Which Cheek?

Lots and lots of talking. If any of you wonder what this John Shepard did during ME1 or ME2 then this is the chapter for you! I'm going to try and keep it from getting too long/boring/sappy, but chances are it will be very very all 3.

If you didn't get it from the above, MASSIVE MASSIVE spoilers for ME1, ME2 and spoilers for other Mass Effect tie ins.

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“Ash, I need you to be calm.” Shepard said as the others walking into the Normandy's decontamination chamber. “We'll follow you through in a minute.” He turned to face Williams.

“Yes Sir.” Miranda replied, before the doors closed on the Normandy.

“What Shepard? Of course I'll be calm.” Ashley replied, incredibly surprised at what Shepard had asked.

“Seriously Ash, there are things on-board you will certainly question me about. They will do you no harm, we'll be going to my quarters first, I will explain them there.” Shepard replied, knowing that the least of what she wouldn't be happy about would be the number of non-humans.

“OK Skipper. Relax. I see no Cerberus markings. Didn't they build this?” Ashley asked, scanning the outside of the ship as she did so.

“All will be explained Ash. Come on.” Shepard's hand slipped into Ashley's and she smiled as he did so, before they walked towards the Normandy. The doors quietly slid open when they got within a few steps. “Welcome to the Normandy SR2 gunnery chief. As you can probably tell it is larger than it's predecessor, roughly twice the size. There are a few extra features and if you would like to know them...” Ashley looked at him as the doors slid closed behind them. “You can ask someone else.” Shepard kept a straight face when looking at her, but broke before too long, both of them giggling, the decontamination process beginning and finishing almost as quickly.

“Well that's quicker for sure.” The doors slid open ahead of them as Ashley said that.

“Is that Chief Williams sir?” Joker said, still sitting in his seat. Shepard walked around the corner leading Ashley by the hand.

“Indeed it is Joker.”

“Chief! It's great to see you.”

“Joker? You were working for Cerberus.” Ash walked over to him and tentatively shook his hand.

“After what the alliance did to the old crew after Shepard died, hell yeah I joined Cerberus! They gave me a chance to fly again and work for the Commander!” Ashley looked surprised.

“Wouldn't peg you for the alien hating type Joker.”

“Coming from you Chief? I'm not the alien hating type because I don't hate aliens.”

“Cerberus members are not exclusively xenophobics, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams.” EDI added. “Jeff is most certainly not a xenophobe.”

“And you are?” Ashley replied to the glowing orb with a voice.

“EDI leave it alone, I'll explain to her later.” Shepard pulled Ashley towards the main part of the CIC and the elevator.

“I can't believe Joker thought you died.” Ashley said as they walked towards where Pressley would have been standing on the old Normandy.

“I did.” Ashley stopped.

“What?” Her surprise was beyond obvious.

“I'll explain once we get to my quarters.”

“Commander! Are you OK? I heard there was some fighting on the citadel!” Kelly exclaimed as Shepard came near, clearly very happy to see he wasn't hurt.

“Some gangsters hired some people to kill me. I survived though as did Ashley here. Kelly Chambers, meet Ashley Williams.”

“Pleased to meet you Chief Williams, I've heard so much about you.” Kelly extended her hand, Ashley shook it, a little confused as to why Kelly knew her former rank. Kelly was her usual friendly self but Shepard could tell of a little wavering in there.

“Likewise Kelly.” Ashley replied.

“You have some new messages Commander.” Kelly turned to Shepard as she said that. “Another communication attempt from the Illusive Man too. Though it was of course ignored. Just thought you should know.”

“Thank you Kelly, I'll see to all that in my quarters soon. That'll be all Yeoman Chambers.” Shepard added her title, more for Ashley's benefit than for theirs.

“I'll be here if you need anything.” Kelly turned back to her work station, inputting details presumably about Shepard's mental state. When she filed that information, she filed it to him now though. He knew her opinions on the matter.

“Elevator on the CIC? No stairs?”

“Just an elevator. The space saved has been put into a lab and an actual armoury. The cargo hold no longer doubles as that.”

“A lab? What do you need a lab for?”

