The journey back to meet up with the Normandy was mostly done in silence. Shepard knew that Jack had made the hard choice in choosing to join him and he didn't want to push it, after all, she could easily leave at a minutes notice. Jack was seemingly content with staring out the windows into the vast open void, choosing not to bring up any topics of conversation. While it wasn't exactly the most comfortable of silences, just having Jack there for it was a welcome one for Shepard.

As the shuttle docked with the Normandy, Shepard turned off the engine and turned to face Jack. "You okay?"

"Yeah." The woman didn't sound overly confident. "I'm fine."

"Okay." Shepard didn't push it. He knew that taking steps onto a Cerberus funded ship was not on the highest of priorities for her. A simple misstep could end up turning deadly. Shepard rose from the pilots chair and made his way over to the door. Unlocking it, he stepped off and onto the shuttle bay once more. He didn't turn to see if Jack was following, he could hear her getting up to join him.

Garrus was waiting as Shepard stepped back onto the Normandy. Shepard had messaged ahead to tell both Garrus and Miranda that Jack had chosen to come along. While Miranda was officially Shepard's number two, Shepard considered Garrus to be on equal footing to the Cerberus operative when it came to Normandy operations. "Shepard, good to see you." He turned his attentions to Jack as she carefully stepped from the shuttle, eyeing up her surroundings. "Jack. Welcome. We haven't had a chance to be formally introduced-"

"That blast was a good way of saying hello."

Garrus tilted his head. "Ah, well, yes but-"

"Relax. It's in the past. You did what you had to do I guess."

Shepard patted Garrus on the back to try and ease his friends concern. "You can trust Garrus, Jack. He's been with me in this since the start."

"I'll make my own decision on that."

"That's fair." Garrus stood up straight. "I appreciate the clean slate. I-"

The sound of the elevator door opening paused Garrus before he could add anything further to the conversation. Miranda stepped off the elevator and made her way across the deck with the same purpose in her step as always. She came to a halt in front of the three of them, standing far enough away from Jack as to give her some space, but not far enough to show that she was intimidated in any way by the presence of the convict on board the Normandy. "Welcome back, Commander." Miranda's tone was as professional as it could be, given the situation. She could feel Jack's eyes burning into her. She ignored them. "Jack, welcome to the Normandy."

"And that'll do it for the welcome speeches." Shepard quickly jumped in before Miranda could go any further. "Look, none of us like this situation, but it has to be done."

Miranda clasped her hands in front of her. "Of course, Commander."

Jack gritted her teeth. "You even try anything and I'll-"

"Jack." Shepard tried to halt the forthcoming tirade. His voice was kind, yet firm. "Please. That goes for all of us." He was surprised that Jack didn't offer a retort as she continued to glare at Miranda in silence.

"We've prepared a room for you, Jack. You can-"

Jack laughed harshly. "No."

Miranda glanced quickly between her and Shepard. "No? I don't understand."

"Where do you sleep?" Jack turned to Shepard, awaiting his answer.

"Er, the loft, at the top of the ship."

Jack nodded. "Right. I'm bunking there." Miranda raised her eyebrow slightly at the comment, but Jack quickly sneered. "Get your mind out of the gutter, bitch. You think I'm going anywhere you fuckers have set up for me? I'm there. Deal with it."

Miranda took the response in her stride, her face clear of emotion. "Very well. Commander?"

Shepard shrugged. He wasn't going to fight it and honestly, he wanted Jack near by. Not only could she potentially reveal more about his past, there was less chance she'd get in any trouble. "Works for me. Lets go."

As Jack and Shepard made their way into the elevator, Garrus and Miranda followed with their eyes until the doors shut behind them.

Miranda rolled her eyes. "She's charming."

Garrus glanced down at the operative. His voice was cold. "Can you blame her?" He stepped away from Miranda and into the shuttle.

Miranda glanced down at the floor and whispered to herself. "No." Composing herself, she once again walked towards the elevator with purpose in her step and waited for it to return.


Jack followed Shepard as he stepped off the elevator and whistled as they walked through the door of his cabin. "Mansion in the middle of nowhere wasn't enough for you, eh?"

"I wouldn't call that a mansion, but yeah, this is a little too much space. Compared to some of my previous postings, it's like this room is bigger than most of the crew spaces combined." Shepard shook his head. "Make yourself at home. I need to go and do my rounds. You need anything, or you want to come meet the crew?"

"Nah." Jack shook her head. "On both accounts. I won't be sticking around long enough to be making friends with Cerberus."

"Yeah, of course." Shepard blinked. "So you're good?"

"Fine, go. Do whatever it is you do." She waved a hand at the fishtank. "I've got prime time viewing right here."

Shepard smiled. "Okay. I won't be long." He turned and made his way back into the elevator as Jack watched the door close behind him.

"Rich bastard." Jack stepped down the stairs. "Too much to break." She turned to look at the display of ship models. She frowned. "Really?" Shaking her head, she walked to the bed and sat down. "Eugh. Too soft." Jack stood once more and moved past the fish tank. She paused, looking at the display and shot a glance to the feed button. She pressed it once as the tank filled with food, the fish eagerly swimming to meet it. "You're welcome." Jack skipped back up the stairs and lazily rummaged through some papers on Shepard's desk, but there was nothing interesting that caught her attention.

