Chapter 32: Brand New Day

The medbay was rife with activity as John Shepard quietly slipped on his shirt, his body still tender from the beatings of the night before. Of course, simply calling the living hell that he had gone through as 'beatings' was putting it lightly. It amazed him that he could still walk with his own power after being inches from death's doorstep just a night prior, much less stand. Medigel truly was a wonderful breakthrough in medical science he mused, leaving his gashes and broken bones as mere scratches and aches only a few hours after application. The accelerated healing still took a toll on the body, he noted, as the mere brush of his shirt on his skin brought about pangs of pain, but the faster recovery time made it all worth it.

But even with the pain and punishment he underwent taken into consideration, he knew he was one of the luckier ones. The scene in the medbay was a grim reminder of that.

A few beds down from his, Jack and Samara slept peacefully, the pair of biotics blissfully ignorant of the chaos going on around them. The two had gone past the limit of their capabilities, defending the Normandy with feats of biotic powers that almost cost them their lives against unfavorable odds. Equally amazing were the other members of his team, who went through death defying odds and managed to walk out of it under their own power. That was of course with the exception of Joker, who was still amazing for living through the ordeal with glass bones and still managed to fly the ship despite his injuries. Needless to say, he was damn proud of all of them, and relieved that the crew did not suffer a single casualty above injuries.

There was also Feron and his crew of Shadow Broker operatives, who suffered over a dozen casualties in defense of the Normandy. Their numbers comprised the bulk of the injured in the medbay, spilling out into the mess hall where he saw them lying on cots through the windows. To think that a few months earlier, the two sides would have been most likely shooting at each other before Liara took the moniker of the Shadow Broker. It was because of these men and women that his crew was spared the brunt of the assault. He made a mental note to go through their names and give them their due respect in honor of their sacrifice. Shepard was wondering where Feron was right now so he could get right on that.

And then there was Aria T'Loak, whose bedside was currently crowded by Dr. Chakwas, Mordin and the rest of the ad-hoc medical staff, also care of Feron's operatives. He was initially worried when he eyed the puddle of blood on the floor, but was relieved when he heard the pirate queen cursing energetically as Chakwas was fumbling with something next to her. Shepard couldn't get a good look as to what was going on, but he heard it quite well.

Aria roared in pain, miraculously not throwing the staff off of her with a biotic burst. "Damn it, that hurts! Be more careful!" she howled.

To her credit, Dr. Chakwas didn't back down. "Oh I'm sorry, I'm trying to be as gentle as I can be, cauterizing your blood vessels before you bleed out!" she chided heatedly. "What were you thinking?!"

"How dare you…!?" Aria started, but the venom in her voice was cut short as she yelped in pain. "Just… Just shut up and be more careful!" Her other hand swatted at Mordin, knocking a syringe from his grip that was about to pierce her. "I thought I said no sedatives…!" she sneered, sitting up to look Mordin in the eye.

Dr. Chakwas growled in frustration, pushing Aria back down onto the bed. "Then I would suggest that you stop squirming, Aria. I was led to believe that you were a tough girl, act like it." She said firmly, ignoring the look of disbelief on the asari's face that someone could address her like that, but Aria kept silent and only groaned passively in pain. "Dr. Solus, would you kindly assist me by ligating this side of the wound to prevent contractures?"

"Yes, yes. Already working on it." Mordin said curtly, his hands a blur of motion and his demeanor calmer than anybody else's in the vicinity despite the palpable tension. "Lacerations messy but manageable. Must administer levofarin to eliminate blood clots."

Shepard tuned out of the medical jargon between Mordin and Dr. Chakwas, instead focusing on trying to exit the medbay without disturbing the procedure. He briskly walked past the crowd by Aria's bedside who didn't so much as give him a second look. He knew he agreed to stay in bed for at least eight hours, but there was much planning to be done, and the sooner he could get on with them, the sooner they can mobilize.

That went better than expected, he thought as he approached the medbay doors, steps away from freedom. With a discreet wave of his hand, the doors opened and he rushed to get out before he was detected. Unfortunately, his escape plan was thwarted when he bumped into somebody in the doorway on the way out.

Tali stepped back as she bumped into him, instinctively rubbing her visor. "Oh! I'm sorry! I shouldn't have just stormed in- Shepard?" She said, finally registering who was standing in front of her.

"Tali?" Shepard said, forgetting all pretense of stealth. Before either of them could trade more words, Dr. Chakwas caught wind of his escape.

"JOHN SHEPARD!" The beleaguered Dr. Chakwas shrieked, looking up from her work on Aria, her stress level reaching to a boiling point. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP!? WE HAD A DEAL!"

