Thank you to those who have followed, favorited and/reviewed Bialamos and the stand alone Warning! Even bigger thanks to Vorcha Girl for supporting me through the sumpreme effort that was this chapter for me (the struggle is real), right down to beta'ing for me! I couldn't have done this without her...well, maybe I could have, but not as stylishly. I highly recommend her work, she's just terrific and delightful, not to mention motivated me to start writing again!
Now, without further ado, I bid you a good read!
The vision of Major Kaidan Alenko seething in uncontrolled rage to the point he was radiating waves of energy and communicating death threats with his eyes would forever be burned into James Vega's mind until the day he died. In that moment, James thought he was a goner. That Kaidan was going to blow the windows out above him, and turn him into a skid mark on the deck with biotics. Every ounce of warm and fuzzy James had from his intimate dance with Shepard froze hard in his veins, forming a glacier in his stomach. Determined to not look like a total chickenshit, Vega squared his shoulders, rose his chin and locked eyes with Kaidan, returning the rage with fury.
Where Kaidan's glare blazed with 'She is MINE, how dare you touch her!?', James had the rumbling bellow of 'She was YOURS, how dare you throw her away!?'
They had stood there for maybe forty five seconds, waging wordless attacks of body language and physical presence against each other, but to James, it felt like forty five years.
Kaidan broke the macho staring match and disappeared into the the shadows beyond James's view.
That was the point being a human male took absolute hold of him, overriding every single ounce of restraint, training, common sense and patience James Vega had. In that moment, he went with 'Fuck it all,' and 'I've got nothing to prove!'.
He stormed to the elevator and thumped the call button, his pulse an angry throb in his neck.
"Lieutenant Vega, I do not believe you are making a wise decision," the forceful yet alarmed voice of EDI declared as he boarded the newly arrived lift.
"What makes you think I really fucking care, ma'am?" James snarled, making an attempt at maintaining the standtard of respect Shepard had set for him. He wasn't the smartest of guys when it came to tech, so he tended to take everything at face value. So when he was told EDI was a member of the crew, his shipmate, his battle buddy, he accepted it into his life that instant. Raisaris had always been open about how she and the rest of the crew that took down the Collectors would be dead or worse if they hadn't had EDI, so there was never a question about her value. Organic or synthetic, alive was alive, a life was a life, and that's all he needed to know.
"Rai will not find anything that occurs from this point on amusing on any level," EDI cautioned, and James involuntarily rolled his eyes.
"You're not going to talk me out of this, ma'am. I have every intention of finding out exactly what that pinche cabrón had a problem with. Especially considering I happened to catch the tail end of what Seňor Cara de Culo said to Raisaris that made the chicadita flee. Nobody puts Shepard in the corner." James rumbled, refusing to be swayed. He wanted words with Kaidan, and words he would have.
"Wait, I'm sorry to interrupt this obviously important moment between you and EDI, Vega, but did you just call Kaidan 'Mister Ass Face' AND reference Dirty Dancing!?" Joker interjected over the comm, laughing hysterically like a school boy.
"Yes, yes I did," James said, grinning from ear to ear. It didn't surprise James that Joker was listening, too, not one bit at all.
"Oh, man, that is priceless! EDI, leave him alone, you're not talking Swayze here out of it," Joker crowed, "But seriously, Vega...if you hurt my ship I will space your ass,"
The doors opened a second later, and James hooked a hard right into the port lounge to snag a shot of liquid courage and figure out exactly what he was going to say to Kaidan when he confronted him. He definitely needed something better to come in with than 'Yo, Major Dickhead! What the fuck, Chuck!?"
As fate would have it, Kaidan was in the lounge, with his back to the hatch, belly aching to Garrus and Liara. James felt his jaw jut out in instant aggression, as his eyebrow's dropped menacingly low over his eyes.
When Garrus saw Vega behind Kaidan, his eyes went wide and his mandibles flared in the turian equivalent of a dropped jaw.
"Shit..." Garrus uttered, his eyes flickering from Kaidan, to Liara, to Kaidan, to Vega and back to Liara.
Kaidan looked over his shoulder to see what had Garrus physically stuttering and sneered when his eyes laid on James. "Well if it isn't Rico Suave, himself," he declared in a very snide tone, turning around and crossing his arms across his chest.
