Shepard Stories - Chapter 12: Surviving the Darkness

Main Characters: Liara

Liara was paralyzed by the nightmare in her mind. Echoes of her lover repeatedly calling out to her, but she couldn't respond. He was hurt, scared, alone, and she couldn't see him in the darkness. Liara... please don't leave me. I need you. Liara...

She let out a gasp when she jerked awake. Her eyes slowly wandered around the darkened med bay as she breathed heavily then began to cry softly. Terrible thoughts of her lover ran through her mind. Is he dead? What if I never see him again? What if they never find him? She laid back down and closed her eyes as she tried reaching her mind out for him and hoped for an answer, prayed for an answer but knowing she wouldn't receive one. (Jon?)

Silence is all that was there. Liara clutched at her heart as the heartache blanked her in agony. Goddess, it's happening all over again. The empty void-returning, the pain, the sadness. He filled my heart, body, mind, and soul with everything I ever wanted, and now it's gone. I will find him, but there's no rebuilding him this time. When she felt a hand on her arm, she wiped her face and turned to see Dr. Karin Chakwas standing there.

"I'm sorry dear. I know you loved him deeply and your heart is torn. Stay positive and believe that he's still alive. We won't know for certain until communications are back online or until the relay are restored and we're back there."

She shook her head, "He was so weak and barely hanging on then out link just vanished."

Dr. Chakwas rubbed Liara's arm and smiled. "I understand, but you don't know. How about you get up, get something to eat, shower and rest in your own bed."

She gave a faint smile, "Thank you, but I'm not hungry."

—-/

Red and Miranda raced to the surface and when they landed, they hurried off their ships. Red quickly said "Everyone spread out and looked for Shepard. If you find any other survivors help them as well, but Shepard is priority. Now go!"

They checked body after body, most of them dead, others injured, some hanging on to dear life, one being Commander Shepard. Villio one of Liara's commandos came upon a severely battered man lying in a pile of rubble. Most of his armor was burned away; it almost looked like it was part of his skin, blood oozing out all over, his face beaten and swollen, and so many wounds. She pressed her com unit and said "Red, Miranda I've got something."

Red quickly hit his comm unit "Vi, did you find him?" he said eagerly.

She shrugged as she responded "I'm... not sure... possibly. I can't tell he's too beat up."

Red pinched his brow, "Is he alive?"

She shrugged, "I... don't know!"

Red grunted then quickly ran to her location. When he came upon her, he looked down at the solider in the rumble and said "Fuuuckk me there's no way he's alive." He quickly wiped away the dirt, blood, and muck from Shepard's known area of his scar. He knew it was him but didn't want to believe it. Then there it was his scar at the top of his hairline. "Damn it!" He looked around "Where's Miranda?"

Villio shook her head, "I'm not sure."

He grunted as he said "Do you know anything? Because damn!"

She turned her hands up as she rebutted "I wasn't riding with her! Why would I know where she's at!" then waved her hand down at Shepard "Look at him. Am I supposed to know what that is!"

Red rolled his eyes as he tapped his comm unit "Miri. I need you on my position, now!" then turned to Villio "Find me a functional Mako or something that can transport him." He demanded.

Miranda ran over, and when she approached the body, her eyes widened as she said, "Bloody hell, is that him?"

Red let out a breath then said "Yes!"

Miranda instantly checked for a pulse then looked up and smiled. "Well, he has a pulse; it's very weak, but he has one." She pointed to his abdomen then shoulder "Damn it, gunshot wound to the stomach and shoulder plus severe burns and who know what else." She quickly reached into her medical bag and pulled out some medi gel and applied it to the gunshot wounds. "We need to get him to a hospital and get that stomach looked at before he goes into septic shock." She turned toward two of Liara's commandos, Teyr and Lindanux "Ladies, let's carefully biotically lift him out of there. Easy... Easy..."

"Miranda, there's a shuttle over here. It's in bad shape, but it's functional. Well... barely..." said Villio

"It'll have to do. Bring it!"

-/

A month passed before the Galaxy communication buoys were operational. Red and Miranda's teams attempted communications with the Normandy daily with no avail until one day they received a response.

Genrie was another of Liara's commandos with Red's crew who received the response from the Normandy "Genrie, this is the Normandy!"

Genrie let out a breath then replied, "Thank the goddess. How is everything on your end?"

Joker responded, "We're banged up, but we're fine. The Geth are still working on the relays, not sure how much longer. Did you find Commander Shepard?"

