Mass Effect: Reunion

(I hope you enjoy this one shot story)

Jacob and Claire Shepherd had been through hell and back together in the Alliance Navy, Claire watched as her younger brother had become the 1st human Spectre after they proved Saren was behind the attack on Eden Prime, Jacob had proven himself against overwhelming odds over the years… even surviving the Thresher Maw nest which took a heavier toll on him that only she knew about.

Their parents were Alliance Military so it was all in their blood, after Sovereign, Saren and the Geth were beaten and the council saved, the SSV Normandy was sent to fight the Geth… that was the moment Claire's life turned upside down when an unknown vessel attacked and destroyed the Normandy, she had managed to drag Joker into the escape shuttle but her brother knew he could not follow, hitting the switch as she lowered the Joker into the seat the escape pod closed and launched sending the screaming Claire away from the exploding ship.

She listened to the Comm with bated breath as she watched her brother fall into the planet's atmosphere, his body burning up as his screams echoed… her tears fell continuously for her fallen brother.

2 years later:

Jacob had woken up inside a strange facility as the sound of a woman was yelling to him to get out of bed, his first thought went to his sister but he needed to be focused right now… he needed to get out alive if he had any chance of finding her.

The Illusive man was pretty much holding back on the information on his sister's location 'Jackass' Jacob thought with a smirk as he followed his pilot to the hangar, he could not believe Joker was now with Cerberus but then again so was Jacob but not by choice, they brought him back from the dead for a reason but as soon as the mission was over, he hated Cerberus with a passion after the experiments they conducted in the past, even the Thresher Maw nest that claimed the lives of everyone in his unit except him and Toombs.

SR2 Normandy was twice the size of the original but it steel needed modifications if they were going up against suicidal odds this time, he had no intention of dying again.

"You'll see Commander, it'll be better than the old days" Joker said with a grin as he was sitting in his comfy leather seat.

Jacob chuckled "I hope so… I died"

"God… you're such a downer" Joker replied and Jacob laughed heartily before sobering up "Joker… Where is Claire?" He asked nervously and Joker stiffened up before looking back to Jacob "Shepherd… she left the Alliance when you died… last time I heard she had an apartment on the Citadel"

"How long was that?" Jacob asked curiously.

"A year and 9 months" Joker turned to the helm "She blamed me for you dying?"

"It was not your fault Joker" Jacob placed a hand on his shoulder and nodded.

Joker nodded back "Uh Shepherd… this is kind of awkward"

Shepherd laughed and turned away "You're not my type Joker" "EDI… Find me Claire Shepherd"

Joker smirked not helping to have a bit of a dig in "Oh I know you is your type… a certain Cerberus operative named Miranda L….." he could not continue his sentence as Shepherd had his hands clamped on Jokers mouth "Repeat that to anyone and I'll make sure the next time I see Garrus, I'll tell him about you saying he had a stick up his ass… I'm sure he'd remove it to beat you with it" Joker's eyes widened "You wouldn't" Jacob smirked and Joker grumbled his response "Now I remember why I liked Claire better"

Shepherd just laughed as he walked back to C.I.C as EDI gave him the Intel he wanted.

The Citadel:

Claire Shepherd had her own little apartment after leaving the Alliance, Anderson was unable to convince her to stay but she couldn't… it was a deal she had with her brother, her mind flashed back to their deal after he became the 1st human spectre… they were hunting for Saren and he had suffered a nightmare from the Thresher Maw incident so he went to see his sister.

Flashback:

A knock on her door drew her attention away from her book, she liked to read books… it took her mind off her problems.

Opening the door she found her brother, he looked dishevelled like he had just gotten out of bed "Hey Claire" he greeted.

"Again?" she asked, she knew about his nightmares and that he would come down to see her for help which usually worked.

They spent most of the time talking until Jacob began to look tired and drowsy.