“As it turns out, saving human colonies.” The elevator opened and they stepped inside. Shepard pushing the button for the Crew's Quarters. “That lab enabled the Professor to find a way to escape detection by the collector swarms. Which enabled us to fight them on Horizon and elsewhere.” The doors closed behind them and Ashley took the opportunity to pull him down for a passionate kiss. Shepard was surprised before kissing back and it quickly became more than just a simple kiss. If anybody had been in front of the elevator as the doors opened on the crew's quarters they would have seen a couple who if they had more privacy would have been taking each others clothes off then. When the doors finished opening they untangled themselves from each other.

“That was for saving my life. I'll give you the rest of the present later.” She gave a look of pure lust before walking out of the elevator, before turning around. “Er, where are we going?” Shepard shook his head and stepped out of the elevator to walk to Dr. Chakwas medbay.

“Follow me Chief. I'll give you the real grand tour later.” A number of off duty personnel were in the mess, having their lunch.

“Commander Shepard!” Crewman Hadley ran over and saluted.

“Yes Hadley?” Shepard replied, Ashley stopping beside him.

“Our leave on the Citadel, how long are we supposed to be here?”

“Right now plan is a week for re-supply and a few re-fits. You got a date?” Shepard wondered, already knowing it was a yes.

“Yes Sir, I met this Asari...” Hadley looked to the ceiling, a little hazy.

“You have the duty roster, she does not come back here until we do a complete background check on her, got that?” Shepard was strict on who came on board the Normandy. They weren't humanitarians.

“Of course Sir, I know the regulations.” Hadley ran off and sat down with a few others, shouting “Yes!” a little too loudly, looking round at the Commander a little sheepishly as he did so. Shepard didn't care anyway, especially as he was already in the medbay. There were a few bloodstains, a small dish with the remains of a bullet in it too. Chakwas was sitting at her desk, typing things in, Kolyat wounded on a bed, Thane sitting at his side.

“Dr. Chakwas, report.” The Doctor turned around surprised to see the Commander there, let alone Williams.

“Thane's son was shot in the lower abdomen, missing any major organs but he lost a lot of blood. He's asleep now and heavily medicated. He'll be groggy for a few days, but he'll survive. He is his father's son after all.” Chakwas paused, before standing up and walking over, hugging Ashley.

“Chief Williams! It's so good to see you, how are you?” Shepard smiled before stepping round them to talk to Thane.

“I'm well Doctor, I've been busy with Alliance work. On leave for a month now though.”

“Well I can see it agrees with you, you look amazing! I love the outfit.” Chakwas was glad to have another old friend back.

“Drell actually have blood?”

“Well no, I was paraphrasing. The real name is...” Shepard zoned out of that conversation as he got close to Thane.

“Thane, are you OK?” Shepard walked around the other side of Kolyat, looking him over.

“Yes Commander, I thank you for the warning about the attack too. I had noticed someone following us, didn't realise he had some friends until EDI told me.”

“How did it go with Kolyat? Do you think he'll blame this on you?”

“We...seemed fine. He seemed to enjoy fighting with me, until...” Thane recalled the incident as few outside of the Drell can do. “Until a bullet rips into his abdomen, internal fluids spills everywhere, some lands on my arm as he falls to the ground. I finish killing the man in front of me and turn to shoot his assailant as his head explodes from a bullet from the Turian's sniper rifle. Jacob and Mordin appear to pull Kolyat's body behind cover...”

“Be patient Thane. It's not your fault.”

“My son was shot, because of me.”

“You know it was Kelham who went after you? He would have shot Kolyat if we didn't do what we did! Or he would have got him shot. You did the right thing.” Thane looked down, he didn't want to fight with the Commander.

“I'm not a good father.”

“You can change that Thane.” Shepard walked off, leaving Thane there. He was sure he couldn't say much else.

“They gave me the chance to work with Jeff and the Commander again. It's...complicated.” Chakwas said to Ashley, evidently explaining why she chose to 'work' for Cerberus.

“So Doctor is Chief Williams healthy?” Shepard asked, jokingly.

“No thanks to you Commander, getting her into gunfights in that outfit. Could have gotten her killed.” Dr. Chakwas turned to Shepard to reply. Ashley smiled at him.

