A/N: All right, I'm done with hell, and have my peace. This is for Logan, who has kindly reminded me to post this. :) He also told me that his eyes are... unique. I'm calling them green sweetheart. XD Hope I don't offend. And I'm not fixing Valkyrie... but... altering him. Is that acceptable? Excuse me if I'm excessively making fun of you Logan. It's too easy and fun. :P

Anomoly

Morgan stared out at the horizon, fully armored. Midday. Hotter than anywhere she could remember on Earth. It was a normal day, but something felt wrong. She'd been there for weeks with her team, and for the most part it was business as usual, but today, something was looming.

"Commander..." She looked up. Valkyrie stood over her.

"Yes Valkyrie?"

"Patrol's quiet. Third is off."

"Good." They looked out toward the horizon and Moran saw something she couldn't believe. A streak of red and smoke soared across the sky, landing in a nearby field.

"Did you see that?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Go now and see if Shadow has anything, hurry!" Morgan said standing.

"Yes ma'am!" Valkyrie rushed down the hill into the base. Shadow and Lee looked over a monitor, Lee shouting at Jones.

"Commander saw something. What have you got?"

"Something. This tech is old, so I'm not certain. Whatever it is, it's two clicks south-east of here." Morgan came in.

"What have you got?"

"An anomoly... an oddity.. something-"

"Out of place. I know. I graduated from high school, Lee," Morgan said looking over Shadow's monitor.

"My apologies ma'am. At any rate, it could be anything with this old tech."

"Wonderful. Lee, Valkyrie, retrieve Vega and go find out what it is. Shadow, stick to these monitors. Jones, find Simmons and Lewis and gon on a normal patrol. Everyone got it?" Morgan asked.

"Yes ma'am!" They chorused. Lee elbowed Valkyrie in the ribs as they walked toward the armory.

"So... when you gonna make a move on Jimmy Vega?" Valkyrie blushed.

"I can't... have you seen him? He's gorgeous!"

"So? You're gorgeous too." Valkyrie brushed off the compliment.

"Why don't you go for him?" Lee sighed.

"I've already had my heart stolen. And he's actually my age."

"You've never mentioned you had a boyfriend, Lee," Valkyrie said turning to face him.

"I don't. I love him, but he's straight."

"Has he tried?" Lee laughed.

"No. He's not the adventureous type."

"What's his name?"

"Kaidan Alenko. He's a biotic, a L2 like me. Gorgeous. Dark hair, dreamy brown eyes, voice soft as velvet. Pretty much perfection." Valkyrie smiled.

"How long have you known him?"

"Since we were seventeen. Met him at BAaT. We were two fucked up kids, now we're both Alliance. As I said, I fell in love with him. We still talk."

"Awww!"

"Yeah, yeah, don't tell anyone. I don't need my badass reputation ruined just 'cause I love a guy."

"I won't tell anyone." They found Vega cleaning rifles in the armory.

"What's up?"

"Morgan is sending us out to check something out. Let's move before she gets angry," Lee said.

"All right, let's go," Vega replied as he grabbed his favorite shotgun. Valkyrie picked up his, a heavily modded Katana with a green stripe running down the barrel. They headed out, Lee tracking the anomoly on his omni-tool. Valkyrie had his shotgun firmly in his right hand, following Lee, Vega walking drag. They followed Lee down the hills, tracking whatever had landed.

"I sure wish we had a Mako."

"It gets me out in the fresh air and moving without one. It's nice," Valkyrie said.

"Well, aren't you a little ray of sunshine?"

"He's Lightning!"

"Oh, you know something about thunder and lightning?"

"Do I want to?" Valkyrie asked.

"No, but you're gonna hear it anyway. You know thunder comes after lightning," Lee said leaning toward Valkyrie. He blushed and looked away from Vega.

"Huh?"

"Nothing!" Valkyrie covered Lee's mouth before he could explain it. Vega looked at the two suspiciously, but continued forward.

"Right... here. Well, look at this." It was only about two meters wide, and three tall, made of metal. Lee went toward it.

"What is it?"

"Nothing good. I'll need to look over it more... but... it's not human make." He knelt next to it, scanning the control pannel with his omni-tool.

"So?" Vega asked.

"Language is a Batarian dialect. Can't find a proper translation. If I were to give my best guess, it's some form of exploration module. But I'd rather not rely on my guesses and send it to the brass. Let some eggheads in a lab figure it out."

"So... what is it?" Vega asked again.

"It's a device sent to investigate planets. I don't know much else, other than that it's Batarian make."

"All right, so what do we do with it?"

"Good question," Lee pulled open his right hand omni-tool and hit the link to base camp, "hey, Commander, are you there?"

"Yes, what have you got Lee?"

"Some sort of exploration module, Batarian make. Dialect isn't translating for me."

