Miranda allowed the door to slide open the rest of the way and took a small step back as she stared at Jack in disbelief. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?" she said in a slow, mildly hostile voice. "How did you find us?"

Jack stepped over the threshold like a barely contained force of nature and shot Miranda a condescending glare. "Relax, princess," she said. "I'm alone. I was with Dorian's crew when you and the salarian met him in that shithole warehouse. Didn't take much to track you back here."

Miranda narrowed her gaze on their visitor and adopted an aggressive stance. The Paladin heavy pistol was still gripped tightly in her right hand, hanging down at her side. "You're working for Dorian?"

Jack shrugged and crossed her arms in front of her as the door slid shut. "It's good money." She then looked to her left and acknowledged Thane with a quick upward tilt of her head. "Good to see you're still on your feet, Krios. What are you doing still hanging around the cheerleader?"

Thane holstered his weapon and clasped his hands behind his back. "Miss Lawson and I have important work we're attending to here on the Citadel. It has been a mutually beneficial partnership."

Jack smirked and opened her mouth to make another snide remark, but was distracted when Kasumi came walking casually up to greet her.

"Heyya, Jack. Fancy meeting you here?" Kasumi said in her typical cheerful tone.

"You too? What the hell, Lawson? You trying to get the band back together or something? Is that test-tube krogan hiding somewhere in the back?"

Miranda was growing impatient as she finally holstered her pistol and crossed her arms under her breasts, throwing her right hip out to the side. "Why are you here, Jack?"

Jack took another step closer to Miranda and scowled. "To find out what the fuck you're up to!" she snapped and pointed an accusatory finger in Miranda's face. "Are you back with Cerberus? Because if you are, I'll make good on that promise I made you back on the Normandy."

"Are you insane? Cerberus wants me dead."

Goyle then stepped out of the conference room and took in their unexpected visitor. She was flanked by Kolyat and Oriana, who were both holding pistols at their sides—Kolyat handling his weapon much more confidently than the teenage woman. The youngest members of Miranda's team were both eyeing the volatile biotic with suspicion.

"Miranda?" Oriana ventured hesitantly.

Jack did a double take as her gaze fell on Oriana and she quickly looked back and forth between the younger and older Lawson women. "Oh fuck me—there're two of you?" she said in exasperation.

The Lawson siblings weren't identical twins, but they shared a clear likeness for one another. They had the same raven-black hair, their eyes were near mirror images for one another's, and, of course, both women were exceptionally beautiful. Only the most inept of observers would fail to see their obvious relationship.

"And is that your grandmother, Lawson?"

"Don't, Jack. I'm warning you."

"Oh, you're warning me?" Jack said condescendingly.

Anita cleared her throat loudly as she regarded Jack and Miranda with a stern look. "Why don't you show our guest into the conference room, Miranda? I imagine we might have quite a lot to discuss."

"Yeah, cheerleader. Why don't you show me into the conference room?"

Miranda grimaced, but obeyed, as she turned on her heel and marched back toward the conference room with Thane, Kasumi, and finally Jack following behind.

Miranda looked bitter as she took a seat at the table, with Oriana between her and Goyle, and watched as the female, eternally angry biotic entered the room. Jack was growing her hair out—though the sides of her head were still kept shaved—and had it tied in a short ponytail. Thankfully, Miranda noted, the woman was wearing more clothing above the waste than the bizarre assortment of straps she wore much of the time while serving onboard the Normandy. Though her appearance was somewhat less shocking, she still harbored the same undercurrent of aggression and hostility that never seemed to fully dissipate.

Jack looked around warily for a moment, always hesitant to be caught in a confined space, and then finally took a seat at the opposite end of the long table from Goyle. Thane and Kasumi quickly settled in next to their former squadmate and exchanged a silent, amused look.

Goyle, sitting with impeccable posture, folded her hands on the table in front of her and studied the young woman for a long moment before speaking. "Welcome to our humble operation, Miss…" Anita offered.

"It's just Jack, granny."

Miranda smacked her hand down on the table, causing Oriana to flinch. "Show some respect, Jack," she snapped. "This is Anita Goyle, former ambassador to the Citadel."

"It's quite alright, Miranda," Goyle said. She appeared to be unfazed by their visitor's brusque attitude and was gazing across the table at her with a look caught somewhere between fascination and amusement. "I think we can forgive our guest's lack of decorum." Anita smiled benignly and addressed Jack. "But I believe Miss Lawson's original question is valid. Why exactly are you here, Jack?"

Jack narrowed her gaze on Goyle, trying to get a read on the older woman before deciding to ignore the question, and then turned to Miranda. "Why the hell are you selling Prothean shit to Logan? That man is fucked up!" she spat. "And that's saying something if I think it."

"I'm well aware of what sort of man Logan is."

Jack let out a harsh laugh. "Yeah, I guess you are," she said and shot Miranda a vindictive smirk. "I overheard Logan telling one of his boys that he popped your cherry back in the day."

Miranda felt her face redden as a sudden urge to lunge across the table and throttle Jack welled up within her. But then Oriana's gentle, restraining hand on her arm quelled her fury.

"Jack! Knock it off," Kasumi scolded. "You're not helping."

"Well, aren't you two just the best of friends now. How fucking adorable."

