"Shepard... Promise me you'll be careful."
.
"Genetically perfect Cerberus cheerleader bosh-what?"
"Erm, let's not dwell on that..." Shepard tried her hardest to avert Miranda's gaze.
"No, let's! What did she mean?" Miranda asked over Dr. Chakwas' shoulder, who'd just positioned herself in front of the bed in the Med Bay Miranda was momentarily sitting on. And noticing Dr. Chakwas' grin, she gestured towards the doctor who was already walking back to her terminal, holding Miranda's blood sample in her hand. "See? Even Dr. Chakwas knows what she meant!"
"Karin," Shepard exclaimed reproachfully.
Dr. Chakwas raised her head from the terminal and turned in her chair. "I'm only here for the medical examination, don't drag me into this." And after a few more quick taps, she announced, "As expected, you are perfectly fine, Ms. Lawson. Most of your wounds are already healed and the rest should take care of itself within the next hour. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," Miranda answered dismissively and shoved Shepard's hand away as she jumped off the bed and stormed towards the exit, Shepard pursuing her immediately, sensing where her former XO was headed...
Outside the Med Bay, Miranda quickly scanned the Mess Hall and stopped dead in her tracks as she couldn't spot her sister.
"If you're looking for Oriana, Liara's showing her her office. Heh, you should have seen the spark in her eyes when she heard that she was standing in front of the real Shadow Broker..."
Both Miranda and Shepard (who'd meanwhile put a hand on Miranda's arm, just as a precaution, of course...) turned their heads and Garrus raised Tali's abandoned glass filled with purple liquor to toast them.
"Listen, about Tali... I heard what happened and... I guess I shouldn't have shown her the trick with the straw..." he started but was cut off by Shepard.
"You did what?"
"Is that the hour? Wow, I think I should get back to my calibrations..." Garrus hurriedly grabbed the remaining bottles on the table and made his way to the main gun, accompanied by the clinking sound of the bottles shaking together.
The shock of the revelation that Garrus had actually taught Tali, her sweet, innocent Tali, how to get drunk (which, under different circumstances, would have earned him her deepest respect, considering the difficulty of the task of enabling a quarian to drink that much liquor without killing himself in general), Shepard loosened her grip on Miranda's arm, which her former XO took as a chance to free herself from the commander's grasp and continue her pace towards the Crew Quarters.
When she could already see the closed doors leading to a (probably soon enough not anymore) peacefully slumbering Tali, Miranda felt a strong arm around her midsection pulling her away from the door and towards the elevator.
"You haven't seen my cabin yet. I'm sure the fish would love to see you again. If they still remember you, that is..." Shepard gave a mocking sigh. "It's been so long..."
The remark earned Shepard a slap on the back of her head from her former XO, which she gratefully took as she felt Miranda's determination weaken. After one last annoyed sigh, Miranda gave up and let Shepard lead her into the waiting elevator.
"Oh fine..."
"My, Commander Shepard, what a marvellous bathroom you have... I could get lost in here. Ah, and that shower... gorgeous..." Miranda's imitation of a british accent rang out of Shepard's bathroom.
"Mmmh, you know how weak in the knees I get at all those accents..."
Miranda appeared in the doorframe, hand on her hip. "I'm surprised Dr. Chakwas was able to look you in the eye without blushing before..." she stated.
Shepard propped herself up on her elbows as she observed Miranda who slowly approached the bed she was lying on. "Yeah, me and Karin go way back..."
"Should I be concerned, Commander?"
"Like you seem to be with every other person I meet?" Shepard retorted before nodding, a feigned seriousness on her face. "Absolutely!"
"I still have some names on my list, just so you know..." Miranda had reached the bed and leaned in to quickly brush her lips against Shepard's, immediately retreating again.
"Let's have it!"
"Oh no... First you're going to tell me what Tali was trying to say..."
"Make me..."
Five minutes later, Shepard had surrendered (after all, Miranda was superior in many ways...) and they were once more lying comfortably on the bed.
"Traynor!"
"Again?"
"You didn't properly answer my question the first time. What happened in that shower?"
"I offered her to use it."
"Why would you do that?"
"Because..." Shepard sighed. "I don't know. Maybe I'm still not used to having all these privileges while my crew has to fight over the last hot water left..." Shrugging, she added, "Or maybe I just got distracted by her accent..."
Miranda's elbow met Shepard's ribs. "So, what happened?"
"She took a shower, told me about wanting to look good for someone..."
"Aha!"
"I didn't join her, if that's what you mean."
"But you watched her."
"She let the door open..."
"Oh that little slut! And what about her br...own socks?"