“I'm sorry Doctor, next time I'm ambushed I'll try not to win the fight. Now I'd like to take Ashley off your hands, if you don't mind.”

“Be my guest Commander but Chief, you owe me a drink.”

“Of course Doctor, Serrice Ice Brandy it is.” Shepard started to leave before he heard the AI core door open. He turned to see the surprise on Ashley's face as Legion walked into the medbay. Ashley reached for her gun, before Shepard grabbed her arm, stopping her.

“I told you Ash, I need you to be calm.” Shepard whispered in her ear. Ashley stared at Legion, a combination between surprise and anger on her face.

“Shepard-Commander. We were told you were back on board, we would like to use the long range communications. EDI needs your permission.” Legion said, monotone as ever.

“What is it for Legion?”

“Joker said you were looking for some engine upgrades, we can give you some of our technology but we do not have it on this platform.”

“EDI allow Legion to use the communications.”

“We thank you Shepard-Commander.” Legion turned around to walk back into the core, the plans probably already in it's data banks.

“I told you, I'll explain.” Shepard turned around, pushing Ashley out of the door.

“A fucking Geth! You've got a fucking Geth on board! What the fuck are you think Shepard? Are you fucking crazy?” Ashley shouted after the doors closed. The staff in the mess all turned to look around, before Shepard glared at them. He turned to Ashley and pushed her into the wall.

“Ash, you may not be a member of my team any more, but you are on my ship. Do not” Shepard emphasised the word with venom, “do that shit in front of my crew. I told you, I will explain. If it was anyone else...” Shepard paused, Ash understanding his meaning. “Now come on.” Shepard dragged her towards the elevator, where they walked in total silence. Miranda stepped out of the elevator and walked towards her room, before turning to ask a question. Shepard caught her before she could though. “Miranda, unless this is extremely important it will have to wait.”

“It can be quick sir. The sets of armour you requested are ready. One of the four is outside of your quarters. The rest are in the armoury.”

“Excellent. Thank you L.C.” The interruption seemed to ease the tension between Shepard and Ashley at least a little. They walked into the elevator and the doors closed after Shepard punched in the number for the Captain's Cabin.

“L.C?” Ashley asked.

“She had no ranking before joining the crew, so I gave her a rank. Well, as long as she's with us. Lieutenant Commander Miranda Lawson.”

“Why is she your second in command? Why not joker, Garrus or Tali?”

“Joker's decision making is a little bit based around whether he can fly a ship. Makes a great pilot, not so much a leader. Garrus is a fantastic battle leader but he wasn't with me when I got control of this ship and honestly, I'm not completely sure he'll stay. Mostly though, Garrus doesn't want it. Tali would make a great X.O. That's why for the moment, she actually is. I don't think she'll stay though. The migrant fleet will want her back before long. They need her.”

“What armour?”

“Excuse me?”

“The armour. Miranda told you about.” Shepard just smiled. He didn't explain. The doors to the top floor opened. “Shepard. The armour.” He stepped out and gestured towards the armour in the corner of the lobby of the floor. An entirely pointless lobby, nothing else up here apart from the Captain's Quarters. Ashley stepped out and looked. It was black and red, the plating looked rock solid and it was too short to be for Shepard. Not to mention completely the wrong shape elsewhere. “It's for me?”

“Yes Ash. I wasn't 100% sure on your size, so there is more than 1. We can repaint, we can build almost any gun you want in the armoury, I've got a little something special for you down there too.” Shepard grabbed the small anti-grav transport it was on and pulled it into the Captain's Cabin. “Stay outside a second.” Ashley waited outside until he came back. She had started to get a little impatient and was about to walk in when Shepard came out. She was half expecting him to blindfold her when he took her in, but nothing that dramatic happened.

“Come in, Ash.” She was half-expecting to enter to a room covered in roses after the way he made her wait. She wasn't the dramatic type so would never have asked for it. She wouldn't have complained though. “EDI I want total privacy until further notice.”

“Yes Commander.” EDI's glowing orb popped up for a second, before dying down again.

