Note: HI! I. Am so sorry about the late update. I've been dealing with some family stuff and.. you know how that goes.. slow thumbs up But anyways, Here, we, GO!

GAME ON

His knuckles were raw, and his back ached. And yet.. that stupid bag was almost taunting him.

He was slowly adjusting to life on the Normandy. It was hard, and he still has not gone on a single mission.. but that didn't bother him as much as it probably should. He knew Shepard only saw the best in people. For better or worse, he enjoyed that trait..

Okay, maybe she didn't only see the best in people.

She kicked his ass in sparing yesterday.

So, all the good in people PLUS their weaknesses.

Yeah, that was more like her.

The shirt clung to him a little too tight, the uncomfortable sweat on his body being the breaking point. That along with the burn in his muscles and the exhaustion. He sighed, nodding to himself and then finally backed off. He needed to strip off his boots too. They were getting uncomfortable.

He landed on the cot with a groan, both from the bed and himself. It wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but hey, it's better than the old rocks they had you sleep on in boot camp. He bit his lip, working his tired and slightly numb hands on those damn shoe laces. They needed to replace them. They took too long. Then again... he would be lying if he said he wasn't a classics man.

"Vega!"

The sharpness in Cortez's voice made him look up with raised eyebrows. "Eh? What?!" He rose his voice at the second word, propping himself up on his legs. Totally oblivious to the nearing body thanks to the wall that made it impossible for him to see the elevator.

"You stole my wrench, Vega!"

Even though his words were aggressive, when James looked over he saw the man grinning at him. "I'd like it back?" He rose his hand, an offering to catch it. Vega cocked a brow and smirked lop sidedly. Caught.

He had to admit, he almost forgot about the wrench. And he felt like a teenager pulling pranks when he was snorting with laughter as he snuck back over, all of his muscular form was definitely NOT a good thief, but hey. Who honestly could compare with the renowned Kasumi?

"Damn.." He tried to make it quiet, but he knew Cortez heard him from the snort that came across the cargo bay. His hand slid under the bed and grabbed the warm metal. Odd.

Something wasn't right.

"Oh wait, never mind Vega I found it! Guess you didn't steal it after all."

What?

He gripped the metal more, pulling it out from under his bed. It was heavy. That surprised him more.

He looked at it with a mix of fascination and confusion. It was... a box?

A metal box.

Small metal box.

"Excuse me."

Okay, that was a new voice.

And he pretty much jumped out of his skin.

His eyes shot up, surprise flying through his body and there stood...

Thane?

He looked even more confused. And probably stupid. With one half-laced boot on, sweaty and his shirt probably drenched too.

"Uh.."

Come on Vega. Be smarter than that, you damn Grunt.

No offense to the Krogan, of coarse.

Thane was a sight. Kind of.. odd. Didn't he have some sort of incurable disease?

Duh.

Thane was dressed pretty well, to be honest. A long coat, tight pants and boots, durable. All of it was very nice. The green... thing, Drell? Yeah. Drell looked at him with those soulful pure black eyes. It was odd to see a creature like that. None the less, Vega nodded at him, clearing his throat of the awkwardness and he stood up. The box now resting on the bed as it dropped from his hands.

"Y-Yeah? Need something?"

No joke, dibshit. Of coarse he needs something a member of Shepard's crew wouldn't just randomly bug you.

I am a member of the crew.

Focus!

Thane stared at him for a little while longer. It made Vega uneasy. He had to admit that he was a handsome man. The different colors of green that went over his.. scales? He wanted to look closer to see if the Drell even had scales. But..

That would be awkward.

"Yes."

There was an awkward silence. Thane brought a gloved fist up to his mouth and coughed slightly, before formally standing with both hands behind him. He looked very professional. Vega nervously brought his hands in front of him, gripping each other and he cleared his throat. It just kept growing.

He felt self conscious.

It was the Drell that broke the silence.

He tilted forward slightly, whether he was still staring or not James couldn't tell. Either way he kept his eyes focused on the stranger. No, not a stranger. He pretty much memorized everything available online about the team. Thane, the Drell assassin with a supposed son, but this has never been proved.

