Hey everyone! I know it's been quite some time since I last published, but don't worry I am still writing, it just stalled for a bit due to stress at work. I want to give you forewarning that I am currently without a beta reader, so I apologise if the quality of writing drops a bit, I find I benefit greatly from being able to talk out ideas with someone else. So if you see any glaring mistakes I don't mind if you point them out. If you are interested in beta reading or know someone who might be I'd love to hear from you!

WORDS OF WISDOM

Miranda glanced at the woman next to her for the hundredth time and then back at the holo-screen that was currently projected onto the aquarium. Their bodies were so close where they sat on the sofa, that Miranda had to sit on the hand that wasn't holding her drink, to keep it from wandering.

When the credits rolled, Leni turned to look at her. "So? What did you think?"

"I think I underestimated the true severity of your geekiness," Miranda said, with a smirk.

Leni gave her a playful shoulder bump. "Admit it Miri, you liked it."

The butterflies, that of late, seemed to be present whenever she was around Leni, fluttered in response to hearing her nickname. "It wasn't...awful," Miranda replied, aiming for nonchalance.

"Season two is when it really comes into its own, they introduce gay storylines, which back in the twenty-first century was still a notable achievement in mainstream TV. Supergirl also becomes a bit more badass."

Miranda frowned. "And how many episodes do I have to sit through before we get to season two?"

"Nineteen more."

"Ugh," Miranda dropped her head back, "are you trying to torture me?"

"Hey, I have to rest for the next day and a half, and you told Karin you'd keep an eye on me, so you are going to have a Supergirl marathon whether you like it or not."

"Fine, but I'm going to need wine to get through this."

"Drama queen," Leni teased, just managing to dodge the slap on the arm Miranda sent her way. "Okay, you get the drinks, and I'll fix the popcorn."

Miranda screwed up her face. "Don't make any for me, I find popcorn a pointless endeavour."

She saw Leni raise a brow as they stepped into the lift. "A pointless endeavour? It's a snack, not a mission, Lawson."

-o-

"'Don't make any for me' she said, 'a pointless endeavour' she said…" Leni muttered and Miranda caught sight of a pout on her face as she set down the empty bowl, that had once contained popcorn.

"Well it turns out, I've never had good popcorn, and it seems, you do good popcorn." When Leni stifled a yawn, Miranda looked at her watch. "You should get some sleep."

Nodding, Leni stood and made her way to the bed. "So should you."

"Can I borrow your extra pillow?" Miranda asked, "It's too much effort to go get my own."

Turning Leni frowned at her. "You're not sleeping on the sofa again."

"I said I'd keep an eye on you."

"Yeah," Leni said slowly, "this is a double bed, I only use one side."

Miranda gawked at Leni. "I'm not sleeping in your bed with you in it."

"Miri, we're both adults here."

That's precisely what worries me. Miranda thought, but said, "I'm fine on the sofa."

"No, you're not. It's uncomfortable and you need proper rest. If you refuse to share the bed, then you can go back to your cabin."

"I need to-"

"Keep an eye on me? Let's be honest Miri, you are here by your own choice, keeping an eye on me is an excuse, because I know Karin didn't feel it was necessary."

Miranda ground her teeth, staring Shepard down, but the other woman was completely unphased. "Are you really that arrogant, you genuinely think I'm just here to bask in your goddamn presence?" Miranda spun on her heel, not wanting Shepard to see the blush she could feel rushing to her cheeks. Without looking back, Miranda marched up the stairs and out the door.

-o-

Karin looked up as the door slid open. "Good evening dear, how are you?"

"I thought I should let you know I won't be keeping an eye on the Commander tonight, but EDI will be observing her life signs."

Karin watched the younger woman who was pacing back and forth as she spoke, and Karin got the distinct feeling something had happened. "Well that's not a problem, the nanomites appear to be doing their job and the fact that they give us an alert if they fail to interrupt a seizure, gives us extra security. But you know that already, so what's the real problem?"

