Game: Mass Effect 3
Pairing: Shep/Jack
Genre: Romance/Angst
Rating: T
A/N: Incorporates events from the Citadel DLC. Post ME 3. Written because I feel like Shep/Jack is largely underappreciated and because I love them. Thinking of turning this into a series of drabbles, and if I do, this will go from Romance/Angst to Romance/Humor, because I love writing humor.
I'm putting a warning for strong language in here, in case anyone is sensitive to that stuff. Jack isn't one to pretty up her words after all!
Anyway, as with all my ME fanfics, Shepard's first name and a detailed description of his appearance will not be given so everyone can imagine their personal Sheps. The Destruction Ending will be assumed for this fic, as that is the only ending in which he is shown to have possibly survived.
Permanent Ink
/ALIVE/
She was glad she'd given him that tattoo. Damn glad. If he really was torn to shreds, laying broken and bleeding somewhere, body beaten beyond recognition—
No. Shut the fuck up Jack. He's fine. He told you that you—you! Of all people!—worry too much. And you know what? He's fuckin' right. SO STOP THIS SHIT RIGHT NOW!
Jack stifled a curse, not wanting her kids to hear her bad language. She bit down hard on her lip to keep herself from slipping up, her eyes moving over to look at the young adults she'd grown fiercely attached to as they anxiously waited for news about the state of the Citadel, which had been ripped to pieces after Shepard—and she just knew that it had been him—had started the Crucible up.
Even though she was the perfect picture of calm, a look of utter boredom on her heavy inked face, she was raging inside. Who had given that idiot permission to do something like that without her there? She had wanted to get to him, had fought tooth and nail, punched, cursed, crushed, and utterly annihilated everything that had stood between her and her goal.
But she had been too late.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ensign Rodriguez sneak a worried glance at her before turning her attention back to the wall-to-wall vidscreens. They all knew about her relationship with the Commander and they also knew that it was best to stay away from their teacher in this difficult time, even if they wanted to surround her with comforting words and cushy lies. It wasn't what she needed or wanted, and if someone even thought of pulling that shit on her…
Easy Jack, easy. They mean well, you know they do. They're naïve. Goodhearted, but naïve.
She let out a breath, trying to calm herself.
Dammit Shepard. You're an ass. You know that? An ass.
She had promised to clean up her act, not only because she had been on the highway to hell—not that she had really cared that much—but because of her kids, because of him. Because they cared enough to care about her and she cared about them . Because she had been given a reason to live, to actually give a crap about something in the shitty universe she lived in. The suicide mission had granted her what she had never thought she could get—peace, growth, love. And all because of that stupid Spectre with his stupid grin and his stupid charming ways and the stupid way he cared for her.
Yup. You're an ass, Shepard. A stupid, sexy ass.
Jack rolled her shoulders, tasting blood from where she had bitten down on her lip. The cut stung lightly, just enough to remind her that she was alive and kicking. It felt good. The raw, physical pain. She could deal with that. This emotional shit…not so much.
One of her kids, a young woman, let out a sob and muttered something about extended family members, several of the other students quickly moving in to comfort her. Jack felt her heart go out to the girl, something that, had Shepard not intervened in her life, she would have been incapable of. Hell, if Shepard hadn't intervened she'd probably have been found by those Cerberus bastards and been tortured—or worse.
Her eyes looked over her students, all of them weary and worn ragged by the never-ending demands of the war. She had to be strong for them. They were still scared shitless after all. Though they'd never experience the horror of a Cerberus facility, they'd seen something nearly as bad. What was it Shepard had told her that The Bird had called it? Oh yes, the ruthless calculus of war.
The Reapers were beat, yes, but how long before some other psychopath went…well…psycho? How long before Reaper-wannabes started popping up all over the galaxy? How long before the never-ending nightmare ended?
Shit, Shepard. You're making me want to live.
Salty tears stung her eyes all of a sudden and she blinked rapidly to keep them at bay. Something inside her chest—was it her heart?—was twisting painfully, making her wish that she could just rip it out and blow it up with a big KABOOM!
Sniffing angrily, she shook her head and stamped her foot impatiently. She hated it, this waiting. She hated feeling. She hated losing. She hated winning. She hated living, laughing, crying, lying, stealing, fighting, killing, existing. But most of all, she hated him.
Because he had given her hope.
Because he had loved her.
"Hey, Ms. Ja—"
"NOT RIGHT NOW!" Jack barked, her voice thick with sorrow. "WIPE YOUR OWN ASS FOR A CHANGE!"
"But—"
"I SAID—" Jack turned on her students, all frightened by her sudden snap. She would feel bad about it later and apologize, but for right now…she was mad. And someone needed to pay. She couldn't kill the Reapers because Shepard had already done that for her, and she couldn't kill him because she loved him. And because he was more than likely—
Before she could continue on in her thoughts or rant, the loudspeaker broke over the ruckus of the relief station. A collective breath was taken as everyone stopped what they were doing, all eyes watching, all ears listening, all muscles tensing.
"—BREAKING NEWS! I REPEAT! BREAKING NEWS—"
Jack bit back another curse, this one relating to the new reporter's circumstances under which he'd been conceived.
Could he just get the hell on with it?!
"—COMMANDER SHEPARD HAS BEEN FOUND—"
Jack's heart stopped.
Alive, dammit. Be alive Shepard. Because if you aren't, I'm going to heaven and ripping off your angel wings on my way down to hell.
"—ALIVE."
A/N: "The Bird" refers to Garrus xD