"I apologize. I did not mean to intrude on your..." He could almost feel Thane looking over him. "..." He skipped the sentence all together, making Vega sigh in irritation.

"I need the box."

That was forward. Vega raised a brow, after a moment he just shrugged his shoulders. Why Not?

"Yeah, no problem I was ah, wondering why there was a box under my bed." He twisted his body, hand going down to grab the box and he nodded slightly. "Oh."

The box was traded, and Thane actually smiled. Looking grateful and he smiled. "Yes.. Thank you. This is for a game."

That caught his attention, and Thane paused. "A game?"

Vega sat down again, eyeing him. Technically, the assassin could just leave him and there would be no issues but..

Thane nodded slightly, sneakily putting the box in his pocket and casually looked over at the elevator to make sure no one was there.

"Yes.."

The way Vega was staring at him must have made Thane finally expand on the idea.

"We have stolen.. property, of others and now we are hiding it.. Shepard has started playing by more difficult rules. I have promised to avenge Mordin."

Vega stared at him.

What?

"..Uh."

"She has taken others property, for a Sentinel she is rather stealthy." He looked fond.

"..Wait. So, You're basically playing hide and seek but.. with objects? What's the goal?"

"To get everyone's pieces."

"Who was that?"

He pointed at Thane's pocket, which instantly made him slap Vega's hand down, his head snapping to the elevator.

"..Wrex."

That made something drop into Vega's stomach. A sudden loud laugh leaving him abruptly. A single vision went over his mind that made him cover his face with his hands, laughing hard.

"Oh.. Oh my god."

Wrex lumbering over trying to be stealthy from everyone. His golden eyes darting over to the side at the Elevator. "W-Wrex?" His body snapped around, glaring like a demon from hell at Cortez and it made him do everything but haul ass out of his line of sight. He growled deeply, a primitive reptilian growl and then he hunkered down on his knees. He looked back and forth one more time. Putting his prized possession underneath Vega's bed. His smell was anything but pleasant. And the extreme body odor would probably mask his scent. He's thought it out. He grunted as his large hand hit something else, making him hiss. He grabbed whatever it was after dropping the box, pulling it out only to see a wrench, he narrowed his eyes at it. Nobody chose this as their private piece. He launched it over his shoulder, close to the shuttle from the long-gone Cortez who retreated. He huffed and stood back up. "HEY!" There was a sharp voice, and Wrex ran off, being followed closely by Tali, the mouse chasing the overgrown Krogan.

When he looked up, Thane was gone. And Vega had such a shit-eating grin on his face that his spirits were basically soaring.

He stood up without worrying about his appearance and he went to the elevator. It opened up and he saw a wide eyed human. Kaiden. But he didn't look nearly as friendly as Thane did.

"Oh... it's you."

Wow. Nice to see you too, fuckwad.

His spirits pretty much sunk. Girly boy.

"...Yeah, it's me." He muttered, ramming his fist against the button for the second floor and he got in, regretting the ride. Kaiden looked like he was about to run out, but didn't. Instead, he walked closer to Vega. Looking like he was trying to become the alpha.

"..Shepard's fond of you."

The doors closed and so did Vega's eyes. He let out a breath through his nose. His own thoughts both cussing the other soldier out and then laughing at him. Jealousy was pretty much rolling off of him. And if there was one thing that Vega could be proud of it was his great ability of annoying the crap out of anyone he wanted to.

He smirked, Yep. That was his magic.

"What, Jealous? Don't worry. I'm sure she'd be happy to braid your hair, you just gotta ask." He leaned back, and rolled his head on his shoulders.

He could pretty much feel Kaiden stiffen. He obviously wasn't good with come backs because it took him a minute to respond.

"I'm not jealous. You're the rookie here. My position is sound." "Really?"

He crossed his arms over his chest, spinning on his heels and that made Kaiden stiffen even more. How uptight.

"I heard about how you betrayed Shepard. Twice."

"What?!"

Blue eyes shot to him, intense and angry. Oh, that was a nerve.

