Reunited

Author’s notes: This is the 12th chapter of my ongoing series between Commander Megan Shepard, her lover and XO Miranda Lawson, and the crew of the SSV Normandy. Read the previous 11 chapters as there are lots of references to prior events, or else you’ll find yourself lost and wondering ‘who’s Erin?’ Once again, enjoy, REVIEW, favorite and introduce to your friends and fellow authors, and keep sending your reviews and ideas. Special thanks goes out to Riekenen and Archon’s Voice for dutifully reviewing and giving me tips on how to improve! You’re awesome bros! And for the rest of you guys who’ve reviewed, thanks a bunch! And do review. I need to know what you think. And (SPOILER ALERT!) there WILL be a major character death in this chapter, so if offends you, don’t read. Commander Megan Shepard can be seen with Miranda Lawson in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVPIKd0LUQI

Commander Megan Cassandra Shepard put a 6 round burst from her Collector Assault Rifle into the chest of an Eclipse Vanguard, spraying blue blood everywhere as the asari just gurgled and slumped to the floor as Miranda Lawson destroyed a LOKI mech with a well aimed headshot from her own Collector Assault Rifle. Megan’s thermal clip was spent, and she quickly swapped to the S300 Claymore shotgun and used her biotics to charge into a particularly pesky Eclipse Heavy, sending the man flying as she pumped the one shot mag into his head, vaporizing it. Unfortunately, Megan was still unaccustomed to the staggering recoil of the shotgun despite taking lessons from Grunt, and she lost her balance and staggered backward right into the krogan, who was charging forward.

Grunt was stumbled by the weight of his fully-armored battlemaster falling onto him as he yanked Megan upright again while he fired his X76 Revenant machine gun single handedly, taking out a bunch of mercs as Jack’s biotic shockwave sent four more flying to their deaths. Samara stifled her chuckles as she biotically threw 3 mercs across the room, snapping their necks upon impact and killing them instantly. Miranda’s shields dropped as she ran across the room to better cover, and she winced and groaned as two rounds impacted her Aegis Vest, bruising her but not doing any serious damage. She then popped out of cover to rip apart the merc who’d hit her with her biotic warp, spraying more blue asari blood and organs everywhere as a round from Ashley’s X97 Viper lodged in the head of another merc, killing him before a headshot from Legion’s X98 Widow made very sure of that.

Megan, Miranda, Ashley, Erin, Jack, Samara, Garrus, Grunt, Legion and Mordin were on the planet Altheia to take out a bioweapons manufacturing plant as per the Illusive Man’s request. However, Cerberus’ intel was off, as they weren’t expecting a dozen heavy mechs, three turrets, a squadron of A61 gunships which they’d shot down with the Hammerhead’s heat seeking missiles, and an entire company of Eclipse guarding the Binary Helix owned compound. Garrus whooped in jubilation as he scored a headshot off an Eclipse Heavy who was stupid enough to stick her head out of cover, and rounds from Mordin’s Geth Pulse Rifle took out a few more mercs. The mercs finally grew a functioning brain, and retreated as three heavy mechs stomped towards their position.

Megan, Miranda and Legion whipped out their Arc Projectors and made short work of two of the mechs, and a rocket from Grunt’s ML77 blew up the last one. “Nice one team!”Megan panted, grinning from ear to ear as her team smiled back. “Not enough! I want more!”Grunt growled as he led the way into the labs, where the experimental virus was kept. However, the Eclipse had other ideas, as they set up a barricade and three 16-man platoons right in front of the lift going down, and as soon as Grunt rounded the corner, the mercs fired upon the squad. Grunt managed to get to some cover, and the rest of the squad fanned out and took cover.

The combination of Jack and Megan’s biotic shockwaves sent 10 mercs flying as rounds from Miranda’s, Mordin’s and Samara’s rifles took them out in midair, freezing their bodies before it shattered thanks to the cryo ammo Megan provided the entire squad with. Grunt was roaring with the laughter of a brute as he fired 5 rockets towards the barricade, blowing up half of it along with six more unfortunate mercs. Erin, Ashley and Garrus were firing their sniper rifles as fast as they could acquire a target, while Legion was mopping up with its bolt-action Widow.

Megan hit a couple of mercs with her reave field, killing them as Jack and Samara combined beautifully in a classic ‘set ‘em up and knock ‘em down’, with Jack biotically pulling half a dozen mercs towards the squad, letting them float around helplessly for a few seconds before Samara used her own biotics to fling the hapless mercs into the far wall with hurricane force, instantly killing all of them. Megan charged into the final three, wiping all of them out with a long spray from her Collector Assault Rifle, reloading as their corpses burned to ash from her inferno ammo. The Commander then ran into the elevator, her squad following closely behind as the doors closed and they headed down to the lab. They finally made it to the lab after killing a few scattered Eclipse, who looked like they didn’t know whether to run or surrender.

