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Bioware owns all these characters. (but I like my Javik better than theirs!) (OK, I like my Liara better too. And grunt, and Wrex, and Tali…well you get the idea…)

Earth, High Orbit:

The Destiny Ascension hung in space, closely guarding the SSV Nightingale.  Her captain, Matriarch Lidanya stood by the large viewing portal and watched the other ships arrayed close by.  Dreadnaughts of several different designs all sat at station keeping, creating a wall around the diminutive Alliance hospital ship.

Two dreadnaughts from the Asari, Turian, Quarian and even the Batarian fleets had taken station within an hour of hearing that Commander Shepard was aboard and barely hanging on to life.  It was a time honored show of respect and support from the spacefaring races in the galaxy.  The SSV Beijing arrived and the SSV Houston had towed the SSV Normandy over near their little formation, also.  Now ships from the other races were showing up.  While they did not have dreadnaughts, the Volus, Hannar, and Elcor sent their own flagships to stand vigil.

Lidanya was deeply taken with the continued galactic unity demonstrated for this young human.  In fact, the only race not present was the Geth, but no-one had heard from them since the Crucible fired.  That vaguely bothered her, but she was too tired to worry about it overly much right now.  It had been a long, brutal war and she lost a great many friends on Thessia and here in the Sol System.

And she still had so much work to do.

"Captain?"  Her adjutant said softly trying to get her attention politely.

"Yes?"  She replied without looking away from the small Alliance ship floating in the midst of giants.  Why did she feel such powerful feelings for this one human?  OK, she was responsible for saving the Ascension three years ago, but there was much more to it.  There was something about the way she held herself, Lidanya supposed.  One could trust her with their life and the lives of their people.  She commanded respect through her bearing, dignity and poise.  Lidanya respected that.  It was rare in matriarchs let alone someone one fifth of their ages.

"The Cybaen reports more ships closing on our position at flank speed."  The young officer sounded a bit rattled to the matriarch.

"So, what's the problem?  They're not Reapers are they?"  She surprised herself by joking about it so soon, a very human thing to do to relieve stress.  She liked it.

"No Captain. It's the Geth."

Lidanya sighed and looked again at the display of unity outside her ship.  She prayed to the Goddess that it would last.

'''''

SSV Nightingale ICU:

The crushing black fog fell across Liara's mind as she stood there watching Shepard die.  "Oh Goddess, not again! Please not again!"  She cried out.  Sarah's death had nearly destroyed her after Alchera and now the nightmare was repeating itself a mere three years later.

Moments before, Liara was sharing blissful memories with Sarah in an effort to calm the tortured woman and give her something to live for and hold on to while the doctors worked to repair her devastated body enough for her to recover.  Enough to have a chance.

But Shepard had forced Liara out of their meld and the young Asari realized now that Sarah was protecting her.  Shepard did not want Liara to be joined to her when she died.  She did not want her love to feel it through their intensely personal, emotionally profound meld as she slipped away into the darkness beyond.  Shepard had died before and knew she was dying again.  She would not let Liara, her love, her...everything, experience it during a deep meld.

The memory crashed through Liara's mind like a dreadnaught under full power.  Sitting in the escape pod and powerless to do anything but listen.  Listen to Sarah's last breaths, her last moments as she fell through the cold, empty void of space to the waiting planet below.  Worse, it had all come through in their bond.  While Liara could not 'hear' Sarah's thoughts, she felt those intense, pulsating emotions of the woman who was facing certain death, yet thinking only sweet, lovely thoughts of Liara and drowning in the crushing regret that they did not have more time.

The doctors worked for over twenty minutes after Liara's meld was forcibly cut off by Sarah.  Dr Silon and Dr Chakwas still worked feverishly trying anything that popped into their minds that could work and restart Shepard's implants.  They could circulate her blood for a while and breathe for her, but she never held on for long.  It wasn't a question of will or desire of the patient, they had never seen a more determined and strong-willed person, it was about how much damage there was to the body and that the implants were not helping any longer.

