Author's Notes: I'm baaaaackk! And I'm back with another chapter of Moments of Love. Yes, I know three months without a new chapter has all of you so pissed off, but Chuck ended, I found out that Miranda would be shafted in ME3 for that damn quarian, and ME3 demo came out (I don't fucking know what my emotions are doing!) Alright, time to get to the fic! Internet cookiez go to whoever is the first to spot the Team Fortress 2 ripoffs! And as always, please leave lots of reviews and hugs! ;)
I was hobbling down to the shuttle bay on crutches, practically seething at my CO, Commander Russell Shepard for making the decision he did down on Lorek. Due to my ankle injury which was preventing me from going back into the field for another two weeks (my ankle was already healed given that it had already been two weeks since that bloody krogan decided to stomp on my ankle while I saved Russell, but Dr. Chakwas staunchly refused to let me return to active duty for another fortnight), I was stuck onboard the Normandy overseeing the mission. The insertion was flawless and Shepard, Zaeed, Jacob and Kasumi had infiltrated the Eclipse base stealthily and swiftly, flawlessly eliminating unaware Eclipse mercs with their knives, and Kasumi even cloaked up before reappearing behind hapless mercs to backstab them with her kunai.
It would've been absolutely perfect if Russell hadn't decided to stop for some tea in the break room, and unwittingly walked in on at least a quarter of the mercs just idling around inside the break room. All hell (and gunfire) broke loose, and soon the entire base was onto them and getting to the cell where Rawlings was held was a messy, gunfire filled affair. While getting there, Russell happened to kill off a salarian who was one of Eclipse's higher-ranked lieutenants when said salarian was distracted by Kasumi backstabbing a female engineer right next to him.
However, this fiasco was nothing compared to what got me so pissed off at Russell in the first place. Once all the mercs were eliminated and the foursome entered the cell to discover that Rawlings was long dead, Russell grabbed all of the operative's data and sent it off to Cerberus. While sending it to the bloody Alliance as well and he also sent a copy to EDI, who had just PM'ed me with a message informing me that the data was so heavily encrypted it would take a year for EDI to crack. That had sent me over the edge as I had already warned him not to send anything to the Alliance, as they would falsify the entire thing and mount a smear campaign against Cerberus just so they could look better in front of the damn Council.
Russell just said "Miranda, sometimes a little strife is fun. Also, I'm quite interested in seeing who the Cerberus moles in the Alliance are." Right before he fired off the data to Alliance Office of Naval Intelligence, leaving me spluttering in complete rage at the way he simply ignored me.
Thus, I was practically seeing red as I hobbled into the shuttle bay as soon as the lift doors opened and stood there waiting for the shuttle to land, ignoring Crewwoman Patel's curious gaze as I formed a rant in my head. Five minutes later, the shuttle docked and Zaeed, Jacob, Kasumi and Russell hopped off chattering away. "Commander!" I yelled as the other three patted Shepard on the back with knowing grins before leaving.
"Yes Miranda?" Russell asked as he walked over to me.
"What the bloody hell do you think you were doing down there? First, you alert every damn merc in that base to your position just because you craved a cup of chamomile tea, and after that, you send highly classified information about Cerberus' activities to the Alliance, which will more likely than not falsify half the data in there in a political kiss-arse move for the Council!" I ranted at him with my teeth bared.
"Oh come on Miranda, you don't really care about those two things, you're just pissed I ignored you right?"
"Yes I am pissed you ignored me, but the main reasons for me wanting to just kick your arse across this room are the two I mentioned!"
"Oh Miranda, Miranda. You just admire my ass, don't-" And with that, I lost it and struck my arsehole CO with what was quite possibly the hardest uppercut I've ever managed. My fist connected to his jaw with a near-orgasmic crack that caused me to inadvertently break out into a satisfied smile as he slumped against a nearby crate, groaning. There were a chorus of pained gasps from Jacob, Kasumi and a few crew who were around the shuttle and Zaeed actually burst out into raucous guffaws upon seeing me deck the great Commander Russell Patrick Shepard.
I then hobbled over to Russell as he sat up against the crate he'd crashed into as he nursed his jaw, which probably wasn't broken thanks to the enhanced bone weave tech I insisted we implant all of his bones with during Lazarus. "Don't ever shut me out like that again sir. Also, I'm generally against sexual harassment and don't take kindly to it either." I growled at him, jabbing my crutch into his chest lightly before heading to the lift, allowing a sadistically satisfied smirk to cross my face as I glared down Zaeed, who just raised his hands with an amused expression.
