A/N: Well, we're almost to the end. Just a couple more chapters. Thank you very much to everyone who has been supporting this fic, and to Rae and OriginalAlcy for their input to help make this amazing.
Shepard woke to find her head laying on Miranda's bio-bed. Shifting her head, she found Miranda awake and reading a data pad. Drawing in a deep breath, Shepard moved into a sitting position and stretched out her stiff muscles. "Morning," she said, rubbing the drowsiness from her eyes.
"Actually, it is mid-afternoon, but good morning to you as well," Miranda replied, setting down the datapad next to her.
"How are you feeling?" Shepard asked, leaning back in the chair to get comfortable.
"Much better. I was cleared to go back to my cabin a couple of hours ago," Miranda said with a smile.
Shepard raised an eyebrow at that, confused. "Why are you still here, then? I figured you'd be out of here first chance you got."
Miranda shrugged. "Your head was on my bed, and I didn't want to wake you," she said dismissively, looking back to the datapad next to her.
"You should have woke me up, it's no big deal," Shepard replied. Why is she acting all weird?
"You need your sleep, Commander," Miranda replied. "I may have rebuilt you better than before, but you still need to rest like any other human being."
Shepard looked in her eyes. She believed what Miranda was saying, but she couldn't shake the feeling that it was something more. "Yeah, well between the Reapers and the Collectors, there isn't much time for that. I'll sleep when I die," she said, noting the concern in Miranda's face at the mentioning of her death.
"You sound so sure that you are going to die soon, Shepard," Miranda said, hints of hurt in her voice.
Shepard snorted in reply. "Some days I wish you had never brought me back, Miranda." She was surprised to see anguish on Miranda's face at her response.
"I'm sorry, Shepard. You didn't really get much say in this, did you?" Miranda asked, almost as if to herself. "We were so focused on bringing you back to stop the Collectors, we didn't even pause to think about what you would go through in the process."
Shepard was growing concerned. This was completely out of character for Miranda. "Are you sure you're okay, Miranda? You didn't get hit on the head too hard during the fight?" she asked.
"What? No! I am completely fine. What makes you think something is wrong?" Miranda asked. She was now fidgeting profusely, and Shepard could tell she was becoming flustered.
"Miranda, you may be able to fool other people, but you're as easy to read as a book to me," Shepard replied. It's nice to see her like this, but... what the hell? "Seriously, what's going on?"
Miranda bit her lower lip, lowering her head a bit. "I would like to speak with you in private," Miranda said. Shepard could tell that she was trying to use her commanding voice, but it came out as more of a plea than an order.
Wanting to get to the bottom of this, Shepard nodded. "All right, does your office work? It's closer," Shepard said, hoping that being in her office would put Miranda more at ease.
Miranda nodded and lifted herself up off of her bio-bed and walked out of the medbay, giving Doctor Chakwas a cursory nod.
Shepard followed Miranda into her office. Once the door was closed, she noticed Miranda looking out of her window. Walking over and sitting next to her on the couch, Shepard relaxed and waited for Miranda to begin.
"My father got me the best genes money could buy, but I guess it wasn't enough," Miranda said, still looking out of the view-port.
"Wasn't enough for what?" Shepard asked. "You always bring up your origins. It really bothers you, doesn't it?"
"I am who I am, Shepard. My father paid to develop me into who I am. You? You earned everything you worked for. Everything you've accomplished is due to your skill," Miranda said, lowering her head. "The only things that are my own are my mistakes."
"Bullshit," Shepard said, finding herself angry at how self-depreciating Miranda was being.
"It's true, Shepard!" Miranda fired back.
"Again, bullshit! It doesn't matter what you're given, it's what you do," Shepard said, trying to get through to Miranda. "You could have everything in the world handed to you, doesn't mean you'll do anything with it. You can be proud of all that you've accomplished." Miranda turned to her at that statement, a look of happiness and gratitude in her eyes.
"Thank you, Shepard," she said, eyes becoming slightly watery. "After two years, I find that I hardly know you at all," Miranda said, shaking her head.
"What do you mean?" Shepard asked.
"You show me such... kindness, though I don't deserve it," Miranda said, lowering her head.
"Why wouldn't you deserve it?" Shepard asked. She had a feeling she knew what Miranda was about to admit, but decided to let her get it out of her system.
"I... don't know if you know this, but I manipulated you," Miranda said, cringing at the word manipulated. "I made it a game to see if I could get you into bed with me, and it worked. Now with you sitting here, talking to me like this, I feel horrible about it," she said. Shepard couldn't help but laugh at the admission, which frustrated and baffled Miranda. "Why are you laughing?! I am being completely serious here!"
Shepard bit down and tried to control her laughter, wanting to respect the seriousness Miranda was showing. "I'm sorry. It's just that I knew what you were trying to do from the first time we talked. Like I said, you're easy to read for me," she said with a wink.
"That's not all," Miranda said, now becoming slightly shy.
Curious at the new display of behavior, Shepard leaned back and paid full attention. "Oh? What else have you got for me?"
