Chapter 3

I ducked and dodged, relying purely on my instinct to evade the rapid fire of devastatingly powerful blows flying towards my person without hesitation. Miranda sure does like putting me through my paces. I thought warily as I caught one of her small fists in my own large hands, my opposite fist flying towards her exposed midsection without hesitation. We were sparring for what felt like the hundredth time in the past two weeks. She was really worked up this time, I couldn't help but wonder what it was that had set her off today as she twisted around my fist, her leg lashing out, knocking me back with surprising force. I regained my footing and settled back into a stance, my eyes focused on her form as she started circling me.

"What's got you so worked up today Miranda?" I asked, before grinning. "Trying to make up for losing yesterday?" I teased. I had beaten her the past few times we had sparred, which had surprised both of us greatly, I learned quickly, and my new body was above and beyond in terms of strength and speed. After the first time we attempted sparring where I broke a few of her ribs, she came back the next morning and had me flat on my ass before I knew what had happened. I wrinkled my nose, remembering how she had broken it. "Come on then, let's see what you've got." I mimicked one of her previous taunts. That did it. I saw her whole body tense before she shot towards me, fist cocked back, glowing slightly with her biotic powers as she infused her punch with energy. I narrowed my eyes and twisted my body to the side, avoiding the powerful biotic blow that dented the floor.

Taking advantage of her momentary pause as she registered that she had missed I spun on my heel, swinging my leg around in an arc down towards her figure. She rolled to the side just in time as my boot's heel made a crater out of the large dent she had made. She crouched low, eyeing me critically before finally responding, "You're improving much faster than I thought you would, I guess I didn't expect you to start beating me so quickly." She frowned at her own words, before jumping up in the air towards me, her foot flying towards my face. I wasn't quite fast enough to evade the blow and the tip of her boot caught my jaw, snapping my head back and making my ears ring. I stumbled back, shaking my head, trying to rid myself of the annoying ringing sensation without avail. Before I could register what was happening I was looking up at the high ceiling of the training room, a view I had become quite accustomed to in the past two weeks, and she was on top of me, her elbow jammed up against my throat.

As my vision cleared I saw her grinning at me. She looked rather smug. More than that, I noticed how the light from the ceiling framed her long black hair in a dazzling fashion. I took a moment to appreciate the view of the feminine perfection above me. My eyes must have betrayed what I was thinking because her eyes widened slightly before she hastily pulled off of me and stood up, not bothering to offer me help up. Not that I needed it.

As I stood up her voice reached my ears, my head now mostly clear, "I think that's enough for today." She said, her breathing slightly elevated from our little spar.

Nodding in agreement, I shake my head, willing the dull ache that had settled in my skull to go away. I wasn't succeeding very well. "I'd almost prefer you break a rib or two next time rather than hit me in the head so hard." I said; my tone light.

She cast me a sideways glance, and I saw her lip twitch slightly upwards into the ghost of a smile. "You really are exceeding my expectations Mr. Taylor." She said, and I could detect a small amount of pride in her voice. That made me smile genuinely, nodding my appreciation towards her. It wasn't every day the ice queen passed out compliments, most of the time she was too busy kicking my ass to pass those out.

"So what am I supposed to do for the rest of the day?" I ask curiously as we head towards the exit.

"The Illusive Man wishes to speak with you again." She stated matter-of-factly. I don't respond, merely falling into step beside her as we headed towards the Quantum Entanglement Communication room. I was wracking my brain, making sure I knew my 'background' as well as I could. I had come up with a suitable cover story a few nights ago, and was now prepared for most questions aimed at me about my past. Hopefully my answers would be enough. They had to be.

Like last time Miranda waited outside as I stepped into the dark room onto the QEC platform. The scanning seemed to happen faster this time, and before long I was looking at the Illusive Man once again.

"Mr. Taylor." He greeted, his cybernetic eyes glowing lightly as he gazed at me. Jesus this guy sounds exactly like in the games. Those eyes are stupidly creepy. I thought to myself as I met his gaze evenly.

