Serena hesitated outside Miranda's door. She had prolonged this visit long enough, what were a few more minutes? She had made the time to visit with all the members of the SR-2. The crew members, the growing squad…she had talked to them all. Well, everyone except Miranda.

What with the constant biotic training she had to endure from the Cerberus operative and the continuous recruiting missions, the last thing Serena wanted to do at the end of the day was see Miranda yet again. And, quite frankly, she got on Serena's nerves.

But she had to at least make an effort to be civil. The woman did spend the better part of two years bringing her back to life. In an odd sort of way, she owed Miranda her life.

And it's not like they had to be best friends or something. Miranda was a constant in Serena's squad – something Serena suspected had to do more with Miranda keeping an eye on her than anything else. She couldn't deny the woman had great skills and biotics. Not as strong as Kaidan, but enough to get them out of a jam when need be. If the woman was going to be with her on all her missions, the least Serena could do was to learn a little bit about her.

Finally making up her mind to go through with it, she was about to lift up her hand to open the door when the door actually swooshed open on its own. Miranda stood in front of her, arms crossed over her chest and her hips cocked to one side.

"EDI tells me you've been pacing outside my room for ten minutes," Miranda said, eyes looking at her suspiciously. "Something you need, Commander?"

"I…" Serena paused. Well, this was awkward. "I just came to talk."

Miranda raised an eyebrow but stepped to the side to allow Serena to go in. Miranda moved to sit behind her desk while Serena chose the seat in front.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions about Cerberus and Project Lazarus," Miranda commented getting back to her work on the computer terminal.

"Yes, I do," Serena conceded. "But, I actually came to talk about you."

"Me?" Miranda looked up.

Serena could tell she had just caught her by surprise. "Yes, I want to know more about you."

Miranda pushed back from her desk but remained in her seat. "I guess it's only fair since I know so much about you."

Serena wanted to ask her exactly how much she knew but decided to stay quiet. Making angry retorts was the opposite of what she came here to do. Miranda finally stood up and began pacing the room as she told Serena about her father and how she was genetically modified to be perfect. She went on to explain how she escaped to Cerberus for protection.

Serena couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for Miranda. Just a little. "You talk about yourself like you're just a…a tool to be used – by your father, by Cerberus."

"Maybe," Miranda acknowledged, moving to sit behind her desk again. "I like to know where I fit in the world. It helps me find meaning in how I was created."

Serena shook her head at Miranda's thinking. "You are who you are, Miranda. You don't need to make excuses for it. Your spirit and your personality…" As bitchy as it is. "…are what make you, well, you."

"That's easy for you to say." Miranda leaned forward, moving her terminal screen aside. "We've both been engineered for greatness, Shepard. The difference is, you were great before we rebuilt you. I'm great because of it."

Did she…did Miranda just give her a compliment? Serena didn't know what to say. Miranda had never been nice to her. Ever. And now here she was making a halfhearted attempt at a compliment. Maybe she did have a heart after all. Before Serena had a chance to reply, her comm beeped and Joker's voice filled the room.

"Commander, we will be approaching Korlus in 30 minutes."

"Thanks, Joker," Serena called out. Turning to Miranda she said, "Thanks for the talk. I'll meet you down in the shuttle bay in 10 minutes."

Miranda merely nodded as Serena made her way out of the room and up to the main battery. She banged on the door and smiled when Garrus opened it.

"Grab your gear. Time to get us a krogan."

Kaidan sat in front of his computer terminal trying to figure out what was wrong with the defense towers. Schematics of the towers filled out datapads that were strewn about on his desk. He was so engrossed in his work, he almost failed to notice the ping on his terminal that was notifying him of a new e-mail message.

He let out a frustrated sigh, annoyed at the interruption. It was probably Anderson just confirming that he had received Kaidan's report on the defense towers. He ignored it and continued to pore over the data in front of him.

What the hell was wrong with those towers? He had half a mind to just go out there, dismantle them, and start from scratch. The towers had already been installed by the time he had arrived on Horizon. It had been up to him to actually get them to work.

He ran a hand through his hair. He was starting to feel the familiar dull pain starting to form behind his eyes and around his temples. He had been going at this for hours; he needed a break before his headache turned into a migraine.

He stood up to take his migraine medication when his terminal pinged again. Kaidan groaned out loud. The last thing he wanted was for Anderson to be asking him about the useless defense towers. He had mentioned in his report that they were not functioning, but he couldn't tell the Alliance why until he had figured it out himself.

And, as for Cerberus, Kaidan still hadn't found any connection between the terrorist group and the colony of Horizon. As far as he knew, the colony had no ties to the rogue organization. But then again, Cerberus could just be picking out colonies randomly. It never hurt to be prepared. And that's why he needed to those damn defense towers to work.

