Note: Happy two days after Valentines day everyone! I actually didn't intend for this to work out this way but here we go! Lewds for first half.

Chapter 55: Fool Me Once...

The blanket draped across the bed gave Kal mixed feelings. On the one hand, it was the one thing he had ever wanted from the Migrant Fleet, recognition. This was the one way to solidify the fact that he and Jack were a family and would always be one. On the other hand, it had come from a woman who just wanted to clear her conscience for years of inaction to help him. Yes she was an Admiral, and better yet his mother, this gift would be a young Quarian couples dream come true. But, he didn't know if he could disconnect the blanket from the person behind it and their motive for making it. Ultimately, he had to realize Shala took a huge risk commissioning the blanket. Gerrel would've certainly exiled her or worse if he discovered she made a gay marriage legal. He had to put her previous actions aside, he had other things to worry about.

Kal couldn't believe Tali had a Nerve-Stim installed into his new suit without telling him. He wasn't mad about it since she was just thinking about him but, it was a little bold of her to assume he needed one. For a normal Quarian, a Nerve-Stim was just a part of being a responsible adult. Every being needed stimulation from time to time and since they couldn't get out of their suits frequently, the Stim was a good substitute. Kal wasn't a normal Quarian though and thus could release without it. He had spent many a night in his teenage years rubbing off to Fornax magazines. Still, this was an opportunity to experience something new with Jack so he wasn't going to complain.

Jack was eyeing him with a raised eyebrow as he watched Kal staring at the blanket, "You don't like it on the bed do you? We could hang it on the wall instead if you wa-"

Kal held up his hand to stop him, "I love the blanket Jack...it's..." He took a deep breath turning to look at him instead, "Shala came to me and told me she was my mother. And that she knew about the experiments Gerrel was doing from the beginning."

Jack suddenly looked very upset, "And she didn't do anything to stop what was he was doing...? Do you think Gerrel put her up to lying just to hurt you?"

It would've been a lie for Kal to say that possibility hadn't crossed his mind. His father was the type of man to do just that if he thought it was going to get Kal to bend. However, the fact that Shala had given Jack this blanket told him she had been acting alone. Gerrel would've never risked Kal going back to the fleet with the blanket. As long as Shala was still an Admiral, he could return to the fleet with it and throw his exile out of the water. It also had the potential to throw out every other exile caused by someone being gay. Kal was tempted but, he knew the stigma in the general Quarian population wouldn't change and he'd rather stay away.

He tapped his elbow with his opposite hand and sighed, "I thought about it but, no. Shala basically gave me a legal back door to come back to the fleet if I ever wanted to.. Gerrel would never do that knowing I'm not going to be his baby making machine. We don't have time to go back and have our family there right now anyways."

Jack gave him a wide sincere smile, "Once we stop the Reapers...you know I'd follow you anywhere right? Even if that means I'd have to wear a modified Quarian suit for everyone elses' benefit."

Kal popped his helmet off so Jack could see his smile, "I know, but I don't think we could get Zero to follow us and she's just as important. Now, you need to open the Nerve-Stim and honor Tali's dare."

To make sure he didn't fall over from any shock to his nerves, Kal flopped onto the bed and gave Jack a reassuring grin. He watched Jack's facial expressions change when he opened the app. General curiosity morphed to an interested stare as he explored all of the options. Since his omni tool was translucent, Kal could see the app from upside down and blushed. Tali hadn't skimped out on the version of the stim, the app featured options for oral, and anal sex with a finger or penis. The options underneath that had customization options for length and thickness. Even under that, the app had options for speed and force. Tali had to have quite the dirty mind if she modified this for him.

Jack coughed looking back up at him with surprise, "This is real right? You two aren't trying to prank me?"

Kal had a challenging twinkle to his glowing white eyes and he stretched out on the bed, "Why don't you push one of the buttons and find out..?"

Jack hummed quietly before tapping a few of the options while sitting down on the couch. At first all Kal felt was a slight pinch on the back of his neck, the suit must've been getting access to his nervous system. Then, he gasped as though all the air in his lungs had been punched out of him. He knew logically that nothing was between his legs, but his nerves were tricking him into feeling lips kiss his tip. They were even a little prickly like Jack's which made him moan softly. They had never actually done it this way because Kal was afraid of any allergic reaction Jack could've had from his dextro cum. He had only taken the plunge, so to speak, two years ago because he trusted his enhanced immune system.

His husband gave him a wicked smirk, "I thought you'd like that."

