-Liara-
The flowers in Shepard's garden were as plentiful and varied as any Liara had seen. Around one bend, trailing beneath the long, wooden, string of poles that lined the eastern border, the asari counted over a dozen different types she recognized from her studies. It made the garden come alive with sprays of vibrant colors; reds and greens and yellows and blues in every shade. Long-stemmed Molthuix from Eden Prime hung from suspended planters, their dark vines tangling down around the garden like streamers. Little purple Atrinals from her own home world of Thessia dotted a big, moss-covered, tree trunk near the southern entrance. Water splashed in a big, concrete, fountain near the mansion itself; strange bird-like creatures stopping by and bathing themselves before retreating back into the woods. She had agreed to become Shepard's gardener in order to gain back some of the commander's trust, get on her good side, loosen the figurative noose around her neck, but she had found herself enjoying the daily task of watering and tending and planting and seeding much more than she would have imagined.
Still, as the sun beat down upon her blue skin, Liara found herself daydreaming as she worked, hunched over and kneeling in the dirt, clumps of grass and weeds around her knees.. Daydreaming of her sweet, sweet, vengeance against Shepard and all the rest of those nasty humans with her. Their day was coming. Soon enough: it was coming.
A volus accompanied her the first day, his little gloved hand wrapped around the end of a leash tethered to her collar; a reminder that the outside air did not make her 'free'. He stood beside her, silent and dutiful, as she traversed the garden with her watering can and shovel. It was as she worked she'd realized a painfully obvious truth she had somehow overlooked this entire time. Her eyes fell to the silent little volus and studied him a moment before she spoke. "Your suit is well-made, Irune-clan."
The volus almost didn't seem to notice she was speaking to him. When he did, his attention turned her way, his head cocked to its side, and his breathing apparatus lighting up around his mouth. "What?"
"Your suit," Liara repeated herself, offering her sweetest smile. "It is well made, Irune-clan."
"Oh," the volus said with a glance down at the suit himself. "Well... thank you, Thessia-clan. Back to work now."
"Of course," Liara said, bowing her head submissively. Her hands cupped a withering plant and lifted its bottom leave so she could pour a stream of water directly to its roots. "I wonder, Irune-clan... what is it the Commander did for you and your clan mates that made you take the oath of servitude?"
She glanced up just in time to see the volus tilt his head again. "You know of our oaths?"
"Oh, yes," Liara explained, pouring water to the plant. "I am an Asari, sir. Knowledge is our life's pursuit. I mean... it is obvious Commander Shepard has done something wonderful for you and your people in order to deserve the oath... to deserve your pledge of lifelong servitude."
"The Commander... has done many great things for many people. She is an incredible, fearless, woman," the volus said, avoiding directly answering her question.
"Certainly," Liara agreed, standing and moving down the line to another plant. "Still... I know the volus don't just hand out their devotion, let alone the devotion of an entire clan, without good and just cause. I was just curious what that cause was..."
She reached another plant that looked sickly and knelt before it to go to work. A few moments of silence passed, and she began to think that was all the conversation she would get from the alien, until he spoke once more. "The Commander saved us from a geth attack about a year ago. She came when no other would, defying her own higher command to aid us and ultimately saving our lives. She is the only Earth-clan I've met that works for others so selflessly. My clan and I were happy to make our pledge to her."
Liara smirked as she poured water down. She now knew that it was the pledge binding their allegiance to Shepard. That was a good thing to know. The pledge could not be easily broken, but transferred to another? That sort of thing was as common as krogan temper-tantrums. "Thank you for sharing your story, Irune-clan," she told the volus with a smile. "You are very kind to speak to me, a humble slave of the Commander, so freely."
The volus nodded at her, seeming pleased with her amicable words. Liara stifled a laugh as she went back to her work. Piece after piece was falling into place... Shepard had no idea of the magnitude of the storm that was coming.
The volus removed her leash and left her to herself an hour later, called inside by that whore-girl slave, Samantha. Liara detested the woman so deeply she could nearly taste the bitterness in her mouth upon seeing her. But then the volus was inside, the two were gone, and she was alone.
It didn't surprise her. After Jack and Miranda's little escape episode, Shepard had altered the collars around their necks, doubling their thickness and setting them to unleash an electronic jolt if they traversed too far from the mansion itself. It meant she wasn't going anywhere, though that wasn't her intention anyway. So, alone, she simply went back to work gardening and planting, watering and daydreaming.