"We did. He's at London Central Memorial. He's recovering but has yet to awaken. Please let my Mistress know."

Joker smiled "That's great news and I will. Normandy out."

—

Ashley and Shandri took the elevator up to Commander Shepard quarters that have been Liara's for the last month. Ashley stepped off the elevator to see the red privacy lock in place. She buzzed the door. No answer. She buzzed the door again with no answer. "Come on, Liara. You've been locked away in there for a month with only allowing Shandri in there occasionally. I'm going to continue to buzz this door until you answer it!"

Ashley waited patiently for five minutes and when she received no response. "EDI open this door now!" When the red indicator on the door changed to green, she walked in to see Liara curled up in a ball on the bed in the dark.

Liara heard the door swoosh open "I want to be left alone and don't you dare turn on the lights!"

"I get that Liara, but the comm buoys came back online, and we have news from London." Replied Ashley

Liara sat up quickly. "What news? And Shepard?"

"Well, that's why I'm here. They found him."

She raised her brow markings "Is he alive? Please tell me he is..."

Ashley smiled softly. "He is. He's at London Central Memorial recovering."

Liara face lit up as the darkness faded. "Thank you... thank you, Goddess!" She jumped out of the bed and hugged Ashley. "When can we get there?"

She grunted when Liara squeezed her tightly. "We're not sure. The Geth are still working on the relays, but it could be months. I need you to get better before we get there and Liara..."

"Yes, Ashley?" she said with a smile.

"Please, take a shower because you smell and eat something you look terrible."

Liara turned a shade darker "I'm sorry. I'm going to right now." She said as she headed toward the lavatory.

-/

After several months the Geth and the Rachni finally repaired the major relays then went on to fix the others.

Liara anxiously waited for the shuttle to land. As soon as it landed, she hopped off the shuttle and ran at a full sprint to London Memorial. Once she arrived, she noticed that they had the main area of the hospital blocked off. *Emergency personnel only. No Visitors* She made her way over to some soldiers guarding the entrance. "Excuse me, I need to get back there."

The soldier shook his head. "I'm sorry ma'am there's no visitors at this time." He pointed to a location with a line and several terminals. "If you need information on someone or persons you're inquiring about, please go over there. If your person or party were recovered with identification it would be listed there with the current status."

She huffed, "But I'm here for Commander Shepard!"

He nodded and said, "I'm sorry ma'am but no special treatment" Then proceeded to tell her the same thing.

Annoyed, she walked over to the line to wait. She looked around for Red, Miranda or her Commandos that were with them but saw none of them. She finally got to a terminal and typed in his name Jonathan William Shepard. The results come back with *Classified * She angrily said, "Of course it IS!" Annoyed she turned from the terminal then noticed a familiar woman quickly forcing her way through the crowd and to a soldier. Liara quickly walked up closer to see that it was Shepard's mother who was very angry and in full military mode.

"I don't give a damn about the rules and regulations! I'm not standing in a fucking line for a terminal to tell me about the status of my son, Commander Shepard, Private! You will tell me what I want to know, or you will find someone who does, and you WILL do it NOW! Do you understand me!" She snarled.

"Yes, ma'am but my orders— "

Admiral Shepard cut him off as she yelled. "I don't give a damn about your orders!"

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" replied the soldier.

She scoffed, "Did…did you just fucking ma'am sandwich me with ma'am yes ma'am?" She flared her nostrils then snarled "It's admiral, private!"

He swallowed hard then said, "Yes ma'am. I'm sorry ma'am, but I need you to calm down."

Liara watched as Admiral Shepard's face became beet red as she hissed then jammed her finger into his chest. "Calm down? Are you giving me orders Private? I'm your damn superior you fucking shit-turd! I give you orders! NOT the other way around!"

He blinked rapidly, "I'm sorry ma'am."

Liara watched in complete horror as Hannah continued to lay into the poor soldier.

"If you don't tell me where my son is, right now, I swear to fucking Christ that when I'm done here, I'm going to shove my FOOT so far up your ass, you won't be able to walk for a fucking week!" She growled as she breathed heavily.

"Yes, ma'am."

"If you ma'am me one more fucking time without complying to what I'm asking. So, help me, God." She clenched her fist then took a deep breath as she released her hands. "The next words out of your mouth are going to be where my son is. Annnnd Go!"

"I'm sorry ma'am..."

