Author's Note: Due to all the amazing reviews, I decided to continue with this story. I'm so happy you like it so much, so I'm going to try to continue all the way through the Suicide Mission. Maybe more, it really all depends, but the reviews really keep me going! :D Also, there will be Garrus/Shepard. And the rating is still T, for now anyways.

Chakwas poked and prodded at the Commander while she sat quietly like a child in the Infirmary. Her vision had returned a week ago and it was time for another checkup. Miranda leaned on a table near her, laughing at the Commander.

"Doctor, I feel like I'm being biopsied, are you done yet?"

The Doctor sighed, pulling off her gloves, "You're impatient you know? Medicine is an art; you don't want to lose your sight again, now do you?"

EDI interrupted, "Well that won't be happening, I've installed a UV protected visor on your helmet to prevent further damage."

Miranda scoffed, "The Commander doesn't even wear her helmet."

Shepard shushed her, "They don't need to know that!"

"Commander, don't you think it's time you return to you're quarters? You've had a long day."

Shepard yawned as she leaned on the sides of the elevator, "I'm fine, EDI. Just a bit sleepy is all." It was true, she hadn't been out on a mission and it usually took a toll.

"I believe that is an understatement, Commander."

The doors opened and she exited, "Oh, shut up EDI, why don't you go bother Joker or something?"

"Very well, I will check on Mr. Moreau."

Commander Shepard yawned as she navigated the Normandy. It had to be late as the usually bustling floor of the Crew's Quarters was empty. On the other hand, part of Miranda's genetic engineering had drastically decreased the amount of time she spent sleeping and she knew she was still awake As she walked, she noticed the pony tail she had had in for hours felt like it was ripping her silky blonde hair from her scalp. As she reached back to pull it out, she ran straight into Garrus Vakarian, the turian of the ship.

She pulled her hair down, and then looked up at him.

"Sorry Garrus, guess I wasn't watching what I was doing."

He shook his head, putting away his datapad, "Don't worry about it, Shepard. But what brings you here this late? You're usually already asleep."

She scratched her head, the feeling of her long hair finally being free was liberating, "I came to see Miss Lawson, where is she?" Miranda had spent substantial amount of time in her office lately, unwilling to give anybody the 'okay' to enter.

"Last I saw she went to her office, door's locked, " he started walking around her, back to his quarters, "Oh, and Shepard, it's nice to see you with your hair down, figuratively and literally."

She smiled before making her way to XO Lawson's office, "Thanks Garrus."

When she came to the door, it was indeed locked. A voice came from the keypad at the side of the door, "Commander?"

The door opened, and Miranda looked up from her computers, she looked to be writing reports.

"Yes, is there something I can help you with Commander?"

"Do you have a minute, Operative?"

The woman paused, something was obviously bothering her, "There's a lot to do, Commander, maybe another time?"

She sat down in a chair, and the raven haired woman raised an eyebrow, "What are you doing, Commander?"

Shepard laughed, the woman's smooth accent made all her words hang in the air, "Waiting for another time, Miranda."

Miranda shook her head, softly laughing as she cut off the laptop, the Illusive Man could wait.

"Well, Shepard, what is it that you want?" She asked a question that she knew the answer too; she was here because since their trip to retrieve her sister's family, she had been, more or less, a stone.

The Commander shrugged, "Well since we transported Oriana and her family, you've been a bit... quiet."

Miranda averted her eyes, "I didn't mean to be cold, I just..." She paused, "It's a lot to think about."

Shepard stood up, leaning on the doorway leading to Miranda's bedroom, "No, it's not that you hurt my 'feelings', Miranda, I was just... worried about you."

Miranda tilted her head, staring at her dazzling green eyes. Even though her check up had been at least two months ago, she still worried. She had no idea how much damage Haestrom's sun had done, and she prayed, even though she wasn't a religious person, that Shepard would be okay.

It was a lot to go through, but somehow, Shepard had made it through, eyes intact. The same ones stared back at her now, filled with sympathy and worry.

"You know, Shepard, you could've come talked to me earlier..."

"I figured you would've bitten my head off, Miranda."

Suddenly the Cerberus officer appeared beside her, "I'm not a heartless monster, you know? I am human, Sid."

The use of her first name got a smile from the Commander, "I know you aren't, I can see that now. You took care of Oriana... you took care of me too."

Miranda turned away, "I was doing my job, Shepard."

The woman laughed, "If you had 'just had been doing your job', you wouldn't have spent time being my personal nurse, twice even. You would've hired one of the subordinates to."

Miranda looked down, it was true. The Lazerus Project had been her life for those two years, and she couldn't say she wasn't the least bit intrigued by her handiwork.

The Cerberus operative turned around, facing Shepard.

"I never go the chance to... thank you. You're the reason Oriana's safe."

Shepard smiled, "It wasn't like I was going to just stand by and watch your sister be taken by your father." With that, the woman flopped back on to the Operatives bed, grabbing the remote and flipping on her holoscreen. Miranda smiled inwardly, Shepard's childlike mind never ceased to amaze her, but she had a much heavier subject to breach with her Commander.

Miranda dragged her chair into the bedroom and sat down, facing the Commander, "Shepard? I need to talk to you for a moment."

Shepard sat up, flipping the holoscreen off, "What is it?"

"Well, during Lazerus, I read about your childhood... but I never heard about it from you..."

The blonde took a moment, "It's a very dark time in my life, I was just an orphan who became a part of crime, drugs, and many more things that I don't wish to discuss. When I was eighteen, I had been raped a few weeks before, and I decided to join the Alliance, it seemed like a safe haven from my past..."

