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Need to Know	By : Nicker Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 13206 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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By the time the Reapers attacked, Miranda Lawson was as ready as it was possible. She had caches of money, food and equipment in a dozen worlds, factoring in Oriana’s location and potential planets she could reach with a small enough ship with a large enough FTL drive. Based on the preparations and the trip through the Omega Relay, she was suspicious of the other relays, too.
The news still shocked her, even after all the intensity of setting foot in a derelict Reaper and surviving the Omega relay. Her heart hammered in her chest and there was a lump in her throat as she listened to the news in the cramped space of a cargo bay of a smuggler ship that had accommodations for people who wanted to avoid the authorities.
The timing was almost lucky for her, as she was on her way from Bekenstein after tapping a significant amount of money and resources from a local, now defunct Cerberus cell. They were really not ready for her.
Still, the space in the cargo bay suddenly got smaller, and in fact, Space itself got smaller for all of humanity and the other races, and the freighter suddenly seemed painfully slow as it plowed towards the Citadel.
Miranda quickly went over the potential scenarios in her head. Shepard was on Earth. If he makes it out of there, he’ll probably pick up Williams – who, by this time, hopefully digested the implications of the recordings she left her. They’d have to pick up T’Soni from Mars, which was a convenient stop anyway, not to mention to add the resources of the Shadow Broker to EDI’s already formidable capacity. She smirked as she thought about the power that thus concentrated on board the Normandy.
It still felt like an eternity to reach the Citadel, and apparently, the Normandy beat her to it. She kind of hoped to speak to Shepard, but it was too busy and too difficult to get close to him. She would have to wait until refugees would start to pour in and mingle with them. As long as Illium was safe, she had time.
Her optimism lasted until she found out about Ashley Williams rushed to the Huerta Memorial in critical condition. That was inconvenient, after all that she and Liara worked on smoothing out the wrinkles between her and Shepard.
To Miranda’s surprise, she found herself more upset about it than it would seem rational. It was not like they were friends or particularly close. She had to take time to calm herself down and even then she got distracted thinking about Williams while she went about her business, dodging C-Sec, the Alliance and Cerberus.
After a few days, when Shepard left for Palaven, she finally gave up and with a frustrated snort, she started to case out the hospital, both offline and online. She had to get fake ids and references to get anywhere close to Ashley, who was apparently well-guarded. She also accessed Ashley’s medical records, and it did not look good. She recognized a hopeless case when she saw one, and with the internal damage, her chances were not that good.
Fortunately, many of the injuries and problem were familiar to Miranda, and she did keep a personal copy of her work on the Lazarus Station. So while she prepared for her next trip off the Citadel, tracking the Normandy, Oriana and all those who hunted her, she put together a plan to get close to Williams.
She chose the night shift, a fake transfer from an Alliance military hospital, just to make it more interesting, got hold of a nurse’s uniform and waltzed into the hospital ward without any problems. Although her papers said that she was sent over from the military hospital to take samples and run tests on Williams for the Alliance specialists, she spent a little time helping with the usual night shift tasks, just to avoid suspicion.
Finally, near the end of the night cycle, when the patients were all asleep and the staff was less alert, she walked into Williams’ darkened room. She approached the bed and looked the marine over, trying to keep a straight face at the sight of the damage, all the bruises and bandages. The monitors were also showing bleak numbers, just like the charts, making Miranda grimace thoughtfully as she went through her options.
The files were not optimistic, listing all of the internal damages and fractures, and even more bleak about her head injuries. The reports suggested that they were not expecting full physical recovery and were not sure that they could pull her out of her coma without any brain damage.
Miranda scoffed disdainfully at the reports. Their efforts were adequate, but barely enough to keep her alive. Looking at the doctor’s notes, Miranda could guess that eventually they would be able to fix Williams, but she had small chances for a full recovery. With the Reapers already here, Miranda could not allow this to happen. Shepard needed her.
Most of the damage and complications were trivial to Miranda, but then again, she had two years and an infinite amount of budget to bring back Shepard, which was a much bigger challenge, involving developing revolutionary methods in cell regeneration and biomechanics, that the Citadel staff could only hope for. Given the hospital’s limited resources, not to mention that she had to cover her tracks, it still promised to be a hard task.
She copied the files to her omnitool and while she took blood samples and recorded the readouts, she occasionally stopped to take a look at Williams’ bruised face, wondering why she was so emotionally invested in this. She was certainly calmer when she fixed Shepard. Then again, she had as much time and money as she wanted, while at this moment, the Reapers were upon them and Williams was needed in the fight. It was an emotional time for everybody, and it will only get worse.
She had to hurry, though, not to get caught, so she finished taking notes, grabbed the samples and slipped out.
She found the physician in attendance, some Dr. Michel slumped in a couch in the doctor’s lounge, fast asleep. Miranda quickly swiped her ID chip and cloned it onto her omnitool. It would be useful to authorize treatments and more complex tests if needed. She then packed up her stuff, checked out her shift with the head nurse and went home.
For the next couple of weeks she went back to the hospital as a nurse to check on Ashley’s status, modifying dosages, prescribing treatments on behalf of Dr. Michel, tweaking the medication and collecting data.
By the time she was ready to leave the Citadel for a while to take care of a few things, she was quite confident that Ashley would eventually pull through, faster and healthier than the doctors diagnosed. She smirked as she looked at her charts one last time, then adjusted Ashley’s pillow and her blanket and walked out of the hospital, leaving it to a very baffled Dr. Michel to figure out Williams’ almost miraculous healing and the congratulations she received for her out of the box thinking and revolutionary methods.
