Author's Notes: Hi again dear fanfic community! I'm sorry you guys had to wait a bajillion years for this update, but my gaming induced coma was too much for me to handle! The first two readers to spot the Chuck references in this story get over 9000 internet cookiez! Anyways, here we go once more, and enjoy! Love y'all!

I was hurrying down to the shuttle bay as fast as I could in my hoverchair once I heard Joker announce that the ship was an hour away from Alchera, which was positively identified as the crash site of the original SSV Normandy, and was the final resting place of Commander Russell Patrick Shepard until some of the Shadow Broker's agents found him.

I quickly slipped out of my catsuit (no mean feat considering that my left most of my lower left leg and half my foot was in a bulky cast) and got into my custom made Cerberus shock armor as fast as I could, setting the helmet onto my lap as I went out of my office and down to the shuttle bay.

When I reached, Russell was already there in his armor and was unarmed save for the S5 Phalanx on his hip, his N7 helmet casually cradled in the crook of his right arm. "Hey Miranda, glad to see you made it. Terrain scans of the crash site indicate that it's uneven as hell, so are you sure your hoverchair can handle those rises and drops in elevation?" Russell smiled nonchalantly as I maneuvered my chair to the shuttle.

"I have complete confidence in this hoverchair Shepard. As a matter of fact, it was developed as a joint venture by both Cord-Hislop Aerospace and Sirta Foundation, and won't be available to the mass market for a few more months. It's a much more advanced hoverchair developed specially for those who need a hoverchair that can handle all terrains." I informed him as he nodded in approval.

"And if I recall correctly, both are Cerberus front companies right?" Russell asked.

"Oh my goodness, all that intel on you never indicated that you were intelligent enough to read. I am absolutely amazed."I feigned surprise as he stiffened up.

"Hey! That ain't fair."

"Oh but it is Shepard. Now let's get onboard the shuttle and stop your whining." I smirked at him as I boarded the shuttle with him in tow.

It was a relatively quiet twenty minute ride down to the crash site with a huge metal box sharing the crew compartment with us, and for some reason I couldn't fathom, Russell kept sneaking glances at it. I only vaguely remembered taking this box aboard two days ago just before we left Omega, but it was just indicated upon the inventory list as 'Item 380094MA756CV', and whenever I tried to interact with the bloody blasted hunk of metal to find out what exactly it was, it just would not respond.

I asked Russell what it was, but he just flashed me one of his infuriatingly charming smiles before responding with a nonchalant "Don't get your cute panties in a twist Miranda, you'll find out once we get to Alchera."

Oh what nerve he had to talk to me like that!

The shuttle jolted as it made the final descent before landing, and Russell and I snapped out of our respective thoughts as we finally landed. "Helmets on Miranda."Russell ordered as we both donned our helmets and secured them to our hardsuits, waiting till we both heard the signature hiss of the helmet fully sealing itself to the hardsuit, fully protecting us from all hostile elements before the Commander opened the shuttle door to reveal a snowy wasteland outside.

Just as Russell was about to hop off the shuttle, I yanked him back when I saw a bright metallic glint in the pool of water that had formed from the heat of the shuttle's thrusters. "Watch it Shepard, you nearly stepped on something!"

"Wha…oh. A dogtag. Talitha Draven…oh! Ensign Draven! She was a nervous, mousy little blonde who almost cried the first time I talked to her." Russell chuckled as her recollected the now deceased owner of the dogtag.

"Well with a face like yours, it's obvious why." I replied airily as I disembarked from the shuttle as Russell could only go "Hey, that ain't fair."

I began to move around the icy wasteland slowly in my hoverchair, setting my omnitool to locate any nearby dogtags as I surveyed the site. About six hundred and twenty metres opposite our LZ was what was left of the first Normandy's CIC, and amazingly enough, the tactical galaxy map appeared to be mostly intact, save for a broken handrail on the right side. Just fifty metres behind us was a huge section of the Normandy's hull that had broken off from the rest of it, and amazingly enough, it still bore the name 'Normandy' in crisp white paint.

