Chapter Text
They had done it; the Collectors had been beaten and their base was completely destroyed. Sure the Normandy had taken a few hits but once they were back through the Omega Relay, the entire crew rejoiced for their Commander and their survival against what many had considered to be impossible. Shepard stood down against the Illusive Man as he berated him against his ‘rash’ decision to destroy the Collector Base and every single horrible creature that called that place home.
“You’ve destroyed what could have been the biggest technological find in past decades Commander! You’re beginning to cost me a lot more than time and money and I must admit that I’ve reached my limit.”
“So what? The Collectors were processing the colonists into biological matter… PROCESSING them into another Reaper! Did you expect me to just shrug my shoulders and say well at least they helped us. What kind of person willingly lets people get killed like that?”
“Sacrifices have always been needed Shepard. They wouldn’t have been the first and you can be sure that they wouldn’t have been the last.”
“Well I apologize for not being as willing to sacrifice my men just as readily as you are.”
“Regardless, I’m ordering you to bring the Normandy to a set of coordinates that I’m uploading to EDI.”
“Yeah, no chance of that happening.” Alex had stood down much worse than the Illusive Man. He wasn’t about to win this.
“You’re flying around in Cerberus property Commander. I ORDER you to bring me that ship.”
“The Normandy is no longer part of Cerberus. No one on board this ship is.”
“Commander, you seem to think that you have a choice here. Did you really think that I simply gave you a several credit warship without implementing some restraints in case you grew unwilling to work with us? Your opinion of me is sorely lacking.”
The Illusive Man taped away at the console on the beside him. As the console began to flash crimson, Shepard knew that EDI was looking out for them.
“I’m warning you Shepard… You will regret making an enemy of me.”
“Likewise. EDI, cut the feed.”
“Right away Commander.”
As Alex stood out from the communicator, he rolled his shoulder. A Collector had managed to get a lucky shot in and while his armour absorbed the majority of the damage, He wanted Chakwas to give it a look over. Suddenly, he thought of something.
“EDI?”
The familiar visage came to life on a console beside him. “Yes Commander? How may I be of assistance?”
“I trust you EDI and if you say you got everything, then I believe you but the Illusive Man might have a few surprises planned so just give everything another look over, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“Right away Commander. Would you like me to send a report to your terminal for appraisal?”
“Yes, thank you. By the way Edi, it’s Alex to my friends.”
“Noted. Thank you… Alex”
As the door slid open, Alex met the eyes of Miranda Lawson, former Cerberus Operative and the love of his life. Alex immediately noted the conflict in her eyes, and it was quite a surprise over the usual confidence that simply radiated off her. Just as she pushed herself off the railing, Alex wrapped his good arm around her frame and pulled her in close. He noted the gentle floral aroma that clung to her hair and breathed deep. He would happily stay here forever.
“How much did you hear?”
“I just got here.”
“Miri? How much?”
It unnerved her just how well he was able to read her. As he pulled away from her and his gaze showed his concern, Miranda sighed.
“Just worried about a few things. I know the Illusive Man. He really doesn’t take rejection well. On top of that, we don’t exactly have any protection anymore and there are at least a few convicts on board. I don’t know… just a lot going through my mind at the moment.”
Alex wrapped his arms tightly around Miranda despite his aching shoulder. She flinched at first and Alex hated that she had become so unaccustomed shows of affection. He smiled when her arms slowly snaked around to join at the base of his back and leaned in closer towards the embrace. It was true that he also shared some of her concerns but dammit they had done the impossible! They had marched through the Omega Four Relay and given a massive middle finger to Harbinger, the Collectors and the rest of the Reapers. They had done it as an interspecies team that many believed he was crazy for even thinking that they would work together, let alone pull off a suicide mission together.
“It’s ok Miri. It’s true that things may seem a little bleak at the moment but even if Cerberus was offering protection or support, I would have to, in my best judgement, turn it down. You saw how willing the Illusive Man was to disregard the death, and pain that was suffered by all those colonists that he claimed to want to protect. Even me, his beloved four billion credit science project, he wanted terminated just because I didn’t agree with him.”
“You’re wrong.”
“About?”
“You were MY science project. He simply bought the paper mâché and glue that I used to hold you together.”
Alex couldn’t help the butterflies in his stomach when he saw that smile grace Miranda’s face. Between hearing about her father and how her life was always so controlled and planned out, he wanted nothing more than to hunt the man down and beat some much needed sense into him.
“If I’m just paper and glue, where did the rest of the money go?”
“Retirement fund.”
