Thanks for the Memories
by Mekairinek
(Meta Ray Mek / Elegance Liberty)

DISCLAIMER: All characters, places and things (TM) BioWare and EA Games. This was written for fun. I don't own, please don't sue!

PREFACE: This Mass Effect fan fiction is set some time after the game. Kaidan is dead, Tali has long since left the Normandy and Male!Shepard has chosen Liara over Ashley. Eliah Shepard is Spacer/Ruthless/Neutral (meaning neither Paragon nor Renegade). Some dialog has been lifted verbatim or altered from the 'Wrex's Armor' sidequest for story purposes only.

This story is a 'sequel' to "Tough Love" and is multi-part, though it will more than likely be in 3 'acts'/chapters.

'Another day, another mail from Sarah,' Ashley Williams skimmed through the letter from her younger sister. 'Just a few more weeks girl, then I'm on shore leave.'

In the time since Sovereign's defeat, the crew of the Normandy had spent a fair amount of time bouncing from world to world in their persut of the Reapers. Commander Eliah Shepard was determined to find them, no matter the cost, even at the expense of the crew's morale.

As loyal as she was, Ashley was beginning to grow weary of chasing every false lead that lead to nothing. The turian, Garrus Vakarian, had grown anxious to go back to Palaven and begin his second attempt to become a Spectre, yet he was torn between that and his loyalty to Shepard. Shepard's asari companion, Dr. Liara T'Soni was initially excited to help search, but now she had begun to express interest on setting up shop on the Citadel and work remotely from there. The krogan, Urdnot Wrex, was perhaps the only one who wasn't showing signs of discontent or otherwise. As far as he was concerned, if it involved things blowing up and death, he was content.

For all their own grievances, the crew of the Normandy said nothing to Shepard and most hoped he'd notice. Ashley was convinced he didn't care.

"Ashley," she heard Liara's calm voice speak to her. "Do you have a moment?"

It was no secret that initially, Ashley utterly loathed Liara. Then again, the gunnery chief wasn't fond of the asari in general for one reason or another. It all came to a head when it was revealed that Shepard had fallen in love with the asari, after having Ashley convinced he loved her instead. Over time, Ashley got over it and moved on from Shepard completely. Despite the fact that the asari had tried desperately to be friends with the human, Liara knew that part of Ashley still hated her.

"Does it look like I have a moment?" She snapped, not even looking behind her.

Liara's face fell, looking rather hurt by the tone the gunnery chief took.

"I'm terribly sorry, I just..." Liara fumbled for the proper words. She knew that Ashley had an incredibly short temper and all had to walk on glass to speak to her. "Shepard wanted me to tell you that we'll be stopping at the Citadel for a few days. For rest, mostly, but we're also..."

"Seriously?" Ashley raised an eyebrow. "And why didn't Shepard have the balls to tell this to me personally?"

"He's busy telling the others upstairs," Liara looked away from Ashley. "But I figured I'd tell you before he came down here."

Without saying much more, Liara quickly walked back to the elevator. It might have been just her, but Ashley could have sworn that the elevator was moving much faster this time around. Either way, the prospect of a few days to drink at Chora's Den and kick back on the Presidium was a good idea about now.

As Ashley resumed sending a reply mail to Sarah, she sensed another person approaching her from behind. This time, however, she was quite aware of who it was.

"Do you always have to sneak up behind me, Wrex?" She asked without even pulling her eyes away from the screen.

"You tell me." He said fairly bluntly.

She merely ignored him and attempted to get back to writing a reply to Sarah.

She soon became increasingly uncomfortable with Wrex leering behind her. Over time, she had gotten used to the krogan appearing out of nowhere throughout the Normandy like a ghost, though it still caught her a little off-guard at times.

"Is there a reason why you're watching what I'm doing?" Ashley asked, this time looking over her shoulder. "Because it's really getting on my nerves."

