AN: YES! That's right! I'm back. It's been sort of an odd, crazy busy, distracting sort of year for me, and so you all have my most profound apologies for making you wait so long. That's life for you, right? Well, I'm jumping back into it now, and I'm going to make a real effort to keep the updates coming. Hopefully, you haven't all abandoned hope and given up on me. This chapter is nice and long, so I hope that goes a long way towards making it up to you! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Like so many things in this world, I have no claim over Mass Effect or its characters, but that hasn't stopped me yet, so here we go.

Chapter 15

"I have conditions."

Leng continued his scrutiny of the Commander, who stood next to the wall a few feet away from him as he pushed the words out over the tender split in his lower lip.

"Of course you do," she said as she stepped around him to sit back in her chair. Somehow she managed to make her tone both perfectly reasonable and cynically condescending at the same time. He would have to find out how she did that. She crossed her legs, more composed than ever, and completely ignored the red and purple welts rising in delicate slow motion across the skin of her neck.

She folded her hands in her lap and arched an eyebrow at him in impatient query.

Kai folded his arms over his chest and began pacing behind his side of the table. He refused to sit, mostly because he so desperately needed to. His earlier outburst had really left him weakened. He would be damned if he was going to show that to Shepard, though, especially now that they were in the midst of negotiations.

"No more shackles, first of all," he said finally, having made a quick mental list of what he should ask for. He figured he'd start with that since they were already there.

The Commander narrowed her eyes at him ever so slightly. "What part of 'We're enemies' and 'I don't trust you' did you miss?" She was back to her usually calm and collected self, but a hint of distrust and disgust managed to leak through. "If you think this means I'm going to allow my team to let their guard down for even an instant, you're very, very wrong. If anything, I expect we'll have to watch you even more closely now."

Leng felt his lips twitch in a semi-appreciative smirk. Shepard would be difficult to a worthy opponent, for sure. He looked forward to besting her once and for all. "Be that as it may, you will have to keep an eye on my unrestrained, because that I said so, or no deal."

Shepard knew this request wasn't really about shackles, not really. It was about power, and who had how much of it. She absolutely despised having to make deals with terrorists, but as things were she didn't have too many other options. It was only the end of life as they knew it on the line. She nodded her head ever so slightly as she acceded, and then added her own caveat.

"If I let you go without shackles, you have to know what that will mean for you," she said coolly as she leaned forward and rested her folded hands on her knee. "I will double your guard and put my people on high alert. You won't get any warning shots, no three strikes. You so much as sneeze funny and my people will be justified in putting a double tap in the back of your skull. Are you sure you want to risk there being any… misunderstandings that might end in your swift and final execution?"

"I wouldn't be the only one bearing that risk, remember, you need me. If one of your people gets it in their head to put me down on some petty vendetta then we all lose. They may be able to take me down, but I won't go without a fight. If one of your people makes a move on me I will not hesitate to take as many of them with me as I can." He leaned over the back of his chair, gripping the back of it as he gave her his own version of condescension. "Just something to consider when you assign your watch dogs," he said with a sickly sweet smile.

Shepard's eyes narrowed again and he watched her bruised and mottled throat as she swallowed hard. "Fair enough," she said after a pause that managed to be only mildly telling. Having just sampled his abilities, hampered as they were, she knew he wasn't bluffing or making idle threats.

Kai smiled triumphantly and stepped back from his chair, back on his route pacing from corner to corner. "Second, I would like access to some reading materials. When we're not working on or executing our plans I will need something to occupy my time."

Shepard nodded with a small smile. Dr. Chakwas had reported on Leng's rather predictable attempt to hack the doctor's data pad. "I'll have something sent over," she said with a small smile. She had some hardcopy books in her quarters, and knew there were a few other members of the crew that kept a few treasured paperback or two in their possessions onboard.

The assassin's smile faded a little at the lack of resistance, but pressed on with his next request, knowing it would be, possibly, the hardest one on which to get her compliance. "I also want time for exercise and activity."

Shepard frowned slightly. "Hasn't Dr. Chakwas been letting you out to walk…"

Leng cut her off with a slash of his hand. "I'm not talking about a few laps walked around the commissary. I want two hours, with equipment, in a gym or the best equivalent you can put together on this station, without this," he waved at his torso and legs, "energy draining shit."

"No," Shepard started, shaking her head and sitting up straighter in her chair, "no way."

"Fine," Leng said with a sharp, but quite snarl. "Then I think we're done here." Leng walked over to the door and stood before it, arms crossed.

Raina felt her jaw tighten and her interwoven fingers clenched until all ten knuckles were white as bone.

