46: Brace For Impact
Twelve Hours Earlier
"It's time. Are you in position?" A male's voice, aged but distant, was heard in the ear of the pale woman just outside of batarian occupied space on Virmire.
"Yes."
"Good. You notified your companion of his job?"
She turned to her left to see a man, donned in black armor, sitting in the nearby seat. Dressed in the all-too common Alliance BDUs that had become incredibly easy to procure. His blue eyes were looking at the wildlife that occasionally passed by the flying shuttle as it approached a batarian landing zone.
"He's ready."
"Then you may proceed. Inform me when the first stage is in place."
"Understood."
The pale woman looked at the aloof man next to her. She thought about speaking up, saying something, yet remained focuses on the task ahead. Multiple warnings were activated as she flew closer to the fifty meter watchtowers and their spotlights.
"Alliance shuttle, you are entering Batarian territory on unapproved flight paths. We will shoot you down if you do not respond in the next ten seconds."
"You're up," The woman replied to her partner.
It took a second for him to recognize what she was asking, yet he did as he was told. Pressing the button in front of him he cleared his throat. "This is Spectre John Shepard, conducting random Council inspection as per the Virmire Colonization Act, Council order AR01."
"Shepard?!" The batarian handling the call didn't know whether to sound surprised or angered at the name. The warnings continued but slowly diminished as auto lock turrets were switched off while waiting for a response.
"You're doing fine," Lawson's clone spoke. Inside she wondered why she did such a thing. It was a weak gesture, attempting reassurance for a being that was made for one purpose.
Before the N7 clone could respond in thanks the batarian returned to the channel. "You're cleared for landing at Pad 16. Weapons must be holstered and empty, we will check."
"Acknowledged."
The shuttle was escorted by batarian fighters as it made its way into their leased space. Outside the outpost and hastily erected walls was nothing but the lush jungle and small islands synonymous with the planet's geography. The space the batarians controlled, at this location at least, was full of recently demolished land, singed greenery disappearing due to the departing shuttles and smaller spacecraft full of batarian refugees from around the universe looking for a safe place to call home.
One of the surviving batarian cruisers from the war was in dock above the water, another was in low orbit above. Given the clear blue sky for midday it's presence hovered like a dark star. Compared to the spacecrafts of other species batarian cruisers were more capable of operating in planetary atmosphere, often seen as a by-product of their culture's insistence on slave raids and piracy. Lighter than human and turian ships, the vessels traded defense for power and weaponry, using sneak attacks to keep the enemy off guard with the first punch.
As the shuttle complied with the VI assisted landing the two stood up and readied themselves. Each held in their hands discrete one-use injectors, two each, fitted to their BDU belts to look as inconspicuous as possible.
The black haired woman emptied the clip of a Carnifex and handed it to her partner, watching him holster it in the lone spot made for carrying a weapon in standard Alliance dress.
"It will be suspicious to not see you with a weapon. Make sure others recognize your face. They will escort us everywhere, it shouldn't be too much of a problem to inject two of them. Be quick and discreet. Do so when gathered around large groups."
"Right." the Shepard clone said in a nervous tone, conflicting with how presentable and skilled he appeared. "We're doing the right thing. I saw everything the batarians did to us. What I did to fight them back at Elysium..."
The woman who bore an identical appearance in looks and manners to Miranda gently placed an hand on his shoulder, feigning empathy. It was what she was taught, after all. "Humanity is in a tough spot now. After all we sacrificed, you sacrificed, we can't give that away. We have to take it from those who helped the Reapers."
"I understand. You...make things a lot more clear." His almost childlike smile generated a response to his female companion she didn't expect. It was...guilt. Still, like her father said before they left Horizon, this was about making sure the galaxy knew how important Henry Lawson was. Not only to humanity, but protecting the galaxy.
"This isn't the first step, my dear, but it certainly isn't the last."
Shepard's clone stepped forward as the shuttle door opened, Miranda's genetic equal standing behind him. She checked her pocket for two more syringes, just as ordered by her father.
"He has a purpose. He gets you in. And when he has done his job you will make sure he gets the peace he deserves. You, Elizabeth, are the truly important person here. After all, you are me."
"My name...is Elizabeth."
"Yes, my dear. You have contributed so much you earned your name. Elizabeth Lawson was my aunt. A shrewd woman, love didn't matter to her, respect did. I see some of that in you."
