Some thoughts on writing from Liara's perspective. One of my favorite things to do when I write for Liara is overanalyze tiny interactions. For example, in this chapter, instead of just concluding that Shepard did something nice, Liara will pick apart exactly why it was nice and the social implications. We're going to spend a lot more time with Liara this time around. I've been very interested in what she has to say because I gave her so little voice in the original. In my defense, I was still getting to know Sophia Shepard and so my focus was on her. But now I feel as if I know both of these characters in equal amounts, and I want to give Liara the opportunity to tell her side of the story. We'll let Shepard stay aloof for a while longer; it's what she prefers to do. She can remain enigmatic to us in the same way she does to Liara for the time being. We'll catch up with her soon enough.

There are really only two things that are consistently difficult when I write from Liara's point of view. Although, they are problems of my own making more or less. The first is avoiding colloquialisms and idioms. I love colloquialisms and idioms. I use them constantly in my everyday life. I am particularly fond of expressions that evoke a clear image to accompany the thought trying to be expressed such as, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink," and also sayings that are pithy and catchy such as, "Beggars can't be choosers." I do some teaching, and my students often remark that something they inadvertently learn are a ton of phrases they have never heard before. Obviously, I don't use nearly as many colloquialisms in my writing as I do when speaking, but they're certainly there when the situation calls for it. And already within these two chapters, I have written out common expressions and then had to immediately delete them in frustration because Liara wouldn't know them. It's certainly been eye opening how little original thoughts I appear to have. But don't worry, Shepard will use all the colloquialisms I want, and poor Liara will just be confused. Shepard uses four in this chapter alone.

The other difficulty in writing Liara is definitely my fault entirely, but is a constant source of editing. You may have already clocked this on your own, but I rarely let Liara use contractions in her dialogue or thoughts. Obviously, she can use the 's for a possessive word, but you generally won't catch her saying can't, didn't, I'm, etc. This is a character choice I have maintained for Liara throughout most of these stories (I can think of a few exceptions I have made but those were because it would be super awkward not to use the contraction, it's dialogue from the games, and/or I figured by that point Shepard had probably influenced Liara a bit, i.e. "After"). Although Liara gets more casual and comfortable as time goes on, she always has a level of formality to her speech. It's a writing shorthand I use to convey something about her personality without necessarily grabbing you by the shoulders and saying it right to your face. I've tried to never draw attention to it over the years because I don't want her dialogue to sound unnatural. I'll rework sentences until they can pass for a totally normal sounding thing to say, and, of course, the narrative portions use contractions to my little heart's content. Anyway, I felt like it was appropriate now, twelve years later, to share this little tidbit. I would certainly be curious to hear if anyone noticed on their own. I never knew if I was being terribly obvious or very sneaky.

This is our first completely new, from scratch, chapter. I wanted to address some questions I had about how certain things came about, as well as add some depth to interactions that have occurred and will occur over the course of this story. Also, as an aside, for the mission referenced in this chapter, yes, I know it's a later mission, but it's one of my favorites. Also, the tactic described herein does work and honestly is the only way I know how to do it without casualties.

The Rookie

A couple of days after her conversation with Shepard in the engine room, Liara was still trying to find a comfortable rhythm to her life aboard the Normandy. The suspicion from the crew hadn't eased, but she was making progress on other fronts. Other than Shepard, Dr. Chakwas had become a friendly, human face. After Therum, Shepard had insisted that Dr. Chakwas see Liara in case of injuries. The physician had immediately been kind and easy-going. It didn't take long for Liara to feel comfortable around the other woman, and Dr. Chakwas made no secret of the fact that she was keeping a protective eye out for the asari. It was nice to have a friend of sorts amongst the human crew.

Then, of course, there were the other non-human crew. The krogan, Wrex, didn't seem to particularly notice or care about Liara. In fact, he didn't seem to talk to anyone besides Shepard, so Liara didn't take it personally. The turian, Garrus, was polite, but reserved. Like a lot of turians, he was serious and focused. Neither of them seemed good at interacting with other people, so Liara's conversations with him tended to be stilted and awkward. But the quarian, Tali, was a welcome presence on the ship. She was a little shy, but ultimately friendly. This was also her first time really interacting with humans, so it was easy to commiserate with one another about how out of place they each felt.

