It surprised Miranda to find herself sitting at a burger place across from Shepard, elbow deep in a stack of beef patties and the necessary dressings, actually sharing a too-large 'small' order of fries.

Once they'd said what they needed to say—and Shepard authorized the few pokes-about in the Alliance's data, and arranged a few resources to be discretely slung her way—Miranda had been ready to part ways. Neither of them was comfortable with emotional-type talks, which was what they'd had.

It had taken so much effort to make that apology, and she saw the effort it took for Shepard to thank her and mean it. She wasn't sure how many more feelings either of them could handle. But as she turned to go, Shepard had suddenly blurted out, 'Hey Miranda, wait a minute.' Then, slower, 'Are you in a hurry? Can we…can we have lunch together? Since we're friends.'

The question caught Miranda flatfooted, more so than anything Shepard could have asked. But as she regarded the marine's wary expression, she saw something very familiar. With the exception of some early days in their acquaintanceship, she had felt that she and Shepard were friends. Maybe even good friends. It had been a friendship based around working exceptionally well together, and didn't require much off-duty time. Not that this had mattered, since they were on the same posting. They chatted at mealtimes as much as anyone else.

She hadn't missed that they were both slightly more cordial with one another than they had been. That could only be the result of not working together.

Making and keeping friends had never been Miranda's strong suite. But she found herself not very eager to lose Shepard as a friend. So, although she could have been doing any number of things, she'd agreed. 'Come to think of it, lunch would be a good thing. I'll make the time.'

Which was how they got here. There wasn't much conversation; the little they had before the meal was ready mostly focused on the music blaring from overhead. Something noncombustible; everybody liked music, and the station was eclectic enough that neither was stuck listening to a genre she couldn't bear.

And yet, for all the lack of conversation, there was a companionship in the silence. A kind of comfort in just being together, not doing anything more complicated than eating, or more dangerous than being out and about.

"So…did you get my note?" Shepard asked, once they were both finished, contentedly sipping the last of their drinks. "I wasn't sure you were still using that node, but I never got a ping saying it was closed."

"No, I'm staying away from the old channels," Miranda answered. "What was the note?"

Shepard shrugged. "Once I wasn't in lockdown, I started trying to keep in contact with people. Things being as they are," she answered vaguely. "I missed a lot of people."

Miranda nodded, knowing that Shepard wasn't complaining about the silence while she'd been in lockdown. In fact, she probably knew exactly why Miranda hadn't been writing: it would have been too risky, especially if anyone realized she was writing to a former crewmen who hadn't worn Alliance colors. "It's been rather lonely since the crew split up."

Shepard nodded as well. "So if you ever need me. Ping me. EDI keeps our mail secure."

"How is EDI?"

Shepard grinned, then leaned over, motioning Miranda to do the same. "She got a body."

"Excuse me?" Miranda asked blankly. From the way Shepard's grin broadened, her expression must be hilarious.

"She repurposed some Cerberus mech we ran into. Been walking and talking and shooting ever since."

Miranda leaned back, imagining a Cerberus mech with EDI inside it. "How's Joker taking that?" The last she heard, Joker and EDI had reached a mutual understanding.

"He likes the kickass copilot. Last week, he was trying to tease her with some ridiculously short frilly thing he wanted her to wear. You know. For his morale." Shepard rolled her eyes eloquently.

"Oh no." That sounded like Joker: he liked to tease. But teasing EDI with what sounded like mail-order fashion was odd…unless that attachment to his ship finally extended to the AI running it. Miranda decided not to ruminate on that too much.

"She said she'd do it."

"Oh no!" A Loki mech in a short nurse's costume flashed through Miranda's mind's eye. She really wished it hadn't.

"If."

Miranda looked up from her facepalm to see Shepard holding up a finger in an 'under one condition' fashion. She found herself grinning. EDI's research into humor had always been odd. She'd never known quite what to think of it.

"If Joker would wear a gag—and she brought up a picture of the one she had in mind. You know, one of those—" Shepard motioned around her mouth to indicate something other than a simple scrap of cloth. "Heavy-duty thing, too."

"What'd Joker say?" Miranda chuckled.

"Not. A. Word."

At which point both women dissolved into hearty laughter. "You're joking," Miranda accused, once she got her breath back.

"Sure as I'm sitting here, every word of that was true. Donnelly and Daniels must have had a tiff that same day, because Donnelley and Joker were both sitting at the same table in the mess, looking like the whole world had turned against them and they didn't understand why."

"Sulking," Miranda translated, imagining the two men with downcast, sad puppy looks. Somehow, it was almost as funny as the idea of Joker wearing a black leather gag and a puzzled expression.

Shepard shrugged. "I guess."

Miranda's omnitool twinkled. "Uh-oh."

"Duty calls," Shepard said understandingly. "Ping me if you get a chance. I just…you know. Things being as they are, I like to keep track of my friends."

Miranda could hear the effort Shepard made in saying so. More than that, it mattered that Shepard wanted to keep in touch. "It's hard to say friends when you never write or talk."

-J-

Author's Note: Although not shown on-screen, it is assumed that Jalissa does warn Miranda about Kai Leng at some point. Perhaps while they're heading back to their respective ships/tasks before they split up.