I moved the pawn and waited for Miranda's move. I was laying on a bed in the med-bay on Normandy. Miranda's arm was wrapped up in a medi-gel cast. Horizon was a successful mission. Kind of, we had saved only half of the colony but had driven the Collectors off. All told it went better than it could have gone. Shepard refused to talk about what happened with her friend and I didn't want to ask.

I was in the med-bay because of the stab wounds that I had taken in my thigh and shoulder which was the tip of the iceberg for wounds. Thanks to that giant bug thing, I had broken four ribs and fractured my spine. Oh, and a concussion. Can't forget that after all. I had been unconscious for little more than a day before I woke up. Miranda had been here as well, getting her arm and head checked out. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, both of us were on the mend and improving quickly.

Miranda was due to have the cast off in a couple days. Thanks to my head and spine injuries I would have to stay in sickbay for at least a week. Doctor Chakwas and Shepard wanted to play it safe and I didn't want to risk it. I don't know about you, but I like being able to walk around.

Anyways, Miranda and I started sniping and arguing once I woke up and Doctor Chakwas put her foot down. There wouldn't be any arguing in her med-bay for any reason. Miranda and I agreed to keep our arguments to a civil manner, and we played chess while we (quietly) debated. She also asked that I ditch the nicknames as she had enough of them from Jack.

So here we are, with us playing 3D chess. So far, we hadn't said anything to each other, just moved the holo-pieces around. I had checked her twice which meant that I had a pretty good chance of winning. Normally Miranda won, sometimes easily. I occasionally made her work for her victories which softened the blow somewhat.

"You've been a soldier longer than I've been alive, what do you think about comparing war to chess?" Miranda asked.

"First thing you've said since we started playing and that's what you say?" I asked with a slight laugh. "I think it's an interesting question." She said coolly.

I hummed as she moved her knight. "To answer it, I say no it's wrong."

"Why?"

"Chess and any other game have rules. Rules and limits that are decided upon and people agree to before we even started playing. A pawn won't suddenly turn into a crack commando unit and capture the enemy king mid game. One side won't suddenly become desperate and start unleashing weapons of mass destruction in order to avoid defeat or simply end the war sooner rather than later."

Miranda was silent as she watched my bishop move away from her knight. "There are rules of war set out by the Citadel."

"Yes, but I bet that once someone is desperate enough, they would toss those rules out the window. It still doesn't match asymmetrical warfare. Look at the Salarians. They try to win a war before it even starts. My unit chased a Salarian STG unit out of Asari space. Still don't know what they were doing." I cursed when my bishop was taken out by Miranda's queen, only just seeing the trap after I sprung it.

Miranda smirked as I used a knight to take out a pawn defending her king. "I think you might win this time." She said. I frowned. Yes, I know I just said that she usually won. Doesn't mean that I like to be reminded of it by someone else no matter how cute they are.

"Or not." Miranda said and moved her knight. "Check."

"Don't declare victory too early." I said as I moved my king. "I think your training is backfiring on you." Miranda said and I raised an eyebrow. "Explain."

"You keep thinking like a soldier. Or a Huntress. If this had been a real fight you would have won, this time. And probably every time. A nice blitz straight to my king with a nice flanking move to keep me distracted and unable to do anything? I wouldn't have been able to do a thing about it. Except that this isn't real life. It's a chess match and so..." Miranda moved her queen and took my last surviving rook. "Checkmate."

I looked at the board and cursed. Her queen directly threatened my king and if I moved it then he was threatened by her knight and the other direction threatened by...a pawn? Where did that come from?

I sighed and leaned back. "Still don't like losing?" Miranda asked with a smug cheeky tone. "Do you?" I growled and Miranda didn't say anything as she shut down the game and folded it up. "When are you being let out?" Miranda asked.

"About another week. Where are we going?"

"We're on our way to recruit a Quarian named Tali'zorah."

Interesting. Never met a Quarian before. Be interesting to see what this one's like. Granted I'll have to meet them after I get out of the med-bay. The door slid open and we both turned to look at Kelly as she walked in, cheerful as always.

