Author's Disclaimer: James Vega and all licensed characters and places are the property of Bioware and EA. No infringement intended by this work of respectful fanfiction.

In the aftermath of the Reaper War, life had changed very little for James Vega. Hackett had slapped a medal or five on the younger man's broad shoulders, shaken his hand, and told him to get together a squad of his choosing and then get his ass on a cruiser as soon as he'd been cleared by Medical. They might have won the war - although James still wasn't too clear on exactly how - but there was still a lot of cleaning up to be done.

First on the list: Cerberus.

The remains of the paramilitary organization were scattered around the galaxy, and Liara's intel indicated that it was scrambling to regroup. Not all of Cerberus had been indoctrinated assholes. Some of them were just… assholes. Or desperate enough to become assholes. And a pretty large number of them were supposed to be trying to secure a munitions and tech cache on this backwater of a planet that seemed to have only one weather pattern - rain.

James nudged the temperature on his armor's environmental suite a little higher; big as he was, he was still never going to like the cold. A quick glance at his HUD told him that his companion was perfectly comfortable. She'd always run hot, and he knew that in more ways than he should really think about while in full combat armor, but….

Shit. He had to ask. "Hey. You good?"

Jack shoved a damp hank of hair out of her eye as she smirked at him. "Y'know, soldier boy, I did make it though the entire Battle of London without wearing this straightjacket you military types call armor."

James didn't bother to hide the little smile that curved the scarred corner of his mouth, although he did keep his voice low. No sense in broadcasting to the rest of the squad. "You just humoring the big, dumb marine, then? Or did you know how hot you were gonna look in light combat gear?"

She snorted. "Stop thinking with your dick, Vega. I just didn't feel like arguing about fashion choices when I found out the best Cerberus hunting around was going to be in the middle of monsoon season on this fuckball of a planet."

His little smile turned into a full-blown James Vega charm offensive and his voice dropped an octave. "And here I thought it was my charisma that got you to come along."

Jack leaned back against the pocked wall and sneered at him. "Please. It was your ass. Well, your ass and the fact that you make me breakfast."

"Admit it." He nudged her shoulder gently. "It's the huevos."

"OK. You got me. Speaking of which, I'm starved." She fished around in one of the pockets of her armor. "Gotta say, I'm not nuts about the outfit, but it sure makes it easier to carry snacks." She glanced at the wrapper of the ration bar she produced. "Banana chocolate? Hey! Score!"

"Oh, man, you got one of the good ones." James settled himself a little more comfortably on his rubble pile, keeping his Avenger close to hand in case Cerberus decided to show up early. "You gonna share?"

"Get your own, soldier boy. The sex isn't that great." Defiantly, Jack bit into the bar and grinned at him.

"Oh, see, now you're just challenging me."

"Take your break, Vega. Besides - " a wave of her hand indicated the rest of their squad, including a couple of Jack's former students, who were very studiously looking anywhere but at them. "Not exactly alone here."

A voice floated across the rubbled space. "We could fix that, Ms. Nought. Ma'am."

"Stow it, Rodriguez. And make sure you drink your damn juice."

The rain-soaked silence lasted for maybe ten minutes before Jack crumpled her wrapper and rolled her shoulders. "It's different," she muttered.

James glanced up from his own rations. "Hmm?"

"The rain. It's… different. Here, I mean." She waved a hand at the curtains of rain falling outside their shelter. "Never wanted to see that shit again after Pragia."

He shifted a little closer to her. Not too close - she didn't always like that - but close enough to offer a shoulder. "Hey. You okay?"

She leaned her head back against the wall, still watching the rain. "If you asked me that a few months ago, soldier boy… No. I would have said no. Fuckin' rain."

"How about now, querida?"

"Now?" Jack snorted a laugh. "Now we're huddled in a bombed out building, waiting for fucking Cerberus to show so we can blow their heads off, and it's cold and wet, and I should hate this rain every bit as much as I hated the shit on Pragia."

"But…." he drawled.

"But I don't. "

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." She shrugged. "I don't… I don't hate this. It's stupid and pointless and emotional, but… yeah. Look, I can't talk about this."

James gently thunked his forehead against hers. "Hey. You did good."

She looked at him then, surprise very clearly warring with the wariness that was still so much a part of her. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Jack never blushed, but he knew her well enough to know when she was embarassed. "Okay, well, your turn, soldier boy."

"My turn?" It was James' turn to look uncomfortable. "Well… okay. Rain sucks."

"Wow. Eloquent." Jack rolled her eyes.

"OK, it fucking sucks."

"Much better. More syllables." She caught his incredulous look and grinned. "What, I can't use big terms like syllables? I'm not a complete dumbass, you meathead."

"Never said you were. It just sounds weird, a little."

"OK. I can try again if it makes you feel better." She grinned at him, pure sass. "You used more fucking syllables than before. That's fucking great." She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at him. "How's that?"

"Better. More you."

"Oh, shut up, Vega." She shoved at his shoulder, even though both of them knew James was immovable when he was naked, much less when he was kitted out in full combat armor. "And you never answered the question. Why do you hate rain?"

"Same reason you do, I guess." He shrugged. "Kept me off the beach. Kept me from going to abuela's place. Kept me inside…. Yeah. I didn't like being inside."

"So… rain's bad."

"That rain was. This rain? This rain is keeping Cerberus quiet long enough for me to do this…."

The kiss was long and slow, lazy, a thorough exploration of mouths, of the precise way lips could fit together and imitate other intimacies.

They were both breathing hard when they separated, foreheads together, noses brushing in a display of affection Jack would never have allowed a few months ago.

"So…" Jack licked her lips. "This is good rain."

James smiled, the scarred corner of his lip hitching up. "Yeah. This is good rain."

"Sure looked like it from here, sir. Ma'am."

Their "shut up, Rodriguez" came almost in sync.

The whine of incoming thrusters interrupted them as a shuttle powered into the rubbled clearing outside their shelter.

James was instantly on full combat alert. He grabbed his rifle and moved into a crouch.

"I can change my mind about rain," he muttered, "But I still hate Cerberus."

"Fuckin' right." Jack was on her knees next to him, tense and lethal, a glow rapidly collecting around her clenched fingers. "Cockblocking bastards. Let's kill 'em and go home. I want shower sex."

"Yes, ma'am." James rose to his feet, a walking wall of armor and weapons next to the lithe, lightly armored form of his lover. "Whoever bags the most gets the shower first."

"Oh, you are on, soldier boy!" Jack laughed, and launched herself out into the rain at the unsuspecting Cerberus squad. "Try and keep up, Vega!"