"Shepard," Garrus called, passing her in the CIC, "I need a minute. You're gonna wanna hear this."

Shepard handed her datapad to Robert, dismissing him, and followed Garrus to the nearest interface terminal. "Something up?"

"It's about Grunt," he said, pulling up information from a database she recognized as being shared by him, Liara, Tali, and Shepard herself. "This is stuff I took from the mercs back on Omega. Stolen data, intercepted transmissions, the works. I passed it to Liara, and she went through it. In the Blue Sons' files, she came up with this."

"'Korlus facility prep completed. Project set to begin tomorrow. Okeer arrival ETA thirteen hours'," Shepard read out loud. "Aw, hell."

"Pretty much," he agreed. "So, wanna set up an ethics committee to settle this?"

"I'm an ethics committee," she grumbled. "Or at least I play one on the vids. Let's just – break this up before the Blue Suns get a krogan army. We'll figure out what to do about Okeer and Grunt later. When was this message sent out?"

"A couple of weeks ago," he reported. "So this is like, a good tree weeks overdue."

"Yeah, I got it. Joker, Korlus," she ordered, trusting she'd be heard. "I need to be there yesterday."

"You know, that kinda statement loses a bit of impact when you consider-"

EDI cut his feed before he could announce time-travel facts to the entire ship.

Ever since Saren, it seemed like everything began happening at once. An avalanche of missions she hadn't been able to pre-emptively deal with started cropping up every which way, and this one was just a particularly prescient example. All the little things that propped up the coming war were starting to matter, and Shepard needed a hand in all of them if she was going to be in complete control of the battlefield.

Mordin and Thane were introduced to her ship in the middle of this flurry of activity, and as she expected of them, fit into the fray like a well-oiled machine. Thane even struck up an unlikely friendship with Liara and Nihlus, which Shepard would do damage control for at some point in the far, far future.

For his part, Mordin found a niche in the medbay that Dr. Chakwas ceded to him, claiming there was more than enough space for both of them. He took this to heart, and performed one-man renovations on his space to make it nigh unrecognizable. Everyone else, by which Shepard meant Chakwas and herself, took it in stride, and mentally readjusted the safety rating of receiving medical care aboard the Normandy.

The first time Shepard walked in, she paused to take in the multicolored vials and new, twisted technological contraptions she wouldn't allow near her worst enemy with a ten-foot pole. Karen took the opportunity to pat her shoulder and dash out, leaving Shepard feeling like she'd just been passed a torch.

"That was fast, setting up your lair," she said, poking a flat, shiny, useless-looking sheet of metal to her left. It came to life under her finger, lighting up in fluorescent yellows and whites, and she took several steps back. "Won't touch anything else, got it," she admonished herself quickly before Mordin could, taking note of the look on his face.

"Would appreciate it," he deadpanned tightly. "Dr. Chakwas has been accommodating."

"I can see that," she said, looking around and deciding against mentioning the woman's hasty retreat. "You need all this for the reapers?"

He blinked at her. "Need all this always."

"Right."

He walked around his station to stand in front of her tentatively. "Have question for you, actually. If you find it opportune."

"Shoot," she replied, intrigued.

"Allowed me in your ship with hardly an inquiry. Normal procedure for strangers you run across in places like Omega?"

Shepard's lips twitched. "Sure. If it's the right stranger."

Mordin looked supremely unconvinced. "Oh? Trust easily. Words can be empty."

"So can actions. And yet here we are."

He considered that. "Strange ideologies for a warmonger. Will keep in mind."

Well, that was insulting, she thought, perching on Chakwas' counter. "I'm not a warmonger. The one thing I want most out of this is peace."

"Of course," he agreed, surprised. "Meant no offense. Perhaps warrior more appropriate moniker."

"… Better."

He peered at her curiously. "Strange bedfellows. No concerns?"

"Regrets are idle," she quoted back. "I'm here to do something, not talk about it."

That statement clearly interested him, but he didn't pursue it. "But not reckless."

"Is that what I am?"

"You don't think so. Curious."

"It is? You seem to think I should be worried. Are you such a terrible person, Dr. Solus?"

Mordin smiled at her, guarded. "Am I? Would be a comfort to think the answer comes in the question."

"It's my firm belief that it does. That it's all there is."

He looked impressed and gratified by that. "You employ wisdom beyond knowledge."

"Maybe I just have more knowledge than you think."

That brought a suspicious expression to his face, but it went away quickly. "Possible. Fascinating hypothesis. Perhaps you would stop by to discuss it once in a while."

"My pleasure." She dropped back down and stretched. "Knowledge and sharing and all that. Seems like a good idea."

"You enjoy challenging."

"Enjoy being challenged, too," she pointed out. "Ideas hardly fit in a box forever."

"No. They do not."

On that note, she departed, noticing him turn his back to her with a thoughtful if distracted look on his face.

The road not taken, and all the irony therein attached. Mattering so little that no one else noticed, or mattering so much that the choice got rolled back in a freak not-accident. Mordin was back to his pre-Maelon mindset.

Whatever. This was what Shepard was good at. She shook her head and walked away.


