It was the next afternoon by the time Captain Anderson was standing in the Normandy's medbay looking extremely annoyed. He would have been here sooner but in all the chaos following Saren's attack dealing with a simple bar fight took a lower priority. Still it was a bit of an embarrassment to the Alliance that he even had to come down here at all.

"So what's the damage Doctor." Captain Anderson ordered as he looked around. there were only a few crew members in the medbay by that point, he noticed Joker still stabilized on one of the beds while Tali was standing nearby looking awkward over the entire situation.

"Surprisingly little actually." Doctor Chakwas spoke up in a comforting tone, "Mostly just your typical minor cuts and bruises as you might expect. Joker here is the only serious case right now with several small fractures to deal with. Though by the nature of these fractures it's very evident they did not occur during the bar fight itself so I don't think that qualifies."

Anderson heard Joker excitedly whisper a "Totally Worth It" from his bed which caused him to just shake his head.

"As for Tali," Chakwas continued, "She's actually just here for a followup, she suffered a suit puncture during the fight but I've already treated her with a booster dose of antibiotics, and she tells me her own suits seals were able to contain any contamination. It will be another day or so before we'll know if she contracted any infection but so far I'd say she'll be just fine."

"Good to know." Anderson said maintaining the same scowl on his face that he came in with, "And the Commander?"

"In her quarters." Chakwas answered, but before the Captain turned to leave she added, "I would highly advise that you knock before entering Captain." That made Anderson stop in his tracks for just a moment, during which he simply nodded at the doctor before walking away.

The relationship between the Commander and the Prothean expert was hardly a secret, at least not on board the Normandy. Despite no longer spending any time on the ship, Anderson was smart enough to figure out what was going on between the two of them. As the Asari was technically a civilian it wasn't like Shepard was breaking any regulations with this relationship. Still, in the interest of digression he opted to use the comm interface rather then barging into the Commander's cabin.

"God dammit!" Shepard's voice screamed though the comm, "I gave explicit orders that I was not to be disturbed for anything less then another Reaper attack!"

"Good thing I outrank you then, Shepard." Anderson replied coolly.

"Anderson! Shit! Um ... Sorry sir. Gimme a minute." Shepard voice cried out frantically realizing she had put her foot deep into her own mouth with her little outburst against a superior officer. Liara's voice could be heard in the background in soft whispers which Anderson decided to purposely not focus on.

"At ease, Shepard." Anderson said, his voice remained calm but stern, "How about you and I meet in the Comm room when you're ready. And by that I mean I'll see you there in five minutes."

"Yes sir, Understood sir." Shepard replied sheepishly.

Five minutes later Commander Shepard was walking into the Comm room in her casual standard issue dressings. She had left her sling behind in part because she had been in a rush to get ready, mainly because the damn thing annoyed her to wear it. Captain Anderson was already there of course, as was Chief Williams which was a bit unusual.

"I asked the Chief to join us as well for this meeting." Anderson answered Shepard unvoiced question, "I had hoped to get more of the senior crew in here but Pressley is apparently still hungover, and the good doctor is still tending to Joker." Shepard simply nodded in response.

"I have to say Shepard," the Captain continued, "You sure do know how to make a mess don't you. I can't believe you managed to get your entire crew and ground team into the middle of a bar fight, so soon after the battle with Sovereign." Ashley could only remain quiet, she'd been railed on by a superior officer enough times in her career to know sometimes it's best just to shut up and take it.

"Yes sir," Shepard replied, "I take full responsibility for the actions of my crew, sir."

"I'm sure you do." Anderson shook his head.

"Permission to speak freely sir?" Shepard asked suddenly

"Go ahead Commander." Captain Anderson said with a quirked eyebrow.

"You wish you'd been there to join us, don't you?" Shepard smirked knowingly.

Ashley didn't even realize her jaw had dropped to the ground in response to the Commanders brazen comment. She was even more shocked to discover moments later that Captain Anderson was laughing, actually laughing, in response.

"Heh, fair enough Commander." the Captain said finally, "Consider your wrist duly slapped. Don't think there's anyone in all the Citadel that will have a problem ignoring this one, all things considered. I just hope to god you all got that out of your systems. You and your whole crew still going to be on shore leave until everyone is fully healed and the Normandy is patched up. I expect everyone will be able to manage this down time without getting into any more stupid fights, am I clear Commander?"

