Authors notes: Mass Effect is the property of Bioware. Both Commander Shepard and Jack belong to Bioware

I am releasing the first three chapters at once because the first two set up the background and characters/setting respectively. The third is where I would consider the meat of the story to start.

This is my first fan fiction, and my first piece of extended writing ever so feedback and reviews would be very welcome :)

Update: thank you to KenTatsujin for finding my slip up, corrected it now.


Chapter 1: Prologue

The young Thane Shepard stood hand in hand between his father, the famous war hero Commander John Shepard and his mother, the biotic powerhouse know only as Jack. Being only ten years old, Thane didn't fully understand why he was dragged out of the house at 8am to stand in a hall surrounded by adults but he knew that he didn't like it. He just wanted to go home and play with his Blasto action figure. Thane was a shy boy with few friends and he found solace in re-enacting the action packed shows he watched. He had jet black, scruffy hair that just about covered his ears. He wore simple civilian clothes with the exception of a dark purple hoodie with "Shepard" emblazoned on the back in light grey lettering. His brown eyes matched his mother's yet they had a glint of his father's courage hidden behind them. He stared upwards, a look of boredom and confusion on his face as he prodded his father for attention.

The fabled commander bore the scars and marks of the war he had fought in and, against all odds, won against the reapers. Every sentient being knew what Shepard had gone through, they knew the sacrifices he had made and the pain he had brought upon himself to banish the vile creatures from the face of the universe. The N7 armour he wore was battered and bruised much like its wearer but had clearly been cleaned and buffed for the occasion. Jack on the other hand had perfect skin, if you ignored the wealth of tattoos covering her entire body that is. The ex-convict was infamous across the galaxy for a list of crimes the stretched further than most children could count, but she was equally as well known for being the strongest human biotic ever. Her head was shaved apart from a thick faux hawk down the centre of her scalp, which ended in a flowing black ponytail. A few strands of hair had escaped the ponytail and were hanging loose across her face. Beauty resonated from her, even past the tattoos and shaved head she couldn't hide her perfect bone structure, full lips and glorious eyes that could swallow a person whole. She wore a studded leather jacket over a plain white tank top that left little to the imagination, she didn't see the need to dress any differently for a special occasion like her other half. The commander beamed a smile down at Thane and motioned towards the stage.

"Thane you don't want to miss this, it's not often you get to see a person graduate ICT at N6 level, least of all someone you're related to" The pride emanated from his voice as he spoke the last few words.

"Fuck John, I think you're givin' me diabetes over here. You couldn't hide your pride if you wanted to could you?" retorted the tattooed beauty. Her husband simply laughed and shook his head at the ground.

"Please Jack, I can see it in your eyes. You're just as happy as I am!"

Jack reached over with her free hand and thumped Shepard in the arm. "Shut up you bastard", she growled with a smile, her heart not in the insult or punch at all.

"Call that a punch? Careful Jack, people might think that the scariest biotic in the galaxy had gone soft. What ever would you do the-" Shepard's words were cut short by another punch connecting with his shoulder, staggering him backwards. The sly biotic smirked and raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to keep talking. He wisely stayed quiet this time around, choosing instead to plant a kiss on the surprised convict's lips.

Thane had blanked their conversation out as he glanced around the room he found himself in. It was a tall ceilinged affair, large pillars on either side of the room held up the roof from which hung chandeliers that illuminated everything around. Thane's eyes eventually fell on the raised area in front of him. The tall black, ceremonial platform had maybe thirty, forty people standing on it. Thane found it hard to tell exactly how many there were as he could barely see over the lip of the stage. The only person he had a clear view of was an angry looking man, bathed in medals that addressed the gathered masses in front of him with an aggressive undertone in his voice. He hadn't stopped talking since they arrived and Thane hadn't taken any notice of him but it sounded like he was drawing to a close.

"And finally ladies and gentleman. I am proud to award the highest possible honour achievable in the Interplanetary Combatives Training program, a pass at N6 level, to Garrus Shepard!"