Shepard's head always swam a bit after talking with Mordin, so she decided going down to the cargo hold was a good way to numb it down. Besides, Joker announced it shouldn't be long until they landed. It was as good a time as any to prepare herself. Kaidan was caught up in some expense report anyway, and she was happy enough to leave him to it, lest he pointedly suggest she take over in annoyance.

It seemed everyone on the ship was just extra busy after their break. Vega, for instance, was swamped with trying to decide what to call Mordin, as his name was apparently unsatisfactory. Ashley had gone down to the cargo hold to check over her weapons before heading out with Shepard, and this was his idea of keeping her company.

"He sings, maybe there's something there?" James wondered out loud. "Nah, the singing is a joke in itself. The speech? Too easy. Salarians have a bunch of stereotypes, how am I having trouble with this?" he muttered.

Ashley frowned through a scope. "How come you don't have a nickname for me?" she asked, the offense apparently just occurring to her.

He glanced at her, breaking out of his reverie. "We've been through this, remember? Maybe not, you were plastered." Ashley adopted a violent poise, so he grinned nervously and walked it back, because she was holding a pistol. "I like your name."

"Alright, kids, I'm stopping the car to leave you on the side of the road," was Joker's way of telling them they'd arrived. "Buckle down."

Steve got into the Kodiak and Shepard called up Mordin. Ashley pressed forward without further comment when she and her sniper rifle were waved over too, the conversation with James apparently finished.

"Alright, so the plan is to shut this down but not really?" the chief said while they waited for their scientist salarian, as a way to request clarification. "I get the chase-the-mercs-off-orbit part, but I'm fuzzy on the rest."

"At the very least, we're taking over from the Blue Suns. Keep it ethical." Shepard hesitated, unsure of the plan herself. "I don't wanna just shut it all down. That'd metaphorically kill a friend before he even exists."

"I get how that would feel shitty. Still, Shepard – I don't much care for this idea."

"Me either. Not planning to run a lab of experiments on krogan. Wrex would kill me."

"Well, he'd try. And I like Wrex, so let's not do that."

Shepard pulled a face and grabbed a hand strap, watching Mordin climb inside. "So – objective: find Okeer. Run the mercs off the place while we're at it. We're keeping the mad scientist alive," she stressed, only sparing half a glance to their own mad scientist to make sure he hadn't been offended, "so stay sharp and double-check your targets."

"Do you normally not double-check your targets?" Steve interjected from the front of the car, sounding genuinely alarmed.

Shepard jammed a thumb in his direction without turning back, keeping a straight face. "You double-check 'em like Cortez is out there judging you."

Ashley snickered and Mordin glanced at the pilot with a blank look on his face. "Believe Shepard is emphasizing a point," he reassured. "Won't shoot you by accident."

"Damn right, only on purpose."

"Not giving you a warning when we leave orbit. I hope you fall flat on your face," Steve huffed in jest over Ashley's laughter. "Hold on, gravity fluctuations. Get yourselves secure."

"That sounded suspiciously like a warning, Cortez."

"Just remember I've got all the power, Williams," he replied playfully. "Don't push it."


The Blue Suns commander in charge of the project, Jedore, didn't seem to be on sight when they hit the dirt. Shepard vaguely remembered she was happy enough to clog up the comm. channel with her ranting, so the fact that she couldn't be heard straight away was strange.

More importantly, there were no tank-bred krogan anywhere, even after Shepard had made significant progress inside the facility, straight through several groups of mercs caught off-guard by the sudden invasion. Eventually, one of them had the presence of mind and opportunity to alert their leader, at which point a shrill female voice began issuing orders and demanding Shepard's head. This was more familiar.

Apart from the lack of krogan enemies, the mission progressed in much the same way from then on out. Shepard cleared the facility before approaching their mark, this time – there was no need to further complicate the discussion they were about to have. Jedore went down as easily as last time, which is to say, not easily at all. Ashley, who normally would not issue a peep in complaint to save her life, was left grumbling about mercs getting access to high-level shielding prototypes from corrupt politicians in Arcturus Station, nursing the chafed wrist that she'd fallen on.

"The next time they start talking about supporting the troops, you're gonna lemme at 'em, Shepard."

"No."

Okeer greeted them with far more suspicion and alarm, in an entirely different stage of development than he'd been in the first time Shepard had met him through Cerberus. Ultimately, however, he didn't much care what happened to the Blue Suns beyond who provided his funding and facilities.

Liara was quick to establish a foothold in that regard, via the terminal's comm. system.

"The Shadow Broker can provide you with far more extensive resources, not to mention added legitimacy," she proposed.

"The Shadow Broker, huh?" he questioned, intrigued. He spared Shepard a glance. "And here I was thinking this was an Alliance Commander."

"Commander Shepard is working on behalf of several entities. The Council, the Alliance and the Shadow Broker all feel confident to rely on her to direct her most heartfelt efforts for the benefit of the people in this galaxy, and enlist her assistance accordingly."

Now the krogan looked amused. "Really? Does the Council – or the Alliance, for that matter – also see it that way?"

"Do they have to?"

That provoked a short, barking laugh out of Okeer. "And what does the Broker want with me and this project?"

"I'm sure you don't need to know that. Only that you have the Shadow Broker's unconditional support in the endeavor."

