Well, that last chapter got people buzzing. Certainly, Liara's going through a rough patch here, but there's a lot of twists left to come. Enjoy the latest installment.
"I'm sorry."
Neither of them had spoken since they left the Shadow Broker's office, so Shepard was a bit startled when she heard Jack's words echo through the empty corridors of the ship.
"For what," the Spectre asked quietly, her own conscience tugging at her as Jack's apology reminded her of her regrets over recent events. The hurt and rage in Liara's eyes when she told her to leave wasn't something the commander would soon forget.
"I got sloppy." Jack rubbed the bump that still sat atop her mostly shaved head. "After all my talk about watching your back, I got knocked out like a little bitch and left you to deal with that yagh thing without me."
The commander shook her head. "It's not your fault. I got distracted by Liara and that distracted you."
Jack gave her an amused little snort. "Hey, I don't blame you. Blue was pretty hot back there."
Shepard blinked in surprise. "What?"
"Hey, it surprised the shit out of me too. I expected her to be this stuck up little asari princess, but I got to admit, she's a badass." She leaned over and kissed Shepard. "And you know I like my chicks badass."
In spite of herself, Shepard laughed. "Jesus, Jack. Every time I think I've got you figured out, you find a new way to surprise me."
"Yeah, I'm full of hidden depths and all that good shit," the biotic grinned before adding, "Seriously, though, Shep, I know that wasn't how you wanted it to go with Liara."
"She's angry." The commander yanked on her fiery red hair, letting the mild pain distract her. "She has a right to be. I should've…. I don't know what I should've done, but I certainly screwed it up."
Jack shrugged. "Meh, I've heard worse regrets."
That caused an eyebrow to be raised in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Have you looked around at your crew, Shep? You've got thieves, mercs, assassins, and a bunch of fascist Cerberus assholes all working for you. I mean, fuck, do you have any idea what I got locked up on that ship for? Compared with that shit, being a lousy girlfriend doesn't exactly rate. So give yourself a break with the guilt for once and get back to saving the galaxy."
The biotic reached over and took hold of Shepard's wrist, as if she was trying to physically pull her out of her own head. "Look, I know you don't think I'm paying attention half the time, but even I can tell we're getting near the end. We're heading through that relay into fuck knows what, and before we do, you need to get your shit together. You keep helping everybody else to work through their crap, but you're the one in charge of this shit show. If you don't have your head on straight, what chance do the rest of us nutcases have?"
"Christ, Jack, it's not…" Shepard was ready to erupt in frustration once again, but then she stopped herself and exhaled. Instead, she tried to do as the biotic suggested, to put the past behind her and just be there in the moment with her new lover. It wasn't a complete success, but she could feel a little of the tension leave her body, and she smiled. "That's not a bad point, actually. Maybe you should be the captain and give the speeches from now on."
"Really?", Jack smirked. "You gonna put me in charge?"
She winked mischievously. "Not a chance." Jack's smile turned to a frown, and Shepard added quickly, "Okay, it might be worth it to see the look on Miranda's face when she had to take orders from you. But I've got another plan for that."
The biotic licked her lips. "If it pisses off the cheerleader, you know I'm in."
Shepard grinned. "Oh, I think we're going to do more than just piss her off."
Liara knew she should let it go. She had already wasted far too much time obsessing over what she believed was a sinister plot by Cerberus to manipulate Shepard only to find out that the truth was far simpler and more devastating. Her former lover had moved on and wallowing further in her disappointment had no purpose.
And yet, one thing kept nagging at her: 37 days. That was how long the yagh claimed that Shepard and Jack had been together, but assuming he had told the truth, it raised two questions. For one thing, why had the commander been so skittish when she and Liara first reunited on Ilium, several weeks before that date? That meeting had been what first made her suspicious that something was wrong, and she still had no explanation for Shepard's behavior then.
The other question was more pressing though: how had the Broker known the length of Shepard and Jack's relationship with such precision? He could simply have been lying, but the asari thought that unlikely; though revealing Shepard's dalliance might have served to divide their group, what did the date matter in that context?
No, Liara concluded, her predecessor had probably been telling the truth, which left the question of where his information came from. Was someone on board the Normandy the Shadow Broker's, and therefore now her agent? That was something she needed to know, so half an hour ago, the asari had sat down at her massive bank of terminals in search of an answer, only to come up empty. There was no Shadow Broker operative on Shepard's ship, only…
There it was. A thin smile crossed Liara's dark blue lips as she found what she'd been looking for. An Operative Silas, a human in the employ of the Shadow Broker working on the Citadel, had received a video two days ago from an anonymous source, purporting to show… The information broker swallowed hard as she read the extranet message the agent had sent back to his master. It purported to show Commander Shepard having sex with a member of her crew.
Liara knew she should delete the video file unseen. There was only pain for her there, and yet she couldn't bring herself to do it. She told herself that she was only watching in order to identify who this Silas' source might be, but that was only part of the truth. Curiosity had always been both her gift and her curse; as an archeologist and then as an information broker, her job was to dig until she found the answers, and right now, she had to know what it was about Jack that had convinced Shepard to chose her.
Steeling herself, Liara opened the file. She didn't recognize the setting by sight, but it didn't take long for the location of the video to become the furthest thing from her mind. All she could focus on was Shepard, entirely naked and lying down on a small cot while a topless Jack knelt between her legs, her head bobbing up and down on… Liara's eyes widened as she saw what was protruding out from Shepard's crotch. She might have lacked direct experience with such things, but she had studied more then her fair share of alien species, and what she was looking at was undoubtedly a penis.
