A/N: Flashback about how Miranda found the clone.

Miranda may not have been a part of Cerberus for some time now, but she still had contacts. She knew better than to abandon old ties, and she knew which people weren't entirely dedicated to the cause. The ones she could trust to feed her intel from the inside whenever there was a need for it.

She was grateful for that the day she had received the call about a clone. Apparently the Illusive man had been keeping things from her. Maybe he had known her better than she had known herself at the time after all, assuming that there would come a day that her conscience would finally find itself. There was a time that the thought wouldn't have surprised her, but now it was merely disgusting. She wished she had nothing to do with the man, though if that had been the case, Jane wouldn't even be here right now.

Miranda was also grateful for the timing of said call. Sanctuary had been dealt with, Her father was dead, Oriana was safe, so there was nothing left to do but to ensure Shepard would have the best chances possible to get through this war. That meant being at her side again, even if it wasn't in an obvious capacity. She didn't mind working from the shadows. It was what she did best now. It's what anyone who had left Cerberus had learned to do best, otherwise they wouldn't live long enough to see the next morning. Besides, Jane had her own new team to worry about now. She didn't need to be a part of that. But there was no one to worry about Jane. Miranda would gladly play the part of guardian angel if it meant that her friend would have that much more of a chance.

And now, as she was on the Citadel, watching the Normandy like a hawk during it's mandatory repairs, she was glad she had played the part so well. She was lucky to be on the Citadel already, having followed the Normandy's every move since Horizon. (Not literally of course, for the most part. Even one in her circumstances wouldn't have an easy time following the most advanced warship out there. But her intel was good, and spread far.)

She had watched Shepard go back to the ship early, though it wasn't really Shepard, and that was easy to tell. This husk of a woman, clearly all aggravation and misplaced determination exuded qualities that were so obviously not Shepard. Not to mention her newfound entourage of mindless drones, and one recognizable Hope Lilium. If any of the other signs hadn't been so blatantly obvious, that last one would have clued her in thanks to her Cerberus days.

She was too far away, and didn't have enough people to infiltrate the Normandy before they locked it down. She continued to monitor it from afar, attempting to use her cyber warfare suites, but it was all for not. Almost. Even without EDI, it was still the most advanced warship in the Milky Way. It wouldn't be easy to do anything of real value. Whatever she had managed though, had been enough. All she needed was to delay them long enough for the real Shepard to get there, and so she had done her job.

That is, until the Normandy took off, clone still on board. Miranda and her small, trusted team, hastily stole a C-Sec emergency vehicle so they would blend right in as an escort to a high security situation.

She witnessed the brawl between the pair on the loading bay ramp from afar, though her disguise in full body C-Sec armour taken from the vehicle would have kept her hidden even if Shepard had been capable of taking in her surroundings at the time. She also witnessed both of them going over the edge, holding on for dear life.

Miranda gave the order to get close enough to use her biotics should the worst happen. It was easy to tell which was the imposter. The clone, clearly not wanting to resemble anything of the real woman who had earned her title, had even chosen the wrong armour colour.

As Shepard was retrieved by her friends, Miranda could see Shepard stand with conviction and offer her hand to her paltry comparison. Miranda couldn't help but think that sometimes Shepard was perhaps too kind, but then again, that was one of the things that she grown to love about her.

The clone had refused the help, and jumped to her death, Shepard letting her go willingly if that was truly what the clone had wanted. Miranda couldn't help but know that she would never be as kind as Commander Shepard. But that was okay. They were different people, and this is what she did best.

She quickly grabbed the clone in a stasis field, before she could make contact at terminal velocity. Perhaps there was still a chance for the clone to fulfill her intended purpose, though she hoped there would never be the need. The resource was there, though. A shame to put it to waste, should the worst happen.

But things were not so simple. The clone was still alive. Miranda may have been able to kill someone without question before, but even if she was not the same person as Shepard, Jane had still had her influence in helping develop a conscience. For now, she would keep the clone alive, and incarcerated. She had an entire dreadnought left over from her father, after all. It would be easy enough to imprison her. If circumstances and the need for the clone would change, well then, maybe.

The ride back to her dreadnaught was silent and curious, studying from both sides. Clone bound in glowing cuffs at the wrists and ankles, somehow looking embarrassed and arrogant all at once. Miranda displayed nothing but confidence and intimidation.