Okeer appeared to weigh the pros and cons of this arrangement for several seconds, before he reached a conclusion. "Seems reasonable. I'm not completely witless, however. What kind of oversight are you going to be demanding?"

"Only in so far as ethics concerns can be appropriately addressed. Dr. Mordin Solus can-"

"If you think I'm letting a salarian get within a lightyear of my project, you've got another thing coming."

"Am far closer than a light-year at this point. Should rethink statement."

With that, Okeer and Mordin were instantly locked in a staring contest. Shepard cleared her throat. "Dr. Okeer. What you're doing here – is a salarian scientist not the perfect first witness to your 'Grunt'?" she tested. "The first person to whom you can show what the krogan are capable of doing and overcoming. To see the genophage ignored."

Mordin was clearly intensely distasteful of this idea, and Okeer only seemed marginally invested. "I appreciate imagery and symbolism as much as the next krogan, Shepard," he growled, which left her with some cognitive dissonance on whether she should read irony in his words. "But I'll not gamble my legacy on trusting a salarian scientist."

"You will if you want the Broker's investment," Liara snapped sharply.

Okeer turned back to the terminal slowly, taking in her unforgiving expression with far less ease than before. "Well, now that you've left me no choice," he said humorlessly, gesturing around at the bodies littering the facility, "how can I refuse?"

The asari nodded once and disconnected, which left Shepard alone withstanding the sudden quiet. "And who was she, then?" the krogan asked, subdued and undeniably angry. "The Shadow Broker's glorified secretary?"

"Something like that," Ashley replied, hand fingering her pistol like she was ready to be attacked at any moment. "Don't dwell on it."

"If you order me to, I certainly won't. That's the point, isn't it?"

Shepard decided to put a stop to the dangerous road they were riding down. "You can keep in touch with Mordin via regular reports. I'll let you two work out how you'll deal with it."

"And how will that constitute ethical oversight, then?"

"Because if he tells me you're doing something I don't like, I'll come down here to let you know. Explicitly."

"I see. Should I know what it is you don't like, Shepard?" His tone was mocking, but the expression on his face was daring her to challenge him.

"I don't want a krogan army running wild in this facility," she said quietly. This caught his attention, probably because he hadn't expected her to work out where his experiments were heading. (She hadn't exactly 'worked it out' as much as she had privileged information, but he didn't need to know that.) "You don't have the means to deal with them. You want to run tests? You use a simulation. The first prototype you make is the last. Is this clear?"

"That has a much, much larger error margin," Okeer argued. "Inviable. My specimens-"

"I'm not giving you a choice, Okeer," Shepard interrupted impatiently. "I'm telling you what you'll be doing. You can always choose not to do anything at all."

"Have many useful simulation models. Can adapt for relevant purposes," Mordin offered, expertly avoiding mentioning what these models had been developed for.

"No thanks. I'll stick to apples I grew myself, less of a chance to get poisoned," Okeer sneered.

"One more thing," Shepard added, diffusing the situation. "I hear you have any more contact with the collectors, and I'll kill you myself." Well, diffuse it in one sense.

"Huh," the scientist said, surprised. "Personal grudge?"

"You really have zero grasp of the concept of ethics, don't you?" Ashley piped up, astonished.

"The Broker's people will be arriving at this facility shortly. They'll leave you to it and maintain a foothold here. Don't forget your every move is being watched," was the statement Shepard decided to depart with.

Mordin lasted only long enough to feign neutrality before voicing his displeasure, making the walk back out of the facility largely silent. She couldn't tell if it was anger, guilt, a conflicting combination of both, or if he was just trying to figure out the best way to call her a moron. Either way, she approved – later rather than sooner, that was always how she looked at these things.

Eventually, though, aboard the shuttle on their way to the Normandy, he straightened his shoulders. "Have constructed uneasy partnership with grudging krogan warlord. Not Alliance, Council sanctioned. Not conscientious. Wise?" was his only comment.

"Say what now?" Steve wondered, having overheard.

"Dunno about wise. Necessary. Even despite how much I don't like it." She glanced at her pilot behind her. "Okeer should provide a powerful ally." An expression of understanding came over Cortez's face, and he fell silent.

"We could use those," Ashley added helpfully.

Mordin was far from convinced. "Expect me to do what, concretely?"

"Exactly what I said. Oversight."

"Not impede him?"

"I don't think so."

"Genophage in place for a reason."

"A terrible reason."

Mordin narrowed his eyes and nodded curtly. Shepard took that to mean their conversation was finished.

As soon as they landed and the salarian exited in a rush, Ashley arched an eyebrow at her, hanging back to put away their gear.

"So, do you know what Liara was thinking? No offense to Mordin, but uh – gotta say, if I'm looking for an ethics supervisor, not my first pick. Or second, third, fourth-"

Shepard interrupted, of the opinion that the chief's point had been made. "No, I don't. In fact, it seems like the right way to make sure there's sabotage in the development."

"But you let it happen?"

"I've been wrong before. And if I'm not mistaken, Liara did it because she has faith it'll work as an eye-opener. I'm not usually the cynic, so I'm letting the theory stand."

Ashley shook her head, amazed. "I swear, half of what you accomplish constitutes gambling."