"What's up, Super-jealous-nova? You know, I always thought envy was supposed be green. Turns out it's bright blue." James fired back without hesitation, clenched fists held tightly to his side's.
Kaidan's nostrils flared in raised anger, his eyes narrowing. "Says the punk ass kid that just had his hands all over my girlfriend!" He growled, visibly upset at the thought of Vega touching Shepard.
"Dude, I heard what you said to her in this very room we're standing in. She definitly isn't your girlfriend. You can't piss all over the woman, tell her she's the same as a husk to you, tell her she's a fucking traitor, that you feel 'your' Shepard died over Alchera, and expect her to consider you to be anything to her! How the fuck she even considers you a friend is beyond me!"
Garrus and Liara took a hasty step backwards from the human men, looking at each other in alarm. No translations were needed for them to understand that those were fighting words. "Should I message Rai?" Liara asked Garrus, pulling her omnitool up before he could answer. "No, Liara...let her rest, she needs it." The turian said with a shake of his head, reaching out to lower Liara's arm, seriously doubting they would do much damage. Maybe a cheap shot or two, but surely nothing worse. Though, if Garrus was completely honest with himself, he'd wanted to butt stoke Kaidan the face with his assault rifle after he broke Shepard's heart on Horizon and was hoping he'd get to see someone loyal to Shepard pop Kaidan right in the mouth.
"Are you sure it's a good idea to let them do this?" Liara sighed, looking more than slightly worried.
"No, it's probably a terrible idea...But we're still not waking Shepard up. And I have a hundred credits that says Kaidan punches James the face within the next five minutes," Garrus said, his subharmonics buzzing with excitement and amusement, and they turned their attention back to the humans as the argument between the men grew louder.
"What gives you the right to say anything when it comes to Raisaris and I? You're guessing at things you know nothing about, Vega," Kaidan demanded, his voice calm and steady, a complete contrast to how he felt.
"That's what you'd like to think, Major Dumbass. You forget I spent six months by her side. Despite what you want to believe, we got close. She told me how much she loved you. How much she needed you. And she also told me how cold you were on Horizon. How you embraced her like the lover lost she was, then proceeded to question her authenticity, her priorities and her fucking loyalties! You can't even tell me that's not how went down, cos there's a key eyewitness to that little discussion standing RIGHT fuckin HERE!" James fired back, gesturing wildly to Garrus, as his voice rose angrily.
With a steadying breath, he regained his composure and continued, "I read that bullshit message you sent her while she was taking the Collectors down, just so you know. Had to. It was part of my job, unfortunately. Why she had it saved still, I'll never know, but the fucker was there, all the same. You came off like a total jackass, you know that? Sittin there, talking about 'it's too hard, you died, now you're alive, but I can't trust you, I still love you, however I went out for drinks, but hey, do you remeber that one time we banged, cos I do'. What the hell, man? That's some fucked up emotional rollercoaster shit to pull on anyone, let alone Raisaris!"
"That's easy for you say standing where you are, Lieutenant. You weren't there for any of it! You didn't survive the hell that was Eden Prime. You didn't watch helplessly as you left a marine behind, knowing you're only alive because they were chosen to die instead of you! You weren't holding your breath, dreading to hear that Saren had killed her at the Citadel! You didn't watch the love of your life get spaced and tear a burning streak through the atmosphere of an alien planet!" Kaidan raged, his voice shaking and cracking. "You didn't have to burry her, and you sure as shit felt none of the pain we, the origional crew, felt trying to find light again! There's no going back to how 'life was' after she leaves, do you understand that? She changes everyone she meets, she seeps into the very fiber of your being, her grip can't be torn and the fingerprints are not removable! I was just finally starting accept that she was dead when she showed up on Horizon. If you shared our history with Cerberus, you would have questioned if it was really her or not, too," Kaidan continued, a single tear tracking down his face.
"I didn't question her, Alenko," Garrus interrupted, his eyes narrowing and voice flanging dangerously.
"Neither did I," Liara contributed, her hand on her hips and eyes glaring as brightly as Garrus'. "In fact, Kaidan, I'm the one that gave her remains to Cerberus in the first place," she added in threatening tones.
