AN: Damn, I was really hoping to get this out within a couple of weeks, but the last month has been pretty busy. Hope you folks don't mind the wait :)

Present. Daleon.

Despite their predatorial origins, turians were not nearly as aggressive as krogan. A lifetime of compulsory military service and a culture built around the concept of discipline ensured that most of them had enough control to keep a tight reign on their instincts when the situation called for it.

This was something Garrus Vakarian was actually grateful for. The last thing he needed to do was instinctively injure or main the person currently pointing a weapon at him.

"Lawson," he began neutrally, doing his best to keep his voice level. "What are you doing here?"

"Vakarian." There was a slight tremor in her voice that he had never heard before. "You've gone too far!"

Garrus slowly raised his arms in the air, fully aware that this wasn't the usual Miranda Lawson he was dealing with. There was something different about her. She almost seemed. . . agitated. Her vitals were off the charts, a far cry from the cool and calm demeanor she usually displayed. "I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. . ."

"Shut it!" she snarled, advancing upon him. "You don't get to talk yourself out of this, turian! Not this time!"

Garrus slowly backed away. "Lawson," he began, speaking in the same low, calm tone of voice that he had used so many times during his C-Sec days. "I swear, I have no idea what you're talking about. If you'll just put down the gun. . ."

"And let you walk away? Oh no, I don't bloody well think so!" She paused a beat. "You're going to pay for putting my sister in danger!"

"What!?" Garrus' mind started running a mile a minute. "Lawson, what're you. . ."

"Still trying to play the fool, turian?" Miranda's glare became, if possible, even more venomous. "Or did you really think I wouldn't be able to figure it out? Did you really expect me to believe that my father just happened to find out about Oriana after I've kept her hidden for close to twenty years!?"

"Lawson, listen to me!" Garrus said urgently. "I had nothing to do with. . ."

"I said, shut it!"

"Lawson, I'm telling you. I wasn't the one who. . ."

Garrus moved like lightning, his left arm shooting out to knock her pistol aside. Unfortunately for him, Miranda was faster.

And a biotic to boot.

Her left cross caught him squarely across his face. Normally, a blow like that wouldn't have done more than make him stumble, but the biotic energy wrapped around her fist increased the impact several times over, sending him flying into the nearby sofa.

Garrus groaned as he tried to scramble up from the floor, stars blinking before his eyes. "Lawson, wait! Think about what you're doing. . ."

"I already have," Miranda said, casually throwing aside the furniture in her way as she stalked towards him.

"If you kill me," he panted. "Shepard will never work with Cerberus ever again. She'll. . ."

"Shepard will never abandon the mission," Miranda said firmly. "After everything she's seen on Horizon, she's never going to leave the colonists to their fate. She'll finish this mission without me if she has to. Unfortunately for you, Vakarian," she narrowed her eyes as a wave of her omni-tool caused the apartment doors to shut firmly behind her.

"You're not going to be around to see it."

While the battle raged on the other side of the colony, Commander Jane Shepard was doing what she does best.

Sleeping after an extended session of Galaxy of Fantasy Online.

She lay sprawled across her queen-sized bed, limbs stuck out at an awkward angle. However, for once she wasn't snoring loud enough to awaken a hibernating thresher maw.

This was because tonight, Shepard's sleep was haunted by nightmares.

She hung desperately from the rafters, trying her best to hold on with only one hand. Her other arm ended in a stump which she cradled to her torso.

And above her stood the Illusive Man, his cold face lit by an eerie red glow.

"There is no escape," he said quietly. "Don't make me destroy you."

She slowly backed away.

"Shepard, you do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to realize your power." His blue cybernetic eyes glowed even brighter. "Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy. Come to the dark side, Shepard!"

"I'll never join you!" Shepard snarled in anger.

"But we have cake," he insisted.

Tears welled up in her eyes. "I love cake!" Shepard screamed. "But I'll never join you, you monster!"

"Ah, but you must. For you see, Shepard," the Illusive Man's evil smirk widened. "I am your father!"

"No," she gasped. "That's. . . that's not true."

"I'm afraid it is, honey." Hannah Shepard materialized out of nowhere.