***
Even a week after Ashley woke up, she still had trouble believing she was going to be all right. When that bitch started slamming her into various objects on Mars, Ashley was sure that that was it. As she felt the explosions of pain, the crunching noises of the bones breaking, the numbness, the impossible forces crushing her, she realized that she was not going to make it.
She was already surprised that she woke up only weeks after the incident, but with the pain she was still in, Ashley was not sure that it was a good thing. Surely, she would be crippled for life and condemned to a wheelchair or something, without being able to wipe her own ass, and that was no life to live. Not only that but apart from some concussion, her memory remained mostly intact and did not suffer any brain damage.
Ashley tried to imagine what could have been worse: waking up crippled but with a clear mind or trapped in her own mind, drooling, oblivious to the outside world. Ashley groaned as she tried to get more comfortable in the hospital bed. She would have nightmares about all the possible miseries she could have ended up with.
As it was, even the doctors seemed a bit uncertain around her, doing tests over and over again, like they were expecting her to crash at any second. That did not raise Ashley’s confidence. The nurses were praising her doctor, but even they did not sound convinced. And Dr. Michel was even weirder, stammering and asking a lot of questions about how Ashley was feeling.
Irritated, was her answer eventually, and even though Dr. Michel obviously saved Ashley’s life and she did seem to be on the path of full recovery, Dr. Michel did not seem happy about it even though it was supposed to be a smaller miracle.
Ashley waited until she finished her check-up and left before picking up the Tennyson poems Shepard left her when he last visited, trying to find some measure of tranquility in the verses, but she couldn’t concentrate.
The good news was, that they were on the mend with Shepard. In the short time they could actually talk after they left Earth and before she was taken out, and since she woke up and not on painkillers, Ashley subtly tried to let Shepard know that she knew about the raid on the Collector Base and their conflict with the Illusive Man.
She thought about that a lot, watched the vids a couple of times until she was as certain as she could be about what happened, before thoroughly destroying the omnitool. It was a chilling watch, and not just because of the tactics involved. The horror was palpable even though the team more or less managed to keep their head level, apart from the occasional–and very justified–bursts of panic. Lawson was right. She needed to see this. Nothing else would have been enough proof for her, not to mention she wouldn’t have known what questions to ask.
Amidst all the chaos, monsters, impossible displays of biotic power and the proto-reaper that haunted even her in her thoughts, she could not help but be impressed how Lawson kept her wits about. The forced perspective of the events made her aware of the Cerberus operative’s choices, and moves, but more importantly, her own fear. Yes, she was efficient, a very good shot, agile, but more independent, not burdened by the body armor, and Ashley could see how she struggled to work in a team. When she kept close to Shepard, she was better at it. But behind that all, her voice, her panting breath, occasional grunts and hiding behind covers betrayed the intense fear that must have been gripping all of them. She could only imagine their nightmares after this mission.
But all that was just professional admiration. What changed everything, however, was that last communication with The Illusive Man, delivered to Ashley from up close and personal as they used Lawson’s omnitool for communication. All the while, the man was facing away from Lawson, but the voice was crystal clear, and Shepard’s level-headed, no-bullshit answers were the best proof Ashley ever needed.
And when The Illusive Man finally turned towards Miranda and Ashley could see his face as he ordered her to stop Shepard, Ashley shuddered. “Consider this as my resignation,” Lawson said coldly, not a trace of fear in her voice, as she cut the feed.
The more Ashley thought about it, the more she realized that even if all the other evidence would have pointed towards Shepard’s “genuity”, Ashley had to admit that a tiny part of her would have still doubted him, and would have been suspicious about Lawson, too. She needed to see these things in this order, with her own eyes, culminating in that last communication.
This last call was the most valuable proof, that convinced her that Shepard was in the clear. There was absolutely no other way that she could have believed it, and there was no way she could have acquired this confirmation. She spent that last few days of her vacation in a daze, trying to act normal while her mind was racing. How smart it was for Lawson to give this to her and how this proved that both of them cut their ties with Cerberus.
And how important was Ashley’s own decision to pursue this and go after Lawson with the help of Liara. And although in the end it was not exactly clear whether Liara played Ashley or Lawson, or both of them, or even if the asari conspired with Miranda, the results were beyond her wildest dreams. Not only did Ashley know almost as much as if she was there on the mission - and by God, how she would have loved to have been there! - but she also got Shepard back and a new ally at the same time.
As she was lying in the hospital bed for days and weeks on end, she had a lot more time to think. It was good to see Shepard, and eventually Ashley realized she did not need have a “Talk” with him. It was enough that she knew that she could trust him. So they talked about personal stuff, of becoming a Spectre, and eventually decided not to mull over her recovery. It was getting less awkward between them and Ashley hoped Shepard could see that trust was no longer an issue.
***
Almost minutes before she was going crazy, she was discharged from the hospital, on her own two feet, albeit with strict instructions to rest a lot and go easy on the exercises. Her induction into the ranks of Spectres was unceremonious and she wished Shepard was there. It felt a little bit disappointing, especially with Udina making a whole pretentious speech. The thought that even now she wasn’t above the law enough to not get ordered around by Udina was not improving her mood. Good thing she was still on painkillers.
And then it happened.
She was on her way to a completely unnecessary debriefing with Udina about some damn paperwork that would assign her resources, when the first explosions started, and the first shots were fired.
She spun around, searching for the source of the noise, pulling her gun. Fortunately, Spectres were allowed to carry guns in the Presidium. Based on the sounds, this was no ordinary shootout. Too many weapons for too long.

