AN:- Yet more Citadel!

Chapter Eighteen: This Thing You Call Love

She wasn't quite ready to go after more mercenaries just yet, so she headed down into the commons proper to find Liara. As she was heading down the stairs she spotted another familiar face. EDI was at one of the stores, staring at the list of wares.

I have to know what's going on here.

EDI looked up as she came over. "Hello Shepard," she said.

"You look like you're gathering data," Shepard replied, coming to stand next to her and survey the inventory as well.

"That is a safe assumption."

"Anything big and world shaking? Man's inhumanity to man? Does objective reality really exist? That sort of thing?"

EDI didn't seem to have noticed the sarcasm. "I was running scenarios in my head to analyse Jeff's behaviour. She looked over to the benches where Shepard realised Joker was sitting. "I believe he has a strong affectionate attachment to me, but he has not stated it to anyone yet." Oh boy, here we go. EDI looked back to her. "Shepard, you have first-hand sexual experience." One mission. Just one mission without interpersonal requests from my crew. "How do you know when someone is romantically invested?"

She resisted the urge to leave EDI with it. "Uh, they'll usually show signs they can't stop thinking about you. You know, asking you out, giving you presents, maybe playing you music." Of course, that's the mating rituals of humans. I have no idea what Joker's deal is.

"I lack material wants other than hardware and software upgrades, and my core programming does not assign values to music. Perhaps we could discuss how to provoke Jeff into an emotional commitment."

Shepard sighed. I need to take this seriously. This is clearly important to her. "That's not how to think of it." She leaned against the wall next to the store and tried to think. "It's got to be natural. You need chemistry."

EDI nodded sharply. "I see. There are a number of pharmaceuticals I could inject to simulate the desired emotional state."

"No…" Shepard held up a hand and held back a smile. "No, I mean... Relax and do something you both like, something simple." Romance for dummies, here we go. "For example, you both like humour…" After a fashion.

"Correct. I will see if there are comedic entertainment shows being presented on the Citadel. Scanning. Do you think he would like 'The Man Who Hung Himself?' It appears to be about an amorous plastic surgeon."

"I'm not really sure…"

"In a similar vein there is 'Shiver My Timbers,' a tale of shipwrecked pirates making the best of it. Which do you think is better?"

"Well I'm not really one for the timber." Shepard reached out and put a hand on EDI's shoulder. "EDI, the important thing is to have a good time, wherever you go. And if you're having fun, he probably will too."

"Then the outcome is an unknown quantity. But you are saying I should attempt it anyway."

"Nobody ever fell in love without being a little bit brave."

"I see." She looked away in Joker's direction, and Shepard could see the computations turning over in her brain. "I believe you have improved my chances Shepard. Thank you."

"Give it a minute alright EDI?" She had to give Joker some sort of heads up.

"Understood Shepard."

Giving her what she hoped was a reassuring pat Shepard headed over to Joker, who was watching the nearby news broadcast.

"Hey Captain!" He said as she walked up. She recognised his false cheer tone at once. "Check it out! Big News! The Blasto movie is breaking opening week records! There's also a big expose on quasar tournaments, tips on how to make your apartment look bigger." She let him get it out. They all had their ways of coping. "And, oh yeah A big ass Reaper invasion." He shook his head in disgust. "These people have no idea."

"When big events shake up the galaxy, people cling to what's familiar."

"You say that like it's a good thing."

She shrugged. "It's better than riots in the streets."

"I guess. I just wish there was a middle ground. You know, a little less gardening advice, a little more war prep."

"It'll happen. Once there's something people can do to help."

He clearly wanted to keep ranting, but he held himself back, waving to EDI instead. "Meanwhile, they ignore the unshackled AI walking around the Presidium."

"She run into any trouble?" Shepard asked.

"No, no." He chuckled. "She's my 'mobility assistance mech.' Thanks to Vrolik's Syndrome, I'm legally entitled to bring her everywhere. Finally getting some use out of those disability benefits."

"I'm sure she appreciates getting out to see the sights."

"Ah, she's earned a little shore leave."

That she has. Shepard decided that it would be far better for this burgeoning relationship if perhaps Joker remained a little in the dark about it.

