From:AsHWill14 .sa

To:JMoreau55 arcturus.

I am sorry to take off like this on my own. I know I promised you a night out but I needed to see my sisters and I needed to escape the string of well-wishers and journo's that keep trying to get a "tell all" interview. Especially now that the Council has started to back-wheel on their commitments to Alliance. I am still amazed that he got us a council seat. I don't know what amazes me more, the defeat of the Sovereign or getting council to actually do something useful. How did Tali's farewell party go? Garrus said something about getting her drunk, as is the proper turian way of celebrating adulthood.

From:JMoreau55 .sa

To:AsHWill14 .sa

I understand, they don't hound me so much any more because the last time I hit one of them I broke my wrist. Now that taught them a lesson. Garrus disappeared, it was on the news. Apparently they thought he got kidnapped or something but they found his accounts cleaned out and his C-sec issue gun and omni-tool delivered by a courier a few days later. And are you really not doing those Fornax and Playhard photo shoots? Because I think I have seen at least a dozen separate advertisements about you "uncovering the whole truth and nothing but the truth". Without a doubt commander's greatest achievement was actually getting the council to accept humanity, I saw the press-release and I swear Sparatus was about to pop a blood vessel there, or whatever the turian variant he has. And Valern looked as if he swallowed a particularly nasty tasting bug, do you think salarians still eat bugs, they always reminded me a bit of frogs. The only one who looked pleased was Tevos, but we do seem to look like the asari so I guess she felt a bit lonely in the whole "three finger" club.

Seriously though, I talked to Chakwas and she told me that you haven't said commander's name since that day. I thought you only do that because everyone knows who you are talking about but it seems you are avoiding saying it. You know you can talk to me or Chakwas, we won't judge.

From:AsHWill14 .sa

To:JMoreau55 .sa

I… I can't. Not yet. Our last conversation was me nearly accusing him of cheating on me with Liara. I know they are just friends but she is pretty and asari, all the rumours about their skills cannot be false. He has been distant ever since we defeated Sovereign and I knew he wasn't cheating but I just wanted him to react.

I am going to be on the next ship back and I am bringing you a surprise.

From:JMoreau55 .sa

To:AsHWill14 .sa

How are you doing on your new assignment? Congratulations on finally getting the promotion confirmed, now you are a proud Operations Chief. And you get reassigned to shout at some new guys. I guess your experience at shooting...well everything does come in handy. I am still stuck here, they are not letting me pilot anything bigger than a shuttle. I may have said something about commander and council and some other stuff that they could have taken personally but I swear it was nothing I did.

You should have brought your sisters with you in a fight against Sovereign, three Williams sisters could replace a whole fleet in destructive power. Just next time don't let me get convinced by them to actually try dancing, I had to spend a week in a wheelchair while all the cracks in my bones got healed.

From:AsHWill14 .sa

To:JMoreau55 .sa

I am not sure if this email still works. I heard you have been thinking of leaving the Alliance. I know times are tough but you worked so hard to do what you did, why give up now? Next month I have some leaving coming so I will visit you. Don't do anything rash.

And thank you for that interview, you said things about Shepard that they needed to hear. I could not so thank you for doing it in my place.

From:JMoreau55 luna.c

To:AsHWill14 .sa

I am sorry it took this long to respond, I know how you feel about Alliance and I thought that if I waited for you before quitting you would have convinced me not to. But they were not letting me fly, the only post they offered me was to go back to the Academy to teach. I am not a teacher you know that. I would have stolen one of those old jet-trainers and crashed into some admiral's office in a month.

But I got recruited by a civilian aerospace corp, they offered good pay and as much flying as I wanted. Its not what I thought I would do but Alliance had grounded me, unofficially but Adams and the rest of the crew, all got posted to new places months ago and I was just sitting here on Arcturus getting stir crazy.

Sarah said that you stopped quoting dead poets in every conversation about commander now. Next time I am near Titan I will come visit you.

From:AsHWill14 .sa

To:JMoreau55 .sa

I understand Jeff. I don't like it and I still think you should have given Alliance time but I understand. I hope you like your new job.

And how long have you been talking behind my back with my sisters?

I am not on Titan any more, I got reassigned. I can't tell you where, you know operational security and all that and since you are not even Alliance…

Have you heard anything from the rest? I tried contacting Liara about getting together for the Shepard's one year memorial on Elysium but she hasn't answered me. I will pray for you, as I pray for Shepard and the others. Even Wrex.

