Chapter Twelve

Normandy SR-2 CIC, 926h

The battle between Thane and Kai Leng grew all the more fierce. For a while, Thane had the advantage on the ground, but Leng somehow wriggled free or managed to snap the drell's leg in an unnatural direction. Thane tried a couple of jabs to Leng's head, and once more, the human evaded them. He grabbed hold of Thane's right arm with his left, moved his hand up to the drell's shoulder while forcing the arm down, and kneed Thane in the chest. He quickly kept applying pressure with the arm and slammed his elbow mercilessly into the drell's spine. Unable to keep his balance, Thane fell to the ground.

He tried feebly to grab for Kai Leng's feet and wrestle the Chinese assassin to the ground, but Leng backed away. He instead shuffled around and kicked Thane in the ribs. That was all he needed, because soon, Thane was balling himself up as best he could. His breathing was labored and unhealthy; Kai Leng heard it. This changed his strategy completely now that he knew that his opponent was not properly breathing.

Without another moment of hesitation, he fell on Thane's upper body with his knees and began to squeeze as quickly as he could with his powerfully built thighs. Thane's eyes started to bulge and he beat upon Kai Leng's back heavily. The drell's attacks grew fewer as Leng straddled his airway passages. One last snap to the neck could end the struggle, and Kai Leng would be the victor.

Two seconds later, he felt an assault rifle and a submachine gun being shoved into the back of his head. "Ah-ah-not going to happen," Kasumi gloated. "There's no way you could take both of us out before a horde of bullets rip their way through you."

"Indeed," Leng admitted. "And why haven't you done so already?"

"I may be a kleptomaniac, but I'm not a sociopath who enjoys killing."

"We're gonna take a trip down to the elevator and see what your boss thinks of you and a failed mission," Serena told him. "All Cerberus agents are given cyanide capsules in their molars, am I correct?"

He turned and gave her a nasty scowl.

"Get up and carry him to the elevator," Kasumi ordered their captive, still at gunpoint.

"If I don't?" he smirked. Thane's breathing was erratic and raspy. Kasumi's finger switched off the safety as she knew time was short.

"My paycheck no longer comes from your organization, so I don't have to hand you back over to them. My gun's barrel is pointed right at the back of your skull, as is hers." The thief motioned to Longoria. "Your options are quite limited."

The assassin grunted in compliance, slung the drell over his shoulder, and carried Thane into the medical bay. Then the two women escorted Leng back into the elevator as Dr. Chakwas hurriedly began to dispense oxygen to the drell's deprived brain.


Just outside the Normandy on the surface, 930h…

Liara released her stasis field from Miranda and satisfied herself that Samara still had the Illusive Man at an advantage. Miranda gave her a wintry glare, and Liara held up her hand. "I understand you now, Miranda. Your devotion to Shepard is quite crystal clear. I apologize for my actions; surely you can see how I felt that they were necessary."

"Then why'd you do that?" she spat back.

"Revenge…or murder in this case…is not always the answer," Samara responded once she had knocked the Illusive Man comatose. "One day, the Illusive Man's death will be just. Right now, it is unjust."

"And just exactly when will that day be if not today? Shepard's life is in the balance!" Miranda shouted.

"No, it is not," Samara remarked and shook her head. "Jacob and the team are not too late, I sense it. However, Miranda, know this; as I came to Shepard's aid, so will I for you. We will destroy the Illusive Man together with Shepard. Do you truly feel that it would be fair to take matters into your own hands again, not knowing what horrors he's been inflicting upon Shepard?"

"And besides, right now, there are bigger issues to resolve in the galaxy," Liara added.

"Yeah, there are." Miranda nodded and ran her tongue over the top of her upper lip as she considered the larger picture. Samara turned and started to head towards her shuttle.

"I will prepare for a quick departure should Shepard be incapacitated or severely wounded," the justicar said. "The base does not seem that far away, but the team may demand a hasty departure."

"Will you require assistance, Justicar?" Liara inquired.

"That will not be necessary," Samara replied and glanced over her shoulder at the younger asari as she continued to walk away.

"Good, because I'd like to have a word with you," Miranda announced and secured her weapon to her weapon belt.

Liara turned towards her. "Yes, Miranda?"

"I'm well aware of your past relationship with Shepard, and though I rarely act upon premonitions, I have one that I'd like to clear up with you."

The asari crossed her arms. "You think that I still have feelings for him."

Lawson's eyebrows rose, and she shifted her weight to her left leg. "Am I wrong?" Her arms also followed suit to T'soni's.

"You're not. Understand that I never intended for all of this to happen, Miranda. I am truly sorry." Liara's eyes met hers. "But there is also something that you should know."

Miranda pursed her lips and clenched down her teeth. After a few uneasy moments, she broke the silence. "What is it?"

