A/N: Welp. It's been how many years? And I've picked this back up. I'm sure the style will change a bit. Sorry folx. But I'm sure those who enjoyed this fic will still enjoy it going forward. And maybe we'll even get a few N00bs.

Anyways, sorry for the cliffhanger for years. Here's the Cerberus coup from Ashley's perspective.

Ashley

Ashley rolled out of the way. A moment later, a fist wreathed in blue energies filled the space she had just occupied. Thane turned and kicked, not letting her get the jump on him.

They were sparring in the courtyard of the hospital. Exercise was its own form of meditation for the two of them, and it was especially important for Ashley, as staying in shape was paramount to her survival. Thane found enjoyment in it for its own sake, even if he no longer needed to be in battle shape.

Ashley smiled and hopped backward, out of Thane's reach. He stayed back, allowing the distance.

Her approach to fighting had always been boxing, knocking opponents away and then following, unrelenting. It worked for her. Thane was clearly a dancer. He leaped and squatted, using his momentum and his knowledge of where to hit someone to his extreme advantage. The styles were entirely unalike, but that meant they had things to teach other, and a different style to practice against.

They were both suited well to their styles of fighting, Ashley's bulk and height making her immoveable and Thane's lean, wiry muscle allowing him to cover a lot of distance without tiring too much. Or, at least, it had when he had been healthy.

Now, though, Thane was sick, and the toll the sparring session was taking on him was clear in his difficulty breathing and the distance he put between himself and Ashley. Ashley did not follow him like she might normally do. Instead, she stayed back, letting him catch his breath while she caught her own.

They were evenly matched. If she'd fought him in his prime, she knew he would have been able to kill her quickly and efficiently. The thought might be unsettling except that she herself had a rather large body count behind her, as well. It was the reality of being a soldier who had lived through what she had. She didn't focus on it. It was better that way.

"You're slowing down, old man," Ashley said, pushing escaped wisps of hair behind her ears.

Thane just shook his head. "I am not accustomed," he said, pausing frequently to huff, "to this."

"Well, even slow, you're whooping my ass. I can only imagine how dead I'd be with you in your prime."

"Very dead," Thane agreed.

"Come on," Ashley said, reaching for her shirt and jacket, which she had shed for this exercise. "Let's go get something to eat."

Thane nodded, reaching for his own shirt, which he had also shed for the exercise. Ashley wondered if he was warm- or cold-blooded, if he shed his shirt for movement or because he would get too warm, but decided it might be rude to ask. She made a mental note to look it up later.

"I will invite Kolyat, if that is all right?" he said, pulling up his omnitool.

Ashley mirrored him. "Yeah. I'll invite Tim, too."

Only her omnitool wouldn't work. She raised Tim over and over, but got nothing. When she tried to access the extranet, she got nothing from more recent than fifteen minutes before.

"Thane?" she said, looking up.

"I am having the same problem," he said. "Something is wrong."

Ashley frowned. "Reapers?" She looked up for that telltale shape in the sky.

"I do not know. We should go, however."

An explosion sounded far above them. Ashley looked up to see smoke and flame bursting out of a hospital window.

"That is the hospital president's office," Thane said without hesitation. "We must go help."

"If the Citadel is under attack, I need to get to the Council," Ashley said. "I'm the only Spectre not out on assignment right now." As she spoke, a C-Sec squad car sped by overhead.

"All right. I will check the hospital, then head for C-Sec. I want to check on Kolyat, be with him if this gets worse."

Ashley nodded. "Keep Tim with you?"

"Yes."

She took off running. As soon as she could, she commandeered an auto-cab and had it take her directly to the Citadel Tower. She jumped out at the Presidium and sent the thing away, taking cover and checking out the terrain.

A battle had taken place. Bodies lay strewn, many C-Sec but also a few armored individuals. The armor was unmarked. Ashley's stomach fell. There was no telling who had attacked, but her gut told her it was Cerberus. The way these civilians had been shot point-blank in the head was just like Mars.

Ashley pulled her weapon and began the arduous process of sneaking into the building. She had to find a way to the Council and steer clear of these assholes, at least until she could get her hands on a shield unit. Guns blazing didn't work with no armor and no shields.

The door was locked.

"That's probably a good thing," Ashley said to herself. Then she entered an access code specific to Spectres, and the interface switched to green. She hit it and moved to the side of the door for cover in case she wouldn't like what she found inside.

Three pistols greeted her: the C-Sec officers assigned as guard for the human councilor when she herself was not standing guard.

"Stand down!" she called. "Spectre Williams here for Councilor Udina!"

"Commander!" Udina called.

Ashley peaked around the corner to see the firearms now pointed toward the ceiling. She entered the room.

