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Slaves of Cerberus	By : NakedOwlMan Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 138070 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: Mass Effect and all the characters in it are owned by people that are not me. I have not made a cent off this work of fiction

Chapter List
- 10
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It was a good long while after Brooks and the clone had left the cabin before either of them spoke. Finally, Liara lightly cleared her throat and said, "Well, all things considered... being trapped in a Prothean containment field doesn't seem so bad at the moment."

Shepard looked over at her, and said, "Yeah, once we get out of this, if I ever complain about those months I spent in Alliance custody... do me a favor and give me a biotic slap right to the face."

This made Liara smile, and the look of relief in her eyes made Shepard smile as well. Shepard was sure it was the certainty she had put in her voice, the lack of doubt that this whole situation would end any way other than all of them freed, and their enemies defeated.

Shepard was glad she could make Liara believe that. She only hoped she could figure out a way to make herself believe it as well.

"What's the plan, Shepard?" Liara asked her, as Shepard began pacing around the captain's cabin. Again, that complete faith in her, that Shepard would find a way out of this.

Shepard searched for something to say, to confirm that confidence, but came up empty. "Don't see a lot of ways out of this for us at the moment," she said, as she walked over to a drawer and started pulling out clothing. Damned if she was going to sit around naked, especially when these clothes were hers, anyway. "They've removed everything from the room that could possibly be used as a weapon."

"And even if we could find one," Liara said, "and the two of them entered the room without noticing, there are the security measures to take into account."

Shepard sighed as she tossed on a tank-top and a set of sweats. "Times like this, I really miss EDI. They wouldn't have gotten this ship ten feet away from the Citadel without her locking down the controls and flooding the entire ship with knockout gas."

She thought again about her dream, about that feeling of being punished for wiping out EDI and the geth. Was this her hell after all? Trapped in a prison she could have easily been freed from if she hadn't killed the one person who would have had the key?

"I know it's terrible, Shepard," Liara said, as she walked over to lay a hand on her lover's shoulder, "But I think our best plan for right now is to just play along with their games. They seem to get some sort of sick thrill out of tormenting us. If we want to stay alive long enough to find a way out of this, or for our friends to track us down, we can't give them a reason to want to kill us."

"Dammit, I can't believe I trusted her," Shepard said, as she selected some clothing for Liara to dress herself in. "Should have seen through that idiotic fake personality in seconds. I was as blind as the Council was when I went to them about Saren."

Liara smiled gently at her. "Saren had a geth arm and wires coming out of his head, Shepard. Miss Brooks didn't exactly have a Cerberus sigil tattooed on her forehead, you know. Nobody could blame you for not seeing through her deception."

"I can," Shepard said, rubbing at her scalp and her now closely-cropped red hair. Turning to face Liara, Shepard handed her some garments. "Liara, when I shot that conduit and set off the Crucible, I was sure in that moment that I would die. And I wasn't afraid because... because it was only me. But if those bitches do something to you, if they..." Shepard averted her eyes. "Then it's my fault."

"We're going to survive this, Shepard," Liara said, as she took the clothes from her. "And when you kill them, I'm going to be right there beside you, I promise."

Now fully-clothed, Shepard felt a little calmer. Their captors had been right about one thing: she could fool herself into believing that this whole thing wasn't happening, at least for a little bit. In this familiar space, a room that had been her second home for years now, she sat on the edge of the bed – her bed, dammit – and composed herself.
Liara sat down beside her, leaning into her body. "Still hard to believe. That someone would actually try to bring back Cerberus. After all that happened, the invasion of the Citadel... it was one thing when they were indoctrinating people to the cause. That anyone would join the organization of their own free will..."

Shepard reached her arm around Liara's waist, feeling comfort in having her beloved next to her. "That's the thing about us humans sometimes, Liara. One of our big faults: a lot of us like to look for the easy answers. It's been years since we beat the Reapers, and yet we still haven't fully recovered. Earth may have been able to start rebuilding quickly, but the job's not done yet. People are suffering, and they want to look for someone to point the finger at." Sighing, Shepard laid her other hand on Liara's in her lap. "All it takes is a few loud voices, telling them that aliens are to blame, and that they'd all be happier if they were gone... and I'm afraid too many people are going to listen."

"Still, you would think they'd at least choose a different name," Liara said. "Considering most every other member of Cerberus's upper echelon is either dead, or has renounced ever having been a part of it."

"Never would have thought I'd regret the Alliance granting me an exemption for the whole 'former members of Cerberus get a tracking chip,'" Shepard said ruefully. "Garrus and all the rest of the team would have been storming the Normandy before we ever left the Local Cluster."

"You think Commander Taylor was able to get to our friends in time?" Liara asked.

"I'm sure," Shepard said, stroking Liara's hand in an attempt to reassure her. "He may still be a little messed up after what happened with Dr. Cole, but he's a good soldier. And I'm sure the Alliance and the Council are throwing everything they've got behind finding us." Shepard smiled wryly. "Well, what little they have. Times like this, makes me wish I'd pushed a little bit harder for everyone to start rebuilding their fleets after the war."

