I stared at the chess board and thought. Maybe this would be one of those times were I won. Or least I would say that I am seeing as Miranda appeared so lost in her own thoughts that I was visibly winning. Which means I couldn't accurately gage on how well I would be playing if she was serious.

I turned off the game and Miranda finally brought her attention back to me.

"What?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What, what? You're so far lost in thought I swear that you're back on Earth. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing. Just a few things that don't make sense."

"I can come back later if you like."

Miranda shook her head and got up. She walked over to her mini-bar and grabbed a bottle of wine and a couple glasses.

"No. It's fine. How is Myleena?"

Changing the subject with the subtly of a hammer to the face. "She's fine. Says hi and is still looking for your favorite flower."

Miranda stifled a giggle as she poured our drinks. Back on Illium, while Shepard was running around recruiting Thane and Samara, I had kept my promise and brought Miranda to meet my older sister, Myleena. Myleena had opened up a flower shop in Nos Astra and had started dating a local human.

She had enjoyed meeting Miranda and had been scandalized that she didn't have a favorite flower. Since then, she had declared that she would find it for her. After we had left, whenever I was talking to Myleena, she would send me photos of different flowers and I in turn would show them to Miranda. She would then decide if they were her favorite or not.

So far Myleena wasn't having much luck. Yet that wasn't going to stop her. I took the glass of wine with a murmured thanks and we both lapsed into silence. We stared out of the window, watching the stars fly past us.

"I wanted to thank you." Miranda said, breaking the silence. "I admit that I'm not entirely sure how to."

"You say thank you. Typically how most people do it."

Miranda really has that glare down to pat. Like you're a bug that really should be stepped on. Unfortunately for her, it didn't do anything to me. I chuckled and raised the glass. "This is fine. I don't need some grand gesture. I helped you because I like to think that we're friends and that's what friends do. They help each other."

Miranda stared at me before taking another drink.

"You are…an enigma."

Having heard that before, I let her continue speaking, curious to see where she would go with this train of thought.

"You seem to be all surface, laughs and jokes. Yet, you have an extensive knowledge in art, you have degrees on your walls in history and political science, paint everywhere you can. If I had just met you, I would assume that you were some artist, expressing yourself."

"But?" I supplied when it looked like she wasn't going to continue speaking.

"You carry yourself like a veteran of dozens of campaigns. You constantly make references to old human slang and media, both of which I constantly have to look up to understand! By your species you're a young adult, but you walk and talk like frankly an old man who has seen and done a lot. I don't actually know anything about you. I know you're from Thessia, a huntress and that you have a sister in Nos Astra. That's it."

"You could just ask." I pointed out as I took another sip.

Miranda glared at me again. "I did. I was given non-answers and a reference to a 1980's show called Golden Girls."

Heh. Golden Girls. Always did love that show. I wondered if there would be a way to rewatch it now. Perhaps its something that Miranda might enjoy. Actually get her to laugh for a bit.

I waved my hand. "I have to keep some secrets. How else would I be able to keep your attention? I know you don't keep talking to me because of my sterling personality."

"You're an idiot." Miranda snapped.

I shrugged. "Been called worse. By you, now that I think about it."

Miranda slammed the glass down with enough force that she cracked the stem. "You can't joke your way out of everything!"

I snorted. "You want to bet?"

Miranda opened her mouth and I cut her off. "Are you trying to pick a fight with me so that you don't have to think about whatever it is that's on your mind?"

Miranda's mouth hung open for a second before she jumped to her feet.

"Get out."

"No. Not until you answer my question."

She grabbed the glass from my hand and took her broken one and stomped off to the bar. "I wasn't finished drinking that." I said. She spun around and snarled something that might have been English.

"You accuse me of…of..of"

"Being a coward. Yes. I did. Indirectly at least." I said as I got to my feet. That was a delicious wine, and I was going to finish it. I had just reached for it when I caught her hand mid-swing and spun her around and slammed her against the wall.

Miranda's breath exploded out of her, and I pinned her against the wall, using my height (granted it was only a couple inches) and superior weight to hold her in place. I held both of her wrists with one hand above our heads and held her waist with my other hand.

"Let me go." Miranda snapped.

"No. Not until you tell me what's up your ass. This is the first time that you've swung on me. No matter how many arguments that we've had."

We stared into each other's eyes.

"I don't have to explain myself to you."

I sighed. "No. No you don't."

