Chapter 18

Later in the day Shepard had decided to go buy some new clothing, having been in need to replace the clothes she had lost on Eden Prime. Liara had been so tired after their fun at the laser tag place that she had decided to try and get a nap in back at the Normandy.

Shepard couldn't help but think about Liara, even as she looked through a clothing store looking at the various selections they had. Shepard rarely ever cared what she was wearing but she had the sudden urge to get something somewhat nice. She had once joked that her fashion sense consisted of rolling around in a pile of clothes and calling it good. And her current selection of clothes was stating just that.

Most of what she had picked out were plain t-shirts, a couple new tank tops and some random cargo pants and a couple pairs of new shorts. So she had decided to get a more form fitting sleeveless top, a button up shirt and some pants that showed off all the right parts but were still loose for her legs to breathe.

As she was paying for a small pile of clothes at the counter her omni-tool went off. She looked at the store clerk apologetically, handing over her credit chit before activating her omni-tool. It was a message from Liara and her heart sank. Liara should have been sleeping.

I need you.

The message was simple but Shepard's cheeks flushed horribly as she stumbled, accepting her chit back from the clerk. Shepard had to remember this was Liara, it probably didn't mean to come off as it did. Still Shepard was red in the face as she took her bag of clothes, moving to the outside of the store quickly before she moved to type a reply.

What's wrong, you ok?

Shepard typed out and sent before she began to look for the nearest sky car taxi terminal. Once she spotted one she was already on the move, thinking she had better start heading for the Normandy.

I had more dreams. But I could make sense of them from the Cipher. I am getting so frustrated, Nicole. I do not know what I need.

Shepard tapped her foot as she waited for her summoned cab, reading over the message. Liara sounded like she was about at her wits end with these nightmares that damn beacon had cursed her with. If Shepard could she would have blown the damn thing up all over again, before it gave Liara these visions and this warning from fifty-thousand years ago.

Hang in there, Li. I'm on my way back to the ship.

Shepard quickly got into the sky car that had pulled up. She inputed which docking bay she needed let off at as the sky car began to drive off.

Once Shepard reached the Normandy she quickly made her way through the CIC and down to the crew deck. The med bay was empty which she was grateful for as she walked hurriedly to the storage room, knocking on the door.

The door hissed open as Shepard walked in, setting her bags down seeing Liara standing there. "Hey, sorry I came as quick as I could." Shepard said, seeing the stressed look on the asari's face. Liara's bottom lip almost quivered, and Shepard felt her heart sink at the sight. The asari had to of been on the verge of a break down of sorts from how tired she had to of been feeling.

Liara quickly started pacing, a habit they both seemed to share. "The visions, they make more sense, but they are incomplete." Liara began as Shepard just watched. Liara looked as though she was trying to push her stresses aside. Liara's hand reached for her forehead as she paced, almost trying to will the visions back to the front of her mind. "The Eden Prime beacon must have been damaged, I did not receive all of the information." Liara said, still pacing.

Shepard's brows furrowed as Liara continued to ramble, mostly to herself, as if sorting out what to do about this new conundrum. "Li, slow down." Shepard said gently as she stepped before Liara, reaching out with both hands, grabbing Liara's carefully. Liara stopped as she looked to Shepard, letting out a frustrated breath. Now that she was in front of Liara she could see the exhaustion behind her usually radiant blue eyes, the dark marks under her eyes that showed her lack of sleep.

"Relax, take a few breaths and tell me what's going on." Shepard said calmly, her eyes meeting the tired blue in front of her. Liara nodded as she tried to piece herself back together.

"It is definitely a warning about the Reapers. This was clear in what information I did receive. Whatever these Reapers are the protheans feared them. I feel as though there is more to it than that, but I cannot be certain without the missing information." Liara went on, her words tumbling out quickly, the stress in her voice. "And I feel as though there was something about the conduit in my visions, but no real evidence of what it may be." Liara continued.

Shepard simply nodded, allowing Liara to say what she felt she had to get off her chest. "We would need another beacon to complete the data, but finding the one on Eden Prime was rare enough, finding a second with the same information could take years, perhaps decades. If there is another beacon like it at all." Liara concluded as she could feel Shepard's thumbs rubbing on the backs of her hands, as if trying to sooth her stress and worries away.

Shepard then gave a look of thought as she let Liara's hands go. "Okay, so we tell Anderson, see what he thinks. We'll figure this out, Li. In the mean time you should try to get a little more rest." Shepard suggested. Liara gave the mercenary an exasperated look of frustration. She looked like she was about to lose her temper even. Something Shepard had never seen from the woman in front of her before.

