James woke with a start, swinging his fists into the empty space around his rumpled bed. Someone was banging on his door, loudly. Once he realized he wasn't being assaulted, James relaxed and blinked into darkness. "Yeah, hold on," he called to the door as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and swung his heavy legs off the bed. His bare feet hit the cold metal floor and he hissed at the contact. The banging on the door continued. "I said hold on man."

He stood and stiffly walked the short distance to the front door of the one room "apartment" he was renting on Omega. He fumbled in the dark for the door control. James grunted as the sudden flood of light forced his eyes closed.

"Mr. Vega it's the first of the month, the rent is due," said the grizzled, ageing man on the other side of the door.

"What, oh hey Henry," James yawned as he leaned against the door frame.

"The rent Vega, you need to pay your rent." Henry said louder

"The rent?" Shit, had it already been a month? James wondered to himself "Oh sorry, just a minute." He turned back to his small room and scanned the floor for his pants. He located them, and dug through the pockets for his credit chit. "Here you go man," he said as he handed the chit to the landlord. Henry scanned the chit over his omni tool, and paused, checking for the credits to clear before handing it back to James.

"Have a good day Mr. Vega." Henry gave a curt nod and turned to continue down the narrow hallway towards his next delinquent tenant.

"Later man," James replied as he closed the door. His meaty fist hit the wall panel, turning on the dingy overhead light. The one room apartment was small and James' bulky figure made it feel smaller. Pushed up against the far right corner was a single bed adorned with thread bare sheets and a thin felt blanket. In the left corner a door-less frame led to a toilet and shower. Just inside the front door, against the wall a sink, was mounted next to a short counter, under which was a small refrigeration unit.

James made the two steps it took to get back to his bed. He sat down and punched in the code on his credit chit to check his balance. "Shit" He was down to his last two hundred fourteen credits, barely enough to keep him fed for a week. The skyllian tables had not been good to him recently and what money he had left in his account from the Alliance was now gone. He leaned back against the wall with a sigh. "Time to give Vemia a call," he said himself. He needed money, and there was more than one way a man of his many talents could obtain it. But first he would need a shower.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Freshly showered and shaven, James made his way through the district streets towards the transport hub. As he wove his way through the throngs of Omega's residents, he spoke into his omni tool, "Vemia, bonita, can I come speak to you in a few minutes?"

"Believe it or not James, I was just about to call you. Aria has a special event tonight for some important guests and she was interested in hiring you for the night." replied a melodic voice.

"Great! I'll be there in ten," he responded, as he avoided bumping into a group of batarians.

"Looking forward to it Mr. Vega."

He stopped at a kiosk and grabbed a cup of coffee, before he hired a taxi and set forth towards Afterlife.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

He did some quick math as the taxi touched down and he scanned his chit. Down to one hundred fifty seven credits. This better be a good gig, or I'm screwed.

He walked towards the front entrance to the club and nodded to bouncer. "Hows it going Big Foot?"

"Great resignation: Same shit, different day," replied the elcor.

"I hear that. Can I go in? I need to speak with Vemia."

"Friendly intent: Sure, she is expecting you."

"Gracias amigo."

Though Omega did not have a typical day or night, it was still early by standard galactic time. The club was less crowded than it would be once the work day ended. James walked across the main floor voicing greetings to the bartenders. "You going to play Five next week Tarnis?"James shouted over the music. "You have got to give me the chance to win my money back."

"You don't understand the meaning of 'quit while you are ahead', do you Vega?" the turian bartender laughed

"Ah you know me, I never quit," he joked as he continued towards the back of the club. James glanced up and saw Aria T'loak scowling down on him from her "throne room" above Afterlife's central bar. Her glower was not necessarily directed specifically at him. Scowling seemed to be her permanent expression; she looked at everyone that way. He stopped, smiled, and gave her his most cavalier bow. An amused smirk graced her lips as crossed her arms and turned away from him. Give me an hour and I'll melt that heart Frosty. He thought to himself as he continued across the club.

James walked into Vemia's office. A pretty asari sat behind a tall, shiny, black desk typing into her computer. "Hey beautiful," James greeted the asari with a smile.

She ceased her work and returned the smile. "Hello Mr. Vega."

"So what's this important gig Frosty wants me for?" He asked as he leaned on the desk, showing off his masterfully sculpted shoulders.

"I hope for your sake, she never hears you call her that." Vemia shot him a sideways glance attempting, unsuccessfully, to not ogle his muscles.

"Fair enough, so what is it?" He asked again.

"From what I can gather, it's a private party for some humans. The funds were transferred from a Cerberus account."

"Private room?"

"No, they have rented out the whole VIP section."

"Ay dios mio!" Jackpot! James couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. This was just what he needed. If he did his job right, he knew he could make enough credits to cover at least two months' rent. "What else?"

"I don't know much, but Aria indicated that among the guests there would be a specific person that she wanted to make sure was 'well taken care of'."

"Interesting, do you know who else is working?"

Vemia grabbed a data pad and handed it to James to read. "As you can see mostly human, men and women, some of our more "talented" asari, and those two turian sisters. If it is Cerberus, the humans and asari I understand, but the turians? I don't know what that is about." She said shaking her head.

"Humans can be eccentric, especially the rich ones," James offered as an explanation.