An invasion! she thought, her second thought: The Reapers! They’re here!
At first she dashed towards the elevators at the Plaza to get a feel of the threat, but it was still distant and C-Sec was responding in force. There were no signs of the abominations yet, and no visible destruction to the structure. She hesitated, itching to get into the fight, but going over her options she reluctantly recognized that her top priority now was to secure the Council.
Udina was closest, and by the time she reached his office, he was already alert and on the comms.

“Ah, Williams,” he said with a snarl. Ashley had to remind herself that this was just the way he spoke and not how he felt. “Glad you are here. It seems we are under attack.”

“Reapers?”

Udina shook his head. “No. Something else.”

Ashley looked at him baffled but before she could ask the obvious question, there was an explosion nearby. She motioned him impatiently to come with her.

“We need to get you and the Council to safety.”

Udina hesitated, looking over his terminal and his omnitool before nodding.

“Very well,” Udina muttered.
Ashley grabbed him by the elbow and dragged him along, weapon drawn, checking their surroundings as she lead them towards the Council chambers.
“Who the hell are they?” Ashley muttered as the sounds of battle continued.

Udina tried to remain calm, his eyes darting around.

“It sounded like… Cerberus.” he said and Ashley couldn’t decide if his tone was reluctant or incredulous.
Before they could discuss the subject, they reached the elevator leading to the Chambers, where a squad of C-Sec were already forming a defensive perimeter.
Things went quickly from there. Ashley took over the command and they went to find the other Counciors. Only the asari and the turian were in the chambers, while the salarian was nowhere to be found. Nobody knew where she was, she even sent away her security detail. Ashley found that more than suspicious but that was a problem for an other time.

