Location: Exodus Cluster, Utopia System, Eden Prime.
"This is stupid Shepard, why are we even here?" Jack complained.
She looked at him with venom, her features hardened like stone. Jack tried her best to hide her apprehension with derision and apathy, but it wasn't fooling the man standing beside her.
"You know why you're here," Shepard dismissed.
Shepard was never one to mince words or waste any time when something needed to be done. The Reapers were running amuck in the galaxy and the war was in full swing. They had the Genophage cure and quelled the Cerberus coup that exposed Udina as a traitor.
"We have better things to do than come here, like stop the Reaper invasion," she argued.
"We're helping with the evac of Eden Prime, Jack, nothing more."
Jack stopped in her tracks, before glaring at Shepard. "Don't bullshit me Shepard. Blue already told me the truth."
"Yeah, if you know the truth then you should be twice as motivated to help the evac."
The Alliance had just successfully liberated Eden Prime from Cerberus control two weeks after Javik was retrieved. Cerberus had prevented people from leaving the planet by setting up AA guns around the colony as well as a blockade. They needed the resources Eden Prime possessed like the Eezo and platinum for various projects The Illusive Man had planned.
"Evacuating one family won't send the Reapers to hell. Me leading my students will."
"If that's the case then why did you agree to come with me this far?" he accused, without so much as glancing at Jack. He knew her well enough that he could predict her facial expression without looking at her.
"Now shut up and follow me, the house is dead ahead," Shepard said.
Jack replied by punching the Commander in his stomach 'gently' causing the Commander to begin wheezing. "How many times do I have to tell you, you don't tell me to shut up."
"I'll get you for that," he coughed.
There weren't many that could get away with hitting the Commander but Jack was definitely on that list. He valued her as a friend and could always rely on her to tell him the unfiltered truth. She was the only person on the ship who wasn't impressed with his accomplishments or hero status, making her an ideal friend in Shepard's eyes.
They waited outside for a few minutes for Shepard to get his breath back, Jack wasn't willing to go through with this without him. She leaned against the fence, rubbing her arms to warm herself up. It was bitingly cold on the colony, too much for Jack, even though she wore fatigues without any holes or cuts, as well as a tightfitting top.
Shepard rang the doorbell and the two waited in anticipation. Shepard noticed Jack scratching the inside of her right forearm. Its where one of her deepest scars is hidden, at least the deepest she ever inflicted on herself, hidden by the intricate red tattoo that spirals around her entire arm like a single strand of DNA.
I've only ever seen her do that twice. On the shuttle when we approached the Teltin facility and before the suicide mission. Shepard thought to himself. He took his N7 hoodie and wrapped it around Jack, who in turn pulled the hood up.
"Who's there?" a young female asked through the intercom.
"Alliance! I'm here to help you evacuate to the Citadel."
"What's your Alliance Reg. Number? Cerberus bastards are still abducting colonists."
Cerberus had been using their Alliance agents to take some colonists to their research facilities for experimentation under the false pretence of rescue.
"N7-1897978272."
"And your friend over there?" the voice inquired, causing Jack to jump, as if suddenly hit by a mild static shock. She's more nervous than she would like to be.
"She's a civilian, she used to live here a long time ago."
"Then someone here should kn-… oh my god, you're Commander Shepard," she gasped. "I'm sorry, please come in," she apologised, dropping the kinetic barrier surrounding the house.
They were greeted by a woman who appeared slightly younger than Shepard. She was a plump woman, blessed with light, olive, flawless skin. She had thin, round glasses adorning her face. She also had a tattoo sleeve even more intricate than Jack's down her left and a single tattoo written along her wrist. There was a single name…. Jennifer.
"Hi, Commander, I'm Imogen," she said offering her hand out to Shepard.
"Abel Shepard, pleasure to meet you ma'am. Now if you don't mind, we need to hurry."
"We're really glad that you're here to help. But we can't leave yet,"
"Why's that?"
