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Need to Know	By : Nicker Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 13206 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Mass Effect & all the characters are property of Bioware. I am not making money with writing this story.

Chapter List
- 6
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- 8
Horizon. Here we are, again. Fuck!
And Liara was the Shadow Broker?! Ashley barely had enough time to process the information after Shepard and the asari revealed it to her, claiming that apart from Miranda, Tali and Garrus, she is the fifth person who knows the new Shadow Broker’s identity.
Her mind was reeling from the revelation, not the least because it also explained Liara’s involvement in organizing their meetings with Miranda.
Damn, things were going fast. Before Ashley had time to confide in Liara about her run-ins with Miranda, about which no doubt, the asari might have already known, they hit Thessia and all new kinds of hell broke loose.
That Cerberus assassin was a pain in the ass, snatching the info from them, leaving them flustered, Liara in turmoil and Shepard royally pissed. They tracked the bastard to Horizon, and Ashley was really not looking forward to landing there again.
The first surprise came even before they landed. They intercepted a transmission from someone called Oriana Lawson, and Ashley’s heart already skipped a beat. Shepard said it was Miranda’s sister, and that it meant Miranda was close. And Ashley had no time to ask questions.
They went in full force. Shepard, Vega and Ashley in the front, Garrus and Liara bringing up the rear. They were not getting surprised again. It was becoming a new layer of hell very quickly. Cleaning a path inside the Sanctuary facility was easy, until the creatures started showing up.
The second surprise came when they actually found a message recorded by Miranda herself, no doubt leaving it behind for anyone following. That woman was nothing if not methodical. Ashley stared incredulously at the screen, where Miranda was explaining that it was a Cerberus facility, ran by her father. At least she gave them a clue, pointing Shepard’s team towards the comms tower.
Ashley felt her head starting to spin. At least she wasn’t alone, judging from Shepard’s rhetorical question to them about how these puzzle pieces fit together. And if she didn’t know what to think any more, further inside the complex Liara identified Reaper tech.
That seemed to animate Shepard as well, and before Ashley could say something, Shepard’s concerns echoed hers as well. Miranda was caught in the middle of all this.
They picked up the pace, finding new nightmarish footage of refugees turned into husks. It was sickening.
There was also another recording of Miranda shutting down power to lock the Reapers inside. Before anybody had the time to admire her move and wonder how she made it so far alone, another footage of that assassin popped up, talking to someone about Miranda.
“There’s no way she knows he’s here,” blurted out Ashley breathlessly. Fortunately nobody stopped to wonder about her sudden concern as they all echoed her sentiment.
The resistance got heavier after that. They stopped encountering Cerberus troops as they entered the locked down region, teeming with reaper minions. And it did not end there.
The next breadcrumb that Miranda left behind was audio only, explaining Henry Lawson’s twisted experiments that made Ashley’s stomach churn.

“This guy is someone’s father?” she blurted out, not even realizing what she was saying. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing.”
Nobody argued with that. The tension was rising in all of them, Vega’s shotgun barking more and more often, clearing some room for Ashley and Shepard’s assault rifles. Garrus sticked with Liara, covering the asari and picking off strays from any vantage point he could find.
They made a very efficient fire team and were it not for her seething anger and deep worry, Ashley would have appreciated the sight. As it were, she took point more and more, to the surprise of Vega and Shepard, who had trouble keeping up with her.

“Can’t cover you, Lola, if you run away,” Vega muttered at one point, yanking Ashley behind a cover and firing his shotgun at the same time.
Ashley glared at him, but she knew he was right. They needed to reach the communications tower, where everybody seemed to be headed. Ashley was just too eager to get there. She growled in frustration whenever they ran into another group of Reaper creatures. Miranda was smart to lock them in and away from the rest of the city, but it made advancing harder for anybody following her trail. And she was also trapped inside with them, plus Kai Leng, too, as it seemed.
It was getting cramped, fighting in tighter spaces, bumping shoulders with each other, throwing away thermal clips like there was no tomorrow. Garrus and Liara had to step up with their support and Shepard wisely kept them tightly together. Although there were only five of them, it felt like a crowd.
Sweating and panting, and with fresh dents on their armor they reached another control station, just below the comm level, where they found another message from Miranda. She looked more disheveled, scrapes and bruises and torn clothes that made Ashley’s heart sink. She started to regret not meeting her one last time on the Citadel. In this damn war, you had to take every opportunity to say at least goodbyes to those you cared about, because it just seemed more and more likely that you would never meet again. She should have learned that from her sister. Or maybe that’s why she wanted to avoid meeting Miranda on the Citadel.
It gnawed at Ashley, thinking about Miranda, barely paying attention to the calls between Henry Lawson and the Illusive Man that proved beyond doubt what they were up to. She admired Miranda’s resolve, how she kept her wits about and found time and effort to record and document everything she found out. Ashley wouldn’t have had the patience for it.
Did she miss her chance? Wouldn’t it have been better to make a clean break?
Shepard was moving, lowering a service ladder to the level above, the noise yanking Ashley back to the present. She was beyond disgusted with Cerberus experimenting on humans to care about the details. She didn’t mind not listening to the recordings. She shot one last glance at the monitors as everybody got ready to climb the ladder when something caught her eye.

