Joker rubbed his face in frustration, considering Shepard had saved the Citadel you would think that C-Sec would make docking there a little bit easier for her ship, signing the last of the security wavers he pressed the button on his omni tool to send them to C-Sec's head office and finally the Normandy was clear to stay docked for the rest of the week.
"EDI, I'm going to visit Shepard. " Joker headed through the empty CIC, most of the crew had left for shore leave which left the ship quieter than usual.
"Yes Jeff, I will maintain security protocol while you're away."
Hitting the button on the elevator Jeff fidgeted with his hat, it had been 18 hours since the changeover of the implants and Shepard still hadn't woken up. had assured him that it was just the stress her body had gone through, and that she would wake up when she was ready but he was concerned. Stepping out of the elevator he walked into the med bay and was surprised to see a group of people around Shepard's bed.
"Hey guys," Joker whispered, as he got closer, "any signs of sleeping beauty waking up yet?"
"Not yet," Garrus got up from his seat next to Shepard to let Joker sit down. " said that her body must be repairing itself."
"What the fuck happened anyway?" Jack made no move to keep her voice down and was immediately shushed by the surrounding group. "Ok, geeze," dropping her voice down she looked over the sleeping form of the Commander. "Since when does she glow?"
Shepard was vaguely aware of chatter around her and a dull ache in her right leg, deciding to stay quiet for the time being she focused on keeping her breathing even so no one would pick up that she was awake.
"The C5X implants primary job is to replace the parts of her spine that were too damaged or missing after her accident, they coordinate her nerve pulses and allow her to have sensation in the lower half of her body. They also synchronize all of the other cybernetics that have replaced various parts of her body as well as Cerberus' upgrades. When her implant failed it caused all of her nerves to fire rapidly and violently." Dr. Chakwas gently patted Shepard's leg, "I can only imagine what it must have felt like yesterday…"
"Hot, like everything was on fire." Shepard opened her eyes and was promptly pulled into hug by Joker.
"You're awake!" Joker kissed her forehead, "how do you feel?"
Shepard cautiously stretched out her back, holding her breath. "Actually," Shepard rolled her neck and rotated her shoulders, "not that bad. My leg is aching a bit but my back feels fine, only a little itchy."
"Do you feel alright to sit up?" Dr. Chakwas placed a hand on Shepard's shoulder guiding her up, "you should have something to drink."
Taking the cup offered from Garrus, she looked around at the people standing with her, "Garrus why aren't you wearing your armor?"
Garrus' mandibles flared and he let out a chuckle looking down at his civilian clothing, "you broke it."
"Oh god," Shepard winced, "I'm sorry Garrus, pick out whatever you want and I'll replace it for you."
"Already done, Commander," Miranda spoke up from the back of the crowd, "I should have been more firm about having the C6X implants put in straight away, I apologize. I have covered the cost of Officer Vakarian's armor for you."
"Thanks Miranda, you didn't have too…Kasumi, Jack, why are you guys both here? Plenty of people with too many things on the Citadel, I figured you'd be helping to relieve them of their burden."
Jack laughed, "shit Shepard, after how bad you looked yesterday I wasn't going anywhere." Jack patted Shepard's arm in an affectionate way, "if you die I want first dibs on this ship."
Shepard laughed "gee, thanks for the concern."
"No problem, now that I know you're ok I think I'm going to go and check out the Citadel. If I can get past security…" Jack stood up and walked out dragging Garrus along with her.
"Excuse me Commander; I'm going to let the Illusive Man know that you're awake." With a nod Miranda stepped out and headed back to her office.
"I just wanted to check up on my handy work," Kasumi was smiling under her hood, "I've never configured implants before and I think that I got them to the right shade of blue too."
"Come again?" Shepard looked between the Doctor and the Thief, "I'm lost here."
"One of the many qualities that make the C6X implants more popular is the ability to choose which color their lights are. Kasumi somehow managed to turn them blue and program them in less time than it took me to get them out of the box." laughed, "You should give her a raise."
