Liara T'Soni reached a weary hand up to her chin and wiped away the vomit as she fell back on to her butt and groaned. Something was wrong, she had never been this sick before and Liara had read enough books about pregnancy to know what it meant. "Goddess." she cried as she felt another hard kick.
The Broker shakily got to her feet and stumbled out of the stall and towards the sink. She glanced at her reflection in the bathroom mirror and cringed. She looked terrible, her blue skin was discolored and her exhaustion was evident in her tired eyes.
Liara jumped when the bathroom door opened and she half expected Jack to come in but was surprised to find Rahna standing in the door frame. "Oh god." She said before rushing to her side. "Are you alright..." She struggled to recall the asari's name before she found it. "Doctor T'Soni?"
"Fine." Liara lied. "Well...perhaps not." she admitted.
Rahna had come in to the ladies room to freshen up after she and Kaidan had started to really hit it off but it was clear that his asari friend was in dire need of some assistance. "Let me help you." she offered her hand and Liara took it.
"You're too kind." Liara wasn't letting the way she felt get in the way of being polite to the dark skinned woman. "I need to find Shepard."
"Shepard?"
"My bondmate." Liara clarified.
"Okay. Let me take you back to Kaidan and I'll find them for you. What does your bondmate look like?" Rahna asked.
"She's Commander Shepard."
Rahna's eyes widened. "Wow. Really?"
"Really." T'Soni repeated.
Rahna didn't stop to appreciate the fact that she was helping Commander Shepard's pregnant wife and helped the asari through the crowd and back to Kaidan's table. Alenko shot to his feet when he saw Liara and ran to help Rahna get her into a seat. "Oh my god. Liara, are you alright?" Kaidan cried.
Asari pregnancy was different than human pregnancy in that the period before the asari goes into labor can sometimes be riddled with severe nausea and pain which Liara certainly had covered. However this period could last anywhere from a few hours leading up to birth or a few days, there was nothing to suggest her baby was coming immediately. Remembering that fact calmed Liara down some as Rahna and Kaidan helped her into a seat. "I'll be alright, Kaidan. I just need Shepard."
"Of course. Rahna, stay with her and I'll go get the Commander." Kaidan ordered and ran off into the crowd.
Liara smiled wryly at Rahna. "You two seem to be getting along well."
"Yeah we are. It's funny I haven't seen Kaidan in 20 years but it feels like no time has passed at all."
"Kaidan is a good man." Liara said.
"You wouldn't happen to know if he's...single?" Rahna asked.
Liara smiled despite her condition. "He is."
Jack and Miranda made their way up the stairs to the convention center's unoccupied second floor. Jack lead her to where she had followed Victor to the projection booth. Once they were at the top of the stairs Jack stopped and turned. "Miranda..."
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry."
"For what?" Miranda asked.
"I shouldn't have thought you were screwing around behind my back."
"If you hadn't I'd be dead. So I'm not complaining."
"I freaked out when I saw you two and I thought...I don't know what the fuck I was thinking. I want you to know I trust you."
Miranda took her hand. "I know you do."
"It's just...shit like that is hard for me. And I...I don't know what I'd do without you. So we good?"
Miranda planted a quick kiss on Jack's plump lips. "Better than."she said. "So why don't you show me where this man went."
Jack nodded and grabbed Miranda's hand as she lead her past the big glass wall that she had spotted Shaw and Lawson through earlier and towards the projection room's locked door. "He went in here." Jack told her.
Miranda inspected the door's red display. "Shouldn't be too hard to crack. But in case he went somewhere else upstairs why don't you search the rest of the floor while I work on unlocking this."
"Okay." Jack turned to go but Miranda caught her.
"Be careful." Miranda said.
"When am I not?" Jack said with a sly grin and left her lover alone to work on the door.
Jill Woodcomb peered through her scope at the people below. She couldn't believe Victor wanted to retire, to leave this life behind and settle down. She was tired of all this, tired of taking lives. Jill didn't try to deny that she wasn't the best woman. She'd killed so many people she'd lost count without any shred of remorse in her younger days. But those days were long over. She didn't let Victor see it but she no longer ended jobs as care free as she used to.
Recently she'd found herself thinking back to those days. When she and Victor were nothing but instruments of the Illusive Man and loyal servants of Cerberus. Back when the organization actually stood for the benefit of humanity. She had known Victor before even then. The two had been inseparable ever since they were 14 years old and had met back on Earth. She'd always loved him, and he had always looked out for her. It was him that got them into Cerberus and it was him who got them out. Everything she did, she did with Victor.
A smile spread across her lips as she scanned the crowd for her target. Just one old Admiral was all that stood between her and the life she had always dreamed of having with the man she loved. But they were running out of time. Ereyla had only given them two hours to finish the hit and that time was quickly winding down. She didn't want to find out what would really happen if they failed. She saw the way Shaw had looked at her, she knew the asari was bad news. And she'd be damned if she was going to let anything happen to Victor.
