Chapter 7: The Long Way Back
(takes place in Shepard's Cabin on the Normandy after Horizon and before the launch on the Cerberus Base)
So the plan was set. They were going to hit the Illusive Man's base thanks to the intelligence gathered from Miranda Lawson's tracking device planted on Kai Leng. Shepard was anxious to get it under way but he knew it was best to wait and take all of the necessary precautions first. An all-out assault on Cerberus was likely to cause certain casualties. Cerberus had full military strength like any other species, but this was different. A human vs. mutated human war. The bulk of Cerberus troops were made up of modified husks that were created on Sanctuary by way of Henry Lawson's despicable work. The implications were severe but Shepard knew it had to be done. He was eager for revenge.
But in a way, it also felt like yet another arc in Shepard's life was coming full circle. Cerberus were the ones that brought him back to life. Gave him a second chance. For that he was in their debt, but it was a debt that couldn't be re-paid it turned out.
All of the things the Illusive Man had done during his time working with him and the things that he found out about after he turned himself into the Alliance disgusted him. How could he work with someone willingly so blindly? Was it guilt? Or did he feel that he owed them for bringing him back? It frustrated Shepard. He knew of all the atrocities that Cerberus had committed in their time, more so recently and the troubles they'd given him by getting in his way of destroying the Reapers but he still had a feeling of uncertainty about what he was going to do.
Shepard then thought about all that he had lost during that time period. Friends. Allies. Love… He thought back to the time before passing through the Omega 4 Relay. How he sat there, studying that photo of Ashley for what felt like an eternity. This time he couldn't afford the distraction. Shepard sat at his desk in silence going over his old N7 Alliance combat manuals. He'd read them all at least a dozen times by now in his life… "It couldn't hurt to go over them again" he thought to himself. Seeing if he could find anything that he might have skipped over before. If not, it would still be a valuable refresher.
He was finding it hard to focus again. A million things were playing out in his mind at once. Shepard tried not to, but he never could help but try and visualize the upcoming fights in his head even if they never turned out to be nothing like the sequences he played out in his head earlier during the actual fighting.
Finally Shepard couldn't keep his eyes open anymore but he needed to stay awake. He went to the restroom and splashed water in his face in an effort to wake himself up. The cool water from the sink helped and the cup of coffee's caffeine got the rest of his body kicking again. Shepard knew he needed sleep more than anything, but he didn't have the time. Standing over his desk now he heard the door open…
He knew it was Ashley so he didn't bother to turn around and see who it was. The door was locked and she was the only one besides him who knew the unlock code since the cabin was as much hers as it was his now. Ash came over to Shepard at his desk and began.
"Everything ready, Shepard?"
"What about you? Are you ready?" Shepard asked in reply.
"Let's get it done and go home." She answered, avoiding his question.
Shepard was a bit annoyed. He was trying to focus on what he needed to do. She was distraction right now, normally he didn't mind when she "distracted" him but this time he was not in the mood.
"We're not getting off that easy, Ash." He said with a stern voice.
Ashley laughed.
"No? We're looking at a rough ride?" she continued to play with Shepard.
Shepard now realized what she was doing, which sort of annoyed him even more. "Not now…" he thought to himself.
"Ash, I get what you're trying to do." He said to her rather harshly, walking away from the desk.
Ashley didn't appreciate the harshness one bit.
"Hey! No brushing me off. Talk to me, what's going on?" she asked him.
Shepard turned around and faced her.
"Sorry. I'm looking for any advantage we can use, anything that'll help. The Reapers, they're not like any enemy we've faced. This isn't just some firefight. It's bigger than that and it's on us to turn back the tide."
Ash tried to reassure him as best as she could, even though she knew he wouldn't buy any of it.
"And we will. Sure, we haven't faced them like this before but the same is true for them. We'll win this."
Shepard smiled.
"You're pretty damn sure of yourself."
Ashley laughed and put her hand on his chest.
"Damn straight, Skipper."
Shepard could no longer resist the urge. He was no longer annoyed but now realized that she wanted him and the same was of him; he wanted her.
"We'll get through this. I couldn't do this without you, Ashley. When I first met you back on Eden Prime I saw a woman who never gave up. You lost your company, expected no help and there you were… fighting an invasion single-handedly." He explained to her.
Ash tried not to blush at what he had to say of her.
"You don't… need to say anything, Shepard."
Shepard pushed on. She wasn't going to back out of this now nor was he. He'd waited too damn long for this moment again.
Shepard thought briefly to himself for a moment. He never got this chance last time. She caught herself before she could say it and he backed out of it himself. No more waiting; Now was the time. He had come back to her like she did say, even if it wasn't entirely what she had in mind. No more games, just straight to the point.
