***Author's Note***

Shorter this time but I did warn you :P Not too short though :)

As always, a big thank you to Gamer072196! 3 dat support, bro.

Warning! Mild Liara bashing...I didn't mean to...it just came out...

Chapter 19 - Complications

Shepard smiled when the Shadow Broker's base came into view. It was still a calamity and he doubted that that would ever change. But with the knowledge that Liara was in charge of the place made him feel better about it all.

Joker battled his way through the chop that battered the ship as Liara hailed them to dock. Her breathy voice laughed through their comm channel. "Hello Normandy!"

Joker grinned. "Hey blue. I take it we aren't going to get shot at as soon as we opened the doors?"

"Oh, maybe I should have told my guards that you were docking..." She paused. "And apparently I need to work on my humour..."

Shepard barked out a laugh. "Yeah, that would definitely help us."

The ship bumped as she was gripped by the magnetic arms that would hold her in place whilst the crew were of ship. "I await you all with bated breath." He could hear her smile.

He flicked on the ship wide comm and addressed the crew. "Good morning!" He smiled at the loud echo that would awake everyone this early in the day cycle. "Everyone is granted a day shore leave! Although I say shore as though we have actual land. Welcome to the Lair of the Shadow Broker! Please refrain from pissing her off, thank you!"

Joker chuckled at the commanders half-hearted cruelness. "I'm glad I sleep in this chair. It means I never have to get out of bed." He smiled up at Shepard.

"You sleep in the chair..?"

"What!? It's my chair and I'll do what I want with it...and in it." His sly grin made Shepard shiver.

"Remind me never to sit in that thing, man." He began to walk away but a thought struck him and he turned back to the pilot. "So...erm, did you finish your letter to your family?"

Joker's smile faded and he nodded. "Yeah. It's right here." He patted a pocket on his chest where a small chip was housed. His last words to his family should they not come back from the Omega 4 Relay. Shepard had requested everyone write something or put together a personal memoir which he would leave with Liara and she would deliver them if the worst came to pass. "Did you do yours?"

"Yeah, one to my mum and one to..."

"Garrus?"

"Hmm, seems stupid because he's coming with us but he could read it on the way if he wanted...I guess." He turned then and made his way to his quickly awakening crew and to the doors that would let them onto the base.

Liara smiled as she watched the crew of the Normandy enter her domain. Glyph greeted them as was his usual and then she stepped forward and looked at her old friends.

Shepard and Garrus were the same as ever and they grinned at her as she pulled them into a hug. Muttering small check ups since the last time they had seen her. Since they had helped her claim the Shadow Brokers lair for her own. Since they had help her save Feron.

She then grabbed hold of Tali and hugged her tightly around the waist. The quarian had grown in maturity since she had left for the Flotilla, Liara could sense it on her. Her shining eyes smiled at the asari through her helmet and Liara turned to face the newest members of the crew.

She knew them all, of course, she wouldn't be a very good Shadow Broker otherwise. She smiled at herself as she matched the faces and names to the dossiers she had on each of them.

The tank-bred Krogan. As soon as she began her work here, she had stopped the leaks of information pertaining his location to the salarian Special Tasks Group. She smiled and nodded at him as he began to wander between her monitoring equipment, grumbling about the lack of edible treats.

The Cerberus Operative. She was...effective, to say the least. And although Liara did not agree with her racism and obsessive need for human dominance, she felt sorry for the woman who could not give birth to her own children. A pity that became even small when she caught the humans mutter "...of course it would be an asari in charge..." Liara had half a mind to have her escorted of her ship but she reigned it in quickly. The woman was part of Shepard's team, after all.

The Operative's counter-part. Mr Jacob Taylor. His straight cut personality and penchant for sticking to rules clashed horribly with Shepard's more...free way of being. Liara felt that this difference is what made the two small rivals, and so pushed the man into more familiar ground. That ground being Miranda and her domineering sneers of contempt. It was not a good look on him.

The mercenary. He made her nervous. His angry mis-coloured eyes and deep frown when he looked around him made her feel as though she had done something wrong. Like she was about to be chastised at like a child. The founder of The Blue Suns was an adrenaline filled warrior with next to no social skills and a need to ramble about his past glory. A war scarred old man. She bobbed her head at him.

