AN: Review, review, REVIEW! Thank you! :D ~ Haru Eclipse; She's excited. Can you tell? Anyway, REVEIW! ~ GriffynRyder
"Shepard, what the hell is taking so long?" Jack kicked the door to Shepard's quarters repeatedly, the sound echoing down the hotel's hallway.
"Must you always be so rude?" Tali asked between kicks; Miranda smiled at that.
"Yes, damn it, I do." Jack said sarcastically; she kicked the door again and Tali sighed. "Shepard!" Jack began to glow with her biotic power, and Miranda rolled her eyes.
"Here we go," she muttered, moving quickly out of the line-of-fire, Tali right beside her.
Jack snarled and threw her hands back, obviously ready to blast the door in. Unfortunately for her, Samara chose that moment to make her opinion known.
"You always have to disturb others, don't you, youngling?" The Asari was glowing blue as well, and she simply lifted Jack and flung her down the hallway, slamming the door when she bounced into the lobby.
"Oh, she is going to be mad," Tali said, chuckling. The door trembled under a massive blow, and they could hear Jack screaming on the other side.
"I want to know what happens when she blows that door in." Miranda added, going back to Shepard's door.
"Nothing," Samara said serenely, her eyes still glowing. "I am reinforcing the door. She will not bother us or anyone in the part of the hotel anymore."
"I feel sorry for the people in the lobby." Tali winced at the sound of a small explosion. Miranda smiled and shook her head, tapping a few keys on the door panel. There was a click and a hiss, and the door slid open a few inches.
"Shepard, we're coming in." She tapped a few more keys and the door opened all the way. Tali stepped in and froze.
"She's not here." The Quarian's voice was quiet.
"She is probably in the bathroom," Samara said from the hall.
Miranda stepped in behind Tali. "The bathroom is open. There really is no one here." She turned on her omni-tool and hailed Joker.
'What's up Miranda?'
"Shepard's not at her quarters. Did she come back to Normandy?" There was another explosion from the lobby, this one larger than the last. Samara sighed, and headed that way, saying, "I'll take care it."
"Better you than me," Tali muttered.
'Shepard's not on-board.' Joker replied. 'I thought she was supposed to meet you at Admiral Anderson's office this morning.'
Tali and Miranda locked eyes. "She wouldn't be late like this unless something was wrong." Tali's hand moved to her pistol.
"Joker, do you know where Shepard went after the Council meeting last night?" Miranda's eyes swept the room slowly, alert for anything.
'Citadel records show that Commander Shepard went immediately to Cora's Den.' EDI's synthetic voice was calm, always calm. 'However, there is no record of her leaving.'
"Thank you, EDI. Joker, contact Anderson and tell him what's happening. We'll check Cora's Den." Miranda moved swiftly, Tali right with her.
"Let's just hope that security allows us to leave and does not arrest us for destruction of property," Tali said, seeing the hallway door for the first time since Samara had gone to 'take care of' Jack.
"Let's just hope that Shepard is at Cora's Den." Miranda's voice was edged with steel. "Because if she's not there, something really is wrong."
It took some convincing, but once the owner saw how angry Jack was, he quickly allowed them to search the place. Pushing their way through dancers and drinkers, they looked at every face, trying to find Shepard.
"She's not here." Miranda said to Tali and Jack when they met at the bar fifteen minutes later; they had gone over every inch of the place.
"I am beginning to suspect that something happened to her while she was." Samara slid from the shadows, making the three jump. She held out her hand; a half-burned, very expensive cigarette lay in her palm.
"The Illusive Man," Miranda growled; Jack bared her teeth and Tali hissed. "He is the only one who would have a cigarette like that. He must have her."
"What would he want with her?" Tali asked, practically yelling as the DJ's turned the volume up even louder.
"What does it matter? We still — ." Miranda was cut off by Jack's enraged shout.
