"For the last time Shepard, no."

"but why not?" Shepard watched at the increasingly frustrated Chakwas as she paced up and down the medical bay; checking machinery and reading reports. The red headed Officer was sitting up in the bed, with her knees drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped around them, dressed only in a pair of shorts and a grey t-shirt, sapphire eyes never once leaving the bustling Doctor.

"Because when I say patients need bed rest, what I tend to mean is that they rest in a bed. I do not mean they should get up and resume their normal routines."

"But you said I was fine."

"I said you were going to be fine. Not you are fine. You will be fine if you follow my instructions."

"Lie still?" Shepard raised an eyebrow, "it's not exactly open heart surgery."

"Oh, you Marines will be the death of me." Chakwas sighed, "just get back into bed."

"I'm on the bed."

"That is not bed rest."

"but I am resting on a bed. You didn't specify I had to be in the bed." Shepard retaliated with a cheeky grin.

"Are you arguing semantics with me, young lady?" Chakwas looked stern but her eyes flashed with mirth.

"Young lady?" Shepard was taken aback, "I'm not six."

"You could have fooled me Commander." Chakwas picked up another report and scanned it quickly before she looked back at her patient, "I'm not arguing about this."

"I know." Shepard nodded in agreement, "I am though."

"We will be at the Citadel in nine hours. I want you in bed until then." Chakwas put aside the first report and started on the one underneath it, brow furrowing in concentration, "once we're docked, you can do as you wish."

There was a moment of silence and, for one glorious moment, Chakwas thought that she might have won the day.

Alas, it was not to be.

"Hey Doctor," Shepard was still looking at her, "does medi-gel cure terminal boredom?"

Chakwas glanced over the edge of the report at the woman, whose eyes were filled with the sort of doe-eyed innocence normally reserved for puppies, "try sleeping."

"I did sleep though. Now I'm full of energy."

"Believe me, I've noticed." Chakwas went back to the report and shook her head, murmuring softly to herself, "Corporal Lacey-"

"Jack Lacey?" Shepard was suddenly craning her neck, interested in the report, "What has Lumber Jack done?"

"None of your business." Chakwas positioned the report in such a way that Shepard could not see it. It reminded her very much of trying to keep a toy out of the grasp of a reaching child. "and you should not refer to crewmen by their nicknames. You're supposed to be their commanding Officer."

"I'm not on duty. I can call them what I like." Shepard sniffed indignantly.

"Oh-" Chakwas was interrupted as the door hissed open to admit Ashley Williams. The Marine Chief was wearing the black and blue casual uniform of the Alliance Navy, her hair tied up in a bun, looking rather awkward. She looked better than she had on Eden Prime, though not by much. She approached Shepard's bed and snapped off a salute, as precise and as accurate as any drill sergeant could have performed.

"Commander!"

"Chief Williams." Shepard blinked, looking up at her, "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Yes well, the rest of the crew seems to have dropped by, wouldn't want to seem anti-social." Williams was now playing with the buttons in her uniform, a nervous fidgeting to try and spend the nervous energy she had built up.

The medical bay certainly had been much busier than usual and Chakwas did not dispute that Ashley was correct. The entire crew seemed to have passed through at some point or another, spending ten minutes or so at the start or end of their shifts, wondering if the commander was okay, when she was going to be back, vowing to back her up over Eden Prime and, of course, trying to comfort her over Jenkins death. Shepard smiled and laughed, told jokes and convinced the crew that their XO was fine, leaving them with grins on their faces. They didn't see that when the door hissed shut, the smile dropped and Shepard went back to staring at the wall, as if she could see through it into space itself. She hadn't told anyone else about the dreams and the doctor knew that all the assurances and comfort in the world could not make her feel any better about Jenkins' death.

"Well, I'm happy to see you." Shepard did seem genuinely pleased and invited Ashley to sit on the opposite bed with a nod of her head. The Chief did so with great reluctance, as if every military fibre in her body was begging her to remain at attention.

"So..." There was an awkward silence, "how are you feeling?"

"Fine thanks, in fact, I'm doing so well that I have to lie still and do nothing for nine hours."