From the back of the stage, Thane could see a familiar man march towards the podium the general was standing at. Garrus was Thane's older brother, seven years older to be precise. Commander Shepard had told Thane long ago that both he and his brother were named after great men that had fought beside the commander during his adventures and he had heard many stories about the heroic deeds they performed during the war. This didn't change Thane's opinion on it though; neither did it change the bullies jeers and beatings he received at school.

Unlike Thane, Garrus was the embodiment of confidence. He had an aura of power that followed him around like a cloud and held the respect of everyone around him. Thane had not seen his brother for months and he his appearance had changed greatly in that time. His once smooth, clean face now bore a deep scare across his left check. A closely shaved beard had accompanied his wavy black hair when Thane wished him goodbye but now he mimicked his father's hairstyle; a buzz cut and clean shave. Garrus was still as tall as ever. He was a good head taller than the general who was by no means a short man. The black robe he wore had the Alliance emblem sewn onto it with his name and rank proudly displayed for all to see.

It wasn't that Thane hated his brother, more that he was jealous. Garrus was a natural fighter. He was born to the Shepard name and lived up to his father's legend in all aspects of his life. He could command any man around him and was a dead eye with a rifle. To accompany this he had the silver tongue and attitude of his mother, which gelled perfectly to make him vicious as well as confident. Thane had none of these qualities. From his first few steps he had preferred to play rather than fight. He was naturally shy which meant he found it hard to speak up among groups and this stopped him making friends. One trait he had inherited from his mother however was a knack for biotics.

Under Jack's careful tutoring he had become a gifted and talented biotic for his age, but as he was only ten, this culminated in making pencils and other small objects float a few inches above the ground. Maybe it was because of this that Thane had always felt closer to his mother than his father.

Thane realised that he had been daydreaming for a good few minutes when he re-focused his attention on Garrus, who had already finished his acceptance speech and was shaking the generals hand. The crowd then erupted into applause but no one could compete with Commander Shepard. He was clapping his hands together at sonic boom levels and his cheers could be heard above everyone else in the room. They were accompanied by his mother's congratulations in the only way Jack knew.

"Shit yeah! You showed those fuckers Garrus!"

She was met with a few dagger stares from other parents in the room but of course Jack didn't care, she was too busy enjoying the pride she was experiencing. Shepard and her beamed at their son, their smiles large and proud and for the first time that day, Thane smiled with them. Even though he burned with jealousy, he was a good person at heart and couldn't help but feel a tang of happiness for his brother.


After the graduation ceremony was complete, the Shepards as they were called (for the last time after a few choice words from Jack), were allowed back stage to see their son. Behind the stage curtain there were tables laid out with all manner of food and drink, from all reaches of the galaxy. In the centre of the room there was a large round table that all the students were seated around idly chatting and joking to each other. It was instantly obvious were Garrus was seated; the large group of squealing girls gave it away. Jack had no problems with pushing the students out of the way to get to her son, she threw a few of the more forward girls an evil look and they backed off. She pulled Garrus to his feet and took him into a hug that had been long overdue. Jack pulled away and punched him roughly on the shoulder and nodded.

"Well done kid. I knew your fathers genes wouldn't hold you back to much" She jested followed by and un-approving look from Shepard. The commander patted his eldest on the back, smiling at him warmly.

"There was never a doubt in my mind you'd make it, even with my genes" he shot sarcastically at Jack. "You've made us all proud today son and I know you'll continue to do so while you serve the Alliance." Shepard patted Garrus on the back again as he finish and the two shared an embrace.

" It's so good to see you lot again, I missed you guys so much" Garrus told the family warmly, glancing from Jack to Shepard and then finally onto Thane who had occupied him self by staring at the floor. "I especially missed you little man, how are the biotics coming along? Fancy showing me some?"

Thane moved his eyes up to meet his older brothers. They had changed to now he looked deep into them; they looked older, wearier and appeared to hide secrets and stories of dark things.