One by one the doctors and nurses fell to standing motionless and just stared at the broken, lifeless body of the woman they had tried so hard to save.  They wanted it so very bad because each knew that she had unhesitatingly given her life for each and every one of them.

As the medical team slowly stopped one by one, and admitted the inevitable, those watching in the room and through the window reacted to the failure in their own ways.

Liara, her world falling apart into millions of dark, jagged pieces of agony within her soul, walked to the vat and pulled her love far enough out to cradle Sarah's broken body and rest her charred cheek on her shoulder.  Liara rested her own cheek on Shepard's forehead and cried tears that came from the very depths of her heart.  There she stayed, holding her love and whispering poor words to the father of her daughter and the goddess of her heart, to express the flood of enduring love and overwhelming sorrow that clashed and roiled within her.

Seeing this, the usually reserved Dr Chakwas left the ICU and desperately clung to Admiral Hackett.  The aging warrior who felt as though he'd just lost a daughter tried his best to console the distraught doctor while keeping his own sorrow bottled up for later when he was alone.

Tali felt her world being torn away.  Losing Shepard was more painful and pierced her more deeply than losing her own father.  Sarah had always believed in her and never judged her for being a Quarian or an Admiral's daughter.  The young engineer, who had been with Sarah since the beginning and loved her like a sister, sank to her knees and cried into her hands, as violent sobs shook her slim shoulders.

Garrus turned away from the devastating sight and silently cursed the Spirits, the gods, and everything else in this unjust galaxy that would let his friend's life end this way.  He stood by himself next to the portal, stared at the passing ships and struggled for both breath and meaning in his suddenly emptier life.

Ashley and James stood with arms around each other, each trying to draw strength from the other.  The big man was stoic and tried desperately to control his breathing and barely controlled tears by whispering, "Oh man, oh man, oh man…" over and over again.  Ashley buried her face in his shoulder and wept openly, silently cursing herself for ever doubting Shepard instead of believing and being the friend she always should have been.

Wrex saw his young protégé start losing control and thankful for the distraction, pulled Grunt away from the others.  The young Krogan toyed with his shotgun and stalked back and forth looking for something to destroy.  He had never felt true loss before.  He had never been attached or cared about anyone or anything like he was with Shepard.  "I have to kill something! I have to destroy…something!"  He growled. "I need to…I need to…I don't know what! She was my battle-master, Wrex!"  He would never admit it to anyone, but she was more than a battle-master to him, she was there when he came out of the tank.  She guided him and brought order to the chaos in his mind.  She was a sort of mother to him as well.

Wrex nodded sagely and grabbed Grunt by the arm.  "She was my friend, Whelp, a true Krogan in heart if not body.  The first friend I made in centuries.  We will control ourselves like she would want us to."   Grunt tried to step away, but Wrex grabbed his armor collar and growled at him.  "Honor her! Not your urges!"

Javik watched all this happen.  Saw the pain and wretchedness these people were enduring and examined his own reaction.  He thought he would never feel loss again after knowing his entire race was gone, but he knew loss now.  His own words came back to him again and again.  'All of these people would gladly give their lives for the Commander, as would I.'

Javik silently stepped by everyone and entered the ICU without really being noticed.  He gazed down on the lifeless body of the Commander as the Asari embraced her, the one who brought vengeance to the Reapers for his people and justice to the galaxy.  He slowly nodded as he became convinced of what must be done.

"No!"  He declared.  "This is not over!"

Liara, the doctors and nurses looked at him like he was mad.  He looked piercingly at Liara and told her, "Steel your resolve, Asari.  You must help me and tears will not aide our mission."

Liara gazed at him through the fog of loss and blur of teary eyes.  "What…what are you talking about?"

Javik leveled his gaze and saw hope begin to dawn in her eyes.  "I will give her body what it requires to survive for a while.  You must give her spirit the reason, the desire, to survive the torment."

