"Aw, look. Vega's got himself some extra protective gear." Shepard elbowed Kaidan in the ribs, snickering as he pointed to the Lieutenant's new armor.

"We got an extra shipment in. Esteban said-"

"Let me guess, that it happened to be in your size?"

Kaidan glared at the Commander before turning his attention to the red-faced LT. "Maybe someone out there just cares that you're safe on the field."

"Oi, that's cheating." Shepard stood to cut Kaidan off from James, a flurry of aggravated whispers passing between them.

James thought he heard the words "bets" and "credits" used freely between the two men. He jumped to his feet, ambling over to them in the shuttle. When Kaidan spotted him over the Commander's shoulder, he shut his mouth mid-sentence, inclining his head in the LT's direction.

"We can discuss this later, with the others." Kaidan nudged Shepard back to join the rest of the squad on their feet. "We're almost here."

"What's going on?" James crossed his arms over his chest, shooting them both an annoyed look as he waited for one to speak up. "What bet?"

Shepard shrugged, grinning over to the scowling Major. "Come on, Kaid. We have to tell him now."

"Tell me what?"

Kaidan let out an aggravated groan. "As usual, John, you've managed to ruin everyone's bank but your own."

"Technically what's mine is yours." Shepard elbowed Vega in the ribs. "The Major's just a sore loser."

"Can you two stop bickering and just tell me what's going on?"

Kaidan rubbed the back of his neck, looking away to the shuttle cockpit. "We, ah, took a bet. On when and how you might… realize something."

"Realize what? And who's we?" Kaidan's cryptic statement left James frustrated. Why were these two being so coy? What bet could they have made about him?

"The crew of the Normandy," Kaidan said, bringing his eyes back to James. "And it concerns all the new gear you've been receiving lately."

"This?" Vega lifted his arms to show off the new bracers for his suit. "Like I said, there was an extra shipment-"

"You seem to get a lot of those," Shepard cut back in. "New weight set, muscle shirts, mods that specifically match up to your guns."

"Yeah, but…" Vega's sentence fell off as he scanned Shepard's sly grin and Kaidan's embarrassed half-smile. "What, you two think this is on purpose?"

"It just seems to work out in your favor is all we're saying." Kaidan filled in for Shepard as the Commander fought back laughter, his cheeks burning as he struggled for breath while attempting to maintain composure.

"Those shirts didn't even fit," James scowled, annoyed with the idea that he was getting special treatment. Yeah, he and Esteban were friends, always stuck down in the cargo bay together. He liked the older man, enjoyed his company, but Esteban was a professional. He wouldn't do something like that, especially in a time of war.

Kaidan cleared his throat, a light tinge to his cheeks. "Maybe not in the way you wanted them to, but they definitely fit."

Shepard tossed Kaidan a mischievous grin, trouble sparkling in his eyes. "Maybe I should look into getting one of these shirts, since they seem to hold Kaidan's attention so well."

Now Vega's face matched Kaidan's in redness. "What are you implying?" James glanced from one man to the other in his attempt to take conversation away from the shirts Esteban gave him because the Normandy accidentally received them.

"Oi, this is bloody painful," Shepard said, giving Kaidan a pleading look. "Can we please just tell him?"

Kaidan shook his head, opening his mouth to speak up, but Shepard cut him off, stepping between the Major and Vega.

"Cortez likes 's why these 'accidents' keep happening."

Vega shrugged. "Well, yeah. We're friends."

"No, you idiot. Likes you likes you. Like he wants to bend you over one of those crates in the bay. Or have you bend him over one. I'm not sure which position he-"

Kaidan jumped in front of Shepard, hand slapping over the Commander's mouth, both men staring at Vega's building embarrassment. "I think the Lieutenant gets it."

"About time," Shepard grumbled, the shuttle finally coming to a stop. He snapped his helmet on, the other two men following suit. James thanked a silent entity for cover from his crimson cheeks.

Him and Esteban? James considered it for a brief moment as his boots hit ground, before the gunfire in their direction cut off his trail of thought. Still, throughout the fight, he found glimpses of consideration for the idea.

A few guys kept him pinned while the Commander blazed ahead on the opposite side, he and Kaidan tossing Cerberus soldiers in the air like they weighted next to nothing. In the few seconds of pause as James waited for the right moment to duck out of cover, he thought about Esteban, wrench in hand while he worked on the shuttle..

Esteban standing by the consoles, placing the orders. The man was thorough with his ordering, so how did these accidents keep happening then? He should've realized it sooner.

James revisited the idea the next time he ducked for cover, darting to a new position and sliding behind some crates, heart hammering with the flood of adrenaline.

Even if he did entertain the notion, he heard Steve replaying the tapes with his dead husband's voice on it, crying over his lost love. That hardly said the man was ready to move on.

Unless Esteban only wanted something of the physical kind. But did James want that? Or better question, did he want only that with Steve?

Shit, his mind left him sidetracked, an assault trooper stealing around the corner. James managed to fire in time to save his hide, but he needed to shake these thoughts, concentrate on the fight in front of him.

But it embedded itself in him, the impression of Esteban as something more than just friends.

When the squad reboarded the Kodiak with their mission accomplished, James thanked the shuttle for having a divider between pilot and crew. He didn't know if he could face Steve at the moment, not with how muddled their friendship became, unbeknownst to the other member of it.

Shepard threw his helmet in the corner, taking up a full bench as he spread himself out. "Makes me almost wish for the day when those bastards were on the same side. Made stealing intelligence a lot easier."

