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Played	By : Nicker Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 16397 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, nor the characters. I make no profit from this fiction.

Chapter List
- 5
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Ashley woke earlier again, their limbs still entangled with Miranda. She laid there for long minutes, watching the dawn lights through the open door. She was still trying to figure out what exactly happened last night. That they did it in the heat of the moment was an understatement.
Sure, she could see how it was a mixture of adrenaline and fear and the closeness that drove them into each other’s arms, twice. She was against fraternization but she knew that after a gruelling op, emotions usually run high in a fighting unit. She could usually wait until shore leave to vent it out in a drunken one night stand, but some soldiers were doing it within ranks anyway. She couldn’t blame them.
Except that this was different. It was definitely a first for Ashley, but Miranda seemed confident back at the railyard. She was in shock, desperate, but still, not as crude by far as drunken men at bars.

But this time it was not desperation, and it was Ashley, who made the move. And for the life of her, she couldn’t tell if Miranda was loving it or hating it. She was sending her mixed signals, in one moment totally into it, the next she seemed to be terrified of her. Whatever Ashley tried, Miranda was not reacting the way she expected. One moment she struggled against her, the other moment Ashley couldn’t go hard enough on her.
As Ashley watched the morning lights creep into the boxcar she looked down at Miranda’s face as she slept exhausted, but peacefully on her shoulder. She wondered, if she took advantage of the Cerberus agent’s emotional vulnerability. It was clear that she should have refused her advances back at the railyard and of course she should have restrained herself last night, when she pinned her to the floor.
She also couldn’t help it. Back at the railyard she knew that it was the victim in Miranda who reached out to get some relief from the trauma, and it was wrong to have sex with her, but she was so very hot and had this incredible vibe that Ashley couldn’t grasp before. She was weak.

And then she fell into the same trap. She poured out her soul to Miranda, at least about her past few months, and all Miranda had to say was to give her fashion advice. This woman, this smart and clever enemy spy, so uncharacteristically soft and content in her arms, was not trying to patronize her for her losses or give her a speech about Important Things that would ring false even if she meant it, or worse, sound shallow and empty. No. She made a remark about her hair. It was something that Ashley didn’t even knew she needed: a few nice words so she could feel good about herself. It said so much more in that unfinished sentence, than a whole pep talk could have. No wonder she lost it.
But then it became hot and awkward at the same time. Yes, she wanted to top Miranda, go wild, but it didn’t seem to work half the time and she could not, for the life of her figure out what went wrong. Was it bad memories? Was it Ashley’s inexperience? Did she help Miranda get relief or just damaged her more?
Ashley almost dreaded the moment Miranda would wake up, because then she would find out if Miranda hated her or was afraid of her, or thought Ashley was bad at sex and it would become even more awkward. It would be best if she never woke up—
Ashley blinked and shook her head at the last thought. She frowned and slipped her arm out from under Miranda and slowly pulled away, covering the sleeping woman up with the jacket, tucking her in. She started dressing up slowly. It will be a very long train ride.
Eventually, Miranda woke up, too, and she didn’t seem to be neither mad nor scared. Nervous, yes, and flustered, maybe. She just put the jacket over her shoulders, pulled it close on her chest and pulled her slender, white legs under her. Gracious, even in a boxcar, on a freight train, after a wild night.
Ashley was all dressed up, already had her breakfast and was sitting near the door again, where she could watch her and the scenery passing by. The fields were replaced by plantations and orchards, and they passed a couple of smaller towns and at least one other railyard, where the train stopped for a few hours. They had to close the door and stay very quiet in the car, under the relentless sun. Inside the train it was even worse, the air stuck and humid, making it very hard to breathe. Miranda didn’t even bother to dress up, and Ashley soon peeled herself out of the top half of the jumpsuit. They smiled at each other, admiring the other’s nakedness, and eventually Ashley ended up lying on her back, her head in Miranda’s lap, who sat against the wall of the train, and absently fiddled with Ashley’s hair, staring out through the small gap on the door they risked leaving open.
They barely spoke a few words since they woke up. At first, Ashley tried to talk about last night, but Miranda just shook her head, closed her eyes and said “don’t worry about it.”