“Commander! There is more here. Look!” she called out, her eyes glued to the monitor.
It was Miranda again, in a room, snapping her head towards a noise, probably, and then Kai Leng dropped into the frame. Miranda staggered backwards and fell, crawling away frantically as Kai Leng stepped towards her, and then the video feed cut off.
“Damn it! I hope she’s ready for him,” Shepard muttered and signalled them to move on.
Ashley was fighting panic as she followed, climbing onto the next level as fast as she could. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, feeling her mind narrowing down to one purpose only. It was a familiar battlefield experience, and she hadn’t felt this intensity since the Citadel battle against Sovereign. Every nerve in her body focused on her surroundings, seeing everything sharp, feeling everybody’s presence and position around her. Every other thought was banished from her mind, every movement catching her eyes, her assault rifle an extension of her senses, her eyes and hands. Touching shoulders with Vega she took the initiative, always knowing where Shepard and the others were, laying down covering fire one heartbeat before Shepard or Vega would need it, or drawing attention to herself to distract the enemy when she felt Liara was preparing a biotic burst.
She went flanking with Garrus, keeping the creatures at bay and creating space for the turian to pick his targets and thin the crowd that was occupied with Shepard’s and Vega’s gunfire.
By the time they reached the door to the comms room, she was gritting her teeth, cursing and using the butt of her gun on the husks, luring them onto her just to be able to bash skulls and break bones.
There was a quick pause before the door, everybody taking a second to check their gear and take a breath. Vega hit the button on the door and they filed in quickly, weapons at the ready.
Ashley was really not prepared for the sight that greeted her. Henry Lawson was standing in the middle, spinning around at the noise and grabbed Miranda to yank her in front of him as a human shield. Before Ashley could register how low one has to sink to use their own daughter as protection, she realized it wasn’t Miranda. It was her sister, and the resemblance was uncanny.
“Shepard!” came Miranda’s voice nearby and Ashley’s heart skipped a beat again.
Miranda was sitting on the floor, holding herself up on one hand, the other clutching her side, her white outfit dark red where blood was seeping out under her palm.
“Commander Shepard!” Henry Lawson snarled. “Excellent timing.”

“Put the gun down,” Shepard warned, advancing slowly, gun aimed at Lawson, while the rest of them spread out on both sides. Ashley needed every bit of her willpower to keep her aim steady and focus on the immediate threat, get a clear shot at Henry Lawson and wait for any signal from Shepard. She really wanted to pull the trigger.
“No. Oriana tried to shoot me. Miranda’s poisonous influence, no doubt.”

“I’m sorry she missed,” Shepard shot back, making Ashley smirk behind the cover of her gun. She shot a glance to Miranda, who struggled to stand. “Where’s Kai Leng?”
“I don’t know. Gone. He took my research and left us here to die.”

“Miranda. Can you hear me?” Shepard called out, keeping his eye on her father.
Miranda slowly managed to stand, no doubt just to show her father that she was still not beaten. It was foolish, Ashley thought, she was risking further damage.
“That’s close enough! Both of you!” Lawson snapped, his gun darting back and forth between them, keeping an arm around Oriana’s neck. “Kai Leng didn’t finish the job but I will.”
“This ends here,” Shepard said in a warning tone. Ashley slowly gripped her rifle tighter, getting ready to shoot.

“On the contrary,” Lawson replied suddenly very confident. “Now that the reapers are taken care of, we have a way out.”
“Let her go,” Shepard said, apparently not interested in the man’s ramblings.