Liara stopped, taking a deep breath before she brought her hand to her forehead once more, eyes closing. The stress on her face more evident than ever. "No. I should be alright, I do not want to sleep. I am tired of being haunted by these visions." Liara confessed. Shepard frowned. "They twist my more normal dreams, make them living nightmares. I hear so many screams, and all I can see around me is..." She stopped. She wasn't sure she wanted to go any further than that.

She didn't want to force Liara to doing anything she didn't want to do. But she couldn't help but feel she should try to convince Liara into a bit more sleep. "What if you just lied down for a bit?" Shepard suggested as Liara gave her a a bit of a frown. Shepard held up her hands a bit. "I'm not saying sleep, but lay down, maybe do some light reading, try and relax?" Shepard went on. She was concerned for Liara's health at this point.

Liara's frown melted into a look of defeat, her eyes low, but looking up at Shepard. "Would you stay with me?" She questioned as Shepard tried to give her a bit of a smile. "We do not even have to speak I just... I do not want to be alone." Liara confessed. Shepard nodded her head some figuring it was a compromise she was more than willing to accept.

"Let me get my book. If you do end up falling asleep I'll be here reading. I won't leave you alone if you don't want me to." Shepard said as Liara finally gave her a smile of her own.

Liara nodded some as she grabbed her data pad, moving to her bed. "Thank you, Nicole." Liara said as she sat into her bed.

Shepard smiled some. "Any time, Li." She said as she excused herself for a moment to grab her book.


Liara had managed to get some sleep in the end. Much to Shepard's relief. Liara woke up feeling much more refreshed than before, but hungry. Shepard had suggested that perhaps they should go grab a bite to eat. Liara seemed agreeable to the idea and so Shepard had went to shower.

But now Shepard was getting herself dressed after having a hot shower. She threw on the nicer clothes she had purchased earlier in the day. She had decided that perhaps now was as good a time as any to look halfway decent. She didn't even know why she was getting herself all dressed up. They hadn't exactly called it a date.

Shepard had also gotten herself a loose fitting bracelet that looked like it was made from different sorts of thinly made ropes. She eyeballed it on her right wrist, debating if she really wanted to keep it on or not but decided to just go for it. You only live once popped into her mind.

She messed with her hair, making sure it was where she wanted it, showing off her piercings on her left ear. Whens he felt satisfied she left the crew bathroom as she checked her omni-tool.

Hey, I wondered since you invited me to your thing earlier if you wanted to come to my thing.

A message from Ashley as Shepard chuckled some typing out a quick response before leaving the bathroom.

A thing? Was Shepard's response.

Yeah, a thing. Wanna come? You could bring Liara. Be like a double date! Ashley responded.

Shepard flushed as she stopped half way between the crew bathroom and the med bay staring at the message. Was her feelings for Liara that obvious to everyone?

I'm not really dating Liara.

Was Shepard's response. Well, now she wasn't really sure if that was true or not. They had confessed to romantic feelings sure, but they hadn't really made it official. Had they? Now Shepard wasn't so sure as she began her walk back to the med bay. She really needed to sort this out with Liara.

Suuuure you aren't. Pfft, come on Shepard, everyone sees how you two eyeball each other. Get your asses to Flux! =D

Shepard sighed as she supposed she could ask Liara if she'd rather go to the bar or not. She was still ok with going out to dinner honestly, but she decided to leave the choice to Liara.

When she reached up with her hand to knock on Liara's door it opened before she even could. Liara was standing on the other side as they both blushed at one another, though Shepard was stunned by the sight before her. Liara was wearing a simple dress that went down to her knees. It didn't have very long sleeves, in fact they barely covered her shoulders and ended where her arms began. The dress didn't dip too low on top, but just enough to show her collar bones. The dress flowed loose towards the bottom but it still hugged all the right places on Liara's lithe form.

It had to be a borrowed dress from someone on the Normandy crew. It looked more human in design versus a typical asari design. Or maybe Liara had bought it on her way back to the Normandy earlier in the day? Shepard was unsure. Still, Shepard was stunned.

Shepard realized her hand was still in the air, ready to knock on a door that was no longer there as she flushed even harder, dropping her hand back to the side. She also realized she was probably staring like an idiot. "Hey." Shepard said, still feeling a bit stunned. Liara gave her a shy smile, her own cheeks a bit flushed as she looked Shepard over once.

"I... I hope this is appropriate for dinner..." She said shyly. Shepard finally managed to pull herself out of her daze shaking her head some with an amused smile. She found it oddly amusing they had both gotten dressed up for what should have been a simple meal.

Shepard reached her hand out, offering for Liara to take it. When Liara shyly slid her hand into the mercenary's Shepard smiled a bit more brightly. "You look beautiful." Shepard finally said with a lopsided smile as Liara stepped out of her room, hand in hand with Shepard as they began to leave the med bay.

"Do you think so?" Liara asked, her cheeks a deep shade of violate. She looked herself over once, even double checking her simple slip on shoes as Shepard hummed in response.