Miranda stood still for the first time since entering the room and stared at Karin. "I...don't know what's going on."

"With?" Karin probed, already having an idea what her confusion related to.

Looking down at her hands, Miranda lent against one of the beds, clenching and unclenching her jaw. "With us, me and Leni. It's...I've let it become so much more complicated than it should be."

Karin moved so she was leaning against the bed parallel to Miranda and gave the younger woman an understanding smile. "Ah, yes. Relationships of any kind have a habit of getting complicated, it usually happens without you realising it, and by the time you do, it's too late."

Miranda continued to stare at her hands but nodded. "I don't even know, what it is, other than confusing, and distracting, and likely something that will put the mission at risk."

Karin couldn't help the little chuckle that escaped, and when Miranda looked up at her, Karin saw a frown creasing her forehead. "I'm sorry dear, I'm not laughing at you. But I've been where you are. When I was in the academy, I became best friends with Hannah Odili and Joyce Martin. But of course, when we graduated from the academy, while they went straight on to be cadets, I still had five years of medical school ahead of me. We remained very close despite me not being on the same career path as them, but while I was drowning in medical texts and doing medical placements in planetside war zones, they were already serving on ships, forming relationships and working their way up the ladder. I longed to serve on a ship; having grown up on my father's civilian freighter, I missed the hum of the engines, the clang of boots on metal as the crew went about their work. But the ship-based work experience for military medical students was saved for your final year. When I finally made it up to space, I felt like I was constantly playing catch up, so much further behind in rank than non-specialised cadets from my year." Karin paused a moment, realising she was digressing. "Sorry, I seem to be off track."

"No, do carry on," Miranda said pulling herself up so she was sitting on the bed and Karin heard the enthusiasm in her voice.

"Well, I wasn't just behind professionally. Before I was even finished with med school, Joyce was engaged to Dominick Moreau, had already left the service and had plans to set up a contractor business on the Arcturus Station. Hannah and Thomas had been sweethearts since high school, and they married just after we graduated from the academy. Gosh, they were so young, barely nineteen. By the time I finished med school, John was already four years old and Hannah fell pregnant with Leni shortly after. But for me, a family, even just a relationship, was the last thing on my mind. I wanted to focus on my career. Of course, friendships mattered to me, I loved my best friends and their families, but that was enough for me in that respect. They never really understood, they seemed to think I was playing at being happily single, and that I secretly longed for a relationship and family just as they had."

Miranda nodded vehemently. "Why is that? No one is surprised when a man is career focused and has no interest in having a family, but when a woman says that, she's secretly miserable, longing to be swept off her feet and play happy families."

Karin sighed. "That is the human patriarchy, unfortunately. Even now we still battle those old-time stereotypes and attitudes." Karin looked at Miranda and smiled. "I'm sorry dear, I appear to have given you the extremely long version of this story, I'll try and shorten it."

"No please don't, I'm interested."

"Okay, well how about you go make tea, while I finish up here and we'll convene on that comfy sofa of yours?"

Miranda smiled at Karin. "A dash of milk and two sugars?"

"You've been paying attention. I'll see you in a few."

-o-

Miranda waited for the Doctor to get comfy before she handed her the tea.

"Thank you. Now, where was I?"

"I believe you were about to take down the patriarchy," Miranda said simpering at Karin.

Karin chuckled. "Ah yes, so I was. Well, I served on my first ship, the SSV Geneva, for three years, gaining experience, but requested to be reassigned to the newly occupied Arcturus Station once Jeff was born so that I could manage his condition and treatment. I'd come across Vrolik syndrome on one of my work placements and had the pleasure of working with a specialist in that field, so it made sense for me to be there for them, especially once Dominick did his vanishing act and Joyce was on her own. I was stationed there for five years while the children grew, but as much as I loved being near my friends and their families…"

"It wasn't what you'd enlisted for."