Miranda was diligently working away on her omni-tool as she tried to overpass the lock on the door. It should have taken her no more than a few seconds but she was surprised to find an extra layer of security had been added to the lock. Someone went through a lot of trouble to keep it closed and that couldn't be good. Her mind went reeling with the possibilities. The ball was full of some of the most powerful people in the navy and a building full of powerful people meant a building full of potential targets.
But it was hard to focus on that when her mind kept going to Jack. For a second Miranda moved one hand away from her tool and placed it over the ring in her pocket. Then suddenly her omni-tool finished decrypting the lock and the display turned green. Miranda closed her tool and looked around. Jack wasn't in sight so she reached a hand out to the door and opened it up completely unprepared for what she was about to find behind it.
A woman. She was crouched down with her back to Miranda while she looked through the scope of a rifle she had set up on the edge of the projector's window giving her a good view of the party below. She had short dark hair and a slim frame that was covered by a set of regular street clothes. Jill Woodcomb turned around when she heard the door open expecting to find Victor again but her eyes widened when she saw a tall, dark haired, beautiful woman wearing a skin tight white catsuit. A woman she recognized. "Well well small fucking galaxy. Of all the people from my days at Cerberus I have to admit I never thought I'd be seeing your ass again, Miranda."
"Jill Woodcomb." Miranda replied coldly. It was a wicked surprise to find her of all people here however she wasn't surprised to see she had survived Cerberus and the Reapers. Jill always was smart.
"In the flesh." Jill jumped to her feet and the two began to circle around the room with their eyes glued to eachother. "How long has it been, sweetie?"
"Not long enough." Miranda spat.
Jill smirked. "Oh come on Lawson. We had some good times working together. I thought we were friends."
Miranda chuckled. "Please." she growled. "What the hell are you doing here, Jill?"
"Electrical work."
"I'm not in the mood for your games."
"You go first. Tell me what brings the Illusive Man's prized whore to an Alliance shindig like this?"Jill asked.
"I'm in the Alliance now."
Jill laughed, she summoned her biotics and Miranda did as well and both women glowed blue as they circled around the room like two predatory animals. "No kidding. So old man Illusive's number one gal jumped ship and went blue? Not exactly your style Lawson. I always thought you were right by the old man's side when Cerberus bit the dust."
"You never did know me very well." Miranda said.
"Oh you're not nearly as hard to figure out as you think. You were never much more than a smug bitch in a skimpy outfit."
"I remember now why I hated your guts."
"Oh hell, you never liked anyone. You did always loved that ice queen act of yours. I guess some things never change."
"What are you doing here? I'm not going to ask you again." Miranda demanded her biotics flaring up a little more.
"What the hell do you think I'm doing here?"
"Who's your target?"
"Why you want in?" Jill teased. "It'll be just like old times."
"Don't make me kill you, Jill."
The assassin smirked. "Oh I'd love to see you try, darling."
"If you're here Victor must not be far away."
"Who?" Jill chuckled.
"Give this up and tell me where he is."
"Between you and me this job ain't worth it. I would love nothing more than to say the hell with the whole thing but I don't exactly have a choice."
"What do you mean?"
"We stepped in some serious shit. And now we either do this job or die."
"I can help you." Miranda promised.
"Don't take this personally, Miranda. But I really don't trust you. Just turn around and forget you saw me."
"That isn't going to happen."
"God damn it. Then I have to kill you." Jill said as she threw the first attack, a strong biotic blast that Miranda deflected with her own powers.
Lawson responded with an even more powerful blast that Jill dodged with a quick roll. Before Miranda could follow up Jill launched a biotic charge at Miranda and they both went crashing out into the hallway outside. Miranda was thrown to the ground with such force it knocked her dizzy. Jill jumped into the air and prepared to bring a charged fist down on to her face before Miranda blasted her back.
Jill soared through the air and smashed down to the ground before skidding to a stop. She scrambled back to her feet at the same time as Miranda and they stared each-other down. "You've gotten slower." Jill said.
"We don't have to do this."
"No, Miranda. I really do. But I'm not gonna pretend like i'm not enjoying it." Jill said before drawing the pistol in her belt and taking aim at Lawson. But Miranda was quick, she tossed a warp at the vanguard and tackled the stunned woman to the ground causing her gun to be flung away from the struggle and land on the ground a few feet away from them.
Miranda rolled over on top of Jill and punched her in the nose with such force it broke. Blood poured down Jill's face as she kicked Lawson off her with both legs. "Fucking bitch!" Jill shouted. "You broke my goddamn nose!"
Miranda stumbled back to her feet. "I guess I'm not so slow after all."
Jill ran at her and she ducked under the punch Miranda threw at her and delivered her own punch to her stomach causing Miranda to lurch forward into the force of Jill's blow. Jill wrapped her arm around Miranda's neck and lifted her off the ground before throwing her down to the floor on her back. Miranda kicked up into her gut and jumped back up before throwing a series of punches at the assassin. Jill caught her fist and slapped Lawson with the back of her hand. Miranda returned to the floor but this time Jill didn't show any mercy she stomped on Miranda's back and kicked her ribs.