Kal playfully glared back at him, "You bos-"

He couldn't finish what he was going to say because the feeling of a tongue flicked around his tip. It wasn't as moist as an actual tongue but, the sensation of a muscle was enough to get him to flop his head back against the pillow. The virtual tongue's progress was oh so painfully slow, 'licking' around the top of his tip. Kal noticed the tongue dragged around the edge of his tip as if it was the button on a female. Tali had definitely worked a miracle getting the stim to work on him at all, since the manufacturer didn't make a homosexual version for Quarians. Still, the selfish, horny part of him wished the tongue and mouth would go lower.

Jack chuckled sounding amused watching him, "Let me know when you want me to add depth..."

The tongue gave what he could best be described as a teasing flick so, Kal forced his head up to look at Jack. Giving the omni tool on his arm a look, Kal could see a live video feed of his hard as a rock length packed into his suit. Whenever Jack swiped or touched the video, Kal would feel the tongue completing a similar motion against the back end of his tip. Tali had out done herself in the coding department to make this work as well as it did. Another swipe made the tongue drag across the diameter of his tip like a piece of candy. The feeling of the tongue's slow grind was mindnumbingly perfect, which just made him want more of it as soon as possible.

Kal nodded eagerly staring at his eyes with some desperation, "Please cyar'ika...more."

Jack spread his legs apart revealing a bulge in his own pants from his look and tone before going back to work. The tongue suddenly switched tracks and started grinding up and down the length of his shaft. Since the tongue didn't belong to any real living being, it could reach all of the way down his length while the soft yet scratchy lips kissed at his tip softly. Kal bucked his hips upwards with a moan and was frustrated to only find air. He wanted Jack on top of him with his suit off but, that would end the sensations running along him right now. The tongue slowly made it's way down his shaft with suspicious accuracy in following one of his veins. He looked at Jack to see his finger was purposefully targeting the vein.

His voice had turned into a husky rumble, "You keep doing that and I'll come over there to jump on that very inviting lap of yours."

Jack chuckled moving his free hand to rub at his own bulge, "You say that like its a bad thing I want to avoid."

Kal groaned sensing a shiver run down his spine when the tongue made contact with his base. Just like his tip, the tongue started by making laps around the base. The difference was since the tongue was as long as his entire shaft, Kal could feel a perfect amount of friction from the tongue along his whole length. He gripped at the pillow behind his head trying not to cry out from the pleasure he was feeling all over. Kal took the risk and looked over again to see Jack's pants were pooled at his feet and he was rubbing himself off. The sight made Kal buck his hips again and some pre drooled out from his tip. Thank Keelah his new suit was absorbant, or this would've been a mess.

He could practically see a lightbulb go off above Jack's head when he looked at him, "Let me take care of that for ya..."

A second finger landed on the interface and Kal felt his eyes were going to bulge out, "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

He couldn't believe it but, while the first tongue rubbed up around his base, a second tongue flicked along the tip. Tali could probably make a fortune in the exile Nerve-Stim business if she wanted to, his friend seemed to have thought of everything. This was the kind of thing Kal thought was only possible in fantasies, two tongues were working him. The first tongue coiled around his base gently squeezing it while the second one licked at his tip as though the person was in the desert and needed his fluid. A combination of two tongues was going to break him within seconds since he hadn't ever experienced anything like this before.

Kal started fumbling with his bottom suit seal, giving Jack a hungry lust filled look, "Turn that kriffing thing off and get over here right now."

Jack didn't have to be asked twice easily melting under that gaze, "As you command Mr. vas Normandy."

The stim shut down giving Kal a minute to breath to get his suit's bottom half off but, Jack was on top of him soon after making the recovery a short one. Kal leaned up to meet Jack's sitting form on his lap so they could start kissing. The usually slow gentle introduction kisses were immediately replaced with hard sloppy ones. Their tongues were smashing and grinding together while both sets of hands were trying to get each others top off. Kal was maybe just a tad embarrassed by how feverish his hands were in getting Jack's shirt off, however, he was sure his cyar'ika understood why. Less than ten seconds ago, Kal had been on the verge of exploding his load, suit be damned.

Kal didn't waste much more time and impatiently bucked upwards wanting inside Jack. He let out a frustrated moan between kisses as the first thrust just sent Kal's tip colliding with Jack's strong, firm, and hot inner thigh. Jack chuckled darkly while they were kissing and he grabbed Kal's hands to guide them to his ass cheeks. His mind got the not so subtle hint to slow down even though his body was demanding to go as fast as possible. His six fingers slowly buried themselves into Jack's hot, smooth, yet hairy skin to guide him a little forward. The initial aim still wasn't perfect but, Kal was quickly able to adapt allowing his wet tip to finally sink into Jack.