"Mom!?"

She gave her daughter a wan smile. "What can I say, I've always had a thing for bad boys."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The dream changed.

She was sitting alone in her cabin on the SR2, overlooking a window on the side. Her own reflection looked back at her as the stars streaked past, slowly becoming clearer as she continued to watch. The slight red tinge in her normally green eyes began to glow brighter, cracks appeared along the side of her face like molten lines of lava on the ground, and an all-encompassing hatred like she had never felt before. . .

"GAAHHHH. . . OW!"

Shepard groaned as she finally returned to the land of the living, her head resting against the floor while her body still lay on the bed. "Ow. My face," she moaned softly as she finally slid off the covers and slowly sat up on the floor.

"What in the name of holy vorchas in heat was that all about?" she mumbled, before grimacing at the image her words conjured.

Shepard gave a huge yawn and got to her feet, scratching her behind. Curse Joker and his stupid cocktail recommendations! Oh, try the Bina, Commander. It's a volus specialty. The next time they lost a ship, she was going to abandon his crippled ass and grab the first safety pod she could find! See how he liked it. . .

She gave another huge yawn and scratched some more. "Hey EDI. Where the hell is everybody?"

As the ships' resident AI, the Enhanced Defense Intelligence, or EDI as she had come to identify herself, saw and heard everything. The Normandy SR2 was her vessel, her body. . . and nothing that happened aboard it escaped her observation.

It was fortunate perhaps that there were so many things for her to observe.

Though incapable of feeling human emotions, EDI did occasionally experience a sensation of something akin to fascination whenever she observed the organics aboard the Normandy. She watched as the usually gruff mercenary in the lowest level spent his free time tinkering with an old assault rifle, she observed the light-hearted banter between the engineering duo, she noticed the extranet search history of the young krogan in the cargo hold and his fascination with action figures, she was exasperated and even slightly amused by Jeff Moreau's attempts at inserting phallic adjectives into his daily reports, the diligence with which Chief Medical Officer Chakwas maintained her medical records, the way Gunnery Officer Vakarian hummed slightly when he worked on his calibrations, all the trips Commander Shepard took over the ship to chat with crewmembers. . .

It therefore came as no big surprise to EDI when she realized that, in her own way, she had come to grow attached to the Normandy crew. This was rather unusual because, while caring for the crew's physical health and safety had been hard-coded into her, this level of commitment and, dare she admit it, concern for their safety was not something she should be capable of experiencing, especially due to the blocks in her programming.

It made what she was about to do so much harder.

Twenty-five minutes and fifteen seconds ago, Operative Lawson had received an email that caused her stress levels to become extremely high. After spending the next seven minutes pacing up and down her office, she had demanded to know the location of Gunnery Officer Vakarian.

When informed that he wasn't on the ship, XO Lawson had used a tracking device placed in his rifle (which EDI had been expressly forbidden to mention to both Commander Shepard and Officer Vakarian) to triangulate his approximate position. She then holstered her weapons and walked away, leaving behind orders to not disclose her destination to anyone, including the Commander.

This left EDI in a bit of a quandary. On one hand, she was under no illusions of what Operative Lawson intended to do (she had run thirty different simulations, none of which ended well for Officer Vakarian); on the other hand, she could not go against her programming and warn Commander Shepard of the imminent danger to her subordinate.

She could, however, try a more indirect approach.

"I cannot give you Officer Vakarian or Operative Lawson's present location, Commander," EDI answered. "However, I can tell you that Operative Lawson departed the Normandy about twenty six minutes ago. She was armed."

"Really?" Shepard was mildly surprised. "Where was she going?"

If EDI had a body, she would have smirked. While her programming prevented her from giving the Commander an exact location, she could still give her an approximate one. "By my knowledge, she was headed towards an apartment complex near the 5th district."

She paused a beat. "It should interest you that Officer Vakarian was headed in the same direction fifty eight minutes ago."

Shepard furrowed her brow in thought as EDI waited for her to come to the correct conclusion.

"Huh. Wonder what they're up to." She gave another huge yawn.