"Sit down, Leng," she said through gritted teeth. Shepard ran through options and possible scenarios while she waited for him to return to the table. She considered just lying to him and telling her it wasn't something they could turn on and off, that it was permanent, maybe, but dismissed that idea as flawed. She was still running through strategies, her eyes looking past Leng as he leaned against the back of his chair again. The latent smirk on his face was enough to get her adrenaline back to need-to-put-my-fist-through-something levels.

"For someone who is supposed to be such a professional, you can be really childish, you know that?"

Leng shrugged and let his smirk make the briefest of appearances. "For someone who's supposed to be the galaxy's brave and fearless hero, you seem to be feeling a lot of cowardly paranoia," he shot back. "Don't get me wrong, it's probably the smartest thing you've ever done, considering me to be such a threat, and taking every possible precaution, but let's face it. I can hardly be effective if I'm being chained and collared like a rabid dog, now, can I? Besides, neither of us benefits if I lose my edge and go soft sitting idle in a cell."

Shepard refused to be baited by his words, and forced herself to breath slow, and even and think rationally. Blind acquiescence would be a mistake, but this was obviously something he wasn't willing to let go. She figured he was looking for ways to be on his strongest footing, thereby allowing for the highest chance at escape. She just needed to make adjustments, and counter the allowances to his strength with her own strengths. She folded her arms across her chest and smiled for the first time in minutes.

"Fine, on two conditions."

Leng raised his own questioning brow in mock salute to the look she'd given him earlier.

"First, you will have to do your workouts in the Normandy cargo bay. We have equipment there, and I don't want to deprive my men by moving it into the station just for you." It would also put them on her home turf and ensure he didn't use some hidden Cerberus escape hatch or something.

Leng shrugged in acceptance.

"Second, you're workouts will have to revolve around my schedule, as I will need to be present for all of them."

Surprise registered in the merest flicker across Leng's face before he brought back his triumphant smirk. "I'm flattered, Commander, but you should know I would hate being objectified as a sex object. You can look, but don't touch, or I'll have to report you to Alliance High Command for sexual harassment."

Shepard rolled her eyes and scoffed in disbelief. "Please," she growled in disgust.

"Well, if you want some pointers on your combat technique, all you have to do is ask. Really."

Shepard sighed in a 'you're-trying-my-patience' way and reached across the table for data pad and shackles on the table. "Will that be all, then?"

"Almost," Leng said with a chuckle. "I just want to make sure it's a given that I'll be included in any and all planning of operations with a Cerberus objective, we're talking full disclosure, and I want to make sure you know I expect to be on the ground during those operations, front and center at all times." Leng's playful smile was completely gone by now, the real meat of his demands finally coming forward.

They weren't really anything more then she'd expected, which was a small relief.

"Yes, well, as long as you know that "full disclosure" is relative. I'm obviously not going to be giving you any detailed information on Alliance tech, personnel, or covert ops. I agree to including you in the planning process on our own operations, Omega included, but you won't know about any other Alliance ops, whether they involve Cerberus or not. You won't be given any information on coordinating Alliance units, for instance, but I promise to make sure you know what will be required of you at all times and in every given situation." Raina tucked the data pad under her left armpit and draped the shackles over her forearm. "I anticipated your desire to be involved in our mission so I'm working on a solution that will make your presence more of a benefit then a risk, and neutralize any possibility for you to either escape or turn on me and my people. You will be allowed to accompany me and my team as long as you agree to submit to that solution."

"Which will be?" Leng was truly curious to know how Shepard planed on keeping him in line once they were in a messy combat situation. He was envisioning everything from her making him go in unarmed, (well, as unarmed as he ever was, which wasn't to say defenseless), to equipping him with a shock collar, to attempting some kind of Alliance mind control or subliminal suggestion.

Shepard replied with a cold smile. "All in good time, Leng. I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise. For now, just sit tight. It might be a few weeks before we're ready to mobilize on Omega. We're still waiting for the scientists to put together the mass-application version of the cure and I've got other things to work on in the meantime."

Leng wanted to object, but when he opened his mouth to do so, Shepard cut him off. "I don't expect you to be forthcoming with your side of the information until I am with mine, so don't worry. We're both stuck waiting for the science and tech guys anyway, so let's not jump into anything too revealing on either side just now. I realize this will have to be a quid quo pro situation all the way, so I think it's best if we just take this one step at a time, don't you?" There was a suspiciously innocent lilt to the Commanders voice, but Leng could find no reasonable objections to make to her logical statements. He nodded, just once and made sure his face was as blank as he could make it.

"Let's call it a day then. I'm a busy woman, after all. So, if there's nothing else…" Shepard stood and waved Leng towards the door.

