One more small canon change: instead of being picked up from the Project Base in Arrival, Shepard just stole one of their ships to escape. It always seemed a little weird that the Normandy was so close at hand to rescue you when you couldn't bring the crew on the mission, plus this fits the flow of the story better.
Shepard groaned, tossing the bag containing her gear on the floor of her cabin before collapsing into her desk chair. It was far more than just the physical fatigue that came with uncomfortable space travel that had worn her down. The galaxy could be a funny place sometimes, and not in a good way. Days earlier, she'd survived what was supposed to have been a suicide mission only to have a simple extraction for the Alliance turn into one of the worst assignments of her life. Countless batarians were dead, the Reapers were on their way, and all she'd been able to do was escape on one of the Project Base's shuttles minutes before everything got blown to hell.
The two day trip back to Ilium afterwards had been filled with little but nightmares and self-recrimination, and now that she'd made it, she desperately needed the comfort of her lover's arms. Sadly, however, Jack hadn't been there to greet her when she came on-board. "EDI," she inquired, "Where's Jack?"
"Jack has not been on the Normandy in approximately two days, Commander," the AI informed her.
Now that was odd, and a little troubling. Maybe her girlfriend was on a bender with the rest of the crew, still celebrating their victory over the Collectors. "Anybody else not check in recently?", she asked.
"Zaeed Massani. Ship logs indicate that before they left the Normandy, they were discussing locations where they might purchase alcoholic beverages."
The commander shook her head, chiding herself silently for worrying. "They're probably still at it. Anything else happen here while I was away?"
"There is nothing that requires your immediate attention. Repairs to the ship's systems are currently 87% complete; Tali Zorah has left a full report on your desk. In addition, you have 46 new messages at your private terminal."
Shepard groaned once again. Now that Kelly was gone, the AI had taken over as her secretary but while she liked EDI a good deal better than the yeoman, that didn't help the quality of her mail. "Anything good?"
"I am uncertain what you mean by good, Commander. However, it may interest you to know that one of the messages is from the Illusive Man."
In spite of her distress, she forced a small laugh. "Have you been reading my mail, EDI?"
"No, Commander, but the message is encrypted using protocols he has utilized in the past. Not even I can trace its point of origin."
"Huh. I wonder what he wants. I would have thought he got the picture the last time we talked."
"Unknown. Perhaps he wishes to apologize for his past behavior and offer you a gift of some kind." There was a brief pause and then EDI added, "That was a joke."
The commander rolled her eyes at the AI's idea of humor and began scrolling through her in-box until she got to the message in question. It's subject was "Renegotiation of Terms," and with a curious shrug, she opened it. The next sound that left her mouth was a scream.
Standing in the middle of her living room, Liara T'Soni was feeling disappointed with herself. She'd returned to Ilium to clear out her apartment and office, carrying away anything she might need for her new life as the Shadow Broker and getting rid of the rest. She was finding, though, it wasn't quite that easy. In spite of her best intentions, she was unable to tear her eyes away from that damned chest-plate. The jagged fragment of her commander's armor sitting there in its glass case was a reminder of so much of the good and bad that had happened to her over the past few years.
Shepard's rescue of her on Therum, the death of her mother on Noveria, the old Normandy's final mission to Ilos, the recovery of her lover's body; all of them seemed to be encapsulated in that single piece of metal and she didn't know what to do with it now. Was it a piece of detritus from that past that she should leave behind? A part of her wanted it to be, knew that it should be. And yet, she couldn't stop starring.
Her trance was broken by the sound coming from her omni-tool and she looked at her wrist to see that she had a call from the source of her current distress. What could Shepard want, she wondered? To apologize for what had happened between them? She wasn't interested in hearing any more of the Spectre's regrets. It was the past now, she told herself, and with a rueful shake of her head, she told her device to ignore the call.
Returning to the task she was supposed to be in her apartment for, Liara tore herself away from the case and walked over to one of her dressers. Once there, she began stacking one pair of dark-colored pants after another into a shipping container. The repetitive motion was helpfully distracting, and she was just getting ready to move on to the next drawer when her omni-tool pinged her again. It was a message this time, but once more from the commander, and even though she was going to ignore it, she paused when she saw the topic.
All it said was, "Please, It's Urgent," and Liara knew she couldn't leave it unopened. Was it news about the Reapers? Could something have happened to one of their old friends who were serving on this new Normandy; Garrus, or Tali, perhaps? Steeling her heart, the asari opened the message.
Liara, it read, I know I have no right to ask you for any favors, but I'm desperate. I'm on Ilium now, and I don't know if you're here too or on your ship, but either way, I need to talk to you as soon as possible. Please.
