Disclaimer: The Mass Effect Universe and everything in it belongs to BioWare.

[Chapter Five: Moments of Softness]

Shepard's cabin was nice and cold. The lighting was dim but the rather large fish tank in his room gave off a pleasant blue glow. Jack had never really taken the time to check out Shepard's room. The only other instance she'd been there was right before the suicide mission. And even then she didn't take the time to get to know anything. Her concentration that night was on Shepard and on telling him whatever she could manage to get off her chest. As the doors opened, Shepard went straight for his personal terminal and sat down on the chair in front it. "Mind if I send off a message to a couple of people? Gotta' see if I can get any help with parts for repairs. Just wanna' get this out of the way so we can do…whatever."

Jack shrugged. "Don't care."

Shepard looked her over for a moment then went to work typing a way. "It won't be that long."

Jack gave the room a scan with her eyes. She never really noticed how much crap was in there. The Cabin was a decent size sure, but this guy had pretty much everything packed in. "Couch, bed, two desks, armory, a couple of chairs, his own bathroom, a shelf, coffee table, and a fuckin' fish tank?"

"Must be nice to have all this shit to yourself."

Shepard smirked from behind his terminal, "You know you're welcome to come up whenever. You don't have to spend all your time down on deck four on that damn cot."

Jack, still at the door, looked at him and raised a brow. "And just what the fuck is wrong with my cot?"

He shook his head as he typed with his eyes glued on the screen. "Well nothing, I guess. I'm just saying if you ever want to come up that you would be more than welcomed to."

Jack clicked her tongue then decided to actually walk in, not responding to his comment. First stop was the desk by his bed on the other side of his cabin. It was cluttered with paper work on one side but the other was nice and clean. On the top right hand corner was an old battered N7 helmet rested. It looked like it'd been through hell. She ran her fingers over it, feeling the deep scratches and dents. "…this yours?"

Shepard looked over his terminal and towards the object she was touching, "Yeah, I found it at the crash site of my old ship. It's my old headgear."

She gave it a nod of approval, an almost 'thank you for keeping Shepard's head safe', and continued to explore the desk. Two holo-photos caught her eye. One was a plain framed holo, while the other was a vid. Jack reached to pick up the first. It was of a very pretty human woman that was just maybe a little younger than Shepard. She had long, beautiful brown hair that fell well past her shoulders and piercing blue eyes. The woman looked to have a soft and very comfortable sweater on with a pair of jeans. She looked so happy. Jack frowned. This woman was so different from herself. "Who the hell is this? Is this what he's into?" She let out a soft scoff then put the holo back a bit roughly. "Prolly couldn't shoot the fuckin' broad side of a ship with a McCain."

She chose to move on to the next holo instead of bringing up what she just saw. This one was a framed holo-vid of Shepard's old crew. She pressed play and the small screen came to life, glowing brightly but with no sound. The crew all stood packed in together in a hallway and his old Normandy ship could be seen in the background through a large window. They had been docked somewhere. Joker and Garrus looked as if they were bickering at each other. Tali was mingling with another engineer as well as a tanned woman dressed in white and pink armor. Dr. Chakwas, along with several other crew members, seemed to be holding a pose thinking it would be a plain old photo. Jack didn't know anyone else as she watched, showing the slightest of smirks. But then she found Shepard. He was hugging and laughing with the squid-head she had met on Illium. Liara was it?

This did not make her happy.

Jack unlocked the holo and hovered her index finger over the 'erase' option.

Shepard noticed her being quiet and took a peak from his terminal to check on her. "Everything okay over there?"

Jack stared daggers at the option. "Peachy."

"Alright," he responded, finding her reply to be a bit…odd.

With a soft growl, she re-locked the photo and set it down harshly against the desk. She couldn't do that to Shepard. If there was one thing she knew he cared about it was his crew – new and old alike.

"I'm almost done over here, just need to send off one more."

"Like I said. Don't care."

She could hear him typing furiously over the terminal. Shepard would raise his eyes every now and then to catch a glimpse of her. "So, what are you doing?"

Jack shrugged, turning around from the desk to plop onto his bed. "Nothin'. Lookin' around. Why? Got something to hide, Shepard?"

He let out a chuckle, "Nope. Look around all you want, be my guest."

She rolled her eyes then noticed she liked the feel of the mattress beneath her. She sat at the edge, eyebrow raised as she bounced herself on it softly and making the mattress squeak. "…not too shabby," she muttered to herself.

