10: XOXO
The fight had been going on for twelve minutes now, something that highlighted the discipline and stubbornness of its contenders. After the first three minutes James attempted to call a round, to give the two a chance to breathe, but trying to step in the way just put him in the line of fire, and he was trained not to take those hits. Shepard's matches with James and Garrus lasted ten minutes at most, but they also realized if they went all out someone might be injured before a key mission.
Miranda and Ashley were different. Whatever feelings they felt for one another, being on opposite sides of the coin, was all being laid for bare in the shuttle bay, coming off their hands with each punch. For as much as the idea of fighting for the executive officer position seemed ridiculous, it was better than if the two faced off during the Citadel Coup a few months back. If Miranda was there, Shepard realized, she would have shot Ashley immediately. It was something he knew she would do out of protecting him but it wouldn't lessen the guilt he would have felt.
As the crowd continued to watch, the two women circled one more time around the middle of the bay, knowing this would probably be the final push.
Miranda slowly moved into arms length, begging with that action for Ashley to attack first. She was hoping to block her arm and then go right for the kill.
Ashley knew what she was trying to do, and kept pivoting once more.
Suddenly, Miranda stopped moving to Ashley's right, bouncing to her left. Ashley wanted to end the fight now, and threw her right hand with the same force that had knocked Miranda down earlier.
As she threw the punch, she realized it was a fakeout, and couldn't do anything as her right hand was effectively blocking off her left hand at this point in the swing. As Miranda immediately pushed off her right foot and cleanly dodged Ashley's fist, she leaned in and with her left fist, cleanly punched the LC's right abdomen.
This punch took Ashley down, falling to her knees, her right hand trying but failing to keep her up. Damn it, I did exactly what she wanted...
The crowd started counting, not in an uproarious manner, but quietly realizing that Ashley wouldn't get up in time. As they said ten. Ashley was still thinking about how she let herself down, and even Shepard down.
It was what happened next that surprised everyone. Instead of James or Tali or even Liara helping Ashley up, it was her opponent. Miranda had placed her arm around her shoulder and lifted her up gently, making sure she was able to regain her footing before she let go.
"Good fight, Lieutenant Commander. I can see why John cares for you." Miranda said, no double meaning to her words, and any sense of hostility had faded away over the past fifteen minutes.
Ashley gave a slight nod and smile to Miranda. "Good fight, XO. You're more than just a pretty face." It was a moment that allowed Miranda to give a slight smirk, as she let her arm go now that she was able to stand on her own, James coming over with water and a towel to help Ashley, Chakwas immediately running a scant o make sure there was no internal damage.
Turning around Miranda took a towel from Jacob, Kasumi providing her a water bottle as though she was providing a queen her sword or scepter. She was too tired to chide her for her exaggeration, but a certain part of her felt glad that she had finally established her spot on the Normandy beyond being Shepard's lover.
The crowd slowly dispersed from the circle, talking with others about what they just saw. Miranda took the moment to quietly step out and head back up to the cabin, a warm shower being what she needed to relax.
Miranda let the relief of winning the fight wash away with the water. She could feel the left side of her face swelling, silently blessing her genetic perfection for being able to heal in a relatively short time, maybe even completely by the time they reach Zion. Her hands were sore, the knuckles losing a small bit of skin despite being wrapped.
As she turned off the shower, she realized that she had forgotten to bring a towel to hang on the rack. Realizing John wouldn't mind the scenery, she stepped out of the bathroom, only to be greeted by a towel being held right in front of her. Shepard had been leaning on the wall next to the door, waiting for her to realize what she had misplaced.
She took the towel, smiling even though he couldn't see her face, and wrapped it around her chest. She was surprised that another towel made its appearance in front of the door, this time to help expedite her hair drying.
"Sorry I don't have a hair dryer, was never really an issue with me," Shepard deadpanned, finally showing his face to her as she had gotten as much moisture as she could out of her hair.
"It's ok John, someone on this ship should have one, it can be the first order of my reign of terror," she said, tongue in cheek. The Ice Queen looked ready to return to her throne.