“I just had to do a little tidying.” Shepard said, still picking up a few books and things from around the room in front of her. She looked at the picture frame on the desk before walking over to it, to find a picture of herself popping up. Her eyes widened in surprise before turning around to the fish tank, listening to the music, on quiet but still noticeably there, providing a more dramatic backdrop than she really wanted. Shepard finished moving a few books before sitting down at his desk, checking some messages while Ashley inspected the room. Her armour was sitting next to what was clearly where his armour was stored along with his more casual attire.

“This room is a hell of a lot bigger than your old quarters.” Ashley walked down the stairs as she said it, looking at all the relics he'd collected. She sat down on his bed, testing how it felt. “This is better too.”

“Civilian Sector comfort by design.” Shepard stood up and walked around. He poured himself a drink of whisky. “Want a drink Ash?”

“Maybe later.” Shepard sat down on the couch.

“I believe I said I'd explain anything you wanted me to.”

“I believe you did.”

“So what do you want to know?”

“Everything skipper. You died! How the hell are you still here then? Why on earth is there a Geth on this ship! Who the hell was that glowing orb in the cockpit? What the hell is that thing?” She pointed at the glowing orb on the table next to Shepard as she got off the bed to sit down. “Mainly, how on earth did you end up working for Cerberus? What the hell happened with the collectors? What were they? Did you...” Shepard pulled her to him and kissed her mid sentence. The kiss deepened before she pushed herself off of him. “Hey, none of that now, I want an explanation.”

“That's a long list, I'll do my best to answer, I just wanted to stop you and it's been too long.” She smiled at him, though she didn't pull back any further. “I'll try and explain one at a time.” He looked at her, before looking at the ceiling. She kept a small smile on her face, trying not to stop him from talking and keeping him from getting embarrassed. Trying to keep him at ease. These things were clearly not easy to talk about. “When we were attacked by the collectors I went to the bridge to get Joker safe. I managed to convince him to go into the escape pod, when he got in they fired again and we got separated somehow. Then the ship was destroyed and my suit had been damaged. I died from asphyxiation and exposure.” Shepard swallowed, unable to look at Ash as he told the story. He'd come to terms with it, but it's still pretty difficult to tell the story of how you died. She reached out to hold his hand as he told the story.

“Hey Skipper, it's OK.” He looked up at her to find her smiling softly at him. “Take your time.”

“I don't know where my body ended up. All I know is that Miranda and Cerberus had started to search for my body. The Shadow Broker had found me and was trying to sell me to the collectors. They enlisted Liara's help to get the body back. They had created some kind of project so that if I ever died, they would bring me back. Liara found me. Gave me to Cerberus. For 2 years they had me on a surgeons table trying to bring me back to life. They succeeded. I woke up to find myself in a Cerberus facility with a bunch of hacked mechs trying to kill me. I found out later one of the guys who brought me back to life was actually an agent for the Shadow Broker, who wasn't exactly happy to find I escaped from his deal.” Shepard sat back and then put his other hand around Ash's. “He had hacked those mechs although he didn't succeed and he got killed before I could find out his endgame. I met Jacob and Miranda there. Jacob told me they were Cerberus. Although I'd already figured it out.” The song changed, a more rocky number.

“Oh I like this one, this is that new Asari and Human band isn't it? I can't remember the name.” Ashley said, trying to lighten the mood a little.

“Yeah they're good. I have no idea of their name either, Tali does though. She insisted on me having it.” Shepard smiled at Ashley, before continuing. “Before long I found myself talking to The Illusive Man. Basically I told him I hate Cerberus, but they had just brought me back to life I thought they deserved a chance. I went with Miranda and Jacob to Freedom's Progress. There we found some hostile defence mechs, which apparently had been unheard of at the other colonies where people had disappeared. Turns out there was a Quarian there. Tali had a team with her looking for him, who did not like that Cerberus was there. Tali and I agreed to work together but her team ignored her and got themselves killed. The Quarian that was there, Veetor, wasn't in a great mental state. We found him and he showed us the security footage of the collectors. I had heard rumours about them but no details. No one knew any details.” Shepard leaned forward again, then took a sip from his drink. “I asked Tali to come with me but she had something important to do for the fleet. She took Veetor with her. He's better now. After that I went to see the Illusive Man again. He told me the details of where everyone was. You know Cerberus didn't know where you were? Or at least, he said they didn't. Didn't know where Garrus was either. Knew where Wrex was. He knew where Liara was. He even said that Liara might have been working for the Shadow Broker. Later found out Liara had worked with Cerberus to get my body away from the Shadow Broker. That was really strange. Seeing as I'd just fought alongside Tali, she wasn't too hard to find.”