Either way, it didn’t matter, and they breached the lab door and stormed in. “Finally, end of mission.” Jack grumbled as they fanned in around the hole that was once the door. However, the final platoon of Eclipse had other ideas, and they began to pour rounds at the squad from behind their cover, which was the lab table where the fridges that kept the bioweapon were installed in. Megan’s, Samara’s and Jack’s biotic barriers dropped, as did Miranda’s, Erin’s, Ashley’s, Garrus’ and Mordin’s shields as they ran behind whatever scanty cover there was in the lab. Legion had very wisely elected to stay back, and now it provided crucial support fire with its anti-material sniper rifle as the team regenerated their shields and biotic barriers.

As soon as they were done catching their breaths, the entire team popped up from their cover, nailing the remaining mercs one by one. Finally, only four were left, and one of them scored a hit on Jack’s ankle, which had only recently recovered from a fracture from sparring with Miranda, and Jack could feel the bone spilt again. “Motherfuckers! I’ll destroy you!”She screamed in rage and pain as she unleashed a massive biotic shockwave towards the mercs, and the fridge that contained the bioweapon. “No!”Megan, Miranda, Ashley, Erin and Garrus yelled in horror as they could only watch the shockwave blast its way right through the table, ripping it apart like a tree in contact with a chainsaw. Unfortunately, the fridge wasn’t even half as sturdy as the table, and it split asunder with a muffled ‘boom’ as the mercs went flying.

The container containing the bioweapon shattered, releasing the bioweapon into the air with an ominous hiss and thick clouds of sickly brown gas. “Heh. Oops…my bad.”Jack chuckled apologetically as the entire team glared at her, and even Legion managed to look angry as it focused its optical sensor on the crazy biotic. “Very goddamn well done Jackie.”Ashley grumbled as the entire team groaned, realizing they’d failed their main objective. “Jesus Christ Jack…check your fucking fire!”Megan reprimanded Jack, who just stood there with her head hung low in shame.

“Ugh…help.”A strained female voice piped up from the corner. Megan, Miranda and Legion went over to check, and they found a vaguely familiar figure lying on the floor, clutching a couple of bullet holes in her sides, and her right leg bent at an impossible angle. “Shepard-Commander. Wounded human here.”Legion intoned as Megan finally placed the face. “Jentha? What the hell are you doing here with the Eclipse? Didn’t I kill you back on Omega? And weren’t you with the Blue Suns?”Megan asked, shocked to find the same merc whom she thought she’d killed 9 months ago on Omega while recruiting Garrus.

“You didn’t. Garrus fired a concussive round that knocked me to the floor unconscious just as you fired, which means you missed. And the Eclipse pays better, but the merc life still sucks. I’ve had enough. I wanted out for years now, but I’m worried about my little brother.” Jentha coughed, wincing in pain as she did so. “Huh…it’s you. Lucky you I guess.”Garrus grunted as he sat on the ground next to the merc and looked up at Megan questioningly. “Okay…treat her. Miri, medigel please.”Megan said in a commanding tone as Miranda just complied, applying lots of medigel while Megan treated the merc’s wound while Garrus set her leg, causing her to scream in pain. “Thanks Garrus. Sorry ‘bout Omega…just doing my job.”She hissed out with tears in her eyes.

“I understand. No worries.”Garrus replied as Ashley passed him a metal rod which he used as a brace, tying it against her leg to straighten it. “Legion, Grunt. You two are on stretcher duty. Once old Chakwas gets you fixed up, you’re on our team Jentha.”Megan nodded towards the grateful merc, who was spouting her thanks as Legion and Grunt roughly dumped her onto the collapsible stretcher Mordin always brought along on missions. “Wait a minute. We’re recruiting a merc we have absolutely no idea about?”Miranda asked incredulously as the geth and the krogan brought the wounded merc out of the room, and the rest of the team just looked at Megan in disbelief.

“Yeah. We need the extra people anyways.”Megan answered as she strode out of the room, followed by her team who were murmuring in disagreement. “Any problems?”Megan sighed as she spun on her heels to face the squad. “I just don’t think it’s wise to press Jentha into our team this fast. I mean, she could be lying her ass off for all we know.”Erin began. “Also, she doesn’t have any biotics or tech attacks. She may be a liability.”Ashley continued as Samara finished off. “I feel that recruiting Jentha may be a foolish proposition, even though I can tell she’s telling the truth.”

“Okay, thank you all for your concerns. Besides, I can feel that she isn’t lying, or trying to kill us when we don’t expect it, like Samara said.”Megan concluded as Miranda just sighed and shook her head. “I get the feeling you’re right...but I’m not going to be trusting her fully.”They then got back into the shuttle, and Jentha, Legion and Grunt were already in it with Chakwas tending to Jentha’s wounds. “Don’t worry, I won’t be a liability. I have tech skills, like power armor, AI hacking, combat drones and overload pulses. I’m not completely useless.”She ground out, wincing as Chakwas removed the shards of metal in her flesh. “Don’t worry about it. Get better first. Chakwas, how is she?”Megan reassured the ex-merc first before she turned to the doctor.

