Author Note: Took a little longer than I would have liked as I got busy for a week and then had to almost completely rewrite the chapter. I'm not sure if it shows but I somewhat struggle with characterisation, trying to keep it consistent and with realistic change.

Also, this was asked about in a review, as to what happens when Cerberus finds out who Jack is. I'm not sure exactly how that's going to happen, it would depend on where this story goes and I originally only really planned out to the start of ME2, I've been flying by the seat of my pants since then. What I can say is that Jack isn't going to be newly traumatised or anything like that. She's looking for answers about it, but she's gotten past all that at this point, possibly with some anger and trust issues, but that's Jack.

Enjoy.

Chapter 32:

[POV: Miranda]

Fury looked even more menacing in the dim red light, but that wasn't important right now. What the hell do we do? I should have realised before what we were getting ourselves into with Eclipse. They are populated with numerous Engineers, it's how they manage to field so many mechs, why wouldn't they prepare their ambush point for me, which this whole set-up clearly was.

Have they tried this before without my notice? Maybe Cerberus has kept my father distracted with false sightings, I don't know. It's doesn't matter anyway, we first had to get out of this death-trap.

"Any suggestions?" Fury asked curiously, somehow not effected by the situation we were in. I wish I could be that nonchalant at a time like this, or at least act like it. Pity that I can't.

"A few, give me a minute." I mutter, opening up my Omni-tool and the security program I'd had installed into it for just such an occasion. Connecting it wirelessly to the elevator, I began typing away. The program was able to work autonomously but did so better with the assistance of someone with the right know-how. And trust me, I know how.

Damn, the initial program failed. Moving to advanced measures. My brows furrowed as I typed away furiously in my effort to unlock the system.

[FAILURE]

What about …?

[FAILURE]

I stopped typing at such a fast pace, having to think about what I was doing too much to work off muscle memory. This was custom-made, and it was good. Could I bypass to the power systems of the elevator? No. How about the mechanism, does it have a secondary control? No, these elevators were built around the robust primary systems. Can I … what else can I do? I … there had to be something!

How the bloody hell did they lock this up so tight? I've used this program many times before, bypassing heavily secured systems with ease. This is a temporary measure on an Elevator for Christ's sake. Temporary, hmmm. Glancing at a schematic of the elevator I had saved, I found a few hidden systems I could try. They should have missed at least one of them.

The first one? No. The second … thank God, I have my answer.

"Got it!" I informed Fury. "Just let me …" No. Even before my eyes, I watched as the system access shut me out. They were still shutting everything down even as I speak. Come on, please let one of them still work

…

"Fuck!" I punched the wall, having been denied. My fist throbbed from the impact but I couldn't bring myself to care. My father's got us trapped in here like rats, I can't even activate the emergency brakes they'd been so thorough. We were completely at their mercy … and so was Oriana. My sweet, innocent Oriana. What would Father do to her now that she grew up outside of his influence. I wanted to hurt him so, so bad. I'd even take one of the people locking us in here, I could think of a few things I'd like to do to show them my … appreciation.

"I take it you failed?" Fury queried, having waited patiently. I growled as I turned to her but nodded all the same, gritting my teeth. As much as it galled me, I couldn't get us out of here.

"Yes, Enayla has full control of the systems, and with it us. They will keep us here till they're good and ready, and armed to the fucking teeth."

"Doesn't sound ideal." What the hell are you on about?!

"Of course it's not ideal! We're sitting bloody ducks here!" I shouted at her furiously, her calmness irritating to me on many levels. "Now shut up and let me think." I glowered at her. I would like to say something will come to mind, but I've already tried everything I can think off, I'm out of options.

"Calm down." Fury ordered, suddenly stepping closer to me, planting her hand on my shoulder, and squeezed firmly. "Don't take it out on me. Now move aside." Fury pushed me aside with more ease than I'd like, but the fact she looked like she had a plan was all I cared about at the moment.

