Summary: James and Kaidan have a bit of a heart to heart, while Shepard takes care of the Geth servers.

Takes place in my "Serenade" universe, during the "Rannoch: Geth Fighter Squadron's mission. Rated Mature, because James has a potty mouth. No sexy times, sorry.

For eleneripenneth on tumblr, because she is awesome and because she has a tag called "sevanderslice is a genius

Vigil

This place made James's skin itch. It was too dark, too open, and too full of large, menacing geth platforms. They just stood there, still and silent and ready to activate without warning. James held his assault rifle high, kept his knees bent, muscles tense, watching and listening in case he had to roll into cover and rain hellfire down on their synthetic asses. He couldn't leave the Commander wide open to attack; not with her being so vulnerable right now.

Damn, he couldn't believe Lola got in that thing. He spared a quick glance over to the large, intricate pod Shepard had willingly climbed into about twenty minutes ago. Her face was paler than usual, her body as still and lifeless as the empty geth platforms scattered around the room. Through the glass, James couldn't even really tell if she was still breathing.

"Hey," he softly called towards the pod, flinching at the loud echo it produced in the creepy, cavernous room. "How's she doing?"

The Major swallowed visibly. His fingers, already clenched into tight fists, seemed to spasm a bit in his gloves. The guy was as nervous as a mother pyjak around a varren den. He hadn't taken his eyes off Shepard since the moment she got in that thing, as if his presence could somehow keep her with them. It would have seemed ridiculous, if James didn't feel like doing the exact same thing.

"Her vitals are okay," Kaidan finally answered, voice a little rough. His omnitool flared to life for the tenth time in as many minutes. "Brain activity is off the charts, but we expected that. There doesn't seem to be any hemorrhaging, or other signs of tissue damage. Her blood pressure and heart rate are a little elevated, but well within acceptable limits. Her breathing is a bit fast too, but her oxygen levels look good, so..."

James frowned; even with his rather limited knowledge of first aid, he knew the physiological signs of someone in pain. "Is it hurting her?" He wanted to know. He was ready to rip that thing apart with his bare hands if he had to. He stalked intently towards the pod.

"I don't know," Kaidan replied through clenched teeth. His fists tensed again and the lieutenant could actually hear the Kevlar twisting between the man's fingers. Kaidan's protective instincts were probably working overdrive, considering he had a bit more right to them than anyone else – a fact verified by the little hand squeeze he and Shepard had tried to hide, right before she climbed in. Between that, and the major's current impression of one of those old, immovable, British Guards, and...well, if he hadn't known they had something going on before, he'd be certain of it now.

"She could be in pain," Kaidan confirmed, gravely. "Or she could just be exerting herself wherever she thinks she is."

James didn't really give a fuck which it was. If there was any chance at all the geth were hurting Lola, they had to do something about it. "So, let's get her out of there!" He leaned forward, reaching for the seals on the glorified coffin, when a heavy palm slammed into his chest, stopping him in his tracks.

Typical, James thought. There were stories, whispers really, about how the Major was secretly a deadly, bad-ass, son of a bitch. But the truth was – and James knew this for sure now - Kaidan Alenko was a weak, rulebook thumping, lackey of the Alliance. He hid behind his moral high ground; unwilling, or unable to think for himself, to take the risks needed to really get the job done. James couldn't understand what Shepard saw in such a coward. She was the bravest person he ever met; taking risks most people would never have even dreamt up and succeeding every single time through pure determination. In the six months James was guarding her, Kaidan hadn't even tried to sneak in to see her once.

Raising his eyes to the Major's face, Vega met him eye to eye, ready to challenge his superior officer's pathological need to follow bad orders, despite the consequences. But instead of anger, surprise gasped out of his open lips. Kaidan was suddenly engulfed in blue fire, the waves of biotic energy rippling over his skin and making Vega's chest tingle where they touched, even though so many layers of armor.

"Do. Not. Touch. Her." The words were clipped, spat out through clenched teeth as their owner flared an even brighter blue. "I will put you down, Lieutenant."

Anger, as white and hot as the supernatural sheen on Kaidan's skin, swept through James's body. His hands curled into fists. He wasn't going to let Lola die.

"Your orders can go to hell, Major," he emphasized the title, as if Kaidan's rank were the foulest of insults. "You'd let her die for your morals? Screw that!" He reached for the pod seals again, only to be knocked painfully onto his ass by a blinding surge of light.

Damn, James thought, wheezing in a desperate attempt to get oxygen back into his lungs. It was definitely time to reassess the major's status as a bad ass. He might just be a match for Shepard after all. "What the fuck was that," he choked out, attempting to climb to his feet.

