Chapter 4
Major Kaidan Alenko. Spectre Kaidan Alenko, rather, but James was inclined to just call him Major. Weeks ago, when they first left Earth and headed for Mars, James was ambivalent about the man. Now, he thoroughly disliked him, and for no other reason than that he was no longer far-away competition. He was right-here competition. Although, James was probably the only one who knew that there was a competition at all.
His entire predicament was a little ridiculous when he really sat down and thought about it. The galaxy was crumbling around them, the disparate races still reluctant to fully cooperate with each other, and his biggest problem seemed to be that he couldn't openly piss on what he considered to be his territory. Shepard would probably deck him if she knew James thought like that at all.
The day Shepard allowed Alenko back onto the ship was burned into his brain. He shouldn't have listened but he was a nosy bastard and leaned against a wall, out of sight, when he saw them talking. He'd wanted Shepard to tell Alenko to take a long walk off a short dock but, just as she'd lowered her gun during the tense confrontation over Councillor Udina, Shepard caved to Alenko again.
He could still remember every word of their exchange but one line in particular riled him up so much he almost interrupted them. "Not every day you have a standoff with someone you love." What the fuck was that? You couldn't just throw around words like that. Shepard didn't respond to the "love" comment but James couldn't help feeling like he'd been led on by her these past weeks. He already felt like that kid who sat by himself at lunch, compared to the rest of Shepard's squad. Now he felt like that lonely kid who found out his only friend was just an asshole who was feeding information to the cool kids on how to really hurt him.
He couldn't even justify why he felt like that in the first place. They'd had one brief (but very, very hot) kiss — which they still hadn't talked about — and some flirtation afterward that never went past touches that could have been passed off as completely innocent. He was just as hesitant as Shepard seemed to be to try to work out what was going on between them, which was fine until Alenko joined up. Now, James wanted to know whether he was wasting his time.
He sat in sullen silence, for once actually resenting the fact that Shepard had brought him along on a mission. He kept his eyes on the floor, grunting something unintelligible at the question Shepard directed at him. There was a pause after that little exchange and he liked to think Shepard was a little hurt at his aloofness. Served her right.
She went back to talking (arguing?) with Alenko about picking up the Cerberus scientists and James went back to trying not to listen to them.
The fighting on Gellix was tougher than James had thought it would be. After the attempted coup on the Citadel he was more than used to fighting Cerberus but he was also used to having Garrus on the team. Alenko was a damn good biotic (and James hated to admit that at all) but the dynamics of the squad felt off. James had to take point, drawing fire in close quarters, while Shepard and Alenko hung back and used their biotics. It was effective but James would be lying if he said he preferred being on point rather than being on Shepard's six.
The scientists and their families were rushing to their shuttles with as much science-y stuff as they could carry. James sat on a crate amidst the rush, checking his M-27 over. The kickback was shit after he took off the smart choke in favour of the shredder mod. He should have tested it more before bringing it into the field.
He could see Shepard in his peripherals, talking to that Cerberus guy (Jason? Jackson? Jacob? Whatever…) again, the one who'd gotten himself shot. It was his own fault. Seriously, who didn't wear armour to a fight? Cerberus hired some really dumb people. Except for Shepard, but she always maintained she didn't work for Cerberus and he wholeheartedly believed her.
"Do you have a problem with me, Lieutenant?"
James looked up from his ministrations at the interruption. Alenko stood above him with his arms crossed over his chest and an unreadable expression on his face.
It was supremely foolish and dangerous of him (not to mention insubordinate), but James had deliberately ignored any commands given to him by the Major. Only when Shepard repeated them did he do what he was told. Actually, that wasn't true. He'd done a couple things the Major told him to, but that was because it had to do with not getting his head blown off by a sniper. He would have happily let Alenko get his head blown off by a sniper, though.
"You don't—" deserve her. James cut himself short before he could blurt it out. This wasn't the time or place for such a conversation. Besides, he didn't know if the Major didn't deserve her. He didn't really know anything about their past relationship and how serious it was, which was eating him up inside. "No, sir, no problem. Comm unit was just fucking up, like I said. You should get someone to look at yours. Wouldn't want you to get killed because I couldn't hear you calling for help or something."
He smirked up at the Major, who frowned down at him. What did Shepard even see in this guy? He was so serious about everything.
"Carry on, Lieutenant."
What an ass! James picked up his shotgun and lined up a shot at Alenko's retreating back. The safety was on, no harm, but Shepard walked up just then and caught him. She looked from James to Alenko then back at James and gave him a cautioning look.
"Jeez, just checking the sight, Lola," said James, standing and holding his shotgun at his side.