Fury began glowing with biotic energy as she held out her arm and an Omni-blade flashed into existence around it. The energy flowed up the blade in an instant, which she then thrust forward into the elevator door all the way up the hilt. That was all she managed before the blade shattered.

"Shit."

That wasn't her plan, was it? Please tell me it wasn't. Fury didn't move for a second, staring at the glowing holes she'd made in the wall. I could see that the blade had pierced all the way through the shaft and into another hallway, but the gap was only the width of the blade.

She turned around to face me and stared for a moment, before audibly growling at me.

"Information about this will not make it into Cerberus hands. Am I clear?!"

"Yes." I nodded without thinking. I would say anything if it helped us right now. I made sure to focus on what she did next though, if she thought it valuable information then it undoubtedly was. I can always pass it on discreetly. Should I though? At this rate it looks like most of her techniques are unusable by human biotics and she's doing this for me. She's doing it for Oriana, would it be right? … It doesn't matter. Fury could become a threat, she has a clear (reasonable) opposition to Cerberus as an organisation.

Fury turned around and stopped glowing for a moment as she placed her hands together. A moment later her form burst into light as energy flooded out from within her once more. It surrounded her entire body in a violent aura of blue-white energy, small sparks appearing within it in some form of ionisation. She then stuck her hand out again, another Omni-blade forming before being reinforced by her biotic energy. The difference was that the blade practically pulsed with the energy surrounding it. It was hard to even look at, or her for that matter. I shudder to think about the amount of energy dissipating with how bright she is.

Fury thrust her hand into the Elevator door once more, a little bit lower than her first stab, but I immediately noticed what was different, the blade didn't shatter. It didn't break in the first second, or any after. Fury dragged her blade down the wall, slicing through the metal like butter as she cut all the way to the floor of the elevator in a rain of sparks.

How? The amount of energy contained by her technique and the amount she's losing should have had It break near-immediately. So how did she manage to carve up an entire doorway without it even failing once? It doesn't make sense with all the knowledge I have about biotics and I couldn't think of a … was that a channel technique?! I knew the concept but, I'd never heard of it being practical, just some Asari legends. I'm going to have to look into those again now.

"Let's move while we have the chance." Fury stated before kicking forward and launching the entire impromptu door into the hallway with a massive screech. It slammed into the other side of the hallway with a crunch before falling down onto the ground with one last resounding bang., the aura around Fury finally fading away. I didn't have the time to process what just happened, so I pushed it aside for later and jumped through the still glowing doorway.

Glancing around, I found that we were in a service hallway with only one direction we could travel. It was better than being in an elevator, but only just.

"They'll have the entire system locked down tight. Any doorways, any elevators we need to use they could do the same as what just happened. They will also likely be able to track our every move." I listed clinically, focused once more on the mission. "I shudder to think about how much my father has to be paying for all this." I get he's rich but this is ridiculous.

"So stealth isn't an option anymore."

"It isn't."

"That's fine, this way is more fun." Fury chuckled. "You have a map of this place though, don't you." I nodded, bringing it up. Even if the mercenaries had the time to hack everything, they didn't have the time to alter anything physically. "Keep track of our location. I'll cut us a way through if I have to."

I didn't ask if it took a toll on her to do so, it had to. Still, having that option was a relief, as otherwise we would have to deal with the eclipse encampments as they wanted us to. This interior is pretty much the ideal operation environment for them.

"They escaped. I repeat, Ms Lawson and her associate escaped the elevator and are currently in maintenance hallway 3 on floor 8. Zeta squad has point."

Well, I guess they found us. I glanced at Fury who had her head tilted, having heard the announcement.

"We could use their communications to largely avoid them, this place is a maze." I wanted to see what she wanted to do. While I would prefer to be issuing the orders, this was no longer the sort of operation I preferred. It was out of my comfort zone, but it was still in hers so I'll let her decide what we do, for now.

"No. They will figure out what's happening quickly, so we should use this time to lower their numbers." Figures. No helping it now though. They want to take Oriana from me, and that will not happen, I'll make sure of it.