“That's good then, hopefully they don't have anyone too high up in the Alliance these days then.”

“I asked about a really good team after he almost begged me to fight the Collectors. He told me he had a ship for me and a pilot I knew and Joker was standing behind me. He took me to a viewing area, to see the ship we are now on board, with no name. We spent a few days sorting the paint job and a few other details. I got to know my crew and the ship.”

“You worked for Cerberus because they saved your life?” Ashley asked, less venom in her voice when she talked about Cerberus than usual.

“I worked with them. I made it clear that I didn't answer to them and they made it clear that I didn't answer to them. They wanted me to stop the collectors and were willing to give me a ship, crew, money and intel to do so. I wanted to stop the collectors. They had spent a lot of money on bringing me back from the dead, so yes I'm a zombie, then they gave me Joker, Chakwas and an improved Normandy. The least I could do is work with them to save lives. I'm not going to let them being terrorist xenophobic ass-holes stop me from saving lives.”

“How many of your crew are actually ex-Cerberus?”

“Quite a few. From my ground teams Jacob and Miranda. Although Jacob never really trusted them. Kelly, Hadley, Donnelly, Daniels, most of the rest of the crew. When we left Cerberus I let 2 who wanted to stay with Cerberus go. One of them had Cerberus move his family from New Canton, the other was one nobody liked and the only actual xenophobe on the crew. They did try and pick a fight with our Krogan, Grunt. Don't think they helped anyway, they're clearly stupid. Won't be surprised if Cerberus drops him.”

“Someone on your crew tried to pick a fist fight with a Krogan and lived?” Ashley asked, amazed.

“Yeah they lived. A few broken bones and I did have to break it up before he got either got killed or paralysed. They stayed away from then on. Idiot.”

“I can't believe anyone would attack a Krogan without guns. It's just crazy.” Shepard sat back, smiling.

“I head-butted one.”

“You what?” Ashley leaned forward as she asked, loudly.

“You heard me. Ever been to Tuchanka? That place is fucked up. I don't recommend it.”

“I'll take my sisters there when I see them next week.”

“Ah yeah how are they?” Shepard learned forward after picking up his drink, taking a long gulp.

“We're talking about you at the moment skipper. You still have more to explain. Why are there so many half naked women on your team?” Shepard spit out some of his drink.

“What?”

“Are you kidding me? Samara? Miranda? Kasumi? Kelly?”

“I don't pick their armour. I don't need to anyway, they're very well covered. Well, bar Samara, but it's not like all she wears is a bikini and a skirt!”

“Do you want their uniforms to be any more skin-tight? They don't leave much to the imagination.”

“Ash, are you serious?” Ashley laughed.

“No I'm not. Just thought I'd try and embarrass you.” Shepard laughed and shook his head.

“Ash, I just told you the story about how I died. I feel embarrassed enough already.”

“Why are you embarrassed about that?”

“I'm not much of a talker Ash. I am a soldier. I kill things for a living.”

“Could have fooled me skipper. You've talked criminals into becoming saints.”

“Luck, nothing more.” Ash laughed.

“We both know it's not.” She paused, before continuing, doing her best to keep him at ease. “So tell me about that glowing orb that talked at me. It seemed more than a VI.”

“Indeed Ash. It's a true AI.” Her face changed from a semi-serious to completely shocked. “Enhanced Defence Intelligence. EDI for short. I thought that too when I first found out. I promise you though, she's proved her loyalty.”

“Are you mad? You know what the Reapers are! You know what AI's do to organics!” Ash wasn't as angry as she was when she saw Legion, but she was still angry.

“As it turns out, Reapers aren't actually fully synthetic. Also turns out that AI's develop personalities just like organics do.”

“What? Reapers are Gods to the Geth! Why else would they be that if they weren't synthetic?”

