AN. A huge, big, enormous thanks to every single one of you who has taken the time of your day to read, subscribe, fave, and review this story. I'm very happy to see that quite a few of you seem to really like it.

So, I hope this chapter sort of cleared up some of the questions (not all of them I hope) from the prologue. To be honest, I wanted readers to read the prologue and be like, "What is going on?" which obviously I succeeded with. :D

Ok, let's answer some of the questions asked in the reviews.

Is this Miranda's POV and is Liara pregnant? - That my dear readers is for me to know and for you to figure out while reading the story. ;)

Does this perhaps take place after LotSB? If not, and it's some time during ME2, what about the 2 years of Shepard's rebuilding? - The story is set during ME2. Prologue is obviously set after Rue has made her choice. The two years during Shepard's rebuilding will only be depicted in some chapter, though not in detail. This story focuses on Shepard's dilemma of who to choose. Liara or Miranda?

I hope you all like the update, please read and review. Also, please excuse any grammatical errors, typos, or misspellings, I still have not found a beta-reader that lasts. :P

Till next time!

~elmjuniper


I am no one special, not once did I believe I would have a hand in saving the galaxy. I was told I was great, yes. But I never believed it, not really, and I never liked trying to live up to the expectations of others. Perhaps they were all right when they said that I rebelled when I left. In a way I did, at the same time as I didn't. Still here I am. I thought I would stand by her side when the moment comes, now I'm not so sure any more, but I'm getting ahead of myself. This isn't how it started. No, it started a long time ago.

CHANGES

RUE SHEPARD EYED HER NEW crew sighing inwardly. There was the informant and director of the Lazarus project, Miranda. The loyal femme fatale who put all her faith in the organisation she was working for. For some strange reason Miranda seemed to disliked her very strongly despite the fact that she had dedicated the last two years of her life to make sure Rue was put back together the same way she was before she managed to get herself blown up, tossed into space, the rip in her air tank exposing her to extreme vacuum, and sub-zero degrees, turning her lunges into ice. So what was it that made the informant dislike her so?

The commander's eyes trailed the grey lining of the large table until they rested on Jacob. He was leaning into his chair, flicking a pen between his fingers looking as relaxed as ever. He seemed to be Miranda's opposite. Miranda showed no emotion, and wore a cold mask most of the time, her whole appearance screaming for everyone to 'Stay. Away.'. Jacob on the other hand was the idealist, who seemed to – much like Shepard herself – be able to advice both his feelings and logic in whatever situation arose and from what little she knew about this former alliance soldier, she liked.

Both Miranda and Jacob were more than good on the field, in fact they were both strong soldiers with great battle skills and Rue had no doubt they could handle themselves, but they weren't... the same as the others. It had been different on the Normandy, the old, original Normandy. At first the tension between the humans and aliens had been somewhat delicate, but they lived through so much, too much, saw things others didn't even see in their worst nightmares, and it brought them together, increased crew morale. Even gunnery chief Williams had put aside her blatant dislike of the aliens and when they faced the final battle against Saren and the Sovereign they stood united as one, strong crew. But those days were gone, and Shepard was far too experienced to be feeling like this. She had changed units several times, why was this any different? It shouldn't be, besides Joker had joined Cerberus and was still her pilot and this – Miranda and Jacob – was the only team she had until... Her gaze fell on the dossiers before her – the Illusive Man's suggestions for companions. She didn't like the feeling of being manipulated by this Cerberus group, although she knew she didn't have much of a choice. Surely the Illusive Man had said it was up to her to decided whether she wanted to work for Cerberus or not. She snorted. No matter what the Illusive Man said, she knew that with the fortune he had spent on her, he was unlikely to just let her go. Then again, he could try to kill her, though she doubted he would. Four billion credits wasn't something you just killed off for not co-operating with you. Besides, she didn't work for them, she used them to achieve what she wanted, and what she wanted was the threat of the Reapers eliminated and Cerberus had the resources to do so.

She looked up again, locking eyes with Miranda's defiant gaze. She doesn't like me being in charge.

"Fine. Suit up. We're going to find this Archangel."