"It's been…! Ah, it's been 8 hours, doc!" Shepard tried to explain, doing his best not to become more of a target for her displeasure. "Remember? You said I could leave after 8 hours…" He may be commanding officer of the ship, but the medbay was under the tyranny of Karin Chakwas. He was prone to doing the insane, but challenging her rule here was guaranteed suicide. "Well, it hasn't been exactly 8 hours since then but it's close enough to 8 hours that I thought I could-…!"

He was cut off when Aria raised her voice again. "Is that Shepard?" she said, sitting back up much to Dr. Chakwas' annoyance. "Shepard! You better damn well not deploy without me! Do I make myself clear!?" Before Shepard could reply, she was pushed back down by Dr. Chakwas' firm but gentle hand. "I will not be denied my vengeance!"

"Please lie back down, Aria!" Dr. Chakwas strained to say to Aria as calm as she could will herself, before turning back to let loose on Shepard. "YOU WANT OUT? THEN GET THE HELL OUT OF MY MEDBAY!" She roared at Shepard, making him flinch. Meanwhile, Mordin just carried on with his work, humming a tune and somehow able to become detached from the situation as Dr. Chakwas ranted. "THIS IS A DELICATE PROCEDURE! YOU TOO, TALI'ZORAH! OUT WITH THE BOTH OF YOU!"

Just as he started to feel like a deer staring at the headlights of an oncoming truck, Shepard felt Tali's hand grab his, the quarian giggling nervously. "You heard the doctor, John." She said as she pulled him away from Dr. Chakwas' throwing range. "Let's go!"

"Thanks, doc!" Shepard called out as they left, managing to hear the good doctor mutter 'ingrate' as the doors closed. He was more than happy to let Tali lead him away as they both walked briskly past the mess hall, resisting the urge to run like scolded school children. They rounded the corner and stepped into the empty elevator. Both shared a sigh of relief laugh as the doors closed with a pressurized hiss, before looking at each other and laughing in amusement. "My hero…" Shepard chuckled, squeezing Tali's hand.

"Don't mention it; all in a day's work…" Tali replied nonchalantly, her eyes letting Shepard know that her lips had an amused grin on it. "You're just lucky that I was on my way to check in on you, you bosh'tet. I should've known you would have hatched some kind of escape attempt around this time."

"Escape attempt? I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." Shepard replied innocently.

"Right…" Tali giggled, "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better, that's for damn sure." Shepard said, rolling his neck as he hit the button for Deck 1. "Shall we continue this conversation in my quarters?"

"My, my… How forward of you!" Tali teased, placing her other hand on her cheek in mock scandal.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, miss Vas Normandy." Shepard said, grinning playfully. "I just want to hug my girlfriend after going through hell. Is that too much to ask?"

"Well, I'm sure you deserve that much, at least. So, if you're feeling better, I have a surprise for you…" Tali said suggestively, perking up on her toes giddily. "Now close your eyes."

"Oh? How thoughtful of you..." Shepard said as the elevator doors opened to his quarters on Deck 1. "But can't it wait 'til we're in the room?"

"Don't be like that…" Tali pouted as she stood in front of the door, blocking his way. "Please? I promise you'll like it." She cooed seductively, tilting her head with her hands behind her back, thrusting her chest out to him.

Wow, Shepard thought, Tali was being more aggressive than usual in her advances. "Alright, alright." He relented, closing his eyes, unable to get rid of the stupid grin that played on his face. "There, my eyes are closed."

"Promise not to peek?" Tali cooed.

"Yeah, I promise." Shepard said.

"Okay, here it comes…"

Shepard felt a balled fist punch him in the gut, winding him at the force of impact and making his other injuries sing with pain. Before he could react to that strike, he felt her visor smack against his face in a head-butt, dazing him and knocking him back against the wall. "Ow! What was that for?!" he demanded, checking his nose for any sign of bleeding. He yelped in pain again as Tali kicked him in the shin. "Stop it!"

"That was for being an insane, suicidal bosh'tet of a man!" Tali said, dusting her hands off. "Oh don't give me that look. I did say I would kick your ass when you got better." She justified.

"Yeah, but… Seriously?" Shepard asked exasperatedly. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Tali replied. The way she spoke made it painfully evident that she was proud of herself. "Trying to talk some sense into you wasn't yielding much, so I figured I'd speak to you in a language I was sure you'd understand: Violence."

"You're pretty fluent in it." Shepard said, leaning back against the wall with his knee lifted, rubbing his shin.

"That's what you get for blatantly disregarding your self-preservation instincts and for making me worry so much about you." Tali said heatedly. "You've done a lot of idiotic things before, but jumping out of a speeding vehicle while it's in mid-air? I mean, really? Damn it, John, I nearly died of fright!"

"I just wanted to keep you safe." Shepard said.