Although the Alliance crew were not as openly suspicious of Tali as they were of Liara, it was the first time many of them had ever seen a quarian. They tended to approach her with a restrained curiosity, clearly trying to decide whether they thought she was an asset or hinderance to the mission. Liara understood their caution, but it was tiring to constantly feel like an outsider on the ship.

Liara wasn't surprised when Tali confided in her that the human she felt the most comfortable around was the commander. Tali said that Shepard had asked her many questions about quarian society, but not in a way that seemed as if the commander were trying to glean intel from her, but rather genuine curiosity. She said that Shepard had also surprised her by showing an interest in the technical parts of the ship that also interested Tali. During their initial interactions, Tali had not gotten the impression that the commander knew much about the finer points of the ship, but in their subsequent conversations Shepard had expressed a deep understanding. Being able to talk to the commander about a subject they both found interesting had helped Tali feel more comfortable and helped her to settle in.

It had then occurred to Liara that perhaps Shepard had learned about the technical aspects of the Normandy in order to talk to Tali about it. She had learned what she could to meet Tali where she was, somewhere where the quarian was on sure footing, instead of the general disorientation of being on a human ship. And even with her brief interactions with Shepard, Liara knew that the commander had done it without guile or ulterior motive. She had simply understood what would ease Tali's discomfort and had done it. And instead of viewing it as a chore, the commander had embraced the new knowledge; that much was clear from the way Shepard had then eagerly shared her newfound interest with Liara.

She didn't share this revelation with Tali, of course. The quarian seemed pleased to have found a kindred spirit in Shepard, and Liara had no intention of undermining Shepard's thoughtful gesture. Still, she made note that Shepard seemed to genuinely care about the people under her command, human or non-human. She had no idea when Shepard had found the time to learn about drive cores, and brush up on the specifications of the Normandy in particular. But she'd done it in such a way that the quarian was none the wiser about the effort that had been expended on her behalf.

Liara's budding friendships aside, she was still struggling to find her place amongst the crew. The other non-humans had the advantage of having clear jobs to do. Wrex and Garrus were both experienced fighters with useful skills out in the field. Tali had also proven herself out in the field and was the foremost geth expert on the ship. Meanwhile, Liara was there because of her mother's mistake. She needed to figure out what she could contribute to this effort – as much for her own sanity as well as proving to the humans that she was not an extension of Benezia.

Liara knew that this whole ordeal had started because of a prothean beacon uncovered on Eden Prime. Saren had attacked the colony to get to it. Perhaps that was where she could be useful. Liara would need to brush up on prothean beacons and what sort of information they normally contained. But if she could figure out what Saren was really after, then maybe she could pay the commander back for her rescue.

When Liara had shared her idea with Dr. Chakwas, the other woman had stated that if Liara needed a quiet place to work, then she could make some room in the medbay storage for a makeshift office. It would not be anything fancy, but it would give Liara a space to work in peace. The asari had gladly accepted the doctor's offer, and together they had rearranged the storage area so that Liara could set up a small desk, a terminal, and make a space to keep her various notes.

She'd wasted no time getting to work. Liara had pulled every article she could find on prothean beacons and had begun picking them apart for clues as to Saren's intent. She was so absorbed in her task that she almost didn't notice the whoosh of the door opening. She turned in her chair to see the commander enter the room. Hastily and awkwardly, Liara rose to her feet to greet her.

"So, here you are," Shepard said with a smile. "I was wondering how you disappeared out in space."

Liara realized that she had forgotten to inform the commander of her intentions. "Dr. Chakwas said it would be alright to use some of the storage area as a workspace," she explained. Then, realizing that she was on a military ship with a chain of command, she added, "But I suppose I should have asked you first. It is your ship after all. I apologize, Shepard. I did not think…"

But Shepard shook her head with a grin. "Don't worry. It might be my ship, but I know better than to interfere with Dr. Chakwas' domain. If she offered you the space, then I don't have any problem with it." Peering past Liara to the desk, she asked, "What are you working on?"

