Chapter 32: Ink
Down time was a rare and fleeting commodity these days. When there was a slight hiatus it was difficult not to fill it with busy work. But sometimes indulgences however rare were permissible: even to an N7 Spectre. Sam decided to peruse the wares of the various markets of Citadel while she was here.
Shepard wasn't a girly girl so shopping for clothes was never a priority besides what she didn't pick up and the N7 section of local Alliance PX or Spectre Requisitions Office she could go without. But model ships, some sort of new toy for Little Guy her hamster and well...more fish for the aquarium that was different. A stop at Citadel Souvenirs will have that sorted. Maybe something nice for Liara and their daughter...there was dozens of maternity and baby boutiques to have a wander though.
That last thought put a smile on the Spectre's ruby lips. Just as she was thinking of outfitting her unborn daughter in the newest in newborn fashion she gave a thought to outfitting those closest to her. Shepard had always very keen on keeping her crew in the best gear and equipment she could procure. A crew's well-being and safety was a priority to any competent officer, and the Commander was no exception.
Despite the small though adequate research area within the labs of the Normandy, (which were considerably smaller than those of the Victory) which could produce weapon mods and armour inlays. The armour itself as well as most weapons had to be purchased or in some cases reclaimed from the fallen.
Of her team Shepard mentally filed who needed what. Garrus and Tali's needs had been seen to already. Mordin had sufficient armor and weaponry to leave him well protected. He even built his own omni tool as a result it was far superior to anything available commercially. It was twenty present more powerful than Tali's which she had custom made and was always tinkering with.
Miranda had taken to wearing a set of black leather commando leathers left by one of the asari huntresses, so she was fine. Grunt was outfitted in good armor though a few mods to the armour wouldn't hurt. He even had schematics for superior shotgun mods in the imprints left by Okeer which she utilized in the lab. His protection had been seen to.
Kasumi's snug cat suit was as probably as deceptive as was Tali's in the protection department. And though red, the combat leathers Samara wore were like those of her huntress counterparts. It gave the matron unhindered access to her full biotic potential. Samara had utilized the Normandy's research lab and resources to custom fit her shotgun and armor inlays. She had even given the Commander a few schematics that improved the Normandy's fuel cell consumption with a Helios Thruster tech which gave the frigate fifty percent more fuel cell capacity.
Shepard needn't worry over Thane or Zaeed: the assassin wore the equivalent of asari combat leathers and the latter had a custom made hardsuit that seemed to be partially made from repurposed krogan battle armor. If either them wanted upgrades or different weapons or armours she trusted them to outfit themselves.
The one person that Shepard had in mind was Jack. Biotic barriers were all well and good but it took a lot of effort to keep them in place during combat when your primary weapon was your biotics. It could drain you swiftly. Jack needed far more protection than leather tit straps, tattoos and a bad ass attitude. The Spectre highly doubted she could get young woman into asari combat leathers even if there were any more left behind.
The problem was not buying the gear for Jack but getting her to wear it or rather want to wear it. Shepard activated her omni tool launching the app that brought up a call-sheet for all armory markets on the Citadel. Armax Arsenal was a probability. Elkoss and Kassa Fabrications were out. So were Gateway Personal Defence, and Nos Astra Imports. This One's Personal Attire was a bit of surprise and definitely out. Who wanted Kevlar lined undies other than a dominatrix? That was some serious S and M. Why Miranda's image popped up in Shepard's mind she couldn't have made a guess. Probably had something to do with that skin-tight Cerberus onesies cat-suit she was wearing when they first met. It left nothing to the imagination.
Shepard continued to her search. Red Jamey...maybe. A resounding no to Micha Black Fashions. Okay... time to narrow the search parameters. Shepard typed keywords into the search engine: leather, tattoos... bad ass biker...biotics—butch...
A few names popped up. One beamed at Shepard from the amber screen as being perfect. She also noticed something else in the margins of her search criteria that caught her eye. It was something she had intended to do for a while now but opportunity never seemed to be in abundance when it was needed. Now that they had a bit of down time, it came knocking and Shepard was quick to seize it—beside it was a good way to get to know the more caustic of her crew members maybe make things a bit more simpatico between them.
