Chapter Text
This was completely unexpected. Miranda had assumed that Archangel would be difficult, contrary, the classic xenophobic Cerberus-hating turian. Shepard would have had to use all of her people skills in order to recruit him. She had not even considered that he might be an old friend of Shepard’s. (Garrus Vakarian, that was one of the names in Shepard's will, wasn’t it? Miranda wasn’t even sure if she was supposed to have seen the will).
And now she was fighting alongside a turian in the hopes that she could keep him alive long enough to get him to the ship and to Dr. Chakwas. Cerberus and her father had taught her to never ever trust an alien (no, not alien, non-human, as Shepard preferred to say), but Shepard had begun to erode at that belief. Heck, she had been fighting alongside a salarian just this morning.
But that had been different, Shepard had been there. Now, in a small room with nothing but a giant turian sniper and no human back-up, she really didn’t know how to feel. Her father would have said fear, the Illusive Man would say caution, Shepard would say…she didn’t know what Shepard would say.
But Shepard trusted Archangel…Garrus, and she trusted Shepard. Shepard would say to get the job done. She could do that.
“So,” the turian broke the silence (that was beginning to get comfortable, dammit), “Cerberus is the new employer, huh?”
He aimed and shot, again and again. Miranda warped one of the mercs to avoid answering properly.
“We’re not employing Shepard exactly,” she hedged (sometimes she sounded just like the Illusive Man, it was horrible), “she is free to choose what to do. We just offer guidance and any necessary resources”.
“Except with you to spy on her and ensure she actually does what she’s told,” Garrus continued shooting minute targets she could barely see. Even if Shepard didn’t trust him, she’d value this guy for his aim.
“She could fire me any time she pleases,” she tried not to sound sour about that fact, “I file reports to the Illusive Man because I am a Cerberus officer working for a freelancer, not because I’m spying” She paused for a minute, she really was spying on Shepard, wasn’t she? All of Cerberus was trying to control and dictate her movement. Miranda had even wanted to put in a control chip.
“I think EDI does most of the spying,” she amended, “my reports are pretty bland”.
“EDI?” more mercs were falling. They were a good team – sniping and biotics.
“Ship’s VI”
“That would drive Joker mad,” Garrus chuckled to himself.
“It does…” she replied. Garrus lost his concentration for half a second.
“Joker went over to the dark side too, now?” he was surprised, “Who else?”
“Not sure,” she didn't know how to respond beyond answering the question, “I was taken off duty for recruitment due to an incident.” (If insisting on Shepard's body being moved to a facility undisclosed to the Illusive Man was considered an incident. She considered it a safety matter. She didn't know where his base was, he didn't need to know where her projects her, it was safer that way. He disagreed.)
“I’ve communicated with a Liara T’Soni besides Joker,” she continued, “Shepard seems close with Dr. Chakwas, but someone else recruited her so I’m not sure what her deal is, not Cerberus though, most of the crew is originally from the Normandy SR-1, but as I said, it wasn’t my assignment”.
“Chakwas is one of Shepard’s,” Garrus responded evenly, “You guys really know how to bribe a soldier”.
“That would be the Illusive Man, not me,” Miranda replied primly, she hated being taken for the enemy. She would follow Shepard anywhere, do whatever it took to stop the Collectors, and all anyone seemed to care about was the Cerberus logo on her uniform.
Garrus just started laughing, not noticing her annoyance.
“My sister’s a lot like you,” he informed her, “Fighter pilot, left the military for the Underground, too proud for her own good, won’t take any kind of shit without a fight”.
Well, the turian underground wasn't much different from Cerberus, was it? Going against the law seemed to run in the family.
The last merc went down, Miranda wasn’t sure which of them had actually gotten it.
“Thing is,” Garrus continued, “It gets her in a lot of trouble. And I like you, so don’t go making stupid mistakes in the name of pride, ok? We’re here for Shepard, everything else is secondary”.
“Don’t worry,” Miranda smiled, “Shepard is my top priority”.
Then her brain made a connection, "Your sister wouldn't be Solana Vakarian, would it?"
He looked surprised, "You know her?"
"I spend a lot of time in the human commune on Cipritine," she knew that was too much information for safety, that Garrus would know exactly what that meant and that information could eventually get to Shepard and the others and then she'd be executed (trans people were illegal, they had to die, the turians protected them, but they never quite understood the risks).
Garrus just held out his hand and she shook it, pleased to know her father would be beyond pissed at the idea of his daughter (…son…) shaking hands with a turian. It would have to be enough.
