He sat in front of the glowing blue orb and lit a fresh cigarette.

"I warned you about Shepard."

The voice was familiar, but smoke obscured his view of the man's image. There had been a lot of cigarettes recently.

"I told you. He's an idealist, an alien lover. You should have known that."

"I did what I had to." The Illusive Man's voice was curt, and harsh. "It doesn't change our plans."

The room was empty, no one else within earshot.

"Oh, yes it does. I'm moving up my timetable."

The Illusive Man took a long drag and exhaled his smoke slowly before replying.

"We agreed to wait until-"

"You had your chance. It's my turn now."

The image before him flickered and disappeared. Left alone in his chair, his metallic, blue eyes stared intently at his cigarette. Then, suddenly, he snuffed it out

Miranda Lawson sat in her office and held her head in her hands. She may have even been rocking slightly as she argued with herself.

How could she have been so stupid?

They needed to stop the collectors. It wasn't a good time.

Yes, but when is a good time?

Not then, not then.

How many chances do you get at something like that? At a man like that? And she told him that the mission had to take priority. The moment was lost.

Yes, but forever?

She was definitely rocking now.

Maybe things could be different. Maybe after Shepard got better.

There's nothing wrong with Shepard.

Yes, there is.

No, there's not.

She stopped herself just before her head hit the table.

Pull yourself together!

The perfect woman clutched for a glass of water, but it slipped out of her reach and shattered on the floor. That did it.

"Son of a bitch!"

And she slammed her fist on the table. At that moment, the door chimed, and Miranda was forced back to reality. She removed a few stray hairs from her face and checked to make sure none of the water or glass was on her pants. After taking a moment to regain her composure, she pushed a button on her desk to unlock the door.

"Garrus. What can I do for you?"

Garrus Vakarian moved into the room and stood at the edge of her desk.

"Miranda, we need to talk about Shepard."

"Of course. What's on your mind?"

Miranda didn't know Garrus as well as she'd like, but she could tell this was not going to be a pleasant chat.

"What are you doing, Miranda?"

"Me? I thought you wanted to talk about Shepard."

"I am talking about Shepard. I want to know is what you're doing about him."

She squinted at him.

"It's not clear that I have to do anything, Garrus. Shepard's been though a lot, obviously. You can't expect –"

"Cut the crap, Miranda."

Garrus leaned forward onto the desk. His head was nearly halfway across it.

"It's been three weeks since we destroyed the Collector base and Shepard has hardly left his quarters. Everybody knows something's wrong, but for some reason you don't want to do anything about it."

She would have to deal with this carefully.

"I understand your frustration, Garrus, but I can assure that I've spoken with Shepard and he just needs some time.

"Time?" Garus's voice was incredulous. "Really, Miranda? 'Time' is the best response you have."

Garus stood up straight again, his back arched stiffly.

"I supported you taking over temporary command, and I understand your feelings in this."

Miranda began clenching her fists and felt her muscles tighten. What did he know of her feelings?

"But if you don't do something soon, than I may reconsider my past decision."

She shot out of her seat in an instant and stared the Turian straight in the eyes. Leaning across the table, their faces nearly touched. His breadth stank.

"Are you challenging my leadership, Garrus?"

But the old C-Sec officer didn't back down, and matched her gaze without missing a beat.

"Should I be?"

Miranda feared that she was starting to lose control of the situation. Fortunately, she got unexpected assistance from her least favorite crewmate.

"Excuse me?"

Kelly Chambers was standing in the room and looked askance at the two of them. Miranda took the welcome interruption to break away from Garrus. Stepping away from her desk, she addressed the newcomer directly.

"Yes, what is it Kelly?"

"Sorry for interrupting…" Kelly looked uncertain, but when Miranda didn't respond she plowed ahead.

"I've received a message from Admiral Anderson of the Alliance Navy."

"Anderson?" Now Garrus walked over to them. "What did he want?"

"You know him?"

"Never mind that Kelly," Miranda didn't want to get sidetrack. "What did he want?"

"To speak with Shepard, he said it was urgent."

"And what did you tell him?" asked Miranda.

"I sent a message back, told him the commander was away on mission. Anderson replied almost instantly though. He told me to have Shepard meet him at the Citadel as soon as possible."

"He didn't say anything else?" asked Garrus.

Kelly shook her head.

Miranda more or less considered Kelly a gift from the Illusive Man to Shepard – a cheap body to cling to at night. That Shepard never took Kelly up on her advances must have annoyed her to no end. It pleased Miranda greatly though.

