AN:- Firefly reference, yay!
Chapter Fourteen: Those Left Behind
She went to find Jack. The biotic had been set up with real quarters, and Shepard was slightly surprised that she had accepted them without complaint. She had half expected for the biotic to take back up under the engineering section. She supposed everyone grew up sooner or later.
Jack was in the dining room, reading over documents of some sort. She looked up and smiled as Shepard came over, motioning for her to sit as well. As Shepard sat she realised Jack was sitting in a wheelchair.
"Yeah." She had been caught staring. Jack didn't seem angry though. "The implants are great. I've got most of my previous motion back, and I recovered basically all sensation. But if I use them too long I get aches in my bones that just won't go away. So I turn 'em off whenever I don't need 'em."
"How has your recovery been?"
"Slow. Painful. Boring. And I've still got some way to go. Every so often I try and move like I used to be able to and find that I just don't have the response times, or the muscle memory anymore. Then I fall flat on my face."
"Ever happen in front of the students?"
"Once."
She didn't elaborate, but Shepard definitely sensed another topic she wanted to open up on. "How are the students handling the war?"
"How do you think? They're a bunch of teenagers. Until a few months ago, their biggest concern was getting laid."
"You don't think they're ready for war?"
"I don't think they have a choice." She was definitely holding onto some bitterness there.
"So all this talk about biotic artillery strikes…"
"It's great in theory. Maybe they'll get it together once they've seen some action."
"But…"
Jack sighed and put down the tablet. "Honestly, I'm glad you asked them to be support. Put them in the back ranks, helping with barriers and shit. I don't know."
"Have you told them that?"
"No, they need me to believe in them. I did pick up a few things listening to your damn speeches."
That raised a chuckle. Shepard took a long drink of her water, looking at the woman in front of her. She no longer bristled at the slightest inquiry or gaze. She was left confrontational, but Shepard could feel the confidence coming off her now. "I have to say Jack, you look good."
"Yeah, well… maybe some of your attitude rubbed off on me as well."
"Teaching suits you."
She shrugged. "I never had a family. And these guys… Anyone screws with my students. I will tear them apart."
Still the same old Jack underneath. Shepard had put her finger on the difference. Before she had been a rock. Dangerous if thrown, but blunt and unwieldy. Now she was tempered steel. Less coarse, but still more than capable of violence. "So what's so valuable about these students? Biotically I mean."
"Well, what's scarier than a pissed-off biotic attacker? A whole bunch of them working together." Shepard had to concede that she'd never actually heard of a focused Alliance program to provide coordinated biotic soldiers. They had mostly been assigned on a one on one basis to individual squadrons or fire teams. "We call it biotic artillery because if any asshole gets in our way, we rip 'em to shreds."
"Doesn't that exhaust them?"
"Yeah, sure. But we've been working on conditioning, improving endurance." It was fascinating listening to Jack talk so easily about training and teaching. "Whenever they complain, I tell them about the Collector base. Throwing husks, making shockwaves all over the place… I kept thinking 'Damn, let the salarian handle this! He can talk 'em to death.'"
"Got that right."
Jack took a sip of her own glass, and when she put it down she looked sombre. "I'm not staying Shepard. My kids need me. Not all of them can even go into support roles."
"I understand Jack, and I wouldn't ask you to leave them."
"You know that thing you do when you're always so understanding?"
"Hmm?"
"I fuckin' hate it."
/|\
It wasn't that she was deliberately avoiding meeting with the salarians to discuss the situation regarding the krogan, it was that she had other business to attend to on the Citadel. For one thing the Grissom Academy survivors needed to be dropped off, she wasn't going to have the Normandy serving as a halfway house for everyone she rescued as well as being a front line cruiser. Victus had some business to attend to at the turian embassies and with the councillor, and she had received messages from Aria and Miranda as well, all requesting her aid.
Besides, the war would still be waiting for her in a day.
As they were coming in to the Citadel she wandered down to the Shuttle Bay to talk with Vega again. She sensed more resentment building up from having to leave Earth, and she wanted to deal with it before it overflowed. He was beating on a combat dummy when she walked in. It was a misshapen blob-like humanoid construction, which would yield like real flesh and bone when struck, but always returned to its original position soon after.
