Omega Chronicles -30- Home Sweet Home

Liselle waved her omnitool in front of the electronic door lock. It replied with a short beep to grant her access to her apartment. She couldn't believe how wonderfully the official second date with Jack had gone that night. Since they had had their first date at a fancy restaurant, which she was quite sure was not the preferred venue of the rebellious biotic, Liselle had allowed Jack to choose where to go on their following date. As it had turned out, it was to be an evening of excitement. The human had brought her to an underground fighting club, where she had proceeded to place a few bets.

As reticent as the Asari had been in the beginning, she had thawed to the thought of spending their time surrounded by brutes, watching more brutes pounding each other like slabs of meat, with dubious drinks being served by yet more brutes. She had been surprised to spot quite a number of Asari in the crowd, of all ages and backgrounds apparently. This pastime was more popular than she could have imagined.

As the evening had progressed, she had found herself finally embracing the spirit of it all, shouting her support for the fighters Jack had put her money on, sipping alcohol vaguely mellowed by other ingredients from plastic cups with plastic straws. She got tipsy fairly quickly, which was a testament to just how strong the cocktails were, and she had ended up having one of the most fun and carefree nights of her life.

A smile appeared on her face as she remembered how Jack had walked her home, then she had nervously shoved her hands in her pockets, she had looked down to the pavement for an eternity, before finally finding the courage to give Liselle a peck on the cheek and breathing a quick "Goodnight then." She had turned on her heels and run, well... left at a steady, fast pace.

The Maiden was always surprised to see this side of Jack. Boisterous, rude, in-your-face Jack could be quite different. But not too different. Liselle knew she was still as boisterous and as in-your-face as she could be, and the rudeness, it had become a familiar aspect of their conversations very early on.

She threw her bag onto a chair next to her door. She went straight for her bathroom and splashed some cool water on her face, to take off the edge of what she felt would be a monstrous hangover in just a few hours otherwise. She mentally thanked her Asari metabolism, which helped greatly in such circumstances.

She was looking for some fruit juice in her fridge, chuckling to herself as she was recalling a funny joke Jack had said earlier, when she heard her door chime. Puzzled, she walked over and activated the security screen to see who it was.

It was Jack.

"I hope you have a good excuse to wake me up, Tali."

Garrus' voice was even deeper than usual as he picked up the call on his omnitool. He had been fast asleep when he got woken up abruptly by that demonic instrument. That did not put him in a good mood on the best of days, let alone after a day when he had had to oversee several of the "business exchanges" that took place in hidden rooms, and that were usually the domain of the Commander. But he had volunteered to help take care of things while his boss, Aria, and his friend, Shepard, were out of town, welcoming their daughter into this mad world.

"You bet I do, you grouch. I would be happily sleeping as well if it wasn't an emergency, don't you think?"

He walked to his kitchen and started making some coffee. It sounded like it was going to be a long affair. He mused for a second that these toasted bronze seeds were possibly the biggest export out of planet Earth and its colonies. But damn, they held the record for a reason. He was happy that they had decided to expand the coffee business by genetically manipulating the plant so that dextro lifeforms could enjoy the magically energising drink as well. He sighed and got himself a mug. "All right. You have my full attention, what is going on?"

Tali inhaled a long slow breath and then let the words flow out of her mouth as slowly as possible. "The shuttle that Aria and Shepard were travelling on has disappeared."

There was a moment of complete stillness, in the room, in the conversation, in Garrus' mind. Then his fingers opened of their own volition and his mug fell to the floor, shattering in a dozen pieces. That took him right back to his cooler, usual self. Without bothering to clean up, he headed for his closet, where he proceeded to put on his armour. "How long ago, Tali?"

The young Quarian was quick to fill him in on the few details he needed to know. Then she ventured. "We need to come up with something. An idea, a plan, a way to find them."

The Turian was already out of the front door. "I will be on the Inanna in ten minutes. Then we can think of an appropriate course of action."

Liselle was waiting by her open door, wondering what had brought Jack back to her apartment. She was definitely happy about it, in a giggly, sort of schoolgirlish way, amazingly enough, but at the same time she couldn't help feeling a bit wary. She suspended her concern for the time being. The elevator opened and the biotic stepped out and took the few steps that brought her to stand right in front of the Asari. A simple gesture of her blue arm invited her to come in and the door closed behind them with a whooshing sound.

The apartment was a big loft, two very luxurious sofas were placed so that anyone sitting on them could enjoy the spectacular view of the Omega skyline that displayed itself gloriously outside the windows that occupied the entirety of the opposite wall, end to end, floor to ceiling. At the moment, the other buildings, the artificial ambient glow and the passing small ships provided the only light filtering in, leaving the room in a comfortable semidarkness.

