Liara frowned as she read the information that was displayed across her many monitors, it had been a few days since their raid against Cerberus on Lazarus Station and she had been wading through the immense data files that Miranda had supplied ever since. The plans and details contained were insane at best and revolting at worst. She was not sure how she would go about telling anyone what she had learned; even she was having a difficult time believing half of the stuff contained within them. What captured her interest most were the intricate files about the past and current Normandy personnel, everything from dates to family details were included though it seemed some were left out.
"Dr. T'Soni, Commanders Shepard and Vega are requesting entrance," said Glyph suddenly and she nodded.
"Please let them in, Glyph," she said gently and somehow she managed to pry her eyes from the data and focus her attention on her friends. "Lisa, James, it's good to see you."
"Hey Azul," said James somewhat cheerily. "Just checking in to see if what Lawson took from Cerberus was actually worth the risk."
Liara nodded and gestured to them to sit down. "I've been sorting through everything and I have to say I'm impressed with the amount contained on such a low security setting compared to other systems. Miranda was apparently able to hack through the encryptions and gain access to everything, which is surprising considering this is Cerberus we're dealing with."
"They probably assumed that since they were declared destroyed, security no longer mattered," considered Elissa as she glanced at the monitors. "If we had invaded an active Cerberus station, I doubt it would have been this easy to get everything from their databases."
"Correct," said Liara as she selected a few choice files. "Now, these files here contain every detail about your resurrection, Elissa. I know EDI showed you some of the videos from the Illusive Man's personal collection but this data here goes over everything they did in order to bring you back; including what experiments they conducted on Ashley. She has her own files and I will give those to her in due time, but for now you should know that we have them and no copies were made. Right now, we hold the key to bringing humans back to life."
"Make sure that information doesn't go further than you," said Elissa darkly. "I know it's a beneficial asset to the human race; but what happened to me was unnatural and I don't want to be responsible for putting a strain on the human race by giving them the secret to extended life. We need to keep this a secret, even if it happens again to one of our own."
James looked grim. "I wonder if Cerberus kept these files as a way of figuring out how to give humans a lifespan like the Asari? It would certainly make sense if they were trying to make sure humans were the dominant race in the galaxy to try and emulate the longest living one."
"That would certainly explain a few of these files," said Liara, gesturing to a separate monitor. "The new head of Cerberus seems very interested in expanding not only the human lifespan but also the number of children they can have at one time. It would seem that what we found at Sanctuary was part of this; they were trying to create the perfect human biotic genetically rather than through eezo exposure. Tristan was the first success they had had and from what I could tell, they planned on using the students and soldiers to produce more. Some of the women there even had two wombs, one a true and one an implanted, to see if they could double the number of successes."
Elissa grimaced at the thought of those poor women being used as guinea pigs in one of the most inhuman ways she had ever heard. "I'm glad we destroyed that place too, and saved Tristan, who knows what they would have done to him or the others if we hadn't arrived."
Liara looked over at her daughter whom was sleeping in her cradle. "I feel the same way, they might have sent him to a facility like the one Jack was raised in so he could be trained to be the perfect biotic weapon. And the other children that could have been produced would have likely suffered the same fate, or worse if they were considered failures."
"So we're now sure that Cerberus is back up to their old ways, just more horrific," spat James as he ran a hand through his hair. "I didn't mind them trying to get into politics, at least then we had some idea of what they were doing, even when they joined up with the Reapers we were able to keep an eye on them and their operations. But this shit is twisted and sick. Who in their right mind would experiment on innocent kids?"
"Something tells me this new head of Cerberus isn't in their right mind," sighed Elissa, rubbing her belly. "Well now that we know Lazarus Station and Sanctuary were connected and some of what Cerberus is up to, is there anything else?"
Liara nodded and inwardly both Elissa and James groaned, they had been hoping that they would get out of this meeting with a little bit of their humanity intact.
"I found these files," said Liara, bringing up some files she had had up earlier. "They contain incredibly detailed information about choice members of the Normandy crew, those who served initially and those who joined later."
This immediately grabbed Elissa's attention. "Which crewmembers?"
