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

A/N: This Chapter was a pain to plan out. Once again, reviews and feedback would be loved. I'm still new at this fan fiction stuff, so any input would be highly appreciated.

Warning: Some of you might hate me after.

[Chapter Eight: A New Mission]

The entire Normandy crew gathered around Commander Shepard, watching as he fumbled and went through a small stack of data pads. After a minute of getting them straightened (and Jack commenting with an 'Oh for the love of God, Shepard'), John was ready to give out instruction, "Alright everyone, welcome back to the Citadel! However, please don't assume this is pure leisure. We're here to get some small jobs done and I expect them to be fulfilled on your behalf. When you finish then go and have a little fun without getting arrested."

Grunt and Garrus mumbled to each other under their breath and Shepard noticed, "That especially goes for you two."

"Battlemaster, how deep could one Krogan and puny Turian possibly get?"

Garrus gave Grunt a whack in the arm. "Hey!"

Shepard peered at them both with eyes in slits.

Grunt exhaled with an attitude and Garrus averted his eyes beginning to whistle.

Shepard continued, "Now, I've prepared several data pads with individual assignments that I'm about to pass out. Those who get an assignment will also receive a credit chit with an allotted amount for the purchases in their entirety. Everyone understand?"

The Crew nodded or gave understanding mumbles.

"Excellent." He began to flip through his personal Data Pad. "Alright we'll start off with—"

Before Shepard could continue Thane interrupted and pulled him aside to speak. They talked for a few minutes, the Crew watching them in curiosity. Shepard would nod from time to time and say 'I understand' at others. Ultimately in the end, his eyes saddened but knew Thane was right. They both stood together before the crew. Krios took a step forward and gave a deep bow to them all. "My…friends… it has truly been an honor, but I feel that this is my time to say goodbye, to be with my son for the first time in a long time. So with fond memories and great pride I say farewell. Should higher-powers grant me an extended life, know that if ever you should need me, you require only to call and there I shall be."

Half the crew looked confused, but the other half that knew what was going on looked disappointed. Those closest to him came up to give their handshakes or hugs before Krios turned and exited the ship. He would be sorely missed.

There was a brief silence before Zaeed stepped in next. "Hell that was better than I was going to say."

Shepard blinked at him. "You too?"

"Sorry Shepard, it's been a hell of a good time but I did what I said I'd do. Now the credits stopped coming and that means I get lost."

He turned to the crew, trying to give some big speech like Thane. He blinked blankly for a moment then said, "Ah sod it, I never really liked you all anyways. Squishy bunch. Cept' for the Krogan and Tattoos over there."

Jack rolled her eyes and chose to ignore anything else he had to say.

Shepard laughed, always having appreciated his obscure sense of humor. In a friendly gesture he extended his hand. "Hate to see you go, but you were very clear when you came aboard. Thanks for staying till the end, Zaeed."

The mercenary took him by forearm and shook it proudly. "Good times, Shepard."

Zaeed nodded to the rest then headed out into the universe.

With a loud exhale, Shepard looked to all the data pads. "Well then, anyone else?"

A few crew members gave him an appreciated chuckle. Shepard nodded his head then looked down, "Alright then back to work." He extended each said data pad as he spoke, "Jacob, Kasumi, and Mess Sergeant to pick up much needed food supplies. Please do not forget about Tali this time. The woman needs variety."

Tali blushed feverishly behind her visor.

"Mordin and Dr. Chakwas to restock medical supplies – and a few extra credits for that brandy," he winked.

"Legion and Samara both expressed wishes to stay aboard the Normandy, I will grant that request—so that means that Grunt and Garrus… you gotta' pick up the armor suit I just ordered. Everything is on this data pad, just follow it to the T and you're good to go."

"Jack, stock up on ammunition. When you're done then feel free to wander around."

"Joker, I got something special for Edi and your job is to pick it out. So be good about it."

Jeff looked confused as Shepard tossed him his data pad. When he was finally able to see what Shepard was talking about, his lips spread into a wide grin. "Aye, Commander."