"Thank you, Kelly. That will be all."

Garrus looked at Miranda. Her hand had been forced, and Garrus knew it. Whatever Anderson needed, it sounded too important to wait any longer. Shepard had run out of time.

Miranda turned away from Garrus and started to leave.

"Where are you going?" he called after her.

"To see Commander Shepard."

The door closed behind her as the last syllable slid out of her mouth, and she took an immediate left toward the elevator. She had tried visiting Shepard before, of course. It had never gone well. Perhaps this time would be different, though. Maybe hearing about Anderson would stir something. She sure hoped so. If it didn't…

The door was unlocked – that was a bad sign – and she walked in. Shepard was in the same place she left him before: sprawled on the bed, face down. Beer bottles were spread almost randomly around the room.

"Commander?"

The question received no response.

"Commander Shepard!"

There was a slight stirring and Shepard turned his head to look at her."

"Miranda…hello."

Miranda smiled at him, almost unconsciously.

"Sir, we have received an emergency message from Admiral Anderson. We don't know the details, but he wants you to report to the Citadel immediately to meet with him."

Miranda saw Shepard's eyes glazing over as she spoke.

"Ah, Anderson," he said. "Good man. Glad he's doing well. You know who's not though?"

She was losing him.

"Jacob. You remember Jacob, don't you?"

Miranda tried to change the subject back to the Citadel, but Shepard ignored her.

"He's not the only one, of course. Thane Krios, Grunt, Jack, Samara – they're all dead too."

"That's in the past Shepard. You can't change the past. Right now, we should get to Anderson as fast as we can."

"You have to admit that's quite the accomplishment: losing precisely half of my team. Not four, not six, exactly half."

"You did better than anyone else expected. Everyone knew the risks going in." Why was she continuing to engage him in this?

Shepard didn't respond. Miranda waited, just looking at him.

"Leave me be, Miranda."

She wanted to grab him, grab him and pull him right off that bed. She wanted him to be the man she knew he was. She wanted….

Damn it!

Miranda left without saying anything else; it was time for more drastic action. Back to the elevator she went again, this time to the Salarian's lab.

Mordin was working on something, as usual. He didn't notice Miranda immediately.

"Hello, Mordin. I need some help with something."

Mordin looked up. You never knew for sure how he would react to interruptions; this time the scientist seemed more concerned than anything else.

"Miranda. Good to see you. Needed to see you, actually."

"Wait a minute Mordin," she had to keep him on topic. "Me first. I want to speak with you about Shepard."

"Shepard. Yes, I want to speak about him as well. Him and you to be precise. I notice a lot. More than you give me credit for I think."

"Mordin," Miranda's voice became stern. "This is just about Shepard."

The salarian nodded.

"Do you have any ideas that may help the commander out of his….situation."

Miranda could think of no better word for it. She continued.

"I have spoken with Doctor Chakwas, and she has run out of ideas. I was hoping you might have some additional thoughts."

Mordin nodded, and began to pace a bit.

"Yes, have just the thing. Been thinking about it for some time. Quite simple really."

Miranda waited.

"Liara."

"Liara?" The name churned her stomach. "What about her?"

"Liara is the answer."

"Liara will cure Shepard?" Miranda was incredulous. "How is that?"

"Liara the cure for you and Shepard. Cure you both."

She wasn't interested in what the salarian meant by that. "Mordin, stop changing the subject."

But Mordin ignored her this time. "Chakwas quite competent in medicine. Doesn't understand people though. Liara the only person who can help Shepard."

Miranda was getting increasingly frustrated.

"How can Liara cure Shepard?"

"Basic human relationships. Shepard loves Liara. Liara loves Shepard. Sometimes only love can save humans. Have to hear the truth from the one they love. Yes, it is the only way."

As if that settled it, Mordin resumed his lab work again.

"Mordin."

The scientist looked up and blinked curiously. Miranda tried to hide her own anxiety.

"You're sure this is the only way? It's a big risk introducing Liara. What if she spurns him? You can't even be sure how she'll react."

"Very true. Always some uncertainty in life. Still. This is the only way."

Mordin resumed his tinkering and Miranda stood still for a moment as the emotions raged against each other. Part of her thought it was crazy; part of her wondered what other choice she had. Having left Cerberus, she was cut off from her resources. There were no friends or people of influence she knew in Alliance channels. There was the crew to think of, and the question of her own ability to lead them. Should she just step down? Could she?

"Very well," Miranda said finally. "We go to Illium."