"I guess so," Vemia took back the data pad. "Show starts at 2100 hours. Call is at 2000. Go tell Ruva what music you want to use, she is down in VIP setting up now. If you need to walk the stage, you should do that now too. Do you need costuming?"

"Nah, I got it covered."

"Alright Mr. Vega, if you will just sign here, you are officially on the payroll for tonight." She handed him another data pad and a stylus. "Oh, and since this is a private party all tips you make are yours to keep. You don't have to split with support staff."

"Vemia, you have just given me the best news I have had in a month." James said with smile as he signed the data pad.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Miranda leaned against the cold metal wall outside of the Commander's quarters. "Shepard…open the door." She said in her smooth Australian accent. There was no response. The Cerberus agent gave and exasperated sigh and crossed her arms." I have already called for Kasumi, Shepard, so you can either open up or I'll just let her hack the security panel…your choice. Either way, I'm coming in there."

"Miranda, you do realize I carry a pistol with me everywhere?" Shepard tersely replied through the door comm. Miranda smiled. At least Shepard was talking, that was progress.

"Now there is no need for violence, Shepard. All I want is for you to stop brooding like a teenager and come to Afterlife with us." Behind her the elevator door beeped and opened to reveal Kasumi Goto, who without hesitation stepped forward and began tapping away at the glowing omni tool on her wrist.

"It's no use, Shepard," said the Japanese thief, "You are going to get dressed, put on some make-up, and come have a good time…rather you like it or not." Kasumi finished keying in the hack and placed her palm against the panel on Shepard's door. Her omni tool glowed and the translucent gear-like projection whirled and hummed. The panel's display wavered from red, to orange, to green then beeped, and with a self satisfied smirk, Miranda punched the bright green display causing the door to hiss open.

At the sound of the door opening Shepard looked up from computer screen she was hunched over. "What the hell, EDI?" She said, as Miranda and Kasumi advanced into her room.

"I'm sorry Shepard, Ms. Goto's skills at security penetration are unmatched. I could not stop her." The AI's glassy voice filled the room.

"Oh please, EDI didn't even put up a fight. Come on Shep, even the AI wants you to get out for a bit." Kasumi said as she leaned against the large fish tank facing Shepard's small office. Miranda didn't even pause as she strode past them into the bedroom, straight towards the small dresser where Shepard kept her civilian clothes.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I. Don't. Dance," said Shepard, her voice filled with irritation, "and if I want to get drunk, I can do that here, without some sweaty sleaze ball trying to feel me up."

"But then, you could punch him, and punching a sleaze ball would make you happy. Don't deny it." Kasumi raised her chin slightly so just a hint of her eyes glistened under her hood.

Shepard ineffectively tried to stifle her smile as she contemplated the idea of getting into a full out bar fight. All the tension she was feeling since the Collector Base was starting to itch and boil under her skin. She needed to punch or shoot something soon or she felt she was going to explode. They had been docked at Omega for over three weeks while the ship underwent much needed repairs, and after giving the Illusive Man the proverbial middle finger, she was slightly at a loss of what to do with herself.

"Get dressed Commander. I have made arrangements with Aria for this to be a private party for the whole crew. I don't know how much longer I will have access to Cerberus' accounts, but until that moment, drinks are on them." Said Miranda as she pulled Shepard's only underwire bra out of the dresser and without looking, deposited it on the bed behind her.

"I have work to do" said the Commander

"Which can wait until tomorrow." Kasumi said putting her hands on her hips "You are coming with us Shep, get over it."

"Doesn't being Commander of this boat mean anything to you pe-put that damn thing away!" Shepard yelled pointing at the black dress Miranda was carefully unfolding. Miranda rolled her eyes and returned it to the bottom drawer of Shepard's dresser.

"That dress was expensive Shep." Kasumi said as she crossed her arms in mock indignation.

"Well than I guess it's a good thing you didn't pay for it." Shepard retorted

"Fine no dress, but you are coming." Miranda placed a pair of tight black pants next to the bra on Shepard's bed. "I have a top I think will go nicely with this, I'll be right back. Kasumi see if you can do something with her hair," said Miranda as she swiftly turned and walked out of the room.

"Once a pushy bitch, always a pushy bitch," said Shepard as she turned back to her computer screen.

"Oh no you don't," said Kasumi as she pulled Shepard's chair away from the desk.

"Kasumi! Stop it!" Shepard glowered at the woman next to her.

Kasumi was still for a moment, but then she slowly raised her hands to her hood and pulled it back, exposing her delicate round face. She dropped to a crouch and locked her deep dark eyes with Shepard's. When she spoke all of her usual mirth was gone, replaced with a sincerity that caught Shepard by surprise.

"Please Shepard. We are worried; you have been walled up in this room since we got here. You need to let loose, drop the Commander role just for awhile, and allow yourself some happiness. I know you came back from the dead, but you haven't really allowed yourself to be alive." Her eyes glittered in the low light of the room as she searched Shepard's face. "Please?"

Shepard stared at the woman in front of her and let the weight of her words soak in. For a few seconds they appraised each other in silence. Slowly Shepard turned her face away, back towards the computer, keeping her hands on the armrests of her chair. After a moment, she sighed, raised one hand to her head, and pulled out her hair clip releasing her tight bun. "Do what you must, but I draw the line at lipstick and mascara."