Chapter 15

"Hey Ash, got a minute?"

"I guess, Skipper." Ashley turned reluctantly from her station but still snapped to attention. "What do you need?"

"At ease, Ashley." Shepard said, returning her salute with one of his own, then wincing as the motion put more stress on his chest. "Seriously, this is an off-the-record conversation. I just wanted to talk."

"Why, Commander? You made your feelings pretty clear in the briefing room." She said crossly as she started to turn back towards her rifle, which lay disassembled on one of the fold-down workspaces.

Shepard reached out and grabbed her shoulder, intending to spin her around. His touch, however, poked a hole in the veneer of indifference she had constructed. She responded with a spinning haymaker that threatened to break his jaw if it connected. In a flash, Shepard's instincts took over and he stepped in and parried her punch away. Ashley's own momentum carried her dangerously close to losing her feet, and Shepard took advantage of it to launch an instinctual counter. He snapped his right elbow to the side of her now-unprotected neck, and followed it with a hook to her solar plexus. Remembering, just before contact, to take a little of the speed off of the punch, he managed to only knock all of the air from her body with a loud "huff," instead of breaking a rib or displacing her diaphragm. Ashley fell to her hands and knees, and spent the next several seconds trying to suck air into her lungs. As quickly as it had started, it was over.

A part of Shepard's mind couldn't help but analyze the brief engagement. Shit. I must be hurting more than I thought. That first elbow took waaay too long to make contact. Against a real opponent, I woulda been fucked.

At the same time, Ashley was wondering how such a large man could move so fast. In the blink of an eye, Shepard had managed to reduce her to a quivering pile of meat in. Combat usually slows down for me. Hell, sometimes I swear I can even see the rounds flying past me. But he moved so fast! How did he do that? She finally caught her breath enough to look up at him, and saw him clutching his side and grimacing. Even though he had now thoroughly dressed her down both verbally and physically, her first instinct was the safety of her commanding officer. "Are you okay, Commander?"

Shepard chuckled, then winced again as he remembered that laughing hurt, a lot. "Sure am, Chief. How about you? I tried to take a little something off the swings, but sometimes it's hard. I didn't hurt you too bad, did I?"

"I'm alright, Commander." She responded, climbing slowly to her feet. "How did you do that?"

Shepard glanced quickly around the hangar. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Garrus and Wrex look back to their work with what looked suspiciously like smiles on their faces. Shaking his head, he answered her. "Lots of training, Ash. And what happened to you calling me Skipper?"

"Well, I just tried to punch you, sir. I figured at best I'd be getting dropped off at the Citadel when we dock, and at worst be getting sent to a disciplinary hearing."

Shepard waved his hand dismissively. "Pshaw. Like I have time to deal with administrative bullshit. First, if you want to, feel free to call me Skipper." He flashed her a genuine smile. "And second, tell me why you took a swing at me. Then we'll talk about our options."

"Ooookay, Skipper." Ashley practically stuttered, her racing mind trying to figure out where this conversation was going. "I was just a little upset, that's all."

"A little upset? Really?" A sardonic smile crept over Shepard's face. "I looked up your service history not long after Eden Prime, Ash. And looking at all the crap assignments you've gotten, and the number of times you've requested a transfer to a ship, I'd say that if anything, you woulda been a 'little upset' at the Alliance's treatment of you, not at the guy who gave you a chance to get into space."

"I guess you're right, Skipper." Ashley admitted, looking down at the ground. "Truth is, I was a little hurt by what you said in the comm room before Therum." Oh my God, I cannot believe I'm saying this to my commanding officer! Whom I just tried to punch out, and who is not immediately having me court-martialed!

"Look, Ash, I'm not gonna say I'm sorry for what I said, because I'm not. It was something you needed to hear. Regardless of whether you think we're the ideal team or not; the fact remains that we are a team. If we don't all work together, Saren wins. And I certainly don't want that. Do you?"

"Of course not, sir."

"Good. And I hate that 'sir' crap. I'm not one of those spit-and-polish, by-the-book kinda leaders, if you haven't noticed that by now. So call me Skipper, or Skip, or Shepard, or, if you absolutely have to have some formality, Commander. But none of that 'sir' bullshit unless you want me to get pissed off at you."

