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Goddess, no!

Liara quickly leaned up and fought through the soreness in her limbs. Crawling over, she reached out to her captor, flinching when she almost touched the red flow dripping from her temple and disappearing into similarly red hair. No, no, no please be okay! Her mind raced as she tried to remember anything that might help. She stammered helplessly before remembering something from her lower levels of education.

Immediately, she took the hem of her coat and used her biotics to rip off a piece of cloth. Pressing it against the human's head, she tapped the woman's face with her palm, each pat becoming more and more desperate. "Please wake up!" A strong blow to the head could cause a concussion; Liara needed to wake this human up and keep her aware until she received medical attention.

The asari was almost out-right slapping the human before they started to stir. She let out a sigh of relief, a large weight lifting off her shoulders when she spotted green eyes opening. She's alive! "Miss? Miss, I need to get you to a medical facility!"

Unfortunately, those green eyes remained unfocused, sluggishly looking about before they stopped on Liara's face. In a bizarre turn of events, the university student watched as a completely serene smile formed on the human's face. "You have the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen," they whispered in obvious revere, then promptly slumped into another blackout.

Liara blinked slowly in her bewilderment, otherwise frozen in stunned silence. What? What did she— "Gah, no! Liara, focus!" Physically shaking herself out of her stupor, she went back to drumming the human's cheek to get her to wake up. It took a few pregnant moments, but the woman eventually roused from her slumber.

They frowned, groaning in frustration and pain. "Stop," she half-whined, half-growled, but Liara refused to let up until she saw green eyes once more. When they appeared, the asari almost winced at how intense the glare was. "I said, stop."

At least she's more aware now. "Are you all right?" Liara asked, before inwardly cringing at her own question; she's bleeding from her skull, of course she's not okay!

As if to prove her inner thoughts correct, a groan fell past the human's lips and she laid her head back, closing her eyes in a pained scowl. "Fuck, my head…" She took a shuttered breath. "Hurts. Pounding. Head- so tired. Need sleep…" Her face started to relax, but Liara didn't give her any time to drift off. Her green gaze opened up once more as soon as the asari's hand met her cheek. "What?" the word was growled out with barely restrained contempt.

"You need medical attention!" the other said, figuring it was best to just get to the point. "You've hit your head." Blue eyes darted over to the trickle of blood falling from a nearby hand railing before moving back. "You need to stay awake until a doctor can take a look at you."

"Doctor? What?" The redhead grit her teeth when they tried to sit up and immediately fell back when an intense dizzy spell assaulted them. "What… happened?" she spoke breathily, attempting to steady herself before trying to get up again. She brought one of her hands up to the aching pulse at her temple, but found the asari's hand pressed there with a damp cloth. "I think… I've got it."

Liara frowned, concerned. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." She replaced Liara's hand with her own. A couple of beats passed and the human took a deep breath, forcing herself to lean up. White flashes darted across her vision, but she pushed through until they finally disappeared. She turned to the asari. "Help me up." Under normal circumstances, she might have been more polite, but her vision kept flickering and she felt like she might collapse if she didn't stand up soon. The dark stain on the cloth told her that time was of the essence.

Liara helped the young woman up, catching her as they started to stumble. The asari leaned the other's full weight against them, she herself almost buckling; apparently those muscles were more full than Liara anticipated. The university student opened their mouth to say something, but quickly closed it when she realized she didn't any idea what to do, or where to go from here. A hospital or clinic, yes, but she didn't even know where they were, let alone how to get to a medical facility. She glanced over to the opening that lead to the presidium, then followed the catwalk's path into what looked to be the bowels of the Citadel. Pipes ran along side the metal walkway, the trail lit up by ominous red-orange lighting.

She was brought out of her musing when the human spoke, leaning their head against her shoulder. "What happened?" the redhead asked for a second time. Her captor seemed to have finally caught her breath and Liara was thankful when some of their weight shifted off her body.

Liara worried her lip slightly, wondering which parts to mention. You slammed into me, tried to steal my research, then carried me off, dragging me into whatever you did to cause those guys to shoot at us. Oh, and you then jumped off a balcony and hit your head and almost got us killed. She frowned. Okay, maybe a little too passive-aggressive. She could complain once this human wasn't on the verge of a pain-induced coma. "We were being pursued and shot at. Then you… repelled?" Was that the right word? It was more like they were swinging on a metallic jungle vine made out of the human's left arm. "Off a balcony and we ended up down here."

"Pursued…" The human parroted thoughtfully. She nodded, recalling something, "Yeah, I was on a run. They followed me and I tried to shake them off, but I couldn't get away. Damned psychos blew up a wall in the presidium with a grenade meant for me." The redhead scoffed, but winced when the action brought on a particularly harsh pulse of pain. She went quiet as she mentally went through the events that followed. Her gaze lowered to the datapad Liara held, then over to her own satchel, glad that neither had been lost during the whole ordeal. "Did we lose them?"