"You…You always ask about me. Why? I'm with Cerberus and you're an Asari."

"I believe in second chances. You're better than them and being honest with each other, you're wasted with Cerberus."

"Still not sure that I believe you." Miranda whispered.

I shrugged. "It's the truth whether you want to believe it or not." She glared at me. "And what about you? What are you hiding? Who's James?"

I jerked back, nearly losing my grip on her. "Don't worry about him. He's just a cockroach that I have to find and step on."

"See? There you go. Calling me the coward when you won't let anyone in. You say that you trust me, but you won't let me help you. You just said that we're friends and friends help each other. So why won't you let me help you? You're always there, listening, spending time with me."

I opened my mouth and she cut me off. "No, it isn't just because you want to have sex with me. All of this, the chess, Orianna, drinks, movies, conversations that go on for hours and you still hide so much of yourself. Why won't you just trust me? Are you the coward? Or am I just a toy for you?"

I let go of her and stepped back. "I'm not a coward. Never have been. And you're not a toy." I said softly.

I left her room and walked back to my ship. I wasn't a coward. I trusted her. I just don't see a reason to fill her in on my life. Could she actually be interested in me like that? I said that we were friends, but I we weren't that close. Right?

My thinking was derailed by EDI announcing that myself and few others were to get to the briefing room. Once there, I found Grunt, Miranda and Shepard there. Garrus, Samara and Thane trailed in after me.

"Illusive Man just sent this. A Turian ship ran into a Collector ship and disabled it. Unfortunately, it looks like the Turian vessel was lost in the process." She said and had everyone's attention. "This is our best chance of not only boarding and putting an end to the Collectors but also learning something about them. We'll be dividing into teams of two. I'll be leading team one into the Collector ship. Moira will lead team two and be staying with the shuttle. Moira, your job is to keep that shuttle intact no matter what."

"Understood."

"Team one will be myself, Miranda, Garrus and Samara. Team two will be Grunt, Moira, Thane and Jacob. Everyone else on the ship will be armored up in case of boarders. Any questions?"

"Is the Turian vessel still there? Can we help them?" I asked. Garrus gave me an appreciative look and Shepard shrugged. "I don't know. But if they are, we'll help them."

"Any other questions? No? Then you're dismissed. We'll be at the Collector ship soon. Garrus, you have something for me?"

I left as Garrus started talking to Shepard about the Turian ship. I went back to Serenity and armored up, just going through the motions. My mind was so lost that I couldn't follow my own thoughts. I did take the time to grab a device that Zaheed, Mordin and I had made, even lost in the maze of my own thoughts I wouldn't forget it and slung it on my back.

Yes I know that doesn't really make sense, but just roll with it. I was forcibly dragged back to reality by Joker announcing that we had arrived at the Collector ship. Seeing that I was already in the hanger, I just had to walk over to the shuttle and ignore the leers from the pilot and copilot. Both who froze and then scrambled into the shuttle. I was confused until I turned around and saw Miranda glaring at them.

In their defense, it seemed like she was glaring at everyone. She walked past me and ignored me and I returned the favor.

Oh yeah. We're both adults and handling this in a mature manner.

The rest of the team arrived and we all filed into the shuttle. Again, with being the mature and reasonable adult that I am, I sat as far away from Miranda as I could and refused to look at her. I think she did the same but seeing as I had refused to look at her, I couldn't exactly be one hundred percent sure.

I folded my helmet shut and waited for the fight with the Collectors to start. A blinking icon on my HUD got my attention, it was a request for a private channel from one Commander Shepard.

I activated it and waited for her to start speaking.

"Conversation didn't go well huh?" Shepard asked with a light teasing tone.

"Does she tell you everything?" I snipped, not really in the mood for her cheerful nonsense.

"Yes." Shepard said bluntly. I grumbled something that might have been an insult. Or it could have just been noise. Or both.

Shepard sighed loudly. "You two are something else. Moira."

"What?" I stopped just shy of snarling at her.

"She put herself out there and fucked it up. Both are things she normally doesn't do. She's upset that you won't open up to her and she's taking it as if you don't trust her and I know for a fact that you do."

"Shep" I started to say and then she interrupted me. "Should she have called you a coward? Probably not. But both of you need to sit down and actually talk things through. You ignoring her like this? Not helping. Both of you stop being malfunctioning robots and talk it out. She means more to you then you obviously want to admit."