"...Thank you, father."
"Just remember, I care for you so much. I want you to inject the blue syringe when you have accomplished your mission. It will protect you from all the harm of these monsters you'll create."
"I won't let you down, father."
"No, my dear, you won't. You trust me. And I trust you."
Present Time
Miranda had been up for an hour, yet she remained in bed with Shepard. Her hand, in what seemed to be the two hours of sleep she gathered, somehow found its way into his, neither seeming to consider pulling apart, particularly the one currently awake.
From her head's position on his chest, her eyes watched as his face carried the look of a man simply thinking. True to Shepard's own accusations of her, Miranda watched him as he slept quite often. At first it was a near morbid curiosity
Miranda woke up earlier than she expected. It seemed her sleep in the shuttle was more than enough to keep her ready for the next step in figuring out how to clear her name. There were skeletons in her closet that she knew would always be a problem, but to her it seemed no different than humans and turians putting aside there differences to win the war. These past six months afforded everyone a clean slate. Or at least it was something she believed.
Initially lifting her head off Shepard's chest, she noticed he wasn't waking up as well. Feeling his breath gently reach across her skin, her mind recalled the same sensation months earlier.
Miranda never expected Shepard to arrive so quickly when she sent her message. Reports came in about the Normandy attempting to secure the largest fleet in the universe to help combat the enemy, succeeding in defeating a geth dreadnought no less, or so the ANN reports would have its viewers believe.
She had an ulterior motive to the message and the meeting. Assassination attempts aside, something that she reluctantly admitted had become so common it seemed to be little to no problem, her own network in trying to find Oriana had dryed up in the chaos of refugees and the war, and the use of any kind of chartered or public transportation was becoming impossible to rely on. She needed secure transportation, safe transportation. But, even though Shepard would stop everything to help her, which she couldn't in good conscience accept no matter how flattering to her ego, he did have carte blanche to anything at the Alliance's disposal.
One of her few Citadel safehouses, a location that could immediately be discarded and offered up for housing refugees, was their meeting point. Miranda had other business to attend to on Presidium, resupplying and accessing backchannel feed from her own sources, but it was Shepard's confirmation that he was on his way that stayed with her for hours. She had sent the message almost a day prior, and nearly assumed it would be responded to almost immediately. That it took so long made her cast self doubt about whether this meeting was such a good idea, or whether she was becoming a distraction to the man who had taken the burden of this war upon his shoulder. She could at least ask, and accept the rejection, of the resources she needed much more easily were they not together.
None of what she thought mattered as the door opened in successful unlocking of the triple layer code she programmed, still surprising her that Shepard stepped through. He had arrived so quickly since his reply it seemed superhuman in her shocked state, standing in casual clothes worn in attempt to blend into the crowds. Not even wearing the jacket she had so often borrowed for her own wear.
As they stood there in an embarrassing awkwardness for how intimate they had become, the two looked each other up and down at first glance, wondering if either was injured. When it appeared all was ok the two took a step towards one another. As the door locked shut behind Shepard, they stood awkwardly once more.
When the lock was confirmed with the universal double beep, he then stepped forward again, not stopping until he embraced her, Miranda quickly activating the privacy screens of the apartment before gladly receiving him as hands gripped and felt around the other person in confirmation this was not a QEC communiqué.
Whatever the two had planned to discuss or offer upon seeing one another had disappeared from her mind as the two continued towards the nearby bed, removing clothes as fast as possible while their lips remained locked on one another. It seemed neither had expected this being how they would react yet gave into the building desire after almost two months apart. Nearby chairs were kicked out of the way with force as they attempted to separate the two from their destination.
"I missed you."
"You're safe."
Simply recognizing the other as alive in their previous face-to-face meeting was enough, their gentle embrace in a hidden corner of a bustling dock drawing little attention. This time, after their previous QEC conversation, it was now a need of touch, desire, smell, if only to be with one another for a final time. For all the talk about the galaxy's small victories and the boon of the Krogan to the war, attrition was taking its toll. The Cerberus Coup attempt did much to damage faith in humanity, no matter how evident it was Shepard saved the Council.
The borderline incoherent mutters were said into the others mouth as the two fell to the bed. Similar phrases along with their names were uttered in the following minutes, consummation of their meeting finally creating a lull from the lust the two exuded.
