Mass Effect 1. Chapter 1

Jack came to slowly, her eyelids heavy as she blinked her way out the darkness that had fallen over her consciousness. Her head felt fuzzy, and she couldn't remember exactly what was going on or where she was. She went to rub her temples and ease the throbbing in her head, but found she couldn't. Her eyes snapped open, alert: something was wrong. She realized she was lying down somewhere dark, the floor beneath her solid and cold to her skin's touch. She widened her eyes upon realizing her hands couldn't move because something was binding them behind her back; her fingers grazing over thick ropes wrapped around her wrists. Her feet were bound the same way at the ankles. She had no idea what was going on.

"You're awake? Good," a female voice spoke from somewhere near; it was too dark to see. "Don't be mad at what I did, Jack, alright? You'll thank me eventually. I think. Maybe?"

Jack recognized the voice as Shepard's. She began to ask what the hell was going on, but found her lips wouldn't come apart. Her mouth had been duct taped shut! "Mmmmph!" Was the only noise she could muster. "Mmmph! _MMF_!"

"Shhhh," Shepard hushed her from the shadows. "Just relax, Jack. I had to do this. You know why. You read my emails. I... I need you back, Jack."

Suddenly it all came rushing back into Jack's mind. She'd been visited at Grissom Academy by Shepard. They'd shared a drink... Shepard was acting all weird, and then... then everything went dark. The emails! Jack remembered those strange emails she'd been receiving from someone named 'BioticObsession14'. The person had named themselves Shepard in the letters, but Jack had passed it off as just some lunatic who'd gotten her email somehow.

"I like what you've done with your hair," Shepard said. Jack still couldn't locate her in the darkness, but she began to come to the realization that they were in a small ship of some sort. Maybe a one or two person shuttle. It was cramped where she was bound on the floor, and the steady thrum of engines could be heard through the walls. "It makes you look cute," Shepard continued.

"_MMF_!" Jack grunted her reply, trying to sit up. She was growing more furious by the second. What the _hell_ did Shepard think she was doing!

"Look, I know you said you were just friends last time we spoke, but... we were too good to just throw everything away, Jack," Shepard explained. Jack could now make out her shadowed figure, silhouetted by the front-facing windows of the shuttle. They were in space, Shepard was driving, and they were apparently the only two on board. "Think of all those talks down in the Normandy's engine room! We made real progress down there! All I wanted was to get to know you and for you to get to know me and... and... "

"_MMMMPH_!" Jack shouted in the tape, she'd heard enough and her anger was rising.

Shepard glanced back and the two made eye contact. Shepard smiled shyly at her. "Hi."

Jack stamped her boots on the floor and leaned forward wide-eyed and incredulous.

"You want to talk?" Shepard asked.

Jack contained her rage and simply nodded.

Shepard bit her lip, seeming to debate the idea. "I'll take the gag off, but... no shouting, alright? Can we just talk about this like... well, like old times?"

Jack glared silently in the darkness. Her nostrils flared in and out with agitated breaths of air. Shepard flashed an innocent smile before reaching back and peeling the tape off her lips.

"_Are you fucking nuts you crazy_-" The tape was pressed back down over her mouth. "_MMMMMMPH_!"

"You're not ready yet," Shepard explained, turning back to the shuttle's controls. "It's a new idea to you, and we both know how stubborn you are about change. Just... can you just lie back there for the rest of the trip and try and calm down and maybe _consider_ the idea of _us_?"

Jack was livid; bound, gagged, and livid. She thrashed about, grunting and groaning beneath the tape, but her binds held secure. Finally she laid on her side, defeated, feeling a warm rage in every inch of her body.

The trip didn't take long, and soon enough, Shepard was docking the shuttle into the loading of the Normandy. Jack peered at her old ship through the shuttle windshield and couldn't believe _this_ was how she was coming back aboard. Shepard set down, switched off the engine, and got out of the driver's seat. A few seconds later, she appeared at the rear of the shuttle popping open the cargo hold hatch. Jack lifted her head and squinted as her eyes adjusted to the brighter atmosphere of the Normandy's interior. She felt Shepard's hands on her legs, and then she was carefully slid out of the hatch and sat on its edge.

Shepard was smiling from ear to ear and rocking from side to side eagerly. "Welcome back! It's so good to have you here again, Jack!" She threw her arms around Jack and squeezed. "I've missed you so much!" Her lips planted a kiss on Jack's cheek.

"_Mmmmmm_," Jack grumbled beneath the tape and rolled her eyes.

Shepard pulled away and stared at her for a moment, laughed, and hugged her again even tighter. "You're going to love it here. I'll show you to your room! Yay!" Jack started to protest into the gag, but Shepard bent over, pressed her shoulder into Jack's abdomen, and lifted up. Jack's feet came off the ground, and then she was being carried over Shepard's shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

The ground was all Jack could really watch as she was carried through the Normandy. Shepard brought her through a big, engine, room and then into an elevator. A short ride later, and the two of them emerged into what used to be the crew quarters. Jack lifted her head and saw a few humans staring at them with wide eyes. Over by the medical quarters, Doctor Chakwas stood watching dumbfounded with her mouth agape. An Asari woman in a white suit came out of a small room off to the side and dropped a datapad she was carrying.

"Oh my!" The Asari said. "Shepard! What are you doing with her!"

"Hey everyone!" Shepard said cheerfully. "This is our new guest, Jack. Some of you know her, some of you don't, but I'm sure _all_ of you will get to love her as much as I do. Say 'hi', Jack!"

"_MMMMMPH_!" Jack screamed furiously into the tape.

"Shepard, I-" The Asari began.

"I'll explain later," Shepard cut her off and then lugged Jack down a hall and into a smaller room.

Jack was dropped onto a bed. She landed with a soft thud and looked around, surveying the room. A large, rectangular, window was cut into the side, peering out into the dark, star-spotted, reaches of space. The bed she was on was directly below the window, and quite large. It was shaped in a large oval, and garnished in red sheets and silk-covered pillows. At either end of the room were sectioned off glass rooms: one holding a bathroom; the other with a table and some counters. The lighting was dim, and on the wall opposite the window, a massive fish tank was set there; a cool, blue, light glowing from within.

"What do you think?" Shepard asked, hands on her hips, smile on her face. "I set it up just for you! This is your room!"

Jack glared in her forced silence. She wanted to strangle Shepard at the moment.

Shepard took a seat beside her on the bed and rested her hand on Jack's thigh. Jack eyed that hand warily. "I'm going to take the tape off again," Shepard explained. "But this time, you have to behave. Do you promise?"

Jack closed her eyed, controlled her fury, and nodded.

Shepard nodded, satisfied, and peeled the tape from her mouth, watching carefully for any sudden outbursts and ready to put it right back on.

Jack thought, choosing her words wisely. "Shepard, please. You have to realize this is crazy, right? You can't just kidnap me from my job and haul me across the galaxy because you had some crush on me once!"

"Jack!" Shepard shouted, offended. "It wasn't '_some crush_'! I... Jack, I love you."

"_What_!" Jack snapped, eyes widening. "_Love_ me! Shepard! We only met a few months ago! How could you love me! Are you... are you sick or something?"

"I know you feel something for me too," Shepard said, grabbing Jack's feet and setting them in her lap. "You can't deny it! What we had before... the things we talked about..."

"We got to be friends, alright!" Jack said. "That's it! Look... I didn't know how I was making you feel! I wouldn't have... have..."

"Jack, Jack, Jack," Shepard said, untying her ankles. "Always denying your feelings. Just let go, will you?"

Jack balled her fists, but forced herself to keep calm. "Look, you want to talk about 'us' and what that means, fine, but you can't keep me tied up like this! This is _bullshit_, Shepard!"

Shepard had freed her ankles, and had moved on to unlacing her boots. "Yes I can. For now. Plus... Jack, I read up on you. I have... sources here on the ship. You're telling me you don't like this a little bit? Being all... helpless?"

"No! Not like this!" Jack snapped. "You think I _enjoy_ waking up tied up in the back of cramped shuttles with my mouth taped shut!" Shepard yanked off each of Jack's boots and dropped them to the floor with a _thump – thump_. Then she peeled off Jack's socks and tucked them inside the boots. "What are you doing!"

"Massaging your feet," Shepard explained as she began rubbing her thumbs into the arches of Jack's foot. "I'll do a lot of things for you here, Jack. More than you even know."

Jack yanked her foot from Shepard's grasp and wiggled her way off the bed to stand. Her ankles freed, she almost felt like she could get away. Almost. "Untie my hands, Shepard. I'm not kidding. This has gone too far. Look, we'll forget this ever happened. We'll still be friends or whatever! _Untie me_!"

"I'm not doing that, Jack," Shepard said calmly, shaking her head.

Jack let out a frustrated growl and looked around the room for a way to free herself. Shepard noticed and stood herself. Jack backed away from her. "Stay away from me Shepard! You've gone fucking psycho!"

"Jack..." Shepard began gently, taking a slow step in her direction.

Jack backed up. "I'm _warning_ you, Shepard!"

Shepard took another step.

Jack tried to back up further, but her back hit the wall.

Shepard closed the distance and put her hands up against the wall on either side of Jack's shoulders, pinning her there.

"Shepard, I swear-" Jack began, but then Shepard's mouth was pressing down over hers; her warm, moist, lips merging with Jack's. Jack opened her mouth to shout, but Shepard's tongue found its way inside her. Jack closed her eyes for only a moment; the surprise of the kiss had stunned her silent. When she opened them, Shepard had pulled away and was staring at her, inches from her face with a grin. "Fuck you, Shepard," Jack said, her voice quiet and hoarse.

"You felt something," Shepard said confidently. She brushed some of Jack's hair from her face. "Don't lie to me. You did."

"Whatever!" Jack snapped. "Just fucking untie me already, alright?"

Shepard's grin widened. She shook her head. "You're mine."


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm _yours_!" Jack echoed incredulously.

Shepard nodded. "Yep. You're mine, Jack. I'm Commander Shepard, in case you forgot. I take what I want." She smiled and ran the back of her hand gently along Jack's cheek. "And for the last few months, the only thing I've wanted is you. Is it so much to ask? I _am_ saving the galaxy, after all."

Jack shook her head, dumbfounded. "I... God dammit, Shepard! I'm a _person_! You can't just do this to me!"

"I already have," Shepard explained, and then gripped Jack by the upper arm, dragging her back to the bed. Jack reluctantly followed, finding it difficult to resist with her hands bound behind her back. "I am going to treat you like a queen, Jack. You'll see."

"Shepard, let go!" Jack shouted, but then she was shoved forward, tripping over the edge of the bed and landing on the soft mattress below face first.

Shepard was beside her in a flash, spinning her onto her back and straddling her waist. Jack squirmed uncomfortably beneath Shepard's weight and barred her teeth. "Get _off_!"

Shepard seemed almost offended. "Jack! Please! Give me a chance!"

"_Fuck – You!_" Jack replied, sounding out each word emphatically.

Shepard sighed, putting her hands on her hips and giving Jack a stern look. "Alright, I'm going to have to briefly remove the bindings on your hands. I know you, Jack. I know what you're going to try, but I'm begging you not to. The biotic amps you wear as ear pieces? I've removed them. Your powers are severely limited, and you're not physically strong enough to overpower me. So behave, alright?"

Jack held her tongue. This was her chance. She put on her best innocent face and nodded quietly, eager to escape.

Shepard laughed. "You're a terrible liar." She reached her hands beneath the arch of Jack's back and went to work undoing the knots that held her wrists together.

Jack licked her lips waiting for the perfect moment; the ropes grew looser and looser and then-

-she was free! Jack swung her arms out wide and threw them into Shepard to remove the woman's weight from her body. Shepard had anticipated this though and threw her hands up, snatching Jack's wrists at the last moment. "_ARGH!_" Jack grunted through gritted teeth as Shepard forced her wrists together and pinned them down to the bed above her head. The Commander worked quickly, reusing the rope to bind them in place and secure them to the headboard. Jack was stunned at how powerful Shepard was, or perhaps at how _weak_ she'd become herself. A nice, cushy, Alliance job teaching at the Academy hadn't done her any favors in the strength department.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Shepard asked, brushing aside some hair that had fallen in her face and taking a deep breath. "Now you're all nice and secure and just where I want you." She flashed a toothy grin.

Jack was too god damned angry to even reply, she only closed her eyes, bit her lip, and tried calming herself with slow breaths. Shepard slid off her waist, stood at the foot of the bed, and then yanked Jack's pants off with one fast, forceful, motion. Jack's mouth fell agape in surprise and her legs instinctively crossed at the knees to try and protect herself. "What the _fuck_, Shepard!"

"Very sexy," Shepard said to herself, ignoring Jack. "You have nice legs, Jack. You shouldn't hide them." She grabbed Jack's foot and wrapped its ankle in a rope, securing it to the corner of the bed. Jack protested and jerked her free leg away, but Shepard was relentless. She finished one leg, moved on to the other, and repeated the process. Jack was now bound to the bed completely; wrists together above her head; legs spread apart, ankles secured to the corners. Jack's face reddened, her bare legs and feet exposed, only her panties left to guard her lower body. "God you are sexy," Shepard repeated, studying Jack's body from head to toe.

Jack, furious, thrashed up and down on the bed, pulling and twisted and jerking at the ropes that bound her, but Shepard's binds held secure and tight. "You fucking psycho!" Jack shouted, realizing in frustration that she could not escape. "Shepard... _fuck_! Let me go! _LET ME GO NOW_!"

"Jack, don't make me gag that pretty mouth of yours again," Shepard said calmly, still staring at Jack's half-baked body, grinning all the while. "I'd like us to be able to talk. Don't take that privilege away from yourself."

"_ARGH!_" Jack groaned and threw her head back against the mattress furiously. Shepard's hand fell on her inner thigh and began slowly running down her leg. Jack lifted her head again. "Stop it, Shepard." Shepard did not stop, she slid her other hand on Jack's opposite leg and massaged her calf. "_Stop_!" Jack repeated, but her words fell on deaf ears. Shepard was staring at Jack's legs, biting her lip and concentrating. Her hand fell to one of Jack's feet and ran a quick, ticklish, line along the bottom of it. Jack's leg tried jerking away, but the ropes denied her.

Shepard laughed. "We're going to have fun, and you're going to thank me sooner or later."

"You can't..." Jack began, running out of options, but realized she'd already tried 'you can't do this to me' to no avail. She began to feel truly helpless. "This is... _fuck_, this is... you..."

"Shhhhh," Shepard hushed her gently, crawling up the bed alongside Jack's body. "It's going to be fine, I promise. I'm your Commander, Jack. I wouldn't lie to you."

"Only kidnap me and tie me to a bed?" Jack snapped angrily.

"Well, yes," Shepard agreed with a girlish giggle. "Now, I have some things to take care of. I want you to lie her quietly and think about us. Think about... me."

Jack's eyes widened. "_What!_ You can't just fucking _leave_ me here like this, Shepard! I'm tied to your fucking bed!" She snapped, pulling hard on her bound wrists to emphasize her point.

"I know, which is how I _want_ you," Shepard explained as she brushed some of Jack's hair from her face. "I won't be long. I promise."

"No, Shepard," Jack demanded. "This is too much. Do _not_ leave me here like this! I'm _serious_!"

Shepard bit her lip, staring into Jack's eyes. She reached over to the bedside table, opened a drawer, and pulled a long, dark, piece of cloth from it. When she looked back to Jack, a mischievous grin was on her face.

"What are you doing?" Jack demanded. Shepard quickly pressed the dark cloth over Jack's eyes, wrapped it around her head in either direction, and knotted it in the back. "_Shepard_! What the fuck!" Jack snapped, now blinded and submerged in darkness.

"Now," Shepard began, leaving Jack to have to track her voice in the darkness. "Can I trust you to lie her quietly till I return, or should I tape your mouth shut again? Your choice, Jack."

"I'm going to fucking kill you when I get out of this," Jack said, shaking her head and balling her fists. "You do realize that, right Shepard? I'm seriously going to fucking kill you."

"You won't," Shepard answered. "You love me, Jack. You just don't realize it yet."