EDI suppressed the quantum equivalent of a sigh. Of course, the Commander hadn't had her daily dose of caffeine. Perhaps a little more data was in order.

"It might also interest you to know that their approximate positions are rather close to each other."

"What? How do you know that!?"

"I am remotely monitoring their vitals via their omni-tools," EDI explained. "It tells me their location."

"Nice," Shepard nodded. "What else does it tell you?"

This was the moment she'd been waiting for. No matter the blocks on her programming, EDI could not disobey a direct request from the Commander herself, even if it was phrased as an indirect question.

"It also tells me that their vitals are extremely erratic."

Shepard paused in the middle of sipping some water. "What's that supposed it mean?"

"The general implication would that they are involved in some kind of heavy physical activity, Commander."

The glass water fell to the floor with a crash. "WHAT!?"

Shepard's own vitals suddenly seemed to go haywire. Her face flushed red and her blood pressure shot up. "But-but. . . I thought he wasn't interested in humans. And he doesn't even like Miranda!" She clutched her head in despair. "And the extranet said turians were into waists, not boobs! Is Miranda's waist better than mine? No way, of course they're not! Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod . . ."

If EDI had a physical body, she'd probably be banging her head against the wall by now. Seriously, why were organics prone to jumping to such incredibly irrational conclusions? She desperately rooted around for another way to convey her message.

A fleeting report on the extranet caught her attention. "Commander Shepard. It seems that there are reports of gun-fire and explosions coming from Officers Lawson and Vakarian's vicinity. The authorities are on their way."

Thankfully, Shepard understood this time. In the time it would've taken for a normal human to piece everything together, Shepard was already throwing on her clothes. "EDI!" she barked. "Tell Zaeed to meet me near the shuttle. We're leaving in thirty seconds!"

"Understood, Shepard," EDI answered.

"And EDI," she paused at the door. "I owe you one big time, girl."

If she had a body, EDI would have smiled. Nevertheless, in that moment her orb did grow a bit brighter than usual.

Garrus ducked as the coffee table sailed past where his head had been mere moments ago. "Lawson! You need to listen to me. . ."

But Miranda was relentless. "Just shut up and stand still!" she snarled, her biotics lighting up again.

"Well, you're not giving me much incentive, are you?" He dodged another piece of furniture. "Spirits, Lawson! Would you just. . ?"

Garrus was cut-off again as a barrage of gunfire from her SMG forced him to take cover behind a pillar. Trying his best to hide his bulky frame beneath the meager cover, he cursed himself for not having brought his assault rifle along. The only weapon he had was his incisor sniper rifle, which was much too deadly to wield in such close quarters. While Miranda's suit was capable of handling minor damage, the impact of a weapon as powerful as the incisor would surely kill her.

Of course, at the rate at which she's going, it might just end up coming to that. . .

While it was true that he mostly regarded Miranda as a friend (or at the very least a reliable ally), the fact remained that Garrus' sense of self-preservation was much too strong for him to get killed so easily, especially over a misunderstanding. He had no idea where she'd gotten it into her head that he had anything to do with endangering her sister's life, but he'd be damned if he let her

There was just too much riding on his life. The Reapers, the galaxy, Shepard. . . there was no way in hell that he was going to get himself killed after everything he'd gone through. After the incredible second chance he'd been given. . .

Garrus' mandibles tightened in grim determination. There was only one way to get out of here in one piece, and that was through Miranda Lawson. The challenge would be to do so without killing her.

He activated his Tactical Cloak and leaped out of cover. A powerful biotic Miranda may be, but no human could possibly hope to beat a turian in hand to hand combat, especially if they couldn't see them coming.

Unfortunately for him, Miranda Lawson was no ordinary human. Even as he swiftly moved towards her, her genetically-enhanced hearing picked up the sound of his rapid approach and she raised her omni-tool. Garrus suddenly felt a shudder cross his entire body, as though he'd just been hit by an overload, and before he could do more than blink his cloak crackled and disappeared.

The brunette sneered at him. "Did you really think I wouldn't anticipate that bloody cloak of yours!?"