Karin nodded. "Once Jeff's condition was stable enough, I requested to be reassigned to a ship. For the first three years, I was assigned and reassigned five times on short-term posts: parental leave, medium-term sick leave, that sort of thing. Some people might have found it tedious, but I loved it. Each ship was unique, each crew different to the last, each presenting me with different experiences and opportunities."

Miranda sat and listened, marvelling at the woman beside her. Despite the generation gap and entirely different backgrounds, Miranda could see many similarities between herself and the woman in Karin's story. Karin was strong, independent and ambitious, but unlike Miranda, Karin had also maintained a balance. Her ambition didn't come at the expense of others, she was kind and compassionate and even put her own aspirations on hold to help support her best friends, yet still got back on track with her own career goals eventually. Miranda had always had it drilled into her, that in order to succeed, you had to be your only priority. Other people were nothing more than competitors to be taken out or stepping stones to be climbed upon. Yet listening to the woman beside her, knowing all she had achieved and hearing how she achieved it, Miranda began to see that her father, and even Jack, had been wrong. It wasn't the only way.

"It sounds like it was a challenge, but it must have been a refreshing change to the Arcturus Station."

"Indeed it was," Karin continued. "after those three years I was offered a long-term assignment as General Medical Officer aboard the SSV Elbrus. Being a dreadnought, it was the largest ship I'd served on by far, the medbay was more like a small hospital with ten full-time medical staff. We constantly had crew coming and going, but I noticed one crew member came in more often than most, which was odd considering he was an engineer and not part of the ground crew. I was concerned there might be some safety issues that needed addressing so raised my concern with the Chief Medical Officer. She pointed out to me the additional oddity that he was only ever needed to come in when I was on shift. Good Lord, I was so clueless when it came to picking up on that sort of thing."

Miranda laughed at Karin's eye-roll at her own ignorance.

"Well the next time he paid the medbay a visit, I called his bluff, saying I was going to report his senior office for neglect as this many visits to the medbay suggested something was amiss in his department. That's when he came clean and asked me if I'd let him cook me dinner."

"What did you say?"

"Well I was about thirty-four at the time, and he was only twenty-seven, I was mortified and instantly turned him down. But in truth, I was more terrified than mortified. I had zero experience with relationships of the heart, I'd never had any interest in anything deeper than the occasional itch scratching -if you get my meaning," Karin said with a wink and Miranda chuckled.

"So what happened?"

"Well, the young engineer wasn't so easily put off, instead of fake visits to the medbay, he started turning up with tea - exactly as I liked it - near the end of my shifts. I eventually agreed to go on a date with him, just to show him that we weren't a match and get it out of his system."

"And?" Miranda asked, eager to know what happened with the young engineer.

Karin gave her a sly smile, dragging out the suspense with a sip from her steaming mug. "Well, my ploy to get it out of his system didn't work. He was a charming sod, had a counter argument for every reason I came up with as to why we wouldn't work. I said I'd worked too hard getting to where I was, and still had a long way to go and couldn't let myself get distracted from that. He said it was my drive and passion that made him notice me, so the last thing he'd want to do was stifle it. He had his own career and goals and asked why I assumed it would ruin things when we could support each other in pursuing them? Every time he came up with a counter-argument, I found myself accepting another date."

Karin smiled fondly, and Miranda found her own emotions a jumble, inexplicably wanting the ambitious doctor and the young engineer to make it work. Wanting to hear that they had achieved their goals while still being there for each other. "Did it work out?"

"It did. We both served on the Elbrus for four years, then transferred to the SSV Agincourt where we were both stationed for three years, followed by another three years together on the Einstein as 2nd Medical Officer and 2nd Assistant Engineer. After that, I was offered a 1st MO position on the SSV Kilimanjaro and he remained on the Einstein for another year, so that was where we parted ways."

Miranda's heart sunk to hear they had parted ways, which she then realised was ridiculous because she already knew they'd parted ways at some point.

"Temporarily that is."

"Oh, Karin. You can't mess with me like that," Miranda said giving the Doctor a glare as Karin grinned at her. "Wait, the Einstein?" Miranda stared in horror as the grin fell from the Doctor's face. "Mindoir…Nina."