Liara stammered, "I…I don't understand.  She will not let me in.  What can you do? Is there…?"

"Enough, Asari!"  He cut her off.  "There is no time.  You must get into her consciousness and gird her and yourself from mine when I start my meld."

"What? You can…But how…?  Sarah…"

He leaned forward until their faces were scant inches apart.  "Listen to me, Liara T'Soni."  His eyes blazed with an intensity born of a life lived while his race died.  "The Commander fought, suffered, faced and accepted certain death for you.  Not for the galaxy, not trillions of lives, not duty and honor.  She did it all for you.  Now you must focus your resolve as she did and find it within yourself to do the same for her."  He saw his words had the desired effect as Liara's eyes dried and her jaw set in either determination or anger.  It mattered not which to Javik, as long as she could do the job.  "I will begin.  You will follow.  If you do not, she will die."

He looked to a gaping Dr Silon.  "This will not save her, but it will buy you time.  You must find a way."  With that, he placed his open palm across Shepard's bare shoulder and the green-white glow of his biotics flared beneath his hand.

He glanced to Liara.  "For me, you will tell the Commander that she taught me much during our time.  I thank her.  Because of her, the last act of the last Prothean was not to take life, but to give it."

The green energy flared and engulfed Shepard.  Pulsing from the ancient warrior's hand and flowing in rushing waves into her inert body.  Shepard threw her head back and screamed in anguish as torn flesh forcibly knit and raw nerve endings reignited in searing agony.

Javik shuddered and howled in pain before forcing himself to level his gaze at Liara and grate through clenched teeth, "Now, Liara T'Soni! She needs you now!"

Liara gathered her strength and used all her mental and emotional power to drive her consciousness into Shepard's.  She felt Javik's spirit vaguely flutter as she crashed through the outer layers of Shepard's will and further, into the very center of Shepard's being.

Casting about, Liara desperately gathered what was left of Sarah and wrapped her own soul around it in an iron shell of her making, protecting Sarah as she had protected Liara during their last meld.  She felt Sarah push her away again, but would have none of it.  She grounded her effort in devotion, love, and pure stubbornness and managed to resist Sarah's effort to protect her.  'You will not die!' She commanded in her mind. 'You belong to me and our baby! You are MINE!'

Liara could feel the agonizing, lancing lightning flowing through Sarah's body.  Felt the woman's soul flinch from it and pulled her love away from it.  Back into the past, back to a place where Shepard could rest and endure the pain while it lasted.

'''''

Normandy SR2:

"So tell me what you want.  If this all ends tomorrow, what happens to us?"  She asked in a tone meant to hide the anxiety welling within her.  She knew what her heart desperately wanted, but had no idea how to voice it to Sarah.  The pain of losing her before had changed the young Asari in ways she could never imagine.

Sarah got that stupid little impish grin on her face that always made Liara want to kiss her.  "I dunno.  Marriage, old age, and a lot of little blue children?"  Liara saw the joking manner, but sensed Sarah's deep hope that she would want it also.

Liara knew she had hurt Shepard before on Illium.  She hated herself for it, too.  But people bear scars that can make you do things you never thought possible.  She smiled and playfully pushed Sarah's shoulder.  "You just say these things."  Though she wanted nothing more than what Sarah had just said, she walked over to the desk and looked at that awful helmet.  Scarred, pitted and bent, it represented just how fragile even Sarah Shepard was.  That she would die again sometime and Liara would likely have to endure it again.

"Goddess, you were dead."  She says more to herself than her love.

Flippant as always, Sarah says, "I got better."

She hears the confidence in those words, the bravado that pulled her to Shepard in the first place and turns.  She is there, so close, so real she wants to… but she drops her hands.  "This time, but you're going to leave again."  She steps away, needing to get this out.  "When your team is ready, you'll leap through the Omega-4 Relay."  She turns back to Sarah, gazes into those amazing emerald eyes and tells her what her heart feels.  "I spent two years mourning you.  So if we're going to try this…I need to know that you're always coming back."  She stepped into her arms again and felt that same electric thrill gather power deep inside herself.