She threw another piece of furniture at him, which he barely dodged. "I've been preparing a counter measure for it since the day I saw you use it for the first time," she said, firing off another salvo with her heavy pistol. "That overload was specifically designed to counter Tactical Cloaks. You won't be using it again for a while."

Garrus dropped and rolled, barely avoiding the newest barrage of gunfire. "Spirits damn you, Lawson!" he snarled before jumping to his feet. "I'm not your enemy!"

Mentally however, he was maintaining a count of the number of rounds she was firing at him. He knew that the M-6 Predator she was using carried no more than 12 rounds, and she had already fired eight of them.

Four more to go before she reloads. . . assuming my armor can handle it. . .

Miranda's eyes narrowed in rage as she fired again. "You sold out my sister. . ."

Three. . .

"You set my father upon her. . ."

Two. . .

"You put an innocent child's life in danger. . ."

One. . .

"Just to get back at me!"

Now. . .

With a roar of rage, Garrus pulled out a talon and darted towards her. His armor still smoking from the impact of the heavy pistol rounds, he used all his remaining strength to move forward with surprising speed, his serrated twelve-inch blade raking through the air.

But he wasn't fast enough.

Dropping her pistol, Miranda nimbly stepped forward into his wide reach and grabbed his arm. Then, in a move he would never have believed was even possible, she jumped into air and hooked her legs around his neck, using his own momentum and her grip on his arm to spin him around before sending him crashing to the floor.

Garrus groaned in pain. He had never been more grateful to have been born a turian than at this moment. That move Miranda had just performed on him would have snapped his neck had he been of any other species. Hell, as it was, the way she'd twisted his arm had nearly ripped his arm out of its socket, causing him to drop the talon.

Still, there was no time to think. The human woman was already getting to her feet. But before he could do more than climb to his knees, he was struck by another powerful biotic blow that sent him flying across the room. With a bone-shuddering crash, he hit the nearby wall and slumped down.

Breathing hard, Miranda slotted another thermal clip into her Predator, kicked aside his fallen dagger and slowly approached him. "Get up, Vakarian," she spat. "You're not dying until you tell me why you did this."

She booted his still form. "What did my father offer the Broker in exchange for Oriana's location? Who else knows she's on Ilium? Talk, damn you. . ."

Garrus' foot shot out suddenly in a sweeping arc, hitting her at the knee. Miranda stumbled and nearly lost her footing, but then regained her balance at the last minute by performing an elaborate somersault and landing on her knees. However, her momentary loss of concentration meant that she didn't notice when Garrus had gotten to his feet and was uncollapsing his sniper rifle.

"Vakarian, what are you. . . ?"

Her eyes widened in shock. Instead of firing at her using the sniper rifle, the wily turian reversed it in his hand and swung the weapon at her like a club. Miranda barely had time to throw up a hand to shield her head as the butt of the rifle struck her hard in the side. She grunted in pain as she hit the ground hard, losing her grip on her weapon.

The turian was upon her in a second. "Listen to me," he growled. "For the last time: I did not sell your sister out to your father!"

"Liar!"

They continued to wrestle on the ground, Miranda attempting and failing to put the much stronger alien in a choke-hold. She gave up and began to gather her biotics again, priming herself for a powerful throw that would surely have sent him flying out of the apartment when. . .

"Alright, vorcha-humpers! Put your guns down and hands in the air!"

. . . Commander Shepard came bursting into the room with a pistol drawn.

She paused and blinked at her two crewman wrestling on the floor. "What. . . what's going on here. . ." she asked faintly.

Garrus blinked in surprise as well, before registering how bad his current situation would appear to a bystander. The entire apartment was wrecked and he was currently straddling Miranda on the floor. To make matters worse, one of her sleeves had been badly torn by his talons, making everything look all the worse for him.

Hell, if he'd still been a cop, he'd probably have to arrest himself.

Garrus slowly raised his arms in surrender. "Shepard, I want you to know this isn't what it looks like. . ."

Miranda took that opportunity to head-butt him. Hard.

She then jumped to her feet as the turian rolled on the ground, clutching his nose in agony, and looked wildly for her pistol.

"Whoa, hey! Miranda. . ." Shepard began.

