-Not really feeling this chapter myself. I like the idea I had behind it, but there is just something about it…Maybe because it is short. I am sorry for that too. I am working on several chapters right now all at once.-

Twist

Operations Chief Ashley Williams finally woke up in her bed. It took a few moments for her eyes and body to get readjusted to being awake but she was finally able to do so. She must have drank a little more than she had intended to the night before. Her hang over was still looming and she could not remember how she got home. Ashley pulled herself up a bit and looked down at her half naked body.

"Oh shit," she thought to herself. She had made coming home drunk with someone a bit of a habit in the last couple of years. The only time she was able to try and keep herself weaned off of men and booze was during her stint on Horizon. Even then it was hard to resist some of the drinks they had there. But now that she was back on the Citadel and in her apartment, she was able to let herself go a little bit. She peeked over at the man in her bed with her, praying that she didn't make some mistake. Ashley got a look at his face and breathed a small sigh of relief. At least he was cute.

The little voice in the back of her head kept telling her that she needed to do something about her random drunken escapades, but every time she tried to talk herself out of it, she was able to justify why she did it. The number one reason she thought of was she liked sex. And what adult in their right mind wouldn't like it. Secondly, and the one reason that she did not like to use was Shepard. She was no longer angry with him for not trying to contact her after he came back from the dead. Hell, she didn't even hurt anymore from him working with Cerberus. It finally took her over two years but she was okay with not loving him anymore. She had moved on and changed after she saw the Normandy light up the black of space and become engulfed in a raging tornado of fire and metal.

After she sent him the message about apologizing for how she acted on Horizon, she expected no reply from him. She wasn't even surprised to had not received one. She was very harsh to him but at the time, that is how she felt towards him. She was angry at him for not even trying to contact her once Cerberus had given him another chance. But her duty surpassed any feelings of anger or malice that she may have towards him.

Shaking her head, she got out of the bed and began to get partially dressed. Ash put on her undergarments and one of her t-shirts that was left on the floor. It smelled clean, so why not put it on. Her bedmate still had yet to stir at all. Ash smiled. She liked to think that she put on a hell of a show and maybe she just wore him out. She turned from him and sat down in the chair in front of her personal terminal. She brought one leg up and held it to her chest, and left the other one dangling down.

Ashley checked the time on the console. It was very early in the morning. That meant that either she was having trouble sleeping, or she was feeling a little guilty about brining home another man. Regardless of the reason, she was now up. She checked her private messages and only one stood out to her, the one that was from Councilor David Anderson. She had taken a leave of absence from the Alliance after the Horizon ordeal, and Anderson knew that. He knew how was doing right now and that she did not want to be bothered by the things of the Alliance right now. This was her way of trying to get away from everything for awhile.

Deleting the message was an option. Most of the messages that she had received from Anderson were inquires about Shepard and how she had been doing in regards to his death. Those were a couple of years ago though. Then he began to message her about something that he wanted her to do on the planet Horizon. Now that Horizon was done and Shepard was behind her, what the hell could he want? She felt a warm pair of hands come up behind her and begin to rub her shoulders. Every muscle in her shoulders and upper arms began to loosen up, giving her a great sense of relief. She got lost in the shoulder massage, and became oblivious to everything else around as long as it went on.

"Why are you awake?" the man asked. He leaned down and kisses her neck some.

"I didn't mean to wake up," Ashley said. She closed her eyes, enjoying the attention that she was receiving. "I am sorry if I woke you up Riley." Riley was also a member of the Human Systems Alliance. Captain Riley Richardson. A handsome man of 37, who looked and was built like he was in his mid 20s. His time with the Alliance allowed him to keep in top physical shape, and that was something that Ash appreciated about him last night.

The two had met at one of the new bars in the Wards a little over 12 hours ago. Ashley had noticed him from across the bar but naturally wanted him to be the one to make the first move. She had almost given up on him but before she left the bar, that is when he made his move. It was not his looks or the cheesy pick up line that he failed at executing that caught her attention, but his flair and sense of maturity that she liked. He was a gentlemen from the onset, and even opened all of her doors for her. Chivalry was far from dead in Riley's mind, judging by the way he went about treating her. There was something very genuine and sincere about him. It was unfortunate that she liked him. He may not be around long if she kept up her very frivolous lifestyle.