"Make sure you enjoy it too," she said, getting up off the bench. "Maybe take in a show or something while you're here."

"Sounds like a great idea Captain."

"Bring EDI as well, be good for her to get an idea of human culture outside of the Normandy."

"Will do."

Shepard nodded to him and continued on her way to the café, grinning at what was in store for him. Nothing wrong with spreading a little happiness every once in a while.

Up the stairs towards the café she heard voices she faintly recognised, though she couldn't place them. She frowned and looked for their source, finding a man and a woman sitting on a bench arguing about their son. She paused to listen as they discussed sending him on a school trip or not and it finally twigged. She remembered the couple she had met o the Citadel three years earlier, arguing about getting a genetic screening for the woman's child by the man's brother.

Grinning, she moved on without disturbing them. It was nice to know that at least some things in the galaxy stayed constant throughout.

She found Liara sitting at a table overlooking the artificial river, but she wasn't looking at the scenery. Instead she was still working on a tablet that she held in front of her. Shepard stood behind her, watching her work, then stepped forwards and lightly tapped her on the shoulder.

"Still working?" She asked, moving round to sit in the chair next to her.

"One call leads to another. And here I was hoping I'd have time to enjoy the view." Liara looked exhausted. They hadn't been sharing a bed nearly as often as Shepard would have liked, so she had no idea how much Liara had been sleeping, but she could see it hadn't been enough.

"The last time I saw the Presidium… remember how it was all rubble after Sovereign attacked?"

Shepard nodded. "I barely got to see the Presidium before half of it got crushed."

"And by the time they repaired it, it was time for the next invasion. The Citadel hasn't seen the reality of this war yet." Liara picked up her datapad again. "We should stock up on necessities while we can."

"Such as?"

"Eezo, heavy arms, mercenary groups." Her eyes were scanning over the information at rapid speed.

"We'll get the people." Shepard leaned in and took her hand, tugging it gently away from the pad and looking at her. "Take a moment for yourself now and then."

"I know, I know. But there's always just one more task or meeting." Liara managed a smile, then it disappeared. "Speaking of which, talk to the volus, Barla Von. He'll point you to some mercenaries willing to join us."

Shepard bit her lip, but nodded and stood. "I'll be back, and you're going to stop working, just for a minute."

Liara was already lost in the world of data again. Shepard sighed and stood, heading back up, intent on reaching the Docks. As she was working by the bar she saw an asari behind the bar and frowned. She stepped over and the asari nodded to her.

"I remember you. Shepard right? Heard you're fighting the Reapers."

With the voice the name came back to her as well. "Matriarch Aethyta. You were working on Ilium. How'd you end up here?"

"Eh, with the Reapers making noise, I figured it was time to get somewhere safer. So I moved here."

Safer? I don't think so. Another memory flickered and she frowned. "I don't think so. I've seen some video footage, of you looking at Liara."

"Yeah… Matriarch Benezia was…" Aethyta leaned against the bar and stared at the floor. "Was her mother. And she doesn't know it, but I was her father."

Shepard nodded. That made a certain kind of sense. Even why a matriarch would have been in Ilium tending bar. "Liara would love to meet you," she said.

"Why? She doesn't even know me from a hole in the ground. Benezia ran off before the kid was born." That much Shepard already knew. "Besides, this isn't charity work. She's one of the biggest intel brokers in the galaxy. And she's got some shady connections…" Aethyta's expression shifted, becoming hard and focused. "Like a girlfriend, who used to work for Cerberus. Sound familiar?"

"I only worked with Cerberus to fight the Reapers."

"And you're not with 'em now. I know. If you were, you wouldn't get within a light year of Liara."

Shepard bristled at that. "Is that a threat?"

"I'm no commando but I've had a thousand years to learn to fight dirty. Nobody messes with my girl." Shepard slowly folded her arms and glared. Aethyta didn't seem fazed by it. "Anyway, you combine her work with Benezia, and… well the matriarchs' might have ordered a hit."

"That's not gonna happen," Shepard snapped.

"No argument here. I only took these crap jobs to keep the matriarch's happy that she's under control."