Kai stepped around his eyes on her placid expression until she was out of his peripheral vision. He heard her shift the chains to her other arm and activate her omni-tool.

"Okay, Richeson, we're finished here."

Two seconds later the door was open and Leng stepped through to face the unpleasant Ensign who blinked stupidly at Leng's unrestrained wrists and then glanced at Shepard and her bruised face and throat. His hand twitched toward his sidearm, but Shepard was soon standing in front of him, between the distressed man and Leng.

"Mr. Leng will not need his restraints any longer, Ensign," Shepard explained in her best I'm-in-charge-and-not-to-be-questioned voice as she stood, back straight and chin up, before the flustered marine. Her commanding presence and sure, confident tone elicited a strong response in the man, who snapped to attention and saluted with precision.

"Yes, sir," Richeson said, his eyes lock straight ahead.

Commander Shepard sighed slightly as she saluted back. Richeson was new to the crew since they had fled Earth and so was more formal and uptight around her then the rest of her crew. "I'm going to ask Garrus to join you. We'll be doubling his guard from now on." Shepard glanced at Kai and gave him a calculating look. "Mr. Leng has promised to be on his best behavior, but I'm trusting you to keep your eye on him at all times, and don't hesitate to use lethal force if he gives you any trouble, any at all."

Richeson's eye settled on Leng for a fraction of a second, but in that fraction Shepard had seen a malicious glint. She made a mental note to pull the Ensign off guard duty after this shift. "That said, I expect there won't be any misunderstandings, will there, Ensign?"

"No, sir," Richeson replied instantly, eyes once again forward and at attention.

"Very good," Shepard nodded and stepped over to open Leng's cell door for him and addressed him as she waited for him to enter. "I'll have reading material sent down as soon as I'm back on the Normandy and I'll have you brought over this evening for your gym time." As expected she was, once again, all cool professionalism.

Leng replied with his own polite nod and stepped into his cell once again. With the sound of the door closing behind him, he sighed and rubbed his wrists carefully.

On one hand he appreciated his newly acquired freedoms, and would be planning non-stop to use them to his biggest advantage. On the other hand, he had the sinking suspicion that he was exactly where Shepard wanted him. His unease sloshed together with his rage and frustration and he had to work to quiet his thoughts.

One step at a time, Shepard had said, and she was right. Leng was one step closer to freedom and taking down the Commander. It was time to plan his next step.

"Garrus, the Commander would like you to meet her in the CIC," EDI's voice vibrated strangely against the faint harmonic thrum of the Drive Core. For once, Vakarian was not at his normal post in the battery, but leaning suavely against a console in engineering.

His finger paused in its path down Tali's arm, the light, flirtatious touch frozen by the voice of the AI.

"Now?" he asked as he cleared his throat and stepped away from the now giggling quarian.

EDI's voice was as neutral as ever, but the turian could have sworn there was an amused undertone as she answered, "Commander Shepard is currently on her way back to the ship from the prisoner's quarters on the Lazarus station. At her current rate of speed she will be entering the airlock in approximately 2.43 minutes. Decontamination will take 9.88 seconds, thereby giving you 155.68 seconds to be exiting the lift at deck 2 if you intend to ensure the Commander has no wait time. I have dispatched the lift to deck 4 but at current speeds the lift will take…"

"Right, right, just tell me how long I have," Vakarian cut in curtly.

"About 44 seconds, give or take," EDI replied and Garrus was now certain her mobile platform was smiling.

Turning back to look at Tali, who was making a very valiant effort not to snicker as she monitored the drive core outputs and made minor adjustments when needed.

Garrus sighed heavily and let his mandibles fall to his chest plate. "Guess I'll have to catch you later, Tali'Zorah."

"I'll be here," Tali replied her amusement more than evident.

"Maybe I'll bring some turian chocolate with me, when I come back. You know, if you want me to," he said with a cavalier shrug.

Tali's head snapped up in surprise. "Where in the Home World did you find turian chocolate?"

Garrus' shrug was more sheepish this time. "What? It was a gift."

The young quarian shook her head and Garrus watched, delighted as her eyes flashed slightly behind her face plate. "A gift? From who?"

"Oh, nobody, really, just a friend from the Citadel…"

"A friend, huh? Was this a female friend, by any chance?" Her playful suspicion held real hints of jealousy, if Garrus was reading her quarian inflections properly.

"Oh, you know, just a friend. Well, I think my 44 seconds are probably up, I better go. Don't want to make the Commander wait on me. You know how busy she is lately…" And with that he wheeled around and headed for the lift as fast as his two-toed feet could carry him.

