A/N: This chapter has a small change to canon but nothing that is earthshaking or even necessarily ruled out by the in game events. The Project Overlord DLC is a part of this chapter so if you haven't played it yet I encourage you to do so or, if you don't plan on ever playing it, read about the DLC's plot online. As always, please review and thank you to those who have taken the time to do so already.

MEDITARI

The unlocked door slid open smoothly as Shepard confidently stepped into the room before the portal had a chance to completely open. Lost in thought Shepard paid no heed to his immediate surroundings and it therefore took a moment for his eyes to convince his mind of the unlikely sight spread out before him. Blinking in surprise Shepard remained silent as he took in the view offered by Miranda.

Standing in front of her bed the beautiful woman, impractically clad only in a black thong and stiletto heels, had one foot placed atop an ottoman as she bent forward sharply at the waist in a provocative position, her arms reaching down her shapely thigh to her calf. At the sound of Shepard's entrance Miranda simply froze in the act of pulling a black stocking up her leg and looked at him. Surprised at Miranda's lack of reaction Shepard stood still for a moment to allow the undressed woman a chance to begin either screaming at him to get out, attempting to cover herself, or both, in an attempt to regain her modesty.

After several seconds had passed without Miranda moving, except to fix him with an intense gaze over her smooth skinned shoulder, Shepard decided to treat the situation as calmly as Miranda was and to simply forge ahead with his purpose for coming here, "Oh, excuse me, Miranda…when we next go to the Citadel I need you to buy some more of the provisions the Mess Sergeant likes, it has done wonders for morale and we can't afford to run out of it now. Though, if this is your new uniform, perhaps improved rations won't be needed."

"Of course, Commander." Miranda replied, her tone even despite her exposed and potentially embarrassing situation

"Okay…If you need me I'll be down in engineering, contact me when we're approaching the Citadel. And, in the future, you might want to lock your door when you're changing." continuing to act oblivious to the awkwardness that should have been present Shepard grinned and jokingly continued, "Especially if Ken finds out about this, then you'd have him popping in and out of here constantly."

After Shepard left and the doors had slid shut, locked this time, Miranda threw herself into her chair, self loathing written across her normally impassive face. She knew this latest attempt lacked any subtlety, it could have been modeled after a porn beginning, but she was fast running out of options. Replaying the events of this latest failed attempt to ensnare Shepard Miranda's disgust at her desperation only increased as she remembered Shepard's statement about going down to engineering. Doubtlessly to fuck that bald bitch, Miranda ranted in the privacy of her mind.

That reminder of her failure quickly changed her anger at Shepard, Jack, herself, and The Illusive Man into the bilious taste of fear. The catalyst for this latest failed seduction had been a message sent to her by an independent informant Miranda had recruited from outside Cerberus to watch over Oriana. Relayed through secure channels Miranda had received the message from her asari agent Lanteia at an anonymous extranet terminal in Afterlife earlier that day during the Normandy's short layover on Omega.

Remembering the message Miranda shivered in fear despite her usual perfect self control. Lanteia's report was concise, its brevity making it all the more frightening. According to the asari, she had been unaware of anything out of the ordinary concerning Oriana's safety until a Cerberus operative contacted her. Escorting her, at gunpoint, to a concealed position overlooking Oriana's dwelling the operative showed Lanteia several suspicious looking characters that appeared to have Oriana under surveillance. After this demonstration of Oriana's vulnerability the operative had ordered Lanteia to inform Miranda of Cerberus' plan to relocate Oriana and her family in a nine days; just before Eclipse, who the suspicious characters reported to, would be ready to move in.

Managing to calm herself Miranda once again ran through the implications of Lanteia's report, desperate to find some glimmer of hope. There was none to be found. Lanteia was my sole way of hedging the bet I made that Cerberus would protect Oriana from our father. And now Lanteia is compromised leaving Oriana, and myself, at the dubious mercy of Cerberus. The Illusive Man has always used Oriana to ensure my loyalty but now, with my repeated failures to establish firm control over Shepard, Cerberus is sending me a message…and an ultimatum.

The Illusive Man threatened to reveal Oriana's whereabouts to our father but this is a step further; for mercs to be stalking her Oriana's location must have already been revealed to our father. Additionally, Lanteia's forced involvement is a reminder from the Illusive Man of his superiority; I can't compete with his resources or his intelligence network. He is sending me a message; complete the mission or my deal with Cerberus concerning Oriana will be over. If that happens Oriana will be turned over to our father…and there won't be anything I can do to stop it.