"My mother is sick, and from what I hear, the Citadel is really busy and Huerta Memorial is full. I can treat her with the supplies we have here on Eden Prime,"
Jack tensed up again at the mention of the word mother. The concept was so alien to her. She had read about what they were and how people were meant to feel about them, but she couldn't imagine it. Closest thing that came to female nurturing was when Samara would spar with her and tell her what she did wrong. Her apprehension began to mix with worry, confusion and anger.
Worry from the fact that this woman who could potentially be her mother was ill. And confusion and anger from the fact she had these emotions for a woman who she had never met or spoken to.
"The Reapers are heading to this system soon. Staying here is no longer an option for you. If you're that worried, I can personally guarantee that your mother will be taken care of."
She squinted her eyes, and her feet shifted into an offensive stance. "Are you offering the same thing to every remaining family."
"No, just you."
"Why us?"
"It's random. The Alliance picked me for Eden Prime and instructed me to get you out of here by any means necessary."
"Then no."
"Why not?"
"I'll continue this conversation as soon as you're done lying to me," she stated before storming back into her house, before Abel could get another word in.
Abel face palmed and sternly rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I like her," Jack chuckled.
"Good to know you're still here, I thought a cat had your tongue," Abel accused, casting a glare at his friend.
Jack remained silent for a little bit before saying. "So that's my sister huh… she's fat."
"Well she can join a gym on the Citadel," Abel smiled, rubbing his forehead.
Abel knocked on the door and Imogen returned, with her arms crossed, brows furrowed, and lips pursed. "We need to get you out of here Ms. Thompson,"
"Don't call me that. I am not that man's daughter," she spat. Causing Jack to raise her eyebrow beneath the hood.
"Okay, Imogen, what makes you think I'm lying to you."
"Because I'm not stupid, why would the man supposedly leading the war against the Reapers stop by this colony again just to evacuate civilians. They have plenty of soldiers for that, and they wouldn't go as far as sending you just to get a couple of people to safety, especially my family. So, you have to have an ulterior motive."
Abel was significantly impressed by Imogen's deductive reasoning. "What do you mean by especially your family."
"Our family isn't exactly popular with anyone. After what happened with my father and mother, we get treated like second class citizens. If I wasn't one of the best doctors in the colony, they would have ran us out by now. So why are you helping us Commander."
"I have to say I'm impressed. I thought I could get you to safety without saying anything more than I need to. But it looks like I have to tell you. I'm doing this for a friend."
"Who's this friend."
"Someone who cares about you, but is too shy to reveal themselves."
"Commander if this is my father trying to make things right before my mom dies, then he can go to hell. We don't need anyth-"
"It's not from your father. It's from someone else."
"I don't believe you. You lie to me, and you bring a fricking mime with you, who hides behind a hoodie and stares at my tattoos. What are you looking at?" she demanded from Jack.
"What did your dad do?" Jack asked
"What? You know me for 2 minutes and you're asking me something that personal. Just who the fuck do you think you are?" she seethed reaching to pull Jack's hoodie to reveal her face. Jack didn't resist and just let it happen.
Imogen stared at Jack in disbelief. Unsure of whether or not to be impressed by her collection of tattoos, or her striking resemblance to her mother. "What's going on here?"
Jack took a second to take a snapshot of this moment. There was no turning back from this moment and she knew it. She was going to open Pandora's box and there was no way of taking back any of what she was going to say.
"My name is Jack. Or at least that's the name I've gone by since I was 13. Cerberus kidnapped me when I was young and raised me. I was tortured every day for years before I managed to get out. A couple of weeks ago this jackass pulled me out of Grissom Academy, away from Cerberus control. But while we were there, the blue bitch told me what my real first name is. Last week she sent me a folder, about the real me," Jack explained.
It was clear to Abel that she was stalling for time. Jack was never one to talk about her past to just anyone, or give a long explanation. She would normally say what she wanted to say, nothing more or less.
"My birth name is Jennifer Thompson."
At the end of Jack's sentence, Imogen lost her footing, and if it wasn't for Abel she would have hit the ground hard. Her hand hovered shakily over her mouth, as she spoke in incoherent mumbles, interrupted by intermittent sobs.
"If you don't believe me, then we can take a test do-"
"Imogen what's wrong?" another female voice shouted before stepping out into the garden, causing Abel's jaw to drop.
