Jack: [suddenly blasts into the room with almost every Mass Effect character behind her] Alright! Where's the bastard?!

Spidey: Oh, hey! Where have you guys been lately?

Star-Lord: Yeah, it's like you all just vanished off the face of the Earth or something. Well, I guess it'd probably be more accurate to say you vanished off the face of the galaxy, but...

Miranda: Never mind that! Where's the author?!

Captain America: He's been busy working on other projects. In fact, last I checked he was either talking with the Kingdom Hearts and RWBY casts, or doing something else for Studio Fandom.

Jacob: Yeah, well, I'd like to see how busy he'll be when...Wait. What's Studio Fandom?

Spidey: Sheesh! You guys really have been gone a long time. Then again, that's still kind of new, so...[suddenly stops short when smoke fills the room] Wait...What's all of this? Don't tell me Madame Web's about to show up.

Captain Marvel: I'm pretty sure she's only really been in one of lyoko Prime's stories, and it wasn't this one.

Kasumi: And who's lyoko Prime?

Spidey: Again...You guys have been gone a really long time.

[the smoke continues filling the room as a figure begins to appear from within]

Mysterious Voice: I am the cross-over crafter. I am the epic builder! I am...lyokoMARVELanime, or you could just call me...LYOKO PRIME! [flash of lightning in the background at that the end, revealing the author in question] And I welcome you all...to Studio Fandom!

Garrus: Really? You think a little show of dramatics is going to make us forget how you basically abandoned us for almost two years?

AN: Well, if it makes you feel any better, it's not like you're the only ones, I'm ashamed to say. Sorry, but last year just seemed to be a year in which I was heavily focused on all things Kingdom Hearts, Marvel, or RWBY related, and only a small number of my stories best fit that bill. But don't worry, I've got a pretty good chapter lined up for you guys today, so hopefully, that makes everything better.

Jack: Yeah, I don't think so.

AN: Uh, sorry Jack, but I was actually talking to the readers when I said that. Hehe...Ahem, as for the question about what is Studio Fandom, let me answer that with a simple announcement...Assuming you haven't already heard by visiting my profile page or reading SLVR Chibi...

I'm. Now. On. YOUTUBE!

[audience applause]

That's right everybody! Yours truly now has a YouTube channel! Sure, it's only got one video so far, but I can promise you all that there's going to be plenty more where that one came from, and with the awesome team I've got at my back, I'm confident that the channel will be just as great as the profile I've built up here has been thus far.

Jacob: Making a YouTube channel, huh? Well, I'm definitely interested.

AN: As you should be. So, once you've all finished reading here, if you haven't already, head on over to YouTube, and look me up. The channel's going by the same name that this studio now goes by: Studio Fandom. You'll know it when you find one with a logo that matches the "S" symbol that has been my avatar image since I started on this site.

Miranda: That still doesn't explain why you called yourself lyoko Prime just now.

AN: I figured I needed another alias or a nickname that wasn't as much of a mouthful as lyokoMARVELanime.

EDI: That is rather sound reasoning. After all, the crew refers to me as EDI for a similar reason, do you not?

Joker: Uh...Sure EDI.

AN: Now then, I know you're all probably expecting me to answer some reviews, but you'll have to wait until the ending note to get those answers, so let's plot a course to the chapter!

I do not own anything from any of either of the MARVEL or Mass Effect franchises or any other franchise mentioned in this story

Chapter 16: Space Drama Abound

Joker was more than happy to send an anonymous message to Alliance Command about what Cap and Jacob's team had found on Aeia, and even happier to vacate the area before any ships that were sent to pick up the lost crew and "Acting Captain" Taylor could see them there. No one really had too much of a problem running into the Alliance, but considering that they were flying on a Cerberus ship at the moment, they also did not want to run the risk of being shot at by people that were technically on their side. All that was really left to do now was for Jacob to have that talk with the Illusive Man, and it was hard to say for certain if he would be able to wait until they had picked up Jack and Rocket's group before making the call. Steve could not really blame Jacob for that; if he had gone through what Jacob just then, he would be a little antsy too at the very least. Luckily, Star-Lord seemed to be able to keep Jacob calm for the moment, no doubt due to his own bad experiences with his birth father, so he was sure that he would not need to worry about Jacob jumping the gun just yet.

Steve probably would have done more to keep Jacob from getting too impatient, but he had some other duties to take care of, such as filing his own reports about how the mission went, and checking in on the crew members that did not go down to the planet for this mission. It was mainly just asking Kitty if Parker and Carol had behaved themselves while they were gone, even if that did make him feel like a dad worrying about two trouble making children, and he could not help but sigh in relief when he heard that the two had actually managed to stay out of each other's way almost the entire time they were gone. The only time that they had come across each other, they had just silently regarded one another for a brief spell and then carried on like nothing had happened. Some would call that progress in their relationship's improvement, but Steve would have to disagree, since it sounded like they had just happened to pass each other by on their way to some important work, but he was willing to take that as good news all the same. Aside from hearing that Drax and Gamora had just spent the time sparring with Grunt, and that Kasumi had not been seen at all, unsurprisingly, it seemed that nothing of consequence had really happened in his absence, so he figured that meant the rest of the day would come and go without anymore incident.

That idea was quickly dispelled not even two seconds after EDI had reported that the other team had returned, when Joker suddenly called him over the intercom. "Cap, Jack and Miranda seem to be in the middle of a…disagreement already, and from the sound of things, biotics are already flying. Can you head it off before they tear out a bulkhead?"

"Are you serious, Joker? Right when they got back," Steve asked, hardly believing those two would actually start something right after getting back on the ship. He had a feeling that Jack would want to start something with Miranda first chance she had after the mission, but he thought she would at least wait a little while. Clearly something major must have happened while they were down there or Miranda said or did something that set Jack off.

"From the sound of things, it must've already been going for a while," Joker informed him, interrupting Cap's thought process on what might have happened this time. "Either way, it looks like Captain Marvel and Spidey are already there and getting ready to intervene, but still, could you?"

Now Steve was really worried. He did not doubt Peter or Carol's intentions on getting the two powerful biotics to stop, but at the same time, part of him was worried that they would take this as an excuse to start brawling with each other too, so he did not hesitate in racing to the elevator so he could head down to the hangar. "I'm on my way."

"Take pictures!"

Steve paid that last comment little to no mind, mainly because he was already preparing for the worst, hence the reason why he had grabbed his shield on his way out of the captain's quarters. One brief elevator ride later, and he was stepping into the hangar just in time to hear Jack shouting, "Touch me, and I'll smear the walls with you, BITCH!"

The tell-tale sounds of a biotic blast being fired off let Steve know that Jack had just unloaded a salvo of said energy on Miranda, and from where he was standing, it was clear that Miranda was preparing to retaliate in kind at any second. The blast never hit her though, because in the blink of an eye, Captain Marvel had intercepted and absorbed the blast with her powers, and Spider-Man then came spinning in, firing webs at both combatants to keep either woman from doing anything else. When the web-head's work was done, Miranda and Jack were both wrapped up in webbing while Carol and Spidey were back to back and ready to act in case either of the other two did something to break free from the webs and start fighting again.

"Both of you cool it, before one of us makes you," Carol snapped, her hands already glowing with energy.

"Fair warning: you should probably pray that my patience wears out before hers does. It'll probably decrease your chances of getting hit with an energy blast if that is the case…marginally," Spider-Man quipped soon after, and given that he was currently wearing the repulsor gauntlets from his armor, you could tell why he said the chances would only be marginally better.

Miranda and Jack did not say anything in response, opting to glare at each other despite the two Age of Marvel heroes between them, until Steve came rushing over, shield still on his arm just in case, and shouting, "That's enough! Everyone stand down!"

Hearing and seeing Captain America's arrival prompted Parker and Carol to slowly relax their stances, but they still remained a little tense on the off-chance that either of the other two did not head Cap's order. That seemed to be a very likely case, as Miranda and Jack were still glaring at each other as they each tried to work their way out of the webs that Peter had trapped them in. A stern glare from Cap seemed help them cool off a little more, but only just enough for Peter to feel a little comfortable with at least beginning to remove the webs around the two when Cap told him too. A little, but not entirely.

"Someone care to explain what the hell is going on here," Steve demanded once Jack was out of the webs.

While Peter scrambled to get away from the psychotic biotic out of concern for his safety, Carol replied to her army rival's question and said, "We're not entirely sure ourselves. Parker and I were just in the area when we heard shouting and came to look into it. When we saw biotics powering up, we just reacted."

"I can honestly say that I'm a little surprised that they lasted as long as they did, after listening to them argue all the way back from the facility," Samara confessed, with Groot and Rocket offering nods of agreement right after.

"Hey, I've got good reason," Jack argued, not letting her furious glare off Miranda for even a second. "Cheerleader won't admit that what Cerberus did to me was wrong, even after seeing all the shit down there for herself."

Miranda's glare seemed to grow hot enough to actually burn through the hull of the ship at that point, making it a little surprising that her voice had any amount of calm in it when she responded to Jack's accusation. There was still an edge to her tone, but it was still impressive that she was able to keep any other amount of anger out. "For the seventh time, it wasn't Cerberus. Not really, but clearly you were a mistake."

"Screw you," Jack instantly retorted. "I know damn well who and what was responsible for what happened to me! I'm just surprised that even after all that, you still refuse to see just what they really put me through. Maybe it would help if I gave you a first-hand demonstration."

"I'd love to see you try," Miranda angrily challenged, showing her nerves were already at the point of breaking, and indicating just how long this particular argument had been going on.

Steve recognized that just as quickly as everyone else and instantly moved to intervene. "I said to knock it off! In case either of you have forgotten, we're all on the same team here."

"Oh really? Coulda fooled me," Jack snorted. "It's obvious the bitch is only in it to see how this whole thing would benefit her bastard boss."

Now Miranda was growling, clearly not taking that insult to the Illusive Man very well, and looked ready to attack Jack for her comments. At least until Steve stepped in between them again with a very serious, angry look on his face. Peter and Carol both flinched, having seen that look a few times before back in the day; it was the one that they knew Tony Stark had dubbed as the "Papa Steve" look, and it was always followed with a very intense talking-to from the super soldier. The way people reacted afterwards tended to vary, but for the most part, it usually made the person or people it was being directed at feel very small, even if they were bigger than Steve. The Hulk could certainly attest to that from one of the few times that he had been on the receiving end of it.

"I understand that you're angry, and given what you've told me, Jack, I can certainly sympathize with you, but that's still no excuse for you to take it out on Miranda. She wasn't there, nor was she involved. That being said, Miranda, you're not exactly on the high ground here when you antagonize her like this, but whatever personal problems either of you have with each other doesn't matter right now. We all share the same mission, and we're all fighting the same enemy. You really want an outlet for all that anger, then make it the Collectors and not your teammates. Once we've taken them down, then you can hash out any ill feelings that remain, but not before."

"Steve, you can't be serious. After what we saw down there, it's hard to really say for certain just how stable she is. How do we know she can be trusted in the field," Miranda started to argue.

