She woke feeling safe and warm, a strong, steady heartbeat in her ear and low voices talking above her. A heavy arm was wrapped around her waist, keeping her close and warm breath ruffled her hair.

"I don't think she sleeps very well." One voice said.

"It's only been a couple days, she's probably still adjusting." Another, closer voice noted, "Hell of a culture shock going from a lab to a frigate."

"She made herself a little nest in the cargo area under Engineering."

"Human's don't make nests, Scars."

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah."

"Good thing I found you two, and not Shepard."

"Yeah, let's not mention this to the Commander."

"Mention what?" She asked blearily, still slowly coming awake, more comfortable than she could ever remember being.

"Good morning." James said, looking down at her, a small smile pulling at his lips and it took her a moment before everything snapped into place. Persephone flung herself off him and onto the floor with a small squeak, cheeks flaming bright red at having fallen asleep on his chest. The last thing she remembered from the night before was Anakin complaining at length about sand. How she and James had wound up stretched out on the couch together covered in a thin blanket was beyond her.

"I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed, covering her face in mortification.

"Hey, whoa, don't be!" James said, "Scars, I got this. Go tell the Commander I'll be ready in forty-five." His hands laid on her shoulders, but she didn't look at him. "Persephone, it's okay, really. You were tired and I really didn't mind. Besides, I'm not going to complain about having a cute girl fall asleep on me."

"I didn't make you uncomfortable?" Persephone asked.

"Not at all!" James said, "I woke up before you did and you looked so peaceful, I didn't want to wake you up. Listen, I have to get ready for a mission, are you going to be okay?" She stared at him for a moment, seeing the almost pitying look he was giving her and she withdrew her emotions, stamping them down, an impassive mask slipping over her features.

"I'll be fine, James. Go get ready." She said evenly and surprise flickered across his face at the sudden shift.

"We'll...have to find time to watch some more of the movies." He said and they got to their feet.

"I'd like that." Persephone said, her lips pulling into a small, carefully crafted smile. It seemed to relieve him a little, his shoulders dropping slightly as he relaxed.

"Okay, well, you should go get some rest, it's still early. I'll um...come find you after we get back." James said.

"If you want." She said and he gave her a small smirk.

"Well, yeah." He said, "I need to go get ready."

"Go on, don't let me keep you." She said, moving her head at the door and he gave her another smile, which she returned, before leaving. It dropped the moment he was gone and she sat down on the couch, folding up the blanket and setting it over the back. She had to watch herself around the Lieutenant. He was charming and attractive, flirting with her constantly. If what Shepard said was true, and she had no reason to believe otherwise, that was just a quirk of his personality and he wasn't serious about it.

The fact that it seemed as if he pitied her only confirmed it, and that made her wonder if Cortez regarded her the same way, and if that was the only reason why he had sought her out. Honestly, she'd prefer disdain and suspicion over pity.

The Flight Lieutenant must have cleaned up after she had James has fallen asleep; there were no bottles anywhere and the empty bowl was gone. Nothing for her to do there, she left the Lounge, heading back down to her "nest" under Engineering. Out of sight, out of mind.

There was a basket waiting for her on a crate and she blinked at it a couple times before she went to it, opening it and finding several sets of clothes along with underthings and an array of toiletries. After giving the card a quick read, she saw it was from Dr. T'Soni and Specialist Traynor, the latter she met only briefly when they crossed paths in the hall. The woman seemed pleasant, a little understandably nervous around her. She'd have to thank the two women later, even as a thought to return the gifts crossed her mind. That would be rude, they were only trying to help, and she needed the items.

Gathering up a few choices, she made her way back up to the crew deck, finding the women's showers thankfully empty. The crew wasn't that large and everyone seemed to be up and about their day so she suspected she wouldn't be interrupted. Still, she brought up her omnitool and locked the door, just in case.

She forced her mind to stay blank as she showered, washing her long fall of thick hair and scrubbing herself clean, going through the motions quickly. As she dried, her hands traced over the various scars marring her skin, the memories of how she had gotten them missing along with so many others. Some of them were clearly from procedures, but others seemed as if they were from injuries. With a sigh, she got dressed and gathered her toiletries, heading back down below Engineering.

It was several hours before she heard and felt the cargo bay door open and the shuttle land. She was laying there in the dark, a datapad that had been in the care package turned off and on a crate within reach. Persephone heard the door to Engineering open, a gait that she had come to attribute to James making it's way down the stairs, but she rolled over, her back to the stairway and heard him stop. He gave a small sigh and she closed her eyes as she heard him come closer, a blanket pulled over her a moment later. He smelled faintly of smoke and carbon and she wondered what had happened on the mission.

A single finger was gentle as it pulled her hair away from her face and she forced herself to keep up the ruse that she was sleeping. After a moment, she listened as he left and rolled over onto her back, eyes burning illogically with tears.

Emotions are a liability and relationships are dangerous.

Persephone didn't know where she had heard that, but it seemed particularly appropriate. Perhaps it would be better if she wasn't there, if or when they docked on the Citadel that she simply vanished on to the station. It would be easy to get lost in the throngs of people. Would they look for her? Most likely, but not for any sentimental reasons. The last thing they needed was a Cerberus science project on the loose.

Not that it mattered. She had a feeling she would soon be either dead as a precaution, or in an Alliance lab for testing.