"Tali, take Kenneth and Gabby with you to pick up whatever parts you feel you need for the ships interior. Also, make sure you're all supervising the repairs being made to the Normandy over at the Engineering Dock. Don't worry about the cost; I put enough on that chit to feed a colony for months."

"And that meaaaaans…" he smiled at Miranda, "You're with me. As Second in Command, I figured you should be there with me on important issues. I got a message from Anderson about thirty minutes ago. I'll explain it as we go along."

Lawson nodded in her usual professional manner. "Commander."

"Alright team, the assignments are out there – let's get to it!"

xxxxxxx

They all unloaded off the Normandy, splitting up into their assigned groups and wandering off in separate directions. Shepard looked over to Jack and gave her a 'see you soon' smile. She pretended not to notice and just rubbed the back of her neck before going off to buy the ammunition.

John felt a hand on his shoulder. "Sir, what was it you wanted to brief me of?"

Miranda backed up a step or two, pulling out her own personal data pad and prepared to take notes.

Always business that Miranda.

Shepard massaged his forehead with his thumb, middle, and pointer finger. "Got a message from Anderson just a little bit ago that stated the Blue Suns might be transferring over a precious package to an unknown source."

Miranda looked up from her pad. "Precious package, sir?"

"As I am to understand, the item is worth nearly twenty million credits."

"Any information on what it might be?"

"Anderson felt the need to brief me in person and didn't want to send the information via terminal. Whatever it is, it must be important."

"Sounds like we should head over right away."

Shepard sighed, "I swear. Save the galaxy – twice, and still don't get a day off."

Miranda snickered, "Just another day in the life, Commander."

"Guess it is, Lawson, guess it is…let's go."

xxxxxxx

[Grunt and Garrus]

"I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite store on the Citadel."

Garrus rubbed his temple while Grunt groaned loudly. The Krogan eyeballed the intercom system and turned his hands into hard fists, "…if I hear that one more time…"

Garrus patted him on the shoulder. "Easy, Fluffy. Let's just get the stuff on Shepard's list so we can get out of here."

The Krogan pulled out the data pad and shoved it at Garrus. "Here."

Garrus sighed, "Fine. Let's see…Kestrel branded helmet, torso sheath, shoulder piece, and hip mounted power pack." He raised a brow, "Snazzy stuff, Shepard."

The pair walked up to the Salarian salesman. "Hey, we had an order placed here not to long ago under the name of Commander John Shepard of the Normandy SR2." Garrus extended the pad to show receipt information.

The Salarian accepted the pad to review, "Ah yes. The armor is finished; however your Commander did not specify a wanted color. I can give it to you as is, but color is part of the purchased package. I recommend taking action."

Garrus thought before opening his mouth, "Well he never really said—"

Grunt smacked him across the chest, taking over the rest of the sentence. "Stupid Turian, of course he did!"

Garrus eyeballed him.

The Salarian waited for their response. "And what color choice did the Commander prefer?"

Grunt leaned onto the counter, a wicked smirk crossing his lips. "Pink. Neon Pink."

Garrus joined in on the grin. "Ah yes, I remember now."

xxxxxxx

[Jack]

"I'm Commander Shepard and this is my Favorite Store on the Citadel."

The biotic clenched her jaw, tapping her fingers on the counter at the ammunitions dealer. "Jesus Christ, Shepard."

The human noticed her impatience and tried his best to hurry. This woman made him uneasy. While he stuffed crates of ammo, he tried his best to make friendly conversation hoping to keep the woman at bay, "Y-you know, Commander Shepard himself stopped by here once to buy some weapon upgrades…"

A Turian walked through the entrance and Shepard's signature sells promotion went off again. Jack turned to glare at the offending body then peered needles into the human salesman, "You don't. Fuckin'. Say?" Every word oozed with annoyance.

The other human could see his time was running short as he topped off the last of the crates. "C-credit-chit pl-please?" He winced as he held his hand out.

Jack pulled the chit out of her back pocket and tossed it at the man who fumbled trying to catch it.