Her answer didn't come from Liara, but rather the aggravated yells from said goons back where they jumped off, followed closely by C-Sec finally arriving at the scene and confronting the armed men. "Can't go back that way."

Liara thought otherwise. "But once those men are gone, we can seek medical help from a hospital in the presidium." During emergencies, she and Treeya were to go to the Consort and contact Shiala. The reminder of her friend had Liara worried; was Treeya okay? She hoped beyond hope that those men were so focused on this human that they paid no mind to the asari that fell overboard.

"No." The redhead explained when the university student frowned disapprovingly, "C-Sec isn't only after those goons. No doubt someone is trying to ID us in hopes that we get taken in too. Besides, there's more than likely going be more Tenth Street Reds keeping low profile while prowling around, looking for us. No, we stick to the catwalks and Wards until things die down." She gestured down the walkway ahead.

Tenth Street Reds? Liara filed the name away for later and returned to the topic at hand. "But will we know which way to go? For all we know, this route could lead to thousands of maze-like corridors."

"It is maze like," the human agreed, her confidence intriguing the asari. "If you don't know your way around, that is." A cocky grin spread across the humans face, her green eyes shining with what Liara could only describe as glee. "Lucky for you, I know these tunnels like the back of my hand." As if to prove her point, the woman moved her left hand, but frowned when something felt off. She glanced over the asari's shoulder and scowled at the sight; it appeared her metal arm took the brunt of the impact and had definitely seen better days. "Are you serious?" She sighed. "Tali's gonna kill me…"

At least she seems to be feeling better. The human was much more active now, so maybe the injuries weren't as bad as Liara initially thought. "These tunnels…?" she echoed, trying to get them back on track.

"Oh, right. I was saying I know how to get around down here. Judging by your clothes and how you were up there to begin with, I'm guessing you need to get back to the presidium?" At Liara's hesitant nod she continued, "Then we'll have to lay low until I can get you back. I know just the perfect place that both hidden from view, and where I can get medical attention." She smiled easily. "We can kill two birds with one stone."

Liara gaped, horrified at the notion. "What does murdering defenseless birds have anything to do with our current situation? I refuse to participate!"

The redhead blinked. "Murdering defenseless…? Pfft!" Suddenly, a stream of laughter bubbled up and she started to bend over at the intensity, only stopping when the action irritated her injuries. Even then, she couldn't wipe the smile off her face, tears collecting in the corners of her eyes.

"And just what is so funny?" Liara asked, bewildered and offended.

Hearing the anger in Liara's voice, the human tried to quell their mirth. "I'm sorry," she said, wiping the tears from her eyes but unable to wipe away her grin. "It's a human expression. It means we can take care of two problems with one action. We're not actually going to kill birds."

"O-oh…" Liara deflated, her ire leaving her like a hot air balloon. Her cheeks warmed a little in embarrassment and she had to look away. "Forgive me. I have never interacted with a human before, let alone studied your idioms."

"Hey, it's okay. No offence taken." The human sounded calmer, even friendly. Liara turned to find those green eyes warm and welcoming, with a hint of amusement still swirling around. The asari decided she liked how sharp the green color looked, like a cut gemstone. It was… pretty.

Wait, 'pretty'?

Before Liara could ponder on her mind's… interesting word choice, the human spoke up, "We should get moving. It's a bit of a walk."

The asari looked over her shoulder, wary about going to this humans 'hidden' location. They really should just go down to the Wards…

A heavy sigh sounded at her hesitance and Liara glanced back not to find annoyance like she expected, but instead remorse. "I'm sorry about getting you dragged into this," the woman started, eyes downcast. "I'm sorry about almost getting you killed – twice. I know after the events that have happened so far, you have absolutely no reason to trust me; hell, I'm probably the person you want to be farthest away from right now." Green eyes lifted once more and looked straight into Liara's, her sincerity shining through, imploring Liara to believe her next words: "I can't change the past, but I can protect you. I can make sure you arrive home safely and never get caught up in something like this again. You'll never hear from me, or the Tenth Street Reds ever again. All I ask is that you trust me this once. Please."

That voice, those eyes… Almost every part of Liara immediately wanted to trust this woman. Her words spoke both sincerity and confidence enough to fulfill her promises, and Liara nodded wordlessly, reverently. She felt like a solider falling in line, placing their life in their Commander's hands, trusting them to bring them home in the end. And they would get home; after all, this was the woman leading the charge. They could not fail.

The human then smiled a toothy grin, youthful and cocky, and the vision was gone. Once more the redhead was a young adult, rebellious, stubborn and willing to take on the world. "My name's Shepard, by the way. Yours?"

"Ah…" Still a little struck by… whatever it was she had just experienced, all she could do was mutter her name quietly. "Liara."

"Well, Liara, I'll have you back home by nightfall," Shepard boasted. "Never underestimate a duct rat."