Chapter 3: Rubble and Reunion

Cortez had tried hailing whatever Alliance frequencies he could as they approached, but the Normandy's comms were still unresponsive. For all Ashley knew, everyone's comms were out. She looked at the Citadel as they approached. With the damage here and everywhere else it was hard to imagine this is what everything looked like after they'd actually won the war.

They docked the shuttle without interference, but as the door opened, Ashley, Liara, Garrus and Tali were greeted by several armed Alliance soldiers. Their weapons weren't pointed at them but they still looked a little nervous about who would be stepping out of the shuttle. Ashley guessed that regardless of the Alliance paint job, people were still a bit on edge.

A dark haired man approached Ashley. "I'm 2nd Lt. Espinosa. Please identify yourself."

Ashley stepped down and walked up to him. He seemed to be the one in charge, at least of the few men that were there.

"Lieutenant Commander Williams of the Normandy," she greeted.

The man saluted. "Maam." She saluted back, though she didn't feel like standing on any small ceremony just now. She was tired and she wanted to get information. "I apologize for the armed welcome. Your shuttle wasn't responding to our attempts to contact you."

"Our comms are out," Ashley nodded. "You have communications up and running here?"

"Yes maam. The Citadel's comm frequencies are functional and we're able to communicate with the forces planetside as well." Ashley nodded. This was good. That meant that people were coordinating efforts, that the comms were only damaged, not destroyed in the blast. "We're still having trouble contacting the majority of the fleet, but we're hoping to remedy it soon." He motioned for her to walk with him.

Ashley walked with Espinosa, knowing that Garrus, Liara and Tali were close behind. "What's the situation here?"

"The threat has been neutralized and we've been searching for survivors. That's our top priority." Ashley's heart skipped a beat.

"And you've found survivors?" Hope threatened to rear its head in her heart.

"Yes maam. So far about six hundred. We expect to find more once we search the lower levels of the station." Six hundred. That wasn't a lot compared to the number of people who had actually been on the Citadel. It was too few. Her heart sank again thinking of everyone that had been there.

"Is Commander Shepard among the survivors?" Garrus asked, keeping pace with Espinosa. Ashley's stomach turned. She realized she didn't want to know the answer.

They boarded the elevator and Espinosa shook his head. "There's a list we've been compiling of everyone uninjured enough to be transported. We also have a listing of the folks we've had to get medical treatment. Some are really bad off. They're in our medical ward. Couldn't say off hand if the Commander is among them, but you're welcome to the lists." He hit a few buttons on his omni-tool and Ashley's received the information as the elevator doors opened.

They stepped out. "Thank you, Lieutenant."

He nodded, then pointed. "We have the survivors divided into three sections in the docking area. The list should correspond. I'll be in D13. That's where we've set up our mobile command." He turned then and left.

Ashley was already frantically scrolling through the names. They were at least alphabetized. She scrolled quickly to the W section looking for Sarah's name. What would she do if her name wasn't there? How would she find her? Was she dead? Ashley's mind was racing until she finally spotted it. She gasped.

Williams-Powell, Sarah: D9

Ashley breathed out a sigh of relief. Sarah was alive. She was here. She was safe.

"Did you find her?" Tali asked.

Ashley nodded. "Yeah. D9. That means she's not in the hospital. Means she's not hurt." Her breath caught in her throat as she turned her attention back to the list. She scanned the section with names that started with S, looking for Shepard. She scanned again. Three times she looked through, each time feeling a panic rise within her. She turned to Liara. "He's not here," she said.

Liara touched her shoulder. "You should go to Sarah." Liara's voice was soothing, and Ashley took a deep, cleansing breath to slow her heartbeat and ease the tightness in her chest. Sarah was okay. She would take her victories as they came. And she needed to see her. "Go," Liara urged. "We'll try to find out what we can about Shepard."

"Go on, Williams," Garrus said. "I'm glad she's okay." His tone sounded sad and Ashley could only surmise that he was thinking of his own sister on Palaven. Her heart ached for him. His situation was grim. And he had gone the entire war without knowing if his family was even alive. Ashley realized how lucky she had been to be able to find those things out.