He stood with the most tattooed woman she had ever seen. The highly emotionally unstable biotic glowered at everything around her as she half listened to the old merc beside her. Liara as grateful that she hadn't taken a notice to her, she didn't think she would be able to handle the mental strain.

She bowed to the Justicar as she entered the room. She could feel her age and smiled when the elder nodded her head back. Her Ardat-Yakshi children, Liara knew, were safe on Lesuss barring one who was now dead by Samara's own hands and the help of Shepard.

The thief entered the room and disappeared almost instantly. Liara frowned as she looked around for Kasumi but failed to catch a glimpse of her. The thief was galaxy renowned and her risk taking would one day get her killed, and possibly Shepard by extension.

Dr. Mordin Solus intrigued her. He had a general knowledge of just about everything and his impressive credentials from the Special Tasks Group left her with reason to believe that he would keep her Shepard safe. Her eyes flicked to her ex-commander to see him talking quietly with Garrus, heads bowed close together. She frowned.

She continued on with her scrutiny of the crew. The drell, Thane Krios, was next. He was sombre and his hands were clasped gently behind his back. She had hoped to meet him before now, hoped that he had come to her for help with what was supposed to be his final mission on Illium. She knew Shepard had been looking for him and Samara and so had gathered what information she could about them to help Shepard. She saw the drell turn and look behind him as the final member of the group entered the room.

The human woman. The human older than herself. She could hardly believe it as she looked younger than even Miranda. The dossier on her was rather vague as the only people who knew where she came from were Shepard and his crew. All Liara knew was that the woman was old in years, young in body and mind, and an engineer. The woman looked up and smiled and Liara turned to see Shepard waving her over.

Liara frowned and intercepted. Taking Shepard's attentions for herself as she pulled him by the arm for a 'private word'. Too many people were stepping on her territory.

Marie looked on as the asari pulled Shepard by the arm away from the group. Garrus, beside her, flickered his mandibles in annoyance and turned to her.

"Was that my imagination or did Liara literally just drag Shepard away?"

Marie shrugged and watched the two with Garrus.

"Has she always been this way?"

Garrus shook his head. "No." He paused. "Actually, I remember that there was a small argument between her and Ash about who could 'have' Shepard." He chuckled. "It got pretty heated before Shepard decided to step in and let them know it was a moot point because he didn't 'want' either of them. Liara still followed him around quite a bit though."

Marie nodded and grimaced when she nearly felt Garrus tense up as they watched Liara lay a gentle blue hand on Shepard's arm. Shepard, being Shepard, didn't seem to notice and leaned into her touch ever so slightly.

She heard Garrus' low growl when the asari leant in close to the commander and whispered into his ear. Shepard laughed and playfully patted her on the shoulder. Wow, he just can't read women, can he?

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm pretty sure Shepard doesn't swing that way."

"What do you mean 'swing that way?'" He looked down at the engineer with the question in his eyes. "Isn't that a dance?"

"Swing-dancing...and no I didn't mean it that way. I meant he doesn't really bat for her team does he?" He tapped his translator and she rolled her eyes. "He's gay, Garrus."

"Oh, yeah. I know that, why didn't you just say that?"

Marie shrugged. "Either way, he isn't going to go for her."

"Asari don't have genders. He could if he decided to."

"They look female. Trust me, he won't leave you for her." She began to walk away towards a terminal that had caught interest, ignoring his protests on their status.

She had found the dossiers on the crew and she was not happy. In fact she was nearly shaking with her rage.

Siha,

I write this with a heavy hand, knowing you will read this letter when I am no longer able to share my thoughts. Perhaps because of the differences between our species, I can hope that time will treat you with kindness and dim the hurt of my passing to faded recollections that a drell would forever remember with perfect clarity. If you return without me beside you.

Selfishly, however, I could not leave this world without leaving a piece of me behind that would never fade. And, at Shepard's behest, I write this to you and one to Kolyat.