Regaining their breath the two rested their foreheads together as they finally seemed to lock eyes for the first time since they met. Miranda has sensed a finality to Shepard's motions, a feeling that might have only existed in his subconscious, that this might be the last time the two would meet. She had responded equally in kind, creating a rush of emotion that still left their faces flushed with an emotion both had yet to say out loud, though all the signs were there.
Before she could say anything else the words had already left her mouth as she looked at Shepard's relaxed eyes with a wry smile. "Message received."
The suggestive response with added hot breath drew a smirk of his own as he pulled her up with himself as they began their lovemaking once more, gladly ignoring the outside world.
"I will never complain about what we can do together, but I'm sure this wasn't the only reason for our meeting," Shepard said as he poured glasses of water for the two parched partners. Clad only in his boxers he returned from the small kitchen to the open waiting area, sitting down in the nearby couch as Miranda made room for him. Taking a glass she eyed him as she took a sip.
"Perhaps your dehydration has removed your trust, John," she softly spoke as a dribble of water landed on the simple blue shirt she pilfered. It was intentional, a way to make her now secondary reason for the meeting seem like a mere coincidence.
Looking out the blinds he finished his glass. "Trust is a little hard to come by these days."
His words on the surface seemed as though they were aimed at her, but she could see his mind recollecting recent memories.
"I definitely prefer these kinds of meetings, but you are correct, there was something else I wanted to talk to you about."
She could see his eyes shift slightly in sadness that he was, in fact, right about his original assessment of their meeting. Pulling at his boxers slightly to break him from his thought, she tried to reassure him, "I understand the war was built around your preposterous notions of near immortal artificial intelligence," she sarcastically spoke, "but something else is bothering you."
Shepard placed his empty glass on a nearby table as he looked at Miranda, wondering if he should tell her. As her face shifted from teasing to concern with the pregnant pause he moved over to the couch, Miranda making way only to nestle up to him.
"Legion allowed me to transfer my mind into the geth consciousness. I got a more objective view of the Morning War."
Almost immediately Miranda pulled away, trying to better understand what he just said.
"Your mind was...transferred."
"Tali and EDI can confirm this."
"I...I'm speechless."
"You brought a man back to life but can't believe I went into the collective mind of a species? The asari must be walking figments of our imagination. We all see them, Miranda. Some are blue, some are purple. I even know a green one."
Shepard's joke was lost as she put her glass down and straddled the Commander, not for the pleasures they had enjoyed in previous hours but to grasp his head in her hands, lifting his eyes open to see if he had any kind of trauma.
"Miri, Chakwas gave me a clean bill of health."
She ignored him for a second as both eyes were checked, gently rubbing her fingers over his short hair for any bruises or yet discovered abnormalities. "You saw what Archer did to his brother, why would you let Legion go through with such a plan?"
"I was led to believe it was the only way to stop fighter squadrons from attacking Live Ships."
"John, it could have been a ploy to indoctrinate you. If the reapers uploaded a code to control them, it could have been passed to you somehow."
"Why do I feel like I'm the least crazy one here?" Shepard watched as Miranda's omni-tool waved over his body, "If I was indoctrinated I would have had Joker crash the Normandy already."
"Someone indoctrinated, on the verge of reclaiming Rannoch, might ignore that impending battle to fly all the way to the Citadel for nothing more than a cryptic message. Maybe leave the Citadel to go somewhere else into Reaper territory."
Miranda meant those words in a more deductive manner, but felt regret as she saw Shepard's face. He gripped her hand to stop her diagnostic, first in a firm manner, then gently intertwining their fingers.
"Miri, whatever you want to call this, it's not because of indoctrination."
"I didn't mean it that way."
"I kind of think you did."
"Care to elaborate?"
"A back door to end things, to continue being on the run without any guilt or regret. Or emotional entanglement."
It was instance like these that always took Miranda for surprise, always realizing the man she sat on top of was nothing like the marines she had dealt with so many times before.
Miranda exhaled heavily and closed her eyes as she tried to gather her thoughts. "John, it's been hard. Harder than I thought."
"Because it feels like something beyond your control, right?"
Those words, filled with a layer of double meaning, hung in the air as they looked to one another. She caressed his hairline with a gentle brush of her fingers. "I've...invested more in this than I ever thought I would. I don't want this to be for nothing because of your incorrigible nobility." Kissing his lips softly she continued, "Save that bravado for us. Just stay alive."
"No promises."
