An: I apologize for updating this story so late in the day, but I didn't wake up until around 6, and I still have to revise this chapter. XD Yay for screwed up sleep schedules. Now enjoy!

Leaning her elbows onto the desk in her office, her gloved hands ran over her face and she sighed in an attempt to relieve the tension in her shoulders. She glanced to the side, her eyes falling on her small cot, and she huffed when she knew there wasn't time for her to sleep. She had been awake for two days straight anyway preparing for Shepard's arrival, and she knew the second he was rolled into the Lazarus Station, her and her scientists would have to start moving.

It had been weeks since the Illusive Man warned her about the strange ship inhabiting the same system Shepard was passing through, and she sighed as she silently thought that his worries were well placed. After Cerberus had been made aware of the ship, the Normandy SR-1 flew in range and sustained a major attack. The ship was entirely split in half, most of the crew was killed, and Shepard risked his life to save the life of his pilot. He had been propelled into space, and though he remained intact from the attack, his oxygen lines and carbon dioxide scrubbers had failed; leaving him to suffocate. On top of that, his dead body had the pleasure of reentering the atmosphere of an icy planet named Alchera.

She grimaced as she imagined the body that would be brought to her, his skin burned and black, his limbs distorted and broken, and his entire body frozen in one position. It would be hell laying him out straight, and it would be even worse getting over the scent of fresh decomposition that would flood her labs from his body thawing out. No doubt some of her scientists would end up squeamish, and the smell of vomit would mingle with Shepard's odor.

"Operative Lawson," the voice echoing through her office snapped her out of her reverie, and she looked up at the speaker from which the sound came. "Liara T'Soni has arrived."

"Does she have him?" Miranda asked, massaging her neck in preparation.

"Yes. She and a drell by the name of Feron have secured Commander Shepard's body. He is being wheeled in now."

"Good," she sighed, standing from her seat and heading for the door. "Tell the techs to place him in the cooler until I'm done talking with Dr. T'Soni. I don't want his body thawing just yet."

"Yes, Miss Lawson," the voice responded, giving her the final permission to leave her office and make her way down the silvery halls embellished with the Cerberus logo that every station had. Through the windows, she could see scientists speaking in hushed tones, arranging tools, and looking both excited and grim. They were just as strung out as she was awaiting the Commander, and she knew that most of them didn't think it was possible to bring the dead back to life.

Walking through the doors that led to the part of the station that held the few shuttles that might be needed to escape, she caught sight of the asari doctor and her drell friend. Mechs neared, and walked with the two techs that were wheeling a gurney covered in an insulated cover designed to keep Shepard's body in the state that it was found on Alchera. Letting them pass, they ran for the main lab, and she turned back to see the asari and drell standing side by side, both with apprehensive features.

"Operative Lawson," it was Liara who spoke first, the usually quiet and shy asari clearly hardened by the death of her friend. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Likewise," Miranda answered, extending her hand and shaking Liara's. "I wasn't aware that you were going to arrive with guests other than Shepard."

"This is Feron," she introduced. "He is a friend I made while recovering Shepard's body. Apparently, Cerberus isn't the only ones who want to get their hands on him."

Raising an eyebrow quizzically, the Operative settled back into her hip and crossed her arms over her chest. She narrowed her eyes, thinking that possibly the asari was lying to her, but when Liara's face didn't change from it's relatively apathetic appearance, she knew she was telling the truth. Turning her eyes onto Feron, she immediately noticed that the drell felt nervous in the Cerberus station, and she huffed quietly. "Please, inform me who this other person is. I have to ensure that this station is protected, and that my work will commence without interruption. One slip up could cost Shepard his life for good."

"The Shadow Broker," Feron answered, his green hands twitching nervously at his side. "I...I was sent by the Shadow Broker to commandeer Shepard's body. He didn't tell me what for, but you never ask The Shadow Broker for his motives. I ran into Liara on Alchera, and she explained that Cerberus had plans to bring him back to life. I...I know what it will cost me to defy his orders, but, I know he won't do any good for the Commander."

"That is very brave of you," Miranda told the drell. "And I'm glad you aren't as blind as some might have been. I appreciate you telling me this. I will ask the Illusive Man for a tighter encryption on all of our digital files, as well as a stronger security force here. As long as I'm the head of this cell, nothing will go wrong."

"I'm trusting you, Miranda," Liara said, her voice hardening and her eyes blazing as she took a single step forward. "I don't trust Cerberus and I never will, but I'm placing my trust in you. I don't expect you to keep me informed. If information about this cell got out it could be detrimental, but you better not fail. You better bring him back to me...to us."