“She’s stable. May need a month or so before she can see combat though.”Chakwas replied in her calm, Oxford-educated English accent. “I just hope she doesn’t turn on us...” Miranda muttered in her own Cambridge-educated English accent. “I won’t, I swear. I still have to make sure my brother gets through university.” Jentha stated. “Erm...guys? Aren’t we forgetting that we’re probably infected by some bioweapon and could die any time now?”Jack ventured timidly as everyone turned to stare at her. “No worries. The Normandy’s decon unit is the best in the galaxy.”Megan grunted out. It was true, as Cerberus had spared no expense to make sure the new Normandy was the cream of the spaceship crop, and Megan appreciated that.

Back on the Normandy 10 minutes later, the women were gathered around Jentha’s bed in the medbay, where the new addition was telling them about her life and her background. The ex-merc bonded with Tali and Erin over their preference for tech attacks, and she bonded the best with Miranda over their siblings. Jentha’s little brother was in his first year of intergalactic business studies at Foxworth University on Shanxi, commonly considered one of the most prestigious human universities in the galaxy. “I’m so proud of Sam. He just emailed me the other day to tell me he’s among one of the top students in the entire cohort and not to worry. I love him so much. What about your sister Miranda?”Jentha asked, tears of happiness and pride welling up in her eyes as she spoke of her brother.

“Oriana’s a freshman at Charles Miller University on Bekenstein. She’s in colony management, and she topped her class.”Miranda smiled with childlike pride, happy that her little sister was able to pursue her passions with no hindrance, unlike her. Miranda had originally wanted to study psychology, architecture, medical science and history in Cambridge, but her domineering father had forced her to take up molecular biology and philosophy instead. He had compromised on the history though, but it still greatly saddened and disappointed 15 year old Miranda that she couldn’t pursue her passions.

Jentha also told the crew about how slavers raided her home colony of Mindoir when she was 13 and slaughtered her parents in front of Sam’s and her own eyes as they hid in a cupboard, hugging each other as they cried silently, completely unnoticed the whole time. “I see...so why’d you join the Suns? I mean, with all the batarians there...”Ashley asked, puzzled as to why Jentha would join a batarian-run merc group. “I didn’t have a choice. I had to support Sam and see that he got the education I never got.”Jentha sobbed as she wiped away the tears that had started flowing when she told the women about her ordeal on Mindoir.

“So as soon as Eclipse found out I was an ex-Suns merc who’d been thought dead, they recruited me as they wanted to take down the Suns and needed intel. I’m just so sick of this life...but when I think of Sam’s smile, it’s all worth it.”Jentha sighed, closing her brown eyes as Miranda nodded in agreement. Erin turned to Miranda, surprised that she seemed to agree with the merc. “You were tired of being in Cerberus? But...you seemed so proud of it and even seemed to enjoy it.”Erin asked, slightly confused. “I was tired, but I had nothing else to hold on to. Besides, I joined Cerberus for Oriana and myself, so I might as well be proud of what I do.” Miranda sighed, burying her face in her hands in regret.

“Okay, too much angst here. Everyone clear out back to your stations, and Jentha, get a lot of rest.” Megan ordered in a smooth tone as everyone complied. “And by the way Jentha, could you show me how you did what you did with your drone when you get better?”Tali asked excitedly, still amazed at how Jentha managed to make her drone replenish its own shields with an energy drain pulse, while neither Legion nor she managed to get the buggers to even perform a simple overload attack. “Sure. I’d be happy to.”Jentha smiled as she lay back down on the bed, closing her eyes as she rested.

The effects hit 2 hours later, and Jentha was the first to get it. She started shivering, and Chakwas noticed immediately, putting down her datapad from which she was viewing a romantic story. The doctor then scanned her with her omnitool and her eyes widened with mild shock as Jentha started coughing and sneezing profusely. Could this have something to do with that bioweapon? Chakwas thought worriedly as she paged for Mordin to come down to the medbay and run some experiments on the virus samples Legion had collected. As soon as she’d done that, Ashley, Jack and Samara staggered through the door, and the trio was sneezing like crazy. Oh dear. Chakwas thought with a sigh as she went over to the three to evaluate their health.

An hour later, Kelly, Kasumi, Erin, Gabby and almost all of the Normandy’s crew were crammed into the medbay, all running fevers of at least 38 degrees Celsius, and sneezing and coughing as Mordin and Chakwas were struggling to contain the sickness. Jacob was there, just shaking his head in dismay as he took down a list of all the supplies the salarian professor and the doctor required, while Garrus was busy trying to organize everyone, and Megan and Miranda were getting a sitrep from the flustered Chakwas. “So, just about everyone is sicker than a rabid dog, and we don’t even know if it’s fatal.”She sighed as Miranda looked around the crammed medbay in bewilderment. The only ones that weren’t sick were herself, Megan, Jacob, Joker (much to her surprise), Legion (it was a robot after all), Garrus (he couldn’t contract viruses from anyone else other than quarians), Mordin, Gardner, and Chakwas.

