Feros was exhausting. Mission creep was in full effect. What started off as an investigation into Geth attacks on the planet instead turned into a multi-day stay on the planet, much of it with no communications with the Normandy. After finally dispatching the Thorian creature and an incredibly unsettling and unexpected meld with an Asari (a former acolyte of Benezia, no less), Shepard was back on board her ship.

Doctor T'Soni joined minds with her immediately after the mission debrief, helping her to make a bit more sense of the cipher given to her by the Asari on Feros. The implications of the Prothean warning were decidedly disturbing.

In all, Shepard was emotionally, mentally and physically spent. Although her team had earned some well-deserved downtime, Shepard did not have the luxury of taking any time off herself. And so she found herself in the comm room (after abruptly disconnecting the Council rather than listen to another lecture), reviewing the just-completed mission. She wanted to complete an evaluation of the performance of the crew that accompanied her on Feros. Of particular interest, T'Soni was showing some impressive development in combat. Shepard had no idea where an archaeologist could learn such skill, but she was grateful to have her on her team. Combining T'Soni's biotics with her own gave the crew a very powerful weapon.

She was so intent on her work that she didn't even notice the door opening or someone entering. It wasn't until she caught a whiff of fresh hot coffee that she looked up to see Williams standing in front of her with a steaming mug. Ashley was obviously freshly showered, although based on the condition of the cuts and bruises on her face, she did not appear to have reported to medical. Then again, neither had she. She'd get there soon, but there were more immediate issues to deal with.

Williams handed the mug over to an appreciative Shepard. In response to an arch of Shepard's eyebrow, Williams confirmed, "Yes, I poured a pile of sugar in it. Give me some credit."

With a smile, Shepard blew across the top of the mug and took a few deep gulps before setting it down next to her. "Thanks, Ash. You have no idea how much I needed this."

"No offense, Commander, but you look like hell and you don't smell much better. Can't all this wait an hour?"

"Ouch. You wound me, Ash. If that was you giving no offense, I'd hate to see when you really did try to be offensive." Williams gave Shepard a playful shove to the shoulder, but was shocked when Shepard quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Shit, Shepard. It's even worse this close up," Ashley said with a chuckle.

"You love it and you know it. I look like a fucking warrior, fresh off the battlefield. Super sexy, am I right?" This was accompanied by what was probably intended to be a lascivious eyebrow waggle.

Ashley had to admit that it was, indeed, super sexy. She let a deep kiss be her response. "Are you sure this can't wait an hour?" she asked suggestively.

"I wish. I do need to get this done today." With a swat to Williams' backside, she added, "Why don't you take that beautiful ass down to medical to get checked, and I'll finish up here. Shouldn't take more than another hour or two. Then give me some time for my own check and maybe even a shower - if you're lucky - and we can meet up later?"

"Make the shower a definite and not a maybe, and you've got yourself a deal. I guess the question is how do you want to handle it. I'm still not ready to be the target of shipboard gossip. Not yet."

Shepard chewed on the inside of her lower lip. Williams had a good point. They'd gotten lucky their first night together - although they'd both dozed off in exhaustion, Shepard's faithful insomnia kicked in before 0300 and Ashley was able to escape the commander's quarters undetected. "Me neither. To start, we can hit the mess for dinner, so long as you can keep your hands off my ass and your eyes off my chest." This earned a playful glare from the chief. "Then, if you're up for it, maybe we can hit the gym later. Like later later. You know - like old times. But minus the head wounds."

"That I can do. See you later, then." As Ashley turned to leave, Shepard pulled her in for a kiss that held the promise of much more.

As the door hissed closed behind Williams, Shepard picked up her coffee with a smile and got back to work.

Ashley headed to medical first to have her cuts and bruises treated. Nobody had anticipated the amount of fighting they'd have to do on Feros, so they'd had to ration their medi-gel as best they could. That meant that anything that didn't impact a team member's ability to fight didn't get treated. That also meant that Ashley was going to be sporting a new scar along her right jawline.

