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Under Better Circumstances 3 - At A Moments Notice

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Title: Under Better Circumstances - Chapter 3: At A Moment's Notice
Author: xRebel666x
Game: Mass Effect
Characters/Pairing: Commander Nevada Shepard (femShep) and James Vega

*****SPOILERS ARE IN THIS CHAPTER!!!!*****

Chapter 3 - At A Moment's Notice

   The air was tense within the walls of Alliance Headquarters. Everyone was frantically running around, rushing to their destinations and searching for answers. Chaos was brewing outside the safety of the Alliance defenses and only one person could help make any sense of it.

  Brushing past his fellow soldiers, Lieutenant James Vega navigated his way through the detention center. His orders were clear… retrieve Nevada Shepard. As he quickly entered the room Shepard spent the past few months in, he noticed how she was quietly looking out the window. Freedom was right on the other side of the glass, she could see it but it was outside of her grasp.

  "Commander," he saluted.

  She turned around to greet the Lieutenant, "You're not supposed to call me that anymore, James."

  "Not supposed to salute you either."

  "You've got a point," she snickered, shaking her head, "What can I do for you, Lieutenant?"

  Turning on his heel, he began walking out the door, "We gotta go. The Defense Committee wants to see you."

  "Sounds important," she noted, running out the door to catch up to him. Immediately she noticed the frantic Alliance soldiers scurrying about the hallways. A sense of urgency bellowed in their wide gazes, distracting them from the ex-Commander wandering in their midst. Typically they all stared at her when she traversed around Headquarters but today she was a ghost. "What's going on?"

  "Couldn't say. Just told me they needed you… now."

  "I guess I don't have time for a smoke break, huh," she joked.

  "Maybe later," he grinned back, "For now, I need to bring you to the Committee."

  "I'll hold you to it," her voice stumbled, secretly revealing her concern for her future.

  Sitting in a room day after day began taking its toll and she wanted nothing more than to get back into action. The longer she was detained, the less time she would have to prepare. She knew the end was coming and she was determined to fight until her last breath… but she was scared. The Lieutenant could see the strong woman beside him hiding everything behind her deep brown eyes. He didn't know how to tell her that he saw her distress as the world was crumbling. The only thing he could do is continue to protect her.

  "Anderson," Shepard called out when seeing the tall man walking towards her.

  Immediately James Vega saluted his superior, "Admiral."

  "You look good, Shepard. Maybe a little soft around the edges," he acknowledged the two and took the lead, "How are you holding up since being relieved from duty?"

  "It's not so bad once you get used to the hot food and soft beds," she smiled, following the Admiral towards the Defense Committee, "Not like the meals I had back on the Normandy."

  "We'll get it sorted out."

  "What's going on? Why is everyone in such a hurry?"

  "Admiral Hackett is mobilizing the fleets. I'm guessing word's made it to Alliance Command. Something big is heading our way."

  Without any warning, Shepard stopped dead in her tracks, "The Reapers?"

  "We don't know. Not for certain."

  "What else could it be?" she asked, staring back at the Lieutenant standing guard. He nodded, confirming his belief in her statement.

  "That's not important, what we need to do is plead your case to the Defense Committee."

  "Unless we're planning to talk the Reapers to death, the Committee is a waste of time."

  "They're just scared. None of them have seen what you've seen. You faced down a Reaper, hell you spoke to one then blew the damn thing up. You've seen how they harvest us, what they plan to do to us, you know more about this enemy than anyone."

  Nevada felt the bitter taste burn within her mouth, "That why they grounded me? Took away my ship?"

  "You know that's not true," the Admiral firmly reassured her, "When you blew up the batarian relay, hundreds of thousands of batarians died."

  Shepard shook her head in disgust, "It was that or let the Reapers walk through our back door."

  "I know that, Shepard. And so does the Committee. If it wasn't for that, you would have been court-martialed and left to rot in the brig."

  "I'm just a soldier, Anderson," Nevada shrugged, "I'm no politician."

  "I don't need you to be either," he pointed, walking forward, "I just need you to do whatever the hell it takes to help us stop the Reapers."

  Watching a short woman come up to the Admiral to confirm their meeting with the Defense Committee, James Vega knew this was goodbye. Placing his hand out, the Lieutenant said, "Good luck in there, Shepard."

  "Thank you, James," Nevada smiled, giving him a firm handshake. When he tried to pull away, she clung onto his hand tightly. Fighting with the protocols drilled into her head, she muttered, "There's been something I've been meaning to tell you."

  "What?" he asked leaning closer.

  She squeezed his hand tighter, "You've spent your free time keeping me company these past few months and I wanted to…"

  "Shepard!" a voice called out.

  Nevada quickly turned around and released the Lieutenant's hand. Her stance tensed the moment she saw Major Kaidan Alenko walking her way. "Kaidan?"

  The Admiral intercepted the Alliance marine, "Major, how'd it go in there?"

  "I could never tell with them. I'm just waiting for orders now," Kaidan answered, his eyes glued onto the woman trying to avoid him.

  When the short woman returned, Anderson walked Shepard out of the room. Nevada did her best to refuse looking at Kaidan as she exited, yet their eyes still met. She sneered at him right before she disappeared.

  Noticing the tension between the two raised some concern for James Vega. He approached Kaidan and asked, "You know the Commander?"

  He continued staring at the door, "I used to."

  "Will I need to protect her from you too?" he asked, holding back the jealously fueling within.

  "I'd like to see you try," he glared back.
*****SPOILERS ARE CONTAINED IN THIS STORY!!!!!!!!*****

Ah, it feels so good to be back in my natural groove! Granted I still have a bunch of messages to catch up on, I am finally a chance to write everything.

This story takes place at the beginning of ME3. I got a bunch of the conversation from the beta that was leaked on XBOX live a few days ago. So if you don't want any spoilers, DO NOT READ THIS.

Chapter 1: [link]
Chapter 3: VIEWING
Chapter 4: [link]

James Vega (his voice is so dreamy), Admiral Nelson, and all things Mass Effect belong to BioWare.
© 2011 - 2024 RebelATS
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RuneDathorn's avatar
Vegas voice = Freddie Prinze Jr... hehe that just makes me chuckle but liking this