“I’m just happy that between the thresher maw acid, bullet holes, biotic blasts, and near death encounters that I’ve faced over the last few months, that you bought the good paper and glue.”
“I only do perfection, Alex.”
An almost primal growl erupted from his throat as Miranda’s voice grew slow and sultry. She had the ability to reduce the great Commander Shepard to dust with a simple touch, but he didn’t mind. She was the first thing on his mind when he woke up and the last thing he saw before he fell asleep. It’s true that Alex had on and off relationships over the years, but he could close his eyes and imagine a future with Miranda. A future that he was determined to see come true. Alex’s hands ran along her arms before pinning her hands to the wall above her head. Neck exposed; he ran kisses from the base of her ear down along her neck towards her collarbone. Just as he reached the end, he sucked hard before meeting Miranda’s narrowed glazed eyes.
“You… bastard. How... the hell… do I explain… that?!”
Alex wouldn’t have ever called himself possessive, but all logic and rational thought went straight out the airlock whenever Miranda was involved. She almost unlocked some kind of primal instinct that simply screamed at him to mark her, it scared him.
“Thermal clip burn. Easy. Your pistol jammed and the clip ejected wrong.”
“Won’t work. You… know me. I’m very good with my hands. Things… don’t jam.”
Alex growled again as he pinned both her hands with one hand so that his other free hand could try and find the zipper on her catsuit. Hands roamed but found naught. Suddenly, Alex found his back against the wall as Miranda flipped them around. She pressed a slim digit against his lips as she stood back and easily found her target amongst the latches and fasteners. This wasn’t the first time that they had seen each other topless as Alex had all but ripped his chest piece off. The armour would have to be patched up and while a small part of him felt guilty for putting the extra strain on Jacob, the majority of his sex drunk brain didn’t care. His eyes widened as Miranda shimmied her arms out and slowly pulled the tight fabric down at a pace that almost felt torturous.
“Alex. Ms Lawson. Apologies on the interruption but it would seem that the Illusive Man is quite persistent with the reclamation of the Normandy. While it proved simple to repel his attempts, I have proven successful in hindering their systems by flooding the Cerberus Network with over 10 Zettabytes of pornographic materials.”
Alex and Miranda stared at each other before Alex broke into rib splitting laughter. Miranda also couldn’t help the smile on her face as she pulled her catsuit back on and fixed the zipper. Plucking the chest piece up from its place on the floor, she found Alex still leaning against the railing, now wiping a tear from his eye.
“Good girl Edi. I hope you were nice enough to treat him to the newest issues of Fornax. Pretty sure the guy needs help to relieve all that anger and frustration.”
“Well the majority of the source material came from Mr Moreau.”
“Joker’s not going to like that the Illusive Man now knows what he likes…”
“Thank you, Edi. Keep us informed if there’s any new information.”
“Noted Ms. Lawson. Logging you out.”
“Now, where were we?”
“You were going to Chakwas to get that shoulder fixed.”
“It’s fine.”
“Really?”
“Yep. All it needs is a kiss to make it all better.”
Miranda hitched an eyebrow before shaking her head slowly. Resigning to what must be he growing insanity, she pressed a kiss to the armour plate that she knew that was the only thing holding Alex’s shoulder in a position that only closely resembled normal. Alex pumped his arm up which surprised Miranda but based on how taught the muscles in his face now were, she knew that he only made it worse.
“See… ALL better.”
“Uh huh. Well I’ve got to go and oversee some more repairs. We may have survived the jump through the relay, but I would feel a lot better if we were patched up a little more before we tried another FTL jump.”
“I’ve got to get out of this armour and get it to Jacob, so I leave the Normandy in your very capable hands, Ms. Lawson.”
“Roger that. I’ll talk to you later then, Commander. And don’t worry, we can resume our little ‘activities’ later when things are a little more private.”
“Looking forward to it.”
Just before the door shut, Alex caught a wink over Miranda’s shoulder. Clutching his own shoulder, he winced at even the slightest movements now.
“Felt like I was about to shatter a tooth with how hard I had slammed my jaw shut. Chakwas is going to kill me…”
“Alex, will I inform the doctor that you are on your way?”
“Yes please. Thank you, Edi.”
--
With his shoulder dressed up in a support and a heavy dosage of anti-inflammatory making his arm feel like it was full of concrete, Alex headed back to his cabin. Since Miranda had started staying with him up in the loft, it had begun to feel almost homely now. A light flickered on his terminal, so he shuffled over before the screen came to life. It was a message from Admiral Hackett. Alex cursed. It was time. Time to face the music.