Something metal dropped on the floor with a clattering bang. Ashley groaned, rolling over in her cot and clutching her head. It was pounding, threatening to split open while her stomach did cartwheels inside of her.
"Little princess have a headache?" Wrex's deep, rumbling voice interrupted her misery. She groaned again as the sound shot pain through her.
"Oh, go die." She spat back, and was rewarded with a hearty chuckle from the krogan. She tried covering her eyes, her arm draped across her face to shield out the world. Tequila always seemed like such a great idea, until she woke up. There was a loud clanking noise across the hangar and she hissed at it. "Are you guys serious? What are you doing this early that has to be so loud?"
"It's 1000. Hardly early." Garrus' voice held laughter, and only a little bit of scolding. "Some of us have work to do, and this Mako isn't going to repair itself."
"Isn't that what omnigel is for?" She grumbled back, sitting up. She ran her hands over her face, no doubt red-eyed and streaked with day-old mascara. She frowned as her stomach rolled up with her. Oh, tequila. Why do you torture me?
"No, it's not. Shepard seriously overuses it. It's meant for patching, not repairs. And definitely not for eroding your way into locked safes." The turian groused disapprovingly, pushing himself out from under the vehicle. Ashley rolled her eyes at him. "Well, good morning, sunshine. Rough night?"
The twitching of the alien's mandibles let her know he was quite pleased with himself. She glared at him. He knew exactly what kind of night she had. She thought back to Flux, to drinking with Shepard… She gagged a little at the thought of the taste of tequila. Then they had danced. Or, she had danced, and he had…done whatever that strange shuffle had been. But the way he had looked at her. And then… Oh, crap. Williams, what the hell do you think you're doing? She steadied herself with a breath and got up, walking over to her crate and grabbing out some fresh casuals.
"Oh, Ashley!" A squeal came from the doors to engineering, and Tali bounded towards her. The soldier groaned. "You have to tell me everything. I knew there had to be something going on-"
"Tali, quieter, please." She hissed, holding up a hand to steady the small quarian. Tali nodded quickly, but looked no less energetic.
"So, you and the commander?" The quarian whisper-squealed. Suddenly, Ashley felt like she was talking to her kid sister again.
"No, Tali. We were just dancing, alright?"
Garrus snorted. "Shepard was not dancing."
Tali shook her head, unconvinced. "The way you two were looking at each other… Keelah, such passion!" She clapped her hands together theatrically. Ashley rolled her eyes.
"No, no passion." She hissed, glaring over her shoulder at the laughing turian and pulling Tali aside. "Tali, the Alliance doesn't condone fraternization. Especially between an officer and their subordinates. We could both get into serious trouble."
The quarian slumped. "But what about love?" She said mournfully, shaking her head. "It's so romantic! A girl, falling for her handsome, rugged commander…" Garrus cleared his throat.
Ashley spluttered out a laugh, eyes widening at her flowery description. "Oh." Tali's glowing eyes narrowed behind her mask. "You're serious. Look, Tali, I don't think we have to worry about that."
The tiny woman crossed her arms petulantly. "Shepard talks to you more than anyone else on the crew, and he's always smiling around you."
"He comes down here three times a day to check on the Mako." Garrus called from under the vehicle. Wrex chuckled deeply, obviously enjoying eavesdropping into the conversation.
The soldier gaped at them. "That's not true." Is it? "He's just interested in seeing how his ship runs. And it doesn't matter, there's nothing going on. We were just dancing."
"Is that why Shepard looked like he was about to murder his biggest fan for interrupting the 'dancing'?"
Ashley glared at the turian, who had again poked his head out from under the Mako. "Shepard and I were just out for a drink. Nothing more to it than that. And that guy was seriously deluded about their relationship, I'd want to kill him too." She looked back to the quarian. "What I want to know is why you two voyeurs decided to creep around us and watch us dance, instead of letting us know you were there."
"You looked…occupied." Tali said sweetly. "And you looked like you were having a lot fun, too."
Those smoldering green eyes, feeling the strength in his arms, his breath tickling her lips… Ashley took a deep breath, trying to calm the fire suddenly raging up inside of her. He was so damn hot. "Yeah. Because we're friends. Friends have fun together. Now stop meddling, my life isn't some soap opera."
