As the Seconds Drift: Intro

Characters: Sarah Jane Shepard, Liara T'Soni, Citadel Keepers
Timeline: After Reaper Destruction
Location: Citadel and Normandy

Shepard took a big gasp of air as she slowly became conscious.  Everything was dark, her ears were filled with a high pitched ringing and her entire body was in severe pain. She could not move, whether from paralysis or loss of limbs, she could not tell. In the midst of her mind trying to figure out what happened, she was touched by what felt like many slender fingers. She thought she heard some form of chirping but could not be sure.  She tried to look around but her vision was blurry - all she could make out were shadows.  As her body was lifted out of the rubble, her pain intensified even more causing her to black out.
 
As Shepard awoke, she found herself in minimal pain. She could both see and feel tubes attached to various parts of her body.  She did not know how long she had been lying there, but could tell it must have been for some time.  Slowly she turned her head to the side and carefully looked around.  From what she was able to make out, it appeared as though she was in a clinic or a hospital, but it had been badly damaged in the war. Then she saw it – a Keeper moving about, putting things into place.  Shepard watched the Keeper for a few minutes before yet another one came into view. This one moved to her bedside, then proceeded to inject her with something. She felt a slight tingling sensation that soon turned into a jolt. It was if she had been struck by lightning, the effect causing her whole body to arch up off the table in response. When it subsided, she realized that her implants had come back online. Unable to stop it, the Keeper injected her with something else before Shepard felt herself slipping back into the darkness.

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Liara was relieved to see that with a lot of help from Tali and Traynor, the Normandy was able to get their systems back online.   Although EDI no longer possessed Eva's body, some of her core functioning programs were salvaged by the two tech experts.  Only time would tell if EDI would ever again be a true AI. The progress with EDI made Liara ponder about the fate of the Geth. Would the Quarians want to try to restore them or would they prefer to leave them as they were? What about Legion's Reaper code enhancement – would the Geth still try to co-exist with the Quarians without it? Her brain hurt thinking about it all.

On some level she knew she was distracting herself from having to deal with all the possibilities and questions where Shepard was concerned.  In physical terms, Liara and Garrus were healing nicely due to the expert skills of Dr. Chakwas. Emotionally, they were both torn up inside over leaving Shepard back on earth as the shuttle carried them away to safety.  It was the first time Liara had seen true fear in Shepard's eyes.   She knew that Garrus was the brother Shepard had never had. For herself, well she was Shepard's bond-mate, her one true love. They had all served on many missions together where one or all them were injured, but this time was different. This time, she knew that the weight of uncertainty tore away at Shepard's resolve. The fear of something happening to her and Garrus was evident as Shepard sent them on their way. Liara had been walking while the scene played over and over again in her mind. She soon found herself standing in the Normandy's cock-pit with a profound sense of determination.  They were going back for Shepard and if she had to, she would fly the ship herself.