A/N: Well, okay, it took some time and I'm affraid that this chapter is kinda short but I can promise that the next one will be longer. I was trying to focus on Shepard's and Miranda's thoughts instead of action and I hope that you don't mind.

A huge THANK YOU towards Jay who got headache while beta-reading this chapter! Again, Jay, sorry for my not-making-any-sense sentences xD

AND thank you for the reviews! I really, really appeciate your support!

I think that's all I have to say. Again, almost everything is Bioware's, I'm just having a bit of fun ;) Enjoy!

For a few long minutes she just sat in the shuttle. It was difficult to decide whether she should go down there and face the past or maybe just go back to the Normandy and act like nothing had happened. Miranda's silence and her previous cold voice didn't help at all. She really didn't want to make her XO angry, but neither did she want to be seen by anyone. She hated the thought that someone could see her weakness, her doubts, her hesitation. Especially Miranda. Drumming her fingers on the chair, she thought about how life would be like if there hadn't been the crash two years ago. No doubt she would still be in the Alliance fighting against Cerberus as it used to be. No one would have spent a fortune to resurrect her and she would still be facing the geth instead of the real threat – the Collectors. The Lazarus Project would have never started and… she wouldn't have met Miranda. What a paradox, she had needed to die to meet the only person who was acting like none of Shepard's achievements, titles, or her reputation even mattered. Of all people, Miranda Lawson was the only one who didn't treat her like a hero right from the beginning. To be honest, she had never met such an impudent person. Normally she would have punished her for such behaviour long ago, but Shepard just couldn't do it. Maybe it was crazy, but she enjoyed the moments when Miranda was furious and started doubting her Commander's intelligence. Sometimes Shepard would act childish, just to see her reaction and be told that she should be locked in a room without handles. But teasing her XO wasn't her favourite occupation. There had been a night which had completely changed her opinion about Miss Lawson. Shepard had been drunk that night, and she had felt the urge to burst into her XO's cabin – she still didn't remember at all why she had had such an idea, but oh well – and there had been something which made her freeze right when she passed the threshold. There'd been a smile on Miranda's face. Simple, honest and simply a wonderful smile. After that night, Shepard started sneaking into Lawson's cabin in the middle of the night – especially when she couldn't sleep – just to sit on the couch and look at the beautiful woman. During the day, there were only a few emotions that could be seen on Miranda's face; annoyance, boredom, dissatisfaction. But when she was sleeping, there were all the feelings in the world, from happiness to sadness. Shepard found looking at her features, which were changing depending on the dream, fascinating. Those night escapades helped her believe that Miranda was still a human, not a cyborg programmed to carry out commands.

"Shepard, if you don't move, we'll still be here after the planet's made a full turn."

Miranda's annoyed voice shook her out of her reflection. She smiled sadly, listening to the words echoing in her head. Miranda had an extremely gorgeous voice. Shepard could just sit and listen to whatever she was saying for hours. She loved that Australian accent and regretted that most of the time it brought coldness. There had been one, only one situation when that voice had changed under the influence of emotions. It had been when they were rescuing Oriana. Shepard had been bewitched then.

"I had to prepare mentally", she said finally, almost feeling Miranda's impatience.

Shepard got up from her chair and put all thoughts aside. She slowly approached the doors and stopped right in from of them. She didn't know if she still wanted to see that wreck. She was afraid that is was beyond her strength. After all it's not common to see the place of your own death. To cheer herself up, she evoked one memory; the one in which Miranda had an impish smile on her face. Shepard felt a smile appearing on her own face. She spent a lot of hours wondering what Lawson could have been dreaming of then. Of course she couldn't just go and ask, even if it was bothering her.

"Shepard, if you want to open the doors, you should use this big, red button to your left. They won't open if you just look at them."

"I know", she muttered. Every single being had its virtues and vices. Miranda was no exception. While irritated she was really... well, irritating. "I'm not stupid."

"So you keep saying."

Shepard froze with her hand on the button. Her jaw dropped in surprise, but she clenched her teeth in a flash. She felt her fingers bending of their own accord, forming fists.

"What does that mean?!"

"Apart from the fact that your brilliant ideas were on a retarded krogan level?"

She refrained from hitting the wall with her fist. Not even bothering to answer she pushed the button with enough force to press it down into the wall. The door opened with a hiss deafening Miranda's quiet laugh.

She smirked. Even an idiot would notice that Shepard, of all people, was getting irritated extremely quickly. When someone dared doubting her abilities, angry sparkles appeared in her green eyes. Miranda noticed that completely by accident. Before they had even left the Cerberus' base together, Shepard had already driven her mad. No matter how much she tried, she answered arrogantly every single time. The people accompanying them had looked at Miranda with fear in their eyes, but Shepard had just started arguing with her, and after each and every stinging remark, the Commander had become more and more annoyed. Miranda had to admit that she had derived pleasure from that argument. And she was surprised to find out that almost no one else dared teasing Shepard.

She grew serious again when she heard the wind's howl and Shepard's heavy sigh. The anger was back and Miranda narrowed her eyes, trying to focus on the screens in front of her. She knew she had to concentrate to notice every single change in a flash. However, deep down inside, she wanted to be with Shepard right now, to be able to have an eye on her and even comfort her if that was what she needed.

A/N: Did I mention how I loooove reading reviews? ^^