The Salesman processed and sent the receipt to Commander Shepard's personal terminal aboard the Normandy, "T-Thank you, ma'am. I'll have these d-delivered to your ship right away." He placed the chip on the counter then held his hands together. Jack slammed her hand on the chip then scooped it up and put it back into her pocket, turning and leaving the store. She had been making progress. If she were in her usual mood, that store clerk might have been dead in a very large pool of blood right now.

Her job was now done and it was time to do what she'd been wanting to all day.

Usually the Human Embassy was for those with a "high status" in society. The kind of people who 'knew people' of other 'kinds of people' who could help you with 'certain kinds of problems'. Either that, or be really freaking rich. Jack was neither of those. But, the biotic went where she wanted when she wanted, and usually people got the hint to leave her the fuck alone. Especially the rich people; they didn't want to get themselves dirty or bruise their pretty faces.

And so, Jack had found a bench away from all the status elites, 'big dealer/high roller' commotion, 10k credit suits – and sat staring quietly out at the bright pinkish atmosphere through a giant window.

It was calm. She liked it.

xxxxxxx

[Tali, Kenneth, Gabby]

"Keelah, just let me do it!" Tali grabbed the wires and grumbled, working away at the I.E.S system. "Do you even know what an internal emission sink does, Mr. Cooper?"

The Citadel's Chief engineer stood back, wiping the sweat off his face. "I'm sorry Miss Tali, but The Normandy is practically a prototype! There's nothing like her, which makes this a little out of our field. We're trying, ma'am."

Tali mumbled to herself, annoyed with the human's ignorance of state of the art ships. "The heat generated by routine shipboard operations is easily detectable against the near absolute zero background temperature of space. The Normandy, however, is able to temporarily "store" this heat in lithium heat sinks deep within the hull."

Cooper leaned in; intrigued at the way she worked the wires.

"See," she went on "had you crossed this wire with that wire – not only would we have been easily detectable out in the battle field, but once we engaged the system we'd blow up. Just—poof!"

Cooper blinked, his eyes we wide. "I'm glad you caught my mistake then, ma'am."

Tali exhaled, "That makes two of us."

Another Citadel engineer came up, data pad in hand. "Ma'am the repairs assigned to us are complete and the Normandy is looking good once again on our side. The receipt was mailed to your Commander's Terminal." Tali nodded, thanking the worker.

Kenneth and Gabby came up with happy grins on their faces. "Hey Tali, the new core repairs not only makes the Normandy quiet and fast again, but now she can run at FTL speeds for much longer before having to discharge the drive," Gabby stated, proud that she was the one who lead the smaller team.

Tali finished with her currant task than stood up, looking over to her two team-mates. "Nicely done, Gabby! Kenneth, were you successful on your end?"

"Oh yes, Tali. I bought a mean bottle of whiskey." His face glowed, seeming ever so proud of himself.

Tali blinked, confusion etched behind her visor. "Bottle? Kenneth, I was talking about rebalancing the coefficients back to their normal settings."

"Oh that, yeah yeah no worries. All done— and fixed the shake in the elevator while I was at it too."

Tali reached in to grasp them both in a tight hug.

While in her embrace Kenneth whispered over to Gabby, "If she gets this touchy-feely over fixing some simple coefficients, imagine what she'd do to me with a little Quarian friendly whiskey in her…"

Gabby groaned. "You're such a dick."

Tali sighed, "You know I can hear you both."

xxxxxxx

[Joker]

Joker had wobbled himself over to the programs center in hopes of finding a new holo for
Edi. When he arrived a well dressed Asari greeted him, "Welcome to Ashnar's Center for Programs and Assorted Technologies. May I be of service?"

Jeff looked around the counters and the menu-holos glowing from the wall. "Uh yeah sure. Lemme' ask you somethin' Miss…?"

The Asari smiled, "You may call me Zia."

"Well lemme' ask you something, Zia. Do you sell any kind of program that applies custom made imagery to holos?"

Zia lifted a brow, "You mean you wish to alter a holo to fulfill a desired depiction?"

Joker pointed a finger at her, "Exactly! Got anything like that in the works?"

Zia pondered for a moment, "What program type would you be trying to alter, sir?"

