Prologue: Out of the Frying Pan...
Jack's head was throbbing from the impact, the pain pulsating over and over again like some annoying tune from a rave party. Had the Mako flipped over three times? Four? Did it even matter at this point? The last thing he remembered was getting hit from somewhere beneath them. Since Akuze was well known for it's earthquakes recently, Jack wouldn't have been as worried as he was right now because of the noise. The roar seemed to come out of some horror vid he had stayed up late to watch when his Mom was asleep. It was definitely the kind of sound that indicated they weren't welcome anywhere near here. Not only were they not welcome, but whatever this thing was had the power to flip over their Mako like it was a toy truck.
Knowing they didn't have a lot of time, Jack started to look around to judge how bad their situation really was. To his left in the driver's seat, Major Kyle was dangling at a strange angle seemingly stuck up by his own seat belt. Beyond him was the broken side window looking out into a huge break in the normal ground of Akuze's surface. Jack wasn't usually afraid of heights, having to jump off the empire state building for his N7 training but, with that far to fall anyone would be terrified. Behind him, the gunners seat was completely empty, where was Arnold? Instead of panicking about his first lover, Jack chose to believe Vega had left to go get help from survivors of the colony. With the Mako hanging at the edge of a cliff, they were definitely going to need more help.
A groan from the Major made Jack immediately spin his head over to look at him, "Sir, are you alright? What hit us sir?"
Kyle opened an eye and saw where he could fall making him jolt, "Jesus! ... Shepard, we have to get out of here and warn the Everest. Whatever that thing was, it's been here for awhile."
Jack frowned looking around for a safe exit, "Did you see what it was sir? All I heard was that awful noise."
Kyle was trying to act professional even though he was obviously afraid of the fall right below him, "I don't need to see it to know we need to get out of here. Other colonies could be at risk Shepard."
Jack nodded starting to unhook his own seat belt, "Agreed, maybe Arnold found one of the survivors and they can tell us what happened."
He knew that the silence that surrounded their heavy breathing was a bad sign but, Jack chose to focus on the task at hand; getting Kyle out of here. If they had been on a flat surface that would've been an easy task, reach over, unhook the belt, and carry the Major to safety. However, since the Mako was hanging onto land with just three of it's six wheels, Jack was afraid reaching over would tip them off balance to the abyss. Luckily, Jack could use biotics which would hopefully be weightless. He closed his eyes and focused on the bottom of the belt only to hear a loud scream immediately from Kyle. Opening his eyes, Jack saw the belt itself was tangled with Kyle's right arm. The new problem was that whenever the belt was pulled, Kyle's arm would be yanked around in sickening ways.
Arnold's voice came from behind him outside the passenger's window, "I couldn't find anyone around anywhere... I think we're the only ones here period.. Oh my god, I'm gonna pull you both out."
Kyle groaned obviously in pain from Jack almost breaking his arm, "Do you ever just shut up Vega? Ahh!"
Jack looked back giving him a stern look, "No offense, but your muscles are going to be too heavy. Just let me handle it." He looked down at Kyle, "I know this hurts sir but, I need you to be as quiet as possible. If that thing can hear it'll come back."
Instead of closing his eyes this time, Jack focused on the tangled up mess of the belt around Kyle's arm. It was a painfully slow process to try and unhook knots with only his mind but, he was getting the hang of it. He knew he was doing a good job when the Major wasn't making any noise and just letting him do the work. The downside was he had to stay completely focused on the arm and the belt, not paying any attention to the hole beneath them. When he was about halfway through the slow work, he felt Vega's bulky, warm, muscular, arms quietly loop around his stomach. Jack could maybe see himself marrying Arnold someday but, moments like these were going to have to stop. He was in the middle of a very serious operation, he couldn't get distracted by moments of affection.
When Arnold started tugging to pull him out of the passenger window, Jack snapped his head back around, "What are you doing? I'm obviously not done yet."
Arnold's face was suddenly very pale and Jack saw the problem out of the corner of his eye. Out the front window of the Mako was a large white tooth, at least he assumed it was a tooth. It was larger than anything Jack had ever seen and was dripping a green fluid. The fluid burned away the hull of the Mako with just a single drop revealing parts to the engine. Looking past Kyle, Jack couldn't see Akuze's surface anymore but instead, a massive blue tongue. Arnold wasn't trying to be romantic, he was just trying to save Jack from being swallowed up with the rest of the Mako. He was sure his own face became just as terrified because Kyle closed his eyes looking resigned to his fate. In one fluid motion, Arnold yanked him out of the Mako and, it fell in the creatures mouth. Jack didn't get a good enough look because the monster quickly disappeared into Akuze's crust.