Before I could say anything, Shepard switched over to the team channel and told everyone to get ready. The shuttle came down gently and quickly. For leering perverts, these pilots knew what they were doing. I'll give them that much at least.

The hangar was absolutely massive, with the walls, ceiling, everything was made out of this chitinous like material. It was a dull brown and there wasn't anyone or anything in the hangar aside from us.

It was unnerving. I had explored derelict ships that were less creepy than this one. It wasn't just the size that was disconcerting. It was how it felt. Maybe it was the figurative atmosphere (The literal one being non-existent) of dread. That we were trespassing on something incredibly old.

"Team one with me." Shepard said and they moved off in a loose formation. I turned to my team. "Grunt, start laying down mines and other explosives at the entrance. Thane, you're on over watch. Jacob, keep an eye out." Both nodded and Grunt grabbed the bag of explosives that had been in the corner or the shuttle. Thane disappeared, but his IFF showed me that he had somehow climbed up the wall and got himself in a small corner.

One of the fascinating things about living in the future is that it has so much to offer. Like cheaply made fabricated and portable barriers. These metal barriers were easily made on any ship and could be dropped anywhere. Only downside is that these weren't exactly big enough for Grunt. Have to fix that when I get back to Normandy.

He's tough, but he's not invincible.

Once everything was set up, we hunkered down and waited. The chatter from team one came through clearly, so that was some good news. "EDI, we're at some sort of pod thing. There's a dead Collector in it. I'm uploading some information. Start scanning and see if you can tell me what they were up to."

"Understood. Scanning."

Everyone was silent for a second before EDI started talking again "I have the preliminary results. They were running baseline comparisons between themselves and Humanity."

"Are they looking for similarities?" Shepard asked.

"I cannot answer or provide a hypothesis, but among the preliminary results was something else remarkable. The scans reveal a quad strand genetic structure that is identical to genetic samples taken from ancient ruins. Only one race is known to have this structure. The Protheans."

"My God." Shepard said. "The Protheans didn't vanish, they're working for the Reapers now."

"These are no longer Prothean, Commander. They show extensive genetic rewriting. The Reapers repurposed them to suit their needs." EDI said. "I have found that they have had extensive genetic rewriting. Three fewer chromosomes, reduced heterochromatin structure, deletion of superfluous "junk" DNA and extensive cybernetic implantation."

Everyone was silent at that. The extent of the modifications? I don't think anyone doubted EDI. I heard of horrible ways to die, had seen them and dealt them out. But this? How could anyone, or anything just hollow not one or two people out, but an entire species? Turning them into simulacrum, hollow things that couldn't even be described as people. Were they aware when this happened? I didn't want to think about it, but I was willing to bet that they were. The casual brutality displayed by Sovereign at the Citadel and from what Shepard and Miranda had told me, it was very well possible.

"Merciful to kill them." Grunt said and he was right. It wasn't just to protect the galaxy, killing them at this point was a kindness. Assuming that there was anything left to kill, otherwise it was like shooting a LOKI bot.

"No matter what they are now, they have to be stopped. Team two, we're moving on." Shepard said. I acknowledged the call and Grunt, Jacob and I hunkered down. "Anyone see any kind of movement, anything at all?" I asked and all I got back were negatives. Such a massive ship and no one at all?

"Spirits." Garrus whispered.

"There are enough of these cocoon things for every single human in the entire Terminus systems." Samara said, rather too calmly for my tastes.

"Shepard." Grunt growled.

"Right. Linking helmet feeds." Shepard said.

In the bottom right corner, a video opened up and my mouth dropped. A massive cavern that made every single one of us look tiny in comparison was wall to wall filled with the Collector's cocoons. Samara was right. They could harvest every single human in their colonies and still have space left over. Hell, they could….Goddess.

"Earth." Miranda said, her normal confident tone completely gone. "They're planning to go to Earth."

"Not happening." Shepard snapped. "Let's go."

My team followed their helmet feeds as they walked along, and Thane occasionally passed along whatever he saw. Which was still nothing. Maybe the Turian ship did more damage than we thought or saw.

And maybe making an island full of dinosaurs was a brilliant idea.

"I am not detecting any signs of life in the pods." EDI said.

"Was that supposed to reassure us?" Jacob asked.

I shrugged. I mean, it did somewhat reassure a little. At least they weren't suffering. Which seemed really important considering what had been done to the Protheans. We watched through the feeds as team one moved through the ship.

