Shepard…What I meant to say before Illos wasn't just I love you. I wanted to say you're my saving grace from god. I love you from one end of the galaxy to another for that. Now keep that to yourself, ok?" ~ Ashley Williams
It had been 3 weeks since Shepard annihilated Saren and the Normandy led a bittersweet battle against sovereign at the citadel. Despite Shepard's influence as a renegon and with his accomplishments to back him up, the council dismissed his warnings about the reapers and sent him to clean up after the geth and any pirates causing small-time trouble in the Terminus systems. As much as Shepard wanted to rebel against his orders from the council, he knew it wouldn't be worth the risk of facing the firing squad without any good leads to chase down. All he could do was carry out his orders, hope for the best, and continue to love Ashley for the proud and strong soldier that she proved herself to be.
One day, Shepard was mapping out potential geth and pirate bases in the Vallhallan Threshold, plotting out potential bases, anomalies, point of interests, and potential resources that they can salvage for credits. It was hectic to sort through the Normandy's scans to determine what was viable and what was junk. Having enough for one day, Shepard set aside the data to work on later and decided to take a quick nap before going out and making sure the Normandy is ready for battle. As he was halfway to his bed, he heard the door open, and turned around to find Ashley entering his quarters.
"Hey skipper. Got a moment to settle down?"
"I was just going to do that. I got tired of planning out our next strikes against the geth."
"You and me both," Ashley replied as she gestured to sit down at Shepard's round table, which he approved without hesitation. "I gotta admit though, we roll in a lot of credits, and if we keep it up, I could retire early if I wanted to."
As Shepard sat down next to Ashley, he replied, "But you don't."
"Yeah, I just…we're so young, and we still got it in ourselves to be who we wanna be. Even after we blew Saren's ass to dust."
"When are you thinking about retiring, Ashley?"
"That depends on you, skipper."
"Me?" Shepard paused to think before continuing, "It's a good question. If I get enough credits to retire 3 times over, ill probably consider it. But unless we stop the reapers, or my career gets to be too much of a pain in the ass, I'll still be here. I like to have purpose, Ash."
"I hear you there. And im right behind you, Shepard. Wish we could get the council off their asses to do something about it."
"We could, if the geth have any recordings about bringing back the reapers. It worked with Saren."
"Maybe. We haven't found anything in weeks, I just hope it won't be months or years. It would drive me crazy."
There was a slight pause. Things have been slow on the Normandy ever since Saren was eliminated, but it was particularly slow today because they recently entered the Vallhallan Threshold, and activity has been sparse in this system. Shepard decided to spruce up the day by complementing Ashley,
"I couldn't have come this far without you, Ash. There's no other soldier id have watching my 6 than you."
"Really, Shepard? Not even 5 minutes and your whipping out complements?"
"I could go back to teasing you if that makes you better."
Ashley laughed lightly as she replied, "You don't have to Shepard, I'm just kidding. Honestly, I can't think of a better commander to take orders from. Everyone else just…"
"Treated you like crap. Their mistake. I can always pull strings for you if you need me to, just ask and ill work my muscle on them."
"Strong words, Shepard. Now that you mention it, I could use a promotion or two after I helped you take out Sovereign. Sir."
"I'll put in some good words with Admiral Hackett. If he hesitates, ill remind him that im a spectre, and that messing with a spectre can have serious consequences for the alliance."
"What if he says no?"
"Then ill promote you myself. Spectre authority. I'd go rogue too if it wasn't for the council."
Ashley smiled as she replied, "I like what im hearing, Shepard. You're the best at this."
"Nothing but. There's a lot I like about you Ashley, and you've certainly earned more than your rank and your place."
"What exactly have I earned, sir?"
"Good question. Credits for shopping, a snuggle buddy, free sex, unlimited foot and body massages, another place to store your gear, someone to style your hair or nails, and much, much more."
Ashley couldn't help but laugh for a few moments before she replied, "You dream way too much, Shepard. I'm not sure about you painting my nails or styling my hair, though."
"Well, if your nails ever get chipped, cracked, or broken, ill see about buying something that can help them heal. I like my crew at their best."
"I'll hold you to that, Shepard."
"I'll do it right now, actually." Shepard declared as he quickly went on the extranet via his omni-tool to search for nail repair products. As Ashley snickered at his strong intentions, Shepard quickly found Nail gel that can mend together broken nails, and ordered a few bottles to be sent to the Normandy tomorrow. When Shepard was finished, he said,
"I almost forgot, I gotta work on my promotion list and send that in to Admiral Hackett." Ashley smiled as he grabbed a tablet, typed in a few names on a list, with Ashley's right on top, and sent it in to Admiral Hackett for review. As soon as Shepard set his tablet aside on his work table, Ashley smiled and asked,
"If your not too busy skipper, id love a massage right about now."
"Sure. Come lay down on the bed and ill start wherever you want."
"Aye aye, commander." Ashley said with a smile.