Chapter Text
The usual survey assignment, one of the countless small operations that happen in the gaps between crisis. A small world at the edge of the galaxy, dense with old forests, sheer cliffs, and mineral deposits that made long-range scans unreliable. The Normandy had remained in orbit while Shepard, Liara, and two pilots took the Kodiak down to investigate a signal that had appeared beneath layers of clouds.
Then the storm arrived. Electromagnetic.
Violent enough to make sensors go haywire, tear through shields, and send the shuttle tumbling from the sky before Joker could even finish warning for them to pull up.
The first thing Liara heard was rain, heavy and relentless rain. The awful noise against broken metal, hissed over smoking circuitry, and through torn leaves and logs scattered across the forest floor.
Every muscle protested as she lifted herself from where she'd been thrown against the shuttle's interior.
"...Shepard?"
Silence.
Looking at her surroundings, although her vision blurry, she could see the cockpit had been crushed with both of the men inside, still in their seats.
Liara forced herself not to look for longer than necessary. She knew the drill, action first, emotions later.
"Shepard?" She calls again, this time a little louder, the lack of reply made her have to actively control her panic.
Shoving a twisted panel aside and stumbling out into the rain, Liara could now see the seriousness of their situation. The Kodiak had carved nearly 50 meters through the forest before finally stopping against an enormous bolder made of what seemed like granite. Trees broken into pieces around her, steam rising from the engines and accelerator cannons.
Liara looks around, only one person in mind, she needed to find her. Did she go look for help? No, Shepard would have never left her alone. Her mind kept trying to think the worst happened, but she quickly shut it down, she needed to focus, not spiral.
Walking around the Kodiak for a few minutes proved fruitless, so she decides to walk down the path the shuttle had made when it crash landed.
Then she saw her.
Her heart lurched.
"Jane!"
She ran faster.
By the roots of a fallen tree, Commander Shepard laid crumpled against the trunk. Her helmet had split clean across the visor, the left side of her armor looked as though rocks had fallen on top, crushing certain parts inward.
Liara dropped to her knees so quickly they struck stone. Her arm trembled as she activated the omni-tool's medical scanner.
After a few seconds that felt like minutes, the extensive injuries start being revealed on the screen.
Multiple fractures.
Internal bleeding.
Collapsed lung.
Severe concussion.
Pulse...
Present, but weak.
"Thank the Goddess..." Liara exhales.
Her hands shaking, start gently moving around Shepards body, there was so much blood, so many alarms flashing across the helmets display.
She forced herself to take a deep breath.
Focusing on one thing at a time, she works around her broken armor, sealing the damaged sections of Shepard's exposed skin with emergency gel, injecting medi-gel where the scanner recommended, stabilizing the collapsed lung according to the instructions as best she could.
After working around her cold body, the warning changed from critical to unstable, only now did she finally allow herself to touch Shepard's face. Rain washed streaks of dirt across pale skin, the few cuts around her left side had already begun clotting, she wonders how long was she out, how long has Jane been alone in the dirt, wet, hurt... She shakes those thoughts away from her mind.
She rested her forehead against Shepard's for just a moment, and musters a laugh, mixed relief, shock and adrenaline.
"Goddess Shepard...I would appreciate it if you did not make a habit of this."
She stays like this for a bit, the rain never stopped, the smell of smoke and dirt made her almost dizzy and she didn't know if she was shaking from being cold or overwhelmed.... Definitely both.
The emergency beacon was gone, destroyed in the crash, the shuttle's long-range transmitter inoperable. The Normandy couldn't see them, and if Joker attempted landing... he'd likely join them in the mud.
Liara climbed the granite rock despite aching ribs, from the top she finally understood how isolated they truly were... As far as she could see, only forest, mountains and mist.
Then, far to the east, a green flicker, it had to be an Alliance emergency relay tower, definitely old, probably installed decades ago. If she could reach it, activate it... It might boost a distress signal high enough to pierce the storm.
Liara starts working with her omni-tool to understand what's the estimated distance.
43 kilometers.
Under normal circumstances, that would already be an unpleasant hike, with an unconscious commander...
Liara closed her eyes.
43km felt impossible.
The night was starting to claim the planet when Shepard finally stirred, a strained breath, a twitch of her hand. Liara immediately got closer.
"Jane?"
Green eyes blinked open only halfway.
"...Liara..."
Relief flooded through her so suddenly she nearly cried.
"I'm right here."
"...Hurts."
"I know."
Shepard tried to lift herself, a sharp gasp escaped instead.
"No Shepard" Liara said gently, pressing one hand to her shoulder. "Please don't move."
"What..."
"We crashed."