"Shepard wasn't sure of where you two stand. Perhaps you should clear that up with him."

"Our relationship is none of your business."

"It was a few days ago, and believe me, even if he hadn't said a word about you two, I would have found it out from another source."

"I'm sure." The ex-Cerberus operative unfolded her arms. "Then you two have something to talk about as well."

Liara was about to respond to her comment, but they were interrupted by the appearance Longoria, Goto, and the ninja who had assaulted her base.

"Oh, damn, I was hoping that he'd be up and about to see his ninja's failure," Serena's lips made a sound as she parted them, and walked towards their group, keeping Kai Leng in her sights.

A random explosion from inside the base drew all of their attention away from the assassin, who took advantage of the situation, cloaked himself, and disappeared from their sight instantly. Samara's shuttle instantly took off towards the complex. "Damn," Longoria shrugged. "Oh well. Win some, lose some. I'd better stay here while you all get Shepard back to take care of him." She gestured to the Illusive Man.

"In what way?" Miranda's suspicions flared up.

"I've got to keep my day job." She hunched over the Illusive Man and monitored his vital signs with her omni-tool.

"You hired a Cerberus agent?" Miranda whispered to Liara, who nodded.

"She's part of the Broker network…has been for the last three years," Liara responded. "She doesn't know who I am, so let's make sure it stays that way."

"No worries. I appreciate the help and look forward to hearing what she exactly contributed to this mission other than getting you and Mordin out to the Normandy."


Forty-five minutes later…

Jacob's team returned with Jack, Garrus, and most importantly Shepard. He had been too drugged to walk on his own, so Grunt volunteered to carry him all the way back to the shuttle. In fact, he rather insisted upon it, so rather than pick a fight with a stubborn krogan, Jacob let him have his way.

Miranda was expectantly waiting with the other two asari in the shuttle bay. He'd never seen her with a more worried and tense expression. "Let's get him to Dr. Chakwas...now," she ordered. "We need to see if he's got any indoctrination nano-tech inside of him."

Grunt silently did as she asked and set him down gingerly on a bed in the infirmary minutes later. Miranda snagged a lab coat from her office, returned to the medical bay, and began to place her hands underneath the sanitizer when Dr. Chakwas placed a hand on her shoulder. "Operative Lawson, I would appreciate it if you would let Dr. Solus and myself do this together. I realize that you are a very skilled and well-trained medical officer, but-"

"You seem to forget that I supervised the staff that put Shepard back together," Miranda hastily replied and continued to the let the machine clean her hands.

"Understand doctor-patient relationship, Miranda. Know you are more than capable of completing work. Reasons for this request psychological," Mordin piped in.

"You don't think I'd listen to either of you?"

"No. Doctor-patient relationship must remain objective in this situation. Suggest compromise of logic or perhaps…" he cleared his throat cautiously, "judgment due to relationship with current patient."

"I see." The former Cerberus operative withdrew her arms from the sanitizer and crossed them against her chest. "You don't think I'll make the right call if the situation were to go wrong. I could say the same for both of you."

"You know that's not true, Ms. Lawson. People talk," Chakwas commented and shook her head no. "I don't spread gossip myself, but unfortunately, I do share meals beside some of the ones who do. Shepard's relationship with me is totally platonic."

Miranda's eyes traveled from Mordin's to hers as the human doctor made her last statement. As her mind processed Chakwas' observation, her eyes contracted and expanded quickly. The salarian proceeded towards the sanitizer himself and began the process with his arms first.

"Relationship with Shepard also purely nonphysical. Understand this entreaty difficult, Miranda. Have seen your interactions before, during, and after missions. Motivations understandable, especially leading up to mission of attacking Collector base. Approve of partnership; pairing is extremely…complimentary," he gave a raise of his eyebrows with a closed mouth smile. "Shepard very passionate, full of emotion, believe him to…humans call expression 'wear heart on sleeve' while you do not. Shepard also very sporadic-"

"You've made your case," the Aussie announced brusquely, and she walked out of the medical bay without another word.

Although it killed her to do so, she anxiously waited with the rest of the Normandy team outside of the medical bay so that Mordin and Chakwas could work quickly.

Minutes seemed to tick by like hours. Eventually, the rest of the squad mates broke down to eat a late breakfast, but Miranda refused anything Gardner offered her save for a cup of coffee. She kept her eyes peeled upon that window, looking for any sign of trouble or hope. If the floors weren't made of titanium, her boots would surely have worn a hole in them from all the pacing she was doing.

"Miranda, can you lay off of the caffeine? Some people's nerves here are already a wreck," Tali called out.

The Aussie halted instantly; her head snapped in the engineer's direction. "Don't you have work to do downstairs?" Her frosty tone practically slapped Tali in the face.