Until fifteen minutes later when Jack appeared at the edge of the woods, quietly shouting her name. Liara lifted her gaze and stared, confused, at the woman momentarily. Her thin, athletic, frame was pale beside the dark greens of the forest. Tattoos swirled around each of her limbs, though her arms were partially hidden, pulled behind her back. Some of the woman's hair had begun to grow back in, replacing the bald, tattooed head with something closer to a buzz-cut. Her eyes were wide and urgent as she stared across the garden, nodding when Liara spotted her. Liara instinctively glanced to the mansion entrance. No volus, no Samantha, no Shepard, no one watching at all. She looked back at Jack and swallowed, collecting her thoughts.
Jack frowned, turned to her side just enough to reveal her wrists were handcuffed behind her back, and lifted her brow, gesturing with her shoulder for Liara to come closer. Liara stood, swiped dirt from her knees, and stepped quickly but carefully through the garden.
"I need the keys to these," Jack whispered when she'd made it to the edge of the woods. She jangled the cuffs against to emphasize her predicament. "And then I can get us all out of this shit."
Liara was still surprised to see her, though she knew the woman was loose on the planet. "Did you find anything or... or anyone?"
Jack shot her an agitated look. "Do you think I'd be standing here in fucking handcuffs if I did? There ain't shit here. We're on a fucking island. The only way is to take the mansion and force Shepard to let us leave."
Liara swallowed, surprised at how close Jack's plan resembled her own. Taking the mansion was her number one priority, and she was going to force Shepard to do things alright. Letting anyone leave was not one of them, however. She returned her eyes to the tattooed woman. "How did you remove your collar?"
"What does it matter?" Jack snapped. "Look, go in there and find a way to get the keys to these cuffs. When I'm free, I'll sneak in at night and get the rest of you loose..." Her eyes flicked to the mansion momentarily and came back to Liara with concern in them. "What did that bitch do to Miranda?"
Liara shrugged. "Nothing as far as I know," she said truthfully. She'd only seen the Cerberus agent once in the last two days, at the dinner table during the commander's party the night before, but Ashley Williams had talked Shepard out of doing anything more than displaying Miranda briefly for her guests.
"Really?" Jack asked, some on the tension melting from her face.
Again, Liara shrugged. "If I get you the key and you can do as you say and sneak in at night to free us... then what are your plans?"
"Take Shepard by force and make her call in a shuttle or something," Jack explained. "I can't find one anywhere on this god-damned island but she has to have one waiting just out of orbit. I mean, shit, we came in on one."
"So leaving is the plan then?"
Jack frowned. "Yeah, leaving is the plan. The hell else would the plan be?"
Liara nodded. "Just thought you might want some vengeance on Shepard after all the duress she's put you and your girlfriend through."
"All I want out of Shepard is a way off this planet," Jack explained. "Then I'm going to put as much space between her and myself as I can and try to forget that psychotic bitch ever existed. Now go get me those fucking keys before someone spots us."
Liara glanced back to the mansion, thinking, and back to Jack. "Alright... see that shed?" She pointed down a slop that spilled out to a flat, wooded, area near the back of the mansion. An old, wooden, shed stood beneath the shade of the trees. It was where she'd gathered the gardening supplies.
"Yeah..."
"Here," Liara said, unhooking the shed key from her waist belt and handing it to the woman. Jack turned to her side so her cuffed hands could receive it. "Unlock it and wait inside. I'll see what I can do about getting your bracelets off."
Jack closed her fist around the key and nodded, then retreated a bit further back into the woods before jogging down the slope towards the shed. Liara watched her go, thinking of the best way to turn the situation in her favor. She debated simply turning the loud-mouthed woman in, revealing her hiding spot to Shepard in order to gain favor. But the more she thought about it, the less it seemed to help her. Having Jack out of the mansion gave her a trump card of sorts, an element of chaos that she could unleash at the perfect moment to aid her conquest of Shepard's home. Helping Jack was a possibility too, though if the tattooed little cunt did get them free at night, she'd certainly go to her precious little dyke girlfriend, Miranda, first. Then the two of them would dictate the plans, likely agree on escape, and her dreams of revenge would dissipate just like that. No, helping Jack was even worse than turning her in.
