Renegade Kitty
Note: Inspired by a pic I saw of a kitten curled up in Garrus' cowl. And so I wondered how Jack would take to a kitten. Also inspired by my own kitten, Skyler, who's cuddled next to me as I write this. The kitten Jack finds will be described to look like him. This fic is set slightly post-ME3.
P.S. Here's the link to the pic I saw: i17 (dot) photobucket (dot) com/albums/b99/Worldlyshuku/art/garruskitty (dot) jpg
Update: Noticed the old link wasn't working XD I've fixed it now, should be in working order. Sorry!
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Jack was stalking outside of the medical tent. She had just recently led her students to rendezvous with the Normandy ground squad after the Reapers fell, only to immediately find out that John Shepard was in critical condition. It took every ounce of her self control, which wasn't much, not to break into that tent.
Tali tentatively walked over to the biotic, and spoke quietly, "Jack..."
She turned, her fists flashed blue before her eyes focused on the quarian, "Tali. What do you want?" she spat.
Tali started to fiddle with her fingers, "Umm... Would you... like to take a walk with me?"
Jack stood straighter and tilted her head slightly, "Why?"
Tali shifted nervously, "Ah. Well I thought maybe if you got away from here for a little bit, it would... Ah, be good for you... You just look so tense..." The quarian smiled uneasily at her, although she couldn't see it behind her mask.
Jack looked around, trying to decide if Tali was serious. People never showed concern for her. She squinted at Tali, "Why do you care?"
Tali sighed and rested her hands at her sides, "I know we're not exactly friends or anything, but we know each other... And I know how Shepard feels about you. And I can see how worried you are. I want to help."
Jack paused a moment, still squinting at her. She finally nodded once at Tali, and Tali returned the nod.
…...
The two women walked side-by-side, although with a fair amount of space between themselves, through the rubble strewn streets of London. The were walking along a section of civilian apartments, small shops, and cafes. It probably once was a beautiful area, but now it was hardly recognizable.
Tali had tried a few times to spark a conversation, but failed at each attempt. Jack was kicking a chunk of metal with her boot. She started to think about the last words John had said to her before ending that last vid-call.
Suddenly she yelled, "Fuck!" She kicked the chunk far to the left, and froze.
Tali stopped and looked at her, wobbling back and forth, not knowing what to do.
Jack started to pick up a soft mewling sound in-between her huffs of breath, "Did you hear that?"
Tali's head snapped up, confused, "Hear what?"
Jack shook her head, and mumbled, "Can't hear shit over your suit." She took off walking quickly towards the sound. Tali followed, but kept her distance.
Jack paused in front of the building where the sound was coming from, it was a half crumbled apartment complex. She turned towards Tali, "There's a cat in there."
Tali rubbed her hand at the side of her visor, "A cat?"
Jack mumbled incoherent obscenities, and something along the lines of, "...better rescue the damned thing..."
Tali followed closely on her heels, "A cat... Is it some kind of Earth animal?"
Jack huffed, "Yeah," as she laced her arms in biotic energy while overturning a battered bathtub.
Sure enough under the tub was a tiny kitten, just old enough to be separated from its mother. It was mewling sadly.
Jack scooped up the dirty grey little ball of fluff and thumbed its collar, "William." She shook her head, "That's a crappy name for a cat."
She stretched her arms with the kitten in her hands towards Tali. "Check if it's okay."
Tali cautiously plucked the cat from Jack's hands, "I don't know what I'm doing here." She brought him closer to her mask, "I don't see any blood." The kitten swiped at her mask, "Keelah! Here take it!"
Jack took him back and snickered. She ran a few fingers through his fur, and he started to purr softly, "I don't think he's hurt. Probably hungry." She quickly turned back towards camp, and Tali had to jog to keep up.
…...
Jack had the kitten tucked against her chest as she dug through the food reserves with one hand. Tali walked over to Liara, who was nearby. She whispered, "Jack found a cat. What is it?"
Liara looked over towards the biotic for the first time since she entered, "A cat is a domestic house pet."
Liara walked over to Jack, "You have a cat?"
"Kitten." She replied as she turned around with a tube of levo protein paste and a bottle of water in one hand, and the kitten in the other, pressed against her chest.
Tali walked up too, "What? I thought you said it was a cat."
Jack snorted, "A kitten is a baby cat."
Liara quirked a brow, "Has the kitten been checked for injuries?"
Jack looked down at the kitten, "Looks okay to me. Just starved. Do you mind?" She shouldered past the two other women.
Jack sat down on the floor, her back against the tent. She sat down the food and water next to herself, put the kitten on her lap, and stripped off her leather jacket. She laid her jacket on the ground, squeezed a pile of protein paste on it, poured some water into the bottle's cap, and set it down next to the paste. She smoothed the kitten's fur with one hand, and sat him down in front of the paste. He quickly dug into it, and a slight smirk passed over the biotic's face.
Liara and Tali were watching Jack and the kitten. Tali nudged Liara, "I guess Garrus wasn't kidding when he told me that teaching turned Jack maternal." She nodded in her direction, "Look how she's taking care of it."