Everywhere else was strewn with a massive amount of debris from the ship's hull, and some loose cargo that miraculously survived reentry into Alchera's atmosphere. I suppressed a shudder at what Russell must've felt as he struggled to reattach the ruptured breather tube back into his armor. Helplessly floating around in space and watching as his command blew up in a fiery conflagration of metal and armor composite as he watched himself hurtle towards Alchera's icy surface and certain death…a sudden beeping from my omnitool snapped me out of my thoughts as I leaned down to pick up the dogtag that caused my omnitool to go off. Hmm…it belonged to a certain deceased Serviceman 3rd Class Marcus Grieco. Maybe I'd ask Shepard about him a bit later to see what he remembered about Grieco.

I decided to go look for Russell lest the idiot somehow got himself into trouble (nearly impossible here, but who knew with him?), and turned my chair around to go find him. It took under less than a minute, even when pausing to pick up another three dogtags my omnitool detected, to find him smashing a crate open with his biotics before rummaging through the pile of debris it left behind.

"Shepard, what are you doing?"

"Looking for anything salvageable Miranda. I-oh, a dogtag. Hmm…Junior Engineer Carlton Tucks. Oh, the big dude." Russell smiled weakly in fond remembrance as I pressed the dogtags I found against his armored chest.

"I just found the dogtags of Servicewoman 1st Class Caroline Grenado, Corporal Raymond Tanaka and Service Chief Addison Chase. Here you go Shepard." I informed him as he gently took the dogtags from me.

"Thanks Miranda. All the good people lost here…"

"This gives us even more incentive to stop the Collectors Shepard." I replied as I picked up a sealed box of eezo and placed it on my lap so that we could take it back to the Normandy. Upon seeing that I put the box of eezo upon my lap, Russell then proceeded to retrieve another five boxes of eezo and set them down upon my lap.

"Excuse me Commander! I am not a trolley for you to dump all your knick-knacks into!" I burst in outrage as he just turned to me and smile-no, the little bastard smirked at me. Yes, Commander Russell bloody Shepard just fucking smirked at me!

"Well Miranda, I figured that since you were already carrying one box back to the shuttle, you could help me do the same for the other five-"

"I am your second in command you dimwit, not your maid who's going to babysit you like the big, overgrown baby that you are!" I ranted at the idiot who was my in charge.

"Come on Miranda, help me out here. Counting the four dogtags you've found in addition to the ones I've found, there's only twelve dogtags. Which means that I've gotta go find the other eight. Off you go now, and thanks Miranda." He waved as he jumped off the icy plateau he was on and he just sauntered off, leaving me spluttering in protest.

I hated to admit it, but he made some sense. "That cheeky bastard…I swear to God that I'll get him someday." I growled to myself as I headed back to the shuttle and deposited the six boxes of eezo in the cabin before going off to explore the crash site.

I whizzed past the Normandy's Mako which was now stuck firmly headfirst into a huge chunk of ice, looking for Commander Shepard. I found him seated upon the raised platform of the galaxy map and chuckling to himself as he read from a datapad. I snuck up on him and got a good look at what he was reading before he noticed that I was right next to him.

"You had a xenophobe on the crew?" I asked him as he shook his head.

"No, god no! Pressly definitely wasn't a xenophobe by any measure, but he was quite distrustful of aliens given that his granddad was a Service Chief on Shanxi during First Contact. He was actually more distrustful of aliens than Ashley Williams, but he eventually got over it. Never knew he kept a diary." Russell chuckled in fond memory before his smile dropped and his demeanor became solemn.

"We generally learn more about people after they pass away as compared to when they're alive." I offered as Russell looked at me and nodded.

"True. We're only human, and we've all got skeletons in the closet. It's just that some of us have more than others. Come on, we should go find the remaining three dogtags." He replied grimly, standing up and walking towards me.

