Shepard smiled as she greeted the asari bar tender, same one as the other day when she'd come in with Gianna, "Atheyta."
"Shepard." The asari smirked, this human was not one to forget though she had a different companion today, "You have good taste." she winked after a quick glance of appreciation for the other human woman.
Miranda's brow rose a little at the insinuation.
"I have great taste what're you talking about?" Shepard grinned and produced her credit chit, "Bottle of Ice Brandy thanks." she looked to Miranda who was giving her a look that silently was demanding an explanation. "What would you like?" she asked casually, she'd answer that silent question when they were seated.
"Just get two glasses." Miranda didn't actually mind the brandy and could feel the grin of approval and something else in Shepard.
Atheyta chuckled, "Coming right up hon."
"You do realize I'm converting you right? Before we're done with this mission you'll be ordering Ice Brandy for yourself." Shepard smiled, her eyes twinkling a little at the prospect.
"I'm sure Dr. Chakwas will be pleased she's had such an impact on the younger generation." Miranda smirked, knowing exactly where Shepard first acquired the taste.
Shepard laughed, "Oh she is, she just grins at me every time I bring her a bottle and tells me 'these shots are the only acceptable ones I'll treat you for'."
Bottle and glasses in hand Shepard followed Miranda to the more private room towards the back.
Miranda pulled a chair out to sit down, before she could though Shepard slipped her arms around Miranda's waist and kissed her lightly on the neck, placing the bottle and glasses on the table so she could hold Miranda properly.
They stood there, out of sight of most of the clubs patrons, looking out at the Illium skyline for some time, neither talking. Shepard had wrapped her arms around Miranda's waist and was resting her chin on Miranda's shoulder. Miranda had one hand resting on Shepard's arms while the other reached up to lightly caress her warm, slightly scarred cheek. This time there was no overwhelming surge of emotions or sensations, only quiet, gentle comfort and reassurance.
It was eventually Shepard who spoke first, a soft, husky murmur that sent shivers down Miranda's spine, "Thank you for coming when you did."
Miranda smiled, turning her head a fraction to press her cheek against Shepard's. The warmth that was coming through their connection was tender and there was an endearing shyness to it, "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked softly. She'd thought it best not to remind Shepard that her armour was fitted with a camera so she'd seen most of what had transpired in that office, until it had been clear that Shepard was losing control.
Shepard closed her eyes and held her a bit tighter for a moment, then she kissed Miranda's cheek before letting her go.
Miranda sat down with her usual grace and poured two shots, sliding one over to where Shepard was moving to sit.
Shepard sat down facing the doorway and studied her drink for a moment. "I don't really know what to think. I mean one day she's accusing me of selling out to Cerberus the next she admits she's the one who gave me to Cerberus in the first place." she looked up suddenly with a small scowl, "Why didn't you tell me yesterday?"
"It wasn't my place to tell you and was part of our agreement. She would tell you in her own time when she was ready." Miranda responded calmly, she made no comment concerning her 'selling out to Cerberus' as she knew perfectly well where Shepard stood on that front. Though that did remind her she needed to check on her contacts following up on her investigation into Shepard's claims regarding Cerberus.
"Fair enough." Shepard wasn't about to argue with that. Raising her glass she downed the shot with practiced ease and biotically pulled the bottle over to fill it up again without consciously thinking of her action.
Miranda raised her brow but said nothing, Shepard was distracted at the moment after all.
Just like on the Citadel after the Council meeting Shepard sat there deep in thought, not speaking at all, even her emotions were only rumbling softly through their connection but this close to each other it was a constant flow. Miranda felt a small amount of discomfort at being so intimately aware of what Shepard was feeling and cringed when Shepard looked to her sympathetically as she felt that discomfort in her.
Miranda considered Shepard closely. She'd been watching when Liara had accused her of seducing Shepard to keep her in line and the fierce way Shepard had responded to it had been heart warming, and surprising in its fury. "As I recall you and I have had some heated discussions and you didn't feel so close to losing control." she picked up her shot and sipped it.
Shepard downed her shot, her gaze taking in the Illium skyline through the window to her left as she considered what Miranda had just said. "After Torfan I was given time to recover which gave me the chance to centre myself and lock it away. I haven't been able to do that as well on the Normandy since unleashing it on Omega, then there was the Prothean thing yesterday..."
Understanding lit Miranda's blue eyes, "Which further reduced your mental control making you more vulnerable to provocation, especially from someone you care for."
