SECTION 8
CHAPTER THREE
PANAMA, SOUTH AMERICA
N7 TRAINING FACILITY
FORT MERCY
NOVEMBER 2ND 2184
1755 HOURS
Ashley was furious.
She had spent her entire military career climbing the ranks attempting to rid herself of the black cloud that had hung over her family since the First Contact War.
So far she has done just that, albeit without difficulty.
After surviving the attack on Eden Prime and the subsequent battle to liberate the colony from Geth control, Ashley was inducted in the N7 program where she flourished under the training eye of Staff Sergeant Anderson.
The training was rigorous and difficult. But the proudest day of her life came when she received her N7 badge.
Dad would be proud…
And now here she was back in the same situation she had thought passed her by: a superior thought she wasn't good enough.
She had initially walked outside to cool her head in the rain and calm the hell down but when she spotted Colonel Udina she just couldn't help herself.
Her sister Abby always said she was impulsive.
"Sir?" Ashley called to her superior as she caught up to him, "this is completely unorthodox, this guy isn't even military."
A pair of headlights appeared at the entrance to the base. The driver flashed a badge and the sentry passed him through.
"He was military. I hadn't seen him in over ten years until I saw him the other night in the parking lot. Trust me… he's military."
The car drew closer before finding a parking spot and coming to a stop.
"He trained on Titan and then down here with me, so he knows the territory."
The two continued to walk along the side of the main complex underneath the open porch that shielded them from the rain.
"Before he left the service I've never seen a man more charismatic. They would say that John Shepard could get into your head faster than you can tie your shoes."
Ashley was naturally skeptical.
"Oh yeah, why'd he leave the military?"
"Let's just say he got a better offer."
Ashley decided to play one last card.
"Sir, if he's not military than it is not official."
"Well then Lieutenant Williams, it's unofficial."
Ashley watched as Shepard exited his truck. As he stopped to let a Humvee pass by, Ashley saw Shepard, not too subtly, scratch his baby maker.
She scoffed, "doesn't get more unofficial than that."
Shepard ran as steady as he could, ignoring the free shower he was receiving from mother nature.
"Hey Donald," Shepard said greeting Udina, "How's it going?"
"I'm pretty much fucked, you?"
"Wet."
Shepard looked down to see a familiar cane.
"How's the knee?"
Udina shrugged him off as they began walking towards the complex entrance, "They were never going to make me a general anyway."
"Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke. So what am I doing here?"
Ashley entered the conversation.
"I was curious about that myself sir. Sir, my name is Second Lieutenant Ashley Williams and I am the provost martial here."
Shepard crossed his arms over his chest, "Williams do I look like a sir to you?"
"Not particularly sir," Ashley said honestly.
"Lieutenant…" Udina said before turning to Shepard, "Williams is the closest thing we have to an in-house investigator here."
Shepard smirked, "And here you are going out of house. Now, how's that make you feel Ash?"
"Hostile and uncooperative, sir," Ashley said ignoring the fact that a man she had just met used a nickname she reserved to close friends and family.
"Fantastic," Shepard said unenthusiastically.
"Shepard," Udina said getting to the point. Ashley watched, disgusted, as Shepard retrieved a small flask and take a swig from it.
"Before this hurricane hit we called in all N7 teams but one: A six man team and their black hat in the bush. We're missing three as well as the sergeant."
Shepard stopped dead in his tracks.
"Anderson? Don't tell me it was Anderson!"
Ashley could see that Shepard was visibly upset, "You know Staff Sergeant Anderson, sir?"
"He was our black hat…"
"That must have been quite an honor, sir."
"That's one way to put it," Shepard said sarcastically.
Ashley found herself again insulted by Shepard's lack of civility towards the military.
"Staff Sergeant Anderson is a professional. He is the face of the modern N7."
"I'm not sure you've noticed," he said walking pass her, "I'm not an N7 anymore."
Udina continued his brief.
"They were due back at 2300 hours yesterday."
"So the problem is that three didn't come back?" Shepard inquired.
"No," began Ashley, "The problem is that one of them is dead, one is riddled with holes, and one won't talk. Now the one that won't talk exchanged live fire with the dead one that the Colonel saw when he arrived-"
"And I'm assuming that's what made him the dead one," Shepard said rather rudely as he returned his focus to Udina.
"Specialist Uri Wrex… Killed right in front of me…" Udina said telling the shortened version.
"Listen Don, if command finds out your using non-military personnel in this, especially me with my colorful background, they'll tear you a new asshole."
"That is why your involvement will remain a secret and anything you uncover will be credited to Williams," Udina stated as if he planned this speech before hand.
"Then let her do it."
"Uh, Sir, that's not a bad idea."
Udina grabbed Shepard by the arm and began to lead him away, "Lieutenant will you excuse us for a moment?" he asked rhetorically. Ashley saluted and walked several meters away, out of hearing range, waiting until she was called upon again.
