Doctor Karin Chakwas - 16 hours after the explosion

Karin was tired. It was an unfortunate consequence of her job that hours tended to be unstable. Even as a young woman in med school, the hours were long, and once her practicum began things only got tougher. From long days of steady work to long days of inconsistent hours. A caffeine addiction became a necessity and one she shared with nearly every student in her class.

She sighed at the thought of her younger days. She could only afford med school by getting a service scholarship, through the Alliance. The years of service she had to do in return wasn’t something she regretted, and those early years as a combat medic were some of the most fulfilling of her life. Working to save soldiers from injuries during a war with an alien race. It was like one of those vid movies. The first contact war wasn’t all too bad in all honesty. As far as casualties go it was smaller than most wars humanity fought against ourselves in the early centuries.

Not to say that there weren’t still casualties. She could still remember the first soldier she couldn’t save. A young man was shot by Turian weapons and the field medics hadn’t bothered to provide plasma. His heart was failing. She knew enough now to know there was nothing she could have done. Field medics bear the responsibility to ensure soldiers make it to the field hospitals and actual doctors in a stable enough condition to survive. At the time though, it had hurt her to fail. She pushed herself further into her work and had experienced her first burnout the same weak. Passing out in the medbay from exhaustion. It was an important lesson Karin learned that week. About how you could only do what you could, and overworking to try and make amends for some perceived failure was foolish.

Not that she wasn’t still a fool sometimes. She glanced over at Jenkins, still sleeping on his medical bed. He was more than likely to wake up soon, although she partially hoped he didn’t. They were soldiers and had a mission to do, but by all rights, the man needed a psych evaluation. He lost his family on Eden Prime, and Karin didn’t think he had slept since. Not properly at least. Knowing him he would take this medically induced rest as an excuse to keep going just as hard. He was going to burn out the same way she had. Only for a soldier, it wouldn’t be passing out in a medbay, it would be dying in a battle.

Karin understood how important the mission was, this one in particular was probably the most important mission she had been supporting in her entire career. That said her job was to keep the soldier for this mission alive, and it was becoming clear Jenkins had some form of hero complex. A refusal to slow down or rest, and a willingness to die for the mission. She had seen better soldiers than him die from just one of those traits. Karin’s job was to save soldier’s lives. If she had her way he wouldn’t enter combat again without some time on leave to reassess.

She turned to look back at the monitors for the machine as it finished making the noises for its scan. Checking the results she found them to be predictable. Karin knew she was a good doctor, and was confident in her ability to assess injuries without some heavy-duty scans. After her service in the Alliance during the first contact war, and the peace agreements with the Council she was sent to the Citadel along with many more teams of engineers, doctors, and scientists. She learned all she could, studying their medicine and practices, learning all she could about alien biology. She was confident in all she had learned, but a lack of practical experience with aliens had her double-checking that work with scans now, even if it was just to verify her assessments.

“Well, nothing unexpected at least. You have a rough case of dehydration and mental exhaustion. All in line with the report that you were held in stasis for as long as you were. We will keep you on a saline drip for now to combat the dehydration, and after an hour you’ll be clear to eat something. No solid food for at least 24 hours while your body recovers, and I would recommend sleep if possible.” Karin spoke politely, while the Asari listened with focused attention.

“Of course doctor. Thank you for the help.” Chakwas smiled at the response. A patient who listens to their doctor is a nice change of pace.

“Ugh.” A groan from the right had Karin standing with a sigh and moving to the other bed. Speaking of her less cooperative patients, it seems Jenkins was finally waking up. Karin reached for the monitor that was observing most of Jenkins’ health information. He seemed stable at least.

“Noooo… I don’t wanna go to school. Sleep instead.” Karin couldn’t help but chuckle at the man’s half-aware reaction. Waking up from anesthesia left most people feeling disoriented for a while, one of the few moments of humor she could find in her job.

“Mm, mom, wait… I didn’t mean to leave. Mom… MOM!” Jenkins’ tone shifted as he started becoming more aware of his surroundings and Chakwas saw his heart rate accelerating.