Liara watched Hannah's anger bubble over the edge. Liara was scared, and she wasn't even yelling at her.

Clenching her fist then shoving her finger in front of the soldier's face as she growled out, "Are you… fucking kidding me?! You know what, forget the foot fuck. Better yet, I will have you SHOVELING SHIT out of some constipated yahg's asshole for the rest of your fucking career! You got that?!"

"Admiral Shepard!... MOM!...Over here!" yelled Alex

Hannah was breathing heavily when she heard someone call out for her. She jerked her head in the area of her name being called and quickly scanned the room toward the voice to see Alex headed her way. She pushed by the Private as she said, "Get the fuck out of my way."

As she walked away, Liara quickly walked over to Alex as well. When she passed the soldiers, she heard one say, "Damn man, that was Admiral Hannah Shepard man…you are so screwed." Another said "Yea you are, I've heard the horror stories about her. She will find a constipated Yahg."

Hannah walked up to Alex and hugged him. "It's good to see you made it alive and unharmed. Where's your brother at?"

"Back this way." He looked over at Liara and hugged her. "How are you doing?"

Liara gave a faint smile, "I'll be better once I see him."

As he walked them back to Shepard's room, he filled them in. "When we found him… he was in pretty bad shape." He looked at Liara, remember when we looked in his cryo pod, and he was all fucked up?"

She closed her eyes briefly. "Goddess, is it that bad?"

"Well… not THAT bad but it's up there. His armor was damn nearly burned off or burn on to his skin. He had several injuries. Gunshot wound to his side… that was nasty. Damn near killed him. The doctors had to peel his armor from his skin before they could even treat his wounds. During that process, he went into septic shock. They had to resuscitate him a few times during his surgery. He still hasn't woken up. They don't know when he will." He ran his hand over his chin "Liara, Miranda is hoping maybe you'll be able to help him come back to us."

Liara wiped the tears from her face then replied, "Goddess Red. I knew it was bad, but I didn't want to believe it at the time. I will do everything I can to bring him back."

They walked into his room to see him lying there in a coma. Grown out hair on his head and face. Wires hanging off him that connect to machines.

Hannah walked up to one side of him as Liara walked up to the other. Hannah took his hand, leaned into his ear, and whispered "Hey my baby boy this is your mother. I need you to fight this and come back to the light, my son. We're all waiting for you, and I know you can do this. Stay strong. I love you." As she lifted, she kissed his forehead then wiped her tears away. She caressed his hand with her thumb for a minute then let go to walk over to Red. "I need you to do something for me."

He nodded, "Ok, and what is that?"

"I need you to go to a particular Alliance Secret Underground Research Facility and get your sister. I told her to grab as many people as she could and to hide out there until this was over. I'm hoping she's ok and still there. I haven't been able to get ahold of her, and she hasn't tried to contact me either." She tapped at her Omni tool "I'm sending you the info."

He looked at his mother and nodded. "I'll bring her home. I promise"

"Thank you." She looked at Liara and said, "Ok, do what you need to do. Bring him back to us."

Liara nodded at her then carefully crawled in the bed next to her lover. She ran her hand down his cheek, leaned into his ear and whispered, "Hello my love, I'm here now, and I need you to come back to me. I miss you, and I love you so much. Our link is gone, but I know you can hear me. I'm going to softly meld with you now, and I will find you, my love." She walked into his mind and was presented with an entrance to a cave. Looking around to see nothing else she walked up to the cave and called out, her voice echoed. (Jon…)

She waited for him to answer like he always did when they melded, but it was silent. She eased deeper into the cave and announced herself (It's Liara, can you hear me?) She tapped at her omni tool to turn the light on then continued further down the path. She stopped; she came to a large opening. When she looked around there were several paths to take. (Oh goddess…. I'm going to get lost in here… I need to mark the main entrance and take one path at a time.) She searched every day several times a day for months with continuous nothingness.

Miranda walked into the room and said, "How are you doing today, Liara?"

She just shrugged her shoulders with a sad look on her face.

Miranda sighed "He'll come to eventually."

Liara shook her head slightly. "It's been two months Miranda, and there's no answer, no memories, no nightmares just a sea of darkness and paths that lead to dead ends. I don't know where he is. I know he's there somewhere but where? There are so many paths."

Miranda patted her leg, "Just keep trying. You'll find him."

