Bioware's party, I'm just crashing it.

Captain's Personal Log: Crescent Nebula, Tasale System, Ilium

Part I: The Prodigal

I stood in the forward battery, watching Garrus' fingers flash over the keys as he calibrated the main guns for the hundredth time. I'd chide him for perfectionism, but considering our odds, he was welcome to calibrate till the cows came home. The better the Thanix Cannons worked, the more likely we were all going to come out the other side of the Omega 4 Relay in one piece and take out as many Collectors as possible along the way.

"We'll take care of Miranda's little problem and then you and Tali will come with me to look for information on our next two recruits." I laughed slightly as I remembered something, "Did I tell you? The Illusive Man told me Liara was possibly working for the Shadow Broker. Of course, he also had no idea you were 'Archangel'."

Garrus stopped inputting numbers and turned to face me where I leaned on the railing next to his console. "Liara? Working for the Shadow Broker? I think your Illusive Man has been at the red sand," he scoffed as he leaned back against his work station, arms crossed. "But then, if you'd told me you and I would be working for Cerberus two years ago, I'd have said the same thing. So, Miranda has a sister?"

I nodded, but before I could say anything he continued, "That's . . . surprising."

I snorted a laugh, "That's diplomatic of you."

He shook his head, "She tries to present this perfect façade and I know you don't buy it."

"Of course not. I'm perfect, after all. Perfection doesn't exist in anyone else," I quipped.

He grinned, "Well, not everyone can be as wonderful as you, Shepard. But seriously, she makes it sound like she was grown in a lab." My face must've given something away because his eyes widened, "You're kidding. She was, wasn't she?"

"I'm not saying anything."

He ran his hand over his fringe and glanced at me sidelong, "I won't tell a soul. But really? A lab?"

"Garrus, I mean it. It's confidential."

He held his hands up, palms out in truce. The human gesture looked oddly right on him where it would have looked foreign and fake on another turian. "I promise. Besides, it almost makes her more… human, if that's not too far-fetched."

"I know what you mean, but seriously, don't spread it around. If she wants to tell everyone, she will. She told me in confidence. I can't believe you read me that well. I need to work on my poker face." I rubbed my eyes, careful of the mascara.

"Shepard, you're not making sense again."

"Keeping my face blank. Making sure I'm not doing anything that would give away my thoughts." I rubbed the back of my neck. It was rather embarrassing to be read so well.

"You didn't really do anything. I'm not entirely sure how I knew."

"That makes me feel so much better, Garrus."

He stared at me for a moment, his cheekplates fluttering in a grin, "Besides, if I tell you what you did you'll stop doing it and I won't be able to tell when you're full of it ever again."

I shook my head, "You're way too devious for a vigilante, Garrus."

"You forget about the former cop part, Shepard."

"I try to do that often, you know. Forget you were a cop, I mean. Hell, Vakarian, I've got standards."

His brow ridges went up, "A former criminal has standards? Since when?"

I planted my fists on my hips, grinning up at him, "When I became respectable."

"When did that happen?"

I laughed, "Just be ready to go when Joker lands."

As I walked past him to leave, I brushed my fingers along his shoulder absently. I froze just as the door closed, replaying my last action in my head. Why did I have to touch him suddenly? The last person I'd had to touch was Alenko. I wasn't even over Alenko, and this… this was Garrus! I shook my head at myself and left to get suited up and head for the bridge. I'd felt like I was growing closer to the turian, yes. I trusted him more than I trusted anyone else. However, the last person I trusted that much had ripped me apart and stomped on the remains on Horizon for reasons I could barely fathom.

I stood behind Joker, watching him pilot us into dock. As usual, he handled the controls like a maestro before an orchestra. Or a lover with his beloved. Joker's focus was eerie when he was piloting, nothing existed except the Normandy. He shouted commands to the flight crew with an authority he never expressed outside the cockpit, his usual humor and sarcasm gone. While he was flying, he was the ship and the ship was God. Even EDI took his commands without complaint. I watched the urbanized planet grow closer at Joker's expert touch on the controls.

On the surface, Illium was beauty incarnate. The graceful spires of the stratospheric skyscrapers covered the planet, rendering it one continuous city, glowing from artificial light. Nothing this beautiful was ever without its dark side, I didn't have to set foot on the planet to know that for a fact; if everything was going to open and aboveboard, the asari wouldn't have colonized this planet out here in the Terminus, outside Council jurisdiction. The darkside would be hidden, the better to trap the unwary. At least on Omega, the hell was out there in the open. It was unavoidable, but at least it wasn't going to sneak up on you.

Nowhere was that more apparent than while Garrus and I were helping Miranda rescue her sister from her reprehensible father. Given that this was an asari planet, it was logical to see the Eclipse sisters with their little blue fingers in every pie. And I was sympathetic to that merc Enyala's desire to try to do something good for a change. But whatever Miranda had done in the past, the girl was blameless and shouldn't be ripped away from the only family she'd ever known. No matter what their all-powerful father wanted.

"Thank you, Shepard, I can't believe Niket sold me out. I didn't even see it coming," the genetically engineered woman told me one last time before she went to spend the day with her sister.

