The crew of the Normandy had been let loose on the Citadel. Some had rushed off to visit family, others had gone to taste the liquor of Flux, while others headed to Chora's Den to see the latest entertainment. Ashley Williams and Zalora Shepard had found a place to stay, ditched their things, and soon found themselves heading towards Flux. Despite the fact they were both military, they looked nothing like it at this moment in time.

Ash was barely recognisable. She wore pale jeans with rips in the knees, tucked deep into her knee high black flat heel boots, a tight black tank shirt and a short black jacket over the top. More than a few whistles were aimed her way as she walked.

But it was nothing compared to the Commander. Ash was a tomboy, pure and simple, and the Commander was as well, but with more will to show off her legs. The Commander wore a slinky sexy silver to gray shirt, which drapped nicely to her tight black denim shorts. Her hair was loose, falling to about the length of her chest, with her fringe tucked nicely away, and black knee high army laceup boots held pride of place on her legs.

Nothing fancy with these two, but still they got more looks and whistles than most of the girls on the Citadel could ever imagine. They weren't too fond of it, but still, it was nice to know that their battle scars didn't detract from their appearances.

Soon enough they were walking up the ramp towards Flux. A couple of men passed them, leaving Flux, and whistled, but the girls ignored them.

"God, you'd think the men on the Citadel had never seen a woman before." Zalora chuckled and rolled her eyes lightly, smirking as she turned into Flux.

"Well, it is half true." Ash smirked, giving Zalora a wink. "They've never met women like us before." She laughed joyously, and nodded to the bouncer at the door who seemed to have been distracted from his work as they walked in. Chuckling to themselves, they walked over to the bar, not surprised to see many soldiers about that they knew, but somewhat confused to see them looking so casual and carefree.

Kaidan would have loved this... Zalora thought as they paused and leant against the bar. She sighed and looked down at the floor of Flux, remembering the static of the comm and Joker's voice rushing her into a decision. Why had he done that? She had known they had limited time, but the pilot had sounded so strained, so... scared?

Ash hadn't heard the sigh of her friend, since the loud music drowned out the faintest noises in Flux. She called the barkeep over and ordered two shots of the strongest liquor he had. Soon enough he returned, took the credits she passed him, and set down the shots. Ash nudged Zalora with her arm, smirked and picked up her shot glass. "Down it, then we'll get to dancing." She laughed, talking loud to make sure Zalora heard.

Zalora lifted her eyes to Ash and smiled. She wasn't as fond of the strong stuff as her friend, but she'd drink it to keep her happy. She picked her shot up, and in unison, the two downed their liquor. Zalora felt for a moment that she was going to choke, as strong ale seeped down her throat, but she soon set the glass down and sucked in a deep breath. Other than clearing her senses completely, she seemed fine.

Ash was smirking, and practically chucked her glass down. "Come on, let's party!" She called to Zalora and grabbed the Commander's hand. Williams dragged her friend onto the dance floor, and made their way into the crowd to join in. Without realizing it they were pulled into a small group of soldiers they knew, and joined in the dancing easily.

Williams wasn't the best dancer around. She'd been trained for combat, which left little to the imagination in the way she moved, but then again a lot of the soldiers around her were much the same way. She made it so she and Zalora were dancing close by, so they could shout a conversation. Even though they were yelling, no one else could hear, since the music was so loud. "So what's the deal?" Ash called over the noise of the crowd to Zalora, continueing to move to the music.

"With what?" Zalora shouted back, moving as though she'd been trained to dance. Her hair flung around her shoulders with every move she made, hips swaying, arms practically above her head as she danced. She loved dancing, it was the one thing other than fighting and fixing mechanical junk that she felt she was good at.

Ash laughed as if to say Don't act like you don't know! "You know! Talking to the blokes instead of me about whats on your mind!" She called, and stepped aside a bit as a new dancer pushed past them.

"Sometimes I honestly can't tell the difference between the two!" Zalora laughed after she called it to Ash, and stepped closer to her friend so they wouldn't have to yell quite so loud. She was soon smirking jokingly. "No, I seriously don't know! Guess I'm just used to Joker listening in! It's like he already knows what's on my mind, so he's easy to talk too!" She called, now concentrating on the music more than her friend.

