Notes:

Ionúin Álainn - beautiful beloved (Gaelic)

Nara - literally "bearer"; one who shoulders another's another's burden (Thessian; Source: CDN)

Siame - "one who is all", a loved one cherished above all others (Thessian/Source: CDN)

Champions of the Enkindlers

Office of Antiquities, Serrice, Thessia – 29 Mar 2190

"Doctor T'Soni, Captain Shepard. Please, follow me." The inordinately tall Asari before them immediately turned and began leading the way across the foyer. "I am Maracela T'Rhyn, aide to Minister Elesia. My voice should sound familiar, as it was I who took your call and helped you arrange this session." She paused to give them a smile, adding, "And please, call me Mara."

Even with Council backing, getting the appointment with the Minister of Antiquities had taken over a month and a half, making Liara wonder if Elesia's schedule was actually that busy, or if the Matriarchy needed time to sort the files, with the possible goal of securing electronic information on external drives or moving physical media to another location… or locations. Liara harbored the suspicions unwillingly but couldn't keep herself from being cynical about the possibility, given the knowledge they had so recently gained from Tevos. Her logical mind told her it made no sense to hide anything now, since the secret about the Beacon was out, but she couldn't help but wonder what else they might possibly be concealing.

"Thank you." Liara responded rather curtly, before purposefully warming her tone and adding, "I do appreciate your assistance in this matter, Mara. The Minister must be extremely busy, for this appointment to be so long after the initial request was made."

Mara's response immediately soothed some of Liara's concern, the Matron laughing as she replied, "Oh, the Defense Forum threw a major tantrum, for only the Goddess knows why, but I'll leave the Matriarch to explain all of that to you, should it come up in conversation." Mara stopped and turned to them, a gleam in her eyes as she stated, "It was her fight, and is her story to share." She then opened the door she had stopped in front of, to reveal a cozy, well-appointed conference room within.

"Please, make yourselves comfortable." Mara's smile was infectious, both Liara and Shepard finding themselves smiling back as the aide added, "There is a rather large assortment of drinks and snacks in the chiller for you… and a call button right here at the door should you desire something special, not already provided. Just let me know and I'll see what I can do… It's not every day we have the saviors of the galaxy sitting in one of our meeting rooms!" She stopped and gave a small bow as she backed out, stating, "It would be my pleasure to serve," just before she closed the door.

It was roughly ten minutes before the door opened again, with Minister Elesia sweeping in at a fast pace, closing the door behind her, and speaking as she moved to a chair. "No… please, remain seated; neither of you have any reason to stand for me. I am very sorry to have kept you waiting this long," as she dipped her head in greeting. "The Asari people owe you everything, which is what made the responses of a few of the Defense Ministers so positively exasperating!"

She took a deep breath to calm herself, studying her guests for a moment before saying, "By the Goddess, it really is you… and even more imposing than how you appear in all the vids." A genuine smile upon her face, Elesia looked across the small table at what she considered two amazingly young faces staring back at her. "It truly is my honor to meet you both. You have my sincere apologies for the bureaucracy that so delayed this meeting. I shall not bore you with the details…" She stopped in surprise when Shepard cleared her throat.

"Please, Minister, do. We would love to hear the story." Shepard smiled disarmingly and continued, "We are quite used to people attempting to get in our way… simply because we are young and inexperienced maidens, who obviously can't be trusted with such sensitive and important information." The last part was said with as much sarcasm as the Human could muster. She then chuckled quietly and continued, "Mara hinted at your… trouble… and it sounded as if someone really didn't want us to meet with you, nor gain access to any of the information we seek."

"Ah… Mara." Elesia's smile returned. "I should have realized. Given your status in her eyes, she'd likely have sold her own mother if required to gain your favor. I cannot fault her for trying to stir your interest in my difficulties; she was quite perturbed on my behalf at the barriers thrown in my way, all in an ill-fated attempt to keep this meeting from happening, Council request be damned."

