Liara winced as the sound of metal squealing filled the air. In front of her, the large cargo bay door at the front of the Normandy slowly fell open to reveal the world outside as Shepard let out a low whistle. "Damn, now that's a city."

Feeling a smile spread across her face, Liara turned back to take in the view. Outside the ship, a bustling spaceport was now visible, full of bustling crowds of asari making their way to and from various terminals as uniformed port authorities guided new arrivals to available security stations to process their luggage. Beyond this throng of travelers, an elegant skyline rose up in the background, with graceful skyscrapers shooting impossibly high into the air and pristine domes built of burnished steel reflecting the sunlight from above like massive sculptures dropped into the city.

Liara inhaled deeply, feeling the nostalgia of her home city beginning to set in as she sighed happily. Turning to her right, she saw Shepard still gawking towards the city before her, and on her other side Tali and Garrus shifted underneath various bags of luggage and equipment. Clearing her throat, Liara called out, "Welcome to Serrice Spaceport, everyone." The rest of the group quickly turned to face her with eager expressions, and Liara blinked as she felt quite suddenly like a chaperone on a field trip. Shifting the straps of her own bags on her shoulders, she continued, "We should get moving, I think. The harbormasters here tend to fine ships that loiter around for too long without proper clearance."

Nodding in agreement, Shepard barked, "Alright, everybody out!" With that, she quickly strode forwards down the offloading ramp and out towards the bustling crowd ahead, with Liara following behind with Tali and Garrus. Moments after they all stepped off the ship, the ramp began to close noisily behind them, and the roar of the Normandy's engines flared as the unwieldy ship lifted up and slowly pulled away from the port.

Lifting a hand to block the bright sunlight, Liara watched the ship depart for a moment before asking, "Are you sure that they'll be alright with staying on the ship the whole time?"

Turning around towards the rest of the group, she saw Shepard shrug nonchalantly. "Chakwas said she had some paperwork she wanted to catch up on, and Joker gets twitchy if I make him leave the ship too much."

Liara arched one brow, before mentally shrugging as she stepped forwards into the crowd now flowing around them in every direction. Aiming her movement through the foot traffic towards the skycar depot on the far side of the landing pad, she turned back over her shoulder. "I do not suppose any of you have ever been to Serrice before?"

Her three companions all shook their heads as one, prompting Liara to continue, "Well, if any of you wish to know anything about the local attractions, I would be more than happy to tell you about them."

"Professor T'Soni back in her natural habitat, huh?" Shepard quickened her pace to walk by Liara's side, complete with a warm grin quirking at her lips. "What's the scoop, doc?"

With a smile of her own appearing to match Shepard's, Liara began describing the many wonders and tourist attractions of Serrice as she guided the group through the spaceport. Her friends followed closely at her heels, struggling to keep pace through the crowd as Liara described the many endangered animals on display at the Beantri Zoo and the current exhibits open at the Thessian Grand Gallery.

As she spoke, Liara found herself perking up at the smell of water that now suffused the air around her, and as they finally made their way to the far side of the port she found the surrounding buildings falling away to reveal the glittering Serrice River far below the spaceport as it wound its way out towards the artificial harbor at the edge of the city. Tali immediately ran forwards towards the edge of the spaceport, leaning out over the metal railing as she exclaimed, "You have an entire river in your city?"

Feeling suddenly bashful as the group ogled the landscape, Liara shrugged. "The architects of Serrice felt it important to try to preserve the environment of the area as much as possible when planning out urban expansion."

Garrus scoffed as he walked up to stand next to Tali, all the while eying the nearby river suspiciously. Suddenly worried her city was being found lacking, Liara frowned and started to move towards the pair when a strong hand clapped down onto her shoulder. Looking to where she knew she would find Shepard, she found the human wryly grinning towards Garrus. "Don't worry about him, he just likes to complain about how turians don't swim."

Without turning around, Garrus snidely retorted, "That's because we tend to die from it, Shepard."

Chuckling, Shepard withdrew her hand from Liara's shoulder. "Anyways, this place seems great, doc. When do we get to see the rest?"

"Oh, of course!" Turning to her left, Liara gestured towards a nearby terminal with several parked skycars sitting behind it. "My apartment is a bit far to walk from here, so I thought with all of our luggage we should probably rent a taxi."

Shepard nodded quickly, immediately springing into motion towards the terminal as she withdrew her credit chit from her back pocket. Quickly tapping through the monitor interface, she selected a skycar and scanned in her chit, only to frown as an angry beep rang out. Moving to stand next to her, Liara watched as Shepard scanned her credit chit again, only for the same warning tone to sound once again as the terminal screen flashed the words, "Insufficient funds, transaction canceled."

A pang of worry shot through Liara as she watched Shepard's brow face harden, all traces of her earlier casual demeanor vanishing into a blank slate of vague displeasure. Feeling suddenly like she had intruded into a delicate situation, she gently placed a hand on Shepard's arm, only for her to flinch at the contact as she jerked her head up from the screen. Keeping her voice as gentle as possible, she murmured, "Here, let me."

Slowly guiding Shepard's hands away from the terminal, Liara quickly fished out her own credit chit and scanned it into the terminal, which immediately let out a pleasant chime as the engine of a nearby skycar rumbled to life. Turning fully away from the terminal, Liara hesitated anxiously, before slowly placing her hand on Shepard's shoulder. "Is everything alright?"

Across from her, Shepard scratched the back of her neck awkwardly while refusing to make eye contact as she forced out in a strained voice, "Yeah, it's nothing." Turning away from Liara, she stiffly strode towards the skycar as she jammed her credit chit back into her pocket.

Liara's brow furrowed, but after a moment she shrugged and followed after Shepard as she quickly popped open the doors to the car with a pneumatic back towards where Tali and Garrus were still admiring the view, she yelled, "Break's over people, these cars charge by the minute!"

Liara stepped forwards and deftly clambered into the front seat, with Shepard taking shotgun as the others jogged over and shoved themselves into the backseat with the various bags of luggage. As Liara quickly punched in the address of her apartment, she heard the sound of bags rustling before Tali's slightly muffled voice grumbled, "I always get the backseat on these trips."

Liara glanced over towards Shepard, expecting the quick retort that seemed to embody so much of the team conversations. However, she frowned slightly when she found Shepard staring out the passenger side window, a blank expression on her face as she slowly massaged the scars on her left arm. Turning in her seat, she made eye contact with Garrus, who at the sight of Liara's frown roughly shoved one of the bags on his lap over towards Tali. "Shortest crewmates always get the backseat."

The thump of another bag being thrown filled the air as Tali muttered, "Lanky bosh'tet." Smiling briefly to herself, Liara turned back to face forwards in her seat as she activated the autopilot on the skycar, which quickly rumbled to life as the car slowly pulled forwards out of the port and shot away into the city beyond.

An awkward energy began to permeate the atmosphere of the car, prompting Liara after a moment to begin listing more local attractions to simply break the silence, such as the various blocks of remote student housing for the university and the dome that served as a city hall. Behind her, Garrus and Tali responded to the sight of crowded biotiball arenas and artfully sloped towers with the proper ooh's and aah's, and much to Liara's relief Shepard seemed to snap out of her bad mood as they moved through the city. By the time the skycar started to decelerate to land, she found herself on the sidelines of a passionate debate between Garrus and Shepard over if Thessia Thunder would beat the Dassus Artisans in the upcoming pildavi tournament.

"Garrus, the day that the Artisans get a clean sweep over Thunder is the day I kiss your bony turian ass." Liara erupted into laughter, slapping the release on the doors as the car finally settled into its parking spot to escape the growing argument. The group quickly piled out of the car, with Shepard glancing towards Liara with a crooked grin on her face. "T'soni, back me up on this one."

