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Turnabout-	By : Spiritwolf71 Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 7688 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This story takes place within Bioware's Mass Effect Universe, their creative property. I do not own any of Bioware's stories or characters or locations. The Author recieved no money from this story and is writing it purely for entertainment.

Chapter List
- 2
- 3
- 4
Notes: I’m going with the photo of Tali from the game, you really still can’t see much because of the sun, but I’ll go with my interpretation of it.
Chapter 3
The day had been nicer then the weather man had predicted, not that Liara ever had great faith in them. They had predicted that it would be partly cloudy but the sun shone bright in the sky with no cloud to be seen. This was Memorial Day, it was meant to be a nice day, even though she had quietly hoped it would rain so they would have to cancel. She closed her eyes as she stood by herself, letting the warm Earth Sun beat down on her. The air that was usually fresh was full of things she had never smelt before.
Not that it was bad, quiet opposite actually. Some of the scents even made her stomach growl. She had tried so many different things already, Beaver Tails, pogoes; something called a doughnut and cotton candy. She had to say that she had never experienced anything like cotton candy before and she would have to find more before the day was over.
She wished she could have shared this day with Shepard. Liara was not really sure that this was the Commanders “thing” but it still would have been nice to share it. To walk down the main drag listening to people scream as they risked their lives on wild looking rides. Maybe Shepard would have played a game or two and win her one of the funny looking stuffed dolls. She personally wanted the stuffed Garrus doll.
This was really not Cayle’s scene, she was a much more of a private person. The only times Liara had really even seen her in the spot light was when some reporter put her there or when Diana Allers would do an interview on the Normandy. Even then Shepard never really looked comfortable.
Liara took a deep breath, and opened her eyes. They rested on the statue that had been erected in Cayle’s honour on the first anniversary. Liara had hated it then and she still hated it now. It showed Shepard in her N7 Armour, which she only wore on special occasions. She was looking down at some invisible enemy with her pistol drawn. She hated that they would chose to remember Shepard in such an intimidating way.
Liara’s memory of her was so different. Caring, compassionate, strong; she was only intimidating when she needed to be. She had never once heard Shepard yell, even when she was angry.
Liara moved to a bench and sat down beside a young girl who was throwing her food at some rather large birds. She smiled then returned her gaze to the statue.
“Have I ever told you how beautiful you are in the morning?” She remembered; two days before the first Normandy had been destroyed. Shepard gave her one of her wonderful lopsided grins and ran her fingers down her arms. Liara had shivered at the touch. She always loved when Cayle did that; cuddle up behind her and just run her fingers ever so softly over her skin, “Even when the sun it artificial.”
Liara had laughed that morning; the future so bright and full of promise. “One day we will wake up on a beach on Earth,” she sighed and turned to Shepard, kissing her lightly, “Just the two of us, in a bamboo home.”
Shepard laughed. “Do you even know what Bamboo is?” She asked playfully.
“Well, no, not really,” Liara confessed. “Just that it’s some sort of wood that I have heard people talk about.” She smiled as Shepard laughed. She loved the way Cayle laughed.
“We will wake up some morning in a Bamboo home on a beach on Earth,” Shepard then stated, but grew sober and placed gently rested her forehead on Liara’s.
“Cayle?”
“I don’t know Liara,” she said honestly. “I just can’t see ahead and; I worry. I worry about you and what you would do if anything ever.” She stopped and looked into Liara’s eyes. “There’s war coming. Sovereign was just the first, it bugs me that the council has dismissed this. If we don’t prepare I don’t think we will make it.”
“They will prepare, they have to,” Liara countered.
“I don’t know; I just, I never want to hurt you or cause you pain,” her fingers gently caressed the Asari’s cheek.
“You won’t,” Liara said feeling a stir deep in her stomach, like a panic. Did Shepard know something she didn’t?
Cayle obviously sensed the panic in the young Asari and smiled slightly. “I love you,” She kissed her deeply. Liara thought she was going to melt right into the human as Shepard wrapped her arms around her.