"And you think I didn't want you to be safe?"

"I'm sorry for-…"

"Sorry? Sorry for what?" Tali demanded, cutting him off midsentence and poking an accusatory finger to his chest. "Sorry for making me fall in love with a reckless bastard like you?"

"Well you made me fall in love with you, too!" He countered.

"A likely story…" Tali dismissed. Shepard just gave her his equivalent of a pout as he rubbed his jaw. "Oh come on now, don't tell me that little old me could make a dent on the great Commander Shepard."

"The 'Great' Commander Shepard was just nearly ripped into pieces just a few hours ago so excuse me for acting like a vulnerable mortal." He said firmly, "and the only dents you can make on me are emotional ones."

"I could kick you in between your legs; see if that makes a dent?" Tali just cocked an eyebrow at him and they both stared at each other, before she broke into a fit of laughter. "Well, I feel better, at least." Tali said as she approached Shepard, gently wrapping her arms around him and giving him a hug.

"That makes one of us." For his part, Shepard still played the offended, but it was admittedly very hard to stay mad at Tali.

"Oh don't be like that…" Tali cooed, taking his hand and pulling him into his room. "Come on, The Great Commander Shepard has earned some cuddle time with his girlfriend."

"If your idea of cuddle time involves bodily harm then I'd rather not." He protested, but still let himself be led by hand. "Besides, we need to plan for our deployment on Omega."

"That's cute, acting like you have a choice in this situation." Tali said wryly. "Omega will still be there in the next two hours, Shepard. Your girlfriend however is a fickle creature whose whims can change with the wind."

"You're not going to apologize for hitting me, are you?"

"Nope." Tali said sweetly, leading him to his bed. "Unless of course if it's a public apology where the whole ship can know that you got beaten up by a girl."

"Girl? Nah, you're more of a woman. A wretched woman." Shepard said as he let himself fall down into the soft white sheets. Tali curled up next to him in an instant, nuzzling into his neck as she wrapped her arms around him. "But I still love you."

"And you're an insufferable bosh'tet of a man." Tali replied, "But I still love you, too."

They both laid there for the next few minutes in silence, content just to be in one another's presence. Right now, they needed this, to be lost in each other's arms.

They could make this relationship work.

They wanted to make it work.

Because what use is fighting if you have nothing to fight for?

"Hey…" Shepard said softly. "I know I get some dumb ideas but… No matter what happens, I'll always find my way back to you." It was a cheesy thing to say, and he cringed by just saying it. But no matter how cheesy it sounded, he meant every word of it.

"You promise?" Tali whispered back.

"Hey, death couldn't stop me, right?" he said with a grin, earning him a playful punch from Tali.

"Don't remind me about that!" Tali said, still hugging him. "If you put me through that ordeal again I don't know what I'd do… So you're not allowed to die again, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am." Shepard said, pulling her closer to him. Maybe the planning for Omega could wait another couple of hours, he thought as he held Tali in his arms. It was an unusual relationship to have when a human and a quarian fall in love. And in Shepard's case, things were even more complex. But right now, he couldn't give a single damn about chiral compatibility.

Meanwhile, back in the medbay, Aria's procedure was nearly done and dealt with.

Much to the relief of everyone else, Dr. Chakwas noticeably calmed down from her aggressive demeanor as she secured the final suture, stitching the ends of Aria's blood vessels shut to prevent her from bleeding out. After applying a copious amount of medigel onto the wound, Dr. Chakwas heaved a sigh of relief. "There. The worst is over." She said, pulling off her bloody latex gloves and stepping back from Aria. "You do now how to keep somebody on their toes." She remarked to the pirate queen.

Aria simply grimaced, the pain killers doing little good to soothe her. "Yeah, whatever." She said dismissively. As Dr. Chakwas rolled her eyes, Aria quickly added. "Thank you, doctor."

"You're quite welcome." Dr. Chakwas replied tiredly, the other members of the medical team quickly dispersing now that the situation has stabilized. "Although it would be better if you thanked me by avoiding such rash actions in the future." She said, stepping away to get something from the counter.

Aria merely chuckled in amusement, wincing in pain from her wound as a result. She looked at the stump of her left wrist, wondering what she was thinking when she did what she did. She was resolute when she had cut her own hand off, but the impact of losing her limb slowly started to set in. Mordin was right, a cloned limb could be grafted later on, but she was thinking of the here and now. Right now, she needed to kill every last merc bastard who dared raise their hands against her. That would be difficult with only one hand and two bad knees. "Damn it." She sighed, lowering her wrist from her sight and staring right up at the ceiling. If she thought she was angry before, now she was pissed. How could she fight alongside her men if she was rendered a cripple? Just as she was thinking that, her wound touched the bed sheets and she yelped in pain from the contact. "Hey doc, aren't you going to bandage me up?" she asked irritably.