Sarah's lips twisted into that same grin again and her eyes danced with burning love and desire, "I don't know. That's a pretty big promise to make."  She drawled.

Liara knew she was undone.  She was completely and utterly under Shepard's spell, and she gave herself over to it.  "Oh, is it?"  The heat between them built as those soft, full lips inched closer to Liara's tender skin.  She could feel her love's warm breath on her neck and her heart started racing as it only did when Sarah was near.

"I'd have to have something pretty special to come back to."  Sarah breathed.

With the last of her control, Liara teased, "I'm…open to suggestions."

Sarah lightly touched her lips to Liara's neck and whispered, "How about…this?"  At the same time her strong, but tender hands ran down over Liara's butt and caressed it gently.

Liara finally gave into Shepard completely, needing to feel her warm skin against her, see her passion flaring hotly in her eyes, and finally join their minds together in the ultimate act of intimacy again.

Liara relived the beautiful moment with Shepard again, feeling their love for each other finally chase away all the pain and doubt of the past.  Liara was in heaven.

'''''

SSV Nightingale ICU:

The stunned doctors were back to work.  "I see a twenty percent improvement in neural activity and somehow her heart and lung capacity has increased two fold."  Dr Silon said in a shaky voice.

Liara still held Sarah in her arms, but now her face was lifted up with an angelic expression of love gracing her delicate features.

He glanced at the Prothean and shook his head in admiration.  Javik had released all of his life spirit and power into the Commander.  After the last pulse of green biotic power flowed from him, he collapsed to the floor, lifeless and limp.

Half of Silon's team now worked fanatically with their limited knowledge of Prothean physiology in a desperate attempt to revive him.

Dr. Chakwas had come back into the ICU and started working with renewed energy.  But, after several minutes, she gave Silon a grave, meaningful look.  They both knew that even with this small miracle, without the implants, Shepard would be dead again within an hour.

Description
Bioware owns all these characters. (but I like my Javik better than theirs!) (OK, I like my Liara better too. And grunt, and Wrex, and Tali…well you get the idea…)

Earth, High Orbit:

The Destiny Ascension hung in space, closely guarding the SSV Nightingale.  Her captain, Matriarch Lidanya stood by the large viewing portal and watched the other ships arrayed close by.  Dreadnaughts of several different designs all sat at station keeping, creating a wall around the diminutive Alliance hospital ship.

Two dreadnaughts from the Asari, Turian, Quarian and even the Batarian fleets had taken station within an hour of hearing that Commander Shepard was aboard and barely hanging on to life.  It was a time honored show of respect and support from the spacefaring races in the galaxy.  The SSV Beijing arrived and the SSV Houston had towed the SSV Normandy over near their little formation, also.  Now ships from the other races were showing up.  While they did not have dreadnaughts, the Volus, Hannar, and Elcor sent their own flagships to stand vigil.

Lidanya was deeply taken with the continued galactic unity demonstrated for this young human.  In fact, the only race not present was the Geth, but no-one had heard from them since the Crucible fired.  That vaguely bothered her, but she was too tired to worry about it overly much right now.  It had been a long, brutal war and she lost a great many friends on Thessia and here in the Sol System.

And she still had so much work to do.

"Captain?"  Her adjutant said softly trying to get her attention politely.

"Yes?"  She replied without looking away from the small Alliance ship floating in the midst of giants.  Why did she feel such powerful feelings for this one human?  OK, she was responsible for saving the Ascension three years ago, but there was much more to it.  There was something about the way she held herself, Lidanya supposed.  One could trust her with their life and the lives of their people.  She commanded respect through her bearing, dignity and poise.  Lidanya respected that.  It was rare in matriarchs let alone someone one fifth of their ages.

"The Cybaen reports more ships closing on our position at flank speed."  The young officer sounded a bit rattled to the matriarch.