"You, first off," said Liara, pointing to the first file in the queue. "Myself, Kaidan, Garrus, Tali, Thane, Samara, Miranda, Jacob, and James. There are files on a few others as well but not as detailed as those that I just listed, more like basic information that is contained in their Alliance files."
"Is there any information as to why these files exist?" asked James, obviously uncomfortable with the idea that Cerberus had a whole file dedicated to him.
Liara shook her head. "I'm sorry, but this was all I could find. Whatever plan they have for these files is completely hidden and I can't seem to find any trace of it, but I have sent out some traces on the parts of the information and if they're accessed I can track it and find out who and why."
Elissa sighed. "I guess that's the best we can hope for now. How recent is the information?"
"It stops at your escape from the prison on the Citadel," replied Liara. "Nothing about your marriage, your pregnancy, your parents' marriage. All of that is excluded from the file, which I guess is a small blessing, otherwise there would be more potential targets."
"I'll take that," said Elissa as she looked at the screen. "So long as part of my life is still my own rather than part of Cerberus, I'll be happy. Is that everything?"
"For now," replied Liara. "If I find anything else that you might need to see, I'll let you know immediately, but other than that I have nothing else to report."
James stood up and assisted Elissa in doing the same, her belly preventing her from doing the act completely by herself. "Thanks, Liara," said James, giving her a tight smile. "Did you hear that Williams is waking up today?"
Liara nodded, a smile breaking out on her face. "I did, and I'm glad for it. I've already prepared some vids for her to view so she can catch up on all that's happened since her . . . absence."
"Good, she'll need to get caught up fast," quipped Elissa and she started for the door. "Good work, Liara, let me know if anything comes up."
"Of course," said Liara as she and James shared a curious look.
Elissa hurried out of the room as fast as she could, purposefully ignoring the medbay window as she headed for the elevator.
"Jeff, could you come down to the medbay?" asked Chakwas, her voice coming from his omni-tool.
Joker looked away from his console. "Is it Ellie? Is something wrong with the babies?"
"No," replied Chakwas calmly. "But Ashley's about to wake up and I thought it would be best if she had some familiar faces around her bedside when she does. I've already asked Liara, Garrus, and Tali to join as well."
"What about Ellie and Alenko?" asked Joker as he stood up, silently gesturing to EDI to take over for him. "Shouldn't they be there too?"
"Neither Shepard nor Kaidan is responding to my hails," said Chakwas, sounding a little exasperated. "I've tried several times but gave up and decided to gather everyone else instead. They're already here, so get a move on."
"Fine," sighed Joker as he rolled his eyes, he was almost to the elevator. He entered and pressed the button for the medbay floor, leaning against the wall as he was taken down to the designated floor, wondering what to expect when he arrived. The doors opened and he exited, spotting the medbay doors he headed straight for them; when he entered the room he saw Garrus, Tali, and Liara crowded around Ashley's bedside. Chakwas was hovering nearby but not as close as they others, Liara silently offered him the chair beside her, closest to Ashley and he quickly sat down. They waited in silence for the moment they had never thought would happen, and if finally happened, her eyes fluttered open and her big brown eyes were looking at them.
"Ash," said Joker breathlessly, reaching out and putting a hand on hers. "It's good to see you."
Ashley looked around at them, a questioning look on her face as she tried to process all that was going on. "Joker? What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be flying the ship?"
Joker tried not to laugh as he squeezed her hand. "I have someone else taking care of that, someone you'll meet later."
"Since when do you let someone else touch the Normandy?" chuckled Ashley, her eyes darting between him and the others. "So, are we headed to the Citadel? I mean, we have to let them know what we found on Virmire, don't we? Or is Shepard talking with the Council now?"
The four of them shared a nervous look, wondering how exactly they were going to tell her that she had been dead for over three years, before they could though she noticed something gleaming on Joker's hand.
"Where'd you get the ring, Joker?" she asked, pointing at the grey and blue band resting on his left ring finger. "Did you get married while we were planetside?"
Joker looked down at the ring and a smile ghosted his lips, she had given them the opening they had been looking for. "I did get married, Ash, almost six months ago," replied Joker, trying not to cringe at the shocked look on her face.
