Part 2, Chapter 2, Matron:

"It's done?"

"Yes," responded Miranda. She sipped her tea from an ornate china cup. Benezia had left her daughter a beautiful tea service. "We developed a lead on his location just before the attack on Earth. The Reaper invasion distracted us somewhat." She placed the empty cup on the saucer.

"So you found him," said Liara, "Where was he?"

"Posing as a refugee."

"Cheeky fucker," interjected Shepard.

Miranda smirked, "If he was truly impersonating a refugee we'd never have found him. It was Cerberus. He couldn't let go, not completely anyway. We tracked him down through his contact with the rest of the organization. He was a bit easier to keep track of," she nodded to Liara.

Shepard's eyebrow lifted by nearly three centimeters and she looked at Liara.

"The Shadow Broker was able to lend some intelligence support to Miranda's mission," Liara chimed in. "Before the war started, a number of Shadow Broker operatives filed reports that, when taken in composite, pointed to an individual who was the main intermediary between Cerberus as a whole and the Illusive Man." She paused, "At least the elements of Cerberus who didn't come over with you to the Alliance after the Collector Base mission."

Liara looked at her beloved's jaw-dropped expression. She smiled, "I wasn't holding out on you my love. Feron and the EDI clone processed these data a few days before the war started. The intermediary's field craft wasn't perfect, but it was very good. It took a while to see the pattern. I forwarded the information on the middle-man to Miranda. Then, I believe the human expression is: we were overtaken by events."

Miranda picked up the story. "He was running with a privateer group out in the Skyllian Verge, using the group's comings and goings as a cover for his courier activities. The plan was to infiltrate the organization and wait for him to make contact."

"Sounds risky, wouldn't the Illusive Man have put your face on a wanted poster or a milk carton after you parted company?" asked Shepard. Liara looked at her with a quizzical look, milk carton?

"It was a risk, yes," responded Miranda. She absentmindedly scratched at the stump of her left arm, missing above the elbow. She caught herself and recomposed, "It was a calculated risk though. Cerberus is built around individual cells. There is almost no communication between them. No one outside of my Lazarus Cell, or the crew of the SR-2, would know my face. Unless the Illusive Man had handed this guy a picture of me, he'd have no idea who I was. Same would go for Jack and Samara."

Liara spoke, "After the Collector Base mission she also stayed out of the," she paused, "lime-light is the expression?" Shepard winked at her and she blushed mildly. "Fortunately for her operational security, Miranda was able to allow others to draw all of the media attention."

"Yeah, I really took one for the team there," responded Shepard shaking her head.

"So, we joined the privateers and waited. It wasn't long before the war started. Our group ended up helping a small settlement that came under Reaper attack. Samara insisted," she smiled. "When the war ended," she tipped an invisible hat to Victoria, "we picked up where we left off." She leaned back and made a motion to interlock her fingers. She shook her head, "Still haven't gotten used to this. Glad the replacement will be ready soon."

"After the hiatus you just resumed your wait for him to make contact with the Illusive Man?" asked Liara.

"Basically. Fighting side by side cemented his trust in us. At least that's how it seemed. I should have seen it coming." She hung her head. "I had assumed that the courier hadn't tried to leave the privateer group during the war to maintain his cover. I think it was more sinister than that, he wanted to make sure we didn't lose him."

"He burned you," Liara said coldly. Shepard's eyebrows rose slightly. Liara can be a bit scary when she's 'talking shop'. "I was afraid that's what happened. The data I provided you with were very slim. I couldn't eliminate the possibility that it was a false flag operation."

Miranda shook her head, "We all knew the risks going in." She stared into space for a moment. "I'm the only one who survived. That's the bad news."

"What happened," Shepard asked flatly. Liara looked at her mate, her face was slack. She also stared far away. Where do you go Victoria?

"He was waiting for us, plain and simple," Miranda responded flatly. "He set a trap, and we walked right into it." She looked down at her stump of an arm, "Samara caught the most of it. She shielded me almost completely from the explosion, almost. Jack managed to get a barrier up quickly enough. She died with her hands around the Illusive Man's throat. He was packing a concealed shotgun."

Miranda spoke mechanically, staring straight ahead. Shepard stared straight ahead as well. Liara was growing concerned. "He would have killed me too, I was just fast enough." She closed her eyes, "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"That's fine Miranda," Shepard said coldly, "Just so long as the Illusive Man is gone."

"He's not gone," Liara spoke up. Miranda and Shepard both snapped their gazes to the Asari. She smiled wolfishly, "You're looking at him."

Shepard looked confused, and not a little alarmed at her wife's facial expression. Miranda smiled conspiratorially, "How did you know?"

"I monitored a noticeable donation to the Ascension Project two months ago. Shortly thereafter, the Ardat-Yakshi retreat also received a sizeable gift. You should be more subtle," Liara said in admonishment, "If I noticed, someone else could; unless, of course, you wanted to be noticed."

Miranda winked.

Liara shook her head. You could have made contact without breaking security, she thought. "Additionally," she went on, "I haven't monitored any appreciable change in signals traffic amongst the Cerberus cells I'm aware of. I assume you've been spending these last few months securing your position? The fact that you're visiting us means you've finally succeeded." Liara looked at her wife, she looked impressed.

Miranda just smiled. "And that's the good news. Also, so you can be sure I'm telling the truth and I'm not just playing double agent, you should be getting a message from the Hagalaz base any moment now." Liara looked visibly affronted. "Don't take it personally Liara. I knew you'd need proof, it's only prudent. I didn't want to bring it into your house."

As if on cue Liara's omni-tool chimed. She looked at it and read a short message from Feron. Illusive Man corpse arrived. Looks authentic. Will advise. Liara looked at Miranda and Shepard and nodded. She leaned back. This has potential. She didn't think of herself as overly plotting and manipulative. Though, as an Asari, she tended to take the long view. "So, is the Illusive Man a friend of the Shadow Broker or not?" All eyes looked to Liara. "Or, perhaps the more important question is, is the Illusive Man a friend to Victoria Shepard?"

Shepard shifted slightly in her chair.

Miranda reached into the parcel. "Cerberus continues its mission to promote human interests. But, as Shepard has proven, those are most often the same interests as galactic civilization. I'll never do anything that could possibly harm you three." She handed two small paper-wrapped items to Liara. "One of these gifts was mine when I was a child. The other," she paused, "I think Samara would have wanted it this way. Please give it to her when she's old enough."

She stood to leave. She met Shepard's gaze. Shepard was obviously stunned. Miranda winked, "Mazel tov! I'll be in touch," and she was gone.

Liara didn't speak. How did she know? Deep down she didn't doubt what Miranda said, she was a friend and would never do anything that could harm them. In fact, the possibilities for joint Shadow Broker – Cerberus operations were tantalizing. She'd have to think on that some more.

Shepard opened one of the paper-wrapped items; her eyes became shiny with tears. This cannot be good. Shepard expends huge amounts of effort to not show negative emotions in my presence, thought Liara. She looked into Shepard's hands. It was Samara's gold gorget. The front half of it was singed black. Shepard squeezed her eyes shut tightly, tears seeped out regardless.

Liara placed a hand gently on her beloved's shoulder. She settled. Looking down at the other item she unfolded the paper gingerly. What is this? She held up what looked like a very small red jump-suit made of a felt-like material. There were small rubber soled booties at the bottoms of the tiny legs.

She heard a strange sniffling noise and looked up. Shepard was laughing through her tears. At least she's smiling, thought Liara.