Chapter 20
They were on route to Omega to help Samara deal with the ardat yakshi. John walked into the med bay to find Jessica curled up sleeping after she wrapped herself in Joseph's arms. It had been two days and Joseph still hadn't regained consciousness fully and Ana had passed. Jessica didn't know anyone else on the ship so they often found her clinging to the father she never knew whenever she wasn't with Miranda. John picked her up and carried her to Miranda's room walking in to find Miranda at her desk.
"Commander what can I do for you" she asked looking up at him.
"She must have forgotten where to find you, I found her cuddled up to Joseph, he needs to rest" John said being careful not to wake the sleeping child.
"Of course commander, just lay her down, she'll be fine" Miranda said looking at the female version of the man she loved.
John laid her down walking back towards Miranda sitting across from her desk.
"Any idea why he chose you and not me" John asked taking a seat across from her.
"I have no idea Commander" she answered honestly "I've only ever dealt with one child and it wasn't for very long" she said.
"If you weren't the responsible adult I know you to be I'd be very offended" John said jokingly but very serious.
"I don't know Shepard maybe he thought it would be too much on you being that you are leading an assault on an evil alien race" Miranda explained attempting to make John feel better about Joseph's decision. She didn't know why he chose her so she couldn't explain it without guesses and assumptions.
"So Operative Lawson is going to be a mommy huh, maybe he thought it would be good practice" he asked smirking at her.
"Honestly commander I'd rather not discuss it until I've properly spoken to Joseph about it" she replied respectfully.
"I understand, you know you should be in the field as little as possible, I can't necessarily stop you from doing what you want but I'll direct you towards what's right" he said standing up.
"Understood commander" Miranda said looking back down at her terminal.
In the med bay Joe jumped out of the bed grabbing his head biotics flaring an abnormal color blue.
"Mr. Shepard I need you to relax" Chakwas said hitting the emergency button alerting Miranda and John of an emergency in the med bay.
When they arrived in the room they found Chakwas standing close to the door with Joe rocking back and forth in the corner of the room with his knees close to his chest still holding his head giving off a powerful blue biotic aura.
"Back up John, I can't control it" he said of the bright biotic aura he was giving off.
"Relax Joe, I'm gonna get Samara ok" John said walking out of the room to get Samara.
"Miranda, Miranda is that you" Joe said noticing the shadow that didn't move.
"Yes Joseph, I'm here" she said bending down a few feet from him noticing the blue biotic hew of his eye's, she had only seen such on powerful asari such as Samara and other matriarchs.
"That shock did something to me, I can't control my power" he said scooting back away from her in fear of hurting her.
Just then Samara walked in with John.
"Ms. Lawson step aside please" she said to Miranda while inspecting Joe.
"Mr. Shepard, I can make it stop, but it will be very painful" she told him.
"Do it" he said coldly.
She stood up channeling her energy before performing a reave, which left Joe screaming in pain as his flare died, leaving him on the floor breathing heavy. Miranda ran over wrapping her arms around him holding him tight as he did the same to her.
"Joseph I need to run some scans on your amp to make sure it hasn't malfunctioned" Chakwas said bringing up her scanner as Miranda helped him onto the bed.
"Where's my daughter" he asked Miranda as Chakwas scanned his body up and down.
"She's in our room sleeping" she told him as he began smiling at her, "What" she asked.
"You said our room" he answered with a grin.
"Oh shut up, ass" she said holding in a smile.
"Joseph your amp isn't fried amazingly, but this biotic power is cause for study maybe Samara could tell you more of how you came to possess it" she informed them.
"I do not know how you came to possess this power Shepard, I cannot help you" Samara said looking at Joe.
"How did you know the reave would make it stop" he asked her slowly regaining his breath.
"I did not, I took a chance, you have amazing power, I can feel it pulsing through me, be careful how you wield it, it can be a great power to protect or a dangerous weapon to destroy" Samara informed them feeling his power move through her enhancing her own biotic abilities.
"Is he stronger than you" John asked curiously.
"Yes he was...now we are evenly matched" Samara said before gracefully exiting the room.
"That's scary, how the hell are you more powerful than a matriarch" John said scratching his head.
"How the fuck would I know John, I wasn't born this way" he said not thinking noticing John shift uncomfortably."John I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way, it's not your fault ok" he said trying to make his brother feel better about the situation.
"I'm gonna go and see Joker" John said exiting the room with his head hung low.
"Shit" Joe said shaking his head as Miranda put a hand on his shoulder.
"He'll be fine Joseph, he knows you don't blame him for what happened" Miranda said reassuringly.
"Yeah I know"Joe said to Miranda "Am I gonna be ok doc" he asked Chakwas.
"Yes for the moment your going to be fine Joseph" she said giving him a smile.
"Thank you doctor, may I lie back down now" he said laying back in the bed.
"Very well Joseph, just relax and easy with the biotics for the time being" she said looking at him.
"Come on Joseph, my bed's more comfortable" Miranda said helping him out of the bed putting his arm around her shoulder.
"Can I go doc" he asked Chakwas.
"Sure Joe you can go, Dr. Lawson keep his vitals monitored and give him lots of fluids" she ordered Miranda.