I swear if I didn't know any better, I would think that Jack had cloned herself and that clone just stepped out of the house. She looks very young, but you could easily mistake her for Jack's twin were it not for the hair and tattoos, Shepard thought.
"Imogen!" she screamed, seeing her sister collapsed in Abel's arms. She ran straight at Shepard with every intention of attacking him and that was clear to Abel, so he trapped her in a weak stasis field.
Okay, so being fiery is a family trait. Shepard was about to explain what was going on, but then he was rattled by gunfire in his general direction.
"Get away from my sister!" another voice demanded.
"Wade dhlk beydaan Zafir," Imogen ordered, finally getting the strength to stand on her own two feet. "I'm sorry about my brother and sister, they are very protective," she apologised.
Shepard released the stasis field, and her brother dropped the shotgun.
"What language was that?" Jack asked.
"Arabic, my mother made sure that we could all speak it fluently," Imogen explained. But the fact that she emphasised my mother, implied that she still doesn't believe Jack completely. The DNA test was the only thing that could make her truly believe.
Abel approached the young girl, extending his hand as an offer of apology, "I'm really sorry about the misunderstanding. I'm Commander Abel Shepard."
That offer was immediately rebuffed by the girl who pushed his hand aside, and stood up on her own. "Manara Al-Razi, and that over there is my brother Zafir," she said, with disdain. Clearly still angry over being trapped in a stasis field.
"Excuse her Commander. Kids can be a little temperamental," Imogen half-apologised, still keeping an eye on Jack, whilst also covering her 'Jennifer' tattoo.
"We aren't kids Imogen," Zafir countered.
"You're 17 and she's 16. To me you're both kids."
Jack quickly took the opportunity to observe Zafir. Of the three, he looked the least like the rest. He had the same slitted eyes and olive skin, but everything else was different. He was shorter than Shepard by a few inches, but he was well built, with a strong jaw, thin lips and short spiky hair.
"Imogen, time is of the essence, I can't stay on Eden Prime for too long," Abel urged. They were still waiting for Legion to locate the Reaper base on Rannoch. He was also babysitting Admiral Han'Gerrel to make sure that he doesn't let his obsession with killing the Geth, screw over the rest of the galaxy in the Reaper war.
"Come in Jack, we'll do the test now. It won't take very long."
Imogen sat on the sofa in silence. Jack sat on a couch on the opposite side of the room, also in silence. The tension between them was very palpable, making this awkward for Manara, Zafir and Abel. Each would cast uneasy glances at the other, hoping not to make eye contact. Manara and Zafir shifted uncomfortably in their seats, still in the dark as to why Shepard was there and Imogen refused to answer their questions.
Zafir had noticed immediately noticed the resemblance between Jack, Imogen and Manara and he began making connections. With his family being pariah's in the colony, getting jumped wasn't uncommon for Zafir, so he learned to read situations and people astutely. This lady is probably related to us somehow. She's not Alliance, but she's with Commander Shepard. She looks way too much like my sisters to not be a relative. She's also close to the Commander, the only time she feels at ease is when she focuses on him, or when he's nearby.
The console beside Imogen began beeping, cutting through the tension like a knife through butter. Abel took the opportunity to stand behind Jack and place a reassuring hand on her shoulder. His touch melting away some of her apprehension.
Imogen's heartbeat could be heard throughout the galaxy, as the anticipation built to a fervour pitch. She knew she had to open the tab, but in doing so, could well crush the hope she had built in secret.
"What's it say?" Jack asked. Jack wasn't nervous about the results. She was certain that these are her relatives. What she was more concerned about was their reaction to the news that she was still alive after all these years.
"Looks like you told the truth," Imogen said quickly.
"The truth about what?" Manara inquired.
Imogen stood up and sat next to Manara and Zafir, holding each of their hands, without looking at them. "Zafir, Manara, remember what mum told you two about how she had another daughter who the doctors said, died of complications from prenatal eezo exposure."
"Yeah, she hated talking about it. It brought back too many painful memories," Zafir added, keeping an eye on Jack's reactions. Taking note of her sneer at the mention of the word doctor.