Liara sighed looking away from the statue trying to relish in the memory; but it glided away as she looked around to the child feeding the birds. She would go to the beach before she left Earth.
“I don’t like it either,” Garrus spoke up from behind her. Liara stood and turned to him. “It’s missing something.”
Liara looked back to the statue. “It looks like her, somewhat.”
“It’s missing a certain Turrian standing with her.” He said then looked to the ground. “There is no Shepard without Vikarian.” He said in a soft voice.
“Or T’Soni.” Liara added placing a hand on Garrus’ shoulder.
“She was one of a kind Liara.” Garrus said, “She never stood alone, she always had her crew.”
“Except at the end,” Liara said before she could stop herself. That was probably the bitterest part about everything. Both Liara and Garrus had been taken out of the rush and Shepard had continued on alone. It crushed her heart to think about it. It was quiet for a few moments.
Garrus looked around then rested his eyes on Tali and the children as she moved in a line up for a ride. Garrus simply could not see himself sitting in a little toy like Normandy and floating around in a circle. He could not bring himself to even try. The children had wanted to go and Tali made the sacrifice.
“Do you think Shepard would want this?” he asked, “Rides and fairs and carnivals; giant statues?” He looked. “Stuff dollies? I mean…” He stopped.
“I don’t know Garrus; I do know that she would like the fact that they had the freedom to plan something like this,” Liara answered.
“Do you,” he paused as if he wasn’t sure if he should continue. “Still think she is alive.”
Liara looked back to the statue. “I don’t think she’s gone. I can’t, I have tried but something deep inside just won’t let me believe that. I know you all think I am crazy…”
“No, Liara, we don’t. You loved her, truly loved her. I sometimes refuse to believe she is gone as well,” he admitted. Liara looked to him. “She was what you’d call my best friend, as much of sister as my real sister, so.” He trailed off.
“I want a Garrus stuffed dolly,” Liara said finally breaking the silence that had descended. They both laughed.
“I have three,” he said. “I’ll have to get another, they have this shooting game and, you know, I am the king of the bottle shooters.” The both laughed again.
“It’s getting late,” Liara said as they both made their way to the little Normandy ride. Tali was in one of the little ships with the children. As always Liara could not help but stare. She had always pictured Tali as a beautiful woman but her own image of the Quarian was nothing compared to what she actually looked like. She was like some wonderful Princess.
Tali had readily given up her suit after the Geth assisted in rebuilding the Quarians immune system. She seemed to like wearing light dresses and sandals. She looked more human than alien except some minor face markings and the three fingers and toes. She had thick brown hair and eyes that still seemed to glow. Liara had known she would be as beautiful outside as she was inside.
The Asari leaned against the white fence that went around the ride. “They expect us in the VIP area for the ceremonies. I don’t really feel like a VIP.”
“Me either, this is all more important to Tali than it is me,” he admitted, waving a hand at the children. “She wants to make sure they know everything they can about Shepard.”
Liara thought of the time Shepard had told that she wanted lots of little blue children. She could not help but feel slightly jealous of Tali for a second. She smiled and stood up.

“I’m going to head to the ceremony. I will meet you there,” Liara took a slow deep breath to stop the tears from collecting in her eyes.

They were separate from the Normandy crew. Liara, Tali and Garrus sat together with Samara and Grunt somewhere mixed in. Liara really did not know them and had not looked for them. All the humans that had worked with Shepard, including Ashley, James, Samantha and Joker were on the other side of the stage. EDI was with Joker. Zaeed had had not come and if Kasumi was here, she was not showing herself. Wrex had not made the trip either.
Miranda was on Cronos base working with the ex-Cerberus scientist and Jack was sitting in the crowd with her students. Liara had originally disliked Jack, but she had been keeping an eye on the young biotic. Jack still had her tattoos and still swore worse than a Krogan, but she had flourished as a teacher. Her hair had grown out, not for the first time; she liked to play with it. She still dressed in clothing that really covered very little. But, overtime she had become reliable and honourable and even respectable. Not that she liked to be called that. Liara admired how much she had grown.