Smiling, Shepard walked toward her, and lifted her into his arms, carrying her to the bed. It was an elegant gesture, showing that he didn't want her to exert herself anymore after the fight. As far as she knew he never watched the match, and was simply making it up to her. Placing her gently on the bed, he caressed her face, looking at the bruises. He was thankful that Ashley hadn't been able to give her a black eye.
"I don't like seeing you hurt like this, especially when you could have avoided the whole thing." His eyes never left hers, he was trying to be as honest as he could be without using any levity or jokes.
"That's very noble of you, now you know how I feel when you go running around into explosions." Miranda's thoughts went back to when she saw him unconscious on the Citadel, his face swollen and bloodied, bruises so deep they looked like they would permanently stay purple.
Shepard began to kiss her bruises gently, his stubble creating a weird sensation that seemed to massage her face in a pleasing manner. He truly was trying to be gentle with her, not really knowing how to react to her being injured. When Kai Leng had nearly killed her, she did her best to hide any real pain from him, not wanting to show weakness to not only Shepard, but Garrus and Ashley as well. It was only as she left to the Citadel that she had shown how hurt she had been, confiding only in Oriana who had treated her wounds.
"Roll over, you need a massage. Captain's orders." She smirked as he pulled rank, complying with his command, making sure that as she rolled over she let her hair get close to his face, knowing that he would gain increased desire as her smell lingered in the air.
"Careful, Miri, sometimes you get a little too smart for your own good."
"Whatever do you mean, Captain?" Miranda playfully asked, upping the ante by unwrapping her towel, her naked back exposed. She could hear Shepard trying to control his self after being tempted yet again.
Any cold Miranda felt as she lay exposed disappeared as Shepard's hands slowly massaged her shoulders, his warmth bringing a comforting feeling throughout her sore body. He rarely offered these moments, instead preferring that they cuddle on the bed or that she rest in his lap, but maybe that's what made this feel all the more special.
"So where will the XO's office be located, ma'am?"
"I could always kick Liara out of my office, but I'm feeling kind. We can reposition the meeting room to accommodate my needs. From what you've said it was rarely used. It will also allow me to be easily available to anyone, show that I'm not as distant as they were led to believe."
"I never said a thing against you," Shepard replied at the subtle accusation, providing a little more pressure as he said that, a slight punishment for thinking such a thing. She relaxed even more, trying to maintain control.
"Of course, John, but I'm sure Tali and Garrus or Joker might have said otherwise."
"Garrus was rooting for you."
"I'm surprised, I thought soldiers would stick together..." Miranda paused, realizing what he just said. "You were watching the fight."
"We were watching from the Engineering floor windows. I couldn't resist. Every guy wants to see pretty women fight."
"Why don't you just make it a mandatory part of serving on the Normandy, hmmm?"
"Not walking into that minefield. Anyway, as far as Garrus goes, keep him in control of the battery and other weapon systems, he'll even support you overthrowing my benevolent regime."
"Tempting...mmmmm that's nice..." His massaging was making her lose her train of thought, "but I settle for nothing but the best..."
"Any other plans for the ship?"
"Clean it up, for one. There's no need to have so much wires and tubes dragged around. I can have the students help with that immediately. I know David Archer showed uncanny technical ability, it should be an excellent task for him to work on while you clean out the station in your usual violent fashion."
"Seems like you have it all figured out. I guess I'll just have to relegate myself to shooting stuff, providing massages and providing myself for your physical enjoyment."
"An excellent idea, Captain." With that Miranda rolled around, her naked body fully inviting Shepard for an evening's entertainment, which he more than gladly attended.
Ashley left the women's bathroom feeling more relaxed than she thought she would. She didn't plan on losing, but whatever feelings she had about Miranda had been erased, the woman deserving the respect that she earned. More than anything, her helping Ashley up off the metal floor showed that despite he reputation before she was a part of Shepard's crew, she was providing another part of her character that Ashley never knew was there.