"It sounds better when I say it."
The two spent a good while looking at one another, seemingly speaking without talking. A stroke of skin here and there, while also attempting to force each other to change the subject before a greater divulgence of emotion spewed forth. Neither wanted that, not yet. "So," Shepard said as gently as he lifted her off of him to refill their glasses, "you had a, let's just call it a 'request,' earlier."
"It can wait."
"I know you. If I don't ask you're going to try and do it on your own."
She hesitated slightly, then got up to meet him in the small kitchen. "I need to use your Spectre status to authorize certain resources."
"You have it."
Miranda expected some kind of pushback. When she received none the glass she took simply hung in her hands. As she watched the man across from her finish the glass, she tried to justify the request.
"There's information about my father coming across my sources. Activity in the Terminus, from all of Cerberus, really. He specifically wouldn't be on the move in this time unless there was something important happening. Or he's found Oriana and her family." She didn't dwell on the last point too long. She still maintained contact with her sister, making sure she stayed ahead of the growing Reaper presence, yet the last scheduled communication was a day ago.
"Miranda, I trust you. More than anyone else. We both want Cerberus gone. I'm pretty sure whatever you might find out you'll forward to myself or Liara," Shepard nonchalantly replied as he looked through cupboards, trying to find food of some kind, "just let me know which alias you're working with in the Alliance so I can clear it."
Sensing his impatience at finding nothing, Miranda gently strode to the compact refrigerator, pulling out two white boxes from the freezer compartment. Imitating a caveman he lifted the boxes in mock confusion and banged the frozen entrees on the table.
"Salisbury steak. Don't laugh!" She warned as she noticed Shepard's growing smile at the notion she would have such a basic meal available, unable to resist smiling herself.
"Even on the run I expected you to have the finer things for a safehouse. Nothing but the best."
"It's a comfort food. Oriana's adopted mother makes it for her all the time, a product of her own time on colonies to stretch protein rations a bit longer. It was something I respected from a distance while making sure she took care of my sister. When I would check in on her, it made me feel closer to her somehow, even looking at her writings or security footage or vidchats."
"Vicarious comfort. I always knew there was more to you than the cold facade."
Shepard continued to stare at her, seeing her blush slightly.
"Abigail Frasier. That's my Alliance alias at the moment. Specialist, formerly assigned to the SSV Bucharest until three months ago. Was stationed in Vancouver when the Reapers attacked." The words rolled off Miranda's tongue, attempting to avoid her own memories and past but instead walking into the difficult situation of using a dead woman as one of her many covers.
Knowing she didn't mean it in such a manner, Shepard moved towards her, placing the two trays in the small oven along the counter.
"Speaking of specialists, we have a new specialist aboard the Normandy. Samantha Traynor. She was assisting in the Normandy retrofits when the Reapers attacked. She works the CIC now. Bright one, definitely quick enough to work with EDI and Joker, if a little too brave for never having seen any real action. Cute accent though."
Miranda's eyebrow rose. "I beg your pardon?"
A long reminiscent sigh came to him as he set the timer for the necessary frozen meal cook time. "She's got this almost melodic accent. British. It makes everything she says seem so much smarter and eloquent."
"Just set the damn timer," Miranda changed her accent to reflect how he spoke of Traynor, "I would find a meal at this time to be quite satisfactory."
Shepard's eyes rose at her perfect accent, causing her own to roll at not only his response but to how easily he seemed to wind her up. "We have about five minutes, your majesty."
"What can we do in that time, I wonder?"
Shepard pulled at his shirt that she wore, bringing the two closer. "I'm pretty sure whatever I have in mind might make the meal cold again."
"It can always be reheated."
"Biotic bed delivery would be awfully nice."
"That...can definitely be arranged."
The two kissed quickly, but Shepard pulled away. His mind was thinking. A smile that seemed to recognize a new option formed. Miranda was slightly upset at the stop to their actions.
"John, what else is there to do?"
"We could play a game of chess. Traynor plays with me some nights. In my cabin."
"You're treading on dangerous ground here."
Shepard pouted as his hands coupled behind Miranda's back, "But I always lose. So I don't get what I want."
"Good."
"She does, however. And I am a man of my word."
Miranda playfully slapped Shepard's cheek twice as she briskly walked away, happy to knock some sense into him, no matter how light the "attack" was. He let her retreat to the only place she could, her eyes encouraging him to return atop her in the bed.
