Chapter 4

Miranda Lawson sat behind her desk alone in her office. She sorted through emails on her terminal to try and keep herself busy before shutting the device off and burying her face in her hands. "Damnit." She said, her voice muffled by her hands. It wasn't her place to give that information to Jack. And now she hadn't seen the woman in two days and nobody had heard from her. Every officer working out of Vancouver was supposed to report for duty today and Miranda had hoped to see Jack return for work so she could apologize. But the biotic was nowhere to be seen.

The door to her office slid open and Lawson pried her head from her hands. A foolish hope of seeing Jack walk inside made a smile come to her face but it vanished when she saw Kaidan stepped inside.

"Miranda, good morning." Kaidan said.

"Good morning."

"Have you seen Jack? Captain Stewart needed to see her."

"Why would I know where she is?" Miranda asked trying to hide her intrest in the query.

Kaidan shrugged. "I guess you wouldn't. She took you home the other night though didn't she?"

Miranda tensed up. "She did."

Kaidan took a seat across from Lawson. "That must have been interesting. You two finally bury the hatchet?"

"No. And I'd rather not go through the effort."

"Yeah, it's funny Simmons was just talking about you two."

Miranda's heart jumped. "And what did he have to say?"

Kaidan laughed. "He said you two should just kiss and get it over with. I told him he sounded like Shepard. I think he took that as a compliment."

Miranda pretended to focus on her terminal. "What a repulsive thought."

"Jack's not so bad. I think you should give her a second chance."

"I don't have time for second chances."

"Says the woman who brought Commander Shepard back to life." Kaiden quipped. "Maybe I was just drunk but could have sworn that you and Jack seemed to be getting along on Christmas Eve."

"Is there anything you need Kaidan? I'm a little busy at the moment." Miranda pretended to closely inspect her terminal's screen.

"Really? Everyone's pretty much killing time until the committee's briefing in a couple hours. Actually I was wondering if you wanted to grab some breakfast?"

Miranda sighed. "Already ate. But thank you Kaidan."

"Are you alright Miranda?"

"Fine. Why do you ask?"

Kaidan got to his feet. "You just seem a little...off. I'll let you get back to work."

Miranda watched in silence as Alenko left her office and she instantly abandoned pretending to work. She opened her omni-tool and dialed Jack's comm. A third call wouldn't hurt and she was beginning to really worry. But again all Miranda received was Jack's voice message inbox. "Jack, it's Miranda. Please call me. Listen, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snooped around in your past like that. I didn't mean to upset you. I thought...It doesn't matter what I thought. It was clearly a mistake." Miranda hung up and leaned back in her chair. She needed to keep herself occupied and decided to take Kaidan up on his offer and went to chase after him.

Jack bounced her leg up and down to try and calm her nerves. Currently she sat alone in flight terminal staring at the gate for an Alliance transport vessel departing for Edin Prime.

"This is stupid." She muttered to herself. "What the fuck does it even matter? What would I even say to her? Hey, I'm the daughter you used to have before I turned into a crazy biotic bitch. Wanna see my torture scars?" Jack sighed. "Damnit cheerleader." She decided to stop talking to herself in public. It was a habit she got into on Pragia and one she had yet to outgrow.

Why had Miranda done this? Because she was her "Friend"? Whatever the fuck that meant. On some level Jack was grateful for the gesture but she didn't know if she could follow through with it. She'd spent two days now on the fence and so far this was the closest she'd been. Her omni-tool buzzed, another call from Miranda. Jack let it ring. She didn't wanna talk with the cheerleader right now. She didn't wanna talk with anyone.

Jack rose to her feet. "Screw it." she approached the transport vessel's gate.

The officer guarding the gate stopped her with a motion of his hand. "Good morning mam. Do you have business on Eden Prime?"

"Uh yeah. Why the hell would I be going there otherwise?"

The man scanned Jack's slept in clothes. "Are you a member of the Alliance?"

Jack groaned. "Yes! Officer number 0630. Run it through you stupid security check."

The man did as asked. "I'm sorry, but your not scheduled to be aboard this flight."

"Okay, I didn't wanna have to play this card but I served on the Normandy."

The man grinned like a foolish child. "Really?"

"Really. So let me on this ship and I don't know...I'll get you Shepard's fucking autograph or something."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, so we good?" Jack asked as she crossed her inked arms.

"What's she like?" The man asked eagerly.

"Who Shepard?" The man nodded his head. "She's every bit the girl scout she seems. But she's a friend. I owe a lot to Shepard. Now can I get on this ship already?"

The man quickly stepped aside. "Of course! Anything for someone who served on the Normandy."

Jack walked past him and made her way into the boarding tunnel. She smirked once her back was to the man. Pulling the "I know Commander Shepard" trick had proven to be a useful tactic time and time again. By her count she must have promised at least half a dozen Shepard autographs. Not that she ever planned to make good on those promises. The ship was relatively empty with the exception of a few older looking officers in their uniforms who shot her confused looks as she moved past them towards the seat she picked out in the back of the vessel.

Halfway through the flight Jack's nerves began to take over. She began to fear she'd made a mistake. How could she do this? She wouldn't even know where to begin. Then a calming image came to her mind. She picture Miranda by her side. She wished she had taken the woman with her. But this was something she needed to do alone.

Notes- Okay okay I know this was a set-up chapter and nobody likes those but I'm experimenting with slower pacing. I also have a surprise announcement! I am working on an all new Mass Effect series that will star all original characters and take place well before Mass Effect 1. But don't worry it will very much be connected with the rest of my universe. I hope you all like badass lady c-sec detectives and Femme fatale asari because this story has me very excited. Plus for fans of the Shepard and Liara Versus series you will be seeing a lot more of a character teased in episode 1. But don't worry "Shepard and Liara Versus the High School Reunion" is still on track as my next story and will probably be running at the same time as this OC story. Alright I need to try and sleep! Tell me what you think of Jack and her family and my new story in the reviews.