Priority Mission: Earth- Hyde Park, London.
Miranda Lawson ducked as the Alliance birds were shot down and soared a few feet above her. The piercing howl of the engines rang through her ears like a high pitched siren. The ground trembled as the birds fell and the heat of the burning crash touched her face with a teasing intensity. Yet, the orange flames were quickly replaced by an enveloping cloud of smoke. She raced the approaching darkness and took cover behind the makeshift barricade of public benches to shield herself and the other soldiers from enemy fire.
"Balfour, is everyone at the LZ? We don't have much time before extraction." Miranda asked one of the soldiers taking point across the other side of barricade. She didn't waste any time as she spoke. Without pause she tore a piece of cloth from a burnt flag pinned under some rocks to fashion a bandage to cover her wounds. Blood dripped from her forehead, yet she soldiered on despite the handful of grazes that tore her ivory clad armor and skin.
"Negative, Lawson" the soldier replied as he paused from fire to briefly survey the remaining party at the outpost. They weren't an Alliance squad, but they were a team of highly skilled individuals of different species banded together towards a common threat. "We've got Bragus." A Krogan. "D'Avo." An Asari Commando. "Illo and Desolas." Turian sentinels and blood brothers.
"Miranda? Do you copy? Can you hear me?" A distorted sound echoed from her earpiece as she applied more pressure onto it towards her ear for more clarity.
"Jacob. Get to the LZ. We've got five minutes tops." Miranda barked as the gunshots drowned her words.
"Negative, I'm pinned down by one of the birds. Leave me behind, I'm just a liability."
"Ah Jacob, always the martyr." Miranda managed to comment with an amused grin. "Give me your location." she added.
"Miranda, are you nuts? Husks will be swarming the area in a minute."
"Give me your location, Jacob." she repeated in a more assertive tone.
"East of the fallen memorial." he sighed.
"D'Avos, give me a visual." Miranda ordered the Asari commando who quickly equipped her Archon visor.
"I still don't think this is a good idea."
"Don't be so dramatic and if you were really in a overly perilous situation that would endanger the squad's safety... you know I'd do what's necessary." She replied with a smirk as she reloaded the ammo in her Locust SMG. D'Avos motioned her hand towards Jacob's location and Miranda nodded in acknowledgement.
"Fine, just don't be too cocky. Hostiles are inbound." he replied in a defeated yet assured tone, coughing through the signal.
"Balfour, cover me. I'm getting Jacob." Miranda ordered the marksman as she edged towards the vulnerable side of the barricade to make a run for it.
"Alright, we got it but if you're not back-" Balfour warned.
"I'll be back." With that, Miranda strode from cover to cover utilizing her impressive agility. A few bullets managed to graze her yet for the most part she was graceful in avoiding a fatal shot. She timed her shots, making sure she was aiming with precision instead of haste. Most men were in awe of her prowess in the battlefield including Shepard himself.
She caught sight of Jacob and his leg was heavily pinned down by a jet's wing. Consequently, she sprinted towards his location with the aid of Balfour and the others. "Jacob, you're shot." she noted with a hint of concern as she observed the fresh wound on his chest.
"Well, where were you? Told you, you were cocky."
"I could ask you the same thing. I'll have to drag your sorry ass to the LZ." she teased back as she lifted the jet's wing with her biotic force. "That wound looks bad." she added.
"You don't say?" Jacob painfully replied with a hint of sarcasm present.
"It's serious but some medigel can hold you over, until we get to the Hyde outpost." Miranda helped Jacob up and together they briskly made it back to the barricade minutes before extraction.
"Damn it, where's the medigel?" She barked as she searched the supply case.
"Were out. We ran out a while back." Illo, the turian, answered.
"What? I just requested supplies from the Alliance." the tone of frustration and confusion present in her voice.
"That's all they had to give." Illo paused, carefully choosing his next words. "He's not going to make it. Not without the medigel." he slowly added as his gaze locked towards Jacob.
