Cave fight

"In there!" Jack shouted as she pulled Miranda into a cave, the two pinning themselves against a wall as the watched as the skycar hovered over head.

The two held their breath as the skycar began to lower to the ground, their hearts racing. Suddenly, just as the skycar was halfway to the ground, it paused for several seconds before ascending back into the air and flying off. Jack and Miranda let out a sigh of relief. That was too close.

"Alright, I convinced the precinct that the report of the streakers was a hoax." Liara said as she climbed into Jane's skycar, once again taking the driver's seat as her bondmate frowned in annoyance. "Now all we have to do is try to find them before anything else goes wrong."

Kasumi humphed as she had lost track of her targets. Those two were fast, she'd give them that.

"Let's see..." Kasmui said as she looked around her surroundings before seeing a pair of bare footprints in the dirt, leading towards a cave. "Bingo."

The woman stepped forward... Just as a small rustle from a nearby bush made her jump. "Who's there?!" She barked, "Show yourself!"

Kasumi got ready for a fight, as the cause of the rustling came out of the bushes... Revealing itself to be a black and white cat that paused to look up at her.

"Look, Kitty." Kasumi said in annoyance, "I'm a little busy right now, so... Go away, okay?"

The cat merely tilted it's head.

"I said..." Kasumi picked up a stone and threw it at the cat, "BEAT IT!"

The stone hit the cat in the head, causing the cat to hiss in anger as it's fur stood up and it's back arched. Kasumi scoffed, but was admittedly confused when the cat spun around and raised it's tail at her.

Of course, being a human who was not native to Earth, Kasumi was about to learn the hard way that this wasn't a cat...

"That was too close..." Jack panted.

"Agreed." Miranda said with a nod.

The two naked women looked down to see that they were still holding hands, Jack blushing profusely as she yanked her hand away.

"This is still your fault, by the way." Jack muttered.

"What?!" Miranda snapped, "You're the one who shouted at me and started this little police chase!"

"Well, you're the one who stripped me of that thong!" Jack spat back.

"Only because you were laughing at me being stripped of my bra by that bush!"

"Well, you were the one who suggested we go streaking to Shepard's!"

"Because you didn't notice Kasumi stealing everything!"

"Neither did you, Bitch! And I probably would have if you weren't tickling me!"

"Well, we wouldn't be in any of this mess at all if you hadn't dragged us to that quickie permanent marriage agency!"

"Oh, no you fucking don't! That is your fault just as much as mine!" Jack shrieked, stomping her foot. "And of all the people to end up married to, I ended up stuck with you!"

"WHAT?!" Miranda roared, "I should be saying that about you! I could have gotten drunk and ended up with Ashley, or Samantha, or Tali, or Joker, or Dr. Chakwas, or - Hell, maybe even a three-way marriage with Shepard and Liara! But no... No! I end up with the one woman in the entire universe who no sane man, woman, or alien would even consider more than just a quick and easy lay!"

"'Easy'? Me?!" Jack shouted, insulted. "And for your information, Cheerleader, you wouldn't exactly crack my Top Ten, either. I'd rather get hitched to Aria, at least I wouldn't get nagged constantly!"

"Oh, please! I heard you say earlier that you 'Love' me." Miranda muttered, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Not that I'd ever return those feelings..."

For what was a brief second, Miranda could have sworn that she saw a flash of a different emotion in Jack's eyes before it returned to anger. And if the dark haired woman didn't know any better, it almost looked like Jack had felt... Hurt by her last remark?

"Yeah, Bitch?! Well you -"

"I was right."

"About what?!"

"All those years ago, I called you a mistake." Miranda said coldly, glaring down the tattooed woman. "I was right. You are a mistake. You were a mistake. And you will always be a mistake. And the funny thing is, we both say this is the worst thing to happen to us. I personally mean it, but despite you saying that this marriage is the worst thing to happen to you, in reality, you think it's the best thing. And why?"

"I don't fucking think -"

"It's because, after this year, you're going die alone." Miranda stated in a cold and merciless voice, jabbing Jack in the chest with a finger. "You're going to die alone, unwanted, and unloved by anyone who's not a student of yours or that varren you have as a pet."

Now, Miranda was certain that she saw hurt flash in Jack's eyes before anger took over again, the tattooed woman snarling as her hand glowed with a blue aura. With a yell, Jack struck the cave wall, leaving a massive dent before looking up at Miranda.

"Bitch!" She spat before pushing past Miranda, running off into the woods again.

"Let's think for a second here." Jane said as she put a hand to her chin. "Where would they go to find clothes?"

"Well, Jack is rather impulsive." Liara stated, "Perhaps she lead them to a mall or clothing store."

"True, but Miranda is the more level headed of the two." Jane countered, "So she most likely convinced Jack not to do something that was so... Direct."

"Well, we've been driving all around the city looking for them, Jane. So where would they -" Liara soon hit the breaks as they screeched to a halt, both bondmates turning to face the other. "You don't think..."

"Ugh! Of course that's where they would go!" Jane groaned, kicking herself for not connecting the dots earlier. "Send a message to EDI to let them in if they get to my place before we do."

"I really wish we had come to this conclusion before we ended up on the other side of the city." Liara said as she turned the skycar around and drove back to Shepard's home.

Kasumi gagged as she leaned over a bush, emptying the contents of her stomach as she felt her eyes water and burn from the horrid smell. She had broken into several Crazy Cat Lady mansions in her career as a thief, and was accustomed to how strong cat pee smelled.

But this was a whole different level!

Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, Kasumi groaned as she looked around, suddenly spotting the footprints leaving the cave as she activated her camo and followed them.

However, she deactivated it the second she came across a shallow stream.

"I mean... What good is stealth if they can smell me coming a mile away?" Kasumi muttered to herself.

"Maybe I was too hard on her..." Miranda said to herself as she made her way through the woods, following Jack's tracks. It had been fifteen minutes since Jack left the cave, and the tattooed woman had not returned yet. A part of her told her it would be easier to go get Jane and Liara to help find Jack...

But another part of her told her that Jack might need an apology.

Miranda soon found herself in a moonlit clearing, looking up to see Jack sitting on a log, the remains of a large boulder nearby. Just as the dark haired woman was about to call out to her, a small muffled sound made her stop. A sound that was coming from Jack and sounded like...

"Wait. Is Jack...?" Miranda thought to herself before shaking her head. "No, no. That's insane. Jack doesn't -"

Miranda looked again, only to go wide eyed as she saw that Jack's face was in her hands and her shoulders were shaking violently. Miranda couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Jack... Was crying?!