The Commander trailed off and Miranda could see the tears forming in her eyes. "Well... Shepard... After we dropped Oriana off, I did a bit of research..."

"Yes, well what is it, Miranda?"

"I... I've tracked down your birth parents. You're not an orphan, you were kidnapped."

Miranda watched as the woman's eyes widened with shock, "K...Kidnapped?"

Miranda nodded, "Yes, you were taken shortly after your birth and your parents were charged ransom. Your father worked as a lawyer and your mother was a housewife. The kidnappers took you straight from her arms. They were well off and paid the ransom of 15,000 credits in hopes that they'd get you back, but as soon as the money paid, you and the kidnappers fell of the radar."

Shepard said nothing, but stared at Miranda. All she had known as a child was fear and abandonment, she had no thought that her parents were out there somewhere missing her and hoping for her return.

"Both of you're parents are still alive, Estelle and Adkin Shepard live on Earth, he still works as a lawyer, and they've had no children since you."

Shepard finally regained her ability to speak, "I... I want to meet them."

Miranda nodded, "Would you like me to inform them?"

Shepard shook her head, "No... just find out their address, I want to take them by surprise."

The Operative laughed a bit to herself, Shepard was just as childlike as always.

The Normandy SR2 pulled into their unscheduled stop at the main hub of Earth. Miranda walked up to Shepard's quarters and when she opened the door, she found the woman staring blankly at the wall.

"Shepard?"

"Oh... hey Miranda."

"We're here, I've left their address on your datapad."

"Miranda, could you do one more thing?"

"Sure, what is it Commander?"

"Will... Will you come with me?"

"They're your parents, Shepard, I would be intruding. Plus I highly doubt they don't know you're alive, you're the most famous human in the goddamned galaxy."

"I don't care; I just don't want to have to go by myself."

Miranda sighed, "Sidney, if you really, really want me to go... I will."

The blonde woman hopped up, slinging her arms around Miranda.

"Thank you."

In a few hours time, the two stood in the snow outside a large glass building that they both knew held Shepard's parents.

"Are you okay, Sidney?"

Shepard took a deep breath, "I am as long as you're here with me."

They stepped into the building and walked to the elevator. As they rode up to the fifteenth floor Miranda could see Shepard shaking. Just before the door opened, the Cerberus officer hugged her, "It'll be okay; they love you."

They walked to the door labeled 15C and knocked on the door. They heard faint voices inside and soon a woman in her fifties opened the door. She had short gray hair, and Miranda recognized the sharp green eyes that stared back at them.

Miranda spoke up, "Hello Mrs. Shepard, I am Operative Miranda Lawson with Cerberus and this, well, I think you know who this woman is. This is Commander Sidney Shepard, the best humanity has to offer."

The old woman began to shake, "Adkin! Adkin get in here!" The woman's voice lowered, "Our baby girl's come home."

Miranda had left the apartment as soon as Shepard entered. She felt like she was intruding if she stayed, it wasn't her place to watch her personal affairs. Though, the Operative had waited patiently in her Commander's cabin, waiting for her return that inevitably had come around midnight.

Shepard walked in her cabin not noticing Miranda. She set down a box of things that Miranda assumed her parents gave her, and she began to take her boots off. She turned around and gave the officer a startled look, "Oh, Miranda, you scared me. My parents... they want to know about... the mission. I didn't have the heart to tell them myself, I told them that they could meet with you tomorrow in your office."

Miranda nodded, and Shepard hugged her tightly, "Thank you Miranda, you have no idea how much this means to me."

Miranda drummed her fingers on her desk while her Commander's parents sat patiently across from her.

"How can I begin...? You've heard that your daughter killed Saren, but... that's a small threat compared to what we're facing now."

Shepard's father spoke up; he was a tall man with salt and peppered hair but an air of dominance, "Why is she alive? We heard of the attack on the Normandy. And, what exactly is your job here, Miss Lawson? Have you brainwashed my daughter in anyway?"

Miranda gave an inward smile, she knew exactly where Shepard got her straight to the point, no play attitude she gave during missions, ", I was ordered by the Illusive Man, he runs the show here, to rebuild Shepard just the way she was. We retrived her body and after two years and billions of credits, she is back just the way she was, minus a few things that weren't there before. But I can assure you, she has no control chip. The Illusive Man forbade it. As for why we brought her back... It's complicated, but the short version is, is that Mass Relays, as well as the Citadel are put there by a race that lives out in Dark Space called the Reapers, every time a new civilization gets to our point, they come wipe us out, make us slaves and start over. The last time this happened was with the Protheans. But now Collectors, who we assume work for the Reapers, are invading human colonies and we brought Shepard back because she is the only one who can stop them. We are going to travel through the Omega 4 Relay-"

Shepard's father stood up in protest, "The Omega 4? No one has ever returned from there, you brought back my daughter, just to kill her again? Are you out of your mind?"

"Please, Mr. Shepard, we have reason to believe that we can go through it, destroy the Collector base, and return safely. I do not want to put Shepard through unnecessary danger."

Shepard's mother finally spoke up, "Miss Lawson... I can see you care for our daughter, but... what is the chance that you will return?"

Miranda paused, "I... I'm not sure, Mrs. Shepard, your daughter as well as the rest of us, are willing to do whatever it takes to keep the galaxy safe."

Shepard's mother put her hand to her heart, "Well I pray that she makes it home. As well as you, Miss Lawson, you're a very kind woman, and I'm afraid we've taken up too much of your time, we will be going now. But please, keep Sidney safe, I don't want to lose her again."

Miranda walked them out of the Normandy, "I promise to you that I'll keep Shepard alive, no matter the cost.