"Get out of the way!" the brunette snarled.

"Get a hold of yourself. . ."

"I said, get out of my way, Commander!"

Shepard narrowed her eyes. "If you think I'm gonna stand back and let you hurt one of my people, Miranda, then you don't know me at all," she said quietly.

Miranda's biotics lit up threateningly. "Very dramatic. But even you couldn't beat me unarmed, Commander," she sneered.

Shepard smirked. "Who said anything about unarmed?"

At that moment a bright targeting laser came to rest on the Cerberus Operative's forehead. She narrowed her eyes and glared at the opposite building, where the unmistakable yellow armor of a single mercenary was clearly visible. "Massani," she ground out distastefully. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Stand down, Miranda," Shepard ordered her. "I won't ask again." There was the barest hint of a plea in her voice.

It was a tense moment. An eternity seemed to pass as the two strong-willed women stood their ground and glared at each other. Eventually, the Cerberus Operative backed down.

"I've done nothing wrong. I've every right to attack this. . . this man," she muttered, casting a hateful look at the turian. "Trust me, Shepard. You'd do the same if you were in my place."

The Commander shook her head. "Listen to yourself, Miranda: this isn't like you at all. Please. . . tell me what's wrong."

Still Miranda hesitated, before glancing in Zaeed's direction. Taking the hint, Shepard ordered him to stand down and switched off her comms.

"There. It's just us now. Talk to me."

Miranda took a deep breath. "You remember what I told you about my father?" she asked, sounding like her usual self for the first time that day. "About his obsession with building a dynasty?"

"Yeah."

"There was another reason I went to Cerberus for protection: I have a twin sister."

"You mean, you made a deal with them?"

Miranda nodded. "Precisely. The deal was that I would join Cerberus. In return, they would set her up with a foster family who would raise her like any other child—well, any exceptionally gifted child—and keep Father's operatives away."

She sighed, appearing more tired than Shepard remembered seeing her. "For years I've done everything in my power to ensure she remains safe. Happy with her family, away from my father's clutches. But now he's found her." Her eyes narrowed. "And it's all Vakarian's fault!"

"For the last time," Garrus growled, rubbing his bruised snout in consternation. "I did not sell your sister out to your father! And I know the Broker didn't do it either!"

"What makes you so sure that Garrus is responsible anyways?" Shepard asked curiously.

"Who else, apart from the Shadow Broker, has the means? Or the motive?" Miranda challenged. "Not to mention he's threatened my sister before!"

"WHAT!?" Shepard rounded on the turian. "What's she talking about?"

Garrus had the grace to look ashamed. "We. . . ah. . . might have. . . ahm. . . blackmailed Miranda a little before you woke up. . ."

"You threatened to put a child's life in danger over me!?" Shepard asked disbelievingly. "Garrus, what's wrong with you?"

"Shepard, she was going to put a control chip in your brain," Garrus argued. "We did what we could to protect you. . ."

"That doesn't matter!" the Commander snapped. "We don't endanger children, Garrus! That's not how we work!"

"Look, I'm sorry. . . I know I went overboard back then. But you have to believe me this time." He turned beseeching eyes upon the Cerberus Operative. "I didn't do it! I don't know how your father found about your sister, but it wasn't from me or the Broker!"

Miranda gave him a cold stare. "Give me one reason," she said. "Give me one bloody reason why I should believe a word you say!"

"Because Liara wouldn't let him."

Both of them turned to blink at Shepard in surprise. Garrus couldn't help but feel nervous at the determined look on her face. "Shepard. . ." he began warningly.

"Don't, Garrus. . . just don't. This whole mess started because of all these secrets we've been keeping from each other. And now. . . thanks to us, a child's life is in danger." She sighed. "It's time to come clean."

"What does Liara T'Soni have anything to do with this?" Miranda frowned. "I understand she's got a rivalry against the Shadow Broker but. . ."

"Liara isn't a rival of the Shadow Broker, Miranda. She is the Shadow Broker."

