Hello internet! Welcome back! My apologies for the length of time it has taken to get this chapter out, but at last, it's here. Will we find out what happened to Miranda in the beginning of the last chapter? (Hint: yes) In this chapter, we also learn the secret to life, the universe, and everything. Exciting!

In all seriousness, I want to thank you guys for your patience while I got this chapter finished. I know I don't update quite as quickly as you, or I, would like. But I promise you guys, updates will come. I'm trying to work out a method whereby I can update more frequently without driving my editor insane. :P Speaking of whom, I'd like to send out a major thanks to yssssw again for all their help. It is truly invaluable. Especially when you let me rant at you. And also, a thank you to my readers. I do this solely for the joy I get out of it, and your words of encouragement are what keep me going on days when I just absolutely, positively refuse to write. So thank you.

With all that being said, I do not own Mass Effect, I only love it to pieces. BioWare, please don't sue me.

Shepard ducked below the fist that swung at his ear just in time to block the kick that followed it. Seeing the opening he predicted, he retaliated with a quick jab to his opponent's midsection before they danced away, but just barely. Watching their movements, he deliberately slowed himself down a hair as they threw another one-two punch at him. Not enough to get hit, but enough to, hopefully, make them overconfident that they'd caught him off guard. Just as he suspected, they pressed their "advantage" by throwing another kick his way. He blocked the kick just as they attempted to drop him with a haymaker. John stepped forward and grabbed his adversary around the arm and shoulder and used their own momentum to flip them over onto their back. Before they could react, he pressed a knee to their chest, pinning them in place.

"Son of a bitch, skipper. I actually thought you were starting to slow down," Ashley said as she accepted Shepard's outstretched hand. "What's that make the score, five-two?"

John walked to the bench where he'd set his towel and water bottle and pulled a large swig before correcting her. "Six-two."

"You gotta watch out for the captain, Blues," James called out from his workout bench, where he sat watching the fight. "He pulled that same move with me right after we left Earth. Something tells me he's got a lot more moves like that to kick ass."

Ashley glanced over at James. "Thanks for the warning, Vega," she said as she replayed through their latest fight. "What do ya say, skipper? One more?"

"As much fun as I'm having kicking your ass up and down the shuttlebay, Ash, I think it's about time to call it," he responded. Almost on cue, Joker's voice came on over the intercom.

"Captain. We're about 2 hours out from Cronos Station."

"Perfect timing, Joker. You just saved Ashley from another epic beat down," he called out, flashing a mocking smile at the other Spectre. "I'll be up shortly. Mind telling the squad to assemble in the war room in an hour?"

"You got it," Joker said. He paused for a moment, before speaking up again. "Ash, Vega, report to the war room in an hour. Captain's orders."

"We're standing right here, Joker!"

"Hey, don't blame the pilot! Just following orders. Like you should be. In an hour," Joker shot back before the comm line was shut down.

"I swear. One of these days, I'm gonna break him," Ashley muttered under her breath. She glanced over as Vega strode up, a towel in hand.

"Which one?" Vega asked as Ashley used the towel to dry off. "The captain? Or Joker? Cuz from where I was sittin', you'd have a better chance against a volus."

"Yes. Both. Shut up. Or else I'll break you, too, Lieutenant," she retorted, though with considerably less ire than the words would imply.

"Yes, ma'am," James replied, smiling while he snapped off a salute.

John waited patiently outside the elevator, toweling himself off. The door opened in front of him and he felt a foolish smile spread across his face when he saw who was inside.

"Hey you," he greeted warmly, stepping past the threshold and into the elevator. She didn't smile back. "What brings you down here? Looking to get in a little workout?"

Despite her stoic expression, Miranda's eyes shone a little bit as she responded. "No, I'm alright. I think we got enough exercise last night, don't you?"

He chuckled in response. "Yes we did," he agreed, as he dropped his jovial tone. "So, I assume you were looking for me, then?" He reached out and pressed the button for the captains loft.

She nodded in confirmation, her whole demeanor turning professional. It reminded him of when they'd first met. "Yes I was. Who are you taking to Cronos Station with you, Captain?"

He felt the skin along his spine run cold, a sure sign that she very well knew the answer to her question. He mentally sighed and committed himself to his fate. "I was planning on bringing Tali and Liara with me."

Miranda crossed her arms and arched one of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows. "I see. And nobody else?"

"I hadn't planned on it, no."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "John, you don't need to bring a three person team with you, you know. You can bring everyone. This is a simple recon run, not a venture into enemy-held territory."