I headed back to my office and began to work on the after action report of Shepard's little skirmish which I would send to the Illusive Man in a few hours and idly wondered just how ticked off my boss would be at Shepard sending Rawlings' data to the Alliance, of all people. Or maybe he'd just dismiss it with a snort of laughter and find it ironic that Cerberus' former top funder-cum-supporter was now desperately trying to take us down in an attempt to arse-kiss the Council of morons.
I eventually came to the part where their covers were blown and they had to go weapons free, and I was racking my brain for a way to write up the report on how not to make Shepard look like a total bloody nitwit for alerting the whole base just because of his bloody tea addiction when Mordin IM'd me, requesting my presence in his lab at my earliest convenience. Since I was stuck on the report with nothing to do and my coffee mug empty, I decided to head up to the lab straight away.
When I entered the lab, Mordin was busy placing a clear blue liquid into a large syringe that reminded me of the syringes that the doctors jammed into me during the procedures to make me a biotic as I cried when I was ten. "Ah Operative Lawson. Good to see you so soon." Mordin said in his rather amusing rapid fire chatter as I took the seat he offered.
"Hello Professor Solus. Is everything in this lab set up adequately for you?" I asked as he finished filling up the syringe before turning to me and nodding.
"Yes indeed. I find this lab to be most well supplied. Could easily be one of the best labs I have worked in so far. Cerberus is surprisingly well funded. Called you up not to talk about status of lab, but to talk about bone strengthening enhancements."
"Bone strengthening enhancements? I assume they're for Moreau?" I asked as he shook his head.
"No, not for our pilot. It's for the strike team. Have already optimized the enhancements for human members and myself, and will need a little more time to optimize it for Officer Vakarian." The professor replied, catching my confused look as he continued.
"These enhancements consist of a series of 3 injections," he said, holding up one of the syringes ", and an application of these grafts. Very fast and easy to apply. Only requires day surgery to implant in body. No need for downtime." He said as he held up a flexible piece of metallic graft.
"Oh. I thought that bone enhancements needed to be implanted at birth to have any effect on the individual." I replied, intrigued as Mordin just smiled.
"Ah yes, that was the old method. Have finally discovered that lack of calcium absorption is why mid-life implantations have no effect."
"So I'm guessing that the liquid in those syringes are going to either alter the calcium absorption rate of our bodies, or it's going to provide the calcium necessary for the implants to take effect." I mused as Mordin just cut in with a satisfied "Both."
"And how much more pressure can be applied to our bones before they snap?" I asked him as he tapped a couple of buttons on his terminal to pull up his data recordings.
"With this implant, bones should be able to withstand approximately thirty percent more pressure. Miss Lawson, if you may." Mordin babbled, holding out the ten by ten cm graft towards me as he prepped the syringe.
"If I may..?" I asked in confusion as he extended his hand, silently requesting for me to roll up my sleeve and extend my arm.
I did just that and Mordin swiftly jabbed the syringe into my arm and pumped its contents in before regarding me again. "Follow me to the medbay. Will demonstrate to Doctor Chakwas how to implant this enhancement."
I followed Mordin down to the medbay, and guess who I spotted drinking tea in the mess hall while chatting with Garrus, who still had his neck in a supporting brace? That's right; Commander Russell Shepard was there sipping tea from his mug while Garrus was gingerly sipping at his glass of water. The best part was that Russell had the nerve to wink and wave at me.
Fighting down the urge to give him both middle fingers, I just ignored him and continued into the medbay where Mordin was chatting away intently with Chakwas. When he was done, Chakwas stood up and motioned for me to lie down on one of the beds before she pulled up a chair and sat down.
"So, Commander Shepard just came in to get his jaw checked out and I must say that you have one hell of a right uppercut Miss Lawson. You severely bruised his jaw, and came very close to breaking it. He's going to have some pain when he's eating or talking for the next few days." Chakwas said with an amused smile.
"Well, he deserved it. I don't react well to sexual harassment." I replied stiffly as Mordin came over with a breathing mask.
"Okay Operative Lawson, I am going to anesthetize you in order to insert this graft. Ready?"
"How long am I going to be unconscious?" I asked?
"About four hours Miss Lawson." Chakwas replied as I nodded.