James absorbed everything, and saw the pure agitation in Garrus' body language. Briefly, James thought he saw a flash of protective love in Garrus' eye, but he dismissed it. The commander and the turian were best friends, sure, but James doubted it went past that.
"Sounds to me like you're just a pinche cabrón; a damned coward," James said in a low angry rumble, "And if that's really how you love people, you need to sit down seriously reevaluate your life, Ma-"
James was interrupted by a fist incased in a rock hard biotic field connectiong with his mouth. He spit blood as he realized his lip was spilt.
"Big mistake, jefe," James said as he wiped his bloody chin with the back of a hand.
"What are you going to do about it, Vega!?" Kaidan demanded.
"We're gunna dance, motherfucker!" James exclaimed, taking a jab that connected with Kaidan's eye, knocking the biotic back a step.
"I win!" Garrus declared victoriously, his subharmonics buzzing joyfully.
Silently, without looking her omnitool, Liara transferred the credits to Garrus's chit.
"Thank you," Garuus chirped, his eyes never leaving the boxing going on between James and Kaidan.
"We should stop this before it gets out of hand," Liara said absent mindedly.
"Well, sure, but haven't you wanted to see Kaidan get knocked on his ass longer than I have, Doc?" Garrus mused, rubbing his chin with his hand thoughtfully.
"There is that, but they're really-" whatever Liara going to say was interrupted by a shocking blast as Kaidan knocked James into the hall. It was probably a good thing James and stayed in the door's vicinity, keeping it open, otherwise he may have very well gone through the door. "Well, shit," Liara huffed, releasing a stasis field around Kaidan to keep him from charging the downed lieutenant.
Kaidan blew the field off of himself with a flare, something the Shadow Broker herself was unaware that he was capable of, and immediately rushed James.
Garrus made a guttural sound of determination deep in his chest as he sprung forward, tackling James even further down the hall. Gaining his feet with liquid grace, Garrus unceremoniously dragged Vega up to his feet, and pulled him around the corner as Liara threw a stronger stasis at Kaidan. "Thanks, Scars...I thought he had me," James breathed thankfully.
"Us pretty boys have look out for each other, Jimmy," Garrus grinned, his mandibles flaring in a chuckle. "You definitely brought this on with that mouth of yours, tho, Jimmy...There are certain things, no matter how true, that aren't meant be said out loud, and you really lit the fuse in th-"
Garrus ceased speaking when James was ripped out from in front of him with a shockwave. Kaidan blew by the turian in a blue blur and Garrus was left standing there, gaping at Liara in confusion.
"He broke free." Liara said simply, sounding amazed and petulant at the same time. "Again."
At that moment the elevator doors flew open and out stepped none other than Commander Shepard herself. She wore a tank top and the shorts from her cargo bay adventure, nothing else. She was bare foot, her hair free of any constraints. Garrus thought she looked like hell warmed over... forehead was glistening with sweat, and her skin seemed to be tinted grey.
'Are you hurt?' He tried to ask with only his subharmonic tone, forgetting Shepard's translator couldn't decipher tonal implications, so she wouldn't really know what he'd said.
Raisaris understood the trill of concern all the same and gave him a weary look. "Aratoht is still with me," she said simply, knowing Garrus would understand exactly what she meant.
"Rai, I-" Raisaris held up her hand with her index finger raised to silence Garrus as she glanced around her ship, her gaze zeroing in on the damage already done .
"Is that a dent in my deck?" She demanded.
"Um. Yes."
"What. The. Fuck."
A loud crash came from the mess hall, making the three of them jump.
Raisaris, Garrus, and Liara ran to the melee, stopping short when they saw the cause of all the noise.
James had Kaidan in a rear naked choke hold, while Kaidan was trying to use his biotics to pry off the coils of muscle wrapped around his neck. They were laid out in the middle of what used be the mess table, their shirts torn at the arms, neck and varying places on their abdomen and backs. Clearly, these two had been trying to do some damage. Each man had his own cheering section crew members, shouting instructions and encouragement alike. The end result of this 'game' was obvious to Raisaris, she knew the two marines wouldn't stop fighting until one or both of them couldn't move anymore. She had a sneaky suspicion that what they were fighting over something to do with her having danced with Vega, but she quickly pushed the giddy excited feeling back down into the farthest corner of her mind.