The quiet chattering that had been going on among Normandy crew members suddenly came to a dead stop. Silence fell upon the mess for the next fifteen minutes as if a colossal edifice had just collapsed on an unsuspecting population without warning.

Finally, Mordin and Chakwas emerged from the medical bay. He had a relieved but puzzled expression on his face; Chakwas' British stoicism was more difficult to read.

"Well, we didn't find anything. It's possible that the Cerberus scientists didn't begin to start their experiment. He suffered some slight internal injuries from some street fighting…or at least, that's what Dr. Solus has concluded that the contusions all over his upper body are from. We sent some nano-machines in to repair the damage," Chakwas explained. "Mr. Taylor, you said that he was on an operating table with surgeons standing round him, correct?"

"I guess," the ex-Alliance soldier told her. "Nobody was trying to cut him up or do anything except monitor his vitals. I think they had just stitched him up and were trying to figure out what to do with him next."

"I'd like to see him. I'll be able to tell you right away if he's still himself." Miranda shoved her coffee cup into Sgt. Gardner's hands and made her way into the infirmary.

"Be careful, Miranda," both Liara and Samara said together.

Miranda gazed down upon his sleeping face, came alongside the bed, and ran her hand along his cheek. She trailed it down to his chin and stroked his beard back and forth, as if she were stroking a pet's fur. Her ministrations caused his throat to rumble lowly and he turned his head slightly. Gradually, Shepard's eyes opened to witness her hovering over him. "Oh, no, not again…just how dead was I this time?"

She released her hand from his face, shook her head, and balled up both of her fists at her sides. "You vicious son of a bitch, don't you try to leave me."

"How could I possibly do that? We haven't even touched the sheets in your cabin yet. And speaking of which, is it too late to ask for Asari cotton? Or what was that one plant that grew on Earth…mmm…bamboo?"

She let out an exasperated sigh, rolled her eyes, and finally let out one laugh. "Oh, it's definitely you, all right."

"What?" he asked, clearly stupefied. He gazed over at the bed next to him. Thane was hooked up with several tubes and an oxygen mask. "What happened to him?"

"I'll explain later," Chakwas replied. "In the meantime, there are some people here who are dying to see you." She made a motion with her hand to everyone else outside the lab who was gawking at their interaction that all was right.

Everyone came inside to give him their greetings, and he even had the stamina to sit up. "Thank you. I'm not sure how long I've been gone, but…Miranda tells me that each and every one of you was kind enough to give 110% for me. I couldn't have gotten out of that hellhole without you; I'm very moved."

"Yeah, well, we just wanted to blow some more Cerberus stuff up," Garrus joked. "You were just a sideline."

Shepard started to laugh but had to grab his ribs because they hurt. "Aw. That's just cruelty."

"Any idea of where you'd like to go, Commander?" Joker's voice boomed through the ship's P.A. "Glad to see you back in one piece. I think. He did come back in one piece, didn't he, EDI?"

"Affirmative," the AI replied noncommittally.

"Well, good. And contrary to popular opinion, it has not been quiet on the Normandy in your absence."

"Set a course for Osun. I'm sure Liara would like to get back to her base," Shepard told him. "Then perhaps the Migrant Fleet."

"I cannot tell you enough times how sorry I am about all of this." The maiden asari went over to his bed and grabbed hold of his arm. "I should've been more careful. This whole ordeal was my fault."

"It's forgotten, Liara, behind us. I'm here now, relatively unscathed." He grimaced as he felt a spasm hit him suddenly. "No grudges, this makes us…argh…even."

"And now I must ask that all of you allow Shepard some time to mend, even you, Ms. Lawson," Chakwas chided her. "I'll call you when I think it's appropriate for him to have some visitors."

As they all filed out of the medical bay, Liara gave her a pleading look, and Chakwas silently gave her a nod. The asari turned and rushed back to Shepard's bedside. "Can we talk, Shepard? I know you need your rest, but-" she began.

"No, you're right. I owe you that much." He closed his eyes as a pang hit him and squeezed his feel good button. With a sigh of relief, the morphine flowed throughout his veins. Shepard noticed Liara's eyes fill up with worry, and he gave her a half smile. "Aw, come on, Liara. It's not that bad. Just don't expect me to make a whole lotta sense for the next five minutes."

"Well, if you're not thinking clearly…-" The asari lowered her head and was about to turn away when he grabbed her hand.

"Quit overanalyzing everything, T'soni. I just won't be able to use big words or start talking about how the protheans did this and that. Although listening to you explaining anything scientific still turns me on."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "I see. And what about when Miranda does it?" Their eyes met.

"Same effect," he confessed, let his head fall back onto the pillows, and released her hand. "I…I'd kill for you, you know that?"

"Please don't make this any more difficult than it already is, Shepard," Liara stated, feeling tears rushing to her eyes and closed them.

