In Case of Elevator, Break Glass

Naturally, even more liberties have been taken with the dialogue. ;p

Shepard gritted her teeth to ward off the compulsion to punch Udina—or at the very least snap at the ambassador.

Settle down my ass.

Politics or not, classified or not, Spectre or not, Saren would pay. They had to find something on him. Had to. The damned traitor had attacked a human colony for the prothean beacon. She was sure he was only after the beacon, but from what the Captain had told her, Saren held a bitter grudge against humanity, and he most likely had jumped at the chance to make humanity suffer. And the Council wasn't going to listen to them.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

Like a naïve little brat back on Mindoir, she had hoped the Council would listen to reason. Like an enlisted man right out of boot camp, she thought perhaps the Captain could handle things. Well, look where naiveté had landed them.

Absolutely nowhere. Chasing obscure leads. Should have paid more attention to Alenko.

The images from the beacon still swam in her mind's eye: Mechanical creatures tearing and shredding a strange group of people who seemed vaguely familiar, like she knew them from somewhere, anywhere. Blood ran on an unknown street, people screamed on an unknown planet, machines devils killed and implanted at an unknown time.

The future looked vague and shadowy with a healthy helping of dread. It terrified and angered her. She tried to mask her inner turmoil with a deceptive calmness as they walked past the fountain of the Citadel Tower. The look Alenko gave her let her know that she wasn't doing a very good job of disguising her inner demons.

"I like the fountain," he commented quietly, gesturing with a casual flick of his wrist. "It's very soothing." She agreed with a noncommittal sound as they continued on. It was an absurd thing to say after the Council had disagreed with the evidence that Saren was a traitor. Shepard wondered if it was his subtle way of telling her everything would be alright. She liked to think so. And, yes, after the events of the past few days—hell, the last hour alone was enough to kill her from stress—the fountain was very soothing.

As they walked along, skirting around dignitaries, diplomats, ambassadors, and their aides, Shepard watched the Lieutenant out of the corner of her eye. Lines ringed his mouth and eyes, muting his youth with strength, but she didn't know the man well enough to be able to tell if the lines were from the stress of the past few days, the farce of a hearing or if his own mask of calm was beginning to crack. She wondered idly if he would talk to her about it. He kept to himself while on board the Normandy, avoiding people unless absolutely necessary, but his actions in the field told her that he wasn't shy. He was a good Marine, honest and an excellent leader. And he was politically savvy. All the requisites for promotion. Maybe when they got back to the ship, she would ask around a little to find out more about him.

Williams had no compunction to control her inner turmoil or to restrain herself as the elevator door cycled shut. "I can't believe the council ignored all of the evidence against Saren," she blurted, crossing her arms over her formal uniform and leaning against the wall angrily.

Alenko joined her. "Saren's one of their best operatives," he pointed out calmly, and Shepard found herself watching his hands as he spoke. "It's only natural they'd take his word over ours."

"Oh, so now we just chase leads while that smug turian runs around with his geth troopers?" Williams smacked the airtight glass with the palms of her hands.

"That's politics, Chief," he told her. Shepard found herself nodding in agreement with Alenko without realizing it. He looked up, held her gaze a moment with his own dark one as the Chief sulked against the wall of the elevator, and Shepard's heart did a weird little flip-flop in response that both confused and irritated the hell out of her.

"I hate politics," Williams announced as she crossed her arms, irritation written in lines of frustration across her face. She gave a hearty sigh, and Alenko shrugged as if to say that's the way things work.

"You've got a good grasp of the situation, Lieutenant," Shepard remarked, pleased at how nonchalant she sounded, deciding against opining about the Council's judgment—or lack thereof. It was as good chance as any to get to know the man—especially if the universe decided that it was an excellent opportunity to throw another wrench at her. "You a career man?"

The lieutenant straightened, looking uncomfortable. It was… cute. "Yeah," he shrugged, "a lot of biotics are. We're not restricted, but we sure don't go undocumented. May as well get a paycheck for it. Besides," he added, "my father served. Made him proud when I enlisted. Eventually." He looked away bitterly before returning his gaze to hers. And that strange little current went through her again. "But is that why you're here? Because of your family?"

Ashley stopped sulking and looked up, her attention riveted on the Commander. She wanted to know more about the woman she felt was her savior. If Shepard and Alenko hadn't arrived on Eden Prime when they had, she felt sure that she would be with God now. Being skewered on a geth spike was not how she wanted to meet Him though. To be turned into one of those… those husks was not something— She didn't even want to think about it. Nothing could be worse.

"My family were homesteaders on Mindoir," Shepard told them quietly, watching as the floors zoomed past. She shrugged. "I'm the only one left. But I've moved beyond that."

Ashley paled. She had been wrong. Maybe there was something worse than being turned into a geth husk.

The Raid.

When batarians attacked a human colony, Mindoir, and killed or captured everyone...

She survived.

"And Akuze?" the Chief asked before she could stop herself.

The Commander only smiled sadly. "I've moved beyond that too." Her eyes took on a determined look. "I'll never forget them or the lessons they taught me."

Kaidan swallowed hard. "You're very good at surviving, ma'am."

Shepard only shrugged off the half-assed compliment. "Williams appears to be, too."

Not knowing what else to say, he nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

Mindoir. And Akuze. And a candidate for the Spectres. He had to give his brain a good shake in order to override his basic male nature to want—no, not want, but need—to protect her.

"Don't worry, Lieutenant," Williams said with a mischievous smirk, seeming to pluck his thoughts right out of his head. "We'll protect you." …Or not.

He blinked. Was she flirting with him? He gazed at her incredulously. Her grin widened.

To Kaidan's horror, the Commander threw her head back and laughed. "You're all right, Williams."