This is a short drabble I've been working on. It may or not be expanded into something larger, but for now, it's standalone.
The Wall
Liara looked at the door from her bed. Someone was arguing on the other side, and it was keeping her from sleeping. Not that she had been getting much sleep the past few weeks.
“Glyph, who is that?”
“Garrus Vakarian and Tali’Zorah, Shadow Broker.”
Liara sighed. When that red beam had hit the Normandy, the resulting power surge had reset most of Glyph’s settings, and she didn’t have the energy to set them back. “What are they doing out there?” She asked, mostly to herself.
“They are debating over if they should tell you about Commander Shepard’s memorial plaque, Shadow Broker.”
Liara sat straight up at that. Why had they made a plaque? They were there when they made contact with Hackett. Shepard might have been in a coma, from which even Miranda wasn’t sure he would ever wake up from, but he was alive! Furious and terrified at the possible implications, she stormed out to the door.
“-don’t need to worry her-“ Garrus was saying before he was interrupted.
“Don’t need to worry me about what?” Liara snapped.
“Liara, I-“
“What’s this about Shepard’s memorial plaque?”
Tali gave Garrus a knowing glare, under which he shifted nervously. “I was, uh, making Anderson’s plaque, for the memorial,” he said, “when I found this hidden behind a damaged wall panel.” He pulled out a memorial plaque, the words “Cmdr. Adrian Shepard” clearly visible. Liara could barely look at it. The thought of what it represented terrified her.
“You… found it?” Liara asked, anger slipping way to confusion. “What was it doing there?”
Garrus and Tali shifted uncomfortably. “It came with a note,” Tali finally said. “From… Shepard.”
“Shepard, but, why-“ Liara stopped, suddenly knowing the answer.
Shepard never expected to make it out of this war alive.
____________________
Liara looked down on the plaque. She didn’t know why she brought it to the memorial service. Perhaps she just needed any reminder of Shepard, even one as morbid as this. The memorial was coming to a close, and she just had to hold herself together for a few more minutes. Involuntarily, Liara took one step towards the wall, then stopped, tears threatening to fall down her face.
“Please, Shepard. Don’t make me put your name on that wall.”