“They're not fully synthetic. They're created from species they conquered in the past. Sometimes it's not them who build it. The Collectors? They were Protheans re-purposed by the Reapers, genetic make-up really changed, most of their systems replace with tech. The reason they were abducting human colonists was to create a new Reaper. One based on human genetics. Even shaped like a human, except enormous. Thankfully it wasn't complete when we met it.” Ashley was shocked, not knowing what to say. “I know Ash. It seems everywhere I turn I find something to turn the Galaxy on it's head.”

“There's a reason you're the first human spectre skipper. It's not because of politics.”

“I have no doubt there are others out there capable of doing what I've done. If you were given the chance, you would have managed it.”

“No skipper. I couldn't. You have done more than just stop Sovereign or the Collectors. You've got the trust of the galaxy. You've given humanity the trust of the galaxy. You've got us on the council. You saved the council too, it was your decision that did that. They owe you. I would have let them die. Let Udina take over the control of the citadel.” The song changed again. A quiet ballad.

“The Council wasn't some royalty thing with no heirs. If the 3 councillors died, they would have elected new members eventually. Saving them and the Destiny Ascension was more than that. You know how many Asari are on that ship? Also, you said it yourself, it's more powerful than any other ship bar the Reapers in the galaxy. We need it. We save them, we prove our worth as a species. They are only 3 individuals, but they're the 3 individuals that represent unity in the galaxy. If they owe me their lives, then when I really need it, they do what I ask when I need them to. Hell as annoying as the Council can be, the Alliance isn't perfect. Can you imagine Udina in charge of the galaxy? What kind of hell would that be. If he leads the galaxy it isn't unified, everyone is just looking for their chance to kill us. Now with humanity on the council we can actually have a unified galaxy. Or at least a semi-unified citadel space. Hell this ship is a result of Human and Turian co-operation. Can you imagine what we could do if added in Asari, Salarian and Quarian expertise in?”

“We'd have too many people pulling in too many directions. It'd be chaos.”

“The Alliance is a number of nations and planets working together. You think we'd be better separate? It'd take even longer to get anything done!”

“No, the alliance would be worse even more fractured.” Ashley paused but before Shepard could start again, “Tell me about EDI then, why do you trust it?”

“Trust her. Hell if she had some way of creating a physical or even metaphysical body she'd be having sex with Joker.”

“What?”

“Go spend some time with Joker in the cockpit at some point. You'll see. Anyway, at one point the Collectors attacked the Normandy. The entire crew bar Joker were taken. She saved his life, saved the ship and saved our lives with it. She had proven it before too when she worked out that The Illusive Man led us into a trap. He admitted it. Some conversations she's had with Legion too. She has manners. I mean above and beyond courtesy.”

“She's an AI. How can she be like that?”

“I don't know. She just is.”

“She just is. Well skipper, if anyone can get away with 'She just is' it's you.”

“Why thank you Gunnery Chief.”

“I'm no longer Gunnery Chief, skipper. 2nd Lieutenant Williams reporting.”

“They finally promoted you? Why didn't you say so earlier?”

“Anderson made sure. He did it about a month after you died. It was his way of trying to help me get over it. Bury myself in work and I...learned to live with it. I was getting good at it when Horizon happened but I must admit, I enjoyed hearing you say it again.”

“I...” Shepard wanted to apologise. He just wasn't sure what for.

“Don't skipper, you did nothing wrong. You saved lives. You make friends. I don't know how you do it so well but you never fail to create loyalty.” Shepard wasn't sure either. Ashley raised her eyebrow. “Geth. Stop sidetracking us! Tell me about the Geth. Why is there one on board?” She hit him on the arm as she said it. Somehow talk of Legion had become of a much lighter note than when on Deck 3.

“There isn't one on board. It's 1183. Or is it...It's around that number. You know that Geth get more intelligent in larger numbers, that is a Geth platform, made up of over a thousand individual Geth programs. They're gestalt intellects. We call him....” Ashley interrupted before he said the name.

“Legion.” Shepard looked surprised.
“You know?” Ashley looked at him puzzled.

“You called it that in the medbay!” Shepard deflated as Ashley said that.

“Oh of course.”

“My name is Legion, for we are many.” Ashley quoted.