"Perfectly sir." Shepard smiled.

"Good," Anderson nodded, "With that out of the way I wanted to bring you up to speed on what we have planned for you."

"As soon as my ship and crew are ready," Shepard said seriously, "We need to do everything we can to prepare for the next Reaper invasion. They are coming, sooner or later, no doubt about it."

"I understand." Captain Anderson sighed, "Unfortunately things are not quite so simple. The council still isn't even sure how to handle all of this. Until they can get a handle on the situation they're just labeling this whole mess as a Geth attack."

"Wait a minute, Geth?" Ashley blurted out, "What about the Reapers, they're the true threat!"

"Agreed," Anderson said, "But for now the Geth are the more obvious threat."

"You mean the more believable threat." Shepard frowned, "With all due respect sir, I can smell a cover-up when I see one."

"You're right." the Captain admitted, "But there's nothing I can do about it. Right now the Council just wants to avoid wide-spread panic. You must understand everyone got hit hard by this attack, no one ever expected a direct assault on the citadel like this, everyone's scared enough as it is."

"Doesn't seem right. Sir." Ashely offered remaining as militarily respectful as she could manage.

"I understand what you're saying, sir." Shepard added, "But, honestly, it's all bullshit. ... Sir."

"I suppose it is," Anderson frowned, "But that's the way things go. Perhaps if I get elected to the Council I'll be able to change their minds. Seems pretty likely thanks to your little endorsement."

"I meant what I said sir." Shepard nodded, "There's no way I would trust Udina on the council seat."

"Well until that happens there's not much either of us can do to change the Council's minds. Not yet anyway." Anderson explained, "In the meantime the Geth are still out there, and they are still a threat. We'll be sending you and your crew out to try and deal with as many of their holdouts as you can. If the Geth were working directly with the Reapers then that's going to be your best opportunity to find some hard evidence to show the Council."

"I understand, sir." Shepard said, "But I have to ask, about my crew..."

"Wondering if you get to keep the gang together." Anderson smiled, "You've got nothing to worry about, the Alliance brass is more then happy to keep a good thing going when they see one. You've proven you can all be pretty effective, even with all the aliens on board. Not to mention, this ship was always intended as a cross-species project, keeping this a multi-species crew can only help relations. Besides, you're a Spectre, we don't have any real say in who you can recruit regardless."

"Thank you sir." Shepard smiled. Anderson knew there was one particular alien on this ship that she wanted to keep nearby. However knowing the Commander, Anderson was sure she would have fought tooth and nail to keep them all on board. She was always very protective of the people she considered her crewmates.

"Does that mean that I..." Ashley spoke up. "I'm not being transferred off the ship sir?" In her experience, as soon as anyone actually started caring about any position she was assigned to she would suddenly find herself reassigned.

"In case you forgot, Miss Williams," Anderson explained to the marine, "I put you on this ship for a reason. And from the reports Shepard made, I was one hundred percent right about you. Yes I know about your family history and I don't care, you're a fine soldier Williams, it's clear your place is here with Shepard."

"I ... Thank you sir!" Ashley tried hard not to squeal, "You don't know how much this means to me sir."

"Just do us both a favor and keep proving me right, Williams." Anderson said.

"Yes sir!" Ashley replied, "Of course sir!"

"Very good." Anderson smiled then looked back over to Shepard, "You'll be getting intel on current known Geth stronghold in the region. Until then you're both dismissed. Keep up the good work, Shepard."

Both marines saluted as the Captain left the Comm room. After a while Sarah looked over at Ashley who still looked incredibly pleased with herself.

"Guess you're stuck with us for a long time yet, Ash." Sarah smiled.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, Skipper." Ashley grinned, "This ship, this crew, probably the best thing that ever happened to me. You can bet that no matter what happens, no matter where you go or what you do, I'll be right there with you, Commander."

"That's why I love having you on this crew, Ash." Shepard laughed, "A hardcore marine like you with a poetic side, I can't see you ever walking away from me."