I need to finish this mission successfully. Her resolve strengthened Miranda stood from her slumped and defeated position in the chair and dressed in a far more practical manner than her earlier attire. Leaving her recent, desperate attempt to seduce Shepard forgotten Miranda forced her formidable intellect to begin planning a more subtle, effective course of action.

"EDI, shut down primary and secondary lighting in the lower engineering deck."

"Yes, Commander." The even tones of the AI responded as the room plunged into an impenetrable darkness.

"There…you see, it's getting better." Shepard reassured after several minutes of silent waiting in the darkness.

"Maybe, but it doesn't fucking count if you're here." Jack shot back from where she sat only inches away from Shepard on her bed but still invisible in the dark.

"Sure it does, only a couple of days ago you were scared of the mere though of the lights turning off, even with me down here. Now look at you…it's been five minutes and you're not crying or getting angry."

"Fuck you, Shepard…I don't cry. Besides, it isn't completely dark, not with your glowing face sitting there."

"It's not that bright, Jack." Shepard said reproachfully, "My scars don't cast enough light to see by…not like some evil night-light."

"A what?"

"Never mind, Jack." responded Shepard, remembering Jack had probably never encountered night-lights during her nightmarish childhood. "The point is, it is functionally pitch black in here and you're not scared like you used to be."

"Whatever, Commander."

Annoyed at Jack's stubborn refusal to see improvement Shepard decided to take a risk and push his crude regimen of immersion therapy to the next level. Moving slowly so his clothing didn't give a telltale rustle Shepard carefully circled an arm around where Jack sat. Just before touching her, his hand hovering over Jack's waist, Shepard spoke, "Jack, remember I'm here to help you and that you're safe here."

Confused at his statement Jack turned to look into the glow of Shepard's eyes. Suddenly she felt a light touch on the bare skin of her torso that quickly grew into a firm grasp around her waist. Panicking at the sensation and its reminder of her rape Jack desperately struggled to pull away from the unseen arm only to find herself being drawn slowly yet irresistibly towards the red fire of Shepard's scarred visage. Fear overriding her limited restraint Jack felt her biotic power begin welling up, begging to be used to defend herself from the threat within her memories.

Feeling Jack tensing under his touch Shepard softly spoke reassuring words to her, "It's okay, Jack. Purgatory's gone, it's only me…don't worry, no one will hurt you here."

Reluctantly allowing herself to be placated by Shepard's words Jack felt herself pulled into Shepard's arms, her slim form pressed against his hard chest in a firm yet undemanding grip. Looking up at his face Jack saw the glowing scars ripple and stretch in what might have been a smile as she permitted his hands to gently caress her bare back and shoulders. As the tension ebbed from the air Shepard once again spoke, "On Bekenstein you suggested that the way to forget the past was to simply make new, good memories to replace the old. What do you say to making a new memory about the dark, do you feel ready?"

Several seconds passed, though they felt like minutes to Shepard, as Jack considered his words. Finally she answered in an unusually light, teasing tone, "That's a good idea, Shepard…after all, it was my idea. There is, however, a problem with your plan; I think you have an inflated opinion of your ability."

Leaning forward as she said this Jack watched Shepard's scars move as his expression once again shifted upon hearing her words. Having determined which scars likely outlined his mouth Jack questioningly pressed her lips against the darkness she guessed to be his mouth. Feeling their lips touch Jack smiled into his mouth before she hungrily deepened the kiss determined to create new, good memories.

The latest mission was officially considered a success, though in Miranda's opinion it had been disastrous. Having left the Citadel the Normandy had made its way to a secret Cerberus research facility to investigate the station's sudden silence. Once there the away team had been forced to fight through waves of VI infected geth and combat mechs before finally reaching the VI core and ending the 'infection'.

To this point everything had progressed as planned but here, as the nature of the VI 'infection' was revealed, the wheels had come off the operation for Miranda. Confronted with the, admittedly unethical, behavior of the Cerberus scientists Shepard faced the decision of what to do with the autistic test subject David who was the heart of the experiment. Personally, Miranda hadn't cared what Shepard decided to do with the tortured man but she knew that the Illusive Man's whole purpose behind the mission was to test Miranda's ability to control Shepard's decision making. A test she had failed.

Grimacing at the memory of Shepard's decision to send the test subject to the philanthropic Grissom Academy Miranda's composure fractured; throwing a data reader across the room she slumped back into her chair in a fit of frustration. Shepard's decision regarding the test subject's fate had simultaneously validated both the Illusive Man's desire to control the unpredictable Shepard and Miranda's continued failure to exert the required control.

