Everyone was a little on edge on the Normandy. Jun understood the situation perfectly, they were facing extinction against a force they couldn't even begin to comprehend. But there was little for them to be back on Earth and that was fact. No need to waste their lives in pointless combat when they could achieve so much more elsewhere and perhaps even save their planet. Still as she entered the Shuttle bay and saw the lieutenant fuming, her little speech seemed redundant.
"You know it's not a decision she took lightly, right?"
"You need something?" Well, rude. And there she was trying to give him a pep talk. She crossed her arms and looked at him unimpressed.
"We're landing on Mars soon. The commander wants us ready," He only gave her a nod and went to gather his armor. She opened her mouth to add more, reassure him they were going to get back to earth in no time, but she noticed he was pulling his shirt off and doubled back quickly into the shuttle to wait for the rest. Her right leg bounced with the usual rhythm of her impatience. She had hoped they'd have more time between the Collectors and the reaper attack, but all things considered, they probably quickened the process. An ever grumpy lieutenant entered the shuttle and took the seat at the controls. She eyed him cautiously, the anger still visible under his skin. She wasn't sure what approach to go, sincere and heartfelt or a wakeup-call slap to reality. She didn't get the chance to reply.
"I'm sorry I snapped. It's just… I feel useless here." He gripped the armrests tightly, desperate to keep the fury under control. Jun got up and placed her hand tentatively on his shoulder.
"Look, I get it, you wish you were down there, fighting for your planet. Believe me, Shepard would be right alongside Anderson is she didn't believe what we're doing here was more important. And besides, we'll be in some tough shit of our own before you know it, you just wait and see. You'll get your chance to shoot reapers." She patted his shoulder and crouched just a bit to grab his attention. He turned his head to face her, her eyes stopping on his scars before meeting his. "We'll get Earth back, but we can't do it alone."
He held her gaze for a moment longer and nodded. Despite the lack of words, she thought maybe she helped, even if just a little. In truth, she didn't really understand what he was feeling. Earth was never her home, just the mother planet of humans. As long as humans survived, did the planet really matter? Her chain of thought was interrupted when the shuttle door opened and Shepard and Alenko jumped in. She couldn't help giving the major the stink eye.
"Oh great, you made it too."
"Play nice, Jun." The commander shot them both a warning look before getting back to business. "We can't reach anyone on the ground, but there are no signs of reaper activity, so best guess is the workers were evacuated. With our luck though, be prepared for anything."
James landed the shuttle and they stepped on the reddish ground of Mars. Jun was not sure if it usually looked so eerie, but she made a note to herself to never step on the planet again; the desolated expanse and weird hue gave her chills.
"Kaidan, James, with me. Jun, you know what you have to do." The lieutenant turned towards the woman, curious why she wasn't joining them. Surely it was safer if she stuck with them. A few key punches on the onmi-tool and she was gone in thin air. Her voice came from behind him, soft as to not startle him, but playful.
"Don't worry, I'll be close by to save your asses." She thought about actually smacking his ass, but decided against it. With all that armour she doubted he'd have noticed anyway.
It would have been too easy if the facility were empty and all they had to do was walk to the Archives, find Liara, grab whatever reaper killing weapon and ditch that red rock. Things were rarely easy in life; another time and time again proven fact. The first Cerberus soldiers fell like flies between the ground team's shots. Jun sad a safe distance away, cloaked and behind cover and worked her hacking magic, disabling enemy shields and frying circuits.
James was proving difficult to follow, one moment behind a barricade, the other charging towards enemy troops. She was almost caught off guard when a mech dropped besides him, guns pointed and ready. She deployed her fastest drone, momentarily paralyzing the mech and buying the marine just enough time to roll to cover and start shooting.
They dropped the remaining Cerberus and made their way inside the building, Jun letting her cloak down, annoyance written all over her face.
"Dammit, Vega!" She punched him in the arm, hurting her knuckles more than anything. The bastard had the audacity to chuckle.
"Careful, princess, you're gonna break a nail."
"Okay, next time I'll just let them shoot you."
"You break my heart when you're so mean." She had to admit she didn't mind the friendly banter, borderline flirting. She took a step closer, smile playing on her lips, but it quickly died down when she heard the commander and major arguing about Cerberus. She groaned loudly and James turned his head towards the two as well. "At it again…"
Heavy banging came from the air ducks moments late. Liara came crashing down and blasted the Cerberus soldiers after her. They never actually spoke much, but Jun knew Liara helped Shepard with the geth and stopping Saren, before her own time with the Normandy crew. She placed a hand on James' weapon and he lowered it slowly, still cautions of the asari.
Jun thought the mission will be over faster now that their little party was expanding. They knew they were after a blueprint, so she just needed access to a terminal. They'd go to the Citadel, build the damn thing and make the reapers a thing of history. Her little bubble of hope was dissolved when Shepard spoke.
"Jun, James you head back to the shuttle."
"But- you know best commander." She turned to leave, but the lieutenant was not so easily convinced.
"That's bullshit. We're coming."
"I need you to cover our exit."
"Come on, James." He let go of the matter shaking his head and joining in step with Jun. Their trek to the shuttle was silent, her mind filled with a kind of uncertainty she didn't quite liked or understood until he spoke it out loud.
"Feels like we've been benched in favor of the O.G. Normandy crew."
"I wasn't benched… and if anything, I'm the original Shepard crew." She muttered the last part under her breath, half hoping he didn't catch it.