"Can I see them?" Shepard glanced over her shoulder at the bandage resting there.
"No way are you healed enough yet Kai," Joker rubbed her leg through the blanket. "You should wait until that skin is healed."
"It very well may be healed Joker," Dr. Chakwas pulled at the edge of one of Shepard's many bandages. "That was part of the Cerberus upgrades, to encourage her muscles, skin and bones to heal quickly, the only reason why the bone marrow extraction has left her so sore is because that was about the only thing that Cerberus didn't plan for."
Watching as pulled away the bandage Kasumi let out a low whistle, "not too shabby if I do say so myself."
"I want to see, Joker help me stand." Shepard slid her feet off the side of the bed before gently stepping onto the floor, using Joker to keep herself standing upright, looking down she noticed that she was wearing a black bra band and a pair of shorts that she knew weren't her own. "Who changed me?"
"I did," Kasumi smiled. "Your clothes smelt terrible, the shorts are Joker's just in case you were wondering."
"I knew I was going to get you in my pants eventually," Joker helped her take the first few steps towards the door, helping her as she adjusted for her mild limp.
"Perv, it doesn't count if I was passed out." Shepard turned towards Kasumi's room, "can I use your mirror?"
Kasumi walked ahead opening the door for Shepard who was now mostly walking by herself, though Joker was standing close enough to catch her should anything happen. Walking over the full length mirror Shepard twisted so she could see her back, the four blue lights glowed brightly underneath her skin and was a an almost perfect match for the blue highlights that ran through her tattoo, she had to admit as creepy as it was that she was full of robot parts they looked pretty.
"Wow, nice job Kasumi." Shepard gave Kasumi a quick hug, "they look awesome compared to the ugly yellow I had before."
"I thought you might like them, now go and make sure you're all patched up. Now I know you're okay I'm going to go out to dinner with Jacob." With a wink Kasumi disappeared.
Limping back to the med bay, Joker helped her climb back onto the table, "so Doc, am I free to go?"
"Certainly Commander, providing you promise to be on bed rest for the next two days." Shepard nodded her agreement. "Then by all means go sleep in a comfortable bed, Joker can page me if you need anything."
"I do believe I requested a pizza," Shepard smiled at Joker. "Do you think that the Citadel has delivery?"
"Not likely, but Ken owes me a favor so I'll ask him to go. Why don't you head up to your quarters and I'll bring it up once it's here?" Joker squeezed her hand and walked to the door, "I need to shower and I'll be up."
"You know I do have a private shower," Shepard let out a wicked smile, "you could use mine…"
"Bed rest Commander, rest being the key word there." Dr. Chakwas laughed, "All extra-curricular activities should wait a few days."
"Ok ok…I guess I'll see you up there." Shepard stood slowly, shifting her weight onto the leg that wasn't sore. "When will Joker get his surgery?"
"In about a week's time, Mordin need's to work with the sample you provided to make it suitable for transfer. We'll let you know a day or so before hand so you can prepare."
"Sounds good Doc. I should probably shower too." Shepard limped towards the door.
"Commander, make sure not to stand too long on that leg or you will find yourself quite sore by the end of the day."
"No problem, my shower has a seat in it."
"A seat?" Joker tilted his head in question.
"More like a bench, which I why I asked if you would like to share it with me, but apparently you and the good Doctor over here have other thoughts on your mind and you say I'm perverted." Shepard laughed at the blush creeping up cheeks.
"I'll see you in a bit, Joker," Shepard limped towards the elevator, "and don't forget on the pizza no-"
"Pineapple, I know." Joker smiled, "I remember."
With a wave Shepard hit the button for her room, leaning heavily on the wall of the elevator as it made its way up. Yesterday had been exhausting but she couldn't help but feel excited to have two days alone with Joker, hopefully it would be clothing optional two days. Hopping into her room she quickly pulled off the black band around her chest and dropped the shorts limping straight for the shower leaving the shorts where they fell. Fiddling with the knobs she waited for the water to warm up, passing the time by brushing her teeth and working the worst of the knots in her hair out with a brush.
