Chapter Text
Integration of data files complete. Now starting reboot for Shepard, Curt. Human, Alliance Military, Spectre.
Initializing…
Initializing…
Initializing…
Curt blinked, eyes focusing on the ceiling above them. Their body was buzzing slightly, and it took them a second to process the sudden influx of memories that seemed to be filtering into their head. The war, their team, Anderson, Jack.
Jack.
“Miranda!” They heard a familiar voice shout. “It worked!” Curt sat up, flexing their hands and looking around. They took a breath, feeling the air moving, and gripped the table until it hurt just because they could.
“Holy shit, it really worked!” They laughed with her, hopping up. They stumbled slightly, grinning at the feeling of their knee hitting the ground. They felt it again. They also felt something collide into them.
“I’m so glad it worked,” they felt Jack whisper against them. They wrapped themselves around her with a shuddering breath. It had been a year and a half since they’d felt her against them.
“I’m back, I can feel you again,” Curt whispered, gripping her tighter and kissing the side of her head. “I missed this so much.” Jack just gripped them back just as tightly.
“I’m so sorry, Curt. I put you through hell,” Jack admitted. “I- I’m sorry,” she started crying a little. Curt shook their head, pulling her into their lap.
“I put you there first. It’s okay, it’s okay,” they stroked her head pressing close into her. It had been too long.
“Sorry to interrupt the lovefest, but I need to get my scans. Wouldn’t want you to take two steps and find out you've developed a heart murmur.” Miranda walked over, eyebrow cocked. “Welcome back to the physical world, Shepard.”
“You’re a fucking god.”
“I know, now stand up,” Miranda snorted. Curt stood, Jack helping them back up onto the table. Miranda started scanning them, taking readings. “Any memory gaps?”
“No more than usual. Being a soldier rattles the old brain. Plus, you know, oxygen deprivation,” they thought back, working their way through their life. They were surprised at their own memory recall, able to quickly and accurately sort through all of it. “I think it got better, actually.”
“Yeah that’s the synthetic part of your brain,” Jack pointed out.
“Neat,” Curt smiled. Miranda stepped away and they pulled Jack back in, wrapping themselves around her. “I missed feeling things, this is amazing. Miranda do you need anything else from me or can I go test drive this shiny new body?”
“You’re good to go. Just let me know if you experience any sort of unexpected pain, weakness, fatigue, things like that. Work on your strength building exercises as well, this body is still pretty weak.” Curt nodded along before pulling her into a hug.
“Thank you, really. This- this is everything.” Miranda patted their back, pulling away with a small smile.
“You’ve given enough, Shepard. You deserve a life. Besides, the only way to top bringing you to life the first time was to do it a second. I’m a scientific god now.”
“You are,” they laughed, turning to kiss Jack’s cheek. “Come on, I want tacos and sex. Fuck, I can eat again!”
“The taco place we ate at last time is still reopened,” Jack started to pull them towards the room they were in. Jack was packing up her stuff and pulled out their N7 hoodie. “I figure this is yours.”
“You just want me to wear it so it smells like me again,” they teased, grabbing her hips and pulling her back into them. They needed Jack in arms reach at all times right now. Curt rested their head against hers, breathing her in. “I love you so, so much and I’m so sorry for putting you through all of this. Thank you for staying with me, even when it got tough.”
“I didn’t, I ran off for a week,” she tried to joke. A few tears were still shining in her eyes. One fell and Curt wiped it away, gently stroking her cheek.
“I forgave you for that a long time ago, Jack. What matters is you didn’t leave me again. And now I can finally hold you like I’ve been wanting to. And do this.” Curt leaned in and kissed her softly, falling into the feeling. They’d really missed her lips. They moved to pull away after a few moments. “Okay I’m not gonna do that again until we get home because if I start I’m not stopping.”
“Good idea,” she agreed. “I am starving, I’ve only had my camping bar today because I was too stressed to eat.”
“Let’s go grab some food and get home.” Curt gave her one last hug before helping grab some bags. They took her hand with a wide smile, lacing their fingers together and tugging her out of the room. If they never saw those four walls again it would be too soon.
The air outside of Huerta Memorial was clean and fresh, and Curt tilted their face into the light for a moment. They saw a mix of pretty much everyone in the galaxy moving around, former Reaper forces included, and they were glad they’d been able to see the progress and adjust because seeing a Banshee help biotically lift a few patients as they walked out would’ve been really alarming otherwise. Everyone was glowing, greens and blues and yellows visible all over the place from the buzzing synthetic veins under everyone’s skin. A few people stopped and stared, but Curt ignored them as they made it to the transit station to call a taxi.
“Everything rebuilt so fast, you’d almost never know there was a war,” Curt commented as they looked around. “Did that really fancy sushi restaurant make it? The one I crashed through the floor of?”
“Yes, and the fish tank stayed intact after the pulse surprisingly. And some of the fish actually survived. Thanks to you getting the gangs out of there so quick the staff was able to get them picked up,” Jack snorted.
The cab arrived and they climbed in, punching in the address to their apartment. The skycar took off and Curt sighed. Jack curled up next to them in the sky car as best she could and was holding onto them as tightly as possible.
Soon enough they were at the apartment and Jack went on her omni-tool and started messing with a bunch of settings.
“When I left for your testing surgery I was reinforcing your apartment’s security. I don’t trust the Cult of Shepard.”
