Chapter Eight

For the past few days Doctor Chakwas had kept Ashlyn on nutrient paste so she would gain weight quicker. It was unfortunate for Ashlyn since the paste tasted like mud, so it was obvious that her first stop after graduating to normal food was Normandy's kitchen.

She dug around the cabinets, but found that everything was too confusing. Most items were in plain silver containers, with no direct label. Finally, she decided to just pick something and give it a try. She chose a small square container and began to lift the lid, when a voice stopped her.

"Are you planning on being sick all day?"

Ashlyn eyes met Tali's mask as she came from around the corner. "Um, no?" Ashlyn replied, slightly confused. "Why?"

"That's dextro food for quarians and turians. Humans usually have allergic reactions when they ingest it." Tali explained as she moved closer and looked at the box. "Good choice though. Quarian sugar cake."

"How do you know the difference? None of this stuff is marked."

Tali laughed. "You scan it with your omni-tool. It will tell you what it is, ingredients, nutritional facts and all that. Now that you've opened it, have a taste. See if your throat starts to close."

Ashlyn's brown furrowed. She wasn't sure if Tali was being serious, but a quarian sugar cake did sound good. Well, anything sounded good at that point. She lifted the lid and looked down at a spongy orange cake about the size of her palm. She broke off a small piece of corner and popped it in her mouth. A delicious sweet taste flooded her mouth. It was a little fruity and very light. When she swallowed, she didn't feel any different.

"It's good." She told Tali as she took another bite.

"No allergy?" The quarian said excitedly. "Lucky! I sniff human food and I break out into hives."

Ashlyn laughed and then popped another piece into her mouth.

Suddenly, both of their omni-tools pinged at the same time.

"It's a mission briefing." Tali pointed out as she brought hers to life.

Ashlyn followed suit, realized it was from Shepard and read it.

Attention all Normandy crew,

We are currently on a retrieval mission to the Caleston Rift. We will be heading to the planet Tamgauta in the Aysur system. Current atmosphere on Tamgauta is too unstable at the time for the Normandy to orbit. We will land in a clear zone and take the Kodiak to the location. I will be picking up an artifact and we will return it to the Citadel. Garrus and Tali will join me on this mission and I ask that they meet me for further briefing upon arrival, which will be within the next hour. The rest of the crew will stay aboard the ship. Don't let the engines get too cold. We won't be long.

Commander Shepard

"Looks like I've been recruited." Tali said, causing Ashlyn to look up. "Enjoy your cake, I've got to get ready."

"Bye Tali," Ashlyn replied with a smile, "thanks again and good luck."

As Tali walked out of the mess hall, Ashlyn's omni-tool pinged again. This time, it was a private message.

Shepard: Hey, just wanted to let you know my nose is fine and thanks to medigel there's hardly any bruising! Just teasing… Just wanted to you to just stay aboard the Normandy, this is a simple retrieval mission so don't run off and go dancing with any more turians.

Ashlyn wanted to laugh. She wanted to write some witty retort back, but she couldn't. She was genuinely worried. She never realized that Shepard and his chosen squadmates venture off into unknown worlds into unknown dangers to do these missions, but what should she have expected? Being on a ship dealing with war wasn't meant to be all roses and candy. Finally, Ashlyn sent back the only reply she could think of.

Ashlyn: Just be careful.

Shepard took sharp steps towards the main battery. He knew something was up when Garrus didn't show up for further mission briefing and now they were nearing the planet's atmosphere and he was still a no show. Shepard was expecting a damn good excuse.

When he approached the main batter door, he was surprised to see it was locked. He brought his omni-tool up to the door, overriding the lock. The doors slid open and for a brief second, Shepard saw Garrus hunched over his terminal, obviously absorbed in something, but at the sound of the doors opening, Garrus moved like a blur. He shut down the terminal in a blink and spun around.

"Sh-Shepard!" He blurted.

"Garrus," Shepard began, obviously now suspicious, "what are you doing?"

"Uh, I, um… calibrations…" Garrus rubbed the back of his neck. "You startled me is all."

"Why was the door locked?"

"I didn't want to be disturbed. I was getting real deep into my work." Garrus was mentally thanking the spirits that he could not blush.

"Is that why you didn't show up for mission briefing?"