They just sat there and occasionally glanced at each other with a mixture of emotions in their eyes. Miranda didn’t want to talk, and Ashley had trouble putting her thoughts into words. After a while, silence became more comfortable and their gestures spoke a hundred words. So there they were, Ashley resting her head on Miranda’s lap, holding hands, fingers intertwined, and lost in thoughts.
It was getting late afternoon by the time they started to approach the capital. Heavy clouds gathered over the horizon where they were going, signs of the afternoon tropical showers most common in this season. Just as the sky darkened, their own mood started to turn sour. They all knew what was coming. They slowly dressed up, properly, buttoning up and checking their gear, both thinking about possible scenarios once they get off the train.
Will Cerberus wait for them at the railyard? Do they know where to look? How long until Ashley can signal to the Alliance and how long till they make an extraction? Will Cerberus really take Miranda out to prevent her from falling into Alliance hands? What will the Alliance do with Miranda once she’s arrested? What will she put into her report? What will Miranda tell? Could they survive this at all?
Ashley winced, when the deep rumble of thunder rolled across the sky, the air cooling down as they approached the evening storm. The train slowed its cruising speed as it entered the industrial zones, rattling through more and more switches, rocking the train as it changed tracks occasionally. Ashley was hesitating, waiting until the last possible minute before kneeling in front of Miranda, who sat in the corner with an empty expression, and took her wrists. Miranda sat up, looking into Ashley’s eyes. Ashley leaned forward and kissed her, holding Miranda’s wrists in her hands, nibbling at her soft flesh.

“I’m sorry,” Ashley whispered, pressing their foreheads together and reached for the handcuffs, snapping them on.

Miranda nodded, letting out a soft sigh.

“Me too.”
They stayed like that for five more minutes, searching each other’s faces until the train slowed to a crawl. Ashley decided to leave the backpack behind, taking only the gun and stuffing anything that she deemed useful into the many pockets of her jumpsuit. She nodded to Miranda, and stood up, pulling her to her feet.
Ashley didn’t want to wait until they reached the shunting yard. There might be more cover there with the dozens of trains, but she would have trouble to orient herself and the enemy could herd them where they wanted to.
She pulled the door open on the other side of the train, cold rain instantly soaking her, strong gusts of wind messing up her hair. She searched the landscape with narrowed eyes and noticed a highway overpass ahead, where bridges were criss-crossing over the train tracks.
“This is where we get off.”
They slid down the muddy shoulder as the train chugged by, and landed in a ditch already half full thanks to the tropical shower. Miranda glared at Ashley, and if those beautiful eyes could throw daggers, Ashley would have died grinning.

She took Miranda’s elbow and helped her stand up.

“Cheer up, it’s almost over.”

She patted her on the shoulder, and they crawled out onto a dirt road, more or less clean, if soaked to the bone. Ashley looked around and started guiding them under the bridges.
They climbed the embankment on the other side, from where they could see for miles around in the twilight. Scott City proper was about an hour’s walk to the southwest, sprawling wide and deep like a field of light. It was a massive city with huge residential districts, two storey family homes as far as the eye could see. The commercial districts stood out like islands of light, a handful of pillars in the middle of a sea of tiny lights. The highways and air traffic corridors were full with commuters, glowing veins of skycars and trucks. It was the prettiest view Ashley ever saw.
She noticed a filling station and roadside restaurant in the distance, away from the city, another batch of light and colorful signs. “Come on,” she nudged Miranda and they started to make their way towards the lights at the base of the embankment, out of sight from the road. Ashley had the gun in her right hand, flinging it casually by her side, and led Miranda with her left hand. It was still raining, and they were already feeling miserable, so none of them felt the need to talk about their plans.
It took them ten minutes to reach the station and by that time, the rain stopped. It was about time, Ashley thought, they couldn’t get wetter than this. They hid around the corner of the filling station, Ashley peeking out the corner to assess their options.

“We’re gonna hitch a ride at the restaurant,” she whispered to Miranda, nodding for her to start moving.
They walked around the filling station, ran to the restaurant in the cover of some crates and a bush with gigantic leaves. “Where were you when we needed you?” Ashely grumbled before pulling Miranda down under it. She was checking out the parking lot, watching people coming and going. Minutes crawled by, they huddled quietly in the shadows, Ashley still waiting for her move. Miranda took a breath to ask something, but Ashley just lifted a hand to hush her.

“Wait. See?” she nodded towards a car rolling in and stopping only a few feet away from them, at the edge of the parking lot. A man got out, locked the car and made his way to the diner.
Ashley nodded to Miranda and they ran to the car, crouching down at the driver’s side. Ashley looked at Miranda with an apologetic glance. “I’m sorry, but I have to do this…” she flashed a sad smile and pushed Miranda face down onto the concrete, pressing one knee between her shoulderblades, while she pulled a knife from her pocket and broke the lock on the door.
Miranda grunted indignantly, grimacing as she laid motionless on the cold, wet floor. “Just great,” she murmured.
There was a click and the door opened. Ashley dove in and tore open a panel in the footroom, ripping out several fuses before the car could make a peep. She lifted her knee off Miranda’s back and nudged her in. She fastened their seatbelts, closed the door quietly and hotwired the car. She looked at Miranda, who glared at her with raised eyebrows.

Ashley shrugged.

“Standard operating procedure,” she grinned. Miranda almost chuckled, but in the end just shook her head and looked out towards the restaurant..
The car came alive, lights turning on, electronics buzzing to life. As soon as the onboard computer booted up, Ashley tapped in several codes, lips pressed thin, the tip of her tongue poking out as she concentrated. After the third one, a green OVERRIDE message appeared and the engine whirred up.