Shepard turned her gaze back to Miranda and nodded, "I couldn't even feel your presence until you touched me and made me look at you. You didn't just calm me, you helped me find my centre." she smiled and decided that right now it wouldn't be wise to tell Miranda that she was her centre, had been ever since they were girls and this darkness had first started to develop in her.
"Well I'm not going to be able to hold your hand every time you get angry. You need to strengthen your mental control." Miranda warned her, perhaps a little too professional in tone.
Shepard scowled in irritation at being told something so blatantly that she obviously already knew, "It's not something I can do in a day or with all the interruptions on the ship."
"Would you prefer I booked you a room at Keluah for as long as you need?" Miranda offered a touch more softly this time, the mission was too dangerous for them both to be at less than their best.
Shepard cocked her head with a gorgeous little smirk, her mind instantly wanting to respond 'only if you came with me' but she managed to reign in the words... just not the surge of desire that flickered through their connection as for a moment she began to picture helping Miranda out of that tight fitting uniform...
Miranda took a deep breath and nearly bit her lip to stop the gasp as the hot desire from Shepard stoked her own.
Shepard cleared her throat and shook her head clear of the images, "Wow, this is going to take some getting used to. Sorry about that." she mumbled, quickly downing her next shot to cool herself off.
"I've noticed our connection's been growing stronger the more we... use our biotics together." Miranda shared her observation cautiously.
"Maybe we won't have to be touching to speak mind to mind, isn't that a scary thought." Shepard grinned indicating that she didn't actually think it would be so bad.
"Could be useful but learning how to control it is going to be challenging." Miranda sipped from her brandy, watching as Shepard poured another shot.
"Yeah, very distracting knowing that you're gonna feel every time I'm admiring you." Shepard smiled sheepishly, finding her shot glass very interesting and unable to hide her embarrassment over the fact.
"Works both ways, I admire you as well Steph." Miranda assured her with a seductive smile.
Shepard chuckled as she just knew Miranda was smiling at her like that on purpose, "Ah so we agree this isn't embarrassing at all right?"
Miranda's seductive smile remained and she leaned forward enticingly, "Knowing that one of the most famous and talented women in the galaxy is greatly distracted by me is certainly quite the ego boost."
Shepard laughed and flicked a little biotic push at her shoulder, just enough to feel like a light tap, "Famous, infamous kinda depends who you talk to. Besides, like you need an ego boost and all, Miss I'm-perfection-personified."
Miranda might have been annoyed or not interested in such a comment about her being perfect if it wasn't for the charming smile and affection she could feel behind it.
"As for Keluah, save it for another time. Once we get Samara and Thane we'll be heading to Benkenstein for a certain party. It looked like a two day trip to get there if I remember right, if you can..." she stopped and frowned, "Wait we never got to talk about what you need other than trying to meld with me." she kicked herself for forgetting that yesterday.
Miranda just shook her head, "It was quite the shock finding out what we did, it's fine." she dismissed Shepard's concern, "If Rana remains on the Normandy we can do what needs to be done there, it won't take more than an hour a day so I'll be able to ensure the crew doesn't disturb you."
"What exactly is it you have to do?" Shepard asked curiously, watching Miranda with great interest as this was something that would affect them both.
"Stimulate the neural pathways to connect properly. It's going to be a gradual process as anything too intense or done too quickly will initiate the defence mechanism. I could do it myself or under Dr. Chakwas supervision but Rana is the more experienced in neural stimulation. Considering how experimental this is it's prudent to have Rana administer the treatment." Miranda slid her glass towards Shepard indicating she'd like more.
Shepard poured with a nod, she would have been surprised that Miranda entrusted anything so important to anyone other than herself but she knew that Miranda was no fool and trying to do this by herself was just asking for something to go horribly wrong. "I wanted Rana to remain on board anyway. Anything she's got from what she studied on Virmire is essential, if we can find a way to prevent indoctrination it could be the difference between kicking the Reapers arses or being Reaper fodder."
"Which means we'll need to purchase suitable equipment for her that will be able to fit into the lab as there's nowhere else to go." Miranda acknowledged, the lab would need to be re-outfitted appropriately to accommodate both Mordin and Rana's research.
Shepard threw back her fourth or was it fifth shot, she wasn't really paying attention, and hummed softly in satisfaction at the smooth tasting liquor, "Do you need my signature or can I just say go for it, you know what needs to be done." she grinned over at Miranda.
