This is a request chapter for a guest reviewer way back after Chapter 2. Hope they are still reading, and like this.

Ashley knew something was wrong immediately. It was written on the faces of everyone on board the Normandy, their eyes refusing to meet hers, their mouths twisted into frowns. Somehow, she didn't notice Shepard's absence until she drew near Sam's station, where she and Garrus were speaking quietly to each other. They broke off their conversation when the turian saw Ashley. "Where is he?" she asked.

"Ash, I…"

"Where is he?" she asked more forcefully, her gaze boring into him.

Garrus looked at Sam, who was making sure not to look back. "He was captured by Cerberus on Noveria. We were entering the shuttle to evacuate when a squad showed up, and Shepard drew their fire away from us."

Ashley snorted in anger. Damn you, Skipper, she thought. His selflessness was something that made her love him, but he should know when such selflessness was a good thing and when it was a bad thing. This was a time where it was a bad thing. Without Shepard here to yell at, she directed her anger at Garrus, his second in command. "And why exactly did you let him do that!?" she yelled, every eye in the CIC turning their way.

"Ash, there was nothing Liara or I could do," Garrus argued calmly. "The shuttle was taking off and he jumped out. I've already begun putting together a plan, we're going to get Shepard out of there as quickly as possible."

"And you didn't come get me before you were putting this plan together?" That made Ashley even angrier.

"Damn it, Ash, we stepped off the shuttle ten minutes ago. Once Shepard is secure you can rip into me all you want, but right now we should only have one focus."

Garrus was right, of course. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Ashley asked. "So what's your plan?"

"Follow me, I want to tell everyone at the same time." Still infuriated, Ashley had no choice but to follow.

John Shepard's world was one of darkness, the cloth of the blindfold irritating against his skin. They had dragged him somewhere after knocking him unconscious, and he was now sitting in a chair, his hands and feet both bound. A cough told him that he was not alone in the room, but whoever was there was not talking. There was nothing to do but wait. Wait and think, and hope he received a chance to escape.

What the hell had he been thinking? Jumping out of that shuttle had to rank among the dumbest things Shepard had ever done. He tried to rationalize that it was a natural reaction, that he had seen the Cerberus thug holding the missile launcher and had to jump out to distract him from shooting the shuttle, but that didn't seem like a very good reason now. Even if the rocket hit the shuttle, which was no guarantee, it was capable of eating one before they would be in real trouble. As he sat tied up in a chair, no idea where he was, a horrible pain in the back of his head where the blow that knocked him unconscious had landed, Shepard came to the conclusion that he was just an idiot.

The pain eventually began to recede, and Shepard was able to focus and think clearly for the first time since regaining consciousness. He noticed how loose the bindings around his hands were. They would be easy to manipulate, though he should wait to see exactly who was in the room with him. One guy he could handle, even with his feet bound, but anymore and he would be in trouble. Shepard's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door sliding open and two people entering the room. As soon as the door slid closed again, a hand grabbed the blindfold and yanked it from his eyes. The harsh light of the room assaulted his sight, making him blink furiously as tears formed in his eyes. When his sight adjusted after half a minute, he found two faceless Cerberus soldiers, predictably armored from head to toe, standing before him. Shepard was not sure why he thought he might have seen any different. In the corner of the room, another Cerberus soldier was leaning against the wall. "The boss is going to be ecstatic," the one standing directly in front of him said.

"Are we keeping him in here?" the one in the corner asked.

"Why not? Are you scared to be in here all alone?"

"Fuck you, I'm not scared of anything!" the soldier shouted defensively.

A chuckle came from the soldier in front of Shepard. "We'll leave a couple guards outside the door. He says anything, punch him. He moves, punch him. He breathes too heavy, punch him. Keep it on the torso though, we don't want to mess up his face or give him brain damage." The two Cerberus soldiers that entered the room exited now, leaving Shepard in a room with a guy whose standing orders were to beat the shit out of him for any little thing. Once again, Shepard thought about what an idiot he was.

"There should be more guards," Ashley said, a foreboding feeling in the pit of her stomach, growing with every second spent scouting the facility, a pair of binoculars in her hands.

"Could be a trap," Garrus admitted. "Could be we depleted their numbers, and they are keeping whoever's left close to Shepard. You know he's going to try and escape, and so do they."