Before dismissing Williams, Dr. Chakwas checked her previously injured left knee. Although her instructions had been for Williams to wear a brace on the joint during skirmishes, Ashley abandoned the support after the second day on Feros. It had gotten a bit bloodied and uncomfortable. As a result, the knee was healing more slowly than Chakwas had hoped. With an admonition that Williams would be placed on light duty if she didn't care for her injury better, Chakwas cleared her and sent her on her way.

True to her word, Shepard finished up her work and finally showered to scrape the sweat and filth off of her tired and sore body. After pulling on fresh fatigues, she looked longingly at her bed. She wanted nothing more than to lie down and rest. But hopefully a rather attractive marine was waiting for her in the mess, so she instead headed to medical for a quick check. With everything deemed to be in working order, she headed out to eat.

In the mess she spotted Williams just taking a seat with a tray of food. After spending the last few days living off of rations, she was definitely taking advantage of something that didn't require shaking a pouch to prepare. Shepard grabbed a tray and filled it with even more. It would probably take a few meals to properly replenish her body to compensate for days of intense biotics use. Luckily for her, there was a seat across the table from Ashley, so Shepard headed that way. Before she could even greet the chief, Alenko sat down in the empty chair next to Williams, angling it towards her. It looked like he'd already eaten, since he carried only a bottle of protein drink.

Fixing his eyes on Ashley, Alenko said, "So, Willams. The ship wasn't the same without you aboard." Shepard stared. Is he. . . flirting with her? The commander was feeling rankled, but there was no way to object without piquing the curiosity of everybody in the room. So she sat. And fumed. Not that I can blame him - I mean look at her! Williams looked irritated. Any responses she gave him were monosyllabic, trying to convey her complete lack of interest. Alenko didn't seem to understand her intent. Shepard ate in silence, just watching.

Fortunately, Alenko soon finished his protein drink and perhaps finally realizing that he was getting nowhere, he said his goodbyes and left. Most of the tables in the mess were empty by that point, leaving Shepard and Williams alone at their table in relative isolation.

With a lopsided grin, Shepard teased, "Anything you want to tell me, Williams?"

Ashley was not as amused. "Only that this isn't the first time he's tried, and sadly I don't think it will be his last. He's not very good at taking a hint. I had to send him on his way at Flux, too."

Lowering her voice so that her words wouldn't travel beyond the table, Shepard said, "I guess I'll have to step up my game, then."

Ashley felt her cheeks redden, and looked away before her face might betray anything to any crew that might be watching.

After taking a few more bites of dinner in amiable silence, Williams looked at Shepard and quietly inquired, "I have to ask - are you wearing underwear right now or not."

Shepard raised her eyebrows slightly, and with a half-grin replied, "Not."

Ashley swallowed hard as she felt an uncomfortable heat building in her center. "So you weren't kidding the other night. I was convinced that you'd skipped them just for the evening at Flux."

Shepard laughed. "Nope. I was serious. I just don't like them. I'll put on compression briefs under my armor, but otherwise it's commando all the way."

"What's this about commandos?" Shepard and Ashley's heads whipped to the side to see Liara standing there with a tray of food. "My mother had me train with the House commandos before I left for university. Asari commandos are some of the very best. May I join you?"

Shepard and Ashley looked at each other and burst out laughing. "Yes, please do, Doctor. It's good to see you," Shepard managed to get out between guffaws. Liara could only think that humans were very strange indeed. She was going to need a lot more time to figure them out.

After dinner Shepard returned to her quarters to inspect and clean her armor. After changing into a more comfortable tank and light sweatpants, she reviewed her messages and sent out replies where needed. She double checked the latest requisitions, deciding that another trip to the Citadel would be needed within the next two weeks. So she then plotted an indirect path back, with stops scheduled to take care of various assignments that had stacked up while she was on Feros.