She glared at him for a few more seconds and James fought the urge to shift nervously from one foot to the other. He always felt like a ten year old when she turned that look on him and, if he were honest, he was acting about that age too. If they weren't so short of able-bodied men to fend off Cerberus troops, he was sure she would have sent him back to the shuttle by now.
"The scientists are almost ready but it's given Cerberus time to regroup. Expect heavy resistance." James watched Shepard's mouth move and wondered how much madder she'd be if he just kissed her right then and there. "Are you going to continue with your insubordination?"
James shrugged, tearing his gaze away from her mouth and up to her eyes. "Hey, it's not my comm unit that's broken. It's his. If he dies because he can't check his shit before we leave, it's not my fault."
Her hand clenched into a fist and he could tell she wanted to punch him. Every line of his body dared her to. He was ashamed to admit it, but he did flinch when she reached for his head and pulled the comm unit from around his ear. She ripped her own out and shoved it into his hand.
"Here, mine works fine." Her voice changed from merely annoyed to downright angry. "I have a feeling I'll find this one miraculously functions again when I use it."
James hooked the comm unit up to the battery in his suit and secured it to his ear, eyes on the ground and sour look on his face. She always managed to catch him out.
Ah, who was he kidding? He ignored Alenko's orders only when it was relatively safe to. More than once there had been an opportunity for the Major to get shot or at least seriously injured and every time James had prevented it by taking a well-aimed shot or yelling a warning at the Major through his comm unit. James could be an asshole but he wasn't Illusive Man levels of asshole.
The first shuttle launched and it looked like it'd be a relatively smooth run when the ground shook and the windows shattered as Cerberus troops stormed the compound from above. James rolled into cover, taking a shot at a trooper who landed too close to his position. Where the hell were Shepard and Alenko?
"Get to the shuttle bay! Protect the transports!" he heard Shepard's voice over the comm unit and Alenko's affirmative follow on the order's heels.
With a string of curses, James ran from cover to cover, shooting as he sprinted down the stairs towards the shuttle bay. He stumbled as a concussive shot almost took out his shields and turned, aiming at the one trooper left on the upper level. The shot wasn't perfect but the incendiary ammo stuck to the armour and the trooper panicked, patting himself as the fire ate through the ablative coating. James took another shot and it pierced through the helmet of the trooper. Scoped and dropped, as Garrus would say.
By the time he'd gotten to the shuttle bay, the handful of Cerberus troops down there were dead or dying but as the doors to the bay open, bullets rained in on them, bouncing off the evacuating shuttles and ricocheting at all angles. Staying inside the shuttle bay was a looking a hell of a lot more dangerous than being outside in the thick of things.
"James, take point, we'll cover you. Push to the landing pad. Kaidan, right flank. And overload that damn shield pylon!"
Fucking point. James dashed forward, intending to take cover to his right when Kaidan warned him to stay away from the shield pylon. He abruptly turned to the left, sliding behind cover as shots from the landing pads to their right and left warped his shields.
Their progress was slower than he would have liked, Alenko and Shepard pulling or throwing those on the upper landing pads to keep them from halting their progress altogether. James' back still hurt from the concussive shot but he ignored it, adrenaline pumping through his system as he put all his weight into a vicious shotgun-butt to the helmet of a Cerberus trooper. The visor cracked under the force and James shot two rounds into the trooper's chest.
He vaulted over a crate and hunkered down, unclipping his rifle from his back and popping up to lay down covering fire as Shepard and Alenko found new cover. The landing pad was just up these stairs. Almost home free.
"Atlas!" James didn't know if it was him or Alenko who had shouted it first.
Not for the first time did James regret not having Garrus here. He could have shattered the glass protecting the cockpit and taken out the soldier at the controls. He lobbed a frag grenade out of cover and saw Shepard throw her cluster grenades too. The force of the grenades so close almost toppled him over and, across the small gap between their covers, he saw both Alenko's shield and barrier shimmer and waver.
He looked away from the Major and saw Shepard lean out of cover with her biotics flaring and send a shockwave at the Atlas. It staggered back at the force of it and James popped out of cover again, shotgun in hand instead of the assault rifle, backpedalling to find safer cover while he emptied his clip at the Atlas.
The trooper at the control seemed more interested in taking out Shepard than shooting at the person out in the open. Alenko seemed to notice too and a cryo blast left his omnitool, the super-cooled subatomic particles snap-freezing the Atlas' joints. But the Atlas already had its rocket launcher up and aimed at Shepard's cover. James sprinted toward her, tackling her and skidding across the ground with her in his arms. The crate she was hiding behind exploded.
James scrambled upright, throwing all of his frag grenades at the Atlas now that it couldn't move its joints. The onslaught of gunfire, biotics and grenades did its job and James was pulled to the ground by Shepard's hands as the Atlas exploded.
