Another shot in the Vincent Shepard universe (there are 2 other stories about it). Any future things to do with this universe will be in this story (it's a universe of one-shots).

Falling

"Assuming direct control." The voice echoed in his head, bouncing around as if Harbringer was actually inside him.

Vincent hated the sound of it. He couldn't wait until he was free from it, especially now when they were so close to escaping. It was almost over.

Up ahead the Normandy rose up, a bastion of hope for Miranda and himself, and he tried to pump his burning legs harder. Miranda was a good ways ahead of him, Shepard having covered their retreat since Miranda had lost her weapons in the fall after the Reapers death. Still, she had made out better than Zaeed. May the old mercs soul rest in peace, the fall had been too much for him.

Zaeed had plenty to join him in death. Tali had died early on, a stray round puncturing right through her face mask. Samara had fallen as well, desperately holding off the Collectors for Garrus' team while Shepard and his group had struggled to open the door after the run through the seeker swarms. Garrus hadn't taken either of their deaths well, having been the leader of both teams, but Vincent knew that there was nothing he could have done. There were simply too many collectors.

Joker's brief report during their retreat after the Reapers destruction had outlined a few more deaths. Thane and Jacob had fallen, with Legion heavily damaged. Kasumi and Grunt were also severely injured. The only bright spot was the crew members, about half, he'd been able to save had made it back under Mordin's careful watch.

So it didn't surprise him when the airlock popped open to reveal Joker firing wildly with the assault rifle, since no one else was probably available. And boy was his fire wild. The kick from the rifle was probably hell on his bones, and it showed in his lack of accuracy. Still, it was better than nothing.

Miranda easily made the short jump onto the ship, disappearing for a moment before returning with an assault rifle, firing much more accurately.

"Left Shepard, now," her voice screamed out almost panicking. He didn't even think about it, but dove to the left. He actually felt the energy from Harbringers biotic attack as it sailed by, missing him my less than a foot.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered to himself as he scrambled up, continuing towards the Normandy.

"You can't escape Shepard. You have changed nothing."

Shepard didn't answer, focusing all his energy on making it to the Normandy.

He heard a loud bang from above, and looked up as a piece of the station came crashing down, destroying the platform nearest to the Normandy. That was a biggggg gap.

"Son of a bitch!" he exclaimed louder this time as he continued up the steep incline. Collector shots were still slapping into his shields from behind, and they were getting dangerously low as a result. He shoved that aside as he pushed all energy into sprinting just that much faster. He reached the edge, and knowing there was nothing else for it, he jumped.

Miranda was exhausted. She could barely keep her eyes open, which made it much harder to fire accurately to cover Vincent's mad dash. The constant use of her biotics throughout the facility combined with the concussion she was sure she had from the fall, combined to absolutely destroy her physically and mentally.

But she was genetically engineered to be perfect damn it. And the man she loved needed her to be that perfect woman, to protect him. He had saved her from going over the edge back on that platform, now it was her turn. So she pushed aside her tiredness and focused on the task at hand.

She was impressed with Joker. She could see how much firing the assault rifle hurt him to fire, but he knew there was no one else available, Dr. Chakwas having needed them downstairs to treat the injured crewmen. Still, the second she had gotten on board she had ordered all available squad members up. She doubted they'd get here fast enough to help, but options were limited at this stage. She stepped in front of Joker, suddenly realizing that he wasn't wearing a kinetic barrier. He had somehow been trusting that he wouldn't get hit. The man was loyal to Shepard, possibly to a fault. She had always known that, but now she had no doubts.

She stopped firing and shielded her eyes as something suddenly collided with the platform in front of her, moments later both disappearing.

She could actually hear Shepard's words of "Son of a bitch," despite his comm not being active, and couldn't help the light smile from tugging at her lips as she resumed firing. He would make it. He had to. He was Shepard.

She ceased fire just as Vincent made the leap, arms wildly swinging to get more momentum.

Miranda instantly knew he wasn't going to make it. He may be a super soldier; the best humanity had to offer. But he was still just a man, and no one could make a jump that far.

Bullets were starting to track towards Joker and her now, as they were now next to the collectors target; Shepard. Before she could do anything, she heard Joker swear behind them as he fell to the ground. He was hit.

But she didn't have time to worry about Joker, as Shepard slammed into the Normandy, holding on barely with his arms, sheer will keeping him there as he scrambled for grip. She dropped her assault rifle and reached down to help him, grabbing him by the one arm and struggling to pull him up. But she was so tired; she could barely keep him from falling.

"This hurts you." Before she could even look up in response to Harbringer's call, she felt the biotic attack impact her, violently scraping her backwards on the Normandy's ground as it literally pushed her away, a good 3 meters back. She tried to rise and return to Shepard, but found her body wasn't obeying her, as the aftershocks of the biotic attack raced through her exhausted body. The muscles just wouldn't work.

But she could hear his words. "Miranda… tell them…"

She interrupted him as her body started to respond to her commands. She watched as one of his hands slipped away. "You tell them Vincent. You're not leaving me, you made a promise." But most of her body still wouldn't respond.

"You've got to warn them. More are coming. I love you Miranda. Now go."

His hand disappeared from view. "VINCENT!" She screamed, and she could hear Joker scream Commander beside her. She struggled to her feet but was instantly shoved aside by Garrus who ran to the door, sniper rifle in hand calmly picking off collectors. "JACK!" he barked out.