"You lead then. I'll tell you where to go." I told her, pulling out my pistol. Fury nodded and began jogging down the hallway, following the directions I gave as we went down a few turns.

"Stop." I called out softly, getting her attention. "We're coming up on a choke point, and I bet they'll be waiting for us there." Fury nodded and slammed her fists together creating a solid barrier seamlessly. It was stronger than any I could create, that's for sure, but how rapidly she did it was still astonishing to me. Fury continued jogging ahead of me and passed the point I'd found on the map. Barely an instant later the first gunshot was heard but a barrage shortly joined it. Rather than jump back behind cover Fury suddenly sprinted forward in a blue blur, her movements hard for me to keep track of as she juked from side to side and jumped over various points of cover. Her barrier was flickering from the gunshots she didn't avoid, but it continued to hold strong even as she reached the point I could see the mercenaries were camped out at.

I watched from behind my piece of cover as Fury landed on top of the first mercenary with a crunch and generated two enshrouded Omni-blades. She then used them to massacre the squad, ducking and weaving among them as she swung her blades. She barely took another hit once she got close enough, using feats of flexibility I had doubts I could recreate and speeds I couldn't reach to take them out. The blades shattered before she finished off the last two but instead of creating two more blades Fury leaped over the first and wrapped her legs around his head, letting herself fall as she twisted around and broke his neck. She maintained her momentum by rolling forward and back onto her feet as she knocked away the last one's gun with one hand and grabbed his helmet with the other. She used that hand to slam it viscously down into the ground with a crunch that I had no doubt killed him.

"Fuck me." I breathed. The symphony of violence took less than 3 seconds and I stood there for a moment just processing how quickly it all happened. I couldn't help but swallow thinking about the threat Fury had made in the elevator. I know Shepard had reported her to be lethal at close range but still.

I walked over to her seeing that she'd gotten everyone and found her looking them over.

"They all dead then?" Fury tilted her head then lifted up her right foot and slammed down her metallic foot into the throat of the one whose head she slammed into the ground. The squelch that accompanied the motion was disquieting, but I could ignore it easily enough. Having rebuilt a body from the ground up, you quickly lose any squeamishness.

"They are now. Let's keep moving."

That was far from the first ambush we found as we moved closer to the dock Niket said he would be at. None of the squads were comprised of more than 5 or 6 combatants and all of them were at her mercy. Even the mechs were little trouble for her as she could just power through the gunfire as she got close enough to take them out, Fury was just too fast.

I was feeling somewhat unneeded by Fury, she never needed help in killing all of them. I was of more use to her as a navigation system, as the longer we travelled the more roadblocks we found. Fury was forced to create an opening for us more than a few times but we were close, another locked door in our path that would open up to the last major hallway between us and the port.

Not needing to even speak, Fury stepped forwards and started glowing again while raising her arm, but nothing else happened.

"Fuck. I'm out of Omni-fluid."

Bugger, I was out too. I'd already given her my supply after she first ran out, and she carried more than she used to. How do we get through the door now?

"Can you still get us through the door?"

"Not quickly, or quietly." Damn, but what choice do we have? We're so close to her, just a little bit further.

"Do it."

"Back up." Fury told her as they walked a dozen metres away. Fury then drew upon her biotic energy once more, but rather than the blue-white I'd gotten used to it was her normal aura. This aura didn't surround her for long though as it was all drawn to her right arm which she pulled back then slammed down in front of her. A visible wave of energy was released in front of her and travelled forward to crash into the locked door violently. The sound was deafening in the enclosed space and I felt the wind from the impact brush over me as well. What was worse was that the door only looked dented, it was nowhere near broken down.

Fury pulled back her other arm as more energy surrounded her, letting it condense around her arm as she slammed that into the ground as well with a grunt. The wave was similar in magnitude to the last and another deafening bang occurred when it slammed into the door. It damaged the door a little more, but what we were stuck behind was an industrial cargo door on a large hallway. It was halfway to being a vault door.