"Not yet, we have to finish phase two of the procedure." Dr. Chakwas replied, returning with a pair of fresh gloves around her hands.

"Phase two?" Aria asked, puzzled.

"Yes, phase two." Dr. Chakwas confirmed. Just as she was about to explain, the doors to the medbay opened and Mordin walked in with a metal box in hand. Aria didn't even notice that he had left. "Ah, here comes Dr. Solus now. It's best that he explain the procedure. If you would, doctor?"

"Yes, of course." Mordin walked up to them, setting the box down at Aria's bedside. With a sweep of his omnitool, the box projected a holo interface where he quickly entered a passcode. "The mission is dangerous by nature. Some dangers easily avoided, most aren't as convenient. Injuries to be expected. Thought it was best to be prepared for a number of worst case scenarios." The box hissed with depressurization, its lid lifting up and sliding aside, revealing its contents. Mordin picked up the contents of the box and showed it to Aria, who raised both eyebrows in surprise.

"That's a cybernetic hand." Aria said, inspecting the mechanized appendage that Mordin held up for her to see. It was a sleek but imposing looking construct, with five digits and encased in some kind of shiny white polymer.

"Amputation during combat only one of many injuries projected that may occur." Mordin said. "Cloned limbs far superior, but inconvenient during time sensitive situations. Believe this is one of those situations." He continued. "Neural interface with the limb enables it to a level of dexterity for simple tasks such as reloading, with pressure sensors mimicking a sense of touch. Far from elegant but able to get job done. Also came across knee joint stabilizing bracers, compatible with all council species. Will help you move fluidly though not without some measure of pain and discomfort." He explained.

It took her a moment to realize the implications and what he was saying. "Wait, you're giving those to me?"

"Only with your consent. Otherwise would be unethical." Mordin said, straight faced, setting the hand back down into the box.

"You? Ethics?" Aria said, she opened her mouth to say something more, but instead turned to look at Dr. Chakwas who in turn just shrugged, the look in her eye exposing the amused smirk on the doctor's face underneath her medical mask. Aria turned back to Mordin, shaking her head. "Hell, for a new hand and a working pair of knees? Sure Mordin, consider the consent given." Aria's smirk came back to her, the fires of her determination reignited. It looks like she wasn't out of this fight just yet.

Miranda yawned and stretched as she stirred in her bed, waking up from a surprisingly satisfying sleep, the feel of her warm bed and the lace of her nightgown adding to the moment's glory. She hadn't had one of those for a while; there was always a ton of paperwork that she had to document after every mission. But with their connection to Cerberus officially severed, her work load was practically cut in half, not needing to type out detailed reports to the Illusive Man about every little thing anymore. Because of this, she was reintroduced to her long lost lover: a good night's rest. Not that it made her disposition considerably brighter at the moment. As what some people can attest to, Miranda Lawson was definitely not a morning person.

Her stretching turned into a wince of pain as her body reminded her of her wounds. The medigel undid most of the damage of course, but her body wasn't ready to be quite as limber yet. Dressed in a black lacy nightgown that was loose fitting but still managed to drape around her curves, Miranda got up and prepared to start her morning rituals. It was this step by step process that warded off the demons of waking up and prepared her for a brand new day.

Walking over to her closet, she grabbed her bathrobe and proceeded to her desk to pick up her mug. Walking to the door to get coffee from the mess hall, she stopped herself just in time as she remembered the couple of dozen Shadow Broker operatives that were resting on the other side. She was thankful for them saving her life and the lives of the others, but not so much as to give them a show while she waltzed around in her state of dress. Coffee would have to wait, she realized with a groan as she sat down in front of her desk, not wanting to go through the simple chore of changing her clothes and instead electing to get back to work.

Though she didn't need to pass anymore reports to the Illusive Man, she still felt the compulsion to make them, if only to document the crew's activities. She activated her terminal and went over the stack of datapads next to it. She sighed as she went over the forms most of which were requisitions from the engineering team for materials needed to repair the damages from the attack just last night. To think that just when she thought that the worse was over, here they were embroiled in another crisis. She counted off the datapads and murmured something in confusion. She was sure there were more of these damned things on her desk last night. God, why was she feeling so frustrated?

"Ugh." She groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose and setting the forms down on the desk. She always had a cup of coffee before starting work in the morning, and going against her morning routine wasn't sitting right with the Normandy's XO. Standing up, she decided to start her day instead by taking a shower in her bathroom.

Yes, a good shower was what she needed to freshen up. Deviating from her morning rituals was what was making her feel like this. It certainly wasn't the fact that she woke up alone on a bed made for two, or because of the night prior when she and Jacob had shared a moment together, something that they hadn't done in a long time, back when they were still… them. No, these thoughts were baseless, the musings of a still half asleep person.