"I'm ready. Do it." I inhaled deeply, closing my eyes as Mordin secured the mask to my face and nothingness overtook me.
Four hours later, I awoke to a dull pain in my left femur and I groaned uncomfortably.
"Ah good to see you're awake again Operative Lawson. How do you feel?" Mordin asked as Chakwas was busy running diagnostics on a laptop next to me.
"Tired, hungry, thirsty and a little bit of pain on my left femur." I replied groggily as Chakwas turned to Mordin.
"Looks good professor. The bone strengthening enhancements have taken effect, and they are working as projected." Chakwas informed the salarian as she passed me a glass of water, which I downed eagerly.
"Excellent. Operative Lawson, thank you for letting me perform the procedure on you." Professor Solus thanked me as I smiled back and nodded.
"Thank you for creating this breakthrough in medical science Professor. Anyways, how did you manage to create this in just slightly over a week?"
"Salarians all require only two hours of sleep every day. Also, was already working on this for approximately two weeks and five days in my Omega clinic before recruitment."
"I see…well, are you in a rush to do anything else at the moment Professor?" I asked as he mulled it over.
"No. Is there something you would like to know?" I asked in return as Chakwas took her leave.
"Nothing in particular…I was just hoping to discuss some medical matters." I clarified as Mordin nodded, a spark of excitement lighting up in his eyes.
"Yes, indeed. Have quite a few hours to spare. Would like nothing more than to chat with you about medical matters." Mordin chattered excitedly as I smiled, eager to engage in intelligent conversation with someone with an intellect superior to mine.
We spent the next two hours discussing genetic science, the intricacies of biomolecular science and many other things that I hadn't had much of an opportunity to discuss with others for the past few years. Mordin was particularly intrigued by how I managed to bring Shepard back to life, and a sizeable portion of our discussion revolved around said topic.
Finally I decided to leave but before I did, I had one more question that needed to be answered. "Professor, will the bone enhancements allow me to return to action within three days?"
"No, it does not accelerate healing. However, you can return to active duty within three days. Your fracture is healing faster than expected. Fascinating."
"I received gene mods to accelerate my healing rate at a young age. If that is all, thank you Professor." I bade him goodbye as I unflinchingly threw him the half-lie I'd been giving out to everyone for all the thirty five years of my life.
He just absentmindedly waved at me as the doors closed and I hobbled up to the helm to check in with our pilot, Jeffery Moreau and to make sure he wasn't slacking off. However, when I reached the cockpit, I saw him discreetly masturbating as he watched some disgusting asari/hanar rape porn as I approached and I swiftly rapped the back of his chair with my walking stick, getting his panicked attention as I desperately averted my eyes from that sickening porno.
"Oh shit! Um…XO Lawson! I…uh…well this isn't what it looks like!" He blabbered out in a panic.
"It is, actually. Turn it off and get back to work!"I snapped at him, but as I did, my eyes accidentally fell upon the screen just in time to see the asari pornstar get anally penetrated as she squealed loudly. It was just like watching two ships collide; you knew you shouldn't watch, but you just couldn't take your eyes off the unfolding scene.
I must've been quite the sight, standing there with my eyes wide, mouth wide open as I stared at the asari getting triple penetrated. As soon as my brain reestablished control, I quickly turned around and got the hell out of the cockpit, desperately wanting to unsee what I had just seen.
The next three days en route to Korlus were lost in a flurry of paperwork, requisition orders and sheer monotony. Even listening to Nielsen and other music while filling out the bloody paperwork didn't help to lessen the incredible monotony any less, and the three day journey seemed to take ages.
Finally we were orbiting around Korlus, and I saved one of my twenty six requisition orders just as Russell walked into my office with his annoying boyish smile. "Hey Miranda, how're you doing?" He asked as I regarded him coolly.
"I'm fine. I'll be joining your squad to recruit Okeer, so please leave my room so I can suit up."
"Nope. I'm taking Garrus, Jacob, Zaeed and Kasumi down for this one. You aren't medically cleared by Chakwas for this mission, so I would like for you to be mission control up in the CIC. It looks like a clusterfuck down there, so I need someone on the ship to direct us." He said as he took a seat and offered me a mug of the tea he brought in with him.