Shepard looked Liara over once more as she smirked some, leading them up towards the CIC ready to head out for the night. "Trust me. You look amazing." Shepard assured as Liara smiled more brightly, letting herself scoot in closer to Shepard.

Once they were off the Normandy Shepard stopped as she remembered Ashley having invited her and Liara to the bar. "Hey, you can say no... Ashley invited us out to the bar, did you want to go?" Shepard asked.

Liara thought about it for a moment. She then just smiled and began to walk towards the elevator. She looked at Shepard a moment longer over her shoulder before she looked to where she was heading, not saying a single word. Shepard smirked to herself taking that as a no.

She brought up her omni-tool, typing out a message for Ashley.

Sorry, we're going out for dinner. Don't do anything I would and be home by midnight.

Shepard sent it with a snort as she trotted to catch up to Liara.

You guys are no fun. At least I'm willing to admit I'm on a date. Ashley retorted as Shepard joined Liara in the elevator, chuckling at the response.

They took a sky car to an area of the Citadel with a bunch of different options for food joints as Shepard began to search for all the different choices they could choose from. "Alright, so did you have anything in mind?" Shepard asked as Liara looked out the sky car window at all the sights, never having really seen much of the Citadel before.

"Admittedly, anything sounds better than MREs or military grade food." She said with a small smile. Shepard snorted knowing exactly how Liara felt. It did give Shepard an idea as she looked into a specific sort of food chain.

Shepard almost grinned to herself as she saw a few options pop up. "Do you trust me?" Shepard asked. It seemed to become something of a trade mark question for the mercenary as the two looked at each other.

Liara smiled. "Always." The answer seemed so simple but Shepard couldn't help but feel her stomach do summersaults over the response. But Shepard gave the asari a lopsided smile as she shut off her omni-tool, imputing the new destination into the sky car's navigation system.

"I've got an idea. A nice quiet evening, we'll get some take out and a hotel and watch some cheesy movies." Shepard said. Liara rather liked the sound of that. She couldn't help but watch Shepard for a moment, feeling her heart beating a little more quickly. Shepard had been much more open and forward with her the past few days. She knew they had confessed to a mutual attraction but she wondered just how far this would go.

She couldn't help but feel awkward and nervous. Shepard had gone through so much trouble on Liara's behalf since Eden Prime. She had stuck by Liara's side when she didn't have to. Had indulged her, watched over her, and even gave in and agreed to give Liara combat training. Now she was going out of her way to give Liara a quiet evening with food and cheesy movies, as Nicole had put it. It made Liara wonder if Shepard had her own hopes for a possibility at their future. Liara flushed as she suddenly looked away from Shepard, realizing she had been staring.

Liara suddenly gained a look of thought though as she gave Shepard a shy smile. She had wondered if Shepard would be willing to indulge her further tonight. Shepard could see it on her face, a question was forming.

"There is a new documentary on the protheans... If you would be willing?" She asked as Shepard laughed a little as she leaned back in her seat. She could hardly refuse Liara. Not tonight. She had meant for this night as a way to help Liara destress. She had known Liara had felt a lot of pressure and stress. Between wondering about her mother, the prothean beacon, and being stuck on a military ship.

"Only if you watch something of my choosing after." Shepard said playfully. Liara flushed but nodded at the human, finding it only fair. The sky car came to a stop as Shepard gave Liara a cheeky smile before hopping out, suddenly rather excited for the night ahead.

Shepard could hear Liara laughing in the car as Shepard circled round it, the door opening. Shepard suddenly straightened her back, holding her arm up. "Right this way, ma'am." She said, putting on a fake accent and trying to sound prim and proper. Liara looked at Shepard as if she were being silly before she took Shepard's arm, lifting herself from the sky car as Shepard gave the asari a lopsided grim.

"You are ridiculous, Nicole Shepard." Liara said, but she had a smile on her face. Shepard began to guide them down the street heading for a specific destination as she felt Liara loop her own arm around Shepard's.

Shepard continued to give her a lopsided grin, but looked forward, chin up. "I try." She replied simply as Liara giggled, but followed Shepard's lead. Liara enjoyed it when Shepard got into silly moods such as this. It was part of her human charm it seemed like.

"So what take out have you chosen?" Liara questioned. Shepard lifted her free hand, wiggling her index finger while tutting at the asari on her arm.

Shepard led them around a corner. "Patience, T'Soni. Why ruin the surprise?" Shepard questioned, her tone humored as Liara smiled and pulled herself in closer to Shepard. Shepard felt her heart fluttering as she recalled the message from Ashley earlier. At least I'm willing to admit I'm on a date. Shepard flushed some wondering if this is what could be considered a date suddenly.