"...Yeah... I couldn't tell."
Even injured beyond reason... A tiny joke, barely audible, but still unmistakably Shepard. Liara smiled despite everything.
"You have broken several bones."
"...Only several?"
"I admire your optimism."
That earned the faintest smile, that disappeared almost immediately. Her breathing became shallow again.
"...Others?"
Liara looked toward the ruined shuttle, silence was an answer she understood all too well. Her eyes closed.
"I'm sorry."
"No."
Liara shook her head firmly.
"You have nothing for which to apologize."
"This was..." Another painful breath. "...not supposed to happen".
Liara brushed wet strands of red hair away from Shepard's forehead.
Exhaustion started to reclaim her, but before sleep could fully take her, Liara spoke softly.
"I found an emergency relay."
One eye slowly opened again.
"...How far?"
Liara hesitated.
"...Forty-three kilometers."
Even through medication, barely conscious, Shepard did the calculation.
"You..."
"...Yes."
"...Leave me."
"No."
"You'll make it."
"No."
"Liara."
"No."
The firmness in her own voice surprised even her, Shepard watched her for several long seconds, too tired to argue.
"...So stubborn."
"I learned from you."
Another almost-smile, then she let's sleep win.
Liara didn't sleep that night, she hadn't even assessed her injuries, instead spent hours dismantling pieces of the Kodiak, a cargo sled, emergency cables, sections of sturdy outside panels. Anything light enough to pull but strong enough to carry a person.
By dawn, her hands were in a lot of pain despite the gloves trying to protect her skin. She finished the sled, looked rudimentary but functional, that's all she needed.
Liara carefully transferred Shepard onto layers of emergency blankets, every movement earning a pained sound from the other woman.
"I'm sorry."
She adjusted the straps, checked them 3 times, maybe more, only satisfied when Shepard could no longer slide even slightly.
Liara now stood at the front, wrapped both hands around the improvised harness. She took one step.
The sled scraped over damp earth.
Another step.
The sound of metal rubbing on stone and dirt followed her.
Behind her, a narrow line appeared in the forest floor.
She looked back one last time, mentally apologised to the pilots she was leaving with the shuttle and continued. The only way was forward.
One step after another.
The first kilometers passed in silence, not because there was nothing to say, but every breath had become something Liara measured.
The sled was lighter than carrying Shepard directly, but not by much. The damaged hull plating caught on exposed roots and buried stones, jolting to a stop every few meters. Each time, Liara planted her feet, leaned her entire weight into the harness, and pulled until it broke free again.
The scrapping sound settled into a rhythm.
The storm had finally weakened, but the mist trapped the moisture beneath it, every leaf dripped, moss covered nearly every surface, fallen logs forced her to stop, lift the front of the sled over them, then return to drag the rest across.
She refused to think about the remaining forty kilometers. Instead, there was one more tree, one more hill, one more breath.
By the middle of the day, Shepard woke again. Liara noticed before she heard anything, there was a slight tension in the harness, as if Shepard had instinctively tried to sit up. She immediately stopped.
"Don't."
A quiet groan answered her.
"I know."
Liara knelt beside the sled. Shepard's face hadn't regained her usual colour, her lips dry despite the damp air. Liara lifted a small canteen.
"Water?"
Shepard managed only a sip before coughing.
"...I feel like I got hit by a thresher maw."
"I imagine considerably less gracefully." Liara smiled.
"...Probably."
Silence settled again.
Shepard's eyes wandered upward through the trees.
"...Where are we?"
"I believe approximately a couple of kilometres from the crash."
"...Only?"
Liara couldn't bring herself to lie to her lover, she simply nodded.
Shepard let out a slow breath through her nose.
"...Sorry."
Liara frowned.
"For what?"
"I'm..."
Her voice barely above a whisper.
"...Heavy."
She reached for Shepard's hand without thinking twice.
"You are injured."
"Still."
"You are injured Jane."
"...Liara."
"You are not a burden."
Shepard looked away, but Liara knew that expression. The same one she'd seen after Virmire, Akuze, after Horizon, it's the look of someone quietly accepting blame for feeling like they failed to carry everyone on their shoulders.
"I wish," Liara said softly "you would stop apologizing every time you need someone."
Shepard didn't answer.
Instead, she stared through the trees.
"...You're shaking."
Liara blinked.
"I am?"
"...Hands."
Only then did she notice, the muscles in her forearms trembled from the strain, but she smiled anyway.
"A temporary inconvenience."
"Liar."
Liara laughed quietly.
"Yes."
"...Bad one."
"I have had little practice."
That earned another faint and fragile smile.
An hour later, Shepard spoke again.