Jack began to speak, but then Shepard's lips were pressing down onto Jack's. Again, the Commander's tongue found its way inside Jack's mouth, and she aggressively kissed her. Jack's arms tried moving to stop her, but the ropes held them where they were. She considered biting down on Shepard's tongue, but then her body started to warm up and her chest heaved and something tingled down between her legs and-

"No!" Jack snapped, twisting her head away from Shepard's pursuing mouth. "I won't do this with you!"

There was a long moment of silence that made Jack uncomfortable, and then the _riiiiiiip_ sound of duct tape broke the silence. "Wait! Shepard-" Jack began, but then her lips were sealed shut by the tape pressed down firmly over them. "_Mmmmmmmmph_!"

"I'll be back later," Shepard said, and Jack felt the Commander kiss her on the forehead.

Jack shouted into the gag, thrashed on the bed, bounced up and down as much as the ropes would allow, and slammed her feet against the mattress: anything to stop Shepard from leaving her alone like she was. It didn't work, though, and after a few quiet moments, Jack realized she was alone in the room. Alone, bound, gagged, blindfolded, and half-naked. This wasn't good.

She spent the next few minutes trying everything she could to escape the ropes that bound her. First she forced herself to calm down and let her slender fingers curl up and search for the knot binding her wrists, but Shepard had cleverly placed it high up and far back from Jack's grasp. It didn't help that all she could see was blackness with the cloth over her eyes. She grunted her frustration and then moved on to try twisting her feet slowly and carefully. She hoped they would at least loosen the ropes around her ankles, but no such thing happened. Shepard was, apparently, a professional kidnapper. Even the blindfold wouldn't budge when she tried turning her head to the side and rubbing her temple against the side of the bed, trying to use the friction to slide the cloth from her eyes. Last, she tried squirming her lips around beneath the duct tape, but it gave no slack. It was no ordinary tape, that much was clear. Likely it was some high-grade, Alliance Military-issue stuff.

So that was it, then: she was truly helpless and at the mercy of her former Commander. That made Jack shift awkwardly on the bed. She thought back to her time at Pragia, at the Teltin facility and all the experiments Cerberus perfomed on her there. She was often strapped down and restrained, but this felt... different. _Very_ different. The idea that Shepard lusted for her and could do whatever she wanted to her, _when_ever she wanted was...

Jack started getting that warm feeling again, but she shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts. That's exactly what Shepard wanted: for her to lie there in her forced darkness and forced silence and think about this shit. Think about... them. She wasn't going to give the Commander the satisfaction. Jack cleared her mind and let herself get as comfortable as possible. She would need her energy if she still planned on making an escape, but clearly she was going about it in the wrong way. Shepard didn't seem the slightest bit moved by her threats, that much was obvious. Jack would have to play a different game to get free.

As she lay there thinking about it, the sound of the door opening to her room broke her line of thought and grabbed her attention. She lifted her head, though immediately felt embarrassed by her action: it did her no good with the blindfold on.

Footsteps approached the bed, and then weight pressed into the mattress beside Jack, causing her to roll ever so slightly to the left. "Hello, Jack," a female voice said, and it was not Shepard's. Jack tensed, uncomfortable that a strange woman was seeing her like this. She frowned beneath the blindfold, confused. "You don't know me, but I've read much about you. My name is Liara T'Soni. I am Shepard's... well, I'm the Commander's... I'm a part of the Normandy." The voice explained, somewhat awkwardly.

Jack still couldn't figure out _why_ the hell someone from the Normandy would come see her like this. It was pissing her off. She'd heard Shepard mention this T'Soni name before. Jack remembered Shepard saying she was an Asari and that they had a relationship back before Sovereign attack the citadel. What the hell the blue alien was doing _here_ was still a mystery.

Suddenly, Jack's blindfold was tugged up and away from her eyes. She squinted, adjusting to the new light after being in the dark for so long. Slowly, the Asari came into view. Her blue skinned face was staring at Jack in an almost concerned manner. Jack glared back at her, half confused, half annoyed.

"I'm sorry," Liara began. "I had to see... had to see what Shepard was... so infatuated with. I suppose I understand now. You are... very beautiful. Your eyes are pretty. The Commander has always said how much she liked pretty eyes. I..." The Asari trailed off and then suddenly turned her head away.

Jack was more confused than ever. This awkward Asari woman seemed _sad_ as she spoke. Jack didn't care what she was sad about, she just wanted her freedom back. If the alien would just take the damned tape from her mouth, Jack planned on asking for her help. "_Mmf_," Jack grunted into the tape, and when the Asari looked back she motioned to her gagged mouth with her eyes. Jack looked back up at the Asari and saw her face gad grown ever more sad, more forlorn. She frowned, confused.

"She loved _me_ once, I believe," Liara continued, ignoring Jack's request. "The Commander, that is. A... a long time ago."

"_Mmf_!" Jack grunted into the tape, leaning her head forward with widened eyes. She didn't care about the Asari's sappy story, she just wanted to be untied! "_Mmf_! _Mmf_!"

"I'm afraid I'm not here to release you. I'm sorry," Liara said sympathetically. "The Commander has spoken of nothing else other than you for last few months, Jack. I needed to see why, and I believe I'm beginning to have an idea. Like I said, you're very pretty. Your files say you've had a troubled past, but that all went away when you met her, didn't it? When you and the Commander came together? It's almost... perfect. I just wish I could have been a part of it."

Jack groaned and let her head fall back to the mattress. This chatty, Asari, woman was clearly no help to her, and she had gotten more and more annoying as she spoke.

"The Commander left a few minutes ago for business on Omega," Liara explained, peering into Jack's eyes. "She won't be back for a few hours. I suppose she intended to leave you here like this. Quite cruel, if you ask me. All by yourself. All alone."

The Asari's hand fell onto Jack's breast and cupped it.

Jack snapped her head in Liara's direction, wide-eyed and incredulous. "_MMMPH_!" She mumbled beneath her taped lips. What the _hell_ was going on aboard this ship!

Liara licked her lips and scanned the room, as if checking to make sure it was empty. The Asari stood, went to the door, and pressed a button beside it. Jack listened as thick latches sealed it from beneath the floor. She tugged at her bound wrists frantically, but they were bound too tightly and too securely.

"I haven't been with anyone since Shepard," Liara admitted as she pulled on the zipper running along the front of her suit. "Not since she started obsessing over you." The Asari's white suit, unzipped, fell to the floor. Jack's eyes widened. Liara was completely naked beneath. The alien's blue body wasn't much unlike a human's: it curved in all the places it should. Her breasts were shapely and firm looking. Her hips swayed back and forth as she approached the bed, a dark, moist-looking area residing between the legs.

"_Mm-mm_!" Jack mumbled, shaking her head.

Liara ignored her. She bent, planted her elbows on bottom of the bed, and crawled up onto it: her blue butt popping up in the air, the curves of it swaying gently in the glow of the fish tank on the opposite wall. The Asari eyes Jack up for a moment, then lowered her head and kissed Jack's calf, then her knee, then her inner thigh.

Jack could do nothing but lie still and make little, helpless, grunts and groans beneath the tape. She didn't want this... did she? The Asari's hands gripped her around the waist as the alien pulled herself further up the bed; her tongue flicking out and catching Jack's thigh, right where her leg met the line of her panties. Jack's chest heaved forward and her toes curled. She swallowed into her suddenly dry throat. This wasn't right! The Asari was an alien, and a _female_! She shouldn't be letting this-

-Liara's hand slid beneath her shirt, up her stomach, and found her breasts. The Asari's fingers massaged them, landing gingerly on her nipples and giving them a little pinch.

Jack's eyes closed. Her body was taking over, even if her mind wasn't ready to give in. This felt _wrong_ somehow, though. Much worse than when Shepard kissed her. It almost felt like... betrayal to Shepard? But how could that be? The Commander _kidnapped_ her and strapped her down to this bed! It was _her_ fault Jack was in this whole mess. Still... maybe all Shepard's "you're mine" talk had gotten to her. As long as she was on board the Normandy, she _was_ Shepard's... in a way, at least.

"_MMMMMMPH_!" Jack yelled into the gag, overriding every sensation her body was going through. She sat up, the best she could with her hands bound above her at least, and glared at Liara wide-eyed.

Finally, Liara stopped her relentless assault. The Asari looked up into Jack's eyes, staring thoughtfully. "You really don't want this, do you?"

Jack was huffing and puffing from her body's heightened state. She shook her head.

A slight smile came over Liara's face. "Shepard is... a lucky girl." She said, crawled backward off the bed, and dressed herself again. She almost left before looking back at Jack and noticing something. The Asari paced across the room and sat beside her. Liara smiled again, leaned forward and kissed Jack's cheek. Jack rolled her eyes: what was with everyone kissing her? The Asari reached for the blindfold, gave Jack a wink, and tugged it back down over her eyes. A few moments later, the door opened and closed, and Jack was alone again.

Jack took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

She could finally rest a bit.

At least until Shepard returned.


	3. Chapter 3

Jack laid on her bed—though really it was more her _prison_—for a long time after the Asari had left her to be alone; the darkness of the blindfold covering her eyes. She found herself thinking back to her first encounter with Shepard on Purgatory, when the Commander had busted her out of that hellhole and given her an ultimatum: go with her, or stay and die. Shepard always had that commanding, fearless, leadership quality to her. The woman was strong, no denying that. Jack had to be stronger. She questioned if she actually gave a shit about Shepard, and decided she did, but not enough to be her... whatever Shepard was trying to turn her into. Girlfriend, maybe. Sex slave, perhaps. Jack had a few relationships before. People were all the same: they used you till they got what they wanted, and then you were nothing to them. It wouldn't happen to her again. Though Shepard... she seemed different before all this. Before she _wanted_ Jack in this way. She seemed like the only decent person in the galaxy. There were even times aboard the Normandy, when Jack was down in her hiding hole, that Shepard would come down and talk to her and it made Jack feel good; better than she'd felt in a long time.

Jack balled her fists and slammed them against the mattress above her head. She didn't like these conflicting feelings. She liked knowing what to do and why; keeping it simple. It wasn't like Shepard had approached the situation in a normal way. If the Commander had been more straight forward with her instead of _drugging_ her and _kidnapping_ her...

No, that wouldn't have worked and Jack knew it. Shepard had brought up the idea of the two of them as something more than friends right before the Omega-4 mission. Jack had turned her down, and likely she would have done the same if Shepard approached her at Grissom Academy with the same old pitch. That was who Jack was, and she supposed Shepard knew it: stubborn. If Shepard needed time with Jack, there was only one way she was getting it – through force. Jack twisted her bound wrists and tugged at her bound ankles. She;d certainly used enough force. As pissed off as Jack was about being restrained like this, she had to admit it was Shepard's only option if she was as 'in love' with Jack as she claimed. Jack would have knocked Shepard's head off if she'd woken up aboard that shuttle unrestrained.

_Love_... Jack wondered what that word even meant. She didn't think she'd ever been in love. If love meant you'd go so far as to kidnap someone, tie their hands so they couldn't run away, and gag their mouth so they couldn't say they didn't love you too... well then _fuck _love. If that was what it was, it should be considered a mental disorder, not some magical, amazing, bullshit.

Jack was lying there growing angrier and angrier about the word 'love' when she heard the door open and close. For one frightening moment, she thought it was the Asari, Liara, coming back to decide she wanted to finish what she started.

"Right where I left you," Shepard's voice said softly as it neared the bed. "Good girl."

Hands lifted her head, reached around, and untied the blindfold covering her eyes. Jack prepared to squint, but when she could see again, the room was much darken than it had been before and there was no need. Only the light in the aquarium was on, casting a faint blue glow over everything in the room.

"I missed you," Shepard said. The Commander was dressed in a full suit of armor. "But when duty calls... well, you know."

Jack moved her mouth around beneath the tape covering it and gestured towards it with her eyes twice.

Shepard sighed. "I suppose I can't keep you shut up forever, eh?" She laughed. "It's too bad: you're much nicer like this."

Jack waited as patiently as she could, staring quietly up at Shepard.

"Alright, alright," Shepard said with a grin, reached down, and peeled the tape away.

Jack licked her lips, thankful to have them free again. Jack considered her words carefully before she spoke. "You were gone a long time."

Shepard's eyebrows lifted a bit in surprise. "That's it? No '_F this!' _or _'F that!'_?"

"No," Jack said calmly. "I didn't like being left like this for so long, though."

Shepard's face scrunched up, genuine sincerity coming over her as she spoke. "Oh, Jack, I'm sorry. I really didn't know it was going to be that long. We ran into some Batarians, and... things got messy. You remember how it goes. Believe me, the whole time I had you on my mind. All I want is to be here with you, but I can't commit to that just yet. When this is all over, this reaper crap, I will. I promise. If you'll have me, that is."

Jack felt that old anger creeping up from her stomach, but she snuffed the flame. Anger had gotten her nowhere so far, it wouldn't do any good now. "I'd like to be untied, Shepard."

Shepard gave her a wan smile. "You know I can't do that."

"Why?" Jack snapped, almost letting her anger get the best of her. She calmed down. "Look, I won't go anywhere, alright?"

"I think eventually I'll believe that," Shepard assured her. "But not yet." The Commander stood.

"God damn you, Shepard!" Jack growled and tossed her head down to the mattress.

"See! I knew you were faking, Jack. I know you better than you think," Shepard explained as she began to remove pieces of her armor.

Jack sighed and stared at the ceiling. A boot landed beside her on the bed, catching her attention. Jack looked down at it, then over to Shepard, who was grinning at her as she removed more pieces of her clothing. She slid out of her chest piece, kicked her second boot off, and unstrapped her leg armor. Jack frowned and turned her head; she knew what Shepard was doing by putting on her little show. A thrown sock landed on her neck. "Shepard!" Jack snapped and snapped her body to the side, tossing the sock away from her. She looked over at the Commander just in time to see her pulling her undershirt up over her stomach, chest, and then head. Her bare breasts lay exposed in the blue glow of the aquarium; the nipples slight erect. Jack turned away again... but slowly let her look return to Shepard, who was now yanking her leggings and panties down. In the darkness of the room, Jack could see Shepard was shaved between her legs. "What are you doing?" Jack asked, though she knew full well what the Commander was doing.

"Taking a shower," Shepard answered innocently. "Why? Is my body making you uncomfortable?" Her hands went to her breasts and cupped them as she stared down at Jack.

Jack shook her head and looked away. A few moments later, the sound of water bursting through the shower head in the corner of the room sounded. Jack tried stopping herself, but found her look drifting in its direction. Shepard stood behind the glass wall, letting the water pour down over her face and hair, dripping down the curves of her breasts and hips, pooling at her feet. She grabbed liquid soap from a shelf and squeezed it into her palms, massaging it into her neck and chest and stomach. Her bare ass shifted from side to side as she washed. Jack watched her, rubbing her fingers together above her head without even realizing it. Shepard turned, grabbed shampoo, and ran her fingers through her hair, moaning and closing her eyes.

"Stop it, Shepard!" Jack said, but her voice wasn't nearly as loud or angry as she'd intended it to be.

Shepard's hand moved beneath the water, rinsing them of shampoo, and then slid down her bare abdomen, ran alongside the inside of her thigh bones, and slipped between her legs. Shepard's back arched as she tossed her head back, the water trickling down into her open mouth as a moan escaped her lips.

Jack's hips thrust forward involuntarily, an itch beginning somewhere deep inside her. She wanted nothing more at the moment then to reach down between her _own_ legs. The ropes binding her hands above her head denied her that privilege. She balled her fists and bit her lip, frustrated more than ever at her helplessness.

With one final, pleasureful, yelp, Shepard finished in the shower. She leaned against the glass for a moment, collecting herself, and then turned the water off. The Commander grabbed a towel from a rack, dried her hair, and gently patted down her body until she was satisfied. She slung the damp towel up over the glass and walked around back into the room. A smile spread across her face when she saw Jack. "You look flustered, Jack," she said with a laugh. "A little red in the cheeks, no?"

"Fuck you," Jack said.

"You can if you want to, you know?" Shepard said walking to the side of the bed and looking down at Jack with her hands on her hips, beads of water still dripping from her nipples. "Fuck me, that is. Do you want that?"

Jack closed her eyes and tried to forget the image of Shepard's naked body.

"Jack? I asked you a question," Shepard said. "Do you want to fuck me?"

"I... I don't..." Jack struggled with her words, swallowed, tried again. "I can't..."