A lewd gut centered moan tumbled from his lips, having gone from something virtual and physically impossible, to the very real experience with Jack. Kal already knew neither of them were going to last long because of the Nerve-Stim. Still, he took things slowly letting Jack sink onto his length as tenderly as Kal could manage not wanting to hurt him. They continued kissing with a messy, haphazard smash of their lips which was in heavy contrast to the way Kal let his shaft slowly go into Jack to the hilt. The two of them broke the kiss and stared into each others gaze. Jack's lustful expression threatened to undo him all on it's own, if his throbbs were any indication but, Kal wanted to hold out as long as he could.

Jack leaned forward and tilted his head so his warm lips could hover right next to Kal's ear, "Let go Kal...fuck me as long as you can and then let go."

The whisper was enough to make Kal grunt and grab his sides. He used his strong grip to start bouncing Jack on and off his tip over and over again. Already he could see stars behind his eyes but Kal was determined to keep going. In his mind, it was only polite to push Jack over the orgasmic edge first, especially since he was the one to start this evenings activities. Kal's hope just was that it wasn't going to take too long for Jack to get there. He didn't know how long he could realistically hold out from exploding. The feeling of release was so close, Kal could practically taste it at the back of his tongue.

While Jack's breathing seemed to make it clear he was at the same edge, the smirk across his lips made it clear he wasn't going to just play along. Kal moaned out loudly when he could feel his actual tongue running along his ear's shelf before moving down lower. A few lazy kisses along his jaw later, and Jack's tongue was making slow wide circles around his sensitive neck. That warm wet feeling on his collarbone was enough to make Kal release completely. He continued to bounce Jack weakly up and down but, rope after rope of his hot sticky Quarian cum poured into Jack. Just a few seconds later, Jack arched backwards with a deep moan and came all over Kal's chest.

The two of them collapsed against the bed and Kal softly cupped Jack's cheek, "Keelah...that was..."

Jack was breathing hard but, wrapped his arms around Kal tightly, "Yeah...who knew Tali was going to have the ability to make you horny."

Kal elbowed him teasingly at the obvious joke, "Your a bosh'tet."

Jack kissed his forehead softly before snuggling in close to him, "You know you love it. Now get some sleep, we don't want to be totally exhausted for making breakfast in a few hours."

Kal nodded, kissing his chin in return, "I love you my cyar'ika."

His eye lids were drooping but, Jack mumbled with a yawn, "I love you too sweetheart..."

_o0o_

Jack woke up to the bumping noise of durasteel, Vetra must've left with her sister on their smuggling ship. He felt bad he didn't get to see them off and say goodbye again but, sleeping like a baby had been wonderful. The realization that he would never see her ever again hadn't hit him yet. She was just going to lay low for a few months but, of course they'd have a reunion again. Unfortunately, she had burned too many bridges to be able to stay in the Milky Way. If Aria's bounty hunters hadn't ended up killing them, the AIA agents would've. Jack looked at the clock on his omni tool and sighed, it was 7:30 am galactic standard time in the morning. They had to get up.

He gently rubbed the back of Kal's shoulder with his thumb whispering, "We've gotta get up. I'm sure Jack's hungry in medbay."

Kal groaned with a groggy voice, "I'll take the next shower..."

Knowing he wasn't going to get Kal up on his own, Jack dragged himself to the shower still feeling tired himself. Tali's trial, the Alarei, and more recently the time he had with Kal were draining him. They needed a shore leave to decompress before going after the Collectors directly. Even more than the hunt for Saren, it felt like they were constantly running from threat to threat. Luckily, it had only been a few days since they stole the data from the Collector ship. If it was really going to take EDI a week to get the data about the Omega-4 Relay, they had a few days off. The problem was there didn't seem to be a port in the entire galaxy that they could safely go to and enjoy shore leave. Ashley wasn't going to give up her hunt now that Arnold was dead and Kai Leng still wanted them dead.

EDI's voice came from his omni tool resting near the soap bar, "Shepard, Admiral Daro'Xen has sent you a message. Would you like me to play it for you?"

Jack peeked his head out of the shower door to make sure Kal was still sort of sleeping, "If it's urgent go ahead, otherwise delete it."