"With all due respect to Williams, this is way out her league," Udina said to Shepard in a hushed voice.
"This kid we have in interrogation requested an N7, someone he never met. That's you."
"Jesus Don, the guy could've requested a Tantalus Drive Core, doesn't mean you give it to him."
Shepard grew suspicious as he tried to figure out the situation himself.
"I don't get this… any spooks involved here? ONI? Anything like that?"
"Not exactly."
"What's that supposed to mean."
"There were a group of guys down here and they…"
"They what? Common Don, spill it."
Shepard could tell that his old friend was almost afraid to tell him what was going on. As he simply muttered a word he would be killed on the spot.
Ashley watched with barely contained patience as the Colonel and Shepard discussed something she could not hear. However, whatever it was, it had bothered both of them.
Whatever Colonel Udina said, Shepard agreed to be involved on the spot.
The two men joined up with Ashley and entered the entrance hall of Fort Mercy's main complex building. Udina had instructed Williams to assist Shepard in anyway necessary.
When Udina split off to do… whatever colonel's do… Ashley found herself alone with Shepard walking towards her office.
"Permission to speak freely sir?"
"Williams I swear to god, if you call me 'sir' one more time I'm going to scream."
Just before Shepard could open the door that led to her office, Ashley slid in front of him, blocking his path.
"I know who you are. You're a SpecTre being charged with bribery."
"Suspicion of bribery," Shepard corrected, "it's all in the wording really."
"Well wording aside, I'm not comfortable having you involved in this case."
"Okay three things. First, you don't have a choice, second I've never taken a bribe in my life, and third… I'm still a little drunk from earlier today so if I skip over the witty banter and move straight onto coming on to you… I hope you won't take offense."
Ashley was initially shocked by Shepard forthcoming with fact number three but was more astounded with the way he held himself over fact number two.
He had such… conviction in his words. Either he truly believed he was innocent, or he actually was. That or he was just a really good liar.
True she didn't have a choice. It comes with the territory of being in the military.
Ashley ignored Shepard's gaze and proceeded into her office. She grabbed a data pad from her desk and handed it to Shepard.
"Dogtags identify them as Sergeant Jacob Taylor and Private First Class Thane Krios."
"Thane? Who would name their kid Thane?"
"General Kolyat Krios… of the joint Chiefs."
"Yeah I forgot to thank Udina for mentioning that on the phone."
"Krios Jr. will be unconscious for another half hour. The soldier we'll be talking to is Taylor."
"Is he in the interrogation room?"
"Yes, sir."
"Move him."
"Why?"
"Because interrogation rooms tend to suspiciously look like interrogation rooms which make people uncomfortable… Is he cute?"
"Excuse me?" Ashley was judging whether this guy was serious or not.
"Taylor, is he cute?"
"Sir, if you're not going to take this seriously-"
"Is he handsome? Is he self-assured? Does he carry himself a certain way? Does he look you in the eyes when you talk to him or down at the ground? Does he have good bones that suggest good breeding? Does he slouch or sit up? These are important questions that reveal a great deal about a man's character. Now can you get over yourself for two and a half seconds and tell me… is he cute?"
Ashley was silent for a moment, "… yes he's cute."
"Thank you," Shepard said as he handed her back the data pad and made his way for the door, "I'll let you know how it turns out."
"Agent Shepard! If this goes to trial someone needs to testify about what happened in the interrogation. With your 'colorful' background you'd be just about the most impeachable witness in history. Now I may be stuck with you, but you are definitely stuck with me."
Ashley watched as Shepard rubbed the back of his neck, almost as he was deciding if he should let her come or not. This only began to infuriate Ashley more because it made it assume as if he actually had a choice.
"Okay…"
Shepard walked over to a nearby pot of coffee and poured himself a cup. To his relief it was quite fresh.
"At some point I want you to go bad cop on him. The signal will be something like rubbing my nose."
"Not scratching your balls?"
"Look for both. Are there any donuts around here?"
Not for the last time, Ashley felt her face find her palm.
Tonight is going to a long night… Lord, give me strength…
A/N:
First of all I should probably let you know I changed a couple things from the last chapter. One such being that Shepard did not kill the reapers but instead the Collectors. I have an idea for a sequel that makes more sense if the Reapers are involved rather than the Collectors.
I hope you are all enjoying this so far and yes this is all written down. I'm just milking my time putting them up online because… well, it's fun to watch you guys squirm.
Also I might've overacted about saying that I hate Tali. In reality I kind of don't. She is an interesting character with both strengths and flaws. It is her flaws that just get me so irritated I kind of get carried away. Also it might be the fact that everyone seems to be riding her bandwagon. Seriously, there are NO fanfics about Tali before Mass Effect 2 came out. Ever since she became a love interest for Shepard, it seems that everyone just… well, you get the gist of it.
Whatever happened to good 'ol fashioned Ashley versus Liara? (or Kaiden vs Liara)
Ah the good ol days…