"In case you've forgotten, Miranda, there's more than a few people on this ship that aren't entirely trusting of Cerberus, either, but they're all willing to put that aside if it means getting the job done," Steve quickly reminded her. He let that sit in silence for moment, gauging how the two women were taking all of what he had said so far, before adding one last afterthought. "No one's asking you two to become the best of friends or even for you to get along perfectly. The only thing that's being asked is that you put aside your differences, keep things professional, and work as teammates. Think you two can handle that?"

Miranda and Jack regarded each other with another silent glare-off, clearly wanting to see just how long the other would hold up before cracking, until Miranda finally said, "I can manage that well enough…Until the mission's over."

"Sure. Fine. I'll do my part. Besides, if anyone's going to filet Cheerleader alive, it's me. Might as well make sure she survives so that can happen," Jack agreed with a sinister grin.

The bald woman then spun away and marched off, with Miranda just glaring at her retreating form until she had disappeared into the elevator. Clearly she was still just irritated enough to not want to be within the same space as Jack for longer than necessary, and it showed when she marched off to the side to wait just long enough for the elevator to have taken Jack up to engineering again before returning to her office. That did not stop Steve from letting her know about how Jacob would be contacting the Illusive Man in a few minutes to ask him about the mission his team had just been on, and how he wanted her there for it, but thankfully, Miranda was able to regain her usual professional composure quickly enough when he brought it up to her.

After speaking to his XO about that matter, Steve turned to speak with the remaining members of Jack's group, having decided that this little incident was recent enough to not wait for a report to hear about what had happened at the Teltin facility. Rocket, Groot, and Samara must have realized this as well, because they all seemed to have started preparing to give Steve the rundown on what happened even before he had come over to them to ask the question.

"Alright, so when we got to Pragia, it was just about what we were expecting: run-down place, looked pretty busted up, and filled with old computers that were just barely still working," Rocket started off. "Learned some pretty messed up crap happened there as Jack took us through while dancin' down memory lane, but right from the start, I picked up on some signs of Blood Pack being in the joint."

"How did the Blood Pack even find a Cerberus facility? Even if it was an abandoned one, I can't imagine that it would've been easy for just anyone to find," Steve asked.

"We'll get to that in a minute. Keep your stars on," Rocket assured the captain. "Anyway, we had a run in or two with some varren and a couple of the Blood Pack goons, and along the way, we happened to find some computers with logs that talked about what had happened while Jack was being held prisoner."

"From what we could gather, it would seem that Jack's memories of the events that unfolded during her escape were somewhat different that she can recall," Samara spoke up.

"Not surprising. Jack has mentioned quite a few times that she was only a child when she was taken by Cerberus, and when she escaped. That alone would make anyone's memory a little fuzzy, even without all the chaos that was likely happening around her," Steve reasoned out.

"I am Groot."

"Yeah, tell me about it. Even I can barely recall the exact details of the first time we did it, but then again, we've pulled off several escapes over the years," Rocket agreed with his friend.

Steve was about to ask what Rocket and Groot were talking about, until Samara translated, "Groot was just saying that a first time escape can often seem to unfold rather quickly, based on what little he remembers from the first time he and Rocket first escaped imprisonment."

Like Rocket, Steve was surprised to learn that Samara could understand Groot, but he brushed it off as just something that could be chalked up to the advantages of being an asari and allowed the group to continue what they were saying. "So when we finally came across the Blood Pack squad leader, we overheard him talking to some humie that I had sniffed out shortly after we first got there over his radio; some guy by the name of Aresh, and after we took down those guys, it wasn't long afterwards that we found our way into Jack's old room. She wanted to plant the bomb right in the middle of said room, but I guess none of us figured we'd be running into anyone who mighta been livin' there at the time. The only thing that was more flargged up about the mess we had ran straight into was the guy himself, 'cause let me tell you, Cap, it was not pretty…"

"I swear, if I don't have to blow up one more varren before we leave this rock, it'll be too soon," Rocket grumbled as he reloaded the blaster he had been using to blow his way through the Blood Pack mercs that had taken up residence in the Teltin facility.

"I am Groot."

"Hey, I came here wanting to blow up a building, not a bunch of flee-bitten mutts and idiots from Blood Pack! There's a difference," Rocket instantly corrected for his oldest friend. "Besides, anyone would get sick of killing those things after a while, no matter what way they're doing it in."

"You're not wrong about that," was the statement of agreement that came from Miranda of all people, much to everyone's surprise. When she saw the others giving her bewildered looks for her comment, Miranda just shrugged and said, "What?"

"Nothing," Rocket, Samara, and Jack all replied as one, while Groot just said…well, you know what he said.

Miranda looked to be on the verge of demanding answers out of the other four (even if she could not understand anything one of them said), when they all realized that they had finally reached their final destination in this facility and the place where the mysterious Aresh had been hiding out: Jack's old room. Seeing this, a new air fell over them that gave them all a very bad, foreboding feeling. Even Jack felt more on edge than she normally did, and she did not like that one bit. Sure, she had not been feeling too great since they had first arrived on this world, but this was a lot different. It made her feel like she was about to be sick to her stomach, and she did not like it one bit.

Rocket on the other hand, had a much different feeling once they stepped into the room in question, and he made it known to everyone when he pulled out and cocked his gun. "Alright buddy, we've gotcha cornered and all your Blood Pack shmucks are pushin' up daisies. You got two options: come outta whatever shadow you're in peacefully, or let me blast ya out 'em. Please choose the blasting option. I wanna shoot something other than vorcha, krogan, and varren."

Rocket's request was not fulfilled, as a human man soon stepped forward, and from the look of him, anyone would understand why it would be easy to mistake him for some homeless, poor boy just off the street at first glance. At second glance though, the team were able to see something in his stance that was very similar to Jack to the point of being creepy and eerie. Adding on to the creepiness, the haunted look in his eyes also seemed to bare a few similarities to the kind Jack often had when she was about to attack someone or go into one of her rants.

Nervous or not, these were still people who had all fearlessly spit death in the face time and time again, and this time was no different. Though, it was still Samara who had recovered the quickest. "I take it you are Aresh," the justicar questioned.

"Yeah, that's me, and you're the sons of bitches that are breaking into my home," Aresh scathingly replied, though with a tone that was much more even than you would expect.

"I am Groot?"

"Eh, we've lived in worse. I mean, the list of those places is pretty short, but still…" Rocket muttered with a shrug.

Aresh barely paid the two Guardians any mind, as his eyes were quick to zero in on the person who brought the team here in the first place. "I know you," Aresh muttered. "Subject Zero herself…Probably should've known you figured out how to survive, but after all these years, I couldn't help but think I was the only one. Guess I just forgot how tough the great Subject Zero was."

"My name is Jack," the Psychotic Biotic snapped, leveling her pistol on Aresh the instant he first mentioned that name the scientists had given her. "How the hell do you know me?"

"Please! We all knew your face, Jack," Aresh scoffed, sounding a little insulted when he did. "Just like we knew that the horrors they inflicted on us just so they could know which of their experiments wouldn't kill you. You were the question, and I'm still looking for the answer."

"And that's why you're here now? To try and find these answers," Miranda questioned, her hand slowly moving towards her own gun so that she could snap it out and fire at any second.

"Something like that. These mercs that I hired; they're gonna help me rebuild this place piece by piece, and restart the Teltin Facility so that I can finally figure out what they knew: how to unlock true biotic potential in humans. The thought of it alone…it's just beautiful," Aresh confessed with a proud grin that left everyone more unsettled than he probably thought it would.

"And I thought Jack was crazy," Miranda muttered just loud enough for only the team to hear, unintentionally getting a spike of anger from Jack soon after. At least, the others assumed that it was unintentional this time.

"Hey! I wanted to turn this place into a crater; a hole in the ground! He's trying to justify what happened by using it; doing to other kids what those fuckers did to me…to him…to every kid that was brought here," Jack had snapped in retort.

"It's not like all of them were just taken against their will. Most of them ended up here because of batarian pirates, and some were bought from poor families, but that doesn't change a thing. There has to have been a good reason why they did all those horrible things to us; I'm sure there is. I mean, why do it otherwise, right," Aresh tried to defend.

"Oh give me a break! There's no reason in the galaxy that comes close to being good enough for what they did, and you're insane for thinking otherwise," Jack practically shouted.

Rocket on the other hand, seemed a lot more calm about all of this than any of them were expecting, even Groot; right to the point where he actually stowed away his gun with little more than a small glare that never left Aresh for a second. "Even with all the crap he's spewing, he is right when he says that none of this changes anything. We're still gonna blow up this place. The only real question left is what we do with him? I mean, do we take him along? Add another Jack to the team?"

"I'm not sure if we'd survive the night," Miranda immediately dismissed.

"For once, we agree," Jack nodded, stomping closer towards Aresh like a predator ready to pounce. "As for dealing with him…I think that's pretty easy to figure out."

Before anyone knew what was happening, Jack had grabbed Aresh with her biotics, and slammed into the wall, making him drop to his knees afterwards. Before he could even start to stand up, Jack had the butt of her gun at his head, and was more than ready to pull the trigger. Under normal circumstances, the others probably would not have batted an eye at this, but the look in Jack's eyes did gave them all pause. She was glaring at Aresh with a kind of loathing that made even Miranda shiver in fear for a few seconds, but while most would think that she was just glaring at a sick, twisted part of her past, Rocket seemed to have sensed something else there. Something that made him try and reason with Jack.

"Look, Psychotic, I ain't saying this kructacker shouldn't be put down like the sick freak he is, but that doesn't mean you should do it," Rocket said.

"And why the hell not? You said it yourself; he's crazy and he wants to restart this place! I think out of everyone here, I've got the most right to send this fucker to hell," Jack snarled, moving her gun closer to Aresh's head.

"There's no way someone as messed up as him could ever restart a facility like this. More importantly, he's trapped in his past, just like you. Difference is that he doesn't want to let it go; you do. Killing him ain't gonna help you do that. It'll just make you sink to his level, and from what I've seen, you're way tougher than that," Rocket continued trying to reason. It must have been working, because they all started to see Jack's hands shaking a little, indicating that she was not as sure about pulling the trigger as she tried to appear. "You're more than your past, Jack. Don't let it decide how you do things. Let it go, and tell it to go screw itself."

Jack was caught at a crossroads now, but upon hearing that last bit, she knew that no matter how badly she wanted to kill Aresh, no matter how much he disgusted her…Rocket was right. If she were to kill him now, she would be letting her past take command of her, because at the moment, she did not just see the sick man who wanted to restart this place; she saw something else there too. Something that made her sick to her stomach and that she wanted gone for good. She saw the part of herself that was kept up at night by the nightmares of what was done to her by the people who ran this facility; the part that really could not let go. She saw that one small piece of herself that she had come here to get rid of embodied in Aresh, and she hated it with a passion. For that reason and that reason alone, Jack knew that she could not kill this psycho. It would only serve to give her past more control over her than ever.

"Fuck," Jack swore once that exact revelation had entirely sunk in, and much to everyone's surprise, she let Aresh stand up while moving to holster her weapon. "Get the hell out of here. Now!"

For a brief second, it looked like Aresh was going to do as he was told, but the next thing anyone knew, the former prisoner of the Teltin facility had unexpectedly slammed himself into Jack, making her drop her weapon right into his hand so that he could aim it at her head, all with a twisted grin on his face that actually scared Jack a little. "I'm not gonna let you destroy this place! It's my home! It's all I have left! This place IS WHERE ALL THE ANSWERS ARE," Aresh raved, madly. His twisted grin grew a little more as Jack started to struggle to get him off of her, but he kept her pinned down as he finished, "And it's also here where I'll finally be able to kill the great Subject Zero."