"Nobody saw a reason to," Liara said. "The Reapers were destroyed, and all the races were too battered by the war to want to start any new conflicts. It's hard to motivate people to prepare for war, when there's no enemies to fight."

Shepard scowled. "Short-sighted... There won't ever be a world without enemies. The pirates are back to plundering the Terminus systems. Hell, we never did find out what happened to that son of a bitch Balak after the batarians dissolved the Hegemony and formed a new government. Plenty of threats still out there, and we don't have the firepower to match them."

"Even so, there are still enough ships to search most of the galaxy," Liara said. "They'll find us, sooner or later."

"Right," Shepard said, trying her best to sound convinced. She had to stay strong, for Liara's sake if nothing else. "Just got to keep our heads down, and wait for the cavalry to arrive."

There was a moment of silence between them, the two of them just finding what enjoyment they could in the silent – and rape-free – moment between them. Finally, though, Liara spoke up. "Shepard, I wanted to ask... what was the secret you were going to tell me about at the ceremony? Since I believe that our arrival there is going to be delayed somewhat."

Shepard looked over at Liara, stroking her cheek tenderly. "I'll tell you when we get out of this," she said. "Now isn't the time."

Liara gave Shepard a thin smile, and Shepard could tell right away she wasn't happy with the answer, but was willing to accept it for now. "Something to look forward to, then."

For the next few hours, they laid down on the bed, holding each other in silence. It reminded Shepard of that night during the Reaper War, the two of them staring up at the stars above them. "It would be easy for a single ship to get lost up there, wouldn't it?" Liara had said. At the time, it was a romantic notion: the idea of the two of them leaving behind the problems of the galaxy and just living out the rest of their lives in some remote, faraway place. Now, though, it was a painful reminder that they were in one ship – one very hard-to-find ship – and that it could be a very long time before anyone tracked them down.
Closing her eyes, Shepard thought of the house on Earth. The one she had planned to take Liara to, where they quietly live their lives, raise a family... and leave the war and misery that had dominated their lives behind.

"We'll still get there, Liara," Shepard thought. "I promise you that. We'll have that house on Earth. The little blue children. All of it."

Shepard's hopeful thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door chime. "Guess it's time for us to play our parts," Liara said, any traces of a smile now gone from her face.

Slowly, the two of them rose to their feet, and followed their orders to move to the wall and stand in position. Shepard tried to pretend that it was just another Alliance training drill, that she was back in basic and the worst thing that was coming was a good chewing out by her training officer. But the dull soreness still present in her groin was a constant reminder that 50 pushups and 10 laps around the camp would be heavenly compared to their current predicament.

Once they had reached the proper spot, the door to the cabin opened. Shepard fought not to breathe an audible sigh, as she saw that it was not their captors arriving, but a male crew member with two covered trays. "Stay where you are," said the man in the Cerberus uniform, laying the food down on the table by the couches. "You don't move from that position until I leave the room, understand?"

Shepard and Liara nodded, standing at attention in their spot against the wall.

"Hmmph. Look at you two, all nice and obedient," the crewman said with a sneer in his voice. "Before you eat, the bosses told me to give you ladies some entertainment." Shepard glanced down to see a name on his uniform: "CRAYMAN". "Said they were worried you were getting bored up here, with all your talk about the Alliance and Council coming to your rescue. Thought you might want to watch a few extranet vids."

Shepard betrayed no emotion, but inside she was cursing herself. Of course they've been listening in all this time, Shepard. They'd be stupid not to. And here you are talking with Liara about all your ideas for escaping.

Stepping over to a panel, Crayman activated a viewscreen. "The nightly news is on, you know. And you're the top story. It's all anyone's been talking about for a while now," he said, as the screen flared to life.

It didn't surprise Shepard: her abduction by Cerberus probably would rate a major news event. But the way the sneering crewman said it put her on edge. Something was off.

"... a day since the disruption of the Crucible Day celebrations, and the galaxy is still in shock," said Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani, sitting at her news desk with an image of Shepard's face over her shoulder.

It was odd, though: it wasn't a picture that Shepard remembered. Of course, she'd been photographed hundreds of times during and after the war. But this particular shot of her, standing at the CIC of the Normandy, didn't ring any bells. Was it one Allers had taken, or...

The picture then expanded to fill the screen, and turned into video. And as soon as "she" started speaking, Shepard knew that it wasn't her. Even before the xenophobic slurs began flying from the clone's mouth on the video.

Shepard felt her blood begin to boil as she watched the clone pretend to be her, while pissing all over everything the rest of the galaxy had done to help defeat the Reapers. She waited for some indication on the screen, some text at the bottom like "The Clone of Commander Shepard."