"This is going to take a minute." Fury grunted, and if I wasn't mistaken her breath was raised too. I watched on in silent awe as she attacked with shockwave after shockwave, each impact deforming the door more and more until it was hanging on by a thread.

"That should about do it." Fury huffed out, standing up shakily from her position kneeling on the floor, she'd fallen into it from the last attack she performed. I offered to help her up but she ignored me. "They will be waiting on the other side as soon as we get through, I made too much noise. Goddess I wish we weren't I such an enclosed space for this." Does that mean you would have been able to remove the door easier if we weren't at risk?

Fury rested for a minute before pushing off the wall she was leaning against and began walking to the door. I would have checked to see what the mercenaries were doing in response now that my ears were no longer ringing, but they'd figured it out once we were about 3 quarters of the way here.

"Come on." Fury muttered as biotic energy surrounded her once more, this time transitioning into the blue-white stage it took earlier. It took far longer for the density to be reached though. She then stepped forward and kicked directly onto the door, an explosion of energy coming off her kick and blowing the wrecked door open in front of us. That was the signal Eclipse needed as gunfire occurred straight after, a veritable barrage of it.

"The mechs!" I shouted at Fury. I'd been suspicious at how few we'd found so far, I suppose this answers that question. We were still in the hallway before the door and there was a left turn right in front of us, so we fortunately had good cover. That turn was into a small warehouse though, so there could be a lot of mechs waiting for us. Fury creeped forwards and stuck her head around the edge before pulling it back, the gunfire shifting to where it had been and chewing out a hole in that corner of the wall.

"There's a shit-ton of them. Any other ways we can go?"

I shook my head, having already checked. Fury cursed at the situation and I really wanted to join in. I had no idea this mission would be so difficult, or I would have asked for the entire Normandy to help out.

"Miranda, I need you to stay here while I deal with them."

What?! How the bloody hell is she going to do that?

"No," I shook my head. "I'll find another way."

"I'll be fine. Stay here." Fury raised her hands enshrouded in biotic energy, and with it raised the door she just battered through, now glowing as well. Without waiting for me to respond, Fury leapt out from behind the cover and ran forward behind her impromptu shield. She's going to get herself killed! Having raised a barrier of my own I deemed it safe enough to lean my head around and watch.

I found Fury already two dozen metres down the hallway and coming up on what had to be more than 30 mechs, their gun fire concentrated on the now glowing door. Even as I watched I could see it start to melt and take damage, not suited for its current purpose. Before it did so, Fury threw it in front of her to take out some of the mechs, taking a colossal leap upwards as she did. She must have climbed more than 8 metres into the air. While she did though, something changed. Her figure began glowing brighter and brighter, not in the blue-white way it was earlier. Biotic energy surrounded her in a growing aura that spread more than a metre from her form. It condensed only a moment before she landed in the centre of the Mech's, then exploded.

A colossal shockwave of energy radiated out from Fury, crashing into and through every mech around her in a growing blue sphere of energy. It threw them, their pieces and other detritus around and into the walls, like a bomb going off with Fury at its epicentre. That was all I could see before the shockwave knocked into me, throwing me onto my back and shattering my barrier even from this distance. I tumbled across the ground for a bit, crying out from the pain in my side that flared up. I stopped soon enough, remaining there a moment with my ears ringing before I forced myself up. I needed to check Fury was okay, I fear what toll that took on her when she was already fatigued.

I put a hand out to steady myself on the wall for the first few steps until my hearing was normal enough for my balance to restore itself. As I got closer to where I could now see Fury was laid out on the ground, I had to pick my way through the debris. This warehouse was utterly wrecked by what she just did. The mechs never stood a chance.

"Fury!" I called out once I was close enough. This wasn't really a place she could rest considering how Enayla would have to know we were there, if only because she heard us. Fury raised a hand to wave at me from her position but made no other move to get up as I finally reached her form. She was inside of a small crater where she landed initially, the metal floor around her warped from the forces involved. I kneeled down with a grunt, ignoring my ribs so I could properly check on her.

