"Operative Lawson, this is Doctor Chakwas. Chakwas, Frankenstein." Had been how Shepard introduced the woman who had come to pick them up from the docks. Nobody laughed or even smiled. The joke, if indeed it had been meant as one, doing nothing to ease the tension. Instead it ratcheted up even higher as Shepard inquired with sickly sweetness: "Lawson, did you get the copy of Veetor's data I left for you ok?"

In a normal situation the question would have seemed perfectly innocent. Then again a normal situation would involve the datapad being left on a desk somewhere and not, as in this case, in the hands of a solitary deactivated Loki mech that had been left standing sentinel near Miranda and Jacob's unconscious bodies. Its head blown off, one hand holding the datapad and the other carefully posed to be giving them the middle finger while Nikki made good her escape.

Karin had chuckled at the absurdity and sheer Shepardness of the story last night while she caught up with her old commander over brandy and alcohol free beer, but she somehow doubted Miranda would see the funny side. Particularly when the operative would have had to inform the Illusive Man that she'd lost their 4 billion credit investment on the very first outing. Somehow she couldn't picture the man as a very forgiving boss.

"The data was interesting." Miranda chose not to rise to the bait, keeping her face a mask of calm as the two Alliance women deposited their duffel bags in a corner of the kodiak shuttle and found themselves seats. "Now that we know the collectors make use of some kind of advanced technology to immobilise their victims, I'd strongly recommend we start by acquiring Mordin Solus, the salarian professor-" She was cut off by the commander raising her fist to shoulder height, the Alliance hand gesture for freeze.

"I believe one of the terms of our arrangement was that I was in charge. I hope you're not trying to tell me what to do?"

"Of course not. I was merely advising that we'll need Solus in order to develop a counter-" Again Shepard utilised the freeze fist, and this time there was a ripple on lake serenity, a solitary muscle twitch on Miranda's face before she was able to regain her composure. A faint flicker at the corner of Nikki's lip signified she'd seen the slip and Doctor Chakwas mentally sighed. If she wasn't careful Lawson-baiting would become a game and then a hobby to the frustrated commander.

"Perhaps now would be a good time for me to see these dossiers I've heard so much about." Shepard suggested, while Karin made a mental note to speak with her once they were alone. The two of them were going to have to work and live in close proximity with these people for an indeterminate length of time, and while the doc wasn't expecting them to suddenly be best friends, things would go a lot smoother if the commander was a little less antagonistic in her attitude. She couldn't really blame the younger woman for acting up considering her history with the organization, but surely an attempt at cordial professionalism couldn't hurt?

The next few minutes passed in blissful silence as Nikki read through the dossiers. Loath as she was to agree with Cerberus, recruiting the salarian scientist certainly was a priority, she continued reading until something else rather prudent caught her attention.

"Hey, why are we leaving the citadel already? One of our potential recruits is there."

"Oh I wouldn't worry about little old me." A new voice came from an empty seat on her right. Shepard instinctively moved to attack, even before the cloaking device faded, blade deploying from her omni-tool and coming to rest at the newly visible woman's throat. "Kasumi Goto, at your service."

"Well that explains why my paranoia senses were tingling, I thought it was just being near her." Shepard declared, jerking her head in Lawson's direction while sheathing the omni-blade.

...

"Welcome to the new Normandy." Jacob Taylor greeted as they stepped off the shuttle and into the cargo bay. A few people stopped to look at them but for the most part the Cerberus crew continued with their tasks like good little worker bees, seemingly oblivious to the new presence in their midst, although Shepard was sure there would be discreet glances the moment her back was turned.

"I hope you've got a good pilot, if I recall the balance wasn't what you'd expect on the old Normandy. Takes a while to get used to the oversized drive core in the back and her power tends to sneak up on you if you're not careful."

"Oh I think we've got a pilot you can trust." Miranda stated smugly, but Shepard wasn't listening, her attention caught by a chuckle on the far side of the cargo bay.

"Wow, couldn't have worded it better myself Commander." She turned, surprise clear on her face to find Joker, not just standing there but also without any sign of his crutches. Her jaw dropped, no words coming out as a deluge of thoughts tumbled through her brain, too fast to process. "Yeah... I should have known she was lying, no way you'd forgive me." He muttered bitterly to himself, misinterpreting her prolonged silence. Miranda cut into their reunion with crisp, cool professionalism before Nikki could work out a response.

"Mister Moreau, if you could return to the bridge and set course for Omega please."