"Just as long as we're clear." Shepard leaned against the bar as well, bringing them within inches of each other. "Nobody messes with my girl."

"Ha! Maybe you're good enough for her after all."

They both stepped back from the bar and Shepard tried again. "I bet she'd like to meet you."

"Yeah, we'll see how that goes."

That did it. "Yes we will." And she marched back down to Liara at her table.

"Yes Shepard?"

"That bartender over there?" Shepard pointed but Liara didn't look.

"The matriarch hired by the asari government to track my movements?"

Of course she knows. "She's your father."

"I know."

Wait what? "You know?"

Liara gave her that insufferably cute smug face. "I'm a very good information broker."

Shepard slowly moved to sit again. "And you haven't talked to her about spying on you?"

"If I did that, they might send someone who wasn't as sympathetic to me." She put the tablet down. "Besides, this is hardly the time for family reunions."

"Liara." She put very inch of whine she could manage into her voice.

"Oh, fine."

As Liara rose Shepard leaned back in her chair and grumbled. "I never get to surprise you with anything."

Thirty seconds later Liara returned with Aethyta in tow, and they both sat at the table. Shepard leaned back, wondering just what was about to go down.

"Come on," Aethyta said as they sat. "You can't blame the matriarchs for keeping an eye on you."

"I am not my mother," Liara sounded very grumpy.

"You did threaten to flay someone alive with your mind." Shepard covered her mouth, remembering that conversation. Somehow Aethyta had overheard it.

"I had to make them take me seriously. I wasn't going to actually do it. And…" her eyes went wide as she came to a realisation. "You bugged my office on Ilium!"

"That'd be the logical conclusion, yeah." Aethyta leaned back in the chair, her face carrying a very familiar expression of smugness. "Anyway, the matriarchs aren't gonna do anything to you. Especially in the middle of this damn war."

"My reports don't show much activity from the asari military against the Reapers."

"Come on, you know how asari work. Infiltration and sabotage."

"But against Reapers forces, that's…"

"I know. About as useful as tits on a hanar." Shepard snorted and both women looked at her. She quickly pretended to cough. "I'm gonna get a drink," she said, getting up and heading for the bar.

When she got back the topic had changed. "So yeah, my dad was a krogan."

"Yes, I'm aware of that."

"So that makes you a quarter krogan."

"That's… not how it works."

"I'm a thousand years old. I've had kids with hanar. Don't tell me how asari reproduction works."

"Wait, I have a half sister who's part hanar?"

"I thought that wasn't how it worked?"

Shepard grinned again, taking a sip as Liara put her head down on the table, clearly trying to process all the revelations. Shepard reached over and rubbed her shoulder.

Aethyta kept going. "All I'm saying is, if you feel the urge to headbutt something, that's genetic."

Liara jerked up quickly and glared at her father. "I have never wanted to headbutt anything."

"Really? Not even a little bit? Come on."

"I do not head butt people."

"Alright, fine don't go all blood rage on me."

Shepard was having the time of her life. She had almost never been able to get Liara this frustrated in all the years she'd known her. It was adorable.

Aethyta took a long sip of her own drink and seemed to be trying to compose herself. "Nezzy and I were together for more than a century," she said eventually.

"You loved her," Liara said.

"Of course I loved her." She sounded defensive. Shepard wondered just how many times she had had to justify that love since Benezia had turned. Possibly she had been justifying it ever since she and Benezia had first fallen in love. "She was so smart. Always thinking. Nice too. Hell of a lot nicer than I am." Aethyta cleared her throat and took a long drink. "And damn, that rack. I mean, Even before she hit the matriarch stage." She whistled, sounding so much like a dock worker Shepard had to wonder if there wasn't a little of that in her as well.

"You don't need to tell me everything," Liara grumbled. She had blushed almost pink.

"Nezzy was the only one who ever listened to me when I said the asari were stuck in the past. Only difference was I wanted us to stand on our own. She wanted alliances with the other species."

"Is that why…"

"Why it ended? Nah. Well maybe, I don't know." She shrugged. "Mostly it ended because she wanted to solve things the smart way, I wanted to fight."

"Those aren't mutually exclusive."