Tali, despite being unable to contract illnesses that affected levo-amino based life, was still sick as per normal, cutting a sad figure at the foot of Jentha’s bed, where she was coughing like crazy in her mask. Upon seeing this, Miranda felt a twinge of pity for the poor girl and went over to comfort her. Fortunately, Miranda’s much-superior immune system would keep her healthy throughout this plague, much to her relief. “Hmm. Virus is highly contagious, but not lethal. Most likely interrupted further development of virus. Yes. Yes.”Mordin chattered as he looked up from his microscope. “We have to get to the Citadel. I know someone who specializes in the containment and treatment of contagious diseases.”Chakwas yawned as she finished administering a dose of medicine to a coughing Goldstein.

“Who is it?”Jacob asked, curious. “Doctor Chloe Michel. I heard her clinic was destroyed in a terrorist attack and she’s looking for work.”Chakwas said as she prepared to give Erin a dose of medicine. “Michel? Seriously?”Garrus asked as he looked up from getting Kelly, his new girlfriend, comfortable with his mandibles arranged in what was a smile. “You gonna cheat on me with the doctor like you did with Shepard and Miranda in the male bathroom?” Kelly sneezed, staring at Garrus angrily. “What...how...”Miranda spun around to confront the yeoman, her face starting to redden with embarrassment as Megan’s jaw just hung open, blushing furiously like Miranda.

“You forgot to remove the bugs on the ship. The Illusive Man wired the bugs to be fed into my terminal.”Kelly shot back angrily as she blew her nose into a tissue. Megan groaned in dismay as the entire crew turned to stare at her and then Miranda. Dammit, of all the things to forget, I forgot about those fucking bugs. Just goddamn brilliant. Megan facepalmed as she mentally slapped herself for the oversight, running after Miranda who’d simply decided to cut and run from the embarrassing situation. They retreated into their cabin, where they organized the Normandy from for the rest of the day, aside from a very awkward trip down to the mess to have dinner, where the entire crew stared at them in disbelief as they wolfed down the chicken noodle soup whipped up by Gardner for the sick crew and quickly withdrew to their quarters, where they got everything organized before they went to bed together, cuddling each other as they drifted off to sleep.

Suddenly, Megan awoke to the sounds of profuse sneezing and felt Miranda shaking and convulsing in her arms. The redhead quickly snapped to full alertness as she heard Miranda sneezing, and she quickly placed a hand on the ex-Cerberus agent’s forehead, which Miranda tried to bat away but to no avail. “Oh no Miri...you’re burning up!”Megan gasped in horror as she peeled away the covers to reveal a pale, shivering Miranda curled up in a fetal position in her black chiffon nightgown. “I’m fine Megan...”Miranda croaked out weakly as she waved her girlfriend away. “The hell you are. To the doctor, now!”Megan snapped in a commanding tone as she scooped the protesting Miranda into her arms and carried her bridal style to the lift, completely ignoring the fact that she herself was clad in nothing more than a light blue tank top and black boxers and had no underwear on.

“Seriously Megan...I don’t need to see Chakwas...I’m not sick...”The brunette whined weakly, going into a coughing fit as soon as she finished the sentence. “Why are you so afraid of visiting the doctor?” Megan muttered, starting to get frustrated with Miranda’s stubbornness. “I’m not...I have a PhD in molecular biology...I know how-to-take-care-of-myself.”Miranda ground out, punctuating the last 6 words with sneezes. “Number one, it’s not the same thing as being trained in actual medical science. Number two, you’re sick and obviously need a doctor to see what’s wrong.”Megan growled as she arrived at the medbay, still carrying Miranda in her arms as Chakwas looked up at them with red-rimmed eyes. “There’s nothing really wrong with me...ah-choo!”The XO whimpered 5 minutes later as Chakwas finished with her scans.

“Yeah, there’s nothing wrong at all. That’s why you’re sneezing and coughing like crazy and you’re running a fever of forty.” Megan snorted derisively as she held Miranda’s hands in her own while she sat at the foot of the examination table. “Hmm...interesting...” Chakwas said with a smile as she looked over the readings on her datapad, and Megan stood up to do the same. “Oh. Well...”The Commander said with a sly smile as she looked down at the still-sneezing Miranda, whose nose started to take on an uncanny resemblance to a clown’s nose. “What is it?”Miranda whined as she looked up at the two women. “You’ve got a cold.”Megan replied with a sweet smile. Miranda then uttered the curse she’d been holding back upon hearing the diagnosis. “Bloody fucking hell.”

As with the rest of the crew who were sick, Miranda was quarantined, but in the captain’s cabin. After being fed medicine, she fell asleep and woke up again to find that her Cassie had gone back to work. She knew that the Normandy had docked at the Citadel, and she saw the new doctor come on board. Her train of thought was interrupted by Megan bringing in a tray of food, setting it down on the study desk next to the couch. “Hey Miri. Feeling better?”Megan asked affectionately as she helped Miranda out of bed, kissing the raven-haired woman on the forehead as soon as she was standing up. “I still feel like horse-shit...”Miranda whined in a nasal tone before she sneezed again. “Oh you poor dear...eat and then take your meds again.”Megan said softly as she helped Miranda into the chair. Miranda looked at the bowl of piping hot chicken noodle soup and tumbler of cold orange juice, sighing as she drained the tumbler dry in one long swig.