It was tempting to just shut down after seeing that but Jack knew they had to keep moving, turning to Arnold he said, "We have to run out of here right now!"
Arnold looked at him as though he was going crazy, "Where do you think we're going? How are we going to outrun that?"
Jack looked around the immediate area before pointing ahead of them, "The hospital, it's the tallest building in the colony. I have a theory that this thing can't hear us but, can just feel ground vibrations. If I'm right, we'll be safe on the top floor."
Another loud roar made Arnold stand up, "I hope your right, otherwise we're going to be snack food for that thing!"
Jack just started to run as fast as he could towards the hospital, knowing Arnold could keep up with him. Thankfully, Alliance colonies weren't exactly complicated in these early days of development so, there were a lot of straight roads that could go straight in every direction. Just as he suspected, Jack felt the vibrations of the monster under his feet before he heard the roar behind them. Jack had the strangest feeling that whatever this thing was, it was merely following them. Surely it was large enough that it could catch up to them in a single bound if it wanted to. What could possibly be holding it back just to chase them? Was it honestly playing with it's food?
They ran into the hospital lobby and Jack saw the elevators were powered down for repairs. Jack could have them keep running to find the stairs but, by then that thing would've destroyed the foundation down around them. If he was sure that would kill the thing, Jack would've done it without a second thought. Thinking about it though, Jack realized it could just go deeper into Akuze's crust and they would be killed from the hospital falling down around them. Maybe if he could hold it off, Arnold could use his skills as an engineer to turn the faster elevators back on.
Jack started gathering tons of biotic energy, "Arnold, I'll hold it off. You just get those elevators working as soon as possible."
Arnold nodded throwing a flashbang grenade outside, "On it, I should just be a few minutes..."
Arnold got to work on his omni tool while the grenade flashed and made sonic vibrations along the ground. Confirming Jack's theory completely, the monster went straight for it and roared in pain. It was good to know what would hurt these things for future reference. Unfortunately, the grenade didn't last long and the beast started moving towards them. Once again Jack thought it was strange that it was moving so slowly. Before it could fully turn it's attention to Jack and Arnold, Jack threw up a biotic barrier to stop the beast from entering the hospital.
Struggling to keep the barrier up from breaking due to tremendous pressure of the creature using it's head as a battering ram, Jack yelled to Arnold, "I can keep the barrier up for a few moments, just tell me when the elevator doors open!"
Instead at that moment, not telling Jack, Arnold was strapping himself with the explosives they had brought on the trip, he approached Shepard whispering in his ear, "I love you..."
The next thing Jack knew, he was being tossed into the elevator and a loud bang went off. That was the first time anyone besides his mother had said that to him.
14 years later:
_o0o0o0o0o_
Jack woke up covered in sweat from the nightmare, why did it have to seem so real? He knew it was a nightmare but, the sight of the Normandy's ceiling was still a comforting one. The feeling of Kal's bare, soft, purple, Quarian, arm laying across his chest quickly registered and Jack was relieved to see he hadn't woken his husband up. When Kal started sleeping with him again, the nightmares had seemingly disappeared. After the battle with Sovereign on the Citadel though, chunks of the dreams returned here and there apparently determined to make sure he didn't get any sleep. Luckily, they hadn't been on an actual mission for a month but, everyone needed a good nights sleep.
The Normandy had been playing catch up to one of the most annoying chases in the galaxy. Tali was hunting Legion on planet after planet and yet she didn't seem to be getting anywhere from Jack's perspective. For the only known talking Geth in the entire galaxy, Legion was an expert at keeping a low profile and staying just out of reach from all of them. What made matters worse was the fact that Tali wasn't accepting any of their attempts to contact her, she seemed to think he wanted Legion permanently. In reality, all Jack needed was for Legion to testify to the Council that the Reapers exist and were still a threat. After that he was more than happy to let Tali take him for study, she should know better than most that he wanted what was best for the Quarian's. She apparently didn't think he was being genuine and thus continued the hunt on her own.
A groan from Kal made him turn his head, "Mhng... What time is it...?"
Jack leaned into their naked cuddle, "Late, just go back to sleep sweetheart."
Kal opened his glowing eyes, looking him over with suspicion, "You look pale, did you have a nightmare again or does your head just hurt?"