She stopped in front of Shepard's terminal and turned it on. The screen waited for a password. Jack shrugged.

"Let's try..."

beefyhero69

Access denied.

"And I was sure it'd be that." Jack pushed herself away from the desk and looked around. "Time well spent. Fuck it."

Jack pulled the tank top over her head, dropping it to the floor. She quickly followed with the remainder of her clothes and stepped into the bathroom. "Shower on."

Nothing happened. She waved a hand under the shower head. Again, nothing happened.

"Not as advanced eh, you Cerberus fucks?" Jack reached for the knob and turned it on, waiting for the water to heat up before she stepped under the head.


Shepard exited the elevator, immediately hearing the sound of the shower running as he stepped back inside his cabin. His eyes were drawn to the pile of clothes left lazily outside the door, which fortunately was shut. Shepard cleared his throat. "Jack? I'm back."

"Good for you."

Shepard chuckled quietly as he moved into his cabin. "Yeah." He set a couple of datapads down at his desk and activated his computer. A wry smile formed on his face as he saw the previous access attempt. "No surprise there." Entering his password, he pulled up his chair and sat down.

Three minutes later, Shepard heard not only the shower head turn off, but the curse from the woman inside his bathroom. He frowned. "Everything okay in there?"

"Yeah. You got a towel?"

"Ah. Hold on." Shepard shook his head and stood up. He made his way to the dresser nearby his bed and grabbed one of the towels that was on top. Skipping back up the stairs, he turned around and waved a hand at the door. He felt it open behind him and lobbed the towel in before closing it once more. "Okay?"

"Terrible throw." Jack quickly emerged from the bathroom and stepped past him, the towel wrapped around her. "I expected better."

"Backwards throwing has never been a strong point of mine, I admit." He smiled. "I'll work on it."

"See to it." Jack slumped down onto the couch, the towel hugging close to her. "You need a bar up here."

"There's one downstairs actually, deck three."

"Yeah but it's not up here, is it?" Jack snorted. "Work on that, too."

"I'll never get anything done otherwise."

Jack shrugged. "I'm surprised you do without it."


Shepard sighed as the heat of the water poured down over his shoulders. He lowered his head as he turned up the heat, gasping slightly as the stream ran down his back and to the floor.

Just twelve more hours. Twelve more hours until I see that place, what's left of it anyway.

And I'm glad she's here. I don't think I could do this without her.

She's.. I don't know. I think she's starting to trust me more. There's something about her, the connection.. I don't know if she feels it too. But it feels right having her with me on this.

"Hey, Shepard?"

Shepard turned off the faucet at the sound of the call. "You need something?"

"Yeah. A drink."

"Okay, hang on." Shepard grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist. He stepped out the bathroom. "Want me to go.." Shepard paused and frowned. "What?"

Jack's eyes were wide. "Jesus fuck, Shepard. I mean are you built out of goddamn marble?"

Shepard quickly glanced down at his glistening toned abs. "Ah, er, sorry."

Jack laughed. "No need to apologise for that view."

"Ahem." Shepard actually felt the heat rushing to his cheeks. "Let me just get dressed." He went to step back into the bathroom.

"No need to close the door!" Jack called as it quickly shut behind him. She laughed to herself. "Too goddamn easy. Walking on eggshells so much, he'd probably go down in a towel if I asked him too." Her laughter stopped as she stared at the door. But still. Damn. Jack quickly shook her head. Cut that shit out.


"You really want to do this?" Jack tilted the glass of whisky in her hand. It wasn't her first. She finished it and slammed the glass back down onto the bar. "Still time to back out."

"I have to, Jack. I really do." Shepard drank from his own glass, this time a little slower.

"I know. You're a stubborn bastard."

"I've heard that once or twice before." Shepard flashed a wry smile as he finished off his glass. He tilted the bottle towards Jack as an unspoken question. She nodded, Shepard pouring her another drink. "Thanks for getting into the car with me, Zee." He paused. "Sorry."

"It's okay. I.. don't mind it." Jack admitted. "Never thought I'd say that again." She motioned to her surroundings. "But then again I never thought I'd be in shit like this." Jack took another drink. "You're a man of many names. Commander. John. Shepard." Jack tilted her head. "Carter?" Scar. "Which do you prefer?"

Shepard finished off his glass. "I don't know who 'Carter' is. Call me whatever. I don't mind."

"Alright, Bruce."

Shepard raised an eyebrow. "Bruce?"

"You look like a Bruce."

Shepard chuckled. "Bruce it is." He pushed the bottle away and checked his omni-tool. "We'll be there in eight hours."

Jack sighed. "Right."

"You want to bring the bottle up?"

"Trying to have your wicked way with me, Bruce?" Jack sneered but quickly held up her hand. "I'm pulling your chain, don't get stuffy."

Shepard could tell Jack was nervous. He had the same nerves. He wanted to reach out and squeeze Jack's hand to assure her, but he knew it wouldn't be welcome.

"It's going to be alright, Zee."

Jack looked up at him as she twirled the glass. "Yeah. Just one more, okay?"

Shepard nodded silently and poured them both one more drink.