"Illusive Man." I greeted back, my gaze hardening slightly as I waited for him to speak. I didn't have to wait too long though. As soon as he took a drag from his cigarette and swapped it to his other hand he spoke, "Your training is moving along faster than I originally anticipated, and your biotic powers certainly are remarkable for a human. This is good news." He states, as if reading off of a list. Hell he likely is. Miranda has probably been feeding him in depth reports of my training. I mentally shook myself. Of course she was. She was loyal to him and Cerberus to a fault.

I nod, as if to confirm the facts he was spewing, "I must admit I am a bit surprised at my own capabilities myself. This new body is… well it's amazing. It seems I never thanked you for it so I'll do so now." I pause before continuing, holding eye contact with him, "Thanks for saving me."

His glowing cybernetic eyes locked onto my own and he nodded, "You can thank me by helping Shepard investigate these human colony disappearances when the time comes and by being ready when it does." He brings up a screen between the two of us and I gasp slightly. "Shepard." I whisper. I could make out her face, though it was badly scarred, and the rest of her body seemed to be still under heavy construction.

I tear my eyes away from the vid screen and look at the illusive man, "How much longer do you think it will take for the reconstruction process to be completed?" I ask. I knew how much longer it would take, but I couldn't afford to let him think I did.

"Miss Lawson informs me that Shepard's major organs are functional, and that they are only working on the finer details now. I expect her to be fully functional in a few months." Timmy states before taking another long drag from his cigarette and closing the vid screen. We stare at each other for a moment before he speaks again, "Mr. Taylor you know by now that you don't exist in the citadel's registry, and there are no records on your existence of any kind." He snubs out his cigarette, looking at me as he does so, "Could you explain to me why that is?"

It was a seemingly innocent question, but I knew I had to phrase my answer very carefully. This was dangerous territory and a slip up could be very detrimental to my chances of helping Shepard. I nod, not letting too much time pass before responding, "I was born and raised on a colony in the terminus system. The colony operated outside of the Alliance and there were many of us born there that were never entered into the system. I would honestly be surprised if there –was- any record of my existence." I lie smoothly. I had always prided myself on my ability to keep a straight face, and it was coming in handy right about now.

The glow from another cigarette illuminated the man's face as he regards me; I could tell he was going to believe me or not. Either way I had a feeling he wouldn't really push the issue. I hope anways. I offered up a silent prayer in hopes that it worked.

"It makes sense, people show up all the time without records of any kind. It's nearly impossible to keep tabs on everyone in the universe." He replies finally. I let loose a breath of air I didn't realize I had been holding. "But that doesn't explain how you ended up inside one of our reactor rooms."

Fuck. That came out of nowhere. I shook my head before replying. "I wish I could answer that, really I do. But I have no idea how I ended up there, or the events prior to me ending up inside that reactor room." I reply, telling the truth for once.

To my surprise he simply nods, "I expected as much. The amount of Element Zero and Radiation you were exposed to should have killed you, so it's not out of the question that you suffered some memory loss from the incident."

He didn't say accident. I wondered to myself if that was on purpose or not. Either way I wouldn't figure it out right now. I sigh audibly, "I wish I did know how I ended up here, it would put my mind at ease." I say honestly.

"Well if you remember anything be sure to let Miss Lawson know." He says before moving on to the next topic, "With your training progressing so rapidly, it won't be long before you are fully mission ready. Miss Lawson has informed me that you are highly proficient with both firearms and hand to hand combat, and that your biotic powers are devastating. This is just the kind of news I had hoped to hear, you're turning out to be a wise investment Mr. Taylor. Keep up the good work." He says before ending the call, and the room returned to normal.

I shake my head in a sense of dry amusement. That man lies so much that his nose should be six feet long. I know he's hiding something about what happened to me. If anyone knows about how I got here it would have to be him. It's the only logical explanation. I reason to myself, going over what I knew about how I ended up in this world.

Coming out of the QEC room I shake my head, dispelling the thoughts that were running around in my head as Miranda approached me. "The illusive man is very pleased with the results of your training Miss Lawson." I smile at her as she stops in front of me, "So am I, honestly. I've learned a lot in the past two weeks training with you." I genuinely was impressed.