Ash was grinning and spun her hips to the music, lifting her hands as she stopped caring about what people thought about her moves. "You sure thats all?" She laughed to the Commander.

"Course! What else would it be?" Zalora called back, frowning slightly.

Ash laughed and was about to answer when a couple of men stepped up to them. One took Ash's hand and asked if she'd like to dance, and the other put a hand on Zal's back and gave a nod as much to say Dance with me? The conversation was cut short there, as both girls found themselves facing away from each other, dancing with the men who'd suddenly appeared.

Ash was having a fantastic time, dancing and feeling free. She wasn't quite sure if it was her or the liquor though. Things had become so strange lately. She had a best friend, after all those years of practically being friendless (apart from her four sisters, of course), but sometimes she envied the Commander too. After all, the Commander could dance like a Goddess, all the guys seemed to fall for her, she had a high rank with the Alliance, more medals than Ash could count, and so much more. And yet, for all that, Ash felt sorry for the Commander too... She'd been orphaned, she'd been alone for so long, faced tremendous odds in numerous fights, and people were always telling her what to think. Plus she had to make such difficult desicions... Poor Alenko... Ash thought, and frowned slightly, not realizing her mind had drifted from the dancing.

"Hey, cheer up! I'm not that bad a dancer!" The man she was dancing with called to her, smirking encouragingly.

And so Ash chuckled and pushed the thoughts from her mind.

Zalora danced with the man who'd approached her, laughing and smiling more than she remembered doing in a long time. Deep down inside her heart was breaking though, as memories forced themself into her mind. How can you do that? Be so happy when so many people rot in the earth? Your family, people you claimed were friends, Kaidan... Zalora shook her head in an attempt to push the thoughts aside. Her mind allowed it, and slowly she remembered something else, words seeping back into her thoughts. "I'd die for you, too. Any day of the week. And if I was Alenko... It's a choice I'd never regret." Joker had said that. Sweet, amazing and sarcastic Joker.

Zalora found herself smiling at the thought, and the man she danced with seemed incredibly happy that she'd cheered up, even if he hadn't commented on the moment she had looked miserable. Sweet, amazing and sarcastic Joker...

It seemed like hours later when Zalora and Ash finally broke away from the men and the other dancers, took each others hand and struggled out of the crowd. They were laughing in amazement that they'd ever been able to find their way out of the flock of dancers and soon took seats at the bar, smirking and laughing.

"Wow, talk about amazing. My legs are still shaking!" Ash laughed, still talking quite loudly due to the music. She waved down the barkeep and ordered them a couple of real drinks before looking back at Zalora. "Yours was a handsome one." She smirked, dark eyes laughing.

Zalora laughed. "Oh, yeah. Yeah he was." She smiled, but she was watching the bar and playing with a coaster that rested there. "Didn't say much though. I like guys who aren't afraid to speak their mind." She smirked and looked up at Ash as the barkeep returned and set down some drinks for them.

Ash snickered and thanked the man before taking her drink. She took a sip and gave a sigh of pleasure, almost as if she'd been dying of thirst. After a few more sips she set it down and chuckled. "Guys who aren't afraid to speak their mind, hmm? Reminds me of someone." She was grinning by the time her eyes turned to Zalora.

Zalora was playing with the straw sticking out of her glass now, twisting it around her finger and watching the bubbles dancing around the liquid. She soon glanced at Ash from the corner of her pools. "Oh?" She tried to sound as though she wasn't following, though she had a pretty good idea who Williams meant.

"Oh? Is that it? Hah! Don't get like that, Zal. You know who I mean!" Ash grinned, teeth bright as they flashed between her lips. "Alliance Flight Lieutenant Jeff Joker Moreau." She said each word slowly, so the full impact would hit the Commander.

"Joker?!" Zalora couldn't help it, she just cracked up laughing. A nervous reaction, perhaps? She couldn't ever imagine Joker liking her, but deep down she had been hoping that was who Ash meant. Why? Why did I want it to be him? Do I really want him to like me? She soon calmed herself down and looked up, noticing the two guys they'd been dancing with were leaving the crowd, laughing, and making their way to a table of their friends nearby. He was all I was thinking about when I was dancing with that guy... He makes me smile, makes me laugh... It's just a deep friendship, that's all...

