A/N

Hey everyone, I know I'm uploading today's chapter a tad bit later in the day than I normally would. Typically, I like to upload around noon... but today things were just... crazy... enough said...

This chapter is a tad bit shorter compared to the ones before. When I say "short" I mean just above 2100 words, which seemed like an appropriate length. Things are definitely going to pick up next chapter, I just needed to finish setting up some characters before the action properly began.

The writing process for the next chapter is going to be... interesting. I have been swamped with university work as of late, which severely impedes my writing time... and a full-length battle chapter is going to be a bitch to write with my current schedule as it is. That's alright though... I work decently well under pressure...

I'm just rambling at this point... on with the story.

Chapter 9…

Ashley didn't understand how she knew that she was being watched… but she was being watched.

It was a very instinctive feeling, a prickly sensation at the base of her spine that screamed danger or watch out every time she took a step. The dark haired woman didn't bother turning around to find the person who was setting off her danger alarm, she already had a good idea of who it might be...

Which was why Ashley wanted to gain as much distance on this person as she could. Her personal room had quickly become her sanctuary… a bastion of solitude that gave her some level of privacy… and the dark haired woman wasn't happy with the possibility of all that being dismantled.

'Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale...'

Ashley moved her feet in rhythm to her breathing, trying to keep a very brisk pace.

Her room was in sight now! The sterile sliding door sat at the end of the hall; all Ashley needed to do was close the distance and hammer out the code on the keypad. The prickly feeling in her neck had lessened somewhat, indicating that she had perhaps put some distance between herself and her pursuer.

Ashley grunted a quick apology under her breath as she spun around a MRVN droid; she was careful to hop the shiny patch on the floor where the robot had been mopping.

So close now… just a few more feet…

Finally Ashley reached her destination. She quickly moved her right hand up to access the keypad next to the door, cursing under her breath when she fumbled her first attempt at typing in the passcode.

Ashley could hear the padding of feet down the corridor… the prickly feeling in her neck was beginning to make its presence known again….

"Five, nine, six, three, one," Ashley muttered as she typed out the numerical code. The door finally slid open with a hiss and the dark haired woman wasted no time jumping into the room. She threw her arm back the moment her feet made contact with the ground, her hand slapped against the control pad inside the room and the door closed with a hiss.

Ashley now stood alone in her room with her back pressed against the door, quietly inhaling and exhaling.

'Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…'

She was safe… but far from comfortable… not yet anyways…

The dark haired woman muttered under her breath as she left her spot at the door. She padded forwards quietly, crossing the distance between the door and her messy bed. Ashley bent down and rested her knees on the ground before twisting her torso to peer underneath the bed. She reached her arm underneath the bed and felt her bare fingers close around the cylindrical shape of a glass bottle.

Ashley pulled her arm back and looked at the bottle of low-shelf booze clenched in her hand, the amber liquid within glittered in the low light of the room.

Now it was time to get comfortable and enact her nightly ritual…

She could already hear them, a garbled chorus of voices fighting inside of her head. Three of them were voices that she knew very well, all the others were strangers that happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Hey Ishikara!? Why do they tell actors to break a leg? Because every show has a cast! Don't look at me like that… you're laughing on the inside…"

"Have you ever thought about what you're going to do after all this is over? I mean, the war isn't going to last forever… and IMC paychecks have always been fat. Me? I'm thinking about a private island on a sunny little moon somewhere..."

Ashley curled up on her bed and quickly uncorked her bottle of booze. A tiny little dribble of the amber substance escaped the neck of the bottle and splashed onto the grey covers below.

"Chin up, Ishiskara! I expect one-hundred and ten percent from you!"

"James sure does have a stick up his ass, eh? S'alright though… I'm happy just as long as I'm not the one giving orders."

Ashley tilted the bottle back and shoved the top between her lips. A long drizzle of sour tasting liquid splashed past her tongue and snaked down her throat.

This was the best part of the night… a time before the voices became accusatory…

"So… what are your thoughts on our current situation…?"

"Drinks after this? Not on me… of course, Colton can buy."

Ashley took another long swig of the booze… bad times were coming soon.

"What the hell is that Militia idiot doing! He's going to wipe out the planet!"

Ashley squeezed her eyes shut and took another drink.

"Ashley! Where are you going!? Wait!"

"Shut up," Ashley hissed under her breath, a dribble of alcohol escaping her lips and running down her chin. "Shut the fuck up, Caleb…"

"What the fuck did you to them! Good fucking God Ashley!"

"You never had the fucking balls, Colton," Ashley hissed under her breath again. "That's why I lived and you-"

The words died on her tongue as Ashley's vision began to swim a little. The strong alcohol seemed to be affecting her now, the bottle had almost been drained.

All Ashley had to do was curl up in the covers and wait for the voices to stop. Morning would come soon after and she would go about her day, doing her best to complete the mission to the best of her abilities.

Ashley's obsidian coloured eyes were almost completely closed when several sharp knocks pulled her back to reality.

Someone was knocking on the door…

The sharp knocks had a rapid effect on the dark haired woman, snapping her out of her trance and making her somewhat lucid again.

All she had to do was wait… the person at the door would take the hint and leave.

Several more sharp knocks sounded.

"Fuck off," Ashley hissed. She set her near empty bottle of booze on the ground and pushed herself deeper into the covers of her bed; she grabbed both ends of her pillow and curled the object around her ears to drown out the sound.

More knocks… a steady rhythm from a persistent stranger.

"Fine!" Ashley hissed, standing up from her bed and slamming her feet onto the ground. She felt a wet sensation on her pant leg and looked down to spot her bottle of booze, which she had accidentally knocked over.