Joker cleared his throat, "A ship's A.I default image."

The Asari blinked, eyebrows going up. "Sir you do realize that altering a program for an A.I. holo is rather expensive?"

"What, do I look like a hobo—actually don't answer that. Zia, my friend, my wonderful saleswoman…I have the credits. The question is," Jeff leaned in, acting like he was taking part in smuggling drugs, "…do you got the goods?"

The Asari leaned in as well, confused at his sudden need to conceal their dealing. "I do, Sir, but…why are we talking like this?" her voice was low like Jeff's had become.

Jeff looked her in the eyes, shaking his head slightly with dead serious expression. "I don't know."

The now clearly annoyed saleswoman returned to her professional posture and extended her hand towards the back room. "If you'd please."

Joker followed her in and the Asari sat at a small table, clicking a button that hid under the lip of the surface. Within seconds particles of light went from the base up towards the ceiling in the shape of cylinder. It was a design program. Within the beam of light, you could construct the desired 3D shape of the holo you wanted. "Please, Sir, if you would take a seat opposite me."

Joker smirked at the program, taking his seat as instructed. "Alright, what do you need me to do?"

The saleswoman shook her head, "Nothing, simply state what it is you would like to see in your holo."

He thought for a second, "… where do I start?"

"Perhaps with the gender?"

"Female."

"Desired race?"

Joker snickered wickedly. "Oh this is going to be good. Let's see…human I guess."

"Body structure?"

"Average—no thin—mo voluptuous –NO!" Joker had to take a breath, "…athletic."

Zia sighed, "Final choice, Sir?"

"Yeah. Athletic."

The depiction of a pretty, athletically built woman came to life in the sphere.

"Specifications?"

"Uh… hair that's right above the shoulders and work attire like mine – but for a woman."

Zia observed his Normandy Crew outfit then input the data. Edi would wear a suit like Miranda's but sport the Normandy colors and logo.

"Yeah that's nice. Okay now make those bigger. Just a little! Oh and the legs a little longer." The Asari sighed. "Yes, Sir."

Joker grinned widely. "Oh that's hot."

Zia felt the need to clarify something for her customer, "Sir, you are aware that a holo is nothing more than a three-dimensional image, correct? A platonic relationship is just not viable."

Joker gave her a sarcastic smile and thumbs up, "Oh what would I ever do without you, Doctor Love! Your advice was greatly needed! Do you also have suggestions for a lubricant I can use for when I dry hump the pedestal that holds her depiction?"

She got his point and offered an agitated voice in return. "Anything further, Sir?"

If he had to be stuck in the cockpit with her all day, by God, he was going to give her an image worth staring at! With a small victory in hand, he nodded and thought for a second. "Sure, Doc. Above the logo on her attire, can you put the name Edi on her clothes?"

She mumbled. "Yes, Sir."

"Thank you, that'll be it then."

Zia transferred the program onto an insert-able chip. "Just install this at your A.I.'s core, and the rest should take care of itself."

Joker took the chip eagerly, placing it in a protective case then sliding it into his pocket. "So how much does something like this cost anyways?"

Zia extended her hand and smiled widely—finally sensing her own small victory at hand, "65,000 credits sir, but with your added customization— 70,000."

"Seventy—whaaaaat?" Joker whimpered, extending his credit chit.

"Thank you so much sir, and have a wonderful day."

xxxxxxx

[Shepard and Miranda]

The Commander and Miranda made their way towards the Human Embassy. On the way a weapons shop caught Shepard's eye. "Hey Miranda, I'm going to make a quick pit stop. Go on ahead; I'll meet up with you in five minutes."

Lawson nodded her head and continued on her way, "Yes, Sir."

John walked quickly in, knowing he still had business to do. But this was important too.

"Excuse me," John started to ask the salesman, "What's the best shotgun model you have?"

The man, recognizing him off the bat, snapped to attention. "Commander Shepard! It's a pleasure to have you here, sir!"

"Thank you, Mr—?"

"Just call me Rodger, sir."

"Well thank you Rodger. Let's see if you can help me. Like I said, I'm looking for the best model you have to offer in the ways of shotguns. Can you show me what you have?"

