Mass Effect: Interludes is a series of drabbles and short stories about my new Spacer, Jaime Shepard, that take place before, between, and after the Mass Effect games. They are all a part of my headcanon for her.
Disclaimer: The universe and characters belong to BioWare, EA, and the Mass Effect team. I'm just playing around with them.
#1: Called to the Office
In honour of Shepard's birthday, I thought I would post a short I wrote about Jaime: Hannah Shepard is called to her daughter's high school principle's office for a meeting. Jaime Shepard's disruptive behaviour, however, is not the only thing that has brought her mother home.
Jaime's in-game progress at time of writing: Conceived and headcanoned, but not yet created in-game.
March 29, 2171
Hannah Shepard's sixteen-year-old daughter was already in Dr. Foster's office when she arrived at Arcturus Collegiate, the largest of three high schools on the station of the same name.
"Lt. Shepard, I assume," said Dr. Foster, standing as Hannah entered. "Please, have a seat." He gestured to one of two chairs, the other filled by Jaime Shepard. Hannah's only child glanced back at the office door and then hurriedly turned away again.
"Thank you," said Hannah, taking the seat offered. "What seems to be the trouble, Dr. Foster?" She looked at Jaime as she spoke, but the girl stared hard at the edge of Dr. Foster's desk, apparently determined not to meet her mother's gaze.
"I'm sorry to call you in here, I know you must be busy," said Dr. Foster, "but several of Jaime's teachers have come to me with concerns about your daughter's performance in class."
"She's not doing well?"
"She's passing with fair enough grades," said Dr. Foster. "Jaime is smart, quick thinking, articulate, and shows promising leadership skills, and this all helps her get by. The general opinion of her teachers, however, is that she could well exceed average performance levels if she better applied herself."
"Her father and I aren't always around, and Jaime's had to move a lot based on our assignments," said Hannah. "It hasn't been easy on her, you understand."
"Of course," said Dr. Foster. "Many of our students are in similar situations. We try to accommodate them as best we can, but Jaime's behavior can be…disruptive."
Hannah sighed. Beside her, Jaime squirmed.
"She's suspected of being involved in many large scale pranks," Dr. Foster continued, "and when I spoke to your husband last week, I got the impression this isn't new information."
"Trouble has been known to follow Jaime," Hannah admitted, well aware of her daughter's love of such practical jokes. "Nothing has ever come of these suspicions, however." She glanced at Jaime and saw the girl smirk.
"Yes, her ability to keep from being caught doing anything technically against the rules would be impressive if it weren't so frustrating for the staff trying to keep this school running smoothly," said Dr. Foster. His tone became a little cool. "The same goes for several previously well behaved students who have become part of her friend group."
"Are Jaime's friends causing the trouble, then?" Hannah said.
Dr. Foster pursed his lips. "We can't confirm that. They have exhibited some mysterious behavior that coincided with school pranks, and we're certain these pranks couldn't have been completed alone, but, as with Jaime, we have nothing more than suspicions."
"What makes you think Jaime is responsible, then?" said Hannah. She knew well that Jaime was responsible, but there was no reason to let Dr. Foster in on this. She'd rather discipline Jaime herself. "One of her friends might have initiated the idea."
"Perhaps," Dr. Foster conceded, "but most of these students have spotless records and Jaime is the only new variable."
"I am not," said Jaime, finally speaking up. "You don't know what's going on in the lives of every kid in this school. Variables are constantly changing."
"Thank you for the input, Jaime," said Dr. Foster, "but you are the only variable common to each student."
"As far as you know," Jaime mumbled. She glanced at Hannah and was silenced by the look she received.
"Jaime is also able to convince others to involve themselves in her…activities so effectively that it borders on disturbing," said Dr. Foster as though he hadn't been interrupted.
Hannah frowned. "The ability to inspire others to follow is hardly disturbing."
"Perhaps not inherently so," said Dr. Foster, "but she can convince people to do things. She has argued with several of her teachers and caused them to change their opinions."
"My daughter thinks for herself and presents her ideas convincingly," said Hannah. "I fail to see how that's a bad thing."
"It's not," said Dr. Foster, struggling to hide his frustration. "We encourage our students to be critical thinkers, but Jaime does so in a way that antagonizes her instructors. She consistently convinces them that she deserves a higher grade, even though she doesn't put in the same effort as other students."