Ashley knew that all too well, and that was the source of the bad feeling she had. A weaker man may accept their circumstances and hope for rescue, knowing there was a ship full of loyal soldiers that would die for him. Shepard was too damn egotistical to be that weak a man. He'd try to escape at the first opportunity that presented itself, whether he had thought out a plan or not. "We'll assume it's a trap, and hope its not."

Garrus led the way, with Liara and EDI following, and Ashley covering the rear. The way stayed clear of hostiles all the way to the side entrance of the facility, where Garrus claimed their best chance to get inside unnoticed would be. The turian was the first through the door, his assault rifle following his eyes around the room. He had brought his sniper rifle with him, but it would likely go unused in the close quarters of the facility, all hallways and rooms, no true open space to be found. Ashley was carrying her shotgun, while Liara and EDI both chose to use submachine guns. The four of them spread out quickly, clearing every corner of the office they found themselves entering. Mechanical beeps and clicks from the consoles and supercomputers were the only sounds to be heard besides their breathing. Once the room was determined to be clear, Garrus signaled for them to follow, and they moved into a hallway, Ashley's every sense tuned for danger as they moved along.

The first Cerberus soldiers they found were inside another office, their voices giving away their position. There were three of them, making small talk that gave away their location. Garrus took up position next to the closed door leading into the office, EDI taking up position next to him, while Ashley and Liara took up position on the opposite side. Without having to say a word, Garrus counted down from three, nodded, and the four of them stormed inside, the Cerberus troops receiving no chance to react before they were dropping dead. Four more offices of varying size were cleared of Cerberus troops as they moved along the hallway, the Normandy squad managing to take them all out silently. Two times, they managed to take one of the fuckers alive, but they would say nothing, and there was neither the time or place to properly interrogate them. Ashley was beginning to grow frustrated, wondering if Shepard had already been moved somewhere else. Without even realizing it, she began to breathe loudly due to her anger, until Liara placed a hand on her shoulder, and a finger to her own lips.

At the end of the hallway, they found themselves on a walkway overlooking a large lobby, where a concentration of fifteen Cerberus troops were standing guard. The walkway followed the perimeter of the lobby, three doors on each side, a large glass window above the lobby entrance below. Fortifications had been made to guard the entrance, energy barriers and shield restorers with generators to power them, and turrets behind them. Every troop down below was paying complete attention to the entrance, allowing the Normandy squad to sneak in entirely unseen. They had the high ground, too. Maybe the sniper rifles would come in handy. "We could probably sneak by," Liara suggested. "They have no idea we are here, or if they do they think we're going to assault them in large numbers."

"We still don't know where the Commander is," Ashley said immediately. "He might be hurt, and need us to carry him out of here. If so, we'd only be making our exit harder if we had to fight through these assholes later."

"It would greatly increase our odds of success if we eliminate the Cerberus soldiers now," EDI chimed in.

Garrus' input was not necessary. Liara nodded her agreement. "EDI, take up position to the left. When I give the signal, hit that group of four near the generator with an Incineration blast. Liara, you go to the opposite side of the walkway, and when you see the signal, hit the group of five behind the barrier with a Singularity. Ash, throw a grenade at that group. I'll stay here, and provide sniper support."

Ashley could barely contain herself, the discipline that usually came so automatically to her fraying without Shepard leading her into battle. She had risen so far in the last two years, and was rarely out in the field with an officer higher in rank than her. Following Shepard again had been easy, he was Commander freaking Shepard, for God's sake. Garrus though? She liked Garrus, respected Garrus, trusted him without any reservations, but following his orders did not feel right. Especially not with Garrus leading her in a mission to rescue Shepard.

Oh hell, who was she kidding? Every ounce of her frustration and unease was because Shepard was in danger, no matter how much she tried to pretend otherwise. She loved Shepard, hopelessly, with all her heart and soul, he was always on her mind, occupying nearly every moment of her life, even her dreams. Even in the most intense firefights, she would find herself thinking of Shepard, how many hostiles he had killed, whether he was okay, how hot it would be to get rid of the leftover adrenaline and tension of battle back in his cabin. Ashley had tried so hard to move past him after the Collector attack on the Normandy, only to find out the moment she saw him on Horizon that all her efforts had been completely unsuccessful, and she was forced to accept that the son of a bitch reduced her to a lovestruck moron. Shepard's capture, and the possible negative outcomes, were the only reason she was having a negative thought about Garrus' ability, a soldier who had proven himself damn near as much as Shepard himself. Ashley shook her head, placed her hand on one of her incendiary grenades, and waited for Garrus' signal.