"Oh, do tell. I don't remember reading much about you in the report."
"You've read about me, lieutenant? I'm flattered."
"Fine, change the subject if you want." He took his set at the shuttle's front, his armored back twice the size of the chair. Why she found that appealing was becoming a misery even to her. She took a long breath, head resting against the cold metal. It was not like it was classified information and if he asked anyone of the crew he could find out. If he were curious enough.
"Me and Shepard, we go back to our military days. From when we first joined… We were actually bunk bed mates." He turned to look at her, chair squeaking under the strain.
"You? In the military?" She rolled her eyes and sat in the front closer to him, helmet besides her.
"Now who's being mean?" She kicked him lightly in the side of his armored thigh and crossed her hands. It was not really easy speaking about the past, but he didn't have to know that. At least not yet and not from her own mouth. "I made it all the way to Operations chief if you must know. Not quite as impressive as Commander, I suppose, but all things considered…"
"Rough start?" More like rough ending. Or was it… middle?
"Something like that."
"I can understand that." He nodded and fully spun the chair to face her. He had a serious expression on, brows drawn and lips downturned. "What made you join the military though?"
"I… don't know, there didn't seem to be a lot of options at the time. I always had a thing for tinkering and mechanics and, well, after my parents died I sort of just enlisted."
"I'm sorry."
"Thanks. It was a long time ago though. Lab experiment gone wrong, whole wing exploded… In hindsight, I might have been rebelling against them for leaving me all alone in the world, and chose not to become a scientist like they were and enlisting instead. How silly of me." She looked at her hands for a moment, flexing the fingers on her left. James thought to make sure he looks for any old scars on that hand, despite being pretty sure both had pristine skin. It amazed him she had military training at all, even if she was proving quite useful in battle. "But what about you, what childhood trauma made you want to shoot aliens in outer space?"
"It's always been my dream to join the military. My uncle always encouraged me to follow that dream and here I am, babysitting you in the shuttle while Earth burns." There was no malice towards her, rather sadness.
"Was it just you and your uncle?" He pondered whether to answer or not. It was personal information he did not usually share, but Jun told her fair share of her past and he felt like he owed it.
"Got a father too, but… After mom passed, my uncle Josh was more of a father to me than he ever was."
"I see. Still must have been nice to have someone supporting you…"
"Yeah, don't know where I'd be without him." It was partially a lie, James was pretty sure he'd ended up either in prison or his father errand boy. Neither outcome was pretty.
"Your uncle still around?"
"Yeah, California."
"Oh."
"He's a tough one. I'm sure he's alright."
"You can ask EDI back on the ship if she can locate him. Or I can give it a go. I'm not the best with pistols or close quarters, but I'm a mean hack and information gatherer."
"Thanks, I'd really appreciate it."
"No problem." She smiled. A big, warm smile and to him she looked so innocent in that moment, not a bad bone in her body. He wondered for the hundred time how she ended up in Separd's mismatched crew, but at the same time grateful for her presence there.
"And thanks for earlier with the mech, I can get a bit reckless."
"That how you got those scars?" She pointed to her own lip and cheek mirroring the scars on his face. Before he could answer Shepard called for help on the comlinks.
"That's a story for another time." The shuttle came to life under his hands, just as the commander's voice became more urgent."Hold on tight, princess!"
"Could you please stop calling m-" She yelped in surprise as the shuttle zapped more than flew, her poor helmet flying and crashing somewhere in the back. It took all her strength to manage to put her seat belt on and just in time.
"Hope you're all strapped in cause it's gonna be bumpy." She barely had time to deploy a defensive drone as the shuttle hit something and Jun's world started spinning. The small drone buzzed to life with a force field around them both and she was never more grateful for it. Images flashed through her mind as bile rose to her throat: the enemy ship from years ago, her former squad, the hot pain that followed and that blasted hospital bed she thought she'd never leave. They were jolted once more, the belt holding her down by sheer miracle, as the shuttle made a hard landing. James laughed somewhere, but the room was still a whirlwind.
"We got that bastard!"
She untangles herself hasty from the belt before he could see the tears streaming down her face. She reached her helmet, letting herself crash in front of it, her entire body shacking. She thought she was over all that shit, it was supposed to be all behind, but apparently it only took one suicidal marine to relive the horror. As she reached for the helmet, right hand trembling, left one steady, she almost smirked; the past left a pretty deep cut after all.
"You-,are absolutely crazy!" She chocked on the first word, mustering all her power not to sound like a wimp.
"Ah live a little, princess." He helped her up and out of the shuttle, her legs still shaking like jelly. A smirk came to his lips as he leaned in to whisper. "I got better ways to leave you weak in the knees like this." His voice was low and he was so, so close. She was grateful for the helmet covering her face, for she was sure she was red as a tomato, both from her little panic episode and his flirty comment. Jun was no prude, but not exactly used to guys being so direct like the lieutenant was. She found she didn't quite mind it. He was probably like this all the time with everyone, like some soldiers tended to be, so she decided to play along.
"I'll take to almost dying any day, next time ask for preferences, will you?" She looked at him throw the helmet's visor, his cocky grin making her almost want to headbutt him. "But seriously, I ain't never getting in the shuttle if you're playing suicidal pilot.
Another explosion and gunshots rang close by and James let go of her and rushed towards it. She stumbled for a few more steps before jogging after him. The commander's voice rand loudly and Jun knew something was wrong. She dashed towards the fallen major, medigel and First aid ready.