She barely had time to acknowledge what Jenkins' referencing his mother could mean before he sat up in a rush, breathing heavily. His one eye was dilated and rapidly sweeping his surroundings. Chakwas reached out putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Jenkins relax.” He flinched at her touch, but his heart rate settled again as he took in his surroundings. “You’re okay. You’re still aboard the Normandy, the surgery was a success.” His breathing was slowing again, and he nodded at Karin before laying back down, staring forward.

“Right… right. Thanks, doctor, I’m sorry I… yeah.” Karin just shook her head.

“No apologies Corporal. It can be disorienting for everyone.” Jenkins just chuckled in response.

“Oh no calling me Corporal? I must be in big trouble.” He laughed at his joke and Karin couldn’t help but smile back. She could see on Jenkins’ monitor his heart rate was still high, but otherwise, he was in good shape given what he had gone through. She wasn’t going to push him further, at least not with the Asari still in the room.

“You’re damn right you’re in trouble. Next time you try and blow yourself up I won’t bother using anesthesia for treatment. I swear on my degree if I have to patch you up again from another self-inflicted injury I’ll ship you back to the Alliance myself.” Karin smacked the top of Jenkins’ head with her tablet, not hard but hopefully enough to fully ground him in the moment.

“No, you won’t… You like me way too much to risk getting some boring soldier as a replacement.” He cracked another smile as he spoke, to which she just shook her head in response.

“A boring soldier might be stuck in here less often, so don’t tempt me. Now, for the time being, you need to stay in bed. At least an hour of additional rest before you try getting up on your feet and moving around.” Jenkins rolled his eye before shuffling in the spot getting comfortable.

“Fine, you’re the boss doc. Where are we headed anyway, how long have I been out?” The disadvantage of no longer having his right eye meant Liara was pretty much fully out of view in bed. Karin chuckled to herself as she got an idea, and decided not to mention the Asari’s presence.

“We are making our way back to the Citadel. Shepard was able to speak with the Councilors and has confirmed cybernetic replacements in case of injury are covered by the Council for Spectres and their teams. So you’ll be getting a new eye as soon as we land.” Karin was thankful to learn the cybernetics were covered, since finding a decent replacement would have been expensive on its own.

“Thank god. Worried I was going to have to deal with no depth perception for a while there. That’s good at least, what’s the word on Liara did we go rescue her yet?” As Jenkins asked the question Karin turned to look at Liara, who flinched at the mention of her name before she spoke.

“Um, I’m right here act-”

“JESUS FUCK!” Jenkins jumped a good foot and readjusted in his bed, turning his whole head so he could finally see the young Asari who had flinched at Jenkins’ outburst. Karin chuckled audibly this time, vengeance against the young man’s recklessness felt good.

“Oh my fucking god she was just sitting there the whole time?! Chakwas what the hell?! Why didn’t you say anything I think my heart almost stopped?” Jenkins had his hand on his chest and was once more steadying his breathing.

“Oh I’m sorry, you never asked about her so it didn’t seem important to mention. Besides none of the information I was telling you was confidential. Also, it was rather funny.” Jenkins glared at the doctor while she just smiled back at him.

“I don’t know whether I should be happy or scared I’m rubbing off on you. Either way well played I guess, you got me good.” Chakwas nodded in acceptance of the man’s praise.

“I apologize for frightening you. I did not realize you were unaware of my presence.” Liara spoke softly, and Jenkins just waved her off.

“No don’t worry about it, I should have checked my surroundings better when I woke up. Still getting used to not being able to see past the middle of my face. You never realize how big your nose is until it’s right there in the middle of your face blocking your vision of everything.” Liara simply looked confused, giving a worried look towards Karin which she promptly ignored.

Jenkins was harmless, and it was always a little fun seeing how confused others got by his laissez-faire attitude. Watching the young Asari flounder was a small benefit to the long day she had been having.

“Hm, that should be all for now. Both of you should remain in bed for another hour at least, after that just limit exertion to what is comfortable. No pushing yourselves.” Karin gave a stern look to Jenkins, the only one present who was going to be likely to ignore that kind of order.

“Yes ma’am.” The salute Jenkins gave did not inspire confidence, but Karin accepted it nonetheless.

“Thank you, doctor.” The polite nod from Liara was much more reassuring.

She seemed like a good woman. Attentive, respectful. Hopefully being trapped in a room with Jenkins for an hour wouldn’t ruin that.