Damn. She hadn’t even realized how thirsty she was. “Wow Miri...you drained a quarter of that ten-liter water dispenser, and now you drained the entire liter tumbler. All in just 6 hours.”Megan said in mild amazement as Miranda began to eat her noodles. “So? I’m thirsty.”Miranda mumbled back with her mouth full of soup, noodles and chicken shreds. What...I just spoke while my mouth’s even more stuffed than a Thanksgiving turkey? The fever must be getting to me. Miranda thought, horrified that she’d just done what she’d never normally do as Megan just chuckled. “You’re so adorable when you talk with your mouth full Miri.” The Vanguard smiled at Miranda, hugging the woman before she got back to her duties.

When she was done eating fifteen minutes later, Miranda looked at the pills and made a face before she dissolved them in the leftover soup. Unfortunately, she was caught by Megan, who’d returned to give her another tumbler of orange juice and more meds. “Miranda Anne Lawson! You naughty, naughty girl!” Megan scolded Miranda, wagging her finger at the brunette who was just staring at the ground meekly like a chastised schoolgirl. “You have to take these meds. And don’t try to get smart.”The redhead instructed Miranda, who whined like a petulant child. “N-hmm! I don’t want to! They taste like shit!”The XO complained as Megan just sighed and rolled her eyes in despair as Miranda went into a sneezing fit once more.

“You have to take them or you’ll never get better.”Megan advised as she took out four large pills from the container of meds, and handed them to Miranda as soon as the brunette stopped sneezing. “No! I won’t take them...unless you French kiss me.”Miranda smirked naughtily as an idea began to form in her mind. Since she’d been sick, Megan absolutely refused to kiss her on the lips or engage in a passionate lip and tongue lock, and she could now find a way around that, and avoid taking her meds by engaging Megan in a deep kiss while she stole the meds. Hee hee. That’ll work. Miranda thought as Megan turned away before she turned back to the brunette, who was looking up with pleading, innocent puppy-dog eyes.

“Okay. I can’t believe this...” Megan muttered as Miranda squealed in joy, jumping up from the chair as she wrapped her arms around her lover, pulling both of them down onto the bed. She then sat up against the headboard with a grin, looking up at the taller woman while Megan kneeled in front of her, looking down at Miranda before they kissed passionately. “Mmm...”Both women moaned into the kiss as their tongues snaked around each other’s, while Miranda groped Megan, trying to find the meds which were now missing. Suddenly, Megan’s tongue forcefully pressed Miranda’s down, holding it down as she spat into the XO’s mouth, never breaking their lip lock the whole time.

What the... Miranda thought, her eyes fluttering open to see Megan’s large honey green ones looking back with mischief. She then felt four large lumps going down her throat, and she knew she’d been had. “Heh. You thought you could distract me with a kiss while you stole and flushed the meds down the toilet, didn’t you?”Megan smirked when she broke off the kiss. “No! What...how...”Miranda spluttered as Megan’s smirk just got wider. “I knew you were up to something when you asked me to kiss you, so I hid the meds at the back of my mouth. And I made sure you took them by making sure your throat was straight while we kissed, so that you couldn’t resist.”

“Grrnnh! You’re so mean Cassie!”Miranda pouted as she sank lower into the bed, arms crossed as she stared back at Megan’s retreating form before she started coughing, and growled when she heard the redhead laughing in her trademarked and distinctly unique, feminine way that usually made Miranda adore her, but it was now pissing her off. “Oh Miri...you’re so cute!”Megan giggled as the XO just stuck her tongue out while she flashed both middle fingers at her lover, causing the Commander to laugh even louder. Miranda Anne Lawson simply had no idea how adorable she was when she was pouting and disgruntled.

After falling asleep and dreaming weird dreams about quarians, flu cures and assault rifles, Miranda was shaken awake by Megan. “Come on Miri baby, dinner time.”She whispered as Miranda got up from the bed, groaning from her aching body as she did so. “Megan, I don’t really need to be treated like a little child.”Miranda sighed as she flopped into the chair, draining one of the three one-liter tumblers of apple juice that Megan had brought up for her alongside the bowl of steaming hot fish congee that Gardner had whipped up for the entire crew, who were still very sick.

“But I want to do this for you Miri.”Megan replied as she kissed Miranda’s slender neck, which still felt like it was on fire. “Well...thanks then Megan. So, did the doctors say when I’ll get better?” Miranda asked, already starting to feel frustrated from her confinement in the cabin all day long. “At least a week, according to Michel.” Megan replied as the XO began to eat her congee. After seeing to it that Miranda really did take her meds after her dinner, Megan tucked Miranda into bed before she took a shower and snuggled up beside Miranda after she was done, yawning loudly as she fell asleep to the slow, rhythmic sounds of Miranda’s heartbeat and soft snores.

