"Jack... "
She sighed as she stirred. Their nude forms rested as one in the classy suite's bed. Her head was on his chest, their legs intertwined like a braid. She traced circles with one hand on his lean, mildly toned chest. Realization was dawning on her, she'd be going through the Omega 4 Relay soon now. She'd given the team one last shore leave, the ship's crew was to stay and get the final preparations before the mission that might be their last.
"What is it?" He cooed and planted a small kiss on her hairline, concern was badly hidden in his voice, it echoed her own. He knew the answer, but asked anyway.
"It's just..."
"The mission?" He said before she could go on. He tightened his embrace, nuzzling her silky, flame-colored hair. The commander stirred again, she wanted this to never end.
"...this maybe the last time we're together like this," she said hesitantly. She hated how she sounded, she wasn't supposed to show weakness like this. Not even to her lover.
"I have nothing but the utmost faith in you, Shepard," he said. And he meant it, even if he couldn't help but worry. He felt her hand now tracing erratic patterns. With his free hand, he clasped her hand in his and planted a kiss on it. Shepard sighed again. He let it go and placed his hand on her freckled cheek, gently, but assertively, moving her to meet his eyes. "Jane, you've done everything right. The crew is loyal to you, the ship is the best the galaxy has to offer. You will succeed".
Their eyes locked. His gaze was fierce, piercing. Passionate. That was the man she'd come to know as Jack Harper. Only a handful of people had knowledge of that name, some of which were now dead because of it. To everyone else, even her a couple of months ago, he was the Illusive Man, head of terrorist organization, Cerberus.
Thinking back, two years ago- hell, a few months ago- had someone told her this is where Commander Jane Shepard, savior of the Citadel, sole survivor of Akuze, would be this moment, she'd have punched the fucker right across the face. Dying. Being brought back to life. Working with Cerberus... now this. She had a hard time believing it herself.
Yet here she was, in a five-star hotel on Illium; spending what might be, again, her final moments, lying naked in bed with him, after a night of passionate, animalistic sex. There was nowhere else she'd rather be.
Shoving her mind back to the present, Shepard smiled. She leaned in to put her lips on his. It was a slow, sensuous kiss. Jack Harper was so much more than the ever elusive, Illusive Man. Jane didn't claim to know him inside out, nor did she see eye to eye with his methods. She was not naïve to think she could change him, but she understood where he was coming from.
Jack was the one who broke the kiss. His prosthetic eyes were still focused on her. Jane was fascinated by them. Their intensity mirrored his personality and their beauty was mysterious, much like his operations within Cerberus. At this point, they were something she'd feared finding out more about. But her time was short, there was no sense dwelling on this now; this wasn't how she wanted to spend her last hours of peace. She broke eye contact and laid her head back on his chest, slid her hand down to his abdomen and caressed him there absentmindedly.
"Missions like this never go as planned. I just hope you're right," she said, staring into space.
"I always am", he replied with a smirk playing upon his features.
"Cocky son of a bitch", she punched his chest playfully. He slid his hand from her waist to her hair to play with it. He knew she loved it when he did that. She purred under his touch. "Then again, if we fail, that's one monumental investment you'd be losing", she replied part jokingly, part teasingly, and part bitterly.
"Don't talk like that, Jane. You know well that's not all that you are to me," he replied, his tone serious.
"Still, I keep thinking..." She started, stirred in his arms again, "ideally, we'd sneak inside the Collector Base unnoticed, but that's very off the table, consideri-"
He cut her off placing two fingers to Shepard's lips. "Shhh... No mission talk right now," he said softly. His lips curved into a smile. "Besides, you'll just be doing what you're best at". Eyes narrowed. "Now", he started, his smile turned into a smirk, "what was it you were also exceptionally good at?" He asked provocatively, sliding her under him. His lips were locked on hers in a slow, but hungry kiss. He felt one of her hands on the back of his neck deepening the kiss, the other running up and down his back.
Propped up on one elbow, Jack ran his free hand all over her curves. He broke their kiss and planted a trail of small, moist kisses down her neck. He nibbled and sucked on it, now fully on top her. Jack loved how she felt underneath him, how she writhed and the tiniest moans that escaped her lips under his touch. Her scent, it was intoxicat-
The sound of her omni-tool rudely tore both of them off their rapture. An urgent call from EDI. With a slightly annoyed sigh, Jane gently pushed at his chest and he obliged, rolling off of her. She answered it with a flick of her fingers on the holographic HUD.
"Alright, EDI, lay it on me." She said, looking at nowhere in particular. EDI's synthetic, monotone voice then filled the room, "Shepard, Jeff and I were able to get the Reaper IFF up and running. But it appears it was also a trap."
"A trap? What do you mean?"
"It appears that during its testing, it was also transmitting the Normandy's location. The Collectors boarded and took all of the surviving crew, except for Jeff, with them."
"Jef- Joker? Where is he now?" Shepard's eyes widened. Jack just watched her intently, unmoving.
"He's currently heading toward the cockpit, he sustained no injuries".
"Alright, alert the rest of the team. We meet at the dock in 30". With that, the transmission ended. Shepard jumped off the bed before Jack could say anything. There was now expectant concern in his bright, prosthetic eyes. She proceeded to search for her clothing, scattered on the floor. "I'm heading back to the Normandy", she stated, not making eye contact.
There it was. That fire in her eyes. There was no stopping her now. That was one of the things that made him respect and admire her the most. It was beautiful, enthralling. He wasn't going to bother questioning her. Jack just laid there, bare and in silence, watching her as she clothed herself again.
She leaned over and planted a small kiss on his lips, then wordlessly started towards the door.
"Jane, I..." He started, then trailed off. As she reached the door, she turned to face him, her 'Commander Shepard' mask already firmly in place. "Shepard..." He started again "Just... come back in one piece."
She kept eye contact for another moment, but gave him no reply. Finally, she walked out the door and he was left there alone. He'd be following her lead soon. The time for Jack Harper was up. It was time to be the Illusive Man again.
Come back to me.
A/N: Confession time, I have no idea what I'm doing, I've never written before. That said, I'll welcome- even request- any kind of constructive criticism, be it grammar, spelling or fomatting mistakes, writing 'style', anything goes. Like I said, I have no idea what I'm doing, but I do want to learn.
Did this for the kmeme. Therefore, I'm using default FemShep; I don't normally dig defaults. The story is named after the TRUSTcompany song, "Heart In My Hands". Seemed fitting enough. Other than that, I can't really promise quick updates to though who dig this. Real life gets in the way and this is a pretty tough prompt, I just hope I didn't bite off more than I can chew. :P