Miranda took that as her cue to leave. "Ms. Chambers." She said as a greeting/good-bye as she walked out. "Afternoon Ms. Lawson." Kelly said cheerfully.

"Tomorrow same time?" I asked and Miranda looked over her shoulder and smiled. "Of course. See you then."

The door closed behind her and Kelly had this extreme shit-eating grin on her face. "The hell's that smile for?" I demanded. "Oh nothing." Kelly said, still keeping that shit-eating grin on her face. She sat down and took my hand in hers. "How's everything?" I asked.

Kelly gave a light shrug. "Things are fine. We're a couple days away from Haestrom."

I hummed and sighed. "Can't wait to get back in the field?" Kelly asked and I rolled my eyes. "Does a bear shit in the woods?"

Kelly laughed. "So crude!"

I smiled and rolled my shoulders. "I'll be out in a week and then back in the field by then."

If Kelly wasn't thrilled about that, she hid it pretty well. Instead, she filled me in with the latest gossip and did spend an unusual amount of time asking about Miranda and I. She also flatly refused to answer any questions as to why she was asking.

After a few hours Doctor Chakwas insisted that I needed to rest, and Kelly kissed me goodbye. She promised to come by later and I put my head down. Thankfully I wouldn't have to deal with nightmares, or at least that many of them. Save for that giant bug thing. It was without a doubt the first time that I have ever come so close to death in my second life.

What was that thing? How did the Collectors make such a damnable thing? All these questions and I didn't have any answers at all. Maybe I could ask Mordin. He might have a loose idea. Or three or four.

I drifted off to sleep, images of the Collectors dancing behind my eyes, the quiet hum of Normandy in my ears.

The week went by rather quickly, which was kind of surprising since I was stuck on my back the whole time. Miranda started visiting in the morning right after breakfast, though she usually woke me up (which I didn't really appreciate) and then stopping by after dinner to play chess or talk about whatever came to mind.

I enjoyed her company a great deal, though a part of me did wonder if she hung out with me so often was because she didn't really connect with the crew. She seemed to keep them and honestly everyone at arm's length.

Even so, I found myself enjoying her company and occasionally waking up before she arrived in the morning. I like to think that she was enjoying my company as well. The day finally came when Doctor Chakwas declared me healthy and fine. I also got a stern warning about being careful which I found to be a little ridiculous because it's not like I go out of my way to pick fights with giant alien bugs.

Still, I agreed to at least try to be careful and quickly left the med bay. What? I had been cooped up in there for a solid week. Serenity and a hot bath were calling my name loudly. It was only when I had made it back to my ship and was starting to fill up the tub with hot water when it occurred to me that I hadn't heard or seen Miranda at all this morning or at all the last night.

It was unusual to say the least, that woman was infuriating as she was beautiful, but she was reliable. If she said that she was going to be at a place, then she was. With a martyr's sigh I turned off the water and hit the intercom for a private channel to Shepard. As I had hoped she was in her room.

"Commander Shepard." She said by way of greeting.

"Hey Shep, it's Moira. Have you heard from Miranda today?"

"I was just about to go see her."

I was quiet for a second. "I see. Something wrong?"

"Maybe. Couldn't tell you right now. Why?"

I hesitated to answer, and Shepard spoke for me "Oh. I get it. She wasn't at your usual breakfast meeting. Get dressed and meet me at her office."

"No, it's fine I'm sure that I'm just overreacting."

"Moira. Five minutes. Miranda's office."

"I. Yes. I'll be there."

I hung up and sighed. I grabbed some clothes and cast one last look at the now partially filled tub and sighed again. I left my ship and made my way to Miranda's office. I got there a couple seconds after Shepard and she didn't bother to knock and just walked right on in.

"Shepard, good you're here. I..I need your help." Miranda said quickly the moment Shepard entered her room-office thing. "I have a sister and she's in danger. Please I need your help."

All of this? So not what I was expecting. I took a step back, intending to leave this obviously personal issue to Shepard and Miranda. Maybe that little bit of movement caught her attention. Her head snapped towards me and I gave a little wave. "This seems like a private issue. I'll uh come back later." I said and turned to leave.