She stood up from her desk and undid her bathrobe, letting it fall to the floor. As she was walking towards the bathroom, she pulled her nightgown over her head, revealing that she wore a pair of black satin panties underneath and nothing else, tossing the lacy garment aside to join the bathrobe on the floor. A few more steps and she ran her thumbs across the straps of her underwear, slipping them down her legs and kicking it aside, revealing her fully naked form to the cold air. Rushing into the bathroom to the sanctuary of warm water, Miranda closed the door behind her and stepped into the shower. Twisting the knob, warm, steaming water flowed out of the shower head, and Miranda relished the feeling of warmth splash against her skin and dripping down the curves of her body.

Yes, a good shower was all that she needed.

As he heard the click of Miranda's bathroom door closing, Feron's cloak faded, and he opened his eyes from where he was perched flat against the ceiling of Miranda's office. He soundlessly landed back on the floor, Miranda's missing datapads in hand. He'd been doing that little trick since before he got the cloaking tech to evade detection. Why nobody ever bothered to simply look up whenever he did that back then was beyond him, but he wasn't complaining. That was close, he thought, as he placed the datapads he had on him back onto Miranda's desk.

He found nothing of value in the datapads, but her terminal was activated now and he knew that if the information he sought would be anywhere, it would be in there. Running his omnitool over the interface, he broke past the security firewalls and began data mining the terminal for all of its contents.

He'd have to go through them later himself, but right now, his mining program was prioritizing anything with the words dust, blood and father on it. If the information they found in the old Broker's database was even remotely true, the circumstances would be grim for the galaxy, and that was including the Reaper threat. As per Liara's orders, he needed to make sure that everybody aboard the Normandy was still who they claimed to be before he could tell them anything more about what Liara had uncovered.

While he was busy going through the files, the soft click of a gun being cocked behind him made his body spin around instinctively, raising his own pistol. He turned to find an unabashedly naked Miranda, holding a gun that was aimed at his head. Her dripping wet hair was plastered over her body, just barely covering the generous swell of her breasts, but leaving everything else exposed and shining with moisture.

"I knew something was off about those damned datapads." She said impassively, not at all bothering to cover up, her hand holding her gun steadily. "Glad to see you're up and about, Feron."

"Operative Lawson." Feron greeted her, gun still raised. "We haven't had the time to catch up since the assault. You're looking well."

"Now that introductions are out of the way, what can I do for you?"

"Just checking a few things." Feron replied nonchalantly, jerking his head to the terminal that he was still mining. "I didn't want to bother you so I helped myself."

"If that's the case, you could have just approached Shepard." She replied dryly. "Considering the man's… history with your employer, I'm sure he would have been more than happy to give her what she wanted."

They looked at each other, both guns raised as the tension slowly rose between them. There was a beep from Feron's omnitool as the data mining finished, and a brief glance at the holo-interface told him that his search-words weren't picking up anything of relevant context to his investigation.

It was a few moments longer before Feron lowered his gun, cutting off the link between his omnitool and Miranda's terminal. "Sorry, my body reacted prematurely to the threat of your gun." He said as he holstered his weapon. "I guess you can say I just wanted to work on my infiltration skills. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get the drop on the infamous Miranda Lawson." He shrugged. "But I guess I need to work on my skills some more."

Miranda let the slightest of grins play on her face, but still she held her gun steady, aiming at Feron's head. "Flattery can only get you so far, Feron." She said. "Now tell me, what's the real reason that you're here? What are you hiding from us?"

"I'm not hiding anything."

"Then why can't I seem to lower my weapon?" Miranda countered dangerously.

There was a flash of movement, and before she could take a shot, Feron had wrenched the gun from her grip, grappling with her until he had Miranda pinned against the wall, her naked body pressed up against his.

Miranda would have screamed, she would have started glowing with her biotics and ripped him apart, but Feron's lips were dangerously close to her own and somehow that was enough to freeze her in place. His eyes didn't gaze with any killing intent, but his imposing stare dominated her, and she cowered under it. Though the moment was hardly intimate, Miranda couldn't remember the last time she was this physically close to another person. Oh, actually, yes she could remember; the last time was with Jacob.

Feron leaned in closer, whispering something calmly into her ear. "If I had something to hide, Miss Lawson… you'd be dead." The light contact of his breath on her ear sent a shiver up her spine that she was more than conscious about. Miranda felt a familiar tingle between her legs, and her cheeks flushed red. She had intended to use her sex appeal against him, but he had turned the tables on her quite effectively.