As she stepped down into the CIC proper, Shepard spotted Garrus just exiting the lift on the other side of the galaxy map. She nodded to several of the crew working at the various control stations around the perimeter, and shot Traynor a smile and a nod as she approached Vakarian.

"You're here, good. Garrus I need you to go down and assist Ensign Richeson in watching the prisoner. He's agreed to assist us with our objectives and as such I've had his shackles removed." Said shackles hung from her hand and clinked softly as she spoke, her hands making small unconscious gestures. "I'm doubling up on his guard, though, and I want you to make sure that he's watched even more closely than before. He's still under the influence of the disruptors, but I don't want us slipping up and giving him the opening I'm sure he's still waiting for. If he makes a move, I want you to put him down hard, you got it?"

Garrus was doing the turian equivalent of a deep frown, but he nodded, nevertheless. "He's told you where the Illusive Man is, then?"

Shepard shook her head and set the shackles and her data pad down on her personal terminal. "No, not yet, but I think I've got him convinced that he was, in fact, indoctrinated, and he seems concerned with making sure that we can deliver a cure to the rest of Cerberus. It's a step in the right direction, but we still don't trust each other, and it's going to be slow work, but I think, in time, I can convince him to give us the location of the Illusive Man and the prothean VI that he stole from us on Thessia."

The turian was nodding, when Kaidan spoke, stepping out from behind Traynor, having apparently just come from the war room. "What if you're wrong, Shepard? What if Leng is simply playing you in order to make it easier to escape? What if he has no intention of ever helping us find out about the catalyst?"

The Commander exhaled deeply and crossed her arms in a defensive gesture. "I assure you, Major, that I have taken those considerations into account, hence the double guard, and I have decided that this is a risk we'll just have to take…"

Garrus watched Shepard trail off as Alenko gasped, and reached out to grasp the Commander lightly by the chin and tilt her face. The left side of her face was lightly swollen and the skin looked red and sore. There were also finger shaped bruises marring the creamy skin of her exposed neck.

"What happened?"

Kaidan's voice was low and deadly. Garrus glanced away, and shuffled nervously to his left, putting more space between him and the irate human male.

Shepard's eyes burned defiantly back at the Major and she stepped back, pulling her chin out of his hold. "Nothing I couldn't handle."

Kaidan's hands dropped to his side and his fists clenched in an obvious desire to do violence. "So, let me see if I have this straight. Our prisoner, a deadly and devious terrorist assassin attacks you, tries to choke the life out of you and you think now is the best time to give take his chains off and start trusting his promises of cooperation?"

Alenko laughed bitterly, though his face never lost its strained, furious expression. "With all due respect, Commander, but have you completely lost your mind?"

Garrus winced and took another step away. Distance was his best bet at escaping the conflict about to be unleashed in the CIC.

"With all due respect, Major Alenko," Shepard began, the chill in her voice making everyone with in hearing distance shiver and want to hunch into a protective fetal position, "did it ever occur to you that I actually know a thing or two about manipulation and strategic negotiation? Did you stop to think, for even a second, that perhaps I might actually know what I'm doing? That I provoked a violent response from Leng in order to demonstrate his weakness and my overall superiority?" Shepard shook her head and looked away. Garrus could tell it was an attempt to get her emotions under control. Alenko was the only one that could breach the Commander's professional exterior. Of course, he was also the only one that ever dared to confront the Commander so directly and openly. They just usually didn't do it in the middle of the damned control center. Garrus knew this was bad, very bad.

"I better get down there," the turian mumbled as he back away.

"Wait, Garrus," Shepard said, her eyes shooting to him as he caught her attention. She mostly managed to keep her tone civil. "I also promised Leng some reading material. I'll take you up and get you a couple of my books to start with. You can take them with you when you go over."

"Oh, well that's just great," Kaidan said with his most sarcastic snarl. "Did you offer our guest the use of the lounge as well? He can help himself to the bar and I'll fetch him a nice cigar, too, and maybe a couple of virgins to help make his stay more comfortable!"

"Now, you're just being childish," Shepard growled and walked past the irate major and headed for the lift. "Come on, Vakarian, I don't want to leave Richeson alone with Leng too long. He might not be able to handle one unarmed, neurologically dampened prisoner who's locked in a cell all on his own. He is only an Ensign, after all," she all but sneered as she walked into the lift.

Unable to deny Shepard's order to follow, despite his natural instincts to put as much space between himself and the emotionally compromised, combative, and deadly human female as possible, Vakarian followed her onto the lift.

Alenko turned and watched them walk away. Before the doors shut he offered one last parting shot.

