"So... what is this? Your relationship, I mean."

"I dunno, ma'am-"

"Please, honey, call me Hannah. You're going to be the father of my grandchild anyway."

"Alright ma'am- I mean, Hannah. I'm not sure what it is. At first we were just... y'know, because of all the stress. We promised each other we wouldn't get attached. But..."

"But...?"

"I- I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, let's change the subject. That song you were singing earlier, may I ask what it was?"

"It's the song my brother sung to my niece."

"You have a beautiful voice, Mr. Vega."

"Please, Hannah, call me James."

They share forced laughter.

"Honestly, I wanted to beat the shit out of you when I heard the news."

"I'd be frightened had I known. Your family knows how to pack a punch. I'm going to feel sorry for Lola when the baby starts kicking."

"Lola? Such a pretty name, even if it is a nickname."

"Gracias."

"What do you think the baby's gender will be."

"Not sure. A girl would be nice, but I think we all know she'd turn out like all the beautiful women in this family: sweet on the outside but a diablo on the inside."

"Ha! You know how to work your way into a woman's heart, that's for sure."

Silence spans between the both of them as they contemplate the constellations. The young man feels he should be smoking a pipe and the older woman knitting.

"What will you do if something happens to Jane, but the baby is alive?"

"Then I'll take care of the baby myself. But I will always hate myself for letting whatever happened to the commander happen."

"You are good man, Vega."

From inside, Jane Shepard clamps her hand over her mouth to keep her sobs from being heard once more.

Ever since they got back from the Normandy, Shepard had been deliberately avoiding Vega outside her quarters. She refused to address the matter and acted as if he did not exist at all. Something pained him about this, but he was not sure what.

A week later, the crew decided to have Poker Night. Vega dominated at these things, mainly because he knew the best ways to cheat, but tonight his heart just wasn't in it. He played the cards he was dealt, not even bothering to look at them.

"All right," Kaidan spoke up after the 10th hand, slamming his hand on the round table. "Something's wrong with you, Vega. If I, of all people, can beat you at poker, you obviously aren't right in the head."

The lieutenant shrugged, sipping at his tequlia. Joker rolled his eyes and Garrus tapped his talons against Tali's thigh. If he glanced over at them, James swore he could see Sparks blushing beneath her visor.

"Nothing's wrong," Vega replied, avoiding eye contact. "Shit's swell as ever."

"Right," Joker quipped. "And I have the legs of Hercules. Come on, man, what's up with you these days? Even Javik is feeling sorry for you."

Javik growled loudly from the other side of the table, making Liara bite back a laugh. "I do not pity him. In my cycle, he would have been executed for what he has done." When James stared at him with wide eyes, Javik smirked. "Do not be surprised, primitive. I can smell your pheromones a mile away, and Shepard's even farther."

The table glanced back and forth from each other, looking for answers no one had. James regarded them all with stony eyes and silence fell upon the table.

A few moments later, Vega stood and left the room, heading for his usual haunt in the cargo bay.

When the elevator doors opened and he stepped out, the first thing he noticed was the fact that a blushing Cortez nearly bowling him over trying to reach the lift before the doors could close on him. He'd have a chat about that later, he was sure.

"Oh Christ!" a sultry voice moaned from his spot. A shudder ran through Vega's spine and he froze in place. "Goddamnit, goddamnit!"

That voice could only be Shepard's, especially with that potty mouth. With stealth, James headed towards the noise and placed his back against the crates, trying to peek around the corner.

In his little hideout, Shepard had layed herself on his workbench, guns strewn across the ground, naked as the day she was born. Letting his eyes stray down, he noticed that she was pushing something inside herself and could vaguely here the buzz of a machine.

Holy crap, she was using a vibrator!

James' cock sprang to life as his face flushed with embarassment. He shouldn't be here, he thought. He should've stayed upstair with the others, drinking til he passed out. But, God, he couldn't take his eyes off her. It was as if Aphrodite had shown up out of nowhere and started pleasuring herself in front of him!

He barely had time to take in the sight of the commander, so strange outside her calm facade, before she screamed and came. Shepard let herself fall onto the bench, vibrator still working inside of her, moaning someone's name. No, wait- she was saying his name.

"James," came her strangled gasps. "Oh fuck, James, just fucking take me, please!"

The lieutenant's mouth watered at the sight and he let himself come out from hiding before he knew what he was doing. Shepard opened her eyes at the sound of his footsteps, a smile on her tired face.

"I knew you'd come," she rasped.

He grinned, taking off his clothing with torturing slowness. "I'm like that, Lola. Just keep callin' and I'll come runnin'."

"Just, ugh, get over here!" Shepard cried. "I fucking need that cock!"

Vega, fully naked, tsked at her. "Ah ah ah. What's the magic word?" he teased with a smirk, climbing on top of the commander.

"Please!" she screamed. "Please, please, oh my fucking God, please!"

James mulled it over for a moment, fingers ghosting over her clit. He then shrugged, pushed aside the vibrator with his fingers (it wasn't very big, but it was long) and pushed himself slowly inside.

Shepard gasped as he began to gently rock his hips into her, humming his approval to the feeling of the vibrator against his own length. The lieutenant leaned over to bite his lover's neck, kissing the abused skin when he was through with that particular spot.

"So, commander," James began, lightly grabbing her hair. "How many cocks have you had in you back in your day? I bet you're one dirty fucking whore."

"S-six!" she groaned. He tugged at her hair. "Six cocks! Not including yours!"

"Six, huh?" he rumbled, jealousy dropping like a rock into his stomach. "No one I would no, would I? Or have you fucked all the men you find attractive on this ship? I bet you have."

"N-no," she rasped, a smile of bliss on her face. "O-only Garrus a-and Kaidan."

He raised his eyebrows, trying to hide his inner horror. "How good were they? Describe them to me."

"Gar- ah! Garrus took me against the aquarium! We went for hours with breaks. Kaidan and I had each other in the first N-Normandy! I was pregnant when I-"

They both stop what they're doing, staring wide-eyed at each other. The vibrator still buzzes inside of the commander. With shaky fingers, Shepard calls up her omnitool turns it off. James isn't sure what to do or what to say, so he stays there, still inside of her, mind reeling.

"You were pregnant before?"