Next Time…

Summary: It was a bit surprising for James Vega when his CO asks him to spar with him. Things get out of hand and… well…

Note: This is based on the idea that it is possible to romance James Vega, a character appearing in Mass Effect 3. There is no spoiler shown on here that isn't already publicly known so it is safe for any reader and fan to read if they wish.

BTW, this is Shonen Ai aka boy love but not to the extreme… So if you didn't read the warning in the summary before clicking, this is sort of your last warning. Thank you and enjoy.

XxxxX

Left… right… right hook… side kick to the right side… upper cut… knee up while pulling head to it… roundhouse kick…

That's the sort of chanting that was going through Shepard's head as he continued to punch into the air, fighting an invisible enemy in the large hanger in the Normandy.

Only a week ago did Earth fall to the universe's greatest enemy, the Reapers. So many things were going through his mind, mostly of Anderson there leading what was left of the Alliance to survive the Reaper attacks. His thoughts then fell upon the young boy, the one he had seen running around on a garden rooftop. He tried to convince the kid to come with him to safety, but the boy didn't believe that he could help.

He saw him later after leaving Anderson behind, getting evacuated… he saw…

He suddenly turned as he felt a presence, aiming to knock the person down but stopped just an inch away from the man who had been his "bodyguard" during his stay on Earth, James Vega. The soldier had a tough neutral face, one even he himself couldn't pull off as he looked unfretted by the near assault on him. He stepped back, going into a calming stance as he looked back at the soldier with equal facial expression.

"Do you need something, James?" he spoke with authority, something that even with years of being in command of a ship didn't quite fit with him.

James shook his head as he stood attention. "Just came in to do some exercise, Commander."

Shepard opened his mouth slightly but shut it, remembering that Anderson had reinstated his status. It didn't mean much, given that Kaidan was a rank above his own. However, it seems everyone even the Major insisted that Shepard should lead them. He then smiled as he patted James's shoulder. "How about we spar a bit, one on one?"

He saw the great surprise in James's eyes before the soldier nodded. They then took their respective space and stance before the lower ranking soldier attacked first. Shepard brought his right forearm up to block a upper left hook from James before returning the hit. Each was giving equal amount of attacking and blocking, no words exchanged until midway through their fight.

"So, Commander… are we… going to win this?" James asked.

Shepard glanced at him through his guard as he blocked another punch. He let out a breath as he raised his leg, kicking in the soldier's side hard. "We will. We have to, or all will be lost." He stated what felt like the hundredth time. It was the truth though. If they did not find a way to gather all the races together, there won't be an Earth left to save or even a galaxy.

"I'm with you, Commander," he heard James say with great confidence as he then punched really hard, almost breaking Shepard's guard. "Just tell me where to go, and I'll take care of the rest." The Commander nodded before stepping back to avoid an attack as he then charged towards James.

It turned out to be a rather bad decision for an offense move as James seemed ready, grabbing his wrist at the right moment and threw him over his shoulder and pinning him to the ground. His breath left his lungs, realizing that the lack of constant training and exercising had taken a toll on him. He cursed himself for relaxing too much when he was brought to Earth and just basically sat in his room, reading and watching holo vids. He gave out a sigh of defeat as he moved to get up… but he couldn't.

Apparently when James threw him over his shoulder, the man had moved to pin him to the ground. He stared up at the soldier, both of the men breathing hard from their sparring session as he then moved a bit, nudging the motion that he wanted the man off of him. "Hey, Vega… get off." However, James didn't move, staring down at him with the always army boy face he had when he was on guard duty or standing at his door during his stay.

"Seriously, Vega… get off." He warned, speaking in an authoritative tone.

It only took that moment for Shepard to notice that the gap between them seemed to have gotten a bit smaller. He was about to comment when the sound of the elevator opening caught both of their attention. James quickly helped his commander up to his feet and stepped away, looking casual as they saw Liara walking towards them with a face of relief.

"Shepard, thank the Goddess," she said as she relayed the news she had come to tell him. Shepard gave a small smile, relieved at this turn of events as he patted her shoulder and moved to head up to CIC. He glanced over to James, giving him a small nod as he entered the elevator, the doors closing to bring him up.

This left James Vega alone with the Asari as he didn't miss the knowing smirk on the blue-faced alien. He just gave a shrug and began to go off and train by himself. "There's always next time," he thought to himself, knowing that Shepard tended to talk to everyone on the ship after their missions.

The End