Chapter 22: Resignation

Shepard stepped into the debriefing room for one final chat with the Illusive Man. He picked up a fallen piece from the ceiling and set it aside. Had walked through the CIC, and while it too had sustained damage, he was pleased and relieved to see all of the old familiar faces back at their posts. The crew that had once seemed lost had been rescued, and like the mission to Ilos, Shepard and his crew were again mutineers. Of course, going to Ilos, they had to hijack the ship before the mission in order to have any hope of stopping Saren. Now, it was after the mission, and both Shepard and the entire crew, his team included, were all ready to say goodbye to the Illusive Man and to Cerberus.

He activated the QEC, and sure enough, the Illusive Man's image materialized before him. And the man did not look happy. Glaring, the Illusive Man extinguished his cigar and immediately got to lecturing.

"Shepard, you're making a habit of costing me more than time and money."

"I know what you are," countered Shepard.

"Your ideals have cost us more than you can imagine!" The Illusive Man raged, but it was like waves crashing against cliffs. "The technology from that base could have secured human dominance in the galaxy. Against the Reapers and beyond!"

"Human dominance?" asked Shepard, unconvinced, "Or just Cerberus."

The Illusive Man stood, leaving his chair and walking right up to Shepard's image. If he had only had the guts to get this close to Shepard, Shepard would have punched his lights out.

"Strength for Cerberus is strength for every Human," raged the Cerberus leader. "Cerberus is Humanity! I should have known you'd choke on the hard decisions; too idealistic from the start."

"I know what you are," countered Shepard. "And the cost of dealing with you! We do things my way from now on. Harbinger is coming. And he won't be alone. I'm going to make sure we're ready when they get here. You can fall in line or step aside." Shepard made a grand sweeping gesture with his right hand, and finished saying, "But don't get in my way."

"You're sure that's what you want? You're taking a hell of a risk Shepard!"

Shepard realized that it was not rage in the Illusive Man's voice, but panic. He was losing control, and he knew it. And Shepard was a foe who gave even the Illusive Man pause. As close as he was to the camera, Shepard could see his eyes clearly. They were … Reaper tech! He's indoctrinated!

"I don't think so," replied Shepard. "I'm going to stop the Reapers, but I won't sacrifice the soul of our species to do it."

With that, he stepped out of the QEC field and shut off the communicator. This conversation was over. He still wore his armor, and it was high time that he get himself out of it. He had aches on top of aches, but nothing that some rest would not take care of. Rest, and a hot shower. And Miranda. It was a miracle that she had survived. Even more amazing, they had recovered the entire crew complement and the entire team had made it back alive, no casualties. He looked skyward, or at least ceiling-ward, and said, "Thanks!"

{-O-}

Miranda awoke in the medbay, her arm back in its socket and medigel infusions healing her torn ligaments. It still hurt, but not nearly so much as it had. She felt something on her head. Realizing that it was a device for dealing with head injuries and concussions, she now knew that she must have suffered a concussion.

"Miranda Lawson." She heard Doctor Chakwas' English accented voice say her name. "You and Shepard … the whole team … you saved us."

Miranda sat up as the doctor came over to attend to her, removing the device from her head and checking the readings.

"You look fit, though probably not for duty in the field," the doctor declared. Before Miranda could answer, Chakwas put down the equipment and hugged her. "Thank you."

"Thank you, Karin," came Shepard's voice. "You saved her."

Miranda looked up to see Shepard wearing the black uniform he had worn for Kasumi's heist. It fit him well, showing off his physique without being tight. She felt herself blush as she looked at him, but did not look away self-consciously; those days were gone.

"John!" Miranda tried to get up, but felt dizzy and quickly stopped.

"Commander," said the doctor in a low, almost reverent voice. "You and Jeff came for us so quickly. I have never had truer friends."

"How are you feeling, Doc?" Shepard asked, taking Miranda's hand as he spoke. Miranda just held onto him, remaining silent. She had Shepard; nothing else mattered now.

"I can never unsee what we saw, but I am fine otherwise," pronounced the Doctor. "No lasting injuries to any of us, in fact. Even Miranda will be back to her old self soon enough."

But Miranda knew better.

"My old self is gone," Miranda declared emphatically. "John, you've changed me. Or maybe you just helped me to find the girl I was all those years ago. Either way, I am not the same person I was. And thank God, I never will be that person again. For the first time, I like my life. I like who I am. No doubts, no fears. And I have you to thank for that, John."

"Miri," he replied, encircling her in his arms as he sat down with her, "you brought me back from the brink of death. Or perhaps from even further than that! If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't be having this conversation. And I have you to thank for that. And I have never felt so loved as I did when you said yes, right before we went through the Omega-4 Relay."

She felt a bright blush spreading across her cheeks, but again, she did not turn away. Instead, she kissed him passionately. No more words were necessary; she finally understood what it meant when people said that they were 'in sync' with their partner. She and Shepard had developed a very deep emotional bond, one that would only grow stronger the longer they were together. When she took this mission on, it had been to save Humanity. But a promise made long ago had been kept, and her once frozen heart had thawed. Her passion now burned hot within her, something she had never experienced with any partner. And save Humanity they did. Just as they were meant to: together.