Hearing that made Jack a lot more frightened than before, to the point where the world around her seemed to move in slow motion. She could swear that she could hear every little sound in existence as Aresh started to pull the trigger on her gun, and that made her screw her eyes shut out of fear for the approaching end of her life. A loud bang then echoed through the room, and Jack was sure that was it, until she realized…there was no pain. She was still just as alive now as she had been when she first came into the room. Opening her eyes, Jack instantly saw that Aresh's grin was gone, and in its place was a look of shock, no doubt brought on by the hole in his chest that could only have come from a gun wound.

Looking to the only possible sources for said injury, Jack saw Rocket slowly lowering his smoking gun, while the others just stared at him in disbelief, until he explained, "I said that it wouldn't be right if Jack killed him at the time. Never said anything about any of us doing it then or after." The room remained silent, save for the sounds of Rocket putting his gun away again and Jack shoving Aresh's body off of her so that she could stand up again, albeit on wobbly legs, until the Guardian finally said, "Now, can we finally plant the bomb and go? Or do you little girls need a few more minutes?"

The three women in the room all glared at Rocket for that last comment, but no one could say that his words were of no help in getting them all moving.

"…After that, Jack suddenly got all sentimental and decided to have one last look around the room that used to be her home before we planted the bomb. Got to see where she made her first kill, so that was nice. Once she was done, we planted the thing, got back to the shuttle, took off, and once we were a good distance away, Jack hit the switch, and I finally got to see the place go boom. Sure, it wasn't as fulfilling as I was expecting it to be after everything that had happened down there, but I think that Psychotic Biotic got what she was looking for when we went down, so all's well or whatever. It woulda been a lot better if we didn't have to listen to Jack and Prim Princess debating how bad Cerberus is or isn't, but hey, draw backs of havin' those two on the same mission," Rocket finally concluded.

Even after hearing all of that, Steve, Spidey, and Carol were having a hard time really processing the whole thing. There had been someone else that had escaped from the lab where Jack was made into the biotic powerhouse they know her to be? Not only that, but that same survivor was actually crazy enough to want to restart the place and nearly kill Jack in a mad bout of insanity? It certainly helped them to understand why Miranda believed it necessary to question the stability of Jack's sanity, but regardless of that, the three all still found reason to believe that Jack was going to stick with them. She had proven to be on their side plenty of times before in her own way, so why start doubting her now? That sealed the deal for Peter and Steve, but Carol did still have one question for her fellow Guardian regarding his report.

"Is that really how it happened," Carol asked as she crossed her arms and leveled Rocket with a knowing look.

"Eh…Yeah, sure. More or less," Rocket shrugged, but the other three still caught the brief hesitation in his response.

In response, the three former Avengers all looked to Samara, believing the justicar would be able to confirm the validity of Rocket's recounting of the events that took place during the encounter with Aresh a little better than that, and she did not disappoint. "While most of Rocket's story is indeed true, it was actually Miranda who reacted quickest and killed Aresh, saving Jack's life," Samara corrected. "While we were in transit for our return to the ship, Jack made an honest attempt at trying to thank Miss Lawson for the act, but it was…understandably difficult for her, and Miss Lawson fared little better in believing the sincerity of her thanks. Things soon descended into their usual exchange of heated words and arguments soon after, leading up to the events you three saw just now."

"Okay, yeah, that makes a bit more sense," Peter shrugged while sharing nods with both Carol and Steve. "For a second there, I was a little worried things would be really awkward between those two for a while because of that, but after that little scene just now…Eh, I'm sure they'll be fine."

"What in the galaxy would make you think things would've been awkward between Jack and Miranda just because of that," Carol asked.

"Because you see it all the time, for one, and two, because experience," Peter easily replied with a steady look straight at the blonde Half-Kree. When Carol just furrowed her brow in wonder, Peter's steady look dissolved into disbelief as he said, "Don't tell me you forgot."

"Forgot what?"

"Wait…Are…Are you serious? You really forgot that it happened to the two of us," Peter asked in disbelief, surprising Carol a little bit. "It was about a year after we first met, back when we didn't get along at all…"

"You mean like you tend to these days," Rocket piped in.

"Shut up! You weren't there, and even if you were, I'm the one telling the story." Peter then cleared his throat and picked up where he left off. "I'm not entirely sure what had happened, but apparently, on one of your recent missions with the other Avengers, you got hit by something that made you lose your powers, and instead of choosing to live a simple life like any sane person would, you decided to keep being the hero by enlisting with SHIELD or something. Don't get me wrong, it seemed like it worked for a while, but then you got caught in the crosshairs of Hobgoblin, Vulture, and Mysterio after they had just made some kind of deal with AIM. You held your own for a bit, but they overpowered you and would've killed you if I hadn't swung in at just the last second to pull you clear. Afterwards, we had exchanged a few heated words and the usual banter we always did, until certain…things were brought up and made everything really awkward to the point where we couldn't even look at each other for weeks, if not months."

Upon hearing all of that, Carol's eyes lit up a little in recognition of what the wall-crawler was referring to, and she exclaimed, "Oh yeah! I remember now. I think it was a little while after that when we finally started to become a little more civil with each other. How do you remember all that though?"

"I remember all my best and most memorable team-ups. Kinda have to since it eventually started to seem like I couldn't go more than a few weeks without working with at least one other hero to take down some bad guys," Peter shrugged like it was no big deal. "Come to think of it though, I'm pretty sure a good number of those memorable team-ups were with you."

"Now why do I have a hard time believing that," Carol snarked in return, in what could easily have seemed like the start of another round of their usual back and forth. At least on the surface, but Steve could swear that he caught more than a bare hint of a smile playing at the corners of her lips.

Peter was about to retort when Rocket said, "Hey, if you two lovebirds don't mind, how about taking that somewhere else? Some of us want to get back to work."

Everyone ignored Peter and Carol's protests about their being lovebirds, while Steve said, "Rocket's right. We've still got some work to do. I've got to head up and have a chat with the Illusive Man regarding the message Jacob received about his father's old ship, but maybe I should check on Jack first."

"No offense, Rogers, but I really don't think you're the best person to have any conversations with Jack right now. I'll handle that; you go have that chat with Mister Illusive," Rocket denied, and before anyone knew it, he was on his way over to the elevator to do just that.

The others just stared after Rocket for a minute, except for Groot, who followed after his friend after a short pause. The two just stood in the elevator, waiting for anyone else who was going to use it to join them, though Rocket was giving Steve a pointed look as if to emphasize that he was not going to wait for the captain very long, and like that, the group broke up and began going their separate ways. Many crewmen would note though that Spidey and Captain Marvel had done so without ever exchanging one, heated word with each other, but certainly not out loud. They did not want to jinx it after seeing the two fighting nearly day in and day out.

Despite making her intentions clear in the cargo bay earlier, Jack was still pent up with a lot of anger and desire to pulverize something, to put it mildly. She was expecting to have at least a little bit of that, even after getting back from the Teltin facility, but she had thought it would be dialed down a little now that said facility was a crater. Maybe it was the conversation and resulting argument with Miranda that had so riled up right now, or it could have just as easily been that she was upset with how Cap had basically talked down to her like a child. Jack could not say for certain what it was, but she was not going to let anyone know that was bothering her, hence the reason why she was planning on staying down in her space until her nerves had calmed, and blasting anyone who was dumb enough to come down here before she was ready to talk.

She ended up not following through on that when someone did show up at last, but only because the individuals in question were some of the people that had just helped her to make that massive hole in the ground she was just thinking about. That and she knew one of them was not very easy to kill without some form of extreme effort, even for her. "Hey Rodent. Weed," Jack nodded when Rocket and Groot arrived.

"I am Groot!"

Jack sighed at the snappy retort, before she looked to Rocket and asked, "He does know most of us can't understand him, right?"

"Eh, couldn't tell ya. I'm pretty sure he's just too used to being around folks that can understand him all the time, and forgets how most of you aren't open-minded enough to figure out how on your own," Rocket shrugged. After a moment's pause, he then added, "Oh, and apparently, he doesn't like you callin' him Weed."

"Whatever," Jack brushed off in a huff, thinking that they would take off if she kept up a bad attitude. When she failed to hear either of the two leaving, Jack finally let out a slow sigh and said, "If you're here to check on me, don't bother. I'm fine. I'm glad that place is a crater. I needed to wipe it off the map, and…well…I'm grateful that you guys took me there to do it. So, thanks for that."

"Aw, don't sweat it," Rocket shrugged in a rare show of genuine kindness. "Besides, I'm kinda curious about what you've got in mind for your next big thing now that it's gone."

"You mean aside from our suicide mission? Well, if we survive, I'll probably tear Cheerleader apart, and then make her watch as I expose Cerberus for what it is while making sure it all burns to the ground, right alongside her big bad boss," Jack stated, sounding like she was talking about the weather when she did.

"Really? That's all you wanna do," Rocket asked in surprise.

"Not like there's anything else. I mean, I could always go pirate and take the galaxy by storm, but I doubt I'd be able to take this ship from the Boy Scout King. Maybe I'll keep Cheerleader alive after all, if for no other reason than to keep trying to kill her over and over again. Get some satisfaction out of that," Jack joked with a sinister grin that seemed a little too real. At least to anyone besides Rocket, who instead of trying to suppress any shivers or other shows of nerves actually started laughing. "Now what're you laughing about?"

"The exact same thing I was laughing at when we got to Pragia! What else," Rocket chortled.

"That doesn't explain shit, Rodent," Jack snarled, annoyed that she still had not gotten an answer on that and that apparently, it had come back up now. She seemed to calm down a little though after taking a slow breath, and said, "You know what? I don't even care. That's obviously a fake laugh, anyway."

"Nah, it's real," Rocket insisted, even though he seemed to stop laughing right when he spoke and then started again afterwards.

"Yeah. Totally fake."

"Psychotic, this is the most genuine, honest laugh, you've probably ever heard from me, in all the time you've known me," Rocket insisted.

"I am Groot."

"Hey, that's only 'cause I'm happy when I'm blasting and blowing things up. Of course I'm gonna laugh at those times," Rocket muttered.

Jack had to let out a small laugh of her own at that, as she agreed, "Yeah, that is pretty funny. Especially when you can hear enough fuckers screaming like a bunch of pussies." Her amusement was washed away again when Rocket just seemed to laugh harder, and that was when it finally clicked for Jack. Needless to say, she was not happy. "Are you…Are you laughing at me?!"

"Of course I'm laughing at you," Rocket shot back, not looking even a little worried about the unbridled fury that was being aimed at him. "I mean, you're good at the act you put up, sure. It's certainly fooled everyone around you, and it seems like it's done a damn good job of helping you to fool yourself. But you can't fool me."

"What kind of shit are you going on about now," Jack asked, not necessarily calm, but certainly not as angry as she was when she realized she was the source of Rocket's laughter.

"Easy. I'm saying that I know who you really are, Jack," Rocket confidently declared.