A smile came to Liara's face then. She knew just what she had to do.
The mansion was cool and dark compared to the crisp afternoon day outside. Liara entered the kitchen through the side door and found herself alone with the same volus she'd spoken with earlier. He was carrying a stack of plates towards the dining room, but stopped upon seeing her. She smiled and bowed her head submissively. "I'd like to request permission to have a glass of water, Irune-clan, if it isn't against the Commander's wishes?"
He nodded, gestured to the fridge, and continued on his way. Liara smirked, dropping the submissive act as quickly as she picked it up. Alone, she hurried to the pantry doors, swung them open, and searched for what she was looking for. Shepard had bondage gear laying around every inch of the mansion and she was sure she'd spotted-
-there. A big, red, ballgag hung from a peg on the back wall of the pantry, dangling and waiting for a mouth to call its home. Liara snatched it up and tucked it inside a belt pouch. She closed the pantry doors, took a quick glance around the kitchen to assure no curious eyes were upon her, and retreated back to the bright outdoors.
"It's me," she whispered upon making her way to the front of the shed. She rapped her knuckles along the long, wooden, planks that made up the door, and it creaked open, half of Jack's face appearing within.
"You get them?"
Liara pushed her way inside, turning to close and lock the shed door behind her. "Yes," she said. The inside of the shed was vintage, like many things Shepard collected and had built, and housed no modern technology of any sort. The floor was a mixture of dirt and hay. The air was cooler, muskier, inside, and the only window was a high-perched thing near the rear that bordered the woods. Shafts of sunlight spilled in from outside. Near the front doors was a toolshed and cabinet, and at the back was a varren cage that housed a large, yet quiet, varren. Liara glanced all this over before setting her eyes on Jack and nodding. "Turn around, I'll unlock you."
Jack nodded and turned, anxious to be released. "Good job. Did anyone see you?"
"No," Liara said, stepping up behind the tattooed woman. "Not one person." She kicked her foot hard right above Jack's calf muscle, buckling the woman's leg and dropping her to her knees.
"What the fuck!?" Jack yelled.
Liara's put a hand on her shoulder and shoved her hard to the floor where she thudded against the dirt, chin first, before dropping to the ground herself, straddling the woman.
"What the fuck is this shit!?" Jack screamed, trying to wrestle her way out from beneath Liara's thighs. "Get the fuck off me you blue bitch!" She grit her teeth and craned her neck back to get a look behind her. When she saw Liara's hand approaching, the straps of the ballgag held gingerly between her fingertips, her eyes widened. "NO! WHAT THE FUCK!? NO! NOOOOO!"
"Shhhh," Liara hushed her, quickly using her fingers to jam the ball between the noisy woman's teeth. She fought it in, wrapped fists around the buckles, and yanked it tight around Jack's mouth, instantly silencing her shouts.
"Garmfrhg! Ouu mrf gmmfr armmph!" Jack screamed, the ballgag turning her furious protests into mumbled nonsense.
"Shut the fuck up," Liara snapped, tightening the straps one last time before buckling them in place. She pivoted on the thrashing woman's hips, grabbed a coil of rope from the toolshed's bottom shelf, and forced Jack's bare ankles and feet together before wrapping them up in the rope and knotting it. Finished, she got to her feet, snatched up Jack's elbow and dragged the mumbling and protesting woman to a nearby wooden pillar. She looped a coil of rope around her midsection and began circling the post, moving quick and hard to combat Jack's attempts at jerking her way free. After a few minutes of circling, she had successfully bound the woman to the pole, seated on the dirt floor of the shed, her bare legs and feet stretched out before her. Liara put her hands on her hips and stared down at Jack, who was, for the moment, quiet - but her eyes were wide and rage-filled, and her nostrils were flaring in and out like she was breathing flames.
"Pout all you want, you're not going anywhere," Liara said.
This spurred an attempt at a verbal protest from Jack. "GARM FOMF MERFMGPH!" Her head snapped forward like she was going to burst through the ropes, and she did so with such violent force, Liara almost believed it. Instead, the ropes held her in place, causing her to scream even harder into her gag.
