Location: Dana Flores' residence—Zakara Aparmtents—Zakara Wards
Sleep vanished like water from a desert. Awake and aware of the cushions beneath him, Liam laid perfectly still as rays of light warmed his skin. Last night was clearly a dream, it had to be, otherwise he wouldn't be on a couch by himself.
Memories of that sweet dream invaded his mind. It amazed him with just how open she was, soft, warm and inviting underneath her uniform. Not that Dana had a stick up her butt, it's just that he would never imagine her to share that part of herself with anyone, let alone him. His mouth twitched into a smile as he squinted at daylight.
Her apartment was huge, the ceiling itself looked like it was lost in the clouds. This was no dinky little chicken coup, it was a fully furnished place with mature yet modern tastes. Sandy couches matched the polished wood floors. Potted exotic plants from all over the galaxy surrounded the living room, framing a perfect island paradise if there ever was one.
As his eyes swept in the scenery, he ignored the hollow feeling in his chest. Everything was in its right place, aside from the neat stack of his shirt, pants and N7 Jacket on the couch opposite them. Feeling the thinness of the sheet over his body, Liam crept forward and reached out for the pile, thumbing the little card on top.
His heart skipped a beat as his fingers traced the edge. Paper was a rare commodity in the galaxy. You didn't whip out a sheet unless you wanted total privacy in the form of no digital signature. Going to such lengths to acquire it meant one of two things, either this note was the last thing he wanted to hear or the best news of his life.
Liam donned his jeans, thankful that he went home and changed after Michael's party. It was impossible to iron creases out of dress pants. Rubbing his face as his mind wandered, Liam sighed before snagging the note and facing the music head on. There was no sense pondering when the answers were right in front of him.
I didn't get a chance to go grocery shopping so I'm doing it now. There's coffee in the pantry if you want. I'm having lunch at the Resio cafe down in the wards. If you head there for 11 we might snag a table before the big race. And before you go over-thinking last night, remember that it means what we want it to mean. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Come talk if you want. Enjoy the race if you don't.
-Dana
He re-read it two more times before sinking into the comfortable cushions of her couch. The note was cryptic as hell, but that only confirmed that she wrote it. On the other hand, it seemed like she wasn't keen on dismissing what they did last night, that had to count for something.
It was 10:45 according to his omni-tool and the cafe was literally a block away. He peeked from the edge of her picturesque window and smiled. She chose the place for it's perfect view from her house, and as he watched her sitting alone, reading a data pad, he couldn't find a reason to stay hidden in the apartment any longer. The sun kissed her hair, beckoning all the warmth in the world towards the one individual who seemed to do something to his soul, something he wasn't quite ready to admit out loud.
Tossing his white t-shirt over his head and donning the N7 jacket, Liam rushed for the door a happy man. This didn't solve anything, it didn't change the fact that he had a family to face and drama to wade through, but somehow, her words comforted him. Right now, if rushing down the steps to some more of that meant just a little more peace then it was worth it.
Liam hopped the last few steps and landed in the posh lobby with a gigantic fish tank. Last night he wasn't in the mood for sight seeing and didn't pay attention to the little details that made the place shine, but upon staring at the fish he couldn't help but love it all. Every last corner of a building that housed a truly interesting woman.
"Commander Shepard?" A slim hand tugged shoulder before he could break past.
Great, another one who wants an autograph. Liam felt the energy leave his body as he turned to face the slim asian woman. She looked like someone straight out desert ops. With a full cloak and loose robes of factory workers, the entire garment dwarfed her thin frame and made her appear fuller than she really was if her slender hand was any indication.
"Yes?" Shepard asked, leery of the way her eyes narrowed as she spoke.
"I need your help."
"I'm listening," he replied, crossing his arms. This girl would make him late.
"But first I should apologize," she whispered, moving her hand faster than he could track it, even with adrenaline quickly seeping into his vision. Her arm slashed his omni-tool, sparking the device as it broke in two.
Liam jumped back in recovery and took a defensive stance, recognizing a hand-to-hand master when he saw one. "What the hell was that for?" he questioned, keeping the rhythm of her feet in tune with his senses.
"You were being monitored," she replied, leaping forward to lash out at him again. Liam blocked it, but her other hand came up fast and crushed his nose.
"Funny way of asking for help," Liam spat, staggering as hot liquid seeped from his nose.
"It's not safe here," she warned, coming up with a kick.
"No shit." He dodged her punch and tried to grab her wrist but she was faster. He could hold his own in a fight, but when it came to martial arts, with a girl no less, he knew it was a test of endurance more than strength.
"I am being followed by an assassin. If I don't get us to safety, we could put innocent lives in danger," she said, expertly dodging all his parries and strikes, flowing like water.
"Then lead the way." Liam ducked and spun to deliver an elbow into her stomach. It didn't connect as the woman side-stepped and dug a heel to his thigh. "Agh!"
Down on one knee, with his back to the enemy he had a perfect view of the terrified on-lookers, taking cover in the lobby. Some peering over chairs, while others hid under desks. Fancy place with no security? Or did ninja chick take them out too?
"You cannot be conscious during transport. I will not blow my safe house," the woman replied, coming to stand before him as she dangled a vial. "Take this. It is a temporary hallucinogen. You will not remember the path you took."
Liam slapped it out of her hand and watched the liquid absorb into the carpet. The woman didn't seem surprised as she back-flipped away before he could snag her wrist.
He jumped to his feet and ignored the stinging pain in his thigh. "Who are you?"
"There is no time!" she yelled, startling a shivering salarian who only held onto his asari daughter tighter. "He will catch up to me soon. Then all the secrets humanity has worked for will be at risk."
