Commander Alice Kathryn Shepard's unflinching gaze stared out the port windows as the two Cerberus operatives bickered quietly in front of her. She was sick of those two already and they had just barely been in the air. Tuning out the whispers filling the small cabin, (Honestly… Do they think I can't hear them? ) she gritted her teeth at the direction the questions had gone. Asking her to recall her actions on Akuze was only something someone did to really get under skin. Alice's fists tightened as she thought back to Miranda's snide voice asking if she had saved the Council or not. Only a true humanity activist could ask that question. While she didn't always agree with the Council, actually she never agreed with that group of morons, Alice was no fool. Even with their backwards ways, the Council was the best ticket to a semi-peaceful existence.

Bright eyes swung over to her new teammates. Apparently they couldn't agree about her less than cooperative "field interview". Damn. She thought quietly to herself. There is some serious sexual tension gong on here… She flicked her eyes back and forth between her two, now silent, cabin mates. Turning her head fully to the front, Shepard stared at the thin woman directly in front of her. Shepard just couldn't get handle on Operative Miranda Lawson. Jacob Taylor, just Jacob Mr. Taylor is my Dad, was pretty much what you see is what you get. Miranda's skin-tight white leather cat suit was a stark contrast to the no-nonsense demeanor that she put out. Perfectly glossy mahogany hair, delicately pink cheeks, and disgustingly perky boobs made Shepard hate her just that little bit more.

Alice squirmed in her seat a bit as she remembered her own haggard appearance she'd seen in the reflective metal of the gear locker her armor had been in. Her once pixie haircut was now long curls that reached her mid-back. Her hair, in addition to growing, had also gotten darker and was a honey gold color instead of her usual pale blonde. Long fissures decorated both sides of her pale face and they glowed with an un-natural orangy-red light. But what really had made her stop and look, were her eyes. Gone were the deep blue she saw every morning for the past 29… (ok ok ) 30 years. In their place were too-large eyes that glowed the same creepy orange-red as the cracks in her face. Alice raised a trembling hand to her forehead.

"Those will go away."

Alice dropped her hand and looked up sharply. "What?" She winced a bit, she hadn't meant for her voice to crack like that. To cover her momentary weakness, I wouldn't trust these two as far as I could throw them, Alice shifted in her chair and slipped on her "Commander" mask.

"Your scars. The orange glow is a result of the cybernetics. You'll heal at a faster rate now. Cerberus only has the best after all." Miranda adopted an all to smug look that flickered across her face, before settling into a more professional expression. "Therefore the scars should be gone in two maybe three days. Your eyes however will return to normal in 24 hours."

Alice breathed a silent sigh of relief; give her Geth all day long, there was no way she could handle those creepy red eyes for the rest of her life. Well now that she had their attention, might as well get the full accounting of what was going on. "I was… dea…" Again her voice betrayed her. Maker, I sound like a lost child asking a stranger for directions. "Gone… for two years?"

This time it was Jacob who answered. "Yeah, when I first saw you, you were nothing but meat and tubes. Hey!" Glaring slightly he rubbed at the sore spot where Miranda had elbowed him. "Anyway, it took a long time to bring you back to fighting shape."

Alice met his gaze steadily, she was glad Jacob was being honest about what he saw. Alice prided herself on her instincts and she knew that while Miranda would twist information to suit the circumstances, but Jacob was a fellow soldier and wouldn't sugarcoat things. On to more difficult questions. "Where are my old crew? Did everyone make it?" Fear tightened its grip on her heart. Did I save everyone?

"Everyone aboard the Normandy, save yourself, survived." Just for a second, Miranda's eyes softened. "But Cerberus changed that."

Ignoring the obvious plug for humanity, Alice breathed a sigh of relief. "What about Garrus? Tali? Wrex?"

"The Quarian…"

"Tali'Zorah vas Neema"

"… was last seen with the flotilla doing research on Geth. The Krogan…"

"Urdnot Wrex"

"… is now the current leader of Tuchanka. The Turian…"

"Garrus Vakarian"

Miranda snorted in annoyance before continuing. "Commander, are you going to keep interrupting me?"

"Only if you keep forgetting everyone's names." Alice smiled her most winning smile. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Jacob's shoulders shaking a bit with suppressed laughter. Apparently Captain Cerberus isn't as up tight as his teammate. Her smile growing she folded her hands neatly in her lap. Alice knew Miranda had to be seething under that icy expression. "You may continue." She could faintly hear Miranda's suppressed squeal of indignation at her cocky tone. Ha! Guess you forgot who was the Commander of this little escapade.

"Garrus Vakarian…" Miranda ground out his name like it burned her tongue, "is MIA."

For a split second time stopped. Alice could feel her heart dropping out of her chest and hitting the welded metal of the cabin floor. All thoughts of goading Miranda more flew out of her head. "What do you mean… M.I.A.?" She spoke slowly and carefully, knowing that if she showed too much concern she wouldn't get the information she needed.

"Just what I said. MIA." Miranda scooted back with a sniff and looked out the window, clearly wanting the conversation to end.

Alice opened her mouth to blast the perfect princess, but before she could get her first swear word out; Jacob winked at her and put a gentle hand on Miranda's forearm.

"Awww, come on Miri. Don't be like that. I'm sure that with your mega-brain you could do some digging for the Commander? Maybe find some dirt on Garr… the Turian?"

Alice bristled a bit at the change in name of her best friend but let it slide. After all, Jacob was turning out to be a stand up guy. Whether it was the surprisingly gentle touch or the cutesy nickname she would never know, but Miranda visibly relaxed and nodded once. Jacob patted Miranda's arm before turning his head to his own window. Once again the cabin was filled with silence. Alice pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the escape shuttle window and closed her eyes tightly.

I'm coming to find you Garrus.