“Shepard… don’t let him take her,” Miranda said, her trembling voice betraying her desperation and her weakness.
Ashley grit her teeth, her finger itching on the trigger. It was still not a clear shot and Shepard was still trying to talk the man down. Every passing second was feeling like an eternity.
“I have no problem with you. I just want Oriana and the research data,” Shepard offered generously.

“You want a lot.”

“You get your life in return. How much is that worth?”
There was a long, very long pause as Henry Lawson considered his options. Miranda was swaying on her feet, clutching a nearby desk for support, four guns trained at the man, Ashley’s finger twitching on the trigger. Oriana stood very still and quiet, holding up bravely, but her eyes were locked on her sister, her gaze full of emotions.
“All right. Take her.” Lawson said finally, pushing his daughter away from him. “But I want out alive. Deal?”
Shepard nodded curtly, slowly lowering his gun, signaling the others to follow. Ashley was reluctant to comply, her aim wavering. She tipped her rifle down in disappointment. She was so focused on getting a good shot at Lawson she missed the buzz of biotics as Miranda’s fist started to glow blue and she threw a ball of dark energy at her father, throwing him against the cracked window with an impossible starting speed. The glass shattered, and the man fell to his death, screaming.

“No deal,” she gasped.
Everybody stared at the window and the falling man incredulously.
“Miranda!” Oriana screamed and started to run.
Miranda was lying on the floor where she collapsed, Oriana skidding to a halt on her knees next to her. She lifted her head and shoulder, trying to pull her into her lap.

“Stay with me, sis!”
That got Shepard and Ashley moving at the same time, rushing to help. They flanked Miranda on both sides, Ashley checking out the wound automatically, while Shepard grabbed Miranda’s shoulder and tried to keep her awake.
“Hey, Miranda,” he said gently, shooting a quick glance at Ashley.

“She lost a lot of blood,” Ashley replied quickly, understanding the unspoken question. “It’s a cut… passed through the back…” she reached under Miranda’s back, making the woman gasp in pain, while she winced. “Seems clean.”
“Hold tight, Miranda, we’ll get you out of here,” Shepard whispered, holding the wounded woman’s hand and patting it encouragingly. He even managed a reassuring nod to Oriana.
Ashley tried to control herself, forcing her hands to remain calm and not tremble. She fumbled for the medpack on her belt, but her hands were slippery with blood and the fucking thing wouldn’t pop open! Vega patted her arm with his medpack and Ashley looked up, taking it with a nod, ripping the package open with her teeth. Vega patted her on her back and moved off to secure the perimeter. Garrus and Liara were hunched over one of the terminals, trying to get the research data and figure out how to shut down the scrambling, communicating in quick, short sentences filled with all kinds of tech lingo.
“I-I can’t believe it’s you…” Miranda whispered, looking up at Shepard gratefully.
Shepard nodded, occasionally glancing at Ashley to see how she was doing.

“We caught a break. I’m just glad we got here in time.”
Miranda nodded weakly, suppressing a painful grunt while Ashley dumped a generous dose of medigel on a lump of gauze and pressed it against the exit wound on her back. She glanced up at Oriana, looking at her awkwardly. It was so strange to suddenly see a younger, more emotional version of Miranda there, her expression open, eyes filled with tears.

“Here. You have to press this here to stop the bleeding,” Ashley whispered, taking Oriana’s hand in hers to guide it to the gauze. She almost apologised for smearing blood on the girls wrist and sleeve.
“How did you do all this, Miranda?” Shepard asked gently, almost in awe, keeping her distracted and focused on him. He was very good at this.
“Just followed the lies… then… then when I saw… this, I couldn’t just walk away.”

“Of course,” Shepard nodded encouragingly offering a faint smile and looking around. “Breaking into a fortified Cerberus lab under attack by Reapers… Not many people could pull this off.”
Miranda returned the smile, that quickly turned into a grimace. She looked up at Oriana, who held her head and stroked her cheek, eyes full of tears. Meantime Shepard and Ashley exchanged glances, and Ashley nodded curtly while she freed her own medkit and was working on ripping Miranda’s jacket open so she can access the front wound.

“I can stabilize her. But we need Chakwas,” she said quietly.

Shepard nodded again, turning his attention back to Miranda.
“I needed to find Oriana. Nothing was going to stop me,” Miranda said with so much determination in her voice that Ashley stopped what she was doing for a moment and looked up at them.
She realized she avoided looking into Miranda’s eyes, and she wasn’t sure it was because tending to the wounds needed her attention that much, or because she felt like shit for standing her up back at the Citadel.