"Yes Doctor." Miranda said as she and Joseph exited the room.
They walked into the room to find Jessica resting peacefully holding onto the teddy bear Joseph held for her. He walked over to her moving a strand of hair out of her face before readjusting the blanket Miranda had covered the child with.
"Thank you for taking care of her I know dealing with kids isn't exactly in your job description" he said walking over to Miranda wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Good practice, why did you send her to me and not John" she said wrapping her arms around his neck as he placed a hand on her stomach.
"John's busy, Ashley's enough of a distraction for him and I need her to learn to trust you" he answered looking into her eyes rubbing her stomach.
"Why would you want that" she said looking up into his eyes.
"Because I do" he said honestly leaning down kissing her lips.
"I love you Miri"
"I love you too Joey" she said as they kissed again. "Now lay down, get some rest ok" she said helping him to the bed.
They landed on Omega three days later after dropping Ashley off on Amaterasu to deal with her family. Given everything that transpired she and John agreed that staying with her would set the mission back. John didn't want her to go but he knew it was the right decision.
John stepped off the ship with Samara as they headed to Afterlife to speak with Aria about the ardat yakshi. She informed them that she had killed a young girl a few days ago. They headed to the girls apartment to look for clues and leads meeting the girls distraught mother who informed them that her daughter was hanging with an asari. Upon searching the girls room they found clues leading them to Afterlife's VIP section. They headed back to the ship to devise a plan of action.
Samara wanted either John or Joseph to go to the club to lure the ardat yakshi out as they both had the spark to attract her in different ways. Miranda put her foot down to a flat out no with Joseph so that left John to do the deed. He and Samara returned as John entered the club unarmed. John drew attention to himself by beating up a turian who was harassing an asari dancer, beating up a group of thugs pretending to act tough, and intimidating a krogan at the bar. Morinth the asari was drawn to him instantly inviting him over to her table where they talked about music , drugs, and travelling all the things Morinth liked. She invited John back to her apartment as Samara followed closely in the shadows. When they reached the apartment John began looking around for exits, escape routes, and traps. As he sat down Morinth began immediately trying to seduce him, but Shepard used his strong willpower to resist her as Samara stormed into the room and she and Morinth began to fight. It came down to a decision Shepard had to make, save Samara or save Morinth and replace Samara, John chose Samara as she probably saved his brother's life the other day. They arrived back onto the ship with John telling Joker to head for the Migrant Fleet so they could help Tali.
While on route to the Migrant Fleet they received an incoming call from TIM telling them about the derelict reaper they needed to investigate. John put it off until after Tali's trial as her position with the fleet meant more. With that he headed down to the crew deck to grab something to eat finding Joseph and Jessica sitting at one of the tables in the back talking and playing. He walked over to see what his family was up to.
"Hi uncle John" the young girl said smiling brightly. You wouldn't believe she just lost her mother as she was such a happy kid.
"Hey munchkin, what are you guys up to" John asked sitting next to his brother smiling.
"Daddy and I were making a lot of noise while Miranda was working so she asked daddy if we could play outside" the young girl informed John.
"Is that right Mean Miranda, scaring people of all sizes" John said as they all laughed.
"I think she's pretty though" Jessica said playing with her bear while Joseph got up to get some water.
"You want to know a secret, Miranda likes you and your dad a lot she just has a hard time showing her feelings to people, so try and be nice to Miranda ok" John finished as Joseph returned.
"Yes uncle John" she said making faces at her dad as he did the same to her.
John got up to get some food from Gardner ignoring Joseph's warning about Rolston getting sick from something Gardner prepared. John took his meal and headed back to the cabin.
They docked with the fleet, Tali was waiting by the airlock for Shepard who never showed up. She headed up to his cabin stepping in to find John on the bathroom floor shaking and vomiting. She called Joe and Miranda up immediately as they stepped in to examine the damage.
"I told you not to eat that shit Johnny, seasoned food poisoning" Joe said making fun of his brother.
"Screw you Joseph" John said head still bent over the toilet.
"Oh keelah, what am I going to do now, Shepard you have to leave the ship with me" Tali said panicking.
"I'm so sorry Tali, I can't make it, but I know somebody who can" John said looking at Joseph.
"Who me, John we look similar but we're not identical" Joe said trying to get out of it.
"You'll have a helmet on Joseph, no one will see your face" Miranda said getting on board with John's plan.
"I can't fit your armor and I'm two inches taller than you" Joe said.
"It adjusts to body height and weight" John answered back.
"Please Shepard, your my only hope please" Tali said on the verge of tears.
"Alright alright stop crying Tali, give me a few minutes to slip into Johnny's armor" Joe said beckoning Miranda over to John's armor closet.
"Help me put this on please Miri" Joe said putting the armor on. Once he was done he turned to John, Miranda, and Tali using his best impersonation of John's voice
"How do I look guys" Joe asked.
"Keelah, you look and sound just like him Tali said pointing to John,
"I'm Commander Shepard and I'm the biggest dumb ass on the citadel" Joe mocked snapping off a perfect salute "Shall we Tali" Joe said exiting the cabin with Tali and Miranda.