Jack had been devastated when she had found out Shepard was dead. Her reaction had been surprising to Liara; Jack had always given Shepard such a hard time. What Liara had not realized was how much Jack respected and loved Shepard. Jack had even confessed to her once that she owed Shepard everything; that she would never have changed, had the Commander not taken time, or interest, in her.
Shepard had impacted so many people.
“Looks like Ashley is going to make a speech today,” Tali said.
“Well, she learned to make them from one of the best,” Garrus added. Liara grimaced slightly. Ashley would talk about loyalty and trust and honour but she had failed to give Shepard any of that when Cayle had used Cerberus to get to the collectors. Liara smiled in spite of this though, but mostly thinking of the speeches Shepard liked to give. How Shepard would walk and used her hands more than normal. It was always very cute.
“There are a lot of people here.” Liara said looking about the crowd. She spotted Primarch Victus sitting with the council and the other delegates close by, including the Salarian Dalatrass Linron. Liara was surprised she was here. She had openly disagreed with Shepard curing the genophage, to the point that she asked the Commander to sabotage it or they would not send aid during the Reaper invasion. A promise she kept when Shepard had refused to comply.
“Shepard impacted on many people, in one way or form,” Tali said with a smile.
“She certainly was not known for being subtle,” Garrus agreed. He smiled. “I remember her charging in and shooting her way through Nassana Dantius’ tower. She made it a war zone. She never even thought about being subtle.” He laughed at the memory. One always knew when Shepard was coming. “It’s hard to believe that she was once an infiltrator. I heard James call her a bull in a china shop during a mission. It did not take me long to figure out the meaning of that one.”
Liara smiled, you always knew where Shepard was, her crew would say, just follow the smoke. It was hard to believe at times that Shepard had started out as a sniper, sneaking around in the distance and striking without warning. She had ever done that as a Commander, she had been forced more into working in a squad.
“Speaking of Ashley,” Tali started and looked at Liara. “I ran into her earlier and she was looking for you, Liara.”
“Me?” She looked over to where the Lt. Commander sat wondering what she would want. They never spoke after the Normandy had returned to Earth, they had never even said good bye. “Well, I guess we will see after this is over.”
The crowd seemed to hush as Admiral Hackett made his way to the podium. They were in front of the Alliance Headquarters in Vancouver and even its tower seemed to shrink behind him. She was always nervous in his presence, like a child viewing their hero for the first time. He commanded respect just by his mere presence. Liara had always known that one day Shepard would be able to do the same.
He was about to start talking when Liara noticed the Salarian Dalatrass suddenly slump over. She made no sound simply parted her lips slightly and slumped over in her chair. Has she slipped to the ground Liara could not help but see the explosion out of the back of the Salarians head? She stood in one spot stunned for a few moments as others realized what had happened. Someone started screamed, then the running started.
“By the Goddess,” Liara breathed lowly. This was certainly unexpected.
While everyone was running away Garrus made his way to the Dalatrass, Liara followed. Tali was gathering the children and pulling them away.
“It has to be a sniper,” Garrus was sating looking to where the Dalatrass had been sitting and trying to judge from where the bullet had entered. Garrus had once been a sniper as well, the best if you asked him.
“But we are not at war with anyone,” Liara said. This probably meant Cerberus. This was something they would pull.
Garrus was not listening; he was doing his own calculations. He turned and looked into the distance. “It came from that direction,” he said and continued his calculations and looked up to a building that seemed impossibly far away. “There,” he said pointing.
“Impossible that is over three kilometers away.” Liara said.
“I could do it, with the right equipment,” Garrus replied. He looked to Liara for a few seconds.
“What.”
“There’s only one other person I know of who could make a shot like that.”
“No,” Liara said with finality. It was impossible in one way and unthinkable in so many others. She began to move, at first walking fast then running. She thought of running to a taxi but that would be to slow, instead she grabbed the closest hover car she could find.
“Liara,” Garrus called, following as she got in. “You know this is theft?”
“Are you coming?” She said as she used her Omi tool to start the vehicle. He looked around to the crowd, unable to see Tali and the children. He sighed and got into the car.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” He said closing the door. “I just need to let Tali know what I’m doing.”