"Trying to maintain control, Miss Lawson?" Shepard stood at the foot of the mattress, arms crossed.
"Trying, but failing." Her smooth legs gently crossed each other as she spoke, daring him to not return to her. She could see the fight between his mind and body at work.
He turned back to the kitchen to wait for the meals to finish. "Good, it can wait. I'm almost out of moves anyway."
His body was pulled to the bed in a purple glow, looking up as Miranda straddled him with a look that simply showed how true her next words were. "I'm not."
Taking solace in the hours they would have together, the two returned to amorous affections as Presidium artificial lighting outside the apartment turned from daylight to evening.
It was nearly time for the two to part. In a day's time the Normandy would lead the Quarians to retake their homeworld from a geth species currently under Reaper control. Miranda lay in bed, wrapped in Shepard's arms, yet she was awake, worryingly realizing that every second that passed was time she might never get with this man again. Yet at the same time she recognized being awake to know he was still there, his gentle breath occasionally making it's way through her thick black hair to the back of her neck, was something that seemed better spent than sleeping, perhaps dreaming of a life that might never occur given the circumstances. Who knows, staying up and wishing for such a life is what will make it come true. Never one to believe in superstitions or anything that couldn't be verified by science, she tried to balance these dreams of fancy with the darker reality for all space bound life.
Shepard's rustling broke Miranda from her thoughts of hours prior, making her realize now the reality of time set in. They would part once again: Shepard to finalize use of the Quarian fleet by retaking Rannoch, Miranda to use the resources he had procured for her to continue her own surveillance of Cerberus and her father.
A light kiss was planted on her neck, causing her happiness and sadness at the same time. Just a few more hours, please, she thought, refusing to shed any tears at the reality of the situation, though growing perspiration did appear at the corners, as slight as it was.
"Good Morning."
"Good Morning to you too, Commander." Miranda hid her emotions deep down, glad she wasn't facing him so he would be unable to detect the near distraught look in her eyes. She hated feeling so vulnerable.
Gripping the hand that wrapped around her in the night, she put on her old mask to turn and face him.
"It's time."
"I know."
"But here's what's going to happen," Shepard reassured her with a morning kiss, almost letting the two continue the events of the past day before stopping, "In less than a week I'm going to return to the Citadel, with the Quarians committed to taking back Earth. And while everyone gets ready for the next theater of operations we'll meet up again. Maybe try and get something to eat outside this room, if we feel like it."
It was less a dream or a wish, but a fact. It comforted Miranda to realize he was going to return to her, if only for another week. Perhaps the longshot Shepard spoke of might be ready by then. More than anything it made her realize the fear she had for ending this meeting was unfounded.
"Do you want to promise this time?"
"I think my record is proven."
Miranda smiled once again before they would both depart the room, "Then I'll see you in a few days."
A loud thud was heard outside the dorm room, causing Miranda to stop her reminiscing and ready herself for the possibility of students making the empty floor a hideaway for less modest activities.
Another thud hit, this time waking Shepard from his sleep. This afforded Miranda the opportunity to remove herself from his chest without fear of disturbing him, though pushing off of him with more force than she would normally provide.
The door refused to open fast enough, being forced into the slot with extra force to break the door from its track. The two watched as Jack stepped in, her face dipped but her eyes looking right at Miranda with not only a sense of anger but betrayal as well.
"Jack?" Shepard cautiously asked, doing what he could to stand in front of Miranda.
The Grissom teacher was very quiet and direct with her words, "Why did you come here, exactly?"
"We needed someone we could trust. We trust you and Jacob."
"No, Shepard, don't explain for her. Let the bitch speak."
"Jack, knock it off." Shepard's Mattock was resting against the wall. He could reach it quickly, but against a biotic of Jack's caliber it would be a close call to determine if he could get off a shot, let alone an accurate one.
Instead he chose to step further in between the two, much like before, in the Executive Officer's cabin. Jack moved to line herself up against Miranda, ready for a biotic charge. Miranda recognized the move and stepped behind Shepard as a precaution. She still needed just a few more seconds to be aware of her surroundings.
"I don't know what your bloody problem is, Jack, but I think you need to explain yourself. Like John said, we...he chose to come here to find a moment to regroup. I would have preferred Omega or Feros."