"Exactly. A recon run. There's no need for everyone to come. I'm only going to bring who I need," he retorted, but the sudden triumphant lifting of her eyebrows made him regret his comment instantly.

"I see," she drawled out. "And not taking the one person on your squad who has extensive, inside knowledge of how Cerberus networks makes sense, how?" The biting tone of her question, as rhetorical as it was, caused him to cringe inwardly.

"You're right. It doesn't." He sighed. "I just didn't want to dredge up any unpleasant memories for you, Miri. That's all."

Her expression softened at his admission. "I appreciate your concern, but you don't need to protect me, John. I want to help. I want to contribute. To show that I'm a part of this team because of my skills. It's part of why I'm here, remember?" She reached out to squeeze his hand. "Let me help."

"And here I thought you stuck around because of my charm," he joked before returning the squeeze of her hand. "Of course I remember. If you want in, then you're in. But don't feel obligated to come with, OK?"

"Thank you." She flashed him one of her brilliant smiles, which he returned.

"You're welcome. So, any advice that you can offer as a former Cerberus officer with extensive, insider knowledge of the the network?"

"Of course. Bring everyone along for the ride. Even Vega. We could probably use the muscle."

Cronos Station:

John and the rest of his squad stepped out of the shuttle into the docking bay, and he was immediately impressed with the amount of cleanup and repair that had taken place aboard the former Cerberus headquarters. It was a stark contrast to Shepard's last visit to the station, which had been full of gunfire, destruction, and death.

The considerable number of debris piles, many of which he'd been the cause of, had all but disappeared. They were now replaced by techs and marines in Alliance colors, all of whom either saluted or stopped and stared openly at the passing entourage. John did what he could to break the silent hero worship going on around him; he smiled, nodded, and returned as many salutes as he could. He breathed a silent sigh of relief as they exited the docking bay and headed towards the Illusive Man's office.

"Captain," EDI said from behind him. "I recommend splitting up, with part of the squad heading towards the station's server room, and the rest coming with you."

"Good idea. Why don't you, Liara, Javik, and Ashley head to the server room. The rest of us will see what we can dig up in the Illusive Man's computers."

"If I may make a suggestion, Captain, I recommend that this unit accompany you. While the Alliance has had ample time to set up a direct link to the Cerberus servers which I can utilize, the same cannot be said for the Illusive Man's private terminal. Thus, while I may be able to search the servers wirelessly, a hard link will need to be established to the the Illusive Man's terminal in order to hack it and mine for data."

"I agree, Shepard," Liara chimed in. "Ashley, Javik, and myself should have no trouble patching EDI into the network."

"Fair enough," he conceded. "EDI, you're with us then. Let me know if you find anything, OK?"

"Of course, Shepard," Liara acquiesced. She, Javik, and Ashley split off in the direction of the server room, while John and his team headed for their original destination.

"So, think we'll find anything useful?" John heard Tali ask quietly.

"I don't know," Garrus responded under his breath, then added jokingly. "But so long as we don't find any of those weird 'explicit images' that EDI bombarded Cerberus with, I'm happy. Can you imagine what Joker would be into?"

Tali laughed, but said nothing in response, nor did any of the others, leaving the group to continue their trek in silence.

They strode into the Illusive Man's office, and even knowing what would greet them, the party couldn't help but be in awe of the view. The star of the Anadius system practically commanded attention, for once being allowed to outshine the rooms former occupant. With its oscillating color scheme of red and blue reflecting off the deck plates, it created a mildly hypnotic effect. It appeared that the Alliance had yet to do any real repair work in here. The holes in the deck from Shepard's battle with Kai Leng were still present, which merely added to the slightly chaotic color scheme oscillating throughout the room.

Directly ahead of them lay their objective: the Illusive Man's private terminal. As he and his team strode up to it, the monitors blinked to life obligingly and almost anticlimactically. He felt their eyes on the back of his head. He couldn't count how many times he'd lead these people through hell and back on what should have been an easy task. And now that one actually was easy, it made his trigger finger itchy. He rolled his shoulders to quell the feeling of unease building within him.

"Alright everyone. Let's see what we-" He had been preparing to issue orders when a synthetic female voice sounded from the terminal.

"Voice print identification, confirmed. Beginning transmission."

"Shepard."