“Clever, huh?” Ashley said, sitting up straight and grinning at Miranda. She reversed out quietly from the parking lot and only turned on the lights once they reached the on-ramp and drove onto the highway leading away from Scott City.
They turned back at the next overpass, and sped towards the skyscrapers, Ashley gripping the controls steadily, her eyes darting around, checking their progress on the navigator and the rear view cams.
“By the time the guy notices his car is missing, we’ll already be in the city,” Ashley grinned.

“And then what?” Miranda asked with a serious tone. She got more and more tense as they approached the city. For a little while, the only sound in the car was the air conditioning, blowing hot air into the cabin to help them dry up.

Ashley shrugged. “Dunno. Gotta get some decent outfits, contact HQ and wait for extraction.”

“That’s it?” Miranda snorted. “That’s your plan?”

Ashley looked at her with a baffled expression. “Why? What’s wrong with it?”

Miranda frowned. “Don’t you have safehouses in the city? Some contacts? How do you plan to evade my men? Any dead drops, escape routes? Anything?” She sounded mostly annoyed, maybe just a little bit concerned. Ashley was trying to guess if she was worried about herself or for the both of them.

“I’m a marine, not a spy,” she answered finally, with a baffled grimace. “I go in there, grab what I can and wing it.”

“Oh, my god,” Miranda muttered and looked out the window.
Ashley was getting a little bit frustrated. Miranda wasn’t condescending, but clearly she wasn’t satisfied with Ashley’s approach.

“What exactly is your problem?” Ashley asked, shooting a glance at her. “Am I disappointing you?”

Miranda looked at her for a second. “No, it’s just…” she was searching for the right words. “Never mind,” she sighed.
“I don’t know what’s the worry. It’s a huge city, millions of people on hundreds of square miles. Even if you have spies everywhere, our chances are still pretty good.” She paused. “Unless you have another plan and care to share with me.”
“I don’t have a plan. I’m just the prisoner.” Miranda shrugged. “I just know how would I hunt you.”

Ashley smirked. “That’s amusing. So how would you do it?”
“My first priority would be to make sure your prisoner won’t talk” Miranda said quietly.

That got Ashley’s attention. She stared at Miranda for a few, long seconds.

“Is this what you’re worried about? That you’re gonna die?”

Miranda just shrugged, shaking her head before looking away. Ashley frowned and turned her attention back towards the road. After a few minutes of tense silence, she sighed.

“So. You would let me get away and shoot your own man.” Ashley nodded, pondering. “Why?” Ashley waited for an answer, but she didn’t get one. She glanced at Miranda, who kept her lips pressed thin and frowned, struggling with her emotions. “Is it because you got everything from me? Or I’m more valuable alive? Or is it because it would make Cerberus look bad?”

“Stop it!” Miranda hissed.

“Maybe there are more sentimental reasons?” Ashley went on relentlessly.

“Enough. Please!”
She wasn’t trying to bully her and somehow she almost managed. Miranda turned away, covering her face with a hand, letting out a deep breath.

“What does it matter? I either end up dead or rotting in an Alliance cell for the rest of my days. Which one would you prefer?”
Ashley kept quiet. They were almost back to the fights they had before, only this time the stakes were even higher, and there was something else to lose. Ashley regretted pushing it. She let out a sigh and put a hand on Miranda’s thigh. Miranda jumped a little bit, but didn’t push her hand away.

“I’m sorry,” she offered, keeping her eye on the road, shooting a short glance at Miranda. She was staring ahead, too, at the highway and the lights of the suburbs they were passing by.

“Help me out here, then. What would you do?”
Miranda didn’t reply at first, but Ashley could feel it in her muscles, and her expression that she was hesitating. She gathered her thought.

“I would watch the Alliance barracks, monitor calls, train stations, spaceports, roads in and out of the city, marine haunts, hubs, police frequencies...” she shrugged. “ Spread my men out and have a strike team circle around, ready to hit when there is confirmation.”
“Oh-kay,” Ashley nodded. That was pretty extensive. She wondered if they had that many men on a mining world like this one. But then again, Terra Nova had only about four million people, most of them in this city. It couldn’t be that hard. “So how would you evade it?”
Miranda glared at her almost disapprovingly. “Really? You wanna know the secrets of the trade right now? And want me to spill them for you?”

Ashley offered a sly grin.

“Think of it a spy novel.”

Miranda rolled her eyes.

“Humor me,” Ashley patted her thigh. Miranda let out an exasperated sigh.

“As I said before. Safe houses, change looks frequently, go in a beeline, make contact through different channels, drop false leads…” she shrugged. “Not that it matters.”

“Because if you help me, they would know. You can’t even show any signs of that, or they would think you want to give yourself up and spill on THEM once you’re in Alliance custody.”