"No. Please. I need your help to." Miranda said softly. I nodded and leaned back against the wall as Shep and Miranda talked. "She's on Illium. Something's gone wrong and some dangerous people are after her."

"EDI, how long will it take to reach Illium?" Shepard asked and EDI replied, "We're on our way, however Joker reports that fuel levels are low and recommends stopping at a depot."

Miranda inhaled and Shepard turned to look at me.

I didn't hesitate. "We'll take Serenity. I'll get her warmed up."

I left the room as Shepard started giving instructions to EDI and Joker. I nearly ran over Jack who cursed at me and I cursed right back as I sprinted past her. I was in the elevator and down in the hanger in a matter of moments.

I thundered up the ramp and was in the pilot's seat and starting the warmup process. "EDI, it's Moira. Clear the hanger out. I'll be taking off in a couple minutes."

"Understood."

Serenity hadn't flown for weeks and it didn't matter. She started up with a warm purr and the lights came on. "That's my girl." I said with a whisper and a smile. Footsteps ran up the ramp and I glanced back to see Shepard had switched from her usual N7 armor to a silver medieval like armor with a red dragon emblazoned across the chest and right pauldron.

Shepard looked at me and said "Haestrom. Shit place. Don't visit."

"I..won't."

Miranda appeared just then, and I closed the ramp. "Sit anywhere you like and don't touch anything that looks like art. Normandy this is Serenity. Are we cleared to depart?"

"Granted. We'll see you on Illium shortly." EDI said.

The bay door opened, and I gently eased Serenity out and into space. Once cleared, I punched it and we took off. A clatter behind got my attention. I turned around to see Miranda and Shepard were both picking themselves up off of the ground.

"I told you two to sit down." I said as I turned back around. I think I heard someone say that they were in between some rather unflattering things about me.

Behind us, Normandy turned and went in the opposite direction. Shepard came up behind me and looked out the window. "Normandy will refit and refuel and meet us there. Thanks for this."

"No problem. Coming up on the Mass Relay in about an hour. Make yourselves comfortable."

A couple minutes later showed that Shepard took me at my word and was nosing around my home. I shrugged. As long as she didn't start going through my underwear drawer, I wasn't going to say anything. A second glance revealed that Miranda was looking around but otherwise staying seated. We were minutes away from the mass relay when Shepard appeared behind me and said "Nice place. Where can I find things to take Miranda's mind off of things?"

"I don't know if it'll help but there are some movies and tv shows on the screen to the left of the bed, and books on the shelves behind it. My finished art is on the walls along the galley and the kitchen."

Shepard clapped me on the shoulder and left, I heard her speaking to Miranda and tuned it out. There was always something about flying that I absolutely loved. The complete freedom to go anywhere and wherever you want, the endless stars that twinkled out there just waiting to be explored. If there was one thing that I was grateful for about being reborn as an Asari, it was the fact that I could spend literal centuries exploring the universe and still not see everything. I pitied the matriarchs out there that acted like they had seen everything. Sure, they had spent centuries if not millennia out there, but to give up and not explore anymore?

Who could do that?

I smiled as the relay came closer. It was a shame that this flight would be so short, but it was better than nothing. Perhaps in between missions I could ask shep to let me fly a bit. Not Normandy of course, but my own ship. Pretty sure that the idea of letting someone else fly Normandy would give Joker a literal heart-attack anyways.

"At the relay, starting jump now." I called out and the blue energy from the relay lashed out and snagged Serenity before hurling us further into space at speeds that really should have been impossible. I think one day I would like to learn about the relays and how they work. Perhaps after settling down, I mean after all one can't fight forever right?

After a bit of travel that felt like no time at all, we arrived at Illium. Illium. How to describe the place? From orbit it's a shining planet, with massive silver cities and beautiful greenery. Just looking at you'd think that it was a wonderful place, right?

Hah.

Wrong!

Illium, especially Nos Astra aren't any better than Omega. Nos Astra just has nicer shoes and cleaner streets. That's it.

