Jack still isn't used to sharing a bed. Like a lot of the things that come along with her new arrangement with Miranda, it takes some getting used to, and so while she's enjoying her visit to the Alliance research base on Luna, right now, it's 4:30 in the morning and she can't get back to sleep.

Miranda isn't having any such problems, and as Jack looks across the pillows at the gorgeous brunette's sleeping contentedly next to her, she smiles to herself. When she first met the woman, Jack had hated her not just because of her Cerberus affiliation but because she seemed to have been given everything that Subject Zero had been denied: money, privilege, conventional beauty.

Now, though, she realizes that that perfect exterior was just that; a façade. Underneath it, Miranda had been almost as broken as she was. It may have happened in classier surroundings, but she had learned the same fucked-up lessons that Jack had: people sucked, the galaxy sucked worse, and there was nothing to do but grab what you could for yourself.

Shepard, girl scout that she is, had taught both of them that there might be another way to live, but knowing that and actually getting there are very different things. Her kids have helped though, and now, with Miranda, she feels like she's getting that new life, no matter how weird it feels.

She's shaken out of her thoughts when over on the night-stand, Miranda's omni-tool starts beeping with an incoming call. Jack leans over, curious who might be calling at this time in the morning. Seeing that it's Shepard, she picks up the device, and without thinking, pushes the button to accept. A hologram of the commander in casual clothes shimmers into existence, and Jack suddenly recalls that she's naked under the sheet.

"Jack." Shepard's expression is somewhere between surprised and amused. "Wasn't expecting you to answer. Either you stole Miranda's omni-tool or things with you two are going well." Shepard seems happy about it and why not? The woman has always been a fucking romantic.

Jack grins and beside her, the woman under discussion stirs. "Jack, who are you… Shepard!" The ex-operative retreats beneath the sheets in a groggy panic before she remembers that Shepard can only see the person holding the omni-tool.

"I'd ask if you two are alone, but it seems pretty obvious that you are. Did I call at a bad time?"

"Nah, the cheerleader here was just sleeping. Tired her out I guess."

"Give me that!" Miranda has hastily pulled on a robe and she yanks the omni-tool away from Jack, who goes to find her shorts and t-shirt, while Miranda turns to speak with the former Specter. "Shepard. I apologize for that spectacle. What can I do for you?"

Her old CO's voice turns serious. "Something big, I'm afraid. I assume you're familiar with the attack on me a couple of weeks back?" Miranda nods. The incident was all over the news for weeks, accompanied by a lot of wild speculation. "Well, Liara has determined that it was the leviathans behind it."

"I see." Miranda is stoic, but Jack's gotten to know her well enough to hear the worry beneath the mask. "I imagine that you will be requiring my help then."

"I'm afraid so, if you're up for it."

"Of course. This needs to be dealt with."

"Glad to hear it. The Normandy can be there to pick you up in a day or so. And Miranda, be discrete making your preparations. The fewer people who know about what you're doing, the safer we'll all be. We don't know the extent of the enemy's intelligence network."

The calls ends and Miranda gives her lover an apologetic kiss. "I'm sorry, Jack, but I think that our visit may have to be cut short."

"The fuck do you mean? It's just got extended. You think I'm gonna let you go help Shepard save the galaxy again without me? It's been ages since I've had a fight like this."

Miranda smiles, clearly pleased enough to overlook Jack having answered her omni-tool. "I did not want to presume."

"Besides," Jack laughs, grabbing Miranda's firm backside, "If you get yourself killed without me, where am I gonna find another ass this nice?"

"Thank you, Aethyta. We really appreciate your looking after Moira while we are gone."

"No problem, kid." Her father cradles the baby in her arms. After Moira was born, it was odd for Liara to see the hoary old bartender playing the grandmother's role, but then she had remembered that Aethyta bore several daughters of her own.

Ashara strides in, carrying several bags which, knowing her bondmate, mostly contain military supplies. "If all goes well, it should be just a few days, but if not…"

"I got the instructions." Aethyta nods, seeming annoyed at the reminder, "But you two will be fine." She looks down at Moira and informs the little asari, "Pretty much every asshole out there has already tried to kill your mom and dad and they're still here."

Shepard finds the matriarch's words oddly comforting, enough so that she doesn't get on her case about swearing in front of the baby. "True enough, I suppose. We'll see you soon then."