Before she could say anything, he suddenly backed off, and Miranda almost felt a tinge of regret that he did. She realized that her heart was beating furiously, and she started becoming very conscious of her nakedness.

"I apologize, Miss Lawson. My body's actions sometimes get ahead of me." He said, putting Miranda's gun down on her desk. "I have nothing to hide, but I have information that I can only share under specific circumstances." Feron continued. "The Commander will no doubt set up a mission briefing in two to three hours about Omega. I'll share what I know then. Good morning, Miss Lawson."

And with that, Feron faded into his cloak. The door opened just wide enough for him to slip through and closed almost immediately after, saving her from what prying eyes there might be outside.

Miranda just stood there, leaning against the wall as she tried to calm herself down. Logically she should have been angry, indignant even. But if anything, she was more frustrated than angry. It was at that moment that she finally understood what has been bothering her. The stress of the past few months had been piling up on her, and Miranda Lawson realized that she was craving for sexual release to ease her tension. Her interactions with Jacob the night before must have brought back some subconscious desires in her, flames that were only fanned by Feron's actions.

"Damn that drell…" she cursed under her breath as she felt a pleasant, yet agonizing warmth and wetness coming from between her legs. Great, she thought sarcastically, this was exactly what she needed right now. She walked over to her bathrobe and quickly covered herself. Forget that toasty hot shower she was having; now she was going to have to douse herself under icy water just to kill off these urges. "Well, I can't see how this morning could possibly get anymore worse than it already is."

She was so flustered that she almost didn't notice the door open up again.

"Morning, Miri." Jacob greeted. "Thought you might want some coffee?"

"Jacob!" she said out loud in surprise as she turned and saw him standing by her doorway with two cups of coffee in hand and a look of surprise on his face from her outburst. As opposed to his usual look, he was wearing a white wife-beater and sweat pants, and it seemed like he had just finished his morning set of exercises, accentuating the look of his muscled physique. "Ah, good morning! Yes. Yes, copul-" she bit on her tongue to stop herself from uttering the word 'copulating'. Ugh, Freudian slips. "I mean coffee together would be great…" Way to tempt fate, she told herself. She had to take a quick breath to regain her composure before she could speak again. "Just give me a moment to change into something more comfortable."

"Ah." Jacob said with realization as he saw the bathrobe around her. He set the two cups down on her desk and made for the door. "Sorry, should have knocked. I'll wait outside while-."

"Wait." Miranda cut him off. Jacob turned to look at her over his shoulder, frozen in mid-step. Oh dear lord, what was she saying about to say? She asked herself. "I… Well, I can't just let you stand around outside. Just take a seat on the couch; it's not like you haven't seen me naked before." A part of her wanted to wither away and die as the words left her mouth. He's seen it all before alright, she thought to herself, and back then he did a lot more than just look, too. They did a lot of things together, and he was really good at doing those things with her… She felt mortified when she realized she had been staring at him and biting down on her lower lip. "I'll, uh, be changing now."

"Okay…" Jacob said, briefly squinting as he made his way to the couch, noting that Miranda was acting strangely. He made a point of becoming very interested of her desk to show that he wasn't about to molest her with his eyes. "Something wrong, Miri?"

"No. No, everything's quite alright." She replied coolly, pushing back the torrent of lust welling up inside of her. Yes something was wrong, she wanted to yell out loud and then pounce on him, tearing off his clothes. She was hornier than a cat in heat looking to be ravaged by the closest male at hand.

Unfortunately, the closest male at hand just happened to be the man whom she had tried having a relationship with but mutually settled as just being friends. She could not, under any circumstances, give in to any idiotic ideas taking root in her head right now.

It would irreversibly damage the friendship that she and Jacob had managed to foster these past few months.

She couldn't possibly bring herself to straddle him as his firm hands explored and appreciated every inch of her soft body, her lips meeting his in a fiery-

Nope. No way. Nu-uh. None of that.

Absolutely not.

No chance in hell.

Anybody but Jacob.

Hell, at this point she would have been better off doing it with Feron. And that thought was very, very unappealing.

Damn that drell for putting her in this predicament.

She needed to distract herself somehow.

Yes, she needed to distract herself from the fine male specimen that was currently lounging about on her couch.

She needed to think of paperwork. Mountains upon mountains of paperwork stacked high atop each other. She needed enough paperwork to destroy any semblance of free-thought and individuality.

"Uh, Miri?" Jacob said, breaking Miranda's train of thought.

"Hmm?" she replied tensely, trying not to look in his direction and minimizing social interaction.

"You've… been pacing back and forth for the past five minutes now." He said carefully.