Dressed in standard alliance regs, she made her way to the bunks to get some sleep, trying to adjust to the Normandy clock. Despite losing, the crew showed nothing but respect for her, treating her not as a pariah as she expected but let her know through their actions that she was still an integral part of Shepard's squad.
"Lieutenant Commander, can I speak with you for a moment?" The Australian voice made Ashley wonder if Miranda had returned to gloat or immediately exert her new power in some devious way, but turning around she saw that it was Oriana. She hadn't watched the fight, not wanting to distract her sister, and spent her time in the starboard observation deck reading.
"You can call me Ashley, Oriana, it's fine." Ashley said with a smile. Whatever she felt towards Miranda wasn't fair to place on her sister.
"I just wanted to say, I know that you and my sister might not have, well, ever gotten on the right foot, but she really is protective of her crew. She's tough but it's only so she doesn't have to deal with caring for others. I think John, I mean Captain Shepard, I mean..."
Oriana's hands were moving as fast as her mouth was, trying to get the words out but failing. After taking a deep breath, and much to Ashley's amusement attempted to continue. "...what I'm trying to say is that she's changed, even in the relatively short time I've known her. Her loyalty is to John first, and then his crew. And I think you've more than earned her respect. I saw her face as she went up to the cabin, that kind of punch is what she usually attempts to put on others."
Ashley smiled, glad that it seemed that whatever ice the two women had placed in front of each other in the past year had been thawed (or rather punched) away with that fight. "Thank you, Oriana. So where are you resting for the night?"
"Kasumi and I are bunking in the Life Support Room, there's just too many others in the observation decks and we don't want to disturb the crew. You should come hang out, there's more than enough room for us, and I think you'll like Kasumi's personality just as much as you liked her cooking."
"She did know her way around the kitchen..."
"See? She's already won you over. We were just going to have some tea before going to bed, come on!" Oriana's enthusiasm at trying to mend bridges was infectious, and Ashley gave in. She reminded her in a lot of ways of her younger sisters, and with that realization saw why Miranda was so protective about certain things. Maybe we have more in common than I thought...
"That was...that was good." Shepard said as he regained his breath, Miranda positioning herself in his arm, half her body on his chest, a happy smile as she looked at his eyes, seeing his satisfaction with what they just did.
"Just good, John?" She said as she covered their chests with the bedsheet, trapping the heat.
"If I say it's great all the time, it diminishes the value of the word. We'll get complacent."
Resting her head on his chest, they enjoyed the silence for a while, the soft hum of the ship's engines providing the comforting white noise that lulled them closer to sleep. Before he let sleep take over, Shepard said one last thing.
"Hackett had asked us to check out Eden Prime's colonies after we secure the station. Seems they weren't really touched by the Reapers, so that means they should be able to provide provisions for rebuilding Earth."
"I've never been to Eden Prime."
"Really? No Cerberus missions to protect the Alliance's breadbasket?"
"I was always assigned to missions to stop anyone from even getting near the planet. I also don't think I could pass as an innocent farmer's daughter, wouldn't you agree?"
Miranda's joke gave Shepard some nice images to imagine for the moment, a slight pinch on his abdomen coming when Miranda knew what he was thinking.
"I think you'll like it, Miri, the sunsets against the plains, it's beautiful stuff. Even when the geth are trying to kill you."
The two sat in silence for a bit until Shepard again received a pinch on his stomach.
"Ow, what was that for?"
"You were supposed to say 'it's not as beautiful as your eyes.' "
"Such a fragile ego."
"You've made me go all soft, you have to take responsibility now."
Kissing Miranda on her forehead, her eyes looking up to make contact with his, Shepard said those words that became so much easier to say over recent days.
"Wherever we go, whatever we face, I want you to know that I love you, Miri."
"I love you too, John. Always will."
He kissed her again on her forehead, the two shuffling slightly to get in position to fall asleep, in about fifteen more hours they would be raiding a Cerberus station to eliminate the group with extreme prejudice. And it just felt right to do so.
