Chapter One

Part Twenty-One

Limbo

Jack and Will sat on the couch closest to the window which offered a gorgeous view of the Presidium. The Gabriel Crew were presently the esteemed guests of the generous Councilor Vakarian. The Turian councilor had a lush, blue tinted office overlooking a statue of a Mass Relay. The Conduit had been de-commissioned following Sovereign's initial attack on the Citadel in order to prevent more backdoor attacks on the Citadel. All of the furniture and desks had a royal blue sheen. A battered N7 chest piece and sniper rifle hung above his desk.

"The more time goes by, the less things change in this galaxy."

Jack looked to Councilor Vakarian who had poured himself some dextro-liquor from his cabinet. He paced across his office in front of Captain Alenko, Commander Vega, Liara, and the two lieutenants on the couch as he sipped occasionally from his glass. His facial joints were moving violently with each sip.

"The council may have new representatives, but the policies are as un-committal as ever," Vakarian continued stopping in front of the N7 armor.

"You seem tense old friend, this job not what you wanted it to be?" replied Captain Alenko calmly.

Vakarian stayed transfixed on the armor before glancing down at his feet. The tension in his posture released.

"I thought this would be the age where we got to make things happen, to take action and build a new way forward."

Captain Alenko patted the councilor on the back.

"Things are so much better than they were, Garrus, things can't all change overnight… keep trying, they'll come around."

"You were always the most patient of us, Kaidan… always the one trying to work things out with peace instead of force. You might be better suited for this than me I'm going to snap one of these days."

Alenko laughed," I don't have the pull within my own species for that… sure I'm still technically a Spectre, but that doesn't give me any say within galactic politics. You on the other hand became your species' hero seemingly overnight… you have the presence for the job. You have the right motives too."

Jack and Will looked at each other in surprise.

"Something new every day," Will muttered so that only the two of them could hear.

"C'mon Vakarian you're in the best spot to handle these imbeciles. You have to lead the way," Vega chimed in.

Garrus turned and smiled at the two in front of him and then turned towards Liara, his grin increased.

"Always a great day when we all get together again, I miss being on the Normandy with every one of you… even with the Reapers at our throats."

Liara returned the smile," We all miss the old days, Garrus, those days will never not be a part of us, but we're doing more for the galaxy now than we could when all we were trying to do was prevent extinction… now we get the opportunity to build something special with our new positions and resources, Hydra is evil, but we've seen worse… they'll show up again and we'll be ready for them when they make their move. The council needs to wake up still, but patrols are more assistance and preparedness than they offered us when we were going after Saren and the Reapers. Back then all they would do was sit and wait for something to happen."

"I'll keep them alert and conscious, trust me they aren't getting to slack off if I am a part of this council."

"We trust you'll get it done," said Alenko.

Jack and Will remained silent, not able to pick up on neither the history that the four others in the room shared, nor the nostalgia levels as they steadily increased.

"Who are the new bloods?" Garrus asked.

"Some of the finest young officers humanity has to offer… on the right we have Lieutenant Spencer, and on the left is Lieutenant Kirk… they helped us uncover everything we know about Hydra and the Cascade situation," Captain Alenko said gesturing from Will to Jack.

They both rose and offered out their hands. Garrus' hands were so long that they gripped Jack's wrist almost as much as his hand.

"It's a pleasure, gentlemen. If you ever need anything on the Citadel or anywhere in this galaxy just drop my name. I'll take care of anything you need."

"That's very generous, sir, we appreciate the offer," said Jack, Will nodded in agreement.

A favor from a Citadel councilor could definitely come in handy in the future.

Jack's curiosity got the better of him.

"Whose armor and rifle are those up on your wall?" he asked.

Vakarian laughed heartily.

"Lieutenant, don't let anyone know I told you this, but that is the rifle I used to defeat the great Commander Shepard in a shooting contest." Councilor Vakarian motioned for Jack to follow him to the window of the Presidium. There, Garrus pointed to an elevated sky bridge. That was where I defeated Commander Shepard, and the armor was the chest piece she had on when we dropped onto Ilos together… that was a time, let me tell you."

He smiled to Jack and Will.

"Do either of you shoot?"

Will put his hand on Jack's shoulder and patted him once.

"Best shot in the Alliance right here."

Jack's jaw dropped at what Will was saying.

Will smiled back as Jack glared at his best friend.

Commander Vega gave a snort and Liara came up behind Jack as well.

"He beat Shepard's record."

Garrus' eyes widened.