“I thought you would know it. Anyway, we were looking for something on a derelict reaper, husks coming up everywhere and some other creations we'd never come across when fighting Sovereign. We'd never been in the Reaper the first time around. We saw a few shots killing husks not knowing where they came from. Further in we went, killing husks everywhere, we got overwhelmed. I thought I was going to die. Legion killed the husks around me. Saved our lives. We found what we were looking for, then we had to destroy the eezo core. Legion was logging into a network, not sure if it was one Cerberus set-up or was the Reapers, but as we came in, the husks knocked it out. How you do that I don't know, but they did. When we were leaving I'd never had the chance to talk to a Geth before. Certainly not one that had saved my life or had a piece of my armour in it's chest. I returned the favour. Cerberus wanted me to give him to them, so they could test on him. I wasn't going to do that, for many reasons.” Shepard took a drink, before standing up to get a refill, letting go of her hand. He walked over to the desk, near his bed. His old helmet sat on it, reminding him of those he lost. What he was fighting for. “I wanted to talk to him, so we put him in the only space we had left, the AI core and then put up as many defences as we could. Essentially turned the power back on, had a talk. Gave the platform a name, then talked. There are more Geth than we realised. Those that sided with Sovereign were only a faction. These Geth were more peaceful.” Shepard took a drink, before walking back to the couch. He looked at Ash. Wow she looked good.

“Peaceful Geth? How can you be sure?” Shepard sat down, Ashley eagerly waiting the reply.

“He didn't have to save my life. He had plenty of opportunities to kill me afterwards. When Legion contacted the rest of his Geth, EDI said she felt she could feel a mind the size of a Galactic Arm. Legion has even helped me kill more hostile Geth. Even gave me the choice of whether to wipe out or convert the remaining hostile Geth.” Shepard put his drink down before taking her hand into his.

“Convert? Wipe them out?”

“Sovereign gave his allies a virus to convert the other Geth to their way of thinking. That's why Legion was this side of the Perseus Veil. That's why it was on the Reaper. To try and find a way to stop that virus. It did. We attacked the headquarters of the heretics outside the veil. We fought through it. I got given the choice to destroy the heretics and their virus or convert them. I wanted Legion to make the choice as they're his people but they could not reach a consensus. Was around a 51/49 split in favour of convert. I think if we're going to survive the Reapers we could really use them. I converted them.”

“You had the choice to destroy Geth and you didn't take it?” Ashley was barely angry, he'd explained why he had and she found it hard to argue against him when he did that.

“They cannot be indoctrinated, they have formidable numbers, they have advanced technology. They could be the difference between losing against the Reapers, seeing all known advanced life, organic or synthetic, wiped out and us possibly being engineered into their servants for when they do it again, or beating them. Breaking the cycle of extinction, seeing where we can go, seeing how many lives we can save. If it means we survive, yes, I will not destroy them. It may even get the Quarians their home back. Legion tells me that the only reason they ever go there is simply to clean any waste up. They're still quite tense when it comes to their creators but given a bit of tact and diplomacy, they could have their home back.”

“Sounds like you want to do it.”

“This is between the Quarians and the Geth. I can't get involved. They need to learn to get on. If they don't, then it won't last. Another war waiting to happen. Pointless.”

“Do you think they will?”

“I reckon they can. Having seen Tali and Legion almost kill each other and then actually become quite amicable, I think it can be done. One of their admirals is really defensive over them too, he actually treats them like they're the Quarian's children. Which they are, of sorts.”

“One of their admirals? You've been to the fleet? On a Cerberus ship? How the hell did you manage that, you know what Cerberus did to them?”

“There's a reason for it but I don't want to tell you about it, it's a pretty touchy subject for Tali. How the hell did you know about what happened between Cerberus and the Quarians?”

“I am still part of the Alliance remember. We thought that Cerberus was abducting the colonists, they gave me access to all the Alliance records on Cerberus.” Shepard took another drink.

“I am sure I can get you a few more things.”

“I am sure you can. Now what about information on Cerberus?” Ashley smirked.

“That's my joke. Yes I think I can help you get more information on Cerberus. I have access to a few resources. You think the Alliance will want it?”

“I want it.”

“Do you want the information on Cerberus?” Shepard smiled. Ashley hit him.

“I walked into that didn't I?”

