Well...this is fun.

Sighing for what had to be the fifteenth time in that hour, James Vega shifted where he stood while once more sweeping a hand over the avenger in his hands, making sure the safety was on; which given that he had checked it just as many times as he had sighed, it was. He was dressed in Alliance fatigues, and while he wasn't nervous about having to enter a firefight while stationed in the heart of Vancouver, he missed the reassuring weight of his combat armour. I'm not built for guard duty...

When Anderson had approached him on Omega with a priority mission, Vega hadn't quite imagined becoming a glorified doorman...yet there he was, guarding a door. He would never complain to an officer, that's what the fellow grunts were for after all, but even though James understood that his mission was actually quite important, one to take seriously, he wasn't too pleased with his posting.

Of course, guarding Michael Shepard, the first human Spectre and a living legend among the Alliance marines helped a bit. Quite a few of the other marines stationed on the base were envious of James' posting, and with good reason, however much James found guard duty boring, there were far duller postings on the base.

First of all, it was fun to see the big-shot officers sweat a bit whenever they got close to Shepard's quarters. Still a Council Spectre, and as such untouchable by Alliance laws if he so chose to invoke his rights, Michael couldn't really be arrested, nor commanded to comply to their orders in any shape or form. As such it was 'problematic to detain him', the words an Alliance Admiral had used a while ago making James smirk. Can't call it an arrest, can't lock the door or put him in chains, trusting him to stay for his trial with nothing but his word that he'll stay...it must keep the higher ups doing somersaults.

Second, the man, being such a legend, had quite a few visitors. While James didn't really find checking people's credentials and patting them down – Shepard had a few enemies after all – fun, it was at least a welcome break of the monotony...and besides, it was interesting to see who came to visit the commander.

Surprisingly, despite being the one really in charge of the 'detainment' of Shepard, and one of his team-mates back when they were hunting Saren, James' temporary CO since his reinstatement, Kaidan Alenko, hadn't come by visit even once. James wasn't one to pry, though he had figured out that there was some sort of tension there, or at least that Major Alenko was uncomfortable around his former Commander. Eugh, they should just have a good fistfight and clear the air... Not that James minded being left to his own devices, Kaidan had struck him as a good officer, but seemed a bit uptight, one who you had no problem obeying, but who you couldn't really bond or relate with, a classic officer...and James had long ago learnt to dislike that type.

Quite a few of that type had entered Shepard's quarters during his six month stay, Admirals and Generals galore had come and gone. Despite James not caring much for most who reach that rank, too many were pencil-pushers, he usually looked forward to one of them entering. While the door muffled nearly all sounds, James had managed to hear how quite a few of those conversations had turned into Shepard angrily shouting at them. Apparently the higher ups were trying to talk him into complying with their version of what had happened over in the Bahak system...and the man would have none of it. Bet the trial will be amusing...

The two exceptions were Admiral Anderson and Hackett, the two had come by several times, the former in particular. Then there was never any shouting, never any arguing, though whenever they left the two admirals looked troubled, even as Michael looked relieved, sometimes even smiling. Good to see not everyone is willing to sell out the one saving our colonies from the Collectors. That was what James hated the most about the politics of admirals and generals, they teach their marines to fight to the last, never to leave a man behind...and then easily sacrificed others to cover their own hides for some intangible political victory. And people wonder why I didn't want that last promotion...

Then there were the civilians.

There had been the record producer with a song about Shepard that he wanted to ship out, and willing to offer royalties to Shepard for it. You can fight like a Krogan, run like a leopard... Humming, James smiled at the addictive lyrics. Similarly, there had been a toy maker pushing a line of dolls, a few movie producers, which was surprising given how many movies about Shepard's life and the battle of the Citadel there already was.

It had been amusing to let them in, knowing that if the Commander had been truly under arrest such visitors would never have been allowed, which meant that whenever those visitors came the Admirals and Generals hid away at other ends of the base, unwilling to see the breach of protocol. Clearly, Shepard had broken the system.

The majority of the visitors had been reporters though. Shepard's incarceration and the reason behind it was the biggest piece of news out there. Particularly within the Alliance, given how he'd been viewed as a hero after the battle of the Citadel and a villain after being associated with Cerberus...everyone wanted to get the scoop about who the real Commander Shepard was.

