Solvitis, to his credit, didn't blink an eye.
"Stupid bitch threw up all over me," he growled, wiping the back of his hand against his damp shirt. "Figured she made the mess, she should have to clean it up."
But the excuse didn't do anything to dampen the suspicious expression on the asari leader's face. She stood with her hands folded behind her back, her purple eyes moving back and forth between the two of them. Liara felt like those eyes were burrowing directly inside her mind.
"Is that right, Dr. T'Soni?" Delaana turned her hard gaze toward Liara. "Feeling a little sick, were you?"
"Yes," Liara said, bowing her head deferentially. "I'm sorry."
"Watching Shepard and Miss Lawson get into the spirit of things a little too much for you, huh?" Delaana coldly smirked. "Not surprising, I suppose. Although... it's a funny thing..." She looked back at Solvitis, lips pursed. "Hawkins said somebody has been in the medbay recently. Stealing things out of the supply cabinet. Heard anything from the men about it, Solvitis?"
Solvitis laughed it off. "Come on, Delaana, you know these types of guys. Not like the Broker lets us have any dope up here or anything. Can't really be surprised that thugs like them would be raiding the drug stash, right?"
"'Thugs like them'?" Delaana repeated Solvitis's words quizzically. "Sounds like you think you're better than them. Are you, Solvitis? Are you better than them? Better than me, is that what you're saying?"
Solvitis withered a little at the furious look Delaana was giving him, but managed to keep calm. "Nah, just saying I don't do that shit, that's all. Put too much of that stuff in your body, throws your aim off, you know?"
Her brows still furrowed, Delaana gave her underling a toothy, predatory smile. "You've got a point there, I suppose. And yeah, Hawkins said that whoever it was swiped a lot of painkillers, hallucinogenics, stuff like that." She paused a moment, and then put a finger to the corner of her mouth. "Although weird thing, there was one thing they stole that didn't make a lot of sense to me. Some sort of ipecac solution. You know what ipecac is, Solvitis?"
Solvitis shook his head. "Nah, like I said, don't use any dope or ipecac or anything like that. But I'll keep an ear to the ground. If I figure out who stole the shit, I'll..."
"It's actually a lot like you," Delaana raised her voice to interrupt him. "Ipecac, that is. By which I mean, both tend to make somebody want to puke." She sneered at the turian in disdain. "So, I'm thinking it's a strange coincidence, you know? That somebody steals a supply of ipecac one day, and then the next day Dr. T'Soni suddenly heaves her lunch all over you. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but doesn't that sound funny to you, too?"
"Yeah, that... oh, shit." Solvitis said. "Oh, those bastards! Those rotten bastards!" Leaning his head back, he barked out laughter. "I should have known!"
Delaana frowned. "What exactly are you babbling about?"
"That's why the bitch puked up!" Solvitis said, pointing a talon back at Liara. "Those bastards slipped it into her food without telling me! Dammit, I knew they were going to get me back for what I did to them back in that bar on Omega eventually. But damned if they didn't still catch me by surprise!" Chuckling, Solvitis shook his head. "I'm gonna have to come up with something damn good to pay them back for this one!"
"In her food," Delaana deadpanned, not sharing in Solvitis's mirth. "You're saying that somebody slipped her the ipecac in her food?"
"That has to have been it," Solvitis said. "It just makes too much sense."
Delaana quirked her lips. "Yes, of course. So much sense. That your teammates slipped this ipecac – which, incidentally, was an injection, not oral – into Dr. T'Soni's food, knowing that you would choose exactly the moment it would take effect to get up real close to her and get puked on," Delaana crossed her arms under her chest. "Gotta say, that's one hell of a prank they pulled, considering there's no chance in hell it should have actually fucking worked."
Solvitis's jaw gaped open wordlessly, his cool and flippant demeanor shattered.
"Listen, you fuck," Delaana took two steps towards him, standing inches away from his face. "I know all about you and your past. C-Sec. The dead asari. You think I don't know about what you're fucking up to here? You think I'm a fucking moron, huh?"
"Delaana, I don't know what you're..."
"Save it, you fuck," Delaana cut him off again. "All the time you've been spending around her, whispering those secret little messages," she turned to Liara. "What's he been telling you, huh? That he's really a sweet guy? That if you just trust him and follow his lead, he'll get you out of this terrible situation?"
Liara didn't know what to do, what answer would even help at this point, so she simply said nothing.
"Thought so," Delaana said. "Know why we brought this guy in, Dr. T'Soni? Honestly, I didn't want to, but the Broker went over my head. Because he figured that a serial rapist and murderer would be the perfect fit for this little assignment." Delaana cocked her head and grinned darkly. "Oh, did he leave out that part? Did he tell you he was just a misunderstood orphan, who turned to crime to support his poor dying little sister, and only did bad things because he had no other choice? Bullshit. The Broker got hold of his C-Sec records, and I don't think you'll be too fond of your new friend when you find out what his real story is."
Liara struggled to keep her expression blank, even as she was starting to realize that something strange was going on here. Delaana was acting like she had all the answers, but if that were the case, Solvitis would already be dead. So what the hell was she talking about?
"He was a small-time hood until he and his asari girlfriend hooked up with the Blue Suns. Oh, they were quite an adorable couple... until Solvitis here had a few too many and decided it might be fun to torture her to death. Even the Suns have limits, unfortunately for Solly here, and they shot him up and left him for dead when they found out. But a fucker like this doesn't go down easy. Tracked down the folks who double-crossed him and carved them up just like he did his girlfriend. Coroner reports say he paid special attention to the females."
Liara glanced over at Solvitis, who was trying his best to look stern and uncaring. When he saw her looking, the turian gave her a quick nod, and Liara understood. It was his cover story. The fake background he and his comrades had composed to get him into the Shadow Broker's employ. His cover wasn't broken after all. Liara kept her eyes on the floor to hide the relief that washed over her.