"And I still consistently lose to Vega at cards."

"Everyone loses to Vega at cards," the chief comforted, carefully disassembling her rifle. "Just don't tell him I said that."

"She doesn't need to," James shouted from a ways to their left, grinning broadly.

Ashley grimaced, and Shepard shrugged unconcernedly, putting away the last of her equipment. "If it's any consolation, I'm pretty sure he knew already."


Mordin seemed to avoid Shepard for a while after that. Whether he was doing some soul-searching or simply unwilling to deal with her judgement – which she wouldn't specifically subject him to until he brought up his work on the genophage himself – was anyone's guess, but Shepard left him to it for both their sakes. He couldn't do any real damage to Grunt from the Normandy, she reasoned, after all, he was only receiving reports.

Meanwhile, efforts around the war prep continued. Shepard's inner circle was locked day in and out in arguments over how to proceed on the geth mission, over which the only thing they all agreed on was that it needed extensive planning. Shepard didn't really see the point. It would end up being a lot of geth versus her, a gun, two squadmates and their guns, and that was it.

It kept them busy, at any rate. Either way, everyone was further occupied with more minor aspects of the fight ahead, like resource collection and distribution, so the delay was convenient. Establishing (morally dubious) contacts like Okeer was an important step, after all.

One early morning, Kaidan was following her around and harassing her about some council report that needed her specific attention for some reason ("You're literally going to have to do a vid-call with an asari ambassador over this, Shepard, just read it, please."), when the two of them walked into engineering to witness one such argument. Or so she thought, until she noticed EDI was involved, and EDI didn't argue. It was an established presumption for everyone that she was always right.

"I disagree, Engineer Adams. Evidence suggests there's a strong possibility this is not an innocuous irregularity on her part."

Adams threw his hands in the air. "It's been a few hours! I'm sure she slips up once in a while, she's human."

"Only technically," Tali said under her breath.

"What's going on?" Shepard asked, frowning around at the group of engineers gathered in a circle. "Who's slipping up on what?"

"It's Ms. Lawson, Shepard. I have had no success in any attempts to contact her for some time."

"Hours," Adams insisted.

"It's been a day," Ken corrected. "And at least eight reports."

"Okay, slow down," Kaidan requested. "Start from the beginning."

"Miranda is ignoring us, Shepard," Tali said. "And that's unusual."

Gabby cleared her throat and elaborated. "We kept in touch with her after the renovations to the Normandy, you know, for upkeep. Reporting functionality figures and unexpected changes, that sort of thing, for analysis' sake," she explained. "Making sure everyone's always on top of the ship so we can keep it in top shape."

"But something's changed."

"The reports, she's not acknowledging them anymore," Ken confirmed worriedly. "Normally, I expect her to be short, it's Miranda. But this is more a matter of protocol. She's never short on protocol."

"Miranda's extranet activity has suffered significant decrease over the course of the last few days, Shepard," EDI continued. "It was practically reduced to communication with people on this ship. Yesterday, it stopped entirely."

Adams didn't seem to be able to hold his opinion back any longer. "She's a Cerberus operative. No offense, Commander, but that's one contact I didn't expect we'd be having," he said apologetically. "Do we really trust her enough for this circus?"

Shepard waved him off. "None taken, Adams. As it happens, however, I do trust her," she rebutted. "She's a mole inside Cerberus. I've explained this to you."

Adams didn't seem to be up to the fight, backing off warily. "Yes, ma'am."

"We need to find her," Tali said, in a tone that brokered no argument.

Shepard was about to agree, only mostly out of an urge to calm Tali down, when EDI interrupted them, voice considerably more stressed than just a few seconds earlier. "Shepard, there's an urgent transmission coming in from a May Lance."

"What?" Shepard replied, confused. Kaidan frowned distastefully at the comm. output system relaying EDI's voice. "This isn't a good time."

"I believe you'll want to listen to what she has to say." EDI's tone was peculiar but convincing.

Shepard groaned helplessly, so Kaidan stepped up. "I'll take the call."

That was such a terrible idea that it snapped Shepard out of the woe-is-me mindset. "No, I'll go take care of it, just- stay here," she ordered.

She left for the comm. room unchallenged. Inside, May was waiting as an impatient holo, clicking her tongue when Shepard made her appearance. "Finally."

Shepard gave her an unimpressed look that only served to amuse her. "This is urgent? I'm in the middle of a situation-"

The holo cut her off in what Shepard chose to interpret as an attempt to save time. "You know the terrorist organization bitch you got me involved with? She's in trouble. I need your help if you wanna help her."

She now had Shepard's full attention. "If you're talking about Miranda, we're looking for her. She dropped off the radar. You know where she is?" Which was convenient. And weirdly timed to perfection. Miranda had a hand in this for sure, Shepard decided.

"Yeah. Cerberus is a nasty one. Not surprised you thought we'd be a good match." May's jokes were falling flat with only an agitated Shepard for an audience, so she carried on more seriously. "Their main base. Last I heard, her plan was to storm it. I'm supposed to be the cavalry, but not without explicit instructions. Your sort of thing, right? I pass you the coordinates, you shoot some people, problem solved?"

"EDI, set a course to this location," Shepard ordered, gesturing for May to upload the data for the AI. "Joker, double time."