Shepard heard the fight as clearly as the Cerberus soldier in the corner did, and it could not have come at a better time. He had managed only moments earlier to loosen the bindings on his hands enough to slip one hand free. When his guard jogged over and said, "If you're friends think they are getting you out of here alive, they'll be sorely disappointed," Shepard did not waste time using his free hand to grab the pistol at the guard's waist and plug three shots into his chest. Once the guard fell dead, he quickly went to work removing the rest of his bindings. Thankfully, they had not removed his armor. The Cerberus soldier had four thermal clips for his assault rifle, and Shepard took both. Outside, the gunfight was drawing closer, the occasional muffled explosion reaching his ears through the walls. He gripped the assault rifle tightly, and hurried out of the room.

Apparently Cerberus had sent everyone to fight the intruders, as Shepard met no resistance while creeping down the hallway. He followed the sounds of gunfire, which reached its loudest when he reached a door at the end of the hallway. He opened the door, and found himself thrust into the thick of the fight. A Cerberus soldier spotted him immediately, shouted, "Shepard is loose! Kill him!" and began firing his way. Shepard reached for a grenade, not remembering that he used them all before he was captured, and cursed. Listening closely, he realized that Cerberus was exchanging gunfire with a group above them. If he could distract the troops on his level, it would make their job easier. Time for another stupid idea, he thought with a grin.

Shepard burst through the door and into the lobby, firing vaguely in the direction of the soldiers that spotted him, just trying to keep them occupied as he desperately searched for cover. An L shaped desk was the closest thing he could find, and he dove behind it moments before shots were returned his way. A dead Cerberus soldier, blood beginning to dry in a thick puddle originating from a wound in his head, had two frag grenades on his belt. Shepard threw both over the desk, trying to create as much confusion as possible. A few screams and a few thuds of bodies falling told him he had succeeded.

A girl had to admire what Shepard had just done, even as Ashley wanted to scream at him for being so stupid. When that Cerberus prick screamed to kill Shepard, moments before Garrus took his head off with his sniper rifle, Ashley had wanted to scream at the man she loved, tell him what an idiot he was. She could do that later, right now they needed to get him out of here before any reinforcements that had definitely been contacted showed up. The sudden appearance of the Spectre had served to distract the Cerberus troops, making the Normandy squad's job easier, and they took full advantage. Between them and Shepard, there was no where to run or hide, and the battle became a massacre. Ashley lapsed into an adrenaline focus unlike anything she had experienced since the battle on the Citadel. She lost all conscious sense of time and her surroundings, acting purely on instinct, focused on nothing more than the hostiles she was shooting at. Seemingly every shot was perfect. When there was no one left to shoot, the battle trance did not dissipate until a hand shook her by the shoulder, and she turned to find Liara staring with concern. "Ashley, its over," she said. "Are you okay?"

Just like that, Ashley was back to normal. "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. Let's go get Shepard." They had to find a staircase back within one of the hallways to get down to the lobby. The urge to hit the man she loved was every bit as strong as the urge to jump him and kiss him. Ashley settled for a professional nod, her discipline and training winning out over her competing emotions. "Glad to see you're okay, Commander," she said.

Shepard nodded back, smiling at all of them. "That was quick, you guys. Good work."

"Of course, you didn't recruit a bunch of scrubs," Garrus said with a grin. EDI walked over to a nearby console, typing away. "Saving your ass is getting kind of old, Shepard. When are you going to repay me for all the times I've done this?"

"I could buy you a drink," Shepard suggested.

"There's plenty of free liquor on the Normandy."

Shepard rubbed the back of his neck. "That there is."

"Could we discuss this later?" Ashley said, irritated.

"Cerberus reinforcements will arrive in five minutes," EDI said, rejoining them.

Shepard nodded. "Let's go."