Liselle broke the silence. "I would offer you a drink, but maybe we've had enough of those tonight..."

Jack smirked. "Yeah. Oh fuck yeah." She looked around and then down. "Nice place."

"Thank you! One of the perks of being in the good graces of the owner of this entire piece of rock, I guess." She smiled, and it lit the room. "So... how come you came back?" She motioned with her hand for them to take a seat on one of the couches, but Jack shook her head briefly and remained immobile, as if glued to the floor. The Asari nodded her respect for that small decision and stood in front of her, waiting.

A complete and utter turmoil of thoughts was storming through Jack's mind. She started second guessing her idea and cursing herself for giving in and walking back here. She knew there was no place she'd rather be, and no person she'd rather be in the company of, but there were so many doubts and uncertainties clouding her judgement, not to mention the alcohol, of course. Although she had to concede that her brain was clearing up at a record speed now that she was finally in a position where backing away was not an option any longer. Her inner voice was quite peremptory in telling her to 'Man the fuck up and be done with it already.' She looked up and into Liselle's eyes, and for a split second she almost panicked. Damn, she was beautiful. 'Ok, now or never. Don't chicken out.'

"I was on my fucking way home, I was. Really. But then I kept thinking about the fun we had, and you, and..." She hesitated for just a moment and her head bowed down again.

The Maiden took one step and got into Jack's personal space. Her blue fingers came up to the biotic's chin and she lifted her face so to be able to look into her dark eyes again. A mischievous smile played on her perfect lips. "And...?"

Jack instantly switched. As if a sudden decision had been made. Her pupils dilated visibly as she felt an electric current shooting up her spine. She held Liselle's gaze for a couple of seconds, searching the Asari's eyes. Then she realised the time for words was gone. "And fuck you, that's what."

The human's arms sprang up to circle Liselle's waist, dragging her close in the blink of an eye. She barely had the time to process what was happening as she felt Jack's full lips taking possession of her own. Her head spun at the contact, her mind trying to wrap around the sudden change in attitude of the biotic, but faster than light her own libido took control. Her hands grabbed Jack's neck and her lips parted to deepen the kiss. It was rough, it was hot. She let her teeth close around the human's bottom lip and bit it and tugged it until Jack bit back, their tongues entwined and slid on one another in an unquenchable thirst for more.

Jack's hands twirled in blue light as they easily tore apart the dress that Liselle hadn't had the time to take off yet. She threw the remains to the floor and immediately let her palms cover the Asari's breasts in a possessive gesture.

Liselle moaned into her mouth, loudly, as her fingers were working industriously to get rid of Jack's clothing as fast as possible. Their breaths mixed as they became more laboured, their lips swelling, their hunger growing.

Finally naked against each other, Liselle started walking backwards towards the couch, dragging a very willing Jack along. She stumbled before being able to reach it and they fell to the floor, not caring about possible bruises, not noticing the insignificant pain nor how hard or cold the floor actually was.

The lucid thought of wanting Jack to feel as in control as possible in front of what was going to be, without a doubt, a new and possibly scary experience for her, wormed its way through the Asari's mind and stopped her a second short of her toppling them over to be on top. Instead, she opted to open her legs and she wrapped them around the biotic's slender waist.

Jack suddenly took the pleasure of her lips away, but only to move down to the Maiden's neck, where she proceeded to let her tongue out, covering it in one long lick, all the way up to where her tendrils opened slightly, where her ears would be. The human whispered in her husky voice. "Hope you didn't have any other fucking plans for tonight, Princess."

Liselle grinned against her cheek. "Wouldn't dream of it. I'm all yours, tough girl." Her hands gripped the back of Jack's head to push her downward, sending a clear message.

The biotic was more than happy to oblige and shifted down a bit. She allowed herself the fraction of a second to take in the sight of Liselle's supple breasts, her nipples just one shade darker than her light blue skin. Her hands cupped them and her wet lips closed on one, sucking hard on it, feeling it turn into a tight little ball. Her tongue flicked on it a few times before her teeth grazed it, not too gently. She felt the Asari's back arch up, pushing herself deeper into her mouth. Who'd a thunk. The Princess liked it rough after all.

Liselle felt light-headed at the human's ministrations, her arms were holding on to Jack's back for fear the floor beneath her would give in. She felt like she was falling anyway. The human's teeth pulled at her nipple in a harsh way, and little stars of pure pleasure fired up behind her closed eyelids. A plea escaped her lips, her voice almost trembling. "Ah! Please. More."