"Bastard!" she shrieked at a clearly drunk Krogan whose hand had strayed a little too far. Once again, she glowed blue, and the Krogan went flying across the bar, plowing through patrons like bowling pins.
Everything was dead silent.
"Oh, this is not good," Tali said. Then the place erupted. The Krogan's three drinking buddies roared in anger and charged Jack, who managed to throw two of them away before being rammed by the third. The impact sent her flying over the bar, smashing dozens of bottles in her flight.
"You'd better pay for that!" The human bartender shouted before ducking into his small office and bolting the door.
Miranda threw the last Krogan into his friends, knocking them off their feet yet again. Jack's head popped up over the bar, blood running from a cut on her shaved head. She nodded her thanks, then punched a Turian swinging a table leg as a weapon.
Miranda ducked under a booth in the corner, attempting to hail Joker on her omni-tool. One of Tali's combat drones went flying by, chased by two incredibly drunk Asari waving broken wine bottles.
'What is going on down there?' Joker asked, his voice thready and full of static; the connection was weak from all the biotic powers in use. 'It sounds like you started a riot!'
"Jack did start a riot!" Miranda yelled, flinging a Salarian away when he tried to crawl into her hiding space. "But that's not important right now." There was a biotic explosion from the direction of the dance floor where Samara could be seen floating above the fight, waves of power pulsing out from her body. "Shepard's been kidnapped by the Illusive Man! We found one of his cigarettes at the bar and there is no sign of her anywhere in the entire place." She ducked as her booth shook; Jack had thrown a very heavy human onto the table above her head.
'What do you need me to do?' Joker asked, his voice dead serious for once.
"Get in contact with Anderson. Ask him if there is anyone who can help us find her quickly and legally. Work with the Alliance if you can." Her ears rang as Security Mechs blasted open the door and poured inside, shooting stunners. "We'll try to get out of here without being arrested. If we aren't at the Normandy within an hour, post bail."
'Gotcha. Good luck, Miranda.' There was a click as Joker cut the connection.
"We're going to need it," she muttered, gathering her power. Abruptly, she stood up, blasting the table away. The broken pieces slammed into two mechs, damaging them enough to make them explode. Miranda jumped onto the neighboring book and scanned the room, ducking stunner bolts and flying bottles. Catching sight of Samara still floating above the dance floor, she grabbed a nearby chair and sent it flying close to the Asari's head. Samara's gaze snapped around and she nodded when Miranda signaled to retreat. Dropping to the floor, the powerful biotic released a shockwave through the floor, knocking almost everyone off their feet; Miranda fell from her booth, but managed to land on her feet.
Sprinting through the bar while everyone struggled to get up, she followed Tali's combat drone to the Quarian. Grabbing her by the hood, she jerked Tali to her feet and shoved her towards Samara, who had almost made it to the back door.
"Get rid of the mechs!" she shouted, blasting the first Krogan to stand back up.
"Got it!" Tali ducked behind Samara and started hacking while the biotic defended her.
A massive explosion shook the bar and Jack emerged from behind the counter, locked in a fistfight with a Turian twice her size.
Snarling under her breath, Miranda threw the Turian away; he screamed as he flew across the room. Whirling on Miranda, Jack was terrifying in her anger. "I had that under control!"
"I know that but we have to go NOW!" Miranda grabbed Jack's arm and yanked her along as she ran for the door. A stunner bolt hit less than an inch from her head and they ducked behind an overturned table. "Tali!" they both yelled as the bolts began to eat away at the table.
"Got it!" she called as the bolts stopped. "Let's go!"
Samara blasted open back door and vanished, Tali right behind her. Leaping to their feet, Miranda and Jack made it just as human C-Sec officers started pouring in the front door.
The four didn't stop running until they were two levels up and four blocks over. Out of breath, they sagged against the wall.
"This day just keeps getting better and better," Miranda said, gasping as she slid to the floor.
"At least the easy part is over," Jack said, leaning on the balcony railing. "Now all we have to do is find Shepard."