"Aye aye, boss lady. ETA fifty minutes."

"Stand ready, Lance, don't go anywhere. I don't know we won't need cavalry." Plus, Shepard had questions. Hopefully either May or Miranda would be able to answer them.

"That's sweet and modest of you," May replied, sugary sarcastic. At the look on Shepard's face, she cleared her throat and forced out a straight face, waving her off. "Sure, sure. I'll be around."

She blinked out and Shepard exited the room, making a direct path down to the cargo hold, where her orders had clearly disseminated, from the way her crew was scrambling. Steve was climbing inside their shuttle already, so Shepard made for the weapon's rack.

"EDI, get Alenko and Vakarian down here asap, please. Tell them to come ready for deployment."

"Yes, Shepard."


May's coordinates led them straight to Cronus Station, and Shepard hadn't exactly been prepared for that. She cursed Miranda and her need to launch an outright assault on Cerberus' headquarters without bothering to warn anyone.

Kaidan found it even less amusing, glaring around as the ground team landed in the shuttle bay. Cortez took off immediately, scrambling to make the shuttle disappear from hostile sights and fire – the factor of surprise counted for little, in this case, because a hurricane – Shepard decided to name it Miranda – had clearly passed through already.

"We're late to the party," Garrus quipped as they took cover, somewhat insensitive to Alenko's mood.

"At least half of them are dead already," Kaidan said, a half-hearted attempt to put his misgivings aside. Shepard appreciated it. "And they're just regular guards. No husk-inspired indoctrination creepiness this time around."

"Garrus, sniper, back up to the left. Stay there," Shepard ordered. "Kaidan, with me."

She didn't have a chance to move for herself. "Watch out," Kaidan said sharply, and that was all she heard before he bodily slammed into her against sturdier, taller cover. "You okay?"

"Perfect. Thanks. Sniper?" she asked, only a little short of breath. He nodded, face inches from her, and then straightened carefully, wincing. She pulled him further behind safety. "Up there, on the balcony just ahead. No," he corrected himself with a cursive glance, "to the right."

"Can you pull her into Garrus' sight?"

"I'm good for a shot if you need me."

Kaidan poked his head around the corner briefly, and shook his head. "I can pull her into yours," he suggested, eyeing her from the corner of his eye. She switched weapons and got on her knees. "On your order."

"Do it," she said, peeking through the scope.

"Off you go."

Everything progressed very quickly after that. There was no need to cut a way in through the wall, or through anywhere really, because there was no longer a wall where one should have been. The structural damage to the place was severe. They pressed forward through the station in good time, casually providing EDI with wireless access at various points and interfaces. Their path was littered with what Kaidan confidently identified as a trail of biotic destruction, which gave Shepard pause. Miranda didn't leave messes of this magnitude.

Nevertheless, the perpetrator was long gone, having cleared a way that was only relatively free enough of Cerberus forces to be able to pass in a pinch. Whoever it was, they were trying to get to the heart of the station, not exactly wipe it clean – Shepard wasn't yet sure whether that was a good or a bad thing.

They took care of the soldiers left behind, who didn't put up much of a fight from the way they were depleted. Shepard passed a lot of areas that, in a different lifetime, had been repurposed. There was no Lazarus this time, nor EDI's construction, nor an embryo reaper corpse – a lot of empty space that, she thought, with a sudden vicious pang of emotion, never needed to be filled.

Quickly enough, they were struggling with the last group. "Commander, I got two shielded hostiles on my left, can you overload?" Kaidan shouted, discharging a reave in the direction of an engineer whose shields were faltering, right behind Garrus.

The turian swiveled to shoot him once at point blank, and Shepard used her overload and her pistol to shoot Kaidan's nuisance twice in the head. For his part, Kaidan set his sights on the second one, and the Cerberus soldier fell easily, leaving them slightly out of breath as the room settled. They were standing in some random lab – a bottleneck to the center of the station in their path – full of what might have been important, expensive – possibly dangerous – material and equipment, and was now a hoarding pile of somewhat soggy scrap metal.

Just as Shepard began considering putting her pistol away, one last head popped up from behind cover unexpectedly, but, before they could do anything about it, a shot sounded, originating from what was definitely not one of their weapons. The Cerberus soldier crumpled out of sight.

The shape of a woman emerged from the shadows, clad in clothing so constraining that it left Shepard short of breath just looking at her. Garrus made a noise of recognition, mind clearly focused on much more relevant matters. Shepard shook her head and stepped forward.

"Miranda!"

"Shepard," she greeted, looking entirely too pleased with herself. She stepped over a corpse, walking over to them. "As you can see, I've just taken over Cerberus. Thank you for your assistance."

"You did what?!"

"Well – almost. The all-mighty is still running around, somewhere. He won't get far. I've disabled all viable escape routes."

"This is true, Shepard," EDI advised in her ear. "And that means you too. You need to resolve this situation before the lockdown allows you to evacuate." Lovely.

Kaidan threw his hands in the air. He looked pissed. "And we couldn't have been briefed about this beforehand?! I thought you'd told Shepard this wasn't about being a lone wolf! This is Cerberus headquarters."