It was Liara who responded. "Councilor Tevos warned us it would not be easy. The Defense Ministers have obviously ignored Council data sharing decrees before, with little consequence… at least until the Reaper War. So, why should we suddenly expect their behavior to be any different now?" She practically growled in disgust before adding, "Especially now, with the Reaper threat having been dealt with."

"Which does give rise to their primary question, which you are under no obligation to answer, but I will ask anyway. Please do not be offended. It is their question, not mine, but I must admit to it making me curious… and, as you likely understand, curiosity can be a terrible tease." Elesia's expression held a hopeful smile as she cocked her head to the side and queried, "With the Reapers now destroyed, exactly why do you need access to this sensitive information, other than for your personal quest to validate your doctoral theses?"

"Of all the petty…" Liara stopped and fought down the growing indignation she felt in her chest, taking a deep breath before starting again. "Apologies, Minister. I know this question is not coming from you, so you should not be subject to my annoyance and anger at their uninformed shortsightedness." She paused, surprised, as Elesia broke out into laughter.

"By the Goddess, Child!" The Matriarch stopped and had to wipe away the tears falling from her eyes. "To hear those words coming from one so young… oh, my dear, you inspire me! To be so daring as to state the truth of the matter so bluntly, without hesitation." She drew a deep breath and finally controlled the remnants of her mirth in order to continue. "Please do not be offended by my words. However youthful you may be, your accomplishments certainly give you the right to speak so… and it is positively refreshing! You sound so much like your father… and, Goddess, how proud she must be of you!"

Surprised at hearing this, Liara was compelled to ask, "You know my father?"

"Anyone and everyone who was around the forums in those days knows who Aethyta Beuss is." Elesia was grinning as she added, "How she pushed so hard for the Matriarchy to give maidens more responsibility, rather than allowing them to squander centuries of their lives on what she called 'frivolous activities' such as dancing and stripping. She desired all maidens to be more like you, Liara."

"Now, that is funny, Minister." Liara smirked at her siame, who had also started to chuckle, catching Liara's humor through the link. Turning her attention back to the Matriarch, Liara explained, "In those days, she apparently wanted all maidens to be like me; yet now, Dad wants me to be like all the other maidens and experience… more… to make sure I enjoy my youth."

"Ha." Elesia got a twinkle in her eyes as she asked, "I can only imagine what Aethyta means by that, so let us get back to the topic at hand, before we delve too deeply into personal affairs, shall we?" Focusing once more on Liara, the Minister stated, "Before my digression, you were, hopefully, preparing to answer my question regarding why you are seeking access to the restricted archives?"

"The missive from the Council didn't explain the goal of our mission?" Liara looked at Shepard, who seemed as surprised as she.

The minister shrugged and replied, "No, it did not… so I assumed it was either a personal request, which Councilor Tevos was leaving to you to explain when you arrived, or a classified Council mission… where you wouldn't be at liberty to tell me anything anyway. Either way, it didn't really matter, not to me… but, evidently, it mattered to the members of the Defense Forum. One would think they should have learned their lesson, with three of their counterparts already losing their positions for hiding technology… but apparently, such is not the case."

Elesia shook her head in puzzlement, continuing, "Their negative responses confound me… and I have to wonder, even though the Reapers are now long gone, if it is possible for residual effects of indoctrination to remain." Elesia paused for a moment before adding, "If so, perhaps it is not themselves they worry about? The two of you now hold incredible sway in galactic politics. What if one, or both, of you were to become indoctrinated?"

Shepard released a robust laugh before quickly cutting it off and apologizing. "I'm sorry, but that's absolutely absurd. While hunting for the Catalyst, I interfaced directly with a number of Beacons… watched and listened to multiple recordings on various data discs. They aren't of Reaper origin… they are Prothean… and have absolutely no chance of triggering indoctrination." With a silent transfer of the conversation to Liara, Shepard fell silent.

