After.

Chapter Seven: Strange

Down to her underwear, Shepard stood in front of the mirror – her words with Kaidan still blaring in her head. The conversation about 'being Shepard,' with Joker countered Kaidan's pointed statements...but she could still feel them. Using a single finger, she pressed her nose to the left slightly. Where there had once been a hole for a nose ring, now had solid flesh. She hadn't worn the stud since pre-Alliance times, but it was a nice reminder to her past. Turning so her back was to the mirror, she stared at the blank canvas that was her back. Originally, there had been a tattoo on her left shoulder-blade that had her N7 status immortalized. She turned slightly to stare at the top of her shoulder. When she lived on Earth, she had a tattoo of a triceratops right at the round of her right shoulder. She also had a bellybutton ring and a tattoo of an Elvish saying from Lord of the Rings around her left ankle. All traces of those marks were gone. Scars from her various fights were missing too. All the physical history on Shepard's body was gone.

"Giselle Alice Shepard?" she asked herself, as her personal console just outside the bathroom beeped. Exiting the bathroom, she was surprised to see a message from Miranda.

"Commander,

There are a few matters I'd like to discuss with you whenever you are free.

-Lawson."

Shepard slid on a t-shirt as she typed, "Lawson,

I'm still up if you need to talk. We can wait until morning if you'd prefer.

-Shepard"

She slid on a comfortable pair of pants she normally slept it, ruffling her hair which barely made it past her chin. Again, her console beeped.

"Commander,

I am still awake.

-Lawson"

"Hm," Shepard tilted her head in thought, before she fed her fish and headed down to the Crew Deck to see her XO.

"Shepard," Miranda greeted, also in her own sleepwear. Instead of her annoyingly tight black Cerberus uniform, she was in a black tank-top with comfortable sleep-wear pants, similar to Shepard's.

"Lawson, what can I do for you?" she asked, sitting in the chair opposite of the XO's desk.

"To bring you back to life, I dedicated my life to you," she began, noticing a strange tone in the woman's voice. Had she been drinking?

"Which I appreciate," Shepard nodded, feeling uncomfortable as Miranda watched her.

"When you destroyed the Collector Base, you turned your back on Cerberus," Miranda stood from behind her desk and began pacing – making Shepard's uneasiness only grow, "Cerberus was my life, Shepard. They took me in when I had nothing."

Gaz remained silent, adjusting the black sweatshirt she wore over her t-shirt as Miranda spoke.

"But – then you became a friend to me. Better than any friend I've ever had – especially Niket," Miranda's perfectly symmetrical face distorted in the memory of her childhood friend turning his back on her, "Better than the Illusive Man, even. You helped me with my sister. You gave me purpose."

Shepard silently began wondering if she was about to see Miranda attempt to seduce her. The urge to flee tickled the back of her neck even harder at the thought.

"I do what I can for my crew," Shepard replied – attempting to make her actions toward Miranda look like nothing special.

"Shepard, how do you do it?" her blue eyes narrowed in what almost appeared to be pain – halting just next to her desk.

"Do what, Lawson?"

"You care."

Shepard blinked. The Ice Queen was apparently starting to thaw. The Tin Man was wondering where his heart was...well in this case, Tin Woman.

"Is there something more specific on your mind, Lawson?" Gaz asked, tilting her head to the side slightly. The smell of her own shampoo comforted her against the strange behavior of her XO.

"I am a Cerberus Agent, Shepard. You turned your back on them. Since the Collector Base, I've spent all my time to hide you from the Illusive Man. He's trying to have you arrested, Shepard – but he's hoping to lure you back as a pawn for later use – thus the fact we're still flying. I've managed to disable EDI's connection to him, with the help of Tali'Zorah. I've also managed to disable the direct link he has through the ship. He's sent me countless messages – and I keep telling him that the Normandy SR-2 received extreme damages while outrunning the exploding Collector Base."

Shepard blinked, "So it's only a matter of time-"

"Before we're grounded," Lawson finished, crossing her arms in front of her chest – finally settling back into her chair.

Gaz slowly nodded, taking a deep breath, "I really appreciate what you've done for both me and the crew of the Normandy, Miranda," Shepard nodded, purposely calling her XO by her first name to make it seem more heart-felt.

"As I said, Shepard, you're more than just a war hero. I know I'm not alone in turning my back on Cerberus to help you," she nodded, mindlessly pulling her hair away from her face, and offering Shepard a slight smile.

'If she's so perfect, why does she have a gap between her teeth?' Shepard wondered absently, before returning the smile, "I'm glad I've earned such a high respect with you, Miranda."

"Anyone who doesn't show respect for you, is honestly an idiot. Speaking of idiot, how did your drink with Kaidan go?"

Shepard blinked at the personal direction this conversation had taken. The alcohol in her XO's system was slightly more obvious now in the way she held herself. Slightly drunk Miranda wasn't so bad.

"Eh – men are idiots," Gaz shrugged, leaning her head back against the chair.

"Indeed they are," Miranda shook her own head, taking a drink out of a whine glass that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Enjoying your shore-leave I see?" Shepard smiled, motioning to the glass.

Miranda's mouth curled at the edges, "You could say that."

"Anyway, I should get going. I had a rather long day."

"Feel free to stop by whenever, Shepard. My door is always open to you," her words slurred slightly at the end, causing Shepard to hide a laugh with a cough.

Exiting Miranda's office, she headed for the elevator, surprised it stopped on the next floor up. Kelly entered the lift, smiling at Shepard with her normal cheery demeanor. Joker's evening, however, overshadowed Shepard's normal inclination to be nice to the woman.

"Commander," she greeted.

"Chambers."

"Please...call me Kelly."

"How was your evening?"

"Quite lovely, Commander. The Dark Star is such a lovely place."

"Just drink and fraternize with the crew?" Shepard asked, as the lift slowly moved.

"Can I tell you a secret?" she was nearly bursting at the seams, "Commander?"

"Sure, Kelly."

"I had such a lovely evening with...Joker!"

"Joker?"

"You know – the cute pilot."

"I know who he is, Chambers," her voice came out a bit rough, "What happened?"

Kelly simply giggled, as the lift apparently chose priority to down rather than up, and let Kelly out back on the Crew Deck – ignoring Shepard's wishes to go to her own room.

"Be gentle with him," Shepard replied, as the woman exited the lift.

"Of course I will. He's literally fragile. It makes it so...dangerous," her voice pulled into a low purr – making Shepard instantly uncomfortable, "Though it was just a casual thing. Probably won't happen again," she half shrugged, before disappearing onto the Crew Deck.

The lift started up again – hoisting Shepard to her loft at the top of the ship.

"Whore," she whispered, shaking her head.

–

AN: Whoa. Drunky Miranda is kind of nice. But weird. It was a bit hard to figure out. I figured having Shepard bump into Kelly would be awkward – therefore I had to write it. I figured that Kelly walked around the CIC for a bit – maybe even returned to her post, after showering. Meh. Honestly not my most favorite chapter – but I figured I needed to explain why they hadn't been grounded yet. I'm curious in ME3 where Miranda's loyalty will lie. Hm. We shall see. On to the next Chapter!

Rated M for: Language, future sexual situations, future violence, and so I can have freedom without fear of scarring a teen for life.

Oh – and I don't own anything ever.