Jack heard the clicking of those obnoxious high heels long before the door wooshed open and clacked their way down the stairs towards her. She sighed deeply and rubbed her eyes. She really wasn't in the mood for this. "What the fuck are you doing down here?" She didnt even look up, but she sensed the woman lean up against the wall.
Miranda knew she wasn't going to be met warmly, but she was trying her best not to show her apprehension. She pulled a bottle out from behind her back and casually swung it forward. "I brought you a peace offering."
Jack scoffed before finally looking up. Her anger waivered only a moment as her eyes quickly looked the woman up and down, finally settling on the bottle. To think, Miranda thought her quiet allegience could be bought with a bottle of cheap wine. She looked the woman in the eyes for a brief moment. "Get the fuck out of here. I'm not in the mood for your bullshit."
Miranda breathed out and chanced taking s few slow steps toward Jack. "I'm not asking you to put up with anything. But I'd think twice before turning this down," she carefully held the bottle out, ensuring the label was facing the bed where Jack sat.
Jack rolled her eyes. Her first impulse was to use full biotics to throw that stupid bitch across the room and through the hull. But something held her back. She finally settled on the promise of an escape from her pathetic reality through libations, no matter how short lived it would be. She reluctantly looked up, eyes catching the faded label of the bottle in Miranda's hand. She immediately snapped to standing, hastily snatching the bottle and peering at the label in disbelief. "Is this...is this Krogan brandy?"
Miranda couldn't help but feel pleased at the pure joyous disbelief wash over Jack's face, even if it was over the prospect of getting blind drunk. She half smiled as Jack looked up at her with a crooked smile.
"Krogan brandy? You do realize this is the only thing in the galaxy strong enough to keep a biotic drunk for more than ten minutes at a time?"
Miranda bowed her head. "I do."
Jack paused. "Then you also know this is completely outlawed for consumption by humans?" She watched as Miranda crossed her arms and nodded...almost shyly. Childlike. Jack ignored the slight churn in her stomach. She looked down at the bottle. "How did you get this?"
Miranda smiled again, this time more confidently. "You know I have my resources."
Jack, suddenly feeling like she needed to reexert control over this increasingly awkward moment, took two strong but slow steps until she was entirely too close, seeing Moranda's eyes flutter and swallow. She let a moment pass before lifting the bottle up slightly. "I guess I need to share this, then?"
Miranda shook her head lightly. "No, that is for you."
Jack's eyes lingered a moment before turning and plopping down on the bed. "Offers like this from me don't come often, princess."
Miranda mulled it over. On the one hand, she too could use a drink. On the other hand, she hesitated at screwing up this newly found peace they had seemed to have forged. Looking down at Jack as she popped the top off the large brandy bottle, she found she was sitting on the bed next to her without recalling how she had gotten there.
Jack observed Miranda move to the bed out of the corner of her eye, surprised that the woman would take her up on such a nefarious offer. Hell, just procuring the bottle alone was aready past the point of rule breaking she thought the woman capable of. She quickly pulled the top off and took a deep pull of the pungent liquid. Her throat closed and her eyes watered, her body left gasping for relief from the entirely vile concoction. As her senses returned, she could hear the genuine laughter coming from beside her. She looked over and saw an entirely giddy Miranda and the sight was almost enough to send Jack back into another choking fit. Her eyes lingered a moment. "You know, I'm not so sure you can handle this...I don't think your delicate palate will be happy," she snarked.
Miranda noticed the playfulness of this challenge, and smirked at Jack as she pulled the bottle from her hands. With a competetive swig, she felt as though she had just injested rocket fuel, her body reacting more violently than Jack's did. She greatfully handed the bottle back as Jack pulled on it, breathing shallow as her body recovered. She watched Jack take another swig, not quite as bad of a reaction as before. Miranda let the brandy and the silence marinate for a moment before speaking. "You know, Jack, for years I've been turning a blind eye. I was built to be perfect, to do my job well. So long as I did that, it didn't matter to me the means Cerberus took. At least thats what I was able to tell myself."
In order to hide both her discomfort and curiosity of what Miranda was about to say, Jack took another violent swig, but this time was prepared to weather the terrible taste. A slight turn of her head in Miranda's direction prompted the woman to continue.
Miranda watched Jack force down another swig while she steeled her resolve. "And so, I didn't listen to you, Jack. I didn't hear you. I didn't want to. Even then, as you walked through the facility that made you...that broke you, tortured you...I didn't want to listen. It was too easy to think you were lying, exaggerating," she paused a moment as she felt Jack's anger sizzle. The woman took another swig instead of biting back. Miranda took that as a sign to continue. Her voice was softer. "I was able to seperate the two. If I was to think you were a monster, that you were the problem, not Cerberus, that I could continue to deny the truth." Jack's silence spurred her on. "But then, today...seeing that boy up there," her voice waivered. "I couldn't deny the horror that Cerberus is truly capable of." She turned slightly to face Jack, whom looked back with quiet interest. "When I saw him up there, all I saw was you. Innocent. Entire childhood stolen. Scarred, changed forever. All because of what? The Illusive Man's pipe dream for humanity's galactic superiority?" She shook her head and scoffed. "It seems so stupid now. And everything I thought I stood for...its all bullshit. I'm sorry for what I said, Jack. For how I behaved."
Jack scoffed and took another swig. It was getting easier to stomach with each pull. So was listening. And somehow, forgiving. At least a little bit. "Yeah, well. Not your shining moment."
Miranda huffed. Another moment passed before she turned even more until she was completely facing Jack. She noticed the other woman lean back slightly, as if their nearness made her uncomfortable. "Look, I can't change the past. And I know this...between us...won't be fixed by a bottle of brandy and one apology. And unfortunately, right now we need Cerberus." She saw Jack squirm and reached out to put her hand on the woman's shoulder.
Jack flinched at the contact, but Miranda held firm. She looked from the hand up to the brunette's eyes. What she saw there pushed back at the urge to filet the bitch right there. They looked...sincere.
"Shepard may just be our only hope. Cerberus has the resources we need to stop the Collectors. But sfter that, I promise I will help you do anythng I can to take them down."
Though Miranda flashed a smile, Jack didn't react. She wasn't used to being shown kindness, nevermind from someone she hated. Maybe she didn't have to hate Miranda. But that was something she couldn't decide just yet. She held out the bottle, the only way she was capable of expressing what she felt...whatever it was.
Miranda pierced her lips before gently pushing the bottle back. "Oh, no. It's all yours. Enjoy." She nodded at Jack before standing up and heading for the stairs. The sound of Jack's voice turned her around.
"Hey, princess," Jack called as she stood up. When the woman spun around, Jack suddenly felt her confidence and desire to express civility dissolve. She shifted her weight, swinging the bottle up toward Miranda. It was all she could bring herself to do to say thank you. Instead she stuck with all she knew. After a beat, "Hey, fuck off." It was said with much less venom, and with body language that meant much more.
Miranda recognised the olive branch, no matter how unconventional and 'Jack' it was. She simply half smiled and slowly ascended the stairs.
Jack listened as the doors wooshed open and shut, replaying the last few moments in her head as she took another swig of brandy.