I grudgingly accepted it from him and noted that it was a very good chamomile tea, and it was just sweet enough. "I'm fit for duty commander, I've already been out for more than two weeks and-"
He just waved away my protests and sipped at his tea before continuing. "Miranda, Dr. Chakwas knows best. Besides, I do need a very good mission coordinator, and you just so happen to fill that criteria. If you're feeling particularly restless, you could always head down to the firing range to pop a few rounds."
"Alright then Shepard. I'll be the mission overseer, but only this once." I sighed as he smiled and got up to leave.
"Thank you Miranda. And by the way, I'm sorry for being a complete prick to you the other day." Russell said over his shoulder as he left, leaving me utterly surprised at his apology. He actually knew when and how to apologize. Well, fuck me.
I then headed up to the CIC Deck, passing by Kelly Chambers who flashed me an impossibly chirpy smile as I acknowledged her greeting with a quick nod of my head as I made way to the cockpit, hoping not to see Moreau watching his degrading rape pornos.
Fortunately, Moreau wasn't dicking around or jerking off, and I took my seat in the copilot/ground controller's seat and logged into the console. "So sup Mira-Miss Lawson?" He asked nonchalantly when I took my seat.
"Nothing is up, Mr. Moreau. I suggest you focus on your piloting and making sure the ship stays up." I replied tersely as he sighed melodramatically.
"Yes ma'am. Looks like a long boring flight for little ole me." Moreau muttered under his breath as he refocused his attention on his piloting while I patched into the visor-cams of Shepard, Jacob Zaeed, Kasumi, and Garrus. They had just boarded the shuttle and were now lifting off from the cargo bay.
After five minutes of banter and laughter amongst the ground team, they entered the atmosphere of Korlus and began their final descent to the Blue Suns base where Cerberus intelligence had placed Okeer in. The Blue Suns base was essentially a series of rusting, decommissioned starships thrown into a junkyard retrofitted to suit their needs. A series of monotone beeps came on over my headset, indicating that the mercs' missile and AA systems had detected and were locking onto the shuttle.
"EDI, take care of those defenses. Hall, neutralize those defenses." I ordered as both EDI and the Cerberus gunnery officer seated behind me to the right of the cockpit replied in the affirmative.
"Roger that Operative Lawson. Shot out, shot out." The black officer behind me reported in his baritone voice as he fired the JAVELIN cannon, and my tacmap showed direct hits on a cluster of SAMs and an AA gun.
"Nice shot. Do you see the emplacement three degrees northwest to your position?"
"Uh…yeah I see it." Hall replied as he strained a little to spot the AA nest I was referring to.
"Good. Engage and destroy it."
"Shot out, shot out-whoa, they just fired upon the shuttle!"
Over my headset, I could hear Hawthorne reporting his deployment of countermeasures to divert the missiles with a measure of panic in his voice. The missiles were easily fooled by the top-of-the-line countermeasures installed upon the shuttle and they veered wildly off course as Hall destroyed the nest with the two shots he had fired previously. "Area is free of AA, proceed to drop zone and continue with the mission, over." I informed the ground team as they landed.
"Copy that Miranda. Moving out now. Kasumi, you scout up ahead and Zaeed, you're on point." Russell reported as the team disembarked the shuttle and advanced with Zaeed wordlessly taking point while Kasumi cloaked and snuck ahead of the team to scout out the area, and the team was busy commenting upon the obnoxious merc, who was supposedly the leader, who was broadcasting threats and orders over a PA system.
"Watch yourselves team, we've got sporadic firefights between krogans and Blue Suns all over the place." I advised them as I saw the tacmap displaying several firefights between krogan and Blue Suns mercs all over the repurposed merc base.
"Wait a minute, wasn't Okeer working for the Blue Suns? Why are the krogan fighting them?" Jacob asked as they patrolled ahead.
"I'm as clueless as you Jacob. Just stay sharp and stay alive team." I replied as I watched them advance up upon a guard post and eliminate all five Blue Suns and wound the last one before proceeding to interrogate him.
The merc couldn't be any older than nineteen, the same age as Oriana. This was probably the first time he'd ever seen action, which could explain why he thought he was going to die from his minor wound. "Doesn't look that bad actually." I commented when I saw the wound he was tending to on Shepard's visor cam.
"He doesn't need to know that." Shepard replied before interrogating him and pressuring the kid to mislead the mercs who'd radioed him for a location report on the krogan.