The expression on Karin's face changed to confusion. "You know about Nina?"

"Leni and I were exchanging childhood stories to keep her distracted during the procedure. She told me what motivated her to join the Alliance."

Karin gave a solemn nod. "The Einstein was the first ship on the scene. It was…God, I can't even begin to describe it. It was the second worst experience in my career." Karin stared out the huge window, eyes glazed, and Miranda rested a hand on hers.

Refocusing on Miranda, Karin gave her a wane smile. "Anyway, a CMO post opened up on the SSV Tokyo where he had been appointed as Chief Engineer the previous year, so I requested a transfer and got it, bringing us back together again. After a very long stint there, we both got offered senior positions on the Normandy."

Miranda's eyes opened wide and she had to restrain herself from slapping herself for being so slow. "Staff Lieutenant Gregory Adams."

When Miranda first recruited the doctor, Karin asked if they needed an engineer as she could speak to her friend who had been chief engineer of the SR1, but later said that he'd declined the offer.

"He refused to join you here," Miranda said feeling resentful on Karin's behalf.

Karin smiled. "It's fine, we'll be together again when this is done, of that I have no doubt."

"But he refused to join you, after all those years together. He served under Shepard and wasn't loyal to either of you. How can you not feel betrayed?" Miranda felt a growing anger towards this man she had never met, for betraying these two women, one whom he supposedly loved.

Placing her other hand on top of Miranda's, Karin's smile widened. "Miri darling, Greg is the kindest, most loyal man I have ever met. He had a great deal of respect and admiration for Leni as his Commander, but that was the only way he knew her. And after all we'd seen at those Cerberus facilities, be them ex-Cerberus or not, how can I blame him for not joining up?"

"But you did," Miranda said, unable to forgive this man so easily.

"Yes, well, Greg had also had a more personal run-in with Cerberus."

Miranda's brow creased, she knew of no connection between the Alliance engineer and Cerberus.

"In between the Einstein and the Tokyo, Greg served a year as 1st Engineer on the SSV Geneva."

Miranda dropped her gaze to her mug of tea. She didn't need Karin to say more to know what she was referring to.

"Until the ship was decommissioned in '75 after it was raided by Cerberus for antimatter."

In 2175, Miranda hadn't been all that involved in the business, still studying under the alias of Lisa Walker, but she had heard all about the raid. It had been all over the news, and for a week it had been the hot topic across the campus. That week, Miranda had faked being ill, needing to avoid the inescapable campus-wide scorn towards the supposed pro-humanity group that had attacked a human vessel.

"Anyway," Karin said, breaking the silence, "that aside, my decision to join Cerberus was not a rational one. I delivered Leni into this world, I was there for her first day of school, I saw her win the school talent contest, I was there when she grieved the loss of a best friend, the day she decided to throw her dreams away to defend the defenceless. I was there when she grieved her father, graduated from the academy and grieved her brother. Greg didn't see any of that, but he did see, well, we all saw…" Karin's eyes brimmed and she stared back out the window at the expanse of space. Miranda studied the older woman, the pain was etched on her face and a single tear rolled down her cheek when she took a deep breath. "When we saw our Commander's body jettisoned away from the Normandy, saw her flailing, desperately trying to reach the leaking pipe. That, was the worst experience in my career, in my life...watching the little girl I'd delivered into this world leave it in a slow, excruciating way, alone and lost."

Miranda squeezed the older woman's seasoned hand in hers as more silent tears rolled down the Doctor's cheeks. Turning to her, Karin gave her a plaintive smile and wiped away the single tear that rolled down Miranda's own cheek.

"Having gone through all of that, how could my decision have been rational? It couldn't. But Greg, he is a loyal man, Alliance through and through. I can't blame him for sticking to what he knew was true and right, for trying to talk me out of selling my soul in pursuit of a ghost."

Miranda swallow back the bile that rose at Karin's words, she considered working with her as selling her soul.