"What? You think that just 'cause we've been on the same ship together, fought against a few freaks and idiots, and then went through all that shit just now, you've suddenly figured me out? Please! You don't know shit about me, Trash-Bandit" Jack scoffed, but from where Groot was standing, he could see a few cracks forming in her façade.

Now Rocket was facing Jack directly, and with a glare of his own as he spoke. "I know everything about you." He barely paid Jack's scoff in response as he pressed on with his shot. "What? You think I haven't seen it all before? I know you act like you're the meanest, toughest, and most badass in the galaxy, when the reality is that you're probably the most scared of all."

"Shut up," Jack snapped. Rocket did not listen.

"I know you steal stuff you don't need, and act like the trail of bodies that have been left in your wake don't keep you awake some nights, and that you push away anyone who's willing to put up with you, all because just a little bit of love or even kindness reminds you of how big and empty that hole inside of you actually is."

"I said shut the fuck up," Jack demanded once again, but this time, you could see the signs of how Rocket's words were getting to her, indicating that he might not have been too far off.

"I know that those scientists at Teltin that made you never gave a real rat's ass about you," Rocket pressed on, starting to sound a little angrier with every word he said.

"I'm serious here, Rodent! I will fucking kill you if you don't shut it now!" Jack was practically roaring at Rocket by this point, even though it was plain to see that she was on the verge of tears. What she heard next though, completely shut down all of her attempts to hide behind threats and anger.

"Just like the flargging scientists who made me into some freak of nature," Rocket revealed, much to Jack's surprise. "Poor little baby Rocket, who was stripped away from his ma when he was barely even more than a toddler, all so some fricking sons of bitches could see just how much they could change him until he wasn't even close to normal anymore! You think I don't know who you are, girl? I know EXACTLY who you are, because you're me."

The two verbal combatants panted heavily as they just silently stare at one another once Rocket had finished his rant, one with an angry glare, and one with a stunned, sad expression that everyone else would consider to be out of place on their face. Hearing Rocket unload all of that had taken Jack by surprise, since she had heard all kinds of great and amazing stories about the Guardians of the Galaxy up until now. She may not be too knowledgeable about the Age of Marvels, but she had heard plenty about the space heroes while on the run from Cerberus and everyone else, so she had never expected to find out that any of them were even a little like her in any way. Finding out that she and Rocket were practically the same in so many ways had been so shocking in fact, that Jack could not even form words for a while.

When she finally did remember how to breathe normally again, Jack found herself trying harder than ever to keep herself from breaking down and crying her eyes out, if not for her sake then certainly for Rocket's. She knew better than anyone just how hard it must have been for him to tell her about that, but despite the fact that she was managing to keep the waterworks at bay, she did still slowly reach out to pull Rocket in close for a surprise hug. Not that Rocket offered any resistance or complaints mind you; he had a feeling that Jack just needed the comfort right now, so he slowly hugged back as best as he could.

"Shit. Just shit," Jack quietly muttered.

"Yeah, I know, kid. I know," Rocket assured her.

"I mean…I mean really. What kind of fucked up pair are we," asked Jack once she had released the space raccoon from her grip.

Rocket shrugged with a small grin and replied, "I don't know. How about the kind that are gonna pull off and survive a suicide mission as a start, and then go from there?"

That put a smile on Jack's face as she said, "Yeah. I can get on board with that." She then paused for a bit before adding, "I'm still gonna kill Cheerleader afterwards."

"No you won't. You'd lose what would likely be your best and favorite sparring partner," Rocket dismissed.

Jack smirked a little before she said, "Yeah, but she doesn't know that."

"Ha! You got a point there," Rocket agreed. "Still, I'm pretty sure that I'm gonna end up offing Quill long before you ever kill Prim Princess. Or Gamora. Or Drax. Or just about anyone on my team that ain't Groot."

"Jeez, are they your friends, or worst enemies?"

"Neither. They're family." Rocket then prepared to leave before he thought of one other thing he could say, and turned back to Jack again. "And a great thing about families is that there's always room for more in them, if you're interested."

Jack was not sure if she had heard that right, and could not help but ask for clarification. "Wait…Did you just offer me…me a chance to…?"

"Hey, it's not like you would have trouble fitting in. I mean, none of us started off as the types to save the galaxy. Quill's an ex-scavenger and prince of Spartax, Gamora's a former assassin and one of the deadliest women in the galaxy, Drax is a muscle-bound, overly literal maniac, and me and Groot are a couple of thugs. Honestly, Kitty and Danvers are probably the only ones who were heroes from the start, but they still fit in pretty well," Rocket pointed out.

Getting confirmation that she had not heard wrong or misinterpreted what Rocket had said earlier was enough to stun Jack into silence once again, only this time, it did not last nearly as long. Instead, she got over it much more quickly, smiled at him, and said, "I'll think about it." Her scowl came back soon after as she added, "But don't think that means you can go and tell anyone that we had a moment just now. Because if you do, I'll shave you're little butt and turn him into twigs."

"Hey, I won't say anything if you won't," Rocket shrugged, and despite his nonchalant attitude, Jack knew he was being genuine.

Groot had one last thing to say before he and Rocket left Jack to her own devices, and despite the fact that he did in fact know Jack would not understand him, he still felt the need to say it. "I am Groot."

"What was that?"

Rocket merely grinned over at Jack as he proudly said, "He said that just in case, welcome in advance to the frickin Guardians of the Galaxy. Only he didn't use 'frickin.'"

Jack's smirk grew a little more once she heard that, and she laid back in her cot to get some much needed sleep, feeling certain that it would be the first peaceful rest she truly had in a long time, even as she heard Rocket lightly admonishing his giant friend for his language.

While Rocket and Jack were having their talk, Steve had gone all the way up to Deck Two, and made a beeline straight for the conference room. He had expected Jacob and Miranda to be waiting outside for him, but to his surprise, the only one in the hall by the door when he arrived was Star-Lord. "Quill? Where's Jacob," was the first thing out of Steve's mouth when he had approached.

"He ran out of patience and headed in the second he heard that the other team's shuttle had landed," Quill revealed with a shrug. "I'm honestly surprised he lasted as long as he did."

Steve wanted to be upset with Jacob for jumping the gun like this, but given all that had happened back on Aeia with Captain Taylor, he could not really blame the weapons chief for being so rash. Still, that only explained one absence, and he needed to know about the other one. "Has Miranda shown up yet?"

"Not that I've seen, and I've been here with Jacob ever since we got back on the Normandy," Quill shrugged. "I don't really think we have the option of waiting for her anymore, though."

"No we don't," Steve confirmed, and he immediately stepped into the room with Quill, finding that the elaborate comm. system was already running, with Jacob standing within the holographic grid box, and from what the super soldier could tell, Jacob was not too thrilled at the moment. Granted, he had not been in the best mood since the confrontation with his father, but Steve had a feeling that this time, Jacob was worked up over something else.

"What do you mean it wasn't you," Jacob demanded right when Steve and Star-Lord had stepped into the box, allowing them to be graced with the visage of the Illusive Man, seated before his usual view of a star as always.

"Exactly what I said, Jacob. I was not the one who sent that information to you," the Illusive Man calmly stated, though there did seem to be a small undercurrent that the others could not quite identify just yet.

"And we're supposed to just buy that? I thought that nothing happens anywhere in Cerberus, let alone on this ship without you knowing something about it," Star-Lord accused.

"You may find this hard to believe, Mister Quill, but even I can't keep track of everything that goes on in my organization at all times," the Illusive Man dismissed with a sneer, helping to identify that previous undercurrent from earlier as one of annoyance, at the very least. "More to the point, if I was the one who had leaked the information about the Gernsback, I would be smiling at your resolution. Do I look like I am smiling?"

"Hmm…Couldn't tell ya. You strike me as someone who thinks they can get away with having only one facial expression for everything," Quill quipped in reply.

Steve decided to jump into the conversation, before Star-Lord and the Illusive Man could get further into it. "Regardless of that, Quill has a point about one thing. How could something go through this ship; my ship, without a report to you? Everyone here is well-aware of the fact that you have more knowledge about what happens here than even I seem to most of the time, and the information came through a Cerberus channel."

"Think whatever you'd like, Captain, but I assure you, I had no more reason to believe that Jacob's father was alive than he did. He's one of the most loyal and honest operatives that Cerberus has ever had in its ranks, so if I had found out anything about the fate Jacob's father's ship, I wouldn't have hesitated to have told him about it right away, and I can assure you, I would've learned about this years ago if I did think it was possible that the ship and its crew had survived," the Illusive Man insisted, now seeming to be a bit more calm than before.

As much as he hated to admit it, Jacob knew that the Illusive Man was right. Sure, he did not always agree with how Cerberus ran things, but he did stick with them long enough to have gained a fair amount of credibility and respect from each of the members, including the Illusive Man. Maybe not as much as someone like Miranda, but it was still impressive all the same. "Alright, fine. So it wasn't you that forwarded the info," Jacob conceded. "But that still doesn't explain who did."

"I can answer that for you. It was me," answered a new voice, and the four men all turned to Jacob's left just in time to see Miranda had joined them at last, appearing to have now completely calmed down after her most recent spat with Jack. Her arrival was very off-set by the revelation she had just brought to everyone though, but after giving it a little thought, many of them found that they were not really that surprised. Even if they did still have questions about it.

"I mean, I guess it makes sense that she'd be the one person who could get into Cerberus channels easiest, but that doesn't really explain how or why," Quill questioned.

"She's the ship's XO, and pretty much second in command of Cerberus. It wouldn't have been too difficult with that kind of access," Steve pointed out.

"Please Rogers. It was hardly classified; just obscure," Miranda brushed off. She then turned to Jacob and said, "There was a time when this would have mattered to you, Jacob. Sending this along seemed like keeping an old promise, and you know that I keep my promises."

As touching as that sentiment was, it did not seem to do much in deterring the mild irritation that the Illusive Man now appeared to be directing towards his best operative. "Miranda, we'll discuss your liberal interpretation of security protocol in private later," the Illusive Man stated before he turned to the others. "Rogers. Jacob… Star-Lord."

The communication was closed from the other end with that, and Miranda only spared a small look for Jacob before making herself scarce. Steve could not help but follow her departure with a concerned look, but right now, he needed to make sure that the armory chief was doing better now that he had gotten his conversation with the big boss. "So, think you'll be okay with this, Jacob?"

"For the most part, yeah, but otherwise…It's all bull, Rogers. Captain Taylor can rot in prison for all I care. It doesn't change who I am or what I know," Jacob assured the man out of time.

"You sure about that, bud? I mean, this kind of stuff isn't exactly the easiest thing to deal with. Take it from me and my sister, Victoria; we should know," Quill revealed.

"I'm not sure if I should really be comparing my situation with that of the royals of Spartax, but I can see what you're saying, Quill," Jacob nodded along. "Either way, I've already mourned the man that he used to be, so I guess he was a good enough father that even he can't screw up what he taught me."

"Yeah, I'd say that definitely makes you a lot luckier than me and Vicky were with old man J'son," Star-Lord shrugged in agreement. "Still, if you ever feel like you need to talk with someone who knows some stuff about having jerks for dads…"

"I appreciate that," Jacob nodded with a laugh.

"On another note, you really had no idea that Miranda was behind this whole thing," Steve asked.

Jacob shook his head. "No, not a clue. Can't say I know what promise she's talking about keeping either."

