He could feel her eyes boring into him as she lingered by the airlock. It made him feel uncomfortable, like he was withering under her gaze. Shepard was a powerful woman, a force to be reckoned with; Jeff pitied anyone that ever attempted to cross her.
"Joker," she called, just loud enough for him to hear over the sound of her armoured fingers drumming against the metal column behind him.
"Yeah, Commander?"
Silence. The drumming stopped, replaced with the sound of a sharp inhalation. His hands paused over the screen. In all the time he'd worked for Shepard, he'd never known her to get stuck for words. He swallowed hard, trying to get the lump in his throat to shift. This might be the last time they spoke, that he saw any of the Normandy's crew alive, but he refused to believe it. Shepard had a habit of making supposedly impossible things happen. But still the doubt gnawed at his gut, making him feel nauseous.
He could hear her struggling to speak. A deep breath, followed by a few seconds of nothing before releasing it again, deflated. Her boots scuffed against the floor as she seemed to dither between continuing or walking away. It was torture.
"Goodbye."
"What? No, you can't just-" Joker swivelled in his chair, bumping his rib painfully against the arm rest, cursing to himself. He saw a flash of red hair and she was gone, boots clomping heavily down the port-side airlock. "Commander!" he shouted, trying to ease himself out of the chair. The sound of the airlock doors opening forced him up faster than he would have liked; he lost his balance and stumbled against the metal column. "Jane!"
That made her stop. Joker pulled himself around the column to see her glance over her shoulder. She smiled and it hit him then how exhausted she looked. Her shoulders were hunched, her hands were shaking. She didn't expect to come out of this alive.
The airlock closed behind her and he listened to her fading footfalls. When all was silent, he adjusted his cap and hobbled down the walkway to the armoury. Like hell he was going to just sit there and pray.
AN: First thing I've written in years. Literally. I'm a big fan of Female Shepard x Joker for Mass Effect 3. I see people going on about 'bluh bluh, she'd break his bones', but why does a relationship have to involve sex to work? Regardless of whether or not that happens, I still cannot wait this game to come out. Just a week and a half, guys!
The prompt for this drabble, 'goodbye', is from Unthemed Table 2 at Mission Insane on Livejournal. Still thinking about whether or not to continue with it or look for another prompt. I'm going to struggle with 'lint', haha. If anyone has any random words or anything, let me know. It might spark something.
Constructive criticism is much appreciated. I hope you enjoyed reading this. :)