Attempting to suppress her giggles at the livid look on Garrus' face, she replied, "I personally have never paid too much attention to professional sports, unfortunately." The rest of the group groaned in frustration as everyone picked up their travel bags, only for Liara to stop with a thoughtful tilt of her head. "However, I do remember my father being a diehard Thunder fan back during my childhood."

Garrus groaned loudly, tipping his head back in exasperation as Shepard triumphantly punched him in the shoulder. A few feet away, Tali scoffed loudly as she shut the door to the skycar before interjecting, "Anyways, Liara, is this where you live?"

At this, Shepard and Garrus stopped bickering as Liara awkwardly folded her hands behind her back, turning towards the building in front of them as she responded, "Oh, yes, this is my apartment building."

Before them rose up a sleek, circular tower, with curved walls covered in large windows to provide residents inside with a view as the structure rose up above several of the nearby buildings in the area. In either direction from the tower, the road shot out for several blocks, with the sidewalks frequently dotted with large trees or flowering shrubs between delicately arching metal sculptures that doubled as streetlights. There were, however, almost no other skycars or other pedestrians in the area, and Liara shifted uncomfortably as she explained, "This part of the city is very close to the university, so not very many people come through here during school hours." She paused as her mouth quirked into a rueful smile. "It does get significantly more lively at night, so I try to be inside by then."

Shepard huffed out a quiet laugh. "It's definitely a hell of a lot nicer than the street where I grew up." Gesturing up towards the tower, she continued, "So are we going up to your place?"

"Actually, Garrus and I are going on a walk." Blinking at the interjection, Shepard and Liara turned towards Tali as she nervously tapped her fingers together. "Right, Garrus?"

To her side, Garrus stared dumbly down towards her, until after a second she sharply jabbed him in the side. "Right, yeah, you wanted to go see that thing. Uh, the one that Liara pointed out."

"Exactly, that one." Tali nodded, her voice now taking on a slightly shrill tone. "Could you guys maybe take our bags up for us?"

Bewildered, Liara turned towards Shepard, who heaved a particularly put upon sigh. "Yeah, alright, hand them over." The two quickly shed their bags and handed them to Shepard, who casually grabbed the straps in one hand. Liara, for her part, found her mouth go inexplicably dry as Shepard's sizable biceps bulged under the strain before she forced herself to look away.

Looping the extra straps over her head, Shepard waved off the pair as they turned and walked together down the street. She glanced briefly towards Liara before raising up one hand to cup her mouth, yelling, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

Both Tali and Garrus raised their hands in acknowledgement as they departed, leaving Shepard to turn to Liara with a shrug. "Garrus used to be a cop, they'll probably be fine."

Liara laughed, gesturing for Shepard to follow as she made her way into the apartment building. Moving through a quiet lobby, they stepped into an open elevator as she asked, "Are they always like that around each other?"

Shepard groaned as the elevator doors slid shut, leaning her head against the metal wall with a thud. "They've been dancing around each other for over a year now, and I'm honestly pretty sure that neither of them really realize it. Well, Tali might actually, I've seen the vids she likes to watch." Liara leaned back against the inside of the elevator a few feet away, glancing down towards Shepard's hands as she loudly popped her thumbs. "They'll probably figure it out eventually, I think."

Liara looked up with a casual reply on the tip of her tongue, only for it to slip away as she found Shepard staring her down with a strange intensity she couldn't quite place. Swallowing thickly, she quickly looked away as she softly echoed, "Eventually."

A few moments later, the elevator slowed to a stop with a muffled whine of hydraulics. Suddenly very antsy to escape the confined space, Liara quickly strode out into the hallway as soon as the elevator doors parted, with Shepard lurching forwards in an attempt to keep up. Swiftly moving through the familiar space, she forced herself to take a deep breath in an attempt to settle her nerves before finally coming to a stop in front of the final door on the floor.

Turning towards Shepard with an anxious expression, Liara gestured towards the door. "This one is mine." Shepard simply nodded, hefting the bags on her shoulders with an expectant expression. Feeling a surge of anxious energy, Liara slowly turned towards the door and placed her palm on the biometric scanner, which quickly flashed a happy green as the door slid open before her. The pair stepped forwards into the apartment, and as the door shut behind them Liara found herself wishing that she had cleaned up a bit before leaving for her trip to the mines several weeks ago.

Before them lay an apartment that had the bones of a sleek, modern living space, with a spacious living area blending seamlessly into a decent sized kitchen and dining area, all of which was bordered on two sides by floor to ceiling windows looking out across the neighborhood outside. In the opposite direction from the windows, a staircase wound around the far wall up to a loft that contained Liara's bed, still probably horribly unkempt from the last time she slept here.

However, much of the actual architecture of the building was obscured by what could only be described as an entire section of the local library had been airlifted into the living room, then subsequently exploded across the entire apartment. Excluding the windows, virtually every wall was covered by rows of towering bookshelves, all of them absolutely packed to capacity with various textbook, datapads, and paper journals. In the rare spot where one could see the walls, they were instead covered by holographic layouts of topographical maps, or the rare landscape painting in one or two places. Even the wide, low table in the center of the living room was covered in at least eight datapads, with more scattered around various end tables or even a few precarious stacks on the ground in a couple corners.

Liara winced as she realized for the first time how extensively cluttered her apartment had become since she had moved in. "I know this looks bad, but it really is quite organized. I could find probably any article I needed to in only five minutes. Or maybe fifteen, actually."

Shepard simply shrugged off her bags of luggage onto the nearest clear spot on the floor, quietly turning around to take in the apartment with her hands on her hips. Finally, after her excruciating silence, she turned to Liara with a warm smile. "This place is great, T'Soni."

Liara blinked, suddenly nonplussed by her reaction. "Oh. Really?"

Clapping her on the shoulder, Shepard turned back to look back towards the piles of datapads on a nearby table. "Yeah, I mean it. This is a great view into who the real Doctor T'Soni is, you know?" She glanced back towards Liara for a moment, her smile uncharacteristically shy. "Thanks for letting me see it."

Heat bloomed across Liara's cheeks as a shy smile of her own spread across her face. "I suppose you're welcome, in that case." Silence fell between the two as the quiet, oddly emotionally charged atmosphere from the elevator once again seeped into the conversation, but as Liara awkwardly glanced around her apartment she found herself suddenly unwilling to say anything and risk bursting the moment.

Naturally, it was at that moment that Shepard's omni-tool buzzed, causing them both to flinch. Grimacing apologetically, Shepard lifted up her arm to open the notification, causing a small display to pop up above her wrist. Finding herself vaguely curious, Liara peered towards her as she read the notification, only to watch with a sinking feeling as Shepard's face once again closed in on itself; her eyes slightly narrowing and her mouth quirking downwards slightly at the edges before finally she flicked off her omni-tool and crossed her arms in annoyance.

Cautiously reaching out towards Shepard before thinking better of it, Liara quietly asked, "Are you sure everything is fine, Shepard?"

Shepard let out a disgusted sound and uncrossed her arms only to jam her hands into her pockets. "It's just some small problems with my bank, nothing you need to worry about." Liara arched one brow skeptically, prompting Shepard to sigh tiredly. "Money's just a little tight right now, but I'll manage."

She opened her mouth to continue, then apparently thought better of it as she closed it again with a resolute set of her jaw. Realizing that she was unlikely to get Shepard to explain any further, Liara shrugged and let the topic drop while making a mental note to find an excuse to send her some money.

Looking around for another topic to talk about, her eyes fell on Garrus and Tali's bags on the floor next to her door. Gesturing towards them, she inquired, "How long do you think they'll be gone?"