They stepped off the ship being greeted by Captain Kar' Danna. He informed them that the admirals were waiting. They met Tali's aunt Shala' Raan, Joe liked her immediately she seemed like a nice level headed lady. The trial started with the presiding admirals Daro'Xen, Zaal'Koris, and Han'Gerrel. Tali was accused of bringing active geth on board the fleet, Joe immediately brought out the fact that Tali helped save the citadel from Saren and the geth two years ago. Tali began explaining the true nature of what she did then Zaal'Koris informed them that geth seized the ship that Tali's father was on board. Joe immediately insisted on taking back the ship so the geth wouldn't harm the fleet.
They boarded The Alarei encountering heavy geth resistance finding answers to what happened along the way, Joe fought moved, and acted like John the whole way through knowing the Quarians would most likely review the footage on the ship. As they advanced further they found the dead body of Admiral Rael'Zorah, Joe pulled Tali into a hug as she began to bawl at the sight of her father. After calming her down they advanced up the stairs into the last room of the ship finding two geth hunters and a prime securing the perimeter. They killed the geth quickly walking over to the console with the evidence, it proved that Tali's father was responsible for what happened to the ship. Tali begged Joe not to present the evidence as they made their way back to the fleet.
When they made it back into the court room the admirals had already began the proceedings again. Joe and Tali stepped up as the board asked if they had any evidence to prove Tali's innocence. Tali begged Joe one last time to not present the evidence, looking at her eye's through her mask pleading with him on the verge of tears, Joe did the only thing he could do.
"Tali's achievements are the only evidence we need, come on Tali, we're leaving" Joe said as he and Tali began walking away.
"What" Shala said
"This is a formal hearing" Koris said outraged.
"This is bullshit and you all know it, your using this as a reason to show sympathy for the geth" Joe yelled pointing at Koris " Your using this to cover up your sick experiments on the geth because you want the war" he yelled pointing at Gerrel. "You wanna throw your fleet at the geth I don't give a damn, but leave my crew out of your political bullshit. Now you can either take Tali's word or you can exile the woman that saved the citadel from the geth and the crown jewel of your precious fleet and let's not forget your only hope of winning your dumb ass war if you do go through with it. You exile this woman I promise you you'll never see her again any of you" Joe finished arms crossed.
"Tali' Zorah in light of your history in service we have not found sufficient evidence to convict, you are cleared of all charges"Raan said. "Captain Shepard thank you for taking the time to represent one of our people" she added.
"With all due respect admiral, I didn't represent one of your people, I represented one of mine" Joe said meaning every word of it.
"I see commander, go in peace Tali'Zorah keelah se lai".
"Thank you Shepard for being there for me and my father" Tali said gratefully.
"Tali, what your father did was shitty, you deserved better than that" Joe said.
"I got better, I got you guys" she said looking at him.
"You ready to go" he asked as Kal'Reegar called them over.
"Hey Kal" Tali and Joe greeted.
"Where's the commander" he whispered.
"What do you mean I'm right here" Joe said dumbfounded.
"Not you the real one" he asked.
"How did you know" Joe asked chuckling softly.
"The real Shepard would never openly disrespect a higher ranking officer, even for a different army, but you do give an amazing impression of him" Kal informed.
"Food poisoning" Joe said still laughing at the thought.
"Well I'm glad you were able to prove your innocence without having to hand over that evidence" he said to them.
"I didn't say anything about finding any evidence" Tali said.
"I know maam" Kal said grinning behind his mask.
"Always a pleasure Reegar" Joe said shaking his hand " come on Tali' Zorah Vas Normandy, let's go home" he said walking back to the Normandy with Tali.
Back on board the ship everyone was preparing to console Tali over her being exiled. Needless to say they were shocked when Joe pulled it off. They were giving John a full debriefing in his cabin as he was still too sick to get out of bed much. He then told Joker to head for the derelict reaper.
Miranda was looking at Joe with lust filled eyes enjoying the sight of him in the armor. She grabbed his hand pulling him to the elevator heading for the cargo bay.
"HEY, DO NOT HAVE SEX IN MY ARMOR" John yelled at them both.
Miranda didn't waste anytime stripping Joe out of the armor on the way to the back of the cargo bay. He tore at her suit kicking off the last of the armor lifting her up as she slid down his hard piece. Thrusting hard and fast into her against a stack of crates.
"Mmmmmm god I missed you" Miranda moaned holding on tight, legs wrapped around his waist.
"Ahhhhh, I missed you too baby" Joe said slamming into her harder as she bit down on his shoulder to muffle her moans.
"Mmmmm let's try something different" she whispered in his ear as he slowed his thrusts.
"Mmmmm what do you have in mind" he asked kissing her ear. She climbed off of him turning around lining him up with her with her other entrance. "Don't hold back" she purred seductively as he slowly entered thrusting deep into her as she screamed out in pleasure
"Ohhhh fuck" Joe yelled out breathlessly.
"Mmmmmm, yesss" she moaned slapping her hand on the wall.
The sensation was almost too much for both of them as they reached their climax quickly. They held each other on the floor for a short while before getting dressed and heading back to Jessica.