"All right. Come on back. I'll have the Alliance come out and retireve it. Until then, warn the colonists away. You boys can relax. You've got night shift patrols."

"We're on our way back."

"How'd we get so lucky to get night shift?" Valkyrie asked.

"I think we're Commander Morgan's favorites."

"Maybe you boys think so, I'm almost thirty years old. I need my sleep. You two are kids, you're okay staying up all night," Lee sighed, "I'm going to go see what Shadow has." Vega and Valkyrie returned to the barracks and sat down on their beds. Vega started to dismantle his armor, but stopped as he saw Valkyrie. He pulled off his shoulder pads, dropping them into the storage locker under his bed. Next, he slid off his gauntlets, and pried off the bracers, tossing them into the locker. Vega couldn't look away as he released the latches on his chestplate, dropping it into the locker. As he kicked off his boots, he became aware that Vega was watching him.

"No... he can't be looking at me..." He pulled his shirt over his head, and tossed it aside. Now he was sure, Vega was staring. He blushed and looked down.

"Um... you're... staring... at me." Vega looked up.

"What?"

"You were staring."

"Sorry... I just didn't expect you to look... well, like that," Vega replied. Valkyrie stood.

"Like what?" Lee asked as he came into the room, still fully armored.

"Hello honey! ...wait a minute... I have a... thought. Where are you from?"

"Earth."

"Uh-huh. Where?" Lee asked. Valkyrie laughed.

"California."

"I knew it! And I get why Vega is shocked," Lee said.

"What?"

"Come on honey! You're a Californian wet dream with your sexy dark hair, slight tan, lithe wirey figure, pretty green eyes..."

"Actually, they're gold around the edges and hazel in the center."

"...they're green darling." Valkyrie sighed and shook his head.

"I'm going to go take a shower..." He hurried into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him, Vega still confused.

"What... what just happened here?"

"Something a muscley straight boy will never understand. Trust me, I've lived it for eleven years."

"What? Wait... he... he likes me?" Lee pulled off his boots and sat down.

"He only blushes every time you call him Lightning. Sits next to you at every meal... stares shamelessly at that sexy ass when you turn around."

"He... he does what?"

"As I said, nothing a straight boy will ever understand. He has a cute little crush on you."

"He's attracted to men. You are a man. And you're nice to him. Most of us here are screw ups, so there's a good chance he's got some baggage."

"But I'm not... I'm not attracted to men."

"Have you ever tried?" Lee asked. Vega stopped.

"No, I guess I haven't... so..."

"Don't break his heart by trying something new on him all right? If you do, I'll throw you across the room with my mind." Vega laughed.

"I won't... so how do I...?"

"It's not that different from women. He's a little shy... so don't totally jump in. You'll scare him."

"Jesus that's hard!"

"Just be yourself. Let him make the first move," Lee said.

"But I've told him I'm straight."

"Hmm... Ah! Use his first name. See how he reacts. Talk to him. It'll work out."

"All right... but regs..."

"Well... you're the same rank. Doesn't harm chain of command," Lee said with a smirk.

"Right. So... don't scare him, don't break his heart or..."

"I'll beat the hell out of you with my mind."

"No pressure."

From the other side of the bathroom door, Valkyrie smiled. He turned on the shower and made a mental note to thank Lee.

Valkyrie heard the door open and almost panicked as he turned to see who it was.

"Don't worry, it's just me. Vega went to see what Shadow is making for dinner."

"Well... thanks."

"No problem."

"But... don't do me any more favors. You're not my friend, you're not my brother... I can take care of myself."

"So defensive. Do I detect an older boy who's screwed you over in the past?"

"No. I just don't need you butting into my personal life. Just leave it alone Lee." He grabbed Valkyrie's shoulder.

"Logan. Listen to me. I get the defensive shit, I've done it, but you need friends. Out here, you have to trust your team. And I want to give you a chance with Vega. He's claiming he's straight and you're this little shy pretty-boy, someone had to give you or him a push. So I did."

"I don't need it."

"You did! Now shut up, get dressed, and go see Vega."

"I... I'm sorry Lee."

"You're fine kid. Just shut up and go be happy all right?" Lee replied. Valkyrie nodded and he got dressed.

"I will." He went out to the mess hall where Vega and Shadow were making dinner.

"Can I help?"

"Yeah. How about you help me with these pots... Logan?" Vega asked. Valkyrie smiled.

"All right... maybe Lee had a point."

"Of course James."


A/N: This is fun. :) Working to sell a house sucks. But with all the physical labor, my abs have reappeared, so that's nice. At any rate, I hope to update this soon. And thanks to Shawn and Adam who gave me the discription of Valkyrie. 'Californian wet dream'. I couldn't have come up with that on my own if I tried. Logan, you offically have two fanboys. Or at least Valkyrie does. XD