She would never admit that she had been worried when the rocket had knocked Garrus out. Or that she had gone to visit the infirmary a number of times while waiting for him to wake up. Or that she had hovered near the door to eavesdrop on his conversation with Shepard. And she most certainly would never admit that she was secretly pleased to hear he would make a full recovery.
***
Miranda Erica Lawson did not like asking for favours.
Especially from outsiders.
Especially from outsiders to help her family.
Not her actual family. She had managed to ask Shepard for help with Oriana and that had gone perfectly. She'd trust Shepard with Oriana.
Her other family. The one that everyone in society was conditioned to hate.
She stared at the Cerberus bulletin again:
We would like to remind all operatives that we do not condone suicide. If you are considering suicide, please stop by our psychiatric department for treatment.
And the message from Mara:
Clint visited the other day. It was nice to see him but I don't think he's doing well. He just slept in Carol's bed for two days and then disappeared. I'm honestly worried he's going towards a worse low than usual. I know all of us at the commune, in the network, are so lucky, considering what happens to most, but it's still disheartening. What we have is still so little compared to what we need, even with the turians helping us. I wish I could help him. I wish I could help all of our lost siblings.
Miranda Lawson wasn't the Illusive Man's right hand for nothing. She was going to have to trust Shepard.
She paged Yeoman Chambers.
"What can I do for you Executive Officer?" Chambers was always too cheery, it was slightly grating.
"If you could just pass on to Shepard that I'd like to talk to her about a possible personnel addition," she replied smoothly.
"Of course," Chambers cut off.
Miranda looked back at her terminal. There had to be a way to make this completely legal, or as legal as a terrorist organization could be. Shepard-level legal.
The door opened.
"You wanted to see me?" Shepard sat down opposite her. That was quick.
"I need to ask you another favor," Miranda hated how indebted she was going to be by the end of all this.
"Oriana settling in fine?" Shepard asked, concerned.
"She's fine," Miranda smiled, "we talked yesterday".
"Then I'm assuming this is something else," Shepard settled back as if it was story time.
"I have a…friend," the word was strange, Clint was like an annoying side-thought she never saw except when he was in the middle of doing something stupid, "with your permission, I'd like to transfer him to the Normandy".
"Why?" Shepard was weighing her options.
"I believe his abilities would be an asset to our team," Miranda knew that was true. If only the Illusive Man had listened to her on this one in the first place…
"Then why ask me as a favor instead of just adding him to the dossiers?" Shepard was suspicious.
"I tried," multiple times in fact, "the Illusive Man claimed he was needed elsewhere. Now...some things have happened...I'm beginning to wonder if the Illusive Man just wants him dead".
Well, not dead. Just not causing any more problems. Clint was a nuisance, but he was good at what he did. More importantly, he was family. The Illusive Man didn't care about that sort of thing. If an operative became useless, he looked in the other direction.
"So you want me to put in the request so the Illusive Man has to give in and you can make sure this guy stays alive?" Shepard was smart.
"I would appreciate it," Miranda nodded, "but I understand if you can't, he's untrustworthy and it is unprecedented and not really your concern."
"Do you think Cerberus could cover a raised salary?" Shepard leaned back in her chair.
"All Cerberus personnel on the Normandy have double the usual pay," Miranda figured, "he wouldn't be an exception".
"Name?"
"Clinton Barton, special operative," Miranda recited.
"I'll put in a good word for him," Shepard stood, "you're my XO, so same rules apply, you take care of all personnel. That includes our Mr. Barton".
Miranda wasn't sure if that was a gift or a threat.
"Thank you Shepard," she smiled slightly, "I owe you".
"You rebuilt me," Shepard shrugged, "that's not a debt I'll be repaying anytime soon."
"Wait until you meet him," Miranda figured Shepard spending one day with Clint would be enough to repay any debts in that department.
What mess had she just caused?
She sighed and set about trying to figure out how to respond to Mara as Joker set course for Purgatory. Considering the team they were building, a merc group's prisoner would fit right in.
***
Miranda figured she should be a good executive officer and welcome Jack to the team but it was pointless, it was like talking to a wall.
After a stuttered “hello” and “welcome to the Normandy” and a few other empty phrases, she gave up, and started walking away.
She was nearly out the door, when Jack finally spoke.
“You got nice tits”.
“Um, thanks?” how did anyone respond to that?
“I’d take you now, here, on the floor, if you want,” Jack shrugged, “but if you want friendship or forgiveness, you better go looking somewhere else”.
It took a little while for Miranda to figure out what Jack was saying and then she could feel the embarrassing blush creeping over her cheeks.
“I don’t want…it’s not…” she stuttered, “I don’t do friends” she finally managed to burst out and escape through the door.