"No, I do." He said, putting his thumb on her chin again. A signature move of his…
"I love you." Shepard said with all of his heart.
Ashley frowned a little and looked down to the floor as if she were ashamed.
"I doubted you once Shepard and I lost you." Ashley said as she looked back up at him, drawing herself closer to him by grabbing his arm and placing it on her ass. "That's not happening again…" she finished.
Shepard put his other arm on her shoulder and they gazed into each other's eyes.
"Just shut up and kiss me." Ashley ordered him.
And kissed they did.
Ashley broke apart after a while. Holding both of his hands in the palms of hers now. She looked up at Shepard; she was completely engulfed inside the moment between them.
"Well…I guess I should change into something a bit more… comfortable." Ashley said, making her intentions very clear.
"Yeah, but I don't know if I can wait that long." Shepard replied, teasing her to keep going where she was going.
"Oh, I'm not going anywhere, Skipper. This is my cabin now too, remember? I can change wherever the hell I want."
Shepard grew even closer to her. He knew what she was hinting at. If he wanted her, he had to prove it to her. He was going to have to be the one to make the bold move this time. Shepard reached for the zipper on her uniform. As he began to pull the zipper down, Ash grabbed his wrist with both of her hands with a strong grip, helping the zipper come down. As the zipper reached the end of its line and came apart, they gazed into each other's eyes once more. Shepard helped Ashley pull her arms out of the jacket sleeves. The only thing remaining on her top half now was her bra.
Shepard then took off his N7 jacket and threw it on the desk, kicking his shoes off in the process as well. Things were starting to pick up a more rapid pace. Ashley had taken off her boots and pant leggings. Shepard took off his undershirt. When Shepard peeled the shirt over his head he saw Ashley standing in front of him in nothing but her underwear. He gawked at her in silence, almost beginning to tremble at the beautiful sight that was before him. Ashley grabbed his right hand and lured him over to the bed; she crawled onto it by herself and then looked back at Shepard finally reaching for him to then join her as he stood at the edge of the bed.
As she was on top of him, she went for the button on his black jeans, undoing it and then the zipper. When she got the pants off by herself with no assistance from him, she threw them across the cabin where they landed close to the door. The pace slowed down again.
They switched back and forth between who was on top almost as if it were a wrestling match. When Shepard was on top he attacked her neck gently with his lips, kissing and caressing her. Ashley flipped over and when she had control of him from the top she ran her hands down his chest. Flipping her hair to the side, she would kiss him on the lips until they both practically needed to come up for air.
Soon there was heavy breathing from both of them as a result of the extra 'action'. The wrestling still continued, though at an even slower rate now. Every piece of clothing lay scattered across the cabin, with the latter parts of clothing laying at the side of the bed now. There hadn't been a single word spoken by the either of them for almost a half an hour. Ashley let off of Shepard and fell to the left side of the bed. She was breathing more heavily than Shepard for 'obvious' reasons. There was sweat starting to steam off of the both of them.
"Damn, Skipper… time out." Ashley managed to say while attempting to catch her breath.
Shepard laughed a little.
"Who the hell turned off the air conditioning in here?" he joked as he put his arm over his forehead.
Ash's breathing was starting to come back to normal levels.
"More like who the hell turned up the heat." She replied laughing at the joke herself but pulled the blanket over herself but curling up next to Shepard again.
"You know I don't spoon." Shepard again joked to her as he noticed her bringing herself closer to him once more.
Ashley admittedly didn't necessarily like it either but he was still ruining a nice moment so she lifted her hand off his chest a little and smacked it back down playfully to let him know she didn't appreciate the humor.
They both lied in bed silently for several minutes. The adrenaline rushing through their bodies had slowed down, their bodies cooling down, the sweat evaporating. The clock now read 1:36AM Pacific Time, despite being light years away from Earth, they still kept the time from the home planet.
"It's the crack of dawn back home." Shepard said, referring to New York City's time of day which was a few hours ahead.
"Sorry, but it's a little late for Round 2." Ashley said, she was starting to fall asleep now and could barely keep her eyes open.
Shepard chuckled.
"Then you should have come up sooner and we could have gotten started a little earlier, Ash." He said to her then looked to his left at her. Ashley's eyes were now closed but she was still awake as she smiled at his retort. Her head was resting on his chest and arm, using him as a pillow with her one arm draped across him.
Shepard lied in bed silently again for a few minutes staring at the ceiling. Ashley had now fallen asleep. He somewhat wanted to get up and finish his studies, but that would mean disturbing her and waking her up so he decided against it. Instead figuring he should just try and go to sleep himself now. It didn't take him long to fall asleep either as he desperately needed it; the sex had taken what energy he did have left out of him.