"Have you talked to or seen the other councilors?"

He shook his head. "Not yet. We've holed up in here."

"I had to sneak around the soldiers. They haven't visited this wing yet. We should get moving."

They left the room, heading for the Councilor Tevos's office.

"Have you made contact with anyone?" Ashley asked.

"No," said Udina. "Communications appear to be down."

"Damn."

"What is it, Commander?"

"Nothing, si," Ashley said, shaking her head. "It's fine."

"Was there someone you needed to contact?"

Ashley checked the next corner, then waved the C-Sec guards forward. "My family," she said, meeting Udina's gaze for a moment. "They're home and probably have no idea what's going on."

Udina paused, brows knit in thought. "I have an idea." He ran ahead and spoke for a moment with the C-Sec guards. Then they were running, passing Ashley where Udina had left her and continuing back the way they had come.

"What's going on?" Ashley asked.

"I sent them to evacuate your family. You and I alone will have an easier time slipping past anyone, and they can get your family to C-Sec safely. That way, you can keep your head here, where it needs to be."

"I... thank you, Councilor," Ashley said. It was a relief. They would be safe. Not as safe as if Ashley had gone herself, but this way they could be safe and she could do her duty.

"You are welcome, Commander. Here," Udina said, holding his hand out. "The lead of my guards had a spare in their belt pouch."

It was a shield generator. Ashley took it, nodding her thanks before affixing it under the open flap of her jacket. Then she was leading Udina again, clearing corners as they worked their way to Tevos, the closest of the other Council embassies.

Ashley Williams had seen a lot of death in her career. She had lost her entire unit on Eden Prime three years before. She had seen colonists throw themselves in harm's way in order to protect the thorian on Feros once she'd joined Shepard's crew. She'd seen the bodies jettisoned into space when Sovereign attacked the Citadel, cutting its way through the armada protecting the galaxy's seat of government. She had watched several of her buddies on the SR-1 blown into space when the Collectors attacked their ship, including Miriam.

The bodies they passed, however, were more disturbing than any of it. These people were civilians, office workers just trying to go about their work amidst a galactic war. Accountants, engineers, sanitation staff, mechanics, and guests trying to resolve their diplomatic issues. Ashley saw no dead Cerberus, only dead civilians, and she desperately wanted to make it stop. She saw her fiancée in their faces, her mother and her sisters and Timothy. When she saw a little kid who'd been shot in the arms of his mother, she saw red the likes of which she hadn't known since the geth descended on the colony at Eden Prime.

She followed the path of destruction, however, because then the majority of soldiers were in front of them, hopefully unawares. Ashley was sure the soldiers were looking for the Councilors – it was the only thing that made sense – and it was far too large a force for Ashley to take on by herself.

She could hear someone far behind them, though, and it worried her. A scout force, sent to mop up any stragglers? All she could do was push forward, staying behind the main force but ahead of the cleanup crew.

"There," Sparatus said quietly when they cleared a three-way hall together. He pointed, and Ashley saw what they had failed to find so far: a dead soldier in the unmarked, grey armor. Ashley ran over, kneeling to search the corpse for any clue as to their origin.

The make of the armor was instantly familiar.

"Dammit," she said under her breath.

"What is it?" Sparatus asked, hovering over her. She'd found him and Tevos, but Valern had not been in his office.

Ashley frowned and reached for the visor controls. "I think it's-" The visor snapped open, revealing a horrifying mix of greying skin and mechanical components. "Fuck. It's Cerberus."

"How do you know?"

"This is what they do to their soldiers," she explained, standing and gesturing to the dead woman's grotesque face. "I saw it on Mars."

"What do they want?" Tevos asked.

"We'll be able to ask them ourselves if we don't hurry along," Udina said. Shots rang in the distance, originating some ways behind them. Ashley thought she could hear boots on metal.

"He's right. Let's go."

She led them on. Udina had said there was a shuttle waiting, meant solely for Council use in an emergency. The other two had confirmed it. Why it wasn't stationed closer to the embassies, Ashley didn't know. When this was all over, she'd have to have a discussion with someone about safety protocols. For the moment, though, all she could do was continue to clear corners and get the council to safety.

The lift sped upward. Ashley stood by the door, hand on her holstered weapon and eyes on her wards. She had tried every few minutes to get her communications back, but nothing worked. Every trick Samantha had ever shown her just... failed. The councilors, too, could not get anyone on comms. It was a nightmare, to be stuck in a marvel of technology with no working communications.

A thud sounded above, jarring the elevator.

Ashley's response was immediate. "Gunmen! Get down!" she shouted, shoving Tevos into Sparatus and pulling her pistol. She shot, hearing a body roll. She followed it with her weapon, shooting as she went.

