Chapter 2

Confinement

"Do I still have a shirt on my back?" Shepard's eyes flared as she paced back and forth across the room. "Please tell me that I still have a damn shirt on my back." Stopping, she turned around and fixed her gaze squarely on James. "I mean, come on. They took practically everything else, why not add the shirt off my back to the list? In fact, I've a good mind to walk back in there and throw it at them myself. Actually, I think I will." Sure it was crazy but they, the Alliance, had literally taken everything else from her. With her mind made up, she made off in the direction of the door only to be stopped by Vega's left arm.

"Don't be stupid, Shepard," James couldn't help but laugh, he'd never seen her act like this before. In fact, despite her reputation for being a bit of a hard-ass, their time together so far had been relatively peaceful. She had been the Alliance's go-to soldier, the one willing to make the tough calls, the one who'd do anything to make sure the job got done. In the end, that was exactly what had been her undoing. "You're not going back in there," he walked her backward until they were a distance from the door, "You're not going anywhere right now, not talking to anyone who's not me until you calm your shit down."

"Is that right?" As she flinched away from him, she could feel her amp begin to tingle - time to reign in her anger before she was tempted to blast her way out, maybe even through him. "You know how easy it'd be for me to take you out of the equation?" Shepard balled her hand into fist and clenched it until the familiar pale blue glow encircled it. It probably wasn't wise to be threatening the man who had practically become her shadow, he'd become a friend and just as well - the Alliance hadn't allowed her many visitors since they'd brought her back to Earth. Oh, and it helped that he was easy to look at. "One flick and..." Her voice trialled off and she snapped her hand out flat, the blue orb disappeared and her eyes darkened as she looked at James.

"Damn," Vega crossed his arms over his chest, sure that all she had to do was vent her anger out of her system. "Shit, Commander, I'd heard you were crazy but this is a whole new scale of loco!" He smirked as he spoke, she was tiny but he had no doubt that she was a tightly wound ball of biotic rage. "Be my guest," he stepped aside so she'd have a clear shot at the door, "Knock yourself out. Literally, if you have to. Just be sure to take pictures when you throw that shirt of yours at the brass, the looks on their faces ain't the only thing I'd kill to see." He couldn't pass up the opportunity, especially since she'd practically handed it to him on a plate.

"You wish, Vega," she matched his smirk with one of her own and inwardly cursed the fact that he'd managed to talk her down from her temper. Self-control had never been one of her strongest suits but luckily, she'd managed to keep someone around who helped keep her temper grounded in the real world. It used to be Kaidan but after Horizon, she didn't suppose she'd have a kind word to say to him for a good, long while. Now the task seemed to have fallen to James. "Don't think you're supposed to call me Commander any more, either," she sighed and dropped onto the sofa, "I think you'll have to stick to plain old Shepard from now on. Or Johanna, whatever." Truth be told, she didn't allow many people to call her by her first name, she just felt more comfortable when people, friends, used her surname. It was routine and that particular routine was about the only one she had left.

"Think I'll stick with Shepard," James didn't move to sit beside her, "You don't really want me to call you Johanna. You're like a damn book, so easy to read and from what I've read, you really don't seem like a Johanna." Now she'd think that he was every bit as crazy as she was. He'd come up with a nickname for her eventually, just like he had for all of his friends - some people just didn't match their names and so he just gave them new ones.

"Wait, what?" She quirked an eyebrow at him, "What do you mean I don't look like a Johanna? If I don't look like a Johanna, what the hell do I look like?" That did it. All thoughts of her hearing were banished to the back of her mind - no more thoughts of losing her rank and her ship, no more thoughts about being confined to one room for the foreseeable future and no more worrying that they'd reassign Vega to duties more worthwhile than guarding her ass. He'd be sticking around, the powers that be had decreed, and there the two of them were laughing and joking just minutes after she'd threatened to turn into a biotic bomb if he didn't let her leave. The flip-flopping mood swings of Johanna Shepard.

"Hell if I know," the burly marine simply shrugged his shoulders, "But I'll come up with something. Nicknames are kinda my thing, see. Some people just don't suit their names, like you, so I just give 'em a new one, one that's easier for me to remember." They hadn't known each other long so he wasn't quite sure what kind of nickname would suit her, other than one that highlighted exactly how crazy she could be. "But hey, you just showed me your inner crazy-assed bitch so maybe I'll just call you loco from now on."

"Hey!" Shepard feigned shock as he practically called her a crazy bitch, "I'm not the crazy one, crazy things just tend to happen around me. I can't help it if some of that rubbed off on me over the years." She laughed as she crossed her legs right over left while she sat on the sofa. "Ok, maybe I'm a little crazy and maybe I wouldn't be in here if I had a pound less crazy and a pound more sanity but you wouldn't have me any other way and you damn well know it!"

"Yeah, yeah," James turned around and walked toward the door. "Guess I have to go get your shit from Anderson since you ain't allowed to leave this room. If crazy gets me a bodyguard and a servant, I might have to take a few lessons from your book, Commander." Shepard chuckled as he walked away, her eyes fixing on his rear. It really was a sight. The Lieutenant didn't turn back to look at her but it didn't stop him from throwing one last quip her way as he left the room. "Don't be getting any ideas about watching my ass," She could hear the smile in his words, "I know it's tempting." He was joking with her but she still felt the slight burn of a blush creeping across her features.

"So modest, Mr. Vega," she called back, her eyes not moving, "Keep dreaming."