I called Miranda up and showed her that were about to land on Illium. She gave me a small smile. "Hey." I said and gave her a grin. "Since I'm about to meet your family, it's only fair that you meet one of mine. Myleena lives in Nos Astra, you should stop in and say hi."

"Thank you for the offer, but I don't think-"

"That we should go right now? Of course not. Have to rescue Oriana. But after that? You'll like her. Sweetest person around. Sells flowers."

"After this you'll have time. We won't be leaving Illium for a few days. There's a couple people that we need to recruit." Shepard cut in.

Miranda scoffed. "Do I get a say in this?"

"No." Both Shep and I said at the same time. Miranda scoffed but I could have sworn that I saw a small smile there. I'll tease her about it later. I called Nos Astra landing and was cleared for landing. "Buckle up, entering atmo now." I called and Miranda and Shepard both ignored me and stood behind my chair. "How long?" Miranda asked, her voice wavering.

I took one hand off of the console and took her hand. "Soon. I promise." I had to put my hand back on the controls as Serenity bucked and I quickly adjusted the ship so that it was smooth flying.

Miranda had put her hand on my shoulder and it never left. A glance behind me revealed a smirking Shepard who didn't bother to clarify at my questioning look. One of these days I'm going to force answers out of people.

About thirty minutes later we came to a landing. I had barely set the ship down and dropped the ramp when Miranda was out the door and just shy of sprinting into Nos Astra. Shepard and I had to scramble to catch up. Miranda nearly shoulder checked a Turian in order to grab a taxi that Shepard and I barely made it into before it took off.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Eternity bar. My contact is there according to EDI." Miranda answered.

I really hope that Miranda's flying and landing because of the situation at hand because the last time I was this concerned for my life I was fighting the freaking Collectors. After our...landing Miranda led the way into the bar while I stayed behind with the taxi and kept it running. Partly for the speed so that we can leave quickly, but also to make sure that I would be the one driving.

What? I understand that we need to be quick, but I would like to get there in one piece. Sure as hell not letting Shepard drive. Heard from Garrus about Shepard's antics in the Mako. A couple minutes later Miranda and Shepard came back and climbed into the taxi.

"Where to?" I asked.

Shepard told me where to go and I gunned it. Night had fallen on Illium but we were all blind to its beauty. The first sign of trouble came while we were flying. At least two gunships suddenly flew up besides us before racing ahead.

"Damn it! Eclipse mercenary gunships. They'll be dropping troops in the cargo areas." Miranda said, sounding more annoyed than anything else. "Put us down in that cover behind them." Shepard said and I banked the taxi to the spot she had pointed out.

"Let's hope they really do want to take us alive." Miranda said and I glanced at the both of them. "I should have gone inside." I muttered.

"It's not a big deal." Shepard said cheerfully. "A few Eclipse and meeting with Miranda's contact."

That was when the first stream of bullets slammed into the cab. "Not a big deal huh?" I said as I fought to guide the now broken car into a more controlled landing. I would like to point out that I was successful in this. We hit the ground and bounced once before sliding to a stop next to some containers in a wave of sparks and screeching metal.

The door opened and Shepard and Miranda took the lead as the gunship took off. I'm guessing who was the merc leader also walked forward to meet us.

Miranda had that confident tone and walk back and said "Since you're not firing yet, I trust you know who I am."

"Yeah. They said you'd be in the car. You're the bitch that kidnapped our boss' little girl."

"Kidnapped?" Miranda snapped. "This doesn't involve you. I suggest you take your men and go."

"Think you have it all lined up, huh? Captain Enyala's already moving in on the kid. She knows about Niket. He won't be helping you."

Shepard tried to question the merc, but he wasn't answering any questions. The moment that he said things could get ugly, Miranda lost her patience. A single shot rang out and the man next to him collapsed. Dead before he hit the ground.

"Works for me." Miranda said.

Shepard moved at what should have been impossible speeds for a human and snapped the leader's neck. All three of us then opened fire on the grasper-limb thing carrying a container right above the mercenaries. A few well-placed shots and it dropped, hitting the ground and exploded, killing several mercs.