A moment later and Jack burst by, her biotics glowing as she leaned over the side of the ship, extending one hand towards the collectors creating a barrier, the other pointed down…

Towards Shepard, Miranda realized. She groggily grabbed her fallen rifle and moved up beside the duo, firing as calmly as she could. She could feel the energy pouring off Jack, as she groaned with the effort of extending a shield to cover all of them. Miranda realized that her shield extended below as well, to Shepard.

Miranda reached for her own biotics to help, but she couldn't bring them to her. She was too tired. It was all on Jack.

The tattooed woman visibily staggered as one of Harbringers attacks impacted on the barrier, and she could see Shepard sag a bit before rising. He had his own pistol out, firing like mad.

She felt rough hands grab her and forcibly pull her back, Grunt's sizable girth going to the ground, extending his hand towards Shepard, stretching as much as he could. Grunt's armor was torn apart, blood everywhere. Hell, he was still bleeding fairly profusely. But he was Krogan, and he would stop at nothing for his battlemaster, for his leader.

Miranda was left to watch and pray for Shepard, to pray that his teammates would save him. She was powerless now. She hated the feeling.

A moment later and Shepard literally came hurtling through the door, knocking Miranda over and landing on top of her as Grunt had grabbed his arm and simply thrown him aboard. Jack started to collapse and fall, her task finished and lacking the strength to continue, but Garrus caught her, pulling her back. The airlock sealed shut.

"Get us out of here Joker," exclaimed Garrus.

But Miranda already wasn't paying attention, her attention focused on Vincent above her, who was focused right back on her. She started to grin, and so did he. Seconds later, they were kissing.

Faintly, she could hear Grunt laugh and say something about his battlemaster showing his mating prowess, as well as Jack make gagging noises and Garrus hooting appreciatingly. But she didn't care.

They broke apart. "Don't ever do that again," she said cheekily. "You made a promise."

Shepard looked up at the three team members with him. "Well, looks like despite my best efforts, I kept it," he said cheekily. "Thanks team."

They nodded at him, before EDI interrupted. "Shepard, you're needed on the bridge… NOW. 10…9…8…"

Miranda watched as Shepard walked off to talk to the Illusive Man. She made her way from the cockpit to the elevator, planning on heading down to her room to change out of her damaged armour, maybe take a quick shower. As she entered the elevator however, she thought better of it, instead punching in engineering. Moments later and she was descending the stairs towards Jack's cot.

Jack came into view quickly, voraciously chewing down rations. Something that Miranda knew she needed to do as well, since biotics consuming massive amounts of energy. She still couldn't touch her biotics, but at least she didn't need them. Or at least, she hoped she didn't.

Jack barely acknowledged her, a simple glance. Still, it was as good as Miranda could expect.

She stopped a good distance away, unsure how to start. Might as well just jump right in. "Jack. I just wanted to say thank you."

Jack shrugged. "I didn't do it for you cheerleader, you know that."

"I know. But… I know we haven't always gotten along the best. Or at all. But the one thing we both get along about is Shepard. He's important to me, and I'm sure he's important to you. So I wanted to say thank you."

Jack snorted. "Making peace for his sake huh? Did he put you up to this?"

Miranda shook her head. "No Jack. He doesn't know I'm here. If he knew I was here, he would have sent a security detail to make sure we didn't try to kill each other." She said it humorously, trying to make a joke.

She was relieved when Jack smiled at her. "Yea, I guess he would have. Well then Cerberus, anything else?"

"Just one thing Jack. Don't call me Cerberus. I quit, after the Illusive Man showed me his true colors." Miranda paused, composing herself. Jack looked at her expectantly, seemingly able to tell she wasn't done. "You were right about Cerberus. It has done some terrible things, and will continue to do some terrible things. I can't be a part of it. It's not what I believe in."

Jack didn't say anything for a moment. Then she turned away and sat on the cot. "You know, it's harder and harder to hate you every day Lawson." It was the first time Jack had ever called her by her real name. Miranda was shocked. "Maybe I was wrong about you. Maybe you're not Cerberus, maybe you're not just their cheerleader. And maybe, just maybe, we can get along."

Miranda smiled. "I think I'd actually like that Jack."

Jack immediately fired back, sounding slightly horrified. "I'm not saying we're going to be friends or anything Lawson. Don't think that will ever happen."

"Of course not," Miranda scoffed, though only jokingly. Friendship could mean different things to different people. "Perish the thought."

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get some sleep. No doubt Shepard's gonna push us into fixing up this damn ship soon enough, and I want to be rested. You should think about doing the same."

Miranda nodded and left. Not that she planned on sleeping. No, any free time Shepard and her had before he kicked into commander mode were definitely going to be occupied by much more pleasurable things. She couldn't help but smile as she took the elevator to Shepards cabin.

"EDI, please inform Shepard he's needed in his cabin when he's done with the Illusive Man."

"Very well Miss Lawson. What should I tell the crew of Shepard and your whereabouts if they ask?"

Miranda sighed. She didn't know. "Just tell them we're busy."

"Busy… getting busy?" asked EDI. Miranda's jaw dropped. She was speechless. "Apologies Miss Lawson, I think Jeff is rubbing off on me. Good night Miss Lawson."

"Good night, EDI," was all Miranda could answer, stunned. God damn if this wasn't the weirdest ship and crew she'd ever heard of. Only Shepard could make this work.

Only Shepard could save her from falling. Only Shepard could cause her to fall.

Thanks for reading.