"Seriously? How do you not remember making a promise with someone like her," Quill asked.

"Well for one thing, I haven't thought about those early days of our partnership in a long time. Miranda on the other hand has a very good memory. Selective, but good, so she could remember even if she hadn't thought about it in a while," Jacob confessed. "And for another thing, we made a lot of promises to each other back in the day, so I can't really figure out which one she might've meant. Not sure I really want to know, if I'm being honest."

"Think it might have something to do with that point in your history where things got a little close," Star-Lord asked with a sly look, while Steve's eyes narrowed a little dangerously.

"Damned if I know, but like I said, things got far apart not long after, and I can definitely remember one of the big reasons as to why that is: she requires a better man than I am," Jacob informed them both, looking completely calm despite the fact he was sure that he might have been sweating a little upon seeing Cap's expression.

The other two did not really say much afterwards, but instead nodded and then turned to leave so that they could all get back to their usual work on the ship. Before he parted ways with the two heroes though, Jacob called out, "Hey Rogers, thanks again for doing this."

"My pleasure, Jacob. And hey…I think you did Sam proud today," Steve nodded in return, and with that, he disappeared out the door back into the CIC.

Star-Lord on the other hand stuck around in the armory with Jacob for a few more seconds, before turning a sly look over to the armory chief and asking, "So…about that better man that you think Miranda needs…You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If you mean Cap, then I'm pretty sure you already know that answer," Jacob grinned back, earning him a fist-bump from the former galactic scoundrel.

No matter what age or species you may be, getting chewed out by your boss is never fun, less so when it rarely happens to you. Miranda could certainly attest to that right now as she leaned back in her desk chair with a long sigh, having just finished the private discussion the Illusive Man said they would have at the end of their conversation upstairs. Yes, she did acknowledge that she had been a little wrong in a few regards, but like she said, doing that to her was like keeping an old promise to Jacob, and she always kept her promises. It was not like this really affected the mission anyway. If anything, it just helped Jacob to get some closure that she felt he would need going into this, and if there was a chance that he or any of them did not come back alive, she would rather be able to say she had informed Jacob about this than go in knowing she had not, thereby robbing Jacob of any chance to at least find his long lost father. Admittedly, Miranda did not expect things to have gone the way they had, but even if she were expecting it, she still would have sent the information to Jacob. He had a right to know about what had really happened to his father after the Gernsback went down.

These were all things she had explained to the Illusive Man, and while he usually does come across as the type to regard human emotions as a weakness, he was still able to see how this would have weighed on both Miranda and Jacob's consciences. After all, like he had told Rogers after the Horizon mission, unless everyone on this team was fully committed to the mission, they would stand a great chance of succeeding, let alone surviving the mission. At the very least, Miranda felt that he understood all of this, but she could do nothing more than hope that she was right in this regard. Even she had a hard time getting a solid read on the leader of Cerberus, especially when he was in a less than pleasant mood.

Having realized this even before the conversation started, Miranda felt like she should count her lucky stars that the Illusive Man trusted her as much as he did, and that her record of service to Cerberus thus far was relatively spotless, save for one or two instances. If that were not the case, she was sure that she probably should be concerned about her position in the future. Thankfully, even if that was not the case, Miranda knew that the Illusive Man needed her here both on the Normandy and on this mission if things were to work out in the end, and not just in terms of whether or not they succeeded.

Any further musings on her recent discussion with the Illusive Man were put on hold though, when the door to her office/room opened, admitting Steve inside. Seeing the legendary captain before her brought an odd feeling of warmth to Miranda that she had noticed coming to her a lot more often as of late, but the concerned look on his face helped her to cast it aside, knowing that anything that left Rogers concerned was grounds for her to be worried. At least, that was her initial thought, until Cap posed the question he came here to ask her.

"I take it your talk with the Illusive Man did not go as well as you would have liked," Steve observed.

Hearing that from the captain surprised Miranda, but not nearly as much as the realization that the concern she saw on his face had been for her. Granted, she knew that Steve was the kind of person who would be willing to do just about anything within reason to help out his friends and comrades if he could, but she still found it unexpected that he would extend that to her now. Maybe they were becoming closer than she had originally suspected over the course of this mission, at least from his perspective. That idea made Miranda's lips curl up a little into a small, almost unnoticeable smile, even as she responded to his question.

"To be fair, no one likes it when they're in trouble with their boss. Still, what makes you think the discussion didn't go in a way I would have liked," Miranda questioned in return.

"You've got a look certain look on your face that I've seen other people getting, and that I've been told that I've had after a discussion with Fury that ended in a way that they did not find satisfying," Steve explained with a smirk of his own. "According to people like Iron Man or Widow, it was apparently the only times that I ever looked like I wanted to just scream at the world or punch something for no reason."

Miranda got a brief chuckle at that thought, and said, "Somehow I can't really see you doing that. You're a bit too much of sweet, kind soul. Then again, I did see how you reacted to the debrief you gave the Illusive Man from the Horizon Mission, so maybe it's not that much of a stretch."

"Maybe," Steve nodded in return, not feeling any need to confirm or deny the accusation, since he knew Miranda was right. He quickly returned to the original topic he wanted to discuss afterwards though. "Really though, are you doing alright, Miranda? I can't imagine that it's easy to have gone through that so soon after everything that happened at the Teltin facility, and then your recent spat with Jack."

Normally, Miranda probably would have tried to cover up any discomfort she might have felt, but she had a strong hunch that Steve would have been able to see through any attempts she made at hiding or dodging the matter. She was not sure how or why she felt that way, but she did and that was all the more reason why she chose a more honest approach in her answer. "You're not entirely wrong in saying that today's been a bit of a rollercoaster, but to borrow a phrase that has been around for longer than I think you've been alive, this isn't my first rodeo, Steve. Even I have had bad days before, and I've been able to deal with them easily. It may take a little bit in this case, but I think I can manage."

"Really?"

"Of course. Although, I will admit, I'm glad that you, Danvers, and even Parker came by when you did during that scene in the shuttle bay. I'm pretty sure that if Jack hadn't done something, I probably would have. I can admit that now that I've had a chance to clear my head a little, but as long as we all do our parts, I'm sure we'll be fine. That goes for both me and Jack, so thanks for that."

"You're welcome," Steve nodded, honestly glad to hear that Miranda was doing a little better now. "Well, if there isn't anything else that you have concerns about, I should probably check on the rest of the crew and team."

"Actually…could we talk for a minute," Miranda requested, and Steve was a little surprised by how insistent she sounded. He would certainly not say that she sounded like she was pleading or desperate for him to stay, but from what he could tell, it seemed like Miranda did really want him to stick around for some reason.

Seeing no problem with spending some more time with Miranda, Steve shrugged and said, "Sure, I don't see why not. Is something the matter?"

"I wouldn't say that, exactly. There's just something I need to get off my chest," Miranda explained as she stood from her desk chair and moved further into the cabin, silently inviting Steve to follow her in.

Having never been any further into Miranda's cabin than the front of her desk, Steve took the chance to glance around at the surroundings. The XO cabin/office was not quite as spacious as his quarters up on Deck One, but it did seem like there was more to it than the crew quarters, seeing as it had room for a decently sized bed that was big enough for two people in the middle of the room and a long sofa off to one side. Looking to the other end of the room, he could see another sofa situated beneath a decent sized window that looked out into space, along with a small table in the middle of the room, and two chairs that sat on either side of the bed. All-in-all, it seemed like a layout that would be typical for some small apartments.

When Miranda sat down on one of the nearest sofas, Steve was a little hesitant to join her, but the inviting smile she flashed to him convinced the super soldier that it was alright, and so, he found himself seated next to Miranda on the same sofa. Even if there was still a respectable distance between them. Not an extreme one, but just enough to prevent anyone from thinking that they were anything but friends. For some reason, that did not seem to sit right with either of them.

Miranda cast that idea away. She had more important reasons for inviting Steve into her quarters than to contemplate their relationship status, and she needed to get to it right now, or else she was sure that she would never get the chance again. "I…I want to apologize," Miranda admitted.

"Apologize? For what," Steve asked, already fearing the worst.

Miranda must have realized this and quickly assured him, "It's nothing like what you're probably thinking. This is actually something that I had in my head for a while. Despite the fact that I was the one who suggested we use the Lazarus Project on you, I wasn't entirely convinced you'd be up to the task of taking on this mission. You can't really blame me, though; you were a man out of time even in the twenty-first century, and bringing you into this century just seemed like a desperate cry for help that would end poorly."

Steve had a feeling that this was probably going through the minds of many people besides Miranda, but to hear that she regretted thinking that, and that she was apologizing for it, did feel rather nice. Even so, he could not let her believe that she had been entirely wrong. "To tell you the truth, I don't blame you for thinking that way. Even back then, there were still days when I had trouble figuring out the most basic of the latest gizmos that Stark or Apple had come up with. Add in the fact that I was not really on a lot of space-based missions, and I'd be more surprised that someone didn't have some concerns about placing me in charge of a spaceship that was on a mission to save the galaxy, let alone one as serious as this."

"Regardless of that, each and every one of those doubters were wrong, including me," Miranda assured him. "Frankly, a part of me can't help but wish that something that needed your skills had come up a little sooner so that Cerberus could have brought you back before now. We need more people like you in the organization."

"You do remember that I'm not technically part of Cerberus, right? I think you were there almost every time I've made that point in the past," Steve reminded her.

"Yes, I'm well aware, and I'm glad you've given us a chance to prove that Cerberus is not really as bad as everyone thinks," Miranda assured him. "I've looked over more than enough of the records regarding your actions and missions in the past to know that you'd fit in fine here, and we'd be lucky to have you. Too many people join Cerberus out of simple xenophobia. We need more people here for the right reasons, and people like you would certainly help to keep us honest."

Steve had to admit that he could see her point. He was well aware of how many people were in this organization because they either hated or feared their alien neighbors. Sure, some events in the Age of Marvels may justify those feelings a little, but then again, it did not seem like many people today really knew or took much stock in the things he and his fellow heroes did back then, so who was to say whether or not it was justified? Then again, there were things about Cerberus he was certainly not fond of, and he did not have a problem with making it known.

"And what about the things that happened to Jack or others like her? What was Cerberus trying to prove by doing those experiments on children," Steve questioned.

"In the case of the experiments at the Teltin facility, that was a mistake; no question. Not mine though. Like you said earlier, I wasn't involved. I assure you if I was, and was aware of what had been happening at that facility, I would have put a stop to it, and we did correct that mistake once we discovered the extent of the experiments being performed," Miranda insisted, and given how little hesitance there was in her voice, coupled with the certainty of her words, Steve felt inclined to believe her. Plus, she did make a good point in reminding him about what he said to Jack a few hours ago.

Still, that did not mean there was not anything else he could question her on. "And what about the things that Logan mentioned? About the mutant kids that were taken and experimented on like he had been?"

Miranda's conviction seemed to falter a little at that, making Steve feel a little bad for basically interrogating her when all she wanted was a polite conversation. That alone would have convinced Steve that Miranda was not too fond of the idea that Cerberus was following in the footsteps of groups like Weapon X, even if her next response never came. "I honestly don't know what to think about that. I'll admit, I hate the idea that any of our people could do something like what Admiral Howlet suggested, and I'm sure that there's some truth in what he was saying, but I do still intend to investigate it thoroughly before passing any judgment. If Cerberus really is doing things like that, then I promise that I'll see to it that it's stopped by any means necessary. I doubt I need to tell you that mutant kind had already suffered enough. There's no reason why we should make them go through anymore hell than they already have."