"Well... she may have left a part of her clothing that could be considered... inappropriate in the bathroom, which I immediately returned to her, of course..."
Convinced, as Shepard didn't avert her eyes under Miranda's suspicious glare, she went to the next name she'd just recently added to her list. She took a deep breath to prepare herself (after all, the next name would be a very unwanted, not to mention dangerous competition...) before she went on.
"Aria?"
"Wha...? No! I simply may have passed out a couple of times in Purgatory and since I'd helped her regain control over all those merc bands on Omega, she let me sleep on her couch. Nothing happened!"
"How do you know that? You were passed out!"
That statement made Shepard pause for a second before she carefully answered, "Yeah, but... I still had all my clothes on... And we were in public..." As she had to admit, her voice didn't exactly sound like she was convinced herself, but Miranda let it go regardless. If anything had happened, they would find out about it on the extranet soon enough...
"Kaidan?"
"Heh, Kaidan never got the hints... Never has and probably never will... You should ask Liara about that, she can tell you a thing or two about it..."
"And you're not interested in him..."
"In Kaidan?" Shepard gave a short laugh. "As much as I enjoy deep, philosophical conversations, but... no, definitely not! I prefer your cold glares to his puppy eyes, any day."
And there will be a lot more of those if you keep this up...
Shepard propped her chin in the palm of her hand and turned towards Miranda, smiling. It was her turn now... "You know, you could have just told me about your plan..."
"I had to take care of that myself..." Miranda averted her eyes and instead started playing with her jumpsuit's zipper absent-mindedly.
"Well, I did help you rescue your sister in the end... It would have been a lot easier for both of us if you'd have just told me from the start..."
Miranda sighed heavily and let go of the zipper. "Yes, I know. And I'm sure this wasn't the last time I'll hear this..."
A smile spread across Shepard's face as she shrugged. "Yeah, I might mention it a couple times more..."
"Of course you will..."
"So... Anyone else on your list? Anything we should talk about before I properly welcome you aboard the Normandy?"
"Jane, I..."
Shepard shook her head to silence her. "Listen, whoever's left on your list, and I do hope there aren't that many more... I do travel the galaxy quite often, but even I don't meet that many people..." Seeing Miranda's raised eyebrow, she quickly added, "But anyway: nothing happened. You're all I need and always will be..."
Hadn't her heart skipped a beat at those words, Miranda might have managed a sarcastic remark, but with her body reacting the way it did now, she simply leaned over and captured Shepard's lips in a kiss, both of them knowing that, whatever may happen in the future, they still had this moment (and it would be a shame to let it go to waste, as Shepard immediately decided)...
"Ready?"
Miranda raised her head and smiled. She nodded at Shepard who was leaning against the doorframe to her office. "Yes," she said, letting her eyes wander over her cabin one last time. Taking a deep breath, she got up from her chair, the program she'd started still erasing all her relevant personal files from her terminal. She approached her bed and grabbed the bag containing what little she'd decided to take with her. The Alliance could have the rest, she didn't care...
Shepard stepped behind her, placing a hand on her back as she and took the bag out of Miranda's hand and carried it for her as they left the cabin and stepped into the almost empty Mess Hall. Gardner was standing by his kitchen, drowning what Miranda suspected to be not quite his first drink today. He turned his head as he saw them cross the hall and raised his glass, smiling at her. Miranda nodded at him once and did the same for Dr. Chakwas, who smiled at them through the window in the Med Bay.
They waited for the elevator to arrive and Miranda looked down the hallways to both of her sides, the doors all leading to empty rooms, as the majority of Shepard's former crew had already left the Normandy, knowing that Shepard being called to Earth meant that they wouldn't be able to travel the galaxy in search for new missions any time soon again... So, they'd all left the ship, one by one. All except for a skeleton crew necessary to fly such a technological miracle, including Tali and Garrus (who'd never leave Shepard's side without being dragged off, which was bound to happen pretty soon...) and Miranda, who'd stayed as long as she'd been able to. But now that the Normandy was on its way to Earth, there was nothing left to delay their imminent parting...
The elevator doors opened and the two stepped in, the silence that had accompanied them since they'd left Miranda's office following them into the small cabin on their way down to the CIC.
Miranda turned her head, smiling at Shepard. "Do you know what you'll be wearing?" she asked, trying to lighten up the mood. And raising an eyebrow, she added, "I hope you'll decide against that awful dress..."
Shepard gave a short laugh and shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows? Maybe they'll go easy on me if I show some leg..."
The elevator doors opened and they stepped into the CIC, both smiling again now. Kelly turned away from her terminal as soon as she heard them approach. "You're going to be all right," the yeoman sobbed into Miranda's shoulder as she held the horrified XO in a tight embrace. "Just be strong!"