"...Liara."
"Yes?"
"If..." She hesitated."...If I stop waking up."
Liara kept walking.
"You will not."
"If I do." The words came slowly, interrupted by pain."...Promise me."
"No."
"You don't even know-"
"I know enough." She interrupts.
"Liara."
"No." She pulled the sled over another root. "I refuse."
"You can't just-"
"I can."
Another pull.
Another scrape.
"You intend to ask me to leave you."
Silence.
"I have already considered that possibility." She climbed a shallow incline before continuing. "My answer remains no."
"You could die."
"I am aware."
"You'll never reach the relay."
"I am aware."
"You-"
"I am. Aware."
The repetition finally stopped Shepard, Liara turned around and looked at her. Rainwater still clinging to the red strands of hair on her forehead, her eyes were half-closed from exhaustion.
"You once told me," Liara said quietly "'No one gets left behind.'"
Shepard's expression softened, after a few seconds, she replies.
"...Didn't think you'd use my own words against me..."
"I intend to continue doing so whenever necessary."
Later that afternoon, they reached a river, not a wide one, perhaps 10 meters across.
Normally it would have been nothing more than an inconvenience. Now however...
Liara stared at the current.
The recent storm had transformed it into a nasty flood, water crashed against boulders with frightening force. She walked upstream, then downstream searching, for anything. There was no fallen tree sturdy enough, neither a shallow crossing.
She looked back towards Shepard. Asleep again, a welcoming sight, the last thing she needs is for a commander trying to take this upon herself and Liara having to fight her to stay put.
Liara closed her eyes and sighed and prepared to spent the next hours building a bridge.
Finally she felt like she had something, not entirely safe, but okay enough. Some branches, lengths of shuttle paneling, an emergency cable.
Twice did the current tore her work apart, but the third attempt held, barely.
When everything was finally ready, the sun had begun setting beyond the forest. Liara crouched beside Shepard.
"I'm going to move you."
She got no response, her vitals showed she was alive, just passed out. She preferred when Shepard complained, when she argued that Liara should be doing things differently... Anything was better than silence.
Then carefully, painfully slowly, she lifted Shepard into her arms.
Even unconscious, Shepard groans in pain, but instinctively curls toward the warmth, almost like a "I trust you".
Liara stepped onto the makeshift crossing, the first plank held, the second shifted beneath her weight. The river waves crashed right below her feet, but she needed to continue foward, one careful step at a time. She didn't look down, only forward.
Halfway across, one of the cables snapped, the bridge lurched violently.
Liara nearly lost her footing, she tightened her grip around Shepard.
"No!" The word escaped before she realized she'd spoken aloud.
She planted one foot, managing to regained her balance, and kept on moving.
The final step landed on solid ground and only then did she allow herself to breathe. She returned for the sled, the medical supplies, rations and all the other little necessities she brought with them. By the time everything had been brought across, darkness had already consumed most of the horizon.
Liara collapsed beside a small fire she'd managed to lit from damp wood, branches and some dry leaves.
Her shoulders burned in pain, her palms had blistered beneath her gloves, she didn't have enough energy to remove her armor anymore.
Across the fire, Shepard finally stirred.
"...You okay?"
Liara looked up.
"What?"
"You look..." Shepard blinked slowly. "...Terrible."
Liara laughed.
"I appreciate your honesty."
"...Always."
Shepard studied her for a moment.
"You carried me."
"Yes."
"...Across."
"Indeed."
Another pause.
"...Idiot."
Liara smiles, barely, but enough for Shepard to notice.
"I have noticed humans use that word in surprisingly affectionate contexts."
A tired breath escaped Shepard that might have been considered a laugh, then silence followed for a long time.
The fire crackled between them.
"Come here."
Liara looked at Shepard, her right arm barely lifted from the blanket, trying to reach her, she closed the remaining distance herself.
She felt trembling fingers brush against the side of her face.
"I'm sorry."
The words were clearer this time, no longer delirious, not confused either. Just sincere.
Liara covered Shepard's hand with her own.
"For surviving?"
"For making you..." A wince of pain. "...do this."
Liara leaned down until their foreheads touched.
"When we first met," she whispered "I believed Commander Shepard was fearless." Shepard's eyes fluttered closed. "I was mistaken."
"...Yeah?"
"You were not fearless." Liara smiled sadly. "You were simply willing to keep walking while afraid." She gently squeezed Shepard's hand. "I am only following your example."
For the first time since the shuttle had fallen from the sky... Shepard cried, no sobs, no shaking yet... Only silent tears slipping from the corners of tired green eyes.
Liara didn't try to stop them.
