Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect

A/N – Thank you very much to the people who are reading and reviewing. I love reading your comments and feedback! And hello to the people who are following along! *Waves*


James hated flying; he'd flunked the shuttle flight portion of his Alliance training twice and barely scraped through on his third attempt. Guiding a shuttle through Mars' atmosphere, with Shepard hovering behind him, ranked high on his list of things he'd rather not be doing. His fingers felt fat and clumsy and he had to concentrate hard not to make mistakes or fumble the controls.

It felt like going for his shuttle license all over again.

The planet's atmosphere buffered the small shuttle around and James adjusted the stabilisers to compensate, ignoring Shepard's gauntleted hand resting in his peripheral vision. Once the stabilisers kicked in, the shuttle cut through the planet's atmosphere like butter, and as they completed the re-entry, the view screen cleared up and James whistled in appreciation at the huge storm filled the horizon. The clouds boiled up into the upper stratosphere and were periodically discharging frightening bolts of lightning.

His chair shifted as Shepard pushed away and he heard the seals hiss as she put her helmet on, and walked out into the troop deck where Kaidan was sitting. With Shepard gone it was easier for James to breathe and think and he ran a search of the facilities status. His findings confirmed EDI's findings; the facility was offline with no data available.

The Mars Archive was much bigger than he'd expected and it sprawled out in all directions like a giant silver spider on a red rock. Muttering under his breath, James ran a second search for a landing zone, and once he located the beacon for the Archives he brought the shuttle in low to land, grateful he was able to land the shuttle without crashing it for a change.

"Commander, there's still no contact from the facility." James locked his helmet in place and moved away from the controls, eager to put some distance between himself and the shuttle. "We've also got a massive storm heading our way and once it hits it's going to disrupt our communication with the Normandy."

"Of course, because nothing can ever be too easy for us." Shepard's sarcastic voice came in clearly through the transceiver in his helmet, and James snorted in amusement as he pulled out his assault rifle. She opened the hatch and nodded to the barren red world outside. "Let's do this quick and hope that maybe it's just a downed comm tower."

She vanished outside and Alenko followed hot on her heels, leaving James to bring up the rear. The two men did a preliminary check of the area around the shuttle while Shepard scouted ahead.

"That's one heck of a storm." James commented to Kaidan as he followed Shepard. He could just see her up ahead, crouched behind a tumbles of rocks and boulders. She looked to be intently watching something on the other side.

"Not really." Kaidan's voice was distracted and dismissive, and James struggled not to prickle at the offensive tone. "It's pretty average for Mars."

"Well, it's going be bad for communication either way." James tried to keep his voice light as they finished their search and jogged to catch up with Shepard, determined not to take Kaidan's tone personally.

The Major's dark visor made it impossible for James to see his face and get a read on his emotional state, but he was acting as though he was seriously pissed with something. Possibly himself and the way he'd blurted out the question about Shepard's tattoos, or maybe at whatever she'd said to him when he asked her to speak privately. Really, it was none of his business, but Alenko had brooded the entire flight down.

"We have trouble." Rennah's voice crackled in his helmet, and James saw her put her hand gun away and draw her sniper rifle. She lined up a shot. "Looks like Cerberus."

"Cerberus?" Kaidan took cover next to Shepard, looking over the boulders at the troops beyond. "Are they ...? They're executing them!"

James ducked behind a low rock wall and looked at the scene playing out below. There were troops down there, Cerberus, and James swore softly in Spanish as they forced an Alliance scientist to his knees and shot him in the head. Alenko swore angrily and began to glow, his biotics swirling around his body as he gathered his power.

"Shit!" Shepard's growled, and an instant later her sniper rifle fired and one of the Cerberus trooper's head exploded in a red mist.

The other troops scattered for cover, but not before Kaidan leaped over the rock wall with his assault rifle blazing. He took out a Cerberus troop before he ducked back behind a boulder, firing periodically to keep them at bay. James waited patiently behind his own small rock wall until a trooper bumbled into view as he tried to avoid the Major.

A spray of bullets whizzed past James' head and he ducked down behind the wall. "A little help, Commander!"