Shepard sat beside her on the bed, put her hands on either side of Jack's body and leaned forward, pressing her lips closer to Jack's ear. "Do you want to _fuck_ me?"

That itch between Jack's legs was screaming at her to say yes, but Jack forced her mouth shut and _held_ it shut. If she spoke, her words might betray her mind.

"You wanted me to take the tape off your mouth, now _use_ it and answer my question or I'll put it right back where it was," Shepard commanded. "Tell me you want me, Jack. Tell me and I'm yours. Just say it."

A million thoughts raced through Jack's head, but the one that kept popping up was '_they use you till they get what they want and then you're nothing to them_'. If she gave in... where did that leave her? Another discarded piece of trash no longer useful? Shepard wasn't different. _No_ one was different.

"I'm waiting, Jack," Shepard said. "I only have so much patience. I've been out fighting and having guns shot at me all day and I'm tired. Now what's it going to be?"

"No," Jack finally mustered, avoiding eye contact. "I don't want to fuck you, Shepard."

A moment of silence passed, and then Shepard took Jack's chin in her hand and turned her head so they were facing each other. "Look me in the eye and tell me that."

Jack glared up at Shepard. "What the hell does it even matter!" She snapped. "You've got me tied to your fucking bed! If you want to do shit with me, it's not like I can just say 'no'!"

"That's not why I tied you up like this," Shepard said. "I tied you up so you would give me the time of day to _convince _you what you mean to me!"

Jack let an annoyed laugh out. "Is that why you removed my pants and spread my legs, _Commander_?"

Shepard frowned. "I did that for _your_ comfort."

"Oh, my comfort concerns you?" Jack asked. "Is that why you left me strapped to this bed for the last few hours with my eyes covered and my mouth taped shut?"

"No, I did that so you would _think_!" Shepard snapped back. "And realize what you _mean_ to me, Jack! That's all I want! That's all I've ever wanted since we met!"

"Bullshit," Jack said. "You _lust _for me, that's all. Maybe you have some fetish for tattooed girls, or maybe you just like having control over people. You get off on keeping me like this, don't you? You _enjoyed_ the idea that I was lying here today bound, gagged, and blindfolded while you were out!"

"Yes," Shepard admitted quietly. Jack's tirade seemed to have taken her back. "But you're more to me than that. I swear. And it's not like you don't enjoy this yourself... if you weren't so angry with me, you'd be having the time of your life! Fuck, Jack! I just masturbated for you in the shower. I've never done that for _any_one!"

"Oh, shut the hell up already, Shepard!" Jack snapped. "Don't act like you're doing me some favor with all this shit. I was perfectly happy at the Academy until _you_ showed up and fucked everything up!"

Shepard took a deep breath and stared quietly at Jack, her head shaking from side to side every so slightly. "I've been approaching this the wrong way, haven't I?" She asked. "Your past has scarred you _so_ deeply that you won't let _any_one in. Not even me."

Jack turned her head, but Shepard twisted it quickly back towards her. "The _fuck_, Shepard?" She shouted.

"You've always responded better to orders than requests," Shepard admitted. "I knew that when I kidnapped you. You act tough, but deep down inside you _want_ someone telling you what to do."

"Fuck you," Jack said.

Shepard stuck a finger in her direction. "Another word out of your mouth and I'll gag you, understand?"

Jack's temper flared, she opened her mouth to yell, but Shepard's icy look froze her in place.

"You're going to trust me, Jack, and that's not a question: it's an _order_. I was your commander and I still am. Now I'm going to do what I want with you. You have no say in the matter. I told you before, but now I mean it. You – are – mine."

Jack wasn't sure if she was angry, confused, stunned, or scared. Shepard's whole tone had shifted. She latched on to the one emotion that was easiest to find: anger. "You can't do this shit to me!"

"I can. I am. And I told you about saying another word," Shepard said and reached for the blindfold lying beside the bed. She knotted it in the middle and pulled it taught.

"Shepard, wait-!" Jack managed, but then the knotted cloth was tucked between her teeth and the slack pulled behind her head and tied tightly in place. "_Grmphr_! _Fmrgrmph mmf_!" The gag turned her words to garble.

"This is how we're doing things from now on," Shepard said. "You want that gag off? You're going to have to earn it. Now lie there and shut up."

"_Grrrrmmmph_!" Jack mumbled angrily as Shepard slid down the bed and knelt between her legs.

With one swift movement, Shepard ripped her panties off and tossed them to the floor. Jack's eyed widened as the cool breeze of Shepard's motion brushed over her exposed vagina. Jack's heart pounded, her nipples became erect, and her legs—seemingly on their own—spread even further then the ropes had them. Shepard lowered herself and disappeared beneath Jack's stomach. Jack bit the gag in her mouth and tossed her head back as Shepard's tongue found its way inside her. She was dripping wet in seconds, Shepard working her relentlessly. Her hips thrust forward and Shepard grabbed them with her hands and shoved them back down. Jack moaned deeply behind the gag and closed her eyes. She could feel her climax rushing forward like an out-of-control train. Closer and closer and closer. Her body tensed, her muscles tightened, her eyes squeezed shut and then-

Shepard stopped.

Jack's breath returned to her as she looked down wide-eyed and curious as to what happened: what derailed her train.

Shepard was grinning. "That's enough for now, don't you think?" She wiped her lips with the back of her hand.

"_Frrmrph_!" Jack shouted, shaking her head. "_Frrmrph_!" She was trying to tell Shepard to 'finish'.

"I'm sorry Jack, but I can't understand you with that gag in your mouth," Shepard said, getting off the bed and standing. "Are you saying you're finished?"

Jack glared furiously at Shepard, her breaths still heaving in her chest.

"Now who lusts for who?" Shepard asked.

Jack's muffled protests were nothing but swear words.

Shepard laughed and sat down beside Jack. She reached for a pillow, set it next to Jack's head, and lied down. Jack glanced over at her, still on pins and needles. Shepard smiled. "You'll hate me for this now, but you'll thank me for it later. You have to be taught a lesson, Jack. That's how you respond best. Now I'm tired. I'd like to sleep her beside you, but if you start kicking up a ruckus I'll have to go to my own quarters. I don't want that." Shepard's hand fell onto Jack's breast and played with her nipple beneath the shirt. "And _you_ don't want that."

Jack, at the moment, didn't know _what_ the hell she wanted. She couldn't tell if she hated Shepard more than ever... or was beginning to like her.

She looked over and saw Shepard had already fallen asleep. Jack sighed, rested her head back, and closed her eyes. Soon enough, she slept as well.


	4. Chapter 4

Jack awoke sometime later; in space, it was impossible to tell. The lights were on brighter, though, so she assumed it was morning. To her surprise, she went to instinctively stretch, and found her arms were no longer bound above her head. She sat up abruptly in the bed—thrilled that she could do so—and looked down at her wrists. They were cuffed together with a pair of black, Alliance Military cuffs; the kind that had no chain between them, only a thick slab of metal that kept your hand practically one atop the other. At the base of the bed, her feet were no longer tied to the corners, but cuffed the same as her hands. A short, black, strap connected her wrists to her ankles. She looked down and saw her shirt had been removed, exposing her small breasts and stomach. She was completely naked now. Her jaw felt funny, and she had been so stunned at her new situation, she hadn't even noticed it was being wedged open by something. She leaned forward and looked into the glass shower to catch her reflection and saw a large, red, ball between her lips, held there by straps running around behind her head.

Jack's heart was thundering in her chest. She had no clue what was going on. Had Shepard really done this to her? She would never have expected her former commander to strip and cuff her while she slept, let alone own a ballgag.

The door to the room opened and in walked Shepard, dressed in her formal Normandy wear. Jack stared at her, dumbfounded and wide eyed. "_Mmmm_?" She mumbled into the ballgag, finding it even moredifficult to speak than before.

"Sleep well?" Shepard asked casually, setting a tray down at a table in the corner of the room.

Jack wasn't sure what to think. Last night, Shepard had done things to her that... hadn't been done in a long time. It was either the best night of her life, or the worst. But now... now she had gone too far.

"You _look_ good, I'll say that much," Shepard stated with a grin.

"_Mmmmm_," Jack groaned into the gag.

"Yeah, I did some work while you were sleeping," Shepard said, putting her hands on her hips. "Don't try and talk with that in your mouth, it will make you drool. Come here."

Jack watched in stunned silence as Shepard bent down, took Jack by the waist, and helped her stand. The floor was cold on the soles of her feet, and she almost tipped over; her ankles were cuffed closely together, making it difficult to balance. The strap tethering her wrists to ankles was the perfect length to allow her to stand upright, but left her unable to lift her hands above her waist.

"I left _just_ enough slack between your feet that you can shuffle about," Shepard said, pointing to Jack's feet. "Give it a try."

Jack stared at her in disbelief.

"Try. Now," Shepard ordered.

Shepard's strong, commanding, voice sparked something in Jack. She focused, balanced, and began taking tiny steps forward; carefully, one foot then the next.

"See?" Shepard asked and gave her a hard slap on her bare ass.

"_MMM!_" Jack grunted, surprised.

"Work your way over to the shower. I'm going to clean you. You're dirty."

Jack couldn't believe Shepard's complete shift in attitude. Last night had really triggered something in her. Jack still wasn't sure what to make of it. She kind of liked getting ordered around... at least more than being _whined_ to like Shepard had done all day yesterday.

"Move," Shepard commanded and gave Jack another slap on the ass.

Jack didn't even think about it again – she just started moving. She watched her feet carefully as she took her small steps across the room. She could feel Shepard's eyes on her, watching her, likely gawking at her ass which she'd always been told was nice. She liked the idea of Shepard watching.

Slowly but surely she made her way there. She rounded the glass corner and stopped beneath the shower head. When she turned to look at Shepard, she was surprised to see the Commander had already stripped down herself and was following in behind her.

Shepard's hand twisted a knob and then the water came down on Jack; strong and icy cold. Jack yelled, the ballgag muffling it beyond recognition, and tensed up. Shepard only grinned, grabbed some of the liquid soap she'd used herself the night before and squeezed it into her palms, rubbing them together.

Slowly, Jack's body adjusted to the cold, and then Shepard's hand were all over her. The Commander rubbed soap into her neck first, then down her shoulders and arms, along her bare breasts, circling the nipples gently, and up and down her back. Jack closed her eyes and breathed heavily through her nose as water trickled down her face and Shepard slid down her stomach. She opened her eyes only a crack to see Shepard had knelt before her and was scrubbing her butt, her legs, her feet, and finally what was between her legs. She didn't approach it sensually or gently, just in a pragmatic, all-business fashion. Somehow, that made it even better. Jack moaned and stirred and shifted as Shepard ran a soapy, wet, hand through her crotch.

"Quiet," Shepard ordered, continuing to clean her. The Commander didn't linger nearly as long as Jack had hoped down there, instead standing, taking the head of the shower and beginning to target soapy areas of Jack's body to rinse them off. Jack couldn't help but moan into the ballgag again as Shepard cupped her breasts and ran the water on them. "I said quiet," Shepard repeated and slapped her ass even harder than before.

Finally, the Commander squeezed some shampoo in her hands and set to cleaning Jack's hair. Shepard's hands were small but firm, and as they massaged Jack's head, Jack closed her eyes again and let herself enjoy it. Satisfied, Shepard took the back of her neck and pushed her head beneath the water, using her free hand to rinse Jack's hair.

The water stopped, leaving the two of them in silence. Jack opened her eyes just as Shepard was tossing a towel over her and rubbing her dry. The Commander did a quick, thorough job and then tossed the towel aside, stepping back to look over her work. Jack could only stand awkwardly and await the verdict in silence. "Very good," Shepard finally said, and for some reason Jack felt relief. "I like your hair wet. It's sexy." The Commander glanced over to the table, then back at Jack. "I'd have you wobble your way back across the room, but I don't have all day." And with that, she scooped one arm beneath Jack's knees, the other across the small of her back, and hoisted Jack into the air, carrying her across the room like a groom carries his bride.

They reached the table and Shepard set her down carefully in a chair. Jack looked at the table and saw a steaming plate of breakfast and her stomach growled. She realized it had been some time since she ate. "I'm taking this off," Shepard said, tapping the ballgag in Jack's mouth. "Do _not_ take that as an invitation to speak. I'm feeding you, that's all. One word and the food goes away and the gag comes back. Got it?"

Jack nodded, eager to eat. The straps fell away as Shepard unbuckled the back, and Jack stretched her jaw around. Shepard watched her for a moment, seemingly waiting for her to slip up, but Jack didn't make a sound. Shepard smiled, nodded, and sat beside her pulling the tray up next to them. The Commander took a fork, stabbed at the eggs that were being kept warm by the heated tray, and held them to Jack's mouth. Jack opened obediently and Shepard fed her. They tasted amazing. The two sat like that for a while: Jack silently waiting as Shepard took bits and pieces of food from the tray and placed them in her mouth; both of them completely naked. After the food was gone, Shepard popped the lid on a vial of orange juice and held it to Jack's lips. Jack drank greedily, taking down the whole thing in one continuous swallow. "I'm sorry I didn't do this last night. I meant to but... things changed," Shepard said.

Jack looked over into the Commander's eyes and saw the sincerity there. For the moment, Shepard had dropped her hardass act and became the Shepard Jack knew yesterday. The Commander seemed to sense this and awkwardly looked away. When she looked back, the hardass face had returned. "Cleaned and fed. I suppose you have to..." Shepard said gesturing towards a small door offset from the main room. Jack assumed it was a bathroom. She nodded her head. Shepard scooped her up like before, brought her inside and left her to her business. When it was finished, Jack almost said 'Done', but banged her hand against the door instead. Shepard opened it, lifted her, and carried her back to bed, setting her carefully down on the edge.

Shepard stood over her, the ballgag swinging freely in her left hand as she stared down at Jack. "Before I put this back in, I guess you can talk. You've earned that much with your obedience."

Jack, now free to speak, actually couldn't think of anything to say. She sat, thinking about it.

"Do you still want me to remove your bindings?" Shepard asked, breaking the silence.

Jack looked down at her cuffed wrists. "I... I don't know..."

Shepard nodded thoughtfully. "Do you believe that I care about you yet?"

Jack shrugged. "I don't know."

"Do you have feelings for _me_?"

Jack sighed. "Shit, Shepard. I don't know."

"Well what _do _you know, Jack!" Shepard snapped.

"Look, this is confusing for me, alright?" Jack explained, looking up at the Commander. "Last night... I haven't had a night like that in a long time, okay? I don't know _what_ to feel right now. I don't like trusting people."

"You trusted me enough to follow all my orders so far," Shepard said. "What about that?"

"Those were orders," Jack said. "It's... different."

Shepard sighed and sat down next to Jack on the edge of the bed. "So what does this mean? Either I let you go and you hate me, or I keep you here, gagged, chained hand and foot and naked, and you feel indifferent towards me? I don't want either of those situations, Jack."

"I never _hated_ you," Jack said. "I was just pissed off. You fucking _drugged_ me Shepard. That's messed up."

"I needed you here. With me," Shepard said, brushing Jack's hair from her face. "I needed it so badly, I didn't consider your feelings. I apologize for that. But... do you really still regret that I took you?"

Jack thought back to the Academy. She liked helping the students, but there was always those cold, lonely, nights when Jack's thoughts drifted to a different life. A_nother_ life. How things could be different for her. She just never imagined things turning out like _this_. "I... don't know."

Shepard's hand found Jack's breast; her fingers pinching gently on the nipple. "Last night you accused me of doing all this because it turns me on. And you were partially right, Jack. I won't deny it. The idea of you in ropes and cuffs... it excites me. Even right now I want to stick that ballgag in your mouth, throw you back on the bed, and have my way with you. But the _only_ reason it excites me the way it does is because of how I _feel_ about you, and the fact that I know deep inside, you like it too."

Jack stared at her cuffed wrists. "How can two people start a relationship like this, Shepard? It's so... fucked up."

"We can make it work," Shepard said. "Hey, I'm Commander Shepard, savior of the Citadel. And you? You're one of the most powerful biotics in the galaxy, Jack! We can make _any_thing work."