"The hell are you talking about?" Liam asked, glancing to the child whose wide-eyes never left the scene before her. Too bad her asari powers weren't mature yet. Biotic support would've ended this show.
"My name is Jin Xian," she said, still circling him like a predator, "I believe even that bit of information was too much. You must try to relax as the toxin works through your system. It won't kill you."
His vision blurred and Liam staggered to keep balance. His side hurt like hell and felt wet and sticky under his palms. The heavy weight of his Paladin at his holster started working against him, like a pendulum that dug deeper into the flesh. His skin warmed, as his throat constricted.
One shot would have ended this torture, but the woman wouldn't let him draw, despite having a weapon of her own. All the information on the Cerberus agent came flooding through his system as he remembered bits of her name scattered through Elena's matrix.
"You're an A.I engineer...Jin Xiang," he slurred, down on all fours as he coughed out liquid.
Jin watched her omni-tool, counting down in the process. "Another ten minutes and you will lose your awareness," she announced. "I promise to explain it all when I get us to a safe place. You need to keep my research from falling into the wrong hands."
"Drop it!" Liam looked up to see Hunter making his way across the lobby, gun drawn and aimed at the woman who didn't pay him any attention. Liam held out a palm, telling the kid to stop but he angled his way in. "Commander?"
"I'm okay," Liam croaked, gushing more water from his empty stomach. "Focus...her."
But the advice came too late as Jin closed the distance and kicked Hunter's pistol from his hands, caught it in the air and pointed it back at its owner in one swift move. "Stay away," she warned, finger twitching on the trigger as she took his Alliance uniform.
"Do as she says, Hunter," Liam gasped, heaving on the floor. The last thing he needed was the chief anywhere near this mess.
"I'm not going anywhere, Sir," Hunter replied resolutely. But made the mistake of looking down and was decked across the head with the butt of the pistol.
As Hunter went down, a guest screamed and cowered near a desk. Liam wondered why they weren't calling C-Sec or some other big guns, but the red glow of everyone's jammed omni-tool reminded him of what it was like to be on the receiving end of the Alliance's crowd control tech.
"Hunter?" Liam grasped the kid's elbow, but Hunter waved the help away, massaging his bleeding head wound. "Just stay down."
"But—"
"Stay!" Liam repeated, feeling his skull throb in excess with each syllable.
Jin knelt down until they were face-to-face. "You will be sensitive to light and sound for the next hour. Try not to get sick on me," she warned, throwing his arm around her shoulder and hoisting him up with the gun's barrel jammed under his jacket. "Do as I say and you will live."
Liam lolled his head to her. "Lead the way."
They hadn't taken the first step when she pushed him aside. Blood spattered his cheek as a bullet grazed by. She dove the opposite way and rolled for cover beside the front desk.
A flurry of people rushing past disoriented him, but he heard enough to register four gunshots from her end as a swift shadow leapt from the commotion and pounced on Jin's location. Liam felt the ground, using it to keep his orientation as he tried to read the noise, but it was Hunter who yanked him up.
"Sir, exit's this way," he yelled over the commotion as they were pushed around by the panicked civilians.
"Help her!" Liam called through the haze, merely seeing him as a fuzzy shape.
"She just tried to kill us!" Hunter exclaimed, in his first show of surprise for as long as Liam had known him.
Liam pushed away and felt his hip for the holster clip, unlocking it after four lazy slaps. The two figures in the cloudy room, zipped around like acrobats, trading blows and punches, each quick to dodge and quicker to counter. He thought he saw a frog, but the image morphed so fast that it was back to some oval scaly thing before his mind could register the actions.
Keeping his grip steady, Liam leveled the gun at the duo. "Show's over. Break it up!"
If either of them heard the command, they didn't show it as the fight for their lives continued. Liam saw the frog trip and invert mid-air for a perfect recovery, but he landed on his neck when Jin kicked him and leapt into the air for the killing blow.
Liam pulled the trigger and startled her away as the round pinged into the desk. It gave her pause, but that translated to a quick death as the frog recovered and slammed a fist into her neck, crushing her wind pipe. Jin's silhouette fell behind the desk as Liam shuffled closer, followed by Hunter. "That's enough!"
When no one emerged, Liam carefully peered over the edge to an image he would never forget. The frog was a drell. It fired its biotics and thrust deep into her skull before yanking out a tiny gray box. He wanted to gag, run, yell and pull the trigger all at once, but as the toxin took effect, Liam felt his grip slacken and he sunk to the ground, right beside Jin's lifeless eyes.
"I should kill you." The drell looked down on him, cocking his head to the side. "But you saved my life." He moved away, carrying his little gray prize. "You have my thanks."
His hands were too heavy to lift the Paladin, so Liam stared up helplessly at the assassin he just aided. Yet somehow, before the footsteps could retreat completely, he felt the Pistol's weight leave his hand.
"Stop right there!" Hunter yelled. From the corner of his eye, Liam could see the chief training the Paladin to the back of the drell that was probably three steps away. "Turn around slowly."
"I have what I need," the drell replied. "More blood would be a waste."
"Hands up," Hunter ordered, stepping forward before Liam could stop him. It would be the last step he would ever take as the drell whipped around the same moment the gun fired. Liam watched the two men struggle, his senses were overwhelmed by the commotion of C-SEC storming the place.
The drell took two rounds to the chest but it didn't stop him from reaching Hunter and snapping his neck. Liam couldn't hear anything else over his visceral yell of anguish. C-SEC came too late and fired at walls as the drell disappeared.