She paced back and forth, impatient for the arrival of her contact. Where was he? She disliked tardiness, especially in a place as public as this. It was only a matter of time until she was thought suspicious. She was considering leaving when a Volus in a mottled green enviro-suit hurriedly approached her.

"Ms Gold?"

"About time!"

"My apologies ma'am, there was an incident-"

"I don't care Von. Do you have it?" she motioned for him to follow her to a secluded alcove.

Barla Von croaked through his voice plate as he plodded behind her, "yes."

He grudgingly held a data pad up for her, but did not release it when she grasped it. "I'm sure I don't know why this is so important, whatever you are using it for-"

"Is none of your business Von"

She pulled the datapad from his balled hand and scanned it.

"Shit" she shook her head and pocketed the datapad.

"Ahh now I see. He's still looking for her isn't he?" Barla Von asked smugly.

"Yes" her curt response wiped the smirk from his face, "but how would you know that? You're merely an agent."

"Ms Gold, please, I trade information. When someone requests such a simple item as a ship's log, I know there's more to it than meets the eye. I simply…read between the lines, so to speak."

"Listen Von" she leant down to level with his face, "one word and the Broker will gain some very interesting information on one of his agents. Do we understand each other?"

Von's voice plate crackled but no words came out, he simply bowed in confirmation. He knew the consequences of crossing the Broker, even over something as minor as a ship log. He was running a great risk, but the Illusive man had known his weakness. Credits. A lot of credits.

"If we are done here-"

"We're done" she spun on her heels and disappeared into the throng of shoppers.

The hotel room door clicked shut and Miranda pulled the datapad from her pocket. She walked over to the closet and removed a plain black case. Placing the datapad inside she pulled up her Omni-tool and punched in a security code locking the case with a snick.

Scrolling through her itinerary she took note of the time and closed her Omni. She had one more appointment then she'd be leaving the Citadel; heading back to Lazarus Station and the familiar surroundings of her lab.

She pulled the zip of her boots down and kicked them off before unfastening her jumpsuit. Shrugging out of it she pushed the glossy material down her thighs. Her next appointment was with Alliance HR, a change in appearance was needed.

The suit fell to floor and she deftly stepped out of it before padding back to the closet. A single black, military-approved pant suit hung inside. Taking it down she dressed, pairing it with a simple fitted Alliance blue tunic top and her sleek black boots.

Standing in front of the mirror she pinned her long black locks away from her face in an arrangement that would pass for an officer. Fixing the Alliance insignia to the breast of her jacket, she checked her reflection and nodded approvingly, she would easily pass for a desk jockey of the Alliance.

"Staff Lieutenant Janeway, at your service."

She pulled up her Omni and switched her ID setting to match the name she was reciting in her head.

She had another swift look over herself before picking up the black case holding the datapad and exiting the room.

For the second time that day she found herself waiting. Only this time she was sat in a reception area waiting to see a supervising HR officer for the Alliance. All she had to do was get in the office and upload a leech program from her Omni onto the terminal in there. A simple enough task for her.

The waiting was annoying her. Not because of the tardiness issue, more because there was a real chance of seeing someone who knew her face here in Alliance HQ.

Their meeting had been weeks ago now but his face was etched into her memory.

LT.

The Alliance soldier that had intruded on her dreams more than once, much to her annoyance. They had shared one night of intense heat and sex, nothing more. She'd known it had been a mistake even then; arranging to meet someone on the Citadel was a great security risk, and the fact that he was a soldier?! But, she had done it anyway. Why? Oh, to sate her needs, nothing more.

And sate them he had…he'd been so dominant and fiercely insatiable. A vast change to the men she had known in the past. His wandering into her dreams had indeed been an unwelcome, but when she thought about that night, she knew why he'd stuck in her memory.

She refused to let herself recall that night though. It was a distraction. She did not want, or need, a man. She had simply needed a release, and she had gotten it.

She had fumed at herself on the taxi ride the morning after their tryst. She may be genetically perfect but she still had basic human weaknesses. She'd later contacted the agency telling them, in no uncertain terms, that she was terminating her account with them and wished no further contact with them or their clients.
She knew how important her work was, she'd sacrificed a part of her life for it, she could not afford anything that may potentially jeopardise her years of hard work. If the Illusive man found out that she may have compromised her position on the Citadel…

"Lieutenant Janeway?"