"Listen, Jack," Miranda said through clenched teeth as she fixed the biotic with a commanding stare. "You're not allowed to judge any of us. You jumped ship as soon as we cleared Collector space. You weren't there for Bahak or Noveria or thrown down the dark hole of an Alliance black site."

"What?"

Thane nodded gravely. "Both the Commander and Miss Lawson were taken, as were the majority of the crew. Most are still unaccounted for and feared dead."

Jack cast her eyes quickly between Thane and Kasumi and then eventually settled back on Miranda. "How'd you get out? And why the hell is Shepard still locked up on Earth?"

"Kasumi, Mordin and Liara T'Soni managed to locate the facility where I and several other crewmembers were being held and affect our escape." Miranda's tone was almost robotic and failed to reveal any of the horror of her brief imprisonment. She then glanced down at her hands and her voice became quieter. "As for Shepard, that's a great deal more complicated."

Jack kept staring at Miranda but her expression softened a fraction. "I saw you in that warehouse and thought maybe you'd sold Shepard out."

Miranda bristled but was interrupted before she could voice her protest.

"Miss Lawson and her colleagues endeavored quite vigorously to free Commander Shepard from the custody of a group of rogue Alliance Intelligence operatives," Goyle said and gestured to Miranda. "As she said, his current status is rather convoluted. However, he is safe and legitimate Alliance officers are now actively shielding him from much of the Bahak incident fallout." She paused another moment as she eyed Jack with interest. "But I'll ask you again; why are you here? Do you have information to share with us?"

Jack was flicking her eyes back and forth between Miranda and Goyle with a little more interest. "I hooked up with Logan's crew a few days after I heard Shepard blew the Bahak system all to fuck. It was easy credits," she said and shrugged. "We raided a few low-level Cerberus operations getting fat and happy with all the glory they were soaking up after we took down the Collectors. Some basic smuggling runs here and there too."

"Why am I not surprised you returned to your old mercenary ways?" Miranda said coolly.

"And why am I not surprised you're still a total bitch?" Jack said and glared back at Miranda.

"Miranda," Anita reprimanded softly and then nodded toward Jack. "Please, continue."

"Like I said, at first we were doing simple, straightforward shit. But then that changed a few weeks ago. Now Logan's taking direction from some big, mysterious client who's had us running some bullshit Prothean scavenger hunt."

"We already know this," Miranda said impatiently. "It's why we set up the meet tonight in the first place."

Jack opened her mouth to shout Miranda down again but was cut off as Goyle raised an authoritative hand.

"Allow me to bring you up to speed, dear." Goyle's tone was instructive without seeming condescending. "After certain corrupt elements of the Alliance Intelligence Service intercepted the Normandy and illegally imprisoned Commander Shepard, it was soon discovered—thanks to Dr. T'Soni and Miss Lawson—that this group had become highly interested in recovering rare Prothean artifacts and technology. We believe that whoever is directing this effort is also influencing the SAIS attempts to subvert the legitimate Systems Alliance government." Anita paused and took a long, deliberate breath. "To that end, we've been dangling some highly advanced Prothean technologies in the hopes of gaining the attention of your so-called scavenger hunters. The salarian, Jelix, has been acting as our intermediary as we attempted to make contact with mercenary groups, such as your own."

Miranda pursed her lips as she watched Goyle. She wasn't pleased that Anita was being so forthright with Jack but she held her tongue and deferred to the older woman's judgment.

"Fuck. This is making my head hurt," Jack said and turned to Miranda again. "So, what? Now you're working for the Alliance? That's pretty goddamn hilarious."

"It's not quite that cut and dry," Miranda said.

Goyle smiled patiently. "We're not an officially sanctioned Alliance operation," she said and then leaned a little farther forward, fixing Jack with an expression of intense expectation. "Do you know who Mr. Logan is working for or how he's receiving his orders?"

Jack sighed and shook her head. "No. Dorian has some kind of direct line of communication setup with whoever's pulling his strings. He's not sharing that with any of the crew." She then shifted in her seat and looked more troubled. "But there's something else. Yesterday morning we met a group of batarians about half a million klicks from the Citadel, out in the middle of the nebula. We were taking delivery of some creepy looking shit." She glanced over at Miranda. "There were a few Collectors there too."

"Collectors? You're sure?" Miranda demanded.

"Yeah, I'm pretty fucking sure. They're kind of hard to miss."

Miranda furrowed her brow and exchanged a wary look with Thane and Kasumi. "I suppose there was always a possibility some of them were away when we hit the base. There were bound to be some survivors." She faced Jack again. "What was the package?"

"I couldn't get a good look at it, but it was small and under heavy containment shielding."

"Reaper tech?" Miranda said.

Jack shrugged. "Maybe. We delivered it to some kind of bio lab facility on Bekenstein. With Shepard cooling his heels on Earth, I didn't know where to go with the intel. I thought about taking it to that Bailey guy in C-Sec, but then you showed up tonight." She crossed her arms in front of her and stared down at the table, looking resentful over having to admit that Miranda was someone she had to tell her story to.

"Thank you for this information, Jack," Goyle said sincerely. "I take it from your candor you're willing to assist us further?"

"Well I'm sure as shit not going to stay on with Logan now that he's palling around with creepy Collector assholes."