Liara nodded, and went to kneel down in front of the kitten. She started scanning him with her omni-tool. She was looking over her scans, when Jack finally spoke to her, "He okay?"
Liara thought she heard genuine concern in Jack's voice, before she responded, "Yes. Dehydrated and malnourished though. No signs of infection or injury. It's a miracle he's still alive."
Jack nodded, "Yup. He's one lucky bastard." She mumbled "lucky bastard" again, as she stroked his fur. He started to purr again as he ate.
…...
Jack woke up early the next morning. It had taken her a long, long time to fall asleep too. She was worried about John. She propped herself up on her elbows, and looked down at her stomach. The kitten was sleeping on her curled into a tight ball, with his nose buried into his fluffy fur.
Jack smiled and petted him. He stretched and rolled over in response. She scratched the white fur of his stomach. When he was fully awake, Jack carried him over to a tray she had set-up for his food and water.
As she sat him down, she mumbled, "You've turned me into some kind of big damned softy."
Rodriguez walked over to Jack's spacious tent, with several bags of military rations, and two bottles of water. She knocked on the post of her tent, "Ma'am, are you awake?"
Jack replied, "Yup. Come in." And the smiling teenager sat down on her teacher's cot, and tossed the food next to her.
Jack's stomach grumbled, and she quickly walked over and opened a food packet. Rodriguez tore into one too, as she looked over and saw the kitten for the first time, "Is that a kitten?"
She rushed over and started petting him. She looked at his collar, "William? What a terrible name for something so cute."
Jack snorted in reply.
Rodriguez turned her head to look over her shoulder, "Are you gonna keep him?"
Jack sighed, "Yeah. Looks like I'm stuck with him. It's not like theres any fuc-freaking animal shelters around." She rolled her eyes.
Suddenly Jack's omni-tool beeped. Liara's voice sounded throughout the entire room when Jack accepted the call, "Jack. Shepard's condition has been promoted to stable. You can visit him now. However, he's not conscious."
Jack started heading towards the front of her tent, as she ended the call. Almost as an afterthought, she turned towards Rodriguez, "Can you watch him?" The girl nodded in reply.
…...
By the end of the week Jack fell into a routine of taking care of the kitten, visiting a still unconscious Shepard, and checking in on her students.
At the start of the next week, John Shepard regained consciousness. When he had finally started to stir next to Jack, she nearly shouted every explicative she could before the doctors rushed over.
On the eighth day of consciousness, he asked her what she had been doing while he was stuck in bed.
"I've been doing the same old shit. Keeping the kids under control, checking on your broken ass..." she lowered her voice to a near whisper, "And I've been taking care of William..."
He cocked a brow, he still wasn't able to move much, "Ah. Who's William?"
She sat back and crossed her arms, "I'm not saying shit." She smirked, amused at pushing his buttons.
He turned his head, "Really? Let me guess..." He guessed a variety of things, ranging from students to civilians. Each guess was met with a prompt "No" from Jack.
He rolled his eyes, "I give up. Just tell me."
She snickered, "Kitten."
"What? Are we giving each other pet names now?"
She smacked him lightly, "No, fucker. William is a kitten."
His mouth opened, and he searched her face. She was serious, "Wait. Wait. You, Jack, have been caring for a kitten?"
"Yup."
"The psychotic biotic has a kitten. You're caring for it."
"Yes." She was starting to get frustrated.
"A kitten named William. You've been taking care of a kitten named William."
She rolled her eyes, "I didn't name him, jackass. It was on his collar."
"Is this kitten still alive?"
"Yes!"
…...
The next morning, she fed and brushed William, "You little lucky bastard. You're meeting Shep today." She leaned down to whisper in his ear, "I want you to bite his nose, you hear me?"
Jack entered the sectioned-off area that belonged to Shepard, with William in tow. The kitten was wrapped up in her leather jacket in her arms, as if he was sitting in a basket.
"John." He turned towards her, he was propped up in a near sitting position with pillows, "I brought William."
He eyed the bundle in her arms curiously, "This better not be some sick joke where you dump a kitten's corpse on me."
She sat in the chair next to his bed, "Why the fuck would I be carrying a kitten's corpse in my jacket? This thing cost more than it looks."
She brought her legs up onto the chair and crossed them around the bundle. She used her now free hands, to fish William out of her jacket, "Here's the little lucky bastard."
She leaned over and put the fluffy mess of grey fur on John's chest, "Wow. He's alive."
Jack threw her jacket on the back of the chair, and leaned forward, "Told you."
She continued to lean over and scratched William's chin, he purred in response. John raised an eyebrow, "Never would have figured you for a cat person."
She chuckled and leaned back, "Ass. But yeah, neither did I... Actually, he's nice to have around. He sleeps with me every night."
John started to pet William, "Oh? So when I finally get out of here, am I gonna have to fight William for you?"
She grinned wide, "Maybe. I wonder who will win..."
…...