"Hang on Shepard, I see boots sticking out from beneath that metal panel over there!" I urged as Russell turned to look at where I was pointing.

"It's just boots Miranda-"

"Look closer and you can see a pair of trousers still attached to the boots Shepard!" I huffed exasperatedly as he did as I instructed.

"You're right-it could be a corpse! Come help me!" He beckoned as I followed after him as we drew closer to the huge chunk of composite armor and we both called upon our biotics and lifted it off.

Russell's and my suspicions were right; it was indeed a corpse, fully intact (save for the metal rebar sticking out of her chest) due to it being encased into a thin layer of ice from the planet's atmosphere as well as the fact that the corpse was encased between the metal hull and a piece of composite armor. "She's Monica. What a pity." Russell sighed as he gazed upon the dead brunette's features before he reached down to gently chip away at the flimsy layer of ice that covered her corpse before closing her eyes.

"I'm sorry, who was she?" I asked.

"She was Servicewoman 2nd Class Monica Negulesco. She was in charge of ship diagnostics and she really kept the crew's morale up when we were on the hunt for Saren. I guess her family will have some closure now."

"I see. How old was she?" I asked quietly as Russell paused to recall.

"She was thirty one and had a husband six years older than her, and a pair of twins, one boy and one girl who'll both be five this year. Looks like they'll have a body to bury and they'll know that Monica died bravely." The Commander sighed sadly as he gingerly carried the body.

"Miranda, could you please help me search for the last two dogtags while I place Monica's remains in the shuttle?" He asked with genuine mourning and-was that anger in his eyes?

"Definitely Commander. Take your time." I reassured him as we split up, and I headed to the last section of wreckage that I still hadn't explored while he went off to the shuttle to place the corpse and I heard him radioing for the crew aboard the Normandy to prep a preserver unit for our return.

I reached the last section of the ship and found that it was part of the mess hall. There was still a massive central table bolted down in its original place, amazingly enough, and there were a few chairs lying around in various states, ranging from nearly obliterated to intact. My omnitool began beeping and it peaked out in front of a table that was overturned, but I saw nothing. Surmising that the dogtag was wedged under the table, I used my biotics to flip the table aside and spotted the elusive dogtag that was formerly the property of Serviceman 1st Class Jamin Bakari.

"Okay Miri, last dogtag…hurry it up girl, you're starting to feel the chill…" I muttered to myself as I guided my hoverchair towards the direction my omnitool indicated and finally found the dogtag wedged tightly between the floor and a collapsed rebar that was once part of the ship's hull. Once again, I flared up my biotics and moved the rebar aside to free up the last dogtag. However, it was just outside of my reach, which was extremely infuriating. "Damn it!" I cursed in frustration as my armored fingers just brushed against the dogtag as I leaned forward to try and grab it.

Suddenly, I fell from my chair and landed facefirst in the snow. Cursing under my breath, I grabbed the troublesome dogtag and prepared to stand, but I suddenly felt arms snake under my prone form and bodily lift me up, shifting to support my buttocks before depositing me in my chair gently. I looked up to see Russell looking down at me with a concerned look. "You alright Miranda?"He asked as I nodded.

"I'm fine Shepard; it was just a very minor fall. By the way, here's the last dogtag that was formerly Service Chief Harvey Gladstone's, and here's Serviceman 1st Class Jamin Bakari's dogtag. We can go now…unless you want to stay here a little to remember…yeah." I finished lamely as I began to mentally kick myself. What the hell did I just add in the last part for? We recovered all the dogtags, and in addition to that, we even recovered a (mostly) intact corpse. Our job here was pretty much done, so why in the blue bloody hell did I just ask Shepard if he wanted to stay a little longer? It was freezing!

"Thank you for the concern Miranda, I would just like about ten minutes more to remember the fallen. Also, I really want to thank you for going to such great lengths to recover all these dogtags. You really didn't have to Miranda, and I truly appreciate that." He said softly before he leaned in and touched our helmets together while caressing the back of my helmet with his right hand.