"I'm glad you chose to take the Illusive Man's advice." Miranda said with her heavy accent. Rue merely nodded before returning to the captain's quarters.

.

.

"That's it?" Rue asked, trying to mask her surprise where she stood, suited up in her heavy armour, staring at the informant, who, hadn't changed into anything else, but wore the same cat suit as before with the black high heeled boots that reached to her knees. The suit wrapped itself rather nicely around the informant's sensual body, and revealed a fair amount of cleavage.

"Is there a problem commander?" Miranda gave her a flat stare.

"Miranda. We're heading into Omega, 'haven for all criminals', safe guard to murderers, petty duct rats, and god knows. To say we'll bump into quite some resistance along the way is probably an understatement. We could be going into heavy fire and you're wearing that."

Miranda looked a little confused as she glanced down at herself. "What's wrong with this?"

"What's it made of?" Rue asked pinching the sleeve drawing an irritable groan from the informant. "My pinch hurt? Well, imagine being shoot at in that then." Rue reprimanded her.

"I assure you commander I can handle myself. Bullets are the least of my problems." She said raising her eyebrow. "Just focus on your task and I'll worry about keeping the subject alive. That would be you."

"Charming." Rue answered sourly.

"I'm here to make sure you succeed with the mission. I'm not here to be charming." Miranda retorted coldly.

Rue snorted as she watched the cold beauty fall behind her as they moved to leave the Normandy replica.

.

.

Omega was everything but grand. It was dark and murky, a prefect planet for outlaws, and perhaps that was why it had become the harbour for everyone who lived outside the law. Rue recalled having heard tales of its spectacular design before the elegant planet had turned into the miserable place it now was. Shabby new buildings had been built haphazardly all across the Omega, and the stench in the poorer districts was foul.

Beggars and duct rats scurried out of their way as they made through the thin, twisting streets towards Archangel's hide out. The professor had been recruited and secured, now all that was left to do before they could back to the Normandy was to find this Archangel. Rue wasn't sure why, but something about the Archangel felt familiar. Reading his dossier she thought he reminded her of someone, but she couldn't really remember who. Something at the far end caught her attention and she stopped dead in her tracks. Motioning for the others to take cover she pulled her shotgun from her belt raising it in front of her eyes as she slipped into the shadows, using them as a cover as she eased down the street.

She spotted the first freelancer without much problem. He was pacing back and forth, his back turned towards them. Too easy! She could finish him off easily with her shotgun, but it would make a mess and draw the attention of nearby enemies. Unhooking her sniper rifle from her back she aimed it at the unknowing freelancer. One shot. The freelancer fell lifeless to floor.

"Nice." She heard Jacob whisper in her ear piece.

"Let's move on. Stay behind me and stick to the shadows." She ordered as she slipped passed the dead freelancer, still hidden by the dark shadows.

We're losing time. She thought where they crept along. They better pace it up if they were going to get back to the Normandy before nightfall. She was rounding the corner when Miranda's voice rang out sharply in her ear. "Careful Shepard, enemies ahead!"

The mercenaries were coming at them from all angles firing off their weapons. Containers flew into the air, mechs were pulled up and thrust backwards by Miranda's biotic power. Jacob was right beside her firing off his shotguns, attacking them with his own biotics while Rue was taking out the freelancers that hid behind the well stacked shelves in the large storage room. They were moving forward, if slowly, when group of mechs appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, at the two companions' left flank.

"On your left!" Rue warned before diving in behind the two biotics, shielding their backs, her M-5's bullets crushing the new group of enemies. She felt something slam against her shoulder, an intense burning spreading through the whole of her side and she staggered backwards before the last mech fell lifeless to the ground.

.

.

Rue Shepard grimaced as Miranda propped her up against one of the metal containers. One of the mech's bullets had managed to wedge itself into her shoulder.

"That was reckless." Miranda said softly. Her grey eyes studied Rue's face as she placed her omni-tool above Rue's wounded shoulder. There was a clicking noise and the bullet was pulled out from the wound, dropping to the floor.

"God. Damn it!" Rue hissed through clenched teeth before the stabbing pain was numbed, replaced by a dull throbbing.