"You and I have a conflict of interest, you see," Liara explained, walking before her prisoner and crouch so they were on eye level. Jack jerked her body forward in the ropes again and growled into the ballgag, barring her teeth above and below the red ball balefully. "While we both want control of that mansion, our causes are very different. You seem only intent on escape. I... no longer wish to escape."
Jack's nostrils flared in and out, in and out, as sat forced to listen.
Liara went on. "I only envision conquest now. I intent to overtake that mansion of our mutual foe's for myself. Then I intend on enslaving Shepard and, well, the rest of you I suppose, and subjecting your dirty, perverted, human bodies to torture."
Jack sunk her teeth into the ballgag and glared forward at Liara. Her eye twitched.
"The worst part for you and the rest of your fellow homo-sapiens in there is that I'm a much different master than Shepard. See, Shepard, in her own twisted way, actually believes she's sexually pleasing the lot of you... or at least she's trying to with her kinky little games. I on the other hand get no such satisfaction out of what I'm doing to you now. I only do it because I'm beginning to enjoy seeing your kind... suffer."
"Armf!" Jack grunted, trying to shake the gag loose with a twist of her head.
Liara smiled and tapped her fingers against its big, red, surface. "The ironic part is you happen to be the one I'm least interested in subjecting to torture. You're loud and obnoxious, sure, but I'm more indifferent towards you than anything. Now, Shepard and her little slut, Samantha..." She looked into Jack's eyes and grinned. "Even your gal-pal, Miranda Lawson. Those little whores don't know what is coming for them."
"FERMF OU!" Jack snapped, trying to crash her forehead into Liara's.
Liara backed away at the last moment, snatched Jack's chin between her fingers, and slammed the woman's head back up against the post. "Shut up! You hear me? Shut up!" She demanded, shaking Jack's head and tightening her grip. "I'm storing you here, out of the way, until my plans moves further along and there's nothing you can do about that, you understand?" She tapped the ballgag again. "So give that big, foul, mouth of yours a rest, sit back, and enjoy this brief moment of safety... this quiet before the storm. It won't last forever, and then you'll be begging me to allow you to sit quietly in a moment of rest. And you know what?" She brought her face close to Jack's and stared into the woman's eyes. "You - won't - get it!"
-Miranda-
The light came on in the small, drab, dungeon cell beneath Shepard's mansion, the barred door swung open, and the commander's slave-girl, Samantha, stood in the frame.
Miranda, who'd been lying on a cot in the rear of the cell, got her elbows beneath her body and lifted so she could face the girl. They'd had her kept in there since the 'party' last night when Shepard seemed to have a sudden change of heart in relation to her punishment for escape. She was left unbound, but her clothes had not been returned to her. The draft from outside the cell felt cool against her bare nipples.
"Come," Sam said, gesturing her forward. "The Commander is ready to serve your punishment."
Miranda swallowed, nodded, and stood. She marched forward to the cell door, and Sam took her by the wrist when she neared. Miranda looked from the girl's hand to her face, cocking an eyebrow in confusion. She had expected to be leashed, bound, perhaps gagged, and instead found herself being led out of the cell and down a hallway, Sam's soft fingers around her wrist the only form of 'bondage' laid upon her. They turned down another hall, Miranda trying to figure out just how deep and winding the halls beneath Shepard's mansion went, and then Sam led them through an arched doorway. Inside, her bare feet were greeted with a soft, red, carpet that sprawled up between her toes. Sam guided her to the center of the small room, where a leather, padded, V-bench awaited. Miranda sighed, realizing her good fortune had come to its end. Sam had her stand in front of the bench, took her wrists, pulled them together, and bound them with a pair of leather cuffs that were tethered down to the bench itself. The dark-skinned girl moved behind her, used the toe of her boot to gently kick Miranda's leg a bit further apart, widening her spread, and then strapped each of her ankles to the base of the bench.
Miranda swallowed, staring down at the bench she was being attached to as Sam fasted the last strap around her ankle. "This is for spanking, isn't it?"
"Typically," Sam answered.
Miranda nodded, giving her bound wrists a little tug to test their security. They stayed put near her waist. "Well, thank you for not being... rough with me."
Sam stood, faced her, gave a little smile and nod, and turned to leave. "The Commander will be in shortly," she said, stepping back into the hall, closing the door behind her.
