Ashley

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death.

Ashley didn't even purposefully think of it, but it came to mind as they exited atmo. Given everything she'd just seen… it seemed apt, if nothing else. A prayer for those who lived, and for those who died. It was also the second half of the Hail Mary, and they could certainly use a fucking Hail Mary save at this moment.

"What the hell's goin' on? Where's Anderson? Where are we goin'?"

Ashley looked up from the door to the lift. She'd just been about to go back up to the CIC and check on Sam, now that they had Shepard, but Vega's query stopped her. He was indignant. And Shepard wasn't answering him.

Finally, Vega impatience won and he shouted, "Hey!"

Shepard looked back and said simply, "We're leaving."

"Leaving?!"

"What's going on, ma'am?" Ashley said, leaving the lift and walking over to look over the commander's shoulder. She may have issues with Shepard, but Anderson had reinstated the woman before her very eyes. This was now her CO again, and they were in the middle of the invasion of the Reapers. She wasn't gonna split hairs, not now, not when it came to her job. She'd follow orders. At least until mutiny seems like a better option…

"Anderson wants us to go to the Citadel, Ash," Shepard explained, pulling up a holographic screen on the console in front of her. "We need to get help for the fight."

"Bullshit!" Vega countered, getting Shepard's attention. Ashley almost reflexively reached out to stop him, then thought better of it. Let him learn what a Shepard tongue-lashing was like on his own. "He wouldn't order us to leave!"

"I was there, Lieutenant. I know what he said. And he's right. We don't have a choice." Shepard sounded… tired. Resigned. Frustrated? Ashley wasn't sure what she heard in the woman's voice. "Without help, this war's already over."

"Forget it," Vega said, his eyes hard and his voice harder. "Drop me off someplace, 'cuz I-"

That did it. The Wrath of Shepard awakened, if only briefly. "Enough!" Shepard shouted, grabbing his shoulder and shoving him hard, walking with him until his back was pressed firmly against the wall. "Don't you think I'd rather stay and fight, too?" They were quiet for a minute, holding each other's gazes. Finally, she let go of him, flapping her hand as if to get him out of her face. "We're going to the Citadel. You want out? You can catch a damn ride back from there. Good luck."

With a similar gesture, Vega shook his head and stomped off, not even catching Ashley's gaze as he headed to his precious weapon's bench. Ashley couldn't blame him. She used to be a gunnery chief. She knew the comfort that was fieldstripping and cleaning weapons, modding them, and putting them back together for each member of the ground crew. There was something meditative about it.

{Ashley.}

Sam? Right, she can hack directly into my omnitool. Good to know she's not on the channel with everyone else. "What's up, babe?" Ashley asked aloud, though softly, turning around to keep the conversation as private as possible.

{I've got a message for Shepard. I think her earbud is damaged, and she has no omnitool, so I can't contact her directly. You should get her a new one and an omnitool as soon as possible.}

"Got it. You said you had a message?"

{Yes. Joker should have patched it through down there already.}

"Gotcha. Thanks. And… baby?"

{Hmm?}

"I'm really glad you're okay. And… I'm just… Mom, my sisters..."

{I know. But hope isn't lost. You're here, Shepard's here. We'll get them back.}

Ashley smiled. "You bet your ass we will, Sam. I'll come by soon. Shepard's waving me over."

{All right. I… I love you, Ashley.}

Ashley smiled. "I love you, too, Sammy. And just as soon as we can, I am gonna marry the crap outta you."

Closing her omnitool on Sam's nervous yet giddy giggle, she went over next to Shepard.

"Who was that?" Shepard asked, her expression showing her intense curiosity… and the beginning of some serious ribbing, if Ashley knew her at all.

Ashley just shook her head. Now wasn't the time to catch up, and she wasn't ready to take up their friendship without some serious talking. "I'll tell you later. What's this communication?"

Shepard's features immediately schooled. "Liara's on Mars. We have to go get her. She's found some weapon or something in the Prothean archives. We need her and that intel before we completely lose the system to the Reapers."

