I Heard... 6/?
anonymous
May 25 2013, 14:13:03 UTC
"You were looking out for Shepard." Miranda shook her head. "You keep forgetting that I know you, Commander. Kate Shepard is a survivor, she always has been. She looks out for herself first, and others second. Kate Shepard never entered relationships, she dictated terms. Something Kaidan and Garrus always had in common, they were devoted to you. They never stopped to ask if the feeling was mutual. You soaked up their love like a sponge, only they couldn't squeeze you back. When Kaidan hurt you on Horizon, you left him for Garrus. When Garrus started pressuring you for commitment, you left him for Kaidan, who was all too eager to come crawling back to your bed. And when he started thinking about a family, you ran back to the turian who was smart enough not to pressure you again."
"No...that's not true." Shepard shook her head, taken aback by Miranda's assault. "You're just taking everything out of context."
"Am I?" Miranda's eyes gleamed with the thrill of the kill. "Face it, Shepard. Kaidan's love for you was unconditional. Even when he thought you were a traitor, he loved you. Even when he knew you slept with Garrus, he loved you. Even when you ran off without waking him, he loved you. For five years, he walked about, carrying his damn torch for you. Did you ever feel that way about him? Could you?"
"Could you?" Shepard snapped back, finally sick of Miranda's accusations. "Love him without anything being asked of you?"
Miranda was silent for a few seconds. Her hands moved to the almost imperceptible bulge of her stomach. "You know...that man has given me three children who I thought I could never carry. He built a home for me. He built a future for us. But even if all of that didn't exist. If I was barren, poor and in rags, I would still love him. Because he is unconditional in his love for me. You don't know how rare that is, Shepard, to find someone who can love without demanding anything in return. Kaidan would never swap me for someone else, abandon me if he was afraid. He made me love him, Shepard, because he's good. Not great or might...just good."
Shepard finally broke eye contact, unable to bear the intensity of Miranda's gaze.
"So yes, Shepard, I resent that you came back now, even if Kaidan doesn't. Because I know that you're up to your old tricks." Miranda continued. "Garrus dumped you because he finally saw through you. You've wound up alone, about to hit fifty, with no family and friends. You came back, because you knew that there was one person who would wind up forgiving you for all the heartbreak. You came back to see if Kaidan was still infatuated enough to go along with you."
Shepard bowed her head slightly. "That's not how it is. Miranda..."
"Don't." Miranda steppped back, almost exhausted by her own outburst. "Just...don't."
I Heard... 7/?
anonymous
May 26 2013, 03:15:18 UTC
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Shepard accepted a plate from Kaidan and began drying it. Outside the kitchen, she could hear Miranda ushering Ashley and David upstairs for baths. "Did you sic Miranda on me, earlier?"
"You're crediting me with being innovative in my strategy." Kaidan replied dryly. "Besides, I don't torture prisoners."
"She seems to think I'm here to seduce you."
Kaidan looked at her in surprise. "Really?"
"In case you haven't noticed, she's always been the protective type." Shepard pointed out. "You could fill a mass grave with the agents who tried to hurt her sister."
"Fair point." Kaidan acknowledged. "She must be feeling her age."
They both shared a grin at the joke. Miranda's genetic perfection was actually starting to show. At fifty five years of age, she looked barely four or five years older than she had when Shepard first met her. Kaidan and Shepard were both starting to show their age, despite their own Alliance gene mods. There were sags in their muscles, lines on their faces, and silver strands in their hair. Though Shepard couldn't help but notice that Kaidan's ass was still...
"Why did you come, then?" Kaidan handed her some more cutlery. "It can't have been to check up on me, or to catch an earful from Miranda."
"No...I guess it wasn't." Shepard placed her plate down. "I've put this off for far too long, haven't I?"
"You would have been welcome anytime, Kate." Kaidan told her. "You still are, even if Miranda wants to give you hell about it."
"I know, I know." Shepard shook her head. "Damn it, Kaidan. Why can't you just be angry? Why can't you just scream at me like Miranda? Be just a little bit of a bastard, for once?"
"I can't pretend to feel like that." The man she had once loved just shook his head. "Even when you left...I could bring up those feelings. I can be angry when I think about what you did...but I ddidn't hate you then, and I don't hate you now. Maybe you'd feel better if I did. Maybe that's what you came here for? To hear me scream and shout and punish you, so you'd feel better about yourself? I could slap you, if you're really desperate, but I'm out of practice."
"Then maybe that's what I'm here for?" Shepard looked back at him and was reminded why she had falen for him in the first place...why her heart had ached with his absence. He cared. He couldn't help but care. "For redemption?"
"How?" He frowned. "After Horizon, I could redeem myself. I could follow you into hell. I could be the soldier you needed. But I don't need you, Kate. I'm sorry, but that's the truth. Maybe once...but not anymore. It's been too long."
"Then your forgiveness, at least." Shepard begged him.
"You already said..."
"I said I was sorry." Shepard stepped closer. "But being sorry and being forgiven aren't the same thing."