Shepard and Ashley slept for a few hours before the nightmare again interrupted his sleep and in turn disturbed her. He had to get up and shake it off even though he didn't want to wake her. Shepard sat up and gave her a kiss. Ashley awoke from the sudden movement of her 'pillow'.
"Hey…" she said, not fully aware yet. "You OK?" she asked.
"Just having trouble sleeping I guess." Shepard replied. He knew it was a lie and so did she but he still said it.
Ashley let out a brief sigh as she pulled the blanket over her to try and cover up.
"I'm surprised you slept at all with everything going on."
"Yeah you're right. Just jitters, I guess." He said as he yawned at the same time, telling another lie.
"Just jitters he says…You amaze me." Ashley said, knowing he was trying to lie.
"What?" he asked.
Ash hid it well, not wanting to get into it right now.
"Nothing. I love you." She answered.
Shepard looked back at her.
"You being here with me…it means everything." He said to her.
Ashley tried not to blush even if she knew it was a lame cover-up.
"Shepard…" she tried to speak but Shepard interrupted her.
"Shh… I love you." He leaned towards her and gave her a kiss before getting up from the bed.
Ashley smiled back at him.
"I love you too."
Shepard went for his shirt that was lying on the floor by the fish tank. He looked backed at her and winked. He knew what she said was true. It meant everything to him. Ashley meant everything to him. Shepard meant everything to her and he knew that as well.
Shepard slipped on his pants again and as he fastened the belt back on he noticed something. The door was unlocked. He looked back at Ashley who was putting on a shirt.
"You forgot to re-lock the door. It was unlocked the whole time. Someone could have walked in on us at any moment…" Shepard said to her.
Ashley looked over at Shepard at the door and her jaw dropped slightly.
"Oops…"
Shepard smiled and let out a small chuckle.
"Well if they did they got a good show." He joked.
"When I came up, half of the ship was asleep anyway." Ash reassured him.
Shepard went into the restroom to clean himself up a bit but Ashley followed him in.
"Isn't that my shirt?" he asked her as he put toothpaste on his brush, and she indeed was wearing his shirt.
"So what if it is? You already ripped off one shirt I was wearing tonight." She retorted.
"True enough." He said before Shepard put the toothbrush in his mouth.
"So when are we heading out?" Ashley asked referring to starting the assault on Cerberus.
"Hackett was to contact me when the rest of the Alliance fleets were ready. 1100 hours at the latest he said. I want you along on this one Ash."
Ashley gave a bit of a smirk directed towards him.
"I'd be a little pissed off if I wasn't. I didn't sleep with you for no reason." She said sarcastically and winking at Shepard while she said it.
"I'm being serious here, Ash. I want someone I trust with me. Don't know what kind of things the Illusive Man might throw at us once we get there."
"Sure thing, Shepard. Been itching to get some revenge on Cerberus myself ya know…"
Shepard and Ashley finished getting ready. They took separate showers, they agreed it was time to start getting a little more serious and they suited up into their Alliance uniforms. As Shepard was rolling up his uniform sleeves, he got the call from Joker over the intercom.
"Incoming message from Admiral Hackett, Commander. It's flagged as urgent."
"I'll take it in the comm room, Joker. Patch him in through there."
"Aye, Aye Commander."
Ashley was now dressed and standing in front of the mirror straightening her hair. Shepard came over to her.
"Guess I better go…" he said coming up behind her and kissing her on the top of her head. Ashley saw him in the mirror and smiled at him through the reflection.
"Catch up in a bit, Skipper." She said to him as he was heading towards the door.
About 20 minutes had passed and Shepard had finished his briefing with Admiral Hackett. The bulk of the Alliance fleets were ready to go and would start the assault when Shepard gave the go-ahead. Shepard got in the elevator to go down to the armory to suit up, however the elevator door opened up and Ashley was inside.
"Heading down, Commander?" she asked.
"As a matter of fact…" Shepard replied.
The elevator door closed after Shepard hopped in and it began to head down again.
"The fleet is ready to being opening fire, let's go get suited up." He said as the elevator came to its destination.
The assault had begun and the firefight outside was tremendous. The light was flashing for them to board the shuttle. They finished gearing up and grabbed their weapons from the rack. EDI was already in the shuttle when Shepard grabbed Ashley by the arm to pull her back. He was standing behind crates stacked high that created a blocking view. He gave Ashley a passionate kiss on the lips.
"Good luck charm?" she asked him.
"Something like that…" he answered.
This time, they boarded the shuttle together.