"So, what's the problem?  They're not Reapers are they?"  She surprised herself by joking about it so soon, a very human thing to do to relieve stress.  She liked it.

"No Captain. It's the Geth."

Lidanya sighed and looked again at the display of unity outside her ship.  She prayed to the Goddess that it would last.

'''''

SSV Nightingale ICU:

The crushing black fog fell across Liara's mind as she stood there watching Shepard die.  "Oh Goddess, not again! Please not again!"  She cried out.  Sarah's death had nearly destroyed her after Alchera and now the nightmare was repeating itself a mere three years later.

Moments before, Liara was sharing blissful memories with Sarah in an effort to calm the tortured woman and give her something to live for and hold on to while the doctors worked to repair her devastated body enough for her to recover.  Enough to have a chance.

But Shepard had forced Liara out of their meld and the young Asari realized now that Sarah was protecting her.  Shepard did not want Liara to be joined to her when she died.  She did not want her love to feel it through their intensely personal, emotionally profound meld as she slipped away into the darkness beyond.  Shepard had died before and knew she was dying again.  She would not let Liara, her love, her...everything, experience it during a deep meld.

The memory crashed through Liara's mind like a dreadnaught under full power.  Sitting in the escape pod and powerless to do anything but listen.  Listen to Sarah's last breaths, her last moments as she fell through the cold, empty void of space to the waiting planet below.  Worse, it had all come through in their bond.  While Liara could not 'hear' Sarah's thoughts, she felt those intense, pulsating emotions of the woman who was facing certain death, yet thinking only sweet, lovely thoughts of Liara and drowning in the crushing regret that they did not have more time.

The doctors worked for over twenty minutes after Liara's meld was forcibly cut off by Sarah.  Dr Silon and Dr Chakwas still worked feverishly trying anything that popped into their minds that could work and restart Shepard's implants.  They could circulate her blood for a while and breathe for her, but she never held on for long.  It wasn't a question of will or desire of the patient, they had never seen a more determined and strong-willed person, it was about how much damage there was to the body and that the implants were not helping any longer.

One by one the doctors and nurses fell to standing motionless and just stared at the broken, lifeless body of the woman they had tried so hard to save.  They wanted it so very bad because each knew that she had unhesitatingly given her life for each and every one of them.

As the medical team slowly stopped one by one, and admitted the inevitable, those watching in the room and through the window reacted to the failure in their own ways.

Liara, her world falling apart into millions of dark, jagged pieces of agony within her soul, walked to the vat and pulled her love far enough out to cradle Sarah's broken body and rest her charred cheek on her shoulder.  Liara rested her own cheek on Shepard's forehead and cried tears that came from the very depths of her heart.  There she stayed, holding her love and whispering poor words to the father of her daughter and the goddess of her heart, to express the flood of enduring love and overwhelming sorrow that clashed and roiled within her.

Seeing this, the usually reserved Dr Chakwas left the ICU and desperately clung to Admiral Hackett.  The aging warrior who felt as though he'd just lost a daughter tried his best to console the distraught doctor while keeping his own sorrow bottled up for later when he was alone.

Tali felt her world being torn away.  Losing Shepard was more painful and pierced her more deeply than losing her own father.  Sarah had always believed in her and never judged her for being a Quarian or an Admiral's daughter.  The young engineer, who had been with Sarah since the beginning and loved her like a sister, sank to her knees and cried into her hands, as violent sobs shook her slim shoulders.

Garrus turned away from the devastating sight and silently cursed the Spirits, the gods, and everything else in this unjust galaxy that would let his friend's life end this way.  He stood by himself next to the portal, stared at the passing ships and struggled for both breath and meaning in his suddenly emptier life.

Ashley and James stood with arms around each other, each trying to draw strength from the other.  The big man was stoic and tried desperately to control his breathing and barely controlled tears by whispering, "Oh man, oh man, oh man…" over and over again.  Ashley buried her face in his shoulder and wept openly, silently cursing herself for ever doubting Shepard instead of believing and being the friend she always should have been.

