SSV Normandy-Medical bay
Abigail Shepard sat on one of the beds in the infirmary as the Normandy's CMO stiffly ran an omni-tool over Shepard's jaw. Abby sighed; well I guess my earlier plan went over well.
The tool beeped in the doctor's hand and she brought it to her face and ran her hands across it. It took several seconds for the tool to beep in response and Abigail saw the doctor's mouth twitch slightly in an approving smile. She turned the omni off and moved to face the Captain.
"You suffered a slight jaw fracture, but nothing too serious." She explained heading over to her equipment table and picking up a device. "This should do the trick." She explained coming back. "Now, lean back, this won't hurt a bit."
Abigail nodded slowly and did so, reclining in her chair and watching the device move towards her cheek wearily. The thing snapped and hissed as it touched her cheek and a sharp pain jutted itself across her flesh. "Ow!" She cried.
The doctor snorted a bit as she turned to place the instrument back on the table. Leaving Abby to rub at her cheek slowly with her tongue jutting out and frowning. The cheek was a little numb from the prodding but it was quickly dissipating.
"I thought doctors weren't supposed to lie?" Abigail glared as Karin came back to her bedside.
"Who says? I know plenty of doctors who have lied to patients in their time of need to get them through stress. People do odd things when they expect pain."
"I thought that was the doctor's first rule."
"No, that's to 'do no harm'." Karin quoted.
"Right…" Abigail muttered darkly, "how silly of me."
"Anyways, you should be in perfect health, the numbing will go down soon and you will be able to talk uninhibited."
"Thanks Doc." Abigail nodded stretching before getting off of her bed and heading out of the table.
She hesitated at the foot of the medical bay; I wonder what message Miranda will have for me this time. The seconds turned into a minute, and the minute turned into several, but still there was no response. She sighed satisfied before moving onto her cabin, moving the twenty or thirty steps she required to cross the mess hall to her quarters/ office. And, no one was there.
The Captain shrugged moving over to her desk and drumming her hands against the table for a moment. Before reaching out and typing up a quick message come quickly, my quarters that she addressed to Cameron before sending it off.
It took him a minute to appear in her doorway with an eyebrow arched curiously.
"Please, come in." She stated somewhat annoyed.
He did so, and said nothing.
The former Spectre sighed, "I heard you decided to rescue the Quarian Admiralty board."
"It was that or let them be captured, or worse, by the Alliance forces. Besides Amanda was there, there was some reason she was there, and she is directly related to the crisis that is going on back home and the team hunting us."
Abigail leaned back against the desk and folded her arms with her chest frowning, "Yeah, and Nathan was on Earth waiting for us. Or at least mobilized to expect us, so what of your orders? I told you specifically not to leave Omega"
"It was only a short trip from here to Rannoch," Cameron protested, "no more than two days. And as we pointed out Omega has defenses of its own. And they have no idea we are here for the best of our knowledge, no fleets have been mobilized to stop us."
"Still, it was a risk."
Cameron frowned, "We both know we need allies, Abigail, the Qurian Admiralty board, along with the Geth, represent the most powerful military forces in the Galaxy that have not been influenced by the Leviathan's. They were probably trying to achieve a quick victory, either by neutralizing the Quarians and the Geth, or through converting them."
Abigail shrugged, I wonder, "still, our evidence only suggests that they can control organics only, not synthetics. Until we know more that is our best guess certainly."
"So at worse the Quarians would have been knocked out of any war, betrayed by the Alliance and Turians betraying them…or they would have fought a Civil War." Cameron muttered.
"Yeah," Abby smirked, "or they would have declared war against the Alliance. I mean you poke someone in the side and you don't know how they will react."
Cameron shrugged, "maybe, but the Quarians know such a war will be costly and they likely wouldn't be able to defeat the combined forces of the Citadel fleet, it would be a war of attrition and mutual destruction. They have enough forces to do some damage but not enough to win without major causalities of their own."
"Probably explains what the Alliance is up to in the first place."
Cameron toggled an eyebrow at her.
She sighed, "Well think about it, we know from our mission they are building a new battle fleet. But it's not ready, probably won't be ready for years. There are other Council races out there other than the main ones that may've not been effected. Then you have the Quarians, Kurl, the Batarians, and the rest of the Terminus. The Alliance is launching delaying actions, keeping people off balance long enough to finish their projects."
Cameron nodded, "Makes sense I guess, but it's still a hell of a risk."
"'Fortune favors the bold'" Abby quoted.
Cameron snorted.
Abigail looked at Cameron, well, he's here, and we have to talk about this. "I also heard a rumor of what happened between you and Miranda."
"Nothing happened, not really." Cameron shrugged.
Abby gave him a come on look.
Cameron sighed, "Since when is caring about a crewmember a bad thing?"
Abigail gestured with her arm, "You touched her Cameron, when she was sleeping, knocked out, whatever. But the point is I think she can sense how you feel about her, most women can you know. And she knows why you touched her. She is smart enough to realize you had feelings for her in some other universe, and that she is the same woman but not the same woman. It would be like you falling for a woman, that woman dying, and then you hitting on her sister at her funeral when you realize she has a twin."
"Been working on your metaphors much?" Cameron said bitingly.
She glared, "You know I'm right Cam."
He shrugged, "Yeah, I guess. But you know what? It's hard….you know what I did to end the war? The choice I made."
"Not the one I did." She remarked.
He muttered, "Well yeah, Control. I turned myself into a Reaper and used them just long enough to repair the relays and the Citadel and the damage to London, then I left, I downloaded my former consciousness into a cloned body then sent the Reapers to their demise. And I hated every minute of it. Three years of it. The only thing that kept me going was the fact that I had Miranda waiting for me at the end. The perfect woman with a heart of ice that I taught to love…"
Abby chuckled at the description.
