not something any amount of tech could halt. Doctors were of little help because nothing was really wrong…her body was simply giving up.
She had begun drastically losing her energy just three months ago. Crossing from one room to the other would necessitate her sitting and catching her breath as if she'd run for miles. Her hands had begun to shake on and off, her grip going weak. At her last doctor's visit, he had informed the pair that she had only days, at most.
"She's not in any pain," he told Liara privately. "She'll just get weaker, sleep longer and more often until she finally just…she just won't wake up again. I suggest you get your family together. Say your goodbyes."
Goodbye was not something Liara ever wanted to say, and as Shepard started to sleep more and more, her bondmate slept less and less, often spending whole nights awake, holding Del as she slumbered, silently praying through her tears for hope against the inevitable.
Leaning forward, Del rested her forehead against Liara's, softly stroking her cheek. "You're still the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," she said with a soft smile. Liara cupped her face, kissing her a moment.
Goddess, please. I am not ready.
"I heard the motorcycle," Del said at last. "I take it Mel is here?"
"Yes. Dae too. We should go into the living room."
Del nodded, and with Liara's help got to her feet. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, she kissed the asari's temple, before drawing away and just taking her hand. Though weak, one thing Shepard still had was her stubborn pride, and she was either going out to greet her daughters under her own power, or not at all.
When they stepped into the living room, Dae was holding little Lily, Irie and Melara talking together just outside the kitchen. Spotting them, Melara straightened and saluted.
Shepard released Liara's hand, saluting in return with a lopsided smirk. "At ease. I think you outrank me now anyway."
"Not hardly, ma'am," Melara replied, stepping forward. Del hugged her as tightly as she was able, unexpected emotion momentarily closing her throat.
"My sweet girl," she said at last, closing her eyes with a smile. "My sweet little pain in the ass."