"I can move my toys around" Thane sheepishly replied, glaring back down at the floor as soon as the words had left his lips. His reward was a small chuckle from his brother that burnt his ears and made him glow a bright red colour. Jack noticed this and spoke in defence of her youngest cub.

"You're damn right you can, for your age that's fucking amazing. Garrus wouldn't understand, he's not magical like us" She winked at Thane as she spoke which caused a small laugh to escape from his lips as Shepard ruffled his hair. The family laughed and joked with each other for another few hours. The room was alive with Garrus's stories of his training accompanied by Shepard's murmurs of agreement and the occasional bellowing laugh. They were together again after such a long time apart but it wouldn't last. Garrus was leaving for active duty with the Alliance the next day so that night was all about family and saying their goodbyes. Gifts were exchanged and speeches were made but Thane was only half paying attention to the festivities. He was only ten though, little kids aren't known for their attention span and so now one really seemed to mind him wandering away towards the food table.

For the second time today his short stature had blunted his efforts as he found himself too small to reach the glorious assortment of food laid out for the attendees. Thane suddenly realised just how hungry he had become as his stomach growled at him like a feral beast. He reached up for the mouth-watering spread, his arms outstretched and fingers grasping but to no avail. Thane let out a long and irritated sigh; he glared at the food before a single thought burst into his mind. He gingerly reached out with one hand and a thin sheath of blue energy surrounded the black haired boy. He closed his eyes and focused on a particularly juicy looking apple, it was red, ripe and practically begging to be devoured by the hungry boy. Thane furrowed his brow and bit his lower lip in concentration as the rosy fruit wobbled and shuddered on its plate. Thane's head started to get heavy as he concentrated harder and harder when suddenly the apple sprung up in to the air with a small hiss and lazily hung in defiance of gravity. Thane dared to open one eye followed by another and then a large smile burst onto his face. The small biotic guided the fruit slowly down towards his awaiting mouth; he could already taste the precious fruit between his gums.

"Well now, that's quite some skill you've got there dear" Thane heard a smooth voice behind him call. The blue aura faded and the apple crashed to the floor as he quickly shot around to see where the voice had come from. Behind him stood a tall blonde woman in an Alliance uniform. Her hair was up in a bun and she had glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. Thane didn't like her. Something about her seemed false, like she wanted something from him. Maybe Jack felt some sort of deep emotional bond to her child and picked up on what Thane felt as well, or maybe she just happened to glance over in his direction. Either way she shot over to her son and forcefully put herself in between the blonde woman and the frightened child. Jack stared her down, using her beautiful eyes to take in every detail she could see before calmly addressing her, well calmly for Jack.

"Oi sexretary, you scared my kid. I think you better apologise before those pretty specs of yours get rammed somewhere the sun don't shine. Get where I'm coming from?" The biotic raised a glowing fist towards the startled woman who looked shocked for exactly two seconds before re-gaining her composure.

"Ahh you must be Jack, pleased to meet you" Jack didn't break eye contact and completely ignored the friendly greeting.

"Get. Apologising. Now!"

"And that means you must be Thane" The woman smiled down at the small biotic who quickly shuffled behind his mothers leg. "I am terrible sorry if I scared you, but I was only impressed by your skills." She talked to Jack after that.

"You see Jack I run a school for Young adults that focuses purely on the biotically gifted, like your son here"

"So like Grissom Academy then?" Jack interrupted

"Exactly. However this school is located on Umbra, a newly discovered planet in an outer arm of the galaxy. This will avoid any accidents like Grissom Academy" The woman faked a smile again.

"Grissom wasn't a mistake. Cerberus attacked it, I was there" Snarled Jack, resembling a wild animal in both tone and posture, guarding her child.

"I just think with Thanes talents, he would be a perfect match for the school. He would be one of the privileged first year students when this historical place of learning opens and we would love to have him."

Thane's eyes widened as he heard this part. Did she say a new school? The chance to start again with a new group of people? Even at only seven, Thane knew he couldn't let this slip through his grasp even if it took him eight years to convince his parents.