Steve was glad to hear that Miranda was just as disgusted with the possibility that Cerberus was doing experiments on mutants, but the way she said she would deal with it left him feeling a little dissatisfied. Yes, he was well aware that Miranda was a tried and true loyalist of the organization, but he just could not help questioning why it seemed like she would still remain with them after hearing about things like that. Not just the mutant experiments, but all the other horrible things that they had learned and seen Cerberus's fingerprints on too. Miranda had shown that she had a good sense of right and wrong in the past, so Steve could not help but wonder why her faith in Cerberus was still holding as strong as ever, at least on the surface. Good thing Miranda was so willing to open up and talk to him, because this was the perfect chance for him to get some answers for that very mystery.

"I'm glad to hear that you intend to help deal with things like that, Miranda, but what makes you so sure that none of it was something that the Illusive Man or Cerberus wanted," Steve questioned.

"I've been with Cerberus for years, and the Illusive Man has never made an attempt to keep secrets from me, and even if he had, I'm confident enough to say that I'd be able to uncover them very quickly. Regardless of that, you can't deny that Cerberus has done great work, both with and without my help, so why not provide them with my services," Miranda posed in return.

"I can understand that their mission to help keep humanity from being overpowered by the rest of the galaxy seems good, but I can't help but feel like there's more to your reasons than that," Steve countered. "After all, you told me yourself that you came to Cerberus because you needed protection from your father, if only for your sister if nothing else."

"Yes, that's right," Miranda confirmed, wondering where Steve was going with this.

"And I wouldn't be wrong in thinking that you could've easily gotten that protection for her, and then once you had everything you needed for Oriana and yourself, you could've just left to find your own way in the galaxy if you wanted to, would I?"

"No, of course not."

"So then why stay with Cerberus? I mean, you could easily land any job in the galaxy with just your intelligence alone from what I understand and yet you stayed with them. Why is that," Steve finally asked.

Miranda let out a thoughtful hum once Steve finally asked the big question, and while she was tempted to give the usual, standard answer she normally gave most people, she felt that she owed him the honest truth, especially after all that he had done for this mission and for her. He had helped her keep Oriana safe, something she did not intend to forget anytime soon, so it was only fair of her to give Steve full disclosure on this matter.

"I suppose the biggest reason is because I can't help but envy people like Mordin and the time they've spent with groups like the salarian Special Tasks Group, working with people as smart and skilled as they are," Miranda confessed. "Being able to put my abilities to good use in something truly worthwhile gives me a sense of purpose and fulfillment, one that's all my own and not what my father had wanted. If I went to work for anyone else, I feel like I'd be constantly battling with someone to get a job done, just because they think that it's impossible to do. Cerberus, on the other hand, doesn't do that. They just give me my resources and say do it, and they've given you even more. Another new life, a state-of-the-art new ship, the Illusive Man's personal attention…"

"To be fair, it's not like I would've been able to get very far without many of those things, the best of which being that you were put on my team," Steve pointed out, adding the last fact in both as a way of thanking Miranda for all that she had done, and complimenting her hard work.

"I appreciate the thought, Cap, but flattery won't get you anywhere," Miranda smirked.

"It's not flattery if it's true."

"Maybe, but I'm sure you would've done fine all on your own. Like I said before, I've looked at quite a bit of the historical data pertaining to you when I was bringing you back. A sickly, Brooklyn kid that volunteered for an experimental military procedure so that he could help in a war effort, and then went on to help win the war in favor of his country before being frozen in ice for years until you were thawed out and became leader of the Avengers…And that's just in terms of the highlights of your life," Miranda argued, not seeming like she was willing to accept any compliments Steve was going to give her in this matter. As if to better emphasize all of this, she then stood up so that she could gaze out of the window at the stars and continued, "And you've done even more than that; more than I could ever dream of doing even. Despite all of my father's efforts to make me perfect, I just can't compete with someone like you. Someone who is the best that humanity has to offer."

Steve did not like the way that sounded at all. "You know, you seem to bring that up a lot: the things your father did to make you into who you are. Sometimes I can't really tell if you're proud of it or you hate it."

"I can't really say that I know the answer to that either, Steve. All I do know is that this is who I am, and I can't hide from it. The intelligence, the biotics, even my looks were all things that my father paid for. Every one of your accomplishments is due to your skills. The only things I can ever really take credit for are my mistakes," Miranda stated, but from the sound of her voice, it was clear just how upsetting this really was to her.

Steve could not just sit there and let Miranda put herself down, so it was a good thing he had no intention of doing so. Standing up from his seat at the couch, he crossed the room to where Miranda was standing, placed a comforting hand on her shoulder once he had reached her, and stated, "I don't think you give yourself enough credit. Your father might have been the one to give you all those gifts, but he didn't decide how you should use them; you did. You made the choice to leave him, and use your talents for what you wanted, and look at what you've accomplished since then. You've kept your sister safe, become a top-ranking agent in Cerberus, and let's not forget that you brought someone back from the dead. I'd say that those are all things you should be proud of."

For some reason beyond her comprehension, Miranda felt her cheeks growing a little warm at hearing all this praise, and even more surprising was how she gave a more cheeky response to Steve's comment than even she would have expected herself capable of. "I'm not really sure just how much pride I should really take in bringing someone back from the dead. From my understanding, that's something that happened every other Tuesday back in the Age of Marvels."

"Only with certain individuals, and even without that in mind, I don't really see many people making a miraculous return like the one you pulled off these days," Steve quickly countered. "Like I said, Miranda, you've got a lot to be proud of, so you shouldn't try to convince yourself otherwise, even if the source of those things is something you hate."

"Well…I suppose you might have a point. Still not sure if it can really compare to people like you or any number of people on this ship."

Seeing that kind gestures and genuine compliments did not seem to be getting through to her, Steve opted for another route; one that he would probably consider to be a little more Spidey-like, but if it worked, then why not? "Careful there, Miranda. You keep talking like that, you might give someone the impression that you're jealous," he teased.

Miranda immediately spun around when she heard that, and scoffed, "Don't be absurd."

"Hey, it's only natural to feel that way every now and then, even if it is a little misplaced," Steve assured her, still joking around a little.

"First off, I'm not jealous of anyone, and there's hardly any competition going on here that would give me reason to be. Second, considering combat records alone, people like you, Danvers, and even Parker could be considered something close to bloody perfect human specimens, or even the best of the Age of Marvels," Miranda instantly refuted.

"That's some awfully high praise coming from you," Steve grinned.

"Well, don't start getting an ego on me now, Captain. I'm the one who restored you back to your prime, remember," Miranda reminded him. She then gave him what could only be an appraising once over as she almost dreamily added, "And I do damn good work."

"Exactly my point," Steve nodded, turning serious again, even if he still had the same smile on his face. "You do damn good work, and all because that's what you want to do. Not because of anything that other people want, but because it's of your own desire to succeed, so I think you should start taking credit for more than your mistakes."

Hearing that made Miranda stop short, because she had not expected that at all. After hearing it though, she was able to see what Steve just did very clearly, and she had to admit, she was actually glad for it. Sure, she received various forms of praise for her accomplishments all the time, but this was the first time that she felt like she could actually believe any of it. Add in how sure Steve was in his words, and how his eyes seemed to hold a fire brimming with certainty as they remained fixed on hers, and she felt all further arguments on the matter slipping away. It was only natural that she could only think of one thing to say in response, and even then, she just barely managed to get it out. "Oh…Well…Thank you, Steve. That…That actually means a lot. More than I was expecting, really."

Steve just nodded in response, and at this point, the two finally took note of their positioning, namely how close they were standing to each other. Really, there was just barely that much space between them, and all it would take to close the gap was one small movement on either of their parts. Despite that, neither super soldier nor Cerberus operative found this to be uncomfortable or awkward, and they did not see it fit to move away either. If anything, they each felt some sort of compulsion to find a way to make this better. The only question was how. This could definitely be one of the rare instances that Miranda found herself unable to really think of a solution, and despite knowing that it would probably be easier to think if she stopped staring at Steve's bright blue eyes, she just could not turn away for some reason. Unknown to her, it was the same story for Steve, and before either of them knew it, they found themselves being guided by little more than instinct.

The result of following their instincts was something that very few people would probably have expected, including them, because before either of them knew what was happening, Steve and Miranda had closed the distance between them entirely, and locked each other in a passionate kiss. The minute their lips connected, a wave of euphoria seemed to wash over them both, prompting Miranda to reach up and wrap her arms around Steve's neck as if to hold him in place or pull him closer to her, while Steve's hands began to run through Miranda's raven locks or gently caress her cheek in a way that lit up Miranda's entire world. This feeling had completely overridden all of their senses to the point where neither of them was sure if they could pull away even when the need to breathe became too strong, and yet, something inside drove them to want more of this joy and passion that was slowly becoming intoxicating.

The moment was short-lived, as their actions suddenly started to register in their minds when Miranda's hands ended up reaching for places that they normally should not have been, and they immediately broke apart so fast that it one would get the impression that they had ended up burning one another somehow. Even after breaking off the kiss, they were still having trouble regaining their regular senses, and could only stare at one another in shock while trying to process what had just happened between them. Steve tried to speak, to say…he was not entirely sure what he wanted to say about what just happened, so maybe it was a good thing that his brain had suddenly decided to forget how to form words after that little event. Miranda on the other hand was a different story, as she seemed to regain her faculties a bit more quickly, but still remained very flustered.

"What the hell was that," the genetically perfect woman asked breathlessly, her eyes just as wide as Steve's seemed to be at the moment. Steve wished he could say that he had an answer for her, but he was still trying to get his voice back, so he was unable to say anything. He was not entirely sure if Miranda picked up on that or not, or even if he should feel happy if she did, but right now, he did know that they probably needed to put some distance between each other, and Miranda seemed to reach a similar conclusion after a minute. "Okay this is…This doesn't mean anything. We were just…I mean, you…And that whole…I'll talk to you later."

"Y-yeah. Yeah, that's a…That's a good idea," Steve nodded, his voice coming out a little more softly than he would have liked, as he started to follow Miranda to the door. Unfortunately, the two ended up nearly running into each other in their addled states, and Steve could not help but reach out to keep Miranda from falling over when he did. "Oh! Sorry, I didn't…"

"N-no, it's fine. Really," Miranda waved off as casually as she could. "I probably should've been…"

"Maybe we both should've," Steve quickly said.

"Agreed. Well, talk to you later, Steve." Miranda was just about at her desk when she turned around to notice that Steve had an expression on his face that suddenly made her feel both relaxed and uncomfortable at the same time, and said, "And stop smiling, damn it."

"By all means, you first," Steve chuckled before he even realized what he was saying.