"Anything... that's pretty ambitious," Jack said with a sigh. "Look, I just don't know if we do this if I'll ever believe _I _really made the choice or if you just... well went all 'Commander Shepard' on me and talked me into it. I don't know if you heard, but you're a pretty persuasive woman."

"What can I do?" Shepard asked. "Whatever you need me to do, I'll do it."

Jack thought.

"You want me to remove the handcuffs?" Shepard asked.

Jack had an idea. "Yes," she said suddenly, looking Shepard in the eye. "And I want to put them on _you_. I want _you_ under _my_ control. Then I'll know... I'll know if this is real or not."

Shepard hesitated for only a moment before she nodded. "If that's what it takes, that's what it takes." She stood, went to the table, and produced a small, black, key. Without further hesitation, she went to Jack, knelt and unlocked the cuffs around her wrists and ankles.

Jack, after a long, _long_, time was finally free. She stood, stretching her arms and legs, relishing in the new freedom they had. It felt great. She closed her eyes and took in the moment, forgetting momentarily that she was still completely nude.

"Well," Shepard interrupted. Jack turned and saw the Commander standing there with her wrists out in front of her, held together. "Do with me as you will."

Jack picked up the cuffs from the bed and stood before Shepard. "Turn around," she said, feeling good to be the one giving the orders for once.

Shepard's eyebrows raised briefly in surprise, but then she nodded, and turned, placing her wrists together behind her. Jack took them and locked them in place with the cuffs. The mighty Commander Shepard was finally a tamed beast. Jack couldn't help a smile from coming across her face.

"What now?" Shepard asked, her back still turned.

Jack grabbed the second pair of cuffs, knelt, and pulled Shepard's legs together, cuffing them at the ankles. Finished, she stood and put one hand on Shepard's shoulder and pushed. The Commander yelped in surprise as she tumbled onto the bed, landing on her stomach.

Jack knelt on the bed herself, straddling the back of Shepard's thighs. The Commander's bare ass stuck up in the air as she did her best to turn her head back towards Jack. Jack slapped it as hard as she could. Shepard cried out and fell back to the mattress. Jack picked the ballgag up and crawled up alongside her Commander, taking her by the shoulder and flipping her onto her back when she reached the top.

"You're going to gag me," Shepard said, it wasn't really a question.

Jack nodded.

"I've never been gagged," Shepard admitted.

"It sucks," Jack said, and then stuck the red ball into the Commander's mouth, pulled the straps tight around her head, and buckled it in place.

"_Mmmmmmmph_," Shepard moaned, moving her lips as much as they could wrapped around the ball in her mouth. "_Mmmph._"

"You know, nothing's stopping me from getting dressed, walking out that door right now, and leaving you here like this," Jack explained, running her finger along Shepard's chest, tracing a line down the middle of her breasts.

"_MMM_?" Shepard protested, wide-eyed.

"Or," Jack continued, playing with Shepard's nipple. "I could stuff you inside a cargo container, haul you back to the Academy, and keep you locked up in my room as my personal slave."

"_Mmmph_! _Mmmmmmph_!" Shepard mumbled.

"I could," Jack said with a nod. "Nothing you can do about that, Shepard. You're hands and feet are bound. You're mouth is gagged. No one would ever have to know but me."

Shepard stared up at her quietly, realizing her mumbled words had no effect.

"And now that I have all that power, you know what I really want to do? What I'm now realizing?" Jack asked.

Shepard shook her head ever so slightly.

"Be where _you_ are," Jack admitted. She couldn't tell for sure, but she was pretty sure Shepard was trying to smile. "I want to be _yours_, Shepard. I understand it now. If you trust me enough to let me do _this_," Jack gestured to her bound and naked body. "Then I believe you care for me. I have to go slow, though. You have to understand this is new for me. My previous relationships were brief, violent, and purely sexual in nature. I think... I think I'd like to give something different a shot. I think I'd like to try with... well... shit, Shepard, with _you_."

Shepard began mumbling beneath the ballgag.

"Give me a second," Jack said and reached behind the Commander's head to unbuckle her gag. She paused as her fingers landed on the buckle."You know, I might be the first and _last_ person in the galaxy to have the famous Commander Shepard at my mercy."

Shepard raised an eyebrow.

"I'd be a fool to let the opportunity pass me by, wouldn't I?" Jack asked.

Shepard frowned and grunted into the gag.

Jack smiled. "Let's leave this where it is for awhile," she said, bringing her hands back around Shepard's head.

"_Mmmmmm_," Shepard groaned in disappointment.

"Shhhh," Jack shushed her, leaned forward and kissed her forehead. Then she kissed her cheek, then her neck, then her shoulder. She slid her body down Shepard's and took the Commander's breast in her mouth, sucking at the nipple. Shepard's groan turned into a moan as the Commander closed her eyes pleasurably.

The Commander's breasts were firm, a good bit bigger than Jacks, and the nipples had gone stiff with erection. Jack let her tongue flick across them. Shepard moaned. Jack used her hands to reach up and cup Shepard's breasts as she continued sucking at them and working the nipples. She looked down at Shepard's crotch, realized her ankles were still cuffed, and quickly removed them. She lifted Shepard's foot and kissed the heel of it, then let her lips drag up alongside her ankle and calf. Shepard was twisting and turning and moaning on the bed. Jack spread the Commander's legs wide and entered her with her fingers. Shepard let out another long, pleasurable, moan. Jack was suddenly happy she'd left the gag in place, or the whole ship would be outside the door by now. Shepard threw her legs apart as wide as she could and planted her bare feet on Jack's hips. The Commander's clitoris had enlarged, and Jack wasted no time working it with her tongue.

Shepard's back arched and locked in place, her toes curled, her legs widened, and then she was climaxing.

When it was all said and done, Jack simply sat at the foot of the bed, watching her Commander lie there on the bed huffing and puffing and turning from side to side as the last of her orgasm shook through her. Shepard laid there for awhile, catching her breath, staring at the ceiling. When it looked like Shepard was finally coming back down from her rush, Jack crawled up to the head of the bed and leaned on her elbow, lying beside Shepard and smiling.

"Not bad being on the receiving end of that little game, is it?" Jack asked.

Shepard shook her head.

"You and I have a long way to go, Shepard, but this is a start."

Shepard nodded.

"I'm tired," Jack said. "Being someone's hostage for a day or two will do that to you. I'm going to take a little nap."

"_Mmm_?" Shepard hummed into the gag.

"Oh, _you're_ staying right where you are," Jack said, getting comfortable beside Shepard. "Right beside me. Nice and quiet."

Shepard groaned.

"And in the morning I might let you go," Jack said, closing her eyes. "Maybe."


	5. Chapter 5

The following weeks were some of the happiest days of Jack's life. Shepard had been right: the two of them were too good together to ignore. They put aside their kinkier sex life for awhile and focused on each other. They went on dates, ate at the finest restaurant on Ilium, saw Salarian broadway numbers on the Citadel, drank wine beneath the moons of Horizon. Jack had finally found someone she could put her guard down around, and it felt good. There were often nights when they just talked and talked for hours on end. Shepard bought her gifts; flowers, earrings, new biotic amps, even an appointment at an ink parlor on Omega. Jack had Shepard's name tattooed on her ass cheek – Shepard was only half joking when she said it made Jack _her_ property.

Jack agreed to work at the Academy still part time. Shepard took full responsibility for her 'leave of absence', though what could the Alliance really say? Shepard was a war hero. Jack would often find herself just staring at the Commander as she worked, or spoke to the crew. She had never been interested in the idea of being with another female, but... the Commander had a presence to her: an unmistakable aura that touched everyone she came in contact with. When she spoke: people listened. When she led: people followed. Jack admired her body _and_ mind in ways she never knew she could.

Things were going great, better than Jack ever thought they could after the awkward start to their relationship, and soon enough, Jack thought she might just fall in love with her Commander. She never thought she'd fall in love with _any_one.

Then everything changed one morning.

Jack was lying in Shepard's bed reading a book and sipping at a glass of wine. The two of them had had a wild night the previous evening, but Shepard had left before dawn on duty. Jack chose to linger around and wait for her Commander to return, stretched out comfortably on Shepard's bed, butt naked. The Normandy's crew had all met here—either during the Omega mission or more recently—so she didn't feel uncomfortable being aboard even though she wasn't part of the 'official' crew. She didn't really speak to any of them, though. Shepard was the only person she cared about now.

So it was strange when the room's intercom came alive and EDI (the ship's on board AI) announced that it was 'shutting down for maintenance' and informed Jack that she advised her to stay in Shepard's room until further notice for safety reasons. Jack thought it was a bit strange—she'd never heard of this before—but thought nothing further of it, returning casually to her book. She hadn't planned on leaving anyway.

Then the door to Shepard's room slid open and the Asari archaeologist, Liara T'Soni, entered.

Jack jerked the bedsheet up over her exposed breasts and frowned at the blue alien. "What the _fuck_! What are you doing in here!"

The two of them had avoided one another ever since the day Liara had stumbled upon her tied up and tried seducing her. Jack didn't like the alien. Not only had she done that, but she was always watching Shepard and her when they were aboard the Normandy. The Asari never seemed to smile; just watched and listened and then retreated to her quarters.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Liara said, putting a hand to her chest in surprise. "I didn't realize anyone was in here."

"Yeah, well I am," Jack said, annoyed. "So get out. And what were you doing in here anyway? Do you have access to Shepard's room when she's not here? Should I ask her that when she returns?"

"No," Liara said, shaking her head. "That won't be necessary. I was just leaving."

"Then go," Jack said, pointing with her free hand, clutching the sheet to her chest with the other.

"Yes," Liara agreed, turned, and went to the door. It didn't open. "Oh, my. I believe the door might be stuck since EDI is down for maintenance."

"What?" Jack asked, swing her legs off the bed. "That's ridiculous. Let me see." She pulled the sheet tight around herself and headed over beside the Asari. She looked at the side panel of the door and saw the red light. "Are you blind? The lock is engaged," she said and pressed a button to release it. The door slid open. "Is there some-"

Liara took a firm hold of her arm and stuck a syringe in it, depressing the plunger.

"_What the f-_" Jack began incredulously, but collapsed to the floor before she could finish. She felt a strong warmth come over her muscles and her eyelids grew heavy as she rolled onto her back. The sheet fell away, exposing her nude body, but when she went to grab it, her muscles would barely function. She looked up through slitted eyes at the Asari and tried speaking, but opening mouth had suddenly felt like trying to pry apart steel doors. "Wha... you... my..." Was all she could manage, and even _that_ sounded weak and pathetic.

Liara's face had become stone cold, her demeanor proffesional. Jack watched helplessly from the floor as the Asari tucked the empty syringe away in her coat pocket, left the room briefly, and returned wheeling in what looked like an operating table.

"No... no... no..." Jack muttered; it was the only word she seemed capable of saying.

Liara ignored her, knelt beside her head, and lifted her from beneath the arms. Jack's body came up limp, like a ragdoll, and the Asari with a grunting effort, shoved her onto the table. Jack landed on her stomach, unable to even bring up her arms to catch herself, and then Liara took hold of her legs at the knees and lifted the rest of her onto the table. The Asari rolled her over so she was on her back and then reached below the underside and pulled up thick, white, straps. Jack eyed them, finding it even difficult to follow their left to right motion as they were dragged across her body, pressed tightly down over her shoulders, and strapped in place. Liara moved along, bringing a second strap across her chest, a third over her waist and wrists, a fourth near her knees, and a final one above her ankles.

"No," Jack repeated, trying to shake her head or ball her fists or kick a leg or _any_thing. Her muscles just wouldn't respond.

Liara returned beside her head and pulled a roll of white medical tape from inside her coat pocket. Jack tried screaming, but all that came out was a quiet "No.". Liara peeled a strip from the roll, stilled Jack's head with one hand, and pressed the tape firmly over her lips with the other.

Jack felt too weak to even _attempt_ to stop her. Finally, Liara pulled a big, white, sheet from beneath the table and lifted it into the air so it spread out and floated down atop her. Jack watched helplessly as the sheet fell gently across her legs, body, and face.

The rest for awhile was a blur. Jack could make out light through the sheets, so when Liara started wheeling the table through the Normandy, the only things Jack could sense were the sounds the wheels made when they ran along different surfaces, and the patterns of lights as they passed overhead. Liara never spoke a word the whole time. That was bad. With EDI offline (and Jack figured the Asari now had something to do with that) no one on board had a clue what was happening to her. Hell, _she_ didn't even know what was happening to her.

The table rolled on until finally they entered a noisy room that had to be the Normandy's shuttle bay. Jack feared the Asari was trying to take her off the ship, until she remembered there was only one shuttle aboard, and Shepard currently had it. That was good. The table rolled on until all the light above the sheet vanished and the noise was muffled away. Jack could only assume she'd been rolled into a cargo container of some sort.

Then Liara left without saying a word, her footsteps trailing off until the vanished. A few minutes passed and the alien didn't returned. Jack lied there confused, until she realized what was happening. The Asari was planning to stash her there until Shepard returned, then take her away in the shuttle. Jack's finger twitched. She could _not _let that happen. She focused on her fingers and toes, trying desperately to move them. No go. She closed her eyes and concentrated further, keeping Shepard's lovely face in mind and threatening it to go away if she didn't get moving. Her little finger on her left hand twitched, then her middle finger, then all five fingers were slowly moving back and forth. Her right hand followed, and her toes started functioning too.

It took her another fifteen minutes before the feeling had returned to her upper arms and legs. The muscles there still felt groggy and slow, like they were moving through thick butter, but she could move them; at least as much as the straps holding her down allowed. She had to get away. _Had_ too. She wasn't losing Shepard. Not after all they'd been through to come together.

Then the loading bay sounded an alert and the docking ramp's loud joint began spreading apart; creating an opening for approaching shuttles. Jack's eyes widened. Shepard was back. Her muscles weren't strong enough to try and make an escape yet, though. She jerked them about, trying to force them back to life.

Somewhere close, a shuttle engine neared, slowed down, and died. Then Jack heard the voice of James Vega, a crew member, followed by the beautiful little laugh of her Commander.

Jack whimpered into the gag that covered her mouth.

Shepard started talking, though the words were muffled by the walls of the container Jack was in so she couldn't make them out. The Commander's voice neared and neared and just when Jack thought miraculously she was coming to save her, Shepard's voice began trailing off again. They had walked right by her. Jack whimpered again, the only sound she could make, but it was no use. The Commander was gone.

Jack felt like crying. Her hopes and fight left her in one fell swoop.

It wasn't long before the Asari returned, and without a word, grabbed the table and wheeled it over to the shuttle. Jack felt the legs fold up beneath her, and then her and the table she was strapped to where slid into the back of the shuttle. As soon as Liara slammed shut the rear entrance, Jack could smell the sweet scent of Shepard's hair still lingering in the air, and it made her whimper once again. She listened as Liara climbed into the pilot seat, started the engines, and then they were moving. Flying away from her Commander; her friend; her lover.

It was a long, quiet, ride before the shuttle finally stopped somewhere. They hadn't boarded another ship, so Jack at least knew which planet they were on: Ilium. The Asari set the shuttle down, killed the engine, and left. Moments later the rear hatch popped open and as Jack was pulled out of the back, she felt a cold wind run beneath the sheet. There was no light and they were clearly outdoors, so it was nighttime. Jack did some quick math and realized she'd been sedated for much longer than she'd thought: several hours, in fact.

A voice spoke, and the Asari made a reply. Jack couldn't hear what they said; they spoke in low, hushed, voices. Her table was jerked forward, and then they were rolling on again. The wheels jumped and kicked over a gravely surface, another voice spoke, and then the surface switched to something much smoother and the cold night air went away. Jack listened as the wheels and footsteps beside her echoed off of what sounded like a tunnel of some sort. The table took on a slow incline, indicating they were moving downhill. Then they stopped over a grated surface, a loud grinding noise sounded, and they began to descend on what felt like an elevator. Jack hadn't the faintest idea where this woman was taking her or why, but she had begun to fear the answers nonetheless.

Down and down they went for what felt like an eternity when finally they jerked to a halt. The table immediately began being pushed forward, and Jack watched as a series of bright lights passed overhead in sequence. The temperature was cool in this hallway or wherever they were, and the faintest sound of active machines could be heard somewhere far off.

Jack was pushed through an overpass and then she heard many voices chattering, but then coming to an abrupt end.