Another month rolled around, and she's back in his mind searching. She was tired and deep down a path that seemed to go on forever. She called out (Jon?) Liara stopped then turned as she swore, she heard an answer. She called out to him again (Jon?) She waited and listened carefully and heard him very faintly. (Liara?)

The moment she heard him she darted down the path until she came to a breakaway with several paths. Marking her entrance as she did in the beginning, then called out again. (Jon, where are you?!)

He responded softly, (I'm down here. I'm stuck.)

She looked down each path but still can't tell where the echo was coming from. (Babe, I'm trying to get to you! I don't know where you are. I need you to help me.) She looked around, then saw a tiny blink of light down one of the paths, and she ran down it at a sprint. When she reached the end, she called out (Jon?) Very softly she heard him. (Yes?)

She turned quickly to his voice that was right there. Shinning the light in the direction, she came upon a man shielding his face and sitting in the corner with his knees to his chest. He looked like a scared frail man that's been locked away in a concentration camp for months. She walked over to him slowly then knelt down. (I'm here my love. I'm going to get you out of here, ok?)

He just nodded at her then said (I'm stuck.)

She furrowed her brow markings (Stuck on what my love?)

(The black tar that keeps me here.)

Liara looked around; she saw no black tar. She shook her head. (There's no black tar my love.) She wrapped her arms around him and touched her forehead to his. (Come with me, and I'll get you out of here.)

He held on to her and in a nervous voice replied (Ok.)

As she released the meld, she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Jon?"

He slowly opened his eyes, and his voice cracked as he said "Lia?"

Liara smiled and nodded her head as she replied, "Yes?"

He reached his hand up to scratch his face and noticed a beard. "Holy shit how long have I been like this?"

She laughed slightly. "Five months. Oh, I have to do something really quick, and I hope you don't mind." Said then tapped at her omni tool to ring his mother.

"Hello Liara, what can I do for you?" Said, Hannah

She smiled as she replied "Hello, Hannah. I promised you as soon as he woke that I'd call you. Here he is."

Shepard smiled at his mom on the screen, "Hey mom."

Tears gathered in her eyes as she smiled then replied. "I knew you would come back. It's good to see you awake son. I can't stay long but before I go." She stepped out of frame and his sister came into view.

"Jon-Jon!" His sister said excitedly.

He smiled broadly, "Katie! You, ok?"

She wiped her tears away. "Yes, just glad to see you awake. We'll come by as soon as we can. Ok? I love you."

"Ok, Son we have to go. Love you!" replied Hannah

He nodded then said, "Love you too!" He looked at Liara. "Thank you."

She smiled, "You're Welcome."

He looked around, "Where's Alex? and everyone else?"

"Alex is fine. He's out and about, probably with Miranda. Most everyone has gone home. They all came by to see you." Taking a deep breath. "Not everyone made it through the war. Zaeed, Anderson, Vega, and Javikk all died."

"And your dad?" He asked

"Oh, she came by and is now back at home, helping with the rebuild. It's amazing how much the Geth have repaired in such a small amount of time."

Dr. Chloe Michel walked in. "Well… it's nice to see you awake Commander Shepard."

"It's good to be awake Doctor."

"Let's take a look at you." She said then tapped at her omni tool to do a scan of his body. "Everything looks, good Commander. We just need to get you on a physical therapy program, and you'll be out of here in no time. Just a heads up. I'm supposed to inform the council and Admiral Hackett once you've woken. I would expect them to come by with the next day or so."

He nodded then said "Thanks, Doctor."

-/

Shepard and Liara walked off an elevator and down the hallway to their temporary home. As they reached the door Liara said "We'll be staying here until your physical therapy is over. I haven't really stayed here much because I wanted to be with you."

As Shepard walked through the door, he looked around the apartment then said "I see a few new faces here."

"Welcome home Commander!" Said several commandos.

Liara walked with him through the apartment as she replied, "Yea dad brought them when she came down." She looked at him. "Are you ok?"

He grunted slightly then said "Oh, uh yea. I'm just tired..."

She rubbed his back then waved her hand toward the bedroom upstairs. "It's been a long day. Do you want to go lay down?"

His eyes glanced at the stairs then up at the bedroom. He smiled then extended his hand "I think I'm going to need your help getting up these steps."

"Shepard, I thought you were getting better with these." she said as she gently took his hand and guided him toward the stairs.

He leaned into her as he whispered. "Oh, I am, but I want you naked upstairs."

Liara giggled in response.

-/