ME~ME~ ME~ME~ ME~ME~ ME~ME
Jack was glowering. The Queen of the Girl Scouts hadn't said anything more than to order her to follow her. She expected some kind of dressing down for not playing nice with the other 'kids' when Vakarian took them to the Armax Arena.
"Alright what is it? You said come with you but you ain't said why for." Jack grossed groused trailing after the Commander. "I already pieced together you're not gonna chew me out for beating the Cheerleader's ass at the arena."
Shepard smirked. "No. What occurred at the arena has nothing do with this. I saw your scores. Impressive. But you know that wasn't the reason why the team was taken there?"
"Yeah you wanted us to play all cozy like. All buddy-buddy."
"That was the plan. Yes. Biotics complementing tech attacks, coordinated firing solutions all carried out in the safe environment of the arena. When my first team was in pursuit of Saren we had the opportunity to use Pinnacle Station. It's a training facility in the Argos Rho cluster. It helped us immensely to find complementary battle techniques."
"And what you think you're going to do that again?"
"Worth a shot." Shepard continued to lead the younger woman into the markets of Bachjret Wards. "I had a Gunnery Chief that held a strong dislike for aliens, a jealous Lieutenant, a shy socially awkward asari and quarian that only seemed to be trusted by me. And a turian and krogan who mistrusted each other immensely. The only thing we all had in common was our mutual loathing for Saren and all for different reasons. But we eventfully pulled together. Could we have done it without the training facility? Probably, if only for the sake of the mission, but we may not have been as efficient or as good."
"Is this where you tell me you gotta trust the person at your back like some after school-special."
"No." Shepard shook her head. "And that's not why I singled you out."
"Then why did'cha?"
Shepard nodded with her head to the store frontage. Avant Gauche: Alternative Armor Solutions.
"What the fuck is this?"
"I assume you can read." Shepard walked into the store which caused the bell to chime alerting the staff of the arrival of a new customer. It blipped again when Jack entered.
"Look Shepard I don't know what your game is by I don't need you fixing me up."
"You are part of the crew now. As Commander it is very much in my job description that I outfit my people. And no matter how bad ass you are Jack those tats, biotic barriers and tit straps do not armor make. And yeah you need something more."
Jack rolled her eyes and stomped into the store. They both knew it was a token protest. Shepard pretended not to notice. Their entrance caught the eye of the store assistant. A lanky young woman with Liberty spikes of neon blue. She had multiple piercings in both ears, a stud under her lower lip and three small hoops in each eyebrow. She sported nee-length black combat boots, matching leather trousers which were held up by an old fashioned bike chain from a 2014 Harley Davidson Heritage soft-tail. She wore a long black leather duster with spiked rivets on the shoulders. Under it was a white mesh tee-shirt with just enough to cover her humble breasts for modesty's sake.
She looked at Shepard in the Spectre hardsuit then to Jack. It was Jack her eyes lingered on. "Nice tats." she said approvingly.
Jack looked at the other woman who was about the same age and noticed that under the mesh shirt she could make out a lot of ink. "You too." Jack's glower softened.
The attendant turned back to Shepard. "Never thought to see a Spectre in here. Guess that's why C-Sec allows you carry all that hardware. Guess it also makes you Shepard, cuz she's the only human Spectre around."
Shepard's answer was to smirk: "Guess it does on both counts."
"That's pretty jazz but ah Spectre hate to say it ...no offense but I don't think our stud is your sort of thing. It's more for the likes of her." she pointed to Jack
"You're aces today, no it isn't exactly my sort of shop. Though I might get one of those dusters for myself. They look sweet. Might pass on the shoulder studs though."
"Not into spikes Shepard?" Jack scoffed.
"Not especially. Leather on the other hand. Who doesn't like leathers? So see anything you like?"
"Yah. Maybe." Jack said looking up at the mannequins displaying a couple of outfits. One had a tight black leather halter top that zipped up the front, the hem of which rested high on the waist. The trousers were urban camouflage with reinforced kneepads and calf length engineer boots that had three strapped buckles along the length.
It suited the young woman Shepard thought. But there was another outfit that was much more suitable. It screamed Jack's name. It had a black vest and matching trousers and the same knee length buckled engineering boots as the first outfit. The black spaghetti strap tee-shirt underneath was actually an underlay. It was finished off by underlay arm wraps.