Liara paused, unsure of what the commander wanted from her. Still, no matter what else Shepard had done, the asari had faith that she wouldn't have sent a message like that unless she had a very good reason, and so as best she could, she swallowed her anger, and sent the human a simple reply:
My apartment on Ilium. One hour.
It was only 46 minutes later when the door to her apartment opened, and what Liara saw shocked her. In all the months she had spent with Shepard, the commander had never looked like this, the beautiful woman she had fallen in love with nearly invisible beneath layers of fatigue and despair. Shepard's shoulders were slumped, her freckled face pale, and her eyes sunken and haunted. She seemed crushed and in spite of all that had passed between them, Liara's first instinct was to take Shepard into her arms, to try and take her pain away in any way she could.
The time for such things had passed. The commander was with someone else now, and so instead, Lira only said, "Come in, Shepard. You told me this was important."
The human did as she was told, shuffling into the apartment and flopping down into one of Liara's leather chairs. "It is. I… I don't even know where to start." She ran one hand through her long red hair, tugging on those locks that Liara had once loved to feel brushing against her skin, and she tried again.
"So, we took down the Collectors," she started out, "And after the mission was over, I organized the people I could trust on the Normandy and threw Cerberus off. Just rounded up their operatives and dumped them all on Omega. And then… then, I had this mission that Hackett had asked me to do for him. There was an Alliance researcher operating inside batarian space that had been captured, and I was supposed to get her out."
"It turned out to be a lot more complicated than that. She'd been studying the return of the Reapers, and she'd been indoctrinated by an artifact they'd left behind. Her and the rest of her team, they… never mind, the details don't really matter. The point is, the Reapers were about to arrive in the Bahak system and I had to stop them, any way I could."
"How?", Liara asked, her anger momentarily forgotten as she tried to process this new information.
"I destroyed the relay. I crashed an asteroid into it and wiped out the whole damn system."
"Goddess," she breathed. "I had no idea such a thing was possible. And the Reapers?"
"Delayed, but I'm not sure for how long. It'll be months before they can reach the next relay, but they're still coming. The Alliance doesn't get that though. All they know is that the system is gone. That 300,000 batarians are dead. Now Hackett wants me to turn myself in so that can explain what I did."
"And are you going to?"
The commander's voice had been soft this whole time, but now it dropped even further, becoming no more than a haunted whisper. "I can't. There was a message waiting for me when I got back from the mission. Liara, while I was gone, Cerberus took Jack."
Two Days Earlier:
"God, the look on Miranda's stupid genetically engineered face when we threw her off the ship…" Jack laughed as she slammed down another shot of asari brandy. "Too fucking perfect. Like all she wanted to do was to hit me but she knew she couldn't."
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," Zaeed agreed gruffly, "But you still could've bloody well let me in on the plan."
"Hey, I wanted to," Jack protested, "But Shep thought you might still be pissed off over that shit with Vido and the refinery."
"Not saying I liked the way it turned out, but what's done is done," Zaeed declared. Jack wasn't entirely convinced. She remembered the black rage the mercenary had been in for two days when he and Shepard had gotten back from Zorya, but he was right; there was nothing either of them could do about that now.
"So, what's next for you", Jack asked, "Now that you've got a big fucking pile of Cerberus' money to play with? Planning to keep pissing it away on booze and chicks?"
"Maybe," he snorted. "Still got a job or two that needs doing first."
Just then, Jack noticed a commotion brewing at the front of the bar. This didn't feel like the kind of place that usually had commotions. Indeed, it was the kind of asari bar she usually stayed the hell away from, where everybody had two shoes and most of the women wore nice dresses. Still, she had to admit the drinks were good and the pretty asari dancers up on the stage were worth watching, even if they did keep more of their clothes on than she was used to. Besides, flush with credits, Zaeed had offered to pay, so what the fuck, right?
That's why she was surprised that there was some kind of fight going on, but she still wasn't that concerned and she was preparing to return to her drinking when she saw who was forcing their way in. There were four of them, all big and human, all carrying shiny new assault rifles, and on their heavy white armor, she saw an all-too-familiar logo.
"Fucking Cerberus sons of bitches," she snarled, rising from her stool. She might not have brought her gun with her, but her biotics should still be more than enough to turn these assholes into smears on the bar walls. "Come on, Zaeed," she barked, "Let's show these guys…"
She didn't get the chance to finish her sentence. Out of nowhere, Jack felt a sharp jab in her back, and then her whole body was on fire, currents of pure agony running through her. The assholes who'd raised her had tased the biotic before, but never this hard and she collapsed at once to the floor, her body spasming uncontrollably. Her eyes, though, turned upwards, seeking her attacker, and what she saw hurt almost as much as the electricity coursing through her body. It was Zaeed holding the stun gun, and when he met her gaze, the old mercenary shook his head.