I once accepted my fate. Nothing remained but a shell destined to die. I only had to choose the when and how of my passing. I had refused to be confined to a bed, gasping horribly as my life beeped away to machinery I had no use for. I thought of my Irikah, broken, bloodied, and betrayed by my absence. Of Kolyat, small and afraid, bravely pushing at his eyes to stem the flow of tears I had entrusted to him to cry... for both our sakes.

The expectation to move swiftly to my end vanished upon uniting with this cause. And by a happy fortune, I met you. You awoke me, Marie. My heart quickened its sluggish beat if only to remain at your side and protect you with everything that I am. I was content to simply watch, take the time left given and praise all I know for allowing me to walk my final days with hope and certainty that I am worthy of more than my cold isolation, solely because you believed.

I love you. If all else whispers back into the tide, know this for fact. By grace given me by the Goddess Arashu, I bid her divine protection to you, my warrior-angel, my Siha, to succeed in your destiny. To light your path through the coming darkness. To give you hope, when all seems lost.

I will await you across the sea.

Thane

This letter. Certainly she had written one to him in case she died for Shepard's cause. But he would so willingly die and leave her behind. This was not what had enraged her however. For there was a high possibility that they would die. But what if they lived? What if they were successful and all returned home?

That is what made her angry. That and what it would mean when she coupled it with his medical report from Doctor Chakwas.

Lung Capacity: 42% (left-side lung shows large lesions, right lung has nodular lesions only)

Antibiotic treatment: Now resistant to cipoxidin, malanarin, alburcin

Metastatic progress: stomach, liver (minor), heart (negligible at this time)

Treatment Options: Viable transplant candidate but refused to be added to list - Synthetic lung generation currently impossible for drell .

Viable transplant candidate. Viable. He could have a transplant if he wished to. Why would he refuse to be added to the list!? How could he say all that he had written and still refuse to live?

She was fuming.

She turned away from the terminal and stalked toward the door that led back into the corridor that would lead her back to the ship. She caught Thane's eyes as she passed him and narrowed her at him. He furrowed his brow as he watched her leave.

Thane was confused. Merely ten minutes ago she was laughing with him as they walked the length of the Shadow Brokers lair. Now, she had returned to the ship without a word, sending a quick message to Tali that she planned on working with the ships engine for a while.

He was deep in thought as he watched Garrus approach the terminal she had been stood at. Is she ill? What was that look she gave me? Anger? Why?

"Thane!" He blinked and looked again toward his turian friend. "Come here." The sternness in his voice made Thane tense up, but he approached nonetheless.

"Yes?"

The first officer frowned at him and directed him to the terminal that contained information...on him. He quickly scanned it and almost slapped himself in the forehead. He vaguely registered Garrus shaking his head and walking away from him before he began to jog back to the ship after Marie. I did not mean for her to see that letter yet.

"EDI."

"Sere Krios. How may I be of service?"

Thane stood in the empty CIC. "Where is Marie Travis?"

A pause as EDI, no doubt, asked Marie if she wanted company. He clenched his fist. Why doesn't the ship just answer the question?

"Engineer Travis has politely asked to be left alone."

He smirked. "She didn't actually say that, did she?"

"No."

"Thank you, EDI."

"Logging you out, Sere Krios." A small click as the comms shut out and Thane was striding toward the elevator.

She would not be in out room for risk of my turning up. Nor would she be in the Mess or any of the crews domains. He thought for a moment. Maybe she actually is working on the engines..? He pushed the button for engineering and waited patiently for the lift to make its descent.

When the doors opened, he hastily made he way down to the engine. Down steps and through a door he had carried her through all those weeks ago.

He stood quietly in the blue light of the Drive Core, its pulsing flickers of energy were oddly soothing to him and he allowed himself to relax. He could hear the tapping of some kind of tool in the wall to the immediate left of the Core. He stepped toward it a gently tapped on the metal there.

The tapping stopped only to be replaced by a huff of breath and the scraping of boots against steel. He followed the scraping around the Core to a vent. He could see her silhouette through the mesh.

"I said I didn't want to talk." She spoke quietly as she gently tapped the tool against her knee. If he could see her face he would be sure to see a deep scowl and a look of betrayal.