He opted to take a shower before settling down to read the new messages. Maybe the warm water would help ease the pain that was already forming around his head. He stripped off his shirt, walking around in just sweatpants as he picked up a towel and headed to the bathroom. With the sweatpants quickly discarded, he stepped into the shower and turned on the water.

He let the warm water try to erase his thoughts. The dreams of Serena, the problem with the towers, the rumors of Cerberus…he pretended that they were all just running from the top of his head all the way down into the drain with the water. He finished rinsing and reluctantly made his way back to his room with a towel wrapped around his waist.

He took one look at the computer terminal and decided he had had enough for one day. He would check his messages tomorrow. He was exhausted and knew he needed some sleep. Hopefully, this time, there would be no dreams.

Serena sat cross legged in front of the baby krogan's tank still trying to decide what to do with it. She leaned back, stretching out her legs in front of her as she stared at the creature. He looked oddly cute. Like a baby in the womb.

That's it. She was going to do it. She needed to see for herself the gift that Okeer had so graciously passed on to her. She stood up and was about to call out to EDI when Kelly's voice rang over her comm.

"Commander, the Illusive Man wants to speak with you in the briefing room."

Serena sighed. "I'll be right up, Kelly."

She stepped up to the tank's glass window. "Looks like you're going to have to wait a bit longer to be born." And with that, she headed out of the room.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Serena had to take a few minutes to regain her composure out in the hallway between the briefing room, the lab and the armory. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she fought to control it with a few deep breaths. She didn't want the Illusive Man to know how much his news had affected her. She had waited patiently while she heard him out and tried to reply in the most noncommittal way possible. Inside, however, her heart had started accelerating at an abnormal rate and it was all she could do to keep her hands from clenching into fists.

She had to tell Joker. She couldn't say it over the comm for fear that someone would hear the tremble in her voice. She took another deep breath before setting her "Commander" mask back over her face. She walked hurriedly through the armory, throwing a quick nod in Jacob's direction. In the CIC, Kelly tried to get her attention.

"Commander, how did your meeting – "

But Serena rushed right past her, just waving a hand to let Kelly know she didn't want to be bothered. Here steps quickened as she practically raced up the catwalk.

"We need to get to Horizon," she told Joker breathlessly.

"Commander, why – "

"Kaidan." It was all she could say at the moment. Her mind was still processing the information that the Illusive Man had given her.

Joker gave her a look of understanding before turning around to his console and punching in the coordinates. She sat down to his right, forcing herself to calm down before meeting with Mordin. Finally, finally she knew where Kaidan was. But she needed to get there before the Collectors. She wasn't going to let them take him away.

Kaidan glanced at the schematics one last time. He was sure he had finally figured out what was wrong with the towers.

He put on his armor, just like he always did whenever he went out. He strapped the pistol to his side and the assault rifle on his back. There still hadn't been a need to use them, but he figured it was better to be safe than sorry. The colonies that had disappeared had been seemingly attacked without warning. In all of the surveillance photos, it was a common site to see half eaten dinner plates still on the table.

He made his way out the door. The defense towers were on the other side of the colony and, while he didn't mind the walking, it was the heat that always got on his nerves. He almost wished he could just go back and don some civvies. He hated sweating in the armor.

He was halfway to his destination when he noticed Lilith walking up to him. It had been a few days since he had last seen her.

"Hi, Kaidan!" she replied cheerfully. "Mind if I walk with you."

He actually didn't mind. The sun was starting to creep its way over the colony but Kaidan was actually in a good mood.

"Not at all. I'm just on my way to the towers. I think I finally figured out why the defense towers aren't working."

Lilith beamed at him. "I knew you would figure it out!"

As they walked, she filled him in on what she had been doing for the past few days. Kaidan tried to pay attention as they dodged residents going this way and that. He swore he could hear a faint buzzing sound, and he was trying to pinpoint where it was coming from. Something flew in front of them making both of them stop.

"What is that?" Lilith asked staring at the creature that had disappeared into a tree. The noise grew louder.

Kaidan reached back for his assault rifle and looked through the scope. Holy shit. What the hell was that thing?

"Get everyone to the safehouse," he told Lilith as calmly as he could, still looking into the scope. By now, more residents had stopped to see what was making so much noise. He didn't want everyone to start panicking.

A swarm of flying creatures filled the sky. Behind them a large ship loomed into view. Kaidan's heart dropped to his stomach. For the first time since he had arrived on Horizon, he was actually glad that he had put on his armor.

AN: And now on to the horror of Horizon…