“Listen up,” Ashley said to the guards, but her gaze included the Councilors, too. “We need to get to a shuttle bay and secure the Councilors. Do you have any radio contact with C-Sec?”
One of the uniforms, a turian tapped his comm piece, and listened for a few seconds, nodding to Ashley.

“Yes, Spectre. Comms are scarce, they are scrambling most frequencies. It seems it’s… it’s Cerberus. Took out the comms tower and took over C-Sec HQ.”
Ashley hissed, looking around with narrowed eyes, gritting her teeth nervously. It was quite the sudden change from following orders in the Alliance ranks to organizing a VIP security escort through unknown, invaded territory on her first day on the job.
“Fine,” she sighed, looking at the C-Sec squad, who were a bit disheveled by the surprise attack but after Sovereign, they were harder to shake up. “They are probably on the way here to grab the Council. Form a tight escort and follow my lead. We take a longer route to the shuttle station. Come on!”
They started their trek along the Presidium, avoiding the open spaces and the obvious paths, choosing to go through stores, offices and back alleys. It was close quarters, but the chances of surprise was lower, and it was at least familiar surroundings from her training.
They tried to raise Councilor Esheel on the comms, but neither her, nor her escort responded. She ordered one of the C-Sec guards to try to reach her every few minutes without giving away their position.
It was a long and nerve-wrecking trek through the Presidium, with panicking diplomats and civilians everywhere. They passed a few groups of people huddled in diners and offices. It felt like a warzone with the sounds of fighting growing louder as Ashley led her team further on, and she found herself excited, her trigger finger itching. She should have felt guilty about enjoying the danger, but this was what she was trained for.
They didn’t have to wait long for the first skirmish, a bunch of Cerberus troops bursting out of a passageway from the Wards. It was over quickly, only a sword-wielding biotic giving her a pause before cutting it down, the ridiculous, ancient weapon useless in tight spaces.
They radioed ahead, trying to rally some C-Sec units to secure their route to the shuttle dock, but the defenders were thrown into chaos. There was another group of Cerberus commandos engaged in battle with some trapped C-Sec at a security post. Ashley’s team caught them by surprise, hitting them from behind. The surviving C-Sec guards joined their ranks, giving Ashley more options to set up a front and rear guard.
And then, inevitably, they ran into a group that was too big and well-organized for them to handle. They quickly got themselves pinned down in a food court, and Ashley finally had to make the decision to leave C-Sec to hold the fort until she could slip out with the disheveled Councilors and one lonely turian C-Sec sergeant in tow.
It was a mess, and they were outgunned and outnumbered, but Ashley managed to cut a bloody path through their flank, to the great surprise of both Cerberus troops and the remaining C-Sec units with her efficiency. She lost half her men by the time they were clear, leaving the rest to almost certain death as they held up the chasing Cerberus team. The turian C-Sec officer fell before he made it into the elevator. It was only her now, and the Council.
This may be her biggest, and possibly her last act as a Spectre. And she didn’t even get to fight the Reapers–
There was a loud bang on the roof of the elevator as more than one set of feet landed on it. This is it! Ashley thought as she shoved the councilors to the side and she started shooting through the roof to whoever was bold enough to still be there.
The elevator came to a halt at the shuttle dock level and as soon as the doors opened, Ashley shoved the councilors out, backing away from the shaft, checking over her shoulder to see if they were alone. At least she didn’t have to worry about getting shot in the back.
“Quick! Lock the elevators!” she barked to the Councilors as she saw the roof of the elevator car blasted in and dark figures dropping into the car. She peppered them with a burst from her gun just to keep them inside until the doors closed, but Udina wasn’t fast enough.
“What the–?” Ashley muttered as Shepard emerged from the smoke, flanked by Vega and Liara. Her mind racing, Ashley tried to connect the dots.
“Hey, Ash” Shepard said quietly, not lowering his gun. Ashley took a quick look around. She knew Garrus couldn’t be far behind. He was ex C-Sec and a permanent attachment to Shepard, especially now. He must be at a vantage point with a sniper rifle, she concluded.
“Hey, skipper. How’s it going?” she nodded, hesitant to lower her gun. Their eyes met, searching each other’s intentions, looking for signs. Shepard held her gaze.