The mission proceeded very smoothly with Vakarian sniping down mercs, Zaeed and Jacob firing at them with their X76 machineguns, Russell shooting and occasionally using his biotics on mercs, and Kasumi decloaking behind enemies to backstab them with her kunai when she wasn't shooting at them with her Locust submachine gun. When they entered the improvised structure that was supposedly Okeer's lab, Russell ran into an asari scientist named Rana Thanoptis. Apparently, he knew her from Virmire and he spared her life. After asking her a few questions, Russell let her go and she ran for her life.
Hardly surprising considering the fact that the last time she was spared by Commander Russell Patrick Shepard, she had to outrun a nuclear warhead.
Finally, they found Okeer in his lab with a lone tank bearing a huge krogan. Even by krogan standards, the naked krogan lying dormant in the gestation pod was huge. Just as Russell persuaded Okeer to join our team with his 'perfect' krogan, someone redirected the toxic gas vents to vent into the lab. "Dammit! EDI, hack into their mainframe and redirect those vents!" I cursed as EDI replied.
"Yes Operative Lawson. However, it will take me a few minutes to gain full access-"
"Just do it EDI!"
"I have already started hacking into the mainframe Operative Lawson."
I watched helplessly as Shepard and his squad rushed down to deal with Jedore, who was the in-charge for the Blue Suns base the ground team had just torn apart, and her krogan which she was releasing from more gestation pods on the lower level. "Watch out Shepard! You have a YMIR mech powering up near your location!"I warned them as Shepard warped a charging krogan as Jacob and Zaeed laid waste to it.
"Got it! Kasumi, cloak up and plant some explosives on it! Garrus hit it with your overload!" Russell ordered as he began to fire at Jedore, whittling down her shields as she ducked back down for cover as both Kasumi and Vakarian complied.
Kasumi managed to plant the explosives on the YMIR and detonate it, but it merely made a hole in its armor while its shielding remained intact. Russell then instructed Zaeed and Jacob to deal with the krogan that were being released in hordes from their gestation pods while Garrus harassed Jedore with his sniper rifle, and Russell and Kasumi took on the YMIR.
Kasumi hit the mech with an overload pulse, weakening its shields as Russell began firing his Arc Projector at it, stunning it and dropping its shields as Kasumi dashed forward to plant two more blocks of explosive onto its back before running away and detonating them, destroying the mech.
"Good job! Jacob, on me! We'll flank this bitch and Garrus, you cover us. Zaeed and Kasumi, you two mop up!" Russell yelled as Jacob yelled 'Affirmative!' back loudly, both men sprinting for the left platform as Jedore fired her rocket launcher at them but missing as Garrus forced her to duck back down when the rounds from his Incisor depleted her shields.
I switched to the camera in the lab and I saw Okeer hanging off the edge of the computer terminal he was working on, refusing to let go as he said something that couldn't be picked up by the camera's mic before he slumped to the ground, finally overwhelmed by the noxious toxic gases that Jedore had pumped into the lab.
At this same time, Zaeed and Kasumi were finishing off the last two krogan while Shepard, Jacob and Garrus were firing at Jedore. A quick overload pulse from Jacob finished off Jedore's shields just as a three-round burst from Garrus' Incisor and a quick burst from Russell's Collector Assault Rifle blew into the narcissistic merc's head, killing her instantly and she dropped like a stone.
"Team! Get back into the lab and get it ventilated, Okeer's life signs are nearly non-existent!" I barked at them over the net as they rushed up to the lab, shooting out all of the windows and cracking open both lab doors.
However, this was all in vain as Okeer's life signs faded into a dull, monotone beep and he died. "Dammit, Okeer's dead." I cursed, taking off my headset and setting it back into the compartment where it was stored.
"Yeah, we were too slow. Joker, Okeer's a goner. But we need pickup for a gestation pod containing a full-size krogan. Yeah, we've got a really fucking big package." Russell sighed in regret as Joker acknowledged it solemnly, pulling the Normandy in for an extraction.
It took Shepard, Garrus, Jacob, Zaeed and half of the sixteen-strong Cerberus security force permanently stationed aboard the Normandy to move the pod and load it onto the Normandy's port cargo hold. After they secured the tank, I paged for Jacob and Shepard to proceed to the comm. room for a debrief.
Jacob got there first, and he was already seated in one of the chairs still clad in his armor when I entered the room. "Miranda." He acknowledged me as I took my seat.
"Jacob. What happened down there?"
"You saw and heard everything Miranda. We were too slow, and we didn't expect Okeer to sacrifice himself for his legacy."