I was suddenly dumbstruck by his actions, and my blush would've been so bright it would've lit up half the planet. He just silently continued to do this for a minute before he broke away and cleared his throat. Goddammit Miranda Chloe Lawson, you've seduced so many men and even had sex with a few without so much as blushing. Now an adorable, adorable idiot of a Commander comes along and bumps helmets and you blush like a shy schoolgirl. Get your act together for the love of God! Just unbelievable!

"I'm sorry Miranda. I shouldn't have done that." Russell apologized as he looked away awkwardly, digging his boots into the snow as I finally regained my voice.

"It's alright Shepard; we'll just forget that ever happened. Getting back on topic, I felt it completely necessary to get those dogtags for you. It's my job to assist you in every way possible as your second in Command."I cleared my throat as he coughed.

"Well, thank you then Miranda. I just need to place the monument before we go." Russell informed me as he walked beside me as we headed back to the shuttle.

"Shepard, what monument? You mean it's in the huge metal crate sitting in the shuttle?"

"Not in Miranda, but it is the crate itself. Just watch and be awed." He chuckled as we reached the shuttle and he boarded to retrieve the monument, but he couldn't lift it up despite his best efforts. I sighed and raised my hand, calling upon my biotics to lift the monument.

"You do know that you have biotics, and you can use them to help you lift this up right?" I asked with a raised eyebrow and my head tilted to one side as he chuckled in embarrassment.

"Heh, didn't think of that. Thanks Miranda." Russell grunted as he moved the box to its final destination as I followed him in my hoverchair, keeping my biotics steady as I assisted him in moving the box.

Finally, he set it down some distance away from the huge chunk of hull of the Normandy SR1 and set it down. "Looks perfect, don't you think? The monument goes here right in front of the remains of the outer hull that still has the name on it." Russell said bitterly as he set it down before keying some instructions into the small command pad on the monument, and just like a child's transforming toy, the monument emerged from the crate and assembled itself right in front of our eyes with the distinctive soft hiss of hydraulics. Finally, it stopped the transformation process to reveal that it was actually a statue of the Normandy SR1 mounted atop a curve, signifying the flight of the original Normandy.

"It's rather poignant." I remarked as Russell stood there staring at it.

"It is, isn't it? It's the very least the people who perished here deserve. C'mon, let's get back to the Normandy." The Commander sighed as he began walking back to the shuttle as I followed suit. We boarded and the hatch hissed shut before we lifted off, heading back to the Normandy. Halfway through the twenty minute ride, my omnitool beeped urgently and I looked at the sender. It was Cerberus Ops Control, and the message was marked as Alpha priority, meaning that it required my immediate attention. I opened the message and read through it quickly under Russell's curious gaze before turning to him while taking my helmet off.

"Shepard, could we head to Lorek in the Fathar system? There's a Cerberus deep cover operative that's been abducted by Eclipse mercs. Cerberus intel suggests that he's being held in an Eclipse base on that planet, and they'd appreciate it if we rescued him. Okeer can wait a little bit, right?" I requested, purposely putting that little lilt of huskiness, that little hint of flirting, in my voice that got many men, women and asari to do as I wished.

"Well, we could do that, but you'll have to ask me again and address me by my first name this time." Russell grinned as he removed his helmet and set it down beside him before leaning back into his seat with his fingers laced behind his head. I sucked in a soft, indignant breath at his utterly stupid request before smiling at him, realizing that he had essentially agreed.

"Well Russell, could we head to Lorek to extract the abducted operative please?" I asked again in an even sultrier tone of voice as Russell nodded and stretched out on his seat.

"Yes Miranda. I'll tell Joker to set a course for Lorek immediately when we reach the Normandy." The Commander agreed as we fell into a comfortable silence for the rest of the ride back to the Normandy.

When we disembarked, Russell carried out Monica's corpse and gently placed it in the preserver which was already on standby and was being attended to by Dr Chakwas while I headed to the lift and called it down.