"That's very you." Shepard said still smirking.
"Good model." The shopkeep said. "It has kinetic padding, ablative armor plating and lined with advanced ballistic cloth. The onboard microframe computer system in the belt is just like the one in any hard suit it manages kinetic shields and the first-aid interface. It comes with the standard trauma module upgrade which delivers medi-gel when necessary. But ah it only works when the trousers, arm wraps and vest are worn together.
"I know we have a couple in stock in your size." The shopkeep looked Jack up and down appreciatively. "I oughtta know cuz' I have a set and I'm your size." She sauntered up to Jack just mindful of the 'personal space' aura the ex-convict was giving off. She flashed a very white toothy smile. "It'll look good on you. Even show most of that beautiful ink."
Shepard leaned against a counter watching the scene unfold. The shopkeep was definitely flirting with her crewmate. She wanted to see how Jack reacted.
"You want to try it on?"
"Why the hell not? " Jack grinned like a child at on Christmas morning.
"Your feet…size six or seven?"
"Six and a half."
"I'll get you set up babe." Liberty Spikes said moving to the back to retrieve a set.
Jack turned back to the Spectre who was barely able to contain the mirth in her grin. "Babe?"
"Looks like you've got a fan."
"Pft, she just wants a good fuck."
"Nothing wrong with that." Shepard said. "Sometimes you just need to ease the tension and not just by self-medication, if you know what I mean. If she's willing—clean and you swing a little in her direction. I say have a bit of fun in that changing room back there. Not like you have an abundance of choices on the Normandy."
Jack stared at the Spectre incredulously.
Shepard chuckled and moved to the counter picking up a wraparound amber hued visor. "What?" she shrugged jovially. "It's a not a life-long commitment she's after. It is what it is. A good fuck. You can always tell her no thanks."
"And here I thought you had a stick up that tight ass of yours."
"I leave that sort of things to Garrus. Me…let's just say I never protest when my bondmate gets frisky and slams me up against the wall, tears my uniform off to have her wicked- wicked way with me." Shepard chuckled raising her eyebrows up and down as Jack continued to stare at her. "Gotta watch out for the shy ones, they have a lot of pent up energy. Here." she tossed the wrap-arounds to the tattooed woman. "Bet they're reflective like the visor of my helmet. Looks like it will synch with the microframe of the armour. And I bet'cha it has targeting specs. Check it out."
Jack caught them and placed then around her eyes without hesitation. "So the famous Commander Shepard likes it rough and dirty eh?"
"Sometimes. If it's all civilized you're not doing it right. Guessing you do too."
"Sometimes." Jack repeated looking at herself in the mirror if she was going to say anything more it was interrupted by the reappearance of the shopkeep.
"Got it right here. " Liberty Spikes said holding up a rectangle shaped box. "You want to try it on; I'll show you the changing rooms."
Shepard padded up to Jack and whispered in her ear. "You want to have a bit of fun go for it. Just don't do anything that gains too much attention and try not to break anything. I'm paying for the armour if you want it and any upgrades but you break the store it comes out of your pay."
"Chill Shepard, I don't do the hardcore until I get to know the person." Jack nudged the Commander in the shoulder.
"Show me." Jack said following the other woman, her eyes lingering appreciatively on the sway of the duster and the hips beneath it. She gave a look back to a cheesily smiling Spectre, shook her head and tailed after her escort.
Fifteen minutes later Liberty Spike walked out a little disheveled followed by a self-satisfied Jack sporting her new garb. Shepard, who had been leaning against the counter with the visors, straightened up as she spotted the tattooed woman strutting towards her. She was surprised in the change in the younger woman's new appearance which had nothing to the 'I just got laid' expression she was sporting.
"Looking good, Jack."
"I know." she was still flashing her cocky grin, half of which Shepard knew came from her little tryst in the changing rooms with Liberty Spikes. She ran her hands over the vest. She loved the intimidation factor the black leather, buckles and belts gave her, like Liberty Spikes said it was designed to display her tattoos.
"We're taking it. Hell make it two. What we're walking into she may need it. I never let my crewmembers walk into anything unprepared." Shepard pointed her thumb over her shoulder to the first mannequin that drew Jack's attention. "And the other one she liked. Oh and any microframe upgrades they come with and I'll have one of those dusters you're wearing. I'm five foot nine make sure it's long enough to wear with boots."