He obviously noticed her walk up, but said nothing as she stood by and watched him. When she stayed silent he huffed and looked over his shoulder at her. "You come down here for something, or you just looking?"
She shrugged. "I did just come to chat, but I might stay for the show."
"Have to work harder than that if you want me to blush. Not sure what there is to talk about. You already know my service record."
"I don't actually. I didn't have access to personnel records when we met." Technically she could accessed it since, but she preferred people to give their own sides of things.
"Right… forgot about that. Well." He gestured to the dummy. "Think you can dance and talk at the same time?"
"Oh, I can dance." She stepped back into the centre of the cargo bay and dropped into a combat stance, beckoning him over.
"Okay Captain, let's do this."
"Don't let my good looks fool you Vega, I've got my share of scars."
He went straight for her with a one two combo she could have spotted in basic. She didn't even bother to counter it, just stepped around the attacks and countered with her own cross-jab.
"Ha." He danced back, staying light on his toes. She preferred a more solid stance. Close combat had never been her forte. "You remind me of my old CO."
"Oh yeah." The talk hadn't distracted her, and she saw his feint coming easily. She slapped away his real blow and aimed one for his ribs. He twisted with it and came away clean. "And who was that?"
"Captain Toni." He went for a kick that she easily blocked. She didn't want to overpower him, even though her enhancements would let her. But equally she didn't want to get slapped around. "He was a hard assed son of a bitch, but a good leader."
He had left his guard down, leaving it easy for Shepard to duck under and sucker punch him on the jaw. He reeled back, rubbing his jaw.
"Nice," he said, coming back at her with a flurry of blows. She blocked some, dodged others, surprised that she was having to work to keep up now. She had gone toe to toe with krogan, and only a few of them had tested her melee skills.
"What do you mean was?" she asked.
"Died, with most of my squad. Protecting a civilian colony from a Collector attack."
Ah. That survivor's guilt. She knew the feeling, and especially losing his squad protecting others. "And the colony?"
"It was either them… or the intel we had on the Collectors. Intel we could've used to destroy them. I chose the intel."
He went for a heavy blow, but she dodged back, not wanting to meet it with force. She had reached the real issue. His anger was obvious now.
"I'm sorry," she said. "That's a tough call."
"The best part was we didn't really need the intel in the end." He threw heavy blows at her and she started to catch them, deflecting the force but letting him get it out. "Because you were out saving the galaxy by taking down the entire Collector homeworld."
"You didn't know." She almost took the blame on herself, but his rage wasn't at her, that would have been different. She trapped his arm and twisted him in an armlock. "You can't blame yourself Vega."
He broke out of the lock and stepped back. "Who says I'm blaming myself?"
He came in for the attack again, but this time she let him, taking the hits in her stomach and chin. They didn't have nearly the punch she would have expected though.
"Just a guess," she said, resetting her stance.
"You a shrink too?"
"No." Although at this rate maybe I should be. "But that stunt back on Mars was reckless. You're lucky to be alive."
"So?"
"So… maybe you don't care if you live or die." She was suddenly vividly reminded of Jack, sitting upstairs. She had been the same once.
"Or maybe." He was getting sloppy. She was getting to him. She blocked his wild punches with ease. "I'm just willing to do whatever the fuck it takes to end this goddamn war."
Enough of this. She snatched his arm and twisted, stepping in and tripping him and slamming him onto the deck. He coughed hard as the wind was forced out of him. She crouched down next to him, looking down at him. "Maybe you are. But if you're half as good as I think you are…" She held out her hand for him to take. "We need you alive."
He stared at her hand, then clasped it and let her pull him to his feet.
"Thanks for the pep talk," he muttered, heading back to his station.
"Anytime." She turned to head back to the elevator, when he called back over.
"Hey." She looked back. "Thanks for the dance Lola."
"Lola?"
"You kinda look like a Lola."
She grinned. "You're cute, so I'll let you get away with it, for now."
"That's it, now you made me blush."
And he actually had, a faint red flush showing on his cheeks. Success.