{-O-}

Mordin took one, long, last look at the tech lab. Stopping the Collectors had been the climax of an adventure that began with his developing a cure for the plague on Omega, and Shepard showing up with Miranda and Jacob to get the cure into the ventilation systems of the slum district. Now, it was about to end. He had offers from the Salarian government, and would return to Sur'Kesh once the Normandy docked at the Citadel. Then there was Maelon's cure. He made sure that the data was secure, and backed up. It could not go to waste; Shepard had opened his eyes to the damage wrought by the genophage. It was time to begin undoing that damage.

His thoughts were interrupted when Miranda entered. Gone was her Cerberus uniform, replaced by a loose top and sweat pants. He knew that she was leaving Cerberus; most of the crew was, but for her to dress down this much was very out of character.

"Mordin, I have one final task for you. And we haven't much time."

"Yes, yes, yes," he replied. "One final challenge! Appropriate way to break our fellowship?"

"Fellowship?"

"Yes," he explained. "Human literature; JRR Tolkien. The Fellowship of the Ring."

Miranda nodded, understanding the reference. "Yes, I suppose there are parallels. But this is … unrelated to the Collectors and the Reapers. This is personal." The placed a datapad on his desk. "I've tried for years to find answers, and been to every specialist with the credentials to solve it, and I have nothing but dead ends to show for it."

He picked up the data pad, looking at the problem.

"Fix it," was all she said.

"Very well," Mordin replied. "Let's get started."

{-O-}

The Normandy sat in dry dock at the Citadel, courtesy of the Alliance. The ship was receiving much needed repairs, before Shepard finally took it to Earth for Alliance retrofits. The Cerberus crew excepting Ken and Gabby had all either returned to Cerberus, or returned home. Karin Chakwas stayed on, and surprisingly, so did Jack, though his squad had pretty much all gone their own way. Thane would live out his remaining days with his son; Garrus returned to Palaven; Samara had resumed her justicar duties; Tali returned to the Migrant Fleet; Mordin had returned to Sur'kesh, Grunt to Tuchanka, Zaeed had found another job, Kasumi joining him, Legion had returned to Geth space, and Jacob had opted not to rejoin the Alliance, preferring to go his own way.

Shepard heard on the news that a relay in Batarian space had been destroyed, and that the Batarians were blaming the Alliance. He assumed he would eventually be briefed on that, but for now, he was on his way to greet Anderson, Miranda at his side.

"Are you … sure about this?" Miranda looked at him dubiously, but John nodded.

"Of course," he replied. "I've already worked out some of the details with Councilor Anderson and Admiral Hackett. Udina's not in the picture, so that'll make things that much easier."

"So there won't be a platoon of Alliance MPs waiting to take me into custody?"

"Sorry," he said with a shrug. "Besides, I've already captured you."

"And I you, don't forget that!" She playfully punched his arm.

They arrived at the Human Embassy, where Councilor Anderson and a tall woman in an Alliance uniform stood waiting.

"Shepard," Anderson greeted.

"John!" The woman, looking about twenty years older than John, ran to him.

"Mom!"

Shepard and his mother embraced, and then he turned to Miranda. "Mom, you remember Miri Lawson?"

Admiral Hannah Shepard smiled, held her arms out to hug Miranda. "Come here, child," she said, embracing Miranda tightly. "I could never forget you, dear. You were such a wonderful girl. And you've become such a beautiful young woman."

Miranda's eyes were misted over, but she held herself together. Shepard understood. Miranda had no mother; only a crazy father. Hannah Ammel, now Hannah Shepard, had always loved Miri when she came to visit, and with her engagement to Shepard, Admiral Hannah Shepard would become Miranda's mother in law.

"She said yes," Shepard said with a smile.

Hannah pulled back, looking at Miranda, smiling. "I'll finally have a daughter," she exclaimed.

Miranda was now crying. "I'll have a mother."

"Congratulations, Shepard," Anderson said. "I expect an invitation."

"You'll have one," Shepard assured.

Miranda was visibly overjoyed, but she wiping tears of joy from her eyes, she asked the question that had been on her mind. "Councilor Anderson, I am very honored to meet you. But what happens to me now?"

"That depends on you, Miss Lawson. Legally, you're free and clear," the councilor explained. "We've made sure of that, but there's an offer that I am going to extend. It's one you need to decide on."

"Oh?"

"Yes; it seems the first human Spectre has put your name forth as a Spectre candidate," Anderson explained. "From what I know of you, you're more than qualified. And you've already been evaluated by a Spectre in the field."

Miranda could hardly believe it. Being a Spectre was like being an operative … only without the Illusive Man. It would render her immune to any prosecution for anything she did with Cerberus that the Alliance considered a crime, and it would possibly enable her to work in the field with Shepard.

"I never would have dreamed," she began. "Yes, Councilor, yes! Thank you." Then she kissed John. Her heart swelled with love for him; instead of trying to turn her into an Alliance soldier, he had come up with a way to do what she did best.

"Alright then," Anderson said. "We'll get the particulars out of the way later. But for now, I need to debrief you both about the Collector mission."

The four of them sat at the table, hot coffee all around, and the debriefing began. Anderson seemed to have renewed confidence, and Miranda and Shepard both hoped that maybe, just maybe, the truth might finally be acknowledged.

The End …

But not the finale! This AU love story of Shepard and Miranda will continue!