But she dared not spoil the moment as she gently pulled her arm free from Liara's, circling it around the asari's shoulders instead. She pulled Liara in closer to herself, both of them stumbling a bit at the action. They both of laughed together as they walked at a slow pace up the road and to Shepard's intended destination. Shepard could feel Liara's arm hesitantly snake it's way around her lower back. Everything just felt so right in the world in the moment. Nothing chaotic happening, no where to be. It was just... She had no way to describe it, it was just right.

Shepard felt her heart thumping in her chest. Some part of her wanted to resist what was happening, her fears of losing anyone important to her fluttering to the surface in an instant. But she also wanted this so badly. So she just allowed it to happen. Despite her in-securities she didn't want this to stop.


Liara and Shepard stepped into the hotel room they had rented. Shepard held in her hand a square but flat box, not having explained to Liara what sort of dinner she had gotten for them just yet. She had made Liara wait outside when she went into the restaurant to get it. She also carried a couple of disposable plates.

Shepard flicked the light on as she went further into the hotel room, setting the box down on the bed looking the room over once. She then stopped as she faced Liara who flushed and smiled shyly at Shepard. Liara felt awkward now that they were at the hotel room. It had meant to be for an innocent night of watching vids but she couldn't help but feel like perhaps someone on the outside might think they were up to something a little more intimate than that.

"Well, let the movie night begin." Shepard quipped as she walked over to the television set that sat on top of a giant dresser. She turned it on before activating her omni-tool to connect with the tv as Liara wandered over to a lone chair in the room, seating herself in it.

Shepard moved over to the bed picking up the pizza before she spotted Liara having sat herself in the arm chair. "We can sit on the bed you know." Shepard said with a bit of an amused smirk before she began to pick up the plethora of pillows on the bed, setting them up against the headboard as cushioning to sit against.

Liara flushed even more as she got back up moving over to the bed as she sat onto it, sitting against the stack of pillows on the one side Shepard had finished, watching her repeat the same action on the other side of the bed. Shepard climbed onto the bed now as she put the box between them, lifting the lid open. "Tada! Pizza." Shepard said excitedly.

Liara looked down at their meal, a large circular food sitting in the box, covered in cheese on top of what appeared to be bread. On the cheese were little round red things she didn't know what they were. "What is pizza?" Liara asked as Shepard began to pull a slice of it out of the box.

Shepard let the pizza slice plop onto one plate before passing it to Liara. "It's an old Earth food. It's a bit greasy, probably bad for you, but hella delicious." Shepard said with a smile. Liara took the plate before she lifted the pizza off the plate as she fumbled with it a moment before taking a bite.

Shepard watched her with anticipation as Liara carefully chewed her food before her eyes lit up. "Goddess, this is delicious." Liara said. Shepard gave her a sharp 'ha!' before grabbing herself a slice and leaning back against the pillows.

"Alright, what's this documentary?" Shepard asked as Liara continued to eat at her pizza.


Later into the evening Shepard munched on a bit of the left over pizza, some random movie she had picked still playing on the tv. Liara had fallen asleep half way through the first movie Shepard had picked after her documentary. Not that Shepard could blame the young archaeologist. She had been having a rough time sleeping.

But they had fun before Liara had drifted off into sleep. Liara was so excited about the documentary. She was so into it, and she talked along with it, going on about the things she had discovered that might have complimented the vid they were watching. She was always so animated when it came to talking about the protheans. Shepard found it all too cute and let the asari go about her excitement unhindered, listening to anything she had to say.

Shepard had picked an old Earth movie to watch and at first Liara seemed rather interested in it, but began to drift in and out of consciousness before she finally had simply fallen asleep. Shepard looked down at the asari who had cuddled up against the human in her sleep. Shepard would not complain. She just let the asari sleep.

Liara looked so peaceful in the moment. Shepard tossed her half eaten slice of pizza back into the box that had been set on the nightstand by the bed. She carefully wiped her hands on a towel they had found in the bathroom, trying not to disturb Liara. When Liara had stirred a little during Shepard's process of cleaning off her pizza greased hands she wrapped an arm around the sleeping prothean expert, gently rubbing at her mid back, as if to sooth her. Liara settled almost instantly, burying her face into Shepard's shoulder.

Shepard smirked some as she settled back against the pillows, her free arm folding behind her head as she continued to watch her current movie. If it meant Liara could sleep a bit more she was ok with just sitting here watching movies all night until she woke up so that they could go back to the Normandy.


Sorry for the wait guys. My new job has been killer lol. I get home and it's all I can do to have a shower before I pass out. This chapter was also a bit difficult, I worked on it all day yesterday (my only day off D=) and then I scrapped whatever I was doing with it to do this instead. I felt like perhaps what I had started writing before felt a bit cliche.

Anywho, I hope I get a day off next week to work on the next chapter. If not I will try to work on it little by little before my shifts. =D

Thanks for the patience =3