"You're not infallible, you know. If you get over-confident, people are going to end up dead. Just try and remember that, will you?"

Then the doors were closed between them.

It took Shepard over an hour to calm down after the scene in the CIC with Kaidan. She'd managed not to snap at Garrus, while they went to her quarters and fetched a couple of her books for him to deliver to Leng. She'd even managed to only scowl at him when he very carefully commented that maybe she should take a break and try and de-stress.

"A very wise person once told me that it helps to have some way to take out your frustration, off the field. It's good advice, you know. Especially if you're having relationship trouble, or trouble with a fellow officer…" Garrus sounded uncomfortable, but managed to attempt to be consoling, anyway. "Don't let the Major get to you. He's just upset because he cares and he doesn't want to see you get hurt."

"I'm aware of the Major's motivations, Garrus. That doesn't make him any less of a pain in my ass, however.

"Right," Garrus replied with a nervous laugh as he stepped back onto the lift, a small stack of hardback books in his arms. "I'm just saying, hang in there. I have faith in you, even if some other people can't seem to see you've got this all under control. "

"Right, well, thanks, Garrus, I'll keep that in mind."

She had considered offering him a conciliatory smile, but, in the end, decided she just didn't have the energy to make it believable.

"Let me know if Leng does anything interesting, okay?"

"You got it," Garrus nodded.

Then the lift was closing and he was gone.

Shepard worked out the new roster for Leng guard duty, took a call from Urdnot Bakara who expressed deep concerns about Wreve and his "Leadership Style", sent a message to Kasumi Goto concerning some inquiries about advanced infiltration hardware, sent Hackett an updated report on her progress with Leng and her plans for recovering Omega station from Cerberus control, read a rather lengthy report from Liara about the development by the crucible scientists on a mass indoctrination cure, and did some research into Dr. Garret Bryson and his research on the reaper technology recovered from Sovereign's remains after the battle of the citadel.

Over all she had to consider it a rather successful day. She had made definite progress with Leng, made significant advancement with her plans for the Omega operation, and managed to keep from killing any members of the crew that had interrupted her during the course of the day. That included Dr. Chakwas, who had come knocking on her door around lunch time with a plate of food and demanded that she not only stop to eat, but that she allow the doctor to perform a rather lengthy and invasive check up on her physical status and the, apparently reported, new injuries she'd sustained during her visit with Kai.

She'd insisted that she'd barely felt them when she'd received them and they were minor enough that she'd quickly forgotten about them as soon as she'd returned to her cabin.

Chakwas had grudgingly admitted that the swelling was almost completely gone from her face and the bruises on her neck were only superficial and would be gone in a day or two.

So there she sat, her injuries on the mend, her plans in motion, and her to do list getting shorter, and still she couldn't help but remember Kaidan's words, and picture his face, which immediately led to her wanting to put her fist through something solid, preferably the Major's face.

"Does he think I like negotiating with that bastard?" she muttered under her breath as she logged out of her personal terminal and straightened the rather impressive stack of data pads on her desk. Her mind was a busy swirl of mental lists, personal notes, and violently conflicting emotions.

Her stomach was empty, however, and raised its voice in protest of its neglect.

Raina rubbed her face with both hands and pushed her chair away from her desk. As she stood she rolled her shoulders and popped her neck. She was in desperate need of a work out, and possibly another spar with Vega. Her little tussle with Kai Leng, earlier had barely been enough to get her blood pumping and her adrenaline flowing. Ironically, her argument with Kaidan had been a better cardio workout.

Her stomach growled again, and she resisted the urge to tell it to go to hell. After all, it had only been…

She looked at the clock and realized it was close to 8 hours since she'd been forced to stop for lunch. It was getting late and she still hadn't taken time for Leng's gym time.

She spitefully procrastinated on his behalf, changing her clothes slowly before making her way down to the mess.

She found James in the galley working at the something in a sizzling skillet. It smelled excruciatingly delicious. He stirred a colorful mix of yellow, red, and green, and as she leaned over his shoulder to get a look, (and a smell), she couldn't help but smile.

"I don't know where you managed to stash such exotic food stuffs, Lieutenant, but as your commanding officer, I sure hope you plan on sharing… whatever that is." She leaned against his should as she took one last sniff of the spicy aromas rising from the pan.

"'Morning, Lola," Vega smiled back. "You wouldn't be talking about my rancheros scramble, here, would you? 'Cause I'm not sure I made enough for two…"

"Oh, really? Looks like there's enough to me," She glanced between the skillet and Vega's grinning a face. "Course, I do tend to forget you can eat enough for a whole squad."

