Curious Jealousy- a F!Shenko Fic

Chapter Ffty-Three: Fall-Out

Hope stood absolutely still in a parade rest as she thought how best to talk to Hackett. She wasn’t stupid- she knew exactly why he had decided to call while the Normandy was getting ready to leave the Citadel.

It had everything to do with that footage.

“Joker, patch him through.”

“Okay, but we need to come up with some kind of gesture that tells me that I should hang up on the old bastard.”

Shepard shook her head tiredly. “No, I have to see this through.”

“Patching you through.” Before he cut off he added, “Don’t say I didn’t try to help.”

“Admiral,” she greeted, snapping a crisp salute.

Hackett just stared at her, keeping her locked in a formal salute. After more than a minute, he responded to her salute in kind and waited until she was in her parade rest. “Is anyone else in the room with you?” he demanded.

Looking around, she shook her head. “No, sir.”

Again, Hackett fell silent. Shepard, once again, felt like she was a little girl on Arcturus getting ready to be chastised for something that most other people would have let slide.

“Tell me about your shore leave, Commander.”

“Pretty typical for one of my shore leaves, honestly- starts out pretty relaxed, turns into a lot of shooting,” she shrugged.

Hackett rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed tiredly. “I’ve never told you this, but I’ve made a career out of protecting you. I don’t know if you ever realized that. I told Alenko when he was back in Huerta and I don’t know if he believed me.”

“Excuse me?”

“Hope, after Elysium, I made a promise to your parents. I promised that I would protect you from any shit storm that could come your way. You were unhappy with the cameras- I made sure they stayed away. Then, after you joined the N-program-“

“Hackett-“

“After you joined the N-program, it was easier because most of your ops were under the radar. You didn’t know how to fail and you didn’t need the fanfare. None-the-less, I fought to be highly respected among the Alliance just in case I needed to uphold my promise in the future.

“Then you were chosen to be a Spectre candidate- the only human candidate- and I knew that I would have to step in once again sooner rather than later. The Normandy was a very special design and, when it was half way complete, we decided that she would be yours. You would need a ship of your own when you became a Spectre- there was never a doubt in my mind that you would become one. I made sure that Anderson was placed in command and that you were his XO- I lied to Alenko in that regard.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Hope asked, feeling truly shaken to her core by what he was telling her.

She couldn’t believe it.

She had never suspected.

How many other things had he done to help her? Did he take the heat from the Battle of the Citadel? How much else had he not told her?

“Over the years I had stored favors. Everything from covering shifts to keeping some very important secrets. All of those stored favors were there for when I needed to help you. I kept everything wrote down and kept a backup for when it was needed to call upon those people. Since you’ve become a Spectre, I’ve called in a great many number of favors.