"Claire" he said taking a sip of water "Have you ever thought of like away from the Alliance?" he asked and she gave him a curious look before answering "I've thought about it… having a family, but we've got Alliance in our blood" he could tell she wanted it more than she was letting on and he smiled "I want you to promise me something" she looked at him curiously "Whatever happens with Saren and the Geth… if anything happens, Promise me you'll have a great Life… Family, a husband or in your case wife cause I know what happened in Chora's den" Claire blushed and hit her brothers shoulder hard with a laugh.

"I will promise you on 1 condition" he looked to her, his turn to look curious "What?" he asked.

"Whatever happens… you will stop playing hero and live" he smiled and he nodded hugging her tight "I promise Claire"

"Then I promise you too Jacob" she replied hugging him back tight before she felt him soften up and snoring, he fell asleep on her shoulder… rolling her eyes she laid him down on the couch then went back to bed, the sound of her brother's soft snoring coming from the couch made her smile and soon she was asleep.

Flashback end:

The Memory brought tears to her eyes as she remembered it as if it was yesterday, going through the markets she watched as the as different species: Asari, Turian, Hanar, Elcor, Drell, Volus, Krogan and more conversed to each other or shopped.

Jacob was standing by Miranda and Taylor ready to receive their orders but none came as he watched her head inside her apartment, with a soft smile he turned to the others "go back to the Normandy" he ordered and they nodded reluctantly agreeing to the order he had gave and they were gone.

He had got the spare key from Anderson who would check in on Claire from time to time after Jacob asked him too when he went to visit the then admiral now councillor when he was hunting Saren.

Letting himself in he took the apartment in his memory, all he could think was if he had the right to drop by after 2 years dead on a slab in a Cerberus Lab.

He was soon to find out when he saw in the kitchen his sister was putting her shopping away, her back facing him but she knew she had a guest and seeing as how she heard nothing shattering then it could only be Anderson seeing he had the only key.

"Checking up on me again Anderson" she stated continuing to put her shopping away not even bothering to turn around.

Jacob smiled, his sister had not changed since he had last seen her, her once short red hair was now longer flowing down to her shoulders.

"C-C-Claire" he stuttered nervously and he watched as her body freeze in shock, her breath held as she turned around to come face to face with her younger and previously dead brother.

"Jacob" she whispered not believing her eyes for a second.

"It's me Claire" he smiled and she rounded the partition and engulfed him into a tight hug which he happily replied, hugging her back tighter.

Their reunion was something that was short, they conversed about the last 2 years he had been away dead on a slab, he told her about Cerberus and the fact on the missing colonies and she understood his reasons for doing co-operating for the sake of the mission, he also told her that he had been reinstated into the Spectre's.

Claire began to tell him about her life of the missing 2 years, her relationship with Liara T'Soni had ended badly when he had died, Claire grieved on her own not wanting Liara to help her and in the end it was too much for Liara so she left… as the day drew to an end Jacob was still with Claire, as children they were inseparable… with their parents constantly moving from posting to posting the siblings had only each other to rely on.

"So the collectors?" Claire said.

Jacob nodded his head "A suicide mission… but hey, I've died twice" he joked but it was not met with laughter instead it was met with a slap across the head.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" she growled out and Jacob looked to her with an amused expression "I've died once and all it did was piss me off at the Reapers and the Collectors"

She laughed and walked into her bedroom "What you doing?" he asked and Claire poked her head out "Permission to return to the Normandy?" she saluted as she headed back into the room with a foot locker.

"What…. Uh" she never gave him chance to answer as she butted in to his confusion "Thank you sir… I'll perform to the best of my abilities" she headed to the main entrance "Where is the Normandy docked?" she asked.

Jacob managed to clear up a little confused haze before replying "Docking bay 2" he replied and she was gone leaving him dumbfounded.

"What the hell just happened?" he wondered out loud "Oh if the Collectors don't kill me… she will" he grumbled as he walked after her closing the door behind him, mentally preparing himself for the trouble ahead.

"Ah crap" he muttered.

(Hope you enjoyed this little story)

Lycanboy666