"That small fact begins to explain our task." Liara could think of no gentle way to phrase the shocking revelation, so stated simply, "A short time ago, evidence of the Protheans' continued existence came to light. Our current mission is to track down any leads, establish the truth of the matter and, should the Protheans still exist, locate them and determine their intentions."

It was Elesia's turn to be shocked and, as she sat in silence trying to absorb what she had just learned, Shepard continued, "The data we have now suggests the Protheans were awakened and went into hiding during the early Human colonization period; our assumption is they wished to avoid discovery, likely because their population was so small. We also assume they have no hostile intent, but we need to find them in order to validate that theory. Given our history and Liara's specialty, she was the most likely choice to lead such an expedition."

Now Elesia was curious and simply had to ask, "But we've listened to a few of those data discs that were discovered… or, at least, attempted to. Most of the discs we have are nothing but static… garbled noise. What, exactly, did you discover on the ones you found?"

"I would agree with you, regarding the static," answered Liara. "Except for the fact that Shepard, during one of her early interactions, received something known only as the cypher." Liara paused and looked at her bondmate with a smile, reaching over to hold her hand as she finished, "With it, Shepard could view those discs. She can understand, read, and even speak Prothean. She was actually able to converse with Javik in his native tongue."

Looking back to Elesia, she added, "Shepard's natural talent for languages certainly didn't hurt our efforts but, honestly, the cypher is how we developed the lexicon so quickly." She grinned and pointed out, "Have you not noticed that Samantha doesn't use a translation device?"

"By the Goddess!" Elesia leaned forward in her excitement, focusing on Shepard, and realizing the truth. "You aren't! And you are speaking Thessian as if born to it! That is… I can't even think of a suitable word for what that must be like. To understand a language so foreign to your own?" Her attention bounced back and forth between the two of them. "How did the transfer of the cypher work? Did it hurt? Was it instantaneous… or did the knowledge develop over time? And… more intriguing… is that transfer repeatable? Can you also speak Prothean, Liara?"

Shepard smiled at her enthusiasm and tried to explain what it had been like when she received the cypher, completely omitting Shiala's role in its transfer while including Liara's help in sorting it all out. "And, much to Liara's disgust, we have yet to figure out how to share it. The weirdest part about the whole thing was its… completeness." Samantha paused and smiled. "I mean… it wasn't just the language. As the pieces began to fall together in my mind, I came to understand their entire culture. It was amazing… and disgusting at the same time, knowing how the Protheans lorded over all of us primitives, which is how Javik repeatedly referred to us. Worse yet was how they tinkered with our genetics in an attempt to change us – and by us, I mean every single semi-advanced race in the galaxy – into nothing more than slaves and tools to help in their endeavor to defeat the Reapers."

"How can you smile at such a tale?" Elesia looked positively appalled by the revelations.

"It's nothing but a bit of gloating, I suppose. Even with all their advanced technology, they couldn't win their war… yet, we did… in less time than it took their empire to fall." Shepard relaxed back in her chair and shrugged. "After everything the Protheans tried, they still lost…" Her eyes moved to meet the blue eyes of her Ionúin Álainn, glistening with affection. "… because they never really understood the nature of their enemy. It turns out that using the other races as slaves instead of partners was their biggest, and ultimately fatal, mistake."

"Even so, we do have to recognize that it was their scientists who laid the groundwork. They provided the schematics to build the machine, we just needed time to complete it. Time the Protheans didn't have left by the time they decided on the design." Liara, just as she had with Tevos, once again explained how it was the different combat styles of each race that slowed the Reapers, forcing them to pause and adjust their tactics. "While our larger cities were still easily destroyed from orbit, the actual harvest was slowed tremendously. With it being the central piece of the Reaper programming, it could not be ignored, so they were forced to adapt to each race's defensive tactics as they encountered them… which took time; more time than they had ever needed with the uniformity of the Prothean military."