"Guess that means it's a good thing I can cook for a whole squad, eh, Commander?" Vega said with a wink as he pulled two plates from the cupboard and began dishing up the finished food.

"True, you are full of all kinds of hidden talents," she said with a sly smile as she got out two sets of utensils.

"Right," he chuckled, "I'm a quadruple threat. I'm tall, dark, too sexy for my own good, and I can cook food that will leave your taste buds quivering with quenched pleasure."

Raina found herself repressing a deep shiver. Vega was reaching around her to pull a mug off the rack and his words tickled over her neck as they made their way to her ears. His breath on her skin made his voice seem much more intimate then they were intended. She stepped out of his reach as soon as she could without her movements coming across as a hasty retreat, and carried their plates to the table.

"Coffee?" Vega asked as he poured himself a cup.

"With dinner? No thanks, just water for me, or I'll be up all night."

Vega shrugged and pulled a bottle of water from the refrigeration unit. "My schedule's all out of whack since you have me on the night shift watching Señor Cerberus. One man's dinner is another man's breakfast. Or woman's," James added with another wink as he sat down next to her, placing their drinks above their plates.

"Thank you," she nodded as she picked up her fork and took her first bite. No surprise, the food tasted even better than it smelled. "Wow, those almost taste like real chicken eggs."

Vega scoffed playfully. "Please, Shepard, I may be a master of the culinary arts, but no one is that good."

Per the unspoken rule of all space traveling military personnel, Shepard did not ask what kind of eggs they were eating. It was almost a guarantee that she would be better off if she didn't know.

"Well," she said after she'd finished chewing a few more bites, "if you keep this up I'm going to pull you off the night shift and put you on permanent galley duty. You can be my executive chef."

Vega nearly choked on his mouthful of egg, tomato, and green pepper. "Yeah, sure, that would keep me busy for about 3 hours a day."

Shepard smiled as she continued eating. "I'm sure we could come up with some other tasks for you to do. You'd be like an all-purpose assistant. You could answer e-mails, clean my armor, mod my weapons, and whatever other petty personal chores I could think of." She bumped his shoulder as she said this and gave him a sidelong smirk. "I'm sure I could come up with something to keep your hands full."

She felt Vega freeze next to her and she turned her head to look at him curiously. He was giving her an odd look, made even odder by the fact that his fork was stalled half-way to his mouth. When her eyes met his, his face lifted into a cocky grin.

"Geez, Lola, you trying to make me blush again?"

Raina replayed her words in her head, catching on just a second too late just how she might have sounded. "Christ, Vega," she said with an exasperated shake of her head, "I didn't mean it that way."

Despite her best efforts, it was her face that flooded with incriminating color.

James threw back his head and laughed then, a full-bodied, rich baritone that jolted through Shepard like lightning. She wasn't touching him now, but he was sitting close enough that she could feel the radiant heat from his arm lying on the table next to hers.

She tried to laugh it off and reached for her water, taking a long, deep swig of the cool liquid and willing her face back to its normal color. "That's it," she said with a smile as she wiped her mouth on the back of her wrist. "You're fired. It's back to night shift guard duty for you."

"Damn," Vega cursed impishly, "Lost my chance at a cushy job working under the Commander."

Shepard nearly choked on her half-chewed mouthful of egg.

Vega helpfully pounded her on the back as she coughed and tried to get her food and air going back down their designated tubes. When she felt things were properly back in their right order she cleared her throat and shifted a little farther from Vega.

"Anyway," she managed to get out eventually, "you got my message about doubling the guard on Leng, right?"

"I did," Vega nodded, sipping his coffee and doing his best to ignore her indiscretion. "I gotta say that's a pretty ballsy move, letting that hombre run around unfettered, but I know better by now to expect anything less from you, Shepard. As long as you're sure it's necessary then we'll make sure he behaves."

Shepard nodded. "Good to hear. You'll be with Javik tonight. I've decided to keep my heavy hitters on him, since the risk is now higher, and starting tomorrow we'll be going to 8 hour shifts instead of 12. That'll mean pulling Cortez and Tali off of what they're doing to take a shift, but I want to make sure you all stay sharp."

Vega nodded again as he finished his food and downed the rest of his coffee. "Sounds good, Lola."

"One last thing, Vega," Shepard said as James stood and carried his dishes to the galley. "Our guest is also requesting some rec time, so I told him he could have a couple hours in the cargo bay. You're equipment is all in working order, yes?"

"Of course, but are you sure that pendejo has to use my stuff? Isn't there any equipment on that Cerberus station?" Vega sounded like a petulant child, but Shepard could tell he was mostly just having a laugh.