As a rule with civilian guests, James had to be in the room during such visits, and had done his utmost not to react to the questions being thrown at the Commander. Some of them had been incredibly personal and even rude...enough to make James consider throwing out the odd journalist, but since Shepard had allowed them entry, his hands had been tied. Shepard had handled them well though, refusing to comment on any questions of a personal nature, but answering nearly every other question fired at him with a calm confidence. He didn't comment on the subject of the trial, but he continued to claim that all he did, he did to fight the Reapers...usually such talks led to another shouting match with an Admiral the next day.

James himself was on the fence about such claims.

He had seen Sovereign, and he did understand that it might not be a simple Geth dreadnought. He had fought the Collectors, he knew the threat they had posed until Shepard had disposed of them. He also knew that whenever the government hushed something up and refused to acknowledge the words of the one who had been on the ground, there was something there they were trying to protect people from. As such, James was inclined to believe there was a threat, a big threat.

But sentient starships from beyond the galaxy? It was hard to wrap your head around, never mind to believe. Which might be just what Command is relying on...

A light tapping of heeled shoes brought James out of his thoughts, making him look up at the sight of the Asari approaching from the far end of the hall.

It was a rare occurrence that any aliens visited Earth, the old governments mostly preferred to do their deals with them over communication relays and the Alliance itself was based on Arcturus station and sent any diplomats and the like there instead of any of their earth-bound bases. And despite being a beautiful planet, Earth was a bit too far off and full of the relative newcomers to the galactic community to be a place for alien tourists who'd rather visit Thessia, Illium, Sur'kesh or even Kahje.

James dutifully smiled at the Asari, despite being somewhat guarded against her kind.

He knew it was partly due to the old Earth culture of distrusting aliens, as well as the Alliance training programs always painting various aliens as enemies during training, and therefore promoting a bit of xenophobia among the troops...but James believed he'd gotten past that with all his real experience of the galaxy. That didn't stop him from making his own observations though.

The Asari were a mixed bag for James. They were beautiful...so much so that James found it a bit off-putting. It wasn't enough that they were all near ageless biotics with great economic and political power, but they were beautiful to every species in the galaxy as well...it gave them an air of superiority that James couldn't help but want to rebel against. And he couldn't understand how a species with a culture that encouraged their young to work as strippers could try to pass off as cultural and wise...yet they had succeeded.

On that note, the strippers were actually those James had the least problem with. It might be tawdry to some, but James had no problem enjoying a good gyrating lady...and if the Asari enjoyed her work, who was he to disagree with it? But then there were the diplomats, administrators and store clerks...they were nearly always polite and soft-spoken, always trying to make themselves come off as your servant, despite almost always getting their way and usually being far richer than you yourself...it felt wrong, as if they were tricking you. Not only that, but James had met more than one Asari mercenary and Commando in his days, and had yet to find one that didn't revelin her biotic powers and skills at arms...it was as if the shell of politeness had been stripped away, revealing the true nature of the Asari and how hungry for power they were.

He didn't mind Eluni so much though, being a lawyer, an Asari lawyer at that, James had expected her to be as polite and soft-spoken as the rest of them. Yet the Asari had surprised him from day one, being surprisingly forward and driven, in particular he had gotten the impression she was fully dedicated to getting Shepard free. Apparently the Commander had saved her sister from having to fight and likely be killed by a Justicar – whatever that was – and she was determined to make them square.

She also had good taste in clothing.

Enjoying the sight of her nearly bare feet walking in heeled sandals, as well as the way her tight green dress parted to reveal part of her calves as she walked – not to mention having the stylish cuts the Asari preferred that revealed the sides of her waist and much of her shoulders – James smile became a bit more genuine as he eyed the purple Asari. If only every lawyer dressed like that...

The Asari knowingly smiled at him, during her many visits to Shepard she and him had developed something of a rapport based on respectful teasing. It made James' day a little more bearable, and he guessed it did the same for her, the Shepard case had dragged on for quite a bit, after all...

"James." The Asari came to stop before him, the briefcase in her right hand looking decidedly heavier than usual. "Civilian reporting for her frisking." She offered a teasing salute.

James smirked, gaze moving over her. He had stopped patting her down ages ago, rules were rules, Alenko would have argued, but after six months it was ridiculous to suspect the lawyer working pro bono for Shepard to be his assassin...plus, given that James could almost call her a friend by now, it felt wrong. Not that that would stop him from giving a teasing reply. "Yeah, I doubt you're able to hide anything under that lovely thing..."