Kaidan unclipped his own helmet then stooped to pick up Shepard's. James stood nearby, keeping his voice low while asking the man for a private moment. The Major dropped both helmets into the Commander's laugh, smirking at the exaggerated oomph, before letting James lead him into an opposite corner.

They kept their voices low, James desperate for Shepard to not overhear their conversation. "You really think Esteban has a thing for me?"

Kaidan nodded. "Definitely."

"But… his husband…"

The smile on Kaidan's face faltered at the mention of Robert. "Did he say something to you about him?"

James shook his head. "No, but I heard him listening to old voice-clips and crying. Why would he be interested in me when he's still grieving Robert?"

Kaidan chuckled, drawing a confused reaction from the Lieutenant. The Major placed a hand on Vega's shoulder. "You know Shepard disappeared over Alchera, right?"

James only gave a curt nod in response.

"It took me a long time to even consider looking at other people again after him, and even then, I couldn't imagine actually doing anything with them. I kept replaying my last memory with him, Shepard on the Normandy, sending me away in a pod while he stayed behind. It tore at me for a long time." Kaidan glanced over his shoulder, a gentle smile forming on the Major's face when Shepard's green eyes locked onto his. "But Shepard came back, the ungrateful bastard. Not everyone gets to be so lucky."

Kaidan cleared his throat when he noticed that the confusion didn't clear on Vega's face. "What I'm trying to get at here is that if Steve feels he's ready to move on, it's not for you to decide he's not. I'll always be in love with John, I know that now. And I have no doubt that Steve will always be in love with Robert. But that doesn't mean he can't be with someone else." Kaidan turned to walk back to Shepard, but not before adding a quick, "Talk to him about it. Don't stand here and speculate."

When Kaidan reached the Commander, he bent down and captured his lips. Shepard stared up at the Major, eyebrows raised. "What was that for?"

"You're an ass," Kaidan grinned, running a gloved hand through Shepard's shorn dark hair. "But you're my ass."

"Is that… supposed to be romantic? Or is that you telling me what's going to happen later?" Shepard slide to one side of the bench to make room for the Major to take a seat. "Not in front of the child, Kaid. Save the bedroom talk for the bedroom."

Vega ignored the two of them, not interested in where their conversation might lead. Instead, he focused on the cockpit of the ship, the impending conversation once they landed back on the Normandy. He rehearsed it in his head, how to broach the subject. Do you like me sounded too juvenile, too much like grade school. So the guys and I were talking, and they said… No, that wasn't right either.

By the time the Kodiak touched down in the cargo bay, James was no closer to an answer. Esteban offered him a gentle smile when both men caught the other's eye stepping out. Vega lingered back while Shepard and Kaidan left to change out of their armor.

"You're not going with them?" Cortez's blue eyes flickered towards the two men, laughing as Shepard playfully shoved at Kaidan's shoulder.

James shook his head, steering Steve by the elbow into the tight space between the shuttle and the wall. He held up his polished new bracers between them. "These weren't an accidental shipment, were they?"

Vega observed the soft inhale, Esteban's eyes widening at the question. A stilted pause stiffened the air between them while Vega waited for his answer, each second only adding to the tension brewing like electricity snapping in the short distance of their bodies. "What do you mean?" Cortez managed to squeak out, but the unease in his voice gave the Lieutenant the response he sought.

James found himself repeating the words of the squad's earlier conversation. "The mods just happen to work for my guns. The armor happens to fit. The weights, the shirts. It's too much to be a coincidence."

Esteban let out a heavy sigh, as if carrying months worth of increasing stress with it. "One of the guys said something, didn't they?"

James nodded, inclining his head toward where he last saw the two. "Both of them. But is it true? These are… expensive gifts. I'm not sure if I can accept them."

"You had no problem doing so before you found out." Cortez faltered before adding, "What else did they say?"

The Lieutenant could feel his face heat with the recollection of the more graphic portions of the conversation. "They implied why they think you keep giving me things."

"Ah." Cortez leaned into the side of the shuttle, crossing his arms over his chest while attempting to read Vega's thinly veiled expression. "And? What do you think?"

"I think I'd rather hear you say it out loud."

"Fair enough." He drew in a deep breath, steeling himself as he said, "I like you."

Vega nodded, mimicking the other man's stance on the wall. "And what does that mean to you?" He hoped he didn't have to spell out his intention for the question, but Esteban picked up the intent behind it.

"I don't know. That's why I haven't said anything before now." His blue eyes softened as he stared into Vega's face. "I still love Robert."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

Vega straightened himself back up, arms falling to his sides. "When you reach a decision, let me know. But if you're not ready, you're not ready." He sighed, moving a little closer so he could push past him to undress out of his armor. "I'm not planning on going anywhere. I'll be right across the cargo bay if you need me."

Steve placed a hand on James' arm. "I didn't think you would be nonchalant about this."

"Not nonchalant. But I'm going to force you to be ready to move on either. If you like me, that's enough until you want more." James grinned. "I like you, too. Pendejo. But you didn't have to give me gifts."

"I wanted you to be safe out there."

James laughed. "And the shirts?"

Steve cracked a smile, a light reddish tinge to his cheeks. "That was for my benefit."

"For everyone's the way the Major tells it." Vega struck a pose, flexing his muscles under his armor, causing a wide smile to break the seriousness of Steve's face.

As he turned to leave, Steve grabbed the sides of his face, lips sliding over his in a soft kiss. Both men shared matching grins when they separated. "Thank you. For understanding."