Shepard heard the squeaking then craned his neck to see what she was doing. The sight made him smile. She looked….cute. "Having fun over there?"

Jack shot him a dirty look, "Don't you get no ideas, Shepard. Was just checkin' it out."

"Firm enough?" Shepard asked with a small tone of innuendo in his voice.

Jack stared him dead in the eye, "Nope. Seems everything you got to offer is a little…soft."

Wow. She managed to not only call him a wimp, but offend his manhood as well. He clenched his jaw shut. "Deserved that."

"Yep."

Shepard finished off his last sentence, sent the message, and then shut the terminal down. He pushed his feet against the floor causing his chair to roll away from the desk and out into open view.

"So. What do you wanna' do?"

Jack sniffed herself. "I want a fuckin' bath. I smell like ass after today."

Shepard tried his best to impersonate Kenneth, "Mighty fine ass."

The only response he evoked was that of annoyance. He sighed, "Well, I have my own bathroom. Feel free."

Jack stood from his bed and walked over towards him. "You got any clothes I could borrow? These are starting to stiffen from all the shit on em'. "

Shepard stared at her. "Gross."

She scowled, "Don't go acting like you don't fuckin' smell or that your clothes don't get dirty. Do you have anything or not?"

"Was teasing, Jack. It was a rough day today."

"Well don't."

"Sorry, geez."

Jack couldn't tell him, but it actually stung when he played with her in that manner. Unlike so many men before him, she actually cared what he had to think of her. She hated it and that little factor scared her, but she couldn't help it none the less.

Shepard got off his chair and headed towards a small drawer. He pulled out a large, white t-shirt and a pair of black shorts. "These okay?"

"S'alright," she said, extending her hands to catch them. He tossed them over.

"Don't go using all the hot water. I need one too if I smell as bad as you say."

Jack gave a small but cruel laugh as she turned and walked into the bathroom. "I'll use whatever I damn well please." The doors closed.

Shepard rubbed his face. There was just no speaking with her tonight.

Since he was standing he decided to fix up his room while he could. He tucked his chair back in, picked up all balled up pieces of paper, put the two holos in their correct spaces, and neatened the paper stack on his desk. "Well it wasn't bad. But I guess that's better."

He looked around trying to see if there was anything else he could do. When he found nothing, he sat at the edge of his bed. God he was tired. And yeah, he most definitely needed a bath from what he could tell now. Slowly he took off the orange casual Normandy vest he wore around the ship. He hissed softly as he shrugged it off his arms and threw it into a basket. "…had to be the damn ribs," he cursed.

After a moment he tried to take off his shirt. Shepard growled in the process. He couldn't lift his damn left arm long enough without a heavy sharp pain jerking through him. He sighed in surrender, deciding to take a breather to unbuckle his pants and take off his boots and socks instead.

That felt better. He ran his feet along the smooth surface of his floor. It was cold and felt nice. A few more minutes passed when Jack finally emerged from the bathroom. Shepard looked up to see her and was slightly dumbfounded when he did. He soaked her in from head to toe. Jack leaned into the bathroom's doorframe, one leg crossed over the other as she stood there, her left foot trying to scratch the top of her right foot. She was brushing her teeth with what was most likely Shepard's toothbrush and pale blue foam surrounded her mouth. Her legs looked smooth and long and her toenails were actually…painted? They were a dark crimson color.

"Holy fuck," Shepard thought.

The large, white shirt was dangling loosely over her body down to her mid-thigh. She wasn't wearing any kind of undergarment beneath and he could tell—the room was cold after all. The black shorts he had given her were most likely rolled up at the waist since they appeared to be a lot shorter than usual.

She smelled great. As soon as the door opened he caught whiff of the freshly showered scent. But for some reason it just smelled better than usual when it was Jack sporting it. Jack cocked a brow at him. "The hell you staring at, Shepard," she said through the toothbrush.

Shepard blinked, shaking his head a little to get it back on straight. "Sorry. You just look…"

He smiled dumbly at her.

She rolled her eyes and turned around to go back into the bathroom. Shepard heard her spit and rinse before she came back out and into the room, "Your turn."

John looked her for a second, "I guess it is. Alright." He attempted to take off his shirt again. It was no good. He sighed heavily, obviously annoyed. "Fucking rib cage, God damn it."

Jack walked up to him. "Hurtin' pretty bad?"

He shook his head, "Just when I lift this damn arm."

"Here let me just…" Jack reached down to take hold of the bottom of his shirt. "Raise your arms for a sec. I'll slide it right off."

