Palaven done and dusted...

"This here's a Vindicator, the emblem of our band; you can shoot a Reaper with it if you hold it in your hand."
(With apologies to M. Python, Esq.)


<jedi>'He's not the marine you're looking for.'</jedi>

'Ready for your close-up, Mr de Husk?'

'A Blackstar, huh? Not used one of these before. Let's see what it can do...'

'Ooh, pretty lights!'

'And the first person to wisecrack 'Beam me up, Donnelly' is gonna find my fist in their face!'
* * * * *
Well, it seemed the fickle fist of Fate continued to use Jennifer's love life as its own personal punchbag. She found Thane in Huerta Memorial and, naturally, after a six month long 'dry spell' she was more than happy for the smooth-talking drell to talk her into having a more personal 'reunion' in one of the hospital's unoccupied private suites. He made it feel like it was all her idea but Jennifer knew when she'd been played. Not that she was complaining. (Turns out that advanced Kepral's Syndrome is pretty much like having your own auto-erotic asphyixa on tap.) What she forgot however was there are no secrets from the Shadow Broker, and the next time she ran into Liara on the Normandy the asari read the Riot Act at her.
"Shepard, I know you've gone back to Thane."
"Oh sh*t! Liara, look it was a one-off thing, okay? You know how it is; the guy's dying. It's a miracle he's not already dead."
"You could have fooled me. For a 'dying' man he seems to have remarkable vitality. Goddess. Be with whoever you want to be with. I'm just not interested in playing games anymore."
"I'm not playing games..."
"Really? I don't believe you. And with all that's going on neither of us has time for this."
"Liara..."
"I've got a lot of things to co-ordinate with my agents, Shepard. If you want to talk, it will have to be later."Jennifer woke up in a cold sweat. Thank god, it was just a dream. But it had all seemed so real at the time. Of course Liara would know about her and Thane. She probably had spies all over the Citadel. Damnit! She knew she should have held out, but everytime Thane flashed those great big puppy-dog eyes at her, her knees melted. Damn but he was good. In every way. Jennifer showered and got dressed. It would probably be smart to keep things on a professional level with Liara for the time being, she thought; maybe even give her a wide berth? She'd been okay during the evacuation on Grissom Academy but maybe she just hadn't known then? It wouldn't be good for Liara to be distracted when they were away on missions so perhaps she should just bench her? EDI's new body had performed well on Grissom but Jennifer wanted to see what Javik was going to bring to the party. (Jesus! Had EDI really intimated that she was thinking about having sex with Joker? Self-aware AIs were one thing and Legion had demonstrated that the Geth had a right to self-determination but human-synthetic 'relationships'? Ugh! Jack had hit the nail on the head. No way was she having Joker use EDI as his own personal sexbot on her ship - even if the sexbot
wanted to have sex. She'd put the lid down on that idea very firmly on the Citadel. At least she hoped.)
Jennifer suddenly wanted a drink very badly. She'd been dry for months but if ever there was a time to fall off the wagon this was probably it. She could have gone to the ship's lounge but the booze there was free and once she started drinking she probably wouldn't stop until they had to pry her head out of the toilet. No, she knew a safer place to get a drink. A bar with a bartender who'd hopefully stop her doing anything stupid.
"Can I get a beer please? 'Lite' if you have one."
"Hey, I remember you. Shepard, right? Off the hard stuff? Heard you were fighting the Reapers."
"Matriach Aethyta. You were working on Ilium last time we met. How'd you end up here?
"Oh, you know, with the Reapers making noise, I figured it was time to get somewhere safer, so I moved here."
Jennifer squinted. "I don't think so. I've seen some video footage...of you, looking at Liara. Seems like wherever Liara goes, you pop up soon after. What gives?"
"Yeah... you know Matriarch Benezia was... was her mother, right? Well, she doesn't know it, but I was her father."
Jennifer nearly choked on her beer. "Her father? You mean you were her other mother?"
"No. I didn't pop her out. Hell, she's never even met me."
"Sorry. If you were human, you'd both be called the mother, regardless of which one actually gave birth."
"Well, I'm not human, am I?" Aethyta gave Jennifer such a look that said, 'Don't you know anything about asari reproduction?' "Anthropocentric bag of dicks." (Huh? Was that an insult?)
"Look, I know Liara would love to meet you. "
"You think? She doesn't know me from a hole in the ground. Benezia ran off before she was even born...like a girlfriend who used to work for Cerberus. Sound familiar?"
Jennifer bristled. "I didn't run off... and I didn't work
for Cerberus. I used them to fight the Reapers!"
"And you're not with 'em now. I know. If you were, you wouldn't get within a light-year of Liara."
"Are you threatening me, Aethyta?"
"Maybe. I'm no commando, but I've had a thousand years to learn to fight dirty, and nobody messes with my girl."
Jennifer arched an eyebrow. "So why you really here?"
"Look, you combine Liara's work with Benezia, and... well, the matriachs might've have ordered a hit if I hadn't agreed to keep an eye on her."
"They wouldn't really do that, would they?"
"That crazy nest of vipers? You bet your ass they would."
Jennifer made a scything gesture with her hand across her body. "Not going to happen. Not on my watch." The words were steel-plated.
"No argument here. I only take these crap jobs to keep the matriachs happy that she's under control."
"Just as long as we're clear; you tell the matriachs: nobody messes with my girl."
Aethyta guffawed. "Ha! Maybe you're good enough for her after all."
I hope so, Jennifer thought. I hope so. She finished her beer. "Look, I bet she'd like to meet you."
Aethyta was already washing the glass up. "Yeah. We'll see how that goes." Jennifer followed her gaze to the mezzanine below the bar where Liara was seated at a table on her own. Hmm, perhaps if it was a public space she could avoid a scene if she went over? Jennifer shook her head resignedly. Knowing her luck there was every chance that this was going to blow up in her face but damn it she had to do this.
"Hey."
"Oh. Shepard."
(Okaaayyyy... that's so not a good start.) Jennifer pulled up a seat. "You see that bartender over there?" she said, indicating with her head.
"The matriarch hired by the asari government to track my movements?" Liara sounded exactly like a grown-up trying to explain a very simple concept to a particularly stupid child.
"Well, she's your father." (Ha! How'd you like them onions?)
"I know."
(Jesus Christ! *facedesk*) "What? You know? How? Why..."
"I
am a
very good infomation broker, Shepard." (Ouch, that was cold. That was practically 'Don't think I don't know what
you've been up to'. Sh*t.)
"Why haven't you spoken to her about spying on you then?"
"If I did that, they might send someone who wasn't as sympathetic to me. Besides, this is hardly the time for family reunions."
"Laira, we could all die any day. I would have thought now was
precisely the time for family reunions."
"Shepard, you mean well but..."
"Damn it, Liara! I never knew my parents. I never had a family. But you...you've got a second chance to have what I never had. Don't waste it. Please."
Liara tutted. "Oh, fine. If it makes you happy." She rose and walked up the stairs towards the bar.
As Jennifer left the Commons by the staircase,she caught a snippet of the conversation at the bar below:
"What? That's not true! Shepard listens to me!"
"Oh? And how many times have you thrown her on the bed and peeled her out of her uniform?"
Jennifer could feel the heat coming off the younger asari's cheeks from there. "Do you have to make it sound so... tawdry?"
Perhaps there was hope for them both after all?
* * * * *
Modifié par demos99, 19 juillet 2012 - 04:25 .