Just as the lift doors opened, Russell strode in and hit the pad for the CIC deck just a little too hard before I selected the Crew Deck. "Shepard, here are the dogtags." I offered, passing the dogtags to him as he just mumbled out a quiet 'thanks' before the lift stopped and I exited it, heading back to my office, but not before I picked up a cup of hot chocolate from Gardner at the mess. The minute I entered my room, I locked the door and began stripping out of my armor and back into my Cerberus catsuit before I sat back down and unlocked the door while heading back to my terminal.

Upon opening up the terminal, a new message notification appeared and I clicked on it to find that it was a message from Special Operative Carina Carmichael, who was assigned to protect and discreetly observe Oriana and her family. There was a video file attached to the message and the message read:

Miranda,

Oriana recently graduated from high school with straight As in all of her thirteen subjects. She's currently planning a career in colony planning, and thus, she's eyeing the Financing and Management for Pioneer Colonies course that the Devon F. Woodcomb University in Milgrom is offering. As her older sister, I thought it only right that you knew about and witnessed this. I hope you're doing well on that secret mission of yours.

Carina

I played the video and smiled in pride as I watched my younger twin ascend to the stage to accept her Advanced Diploma and to give her speech. When it came to the final part where she thanked all those who supported her, she beamed radiantly and said "I'd like to thank my parents, my friends and my unknown guardian angel out there for all the support you've given to me!" as she waved to a loud round of applause from the audience before stepping off the stage.

I sat there in silence, stunned at how she knew that I was watching out for her. Wasn't I already discreet and anonymous enough with her? How the hell did she even know that someone was watching out for her? It's just a general remark Miranda, she doesn't know. She couldn't have. Now stop being so bloody paranoid! I thought to myself as I closed the video and took a sip of my hot chocolate and wondered what Carina was doing now. The redhead was two years older than I was but she still looked like she was no older than twenty five, and she joined Cerberus a couple of years before I did when they rescued her from a batarian slaver. She was my handler on my first mission, which I accomplished easily, and we ended up having a one night stand post-mission debriefing.

I loved Carina like a sister, but I had the distinct feeling that she was harboring genuine romantic feelings for me even though we had both agreed that the sex was a one off thing borne out of an adrenaline rush and too much asari wine. I was interrupted from my musings about Carina by my door sliding open and Russell striding in with that swagger of his. "Hey Miranda-oh a message. Lemme take a look." He hummed as he jumped over my table and stood in front of me, blocking all my limited avenues of approach to the terminal as he began to read the message much to my chagrin.

"You never mentioned having a younger sister Mira-" Russell began but I cut him off by roughly shoving him out of the way as I closed the message.

"I never did because you never asked. Besides, this is private." I scowled at him with my arms crossed as he smirked once more, taking a seat in one of the office chairs in front of my desk.

"In that case, tell me about yourself besides the fact that you're a sharpshooter, a biotic princess and an all round femme fatale."

"That's only fair given that I've spent the last two years learning everything there is to know about you. You should probably know that I've had extensive genetic modification. Not my decision, but I make the most of it. It's one of the reasons the Illusive Man handpicked me. I'm very good at just about anything I choose to do." I began, making sure to keep my tone neutral and let neither the pride nor the resentment I felt at my creation which Shepard did not need to know out of my voice.

"What level of genetic modding did you get?"

"It's very thorough. Physically, I'm superior in many ways. I heal quickly and I'll likely live half again as long as the average human. My biotic abilities are also very advanced...for a human. Add to that some of the best training and education money can buy and, well, it's pretty impressive, really."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you're an arrogant, stuck up bitch with an overblown ego complex. However, you distinctly lack that overblown ego complex." Russell chuckled as I tilted my head to one side, regarding him coolly.

"It's just a fact, like it or not. My reflexes, my strength, even my looks - they're all designed to give me an edge, so there's no point in hiding from it. It's the reason I'm trusted to oversee the most dangerous, risky, and technically demanding operations Cerberus undertakes. And it's why I was assigned to you. It's my job to make sure you succeed, Shepard." I replied.