"So, while we obviously needed our military might to prevent worlds from simply crumbling under the onslaught, it was the diversity of the independent races you managed to bring to our common cause that granted us the additional time necessary to complete the weapon?" Elesia's voice was filled with awe. "And so, we owe you more than most will ever realize… because, I imagine, that is a tale seldom told." Her gaze met both of theirs before she concluded, "And it is not mine to share, that I can promise you."

"Thank you, Minister, but the only sensitive portion of that whole story is the existence of Shepard's cypher. I passionately believe an explanation of our battle strategy should be shared." Liara drew a deep breath. "Perhaps it will help keep us from ignoring all the new relationships we have built between us… and from sliding back to our old ways." Liara smiled and shrugged. "Only the Goddess truly knows. At least, now, you should be able to infer why we need access to the data the archives hold… and the importance of what we are searching for."

"Potentially, our future freedom, if these surviving Protheans think to pick up where they left off… as overlords of the galaxy. I understand why, at the very least, we need to determine their numbers. We didn't make it this far just to surrender to a force different from the Reapers!" Elesia squared her shoulders, her expression stern as she declared, "Damn the Defense Ministers and anyone else who desires to stand in your way." She stood from her chair and smiled at the couple, continuing, "I am yours to command in this endeavor, Doctor. If we possess what you are looking for, no matter where it is stored, it is yours… or Captain Shepard's, as the case may be… to examine."

Restricted Archives, Serrice, Thessia – 23 Apr 2190

Immediately following the meeting in late March, Elesia had led them directly to the archives, giving Liara the necessary access codes so she and her team could come and go as they pleased. When the door swung open, both Liara and Shepard were astounded at the immensity of the restricted section of the Archives. Elesia had then apologized profusely, admitting the index file for where everything was stored had been lost with the attack on the Temple… and she had absolutely no idea where the back-up copy was… other than somewhere within the enormous vault in which they now stood.

Not wanting to waste any time, Liara had set straight to work with a quick survey of the archive. She then divided the stacks into sections, decided upon the search pattern and, using her personal guard as the search team, they had set to work. As First, Riana stayed near Liara's side, while Shepard and the other five split into three additional pairs. Each team had moved to their respective section to comb the stacks for either the back-up index or the discs, themselves, simply hoping one or the other would be closer to the front of the archives than not. Even so, the prospect was daunting, given the surprisingly substantial number of files within.

Other than taking a short break to stay home and celebrate Shepard's birthday, they had been working constantly for nearly a month before Cyenia Axeuss came running up with a data pad in hand. With her search partner Allia Vasia following hot on her heels, Cy was waving the device around in the air as she ran up, excitedly jabbing it toward the archaeologist. "Liara! I think we have found it… totally by accident! It was tucked in between that desk and the file cabinet along the righthand wall. It slid out and fell to the floor when I plopped on the desk to grab a snack!"

"By the Goddess! Finally!" Liara's exclamation was then followed by a seemingly interminable silence as she perused the index file, hunting for the location of the discs within its rather extensive listing. Eventually, she cautiously stated, "Found them… I think, but I dare not get my hopes up too high; this back-up is over twelve years old. We can only pray they are still there… or at least nearby the referenced location."

Shepard grinned and clapped her encouragingly on the shoulder, exultant with the long-awaited discovery. "We'll find them, Li. Now, at least, we have a place to start the real hunt!" Stepping back, her telltale smirk was immediately followed by a wave of her hand, indicating Liara should take the lead. "After you, Doctor T'Soni."

With a grin and an eager flash of anticipation in her eyes, Liara started off at a brisk walk. "They should be right down this way!" Moving quickly down the aisle between the rows of shelving, Liara led the small group down the narrow corridor, stopping only occasionally to look up at the indices which measured their progress. She finally paused and looked back at Shepard, an expression mixed with both expectation and apprehension on the Asari's face. "We're here."

Smiling encouragingly, Shepard said, "We are; let's hope the discs are, too," and urged her forward. "Go grab the box, Li. There's not really enough room in there for the whole group, and with the anti-grav lift, you shouldn't need us. Just give a shout if you do."

