AN: So... It's been over six months since there has been any update to either this or Finding Me. But I'm hoping that won't be the case for long! I've got the first few chapters of Part 3 of Finding Me written, I just need a beta to look over them. If anyone wants the job, just message me. If I can't find another beta in the next few weeks, I'll just upload anyway and hope it's not too terrible... ^^

Also, had to change the rating to an M for this chapter. ^^

The Normandy - 2194

Seven Years After the End of the Reaper War

"We need this practice space!"

"We were here first, asshole!"

"You've been practicing for hours. It's our turn now!"

Shepard sighed as she entered the cargo bay. She swore that Sarah and Hillary didn't give her this much trouble... It had been over two years since James had returned to the Normandy in order to train the new N7 recruits along with Jack's biotic students. And for over two years they had both been at each others throats. Quite frankly, Shepard was tired of it.

"What do you think?" Shepard asked, turning to the young child next to her. The commotion had interrupted them watching a film and Sarah had insisted on coming along instead of staying put. "Should I put them in a timeout or take away their favourite toys?"

Sarah seemed to genuinely think about it as Jack and James looked sheepish at being caught arguing. "Daddy said that on turian ships they settle arguments by fighting in the ring."

Shepard frowned a little at that. "Wait, when did he tell you that?"

"Yesterday. He said that the dad tax on my sweets from Grandad should be all of the green ones but they're my favourites. We fought for them and I won."

"You haven't been fighting with Hillary, have you?"

"No. She's too little. And she doesn't know how to fight properly."

You know, maybe some turian traditions should be left out of her education for a few years, Shepard thought, directed at her husband.

If you don't let her vent, it'll do more harm than good, ani. She is half turian, remember? he replied from the Main Battery.

Shepard didn't really have a response for that, knowing that he was right, so she turned her attention back to the two in front of her. "It is still Jack's practice time..."

"Lola, we need this extra hour," James protested.

"Alright, then we'll do it Sarah's way. EDI, find the next suitable M-class planet. Biotic students vs N7 ones. You guys can battle it out somewhere where I don't end up with the repair bills..."

"You and Jeff are as bad as each other," EDI commented as she stood next to Shepard, watching the students prepare.

"Oh, and why's that?"

"You're teaching the girls about popular culture that's centuries out of date. They're going to struggle to connect to other children in the future."

"It's not that bad..."

"They're currently arguing over who should get to play Katara, a fictional character from a cartoon series that was made almost two hundred years ago..."

Shepard shrugged. "I was brought up on exactly the same stuff."

"But you frequently admit that you struggle to form connections with others."

"Well..." Shepard wasn't exactly sure where her argument was going to go and so was glad when Jack walked over to her, looking sheepish.

"Shepard, can I talk to you?"

"Sure," she replied before they moved away from the others, towards a secluded spot at the outskirts of the forest the competition was going to take place in. "So, what's going on?"

"I... It's been great having a place like the Normandy where the kids can see some real action but... I might need to return to Grissom full time. I was wondering if the kids could still come here and if you would train them when they did. Just stints of a couple of months, nothing too crazy, and not forever. Just a year or so."

Shepard frowned, but nodded. "Of course I will. But, if you don't mind me asking, why do you have to go?"

"It's... just something I have to do."

"You're not in trouble, are you?"

Jack gave her a reassuring smile, shaking her head. "Nothing like what you're thinking. It's just... something I've decided to do on my own."

"Have you told anyone else?"

"I was going to break it to the kids after the competition. Fuck, this is going to be hard..."

"I wasn't referring to the kids."

Jack feigned a blank look. "Well then I don't know who you mean. But, you're the only person I've told."

Shepard regarded her friend closely at that. The fact that Jack and James often ended up settling their differences between the sheets was no secret aboard the Normandy, but they both acted as if it was, refusing to acknowledge their relationship when asked. Shepard had no idea how close they really were, but she doubted that James would be happy that Jack was leaving. "Never mind..."

Jack's omni-tool beeped at her, alerting her to the fact that her last student had been taken down. That just left her and Vega.

Almost as soon as she thought that, she heard something behind her and she instinctively threw out a stasis field in response.

"Gotcha," she told him, folding her arms as she approached, grinning.

"You don't play fair, Belleza."

Jack rolled her eyes, as she always did when he used that nickname for her, something he only dared to do in private for fear of her tearing him apart. And not in a good way… "Well, where would the fun be in that?" she asked, quickly approaching him. Usually she wouldn't give into her desire for him so quickly but she couldn't help it.

Stupid fucking hormones, she thought to herself as she practically launched herself at him.

As soon as the stasis field was down, he pulled them both to the ground, more than ready to reciprocate her enthusiasm.

Jack couldn't deny that after two years, James knew her body almost better than she did. It was definitely something she would miss when she left… But she pushed such thoughts from her mind as they reached their finish, not wanting to spoil it.

Of course, she had no idea of what he was about to whisper in her ear as he spilled inside of her.

"Te amo, Belleza."

Jack just stared at him, wide-eyed, pulling away from him a little, as her mind tried to process what he had just said through her post-orgasm haze. "That... That had better not fucking mean what I think it means," she warned him.

