A/N: Okay, I'm majorly picking up the pace. An incredible idea popped into my mind and I just couldn't let it go, so…yeah. I'm doing my best to get into the heads of our favorite femmes fatales, Ashley and Miranda, so please please please tell me if I'm doing a good job. Like I say, never played ME1. Long live the save editor! XD

Anything else? Oh yeah, please review. All subscriptions and no reviews make for a very discouraged Lynn, which in turn leads to way slower updates. ^_^ You get my drift. Please leave a review, I love feedback like I love root beer.

You are the one that I need
You know that I can still bleed
Bring me back to life
Bring me back to life
You bring me down from my cloud
You keep my feet on the ground
Bring me back to life
Bring me back to life

7: Cut Me, Mick

"Bloody hell, do these things ever stop coming?"

Ash shrugged and grumbled to herself, lobbing a grenade into the fray of varren. The blast briefly scattered the creatures, but then they started coming again, teeth dripping and snarling for blood.

"Gunny, get to higher ground!"

She looked up to see Steele perched on a rock overhang, too high for the varren to reach and sheltered enough to protect from a pouncing predator. However, it was also too high for Ashley, clad in full armor with an impressive array of weapons, to climb.

"I can't!" she shot back, backpedaling towards him all the same. God dammit, if she died here…

"Give me your hand!" he shouted, reaching down as low as he dared. She looked at him dubiously.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "Hell if I'm going to let you die because of me."

He nodded. "Come on, dammit!"

She shrugged and reached up for his hand, catching his wrist, and he returned the grip to haul her up next to him, but she was too heavy, or he was too light, because the next thing she knew Ashley was on her back with Brendan on top of her, winded, and the varren getting closer with each passing second. Shit, shit, shit…

The adrenaline kicked in and she hauled the sergeant over her shoulder, breaking into a run. She didn't have a destination, yet, but Ash was running in the general direction of the UT-47 Kodiak Drop Shuttle they'd left a quarter mile back. Steele started struggling as soon as he got his breath back, shouting at her to put him down so he could run by himself. She just kept running, trying not to think of the fact that they were supposed to be mopping up geth, and were getting their asses handed to them by a couple of varren…

The weight disappeared from her shoulder and Ash turned around just in time to see that, accident or not, she'd dropped Steele and he was struggling to get back to his feet with a varren's teeth latched onto his arm. He cried out in pain, trying to shake it off, and it managed to score its claws across his face. Despite everything, he screamed as blood tricked into his eyes, blinding his vision. Thinking fast, she emptied her pistol into the creature and it fell limp, dead. She wasted no time in pulling the sergeant to his feet. He wiped the blood from his face the best he could, and they started running again.

Even though it was only a quarter mile, it felt like an eternity before the shuttle finally came into view. They slammed the door shut just as the varren reached them, bloodthirsty and menacing.

"Holy shit," gasped Brendan, leaning back against the bulkhead. "What the fuck was that shit?"

"How did we not know this place was overrun with varren?" demanded Ash. "Didn't even see them coming until we were in a choke point with virtually no escape." She powered up her omni-tool and applied some medi-gel to his arm and face. "You okay, Sarge?"

"I'll be okay," he said breathlessly. He cracked a smile. "I'll have a wicked scar coming out of this, now. Chicks dig scars."

"Some chicks," Ash corrected him. "Doesn't do much good if you look like Freddy Krueger."

"Freddy Krueger has nothing on me."

"Mmhmm," she said distractedly, still working on his injuries. "You're lucky these aren't infected," she informed him.

He shrugged. There was a long silence as he watched her dress his arm. Finally, his eyes lit on something she'd missed and he motioned to her leg.

"You're bleeding," he told her.

"What?" Ash looked down. He was right—a varren had managed to get its teeth into her leg, which was now bleeding profusely. "Shit. I didn't even notice that." She powered up her omni-tool again, but Steele beat her to the punch.

"Let me," he said. She nodded, too tired to argue, watching as he waved his omni-tool over her leg. She sighed in relief as the numbness took over.


"Garrus?"

The turian turned around to see Shepard standing rather awkwardly in the doorway, his eyes anxious. "Commander. What can I do for you?"

"Well…" His eyes hit the ground momentarily. "I wanted to ask you about Ash."

Garrus sighed. He should've known that Caleb would ask about her. Even before they had finally gotten together, it had been evident to everyone how much they cared for each other. Now, he was wondering whether he should lie and say he knew nothing, or just tell him the truth.

"She fell apart without you, Commander," he said finally. "She never broke down, not in public and never for anyone to see, but her eyes were always bloodshot when I saw her. I guess it's safe to say she cried every night. And then…well, she just kind of disappeared."

"Do you know where she is now?" he asked anxiously.

"No," Garrus told him apologetically. "I'm sorry."

Shepard nodded dejectedly. "It's fine. Thank you, Garrus."

"Shepard."

The commander left.