Shepard vaulted over the rocks and hurled a singularity at the group of troopers firing on him. All three of them were lifted from the ground, and they struggled and flailed helplessly in the air. The fired a few rounds into each and vaulted out from cover to double check they were all dead. Kaidan took out the last man, an engineer attempting to set up a turret system, then they regrouped near the bodies of the Alliance soldiers.

"Shepard, what are Cerberus doing here?" The suspicion in Kaidan's voice trilled along James' spine, and he winced to hear it.

To his surprise, Shepard kept her cool.

"Not a clue, but it doesn't look like they're here in force." She sounded calm, cool and collected as she pointed at the ground assault vehicles parked nearby; a token amount and not enough for a real assault force.

James almost applauded Rennah's response to Kaidan. She had deftly sidestepped his passive-aggressive accusation and chosen instead to take the question innocently; an impressive move considering how angry she became when people accused her of working for Cerberus.

Once she'd been brought back from a Defence Committee meeting because she'd apparently let fly with some colourful and choice language when one of the members insinuated she might still be working for them The mere fact that she made an effort not to snap at Alenko when he was making such pointed little remarks was nothing short of miraculous.

"We should head inside." Shepard pointed at the ramp ahead which led into the facility. "We might be able to get to the bottom of this."

James nodded and followed Kaidan and Shepard up the ramp, checking behind them in case any of the Cerberus troops had been hiding out and planning to shoot them in the back of the head. None did, and they made it safely inside, Rennah quickly closing the airlock doors and starting to cycle the air. She stowed her sniper rifle away again and drew her handgun, switching the ammo type to fire before loading it. James quickly checked his own clip and then readied his gun again, certain that they were probably going to find more trouble inside.

Before the airlock could cycle though, he saw Kaidan heading determinedly towards Shepard, and even with his helmet on James knew he was about to tackle the Cerberus issue again. There was something in the way he held himself and the way he was walking that seemed almost determinedly assertive. James wanted to stop the man and slap him on the back of the head to tell him that he was being stupid! The rest of the upper Alliance brass knew that Shepard was on their side and believed her, so why the hell didn't he?

But James stood back and let Kaidan go forward; he wasn't here to protect Rennah anymore and she could more than handle herself. Besides, if Kaidan wanted to keep pushing this issue than James wasn't going to stop him. It was pathetic, but part of him hated the idea that Shepard might still care for Alenko and that was why she was reacting so emotionally to him. James knew he being was a stupid, jealous idiot, but even though he knew he didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of even registering on her radar, he still didn't want to see Rennah blissfully happy with another man.

You're nothing but a jealous fool, Vega!

"Shepard, I'm not letting this go." His voice, even over the comms, sounded painfully suspicious and James shook his head in disbelief.

"Kaidan …" Rennah's tone was placating, and for a moment James thought she might actually be able to avoid the oncoming argument, but the biotic stubbornly pushed on.

He's like a blind and deaf man walking towards oncoming traffic; completely ignorant everyone shouting at him to get off the road! James thought to himself as he saw Shepard put a hand to her head in frustration.

"Don't Kaidan me!" The stress in Kaidan's voice rose and he paced. "This is serious and I want a straight answer! Do you know anything about this?"

"Oh for crying out loud, Kaidan! I left Cerberus months ago! I blew up the Collector base the Illusive Man wanted me to save and then stole the ship he'd given me. Why would I know anything about why they're here?" Rennah sounded angry now, and the emotion threaded warningly in her words.

"You worked for them for months!" Alenko's voice was less sure than it had been a minute ago, and under all of his suspicion James heard pain. "They rebuilt you! They gave you a new Normandy and funded you. What am I supposed to think?" He sighed and came to a stop in front of Shepard, his hands outstretched in appeal.

Rennah stayed quiet for a second and then she spoke, quietly but with such fury in her voice that it made James grateful it wasn't being aimed at him. "I'm only going to say this once, so listen carefully: I used Cerberus to take down the Collectors and save lives. I haven't had any contact with Cerberus since I left them and I don't know why they're here."