As she was walking back to the elevator she passed by Cortez, hearing him listening to something on his computer. She was shocked to hear his voice.
"I'm coming to get you."
Another man responded on the recording, but she didn't recognise the voice. "Don't you dare, they're everywhere, you'd just get taken too."
"I can't just sit here doing nothing." She stepped quietly up behind Cortez, seeing the glint of tears on his cheeks.
"Stay with me."
"Run – Get out of there you can make it!"
"No I can't Steve, but you can, promise me…" Cortez closed his eyes. "I love you, but I know you. Don't make me an anchor, promise me Steve."
"No, don't."
The recording ended in static, and Cortez glanced back to see her standing there. "Captain." He turned, brushing his eyes and standing to attention. "Sorry, didn't see you there. This is a recording from Ferris Fields, months ago. I lost a lot of friends that day. I lost my husband." She took an instinctive step to hug him, then held herself back. "I grieved, said goodbye, made my peace."
"You were talking with him when the Collector's hit?"
He nodded. "I was organising construction at a remote station a few clicks south of the main colony. Robert managed to get outside of the field the Collectors put up. Instead of running, he called me."
"I'm sorry for your loss." It was hopelessly trite, but she couldn't think of anything else to say. Even trying to imagine how she would feel if she lost Liara hurt her more than she could say. "He obviously cared about you a lot."
"He was afraid I wouldn't let go. But for him, I moved on… or at least I thought I had." He shrugged. "Then the invasion hits, there's no time. And the one thing I grab is this? I mean, what's the point of moving on with your life when everything is going to hell?"
She shook her head. "Start thinking that way and we've already lost."
"Yeah, you're right, but, well… to be honest, I've never felt as alone as I do right now."
"You're not alone Steve. Vega's here, I'm sure he wouldn't want you to suffer alone. And I'm here, anytime you need me."
"I appreciate that Shepard, I really do." He shook himself slightly and forced a smile. "But don't worry Captain, when I'm in that pilot seat, I'm there one hundred percent. I won't fail you. It's just that downtime between missions that's hard, you know?"
She nodded. "I do." At that moment she came to a decision. "We're gonna be having a crew dinner soon, while Jack is still on board. It'd be good to see you there."
He nodded. "Absolutely Captain."
/|\
"I had been wondering about our dinners," Liara said later.
Shepard was sitting on Liara's bed, scanning through field reports, while Liara worked at her terminal. They hadn't exactly been expecting to have a real date, but Shepard hadn't realised just how busy Liara was now. She seemed to spend every moment that she wasn't on mission at her computer, sending out messages and setting up missions for her operatives.
"Well it's good crew building. And especially since we have Jack back."
"Is she rejoining the crew?"
"No. She's going to stay with her kids."
Liara nodded absently. "I read her files. It does not surprise me that she empathises with those children. Their experiences have similarities. Both training to use biotic abilities in combat situations. I would imagine that she is partly trying to ensure that none of the children suffer as she did."
Shepard watched her working, smiling at the glint of the computer light on her blue skin. "How do the asari learn biotics?" She asked.
Liara shrugged. "Every asari school includes biotic training programs. It's basic education. Still those children in the academy were very impressive. I'm sure Jack's proud."
"Well I'm proud of her, for sure."
"So when are you thinking this dinner will take place?"
"Tomorrow night. I think I might be busy tonight."
"Oh?" Liara finally looked up from the terminal, quirking her eyebrow up. "You have plans?"
Shepard leaned back on one arm on the bed, rolling her head and unbuttoning her top button. "Well I really do need to get some sleep in."
"Sleep is important." Liara was definitely distracted, she turned back to her computer but kept glancing over as Shepard undid another button. "You need to make sure you get a lot of bed rest."
"Well I am here in a bed. Seems a waste of energy to go all the way back upstairs when I can just sleep here."
"You make a good point." Liara shut down the computer and leaned against the desk. "I suppose I could use a night off as well."
"Liara?"
"Yes Maia?"
"Get over here."
AN:- Mostly this chapter is a lot of stuff being moved from earlier to now. Jack's conversation from inside Grissom Academy, Vega's sparring session from just after Earth.
Also, sexay times!