Awakening

1.

Maldives

Earth

24 June 2093

The sun had barely broken the eastern horizon over the rolling azure waves that brushed against the jutting rocks guarding the bay, as Jack took the steaming mug from the coffee maker and made his way to the front of the open overwater bungalow. The morning breeze was warm against his skin, ruffling his blond hair and kissing the four-day beard that covered his scarred face.

As every morning, he watched the various aquatic creatures swimming casually through the clear saltwater of the shallow bay, the ebb of the waves lapping gently against the sandalwood steps and sweeping beneath the stilted structure. He sipped the hot coffee, soaking in the scintillating sunrise as his enhanced hearing picked up the faint rumble of thunder to the west. As he turned his head to cast a glance in the direction of the rumble, his amber eyes caught the slow flashing of the green light at the terminal.

He grinned gently.

Right on time, he thought.

Jack eased into the padded wicker chair and sat his mug beside the terminal before tapping the virtual keyboard and opening the channel.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead," the melodic voice said as the image formed in front of him.

"Way ahead of you, Commander," Jack replied with a grin, lifting his mug to accentuate his point.

Even through holographic imaging, the sight of her filled his heart with warmth. Her long brown hair flowed like waterfalls to her lower back, bangs partially covering one of her big brown eyes that held a glossy finish. Blue satin covered her olive skin, her robe resting teasingly high on her thigh as she propped on the pillows of her large bed.

She cooed with a very light giggle. "I don't think I'll ever get used to hearing you calling me that, Skipper," Ashley said.

"I did my time," Jack replied. "Now it's up to you to keep the galaxy safe, Commander Williams-Shepard."

Ashley sighed. "I'm beginning to think that you didn't leave anything to protect the galaxy from," she began, gently passing her fingers through her hair in a gesture that she knew her Skipper loved. "What I wouldn't give to have a rebellion to quell, or investigate a plot to overthrow the council, or even pirates to track down and disband. What good is being a Spectre when there's nothing to uncover?"

"Ash," Jack replied in a gentle tone. "Just because you can do something, doesn't mean that you must do it. You fought the Reapers alongside me, you nearly died in that last push in London… I think you deserve to spend your last years in comfort. You've earned it."

"So says the Hero of the Citadel, and Savior of the Galaxy, who did die…twice," she answered.

"And that is why I have retired to our lovely tropical home," Jack Shepard said with a grin. "I gave every last ounce I had… even believing it was a one-way trip and that I'd never see you again," he continued, glancing from the terminal and gazing into the horizon for a moment. "But God saw fit to let me survive the crash of the Citadel. I guess He wanted to keep me around just to harass and annoy you," he finished with a light chuckle.

"I would rather spend the rest of my life listening to your crude jokes and vid-comming every morning to refuse to let you sleep late, than to have the hole in my heart that I felt those two years before Cerberus brought you back," Ashley replied. "If I can't feel your arms around me, I can at least hear your voice and look into those amber eyes that I love so much, before I close my eyes for my eight hours."

"If I didn't call you at the beginning of the duty day," Shepard began to tease his wife, "you would oversleep, like you did most days under my command."

Ashley scoffed. "Oh whatever, Skipper. You call me every morning just so you can watch me get into the shower," she retorted.

"When has that ever happened?" Shepard asked. "Something I missed?"

Ashley laughed. "As if I would leave an open vidcom channel while I showered, with Joker still on board. Besides," she continued, "I've gotta keep you wanting more, don't I?"

"You always do," Shepard answered with a grin, and watched as Ashley rolled onto her stomach, lazily pulling her bare feet up behind her and crossing them at the ankles, flirtatiously resting her chin on her clasped fingers. The sight sent a light surge through his body, and he knew that she was doing this on purpose.

"So, what's on the agenda for today, Skipper?" Ashley asked.

Shepard glanced out toward the west at the wall of darkness approaching the overwater bungalow.

"I had promised Ruvin that I would fish with him today, but it's looking like that'll have to be rescheduled," he answered.

"Ruvin…," she pondered. "Oh, the Sinhalese boy from the village; the one that doesn't know who you really are," she confirmed.

Shepard sighed as the first droplets of rain began to pepper the thatched roof. "He just knows me as Jack. No Commander, no Shepard, none of the hero stuff. Just Jack, a retired spacer that plans on living his golden years in the tropics of his home planet," he said, taking a datapad from the desk and tapping a few icons.

Ashley could hear the initial hum of the forcefields engaging, even over the comm channel.

"Besides," Shepard continued as the shimmering translucent energy pulsed in multiple erratic areas as the rain spattered against it, "you are the Alliance hero he knows about. My 'most beautiful wife', as he refers to you, every time he sees your picture," he said with a grin. "And I've told him that you have sisters."

She released a burst of laughter. "He's just barely in his teens, isn't he? Not to mention, it takes a special kind of crazy to handle us Williams women."

"Oh, he knows that you're a bad ass, Ash," Jack said. "He's asked me why I don't even have a gun, and I told him because everyone knows that I'm under the protection of Commander Ashley, so nobody is foolish enough to cause trouble here."

Ashley sighed. "Skipper, I really wish you would keep at least a pistol with you. I know that you're an N7 and learned how to repair a turret with nothing but a toothpick; it would just make me feel better."

Jack paused "I don't want to go there again, Ash," he answered softly. "The last time I held a gun, one of my oldest and most trusted friends died at the business end of it… so I used that gun to destroy the Reapers. After surviving the crash of the Citadel…," he trailed off as a dark tumultuous cloud passed across his amber eyes.

"Hey," Ashley replied in a soft, soothing voice. "You know Anderson was not your fault. How many times has your counselor told you the same thing, each time it starts to gnaw at you?"

Shepard sighed as a flash of lightning passed across the sky. "I know this, and I've accepted it, even when it passes through my mind or in my dreams. I just feel like this is my way of coping, by staying away from a gun."

"I understand, my love," she said gently. "It wasn't my intention to upset you."

Jack gave her a gentle sideways smile. "I know you meant no harm. If the roles were reversed, and I were the one still serving the Alliance and you were here by yourself in a tropical paradise, I would want you to have an arsenal at your disposal. At least here, you could wear a swimsuit instead of armor," he teased.

Ashley scoffed. "That bitch," she muttered as Miranda Lawson's face flashed through her mind's eye. "I suppose that makes us even then."

"I wasn't aware that we were keeping score. But, if we were, I'd have to say I'm more than a few points in the lead," Shepard replied with a playful smirk.

"And that, we can agree on," Ashley said, rolling to her side and resting her head on her pillow. "I'm getting sleepy, Skipper. Try to behave yourself today, and call me in eight," she continued as her eyes began to relax.

"No promises on the behavior part, but I'll do my best. Rest easy now, and I love you," he finished.

She smiled slow and warmly as her eyes closed, as if savoring every syllable. "I love you, Jack. Goodnight," she cooed, and closed the comm channel, leaving her cabin with only the soft blue glow from the aquarium lights.