Chapter 22
Shepard had learned all she could about Virmire, not there was much to go on. All they knew was a salarian STG team was there, and geth. It was possible Saren and or Benezia were there as well. It seemed like a lot of activity for just a small pocket of geth anyhow, and with little word from the STG team... Well, Shepard knew they were in for a difficult fight.
Shepard looked over towards the med bay from the table in the mess hall. They would make it to Virmire by morning, but she had spent some time trying to figure out what to expect. There was not a lot to go on. Why she was bothering was beyond her at this point. She had planned to take Tali with, however. With the geth involved she knew she would need Tali. The quarian was the only expert on the geth, and with her tech abilities it'd make things run smoother.
Shepard also wanted to bring Wrex for the simple fact that he was a power house. He was brute strength, and always sought a challenge in his opponents. The geth were more than that. But she knew Liara was right. Biotic support would also be needed. But putting Liara in so much danger was something Shepard struggled with.
It was one thing with rogue VIs and drones, but the geth? Shepard would be lying if she said she wasn't at least a little intimidated by them. She sighed as she looked over the information on the data pad in her hand. All she really had on Virmire was that it was basically a tropical paradise, but unsettled due to it's location bordering on th Terminus.
She stood, moving to the coffee pot to get a refill. Most everyone else had settled down by now, getting rest for what was to come. Shepard poured herself another cup of coffee before heading for the med bay, thinking maybe she could sit down with her book. She knew she needed to unwind herself, she had no idea what was in store for them with Virmire.
As she walked into the med bay she couldn't help but stop and look at Liara's door, her stomach fluttering, her cheeks turning a bit read, and a stupid grin creeping up on her face. She had been so nervous, so damned terrified of telling Liara how she felt, and even more so to act on it. But now she felt... Well as ridiculous as it sounded she felt like a giddy school kid who had just made out with her crush for the first time.
Shepard shook her head to herself as she went to a small storage box, pulling out her book. Part of her wondered if it would even be safe to knock on the door or not. She wondered if Liara was still even awake or trying to catch some sleep. She clutched her book in one hand, idly sipping her coffee from the other as she took a few quick strides to the door.
She knocked with the hand that held her book. She waited patiently before the door opened, Liara looking out at Nicole with a surprised but pleasant smile. "Hey... I dunno, I wondered if you'd like some company?" Nicole asked as Liara stepped aside, still smiling.
Shepard smiled back as she stepped into Liara's room. "Of course." Liara said with a smile as Shepard looked over the room. "I had been wanting to talk to you about something." Liara added as she watched Shepard.
"Sure, what'd you wanna talk about?" Shepard questioned as Liara flushed before taking a seat in her chair. Shepard looked down at the asari's exposed leg, looking at the bandage wrapped there. She wondered if Liara had changed it since earlier in the day. Shepard sat her coffee and book down on the desk. "Have you changed this recently?" Shepard asked, wanting to make sure Liara wouldn't get an infection from a dirty bandage.
Liara flushed as she looked down at her leg. "Not in the past four or five hours." She admitted as Shepard gave the asari a teasing tsk and grinned. Shepard moved over to the medical supplies Chakwas had left for Liara to change her bandages and some ointment to keep the injury from getting infected.
"Let me help you out." Shepard said as she grabbed some fresh bandages and the ointment. "What'd you wanna talk about?" Shepard then asked as she sat onto the floor, crossing her legs, propping Liara's leg between them.
As Shepard began to work on changing Liara's bandage, the prothean expert flushed. "I have given it some thought. I thought that perhaps we didn't know much about each other's childhoods. I know what happened to your family, however, and if you feel uncomfortable discussing it...?" Liara almost rambled, feeling like she may have been treading on hollow grounds.
Shepard gave the asari a light smile however as she tossed the old bandage into the trash bin. She always found it endearing when Liara got nervous and rambled as a result. "It's fine. I suppose getting to know one another would be a good thing if we're going to be together." Shepard said as Liara smiled, feeling more relaxed. Shepard looked over the injury on her leg and grinned to herself. It was already healing up, thanks to modern medical advances, though it was leaving a scar in it's wake.
