iii.

"This is a fucking disaster."

Her arms, held up above her head, trembled with exertion. Fucking Shepard and her fucking ideas of teamwork and gigantic biotic bubbles. Of course the Queen of the Girl Scouts' ideas would come back to haunt her. Jack flinched as another husk threw itself at her protective bubble: it bounced back, repelled by the combination stasis and reave she'd been holding in position for the past ten minutes. Just like being back at the damn Collector base, only this time the companionship was even worse. Hell, even the salarian had been better than ... this.

"That's an understatement."

Tattoo outlines traced in flickering blue energy, Jack turned her head to glare at her companion. "What the fuck are you doing here, anyway?"

"Saving your life."

"Yeah? Well I don't need a helping hand from Cerberus' number-one fan."

Miranda didn't blink, both hands extended toward Jack's legs, trapped beneath the heavy, shattered beam. Her hands were haloed with her own biotic energy, working to lift the beam free from its embedded position. Even in the middle of a battle on some forsaken backwater planet, separated from the rest of Jack's kids and the Alliance soldiers they were assisting, Miranda looked her usual collected self. Fucking Cerberus. "You have two options here, Subject Zero. Stay here and be killed by the husks when you burn out your amp, or shut the hell up and let me work so we can both get out alive."

"Call me Subject Zero again and I'll rip your fucking head off – aaah!"

"Call me Cerberus again and I'll rip your legs off."

The beam shifted, lifting free from Jack's legs. Her biotics flickered as pain tore through her lower body. Miranda lunged forward, throwing the beam out of Jack's bubble at the waiting husks, and joining her own biotics to Jack's. The protective bubble steadied. Jack swore, trying to move her legs. More pain, but she could move.

"Take over," she snapped. Miranda nodded, the buzz of her biotics strengthening to replace Jack's. Okay, so Jack had to admit she wouldn't like to meet Miranda in a fight. Jack would win, of course, but it wouldn't be pretty. She let her biotics die down, a wave of relief streaking down her exhausted body to help numb the pain. Jack rolled over and hauled herself to her feet in one abrupt move. Fucking hell. She staggered, knocking against Miranda. No broken bones. Jack sent a mental thanks to Zaeed for insisting she start wearing armour on at least her lower half.

"You alright?"

"What the fuck do you care."

"I'm not dragging you out of here. You walk, or you stay behind."

Jack straightened and rejoined her biotics to Miranda's bubble. "Fuck you."

Did Miranda just grin? Fuck it, Jack had just fallen for reverse fucking psychology. A husk hurled itself at their protective barrier. Jack grunted and added a little more power to the reave she'd woven through the energy.

"Okay. Rodriguez should've got my kids down to the second level by now."

"We'd better move if we want a ride off here." Miranda glanced over her shoulder. "And we've got more company."

Five Cannibals had appeared from the smoking ruins of the top floor.

"You take the barrier, I'll reave their asses. Ready?"

"Ready."

Jack dropped her biotics from the barrier, hearing Miranda take a deep breath to steady herself as the bubble shifted against the Cannibal's bullets.

"I've found warp to be particularly effective against Cannibals. Let's move."

Jack limped backwards, protecting Miranda's back as the Cerberus cheerleader started her slow way down the battered, smoking hallway to the elevator shaft. If they got out of this one alive, it'd be a miracle. She hoped Rodriguez had got the kids back to the Alliance soldiers. A Cannibal began to charge, throwing itself forward toward its retreating prey. Jack threw a warp at it: the Cannibal lurched and flew gracefully into the air. She added another, smaller, reave and watched with satisfaction as Cannibal guts sprayed through the air.

"Hey, Miranda."

Even under the strain of having a dozen husks smash themselves against a case of blue energy, with Cannibals firing and her worst enemy beside her, Miranda still sounded like a fucking school teacher talking to her class. "What is it, Jack?"

"We get out of this alive, I might even buy you a drink."