"None of you expected Okeer to sacrifice himself? That's a stretch." I wondered as Jacob stiffened up.
"Miranda, we didn't know he wouldn't even take the time to bust a window or breach a door to ventilate the lab. It's just unfair-"
"Alright Jacob, I'm sorry. It wasn't any fault of any of yours; it's just that I can't believe that we failed the mission." I cut him off apologetically as I began to think about what to write for the report.
"We didn't fail…well, not entirely. We got a krogan who's supposed to be perfect, but we have no idea whatsoever about that. Shepard's gonna wake it up later."
"About that…really? We're just going to wake up a bloody krogan in the cargo hold and hope that it doesn't tear off a bulkhead?"
"Well, the mission would've been a failed, wasted one if we didn't wake it up."
"Wasted mission or not, waking up a bloody krogan we know nothing about is madness!"
"Uh-huh. Then what would you recommend then?" Jacob leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest.
"Bringing the krogan for study makes perfect sense, but I have reservations about waking it." I huffed as I reached for my mug of tea to take a long swig just as the doors opened and Shepard strode in, now in his casual Cerberus uniform with an unreadable expression.
"Yeah, you've said that a few times now." Jacob sighed as we both turned to face Shepard, who plopped into his chair and laced his fingers behind his head.
"A normal krogan is dangerous enough. This one was created, and likely educated by a madman." I stressed as Russell cracked a smile.
"I see everyone's all excited about the new paperweight. Don't worry; he won't get out unless one of us lets him out." Russell replied.
"Or unless Okeer installed some sort of failsafe. Or a malfunction causes the tank to shut down." I mused as the commander snorted.
"I know. It's going to be pretty fun, don't you think?" Russell smirked as Jacob shook his head and sighed.
"Krogan fight well at close quarters. Perhaps awakening him in a confined space wouldn't be so prudent." I cautioned him while rolling my eyes at his tendency to try and be funny, but fail miserably, at the worst possible times.
"Got it. The port cargo hold is safe enough until I wake him up. Dismissed." Shepard concluded as Jacob stood up, saluted and then left the room as Shepard did the same.
"Shepard, if you have nothing else at this moment in time, I'd like to have a word with you in my office." I said as he just nodded and followed me down into my office.
We entered my office and Shepard immediately took the seat in front of my desk as I sat behind it. "Shepard, you do realize that this mission was essentially a failure right?" I started.
"Yes, we failed to recruit Okeer but we managed to obtain his creation, which was created out of traded Collector tech, so I'd say that we salvaged the mission."
"We didn't Shepard. You see, that krogan is only good if we study it and the Collector tech used to create it. But waking it up…" I trailed off.
"You're not seeing it as a living being Miranda; you're only seeing it as an inanimate object. Do you really think of everyone you meet as a dead piece of resource?" Russell countered quite forcefully.
"That's blatantly incorrect Shepard, I see you, Jacob, Kasumi, Garrus, Zaeed and Mordin as people and not just resources to be used." I replied indignantly.
"Then why are you not looking at the krogan we brought aboard the same way? Is it because he was manufactured like a robot?"
"It's not that, it's just that…we lost someone we were supposed to recruit, and now we're saddled with a wildcard who nobody knows anything about. Doesn't that strike you as a mission failure Shepard?" I fired back, ignoring the twinge of pain I felt when he mentioned the krogan being manufactured like a robot. I was created in a process not dissimilar to how the krogan lying dormant in the tank in the port cargo hold was.
"It doesn't because I see an opportunity to have another man on my team. You've obviously never failed a mission in any part before, have you, Miranda?"
"I haven't failed any mission I was assigned, and I don't intend to start now."
"Well aren't you Miss Perfect then. Let me tell you this: We failed in one objective; but we've accomplished the mission. It happens all the time." He retorted as we both fell into an angry silence before I spoke up.
"Alright then, just let me know when you're going to wake the krogan up. Now tell me, what are you hiding from?"
"Excuse me?"
"Don't act stupid, Shepard. I saw your dossiers, and there was a strange seventeen month gap between Elysium and your next deployment, which happened to be a very minor anti-piracy operation aboard the SSV Emden, in which you saw action only twice in six months. And after Elysium, you were only granted six months of official leave. Also, don't think I don't notice you sitting in the mess almost every night which you face buried in your hands for hours, or just sitting there with the 'thousand yard stare'. What transpired between those seventeen months Shepard?" I questioned him.