“It’s Udina, Ash. The salarian councilor has proof that he works for Cerberus.”
There was an almost invisible nod, and a steady, determined gaze as Shepard tipped his gun downward, and Ashley knew. She smirked, allowing herself a chuckle as she lowered her gun and slowly turned around. She caught Shepard’s baffled frown. He was obviously prepared for a tough argument here, and he seemed just as surprised that it was this easy, than Ashley herself.
Hiding her confusion she stared at Udina, just like everybody else. He had a gun in his hand, and Ashley thought how stupid that was. There was a bang and Udina was down, clutching his mangled arm.
She felt a pat on her back.

“Good job, Ash,” Shepard said softly as he trotted off to gather the Councilors while Vega approached Udina with his shotgun still trained on him.
Ashley shook her head, mostly to clear away the fog from her mind. And just like that it was over.
***
The mop-up was smooth and painless, the Cerberus troops retreated orderly, without too much fight – a smart move to cut their losses. The few who got pinned down commited suicide.
Ashley did her part in a sort of a daze, going through the motions, organizing, searching, securing, but her thoughts were elsewhere.
Even Shepard noticed it and pulled her aside.

“Ash? Everything all right?” he asked, one hand on her shoulder.

Ashley shrugged and waved it off.

“It’s fine, Shepard. It’s just exhaustion. This is my second day out of the hospital. I’m out of shape. I’ll be fine.”

Shepard nodded and smiled at her, patting her shoulder.

“You did well today, Spectre Williams. We’ve got it from here.”
She remained distracted for the rest of the day and only in her quarters, under the rush of hot water from the shower did she realize why: Shepard and she held each other at gunpoint, and it could have turned out very badly if she still had any doubts about Shepard’s loyalties. She shuddered, thinking about a standoff between the two human Spectres, Ashley not knowing for certain whether Shepard was still with Cerberus or not. Udina probably would have tried to fan the flames. It could have been ugly. Her heart beating faster she thought about how fortunate it was that she could talk to Miranda and get enough evidence–
Miranda Lawson. Ashley managed not to think about that woman for a few days now, ever since she felt like things were going well with Shepard. After that, she was too busy thinking about Udina’s offer to join the ranks of the Spectres, and trying to get out of the hospital as fast as possible.
And now, here she was, standing idly under the shower and Shepard reminded her of Lawson, and her cocky attitude at the beach, fashioning sleek sunglasses and strawberry blonde hair like she owned the place… Ashley hit the tap and switched off the hot water, gasping at the rush of cold water, blinking the water from her eyes, goosebumps forming on her skin.
She toweled down and climbed into bed, feeling sore and thoroughly exhausted after a long day. Still, she had to wonder– was it the plan all along? To arrange for Ashley to learn everything about Shepard just to make sure they got along well? Was it the plan? Was it a plan at all? And if yes, which one of them had the idea? Liara seemed pretty knowledgeable when she directed Ashley towards Miranda, twice. And the second time, Miranda was overly confident, showing off on a beach while on the run–
Ashley fell asleep with a frown on her face.
A few days later she walked Shepard to the Normandy and all was well. They discussed things just like in the old days… No, that was not true. They were equals now, or at least as equal as they could be.
They reached the gates and they both looked at the Normandy.

“Are you sure you are not coming with us, Ash?” Shepard asked, looking back at her with his head tilted, smiling.
“I would love to, Shepard,” Ashley shook her head. “But two Spectres on one ship is a waste of resources. I’ll stay here and make sure things run smooth with the repairs. And find the moles… and beef up security...”

Shepard nodded “It makes sense.”
“Besides, I need to get back into shape. I was lying around too much.” She nodded absently, running her gaze along the docks before returning to Shepard and looking him in the eyes. “But I will be there if you need me, Shepard. Whenever you hit something big enough, you can count on me.”
Shepard grinned and saluted to her.

“Good luck, Spectre Williams.”

Ashley returned the salute. “Good hunting, Shepard.”

He shot one more warm, encouraging glance at her and then he was off, Garrus and Vega waiting for him at the hatch.
Ashley suddenly felt alone again, but this time she didn’t mind. It was all good. She watched the Normandy lock down and disengage from the docks, and for a while she followed the ship as it shrunk away between the gigantic arms of the Citadel.
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