"I'm sorry, but this tissue costs a fortune, I can't really let you ruin it with bullets."

"I swear to God you'd leave me here to die if I wasn't your project." Rue muttered.

"Considering your previous achievements I doubt it would take one simple bullet to kill you, but yes, probably. Though as it is, you're worth a fortune." The informant said flatly, but Rue caught the hint of a smile glint in Miranda's eyes.

"Lucky me. Now let's finish this off."

.

.

Garrus. All the time Archangel had been Garrus. Rue snorted where she walked on the thin bridge towards Joker.

"I see you found the place of sin." She heard Joker's call out from the pilot's seat he was sitting in.

She chuckled slightly. Whatever Joker meant with that she was certain she didn't even want to know. "So what is she like?" She asked leaning against the back of Joker's seat, peering across his shoulder at the multiple screens.

"This baby is not really the Normandy, but she has some really cool features. If you're asking me if I can fly her... well, you should already know the answer to that.

"Relax, I'm just trying to make conversation. Why you so edgy anyway?"

Joker scowled. "It's that AI. I don't like it. It's like she's watching everything I do, my every move."

"I'm the Normandy's enhanced defense intelligence, it's my job to monitor everything that happens on the ship."

"See!" Joker hissed through the corner of his mouth.

"EDI's kept us out of a lot of trouble, let her be." Rue said watching the blue orb next to them before adding, "For now."

"So... Cerberus Joker, why?"

"Because... you were our commander, our leader, the one who united us. When you died it all sort of fell apart... and I was grounded. With Cerberus at least I get to fly, and hey! My favourite commander is on board as well." Joker grinned from his seat as his hands moved this way and that across the screens.

"We were good, weren't we?"

"The best commander."

"Well, for what it's worth... I'm glad to have you on my team again." Rue said squeezing Joker's shoulder lightly before sighing. "Well.. I really should go."

"Yeah, you should, you're getting soppy on me."

Whacking the back of his head she turned and walked back towards the elevator, observing the new ship crew with curiosity as she passed them. The new Normandy was impressive. Though Rue still hadn't gotten used to not have Navigator Pressly standing next to her, helping her to navigate the Galaxy Map and that Kelly... she was sweet enough to pay some attention Rue thought to herself as she rounded the command deck. Yeoman Chambers looked up just in time to see Rue pass. The yeoman smiled endearingly as Rue winked and nodded before entering the elevator. Turning around she saw Kelly wink and smile back before the doors shut.

Rue chuckled and shook her head. Kelly Chambers was more than tempting, besides, her captain's quarter was far too empty. It was sterile and quiet, the only reminder of her previous life a framed photo of Liara on her desk. Entering her quarters she frowned. How did they know about that? Easy. Joker's voice rang in her head. Everything from the original Normandy was recorded and kept in the black box.

"Of course." She muttered.

Liara. She threw herself on to the bed. The last time she saw the Asari had been only moments before the explosion. Go. Liara. Now!

"You should have said 'I love you', you moron." She chided herself.

The Illusive Man had told her Liara could be found on Illium, but there was something else in Liara's dossier the Illusive Man had given her. Liara had moved on with her life. The dossier stated vaguely that Liara worked within information, and that she was very successful at whatever it was she was doing. She had been courted by many influential, and rich persons before she announced she was already spoken for. Two years, Shepard. Can you really blame her?

"Well, actually yes. Whatever happened to the joined for a lifetime part?"

You died.

"Fuck..." She had nearly died when parts of Sovereign's hull had ripped through the tower at Citadel. Afterwards Liara had made her promise to never do that again. Rue vowed she wouldn't die, that she would always return. So much for always keeping your promises.

"Shut up."

It had only been a week since she woke up and she was tired. Dreadfully so. And at times her body still ached. Dr Chakwas had said it was to be expected, she had been dead after all. Feeling her vision blur as sleep started to settle, she remembered that despite her death, most of her last crew had survived and everyone in her squad had escaped unscratched. It was a feat. A small one, but at least she hadn't failed at her job as a commander. Only as a lover.

"Liara moved on. So should you." She muttered before sleep bathed her once more.

TO BE CONTINUED...