"Belay that!" Shepard sharply overruled. "Joker, set course for Korlus."

"Korlus?" He looked apprehensively between the two women.

"Korlus."

"Commander, a word in my office please." Somehow Lawson managed to keep her tone neutral.

"Oh sure, I don't even know where that is yet." Shepard snarked. Miranda gave an irritated 'follow me' gesture before marching off, Nikki smirking in triumph as she followed, leaving a bewildered pilot and an eerie silence in her wake.

...

"What are you playing at Shepard? You agreed that Professor Solus was a priority acquisition. That we should recruit him as soon as possible-" Miranda had refused to be goaded into an argument in front of the crew, the crisp click of her heels the only sound she made on the way to her office. Unfortunately the heavier tread of boots was NOT the commander's sole auditory contribution to the journey. The blasted woman had started humming to herself a mere three seconds after entering the lift, a tune familiar to anyone who had used the public elevators on the citadel. Thankfully she stopped again the instant the lift doors swiped open, the last few metres of their journey conducted in a silence that was broken the moment the soundproof office door slid shut behind them. Miss Lawson finally unleashed her frustration, only to be cut off mid-tirade.

"Practical. I said we should recruit him as soon as practical."

"And now is practical." Shepard raised her fist in interruption again and Miranda was nearly overwhelmed with the desire to break said hand in retaliation. Unfortunately the heavy synthetic bone weave she'd used to reinforce the commander's skeleton during the Lazarus project would make that extremely difficult. She couldn't remember the last time a single person had managed to get under her skin so quickly and so thoroughly.

Miranda just couldn't understand it, Shepard was supposed to be the best humanity had to offer; a hero and a shining beacon of hope. In the past she had helped the most insignificant people with the randomest of problems, without the slightest hesitation, simply because they asked. Yet upon learning of humanity's desperate situation, instead of helping, she had turned her back and run away. Even when she had agreed to return it had been with a long list of petty demands, holding the lives of thousands of colonists hostage with her negotiations. Since the commander woke up Miranda had been knocked out, ridiculed and overruled by the younger woman. She understood that Shepard had been Alliance, that she'd had some bad experiences with Cerberus in the past, but why couldn't she just accept that those were rogue cells? That the Illusive Man was working for the benefit of mankind?

"We're at the Citadel," Nikki explained with exaggerated patience, and if her tone of voice sounded like she was talking to a child then the effect was entirely intentional. "To get to Omega we have to travel through the Eagle Nebula relay, Korlus is in the Eagle Nebula, according to your dossiers the krogan warlord and scientist Okeer is on Korlus. Solus runs a med clinic. He has a fixed abode, a life, he's not going anywhere. We have no way of knowing how long Okeer will stay put before he moves on. Yes we delay getting the salarian onboard, but it is minimal and in the long run we save time and resources rather than backtracking across the galaxy."

"Fine." Miranda allowed, forcing herself back under control. She wasn't sure if she agreed with Shepard's decision, but at least the woman had a rational reason rather than: 'I just want to piss you off and undermine your authority', even so... "But couldn't we at least have had this conversation in the shuttle? As your XO it would be beneficial to crew morale and discipline if we appear to be working from the same page."

"Well that's easy enough. In future I'll give all the orders and you can stand behin- side me nodding." Just like that Miranda found her irritation back in full force.

...

Shepard padded through the empty corridors of the quiet ship. Occasionally she'd pass a member of the night shift and they'd stop what they were doing to issue a salute before returning to their duties. That in itself was another little prick of wrongness. Perhaps it was supposed to make her feel more at home but it did the opposite; most the time the hand movements were sloppy and they took no notice of the customs and courtesies of either the navy or marine corps, saluting when they shouldn't and forgetting on occasions when they should. Then there was the issue of them wearing white and gold instead of Alliance blue and the giant terrorist logo emblazoned on the walls. The wrongness made her skin crawl. Or maybe that strange prickly sensation was just where her skin was still trying to knit itself back together. Either way, twisted and wrong just about summed things up right now.

Upon reaching the cockpit she flopped down in the co-pilot's seat, Joker glancing over at her in surprise, his eyes lingering a fraction too long on her scars before dropping down to read the bright blue hoody that declared: 'I don't want to be here' in white writing.

"So... what'd I miss?" Somehow she made it sound like she'd just popped out to the toilet in the middle of a vid and the casualness threw him.