"Don't be selfish, Lieutenant. Technically it's the Alliance's equipment, anyway." She mock scolded him as she swept up her own dishes and carried them to the galley. "Besides, I think it's best if I help supervise these little excursions, and I like using your equipment best."

"You always say the nicest things, Lola," Vega said with another wink and a chuckle and Raina had to work very hard to hide the fact that her insides had suddenly decided to go molten.

She was shaking her head and trying not to smile as she finished taking care of her utensils. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Lieutenant. This is serious, you know."

"Right, yeah, no, of course," James laughed as he put his hands up defensively, "I know that." He cleared his throat and snapped to attention. "Sir, yes, sir."

His salute was crisp and formal. Shepard was annoyed to find her focus drawn to the way his t-shirt pulled tight across his chest and stomach. The last thing she needed right now was that kind of distraction. She pulled her eyes from his rippling physique and rolled them dramatically as she returned his salute.

"All right, get to work. I'll expect the prisoner in the cargo bay in an hour, Lieutenant." She needed some time to inspect things and make sure the bay was secure and offered Leng no handy weapons or opportunities to cause trouble. "Dismissed," she spoke crisply and Vega responded in kind by turning on his heel and marching past her.

It galled her, but she couldn't help but sneak one peak at the man's incredibly tight ass as he passed. She figured she was already wound up anyway, which was the other reason she needed an hour before facing Leng. She couldn't afford to be distracted with him around and she needed to splash some cold water on her face, at the very least, and get her thoughts under control. She wouldn't let Kaidan be right if it was the last thing she did.

Leng had started to think Shepard was going to go back on her word when, first dinner, and then guard change came without a word about him getting out of his cell. He was beginning to wonder just what he was going to do if Shepard went back on her word when his cell door opened with a whoosh of compressed air. He watched patiently as the hulking marine with the mohawk walked in.

"Time to go," the Lieutenant said tilting his head towards doorway in a deceptively casual way.

Leng stood and walked past the man and into the hallway where he stood face to face with the ugliest creature Leng had ever seen, and he'd seen some ugly bastards.

His years of pressure under fire and undercover work in the field made it easy to repress his shock and revulsion as they pulsed through him in turn. He quietly eyed the alien and swiftly came to the conclusion that this was the prothean that had been discovered on Eden Prime shortly after the Reaper invasion of Earth.

Leng knew the Illusive Man had made a paltry effort to recover the prothean, but that had been one of the many times that Shepard and her crew had bested Cerberus troops and beaten them to the prize. As a subject for study and research, the prothean would have been an excellent sample worth obtaining. Seeing it walking around the ship, working with Shepard as one of its crew, however, was enough make his skin crawl.

"Rest assured, human, I find you just as repulsive to my senses," the strange, "Though your skills in battle are commendable, I find your submission to the Reaper indoctrination indicates an inferior will. I will enjoy killing you if you give me provocation."

Leng narrowed his eyes at the strange alien, who's voice buzzed unpleasantly again his ears, but refused to respond. If this ghost of a long extinct race thought that would be enough to get him rattled, then he took pleasure in proving him wrong. They would see who had the inferior will.

"All right, kids, you'll have to have your pissing contest later, the Commander is waiting," Vega said as he pushed past them and led the way down the hall. Leng followed, trying to ignore the sensation of all 4 of the thing's eyes on his back. Instead, he focused on memorizing the path back to the Normandy. He had been working on re-creating a mental map of the Lazarus station in his head, and now he was striving to incorporate his new impressions into what existed in his memory. He was pretty sure he knew which part of the station they were holding him in.

Once they were aboard the Normandy, he was marched through the CIC and into the lift without incident. He noticed 3 chances to grab a weapon, but had decided to wait on his escape plans until he could assure his escape. Plus, he was curious to see what Shepard had planned.

When the lift doors opened into the cargo bay, he was greeted by a scowling Shepard holding a set of black clothes that she quickly offered to him.

"You can change behind that stack of crates," she said without preamble. "Make it snappy. You're two hours starts now." As Leng gripped the clothes, a light weight white tank top and a pair of dark blue athletic pants, he saw Shepard nod to his human guard.

"Keep an eye on him, Vega," Shepard said as she walked over to the open space to do some stretches.

Leng wasted no time. He walked around a stack of large crates to find a small secluded alcove where he quickly stripped and then put on the new clothes. He quickly folded the clothes he'd removed and placed them on another crate that sat strategically behind a weapon modification bench. Unsurprisingly, all the tools from the bench were carefully hidden from sight.