"Yes of course! One moment!" He hurried off to the back, coming out only moments later with a HMWSG Master line. Shepard whistled when he saw it. Rodger grinned.

"Commander Shepard, this is the HMWSG Master Line Shotgun. She fires off with a 94% accuracy rating and shoots out seven times before needing to cool. However, I can offer you a top of the line upgrade that decreases cool down, and increases shots fired by five – at a discount."

Shepard sucked in his breathe through his teeth, letting out an inward hiss. "This is nice, Rodger. What's something like this with the upgrade going to run me?"

Rodger tallied it up, "Well normally it'd cost you about 95,000 credits – but I'll give it to you for 50,000 with the upgrade included."

Shepard beamed, "If I offer up an extra ten can you throw in a paint job on the outer shell and an engraving?"

Rodger put the gun on the counter and nodded. "Sure thing, Commander. What color would you like?"

John recalled the color of Jack's toe-nail polish, remembering she said she liked it. "Can you do a deep crimson red color with gold accents for show?"

Rodger nodded, "Not a problem at all, Commander. Let me get that done for you. It'll only take a minute."

The salesman grabbed the shotgun and took it towards the back for coloring and installation. The next time he came back out it was only his head peeking from the doorframe. "Sir, what would you like the engraving to say and where do you want it?"

"If I place it along the barrel, will it affect anything in anyway?"

"It shouldn't commander. The engraving is light and the platinum is top quality."

"Then can you put…"

xxxxxxx

Shepard had attached the newly bought shotgun to his back and made sure it was well covered with its new case so no one could see. After quick-walking towards his destination he met back up with Miranda, "Did you put in the request to see Anderson?"

Miranda was leaning against the railing, arms crossed as she waited. "Yes Sir, he should be arriving any moment now."

"Thank you, Lawson."

"Did you get what you needed from the weapons dealer?"

"I sure did."

Miranda then nudged her head in the direction of an oncoming Anderson. "He's here, Shepard."

John turned to greet his old friend, shaking his hand. "Admiral, glad to see you."

"Glad to see you too, Shepard, it was a hell of a mission you just accomplished. I wish I didn't have to ask this so soon but it's a delicate matter that I wouldn't hand over to just anyone. And I wish this visit wasn't just business but I'm afraid we have to get straight to it if we want any chance at intercepting the package."

"I'm listening, Sir."

"I just received some information from a reliable source that Blue Sun Mercenaries have taken hold of a biotic child prodigy that they plan to sell to a very interested recipient. A recipient willing to pay twenty million credits. "

Miranda's mouth opened slightly, "A child? That's the package?"

Shepard shook his head. "Do we have any information on the Client?"

Anderson sighed heavily, "I'm afraid not, Shepard. That's what I need you for. I have the location of the deal, but no information regarding the client. I need you to intercept the package and find out who this person is." The Admiral forwarded coordinates to Shepard via omni-tool.

John rubbed his eyes after hearing the news and then viewed the location. "Isolated planet, closed off base of operations, limited population, and Blue Sun activity. It sounds like a perfect haven for drug-runners, weapons-smugglers, pirates, mercenaries, terrorists, and human trafficking."

"Exactly, Shepard. Whoever has this interest in the child is obviously up to something and I need you to find out what. If you leave today you'll reach the planet in five days time – the exact date the package is to be picked up."

The Commander scratched his chin, reviewing his omni-tool. "Understood, Admiral. As soon as the SR2 is up and in running condition, we'll make our way there. When the package is picked up, what do you want me to do?"

"Well first we'll have to contact any family the child might have. Also, you already know of our Alliance school for the biotically gifted and mentally bright we have here. If you are to successfully recover the child, bring them back here and I'll have them fully implemented into the start of the program."

"Will do, Anderson. The Normandy crew will get on this right away."

The two men shook hands, going off in their separate ways afterwards. As they walked out of the meeting area Shepard turned to Miranda. "Lawson, I need you head back to the Normandy and make sure all crew are on board and everything that we bought is in place and ready to go. I'd like for us to leave as soon as the ship is ready. I'm going to find Jack. She had told me earlier she planned to wander around the Citadel and I think it'd be a good time to warn her of the mission coming up. It might remind her of…you know."