Miranda surveyed the room. It's walls were brick, lit softly, and close together, giving the room a much more inviting atmosphere then the rest of the dungeon she'd seen. She was thankful for the carpet beneath her feet, and as she slid her foot across it the best she could with her ankle strapped down, she noticed a drift of smoke coming from the far corner beside a white, leather, couch. She sniffed the air and got a nose-full of pleasant incense. That was as confusing as the rest; it was almost as if Shepard was trying to make her comfortable instead of... well, torturing her.
The door swung open. The Commander stepped in.
"There she is," Shepard said, flashing that toothy grin of hers and striding forward as the door drifted shut behind her. "Miss me?" She asked and gave Miranda a pat on the ass cheek.
Miranda nodded to the woman. "Hello, Commander."
Shepard was even dressed casually. She wore a black T-shirt with blue and pink stripes around the trim, a simple pair of denim pants, and flip-flops on her feet. It was... a strange sight after all the costumes and outfits and even armor that the woman usually wore. None-the-less, she still carried that air of command around her as she went to the corner of the room, snatched a folding chair from behind one of the couches, and lugged it over in front of the leather V-bench Miranda was bound to. Shepard flashed another grin before unfolding the chair, propping it up before her, kicking off her flip-flops, and propping her bare feet up on the bench. Miranda looked down and Shepard wiggled her toes with a laugh. "How are you doing?"
"Fine, Commander."
"Oh?" Shepard said with a mischievous grin. "Because you look like your naked and strapped up to what appears to be some sort of bench... I haven't the faintest idea what it could be for, however."
"That's true," Miranda said with a nod, unsure of how to proceed with the conversation. Shepard's mood seemed to be light and playful... but it could all easily be a trick; a trap to get her to admit something, or perhaps act out subversively so the commander would be forced to punish her. It was hard to read the woman; always had been. "How about yourself, Commander. How are you?"
"Would you drop all that stiff-upper-lip shit," Shepard said, leaning the folding chair back on its rear legs. "We're just talking here, Miranda. You can call me Shepard while we're in here."
Miranda shifted her weight and watched the woman teeter on her chair. "...alright."
"And as to how I'm doing?" Shepard said, letting her head fall back so she could stare up at the ceiling. She locked her hands behind her head and bit her lip. "Well, I'm doing fantastic." She looked back down to Miranda, smiling. "So fantastic, in fact, I've decided that this is your punishment."
"This?"
Shepard nodded to her. "I'm keeping you strapped like that with those big, juicy, tits of yours flapping in the breeze for me to gawk at," she said, throwing her head back in a laugh and nearly losing the chair's balance. She caught herself and laughed even harder at that. "Life's good, no?"
Miranda was done playing it coy. "Is this a game, Shepard?"
"No game," Shepard said, putting her hands up as if to show she had nothing up her sleeve. "Miranda, I think I might be falling for Chief Ashley Williams."
"So that was her," Miranda said. She had remembered seeing the woman beside Shepard at the commander's bizarre 'party' the night before. She thought the face looked familiar, but couldn't be sure until now. She looked at Shepard, frowning. "She's the one who asked you to show me mercy at dinner last night..."
"She was," Shepard admitted. "And I did. And since then I've spent the entire day with her, and you know what we did? We just talked. Hell, I didn't even tie her up! That's... unlike me."
Miranda nodded. "That's for sure."
Shepard laughed. "She impressed me a lot at that dinner..." the commander continued, glancing around the room. "And she's impressed me more today. She's smart and opinionated like, well, you sometimes. But she also has passion and fearlessness like Jack at times."
Miranda swallowed. "Jack... is she alright?" It had weighed on her mind since she'd been caught, but she'd been too nervous to bring it up to anyone in fear it would only make things worse.
"Still on the lamb, I'm afraid," Shepard said with a shrug.
"Still?" Miranda echoed, frowning. "It's been two days..."
"What do you want me to do? It's a small island. She has to wind up back here sooner or later. It's your fault she's missing in the first place," Shepard said, pointing her way. "You clever little bitches... I didn't even consider you'd find a way to get the collar off her."
Miranda thought of the last image she'd seen of Jack, running off down the beach with her hands still locked behind her back as the volus patrol roared down towards them. "When you find her... what will you do to her?"
Shepard sighed. "You know, I don't know anymore. Ashley keeps telling me how crazy it is to keep you little bitches here against your will... I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not agreeing with her, but I have to listen to her if I... well, if I want her to listen back..."