If she were to look in a mirror, Miranda would have seen that she did in fact have the exact same smile on her face as Steve's right now, but she made it a point to bury her face in the reports that were on her desk computer as quickly as she could, and offered little more than a wave in farewell to the captain. Seeing that was the end of their conversation for the moment, Steve hurried out of Miranda's office, and over to the elevator, thinking that he should head up to the captain's quarters to better relax and cool off after what had just happened. It was certainly going to be a while before he would be able to keep some semblance of composure around the rest of the crew after that little moment, never mind Miranda herself, so he felt it would be best if he did so as quickly as possible.

In his rush to get to the elevator, he failed to notice Kelly and Chakwas at the mess table, watching his retreat from the XO office with confused stares. "Now what do you suppose that was all about," the ship's doctor inquired.

"If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that the relationship between Miss Lawson and the captain has just taken a very interesting turn," Kelly offered.

"Is that your professional opinion, or one based on ship gossip?"

"A little bit of both. You'd be surprised how often gossip can hold some basis in fact."

Chakwas just hummed in reply, before swallowing some mouthfuls of food from her plate and warned, "Just don't let Lawson hear you say that. I've heard that she's killed for less."

Kelly voiced no disagreements, but instead, simply continued her meal in silence.

The next few weeks consisted of standard business as usual for the crew of the Normandy, with everyone going about doing whatever they could to keep the ship running at peak efficiency, and working to make sure that it was ready and able to handle the inevitable trip through the Omega 4 Relay. Not that there was really much more that they could do in preparing the ship for what was to come when they finally went through the relay; between the upgrades that everyone had contributed to the ship's armaments and weapons, and the technical expertise of the various experts that had come aboard such as Rocket, Tali, Garrus, and even Spider-Man to an extent, just to name a few, the only thing that the ship was really missing at this point was a way to actually get through the relay and come back. They were all sure that there was some trick to it that allowed the Collectors to safely pass through, but they still had no idea what it could be.

Although the ship may have been as ready as it could be at the moment, the crew was something of a different story. More specifically, Captain America and Miranda. Ever since their talk in the XO's office, Cap and Miranda had this intense air of awkwardness around them every time they were in a room together. It was so noticeable in fact, that everyone and their grandma were able to pick up on it. The two could barely even look at each other without suddenly going red in the face at least. It got to the point where it seemed like they had started to actively avoid each other at every possible turn, such as one offering to take the next elevator when they saw the other was already in it and not getting out, or making absolutely certain that they ate meals at different times. Luckily, it never seemed to interfere with any regular operations, but given how often and easily it happened, everyone could understand why they would be concerned about how it would affect any future missions.

The latest example of this awkwardness could be seen in the mess hall that day, when the two accidentally ended up having lunch at the same time. Normally, one of them probably would have tried to leave, or if they had already gotten food, offered to eat in their respective cabins, but the combined efforts of Tali and Parker ended up getting the two to join the rest of the gathered group, which surprisingly, consisted of a vast majority of the ground team. The two friends had gotten rather annoyed with watching the pair dodging one another, and were determined to make it stop by any means they could find. Too bad for them it backfired spectacularly, as the whole time the two were there, the room was so silent that you would think a classic wild west movie showdown was about to begin at any second.

"Well, that could've been better," Tali sighed once both Cap and Miranda were at least out of hearing range.

"Agreed. You and Spider-Man could not have invited them both to join us," Drax stated as bluntly as he always would.

"I don't believe that's what she meant, my friend," Thane informed Drax, while Tali and Spidey both shot him flat looks.

"Either way, this is getting really annoying," Carol commented. For anyone wondering why she was not getting into it with Spider-Man at the moment, ever since that incident between Jack and Miranda, the two had actually been acting much more civilly with each other. It was not to the point where they could act and converse like good friends, but certainly enough to where they were not always biting each other's heads off, or starting a fight with each other. Then again, given how intense the atmosphere was, it would have been more surprising if either of them really felt any need to do anything of the sort at all.

"What do you guys think happened, anyway," Kitty asked.

"Maybe one of them walked in on the other in the shower," Quill offered, resulting in several of the people at the table either doing spit-takes or choking on their food. Once all the surprised reactions had passed, everyone was glaring at Quill, who could only shrug and say, "What? It makes sense to me. I mean, isn't this the kind of awkwardness that usually follows after something like that happens?"

"If anyone ever doubted that he was raised by Scavengers," Gamora grumbled under her breath with a roll of her eyes, while Kitty just shook her head in disbelief at her husband.

"Perhaps it would be better if we simply stayed out of this matter. It does not really concern us at the moment, and it would be rude of us to interfere without asking," Thane suggested.

"Normally, I'd agree with that, but this has been going on for weeks now. How do we know they'll be able to handle themselves on a mission," Tali questioned.

"Trust me, Tali; Captain America never lets personal feelings get in the way of a mission. The likelihood of that happening is about as high as the chances of me not being hated by at least ninety percent of the women I knew back in the Age of Marvels," Parker waved off.

"Oh come on, Pete; don't exaggerate. You weren't hated by that many girls back then," Kitty dismissed.

"Debatable," Carol and Gamora both muttered.

While Spidey waved at both of the two female Guardians as though they had proven his point, Jacob pressed on with the original topic they were discussing. "Regardless of Spidey's personal love life, Miranda's not the type to let emotions affect her work either. She's too smart for that."

"Then she must be smarter than I am," Thane confessed, much to everyone's confusion. Their confusion only grew when the drell suddenly gained a blank look in his eyes and began muttering a variety of random phrases out of nowhere. "Laser dot trembles on his skull. One finger-twitch, he dies. Then the smell of spice on the spring wind. Sunset-colored eyes defiant in the scope. The laser dances away…"

"Uh Thane…You okay there buddy," Quill asked, worriedly, just beating Parker to the question by a few seconds.

"Yes. My apologies. Drell slip into memories so easily," Thane assured everyone.

"Apparently. I mean, you were talking like you were actually watching it," Kitty noted.

"It's only natural. Drell have perfect memories that allow them to relive any moment in their lives with perfect clarity," Drax surprisingly explained to everyone. When this became evident, he shrugged and said, "Thane explained this to me during one of our previous talks."

"And I'm pleased to see you remember that so well," Thane appraised with a nod. "At times, it is a little difficult to control, though. Some of us disappear into…Mmm, let's call it solipsism."

"You know, of all the weird powers that I've seen other people have, human or alien, I think this is the first time I've encountered one that I'm glad that I don't have," Spider-Man admitted.

"Why would you wish to have the powers of other individuals? Your own abilities are something that I think others would find very desirable," Thane questioned.

"You have no idea," Parker groaned, his mind instinctively going back to some of his various clone sagas, and other times when his enemies had harvested his blood or DNA for some twisted reason. "But at the end of the day, they're still spider-powers. Doesn't exactly sound like the most appealing thing to most people. Besides, do you really think you could say no to being invulnerable or able to walk through walls? Just to name a couple of examples off the top of my head."

"Sure. That's where you're getting the examples from," Carol drawled with a humorous smile, while Kitty just giggled knowingly.

"Hey, I'm being serious, here! I would so love to have invulnerability. Getting shot hurts! A lot."

"He's not wrong, ya know," Jacob stated in Spidey's defense, and there were soon a few more people who voiced agreeing opinions afterwards.

As the others continued conversing and joking, Tali eventually noticed that one member of their group was not joining in at all: Garrus. In point of fact, from the look of things, he was not even paying much mind to his food. Sure, Tali knew full well that a good portion of the dextro rations on the Normandy left a little to be desired, but that never seemed to bother Garrus before, and yet there he was, just sitting there playing with his food. That was not the only thing that had her worried though. Garrus also had a look on his face that left her with a bad feeling in her stomach that had nothing to do with any possible suit breaches she may or may not have had recently. It was a glare that she had not really seen very often, outside of some of the old conversations that they and their old team used to have about Saren, and that one criminal that Garrus wanted to bring to justice back then, only this time, it had an added edge to it that practically screamed his anger to the galaxy.

Seeing that look on his face, Tali could not just sit around and pretend she had not noticed anything. So, she reached over to get his attention, and asked, "Garrus? Are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine," Garrus tried to play off. On anyone else it probably would have worked, but it seemed that he had forgotten in the moment that Tali was not anyone else.

As if the universe wished to prove this point, Tali stood from her seat, hoisted Garrus up by his arm, and then proceeded to march him over to the Main Battery that the turian was always holing up in. "Excuse us, everyone. Garrus and I need to talk about a few things," Tali politely informed the others.

Garrus wanted to protest, but even with her helmet's mask, Tali could still give someone a look that made it clear she was not going to be taking any arguments. With the way she spun to face him just as he was opening his mouth, it was clear she was giving him that look right now, so he wisely decided to shut up. Too bad for him and Tali that a certain someone else made sure that they did not leave without a last comment. "You two play nice," Spidey teased.

While Garrus kept his mouth shut, Tali on the other hand reacted as everyone often expected her to, being one of the youngest members of the crew even on the old Normandy: by getting extremely flustered. "What?! We're not…I-I mean…We're just going to talk. Not anything else," the quarian insisted.

"Oh, is that what you kids call it now?" After he made that comment, he actually stopped short and said, "Wow! I just realized how much that makes me sound like an old man."

"Now if only you could sound like your physical age," Carol barbed amidst the ensuing laughter from the others.

Any retort that the web-head had for the blonde was cut off by the Main Battery's door closing behind Tali and Garrus, leaving the two old friends in the privacy that Tali was aiming for in this conversation. "What's really going on, Garrus? I've only seen acting like this once before, and quite frankly, I'm a little worried about you," Tali said.

Seeing that she had him cornered, Garrus decided to come clean. "You remember what I told you about my team on Omega? Namely how they all died?"

"Yes. You said that a turian named Sidonis had tricked you into leaving your hideout, and that by the time you got back, your squad had been killed, and Sidonis had left Omega."

"Right, and I've been trying to track Sidonis ever since," Garrus finished for her. He took another minute to collect himself, still feeling a little bitter over how it had happened, and then got to the point of why he brought this up to begin with. "Well, one of my contacts had recently got in touch with me, and now, I might have a lead on just where Sidonis is."

Tali had not been expecting that. "What? You mean you found him?"

"Not exactly. All I know right now is that he's somewhere on the Citadel. My contact said he saw a turian that matches Sidonis's description, but he hadn't found anything that could lead right to him. Still, it's the best lead I've had ever since he ran. He's there. I'm sure of it."

Judging by the certainty in his voice, Tali was inclined to believe Garrus, but that was not the real issue here. At least not in Tali's mind. "So, if he is on the Citadel, then what do you plan to do once you figure out a way to track him?"

"That's easy. I'm going to hunt him down, and make him pay for what he did," Garrus growled in reply. Or at least, the best turian equivalent of a growl.

Tali did not like that answer. "You mean you're going to kill him."

"It's not like we can turn him over to the authorities. What he did happened on Omega, and in case you've forgotten, the only real law there is whatever Aria decides it is. Killing him is the only way my team's going to get any real justice."

"The Garrus Vakarian I know wouldn't be saying things like that. What you're talking about is revenge; not justice."

"And yet you do seem to cry all that much when we took down Saren, or Saleon," Garrus pointed out.

"Saren had turned into a monster, and Saleon didn't give us any other choice. Yes, they both did terrible things, but you were still willing to bring them in the right way. What you're talking about now is a different story. You don't even sound like you want to give Sidonis a chance to explain himself. How do you know he wasn't forced into it by one of the other gangs?"