Commander Vega scoffed, "he tied her record, the times were exactly the same."

Liara flashed a devilish glance to Commander Vega who responded with a questioning look.

"He was a tenth of a millisecond faster."

"How can you know that?"

"You know perfectly well how."

Vega grunted at that and crossed his arms.

"He beat THE record?" Councilor Vakarian asked cocking his head at an angle as he looked Jack over again.

"Well I'll have to make some time at a later date and see your skills for myself, but right now I have to be going… a Councilor's job is never finished."

The crew exchanged handshakes with Garrus one last time except for Liara who hugged him tightly.

"Stay safe, all of you… we'll see each other soon."

"You bet," Captain Alenko replied before they all exited the office.

The shuttle back to the Gabriel was quiet, but more positive than Jack had anticipated. They had no missions left, except for whatever the Alliance wanted them to do until Hydra made a move, but everyone wore some form of a smirk. After they disembarked off the shuttle, Captain Alenko motioned for Will and Jack to follow him to his office. The two followed the Captain to his quarters and sat down in front of Kaidan's desk.

"Gentlemen I have some fantastic news… the Gabriel has no outstanding developments as far as critical missions go so your time on board the Gabriel would be a waste of your talents. You've got some mail I would like for you to open."

He handed them two envelopes both labeled classified.

"You'd like us to open them now?" Will asked.

"Yes… right now." Alenko replied a thin smile on his lips.

They tore open the envelopes and rapidly read the text within.

Jack's letter read:

Lieutenant Kirk

SS Gabriel

You are hereby nominated for the N7 program, authorization: Fleetcom code 57322976.

You have [10] days to issue a response to your commanding officer on board the [SS Gabriel]. Further instruction will provided pending acceptance of nomination.

Congratulations,

Alliance Command

Both Lieutenants remained silent. Jack's face was serious, as was Will's.

"Well, what do I tell my boss?" Captain Alenko asked.

Jack stared at the note in his hand. The words seemed to float off of the page.

"We got this," Will nudged Jack as he spoke.

"You can't turn them down twice… that just can't happen."

Jack smirked.

"We'll do it, sir… we're ready for the training."

Captain Alenko smiled.

You leave in two days soldiers, say goodbye to anyone you need to. Where you're going, no one knows… top secret… a shuttle will be here in exactly 48 hours after I give Command your response.

Jack and Will desperately tried to gather all of the information from the Captain as they could before heading back to the barracks. When they got in the lights were off, Jack reached for the switch. When the lights turned on a group of people stood before them both.

"CONGRATULATIONS!" shouted the entire crew of the Gabriel. Jack recognized a lot of the faces shouting at him. Commander Vega, Killea the quartermaster, even Sergeant Gonzalez was smiling and popping a cork off a bottle of champagne. Liara was in the front holding two glasses for Will and himself of previously poured Asari wine. It warmed him up after he had taken a sip.

Party decorations littered the bunks and tables within the barracks and loud music blared over the sound systems. There was food… tons of food, compliments of the best catering an Alliance ship could find on the Citadel.

Jack chatted with tons of new faces. Jack noticed Will was handling his share of new friends as well. As Jack went to pile a plate of Carne Asada tacos, a hand rubbed his back. The hand was blue.

"I know that hand," Jack said as he turned to find Liara holding a piece of cake in her right hand. She shoved it in his face before Jack could react and was running down the corridor before he knew what had happened. Wiping his face and taking off after her, Jack almost tripped on a bottle. Liara was about twenty steps ahead of him as he continued to chase after her. They were deep in the under belly of the ship by the time he caught up to her. She was waiting for him more like.

She smiled after he tackled her gently… if there was such a thing as a gentle tackle and they were both cracking up in each other's arms.

"Congrats on your nomination. I won't spoil the secret of where you're going… I think it'll be more fun if it's a surprise."

"Wherever I go I know you'll be following me somehow… you can't seem to stay away from me."

Liara winked at him.

"Maybe I just don't want to stay away, can you blame me?"

"Only when you push cake into my face like that."

Liara grabbed Jack's cake riddled face and kissed him.

It was warmth, it was serenity, it was peace, it was adrenaline. Jack lost himself in the moment and before he knew it he was in bed cuddled with the Galaxy's most famous intelligence broker. It didn't matter. He just wanted to enjoy her company before he was whisked away to some god forsaken training regimen.

"Promise you'll come back," Liara whispered.

"I promise," he replied kissing her on the cheek. The world blended in with the darkness and then he was asleep.