A/N: First, we're at over 3,600 views on this tale so far. That is very. . . unexpected. But kinda cool. So thanks! Also, there's a bunch of different stuff thrown in here. But I figure better to have one bigger chapter than a bunch of short ones.
Shepard woke early the next morning, one arm and leg thrown across Ashley. She traced a finger along Ashley's shoulder where she'd left a bite mark the night before, smiling to herself. Mine. Her smile widened at the fluttering in her chest. I love her. Ashley stirred, opening her eyes, mirroring Shepard's smile as Shepard's face came into focus.
"Good morning, Chief."
Ashley kissed Shepard. She smelled of sweat and sex. It was glorious. "Yes it is, Commander."
Shepard wanted to linger, but duty called - she needed to ready the ship for Ilos, should Captain Anderson succeed. With a sigh, she kissed Ashley once more then rolled over to get out of bed. Ashley eyed her bare backside appreciatively.
"Are you staring at my ass, marine?" Shepard asked without turning back.
"Yes ma'am."
"Good."
OoOoO
Shepard stood on the bridge behind Joker, waiting for a sign that Anderson had been able to release the Normandy from its lockdown. The minutes ticked by slowly. Shepard knew she was likely irritating Joker, but she couldn't be bothered to care. This was where she needed to be.
"Are you just going to stand there staring over my shoulder without saying anything, Commander?"
"Did you want me to talk? Sure, I can talk. How about we talk about your unnatural knack for interrupting at the worst possible time. Just how do you manage that, Joker?"
Joker swallowed hard. "Um, how about you just go back to staring silently, ma'am. I'm starting to miss that."
"Thought so," Shepard smirked.
After what seemed an eternity, Joker's screens flickered to life and the Normandy was his once more.
"Go go go! Let's get out of here, Joker. Now!"
"Yes ma'am!" was the enthusiastic reply.
"Set a course for the Mu Relay, Lieutenant. Let me know when we're 30 minutes out."
"Will do, Commander."
OoOoO
Shepard retired to her cabin for one final review of the Ilos planning. She had no knowledge of what she might find on the planet surface, despite Liara's best efforts to learn everything she could about Ilos. At the least, she knew she needed Liara on the ground with her, and probably Williams and her sniper rifle, too. She'd make the final call once they had eyes on the planet.
She sat back in her desk chair, rubbing at the back of her neck. She reached for her mug of coffee, frowning when she found it empty. Turning back to her data pad, she started her review again from the top.
A few moments later, her door hissed open, revealing Williams and a steaming cup of coffee.
"Not sure which I'm happier to see - you or the coffee," joked Shepard.
Williams set the mug down on the desk, moving behind the commander to massage her shoulders. "Smartass."
Shepard leaned her head back against Ashley, sighing in pleasure as her hands worked the knots away. Yet it didn't take long for Shepard's brows to furrow once more, and she turned her chair around to face the chief.
"Ash - I hope I haven't fucked up your career by having you on board a stolen warship. I should have let you stay on the Citadel instead of getting involved with this. I'm no better than a pirate right now."
Ashley sat in a nearby chair. "Are you kidding me? There's no place I'd rather be. The Council is doing nothing; you're the only one ballsy enough to do what needs doing. I'm honored to serve alongside you on this one, Commander. Some things are just more important than any one individual career." Ashley smiled. "Besides, you make a hell of a sexy pirate."
Shepard gave Ashley a half-grin. "I mean it, though. If there's any blowback on this one, I'll make sure your jacket stays clean. You've worked too damn hard to throw it all away on an insubordinate Spectre."
"Thank you, Shepard. I appreciate the concern. But the decision is mine, and I stand behind it."
"In that case, I'd like you on the ground with me. You're the best sniper I've got, and I have a feeling I'm going to need that."
"Of course, Shepard. I'll be ready."
Shepard nodded in acknowledgment. She sat quietly for a moment, eyes focused on the floor. She seemed to be turning something over in her head. Her expression was serious when she turned back to Ashley. "We haven't had much time to talk about. . . other things today. Um. . . I wasn't sure. . . About last night. . ."