"Uh, Commander?" He'd hardly seen her since she came aboard two days ago. She'd been busy running her ground team through the grinder, while he'd been flying the ship.

"Come on, it's been two years. Humanity has a seat on the council, weapons have switched over to disposable heat sinks, apparently Elysium has a biotiball team now. Any new vids come out that you'd recommend?" He just stared at her in confusion. It was the middle of the night cycle. She should be asleep. He should be asleep, only he tried not to as much as possible. He'd grown weary of waking up a mere handful of hours later from the nightmares of that day. The day Shepard had-... He quickly cut that thought off, dry swallowing as another passed through his brain: was she awake for the same reason?

Her gaze was focused on the blueshifted light outside the cockpit window and before he could properly think it through he found himself asking: "Are we... Are we good Commander?"

"Hmm?" She turned to face him, expression clearly stating: 'I heard you but don't know what you're on about'.

"It's just... You didn't seem too happy when you found out I was onboard and uh... Well, if there was ever a reason worthy of holding a grudge over-..." He faltered as one side of her lips quirked up in a tired smile.

"I'm glad you're alive Joker," she reassured. "Just not sure how I feel about your choice in uniform." It hurt if she was honest. He might not have been on the ground teams, didn't experience first hand the horrors of the Cerberus labs they'd stumbled upon while serving onboard the first Normandy, but still... he had to know what they were capable of.

"The Alliance grounded me." Jeff defended himself. "They took away the one thing in life that mattered to me. Then I was shown the blueprints for this baby, hell yeah I joined Cerberus." Part of her wanted to be disappointed that his allegiance had had been bought so easily. A larger part was thankful that was all there was to it. That he didn't believe in their ideals.

"And do you really trust them?"

"Well, I don't trust anyone who earns more than I do, but they aren't all bad. Saved your life, let me fly. Then there's these leather seats." She scoffed at that last one, it was an obvious attempt to dispel tension, the lightness didn't last long however. Seriousness returning as the pilot continued: "I mean... I just don't see why they'd invest this much money if they were planning to screw us over?"

Shepard stayed silent, remembering the undoubtedly expensive experiments that had gone wrong in Cerberus facilities she'd encountered in the past. The fact that they likely had more money than brains didn't exactly endear the organization to her.

Her gaze returned to the window. The streaks of light signifying passing stars as they traveled at Faster-Than-Light speed were undeniably beautiful, but the faint spike in her heart rate made her wonder if she could ever find the same level of peace looking out at the night sky as she did before the... incident.

"Anyone asked how you're doing lately?" Joker suddenly inquired, his voice cutting across the auditory vacuum. She shook her head and he took a breath before doing just that. "How you doing Shep?"

She didn't respond at first, in fact Joker was beginning to think she wouldn't answer at all when she randomly blurted out: "I got ten toes."

"Uh, most humans do Commander. It's what separates us from the turians."

"Yeah but I don't. I lost one years ago on Antibaar and now all of a sudden the little fucker's back, just grinning up at me every time I look at my feet. And I lost a dragon wing! All the money Cerberus spent putting me back together you'd think they could at least touch up my tattoos but noooo..." She lapsed back into momentary silence and Joker shifted awkwardly beside her, wishing he hadn't asked.

It wasn't that he didn't care as such, just that he had no idea what the hell to do. He was more used to receiving and often ignoring psychological help than dispensing it. He was pretty certain he wasn't qualified, particularly when his CO added: "I keep tilting my head at funny angles in the mirror trying to work out if my dental records still match."

"Couldn't you just ask Chakwas?" He attempted to pass the problem on, but she grunted non-committedly in response.

"I saw how she looked at me after reading the data on Project Lazarus." That didn't really help him much. Idly he wondered how they could go from barely speaking since the commander came aboard, to deep dark conversations like this. "It was the same look you get when you're in civvies and someone finds out about your Vroliks."

"Ah..." Now he understood. Well, that part at least, he hated that look. A mix of pity and fascinated curiosity. "Only thing worse than that is the look I get when people find out for the first time while I'm in uniform."

"Right." Shepard snorted. "She says I'm me, but..." She shrugged hopelessly before electing to change the topic. "So... Elysium Executioners, they any good?"

"I don't know, I don't pay any attention to b-ball." Joker ruined the changeover.