"Yes, Joker." Ash smirked, confirming it. "You get that dreamy look on your face whenever you talk about him." She laughed and shook her head, almost as if she was about to mock the Commander.

"I do not..." Zalora looked as if she'd been slapped. "I don't know what your talking about." She turned back to her drink and took a long sip through the staw, watching the way it made the liquid dance about in the glass, just doing anything possible to try and avoid her friends eyes.

"Okay, okay, don't get all moody on me." Ash chuckled and put a hand on Zalora's arm. "Just think about it for a while. Or not. Those guys we were dancing with seemed to really like us... and their not Alliance." She was smirking, watching them over her shoulder.

"So that makes it okay?" Zalora said somewhat quietly, not looking up from the coaster she'd suddenly decided was so interesting.

"Makes what okay?" Ash looked back at her friend, hand still on Zal's arm. As the Commander looked up, Ash frowned. They'd both realized it at the same time. Kaidan was dead and they were forgetting about him already. "Oh..." Ash said as though she'd suddenly remembered, and frowned a bit, withdrawing her hand. "We haven't really talked about it properally, have we?"

"No... If you want to, we can leave now and talk about it. I mean, it might help. I talked to Joker about it before, so I guess I'm okay deep down." Zalora shrugged a bit, turning her eyes to stare into her drink.

"Joker? Let me guess, he had some sarcastic remark to make about it." Ash chuckled softly and rolled her dark eyes.

"No. What he said really got to me actually." Zalora shrugged, lips smiling ever so slightly as she remembered.

"What did he say?" Ashley was watching her friend now, seeming to realize it was something that had effected the Commander deeply.

Zalora sighed a bit and took the straw out of her drink. She sat it down beside the glass, and took a real swig of her drink then. Only once she'd set the cup down again did she reply. "He said, 'I'd die for you, too. Any day of the week. And if I was Alenko... It's a choice I'd never regret.'... And it made me feel a bit better." She said quietly, and paused for a second. She soon turned her eyes to her friend. "Is that stupid?"

Williams watched Zalora and listened as she spoke. She smiled a little, and shook her head. "Not at all. He's right. I'd die for you too, Zal, and I'd never regret that choice. I guess we just have to keep thinking of it that way, to know Alenko's okay." She shrugged a bit and then looked at her drink. After a pause of her own, she said; "He's with God now." Her voice was quiet and hushed, much in the same way she'd once said that her father was with God now.

Zalora nodded and picked up her glass. Ash had done the same, and they tapped them together, the glasses clinked, and they drank a silent toast to that thought. The Commander soon set her drink down, having decided she'd had enough of the strong liquor.

Ash drained her drink, and soon set the empty glass down. For a while they were silent, staring across the room, or just focusing on the surroundings. The crowd of dancers had grown since it was getting later - they could guess it was about ten by now, and that meant the late night crowd were about. The room was full of people drinking, and a few trying to converse over the noise of the music. The bouncer stood ready, keeping his eyes open and aware, but obviously hadn't had much trouble that night. The alien barkeep was wiping down the counter where he poured the drinks, and a few waitresses were skattered about, taking orders or carrying trays. It was havoc, and Zalora couldn't help but think she'd prefer to be on the Normandy, all on her own, tonight.

The quiet hum of the hyper drive and engines, the cold thick walls and the large open spaces. Digital beeps and clicks in the background, the star spangled sky around them, the console showing all the details of the Normandy... the console. The console that Joker was in charge of. Was that why she loved the Normandy so? Because in a way, it was Joker...

Zalora soon stretched a bit, and voiced what she'd been thinking out loud for Ash to hear. "He's a good friend, Joker is." She nodded a bit, knowing it was just a statement, and not expecting a reply from Ash.

Ashley took a deep breath and nodded in agreement. "Yeah." She nodded slowly, then looked back down at her empty glass. She was silent for a moment, but all too quickly glanced at the Commander out of the corner of her eyes. "But then again, maybe he's more than that."