"You'd better," she threatens. "You're not back in a week, I'm getting rid of all those model ships and putting in a bar."

A few farewell kisses to their daughter later, and the couple is in their skycar, Liara sitting next to her bondmate as she drives them to the spaceport for the rendezvous with the Normandy. The logistics dictated that this is the ship's last stop before Ondren, and the rest of their team will be waiting for them. Ashley and Tali, along with Joker and Doctor Chakwas are still serving on the ship, and with Javik, Jack, and Miranda all joining them, it's going to be something of a reunion.

"It will be good to see so many people again," Liara offers, trying to find a upside to their situation. "Even if it did take another attack by ancient evils to accomplish it."

"Hey," Ashara rubs her wife's shoulder affectionately, "If it weren't for attacks by ancient evils, we might never have met."

Liara can't help but smile at that. They truly have one of the odder "how we met" stories of any couple she has ever encountered, and it certainly allowed her lover to make quite a first impression on her. "It is only a shame you never had the chance to thank Saren for his help in bringing us together."

Shepard shakes her head in amusement, and then adds, more pensively, "Even back then, working with the leviathans never sat well with me. We didn't have much of a choice at the time, but I still wasn't comfortable it."

"I remember that. And I cannot blame you. I have never found an ally more unsettling, not even the Rachni."

"And what they did… They created the Catalyst. They were the ones who started all of the horror that the galaxy went through." Shepard sounds tired, in a way that Liara hasn't heard in a long time. "I'd hoped that they'd learned. That the price they'd paid was enough to change them, but here we are. Maybe there's an explanation for all this, but…" Ashara pauses for a moment, the thoughts clearly hard for her to say allowed. "If I have to, I'll end it."

The information broker's heart aches to hear her bondmate talk this way. When Shepard took the job heading the academy, she had assured Liara that it wasn't combat flashbacks that haunted her dreams, and it wasn't. This was what had been hardest for her; having to make the no-win calls, knowing that whatever she decided, people would die. Ashara's been so much happier recently, love and the galaxy's recovery easing her pain, and Liara hates that her wife has to do this again. As best she can, the asari tries to reassure her. "I know that you will do what is right. There is no one who's judgment I trust more."

Shepard manages a smile, but the vulnerability that no one but Liara gets to see is showing. "I appreciate it. It didn't… it didn't turn out so badly, what I decided last time, did it? Destroying the Reapers."

"No," Liara agrees. They have kept the details of that final choice to themselves. What happened cannot be undone, and inviting endless speculation about unknowable alternatives doesn't seem wise, but Liara is confidant that Ashara did the right thing. "It really did not. You saved us. You gave us peace."

Ashara releases a deep sigh. "And I won't let anyone ruin that. Whatever it takes."

Ashley is there to greet them at the spaceport, her old comrade smiling broadly at the sight of Shepard and her bondmate walking across the dock. "Skip! Liara! Good to see you two again. It's been way too long."

Shepard sets her bags down and throws her arms around the brunette Specter, hugging her warmly. "Hey, I thought I told you that you're the skipper now."

"No way." Ashley is still smiling, but her message is clear. "If the Normandy is going into battle with Commander Shepard on board, she's in charge. No arguments. I can manage the crew, but you're in command of the mission."

Shepard shrugs. "All right, if you insist. Is Javik here yet?"

"Yeah. He brought an asari with him too, name of Elphi. She said she works with you."

Hmm, that's interesting. Shepard hadn't asked Elphi to come, thinking that the mission to Illium was imposition enough. "Yeah. She's one of my instructors."

"That works. Everyone else is here too, along with Miranda's package. And Jack? Tali had mentioned something was going on with them, but it's still kinda hard for me to believe they're dating."

Liara shrugs. "It is hard for all of us to believe." It's been a weird concept for her bondmate to wrap her head around; Liara isn't really familiar with relationships that start on the basis of mutual dislike. "But it seems that they are happy."

"Well, as long as they don't put any holes in the hull, I'm good with it. Joker told me you had to stop them from killing each other back in the old days."

"Maybe it was just the sexual tension all along," Ashara says with a laugh. "We ready to go?"

"All set, skip. Now let's find these damn squids and make them wish they'd never crawled out of their ocean."