"Aye aye, Skipper. I certainly don't want to piss you off again."

Shepard smirked. "For some reason, I had a feeling you'd say that." This made Ashley crack a small smile, which made Shepard feel better. "Right. Now that we're done with that annoying bullshit, tell me a little about yourself, Ash."

The Commander's apparent caring made a feeling of acceptance course through Ashley. It also helped to drive away the still-present sting of attacking her commanding officer, and the pain of his counterpunch. "Well, Commander, I mean, Shepard, sorry, there's not much to tell. I've got three sisters, and no brothers. I'm the oldest. As far back as I've ever been told, my family's been Alliance."

"Got it in your blood, huh?" Shepard smiled. "Me too."

"Really?" Ashley was surprised. "Your mom or your dad?"

"Both. My dad was a marine, and my mum was navy. I never really had a chance to be anything but Alliance, did I?" He said with a sad smile.

"Guess not, Skipper." Ashley acknowledged, not really noticing the sorrowful part of Shepard's smile. "You have any siblings?"

"No." Shepard said, shaking his head, still a little sad. "What's it like, being the big sister?"

"It can be tough sometimes. But it's really nice to know that no matter what, I have someone to talk to about personal stuff. It's not really something I can do with other marines, you know?"

"No." Shepard said with a small chuckle. "But I think I can guess. Thanks for the talk, Ash. And remember, if you have problems, don't let them fester. Come find me and talk to me. Alright?"

"You got it, Skipper." She answered with a smile.

"See you later." Shepard said before leaving her to her weapons maintenance. He walked over to where Wrex was standing, apparently, not doing much of anything. "Wrex."

"Shepard."

"How're things?"

"Not bad. I enjoyed your little skirmish with the Gunnery Chief over there." He added with a crafty smile.

"You saw that, huh?" Sheppard asked unnecessarily. When Wrex nodded, he decided to continue. "You know how it is, right? Sometimes you just have to make sure everybody knows that you are not to be fucked with, even if it's your own people who need reminding."

"I understand perfectly, Shepard."

"Oh really? Sounds like a bit of a story there, Wrex." Shepard crossed his arms, intentionally mirroring the krogan. "Feel like sharing?"

"No."

"Well, if you don't, I'm gonna have to make up my own story. I'm quite good at that, actually. Probably stems from being such a fantastic liar." Shepard smiled evilly. "But I can practically guarantee that whatever story I make up is worse than the real one. I also have the unfortunate habit of telling stories while drinking. The veracity of the story rarely comes up in such a situation."

"Fine." Wrex uncrossed his arms and stood up straight, away from the wall that he had been leaning on. "When I was young, I fought my way to the head of a tribe. Unlike most krogan, I was smart enough to realize that fighting the rest of the galaxy while stricken with the genophage was a path to certain extinction. I convinced my tribe to focus on breeding, if only for one generation. I saw it as a way to boost our numbers, and help preserve the krogan for future centuries." Shepard stared raptly at Wrex, waiting for him to continue.

"After a time, several other tribes started to realize that what my tribe was doing was smart, and was establishing us as a power to be reckoned with. Some of them started imitating us, focusing on breeding instead of going to war. Unfortunately, not all of the tribes agreed. One of the most outspoken voices against my plan was a battlemaster who had survived the Rebellions, Jarrod. He wanted the krogan to re-arm and fight against the galaxy, against the wrongs that had been visited upon us. Eventually, the balance of power shifted so much that the tribes following my plan were nearly as numerous as those following his. To try to find some common ground, he invited us to a Crush." Shepard cocked an eyebrow. "A Crush is a meeting of all the tribal leaders, held on hallowed grounds."

"You knew it was a trap, right?" Shepard asked, unwilling to believe that Wrex, even a young Wrex, would have ignored the obvious signs of danger.

"Of course." Wrex scoffed, before his voice took on a somber tone that Shepard couldn't ever remember hearing from the krogan. "But when your father invites you to a Crush, well, there are some laws even we hold sacred."

"Jarrod was your father?"