Riley caught a glimpse of her terminal screen and saw the message from the councilor. "Is Councilor Anderson a close friend of yours?"

"You could say that," she said. The question caught her off guard a bit. "I worked with him once during the Eden Prime War."

"So you fought during the war?" he asked, taking a break from nibbling on her neck.

"I did," Ashley said. She turned the monitor off and looked back at Riley. "But that was a long time ago. I have tried to distance myself from the Alliance for now." She realized the irony of what she had just said. She wanted to distance herself from the Alliance, and yet here she was sleeping with a Captain. Luckily for her, he did not make that same connection.

"Why? The Alliance is always in need for someone with your…raw talent," he said, placing his hand on the upper part of her thigh.

"I had no idea how good someone was in the bedroom was taken into account when they were being evaluated for missions," Ashley said back playfully.

"Well I like to take it into consideration," Riley said to her. A few moments later of playful and flirty banter and the two were back in Ashley's bed. Their loving making was fast and intense, and it was not last long before they were both back asleep.

Morning finally rolled around. Ashley was back at her computer terminal, having left Riley in the bed once more. She must have been that damn good to have knocked him out for a second time. Ash looked back at the messages and finally opened up the one from Councilor Anderson. The title was 'No Subject'. That was something that she had brown accustomed to when it came to Anderson's messages.

Operations Chief Ashley Williams,

It has been a long time since the two of us have last spoke. I apologize if this causes some sort of inconvenience for you, but I may need your help with something. I would rather have a meeting with you instead of sending messages back and forth across what could be an unsecured line.

Anderson

Ashley folded her arms underneath her breasts, sighed, and tried to think about what it was that the Councilor was wanting from her. The worst case scenario was this had something to do with Shepard. Even if she was over any and all of the feelings that she had for him, she still did not want things to be awkward…for anyone. Mainly herself. Then again it could be a mission that resembled Horizon. She may need to be stationed on some planet that the Alliance was trying to improve relations with. Maybe it was some top secret mission that Anderson could only discuss with her.

Whatever reason he had for messaging her, she knew that it must be urgent if he was willing to go across an unsecured channel to contact her. She sent out no reply other than an inquiry about when and where the Councilor would want to meet at. Chances were he wanted to meet in his office or somewhere on the Presidium.

Williams stood and walked back into her bedroom and looked out at the captain sleeping on her bed. Maybe the Alliance was where she needed to be. If not there, then where? She did not want to continue on with this self-destructive behavior, no matter how great the sex was. She wanted to get back out there amongst the elite that the universe had to offer. The thrill was begging her to come back, and she had been swift to ignore it, until now. Now she was curious to see what it was that Councilor Anderson was offering her.

Recovery

Shepard woke with minimal pain in his sides. His eyes were still trying to get readjusted to being in the light after having been closed for so long. "How long was I out for?" Shepard thought to himself. Miranda was sitting in a chair next to him. In this light she looked angelic, a great picture of the perfect woman that he thought her to be. Her hair looked a little messy, probably from not having been washed for a day or two. That made Shepard wonder if he was out for that long or longer. Joker was nowhere to be seen, but then again it was hard to keep him out of the cockpit for long. Shepard smiled when he thought of Joker referring to the cockpit as his throne. In truth it was. Joker ran everything and knew everything about the cockpit and the front of the ship and made sure that it was done in his way and his time. That made Joker one of the best that this ship had to offer.

The Commander moved around a bit, and that is when the pain began to kick in. He let out a low grunt as he was able to sit up on the edge of the bed. He looked up to see Miranda stirring in the chair next to him. She jumped out of the bed and went to his side.

"Christian lay back down," Miranda said, trying to care for him. "You need to be getting all of the rest you can right now. Your injuries were a little more than some bruising."

"What all is wrong with me?" Shepard asked. He kept sitting on the side of the bed, trying not to bend his body forward. Miranda put her hands on his shoulder and forcefully laid him back down on the bed.

"I said you need to rest Commander," she said, running her hand through his hair. "I need you back to full health soon." She winked and leaned in, kissing his forehead gently. "You had a severe concussion, two broken ribs, one cracked rib, internal bruising, a little internal bleeding and a separated shoulder. We have been able to fix what was fixable at this time, but you are going to require a good amount of rest to be back to your full strength."

"What about Joker?" Shepard asked.