-o-

Something flashed across the younger woman's face as she pulled her hands back, and Karin realised how her words had been interpreted. "The Illusive Man, not you," Karin said taking one of Miranda's hands again. "I'm very glad you were brought into our lives. And I can tell you without question that Leni more than feels the same."

Miranda looked away and stayed silent for several moments. "I've always been taught that relationships will make you weak and only bring hurt and failure. Thirty-five years, and it hasn't been disproven yet."

Karin's heart tugged to hear Miranda's words. This detached, cold mask she wore, was her way of protecting herself. "Who taught you that?" Karin asked, tucking a stray hair behind the younger woman's ear.

Without looking up Miranda replied, "My father."

Karin knew from past experiences, that directly attacking an abuser, could trigger a victim to jump to their defence, subsequently shutting down any further discussion. Treading carefully, Karin said, "Well, parents aren't always right, and it's never too late to learn that."

Miranda finally looked up at Karin, her jaw clenching and unclenching, clearly fighting to remain in control.

Not wanting to push her too far too fast, Karin moved the conversation on. "All that storytelling and I still haven't got to my point." A slight smile tugged at the corners of Miranda's lips and Karin gave her hand another squeeze.

"The original point of my exceptionally long story was, that I had thought a relationship would distract and delay me from my career goals. But Greg was right after we got together I found myself even more focused, more certain of myself. No matter how much you love your job, everyone goes through some rough times at work at some point, be it not getting along with a colleague, having an unpleasant commanding officer, or being understaffed and therefore overworked. Whenever my resolve wavered, Greg was there, reassuring me the rough patches would pass. He made me certain I could get through anything, that I would eventually reach my goal, and I did, we both did, step by step, rank by rank. Now, don't get me wrong I'm not saying relationships are all sunshine and roses, it takes a lot of hard work at times, but, if you're right for each other, truly right for each other, it's unquestionably worth it. I never had any desire to be with anyone until meeting Greg, and have never wanted to be with anyone other than him since. He's the one for me. But you have to want it, otherwise, it won't matter how right you are for each other."

Karin studied Miranda as she watched the passing stars out of the huge window, unable to discern the look on her face.

"I don't know what I want. Even if I did, I have no idea what she wants."

"Have you considered asking her?" Karin said, and couldn't help but chuckle at the look of horror that appeared on Miranda's face. "Miri darling, a relationship can only truly work if you have trust, and for there to be trust, there must be communication and honesty. Is it terrifying to put yourself out there? Absolutely. But if it helps, I can tell you with complete certainty, that if you do, she won't leave you out there alone."

Miranda looked up at her, brows knitted together. "You can't know that for sure."

"Twenty-nine years say otherwise," Karin said, unable to stop from smiling. "Listen, I can't tell you what is right for you, all I can tell you is my own experience. Only you can decide where to go from here."

The younger woman stayed silent, her eyes drifting aimlessly around the room and Karin decided this was time she needed to herself.

"Well, I think that's more than enough of my chatter for one night. Goodnight Miranda."

Finally looking up at her, Miranda gave a warm smile. "Thank you, Karin."

-o-

Tali dodge rolled away from the pink cloud that had just leaked from the canister nearest her. "This asari had better be something special, Shepard."

"You think this is bad?" Tali heard the Director say as she slid into cover on her left. "You should have been there when we got the drell."

"EDI counted one hundred and five enemies," Shepard shouted over the gunfire from where she crouched behind stacked crates on Tali's right.

Tali ground her teeth at the Director's dig at her absence on the previous mission. She had originally been selected as one of the three members on Alpha squad, and from what she'd heard, her AI hacking would have had plenty of use given the many mechs there had she had to go and get that bosh'tet of an infection the night before the mission. Shaking off her annoyance, Tali said, "Was one of them a gunship?"

"No, but we did have a krogan bounty hunter and an asari commando unit," the Director replied flatly.

"And don't forget that your squad almost got blown off a rooftop," Tali heard Shepard say with a chuckle.