Miranda nodded her head in understanding. "Of course, Commander. I believe speaking with her first would be the best interest for us all. This operation may be a bit… delicate for her."

Shepard put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "Thanks for coming along today."

"No need to thank me, Shepard. I didn't really do anything."

"Of course you did. You made me feel more official what with my second in command running around behind me with a data pad."

Miranda rolled her eyes, "I'm off to the ship, Shepard. See you there."

John chuckled as he watched her leave. Time to find Jack.

xxxxxxx

John had only taken a small walk through the embassy when he noticed Jack sitting silently on a bench looking out the large window. He watched her for a moment. She looked serene and he kind of hated himself for having about to break that look, but this was something he needed to talk with her about.

He quietly walked up to the biotic and took a seat right next to her. "The atmosphere around here is nice, isn't it?"

Jack broke her gaze from the scenery to look onto Shepard, dark hazel eyes seeming to pierce right through him. "I guess it is, yeah."

John brought his eyes down for a moment not wanting to tell her the news but Jack caught on quickly and tilted her head, eyebrows beginning to furrow. "Shepard, you're really shitty at trying to hide something. So spit it out before you ruin my perfectly good mood."

"Nothing gets by you, does it?"

"Nope. Never."

He sighed, "We just got another mission, Jack. This time its Alliance based and coming straight from Admiral Anderson himself."

Jack smirked, "Fuckin' figures. We don't get a damn day off in this business. So who is it this time? What unstoppable force?"

Shepard looked her in the eyes. "It's more of a smaller scale operation that will most likely only taking two or three of us to complete." He didn't want to continue, and it showed all over his body language.

Jack raised her brows and leaned into him, wondering if he'd lost his tongue or just went mentally challenged. She was getting annoyed. "Well? What the fuck do we have to do?"

"Jack, in five days the Blue Suns will be delivering a package to an unknown receiver. We have to intercept that package and find out who the big man playin' is."

"Well that don't sound too bad, Shepard. What's the package? Guns? Bombs? Both?"

Undulation took over his brows as he thought. "A child."

Jack leaned back. "A kid?"

Shepard nodded. "A child that was recently discovered as a biotic prodigy."

Jack shook her hands at him. "Whoa, Shepard. The blue suns are fuckin' sellin' a biotic kid?"

He could do nothing but nod sadly. "Yeah, Jack."

"Well ain't that deja-vu all over again." She clenched her fists, sparks of black blue biotic mass starting to flicker. "…those…motherfucks. No. No, FUCK that! They ain't doing this shit again and they're not gettin' the kid. I've been there and done that and it ain't happening." Jack stood up, the mass effect field dying as she did so. "What the fuck you waiting for, Shepard? Let's go!"

John stood up, reaching out and holding both of her forearms. She growled. "Jack. I know what this means to you and we'll be leaving soon I promise, but we can't go until the ship is done with repairs. We'll get to the kid, don't worry. If we leave today, we'll get there perfectly on time – maybe even earlier."

Jack harshly shrugged off his arms. Her face contorted to one of pain, then anger, then nothing at all— however her eyes went crazy as she began to pace in small steps back and forward in front of the large window, "…No Shepard, you really don't get it. You ain't got no clue what it's like when you're little and get stolen, and sold, and abused, and harassed, and used, and eventually experimented on. You don't know what it's like to unwillingly be doped up on drugs and pushed past the point of your bodies limitations for the sake of 'science and power'. You don't have a fuckin' CLUE what it's like to lose what you were and become this angry thing that can't even remember her own mom's face," Jack stood still then, looking out the window, her voice was on the verge of cracking but somehow in the end, managing to keep a steady intonation. "…Or the name of the street she lived on… because for the past twenty four years of her life the only thing that has remained vivid in her head…is being hurt and wanting it all to just fuckin'…stop."