"Yes." Wrex paused, and then continued. "I, and those leaders of the tribes loyal to me, went to the Crush. A Crush always takes place at the resting place of our dead, where violence is forbidden. For a brief while, everything seemed to be proceeding well enough. Both sides were actually talking, instead of just menacing each other." Wrex shook his head in anger. "Of course, it couldn't last. Once Jarrod realized that we wouldn't back down, he decided to desecrate the only 'holy' place, if you could call it that, known to krogan. At his signal, his men leapt up from among the bones and graves of fallen krogan, and set upon my tribe and its allies like vengeful ghosts. We were routed almost instantly."

"But you survived, obviously." Shepard pointed out. "What did you do?"

"I fled. I ran away, knowing that it was the only way I could live to see another day." Wrex's face contorted into a look of pure, unadulterated hatred. "But not before I sank my dagger deep into my father's chest, and watched the light leave his eyes."

Both men were silent for a few minutes after that. Finally, Shepard spoke. "That can't have been easy, Wrex. I'm sorry."

Wrex laughed, a deep, mirthless sound that rumbled out from somewhere far down in his chest. "Why, Shepard? I lived, and he died. That is the way of the krogan."

"But it doesn't have to be." Shepard shook his head, disagreeing with Wrex. "I think you were on the right track, Wrex. Maybe if your people didn't seem like such a threat to the galaxy, the turians and salarians wouldn't be so keen on keeping the genophage in place. Maybe they could come up with a cure."

Wrex chortled. "Ha. I doubt it. The turians and salarians are scared of us. Always have been, and always will be. Krogan fight because it's in our blood. We can't escape it. And the rest of the galaxy will always fear us because of it."

"Well, I don't." Shepard stated, with a little more conviction than he felt. "I mean, just look at you, Wrex. I'm not paying you for this job, but you're here hunting down Saren anyway. I think if more people got to know the krogan, they'd understand that the genophage was wrong."

That drew a snort from Wrex. "I think you're dreaming, Shepard."

"Well, then I'll keep doing it. But if you ever need someone to stand by your side and fight for the krogan, you know where to find me."

Wrex pondered that for a moment. Finally, he nodded. "I'll keep that in mind, Shepard." Then he crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall, signaling the end of the conversation.

Smiling to himself, Shepard turned and walked down the short ramp towards engineering, trying to shove down the happy feelings that he got from the prospect of seeing Tali again.

As he passed through the doors into engineering, the giant Tantalus drive core grabbed his attention. Hot damn. No matter how many times I come down here, the size of that thing just boggles my mind. I could sit here for hours and just watch that fucker spin. Especially if Tali was sitting next to me. Speak of the devil. He saw Tali working at a terminal, and started to move over to her, only to be intercepted by Engineer Adams.

"Commander."

"What do you need, Adams?" Shepard said, fighting to keep the irritation out of his voice. Damnit Adams, my body hurts and I'm tired as fuck and I have a lot of shit to do still. And I want to talk to Tali! Whatever you've got to say had better be real fuckin' quick.

"I wanted to talk to you about the quarian."

"Her name is Tali, Adams." Motherfucker. I thought Adams was the levelheaded member of my crew. Pressly and Williams have filled up my quota of xenophobic pains in the ass for this voyage. "You got a problem with her being here?" He practically growled.

"What?" Adams seemed momentarily taken aback. "No, nothing like that. I wanted to tell you how amazing it is to have her around here. She's brilliant! I wish half my people were half as smart as she is. Give her a month and she'll know more about our systems than I do."

Ah. Well. I guess it's a good think I didn't actually read him the riot act. "Glad to hear it. Is she fitting in well down here?"

"Well, sort of. Not everybody really feels comfortable interacting with her. Probably something to do with how they can't see her face. I've tried to help her along whenever I can."

"That's good." Shepard tried to fight down the sudden flare of jealousy Adam's words stirred up. "So you're sorta taking her under your wing?"

"Yeah, you could put it that way." Adams agreed. "Anyway, thanks for stopping and talking."

"No problem." Shepard answered, before making a beeline for the quarian engineer. "Hey Tali."