Bioware owns all characters and settings, I'm just playing in their toybox

Trust

Leaning against the rough stone walls of the cave, it occurred to Ashley that she couldn't quite pinpoint when it happened. Shields fried, a geth rocket had left her half conscious and easy prey for the encroaching squad. She had lain there, trying to think, to will her limbs into movement with no success, when a flash of blue had caught her eye. Before she knew it, strong, three-fingered hands were lifting her, hefting her over an angular shoulder, jostling her as she was rushed across the cavern into the shelter of an alcove. Surprisingly gentle hands had laid her on the filthy floor, the flash of an Omni-tool triggering the medi-gel in her suit into action, before turning and firing at the approaching geth.

As the medi-gel numbed the pain of her injuries, Ashley was able to push herself into a sitting position against the wall, her right arm clutching the wound in her side. Their haven was a small crack in the wall of the cavern, which opened up slightly into a space about the size of the Normandy's elevator. Standing at the alcove's entrance, sniper rifle in hand, Garrus was busy thinning the ranks of the geth force, his position making it impossible for the geth to swarm them or sneak up on him. They would be safe, for the moment.

She didn't know when it happened, and for all she knew her brain might have been a bit rattled by the blast, but Ashley knew that she had come to trust the turian. He could have left her there, to die at the hands of merciless synthetics, but had chosen instead to risk his own life to get her to safety. And as she had lain there, dazed and injured, a part of her had known, had trusted that he would try to help her. He had a distinct sense of honour and justice, something she could quietly admit to herself she admired. Human or not, Garrus wasn't the type of person to leave a squad mate to die.

Ashley's pretty features formed a frown as for the first time she realised that she had never thought of him as a person until now. He had always been a turian to her, and by default cold and ruthless. It brought a flush of embarrassment to her cheeks. She had known aliens were individuals, were people just like humans, but in her mind she hadn't made the connection. They were aliens, and therefore not, in her mind at least, people. It shamed her to think that someone she had regarded as little more than an intelligent animal had risked his life to save her.

Her eyes drifted to the entrance, taking in the form of his silhouette as he lined up a shot. The angles were different, and there were sharp ridges in strange places, but still the form was familiar, one of a soldier. It was an action Ashley herself had performed many times, clinical and detached, movements so ingrained through training they were unconscious. He took the shot, a perfect hit into the chest cavity of an approaching trooper. The sound reminded Ashley of her first field assignment, of taking that first shot, and knowing that in doing so she was taking a life. She found herself wondering if Garrus had felt the same way, on the day he took his first real shot. She wondered if he had been as detached and clinical as he was now, or if he had been sweating and afraid as he lined up the shot, the way she had. It got easier, as everything did with repetition and time, but that day had stuck with her. She wondered why it mattered to her how he had felt, or how he felt at all.

Tired, she slumped back into the wall, her head making a thud as it connected with the stone. Garrus' head whipped around at the sound, his sharp gaze assessing her and her injuries, even as he paused to pull the trigger once more.

"Chief Williams, are you alright? How's that wound?" he asked, turning back to the task at hand, glad that there were very few geth remaining.

"The medi-gels kicked in," she replied. "But if my train of thought is any indication, I probably have a concussion." With a wince, she attempted to get to her feet.

"No, stay there, its best not to move," Garrus insisted. "Besides, there's only a couple geth left to take care of." After a moments thought, he decided to keep her talking, so it would be obvious if she passed out. "What was your train of thought? If you don't mind me asking."

"I was wondering how you felt the first time you had to shoot someone in battle," she replied, settling back against the wall with a grunt. That shocked him so much he almost missed his shot, hitting a geth trooper in the arm instead of the head. He glanced at her, his browplates shifted into the turian version of a cocked eyebrow, before deciding to repay her honesty.

"To be honest, I was so terrified I didn't register what had happened until afterwards. I was scouting, came across some batarian mercs. Next thing I knew, they were shooting, I was shooting, it was chaos. After that little fire fight I just stood there looking at the bodies until my CO called on the comms, asking about the noise. I've pulled the trigger hundreds of times since then, but I've never remembered a fire fight as vividly as the first one." He glanced at her, surprised to see that she was nodding, the corners of her mouth twisted into what he would later recognise as her knowing smile.

"Did you hesitate?" she asked.

"No," he replied, punctuating his answer with a shot. Ashley chuckled to herself.

"It figures that would be the one thing I'd have in common with a turian," she muttered, more to herself than him. She frowned, once more wondering why it mattered that they had something in common. Maybe it was because she was thinking of him as a person now, the sort of bonding she'd experienced with Alenko and her previous human squadmates was now also happening with the turian. She wondered what her family would think of that, making friends with a turian.

"I think it figures more that that would be something you had in common with a soldier." Garrus' voice pierced her thoughts. She noticed for the first time that his low, flanging tones were strangely soothing. She chalked it up as more evidence she was concussed.

"But isn't every turian a soldier?" she asked mildly, trying to shake away these strange thoughts.

"Yes, I suppose you're right, since we all have to serve in the military. But not all military service is active service. And not every soldier doesn't hesitate."

"Well, that's my attempt to find common ground thoroughly picked apart," she replied reproachfully. "Just forget I said anything." His hawk-like gaze studied her for a moment, before he shot the legs out from under the final geth unit.

"Well, I'm glad to know we have some common ground." He said as he holstered his weapon. Ashley couldn't hide her surprise at that remark, nor when he helped her get to her feet, bracing her with his shoulder as they limped back into the cavern in search of Shepard.

Garrus slid out from under the Mako at the sound of approaching footsteps, anticipating another conversation with the Commander. He was surprised to see Ashley approaching his station, having apparently been finally released from the medbay. He stood, wondering what she had to say, considering she had never approached him at his station before. In fact, she had never actually spoken to him outside of missions, which was quite a feat considering they worked in such close proximity.

"Chief Williams," he greeted her politely. "I'm glad to see you made a full recovery."

"Yeah," she replied, looking relieved that he'd spoken first. "Although Dr Chakwas definitely took her time with the lecture about avoiding enemy fire." She rolled her eyes, knowing the doctor meant well. She became uncomfortable as Garrus regarded her silently; obviously waiting to hear the reason she had come over. Gritting her teeth, she decided to bite the bullet.

"Thank you. For getting out of range of enemy fire and activating my medi-gel. If you hadn't, I probably wouldn't have made it, as Dr Chakwas took great pains to remind me." He continued to stare at her, in what she supposed was the turian equivalent of mild surprise. She felt herself get slightly flustered, groping for the right words to explain her thoughts. "You're an excellent soldier and I trust you to have my back…I just wanted you to know that." She finished quickly, prepared to rush over to her station and return to ignoring him.

"Coming from you, Williams, that's quite the compliment," he replied, his words making her freeze before she could move way. "I'm glad that I was able to earn your trust. I'll do my best to keep it."

"Yeah, well after today you definitely earned it. And my friends call me Ash." She finished with a nod, before turning in the direction of her station.

A/N: I'm not very familiar with Ashley, she tended to annoy me in-game, I only found her likeable when I played renegade. So if she seems a bit OOC, that'll be why. I stumbled across this pairing recently, loved it, and was disappointed by the lack of fic, so I decided to add to it.