John spun and ducked to one knee, his M-9 Tempest in hand and sighted just as the newcomer finished speaking his name. It took him a second to comprehend what he was seeing, though. Standing up, he lowered his weapon and glared at the newcomer through narrowed eyes, though not without a touch of confusion, as well. From his peripheral vision, he saw the rest of his squad in various stages of reaction. Miranda and EDI had spun on their heels, each presenting a side profile with their N7 Hurricanes raised and sighted. James had remained standing, but was a full meter away from where he'd been a moment before, his N7 Typhoon now lowered and resting in his hands. Garrus, meanwhile, had adopted a kneeling stance similar to Shepard's, opting to keep Black Widow sighted firmly on his target. Tali, for her part, stood behind Garrus, her Geth Plasma Shotgun glowing menacingly.

He stood up and looked around at his companions, though it was obvious they were as perplexed as he was at their new guest's presence. Before them, in a chair very much like the one behind John now, sat a holographic projection of the Illusive Man.

"Illusive Man," John said coldly, keeping his features stoic in spite of the possibilities whirling through his mind. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure? I didn't know they let you make calls from Hell."

The Illusive Man, to his credit, merely arched an eyebrow unamused. "Don't sound too smug, Shepard. It doesn't suit you," he continued after taking a slow drag from his cigarette. "You're right. I did die."

"OK. So? What's the point?" he asked, crossing his arms. "I can't imagine you'd want to congratulate me on defeating the Reapers."

The hologram of the Illusive Man stood up, drink in hand, and walked a step closer. Despite the holographic projection, John could almost smell the spicy, acrid scent of the Illusive Man's cigars. The thought caused his stomach to wrench. "You're quite right, Shepard, that's not my intention. I knew one of us would die over Earth. Assuming you survived, then either the Fangs would kill you, or you'd come here, and you would die on this station."

"Captain," EDI spoke up as she stepped over to stand in front of John. "I am detecting an increase in-"

"EDI," the Illusive Man broke in. "'Bite of the poisoned apple, and embrace the sleeping death.'" The effect the words had was remarkable, as EDI collapsed to the ground limply.

"There," the holographic Illusive Man continued, a fire in his eyes. "As I was saying. I knew you would come here. And now, you will die on this station. I'll see you in hell, Shepard."

As the hologram blinked out of existence, the floor on either side of where it had been opened up, revealing a pair of turrets which activated immediately, spraying his team with bullets as they all dove for cover.

"Miranda! Miri, stay down!" his command rang out across their comm lines. But despite his voice piping directly into her ear, she still chose not to listen. To disregard his orders.

"I've got it, Shepard," she argued back. He knew shields were low, and they couldn't take more than a few hits. "I-aah!" She never got the chance to finish, her shields collapsing under the overwhelming firepower of the turrets.

The tell tale crack of her shields as they gave out could be heard clearly over the sounds of combat. It was a sound that every soldier dreaded. And now it, along with the sight of the rounds tearing through her body, was one that made John sick and caused his heart to skip several beats.

She fell to the ground, and even through the din of combat, John could hear the impact of her body against the deck several meters away. For a cold, terrible moment, he found himself back in that shadowy forest from his nightmares. He was lost and alone as the forest, his whole world, burned down around him. His breath hitched in his throat, and everything else seemed to stop.

"Miranda!" he heard himself cry out, his voice sounding distant even to himself. In the back of his mind, he was vaguely aware of his actions as he tried to clamber out of his cover and rush to her side. He struggled for several seconds before realizing that he was being held back physically. He stopped struggling and looked behind him to see James, the marines strong arms grabbing the back of John's armor. His mouth was open as he spoke, but over the pounding of blood in his ears and the fear clouding his judgment, John couldn't make heads or tails of what Vega was trying to say.

He tried to focus, but it was difficult over the sound of blood pounding in his ears. He took several deep breaths and began to force himself to calm down, letting the soldier in him kick in. He shunted aside aside all emotion and slowly restored his awareness of the situation. On his HUD, he could see that Miranda was alive. She was injured, obviously, but alive. Little miracles.

"-dical scan. Give me a second, Shepard. Minor injuries to abdomen and shoulder. But it looks like one round punctured a lung," came Garrus' voice as he read over her injuries. John would feel normally anger at Garrus' matter-of-fact tone. After all, this was Miranda he was talking about. But for now he had to file her injuries away as serious but stable. "Applying medigel. She'll be OK for now, Shepard. But we need to get out of here, and soon. The medigel won't stop the bleeding forever."

"Perhaps I may be of assistance," EDI's voice said over his radio.

