A/N: Thanks as always to Rae D. Magdon for her contributions.
To: Liara T'Soni
From: [Restricted]
Subject: Null
Project Lazarus a success. Memories and personality are intact.
To: [Restricted]
From: Liara T'Soni
Re: Null
That is wonderful! I cannot thank you enough. I knew that you would be able to do it. When may I see her? How is she doing? Has she been asking for me?
To: Liara T'Soni
From: [Restricted]
Re: Null
I cannot allow you to see her. She has a mission to do, you know that as well as I. She does not need any distractions from that, no matter what. This issue is final.
To: [Restricted]
From: Liara T'Soni
Re: Null
What?! You cannot keep me from her! I trusted you to bring her back to me! I guarantee you her first concern and major priority will be finding me. You may be able to keep me away, but you cannot stop her from searching for me.
To: Liara T'Soni
From: [Restricted]
Re: Null
I can and will. She cannot be distracted. I do not care for your prior relationship with her. After she has finished what needs to be done, if she so chooses to find you again I cannot stop her. Do not be so sure of her continued desire to be with you, Doctor. Death has an uncanny ability to change people.
To: [Restricted]
From: Liara T'Soni
Re: Null
I see. I did not want to have to stoop to this level, but you have forced my hand. Let me see Isabelle, or information containing the location of a 'Orianna Lawson' will conveniently find its way to the desk of a 'Henry Lawson'. I have changed much since the last we met, and you do not know the lengths that I will go through for Isabelle.
To: Liara T'Soni
From: [Restricted]
Re: Null
You do not know who you are fucking with, Dr. T'Soni. If you value your life, you will forget every single piece of information regarding Orianna. You say you would go to great lengths for Shepard. I will go to greater for Orianna. To keep you honest, I will promise that you will be able to see her when I deem the time right. Only when I deem the time right. For now, you would do well to tread lightly.
Shepard slowly woke from her slumber to unfamiliar surroundings. The last thing she remembered was getting onto the shuttle with the two Cerberus agents, Jacob and Miranda. Her body felt much better as she sate up in bed and gazed around the room. Next to the bed she found a tray of food awaiting her, which conjured up a ravenous hunger in her belly. She scarfed down the meal in front of her, which silenced her hunger for the time being.
Scanning the room again, she found a stylish black body suit similar to the one she had seen Miranda wearing. She walked over and glanced it over, frowning at the Cerberus logo embroidered on the left shoulder. She grabbed the suit and gave the fabric a squeeze, tearing the left arm of the suit off completely. She undressed and slipped into the garment, surprised at how well it fit her form. She turned towards the door intending to leave when her eyes caught a mirror on one of the walls. Deciding it couldn't hurt to see how she looked, she strolled over to take a peek at herself.
She was immediately shocked to see how pale her skin was. It looked like she had been locked away in a basement for a very long time with no sunlight. She was much thinner than she remembered, and her hair was much longer than she usually let it grow. The thing that most concerned her was the multitude of orange scars that canvased her face. Though small, they were discernible enough for her to look somewhat devilish. What happened to me?
Needing answers, Shepard left the small room she was in to seek out Jacob and Miranda. She was surprised when Miranda was there to greet her the second she opened the door.
"Hello, Shepard," Miranda said, attempting to sound warm and welcoming.
"What the hell happened to me? I need answers, real answers. What is going on here? And where is Liara?" Shepard asked, thoughts racing. She had so many questions running through her mind, she didn't even really know where to begin.
Miranda looked at the missing sleeve to Shepard's body suit. "I see you decided to continue the trend of wearing torn clothing," she said. Miranda sensed Shepard's urgency, and motioned for her to follow. "Right this way, Shepard. We have much to discuss."
"Two years!?" Shepard exclaimed. She couldn't believe it. She had been dead for two years now. The memories were slowly coming back to her. The attack on the Normandy, the rush to get everyone to safety, going to save Joker, Liara.
That was one thing she couldn't get off her mind. Liara T'Soni. Her lover and the person whom she was going to be bonded with, the one person who made her feel whole and happy. She couldn't imagine the pain that Liara had gone through at the news of her death, which made her want to find Liara even more and grab her up in her arms and let her know she was alive.
"Yes, you were dead for two years. Technically you were only dead for less than a year, which is when we restored your basic bodily functions," Miranda said.
"Where is Liara T'Soni? I need to let her know I'm still alive," Shepard asked, looking around the room in futility as if she would magically find Liara around a corner.
Miranda frowned at the mentioning of the asari doctor. "We are... unaware of Dr. T'Soni's whereabouts.
Shepard's brow furrowed. "What do you mean, 'you're unaware of her whereabouts'?" Shepard questioned.
"I mean what I said Shepard. We do not know where she is. She disappeared from the public eye shortly after you died. The latest intel we have on her suggests she is working with the Shadow Broker, and cannot be trusted," Miranda lied. She hoped that Shepard would drop the subject of Liara.
"Liara would never work for the Shadow Broker! That is not like her at all!" Shepard exclaimed defensively. "What the fuck is going on? Why did you bring me back?" Shepard was frustrated at the lack of information she was receiving from the woman.
"Cerberus brought you back because we believe in the threat of the Reapers, and need your assistance if humanity is going to survive the coming trials," Miranda said plainly, hoping the mentioning of the Reapers would instantly get Shepard on her side.
"What the hell makes you think I would work with Cerberus?" Shepard asked, balking at the idea.
"Because we are the only ones willing to do something about the Reapers. The Council has buried any and all evidence regarding the Reapers and labeled Sovereign as a Geth construct that was unique and would not be a threat to the galaxy," Miranda said with slight anger. "The Alliance branded you a martyr, though they also denied any information about the existence of the Reapers alongside the Council."
Shepard thought over what Miranda said for a moment, before she concluded that Miranda was right. Shepard didn't like it, but it did seem like Cerberus was the only one trying to do something to stop the Reapers. Shepard was going to be damned if she refused help to stop a galactic extinction. "You have a point. However, I still don't know you, and I have to know the people I work with before I trust them," Shepard said.
"Me? There's not much to say about me, really," Miranda replied, uncomfortable talking about herself.
Shepard knew she was lying immediately. "Bullshit," Shepard said. She got up from the table that she and Miranda were sitting and began walking away.
Caught off guard by Shepard's actions, Miranda called out. "Wait! Where are you going?" she asked.
"I can tell there's a lot to you, Miranda. You don't want to open up to me, so we have nothing further to discuss. I'm going back to sleep, if you don't mind," she said, not stopping for a second.
Miranda was left sitting at the table, a dumbfounded look on her face. She had never been brushed off so easily before. Part of her was angry with Shepard for so blatantly ignoring her, and another was wildly intrigued by her. Through the long process of bringing Shepard back, she now realized that she hardly had a grasp on the woman. Whoever Shepard was, Miranda found herself extremely determined to find out every secret and quirk about Shepard. Realizing she had a stupid smile on her face, Miranda scowled at herself for behaving in such a way.
Miranda opened up the terminal on the desk, pulling up her usual checks on Orianna. Satisfied that everything was still in order, she closed that and fired off a quick status update to the Illusive Man. Hopefully he is pleased with her progress so far. Soon she'll be ready to go on actual missions. Finally, she opened up her old files she copied from Project Lazarus.. Who are you? She asked herself. She was extremely disappointed that she didn't know the Commander as well as she thought, and delved back into all of her notes. She was going to find out who Shepard really was, though this time with a slightly personal motive behind it.