Benezia and her amazing rack didn't die on Noveria; instead, Shepard and crew saved her life, putting her into stasis until they could work out a way to fix her head. Now that the reaper war is over, they've finally got time to haul her out of cold storage. Benezia now has to adapt to a galaxy where her homeworld is in ruins, she's viewed with deep suspicion and even hostility, and her formerly shy, awkward daughter is one of the most powerful people in the galaxy. Fortunately, Aethyta's there to help - or, at least, to provide a welcome distraction...
A/N: I'm not the anon who was nurturing a plot bunny regarding this prompt. If they're still about and working on a fill, I hope they continue to do so! For me, this started out life as an attempt to get unblocked on the other prompt I'm supposed to be finishing filling, but it rather took on a life
( ... )
Liara allowed herself a little less than two weeks in the end. Two days to simply sleep, another three to heal, one to mourn and the rest to hover by Shepard's bedside, one eye on the various medical monitors while she worked, trying to pull together what remained of her network and make some sense of the ruined galaxy. Two weeks, and even then it was really more than she could afford to spare. Events were moving forward apace, faster than her ability to plan for them, and the few reports that came in from the homeworld were troubling, to say the least. By rights, she should probably have been aboard the first vessel bound for Thessia she could find once she'd been capable of walking again.
Leaving now, though, meant that she wouldn't be there if Shepard woke up. When Shepard woke up, she mentally corrected herself. But she needed to go, now, and she could only hope that the human would understand. Liara had a
( ... )
That Which Was Lost (2/?)
anonymous
June 24 2012, 02:33:28 UTC
Aethyta, matriarch of the asari, spy, saboteur, inadvertent hero of the Citadel and the best dammed bartender this side of the galactic core watched as her youngest daughter worked the controls of the stasis pod and tried to sort out exactly what she, herself, was feeling. Anger? Yes. Hell yes. Pissed off didn't even begin to cover it. It had taken all of her not-inconsiderable willpower to stop herself from smacking the kid so hard that she'd have thought Aethyta was Kurinth herself, descended from the heavens to kick the blue from her ass. The nerve, the goddess-damned nerve of her, sitting on a secret like that, lying to her face about it. Two days later and she was still simmering
( ... )
That Which Was Lost (3/?)
anonymous
June 24 2012, 02:37:28 UTC
"You never gave me a straight answer for why you did it."
The kid went still for a long moment, hands motionless at the controls. The uneven lighting in the bay cast dark shadows across her face as she bowed her head.
"The last shot was mine," she said, finally, quietly. "Shepard didn't want me to be the one who killed her."
Oh. Crap. That little detail hadn't been in the official report, or the unofficial one either. She knew from personal experience that losing your parents at such a young age could fuck you up pretty good for a few decades, but shooting, killing your own mother - it was the kind of thing that could scar you for life. A little bit of her anger towards the girl drained away.
A little bit.
"I didn't mean that," she replied awkwardly, feeling like the mother of all heels, but pressed on anyway. "I can understand saving her. She's your mother. But why keep it a secret
( ... )
Re: That Which Was Lost (3/?)
anonymous
June 24 2012, 19:25:07 UTC
Oh God this is so good! I always thought it was a tragedy that a great character like Benezia died in ME1. I can hardly wait to see where you take this. Thanks so much for this!
That Which Was Lost (4/?)
anonymous
June 24 2012, 08:50:46 UTC
=======
"You know, for someone so smart, you always could be so damned stupid. What the blue hell were you thinking?"
It took a few seconds for Benezia to open her eyes and focus on the figure seated at the end of her bed, straddling a chair backwards, watching her impassively. It took several more to put a name to the face.
"Aethy..?" she said, startled when her voice came out as little more than a rusty whisper. Goddess, she felt absolutely dreadful. She ached everywhere, her side and stomach worst of all. Her mouth was like sand, her eyes and throat raw and scratchy with each slow blink and breath. All strength seemed to have left her limbs. And her head. Goddess, her head.
"You remember who I am. Well, that's a start, I guess. Do you know who you are?"
"Of course," she rasped, puzzled by such an odd question, especially coming from Aethyta. And... yes, that was wrong, too. What was Aethy doing here? They weren't... They hadn't... "I am Benezia T'Soni, Matriarch of the asari and..." tool servant plaything. Her
( ... )
That Which Was Lost (5/?)
anonymous
June 24 2012, 08:54:29 UTC
"War?" The word cut through her rising revulsion at herself. She'd been trying to prevent a war. Somehow. That's why she'd gone along with Saren. Saren. Another finger of disgust shivered its way down her spine. "What war?"
Aethyta sighed, heavily, suddenly looking all of her thousand-odd years.
"It only ended a couple of weeks ago so it doesn't have a proper name yet. But the long and short of it is Sovereign's buddies showed up and the whole galaxy went all to hell. I've never seen anything like it." She shook her head slowly, almost as if in awe. "Conservative estimate is we've lost two thirds of the galactic population. The batarians are pretty much done for as a species and we might not have enough elcor left for a viable population either. And, well, our people are only a bit better off. Some of the colony worlds seem to have come through ok, but Thessia
( ... )
Re: That Which Was Lost (5/?)
anonymous
June 25 2012, 16:20:34 UTC
Thanks, anon! I'm glad people are finding it engaging - I wasn't sure if anyone would be interested in an AU of an uncommon pairing, but the prompt ate me alive. Dysfunctional is a good word for the three of them. And Shepard will have a role to play, hopefully along with some other famous faces.
