#jalenko

You’d think the aftermath of an Earth invasion would be chaotic and fun – but no. Instead, it was just really depressing. People were going hungry due to food shortages. Things that everyone had taken for granted before the war – like medical technology, fast transportation, and, hell, even electricity – were no longer available. Jesus, people had even started to ride on horses to get around.

And, to top it all off, Jack had been assigned to work with a man who had the personality of wet cardboard. Some bigshot Major who worked with Commander Shepard. Whatever. The Alliance had thought they’d make a good team because they both were biotics, both were teachers specialized in combat, something about “compatible psych profiles”. What a joke.

God, she was bored as fuck. She needed to take her mind off things. Jack looked over at the Major, who had carefully given her a wide berth ever since they were introduced.

“So,” Jack yawned, “You and Shepard ever fuck each other?”

Major Kaidan Alenko, who had remained silent until this moment, suddenly turned towards Jack and eyed her cautiously. Jack couldn’t help but be amused and, despite herself, a bit irritated by the way he watched her with such strong distrust. 

“You’re new to the Alliance,” Kaidan’s tone remained neutral, “So maybe you don’t know, but they’re pretty strict about ‘no fraternizing’.”

“That’s not an answer.” Jack looked him up and down, “And it’s not like rules ever stopped anyone. You wanna know how many soldiers I saw screwing each other down here on Earth during the Reaper invasion? I saw an obscene amount of fucking. Hell, I’m surprised anyone had any time left to fight the Reapers.”

Kaidan raised an eyebrow, staring her down once he caught her looking him over, “I’m sure the Alliance brass will look the other way this one time, considering the circumstances. Besides, I think there’s bigger fish to fry right now – rebuilding after the war, food shortages, suppressing riots. So, court-martialing a few marines who had a lapse in judgement isn’t exactly high priority.”

“Stop dodging. You ever fuck Commander Shepard?”

“Of course not.”

Jack raised an eyebrow. Kaidan continued to stare at her blankly. Nice try asserting dominance, Jack thought, but this Major honestly didn’t know who he was dealing with.

Jack continued, “So, if you did fuck Shepard – not saying you did, of course— but if you did, do you think Shepard is a bottom or a top? My money’s on feisty bottom.”

Kaidan felt like he needed to urgently put a stop to this conversation, “Our relationship was strictly professional. Commander Shepard was my superior officer and any sort of intimate relationship would have been a serious conflict of interest and breach of conduct given our roles in the Alliance. If you continue to press this issue, officer, I won’t hesitate to—”

“Pulling rank on me, huh? Anyway, that sounded rehearsed. And angry.” Just to piss him off, Jack looked him up and down again – making a point to focus on his crotch, “I think I struck a nerve.”

“Really? Well, I think this conversation is over.” Kaidan tried to keep his voice steady, but he was having some trouble keeping his annoyance in check.

All things considered, Jack felt it was good to see Major “Stick Up His Ass” Alenko could get pissed off. Real good. Most people, biotics especially, fight better when they’re angry. Plus, you always need to watch out when soldiers get too numb, too detached; it usually means they stopped caring about shit. If you want to stay alive, you need to have some fire left in you.

The very fact she’d been able to get him riled up over this was interesting, and kind of funny. He had emotions, maybe a sex drive even (anything’s possible, Jack chuckled to herself), and, honestly, it was weird. Why so damn touchy?

“I apologize,” Jack said, “You’re right. That was very, very unprofessional.”

Kaidan didn’t stop staring at her, however his eyes narrowed slightly.

“Besides…” Jack shrugged, “You’re not exactly Shepard’s type.”

The Major’s expression briefly flashed with emotion (Anger? Shame? Jack couldn’t read it), before he quickly regained composure and turned towards her with that usual poker face.

“Drop it.” His voice was suddenly harsh and low, almost threatening.

Definitely struck a nerve. Jack was almost hesitant to continue pushing this, but honestly, she had nothing better to do, and now. . . now she was genuinely curious.

“Maybe you wanted to be a little ‘unprofessional’ for once in your life,” Jack moved towards him, “But Shepard wasn’t buying what you were selling. Is that how it was?”

“Do you usually like playing mind games when you have nothing better to do?” Kaidan didn’t move an inch as Jack moved closer and closer to him, and he made a point not to break eye contact with her. Sadly, that seemed to only encourage her.

“Sure I do, almost as much as you like deflecting direct questions.” Jack smiled and she continued to move in.

At this point Jack had now fully encroached on Kaidan’s position, and she had no problem with getting right up in his face. Neither of them was backing down from this standoff, however. Too proud – or too stubborn? Jack wasn’t really sure. All she knew was that this was probably the best entertainment she’d had in a while. Which was kind of sad, honestly, now that she really thought about it.

She was close enough that she could smell his aftershave (Jack almost laughed. Where in the fucking hell did he manage to get aftershave? You were lucky to find a grimy bar of soap out here in the post-apocalyptic, Reaper-fucked Earth). Not to mention, she could get a good look at him – he was easy on the eyes, no mistake. He’d seen some shit; you could see it on the hard lines and wrinkles on his face. But he was still a pretty boy. She absent-mindedly wondered if he’d still keep up the whole stoic soldier act while getting fucked hard.

This was your typical power move, and Kaidan knew it. He couldn’t back down, not without losing face. And he definitely wasn’t going to allow some provisional officer to get the better of him. She wasn’t even wearing an Alliance regulation uniform – honestly, she wasn’t wearing much of anything. Not that he’d noticed.

After what seemed like a trillion years, Jack took one step closer and lowered her voice, “Too bad, I would’ve fucked you senseless.”

“Noted.” Kaidan tried to sound unimpressed, but he wasn’t sure if he was all that convincing.