Commander Shepard strolled into Purgatory Bar, a dance club he'd frequented on most of his trips to the Citadel. Occasionally he would meet up with friends and acquaintances there, and today was no exception. Sitting at a table at the base of the staircase to the dance floor was Jack. She'd cleaned up a lot when she joined the Alliance's Ascension Project. She seemed really happy now that she had a family of her own, people who cared and relied on her, in the form of her students.

Seeing her acting like an almost normal person made the fact Shepard left Liara for Jack a lot less crazy.

When Shepard had read the message from Jack on his private terminal, after using his Spectre status to allow her and her students onto the Citadel, he'd nearly ran straight to the bar. He hadn't expected to find her sitting, let alone sitting and reading what looked like reports of some sort.

Jack looked up to see Shepard approaching; wearing his favorite leather jacket that he wished had existed before the Reaper War. "Hey, soldier. Buy a girl a drink?"

"I don't know," he said as he sat down across from her. "You seem really enraptured by your reading there. I'm guessing... dirty smut—about me, of course."

Jack rolled her eyes. "Duty rosters for the students," she revealed. "It's what I do for fun now." She set the rosters aside. "They've got us spread out across Alliance units. Reinforcing barriers, modding ammo, that kind of thing."

"Are they doing all right?"

"They're fine. They're not the ones reading duty rosters while on shore leave."

"I'd have never pegged you for a teacher, but you seem to be doing well with it." Shepard grinned. "Plus I like women with power. I think it's really hot."

"You just want to peel me out of an Alliance uniform, don't you?"

"I can't say I would object to that."

"Perv," Jack called him, with that glint in her eye that drove Shepard wild.

"But seriously," Shepard said, "There's no way you can sit here and say you would trade this new life away for anything. You get to kill a lot of things, a perk I know you love. Plus you get paid a salary for it." He leaned back in his chair. "And those kids respect you, in their weird, teenager way. I'd bet that's your favorite part."

"Yeah, yeah. Maybe your little suicide-squad taught me something about teamwork. Speaking of which... thanks."

"It was my pleasure," Shepard said.

"My guys are handling the support stuff well. Still see some action, but they're not on the front lines. They're saved a lot of lives." Jack sounded genuinely proud of her students. Though Shepard had fallen for the crazy, unrestrained version of her, he loved this softer side of her.

"That's what pisses me off."

So much for 'softer' side.

Jack continued. "We're doing good work. If we were useless, I could drop this shit and come with you." She sighed. "But we're not... and they need me." She looked down at the table. "So... if we gotta call it quits, I get it."

"Are you kidding?" Shepard asked. "If anything, I like—" he wasn't ready to say love "—you now more than ever. You'd have to kill me to get rid of me. Besides, I'd like to see that N7 tattoo on your ass that you mentioned at Grissom Academy."

She shook her head, but Shepard could see her blushing despite the poor lighting in the club. Jack stood up and walked around the table. Shepard stood too, almost expecting her to flash that tattoo right in public.

Instead she leaned in to kiss him. He closed the gap between them, not at all disappointed in the decency of New Jack. When their lips parted, she whispered, "God, you make the best mistakes."

"You're not a mistake," he whispered back.

Jack pulled away, placing her hands on her hips. "All right, Shepard. No strings. But if we get out of this alive... "

"Then I can see that tattoo?" Shepard said teasingly.

She winked. "You'll see them all."

"You spoil me." Shepard grabbed her hand. "Come on."

"What?"

He started leading her up the stairs to the dance floor. "The duty rosters can wait. Right now, you're on shore leave."

Once they were up on the crowded dance floor, Jack started laughing. "Shepard," she had to shout in order to be heard over the loud music. "Everybody knows you can't dance!"

Determined to prove her wrong, Shepard busted out his secret moves. He was certain that her continued laughter as she joined in was because she was enjoying herself, not because of his lack of skill.

Shepard kissed her goodbye, more than a little sad that she had to get back to work. Of course, he had to return to his mission, but he'd had fun losing himself in the music, the moment. He had owned it. I better never let it go.

Only when Jack had disappeared from sight and he activated his omni-tool did Shepard realize he had an alert. He activated it. The words glowed brightly in front of him.

Achievement Unlocked: Paramour

"Oh, sweet!" Shepard exclaimed. "Twenty-five Gamerscore points!"

He clicked the blinking message and it displayed the requirements he'd met to achieve it.

Establish or rekindle a romantic relationship.

He stared at the sentence, slowly understanding what it meant. The last time he'd seen a message like this was aboard the Normandy, just before assaulting the Collector base; when Jack had come to his cabin to be with him, in case it was their last chance. I only got the achievement before because I completed the romance. So that means...

He slapped himself in the forehead. "Oh, God damn it, BioWare! I should have gone with Liara!"

A/N: Thanks to thepkrmgc, Anthony, Guest, Johnwolf234, anakinpk200, KingLard, Jack Trader, and SinsandSecrets for reviewing since the last update.

I don't feel like this one of my better. But this happened to me on my first playthrough of ME3, and getting a tiny dance scene instead of a budding romance that takes place throughout the entire game made me more mad at BioWare than the ending ever did. But I'll let you guys decide if you like it or not.

I changed the rating from "K+" to "T" because of reasons that are Jack, and in the event that I end up writing ME2 Jack, who cusses a lot more than ME3 Jack.

Now that I have a few suggestions for scenes/situations to write about, I am going to start doing those next. That way I can save the ones I thought of on my own as reserve. I'll still be accepting any requests, and I will credit whoever gave me the idea for a certain chapter.

Love those reviews. Keep them up, please!