Miranda shot Shepard, who was standing next to them, grinning, a pleading look and the commander nodded, tapping Kelly on the shoulder.
"I think that's enough, Kelly. Yes, let her go, that's right... She'll be all right. Good, now the other arm..."
The yeoman finally let go and dramatically turned back to her terminal, her sobs following Miranda and Shepard on their way to the airlock.
When they'd reached it, Joker turned in his chair, waving his goodbyes as he opened the Normandy's airlock.
"Wait for me!" A hooded figure sped through the CIC and into the airlock with them.
Shepard turned around and her brows furrowed in confusion as she recognized the master thief. "Kasumi? I thought you were long gone..."
A smile tugged at Kasumi's lips as she shrugged. "Tactical cloak, remember? Thought I'd stick around for a while longer after I've missed Jacob's departure..." Her eyes started gleaming under the hood as she looked at Miranda. "You don't happen to know where he's gone?"
"Who's Jacob?" Shepard grinned despite Kasumi's fist punching her arm. The commander shrugged, rubbing her arm with her free hand as soon as she'd put Miranda's bag down. "Didn't even notice when he was gone..." she mused, evading Kasumi's fist successfully this time. "Are you sure he doesn't have a tactical cloak, too? He always seemed so... inconspicuous..."
"He's not dull!" Kasumi exclaimed, remembering all those talks she'd had with Shepard about the object of her desire. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, pouting.
Shepard put an arm around the master thief's shoulders and gently squeezed, which seemed to soothe her friend somewhat. "Where's your baggage?"
Kasumi waved her hand dismissively, a smile already tugging at her lips again. "Ah, you know I always travel light..." She winked at them. "But don't worry, while you were otherwise occupied..." Shepard and Miranda exchanged a short glance, then quickly evaded each other's (and Kasumi's) eyes and looked in different directions. "I've emptied my room some more with every place we've been docked along our way. All my belongings will be shipped to my new destination as soon as I decide where that will be..."
"Well..." Shepard sighed and turned back to Miranda, still smiling. "This is it..."
Miranda nodded and, after shooting a quick sideglance at Kasumi, who simply nodded and motioned towards Shepard, mouthing 'Go ahead', wrapped her arms around Shepard one last time, silently wondering when she'd see her again...
"Shepard, you're only prolonging the decontamination process if you move in there," came Joker's voice over the comm, forcing Shepard to sigh and release Miranda from her embrace.
"Right... I always seem to forget that," the commander murmured.
"Unless you're doing something I could add to my collection. If that's the case: go ahead, take your time... but please take pictures..."
The door finally opened and both Kasumi and Miranda stepped out into the open, quickly scanning the empty docking area around them (a habit they'd have to keep, now that they were on the run). They both turned back to Shepard who smiled at them once more, raising her hand as a final goodbye before the door closed and separated them.
Kasumi nudged her gently. "So, what are you gonna do now?"
Miranda shook her head. "I honestly don't know. For once I haven't planned that far ahead..."
"So... this is it, huh?"
Miranda nodded.
"And you're sure you don't wanna stick around?"
Miranda shook her head, smiling. "I wish I could, Shepard, but... It's not just about me anymore. I have to take care of my sister first..."
Shepard nodded. "Yeah, I know." She shrugged. "Well, more fun for me then, I guess..."
Miranda took a step towards her. "Don't forget to send Mr. Leng my regards..."
Shepard's eyes started to gleam as she smiled devilishly. "Don't worry, I'll kill him for you!"
Miranda sighed mockingly. "Such a romantic..." She swung her arms around Shepard's neck and leaned close to her ear, whispering, "Finish this, Shepard. And find me."
Shepard nodded. "I will. I promise."
Miranda took a step back and turned to her sister, placing a protective arm around her as they stepped into the airlock. Before the doors fully closed, she turned her head back to the smiling commander once more, silently wondering when she'd see her again...
A/N: So... This is it... :) Sorry for the long wait... And this was actually the end, last chapter. There just wasn't much to work with from the actual game and since I wanted to stick to the story... I'm out of moves... ;) I still like the Miri/Shep pairing, so I'll continue with the one-shots I've already started, so please feel free to tell me if there's anything you'd like to read in the future. As always: tell me what you think, what you liked, didn't like, want me to change, etc... :)
But for now there's not much left to say except for thanks a lot for reading, liking and reviewing (oh god, your have no idea how much I love all of your reviews... And don't worry anon, as long as I get reviews like yours, I'm perfectly fine and happy about it... :) )
Thanks a lot!