"Soap opera? Why would you want to perform a musical about detergent?" Garrus called out curiously, but enlightenment was kept from him by the buzz of the intercom.
"This is the Commander speaking. Ground team is to gather in the conference room at 1200 for a mission brief." His voice always had a fairly deep, sullen quality to it. But it seemed more tired this morning, tinged with something raw. Ashley glanced at Tali, her quirked head giving away that she was hearing something off as well. There was a pause, and Ashley furrowed her brow. Was that it? "Shepard out." Apparently it was.
"He seriously shouldn't go into public speaking." Garrus snorted. Ashley frowned at him.
"He sounded more sad than usual." Tali warbled in her sing-song voice, twisting her hands worriedly.
"He's probably just hungover." Ashley said, hoping her voice sounded more confident than she felt at that moment. "I'm going to shower before this thing happens. I smell like a bar."
"Bar is a good smell for a krogan woman." Wrex growled with a toothy grin. "Means she can handle her liquor. You and Shepard call it quits, you can always try your luck with a rugged, handsome krogan battlemaster." The grin broadened, showing all those yellow, sharp daggers he had in his mouth.
Ashley gagged a little, tasting the previous night's tequila for a second time. She heard the krogan's rolling laugh follow her to the elevator.
xxxxxxxxxxxx
"Dismissed." Shepard growled. The team stood, their briefing finished almost as soon as it started. The commander had spoken quickly, briefly. Ashley stood uneasily, lingering a little. The man hadn't even looked her way. He seemed…distant. The others filed out of the door. She paused a moment, glancing at the Spectre still in his seat. He was staring blankly at the ground.
"Shepard?" He looked up at her, starting a little, as if surprised to still find her there. The mission was just another Alliance run - rescuing some doctor that apparently had a hit on him. There was potentially some Cerberus involvement, but other than that, it seemed pretty standard. It wasn't anything that should be occupying his mind like this. "Is something up?"
"No, it's fine. It's just…" Shepard frowned. He ran a hand through his hair, disheveling a recently groomed appearance. Why does he even try to comb it, when he just messes it up two seconds later? "The other doctors that were killed. And this one." Ashley took a step towards him, he glanced up with those strange green eyes that seemed too bright for the rest of him. "They worked on Akuze." He spat out the last word, and stood. His fists clenched. "All of them. Hackett thinks they were part of a Cerberus research team, but he doesn't know what they were studying there."
Ashley regarded the commander a little warily. He was radiating tension. Why didn't he go over this in the brief? "Shepard, do you think they had something to do with…"
"I don't know." He growled, his voice almost feral. "But if they did, the doctor is going to have a bigger problem than a few mercenaries." Ashley watched him, trying to keep her face even. She didn't say anything. She wasn't sure what one could say to a commander when he threatened to murder an Alliance doctor. Or, Cerberus doctor. She frowned. This was going to be messy. Shepard met her gaze, his face an impassive mask. "Suit up, Williams. We hit the ground in an hour."
Ashley frowned at the formality. He hadn't broken his gaze, his eyes unsettlingly cold. "Yes, sir." She said coolly, and started to turn away. Apparently, she had been dismissed. She hated these moods of his – the dejected, cold commander with an alarmingly quick temper. It was a headache. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at the moody man as her back was to him. She knew he had been through more than most – hell, losing 212 still haunted her. But she wasn't going around taking it out on subordinates.
She slapped the door control a little roughly, but as it swished open a hand grabbed her wrist. "Ash…" He sighed heavily behind her. "I'm sorry. Shit, I know I can be an ass." He let go of her slowly, his fingers sliding over her hand. She shivered. "We need to talk, after we get back from Ontarom. About last night."
She glanced over her shoulder at him. A sly smile spread over her lips. "I'd love to offer you more lessons, but I'm afraid you may be a lost cause."
Shepard laughed softly, a low chuckle that warmed her. His eyes softened as some of the tension was released. "Well, I did warn you." He stepped towards her, but stopped. A hand ran through his hair. "We do need to talk though. This… we shouldn't."
Ashley turned to face him head on. "We haven't." She said simply. The soldier smiled as he sighed, exasperated.
"Ash…" His hand came up to his jaw this time, rubbing the scruff.
