Chapter 1
"Commander," James said as he entered Kevin Shepard's cell, saluting him.
Even though he had known the commander only for a short time, he had developed a crush on him after being around him so much. Shepard had been imprisoned by Alliance Command for causing the destruction of the Bahak system, a decision James would've made himself if put in that position. James thought the whole reason for the Commander's imprisonment was to placate the Batarians.
"You're not supposed to call me that anymore James," Shepard replied, turning around.
"Not supposed to salute you either," James told him. "We gotta go, the Defense Committee wants to see you."
"Sounds important," Shepard responded with a frown.
He threw the pad he was reading on a nearby table and followed James out the door. James stole a sideways glance at Shepard. Fuck, he's gorgeous. He thought to himself with a slight smile on his lips. He turned left out of the cell door and started making his way down the corridor at a fast pace. An Alliance soldier cut Shepard off just as he was about to exit his cell.
"What's going on?" Shepard asked, running a bit to catch up to James.
"Couldn't say," James responded, stealing another quick glance into Shepard's gorgeous blue eyes. "Just told me they needed you, now."
Shepard slowed and smiled when he saw Admiral Anderson coming towards them. Anderson seemed to be in a hurry. Maybe it was over; maybe Shepard was finally going to be released.
"Anderson," Shepard greeted him.
"Admiral," James said, saluting.
"You look good Shepard," the Admiral said, shaking Shepard's hand before adding with a joking pat to his stomach as he took a left down an adjacent corridor. "Maybe a little soft around the edges. How you been holding up since being relieved of duty?"
James couldn't help but chuckle a bit at what Anderson had said. The Commander was definitely not soft anywhere, even his ass was solid he noted looking down at it.
"It's not so bad once you get used to the hot food and soft beds," Shepard answered eliciting a small chuckle from James.
Did he just laugh? Shepard thought to himself hoping he hadn't imagined it. Nah, James wouldn't laugh. Not at that anyway. Anderson took a left down another corridor, ignoring Shepard's remark.
"We'll get it all sorted out." Anderson assured Shepard, trying not to imagine what being stuck in that cell was like.
"What's going on? Why's everyone in such a hurry?" Shepard asked, even though he already knew.
"Hackett's mobilizing the fleets, I'm guessing word's made it to Alliance Command. Something big's headed our way," Anderson started to make his way up a flight of stairs.
Shepard slowed before stopping altogether at the foot of the stairs. Something big could only mean one thing, the thing he dreaded for so long. " The Reapers?" he asked.
James stared at Shepard's back for a moment, a look of shock on his face. Could the Reapers actually be on their way here, now? It seemed so impossible, but James knew they were real. He had heard Shepard screaming in his sleep more than once because of them. He had wanted to comfort the commander, but he had been on duty watching his cell door at the time. He also figured the commander wouldn't be interested in him. He still had that picture of Kaidan on his nightstand.
Anderson turned to regard him, "We don't know, not for certain."
"What else could it be?" Shepard wondered out loud.
"If I knew that."
"You know were not ready if it is them, not by a long shot," Shepard told him grimly.
"Tell that to the Defence Committee," Anderson said with a shake of the head.
The two men continued up the stairs. James was in shock, he wouldn't admit it to anyone, but the Reapers were the one thing he was truly afraid of. He shook his head in frustration. Dwelling on it wouldn't help at all. He stared again at Shepard's ass to take his mind off the Reapers. His mouth was open slightly and he felt a bit of drool forming at the corner of his lips. He sucked back the drool and swallowed.
"Unless we're planning to talk the Reapers to death, the committee is a waste of time," Shepard said in reply.
"They're just scared," Anderson responded, arriving at the top of the stairs. "None of them have seen what you've seen. You've faced down a Reaper. Hell, you spoke to one. Then blew the damned thing up. You've seen how they harvest us, what they plan to do to us. You know more about this enemy than anyone."
"Is that why they grounded me, took away my ship?" Shepard asked him.
Anderson stopped, "You know that's not true. When you blew up the Batarian relay hundreds of thousands of Batarians died."
"It was that or let the Reapers walk through our backdoor," Shepard replied sadly.
James stared at Shepard some more with his arms crossed, a neutral expression on his face. The Commander sure was sexy, pretty much perfect. He just wished he could see him naked.
"I know that Shepard," Anderson said sternly. "And so does the committee. If it wasn't for them, you would've been court-martialed and left to rot in the brig."
Shepard wasn't buying it. He knew the committee didn't care, he knew Anderson was the real reason. "That and your good word?"
"Yeah, I trust you Shepard and so does the committee."
"I'm just a soldier Anderson, I'm no politician," Shepard said frankly.
"I don't need to be either," Anderson replied, making his way down the corridor again. "I just need you to do whatever the hell it takes to help us stop the Reapers."
After finally arriving at the courtroom outer office. A Receptionist ushered them into the room. Anderson went in first with the Receptionist, Shepard and James followed behind.
"Good luck in there Shepard," James said, shaking his hand.
"Anderson," Kaidan Alenko said as he entered the room. "Shepard."
"Kaidan," Shepard replied, his heart beating faster.
Oh great, James thought, the Major is here. Now he'll go all weak in the knees around him. It just pisses me off so much. I wanted him all to myself, now I'll have to share him with Alenko.
"How'd it go in there Major?" Anderson asked.
"Okay, I think, hard to know. I'm Just waiting for orders now," Kaidan told him.
"Major?" Shepard asked, his heart beat under control now.
"You hadn't heard?" Anderson wanted to know.
"No, I hadn't," he said with a frown.
"Sorry Shepard, it's been…, well," Kaidan hesitated, not sure what to say next.
"That's okay, I'm just glad I bumped into you Kaidan," Shepard replied.
"Yeah, me too."
The Receptionist returned and called Shepard and the Admiral away into the Committee's office. Kaidan nodded at Shepard with a smile and Shepard stared right back at him. The two men both still loved each other a lot, that much James could see.
"Is there something going on between you two?" he asked Kaidan.
"There used to be," Kaidan replied, giving James hope that maybe something could happen with the Commander.