The other woman looked at Shepard as though she were mad, and then comprehension dawned on her face. "Of course," she breathed after a few moments. "That explains everything. That's why you agreed to work with the Broker so easily, and why Vakarian's the Broker's right-hand man." She shot Garrus a calculating look. "I assume the whole rivalry with Broker is just another façade you've created to throw Cerberus off the scent."

The turian merely sighed in resignation and nodded.

"But how on earth did the two of you manage to overthrow the Shadow Broker!?" she demanded.

"That's not important right now," Shepard said. "Miranda, look: you know Liara. You've met her before. Does she strike you like the kind of person who'd sell out an innocent child to a man like your father for any reason?"

Miranda seemed to contemplate this for a few minutes. "No," she finally admitted. "Liara T'Soni would never do such a thing. She has too much integrity to resort to such measures." She threw the turian a dirty look. "Which is more than I can say for some people."

"Hey!" Garrus protested.

The Cerberus Operative ignored him. "That still doesn't change the fact that Oriana's in danger. Shepard, I know this is too much to ask. . ."

"I'm already on it." The Commander fired up her omni-tool. "Joker, we're moving out in twenty! Send out an alert to the rest of the crew! I want everyone back on the ship ASAP! Anyone who's late gets left behind!"

"Awww, c'mon Commander! Do we really gotta leave so soon? I mean, they've got this group of crazy volus dancers in the club."

"Joker. . ."

"I'm serious, Commander. You should totally come down here and check out their moves. Hell, you might even learn a thing or two. . ."

"That's enough lip from you, mister!" Shepard yelled. "Get the shop prepped for launch! On the double!" And she disconnected before Joker could get another jab in at her dancing prowess.

"We'll help you keep your sister safe, Miranda," the Commander said confidently. "Don't worry."

Miranda hesitated. "Shepard," she said slowly. "I appreciate what you're doing, but I can handle this on my own. . ."

"Don't be daft. You have no idea what's waiting for you out there. If you think I'm going to let you face this on your own. . ."

"But the mission. . ."

"Remind me where your sister is again?" Shepard interrupted.

"On Ilium. But. . ."

"Well, that solves our problem pretty nicely, doesn't it? We've got a couple of recruits at that place, so the mission won't be delayed after all."

The brunette still didn't seem convinced. "Are you sure about this?"

"Miranda," Shepard said gently. "You're part of my crew. You should know by now that there's nothing I wouldn't do for them." She put a hand on the other woman's shoulder. "Relax. We've got your back on this one."

Miranda relaxed visibly. "Thank you, Commander. You have no idea how much this means to me. Also. . . I understand this may be unorthodox. . . but I would appreciate it if we didn't bring the rest of the crew in on it."

"You sure?"

"I am. The fewer people who know about Oriana, the better."

"Alright. We'll run this thing however you want to. It'll be just you and me. And Garrus, of course."

"What?" Garrus blinked.

"Don't give me that look, buster. You're partly at fault here too," Shepard said firmly. "You can make it up to Miranda by helping her save her sister's life."

"Fine by me," he shrugged. "But is Lawson here willing to trust me with this mission?"

"I wouldn't trust you if you told me that stars were made of hydrogen," Miranda said savagely. "If you're going to come along, I need to speak to Liara T'Soni and confirm your story."

"Well, looks like that's decided then," Shepard cut off the turian's indignant protests. "Now let's get back to the ship and head out to Ilium!"

Suddenly, a group of short, pudgy volus barged into the room with their weapons drawn. "Daelon PD!" one of them wheezed. "Drop your weapons. . .pssh. . . and get down on the floor. . . pssh. . . you dirtbags!"

Shepard sighed. "After we deal with the cops."

AN: Throughout the whole of ME2, we keep hearing about Miranda is some kind of a genetically-enhanced badass. But we never actually get to see that side of her. It's part of the reason why I did this chapter.

Another reason is that I don't like the idea of Miranda switching over to Shepard's side too suddenly. Her change of heart is going to be slow and gradual, with both sides learning to trust each other at an equal pace.

Next up: Shepard and gang go off to cause a little mayhem in Ilium. Okay. . . maybe more than a little. The jewel of the Asari Republic doesn't know what's about to hit it.

Stay tuned to find out :)