"This is leaving a pretty badass scar, Li. Wrex would be proud." Shepard teased as Liara looked down at her leg, moving her leg so that she could see it as Shepard reached for the ointment. Liara flushed as she tried to imagine Wrex giving her some sort of speech on how he was proud of her first battle scar. It was a bit horrifying to think about and she shook her head at the idea.
Liara reached up and touched her forehead in embarrassment, trying to get the thought from her mind. "That almost sounds terrifying." She admitted as Shepard laughed a bit before she began to rub the cream on what remained of Liara's injury. Liara felt a slight grin creep onto her face, having loved the way Shepard had laughed, even though it was not meant as a joke.
Shepard moved to wrap up Liara's leg again. "Anyway, I was wondering... What made you choose to become a mercenary?" Liara questioned as Shepard almost faltered on her task. Shepard didn't think Liara would hit such a hard question so quickly. But she continued to wrap Liara's leg.
Shepard hummed as she tried to think of a way to put it. She knew what made her choose such a life, but knew it would sound horrible. she was not about to lie either though. "It's kind of a loaded answer..." Shepard started as she finished wrapping Liara's leg, getting back to her feet. She carefully pulled Liara from her seat, leading her over to the cot so that they could sit and talk for a moment. "You may not like what you'll hear." Shepard then said, sort of frowning as she took to sitting on the bed, resting against the wall. She pulled Liara into her lap, who sat sideways looking at Shepard with concern and curiosity.
"I will listen to what ever you have to say, Nicole." Liara assured the human, who gave her a half smile. Shepard then nodded as she wrapped her arms around Liara's waist, holding the asari against herself.
Shepard gained a look of thought. "Well..." She started but stopped, sighing a bit. Liara rested her head against Shepard's shoulder. "I witnessed what happened to my parents. Me and my sister both did." Shepard began again. "My sister tried to protect me. She wanted to be Alliance, you know, so she took up my dad's old shotgun." She paused, frowning a bit. She figured she could leave the more gruesome details out at least.
Shepard shrugged lightly. "We ran, we didn't know what else to do. She was always so brave, even then. I... I was just a kid, I was terrified, I was crying. I just did what my sister told me to do." Shepard continued on. Liara looked up at Shepard's face, seeing the residual pain from remembering that night. "I dunno, my sister managed to gun down a few batarians, but we were outnumbered. They killed her too. So I ran. I ran as fast as I could for as long as I could." Shepard stopped as she had to collect herself a little.
Liara planted a light kiss on Shepard's cheek. A small gesture, but Shepard smiled a bit in response. "Anyway... After the attack was over and the Alliance finally showed up, everyone I knew and loved, my extended family, friends, they were dead or missing. I had survivor's guilt. I didn't understand why I got to live while everyone else died." Shepard continued. She cleared her throat.
"I got so angry. It was like I had a death wish. I got off Mindoir as soon as I was able. Part of me didn't want to die, but part of me did, you know? Everything I knew was gone. So the only thing I knew to do was pick fights with the wrong people. A small merc group found me getting into a fight with the wrong person and took interest. Signed me on, taught me how to use a gun, took me out on jobs." She fell silent again.
She shook her head. "Still, I couldn't sleep, my family was on my mind constantly. I would have... Maybe I still would do anything to trade places with them. But after a while I thought I could do better, help people instead of work against them. I found myself kind of empty, if that makes sense." She shrugged lightly. ""But really I originally became a merc because I was angry and I thought maybe I deserved death too." She then paused.
Shepard began to think of her crew, her friends, people she would even call family. "I broke off, started going solo. But I had room to start over, if you will. Eventually I started becoming friends with my crew. Finding them along the way. They each taught me different things. Wrex showed me I could fight for something bigger than myself. Tali showed me I could still enjoy hobbies, maybe even find my place in life. Garrus showed me I could do right by others even if I wasn't part of anything big... Kaidan showed me I could still have a heart." She paused and looked to Liara.