"I was thinking that maybe I could help figure out what Saren wanted with the prothean beacon back on Eden Prime. If we could figure out what he was after, maybe we could beat him to whatever his goal is."

Shepard nodded thoughtfully. "That's a good idea. Maybe that's why Saren wanted you in the first place. To make use of your prothean knowledge."

That surprised Liara. She hadn't even considered it. "What do you mean?" she asked. "I assumed Saren was trying to get me because my mother asked him to."

Shepard shrugged. "That's possible, of course, but I don't think it's the most likely reason. In my mind, there are two likely reasons why Saren would have tried to capture you. The first is that whatever the nature of Benezia and Saren's alliance is, it isn't completely secure. Maybe she didn't enter this alliance of her own free will and he has some sort of leverage over her. So, he figured that he could secure even more leverage to keep her in line if he held you hostage. That krogan battlemaster made reference to Saren, but not Benezia. I don't see an asari matriarch willingly playing second fiddle to someone. It's not conclusive, but it opens the possibility that Benezia wasn't in on his plan to capture you."

The logic was sound, and it was also comforting. Maybe Liara's mother was not as far gone as she feared. Maybe Benezia had gotten caught up in something unfortunate and was a prisoner of Saren. If so, they could rescue her too.

"The second possibility," Shepard continued, "is that Saren wanted your prothean knowledge. Clearly, that beacon was important to him, but it doesn't seem like it was enough. He's looking for something called the Conduit. Maybe he hopes that the protheans can lead him to it. Hell, it may even be a combination of those two things. He needs a prothean expert, but if he can get more control over Benezia at the same time, that's a strong bonus."

Liara nodded. "That makes a lot of sense, Shepard. And it is good to think that my mother might not be our enemy. At least, not really." Liara noted that Shepard hadn't mentioned the other possibility: that Liara was in league with Benezia and the whole thing had been a ploy to get her aboard the Normandy and spy on them. She wondered if the commander didn't even consider it a possibility, or if she was keeping that particular thought closer to her chest.

"Anyway," Shepard said, "I'm glad you're looking into it. It certainly can't hurt." The commander walked over to a stack of storage containers and leaned her back against it, crossing her arms casually. "So, I wanted to check in on you, Liara. See how you're adjusting."

"I am doing ok, Shepard. It is still a lot at times. It feels like this all happened so fast."

Shepard nodded. "I understand. You've had a lot thrown at you over the last few days." She paused, her lips pulling down into the slightest of frowns, and then she said, "I wanted to make sure that everyone has been respectful. No incidents?"

The directness caught Liara off guard. Shepard had seemed so above the tension that she had thought the commander hadn't even noticed. She made a mental note that the commander was discreetly observant and that she should not assume that the other woman was unaware of anything aboard the ship. "No, no incidents," she answered quickly. "Things are… awkward at times, but that is to be expected."

Shepard fixed her with a look that seemed to pierce right through her, as if the commander could see down into her core. For a moment, Liara forgot to breathe as the other woman searched her for any signs of lying. Then, Shepard said, "I'm not blind, Liara. I know that a lot of the crew have been cold to you. I can't order people to change their minds, but I won't tolerate any form of harassment." There was an edge to her voice at that last part and Liara knew that she meant it.

"Really, I am fine," she assured the commander. "The worst anyone has done is ignore me."

"Ok, but if anything happens, I want you to tell me immediately." She sighed softly, and then shook her head with a slight smile. "But I promise that things will get better sooner than you think. Like I said before, humans can change their minds relatively fast; you just have to wear us down a little bit. In the meantime, if I can help ease the transition, let me know. I was thinking it might help if we take meals together for a while so that you have a friendly face to talk to."

The offer surprised Liara. Although Shepard had passed it off as mere companionship, the gesture would be much more than that. It would be an extremely powerful signal to the rest of the crew coming from the commander. She would be signaling to everyone that Liara had her approval and trust. Liara knew enough about humans to know that they often organized themselves in hierarchies, and the person at the top of the hierarchy could generally influence the opinions of those below. The commander was undeniably at the top of the Normandy's social hierarchy, both by virtue of her rank and because of her powerful personality. Shepard would be telling the other humans, without actually telling them and thus coming across as confrontational, that there was no need to suspect Liara of treachery.