Wrex saw his young protégé start losing control and thankful for the distraction, pulled Grunt away from the others.  The young Krogan toyed with his shotgun and stalked back and forth looking for something to destroy.  He had never felt true loss before.  He had never been attached or cared about anyone or anything like he was with Shepard.  "I have to kill something! I have to destroy…something!"  He growled. "I need to…I need to…I don't know what! She was my battle-master, Wrex!"  He would never admit it to anyone, but she was more than a battle-master to him, she was there when he came out of the tank.  She guided him and brought order to the chaos in his mind.  She was a sort of mother to him as well.

Wrex nodded sagely and grabbed Grunt by the arm.  "She was my friend, Whelp, a true Krogan in heart if not body.  The first friend I made in centuries.  We will control ourselves like she would want us to."   Grunt tried to step away, but Wrex grabbed his armor collar and growled at him.  "Honor her! Not your urges!"

Javik watched all this happen.  Saw the pain and wretchedness these people were enduring and examined his own reaction.  He thought he would never feel loss again after knowing his entire race was gone, but he knew loss now.  His own words came back to him again and again.  'All of these people would gladly give their lives for the Commander, as would I.'

Javik silently stepped by everyone and entered the ICU without really being noticed.  He gazed down on the lifeless body of the Commander as the Asari embraced her, the one who brought vengeance to the Reapers for his people and justice to the galaxy.  He slowly nodded as he became convinced of what must be done.

"No!"  He declared.  "This is not over!"

Liara, the doctors and nurses looked at him like he was mad.  He looked piercingly at Liara and told her, "Steel your resolve, Asari.  You must help me and tears will not aide our mission."

Liara gazed at him through the fog of loss and blur of teary eyes.  "What…what are you talking about?"

Javik leveled his gaze and saw hope begin to dawn in her eyes.  "I will give her body what it requires to survive for a while.  You must give her spirit the reason, the desire, to survive the torment."

Liara stammered, "I…I don't understand.  She will not let me in.  What can you do? Is there…?"

"Enough, Asari!"  He cut her off.  "There is no time.  You must get into her consciousness and gird her and yourself from mine when I start my meld."

"What? You can…But how…?  Sarah…"

He leaned forward until their faces were scant inches apart.  "Listen to me, Liara T'Soni."  His eyes blazed with an intensity born of a life lived while his race died.  "The Commander fought, suffered, faced and accepted certain death for you.  Not for the galaxy, not trillions of lives, not duty and honor.  She did it all for you.  Now you must focus your resolve as she did and find it within yourself to do the same for her."  He saw his words had the desired effect as Liara's eyes dried and her jaw set in either determination or anger.  It mattered not which to Javik, as long as she could do the job.  "I will begin.  You will follow.  If you do not, she will die."

He looked to a gaping Dr Silon.  "This will not save her, but it will buy you time.  You must find a way."  With that, he placed his open palm across Shepard's bare shoulder and the green-white glow of his biotics flared beneath his hand.

He glanced to Liara.  "For me, you will tell the Commander that she taught me much during our time.  I thank her.  Because of her, the last act of the last Prothean was not to take life, but to give it."

The green energy flared and engulfed Shepard.  Pulsing from the ancient warrior's hand and flowing in rushing waves into her inert body.  Shepard threw her head back and screamed in anguish as torn flesh forcibly knit and raw nerve endings reignited in searing agony.

Javik shuddered and howled in pain before forcing himself to level his gaze at Liara and grate through clenched teeth, "Now, Liara T'Soni! She needs you now!"

Liara gathered her strength and used all her mental and emotional power to drive her consciousness into Shepard's.  She felt Javik's spirit vaguely flutter as she crashed through the outer layers of Shepard's will and further, into the very center of Shepard's being.