Garrus suddenly looked surprised. "Mission! Right!" He moved to his weapons table and grabbed his rifle. "Let's go."

Shepard shook his head. "Take a minute to gather yourself, you do seem a little startled still. Meet us at the shuttle bay in five."

As Shepard left and the doors closed behind him, Garrus groaned. He was nearly caught watching turian and human courting vids and particularly, the explicit ones. Joker seemed to give him more of those than of the normal 'how to date a human' he was looking for. He shook it off though, he had to focus on the mission now.

As he left the main battery, his omni-tool pinged.

EDI: Just thought you should know, Ashlyn doesn't have a dextro allergy…

Garrus let out a sort of mix of a sigh and a growl. Though good to know, he hated that EDI knew everything and was a glutton for teasing. "Damnit…" he murmured to himself as he erased EDI's message and headed for the shuttle bay.

Ashlyn decided to hang out in her quarters after Shepard, Garrus and Tali left. The Normandy settled in her clear landing spot and waiting for her commander. The ship's crew went about their normal business. EDI had asked Ashlyn if she wanted to help scan the planet for natural resources, but Ashlyn decided to relax for a while instead. She sat on her bed, browsing the extranet and eventually dozed off. It felt as if her eyes had just closed when she heard a loud, piercing sound. Her eyes sprung open and her ears throbbed in response to a shrill alarm. She immediately jumped to her feet at the sound of EDI's ever calm voice joining the alarm over the loud speaker.

"Attention! The Normandy is under attack. Please assume battle positions. Automated defense systems are initiating."

Panic set in and Ashlyn's heart began to pound. Shepard, Garrus and Tali weren't back yet. She dreaded to think what could've been keeping them, but her thoughts were drawn to EDI's warning that sounded off again. She wasn't a part of the ship defense crew, so she realized she should've stayed in her quarters, but something told her she had to help. She ran towards the elevator and rode it down towards the shuttle bay. A sudden shockwave caused the Normandy's walls to shudder. The enemy was slamming them with some heavy weaponry.

Ashlyn made it to the armory station. Luckily for her, Cortez was with the Kodiak and Vega was probably defending the ship, so she had access to the weapons of her choice.

She liked the M-5 Phalanx that she had tried out with Garrus, so she grabbed one. Then she grabbed another, figuring she might need another just in case. She also picked up a sniper rifle, similar to Garrus's. There was a case filled with armor and helmets, which she knew she would need to breathe. She spotted one that would fit her and quickly put on each piece. She put it on as quick as she could, but it was like putting together a puzzle. Each piece had its own little latches and buttons. When she finally got the entire thing on correctly, she slipped the helmet over her head and the suit pressurized.

She found her way to one of the exit chambers and made her way out. She could feel the icy wind hit her suit like a ton of bricks as soon as the hatch opened. She couldn't remember the last time she had set foot on a real planet, if she ever had. The planet around her was barren and rocky. Giant blue-green formations reached up to the dark, starry sky. She couldn't let it distract her. She had to do what she came out to do.

She spotted Vega, Liara, EDI, Kaiden and a few others ducking for cover far away from her, near the Normandy's belly. There was no way they would even notice her. In the distance, about one hundred yards in front of her, Ashlyn saw the enemy. It was a group, probably mercenaries, ducking behind the rock formations as they attacked the Normandy. Ashlyn saw in the back there was a large vehicle with a huge gun on it. It was the heavy weapon. Luckily, she was closer to the back of the group, so she could flank them. And she had to take out that heavy gun. She ran up to a rock and laid the rifle out on it. The mercenaries weren't even aware of her presence. She put her eye to the scope. The crosshairs lined up to the person behind the gun. She hesitated. Was she able to kill someone? Did she have the strength to deal with being a killer? She thought about the damage they were doing to the Normandy, the people they were willing to kill. Her friends. She couldn't allow them to kill her friends, even if she had to take a life… or two. She steadied the rifle, ready to fire, and then realized the wind was particularly strong blowing to the west. She decided to aim slightly in the other direction. She held her breath and squeezed the trigger. The person on the gun was thrown back in a matter of moments, toppling off the gun like a ragdoll as the bullet violently struck them.