Miranda didn’t reply but her silence was enough for Ashley.
“Okay,” Ashley muttered. The road took them into one of the commercial districts, and Ashley had to watch the traffic more closely now. She was pondering what she heard as she watched the signs and towers passing by, like so many chances, warnings, alternatives. Slowing down to keep with the flow of the traffic, they were approaching a major junction. Ashley let out a soft chuckle and smirked. “Okay. Then let’s not play that game.”
She swerved suddenly, changing lanes, drifting towards the closest exit, angry drivers flashing their lights and their horns at her. Miranda raised her eyebrows, hanging onto her seat as Ashley changed lanes again and approached the off-ramp at breakneck speed.

“What are you—” she gasped, but Ashley hit the brakes and matched the speed of the vehicles around them, suddenly just one more car in the traffic, watching her monitors closely.

“Trust me,” she grinned and overtaking the cars wherever she could, she turned towards the city center at the first intersection. She looked at Miranda with an encouraging smile. “Now it’s my turn to make their lives harder.”

She took the next turn, guiding the car onto a large avenue which was glowing with lights from shop windows, advertisements, skyscrapers.

“They want a hunt?” Ashley muttered to herself defiantly. “I’ll give them one.”
She swerved sharply onto a ramp that led to the underground garage of a huge shopping center, coasting through the barrier and slowed down to find a spot.

“Ashley,” Miranda whispered, looking around bewildered. “What are you doing?”

Ashley didn’t answer. She spotted a place and parked the car smoothly, turning off the engines.
She let out a sigh and turned towards Miranda, resting her left hand on her thigh and cupping her cheek with her right.
“Listen to me.” She stared deep into those blue eyes. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. It will be all right.”

“Ash…” Miranda started, lifting her cuffed hands to touch Ashley’s hand on her cheek.

“Hush. I won’t lose you.” Ashley said sternly, her brow furrowing. “No matter how this ends. You understand?”
Miranda returned her gaze, and leaning into Ashley’s palm she nodded in understanding.

“Good,” Ashley sighed. Miranda was smart enough to get it, Ashley thought. She had to be. Because if she needed to explain it to Miranda that she can’t lose her like she lost Kaidan and Shepard, she wouldn’t be able to hold herself together.
She knew they couldn’t just drop off the map and hide away in a cozy corner of the Galaxy, even if they wanted to. But she had the feeling that this was not that kind of love anyway. And Ashley had a job to do. And Miranda… well, she had her own demons and her own goals. If it was not by her side, at least she had to make sure she gets out of this alive.
They stayed like that for a minute, looking at each other, Ashley smiling encouragingly, Miranda holding her hand, quietly. Then Ashley broke the gaze and looked around.

“Time to go.” She whispered, giving a soft kiss to Miranda. She unbuckled their belts, grabbed her gun and opened the doors.
They went to the elevators, the gun dangling in Ashley’s right hand and leading Miranda by the elbow with her left. As they waited, another woman arrived, joining them in front of the doors. It took her several seconds to notice that something was off.

Miranda could only imagine what went through her head when she realized how shabby they looked in their miner’s clothes, their hair soggy and matted, standing around so casually in the finest shopping center on the planet. Miranda looked down at her own boots, shifting her weight a little, moving just enough so that the handcuffs rattled on her wrists. That drew the woman’s gaze, and she noticed the gun in Ashley’s hand as well.
Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth but no voice came out. Miranda tried not to chuckle in amusement at the absurd situation. She looked and saw Ashley shoot a glance at the woman, not even moving her head. There was a ding and the elevator arrived, doors opening. Ashley nodded with her head to the woman to step in, and lead Miranda after the petrified woman into the cabin.

“Food court,” Ashley said to the shocked woman before the doors closed.
When they finally reached the food court, half a dozen people backed out of it, followed by Ashley, nonchalantly, like she was there shopping and nothing was wrong with the world, mostly ignoring the other passengers. Miranda looked at the floor the whole time, head slightly bowed with a slight frown on her forehead, while she tried to keep a straight face. She might have been amused a little bit. Just a little.
The two strolled out the elevator, Ashley leading her prisoner, heading for the cafés and restaurants. The other shoppers stood stunned for a few more seconds, some of them staring after the pair, others backing farther away, searching for security guards. A low murmur rose in their wake.
“There. How about that?” Ashley said to Miranda quietly, nodding at a terraced café with tables and chairs near the main, circular atrium of the shopping plaza. Large, mostly fake or very durable plants decorated the corners, giving the place a cozy, parkland vibe.

“Looks good,” Miranda shrugged reluctantly. She started to feel the tension growing steadily around them. In the elevator it was contained, comical, but now more and more heads turned, chats died down, whispers started and waiters froze as they walked right into the middle of it.
Ashley stopped at a table, where four women were having their lattés, large shopping bags around them. The two facing Ashley already froze and stared, while the others were still checking the extranet on their omnitools, drink in the other hand.

“Hey,” one of them said. “Someone is posting that there might be a hostage situation in this very plaza! Can you believe it?”