Jaime snorted.
"I'd like to hear this from her teachers directly, if that's the case," said Hannah.
Dr. Foster sighed. "I can see if they'd be interested. It's not just them, however. There was an incident a couple days ago, for example. A fight."
This surprised Hannah. "Jaime was fighting?"
"No," said Dr. Foster, "but she convinced two students, previously good friends of one another, to fight."
Hannah relaxed a little. "Gossiping is not desirable, I know, but surely-"
"Lt. Shepard, the students had to be taken to the hospital," Dr. Foster interrupted. "One even broke the other's nose."
"Oh."
"I have no idea why Jaime would do this-"
"I'm sitting right here," said Jaime. "You could ask."
"-but such violence is an expellable offence here," Dr. Foster finished.
"I didn't do anything," Jaime protested. "Drake and Riley, on the other hand, bully kids younger than them because they're damn cowards."
"You'll watch your language in my office, Jaime," said Dr. Foster.
"It's true," Jaime insisted, ignoring him. She turned to Hannah. "My friend Lara says her little brother, Mitch, comes home crying almost every day because Riley makes fun of him for being friends with a disabled kid and Drake will actually hit him. He'll straight up give Mitch bruises because hitting cripples is where he draws his ethical line, I guess, but friends of cripples are fair game. They are assholes, but the teachers don't do anything about it because Drake waits until after school and follows Mitch off campus before laying a hand on him, and also because Drake and Riley's parents are admirals where as Lara and Mitch's friend aren't from military families-"
"What Drake and Riley may or may not have done is not in question here," said Dr. Foster. "We're talking about you, Jaime."
"Fine," said Jaime. "Talk about me, then."
"As I was saying," said Dr. Foster, "Riley broke Drake's nose and they both sustained injuries that-"
"I'm sorry," said Jaime, "I thought we were talking about me now."
"You were the reason they were fighting," said Dr. Foster through gritted teeth.
"Was I? I heard they fought because Riley thought Drake was a coward for only beating on kids younger than him and Drake thought Riley was a coward for not beating on anyone and they decided to see who was tougher once and for all."
"They both cite you as the one who planted such ideas," said Dr. Foster.
"They specifically said she planted them?" said Hannah, skeptical.
"I paraphrase," said Dr. Foster. "Do you deny this, Jaime?"
Jaime shrugged. "It's still not my fault they chose violence to settle their differences. Someone should talk to their parents." Jaime put on an expression of faux concern. "They seem really misguided."
Dr. Foster opened his mouth to retort, but Hannah interrupted. "What I think my daughter means is that she doesn't feel she should be held responsible for the conflict between two others, and I quite agree. Is Jaime actually being disciplined for anything?"
"Well, no," said Dr. Foster, his lips pursed. "Jaime hasn't actually broken any rules, so there's nothing we can do as long as her grades stay decent. We were just concerned about her behavior and wanted to let you know in case it escalated."
"And for that I thank you," said Hannah. "I assure you, I will discuss your concerns with Jaime further at home. If that is all…"
"Yes, yes, I suppose it is," said Dr. Foster.
Hannah stood and excused herself, and Jaime paused only to give Dr. Foster a quick mocking salute before following.
As they walked to their apartment, Jaime considered her position. She thought the meeting had gone quite well. She was initially worried when she heard it was her mother who would be meeting with Dr. Foster instead of her father. Hannah was a little stricter than Bryan Shepard, but the amount of times Hannah had just stood up for Jaime made the teenage girl hopeful. Maybe Hannah wasn't mad at all. Maybe Jaime wouldn't even be punished. Maybe-
"Jaime, why off earth are you antagonizing your teachers?"
-Hannah was waiting until they were clear of Dr. Foster's office to let her true feelings on Jaime's transgressions show. Damn.
"I'm not antagonizing them," said Jaime. "I just don't mindlessly accept everything they say as fact."
"Yes, well, I know you, dear, and you can sometimes be a bit aggressive when you disagree with someone."
"You're the one who said you want me to think for myself," said Jaime.
"It's one thing to be a critical thinker who shares her misgivings," said Hannah, "but you have to realize that, at the end of the day, you must respect your superiors' decisions."
