Serena slammed back against the exercise mat. She groaned in pain as she sat up. They had been going at this for hours.
"Again," Miranda said, cocking her hip to one side as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Serena cursed under her breath. "Miranda, I am not a biotic. What the hell were you thinking when you implanted me with the L5's?"
"The Illusive Man was adamant that we bring you back exactly as you were," Miranda replied. "I chose to improve your performance on the battlefield by adding the L5 implant."
"What else did you 'add' on to me while I was out?" Serena hissed.
Miranda rolled her eyes. "Just the implant," she replied.
"Yeah. Right." Serena muttered under her breath as she finally picked herself up from the mat.
"Shepard, I don't have to be here teaching you how to use your biotics," Miranda retorted.
Serena gave her a harsh laugh. "Don't tell me you're doing this out of the kindness of your heart?"
Miranda glared at her. "The Illusive Man requested that I teach you, and that's the only reason I'm here. Trust me, if I had been in total control over you, you would have a control chip in your head, and I would definitely not be wasting my time down in the cargo hold with you." She uncrossed her arms and took a few steps back until there was a considerable gap between them. "Now, try the charge again."
Serena took a deep breath and allowed her anger to flow into her newfound biotics. She could feel the energy rising from her skin, and her body became enveloped in a blue corona. She gave in to the energy and felt herself zap forward, stopping when she was only inches away from Miranda's face.
Serena couldn't help but smile. That felt incredible! She had finally gotten control of her biotics and had executed the charge perfectly.
"That was awesome!" she exclaimed, moving away from Miranda. "This must be what Kai – um…what biotics feel like."
Serena turned her back to Miranda, not wishing for the Cerberus operative to guess what she was thinking. She had been disappointed when the Illusive Man had told her that Kaidan wasn't available for this mission against the Collectors. She had maintained only a feigned interest in Kaidan's whereabouts, but her heart begged for more information. What was he doing? Did he know that she was alive?
Miranda cleared her throat behind her. "You still need to practice that charge. Just because you got it once, doesn't mean you're an expert at it. We'll continue the practice tomorrow."
Serena didn't need to be told twice. She grabbed a towel and a bottle of water and headed up to the bridge.
She was still getting used to this "new" life. Her biotics, the new Normandy, a freakishly cheerful secretary. And an AI, she mused walking up to Joker's chair and seeing the blue orb next to him.
"Commander," Joker said in greeting, turning his chair around.
"How're things up here?" she asked, taking a swig of water.
"We're just having an argument over personalization of my workspace," Joker answered.
"Cerberus regulations are clear, Mr. Moreau," EDI replied. "Personalization does not include grease on my bridge cameras."
"It's just mad that all it's footage of me looks like a dream sequence," Joker laughed.
Serena smiled. When she had met Joker back on the Cerberus station, she could not contain her joy at seeing him. She had run up to him and almost crushed him with her hug. He was the only one she trusted and having him at her side made working with Cerberus tolerable.
"How long until we reach Omega?" she asked wiping away the sweat from her brow with the towel.
Joker turned his chair and punched some buttons on his console. "ETA, four hours and 12 minutes," he replied.
Serena nodded. "Great. That'll give me time to take a quick shower and go over the dossiers again. Let me know when we're half an hour out."
It was like the hunt for Saren. Except this time, the team she had to assemble were scattered all over the place. Omega had been closer to their location, and since two of the team members were there, she had wasted no time in setting a course to the infamous station.
Her next stop would be the Citadel. She was looking forward to having a long talk with Anderson and, hopefully, finally finding out where Kaidan was.
She unconsciously raised a hand to her neck. The necklace Kaidan had given her for her birthday two years before still hung around her neck. The leather strap and metal medallion with the image of the sun had survived along with her, and it was something she cherished above all else.
She might not have Kaidan by her side, but she would always have him in her heart.
Kaidan sat in Councilor Anderson's office poring over the datapad in front of him. He looked up as Anderson placed a cup of coffee in front of him.
"Do you think the rumors are true?" he asked Anderson. "Do you really think she's alive and working for Cerberus?" He tried to keep his voice steady lest it betray how he really felt. He still had trouble believing that Serena might be alive let alone working for Cerberus.
Anderson shrugged. "They're just rumors. You can't read too much into them."
Kaidan took a sip of coffee. "But something is telling you that there might be some truth behind them."
Anderson hesitated slightly before slowly nodding. "We know the kind of sick things that Cerberus is capable of. We received a tip that they might be behind the abduction of the colonies in the Terminus Systems."
Kaidan picked up the datapad in front of him. "And Horizon?"
"The only way to find out for sure that Cerberus is behind the abductions is to send someone to investigate," Anderson began to explain.
"And that's where I come in," Kaidan supplied putting his cup down.
Anderson nodded again. "Yes. You will be dispatched to Horizon to install defense towers around the colony. We'll kill two birds with one stone. The towers will help defend the colony, and we'll find out who is responsible for the abductions."
"How do we know Horizon will even be attacked at all?" Kaidan asked.
"We don't," Anderson answered. "But our intel has picked up some coded communication channels that point to Horizon as a very possible location." He paused briefly before continuing. "I've got to be honest with you, Kaidan. I don't know if Horizon will be hit right now, in a few months, or if it'll even be hit at all. But after Freedom's Progress, we can't afford to ignore these tipoffs."
Kaidan nodded in agreement. "You're right. I'll go grab my gear and take the first shuttle out."
He stood up to go but stopped when Anderson placed a hand on his shoulder.
"We don't know if the rumors about Shepard are true," Anderson said. "But you can't let that get to you, son. Stop thinking about that message you received. Focus on Cerberus and Horizon, nothing else."
Kaidan merely nodded and left the office. His mind was not on the mission as Anderson had suggested, but rather on Serena. As much as he tried to get her out of his mind, she always managed to sneak her way back in. If her name wasn't on the news about a new memorial being built for her, it was something stupid like the VI that ended up erasing his entire computer's memory.
Maybe this trip to Horizon would finally get her out of his mind. He needed a change of scenery. The colony was far away as to not hear Serena's name every five minutes and the installation of the defense towers would certainly keep him busy.
He got to his apartment and quickly began gathering his gear. He grabbed his helmet and paused briefly as he looked inside it.
A week after the Battle of the Citadel, he and Serena had taken a few days' shore leave together. They had traveled to a small tropical island on Earth where they had enjoyed the peace, quiet…and each other. He had woken up one morning to find Serena outside on the balcony watching the sunrise. He had gotten his camera and called out to her. When she turned around, he caught her image with the sun rising in the background.
It was a picture he carried with him everywhere he went. Everything else he owned had been destroyed in the Normandy, but this picture had remained inside the back of his helmet where he had always kept it.
He made a movement to remove the picture and then stopped himself. He wasn't ready yet.
He might be trying to get her out of his mind, but he would never be able to get her out of his heart.