"Yeah. I hear you've racked up quite a body count." Liara tensed and Shepard reached out to take her hand on instinct. She knew how much Liara hated that aspect of their lives. Aethyta had clearly noticed as well. "But then, you are a quarter krogan."

"Now you're doing it on purpose."

The joke had worked, Liara untensed and took a sip of her own drink. Shepard leaned back, not wanting to get in between the two of them.

"It was pretty clear she was leaving," Aethyta said. "Can't be the wise counsellor when you're married."

Liara frowned. "Why not?"

"Sex appeal. Most species only pay attention to if they want to have sex with you. So you have to be available, mysterious…"

"What? That's not true. Shepard listens to me."

"And how many times have you thrown her on the bed and peeled her out of the uniform?"

Now it was Shepard's turn to blush as she remembered the last time that very thing had happened. Liara went pink for the second time and Aethyta grinned like the Cheshire Cat, looking between the two of them.

"Do you have to make it sound so… tawdry?" Liara said.

"If it's all civilised, you're not doing it right."

Amen to that.

"I made her promise to let you go your own way though, no matter what she wanted."

"Really?"

"I knew you'd be special kid. Any daughter of hers… I told her, you're treating her like a baby bird Nezzy, but she's gonna raise one hell of a storm with those little wings."

"Little wing?" Liara's voice went very small.

"You okay?"

Liara could only nod. Shepard remembered Matriarch Benezia's last words. She had called Liara 'Little Wing.' Shepard had never pushed her to talk about it, and Liara had never offered up the information.

"It's better to remember her like this, than whatever she turned into with that Saren bastard."

Liara was still teary eyed, so Shepard quietly spoke up. "It wasn't her fault. She was trying to stop Saren. Guide him as a force of good. But she was indoctrinated."

"Look, I heard stories about the reapers messing with your head…"

"They're more than stories," Liara said abruptly. "I've seen it. Every Cerberus soldier is a slave. She fought it with every fiber of her being. She even broke free and helped Shepard on Noveria before she died. I was there. She said I'd made her proud."

Tears sprang into Aethyta's eyes now, and when she spoke her voice wavered. "All this time I'd blamed Nezzy for it. Thousand years old and I still don't know crap." She sniffed, rubbing her face and looking out at the water. "Thanks for telling me."

Liara's datapad began to beep and she glanced at it, a frown creasing her brow again. "I need to get back to work. I'm sorry."

Aethyta nodded. "Me too." She stood and drained her glass. "Just take care of yourself out there, okay kid?"

"I will… dad."

Aethyta started to leave, then stopped and turned back. "Oh, I've called a few friends. Commandos. Eclipse girls who owed me a few favours. They're all yours, just tell 'em where to go."

Liara's face mirrored Shepard's own shock. "You're giving me… asari commandos?"

"Well you're too old for me to buy you a damn pony."

"You're the best father a girl could wish for."

It seemed Liara had finally stumped Athyta for something to say. She bit her lip, and Shepard was sure she saw a faint red tinge on her cheeks as she headed back to the bar.

"So," Shepard said once Liara's dad was definitely out of earshot. "Aren't you glad?"

"Yes I suppose I am."

"I'm sorry if I pushed you. I guess I'm just in a mood to see some happiness in all this."

"I understand Maia. And I am grateful, truly. Sometimes I need to be pushed." Liara reached out and took Shepard's hand, squeezing. "You have always pushed me to become more. I am more grateful than I can say for that."

Shepard half stood and kissed Liara, holding their faces together. "You've made me more as well. And I'm just as grateful."

"Thank you for saying that." The datapad pinged again. "Looks like it's back to work for both of us."

"I'll see you as soon as I'm done."

AN:- Chucked in a reference to Buffy 'Shiver my timbers' 'Not really one for the timber.' Tara.

I can't even remember at this point if I included the couple arguing about the pregnancy in the first book novelisation. But I wanted to reference them here. It's those sorts of moments that make saving the galaxy worthwhile.

I've always thought that asari sleep less than humans. But even with that Liara ain't sleeping.

I like Matriarch Aethyta, and her interactions with Liara are some of my favourite in the game. I added a little bit at the end between Shepard and Liara just so I felt like I had actually done something creative this chapter.