Miranda nodded and turned towards Jacob who was breathing heavily, signifying the desperation of the situation that has befallen them. "Damn the Reapers." she thought. No, she wouldn't let Jacob die. The Kodiak was coming and maybe just maybe, they'll be able to get his wound treated before it takes him. That was the plan yet fate had other plans in mind.
"Lawson, LZ moved 3.5 klicks north. We can make it if we make a run for it." Balfour paused and motioned towards Jacob. Miranda opened her mouth to speak, but Jacob held her arm to stop and get her attention. "We'll move out in five." Balfour spoke and motioned the squad away to give the two a chance to talk.
"I'm pretty sure this is the perilous situation you were talking about." He quipped in between the intervals of his blood stained coughs.
"If you're doubting my abilities, then I'm severely disappointed." Miranda comforted him with a jab despite knowing how this was going to end. If she was the same person she was years ago, she would have addressed the facts and left the liability behind. Yet, she was a different person now. Jacob wasn't a liability, he grew to be a friend she could trust forged through their years together in Cerberus.
"Tell Brynn, I love her and I'm sorry I couldn't be there for her and our child." Jacob pleaded as he closed his eyes to remember the scenes and faces that made his life whole. "Look at me, I promised myself I won't be like my father but now, my child will grow up without a dad." he gazed towards Miranda as if he was seeking forgiveness.
"Don't talk like that and you're not your father, Jacob. You are who you've made yourself to be. He doesn't define you." Miranda comforted her friend with sincere words.
"Thanks, Miranda. You should try telling yourself that for a change." He smiled as a pregnant silence took over and gripped the moment. "It was an honor serving with you. Take care of Shepard."
Miranda looked away, afraid to acknowledge the truth of his statement and face the topic of talking about Shepard. Balfour gave the signal that it was time to move out and she nodded in affirmation.
"Let's go before you slow me down again." She quipped as she attempted to lift Jacob's heavy weight. Yet, the only force helping him up belonged to her. He lay motionless on the ground with his eyes closed and a look that mirrored sleep instead of death. Miranda sighed heavily and laid him down as she clasped his hands together. She closed her eyes and spoke a few words under her breath for an old friend.
"Time to go." Illo solemnly interrupted with a tap on Miranda's shoulder. She nodded and stood up to follow the Turian where they all regarded her in consolation.
"Goodbye, Jacob."
Priority Mission: Earth- Hyde Outpost, London.
Miranda silently stepped out of the Kodiak shuttle, oblivious to the noise surrounding her. She lifted her hands and touched the dry blood resting on her palm with her fingertips. A pang of guilt stung the core of her inner being despite knowing that there was nothing she could have done to save Jacob.
She resigned herself to the resident infirmary and dabbed her forehead with cotton to reduce the bleeding. Balfour walked towards her and sat at the edge of the medical supplies table.
"There was nothing we could do." He spoke in a tone of comfort.
"I know." She replied without any emotion, weary and exhausted from feeling any emotion or pain after today's events. However, she turned to him and returned a gaze of thanks for the concern.
"Excuse me, you need to apply medigel on your forehead. That wound looks bad." A medical officer interrupted their conversation and generously offered her a pack or two.
"Thank you, but I'm fine. I'm sure there are others with far worse injuries who need that more than I do."
"What are you talking about? There are more than enough packs to go around for everyone." The medical officer asked quizzically.
"What?" Miranda furrowed her brow as she remembered being at the receiving end of a supply shortage from the Alliance. Confusion soon turned to anger as she saw medical supplies being readily given out to Alliance soldiers. She stood up from where she sat and marched towards the requisition officer.
"I asked for supplies for my squad and hear there's a shortage of supplies. Yet, I find a plethora of ammo and medigel here. Care to explain, officer?"
"You get what you're told, I don't need to explain anything. Next."
Miranda shot him a look that pierced through the officer's visor. He rolled his eyes and sighed heavily, before turning to look at her and respond.