The lift stopped. "Everybody out! Get to the shuttle!" She followed the councilors backward, her weapon trained on the open elevator doors. Once the councilors had a head start up the hallway, she turned and bolted after them, not bothering to see who was following them.

The shuttle was just up ahead, on a small, private landing bay. She could see the autoturrets that deterred any unauthorized person from trying to use the small dock, a common feature on private landing bays. They were smoking. Had they just been firing at someone? She could only assume the councilors had IFF tags for the guns. She hoped she did, as well.

The door of the shuttle was open. Sparatus and Tevos disappeared inside. Udina stood with one foot in the shuttle, urging her to get in before him.

"Go!" she yelled as she ran up. What the fuck was he doing being a gentleman? She was the one with the gun, protecting him. Expendable.

But as she got closer, it was clear something wasn't right. There were soldiers inside the shuttle. Their armor was white with black and yellow. Ashley's brain short-circuited.

"Get in the shuttle, Commander!" Udina shouted.

"Ash! Don't!"

The voice came from behind her. Ashley spun and narrowed her eyes. Shepard walked toward her in full battle armor, the familiar figures of Liara and Garrus flanking either side. All three weapons were trained on her.

"Miriam," she ground out.

She took a step forward. Shepard came to a halt. The shuttle took off – Ashley could hear it behind her – and Udina appeared at her side.

"Cerberus was in that shuttle," Udina said. "Shepard must have known. Drove us to it."

Ashley narrowed her eyes. "You're the one who told me about that shuttle."

"She was leading us to it. Just on our heels. Herding us." She felt him grab her arm. She jerked her elbow out of his grasp, barely holding back revulsion.

"Udina's behind this coup, Ashley," Liara said from Shepard's side. "Councilor Valern confirmed it."

Udina pulled up his omnitool, projecting something in front of Ashley. "I was just alerted to this security footage that calls that into question," he said. The projection in front of her showed Valern with his hands up, Shepard, Liara, and Garrus advancing on him.

"We don't have time for this, Ash!" Shepard shouted. It was the first time she had spoken since she appeared.

Ashley's eyes snapped from the projection to Shepard. Even though Shepard's helmet was opaque, she could feel the gaze of her once-best friend. She squeezed the handle of her gun. What should she do?

Should she make Miriam stand down? Or Udina?

Shepard lowered her weapon and pointed behind her. "Cerberus is behind that door. I was trying to get to you before them. They cornered Valern and stabbed Thane and now they're after the rest of the Council!"

Ashley's eyes widened and her heart sank down into her stomach. She lowered her weapon from Shepard's face.

"Thane?" she said, and she let the weapon point to the floor.

Shepard holstered her sidearm. "We're all trying to keep the Council safe, Ash. He gave his life for it."

Time seemed to stop for a moment. Everything seemed to click into place, and Ashley understood. She realized that her distrust, while understandable, was misplaced. She saw that Shepard had never faltered from doing what was right, never getting buried in politics, always keeping her sight on what had needed to be done and getting it done. Ashley might disapprove of having used Cerberus resources, but Shepard had accomplished the impossible many times over by doing so.

She also realized that Udina was most assuredly lying. How did he have that footage so quickly, and know what it was? Plus he'd been standing partway in the shuttle, beckoning her; he'd known who was inside. And he had been suggesting Shepard, a war hero and thorn in his side, was corrupt for months.

He had bought her with this Spectreship.

Ashley made her decision and turned.

To find a pistol not a foot away from her face.

"You will not ruin this!" Udina spat. She actually felt the spittle hit her face. Then he screamed and fell backward. His gun went off as he fell, and her shields flared and burnt out with the single shot. Ashley's shoulder stung, but she kept her gun on him, even as she saw blood spread around his head.

"Bastard focused on Ashley and forgot about the rest of us," Garrus murmured.

Ashley watched the life drain from Udina's eyes. "Bastard," she echoed, barely restraining herself from kicking him for good measure. She did not appreciate having her insecurities played against her the way he had done. She took it very personally.

A hand landed on Ashley's shoulder, and she looked up to see Miriam at her side. Without thinking, she reached around her friend and pulled her into a rough embrace.

"I'm sorry, Mir," she said, and found her voice rough with unwept tears.

Miriam was never one to tease someone for their feelings. Instead, she patted Ashley roughly on the back. "Had me worried there for a minute, Ash."

Ashley coughed and pushed herself back. "I had me worried, too. Never again. I got your back, Skipper. You get shit done. I wanna help. I wanna be at your side if you'll have me."

She could just see Miriam's grin through her shaded helmet. "You got it, LC. Come on. Let's go. We still have the Council to save."

Ashley's heart sank straight into her stomach. "Udina had my family."