The elevator to the hangar opened up, and Vega stepped through. He could see that Cortez was working on the ship's Kodiak; the one he DIDN'T crash.
"Hey, Esteban!"
"Mr. Vega! How was your fabulous trip on the Citadel?"
James laughed.
"Fabulous? I doubt it. If one was going to forget about the worries of the galaxy, that would truly be the place."
"So I'm guessing you went to the Presidium."
"You've guessed right."
"I don't even know why you left the ship. That place didn't seem like your kind of place."
"I thought I could relax, but I ended up getting frustrated from the obvious residence that relaxation was NOT an option."
"Well, guess you can finally brag that you were on the Presidium."
"This is true, though that's not much to brag about."
James headed over to his station, and began doing pull ups on the overhanging bar above his computer. The feel of sweat, adrenaline, and pain made all that frustration disappear.
. . .
"James."
How long had she been standing there?
"Hey Shepard."
After the conversation on the Presidium, he wanted to know more about the meeting with the Council that Liara had said.
"How'd it go with the Council?"
"Same as usual. Noncommittal. Unhelpful."
He laughed to himself. So, the Doc wasn't pulling his leg. He had a feeling of what happened next.
"Bet they still wanted you to help them out, no?"
"Yeah. We're going to rescue a Turian primarch from Palaven."
Palaven? Almost no human had ever even SEE what Palaven was like, let alone himself ever actually setting foot there. This was gonna be interesting.
"Sounds like fun. Never been to the Turian homeworld."
James figured that she'd only been down there for a low-down of the upcoming mission, but she continued to watch him work out. He could sense that she was there for more.
"You come down here for something, or you just lookin?"
"I did just come to chat, but I might stay for the show."
'How cute. You wanna play like that?'
"Have to work harder than that if you want to make me blush."
James wasn't so good with these kind of conversations, so he didn't know where exactly to begin.
"Not sure what there is to talk about."
He thought about his military history, but she'd have already known that.
"You already know my service record."
Shepard stepped away.
"I don't, actually. Didn't have access to personal records when we met."
Oops! Duh! She had been under house arrest! Of course she wouldn't have known!
"Right... forgot about that."
His arms were beginning to get sour, and he needed a more comfortable way of talking to her...
"Well..."
He dropped from the bar, and loosened up a bit.
"Think you can dance and talk at the same time?"
He heard her give a small giggle.
"Oh, I can dance..."
She reminded him of his friend's sister.
"Ok, Lola... let's do this."
Shepard gave a devilish smile.
"Don't let my good looks fool you, Vega. I've got my share of scars."
Ooh, and spicy too! Vega laughed.
"You remind me of my old CO."
"Oh yeah, and who was that?"
The memories began bubbling back in.
"Captain Toni. He was a hard-assed son of a bitch, but a good leader."
"Was?"
Confusion swept over her face. James explained.
"Died-with most of my squad- protecting a civilian colony from a Collector attack."
"And the colony?"
The sickness of that weighty decision slowly hung itself on him.
"It was either them... or the Intel we had on the Collectors- Intel we could've used to destroy them!"
He almost felt like vomiting, but he wasn't gonna show Lola how weak he really was.
"I chose the Intel..."
Shepard jumped backwards. A bit of sadness had replaced her curiosity.
"Sorry, that's a tough call."
He forced a smirk.
"The best part was we didn't really need the Intel in the end... because you were out saving the galaxy by taking down the entire Collector homeworld."
"You didn't know. You can't blame yourself, Vega."
He was a bit annoyed.
"Who says I'm blaming myself?"
Shepard must have realized that she had hit a sour note, because she seemed to lower her guard a bit.
"Just a guess."
'Good guess, unless you were like me.'
"You a shrink, too?"
"No, but that stunt back on Mars was reckless. You're lucky to be alive."
Now he really was agitated.
"So?"
Tension was building up in her voice as well.
"So... maybe you don't care if you live or die."
"Or maybe... I'm just willing to do whatever the fuck it takes to end this goddamn war!"
Shepard grabbed him, and tossed him to the ground. He didn't even see it coming from his rage.
"Maybe you are. But if you're half as good as I think you are... we need you alive."
'Wow, that was heavy!'
But maybe she was right. He scrambled back on his feet.
"Thanks for the pep talk."
"Anytime."
"Hey, thanks for the dance, Lola."
Shepard smiled.
"Lola, huh?"
"You kind of look like a Lola."
Her grin got even larger, and the devilish smiled returned.
"You're cute... so I'll let you get away with it... for now."
James did what he thought he'd never done. He blushed a bit.
"That's it... you made me blush..."
