"Answer me this."

Kaidan closed the weapons locker, his attention going to the large man leaning up against the wall of the Normandy's shuttle bay, watching him. "If I feel like it." He agreed before moving his assault rifle to the bench and beginning to clean it.

Vega was quiet a moment, as if gathering his thoughts. "It doesn't bother you how touchy-feely she is with me."

"Not particularly, no." Kaidan agreed glancing up. "Would you feel better if I went into a jealous rage and beat you until you promised never to touch her again?"

"Yeah, but that ain't my issue." Vega agreed shaking his head and moving closer. "You and she have an open relationship?"

"Hell, no." Kaidan shook his head once more looking at the man speaking to him before returning his attention the gun he was carefully taking apart and cleaning. "Rache's the type to shoot first and ask questions later if she were to even suspect I had the balls to cheat on her and while I have seen her check other guys out a lot, usually it's because she's trying to figure out the easiest way to incapacitate them and conserve on ammo at the same time."

"So she's a tease?" Vega persisted. "With her touching. Hell, she fell asleep on my lap in the shuttle."

Kaidan straightened, setting his tools aside. "Do you think she's teasing you, James?" He asked.

"Don't pull that psychiatrist 'answer a question with a question' shit with me, Alenko. Just answer the damn question." Frustrated anger burst from the big guy.

"How I answer your question depends on how you answer mine, James." Kaidan was unmoved by the anger. "I need to understand what you think she's doing before I can explain what's going on."

"So you can spin it? Make it look like she's not a fucking tease?" This time the anger was deeper, stronger.

"What I see when she touches you, James, is different than what you see and both of our perceptions are different than what Rache's motives are." Kaidan continued unperturbed. "So…no, I'm not spinning it. I'm making sure I answer the question properly."

"If you loved her, it would bother you that she touches me. Teases me. Flirts with me." James all but snarled. "I have to seriously question your feelings if none of that bothers you."

Kaidan leaned against the bench. "I don't care if you question my feelings, James. Rache doesn't. That's all that matters to me."

"So I guess that's my answer, then. You don't care that she teases me like she wants something more from me than just being buddy-buddy." A smug smile curved the big man's lips as he crossed his arms over his broad chest and stared Kaidan down.

"I suppose my pointing out she's a superior officer to you won't mean anything to you?" Kaidan asked in mild tones.

"About as much as it meant to you when you went after her on your first tour together." James bit the answer out with fierce joy.

Kaidan laughed softly. "Good point." He pushed off from the bench, turning and picking up his tools to clean the assault rifle once more.

"I'm going after her. I will use everything I've got to take her from you." James called the challenge trying to provoke a response.

With a sigh, Kaidan turned his head enough that he could look at the younger man. "James, would you like a bit of advice?"

"You gonna tell me I'm wasting my time?" Again the words were belligerent, his chin jutting out his stance tense as if just waiting for Kaidan to attack. "Because that means I'm a threat."

"No, I'm not going to tell you you're wasting your time. I'm going to warn you that if you go ahead as you plan to, you will force Rache to change the slot you occupy in her life and you won't like the results." Kaidan gave him a long look and then shook his head as if washing his hands of the matter and returned to his gun.

"What the fuck does that mean?" James came closer, his body language still confrontational but this tone had a new uncertainty to it.

Sighing, Kaidan straightened again. "James, when you look at Rache's circle of friends, who do you see?"

The Lieutenant thought about it. "You."

"I'm not her friend, I'm more. Difference." Kaidan pointed out. "She doesn't have friends, James. She doesn't want them. To put it bluntly, she doesn't have the patience for them. You she has patience for."

"No. I'm not friendzoned." James shook his head, the words insistent. "She touches me, she teases me in ways you don't tease friends."

"I agree." Kaidan said in mild tones. "But that's not the point I'm making. She puts labels on people, James. Mine is lover. Joker's is asshole pilot. Anderson's is mentor. Hackett's is brass. You don't like the label she has for you, I can respect that. But you need to accept that if you demand that label change, it might not be the change you want."

"People shouldn't have labels." The declaration was made with a scowl.

"I think Rache's in the mess. Feel free to go tell her she's not politically correct enough." Kaidan didn't bother to hide the laughter in his words.

"Bullshit." James shook his head. "You're worried I'll take her from you. You're trying to set it up so I fail. I'm not falling for it." The big guy began to stalk away.

Kaidan sucked in a deep breath, shaking his head with pity before returning his attention to the scattered pieces of the assault rifle. Several minutes passed and he glanced to the side once again. "You gonna hover there long, James?"

"You told me the story about her family…about the attack on her colony and how they died."

Very carefully Kaidan turned away from the gun and faced the big guy. "I did." He agreed, his expression revealing nothing.

"Her parents died." James' jaw clenched and he looked away for a moment. "But you said she had a brother, too." The words were spit out, almost an accusation.

Kaidan gave a single nod. "Yes. His name was Zeke."

"How old was he? When he died?" James' continued, his nostrils flaring, his eyes hard.

"He'd be about your age, had he lived." Came the quiet answer.

For a long time the large marine said nothing, his gaze somewhere past Kaidan, the muscles in his jaw tight and hard as color surged up his face. "Fuck!" He finally shouted the word slamming his fist into the metal wall next to him.

Kaidan let him work it out, not surprised when blood began to smear the wall he was punching, waiting until the burst of violence eased before speaking.

"She touches you because she put you in the slot her brother once had. She flirts with you because, although you aren't her brother, she sees you as close as one and that makes you safe. That's why she could fall asleep with her head on your lap." The words were quiet but loud enough to be heard above the other man's heavy breathing. "You have a choice, James. I meant what I said…I respect you not wanting to be what she wants you to be. But Rache's lover slot is full. If you try to fill it, she'll slam you down, hard. Worse…she'll take away the slot she has you in."

"I'm not her brother." The words were pained.

"No." Kaidan agreed even as James staggered away as if in physical distress. "You're not. But that's all she'll allow you to be to her."

He much preferred placing himself between Rache and others when she was simply trying to do them bodily harm. Being in the middle when Rache was oblivious…a rare state for the first human spectre…and the other was a friend who was emotionally involved, that was something he'd never thought would happen and had no idea how to resolve.