For a second Jack lowered her guard, not expecting such a response. Her guard returned as she shook off the doubt, remembering the files forwarded to her minutes ago. She always knew the Cerberus Operative had a questionable past, but she didn't realize it was that significant.
"Jack, lower your charge, let's get Jacob and try and get some grip on what's going on."
"Or you shoot me. And shoot everyone else she tells you to."
"You blame your history on your behavior, but you were just born insane, it's obvious," Miranda scoffed. Her hands slowly built with biotic power.
"I'd only shoot you if you were going to hurt either one of us, Jack. But you won't do so because you need answers. And I'm just guessing you had something sent to you that got you pretty agitated."
"You're damn right. Who do you think created those monsters ruining Virmire?"
"Oh this is ridiculous," Miranda went for her omni-tool, readying it to activate from it's finished first-time diagnostics.
"Don't move, Princess. I know you probably set up some kind of trap while the loverboy you built was sleeping."
"Knock it off, Jack."
The pirate-turned-teacher pointed a charged finger at the Spectre, "You never thought it was weird how you were so gung-ho about the Alliance for so long, even had a military girl, only to die and by sheer coincidence you start putting your little sailor in this test tube reject?"
Shepard could sense Miranda responding to the insult, just as Jack intended, but offered a firm but soft push of his arm to stop her moving forward.
"Jack," his voice offered warning about anything more derogatory being used, even by her more unrefined standard of years ago, "you were there on Horizon. You saw what happened between Ash and me."
"And if you weren't such a stupid brat you would realize this kind of distrust is what the instigator wants. I am not manipulating Shepard. I never have."
Jack refused to consider anything that was being said, her emotions overflowing and not quite landing on either anger or betrayal, "I've seen the videos of what you did! The test subjects before Lazarus! The adjutants! You're the same kind of person who told my mother I was stillborn, just so you could entertain experiments without any accountability!"
A wave of biotic energy released from her hand, aimed not at the two former crewmates but at the bed they used before Jack entered. It bent the frame, collapsing the middle and knocking various items to the floor nearby.
Holding his hands out in a pleading manner as though this was a negotiation, Shepard tried to calm Jack down some more. Her feelings about Cerberus were certainly justified given the files he discovered about her, and that she finally read after Liara became the Shadow Broker. "You're letting your own history cloud your judgment. Jack, believe me, I'd want to-"
"Let the bitch speak for herself!"
"What would you have me say? I did what I had to-"
Miranda's words were cut off as Jack charged into her, her speed blowing past Shepard as the former operative instinctively created a barrier to absorb the impact. Crashing into the nearby bed the two slammed into the perpendicular wall, Miranda gasping in an angry tone as she struck a quick jab to Jack's throat to cause a quick end to the fight.
The strike caused no change to the anger she saw in Jack's eyes. More than anything it seemed to fuel and increase her biotic amperage. Negating a hand with her own while bracing it against the wall, Jack punched Miranda straight on, the doubling effect of the punch and Miranda's head hitting the wall in recoil doing more damage and disorienting the raven haired woman.
Fighting on instinct and using the momentum of bouncing off the wall Miranda continued her head forward with a scowl on her face, headbutting Jack in the nose and using her power to push the younger woman away, tripping slightly as she was pushed off the bed into another mattress on the other side of the room.
Jack's balance was lost as Miranda created a charge herself to crash into the other biotic, yet the former prisoner of Purgatory fell to the floor in a happy coincidence, her tried and true boots pushing a dashing Miranda into the ceiling above.
"You bitch!" Miranda swore uncharacteristically as her back fell from the ceiling tiles, letting gravity take her atop Jack. Showing remarkable composure for a woman who suffered two damaging blows, she aimed her knees right at the teacher's stomach, connecting successfully against the disoriented younger biotic as her wail of lost breath was heard.
Miranda punched Jack quickly with two jabs while remaining atop her. "They were criminals! Like you!"
Jack blocked a third strike to her face and threw Miranda over into Shepard, who had placed himself just above Miranda to pull her away from escalating this any further. He grabbed the woman as gently as possible, being pushed away as the two regained their footing for another biotic charge.
"Stand down!" Shepard barked, hoping to cause their instincts to respond to his voice, just like any attempted fights years before.
Both breathing heavily at the powerful use of their biotics in such a short time, highlighting how much energy they were truly using, Miranda pointed to Shepard as she hunched over slightly while regaining her breath. "I love this man."