"Lovely? You like my dress...?" The Asari inched closer, still smirking, their game of teasing had an unwritten rule about no hands or trying to push things into anything else...yet James always struggled when she got close enough for her scent to wash over him. Making it even harder, Eluni held up her bag with both hands, pressing it close to her chest as she glanced downwards. "Won't you even check my briefcase...?"

Grunting, James suppressed the urge to glance down at her chest or to reach out. He knew Eluni would just brush it off with a laugh, smug over having won their little game...but he wasn't about to fall for it. Instead he took a final deep breath of her...and stepped aside while thumping the door's control with another grunt. "Just get in there."

A little chuckle escaped the Asari...and then the briefcase was once more hanging from her hand as her expression turned from that of a coquettish lady to a professional lawyer. Stepping inside with confident steps, she was followed by James who closed the door behind them. He might consistently break the rule of patting Eluni down, but he didn't quite dare to totally disregard protocol about civilian guests, the punishments were quite harsh, after all.

Shepard's office was large and spacious, more an apartment than a cell.

To James' left the kitchen was large enough to sport a steel table in the middle of it, polished to a mirror shine, though a few crumbs strewn across it showed that it had seen recent use. There was a hip-high wall facing the living room, wine-glasses hanging from metal railings above it, cooking utilities hanging on hooks above them. There was a stove on the opposite end of the kitchen, a stained pot still atop it, despite the insta-wash machine being installed right next to it.

The living room made up the majority of the apartment, only allowing for a small room located past the kitchen for a bed and a very small wardrobe, as well as a small bathroom even further away. On the other hand, that allowed the living room to be a large space with a couch and two padded chairs around a glass table, the holographic television on the wall to James' right nearly mute as it showed some documentary about Palaven wildlife. At the far end the apartment's white walls were replaced by a wall of glass that could be opened to give access to a balcony with another pair of chairs around a tiny wooden table, the balcony itself giving a good view over the distant harbour. The place was by no means fancy, but it was nicer than anything a person technically under house arrest had a right to ask for.

Shepard himself was lying on the couch, the documentary not holding his interest as he was reading a book called 'Theories on Dark Matter and its application'. Heavy reading... Judging by the way the man was frowning and constantly flicking back to a previous page though, Michael wasn't quite grasping whatever was being presented and was getting a bit frustrated about it.

James grimaced. Shepard had struck him as a nice guy the first time they'd met, more so than most officers, but he was also a bit moody, in particular during these last few months...which wasn't so surprising considering how long he'd been stuck in one place. It was still an impressive feat of patience to stay isolated for so long – especially since he could leave whenever he wanted to – not to mention that it showed that the man was willing to get whatever plan he had through no matter how long it took...James could respect that.

Despite the inaction the man was still fit, slightly taller than James, he didn't quite have the bulky muscles of his 'guard', but he was still broad over the shoulders, muscled and could very likely give even James a run for his money if it came to arm-wrestling. He had gotten a bit sloppy as of late though, his blond hair had been cropped short, as a marine should have it, but the clean shave he had sported for several months, something that a few old recruitment adds had shown off as a sign of a perfect soldier's discipline, had been replaced by an ignored matt of stubble.

Not that James was in any position to critique, in fact he liked his own face without such a shave, but that fact that Shepard had gone from shaving every day to nearly ignoring it showed that inaction wasn't good for him.

Looking up, the man's blue eyes brightened at the sight of the Asari Lawyer. "Eluni, come in, come in, sit. James, I know you'll stand..." Swinging his legs about and sitting up on the couch, Michael gestured at the chair to his right as he casually tossed the book he'd been reading onto the left chair, offering James a quick smile before focusing all his attention on Eluni, eyes intense."You've been off longer than usual..." There was a question there, an eager curiosity.

Oh yeah, he's right. James found himself straightening, now curious as well, and since Shepard had never expressed any disapproval about James eavesdropping, he fixed his gaze upon Eluni and eagerly listened in.

Moving with the easy grace of her species, Eluni swiftly moved over to the offered seat, sat down and crossed her right leg over her left before replying, a somewhat savage smile on her lips. "Indeed I have, I've been trying to get this trial reopened, this delay has been so long half the witnesses must have forgotten their statements by now, as has the court. The Alliance admiralty has been annoyingly persistent in embracing these constant delays, as if postponing the inevitable will somehow change the outcome. Goddess, it's like I never left Thessia..." The Asari rolled her eyes , but then grinned. "So I went to the source instead. Garat is angry with not being able to get in contact with the Batarian Hegemony, blaming the Alliance for trying to cut him off from them, but not as angry with the idea of you not being punished. So a bit of taunting, a few whispered words about me getting the trial repealed...and he started making demands, loud demands."