Shepard just crossed her arms, staring at her expectantly. Miranda shrugged. "I was having trouble rooting through all the trash. At some point, I stopped trusting any form of communication that wasn't in person. I'm sorry." She permitted herself a self-satisfied smirk. "But it paid off."

Shepard rolled her eyes and finally strapped up her weapon. "Why is it that every time we run into you, you've just single-handedly done something-" she struggled to find appropriate words.

"That comes right off your playbook?" Miranda suggested, and Kaidan covered up a snort with a cough despite himself.

Shepard had no response to that, so Garrus stepped up. "So, uh – you've taken over a terrorist organization? Yay?"

Miranda scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. It's not going to stay a terrorist organization. It's not even going to keep its name. I've always found it distasteful."

"Yeah, the problem with Cerberus has really always been what they're called."

Miranda arched an eyebrow at Kaidan. "No, but names matter anyway. Why do you think your fiancée's name is plastered anywhere they can get her to agree to?"

"Uh – his what?" Garrus asked at the same time that Joker's incredulous voice said, "Fi-what now?!"

Miranda gave it a moment's pause, gaze travelling to Shepard's face. "Oh. Oops?"

"Stop hacking my ship," Shepard said this time, solving the problem by avoiding Garrus' eyes and ignoring Joker in her ear. If contradicting their own senses worked for the Council, it had to work for her.

"I actually didn't. EDI wouldn't have made that possible. You're just very terrible at keeping secrets from people who aren't completely oblivious."

Garrus made a noise in protest at the slight and Kaidan spoke up with his arms crossed. "So are you, apparently."

"I – can't argue that, it seems. I apologize."

Shepard coughed loudly to shift the conversation's focus before it turned awkward. "Not to overtly change the subject, but there's one last loose end that needs tying."

"The Illusive Man."

"He's bolted with his tail between his legs like a coward," Miranda explained, just as eager to move on to a different topic. "I intend to hunt him down."

Shepard nodded. "I'm with you. You two," she said, turning to Kaidan and Garrus, "stay here covering this exit. He comes your way, you let us know."

They both assented at the orders and took up defensive positions while Shepard followed Miranda through the door. "Where are we going first?"

"We're cornering him," Miranda explained, as they turned corner after corner. "The tighter we make the area where he can run, the easier it is to keep him in one place. And at the center of this facility is his office. He'll end up there one way or another."

"That's-"

Shepard never completed her sentence, as they both stopped abruptly in the middle of a hallway, probably sensing the same thing. They exchanged a glance and in one swift move had their pistols trained on a biotic who'd all but materialized behind them.

"Woah, chill out, there, wonder women," Jack requested through a grin. "I promise I'll be good."

Shepard put away her weapon, snorting. "Did you have to make that kinda entrance?"

Jack held out her arm for a fist bump. "I always have to make an entrance." Laughing, Shepard complied.

Miranda tsk'ed disapprovingly. "You could have kept your comm. on, you know." She seemed to want to add something else, but pressed her lips together in a thin line instead.

"Aw, don't tell me you were worried about me, cheerleader. I'm touched." Jack chanced Shepard a glance when her words were met with no reaction. "Besides, I was having fun. You're just too controlling sometimes. Probably would have kept me from blowing up a few structural key points. Kidding," she added, smirking, when that did elicit a proper reaction. "Probably."

Shepard just shook her head. "We need to keep moving. Running out of time."

Miranda checked her pistol's ammo and rolled her shoulders. "Ready when you are."

Shepard turned to the tattooed biotic and arched an eyebrow at her. "I'm a man down, Jack."

Jack grinned. "Good thing I'm worth two of those. We on the Illusive Man's ass?" Miranda nodded once, and Jack beamed. "Excellent."


"We're nearly there. That's the door to his hideout. There's nowhere else he could be."

Shepard aimed a true shot at some grunt's heart when he peeked out of cover at the wrong moment. He collapsed instantly, and noticing no more immediate threats, the three of them left cover, sweeping the area with their pistols out for stragglers.

"We've met very little resistance," Shepard pointed out dubiously, glancing around a corner at an empty hallway. "Are you sure about this?"

"Quite sure. There's a reason for the lack of men. I hired an external entity to assist me with this."

"Also, I'm a great help," Jack piped up, but Miranda feigned deafness.

"You mean May."

Miranda confirmed Shepard's assumptions. "Your 'Reds' gang. Thank you for May Lance's contact. They proved invaluable. The Illusive Man dismisses such organized petty crime, he doesn't see what they could offer. It was an outside force I could – and did – take advantage of," Miranda explained. "She was quick to grab onto the opportunity to bring them off-planet. When your name came up, she all but put three-quarters of them at my disposal."

"They're good kids in shitty situations. She's trying to steer them in the right direction."

That earned Shepard a curious little smile. "Your empathy is revealing. You'd understand better than most, of course. Did she do that for you as well?" Shepard shook her head, but before she could say something else in reply, Miranda kept going. "No, I didn't think so. If anything, she seemed to look to you as an inspiration."

"For better or worse."

Miranda considered that for a few seconds before discarding it. "So who did nudge you in this direction, Commander?"

Shepard shrugged when she realized she didn't have an answer to that question. "No one."