"Um..." Williams blinked, taken aback by the reply and looked over Shepard's shoulder at Chakwas. Chakwas just rolled her eyes and went back to her report. "that's...good?"

"Not really," Shepard shrugged, "once you know there's a hundred and fifty four rivets in the bulkhead over there, you kinda run out of things to do."

"Okay." There was another long silence. It stretched on for so long that Chakwas glanced up from her report to see if Williams had gone.

"So how are you feeling?"

"Commander?" Williams sounded surprised. Chakwas saw that it was Shepard who had asked the question, the smile gone, those penetrating eyes fixed on her fellow Marine.

"Eden Prime was rough. How are you feeling?"

"Well..." She hesitated, "I'm used to friends dying. It comes with being a Marine. But my whole unit...and all those civilians...the beacon destroyed. It just feels like they died for nothing." her shoulders slumped.

"Ashley, without you and your unit, there wouldn't be an Eden Prime any more. Your unit gave their lives to buy the Civilians time; time to flee and time to regroup. There are families on Eden Prime; children who owe their existence to you and the others. If there is any nobler a cause to do die for Ashley, I haven't found it." Shepard's eyes never left those of the Marine and Chakwas saw the other react. She seemed to sit up a bit taller, her shoulders straightened and there was a fresh fire ignited behind her eyes. It was the burning fire of pride.

'How does she do it?' Chakwas wondered.

"I never thought of it like that Commander. Thanks." There was another pause, but this one felt less awkward. "I'm sorry about Jenkins. From what I hear he was a good man."

"Yeah, he was. He'll be missed." Chakwas shook her head at the exchange. Generic condolences and a generic reply. Both Marines knew that Jenkins' loss could not be expressed with just a few words.

"Part of me feels guilty for being here. It's like I'm replacing him-"

"You're here because you deserve to be, Ashley." Shepard cut across her, forcing the other to look into her eyes, "without you, we would never have reached the beacon. You're a damned good soldier Ash. Don't ever forget that."

"Thanks Commander." Now it was Williams who sounded pleased and Chakwas felt a smile tugging at her lips. "That means a lot coming from a Star of Terra winner."

Shepard gave a lopsided smile, "I just did a job Ash. There's nothing special about that."

"Uh..." Williams snorted in disbelief, "you held off an entire enemy platoon. Alone. You saved a colony. It sounds pretty special to me." she checked her watch, "oh, I really need to go. My shift started two minutes ago."

"That's fine. You go on." Shepard smiled again, "thanks for dropping by Ash. I appreciate it."

"Thank you Commander. It was nice to speak with you." Williams gave one final salute before she turned on her heel and marched through the door.

Once she had gone, silence fell over the Medical Bay one more time. Chakwas sensed that Shepard was thinking over their conversation, a suspicion confirmed when she glanced up to see Shepard still staring at the door, still in the same huddled pose as before. Chakwas couldn't place it, but there was something endearingly vulnerable about the way she sat; ironic really, because she knew from experience that there was a core of steel under that skin.

"That was a nice thing you did Shepard." Chakwas finally broke the silence.

"Doctor?" Shepard snapped out of her reverie and turned to look at her

"Chief Williams has been quite upset about Eden Prime ever since she came aboard. You've given her a positive to take from a terrible event."

Shepard fixed her with that same sweet smile and Chakwas felt her heart swell. When she smiled, the Commander was quite beautiful but there was something sad about the smile, and when Chakwas saw the scar that ran across her face, she knew what it was. It was a natural beauty that had been tarnished by the evil of the galaxy, a purity forever tainted by the hatred and coldness that seemed to dominate the mortal soul, regardless of species. When she smiled though, Chakwas saw that same light shining through, that Shepard was saying to the galaxy, you have not beaten me.

"I just told the truth Doctor. And she knows it. All she needed was someone to tell her."

There was another stretch of silence.

"So..." Shepard spoke first, licking her lips, "is it Lumber Jack's snoring? He goes like a rusty chainsaw when he sleeps."

"Oh grow up, Shepard."

"Never."