She nods in appreciation at me as she replies, "Thank you Mr. Taylor. You learn rather quickly. But I will agree, I am a great teacher aren't I?" she smirks at me and I return a grin of my own.

A moment passes before I shake my head, still grinning, "So are we done training for the day?" I ask, hoping that I could get some extra rest tonight. She nods, "Yes. We are done for today Mr. Taylor. I have some paperwork I have to take care of. I will see you tomorrow morning at the usual time."

I smile at her, "Alright, I'll see you then Miss Lawson. Have a nice day." I really had been trying to get on her good side, she was going to be a very important part to Shepard's team and beyond that I knew she was a genuinely good person beneath her cold exterior. I couldn't quite tell if it was paying off yet, only time would tell. We part ways after that, with Miranda heading off god only knows where and myself back to my room. I had been pushing, or rather Miranda had been pushing my new body to its breaking point in the past two weeks, and I really wanted to take advantage of this little break I was being given. "Time to get some rest." I said aloud to no-one in particular as I shed my clothes and collapsed on my bed. It wasn't the softest or most comfortable bed but it got the job done. June 3rd, I've been conscious for two weeks now, so… Shepard wakes up some time in the latter part of September. So roughly four months until the Lazarus Project is complete. I have to make these months count. I –have- to be prepared for this or I could end up getting killed, or worse than that fuck up and get someone else killed. I shake my head, willing the troublesome thoughts away and rolled over onto my side facing the wall and closed my eyes. Time for me to get some shuteye.

July 3rd, 2185 1300 hours. One month later.

I smash my fist into the mat of the training room, causing the large amount of dark energy gathered around my fist to explode outward in a large area around me. The floor ripples and the room shakes. I pant heavily as I rise from my crouched position, surveying the damage around me. The area around me was completely destroyed. The metal panels beneath the floor mat were buckling up causing the mat to jut up at awkward angles all over. I chuckle softly, looking towards Miranda who stood off to the side, "Good thing Cerberus has a lot of cash to throw around." I joke.

She frowns slightly, her face a mask of disapproval. "You know if you keep doing that we're going to have to find another place for you to train." She says, shaking her head.

I shrug non-committedly, "Well it's not like the cost of repairing this room a couple times could ever compare to the amount Cerberus threw into giving me a new body." It was true, the amount of money they had spent on me wasn't anything close to what they were spending on Shepard, but it was still way more money than I would ever see in this universe.

"Point conceded, Mr. Taylor." She replies, causing me to frown. I was getting tired of her being so formal around me. She'd been training with me for a month and a half now, and I really was having trouble getting her to drop the façade she gave everyone else. "Let's get some more practice in with your biotics." She reaches a hand out and grabs one of the practice crates from the corner of the room with her biotics. I stretch quickly before getting into a ready position, preparing to catch the heavy crates. A few weeks ago Miranda had these crates added to the training room, and each one of them weighed roughly 200 kg. She had come up with many different exercises with them, allowing me to stretch my biotic powers to their limit and beyond, greatly increasing my competency and strength.

She holds the crate out beside her for a moment as our eyes lock, her icy blue orbs attempting to pierce into my steely grey ones. I saw her eyes flash, or at least I thought I did, and the crate flew forward towards me on the other side of the room. I reached out with my biotics and caught it in a secure grip, spinning around to use the momentum to slingshot it back at Miranda. It flew faster this time and she threw up both her hands, glowing with dark energy as she Forced the crate to stop, but not before sliding back a foot. She reaches thrusts forward with both arms, shoving the crate back at me, and I meet her in the middle with my own powers. We stalemate, each of us struggling to overwhelm the other with pure force.

I look at her above the crate, my eyes narrowed in concentration as we struggle, "Come on Lawson, is that the best you've got?!" I challenge, growling and pushing forward with a mighty shove, causing the crate to move a few feet towards her. "Not on your life, Taylor." She growls in return, before her biotics flare around her and she overwhelms me, causing the crate to fly towards me once again. It was 10 meters away before an idea popped into my head and I acted on it without really thinking too much. My biotics flare brightly as my body seems to warp, surging forward my fist connects with a massive amount of force. The crate changes direction with a loud boom, and Miranda's eyes widen.