“I understand,” Shepard said while Ashley and Miranda’s eyes finally met for a second. “You should have told me.”
Ashley couldn’t tell if there was anything in those icy blue eyes apart from pain and exhaustion, and she certainly couldn’t master the energy to force a “sorry” look on her face, so they just acknowledged each other’s presence before Ashley went back to dress the wound. The whole exchange took less than a second.

“You have a war to win, Shepard. This was… my fight. It’s been a long time coming.”

“You did it. It’s over.”

“We can stop running,” Miranda sighed in relief as she turned back towards Shepard.

“Yes. You can.”
Ashley felt a tight squeeze in her chest. There was so much desperation, pain and relief in that one sentence, that even though she had no idea what was happening around her, she could feel how important it was to Miranda.
Garrus stepped closer and signaled to Shepard.

“The research data is gone, but we’ve still got basic facility information like shuttle arrivals and departures… Cerberus included.”
Shepard looked up at the turian and nodded.

“That’s something at least.”
“I can do better than that,” Miranda whispered and Ashley realized she was losing her strength, going soft under her hands. She stared at her bewildered, glaring her to shut up.

Shepard snapped his head back towards Miranda. “What?”
“Before… Kai Leng took off… I-I planted a tracer on him…” she wheezed, having trouble breathing. Even Oriana felt it, shuffling nervously as she held her head, whispering her sister’s name as she tried to keep her awake.
“A tracer?” Shepard said, almost touched. “Sounds like you thought of everything.”
“Not quite, but…” Miranda’s gaze wandered over to Ashley, who stopped what she was doing, keeping the pressure on the wound and stared at her incredulously. “…nobody’s perfect.”
Ashley felt like crap, looking away from Miranda’s face that did not betray any resentment or anger, just exhaustion.

Miranda was fumbling for a pocket on her side and Ashley helped her dig out a tracker device.
Shepard took it away like it was made of pure gold.

“Thanks, Miranda. This is… exactly what we need.”
He looked at the wounded woman with a smile and then up at Garrus.

“Go,” Ashley said quietly, nodding to Shepard. “Call the shuttle. I’ve got this.”
Shepard nodded and stood up, shooting one more grateful glance at Miranda before jumping up and joining Garrus and Liara at the terminal.
Ashley was finally left alone with Miranda and her sister.

“Here we are… again…” Miranda whispered with a faint smile as she lifted her tired gaze at Ashley.

Their eyes met and Ash froze, glaring back at Miranda with a remorseful look, recalling the first time they met. Much has changed, but she was applying medigel to Miranda’s torso again. She could practically feel Oriana’s curious glance on her and that made her ears burn.

“Just shut the hell up,” Ashley hissed, struggling to remain calm. Of course, she meant Miranda should conserve her strength but it came out more brusquely than she intended.
Miranda smiled again weakly, closing her eyes. She understood.

“Miranda!” Ashley whispered in panic as the woman started to pass out. Oriana looked up at her desperately, and when Ashley met her gaze, she was trying to hide her anxiety.

“She’s gonna be fine,” she mumbled, nudging Miranda’s hip with her knees. “Stay with me.”
Miranda’s eyes opened, looking around slow and dazed. She probably didn’t even hear what Ashley said.
“Let’s make sure everybody knows about this place.” Shepard said behind her as the scrambler was deactivated. Miranda’s voice filled the room as her recorded warning now broadcasted uninterrupted planetwide. Shepard tapped his comm, calling the shuttle. “Cortez, we need a pick up at the tower.”
He spun around, nodding to the others, who started to get ready and form up.

“I’ve had enough of this place.”
Shepard and Vega stepped up next to Ashley, and they both looked down at them concerned.

“How is she?” Shepard asked softly.
Ashley looked up, and she hoped she looked calm enough.

“She needs a doctor. Fast.”
Shepard nodded. “The landing platform to the tower is two levels down and still crawling with Reapers. We need to carry her.”
“Got it,” Ashley nodded, turning back to pick Miranda up. Vega was kneeling down, ready to help. “I said, I got it!” Ashley snapped, glaring at Vega, who reeled back with a frown. “You stay with the girl and keep her safe. Garrus can cover Shepard and Liara walks with me.”
Vega rolled his eyes, lifting his hands up in deference, a smirk forming on his lips.