“Can’t a person save the galaxy and die twice without becoming deified?” Curt asked jokingly, looking around nervously. The war was over, but the fact that they were being stalked made them wish they had a gun. Jack lazily threw her stuff inside and they turned around to start walking to the main area.
“It’ll go away. Besides, I’m great at not getting caught. The only reason you had to pull me from Purgatory was because I didn’t break out of there first. I was only in there for like… six months,” she shrugged.
“Watching you come out of cryo in the middle of a maximum security prison ship was like watching the sun rise,” they smiled over at her goofily as they started walking towards the taco stand.
“Come on” she scoffed a little. “You are not telling me that seeing me frozen and angry was love at first sight.”
“Oh it absolutely was,” Curt said seriously. “It was immediate. You came out and punched your way through three YMIR’s and a bulkhead, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Unlike you. You took one look at me in the loading bay and I could see the internal monologue of ‘who’s this fuckin’ boy scout’.”
“I did. That and seeing your ship first didn’t help. I gotta say I didn’t know you were the same Shepard that killed Saren. I thought that was someone else. You seemed too much of a pussy when we first met until I saw you headshot someone from 50 yards away.”
“One of the best snipers in the galaxy,” they beamed. “Not that it’s worth much since we ushered in a new era of peace and prosperity and all that good shit. I’ll use it to shoot tin cans in space or something.” Curt pulled out their credit chit as they came up to the counter, scanning it and ordering their food from the kiosk. They went to go wait and Curt stood behind Jack holding her from behind when someone came running up to them. They looked to see Diana with her camera drone. Curt tried not to audibly sigh, but they were still pretty sure she caught their disappointed face on camera as she came up. “Hello, Diana. Can I help you?”
“All this time,” she said with a knowing look. “I just want an exclusive with the hottest couple in the galaxy. Everyone has been dying to know about the woman who has stolen Commander Shepard’s heart.”
“For starters he’s not Commander Shepard anymore,” Jack said flatly. Curt wrapped their arm around her waist. To some, it might look like a romantic or clingy gesture, but really they just wanted to make sure they could hold her back if Diana said something stupid.
“I’m retired, it’s just Shepard now,” Curt informed her with a tight smile. “Jack and I have been together for over two years now, yeah. We met when she helped me save the galaxy from the Collectors, and I somehow got lucky enough that she liked me back. We’re a little private, however, and we’d really rather not do exclusives or expose’s about it. Especially since I literally just got out of the hospital.”
“Just one more question. Jack, you went from the galaxy’s most wanted criminal to being under the arm of the man who saved the galaxy. How does that feel?” She asked. Sure enough, they felt Jack try to make a quick move but held her back.
“Don’t diminish my accomplishments because suddenly it’s seen that someone owns me. I’m still the most wanted bitch out there with more than a hundred bounties on my head. I didn’t get any pardons when I joined the Alliance and they kicked me out the second this war was over.”
“Easy, Jack,” they said calmly. “But she is right. Jack is a seasoned warrior and a hell of a biotic in her own right. I’d wager in a fight without guns, she could even beat me. If anything, I went from being the galaxy’s hero to being under her arm. And as for her discharge… Jack worked her ass off to ensure that the Alliance and all of our allied forces were safe and able to evacuate from hot zones. She led a team of Alliance biotics from Grissom academy and turned them into our greatest support line, likely helping keep our asses in this war long enough for me to win it. She deserves recognition and accolades for her service, not dismissal based on a previous record. Any other questions?”
“My readers want to know how your relationship works with Jack being an active wanted criminal?” Jack gawfed at the question, but didn’t answer. Curt gave her a baffled look.
“Uh… like anyone else’s? Healthy communication and mutual respect? Do your readers not know how relationships work?” They asked, feigning concern. “Are they okay? Do you need me to start a dating advice column?”
“You’re a Spectre and she’s a criminal,” she pointed out.
“Before I was a Spectre, I was a soldier. Before I was a soldier, I was a criminal dealing sand on earth just so I could get a meal to eat. The galaxy isn’t always a safe place, and sometimes we do things others deem bad just to survive. I’m not gonna hold her criminal history against her when I myself was at one point in time in the same position. Do you have any actual questions, Diana? Ones that don’t involve casting doubt on my girlfriend and trying to make her look bad? Because if not, I’ve got a plate of tacos and a couch calling my name. I just saved the damned galaxy, I’m on vacation.” Curt leveled her with their best signature ‘Commander Shepard’ glower, hoping she’d back off and move so they could leave. Diana put her hands up and started walking away.
“Can’t wait to see how she twists that one,” Jack glared at her as she walked away.
“Order for Curt!” The person shouted from the truck. They quickly snagged the massive bag of twenty tacos they got and started jogging back to the apartment. Luckily they managed to get inside without any further incidents, and Curt sagged in relief as the door locked behind them.
“Tacos, a vid, and then I’m having my way with you on the couch. How’s that sound?” Curt asked, kissing her shoulder on their way past. The apartment was untouched, and it felt safe and sound being here.
“I think that sounds great,” Jack hopped up on the table pulling Curt in between her legs and just holding onto them tightly. “I really missed touching you.” Curt wrapped their arms around her, pressing their face to her neck and breathing her in.
“I missed this, too.” They could feel her under their fingers and palms again, feel her breathing against them. Her pulse thumped steadily against their chest and their cheek where it was pressed to her skin, her arms and legs locked around them to attempt to get rid of any space between them. The apartment was nice, but this right here was home.