Kaidan still wasn't willing to give up, and he stepped even closer to Rennah, as though trying to see her face through the visor. "Yeah but …"

"I'm not going to do this anymore, Major."

James shivered at the icy tone in her voice and decided to weigh in. "Commander Shepard has been under constant watch since she handed herself in. There's no way she's been in contact with Cerberus."

Rennah looked at him and though he couldn't see her face, her saw her nod slightly at him and he felt better about interrupting their private little fight. He tried not to think about the omni-tools she'd had access to while in his custody. Realistically, he had no idea of her tech ability, so it was possible that she had been in contact with Cerberus, but he didn't believe so. Shepard would never betray the Alliance to Cerberus, he'd staked his life on it.

Hell, I almost did stake my life on it back on Earth!

Alenko sighed as the fight went out of him, and he turned away from Shepard. "I'm sorry Shepard. It's just that …"

The airlock cycled, interrupting him, and the room pressurised as breathable air rushed in through the vents. James removed his helmet almost as quickly as Shepard and Kaidan did. Rennah paused to shake out her long dark hair, then turned around to face Kaidan, her violet eyes unmistakably bitter.

"You of all people should know me better than that, Kaidan. You don't like Cerberus? Great. Neither do I, but I'm done explaining myself to you every time you decide to get all snide and suspicious." The bitterness in her eyes was matched in equal parts by the anger in her tone, and she turned away from him again as the hangar doors above them opened and the platform rose.

Kaidan stayed silent and as Shepard walked away from him, and James saw his armoured shoulders fall in defeat as he raised a hand to his forehead in regret. Then, with an obvious effort he shook it off and hefted his gun as he glanced up at the doors opening above them. James tried not to look at Kaidan as he moved to Shepard's side in a silent show of support, still a little flabbergasted at how stupid Alenko was being.

It seemed like the man wanted an excuse to be mad at her.

As the floor drew level with what looked like a hangar or garage they heard noise; loud clunking sounds followed by gunfire coming from the vents above them. They ran for cover behind a ground vehicle, Shepard sticking close to the front so she could see what was going on. As James crouched next to her, his shoulder just touching hers, he kept his gun at the ready, certain that any minute now they were going to get swarmed by Cerberus troops. He heard the loud bang of metal hitting the floor, following by the buzzing sound of someone using biotics and then more gun fire. When the last gunshot had died away, Shepard chuckled next to him and pushed out from cover, holstering her gun as she strode forward recklessly.

Laughing? Why was she laughing?

Confused, James swung out to follow her, almost missing the gutted look Kaidan was still wearing across his face as he followed after him. Stay focused on the mission, Vega! He told himself as he brought his gun up and came around the corner to see a beautiful Asari holstering a hand gun, two dead Cerberus troops lying on the ground next to her. He raised his gun to keep her in his sights and almost jumped when Shepard casually pushed his gun back down, glancing at him with a weary smile.

"Easy these, Vega. She's one of us."

James lowered his weapon, an embarrassed flush creeping up his neck. He glanced uneasily at Kaidan who'd watched their exchange without saying a word. When he met Kaidan's eyes the other man gave him a smile and a nod as he lowered his own rifle, as if to reassure him that it was okay to put the gun down.

"Liara." Shepard said the name softly and moved forward without a backwards glance. The Asari looked up at them with surprise on her face, her eyes shimmering in a way that reminded James painfully of Treeya.

"Shepard! Kaidan!" The relief in her tone was palpable and she rushed forward to meet them, sweeping Shepard into a hug that was so out of character for Rennah to take, that James half expected her to shove the Asari away. But she didn't. "Thank the Goddess you're both alive! I was so worried! I heard the Reapers hit Earth as hard as they did Khar'shan."

"Khar'shan? The batarian home world?" Kaidan stepped up next to them, leaving James to stand awkwardly behind him. "I hadn't heart about the batarians, but the Reapers hit Earth pretty hard."

"I've had operative reporting that the reapers obliterated the Batarian home world before they moved on. Reaper forces seem to be everywhere at the moment, which makes what I was doing here so important." Liara waved for them to follow her as she strode quickly to a console and pulled up some files. "I discovered plans for a Prothean device that could wipe out the Reapers."