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Liara T’Soni - 17 hours after the explosion

Liara was fascinated. She has had a rollercoaster of a day in all honesty. She went from being attacked by Geth, to being trapped in a stasis field, to being rescued by an insanely attractive human. She could feel herself blush at the thought. It was clear that she had a thing for heroic actions, but she could not let that distract her from the most interesting thing she had found yet.

Corporal Jenkins.

He was, by all rights, just a regular man. Unassuming, and without the context for his arrival in this room she would never have looked at him twice. Learning that he had been injured destroying a plant that had been around before the Protheans, and not only that but had had his mind melded with it. He was a walking answer to some of her most sought-after questions.

All her life she had been fascinated by the Protheans. The last half of a century she had spent diligently researching them. Investigating ruins, artifacts, and anything of their fragmented empire that had been left behind. She hadn’t found much that was concrete, but what she had uncovered had implications. The amount of military installations, weapons depots, or research stations that were focused solely on weapon development was staggering. The scale of the Prothean empire meant they weren’t still expanding, and yet they had all these weapons and projects in the work. Liara was convinced that when they disappeared, they were at war.

Fighting with a threat that either arose inside of their empire or came from outside of it. Dark Space. The region between galaxies was even emptier than space itself. Hundreds of thousands of light years between the Milky Way and its closest neighbor. Liara knew she had to be right about this. The Protheans were wiped out by a rival force in a great war. The process wasn’t fast, taking at least a hundred years, if not longer to be fully completed given the dating on some of the newest sites, but it was absolute. No survivors to be had. She knew this was what had happened.

The problem she had was that her research was disregarded by the higher institutes on Thessia. Despite the evidence that she did have, they completely rejected her proposed extermination theory. They said that if some enemy had wiped out the Protheans why weren’t they still around? A galactic empire getting wiped out and nothing replacing them? Liara tried to argue that it appeared systematic. The Protheans were not the first to be wiped out by this outside force, and it was bound to happen again. They laughed her out of the hearing.

It’s why Liara was on Therum. She thought the ruins discovered there, buried under the soil might have had some evidence or description of what enemy they were fighting. There was nothing of course. More ruins with tech she could barely access, and no information on what it was actually for.

Half a century was spent searching for evidence of their destruction, and now, by complete luck, she was sitting in a hospital bed next to the man who had the answers she was looking for. And now she wasn’t sure if she had wanted to know.

What he told her… Reapers. A cycle of destruction older than even she had predicted. She didn’t know what to do with that information. Was it liberating to know she was right? Yeah, but at what cost? She was worried something would be coming in a couple of centuries, maybe even a couple of millennia. Something they would have time to study and prepare for. According to Jenkins, if they didn’t stop Saren, they had days before the reapers would arrive in force. A week at most.

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Liara would be lying if she tried to pretend the news didn’t frighten her. But she was equally surprised by how curiosity matched her fear. The news was bad, but all she could think about was how her theories were correct, how this man had seen and learned the truth directly. What she wouldn’t give to connect and see it for herself.

After the doctor had left they chatted for a while, going over the things they had managed to learn as well as the reason for the mission. When Liara asked why his team had sought her out he got quiet. She may not know this Jenkins well, but she knew enough to know that quiet was not his normal state of being. He simply told her it wasn’t his place to explain, and Shepard would let her know when it was time.

That reaction was concerning, but overall there was little she could do about it. She accepted that she would just have to wait for the supposed commander to come and fill her in. But as they sat and talked, she was surprised by the lack of visitors. No one came to introduce themselves or to check on their fellow soldier. They had the hour reserved almost solely to themselves, and while Liara was interested in what the team had gone through, the lack of explanation on why she was there, in particular, was concerning.

Eventually, though, the doctor returned.

“Alright, you two. You both are cleared to leave, although I must INSIST that you limit physical exertion while your body recovers, especially you Jenkins. No more blowing yourself up.” The Doctor patiently removed the IV Liara had in, while Jenkins was already climbing out of the hospital bed.

“Hey Doc, um. Where’s… You know.” Jenkins spoke to the doctor, before gesturing to his arm a few times. The reaction confused Liara but it seems the Doctor understood as she responded right away.