"What? Why didn't you tell anyone?" demanded Ashley. "Who did you marry?"
"Shepard," said Joker calmly. "Shepard and I are married, and we're expecting twins in a few months time." She looked more than confused at the news and was about to speak when he squeezed her hand. "Ash, there's something you need to know."
Elissa sighed as she tried once again to read a report James had forwarded to her for review, it pertained to the raid on Lazarus Station a couple of days ago and even though she knew she should be reading it over her mind kept wandering. She knew that right now Joker and the others were sitting in the medbay with Ashley, probably telling her a few basic things like the fact it was over three years since Virmire, they had fought and won against the Reapers, and that she had been rebuilt in a Cerberus facility. She had already made plans with EDI that once Ashley was awake, she was to be given access to all reports and recordings, starting from Virmire to this last raid and that any of her questions were to be answered immediately. Elissa wanted this transition to be as painless as possible, hoping to ease her friend's burden just a little bit by having access to answers she had been denied when the roles were reversed.
While Miranda and Jacob had kindly informed her of a few major issues like the fact Anderson was still the human Councilor and that the Council was denying the existence of Reapers, they had neglected to tell her anything about her friends and family until much later. She had no idea about Joker, Garrus, Tali, or any of the surviving crew and she knew even less about her own mother's whereabouts. The waiting had been almost maddening and the last thing she wanted was for Ashley to go through the same waiting game, so she had asked Liara beforehand to track down all of Ashley's family members and create a small dossier on each of them so she would know about their fate. Two of her sisters were alive, one died during the initial attack in Vancouver, and her mother was dead as well. Elissa had no idea about any of that until Liara brought her a copy of the dossiers, the only interaction she had had with Ashley's family was sending them the letter informing them of her death. She wished she could somehow tell Ashley's dead family members that she was in fact alive and that they did not deserve to die before knowing that fact, they should have been here to greet her rather than be reduced to simply a file for her to read.
"Elissa, Major Alenko is requesting entrance," said EDI overhead and Elissa sat up, putting the report on her bedside table.
"Alright, EDI, let him in," sighed Elissa as she tried to make herself look presentable.
Kaidan entered the room, one that before he had been freely given entrance to, and looked around as if he were silently reminiscing about the times they had spent together in this room. But now there were articles of clothing and personal effects that belonged to Joker seated in places that had once been reserved for him, effectively erasing the history they had shared here, and reminding him that he no longer had a place in her heart or in her personal life really.
"Where's Tristan?" asked Elissa when she saw that he was not toting the toddler around with him.
"Sam's watching him," replied Kaidan as he watched her caress her belly, another reminder that she was definitely no longer his to love. "I thought this conversation would be more productive without him around."
Elissa nodded her understanding, silently gesturing for him to sit down on the couch, which he did, then she stood up and sat at the opposite end of the same couch. This was the first time since their last big fight that they had been in a room alone together and neither one was entirely comfortable with the idea. Especially now that they had each other's undivided attention.
"It's about Ash, Shepard," said Kaidan, looking at his hands. "I was wondering if you'd been to see her yet, I mean, since she woke up that is."
"No, I haven't," said Elissa softly. "Besides, I don't think she'd be too happy to see the two people responsible for her death."
Kaidan did not argue the point; he knew it to be true. "I wish I could go back and change what happened, find a different outcome that would have been better. You have no idea how many times I've gone through that mission, coming up with different scenarios for key moments, even going so far as to have you change your mind and rescue Ash."
"But that would require changing more than just my decision," said Elissa calmly. "That would mean you wanted to change how you acted towards me, that you regretted having feelings for me."
"To a point, I do regret it," admitted Kaidan. "If I knew then what I know now, I would go back and stop myself from falling for you, to save us both from the pain I caused. Then you could have been with Joker sooner and I could have stayed with Rahna, we both would have been much happier."
Elissa cocked her head at Kaidan, wondering if this conversation was really about Ash or about their past. "Kaidan, you aren't to blame for Ash's death, our relationship wasn't entirely what made me choose you over her; I had to make a choice, and while I regret the fact I put you both in that position, I don't completely regret my decision."
Kaidan looked up. "What do you mean?"