Ashley found herself holding her breath. Has she changed her mind? Maybe it was too much to expect that someone like Shepard could love her. Shepard saw the alarm in Ashley's eyes, and quickly continued, "Oh fuck, I'm sorry. I'm screwing this up again." Leaning over to gently brush the hair back from Ashley's face, she said, "I just wanted to try to tell you that I've never felt this way before and last night was, um, great. And I hope that we can. . . When we're done with this maybe we. . . Goddammit! I wish just once I could let you know how I feel without making an ass out of myself."
Ashley exhaled, laughing softly. "I dunno - I kind of liked how you let me know last night. So many times and in so many positions."
Shepard smiled. "Yeah, that was. . ." She shook her head, dismissing the distraction. Such a pleasant distraction, though. No - focus. "What I'm trying to say is that I . . . I like what we. . . And I. . . Oh for fuck's sake. Ashley, I love you. And I want us to keep. . . being us."
Ashley stood, pulling Shepard up and into her arms and kissing her hard. "Good. I love you, too. And I like the sound of us."
Taking Shepard by the hand, Ashley moved towards the bed. "I think we've got some time before we hit the relay. Why don't you take that uniform off and let's see if we can practice those communication skills of yours."
OoOoO
Later, they lay comfortably in each other's arms, Shepard idly running a hand along Ashley's ribs. The moment was spoiled by Joker's voice over the comm. "Commander, we're thirty minutes out. And for the record, I have no idea if I'm interrupting anything."
"Thanks, Joker. You get to live another day. Could you give T'Soni a heads up? Shepard out."
Shepard pressed the length of her body against Ashley, eliciting a moan of pleasure from the marine. Squeezing Ashley's ass and stealing one last kiss, she rose from the bed. "Gonna rinse the sex off and head for the CIC. Meet me there?"
"Aye aye, Commander."
"Looking at my ass again?"
"Always, Skipper."
Shepard laughed. "I think you lay there and make me get up first on purpose. Next time I'm kicking you out so I can ogle your backside. See you in the CIC."
OoOoO
A tight Mako drop, innumerable geth, and a holographic Prothean VI later, Shepard and her small squad were following Saren through the Conduit, a one way relay back to the Citadel. In the Mako. They found themselves in the middle of utter chaos. Geth were everywhere; casualties were high; and Saren had taken control of all Citadel systems, including locking down all elevator transport.
The Citadel VI informed Shepard that Saren was headed for the Council Chambers to transfer control of the Station to Sovereign, so Shepard, Williams and T'Soni made their way there. With the elevators down, they had to traverse the exhaust plain of the Tower, battling wave after wave of geth along the way.
Williams could see that Shepard was exhausted. As was typical for Shepard, she'd taken on the bulk of the fighting, taxing both her biotics and her strength. Only this time, she'd been battling for longer than she'd ever had to before. Blood matted her hair above her right ear where she'd been hit by shrapnel on Ilos. A gash in the armor over her left hip indicated a wound that Shepard hadn't had time to treat. Ashley had never seen her commander so determined, so willing to push beyond her capabilities. She felt a rush of affection for her lover, and knew she had to protect Shepard as best she could. With renewed vigor, she pushed herself past her own normal limits, aggressively sighting and shooting as many geth as she could to clear the path for Shepard. At first she could see annoyance on Shepard's face as she was denied the kills she thought were rightfully hers, but the look soon softened as Shepard realized what Ashley was doing for her. Shepard turned back to Williams and mouthed a silent "Thank you" as she pressed onward.
Finally reaching the access panel to the Council Chambers, the three paused for a moment to regroup and reload. Ashley tried to get Shepard to sit still long enough to apply medi-gel to her hip, but Shepard waved her off. "No time, Chief. Saren is already in there." The team dropped through the hatch, taking up positions behind cover just inside the atrium. Several geth blocked their path, but were quickly dispatched. Shepard could see Saren at the control panel at the other side of the chamber, and ran up the stairs to confront him. Reaching the top, she was puzzled to find the console empty.
