A/N: Hey guys! We now have our seventh subscriber! Welcome aboard, Sheity! I hope it wasn't too dark in the previous chapter. I personally adore twists like that, but I don't know about you guys. Anyway, some of you might be looking forward to fluff, or rather, romance scenes. There most probably will be, but there's going to be very little of it. It's labelled under Adventure & Drama for a reason, instead of Romance. As usual, I'm desperate for comments and reviews. I like it when you guys give me tips on how to do better.
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Ashley
Ashley couldn't fathom why the Rear Admiral wanted to meet her. In private, to boot. 5pm, Dark Star Lounge. Why not Purgatory? She had an urge to go against Hutcherson's instructions and inform Colburn about the meeting, but her intuition told her it wouldn't do any good. She checked the time. 5.15pm. If he was really sincere in meeting her, he wouldn't leave till he saw her. What did Colburn call it? Testing the waters? Right.
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-Dark Star Lounge-
Ashley
Ashley checked the time. 8pm. Okay, here goes nothing. She entered the club. She walked around, trying to look as casual and confident as she could. Just wait for it... Nice and calm... But her soldier instincts were running high. If the guy was really what Colburn had said to be, could it be that he was grabbing the opportunity to silence those around him as well?
She didn't know how long she had drifted off. An hour? Fifteen minutes? All she knew was that someone was tapping on her shoulder. She turned around to find an unfamiliar face, but she was sure she had seen it somewhere before. "Miss Williams, I suppose?". Oh right, that big secret room. Greg Hutcherson.
Relax, Williams. Play it cool. "Yes. That's me."
"I'm pleased to see that you've agreed to meet me. Let me introduce myself. I'm -"
She decided to interrupt him. Who cares? "Yes, I know. I've... Heard about you."
"Oh really? I have a feeling it isn't from the vids.".
Ashley simply nodded her head. "Well then, let's find somewhere more private. I've got a room booked.". He led her to a room at the far side of the bar, where no one was in its shouting range. Ashley had a feeling it was his doing. The older man stopped in front of the door, and stretched out an arm. "After you.". She simply walked past him and sat down on a couch. Normally, she would've remained standing and waited till the superior officer had invited her to sit down. But this was a special case. The man she was dealing with was a potential danger and predator. Colburn had taught her on dealing with these kind of people. You have to show them that you're confident and that you're completely at ease around them, he said. Well, time to apply what you've learnt, Williams.
The Rear Admiral had also made himself comfortable on the couch opposite her. He filled two glasses with a dark red liquid and handed one of them to her. "Wine?", he offered. She accepted it without a word, then stared at it. "Don't worry, it's safe.". Like hell I'm drinking it. He took a sip out of his glass and let out a contented sigh. "Mmm... This bottle of 47' Thessia Red is worth the ten thousand credits.".
Ashley couldn't stand it anymore. "Just tell me what the hell you want."
"Ah yes. I'm sorry. Let me get to business. Actually-". He got interrupted by a knock on the door. A man of Asian descent appeared. Long bangs, shades, dressed in black. Why the hell would he wear shades? As if it isn't dark enough in here already.
"Tim is looking for you.". His voice was deep and sophisticated, classy even. The perfect candidate for undercover missions. Ashley had a feeling many woman would fall to the seductive voice. But certainly not her.
"Excuse me.". Hutcherson stepped out of the room, and took a ear piece from the man in black. Whoever Tim was, he had to be pretty important, because the Rear Admiral was speaking in a respectful and patient tone. Or at least he appeared to be.
Ashley took the chance to deeply study Hutcherson's features. Hutcherson had pitch black hair, and black eyes. His hair was neatly combed back, prim and proper. And it was obvious that he had put in quite some concern over his appearance in public. The fine suits that would've cost more than six months of her salary, good mannered, respectful, gentlemanly. Ashley was starting to doubt if he was the person Colburn had been speaking about. It's all pretense, Williams. Use your brains!
Colburn's appearance was more rugged. Cropped, layered hair that just touched the collar of his uniform, long fringe tousled and parted at the left, slightly overlapping his right eye. Messy. He didn't look like an XO of a ship, or even an Alliance soldier for that matter. You look like a shipwreck instead of a soldier, Anderson had once complained. But no one really took action about it. Hair was too little of an issue to take note. Shepard had once stolen the Alliance's frigate for crying out loud.
But there were the similarities too. Both of them had a knack for politics. It was obvious. She'd seen Hutcherson, or at least heard of him, influencing Citadel decisions by throwing his weight around. Colburn, needless to say, had been coaching her and Kaidan, as well as Shepard on the way with words and people. People with power. At the Citadel, words are powerful, sometimes more than those of Thanix Cannons. He taught them how to stay out of trouble, how to work their way out of political traps and the lot. Make people believe you're crazy. Convince them that you'd do anything to get your way. You know you're a professional when you're able to make people forget that they've got the upper hand and force them to comply to your terms at the end, while tricking them to believe that they've won at the same time. Sometimes, Ashley simply marvelled at the way Colburn handled diplomatic matters for the Normandy. Every time Udina seemed to find a way to charge one of them with a fault, he'd get them out unscathed, with ease. Sometimes Ashley thought of actually nominating him for Earth Councillor instead of Udina, though she knew that he loathed politics more than any of them. If it weren't for them, she was sure that he would cut off all ties with the political world.