"With Ash's sacrifice, she dragged her family's name back up to glory," explained Elissa, her fingers tracing lines on her belly. "And that's all she ever wanted to do. She wanted to be given a chance that would raise her family's military reputation, and with Virmire she was able to do that, and her resurrection doesn't change that. If anything it gives her a chance to bask in the light."
"Even so, she'll probably hate us," argued Kaidan, tears shining in his eyes. "Regardless of the outcome, it comes down to the fact that we were involved and that no matter how you look at it, Ash died because we were selfish!"
"So did the Geth!" shouted Elissa. "So did the Krogans and their babies, as well as countless humans over the centuries, and the less said about the Asari the better. Kaidan, soldiers and innocents die for reasons more selfish than a relationship. The only reason you're feeling guilty about this is because it was someone you knew in an isolated incident; and I think you're acting incredibly stupid about this whole thing."
Kaidan's eyes flashed dangerously. "Why? Because I have a guilty conscience?"
"Kaidan, you didn't make the fucking call!" cried Elissa, running a hand through her hair. "I was the one who chose, I am the person responsible for Ash's death, not you or anyone else."
"Unless you want to blame Saren," said Joker as he entered the room, startling them both. "Or Cerberus, but I guess it doesn't matter, since Saren was the one who used their resources. Anyway, neither of you should blame yourselves, if survivor's guilt has taught me anything it's that wishing to change the past doesn't help anything in the present."
Elissa looked away guiltily, now she knew why she was on edge and hesitant to approach Ashley, she was suffering from survivor's guilt just like Joker had after her death almost five years ago. She had thought she was over her guilt concerning Ashley's death but now that she was faced with the reality that her friend was alive and as well as she could be, her previous actions overwhelmed her soul again; reopening the wounds she had thought were healed.
"I think we need to talk to Ash," said Elissa suddenly, surprising even herself.
Joker nodded his approval. "I agree, which is why I came up here, she's been asking for you both almost since she woke up. Right now she's talking with Garrus and Kal, but I know she wants to speak with you two badly."
Cognac eyes met emerald easily and without saying a word they reached an agreement.
"There's no way!" laughed Ashley, swatting Kal's shoulder playfully.
Garrus nodded. "Oh no, he's telling the truth, I was there with Shepard when it happened. I honestly couldn't believe it either and I saw it myself!"
That made Ashley laugh even harder and Kal simply shrugged, his glowing lingering on her as she laughed.
"Well, the Colossus had to be taken down somehow," said Kal casually. "Why not use a missile if you have it?"
"I like your style, Kal," said Ashley happily, settling against her pillows. "I can respect a Marine who fights for his objective like you did that day on Haestrom."
"Thank you, Miss Williams," said Kal pleasantly. "And I have to say, I've seen the vids of you fighting on Eden Prime and a few other places, I don't believe I've seen a human Marine fight with as much creativity as you."
"Now, now, you two, no flirting while on duty," chided Garrus playfully, causing the two to blush then laugh nervously when the medbay door behind them opened. They turned around and saw Elissa walking in with Kaidan following behind her, their eyes slightly downcast at the floor like they were wounded dogs returning to their master.
"Hey Shepard," said Garrus pleasantly. "Alenko, good to see you."
"Garrus, maybe you and I should go get some food," said Kal suddenly, standing up in the process, seemingly sensing the importance of their appearance. "Then you can tell me again how I've been incorrectly calibrating my assault rifle."
Garrus then stood up. "Fine, it's not like we haven't had this discussion before; maybe this time you'll listen to me, although that's not very likely."
Kal and Garrus walked past Elissa and Kaidan; the Turian put a talon reassuringly on her shoulder as he passed by, as if telling her that everything would turn out for the better, and then it was just the three of them in the room. Kaidan and Elissa awkwardly shuffled their feet as they stood, as if waiting for an invitation to sit down rather than taking the initiative.
"You guys can sit down," said Ashley finally, gesturing to the two empty seats at her bedside. "I promise, Chakwas says I'm not dangerous or anything; Cerberus didn't put any strange implants in me to make me some kind of monster."