"Oh, have I?" Miranda tried to play it off, but the fluster was showing on her face. Her legs started to wobble and her knees threatened to give on her. What has gotten over her? Has it really been that long since she's had sex? Come to think of it, she hasn't even touched herself for months now. Did all these pent up desires just decided to show up all at once, demanding satisfaction to make up for her deprivation? Unbelievable, she thought as she was slowly losing her balance.

Before she knew it, Jacob was already beside her, holding her steady as she threatened to fall over. "Miranda, you don't look so good." He said, inspecting her. "I think we should take you to the medbay."

Great, just what she needed, close physical contact. She groaned inwardly as Jacob's proximity to her only served to worsen her situation. He had such strong arms; his touch was firm but gentle, his hands treating her like a fragile little thing. She could just melt into him.

No, she shook her head, attempting to get the thoughts out of her mind. This was starting to get ridiculous. She wasn't some hormone driven school girl. She was a woman and she could control herself.

"Miri?" Jacob asked with a look of worry now plainly evident on his face.

She had to resist the violent impulse to ravage him then and there. "I'm fine, Jacob." Miranda said calmly. She pushed Jacob gently away from her and managed to give him a reassuring smile. "I think I just need some time to myself right now." Jacob simply raised an inquisitive eyebrow, earning him a playful shove from Miranda. "Don't give me that. I'm fine, alright?"

"Alright, Miri." He knew better than to force an issue with her. "Hey, listen, I was wondering… " he trailed off.

"Yes?" Miranda said, a feeling of dread creeping up slowly in the back of her head.

Jacob stood there, looking nervous, running a hand through the back of his hair. The last time he looked like this he asked her to-.

No.

No.

Whatever he was about to say to her, it better not be what she was thinking he was going to say.

"When all this is over, maybe you and I can-."

Miranda put a finger to his lips, cutting him off midsentence. "Jacob…" she whispered. "I know what you're going to say… and you know why I can't do that." This was very bad, Miranda thought, as Jacob's usual easygoing expression started to falter with the look of the broken hearted. It was a long couple of seconds of silence before he replied.

"Miri… If this is about your father, your past…" He began, his voice almost pleading. "I know you're strong, Miri. Lord knows I've seen it first-hand, experienced it even. But that doesn't mean you have to face your demons all alone."

"Jacob…" She started, leaning into him in a moment of weakness. She rose up to her tip-toes, her lips reaching for his. But the moment of weakness was fleeting, and she stopped herself inches away from his face. "I'm sorry." She whispered instead. "I'm… I'm not in love with you, Jacob Taylor." She backed away and looked into his eyes, afraid of the consequences of what she said, but his face remained a mask of placidity, his eyes just staring right back at her.

"Oh." It was the only thing he said before he turned and went for the door. He stopped just in front of it though, turning to face her, his mouth half open to say something more. Instead, he just shook his head, hung it low, and simply left.

Miranda could have stopped him. She should have stopped him. But she let him go, leaving her alone again. The two cups of coffee lay forgotten on her desk. He deserved a better woman than her, she thought. She couldn't remember how she had gotten back into the shower, but the chilling water was a poor substitute for comfort. It was the water that flowed down her face incessantly, she told herself, not tears.

General Oleg Petrovsky had a dour look on his face as he walked through the halls of his flagship, the Ptolemy, accompanied by a cadre of Cerberus Troopers armed to the teeth with heavy armor, riot shields, stun batons, assault rifles and shotguns. Crewmen gave the procession a wide berth as they stomped through the halls. His aide, a young woman with short black hair, walked alongside the man, a look of worry on her face.

"Permission to speak candidly, sir?" She asked reluctantly.

"Granted." He replied gruffly.

"I don't think it's wise for you to confront him face-to-face, sir." She urged, but the man just dismissively waved away her fears with a gesture of his hand. "Sir, I implore you to reconsider this; the man's an unbalanced lunatic, he could-."

"Noted, yeoman." Petrovsky replied in a manner that said her time to speak candidly was over. "Return to your post on the bridge, that's an order." The woman gave a curt salute, her eyes begging him to reconsider the decision as she broke away from the group, watching as his back as they continued their march. Her recommendation was reasonable enough; there were plenty of ways to speak to go about what he had planned without risking death. But this was about an officer's pride. He needed the man to understand that this was his ship, and in this ship, he was tantamount to god himself.

There was an engineer, a brilliant young woman by the name of Sera Martell, top of her class and a genius in her field. She had served Cerberus loyally for half a decade now, and this was her first tour on one of Cerberus' premier battleships, the Ptolemy. It would also be her last.

Just over an hour ago, her body was found, with traces of semen and cut in half at the waist. He didn't care if he was directly under the Illusive Man, the bastard had raped and murdered one of his own. This will not stand, not on his ship. The procession turned the corner, and they found themselves in front one of the officer suites that the man had commandeered for the trip.

