"Come on, Ori! Answer!"
Miranda sat at her desk in frustration, killed the commlink, double-checked the address parameters, opened it again, listening to the paging tone repeat over and over and trying not to panic. She was exhausted, body aching from exertion and countless bumps and bruises received over the previous hours, her right shoulder and elbow burning from strained ligaments. Her hair was matted and skin crusted with blood and other substances she didn't care to think about, and her mind was filled with a jumble of images and sensations that pressed relentlessly on her memory.
Massive, vaulted chambers, filled with countless pods that in turn contained countless harvested human beings. More than they could ever hope to save.
Kelly Chambers' face behind the clear panel of one of those pods, shifting from hazy awareness to terrified pleading to searing agony, her screams audible through the liquid that filled her pod as her flesh and bones were melted away while Miranda hammered fruitlessly at the shell of her entrapment.
The sudden spray of fluid, slick and fetid and nauseatingly warm, drenching Miranda as the pod shattered belatedly, her cry of dismay and disgust mingling with those of the rest of the squad as the same scene played out again and again around her. They'd managed to save half the crew that had been taken.
Zaeed's head exploding in a spray of brain and bone just before the doors slid shut.
The relentless hum of the Seeker swarms beating against Samara's biotic barrier as Evan, Miranda and Tali fended off physical attacks from the Collectors themselves, wave after wave breaking under assault from rifle, shotgun and biotic surges, their blood and gore adding to the mess.
The massive abomination at the heart of the Collector base: a human Reaper, still in the process of being formed from the genetic material of the humans dissolved in their pods, but still able to attack.
The feeling of tumbling as the platform beneath her shifted and tilted in the explosion that destroyed the construct, the terror of empty space yawning beneath her as she slid over the edge, the violent jerk as her fall was arrested by an iron grip on her wrist, looking up to find Evan's eyes blazing at her as the Commander's free hand clawed for a grip and the sudden, sick certainty that they would both fall to their deaths, because Evan was not letting go -
She pushed away from the desk and to her feet with a ragged breath that was not quite a sob. How could she have been so damn foolish? Yes, the Reaper had been an abomination, but to openly refuse a command from the Illusive Man, then throw her resignation in his face before she had secured her sister's location? It had been the right thing to do; she knew that, above and beyond the warmth that the approval in Evan's face had kindled in her chest, but if Oriana paid the price -
"Hey." The door to her quarters slid open and Shepard strode in, her right arm in a sling to support the rotator cuff that she'd torn when she'd caught Miranda, and the rest of her looking as filthy and beaten up as Miranda felt. "Joker's got us on a course for Omega. We can dock there, make some repairs and -" She broke off, staring at Miranda. "What's wrong?"
"I have to go!" Miranda blurted. "Ori's not answering, Evan … that bastard told my father where she was! If anything has happened to her -" If anything happened, it would be Miranda's fault, for putting her own foolish emotions ahead of her sister's welfare. How could she have been so careless? She spun, her eyes settling on the go-bag that she always kept packed. "I need you to drop me off -"
"Hold on." Evan's good arm looped around her waist. "You don't need to go anywhere. She's fine!"
"How the hell do you know that?" Miranda demanded heatedly, twisting free of the hold, too agitated to feel guilty at the wince the move elicited from Evan.
"Because before we entered the relay, I'd asked Liara to keep an eye on Ori and step in if anyone looked like they were trying to take her," Evan explained. "I just got a message from her that her agents saw Cerberus moving in and took them out, then pulled Ori and her family. They're safe, and Liara's waiting for you to select a new location that Cerberus knows nothing about."
"Why didn't she contact me directly?" Miranda wanted to know, irritation flaring from the unspent agitation.
"Because she doesn't have a quantum entanglement communicator with you," the commander replied reasonably, "and Cerberus likely still has your communications monitored -"
"Not anymore," Miranda snarled. The first thing she'd done when she'd gotten back had been to rip out every monitoring device installed in her quarters.
"We should probably let Mordin and EDI run a scan, just to be sure," Shepard reasoned. "Liara can set up a QEC between you and Ori once she's in her new location."