"Elysium Executioners have won seven of their last ten games." A voice piped up from the pilot's left, interrupting him, Shepard starting slightly as EDI's blue avatar popped into existence. She mentally cursed herself for forgetting about the Cerberus abomination, wondering how long the damn thing had been spying on them. It was no use her guarding her tongue around the Cerberus crew if she was just casually going to blurt things out where the walls could hear and report back on her. She needed to be more careful.

"Commander can't we get a mute button for this thing? It's like ship cancer." Nikki was gratified that she wasn't the only one creeped out by the thing, but she knew turning the volume off wouldn't stop it listening in on them. She feigned nonchalance as she retorted:

"Oh I don't know, at least it pays attention to biotiball." Probably not actually, much more likely it just did a super quick extranet search. Still, no point antagonising the thing that could potentially turn off the ship's oxygen. One death by asphyxiation was more than enough thank you. "So EDI, have they got a strong team or just one stand out player they'd fall apart without?"

I can't believe I'm talking b-ball with a damn AI. She thought as the intelligence concerned started answering her questions and listing various stats.

...

It was a sad state of affairs when you felt safer on the second highest murder per capita travel destination in the Teminus systems than on your own ship, Nikki mused as she cheerfully bit into her takeaway kinyernasap. The two Cerberus operatives with her seemed decidedly less at ease; although whether that was due to Korlus' less than savoury reputation, the high number of aliens around them, or simply a fear she'd try to knock them out again and do another runner she wasn't entirely certain.

Either way, nobody else had been interested in the asari-batarian fusion cuisine she was currently sampling while waiting for Miss Goto to finish finding out just where on this junkyard planet their target was.

"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." Jacob quoted quietly as he observed the diverse lifeforms flowing around the market. They were by no means the only humans present, but were heavily outnumbered by the amount of batarian, quarian and even volus walking around. It seemed every species in the known galaxy had a representative or ten in the roiling crowds and Shepard loved it. The almost overwhelming variety of sights, sounds and smells leaving her feeling more alive than at any other point since her revival.

"This is nothing, wait until you see Omega." She advised. Now that is a hive of villainy. At least Korlus has real sunlight, not that artificial crap. It was warm too. Nowhere near as hot as home but the native Mindoirian would take what she could get, shifting slightly so her black armour could absorb more heat from the sun, as content as a lizard basking on a rock. She didn't let that contentment dull her senses though. Hand darting out with impressive speed and precision as she noted a small amount of her food attempt to levitate. "Did you get the intel Kasumi?"

"Of course." The thief sounded almost insulted as she shimmered back into visibility. Nikki got the feeling that the Japanese woman found the bustle all around them just as refreshing and invigorating as she did, and suspected Goto was a few credits richer than when she left the group. "Okeer's at a Blue Suns compound, I've got the coordinates."

...

"The krogan are your example and your warning. As ferocious as they are, failures are expendable!" From the moment Shepard's team stepped off the shuttle they'd been under bombardment from this tirade of pure drivel, courtesy of an ever present system of loudspeakers.

"Is she really so delusional that she thinks that actually motivates people or is she just an asshole?" Shepard wondered out loud across the squad comms before adding: "What do you think Miranda?"

"Why are you asking me? How would I know?"

"Well, you're the most delusional person here." Nikki immediately shot back before internally cringing as her brain processed the words. Believe it or not she had been trying to follow doctor's orders and be less confrontational towards her new crew members, but it was proving tricky.

She'd even offered to buy them food earlier when she got herself something, but naturally they'd declined the non-human food despite it being perfectly safe for all levos and mighty damn tasty to boot. And now, when she tried including them in the light banter she was engaged in with Kasumi across the battlefield, the woman just stuck to her ice cold bitchface personality and set herself up perfectly for the petty comeback.

"And you're an asshole." Lawson muttered so quietly that Shepard nearly missed it and certainly wouldn't have heard it without her new, keener Lazarus project hearing. Nick simply smirked. Regardless of whether or not she intended to say it, there was something immensely satisfying about getting under the other woman's skin. Before things could escalate any further Kasumi's voice cheerfully cut across comms to inform them of a non-bloodraging krogan fighting Blue Suns up ahead.

"Nobody target the krogan. We go in, kill the Blue Suns then the rest of you find defensive positions while I talk to him."

"You want to talk to the krogan?"

"It's only fair, we already talked to a Blue Sun, he didn't seem to know much."

"And if he attacks you?"

"Then we fight back. He's not blood raging though so I doubt that'll be a problem, the krogan have a saying... I forget what it is at the moment but it's very close to the human one about the enemy of my enemy. You'd do well to remember that saying Lawson, it's the reason I'm here after all. Joining you guys against the reapers makes marginally more sense than helping the reapers take down Cerberus."