But Liara didn't understand how Shepard had come to that conclusion so quickly. Liara knew, because she knew herself, that Shepard's trust was well placed; she had absolutely no intention of betraying them. But they were still almost strangers. Was the commander really that good at reading other people? She thought about the observation she had made about Shepard's kindness towards Tali. Shepard had understood what Tali had needed to feel more comfortable and she had done it. This was the same. Shepard had observed Liara, seen what she needed, and was prepared to give it to her. She was even prepared to suffer through Liara's poor communication skills during meals in order to facilitate that change. And like with Tali, the commander did not draw attention to the consideration behind her actions. She made it seem like the most natural thing in the galaxy.

Liara felt warmth spread in her chest and let out a pent-up breath she hadn't even known she was holding. "Thank you, Shepard. I would like that."

Shepard smiled and nodded. "Great. I usually eat dinner around 1900. I'll see you then." She straightened up from where she was leaning and started to move towards the door.

Liara held up a hand and said, "Ah, wait, Shepard, could I have a few more minutes of your time?"

Shepard tilted her head slightly. "Sure. What's on your mind?"

"I was thinking that it might be a good idea for me to accompany you on a field mission sometime. I thought that it might help show everyone else that I am on their side."

Shepard frowned. "I'm sorry. I wasn't aware that you had any military training?" She turned it into a question with a slight raise of her voice at the end.

Liara blushed. "Well, no. But I do have some firearms training, and more importantly I am a decent biotic. My mother always wanted me to pursue commando training, which I refused, but she made sure I had a lighter form of the training."

Shepard looked unconvinced. "I don't know, Liara. It feels like an unnecessary risk."

"I can hold my own," Liara promised. "And I believe my biotics will be useful to you. I got the impression that there are not many biotics on the Normandy."

"That's true. Really just Kaidan and me. Wrex can do a little if he wants to, but we don't have a heavy hitter in the biotics department." Shepard looked down, deep in thought. She sighed, looked back up at Liara, and said, "Ok, listen; I've agreed to look into something for Admiral Hackett. A group of biotics are holding some people hostage and Hackett wants me to see if I can get the hostages out safely. I was thinking it would be nice to have another biotic on the ground because I think guns are going to be problematic. So, we'll give it a try. It's better than letting Wrex shoot up the place at least."

Liara smiled with relief. "Thank you, Shepard. I will not let you down."

Shepard let out a soft chuckle. "Don't thank me yet. You're about to have a whole lot of pissed off biotics trying to kill you."

~.~.~.~.~

Liara could feel the lieutenant's dark eyes on her as they exited the Mako. He had been clearly concerned from the moment Liara joined him and the commander on the lower deck to board the vehicle and drop down to the planet. It was evident that he thought Shepard was insane for bringing a non-soldier with them. But he didn't dare voice his feelings aloud. He didn't need to when his body language was screaming it.

On Shepard's order, they approached the facility cautiously, moving slowly with weapons raised. When they were within fifty meters of the building, they paused, and Shepard asked the lieutenant to scan for surveillance devices.

Kaidan spent a minute on his omni-tool before shaking his head and saying, "Nothing. No cameras, no sensor alarms."

"Not even on the front door?" Shepard asked.

"Nope. As far as I can tell, they have no idea we're coming."

"So, clearly not professionals, probably not even properly organized. Hm." Shepard stared at the facility as she thought it over. Then, looking at Kaidan, she said, "We're essentially dealing with a mob whose advantages are that they are all biotics and they have hostages to use as meat shields. If we can neutralize those advantages, then we can make this work. And to me, it seems like the most important part of that puzzle is that they are disorganized."

Kaidan nodded, catching on to what she was implying. "Yes, you're right. Nonprofessionals means they have no tactical training."

"Which means," Shepard continued, a smile spreading across her face, "they'll fall for the oldest tricks in the book."