Just as he was about to order his men to breech the door, it slid apart, revealing a man sitting on a couch on the far side of the room.

"General Petrovsky, my esteemed host!" Kai Leng greeted cheerily as he ran a bloody rag over his sword, the blade gleaming dangerously in the light. "Come in, please." He urged, bidding the group to enter. "To what do I owe this visit at such a late hour?"

"Operative Leng." Petrovsky replied coldly. With a nod of his head, the squad accompanying him stormed in with expert precision. The troopers set up in two rows; those in the front brandished imposing titanium alloy shields, forming a protective wall between them and Kai Leng while those in the back hefted shotguns and assault rifles, training their sights on the Cerberus Assassin. "You know damn well why I'm here." The General sneered as he walked to the middle of the line, standing behind one of the shield bearing troopers.

Kai Leng whistled as he unceremoniously tossed away the bloody rag to the side, sheathing his ninjato. "My, my… Quite an intimidating show." He said, setting the sword down on the coffee table in front of him. "But I'm afraid you're no mind reader, General. I don't know why you're here."

"Her name was Sera!" Petrovsky sneered, nearly losing his composure. "Did you even bother to learn that when you raped and then killed her?"

"Rape and then kill a woman? I did no such thing!" Kai Leng replied indignantly. The frown on his face turned into a self-satisfied smirk as he kicked his feet up onto the coffee table, leaning back against the couch and folding his arms across his chest. "I killed her while I was raping her…" he corrected the general. "And I was still raping her long after that. Have you ever fucked somebody who was dying? Tighter than any virgin, I assure you." He chuckled, as if this topic was casual conversation.

General Petrovsky felt his knuckles crack and go white, his teeth clenching down tight. He almost gave the order to open fire then and there. The men around him were silent but bristling, the body language they displayed revealing that they were this close to opening fire whether he gave the order or not. "You… you monster." was all he could bring himself to say to the man in front of him. His dossier said that Kai Leng was a skilled assassin of the highest caliber, but it glossed over the parts of his being a sociopath with psychopathic tendencies. "Why would you do such a thing?"

Kai Leng shrugged. "I was bored, I guess." He took his feet off the table and leaned forward, making the troopers grip their guns tighter. Compared to the tension that gripped General Petrovsky's group, he was the very image of calm. "So you came here to do what exactly? Bring me to justice? Kill me?" A low rumble of a laugh emanated from him, his quad optic visor shining bright. "You should have brought more men, general. I don't even need to draw my sword to deal with this lot."

The two men then engaged in an intense stare down, the troopers holding their fingers lightly over the trigger, just waiting, begging for the order to shoot. The general was composed, but his eyes shined with bloody murder. Kai Leng on the other hand was smirking cockily back at him in a somewhat goading manner.

Rather unexpectedly however, Leng gave in first, throwing his head back and laughing heartily, leaning back onto the couch and kicking up his feet on the coffee table once more. "Sorry, I just remembered something funny." He said, as if letting everyone in on a funny joke. "You can't kill me. And I don't follow your orders, General."

"You're right. I can't." The general replied, unfazed. "I'm here to give you a warning… If you so much as look the wrong way at anybody else in my crew, I will rip off your arms and legs and mail you back to the Illusive Man in a crate, while you're still alive. Despite his recommendations, this operation doesn't need you Leng."

"Really? Dismember me?" Leng replied amusedly. "No one here has the stones."

"There's more than one way to hurt a man, Leng; you of all people should know that." Petrovsky sneered. "Consider this your first and last warning. ETA to Omega is just under 30 hours, you do not get to step out of this room until then, understand?"

"You're grounding me?" Leng asked, before breaking out into more laughter. "Oh, you're a funny guy, General."

Petrovsky scoffed and gestured to his men that they were leaving. The two lines of soldiers slowly backed away from the assassin towards the door.

"Oh, and General?" Kai Leng called out as General Petrovsky was exiting the room. "30 hours? You'd best make it so can we get there faster. I might get bored again, and your yeoman is quite the looker…"

Petrovsky stiffened at the threat, but resisted the urge to act on it. Instead, he left, with Kai Leng's laughter being cut off by the closing doors. "I want security detail tripled until we get to Omega." He barked at one of the troopers. "All crew members operate in groups of at least 5 and I want surveillance of all areas on the ship increased. I want a squad of men present outside this room at all times. Do not underestimate this man; set up detonator charges within the area if you can. If you see this bastard take one step out of this door, I want him killed on sight, no questions asked. I'll personally take the flak from the Illusive Man."

"Sir, yes sir."

General Petrovsky nodded to the man and made his way back to the bridge, fuming. The sooner they could get to Omega, the sooner that Leng's psychosis could be focused towards their enemies and away from his men.