They reached a dead end and Shepard reached for a terminal that she found. "I now have access." EDI said.

"Uhhh Commander, something's happening." Joker said, the worry evident in his voice.

"What is it?" Shepard demanded.

"Power surge aboard the Normandy!" Joker said.

"I managed to redirect the power surge to non-critical systems. However, this was not accidental. It was on purpose. We have fallen into a trap." EDI said. I think with a touch of worry in her voice. Perhaps I was imagining it.

The helmet feeds suddenly jerked around as Shepard's team lost their balance. "Team one what's happening?!" I demanded.

"Platform is moving, EDI can you do something about this?" Samara asked, sounding a little less calm. "Negative. Someone else is the system and I am having trouble maintaining the connection."

"Movement." Thane said. "Start dropping them the moment that you can." I ordered. Seconds later, Thane's sniper rifle barked. A Collector's body hit the ground, and dozens more came pouring around the corner, through open doors and from ledges above. We dove for cover under a hail of fire as Thane, wherever the hell he was opened fire. The mines detonated and I felt the explosions through ground.

It was easy to see what Thane was doing when Collector after Collector either staggered or outright dropped. My biotics flared and I sent a shockwave bouncing in between a cluster of those damn things. They were sent scattering, with the snap of bones and armor breaking from the force of the shockwave or from the landing.

Or both as one Collector landed on its head and crumpled like Styrofoam.

"Team One, this is team two. Heavy contact, holding position." I reported to Shepard and popped up to blast a Collector. It dropped and I ducked back into cover. Several seconds of gunfire, before Shepard replied, "Noted. Can you hold?"

I looked at my team, as Jacob tripped up a Collector and Thane dropped it. Grunt laughed uproariously and threw a grenade, killing a couple and forcing the rest to take a moment before moving forward again.

"Affirm. Provided that you don't take forever."

An explosion and Garrus cheering interrupted Shepard. When she finally had a chance to respond, she said "Trying not to! Team One out."

I rolled over to another bit of cover and stayed prone. I fired at any bit of movement that I could see, and they stalled. Instead of rushing the shuttle, they fell back behind whatever cover that they could find and poured what seemed like an ungodly amount of fire on us. I rolled back into cover after several shots missed my head by centimeters.

Several beams converged on the shuttle, scoring the outside of it and digging into the metal. "Thane, heavy weapon units! Jacob, suppressing fire, Grunt get ready to charge!" All three of them acknowledged, and it took a couple minutes, but the beams stopped. Thane definitely knew how to use a sniper rifle.

"Jacob. Suppress! Grunt, with me!"

Biotics flared and I launched forward, rifle blazing. Grunt bellowed and charged forward, shotgun barking as it tore through them. What I didn't shoot was tossed around and smashed into walls and the floor like a toy tossed by some kid.

With this sudden offensive, the Collectors were thrown through a loop and retreated a bit, giving us some breathing room. The Collectors quickly recovered and focused their fire on Grunt and I. I quickly ordered Grunt to fall back, and Thane and Jacob covered us. Once we were back in cover, Grunt and Jacob through several grenades and I would always swear that Thane had shot one out of mid-air, killing several drones.

Just going to go on the record that Thane would deny that he shot a grenade out of the air. I will also state for the record that I don't believe him.

Some people feel a need to be modest.

Now where was I?

A bullet smacked into my chest and my shield flared. Oh right, I was being shot at by the robo-bug people. Grunt's and I earlier charge had gotten them to temporarily fall back, but it looked like they were getting their shit back together.

"Another charge?" Jacob asked.

"Would not recommend it. I see several drones carrying heavy weapons, along with Scions. They are lying in wait." Thane said, as calmly as one would report the weather. Sure enough, a couple beams hit the side of the shuttle.

I made my decision in an instant.

"We can take them!" Grunt growled as he smacked a drone in the face with the butt of his shotgun.

"Doubtful." Thane said.

A drone's head exploded, and I saw several Scions lumber forward and I agreed with Thane. It would be doubtful that we would succeed a second time. It only worked the first time because they weren't expecting it.

Several more shots, heavy and regular hit the shuttle, and at this rate I was beginning to wonder if it would be able to take off again. "Zero-One, take off! We'll clear the LZ and tell you when to come back!"

The pilot started to protest, and I cut him off, "Don't argue with me, go now!" I yelled.

