Ashley opened her eyes into the darkened medbay.

Dr. Chakwas rose from her desk, and moved to her side. "Finally awake I see".

"What happened? How did I get back?" The last thing she remembered was the battle. Husks and Rachni had been easily cleared out, and all that had been left were the Cerberus troops. She thought things had been advancing well, but her current location and lack of memory informed her that she must have missed something.

The hatch to the crew area opened as Commander Shepard strode into the room. "You buzzed Doctor? I see your patient is awake."

"She is indeed. I was about to tell her what happened to her on Binthu, but I think you'd rather to do the honors."

Ashley looked from one to the other, wondering what she was missing. Obviously she was in no longer in any danger, but she could discern a slight undertone of humor from Shepard as she exchanged looks with the doctor.

"Oh, I wouldn't miss that," Shepard turned to Ashley with a wry grin. "You were shot!"

"I know I was shot Commander," Ashley was rapidly losing patience, "I can still feel it."

"Fortunately, we were able to take care of that." If anything, Shepard's grin only grew.

Ashley, frustrated at the lack of progress turned to Dr. Chakwas for help. "What's going on?"

Dr. Chakwas came to the Chief's rescue. "Dr. T'Soni may have saved your life Ashley. Whatever you were hit with penetrated your armor, and one of the slugs perforated your anterior tibial artery."

Ashley was still confused. "What? What did she do? Apply some medi-gel?"

"Nothing so simple. Although medi-gel is wonderful invention, there are some things it just isn't able to overcome - like copious blood loss. While Shepard was laying down covering fire, Liara made a tourniquet out of the o-ring in your helmet, and kept pressure on the wound until the battle was over. Once the area was secure she held your leg immobile with her biotics while Shepard carried you back to the mako."

Ashley was nonplussed. "I wouldn't have thought she'd keep her head that well in a crisis. That's actually pretty impressive."

"I thought so too," added Shepard, apparently eager to reinforce Ashley's positive take on their Asari guest's performance.

"I asked her about that," inserted Dr. Chakwas. "She told me she's spent most of the 26 years since she received her doctorate in the field, at various dig sites in some fairly remote locations. Usually she was either alone, or with a small group of researchers; graduate students, interns, and the like. Liara had to receive rather some extensive first aid training as a condition of the university agreeing to sponsor her excavations. There was usually no funding available to provide support staff for her expeditions."

"So all this time she could have been acting as a damn field medic?!" Ashley struggles to sit up in her anger. "Why didn't she say something before? There were plenty of times we could've used a medic," she was almost yelling.

"Calm down Chief," Shepard put her hand on Ashley's shoulder and pushed her back onto the bed. "You don't want to undo any of Dr. Chakwas' work."

"Seriously," Ashley continued, "You've got to be kidding me. This is something that she didn't feel was worth mentioning to anyone?"

"She spends most of her time in her lab," began Dr. Chakwas, "and that's something else you should be happy about. Her first aid training had all been to provide first aid on Asari, and although some things are universal, it didn't hurt that she's been reading every human physiology book I have. Also, who would she tell? Half the crew still treats her like they still don't trust her, and the other half ignores her. I think she's only opened up to Shepard because..."

Shepard shot the doctor an emphatic glare.

"She helped Shepard with her problem interpreting the Prothean beacon," Dr. Chakwas smoothly finished.

Ashley relaxed into the bed. "You're probably right." She admitted as she turned to Shepard. "You must trust her if you were willing to let her into your head."

"I do trust her Ash."

Ashley held Shepard's gaze for a long moment before Shepard looked away. "Did we at least complete the mission?"

"We cleared out Cerberus, and confirmed that there were no survivors among the recon team. RA Kahoku was also a casualty. I returned to the surface with Wrex and Garrus to recover his body after getting you back up to the Normandy."

"Damn. The admiral had a wife and kids."