They approached and entered the facility without incident. No one was waiting for them at the entrance, and they began slowly scouting the layout of the building. The first room appeared to be some type of reception area. There were benches and potted plants, but nobody was present. At the other end of the room was a shutter door. Shepard pointed it out and said, "These are typical in prefab units. You see them all the time in the colonies. They're very sturdy and keep the elements out."

She had them take up positions by the door in case someone was waiting on the other side, and then opened it. It emptied into a long hallway with another shutter door at the end. Seeing that, Shepard grinned and said, "Well, there's our plan right there." She motioned for them to follow her a bit back from the door so that they could speak without someone overhearing from the room they couldn't see. "Like I said earlier, we'll use the oldest trick in the book: the fake rout. They're probably just past the other door. I'll go in, make a show of being a one-woman-army on a mission, then retreat back through the hallway. Hopefully, they'll give chase and follow me, leaving the hostages behind. You two will wait, hidden, on either side of the door in this room. When I'm through the tunnel and the enemies are inside, I'll turn around and we spring our trap. Lieutenant, I want you to pull the shutter door down behind them. Once we have them in the tunnel, I don't want them retreating back to their hostages. As for you, Liara, give me some idea what biotic abilities you have in your toolbelt."

"I can pull, lift, or throw things. I can also create a singularity or hold someone or warp the mass effect of an area. And, of course, I can use a barrier."

Liara was gratified to see both Shepard and Kaidan's eyes widen a bit and Shepard nodded with approval. "That's a lot tools," she said appreciatively. She glanced at Kaidan as if to say, See, not so crazy after all. Liara had to smother her own smile. "Well, if they're all bunched together in that hall, I'd say hit them with a singularity. Then they'll practically be fish in a barrel."

Liara had no idea what Shepard meant by that last phrase – she knew what fish were and what a barrel was, but had no idea what this had to do with either – but she understood Shepard well enough to nod her assent to the plan.

"I like the plan, except for the part where you go in there alone and get your head torn off by angry biotics," Kaidan said.

But Shepard just chuckled and said, "Don't worry, Lieutenant. Staying alive for five minutes is my specialty."

Kaidan didn't look happy, but he said, "It's your call, Commander."

Shepard clapped her hands and said, "Then, that's the plan. Just be ready because I am going to be hauling ass through that tunnel."

Liara and Kaidan took up positions to the right and left of the door on the reception side of the tunnel. Liara watched Shepard put a barrier around herself and unholster her pistol. She walked calmly through the tunnel. Liara stopped watching then, as she didn't want anyone to spot her, and pressed her back against the wall. She heard the door at the other end slide open, a brief moment of silence, and then gunfire. The sounds of chaos drifted down the hall: shouting, gunfire, things crashing. The sounds seemed to drag on, even though Liara knew it had only been a couple minutes.

She glanced over at Lieutenant Alenko and saw that his jaw was set very tight. She heard him mumble, "This is stupid. I shouldn't have let her go in alone."

Liara thought about whispering to him that they should trust the commander. If she said that she could handle it, then they should believe her. But she could tell by the look on his face that it wasn't doubt that gnawed at him. He simply felt that it wasn't right to let the commander take such a risk alone.

As they listened to the commotion from the other room, it started getting louder as people got closer. Suddenly, Liara heard boots pounding in the hallway followed by bullets pinging against the walls. Shepard erupted through the doorway, and without hesitation, Liara swung herself into the entry and threw a singularity into the middle of the tunnel. Seven people in the hall were suddenly lifted off their feet, their arms flailing wildly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kaidan pull hard with his biotics and the shutter door at the opposite end slammed shut. Shepard had spun around, her barrier now depleted, and used her biotics to slam three of the enemies into the ceiling hard. With them already weightless due to the singularity, she could move them with tremendous acceleration. They hit the ceiling with so much force that it bent and warped under the impact. Catching on, Kaidan and Liara each pushed the remaining four enemies into the walls with great force. Erring on the side of caution, Liara threw them as hard as she could, which would have been like getting hit by the Mako.

In a matter of seconds, the enemies were all motionless on the floor. Suddenly, one of the men began trying to rise, raising his gun to aim it at Liara. But before she could even react, she heard a gun go off and the man slumped down again. Turning her head, Liara saw Shepard with her pistol in her hand, face expressionless.