Jack smirked. "More? You got it." She let go of one breast and let a hand snake between them. As soon as it settled between the Asari's legs she felt how wet her sex already was. A short grunt of approval rose from her throat as she took her time, her fingers spreading the moisture, the heel of her hand pressing down on that ridge that was the equivalent of a human's clit.

The Maiden immediately jolted at the rough touch, her breath coming in raggedly now, she bit down on Jack's shoulder to stifle a moan, without any success. Her hips were grinding heavily against the human's hand. She had a hard time holding herself back. In a moment of clarity she realised she simply had to ask. Her hands pulled Jack's head back so she could look into her eyes. Her body stopped moving and everything was still. She managed to open her mouth and talk, sort of. "Jack... Please... I need to... I want to..."

The biotic understood immediately what she was talking about. It had been a terrible prospect for her since the beginning of this budding romance. The thought of having another being mess with her mind was... unsettling? No. It was fucking scary, that's what it was. But here, now, she realised she was actually craving it. The closer she could get to Liselle, the more her passion would flare. She stared at the Maiden for just a moment, brown eyes melting into sapphire. Then she just nodded. She saw the Asari's eyes blink to infinite black and wondered if that had been a good idea... Then she felt her. It was clear right away that Liselle was keeping as much control as she could over her consciousness. It was like a warm spring rain, like white clouds chasing each other across the sunny sky, like a long forgotten perfume that brings suddenly back memories of safety and happiness. Jack knew that's not what the Maiden felt right now. She whispered hoarsely. "Don't fucking pussyfoot around. Give it to me. I know you want to."

The Asari did not need any more encouragement than that, she let go all that she had kept under check until now. It was like a shockwave, the heat was visible and tangible, it was swirling and engulfing and Jack did not expect that. She got hit. Hard. But she did not budge. It took only a moment to adapt and reciprocate. They fused together like dancing flames. Jack's fingers opened the Maiden's folds and pushed inside. A spurt of lava erupted in their joined minds as she felt Liselle's hips searching for more. Her inner walls were pulsating, the biotic was sliding in and out easily, and enjoying the growing friction as the Asari was getting closer to her climax. Everything was red, everything was hot, everything was a shout as their consciousness became one. Jack could feel what her hand was doing to the Maiden and her own pleasure quickly became dizzying. Their throats were sore with moans and grunts. Jack's other hand grabbed Liselle's thigh and brought her leg up around her tattooed torso to allow her fingers to go deeper, harder. It was getting difficult to move inside the Maiden, she was so tight now.

Liselle's hips rose up in one last push, her inner muscles clamped on Jack's fingers, their minds erupted in unison, as the Asari's fingernails buried themselves into the human's back. She nigh yelped her orgasm, in response to Jack's howl.

Then there was peace. Then they were panting. The biotic's body was a sweet weight to sustain for Liselle, who was even enjoying the sweat, something that Asari do not have. Her blue, soft hands were roaming slowly on Jack's body, soothingly. She felt her stir slightly.

Jack raised her neck and head in order to look Liselle in the eye. She felt the Asari slowly retreating from the meld, nothing felt hurried, nothing felt wrong. She rested her weight on her elbows and a smile opened on her luscious lips. "You ok?"

Liselle smiled right back. "Oh, more than ok. This Princess is in pure bliss."

"Then maybe this Princess wouldn't mind patching up the fucking scratches she has left on my back." Jack teased.

They both chuckled. The Asari pouted her sweetest pout. "Aw. But this Princess is verrry comfortable right where she is..." She waited for Jack to realise it was just a joke before tapping her lightly on her shoulder to make her move so she could get up. The human rolled to the side and Liselle mirrored her movement and spread her legs to straddle her for a moment. She leaned down to share a soft kiss before heading to her bathroom to retrieve some medigel, with a happy spring in her step. Jack's eyes followed her, sparkling in the dimmed light of the room.

Tali and Garrus had opted to take the Inanna out to the spot were the last transmission of the shuttle that was carrying Aria and Shepard had blinked out of existence. The ship was at a stand still. The Engineer's fingers were flying on a console, running a few scans of the area in order to gather some data that could enlighten them as to where the small craft might have ended up.

They exchanged a glance that underlined how they were both concerned, and neither wanted to voice it. The lingering, pressing thought that they might have been blown away by a bigger ship was getting louder in their minds, but they both refused to give up hope, especially in the face of no residual energy signal nor any fragment of the craft being present at the scene.