“You did. Remind me again later, I'm sure I can give you a lot of information to take back to the Alliance.

“Why were the heretics following Sovereign and Saren then? If Legion's Geth weren't.”

“It called itself Nazara, they knew it as an Old Machine. Basically the heretics wanted a body to put all of themselves into. Geth are more complete when there are more together. They wanted to be able to have every single one of them in one place. Sovereign offered them a reaper body if they followed him. The heretics agreed. The Geth didn't. They think that the journey is just as important as the destination. They wanted to make it themselves. They also didn't want to start a war with the organics. They fought the Quarians before for survival. This wasn't survival. So they didn't fight.”

“The Heretics didn't fight them?”

“Not in a full on war. It's certainly more hostile than Legion would like though. The Heretics had the Geth patrol routes.”

“How hostile does he think it is?”

“Well he asked us to kill many of them. So not exactly dinner companions.”

“So how was there not a full on war?”

“He tells me that it was simply a difference of opinion. Though soon the heretics began to war with, well, us and the Geth weren't happy about it. I'm sure that Legion can answer anything in more detail if you'd like.”

“Talk to a Geth? I'm not sure I could.”

“I'll be there with you. He won't do anything.” Shepard took another drink.

“No. I'll do it. Alone.” Shepard smiled at her.

“Good.”

“I've got one more thing to ask for the moment.”

“Just the one?”

“OK you got me, a few, but not many. What happened with the collectors?” Ashley gripped his hand a little tighter as he took a drink.

“We destroyed their base. Destroyed the semi-functional human Reaper. Lost some crew there, but thankfully not many...” Ash shifted next to him, wrapping his arm around her as she lay her head on his shoulder. “Ash, what are you doing?”

“Sorry skipper, I just...” She didn't know what to say.

“No need to apologise Ash.” Shepard rarely got the opportunity to be like this, he needed it. “Anyway, when we were about to destroy the Collector base, the Illusive Man tried to order me to do it differently, to do a timed radiation pulse to destroy the collectors and leave their base, their technology intact. I said no, he ordered Miranda to make me do it, she said no. We no longer have an affiliation with Cerberus.” She looked up at him.

“Why did you say no?” He looked down at her, he kissed her softly but held it for a long time.

“For many reasons. He believed he could get technology from the derelict reaper and had sent a team there. It sent the team mad. The indoctrination was still active. It wasn't as strong as it was before. It took them many weeks to go crazy, but they did. They began to have shared memories before they got killed by the husks. So I don't think he would have been able to actually use any of the technology without dying or becoming a tool of the Reapers.”

“You didn't want him to become an agent of the Reapers?”

“Well, he's a backstabbing selfish exploiting murderer. There was more to it than he was too stupid to make use of the collectors base properly. If he could find the technology, he would misuse it. Mainly though, I was willing to work with Cerberus to destroy the collectors, save human lives. They have long since ceased to be the Protheans that we thought built the Mass Relays. So I destroyed them.”

“Good.” Ashley smiled before kissing him again.

“So what else did you want to know Ash?” He said after she broke the kiss. She put her head back on his shoulder and shifted closer. Her skirt shifted higher on her legs, showing off a lot more thigh when Shepard looked down.

“I was going to ask how you came to quit Cerberus.”

“You know that. One thing you may not know.” She looked up at him, he looked back down. “I know who the shadow broker is.”

“What? Really?” She wouldn't have believed anyone else. He wasn't one for lying or bragging though.

“Yeah I know. You do too actually.” Now Ash was really confused.

“Huh? Who is it?” She sat up and the skirt rose a little higher.

“That's something I'm not going to give away lightly Ash.” He leant down to kiss her and felt her push back into the kiss. The song changed to a rockier number, something they both knew from the first Normandy. He put his drink down, before pulling her to him with the arm that had been around her for so long, his drink hand going to her thigh. She pushed him back down onto the couch, before straddling him.

“You will tell me who it is Shepard. I will force it out of you.” She smirked as she said it, the lust back in her eyes.

“You're going to have to...” Shepard stopped mid-sentence as Ashley raised her skirt, higher, showing her lack of underwear, then started to unzip her boots. “Well that's certainly a good start.”