"Yes, and he unknowingly made an enemy of Cerberus when he asked us to investigate his missing marines. He would have done it anyway though. He was a brave man. We fought together during the Blitz." Shepard closed her eyes for a moment. "His was the battalion that landed at Illyria."

When she opened her eyes again, the earlier humor was gone, but her concern for her squadmate was was still evident as she again placed her hand on Ashley's shoulder. "Cerberus has paid for what they've done, and we all made it out alive. That's a win in my book. Dr. Chakwas tells me you'll be done here shortly. Doctor?"

"Yes, Ashley. You should be able to leave in the morning. Limited duty for at least another couple of days."

Shepard looked from one to the other. "Get some more rest Chief, I'll see you in the morning." After a quick glance to the hatch at the rear of the medbay, Shepard turned and left the room.

Ashley looked to the doctor. "I think I owe someone an apology."

"I'm sure it would be appreciated. For now though, you need to get back to sleep."

.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.

Dr. Chakwas was reading. It had been a week since Chief Williams returned to duty, and the doctor was currently enjoying the quiet of an empty medbay. She knew it wouldn't be entirely quiet for much longer, and her expectation was confirmed when Commander Shepard exited Liara's lab. Chakwas suppressed a grin as the commander gave her the customary head nod as she walked across the medbay on her way to the crew area. They had developed quite the ritual of feigning obliviousness in regards to Shepard's evening visits. Shepard never discussed the time she spent with the Asari who resided in the lab behind the medbay, but due to the location, Chakwas was the one person from whom Shepard couldn't hide when she called upon Liara.

Chakras waited a few minutes to see if this was an evening when Liara would follow. When she didn't, Chakwas placed her pad on the desk, and walked to the hatch separating the medbay from Liara's lab. She knocked lightly, not wanting to disturb the occupant if she had gone to sleep.

Liara however quickly answered the knock. She wasn't prepared for bed, and was still in her customary science jumpsuit. "Doctor?" she answered quizzically.

"I was about to finish off the last of a bottle of brandy," the doctor gestured to the bottle on her desk. "Would you care to join me?"

"It is fairly late..."

"Nonsense. You're usually up much later than this. Besides, I wanted to talk to you about a few things."

Liara blushed slightly at Chakwas' awareness of her sleeping habits, but followed her out into the medbay, and pulled up a chair nest to the doctor's desk. Chakwas poured each of them a generous helping of the brandy. Both women sat, and Liara took the proffered glass.

"We haven't spoken in a few days," began Chakwas. "How are you doing Liara?"

"I am well, thank you. My research has never been so productive. I am becoming more comfortable with my role in Shepard's squad, and I even seem to be getting along better with the crew. Well, except for Mess Sergeant Crosby."

"I'm sorry about that dear. Silas and I are friends, and when he started complaining about having to procure additional rations to make up for "unauthorized nighttime requisitions," I blamed you."

Liara paled. "You mean he knows..."

Chakras reached across the desk to put put her hand on the Liara's. "All he 'knows' is that Asari have different dietary requirements than humans, and that you sometimes have an additional meal when you're tired of supplements. I left out the part about who is actually doing the cooking. I would never compromise your and Shepard's privacy."

Liara waited for a few moments before asking the question she really wanted answered. "You do not think the commander's behavior is unusual - in regards to me?"

Chakwas looked away while she crafted her reply. "What I do think is that you're good for her. She's getting more rest. She smiles more often. She isn't just grinding herself through one mission after another anymore. You give her hope, and something to fight for. She knows it too, but I think she has difficulty reconciling how she feels with her self image of being one apart from the crew. As you can guess, she's not terribly good at relationships. She's lost everyone she's cared about."

"Is that what this is then? A relationship?"

Chakwas gave Liara a smile. "I don't know. I don't think she knows either. It does seem to make both of you happy, and if she can overcome feeling guilty about that, then who knows?"

"So, she feels guilty then..."