"Shit!" she yelled as Saren rose behind the terminal on his hover platform. Dodging a grenade, she took cover behind a planter. Ashley ducked behind another planter, but had no clear line of sight on Saren to provide covering fire for Shepard. She nearly panicked when Shepard declared her intention to get to the master terminal. I can't protect her from here. Williams rolled from her position into the open, bringing her rifle up, just as Shepard opened fire on Saren.
Between the three of them, they finally managed to drop the turian, sending him through the glass floor to the ground below. Shepard rushed to the terminal, regaining control of the Citadel systems. After calling Joker in to assist the Destiny Ascension, she leaned up against the terminal, wincing as her left hip made contact.
"Liara - make sure Saren is dead." Without hesitation, the asari jumped down and emptied her pistol into Saren's skull.
Williams grabbed a medi-gel pack and approached Shepard, making it clear that she would not take no for an answer this time. But before Williams could remove Shepard's armor over the wound, the air crackled with energy, filling the room with red lightning. The power of the bolts caused several explosions as Saren's corpse reanimated, only now it was a disturbing synthetic monstrosity. The force of the explosions had knocked the team to the ground, and clouded the air with dust and smoke. Shepard was slow to get up, but eventually regained her feet, weapon trained on the new incarnation of Saren. She faltered for just a moment as Sovereign's voice addressed her from the mouth of the former Spectre, but quickly recovered.
"Take that motherfucker down!" she instructed her squad, slamming the creature with her biotics.
A sustained firefight ensued. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as they threw everything they had at the synthetic Saren. This version jumped all around the chamber much like a geth hopper, making targeting difficult and causing the team to exert themselves further as they chased it about. Ready to drop from exhaustion, Ashley switched to her assault rifle, firing as many rounds as possible into the bastard. Liara fell to her knees, drained of all energy after extensive use of her biotics. With one final biotic effort, Shepard charged Saren, hitting him with her shotgun at zero range. The creature fell, energy igniting the remains.
Shepard stood, blood dripping from the reopened wound above her ear. Her shotgun fell from her hand as her arms fell to her side. She spotted Ashley several yards from her, but as she took a step towards her, she noticed a large section of the Reaper ship destroyed by the Normandy and Alliance forces flying towards the glass wall of the chamber. "Go go go!" she yelled at her companions, exhorting them to run for cover.
The last thing Ashley was was the debris crashing through the glass and landing in the middle of the room in a heap of twisted, smoldering metal, right where Shepard had been standing.
Pain. So much pain. Lungs searing with each breath. Williams opened her eyes, but could see nothing. What's wrong with my eyes? She tried to move, and was relieved that her arms and legs responded, albeit slowly. Bright light caused her eyes to involuntarily close, only to open again as she heard, "Here - I found someone here!" A soldier's head appeared through the hole cleared through the rubble piled around and over her, followed almost immediately by Captain Anderson. He extended a hand to Ashley, helping her through the opening. She saw Liara sitting nearby, clearly dazed.
"Where is Shepard? Where is the commander?" asked Anderson.
Ashley looked over to where she last saw Shepard, and saw only the destroyed section of Sovereign. She felt a chill settle in her chest, and her breath came in shallow gasps. She took a few faltering steps towards the wreckage, shaking off Anderson's supporting arm. No. No. No. No. Please god no.
But then a flash of red hair caught her eye above the debris. Ashley's heart skipped a beat as she saw a battered Shepard crest the top of the Reaper remains. Her gait was uneven and she was clearly favoring her left side, but she somehow still managed to pull off a cocky strut as she walked towards them, lopsided grin firmly in place.
Ashley ran to her, taking her carefully into her arms. "Goddammit, Sloane. I thought I'd lost you."
Shepard wrapped an arm around her, keeping her left arm carefully tucked against her body. "I'll always come back to you, Ashley. Always." Ashley kissed her, tasting blood and sweat but not caring.
"You'd better."
"Always," was the exhausted reply.