Goyle smiled and nodded slightly. "Of course. Even still, we'd like you to return to Logan's group for the time being and be ready for when we call on you." She gestured to Miranda. "Miss Lawson will be meeting with Mr. Logan tomorrow evening in order to acquire more information."

Jack nodded slowly and then looked at Miranda more emphatically. "Yeah, about that… Logan's planning on selling you to the batarians—that is, after he has a little fun with you first. We're supposed to be outside his place tomorrow night, after you're little date, and wait for his signal to come up and bag you."

Oriana had remained silent at Miranda's side, listening with fascination to the discussion, but now turned and looked at her sister in alarm.

Miranda swallowed but kept her expression neutral. "That information doesn't shock me. I've already considered the possibility that he would attempt to do just that."

"Miranda!" Oriana objected.

"It doesn't change anything," Miranda said as she turned toward her sister and gently grasped both of Oriana's hands in her own. "It's crucial we learn what he knows."

Goyle glanced uneasily at the two Lawson women and then gazed more forcefully at Jack. "I'll ask you again, Jack. And I'd like a plainer answer this time. Can we count on you?"

Jack briefly cast her eyes around the table, looking at the faces of her old squadmates, and then finally back to Goyle. She gave the older woman a solemn nod and answered in a clear, strong voice. "You can count on me."

Logan draped a heavy, strong arm over Miranda's shoulders as they stumbled out of Club Meridian and began the short walk to his apartment.

The "Dinner" she'd just spent with the man had amounted to little more than listening to endless tales of his mercenary exploits over the last decade while she feigned interest and endured his ceaseless gawking at her chest. Added to that, the relentless pawing she'd had to put up with while crammed into the tiny cocktail booth had left her feeling both weary and dirty.

This sort of thing wasn't new to Miranda. During her time as a Cerberus operative she'd been tasked with numerous missions that required her to entice a mark using her feminine wiles. But now, it seemed like a particularly grim and revolting task.

Perhaps part of that was the unsettling history she shared with the man. As much as she loathed admitting it, her experience with Dorian Logan had been significant in shaping her attitudes as a young, female operative in a male dominated organization. Her affections for him had been irresponsible and naïve at a time when the Cerberus lifestyle alone seemed overwhelming.

She'd been very different back then. Far from the self-assured, uncompromising character she'd adopted later, Miranda had been a fairly shy and withdrawn young woman. Despite being viewed by most people as intimidatingly gifted and stunningly beautiful, she was often left feeling strangely insecure about herself.

Logan had taken advantage of that insecurity. He'd seduced her thoroughly, praying on her foolishness before using her cruelly and then eventually discarding her. The experience had undeniably influenced her later behavior toward men and helped define the way she viewed herself moving forward. Inevitably, she discarded her shattered innocence and adopted the emotionally-detached, independent, and sexually provocative façade that had shielded her from any sort of genuine human relationship.

But things are different for me now, she reminded herself. Making this night all the more distasteful.

Putting up with Logan's gratuitous ogling as she pushed away his constant attempts to fondle her was bad enough on its own. Making it worse was the very idea of allowing any other man's hands on her other than Shepard's was nauseating and made her feel as if she was betraying something pure.

But the potential intel that Logan could provide was critical, so she soldiered on through the terrible evening, pretending to once again be charmed by the arrogant rogue who had once seemed so important to her.

She allowed Logan to pull her in closer to his side as they walked. He was quite tall, nearly six foot four, and towered over her as they stumbled down the dimly lit pathways toward his apartment. Knowing what Dorian expected—and needing to keep the man distracted as much as possible—Miranda had chosen a particularly seductive outfit for the night. The tight, leather skirt she was wearing only just barely covered her backside and the plunging neckline of her top left very little to the imagination. But far from feeling sexy, the ensemble left her feeling uneasy and vulnerable.

Miranda heard Oriana sigh heavily in her ear as the club's house music faded in the distance. "Oh my god," the younger Lawson groaned. "That was unbearable. This guy really never stops talking about himself, does he?"

Miranda cracked the briefest of smiles as she tried not to fixate on just how small their margin for error was that evening—running the operation with so little support. There was no doubt they were operating on the razor's edge now as they willingly walked into Logan's territory and opened themselves up to the possibility of tangling with his notoriously vicious crew.

But it couldn't be helped now. There were terrible threats lurking in the shadows wherever they turned and the information Jack had divulged the night before needed to be investigated immediately.

Soon after sending Jack back to rejoin Logan's crew, Goyle and Miranda had dispatched Kasumi to Bekenstein in order to reconnoiter the bio lab facility and gather intel on the strange materials that had been transported there. Kolyat accompanied their master thief to provide piloting and ground support as they took the Cassandra through the relay and on to the Boltzmann System.

Kasumi was likely quite capable of handling the recon mission on her own, and the Cassandra's highly advanced VI systems allowed the small starliner to practically fly itself rather effectively, but Miranda was averse to having any member of the team venture off into the unknown without support. And Kolyat was more than up to the role of providing overwatch for her. The young drell man was becoming exceedingly proficient with all manner of small arms and could more than handle himself in a fight. Clearly, much of Thane's skill and natural ability had been inherited by his son. And on top of his growing proficiency in combat, with Miranda's instruction, the younger Krios was also quickly becoming a skillful pilot.