"And you needed to hear it from me?" Kaidan looked pained now, his voice betraying more emotion than he intended. "Kate...there is nothing you have done to me, that you could do to me, for which I would not forgive you...that I haven't already forgiven you for."
Shepard fell into his arms. She wanted to kiss him...but that might be the only thing that he could hate her for. So she accepted his embrace, the arms of a comrade, a fellow soldier...a brother. That was all she could be to him now...all he would ever let her be, ever again. It almost shattered her to admit it...but there was a gratefulness in her heart. Like something had...closed.
"We were good together, weren't we?" She murmured into his shoulder.
"The best," Kaidan affirmed. "But Miranda and I are..."
Re: I Heard... 7/?
anonymous
May 27 2013, 07:44:16 UTC
Dear a!a, can I hug you please ? This is perfect, I can't even be sorry for Shepard. The dialogue between her and Miranda was excellent. And yes, Miranda and Kaidan are pretty damn close to be a perfect couple.
I Heard... 8/8
anonymous
May 27 2013, 10:17:39 UTC
Miranda was waiting for her in the hallway when Shepard went to retrieve her jacket.
"You were listening in, weren't you?"
"Every word." Miranda confirmed, her face betraying nothing. "I was going to mangle you pretty badly if you tried kissing him."
Shepard believed her. "So where do we go from here?"
"I could tell you to go jump off a cliff." Miranda's lip curled. "Or take you out to that little flower plot I've especially cultivated for the day you turned up. But then Kaidan would start doing all sorts of crazy things like trying to have me arrested...or witholding sex. So I think I'll have to do something I really don't want to do."
"And what's that?" Shepard moved her hand closer to her waistband, to the small pistol tucked away.
Miranda looked almost pained. "I'm asking you to be the godmother for the little one."
Shepard blinked. "What?"
"Like it or not...you, and me, and Kaidan. We were all friends once." Miranda frowned. "I miss those days, for some strange reason."
Shepard's heart beat faster. "Yeah, so do I."
"So, this way Ashley gets to see you around the place, and I don't have to make it look like I'm asking you to visit." Miranda folded her arms. "We both win."
Shepard smiled slightly. "You know, Miranda...you're not half the bitch everyone thinks you are."
"Yeah, well...don't go spreading it around." Miranda passed her a small card. "Here. Take this."
"What is it?"
"Garrus's address. He said to pass it on to you whenever you stopped acting like a poutty bitch."
"He didn't say that."
"I'm paraphrasing." Miranda stuck the address into her hands. "Here. Take it. Go both him for a while."
"If you don't mind my asking." Shepard called as Miranda turned away. "How did you guys even get together."
Miranda looked back at her with impassiveness. "Story for another day."
Re: I Heard... 8/8
anonymous
March 2 2014, 17:02:37 UTC
Found this when I was trying to make up my mind about voting for the annual people's choice awards. I don't know if you're ever going to see this, A!A, but I wanted you to know that you just made my decision a lot harder now. Damn. You're writing is so good, and your characterization was spot on. Your Miranda was perfect, and I really found her relationship with Kaidan endearing.
"No...that's not true." Shepard shook her head, taken aback by Miranda's assault. "You're just taking everything out of context."
"Am I?" Miranda's eyes gleamed with the thrill of the kill. "Face it, Shepard. Kaidan's love for you was unconditional. Even when he thought you were a traitor, he loved you. Even when he knew you slept with Garrus, he loved you. Even when you ran off without waking him, he loved you. For five years, he walked about, carrying his damn torch for you. Did you ever feel that way about him? Could you?"
"Could you?" Shepard snapped back, finally sick of Miranda's accusations. "Love him without anything being asked of you?"
Miranda was silent for a few seconds. Her hands moved to the almost imperceptible bulge of her stomach. "You know...that man has given me three children who I thought I could never carry. He built a home for me. He built a future for us. But even if all of that didn't exist. If I was barren, poor and in rags, I would still love him. Because he is unconditional in his love for me. You don't know how rare that is, Shepard, to find someone who can love without demanding anything in return. Kaidan would never swap me for someone else, abandon me if he was afraid. He made me love him, Shepard, because he's good. Not great or might...just good."
Shepard finally broke eye contact, unable to bear the intensity of Miranda's gaze.
"So yes, Shepard, I resent that you came back now, even if Kaidan doesn't. Because I know that you're up to your old tricks." Miranda continued. "Garrus dumped you because he finally saw through you. You've wound up alone, about to hit fifty, with no family and friends. You came back, because you knew that there was one person who would wind up forgiving you for all the heartbreak. You came back to see if Kaidan was still infatuated enough to go along with you."
Shepard bowed her head slightly. "That's not how it is. Miranda..."
"Don't." Miranda steppped back, almost exhausted by her own outburst. "Just...don't."
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And it's awesome, too. I'm eager to see this finish :D
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Shepard accepted a plate from Kaidan and began drying it. Outside the kitchen, she could hear Miranda ushering Ashley and David upstairs for baths. "Did you sic Miranda on me, earlier?"