"Dismissed," Liara's voice commanded beside her; the first word she'd heard in a long time.

The wind outside before had slightly lifted one of the corner's of the sheet near Jack's head. If she turned to her right as much as she could, she could _just_ make out a clean, marbled, floor. Suddenly, pairs of bare, blue, feet began walking past. Jack frowned, confused. She'd been taken somewhere with more Asari? Why? And why where they obeying Liara's commands so subserviently?

Jack got the impression that the room had emptied out before her table was pushed forward again. They rolled through a high-ceilinged, dome-shaped room—Jack could tell by the placement of the lights—and then into a much smaller room. The sound of the wheels were muffled by the soft texture of whatever the floor was.

Suddenly the sheet was pulled off her and she saw what the room was: a padded cell. Liara and another Asari were standing on either side of the table, staring down at her. Jack glared up at them, looking from one blue alien to the next back and forth.

Liara nodded to her partner and they set to unbuckling the straps. Jack held her breath: if they thought she wasn't going to put up a fight they were wrong. The strap came off her shoulder, and then the one off her chest. As they unbuckled the one holding her wrists down, Jack ripped her arm free before they could finish and drove her fist into the nearest target: the Asari's face that was helping Liara. The alien cried out and stepped back holding her nose. Jack turned furiously to attack Liara, but the doctor was a step ahead of her, locking her body in stasis with biotic influence.

"I didn't think she would have so much strength already. I apologize. Get the jacket," Liara said to her partner.

Jack was frozen in place, and could do nothing but watch in fury as the two Asari pulled a straitjacket from beneath the table and forced her arms into it. They pulled the sleeves around behind her back and started buckling her up just as the stasis wore off.

"_MMMMMPH_!" Jack screamed into the gag as she thrashed side to side, trying to knock them away from her. It was too late, though, the straitjacket had tightly gripped her arms and upper torso.

The Asari's moved to her legs, undid the straps anchoring them to the table, and Jack tried throwing her foot into Liara's face. Liara had anticipated this, though, and caught her ankle, tossed it aside, and yanked Jack off the table. Jack slid off, landing on the padded floor of the cell with a soft _thump_. She spun to face the Asari, but they were already out of the room, the table with them, and the door was closing behind them.

It slammed shut, and then Jack was alone.

She still had no idea where. Or why.


	6. Chapter 6

Jack was left in the room for a long time. She worked her way over to the farthest corner from the door and entrenched herself between the two walls there; sliding down to her butt and crossing her legs, keeping a watchful eye on the door. In her mind she ran through a million scenarios of what was happening back on the Normandy. She hoped more than anything that Shepard would be able to deduce what had happened. Shepard was the smartest woman she'd ever met. Jack was confident in her abilities. Her Commander would rescue her. Of _course_ she would.

The straitjacket the Asari had put her in was tight and snug over her slim figure. At first, she'd try wrestling out of it, but found with every struggle, the jacket seemed to grow tighter. Jack wished they'd put something over her legs; she was still nude from the waist down, and was very uncomfortable with those blue aliens seeing her that way. All she could do, however, was wait. Sit and wait.

Eventually, the door opened and Liara T'Soni walked in to the padded room in her white uniform. Jack scrambled to her feet, taking up the best defensive stance she could in the corner of the room. Liara watched this with a curious look on her face, as if she was studying Jack, and then took something small and black out of her coat pocket and approached the corner.

Jack prepared herself; her feet were still free and she intended to use them to kick the _shit_ out of the Asari bitch when she got close. Liara was a biotic though, something Jack often forgot, and when she closed into striking range, she threw a hand up and hit Jack with a stasis lock. Jack felt her muscles involuntarily stiffen, and then she was tipping forward on the balls of her feet, unable to stop the fall. Liara _did_ stop it, however, and it turned out the black thing in here hand was a collar of some sort. The Asari caught Jack, flipped her onto her back, laid her down, and quickly circled the collar around Jack's neck. It pressed into the flesh there, but not so tight that it made her breathing any more difficult. Liara attached a long, black, cable to the front of the collar, stood, and backed away from Jack.

Stasis ended, and Jack's muscles went limp all at the same time as their strength returned. She growled into the tape over her mouth and rolled onto her knees, then leaped to her feet, eyeing down the Asari with a furious rage brewing in her chest. Now leashed and collared, she felt not only anger, but embarrassment. The Asari had always seemed to look down on humanity, but _this_ was a whole new level of disgrace. Jack's anger got the best of her and she charged at Liara, intending to ram her shoulder into the alien's stomach.

She got halfway when the most uncomfortable feeling Jack had ever felt washed over her body. It wasn't exactly _painful_, just... strange; like something was running through her veins instead of blood and her whole body wanted it removed. It lasted only for a brief second, but that was enough to stop Jack's charge, and stumble her to her knees. Her hand unable to break her fall, she flopped forward onto her arms and face. Jack grunted and tried turning, but Liara's booted foot pressed into the back of her neck, holding her down.

"The unpleasant experience you just felt was an electric shock applied directly to your nervous system," Liara explained, keeping her foot planted on Jack. "If you do not obey, I'll do it again."

Jack flashed a sideways look at the woman and glared up at her full of contempt. The collar around her neck had administered the shock, that much was obvious now. The Asari had put a _torture_ device on her. Jack wanted to wrap her hands around that little, blue, neck of hers. Liara looked at her for a moment with that studious look on her face, and then removed her foot from Jack's neck, dropped to her knees, and rolled Jack onto her back to face her.

Liara ripped the tape off her mouth, hard. "_Ah_!" Jack yelped. "You fuck-"

The Asari's blue hand slapped over her mouth and held her jaw firmly. "These are the rules," Liara said calmly as Jack thrashed about beneath her. "You will do as your told, always and without question. You will only speak when spoken too. You will not give myself or my assistants any trouble. Failure to comply will result in shocks administered from your collar, and... _further_ punishment."

Jack was livid. She opened her mouth as wide as she could beneath the Asari's grip and bit down fiercely, sinking her teeth into the blue flesh of Liara's hand. Liara cried out in pain, pulling her hand away. A trail of blood followed. Jack used the opportunity to sit up, swing her knees beneath her, and throw her weight into Liara's body. Liara, still stunned from the bite, took the full force of the impact, sending the two of them crashing to the padded floor behind them. Jack landed on top, and held Liara beneath her by clenching her thighs tightly around the Asari's waist. Jack's knees drove into Liara's elbows, pinning them to the ground.

"Listen to me you psychotic fucking bitch," Jack said, huffing and puffing as she caught her breath. Liara stared up at her wide-eyed and terrified. "Why the _fuck_ are you doing this to me?"

"_Help_!" Liara screamed, but the door to the room was closed, and Jack assumed no one could hear her after a few uninterrupted seconds. "_Someone_!"

"Why!" Jack repeated.

Liara looked up at her, trembling. "I.. I needed you out of the picture. I need Shepard to myself. Don't you understand? You were... you were always just a complication. Shepard and I had a _joining_. Asari are different from humans, we don't have dozens of partners over the course of our lives. We have just one. Shepard is mine!"

Jack grit her teeth, seething. "Why _here! _Why am I in this room! What the _fuck_ are you planning on doing with me!"

"I need to study you!" Liara confessed. "That's what my team does here! We _study_ things! People, cultures, relics, species. I need to know what you have that Shepard desires. I need it for myself! I need to... run tests on you."

"You kidnap people and experiment on them?" Jack shouted, furious. "You're a sick fucking monster!"

"You're the first human we've had here," Liara defended. "You're..." The Asari trailed off, frightened by the look on Jack's face.

"I'm subject _zero_," Jack finished for her, and then so much hatred welled up in her, she drove her head down into the bridge of Liara's nose.

At least she _thought_ she had done that. What actually happened was Liara had managed to hit her with another stasis lock when Jack's weight shifted forward and off her elbows. Jack's body fell stiff as a board to the ground beside the alien.

Liara scurried forward on her knees, opened the cell door, and spilled out into a larger, dome-shaped room outside. "_Grab her_!" Liara screamed, the fear still lining her voice.

Jack could only watch as three Asari woman rushed into the room, their naked, blue, bodies a peculiar sight to Jack's eyes. Their hands grasped for her arms and waist and legs, hoisted her up, and lugged her outside the cell. The stasis worn off, Jack put up a hell of a fight, but three Asari and a straitjacket were too much to win against. She was carried fighting to the center of the room—which was a flat circle with a curved floor leading down to it from all directions—and tossed on top of a steel table. More Asari joined the team, nude as well. Jack looked around at them and counted at least seven or eight, not including Liara who was watching from a safe distance.

The Asari squad set to unbuckling the straitjacket. Jack watched, waiting for her moment to strike, but they moves so quickly and efficiently, by the time she had realized it, the jacket was off and the Asari were stretching her arms out to her sides and strapping them in place. Jack screamed in frustrated anger, but they ignored it. More Asari took hold of each of her ankels and spread her legs wide apart, strapping them down quickly. When it was done, Jack way pulled into a large 'X' in the center of the room.

She lifted her head and shot enraged looks all around her at the naked, blue woman. "You mother_fuckers_! What the fuck! Get me out of this! You hear me!"

The collar around her neck sent out a shock. Jack yelped and her head dropped to the table.

"Obey and that won't happen," Liara explained.

"_FUCK_!" Jack screamed and pulled at her restraints.

Another shock dropped her again.

"Obey," Liara repeated.

"Go to hell," Jack said, finding it harder to raise her voice.

Another shock.

"_Obey_!" Liara commanded, pointing a finger in Jack's direction.

Beads of sweat fell from Jack's forehead as she sucked in air and shot in back out. "...fuck-" she began.

A shock ran through her body.

Her muscles went limp, her head dropped to the table and rolled to its side, her balled fists released and went weak. She felt like she'd just ran a mile or two.

"This is a human being," Liara explained once Jack had quieted down. "As you can see, their spirit is not easily broken. They are a tenacious species. Some of them are practically fearless."

All the nude Asari women's eyed widened as they studied every inch of Jack's body with curiosity.

"We've studied their species since their arival to the Citadel, but we've never done... _hands on_ research," Liara said. "This young woman is to be our first."

The Asari group turned to one another, whispering things in each other's ears, keeping their eyes on Jack.

"Many of you have not had any extensive time with a human," Liara said. "Take the next few minutes to familiarize yourself with their anatomy. You are free to explore her."

Jack watched as the Asari closed in on the table, hovering above her with curious eyes at every angle. "What... the... _fuck_?" Jack mumbled, some of her strength returning.

An Asari leaned in front of her face and stuck two fingers in her mouth, spreading the lips wide apart. "_Garmarpharm_," Jack spoke angry, garbled, words as the Asari peered inside her mouth.

"Her mouth is unlike most," Liara admitted. "It uses vulgar language as carelessly as a Krogan's."

The Asari released her lips. "You fucking freaks!" Jack said, lifting her head to stare down the Asari surrounding her. "Get _away_ from me!"

One of the Asari grimaced at her. "Can we silence her, Doctor T'Soni? Her mouth bothers me."

"No," Liara said. "I want you to see how she reacts to things, unaltered." She walked over to the table and went to one Jack's bound ankles. "The soles of human feet are interesting things. They are wired with nerve endings, and the right touch," Liara ran a finger gently along the bottom of Jack's foot. Jack involuntarily let out a yelp that was half anger, half laughter. "Can cause them to involuntarily experience a joyous sensation."

Several of the Asari seemed fascinated by this and bunched up around her feet. Their blue, prodding, fingers began poking and prodding at her soles, testing for different reactions.

"Fuckers!" Jack shouted, but spasms of ticklish sensations were running up her legs and betraying her anger, causing her to laugh. "You- ah, ha! You.. aaahhh ha!"

The Asari's seemed to enjoy doing this. "I prefer her like this," one of them said. "Her voice has grown more melodic, more Asari-like."

"Her breasts shake," an Asari beside her chest said and put her hands beneath Jack's tits and squeezed. "That is another shared trait with our kind."

"The human nipple is more sensitive than ours, however," Liara explained. "Test it."

The Asari's fingers suddenly pinched at Jack's nipple. Jack's mouth fell open and she felt herself becoming aroused.

"See what you've done to her?" Liara asked. "With such as simply action, her sexual response system is coming alive." Liara glanced over with a frown at the Asari near the bottom of the table. "Stop tickling her feet. You can continue that later. I want you all to see this. The human sexual response cycle is much different from ours. While we are mentally stimulated and the act of love is a very cerebral process, humans act on instinct and emotion. They are visceral in sex. Look at her vagina. See the way the clitoris expands above? That means she is growing stimulated."

Jack glared at Liara. "This is fucked up," she said. "I've had enough. Let me go now."

Liara pointed at her. "Now the human is trying to convince herself she's not enjoying this. Pride is another human weakness. It blinds their realities. She is enjoying this very much, don't let her mouth convince you otherwise."

One of the Asari pressed a finger along the side of her vagina and slid it upwards, around the top, and back down the other side. Jack's eyes closed.

"Look at her nipples," Liara said. "They stand erect with pleasure."

"Asari bitch," Jack muttered.

"You can silence her now, from her out her words were only betray her feelings," Liara said. "Just note that."

Jack looked over just in time to see a thick, black, bar being shoved towards her mouth. It wedged between her teeth and the Asari locked it around the back of her head. "_Mmmmmph_," Jack moaned her protest.

"Better. Continue," Liara commanded.

The Asari had their way with her then. A seemingly endless number of hands fell along her body. Some pressed deeply into her neck and shoulders, others cupped her breasts and played with the nipples. Most were centered between her legs, fingers prying her thighs apart to get a better look, hands poking and prodding around her vagina, playing with her clitoris. Jack had never experienced something so powerful in her life. She tensed and moaned and clenched her fists and curled her toes but nothing quelled the intense feelings she was experiencing deep within the middle of her legs.

She opened her eyes briefly and saw two of the Asari were just watching her face with curiosity. Another was playing with her hair and biting her lip, studying the action below her waist.

"She moans," one pointed out.

"A sign of pleasure," Liara said.

"Can she control herself?"

"Not anymore, she's nearing the point of no return. Not unlike our Asari climax, it is a physical representation of the end of her pleasure."

Jack bit down on the gag and let herself go as her orgasm swept across her body in wave after wave of intense pleasure.

"She leaks," an Asari stated.

Jack could feel the wetness dripping down her thighs.

"She's finished," Liara said. "She'll enter a cool down state now, and then I'm afraid she'll be very angry with us again. That is human nature. Their pleasure is brief and fleeting."

"Can we do it again? I enjoyed it," an Asari asked.

"Of course," Liara said. "We'll do it many more time... and we'll do other things too. Humans will be like second nature to us when it is said and done."

"Thank you, Doctor," an Asari said. "For bringing this gift."

"Thank you," another added.

Soon enough they were all thanking Liara.

Jack stared at the woman, slowly catching her breath and letting her senses calm down. Liara was looking around the room smiling innocently and nodding her head at the grateful Asari. Then her eyes met Jack's and the two stared across the room at one another.

Suddenly, Liara's smile didn't seem so innocent anymore.


	7. Chapter 7

They kept her strapped to the table for a long time. Jack lied in forced silence, watching the Asari go about their work. The room was bigger than she'd first thought now that she had a chance to study it. Computer terminals lined the far walls of the circular room, and several, smaller, glass rooms were set at regular intervals along the rim. Jack counted exactly nine different Asari, including Liara, of varying height and skin tones; some a deep blue, others a vibrant purple-like color. It seemed that after they were done 'examining' Jack, they had almost forgotten about her; most of them not even glancing in her direction as they worked. Liara watched for a while, though, staring at Jack with concentration, jotting things down on a datapad in her lap.

Eventually, Liara stood and went to the table beside her. She leaned forward to whisper in Jack's ear. "I'm going back to the Normandy for awhile," she explained. "You're in good hands here."

"_MMF_!" Jack protested, trying to sit up but the straps reminding her that was an impossibility; the bit gag between her teeth keeping her words quiet and incomprehensible.

"Don't give them any trouble, or I'll find out when I return," Liara said, taking Jack's chin in her hand and holding her head still. "And that will be bad for you. Understand?"

"_MMF_!" Jack grunted, biting down on the bar in her mouth and frowning.