That left Thane as Miranda's only real operational backup on the risky mission as her still greatly inexperienced younger sister ran comm support. Jack was theoretically also there to lend a hand if things went south, but Miranda was hesitant to place any real confidence in the unpredictable woman.

The plan was simple. Armed with the knowledge that Logan intended to sell her off to a gang of batarian mercs—but only after he had his way with her—Miranda would allow their mark to take her back to his apartment where she would incapacitate him using the potent stun modification in her Omni-tool. Figuring Dorian would have wanted Miranda to himself for at least several hours before calling for his crew to come and help secure her for delivery, she would have ample time to interrogate him and access his home computer files.

"And can I just say one more time, Randa," Oriana piped up again in her ear, "please be careful. I really don't like this man."

Oriana was setup a few buildings over from the club and Logan's apartment, secured tightly within a vacant flat with her portable comm array and terminal. Having her sister in such close proximity to harm's way was unnerving for Miranda, but the younger Lawson girl had argued vehemently that she needed to be nearby in order to provide effective comm support. In the end, Miranda was forced to relent and admit she was right. Nevertheless, just prior to leaving for the club, she had pulled Thane aside and insisted that if anything went wrong he would abandon her and extract Oriana. She accepted nothing short of the drell's word on that account.

Arriving at the door of Logan's residence, the big man pulled his arm off Miranda's shoulders and quickly tapped in the code on the terminal. She shook her head slightly as she watched him lean over and allowed the retinal scanner to read his eye before the door finally unlocked and slid open.

Logan turned back and smiled at Miranda as he grabbed her hand and led her into his place. As she stepped over the threshold, she felt a mildly uncomfortable sting in her ear, where the micro transmitter was surgically implanted, and heard a quick pop and split-second of static before the comm went completely silent.

Closing and locking the door behind them, Logan turned to Miranda and gestured his head toward the staircase at the center of the large apartment. "Come on, gorgeous," he said with a smirk. "Let's head upstairs. The bar's up there—and the bedroom."

Miranda shook off the issue with her comm and refocused on the task at hand. "By all means…" she said and conjured up the most convincingly seductive smile she could manage. Her heart was beginning to thump in her chest a little more rapidly, the feeling of vulnerability continuing to grow. Still, she pressed on and followed Logan as he jogged up the stairwell.

The second level of the apartment was essentially a large, open loft. There was an impressive looking bar in one corner, a set of comfortable looking chairs and sofa at the center of the space, and an oversized bed and some other furniture against the far wall.

Logan immediately stepped over to the bar. "Make yourself comfortable, Lawson," he called over, his back turned to her as he went about the business of making them more drinks.

Miranda looked around the room warily and then walked over to the sofa to take a seat. She crossed her legs tightly, suddenly feeling more modest now that she was alone with Logan and out of the dark, overly loud nightclub. Watching his back intently, she carefully reached over and tapped her Omni-tool several times to access and charge the stunning mechanism.

Getting no response from the subdermal tech implanted in her left arm, she looked down in frustration and rapidly tapped in another sequence of commands. Nothing. Now Miranda's heart was really beginning to race.

She looked up just as Logan turned around from the bar, a drink in each hand, and walked over to her. Miranda forced another quick smile as she accepted one of the cocktails.

Logan settled into the chair directly across from the sofa where she sat and leered at her without the slightest hint of subtlety. "Miranda Lawson," he said slowly while shaking his head, "you are as incredibly hot as ever." He took a long sip of his drink, leaned over and began stroking Miranda's leg. His hand was cold and rough and his touch made her skin crawl.

Miranda held her drink with both hands in her lap, struggling to keep her expression reasonably alluring while her mind raced through her options. Both her comm and Omni-tool were out and the plan was shot to hell. There must be some sort of countermeasure in place here. She knew Thane would eventually take action once he realized their communications were out, but he would be badly outnumbered by Logan's people and she would be alone with him in this apartment. In the past, she wouldn't have worried about that. But she was unarmed, no longer had the use of her biotics and Dorian was a large, strong man.

She jumped involuntarily as Logan moved his hand high up her thigh and under her far-too short skirt. Nearly spilling her drink in her lap, she quickly looked up and shot him a playful smile, trying to brush off the slip. "I see you still like to move fast, Dorian."

He left his hand where it was and gave Miranda a malevolent smile that sent a shiver down her spine. "Oh, we've got plenty of time," he said quietly and glanced down at her untouched drink. "We're all alone up here, babe. No one's coming to save you."

The feigned smile withered on Miranda's lips as she met Logan's cold, malicious eyes. Her throat felt suddenly dry and she swallowed painfully. "What?" she said, but the word caught in her throat and was barely audible.

Logan didn't budge from his position, his arm outstretched and a hand locked in a firm grip on her thigh. "Micro-directed EMP and dampening field in my doorway," he said with a slight shrug. "Disabled your Omni-tool the second you walked in. That transmitter in your ear's toast too, sweetheart." He let out a soft, cruel laugh. "Pretty ballsy putting your kid sister on comms."

Miranda felt her blood run cold.

He began to tighten his grip on her, applying an uncomfortable pressure high up in-between Miranda's legs. "I guess you figured I'm beneath you now, Miranda," Logan said as his bitter eyes bored into her. "All that perfection… You must have thought tonight would be simple."