The shuttle's engines fired up and it lifted off of the ground. Just in time because the Scions finally lumbered into place and opened fire. All of us dodged the blasts as what cover we did have was destroyed instantly.

"I hope you have a good plan." Jacobs said.

"I do actually." I replied. "Fire and move! Five-meter spread! We're going to pull them in and tear them apart!"

It was perfectly executed. I created a barrier, and Jacob and Grunt would get up and sprint past me. They then would lay down covering fire and I would sprint to join them. Rinse and repeat and we fell back, bit by bit.

The drones and the rest of them gradually moved forward, drawing more and more of them into the bay. We dodged until all of our shields were reduced to nothing and our armor was taking hits. I tossed the device at Grunt and I barked "Jacob, barrier with me! Thane, get cover and Grunt, throw it!"

Grunt hurled the cylinder as Jacob and I formed a small circle around us. I watched it fall in what seemed like slow motion, it tumbled end over end before finally landing in the middle of the Collectors.

One. Two. Three. Fo-

Click.

A flash of light and it exploded. A thundercrack that was felt through the ground and my helmet polarized in order to protect my eyes. Jacob and I shook as we took what felt like lightning bolts on the barrier. Seconds later silence reigned and nothing that was Collector was moving. A blackened circle spoke of where the bomb had detonated. Spreading out in a circle were streaks of what passed for their blood and pieces of drones.

"What the hell was that?" Jacob asked in awe of the carnage.

"Anti-personal bomb that Zaeed, Mordin and I had made. Don't think I'll be using that again Or at least not anytime soon." I answered as I picked my way through the bodies. "Why not?" Jacob asked as he shot a drone that was pulling itself along the ground.

"Indiscriminate. Holes in the ground says that it sent shrapnel everywhere and probably would have wrecked the shuttle. Need either a lot of open space or to be really desperate." Grunt answered. "Bingo, someone give the kid a prize." I drawled. "Thane, still with us?" I asked.

"Surprisingly."

"Great. Everyone sound off, anyone see anything?"

A chorus of negatives was my answer, so I radioed the shuttle to come back. "Check ammo and get yourselves into cover. I doubt that's the last that we will see of them."

"Team two, Team one!" Shepard yelled.

"Go ahead." I answered, wondering what fresh hell was about to be discovered.

"We're heading back, get ready for fast exfil! They're powering up their weapons!"

"Understood, LZ is clear for you." I said, scanning the room again. "Thane, get down here. We're going to be leaving very quickly. The shuttle came racing in, no worse for the wear and settled down behind us. The bay door opened, and I wondered if someone could attach a heavy machine gun to it, give it some kind of weaponry.

My squad formed a loose circle around it, and we waited. We didn't have to wait for very long as Shepard and company came sprinting through the corner with what looked like a company's worth of Collectors following them, including the giant bug one that nearly killed me Horizon. "Cover them!" I yelled and we opened up, downing several drones.

Team one sprinted past us and into the shuttle. My team was the last person on and was damn near yanked off of my feet when Grunt and Garrus pulled me into the shuttle. The pilots wheeled the ungainly thing around and raced out of the Collector ship.

A couple others and I weren't able to get to the seats in time, and so we fought to remain standing until we landed on Normandy. The shuttle doors had barely opened when Shepard had jumped out and sprinted towards the elevator. Miranda was a little slower but following.

Those of us who hadn't taken off running only had Joker's warning to hang on before we were all tossed off of our feet. I flayed my arms as I fought to stay balanced. I succeeded, at least until Grunt crashed into me and sent me sprawling.

I scrambled to my feet just in time for the ship to tilt sideways and a cacophony of curses in different languages to echo through out the hanger. Normandy leveled out and minutes later we were traveling in what I think was a straight line.

"Hopefully that never happens again." Garrus said and a chorus of agreements rang about as I helped the others to their feet. When nothing else happened, we all drifted away to take care of ourselves.

I had changed out of my armor and looked it over. Thankfully this time there wasn't as much damage to it, mostly cosmetic. Be a much easier fix now, unlike the Horizon mission. That one ended up with me outright replacing entire parts of it and I am not exactly swimming in money. Maybe I could ask Shepard to spare some credits.

I discarded the thought as soon as I had it, I could find something myself if I had too, always have and always will.

Sweatpants and a tank top was my outfit of choice and I pulled out the maintenance bench and put my rifle down on it. I cycled through a playlist, and thrash metal started blaring from the speakers.

