Chapter One: Lost & Found

It had been a wild 48 hours. First Earth, then Mars, followed up by the Council's refusal to help the human home world. Well, not a complete refusal, James thought as he watched Commander Shepard disappear into the elevator following their sparring match in the shuttle bay. At least the Turian Counselor had given them an opening.

"Do you have a preference in your accommodations, Lieutenant Vega?" EDI's crisp voice from his omni-tool startled James out of whatever thought he would have had next.

"Come again?" he replied, hoping the AI would elaborate.

"As a member of Commander Shepard's shore team, you now have the option of choosing one of the four private rooms separate from crew quarters. There are two near the main battery, and two on this level. Due to the nature of some missions, she thought it best to be sure that her companions have a place they can retreat to if needed. Though you may have to share quarters should the team get too large or if the Normandy plays host to any foreign dignitaries."

Private quarters for the away team? Could I be so lucky? I haven't had a room to myself since...ever. As a child, James had always shared a room with his cousins. And the military? No privacy in the Marines unless you get a hotel on shore leave. "Down here is fine," he told the AI.

"Noted," she replied. "I've coded you to the port-side room. We will be docked for six more hours if there are any personal effects you need to acquire prior to our departure for Palaven. Welcome to the Normandy, Lieutenant."

He was still standing in the middle of the shuttle bay when his omni-tool went silent, looking at the makeshift weight room he had camped out in since leaving Earth. A small duffel with the most basic personal provisions that Cortez had gotten for him after docking was stashed under the desk, but the only thing he had brought with him from the home world were the clothes he had on and his dog tags. There hadn't been much time to grab his gear before Alenko rushed him to the Normandy as their planet fell under the shadow of the Reapers.

Kaidan Alenko. He had been on Shepard's first team three years ago. No, almost four now since the SR-1 team found the Prothean beacon, he reminded himself. Liara T'Soni. Garrus Vakarian. Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. James mentally filed through the names as he grabbed his gear and stalked towards his room. HIS room. On the Normandy. With Commander Heather Shepard.

God. Shepard. He had gotten to know her fairly well since Anderson had appointed him as her guardian after the Alliance grounded her in order to keep the Batarians at bay. She was just a soldier. Just a woman. She liked to read, and talk about her adventures chasing Saren across the galaxy. But here on the Normandy? All business. She loved her job. Loved her crew. And now James was a part of it.

The door to his quarters hissed open in tune with the shiver that had crept up his spine.

Shepard.

Her name warmed his blood as no other thing had been able to in the past two days. It had passed through the mouths of the men at the base until it reached his ears, stopping Garrus Vakarian in his tracks. Menae had been hell. Palaven had been worse. But Shepard was here. Her name gave him hope, and his mandibles twitched as he blocked out all other sounds just to catch a trace of her voice on the wind.

He had ached without her the past few months, but Garrus knew there had been no way to help her once she was in Alliance hands. As they had when the SR-1 had fallen, her crew went their separate ways, only this time they refused to be silenced. They all knew what was coming, and all their work against the Collectors would've gone to waste if they hadn't started mobilizing. Even independently, they were a team with a common goal. A common enemy. And Shepard was their bond.

"She just got back from getting the comm tower back up," someone said in passing. "Heading in to talk to the General."

Garrus nodded his thanks, then made his way to General Corinthus' command center. He heard her first, but as he cleared the corner of the shelter, she came into view. Her attention was on the turian general clad in black armor, and her focus was clear. She needed the primarch, whomever that happened to be now.

"I'm on it, Shepard," he heard himself say as he climbed the ramp and shouldered his rifle. Corinthus may have said something, but Garrus didn't hear it. His eyes were full of the human woman who had dominated his dreams, and the sound of his name on her lips nearly undid him.

Her expression was hard. Professional. As it always had been, since the fate of the galaxy seemed to fall on her shoulders with peculiar regularity. But the waver in her voice when she thought he had been on Palaven...he didn't miss it. Shepard had extended her hand in greeting, but when Garrus took it, he covered it between both of his.

"I'm hard to kill."