Credits signs showed in Liberty Spikes eyes. Shepard surmised she probably worked on commission. "You got it! And the duster no spikes right?"
"You remembered. Yeah…no spikes."
Liberty Spikes looked at Jack with a coy smile. "You wearing that out babe? I can have the other gear and your old stuff sent to your ship. Normandy right?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah, how'd you know?"
"You're with Shepard. She and the Normandy are inseparable. Can't have one without the other."
"Guess not." Jack shrugged. She moved towards the triple mirror to appreciate the new look.
Without a word Shepard handed the shopkeep a credit chit and waited for her to tally up the charges. Whispering as she handed it over. "Make sure she never knows the price. I don't care what it is. She's part of my crew. I don't leave them wanting. I want her fully protected. Understand? So make sure it has all armour upgrades. The best against heavy forces—biotics and ballistics…toxins you name it."
Liberty Spikes tilted her head consenting to the request and moved to the kiosk. "My word, Spectre. We may not have gear Spectres usually wear but know our clients. She'll be protected. "
"Good. Now you can add another ten percent for gratuity."
"Hey Shepard," Jack called out looking at her reflections. "Thanks."
"I take care of my own." She answered keeping things very simple. She knew anything more would have a backlash. Jack was suspecting some kind of recompense, some sort of payment for the armor. The Spectre had to make sure the younger woman saw only a Commander looking after her crew, nothing more. "Figured you'd know that by now."
"Know what?" Jack became defensive.
"That it's all in the handbook I follow."
"What handbook?"
"Girl Scouts: Queen's edition."
Jack burst out laughing.
Shepard smiled.
As they walked Jack looked to the older woman studying her for a moment. She couldn't get a read on what Shepard's game was. She seemed genuine, but in her experience everyone used everyone else. Shepard knew that she was using her to kill just as Cerberus did, but she wasn't alone in that. Shepard had a drell assassin, an asari Justicar and a hard cold human bounty hunter on her team as well as a thug of a krogan. All of them there to kill Collectors for her.
Shepard treated them all equally, as equal as those she knew for years. Jack didn't know what to make of it. Shepard had to have some kind of game, some sort of hand. It was only a matter of time before she showed it and laid it all on the table. Queen of the Girl Scouts was a pretense. It had to be.
"So… tell me about you Jack"
"What ya mean? What - you get me armour and now you want girl talk?"
"No. nothing like that. Just want to know what you're up to."
"Like me checking out your ship? I wouldn't mind putting her through her paces when you're not around."
Shepard smiled "I doubt Joker would appreciate that, at least not while we're working."
"Relax Girl-Scout Queen. Joy riding doesn't have the pleasure it used to. Because if I wanted it, I'd take it."
"That so?"
"I've been around. Ran with gangs. Wiped out some gangs. Joined a cult. Kept the hair cut. I learned how to survive and not be a victim."
Shepard shook her head. "Hard to imagine you in a cult. That usually involves a lot of rules—drinking Kool-aid."
Jack shoved her hands into the pockets of her new jeans. "I was looking for answers. Drugs and sex and going to a better place…Pft. a better place." shoulders lifted in contempt. "Right. 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. "
Shepard kept her voice carefully neutral. "What did you do when you found out?"
Jack cocked her head to the Spectre. "What do you think?"
A moment of silence passed. "You must have met some good people too."
"Everybody wants something and because of that everything is fair game. Murder, assault, drugs, stealing, arson, I've done it all and that's the boring shit. Piracy, theft of military property, destruction of a space station and vandalism." there was mirth in the convict's voice at the last. "That was a good one."
Shepard shook her head in disbelief. "A space station—you're pushing what I can believe."
Jack snapped a look to the Spectre. "Ain't saying it was easy. Not everything is spur of the moment. Sometimes you gotta work to give people what they deserve. Had some people I hung with for a while. Outlaw colony. Felt they were like me. Guess that made us a nice target. Turians think they know something about a scorched earth response. Fuck 'em."
Shepard didn't pursue the opening; instead she furthered the inquisition into another direction. "You were a pirate too?"
"Ties in with the kidnapping." Jack said evenly. "If you hijack a passenger ship and don't kill everyone onboard…anyway. Good lesson: simpler to just kill them all."