"After he finished his business with the Blue Suns, Solvitis went freelance after that," Delaana continued her speech, her voice filled with disdain for her hireling. "Piracy, mercenary work. The bloodier the better. And he just loved to take hostages," Delaana scowled at Solvitis. "Especially asari. Witness records say he would sweet-talk them, play the part of the misunderstood criminal with a heart of gold. And then, once they trusted him completely, that's when he would tie them down, rape them until he'd had his fill, and then start cutting off pieces of their flesh." Turning her angry stare at him, she sneered. "How many were you up to at last count, huh? Fourteen? Fifteen?"
Solvitis shrugged, his voice cold and emotionless. "Dunno. After a while, you kinda lose track." "You f..." Delaana bit back the words, snapping her stare back to Liara. "So that's who you've been palling around with the past few days, Dr. T'Soni. A sick fucking serial rapist and murderer, who's just trying to get you to trust him before he slices you open like a piece of meat." Whirling back to Solvitis, she jabbed a finger into his chest. "But that ain't gonna fucking happen, you hear me? Obviously I can't trust you to control yourself around Dr. T'Soni. So you're on general guard duty from now on. I don't want you setting foot in her cell, or in the mess hall, from now on. You even get within ten feet of her, and I'll show you what it's like to go up against an asari who can fight back for once. You understand?"
The turian nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
Delaana glared at him. "Well? You heard me, didn't you? Get the fuck out of here!"
Solvitis quickly turned and walked away, leaving Liara alone in the hallway with Delaana. The asari mercenary quivered in rage as she watched the turian depart. Her fists were clenched tightly, and when she finally calmed down, Liara could see light trails of blue trickling from the wounds her fingernails had left in her palms.
"One rule," Delaana muttered, barely loud enough for Liara to hear. "One rule I give these bastards, and they can't even manage to not fuck that up." Turning to Liara, Delaana's voice was level and calm again. "I don't know how much of his bullshit you bought, but don't. Every last one of these men were brought in specifically because they were the kind of sick perverts that would enjoy the sort of treatment we're giving your friends. They're rapists and killers, every last one of them."
"Including you?" Liara responded, remembering Delaana gleefully melding with Miranda and watching her writhe in agony.
Delaana broke eye contact with Liara as she answered. "Yeah, including me." Turning, Delaana started walking away from Liara. "Find your own way back to your cell. I'm sure you know the way by now."
* * *
When Liara returned to her cell, the door was ajar, and the sounds of ecstatic groans were coming from the open portal.
"Yeah, you like that, don't you?" asked a man's voice. "You like that fat cock inside that tight little asshole, don't you?"
And Liara leaned hard against the wall outside the door when she heard the response. "Fuck yeah," Shepard moaned. "Pull my hair while you fuck me. Harder, dammit! Fuck me just like that, yeah!"
Liara couldn't bring herself to enter, staying outside the room while whichever of Delaana's henchmen it was raped Shepard. The rhythmic slap of flesh against flesh, and Shepard's overblown whorish moans seemed loud enough to fill the entire ship. After what seemed like an hour of the horrible sounds, she heard the man in the cell start grunting, and Shepard made sure to cry out in mock pleasure as his cum no doubt filled up her asshole. A few seconds after the grunts ceased, Liara could hear people moving, following by Shepard starting to moan again.
"Yeah, there you go," the man said. "Lick it all out. You're such a good little ass eater, aren't you? Think you might be starting to like it."
From the wet slurping sounds Liara now heard, she didn't need to be in the cell to know what was happening. And if she had any doubts, Shepard's next words put those to rest. "Mmm, yes. Lick up all that cum, Miranda. Get that tongue deep inside my ass." From the sound of it, she was throwing herself completely into the role of the broken, horny slave. To the point where Liara worried that she might be laying it on a bit too thick.
As the sounds of Miranda lapping up cum from Shepard's ass continued, Yuri walked out of the cell, adjusting his belt. He seemed mildly surprised at first to see Liara there by herself, but then gave her a gap-toothed grin. "Think your friends are starting to enjoy themselves a little. Pity you can't join the fun." Whistling to himself, Yuri casually strolled away. Liara waited until he was gone before stepping into the cell. Inside, Miranda's face was still buried between Shepard's asscheeks, the once-proud Cerberus operative trying her best to put her tongue as far up Shepard's ass as possible. With Miranda in such a position, and Shepard's eyes closed in faux ecstasy, they must not have even noticed Yuri had left.
"He's gone," Liara said. When this didn't elicit a response from either of the human women, she raised her voice. "Miranda, Shepard! He's gone. You can stop now."
Slowly, as if in a trance, Miranda pulled away from Shepard, Yuri's cum dripping down her chin. She stared over at Liara, her eyes glazed over and distant, and for a second Liara wondered if Miranda even recognized her. But eventually, she nodded and returned to the corner of the cell, eyes down at the floor.
Shepard, meanwhile, stood up and faced Liara. Lips quivering, Liara rushed forward to embrace Shepard. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I'm..."
"It was just an act," Shepard whispered back. "Just to keep them from getting suspicious. All just an act."
"I know, I know," Liara said, squeezing Shepard tightly.
But Shepard kept talking. "Just an act. That's all it was. Just pretending. Just an act."
Liara sobbed into Shepard's shoulder. How could she have been so cruel? To get into a fight over their relationship now, when all they had to try and keep each other sane in this situation was each other. Pulling Shepard down to sit on the floor with her, Liara kissed her deeply, the taste of her lips mingling with the salt of her tears.
Later that night, as she drifted off to sleep, she heard Shepard's voice just before the world faded to black.
"Just an act. All just an act. That's all it is."