Re: That Which Was Lost (6/?)
anonymous
June 25 2012, 14:40:37 UTC
Almost the entire right side of her daughter’s face was a mess of raw scar tissue, bisected by a thin, diagonal band of untouched skin across her cheek. Below the band and across the line of her cheekbone to her nose, the skin was puckered and pitted, drawn tight enough to pull the corner of her mouth up slightly. The same scarring continued under her jawline and down the front of her neck. Worse, though, was the area around her eye, a single, livid, indigo burn extended halfway up her forehead. She wore a simple fabric patch, white, over the eye
( ... )
http://masseffectkink.livejournal.com/4309.html?thread=10103253#t10103253
Benezia and her amazing rack didn't die on Noveria; instead, Shepard and crew saved her life, putting her into stasis until they could work out a way to fix her head. Now that the reaper war is over, they've finally got time to haul her out of cold storage. Benezia now has to adapt to a galaxy where her homeworld is in ruins, she's viewed with deep suspicion and even hostility, and her formerly shy, awkward daughter is one of the most powerful people in the galaxy. Fortunately, Aethyta's there to help - or, at least, to provide a welcome distraction...
A/N: I'm not the anon who was nurturing a plot bunny regarding this prompt. If they're still about and working on a fill, I hope they continue to do so! For me, this started out life as an attempt to get unblocked on the other prompt I'm supposed to be finishing filling, but it rather took on a life ( ... )
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Liara allowed herself a little less than two weeks in the end. Two days to simply sleep, another three to heal, one to mourn and the rest to hover by Shepard's bedside, one eye on the various medical monitors while she worked, trying to pull together what remained of her network and make some sense of the ruined galaxy. Two weeks, and even then it was really more than she could afford to spare. Events were moving forward apace, faster than her ability to plan for them, and the few reports that came in from the homeworld were troubling, to say the least. By rights, she should probably have been aboard the first vessel bound for Thessia she could find once she'd been capable of walking again.
Leaving now, though, meant that she wouldn't be there if Shepard woke up. When Shepard woke up, she mentally corrected herself. But she needed to go, now, and she could only hope that the human would understand. Liara had a ( ... )
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The kid went still for a long moment, hands motionless at the controls. The uneven lighting in the bay cast dark shadows across her face as she bowed her head.
"The last shot was mine," she said, finally, quietly. "Shepard didn't want me to be the one who killed her."
Oh. Crap. That little detail hadn't been in the official report, or the unofficial one either. She knew from personal experience that losing your parents at such a young age could fuck you up pretty good for a few decades, but shooting, killing your own mother - it was the kind of thing that could scar you for life. A little bit of her anger towards the girl drained away.
A little bit.
"I didn't mean that," she replied awkwardly, feeling like the mother of all heels, but pressed on anyway. "I can understand saving her. She's your mother. But why keep it a secret ( ... )
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Going to be keeping an eye on this one, anon. Hope to see more.
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"You know, for someone so smart, you always could be so damned stupid. What the blue hell were you thinking?"
It took a few seconds for Benezia to open her eyes and focus on the figure seated at the end of her bed, straddling a chair backwards, watching her impassively. It took several more to put a name to the face.
"Aethy..?" she said, startled when her voice came out as little more than a rusty whisper. Goddess, she felt absolutely dreadful. She ached everywhere, her side and stomach worst of all. Her mouth was like sand, her eyes and throat raw and scratchy with each slow blink and breath. All strength seemed to have left her limbs. And her head. Goddess, her head.
"You remember who I am. Well, that's a start, I guess. Do you know who you are?"
"Of course," she rasped, puzzled by such an odd question, especially coming from Aethyta. And... yes, that was wrong, too. What was Aethy doing here? They weren't... They hadn't... "I am Benezia T'Soni, Matriarch of the asari and..." tool servant plaything. Her ( ... )
Reply
Aethyta sighed, heavily, suddenly looking all of her thousand-odd years.
"It only ended a couple of weeks ago so it doesn't have a proper name yet. But the long and short of it is Sovereign's buddies showed up and the whole galaxy went all to hell. I've never seen anything like it." She shook her head slowly, almost as if in awe. "Conservative estimate is we've lost two thirds of the galactic population. The batarians are pretty much done for as a species and we might not have enough elcor left for a viable population either. And, well, our people are only a bit better off. Some of the colony worlds seem to have come through ok, but Thessia ( ... )
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Made a really good start here, A!A, now I'm really interested in how our little dysfunctional Asari family deal with one another.
I'd also like to see Shepard come into it. I don't expect Benezia would be too chuffed with Liara's choice of boinking buddy.
So, more, please?
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"The kid paused momentarily in her work to look up and over at her. Her good eye sparkled in the dim lights of the cargo bay."
I'm guessing it's a referencing of that. Though the end of this just made Liara's injuries sound even worse so... LIaarraaaaa so sorrrrryyyyy!!!!!!
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