"We don't know what suddenly disconnecting her from the server would do to?" The Major chided, angrily. "It could cause the entire server to crash and she's not a computer, Vega. Rebooting the system doesn't always bring back what was lost. If you touch this pod again I will personally chain you to a geth and let you deal with the consequences if it wakes up. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Major Alenko, Sir." James replied, in deference this time instead of mocking. Ay Dios Mio! He was complete dumb ass and Lola had almost paid the price for it. Wasn't that what she'd been trying to tell him for weeks now, that he needed to learn to be a little less reckless?

"Thank you,' he murmured, his pride as sore as his butt, "for stopping me."

"You're welcome," the major replied, once more turned to stare intently at the Commander's face. "I didn't do it for you though."

No, that was obvious. Kaidan looked and acted like a man who would do anything for the woman he loved. Hell, he broke regs every single day just to be with her. James had let his prejudice of the man's strict moral code blind him to that fact. But, if that were true, it just left more questions.

"Can I ask you something?" he dared to say.

Kaidan shrugged his shoulders, but didn't turn around. "You're probably going to anyway, so you might as well go ahead."

Hiding a smirk, James asked softly, "You love her, don't you?"

"I..." Alenko seemed to struggle with this particular question. "I'm not sure I know what you mean."

"Come on man," James was in no mood to pretend ignorance. "It's just you and me here and I'm certainly not gonna rat you out. Besides, even if I did, what are they going to do to you? You're both spectres and they are relying on her to save the whole damn galaxy. You think you're going to get a slap on the wrist for having some fun on the side?"

"That's not what it is!" Kaidan growled, snapping around to face the lieutenant and flaring blue for half a heartbeat.

"Whoah, okay." James took a step back, arms up in surrender. "Question answered. You love her." Kaidan glared at him for a few more seconds before turning back around to continue his vigil.

"So," James persisted, "I have to know. If you love her so much, how come you never came to visit her while she was on Earth? I know you were stationed there too, at least part of the time. She was in a pretty dark place and could have used you. I've seen how happy she is when you're around."

There was a long pause as the Major just stared up at Shepard's pale, freckled face. She looked so damn pretty in the blue light of the pod, almost fragile in her vulnerability. It was a startling contrast to how strong and capable she usually was. "It's complicated," Kaidan finally murmured.

"Bull. Shit!" James retorted, crossing his arms. "A Krogan in love with a hanar, that's complicated. You not showing up to visit while your girlfriend is in trouble, that's something else."

"They wouldn't let me!" Kaidan exclaimed, voice rising a bit in agitation. "I sent a message to the brass once a week for six months and was denied every time. I don't know what the hell they thought I was going to do once I got there, but it concerned them enough to want to keep me away from her."

"Okay," James frowned, "I get that, but you could have just come anyway. I would have snuck you in."

"And how was I supposed to know she had a sympathetic guard? For all I know, she was under lock and key and eating C rations three times a day."

"Actually," James quipped, "She ate better than I did. Taught herself how to bake too. Her double chocolate brownies are epic man. I swear I gained five pounds, and not in the good way..."

"That's not the point, James," Kaidan interrupted. "And also, none of this is your business."

"Yeah," James agreed, "but you're still talking to me. And I know it wasn't just the brass keeping you out. A man who starts a relationship with his commanding officer isn't afraid of breaking a few regs now and then. Want to share what was really in the way?"

Kaidan scowled. It was his turn to cross his arms and scowl. "Why do you want to know so bad? What's in it for you?"

"I don't know," James told him, honestly. "I guess Lola...erm Shepard has done a lot for me. She really cares about people and it shows. I just want to make sure that those who care about her, are doing their best to make her happy. She deserves it, especially with all the shit the council and Hackett has put on her shoulders."

A huge sigh puffed out of the Major's lips, before he finally turned back around to look at James. "I guess I didn't try harder to visit, because I wasn't entirely sure if she really wanted me to." He admitted. "We'd had some words the last time we met; most of them not very nice, and most of them from me. I was afraid, I guess, that she was still angry. I didn't want to show up and see that hatred in her eyes."

"So you were afraid of rejection," James guessed.

"Yes." He confirmed. "And in the end all I did was rob us of more time together. I was a fool."

James approached the pod slowly and laid a friendly hand on the Major's shoulder. "We're all fools in love, man," he said, staring up at Lola's pretty face. "But you've got some serious cojones to be in love with that one. Woman's got trouble coded in her DNA. Only reason she's still alive is because a healthy dose of Luck is all twisted up in there with it."

Kaidan snorted a laugh. "Well, that's the truth."

"To impossible odds?" James asked, raising an imaginary glass.

"Sure," Kaidan agreed, cupping his fingers into a C and raising his "glass" in turn. "And to new friends."

James's lips stretched into a wide grin. "Cheers."