Miranda had never run so hard in her life.
The Collector base was swarming around them. The ground rumbled with the sheer amount of Collector footfalls that pursued them down the passageway. Angry clicks and shrieks clogged the air, and above it all, Harbinger's voice haunted them from every side. It was a scene straight out of a nightmare.
And they were not home free yet.
Miranda could see the Normandy rising into view just beyond the ledge ahead. The airlock slid open, ready to admit them, and Joker filled the gap. Miranda was so occupied with pumping her legs and her lungs as fast as she could, she did not even make a mental note to scold him later. All she cared about was getting to that ship.
Something exploded behind them. Miranda glanced over long enough to watch Tali stumble and recover. A little thing like that wasn't going to stop them now.
Joker's gunfire mixed with the Collector's whizzing past their ears as they neared, but all Miranda could hear was her heartbeat. They were so close. They were so close to getting out of here; to achieving the impossible; to saving humanity, against all odds.
Miranda reached the edge of the ledge and leaped. Tali landed a beat ahead of her, and then Miranda's feet hit the Normandy's deck, too. It was an easy jump. Barely an effort. An anticlimax to their grand escape. Miranda was thankful for it.
And then, as if the universe had heard her thoughts, disaster struck.
A piece of debris fell from someplace above. It struck the edge of the platform nearest the Normandy, and it peeled away like paper. What had been an easy jump moments before was now a yawning void between danger and safety.
And Shepard was still on the ground.
The commander had a habit of hanging back to make sure all of her teammates were safe before she tended to herself. It was noble. It was kind. But it was incredibly inconvenient at times like this. And incredibly frightening.
"Shepard, run!" Tali'Zorah cried out from beside Miranda's shoulder, and it seemed like a redundancy, but Miranda didn't disagree.
Instead she clung to the frame of the Normandy's airlock and leaned out as far as she dared, leveling her pistol at the army of Collectors pursuing Shepard. Her bullets and Joker's dropped the aliens like flies, but for every one that fell, another was there to take its place. It was by the grace of God or stubbornness alone that Shepard wasn't gunned down on her way to the ship, but she made it to the edge unscathed.
And then she jumped.
It was too far. The gap was too wide. They could all see it. Even with her cybernetics, even with momentum, even with adrenaline, Shepard wouldn't make it.
As the commander flew through the air, arms pinwheeling like it might lend her extra lift, time seemed to slow down. Miranda was aware of every bloom of orange flame that erupted across the Collector base; every double pair of eyes that watched Shepard's arc with hatred; every report of Joker's assault rifle; every breath that wheezed into her own aching lungs. And in that moment, Shepard's eyes found hers.
The commander's expression was strained. Desperate. Understandably so. But her eyes—her beautiful, jade green eyes that could reach straight into a person's soul—were steady. Not calm, but at least resigned. They said that if Shepard died right now, plummeting to a quick end on the exterior of a hostile fortress, she would have no regrets.
Miranda did not feel the same.
And she was not going to let Shepard die now.
She threw out her hand, and a crackle of blue enveloped it, then Shepard. Just as she focused her energy and pulled, the Normandy faltered a little in the air. It was only a slight dip in altitude, but it was enough. Combined with Miranda's efforts, it was the last thing they needed for Shepard to close the distance and catch the edge of the airlock with just the tips of her fingers.
Thank you, Miranda thought to the pilot, or the universe, or whomever was responsible for the tiny occurrence that meant everything. Truly, Shepard had the best luck in the galaxy.
Time resumed to normal. Miranda and Tali lunged forward to grab the commander's arms and haul her into the ship. At the same time, Joker headed for the cockpit, and EDI's voice began to count down.
As the ship shuddered into action and they began the final leg of their escape, Miranda found herself on the floor with an armful of Shepard. The woman was in terrible shape. She smelled like smoke, her visor was cracked, and there were bug guts smeared across her armor. But none of that mattered. She was alive, and that's all Miranda cared about.
She reached out and lifted Shepard's damaged helmet off, laying it aside so she could see her face. It, too, was layered with soot and viscera, but her eyes shined brightly out of the mess. They no longer looked resigned. Instead, they were thrilled.
"We did it," she rasped for Miranda's ears only, shifting so she knelt between the former officer's legs. "We completed the mission."
"Yes, we did," Miranda returned just as softly, "against all odds." She ran her gloved fingers through Shepard's matted red hair, uncaring that anyone might see. It didn't matter, now that they weren't Cerberus anymore. Now that they weren't about to face certain death anymore. Now, there was nothing stopping them from just being…them.
For now, at least, they could have peace.
"I couldn't have done it without you," Shepard whispered. Then she leaned in and kissed her lightly. Miranda didn't even want to think about what might be on her lips, but she sank into the contact anyway, because she could.
They had to promptly break apart for air, since they had just sprinted out of an exploding enemy space base, but Miranda comforted herself with the fact that they'd have plenty more chances in the future. She would make sure of it.
"What now?" she asked as Shepard pulled back to look at her with those warm, heavy eyes that had been her downfall and she realized abruptly, I love her. God, I love her. She tightened her grip and breathed deeply, letting the knowledge flood her whole being, and it felt right. It felt inevitable. Of course she, the one who had brought Commander Aspen Shepard back from the dead, would fall in love with her in the end.
Shepard smiled just a little, like she knew what she was thinking, and said, "Who knows?"
…