Feeling a sense of respect for the asari, she tilted her head and could see underlying feelings for the Commander that either weren't acted upon, or never discussed. Straightening her posture, Miranda looked at Liara and nodded her head once. "I have unlimited resources at my disposal and a team of the most intelligent scientists this galaxy can offer. Soon, I will have the force of an army guarding this station. I understand the gravity of this situation and I know what the prices will be if I fail. So therefore, I won't. It will take time, but I won't fail."

"Good," the asari responded, glancing over to Feron who gently settled his hand on her shoulder. "With that we will leave. You need to get to work as soon as possible, I'm sure."

"Yes, I do. Thank you, for bringing him here, and I hope you two will remain safe wherever you end up going."

"Thank you," Feron piped up, directing Liara towards the shuttle that was waiting for them. "Good luck, Operative Lawson."

"I don't need luck," she muttered under her breath as she waited until the two were settled in the shuttle and the doors closed. Turning on her heel, she walked towards the main lab, and sent a quick email to the Illusive Man requesting thicker security and an even stronger encryption for all of their files. She knew the Shadow Broker was a master at hacking and compiling secrets otherwise buried to the world, and she didn't want to take the chance of having a virus uploaded into their systems that would disrupt all forms of life support Shepard was on.

Pushing through the doors of the lab, she looked around and nodded when she counted that all of her scientists were present. One of the techs handed her a lab coat, and she slipped it over her shoulders; tying her hair back to keep it from disrupting her concentration. "Alright," she began, noticing how all of her people's eyes immediately snapped to her face. "We aren't going to start trying to rebuild him immediately. We need to test a few things first and make sure that the cybernetics will properly rebuild every muscle, organ, and tissue perfectly. We can't fuck this up, and I know you all know that."

Her cybernetics official Dr. Pyles, a relatively muscular man with golden hair and shimmering green eyes, looked to her and crossed his arms over his chest. "Miss Lawson, if I may offer my suggestion. We extract as much DNA as possible, from every source of the body, in multiple places, as soon as the body has thawed. We can transfer the cells over to Dr. Savar," he said, motioning to a the salarian who stood at his side. "He can extract the DNA, map it accordingly, and we can start replicating the DNA with help from the cybernetics."

"Yes," she agreed. "That will work to ensure that the cybernetics themselves will work, but we can't create organs and then...install them into his body. Dr. Savar, is their any way you can make a sort of shot, with the essential biological components needed to start DNA replication?"

"In my sleep," the salarian promised, a smile pulling at his lips. "Forcing DNA replication and repair is very easy once I have mapped and transcribed the DNA. The cybernetics will help speed the process and either repair, or dispose of the cells that are damaged."

"What about errors?" Miranda asked. "Naturally, DNA replication can produce errors, and we can't have stray mutations."

"DNA polymerase is the enzyme responsible for matching nucleotides to RNA that creates new DNA. After a new molecule is created, the polymerase checks its work, and will correct any mismatched nucleotides before the replication process is finished. Given, with cybernetics, the chance of genetic mutation is higher since the process is rushed, but that can easily be alleviated with the introduction of more polymerases."

"Good," she said, turning her head to the bald man standing beside her. "Wilson, do you agree with the process."

"I do," the Chief Medical Officer agreed. "Dr. Savar's plan is sound, and I know that he will come through. I, of course, will oversee every experiment both with the cybernetics and DNA replication and repair."

Nodding, Miranda motioned for Wilson to follow her, and they moved towards the freezer. "So our plan is to take Shepard out, let him warm to the point where we will be able to extract DNA, extract as quickly and efficiently as possible, and then move his body into stasis. He can't start decomposing."

"Hopefully he hasn't suffered any sort of frost bite," Savar said. "It will be hard to extract DNA from frost bitten tissue."

"Hard, but not impossible," Miranda reminded him, opening the freezer and pushing Shepard's body into the lab with Wilson's help. Looking to each other, they both bit their tongues and released the insulated cover over his body; the immediate stench of death filling the room.

The many techs that lingered around turned away from the body, and Miranda fought the urge to gag and throw up everything she had eaten that morning. Closing her eyes and breathing deeply, she heard one of the techs run for the bathroom; the sound of retching soon following. Looking to Wilson, he too looked pale, but they both shook it off and carefully lifted Shepard's beaten and battered body off the gurney and onto the lab table.

She sighed as she looked down at the body, her stomach churning and acid rising into the back of her throat. No part of his skin looked like human flesh. It was all charred, burnt, and at some places, hanging from his limbs. Bones could be seen protruding from multiple places on his body, and she closed her eyes when she caught sight of his musculature strung down the length of his arm. Groaning, she directed her attention to his face and sighed when she saw the damage there. No doubt the helmet had fallen off when he had hit Alchera, and his skull was shattered in many places; his face distorted and his bones poking up to make his face look like nothing more than a collage of burnt skin.