While her students bunked in the crew deck, Jack stepped back into her hideaway below engineering. Some of the reasoning was nostalgia, some other parts were that she just wanted to be alone from the kids for a bit. She thought putting them on the Normandy would let their questions be answered simply by being in proximity to everyone who fought during the war, but half the time they asked their questions to her, leading her to constantly respond that she doesn't know what the fuck happened.
"Aw man, the shits got rid of my cot..." Jack mumbled to herself as she used her biotics to move the supply crates around, arranging them to make herself a makeshift bed. While she looked at a datapad, above her head before she turned in, she heard male and female laughter coming down the stairs. Her first instinct was that it might have been some of her students looking to find a quiet place to make out, but when it became apparent it was Ken and Gabby, Jack couldn't keep her mouth shut.
"What the hell are you guys up to?" She said with a confused look.
The two engineers immediately gasped at seeing Jack, thinking no one was down there. "Jack? Whu...whu...what are you doing here?" Donnelly sputtered out finally.
"Nothing as extravagant as what you two were up to. Some scotch to go with some heavy petting, eh?" Jack smirked as she realized the two were showing signs of being a bit tipsy. During the Collector mission, Jack noticed the sexual tension between the two, and it seemed when they were brought back aboard during the war they finally made the next step. This place has more people hooking up than in Purgatory...
"Well, you see, uh, it was because, um, poker! Yeah, we were going to play some poker down here while the kids were using the observation deck! Yeah! And, um-"
"Give it a rest, Kenneth, we've been caught. Again." Daniels said, done hiding her face in embarrassment.
"Wait, how often do you guys come down here? Who else does?" Jack's anger seemed misplaced, as even she realized she wasn't on the ship for the past year. Even still, this hideaway was hers now that she returned, and she wanted to know who had been sullying it.
"Just us as far as we know..." Donnelly said, rubbing the back of his head.
Daniels chimed in with a look of recollection on her face "Well, I have seen Garrus and Tali sneak down here on occasion, mainly while we were on Zorya."
"I thought that was because Tali needed Garrus' help with welding some places?"
"Kenneth, I swear you're too dense sometimes..."
"Shepard and the cheerleader, you two, Garrus and Tali, Joker and EDI, is there something in the recycled water?" Jack really was at a loss for words now, seriously wondering if what she just said had some shred of validity.
"I'd say Williams and Vega are up to something, but it's hard to tell with those two."
"Oh yeah, they're definitely working on some night maneuvers in the shuttle bay." There was Donnelly's patented sex talk making its belated appearance.
"I better get my kids off this ship soon, otherwise they might get pregnant or I'll get pregnant or some shit..."
With that thought sinking in to everyone in the area, Daniels said something that surprised the biotic "Glad to have you back, Jack. Even if you scared the hell out of us for half the time we were on the ship with you, it was just too...dour on the ship without the old crew."
"Yeah, Liara and Williams never had to be talked down by Shepard, they were all teases."
Jack took the compliment well, her eyes hiding her nonchalant face. Using her biotics she pulled the bottle of Scotch from Donnelly's hand, taking a swig.
"Come sit down, catch me up on what happened, you guys can go screw in front of the drive core later." Jack joked as she took another swig of the liquor before handing the bottle to Daniels as the two sat down with her.
"Oh we couldn't do that, Jack. That spot's for Shepard's conquests."
Not being able to swallow the whiskey in time, Jack spit the liquor into the air, following it up with repeated coughs at what she just heard, the two engineers being unable to hold back their laughter at her surprise.
"Wake up, John."
Shepard slowly opened his eyes, seeing Miranda at the foot of their bed, fully dressed in her new alliance uniform and wearing a face of impatience as she chewed on a protein bar, he remembered it was her morning tradition last time she was on the Normandy.
His arm that had held Miranda's body during the night was still acting like it she was there, leading him to again wonder how she was able to sneak out of the bed without an N7 soldier noticing.
"How are you able to do that?"
"Do what?"