Jack grinded her teeth and hardened her eyes, refusing to let any sign of emotion leave her face. She was sad: Sad for the kid, sad for the things that could happen, sad for what the mission implicated, sad that she was reminded of a place she never wanted to think of again…and none of it showed. Her tone was soft, hurt. But her face? Rock hard. "I…I can't have another me out there, Shepard." Jack folded her arms under her breasts, trying to comfort herself with the little warmth they offered. "…ya' know?"

John stood there utterly and completely dumbfounded. He had expected her to react to the mission…but he would have never thought for the life of him that he'd hear this. In there months of traveling together, she never mentioned anything about her parents, or home, or what it was like before. Did she…remember anything? Shepard wanted to hold her. Wanted to kiss her closed eyes and tell her that it would all be alright in time. That while it hurts so deeply right now, eventually all wounds heal. And while we never forget them…we survive them. We carry them around like stones in our pocket, maybe once in a while overlooking its presence but at the end of the day still feeling and carrying their weight.

Shepard, not caring for personal safety, gently turned her around and took her by the hands guiding her to sit back onto the bench. It wasn't exactly an appropriate time, but he wanted to give it to her while they had the chance to be alone – and he so badly wanted to see her smile. He couldn't apologize, she wouldn't accept it. She didn't like to be pitied. So he did the only thing he could thing of at that given moment.

"Hey...I got you something."

Jack leaned back to view his face, relieved he changed the subject. She didn't want to talk about anything anymore. As it was, she was pissed at herself for going off on that ramble. "…What?"

He smiled softly, thankful to see that she accepted the change of conversation although he'd be sure to bring up the tender moment when they had their next chance at alone time. "I said I got you something."

Jack shook her head, "I don't want no gifts from you, Shepard. I ain't a fussy fussy girl beggin' to be pampered."

John grinned, "I know that. And what I have to offer isn't for a fussy fussy girl," he teased.

Jack pushed her tongue against the inside of her cheek, pursed her lips, and looked at Shepard with narrowed eyes. "Then what the fuck is it?"

Carefully Shepard detached the case from his back and presented it to her. "Happy Birthday," he said sarcastically but playfully.

Jack took the case into her hands and examined it before pressing the single button in the center which opened the airlock and lifted up the case lid.

Her eyes grew wide. "No you fuckin' didn't!" For the first time in a long time, Jack genuinely smiled a big, beautiful smile – teeth and all.

Shepard couldn't help but return the gesture, glad it took her mind off what he had just told her, and her him—even if it was only for a minute. "You like it?"

"Hell yes I like it!" She excitedly took the shotgun into her hands and aimed it, watching the gun unfold with the handsome whirring sounds that came with it.

But…something caught her eye as she looked down its sights.

Jack turned to gun onto its side to examine the barrel. Her eyes did all sorts of things: They went wide, small, softened, hardened, and finally glimmered. She bit her lower lip to stop it from quivering. Shaky fingers traced the words down the gun. She turned to look up at a gently smiling Shepard and then, without warning, crushed their lips together.

"After all this bullshit he…still wants me…"

John, while momentarily stunned, soon snapped out of it and brought his hand up behind her neck, taking the chance to deepen the rare moment before Jack backed down and returned to gazing at the gift.

Her voice was weak, but thankful. "…you dick," she said with a half smile on her lips.

Shepard chuckled lightly, repeating and agreeing with the words he'd put onto the barrel of the shotgun. "…worth the wait."

"Come in Commander, this is Joker." Shepard's portable ear communications system went off loudly ruining the moment. He sighed heavily. Back to business.

"I'm here Joker, what's up?"

"The ship, the crew, repairs, and purchases have all been installed and are ready to go. We're just missing you and Jack."

The pair stood up from their bench, starting to make their way back.

"Understood Joker, and we're on our way. Start her up and set destination to Planet Almos. Sending coordinates now. We're taking off as soon as Jack and I arrive."

"Aye Aye, Shepard. See you on the ship."

[End Eight: A New Mission]

A/N: I totally love Thane and Zaeed (and Jesse of course). But story-wise, their decisions just seemed to make sense to me based on their circumstances.

I know. I kind of hated myself too.