"You couldn't even be able to tell who this is," Wilson muttered, reaching out and brushing his gloved finger over the metal of his armor that was embedded into his chest. "The only thing that identifies him is the N7 armor, and the fact that the Normandy was crashed right beside him."

"There's no time to reminisce, Wilson," Miranda scolded lightly, the hardness of her voice gone due to her nausea. "We need to start extracting DNA as quickly as possible."

Glancing over at her, he frowned, and immediately pulled his hand back. Clearing his throat he looked up to the scientists and techs standing around. Their eyes were glued to the body, and everyone, even the salarian looked green. "You heard her," Wilson snapped. "Stop standing around like a bunch of dazed idiots, we need to get to work."

A handful of days passed before she finally got confirmation from the Illusive Man that he would agree to thicker security and assured that the team would arrive later that day. Most of her time had been spent hovering over Shepard's body; overseeing all DNA extractions that occurred between his time in stasis. She knew she smelled like death, and no matter how many times she almost scrubbed her skin raw, the overwhelming stench would not escape from her nose, or the back of her throat.

She ran her fingers through her hair as she walked through the halls, stress already welling as she constantly thought back on the news from Wilson that the cybernetic tests could take months to ensure they would work. She isn't a woman who can just sit around and wait for results, she needed them, and she needed them quickly.

Glancing into the labs she passed, she viewed Pyles and Savar working side by side; bent over microscopes and messing with large technology she had been familiar with since she was a teenager. Being a creation of genetic perfection, she was pushed to snoop through her father's things, and learn about how she was created. She constantly studied the sciences of DNA manipulation, as well as the science of cybernetics; and she knew that if she shadowed the two scientists long enough, she could conduct her own experiments and compare her results with that of Savar and Pyles. It would probably kill her to be doing the work of two specialists, but she was too impatient.

"Operative Lawson," the voice rang in her ear comm, and she sighed softly in thanks.

"Yes?" she answered.

"Your security has just arrived. A man by the name of...Jacob Taylor is here. He wants to speak to you."

Growling, she shook her head and reluctantly pressed her fingers back to her ear to transmit her voice to her security guard. "Show them where to go...I'll meet Jacob in the transport bay."

"Yes, Operative Lawson," the man responded, the line immediately going dead.

Turning on her heel, her footfalls where sharp and she basically marched to the shuttle bay. Her fingers clenched around the omni-pad she held in her hand and her eyes narrowed; her cool exterior rising. Pushing through the doors, she approached the muscular, and newly appointed Operative, with an air of superiority and an icy stare. "Hello, Jacob. Pleasure to see you again."

"Ouch," Jacob muttered, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at the Aussie. "I've just been standing here. Did I do something wrong?"

"Not yet," she retaliated, resting one hand on her hip. "Jacob, I don't have time for idle chatter. I have work to do."

"This isn't idle chatter," he argued, stepping closer to her. "We need to talk about us."

"We don't need to talk about anything except your job on this station," Miranda spat, fighting the overwhelming need to roll her eyes. "I assume since you have been named an Operative you are going to be the head of security on this station. Your job is to keep my scientists and Shepard safe, not stand here and try and recite some sort of romantic poetry that will push me into your arms."

"I don't understand you," Jacob growled, his own anger flaring. "What the hell happened? Everything was so nice and happy back on the Jade. We spent days in paradise, then you get one call from the Illusive Man and you turn into this...this cold bitch."

Laughing darkly, Miranda's hand clenched as her biotics started to flare. "I would be careful how you speak to your superiors."

"I'm not speaking to you as a superior, I'm speaking to you as your lover," he responded, backing down only slightly. "Was everything I imagined just a lie? All the feelings I felt from you, where they really nothing?"

"Jacob, the blunt aspect is that I was ordered to recruit you by any means necessary. You are a man, and seduction was the easiest way. Clearly it worked, as you are here now, and since you are, you will follow my rules. Your cabin is over in A Wing, I want constant reports about the station's security and I want absolutely no fuck ups. Am I understood?"

"Yeah," he growled, stepping away from her. "Perfectly, Operative Lawson."

"Good," she smiled, dismissing him with a wave of her hand. "Now get to work, and try not to waste any more of my time."

With that she turned and walked through the doors, heading for D wing and the comfort of her labs. She huffed and shook her head, clenching the omni-pad in her hand and trying to think of anything other than Jacob's voice echoing in her head. "If you think I'm a cold bitch now, Jacob Taylor," she hissed to herself. "Just wait and see. If anyone fucks with me, Shepard, or this cell, they'll get to see just how much of a bitch I can be."