The sharp voice of a petite blonde lady brought her back to the present.

"Sorry, yes. Staff Commander Mulgrew isn't it?" Miranda stood and shook hands with the uniformed officer.

"It is. Please, this way"

The Commander escorted Miranda through to her office, motioning for her to take a seat at her desk.

"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, my time here is extremely limited, it's appreciated" she flashed a smile.

"That's not a problem Lieutenant. However, the information you requested has changed status and I'm afraid to tell you-"

"Ma'am! Could you come out for a second please?"

A panicked voice came though the Comm console on the Commanders desk and interrupted her. "I apologise" clearly annoyed at her subordinates intrusion, "what is it May?"

"We have a slight situation with the power out here. It's- it's offline ma'am."

"What? What do you mean off-. Never mind. I'll be just a second." Commander Mulgrew turned back to Miranda, "I'm sorry, my assistant is new and clearly she needs more training. I won't be a moment"

Miranda flashed her a bright smile that reassured the Commander and she left her office.

Miranda smirked, "Nicely done, May…"

Unbeknownst to the Alliance, May Cochrane and a number of other staff members, were in fact agents for the Illusive man, all strategically placed to assist Miranda and her team with the Lazarus project.

She brought up her Omni and accessed the leech. Moving quickly she linked up with the console on the Commanders desk and uploaded the program. This little piece of genius was going to give her off site access to Alliance staff records, until it was detected of course, but by then she would have the information she required.

Several minutes later Commander Mulgrew returned to find her guest leafing through a fashion magazine, as casual as anything.

"Sorry Lieutenant. Where was I?" she sat back down behind her desk, "ah, yes, the information you requested. I'm afraid that Admiral Anderson has changed the status of the mission and all personnel involved. It's now classified and I'm afraid…" she trailed off and tilted her head as if that was a suitable way of saying 'your rank doesn't cover it'.

Miranda ignored her inner annoyance at Commander's patronising tone. "Oh, I see. That's unexpected. I'll have to inform my superiors, they'll need to review their options. I see I'm wasting your time. Thank you, Commander."

She stood and held out her hand, which Mulgrew shook, nodded and swept out of the office. As she passed May at the reception desk, she gave no indication that they knew each other and marched straight out.

Checking her surroundings, she ducked into the women's rest room and locked herself in a cubicle. She accessed her Omni and ran a diagnostic to ensure that the leech had been accepted into the Alliances system with no glitches. It had.

Opening a secure line to another agent she spoke quickly and quietly "Taylor, you copy?"

"I'm here"

"Good, I'm DL-ing the intel to you now. Confirm" her fingers played across the Omni.

"What? This is off plan boss, is this line secure enough?"

"You doubt me Jacob?" she teased, "it's secure enough, don't worry, just confirm"

"Yeah, boss. It's patched up now, go ahead. With the added security protocols, you know this'll take a few, you safe?"

"Now you're worried about me? Jacob, I'm touched" both operatives sniggered, "I'm locked in a bathroom cubicle, no-one's disturbing me in here"

"Fair enough. You have the names?"

"Please. Do I have the names…" she muttered, shaking her head at her subordinates ridiculous question. Finding the intel she required from the Alliance database she began the transfer and waited.

Several minutes later Jacobs voice crackled, "OK, boss, transfer complete. It bounced off so many relays they'll never track it. You're good to go"

"Excellent. Check it for any corrupted files before I break the link"

"K…none. It's all good. You want it accessed now, or is this another job that only you can do?"

"Ah, Jacob, you know me so well. Head back to Lazarus and have it transferred to my station. I'll follow on."

"Aye boss, keep safe" and with that the comms channel cut out.

Miranda pulled off the Alliance insignia and removed her Lieutenants stripes from the jackets cuffs, stuffing them into the bin as she left the bathroom.
As she walked to the elevator, she pulled up her Omni and changed her ID settings back to her usual Citadel alias; Ms Natasha White, a team leader for a medical supply company.

She pressed the call button and sighed, rolling her shoulders. It had been a long day, maybe she'd sleep at the hotel and head back to base in the morning.

The elevator door opened with a mechanical sigh.

Sweeping a loose tendril of hair away from her face she spotted the sole occupant of the elevator cabin. A tumble of words fell in her head…shit, crap and oh my, being at the forefront.

She had just walked into the one man she thought she'd avoided. The one man who could potentially turn her attention.

"LT?"