Shepard gave the asari in her lap a smile. "And you... You showed me I'm still worth something. That I could mean something to someone, have a life, have something worth living for." She went on, her cheeks a bit flushed. "That I can still... still care about someone... Have room to have someone close to me." Shepard could feel her heart beat race a little, wondering if perhaps that was too much. "I may have had a rough start but... I think I was in the right place at the right time. I think you've taught me the most important thing, I shouldn't be afraid to let people get close." Shepard finally concluded.
Liara looked on in almost stunned silence. Shepard gave her a nervous lopsided smile, hoping she didn't say something wrong. But when Liara suddenly grabbed Nicole by the face and pulled the human into a fierce kiss. Shepard was a bit taken back by the reaction. She didn't think Liara would have responded in such a way.
Shepard tightened her hold on Liara, almost fighting to keep up with the asari. Liara practically dominated the kiss, and it threw Shepard for a loop. Her stomach flopped heavily as Liara pressed Shepard into the wall a little roughly. Shepard's cheeks burned from the blood flow resting in her cheeks.
Just when Shepard felt like she wouldn't be able to breathe if this kept going, Liara parted ways. In a daze Shepard's head fell back against the wall, trying to recollect herself and her breath. But apparently Liara wasn't over as she felt lips on her neck. Shepard had never blushed so hard in her life. She was about to protest, or make a joke, she wasn't sure which. But when she felt a light nip on her neck a whimper escaped her throat instead as she clutched onto the asari.
Liara pulled back from the sound, her own cheeks dark, her eyes wide. Shepard felt mortified, never in her life had she made such a sound before. The fact that Liara managed to bring that sort of sound to the surface made Shepard feel... Well she couldn't properly describe it. She almost wanted more of what just happened. "Goddess, I am so sorry. I did not hurt you did I?" Liara asked, sounding almost terrified that she might have.
Shepard couldn't help the embarrassed laugh that came out next as she buried her face into Liara's neck, trying to hide her own embarrassment. "No... No, you didn't hurt me. Sorry I guess that was an involuntary sound." Shepard admitted as Liara flushed, but almost took pride that she had caused such a noise from Shepard.
Liara reached up, touching at Shepard's earrings almost idly. "I am sorry... I lost control over myself." Liara admitted, her own voice sounding embarrassed. Shepard just hummed against Liara's neck, enjoying the feel of the asari playing with her earrings lightly.
"I wouldn't complain if that ever happened again." Shepard teased with a snicker.
Liara shoved Shepard lightly. "Do not tease." Liara said jokingly. Shepard snorted against Liara's neck. "If it means anything, Nicole... I think you you are worth so much more than you give yourself credit for." Liara said after a brief pause.
Shepard couldn't help but hug the prothean expert closer to herself. "Thanks, Li." Shepard muttered.
Virmire. Full of winding rivers and geth. It was all that greeted them when they first landed on the planet in the mako. With Wrex on the turret, Shepard driving and Liara and Tali in the back it took a while to get by all the defenses. They all would have to pile out of the car and deal with them on foot a couple times, to shut off the AA guns so that the Normandy could get through.
Shepard began to see why there wasn't much info about what was going on here. The salarians had to be pinned down from the overwhelming amount of geth present. It took them a while to punch through themselves. It took them a few hours at the least. Shepard never had to take things more slowly. Going any faster would have been suicide. This was definitely a job meant for a military force rather than a small merc group.
Shepard made sure the group stuck together though, working as strategically as she could. So far it had been working. Slow and steady. A few close calls when it came to the bigger geth machines however.
A Collosus nearly ripped right through the Mako from behind. Once they made it past the defenses and headed for a location that the salarians were holed up in Shepard couldn't help but feel like perhaps she bit off more than she could chew with this. "Well, Garrus will have his work cut out for him." Shepard tried to joke.