Again Shepard didn't pursue rather she continued down the list of self-proclaimed offences of the younger woman. "Military is a hard target. Bet that made you some friends." Meaning of course the exact opposite.
"Shouldn't have left the thing unlocked. Besides parades are boring. I helped."
"I have to admit I'm surprised you mentioned vandalism in that bunch."
Jack chucked. "That's what the hanar call it when you when you crash that space station I mentioned into one of their moons and make a new crater." Jack laughed boisterously "They really liked that moon."
Shepard was nonplused. "Ever think you should have done things differently?"
"No."
"Shouldn't you have?"
"There is no reason I should be alive but I am." Jack stared at the other woman. "Instinct. It's worked for me so far and I'm not going to change."
Shepard only nodded. Instinct kept her alive as well. Instinct told her that this traumatized brutalized woman could be so much more—if only she allowed it to happen.
The silence passed. "Hey Shepard. No one has ever asked me about this shit before. It's strange to talk about it."
Shepard remained mute.
"So fuck you. And thanks for asking."
"I want to ask you to do something."
"Yeah I figured there was some sort of price to the armor. You ain't all goodie-good after all are you. I'm here to fight for you nothing says we have to be friends, new armor or not. But what the fuck what do you want? You're not really interested unless it affects you. I've been through all this shit before."
"I could be genuine. You have no way of knowing."
"Yeah right. I have eyes and I have history. Right now you think I owe you for the fucking armour."
"No I don't. That's just like I said it was: a Commander outfitting a crewmember. Something any competent command officer does. Nothing more. I bought you that crap because I knew I couldn't get you into an Alliance issue hardsuit.
"If you're not adequately equipped on the battlefield you're a liability. I won't allow that of any crewmember. Why the hell do you think I made the 'Cheerleader' change from her flimsy Cerberus onesies to asari commando leathers or upgrade Grunt's shotgun, Mordin's omni tool or countless other upgrades? It's all about keeping my people alive on the battlefield. It's what I do."
"Right. You'll back off as soon as you realize you're not the first and I'm immune to your help. I aint like those others, Shepard."
"Never said you were. Never thought it."
"Whatever. So what do you want to know? About my ink or something equally as boring?"
"I'll bite. What's up with all the tattoos?"
"Some are for prisons I've been in, some are for kills I've made—you know good ones. Some are for thing's I've lost. Those aren't your business. They're nobody's business. And some are because why the fuck not? "
As the couple reached the taxi hub, Shepard turned to her companion. "You work pretty hard at not letting people get close."
Jack dismissed the statement. "I've been with lots of people. You asking about a boyfriend or a girlfriend…no." the bald headed woman shook her head. "No. And changing room trysts don't count for fuck. It's a waste of time and never works. You let someone get that close it just means they need a shorter knife." Jack took a long look at the other woman. "Lonely and alive works just fine for me. Thanks."
"Seems you miss it a little more than you want to admit." Shepard moved to the kiosk to key in her register number to rent a taxi.
Jack shook her head. "Pick every little word apart if you want but it doesn't change the way the galaxy works. Come on." Jack shrugged. "You've been around. Look what happened to you and your wife. Someone tried to gun her down to get to you. "
Shepard nodded. "Yeah they did. But I'm stronger because of Liara, not weakened. You're tough Jack but you couldn't have survived alone all these years."
The taxi came. Shepard climbed into the driver's seat she left the decision to join her to the tattooed woman. After a moment Jack climbed in the passenger side of the car. "When I first started out I ran with this girl Menorah and her boyfriend. They knew their way around. I thought they'd help me."
Shepard opened the fare meter keyed in her destination back to Normandy's docking bay and started the engine, all the while listening to Jack's testimony in relative silence.
"Pft. Right. They helped me into their bed. And when we finally did take down something big they helped themselves to my share of the take. I knew where it was headed. And I got 'em first. Never bothered with friends after that."
Shepard merged into the traffic with ease. "They sound like selfish pricks. Doesn't mean they were going to kill you."
"I get feelings. I don't need proof. I did the smart thing. I always do the smart thing if people fuck with me. That's probably something you should remember."
Shepard said nothing.