“Uh-huh,” the others replied, staring at Ashley and Miranda.
She did look formidable with her tangled mess of hair, deadpan expression on her face, ice cold stare, looking slightly menacing in the miner’s outfit, holding the similarly ragged Miranda by the elbow.

“Hi” Ashley said.

The other two almost jumped and turned back, one of them yelping in surprise. By that time, the whole café was quiet, waiting. Miranda had to bite her lip to stay quiet and serious.

“What’s your name?” Ashley asked, not even trying to sound friendly, poking the woman closest to her with the tip of the gun. It made her squeak, eyes darting back and forth between the gun and Ashley’s face.

“Uh, E-Elise…”

“Elise.” Ashley repeated ominously. “Why don’t you tap your ‘tool and dial up Scott City Alliance Command? Choose emergency services.”

“Wh-what?” Elise stuttered.

“You heard it. Do it.” Ashley encouraged.
Miranda raised her eyebrows, glaring at Ashley. “That’s your big plan?” she whispered.

“Relax,” Ashley said, turning her attention back to the woman calling up the emergency services panel.

“Give them a call will you, Elise? tap in hash-nine as soon as it connects” she said calmly.

The woman did so, scared out of her mind and utterly confused. The omni-tool connected, and there was a voice at the end of the connection.

“Alliance ES. Sergeant Ramirez. What is your emergency?”
Ashley flicked her gun a few times with her wrist, signaling Elise to lift her arm. She leaned forward, and started speaking as she looked around.

“Williams. Ashley. Major. Sierra Oscar two one eight two dash six. Authorization Scythe. Confirm.”

There was a brief pause at the end of the line. Ashley looked at the omni-tool curiously, but there was no picture, just the number and text of the alliance page, and a cursor blinking. She returned to searching the faces around her.

“Scythe confirmed. What is your situation?”
“I am at…” Ashley looked around with a frown, then at Elise, who was still holding her breath.

“Tayari Plaza,” she whispered.

“...Tayari Plaza, food court with an EPW. Need immediate extraction. Hostiles already inbound.”

There was another pause, longer this time.

“Copy that. Extraction Oscar Mike. Hold position.” and the call was over. The four women looked at each other helplessly. They had no idea what to do. Ashley leaned closer and nodded.

“I think it’s time for you to go home, hmmm?” she smiled, but it looked more like a sneer. The four quickly jumped up and gathered their bags, leaving as fast as they could, glancing back at them over their shoulders.
Ashley nodded to Miranda to sit down, then went and sat at an angle to her, not too close, not too far, with artificial jungle behind her, where she could see most of the food court. Cups of half-drank coffees were still steaming on the table. Miranda watched Ashley curiously, hiding her growing nervousness behind a nonchalant expression.

The marine never let go of the gun, she rested it on her lap as she leaned back, surveying the shopping center, an eerie calm surrounding her.

“And now what?” Miranda asked quietly, looking around from the corner of her eyes. People were slowly leaving, not daring to raise a fuss, trying not to draw attention to themselves. Some even stayed at their tables, but stopped whatever it was they were doing and watched the two women cautiously.

“Now we wait,” Ashley shrugged and smiled at her.
Miranda grimaced. However amusing it was to unnerve a bunch of posh shoppers in a glossy plaza, the whole situation was becoming more and more unpredictable. And that, surrounded by confused civilians was a recipe for disaster.

“What are you trying to do here? Cause panic?” she said still quietly, although nobody was around to hear them. She tried to hide the reproach from her voice and expression. Shooting a glance at the table she reached out and picked up a cup of latté, and started to sip it, looking around.

“Dunno. Is it working?”

“No… not yet.”

“Nothing to worry about then.”
Miranda was getting frustrated. Maybe it was also part of Ashley’s tactic, she couldn’t tell.

“I don’t think you realize how serious this is…” Miranda tried, speaking over the rim of the cup, trying to talk some sense into the marine.
Ashley Williams was clearly out of her league here, a frontline marine who practically fought her way from Eden Prime through the Citadel, playing the spy game. No doubt, her combat skills were admirable and lately she proved she could think on her feet, adapting her experience to new, unexpected situations, but this was very different. And she seemed dead calm about it.

“I do, believe me. I’m just not gonna run any more. Let them come at me. I can deal with that.” Ashley shrugged.

“Ashley, please. You said it will be all right.”

“So?”

“I don’t see how.”

“Look. I promised I won’t let..”

“I’m not worried about myself, you bloody fool!” Miranda snapped finally. Ashley looked at her, raising her eyebrows and slowly flashing a smile at her.

“Oh?” she chuckled. “That’s sweet, I suppose.” She leaned forward and picked up another cup of coffee. She sipped into it and grimaced. “Eugh. They drink this?”

Miranda frowned, leaning forward herself, too.