"I'm alright Miranda, just … tired." Fury stated pushing herself up on her elbows. I stood up first seeing she was fine then offered her a hand that she took quickly. It was quite difficult to help her up though, I forgot how much her armour weighs. At least she's fine, I was concerned there considering the forces involved, but she seems undamaged despite being at the centre of it. That technique seemed familiar though. Where have I heard of it before …?

"What the hell even was that?"

"A little trick I picked up from Aria." From Aria? Wait a damn minute, was that a flare? I'd heard reports about it, but they didn't do the technique justice.

"She taught you it?" Aria was notoriously cagey about that technique of hers. It was her secret weapon, her final resort. It was one of her key tools in maintaining her ownership of Omega, having the threat of that hanging over everyone's heads. Sure, a ship could outperform her damage-wise, but flare is a personal weapon that Aria could never really be separated from. To maintain the fear though few had even seen it, Aria purposely keeping it mysterious. She couldn't keep everything hidden though, it was far from subtle, that's why I knew about it in the first place. I get that Aria and Fury are close, but for Aria to teach her the technique is … are they sleeping together or something?

"She tried to. It's still a work in progress." Fury commented and began walking in the direction we needed to go. Right, Oriana.

"You said this was where Niket would be didn't you?"

"It was." I sighed, I knew where she was going with this.

"Has he betrayed you then?"

"No," I protested weakly. I was regretfully starting to think he did, and I'm not sure If I preferred that. If he hadn't betrayed me, then he was dead or captured. If he had … either way I lost one of my only friends.

We walked in silence to the meet-up point, and as I feared, Niket was standing there beside Enayla. Internally I sighed at the betrayal, but even more I could feel the growing embers within me.

How. Dare. He! I trusted him with Oriana, gave him the money he needed to do so, helped keep him away from my father as well. And it was all for nothing! He just decided to hand her over to him in the end regardless!

"Niket!" I growled as Fury and I got closer. There was no point in trying to catch Enayla by surprise, she had been watching us the entire time.

"Miranda, nice to see you again." Niket nodded, the spineless weasel.

"I wish I could say the same. Why?" Niket averted his eyes from mine, not responding. "Why would you do this? Was it for money? Power? Or cowardice." I spat.

"Your father promised he would take good care of her," he deflected. I laughed bitterly at that, knowing it to be false. I guess it was partly due to stupidity.

"Do you honestly believe that Niket? You know him, we both do. And I know that he will be anything but kind to Oriana. You watched her grow up, you fucking know her better than I do! So why?"

"… I'm sorry." He muttered and I snorted. It was too late for that.

"So am I." In an instant I drew my gun and shot him. Niket collapsed to the ground, now sporting a bloody hole right between his eyes.

"Well, that was exciting!" Enayla clapped her hands together, having just been standing there and enjoying the show. I would really like to shoot her as well, but it wouldn't work out so well with her, for one thing she was actually wearing armour.

"Go eat a dick Enayla." I sighed, tired of this whole day.

"That's not nice, and it's been so long since we've seen each other too. I went through all that effort to greet you, even after you killed so many of my men. You and your friend …" she trailed off, waiting for an answer I knew Fury wouldn't give. Enayla clicked her tongue after a long enough pause. "So much for manners. Well, in case you haven't been informed, I am captain Enayla of the Eclipse mercenaries, and I've been hired for a job. You can either get in my way or, well …" she shrugged, speaking pleasantly to us as if about the weather.

"You will die like all the others." Fury asserted.

"Oh, feisty. I would love to have a go at you, but sadly I've got another job. Luckily, I have some lovely people to keep you company. Boys?" Enayla raised her fist and a gunshot was heard. At the same time, Fury's head was knocked to the side and her shield whined severely from the impact. In the next moment Fury slammed her fists together and reinforced her shield with a barrier. I quickly raised my gun again and aimed it at Enayla, firing a few rounds at her. She let it happen out of bravado, amused at the sight and I can see why. Her shields were basically unaffected by the pistol and appeared to be some sort of custom job, what I would give for a grenade right about now.