Ashley glanced at Hutcherson. He was still talking. Again, she let her mind drift to Colburn, the mystery man. She couldn't comprehend why he was so reluctant to let anyone inside his mind. She could understand if he wanted more privacy. Some people were just more sensitive than others. But this was ridiculous. To keep this secret away from the rest of the galaxy? That was just insane. She knew she wouldn't be able to do that. Then again, she'd rather not be in his shoes. Her father a selfish bastard? No way. If she wanted Colburn to open up, even if to Traynor and not her, she would have to do something.
She snapped back to reality at Hutcherson's voice. "I'm sorry. Where was I?". The man in black was gone.
"To be honest, we haven't even started."
"My apologies, Miss Williams. First of all, I appreciate you coming out of your way to Zakera Ward. I thought of meeting at Purgatory, but I couldn't risk anyone finding out about this. I'm sure you're wondering why I've requested to meet you in private."
Two can play at this game. "Actually sir, with all due respect, I think I do. And to address your worries, if anyone found out about this, you can just put a bullet through their heads.". Ashley paused for a moment, to let the unspoken threat sink in. She kept her eyes locked on his shoulders. If he moved an inch, she'd know what he was going to do. "Like twelve years ago.".
Hutcherson seemed unsurprised. Her statement merely elicited an ah from the General. "Yes, I should've expected that he would've told you about me."
"Then you obviously don't know him."
"Oh. Do you, Miss Williams?"
"Most probably better than you anyway."
"True, true.". Hutcherson seemed amused at her answer. That look... Yep, definitely Cole's dad.
Don't lose it, Williams. "We're digressing."
"You're correct. Thank you for reminding me. Let me get to the point: The whole matter is a total misunderstanding."
"What makes you think I have to take your word for it? Besides, no murderer would admit that he killed a person, much less twenty."
"I didn't kill them. Besides, haven't they all said that you shouldn't listen to only one side of the story? Even a convicted prisoner gets the opportunity to speak his peace before the execution."
"Fine. Just get straight to it. We're running in circles."
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-Apartment 206-
Colburn
Everything was still a mess to Cole. They lingering ache didn't help. Neither did Kaidan. Kaidan had came over with an unpleasant surprise.
"Kaidan, please tell me this is some kind of sick joke."
"I wish it was, Cole. But it's not."
"I can feel my sanity decreasing at FTL speed, if there's actually anymore left, that is."
"Nice to see you haven't lost your sense of humour."
Cole rolled his eyes. "Don't make me ask you about Asari-Human mating experiences."
Kaidan immediately held up his hands in a placating gesture. "Okay, okay! Just lay off already!".
Colburn held out the victory sign in glee. Kaidan stuck out his tongue. Yes! And Colburn instantly kept his friend in stasis. A look of alarm barely managed to find a spot on Kaidan's face before the stasis took over. Colburn flashed an all-too-innocent smile, and put his thumbs and index fingers together as if he were taking a photo. "I think Liara's going to love this. You look absolutely gorgeous, Kaidan! Or maybe it's just my excellent photography skills.".
Colburn's short reverie of happiness ended when Ashley entered the apartment. Unfortunately, or rather, fortunately, he didn't know it yet. "Hey, Ash. Come check out my new sculpture!"
"Ooh. I think we have our own Michaelangelo from the 22nd Century!"
And while they were laughing, Colburn got a little too distracted, and the stasis' grip weakened. Kaidan managed to break out. Oh crap. The adept was ready to give the 'sculptor' a biotic falcon punch of his own, but Colburn managed to find a lifebuoy. "Woah there now! We've got more important business to discuss.". Nice save, Cole. Not too shabby.
"What's that?"
"We've received an invitation to attend the Council Alliance Summit."
"What the hell is that?"
"An inter-galactic conference, at least among the Citadel races, that is."
"What for?"
"Seems like they've finally figured out that the Reapers were actually real.". Colburn's words were dripping with sarcasm. He couldn't help it. The Citadel Council seemed to be made up of dense and incredibly thick-headed people. The average Elcor would probably be smarter. "So they've summoned for this summit to work out a plan. But believe me, I'm not holding my breath."
"Why us?".
"Good question. That's what Kaidan asked me too.". Kaidan simply glared at him. Oops. "As part of the Citadel Council, humanity needs to attend too. Since Hackett's leading the fleets, Anderson's on Earth, and Shep's on Tuchanka, we have to take their place instead."
"What about Udina?"
"Udina's representing Earth. We're there because we've seen how the Reapers attack first-hand."
"I have a feeling there's something more.". Colburn stayed silent. He just couldn't get it out of his mouth.
Luckily, Kaidan spoke for him. "Hutcherson's there too, as advisor to Udina.".
A/N: Just a filler. The real kicker's coming up real soon. Any reviews? I've got only one. They encourage me to write faster. Just saying. :p
Ps: If you have trouble imagining Cole's hair, I'll admit, it resembles Adam Lambert's. Was an inspiration for Cole's appearance. But of course, dear Cole here doesn't do eyeliner.