"Shit!" I hear her exclaim as she dives out of the way of the crate as it sails into the wall on the opposite side of the room, the force of the impact causing the crate to explode and whatever it was made out of to fragment. I straighten up, my eyes widening slightly. "Well that wasn't what I was expecting." Miranda's voice once again reaches my ears and I trot over to her as she picks herself up off the floor. "What was that?" she asks curiously as she looks over at the wall where the pieces of the crate lay in ruin.

I shrug, grinning. "Not entirely sure, I just used my biotics to move forward and punch it. I figured with enough force I could change its direction. Super effective apparently." I grin at my reference that she wouldn't get. I knew what I had just done and was really excited that I had finally pulled it off. The trademark Biotic Charge.

She looks at me for a moment before smirking, "Quick thinking allowed you to win the power struggle. Well done Mr. Taylor." She praised seriously, before grabbing two crates with her biotics and throwing them into the air above me, "Catch." Is all she said as I looked up to see the two heavy objects falling towards me; and I throw my hands above me, stopping them both a foot over my head and holding them there. "Now I want you to hold them there as long as possible." She said before walking towards the armory wall.

What's she doing? I wondered to myself. I couldn't see her at this angle. I had performed this exercise a million times it seemed like, but it was still a good endurance exercise. *Click* I heard the safety of a gun being disengaged and spun around, facing Miranda who was pointing a pistol directly at me. "I want you to keep your barrier up while you hold those crates."

What? That's crazy! I screamed in my head as she pulled the trigger twice, causing me to hastily throw up my barrier, deflecting the bullets and draining a bit of my strength. The crates seemed to get heavier and a bead of sweat rolled down the side of my face. "Nice job, now let's see if you can keep it up." She pulled the trigger four more times, each round bouncing off of my barrier harmlessly, but draining my strength even further. I don't remember the crates weighing this much before. I thought as I strained to keep them in the air. She pulled the trigger until the heat sink popped out of the gun, leaving me panting heavily with sweat trailing all over my body. "Don't drop them, Mr. Taylor, we're not done yet." She said, grinning evilly as she popped another heat sink into the gun, and continues firing." I could feel each round against the barrier, and by the time that clip was emptied I was left drenched in sweat, my legs shaking as I held the crates above me.

She stared at me for a long moment before grinning, "That's enough, you may return the crates to the pile." She ordered as she returned to the armory to put the gun up. I slowly moved the crates through the air and set them atop the pile of remaining crates before collapsing down onto a knee, breathing heavily. That took a lot more effort than I thought. My biotics were much stronger than the average biotic but that was pushing it. "Did you come up with that torture on your own, Lawson?" I asked as she walked back over to me, putting a hand on her hip smirking.

"Yes I did, actually. What do you think? Looks like you got quite the workout." I could hear the smugness in her voice as she spoke and I looked up at her, narrowing my eyes and frowning for good measure. "I think if you're trying to kill me you're going about it the right way." I reply between pants.

My only response was a little laugh and an offered bottle of water. "Good job today, Mr. Taylor. Your skills really are quite remarkable." My frown lifts into a smile, it was nice to receive compliments from her. It meant I was getting somewhere both in my training and with her.

"Thanks Lawson, can't imagine I would have made this far without your help though." I unscrew the cap to the bottle and drain it quickly. "That exercise going to become common?" I question, honestly a little afraid of the answer."

She nods, her evil smirk reappearing, "Yes, it will help with your endurance on the battlefield, can't have you tiring out after only a little bit of action, now can we?" she replies coolly and my eyes widen slightly, catching onto the innuendo. I look up at her and grin, "If I'm the first one to tire out in the middle of the action I wouldn't really be that useful now would I? I'm hoping you can help me out in that department." I reply with a cheeky grin, choosing to play along with the innuendo.