"Well, you are a rather simple man, Logan," Miranda said through gritted teeth, dropping the pretense.

Logan let out a harsh laugh. "God, I love it when you're a bitch, Miranda," he said and finally released his grip on her leg, leaning back into his chair. "By now my boys will have tracked the signal from your comm. I'm doubling down on the Lawson girls tonight. The batarians are paying a shitload of credits for you, honey. And I think your daddy's gonna be more than generous when I present little sis to him." He paused and downed the rest of his drink before slamming the glass down on the table next to him. "And your friend, Subject Zero, well, that whore's gonna be giftwrapped for Cerberus."

The rock that had settled in the pit of Miranda's stomach suddenly turned into a fiery coal as she sat there, seething. Without warning, she jolted up from the sofa and tossed the cocktail glass at Logan as she lunged toward him with a clenched fist.

But Logan was quick and an experienced brawler. He deflected the flying highball with a rapid flick of his hand and sprung up to meet Miranda halfway in the air, body checking her with his right shoulder and then thrusting her hard onto the floor. He stood up tall, towering over her, and laughed again. "I almost wish you still had your biotics, Lawson. This is going to be too easy."

Sprawled on her stomach upon the synthetic hardwood floor of Dorian's loft, Miranda turned her head and looked up at the man looming arrogantly over her. "I promise you Logan," she said, as hatred blazed in her eyes, "this is going to be far from easy." She then kicked him hard in the soft, fleshy part of his ankle with the tip of her four-inch heel, causing the man to howl in pain as he instinctively pulled his leg away.

Miranda didn't waste the moment. Sweeping Logan's good foot with a rapid scissor motion of her legs, she sent him crashing to the floor with a resounding thud. Scrambling up to her feet, she whipped around and charged at the man, aiming a knee for the side of his head as he started to pick himself off the floor.

But Logan raised his hands in defense just in time to deflect the vicious kick, absorbing most of the force, and shoved Miranda away. He jumped up to his feet, cracked his neck as he cocked his head to the side, and then stomped menacingly over to her.

Miranda quickly recovered her balance and took several steps backward as Logan came at her. Being more of a hindrance than a help, she kicked off her high-heels and readied herself in a fighting stance as she faced off with the man that was a full head taller than her and outweighed her by more than a hundred pounds.

As he advanced on her, Miranda deftly ducked under a powerful blow and then seized the big man's wrist, directing his own momentum away from her and launching him against the wall.

Undeterred, Logan charged toward her again and directed a brutal punch at Miranda's head. She blocked the strike away, following up with another elbow and knee combination of her own, as she frantically tried to avoid being pummeled.

The next several seconds were a blur of punching, blocking, kicking and ducking as Miranda and Logan exchanged a flurry of blows.

Then, somewhere nearby and outside the apartment, Miranda heard the muffled staccato of automatic weapons fire and the windows in the loft reverberated as the telltale rumbling of dark energy attacks were let loose.

Miranda's long black hair whipped around freely as she deflected yet another one of Logan's punches and countered with an elbow to his ribs. Raw fury and desperation fueled her as a near suffocating fear for Oriana's safety pressed down on her.

Logan shook off Miranda's latest elbow and then delivered a jab to the side of her face, connecting solidly and with terrifying force.

Miranda staggered away from the strike and tried to right herself before she absorbed more punishment. But in a flash, Logan was on her again and hip-checked her hard into the side of the wet bar, sending glasses and bottles crashing to the floor as he directed all his weight at her and pressed her against the cabinets.

Grunting as her ribs impacted the edge of the bar, Miranda seized a small bar knife as it went careening away from her, whirled around with the pathetic weapon, and caught Logan in the face, gouging a deep slice across the bridge of his nose.

Logan recoiled from the strike as Miranda retreated away from him again, wincing and holding her free hand against her ribs. Carefully taking a few more steps to the side, she flipped the small knife around in her hand with a practiced motion and braced herself as he launched himself at her yet again.

Aiming for the big artery in his neck, Miranda drove the knife down at her attacker. But Logan slipped away just enough and instead caught the blade in the thick muscle of his left shoulder as he drove a knee hard into her midsection.

Miranda doubled over as pain radiated from her pelvis to her sternum. Fighting to regain her breath, he was on top of her in an instant and sending her crashing forward against a solid wood dresser along the adjacent wall.

Then a powerful hand was pressing her face against the top of the dresser as he pinned her in place with his body. He reached up with his free hand and pulled free the small knife sticking out of his shoulder and tossed it to the floor. "You're going to pay for that, Lawson," Logan hissed.

She struggled vainly to free herself from under Logan's bulk, but he was applying all his superior strength against her as he continued to press her face uncomfortably against the dresser's surface with an unyielding grip. He then grabbed the hem of Miranda's skirt with his free hand and yanked it up violently over her backside.

A frantic sensation of dread took hold of Miranda and a panicked whimper escaped her lips as Logan seized her panties and began to pull them down her legs.

The sound of the apartment door crashing open a level below followed by the thundering of boots up the stairs caused Logan to pause just as he had pulled Miranda's black underpants down just below the curve of her butt. He groaned in annoyance. "The boys… Always so impatient." He leaned in closer to Miranda's face and whispered in her ear as she continued to struggle. "They'll have to wait their turn."

"Hey, fuck face!"