"Even with all your upgrades, you're human just like the rest of us. And I told you, Miranda. You don't have to thank me. You're part of my crew. I make it a habit to be there for any member of it." I tried to make my voice gentle, but I never really succeeded at that. From the look on her face, I failed again. "Look, that came out wrong."

"I see." She shook her head. "Shepard, I'm the one who screwed up. I'm the one who let it get personal." Her lips tightened angrily, "Why didn't you let me kill him? I could have handled that. But watching him get gunned down by that asari bitch…"

"You still cared for him, even if he betrayed you."

"You're right. And my father knew it. He used that against me. It's always been like this. My father gave me everything I ever wanted, but there was always a hook, an angle for his long term plan." I closed my eyes against the wash of memories of my own father. Rough hands where they shouldn't be, rancid breath, stinking like cheap beer. Miranda continued, yanking me back to the present before my hand could finish inching toward my pistol, "I threw away everything he ever gave me when I ran. Except Niket. Weakness on my part." She shrugged hopelessly.

"You still have Oriana," I pointed out. I was momentarily glad I'd never had a sister to suffer as I did. Hair yanked tight, pulling my head back using my hair, "Earn your keep, you miserable rat!" "Look, I just meant, I respect you a great deal. And if helping you gives you peace of mind, then so be it. I can't have a member of my crew, a friend, worrying herself sick over something that can be fixed."

"My father didn't give her to me, I rescued her." She pointed out, running right past my peace offer of friendship.

"I know we rarely get along, Miranda. I'm envious of your shoe collection and your gorgeous hair." She choked out a laugh. "You resent me being your superior officer."

"I don't know if I'd say that, Shepard." She slanted her eyes to the side, looking down. "At least, not any more. But .. you're right. I still have something. Thank you. But… "

"All right, fine, you used to resent me being in charge, right?" Garrus wandered away in a rare display of tact. I'd have to thank him later. The woman was prickly enough, hell I was prickly enough, without being overheard.

"I'll admit that," she finally met my eyes again.

"That doesn't change that you would prefer to still be in charge even now." I glared at her, daring her to contradict me.

"I – yes," she said, reluctantly, "I'll admit to that."

I glanced around and realized we were slightly blocking traffic on the trading floor. I motioned for her to follow me over to the rail that gave a panoramic view of Nos Astra. I leaned on my forearms as she came to stand next to me, stiff and unyielding. "Look, despite your blind spot for Cerberus, I don't hate you. And believe me, I tried like hell."

I turned my head in time to see her stare at me in astonishment. "I tried to really dislike you, too, Shepard."

I shrugged and went for humor, "We're two hot chicks in positions of power, Miranda. We can be only two things: enemies, or friends. There's no middle ground for us."

She laughed and her hand crept up to wipe under her eyelid, careful to not smear her eye makeup. "So which are we?"

I looked down at my hands, "I don't know yet. I'd prefer friends."

"I would, too."

I looked over at her, her ramrod straight posture, her hands folded primly on the railing, the soft breeze playing with her over-conditioned jet hair, "I would be honored to call you my friend, Miranda Lawson."

She smiled softly and looked at me, "Thank you. I'd be honored to call you my friend, too, Meghan Shepard."

"Good. We don't have to kill each other now." We both grinned.

She turned to look at the younger version of her, her smile fading, "We got away with no sign of Eclipse. It looks like we're clear." She cleared her throat, "There she is. She's safe, with her family." I wasn't imagining the longing in Miranda's voice, was I? "No, come on, we should go." She shook her head and turned to leave.

I blinked at her, "Don't you even want to say hello?" I'm not sure what I would do if I were presented with long-lost family, but I was certain I wouldn't ignore them.

She turned back to look at me, "It's not about what I want. It's about what's right for her. The less she knows about me the better." Miranda's eyes, almost of their own volition, went to her sister, again. "She's got a family. A life. I'd just complicate that for her."

I shook my head, "She doesn't need any details, but would it really be so bad for her to know she has a sister who loves her?" My mind wandered to the idea of a sister, and the memory of my father murdered it in vitro. Miranda needed to stay and talk to her sister. We weren't going anywhere for a while, and I didn't need the Cerberus Operative to hold my hand while I gathered information. I had Garrus for that. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

Miranda finally smiled, "I guess not."

"Go on, spend the day with your sister," I repeated. "We can get Krios without you," I paused, making sure she looked over at me. "My friend." She nodded her head and walked over to her twin.

I heard Garrus' voice before he joined me to lean on the rail, "I heard the last part of that. Friends, huhn?"

"I'm not sure how sincere either of us really was, Garrus. It was more of a declaration of truce than an actual bonding moment, I think. And now, she has a family." I felt the lump in my throat threatening to weaken me into a puddle of tears. I didn't turn to look at him. I didn't have to. I knew he'd be looking down at me with that mixture of amusement and confusion he always seemed to have around me, or worse, sympathy. He was also standing very close, our armored bodies nearly touching. I swallowed the lump, "C'mon, let's go get Tali. It's time to go see Liara."