A/N: A wee bit of game dialogue here. I changed some of it around to more efficiently suit my needs, but it should still feel familiar as the same thoughts are being expressed.

It was EDI, not Shepard, who informed Miranda she would be attending the mission along with Garrus. She was apprehensive to say the least; this was easily their most risky undertaking. It really should not have been too much of a concern. The Illusive Man had told Shepard explicitly that the ship was offline; the task should have been a simple retrieval mission. And yet, there was a deep pull in Miranda's gut as they travelled throughout the deserted halls of the Collector vessel. Something was wrong.

Garrus shook his head as he moved beside her. "I still don't know how my people took this thing out. It doesn't add up," he whispered quietly, clearly trying to keep Shepard from hearing his uncertainty. She needed to be focused. Miranda merely nodded in response. Whatever was going on they needed to be prepared.

Shepard was a few paces in front of them, looking about the wide open rooms with wonder. The ship had an almost organic feel to it, as if it was almost alive in its own right. "It looks like a giant insect hive," she heard Miranda muse quietly.

EDI's voice filled their com links. "Penetrating scans have detected an access node to uplink with Collector databanks. Marking location to your hardsuit computer."

"Thank you, EDI." Shepard murmured distractedly as they moved further into the structure. Every instinct she had was screaming at her to run in the other direction.

There was no way she could have known how valid her impulses were.

There was silent disbelief as they stepped out of the shuttle and were met with Shepard's entire squad upon their return to the Normandy. Miranda was more than aware of the accusing glances being thrown in her direction. That was not important however, there was only one thing on her mind.

Garrus attempted to break the ice. "And here I thought that I already had my betrayal and attempted murder for this year." Nobody responded.

Though she felt a tad self conscious with all of their squad mates in attendance, Miranda had to say it. She felt hurt and betrayed herself, but the most important thing at the moment was Shepard's opinion. Their leader had to know she wasn't involved, Miranda couldn't bare it otherwise. "I had no knowledge of this, Commander." Her voice was steady but there was pleading in her eyes.

"I know," Shepard responded simply in a tone that clearly implied the thought had not even crossed her mind. A huge weight was lifted off Miranda's chest. It had not even been in consideration for the woman, she seemed to trust Miranda implicitly.

"Oh bullshit," Jack spat out. "There's not a thing that goes on here the cheerleader doesn't know about."

Miranda didn't have to defend herself before Shepard responded in her stead. "Everyone on board my ship and on this mission was in danger, Jack. You know that. Does that honestly make sense to you?"

Jack scoffed and turned away, but didn't respond.

"So what now?" Garrus questioned quietly.

"I have a talk with the Illusive Man," Shepard responded stonily. "And then we move on so that we can help the people who need it." She placed a reassuring arm around her friend's shoulder and he nodded. "Like we always do." Shepard paused for a few moments, and then tilted her head towards the ceiling. "EDI," she called out suddenly.

"Yes, Commander?"

She smiled. "Good work back there. We never would have made it off of that ship without you. Thank you."

There was a moment's pause, but then EDI's voice rang through the debriefing room. "You are welcome, Shepard."

"Hey," Shepard greeted as she entered the cabin cautiously, unsure of what she would find. She shouldn't have been surprised when she walked in to witness the occupant working dutifully.

"What can I do for you, Commander?" Miranda responded without looking up from her desk.

Shepard bounced back on her heels uncomfortably. "I just, uh, wanted to see how you were doing."

Miranda merely gave her a quizzical look in response; she had hardly taken any hits at all during the mission, let alone been significantly injured. "You know," Shepard explained further at the obvious confusion, "with everything that happened. I just figured it would have been difficult to accept."

The Illusive Man's apparent betrayal, Miranda realized then. She should have known this is what Shepard would want to focus on. "No," Miranda stated simply, focusing back on her work dismissively. It was a clear invitation for Shepard to see herself out.

Of course, she didn't pay it any mind. "No?" she questioned incredulously.

"No," Miranda repeated with conviction. "As of yet there has been no information presented to me about the event to accept, so it would hardly do for me to find anything difficult about the situation."

Shepard stared at her blankly. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

Miranda was taken aback. Shepard rarely cursed, and when she did it was most always done in jest. "Excuse me?"

"You are seriously going to defend him on this." There was no question in her voice.

"I was only stating that until I have personally questioned him on the matter I would be better off not making any snap judgments." Miranda shot back smoothly, wondering where the sudden creeping sensation of guilt crawling up from the pit of her stomach had come from.

"Well I did just personally question him and let me tell you, Miranda, there was no reason for us to go through that mess other than the fact that he's a fucking asshole," Shepard responded coolly.

Miranda hesitated for a few moments. Deep down she already knew what had happened, how she felt about it. It was just so much easier, this, remaining blissfully ignorant until the truth was spelled out. She could not ignore this breach of trust forever though, and she had to know despite how much her heart protested otherwise. "What did he say?" she finally questioned quietly.

"A whole lot of bullshit," Shepard spat out with venom.

"Shepard…" Miranda said warningly as she shook her head almost sadly.

Shepard softened at that. She was being an ass. The reason she had even came in the room was to offer comfort, and there she was letting her anger get the better of her and making Miranda feel the need to get defensive in the process.

"Miranda, he could have gotten you killed," she said softly, keeping her voice free of accusation concerning the woman before her. "Is there any reason he could give that could possibly make that okay?"