The giddy researcher made her way into the stack, the lift floating easily in front of her as she read the section numbers, looking for 1923. Shepard was right; it was a rather narrow passage, barely enough room to both walk and pull the storage containers out to their full length. "I think I see the box. The fifth number is apparently the shelf section, the sixth is the shelf's vertical position vector, and the last four are the specific box identifier…" Liara activated the retrieval program on the lift and entered the code she could see printed on the box.

She sounded disgusted as she waited impatiently. "You'd think they could make this a little easier… these lifts could be programmed remotely, so no one would actually have to dig their way this deep into the archives. I honestly don't understand why the whole system isn't automated. This is positively ridiculous." She watched with growing anticipation as the lift closed on its target, extended its grapples, pulled the identified box from the shelf, and finally began its descent after what seemed like an eternity to the eager researcher.

However, once it finally hovered before her, Liara was almost afraid to open the container's lid to verify the contents. "Well… here goes nothing," she said, then drew a deep breath as she undid the latch and rotated the cover on its hinge. Her voice immediately rang out in pure joy. "We've found them, Shepard! It's…" Her words were cut off by the explosion of a flash grenade, causing her to yelp in surprise; she immediately cried out in pain as she fell to the floor. A Drell had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and half-blinded her with the flash; her cry of pain was in reaction to him striking her hard on the head, before grabbing the bag from the box and taking off at a dead run.

Shepard saw the whole thing through their link and reacted immediately, sprinting toward the door at the front of the archives. Confused by the turn of events, Riana shouted at the commandos to follow Shepard while she attended to Lady Liara, and the chase was on.

The Drell was fast but could not hope to outrun the biotic charge Shepard used to close the gap the very instant she laid eyes on the fleeing thief. The combination of anger over the attack and her fear for Liara's wellbeing drove her to slam into the perpetrator at top velocity, sending him smashing into the wall and dropping him to the floor in a daze. The last thing he saw was Shepard's balled fist, glowing with barely suppressed biotics, crashing into his face and sending him into a dark oblivion.

A quick hand reached in and grabbed Shepard by the bicep, keeping her from pummeling the Drell to death in her fury. "Nara! We need him alive to find out who sent him… and why."

Breathing heavily, Shepard held back and regained a bit of her self-control, standing up to stare at the lieutenant. "Liara?"

"Is being attended to by Riana. I immediately followed you, so do not know her status." Cyenia released her grip on Shepard's arm as she said, "I have the Drell, Nara. Go to Liara while I contact the Serrice Guard… and then inform Matriarchs Mozia and Elesia what has happened."

Serrice Regional Medical Center, Serrice, Thessia – 23 Apr 2190

Mozia and Aethyta arrived faster than Shepard believed possible. She hadn't even seen them yet when she heard Aethyta's disgusted growl. "What the fuck happened, Shepard?"

Mozia attempted to intervene, getting out no more than her partner's name, "Theta…"

"Fuck that." Bearing down on Shepard, she stuffed a glowing finger in the Human's chest. "Where's Liara and where the Hell were you when this happened?"

Matriarch Elesia heard the commotion and moved quickly to intervene. "None of this is Shepard's fault, Aethyta, and you need to settle down or I will have you removed from the premises. This is neither the place nor the time for such behavior."

Aethyta spun to her, growling, "You and whose army?"

With the flip of Elesia's wrist, two Serrice Guard appeared out of nowhere by turning off their cloaking devices, the matriarch responding quietly, "There are more of them here than you realize, Aethyta. Seeing as the attack occurred in the Restricted Archives, which are my responsibility, Shepard and Liara are under my protection here. I take this attack very personally so, I assure you, between the hospital staff, her Personal Guard and the Serrice Guard, Liara is getting the best care and protection available in Serrice. She will be fine… and you will be able to see her as soon as visiting hours are open in the morning."

Seeing her about to object, Elesia cut her off. "Not a word or I swear… I will have you bodily removed from the premises… entirely! This is no idle threat, Aethyta, so, the choice is yours. Join me in the waiting room or I will have you expelled from the hospital."