The Director glared across Tali at Shepard, blindly throwing a biotic pull over the barricade. "Don't try and make out your squad didn't." When a body, clad in yellow armour, came floating over their heads, the Director placed two shots dead centre in its chest, without taking her eyes off Shepard.

Tali couldn't help but be impressed and was glad her helmet hid that fact from the already arrogant Director. Ducking around her cover, Tali unloaded two shotgun rounds into the two Eclipse mercenaries that had been stunned by her drone, Chiktikka.

"Err, no we didn't. We were too busy covering your asses to get blown off a roof."

Tali saw the blaze of annoyance in the Director's eyes as she threw out a Singularity and pushed forward to the next cover.

Human relations had confused Tali from the first moment she joined the SR1. Her own race considered relationships of the romantic kind, a precious thing. Granted, this was largely due to their lack of immune systems, any level of intimacy was a potentially deadly situation, and therefore not something you entered into lightly. But even so, the level of detachment in regards to physical relations that Leni had displayed during their time on the SR1, had shocked Tali. She had assumed that all races treasured relationships of an intimate nature.

Tali had of course not yet experienced such a relationship, considering it was forbidden until after a quarian had successfully completed their pilgrimage and although she completed her own two years ago, there just hadn't been the time for such things. Tali rolled her eyes at the lie she had fed to aunty Raan, she might be able to kid someone else, but she couldn't kid herself. She'd learnt early on during her time on the first Normandy, that turians also had a somewhat relaxed attitude to intimate relationships, but that was exclusive to soldiers needing to blow off steam, as opposed to the human's general frisky attitude. Otherwise, turian traditions were to bond for life.

The first time she met Garrus, he'd made some comment about not trusting a quarian, which Leni had thankfully ignored, and Tali avoided Garrus for the first week or so, writing him off as an ignorant turian, not worth her time.

When Tali had first joined the Cerberus Normandy, she had gotten the feeling that there was a 'thing' between Leni and the Director, which considering the Director's cold demeanour and beauty, wasn't all that surprising. What had surprised her, was how their relationship had seemed to change over time. What had originally come across as Leni's typical emotion-free arrangement, seemed to change into a genuine friendship. The Director's attitude, in particular, had changed considerably: she had shown an increasing level of concern since the night of Leni's first seizure, her frosty demeanour seeming to melt when around the Commander. And as for Leni, the way she acted around the Director and the way she looked at her, was something Tali had never seen from the woman she considered family. But right now, you could slice through the atmosphere with a drone's laser, and she was stuck in the middle of it.

Launching herself up over the crate that had been her cover, Tali caught sight of another of the gas canisters positioned beside a cluster of Eclipse mercenaries. Before her feet had even hit the floor, Tali swung her shotgun up and blasted a single shot at the canister. The mercenaries began to sputter and stumble out from behind their cover, opening them up for perfectly placed headshots by the cloaked Commander.

"Good eye," the Director said as Tali slid into cover beside her.

Frowning in confusion, Tali stared at the Director, who was once again enthralled in combat. Was that a compliment? From the Ice Queen herself? Surely not.

"Errm, thanks." As she spoke, the Director jumped up and sent an Overcharge flying across the battlefield. Tali popped up to assess the field, just in time to see the electricity find its mark, dropping the head asari's second the shield dropped, there was a loud boom, and the asari was sent flying back, a red spot forming on her forehead from Shepard's precision shot.

"Sweep the room, check for survivors and make sure they're disarmed, I don't want any surprises," Shepard commanded as she made her way to the front of the large room.

Looking up, Tali saw the Director had started heading left, so Tali went right, checking every body she came across, staying ever vigilant.

She thought back to the first real mission she had gone on with the SR1 crew. The Commander had been busy with recovering the data they had come for before it was erased and therefore hadn't given the command to sweep the area. It shouldn't have been a problem, because any squad member of Shepard's should have known the drill. But Tali had been so green, having lied to the Commander about her combat experience, just to get on the squad. The memory of the boom of Garrus' rifle shot from the nest he had been strategically covering from, still rang in her ears. The shot that saved her life from the mercenary that had been playing dead. She had expected the Turian to report her stupidity to the Commander, to get the untrustworthy quarian kicked off the ship. Instead, he offered to help her get caught up on the logistics of how the Commander rolled.