"Right. You're the one who nudges."

"No. She's the one who doesn't need anyone or anything besides herself," Jack corrected, breaking her silent vigil while kicking away a rifle from a dead body. "Born with everything she needs, doesn't take shit from no one because she's stronger than them all." She glanced at Miranda. "You'd think you'd relate, cheerleader. Isn't that your thing? I'm in control of my own life, blah blah blah, self-sufficient, blah blah blah, trust issues?"

"Do you have any idea how ironic that is, coming from you?" Miranda shot back instantly, staggered. "How does anyone lack self-awareness to this degree?"

"Well, at least I don't hide behind work and fancy words. I say what I mean."

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you, having vocabulary more extensive than a ten-year-old is not using 'fancy words'. And you're right, of course. You hide behind violence and psychotic breaks instead."

"So do you!"

"Yes, the three of us are so alike deep down, it's touching," Shepard intervened before anyone else could. The two biotics started like they'd forgotten she was there. "People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, ladies. Be quiet."

"They don't make houses out of glass, Shepard," Jack protested in rebellion, but her lips were twitching amusedly.

"Jack, sh-"

"Woah, watch it!"

Jack's exclamation was followed by a Cerberus soldier charging straight at Miranda, clearly as a last desperate act to get out of his situation alive. Shepard shoved her out of the way just in time, and Jack made sure the man tripped directly into a singularity field instead.

"Was that the last of them?" Shepard asked, leaving Jack to it.

"I would tentatively say yes, Commander."

"Oh, let's just knock on the bastard's door, shall we?" Jack said, taking the initiative.

The door to the very fancy office was slammed open in blue. Whether Jack was angry enough that her kick tore down every bit of security that entrance may have entailed, or the Illusive Man just had supreme confidence in his small army up to that point, Shepard didn't know, but they marched in opposed only by a disapproving expression on the Cerberus leader's face.

He was sitting at his desk, a clear attempt at projecting an aura of calm and control that was bellied by the trail of destruction behind the three women.

"Miranda. Of course." He put out a cigarette butt like he always did when he was dramatically stalling. Possibly he was stalling for his own life instead, this time. "It seems your loyalties shift with the wind, don't they?"

She shrugged, pistol pointed carelessly and unerring between his eyes. "You've never held my loyalty. I think I was just waiting around for someone to claim it. Value of having friends, Jack."

That messed with him. Shepard didn't know how Miranda figured out the man's name – even as she thought it, however, Liara's face came to mind – but she was only there to keep her weapon steady and be quiet, so that's all she did.

"What, the psycho terrorist's called Jack?" (their) Jack, who had no such qualms, complained. "That's so-"

"Ironic, out-of-place, disconcertingly common, and weirdly fitting? I totally agree," Miranda assented. She got a glare for her troubles.

"You know, I've been suspicious of all your ideas lately, but honest-to-god, getting that one involved with us should have been my red flag," the Illusive Man said with a sigh, flicking his head in Jack's direction. "The least believable plan you've come up with so far."

"My plans haven't failed yet," Miranda reminded. "Can't say the same for yours."

"True," he agreed. "What did you promise her? Money?" He turned to Jack, who was now leisurely taking in the interior design with a look of disgust on her face. "I can pay you more."

That caught Jack's attention, but only because it made her crack up laughing. "Would you believe I'm doing this pro-bono? Hey, should I be asking for compensation?" she demanded of Miranda in a sudden shift to a conversational tone.

Miranda's lips twitched. "Find yourself a union once we're done here. Then we can talk."

"Will do," she replied, turning to the Illusive Man, who appeared stricken. "In the meantime, though, you're shit outta luck."

"Go on, try Shepard next," Miranda dared mirthlessly. "Maybe she's doing this for the credits."

Jack's amusement doubled at that, but now the Illusive Man had his attention solely on Shepard. "Of course, I've been neglecting your other companion. And how is Commander Shepard here? I won't even ask why – I'm sure the Alliance doesn't much mind if Cerberus suddenly disappeared off the map. Or, if Cerberus became a loyal lap dog, more accurately."

"Is that what you think is happening?" Shepard wondered aloud.

"It isn't, naturally, because the Alliance would never do something so morally repugnant – right, Commander?" he snapped shrewdly.

"You misunderstood her, Jack," Miranda said. "Cerberus won't be the Alliance's lap dog, of course not. I'll personally make sure it becomes Shepard's private army instead."

"I like it," Jack exclaimed.

"I don't," Shepard cut in, annoyed.

"Fine, it'll be my private army instead. Is that better?" Miranda relented.

"Hot," Jack said, at the same time Shepard said, "No."

"Tough break. Guess we'll just blow it up," Jack concluded.

The Illusive Man looked around like he couldn't quite believe his ears. "You three think this is amusing?"

"Well, not for you."

He leaned forward then, ignoring Miranda in favor of keeping up a strange insistence on Shepard. "I know what you're doing. I know you're trying to stop the reapers," he revealed, and that actually gave the three of them pause, which seemed to disproportionally please him. "But you're underfunded, outmatched, and I'm willing to bet the Alliance isn't exactly bending over backwards to assist you. I can help you, Shepard."