Leng was somewhat surprised by the sight of Shepard, dressed down in her own version of workout clothes, bent over stretching her hamstrings and calves. He made a deliberate effort not to stare at her ass, since he had just started to feel normal again, and he wondered how much focus it would take for him to ignore her all together.

Well, he'd been looking for a way to show off his decidedly not inferior will. He should know by now to be careful what he wished for.

He made no comment, but moved into the center of the large open room, alongside a shuttle and started his own warm-up routine.

Things were going pretty well, all things considered, for the first hour. Shepard and Leng warmed up in silence, him in the middle of the room, her between him and door. Leng was thrilled to find that, somehow, the draining effect had been turned off and he was able to push his body to the full extent of its limit. He ran through his normal routine of push-ups and sit-ups, working his core with some basic free-style exercises before moving on to the weights.

Shepard moved closer to him then to use the pull up bar. He tried not to notice her, but seeing as how she was basically right in front of him, her body straining and flexing as she worked her chin up over the bar over and over again. Her body was taut and her arm muscles bunched and swelled under her glistening skin.

Kai clenched his jaw and forced his eyes back to the weights in front of him. He focused his entire being on doing curls, bringing the dumbbell up and back down and up again. He could do this. He could block her out. He was in control. He was…

Shepard dropped back to the ground with a grunt and gripped her arms behind her back to stretch her shoulders. The sound of her grunt made him look, the line of her sports bra under her tank top made him stare a little too long.

"HEY!" The large marine with the massive pecs and dominating deltoids and the crushing biceps shouted from where he stood a dozen feet to Leng's left. The hulking brute had been leaning against the shuttle, but now he was upright and glaring daggers at Kai.

"Eyes to yourself, mirón."

Leng gave Vega a dirty look from the side of his eye and then went back to his reps.

Shepard released her grip and glanced between Leng and Vega as she massaged one shoulder. Finally, she settled her frown on James, her expression equal parts confusion, consideration and disappointment. She turned away after a moment's contemplation and grabbed the tape off of Vega's table to begin wrapping her knuckles.

Leng watched all of this from his peripheral vision as he finished his right arm and passed the weights to his left hand.

Shepard, in the meanwhile, stepped up to the large bag and began a slow dance, using focused, deliberate hits to start with. From the scowl she was giving the bag, though, it was pretty obvious she would rather be fighting a real opponent.

Leng glanced back at his human guard and then at Shepard. It was all too possible he was the one she usually sparred with. Given her augmentation, it only made sense that she would need such a strong opponent to feel any challenge at all.

He grinned as the now familiar tingle trickled through the fibers of his arm muscles, and the weights seemed to grow lighter in his hands. He still wasn't as strong as he was with his own armor on, but he was feeling much better.

The memory of their tussle earlier, flashed into the forefront of Leng's brain and he felt a wash of mixed emotions. Frustration, rage, lust, exhilaration, and the thrill of a worthy opponent were only the most prominent ones. It was true that, at the time, he'd been so angry that he hardly registered their fight on any but the most superficial, bestial level.

Now, however, he could analyze and evaluate their performances in a clinical, professional way. It was such a brief exchange, though. He felt that old curiosity rearing its familiar face as he wondered, for the millionth time, which of them was really the best.

Earlier, she'd had the advantage of keeping him restrained by whatever force she was using to dampen his cybernetics and drain his strength. That handicap was now gone.

Before he could think about what he was doing, Kai set the weights down on the bench and turned to shoot the Lieutenant a malicious smirk as he addressed the Commander.

"I don't suppose you'd be interested in rematch, now that things are more even between us?"

Shepard paused in her hits against the bag and turned slowly to face Leng.

"It would be more of challenge that knocking around that beat up piece of shit," he said with a disdainful sneer, "and I promise to keep it a fair fight…" his voice trailed off and he found himself chuckling rather wickedly. "Well, I say fair…" He popped his knuckles and stepped back, raising his fists and his eyebrows as if to dare her. "I promise not to kill you, how about that."

Shepard was turned and facing him square on now. She laughed defiantly at his words and tightened the tape on her hands. "As if you could…" she eyed him suspiciously, obviously weighing the risks and evaluating the threat he possessed. He thought it was pretty clear she wanted to beat on him just as badly as he did.

After what seemed like forever, the corner of her mouth curled into a cocky half-grin.

"All right, Leng, let's see what you got."

AN: Soooooooo… What did you think?! 8000 words, right!? I wanted to get to their fight, but that will have to wait. As you know, the plans of mice and me… Well, now I will be extra motivated to get the next chapter started, because I'm super excited about writing it. I'll have it up as soon as I can. In the meantime, you know the drill. Let me what your impressions were, good or bad, I want to hear it all.