A Salarian only had enough time to look shocked before I grabbed him with my biotics and yanked him forward. He flew into my hand and I dropped him on the ground. He had just enough time to say "wait!" Before I crushed his skull with a biotic infused punch.

"Form up." Shepard barked and we fell into a well-practiced formation of Shepard and I in front and Miranda behind us. It took at most minutes for us to clear the area of any mercs. We moved towards the elevator at a brisk pace.

We only stopped long enough for Miranda to grab a radio off of a dead merc. While she fiddled with it, she talked to Shepard and I caught a word or two. Grew, genetic twin, I moved away and tuned out the conversation. A part of me was hurt that Miranda wasn't talking to me about this and for the life of me I didn't know why.

We weren't friends exactly. Sure we talked at least once every single day, loved to talk about politics philosophy or even just whatever came to mind. I mean, I think we're friends but not the share your closest issues friends.

I think.

I mean I did just invite her to meet my sister. Which could mean what exactly?

Goddess. Over a hundred years old and on my second life. You'd think that I could figure this kind of shit out easily. I sighed internally almost missed Miranda snapping at me. "Moira! This is important and I'm not repeating myself."

Glad that my helmet meant that she couldn't see me blushing, I turned and payed more attention. I got the long story short version of rescuing Miranda's genetic twin from her abusive father. My blood boiled at the mere idea of a parent being abusive. I loved being a parent, sure there were several moments where I was about to start crawling up the walls because one or more of my kids was being particularly stupid, but I always had more laughs than tears.

I hoped that I would get the chance to kill this Henry Lawson.

Moving quickly, we entered a transfer area where containers were constantly moving around. Miranda helpfully pointed out that they moving cargo containers would block our shots and as an added bonus, some of them had explosive materials in them!

I was really starting to dislike Illium.

We moved in formation, cutting through the area quickly.

A flash of yellow caught my attention and I opened fire. The first few shots hit the shoulder piece of the merc, but the rest were blocked by the oh so convenient cargo container! Muttering unflattering things about an inanimate object, I moved in pace with Shepard as we fired on more Eclipse mercs that were crawling out of the works like a bunch of yellow bugs.

Yellow bugs that could sting I amended as a couple bullets bounced off of my shield.

Moving in tandem, Shepard and I shot any bit of yellow that revealed itself. We moved forward, not pausing for anything. Miranda was behind us, not reacting as fast as Shepard or I, but fast enough.

Eclipse mercs when they revealed themselves went down like dried wheat before a thrasher. It took mere minutes to move through the first cargo area. The next one with the conveyor belt proved to be more difficult as we were flanked and shot at from the side.

I created a barrier and Shepard and Miranda opened fire, shredding the mercs. Once they were dealt with, we turned and began moving through the area again. "huh." I said as I biotically grabbed a flanking merc and slammed him into a barrier I created.

"What?" Shepard asked.

"It looks like they finally figured out how to flank. On your left Miranda!" I shouted and Miranda swore as the bullet clipped her arm. She spun and fell, and I was there over her firing at anything yellow. Shepard grabbed Miranda's uninjured arm and dragged her behind a container.

I stayed out in the open until the sheer amount of fire meant that I had to take cover.

Miranda brushed us both off and started to treat herself with medi-gel. "Hah! Got-" A merc shouted, just before I smacked the shotgun out of his hands and punched him in the face. He staggered and I grabbed his head and smashed it into the box.

A wet clang echoed as his face bounced off of the metal box until his face was a red ruin. I dropped the corpse and yanked another merc off of their feet before chucking them over the side. They disappeared screaming.

"You okay?" I asked Miranda.

"I'm fine. We need to go, Oriana's waiting."

A bullet bounced off of my head and the thunderous crack preceded the merc's head and part of their shoulder disappearing in puff of red mist. I partly wondered when Shepard had switched to her widowmaker sniper rifle and why she felt the need to use on a person. On the other hand, I found it kind of funny that she did.

"Temper temper." I chided and Shepard laughed.

A few more shots from the anti-material sniper rifle and my biotics thinned out the number of mercs in the area. We must have been making good time because the Eclipse captain came over the radio demanding that everyone except her personal guard head down to stop us.