“Tali came to speak with it, and they came to some sort of understanding. She brought it on the mission to recover Liara and has been speaking with it since.” Jenkins looked concerned before burying the reaction on his face. Liara was caught off guard by how quickly he switched from an expression of worry to his normal resting grin.

“Ah. Thanks then. Don’t know if that’s good news or not but we will find out. Thanks again Doc.” Jenkins nodded and turned to leave but was interrupted by the Doctor once more.

“Just remember to come to visit just before we arrive at the Citadel. I’ll want to change the bandages over your eye before we hand you over.” Jenkins raised a hand to touch the bandages on his face, flinching lightly as his equally bandaged right arm made contact with the bandaged side of his face.

“Right. You got it. Oh, nice meeting you Liara. Try and take it easy alright?” He gave her a look of concern and Liara, in a moment had a flash of recognition.

The look in his eye, how he viewed her. There was a familiarity she didn’t recognize. A warmth she couldn’t relate to. Like he had known her for years and was just getting to see her again. Liara felt… she didn’t know how she felt. It was like she was looking at someone who knew everything about her, even the things she didn’t know about herself. And just as quickly it was gone, replaced once more by that mask of casual indifference.

“Right. Nice meeting you Corporal.” She gave him a small bow and he left, leaving her alone with the human Doctor. The doctor in turn finished checking her out, reminding her to stick with smaller portions while her body recovers from dehydration. As it was done the Doctor had one more thing to say.

“Ah and Dr. T’soni, Shepard requested your presence in the communications room when you were recovered. She’s already been informed of your improved condition, so if you can meet her there I think she’ll have some of the answers you were looking for.” Liara couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief at the clear directions. Too much had been confusing over the last couple of hours. Some answers were just what she needed.

It wasn’t hard to find the communications room, despite the crew being mostly human the ship’s design was similar to many Turian frigates and was familiar enough to her. Liara had always hated how her mother had encouraged her education in diplomacy and interspecies relations, but she did have to admit it had its benefits. She knew the general design of all of the Council species ships, and while human ships would normally be new to her, this one's design was so Turian that Liara had to believe it was an interspecies project.

While Liara was expecting people to be waiting for her in the communications room, she was still surprised to see that it was only the human Commander, standing alone. She had her back to the door Liara came in from and was facing the back wall where holo feeds would be displayed for either communication or display purposes. She had her arms crossed behind her back and in one moment Liara realized exactly how in control this woman in front of her was. It felt like she owned the room and anyone who dared walk into it.

The Commander turned her head, enough to get a view of Liara who she must have heard come into the room. She smiled, but Liara noted easily the smile did not reach her eyes. This human was putting on a friendly approach, but it was clear to Liara that she was not trusted there. It had her feeling uneasy.

“Dr. Liara T’soni. Have a seat, please. There’s a lot we need to discuss.” Something in the human Commander's tone encouraged obedience.

Liara sat without question in one of the chairs in front of the woman. In turn, the Commander stared her down, paying a level of attention that Liara wasn’t used to. She didn’t speak instead focusing on doing what she could to maintain eye contact without flinching. The look lasted longer than Liara was comfortable with, but her concern over how the commander would react to an interruption kept her seated or silent. Eventually, though the woman spoke.

“Liara. What does the name Saren mean to you?” The woman’s tone was surprisingly calm, the tinge of curiosity in her voice made it sound like an actual question, but the glare in her eyes made it clear it was anything but. She wanted to know what Liara knew about their enemy. Was she suspected of working for him? Why? She would never be interested in helping someone who was going to destroy the galaxy.

“Um. Just what the Corporal told me. He’s a rogue Spectre working with the Geth to try and bring back a race of machines called The Reapers. The same machine that wiped out the Protheans and who knows how many other races before that.” For the first time, the Commander flinched with a show of emotion that went to her eyes. A look of relief, followed quickly by annoyance.

“Jenkins is awake? And he decided to tell you classified information willingly. Of course, he did… I really shouldn’t be surprised.” The hard look on the Commander's face faded, leaving her looking more relaxed, and gentle. She looked tired actually, more than anything else. She stepped forward, sitting beside Liara and taking what appeared to be a genuinely relaxed approach to the situation.