Logan snapped his head toward the voice with a look of dumbfounded shock.

Jack had appeared, her ponytail bobbing in the air as she crested the top of the stairs and strode toward Logan.

"What the fuck…" Logan muttered in dismay.

His momentary surprise gave Miranda the opening she needed to slip free just enough to drive her elbow hard into Logan's throat. He released his grip on her immediately as his hands reflexively shot to his windpipe and he staggered back several steps.

Jack then shouted in fury as she unloaded on the mercenary, sending a rippling shockwave of dark energy rocketing toward the man. The strike caught him square in the chest and he was sent hurtling backwards through the air, feet flailing over his head, before crashing loudly against the far wall and landing in an unmoving heap.

Trembling and panting heavily, Miranda quickly pulled her underwear back up and pushed the short skirt back down over her hips. She then looked down, spotted the small bloody knife on the floor, scooped it up, and marched over to where Logan was crumpled up against the wall, moaning and barely conscious.

"Hey!" Jack shouted as she dashed over to Miranda and seized her arm. "We need this douchebag alive. Remember?"

Miranda rounded on Jack, her eyes aflame with a possessed wrath. "Let go of me," she hissed.

Jack stood firm. "Listen. Normally I'd be happy to kick back with a bag of popcorn while you carved this asshole up, but you know we need that intel. You said it yourself."

Miranda gazed back at Jack and thought she could read compassion in those intense, honey brown eyes—which only served to mortify her further. She knew the young biotic understood more than most the emotions that were surging through her after what Logan had nearly inflicted upon her. She then softened her expression, stopped fighting against Jack's grip and allowed her arm to go slack as she lowered the knife to her side.

More footfalls were then stampeding up the stairs and the two women whirled back around to face the new threat. But instead of another group of mercenaries to fend off, Thane and Oriana appeared at the top of the stairs, both wielding heavy pistols in their hands.

Oriana looked unscathed but Thane had clearly taken some severe punishment as he was bleeding freely from a wound to his left shoulder and had a ragged cut along his forehead. Miranda met the drell's eyes and gave him a silent look of gratitude, realizing he'd honored her wishes and risked his life to reach and protect her sister.

Miranda then gazed more intently at Oriana as her sister stared back at her, wide-eyed, and with a profound look of alarm.

Glancing down at herself, understanding dawned on Miranda. The skimpy outfit she was wearing was thoroughly ripped and disheveled. Angry looking welts were rapidly forming on her bare arms and legs, and blood was dripping off the small knife she still gripped tightly in her hand. In short, she looked like hell.

She suddenly dropped the knife to the ground and walked over to Oriana, wrapping her arms around the girl and pulling her into a tight embrace. "Are you okay, Ori?"

Oriana placed her head on her big sister's shoulder and sunk into the hug for a long while. "I'm fine, Randa," she whispered softly. "Thane saved me." When she pulled away, her eyes were moist with tears. "Are you alright?" she asked shakily.

Miranda nodded and gave the girl a weak smile. "Yes, I'm alright."

Oriana, appearing wholly unconvinced, looked as if she wanted to press Miranda on what had just occurred in the apartment between her and the man moaning over in the corner, but then Jack was at their side.

"Come on, kid," Jack said softly. "Let's head back down to your car and get your sis some fresh clothes."

Miranda looked over at Jack with a bewildered expression and then nodded slightly before returning her focus to Oriana. "It's okay," she said more easily. "Go with Jack while I see to Thane's injuries."

The younger Lawson girl bit her lip and nodded, giving Miranda a brief smile before turning to leave with Jack.

As the two women descended the stairs, Miranda glared back over her shoulder to where Dorian was still a crumpled mess in the corner and felt confident he wasn't going anywhere—she'd heard the crunching of bones breaking when Jack's biotics slammed him mercilessly against the wall. She then exhaled heavily, bit down on the emotion that had been catching in her throat, and strode over to attend to Thane.

Captain Armando-Owen Bailey of C-Sec stood scowling at the scene before him while a severe-looking turian officer stood at his side.

Miranda's team had been in no shape to flee rapidly enough with Logan in tow before dozens of C-Sec officers descended on the area, responding to the firefight that had occurred minutes earlier near Club Meridian. Besides, the entire point of the exercise had been to entrap the mercenary, extract whatever intel he had, and access his home computers. So Miranda, after stabilizing Thane with several applications of Medi-gel, had quickly found and disabled the comm and tech dampening field in Logan's apartment and reported their situation to Anita.

Goyle hadn't wasted a moment and immediately contacted people she trusted at C-Sec Command.

A short time later, after Jack and Oriana had returned with a pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt for Miranda to change into, the small team gathered in the downstairs of Logan's apartment.

"We just need thirty minutes, Captain," Miranda said. She was already feeling more like herself again now that she had exchanged the tattered miniskirt for her athletic sweats and had zipped up the slim fitting hoody over her chest. She gestured over to where Dorian was planted in a chair, his hands cuffed securely behind his back. The man was motionless, having slipped into unconsciousness. "It's critical we extract the information this man has."

Bailey gazed over at the striking, raven-haired woman he'd first come to know while working with Commander Shepard and cursed under his breath. "You've got twenty," he said firmly. "After that, I'm taking this shit bird into custody and throwing away the key. He's linked to the slaying of no less than five of my officers over the last year. I'll do Goyle this favor, but then he's mine."