Miranda cocked an eyebrow at her, to which Shepard responded by pursing her lips. She could practically hear Kaidan ranting in her ear. Thankfully, she didn't disagree with him. "You're wrong," she informed him. "Both the Alliance and the Council are taking this very seriously. And if you think I'd turn to you even if they weren't, you're sadly mistaken."

He frowned at her dubiously. "They're taking it seriously on your word?"

Shepard ignored the question, deeming it unimportant. "Give up. This is the end of the line for you," she said quietly.

Irritated, he rapped his knuckles on the table, fingers clenched tight around his portable cancer device. "What's your plan, Shepard? Throw a few ships, planets in front of their lasers, hope you can pierce a couple of holes in their hulls while they serve as a distraction? What happens when they get to Earth?"

A little bud of rage blossomed in Shepard's chest, an annoyance that the Illusive Man always seemed to be able to invoke. "I see that your idea of helping involves the scenario where Earth is attacked."

He flinched like she was holding a blowtorch against his face, and slammed a palm on the shiny sheet of glass in front of him. "You think there's another scenario at this point? Don't be delusional. The only way to defend ourselves is-"

"Is what?" she snapped. "Sacrificing other races? Hoarding power for your own greedy self-interests under the guise of defense? Doing things so evil we become the real monsters? You've got a lot of nerve calling the Alliance morally repugnant. If you wanted to help anyone except yourself, you'd be looking at the right way to fight this war instead of theorizing three-dimensional chess moves for your own profit disguised as patriotism."

For a silent moment, they glared at each other, and then he broke away to look at Miranda speculatively. "Interesting sand castles you've imagined. Did Lawson fill your head with that nonsense? I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"Do you really think you're that subtle?" Shepard demanded. "Cerberus all but screams what they are to the entire galaxy, and so do you. You're not some cunning, artful martyr of misunderstood genius – you're a power-hungry sociopath, and I'm not gonna put up with it while I'm dealing with the reapers at the same time."

His eyes flashed angrily. "Don't make assumptions on things you know nothing about, Shepard."

"Whatever. Tick tock, asshole," Jack interjected. "Time's up."

He spared her only half a glance, taking in the way she was lovingly caressing her weapon while continuing her rounds around the room, ever closer. "I can see now my offer of help was misplaced. You're not this galaxy's savior, not the way your mission is progressing. Obviously."

Shepard snorted. "Uh-huh. After all, what do you have to gain by adding your efforts to mine?"

He made a violent gesture with his hand, half banishing her, half simply insulting her. "You think you know everything. Have everything figured out, have you? You're wrong," he warned. "And arrogant. I'm not helping you, Shepard." He looked away. "This can't be done your way."

Her face hardened. "I'm utterly unsurprised. Coward." Always have been. She tore her eyes away from him dismissively as he bristled. "Hope you'll enjoy rotting in prison."

Jack had wandered over to his desk at this point, and perched herself atop it out of reckless confidence. Almost before Shepard could take notice it was happening, the Illusive Man moved quickly in a series of blurry actions – standing up, he revealed the pistol he'd been holding on his lap, aiming it directly at Jack's head in a blink.

This appeared to be a mistake – Miranda let out three well-aimed shots before his finger neared the trigger. Unfortunately, they completely missed their mark, because Jack had already made him and his weapon fly, blue projectiles arching across the room.

"I am going to throw you right out that window," she informed him, pointing at the extensive structural weakness. He performed an airborne flip in response.

"Please don't," Miranda politely advised. "Even if you could break that glass, we'd be left with no oxygen."

"Is there any chance," Shepard began, "that you might let me walk out of here with him under arrest?"

"No," they immediately responded at the same time, showing an unprecedented united front.

"I'm gonna have to insist."

"Shepard, really," Miranda tried to reason. "Think about this. He's a dick."

"He is," Jack confirmed.

Shepard ignored them, knowing they'd follow orders, and radioed her ship. "Joker. I've got a prisoner inbound. Not the regular kind. Needs round-the-clock supervision and the tightest, least escapable hole you can find."

"Please don't tell me you're bringing the Illusive Man inside the Normandy."

"EDI?"

"I will make accommodations, Shepard."

"Good." She turned back to the two disgruntled biotic women. "Look, we're the good guys. Sometimes it sucks."

Jack sighed and let the Illusive Man drop to the floor none-too-gently, where he slumped, unconscious. Or faking it. Miranda used a stasis field on him anyway, just in case, and dragged him outside to await pickup with Shepard's help.

"You coming?" Shepard called, looking at Jack still in the room, contemplating the desk with an artist's focus.

Jack glanced back briefly. "You two go on ahead. I'm gonna redecorate. Maybe I'll paint the walls blue." Miranda hesitated at the psychotic edge in Jack's voice. "What? I get the point. We're not destroying the resources, can't afford the waste, yadda war asset, yadda institutional repurposing, yadda other reasonable stuff. Got it. I can at least trash his pimp office, can't I?"

"Ten minutes," Miranda conceded curtly. Jack waved them off dismissively, already looking around with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

The second Shepard stepped outside the door, a massive explosion shook her to the bone. Miranda closed her eyes as though praying for patience.

"Look, at least we're not in the blast radius. Count your victories where you can get them."