She touched his arm. "Thank you," She forced her feet to take the initial step away from her friends and then she ran full out to section D9. Everything was decimated. The Citadel she knew was no more. It had taken a serious beating. Her feet pounded against the metal floor and she could hear herself panting. She had completely forgotten about her injuries - broken fingers, a couple stitches at the base of her scalp, cracked ribs, bruising on her face, a twisted ankle. She was reminded of them now as she ran. She didn't care. She passed several soldiers on her way. They all looked exhausted and distant. So much had happened. The world was turned upside down. Ashley felt it too.

As she entered the area, she waved off the female soldier apparently responsible for keeping the list of refugees. She entered and stopped dead in her tracks for a moment to take it all in. There were so many people, all crowded in groups, sleeping on makeshift beds. She started to scan the crowd quickly, walking through, stepping over people. It was loud, so it would do her no good to yell for Sarah. She would just keep looking. She spun around, looking at every face, in every corner, but she didn't see her. She stopped to take a breath.

"Ashley!" Sarah's voice came from behind her, loud and clear. She spun, wide eyed to see her sister running toward her. She was dirty, but looked uninjured. Ashley laughed with tears in her eyes as she thought of her dirty little sister, running in from playing outside. She couldn't speak. She could only open her arms and catch her as she ran into her. "Oh my God," Sarah whispered, squeezing her sister. Ashley thought she might crack the rest of her ribs as she squeezed back.

"Sarah," Ashley finally managed to choke out. She pulled back and touched Sarah's fair face, looked at her tearful blue eyes. She had always had their father's coloring. The two of them didn't even look like sisters, but their bond was unmistakable. They had the same facial expressions, the same mannerisms, the same hot headed demeanor they'd gotten from their mother. She pulled her sister back into another tight hug and simply held her there. Pressed together a wave of comfort washed over her. She closed her eyes. She felt Sarah convulse with a quiet sob and then Ashley felt her own tears stinging her eyes and falling down her cheeks. She took a deep breath. Sarah pulled away then and wiped her face.

They both tearfully laughed, wiping their tears and snot from their faces. Everything seemed okay to Ashley in that moment. She knew it wasn't. She knew there was too much left to know. But for one moment, holding her baby sister had made everything else okay.

"What are you doing here?" Sarah squeaked, still wiping tears from her face. "Are you here with Shepard?"

Ashley's smile faded. "No. No we're still looking for him." She smiled again. "I came here to make sure you were okay."

Sarah shook her head. "It was awful. They just poured in, those husks... and not just the human ones, the other ones too." Her eyes filled again, not with tears of joy, but the tears of someone who had just watched a lot of people die. "A group of us managed to get to a section and seal it off. We just hid." She shrugged. "We got lucky." She looked down. "So many others didn't."

Ashley touched her shoulder. "I know, but it's over now. We beat 'em."

Sarah nodded. "Do you know anything about Mom?" Sarah looked like she might cry again.

Ashley shook her head. "Not yet. But they'll be fine. I know it." She smiled at her sister convincingly.

Sarah returned the smile and seemed to relax. "So... Shepard..." Sarah knew what John meant to Ashley. She had always known. She'd been there when Ashley had lost him before. She had seen what it had done to her.

Ashley took a deep breath. "We were on Earth making the final push and he... he ordered us to go. So...we ran." Ashley's stomach turned at the memory of deserting him on Earth. That was what it felt like. "We left him."

With all due respect, Commander -

Don't argue with me, Ash!

She was pulled from her memory by Sarah's hand grabbing hers. "You'll find him," she said quietly. Ashley smiled sadly at her sister, desperately wanting to believe her.

"He's on Earth."

Ashley spun around to find Liara standing there with an odd expression on her face. Ashley couldn't read it. "What?" Ashley asked. She took a step toward Liara, her eyes asking the question she couldn't bear to vocalize. And then she got the answer without further prompting.

Liara smiled slightly. "He's alive."

The breath Ashley had been holding came out sharply. She felt dizzy. She shook her head, unable to accept it without further information. "Earth... but...how-"

"They think that the beam that brought him up also returned him somehow. He was apparently found in some rubble with Admiral Anderson's body." Liara sighed and shook her head. "I don't know his condition. Only his location."

Ashley gathered her strength with a few deep breaths. It was time to stop simpering and brooding. He needed her now. She didn't know what awaited her on Earth, what his condition was, but it was enough to keep her going. For the first time since she'd watched him run toward the beam, Ashley was experiencing something amazing.

Hope.