The reality of what Evan was saying finally sank in, and a relief that made her knees go weak was followed immediately by a wash of anger. "How dare you do all that without telling me?"
The flash of hurt in Evan's eyes was there and gone almost before it could be noticed. "Because I trusted Liara to not do anything unless it was necessary," she replied. "I was intending to tell you before we entered the relay, but -" She shrugged with her left shoulder. "I got a bit … distracted."
Miranda stared at her, the anger scrabbling hard for a clawhold before giving up and sliding away. "Ah … yes," she said lamely, trying to come up with something a bit more coherent. Ori was safe. Ori was safe and she had cut ties with Cerberus. Ori was safe, she had cut ties with Cerberus, and she was standing three feet from the woman whom she had spent most of the previous night shagging like a hormone-addled adolescent. And the thing that lingered the most in her mind wasn't the sex, but the feel of strong arms encircling her from behind, a lanky body molding its length to hers and Evan's breath against her shoulder as they both drifted toward sleep.
"Thank you," she managed at last, turning away, the churning in her mind worse than ever. They'd both survived, and what was she supposed to do now? "I'm sorry I snapped at you," she offered, still not looking around and taking a couple of steps away for good measure. " I was … upset. I should contact Liara now. And Ori."
"You can use the QEC in my quarters," Evan offered quietly. "I need to check back in at medbay, anyway."
Something in her voice made Miranda cringe, but when she looked around, Evan was already walking out the door. She stood there for a long moment, telling herself that the urge to go after her was foolish, that what had happened between them had simply been two people responding to the very real possibility of death, and didn't she have a sister who needed looking after?
That part turned out to be almost ridiculously easy. Liara had already researched half a dozen likely locations, and Oriana had selected her preference. After settling on it, agreeing on a call time, and assuring her anxious sibling that she had sustained no serious injury, that all she needed was a shower and a nap, she found herself facing the Shadow Broker.
"I'll get the QEC set up and your end forwarded to you on Omega as soon as possible," Liara promised.
"Thank you, Liara," she told the asari. "God that doesn't even begin to cover what I owe you. If there is ever anything I can do -"
"Just look after Evan," Liara asked her softly. "She doesn't need to be alone right now, even if she thinks she does."
There was no hint of threat in the blue eyes, no 'or else' hovering behind the words. Oriana's safety no longer hinged on her doing as she was told, but the freedom that gave her was something she had no idea what to do with. If she wasn't Cerberus' top operative, if she wasn't Ori's sole protection … what was she?
"I don't know what to do, Liara," she admitted.
"Neither does Evan," the asari replied. "She's been fighting for so long, she believes that's all she's good for. She needs something else … someone else."
"You love her." It was a statement, not a question, but Liara shook her head.
"She wouldn't let me," she said sadly. "She always felt she had to protect me from herself, push me away. She'll try to do the same to you. Don't let her … please."
The communication ended, and Miranda stared at the blank screen for several long moments, collecting her thoughts. "EDI, where is Commander Shepard?"
"The Commander is in the Port Observation Deck." Kasumi's quarters. The thief had sustained severe burns while navigating a thermal vent pipe to bypass the sealed doors that blocked access to the base's control center.
"Is Kasumi all right?" Miranda asked, suddenly worried that the woman had taken a turn for the worse. Zaeed Massani had been the only death among the strike team, but the medbay had been filled to capacity with the wounded, and the empty stations scattered throughout the ship were a stark reminder that they hadn't been able to save all of those who had been taken. Any more deaths would hit Evan hard.
"Kasumi is currently sedated and resting," EDI reported. "Dr. Chakwas has listed her condition as serious but stable, and her vital signs support this."
"Thank you." Miranda breathed a sigh of relief. She'd actually developed a healthy respect – tinged with a hint of exasperated affection – for the clever thief, and it was for damn certain that they wouldn't have made it into the Collector base without her skills.
"The Commander requested that I inform you that you are free to utilize the shower in her quarters," EDI added.
"Not just yet," Miranda murmured, getting up from the desk and heading for the elevator. She found Shepard standing in front of the observation window, staring out at the stars.