Once the bathroom was suitably full of steam Shepard stepped into the hot water letting out a hiss as the heat hit the healing skin on her back. Working over her body with a soft cloth she worked off the dried blood that clung to her skin watching the pink water run down over the new scar on her right leg and down the drain. Washing her hair she rinsed off and stepped out of the shower, the cold air of the bathroom bringing her skin up with goose bumps, reaching for a towel she wrapped it around herself once and tucked it under her arm. Heading out of the bathroom she heard a squeak.
"Sorry, I uh...should have knocked." Joker was standing in front of her with a pizza box, his face a flaming red.
Shepard smiled, and walked over to Joker, taking the box from his hands she set it on the nearby desk. She ran her hands up his chest loving his shocked expression. "Don't look so scared Jeff, I won't bite."
"I'm not worried about you biting me, Kai," Joker took her hands in his; "I'm worried about you breaking me."
"What do you mean?" Shepard arched an eyebrow, shifting her weight off of her sore leg.
"Come, you should sit. We can talk over pizza." Joker helped Shepard take the few steps down to the couch before retrieving the box from the desk. "Do you want some privacy to get dressed?"
"No, I'm okay. I'm not worried about you seeing me naked Jeff, in fact I was hoping we would spent most of the next two days naked." Shepard winked and Joker looked down to avoid her gaze. "Okay, what's going on here? Why are you so reluctant all of a sudden?"
"It's not going to be that simple, Kai, we can't just…oh god this is going to be awkward to talk about." Joker rubbed his face and let out a groan.
"It's okay, Jeff, sit down and eat. I've got nowhere to go for the next two days, I'm sure that you can figure out what you need to say." Shepard opened the box and grabbed a slice, shoving it into her mouth in a very unlady like manner she let out a groan. "Oh yeah, that's the good stuff."
Joker laughed, "Not much gets you down Kai, you wouldn't believe that you were having massive surgery yesterday."
"Oh yes I would, I'm still pretty sore and my back is killing me, "Shepard grabbed another slice and slid the box over to Joker, "would you eat please? I don't want to feel like a pig and eat the whole thing."
"That was pretty scary," Joker grabbed a slice and took a bite, "I've never seen you that out of it before, I didn't even know that you could scream in pain, I thought you only got that loud when you're mad."
"I've never been in that much pain before;" Shepard shrugged, "sometimes screaming helps."
"Not even when you…." Joker paused, "sorry that's probably not something you want to talk about."
"No it's ok," Shepard leaned back against the couch and stretched her sore leg out in front of her. "No, dying didn't really hurt. It was like a light switch going off," Shepard thought about it. "I'm pretty sure yesterday was the worst pain I've ever been in. How about you?"
"Huh?" Joker looked over his slice of pizza, "What about me?"
"What's the worst pain you've ever been in?" Shepard twisted her hair between her fingers; Joker liked watching her do the small things like that, it was very feminine.
"Well, that would probably be the first time that I had sex," Joker flushed, "which is why you could say I'm reluctant…"
"So what happened?" Shepard was interested now, her eyes fixed on his face.
Joker shrugged looking down at his lap, "she was a nice girl, my first real girlfriend. She knew I had Vroliks and that I hadn't been with a girl before and she offered to be my first…after fooling around for a bit she straddles me drops down and…." Joker trailed off.
"And…what happened?"
"She broke my pelvis into five pieces, and then two ribs in her attempt to get off of me to get help. It was very painful and more embarrassing than I care to admit." Joker still hadn't looked up from his lap, Shepard slid on the couch to be closer to him.
"Hey," Shepard placed a finger under his chin and brought his eyes up to hers, "I'm sorry that happened, and I understand why you're scared to try again but that doesn't mean that's what's going to happen with us. I'm sure we can find a way to make it work." Shepard searched his eyes, "if you want too that is."