"We were just a few marines, having a couple of drinks and entertaining your fan club." Shepard snorted, shaking his head. "It was harmless." He watched her for a second, seeming to want to argue. He was right, of course. But if they kept it to casual flirting, what harm could it do? "Shepard, just because you're in command doesn't mean you have to alienate yourself. You had a little fun. It's good, keeps you from being such an ass."
Shepard's brows shot up. "Oh, really?" He smirked. "Chief, is that any way to speak to your superior officer?"
"Sorry, Commander Ass, sir." She grinned. Shepard laughed.
"Better. Now, we really have to get ready for this drop." His eyes instantly began to cloud. "Suit up, I'll meet you in the hangar." Ashley nodded, pausing a beat.
"Shepard… Whatever we find out down there, we'll all be there. You're not alone." She remembered his flashback to Akuze, his desperation to not be left alone again. She still didn't completely understand what happened down there, how he survived on foot against those things, why no one else made it. She fought the urge to reach out and grab his hand in reassurance. Casual, Williams. Keep it casual.
"Yeah. Yeah, I know." From the tone of his voice, Ashley thought he sounded pretty unconvinced. "Thanks, Ash."
The soldier nodded, and walked out of the briefing room.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ontarom was hot. Of course, it seemed like a lot of their little joy rides were through hot planets. At least the atmosphere was breathable. Breathing inside her stuffy helmet was the last thing she wanted to face with her wavering headache. Of course, Shepard's driving was helping no one relax. They climbed a mountain (vertically) to reach a complex surrounded by trigger happy mercs, who wasted no time in trying to destroy a heavily armored vehicle with pistols.
Idiots.
Garrus got rid of them with a few shots of the cannon. "Pile out. Wrex, Kaidan, stay with the Mako. There may be some mercs leftover that want to have their try at grand theft auto." Shepard was growling again. Ashley sighed. He was in his head again. He had only responded half-heartedly to the jokes Garrus had attempted on the way down. The commander stalked towards the door, his already large build now intimidating in full armor. Ashley pulled out her shotgun as he reached for his rifle. Garrus strode up beside the commander, assault rifle in hand. Shepard gave them a nod and hit the door control.
They made their way silently down the hall. For such a big guy, Shepard could be eerily stealthy when he wanted to. Ashley tried and failed to mimic it, scuffing her boot on the floor. Garrus glanced at her, amused. Oh, like they didn't hear the explosions outside. She glared at the turian but stopped quickly as Shepard held up a hand. There was an alcove in front of them. She could make out a few guards on the far wall talking animatedly, no doubt about their intrusion. The commander crouched and aimed his rifle, the large weapon held steady as his breathing slowed. There was a bang, and one guard went down, a bullet to the head. The second had a moment to stare at his recently deceased companion, before joining him on the floor with a hole through his neck.
"Impressive." Garrus muttered appreciatively. Ashley rolled her eyes. They constantly stroked each other's egos.
There was a scuffle, and a door opened on the far wall. She glanced at Shepard, and he nodded to her. Hoisting her shotgun she ran out to a pillar she could use as cover, peeked around it, and took out a merc with a blast to the stomach. It may not be as pretty, but it was effective. Garrus flanked her, firing spurts with his assault rifle. The trio took out the mercenaries quickly. Shepard moved forward without a second glance to their dead opponents, motioning for them to follow. He glanced warily in each direction of the forked hall. They went left first, finding the room empty save a few supply crates that the commander looted like a hoarder, leaving the spoils to be picked up on their way out. He exchanged his rifle for a pistol and moved towards the door at the opposite end of the hall.
Where is this doctor? Did they get him already? She was tempted to ask out loud as they moved towards the ominous door, but apparently it was still quiet time. She readied her shotgun as Shepard hit the control.
"Stay back!" A soldier in a seriously outdated Alliance uniform shouted, pistol held to a white-coated man who was no doubt the doctor. "I don't want to fight you. I'm just here for the doctor."
To her astonishment, Shepard began to lower his weapon. But what was truly worrying was the look he had on his face. Ashley's eyes darted between the gunman and her commander. He gaped, his eyes wide in pained disbelief. "Shit…no. This isn't real."
"…Shepard? Holy shit, Shep, is that you?"