I do not own Mass Effect or any of the characters.
Another Normal Day
David watched as the students each formed a barrier. Jack hurled a Warp at each. Most did okay. Prangley, a male student and one of the best with his biotics, made a barrier that showed no sign of having been hit at all, though Jack was holding back a lot. Rodriguez, however, Prangley's obvious crush who liked him back but neither would do anything about it, failed to maintain her barrier when Jack's Warp hit and grunted in discomfort, holding a hand to her head.
"Weak, Rodriguez," Jack scolded. "You're almost as bad as David."
"That's a little harsh," David said.
"Quiet you!" Jack snapped.
David "eep"ed in surprise and winked out of existence, Jack rolling her eyes as the students all laughed.
"Drama Queen," Jack said. "What happened to the guy that used his Tech Armor to keep me from being shot in the back?"
"He's on vacation," David said, reappearing.
Jack shook her head, turning back to the students. "Again, Rodriguez."
Rodriguez focused, recreating her barrier, and this time managed to hold it, if only barely, when Jack's Warp hit it.
"Attention Grissom Academy," a feminine voice said over the speaker suddenly. "All students return to your classrooms. All staff come to the main server room."
David and Jack shared a confused look.
"You heard the lady," David said. "Off you all go."
The students all turned and headed for their classroom as David and Jack headed the other way.
"What does Sanders want now?" Jack asked.
"I don't know," David said. "But it's been about six months. Didn't Shepard say the Reapers were about to enter the Aratoht system before we stopped the Collectors? If that's true, maybe..."
"Don't even say it," Jack said, running a hand over the hair she'd grown out on top of her head, tugging lightly at her pony tail, as she did whenever she was nervous or stressed. "I'm enjoying our peaceful life here."
David slipped his hand into her and gave it a light squeeze and she smiled, returning it. After a few more minutes, they reached the office and saw the others all standing around a computer. They walked over, everyone moving out of their way so they could see the video feed. Reapers, massive, black ships with glowing yellow lights along their bodies, the shape of which reminded David of krill, were descending on what looked like New York, massive red lasers tearing through the city and laying waste to everything. The feed switched and David placed Big Ben with a similar scene of destruction unfolding around it. Then the city was what David was pretty sure was Vancouver, again under Reaper assault. In each city, there were Alliance warships and frigates trying to fight them but being slaughtered.
"Wasn't Admiral Hackett supposed to be guarding the Sol relay?" David asked.
"He sent out a message," Kahlee Sanders, the woman who'd called them all in to see what was happening, said. "The Reapers obliterated his fleet before they could even send a warning. Whatever's left is in full retreat out of the Sol System. He's ordered a full evacuation from the system."
"Shit," David breathed. "Shepard was on Earth, wasn't he?"
"Shepard will be fine," Jack said. "Christ, look at all of them."
David looked back at the screen, which was showing a ground war now, Alliance soldiers shooting at an army of Husks, as well as other creatures that looked like blobs of brown flesh with arms and legs and a gun for a right hand, which were firing blasts of red energy, from what David could see on the screen. "I fucking hate Husks."
Jack nodded in agreement. "What do we tell the kids?"
Everyone looked around silently for a moment.
"Tell them the truth," Kahlee said. "They have the right to know what's going on."
Everyone nodded and left, heading back to their classes, David giving Jack a kiss before returning to his own class, which specialized in all things Tech.
"What's going on, sir?" one of the males asked.
"As of this moment, Earth is under invasion by a race of sentient machines known as Reapers," David said. "They're massive warships with more power and better shielding than any ship in any of this galaxy's fleets. As ground troops, they use corpses that have been forcibly fused with machines and look like mechanical zombies, called Husks, and some kind of bloated creature with a gun for an arm. I'm sure you'll see videos of it soon, but for now, we've been instructed to tell you. The galaxy is now officially at war with the Reapers."
The reactions were instant, panic and confusion all around. He sighed, giving them a few minutes to get it out of their system before quieting them down.