"They have very specific instructions on how to handle you. Don't fight them. Goodbye, Jack. And... thank you. Shepard has been devastated since you ran out on her..."

Jack raised an eyebrow and shook her head 'no'.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Liara asked innocently. "You left her a note before you left. You told the Commander it turned out you _weren't_ ready for a relationship and that you wanted to just disappear and be left alone. You _begged_ her not to come looking for you. It was cruel, really. She was so heartbroken she didn't leave her room for a full day, or so I've heard. But that will change soon. When I return to her to pick up the pieces you left behind. And love her like you never could. And never will."

Jack screamed into the gag and pulled as hard as she could at her restraints. A warm rage was boiling in her chest, her hands balled so tightly the fingernails cut into her palms, she thrashed and jerked and screamed, but Liara only watched with a cold, calculated, look. Jack glared at the alien, imagining a millions ways to make her suffer. "Goodbye," Liara said again, turned, and strolled out of the room. Jack could only watch, screaming profanities that were lost beneath her gagged mouth.

Again, Jack was left to lie on the table for a long time again. She decided there was no way Shepard would believe that: not after everything they'd been through. Would she? Jack couldn't believe it. _Wouldn't_ believe it. Shepard would find the truth, she had to. Ever since they'd hauled her into this strange laboratory, the thing that kept Jack going was the thought that eventually, her Commander would come busting the door in to rescue her. Jack pictured being taken in Shepard's warm embrace, carried off into the sunset, the two kissing deeply, passionately. None of that would happen if Shepard wasn't even _looking_ for her. Jack slammed her fists against the table. Liara T'Soni had turned out to be a try nightmare of a woman.

After awhile, the asaris surrounded Jack's table again. Jack eyed them all up curiously, wishing the gag wasn't in her mouth so she could try and talk them out of this whole thing. Explain to them what a psycho their 'Doctor' really way. She saw one of the blue woman pull a syringe off a nearby table and prep it. Jack started mumbling into the gag and shaking her head back and forth, but it was no use: the needle pushed into her arm, and soon enough, the same weakened feeling Jack had experienced when Liara took her from the Normandy came over her.

Her eyelids drooped half-closed, suddenly heavy, and then the asari began working quickly. They removed they straps holding her to the table—Jack tried fighting, but couldn't even make a fist—and then took the bit from her mouth and collar from her neck. Working together, they lifted her from the table: their little, firm, hands taking hold of her shoulders and elbows and thighs and ankles. Jack did her best to keep her eyes open as she was lugged up the central ramp and into one of the glass rooms offset into the wall. The new room was a bathroom/locker room of sorts. Showers lined the far wall, bathroom stalls another, but where Jack was carried was a large, chrome, tub. The asari set her carefully inside and turned the water on. Warm splashes fell onto Jack's feet and ankles, and then the whole tub began filling with her inside. Jack's mouth opened and closed, but no words could find the strength to come out. The water felt good, though. It crept up her thighs and soothed her between her legs, and then her naval and chest as well.

The Asari did not speak—either to Jack or to each other—as they set about cleaning her. Their hands were delicate as they took sponges, soaked them with liquid soap, and scrubbed every inch of Jack. They scrubbed the bottoms of her feet and between her legs. They scrubbed beneath her arms, and between her breasts. They scrubbed her neck and face and shampooed her hair, which was growing longer and longer by the day. Jack barely felt most of it; she simply lied still with her eyes closed and let the asari work, unable to do much more anyway.

Finished, they drained the tub, letting Jack lie there as the water slowly depleted. When the tub was empty again, they each took a towel in their hands and set about drying her. The towels were rougher on her skin, and Jack could feel as the little fibers rubbed against her more sensitive parts. Her strength was returning to her quicker than last time she'd been stuck with the needle, she assumed they'd used a smaller dose. Her hair was wrapped in a towel and shaken dry, and then she was lifted up out of the tub again.

The asari carried her out of the room, through the big, dome-shaped, lab, and into another room with a glass wall. Inside was a workstation, computer terminal, a one-person cot in the corner of the room, and a cage on the floor that looked like it was for a small varren. There was no varren around, though, and Jack groaned when she realized the cage was for _her_. The asari lowered her onto a thick blanket that was stretched out in front of the cage. Two of them knelt beside her, ready to hold her down if Jack's strength had returned to her, and another held down her ankles while the rest set to preparing the cage and gathering things from the nearby table.

Jack's arm reached up to grab at one of the asari, but the woman simply swatted it away and pressed her wrist down to the blanket. She was still too weak to fight. A purple asari returned with the collar, and Jack was collared and leashed once more. The purple asari handed an elaborate-looking head-harness to the blue asari kneeling beside Jack. Jack let a whimper escape her lips when she saw the large, black, bar in the middle of it that she knew would be wedged between her teeth.

"Do we have to? I'd rather be able to communicate with her," the blue asari said, staring down at Jack almost sympathetically. "We can give her a chance to behave."

"Yes," Jack was able to mutter and tried nodding her head.

"No," the purple asari said sternly. "Dr. T'Soni gave very strict orders about this. The subject is to remain silenced until the doctor returns."

The blue asari was shaking her head. "But... I don't see-"

The purple asari slapped her. Hard. "It is not our _place _to question Dr. T'Soni!"

"You're right. I apologize," the blue asari said shamefully, then carefully spread apart the straps and buckles on the harness and set to wrapping it around Jack's head. The straps went above and below her ears and around her chin, squeezing the flesh there tightly, and the black rod running across the harness was packed between her lips and teeth, tugging at the corners of her mouth when she tried opening it to shout.

Collared and gagged, the asari carefully slid Jack and the blanket with her into the cage. Jack watched as the thin, steel, bars surrounded her on every side. The leash attached to her collar was tucked beneath the cage door opening, and then pulled up through one of the small, slitted, holes in the low-hung ceiling of it. It was attached to the wall behind her. Once fully in, they slammed shut the door and locked it in place. Jack had regained enough strength to crawl over to her side, and then got her feet beneath her. The cage was too low to allow her to stand, she could only balance on the balls of her feet and keep her body bent over and her head ducked. She could feel the cage bars beneath the blanket biting into her soles, and was thankful she at least had a thin layer of protection. She peered out at the asari gathered around her and wrapped her hands around the bars, testing their strength. After a few pulls, she decided there would be no 'breaking' this prison. She looked up at her captors and shook the bars anyway. "_Grmmmmph! Mmf! Mmf!" _She spoke into the bit gag, trying one last effort to play on their sympathies.

A few seemed to tilt their heads and consider her plea, but most simply watched with the same cold, calculated, look Liara often wore.

"_MMMPH!_" Jack tried again, rattling the bars of the cage more violently.

"Come," the purple asari said, and then the blue women were all funneling out of the room back into the main lab, leaving Jack alone. The blue one who had tried sparing her the gag earlier lingered, watching her, but even _she_ turned and followed eventually.

Jack yelled angrily into the gag and drove her foot into the cage wall as the door closed behind the last asari and then she was alone. Her strength returning, her hands flew up to the head harness they'd strapped on her and her fingers began prying and pulling at every inch of it, searching for a weakness. It took about five minutes before she realized it was hopeless: either the asari had locked it in place somehow, or it was impossible to remove without being able to see. Her helplessness frustrated Jack, and she took her anger out on the cage, slamming her hands and feet into the ceiling and walls of it until they were red and hurting. The cage didn't so much as dent, and Jack was winded and still cramped within. She looked around and realized she couldn't even lie down completely, only ball herself up to fit on the floor of it.

Without any other real option, that is what she did. Jack lowered herself onto her side, her naked body pressing against the blanket and the cage bars beneath, and tucked her legs up to her stomach, cradling them with her arms. She allowed her head to press softly onto the blanket, and then she closed her eyes.

She thought about Shepard, mostly. What her Commander was doing at the moment, what she looked like, the curves of her naked body, the smell of her flesh after a night of love making. Jack wanted nothing more in the world than to just be able to hold her, nuzzle her face between the Commander's shoulder and neck, listen to her heartbeat as she drifted to sleep. She wanted it so bad she could cry...

No. That wasn't Jack. She shook her head and bit the hard bar between her teeth. Either Shepard was coming for her, or she'd get out of this and go to Shepard herself. She wasn't quitting. She lied still, gathering her energy, and thinking. Always thinking.

After some time, the door to the room opened and Jack lifted her head from the blanket to see who it was. The blue asari who'd sympathized with her came in carrying a box. The woman glanced nervously at Jack out of the corner of her eye, but did her best to ignore her as she set the box down on top of the desk and turned to leave.

"_MMF_!" Jack grunted to get her attention.

The asari hesitated, but did not turn.

"_Mmmmm,"_ Jack continued, whining into the gag. She rattled the cage with her hands.

"Quiet, now," the asari said, glancing over her shoulder. "We have orders not to speak with you. I'm sorry."

"_Grmf_!" Jack grunted, pointing to the table where the box was. She'd spotted a datapad lying there earlier and now was desperate to get it in her hands.

The asari's eyes followed her extended finger. "What? The datapad?"

Jack nodded eagerly.

"What do you-?" The asari began.

Jack made a gesture with her hands to signify she wanted to write something down.

The asari licked her lips, understand, and nervously turned to peer out of the large pane of glass opening into the laboratory. She turned back to Jack biting her lip. "Well, I... alright. Okay," she said, sounding excited, and headed quickly to the table.

She lifted the datapad, adjusted some settings on its screen, and brought it to Jack.

Jack's hand could not fit through the bars, but the datapad slid in easily through the narrow slits of the cage wall. Jack took it, nodding graciously and pressed her index finger to it, using the touch controls to write.

"What's your name?" Jack wrote and handed the datapad back through the cage wall.

The asari took it and read. A little smile came across her face and her cheeks flushed. "My name is Marya."

Jack nodded, then motioned for the asari to give her back the datpad. Marya did.

"Thank you for trying to help me before, Marya," she wrote.

They exchanged again and the asari read. "Oh, it's... It's nothing, really," the blue woman said, and Jack noted the way her feet shuffled from side to side. "I just... I don't see why we have to keep you like this."

Jack took the datapad back and wrote, "Liara wants to keep me quiet. She kidnapped me. Do you and the others know this?"

Marya read her words and her face scrunched up uncomfortably. "I'm afraid we do. I'm sorry," she said. "Liara told us you were a very dangerous criminal facing life in prison and that she made a deal to bring you here. She said she did you a favor, but that you were delusional and insane after years in Purgatory."

Jack felt rage burning in her chest, she slammed her fist off the cage wall, scaring Marya and causing the asari to take a step back. Jack put her hands up apologetically and reached for the datapad. The asari handed it over with some reluctance. "Liara is lying," Jack wrote. "My name is Jack. I was a guest aboard Commander Shepard's Normandy. I was her... we were in a relationship that Liara did not care for. She drugged me, kidnapped me, and brought me here to keep me out of the picture. This information can be proven if you do the research. Release me. Please."

Jack handed the datapad back, nodding her head before the asari had even read anything. Jack watched Marya's face carefully as she went over the message. "This..." The woman began, brow furrowed in confusion. "This can not be. Dr. T'Soni would never do that."

"_Mmf_!" Jack grunted, nodding her head.

"No, it can't be," Marya said, taking a step back towards the door.

Jack's eyes widened and she started shaking her head frantically.

"You be quiet!" Marya commanded, her voice shaking uneasily. "Liara is our master! She would _never _lie to us! _Never!_"

Jack frowned. _Master?_ What the hell did that mean?

"You deserve _punishment_ for the _lies_ you spread!" Marya said, then turned and ran out of the room.

Jack sat in her cage in utter perplexity for a few minutes. Then, the door opened and four of the asari, including Marya, entered the room. They looked upset. Jack eyed them all up cautiously as they gathered around the cage.

"You deceived Marya," a purple one said sternly. "Tricked her into letting you communicate with her and then had the nerve to spread _lies_ about the doctor?"

Jack shook her head desperately. "_Mm-mm! Mmf!" _

"Silence," Marya commanded. "It is true. I showed them the datapad."

Jack glared at the woman furiously. How could she be so sympathetic one moment and so vindictive the next?

"You're being punished. Fight us and it will be worse for you," the purple asair said, unhooking Jack's leash from the wall and holding it firmly in in her hand.

The cage door was opened and Jack immediately began kicked at the asari reaching in for her and scooting to the back of the cage to protect herself. Their hands found her ankles eventually, though, and yanked her out forcefully. She landed on the floor of the room on her back, and then the Asari each grabbed one of her limbs, lifted her, and lugged her over to the cot in the corner of the room. She was tossed down on her stomach, and then the asari were moving quick to chain her hands together above her head and locking them in place to the cot's top rod. Jack's feet were pulled together tightly and bound in a similar fashion, anchored to the foot of the bed.

"_Mmmph!" _Jack protested, turning her head to the side so she could glance over her shoulder and glare up at the asari surrounding her.

"Quiet," the purple asari said, picking up a pair of long, thin, feathers from the table behind her. She handed one to Marya who disappeared to the foot of the bed and kept the other for herself, crouching down beside Jack and bringing her face close. "Now, we're going to put to use what Doctor T'Soni taught us. We will 'tickle' you, as she called it. If you move or squirm, Saara here," she gestured to a light-skinned Asari standing beside her with a grin on her face. "Is going to punish you by slapping your buttox. Keep still and she won't touch you. Understand?"

"_MRPHM GRMM FRMMPH_!" Jack shouted into the gag, livid. Who the fuck were these bitches to do this shit to her?

"Shut _up,_" the purple asari said. She eyed Jack up carefully, and then brought the feather to her arm, trailing it down lightly alongside it. Jack tensed but kept still until the feather slipped into the curve of her armpit. A ticklish spasm ran up her shoulder, causing her to jerk forward.

Her ass was _slapped_ hard enough to cause Jack to bite down on the bar between her teeth and yelp into it.

"You humans have no control," the asar said, "Marya, go on."

Jack felt her ankles held firmly in place and then the slightest trickle of the tip of the feather brushed along the sole of her left foot, throwing her whole leg into a spasm.

Another hard _slap_ landed on her ass cheek.

"_MRMF!" _Jack grunted, throwing the hair from her face and shooting the ass-slapping asari a furious look.

A feather ran across her other foot as the purple asari brushed one along her ribcage. Jack twisted instinctively, and another thundering _slap_ hit her bottom. The feather was trickled along the bottoms of her toes; she jerked, and her ass was slapped.

"_Mmmm_," Jack moaned, closing her eyes. Her ass was stinging.

"I believe she's starting to enjoy it," Marya said near her feet, brushing the feather along the arch of her soles. Jack could not stop pulling away, and another _slap_ filled the room.

"Turn her," the purple asari commanded.

Jack felt hands working together to get her onto her back. When she was, Jack looked around at the lot of them, wide-eyed, and in disbelief this was happening. "_MMM!"_

"Her nipples," Marya pointed out. "They stand erect. I knew it. She's enjoying herself now."

Jack balled her fists above her head. She couldn't help herself. Shepard loved to slap her ass, and every time the asari smacked it, she pictured her lovely Commander was the one doing the striking.

"What do we do?" Marya asked.

"Keep tickling her feet," the purple asari demanded. "It's one of the few things she seems to despise."

Jack bit the gag in her mouth and glared at the purple asari, annoyed that the alien was right in her assumption.

The feather ran up and down her soles, sending Jack into uncontrollable fits of laughter that were muffled and garbled by the bit gag between her teeth. The purple asari used the other feather to trace the lines of Jack's rib and danced the tip along the underside of her breasts and nipples. Jack felt like she was going to faint when the feather brushed over her left nipple, sending a spasm into her left shoulder and arm. Below, her feet were being worked over by two asari now; the second one lightly running her fingertips over Jack's soles. The final asari joined in to the assault, climbing onto the cot and swinging her knee over Jack's waist. Jack looked up through teary eyes from all the tickling and saw the asari had mounted her backwards and was lying near her stomach, crouched over so the alien's face was near her crotch.

"Can I finish her off?" the mounted asari asked.

"Get her close. Do _not_ let her finish though," the purple one said, continuing her ticklish assault on Jack's breasts.

"Untie her feet, and spread her legs. Hold them tight!" The purple one commanded.