Miranda smirked, "You think I need your signature?" she teased.
"Of course you do, I'm famous remember." Shepard beamed, batting her eyelashes cheekily.
Miranda actually laughed, "I think I can do better than just your signature, Stephanie." She winked and made Shepard blush at the heated desire that flowed through their connection clearly indicating what she had in mind for 'better'.
"You know you're gonna make me forget we're in a public place here Miranda." Shepard chided her with a smirk.
"Speaking of public place, you have great taste?" Miranda continued to smile, more curious than concerned especially given what she could feel from Shepard.
"I was wondering when you were going to ask about that. Gianna Parasnni, Noveria Internal Affairs was on a job here, owed me a beer for helping her out on Noveria. Helped her out again by convincing an Asari she'd been investigating who'd stolen some prototype mods that I was an interested buyer." Shepard smirked, "It was actually a little fun, especially when Gianna turned up and the target went an all new shade of blue and ran away with her tail between her legs." She chuckled and shook her head, "And Gianna didn't even need a gun."
Miranda shook her head at the mirth Shepard was feeling over that little encounter though it did remind her that she needed to be keeping a closer eye on Shepard. Too much was at stake for a little side dalliance like that to interfere with their mission. She didn't quite concede to herself that there were other reasons she wanted to keep a close eye on Shepard just yet, knowing she was attracted to the gorgeous marine and having that attraction influence her professionalism were two very different things and she was nothing if not a consummate professional.
"We really should get back to the Normandy, I've got to go over this data and have something to eat and I'm sure you had a lot of work you ran out on to keep me in line." Shepard sighed, feeling a little reluctant to go but knowing they didn't have time to just sit around like this, especially with a lead on one of their targets now in her hands.
Miranda hesitated in suggesting that they were already somewhere they could order food as she knew Shepard was right, they did need to get back to work. Finishing off her shot she rose to her feet as Shepard did. She was a little surprised as when she turned to lead the way out Shepard took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Thanks for coming with me." Shepard smiled and kissed her cheek lightly before striding past the now smiling operative.
Having returned to the Normandy, Shepard was in the mess eating one of Gardner's latest creations and reading over the data Liara had given her. There was quite a bit of information concerning Samara that Ceberus could never have gotten their hands on. But there was far more than just a lead to follow, it turned out that Samara was hunting a dangerous individual, one the Asari feared even discussing out loud. An ardat yakshi. Liara had given her a great deal of data concerning the ardat yakshi and their abilities and Shepard was finding herself reluctant to interfere with Samara's quest.
An asari who when melding with another completely fried out their nervous system and was empowered by it like a drug... the thought of it just made Shepard shudder and think twice about melding with an asari, probably why they both feared and spoke very little of the condition.
A beep on her communicator interrupted her musings.
"Yeah?" she responded absently.
"Shep!" an overly cheerful Kasumi greeted the Commander.
It was then Shepard realized she hadn't seen either her or Garrus since she'd returned to the ship, "What's up Kasumi?"
"I finally managed to get Garrus to try out a new set of armour, cos the set you gave him really has seen better days, but he's refusing to buy it! I need a little backup here! He's not gonna replace the old one cos you bought it for him." She put on her best pouty voice.
Shepard chuckled, "Really? He's that attached to it?"
"Oh I'm sure he'll deny it to his dying breath if you ask him but it's true! Trust me!" Kasumi assured her enthusiastically.
"Well then I'll just have to buy him a new set won't I. Where are you?" she flicked off her omni-tool and rose to her feet.
"Here." Kasumi sent the coordinates to Shep.
Shepard glanced down as her only just switched off omni-tool flicked back to life and showed her where the pair were at. "On my way, just keep pestering him till I get there." She smirked, figuring Kasumi wouldn't have any trouble with that.
Kasumi simply chuckled.
Shepard wondered if Garrus would be alright after spending so long with Kasumi... shopping.
By the time Shepard had found her way through the marketplace to the shop Garrus and Kasumi were at Kasumi had convinced Garrus to not only purchase the armour but some actual clothes as well. Shepard shook her head at the turian with a smirk, "You should see what she made me buy."
Garrus started at the sound of her voice and whirled around with a sudden feeling of nakedness at not being in his armour before Shepard. His fringe flushed in embarrassment until she put her hand on his arm with a grin up at him.