"You're crediting me with being innovative in my strategy." Kaidan replied dryly. "Besides, I don't torture prisoners."
"She seems to think I'm here to seduce you."
Kaidan looked at her in surprise. "Really?"
"In case you haven't noticed, she's always been the protective type." Shepard pointed out. "You could fill a mass grave with the agents who tried to hurt her sister."
"Fair point." Kaidan acknowledged. "She must be feeling her age."
They both shared a grin at the joke. Miranda's genetic perfection was actually starting to show. At fifty five years of age, she looked barely four or five years older than she had when Shepard first met her. Kaidan and Shepard were both starting to show their age, despite their own Alliance gene mods. There were sags in their muscles, lines on their faces, and silver strands in their hair. Though Shepard couldn't help but notice that Kaidan's ass was still...
"Why did you come, then?" Kaidan handed her some more cutlery. "It can't have been to check up on me, or to catch an earful from Miranda."
"No...I guess it wasn't." Shepard placed her plate down. "I've put this off for far too long, haven't I?"
"You would have been welcome anytime, Kate." Kaidan told her. "You still are, even if Miranda wants to give you hell about it."
"I know, I know." Shepard shook her head. "Damn it, Kaidan. Why can't you just be angry? Why can't you just scream at me like Miranda? Be just a little bit of a bastard, for once?"
"I can't pretend to feel like that." The man she had once loved just shook his head. "Even when you left...I could bring up those feelings. I can be angry when I think about what you did...but I ddidn't hate you then, and I don't hate you now. Maybe you'd feel better if I did. Maybe that's what you came here for? To hear me scream and shout and punish you, so you'd feel better about yourself? I could slap you, if you're really desperate, but I'm out of practice."
"Then maybe that's what I'm here for?" Shepard looked back at him and was reminded why she had falen for him in the first place...why her heart had ached with his absence. He cared. He couldn't help but care. "For redemption?"
"How?" He frowned. "After Horizon, I could redeem myself. I could follow you into hell. I could be the soldier you needed. But I don't need you, Kate. I'm sorry, but that's the truth. Maybe once...but not anymore. It's been too long."
"Then your forgiveness, at least." Shepard begged him.
"You already said..."
"I said I was sorry." Shepard stepped closer. "But being sorry and being forgiven aren't the same thing."
"And you needed to hear it from me?" Kaidan looked pained now, his voice betraying more emotion than he intended. "Kate...there is nothing you have done to me, that you could do to me, for which I would not forgive you...that I haven't already forgiven you for."
Shepard fell into his arms. She wanted to kiss him...but that might be the only thing that he could hate her for. So she accepted his embrace, the arms of a comrade, a fellow soldier...a brother. That was all she could be to him now...all he would ever let her be, ever again. It almost shattered her to admit it...but there was a gratefulness in her heart. Like something had...closed.
"We were good together, weren't we?" She murmured into his shoulder.
"The best," Kaidan affirmed. "But Miranda and I are..."
"Perfect?"
"Damn close."
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The dialogue between her and Miranda was excellent. And yes, Miranda and Kaidan are pretty damn close to be a perfect couple.
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"You were listening in, weren't you?"
"Every word." Miranda confirmed, her face betraying nothing. "I was going to mangle you pretty badly if you tried kissing him."
Shepard believed her. "So where do we go from here?"
"I could tell you to go jump off a cliff." Miranda's lip curled. "Or take you out to that little flower plot I've especially cultivated for the day you turned up. But then Kaidan would start doing all sorts of crazy things like trying to have me arrested...or witholding sex. So I think I'll have to do something I really don't want to do."
"And what's that?" Shepard moved her hand closer to her waistband, to the small pistol tucked away.
Miranda looked almost pained. "I'm asking you to be the godmother for the little one."
Shepard blinked. "What?"
"Like it or not...you, and me, and Kaidan. We were all friends once." Miranda frowned. "I miss those days, for some strange reason."
Shepard's heart beat faster. "Yeah, so do I."
"So, this way Ashley gets to see you around the place, and I don't have to make it look like I'm asking you to visit." Miranda folded her arms. "We both win."
Shepard smiled slightly. "You know, Miranda...you're not half the bitch everyone thinks you are."
"Yeah, well...don't go spreading it around." Miranda passed her a small card. "Here. Take this."
"What is it?"
"Garrus's address. He said to pass it on to you whenever you stopped acting like a poutty bitch."
"He didn't say that."
"I'm paraphrasing." Miranda stuck the address into her hands. "Here. Take it. Go both him for a while."
"If you don't mind my asking." Shepard called as Miranda turned away. "How did you guys even get together."
Miranda looked back at her with impassiveness. "Story for another day."
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Will there be MK porn?
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This fill was absolutely delightful !!
Even if I'm a Shenko shipper, I really fell hard in love on Miranda/Kaidan !
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Wow... This was amazing. It had...everything.
Thank you, a!a, for this wonderfulness!
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