From:JMoreau55 luna.c

To:AsHWill14 .sa

This job is even better than I thought. Apparently they held back on some of the benefits that I would receive, I am getting a bone reinforcement surgery, still experimental and quite expensive but I would be able to walk without crutches, just some leg-braces.

That is not the only benefit but that is the only one I am allowed to tell you. A strict NDA. And it was you who introduced me to your sisters so its really your fault.

I haven't talked to anyone but you, the rest just went their own way I guess. We were Shepard's crew after all.

From:AsHWill14 .sa

To:JMoreau55 .sa

Jeff, I have been hearing rumours that Shepard has been seen and that he had arrived on a Cerberus marked frigate named Normandy. He can't be alive. We all saw him die. It's an imposter, a clone or something else equally despicable dreamed up by the Cerberus mad scientists. Jeff tell me you didn't go to work for Cerberus. Tell me that job you got wasn't for them. Tell you you didn't know about this imposter. Tell me this isn't true.

Because if it is then Shepard lied to us, Shepard lied to me. Made it seem like he died. He never said he loved me but he would never abandon me like that. Not if he was the man I thought he was. Because if he did….

Tell me it's not true.

MESSAGE INTERCEPTED ALLIANCE INTELLIGENCE COMMAND MESSAGE FORWARDED UNEDITED AUTHORISED BY ALLIANCE MILITARY INTELLIGENCE DIVISION 9 MAJOR MOTOKO KUSANAGI

From:JMoreau55 luna.c

To:AsHWill14 .sa

Ashley, I know its hard to believe. But it's true Commander Shepard is alive. Cerberus brought him back, built the new Normandy and is sending us out to kick the Collectors collective ass. Human colonies have been disappearing everyone knows that but no one knew who was responsible.

I know what you think about Cerberus, I know what the Alliance says about them but they brought back Shepard, and he is Shepard, the real one.

And I know how stubborn you Williams sisters are so just think everything through before doing whatever it is you think about doing. You know Shepard, you know me. Just don't jump to any conclusions.

MESSAGE INTERCEPTED. CERBERUS SECURITY PROTOCOL 219-A REPORTING TO THE CERBERUS OPERATIVE IN CHARGE FOR BREACH OF PROTOCOL OPERATIVE LAWSON AUTHORIZED MESSAGE DELIVERYFILE TO BE SCRUBBED OF SENSITIVE FORWARDING DATA

MESSAGE INTERCEPTED ALLIANCE INTELLIGENCE COMMAND MESSAGE ARCHIVED

From:AsHWill14 .sa

To:JMoreau55 .sa

I can't believe you. I can't believe Shepard. You betrayed the Alliance. You betrayed Earth. You betrayed ME. All this time, all these months you knew, you knew about Shepard and you were working for Cerberus. Did you think you could turn me? Make me work for Cerberus?

At least you had the decency of quitting the Alliance, but Shepard deserted didn't he. He never died. He let me and the whole galaxy think that he died bravely saving your life but all this time he simply hid. Working for Cerberus. Were those missions against Cerberus fake? Did he work for them back then, just sent to clean up after their ops go bad?

Was I just a good fuck for him? Was it just that? He wasn't into aliens because he was Cerberus so he just used me as a bed warmer?

I hoped, I prayed that the rumours were false, that it was just an imposter. But it was really him. I saw him, saw the way he took down those bugs. One thing I know about him that is true, one thing no one could have faked. The way he moves in combat.

Did you have a good laugh with Shepard reading my messages? Passing them on to Cerberus. And I even let you meet my family, my sisters. I thought of you as the brother I never had. Was all that fake too? Did you deliberately stay behind, give Shepard time to fake his death? Were you working for Cerberus back then too?

When they send me with a few squads of marines to take you and Shepard down will you make me shoot you? Will Shepard make me shoot him?

So here it is, the correspondence between Ashley and Joker. I didn't time stamp any of them because I do not want to tie myself down to a precise time just in case I decide to write something about this time period later.

This was partially inspired by commandercucumber's review. I thought people wouldn't care about the messages but if someone wants them here they are.

And yes Joker got the similar treatment to his bones as Shepard did, it allows him to walk and shoot a rifle in ME2 but his bones are still brittle.