Once the rifle was in pieces, I took a rag and started cleaning it, moving in time with the music. Maintenance was necessary and an important thing to do, but it didn't mean that it had to be boring. Through some music on, and time will fly pretty fast. At least it has in my experience.

I reassembled the rifle and hung it up on the wall locker and switched over to my pistol. I had just started dissembling it when a beeping cut through the music and got my attention. Pulling up a view screen, I saw Miranda standing impatiently outside my ship, holding a rectangle shaped box.

What could she want?

I turned down the music and opened the door, though I made no move to get up. Mainly because I am working and not because I am an immature prat thank you. Miranda strowed in and placed the rectangular shaped box next to me.

I looked at her and frowned. "What's wrong?" I asked and Miranda raised an eyebrow. "Nothing's wrong." She replied a little coolly and I rolled my eyes. "Yes, there is. Your eyes are a little red and your mouth is frownier then usual. Your hair is slightly forward, more than the usual couple strands, like you forgot to brush it back. Which you never do. So once again, what is wrong?"

I hissed when the slide for the pistol slipped off faster than I was expecting it too and I pinched a finger. Shaking my hand in the air, I waited for Miranda to say whatever it was that she had to say.

"I'm sorry about this morning. I wasn't trying to hit you, I wanted to get you to look at me. Succeeded there." Miranda said and I flicked my uninjured hand and a chair scooted forward and she sat down. I chuckled mirthlessly. "You're right about that." I sighed and realized that Shepard was right. I was in the wrong and had to apologize.

"I'm sorry about pushing you against the wall and calling you a coward. I…I enjoy spending time with you. I really do." I stopped shaking my hand and rubbed my eyes. "You're my friend, and you're right. I know a lot about you and kept things from you. It isn't because I don't trust you, it's because…I don't know." I groaned and trailed off.

"Because this James left a bad impression and now you're cautious about opening up to anyone?" Miranda asked and I lowered my hand to look at her. She blushed a little and shrugged. I coughed and shrugged. She probably had a point and I didn't want to admit it.

"And on top of it you're not a very introspective person. You just go with whatever feels good at the moment and don't think twice. Or once if at all."

I stared at her in open mouth shock and Miranda shrugged.

"Am I wrong?"

I blushed and returned my attention to my pistol. Miranda simply waited and I quickly buckled under her gaze. "Okay fine you're right." I grumbled. "A little bit."

Miranda laughed and I blushed and refused to look at her. "I brought a gift. A thank you for helping me with Oriana." Still blushing, I sighed and said "Miranda, once again I don't need a gift. A thank you was enough."

"I know, and as the XO I can ignore you."

She isn't wrong about that. I barely moved the pistol out of the way when the box thudded down on the table. Her omni-tool activated and the box opened. Inside was an oiled and brand-new rifle. It was white and grey and looked heavy.

"What is this? I have never seen a rifle like this." I asked in wonder. It looked dated, even with the fresh sheen on it. "It's called a M-96 Mattock heavy assault rifle. Semi-automatic. Thought you might like it." I lifted it and slid into a firing stance. I shouldered the rifle and looked down the sights. It was a little heavier than what I was used to, but I could easily use this.

I grinned. I set the rifle down and pulled her into a hug. Miranda froze for a second before she returned the hug. It was my turn to freeze when her arms came around me and she rested her face in the crook of my neck.

I pulled her closer and a part of me just…broke. It had been so long since I let myself be open with anyone that once there was a crack in the wall, everything just poured out. "You were right." I whispered. "James..he." I took a deep breath and then exhaled. I pretended not to notice how tense she got when my breath hit her neck. "Take your time." She whispered and I took another breath.

"I thought he and I would be together. I don't know if he was the one, or something else. But we were always together, and I trusted and loved him. We raided a merc camp and found a bunch of kids. Different species, but still kids. I was going to take them home, James and his brother wanted to sell them off. I thought I convinced them not to, until we were in space and James ejected me out of an airlock."

Miranda shuddered and I blinked away the tears that were forming. "I didn't have a suit, anything. I hadn't seen it coming. A few extra credits and just like that, he betrayed me. I barely survived. Got back on the ship and tore them both to pieces. I put the kids in the life pod and ejected while sending the ship crashing into a planet. That's why I thought he was dead. I knew he owed some unsavory people some money, but I had made a plan that was for it that was acceptable to everyone. Guess I was wrong."