...

Hours later Miranda thought back on those words as she sat in her office, dutifully typing up a mission report for the Illusive Man. Shepard had been able to talk peacefully with her chosen krogan but there were far more blood raging specimens up ahead who had been beyond talking and the battle had been tough. Miranda had the bruises to prove it. She would have had far worse injuries if it hadn't been for Shepard. Despite the loud and vehement daily doses of vitriol aimed both at Lawson personally and her employers, the commander hadn't even hesitated to run straight at a krogan who had managed to bowl Miranda over during a charge.

It sounded suicidal, the actions of a mad woman, but somehow Shepard timed it to perfection. A bellowing war cry and a burst of weapon's fire distracted the massive reptile, it's pea sized brain informing it Shepard was a threat that needed immediate extermination and it forgot about the helpless biotic at it's feet, one good stomp or shotgun blast away from annihilation. The moment she was sure she had the krogan's complete attention the spectre ducked back into cover. Insanity forgotten as she instantly returned to the crisp, cool, sane tactics of a professional soldier. The woman was just one giant living contradiction.

However despite the squad not suffering any casualties, Miranda struggled to word her report so that the mission came across as anything other than a complete failure. Okeer was dead. Any knowledge he may have had about the collectors gone with him. All they had to show for their time on Korlus was a tank containing a single pure, perfect krogan. Miranda wasn't sure she wanted to know what a warlord so radical he'd been exiled from Tuchanka's definition of 'perfect krogan' was. She would be quite happy to send both tank and the creature inside to another Cerberus cell for study. Of course, Shepard had a nasty habit of doing the complete opposite of what she recommended, but even she wouldn't risk the entire crew's lives in a petty act of rebellion. Would she? A sudden inexplicable feeling of dread filled her.

"EDI, what is the commander doing right now?"

"Commander Shepard is currently in the elevator on her way to the mess hall. She has expressed a desire to make schnitzels." The AI declared and Miranda breathed a sigh of relief. The only pork on the ship was supposed to be being saved for a Sunday roast. However considering all the things the dratted woman could be doing, that was a minor issue not worth instigating an argument about.

"The commander thinks Grunt will enjoy the way you get to beat the meat with a hammer before smothering in breadcrumbs and drowning in oil." EDI continued, Miranda wondered how anyone managed to make cooking sound so violent before a much more pressing question entered her head.

"Who on earth is Grunt?" EDI had never used any nicknames before, always referring to people by their proper titles. Even Joker was Mr Moreau.

"The krogan that was brought onboard at Korlus." Miranda had heart palpitations at that.

"What!? When did Shepard let it out of the tank?"

"Thirteen minutes and twenty-eight seconds ago."

"Why didn't you stop her? Why didn't you tell me?"

"She ordered me not to. I did try to inform her about Cerberus protocols but that only seemed to make her more determined. I also suggested it would be prudent to let someone else know in case she needed backup but she insisted that she had a plan and everything would be fine."

Not for the first time Miranda wished the Illusive Man had allowed her to fit the commander with a control chip. She took a deep breath to compose herself, it wasn't the AI's fault, it may be sentient but it was still limited by programming. She briefly considered whether or not she should teach it about reverse psychology but for now decided to settle for: "EDI, the next time Shepard says something 'will be fine', inform me immediately."

...

Author's note: I'm back! Sorry for the immensely long wait for this one. It was partly life getting in the way and partly the chapter itself being a real pain to write. I'm still not entirely sure I'm happy with it so please let me know what you think of it in the reviews. Good or bad, all opinions are appreciated.

In particular I'm not sure how I feel about some of the characterizations. Pretty sure Miranda is out of character, it's my first time writing her and she probably should have kept her cool a bit better. Then again canon Miranda wasn't knocked out by Shepard in the first mission and generally didn't have as much asinine actions to deal with. Similarly considering how much undercover work Nikki's implied to have done for the Villa she aught to be capable of being a bit more professional. She's just very frustrated right now, feels backed into a corner and is lashing out around her. Resurrection's not an easy situation to deal with mentally and she's trying to do it without drink, drugs or a killing spree, looking at it that way high amounts of passive aggressiveness and bouts of pettiness aren't so bad. Right?

No idea when the next chapter will be but I promise I'm not going to abandon this story, I'm having far too much fun with the characters.