The next day, Megan got back to work, waking the still-sick Miranda and bringing her breakfast and making sure the brunette took her meds. She checked in on the crew, who were still very ill, and accepted Kelly apology for the day before. Chakwas, Mordin and Chloe had finally figured out how the virus worked, and they were 4 more days away from creating a cure, much to Megan’s amazement, as it was only yesterday that Mordin was telling her that it’d take at least a week to create a cure. “Oh, I used a bonding and acceleration agent to speed up the creation.”Dr. Michel smiled proudly before she got back to work. Since they were docked at the Citadel, Megan had absolutely nothing to do, and thus she decided to go down to the shooting gallery to test out the new geth plasma shotguns, X96 Mattock battle rifles and S5 Phalanx pistols that were delivered to the Normandy when they’d docked.

She found Jacob and Garrus there already, and Garrus was getting rounds downrange from his favorite X15 Vindicator, while Jacob was testing out the new shotgun while a gleeful grin on his face as he charged up the shotgun before he fired it, ‘killing’ a target at 150m out, which was a record for a shotgun. “Yeah! This little brother here is the shit!”He whooped jubilantly as Megan whistled in appreciation while she picked up the X96 rifle and started putting rounds out, causing Jacob, Garrus and herself to flinch from the very loud weapon discharge. But it was really damn effective, as the Commander noted.

As soon as she stopped to reload, she noticed that Jacob and Garrus were staring at the holo-projector at the corner and looking back at her before they returned their attentions to the monitor. She noticed that a really old song called ‘Glamorous’ by a woman calling herself Fergie was playing, and she went over to see what the fuss was about. She saw herself and the other women who’d did a makeup commercial a month back on the screen, dancing and posing in a club. As soon as the ad ended, the two men turned to stare slack-jawed at the redhead, and Megan pretended to look at the time on her omnitool.

“Oh my! Time for lunch!”Megan squeaked out as she ran before things could get really awkward. However, when she got up to the mess hall to grab some of Gardner’s broiled chicken and mashed potatoes for herself and Miranda, she saw the entire crew, who were sick, there watching the ad, and the men turned to stare at her, Kasumi, Erin, Chakwas, Ashley, Samara, Gabby, and Kelly in disbelief. She then quickly grabbed two trays of food and three tumblers of orange juice for Miranda, and hustled to the lift as fast as she could. The cabin door whooshed open, admitting Megan inside as Miranda sat back against the headboard of the bed, looking up from her novel towards her girlfriend as she sneezed and took her own temperature once more. Still 40 degrees Celsius.

On the first day, Miranda was sick, uncomfortable, bored and frustrated. Now, she was still experiencing all of those feelings, and she was now feeling lonely and horny as well from Megan refusing to even French kiss her. “Megan...”The raven-haired woman began before she was cut off by the redhead, who silenced her with a finger on her full, beautiful lips. “Shh Miri. Just eat and take your meds.” Seeing that there was no way around it, Miranda obediently ate her lunch alongside Megan and took her meds and even let Megan tuck her in once more after taking the meds. “Cassie honey...I want sex...”Miranda whined pitifully as she cast a longing look upon Megan’s well-toned ass as the Commander turned to leave. “What? No!”Megan chuckled as the XO pouted once more.

“Please? I’m so horny and I’m already suffering so much! Having sex’ll make me recover faster, I swear! Please Megan! Please-please-pretty please!”The brunette begged as Megan just rolled her eyes. “Miri dearie, you’re sick. You need rest, meds and nutritious food, not sex.” “But I need it so much! We haven’t had sex for a week now, and you won’t even kiss me properly!”Miranda whined as she got off the bed and kneeled in front of Megan, clasping her hands together and raising them in a begging gesture. “I promise you, if you have sex with me, I’ll kiss your feet everyday all day long, and I’ll be your faithful servant! Please!”She begged as Megan pulled her up to her feet, and made her sit down on the bed again before she replied.

“Miri baby, the fever’s really screwing up your brain. Get some rest.”The Vanguard said softly before she left the room, leaving no room for Miranda’s protests. “I hate you Megan! I knew I should’ve implanted you with a control chip, you evil bitch!”Miranda hissed loudly at the closed door, slumping back onto the bed in defeat. Suddenly, Miranda Lawson had a brainwave. She went over to the wardrobe and took out Megan’s favorite pair of pink boyshorts and the sewing kit while she stripped out of her nightgown. Ha! Did you seriously think you could deny me what I want that easily! The XO smirked as she sewed on two large buttons onto the waistband, and used a marker to draw out a mouth on the crotch area.

Too bad Cassie. And to think you denied me when I begged you for it! Miranda thought with her evil smirk as she got down to the business. “Do you love me Cassie?”She asked the boyshorts/puppet, and she used her hand to manipulate the ‘jaws’ as she mimicked Megan’s voice as the puppet ‘replied’. “Of course I do Miri baby. Your wish is my command.” “Great! Then will you have sex with me?”Miranda asked excitedly before she replied to her own question in Megan’s voice. “Of course honey. You know I love you.”She purred in Megan’s voice as she lowered her hand to her own naked vagina and began to massage her clit through the boyshorts very vigorously. “Oh yeah Cassie...so good...”Miranda moaned in delight with a contented and happy grin on her face as she began to masturbate herself to an orgasm.