The hard line of Shepard's shoulders relaxed at the sudden redirection of the conversation. Scratching the back of her neck, she replied, "There's really no telling with them, but I'd say it'll probably be a while if I had to guess."

Liara nodded, thoughtfully tapping a finger on her lower lip. "Alright, well, I do need to head to the library to get started on my research pretty soon." She hesitated, then nervously looked away from Shepard and out towards the large windows. "Would you like to come with me?"

Shepard's smile broke fully through its earlier hardness, her brown eyes coming alive in the light sparkling through the windows. "Yeah, I think I'd like that."

A smile now on her own face, Liara dropped her bag off next to the others before stepping back out of her apartment with Shepard in tow. The two walked back to the elevators in a companionable silence, with no words spoken between the two of them the entire ride back down to the ground floor. As they stepped outside, however, Liara noticed Shepard stopped for a moment, taking in the quiet neighborhood around them with an almost wistful expression before following Liara as they moved together down the street.

Before she could figure out how to ask what was on her mind, however, Shepard declared unprompted, "Now that I've been here for a second, I think that I like it here."

Feeling pleasantly surprised, Liara raised one brow. "Oh? Was there something that really sealed the deal for you?"

Shepard shoved her hands into her pockets, mulling over her words for a moment as they made their way down the street. "It's just very serene here, you know? I wouldn't have expected a city as big as this to be this peaceful."

Liara nodded along thoughtfully. "Yes, I understand what you mean. I had never lived somewhere like this before I moved here, so it took me a while to adjust as well."

Blinking, Shepard looked over towards Liara with an interested expression. "You didn't grow up here, then?"

"Oh no, I only moved here once I started attending the university." Liara indicated for Shepard to follow her as she turned off the road they had been following, and as they walked she found herself smiling at the memories of countless similar runs to the library like this. "I spent most of my childhood living on my mother's estate just outside of Armali. We would still make trips into the city on a regular basis, but it was still far enough away that it took me longer than I'd like to admit to accustom myself to the city lifestyle."

Liara stopped for a moment with Shepard a step behind as a gaggle of children zoomed past, all of them yelling excitedly as they zoomed down the street on scooters that hovered several inches above the ground. Starting forwards again, she continued, "By this point though, I've lived in Serrice long enough that it has become a sort of second home for me. Plus, I have an account with every library in the city so if I moved I would have to go through all the paperwork again."

Shepard chuckled softly. "For what it's worth, you seem very comfortable here." Peering up towards a particularly towering skyscraper, she continued in a more sullen tone, "It's way nicer than where I'm from, too."

Frowning, Liara glanced over towards Shepard to see that her mouth had set itself into a hard line, and looking down she saw that she was once again massaging the scars spiraling up her arm. She let out a small sigh, grudgingly acknowledging that whatever dark mood had taken Shepard today was likely to plague her for the time being.

Unbidden, a memory surfaced in her mind, and as she walked the words of her mother rang out. "Everyone carries something from their past they don't wish to speak about, Little Wing. Some days, these memories will be heavy, and some days they will be light. What's important is knowing when someone needs a hand to help carry the load, whether they ask for it or not."

Looking to Shepard once again, Liara frowned as she found herself unwilling to let her friend suffer in silence without at least trying to help. Clearing her throat nervously, she cautiously began, "I'm sorry you were forced to grow up somewhere less than nice, it seems." Swallowing thickly, she pushed forwards through her mounting nerves. "If you want to talk about it, though, I would be happy to listen."

Shepard huffed skeptically, only to stop at the earnest look on Liara's face. Turning back to look forwards, she went quiet for long enough that Liara had started to form the beginnings of an apology before she finally shrugged. "I mean, there's not too much to talk about, really. I was just another kid stuck on Earth with nowhere to go and no family to take care of them."

Kicking a pebble out across the road, she continued, "I bounced around from orphanage to foster home and back for a while, but eventually I just got fed up with it all, so I ran away one day." She chuckled harshly. "Social services never even came looking for me."

"Oh, Shepard…" A heartbreaking mental image of a young Shepard with a dirty face and angry eyes appeared before Liara, before after a moment she blinked it away. "How did you take care of yourself all on your own?"

"At first, I just figured I'd move around between shelters, you know? Just find somewhere to sleep, somewhere else to eat, how hard could it be?" They passed beneath a tree set into the sidewalk as she talked, dappled shadows flickering across her face as she continued, "I found out pretty fast that shelters didn't appreciate it too much when random kids snuck in at night to try to find a bed somewhere. Not to mention, a lot of the time I couldn't even get in during mealtimes to eat with how many people were already living in those places."

Shepard sighed, seemingly taking a moment to compose herself as she sifted through her memories. "Eventually, things got bad enough that I started working with the Tenth Street Reds." At Liara's confused expression, she explained, "They were this small street gang that ran the part of the city where I lived. Didn't have the greatest reputation, but they didn't have the worst either, and they were willing to let some skinny homeless kid run errands for them in exchange for food and a place to sleep."

Shepard briefly glanced towards Liara, and at the concern written across her face she attempted to smile. "It wasn't so bad, really. I just had to carry bags down the street a couple times a week. At first, at least. Plus, they were better to me than anyone else would've been."

Liara blinked, trying to smooth out her frown as she forced down the wave of concern building up for her friend. "I'm so sorry you had to live like that, Shepard. No child should have to be in a situation with nowhere to go."

Clapping a hand on Liara's shoulder, Shepard's slanted grin became much warmer. "Hey, I'm just glad I made it long enough to meet you. I don't think many other people would've been so nice about taking me down into a cave and knocking my ass out."

Warmth spread across Liara's cheeks as she let out a loud laugh. "You're just mocking me now, I already apologized for all that."

Shepard winked, barely stifling her own laughter. "It makes for a hell of a story though, right?" She paused suddenly, leaning past Liara's shoulder as she pointed across the road. "Wait, is that it?"

Turning to follow her gaze, Liara found herself looking at the familiar glass walls of the Serrice Public Library. The building itself was essentially a massive cube that rose up a good fifteen stories, all of which were visible from the street through the clear glass panes that formed the outside of the structure. At its base were a set of marble steps that led up to a set of large double doors which were currently thrown wide open to the public.

"Oh good, it's still open." Turning towards Shepard as she began to cross the street, she called back, "Still interested?" Shepard, for her part, simply nodded enthusiastically as she followed Liara across the street and up the steps towards the open doors.

Stepping through the threshold, Liara breathed in deeply, relishing in the oddly specific scent that always seemed to permeate the front lobby. She quickly moved forwards to the nearby front desk, where a young asari in a long dress sat behind a holographic monitor. As the receptionist looked up towards the pair, she smiled in recognition as she called out in greeting, "Welcome back, Dr. T'Soni. I assume you're here to check in on your card?"

Liara nodded eagerly as Shepard casually leaned up against the desk next to her. Looking back down towards her monitor, the receptionist quickly typed in a few phrases before nodding to herself. "Alright, I am pleased to inform you that the probationary period on your card has officially been lifted, along with any and all restrictions that may entail."

She paused for a moment, her gaze briefly flitting towards Shepard before returning to Liara. "Will your bondmate be needing a library card as well?"

A bright violet blush exploded across Liara's face, and as she frantically glanced towards Shepard she saw that a unique shade of pink had begun to suffuse her cheeks. Snapping her eyes back to the receptionist, she quickly waved her hands in front of her as she stammered, "Oh no, we're just friends, also no, I mean unless she wants one, oh goddess–"

Shepard cut her off with a warm hand on her shoulder as she smiled down towards the receptionist. "It's alright, I'll just bum off hers if I find anything interesting."