I didn't want to stand anymore and let go of her and sat down on the edge of my bed. Miranda followed and I took her hand in mine and threaded our fingers together. It felt so natural and good that I didn't question it.

"After that…well after that I wasn't close with anyone save for a family on the Citadel. Goddess." I fell back and flopped on the bed and covered my eyes with my other arm. "Goddess. I can't believe I'm telling you this. Even Shep has trouble getting me to admit anything. Are you sure you're not some kind of witch? Bewitching me with your company? Beauty? You have magic powers in your hugs?"

Miranda chuckled, "No I don't think so." She lay down next to me and I lifted my arm to look at her. I reached over and traced her face with my finger and pushed a strand of hair that was brushing against her nose. It was at that moment I was struck how beautiful she was, how having her here made me feel so much better and I hadn't even realized it.

Miranda ran her fingers over my arm, and I wished that she didn't have her gloves on, that I could feel her fingers on my skin. "If there's one thing that I'm grateful for, with this whole threat to the galaxy, is that I got to meet you." I whispered. Miranda blushed and looked away. I moved until we were inches apart, still touching each other. The silence was so loud, and I felt like I could hear her heartbeat. I didn't doubt that she could hear mine.

"Thank you. For telling me about James." She scooted closer, to the point where our noses were touching. "You're welcome. I don't know what came over me. It just…happened."

Miranda's hand moved up and traced the outline of my jaw. "Keep that up and you might end up on Thessia, meeting my parents." I said, not sure how I meant it.

Miranda hummed and said, "Not the worst thing to happen."

I moved closer, and we fit together, like pieces sliding together and I traced my hand over her hips as her leg slid in between mine. "No…No it really isn't." I whispered. Our lips were almost touching and I could feel her breath on mine.

Oh to hell with it.

I kissed her.

It was supposed to be light, a simple thing. Just a quick one, a peck, but instead I found myself pressing even harder and Miranda grabbed my neck and moaning and dug my fingers into her hips as I rolled until I was on top her. I pull back from the kiss and Miranda gasped for air as I panted above her. Her hands were around my neck, and she pulled me down to her.

I eagerly allowed her to pull me down and kissed her senselessly. I swiped at her mouth with my tongue, and she moaned and opened her mouth further. Our tongues met and pushed back at each other, quickly becoming a competition. Yet even so I couldn't bring myself to care if I won this one or not. My fingers dug into her hips and waist, and I gasped when her leg lifted up and pressed itself against my burning core. It only ended when neither of us could breathe anymore, and my heart was pounding, and my lungs were burning from the lack of oxygen.

We stopped our kiss, and I raised my head as little as possible while I tried to get my breathing under control. My leg pressed forward and I shuddered at the moan that she let out, a sound so erotic that to hear it should be illegal. Her eyes were closed and hair fanned out around her like a dark halo and she looked so beautiful.

I moaned when she raised her leg a little more and added more pressure. I closed my eyes and went for another kiss when I felt her hands switch from my head and neck to my shoulders. With a light shove I was suddenly on my back and Miranda was practically jumping out of the bed.

My lust fogged mind was still trying to process what was going on when she said "What the hell was that?! I need to go. I have to… think. Work. Yes I have to think about this." Miranda babbled.

When I finally managed to form a coherent thought, I said "Think about what?" Like a total idiot. You try and focus and have clear thoughts with someone like Miranda kissing you. "You could do your thinking here, with me." I said as I lifted myself up a little bit. I grinned when Miranda's eyes darted to my chest and my stomach as my shirt had ridden up some.

"N..No thank you. I'll go back to my office."

I made to get up and Miranda stressed "I will go alone thank you."

I flopped back down on the bed and kept grinning. "Alright. I hope you'll be thinking about me. While you're….alone."

Miranda burned red and practically fled my ship. I ran my fingers over my lips, I didn't know what the hell that was either, but I was glad that it happened. I decided to wait, to see what she would do and or say.

I looked at the rifle she had given me, and I smiled. I don't know what would happen next, but I didn't care. I smiled, feeling free and happy.

"Wow. Didn't think I would ever see that happening." A voice said and I snapped up, head snapping around, looking around for where that voice came from. It was female, teasing and amused.

My biotics flared and I yelled "KASUMI!"

Hope you all enjoyed.

-C.H.