Jack wiped the blood from her nose with a smirk while breathing heavily in kind, "Only when it suits your needs."
"If this is jealousy just admit it and save us all another excuse for fighting."
"Please. I have proof of what you've been doing away from the Normandy. You care about nothing but yourself."
"It would have been nice to see evidence before you attacked."
"It'll just give you time to make a lie."
"Wait, Jack, let me see what you have."
Shepard's attempt to stop the biotic stalemate was done by stepping once again in between the two. Miranda flinched at his speed in being a physical barrier, her head still reeling from the one-two combination of punch-to-wall that her head received, leading Jack to try and use the moment to her advantage.
This time the Spectre was ready. As she charged forward with a fist cocked to strike from head to toe, Shepard reacted in fluid motion, grabbing Jack's outstretched hand and pulling her in a corkscrew motion to the ground, locking the lunging arm behind her back. As though it had happened to her many times before Jack raised her head back violently to retaliate, only connecting with his right cheekbone. She was eventually subdued by tripping her feet out from under her, the extra speed with which she hit the floor put an end to any more fighting. Not enough to truly injure her but stun the aggressor from trying anything new as the pain stopped her from fully using her biotic amps.
"I said stand down. I'm sick of fighting allies. So talk before you punch next time. Ok?"
He pulled Jack's arm back a little tighter, his left knee on the shoulder of her other free hand. Jack knew she was pinned down, and after one last attempt to flare her biotics unsuccessfully, she spoke out. "Damn, Shepard, ok. Just, get off me, my tits hurt."
"John, don't let her up," Miranda said as she spoke up, "let me get a few more kicks in."
"Miranda, step back. Now."
The order was firm and unrelenting, even to his lover. He was vulnerable, had she even entertained the thought of removing him from the situation, that was how upset she was at being blindsided by the woman she had truly tried to be nice to hours before. She did as instructed, willingly stepping back a few steps as she wiped blood from her mouth, checking her jaw to see if it still set properly. One side of Jack's face was pushed into the floor, yet from her viewpoint she saw how willingly she accepted his words. His words, not the other way around.
"I'm going to let you up now, Jack, and no one's going to fight to prove who's tougher. Are we clear?"
"Fu-agh, alright! Alright! Punching's over!"
"And kicking," Shepard replied in an admonishing tone, not wanting to deal with semantics right now.
Feeling she was caught in her little game of words Jack accepted defeat. "Ok, whatever!"
Like that Shepard released his grip, true to his word.
All three were breathing heavily at the situation. The sobering lack of adrenaline rendering all more receptive to whatever happened.
Shepard again tried to play peacemaker. "I'm never going to deny you the anger at your past, Jack. But accusations about Miranda's past seem no different than bringing up your own."
Jack spat some blood on the floor and she checked her teeth with her tongue to see if they were all accounted for, realizing she did things, no matter how she justified them, just as bad. Almost. "You heard her admit it though. She cut up people to make sure the tech worked for you."
Miranda remained silent, folding her arms with no retort. She shared a brief look with Shepard that seemed to confirm this as truth. But as with everything, there was context that couldn't be admitted, especially when facing off against an angry biotic.
She quietly spoke, staring at Shepard the whole time, though showing no regret in her eyes. "We can discuss it later, but it's not what you might think."
Jack shook her head in disdain, "PL-231, that ring a bell, Princess?"
Miranda's head turned quickly to Jack. It moved back to Shepard. Synapses were clearly firing as she looked between the two once again. Jack remained unphased with her arms crossed in victory.
Three words were all she said in a cold authoritative voice. "John, kill her."
Henry Lawson clearly didn't have an antidote for Elizabeth. Poor expendable clones.
We'll get back to the others in Shepard's circle in the next chapter, I just really wanted to do another flashback between the two protagonists, even with their current troubles. I try to remain pretty faithful to ME3 but the meeting at the apartment seemed like such a placeholder for talking to Miranda, especially if you romanced her. No need for control chip talk at that point in their relationship, romanced or not.
As for the fight between the two, it needed to happen, but how flimsy Jack needed a justification for will be explored next issue. If she's still alive.
And for any reference, I place the Citadel DLC/party stuff after succeeding on Rannoch, as it makes sense to put it there when it seems Shepard and Co. are on a roll. Miranda still got to show up without having to complete Horizon first.
As always I appreciate your words and follows and hope to keep you entertained for many more chapters to come.
