It had to be something in the air. Before she'd been to the Consort's chambers, Ashley Williams hadn't understood what all the fuss was about. Half of the galaxy's rich and famous might've been lining up for an appointment with the woman, but to a grunt like Ashley, a visit there mostly seemed like a good way to waste more credits than she'd earn in a year.

But then Sha'ira had called Shepard and her team in to see her and the sergeant found herself intoxicated. Being around the exotic asari made Ashley feel light-headed, like she'd had a couple of belts even though she was stone cold sober. She guessed maybe it was some perfume the woman was wearing that made her feel that way, something laced with powerful pheromones. That had to be it, right?

Now, though, she wasn't so certain. After Shepard had convinced General Oraka to stop making false allegations against the Consort, the commander had headed into Sha'ira's rooms to receive her reward, leaving Ashley standing outside the door with Wrex and a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"So, do you think she's getting lucky in there?"

The marine turned, yanked out of her distracted state by Wrex's question. "No, of course not," she protested, "Why would you say such a thing?"

"Heh heh, heh." The krogan chortled, that deep throaty laugh of his standing out amid the peaceful ambiance. "Maybe because the commander just did a big favor for the most famous asari escort on the Citadel."

"Well, I'm sure you're wrong." She was being defensive. Why was she being defensive? She and Shepard were both marines for God's sake. She'd walked in on her fellow soldiers screwing plenty of times. Hell, she and Alex Trapper damn near got caught by half of her platoon at the tail end of one particularly memorable shore leave. It had to be the alien thing that was bothering her. The first human Spectre shouldn't be sleeping with some alien bimbo. That was all it was. Definitely.

Before Wrex could retort, the door to the Consort's chambers opened and out strode Commander Shepard. Behind her, Ashley caught a brief glimpse of Sha'ira, a pleasant smile on the asari's lovely light blue face. There was something remarkably warm about the way the woman looked at everyone, something that, in spite of her reputation, made Ashley think she could trust her. "I hope that my words prove helpful to you," she said to the freshly minted Spectre. "I sense you will have a great deal to overcome in the time to come."

Beside Ashley, Wrex shrugged. "Guess you were right, Williams. Wasn't enough time for anything really fun to have happened." He paused for a moment. "Unless she's just that good."

"What're you talking about?", Shepard asked with a laugh, a bemused smile on her freckled face suggesting that she already had a pretty good guess.

"Wrex here was suggesting that you might have been engaging in conduct unbecoming a Spectre with the Consort, ma'am. I told him that he was being was ridiculous."

That toothy grin never left Wrex's face. "I think the commander here is just interested in a different asari. A young archeologist maybe…"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Shepard insisted, but the blush spreading across her face told a different story.

"I'm sure," Wrex chuckled. "That's why she got her own room. Doesn't have a window, but it's still more than I've got."

Shepard harrumphed. "I'm not going to dignify that with a response."

"If you say so, commander." He shrugged. "Wonder what I'd have to do to get a window…"

"You keep this up, Wrex, and you'll be looking out the window when I take somebody else on the next mission." The two warriors continued to banter back and forth, but Ashley was still in her own head. Why had she felt relieved that Shepard hadn't slept with the Consort? Why should she care?

The weeks that followed were a whirlwind of gunfire and near-death experiences. Feros, Noveria, and a double dozen smaller battles waged on asteroids, ghost ships, and colony worlds left Ashley with little time to reflect further on the events of that day or the strange feelings that seeing the beautiful asari had roused in her.

Despite that though, Sha'ira would creep back into her thoughts, often at the most inopportune moments. It was hard enough getting any privacy on the Normandy and when she did, she wanted to think about one of her favorite soccer players or the pilot with the great abs that she'd hooked up with back on Luna base, not this strange alien.

It wasn't until after Virmire that she saw the Consort again. That two-faced son of a bitch Udina had grounded the Normandy and while Shepard went to meet with Captain Anderson to try and figure a way to get the ship out of lockdown, Ashley found herself in a bar on the Presidium, spending more credits than she really had to spare.

At least they had damn good whiskey. Ever since Virmire, she'd been needing the drink. Shepard had left her alone there to arm the bomb while the commander took Garrus and Liara to rescue Kaiden from the tower when the Geth reinforcements had hit her position. Injured and outnumbered, Ashley knew she was almost out of time. It was all right. She might have been General Williams' granddaughter, but she had no intention of giving up like he had. That bomb was going to go off.

And then Shepard called and told her that she was coming back. She and the rest of the team tore through the Geth and even fought off Saren himself before dragging Ashley's wounded ass back to the Normandy. Happy ending, right? Pulled from the jaws of death at the last second... Except that they left Kaiden behind. Her fellow soldier, her friend, had died so that she could live.

Hence the whiskey. Ashley had just ordered another shot of it when she saw her. Sha'ira walked into the room, and every eye immediately turned to her. Even a couple of salarians were starring, and Ashley wasn't any different. The woman wore a stunning red dress with strategically placed holes that showed off just enough smooth skin to tantalize while still concealing enough to maintain the Consort's air of mystery.