Tali spoke quickly. "They might have been hijacked. Forced to change course. They might have had a technical difficulty of some sort, something that could have knocked out their comm array first, so they couldn't really alert us of the problem. They could have simply changed their mind for security reasons and not told us about their new plans to keep themselves safe. They could have..."

The Turian's raspy voice cut her off. "They could have been attacked."

They stared at the semitransparent screen in silence for a while. The voice of Relan, their Lystheni pilot, came in through the comm. "If we keep staying here we will soon attract unwanted attention. Just letting you know. The Inanna is not one of those ships that can pass by easily unnoticed."

Garrus wore the equivalent of a deep frown on his angular face. "Tali, we need to head back to Omega now. We've been away for a few hours already and our absence will be quickly detected. Someone needs to be there to keep control and to avoid rumours spreading about, regarding the absence of Aria and Shepard." He put a hand on her shoulder in what wanted to be a reassuring way. "We can come back out later, maybe tomorrow. It has been less than 48 hours since they've been missing. They are both incredibly tough and capable, I'm sure we will find them soon enough."

The Quarian nodded, incredibly at a loss for words for the time being. The Turian gave a quick order to the bridge. "Take us back, Relan." Then he opened his omnitool and made a call.

A muffled beeping noise woke Liselle up. She was wrapped around Jack's body as if the biotic had been her long lost, most beloved stuffed animal from her childhood. She did not want to move.

Jack's brain was shaken awake by the incoming call on the Asari's omnitool. Her voice was hoarse and annoyed. "Either pick it up, or I will blast that fucking thing into oblivion with my bare hands."

The Maiden smirked and finally turned around to answer the call. "Whoever you are, you're a homewrecker." She recognised Garrus right away, and right away she knew something was wrong. The tone of her voice changed immediately. "What happened?"

The Turian explained as quickly and in as much detail as he could. He paused for a moment. "Can you meet us when we dock? We will be there in less than an hour."

By now Jack was sitting up on the bed, listening intently. She looked at Liselle and nodded, then she got up and started getting dressed.

"Sure. Of course. See you there." The Asari closed the communication and headed for her wardrobe.

When they were both ready, they made their way to the docking level of the station, with heavy hearts and worried minds.

Jack and Liselle observed the Inanna as she was being clamped at the dock. They had been waiting for a few minutes already, but it felt like an eternity. They watched impatiently as the hatch opened and Garrus made his way towards them.

He greeted them. "Tali is staying in the ship, as per usual, really, but she wants to comb through every bit of data we could find in the area where their shuttle disappeared from her sensors."

"Of course. I really hope she can find a clue." Liselle's voice sounded sweet even in the face of her apprehension.

Jack was standing next to her, her hands in her pockets, her wary eyes roaming about. She felt impotent and desperately wanted something to do, something that could help. Shepard had become her best friend, she had always gone out of her way to make her feel at home, here on Omega, or anywhere they might be travelling together. She had given her a new life, one that had turned out to be much better than whatever she was doing before. She felt she owed the Commander a lot, despite the fact that most of their activities usually put both their lives in danger. Or maybe thanks to that fact.

As she was lost in her musings she noticed a small craft was docking right next to the Inanna. As did Liselle and Garrus.

It was not allowed for any ship, big or small, to dock too close to Omega's flagship.

Garrus immediately waved a hand, signalling a few of the guards from the night shift to approach. They walked over and took position, their rifles cocked and ready.

The small hatch opened and they saw an Asari walking out, slowly and almost regally. Liselle quickly informed them all. "Wait. She's a Justicar. Whatever you do, do not fire."

As they were watching her every movement towards them like hawks, another figure stepped out of the shuttle.

They all recognised that black leather jacket.

Shepard was holding something in her arms, very carefully, as she was making her way across the short ramp. She saw Garrus, Jack and Liselle standing a few meters away, she stopped and smiled her lopsided smile at them. Behind her a third person climbed out, the Commander raised her arm and offered her hand in support, as Aria was slightly limping on the metal path to the solid pavement of the docks.

Liselle was quicker than the others to put two and two together and started running towards them, her arms spread, a huge smile on her face. As she got close to them she put her arms around Shepard in an awkward way, so not to squish the baby the human was carrying, but it was just for a second. Her attention shifted right away to the small bundle of blue joy the Commander was holding. Tears were swelling in the Maiden's eyes. She raised her face and looked at her mother. Aria grinned and nodded. Her hands caressed her little sister's face with an impossible sweetness and she only said a word. "Hello."