I sincerely doubted that even if they had sent everyone that it would have stopped us. I welcomed the fact that they were going to try however.

We moved quickly and entered the area with the elevator, which wasn't working.

"Wish we had EDI with us." Shepard muttered.

"They must have disabled it. Don't worry. I can get past this." I said and stepped up to elevator controls. "How long?" Miranda asked.

I hummed and said "Not long. Just a cargo terminal after all. Not at all like a Salarian navy dreadnought after all."

"I'm sorry a what?" Shepard asked incredulously.

"Story for another time. Incoming!" I shouted. Shepard and Miranda turned and opened fire on the wave of mercs that came charging in. I jerked my head to the side just in time to avoid a couple shots.

I started a hacking program and then ducked to avoid some more shots. "A little more protection please." I called out and Shepard and Miranda both snarled something rude and unflattering. Normally hacking isn't entirely my forte, but it helps to be well rounded. And as I said, so much easier then hacking into a Salarian dreadnought.

That had been a fun mission.

There! Program was set. I grabbed my rifle and and joined Miranda and Shepard in fighting. The three of us formed a line that would not budge. Two waves of mercs came charging at us, including LOKI mechs. They died in droves.

Still, it was not entirely one side. My armor had several new marks on it as did both Shepard and Miranda.

No serious injuries however.

I shot the last one in the face and the elevator dinged cheerfully.

We rushed into the elevator and the Eclipse captain said "Niket has reached the transport. He'll turn the family over to our transport."

"Niket? That can't be right." Miranda said, heartbroken. For a brief second, the pain of betrayal, of James came roaring back before I crushed it.

"Maybe the captain knows that we're listening in and is just feeding us misinformation. Or maybe it means something else. Niket wouldn't do that. Damn it why won't this thing go any faster?!" Miranda said as she slammed her omnitool into the panel.

It sparked and broke but the elevator did start to move faster.

"We'll find out when we get up there." Shepard said and I seconded it.

The elevator doors opened, and we stepped out. The look of surprise with a mingling of fear on the human's face meant that the sole human there must have been this Niket. Next to him sat an annoyed looking Asari in an Eclipse uniform with a somewhat concerned looking Asari dock worker next to the both of them.

"This should be fun." Captain Enyala said as she got up and aimed a shotgun at us. The dock worker to the right of her took one look at the Eclipse captain and us before making a run for it. She didn't get far. Enyala didn't hesitate to turn and put a slug into the poor girl's back.

No one moved and the tension in the air was palpable.

Shepard let Miranda take the lead as she and Niket argued. Niket was upset about Miranda taking Oriana from her father and his wealthy life. Somehow having a fuck-ton of money automatically makes for a good home.

Somehow Enyala thought that she was rescuing Oriana. How nice, the murderous bitch has a heart.

"Come on Niket. Let's finish this bitch off and get out of here." Enyala said, starting to sound fed up with everything.

"Take your best shot." Miranda snapped.

"I was just waiting for you to finish getting dressed. Or does Cerberus really let you whore around in that outfit?"

I fired a shot and the sparks from the near miss had the merc who had been inching forward duck and stop moving.

"Call my friend a whore again and I'll cave your fucking face in." I said calmly.

"Easy. We can come up with a peaceful solution. If Lawson knows about Oriana, then we need to come up with a new solution."

"He doesn't...He doesn't know." Niket said. "I knew that you had bugged your father's place Miri, so I kept it from him."

"That makes you the only loose end. Goodbye Niket." Miranda said just before Shepard grabbed the gun out of her hand. "Miranda no! You don't want to do this!" Shepard said has she pointed the gun and Miranda's arm away from Niket.

Niket had his hands up, as imploring Miranda not to shoot him. "If Niket is the only one who knows, then he can still help."

Niket sighed and said "I'll..I'll tell him that you hid her. That I don't know where she is."

"I never want to see you again, Nik-" Miranda started to say before Enyala's shotgun barked and Niket folded over, dead before he hit the ground.

"Done." Enyala said. "Now if you don't mind, I have a shipment to deliver."