Nodding with a slight smile, the receptionist replied, "Okay, just let me know if there's anything else I can help you with."

Shepard nodded and stepped away from the desk, gently leading Liara further into the library with her grip on her shoulder. After walking across the rest of the spacious lobby, she released Liara's shoulder as she turned towards her with a smirk. "So, the library put you on probation, huh?"

Liara groaned, her face still uncomfortably warm. "All I'll say is that this institution's policies towards late returns on books are simply barbaric." Turning towards the towering rows of books around them, she continued, "Fortunately, however, they still maintain their records on paper as well as digitized."

Glancing at Shepard, she paused as she noticed her face still maintained just a hint of that charming blush from before. Blinking, she gestured towards her. "Oh, I should ask, is there anything in particular you wanted to look at while we're here?"

Looking around towards the expanse of information in all directions, Shepard merely shrugged. "I'm just here to spend time with you, honestly. I'm sure I'll find something to entertain myself."

"Oh, alright." Pinpricks of heat began resurfacing on her cheeks, leading her to turn away as she headed deeper into the library. "Just let me know if you see anything you like."

The two headed for the staircase, with Liara leading Shepard up to the fourth floor before diving straight into the section labeled 'Ancient History and Mythology'. As she cracked open the first book she pulled from the shelf, a deep sense of satisfaction set into her bones, and almost immediately she found herself drawn into the world of historical texts and anthropological theory.

So deep and familiar was her focus that time seemingly ceased to exist for Liara, becoming measured by tomes and datapads examined and discarded rather than by the face of the nearby clock. She nearly even forgot that she had brought someone with her, until after what might have been half an hour Shepard accidentally bumped a stack of books off of the table Liara had commandeered with a loud thud. Jumping in her seat, she nearly tossed her own datapad onto the floor as she turned to see Shepard hastily gathering up the books with a guilty expression.

"Sorry, I didn't see that pile." She nervously returned the stack to an open spot near Liara before returning to her side of the table. The silence stretched for a moment, during which Shepard began to fidget awkwardly. "Hope I didn't ruin your research or anything."

Liara smiled reassuringly as she lowered her datapad. "You're fine Shepard, it's nothing to worry about. One time I accidentally spilled an entire cup of tea onto one of the public data terminals, and all that happened to me was I had to pay a slight fine." She paused for a moment before frowning slightly. "They did also ban me from bringing my own beverages into the library, now that I think about it."

Shepard chuckled, and with a smile Liara returned to her work. However, not even a minute later she found herself distracted by the sound of Shepard once again shifting in her seat. Looking up across the table, she watched as Shepard crossed her arms, peered across the seating area, uncrossed her arms, fidgeted in her seat, and then finally plopped her chin into her hand with a sigh. Feeling her brow furrow slightly, Liara placed her datapad onto the table and turned fully towards Shepard as she asked, "Is something wrong?"

Shepard's head snapped towards her with wide eyes, before after a moment she deflated with a sigh. "No, everything's fine. I just, uh." She waved a hand dismissively in the air. "I'm not really used to just sitting around anymore. Relaxing, I mean."

She shrugged, a wry grin briefly flashing on her face. "Guess I'm a little out of practice."

Her brow rising in surprise, Liara looked over the several books now scattered around the table. Picking up one at random, she offered it to Shepard. "Would you like to read something, then? I find that it usually helps me calm down when I can't relax."

Shepard accepted the book and flipped it open with a curious expression, before after a moment she barked out a laugh. At Liara's confused frown, she flipped the book around to reveal pages of flowing asari script. "Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I don't think I'm gonna be able to read any of these."

Liara blanched in mortification, her cheeks flaming violet as Shepard started laughing again at the sight. Desperately shuffling through several of the books around her, her heart sank as she realized each and every one would be impossible for Shepard to read, but before she could apologize a large hand atop hers interrupted her. Looking up, she saw Shepard leaning across the table far enough to cover her hands with her own, and at the sight her brain started to fill up with a fuzzy static noise. "It's alright, doc, I'll make do." She leaned back, removing her hand as she did so. "Besides, it's probably good for me, right?"

Nodding mutely, Liara suddenly found that she didn't trust herself to speak as all she could think about at the moment was the roughness of the calluses across Shepard's palms. Inhaling sharply, she cleared her throat as she did her best to calm herself. Looking around for something else to focus on, her gaze landed on the clock on the far wall, proclaiming the time of day to be late afternoon, bordering on evening.

She exhaled with a sigh and peered balefully down at the books around her, before she shrugged in defeat. "Luckily for you, I should really return to my apartment. It seems that I have several days of research ahead of me, unfortunately."

Frowning slightly, Shepard crossed her arms. "Oh, in that case, the rest of the crew and I can just stay on the Normandy. I wouldn't want to make you host us for weeks."

"Oh, no, absolutely not." Liara shook her head vehemently as she stood and started to gather up several books to take home with her. "My apartment is more than large enough to house everyone comfortably, and I should really only need a few days at most. There's no reason for you all to go hole up in that ship the whole time."

She paused for a moment with a stack of books in her hands, suddenly nervous she had overstepped. "That is, if you want to stay with me, of course."

Across from her, Shepard peered curiously up at Liara, as if trying to work out a puzzle. After a moment, she sighed as her mouth quirked up into a smile, and a second later she stood from the table. "Far be it from me to argue with the doctor's orders."

A warm smile slid across Liara's face, and together the two piled the various books and datapads into two piles to carry back to her apartment. After, of course, Liara had them stop at the front desk to properly check them all out. It wouldn't do to lose her library card again in less than a day.

Thus began Shepard's time in Serrice, as over the next two weeks she slowly settled into this new style of living. Each night, she rotated with Garrus and Tali for who got to sleep on Liara's couches and who slept on the floor, and each morning she woke up just before sunrise to cook everyone breakfast. Gradually, the rest of the gang would filter into the kitchen to eat, with Liara usually blearily stumbling in last after a long night of research. Much to Shepard's delight, she discovered that Liara was absolutely not a morning person, to the point of rarely speaking in full sentences until after she had been up for at least thirty minutes.

Once everyone fully awoke and fed themselves each day, the whole group split off to start in on their usual daily activities. For Liara, this meant spending each day either in the public library or the one located on campus a few blocks away, and more often than not Shepard found herself tagging along simply to have somewhere to go. After each session of research, however, Liara often offered to show Shepard around the city, leading to the two spending several evenings strolling together down the sides of the river, or eating at charming cafes with friendly baristas, or even touring Liara's favorite public parks.

Some days, however, Shepard chose to stay home from whichever library Liara had chosen for the day, instead working with Garrus to turn a corner of her apartment into a small workstation for weapon maintenance. The two burned several hours together disassembling their various firearms and thoroughly cleaning, oiling, and polishing every cylinder, rod, and lever before putting everything back together again. Liara, for her part, seemed rather skeptical of the growing piles of engineering tools in her apartment, but seemed to relax once Shepard and Garrus solemnly promised not to spill any oil onto her floors.

During these days spent arguing the value of various targeting VI's and the benefits of rifle boring versus mass effect field calibrations, Shepard noticed Tali in particular seemed more relaxed than any of the rest of the crew. On the first few days, the quarian had joined in on their little engineering operation, updating the software of her combat drone once or twice while stubbornly refusing to let Shepard take her shotgun apart to inspect it. Later into their stay, however, Tali instead gravitated towards Liara's wall of books and datapads, and after much deliberation she settled on reading through a collection of justicar adventure novels Liara insisted that she had forgotten she still owned. However, that didn't stop her from constantly asking Tali her thoughts on Justicar Aesha's travels, leading to many animated discussions over piles of snacks and mugs of tea.