Seven hours later, Megan came up to the cabin with the usual tumblers of orange juice and two trays of chicken noodle soup. After she set them upon her study desk, she looked over at Miranda, who was soundly asleep and she smiled warmly. She then lifted up the blanket to get quite a shock. Miranda Lawson was lying in bed naked, and Megan’s favorite boyshorts, which was wedged in between the brunette’s legs, was a puppet now. “Miranda Anne Lawson, you’ve got a lot of explaining to do!”She roared as she yanked Miranda off the bed none too gently. “What? Oh, that? Serves you right for not giving me sex when I begged you for it.”Miranda replied, yawning as she stretched her limbs.

“But...wha...you know these are my favorite pair of boyshorts!”Megan spluttered as Miranda just stuck her tongue out at Megan like a petulant child, flopping down into the chair and began slurping her noodles down. Goddammit. Just unbelievable. Megan sighed as she tossed the now-ruined underwear aside and ate her dinner in silence. The next day, Megan got hit by the virus as well, but fortunately she didn’t have a fever, much to Miranda’s childish delight, as they were now suffering from the same symptoms as Miranda’s fever broke, but she was still coughing and sneezing. “Haha! Serves you right for not making love to me!”The XO cackled triumphantly as Megan just gave her the middle finger while she sneezed into a tissue.

The Commander practically demanded that the trio of doctors hurry up the production of the cure, but Mordin had shushed her by telling her that if she wanted it done right, she’d have to wait a little longer. Thus she’d stormed off back to the captain’s cabin (or more accurately, the captain’s and XO’s cabin, as it was now knows on the ship) to rest with her beloved Miranda. When she went up, Miranda was nowhere to be seen. Shrugging her shoulders in puzzlement, Megan simply walked over to her bed. However, as she was trudging down the steps, the bathroom door slid open to reveal Miranda, who charged Megan and tackled her onto the bed.

“Miri...whatta...”Megan gasped as she landed on the bed really hard, and Miranda pounced on Megan completely naked with the ‘chick dick’ the redhead bought 2 months ago strapped to herself, and a wild, crazy look in her eyes. “Megan Cassandra Shepard, you can either make love to me twice or I can brutally rape you a dozen times. Your choice.”Miranda hissed through clenched teeth as Megan looked up into the wild, cerulean eyes of her lover and swallowed hard. “Miri...don’t do-” “I want you to make love to me, and I want it now!”Miranda hissed as Megan thought about it for 2 seconds before she replied.

“Okay fine, you win. I’ll make love to you.”Megan sighed, seeing that there was no way out of it. “Good! Now get to it!”Miranda smirked triumphantly as she pressed the button, sighing softly as she felt the 3 wires detach themselves from her clit and womanhood before she handed it to Megan, who wordlessly strapped it to herself and activated it, gasping lightly when she felt the 3 wires attach themselves to her clit and to the most sensitive parts of her vagina.

Miranda continued smirking triumphantly as she got off the bed, standing up before she bent over the bed, leaving her perfect ass sticking out as Megan stood behind her and entered her. “Oh yes-yes-yes!”Miranda cried out in ecstasy with a contented smile on her beautiful face as Megan moaned along as well, one hand grasping Miranda’s perfectly curved waist while the left cupped and squeezed Miranda’s left breast. “Oh Miri honey...I love it...” “Then fuck me harder!”Miranda moaned as Megan decided to get it over with quickly, and she thus activated her biotics to enable her to thrust much faster.

“Oh-oh-oh MMH FUUUCCK CASSIIIEEE I’M CUUUMMMIIING!”Miranda screamed 5 minutes later, squirting her juices all around the dildo and onto the floor as Megan came to her climax as well. “OOOHH SHIIIT MIRI I’M CUUUMMIIING TOO!”Megan shrilled as she came, shooting her fluids deep into Miranda’s waiting pussy through the chick dick. Miranda mewled as she felt Megan’s sweet nectar mix with her own deep within her and Megan pulled out, and both women collapsed onto the bed. “God, that was good.”Megan panted out while she tried to regain control of her limbs, which were twitching erratically.

“You should’ve done me earlier, you bloody dumb woman. I missed that a lot.”Miranda exhaled with satisfaction as she luxuriated in the boneless state of her limbs. “Whatever. Round two.”Megan grunted as she got off the bed and back up on her feet. “Nope. You’re going to put it in my arse.” Miranda said as she gave Megan a randy smirk and wink as she just lay on the bed. Goddammit, I love this bitch. Megan thought as she lay atop Miranda in the missionary position, and slowly inserted the fake member into Miranda’s extremely tight anus.