"Come, Thyta. She is correct. Let Liara rest and we'll check in on her in the morning." Mozia gripped her arm and gave a gentle tug. "Do you not think Shepard would be in there if they were allowing anyone in the room with her?"

Calming under Mozia's touch and soothing voice, she griped, "Can I at least peek in the window, to see her for myself?"

A soft, understanding smile crossed Elesia's face. "Of course, you may, Aethyta. It is not my intention to torment you… merely to safeguard Liara and protect her recovery until she is up and about… and until we get to the bottom of this rather unexpected attack."

Having heard the commotion, Captain Lydia D'Naga followed the voices to locate the growing group. As Elesia escorted the matriarchs to Liara's room, D'Naga introduced herself to Shepard, adding, "Commander of the Serrice Guard. I'm terribly sorry this happened in our city, but I can share with you the few facts I have managed to discover about the event… and its perpetrator."

Shepard had turned to her quickly, the concern in her voice surprising the Captain. "Is the Drell going to survive?"

"He is… though, I must admit, your contrite tone surprises me." She met Shepard's eyes as she bluntly added, "Based on what I know of you, I would think you would not care if he survived… or not."

"Don't believe everything you hear, Captain. I only did what was necessary during the war." Shepard bristled at the statement, retorting, "I don't take lives unnecessarily. If I did… he would be dead for what he did to Liara."

"Of that I'm sure, Spectre. I meant no offense. I apologize… it has been a long evening." D'Naga's tone softened considerably as she responded. "Other than a broken cheekbone and a concussion, you caused him no other harm. To be honest, his injuries are a bit more… severe… than those he inflicted upon Doctor T'Soni but, given his crime, I'm calling it even."

"Even?" Shepard asked, incredulous. "You are going to charge him for this, right?"

"Oh, yes. Most definitely. Do not misinterpret my intentions regarding appropriate justice." D'Naga almost chuckled. Had her exchange with the famous Spectre been less tense, she very well may have. "I merely meant that he got what he deserved, so I… we… can feel good about letting the Asari legal system decide the wider implications and longer-term punishment without thinking that he got off easy."

"An Asari with a true sense of justice… and she's the Captain of the Guard. I like you already, D'Naga." Having returned from her peek at Liara, a more relaxed Aethyta let out a gravelly chuckle at the commando's response before asking, "So, what can you tell us about what happened?"

D'Naga pulled out a datapad and activated the screen. "His name is Jerrod Dusi, under Compact to a Kahje Hanar whose face name is Huizar, employed by the Department of Religion within the Illuminated Primacy…"

"I'm afraid to say where I believe you are going with this," Shepard sighed. "But, it's better than Dusi being a hired assassin sent by the Defense Ministers."

"Shepard!" Mozia turned to the woman in amazement. "What are you saying? Surely you are upset by what happened to Liara… but to say such a thing…"

"Would be perfectly understandable after I told her and Liara just how difficult it was to get permission from that particular body for them to do their Council-directed research within the Archives." Elesia sighed heavily before adding, "Now that my concern for Liara is no longer an issue, I will freely admit… I was harboring that fear as well."

That raised D'Naga's brow. "That attitude still prevails, even after Spectre T'Dura did her house cleaning and sent their predecessors to prison? The surviving ones, anyway…"

"They are no longer so blatant in their beliefs but, yes, it does." Elesia shook her head in disgust before expounding, "There are many who still feel the Asari Matriarchs are… better… than everyone else, simply because we have so much more experience at life." She huffed and added, "Their hubris never ceases to amaze me; they will never admit we are just as fallible as the next."

Shepard shrugged at her comments before looking at D'Naga, refocusing the discussion. "So, now that we got that off our chests… What about Dusi and Huizar?"