"You look great Garrus. Always pays to have something to do some undercover recon in. Right Kasumi?" she looked to the little woman expectantly.
"I prefer a stealth net but that works to." She grinned, very pleased with her handi-work.
"I don't know, it's not... really my style." He frowned, looking down at himself in the blue and green suit.
"It looks great Garrus, you'll have all the ladies swooning you handsome thug." Shepard grinned and hit him lightly on the arm.
He chuckled, "I take it she convinced you to buy something that'd have the ladies swooning as well?"
"I'm hoping one in particular." Shepard's smirk became a megawatt grin and her eyes sparkled.
"Oh you've got to tell us how your date went!" Kasumi gushed, she hadn't been able to catch up with Shepard since last night.
"You went on a date and you didn't tell me?" Garrus crossed his arms in mock indignation.
"It was just drinks and it wasn't intended as a date. Look you really want to know let's buy this stuff, go get Samara then have a good old gossip session like a bunch of old ninnies back on the Normandy." Shepard sighed.
"Do I get to see your swooning suit?" Garrus growled but wasn't able to hide the gleam of mirth in his predatory blue eyes.
"My... seriously? Garrus how positively feminine of you!" Shepard smirked up at him.
Garrus growled in the back of his throat, "I am your best friend and wingman! I need to be certain that your attire will be suitable in your quest to secure your potential mate just as you have given your approval of mine."
Kasumi bit her lip to stop her giggle at the cute display.
"Oh believe me she'll love it but I cannot deny my wingman his right to approve my..." her eyes narrowed, "do you even know what a human female finds attractive?"
At that he flustered a little, "I know in turians it's all about the fringe and the waist, it's not so for humans? Your... hair? I've noticed that some of your kind spend a lot of time grooming it..."
Kasumi couldn't hold it in any more, she burst out laughing, "Oh Garrus, you and I have much to discuss my friend!"
Shepard chuckled and shook her head, very surprised by this turn of events but she didn't blame him at all for wanting to take any excuse to spend time with her. They'd had very little time to just sit and chat since picking him up on Omega, sure they'd sparred but actual talking? Not so much. She most definitely had to rectify that if he was so eager for time with her that he wanted to ensure her swooning suit was adequate.
"So where's this armour?" Shepard decided to rescue her floundering wingman.
Garrus looked relieved then sheepish, which was a strange look on a turian as he ducked his face a little and his mandibles clicked, "I hope you don't mind..."
"Don't mind? Garrus armour is replaceable, you are not. The one I got you before has served you well but with the damage to the upper chest and neck plate it was only a matter of time before something got through. I'd much rather you get something new." She assured him with a nod. "How about I show you my dress you show me your armour, approve it for battle like a good wingman." She winked.
Garrus laughed and relief flooded him. He'd been worried she'd be upset with him, the armour had cost her a small fortune at a time she hadn't had many spare credits. She'd sacrificed to keep him safe and her sacrifice had saved his life many, many times, and not just the credits but her own blood time and time again. It had been a long and drawn out fight tracking down Saren, but they'd prevailed. They'd prevailed because of her, because she wasn't like the other Spectres at all. Sure she wasn't afraid to skirt the rules, to outright break them if it was required but it was all for the greater good. Her calls never put innocent in danger if she could help it, she fought for the people not in spite of them. She had taught him so much that he didn't care if he looked a fool at times with the human female. She was his best friend, his only friend. There was nothing he wouldn't do for her and when she grinned up at him like that he no longer felt like a fool, or lost, or in despair. Stephanie Shepard gave him the most precious gift a friend could, hope.
After the last chap I felt some recovery was needed. I know I was exhausted!
Up next Seph will be on her way to Samara and may just meet some old acquaintences along the way...
Oh and I've started up a link to my tumblr account for this story, little snapshots, bits of info you won't find here and stuff. There's not much there at the moment, a work in progress so if you're interested keep an eye on it:
bringerofdestruction[dot]tumblr[dot]com (replace the [dot]s with actual dots!)
Also if you're a DA fan, I've now got 2 stories on the go there, 'The Voice of the Wardens' set in DA: Origins, may cross over into Awakening, and 'Chosen' set in DA2 and will be linked to Voice so expect my worlds to look very different to the games!
Please review! I am such a review junkie! They totally make my day so if you get excited about alerts for my story please drop me a review, even a quickie! I'm not too fussy! XD
Thanks for reading! XD