Shepard was stunned at her offer to help. "…uh…alright." He slowly lifted both arms, a hiss returning to his lips. In no time flat Jack had the shirt over his head and onto the floor.

"One time deal, Shepard. I ain't gonna' deal with this shit when you get old and gray. The minute you can't take care of yourself I'm bolting."

Shepard looked up at her face and into her eyes. A smile couldn't help but spread across his lips, "So…you'll be staying with me at least till I'm old and moldy then?"

Jack turned her face away from his and frowned, taking a few steps back as she did so. "If you're lucky."

Shepard took the hint and backed off a bit. He stood up and made his way to the bathroom. "Good enough for me."

xxxxxxx

About twenty minutes had passed after John had entered the shower. When he came back out in his sleeping shorts Jack was already comfortable on the right side of the bed, legs crossed at the ankle and looking at what appeared to be some kind of magazine. "I didn't think you'd be into this kind of shit, Shepard" she said in an amused tone.

"Into what?"

Jack turned the magazine and unfolded a page for him.

His eyes got large. "It was only five credits. I was just curious."

She smiled widely, turning the magazine back around to see. "Freaky shit in here. Fornax," she played with the word in her mouth. "Shit, even the title sounds dirty."

John shook his head, a smile across his mouth as he made his way towards the bed.

Still reading an article and observing a picture, Jack pointed to the opposite side of her space on the bed. "You stay on that side, you hear me?" She didn't bother giving him eye contact.

Shepard raised his hands in front of himself and shrugged at her. "I'll do whatever you want. That's fine."

As he plopped down, Shepard could feel how drained his body was. He let out a loud sigh of relief as he rolled back onto the mattress, his head landing on one of his pillows. "This feels so damn nice. I didn't realize how tired I was."

Jack put the magazine down on her lap and looked over to him. "Well it's sure as hell better than my cot. I'll give you that."

Shepard looked over to her and mocked her earlier statement, "And just what the fuck is wrong with your cot?"

She took his point. "Fucking hilarious, Shepard. Really."

xxxxxxx

Minutes found themselves passing in silence and Jack was still reading the Fornax magazine. Shepard couldn't help but smirk every now and then as she'd give off wide eyed expressions, (giggles?) or soft 'oh shit' or 'that's just nasty' comments. His eyes were feeling heavy but he kept them open just to watch Jack in this relaxed state. He would let his blue orbs wander up and along her frame until they once again landed on her painted toe-nails.

"Hey Jack?"

"Yep?"

"…you paint your nails?"

Jack cocked a brow and put the magazine down, looking to her dark red toe-nails and wiggling them before looking to Shepard, "Eh. I jacked it off of the cheerleader's nightstand when she left her office. It was just to piss her off but I ended up gettin' curious and trying it on for shits and giggles. The color is alright, I guess. One time deal, though."

Shepard smirked at her and she looked clearly annoyed because of it, "What, Shepard?" Jack dug her feet under the blanket and out of sight self-consciously.

"Nothing. I just think it looks nice on you. It's a good color."

"Oh," her voice seemed to be almost thoughtful. "Wait. You ain't a gay are you?"

Shepard did a double take, "What?"

"Well you're checking out the color of my nails and shit. I was just wonderin'."

He exhaled, irritated with her comment. Shepard rolled onto his side facing away from her and getting comfortable under the blankets. "Goodnight, Jack."

Jack shook her head, eyes widening and mouth opening slightly. "Hey Shepard, it was an innocent question." Her brow furrowed in concern, "Didn't mean nothin' by it. Honest."

Shepard was silent for a moment, a hidden smile on his face. "I know. It's alright. Goodnight, Jack."

The biotic stared at him as the light on his side of the bed went out. "Yeah, it is late I guess. Night."

Shepard saw her light go out and could feel her body turn and adjust itself to get comfortable on her side of the bed.

Minutes passed in total darkness and silence when suddenly Shepard felt warmth press against his back. Jack had slowly been moving herself to his side of the bed. Without a word she carefully placed her back against the length of his, careful not to wake him.

Unbeknownst to her, he'd been awake the whole time.

He could feel the tenseness in her muscles quickly settle into a relaxed state as she softly released a breath she seemed to have been holding. Moments later, between the warmth they produced, the coldness of the room, and the softness of Shepard's comforter, he could hear a gentle snore echo softly throughout the cabin. She was asleep.

With a smile on face, it wasn't long before he followed in her path.

[End Five: Moments of Softness]