Tali smiled at the fond memories of their time together on the SR1. Garrus had become her best friend, and she had thought there could be more there, for the first time in her life, she had wanted more than friendship with someone. But then they lost Shepard, and without her, everything the crew had built together - friendships, relationships, family - all disintegrated, as if it had never been. Instead of supporting each other in their grief, they had allowed it to rip them apart. And now, they were back together, and yet it was nothing like it had been. Garrus was different to that man she had known, broken somehow, and although he was friendly, he refused to let her in like before.

"Alright." Shepard's voice startled Tali from her thoughts and she looked up to locate the other women in the room. When she caught sight of Leni, she saw a flash of concern in her eyes. "You okay?"

Tali gave her a smile and nod of reassurance. "Of course, I was just focusing on the sweep."

Leni's gaze scrutinized her for a few moments longer before she gave a short nod. "Well, we've got what we came for, let's get out of this dive.

-o-

Miranda relaxed back into her desk chair. "Thank you for the help Jacob, working out that last shift rotation was annoying."

"No worries," Jacob said taking a seat opposite her desk, "so how're things?"

Miranda narrowed her eyes at the inflexion he put on the word 'things'. "What things?"

A knowing grin spread across Jacob's face, which only served to deepen Miranda's frown. "Why, things with the Commander of course."

"There is no 'thing' with the Commander. We're friends."

"Mmhmm. Yeah, I call BS. You turn to mush whenever you see her." Miranda opened her mouth to object, but Jacob raised a hand to silence her before she started. "It suits you, stop fighting it. That's what you're doing, isn't it? That's why sometimes you're icy with her, and other times putty in her hands. Just let yourself be happy Miranda, I mean, God knows, you both deserve it."

Miranda sat, silently horrified that Jacob had seen right through her. It seemed she wasn't as good at hiding how she felt about the Commander as she thought she was.

"Well, I should get going, my shift starts in ten. Talk to you later Miranda."

Unable to speak, Miranda simply gave a nod and watched the door slide shut behind him. Dropping her head into her hands Miranda gave a moan of dismay, she was not that girl that became ships gossip by falling for the Captain of the ship. But the problem was, however inexplicable it might seem, however ridiculous a notion it would have been to the old her, the pre-Normandy her, she was falling for Shepard, and she had no idea how to stop it.

Before her talk with Karin, she had thought her only motivations for wanting to stop this thing between them, was for the sake of the mission. But after hearing Karin's story of success, Miranda realised that the effect it might have on the mission wasn't the only reason for her reserve. She now understood that she was equally concerned about the damage it might do to their friendship should it not work out. Yes, because this constant back and forthing is so good for the friendship.

The chirrup of her door almost sent Miranda flying up out of her chair. "EDI, who's at my door?"

"Doctor Chakwas," the AI replied.

A mix of relief and disappointment swirled in her stomach, and she pushed it down and fixed her mask of professionalism in place. "Come in."

"Welcome back," the Doctor said with a smile as she stepped into the room, "I heard everything went smoothly. Two missions in a row? That must be a record for Leni."

Miranda chuckled at Karin's amusing, yet sadly true statement. "I think you might be right." Seeing the datapad in the Doctor's hands Miranda frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"It's about Leni,"

A knot formed in Miranda's stomach at Karin's words, it must be the nanomites, they've stopped working. "What is it?" Miranda said, barely managing to keep her voice steady.

"I need your help, and Leni mustn't find out."

To Be Continued...

Well, I hope you enjoyed the newest chapter and feel it was worth the wait. Chapter 13 is well underway so it won't take nearly as long for the next one. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think and liked and don't forget to check those Favourite and Subscribe boxes! Until next time!