Casting about, Liara desperately gathered what was left of Sarah and wrapped her own soul around it in an iron shell of her making, protecting Sarah as she had protected Liara during their last meld.  She felt Sarah push her away again, but would have none of it.  She grounded her effort in devotion, love, and pure stubbornness and managed to resist Sarah's effort to protect her.  'You will not die!' She commanded in her mind. 'You belong to me and our baby! You are MINE!'

Liara could feel the agonizing, lancing lightning flowing through Sarah's body.  Felt the woman's soul flinch from it and pulled her love away from it.  Back into the past, back to a place where Shepard could rest and endure the pain while it lasted.

'''''

Normandy SR2:

"So tell me what you want.  If this all ends tomorrow, what happens to us?"  She asked in a tone meant to hide the anxiety welling within her.  She knew what her heart desperately wanted, but had no idea how to voice it to Sarah.  The pain of losing her before had changed the young Asari in ways she could never imagine.

Sarah got that stupid little impish grin on her face that always made Liara want to kiss her.  "I dunno.  Marriage, old age, and a lot of little blue children?"  Liara saw the joking manner, but sensed Sarah's deep hope that she would want it also.

Liara knew she had hurt Shepard before on Illium.  She hated herself for it, too.  But people bear scars that can make you do things you never thought possible.  She smiled and playfully pushed Sarah's shoulder.  "You just say these things."  Though she wanted nothing more than what Sarah had just said, she walked over to the desk and looked at that awful helmet.  Scarred, pitted and bent, it represented just how fragile even Sarah Shepard was.  That she would die again sometime and Liara would likely have to endure it again.

"Goddess, you were dead."  She says more to herself than her love.

Flippant as always, Sarah says, "I got better."

She hears the confidence in those words, the bravado that pulled her to Shepard in the first place and turns.  She is there, so close, so real she wants to… but she drops her hands.  "This time, but you're going to leave again."  She steps away, needing to get this out.  "When your team is ready, you'll leap through the Omega-4 Relay."  She turns back to Sarah, gazes into those amazing emerald eyes and tells her what her heart feels.  "I spent two years mourning you.  So if we're going to try this…I need to know that you're always coming back."  She stepped into her arms again and felt that same electric thrill gather power deep inside herself.

Sarah's lips twisted into that same grin again and her eyes danced with burning love and desire, "I don't know. That's a pretty big promise to make."  She drawled.

Liara knew she was undone.  She was completely and utterly under Shepard's spell, and she gave herself over to it.  "Oh, is it?"  The heat between them built as those soft, full lips inched closer to Liara's tender skin.  She could feel her love's warm breath on her neck and her heart started racing as it only did when Sarah was near.

"I'd have to have something pretty special to come back to."  Sarah breathed.

With the last of her control, Liara teased, "I'm…open to suggestions."

Sarah lightly touched her lips to Liara's neck and whispered, "How about…this?"  At the same time her strong, but tender hands ran down over Liara's butt and caressed it gently.

Liara finally gave into Shepard completely, needing to feel her warm skin against her, see her passion flaring hotly in her eyes, and finally join their minds together in the ultimate act of intimacy again.

Liara relived the beautiful moment with Shepard again, feeling their love for each other finally chase away all the pain and doubt of the past.  Liara was in heaven.

'''''

SSV Nightingale ICU:

The stunned doctors were back to work.  "I see a twenty percent improvement in neural activity and somehow her heart and lung capacity has increased two fold."  Dr Silon said in a shaky voice.

Liara still held Sarah in her arms, but now her face was lifted up with an angelic expression of love gracing her delicate features.

He glanced at the Prothean and shook his head in admiration.  Javik had released all of his life spirit and power into the Commander.  After the last pulse of green biotic power flowed from him, he collapsed to the floor, lifeless and limp.

Half of Silon's team now worked fanatically with their limited knowledge of Prothean physiology in a desperate attempt to revive him.

Dr. Chakwas had come back into the ICU and started working with renewed energy.  But, after several minutes, she gave Silon a grave, meaningful look.  They both knew that even with this small miracle, without the implants, Shepard would be dead again within an hour.