I glanced around and found another half a dozen mercenaries surrounding us as well, heavily armoured ones too. These must be Enayla's personal squad, they're certainly outfitted the best I'd seen today. This isn't a great situation to be in, Fury has beaten far more enemies today than I would even have dared hope. She must be running on fumes, and I'm not sure she could handle them. That's ignoring whatever custom job Enayla seems to be using.

"I'll handle them. Enayla is personal for you." Fury called out, figuring out what I was thinking.

"Are you sure?" I asked, some doubt in my voice.

"Bet I'll finish first." Fury snarked at me.

"I'm never taking that bet." I sighed, then ran at Enayla and used up the entire heat sink in my pistol. It didn't really do a whole lot, but I used a good enough quality pistol that Enayla couldn't just ignore it. At the very least It gave me the chance to get closer to her and away from Fury who seemed to work best without someone beside her.

In the moments I had where Enayla's vision was finally blocked, I used my still fresh biotics to raise a nearby small crate and throw it at the captain, aiming for the exposed shielding unit on her neck. She cried out as it hit her over the head, making me grin even as I ducked behind cover, my back to another raised garden bed. Why is there so many of these things?

In the short moment I had my back to it, I was able to see Fury dealing rather comfortably with the guards. She'd taken to cover much like me but was using one of the mercenaries instead. She was also using her now unholstered pistol for once, the gun letting off sharp cracks when it fired. I'm going to have to ask her what that is after this.

My distraction didn't go unpunished unfortunately, I felt the sensation of something tugging at my navel and I was pulled up from the ground and over the garden bed. Enayla then threw me sharply across the ground. I landed hard and tumbled along the ground before slamming into another garden bed. The sharp throbbing in my ribs suddenly became a wretched pulsing, white flashes appearing in my eyes as I gasped from the impact.

"You stupid bitch!" Enayla shouted. I could see a small trickle of blood going down her face. Well, at least I managed to hit her properly. "Your father may have wanted you alive, but he never said anything about unhurt. And who knows." She grinned wickedly, "we all have accidents." Enayla held out her hand, her glowing biotics surrounding it. I felt it envelop my form and move me forward, then it slammed me back into the garden bed once more. I grit my teeth and grunted from the impact, not wanting to give her the satisfaction, but it was close. I think something might be broken now.

"I don't know why he was always so insistent about your return. There's," slam. "nothing," slam, "special" slam "about YOU!" Slam! I cried out at the last impact, unable to keep it in on the last blow. A starburst went off behind my eyes from it and the sensation in my chest was excruciating, as she slammed me into the bed hard enough for me to hit my head as well.

"On the contrary …" I grinned at her wearily "it seems like there's nothing special about you!" I laughed gleefully, knowing how my words would get to her. I'm at her mercy here, but at the least I can make sure she doesn't win.

"You … dare!" she screamed at me, furious as she gathered more energy around her own form, preparing a bigger attack. Seeing I finally had a chance, I pulled out my own biotics again and concentrated for all I was worth. I wasn't in position to use my normal mnemonics, so instead I concentrated with all I could on two different locations in my mind. The first was beside me, a piece of debris I threw directly at her to interrupt whatever she was doing. Enayla aborted her motion and instead thrust her hands out in front of her, easily overpowering the force I'd put into it.

"Pathetic." She spat, raising her hands again, not bothering with whatever the other technique was. Energy gathered between her hands and she pulled them back towards her chest, the energy coalescing within them. Just before she could thrust them forward, a spike of metal flew into her back and pierced straight through her, emerging from her stomach splattered in purple blood. Enayla's eyes widened at the sensation, jerking from the impact.