"How about family Miranda? Anyone else besides your sister?"

"Just my father and my sister. I never had a mother."

"I see…it definitely explains your distinct lack of patience around people, your lack of gentleness and grace in handling social situations, and your general snarkiness." Russell mulled.

"Really Shepard? You ask me all this just to drag me into a shit-slinging match?" I snapped at him as he snorted.

"Hell no, I was just saying. Anyways, I take it that your gene modding was forced upon you by your father and you resented him ever since for that. What about Oriana?"

"I do resent my father for forcing me to undergo all those excruciating procedures to make me near perfect, but Oriana was much luckier than I was. She never got any gene modifications nor biotic infusion procedures forced upon her. But that was a hell of a long time ago, and I've moved on." I replied, dodging the fact that I was essentially unnatural given that I was genetically engineered from the soles of my feet up and was born without any female involved in my birth.

"You're lying. You've never moved on, but then again, nobody ever does, do they?" Russell declared as he leaned forward in his seat with a disturbingly intense look and fire in his blue eyes that I have never seen before, startling me out of my planned retort.

A moment of silence passed before I cleared my throat. "Well Shepard, what about your family? I want to know more than just what's already been written somewhere about you."

"For starters, not many people know that I had a sister who was born three years earlier than I did but she died when she was just two. My mother and father were both grieved beyond belief, so when they had me, they really cherished me. So much so that when I wanted to join N7, my mom refused at first and my dad nearly got a heart attack." Russell chuckled at his recollection as he moved behind me and pushed my wheelchair next to my couch.

"Where are you pushing me to?" I demanded as he stopped at my couch before he lifted me off my hoverchair in a bridal carry before setting me down onto the sofa.

"Your couch. You're injured and you should really be resting, Miranda. Besides, I do give medical benefits for my subordinates. Do your feet and ankle still hurt?" Russell asked with a surprisingly compassionate tone that I'd never heard before, setting me down onto my sofa as I nodded and smiled at his lame joke.

"Yes, it still does. I don't need to rest Shepard; my genetic tail-enhancements make sure that I can get away with less rest than any other human being." I quickly caught myself as he looked up quizzically.

"Wait, you were saying something about your genetics being tailored?"

"That's quite enough for now. You still haven't finished telling me about your family." I retorted, quickly changing the subject as Russell seemed to want to reply, but he eventually dropped it after a couple of seconds.

"Ok, but you have to start calling me Russell from now on if you want me to drop the subject. So anyways, you probably already know that I was raised as a spacer kid, following my parents around from ship to ship, starting out with the SSV Emden which my father was the skipper of, and then we moved to the Kilimanjaro where he took command while my mother was the second navigation officer when I was about 12. After about half a decade on the Kilimanjaro, I enlisted in the Marines and then went on to complete the N7 program. It was kind of boring on the Emden; there wasn't really that much for a seven year old kid like me to do aboard the ship. But when I got to the Kilimanjaro-oh that was just gold. So much fun, what with the XO's insanely hot daughter." The Commander chuckled as I rolled my eyes.

"So I assume you had sex with her within a month?" I raised an eyebrow as Russell unsheathed his combat knife and began cutting away at my leg cast until it fell onto the floor, letting cool air caress my damp skin for once in slightly over a week.

"Oh no, no. We did lose our virginities to each other when we were both 16, but that girl was one hell of a tease the whole time. My mother was horrified that I had sex with her, my dad congratulated me in private, and her father threatened to kill me. Her mom was a civvy, so I have no idea what her reaction was." Russell guffawed as he began to press at my injured left foot and ankle, earning a sharp hiss from me.

"Shep-Russell, it hurts. What on earth are you doing?" I said through gritted teeth as he looked back up at me.

"I'm massaging your feet and ankle for you Miranda. Chakwas can replace the cast later, don't sweat it. It hurts here?"