"She's not feeling guilty about you dear, she feels guilty about being happy. She takes every loss, every pain inflicted on those in her life very personally. She wants to be the one to own all the suffering. Righting wrongs suffered by others is what has given her strength for nearly 13 years, but it's time she found something else to inspire her."

Liara closed her eyes for a moment. 'By the Goddess, Humans are so confusing,' she thought. "I still do not know what to make of this. Sometimes she seems interested in me far beyond just my capacity as an expert on the Protheans, but sometimes she is distant. She does things for me that I would never ask her to do, but then goes days without acknowledging my presence."

"Give her time, Liara. This is uncharted territory for her too."

The doctors finished their drinks in silence.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.

The target practice session was over, and the squad members had begun to drift away. Tali had returned to the engineering compartment, Kaidan had taken the elevator back to the crew deck, and Wrex had returned to his customary place on the other side of the cargo hold where he was polishing his family's ceremonial armor.

Ashley and Garrus had the cleanup detail to return the hold to a more functional state, but they were waiting for Shepard to finish. For the last several sessions Shepard had one mod or another that she wanted to try on Liara's pistol after practice was over.

Garrus was leaning against the wall next to Ashley while the pair watched Shepard return from the workbench to where Liara waited at the firing line. Shepard's voice was indecipherable to them both as she described the weapon's changed performance characteristics to Liara.

Ashley looked up from the crate she was seated on. "Matriarch Benezia is a fairly high ranking government official, isn't she?"

"That's what I understand," replied Garrus.

"That means a residence full of commandos, armed security, and most likely self defense training for any children, right?"

"I would assume so."

The pair watched as Shepard pressed up against the Asari, squaring Liara's hips towards the target, and helping her absorb the increased recoil from the newly added piercing mod.

"Wouldn't you think that would mean she'd be at least decent with a pistol then? I mean, she can take Wrex one on one with biotics, and she can mostly hold her own against Kaidan when trading throws in hand to hand practice. I know they're Asari, but they wouldn't have neglected at least rudimentary weapons training, would they? It was probably the commandos she grew up around who would have trained her. I would think they wouldn't have let her down."

"I think she's just fine with a pistol. She's never as good in here as she is on a mission."

Ashley did a double take at Garrus' response. "Wait, you think she's faking? Why would she do that?"

At Garrus' head nod, Ashley looked back at the pair in time to watch as Shepard reached down Liara's arm to adjust the maiden's grip. Shepard pressed the pistol more firmly into Liara's hand, while continuing to talk to her. Shepard's voice was too low to discern her words, but she seemed to be explaining something in great detail while she kept Liara's blue hand enfolded in her own.

Ashley turned back to Garrus as he flexed his mandibles in a manner that seemed to communicate the same thought as a raised eyebrow. Ashley thought the Turian seemed amused, but she herself was nothing but.

"Nevermind," said Ashley. She paused for a moment. "Do you think we should tell Shepard?"

"I'm sure she knows."

"But if Shepard knows, why doesn't she say something? Is it possible Liara knows that Shepard knows? If that's true as well, what is all this? Who is this act for?"

"Honestly, I think it's for us." He looked down at Ashley.

Ashley looked up at Garrus as he have her the Turian version of a smile. As one they turned towards Shepard and Liara, who were still absorbed in their discussion, and Garrus started laughing.

"What's so funny over there Garrus?" called the commander.

"Nothing!" replied Ashley. "Absolutely nothing at all!"

A/N: Assumptions here include:
FemShep/Liara (slowly tiptoeing towards LI)
Mid to late mid ME1 - after Conditions but before Suspicions
After Feros, Before Noveria

Shepard is:
Colonist / Vanguard / War Hero

Still filling in the blanks in Liara's timeline. There is definitely one more story to come before the destruction of the Normandy. There may be one other, but I may not be able to make it fit in "my" Liara's ME 1 timeline.

Also trying to avoid too much retconning actual events that take place on missions. I'm using the spaces in between.

Unless my next planned story comes after the possible one, our next stop will be Thessia.

As always, feedback is welcome and desired.