"My turn with the questions. People usually walk by now why are you really asking all these questions? You eying me up? Because if this is all about sex you should just fucking say so. I thought you were married."
"I am and no Jack it has nothing to do with sex. Very far from it. You're different than anyone I've ever known."
"Whatever. Then what the fuck do you want from me other than for me to kill for you?"
"A tattoo."
Clearly this was something the young woman had not expected. "What?"
"I can ask you where you got your ink done, some I figured you did quite a few of them yourself. Am I right?"
"Yeah."
"I doubt you're registered….but right now I don't care."
"I don't need to be a fucking registered tattooist Shepard, I'm a goddamn artist. I know what the fuck I'm doing."
"Good. I want some ink. Now tell me should I pay some guy on the Citadel to do what I want or pay you?"
Once more Jack was stymied
"What do you have in mind?"
"A sparrow."
ME~ME~ ME~ME~ ME~ME~ ME~ME
Shepard sat on her bed stripped to her waist wearing only her bra and BDU trousers. Jack was kneeling at her left side by her shoulder. Her eyes locked onto the scar that ran diagonally from her right shoulder to left side of her waist. She had several other scars along her torso all of which she gained either during the Blitz or Battle of the Citadel.
"A souvenir from Saren." Shepard commented on the largest one. "Gutted me—good. Took four days to put me back together and then some. A lot of cybernetics, biosynthetics and a ton of other upgrades: bones, muscle tissue, the majority of my organs, nervous system. I'm over thirty five percent cyborg now. I had to get most of my tats replaced because of the synthetic skin."
"The sparrow one of them?" Jack said programming her omni tool to find the right image of the little song bird the Commander wanted. She had to admit Shepard had some beautiful work, the phoenix in flight on her back, the Salish zoomorphic orca on her right shoulder, on the small of her back was an N7 symbol. The wings of the Specter and the Alliance were on the right and left forearms respectively.
"No. But it's something I've been meaning to do for a while now."
"Why?"
"My first daughter"
Jack stared at the woman. "Daughter? I don't know you're a mom. Can't say I ever pictured you a mommy, Shepard."
"Not yet." Shepard sucked in air. "Secura…. we called her Little Sparrow because of how she flitted about in Liara's womb…." Slowly Shepard told the story of how Secura was conceived and consequently killed and how it led to her into Cyan Syndrome.
When she had finished Jack had a whole new perspective on her Commander. She understood the phoenix now; Shepard had risen from the ashes of her death at the hands of Saren and the death of her baby at the hands of a malignant resentful ambassador on Cerberus's payroll and CS…It was a hell of a shopping list. There was new respect in her brown eyes for the other woman.
"Wait…if Cerberus sent thugs to kill your baby why the hell do you have two of their bitches on your ship? I mean really Shepard, what the hell?"
"It's complicated. Baseline is I'm using them to get to TIMmy. They know it. He knows it, but he wants me. I'm letting him think he has a chance at getting me. He toyed with me, baiting me with this ship. Modeled after the one the Collectors shot down because they thought I was its captain. The punchline to that was that the Citadel Council in their infinite wisdom decided to take her from me. Give her back to the Alliance. And that decision was the reason it was destroyed.
"TIMmy wanted to bring it back, but more than that he wanted me brought back from some sort of mythical death. He calls it the Lazarus Project. But he didn't give her to me. I stole it from him. The high-jacking of it was a bit on the easy side but he lost a lot of people when I did it and with Miranda's help. She told me where it was. Chambers….well she came with the ship after we sorta of rescued her
"TIMmy tried to play it cool but he was pissed I stole his baby and his thunder when I took her. He has another project in the air tied to Lazarus, called something like Creaser.
"He wants me to lose all support from the Alliance and the Council so I have to rely solely on him. Right now yeah I'm using all his resources I can. This ship, his people some of his Intel. As for the Alliance and Council seemingly they pulled back their support to give me credibility to my supposed turning coat. I need to get close enough to get his location so I can kill the mother fucker. The key to doing that is to completely turn Miranda and possibly Chambers."
"You actually think the Cheerleader and little Miss Perky-Tits will turn? Hell Perky-tits has it bad for you. Give her a toss in the sheets and she'll be your lap dog for good."