"How's Oriana?" she asked without turning around.
"She's fine," Miranda replied, stepping into the room and letting the door slide shut behind her. Immediately, the room was plunged into darkness as the light from the corridor was blocked, Shepard's form darkening to a dim silhouette against the stellar display. "Thank you again for -"
"It's all right," Evan cut her off. "She's a good kid; she didn't deserve to get caught between you and Cerberus. You -" She turned her head slightly, glancing back. "You should get cleaned up, get some rest."
"I could say the same about you." Miranda stepped closer, trying to decide how to bridge the distance that had sprung up between them. Just hours before, she had been awakened by kisses and caresses, and they'd made love one more time, a slow and sensuous exploration, her climax a gentle tumble into release. She'd lain contentedly in Evan's arms, feeling the beat of her lover's heart, the slow rhythm of her breath, until Joker's voice over the comm had announced that they were minutes out from the Omega 4 relay. It had been peaceful, perfect … terrifying, because part of her continued to insist that it couldn't have been real, had to have been an artifact of time and place, nothing that could possibly be repeated, let alone sustained.
Which would make the unfamiliar yearning she was now feeling a fool's dream.
"I never liked that bastard," Evan said suddenly, turning her gaze back to the stars. "Maybe if I had, I'd have worked harder to keep him alive."
Massani. "That's not true, Evan." She knew that beyond any doubt. Shepard had kept herself in the thick of the fight from the start. "It was a stray shot. Bad luck, nothing more." He'd kept himself front and center, even when his shields started to fail, but they'd all made that error in the heat of battle.
"Maybe." Evan slumped a bit, resting her forehead against the glass. "And the rest?"
"That was the Collectors, Evan. The Collectors killed them. The Reapers killed them. You made sure they won't be doing it to anyone else. We saved Karin, Ken, Gabby..." Thirty-three of the fifty-eight who had been taken had returned with them. She took another step, another, reached out to take Shepard's left arm, tugging gently. "Come on. Let's get you showered, Commander."
Evan stood fast for a long moment: not actively resisting, but immovable as stone. Just when Miranda was on the verge of cheating with a biotic field, Shepard let herself be drawn away. She followed Miranda back to her cabin in silence, slipping out of her sling and discarding the rest of her clothes as Miranda undressed. The shower was more than big enough for two, but as far as Miranda knew, this was the first time Shepard had shared it with anyone.
She'd more than half expected Shepard to initiate sex; perhaps she'd even been hoping for it, because she found herself disappointed when gentle hands did nothing more than massage shampoo through her hair, working out clotted blood and bits of bone and carapace. By the time those hands moved on to her body, stroking slow, soothing paths over her skin, gliding on a silky lather of perfumed soap, she was beginning to realize that these careful attentions just might be more dangerous than any seduction.
She tipped her head back to allow the warm water to rinse away the last of the suds, then turned with the half-formed intention of doing the seducing herself, but the bone-deep exhaustion in Evan's eyes ended that plan. Instead, she returned the favor, gently washing away the gore, entranced by the feel of the soap-slick skin beneath her fingers, the feel of taut muscles relaxing under her touch, the softening of the exhaustion in Evan's eyes to a more normal fatigue, eyelids sliding to half-mast. It was an intimacy very different from what they had shared the night before, and she found herself oddly reluctant to let it end, but Evan was swaying on her feet, so after a final rinse, she turned off the water, dried them both with thick, soft towels and led the Commander to her bed with an awkwardness that had been nowhere in evidence the previous night.
"Come here," she made herself say when Evan stretched out on one side of the bed with empty space between them. After a brief hesitation, Evan complied, her right arm tucked close to her body while her left draped stiffly across Miranda's waist, the tension returning to her frame.
Look after her.
Miranda folded her arms around Shepard, guiding the tousled head down to her shoulder and running her fingers through the damp hair. Slowly, Evan relaxed, slipping into sleep at last with a weary sigh. Miranda held her, unsure if the ache in her chest was from happiness or grief, until she too drifted off.