“Oye. Lola has spoken.” He stood up, pulling out his shotgun and checked the clips.
Ashley drew her pistol, slipping her right arm under Miranda’s knees. She took Miranda’s left wrist gently and put her hand on her wound.

“We need to keep pressure on this,” she whispered softly. “Sorry.”

Miranda looked at her and nodded, keeping her lips closed tightly, concentrating too hard on staying awake to make a noise.
Ashley wrapped Miranda’s right arm over her shoulder and slipping her left hand behind her shoulder blades she took a breath and stood up. Miranda grunted in pain as her left hand was trapped between their bodies, effectively keeping the pressure on her wound.
Shepard was staring at her.

“What?” Ashley asked testily.

Shepard shook his head, lifting a hand with an appreciative smirk in the corners of his mouth.

“Good thinking, Ash,” he smiled, patting her on her shoulder and nodded to the others. “Let’s move out!”
The trek was short but intense. The reapers were drawn to the comms tower. They may have figured out The Illusive Man’s plans, but they didn’t know yet that the plans were gone. Ashley marched forward with quiet determination, gripping her gun tightly, in case anything gets within point blank range, where she wouldn’t have to aim. She kept looking at Vega’s back, who had his left hand on Oriana’s shoulder, guiding her with firm taps, pushing her into cover if needed.
More than once Ashley needed to drop to one knee and cover Miranda with her body as something exploded or peppered them with whatever projectiles those bastards had. She buried her head into Miranda’s chest, but she had no time to linger or to look, just concentrating on the sounds and flashes to know when to duck. Her scent still filled Ashley’s nose, and that gave her strength as Miranda started to feel heavier, and it became harder and harder to jump back on her feet and run when Liara tapped her shoulder that the coast was clear.
It was a blur, everything just a narrow corridor that she had to run through, her muscles burning, sweat pouring down her forehead. Just like the endurance trainings, she thought, chuckling.
She didn’t even notice when Miranda passed out, only looking at her face when she saw the shuttle landing and the door opening. The victorious grin faded quickly as she saw Miranda’s head bobbing and her arm slipping from Ashley’s shoulder. Time for the final sprint.
Vega pushed Oriana forward and stopped, spinning around to cover their retreat, the shotgun roaring behind Ashley. Ten yards… five… one… She dived inside between Shepard and Garrus, who stood on each side of the door and laid down suppressing fire until everybody was in the shuttle and the doors closed.
Ashley slumped down in one of the jumpseats, clinging to Miranda with all her strength, the muscles burning in her arms, her legs, her back. She was gasping for air, trying to catch her breath but shook her head when Garrus and Shepard tried to peel the unconscious woman from her arms.

“It’s fine… gotta keep the pressure…” she gasped, drawing a few odd stares from Shepard, and Vega, but keeping Miranda stable made sense to them as well. They buckled her into the seat, Oriana sitting down on Ashley’s left and helped hold her sister’s head.
Shepard checked Miranda’s pulse and nodded reassuringly to Oriana.

“She’ll get through this,” he said softly as the shuttle started to rattle, gaining altitude to reach orbit.
The rest of the ride was quiet, everybody cooling down, catching their breath, shaking off the rush. Ashley looked around dazed, her head still swimming as the adrenaline left her system, looking everybody in the face, musing over the Normandy crew. Vega looked like he was already sleeping, strapped into his seat, Garrus tucking away their gear before sitting down. Shepard checked in with Cortez and radioed ahead for dr. Chakwas to get ready for surgery and then dropped down next to a dazed Liara, who was rolling her head and taking deep breaths to calm herself down.
Ashley watched them hold hands quietly for a while, before she realized Shepard was looking at her. Ashley held his gaze, finding approval and gratitude in his look. He even nodded curtly and cocked a half smile. There might have been some curiosity in that look, too, and Ashley was glad she looked like hell and probably flushed from exhaustion that hid her nervous blush.
They both looked at Miranda’s pale face and Oriana’s gentle hands stroking her hair, her full attention focused on her older sister.
Ashley shot a glance at Oriana and looked back at Shepard, who was still watching her with a mixture of amusement and pride. She let out a ragged sigh and rested her head against the back of the seat, staring into empty space. She felt utterly exhausted, incapable of feeling pride and satisfaction at Shepard’s silent praise, and felt too empty to feel guilty or worry any more. She even zoned out for a bit, the only connection to the real world was the weight in her arms.
- 6
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- 8
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Need to Know