"…but I had to do without her for the Galaxy. But I found her again, we got married, we were building a life together on that apartment Anderson gave us, but then after only a few months of bliss, I was torn away. Again. This time without my choice."
Cameron hesitated and Abby opened her mouth to speak…
But Cameron barreled on, "And meanwhile what is she doing? Where is she? Is time going on as normal in the other universe? Is she moving on? Am I MIA, KIA, neither, both? And how do I get back to her? So yes, I care about Miranda, both of them, but not just because I want a replacement, but because I miss the other one, and am a good person."
"Fair enough." Abigail said her voice softening, "but you have to give her time Cameron. Time to get used to her, time for her to know you won't take advantage of her and see her as entirely the same woman. If you push, it will just do more damage."
Cameron nodded, "Yeah…" his voice drifted off, "So, was there anything else?"
Abigail racked her brain for a second, "nope, nothing."
"Alright," He nodded.
"Dismissed," She smiled.
He bit his lip before spinning around expertly and moving out the door, she turned back to the door moving back to stare at the latest intelligence reports from the Shadow Broker and the Phoenix organization. She heard the door hiss open behind her.
"Cameron." She heard James say surprised and darkly.
"Lieutenant," Cameron went for the formal response.
She heard the scuffling of boots as the two maneuvered around each other, one coming in, and one coming out. James's presence stopped behind her, waiting for her to acknowledge his presence, the hairs on the back of her head and neck began to prickle nervously.
"So, what was that?"
Abigail turned to him finally and scowled, "We were just debriefing, going over recent events and the situation here as we were gone."
"I bet." James remarked dryly.
She turned to face him full on, "This again?"
"Well secret meetings in your quarters, going on with one another, barely sparing another thought for me, how can a guy not be suspicious?"
"You never struck me as the jealous type James." She batted at him.
"And you never struck me as the evasive type to direct questions." He retorted.
Her face flushed angrily and her eyes narrowed, why you little-
"And just what happened on Earth? You've been better than that, and you were limping around like you could barely contain yourself? Just what the hell is the matter with you?" James took a step.
She recoiled, "nothing, I'm fine James; I've been busy fighting the war and don't have time for this."
"Then make the time."
"I can't, this is the greatest threat we've faced, the entire Galaxy that has fought and bled with me, have been turned against the very principles they hold dear."
"Then you need to let us help you, tell me what's going on, this isn't like you."
"I'm fine, I can handle it James."
"So this is the greatest threat we have faced, greater than the Reapers, yet you are doing this alone?"
She sighed angrily, moving for the door, "I need some air; I'll be back later,"
"Well take your sweet time! After all the universe won't fall apart on your personal-"
The door closed behind her allowing her to sigh and march down to the observation room.
She arrived, and frowned, crossing her arms over the view port as she began looking out towards the distant stars. Loosing herself in the stars as they drifted by the view port, lazily, letting herself go ever so slightly, trying to bleed the stress off with the cold of space.
It wasn't long before she heard a familiar throat clear behind her.
She turned around as her eyes refocused, beholding the familiar sight of Garrus the Turian.
She smiled, "Hey you."
"Shepard, you busy?" Garrus nodded towards the view port.
"Nah, just thinking."
"Mind if I join you?"
She shrugged, "Sure knock yourself out."
He did so leaning against the bulkhead glancing out at the stars as they whirled past. He waited for a few minutes, "So Shepard, it's been a while."
"I just had to take a short vacation to Earth, nothing big, ran into some old friends." Abigail smirked.
"Yeah I know, just been concerned you were staying away from me for personal reasons. If I said something to piss you off."
She glanced at him, frowned, and hesitated, "why would you say that Garrus?" She said finally.
"Oh you know, other than war rooms and personal reports you really have not had much time among the crew. Spending most of your time holed up in your quarters, running over status reports…or Spirits knows what."
She sighed angrily, "Look if you have a point to make then just make it."
"Just an observation," Garrus droned defensively, "you are isolating yourself from us. Intentionally, burying yourself in your work. Despite you always making time for your crew, always dealing for our personal problems no matter how petty. Now you can't even bring yourself to walk down the hall and visit us."
"That's not fair." She muttered.
"Isn't it?" Garrus counted.
"No."
"Well in a way you have a lot of down time, more during the Disciple Crisis, more during the war, where that was rush rush rush. The Normandy has not been attacked recently, there are not a lot of places in the Galaxy that can help us, yet we have had little interaction with you. You are becoming distant, pushing people away. Like-"
He hesitated; Abigail shot him a look, "Like James?"
Garrus winced, but slowly nodded.
"Well look, I'm fine." Abigail attempted to bat aside.
"Right, well you are pissing a lot of people off on the way to 'fine.'" Garrus observed.
"I didn't come down here for a lecture." She snapped.
"Fair enough," The Turian said turning to leave, "but just remember Shepard: You won not because you were special, or because you challenged the status quo. You won because you forged us into your team, you took us along for the ride. You wouldn't have made us without earning and ensuring our loyalty to you. So if you insist on burning your bridges you better be damn sure you really can handle things."
Abigail huffed blowing her air out of her lungs as Garrus left the room, waiting for the end to come.
…
"We surround them, but we have to build alliances and bridges if we are to make it. No man or no force in the universe can stand on its own, save for perhaps God Himself. Without others to forge and build, loves, and friends, we will be easy pickings for the forces that mean to tear us apart. Because the balance of good and evil is one that often comes down to numbers, and who can best organize those numbers. Who can be the more powerful and charismatic leader and articulate their ideology the best.
"Without this force nothing can stand."