"I'm trying. Meds aren't making this any easier, I tell ya." He paused to concentrate as objects had begun to move about the room around him. "But I don't want to keep hurting you two. Both of you have given up so much; this isn't fair to you. Please forgive me."

"So who do you want, Shepard?" Liara sniffled, wiping the tears away. "I've killed for you, too. And I still will."

"No," he shook his head. "Don't."

"Does this mean that you won't be coming back to Hagalaz?" She ran her fingers back and forth across her collar-bone nervously.

"As a lover, no. But, how 'bout as a friend? Is your door still open?"

"Always. Thank you for your honesty, Shepard." Liara beamed wistfully and gave his cheek a caress. "I'll always cherish that night before Ilos." With that, she left the infirmary, and Shepard turned on his side.

"So will I," he murmured before slipping off into a peaceful sleep.


Orbit of Migrant Fleet, Normandy SR-2 Shuttle Bay

The next morning, 949h…

The quarian marines boarded their shuttle, and Shepard gave a hug to Tali as well as a deep handshake to Kal' Reegar. "You're true friends. I cannot thank you enough," he told the both of them.

"Watching you wake up was a relief. We weren't sure of what to expect after hearing about what happened onboard here," Reegar admitted.

Tali touched him on the arm. "This doesn't bother you, I hope? I mean, my leaving the Normandy so soon again?"

"You're not going to try and get yourself exiled again, are ya?" Shepard smirked.

"I'll try not to. The Admirals are still infighting and elections for my father's seat are still 'up for grabs', to so speak." She sighed. "Some days, I just want to shake all of them up and make them all understand the grander scheme of it all!"

"What was it like when you left?"

"I'd been showing them evidence that the geth's allegiances had changed. Don't worry, Shepard, I didn't say that you were responsible. Admiral Daro'Xen is still upset with you for the Alarei, so I withheld that information."

"I appreciate that. Anything else?"

"We're still a long way from complete peace. Maybe we can forge a truce somehow. I don't see Admiral Han'Gerrel budging from his position, though."

"Well, don't let me stop you from doing so," he came forward and gave her another hug. "I'll miss those chats we had down in the ECR. Come back soon, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy."

"You can definitely count on it, Shepard," she giggled and joined her companions in the shuttle. "Keelah se lai."

"Keelah se lai." He waved his hand goodbye and hit the button to open the bay door. After the door closed, he took off his helmet and held it at his side. Jacob, who had been with him the entire time, removed his mask as well. "I'd like someone to tell me what happened to Thane. I know you'll give me a straight-up answer."

"He nearly gave his life trying to save the bridge," Jacob responded. "But that Cerberus agent was a little too good. Kasumi said that by the time she and Longoria got up there, he'd almost killed him."

"Damn...things really got exciting here, didn't they? He was starting to trust us, and I think he was actually making a little bit of headway with his son, too. Dr. Chakwas wants us to move him to a hospital for proper care. I'll be taking us to Nos Astra next, so go ahead and tell Miranda to announce it to the crew." He stroked his beard for a moment and then had something strike him. "How'd you like being Commander?"

"Honestly, Shepard, I don't know how you do it. Man, it was rough."

"Ever think that you'd like to do it again?"

"No, no way." Jacob held up his hands and followed his superior up the stairs to the elevator. "At least, not without some R & R first."

"Sounds like a great idea. Excuse me for a minute," Shepard made his way into the port cargo hold where Grunt lived. He grabbed hold of the krogan's arm, pumping it up and down. "Thanks, buddy. Heard you hauled my ass outta there all by yourself."

"Hmmph. You're no feather, either," the krogan grumbled. "Since we're not a mission yet, I'd like to ask a favor from you."

"Shoot, Grunt."

"The females of Clan Urdnot have been sending me lots of messages through the extranet, and since, Wrex is trying to build up our strength…" Grunt began.

"I catch your drift," Shepard smiled and hit him in the arm. "You got quite a few breeding requests after we tanked that thresher maw."

"There was also one made for you, Shepard."

"Must've been a joke," the ex-Alliance soldier chuckled.

"Not really. Krogan don't joke about breeding much."

"Oh, right, sorry," Shepard grimaced. "Please, take all the time to…uh…strengthen Clan Urdnot that you need."

"Thanks, Shepard. Oh, you should know that after we defeated the Collectors and blew up their base, both of our requests went up triple fold," Grunt proudly announced. "You might want to come with me."

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass," Shepard held up a hand. "It's not that I'm not grateful that a krogan lady would even consider me, I'm just…a bit apprehensive. You of all krogans know that I'm not xenophobic…"

"No offense taken, Shepard. When can we head for Tuchanka?"

"I'll set a course now." He left the room and made his way to the elevator.