Xen's voice came through his tool in a recorded message, "Jack'Shepard vas Normandy, I've been exploring the Alarei looking for Legions remains. I'm sure you are well aware I found nothing. However, I just wanted you to know that I did find a few things from the experiments Rael'Zorah and Han'Gerrel were conducting. Had you shared them with me, Humanity might have reaped the benefits. Instead, once my own experiments are complete, you and your people will watch from a distance as the Quarian people reclaim not just their homeworld, but the largest synthetic army in the galaxy. Rael'Zorah's... death... will not have been in vain. I will complete what he started. Cordially, Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh."

Jack was curious why she paused around death, did she know Rael technically saved his mind? "Archive the message just in case. Anything else I need to know about EDI?"

The AI responded calmly, "I may have stumbled upon a way to navigate through the Omega-4 Relay. I have transmitted the data to The Illusive Man for a final review. I'm sure he'll contact you when he has confirmed my findings."

Ultimately, that was good news. It meant they were one step closer to actually stopping the Collectors and hopefully getting out from under Cerberus' thumb. However, Jack's plans for a nice relaxing shore leave could be tossed right out of the window. If they had a way to safely get through the Omega-4 Relay, they had to take it immediately. The Collectors could be kidnapping more Humans as he was standing under this hot water. Who knows how close Sovereign was to getting his shell back. That was his biggest fear, and he knew he had to stop it.

Jack grabbed a towel and started to dry off, "Thanks for the heads up EDI. Let me know when he's ready to talk."

EDI responded, "Acknowledged Shepard, logging you out."

He started getting dressed and tugged one of Kal's sheets off of him, "The showers yours lazy head."

Kal yawned while rolling over to look at him with a smile, "I'll meet you downstairs in a bit I promise... Just tired."

Jack gave him a serious glance, "EDI might've found us a way through the Omega-4 Relay. It might be over sooner rather than later."

Kal sat up quickly like he had been splashed with cold water, "So, we're actually going to do it then? I'll be ready for anything."

Jack tried to remain up beat, "Yeah we're really going to get to be criminals all on our own soon, if we survive... Now, wish me luck making Jack breakfast. I'm sure she's a tough critic."

Kal gave him a soft grin, "Thank you, I'll be down soon."

For it being a good time to get up, Jack was surprised that he and Chakwas were going to be the only people making food right now. He would've thought the mess hall would be packed at this point. Maybe he was too early to be getting up and moving around? It didn't matter really, he never enforced strict wake up times on either Normandy, as long as people got their work done more sleep wasn't a problem. Chakwas was sipping on some coffee and giving him a knowing smile. Jack had to wonder if the older woman could tell what he had been up to last night. He'd just showered so smell couldn't have been it. Hopefully, they hadn't been too loud from the Captains Quarters.

Jack ignored his inner self conscious and tilted his head towards her, "Morning doc. Everything alright?"

She swirled the coffee in her hand seemingly pleased with herself, "Yes Commander, not to break patient client privilege but.. Jack called the both of you her dads. She backed off quickly like she made a mistake. You and I know that isn't true though."

Jack grinned while starting to gather flour for pancakes, "I'm glad she's finally starting to trust us, kicking and screaming that is." He turned his head to look at her, "How's she doing? Really."

Chakwas held his gaze with a smile, "She'll be fine Commander. While I'd be more comfortable if she was performing her physical therapy at Grissom Academy, I understand that isn't an option because of her background. I can always call one of my old friends there for advice."

Jack felt uncomfortable about her reaching out to friends in the Alliance and showed it, "Just, be careful what you say about where you are. Ashley's still after us and while we're fighting the Collectors we can't afford that distraction."

Chakwas held up a hand politely to stop him, "I'm well aware of our current circumstances Shepard. My friends think I'm taking a retirement cruise near Thessia. You don't need to worry about me and discretion."

He was about to apologize when Feron came walking out of Miranda's office and froze staring at the two of them, "I uhh...good morning."

Jack couldn't help but show the surprise he was feeling on his face. So, that looked they sort of shared in his cabin had meant something. His first reaction was that he was working Miranda for information about Cerberus. He couldn't begin to count the number of vids he had watched where a spy would lie and seduce a target in order to get intelligence. In this case though, Miranda was smarter than any of the women in those vids, he hadn't thought she was interested in romance period. The most telling piece of evidence that this was a real relationship though was Feron's face. He looked terrified, as though he had just robbed a bank and found CSEC was waiting for him at the front door. Did he think they were going to judge him? To be honest, Jack was surprised but, he was glad they were hopefully happy.