"Joker is going to be okay as well," Miranda said with a smile. He had to do reconstructive surgery on his right arm but I should be fully functional in a few weeks." She checked one of the monitors and had her back to Shepard.

"There is something you are not telling me Miranda. What it is?" Shepard asked, propping himself up on his elbow. She stopped and turned her head to the side a little bit. He could tell that she wanted be to speak but she was trying to find the right words.

"Ken didn't make it Shepard," Miranda said. She finally turned around to face him. The Anahaus shot him square in the chest. Joker thought he felt a pulse and we rushed him back in here to try and save him. Mordin, Corson, and Dr. Chakwas all worked on him but they were unable to stop the inevitable. I am sorry Shepard." Christian shook his head and laid back down on the bed, swearing at himself. If he had been just a little quicker Ken may still be alive. If they had spent just five minutes less in that damn facility then they would have gotten off that world and Ken would not have had to try and save Joker.

"Damn it," Shepard said. Miranda knew that he was hard on himself when there was something he felt he could have prevented. He shook his head and brought one of his hands up to his head, rubbing his brow.

"There is nothing you could have done Christian," Miranda said. "From what Joker told me, he went out for a walk to check the hull of the ship. That is when the Anahaus arrived. Joker said that the Anahaus simply looking him over. EDI warned the crew that there was something unknown outside, so Ken went outside to check it out. Joker tried to keep him away but Ken kept trying to help him. Joker said that Ken's mistake was shooting the Anahaus. That is when the Anahaus shot him once in the chest." Shepard shook his head, closed his eyes, and let out a big sigh.

"Did you tell Gabby?" Shepard asked.

"We told her after we tried to revive him," Miranda said. "She took it pretty rough, but she has been coping well. You may not find this surprising, but she has been spending most of her time down in engineering with Tali."

"How long was I out again?" Shepard asked.

"A little over a day," Miranda said. "The Anahaus gave you a pretty good beating. Like I said earlier, you had a severe concussion and two broken ribs. Not to mention the internal damage that was caused."

"Did everyone else make it back onto the ship?" Shepard asked.

"We got everyone else on board, including Dr. Corson," Miranda said. He has been spending a lot of time with Mordin, going over data that the two of them had collected over the years. It is quite interesting to watch them interact with each other." She smiled and ran her hand through his hair. "Right now, I need you to get some rest."

"I would like to, but I can't," Shepard said. "I have a lot on my mind right now."

"Everything is being taken care of right now Shepard. Kelly and Dr. Chakwas have run a full psych and physical evaluation on Dr. Corson. Joker is back up in the cockpit, and everyone else is doing their daily routines. So please, just lay here and relax. We are able to handle things around the ship without you, surprisingly." She ended the sentence with a smile and kissed his forehead once more. He laid back on the table and closed his eyes, getting lost in the narcotics and pain killers that were being pumped into his body.

Miranda smiled and left the infirmary. The Alliance would want them to give a detailed report concerning their trip to Calypso, but it could wait until Shepard was back near 100%. Until then she would try and oversee has much as she could. Most parts of the ship already had someone looking over it. Tali oversaw much of what went on in engineering, Garrus looked over things that concerned the ships weapons, and Mordin was the head of the science and tech lab. Those three took up those posts without even having to be asked by Shepard. Tali and Garrus did it out of their history with Shepard and the Eden Prime War.

Garrus' loyalty to Shepard was the most surprising to her. It was no secret that many Turians hated mankind. It was a hatred that spanned back to the First Contact War. Garrus was part of the 'new school' of Turians that did not hate or love humanity, he simply embraced it as a part of the galactic community. Garrus and Shepard had a very different relationship from what she had seen between most humans and Turians. There was more than a respect between the two, there was also a friendship and a loyalty that could not be denied. All of the crew was loyal to Shepard, including herself, but there was a different bond when it came to him and Garrus.

The Citadel was to be there next destination. They needed to report their findings directly to Councilor Anderson. That was something that he had requested of them before they left a couple of days ago. Something in the back of Miranda's mind told her that they were not done dealing with the Anahaus. The Normandy and her crew had landed on their planet, rescued one of their prisoners, and left a handful of their guards dead. Not to mention the orange armored Anahaus. Maybe Dr. Corson could provide them with some more information about the Anahaus…just in case.