"Of course," Miranda did not skip a beat as she spoke almost mechanically. It scared Shepard, how robotic the response was, how not Miranda it felt. "If surrendering my life could benefit others-"

"Don't say that," Shepard sighed out in frustration. "There is no excuse for practically sacrificing people like this. There's always another way." She spoke with honest conviction, and Miranda knew that those were not merely inspirational words to rally the crew like they were for so many other military officers. The woman genuinely believed them.

"Except when there isn't," Miranda whispered back smoothly.

Shepard all but growled. "You are the most frustrating-" she remembered herself then, and abruptly cut herself short. With a shake of her head she moved towards the door. "Forget it. I need to go talk to my team, tell them why this happened, and apparently pretend I'm okay with it."

"Shepard, I didn't mean-" Miranda looked almost pained. This is what Shepard had anticipated, moments like this. Moments where Miranda's heart and mind and loyalty would be warring within herself, causing a physical ache. "I just meant I needed to know what happened before…" Miranda trailed off. Before what? Before she took a side?

Shepard gave her a hard look. "Well then I suppose you had better come to our little meeting then, huh?"

As the crew trailed out of the debriefing room, looking angry and unconvinced, Miranda stayed behind, her emotions unreadable. Shepard hated having such insight into what was most likely going on in the woman's mind. She wondered if this was the very first time the Illusive Man's actions had proven that he deemed her expendable, or if this was something Miranda had faced before.

Honestly, Shepard wasn't sure which option was worse.

"Now will you tell me?" She heard herself asking as soon as they were alone.

Miranda glanced up, clearly confused. Her eyes were swimming, not with tears, but with pure emotion and her arms were crossed tightly across her chest in an obviously defensive gesture. Her hurt was tangible.

"If you're okay," Shepard explained further.

A bitter smile graced Miranda's beautiful features. "I'm always okay."

"Do you think you would have stayed if it wasn't for Oriana?" Shepard questioned earnestly. She tried her hardest not to give away how invested she was in the answer.

Miranda shook her head from where she sat next to Shepard on her couch, clearly thinking carefully about the answer. "I just don't know," she admitted at length.

With a sigh, Shepard reluctantly nodded. They had been conversing in Miranda's cabin for quite some time now, having made their way into the room shortly after the meeting had ended. Shepard was surprised when Miranda allowed her to follow her back to her quarters, pleasantly so. She knew Miranda well enough now to understand that often the woman desired space in times of turmoil, and was glad that in this case at least, she seemed to be the exception to the rule.

"I won't lie to you, Shepard. There are things I enjoy about working with Cerberus." She glanced away, feeling almost ashamed. "As much as I know you want me to say it, I can't tell you my affiliation with them is merely out of gratitude and selflessness."

Shepard was silent for a moment, and there were a few heart wrenching seconds when Miranda feared the woman might merely stand up and leave. She didn't however, and instead asked quite calmly, "What things?" There was no judgment in her voice, only curiosity.

"I," Miranda hesitated. "When I'm working I feel so free, like there are no limits to what I can accomplish. Cerberus never tells me something is impossible. They give me the resources I need and tell me to do it."

Miranda was more than a little surprised to see the small smile that passed along Shepard's lips as she nodded in understanding. "That sounds like you," she said warmly as she tentatively reached out for Miranda's hand. Shepard's expression was unreadable as she stared down at her loose hold, running her thumb absently over and over again along the top of Miranda's glove. She appeared as uncertain of her actions as Miranda was.

There was silence between them for quite a significant period of time. Miranda sat as still as she could, too nervous to move or speak despite the urge she felt to close the distance between them. Whatever happened next was Shepard's prerogative, not hers.

"I'm sorry," the woman finally admitted, eyes still focused intently on the hand she grasped in her own. "I've been pushing you so hard on this because of my personal experiences and views. I never took into consideration your own motivations all those times I tried to change your mind." Miranda's heart nearly melted at the admission. Shepard looked up quickly. "Of course that doesn't mean I'll be stopping anytime soon," she teased gently.

They laughed together at that, eyes meeting in an affectionate gaze. Suddenly feeling quite warm, Miranda gently pulled her hand away and leaned back against the couch. "About before," she said softly, the residual embarrassment of what she had done heating her face once more. "I truly am sorry, Shepard. I don't know if it was just stress or I just needed to blow off some steam or…" she trailed off and looked down at her hands resting in her lap, self consciousness creeping in once again. She knew damn well what it was.

Shepard chuckled. "Or maybe you care about me, Miranda," she offered slyly. Miranda's head jerked up to meet Shepard's gaze of its own accord. "The same way I care about you." The words were said so calmly, so nonchalantly, Miranda was afraid she had misheard them.

When Shepard saw the uncertainty in Miranda, the disbelief in her eyes, it only cemented in her the desire to initiate more in their relationship. A wave of emotion flooded through her because this was Miranda. She was the good one. She was the one that deserved to be treasured and cherished. The universe was certainly a backwards place when Miranda Lawson was looking so taken aback at the idea that there could be somebody that might desire to be with her.

Shepard grasped both of the woman's hands in her own and gently tugged Miranda closer. Their foreheads bumped gently, and Miranda's eyes were wide and brimming over with anxiety. "Shepard," she whispered, finding herself being drawn in despite herself. "We shouldn't…" she trailed off, unable to focus on speech when her senses were so suddenly and completely filled with Shepard.

"No," Shepard breathed into Miranda as their lips tentatively brushed for the second time, "we probably shouldn't."

They kissed.