When he looked at her, she had an expression on her face that he hadn't seen before. There was gratefulness there but also a whole host of other emotions that weren't really a good thing to dwell on right now.
"You're welcome, Lola."
Shepard frowned at him and James knew he'd broken the moment.
"Get to the shuttle," she said, pistol in hand as she jumped over cover and ran for the landing pad, where Alenko was already waiting.
Cerberus troops streamed out of the shuttle bay, another Atlas dropped from the sky. Why the fuck did Cerberus have so many soldiers? He scrambled into the shuttle after a sprint that made his legs burn. He turned and saw Shepard get knocked down by a blast that almost hit her. He wanted to scramble back out to help her but Alenko put his hand on James' chest, stopping him from jumping from the shuttle.
"Cover fire." Kaidan raised his own rifle as the scientist woman helped Shepard back onto the shuttle.
With an angry grunt, James lifted his rifle and took out his aggression on the troops who were stupid enough to run up the stairs to the landing pad. The shuttle doors closed behind Jacob as he jumped into the shuttle and James went to sit down, fuming.
What the fuck was that? He wanted to punch the Major for stopping him from jumping out. He would have gotten back to the shuttle with Shepard faster than the scientist.
As soon as the shuttle doors opened once they docked on the Normandy, James jumped out, walking straight to the weapons bench to deposit his shotgun and rifle. He turned to look back at the shuttle and saw Alenko with his hand on Shepard's arm, standing close to her and talking. Did he have to be that close to talk to someone? James couldn't read lips but when Shepard looked over at James he knew that their conversation must have been about him.
Spinning on his heel, he walked to the elevator. Shepard was calling his name but he ignored it, stepping into the elevator. James turned and watched as she stormed toward him. He pressed the button to close the doors, crossing his arms over his chest in challenge for her to try and stop him from leaving. The doors closed and for a fraction of second he thought he'd won. Then they opened again and Shepard was standing on the other side of them, angrier than she was when she first stomped her way toward him. This was beginning to look like a bad idea.
"Thank you, EDI."
"You're welcome, Shepard."
Damn AI.
Shepard stepped into the elevator and pressed the button to close the doors behind her. To say she was furious was a gross understatement but James was a marine, dammit, and didn't back down from her glare.
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Nothing, ma'am. Just tired."
"EDI, stop the elevator."
The elevator jerked to a standstill.
"You don't answer questions directed at you by your CO, you storm off like a child without being dismissed, you almost start shit in the middle of a mission by ignoring orders from Kaidan, a superior offi—"
James couldn't help clenching his jaw and the flash of annoyance and jealousy that crossed his face. Not "the Major" or "Alenko" but "Kaidan".
"You've got to be shitting me," said Shepard, correctly reading his expression. She stepped forward, gripping the neck of his chestpiece and yanking him down to her eye-level. "You will not bring personal feelings with you on a mission again, Lieutenant, or I will confine you to the ship indefinitely."
She was standing so close, her breath washing over him and her aura enveloping him. Goddamn, she was beautiful when she was angry, all fire and flushed cheeks. What little self-control James had left completely evaporated. He pulled her to him, hands fisted in her hair, and kissed her with all the desperation and frustration and pure want that had been raging inside him for the past few weeks, no, months. Their armour clanked together as he pressed her against the elevator wall and he felt her hands come up to grip his hips but she didn't push him away.
Unlike last time, she was the one to open her mouth first and deepen the kiss. That was all the encouragement he needed. His hands left her hair, grabbing her rear and hiking her up so she'd have to wrap her legs around his waist. Fuck, she still smelled the same and tasted the same and made that breathless little sound of surprise and desire. His groin ached and he would have traded anything in the galaxy for there to be nothing in between his skin and hers.
He trailed his lips across her jawline to where the smooth skin of her neck met her jaw and bit down, hard. Her yelp of pain morphed into the most decadent moan as he laved the bite with his tongue. A shudder ran through her body and she gasped his name as he scraped his teeth against the sensitive flesh. He'd have to remember just how responsive she became when attention was paid to her neck.
"Do you feel better now that you've marked your territory?" Contrary to the sound of pleasure she'd made just moments ago, her voice was dangerously frosty.
James pulled away, speechless, and Shepard dropped back down to her feet. He thought this was headed somewhere awesome but the expression on her face told him he had exactly ten seconds to get out of her sight.
"EDI, deposit the Lieutenant on the Crew Deck. He'll need all the sleep he can get since he'll be on mess duty for the next few days for insubordination whilst on a mission."
Fuck.
A/N: Two types of action this time! :D Thanks to all who are still following this little romp and leaving such fantastic encouragement. Con crit welcome, as usual.