Mass Effect Project Renegade
Chapter 33: At odds.
SR2 Normandy/Captain's Cabin
Tali was not happy, some random woman comes up to her boyfriend kisses him right in front of everybody like that, the absolute nerve. Shepard explained to her who she was and what they were, Tali however was still freaking out about May.
"Tali she could've killed you…"
Tali looked at him from the side of the couch they were sitting on.
"She kissed you, how was I supposed to react?!"
Jack put down his refurbished helmet on the coffee table.
"I could've handled it!"
Tali stood up leaning close to Jack, her body language was hostile at the moment, tense even.
"That sure looked like, it when she was smashing her lips to yours, making out with you!"
Jack didn't want to argue with a mission this important on the line.
"Tali! What would've happened if I was not quick enough, you would've been dead, your conventional weapons couldn't have killed her, and she just needed to grab you by the throat and give it a slight squeeze, breaking your neck! … Whatever fantasies that is going through your head, which involves killing her, forget it, even if you tried you would've maybe hurt her, that's it nothing more nothing less. Now I need you two to not be at each other's throats before and after this mission gets completed, understand?"
Tali was hesitating to answer, Jack she never had an argument with him before.
"Shepard I-"
Jack still wanted an answer from her, not wanting to listen to excuses.
"Understand?"
Tali took in a deep breath trying not to lose it, from this argument, she'd only just recover from the shock.
"—Yes Shepard…."
Tali got up from the couch making her way to the elevator, the elevator's door swooshed open, leaving Tali to enter the small transportation room hitting the engineering deck, as the doors closed Tali slid to the bottom floor against the wall, breaking down in tears.
Meanwhile Jack was in a nicotine rush, as he popped in a cigarette and began to ignite then inhale. EDI's holo interface appeared on the pad, in his room.
"I think you were a little rough on her Shepard."
Jack looked at EDI's interface, with a slight annoyed look.
"Don't you start EDI, send up May…"
A minute later, May appeared in to Jack's room she sat at the end of the bed observing the room's layout.
"It's nice in here….. Are you still mad about what happened on Omega?"
Jack stood over her quiet, looking down at her.
"In my defense I thought she was going to attack me, you can't blame basic instinct and programing…"
"You were going to kill her, you didn't even have a backwards look about that, we don't kill allied unarmed combatants. I even had the crew pegged through the interface as friendly May."
May let out a huff, crossing her leg while looking up at Jack.
"I'm sorry alright Jack, it's just I wasn't thinking and…. I haven't seen you in years, I just wanted to pick up last where we started…. I didn't know you grew tired of me and moved on…."
Jack went on the defensive, from May accusations.
"That's not fair! I thought you were dead!"
May shot up from the bed, facing Jack.
"I came back! … I came back….. I held on to the one string of hope, that I could come back and be by your side, and we could fight these Reapers… Jack I'm still in love with you, I thought you procured the same feelings for me."
Jack was silent for a moment trying to calm himself, however May spoke first.
"Do you love her?"
"What?" replied Jack.
May decided to repeat herself, hoping for an answer.
"Do you love her?"
Love? What was love to them, Relationships were taught in Project Renegade's database, intercourse, child birth, Family, but what was love to Jack? That meaning was foreign to him, Project Renegade's subjects were created to become the ultimate soldier, the next evolution to the Human Race. Love was not built in to them.
"Tali is… important to me, she was there, when you died, I met her two years ago… She had a sort of dependency that she needed to rely on, we sort of clicked."
May was quiet for a moment, gathering her thoughts.
"That's all I wanted to hear… Jack I want you to be happy, with me or her….. but know this."
Jack looked at May with concentrated eyes.
"If she screws up, slips up and hurts you? I won't hesitate to take you back with full ferocity Jack."
Hearing that Jack laughed a bit, leaving May to kiss him on his right cheek and head for the elevator. May hit the engineering deck on the elevator.
Tali was working at her station trying to keep her mind off the argument, while trying to get the image of May kissing Jack like that. May approached Tali, taping her on the shoulder, Tali turned around her eyes widen and her mind developing hundreds of scenarios, the Fight or Flight instinct was starting to kick in. May noticed Tali's stance it was tense and uneasy she looked like she was going to jump at the first sign of trouble.