"For the time being, nothing has changed about your lives here, beyond knowing that's happening," David said. "However, if I had to guess, you should expect for the academy to step up security, possibly step up combat-oriented training, and if things get bad, or the Reapers start getting close to this system, you'll be evacuated. If any of that happens, try to bear with it, and if it does come to an evacuation, or the academy is attacked by Reaper forces, I will keep you all safe. Not that I'll have to. I've taught you all plenty to defend yourselves in the case of an evacuation. Now, does anyone have any specific concerns that need to be addressed immediately?"
No one spoke up.
"Alright, you can all return to your group projects," David said. "Make sure to keep your omni-tools' communicators on in case I need to get in touch with any of you."
Everyone got up and left and David headed back to the room where Jack had been training her students, and was doing so again already. Most of them seemed nervous, but they were focused on their training, as always.
"How'd you break it to them?" David asked as Jack gave him a hug.
"How do you think?" Jack asked.
"I'd imagine a lot of 'fucks' and a few 'assholes' and a speech about repainting walls with biotics," David smirked.
Jack rolled her eyes. "Very funny. Kids, take five."
The students all broke up into small groups, probably to talk about the attack on Earth, and Jack and David walked away from them.
"Kahlee sent me a message to tell me she wants us to start carrying our guns, and for you to wear your armor," Jack said quietly. "I was going to head back to our room after I got done with the kids in order to grab mine."
"I'll go get changed now, then," David said. "Want me to just bring you yours?"
"Would you?" Jack asked.
"Of course," David smiled, kissing her. "Back in a bit."
She nodded and he walked through the station to his and Jack's private quarters, opening the locker he kept his armor and their weapons in. As he got his armor on, he glanced into the open closet at one of Jack's spare outfits, all completely identical and questionable, at best, for a teacher. She had swapped out her obviously inappropriate chest belt for a white top that was barely more than a bikini top. It was a "V" in front to the bottom of her cleavage, then a pair of triangles reaching up onto her breasts before dropping back down and wrapping around under her arms, the bottom of it being just above the bottom of her ribs, leaving her entire abdomen exposed. On her lower body, she wore a pair of faded, green, digital camouflage pants with the sides missing over her hips down to halfway down her thighs, a thick, black, leather belt to use the two belt loops in front and two in the back to hold the top of her pants up, a black leather strap hanging by her left thigh as a fashion statement, from what David could tell, a pair of knee-high black boots with lightweight bulletproof armor on the shins, black straps around her lower thighs attached to the tops of the boots to help hold them in place, and a tight, black, studded, leather half-jacket with extra fabric in the shoulders and armpits to allow freedom of movement, and magnet plates attached to the back to hold her guns, as well as one on the back of her belt for her shotgun.
The only other thing she wore was an inch-and-a-half white strap wrapping from one garter on her upper thigh, up around the outside of her hip, across her abdomen over her navel, around behind her back, diagonally across her upper chest over her collarbones, then behind her neck before taking the opposing trail back down, crossing itself at her collarbones and navel before being attached to the other garter. He wasn't sure why she wore it, but it suited the rest of the outfit and made it just a hair more appropriate, if only barely. It was also a good place to stick the controller for a small vibrator, as he'd done once simply because she said he wouldn't after he made a joke. That day had been interesting.
He shook his head, returning his thoughts to the task at hand, finishing putting his armor on before grabbing his Mattock and his new N7 Hurricane, which he'd acquired through other-than-legal means and had upgraded to not need thermal clips. He put both guns where they belonged before calling Kahlee.
"Hello?" Kahlee asked.
"Just double checking, but did you ask Jack to have me and her carry weapons?" David asked.
"Yes I did," Kahlee confirmed. "You two worked with Commander Shepard against the Collectors, so you two are easily the most capable fighters on the station. If we get attacked, I want you two as our first responders."
"While I appreciate the sentiment, and the compliment, you do realize that my first action in the event of an attack is to make sure my class is safe, right?"
"I know," Kahlee said. "It's mostly to make me feel better."
"Very well," David said, ending the call and grabbing Jack's shotgun and Paladin, which he'd also gotten through other-than-legal means.
He left the room and headed back to where Jack was training her kids and she smiled, walking over to get her guns as the students all gaped at him.
"No way!" one of the boys hissed. "That's N-Seven armor!"
"David was an N-Seven?" a girl asked just as quietly. "Can't be!"
"Hey, this isn't gossip practice," Jack said. "Keep working."