Ashley quickly bent down to right the bottle, trying her best to save as much of the liquid as possible.

Another knock at the door…

"Coming!" Ashley half-muttered, righting herself and taking several large strides to close the distance between her bed and the door. Her vision was still swimming a little from the alcohol, but not enough to badly impede her balance.

The dark haired woman reached the door and let out a long sigh, resting her hand against the control pad and hitting the button that would open the door.

The metal panel slid to the side, revealing the person Ashley suspected was following her.

"Hello, Ish," Cozbi spoke quietly, a delicate smile resting on her equally delicate face. "Bad time?"

"You think?" Ashley hissed, her dark eyes narrowing. "I was trying to sleep..."

"It's not that late," Cozbi shrugged, as if Ashley's annoyance was a minor inconvenience. "And it seems you're still in uniform…"

Ashley frowned.

"I won't judge your habits," Cozbi muttered, leaning forwards to sniff the air. "Brandy?"

"I don't know," Ashley weakly admitted, resting her head against her forearm and leaning on the open door frame. "Bottle didn't come with a label…"

Cozbi slowly nodded, her dark brown eyes flitting up and down to scan Ashley's form. "Could I come in?"

"No."

For a moment there was total silence.

"I have a proposition," Cozbi tilted her head, her mouth drawn into a thin line. "If you would be willing to hear it?"

"I'm not…"

"Then how about I make you an offer and you can reply with yes or no…?"

Ashley's right eye twitched. "Make it a quick offer… you'll know that you've taken too long if I close the door…"

"Fine," Cozbi tittered, which highlighted her faint accent. "Here goes… would you like to share a bed?"

Ashley blinked and felt some blood drain from her face. "What?"

"Just a little ritual I have before big missions," Cozbi smiled faintly and tilted her head in the other direction, her wavy hair lilting in the breeze she created. "I find it helps ease my nerves… plus its fun…"

"I-" Ashley choked out, tearing her gaze away from Cozbi's face. "I didn't expect you to ask me something like that…"

Cozbi chuckled a little. "We did just meet… most of the pilots around here already know my habits… I can't blame you for feeling flustered."

"You do this a lot?"

"What's the big deal? It's fun… we can both unwind a little," Cozbi tilted her head back in the other direction. "Out of everyone in the bar tonight you seemed the most skittish… when's the last time you've gotten any?"

"I- I can't remember," Ashley stuttered. "It's been a long time…"

"All the more reason to take my offer," Cozbi poked her tongue out a little to lick her delicate lips. "It's a yes or no, remember? There are always other options for me, of course…"

Ashley genuinely didn't know how to answer the other woman's question…

On one hand it had been a very long time… a long, long time since Ashley had been with another person before. The dark haired woman honestly couldn't remember the last time she had properly had sex… or who she had done it with.

"I thought you said you wanted a quick offer?" Cozbi laughed gently, breaking Ashley out of her thoughts again. "But it seems as if you're the one taking up all the time… is it a yes or a no?"

"I don't-" Ashley sucked in a long breath. "I don't even know you…"

"That's what makes this such a wonderful thing," Cozbi replied, leaning on her side of the doorframe. "No emotions… no strings attached… just some fun before a mission where there is a high chance either of us could die. I'm not asking you to take me on a date… I just want to unwind a little."

"I still don't know…"

"Yes or no, Ish," Cozbi teased. "Your call…"

Ashley weighed her options.

On one hand… she would need to crack open a fresh bottle of alcohol if she wanted to get to sleep. On the other hand, since she had begun talking with Cozbi the voices had fallen silent…

Completely silent… the voices were neither jesting with her nor being accusatory… for the first time in a while they were silent.

Ashley had to keep them silent… and with that she made up her mind…

"Yes," Ashley muttered, moving to the side and holding out her arm as a gesture for Cozbi to enter.

"Don't sound too excited," the delicate looking woman chuckled, accepting Ashley's offer and entering the room. "Close the door…"

Ashley manipulated the door panel and watched as the door slid shut, granting her and Cozbi some privacy. Ashley spun around to find the room's other occupant scanning her gaze around the small space.

"It's a little sparse," Cozbi commented. "No decoration?"

Ashley shrugged and joined her in the center of the room. "It's just a bed and a bathroom… all I really need…"

"Do you have a liquor cabinet I can't see?" Cozbi joked, gesturing with her hand at the nearly empty bottle of booze resting next to Ashley's bunk.

"Just a nightcap…"

Cozbi walked over to the bottle and picked it up, pressing her nose into the neck and taking a quick whiff. "More like a night-hammer…"

"I thought you said that you didn't judge-"

Cozbi silenced Ashley by placing the neck of the bottle to her lips and tilting back her head. The muscles in her neck gently contorted as she drained the rest of the bottle's contents. Once finished, Cozbi lowered the empty battle and let out a long sigh.

"I was saving that," Ashley frowned, her pace quickening when Cozbi set the bottle down onto the ground and turned to face Ashley.

"I think you've had enough for the night," Cozbi muttered in a low tone, walking forwards and stopping a foot from Ashley. "Ready to go?"

"Don't make this sound like a training exercise…"

Cozbi said nothing, leveling Ashley a small smirk as she bent down a little bit. She placed her hand on Ashley's chin and tilted the dark haired woman's head upwards so that their lips were at an appropriate angle. The delicate looking woman quickly closed the distance, pressing her soft lips against Ashley's for a long kiss.

After what felt like a minute Cozbi pulled away, a thoughtful look on her face. "Not bad…"

Ashley swallowed when Cozbi removed her hand. Said hand drifted upwards to the collar mounted zipper of Cozbi's jumpsuit; with a quick tug that zipper was slowly pulled down…

'Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale…'