She coughs, realizing that she had made an innuendo and I see a little bit of color in her cheeks, causing me to mentally cheer. Fucking finally got her to blush. Clearing her throat she nods, "I will have you ready for the battlefield Mr. Taylor. Don't you worry about it."

I grin, before sitting down on the mat on one of the less angled parts. She joins me, sitting across from me with her legs crossed. Looking at me oddly she speaks, "So what is your first name, Mr. Taylor?"

I raise an eyebrow at her, having not expected that question from her. "My first name is Alex, why do you ask Miranda?" I ask, genuinely curious as to why she was finally asking me the question and so randomly.

"Well, we've been working together for a month and a half now, and you've only given me your last name and a general idea of where you were from." She replies, shifting a little.

"Well if you have questions I'll answer them to the best of my ability, don't be afraid to ask." I say, making sure she could see the sincerity in my eyes. "I have a feeling we're going to be working together for a long while so I think it would be best to get to know each other. I would like to know who exactly it is that saves my ass on the battlefield." I joke lightly, hoping to break the ice a little more.

She looks at me for a moment, before her icy blue eyes seem to soften a little, and she smiles. "Well in that case I will take you up on that offer." She pauses as if thinking, before continuing, "Alright Alex, you grew up on a colony, but what did you do before ending up here?" Her eyes were bright with curiosity.

I look down, thinking about my time before being pulled into this universe. I had been a sophomore in college, working when I could and doing my best to succeed in school. I spent a lot of time helping my ailing father out with whatever he wanted to do. I look back up at her, "I helped my father out with his work. We ran a store in our town. Didn't really have much free time, but it was peaceful, honest life." I say, doing my best to not alter my story too much.

She thinks for a moment before asking another question; "Makes me wonder how you could have ended up here. Do you still not have any idea how you ended up in that reactor room?" I shake my head, "Not a clue. I wish I did though, it has been eating me up on the inside not knowing." I reply honestly. It was. What bothered me more was me not knowing what happened to my family when I disappeared.

"Where'd you learn how to handle a gun, doesn't sound like you'd have access to many firearms?" She asks after another pause, which causes me to smile a bit. "My dad loves weapons. He taught me everything I know about them. Well most of it anyways. You've taught me a bit in the past month and a half." It was true, my dad loved guns. We had a gun safe filled with all sorts of different weapons, and he had given me my first weapon before I turned 10.

"I suppose that makes sense, your dad sounds like a good man." She says, though I hear a bit of jealousy in her voice, reminding me that her own father was a complete prick. I fake confusion, "He is. What about yours?" I ask softly, not wanting to make her shut me out. That would be counterproductive.

I see her stiffen considerably and her eyes harden. Seems like I hit a sore spot. I mentally chuckle to myself. She speaks slowly, as if unsure about telling me anything, "He was… hard on me. He wanted a son, and I spent the first part of my life trying to be what he wanted me to be, the perfect heir. Then I ran away and I've never looked back." She finishes with a sigh. I smile softly at her, "I understand if you don't want to talk about it. Everyone has a past to bury. I'm here if you want to talk though." I Say simply, before letting it drop. She looks grateful for a moment before her façade settles on her face once again and she stands up.

I follow her to my feet as she speaks, "We're done for today, you have tomorrow off, but the day after tomorrow I want to see you in here at 0800." She turns and heads towards the door but pauses when I speak up, "Alright, I'll see you later Miranda." At first it seems like she isn't going to reply and simply walk out, but she looks over her shoulder and I see a ghost of a smile, "Later Alex." She replies, and then she vanishes through the door.

I grin to myself, stretching a little. Finally getting somewhere with her. Would be pretty awesome to actually date Miranda Lawson. I think to myself as I head through the door, grabbing a towel to hang over my neck on the way back to my room. Alright, time to get a shower and some food.

Alright! Here's the next chapter, hope you folks like it. I think I've decided who Alex will be pairing up with eventually. Miranda definitely will not be pairing up with Timmy. I hate that creepy old bastard. Sorry to anyone that disappoints. Hope you enjoy the story regardless. This is the longest chapter I have ever written, and this story is officially the longest fanfiction I have written, and it will keep going.

Till the next chapter,

Slaud