Adult-FanFiction.org : Games

A Helping Hand	By : MercurAlav Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 9238 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor the characters from it. I make no money from writing this story.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
(Several hours earlier)

Ferik was starting to get annoyed. Not a day had gone by this week that someone wasn't suggesting that she was working herself too hard.

It was sad, really. She'd chased down a rogue Spectre, saved the Council, come back from death and destroyed a Collector base, and only -now- people were questioning if she was working herself too hard?

'Don't want the tool to burn out when the galaxy isn't threatened,' she thought bitterly, stalking through the engineering decks. Kelly had been the first to bring it up, a gentle reminder that had grown a bit more insistent as the Commander paced from deck to deck without rest. By the third day Shepard had been so irritated by the reminders that she'd snapped and told the yeoman to mind her own business. Kelly, poor naive Kelly, had pushed the matter by saying that the Commander's well-being was her business. The counselor had narrowly avoided the tablet thrown at her head before Shepard went stalking through the doors into the armory.

Kasumi had mentioned something about it when Ferik walked into the port observation deck to pour herself a drink after dealing with Kelly. "That's, what, your third one in the past few hours? Maybe you should take it easy." Shepard had merely grunted before filling the glass to the top and downing the contents in one quick go. "You could always go work out with Jacob," the thief merrily continued as she slid off the couch and approached her, oblivious to the woman's growing anger. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind getting a good look at your-"

"Will you knock it off?" The retort had been sharp and unexpected, and Kasumi had instinctively taken a few steps back.

"Shepard, are you alright?" The eyes under the hood had been concerned. Concern was the last thing she wanted right now.

"I'm -fine-." She'd slammed the glass down hard enough to crack it and stomped out of the room, leaving the thief cringing against the window in her wake.

Word had traveled around the ship quickly, and by the end of the week Shepard had snapped at almost every single one of her team. Garrus had been sent back to engineering practically cowering; the Spectre had told him that if he hadn't bothered to tear himself away from his damned calibrations and notice something before, then he had no bloody right to start asking now. Zaeed and Jack had stayed out of her way, both of them recognizing the look in her eyes and having no intention of being near someone that pissed off at the world. Jacob had made the mistake of asking while she was cleaning her guns and gotten the muzzle of a pistol shoved under his chin. He'd made a habit of being elsewhere when she was in the armory now.

As Shepard stepped off the elevator onto the third deck and headed towards the medical bay, the chatter of the crew that had been prevalent died quickly upon sight of their Commander and the scowl on her face. The doors hissed open to Tali and Dr. Chakwas looking over several notes. Both of them looked up on her arrival.

"Something you need, Shepard?" Dr. Chakwas was, as always, completely unphased by the sight of a soldier with a chip on her shoulder. She'd been an Alliance doctor for too many years to let someone's mood affect her or her work.

"Mind telling the crew to back the hell off? I've had half the team up my ass asking me what's wrong, and I don't feel like dealing with it at the moment." The doctor raised an eyebrow at her even as Tali mumbled an apology and fled to the AI core to escape the Commander's wrath. Even dealing with Legion was a safer bet than a pissed off Shepard.

"Is there something wrong?"

Ferik twitched hard, fist slamming into the desk. Dr. Chakwas just stood up and made her way over to the Commander to lay a soothing hand on her shoulder.

"Nothing is wrong." Shepard managed through gritted teeth. Dr. Chakwas shook her head.

"That may fly with the rest of your crew, but not with me. You've been storming around the decks all week."

"I said, I'm fine!" The Spectre turned, a snarl forming on her lips. It died in the face of the ship's medic scowling heavily at her.

"You will -not- take that tone with me. Your team has a right to be concerned. You've been working yourself too hard and taking it out on the rest of the crew."

Shepard felt a retort rising in her, but the sensation of the older woman's hand grabbing her by the back of her armor killed it just as quickly. "You came storming into my medical bay obviously wanting attention, so you're going to get it." All eyes turned and stared as the commander was marched out of the medical bay by Dr. Chakwas, guided over to the kitchen, and sat forcibly down on one of the stools. Even the mess sergeant was gaping.

"Gardner." The sergeant snapped to attention. "Ma'am!"

"If you would be so kind, please cook up a meal for Commander Shepard and do not let her leave until she has finished every last bit of it. If she should try and sneak off before she's done, let me know and I'll handle it." The medic fixed Ferik with a warning glare before disappearing back into the medical bay, doors snapping shut behind her.