Against her better judgment, Elissa laughed, whether out of relief or frayed nerves she could not tell; all she knew was she was glad that Ashley was still herself.
"Damn, Shepard, did getting pregnant make you unstable or something?" asked Ashley with a raised eyebrow. "I know I'm quite the comedian but that wasn't one of my better jokes."
"I know," said Elissa as she calmed herself down. "I'm just glad that you're you and not some Cerberus replacement, even they couldn't bring themselves to make a human that told crappy jokes like you."
Ashley shook her head. "Well, I know you're you because I've seen some recent vids of you dancing, and they're still as bad as when we served together. And I don't think even Cerberus could screw up something as simple as a sense of rhythm."
Elissa rolled her eyes playfully. "Hey, before I got pregnant I was starting to improve dramatically in that area."
"I think it's that improvement that got you in this situation," teased Ashley, gesturing at Elissa's belly. "Honestly though, you look terrific."
"So do you," said Elissa sincerely as she sat down, out of both the need and the want. "Alenko, come and sit down with us, we haven't given you a proper ribbing yet."
Kaidan sighed heavily before sitting down in the only vacated seat. "That's what I'm afraid of, you two are the worst when you're together."
"I think you have me confused with the Phantom Menace," said Ashley, visibly wincing at the thought of Miya. "Good lord, that woman hasn't changed a bit since the last time I saw her."
Elissa grinned wickedly. "Actually, she's much calmer than she used to be, considering she now has two people who can keep up with her."
Ashley and Kaidan both looked on the verge of asking what Elissa meant but at the last second thought better of it and decided to get straight to the elephant in the room. At least, Kaidan did anyway.
"Ash, I'm sorry," he said humbly. "If I could, I would go back and change how everything turned out."
"Why?" asked Ashley, surprising them both. "I don't hate you for what happened, honestly I'm glad things worked out the way they did."
Elissa was a little concerned by her attitude. "You do know the whole story right? About why you were resurrected and all the hairy details?"
Ashley nodded firmly. "I do, Joker told me everything. If anything, I'm more angry about the fact it's taken you both over twenty-four hours to come see me. I thought you two would be the ones telling me about the circumstances surrounding my death and the fact that Joker and Skipper are finally an item, and that Scuttlebutt has a beautiful baby boy. But I guess you two were just too upset."
"You're right," replied Elissa softly. "We were upset and scared about what you might say to us, the two of us are just now coming to grips with our survivor's guilt and we weren't entirely sure what we could say to you to make things right again."
"Well I know what to say," said Ashley brightly, taking their hands in hers. "I forgive you both."
With her words, a weight lifted from Elissa's soul that she had not realized she was carrying at all, for the first time in a long time she felt completely free of her guilt. Tears flooded her vision and she immediately embraced Ashley, ignoring the surprised look on her former crewmate's face, all she wanted to do in that moment was convey how much she had been missed and how glad she was to have her back. When she felt Ashley returning the embrace with just as much strength as she was giving it, Elissa knew she understood.
"Are you disappointed that Shepard and I aren't together?" asked Kaidan when they parted.
Ashley looked on the verge of slapping him but restrained herself admirably. "Actually, I was when I first heard about you two, I thought you guys made a pretty good couple. That day on Virmire I prayed that you two would have a long life of happiness, and I guess you have, just not together. But then again, God works in mysterious ways and He knows better than I what's in store for everyone."
Elissa was a little taken aback by her statement. "I'm surprised that you still have any faith at all, Ash. I'll be honest, after I came back, I was pretty angry at everyone including all deities."
"Faith has always been a big part of my life, Skipper," explained Ashley simply. "Just because I died then was brought back doesn't mean I'm going to be angry at God; yes, a small part of me thinks that things could have worked out differently, but I know it was a means to a different end."
"Nothing shakes your beliefs, does it, Doe Eyes?" teased Kaidan, earning him a playful punch in the shoulder.
"Nothing has and nothing will," remarked Ashley. "Alright, now the three of us are going to sit here like old soldiers and reminisce about the good old days then you're going to tell me about everything I've missed. Especially about how Skipper here brought down a Reaper by herself."
