Slaves of Cerberus

"It's working."



Shepard nodded and forced a smile onto her face. The two of them strolled casually through the crowds of Port Hanshan, on their way to meet with Administrator Anoleis. Shepard still remembered how annoyed she had been then, jumping through all the corporate hoops just to get back on the trail of Saren. Right about now, she would have paid every last credit to have those sorts of problems again.



"They're starting to trust each other less and less," Liara said, looking so innocent despite the body armor she wore and the heavy weaponry on her back. Shepard thought back to those days years ago, and the dawning realization that she was falling in love with this awkward, shy, and beautiful alien archaeologist.



Looking over at her and seeing the dreamy smile on her face, Liara gave Shepard a serious look. "Stay focused, Shepard."



"Right, right," Shepard said. "Yeah, the plan's starting to work, I think. We're putting some cracks in their cozy little partnership. The tricky part now is figuring out how to make Brooks start to trust me more. Consider me as a potential replacement to my difficult-to-handle clone."



Liara nodded. "I know it hurts, Shepard, but you have to make a bigger show of our relationship falling apart. Convince Brooks that you've grown to hate me, and that it's turned you against all aliens. Make her believe that you might be coming around to Cerberus's point of view."



"Right, and hopefully she'll start to think that I'm the better Shepard to hitch her wagon to," Shepard said. "It won't be easy, but..." Shepard gave a light cough. "But I..." She coughed more, feeling something rise up in the back of her throat.



"Shepard, are you alright?" Liara said, pausing in her step with concern in her voice. "What's..."



Letting out one more hacking cough, Shepard felt something warm and wet splatter out from between her lips. "Oh, God," she moaned, reaching up to wipe at the fluid dripping out of her mouth and pulling her hand back expecting to see blood.



But it wasn't blood. Her armored glove had come away from her face dripping with semen. Shepard looked at Liara with near panic in her eyes, as she felt the cum spilling out of her mouth and down her chin.



"Shepard, listen to me," Liara said, grabbing Shepard by the shoulders. "This isn't part of our memory. Just take a second and calm down. You're here with me on Noveria, far away from the Normandy and our captors. Join your mind with mine. Remember with me."



Closing her eyes, Shepard took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again, the cum on her hand and dripping down her face were gone. Liara looked relieved as she saw the change.



"I... I'm okay," Shepard said, lying. "It's just... it's all so fresh. Hard to keep it out of my head."



"I know, Shepard," Liara said. "But you have to stay strong. Our lives, and the lives of our friends depend on it."



Shepard tried her best to regain her calm, but eventually she couldn't hold back. "What Brooks was saying at the end there," Shepard said, her voice trembling just slightly. "About something they were going to do to you. 'The final twist of the knife,' she said."



"It doesn't matter, Shepard," Liara said, reaching up to rest a hand on Shepard's cheek. "I have faith in you. I know that you'll put a stop to them before it gets to that point."



"But if I fail, Liara... if I..."



"You won't, Shepard," Liara said firmly. "You'll win, just like you always do."



Shepard realized that arguing further would be pointless, so she simply leaned forward and kissed Liara. The memory of Liara's lips, how they tasted back then, managed to wipe away the foul flavor of the cum that had invaded their shared memory. And as she felt herself disconnecting from Liara, and returning to the real world, Shepard swore to herself that she wouldn't fail Liara.



And that if she did, that she would take as many of those bastards with her as she could until they were forced to kill her.