“Look. You are way over your head here. Why don’t we just…”
Before she could finish, there was a metallic clang, rustling noises from around the restaurant counter and the remaining guests edging away nervously. They both looked towards the sound and noticed a LOKI Mech making its way towards them. Miranda froze, cup in hand.

“Ah, Act Two,” Ashley smirked, looking towards the mech, not lifting her gun. “About time.”
The mech stopped at a couple of yards, held its position for a few seconds, pointing their gun at them, then it lowered its gun and started to guard the restaurant. Miranda shook her head in disbelief.

“A friend of mine,” Ashley grinned.
Miranda narrowed her eyes and in a few seconds she started to realize what happened. The Alliance HQ probably sent out a signal as soon as Ashley called, and added Ashley to the IFF system of all the security mechs in the plaza. It was not impossible, and it would make total sense. Miranda would do the same.
She snorted and shook her head. Ashley was playing a dangerous game. She was leveling the playing field, creating an impossible situation with too many variables, too many solutions, and on top of it, outside the normal, clandestine parameters. She said it herself: she was a marine, not a spy. She was used to open warfare and she was good at reacting to developing situations. Her enemies, however were not used to it. Maybe Ashley didn’t plan ahead, but it was working. She was unpredictable.

“This is insane,” Miranda sighed, hiding an amused smile as she sipped the rest of the coffee, but Ashley caught a glimpse of it. “You have no idea what you’re doing.”

“Nope.” Ashley grinned and leaned back. She had nothing to lose, as opposed to the Alliance, but mostly for Cerberus. If this goes wrong, both parties could spin it their way. It will be messy.
Miranda thought about it for a moment longer, calculating odds and ends, and she shook her head slowly. Maybe Cerberus won’t shoot her down, even if Ashley manages to walk out of here with Miranda, but they surely won’t let her stay in custody too long. She was either too important for Cerberus, and they break her out of there, or decide she’s too compromise, take the project away from her and make sure she won’t talk. Either way, the Alliance would be after Cerberus more vehemently. She couldn’t let that happen. Her project was too important. Ashley was too important. This had to stay a local matter. She needed to minimise the damage.
Miranda put the coffee down and flashed a sad smile at Ashley.

“This must end, Ashley” she looked down at her cuffed hands, then up into Ashley’s eyes. “This must end now.”

“It will, Miranda. Just a few more minutes and…”

Miranda closed her eyes and shook her head, taking a deep breath. She had to be very convincing.

“I can’t let you do this, Ashley…”

“You can’t let me what?”

“Ash… Listen to me…”

“What are you talking about?”

“Just… listen.” Miranda took another deep breath, and when she opened her eyes and looked into Ashley’s, she could already feel her vision blurring. “If we go our separate ways now, before anybody else gets here, this will just be a footnote in tomorrow’s gossip news. But if anybody’s team gets here first… it will be intergalactic news. I can’t let that happen.”

“What do you mean, can’t let that happen?” Ashley frowned, her calm slowly disappearing. Her expression started to darken. “What could you do?”

Miranda shook her head again. “Just listen to me, Ashley. Please!” she was begging, feeling her eyes tearing up. “What you managed to do until now… it’s incredible. I-I’m proud of you. But you have no idea how politics work.” She frowned, seeing Ashley take a breath to protest. She lifted her hand to tell her to stay quiet, her movement awkward with the cuffs. She chuckled, smiling sadly. “No. Listen. Please. I can’t let you ruin your career. Just think about it. All the questions they would ask you. The publicity. The embarrassment for the Alliance. I just can’t… and I have to do my own job.”
Miranda fell quiet, flashing her a sad smile, letting her tears drop. “I can live with you hating me. But I won’t let you bring yourself down. You have to pick up, where Shepard left off. We both have to move on. I’m sorry.”
Ashley still looked baffled. Very alert now, but utterly confused, watching tears rolling down Miranda’s cheek, but not daring to reach out to comfort her. Miranda could see the struggle, and she felt a pang of guilt, confusing her like this, but at least it helped with the tears.

“What are you sorry—” Ashley muttered. She never got to finish.
There was a smell of ozone, blue energy crackled, and Ashley started to float off her seat. She tried to reach for her gun and lift it, but couldn’t. She could only stare incredulously at Miranda. Miranda, who was also glowing blue, and slowly standing up, her arms following Ashley’s floating. The shock on her face was really making Miranda uncomfortable. She leaned closer, lowering her voice to a whisper.

“This has to be done. Maybe, one day you will understand. And forgive me.”
And then she swung her hands, sending Ashley flying into the LOKI mech, the two bodies going down in a tangle of limbs, crashing through several tables before stopping. Miranda was already running, not bothering with the handcuffs for now, racing to grab the gun and snatch it out of Ashley’s hands before she could climb out from under the rubble and recover. She tried not to look at her face, but for a heartbeat, she caught her glare. There was a lot of pain in her eyes, and incomprehension.
Miranda tore her gaze away, wiping her tears. She aimed and shot the LOKI mech in the head several times, hoping it was enough to destroy most of the data storage. The mech twitched and electric currents ran along its figure. Miranda started running, not looking back, through the parting crowd, who were now starting to panic. But it was already over.