"Sneak out of bed without me knowing."
"A slight use of biotics, a low level pulse a few minutes before I get up can trick your body into still thinking there's some heat there."
"I smell a cheat." Shepard playfully threw one of the pillows at her as he got up, Miranda rolled her eyes, easily blocking it and floating it back on the mattress. He walked over to her and ran a calloused hand on her face, checking to see that the bruises were nearly healed, Miranda's slight use of makeup helping to hide it more.
"You look good, Miss Lawson."
"Why thank you, Captain." She let him kiss her lightly on the lips before a flick of her wrist brought the pillow that was just placed on the mattress into contact with Shepard's head, which made him exaggerate how soft the blow was.
"Shower, John. I'll be in the CIC getting a jump on repositioning the conference room."
"Good, I'll be in the shuttle bay, making sure Steve's got our weapons and shuttles ready to go."
"And Joker?"
Shepard's face showed an annoyed look, realizing he missed something, or just didn't want to hear it out loud. "Shit, forgot about that. I'll speak with him afterwards, give Steve a heads up he might have to fly something bigger for awhile."
He kissed her one more time, lingering a bit to hear Miranda's light moan warn him to cut it out before he walked to the shower.
Stepping into the CIC with her new position in tow, Miranda immediately walked up to the dais, attempting to get a position of what the various crewmembers were doing. The day crew seemed to be on hand and doing their jobs, no one slacking off. Pulling up the various information on the Normandy, she saw that they were about 6 hours away from arriving at the Utopia System. That should be more than enough time for everyone to get their gear ready.
"Specialist Traynor, is there anything regarding the crew that I should be aware of?"
"Um...no, Miss Lawson." Traynor replied, unprepared for the new XO to ask her a question without making eye contact, which was Shepard's M.O. for anyone on the ship.
"Please advise the Grissom Academy students to meet me in the conference room in five minutes."
Traynor activated the intercom, announcing on the crew deck the orders she was given. With EDI gone to provide instant relay of information, as well as the VI program not being in position yet, it would fall to Traynor to be the ship's announcer.
As Miranda stepped off the dais she nodded a thank you to the woman, who returned the nod, her eyes lingering a bit in looking at her new superior. Miranda noticed this and smirked as she walked to the conference room.
Shepard arrived in the shuttle bay, having made a brief stop to get some breakfast that Kasumi provided. Well, Oriana provided the breakfast this time, but under Kasumi's watchful eye, making sure that of all the meals she served that morning this wasn't the one to screw up. It was kind of hard to screw up scrambled eggs, and she succeeded in passing the test.
The bay was quite active this morning, as Jacob was talking to Cortez at the weapons bench while Vega, Grunt, and Javik were doing target practice further down the bay, Garrus was busy in a corner fixing his own Black Widow sniper rifle. Zaeed was in a corner doing what he loved to do, smoke a cigar.
Walking up to his weapons locker, Shepard was relieved to see that his Mattock, Matilda, was saved. When Garrus was injured he had tossed the weapon to Vega as he carried the turian onto the shuttle, and was glad that the Lieutenant was able to keep in on the ship as it departed Earth. He was also glad to see that replacement armor was also in his locker, his combination of Hahne Kedar and Defender armor in his usual spot.
"Good job on getting replacement armor, Steve," Shepard commended, the requisitions officer nodding at the praise as he and Jacob walked over to the locker.
"When you say it's for Commander Shepard these days, people just throw equipment at you."
"I was just complimenting Cortez here on keeping all the weapons in top shape, Shepard. Could use a Cain or Arc Projector though."
"Have you tried getting a hold of those, Lieutenant? The only time I saw one during the war was in London." Cortez said, implying that he got a hold of anything he could for the war beforehand.
"Steve, just a heads up, you might need to take over for Joker as pilot for a bit. I'm sure you could do a decent job piloting a frigate, give him some more downtime due to recent events."
Shepard didn't want to outright say what he was getting at, hoping Cortez knew what he was talking about, no doubt hearing about what happened from other crew members. He nodded quickly, his eyes showing that he knew Joker was falling into a deeper hole.