Vega analyzed him for that.

"You don't know anything, Rookie."

He raised a brow at how Kaiden was suddenly aggressive, poking a finger into his chest. Oh, he was mad. Vega only had a twinge of nervousness in his chest. He was well aware that Kaiden was a powerful biotic, but that didn't really affect him anyways. After all, muscle beat blue stuff, right?

"Me and Shepard, we've been on the grounds for years. We fought together before you even got out of boot camp probably." Vega wanted to roll his eyes at that. "Look Kaiden I'm not here to replace yo-"

"Huh. I know you aren't. You can't."

That was like a slap across his cheek.

Kaiden smirked.

"I don't like you, in all honesty. You're too... ugh. I don't even know why she picked you of all people to join. Sure, we had room enough for one more member. She should have gone with Jack or.. Or even Grunt but no, no. She had to choose you. Damn."

He turned straight as the doors opened.

Vega just stared at him.

"Stay out of her way, understand?"

"You're in love with her."

Kaiden flinched, eyes shooting to him instantly, a look of shock passing over his features.

"You are, aren't you? You think she likes me in that way.. you're funny, Kaiden. Like a teenage boy."

He opened his mouth to retort, but Vega wouldn't let him. He was pissed off, but amused all the same.

"Listen, Shepard is a soldier. She's saved the galaxy twice now. She's fighting the reapers, she's the head of the war. She's a legend. All of you are legends. The Normandy itself is all the rage on every other damn ship I've worked on,"

He got closer to Kaiden, who was staring at him in shock.

"If you think that I affect her work, you're dead wrong. She chose me. I don't know why, but she chose me and for good reason, not because I have muscles. So you are going to leave this damn elevator and leave me alone. Stop being a jealous freaking girly boy and go grow some balls and talk to her. It's pathetic to see this coming from you."

He shook his head, rubbing his forehead.

This was just plain sad.

"Stop coming after me. You're not scary, Kaiden. You're not intimidating me and you sure as hell aren't making me uncomfortable."

He walked out of the elevator without looking back. "H-Hey!"

Kaiden sounded both desperate and angry.

"What?"

He turned around, walking backwards and he eyed the biotic. He knew he won the argument.

Kaiden stopped, tensing his jaw and he glared darkly at Vega.

"Watch your step. None of us like you."

His words were acidic. And it dawned on him moments after Kaiden walked off that it was true.

Her crew didn't like him.

He looked over the room. Those darting eyes, the maintenance crew didn't feel any different to him, he appreciated that. But..

He cleared his throat, feeling watched.

"They think I'm the weak link."

He said it out loud, hissing through his teeth and he stormed off to his original mission.

That damn elevator is cursed. He was sure of it.

"Hey, Wrex!"

He walked quickly down the steps, eyes flicking around as he tried to find the Krogan. "What?"

The deep gravely voice made him jump, breath halting in his throat and he flew around, sure enough, the red-clad Krogan was staring at him with threatening eyes.

"..."

He chose then and there not to be scared.

His gaze was calm, and a smirk went over his lips. He scratched underneath his jaw and broke the news.

"Thane took your piece."

"DAMN!"

The voice came out like a roar from a dinosaur and he backed off just in time for Wrex to ram his fist into the wall. A loud BAM coming from the impact. Vega flinched at it, eyeing up at the overgrown lizard. "I'M GOING TO KILL THAT FISH!"

He watched the warrior lumber off, and he grinned that, you guessed it, shit-eating grin he was so known for.

"Hope I didn't doom him."

He turned around at the sound of something falling.

Liara stood there with large eyes, holding onto a handkerchief of some sort. He barely had time to open his mouth before the blue alien hauled ass past him and ran up the stairs. He blinked, whirling around to watch her leave.

"GOTCHA!" There was a squeal from the alien and then Shepard ran past him too. Her long legs bounding up the steps easily and they both were out of his vision before he could say anything. He blinked in confusion, and then looked down.

He held the handkerchief, shoved half in his pocket, he smirked, looking back up.

Clever girl.

And Game On.