Well here we are, chapter 2. Hope you all like. If you don't, sorry :)
Dr Chakwas worked on setting a cast on a soldier's broken arm. She was on Mars, at a medical centre. The way it seemed to work in this place is patients come in and get assigned to the first doctor who is available. So unlike her previous postings, the doctor didn't feel the need to get to know this soldier as the likelihood of ever seeing him again was minimal. This was completely different to being assigned to a Starship where there is no way to avoid getting to know people, not that she ever minded that.
As Dr Chakwas continued working on unnamed soldier's cast, she remembered some of her work in this field that made this procedure second nature to her. She remembered having to set casts on an arm and leg of the then Commander Anderson after he actually figured out how to crash a Mako, it wasn't pretty. She remembered Commander Shepard falling asleep while getting her arm set in a cast after the battle at the Citadel, The relief and the exhaustion after months of pursuing Saren had finally caught up to her. She of course remembered the many times she had to set casts on Joker's limbs after he had taken one wrong turn and 'crack', got very dramatic.
After the doctor had finished setting the cast and writing some notes on Serviceman James Thompson's medical records (so that was his name), she went to check the waiting room for the next unnamed soldier she would need to treat. However, when she looked and saw the person waiting, she realised he was too familiar to be unnamed. He wasn't a soldier either, not any more. "Joker?"
The former Flight Lieutenant looked up at the doctor and gave his version of smile to her. "Hey. Long time, no see Doc" It felt strange to the doctor to see Joker in casual clothing, though he was still wearing the SR-1 Normandy cap that was part of his uniform when he was in the military. His beard seemed a lot longer than she remembered it though. This was the first time in months that Dr Chakwas had seen a member of her 'family' from the Normandy. Unfortunately, that family had fallen apart after Commander Shepard's death. The official reassignments and the emotional disagreements meant that the family had no hope of keeping together.
Dr Chakwas sat down next to Joker in the waiting room "It is good to see you but this certainly is a surprise Joker, What brings you to Mars?"
"Well, I came to see if the rumours were true." The doctor gave him a confused look but Joker continued on, "To come here and find out that the rumours ARE true and you actually ARE working planet-side, I must say that I'm shocked Doc. You were always so gung ho about working on Starships. Hell, you were worse than me."
"I don't believe I was that bad." Joker gave the doctor a look which could be determined as saying 'oh really' in a sarcastic way and the doctor found herself having a hard time keeping a straight face. In the end, they both burst out laughing. "Ok, maybe I was that bad," she finally admitted after she caught her breath, " but I didn't feel I had the strength to keep living like that after...." Joker nodded his head in acknowledgement that he understood what she meant and asked "Are you happy here?"
It took Dr Chakwas a while to come up with an answer to that question. Procedural wise, this post held very little difference to any other post she'd been assigned to. Emotionally though, this place had no.....familiarity to it. "No" was the answer she finally came up with and her bluntness in answering surprised her.
The doctor was now feeling a little uncomfortable after the answer she gave and was eager to change the subject, so she was somewhat relieved when she saw serviceman....um.... the soldier she had just done the cast on approaching her. "pardon the intrusion Dr Chakwas, I just wanted to thank you for your help." the doctor stood up, "you're welcome....Serviceman …..Thompson," she replied as she was glad that his name was on his uniform. The Serviceman gave her a salute with his healthy arm and left the waiting room.
"Well it's looks like your job hasn't changed Doc" came Joker's remark as Dr Chakwas sat back down next to him. "yeah, some of it hasn't," the doctor half-heartedly agreed, "however it seems ironic that you show up at a time when I've been working on broken limbs. So, since I'm somewhat 'in the zone' as you would call it Joker, is there anything I can help you with, for old times sake?" Joker chuckled nervously, "Well.....yes. But not like that. Not immediately anyway." This led the doctor to giving Joker another confused look, "Surely you're not planning to break your legs in the future Joker, are you?"
"Alright Doc, I'll just have to come right out and say this," He turned slightly in his chair to face the doctor, "A private corporation has offered to let me fly again. However when they found out about these," indicating his legs, "they started to hesitate with that offer. Even after I gave them my famous speech that worked so well on Anderson and Shepard, they are still hesitating. I am getting the impression that they may not want to shed out the funds to train someone up in how to deal with Vrolik Syndrome so I'm thinking that if I can help them out by finding someone who knows how to treat it to join up with me, I'll be offered the chance to fly again." Joker now made sure Dr Chakwas was paying her full attention to him, " And since I now know that you're itching to get back into Space, I'm hoping that convincing you to join up with me is going to be easier than I originally thought."
Dr Chakwas felt flattered that Joker had thought of her when he needed this help. But while a part of her was eager to jump at this chance, another part of her became extremely cautious. After all, she knew Joker would never have been able to find out where she was from 'rumours'. The only way he could find out that information would have been from classified Alliance Military files, and no law abiding corporation would have been able to get theirs hands on those. "I feel there is something you're not telling me about this Joker. If I'm going to give an answer to this offer, I can't be left in the dark."
Joker looked at his feet. His face indicated that he was hoping he didn't have to reveal everything. Eventually he said quietly, "The offer I was given, it came from Cerberus." At this confession, the doctor was shocked. It made sense that Joker would be trying to hide that information, but now she was having trouble understanding his actions. "Joker, why are you wanting to be associated with Cerberus? Don't you remember the various atrocities Shepard discovered that they had committed?"
"I know what they did," Came Joker's stern reply, "but it is no worse than the butchering the Alliance did to Shepard. Joker looked up and faced the doctor, "the Alliance took Commander Shepard's warnings about the Reapers and twisted their meaning to make her sound like a raving lunatic. They're not going to take the threat seriously. Doctor, Cerberus told me that they believed Commander Shepard's words and are planning to do something about the Reapers. That's why I want to be involved."
The doctor's face was filled with concern, "Are you sure that they can be trusted Jeff?" Joker avoided the question as he wasn't quite sure of the answer himself. "All I know is that my actions on the day that the Normandy went down are the reason that Shepard isn't around to defend herself. If I can atone for my actions by preserving Shepard's legacy, then I'm going to do that." Joker then stood up and handed Dr Chakwas a card, "If you're interested in helping me with this, follow these instructions. If not, then I'm guessing you'll never see me again. It was nice to catch up Doc." At this, Joker gave her his messy version of a salute and left the waiting room. Dr Chakwas was left sitting in silence, staring at the card.