"And why would you want to know?" Russell asked as he stood up, his tone dropping to a dangerous one as the temperature in my office dropped a few degrees.
"I want to know who exactly I'm serving under Shepard. I know very little about you, and going by your behavior, I could very well be under the command of a mentally unstable officer." I replied, before gasping in shock when Russell's expression turned from barely calm to enraged and he grabbed my choker and pulled me over my desk like I was a ragdoll before slamming my back against the wall, my stiletto boots hanging a few centimeters off the ground given that Russell was taller than me by slightly more than half a head.
"You really think I'm crazy, don't you? Just like the rest of them. Let me tell you this, Lawson," Russell growled as he smacked me back against the wall, his face right in mine as I struggled vainly against his grip. "I am not insane. Just because I lost people I cared for does not make me insane. Just because I lost damn near my entire company charging entrenched batarian defenses and armor doesn't mean I'm a heartless bastard suffering from PTSD." He snarled in my face before he abruptly deflated and gently let me down.
"I'm sorry, I-I don't know what happened. I shouldn't have manhandled you like that." He apologized, his expression worn and weary as he slumped back into his chair.
"What was that Shepard? When did you lose an entire company?" I cleared my throat, trying to hide the shaking of my hands as I sorted my uniform out while returning to my seat.
"I'll tell you if you tell me more about yourself. You okay with that?"
"Alright then Shepard. Tell me then, what exactly are you hiding?"
"I was actually at Torfan when that infamous invasion occurred. I was the supposedly dead 'Butcher of Torfan, but of course, the Alliance couldn't have the Hero of Elysium being a crazy bastard who sacrificed more than three-quarters of his company just to make the breakthrough that sent the batarians running, and most of all, he can't be the war criminal who brutally slaughtered two dozen surrendering batarians by putting rounds in their heads, and burned twenty of them alive." Russell snorted bitterly.
"Then how come the records don't put you there? And what about the surviving marines?" I asked as Shepard rubbed his face with his hands, looking ten years older than he really was.
"They expunged the records upon Hackett's orders. A few of the survivors like Major Kyle suffered from PTSD and were immediately locked away in Alliance mental asylums, while the survivors who came out of it normal were told to keep quiet, and they were paid off and promoted very well. I got orders to take leave while they investigated me for three months before I returned to action aboard the Emden."
"From what I understand, your division, let alone your company, wasn't called upon to serve on Torfan. Why were you there Shep-Russell?" I asked him gently, eyeing him with compassion as I finally realized that his jovial arsehole demeanor was a façade designed to keep everyone away from his real issues, just like the walls I had cocooned myself in over the years.
"I volunteered to take on that mission. I saw what those fuckers did on Elysium, and I wanted to pay them back for all the women they raped and killed, or raped and enslaved, and the children they killed or took into slavery. Also, I executed a few surrendering batarians on Elysium, but that was conveniently overlooked." Russell sighed as he finally looked up at me.
"I see…so you volunteered for Torfan to execute some form of justice for the victims of Elysium. That's…quite noble of you Russell. You did what you did and now you carry the fallout from it because you felt injustice for the victims. Not many men would've stood for what they felt and believed in Russell. That's why you're so special." I replied as he finally cracked one of his boyish, albeit pained, smiles.
"Thank you Miranda. Are you hitting on me?" He smirked.
"Oh God no. You? Oh please, my standards for a lover are a lot higher than you can ever hope to obtain Russell." I snorted in derision, feeling a faint blush creeping across my cheeks. Oh God, what is happening to me?
"You're such a lousy liar Miranda. You're blushing as you deny it. But getting back on point, I told you about myself and the secrets I've kept all these years, it's time to tell me about yourself."
"Alright then Shepard, I suppose it's only fair that you get to know the truth about me after all that you've revealed to me about yourself. You might want to get comfortable though; it's going to be quite a long chat." I replied with a raised eyebrow.
"Eh whatever you're going to tell me will never be as long as my mom's nagging. I'm good." Russell joked, leaning back in his chair and lacing his fingers behind his head as I laughed softly.
"Alright then Shepard. You remember how I told you that I was genetically modified? Well, that's not exactly true. I was genetically engineered to be everything that I am from the ground up." I began as Russell's expression belied how stunned he was.
A/N: Yay finally done! So…review now pleez?
XOXOKatherineXOXO