"Sorry, kid," he snorted, "But the money was just too good to pass up. Besides, that sentimental bitch really shouldn't have let Vido escape." Jack tried to think of something, anything, she could do to stop him but it was too late. The stun gun was lowered towards her body, and after that, there was only pain.
The Present:
"I see." Liara's voice was cold, and Shepard could hardly blame her for that. She would've rather been doing almost anything else right then and she imagined that Liara must feel the same way. "And you want my help to get her back, I imagine."
"I shouldn't ask, I know." Every word she spoke had to be wrenched out of her throat, realizing how much what she had to say would hurt her former lover. "But I don't have a choice. Let me… let me show you what I mean." The commander opened her omni-tool and pulled up the message she'd gotten from the Illusive Man, watching silently while the asari read it.
Shepard, I offered you the chance to work with Cerberus as a partner and while I sincerely regret that you've rejected that path, that doesn't mean this is over. Since you're a woman of action, I'll be brief. We have Subject Zero. She is relatively unharmed, but if you wish her to remain so, you will have to begin doing what you're told. Failure to comply with my orders in the future will have severe and unpleasant consequences for her.
To begin with, you will rid my ship of all of the aliens who assisted you in betraying Cerberus. Since I know you'll be reluctant to comply, there's one final piece of information that I will share with you: Jack is pregnant with your child. Your inclination will be towards skepticism of this claim, so I have attached the supporting data files. Study them at your leisure and await further instructions.
Liara's face was impassive as she finished reading, her Shadow Broker's mask entirely in place. For several seconds afterwards, she said nothing and it fell to Shepard to resume the conversation. "Look, I know that thing about Jack being pregnant doesn't make sense, but there's something I haven't told you…"
"That Cerberus gave you a penis?"
The Spectre was dumbstruck. She'd spent so long dreading Liara finding out her secret, and now the asari had, only everything had already gone so far to shit that it hardly mattered any more. "You know?", she managed to sputter.
"I only found out recently." The asari paused, weighing her next words. "What, exactly, do you want me to do about this situation with Jack?"
"I need you to find her and free her. Nobody else has the resources you do as the Shadow Broker, and Cerberus will be watching me, so I can't do anything but try and stall them. Hopefully, I can avoid doing anything too terrible for them for a while, but eventually…"
Liara nodded. "I can imagine and I'll do it. I'll locate Jack and do the best I can to keep the Alliance from coming after you until we can resolve this matter."
Shepard exhaled, trying to find whatever small bit of comfort she could in that promise. "Thank you. I can't even say…"
The asari cut her off. "You don't need to. There's only one thing I need from you."
"Anything, Liara," she promised desperately. "Anything."
Cool blue eyes were fixed on her. They seemed like the eyes of an information broker studying her target, but beneath that surface, deeper emotions swirled. "I need to know why," Liara asked. "Why didn't you come to me with what Cerberus did to you? Why turn to this Jack instead? Did you not want me anymore?"
"No, that's not it at all…" The commander buried her face in her hands, her gathering tears interrupting her feeble attempts to explain. "I never stopped wanting you. It was because… God, Liara before we met, you'd never even… You were so innocent. What they did to me, it was disgusting. How could I have asked you to touch me when I was like that? When I am like that?"
"And Jack?" She could hear the anger breaking into Liara's voice, straining against her reserve. "Why was it different with her?"
"She… she was more experienced. She wasn't bothered by what I was. She understood."
"And I wouldn't have?" The asari rose from her chair, the walls around her hurt shattering as her voice became a scream. "I loved you, Shepard, more than I would've thought possible. Of course what happened to you is strange, but I would have gotten past that. I would have helped you, and instead you just cast me aside. How could you have done that?"
The Spectre couldn't even answer. This last revelation was simply too much for her to handle. After all of the pain, all of the frustration, all of the time she'd spent running away from this woman who loved her, she'd been wrong. "Oh, God," she finally chocked out as the tears ran freely down her face, "What have I done, Liara? I've ruined everything. Jesus Fucking Christ, I've ruined everything."
She was too lost in her own anguish to pay attention as Liara strode closer to her, but she certainly noticed when the asari yanked aside her hands. Liara took hold of the human's chin, tilting her head up so she could look into her tearful green eyes, and then she did the last thing that Shepard expected. She kissed her.
Wow, it felt good to get this chapter written. I've been building some of these scenes from the very beginning, and I hope you liked them. Much more to come…