Tali was not so easy to read, but Liara seemed unimpressed when it came to Shepard's driving. Wrex never even blinked, having too much fun on the turret. "This vehicle may as well be scrap by the time you're done with it." Tali said sarcastically, but Shepard could hear the light jest in her tone. Shepard snorted.
"Now I can see why the others do not like you driving, Shepard." Liara said flatly, looking out of a tiny window behind herself. That one got Shepard rolling with laughter as she limped the Mako along, pretty sure she was losing air in one of the tires now.
"Speak for yourself." Wrex said as he gunned down a straggling geth. He erupted with laughter as Liara only shook her head.
Shepard looked behind herself for only a split second at Liara who still looked unimpressed. "Oh come on my driving can't be that bad, Li." Shepard snickered as she could see a camp up ahead. Shepard couldn't see the frown on Liara's face when she looked in Shepard's direction. But the frown soon faded into a small grin of her own.
"Alright I see the salarian camp." Shepard said as she reached for her ear piece. The comm line clicked open. "Normandy, this is ground team. It should be clear for approach. Mako's going to need some repairs." Shepard said more professionally than even she had cared for.
Tali in the back snorted herself. A habit she had picked up from the human over the years. "More like replaced." she hollered out as Shepard grinned but shook her head.
"Roger that. Man, I heard your driving skills suck, Shepard, but wrecking a mako? That's takes skill." Joker quipped over the comms as Shepard shook her head again. She always took it with stride, but she started to feel like her driving was becoming some sort of legend around the galaxy at this point. Shepard the Terrible. She joked to herself. Terrible because she sucks at driving. Her brain went on. Ok she knew she was pretty bad at driving.
Shepard could feel part of the Mako shift as the tire was now losing air faster. "What can I say? I have many skills." Shepard joked back. She could hear Joker laugh, but it was cut off when the comm link died.
The Mako barely made it ashore before the tire gave out it's last bit of air. Shepard stood from her seat as she looked everyone over. Wrex was shutting down the turret as Liara and Tali stood from their seats. "Alright, everyone still in one piece?" Shepard asked with a grin. Liara shook her head, but did look much more amused now than earlier. "Good, lets go say hello." Shepard then said as she opened the Mako's door, leading her team out onto the beach, spotting a bunch of salarians heading their way.
Time to face the music, Shepard thought as her team and herself also approached the group of heavily armed salarians. "Who are you?" One salarian questioned as he pushed through the small group of others.
Shepard gestured to herself and then her team. "I'm Shepard. We've been working with the Council and Alliance involving the Saren investigation. We received your call and the Council asked us to come check things out." Shepard said as the salarian eyed her and her team. Just then the Normandy came into view as it began landing procedures in the shallow waters behind them.
The salarian looked to the Normandy, seeing the Alliance tags on the ship as it slowly lowered to the ground, coming to a rest. He did not seem impressed. "'Checking things out' is a repetition of our task." he said flatly. Shepard perked a brow as the salarian sighed, shaking his head. "My name is Captain Kirrahe. If you are the one in charge of this... Small group..." he said looking at the other three behind Shepard. "Then we will need to speak." He said before turning and waving for Shepard and her crew to follow.
Shepard looked over her shoulder, seeing Tali, Wrex and Liara looking at her. She shrugged at them lightly. "Lets go hear what he has to say, then we'll figure out our next step." Shepard said as she gave them a smile before following the salarian as he walked off rather quickly.
Sorry for the delay. I have been trying to aim to post on Tuesdays at the very least, but this past Tuesday proved to be a busy one. I work six days a week, mostly 12 hour shifts, and Tuesdays are my usual days off. However I had to pretend to be a responsible adult on Tuesday and do a bunch of errands and then after I sort of promised my mother to watch a movie and instead fell asleep lol. So I am sorry for the delay. I have spent the past several days slowly working this chapter out.
I apologize that it's a short one as well. I am hoping this Tuesday is less busy and I will post again then, if not Weds morning.
Until then =D