“Aah-aah that’s amazing!”Miranda moaned, grasping Megan’s breasts and kneading them as the redhead continued thrusting with her biotics enabled. They went on for a while before they both came again, filling the air with screams and pledges of eternal love for the other. They collapsed onto the bed, which was wet in some parts. “I love you forever Miri, you crazy, horny bitch.”Megan whispered against Miranda’s neck, nuzzling it as she spooned up behind Miranda, hugging her XO and girlfriend tightly. “Love you for forever too Cassie, you irritating whore.”The brunette whispered back, hugging Megan’s strong arms which were wrapped around her chest before they fell asleep, but not before the both of them went into a sneezing fit once more.

The next day when they woke up, Chakwas paged them and informed them that the cure was ready. “Really? But I thought it wouldn’t be ready till tomorrow?”Miranda asked as the two women headed to the shower, still coughing and sneezing. “I added a quick-bonding agent and sped up the process.”Dr. Michel’s heavily accented voice came over the intercom as Megan and Miranda just looked at each other and smiled. “Finally. I hate being sick.”Megan smiled as they entered the bathroom.

3 hours later, all the sick crewmembers gathered around in the medbay and took a large, purple pill that Mordin and Chloe distributed around. Immediately, all of them began to feel better. “Sweet! I feel much better now. Thanks doc...or docs.”Jack exclaimed happily as she began to stretch her stiff arms as murmurs of amazement spread throughout the crew. “Wow...this is a miracle!”Ashley and Erin yelled excitedly in unison as the three doctors just smiled and waved away the praise.

Suddenly, Tali made a gurgling sound as she doubled over in pain. “Oh, that’s not good.”Megan said in horror as the three doctors hurried over and laid her in the bed next to Jentha’s as the ex-merc looked on in horror. “Help...it feels like my insides are boiling away...”The quarian gasped as Chakwas and Mordin opened Tali’s suit to reveal a horrible sight. Veins of black were spreading throughout her pale lilac skin, and she started coughing blood, the black substance coating the entire visor of her helmet. “Michel! What did you use!”Mordin asked in a panic as he attempted to cut open Tali’s abdomen to get to the stomach.

“I used Lolsertak...its okay with dextro-aminos! I don’t understand!”Chloe cried out in panic as Mordin’s face seemed to lose its color. “No-no-no-no-no! Elementary mistake! Quarians incompatible with Lolsertak! Only species that is incompatible!”He babbled as he and Chakwas cut Tali open to reveal that her organs were dissolving, and they tried to remove the pill. “Oh my God! I’m so sorry!”Michel cried out in panic, tears flowing down her face. “Get out of here!”Chakwas yelled in panic as the crew quickly left the medbay, stunned murmurs running through the assembled crew.

The crew waited in anguish outside the medbay for ten minutes while Chakwas and Mordin struggled to save poor Tali, while Miranda and Samara put an arm each around Chloe to comfort the young doctor. Finally, the doors opened to reveal Mordin, his lab coat stained with black quarian blood. “Fortunately, everyone else will have no reaction to Lolsertak. Only quarians unable to consume. Medicines effective and will not harm.”The genius rambled as Megan cut him off. “Okay, so we’re fine, but what about Tali?”The Vanguard asked as Mordin just shook his head sadly, replying in a slow way for once.

“I am sorry Shepard. Did everything I could. She is dead.” He sighed as a collective gasp of horror spread throughout the crew. Ashley was on the verge of tears as she struggled to process the fact that Tali, her longtime friend, was now gone. Jack started sobbing silently along with half of the women, tears running down their faces, and both of Miranda’s hands flew up to cover her mouth as she teared up. “Are you sure?”Megan whispered, tears pooling in her eyes at the loss of her friend and Mordin just shook his head. Chloe then collapsed into a wailing heap, as a tearful Kelly, Kasumi and a forlorn Hawthorne tried to console her. “I’m sorry...I’m so sorry...”The distraught doctor wailed repeatedly.

“What...how...Tali is dead.”Miranda repeated to herself as tears started to stream down her face at the loss of one of her closest few friends. No. She’s my friend and she died. No. WHY! Why does it have to happen to a good friend I had to work so hard to get! Miranda thought as she started crying out loud, resting her head against the wall as tears slipped off her exquisite face at a steady rate with Megan sobbing into her hands next to the XO.

Final notes: I didn’t want to kill off Tali, since she was a nice girl, but I finally got fed up with her bitching about the geth and the injustices her people faced for the 57,924th time. However, what really got me to kill her off wasn’t that, but because InHarmsWay wrote a fanfic so bad and killed Miranda off in the stupidest way imaginable, so I did this as a ‘revenge’. I hate to author and story bash, but his piece was so atrocious that even the script from a failed D-Grade film is more believable and better than his. And before you think I’m chicken, I reviewed and tried to be nice (dunno if I was too harsh). And I decided to make Tali’s death tragic, so as to pay my respects to our dear quarian. I seriously feel bad for killing poor Tali, I do. So yeah, two can play at the character killing game. And don’t worry, I’ll get someone a whole lot more awesome and badass than Tali to replace her in the next chapter, and he’ll be an original character of mine. What? You want a hint? Okay, he’s mentioned in one of my earlier chapters. So I hope you enjoyed it, and REVIEW, subscribe and favorite. Till next time, salut.