Shepard was still trying to catch his breath as Ashley snuggled next to him, pulling the blanket on the bed to cover them. Sex after a particularly stressful fight was common between them, but this had been something else. For a moment, he considered joking about getting himself captured more often, but he knew his reward for such a joke would be a punch in the arm, at best. "You're a real bastard, you know that?" Ashley said.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, what the hell were you doing? You are too goddamn important to try and sacrifice yourself to save us."

Shepard looked at the woman he loved. "I wasn't trying to sacrifice myself, what are you talking about?"

"Bullshit, you had to know there was a good chance they would kill you on the spot when you jumped from that shuttle," Ashley argued.

"No, the thought never crossed my mind. Cerberus has a bounty out on me for bringing me in alive, not dead. I knew for a fact that the Illusive Man's own troops wouldn't kill me. Not unless they had no choice."

"You did not know that. You hoped that was true, but you didn't know." Ashley snuggled a little closer, her arms gripping his left arm tightly. "Why did you jump out of the shuttle to begin with?"

Shepard hesitated, knowing she would just berate him further. "I saw a guy with a missile launcher preparing to fire. I was just trying to distract him long enough for the shuttle to get away unscathed." He paused again. "I know it was stupid. Its all I thought about while I was tied up in a chair. The shuttle could have handled one rocket blast. Believe me, any way you want to yell at me, I've already yelled at myself."

Ashley laughed briefly, a surprise. "Skipper, I can't get mad that you are so selfless and brave, that you are willing to give everything you have. But you are too important to be stupid. If we lose you, that will be it. The Reapers will win. You need to understand that."

The Spectre rolled his eyes, his mouth forming a hard line. He already heard this from Liara. "That's not true. I'm sick of everyone telling me that."

"Yes, it is true."

"No its not," Shepard argued petulantly. "There are hundreds, thousands of men like me out there, fighting just as hard as I am. If I die, at least one of them could do what I'm doing. Garrus could do what I'm doing. So could you, Ash."

Again, Ashley surprisingly laughed. "What could possibly make you think that? You think Garrus or I could handle sitting in a room with Wrex, the Primarch, and the Dalatrass, and somehow keep them from killing each other? You think anyone else could have talked down Admiral Gerrel from continuing to attack the Geth? Sure, we can fight, but you are something special. You are the only hope left."

"I'm one fucking soldier, Ash."

She propped herself up on an elbow, glaring intensely at him. "You're one fucking soldier that has done more than any one fucking soldier has ever done. John, stop it. Stop this humble act you try to pull off. If you would have died down there today, everything you've done, all the alliances you've built, it all would have crumbled. You are the glue holding this entire galaxy together right now."

Shepard wanted to argue. He wanted to childishly scream that it wasn't fair, that no one man should be forced to bear this burden on his shoulders. The consequences if he failed weighed heavily on his mind, prevented him from ever getting a good night's sleep, from ever truly relaxing. "I know that, and its wearing me down, Ash. I have been living on nothing more than adrenaline and fear for months. I can't keep going like this for much longer. If we don't finish the Crucible soon, I won't be around long enough to see this war ended. And what's worse, I can't even admit it. I can't tell the Council that I'm not sure. I can't tell the crew that I'm scared, that I'm human, that I'm wearing down. I have to keep this burden inside, where its killing me. Everyone else has someone to look to for confidence and inspiration. I have no one."

He hadn't meant for it all to tumble out that way, but there it was. A person could only hold so much in before there was no where else to hide it. This may not have been the best time, but Shepard could not hold it in any longer, not when Ashley was going to insist on reminding him of his burden. She watched him quietly for a few moments, her own thoughts not betrayed in her expression. He looked away, wondering if his admission had broken her own faith, but she placed a hand on his cheek and made him look at her. "You have me. Don't ever hold that in, not with me. You understand? When we are here, alone, I don't ever want you to think you have to put on some bullshit façade to impress or inspire me. Tell me you understand that."

Shepard would not love Ashley as much as he did at that moment until their first daughter was born. He said nothing, instead deciding to kiss her fiercely, pulling her close, desiring her as much as he ever had.

I wish ME3 had done a better job showing the stress that Shepard would be under, with so much relying solely on him. Those stupid dreams were not enough. As always, comments and critiques are welcome.