"Impressive." James kept pace with Kaidan as they walk, and the dark haired man nodded in agreement. "But why are we only finding out about this now? And why are Cerberus here?"

Liara turned to glance at him, her eyes burning with curiosity. "We found the files through luck and desperation. Hackett had been doing all he could to prepare for an invasion while your Alliance had Shepard under investigation on Earth, but I wasn't willing to sit by and wait. Hackett asked me to use my resources as the Shadow Broker to help him …"

"Wait! You're the Shadow Broker?" The words burst from Kaidan in surprise and he stared open-mouthed at Liara. "When did this happen? Why didn't I know about this?"

Liara looked at him in mild reproach. "It happened quite some time ago, Major. Shepard helped me take down the old broker, but I didn't exactly go around advertising my new position to the world."

"So you knew about this?" Kaidan turned his surprise on Rennah; a mistake.

"Well, I would have invited you along, Kaidan, but you were busy being a good Alliance soldier on Horizon." The acid in Shepard's tone bit deep and James saw Liara shift uncomfortably as Kaidan looked down, his eyes shadowed.

"Yes well," the asari cleared her throat to get their attention, "my position as the Shadow Broker aside, we need to get to the archives and retrieve the blueprints for the device. We need to get to the beacon, which should be easy ... assuming Cerberus hasn't locked the tramway down." Her voice was evenly toned and she showed patiently ignored the uncomfortable exchange between Kaidan and Rennah.

"What the hell are Cerberus doing here anyway? They seemed pretty desperate to get you." James moved so he was facing Liara, glancing at her curiously. She seemed so unassuming; not the kind of person he would have pegged to be the Shadow Broker.

She met his stare evenly, not flinching at all. "They're after the same thing I am; the blue prints for the device."

"That sounds like Cerberus, all right." Alenko nodded and looked squarely at Liara. "They'd want to control anything that powerful …" He trailed off and glanced at Shepard, as though wondering if that was why the Illusive Man had rebuilt her.

The look wasn't accusatory, just thoughtful.

"Anything powerful enough to destroy the Reapers would be something that the Illusive Man would want to control." Rennah agreed with him, looking at Kaidan and managing to nod as she drew her gun. Shouts and clunks sounded from the doors and Shepard whirled to face it, her eyes flaring with blue. "Looks like we have company."

"Bring it on." James checked his rifle and grinned; this was what he was good at! Shooting the bad guys and holding his ground!

"Not this time, Vega. I want you out in the shuttle." Shepard interrupted him, pointing at the lift platform that had brought them up.

He couldn't believe she was doing this! He'd come this far with her and Kaidan with no problem at all! She'd seen him in action so she knew he was good in combat. So why send him back to the shuttle like a worthless grunt? Like a child that had to be punished?

"But …"

"Don't argue, Lieutenant." Rennah stepped closer and her eyes held a silent appeal as she held up a hand to forestall his reply. "I need someone out there that I can trust. If Cerberus gets the data and tries to run, I need you to be waiting to stop them. "

James nodded, the disappointment fading a wave of pride that she trusted him. "Of course Commander, just be careful. Things won't be so easy in a fire fight without me watching your back." He grinned cheekily as she laughed and activated the lift.

"Smart ass." Her indigo eyes watched him until he vanished, the look in them enough to make James wish he could stay by her side. "And thanks for not mentioning the …" She tapped her omni-tool and winked at him as he disappeared from view.

James fitted his helmet, feeling irrationally pleased at her faith in him. He just hoped that Kaidan could stay focused on the mission and keep his head in the game while he fought at her side. Still, Shepard trusted him to back her up in fight, and she would know what Alenko was capable of far better than he did.


A/N – Gosh, I meant to get this out a lot sooner but my husband kept insisting I do stuff outside the house on my holidays! Outside! In the sun! With other people! Oh well, hopefully I'll manage two chapters next week! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter ^_^

More to come soon…and as always let me know what you thought in a review!