"Good, good." Shepard quickly attempted to change the subject to something more pleasant. "How's Matilda, Steve? She ready to go?"
"You know it, Captain; cleaned the barrel, upgraded the grip, switched out the scope, you're ready to go. Garrus tried to stick some kind of dextro gum in the round ejector, but I made sure his prank wouldn't reach you."
"Man, you must have really widened the lead on him Shepard, not counting the Reapers."
"Jacob, remind me to tell you guys what he did while he was on Zorya, I think it's some kind of turian inferiority complex."
Getting Jacob and Steve's attention as he said that, their eyes trying to tell him to dispense the information right now, he heard his turian friend shout across the bay, a glint of reflection peering out of the corner of his eye.
"Shepard! Up! Nine! Eleven! Seven!"
Everything after his name would seem like an odd combination of words had they not been around the two, but what it actually was Garrus tossing some bottles into the air at the clock positions of Shepard's current direction.
After hearing the turian shout "Up!", Shepard immediately knew what he was attempting to do, stepping back one step to make sure Steve and Jacob were out of the line of fire before he held his breath and lined up his shots, breaking the bottles with incredible ease.
That alone impressed everyone, even the three soldiers who had stopped shooting down range when they heard their Captain's name, but what really made them amazed at Shepard's skill was how after taking out the seven o'clock bottle he then turned back to the ten o'clock position to shoot the bottle that Garrus had "forgotten" to call out.
The glass shards rained down in the middle of the bay, everyone hooting and hollering at that last shot.
Javik smiled as called out, "Impressive Captain, even taking into account the turain's duplicity." The others nodded in agreement, Garrus holding up his hands as though he didn't know what they were talking about.
"What? What? Up means ten in turian! I thought Shepard knew that!"
"This is why you guys resort to the genophage, bwah" Grunt threw his hand at Garrus to wave his excuse away as he went back to shooting at the targets with a modified Crusader, his first experience with the human shotgun.
"Seriously, Scars, you should be barefaced or something," James said, knowing that it was seen as an insult to turians.
"Whoa now, Lieutenant, let's not say things we can't take back." Garrus said, showing that it was still a line you don't want to cross, even in jest.
This is what I like to see, Shepard thought, smiling as he watched his crew joke around, knowing they can joke and banter but will defend each other to the death, a thought that made Shepard realize how much easier raiding the station will be in a few hours.
The elevator doors opened, and Ashley walked out with Kasumi, the two looking not to target practice but work out, towels in hand. If Ashley received any bruises from the fight yesterday, they were hidden under her attire and bandages.
Expecting to get some ribbing for losing the fight, Ashley was greeted with a chant of "Blues" that was started off by Vega, showing that the group didn't think anything less of her. She raised her hands as if to tell them to quiet down, feeling more embarrassed than if they would have just piled on her to begin with.
"Good to see you, Ash. I'm sorry for how that went about, but-"
"Don't worry about it Skipper. It was something that had to happen, it was a long time coming. And I think it made us respect each other more than if you just gave the position to Garrus or Liara."
"You did hit her pretty hard, I can attest to seeing those bruises."
"Well, marines drink hard, punch hard, and fuck hard, right?" Ashley punched his arm to get her point across, Shepard taking the punch with no problem, laughing at the old adage.
By this time the target practice had ended, it the absence of rounds being fired was any indication, and everyone was putting their weapons back in their lockers.
"Next time you fight, Williams, just bring a gun. One shot, nothing to worry about."
"Shows what you know, Taylor, one shot did nothing but make me prettier," Zaeed tapped the butt of his cigar to the skin near his right eye, reminding everyone he took a shot to the head and survived.
"Did I tell you guys about my headplate! It was great!" Grunt jumped in to talk about scars, wanting everyone to realize how it made him impressive. With that Shepard excused himself, letting everyone else have the fun that comes with less responsibility.
Let's see what Joker has to say...