Miranda stopped at the corner for a second, looking back, seeing Ashley staggering to her feet, dazed and confused, looking after Miranda with a pained expression. Their eyes met, Miranda tried to look rueful, then darted off before Ashley could have a chance to follow.
*****
Two hours later Miranda Lawson was having one of the best showers of her life. Clean bathroom, running hot water, a new set of decent clothes, a first-class apartment, and a wonderful view of the city as she walked out, wrapped in a towel, rubbing her hair dry. She couldn’t take her time to enjoy the luxuries, though. She had to make a call. She dried her hair, shot a glance at the clothes, then decided to put on the fluffy white bathrobe before sitting down at the secure terminal, a glass of red wine in her hand and tapped the keys with a satisfied sigh.
While she waited for the call to connect, she mused about what happened back at the shopping center. Now that she was clean. It felt good. She felt civilised. Back at the Tayari Plaza, it was starting to bother her, the way her skin was sticky with sweat and dirt, hair unkempt, feeling that urge to get out of those damn filthy clothes.
When she finally got out of Ashley’s sight, she made her way to the staff elevators and rode it up to the skycar parking lot, wiping her face clean of the tears and as much smudge as possible. She studied her reflection as she took deep breaths, coming down from the emotional high she worked herself into, to be convincing enough to Williams. Her eyes were still red, but that would disappear soon. Even than, her first thought was to get some proper clothes.
She stepped out of the elevator, walking out onto the rooftop parking and she almost stumbled into Hope Lilium and a man in a suit. Miranda and the man drew their guns simultaneously. Miranda smirked. A bodyguard. She lowered her gun, looking at the surprised Hope and nodded, before looking around.

“Perfect timing. We need to get out of here.”

“Uh, sure, yes,” Hope nodded, touching the arm of the bodyguard, signalling him to stand off. “Our car is this way.” She tapped her omnitool, giving a short order to the Cerberus strike team, no doubt already taking up positions inside the mall. “Fall back. We are clear. Operation aborted.”
Hope and the bodyguard sat in the front, while Miranda had the whole back of the skycar to herself, exhaling loudly and rubbing her wrists, free of the cuffs as she sent a very brief message to the Illusive Man, saying as little as possible, stating some facts and setting up a timeframe for a secure call.

“Get me to the safehouse,” she said to Hope, looking out the window. She was very tired, annoyed and needed a shower. A LONG shower. “Brief him of the last few days. As much detail as you can put together. Set up the secure channel. I have to get myself out of this shit before I talk to him. You two stay close, I will meet you when I’m done.”
Hope was looking at her from the front seat, nodding, making mental notes.

“I’ll get to it right away, Ms. Lawson” she said, turning to the bodyguard. “To the penthouse.”

The driver acknowledged, and changed course, veering out of traffic towards the high-rises, while Miranda stared out the window, looking back at the lights, still trying to make out Tayari Plaza, wondering what Ashley Williams was doing right now.
The beep of the terminal broke her out of her reverie, the Illusive Man signing in. She was still sloshing the wine absently in her hand. She frowned at that, taking a small sip before answering.
“Miranda. Good to see you again,” The Illusive Man said, puffing on his cigarette, as always.

“Thank you sir. It was a long week,” Miranda nodded. She settled back into the chair, snuggling into the soft fabric of the bathrobe. She was sure the Illusive Man didn’t take it as disrespect. Especially with that discrete cleavage she allowed herself to show.

“Indeed. I read the report. Ashley Williams. Interesting.”

“It seems Admiral Hackett is taking things seriously about the Reapers, and he only trusted her with this op. It was about some sort of a Reaper artifact. Apparently, the batarians stole some of the wreckage from the Citadel. ”
“They took a huge risk, going into batarian space. Can this be something else?”

“Yes and no. She was telling the truth, but I doubt it was really scrap from Sovereign’s wreck. Even Ashley thought this was different.” Miranda took a pause to sip her wine. “Apparently, she has been running clean up operations for Hackett lately, so she has reference.”

“Ashley? You got to be on a first name basis?” There was a hint of amusement in his voice. Miranda shrugged, but she did not try to hide her emotions. It was all too fresh, and she didn’t bother to fake it in front of him. They both knew better.

“There were a few intense moments. Bad memories. I’ll get over it.”
The Illusive Man hummed. “You made quite a scene at the mall.”

“I tried to minimize the impact. It will probably stay a local news story.” Miranda shrugged again. “Ash… Williams was more resourceful than we gave her credit for.”

“Interesting. Maybe we should pay more attention to her.”

“Yes, sir. But not as a threat. Maybe I pissed her off now, but it can work for us in the long run if you want to groom her for...”