Joker let out a tense breath; "you have no idea how much I want to, no idea. The thought of you keeps me up at night." he stroked her face and leaned in to kiss her, "I want you so bad it hurts, it keeps me up at night, you're all that I've thought about during my nights alone for years."
Shepard closed the gap between them and pressed her lips against his, running her hand up the back of his neck and pulling his hat off.
"Hey, that's my good hat…" Joker reached for it, "and remember what the Doctor said, you need bed rest. You're meant to be resting, not making out with your boyfriend."
"Well, if my boyfriend," Shepard put emphasis on the word, "wasn't so sexy maybe I wouldn't be so pent up and ready to jump his bones."
"You're sitting there in a towel and you're calling me sexy?" Joker laughed running his hand through his messy hair.
"I can lose the towel if it makes it better for you," Shepard reached for the edge of the towel where it was tucked it but was stopped by Joker's hands.
"Don't, please." Joker took her hands and rested them on her lap, "look Kai, I want to be with you…"
"So?" Shepard interrupted, "I'm waiting."
"But our first time together shouldn't be us trying to figure out how to be together without me breaking, I want it to be special not awkward." Joker sighed, "I was hoping to wait until after the surgery, once I'm a bit more sturdy."
"Okay…" Shepard looked him over, "how long will that be?"
"Mordin thinks that once the bone marrow is in there, about two months."
Shepard's jaw dropped, "two months?"
"Look, if you don't want to wait around until I'm stronger I understand," Joker sounded sad and Shepard instantly regretted her outburst. "You deserve someone who can satisfy you without breaking something."
"I don't want just anyone Jeff," Shepard traced a pattern on the back of his hand with her fingers, "I want you. I'll wait if that's what you think is best, but I warn you…I'm pretty much terrible to be around when I'm sexually frustrated."
Joker laughed, "I think I can handle it."
"Will you spend the night?" Shepard stood up and headed towards her dresser, "I just need to put some PJs on…" Shepard looked over her shoulder to make sure Joker was watching her
"If that's what you want," Joker pulled off his shirt and headed towards the bed, stepping out of his pants his slid into his side of the bed grabbing his hat from on top of the covers and putting it back on.
Pulling out a drawer of her dresser Shepard let her towel fall and heard a gasp come from the bed, looking over her shoulder towards Joker she put on her best sexy smile. "Problem?"
Joker's mouth was hanging open, "you're naked…"
Shepard made a show of looking down at her body before running a hand up the length of her side, "so I am."
"Move your hair," Joker's voice was so low Shepard struggled to hear him, "I want to see your wings."
Gathering her hair over her shoulder she looked back at him and watched him take in the lines of her tattoo, his eyes traveling the length of her back before stopping on her backside.
"Amazing, you're so beautiful." Joker met her eyes; "you aren't going to make the next two months easy are you?"
"Probably not," Shepard laughed reaching into the draw and pulling out a pair of underwear and a cut off t-shirt. Pulling the shirt over her head she carefully stepped into the underwear and pulled them up slowly so they didn't hit her healing skin.
"Are you sore?" Joker watched her walk over to the bed and slowly slide in, keeping her bad leg over the covers resting against the headboard.
"Yeah," Shepard ran her hand over the dark line on her leg, "I'll be ok soon though, I'd be surprised if I even had that limp tomorrow."
"Thank you for doing this Kai," Joker reached out and took her hand, "I owe you."
"I'll take payment in the form of sex," Shepard winked at him before pulling her other leg under the covers and lying down. "The way I see it, you're going to owe me a lot."
"I can live with that," Joker kissed her on the forehead before settling in besides her, tossing his hat to the couch.
"I love you," Shepard tucked her head against his chest and closed her eyes.
"I love you too," Joker wrapped his arm around her and followed her quickly into sleep.