D'Naga answered Shepard's question honestly, even though she knew the woman wouldn't like it. "There is absolutely nothing I can do at my level… and very unlikely anything the Asari can do alone. I'm afraid this must go to Councilor Tevos…" She hesitated before continuing her statement, obviously deciding to plunge ahead, "… who will also be relatively powerless, under the circumstances, seeing as the Hanar are not members."

"That's bullshit!" Shepard growled. "They may not have a Council representative… but they are a Council race! There has to be something we can do… sanctions, trade restrictions…"

"Makes you wish you were still an active Spectre…" Aethyta looked directly at her, the question in her eyes, "… doesn't it, Shepard?"

"Gods be damned!" Samantha ground her teeth. "Yes, it does, but I refuse to go there…" Her face took on a determined look as she added, "But I have more than a few friends who still are, and I'll wager it won't take much convincing for them to take this on." Her focus snapped back to D'Naga. "Any idea why they did it?"

"The hardest thing in the galaxy to fight, Shepard," answered Lydia. "Religious zealotry. The only good thing about the whole situation is that they only sent a thief, and not an assassin."

Thinking about Thane, Shepard nodded. "You're right, there. Had he been an assassin, things could have turned out quite differently." Her expression and voice suddenly turned ice-cold, adding, "And there's no race or force in this entire galaxy that would have kept me from wiping out the entirety of the Illuminated Primacy, if that's what it took to destroy their fucking fanaticism over their so-named Enkindlers."

Aethyta nodded, "And I'd be right there with you, kid."

"And likely the whole of House T'Soni," added Mozia, the timbre of her voice bringing the discussion down a notch. "So, let us thank the Goddess Liara's assassination was not the intent of the attack, and think about those consequences no longer, shall we?"

Releasing the anger left Samantha feeling exposed and vulnerable. She leaned forward, elbows on her knees and dropped her face into her hands, wiping away the tears of frustration, fear, and overwhelming helplessness that suddenly threatened to engulf her. Mozia was instantly at her side, pulling the woman up into a motherly hug as she wept softly in her arms.

Samantha finally regained her composure, pushing back as she said, "Sorry. I must be very tired… for that to happen." Drawing in a deep calming breath, she glanced around the small group, doing their best to ignore her unusual display of emotion. "Thank you, all." She shook her head, trying to explain. "It just suddenly hit me… I could have lost her. In that brief moment of inattention… by letting my guard down… after everything we've managed to survive; I could have lost Liara to a damned religious zealot. Just the possibility scares the shit out of me."

"But you did not, Samantha," Mozia whispered. "And Liara will be fine… and, very likely, all the more determined to locate the missing Protheans." She paused a moment before adding, "Very likely destroying the Hanar vision of the Enkindlers in the process, by revealing the true motivations behind their so-called 'enlightenment' of the races."

D'Naga reached over and squeezed Shepard's shoulder. "Liara is truly recovering well, Shepard. Take your strength from that and do not let this frighten you or make you bitter. Lady Liara deserves better from you. Do not let it taint your relationship with fear." She looked down, a sad smile coming to her lips as she added, "I speak from experience, so please believe me when I tell you to not go down that path. It is generally a one-way trip and makes any future committed relationship… difficult at the very least, if not impossible."

"Thank you, Lydia." Shepard nodded. "I'll do my best to follow that advice." She took a deep breath and blew it out quickly, grounding herself in the knowledge that Liara would be fine… was fine, just resting. It made her realize just how late it was, but she had one more question to ask the Serrice Captain of the Guard. "Can I speak with him?"

There was no need for Shepard to say his name, D'Naga knew exactly to whom she referred. She only hesitated a moment before nodding. "Of course. Now, or in the morning?"

"Let's just get it over with." She glanced down the hall where Liara's room was located as she continued, "I have somewhere else to be tomorrow morning."

"Understood, Spectre." She looked to her lieutenant, Detective Dani Micalia, who simply nodded in understanding that she was temporarily in charge of Liara's guard. Looking back to Shepard, she continued, "Come on. You have other things on your mind and don't need to be driving right now. I'll give you a ride."