All caught up, she checked the time and was surprised to see that she had worked until 0200. Time to head to the gym. Grabbing two glasses and some bourbon, she headed out.

Ashley used her time after dinner to hit the weapons bench to clean and check the pistols and rifles used on Feros. They'd also found a few improved scopes and ammo upgrades that she easily swapped into some of the crew's standard arms. She thought that Wrex would especially appreciate the incendiary round mod that she put on his shotgun. She didn't work on just anybody's weapons - she limited her efforts to Shepard, Tali, T'Soni, Wrex and Garrus - but that provided her with plenty of extra work.

Williams also took the opportunity to send some messages home to her mother and sisters. She hadn't had the chance to see any of them for a while, and she missed them terribly. Due to the nature of her current mission, she couldn't say much, but she was at least able to let them know she was okay. She briefly toyed with the idea of telling them she'd met someone, but that would require too many contortions to avoid revealing too much information, so for now she left that tidbit out of her communications.

The hour was late, so she took a quick moment to change out of her now-dirty fatigues. She slipped on a sleeveless black tee and loose cotton pants, then headed off to the gym.

Somehow Shepard managed to arrive first, finding the gym dark as she'd come to expect. She flicked on the lights for just one corner of the room, and found an empty weight bench to sit on. While she waited for Ashley, she poured herself a bit of bourbon and enjoyed a few sips. She was still thinking of strategies for the assignments she'd scheduled over the next few weeks when she heard the door hiss open. She rose and met Williams at the door, hitting the lock button as she pulled Ashley into her arms, kissing her fiercely. Williams responded with enthusiasm, snaking her arms around Shepard's waist.

When they broke for air, Ashley murmured, "I've been waiting days to do that."

"Me too. God, you feel good."

After a few more kisses, Shepard led Ashley further into the room. "Bourbon?"

"Always, Commander."

Shepard handed a glass over to Ashley, who had sat down on the bench next to Shepard, placing her hand on Shepard's thigh. "So."

"Mmm. So."

"That mind-meld thing you did with the Asari on Feros - are you okay? Especially since you followed it up with another one with T'Soni back on board. Anything get scrambled in that noggin?"

Shepard laughed. "Actually, the first one gave me a cipher I could use to better understand whatever weird shit I picked up from that Prothean beacon. Dr. T'Soni was able to take it a step further, and help me make more sense of the deciphered images. It wasn't my favorite thing, but I'm no worse for wear."

Ashley moved her hand further up Shepard's thigh. "Good. I'm not sure I was comfortable with a couple of beautiful Asari 'embracing eternity' with you."

"Oh, really? Jealous?" Shepard teased.

"Should I be?" Ashley teased back.

"Don't worry, Ash. It was all business. I didn't even take a peek back into T'Soni's mind."

Williams snorted. "Not even a little?"

"Well, maybe just a little. It seems she thinks you're hot. Not that I can blame her." That earned a playful nudge from Ashley.

"I've seen the way she looks at you, Shepard. I'm pretty sure she must have been thinking of you."

"No - seriously! She had some rather surprising opinions on certain parts of your body."

Ashley could only chuckle. "I like this. Being with you. Drinking your good shit."

"Oh yeah? And what about this?" Shepard leaned in for a kiss, bringing a hand to Ashley's side and stroking the underside of her breast with her thumb. "Do you like this?" she murmured into Ashley's ear.

Ashley's breath caught in her chest. "It's okay, I guess. If you're into sexy, powerful women who can make your insides turn to jelly."

"And are you?" Shepard continued to tease, now moving her hand more fully on Ashley's breast, rubbing her palm across the chief's hardened nipple through her shirt while kissing and sucking down her neck. Ashley could only nod - forming words seemed impossible at the moment. Shepard placed her mouth close to Ashley's ear and breathed, "You know, the last time we were here I couldn't stop thinking about stripping you down and laying you out naked on one of these benches."

Finding just enough breath to purr, "It's never too late," Ashley lifted her shirt over her head.