I nodded and winced as he began to massage my left foot before moving up to my healing ankle and began to massage it gently yet firmly as I winced before I sighed softly, the dull, aching pain finally alleviating. He continued for about five minutes in silence, and then switched to my other foot before I broke the silence.

"So what hobbies do you have Russell? I never really found out; it wasn't on any dossier. I already know you're a hardcore gamer, but what else do you do?" I probed as he continued massaging the balls of my right foot.

"Besides gaming, I enjoy reading the old classics like Patrick Robinson, Dale Brown, Andy McNab, Plato, Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft and William Shakespeare. Also, I enjoy the old music from the 20th and 21st century a lot more than today's music, and I even play a little guitar and piano sometimes. Old classical music like Bach, Beethoven, Nielsen, and Sergey Stepanov appeal to me." He listed as he stood up and sat beside me, his arms resting upon the back of my sofa, and his left arm was right next to the back of my neck.

"Oh, you like Nielsen and play the piano hmm? Never thought of you as a person with any form of class whatsoever." I ribbed him as he turned to me with narrowed eyes.

"That's not fair."

"Too bad. Who's Sergey Stepanov?" I asked as he stared at me.

"You've never heard of him? Are you serious, Miss Miranda Lawson?"

"Yes I am completely serious Commander Russell Patrick Shepard. Am I supposed to know him?"

"You should. He's more commonly known as EpicSaxGuy. Here's his crowning performance." Russell brought up a SpaceTube video of a blonde man playing the saxophone to a very, very entrancing tune, but I noticed that he kept playing the same notes repeatedly, and then I looked at the time bar at the bottom of the video.

"Bloody hell Russell! He played the same thing over and over again for ten godforsaken hours?" I spluttered in shock as Russell burst into laughter.

"No way! It's a loop. Actually, it's the most epic loop ever!" He laughed as he continued playing the song until I stopped it with an irritated expression.

"Seriously Russell? It's annoying, and it could actually be used as a form of torture." I glared at him as he just gave a disbelieving expression.

"No it can't. Anyways, it's bedtime for you now Miranda. Don't worry about the cast; I'll get Chakwas in here to replace it while you're sleeping." He said as he carried me bridal style to my bed before setting me down gently.

"I'm not a child Russell. Also, this whole thing with you carrying me around like a baby has got to stop." I glowered at him as he tucked me in with an amused grin.

"Of course you're not a child Miranda. Nobody ever said that you were. But you should start looking after a lot better, given that you always keep skipping meals and sacrificing sleep just so you can keep this ship running."

"Well, if you want me to get three square meals a day and get at least eight hours of sleep every day, then please start writing your bloody after action reports and start being useful to the running of this ship." I snarked.

"Touché. Alright, you win. Goodnight Miranda." He hummed as he leaned in and kissed my forehead.

"What the bloody hell are you doing, you pervert!" I yelled as I bolted upright, my forehead colliding with his nose as I did so.

"Oh Jesus my nose!" Russell yelped as he clutched at his nose.

"You were taking advantage of me this whole time weren't you, you despicable, slimy scumbag-"

"Hey wait! I never take advantage of a woman! That kiss was completely friendly!"

"You liar! Get out of here, now!" I hissed, calling upon my biotics as I threatened him.

"Alright Miranda. Jesus, you're really touchy. Oh and by the way, your hair smells great!" He called back as he walked out of my room, and I threw a datapad at him and infused it with the strength of my biotics.

I laughed for the first time in years when I heard his girlish yelp when the datapad connected to the back of his head at high velocity, knocking him to the ground just as the doors to my office closed. "Oh, revenge is so, so sweet." I giggled in satisfaction as I settled in and soon fell asleep.

A/N: Finally got this chapter done and in doing so, I completed one of my pre-New Year's resolutions! Yay! Of course, review this chapter because it wasn't easy to drag myself away from TF2 and Skyrim…and also because I'm a really big slut for reviews. ;) This is Katherine wishing everyone a great 2012! Cya soon!

XOXOKatherineXOXO