Shepard was too much in shock from being shot down by Dr. Chakwas to notice the glance that had been exchanged between the medic and the cook, and the vial of liquid that even now was being mixed into her 'special' meal.

She barely noticed when the food was set in front of her until Gardner got her attention. "You might want to eat before the doctor comes back out here," he murmured, handing her a fork. She nodded numbly, digging in without a second thought. The mess sergeant looked up, meeting Chakwas' eyes through the medbay windows, and gave her a slight nod. The doctor returned the gesture and began typing out a message to send once she was sure Shepard was upstairs.

Shepard had barely made it up the elevator before collapsing on her bed in a heap. She'd felt fine before the meal. No, that was a lie. She'd been a force of nature around the decks, a typhoon of emotion that threatened to rip apart anything in its path before Dr. Chakwas had challenged the storm. Now that she'd eaten and been herded up to her quarters, she realized how tired she was. She still had so many things to do before she could sleep, though. She had to check on the engines, had to make sure Joker was remembering to eat between trading quips with EDI, had to...

She just managed to shimmy out of her vest and pants before the sedative took over.

The shuttle ride up to the Normandy was nerve-wracking. Liara could hear the groaning of the hull against the storm, and she had to hope that the last maintenance on this ship had been thorough. The storms on Hagalaz would rip it apart otherwise.

'Like the Collector beam did the Normandy.' The thought flitted across her mind before she could stop it. 'No. Anything but that.' She bit her lower lip, tasting a bit of blood as her eyes closed in silent reflection. It felt like hours of praying to the Goddess for safe passage before she broke the atmosphere and the sleek shape of the Normandy came into view. The comm crackled into life.

"Shuttle from Hagalaz, this is the Normandy. That you, Liara, or did one of your liutenants decide to take the craft out for a joyride?"

The asari had to chuckle. Joker had earned his nickname well. "It's me, Joker. Dr. Chakwas told me what was going on."

The pilot's tone turned serious. "I'm glad to hear your voice, Liara. The Commander... Well, you'll figure it out when you get on board. She's up in her quarters right now, and EDI says that she should be asleep by now, though no guarantee when the sedative will wear off." There was a sigh. "Opening the doors for you. Elevator will be to your right; just take it straight up. Good luck."

"Understood. Thanks, Joker."

"No, thank -you-, Liara. You manage to fix whatever mood she's in, and I'll make you breakfast for a week."

The elevator was easy enough to find in the shuttle bay, though she did turn a few heads as she passed. It was a bit hard not to; after all, it wasn't every day that an asari landed on the Normandy, especially not one dressed the way she was.

Shepard and she were roughly the same size, and the Commander had once joked that the sight of Liara wearing her clothes was a rather attractive one. The asari might have nicked some of her clothing after that comment, fully intending to call Ferik's buff. Shorts hugged the curve of her bottom, and the N-7 t-shirt that kept her modesty intact still smelled like Shepard after a workout.

Liara ignored the looks and whispers traveling around the bay. She was here for one person and one alone. Let the rumors circulate through the ship. It was common knowledge that she and Shepard had a history, and the looks they had given each other on the asari's last visit were not ones that simple friendship evoked.

It was a short enough ride up to the Captain's quarters, the doors hissing open for her without any challenge. That was probably EDI's doing. Liara doubted Shepard would be okay with crew members sneaking up here while she was asleep. She had to wonder if Yeoman Chambers had ever tried it; that human could make an Ardat-Yakshi blush.

The lights had been dimmed a bit, but it was still enough to see by. Liara placed her bag softly on the floor before quietly making her way past the fish tanks and down the few steps to the bedroom. The tiling was cold under her bare feet, but she barely felt it with her eyes focused on the figure in the bed.

Even in sleep, Shepard looked exhausted. There were a few lines etched in her face, dark circles under her eyes, and even her normally vibrant crimson hair had grown lackluster. The scar that she'd had on her left cheek since Liara had first met her stood out starkly, a reminder of her time on the streets of Earth. In addition, there were a few glowing orange lines that had appeared along her brows and other cheek; Liara remembered Dr. Chakwas explaining the reconstruction behind Shepard's rebirth and how stress could aggravate the synthetics now embedded in the Spectre's skin.

The asari bit her lower lip. Was this because of her, or was it something else causing her lover distress? She slid quietly onto the bed next to Shepard, being careful not to disturb the human, and began tracing the exposed skin of her arms with light, feathery caresses.
- 1
- 2
- 3
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

A Helping Hand