Chapter 6

Chakwas sighed as she treated Shepard's injuries in the med bay. She was about to say something, but Ari cut her off. "Do your job, Doctor. I have said it before, your job is to patch up Marines so we can do our job."

But the doctor did not seem satisfied with Shepard's answer. "Except this was not during one of your missions. You picked a fight with a squad mate during shore leave."

"Your point?"

"You tell me, Shepard. What happened that you ended up getting in a fight with Jack?"

Ari sighed. "I was drunk. Didn't think things through. She got upset and pounded me hard."

Chakwas said firmly. "And how did that happen?"

"I asked her to…dance with me. Although I don't remember even asking her."

Chakwas nodded. "And did it ever occur to you, that you might have feelings for her."

"But I have a relationship with Liara…."

"And you don't even know where Liara is. You are missing her…. I understand but I am a doctor and I understand biological imperatives…."

"Now you sound like Mordin."

Chakwas laughed. "We are both doctors. But back to what I am saying, you need companionship, Shepard. You are the commanding officer here; it is not exactly like you have many options on the Normandy when it comes to relationships."

Ari snorted. "Are you saying that I should get it on with Jack?"

"Not exactly the wording I would use but…you've been testy, Shepard. And more so than normal."

"No offense, doctor but Jack isn't exactly the model for stability."

"You are looking for someone that complements you, Shepard, and frankly both you and Jack have a lot more in common than you want to admit. Plus consider this, you were in an altered state of consciousness when you were drunk and asked her to dance with you. Dancing can be considered in many cultures both human and alien as a prelude to sex."

Shepard's features turned beet red. "Okay, okay, you've made your point. So, I want Jack and I want her badly enough to get beaten to a bloody pulp. It's a good thing you're around to patch me up, Doc. Because the way it's going with me and her, you're going to need a good supply of medi-gel and ointments before I even get past asking her to hook up with me the next time around."

"Just don't do anything like this again, Shepard."

"Noted. Anyway, thanks for patching me up. Hopefully, it will be a while before I have you patch me up again."

Ari felt a bit confused leaving the med bay. Basically, being told by the doctor that she needed sex was not what she was expecting when she was being patched up. And seeing Jack now after all that had happened was now going to border on awkward.

Shepard went back to Engineering and paced back and forth for a bit wondering how she was going to confront Jack now. She took a deep breath and went down the stairs into the cargo hold.

She coughed a bit getting Jack's attention. "I…." Shepard's head went down. "I want to apologize. I acted like an ass back on the Citadel."

"That's a new one. So, the great almighty commander takes the time to come down here to say she's sorry. That's a joke!"

Damn, Jack was a hard nut to crack. What the fuck did Jack want? Well two could play this game of being the hard ass. "Listen, you can push me away all you want, but I am not leaving."

"I don't care if you go or if you stay, Shepard."

Shepard glared at Jack. "Look I told you a little about myself. About my purple hair, about how I operate as an individual. And it's time I got something back for all I told you about me."

Jack snorted. "You're like all the rest, you're looking for something. Something that just benefits you and then you'll move along, just like everyone else."

Ari folded up her arms. "I could be genuine, you'll never know."

"What exactly do you want to know? I've been around. Ran with gangs, wiped out some gangs. Joined a cult. Kept the haircut. I learned how to survive and not be a victim."

"It's hard to imagine you in a cult. That usually involves a lot of rules"

"I was looking for answers. Drugs and sex and going to a better place…. a better place… right." Jack snorted. "It was all about money. They wanted to take a colony shake the suckers down to fund their spread. And guess who was their ace in the hole? They were just like the rest, didn't give one shit about me."

"What did you do when you found out?"

"What do you think?"

Ari nodded knowing Jack's murderous nature and pondered this new information. All Jack was was a scared child. It made Shepard's heart ache; she had been there herself. She wanted to put her arms around Jack and hug her. For Ari, that was a bit out of character to want to comfort someone who was clearly traumatized but Chakwas was right, Ari felt a piece of herself in Jack. However, she doubted Jack would let her in to comfort her. Shepard had been in a gang back on Earth, her purple hair came from her days running with them. Shepard had also ran away from that life, but she ran into the enlistment office for the Alliance Navy and her life had gone on from there.

"You couldn't have gotten far, without people that were actually nice."

Jack snorted. "Everybody wants something and because of that everything is fair game. Murder, assault, kidnapping, drugs, stealing, arson, done it all and that's the boring shit. Piracy, theft of military craft, destruction of a space station, and vandalism, that was a good one."

Shepard raised an eyebrow. "Military is a hard target, bet that made you some friends."

"Shouldn't have left the thing unlocked. Besides parades are boring, I helped."

"A space station? You're pushing what I can believe."

"Aint saying it was easy. Not everything is spur of the moment, sometimes you've got to work to give people what they deserve. Had some people I hung with for a while, outlaw colony. Felt like they were like me. Guess that made us a nice target. Turians think they know something about a scorched earth response. FUCK 'EM."

"You were a pirate too?"

"Ties in with the kidnapping. If you hijack a passenger ship and don't kill everyone anyway. Good lesson. Simpler just to kill them all."

"I am surprised you'd even mention vandalism in that bunch."

"That's what the Hanar called it when you crash that space station, I mentioned into one of their moons and make a new crater. They really liked that moon."

Ari nodded, that was a lot of information to take in and reaffirmed in her mind that Jack was just a scared child. But I am not her mother. That's not my thing. How do I even, get through to her? Act like the tough hard ass that I am normally or try something else?

Shepard let out a deep breath. "Do you ever wonder if you could have done things differently."

"No."

"Shouldn't you?"

"There's no reason I should be alive but I am. You know why? Instinct. It's worked for me so far and I am not going to change. Hey Shepard, no one has every asked me about this shit. It's strange to talk about. So…. fuck you and thanks for asking."

Shepard could tell she wasn't going to get anything else out of Jack but maybe just maybe she had made some headway.

Jack then said. "Shepard, you said you got your purple hair back on Earth. How?"

Ari sat down next to Jack. "It was part of my initiation in a gang back on Earth. I kept it. Made me feel tough."

Jack snorted. "Tough, really? What else?"

Shepard rolled her eyes. "I ran with them. What else do you want to know? You want to know that I killed other gangs? Because I did. I saw a shit load of friends I ran with die. We stole, we did all sorts of things that gangs did. You should know since you mentioned you ran with gangs as well. I also saw that the gang I ran with was nothing but a tool for other bigger gangs and mercs. I could have let that life consume me, but I didn't. The Alliance Navy was my out, it made something of me. And like you I have no regrets about choosing this life. Anyway…are you satisfied?"

Jack shrugged. "I guess. I just find it hard to believe that a woman like you would run to the military rather than turn pirate."

"Believe it. The gang and pirate life is a dead end. Good way to live fast and die young. I got tired of it. Anyway, if you want to talk to me some more, my door is open. Don't be a stranger."

Shepard walked off….

A/N: Yeah I know I did this mostly verbatim from the game but…found it really hard not to. I'll try and deviate some later on.