Miranda inclined her head respectfully. "I understand. We'll be quick."

Bailey stood there grumbling for another moment and then jerked his head toward the door. "Come on, Jantarian," he said to the turian next to him. "Let's make sure the mess outside is getting cleaned up."

Miranda watched the two C-Sec officers leave and then turned back toward her group.

Jack was leaning against the kitchen counter, arms crossed in front of her, eyes fixed on Logan from across the room. Oriana and Thane were sitting together a short distance away at a personal terminal that they had used to establish a three-way vid conference between their location, Goyle, and the Cassandra.

Kasumi had already reported the disturbing details of what she and Kolyat had found in the Bekenstein lab; the package Logan's team had delivered there had already been processed by the researchers and had been picked up by an unregistered vessel just a few hours before, taking the lead researcher along with them. It was an Alliance model long range shuttle but no flight plan was on record with the local starport authorities. Kasumi and Kolyat had braced the personnel at the lab for information, but it appeared the people there had almost no knowledge of what exactly the compound they were working on was intended for.

Miranda leaned over her sister's shoulder and gazed at the data Kasumi was transmitting. She furrowed her brow and shook her head slightly as she studied the lines of code. "This is definitely Reaper derived," she said gravely. "It looks like some kind of nanite-enhanced pathogen."

Oriana was rifling through the personal files on Logan's computer, skillfully decrypting the data as she went. "We've also found extensive records on the Prothean technologies Logan's team had been tracking," Oriana said and then looked up at her sister. "There's a lot of really strange stuff here, Miranda."

Goyle's face was visible in a smaller box in the top right corner of the conference feed of the larger display. "Let's see about forwarding the Prothean records to you asari friend," she addressed Miranda. "This pathogen you describe is troubling and seems like it should be our immediate focus."

"Agreed," Miranda said then turned her head to look over to where Logan was restrained and unconscious. "Let's wake him up," she said to Jack.

Jack nodded curtly, pushed off from the counter she'd been leaning against, and walked over to the big man as she pulled a long syringe from the back pocket of her trousers. Without a moment's hesitation, she thumbed the cap off the needle and plunged it into the side of Logan's neck.

Logan gasped awake instantly, his head flying back and his bloodshot eyes shooting open, looking momentarily disoriented as he struggled to regain his senses.

Miranda walked slowly up to the man and glowered down at him. "Who are you working for, Logan?"

Logan let out a soft chuckle as he glanced around the room. "You've come down more than I thought, Lawson," he jeered as his eyes settled on Thane. "I mean, fuck. I heard you were dying, Krios."

Thane remained seated where he was next to Oriana, stoically fingering the heavy pistol lying on the table in front of him, unprovoked by the mercenary.

"Answer the question. Who are you working for?"

He sighed. "Pity the tattooed bitch got here when she did, Miranda," he leered up at her. "I was just about to let you relive all the good times we used to have."

Logan's head snapped to the side as a fist struck him hard in the jaw. He spit out a blood-spattered tooth onto the floor and looked over to where the punch had come from. "I would have made you a rich fucking woman, Jack—still a psycho, but rich."

Jacked leaned in next to his face and jabbed a finger crackling with blue energy hard into his cracked ribs. "I could have ended you in a fucking heartbeat… Maybe I still will."

"Jack," Miranda said calmly.

Jack looked up at Miranda and then pulled back, giving Logan a bloodcurdling grin as she tapped her finger against her wrist. "Clock's ticking, asshole. You don't have much time left before that handsome face of yours goes splat."

Logan narrowed his gaze at the biotic woman and then looked up at Miranda with a vaguely puzzled expression.

Miranda's face remained a stony mask, revealing none of the tumultuous emotion she was feeling as she loomed over the man who had attempted to rape her. When she spoke again, her voice was precise and clinical. "Along with the stimulant that woke you, we've injected a micro explosive into your bloodstream. It's designed to migrate up into your brain and settle in the frontal lobe. You should be familiar with the concept—it's derived from Cerberus tech."

"Bullshit. You need me alive."

Miranda ignored the man's assertion. "Unless I disable the charge with a very specific signal from my Omni-tool, the explosive will go off in just under three minutes. From what we've gleaned from the files on your computer and discovered on Bekenstein, the threat we're looking to avert appears imminent. If you don't tell us what we want to know right now you're usefulness to me will expire." She leaned in a little closer to Logan's face and gave the man a glare that could stop hearts. "You know I won't hesitate, Dorian," she whispered.

Beads of sweat were popping from Logan's forehead as he stared up defiantly at Miranda. He was a hard, ruthless man, but he was also keenly interested in his own self-preservation. He wanted to believe that Lawson was simply bluffing, but something in those cold, detached eyes told him otherwise. "Alright—alright!" he bellowed. "It's the fucking Illusive Man."

Miranda's eyes widened and she took a step back. That's not possible. "What?" she said. "You're lying," she snapped. "Alliance Intelligence interrogated me for days about my Cerberus actions. And they've been searching relentlessly for advanced Prothean tech—the artifacts you were acquiring for them."