But no. Right below the video of her denouncing all of alienkind was simply "COMMANDER SHEPARD, 1 DAY AGO."

Dammit, how could anybody believe for a second that she would say things like that? She had hoped the combined word of Jacob, Garrus, and all the other people who had been there in the Archives would be enough to convince the Council and Alliance that there was a Shepard clone on the loose. But it seemed the Council were being their old helpful selves, and while Shepard was sure the Alliance would have her back, there was only so much they could do with the limited fleet that had been rebuilt.
"Asked for comment on Commander Shepard's speech, and her resignation from the Alliance and as a Spectre, both Alliance and Council representatives have denounced Shepard, and vowed that she would be taken into custody if she ever emerges from hiding," al-Jilani was saying on the newscast. "But there are some who applaud her words, and believe she is expressing frustrations that have been left unsaid for too long."

The video displayed to show Charles Saracino, standing in front of a small but vocal crowd somewhere on Earth. "None of us are saying we are ungrateful to these other races for their assistance during Earth's brave fight against the Reapers," Saracino proclaimed. "But the war is over now. And maybe it's time for humanity to ask: How much gratitude is too much? Why should we allow these aliens to make their homes on Earth, taking our land for their own? How many years will it be before humanity is a minority on its own planet?"

The crowd cheered, and the sound of it filled Shepard with disgust. How many of these people would have been mindless husks, if it hadn't been for the other races sacrificing their own people to help save humanity?

"Strong words from Mr. Saracino, and it looks like some people are taking them to heart," al-Jilani said, as the camera shifted back to her. Over her shoulder were videos from scenes on Earth. Shaken aliens being comforted, and spray-paint on walls. "Several reports have emerged on Earth of violence against aliens, homes being vandalized with pro-humanity slogans and Cerberus insignias. Are these just a few scattered incidents, as Earth officials are claiming? Or signs of a larger anti-alien movement within the human population? We here at Westerlund News intend to follow this story as it dev..."

Crayman shut off the video feed and chuckled to himself. "If only they knew the truth, huh?" he said, giving Liara a withering glare. "But then, these goddamned aliens would have been too stupid to keep themselves from being Reaper food, if humans hadn't stepped up and held them by the hand the whole way through."

"Pity that we're so unintelligent," Liara said, the mildest trace of sarcasm in her voice. "Unlike yourself, casting in your lot with an organization that was nearly exterminated during the Reaper War, and is currently run by two insane rapists."

Crayman stepped casually over to Shepard and shrugged. "Well, considering the person who defeated us the last time is standing right here, defenseless and following all of my orders... I'd say the new Cerberus is doing alright so far."

Liara watched in disgust as the crewman reached up and starting groping one of Shepard's breasts. "Isn't that right, alien loving bitch?" he asked her. "We've got you right where we want you now. I can do whatever I want to you, and you'd just have to smile and take it. Brooks and the other Shepard, they've got you whipped right into shape, don't they?"

"Maybe they do," Shepard said, keeping her expression neutral even as the perverted crewman's hand pawed all over her breasts. "But there's a big difference, Mr. Crayman, between what they have, and what you have."

"Oh?" Crayman said, his attention locked on Shepard's tits. "And what would that be?"

"They have a shock rod," Shepard said to him. "While you... just have these."

And with a sharp jerk, Shepard brought her knee up hard between Crayman's legs. There was a satisfying thump, and Crayman let out a strangled squeal, his hands immediately leaving Shepard's breasts to clutch at his groin.

"Y... you..." Crayman struggled to speak through the pain. "You're going to... pay for this! They're gonna... gonna..."

Grabbing Crayman by the shoulders, Liara shut her eyes, and drove her head forward, her forehead striking the human's nose with a sick crunch. Crayman reared backwards with a keening cry, blood dripping down from his nostrils from the impact.

"Well, whatever they're 'gonna' do, guess they're 'gonna' have to do it to this stupid alien bitch, too," Liara said, watching Crayman with a smirk as he clutched his nose in one hand, and his groin in the other.
"You bitches!" Crayman whined, his voice somewhat muffled with his likely broken nose. "I swear I'll..." Whatever threat he was about to level at them was cut off with a terrified squeal, as both women took a step towards him. Quick as he could, the crewman fled out of the room and into the lift.

Shepard looked over at Liara and grinned. "Taking after that krogan granddad of yours, I see."

"I suppose so," Liara said, smiling as well before the euphoria of the brief victory faded. "You know that we'll be punished for that."

Shepard nodded. "I know. Sorry."

Looking over her shoulder at the now-closed door, Liara shrugged it off. "It was still worth it," she said to Shepard.

"Yeah," Shepard said, her mind summoning up an unwanted image of Liara jolting against the pain of the shock rod. "We should probably eat before..."

"Yes," Liara agreed, and the glee from getting one over on one of their captors faded as they ate, fully aware of what was likely to come when their two sadistic "mistresses" returned.
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Slaves of Cerberus