Shepard didn't answer. Jack didn't press. Instead the ex-convict called up the design of the stylistic sparrow in flight that matched both the zoomorphic Salish orca on the right shoulder and the phoenix on her left. Like the firebird the little songbird was depicted in flight and in full color: Predominately heavy black shadows with blue and orange highlights. It was placed at the base of the Shepard's neck.
"If you want this to work out right you have to quit squirming." Jack chastised the Spectre.
"I thought I said I wanted it at the small of my back not the back of my neck."
"Yeah well it won't work there; your N7 is there dumbass."
"I meant above it."
"Pft no. It works better between that firebird and whale thing that means the neck. Stop being such a pansy. And I said stop squirming or you're really going to make me fuck it up. Besides I got something better in mind for that spot near your ass."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I wanted the sparrow; no one said anything about more ink."
"Yeah well it's gonna suit you Queen of the Girl Scouts. You want me to trust you, you trust me."
"Why in the hell do you think I have you doing this in the first place?" Shepard countered. After a pause she sighed "What did you have in mind?"
Jack activated Shepard's vid screen that slid over the models' display case. "This." she reveled what looked like a small red star segmented by what appeared to be the chevrons of a military rank-on either side of the star were larger blue angel wings.
"Gonna tell me what that means?"
Jack chuckled. "No."
"Don't you think because it's my body I have a right to know?"
"Yep."
"But you're not telling me?"
"Nope."
"Why?"
"You'll figure it out and if you don't you really are a dumbass. Bet Blue will get it."
"Blue? You mean Liara?"
"Oh you catch on."
"Careful. Cheeky charm will only get you so far before it borders on insubordination."
"Yeah. Maybe. But I ain't one of your Alliances tin soldiers."
"No. You're on the flagship team."
Jack knew when to pull back. She admitted right she was having a pretty good time with the Spectre. "So held to some kind of higher standard?"
"Something like that, yes." Shepard admitted then grunted in pain as Jack moved the needles of the tattooing gun deeper into her skin.
"Okay…okay I get'cha. I'll only call her Blue to her face, how's that?"
Shepard harrumphed her answer.
"So what's the story on your ink?" Jack decided on a safer topic.
"The orca is for my clan: mother's side. Salish Indian from Canada near Vancouver. The firebird…or phoenix is my totem or so my grandmother or rather great grandmother tells me. She told me as a kid during one of the first flare ups I had with my biotics that the firebird would always look out for me. Raise me up from the ashes of the dead anew.
"I wasn't implanted with amps until I was thirteen…." she grunted as Jack continued the needle work. "Until then I had massive migraines, more than a few times Mom had to sedate me they got so bad. After I went under the knife she hired an asari huntress to train me. Funny thing is until recently I had no idea that my mentor had been sent by none other than Liara's mother. Who incidentally I met completely by accident when I was about four. I think I was the first human biotic she crossed paths with. But I didn't recall much of it until we had a baby shower for Li…." silence lingered.
"After all the crap I guess the firebird is pretty apt totem for me. When I was a kid I thought it was a bit of showboating. I mean in Salish customs the firebird is one of the most potent totems there is. It never felt like me, like I fit it. But grandmother was insistent that it was me. So I got the tat when I was about sixteen, same with the orca but that was just for family. Just in case there was something to it. Like some folks wear a crucifix or whatever symbol of religion they follow."
Jack let her talk, saying nothing.
"The rest pretty damn easy to figure out. Got the Alliance when I enlisted at eighteen, got the N7 when I finally became one after seven years of training since I became an N1. The Spectre wings when I was inducted into their ranks."
"I'm surprised you don't have one of Blue…I mean your wife."
Shepard smiled as she lay face down on the bed. "Oh I will once our baby is born. I want one of her and our daughter together. Better than carrying around a holo of them."
Jack kept the smile to herself for the sentimentality. There were more than a few faces on her right arm for those she had once loved but were taken from her. One had lain down his life for her. Dumbass… Asshole promised they'd live together forever. And she believed him. Loved him. Then he went and died on her.
"Maybe if I'm still around I could do it for you."
"Maybe be if you're still around I'll let you." Shepard said accepting the tentative olive branch of friendship Jack was offering. "OW!"
"I told you were a pussy." the illustrated woman barked out a boisterous laugh.
ME~ME~ ME~ME~ ME~ME~ ME~ME