By now, Shepard was grinning as well. "Ah, finally, so we'll continue the trial even without the Batarian representative having fresh instructions from the Hegemony?"

"Indeed we can." Eluni nodded, looking pleased with herself. "At ten tomorrow, our plan of defence still stands strong, so I'm fairly confident about our chances legally." She cocked her head to the side. "That said, I still think you're being a moron." Heh. James nearly chuckled, Eluni was still herself, anything but a classic Asari. "I might have the legal issues at hand, but I have no control about the politics behind all this. I have tried to speak to people privately and influence their view on things, but I can't get Garat to lay off you in any way, he wants blood."

"Of course he does, he's probably fanatically loyal to his government." Shepard replied with a shrug, then looked down at his hands with a sombre sigh. "And who knows how many friends and family he had in the Bahak System...can we blame him for being angry?" James grimaced, God knew he had no love for the Batarians, but Shepard did have a point, the destruction of the system had left hundreds of thousands dead.

"You must not speak like that in the courtroom." Eluni snapped, frowning at the human. "It implies guilt, we can't have that if we're to get you freed the usual way." She rolled her eyes, looking away as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Personally, I don't understand why you just don't walk away, as a Spectre they can't really hold you."

"We've been over this." Shepard replied, surprisingly calm for someone willingly letting himself be charged with one of the biggest acts of terrorism in ages. "Legally, I can do that, politically, not so much. The Alliance may claim that their hands are tied, but the Batarians won't see it like that. I have no intentions of giving the Batarians a reason to start a war with the Alliance due to my actions, not with the Reapers on our threshold."

Reapers or not, that's damn noble. James straightened, like many marines he didn't care about Michael being discharged. To him, the man was one of them, and one to be proud of.

Eluni just sighed, hand coming up to rub her temples. "Can I at least convince you to drop the whole Reaper thing? It's the weakest point of our defence unless you wish to reconsider the insanity plea."

"No." Michael's face changed, growing more serious, nearly angry. A shake of his head...and a weak smile broke through it. "As to the insanity...let's make that plan B."

"Already planned for that eventuality." Eluni smirked, patting her briefcase.

"Okay, so let's go over this again." Michael raised his hand, omni-tool glowing and showing a variety of files that began to change as Eluni activated her own and electronically hooked it up to his. "You want me to-"

James' communicator chimed, making him raise a hand and press two fingers against his ear. "Lieutenant Vega reporting."

"Major Alenko here, you're relieved by Lieutenant Linn." Alenko's voice greeted him just as the door slid open, revealing a familiar man of Asian descent in fatigues and carrying the standard avenger as well. Offering the man a friendly nod, James brushed past him, eager to let him take up the duty of guarding a room for anything else; one could only only look at Eluni for so long before getting bored with the view anyway. However, just as he stepped out of the room, Alenko's voice once more spoke up. "Meet me at the dry dock." He didn't have to specify which one.

Groaning, James came to a stop, rolling his eyes. "It's not the Normandy again, is it?" He sighed. "We've already checked it for Cerberus bugs three times, and Specialist Traynor and Cortez are far more qualified for that and have done so six times." It wasn't that James had anything against the opportunity to see those two again, but knowing Alenko he would end up crawling through maintenance ducts most of the day, and James really wasn't built for that job...

"You'll follow orders, Lieutenant." Was Alenko's cold reply, the man might be somewhat friendly at times, but whenever the topic was the Normandy or Cerberus, the man tensed up and got frosty with anyone not taking the threat of the later seriously enough...which according to him no one did. "We might spot something these technicians miss, and even one missed bug can put Admiral Anderson at risk, we're not taking any chances."

Holding back a sigh, James started walking. "Yes, sir, I'm heading there now, sir."

"Stow the attitude." Apparently, Alenko hadn't calmed down yet. "You're checking Engineering, I'll be at the Command deck."

"Yes, sir." James shut off the communicator before letting a single word slip through clenched teeth. "Pendejo..." Another two hours crawling through ducts, oh joy. He wouldn't complain, his commanding officer wasn't asking anything big of him, and he usually did as ordered, but that didn't mean James had to enjoy any of it.

I'm not supposed to be a guard or engineer, dammit...why can't I just get something to shoot at?

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Thanks to Abydos Jackson for giving this chapter a bite.