Miranda's heartbeat quickened. Was this possible? Could Ashley Williams actually talk Shepard out of this insane little game of hers? "You really like her?"
"I think I do," Shepard said.
Miranda thought her next words were bold, but she had to say them; they'd weighed on her mind for too long. "Will you ever let us go, Shepard?"
Shepard frowned. "I never said I was going to keep you here forever, Miranda," she said, giving her a little poke in the stomach with her foot. "Just until we've all had our fun. I mean, has it really been so terrible? I've tied you up a bit here and there, maybe left a gag in your mouth a little longer than you'd like, a little spanking, a little ice torture... hell, I even had you cleaned in a shower." Shepard paused, staring up at Miranda with a twinkle in her eye. "You remember that shower, don't you? It's were I introduced you to your girlfriend," she said and laughed.
"That's not what it is with Jack and me..." Miranda explained, though wasn't it? They'd slept together on that beach three times. She cared about her. What did that make them?
"Look on that conflict on your pretty little face," Shepard said with a grin. "You so desperately don't want to be a dyke, but... well, you are what you eat."
Miranda stared at Shepard. Did the commander know about what they did? No, of course not. She was only assuming. "I don't know what you mean by that, Shepard."
"Oh, I think you do," Shepard replied, letting the chair legs fall back to the carpet and standing up. The commander walked up beside her smiling and leaned in close beside her neck. Miranda could feel the woman's warm breath on her cheek when she spoke. "You're telling me if she was here right now... with here hand here," Shepard whispered, her hand reaching up and cupping Miranda's breast firmly in her fingers. "And maybe another here." Her other hand fell to Miranda's ass cheek and squeezed hard. "That wouldn't drive you fucking nuts?"
Miranda swallowed, closed her eyes, composed herself. "I'm... not sure."
Shepard laughed, rested her chin on Miranda's shoulder for a moment, and then leaned closer and took the flesh of her neck gently in her teeth, giving it a little tug before removing her hands from her breast and ass and returning to her chair. "You are a stoic little bitch, you know that?" She asked with a laugh as she kicked her feet up again and leaned back in the chair once more.
Miranda took a deep breath, calming her sexual response system back down before her nipples went erect, and then Shepard would really have her laugh. "So..." she said, pushing past the awkwardness. "What if Ashley and you become something... more, and she doesn't support all your unusual lifestyle choices?"
"What? Bondage?" Shepard asked.
"Well, yes, but also your habits of kidnapping women and keeping them as sexual prisoners in your dungeon? Or that slave-girl who wears the latex outfit."
"Sam is here by her own decision," Shepard pointed out. "I didn't kidnap her. She likes being my slave. And Ashley will warm up to my kinks. Most people do, except cold bitches like you and Jack. But that's only because you've got the hots for each other."
"Alright, but if she doesn't," Miranda insisted. "You have to consider that possibility, Shepard."
Shepard scratched her head, considering it, but shrugged the thought away. "She will."
Miranda realized that Shepard was just so used to getting her way, she never even considered people wouldn't bend to her will eventually. It explained a lot about her big 'plan' to kidnap Jack, Liara, and herself and keep them here. The woman had traveled the galaxy, saving everyone she'd come across and earning all of their favor in return. She'd been appointed Spectre, named the hero of the citadel, ended genocide, saved countless lives... who would tell her no at this point? Miranda looked down at the woman in her chair and, astonishingly, felt a sting of sympathy for her. The day would come when someone said 'No'... she just hoped that person wasn't Ashley Williams and that day wasn't coming soon, or things could go bad for everyone.
"What's that look?" Shepard asked.
Miranda shook her head. "Nothing, Shepard."
"You're damn right, nothing!" Shepard said, her voice hardening, but her face still wore a playful expression. "Ashley will come around... when she does? I might even let you little bitches go. Until then, though..." she said, reaching into her back pocket. When her hand returned, it carried a black, leather, hood. Shepard dangled it for Miranda to see and grinned. "Look here, it's got zippers for the eyes and a big fat plug for your mouth with another zipper to hold it in place. Isn't that just a thing of beauty?"
Miranda groaned as she stared at the mask. It was exactly as Shepard described. Chrome zipper-lining trimmed the eye and mouth holes of the mask, a black, rubber, plug dangled from the chin. "Come on, Shepard... isn't it nice to just talk every once in awhile without silencing your conversation partner?"
