Eventually

She could feel her own breath waft back at her. That was how small the confined space was. She glanced again and again at the hallway it overlooked. Lights flickered on and off all around her. Just moments earlier, monsters had been prowling the halls, slashing and shooting and devouring everything they could get their misshapen hands on.

Despite everything, despite her sister's best efforts, he'd still caught up with her, accompanied by men with guns, and dragged her to the mockery called Sanctuary. He ranted about how her sister had poisoned her against him, and having to accept Cerberus with open arms just to find her again. Then he'd thrown her into a cell, and left to do...things.

They were horrible things. Her cell wasn't far enough from the laboratories to stop her from piecing together what was going on. They kidnapped innocent people and twisted their flesh and cut through their bone to make them things they weren't. They hooked the monsters up to machines and tortured them into submission.

Once, she heard a new voice. It was full of malice and arrogance. Her father promised his child to him as "payment" to keep them safe here. The other man laughed a cruel laugh and gleefully accepted the offer.

But after that, it all fell apart.

The monsters came. They didn't care about the innocent or the guilty. In a matter of hours, they had torn up and bloodied the entire place. It was quiet now, but there was still one monster out there. It paced down the hallway, just passing her as it went.

It called out for her. "Oriana? Oriana?" There was a gun in his hand. "Oriana? You can come out now. Daddy's here. Daddy'll keep you safe. They're gone now. But we need to leave. Oriana?"

He turned around, heading towards the door. Something in her awoke and she slipped out of her hidey-hole, standing with her feet spaced apart, defiantly staring at the back of his head.

"I'm right here, Henry."

Her alleged father wheeled around, nearly raising the gun. With open arms and a false smile, he slowly approached her. "There you are, child! Come on, let's get out of-"

"I'm not following you anywhere."

The smile vanished. "I'm not going to ask you again. Come with me where it's safe."

Her hands curled into fists. "Safe? You're telling me it's going to be 'safe' with you? And I suppose it'll be really 'safe' when you hand me over to that assassin? Wasn't that the deal, Henry? How stupid do you think I am?"

Before she could do anything, she found the gun levelled at her, the barrel staring down from ten feet away.

"I'm your father, Oriana. Do what Daddy says."

"No, I won't. Also, you barely qualify as my 'Daddy'."

Whatever it was that convinced her to make a stand finally comes to life, and blue sparks illuminated the dim hallway.

"What the- how-"

She spat, "Go to Hell, Henry."

She brought her hands up in front of her face, and a massive biotic pulse knocked him off his feet, sending him careening through the doorway. Exhausted from the effort, she collapsed to her knees, utterly drained. It was over. Years and years of hiding, and false names, and everything...it was finally over. Forcing herself up, she slowly headed into the next room, bending over gingerly to check that he's out cold.

Then, with an awful snarl, he comes back to life, sweeping her off her feet. He drags her back up just as the other door opens, revealing three armed men. Two armed men and a turian. She feels the barrel of the gun next to her head.

Sneering, he greets the new arrivals. "Commander Shepard. Excellent timing."

The leader of the new group speaks. "Put the gun down. Now."

Oriana stares wildly at them. Shepard must be the woman in the middle. On her right's a turian. And on her left is...Kaidan. If he recognises her, he doesn't show it. His aim's directly at Henry.

"No. Oriana just tried to kill me. Miranda's poisonous influence, no doubt."

"I'm sorry she failed," Shepard says, not sounding sorry in the least. "Where's Kai Leng?"

"I don't know," Henry replies, "He took my research and left us here to die."

Someone flinches. The gun whips around to point at Shepard now.

"That's close enough."

Cool as steel, Shepard responds, "This ends here."

"On the contrary. Now that the Reapers are taken care of, I - we - have a way out."

"Let her go."

Henry says, "And lose my only bargaining chip? I think not."

Shepard stands still, thinking of what to say. Kaidan finally looks Oriana in the eye, and gives her a subtle wink. She doesn't react, but still acknowledges it. Shepard makes a subtle motion towards Kaidan, just before she speaks.

"I've got no problem with you. Personally. I just want Oriana and the research data."

His eyes narrow. "You want a lot."

"You'll get your life in return. How about that? I promise I won't do anything to you."

Henry glances at her, then at Shepard. "All right, take her," he says, shoving her to the floor. "But you'd better make good on your promise."

Then, Kaidan lights up, and biotically hurls him through the glass window. He screams as he falls. His body strikes the ground below with a sick crack.

"Commander never said anything about me."

Silence reigns for a few brief moments. Then Shepard's team dashes over. Oriana manages to get up before they reach her, and she leaps at Kaidan, wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace, and she plants a singularly grateful kiss on his lips.

Garrus stares at the scene dumbfounded, then turns to look at Shepard, pointing at Kaidan, and then at Oriana, then entwining his two fingers as a kind of signal in question. Shepard throws her arms up in consternation, obviously not wanting to elaborate right and here and now. In the meantime, Kaidan has managed to break free, and tries to stammer out an explanation.

Thankfully for everyone involved, it's just then that her sister decides to stagger into the room, slightly injured.

Shepard cries, "Miranda!" and dashes over to her.

Her sister slumps over to a table. She manages, "I'm fine. Where's Henry?"

Kaidan answers for them. "He had a bad fall."

Miranda's eyes narrow as she turns to look at him. "You must be Major Alenko."

"Um, Miranda Lawson, I presume?"

"You're presuming right." Kaidan notices she's no longer looking at him - but rather just to his side, where Oriana's hanging off his arm.

He quickly blurts, "Uh, I can explain."

Folding her arms over her chest, Miranda retorts, "I'm sure you can, Major."

Oriana lets go of Kaidan as she goes for Miranda now. The rest of the room descends into silence as the two sisters reunite, and they comfort each other with the knowledge that it's finally over for real. They don't need to worry about running away from the monster who lies dead, neck broken at a sick angle at the foot of the window behind them, all for some misguided "legacy".

Eventually, it's Garrus that speaks up, and as usual, it's never the right thing.

"Right. As much as I hate breaking up reunions between lovers and sisters, we kind of need to figure out where the main Cerberus base and everything is..."

Shepard snaps, "You can get to that, Garrus. Go scan those computers and see what turns up. Shuttle records, schedules, anything."

Miranda breaks contact with Oriana to say, "Actually, before Kai Leng took off, I planted a tracer on him. It'll lead you right to the Illusive Man."

The first smile of relief in a long time forms on Shepard's lips. "Sounds like you thought of everything."

"Not everything. It's-"

"It's exactly what we need. Let's get out of here. We can review this on the Normandy." Shooting Kaidan a sidelong glance, she adds, "All of...this."

Garrus gives Kaidan a knowing smirk, and gets a not particularly gentle punch on the shoulder for it. All around them, the audio system sparks to life, and Miranda's voice echoes again and again through the corridors, warning people about this place and what its true nature is.

As they all head out of the door, ready to leave Horizon forever, Shepard shakes her head and mutters to herself, almost inaudibly, "Fuck. I almost forgot just how much I hate this planet."