"You'll die for that you bitch!" Miranda yelled as she seized Enyala in a stasis field and then launched the murderous bitch across the bay.

Enyala landed with a crash and yelled "Kill the whore and her friends!"

Yup. She is going to die.

The bay erupted with gunfire as Eclipse mercs streamed into the room. Goddess. How many of these people did this bitch bring with her? The thunderous crack of Shepard's widowmaker rifle echoed as parts of entire mercs disappeared.

I dove into cover and my rifle barked as it shredded one merc who was too slow to duck. An explosion had me ducking as several mercs and pieces of other mercs arced through the air. I guessed Shepard had something to do with that. I had shot another merc in the leg when Enyala turned a corner and knocked my rifle out of my hands.

"I think you said something about caving my face in?!" She yelled as I dodged her poorly thrown punch. She attempted to bring her shotgun around and I batted it away. I then caught one fist and I spun around, yanking her off of her feet and sending her flying into the wall. She bounced off of it and was back on her feet in seconds.

We charged each other, neither saying anything.

I dodged her first punch and knocked the shotgun out of her hands. I knocked her back with a palm strike to her chest as her leg lashed out and got in the thigh. Biotics flared as we struck at each other.

Back and forth we went until I noticed an opening. She blocked a right hook, just as my right leg kicked her ankle. Knocked off balance, I followed up with several more punches. I don't know why she was stupid enough to go into a fight without a helmet, but I was certainly going to take advantage of it.

The first hit broke her nose and blood flowed. The second one knocked a tooth loose and the third one to the temple staggered her. A biotic infused front kick knocked the wind out of her and she slammed into the wall and then the ground.

I kicked her shoulder and rolled her over. I waited until she could focus before my arm lit up with biotic energy as I raised it.

"Hey. Remember what I said?" I asked.

My fist came down.

I looked around and the firefight had ended. Miranda was kneeling next to Niket's corpse, fighting back tears. Shepard was scanning the area, but clearly was giving Miranda some space.

I walked over to them, shaking blood bone and brain matter off of my hand. I knelt down next to Miranda. "We should go. Oriana is waiting for you." I said gently.

Miranda nodded and stood up. "I can't believe I didn't see Niket betraying me." She said, fighting to remain detached about it.

"He was a good friend. You couldn't have seen it coming." Shepard said gently.

We entered the elevator and Miranda opened her mouth to say something. "Don't start." I said, cutting her off. "You're human. You made a mistake. Oh well. You still have Oriana. It wasn't a weakness to keep Niket around. Don't even think about cutting everyone off. That's not living."

"I..all right. I rescued Oriana and I still have something." Miranda gave me a smile. Not one of those little smirks that she was found of doing. A real genuine smile and my heart skipped a beat at how beautiful it was. How her face lit up and for a moment she seemed like a whole new person.

"Thanks." she said. "The both of you."

The elevator door opened, and we walked forward and spotted a young woman, a spitting image of Miranda with short hair in a blue dress.

"Good. She's her family." Miranda said and she turned to leave.

Shepard and I both looked at each other. "That's it? You're not going to go say hi?" Shepard asked.

"It's not what I want but what's good for her." Miranda said, annoyed. "She has a life. A family. I would just complicate it."

"She doesn't need any details, but would it really be so bad for her to know that she has a sister who loves her?" Shepard asked.

"I guess not."

Miranda looked like she was still going to hesitate, so I walked forward and lightly tapped her on her bum. She jumped a little forward and glared at me before walking towards her sister. I collapsed my helmet and grinned.

"I think we did well today." I said and my heart melted when I saw Oriana embrace a somewhat flustered Miranda who took a second to return the hug.

"I think so too." Shepard said as she removed her helmet. "So you and Miranda huh?"

I blinked and turned to look at her. "What? What about Miranda and I?"

Shepard looked confused before broke into this incredible shit eating grin. "Oh nothing. Nothing at all."

"That's some bullshit and you know it Shepard."

Shepard kept grinning as she turned and left to inspect a stall while I followed her, demanding to know what she was talking about.

Needless to say, I didn't get any answers.

Hope you all enjoyed. Stay safe and enjoy the new year.

-C.H.