The days progressed much like this, one after the other, with Shepard constantly finding herself with nothing to do other than relax with her friends and enjoy the sights of Serrice. However, despite the beauty of the city and even the sight of Liara becoming more and more comfortable around the rest of her crew, Shepard found herself growing more and more uncomfortable each day. An itch started to burrow its way into the base of her skull, a grim sense of foreboding as each day she waited for the other shoe to drop on this little peaceful vacation. Relaxation soon became increasingly difficult to achieve as every time Shepard stepped outside, she found herself casing each quaint cafe and every open library floor for possible points of entry, and more and more often she caught herself sizing herself up against strangers that passed them on the street. This itch, this ache of imminent danger, slowly battered in waves against Shepard's mind, weathering down her self control just slightly every day spent in what should have been pleasant domesticity.

Finally, after spending the morning of the twelfth day in Serrice stewing uncomfortably on Liara's couch, Shepard slapped her hands loudly onto the tops of her thighs. She was going to relax, goddamn it, even if it killed her. She lifted her arm and flicked her wrist to open her omni-tool, double checking to confirm the notification she had read half an hour ago. Sighing petulantly, she flicked off her omni-tool as she made a mental note to find some way to pay back Liara for the 'anonymous transfer' that had appeared mysteriously in her bank account.

"Hey, Garrus!" The turian looked up from his workshop bench, a soldering iron currently smoking in his hands. Remembering that this was supposed to be a casual day, Shepard forced herself to relax her tone a bit before continuing, "You wanna go gun shopping?"

Garrus' mandibles flexed energetically as he responded, "Absolutely, I heard there are some scope mods you can get here that are supposed to increase long distance accuracy by over three percent."

"God, you absolute nerds." Sitting up from where she was currently laying on the floor next to one of Liara's bookshelves, Tali derisively waved the datapad she was reading at the two of them. "Get out of here before I have to listen to you talk about more about how important it is to clean your gun every time you use it or something stupid like that."

Garrus frowned, pausing as he cleaned up the worktable. "That is important, actually. Like you really should be doing that."

Shepard rolled her eyes affectionately before heaving herself up off the couch. Grabbing Garrus by the back of his cowl, she dragged him towards the door to avoid the brewing debate as they both stepped over where Tali was still laying. As the door slid open, Tali called out, "Oh also Liara's taking me to the library later to get more justicar novels, don't wait up for us!"

The door slid shut as they exited the apartment, leaving Shepard and Garrus alone in the hallway. As they turned to make their way to the elevator, Garrus casually mentioned, "You know, I'm pretty sure I also saw new heat sinks on the market that are almost half a percent more efficient than the ones I have right now."

Shepard laughed as she punched the elevator button for the ground floor, and by the time they emerged out into the lobby the pair were fully underway discussing the merits of Armax Arsenal weapons compared to the newest Kassa Fabrications lineup. Stepping outside the apartment complex, the sun shined down brightly as a gentle breeze whispered through the nearby trees, prompting Shepard to decide to simply walk the mile or two stretch to reach the marketplace Liara had pointed out.

After the first several minutes of walking, the conversation slowly tapered off as Garrus eventually ran out of weapons manufacturers to discuss. Stuffing her hands into her pockets, Shepard once again found herself stewing in the gentle silence of the neighborhood, despite all her best efforts finding herself incapable of fully relaxing. Forcing herself to actively resist grinding her teeth together, she glanced over towards Garrus to see him peering down at her with a critical gaze. After a moment he shrugged, his mandibles flaring slightly as he offhandedly remarked, "You know, I think this might be one of the longest down periods I've had in a while."

Shepard blinked, thrown off slightly at the sudden change in topic. "What, they didn't let people take vacations back at your old job?"

"C-Sec is run by turians, Shepard. We don't know the meaning of the word." He ducked under a particularly low-hanging tree before continuing, "Still, even on your crew it seems like we're always either actively on a job or on our way to the next one, you know?"

Shepard's spine stiffened slightly as she narrowed her eyes defensively. "I mean we gotta go to where the work is, right? Can't really make any money just sitting around on our asses."

Raising his hands in a pacifying gesture, Garrus laughingly responded, "Oh, I have no problem with it. I really don't know what I'd do with myself if I had too much time on my hands." Turning back to face forwards, he lowered his hands. "Sorta like how we are now, I guess."

Shepard sighed as her brow furrowed slightly, echoing, "Just like now."

They both continued to walk in silence for a few minutes, Garrus' face impossible to read as Shepard continued to try to work through her mounting anxiety. Finally, after walking another half mile, she sighed explosively. "Isn't R&R supposed to be relaxing? It's literally in the name." Garrus glanced towards her with a curious expression, but stayed silent as Shepard continued, "I just don't get this domesticity stuff. I mean, all of it has been nice, and I've honestly enjoyed it. I have!" She frowned, lifting up a hand to massage her temples. "And yet…"

She trailed off as a large, taloned hand landed roughly on her shoulder. Looking up towards Garrus, she saw the turian gaze down towards her with a warm expression. "I get it, Shepard, it's alright. Honestly, I think if someone who's been through as much as you didn't have a problem relaxing, that would actually worry me."

Shepard chuckled, rubbing her eyes as pinpricks of tears started to threaten to form. In a watery voice, she joked, "Glad I'm only coming in at 'mildly concerning' on the Vakarian scale."

Flexing his mandibles in a turian grin, Garrus slapped her on the back encouragingly. "Exactly, you should be proud." After a moment, he sighed as his voice took on a more serious tone. "I think we'll be ready for domestic life someday. We just have too many adventures left for that day to be today."

As Garrus spoke, the pair rounded a corner and found themselves standing across the street from a massive, open air market. Taking in the bustling crowd and copious amounts of stalls and street vendors, Shepard finally found the hard line of tension in her shoulders relaxing just a bit. "Guess we'd better go stock up for the next one, huh?"

Stepping across the street, Shepard dove into throng of customers, immediately getting swept up by the flow of traffic between stalls as Garrus followed closely behind. The market itself was centered around a spacious square set between several looming skyscrapers, with several different levels all connected together by wide sets of white marble staircases and elegant metal and glass handrails. As she walked, Shepard found her senses assaulted from all directions as she passed stalls displaying mouthwatering racks of fried foods or tables featuring colorful holographic displays that extended fifteen feet in the air. Passing around a particularly slow moving family, she noticed that asari of all ages seemed to be passing through the market today, with groups of maidens excitedly showing each other their newest purchases as matrons carefully maneuvered their small children around the crowds and even the odd matriarch peering gracefully down at a lineup of restored antiques.

"Shepard, this way." Turning over her shoulder, Shepard saw Garrus gesturing towards a set of three vendors set up to form a small arc of stalls in the middle of one of the larger open spaces. Each of these stalls were covered in neatly organized lines of weapons, ranging from small handguns for self defense to full length armor-piercing rifles. Feeling her pulse bump up slightly at the sight, Shepard eagerly followed Garrus as he strode up to the rightmost table and struck up a conversation with the asari merchant behind it.

Deciding instead to approach the middle table, Shepard peered down towards a positively delightful selection of shotguns, ranging from several different selections of Katanas and Scimitars to a sleek Disciple that looked fresh off the assembly line. As she started to reverently reach out to touch this last gun, a chipper voice called out, "Hello, can I help you find anything today?"

Snatching her hand back reflexively, Shepard looked up to find a young asari, looking to be no more than a teenager, gazing up at her with a bright smile. Crossing her arms casually, Shepard inquired, "Aren't you a little young to be selling guns?"