Kaidan was too powerful of a biotic to lose the fight, and James was too damned stubborn to realize it.
With an agitated huff, Raisaris, turned around with a flick of her waist length hair. Rounding the hall and elevator, she took a running start at James and Kaidan, launching herself at them from behind. When she collided with them, her adrenaline was raging so hard it seemed like time slowed down to a crawl. She kicked James away from Kaidan, but still managed to wrap her thighs around his neck into a triangle hold, and put Kaidan into nearly the same choke hold Vega had just had him in with her upper body.
She laid down a stasis over all three of them, willing her biotics to have the weight of several krogan warlords as it pressed them into the deck.
The crowd that had gathered around the fight collectively cheered and groaned in the same breath. Shepard's entrance had been spectacular, sure, but it also meant the fight was over.
James and Kaidan struggled against her limbs, trying to reach one another again.
"ENOUGH, CHILDREN!" Raisaris bellowed in Grade A drill instructor fashion. Garrus teased her that it was her angry voice, but truth be told, it definitely scared the shit out of him. And Wrex. Every single organic being within earshot of her roaring command visibly flinched and withdrew at least an entire step back. Except for James and Kaidan, who just stopped moving and went pale.
Gritting her teeth, she continued to wear her Commander Pants. "All nonessential personnel are to report to their birthing areas immediately," she informed the crew. Garrus and Liara had shuffled their ways towards their preferred spaces as soon as Raisaris started yelling, Liara to her cabin and Garrus to the forward battery. They knew at that point, she was very pissed, and they knew whatever was going to happen wasn't going to be pretty.
"Oh, no, not you two! T'soni, Vakarian, get your blue and scaly asses back in here, I'm not done with you!" Shepard called out, spotting their attempts to flee.
With heads hung low, they slowly walked back to the front the crowd.
Still holding onto the marines, Shepard looked incredulously at the crew that was still loitering. "Did I stutter!?" She barked. "I said you're dismissed!"
"Aye, aye, ma'am!" The entire room chimed and disappeared very quickly.
It wasn't until they where all gone that Raisaris let James and Kaidan up. She returned to standing with a swift sweep of her foot that gave her momentum to regain her feet, glaring at James, Kaidan, Garrus and Liara.
"What the hell were you thinking?" She demanded furiously.
"Lola, I'm sor-"
Raisaris stopped James with her infamous index finger. Rumor had it no one ranked so high as to avoid that finger. No one, but her mother. "I'm not talking to you, Lieutenant," she said quietly, her eyes fixed on Garrus and Liara.
"I would have thought two you would have stopped this before began. We're out here, trying to pull every spacefaring galactic race into a single army to stop the Reapers, and my fucking crew can't even keep their shit toghether!" She yelled, her temper flaring dangerously. Crystal green eyes burned teal as her biotics flared within them, and a bluish aura enveloped her.
Liara's cheeks turned a bright purple as she blushed, and Garrus shuffled from foot to foot in discomfort.
"Liara, take the major to my cabin, clean him up. I'll be up to deal with you two after I'm done with these idiots," Raisaris directed, jerking her chin to indicate that Garrus and James were the idiots she was referring to.
With a sigh she looked the remains of the table, and shook her head in disbelief. She'd been asleep for maybe twenty minutes according to EDI.
"Garrus, take that chucklehead to Doc Chakwas...I think he needs stitches..." She said, looking James's battered face over.
"Oh, c'mon Lola...I thought you had a thing for scars," James joked, trying to ease the tension.
"No, that's just with me," Garrus quipped, shooting a wink at Raisaris.
"You are both completely unbelievable." She said, shaking her head in disbelief again. "Get your asses in the med bay, now, and let me have a cup of coffee. You will not like what I have to say if I have to say right fucking now." She didn't wait for their reply, just walked into the galley and started making the cup of coffee that was going to save their lives.
Without a word, they left her to herself, and she drank the silence with her eyes closed.
If it wasn't one thing, it was another.
But, then again, nothing was ever easy for Raisaris Shepard.
Ever.