Jack's ankles were released and her legs spread as commanded. She tried jerking them free, but the two asari below had firms grips on her ankles and heels. The mounted asari knelt forward and began pressing her warm, moist, lips onto Jack's pussy and darting her tongue out. It found its way inside Jack, causing her to moan pleasurably.

"Shut _up!" _The purple one demanded and pinched at her nipple.

This only caused Jack to moan deeper as a wave of pleasure washed over her.

"You will _not_ make any more noise!" She yelled and tweaked Jack's nipple harder.

Her feet were being tickled again, though Jack could barely feel it; all her concentration had been centered on her vagina, where the mounted asari was eating her furiously.

Suddenly everything came to a head: from her toes up through her knees and into the warmth between her legs. It ran straight through her chest, tingling each of her nipples, and then spread out like a warm pool of water covering every inch of her. She moaned and groaned into the gag in her mouth until the purple asari beside her used both of her hands to cover her lips even further.

"Fools!" The woman shouted. "You let her come! The torture was to _prevent_ her from reaching climax!"

The rest of the asari went silent, ashamed.

"Dr. T'Soni is not going to be happy with us," she continued.

As Jack was coming down from her climax, her hands tugged at the ropes binding them above her head. The whole time they were working on her, Jack had been thrashing about and tugging and jerking and pulling every which way, and apparently that had done some work on the rope. Her hands came free.

"_Kyla_!" Marya said to the purple asari, pointing at Jack's hands. "_Her hands!_"

Jack reached over, grabbed the biotic amp ear-piece from the asari's head and stuck it in her own ear. Her biotic juices started flowing. The asari all moved to grab her, but then she hit them with the mother of all shockwaves, sending all four crashing into the far wall and dropping to the ground unconscious.

Jack's heart raced in her chest as she leaped from the bed and looked frantically around the room for something to use to defend herself from the rest of them.

The door opened and the other four asari funneled in to the room. Jack focused her mind, calmed herself, and unleashed another shockwave. The four asari were still bunched up in the doorway when it washed over them, sending them flailing backwards into the lab area and spilling down the central ramp, rocketing into the tables and equipment below with a loud _CRASH_.

Three of them looking to be unconscious, the final one trying to crawl away and scramble to her feet. Jack rushed over to her, leaped before her, and snatched the asari by the neck. "Please! No!" The woman screamed flinching.

"_MMF!_" Jack demanded, pointing to the harness wrapped around her head.

"I'll remove it! Please! Don't hurt me!" She pleaded and then awkwardly stepped closer to Jack and set to removing the gag and harness. When it was done, Jack moved her mouth around, happy to finally be free of the damn thing.

"Please, I didn't do anything to you!" The asari said.

"The collar," Jack snapped. "Take it off."

"Yes, yes," the asari nodded and slid her fingers along the side panel of the collar. It fell to Jack's feet. "I serve you! I swear! I serve you!"

"You're damn right you do," Jack said, then knocked the alien out with a fierce punch to her face. "You _all _do now."

She put her hands on her hips and looked around the room. She had some work to do.


	8. Chapter 8

Jack opened her eyes, coming awake, and groaned as she felt a throbbing at the back of her head. Suddenly she sat up, so quickly her head bumped against the roof of the cage she was lying in. "_Mmmmph!" _She shouted, horrified to find herself still gagged, collared, and caged.

_No_, Jack thought, her mind racing in circles. _No, I escape from all this! I escaped_!

Hadn't she? She grabbed the bars of the cage and shook them furiously. All the lights were off in the room. She put her hands to the sides of her head and closed her eyes, concentrating. She thought back to her escape. It had seemed so real. One minute she was bound to the cot in this very room ,the next her hands were free and she was using her biotic powers to blast her way through asari after asari until they were all down and out. At least, that was her initial thought. As the fog of her memory cleared, though, the actual events came into play. Jack groaned loudly into the bit gag between her teeth and her shoulders slumped. It had been a dream, all of it, from the moment her hands broke free of their binds. She remembered now, quite clearly, that as the asari were pleasuring her and tickling her and pinching at her, her orgasm came so violently, her head had snapped backwards and slammed off the cots headrest. She must have fallen unconscious; her whole escape nothing more than a figment of her imagination.

Jack fell to the floor of the cage, her spirits crushed, and laid her head back on the blanket there. She closed her eyes and cursed herself for being so foolish to believe her silly dream had been reality. She was _here_, caged like a wild beast, and she wasn't going anywhere. With a grunt, she drove one of her bare feet into the cage door, the bars biting hard into her sole, and then turned angrily to her side. What else could she do? She closed her eyes. She slept.

The next week went by like clockwork. The asari would come for her sometime shortly after the lights started coming on in the laboratory. Jack would grunt and groan and mumble beneath her gag, but it never stopped them from sticking a needle through the slitted cage and sedating her. After she was immobilized, the blue women would drag her from the cage, hoist her up, and carry her to the bathroom, leaving her to do her business. Then, they sat her down at a table, fed her warm food from a can and held glasses of water to her lips to drink. When the plates and cups were cleared, they'd carry her into the shower room, fill a tub with hot water, and set to scrubbing every inch of her clean. Jack would always feel the drugs wearing off near the end of her bath, but by then, she was already being dried, gagged, collared, and stuffed back into her cage. The asari did this twice a day, once early, and once before they left at—what Jack assumed was—night. Then, with little choice left, Jack would close her eyes and force herself to sleep until the next day when she was awoken the same way.

Occasionally, to break the monotony, one or two of the asari would come into the room where she lie caged and sit beside her, watching. Jack, unable to speak, could only watch them back, furious at their indifference to her situation. One evening, the asari who'd sympathized with her at one point—and then turned her back on her—came into the room. Marya, her name was. She held a feather in her hand and took great delight in jabbing it between the cage bars, seeing what spots on Jack's body could make her jump. Jack could only twist and turn her body, desperate to escape the deranged asari's poking and prodding attacks. Another time, the purple-tinted asari came in and read poetry to Jack. Jack found that worse somehow than the feather.

She had been counting the days, but lost track after nine or ten. Jack had no fight left in her, and no reason to count. She realized she was never getting out of that cage.

Until one day when Liara T'Soni came strolling into the room. Jack had been lying down, but upon seeing the doctor, scurried to her knees, wrapping her hands around the cage bars. "_Mmf! _She mumbled and shook the bars slightly. If there was one person who could get her out of there, it was Liara.

Liara's eye widened and her mouth fell open upon making eye contact with Jack. Two asari that had accompanied her into the room shared a confused look behind her back. "Oh, _my_!" Liara exclaimed. "Look at the poor thing! You still have her caged like that? And with a _gag_ in her mouth!"

"But, Dr. T'Soni, you gave us strict-" One began.

"Silence or it will be _your _mouth wearing a gag, Reena," Liara said sternly, causing the asari to quickly button up and put her head down shamefully. Liara turned back to Jack, taking steps in her direction. "Oh, Jack, how they've mistreated you. Poor girl." The doctor's fingers slipped between the bars and scratched at Jack's head.

Jack eyed Liara suspiciously, but she was so desperate to be removed from the cage, she only whimpered into the gag and nodded.

"If I get you out of there, will you be a good girl for me?" Liara asked, kneeling before the cage door and smiling.

Jack's eyed widened in anticipation. She nodded.

Liara studied her for a moment. Apparently satisfied with what she saw, the doctor simply pulled a key from her coat pocket, and unlocked the cage door.

The asari behind her gasped. "Dr. T'Soni! Please be careful! She is quite violent and-"

"Oh, give it a rest," Liara said. "Jack will behave. Won't she?" The question was aimed at Jack, who promptly nodded. "See?"

The door swung open. Jack eyed the newly-found freedom with a cautious look, but then Liara gestured for her to come forward, and Jack crawled out on her hands and knees. Liara took hold of the end of the leash that was hooked to the wall above the cage and took a few steps back, tugging at the collar around Jack's neck. "You can stand. Come on," Liara encouraged her with a nod. Jack got her feet beneath her and stood straight up for the first time in a long time. It felt good. Liara shook her head. "Look at her! You monsters! How _dare_ you keep her locked up like that!"

Again, the asari only shared a confused look amongst one another.

Liara sighed. "Let's get those legs moving, hmm?" She asked.

Jack nodded. Liara smiled at her response and then tugged at the leash, leading her outside into the lab area. Jack walked along behind her, happy to get some sort of exercise. They crossed into the big room, and Jack felt the cold floor chill the bottoms of her feet. She looked around at the asari who were staring at her, each slightly frightened. "Don't look at her like that," Liara commanded sternly. "You should all be ashamed of yourselves for what you did to her."

Jack allowed herself to be 'walked' around the lab in a circle three or four times, feeling the strength returning to her weakened legs. She didn't even care that the asari all stared at her naked and tattooed body and whispered amongst each other. She didn't have enough _fight_ left in her to care. Anything was better than the cage.

"How do you feel?" Liara asked after they'd taken a few laps.

"_Mmmmph_," Jack mumbled, hoping that it would be enough indication that she wanted the gag removed as well.

Liara looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. "Come," she said, tugging at the leash and walking towards a small room set into the rear of the lab; no windows looking into it. "Don't disturb us," Liara said as she walked through the door, and then Jack was submerged into the darkness.

At least it was _initially _darkness. In reality, it was just much dimmer than the lab outside. When her eyes had adjusted, Jack surveyed the room. It was clearly Liara's personal quarters. The walls were a dark, purple, color. The lights were set around the ceiling and lowered to a dim glow. A computer terminal was set up at a desk. A closet stood tall in the corner. A big bed with silky sheets took up the center.

Liara walked to the computer terminal, pulled a chair out from beneath the desk, and sat in it, spinning to face Jack. "Come here," she said with a gesturing finger.

Jack hesitated, unsure of what was happening.

"Jack," Liara began. "You agreed to be a good girl if I took you out of the cage. Remember? Now come here, I said."

Jack took a breath, then walked up in front of Liara, hovering over the asari in her chair and looking down at her. Something inside Jack screamed '_fight_'', but something louder screamed _'no_'.

"Kneel," Liara said. Her face had grown serious; her eyes lusty.

Before Jack could even _think_ about defying the woman, her knees bent and then she lowered herself to the floor. Liara smiled, nodded, and spread her legs to either side of Jack's shoulders. "Now, I understand you want that gag taken off, no?"

Jack nodded.

"I thought so. The thing _is_, though. I like you quiet," Liara explained. "So, as you can see, we have a problem. If I free your mouth, we're going to have to find a way to keep it busy, aren't we?"

Jack swallowed, feeling her breath quickening, her heart thudding in her chest. She nodded.

"Remove my clothing," Liara said with a grin.

Jack stared up at her, but when Liara only stared back, Jack realized she had no choice but to comply. Liara didn't seem to be standing up anytime soon, which made it all the more difficult. Jack took the asari's feet in her lap and removed her boots. Barefoot, Liara relaxed a bit, allowing Jack to get her hands around the asari's shirt and vest. Jack pulled them up over Liara's head, exposing the alien's blue, naked, breasts and abdomen. Finally, Jack unbuckled Liara's belt, removed the button below her navel line, and tugged at her pants. They came off her legs slowly, inch by inch. At last, Liara was nude.

"Good," Liara said with a nod. "Lean forward."

Jack did so slightly, but the asari clearly had other intentions because she grabbed Jack's head and shoved it down into her lap. Jack's face was buried in the woman's crotch. She could smell Liara's sexuality rising up from between her legs. Jack's gag came unbuckled behind her head, and then it was lifted out from between her teeth and lips. "Liara-" Jack began, but the asari pressed Jack's head deeper into her crotch.

"No talking, Jack," Liara said and squeezed her thighs beside Jack's ears. "Just put your mouth to use and be a good girl."

Maybe it was all these new-found freedoms after having been restrained and caged for so long without hope, but Jack found herself obeying the asari's commands without thought. Something deep inside her—some distant voice—knew that was a very bad thing, but for the moment, she could only hear _Liara's_ voice. Her mouth spread apart as it pressed into Liara's crotch, working the warm, moist, slit she found there. Her tongue found its way inside the asari and then Jack went to work. Liara moaned and grabbed little fistfuls of Jack's hair, tugging at it as she ate. "Good girl," Liara whispered, her head tossed back in pleasure. "Oh, _God_, good girl." Jack's hands reached up, seemingly on their own, and began running over the asari's stomach and ribs, eventually finding their way to her breasts and nipples. "_Oooh,"_ Liara moaned, sliding further down in the chair. Jack attacked the alien's crotch, lashing out at it with her tongue, sucking at it with her lips, pinching at Liara's nipples above, clawing at her stomach.

With a final, loud, moan, Liara climaxed, her thighs tensing and cutting off Jack's sound by squeezing into her ears. A warm fluid dripped from between the asari's legs, and with Jack pinned between them she could only close her mouth and let it wash over her.

A few quiet moments went by as Liara regained her composure. Jack was beginning to find it hard to breath shoved between the asari's legs, and let Liara know so with a muffled protest into her crotch. "_Oh_!" Liara shouted. "Again!" Jack didn't understand at first, but was growing more uncomfortable. She spoke into the asari's crotch again, the words muffled against Liara's privates. Liara yelped, and then another series of spasms were rocketing through her body. Jack tried prying apart the asari's thighs, but they were locked tightly around her. "_Mmmmm,_" she groaned, her lips pressed tightly against Liara's crotch. Again, Liara moaned and spasmed.

Finally, the asari's thighs released her, and Jack collapsed to the floor beneath the chair, thankful for the cool air that could now brush over her cheeks.

"You _are_ wild, Jack," Liara told her, huffing and puffing. "I've never had an experience quite like that."

"Liara," Jack began, catching her own breath. "Can I see Shepard?" It was the only thought that kept her going the whole time. Her Commander. Waiting for her.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Liara said, crushing Jack's hopes with a few simple words.

"_Why!_" Jack questioned, looking up from the floor.

"Well," Liara began thoughtfully, "For one, Shepard is finally starting to heal from her heartbreak. Who _knows _what it would do to her to see you again _now_ after... so much time has passed."

"B-But..." Jack began, desperately searching for words.

"And secondly," Liara continued, ignoring her. "Look how much fun we're starting to have with each other. Do you _really_ need Shepard back in your life? Am I _so_ terrible?"

"I..." Jack began, confused. "Shepard would want me back... she... and... we were..."

Liara took Jack's chin in her hand and lifted it til their eyes met. "Oh, you poor girl. You think you love her still don't you? Well, that will pass. And if truth be told, Jack? In all honesty I was exaggerating Shepard's 'heartbreak' for your benefit. I wanted you to know you meant _something_ to her... just not _that_. The Commander has already moved on. She found someone else, Jack. I'm... I'm so sorry."

"Lies!" Jack shouted, Liara's words somehow relighting the fire that had gone out of her in that cage. "Shepard wouldn't do that! She _does_ love me! And I love her! And _you_ won't ever change that! You hear me!"

"Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack," Liara said, shaking her head. "What _are_ we going to do with you? So confused. So... misled your entire life. And now here I am giving you a chance to be something to someone—to be something to _me—_and you're going on about some ex-girlfriend of yours. Jack... you sound like a lunatic. Shall we straitjacket you again and leave you in that little padded room?"

"No," Jack said, her hand instinctively clutching at Liara's arm. "No, you don't have to lock me up anymore."

"Then there will be no further talk about Shepard," Liara warned. "Ever again. You forget the Commander. She's likely already forgotten you." The asari's hand brushed Jack's cheek softly. "_I _haven't though. And I like us being able to sit and talk like this, don't you? It would be a true _shame_ if I had to put that big, uncomfortable, gag back in your mouth and leave it there for another week or two, wouldn't it?"

"I don't want that," Jack said, lowering her head.

"And neither do I, dear," Liara said. "So no more Shepard talk, and no more defiance, alright? If you obey me, we will have a great relationship together."

Jack stared at the ground, quietly going over her thoughts.

"Jack?" Liara questioned, taking Jack by the chin again and lifting her head. This time when their eyes met, Liara leaned in and planted a kiss on her lips. Jack closed her eyes and pretended the asari was Shepard. "Do we have a deal?"

Jack kept her eyes closed. She nodded.

"Good," Liara said, sounding delighted. "But just know: the first time you step out of line, I'm putting you back in that cage of yours, and this time I'm hogtying you, gagging you, and stuffing you in the basement."