The young asari's smile melted away into a petulant frown. "I'm not a child, miss. I'll have you know, I'm sixty-five years old and perfectly mature enough to handle a weapon."

Shepard blinked, realizing with a start the girl before her was almost three times her age. "Yeah alright, seems fair." Gesturing down towards the table before her, she continued, "I'm in the market for a new shotgun. Got any recommendations?"

The girl's frown vanished, immediately replaced by her earlier energetic smile. "Well, that depends on your needs! Do you need something for personal protection, or a weapon more designed for military activity?" She paused for a moment, running a critical eye across Shepard's numerous scars and muscled arms. "Or, perhaps something a little more well-rounded?"

Shepard shifted, suddenly very conscious of the fact that she had chosen to forgo her usual armored vest and instead was wearing a button-up with a garish floral print that Liara had lent her. "Well-rounded is always good."

The girl frowned thoughtfully and began to tap her lip, and with a start Shepard found herself imagining a younger Liara in an identical pose. Oblivious to the sudden pang of emotion welling up in her chest, the girl began to mumble, "Alright, that means automatics are too much and the Claymore is too slow…" Briefly flicking her gaze back up to Shepard, she continued, "Also don't tell anyone we have a Claymore, because legally if anyone asked we definitely do not sell Claymores here."

Shepard chuckled, but before she could respond the girl ducked down beneath the table before emerging with three large boxes. "Okay, I think the choices that would suit your needs best would either be a Crusader, an Eviscerator, or the Disciple."

Peering down at the three weapons, Shepard ran a careful eye across each box as she read the various specifications advertised on the covers. Immediately dismissing the Crusader, she longingly ran a hand across the surface of the Disciple's box as daydreams of her running around with a paradigm of asari engineering started to run through her mind. That is, of course, until she read the price tag, at which point she yanked her hand back like she had been burned. "I'll take the Eviscerator and two crates of thermal clips."

"Excellent choice! The Eviscerator is actually one of our most trusted models, and despite having a small magazine size it is one of the most well-rounded weapons we have!" Shepard nodded along with a small grin, offering her credit chit to pay for the transaction as the merchant launched into a lengthy and incredibly detailed spiel about proper weapon maintenance, safety procedures, and something about an extended warranty for first time customers. Glancing over to her right as she pocketed her chit, she saw Garrus was now deep in conversation with the second asari merchant, two separate mods clutched in his talons as they debated the potential long term values of each option.

"Oh, is that the rest of your gang?" Shepard frowned, snapping out of her little reverie as she turned back to see the asari girl looking at something behind her. "Sorry, I just assumed you were a merc, for obvious reasons. But if they're all with you, I'll give you guys a discount if you all buy here!"

With a sudden sinking feeling, Shepard slowly turned over her shoulder to look through the crowd behind her. Almost immediately, her eyes landed on a group of figures across the landing from her, each of them wearing a matching set of familiar white and orange armor. Without turning away, she vaguely slapped towards Garrus until she felt her hand land on his shoulder. "Garrus, we got problems."

"Why, what's wrong?" He turned away from the table, his mods still clutched in his hands as he scanned through the crowd for a moment, then freezing. "Oh."

"Come on, we gotta move." Shepard turned back to the young merchant as she scooped up her new shotgun into her hands, nodding gratefully before turning back to Garrus. "Garrus, that doesn't mean haggle faster, we're leaving."

Dragging the reluctant turian behind her, Shepard quickly dove back into the crowd as they weaved their way back towards the market's exit. However, after only a few seconds a second group of Cerberus soldiers appeared out from behind a stall, and with a jolt Shepard realized that all of them were very much armed. Ducking through a nearby display of detailed rugs and carpets, she kneeled down behind a large quilt and roughly tore the box of her new shotgun open.

A moment later, Garrus kneeled down next to her before asking, "What are you doing?"

Fully prying the gun out of its casing, Shepard shrugged. "Just taking some precautions." Turning the gun over in her hands, she reached for where the safety should be on the side only to find a small screen above the button. Frowning, Shepard thumbed the safety only for it to refuse to move as instead the screen flickered to life. "What the hell?"

The screen flashed, then a moment later began to roll small text across the screen, reading, "Hello, valued customer! Welcome to the Lieberschaft 2180 safety course!"

Behind her, Garrus shifted as he whispered, "Shepard, what's the hold up? We gotta move." Turning around, Shepard held up her gun with a frown, and after peering down at it for a second he barked out a laugh. "Well you know what they say, Shepard, safety first."

"I swear if we don't get murdered here I'm gonna fire you." Peeking out from behind their table, she saw that the group of Cerberus soldiers had moved farther into the market, and with a grunt she stood. "Come on, let's go."

Swiftly moving back through the marketplace, Shepard casually hoisted the shotgun up to rest between her inner arm and her ribs to try as she attempted her best casual walk through the crowd. Multiple times, she pushed past a group of shoppers only to find another cluster of soldiers ahead of them, forcing her to abruptly stop and change directions. As each moment passed her heart began to race faster and faster, and as she glanced up towards Garrus with a concerned frown she saw his mandibles twitch as he came to the same realization as her: they were completely surrounded.

Glancing down towards her gun, she saw the screen was now listing through every mechanical part of the weapon and listing its purpose. Rolling her eyes, she slid the gun back up into her armpit and turned towards the nearest staircase, where yet another squad of Cerberus soldiers were scanning through the crowd. "Might as well get this over with."

Nudging Garrus towards the stairs, Shepard hunched down slightly and angled her head nonchalantly down towards the ground. To her side, she saw Garrus adopt a similar posture as he did his best to conceal his significant height in a crowd of asari, and Shepard found herself suddenly wishing Serrice had a higher concentration of diversity in their general population.

The pair ambled casually forwards, inching ever closer towards the stairs down to the next level of the market at an infuriatingly slow pace to maintain their cover. Furtively glancing around her, Shepard's skin began to crawl as she took in the utter lack of any substantial cover within forty feet. Just ahead now, a group of four Cerberus soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder just off to the side of the stairs, each of them hoisting fully automatic rifles in their grip.

"You there!" Shepard froze, her heart freezing over with dread as a heavily distorted voice rang out. Forcing herself to turn slowly towards the sound, she blinked as she saw one of the four soldiers stepping forwards to approach an asari matron with her small daughter in tow. Pulling out a datapad from a pouch on their belt, the soldier activated it to reveal a close up of an asari. "Have you seen these people anywhere?"

The picture on the screen shifted, and Shepard's breath caught in her throat as her own visage appeared to stare back at her defiantly. A moment later, the picture switched again, the datapad now displaying a closeup of Garrus. To her side, Garrus himself shifted as he mumbled, "I've got a bad feeling about this."

The asari mother peered down at the datapad for a moment before shaking her head dismissively. Her child, however, frowned intensely at the datapad for several seconds, watching very closely as each and every picture of Shepard's crew rotated across the screen. The soldier holding the datapad kneeled to let her watch more easily, and after a moment the child spun around in her mother's grasp to inspect the crowd around her. Almost instantly, the kid locked eyes with Shepard, who stood only fifteen feet away.

Her eyes widening, Shepard frantically shook her head and held up one finger to her lips in the universal shh gesture. The child stared up at her intently, then after a second nodded back with a solemn expression of understanding. Only a second later, however, the kid turned around and extended a finger to point directly at Shepard and Garrus as she exclaimed in a high pitched voice, "There she is, mister!"