"It wasn't technically by herself," said Kaidan with a grin. "She did have a gun linked to every ship in the Quarian Migrant Fleet plus the Normandy."
"Hey, I was the one doing somersaults to avoid the damn thing, while trying to aim that stupid gun!" argued Elissa and Ashley laughed. "You were in that Geth ship with Legion and Tali the entire time."
"Details, details," quipped Kaidan, waving his hand dismissively.
"Okay, now I really want to hear the story," said Ashley excitedly, settling down in her bed, looking up expectantly at Elissa and Kaidan. With a quick glance at each other, they began telling the story of how they won Rannoch back for both the Quarians and the Geth.
After an exceedingly long talk with Ashley, which resulted in several stories and explanations regarding the circumstances surrounding those particular events, Elissa walked onto the bridge hoping to catch Joker before he went on break. She saw the top of his cap sticking out above the headrest of his seat and smiled to herself as she walked up behind him, sliding her arms around his seat, wrapping them somewhat awkwardly around his shoulders.
"Hey Ellie," said Joker, looking up at her with a wide grin. "You're in a good mood. I take it your talk with Ashley went well?"
Elissa nodded as she moved around to face her husband. "It did, I was almost convinced that these last few years without her hadn't really happened. And I think talking with her also helped Alenko and I."
"How so?" asked Joker, keeping his jealousy and concern in check.
"I'm not sure," replied Elissa with a shrug. "I just know that right now we don't hate being in a room together, which means we might be on the road to being friends again. Although I highly doubt that will be any time in the near future."
Joker resisted the desire to grin and breathe a sigh of relief, while he knew he had nothing to fear from Kaidan, especially now that he and Elissa were married he still could not help but feel a little apprehensive whenever he thought about the two of them getting along. "Well, at least it's one less person on your hit list," said Joker casually. "Anyway, I'm glad you spoke with Ashley, I think you both needed that."
Elissa smiled then leaned down to kiss his cheek. "Well, thank you for convincing us that we needed to do just that, otherwise we might still be arguing in circles about what to do and who was at fault."
"What can I say? I know all of you better than you know yourselves," quipped Joker as he brought up another screen on his console. "Speaking of which, I'm sure you're just dying to see how Miranda's release from the "brig" is going to go."
"I can't deny I'm a little curious," said Elissa with a grin as she huddled closer towards the screen, her eyes focused on Miranda who was sitting in the AI core behind the orange force field. Moments later the distinct sound of the door opening was heard and James' broad form walked into view, Miranda looked up at him and almost seemed scared to see him there but did nothing that would indicate she was going to attack.
"James," she said, her voice carrying well over the microphone in the room. "I didn't expect to see you."
James shrugged. "Lola asked me to come check on you, and I'm not about to deny mi hermana mayor, especially when she's in such a delicate condition."
Joker barely stifled a snort of laughter, especially when he saw the cross look that passed over Elissa's face at the words 'delicate condition.'
"Yes, I heard that she's expecting twins," said Miranda casually, though fear laced her voice. "Joker must be thrilled that all his training didn't go entirely to waste."
It was now Elissa's turn not to burst out laughing as Joker huffed loudly in annoyance at the implication.
"Indeed," laughed James, both surprised that he did, although he collected himself quickly. "Anyway, you should know that you're going to be released today, I've been given the authorization to do so."
Miranda hardly seemed pleased with this announcement. "Why bother? No one on this ship trusts me, and for good reason, I'm hardly what anyone would consider a good friend."
James' stiff posture relaxed and he neared her position. "Rosa, you are a good friend. Okay, you screwed up, and yes those screw ups cost dozens of lives but you have to look at the bright side."
"What bright side?" scoffed Miranda.
"You saved trillions of lives in the process," replied James kindly, though they could hear the apprehension and slight awkwardness in his tone. "Including mine. Without you, Lola wouldn't be here and neither would Ashley, the Illusive Man and Cerberus might have been responsible for their deaths but you're the one who brought them back. So that's three lives saved right there. You warned everyone about what Sanctuary really was and got your sister back in the process, so there's a few hundred lives. You joined up with the Alliance and assisted in the war effort, which probably saved dozens of lives. Then you risked your life several times over to help us out when we needed it."