She simply stayed where she was, forehead resting against Shepard's, while the fire burned low and, somewhere behind them in the darkness, the long drag path through the forest was the only other witness of their determination.
The tears came silently at first, slipping across blood and dirt smudged skin before disappearing into her hairline. Liara didn't move, she stayed where she was, their foreheads resting together, one hand cupping Shepard's cheek while the other held her trembling fingers.
For several minutes, the only sounds were the fire, the distant rush of the river... and Shepard's increasingly uneven breathing. Eventually it all just became too much. A broken inhale caught in her chest, then the quiet sob she'd been fighting against escaped.
"I'm..." Shepard stopped to breathe. "I'm trying."
"I know."
"I'm trying so hard."
"I know."
"It hurts." Her voice cracked so badly the last word barely made it out. "But it hurts so much."
Liara gently brushed her thumb beneath Shepard's eye, catching another tear before it could fall.
"I know love."
"My ribs..." She swallowed against another sob. "My back..." A shaky breath. "My head..." She squeezed her eyes shut. "Everything."
Every sentence cost her. She wasn't describing her injuries anymore, she was confessing them.
"I can't..." Another breath. "I can't even breathe without it hurting." Her hand tightened weakly around Liara's. "I can't move."
"I know."
"I can't even roll over by myself." The shame in her voice hurt far more than anything the scanner could have shown.
"I know." Liara looks in her eyes with tears threatening to fall too.
Shepard looked away.
"I hate this."
Liara didn't answer, she simply listened.
"I hate needing you to..." Another shaky breath. "...pull me around. I hate that you have to carry me."
Silence.
"I hate that every time you touch me..." A sharp wince interrupted her. "...it's because something's wrong."
She laughed once, not from amusement, it was pure pain and exhaustion.
"I can't even hug you."
Liara's own eyes began to sting, but she stayed quiet. This wasn't the moment to tell Shepard she wasn't a burden, not the moment to argue, she wasn't looking for answers.
She was simply tired of carrying the weight alone.
"I keep thinking..." She stared into the fire. "...if I hadn't told us to land..." Another pause. "The crew would still be alive."
Liara's lips parted, she almost spoke before she stopped herself.
"And now you're stuck out here because of me." Another breath. "You should be safe... You should be on the Normandy." Her voice dropped almost to nothing. "...You shouldn't be dragging me through a random planet I decided to survey."
Liara slowly reached up and tucked another damp strand of red hair behind Shepard's ear, the commander leaning unconsciously into the touch.
"All of this while the Reapers are destroying Earth, Palaven, soon everywhere. And here I am, broken to pieces instead of doing my part." She stops for a few seconds, almost numbing herself before continuing. "I don't know how much longer I can..." She stopped, closed her eyes. "I'm so tired."
The words were barely audible.
"So..." Another tear. "...so fucking tired."
Liara remained exactly where she was, waiting until the sobs became quieter, until the shaking eased. Only then did she lean forward.
She pressed the softest kiss against Shepard's forehead, lingering there for a moment. When she spoke, her voice was barely louder than the fire. "It's going to be okay Jane."
Nothing more, no speeches, no attempts to convince Shepard that everything she felt was wrong, just those words, a promise for Liara, hope for Shepard.
She opened her eyes again.
"...You don't know that."
"No."
Liara smiled sadly.
"I do not." She rested her forehead against Shepard's once more. "But I know this." She gently squeezed Shepard's hand. "You are not alone."
Another long silence settled between them, this one different, not empty, not desperate, just... there.
Shepard's breathing gradually slowed, she didn't stop hurting, she simply stopped hiding how much she did.
"...Liara?"
"Yes?"
"...Stay."
"As long as you wish."
Shepard closed her eyes again.
"I don't..." A small wince stops her mid phrase. "...want to fall asleep alone."
"You won't."
Liara replies immediately, already shifting carefully, sitting with her back against a fallen log. She adjusted the blanket around Shepard's shoulders before resting one hand lightly over hers.
The fire crackled and the forest swayed gently overhead, finally after several minutes, Shepard's grip loosened, her breathing deepened.
She was asleep again, but Liara remained awake.
She watched the flames burn lower, feeding them small branches and random dry bits she could find whenever they began to fade. Only once Shepard had been sleeping peacefully for nearly an hour did Liara finally look back from where they came from. The moon had risen high enough to spill light through gaps in the mist, she could almost appreciate how pretty it was.
Then her eyes find the floor, a single line through mud, over roots, across stone, all evidence that they had been here, that they had kept moving.
Liara wondered how many more lines this world would ask them to leave before they reached the relay.
She hoped not many.
But she also knew better than to expect mercy.