Just as the Illusive Man had predicted Shepard's decision was not based on any moral compunction against the human cost of the experiment, this new, post-resurrection Shepard didn't care about that kind of thing, but rather on a combination of personal animosity towards Ceberus for resurrecting him and, more importantly, thedesire of his current lover. And, that lover being Jack, Shepard had done all in his power to save the defenseless test subject from the 'evil' Cerberus scientists. There was no doubt in Miranda's mind that had she been in Jack's enviable position it would have been a simple matter to convince Shepard to leave David in Cerberus' control despite Shepard's personal dislike of Cerbeus.

Shepard's decision to remove David from Project Overlord set back Cerberus research by several years and was clearly contrary to the Illusive Man's desires. This only further heightened Miranda's now precarious position in Cerberus putting Oriana in even greater danger. Miranda knew Eclipse still had Oriana under surveillance and that Cerberus' relocation plan was to wait until the last second in an attempt to gather intelligence on Eclipse through counter surveillance before swooping in just before Eclipse and relocating Oriana. All it would take would be for the Illusive Man to become fed up with Miranda's failure and tell the extraction team on Illium to delay their operation for twelve hours and Oriana would be caught.

Disgusted at her self-pitying train of thought Miranda willed herself to sit up straight and get to work solving the problems presented by Shepard's continued independence from her manipulations. Determined to not repeat the embarrassing mistakes that had resulted in her failed, crude attempts at seduction Miranda mentally reviewed her latest plan.

Unlike her previous, desperate attempts this new plan incorporated everything Miranda knew of Shepard's weaknesses based on her own observations of Shepard's behavior, Kelly's psych reports, and information carefully gleaned from squad members Shepard had partially opened up to; such as Garrus and Tali. From these sources Miranda had devised a two phased assault on Shepard's independence from her. First, Miranda needed to destroy Shepard's relationship with Jack. Only then could she complete her mission and replace Jack in trying to occupy the void in Shepard left by Chief Williams that he had been desperately trying to fill since Horizon.

To accomplish these objectives Miranda had developed a three pronged attack. First, she would present herself as a 'damsel in distress'. Based on Miranda's own observations of Shepard's behavior towards first Tali and then Jack, as well as Kelly's psych reports, it was clear that Shepard would respond to a person in need of his help; and it would be particularly appealing to Shepard if his help showed immediate, concrete returns in the form of improvement or profuse thanks on the recipient's part.

Second, because of Shepard's animosity towards Cerberus it was imperative to present herself as somehow separate from the organization, if possible even hostile towards it. This was a difficult proposition due to Miranda's constant defending of Cerberus's goals and methodology but by no means impossible, especially because with the Illusive Man's increasingly threatening position towards Oriana a schism between Miranda and Cerberus wasn't as far fetched as it would have been before the chaos of Project Lazarus.

And lastly, Miranda had to out do her competition for Shepard's attention. Most of Miranda's potential rivals had already either betrayed him, like Liara, or been alienated by the post-resurrection Shepard's behavior; such as Tali, Ashley, and various other previously star struck women scattered in ports across the galaxy. They were not threats...but Jack was. Jack was loyal to Shepard and accepted his aid; both appreciating it and improving from the help. Additionally, unlike the quarian, Jack could fulfill his carnal needs; Jack was unexpectedly tough competition…at least for a bald, scarred convict. To replace Jack Miranda knew she needed a trait the psychopath couldn't match…if only she could find that elusive attribute Miranda would have her opportunity to finally make Project Lazarus a success, and by doing so keep Oriana safe.

So far Miranda knew her plan was solid, but she had not been able to find the necessary trait that would catapult her into Jack's current position as Shepard's lover. Stymied, Miranda dug through the various files she had on Shepard hoping something, anything would emerge…and there it was. Family, Shepard had lost his family on Mindoir. Her excitement at the possibilities this presented growing Miranda scrambled to find the Cerberus intelligence files on Shepard's brief post-Saren activities. Amid numerous Cerberus reports on combat effectiveness and diplomatic acuity was a single report on Shepard's 'regulation defying affair with his subordinate Chief Ashley Williams who, based on Shepard's financial records, is probably soon to be the recipient of a moderately expensive engagement ring.'

For the first time since her last conversation with the Illusive Man when he had threatened her sister Miranda smiled as the pieces of her plan finally coalesced…and grew in ambition. Ordering EDI to request Shepard report to her office Miranda leaned back in her chair, excitement at the possibilities she now saw swirling around Shepard manifesting itself in a cold, calculating smile.