Shepard immediately sprung into action, sprinting the gap between her and the kid before diving straight over her head to tackle the soldier with the datapad to the ground. Not allowing her momentum to stop, she rolled forwards into a crouch and swung her leg out around her, catching the second soldier in the knee and sending them toppling backwards down the stairs with a yelp. To her right, the third and fourth soldiers lifted their rifles to fire, only for Garrus to bowl them both over with his long arms extended wide. Behind her, Shepard heard the mother scream in alarm as she dragged her child away frantically, causing Shepard to heave an annoyed sigh. As the two asari fled, however, she heard more shouts ring out as all around the market white and orange figures began to pour between the many stalls with weapons raised.

"Right, time to go!" Standing up from her crouch, Shepard and Garrus sprinted down the now clear stairs, taking them four at a time in their haste. Not stopping to think about how tripping now would result in a broken neck, Shepard instead whipped out her shotgun and fished out one of her freshly purchased thermal clips. As they descended, the shouts behind them intensified, and after a moment they were joined by the booming chatter of automatic fire. All around them, glass from the stair rails exploded as chips of stone flew up into the air, forcing Shepard and Garrus to redouble their pace down the last few steps into the ground level of the market.

Shepard hit the ground at full tilt, feeling her knees nearly buckle before she managed to get her legs fully under her. Glancing over her shoulder as she slammed the clip into the shotgun chamber, she frowned as she saw fifteen Cerberus soldiers now chasing them down the steps, pausing every few seconds to fire off a couple shots before resuming their chase. Turning her gaze forwards again, she saw the crowd around them was finally realizing what was happening as many market goers screamed and pushed at each other to flee the scene. Realizing that the odds of escaping without any civilian casualties were dropping by the second, Shepard redoubled her pace towards the exit.

"Shepard, get down!" Shepard found herself yanked backwards by strong hands as the ground directly in front of her erupted into gunfire. Snapping her head to her left, her heart plummeted as she saw a second group of soldiers already on the ground floor, all of them advancing with rifles raised. Looking to her right instead, she saw Garrus frantically motioning to a set of now empty tables, the merchants who had been using them now long gone.

Bullets whizzed through the air as the pair dove for the tables, the rounds missing by only inches as a row of ceramic bots behind them exploded into multicolored splinters. Hitting the ground hard, Shepard forced herself up into a kneeling position as Garrus flipped one of the tables onto its side to create a small patch of cover against the advancing soldiers. Glancing down towards the shotgun in Shepard's hands, Garrus yelled, "Is that thing working yet?"

In response, Shepard chambered a round, rose up to set the weapon on top of their cover, and pulled the trigger. Immediately, a loud buzzer sound rang out from the weapon, and shortly after a singsong voice called out, "Uh oh! Seems like somebody got too impatient for the safety protocols! Your weapon has been locked out, please see a licensed technician to reactivate it."

A volley of gunfire shattered through the leftmost corner of the table, showering Shepard in wood splinters as she stared down at her gun in disgust. Choosing to flip it over in her hand to grab it by the barrel, she peeked her head up past the lip of the table to catch a glimpse of a horde of Cerberus soldiers bearing down on them before another round of bullets sent her ducking back down. Frustration began to swell up in her chest in an angry wave, and in response her hands started to flash with biotic sparks. Glancing over towards Garrus, she allowed her biotics to fully flare in a rush of power. "I'm about to do something a little stupid."

Before he could reply, Shepard leaned back and coiled her legs up to her chest before lashing into the side of the table in a flash of light. Instantly, the table shattered into two large wooden chunks, each of which flew backwards a good twenty feet into the crowd of advancing soldiers who were subsequently tossed aside like bowling pins. Leaping to her feet, Shepard charged forwards with her shotgun raised like a club over her head, rushing towards the few soldiers still standing. Contracting her abdominals in a downward swing, she smashed the shotgun's stock onto the helmet of the first soldier before dancing out of the way of a hail of bullets with a neat spin. Loosening her grasp on the shotgun, she completed her rotation by flinging the shotgun forwards into the next soldier's face with a dull thud, then in a blinding flash of light charged the last ten feet to slam into the last remaining Cerberus goon.

A brief silence fell upon the market as the last soldier slammed into the floor, allowing Shepard a moment to catch her breath as Garrus jogged up to her with a disapproving scowl. Fishing her shotgun out from underneath an unconscious shoulder, she looked up at him with an innocent grin. "Hey, I warned you and everything."

"Like that makes it any better." Glancing over his shoulder, Garrus nudged Shepard towards the nearby exit. "We should go before anyone else catches up to us."

Nodding in agreement, Shepard and Garrus sprinted the rest of the way out of the market to find themselves once again on the quiet streets of Serrice. Once outside the shopping area, Shepard quickly spun in a circle as she scanned the area for any potential threats. However, her gaze fell instead on a nearby stoop leading up to an apartment building, where leaning against the steps was a small hover-scooter left unattended. Pointing towards it, Shepard called out, "Found us a ride out of here!"

Following closely behind, Garrus skidded to a stop at the sight of the comically small vehicle. "Shepard, that thing is for twelve year olds. I legitimately don't think it can even carry us both."

Suddenly, angry shouts echoed out from farther down the street. Glancing back the way they came, Shepard groaned as two military-grade shuttles painted orange and white hurtled down the street towards them, their hatches popped open with dozens more Cerberus soldiers hanging weapons out of the sides. She turned back towards the scooter, tossing her shotgun to Garrus as she revved the tiny mass effect engine. "Hey, if you wanna stay and play with them, be my guest."

Deftly catching the gun, Garrus huffed petulantly as he stepped forwards to perch on the very back of the scooter. Feeling a smirk spread across her face, Shepard cranked the throttle only to almost immediately put the scooter into the wall as it fishtailed wildly beneath her. Behind her, the crack of gunfire rang out as a nearby skycar windshield exploded, and behind her Garrus wrapped one arm around her waist. "Shepard, now would be a good time to go!"

Frowning in concentration, she snarled, "I'm working on it!" She twisted the throttle once again, this time much more smoothly as she carefully angled the front of the scooter away from the apartment building. To her delight, the scooter smoothly leapt forwards down the street at a surprisingly nimble pace, wind now whipping past her face as streetlights and parked cars started racing past in a blur. Every few seconds, the scooter jolted dangerously below her as it scraped the concrete below, the small engine struggling to maintain even a few inches of altitude with two passengers aboard.

Ten feet in front of them, a streetside tree exploded into chunks of bark as a hail of gunfire flew by. Yanking on the steering, Shepard tilted the scooter at a worryingly steep angle as she let out an exhilarated shout. Garrus' grip on her waist immediately tightened to an almost painful degree, and a moment later he groaned, "Spirits, can't you drive this thing straight?"

Rolling her eyes, Shepard deftly swerved around a horrified pedestrian. "I'll start driving straight when you start shooting back!"

A moment later, a deafening boom exploded out directly behind her, followed by the sound of shattering glass. Sounding slightly embarrassed, Garrus yelled, "Your shotgun works now!"

Instead of responding, Shepard yanked left hard on the steering bar to avoid a large group of elderly asari as they walked up the street. A flash of green entered her vision as a low hanging tree branch slapped her painfully upside the head, but with a grunt she shook off the sting. Almost immediately, several rifles opened fire as the world around Shepard exploded into gunfire, driving any thought other than drive out of her head. After several seconds of horrendously dangerous turns and near-collisions with moving vehicles and stationary buildings punctuated by the dull thuds of Garrus returning fire, Shepard heard him yell, "Turn right! Turn right now!"

Instantly, she kicked out one foot to drag on the ground as she swerved the scooter to the right as they flew into a small alley hidden between two towers. Now hurtling past empty dumpsters and bags of trash left out, Shepard furrowed her brow into a concentrated frown as her pulse turned into a dull roar in her ears. She knifed between two particularly large dumpsters, swearing as the sides of the scooter scraped up against the wall of the alley in a shower of sparks.