He shrugged. "What do you think it means?"

"I think that you just fucking told me that... that you love me..."

"Well then it does mean what you think it means..."

"But... Why would... Just... I mean, it was just something you said, right? Just, in the heat of the moment. You didn't really mean it..." She turned away, trying to hide the fear that those words had unleashed in her.

He raised an eyebrow at her response before placing one of his large hands on her shoulder. "Of course I meant it. I had assumed... I had assumed that you knew. I know that I've never said it, but..."

"Just- Don't!" she hissed at him as she vaulted as far from him as she could manage, picking up her clothes as she went.

"What's wrong with Auntie Jack?" Sarah asked and Shepard just shrugged, knowing that she had no idea.

She and James had been the last two left in the fight. Shepard had lost track of how much time had passed between the last student returning and Jack fleeing from the woods as if her life depended on it.

"So, who won?" Shepard had asked, only to be greeted by a blank look from Jack.

"I… I don't know…"

Shepard frowned at that but didn't ask. "Well, the last student out was one of yours, so I guess you won. So, James gets the extra hour."

That had earned her no reaction, much to Shepard's disappointment. She had been so careful to have everyone thinking the winner would get extra time - which, of course, made no sense from an academic point of view, but kept them from gaming the system. Shepard had thought it was pretty clever…

James had arrived at the shuttle just a few minutes later.

"What happened?" Shepard had asked him before he was within Jack's earshot.

"I… did something I shouldn't have. I thought she was ready… Turns out she wasn't…"

Shepard just sighed. "Just so you know, I am even more lost than usual…" In the last few years she had taken to just admitting when she was struggling, rather than trying to cover it up. Fewer misunderstandings happened that way. She had to trust her friends not to judge her, if not for her sake then for Sarah's. Her daughter was quick to pick up her mother's habits and Shepard figured the last thing she needed was to assimilate her people issues…

"Yeah… Me too, Lola…"

Shepard walked down to the hole in engineering where Jack insisted on still sleeping, only to find her friend destroying everything within reach with her biotics.

"So… Something bothering you?"

Jack snarled in response. "Men are assholes…"

"Just in general or are you mad at one guy in particular?"

"They just… They're always there. Being all understanding and shit…"

Jane just raised an eyebrow. "I guess if they're friends then, yes, they'll probably do that."

"But then when you get out of your mind drunk, they don't even try to get in your pants! They're all respectful and shit!"

"Wait, what guys are you talking about?"

"They're sneaky bastards that make you care about them before you screw them so you have to keep screwing them because no one else is quite as good!"

"I think you just described a relationship…"

"But it's not! Because I said it's not! We both said that this isn't a serious thing and I was totally okay with that. I had plans and everything and he didn't have to have any part in them and then he goes and screws it up like a total asshole!"

Jane sighed, folding her arms. "So, can I assume we're talking about James?"

Jack grumbled before nodding. "Yes, I'm talking about fucking James…"

"So, what happened? You two started your non-relationship - which, by the way, sounds very much like a relationship - and then what? What happened to upset you so much?"

Jack sighed, leaning against the wall. Jane was shocked to see her friend's eyes prick with tears. Jack didn't cry, she just got mad…

"Jane…" she muttered, shaking her head. "I… I was leaving for a reason."

"Which was?"

"I… My unique physiology means that some drugs don't always work properly…"

Jane nodded, though she was still confused. "So, what happened?"

"Well, 'drugs' might include contraceptives… So…"

"Oh!" Jane said, as she realised what Jack was getting at. "So, you're…"

"Yep."

"And you haven't told James?"

"Nope."

"And you were just going to leave?"

"Pretty much…"

"So what happened?"

"The idiot told me he loved me!"

Jane frowned. "Do you love him?"

"I… Urgh, I don't… Fuck! Fine, yes, I'm in love with him… You happy now?"

"More confused, actually. So, the man you love - the father of your unborn child - tells you that he loves you and it's somehow a bad thing?"

"Yes! No… I just… I don't do love… It's a really easy way to get hurt…"

"But you already love him. So, either you can run away and definitely get hurt - and definitely hurt him - or you can try the talking thing. You know, where you actually tell him that you love him back."

"I hate it when you're sensible…" Jack grumbled.

"Me too, usually."

"I don't really want to leave. I just… don't want him to feel like he owes me anything. I can do this on my own. I don't need his help."

"I'm sure you can. Just… help can be nice sometimes. And you'll always find help here. I hope you know that."

"I do, Jane. I honestly don't know where I would be without you, you know?"

Shepard shrugged. "You would have been fine. Plus, where would I be without you? I've never had a lot of close friends - I've never really been any good at it - but I'm glad that you're one of them."

"Same," Jack told her, her voice cracking a little as more tears began to fall. "Fuck! This is why I hate this emotional crap…"

Jane couldn't help but smirk a little at that. "Me too."

"Why am I crying all of the time? I don't remember you crying so much…"

"Welcome to pregnancy. And I did cry. A lot. It was just that nobody thought it was all that odd when I hid away in my quarters."

Jack laughed a little at that. "I guess being a hermit had to pay off sometime."

"Hey, that pays off all of the time."