Her brown eyes met his blue for only a moment, but everything that she couldn't say was there. Not the cold rejection he had half-expected after being grounded for six months among her own kind. Relief mixed with concern, and a tiny spark of desire before she shut it down to face her squad. And that tiny caress of her finger against his palm as he released her hand? It was all he could do to squeak out an acknowledgment to the Lieutenant she had just introduced.

Spirits, Garrus prayed. Please put me back on that ship. I don't know how long I can go without touching her again.

Lieutenant James Vega had never seen a more perfect pair than Shepard and Vakarian. He was in awe of how well they meshed their abilities on the battlefield, even after having been separated for months. How they could anticipate each others moves without saying a word. The playful headcount game they engaged in.

And the looks they gave each other. Shepard's mask of calm professionalism had slipped, ever so slightly, when Garrus met them at the general's command center. Alenko and T'Soni hadn't gotten that look. But they hadn't taken her hands the way Vakarian had, either.

It made sense, James thought as he collapsed on the bed hours later back on the Normandy. The tough, bad ass commander and the tough, bad ass turian. She had never struck him as the type to attach herself to a soft, romantic type, and she was so far out of his league that he had never even considered any sort of liaison. Commander, fellow soldier, possibly even friend, but nothing about the way she acted around James signaled that she was "available" in any way. And now it was pretty clear why.

It hadn't stopped him from flirting with her. Shepard was still a beautiful, intriguing woman, and he had the feeling that his teasing had helped break some of the tension she somehow refused to let go of. James had learned her boundaries early on, careful to test them, but never push them. And she always gave as good as she got, although she had yet to make him blush. There wasn't a woman in the universe, outside his family of course, who had been able to get that reaction from him.

"Dios mi," James sighed, kicking his boots off and rolling onto his back to stare at the ceiling. His family. They were on Earth somewhere. Well, most of them. Tony, his oldest cousin, was somewhere with Admiral Hackett's fleet, along with his uncle. But everyone else was scattered. Daniel had been in LA with his wife and kids. Little Marie was off at college. Only Mama and Abuela would've been back at the old home in Prescott. James knew to expect the worst, but it was the hope that he could see them all alive again that kept him motivated to help Shepard.

Commander Heather Shepard found James laying prone on his bed, seemingly still asleep. His feet dangled off the edge, hands tucked behind his head, eyes closed and breathing slow and steady. She cleared her throat, softly, although how he'd hear that and not the hiss of his door as she had come in didn't seem to matter.

"I'm awake, Lola. EDI warned me you were coming down."

"Were you able to get any sleep?" she asked, knowing it had been less than four hours since they left Menae. She hated having to get him up, but when it came down to it, James was still more well rested than Garrus.

"A bit. You?" His eyes were open now, watching her, a mischievous smile dancing in them that didn't show on his face. Somehow, he knew. The corner of her mouth twitched up as she recalled how Garrus had fallen into bed fully-clothed and exhausted. He even slept through EDI's announcement that Anderson had raised her on the vid-com.

"A bit." Let James make of that what he will. "You up for a quick run with me and Liara?"

"Another Vega sandwich with my two favorite ladies? How can I refuse?"

She grinned at his reference to the team. It was the same phrase he had used before landing on the turian moon, and had brought a blush to Liara's cheeks. James was smart enough to tone it down with the asari scientist after that, but Heather was glad that he wasn't holding back with her just because he knew about Garrus. She'd never sensed a genuine romantic interest, and it was good to have someone she could trade quips with.

"Gear up, then. We're making a trip to Grissom Academy for Anderson. ETA thirty minutes."

"You got it, Lola."

A/N: Thank you so much for taking a chance on this little story. I know that Mass Effect has an incredible fan following, and that there are MANY many stories posted in the past year that have given love to our un-romancable Marine. I truly love the FemShep-Garrus pairing, and wanted to make sure that Vega could have a story of his own without compromising one of my favorite couples in the process. Chapter Two will introduce the female lead, and should be up within the next 5-10 days. After that, postings will be every 3-4 weeks since I am also working on 3 other fanfictions, including an epic Mass Effect saga that will begin to show up on the site late Spring – early Summer.