"This is her," she announced pointing at Jack. "Jennifer Thompson, my little sister."
Manara's jaw dropped in shock, whereas Zafir had a more measured response. Manara couldn't take her eyes off of Jack, as she drank in her features. The similarities between them were becoming more and more obvious.
"But how's that possible, like you said before she died," Zafir asked.
Before Imogen could respond, Jack cleared her throat indicating that she wanted to speak. And for the first time in her life she was directly speaking to her younger siblings.
"I didn't. Cerberus doctors were kidnapping babies and toddlers to experiment on them. I was taken to Planet Pragia where…" Jack was interrupted by Shepard squeezing Jack's arm.
"Giving them the full and gruesome details now might be too much for them to handle. For now, let's get them to the Citadel," Abel whispered.
Jack nodded in agreement, but before she spoke, Manara jumped in. "What are you whispering about?"
"We need to get you off this planet. Reapers are closing in on the system, and if we wait too long we won't be able to escape," Abel warned. "You can talk to Jack all-"
"Jennifer." Imogen asserted.
"-all you want aboard the Normandy. Let's get your mom on board. And if you're worried about her health, the Normandy has a state of the art Med-bay. And I can guarantee her a room on Huerta Memorial. I can have some people from my crew come down to help out, but we need to move ASAP,"
"I don't care who you are, you don't have the right to tell me what to do. And you definitely don't have the right to decide where my mother goes!" Manara stood her ground. Things were moving simply too fast for her to process what was going on and she hoped time would stand still.
"She's right. She's our mother so you have no right. And just why should we believe you about the hospital," Zafir backed his sister up. Zafir fared slightly better than his sister, but not by much. Learning you have a long-lost sister is a jarring experience.
"Kid, when the Reapers show up, you'll be lucky if they kill you. Listen to me and the Commander, it's better if you get the hell out of here before they turn you into their soldiers, or worse into another Reaper," Jack warned.
"My name isn't kid, it's Manara and his is Zafir," Manara argued.
Imogen observed the situation nervously. It was becoming painfully clear that her siblings weren't handling this as well as they needed to at that moment.
"Jennifer sahiha. Yjb ealayna alaistimae laha," Imogen replied softly. "There's no point in staying on a doomed colony. Any extra hands would be a big help in moving our mother," she accepted graciously, leaving the room, clearly disoriented by recent events. The fire she possessed when she first met Abel had been all but extinguished at this point. Sensing this, Manara followed her sister out of the room.
"I'll step out and make the calls. Jack could you help me out," Abel requested. Normally she would tell him 'fuck no' for that sort of request, however this time she merely complied and followed him into the front garden.
They stood in the garden in pregnant silence, one that Jack had no interest in breaking. Abel took a deep breath while analysing what had just happened. He knew that the outcome was better than he had initially hoped, but that didn't make things any easier on his friend. "You're uncharacteristically quiet," Abel stated.
"Now is not the time Shepard," she threatened, it would have been far more intimidating had her voice not broken near the end of the sentence. She didn't know how to process this feeling. Anger, pain, lust, ecstasy those were emotions she had practice with. This feeling of sadness and frustration was a new one to her. One she wouldn't get rid of by shooting the person making her feel it.
"Jack-"
Her body suddenly began shimmering with biotic power and a faint, pale blue aura had engulfed her, with violent, unstable energy concentrated on her fists. "Not now Shepard," she snarled.
Abel knew her well enough to know she would kill him if he continued. She would regret it, but her emotional state, combined with her upbringing meant she wasn't thinking clearly. The fact she even gave him warning was an impressive show of restraint, showing how far she'd come.
Shepard chose to heed her warning and chose not to press the matter further. "Joker… yeah we found them. Tell Dr Chakwas to ready herself for another patient. And send Garrus, Kaidan and Liara to help with moving the family. I'll stay with them until they arrive."
"Aye, aye Commander."
I always felt like there weren't enough stories about Jack, so I decided to do something about it.
This is the first part of a two-shot, but I don't know when I'll release part 2.
Any feedback is appreciated so please review.