"What if their decisions are wrong?"
"If they dismiss your misgivings, then that's that," said Hannah. "Ultimately, it's still their decision. Are you interested in joining the Alliance after high school or not?"
"Of course I'm interested."
"Yes, well, you do realize you'll have to follow orders, right?"
"Yeah," said Jaime. Hannah gave her a skeptical look, causing Jaime to make an exasperated noise. "Yes, I realize that."
Hannah sighed. "God willing, you'll have a hard ass drill sergeant who'll whip you into shape, otherwise you are going to have a tough military career, darling. Now, what about these kids you got suspended?"
"They're not kids. They're my age."
"You're sixteen."
"Almost seventeen. We're old enough to make our own decisions. I didn't make anyone do anything."
"You didn't make them," said Hannah, "but I know how persuasive you can be."
"Whatever. They deserved it."
"They were suspended, dear."
"Look, I heard them making fun of another kid whose dad was discharged for health reasons," Jaime said. "He fought in the First Contact War and has PTSD, and Riley was saying he lost it because he was a coward while Drake claimed he was just crazy. Where do they get off making those judgments? They've never even seen an alien, let alone a turian. I bet they'd shit themselves if they did."
"Jaime Alison, language."
"My point is, I can go on and on, listing terrible things they've said and done. They didn't lack for victims, and I don't regret that the kids those boys terrorize on a daily basis get a couple weeks at school where they don't have to worry about seeing their usual tormentors," said Jaime. "I'm not going to apologize for that."
"No, I don't imagine you will." Hannah gave her daughter an appraising look. "I'm proud of you for standing up for others, if that's truly your motivation. Your father says you enjoy manipulating people, however, and that is concerning if it's true."
Jaime shrugged. "Maybe. I promise to only use my powers for good, or at least not total evil."
"What a relief."
"Where is he, anyway?"
"Sorry?"
"Dad, where's Dad," said Jaime. Her mom wasn't particularly wordy, so Jaime looked for a facial reaction. "And how long have you been here? I didn't know you were home."
"I just got in," said Hannah. "Fresh off the transport, and the message from your principle was waiting for me when I arrived. I haven't even unpacked."
Jaime studied Hannah's face. Translation: The frequency of your delinquent acts is invading my time off and I am not pleased.
"Sorry," said Jaime. "I don't want to ruin your shore leave or anything. If you promise to take me to the shooting range while you're off duty, I'll promise to get up to less trouble."
Hannah gave her a look. "Promise to put more effort into not getting caught, you mean."
Jaime held up her hands, palms outs. "Can't fight who I am, Mom."
Hannah smiled in spite of herself. "All right, deal."
"You didn't answer my question, though," said Hannah. "Where's Dad? I thought he wasn't back on duty until May. You don't happen to have the rare pleasure of shore leave at the same time, do you?"
"Actually, we do," said Hannah. The hesitation in her voice made Jaime frown.
"Okay," said Jaime, just as slowly. "What's up, really?"
"Nothing," said Hannah. "As you know, your father hasn't been feeling well lately. He decided to see a doctor and they thought he should get some tests done, so he's going in for overnight observation."
Jaime stopped walking. She knew her father had been feeling sick, but she hadn't thought he was that sick. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"We didn't want to worry you, dear." Translation: There is reason to be worried. "I got some time off to support him and look after you." Translation: I'm scared this might be serious, so I came home. "Come on, let's go back to the apartment. If you help me unpack, we can go see how he's doing."
Jaime had a thousand questions, and was frustrated that she'd been left out of the developing situation, but now was not the time to express those feelings. If her mother, Hannah "Alliance first, everything else second" Shepard had dropped everything to come home, then she was in a vulnerable place. Jaime wasn't about to add to that with her own concerns, and expressing her desire to be included in the discussion of important family issues could come after her father was healthy again.
"Yeah," said Jaime. "We need to get over there and rescue the doctors from him. You just know he's torturing them with horrible puns right now."
Hannah smiled. She put her arm around her daughter's shoulder and kissed her forehead in an expression of public affection so rare that Jaime was too shocked to squirm away in embarrassment.
"I missed you, kiddo," said Hannah.
"Yeah. I missed you too."
It was an automatic response, but Jaime realized she meant it.