"What's your point, James?" asked Miranda, tears clearly visible in her sapphire eyes.
"My point is, you aren't the enemy," said James softly. "You're our friend, our ally, and we had no right to disregard everything you've done to help us and the galaxy. We shouldn't have rushed to condemn you so quickly."
"Maybe you all were right to," sighed Miranda, running a hand through her dark tresses. "I mean, I don't exactly instill trust in people, the only reason anyone ever did trust me was because of Elissa. She's the one who somehow convinced everyone else to work with me."
James took a step forward. "Yes, she was the one who convinced the others to give you a chance, but she's not the reason they trust you. Through your own actions, you created trust, and you maintained that trust for several years; the only reason it wavered this time was no one was willing to accept that there are some things you didn't tell us. We shouldn't have rushed to judgment like we did but you should have come clean a lot sooner than you did. I've already spoken with the crew, they're willing to forgive so long as you don't hide anything important like Williams from us again."
Miranda's head jerked up. "They're only upset about Williams? Not about the SR-1 or Fehl Prime?"
"Williams was under your care, therefore your secret to hide," explained James. "The rest were executive decisions made by your old boss, so we can't exactly be mad at you for them. Unless there's something else you'd like to confess to now."
"No," replied Miranda, the sincerity clear in her voice. "I've aired my dirty laundry completely, I don't have any more secrets from you or the crew. And I don't expect their friendship or their forgiveness after all of this, but if you know, I'd like to know where I presently stand."
"With who exactly?" asked James, crossing his arms.
"With you," whispered Miranda.
"Miranda, I love you," said James, taking another step forward. "Yes, I will admit that I wasn't happy to find out that you were still hiding things from me, like what happened to my unit but that doesn't change the fact that I still love you. There are some things that I may never know about you and the same goes for me, but if we can live with that fact, then I don't see any reason why we can't still be together."
Miranda stood up and crossed the distance between her and James, the force field the only impediment, and she smirked. "Well, Mr. Vega, since you can live with not knowing every little detail about me then I can accept that there might be a few things I might never know about you. The real question is, can we both live with what we actually do know about each other?"
James nodded. "If you have no problem living with the knowledge that I occasionally dance with cleaning supplies, and I can live with the fact you have a minor obsession with Asari soap operas, I think we'll be perfectly fine."
Joker and Elissa erupted with laughter, glad that James and Miranda could not hear them.
"Then I guess we've reached a reconciliation," remarked Miranda when the force field suddenly went down.
"Aw, how sweet!" cackled Joker over the intercom. "And make sure to visit Ash sometime, Miranda, she wants to thank you for saving her life."
"I'll do that, Joker," replied Miranda happily as she took James' hand. "But after I thoroughly apologize to my sweet and wonderful boyfriend."
James blushed and Joker shuddered a little.
"Alright, I get the hint," he sighed as he closed the line and changed the screen on the console to the mess before looking up at Elissa. "So, was James right? Have we all decided not to condemn Miranda?"
Elissa nodded firmly. "I spoke with the crew, and he's right, we shouldn't have rushed to judgment. She'll have to work on improving relations on her own time, but her assistance and actions during the raid on Lazarus Station amended her standing with many of the crew. Overall, no one's really upset with her for what she did but more so for the fact she hid it from us, we don't really like secrets on the Normandy."
"Damn straight," agreed Joker as he starting inputting coordinates. "I've set course for Tuchanka, and EDI let Ingleside know when we'll be there, through private channels of course. It'll be nice to see Wrex and Grunt again, been a while."
"That it has," said Elissa happily as she rubbed her belly, unable to keep herself from touching it every few minutes. "I wonder if Grunt's going to be jealous about having two little siblings?"
Joker shrugged as he smiled. "Well, Kolyat didn't have a problem with it, but then again Grunt has always been the needier of your sons. Guess we'll find out for sure when we get there."
"I guess we will," echoed Elissa as she put a hand on Joker's shoulder, looking out at the endless void of stars stretched out before them. Some feeling deep in her gut told her that something was about to happen, something that would change everything; for better or worse she could not tell, but she was sure nothing would be the same again.