Her first thought was that it had to be fake. She and Shepard had used a simple toy that allowed the commander to penetrate her, but she had heard of more realistic ones, even ones which could transmit sensation to the wearer. The more she watched though, then more she doubted that was the case here. The shaft between her former lover's legs seemed to be a perfect extension of her body, both in its skin tone and the way it was connected to the rest of her.
It was also being used to draw the most remarkable reactions out of the commander. Though Liara had seen her in the throws of passion before, Shepard had never looked as desperate as she did here, and there was something about the sight that Liara couldn't tear her eyes away from. The pangs of jealousy she had expected were definitely there, twisting away in her gut, but she hadn't been prepared for them to be accompanied by a rush of arousal. Her skin felt warm and between her legs, her clit had begun throbbing with unwanted, unmet need as she watched the commander being pleasured by Jack.
On the screen in front of her, the convict thrust two of her fingers into Shepard, revealing that the red-head's vagina remained in existence, resting just below her new appendage. The additional stimulation appeared to be too much, because the commander cried out the familiar sound of her pleasure, her body tensing as she thrust her hips upward. After several seconds, the convict withdrew her mouth, the reason why becoming apparent as Shepard continued to climax, a fluid spurting out from her erection to cover Jack's hand as well as land on her face and the commander's belly.
With a trembling hand, Liara reached up, at last able to make herself pause the video on the screen in front of her. Her breathing was uneven as she tried to process everything running through her head. It had been so long since the last time she had been with Shepard but clearly even her anger hadn't been enough to destroy her desire for the Spectre.
Taking a deep breath, the Shadow Broker tried her best to push aside such thoughts and focus on what she had just learned. As odd as it was, Shepard's penis might at last supply an answer to some of the mysteries that had obsessed her. It was presumably the modification that Cerberus had made to the commander, and perhaps it also explained her unusual behavior. Perhaps. Liara had to admit she was out of her element here. As a member of a mono-gendered species, she had little idea of the emotional impact such a change could have on a human woman. She needed an outside opinion and there was only one person she could ask to supply it.
Ashley Williams groaned as she was yanked from a deep sleep by the beeping sound coming from her terminal. Throwing on a sweatshirt, she pulled herself out of bed and made her way to the other side of her room. Her muscles still ached from the afternoon's training exercises, and as she settled into her desk chair, her eyes were reluctant to stay open. Nor was her mood improved when she answered the call, only to be confronted with the irritatingly alert face of Liara T'Soni. "Liara," she muttered irritably, "Do you know what time it is here?"
"Ashley," the asari replied abashedly, "I am so sorry. I am not on Ilium anymore, and I forgot to recalculate the time differential. We can speak later when you are more awake."
She shook her head, trying to clear away the fatigue. "Don't worry about it. I'm up now. Is this about the skipper? Did you find out what's wrong with her?"
Unexpectedly, Liara blushed at the question, her skin turning a darker shade of blue. "I believe so," she replied hesitantly, words falling awkwardly out of her as she tried to explain. "Perhaps. It is not what I expected, and I wanted to get someone else's opinion. I fear that as an asari, I may not be the person best qualified to understand what is going on. Indeed, I find myself rather baffled by all of this."
"Take a breath, Liara. Just tell me what's going on."
"She has…" Her old comrade paused. "I believe that when Cerberus brought Shepard back to life, they gave her a penis."
Ashley blinked several times, trying to digest the news. Never in a million years would she have predicted that was what was going on. "A penis?", she sputtered, sounding no more coherent then her friend had moment earlier. "What? Why would they…. I mean, is that even possible?"
"I would have had my doubts as well," the asari agreed, "But nearly everything about the Lazarus Project was incredible. As to why they did it, I cannot say."
"And you think that's what messed Shepard up?"
"I'm not certain." Ashley could hear the tension in Liara's voice, a deep turmoil the asari was unable to hide. "I'm not really equipped to say what it would mean to a human woman to have such a thing done to her. How do you think you would react under those circumstances?"
Ashley laughed nervously, running a hand through her rumpled brown hair. "God, Liara, that's… I don't even know. It would be so weird. I mean, it's not like I've got anything against dicks…"
The asari cocked her head in confusion. "Dicks?"
"Sorry, it's human slang for penises. Like I said, I don't hate them. Hell, I've definitely had plenty of fun with them over the years. But having one would be pretty damn weird. It's just not who I am, you know?" She sighed. "I'm sorry I'm not being more helpful. It's not something I ever thought about before."
Liara gave her a small smile, one tinged with regret. "No, I appreciate it. If you are confused by thinking about this, I can only imagine how Shepard must have felt when it was done to her. Perhaps it explains the choices she's made…"
As the asari continued, Ashley heard a catch in her voice, tears forming at the edge of her big, blue eyes. "Hey," the marine asked gently, "What happened? What did Shepard do?"
Liara brushed her eyes clear, her voice hardening as she returned to the more professional tone she had been attempting before. "She is with someone else now, Ashley."
"Someone else?" The commander had been so head-over-heels for Liara back on the Normandy that it was hard for Ashley to picture. "Who?"
"Does it really matter?", Liara asked rhetorically, her tone now downright cold. "Whatever may have happened to her, she has made her choice. I thank you for your help, but it is her life. Now that I know she isn't in danger, this is no longer my concern."
The transmission ended, but as Ashley crawled back under the sheets, she wasn't sure she agreed with Liara. Whatever she might be telling herself, the asari sure as hell didn't seem like someone who didn't care anymore.