"Relax Tali, I'm not going to hurt you or start an argument with you, I just wanted to talk."
Tali's started to lower her guard as she did a noticeable exhale, letting the tension be released from her body.
"What do you want to talk about?"
May leaned near her station.
"I just wanted to tell you, I'm sorry for kissing Shepard right in front of you… I didn't know he was in a relationship with you… It's just I… haven't seen him in years and well… you know what I'm saying, we grew up together."
Tali was prepared for the worst not this conversation, she finally calmed down under her visor.
"I—apology accepted, I guess I'm sorry for attacking you like that."
May gave on a warm smile, crossing her arms.
"Apology accepted, friends?"
May held out a hand for a gesture of friendship and cooperation, Tali hesitated at first but shook it. May leaned in to Tali with a different expression.
"Oh if you screw up the thing you and Shepard have, I'll take my position back without a thought Tali, so be careful."
Tali shook a bit from hearing that.
Like I'd Mess up you Bosh'tet!
May took her leave, and left engineering bay heading to the cargo bay down below. She was checking out the Hammerhead, finest edition to the Cerberus arsenal, she was about to head up to the CIC, but bumped in to Zoey on her way to the elevator knocking down the box of supplies.
"Oh shit sorry!" Zoey blurted out.
May began to help pick up the assortment of weapon upgrades and attachments on the ground but her hand slipped under Zoey's, causing Zoey to look up in to May's eyes, a flash of Jamie's image appeared over May's and back again.
"No I'm the one who wasn't paying attention to my surroundings … I have other things on my mind right now…. Well I should go."
Zoey just looked at May as she disappeared in to the elevator.
"Jesus… what's got in to me?"
Jack approached the engineering deck to meet Tali on the upgrades to the ship.
"Hey Tali…."
Tali turned around from her work station to, meet Shepard's gaze.
"Oh… um, hi Shepard… What can I do for you?"
Jack noticed Tali calmed down from the argument earlier, so he decided to get the apologies out of the way, or feel the scorn from his girlfriend later.
"Tali… I'm sorry for, yelling at you earlier….. I didn't have the right to be short with you, you were angry I get that… but me fueling the fire wasn't helping the situation."
Tali took off her visor pulling him in for a kiss as she leaned against her work station, this however did not go unnoticed from Kenneth and Gabriella.
"Ay look at the Commander, shacking up with our Quarian boss."
Gabriella looked back at Kenneth while trying to keep her eyes on the two.
"shh quiet, it's so Romantic of what they're doing, like watching a Romance Vid."
Kenneth rolled his eyes leaning closer to Gabby.
"ugh those soap opera crap, no thanks I rather arm wrestle a Krogan, than watch one of those vids, besides this is like watching one of those Fornax videos, you know the two start kissing before they get freaking in their work place? "
Jack still kissing Tali, un-holstered his 1911, putting on top of the work station, Kenneth took notice to that and immediately went back to work, leaving Gabriella to snicker from that.
"Panzy…"
Kenneth just looked back at Gabriella whispering.
"You crazy girl? The Commander would have me tortured, for insulting him!"
"Would not, you're such a big baby…"
Kenneth looked back a Gabby with a teasing tone.
"Oh am I now? I'm not the one with a fanfiction fantasizing about the commander in a romantic adventure, on Elysium."
Gabby glared at Kenneth.
"You were looking through my stuff, oh I am so going to make you pay for that!"
Kenneth mockingly reacted the scene he read.
"Oh Commander Shepard, we saved the entire colony, and stopped the Evil Batarians, but what are we ever going to do while we are on the run in this small shuttle?"
Gabby tackled Kenneth, punching him in multiple places on the body. Lucky for Gabby Shepard and Tali was gone.
A few notes, I bet some of have noticed that Zoey has been saying God, and Jesus, and not Goddess? Zoey Converted to one of the Human faiths, Christianity when she visited Earth. Next Chapter focuses on retrieving Grunt.