Three kilometers had never taken so long and as they approached the tall business building they noted that the roof was empty. Liara brought the hover car to a steep descent and a not so glamorous landing. She really didn’t care that it violated several driving and parking codes. They had not seen a car leave the roof of the building which meant whomever made the shot had to leave by foot. It would have taken them an equal amount of time to get to the main floor, or at least she was hoping.
Garrus was still saying good bye to Tali as the hover car slammed down. Liara was exiting the before it was even stationary.
So many things were going through her mind at once. This was a bold move for Cerberus. Humans had a slight dislike for Salarians since the war, but this was a diplomatic nightmare. The peace between the two races was tedious at best. The Salarian would never act out against the Humans though; the Krogans would join the humans if they did. That was a force the Salarians did not want to get involved with and Humans were the only ones keeping the Krogans at bay.
Still, this was an incident that would have major repercussions. Perhaps that was what Cerberus wanted. Maybe they wanted to see just what the Salarians would do. Perhaps this was just the beginning of something even worse. Liara did not know. For all of her power as the Shadow Broker, she had not seen this coming.
She thought of what Garrus had talked about. He and Shepard were perhaps the two best shot in the galaxy, which were known. That did not mean that others could not have made the shot, but it made Liara’s stomach churn at the thought. Could it be Shepard, Liara shook the thought out of her head.
“Liara, slow down,” Garrus called, running to catch up with her. “Whoever took that shot will be armed, we are not.”
“We are.” Liara counter and made a fist, waves of blue smoke filled the air. “Whoever made that shot won’t rely on you figuring things out. They won’t think anyone is coming for them and they won’t rush. They would not want to bring attention to themselves. I think that was the reason they did not have a hover car on the roof. People would have been looking for that.”
“There are several exits from that building,” Garrus said bring up the schematics on his omni tool. He looked quickly. “The laneway, it has an emergency exit, and an emergency elevator.” He typed in a few more things. “It has no security and the least amount of cameras. I would take that route.”
They moved into the laneway together, both spotting the land bike together. “Escape vehicle, small and fast,” Liara whispered, perhaps they were not too late.
“We should call for back up,” Garrus said.
Liara was about to reply when the door opened. She and Garrus both froze, more from anticipation than anything else. Liara was not sure what to expect. For a second or expected Shepard to stroll out and asked her how she has been.
In the short time it took the door to open and someone to step out Liara’s heart rate had increased to the point where she could almost hear it in her head. She remained frozen as a young kid in a chef’s outfit stepped out with a cigarette between his lips. He stopped and looked to them, his gaze solid on Liara’s hand which was balled into a fist with blue wisps crackling around it. The cigarette fell to the ground.
“I didn’t do anything,” he said as the door opened again.
This time a woman stepped out. Liara’s heart rate would have increased if it could have. The first thing she noted was the suit the woman was wearing. Loose but form fitting black pants with a green and blue short sleeved blouse. Before her eyes went anywhere else she could envision this woman being Shepard. They were about the same height and weight. However instead of long black hair tied into a ponytail this woman had short but straight blonde hair. Shepard had steely baby blue eyes while the woman had intense green eyes. Three scars ran down the woman’s right cheek to her ear, almost unnoticeable. It was as if some cat had scratched her. A much deeper scar lined her neck.
She was carrying a black briefcase that, no doubt carried her gun. There was only a quick flash of confusion in the woman’s eyes before she threw up her free hand and a blast of fire right in front of Garrus’ face. She followed up quickly by striking Liara with the brief case, causing the Asari to fall to the ground. The kid in the Chef’s outfit scrambled for a hiding spot. She placed the case in a holder on the land bike and pulled out a pistol as she mounted the bike. She paused for a second, almost as if to allow the Asari to get her barricade up before fire at them. She started the bike as she did so.
After the thermal clip ejected the unknown woman holstered the weapon and set the bike into motion. She took only a brief glimpse back, her eyes resting on Liara, before turning and disappearing from their sights.
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