Logan shrugged. "You know better than to underestimate that man. Alliance Intel are a bunch of raving lunatics, scouring the galaxy for Prothean bullshit. But they're useful lunatics." He smirked, shaking his head. "It's all just a play to win Cerberus more influence. He's pulling the strings—setting the dogs loose and letting the Alliance eat itself from within. Once the dust settles, he'll be there to fill the power vacuum for humanity."

Miranda began to pace back and forth, allowing Logan's words to sink in while she connected the dots. Of course. How could you have been so stupid not to have seen it? "He lets SAIS do the dirty work while his hands stay clean," she muttered more to herself than anyone else in the room. She then rounded on Logan again. "Why would you go back to Cerberus—to him—after all these years?"

Logan let out a low chuckle and glanced back up at Miranda. "Honey, I never left."

Miranda kept her eyes locked with Logan's for a long moment, letting his words hang in the air. "Where is this pathogen you helped facilitate going?" She demanded and then grasped a handful of his long brown hair and yanked his head back to face her. "Be quick about it or I'll let your wretched excuse for a brain spill out all over this nice tile kitchen floor."

He stared up at her with the same malevolent look from earlier in the evening and then let out a long breath. "Arcturus," he said. "It's being taken to Arcturus Station."

She kept hold of Logan's hair for another several seconds, peering into his eyes as she judged the validity of his claim, and then released him roughly before she strode back over to where Oriana and Thane were sitting near the terminal and the open comm to Goyle and Kasumi.

"Alright," Logan called out after her. "You've got your damn answers. Now shut off the fucking charge, Lawson! Come on!"

Miranda ignored Logan's pleading as she leaned in and addressed the images of Kasumi and Goyle on the terminal's vid display. "Anita?"

Goyle was looking off to her side, apparently checking information on a terminal outside the camera's view, and then looked back up at Miranda. "In just over twelve hours a delegation of batarians, asari, and turians are scheduled to arrive on Arcturus Station for a hastily arranged summit designed to quell the hostilities between the Hegemony and the Alliance. I believe we have our target."

Miranda gave a curt nod to the older woman and looked at Kasumi. "Get back here right away," she said to her friend. "We need to get to Arcturus."

"Already on our way," Kasumi said. "ETA less than three hours. Cassandra out."

"I'll begin making the necessary arrangements now," Goyle reported. "Let's regroup back here once you've concluded your business with Mr. Logan."

Miranda nodded to Anita's image before it cut out and then drew herself upright. She looked over at her sister and smiled reassuringly.

Oriana looked a little shell-shocked as she sat in the chair next to Thane, having listened intently while her sister interrogated the brash mercenary. "Oriana," Miranda said softly. "Would you please go outside and let Captain Bailey know he can come and collect his prisoner now?"

Oriana returned a weak smile and nodded before she stood up from her chair and turned to leave. She paused for a moment at the door and looked over her shoulder toward Dorian Logan, who was wild-eyed and sweating profusely on the other side of the room.

"Ori," Miranda gently prodded. "Please go now."

The younger Lawson looked back over at her sister, gave a quick nod, and then fled the apartment.

Miranda watched her sister exit the apartment, took a deep breath, and then exchanged a quick, knowing look with Thane and Jack.

The two human women and the drell man had endured dozens of hardships and deadly encounters alongside each other during the Collector campaign and tonight few words were needed to convey what they were thinking.

Thane then rose from his chair, moving a little gingerly from the wounds he'd sustained in defense of Oriana, and followed after the younger Lawson girl.

A tired smile curled Miranda's lip as she watched the drell man leave before she turned to Jack. "Are you coming with us, Jack?"

Jack gave Miranda a wry grin and rolled her eyes. "Yes, cheerleader. I'm fucking coming," she said and then slapped Dorian hard on the back of the head one last time as she passed him. "Nice working with you, ass face."

Logan was stamping his feet on the floor and struggling against the restraints that bound him to the chair. "Miranda!" he yelled in desperation. "Shut this fucking thing off! Lawson!"

Miranda paused and nodded slightly to Jack before the two women walked out of the apartment together and the door slid firmly shut behind them.

"Lawson!"

Author's Note:

Okay, so I'm hoping this scene between Miranda and Logan doesn't cross the line for anyone.

I'll admit, this is delicate territory, and honestly, I was a little hesitant to entertain the prospect of a near rape in the story. But from the beginning, I've set out to create a more visceral take on the ME universe and with this scene in particular I wanted to illustrate just how dangerous things currently are for Miranda. She's out there with very little support, lost her biotic advantage, and has precious little margin for error. Also, I feel strongly if that if I'm even going to hint at creating some level of camaraderie between her and Jack it needs to spring from some pretty extreme circumstances.

And I hope it's not too much of a cop-out of a reveal that TIM's pulling a lot of the strings here. I don't want the conspiracy angle to get too convoluted (it's not really the story I set out to tell) but I also want to build Cerberus into a more credible and capable threat to the dominance of the Alliance. The Alliance Intelligence folks are still a force in play—they just don't necessarily know they're being manipulated (at least partially) by TIM.

I'll finish off this little three-part Miranda arc in the next chapter. We never really have the opportunity to see Arcturus Station intact so I thought it might be fun to explore that location a bit while Miranda races to stop a new threat from befalling the Alliance. And, oh man—I just couldn't resist putting Miranda and Jack together on a mission—just the two of them! That's coming up…

As always, thanks for reading and for all the great feedback.