"It is," Shepard said with a nod. "And don't mistake this for anger. I'd enjoyed this little chat, Miranda. But this is punishment time, after all. If I'm not going to lay into that juicy ass of yours with a paddle or a whip, I'm at least going to make you a bit uncomfortable as you stand there for... oh, I don't know... the next three hours or so?"
Miranda tilted her head and gave Shepard a look saying 'come on'.
"Alright, alright," Shepard said, her hand lifting. "Two hours, but realize you're getting off extremely light for what you did you disobedient little bitch!"
Miranda sighed: it was the best she was getting. "Fine."
Shepard stood, but as she did, the door opened. Miranda turned to see Sam leading in a crying and wounded Liara T'Soni.
"What the hell is going on?" Shepard demanded, stepping forward.
"She say's Jack attacked her," Sam said, stepping aside so Liara could come forward.
"That can't be true!" Miranda protested.
"Silence," Shepard commanded with a point of her finger. She set her gaze on Liara. "Speak, Blue. What happened?"
Liara lifted her head, and when she did it revealed her left eye was blackened around the socket, as if it had been punched. Her cheeks were damp with tears. "Oh, Commander, it was terrible! Jack saw me in the garden watering your flowers! She approached me speaking about some plan to break into the mansion and overthrow you! I wasn't having any part of that! I screamed for Sam or the volus or someone, but then she hit me... oh, God, Commander... she hit me and I tried everything I could to grab her so you could restrain her and punish her for the bad she's done but she hit me again and ran off into the woods... it was terrible!"
Shepard squinted, studying the asari woman before turning to Sam.
Sam licked her lips before speaking. "We checked the motion detectors. Her story holds up. They were set off a few minutes ago, twice."
"Damn it!" Shepard muttered. "Which way into the woods, Liara?"
"Towards the shuttle clearing," Liara whimpered as more tears flowed.
"Alright, Sam, take a team of volus and search the north half of the woods that way. I'll check the southern half. If this was only a few minutes ago, she couldn't have got far. We'll get her."
"Yes, Commander," Sam said with a nod and hurried out of the room.
Shepard moved to follow her, but Liara halted her with a sob. "What should I do, my Commander?"
Shepard glanced back at Miranda before handing the asari the leather hood. "Fit that on her and then go lie down in another room."
"Yes, Commander," Liara said, taking the hood.
"And don't touch her. Jack did that to you, not her. You hear me? Do not lay a hand on her."
"Yes, Commander. Of course, Commander," Liara said, lowering her head.
With that, Shepard took off around the doorway, her footsteps bounding down the hall. Miranda stared at the asari, an uncomfortable feeling stirring in the pit of her stomach. She watched as Liara swiped a tear from her eye, straightened her back, and took a breath. And just like that, her 'hysterics' were over. Miranda pulled at her bound wrists, wishing they weren't. "You lied..." She said, frowning at the blue alien.
Liara's gaze lifted to her and stared back. She shrugged, but Miranda could swear she saw the faintest hint of a smirk at the corner of her mouth. The asari took a step in her direction, playing with the hood in her hands.
"Stay the hell away from me," Miranda warned.
Liara did smirk then, and she did nothing to hide it. "Shhhh..." She lifted the hood above her head and began tugging it down over her hair and face. Miranda winced as the asari roughly yanked and tugged until the mask had made a snug home wrapped around her entire head. It smelled, unsurprisingly, like leather. Liara studied her for a moment, the smirk still on her face, before reaching for the mouth plug.
"She didn't tell you to do that," Miranda said.
"I know," Liara replied and jammed the rubber plug into her mouth.
"Mmrrrrrmg," Miranda moaned as her mouth was filled with the gross rubber taste of the gag.
Liara zipped the mouth cover shut and then reached for the eye-hole zippers. She closed the left one, and as she was closing the right, Miranda saw her wink. Then it zipped shut, and Miranda was submerged in complete blackness, immobile, blind, and silenced.
Something hard thundered across her ass cheeks with violent force. "MMMMM!" She shouted from her plugged up mouth, the pain ringing through her body, but then the door was slamming shut and she was alone.
She felt scared.
She felt Shepard was no longer the biggest threat on this island.