Ashley blinked a moment, then laid a hand on Shepard's shoulder. She could see the worry in the lines around the woman's eyes. "We'll get her, Miriam," she said softly. She felt betrayed, yes, but Ashley was anything but heartless. Shepard may have done it through Cerberus, but she'd still pulled off a miracle defeating the Collectors. Ashley just really wished Shepard had done it with the Alliance. She would have dropped everything to transfer into Miriam's service for that suicide mission if the commander hadn't been taking Cerberus's blood money to do it. Ashley's feelings were just… so fucking jumbled, confused. But she still cared about the commander, and she knew how Miriam felt about Liara – similarly to how Ashley felt for Sam.

And now they had to rescue the asari before the Reapers got there. Ashley would be out of her mind with worry. Thank God her fiancée was on this ship with her. This ship was probably the safest place in the whole goddamn galaxy.

Shepard nodded, her expression showing her gratitude for Ashley's understanding of all the nuances going on. "Grab your gear!" she yelled over to Vega. "We're on the shuttle in five."

"Do you have gear, Shepard?" Ashley asked, already unzipping her jacket as they headed over to the lockers.

Shepard shook her head. "Not the usual. But you have an extra, yeah? I'm not that much shorter than you. A few adjustments and I'm good."

Ash frowned as she stripped down to her underwear and immediately put her hair into its bun. Goodbye, days of getting to walk through the halls with my hair down. Non-deployment had its benefits. "My armor is way heavier than yours, Miriam."

Shepard shrugged. "It's what's available. I'll manage. Just won't be able to do any acrobatics," she finished with a slight smile.

Ashley chuckled as she pulled on her compression suit. In addition to slowing the progress of fast-moving objects like bullets or blades, it was designed to keep her body under the right kind of pressure without a gas suit. The only part of the armor with air was the helmet. Far safer for combat situations, even if it was more costly with all the custom fit required.

Looking at her ring, so pretty on her finger, fitting so nicely, the lieutenant-commander sighed, slipping it off. She put it in her locker next to her father's rosary that she kept near her arms and armor as a sort of good luck charm. But the thing glinted in the lights of the shuttle bay, forcing Ashley to reconsider. Staring at it a moment, she finally grabbed it, took off her dog tags, and slipped the ring on the chain. Re-affixing it around her neck, she continued with her armor, this promise from – and to – Sam now lying next to her heart.

As she pulled on the thin mesh under-armor, she studied Shepard. The commander was already in her mesh, now working on adjusting the armor pads that she would attach over it. It seemed Shepard did not notice Ashley's hesitation over a simple piece of jewelry. Good. It still just wasn't time to catch up, to tell her friend about her engagement.

Ashley wasn't sure she was ready to be Shepard's friend just yet, anyway. Clearly the higher-ups had decided Shepard hadn't committed so heinous a crime. But this was about more than duty to Ashley. It had been a personal affront to the LC, and she wasn't ready to just drop it yet. Not without talking it out. A lot.

Snapping her armor plating into place, she reached for her weapons pack. Checking the weapons briefly, she slid it into place over her air filter and oxygen supply before grabbing her helmet and snapping it into place. She checked the seals, brought up her heads-up display, and secured her omnitool for battle. Who knew what they'd run into down there? But at least there was hardly any atmosphere on the planet. Could Reaper forces fight if they couldn't breathe? What did they breathe? Were they even technically alive?

It was unimportant. All that mattered was that Ashley could breathe. And she could. Bonking Shepard and Vega over the head as she passed – a good-luck ritual she'd taken from football players of old – she was in the shuttle and ready to go. Beating them both.

{We're ready to drop you, Shepard,} came Joker's voice over her radio.

"Got it, Joker. We'll be up and out in just a minute here," Shepard responded, her helmeted her pointing toward the omnitool she was adjusting on her wrist. Stepping into the shuttle behind Vega, she shut the door behind her.

A sinking feeling settled in Ashley's stomach. Why did she feel the door was somehow sealing her fate? She wished she could've held Sam a little longer before duty had called.

But this was how it had to be. They had to get whatever edge they could against the Reapers. And they had to get Blue off that rock. Ashley didn't ever want to leave a friend behind again.