“Well, Jenkins seems to trust you with knowing our mission. I have no idea why that is, given why you are here, but I’ve yet to see his judgment on things like this be wrong.” The sudden relaxation made some sense given what the Commander was saying, but it was still confusing. Why does she trust a Corporal this much? And what about that first part, why was she even here? Liara felt the need to finally ask.

“About that. I am thankful for the rescue Commander but I have yet for anyone to explain why I am here. I get my research has some connection to this supposed Reaper threat, but in honesty, you all have gathered more actual proof on it than even I have. I can’t imagine you need an archeologist that badly.” The Human woman stared at her a moment, before sighing.

“Very well. You’re here because your Mother is working with Saren to bring back the Reapers, we were hoping you cou-” Liara couldn’t understand what was being said after the first few words. She felt a rush of heat and anger and couldn’t stop herself from speaking out.

“What!? No, my Mother would never work with someone like that. She… she’s not a warrior, and she despised conflict and war. She was encouraging me to follow in her steps as a diplomat, she wouldn’t want to help someone like Saren she would try and stop them!” Liara found herself raising her voice, surprised by her anger.

She and her mother didn’t have the best relationship, as she refused to ever tell Liara who her father was, and always pushed down her interests in favor of trying to guide her education down the path she wanted. Liara resisted, and when she left to begin working as an archeologist and scientist she cut all contact. Her mother was a matriarch of course, and could have found a way to contact her if she wanted to, but the fact that in fifty years she didn’t made it clear where they stood. They were related through blood but that was the limit of their bond at this point. Even then the accusation that she could be helping to bring about that kind of destruction, was antithetical to everything she thought her mother stood for.

Shepard in turn seemed shocked by the outburst, before continuing once Liara had calmed down.

“I see. That fits the report we have from one of the Commando’s that served your mother. She claimed that the Matriarch started following Saren to limit his potential damage and curb his violence. However according to her report, Saren’s machine is capable of controlling the minds of those who spend too long in its proximity, and it has begun controlling the Matriarch.”

Liara thought the Human had to be lying, what she described was impossible. Yet as she looked her in the eyes, she saw no deception. There was just… Pity. A sadness at what she was saying and what it meant.

“I… I don’t understand. If that’s possible, if that’s what happened, then why am I here?” It still didn’t make sense, if Liara’s Mother was an enemy then why was she wanted on the ship? If they knew she wasn’t involved with Saren, what purpose would her being here serve?

“We wanted to know if you had any contact with your Mother. She is supposedly on Noveria, but we don’t know why. If she had contacted you… that information could be important.” The Commander’s smile fell, but the look in her eyes remained.

Pity. It hurt Liara to be looked that way like she was a child being told bad news for the first time. She was over a Century old, while it was young for Asari that was still more than triple the life experience this Commander had.

“No. I haven’t been in contact with my Mother for half a century. I didn’t even know she had started traveling with this Saren, much less why she would be on Noveria.” Liara told the truth, there was no other option, she couldn’t change the Commander's view of her with words here, only action could convince a woman like this of anything.

“I see.” The Human was quiet a moment, looking away in seeming contemplation, before looking back. “Well, I thank you for your co-operation anyway. We can take you to the Citadel, there you should be safe if Saren tries to send another hit after you.” The Commander stood and Liara realized what was being said.

“NO!” She shouted before she realized what she was doing and the Commander turned to look back at her, a look of light surprise at the outburst.

“I mean, no Commander. If my Mother is working with Saren as you say, and is under his influence, I want to help you face her. She’s my Mother if… if anyone can talk to her it’s me.” Liara didn’t understand where this desire to act came from. She always saw herself as a researcher, a scientist. She wasn’t one of the heroes who rushed into danger to save people, she was one of those who got herself stuck in a barrier field and had to be rescued.

But the idea of this woman’s team going to face her mother. They would kill her without a second chance. Liara didn’t know what to think of this indoctrination, but she had to believe her mother wasn’t working with Saren willingly. If anyone could convince her to stand down, it would be her own daughter.

“Liara, with all due respect I don’t need a scientist on a ground mission against a hostile enemy. I understand you want to help your mother but I need people willing to fight.” The Commander spoke softly, but her eyes were firm. Liara felt the pressure the woman was exerting, but it wasn’t absolute. She hadn’t said no, only explained why she thought it was a bad idea.