"He didn't have anything to lose; there was no way any of the gangs could've forced him to do it aside from threatening his life. If that was how it happened, then that means he's a coward that deserves to die," Garrus heatedly retorted.

"Shepard wouldn't want you to do this," Tali shot back almost in a whisper, not really having many other cards to play than that.

"Well Shepard's not here, now is he?!" Garrus finally snapped, scaring Tali to the point where you could see how wide her eyes were even through her mask. It did not take much time for Garrus to realize what he just said and did, and he immediately lowered his head in shame. "I'm sorry, Tali. I…I didn't mean to snap at you like that. I just…this whole thing with me and Sidonis is messed up. Believe me, I wish Shepard was here right now to tell me how to handle this, but…I just have to make do with what I think I should be doing."

"I know. I'm not exactly much better, trying to use Shepard's memory to make you stop like that," Tali nodded, feeling just as apologetic right then. "I don't think I really have much of a place to try and stop you since I wasn't there at the time."

"You'll always have a place to speak your mind with me, Tali," Garrus assured her, and his comment immediately made Tali feel like it was getting warmer in her suit. "But all the same, I can't let this go. I have to find Sidonis and take him down."

"Just like that, huh," a new voice cut in, startling the two. When they spun around to face the speaker, they were even more surprised than they already were by the lack of the good humor that normally filled his voice, because his posture spoke volumes of seriousness as well.

"Spidey, how long were you…" Garrus started to ask.

"Long enough, buddy," Spider-Man answered, not dropping his serious tone or stance.

Since he had talked about this matter with Parker before, Garrus had a feeling he knew what was going to come out of the wall-crawler's mouth next, and tiredly sighed, "We've been over this before, Pete, and I'll say it again. You're not going to stop me from doing this."

"Who said I was going to stop you? I want in," Peter revealed, surprising both of the other two. Garrus more so than Tali.

"Uh…Beg your pardon?"

"You heard me. The minute you've got a solid lead on how to find Sidonis, I'm going to go with you. That's not up for debate," Spider-Man clarified. He could tell that Garrus still seemed like he had some protest against this resting on his mandibles though, but Peter still had one more push to give in this argument. "Can't let my first partner and friend in this century go into something like this alone, now can I?"

Hearing something closer to the Spider-Man he had grown used to, all of Garrus's remaining resistance to the web-head's offered help crumbled away, and he smiled a little as he said, "Alright then. Thanks in advance, Pete."

"You got it, bud," Peter nodded, and with that, the conversation came to a close, with Tali and Spidey taking their leave from the Main Battery while Garrus returned to his usual work on the gun.

Tali was not willing to let things sit though, and she made that known the second that the door to said room had shut behind her and Peter. "I can't believe you of all people would actually be willing to help someone get revenge! I thought you were supposed to be better than that," Tali accused.

"I never said that I was going to help Garrus kill Sidonis. I just said that I was going to go with him," Peter clarified for her, draining away all righteous rage from the quarian and leaving her confused with his words. "I know you two are old friends, but trust me, I've been where Garrus is right now, so I think I've got a better chance of getting through to him than you do. But at this point, the only way to really reach him is to make sure that we're beside him when the moment finally happens. Trust me."

Tali would have tried to argue again, but there was just something about the conviction in Peter's voice that made her stay silent. As far as she knew, Spider-Man was not the type to seek revenge. It was not hard to believe, given how opposed he was to killing his enemies and opponents, but then again, it was not like anyone was truly that innocent after leading the kind of life he had, so maybe there had been a moment when he did go after someone out of vengeance. She wanted to press him a little more on this, but just before she could, she caught sight of Carol and Kitty from the corner of her eye, and saw that they were silently telling if not begging her to drop it for now.

Realizing that she was probably not going to be winning any battles like this today, Tali let out a sigh and nodded in acceptance of Peter's request, and just like that, the web-head returned to his usual self, with his first question being if she wanted to do some more work on her suit that would better help in making her the Iron Quarian. Sure, it may have started out as a joke, but the more time that she spent working with Peter, the more she actually liked the idea behind it. Too bad they could not get very far into the topic before Captain America suddenly appeared before the gathered group again with a serious look on his face.

"Is Garrus still close by," Steve asked when he noticed the absence of the team's resident turian.

"If you consider the Main Battery close by, then yes," Quill replied.

"Alright, then one of you can let him and Miranda know about our new orders once I'm done telling everyone here," Steve decided.

If anyone had any thoughts of asking the captain why he was not going to tell Miranda himself, they quickly died when they heard him mentioning new orders. "Did the Illusive Man contact you again, Cap," Gamora asked.

"He did, and with information that we need to act on right away, so get whatever gear or weapons you need for missions together and suit up," Steve ordered.

Everyone nodded or gave some other form of affirmative reply to the captain before hurrying through what remained of their meals and dispersing to do just as Steve had requested. Star-Lord was the first to volunteer to tell Grunt, Rocket, Groot, and Jack about the new assignment, while Gamora headed off to let Samara know, and Carol went up to Deck Two to tell Mordin. No one really offered to tell Kasumi, since they all had a feeling she more than likely already found out somehow, but Kitty still headed for the klepto's room to make sure that her friend knew anyways. Only Peter seemed to think of asking Cap for a few more details about the mission before going to grab his gear, but even so, everyone still heard him ask the question, and Steve's response.

"Where we heading and what're we doing this time, Cap," the wall-crawler asked.

Steve remained silent for a brief spell, and given the answer he had, some of them could not help if it was to be a little dramatic. Then again, maybe he was a little justified in doing so, because the answer he gave was the last thing anyone was expecting to hear. "We're going to the Korlus system to infiltrate a Collector ship."

AN: Phew! I got a lot out there in this chapter, now didn't I? The conclusion of Jack's loyalty mission, the Post-Loyalty Mission dialogue for both Jack and Jacob's tasks, a precursor to Garrus's Loyalty mission along with a sneak preview as to which Marvel hero is going to have the biggest involvement in it (As if there was ever any doubt?), setting up for the Collector Ship infiltration mission in next chapter, some friendly exchanges and conversations, and Oh. Oh! OH! What's this?! What. Is. THIS?! Are we finally seeing the big move forward in the Cap&Miranda relationship?! Did that really just happen?! You know it did buster.

So yeah, that conversation that Cap and Miranda had (which ended in a kiss and a new air of awkwardness and uncertainty on relationship status) does kind of combine what I would consider the best elements of the various dialogue options that Shepard could have with Miranda in Mass Effect 2, at least in regards to that conversation, and I did my utmost best to make sure that it was all mainly in a way that Cap would've phrased it. The end result...Well, you can all clearly see it for yourselves, right? Be honest with me...Do you guys think it turned out okay?

Cap&Miranda: [blushing at the memory]

AN: Hmm...I guess we know how they think it turned out. Don't worry, we shouldn't have too much of an awkward pause between them for too long.

Jack: Hey, can we talk about that conversation I had with Rocket in this chapter?

AN: Oh, that. Yeah, if anyone thinks it seems like a certain scene from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, you would be right. I really liked that scene between Rocket and Yondu, and the more I thought about it, the more I started to think, hey, this could probably work just as well for a moment between Rocket and Jack. I mean, why not, right? You can certainly see why the two scenarios could line up with one another, so I went with it. And before anyone asks, yes, this is me basically saying that there is a good chance that Jack will be joining the Guardians of the Galaxy when the suicide mission is over. And I did work that in so that I could have Rocket say that line. It was just too perfect a moment to pass up.

Not really all that much more to say about anything else, but I suppose I could mention why I had Aresh killed off. Now, I did look up some info to confirm how much keeping him alive would help things in Mass Effect 3, and while it does seem like he helps in some small way, it just doesn't really feel like it was a big enough deal to really make an impact on things. Normally, I wouldn't be too fond of killing off characters, but in this case, I kinda feel like an exception should be made. I mean, aside from that one time, we never really see or hear from Aresh again, so why bother keeping him around, you know? Plus I feel that having a whole saving her life thing would also have the added benefit of improving Jack and Miranda's relationship from bitter hatred between two opposing sides to something more akin to...I hesitate to use the word "friendly", but they are certainly a certain type of rivals in one aspect or another.

Also, that moment that Spidey mentioned that he shared with Captain Marvel earlier on after they got Rocket and Samara's debrief, yeah that was mainly inspired by various different events that happened in the comics, mixed in with the moment when Spider-Man made a deal with Carol. Namely, he would help her out on the condition that she goes on a date with him. Not lying. That is a legitimate event from the comics. You can find pictures of the panels on a simple Google Image search. I just left the actual event ambiguous because...reasons.

Okay, so with all of that said-Oh right! I almost forgot. I had Thane participate in the group chat because he and Samara haven't really had that much socializing time with the others since coming aboard, but then again, it's not like they really had too much time to do that, what with everything that started going on afterwards, so here he is.

Now before we do our regular next chapter preview, let's answer those reviews at last, shall we?

First off, in response to "Schazmen", glad you enjoyed the story so much so far, and thanks for that little nitpick you pointed out. I've tried my best to take it to heart both with this chapter, and with a lot of my other stories, so I hope there's at least a little improvement there.

Next, "darkwolf95", namely his review from Chapter 11. the fic I mentioned is actually a Ben 10 & Mass Effect Crossover, not Spider-Man. Sorry to disappoint if you were hoping otherwise. It's called The Romance Effect, in case you're still interested.

Rolling things over to "Graymar1", I honestly wish I could add a little more history in terms of the mutants and Inhumans, but right now, it's just not in the cards. Although, I do think that there may be a chapter later on in which I can mention some stuff about that, so keep your eyes open. Oh, and the sequel, which does take place during Mass Effect 3, will most definitely mention a few things about that.

"mastergamer14", in answer to your questions: 1) I hadn't really thought too much into having Jacob don his own set of Falcon wings, mainly because of how things are in the ME timeline, at least not in this story, but you never know. I may decide to change things up before this one's finished. Otherwise, I think the best we can hope to see that would be the sequel. Second, there's not really much of a plan for Knowhere to be showing up. Honestly, I don't really think about the place too much unless it's directly involved in something. Otherwise, it's just not really on my radar a majority of the time. 3) I've heard a few different ideas regarding bringing the symbiotes into this, including one idea that suggested having Legion bond with a symbiote, as crazy as that sounds, but I can only say that I don't really have too great of a plan in mind for them right now. The team's already big enough as it is right now, and this is before we've added Legion. And finally, unless a character shares a name with one such person, no Marvel 2099 characters will appear here. Sorry if that's disappointing to hear.

Well, I think that's everything, aside from mentioning once again, for everyone to check out my YouTube channel whenever you get a chance. It's called Studio Fandom, in case you forgot. And oh yeah, this is the part where I say, Onto the Preview!...

It's the biggest break the team has had to date: a recent distress call from a turian ship has informed them that the Collector ship they had encountered at Horizon is disabled and ripe for the picking. So, why wouldn't they want to go in and get any and all data that they can from it while they have the chance? Upon arrival, Captain America leads a team inside to get whatever they can from the oversized bugs, but just what sort of revelations will they gain from this infiltration? Find out next time.

Remember, check out Studio Fandom on YouTube, and as always...

Please read and review, and I should go, fellow true believers!