Miranda wheezed in air as Jill grabbed her by the hair and yanked her off the ground. She threw one last hard punch to Miranda's face before throwing her back on the floor.
"You've changed Lawson. And I'm not sure I like the new you. What happened to the woman I used to know? She might have actually been able to put up a decent fight."
Miranda wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and looked up at the woman who stood above her. "Well I have something that woman never had."
Jill unsheathed her knife in preparation for slitting Miranda's throat. "And what's that?"
"Someone who loves me." Miranda said right before Jack pulled the trigger.
The bullet sunk into Jill's back and left through her chest in an explosion of gore. She looked down the blood spewing out of her chest and turned her head just enough to see the tattooed woman who held her smoking pistol in her hands. Jill fell to her knees and clutched up at her wound as she coughed up blood that ran down her chin. Her whole body was shaking as she fell to the ground on her side. "No." She whimpered as tears fell from her eyes. "Fuck no. N-Not now. Not now." she looked up as Jack and Miranda stood over the dying woman. Jack still held Jill's fallen gun in her hand. "M-Miranda...help." she pleaded. But there was nothing that could be done.
"I tried, Jill."
Jill started to slip away. "Victor." she muttered before her final breath passed her lips.
Jack looked to her lover. "Anyone else I have to save your ass from, Cheerleader?"
Miranda crossed her arms. "Not that I know of."
"You okay?" Jack asked.
"Yes. Thank you...again."
"That bitch knew your name? Who was she?"
"Just an assassin who used to work for Cerberus. Nobody I'm going to miss. We're going to have to report this."
"Fuck. There's gonna be a shit load of paperwork."
"Probably." Miranda said as she looked at Jill's corpse. "But first we have another problem that needs dealing with."
"What's that?"
"Her partner Victor. There's not a chance she was here without him. Which means we still have an assassin in the building."
Shepard made her way down a narrow hallway. It had taken her some time to find where Hackett had gone but eventually one of the Admirals she had asked told her that Hackett always played a game of poker held in the very room she was heading to every year at the annual Alliance ball. It was away from the crowd and the sound of the music and guests was muffled in the back hallways. Her comm rang and Jane saw it was Kaidan calling her. She answered the call but the connection to Alenko's device must have had a problem because she couldn't hear a thing he was saying. "Kaidan?" she said to no response. "Hello?" after several more attempts she hung up. She'd deal with it after she saw Hackett.
Eventually she found the door and stepped inside. Hackett sat at a small table by himself with a digital card display projected on the table top. The old admiral looked up at Shepard. "Commander. I wasn't expecting to see you again. You're just in time for the game."
Shepard sat down across from him. "I didn't know you liked card games, sir."
"I don't. This was Anderson's tradition."
"I see. Well sir I'm afraid i'm not just here for a game. I have something for you."
"I see. What is it?"
Jane started to fish the OSD out of her pocket but she stopped when another man made his way inside the room. "Admiral Hackett?"He asked in a smooth voice.
"Yes?" Hackett answered.
Victor Reed chuckled. "I've been looking all over for you, Hoss." he said and started to reach for his gun before he noticed who was sitting next to Hackett. What were the odds that when he finally reached his mark he'd be sitting next to Commander Shepard? Victor was a dangerous man but he didn't make a habit of going up against the impossible, which by every meaning of the phrase Commander Shepard was. Not to mention he had no interest in killing the savior of the whole damn galaxy. He'd have to be patient and get Hackett alone. At least he and Jill we're going to be safe he thought. "Room for one more?"
"Plenty." Hackett said.
Miranda and Jack found their way back to Kaidan's table but Alenko was absent. Instead Liara T'Soni and Rahna sat in his place. "Jack." Liara greeted the biotic.
"You look like shit, blue." Jack said with concern in her voice as she sat down next to her. "Sorry I bailed. Something came up."
"I understand." Liara winced.
Miranda looked to Rahna. "Who's she?"
Rahna extended a hand and Lawson shook it. "Rahna Berk."
"Rahna?" Miranda said while she and Jack shared a knowing look. "I see." Miranda turned her attention to the asari. "Are you alright, Liara?"
"I'm afraid I'm not feeling well." Liara admitted.
Miranda had an impressive amount of medical knowledge. Granted most of it was human she still thought she might be able to help the asari. "How many months pregnant are you exactly?"
"Nine."
"We should find Shepard." Miranda said.
"Kaidan is looking for her now." Rahna told her.
"Perhaps we should-" Liara's sentence ended when the baby kicked harder than she ever had before and Liara cried out as her water broke and a flood of wetness poured out from between her legs and landed on Jack's feet.
"Did you just piss on my shoes?!" Jack said sounding disgusted.
Miranda sprung into action. "Jack, help get her up!"
"Why?"
"Because she's going into labor!"
Notes- So I realized that there was no way to do the finale in one chapter so I broke it up into two with this being the first part. I hope you enjoyed Miranda Vs. Jill and the poor assassins demise, tell me what you thought in the reviews. And Liara's baby is coming and we still got one assassin left!