The asari walked over to the bar and while she ordered an expensive glass of some Thessian red wine, Ashley looked away. As an attractive woman in the Alliance, she had dealt with way too many guys starring at her over the years; no need for her to be that kind of asshole now.

Of course, that meant she wasn't paying attention to where the Consort was heading, and when Sha'ira stopped at her table, the marine nearly jumped out of her seat with surprise.

"Sergeant Williams, is it not?" The asari's voice was friendly and somehow intimate, like she and Ashley were the only two people in the room.

"Um, yeah," she blurted out, "Yeah, it is."

"Would you mind if I sat down with you? I prefer company when I drink."

"No, of course not," she replied, finding her composure, "But I'm sure that pretty much anybody here would be happy to share that drink with you."

"That may well be the case, but it is you that I was interested in joining." Ashley felt irrationally happy at that statement. Could she really have a crush on this asari? Certainly, the view that her dress offered of what even the sergeant had to admit were spectacular breasts was hard to tear her eyes away from, but she was straight. And she didn't like aliens. Well, she'd gotten to be friendly with some of the ones like Wrex and Tali she was serving with on the Normandy, but that didn't mean she liked them that way. So why was she feeling a tingling between her legs?

"You are with Shepard," Sha'ira continued by way of explanation. "I have heard many terrible things about the missions she has undertaken recently."

"Were you worried about her?" Just like that, Ashley's hopes fell. Of course it was about Shepard; it always was. It wasn't that she begrudged the commander her success; God knew she'd earned it, but sometimes she did get tired of the woman's never-ending string of admirers of all genders and species.

"Right now," Sha'ira corrected her gently, "My concern was for you. You seem to be carrying a heavy burden. Perhaps you wish to share it?"

Ashley wasn't sure why she agreed. It wasn't like her to go on about her feelings, especially not with some alien she barely knew. There was such deep compassion in Sha'ira's eyes though, and after all she had been through, starting with the attack on Eden Prime, she needed to talk it through.

"Someone died," she started, taking another slug of the whiskey for courage, "Someone that I served with."

"Surely as a soldier, you are accustomed to death."

"I am, but this was different. Lt. Alenko… Kaiden… he died in my place. We were both in danger and Shepard…", she paused, the words sticking in her throat, "She saved me instead of him."

"She made her decision. The responsibility for it is hers, not yours."

"Yeah, but…" All of her suppressed frustration was just spilling our of her. "He was my superior officer. He was a powerful biotic. She should have saved him, not me."

Sha'ira took a sip of her wine. "Ranks and abilities do not measure the worth of a life."

"They matter," she snapped, "To a soldier. There are rules in these situations. But I wouldn't expect a damned courtesan to understand that!"

As soon as she said the words, she regretted them. Sha'ira had been nothing but kind and there she was, attacking the woman. What surprised her though, was the flicker of hurt that she saw in the asari's dark blue eyes at her insult. "Hey," she apologized, "I didn't mean it that way. I just meant…. Aw, the hell with it. I don't know what I meant. I'm no good at explaining this stuff, but I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

"I understand," Sha'ira replied. If she was angry at Ashley, she hid it well. "You have walked a different path in your life than I have. It gives you a perspective I cannot share."

Ashley shook her head as she tried to choke back the hurt. "It's not your fault. It's me. Before I was on the Normandy, I served on Eden Prime, that colony that the Geth attacked a couple of months ago. My whole squad died there, killed before Shepard showed up and rescued me. This, now, it's the second time that I lived when the people around me died. What's so damn special about me?"

Sha'ira reached out and took Ashley's trembling hand in her blue one. It was smoother than she would have thought possible, and stronger than she would have expected. It made her feel anchored in a galaxy that over the last few months had been spinning away from anything she understood. "I do not know why you are alive," Sha'ira said, her voice like the sound of a warm bath being drawn. "I can only repeat what I told you: that the value of a person is not always so easily judged. Perhaps the universe has kept you alive for a reason. You are a woman of remarkable ability who has been caught up in great events. It may be that you have some special role to play before their ending."

Ashley shook her head. How did you respond to something like that? "Wow," she tried. "I can see why people wait six months to talk to you."

"I am flattered," Sha'ira replied with a smile. This time, Ashley couldn't deny the warm flush of arousal that hit her at the sound of the asari's words, but before she could think of something to say back, her damned omni-tool started buzzing.

"What is it, Joker?", she asked tersely, trying to hide her annoyance and only partially succeeding.

"Shepard needs you back on the Normandy ASAP." He didn't say anything more, but Ashley could guess that meant Shepard had found a way to get them off of the station.

She gave Sha'ira her best apologetic smile. "Sorry, but I've got to go. Duty calls."

"Of course. Be well, Ashley Williams."

Ashley left some credits to cover her tab and dashed off to the Normandy, feeling better if no less confused than she had before Sha'ira sat down next to her. A crush on a famous asari escort or therapist or… She didn't even know what the woman was, but whatever the answer, it wasn't likely to uncomplicate her life. "Just look on the bright side," she told herself, "Maybe the galaxy will end soon and you won't have to figure it out."

So, I wrote this as a little diversion in-between 4th Life chapter and before Terminal Diagnosis starts up. I hope you're enjoying it; there will be a second chapter up in a few days or so.