There was a moment of silence as they waited to see if anyone else would try to rise. When nothing happened, Shepard and Kaidan entered the tunnel and started bending down to check for vital signs. After a couple of checks, Shepard said, "This one's breathing. But barely. Alenko, radio Joker and let him know we need a team in here to secure the hostages and also transport one prisoner to the medbay. Also tell him to let Admiral Hackett know we'll need an Alliance team to come take over from us. I'll report fully to Hackett later."

"Got it, Commander." Kaidan stepped away to call Joker.

Liara stared at the mass of bodies in the hall. She was amazed how quickly everything had happened. But she supposed that was probably fairly normal. A single confrontation could be over in a matter of seconds and you either came out the victor or not at all. She was also amazed at how well Shepard's plan had worked. It had felt as if the commander was in complete control the whole time. She was starting to understand why people seemed to place great trust in her and why others thought she was so unique.

"Are you alright, Shepard?" Liara asked. The commander looked perfectly fine. Liara had no idea how she had dodged so many biotics and guns.

Shepard flexed her limbs and twisted her head from side to side before saying, "Seems like everything is still here. The worst that happened was I was pushed off my feet at one point and landed on my butt. It's a little sore, but I'll live."

The absurdity of Shepard dodging a room full of biotics manipulating the mass around her and firing on her with guns, and then complaining that she'd fallen on her butt, was such a sudden shift from the tension she had been feeling just moments before that Liara couldn't help but laugh. Shepard looked at her intently, and Liara suddenly felt self-conscious. "I apologize. I should not have laughed, Commander."

But Shepard smiled and shook her head. "No, it's fine. I was just thinking that this is the first time I've heard you laugh." Liara didn't know why, but Shepard's comment made her blush and she looked away. Her sudden embarrassment didn't make any sense; Shepard was just stating a fact. But something about the thought that Shepard had been waiting for her to laugh or that she had been paying enough attention to notice made Liara's face feel hot.

Kaidan returned and said, "They're on their way."

"Good. See what you can do to stabilize this guy. Liara and I will do a sweep of the facility. I'm pretty sure I got them all to follow me, but we'll make sure."

Liara went with Shepard to check out the rest of the facility, but they didn't encounter any more enemies. They did encounter several scientists who appeared drugged out of their minds and were arguing with inanimate objects. Shepard said to leave them alone for now because she didn't feel like herding cats, whatever that meant.

When they returned to Kaidan, the three of them sat on the floor of the hallway and each unwrapped an energy bar. A little biotic break to replenish the lost energy.

"Well, you made your point, Liara," Shepard said. "I don't know if this mission could have gone any better. Having three biotics was a huge advantage."

"So, I can accompany you on more ground missions?"

"Yes."

Kaidan gave Shepard an incredulous look, his jaw set in a disapproving scowl. "Commander, you can't be serious. She's a civilian."

Shepard's return stare was level and matter of fact. "Can you make a singularity, Lieutenant? Or warp the mass effect of an area or hold a person in place?"

"No, but that isn't a good enough reason to throw someone into danger."

"I asked to help," Liara butted in, feeling a bit annoyed. She understood that he was trying to look out for her, but she hadn't asked for his help. Not to mention his "help" was predicated on the assumption that she couldn't handle herself.

"Look, Alenko, we're both good biotics, but Liara is clearly a much better biotic than both of us combined. I know you felt that singularity. And as long as we're hunting Saren, I'm not in a position to turn down that kind of biotic power."

Liara was flattered that Shepard thought so highly of her skills. It made her think that she had redeemed herself in the commander's eyes from their initial meeting.

Kaidan didn't look convinced, but he bit his tongue anyway. "If you say so, Ma'am."

Once the team of Alliance soldiers arrived from the Normandy, Shepard left the remainder in their hands. They would secure the scientists, transport the prisoner to the medbay for treatment, and wait for Admiral Hackett's team to show up. Kaidan, Shepard, and Liara returned to the ship. Back on board, before they each went their separate ways, Shepard clapped Liara on the back with a smile and said, "Good job, T'Soni. We'll make a soldier out of you yet."