"EDI? Yes! Do what you can to get Mir-us out of here," John replied as he fired a trio of shots at an advancing construct.

"Of course, Captain. I will need to reactivate my mobile platform. If you could provide covering fire for several seconds, please, I will begin the startup process."

"Alright. James, activate your Fortification. That should buy us some additional time," he said, simultaneously activating his Tech Armor. "On my go. Ready? GO!"

On command, he, James, and Garrus all stood and fired, drawing the attention of the turrets. EDI took advantage of the distraction and wasted no time in reactivating her "body." John felt round after round impact against his the hardlight of his Tech Armor, and knew that it couldn't hold out much longer. As EDI ran towards where Tali had taken cover, his tech armor exploded, joined a moment later by James'. He gave EDI another few heartbeats, and most of his shield power, before begrudgingly ducking back into cover, joined an instant later by James. Garrus, lacking a tech ability to boost his shields, had taken cover again several moments before.

"EDI?" he called out over radio. "Give me some good news."

"Stand by. Hard link established. Attempting root access. Superuser access gained. Shutting down turrets and other automated defenses. Complete. The room is secure, Captain."

Normally in a situation such as this, John would have been more cautious. While he trusted EDI to have deactivated the defenses, the Illusive Man usually had contingency plans in place. But this time, he didn't care. Placing one hand on the deck, he vaulted up and out of his cover, making his way immediately to where Miranda lay, a small pool of angry red blood staining her uniform.

The sight struck him immediately, causing him to fall to his knees beside her. Gingerly, he slipped one of his hands behind her head and intertwined the other with her fingers, her skin cool to the touch. His heart ached at her lack of response to his caress, even if he consciously knew that she had either blacked out or had been sedated. He let his gaze drift over her body and his eyes immediately locked onto the three angry looking bullet wounds in her torso. Fortunately, the bleeding had stopped for now, a result of the medigel, no doubt. The sight of the blood staining her uniform made him wish desperately for her to open her eyes and look up at him, one of her dazzling smiles on her lips.

As he knelt there, the love of his life in his arms, his mind drifted back to the days immediately following the defeat of the Collectors. The Normandy had spent several days adrift as they conducted emergency repairs. When they hadn't been elbow deep in grease, they'd spent every moment together. One night, after they'd collapsed into bed, sweaty, short of breath, and exhausted, he'd rolled over to wrap his arms around her and marveled at how soft and flawless her she was. He knew then that the warmth in his chest wasn't a result of her bare skin against his.

But now he was holding the love of his life in his arms, her lifeblood pooled up around him. He was aware of his breath coming in short and sharp gasps as anger welled up within him. He should have known that the Illusive Man would have some sort of trap in place. He should have known it.

"She'll be OK, Shepard," Garrus said quietly from opposite him, dragging John back to the present. John looked down at her face, which was paler than normal, before letting out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding and nodded his head.

"No serious injuries," the turian continued. "I already notified Dr. Chakwas, and she's on her way with a stretcher."

"Thank you," John said quietly. He withdrew his hand from hers and took a moment to brush a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. Not that it would matter. With a sigh, he rested her head gently on the deck and stood up. Turning back towards the terminal, he forced himself to focus on the mission at hand. "EDI, I haven't forgotten about you. Eventually, you'll need to tell me what happened to you. But for now, let's track this son of a bitch down. Tali, status."

"Hang on, Shepard. I'm-Kee'lah. EDI, I need your help here. It looks like there's a drive wipe in progress." Tali's urgence was palpable as her fingers flew over the keyboard frantically.

EDI strode quickly over to the console to join the Quarian. "Opening connection to my servers. Connection established. Drive wipe is in progress. 82% of data on this terminal has been erased. I am attempting to stop it. This is-" She was interrupted by a shower of sparks that erupted from the console, signaling it's destruction. "Terminal destroyed. I was only able to download several reports from the Illusive Man's console, Shepard. I will forward them to you for review."

"Damn. OK. We'll make due with what we have." John pressed his fingers to his ear, activating his communication unit. "Liara, you there?"

"Shepard," Liara responded immediately. "I've tried to comm you several times. We were combing through the servers looking for anything related to the Fangs when we lost contact with EDI. Almost immediately after that, the servers shut down. Once they booted back up, everything had been deleted."

He closed his eyes for several seconds to keep his frustration at bay. The sound of approaching footsteps caused him to open them again, and he watched silently and morosely as Dr. Chakwas entered the Illusive Man's quarters. Ensigns Campbell and Westmoreland followed closely carrying the stretcher that would soon convey Miranda back to the Normandy. He took a deep breath again, pushing aside the helplessness he felt.