"At first... it was about the sex. I've never had a close relationship before. But with you... I don't know. It was different," Miranda said, taking a moment to think. Throwing her hands to her side in frustration, she shook her head. "I don't understand this, Shepard. When I'm around you, I start to lose my composure." Miranda seemed to come to a revelation, and she looked like a deer in headlights. "She... Isabelle, I think I... love you," Miranda admitted.
What the fuck, Shepard said, fighting like hell to not say it out loud. Trying to collect herself from Miranda's revelation, she sat back and cast her gaze upwards. "Wow, I was not expecting that," she said. Seeing the worried look on Miranda's face, she sat back up and looked Miranda into the eyes. "Miranda, when I first met you, I wasn't sure what to think of you. After spending time with you, I saw a person who I liked and someone I wanted to help realize who they truly were." Casting her gaze downwards, she continued. "I will admit that I felt a little something between us... but that's all it was for me, just a fling, and one that I regret. Not because I didn't enjoy it at the time, but because of all the hurt that has come from it," she said.
There was a very long pause, with Miranda just looking at her. Suddenly, Miranda's whole expression changed. She seemed almost lighter, like a burden had been lifted off of her. "You really do love her, don't you?" Miranda asked softly. "I should have seen it earlier, but I guess my pride and arrogance got in the way of that. I feel horrible," Miranda said.
"You're not the only one to blame for this, Miranda. There's a lot of blame involved, myself included. I might have used you to deal with the hurt from Liara rejecting me, which I also feel bad about," Shepard said. "I don't want you to think that I don't care about you, because I do. I consider you one of my closest friends, but I just can't be anything more to you than that."
Miranda nodded, and then she abruptly got up from the couch and made her way over to her desk, pulling out a datapad. Returning to the couch, she handed it over to Shepard.
"What's this?" Shepard asked, looking it over.
"My apology," Miranda stated.
Shepard raised her eyebrow. "You'll have to explain," she said.
"Cerberus had been keeping tabs on what Liara was doing. That is some information she'll find useful... and it will give you an excuse to go and talk to her," Miranda said, a genuine smile on her face.
Returning the smile, Shepard placed the datapad to her side. "Thank you, Miranda. What information, though? Why was Cerberus keeping tabs on her?"
"Because she is going after the Shadow Broker. That is information contains leads that may help her find his location," Miranda said.
Liara is... "What?! She's going after the damn Broker?!" Shepard exclaimed. What in the hell are you thinking, Liara. "This, you'll have to explain to me."
Miranda smiled, moving over to a cabinet. "In that case, I should get us drinks. It's quite a story," she said.
To: Liara T'Soni
From: Commander Shepard
Subject: We need to talk
Hey, Liara. Listen... we need to talk. I need to apologize for some stuff, and we need to get things out in the open. I also have a gift for you, if you'd have it. I can be at Illium in two days.
To: Commander Shepard
From: Liara T'Soni
Re: We need to talk
I would like that, Isabelle. I trust that Ms. Lawson will not be coming with you?
To: Liara T'Soni
From: Commander Shepard
Re: We need to talk
No, though that is something we will talk about. I will see you in two days.
To: Commander Shepard
From: Liara T'Soni
Re: We need to talk
I will look forward to our meeting. I also have a present for you. I would like to talk more, but I have work that needs to be done. See you in two days.
"Joker, set course for Illium," Shepard said into the intercom located in her cabin.
"Aye, Commander. Maybe I'll get Lawson vs. T'Soni Round 2 recorded this time," he said.
"Joker, I swear on my life I will break every bone in your body if you mention that again," she threatened, not in the mood for jokes.
"I'll, uhh, get back to... avoiding asteroids. Yeah. Avoiding astroids," Joker said, cutting off thecomms suddenly.
Sighing, Shepard grabbed the picture frame from her desk and made her way to the couch below. Sitting down, she picked up the glass of wine she had poured herself earlier and took a sip. Setting it back down, she held the picture frame in both of her hands, leaning forward.
The picture was of Shepard and Liara together on the Citadel. It was their first real date, and she had taken Liara to a fancy Italian restaurant. When she heard that Liara had never tried any human foods, she insisted they have human cuisine for their first date. They both looked so happy, Liara eating her ravioli and Shepard making conversation with her. They hadn't known, but Garrus had snuck in and snapped the photo of them before they realized it. Smiling, Shepard placed her hand over Liara's picture. I hope I can make this right, I hope it isn't... too late.
Placing the photo down, she got up from the couch and made her way over to a cabinet. She swore she would never do it, but she felt the situation justified it. Pulling out the dress that Kasumi got her, she placed it on the bed. Liara is going to lose her mind seeing me in this, she smiled to herself. While she would consider herself somewhat feminine, she never really enjoyed wearing dresses. Liara had never seen her in one as well. If it meant getting her back, I'd wear a dress every day for the rest of my life.
Putting the dress back into the cabinet, she made her way back to the couch and poured herself another glass of wine. "If I'm going to help her with this, might as well know all I can," she said, pulling out the datapad Miranda had given her. She went through hell for me. I'll go through hell to repay her. Determined, she opened the first file and perused it for any information she could find. The Shadow Broker was going to pay for putting Liara through that.