Jack shuddered at the thought.

"So behave," Liara said. "And bring that wonderful mouth of yours back over here."

Jack was pulled back between the asari's legs and, with little choice, went to work again.

She closed her eyes and again pretended it was Shepard she was with; it made the whole thing easier. Jack would never forget her commander. That was something Liara couldn't take away with a _thousand_ threats. Somewhere out there, Shepard was looking for her. And some day...

She'd find her.


	9. Chapter 9

It was a quiet evening in a long line of quiet evenings when everything changed for Jack. Things had been peaceful at Liara's lab since Jack had began obeying the asari's demands. Liara kept her collared and locked up in her private quarters, but Jack was left unrestrained throughout the day; even allowed to take her own showers and decide her own meals. At night, Liara would come in and allow Jack to pleasure her in various ways, and then the doctor would fall asleep on her bed, keeping Jack beside her. It was a vacation in comparison with the cage Jack had been kept in, so she didn't mind. Every night, though, she'd think of Shepard and tell herself the Commander was getting closer to finding her. Every day, however, she'd awake and Liara would already be out in the lab working, and Jack was left to lie around in the room until it was night again. Until she had to service the asari again.

It was a monotonous existence, but it was quiet and peaceful and Jack found it manageable.

Then everything changed.

The door to Liara's room burst open one afternoon as Jack was doing pushups beside the doctor's computer desk. She looked up and frowned as she saw Liara, flanked by two more asari, charging into the room, heading her direction, and staring at her with focused, intense, eyes.

"Hey..." Jack began, confused. She got to her knees and looked up at them. "What's going on?"

"Hold her," Liara commanded of her asari, ignoring Jack's questions.

"What?" Jack snapped. "I didn't _do_ anything! Liara!" The asari were beside her in seconds, grabbing her arms before she could stand and forcing them behind her back. "What the _fuck_, Liara!" It was then Jack noticed the roll of black gaffer's tape in the doctor's hands. "No! Liara! _Why_!"

Before she could say another word, Liara had peeled off some of the tape and pressed it down over her lips, lifted the roll high, and began circling Jack's head with it until her entire lower face was buried beneath layers and layers of tape. "_Mmmmmph!_" Jack weakly protested, surprised at how effectively she'd been silenced. Liara moved behind her and wrapped up her wrists as well as her elbows. Finally, her legs were taped above and below the knee and at the ankles. Jack stared up at the asari in shock, grumbling muffled protests from her taped lips.

They bent down, lifted her from the shoulders and feet, and carried her to the corner of the room. Liara opened the closet door there and Jack was promptly stuffed inside of it; her back pressed up against the wall, hanging clothing pressing beside her bare shoulders.

"Do _not_ make a sound in here or the punishment will be severe," Liara warned, pointing at Jack's mouth. "Nod if you understand."

Confused, and stunned, Jack simply nodded in attempt to appease the upset asari.

Liara stared at her for a moment, studying her, then gave a curt nod and slammed the doors shut. Jack was submerged into total darkness; the cramped quarters of the closet leaving her almost no wiggle room.

She had no clue what she'd done. Was Liara sick of her? Was her fate to be stuffed in this closet for the rest of her life? Did one of the asari lie and say she'd tried escaping? Jack couldn't figure it out, and as she sat in her forced silence and thought about it, the sound of voices speaking outside the closet and Liara's room caught her attention. They were muffled by the closet door, but they were close by. It was... a female voice... it was...

"_MMMMMPH!_" Jack screamed into the tape when she realized what was happening. "_MMMMMPH! MMMMMPH!" _She slammed her shoulder into the closet doors over and over and over. Outside—just outside—was the Commander. Shepard had found her! Her beautiful, perfect, voice was speaking to Liara. Jack felt tears of joy in her eyes. She _knew_ the Commander would come. She had never lost hope and now it was happening. Finally, truly, happening. "_MMMMPH!_" Jack sounded again and hopped up and down, her bare feet thudding off the closet floor.

The voices approached, and Jack's heart froze in her chest. They were so near—so _close—_that she could practically smell Shepard's hair. They seemed to be right outside, in fact. Jack screamed behind her taped mouth and thrashed about in the closet, shouldering the doors and walls repeatedly. When she stopped, the voices were moving again – but this time: further away. Jack felt her hopes plummet, her heart sink, her spirit break. And then the voices were gone.

Jack pressed her back to the closet wall and slumped down to her knees, devastated. It was over. Her chance... maybe the only one she'd ever get... was gone; just like that.

The doors to the closet didn't open for a long time, and when they finally did, Jack wished they hadn't. Liara stood over her, hands gripping her hips and a stern frown locked in place on her forehead. "I heard you in here, Jack," Liara explained, her voice calm but menacing all the same. "I am not happy with your disobedience."

Jack could only sigh and make a weak groan through the tape. She had no fight left in her.

Liara studied her. "I said the punishment would be severe... but I can see how disappointed you are with your failed attempt at escape. I will show you _some_ mercy, however I must teach you a lesson. Do you understand?"

Jack stared at the floor of the closet and shrugged her shoulders.

"Carry her to me," Liara commanded her asari servants and marched over to her computer desk, taking a seat on a chair.

Jack looked up just as the two asari grabbed her at the shoulders and knees, hoisted her up and out of the closet, and lugged her across the room.

"Drape her across my knee," Liara demanded.

Jack was laid face down across Liara's lap. The doctor dismissed her servants, and pushed Jack's head down towards the floor so that only her butt stuck up into the air. "You've been bad. Just when I started to trust you, too," Liara said disappointment in her voice.

Jack thought of trying to communicate with the asari to remove her gag so she could explain herself-

-and then a sharp sting from her rear caused her back to arch and a grunt to escape her throat. Liara had slapped her ass, hard.

"Bad pets like you need more discipline, I suppose," Liara stated casually and drove another hard smack into Jack's butt. "I blame myself for not realizing it sooner." Another slap. "...little bitch."

Jack flinched with each hit, but she did not cry out. After the first dozen, her rear began to numb, and by the last few hits, she was barely feeling them.

Liara didn't seem pleased with the results. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" She questioned, anger subtly lining her words. "I see... then it's the cage for you."

"_MMPH!_" Jack protested, trying to turn her head back to face the asari.

Liara held her firmly where she was. "Silence. You'll be punished until you-"

The door to the lab opened and a group of shouting asari voices flooded the room. They sounded distressed. Jack craned her neck to the side to see what the commotion was all about.

"Get your fucking hands off her you psychotic, blue, bitch," Shepard said, walking into the room with a pistol held high and pointed at Liara.

Jack's eyes widened, her heart soared, and her hope returned in one glorious burst of blissful energy. "_MMPH!_" She cheered into the gag.

Shepard's eyes caught hers and a smile spread across her face. "My God... Jack, I knew I'd find you. I never stopped looking. I'm so sorry it's taken me this long."

Tears formed in Jack's eyes-

-and then Liara grabbed her, wrestled her to the ground, and wrapped her arms around Jack's torso and shoulders. Jack felt something sharp graze her neckline. "Drop the gun, Shepard!" Liara screamed. "Drop it or I'll cut your precious little girl's throat. I will. Don't tempt me, Shepard!"

Shepard immediately tensed up, but didn't drop the gun. "Don't try it, Liara! You touch her, you die."

"Then we both go together," Liara said confidently, pressing the knife deeper into Jack's neck.

"No!" Shepard screamed and lifted her hands. "Okay! Alright, Liara. You win... you win. Just get the knife away from her throat!"

"Put your gun on the floor and put your hands up," Liara shouted, keeping a tight grip on Jack's neck and upper body. "Do it or I spill her blood."

Shepard stared into Jack's eyes. Jack shook her head the best she could. Shepard sighed.

The Commander crouched, placed the gun on the floor, and rose with her hands on her head.

"Secure the Commander!" Liara screamed, and a moment later four asari rushed into the room, regarding Shepard cautiously. They reached for her arms, hooked them at the elbows, and then wrenched them behind her back. Jack swallowed a lump in her throat as she watched them lock Shepard's wrists behind her with a pair of black handcuffs.

Shepard grimaced and blew a stand of hair out of her face. "Now get your god damn hands off her."

Liara shoved Jack off of her and stood. Jack rolled to a stop and stared up at Shepard longingly. Shepard stared back and gave her a smile and nod. "No one is going to hurt you anymore, Jack."

"You heard her, didn't you?" Liara asked, cracking her neck and stalking around Shepard like a predator eyeing their prey. "Earlier before.. you heard her. You kept your composure. Left. Got your weapon... and returned to rescue her." Liara gave a bitter laugh. "I should have expected it from _Commander_ Shepard, I suppose."

Shepard glared at the asari. "Why, Liara... why did you do all this?"

"Oh, I suppose it's too late to lie now," Liara said with a shrug. "I wanted her removed from the picture. I wanted her gone so I could pursue you, my Commander. So we could... continue what we started."

Shepard squinted. "You kidnapped her for _that_? You've held her here against her will for _that_!"

Liara nodded, a smile spreading across her face. "Alas: it was all for nothing. Now you know my secret, Shepard. Now I have to decide what to _do_ with the two of you." She looked from the Commander down to Jack on the floor. "I've actually taken a liking to your little girlfriend here. With the right discipline, she can me molded into a very nice play thing. I think I'll keep her for myself." The asari looked back at Shepard. "As for _you_... well, I guess you're disposable now."

"_MMPH!_" Jack screamed into the gag, wide-eyed.

Shepard glared at Liara and shook her head. "You disgust me."

Liara's face ran cold. "You never cared about me, did you? Even back in the old days... you never cared."

Shepard's eyes focused even more. "I've only ever cared about one person." She glanced down at Jack.

Liara bit her lip, nodding her head. "Yes... so I've heard." The asari drove her knee HARD into Shepard's stomach, doubling the Commander over and knocking the wind out of her. Liara knelt before Shepard and took her chin in her hand. "And to think I only wanted to love you the way you love her. Tragic, really. And a shame that it's come to this." The asari looked up to her servants. "Take her into the shower room and shoot her."

"_MMMMMPH!_" Jack began screaming with every fiber of strength left in her body as the asari women lifted the Commander by the armpits and began dragging her out of the room.

Liara put a hand up to halt their progress. "I believe my pet has something to say."

Jack frantically nodded her head.

Liara grinned. "If I allow you to speak, you better make it worth my time, understood?"

Again, Jack nodded.

Liara crouched beside her and began unwrapping the tape from around her lower face. Jack waited patiently until the last of it was lifted and her lips were free again. "Liara, listen to me, don't do this. I'll do whatever you want, just: please! Don't hurt Shepard!"

"You _already _do whatever I want," Liara said, smirking.

"I'll... I'll..." Jack searched for words to say, her eyes desperately darting around the room-

-then she had it. "I'll do something I used to do for Shepard."

Liara raised an eyebrow in curious amusement. "Oh? What's that?"

Jack glanced at Shepard and the asari flanking her. "I don't want to say out loud. It was... very private."

Liara squinted. "Oh, Jack. You _do_ now how to peak my interests, don't you? Yet you are still a foolish human. You think I'd trade her life for your little secret, _if_ it even existed? Tsk, tsk, Jack. You should know me better than that."

"I'll tell you," Jack pleaded. She nodded for Liara to come closer. "Just not in front of the other asari."

Liara laughed, shook her head, and leaned forward to hear. She turned her head to Jack's mouth and lowered her ear-

-Jack FLUNG her head violently into Liara's jaw, sending the asari collapsing to the ground and crying out in pain.

Shepard threw her weight back into the asari behind her, kicked one of them at her side, and spun around to roundhouse the other's legs out from under her.

The Commander's gun, which Jack had spotted as she was searching for something to tell Liara, laid in the center of the room. Liara darted wild, rage-filled, eyes at Jack, then at the gun. The asari scrambled to her knees and began to make a dive for it-

-until Jack thrust herself forward using her knees and got her weight down on top of Liara's legs, pinning them to the floor momentarily.

The time was enough. Shepard rushed to the gun, dropped to one knee, pulled her cuffed wrists around to her side, and lowered them enough to snatch the gun up in her hands. She stood, pointing it around the room and backing herself into a corner so she couldn't be flanked.

Liara looked up at the Commander seething. "_NO!_"

Shepard nodded towards Jack. "Get her loose. Now."

Liara picked up the knife she'd used earlier and turned.

Shepard's boot planted firmly in the asari's back and shoved her to the ground. "Not you," Shepard said, holding the squirming asari down with her foot. "_You_," she said, nodding to a purple asari standing stunned near the door.

The asari scrambled over and began unwrapping the tape from Jack's wrists. Once free, Jack decked the asari in the face with a hard, right, hook and untied her own knees and ankles. She stood and stared across the room at Shepard. Shepard stared back as a smile formed at the corners of her face. "Jack..."

Jack rushed to the Commander, threw her arms around her, and planted her lips atop Shepard's, kissing her deeply and passionately. It was about the best kiss Jack had ever had. It was ended prematurely, though, when Shepard pulled away and aimed the gun at Liara, who was trying to crawl out of the room.

"Hold on there, Dr. T'Soni," Shepard said, looked at Jack with a nod, and turned around to hand her the gun.

Jack took it and aimed it at Liara. "I should drop you right here, right now," Jack said as she stared down the barrel of the pistol. "But you're not even worth the bullet."

"Mercy!" Liara cried out, dropping her head to the floor and putting her hands up. "Oh, please! Mercy!"

Jack grimaced. "You're pathetic. And as for the _rest_ of you..." The other asari had gathered near the door and were staring at the scene playing out before them with bemused, concerned, looks on their faces. "I don't know _what_ she did to you all that you worship her the way you do, and I don't care. Get the hell out of here and never come back. Understood?"

The asari stared down at Liara. They did not move.

"But she is... our master..." one of them said, the others nodding their agreement.

Jack sighed. "Liara, I've decided someone has to pay for what you did to me. Either I kill you or two of your servants. Pick."

Jack aimed the gun at Liara's forehead and the asari yelped in fear. "The _servants_! Kill the damn _servants_!"

Jack looked up at them. "This is your master? Someone so pathetic and desperate to save their own life, they'd offer any two of you in exchange?"

The asari glanced at one another in hurt disbelief.

"Go," Jack said, pointing to the door. "And forget about Dr. Liara T'Soni. Go find a life and live it."

It took a while but slowly, one by one, the asari left – _none_, however, without giving Liara a disgusted, disappointed look.

Then it was just the three of them.

Shepard walked up beside Jack and the two of them looked down at the asari sobbing and pleading before them. "Now what?" The Commander asked. "She'd caused us both so much pain... so much heartache..."

Jack looked over at Shepard and smiled. "But we're together now, aren't we?""

Shepard smiled back. "Kiss me again."

Jack did. Shepard tasted wonderful – like strawberries and flowers and a million other beautiful things. When they pulled apart, Shepard stared at Jack with a sleepy smile on her face. "You know I'm still handcuffed, right?"

"I know," Jack said with a smirk and kissed her again.

**OOO**

**OOO**

**OOO**

The Normandy came into view as their shuttle lifted higher and higher into the darkness of space.

"That's the second best thing I've seen today," Jack said from the driver's seat, glancing over at Shepard beside her and leaning over so the two could kiss.

"Everyone's missed you," Shepard told her.

"Even Miranda?" Jack questioned.

"Well... maybe not _every_one."

They laughed.

Shepard stared at the Normandy for a while before turning back to Jack. "I'm assuming you have me cuffed like this for a reason?"

"Oh, it's a pretty good reason," Jack said and licked her lips.

Shepard laughed. "And what about our blue friend back there?"

Jack thought, and as she did a smile spread across her face. "She can watch... for now."

The two of them shared a laugh.

Liara could hear them laughing from her place bound, gagged, and locked up in the shuttle's trunk. She groaned and kicked her bound feet at the trunk lid.

As the Normandy opened its docking bay, Jack leaned over and laid her head on Shepard's shoulder. Shepard kissed it and whispered in her ear, "I love you."

Jack smiled. "It's good to be home," she said. "Home... _home_..." She repeated the word, realizing for the first time in maybe her whole life-

-she had one.

**The End**


End file.

Mass Effect, Romance, Suspense