I had been able to see a piece of debris from the mech's for the last minute, just sitting there and looking awfully pointy. It seemed a waste not to use it, and I had already proven her shields ignored low-velocity projectiles. That meant she was vulnerable to my impromptu spear. It took everything I had to pull it to me the same time as I threw the other projectile, but although I had a migraine blooming from the effort I was more than pleased with myself.

"you … you bitch." Enayla gasped, her hands reached down to grasp at the tip. "That's … it, now you-" she spat some blood out "-die." Enayla drew a secondary firearm from her lower back and aimed it at me. I made no effort to dodge, I wouldn't have succeeded. I guess this was it for me … I'm sorry Oriana, but Fury's here, she'll see you safe. I closed my eyes in acceptance, waiting for the inevitable. The crack of a gunshot through the air made me flinch, but oddly enough I didn't feel the impact. Did she miss?

"I'm not writing up the report for this clusterfuck of a mission." Fury called out as she walked over to us. Enayla didn't respond, instead staring at the bloody mess that her hand was now. She took 2 weak steps backward before her legs gave out and she fell back. She landed on the bottom of the metal shard impaling her, pushing more of it into her flesh and out her front. I could hear her choking from here as blood spread out beneath her, the metal tower pointing up from her a grisly sight.

"Pretty." Fury commented as she limped over to me and took a seat next to me with a groan. "I suppose you managed to stall her long enough for me to deal with everyone else. Good teamwork."

I didn't know how to respond to the absurdity of the situation so I just started laughing. I quickly stopped in regret, groaning in pain. Fury chuckled at that, unsympathetic. We sat there in silence as I let my mind empty, just for a moment. It was done, Oriana was safe, and our father lost his primary hit-squad and who knows how much money from all of this. That will definitely hurt him. I can't rest here too long though, I have somewhere to be. I lift my arm and place it on the garden bed behind me, grit my teeth and pushed off it. My ribs flared up from the powerful throbbing they'd set into but I ignored it as best I can, I'll deal with It later.

The first step forward nearly undid me. Something was wrong with my ankle and it nearly made me fall over. I managed to catch myself with my other leg but the jolt that sent through me made me scream internally, I felt something grind that really shouldn't of.

"Need a hand?" Fury queried standing up as well.

"That would be appreciated," I deadpanned. Yes I need some bloody help! Fury stepped over and put her arm under mine and around me. She did so a little too forcefully, a hard plate of armour hitting me close to the spot radiating pain. "Careful of the ribs!" I gasped. Thankfully, she listened as she shifted more gently until I was securely leaning on her. She was actually the perfect height for this too, my shoulders just a little above hers.

"Come on princess, let's go see your sister." I could protest, but I can't be bothered right now, she better not keep calling me that though. Fury helped me into the final elevator that will take me to Oriana, and I was finally able to see what a mess I was due to the reflective interior. The right side of my face was covered in dried blood, my hair a mess and my clothes all scuffed up and dirty. You could tell I was injured with the way I was cradling my ribs with one hand and just how much I was leaning onto the smaller woman. A great first impression, truly.

Thankfully this elevator wasn't sabotaged and opened up normally on our floor. I was able to limp over to where I knew Oriana's family would be waiting, and then I saw her.

The three of them were standing there, Oriana chattering up at them excitedly and the parents smiling down lovingly. She was beautiful, they all were. The parents … they were actually smiling at her, real smiles. I watched as Oriana's mother pulled her in for a hug with a delighted smile on her face, one Oriana accepted happily. I stood there taking in the scene, seeing Oriana for the first time in a decade, and it made me realise something. Oriana, was happy. She had a good life, a better one than mine, and that was all I wanted for her. She had a good life, but it was one I wasn't part of, she didn't need me. What if I ruined it? Would letting her know place her at risk? Just look at what happened today, how would Oriana's life be improved by knowing. Even if I wanted to speak to her … to touch her … could I really be that selfish? … No.

"Aren't you going to say hi?"

