Praise Jack

"...Jack!  Jack, come on, Jack!" She was opening her eyes, staring up at Shepard crouching above her.  She saw the concern in his face melt away as he cupped her face.  "Jack, can you hear me?"



"F...fuck's going on?" Jack said, feeling a sudden sharp pain in her shoulder.  The ground underneath her was rock, the sky now a dingy grey.



Shepard smiled in relief.  "You're on Salvation, you fell down into a tunnel.  We thought we lost you there for a second."



"You shouldn't have taken the risk, Shepard," Miranda approached from nearby, looking down at the two of them in disdain.  "If that tunnel had collapsed while you were going down it, we could have lost both of you," the look she gave Jack made it clear which loss would have been more felt.



"Fell, I..." Jack's eyes went wide.  "The Siphon, where is it?  Don't use it, it's dangerous!"



Miranda cocked an eyebrow.  "You sure she didn't suffer some brain trauma?"



Shepard ignored her.  "What's the Siphon, Jack?"



"I was in a room, a big domed room.  There was a ball in the middle, a VI called it the Siphon."



"Better get her in to see Dr. Chakwas when she gets back," Miranda helpfully opined.



Shepard helped Jack to her feet.  "We found you in a domed room, that much is real.  But it was completely empty."



"Empty?" Jack was stunned.



"No pillar, no VI, no sign of this Prothean weapon that was supposed to be here.  I almost lost someone... lost one of my crew on a damned wild goose chase."



"Not your fault, Commander," Miranda said.  "Maybe the artifact was a fake, or somebody already found the weapon.  Regardless, we can at least mine this planet for untapped resources while we're here."



"Small comfort, but better than nothing I suppose," Shepard responded to Miranda, although his eyes never left Jack's.  "Let's get out of here before we have any other catastrophes."  He placed his hands on Jack's shoulders and said, "You gonna be okay?"



Jack blinked.  "Uh... yeah.  You know me, tough as fucking nails."



Shepard gave her a warm smile.  "Great, let's get moving."



As he started to walk away, she called out.  "Wait, Shepard."



He turned to her.  "Something wrong?"



"No, nothing wrong," Jack said.  "I just... I... oh, fuck this."  Charging forward, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him as hard as she could.



"I'll... be in the shuttle," Miranda said as she walked away.



After his initial shock, she could feel his arms wrap around to hold her tight.  It was only when Jack remembered that she needed to breathe that she finally pulled away.



"Well, that was..." Shepard said, then cocked his head.  "Wait, what was that?"



"That was me telling you that... I'm not running away anymore," Jack said.  "No matter what happens or how scared I get, I'm staying right here."  



Shepard's expression seemed to indicate he didn't quite understand, so Jack kissed him again.  That didn't need any interpretation.