Chapter 4 - Incoming Call (Bioware owns all)

-The scene opens in the bedroom of a dark apartment. Blinds drawn, small caches of light seeping in through the sides of the windows, making it impossible to achieve total darkness. There's a small bed against the center of the wall facing a narrow hallway, and a figure moving restlessly under the blankets.-

She couldn't sleep. It had only been two days since she'd returned from her mission for a month of much needed shore leave and she had too much on her mind for rest to be possible. The antique clock that lay bedside told her it was long past time to get up and face another day. With some hesitation, she pulled the covers off of her body and sat up. As she glanced around the messy room, clothes and armor strewn about in no particular order, her eyes rested on a picture on her night stand. She stood up and sleepily walked to the photo. A wave of guilt washed over her every time she looked at it. You don't deserve him, she thought, as the memory of their last meeting came crashing to the forefront of her mind. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and turned towards the hallway.

Ashley Williams was a practical woman. She rarely bought anything without having a need for it first, and could often be found priding herself on this very fact. While most of her Alliance comrades talked about the newest and most popular gadgets they'd just picked up from the net, she was perfectly content with her mediocre versions of the current pop culture. There were only a few exceptions to this that she found necessary to seek out, the most important of which was her taste for good coffee. While she brewed a pot of her favorite roast, the smell filling her small apartment, she slipped on a pair of blue jeans and a black t-shirt. Simple. Comfortable.

The idea of cleaning her room quickly shot across her mind but was gone as soon as it arrived. The trend of the last few years of her life were insight enough for her to know that a month of shore leave never actually lasted a month. Not for her, and she found it harder and harder to hold on to a sense of normalcy with the state of her current mental climate. She hoped she'd get a call from the Alliance, and soon. If they just keep throwing assignments at me, I won't have any time to think about it.

After pouring herself a large cup of coffee, she walked into the living room and sat on her couch. She could hear the hustle and bustle of the civilians, three stories below, walking around the Presidium. As an active soldier, being away from home meant being on Alliance time. Missions were assigned to be taken care of, and nothing ran on a perfect 24 hour a day schedule unless you were on Earth. Being home was much the same. Every planet, each with it's own unique system had a different day and night duration. The Citadel had a 23 hour day approximately. It was something she was used to dealing with and a required part of her training with the Alliance. It was up to the soldier to decide when to rest, and when to rise, and was much easier to do on leave when she didn't have to worry about fulfilling her duties.

Her mental exhaustion was far more severe than the physical. All the training in the world wouldn't help me sleep after how I treated him. He looked so desperate for a friend, and I couldn't even be that. ... God damn it!, pull yourself together Williams! It was these thoughts that made everything harder. She couldn't stop herself from thinking them once she started, and it was wearing on her dramatically. In addition to the guilt she felt, she never received word from Shepard after she sent him her letter. Now she didn't even know if he was still alive, and Anderson had been no help at all when she asked him. As a result, her usually well kempt appearance was lacking in it's normal luster, and no amount of make-up could now cover the circles under her eyes.

She took a sip of the warm coffee in her hand, and noticed a light flashing on the comm screen on the opposite side of the room. She set down her glass, and quickly walked over to the device on her work desk. Taking a seat, she noticed it was a call from Councilor Anderson. She stared at the screen for a few moments, unblinking. He must've decrypted the files I sent him. She adjusted the camera above the monitor and hit the answer key to the left of the screen.

Anderson looked disheveled. His new position as Councilor must've been taking it's toll.

"Williams, I have a new assignment for you." he said in his calm professional tone.

"Sir. Did you decrypt those files already?" she asked, confused.

"I'm afraid not Chief. This one comes directly from the Council."

"The Council?" She paused and stared off as if looking for some logical explanation. This was the furthest thing in the realm of possible reasons for a call from Anderson in her mind.

"This mission is more important than you can imagine Williams. I'm aware that you don't answer to us directly, but i'm afraid this time I can't offer you the option of turning me down. It is the belief of myself and the rest of the Council that it require your involvement specifically."

She thought about what this meant, and came up short before answering.

"What are the details?" she said, each word exiting her mouth slower than the last as the level of her confusion began to rise.

"I can't tell you on this line Chief. I need you to suit up and meet me in my office A.S.A.P."

"Understood. I'll be there in twenty."

She turned off the comm and jumped up from her chair. She took a few final gulps of her coffee, and placed the glass on the kitchen counter as she made her way back to the bedroom. She'd gotten so used to throwing on her armor on the fly that it was only four minutes later before she was locking her front door behind her. She knew she'd be on assignment before the end of the month, but in all her years as a soldier she'd never been called in on a mission from the Council directly. She wasn't a big fan of them and couldn't imagine what they could possibly want with her. Even after helping Shepard in the fight against Saren, she was still getting stuck with shitty jobs from the Alliance. No amount of heroism seemed to make them forget what her Grandfather did all those years ago. It was only after Anderson stepped in and assigned her to a few classified gigs that she got the chance to really shine, and now he was asking her to work for the Council. This should be interesting... she thought sarcastically. At least whatever it is, it will keep me busy, she thought as she made her way to Anderson's office.