(The Present)

For so long he had been kept from her, a 'prisoner' of the very people he served. Questions, condemnation, doubts: some within the Alliance even bandied about terms like 'traitor' and 'spy'; witch-hunters tasked with hobbling their champion…instead of listening to him, heeding the warning uncovered on the Collector ship.

Jack hadn't needed convincing; she'd been there, right at his side, when the half-formed Human Reaper ironically sought their extinction. A suicide mission they'd called it, a suicide mission led by a dead Shepard and supported by a congregation of powerful angels and devils. No one came back through the Omega Relay…they were all passengers of Charon, doomed to a death unknown.

It had been the happiest time of her life.

Throughout the mission, Shepard had come down into her room in the bowels of the Normandy and talked with her for hours. This man, perfect in her eyes, built upon that impossible mantle with his compassion and strength. As her defenses lowered, she had started to see him for what he really, truly was, not a hero or some legendary figure, but just a man searching, as she was, for a place of refuge…and a person with which to share it.

However, as she fought against the course Fate carved for her, Shepard seemed to embrace his path. He moved through his trials with a strength of purpose, paddling with the current, no matter the rapids or falls that such a trajectory would present. His was a life lived with a devotion that no one else, living or dead, had ever housed within a mortal coil.

Devotion to duty.

Devotion to crew.

Devotion to her.

And so, his devotion carried him back to Earth and away from her. Once he had turned himself in, they kept them apart. Her record and their relationship further tarnished his credibility, but Shepard never strayed, never betrayed her to broker his own freedom or restore his standing. His heart and faith remained unwavering; the product of a man that had found his perfect match…his soul's mate, if one believed in such things.

And so she had tried to emulate him by taking the teaching position at Grissom, hoping that in time the military would see her as an asset and not a threat, and maybe, just maybe allow them to be together again.

But that plan had been torn asunder the day the Reapers came.

Since the invasion, blinks and beats had been gifted to them: a collection of minutes at Grissom, a few hours on the Citadel, but those magical nights in the tunnels aboard the Normandy had not been repeated…their History, and the happiness it had held, was just that.

But now, with Fate again tracking their path, they had been granted one last moment.

'jack'

All the debris vanished into the night, propelled by the might of a hundred biotics and the love of one woman.

'SHEPARD!', she screamed tears streaming down her face and mixing with the blood flowing from her nose.

Again the pain and spasms fought to take control of her body, but this time, with her goal in sight, Jack bested them with ease. In seconds, she was by his side cradling his shattered body, just as she had Miranda's minutes earlier. Burns marred his handsome features and blackened the flesh of his hands and arms. Vicious bruises and deep lacerations ran along his left leg, where his armor had broken away and revealed the very flesh it had been forged to protect. Twitches and spasms pulled at his torn muscles, making him bow and bend in her arms.

'GARRUS!', Jack screamed without looking away. 'GARRUS! THE MEDI-GEL, QUICK!'

'jack,' Shepard's cracked lips parted wide enough to repeat her name.

'I'm here,' she stroked his stubbled cheek careful not to touch one of his injuries. 'I'm here…I found you…I found you.'

The dogtags in his hand slipped to dangle from the chain still wrapped around his wrist, and with his fingers free, the burnt digits reached up until he cradled her cheek.

'knew…youu…would…never…a…d-doubt'

'Goddammit, Shepard!', she snapped with a voice lacking any animosity. 'Why didn't you wait!? I was coming. I could've stopped all of this from happening!'

Shepard blinked slowly, as if even that small movement brought intense pain.

'nothing…can…s-stop…what needs…to happen…not you…not me'

Her tears dropped against his cheeks, soothing spots of cold among the clusters of heat and pain.

'Then why didn't you let me fall with you? I won't go back to being alone, Shepard…I…can't.'

'one…of us…has…to make…it', he choked out the statement with as much power as his shattered body would allow.

Three more tears fell, as Jack smiled and nodded.

'One of us will, I made sure of it. All we have to do is finish this…you and me.'

'just…like…old times'

Shepard tried to sit up and draw closer to her but his body wouldn't allow it. Instead Jack bent into him, until their foreheads rested against each other.

'normandy,' Shepard whispered. 'when you…were there…happiest…time of…my life.'

'Mine too,' Jack breathed around the sobs threatening her voice.

'when…this is…over…meet me…back there…in…your old…room.'

'Its a date,' Jack smiled.

Shepard's eyes pulsed in and out of focus…he was fading.

'You're hurt,' he moved to wipe away the flow of blood that trickled from her ear.

'Nothing I can't handle,' again she smiled.

Slowly, Shepard's gaze started to droop and his lids close.

Moving her hands to cup his face, she stared into his eyes, willing him to stay with her…commanding him to live.

'Look at me, Shepard! LOOK at me!'

Shepard's eyes widened as he fought to remain in her arms.

Never taking her eyes off of him, Jack screamed.

'GARRUS! HURRY!'

Jack wept freely now, realizing that no matter what, these were to be their last moments together.

'Why do you have to be so goddamned 'good'?'

Shepard smiled.

'I'm…not…you make…me want to…be better…man.'

'You look like shit, partner,' came a voice from behind Jack.

Quickly kneeling down, Garrus Vakarian, his armor and visible flesh battered but not broken, quickly retrieved the ampules of Medi-Gel from various compartments.

With her eyes still locked on Shepard's, Jack heard the sound of her destiny invade the scene.

A great moan like the call of some whale of the deep echoed over the three of them, warning them that whatever tribulations faced to this point had been nothing more than advance scouts for Death itself.

Again the cry sounded, followed by a great rumble…as if something very large were walking toward them.

Tears fell from both Shepard and Jack's eyes and neither could speak beyond the emotion of the minute.

With yet another 'moan', Jack forced her eyes from his…and looked toward the great beam. The massive silhouettes of the three Reapers were moving…toward their position.

'Stop the Medi-Gel, Garrus,' Jack ordered. 'Get the other stuff fired up…now."

No snide remarks or contradicting beliefs came from the Turian, for he too agreed that their seconds had run out. Quickly his hands produced several devices from his storage areas and began attaching them to both he and Shepard.

'Jack…what's going on…what are…you doing?', Shepard asked weakly.

'I've got a plan,' Jack looked back at him. 'This is why you chose me…I'll get you the rest of the way.'

'I didn't…choose you…Jack,' his words held a pain and promise far removed from the ravages visited upon his flesh.

'From the moment…you woke up…I knew…I loved you…don't know how…but I knew.'

'I did too,' she whispered. 'I love you.'

'You,' Jack's voice broke, while her tears ran with her blood, 'freed me….from so much more than that prison.'

Pulling her eyes from him, she returned her attention to the Reapers, and with a sadness so profound even the stoic Turian closed his eyes, Jack whispered.

'I've got to go…it's 'destiny-time'.'