"I know. But I need to know what is wrong, siha." He rested his shoulder against the wall beside the mesh and crossed his arms.

"Why?"

"So I can make it better."

"You can't make it better, Thane." The scraping started again as she began to move back toward her work.

"I didn't want you to see that letter yet..." The scraping stopped.

"It isn't the letter." She made her way back to the vent and pushed it open. She climbed out and Thane couldn't help but smile at her appearance. A sheen of sweat clung to her brow and her hair was pulled haphazardly into a rough plait. Her overalls were creased and dirty. "In fact I have one for you." She lit up her Omni-tool and his bleeped but he ignored it. I will read it later.

"If not the letter, then what is wrong?"

"You are so willing to die..." She looked down at the floor as she spoke so she didn't see his face fall from its usual stoicness.

"I..."

"You refused to be put on the transplant list...you are so ready to go after the Collectors and leave me to return on my own." Her voice cracked and he saw her lip quiver. "I don't want you to leave me, Thane."

He took a step toward her but she stepped back toward the wall. Her hands reaching for the mesh.

"I won't leave you willingly, siha."

Her big water filled eyes looked up at him then. "You already have." And she was back in the vent.

He lay on his cot as he read her letter to him.

Thane...is there a male version of siha?

Anyway, that's not the point. Shepard asked us to write letters to our loved ones. You are the only loved one I have anymore...so here goes.

When I first got here I was so unbelievably frightened. My family was dead and had no friend in the entire galaxy. And then you were there. Always so kind, so ready to give me comfort, and to share your time with me.

And then that thing with your son happened and I felt a...shift, I guess. It was subtle but it was nice. Suddenly, you were more than just a friendly face or a bunk mate. I actively searched for you in the crowd of the crew, wanted your approval of even the smallest things I did. I looked forward to the time we spent alone. Just to be quiet together and share small stories.

I think I am most thankful for the time we spent meditating. I use that time to ground myself, to tell myself that this isn't a dream. I'm not going to wake up and see my family again. I use that time to connect with everything around me. Including you.

If I don't make it back, I want to thank you. I want to thank you for being there. I want to thank you for not leaving me alone.

Love you.

Marie.

He rolled over and the tears he shed wet his pillow.

It was a few days before Marie spoke to Thane again. She had avoided going to their room during the day, only returning to it to sleep. It felt like a piece of her was missing and she hated it. Today she would make it better.

She sat in Life Support. The pillows and sheets from their beds strewn about her as she readied the room for their meditations. After he was assessed by Chakwas.

She folded her legs beneath her and waited. Reflecting on the day that had passed.

Shepard, Jack, and Zaeed had taken her bomb onto the shuttle and down into Pragia. He had originally sought out to take Thane but Mordin had stopped any such adventures for the drell when he had pointed out the heavy downpour to them all. To which Marie was grateful. He wouldn't be getting shot at today...

Her meditations made her drift away into her memories.

Her family and friends before she was abducted. A sudden blackness that had seemed to last forever. Cold...all encompassing. An endless sleep without dreams. She shivered mentally. And then there was light. Golden hair and brown eyes. Strange creatures. Blackness once more. Hunger. Thirst. Green.

Thane.

"Marie." She was pulled from her meditations by his sinfully dark voice. She looked at him as he sat opposite. He had obviously been sat there a while as he shifted on his pillow and she wondered how long she had sat still for. Her legs ached and she stretched, sighing at the small pops her spine made.

"Hey." She gave him a small smile and she saw the visible release in the tension of his shoulders. "I'm sor-"

"Do not apologise. I understand your need for space, time to think about things." He grinned and reached for her hands across the blankets. "I read your letter." He tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "I won't leave you alone."

Marie looked into his black eyes. "You'll apply for a transplant?"

The ship shuddered beneath them as its kinetic barriers pulled in the shuttle. A moment later and Shepard's voice filled the air.

"I want all squad members in the shuttle bay now! Armed, locked, loaded!" A pause and Thane placed his hand onto her shoulder. "We have a dead Reaper to scope out."

What...

Things were about to get complicated.

Hope you enjoyed :)

Review maybe?