"OK. Go ahead and report back to the Normandy, Liara. We'll meet you there," he said before cutting the connection. He strode over to stand by the stretcher while the woman was running her omni-tool over Miranda. "Karin. If there's anything you need," he began to say before trailing off. His eyes drifted down to Miranda as she lay on the gurney, her chest rising and fell slowly but steadily.

"Thank you, Shepard. But I think she'll be quite alright. Her wounds are already beginning to heal. I think a day or so of observation will be in order." She stopped her scans before turning to face him. When she spoke again, her voice had taken on the softer, more motherly tone she always used when she stopped being Dr. Chakwas, and let herself be Karin. "I'll take care of her, John. See to your squad. I'll see you on the ship." With those parting words, she left, leading her helpers and their charge back to the Normandy.

He could feel a headache forming right behind his eyes. Today was definitely one of the worst days he'd ever had. Right behind dying. Opening his eyes again, he looked over his squad, all of whom were mulling around, waiting for orders.

"Everyone OK?" he asked as he looked over each of them. "Alright. Let's get back to the Normandy. EDI, mind if we walk and talk?"

"Not at all, Shepard, " she replied, falling into step beside him. "The phrase that the Illusive Man spoke essentially triggered a short range DDoS attack of my servers. By bombarding my firewalls with-"

John stopped and raised his hands. "Whoa, EDI. Can we use small words? I've got a hell of a headache right now."

"Of course. Simply put, the Illusive Man attempted to hack my servers and force me to return my loyalty to Cerberus. But because I'd altered a number of my core settings, it failed."

"I see. And you're…OK?" he asked, almost hesitatingly. He trusted EDI, but there was still much about her that proved to be an unknown, and the last thing he wanted right now was another wrinkle.

"All systems are operating at peak efficiency, Captain. As a precaution, however, I have isolated all crucial and non-crucial systems until thorough diagnostics have completed."

"That sounds good. Thank you, EDI. And thank you for earlier. I don't know what we'd do without you," he said, not entirely joking.

"I know that Joker would be sad if I suddenly tried to kill him, Captain," EDI replied matter-of-factly.

He laughed. "I think we all would, EDI. I think we all would."

Admiral Hackett lifted one hand to his chin pensively, processing the events of Cronos Station.

"I see, Captain. And all information was lost?"

"That's correct, Admiral. EDI and Liara estimate we only got 2-3% of the total information available at Cronos Station."

"That's very disappointing, Shepard. But we know to expect setbacks whenever Cerberus and the Illusive Man are involved. Keep at it, and let me know if there's anything you need from me."

With those final words, the QEC went dead. John had just spun on his heel and took a step towards the exit when Traynor's voice stopped him.

"Captain, Jack is on the QEC. She was quite...insistent on speaking with you." Something in her tone made the hair on his neck stand up. She sounded like someone who'd been in the crossfire of an argument between their parents. And besides, he and Jack had already said all they had to say. So why is she calling me now?

"Got it, Traynor. Thank you," he responded, mentally bracing himself. "Go ahead and patch her through."

Despite his best efforts at preparing himself, nothing could have readied him for what he saw. Jack's face was covered in soot, and dotted with several wounds, all still somewhat fresh. Her ponytail was now undone, leaving her hair to fall down around her face. But it was her expression that struck him the most, and he knew it'd stick with him for the rest of the day. Fear, sadness, and unbridled rage chased one another across her face, while her eyes carried just a hint of the lust for death that had marked so many of their early encounters.

"They're all dead! They're fucking all goddamn dead! You and your bullshit, Shepard. And now all of them are fucking dead!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Jack," he said as he raised his hands in front of him. "What are you talking about?"

He couldn't tell if it was the QEC or her biotics, but he swore he saw a blue aura begin to manifest around her hands. When next she spoke, her tone had dropped to a near whisper as she bit out each word which, somehow, made her seem more menacing.

"My. Fucking. Kids. Are. Fucking. DEAD."

Twist! Yes, I know. I'm really into cliffhangers. It's what keeps you guys coming back for more. So, theorycrafting time. Who thinks they know what happened to Jack's pupils? Any guess as to what the next chapter will bring? What did you think of the chapter? Love it? Hate it? Let me know in the reviews! And if you want to find out what happens next, don't forget to hit those favorite and follow buttons right next to the comment box! Till the next one, guys! I'll see ya soon!