Readjusting his grip on her waist, Garrus yelled over the rush of moving air, "If we follow this we'll exit out about a mile and half away from the spaceport!"

Shepard nodded and opened her mouth to reply, only to be cutoff as her earpiece let out a burst of static into her ear. After a moment, the distortion resolved into a familiar voice. "Shepard, this is Liara. I think I have finally discovered where our next destination should be!"

Shepard slammed her foot into the ground, launching the scooter over a row of trash cans that had been knocked onto their sides. "That's great, T'Soni, but–"

"You see, I found several references to Prothean structures that had been discovered with unusual amounts of corpses inside, but one in particular stood out due to the fact that it has been closed off to the public for over fifty years. Furthermore, while reading through one of the few texts that actually discusses Prothean masterworks, I found mentions of pyramid-like structures, similar to those we found carved into the mountains of Jiwai."

Light flooded Shepard's vision as they flew out of the far end of the alley, their momentum carrying them directly into the road as skycars rumbled past mere feet away. "Liara, listen!" She righted their momentum with a heave of the handlebars, missing slamming into oncoming traffic by a horrifyingly small gap. "That's incredible and I'm very proud of you, but you and Tali need to get to the Normandy right now!"

There was a pause, before Shepard's earpiece crackled with Liara's voice once again. "Is something wrong, Shepard?"

As if on cue, gunfire exploded into being behind Shepard, and peering over her shoulder she saw the two Cerberus shuttles drop down behind them. Flooring the scooter, she swerved over into the oncoming lane of traffic, dancing the scooter around approaching skycars that honked angrily at her. "Cerberus found us somehow, we gotta get off planet. Tell Joker to pick us up at the spaceport as soon as you two are onboard!"

At that moment, the traffic around them dissipated, leaving Shepard with an empty street ahead. Slamming the throttle back as far as it would go, she winced as the hum of the scooter kicked up to a strained whine as they jumped forwards. Now free to maneuver properly, Shepard sawed back and forth on the handle bars, jumping across lanes and between trees and street lights as erratically as she could. Each step of the way, the city exploded around her as torrents of gunfire shredded through trees and parked cars alike with impunity.

At each intersection they encountered, Shepard randomly picked a direction as late as possible before slamming the scooter to one side. Several times, the edge of the scooter's deck scraped noisily across the asphalt, kicking up clouds of sparks in an arc as they changed direction. After what felt like an eternity of touring the Serrice streets at maximum velocity, she heard the dry click of an empty weapon behind her, and shortly after Garrus shouted, "I'm all out of ammo!"

"We're almost at the spaceport!" Risking taking one hand off of the handlebar, she quickly keyed her earpiece. "Joker, this is Shepard. Is everyone on board yet?"

A moment of silence passed, during which Shepard plowed the scooter through a particularly large fern. Soon after, her earpiece cracked to life. "I read you, Shepard. We just picked up Tali and Liara, I'm on my way to the spaceport now."

A second voice rang out in Shepard's ear as Liara reactivated her own earpiece. "We'll be there soon, Shepard, are you two alright?"

Behind her, Garrus wrapped his second arm around Shepard's waist as he clutched the empty shotgun between both hands. "The way Shepard's driving, I'll be surprised if the soldiers chasing us are what actually kills us."

Tuning him out, Shepard barked out, "Joker, do not land at the spaceport, you hear me? I'm gonna pull the FPMU, so be ready to catch us."

Garrus' arms tightened slightly around her as the wind rushed past. "Actually, take that back, Shepard will absolutely kill us both."

Shepard banked the scooter around another turn, bumping roughly over the curb as she startled a flock of pigeons into taking flight noisily. Now directly down the street, the familiar sight of the Serrice Spaceport greeted them, complete with its usual busy crowds and several parked freighters loading passengers. Tightening her grip on the handlebar, Shepard yelled, "Joker, do you read me?"

The air rumbled with the sudden roar of engines, and glancing upwards Shepard smiled at the familiar boxy hull of the Normandy as it banked dangerously low above the skyscrapers above. "I read you Shep, one FPMU maneuver coming up."

Glancing back over her shoulder, Shepard's eyes widened as she saw the closer of the two Cerberus shuttles rapidly gaining ground. Grimacing, she swerved to one side and yanked on the break, then released it as the shuttle roared past in a burst of speed. Steering sharply in the opposite direction, Shepard jumped the scooter up onto the far sidewalk in an attempt to place as many parked cars between them and the stream of bullets from the shuttles now sandwiching them. After a moment, Shepard realized that Liara had started to speak again. "What is FPMU?"

A second later, the scooter rocketed across the final intersection and up into the spaceport plaza, and with a start Shepard was forced to reduce speed as she found herself weaving between a throng of surprised travelers. Looking forwards, she saw the shuttle ahead of her raise up into the air as the soldiers inside fired their rifles up into the air, scattering the thick crowd with screams of terror. As the civilians all dove to the ground or hid behind terminals, Shepard floored the scooter as the way before her opened up, racing at maximum speed towards the drop off to the harbor now only fifty, forty, thirty feet away. Her hear began pumping in overtime as adrenaline raced through her veins, and as the scooter zoomed out off the platform and into empty air, Shepard screamed, "Fucking Pick Me Up!"

Garrus and Shepard screamed as one, both unintelligible in their rush of pure terror as the scooter arced out and away from solid ground behind them and down towards the shimmering harbor hundreds of feet below. After a moment, Shepard found herself completely out of air and unable to inhale as Garrus' arms clenched her in a vice-like grip, before suddenly a rushing shadow appeared in her vision. Squinting through the rushing wind whipping past her, Shepard saw the prow of the Normandy racing towards her from below, the huge cargo bay doors open like a massive maw to swallow them up.

In seconds, the world went dark as the scooter flung both Shepard and Garrus directly into the awaiting Normandy cargo bay. Slamming the brake, Shepard swerved the scooter to the side as it screeched over the metal flooring, slamming through crates of supplies and workstations before finally flipping end over end and launching the pair across the bay. Briefly experiencing pure weightlessness, Shepard curled her arms up around her head a second before she slammed into the floor, skidding on her side across what felt like half the bay before slamming into a pile of empty crates. Across the deck, a similar sound of smashing equipment rang out as Garrus too finally slid to a stop, and not a moment later the massive bay door squealed shut as the engines of the Normandy flared to life.

"Good to have you back on board, Shepard." From her place underneath what felt like all of the Normandy's cargo manifest, Shepard let out a weak groan as her ears began to ring. Forcing herself to sit up with a groan, she shoved the splinters of a ruined crate off of her as she peered over to confirm Garrus had also survived their ordeal. As the turian blearily emerged from underneath a tangled mess of cabling, Joker's voice continued, "By the way, Chakwas is on her way to the cargo bay right now to kill you herself."

Shepard sighed and allowed herself to slide back onto the metal bay floor. Inhaling deeply, she let out a resigned sigh before wheezing out, "Good to be back."

A/N: hey gamers! this one took long as hell to write, which i do feel bad about. but also, i've been incredibly busy travelling all over and desperately getting a job so i can pay rent, so i don't feel too bad about it, you know? as far as a schedule goes tho, i would like it to be more regular, so i'm officially commiting to trying to get each remaining chapter out in three weeks or less. hopefully. we'll see!

anyways, hope you guys all like this chapter! i had fun writing it, and it's gotta kinda a little bit of everything in it from what i've been making for this so far. thank you again to anyone who leaves kudos or comments, this fic is already wildly more popular than i ever thought it would be and anything you guys leave for me to read always really makes my day. i love all of you who have read this far, you're all my favorites. here's looking forwards to the next chapter!