"With all due respect ma'am, you're Cerberus." With those words, Miranda was dumbfounded by his response. She was puzzled at how he'd known since Hackett never publicly announced her past involvement. However, she turned to her sides and saw the whispers generating throughout the commotion. "Rumors." She thought to herself before facing the incompetent officer.
"Typical Alliance attitude. The galaxy is at the brink of destruction and you're still blinded by-" She barked as her biotics flared up before an untimely interruption.
"Lawson. You've got an important vidcall." Balfour held her arm as he pulled her away momentarily.
"From who?" She asked visibly annoyed.
"Commander Shepard."
Communications Room
"Commander." Miranda spoke, attempting to regain her composure as well as the slight satisfaction and relief of seeing Shepard again. She couldn't help but look at him from head to toe, surveying his armor for any scratches or bullet holes.
"Miranda." a smile slightly escaped his lips before locking gazes with one another. The memory of waking up beside Shepard came to mind. Sometimes, he would wake first and find his emerald gaze cradling her. Yet, those moments have gone to past and his eyes belonged to someone else. Indeed, he was no longer hers. She looked away, trying to hide the pain that resurfaced from the bittersweet memory.
"Hope you don't mind me crashing this little party of yours." She finally spoke, breaking the brief silence as she addressed Shepard with her usual confidence.
"Not at all." He replied. "Miranda, your head. It's bleeding. Are you alright?" Without hesitation he stepped forward and held his hand towards her as if he was going to wipe the blood from her forehead like she was physically in front of him. Miranda stepped back, surprised by his gesture of affection. "Sorry." He quickly retreated back to his original place after realizing his mistake.
"I'm fine, Shepard." She replied, noticing that she addressed him by his name instead of Commander. "Granted, the only things giving me a headache are the sideways looks from the Alliance when I offer to help. They can't afford to be choosy at this point."
"I should have known. I'll talk to the Admirals about this. They need you. The world needs you. The galaxy needs you."
"But you don't." The painfully fleeting thought crossed her mind. "You don't have to do that, Shepard." She added.
"I want to Miranda." He offered a weak smile.
"Shepard."
"Look about what I said-"
"I know. We need to stay focused on the war. On survival. We can't go back to what we were." She interrupted and surprised even that she repeated the exact words that once shattered her. Shepard didn't reply with words but his pleading eyes searched hers as if they had another story to tell that couldn't be spoken.
"Shepard, I wanted to say goodbye." She spoke, clearing her throat.
"Goodbye?"
"If we both come back from this at all, everything will be different."
"Sure, everything will change—but on our terms." He spoke, turning away momentarily. "This isn't goodbye. You have to believe we're not done yet." Shepard finally faced her.
"God knows, I haven't stopped believing." She answered, unsure whether she meant the Reapers or something else that frightened her entirely. "I don't know what else to say."
"Miranda, before you go. I want you to know-"
"I think you've said all there is to say, Shepard." She lifted her head to reveal her glassy eyes as she tried her best to repress the tears from escaping her. "You made that pretty clear to me." She paused and took one deep breath before finishing. "And to Liara."
Shepard's eyes widened as she uttered Liara's name. "Miranda, I-" he pleaded.
"Goodbye Shepard, be careful." Miranda spoke with shaky words as she broke the vidcall connection. "I love you." she whispered under her breath before Shepard would get the chance to hear those last three words. Unable to control the growing emotions inside of her, warm tears caressed her cheek without pause. For the first time since the night before the Suicide Mission, Miranda Lawson lost control in the next few minutes.
It pained her, knowing that what they had was a thing of the past. He chose Liara at the end and that was a fact she had to face. Yet, it pained her more to know that this might have been the last time she'd see Shepard. With that thought, she exited the room with the only words that held her together at this very moment.
Yeah. I do. So don't die! You promise me, damn it!
I died once already. I don't plan to do it again.
"Let's hope you're right, Shepard."