“I understand.” The Illusive Man cut her off. “Speaking of attention, you’ve been exposed quite a bit. The Alliance will be more alert.”

“I know. I doubt they will start a manhunt, though. I tried to avoid exactly that.”
“So,” The Illusive Man paused for effect, puffing on his cigarette, musing. “What have we accomplished, then?”

Miranda took the time to sip her drink, and change position, crossing her legs and staring at her naked feet, the robe half slipping off of her thighs.

“Quite a lot, actually. We know there is at least one high-ranking officer, who believes the threat. We know Ashley Williams sees it’s true. And we underestimated her somewhat. We know there’s more to the Reaper artifacts than anybody knows. Ashley thinks it’s different. I guess Hackett knows it, too.”

The Illusive Man nodded slowly. “Very well then. We can’t do much with it, but any intel is good.” There was another pause. “Anything else?”

“Actually, there is, sir,” Miranda said, fiddling with the glass, taking another sip and watching the red drink settle down.

“I’m listening.”
Miranda didn’t lift her gaze.

“Ashley,” she used the name intentionally. She knew she should have used her family name, but she didn’t care. Maybe it wasn’t professional, but the Illusive Man would hardly mind. She wanted him to notice. “At one point she talked about the Normandy, sir. About the attack. She also talked a bit about the crew. And Shepard’s relationship with the asari.”

That got the Illusive Man’s attention.

“Interesting. I want a full report on that, Miranda. This is unexpected good news. I was right to send you there.”

Miranda looked up at the terminal screen, but didn’t lift her head. “Thank you, sir.”
“Meanwhile, we received a message from Dr. T’Soni. It seems she succeeded. You need to meet her right away. Project Lazarus is a go, Miranda, and I want you to lead the team.”

Miranda looked up, surprised. “Me? I’m more useful on the field, sir, not in a lab.”

“I know, Miranda. And you did an excellent job at helping T’Soni and making arrangements. And it seems to me, that you fared quite well at Terra Nova, too.”

“Thank you, sir, but…”

“You will have to lay low for a while.”

“I know...”

“So what better way to spend that time, than to run this project?” He paused for a second, changing his tone. “Miranda, dear. I see you’re disappointed, but don’t be. At this point, you know more about Shepard than anybody else I can trust this with. You are indeed, very unique.”

Miranda pressed her lips thin, and frowned. She did not like the idea of sitting behind desks, and managing a bunch of scientists.

“You know that I have doubts about this project, sir.”

“I know. I also know, that you won’t make any mistakes. This project is simply too important. Humanity’s survival is at stake.”

“Isn’t that putting too much pressure on the team, sir?”

“We both know how smart you are, Miranda. I can trust you to voice your real opinion. I can trust that you won’t try to suck up to me and you will give me straight answers. I can trust you to run a tight ship. Why should I be content with anybody else?”

“Are you sucking up to me, sir?”

The Illusive Man allowed a soft chuckle.

“And that’s why you need to run the project, Miranda.” He leaned forward, probably putting out his cigarette, not even looking into the camera. “Besides, this job is nice and quiet for a change. You will have a little more time for yourself. Contact me before the exchange.”

And with that, he hung up.
Miranda sat in the chair, wrapped in the bathrobe, sipping the wine and staring off into space for a long time. What has she gotten herself into? The Lazarus was huge, almost religiously important for the Illusive Man. Hence the name, she thought. It was more than a simple analogy for resurrection. She poured herself another glass, and pondered about her situation. It seemed like such a minor detour, coming down to Terra Nova, and it lead to her getting promoted to the Lazarus.
Thoughts of Ashley came to her mind. She sipped the wine, while her other hand absently touched her chest, just above her breasts, stroking her skin with the back of her fingers. She squirmed in the chair, clenching her thighs tightly.

Miranda shook her head, shaking out of her reverie, then unceremoniously gulped down the rest of the wine and stood up, letting the bathrobe fall into the chair. Time to dress up and get back to work.

She carefully chose her underwear, shirt and dress, while calling Hope on the terminal. No picture this time.

“Get the car ready and meet me in the bar in five minutes.” She said, pulling on a fitting pair of pants. “And Lilium… start collecting files on the Normandy crew.” She tapped the terminal, ending the call.

Miranda Lawson checked herself in the mirror once more, adjusting her hair just a tiny bit to look perfect, and then left the room for the bar. Maybe she could get one more drink before leaving the planet.

There was no rest for the wicked.

Notes:

Special thanks to the kmeme readers, especially the anon who gave the idea about Ashley’s mission. It fit perfectly, and I could squeeze in a piece of Kasumi’s backstory into the puzzle. Also big kudos to smee!anon for the idea about Ashley’s hair. Couldn’t have made it like this without them.
Although this was the final chapter and the end of the original story, stick around for a bonus scene that wraps up a few things and answers a few questions that nobody might have asked. If you had enough of this story, you can stop reading here.
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