Ashlyn leapt up in exuberance, then quickly ducked back down as gunfire was now being directed at her. Shit! She thought as she pulled out her pistols. She took a moment to wait for an opening, then raised her pistols over her protective rock. She aimed with each one, fired and ducked back down. She hit two of them. There were probably about six more in her proximity. The other twenty or so would hopefully be taken out by the defense team.

Ashlyn rose and aimed again, taking out two more. Now the remaining four were continuously firing at her rock. She couldn't get an opening to take another shot. She also had to get to more cover before hers was blown to bits. She spotted another rock to her side a few feet away. It was a little farther back then her current one, but it would have to do.

Her heart was beating against her ribcage like a violent storm, but she gathered herself, held her breath and went for it. She tucked her head down and pushed off with her feet, rolling over the dirt, all while extending her right arm and firing aimlessly. When she made it to the other rock, she was pleased to find it was much thicker than her old one. It might last longer. She was also pleased that her random shooting scored her a dead merc. Only three more. She peeked to the side. The mercs were still firing at her old rock. Had they not even seen her move? She quickly stole a glance down the belly of the Normandy. The others were doing well and only had a few left themselves.

Luckily, Ashlyn had the perfect moment. The enemy was distracted and she had a clear shot, she could take them out all at once. She raised both of her pistols over the rock and waited for that one second when all three of them were out of cover. She waited as her eyes were locked on to her enemies. Suddenly, one of them spotted her. He grabbed the attention of the other two and that was it. He caused them all to die. As they all three aimed in her direction, she fired three perfect shots.

She smiled beneath her helmet, but realized there were a few stragglers trying for a last stand against the defense crew. With pistols in each hand, she bolted towards them. She was surprised to see that she was fast, very fast. She ran along the length of the Normandy as fast as her legs could go. When she knew she was in range for her weapons of choice, she aimed and fired without question. Along with the crew's assault, the final few were dead.

Suddenly, all of the crew's guns were on her. She held up her hands in surrender. It was Vega who recognized her from beneath the helmet's face.

"Pod girl?" He asked in utter confusion.

Ashlyn sat on the edge of her bed awaiting the worst confrontation of her life. Shepard wanted a briefing of what happened. She was sure he heard all the crew's stories, so she knew he'd be coming through her door knowing she disobeyed him. This might've been worse than punching him in the nose.

Her spine straightened as her doors hissed open. Shepard entered still decked out in his battle-scarred armor, looking very intimidating. The armor that encased his body was black as pitch trimmed with a dark grey. His armor seemed to make him three times larger and the scowl on his face made her feel three times smaller. She had to admit he was impressive fresh out of battle. It was like a new side to Shepard, the side that didn't take any shit, even from her.

He stood in silence for a moment, staring at her. Ashlyn couldn't keep her eyes from darting to him, to the floor and back again. Finally, he spoke a singular word.

"So?"

She met his hardened eyes. "So… I'm sorry?" She tried to smile at him. Hoping he'd be quick to forgive her like before.

He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I wanted to come in here and say 'are you trying to get yourself killed' and go on this whole rant about being safe, but I realized that it isn't necessary." He shifted his weight as she continued to stare into his grey gaze. "I don't think you could've gotten hurt even if you wanted to, but that doesn't make me worry any less. I want to thank you for your help with defending the ship. It wasn't your job, but you stepped up and did what you knew had to be done and it might've saved the Normandy." He moved closer, towering over her in that thick armor. She stood instinctively and realized when she did that she had become much closer to him. Shepard continued with softness now in his voice. "I know you're special, but you're even more special to me."

Shepard leaned in. Ashlyn's heart leapt into her throat and her breath hitched. Suddenly, a loud ringing brought them both out of their trance. "Damnit!" Shepard cursed as he backed away and lit up his omni-tool. "What is it?"

Ashlyn recognized Liara's voice. "Shepard, can we talk?"

Shepard sighed as he glanced at Ashlyn, then back at his omni-tool. "Sure, let me get out of my armor and I'll meet you in your office."

Ashlyn was expecting something, anything, before Shepard turned around and walked out of her quarters, but there was nothing. No goodbye, no words at all. The door shut behind him and Ashlyn fell back onto her bed letting out the breath she'd been holding for who knows how long.

Author's note: I apologize for the slow update... holidays make a person busy... but I hope you all enjoy!