Perhaps one of the only thing that the clone got from Shepard was her stubbornness, but when that didn't come with a well-groomed background and a fundamental upbringing, it merely resulted in bullheadedness and overconfidence. To think that this clone was convinced in her ability to fool everyone had she been successful was mindless; again something that didn't describe the real Shepard in the least. Miranda couldn't help but wonder what the clone had set out to accomplish, because it certainly wouldn't have been much, especially with the end of the war looming over them.

Miranda had escorted the clone to her new cell personally, where she continued to observe this specimen silently. Clearly the double had become more and more perturbed, starting to pace in her confinement.

"Are you just going to sit there staring at me all day?," the clone, finally said angrily breaking the silence.

"Why not? You're currently the most interesting thing under my purview."

"How sad for you," she said with a huff, clearly frustrated with the situation. She had never intended to be captured. Even when given the option, death had been more agreeable to her. Miranda kept staring at her now. Not in contemplation anymore. There was nothing more to contemplate really. The clone had already exposed herself, and all that she had to offer, and at this point Miranda just kept doing it to continue aggravating her.

"I know who you are, you know. Ex Cerberus. All you do is leave one misguided cause for another. Dragged in to the cult of Shepard."

"Cult of Shepard, hmm. How hyperbolic of you."

"The fact that you'd even say that only shows me how far down the rabbit hole you are."

"Mhmm. Right," Miranda said, acting bored with the conversation as she examined her perfectly manicured nails, only to be distraught at having chipped one thanks to using her biotics earlier.

The clone just looked at her in disbelief, still pacing her cell.

"So what do you want with me then?," she grumbled out.

"To be honest, I'm not quite sure yet. I just know you're valuable."

"Wow, I never expected for someone like you to be able to appreciate my potential."

"Hardly. I'm merely speaking in the sense of your parts. You're clearly a lost cause," Miranda said, with full composure, though even she had to admit that it sounded rather heartless. A part of her even felt bad for the clone. Her mere existence was through no fault of her own. That combined with the fact that her life had been predestined to ensure someone else's survival. That wouldn't be easy for any living thing to know, and certainly not something that Miranda would have ever come to terms with had she been in the same shoes. She couldn't blame the clone for fighting her destiny, but it didn't matter. The clone had threatened her friend. A friend who had quickly become the closest thing to a real family that Miranda had ever had outside of Oriana. She would scorch earth for that woman, and considered this to be no exception.

"So what? You're just going to keep me in this cell?"

"Likely so. I figure I owe Shepard that much at least."

The clone just huffed out indignantly. "What? Saving her life wasn't enough? If you really think you owe her more, you've clearly been indoctrinated by her."

"See, this is what you don't seem to understand. There is no 'cult of Shepard'. Shepard cares about people and her causes. She's selfless, and has convictions so strong she's managed to end centuries long wars. She didn't do any of that with only her Alliance training. It's her ability to put herself down on everyone else's level to truly understand them and their needs. It's easy to follow someone that truly cares about things."

"You on the other hand…," Miranda continued. "You're just the self aggrandizing imitation, who cares more about your own gain. Looking like her isn't enough," she said, while unholstering her M-5 Phalanx, and examining it carefully.

"So what? You're going to shoot me?"

"Something tells me, that won't be necessary," Miranda said, handing over the pistol to the clone.

She took it and looked at it questioningly, as though it were some kind of trick. Then she looked back at Miranda, before pointing the gun at her. Miranda maintained eye contact, entirely unfazed. Then the clone seemed to think better of the situation. Surely Miranda wouldn't have been so stupid. She would be wearing a shield. She moved the gun up to her temple. The clone had already accepted death once before. It was the better alternative.

She looked Miranda in the eye as she pulled the trigger.

Without hesitation, Miranda moved rather clinically to enter the gate and slathered the entry and exit wound in medi-gel, before starting chest compressions. She messaged her team to get medical down here asap. There was no saving the clone's life, and that hadn't been her intention. All she needed was to stop the hemorrhaging, and maintain blood flow to ensure that organ death wouldn't occur.

Miranda just stared at the room as her team took the clone away to stabilize her and put her into cryo. What a mess, but this was simply the repercussions of messing with Miranda's family. She turned and walked away. There was still plenty of work needing to be done. That was what Miranda did best, after all.