“With all due respect, Commander.” Liara couldn’t help the sass that rose into her tone as she repeated the Commander’s words. “I am currently the strongest biotic you could find on this ship. Even if I’m not a soldier by trade, I’ve had combat training. I’m a Matriarch’s daughter, my biotics are stronger than most Asari you would meet, you saw it yourself.” Liara knew she was telling the truth. Her talent, in particular with gravity effects using biotics, was far beyond Asari more than three times her age.

The Commander was quiet for a moment, contemplating what was being said. It was a minute before she spoke again, intensity once more returning to her voice.

“I would like to rescue the Matriarch as well if she is being controlled. But I need you to understand that if she is acting of her own will, or if she’s too far gone, we may not be able to rescue her. We may have to kill her. Could you do that? Or would you just become another liability?” The Woman’s words were harsh, but they were needed.

Liara thought about it, genuinely asking herself if she could do something like that if she needed to. While she and her Mother certainly didn’t have the best relationship, not having spoken for decades at this point, she was still her family. She knew she loved her mother, but she also respected what she stood for, even if she sought a different path for herself. If her mother was corrupted beyond saving and killing her became necessary, she would do it. Not only because it was needed, but because it would be what her mother wanted. Sometimes you can’t save everyone, and when it happens you have to make sacrifices for the greater good. She would kill her mother if she had to. Even if it would break something inside of her.

“If My mother is that far gone, then I will do what is necessary. It’s what she would wa-” Liara’s response is interrupted by another voice.

“No.” Both Liara and Shepard turn to see a familiar face.

Back in Alliance blue uniforms, with clean white bandages covering half of his face and what was visible of his right hand, was Corporal Jenkins. The Omni-tool on his arm was larger than most, and a sleek black that made it look brand new. Lines in its shell flowed gently with an orange light that showed it was active even now. Liara spared a glance at Shepard, to see she was as surprised to see him as Liara was, but behind that surprise was another feeling, excitement perhaps, or simply happiness to see him okay.

“No sacrifices. If the Matriarch is a pawn of Saren’s then we save her. Even if it’s risky, even if it’s impossible. That bastard doesn’t get to kill anyone else’s family. I swear it.” The look in the Corporal’s eye wasn’t something Liara had seen yet.

There was an intensity and an anger there. The man calling out for his mother as he awoke flashed through Liara’s mind, and she weighed what he could have gone through. But it wasn’t just rage or righteous fury guiding him. Looking into his eye, seeing his posture and stance she could see he was sure of himself. Positive in what he said. He wasn’t making a suggestion or an empty promise. He was simply saying what was. Saren would not kill anyone else’s family.

Liara turned to look at Shepard who for the first time had a smile that reached her eyes. It wasn’t one of joy or happiness, but it filled her face and spirit in its entirety. For the first time she didn’t look tired, she looked hopeful. Like someone had come and given her an option she thought she didn’t have.

“I assume you have suggestions for how to deal with an uncooperative biotic then Corporal?” Shepard stood as she asked the question not even bothering to look at Liara. Her focus was fully on the man in front of her.

“I have a couple of ideas, you could say that.” His response was short and sweet, but incomplete. He looked at Liara directly, the surprise of the action causing her to stand and match his gaze.

“But we’ll need her for it. Not just as the Matriarch's daughter, but as a biotic capable of challenging her.” The Corporal’s gaze slid from Liara back to Shepard, who had not looked away. She took a second, seeming to think before shaking her head in seeming defeat.

“Fuck it. We’re fighting an underdog battle anyway. Liara T’soni.” The Commander turned to face Liara directly. “Welcome aboard.” Shepard stuck out her hand towards her, the smile once more fading but her eyes maintaining that hopeful look.

Liara glanced between Jenkins and Shepard. Just who was this man that he could turn a person’s mood with only a few sentences? That he could even have her, who was determined to kill her mother if it became necessary, once more feeling hopeful that it wouldn’t need to happen at all. She didn’t know, but between a Commander that seemed larger than life, and a Corporal that shone like a lighthouse in the dark, she knew she couldn’t refuse. She met the hand with her own, shaking it firmly.

“Glad to be here Commander.”