Author's Note: Mass Effect, cool as it is, and all associated characters, are the property of Bioware, etc. As usual, I'm not making any money, I'm just playing in the sandbox. No infringement is intended.
This takes place after the Normandy makes port at the Citadel, and Shepard and crew decide to help out a Citadel Security detective.
The Fan
Note to self: never do favors for C-Sec.
They were wandering the wards down by the markets when it happened. Shepard had had the notion that if they were going to look like buyers for black market mods for Detective Chellik, they probably should act like they were actually shopping.
"Is that...? Oh, man. It's you! It's really you!" The blond human male by the volus shopping kiosk was practically dancing, he was so excited. "Commander Shepard! Can I talk to you a minute?"
"Um, sure?"
It was, Kaidan Alenko decided, absolutely hysterical how his normally unflappable XO reacted when a random worker asked for an autograph.
First Geth attack in 200 years? Buckle down and get to work. Hope we brought enough ammo. Pass me the grenades, Alenko.
Pinned down and bleeding from four separate wound sites? No sweat. Pop a medigel, sprint from cover, taking the heads off enemy targets neat and pretty. Get taped up later.
Save colony from imminent molten doom? No problem.
Adulation and autographs? Blush. Actually blush. Look like she wanted to head for the nearest escape pod. It was almost cute. Not that the Commander was cute. She was a marine. She kicked ass. And has a really, really nice one, herself.
Down, Alenko.
He and Ash exchanged a look as Shepard was blunt with Verner. "I spent most of my time just trying to stay alive and help the colonists." That was the Commander. Honest. If she'd been any sort of a diplomat, she'd have been more polite to the starstruck man. If she'd been any sort of a diplomat, she wouldn't have been Shepard.
Verner finally wandered off, babbling about his wife and buying the commander a drink sometime. Kaidan squashed the spike of irrational jealousy at the thought. Commanding officer plus frat regs equals no jealousy, Alenko. Forget about the whole embarassing slipup twenty minutes ago when you basically told Shepard you thought she was beautiful. Ashley is still walking drag, just like she said she would. Dammit.
"Well, that was uncomfortable." Shepard rubbed the back of her neck.
"Just a harmless fan, ma'am. Maybe you should get used to it."
"Why? I wasn't down there alone. I distinctly remember you two in those firefights with me. I know I remember you, Williams, taking on a squad of geth single handed, and unless there was another Alliance marine biotic running around the battlefield, I know I saw you, Alenko, tossing a few big geth like they were beach balls." She glanced over at him. "Nice trick, by the way."
"That's the nature of the beast, Commander. You have the rank, you get the accolades." Kaidan forgot that rank enough to smile at her. Just a little. "That makes us the grunts, and you the savior of Eden Prime."
"The hell I am, Lieutenant." Shepard looked both embarassed and disgusted. One hand went to the back of her neck again, rubbing fretfully. "Did we get there before Saren? No. Did we lose two whole marine units, a Spectre, and an entire spaceport, barring six survivors? Yes. Did we lose one of our shore party? Yes. Did Saren get away? Yes. Did we lose the beacon? Why, yes, we did. Sure, Saren didn't manage to blow the entire colony into constituent atoms, but that... fiasco... that was not a victory, and I do not want adulation from anyone for that."
Her dark eyes met Ashley's. "If I had been a savior, we would have gotten there before Saren. Your unit would still be alive. We'd have the beacon. Nihlus would be alive, and Saren would be very, very dead."
Ash's chin went up. "Ma'am, permission to speak freely?"
"Granted, Chief."
Ash put herself at parade rest. "What you said, that would have been nice. Hell, it would have been great. All of it. But it didn't happen. And you can't blame yourself for that. You're no asari mystic, ma'am. None of us are. You did the best you could with what you were handed."
"Williams. So did you." Shepard put her hand on the other woman's shoulder. "You did the best. Both of you." She glanced over at Kaidan, aimed a friendly thump at his shoulder. "Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise."
Ashley looked down a moment. "Thanks, Commander."
"You want to thank me? Never, ever allow anyone to ask me for my autograph again." Shepard moved off through the crowds again, Alenko and Williams falling neatly into step behind her. "Now let's go see a man about some mods."