Jack frowned wishing his husband hadn't woken up, "Nightmare from my first assignment, I got to meet a Thresher Maw for the first time."
Kal kissed his cheek lovingly while petting his arm, "Wanna get up then? I can make breakfast early, I'm sure Ashley would appreciate waking up to food for once."
Jack shook his head and gave Kal a soft kiss on the lips, "I can make breakfast for myself, thank you very much. Just go back to sleep, we're still in FTL to the Amada System for a few hours."
Kal started snuggling back into him to go back to sleep when they both heard a bang. At first, Jack thought he was dreaming some more but, when Kal jumped out of bed for his suit, Jack did the same for his armor. A moment later the lights switched on flashing red over and over again with an alarm sound quickly following suit. The Normandy had been hit, it was something Jack had never anticipated. Their stealth systems had protected them many times over during the hunt for Sovereign. What was seeing them now when even Sovereign couldn't?
He scrambled for his omni tool after another boom, "Joker? What the hell is happening out there?"
His concern only grew when the normally calm Joker sounded like he was going to have a stroke, "I don't know Commander, something unknown is hitting us! Shit, I need power to long range communications back up now!"
Jack put his helmet on just incase the worst happened, "On it, just hang tight Joker." He looked over to Kal, "Make sure everyone gets to the escape pods. I'll meet you at the last one with Joker."
The Quarian knew now wasn't the time to argue and so they both quickly separated. Jack knew this was bad the moment he entered the small mess hall, fires were spreading and members of his support crew were dead on the ground. He flew into action, sprinting to a power management system to get comms up, they needed help now. Since the shields were already down and burned to a crisp, Jack sent any remaining power from shields to the comms. When that didn't work, Jack cut power from the alarm systems, everyone knew what was going on by now. A green flash made him grin, they weren't dead yet.
He commed Joker, "The systems up, call in anyone you can, try and shield the escape pod paths while your at it."
Joker sounded upset, "What about the Normandy?! I can still sa-"
The intercomm went out, "Joker? Joker?! Shit..."
Kal was suddenly right behind him, "Ashley got everyone she could. Is the Alliance going to answer our distress call?"
Jack knew how loaded of a question that was right now. Before the attack on the Citadel, Jack would've answered yes immediately but, things had changed. Now that Sovereign was destroyed and Jack's 'problematic' relationship with Kal had been revealed, the Alliance was happy he had disappeared to the fringes of Citadel Space. It was easier than dealing with public controversy around the revelation. He hoped they wouldn't be petty enough to ignore a distress call but, if it was up to Udina, the answer was petty.
He didn't want Kal to worry though, "They will, now come on, Joker needs us to drag him out of here."
Running up to the CIC and cockpit made Jack's stomach twist in knots. The ceiling was ripped off of the ship and replaced with a flickering shield, it was probably the only thing keeping the ship together right now. He turned on his armor's emergency oxygen tank and was relieved to see he had around three hours, plenty of time. Kal had to do the same and they made the slow, zero gravity approach to Joker. Along the way, they had to pass by bodies of crew members floating around them. Joker was still in the cockpit with a mask on desperately tapping away at the ships controls. It was definitely an good effort but, anyone else would be able to see the ship was lost.
They both grabbed an arm and started carrying him to the escape pod, "Ow, I'm a cripple here you know! Watch the arm!"
Kal pushed Joker inside and climbed in the pod, "You'll live... Jack... the internal controls are dead..."
His heart stopped in it's tracks, the quick translation? Someone was going to have to stay behind and make sure the pod actually launched. A selfish part of him wanted Joker to do it so he and Kal could stay together. He knew the Alliance pilot would do it in a heartbeat but, that was wrong. Kal was reading his mind and quickly tried to leap out of the pod to swap places. Knowing he had way more oxygen then Kal, Jack could last longer in space then he could. With that in mind, Jack closed the escape pod door from the other side.
Kal's muffled voice shouted through the window, "Don't you dare do this! You bosh'tet! Open the God damned door now!"
Jack took a deep breath, "Ni kar'tayli gar darasuum ner cyar'ika. I love you Kal'Shepard Vas Normandy..."
He shot the pod out before he heard anymore yelling from Kal's part. Jack held back tears watching the escape pod shoot off to safety. If someone didn't come rescue him within the next three hours, that was the last thing he was going to say to Kal. He wondered if Arnold had felt this same level of peace when he killed the Thresher Maw on Akuze. Regardless, Jack jumped out the escape pod tube and closed his eyes. He would be safer out in space right now waiting for rescue than on the exploding ship.