Chakwas grinned as if nothing had just happened, "Good morning, would you like some coffee? I've made a levo and dextro cup for everyone."

The Drell made sure his jacket didn't look like it had hastily been put on and smiled, "Thank you but, I drink tea. Don't get up to make it please, I could use an excuse to stretch around."

Thane's voice came from the side of the elevator, he had probably been standing there silently the entire time, "Have you made sure she is alright? Licking Drell skin and fluids tend to cause hallucinations, some permanent depending on the fluid."

Feron's hand shook as he grabbed a tea bag, "...Really...?"

Jack made himself look busy breaking eggs for the pancakes, you could cut the tension with a knife. Thane mistakenly had an analytical edge to it pretending to ignore the negative attitude, "Yes, I've seen Humans go to mental institutions from ingesting a Drell's release. It's a terrible-"

Feron interrupted him coldly, "How old am I dad?"

Thane tilted his head looking confused, "Your twenty two Koly-"

He spun to face him, "Twenty nine. I'm twenty nine, meaning I don't need the talk."

Thane threw his hands out wide, "Well, you won't talk to me at all so I have to start somewhere."

Feron angrily tossed the tea bag in the cup, "Maybe we haven't talked because I don't need to, or want to with you. What are you even doing here anyways?"

EDI interrupted them from the intercom, "Shepard, The Illusive Man is requesting to speak with you."

Jack took a deep breath, "Thanks EDI, I'll be right there." He looked down to the pancake cooking and glanced at Chakwas, "Could you take over?"

She gave him a quiet nod letting Jack leave the mess hall. He regretted not being able to help Thane mend the gap he had with his son but, it technically wasn't even his place. The problems they had were Thane's own making and Jack couldn't wash it away. Hopefully, the awkward interaction they had this morning would at least lead to more conversations. Feron would feel sorry if he didn't at least talk to his father before he passed away. Jack put their plight into the back of his mind as he entered The Illusive Man's office. Jack had to admit it was incredibly strange to see the man in the exact same position as he had left him in every time they talked. How many cigarettes and glasses of scotch could he really have just for himself on whatever station he was on?

A puff of smoke greeted him, "Shepard, EDI confirmed my suspicions. The Reapers and Collector ships use an advanced Identify Friend/Foe system that the Relays recognize. All we need to do is get our hands on one of those IFFs."

Jack felt like he was going to twitch and sarcastically answered, "I was already on the Collector ship! Why didn't you say anything about finding their IFF?"

The Illusive Man took another puff of smoke, "As I said, EDI just confirmed it. Besides, you wouldn't have had time to find and extract it. But we have options."

Jack raised an eyebrow frustrated with his vague answer to everything, "Options? Like what?"

He put out his cigarette and shifted in his seat to get comfortable, "We have a science team working on a derelict Reaper right now. I need you to go and pick up its IFF."

Jack folded his arms keeping a skeptical tone, "Another 'derelict' ship? Where did you find it? I only slightly believe you, because I doubt you'd repeat yourself so soon."

The Illusive Man took a shot of the alcohol, "An Alliance science team recently determined that the 'Great Rift' on the planet Klendagon is actually an impact crater from a mass accelerator weapon. A very old mass accelerator. I sent a team to find either the weapon or its target. They found both." He tilted his glass and a LOKI mech marched forward to fill it again, "The weapon was defunct, but it helped us plot the flight path of the intended target, a 37 million year old derelict Reaper. We found it damaged and trapped in the gravity of a brown dwarf."

Jack frowned having a strange bad feeling about this, "Aren't brown dwarfs basically stars that didn't quite make it?"

The Illusive Man put the glass back in the armchair, "Simply put, but accurate. They're gas giants that don't quite have the masses of stars. Expect gale-force winds and extremely high temperatures. The Reaper has a Mass Effect field that keeps it in orbit. Likely an automated response to the external threats. It's stable... but I won't call it safe."

Jack glanced at him trying to get a read on him, "I get the feeling this isn't going to be simple 'swing by and pick up our package.'"

His hand hovered near the glass, "We lost contact with Dr. Chandana's team a few weeks after they boarded. Initial reconnaissance revealed no clues, and it was too risky to commit more resources, but now we need that IFF. I'll forward the coordinates to Joker, good luck Shepard. Your going to need it."

Jack took a deep breath, he was going to raid a Reaper.