The students all hurriedly went back to work, and David chuckled.
"I'm going to head back to my class," David said. "They should be just about done for the day."
"Alright," Jack smiled. "I'll see you back at the room."
He nodded, giving her a quick kiss, then left the room, heading back to his class's room. The collective gasp was immediate.
"I told you he was an N-Seven!" one of the boys near the back hissed. "How else would he have that armor and a Hurricane?"
"I wasn't an N-Seven," David said calmly, everyone staring at him. "While I was working with Commander Shepard to stop the Collectors, I needed armor, so I was allowed to requisition this. The Hurricane, on the other hand, is a more recent toy I found on certain parts of the extranet. Now, is anyone ready for me to inspect their projects?"
One girl, Octavia, one of his smartest, raised her hand. "Our shield projector isn't done, but we've hit a wall. Would you mind taking a look?"
"Sure," David nodded. "Everyone else, go ahead and head to evening chow. Whenever you get done eating, you're on free time."
Everyone besides Octavia and her project's partner, Isaac, left and David followed them out of the room and through several hallways to a small room near the station's armory. Their shield projector was a round pylon sticking up from the floor with a screen on one side about halfway up, and two plates at the top opened to expose the projector. However, when they walked in, David Archer was kneeling beside it, typing on the controls.
"Hello David," David smiled.
"Hello David Two," Archer replied.
"Square root of nine thousand six point oh one?" David asked.
"Ninety four point nine," Archer replied instantly.
"That never ceases to amaze me," Octavia said.
"Guns," Archer said. "Is it going to get loud in here?"
"I hope not," David said. "If it does, just stick with Octavia and Isaac and they'll keep you safe, alright?"
"Alright," Archer said.
Suddenly, the barrier activated, forming a domed barrier with light catching on the sides to show the hexagonal individual barriers the projector had formed to make a barrier.
"He got it working!" Isaac gasped. "Amazing David!"
"The programming's math was wrong," Archer said.
"Do you mind if I test it, David?" David asked.
"The Square Root of nine hundred six point oh one is thirty point one," Archer said. "I don't mind."
David nodded and pulled his Mattock off his back, both Octavia and Isaac forming their Tech Armor before David shot the barrier several times, the shots stopping short and doing nothing to the barrier. He nodded approvingly and put his gun away leaning out into the hallway where several teachers were looking around worriedly, only to stare at him.
"Sorry," he said. "Just testing a barrier."
They all groaned, heading back into their classrooms and Archer deactivated the barrier as David got a call from Kahlee.
"Oops," David said. "I'm in trouble." He answered the call.
"I'd appreciate it if you'd refrain from shooting in the school," Kahlee said. "At the very least warn us first."
"Sorry," David said. "I didn't think about it."
"I could tell," Kahlee sighed. "Just try not to scare anyone again."
"Will do," David said. "Alright you two, go ahead and grab some chow."
Octavia and Isaac both nodded, leaving, and David walked with Archer to Jack's classroom, where Jack was waiting. She smiled instantly as she saw Archer.
"Hello David," Jack smiled. "How are you feeling today?"
"Good," Archer said. "The barrier's math was wrong."
Jack nodded, smiling. "Well, there's no one better at that than you."
Archer nodded and ambled away, Jack turning to David and wrapping her arms around him.
"You got scolded," Jack grinned.
"Yeah, I forgot to warn everyone," David shrugged.
"You're such an idiot," Jack laughed, kissing him. "I'm going to head back to the room. Mind grabbing us some food?"
"Sure," David nodded.
Jack smiled, giving him a quick kiss again before heading for the room. David went to the staff cafeteria and grabbed them both some food in a Styrofoam tray each before heading back to the room. As he opened the door however, his eyes widened a bit as he found Jack just finishing taking off the last of her clothes, currently facing away from the door. She looked back at him over her right shoulder and flashed him a knowing, playful smile as she dropped the white strap he couldn't figure out her reason for wearing to the floor and walked toward the bed. He closed and locked the door, setting their food on their room's counter top beside the microwave, which they'd be needing later, then dropped his armor and clothes within about two minutes before joining Jack on the bed, fusing his lips to hers as the hand that had been between her legs to get herself ready moved up to cup his face with her other hand.
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