"No. No, … it's for the best if I don't." Those words hurt me more than anything else I was currently feeling, but they had to be said. But if I only could …

"Miranda?" I blinked, finally averting my eyes from Oriana to see Fury looking at the same sight I was. "I know you think she would be better off not knowing. Not knowing about the sacrifices made for her, not knowing where she came from. That the knowledge could only hurt her … but you're wrong. She should have a choice, and if she finds out in any other way … it will worsen whatever you may have had." Fury turned her head to face mine and squeezed my side gently. "Don't take that choice from her, it's one of the worst mistakes you will ever make."

Fury spoke softly to me in a way I'd never heard before, and I hesitated to respond. She sounded so certain, so sure of it that it almost hurt. The pain I could hear in her voice was real and it left me reeling. Choice … it was the primary weapon of my father. He never let me have a choice, until the day I escaped. Fury was right … and I so desperately wanted to talk to Oriana. I … just this once, I'll let myself do it just once.

"Okay. Help me over? … I'm not sure I could make it on my own." I didn't mention that I was also scared, scared of what she would say, but then at least I would know as well.

"Doug, Ellis!" I called out once we were closer, catching the parents attention. They turned to face us when I called their names and all their eyes widened at the sight of us, Oriana included.

"Ms Lawson?! Are you alright? Do you need us to call for assistance?" Ellis inquired after seeing the state I was in.

"I'll be alright, I've got my own." I gestured to Fury with my head, then turned to look at the staring Oriana. "Hello there, my name's Miranda Lawson, it's nice to meet you." I offered my hand which she took after glancing at her silent parents. "Well … this may come as a surprise and it's a long story, but …" I took comfort from Fury's presence next to me, drawing upon some of her strength. "I'm your sister."

I leaned back into my chair with a wince, but thankfully the pain was mostly gone. Dr Chakwas took a look at me after Fury helped me back to the ship. Well, we had to wake her up first as it was late at night on ship time. Either way she sealed up my broken rib and gave me some good painkillers. It was nice to not feel the constant ache in my side.

The talk with Oriana took over an hour, each minute I stood in excruciating pain, and I wouldn't change a single bit of it. She was … all I wanted her to be. She asked questions once I explained the truth, but she didn't reject me. She … actually asked to see me again, and just the thought brought a smile to my face.

I would be in bed right now if I could, but I had to write up a report for the illusive man about today's mission. I kept the report brief as it was largely irrelevant to him aside from Fury's involvement. I did let him know about Niket's betrayal and asked that the people looking over Oriana be tested for loyalty once more, but the actual mission details and the forces who opposed Fury and I were kept sparse.

I had attached another report about Fury's capabilities, as this mission gave me a chance to closely observe her abilities and their extent, at least in close quarters. It was far more comprehensive than we had before and he will be pleased with my progress. I was about to his send when I hesitated.

Fury … she came with me today willingly. She did it just to keep some random little girl safe, and that little girl was my sister who had grown a liking for the stoic woman today. I would have failed my mission if not for her, been captured and returned to my father. Do I really want to abuse her generosity? After what she did today did … did she really deserve that?

My finger hovered over the send button for another minute as I sat there, conflicted. It was long enough that my screensaver appeared, and on it was one of my new pictures. It was me with Oriana and her family, taken by Fury. We all looked happy, if injured on my part, and Oriana was beaming.

…

I deleted the additional report and sent off only the original. For better or worse, I'm keeping secrets from the illusive man about Fury, despite his orders. This was a betrayal, no question about it but … did he really deserve my loyalty, truly? He only helped Oriana because he could use my skills, and he still hid so much from even me. The whole reasons I joined Cerberus was for her and I had to come rescue Oriana myself today.

Why would he do such a thing? What could he be hiding? I … don't think I'd like it if I found out. Cerberus had a lot of skeletons in their closet, I only knew of a few but I could see signs of a whole mountain more.

Was I really having doubts about Cerberus to this degree? … Yes, I was.

God help me.