Wrex had a smirk on his face, one that hinted to Ashley that he was up to something. And that something, more often than not, ended in trouble.

"Heard we're going to the Citadel," he said. "About time too."

"No kidding," Ashley agreed. "At least Shepard is finally realizing that we need a break."

Ashley then got the feeling that Wrex wasn't here to make small talk about how much they needed a break or other inane topics the others on the ship were prone to discussing. Whenever Wrex approached anyone of his own choice, he usually had a motive behind it. Typically, they'd go to him first and even then he'd be resistant to talk. Something was amiss.

"... Is there something you need, Wrex?" Ashley asked with a tone of suspicion.

Lumbering forward, the krogan was mere inches from Ashley's face, staring her right in the eyes.

"When we get to the Citadel, meet me at the Krogan Monument," he said in a hushed tone, as if he didn't want the Requisitions Officer to hear. "There's something I need to speak to you about."

As quickly as he appeared, he left. Something about the tone of his voice implied that this was of great importance, the gunnery chief deduced. Why couldn't they discuss it right then and there? Sure, there was the fact that Joker could be eavesdropping in on the conversation as he was known to do at times, but that shouldn't have stopped Wrex. Even Shepard was oblivious to the goings on amongst his crew, it seemed.

Whatever it was, now Ashley was curious.

Garrus, Ashley and Liara were the last three to get onboard the long elevator down to C-Sec. Shepard, Wrex and others had apparently gotten off the Normandy first. This made Ashley a little uncomfortable, as she wasn't terribly fond of Garrus and she still did not like Liara. Sharing an elevator with them, though, was the least of her worries.

"... I haven't yet broken the news to my father about my intentions of becoming a Spectre yet," Garrus said with a twinge of remorse. "It's been hard figuring out what to say."

"How dreadful," Liara frowned. "I can only imagine how much of a burden this is on you."

For all intents and purposes, Ashley didn't care what they were speaking about. All she could think of was what could Wrex possibly want with her. The turian and asari seemed to indicate that they didn't know or were aware of the krogan ever approaching them, remaining oblivious to the worry that was on her mind.

"At best, he'll probably stop speaking to me altogether," sighed Garrus. "At worst, he'll disown me."

"Damned if you do, damned if you don't." Ashley blurted out in a rather erudite manner.

Insulted, Garrus opened his mouth as if to say something, but instead remained quiet, hurt by the gunnery chief's apparent insensitivity. Looking at him from the corner of her eye, Ashley felt a little remorse for what she said. The remorse was short-lived, as she quickly convinced herself that the turian needed to be told in blunt terms that there was no real easy way out of his predicament.

Liara saw it differently.

"Couldn't you have said that in a nicer tone?" She asked, her patience wearing thin with the human.

The elevator stopped on the ground floor of C-Sec Headquarters. As the door opened, Garrus bolted out rather quickly and disappeared into the crowds of people. From his body language, both Liara and Ashley could tell he was having a rather emotional moment and mutually agreed to leave him alone for the duration of their visit.

"Could have, but didn't." Ashley sighed.

"Aren't you just a bundle of joy... if that's the human expression." The asari muttered below her breath.

After they made it to the Upper Wards, Liara decided to head over to Flux, where Shepard was waiting for her. After the asari left, Ashley was more than happy to have Liara gone from her company. Now, she could go find Wrex and not have anyone nosing into her business.

On the subject of art, Ashley claimed she never was an 'art' person. She admired the effort put into art, but she never really cared much for trying to evaluate or 'appreciate' it like others did. It would take a painting or a sculpture quite a bit to really impress her tastes.

Unfortunately, the Krogan Monument wasn't such a sculpture.

She carefully approached the monument, hoping to not mistake the live krogan standing there if he happened to not be Wrex. All krogan looked alike to her, though with them she could easily tell who was who. With a race like the asari, there was a faint futility into trying to accurately remember who happened to be who.

"So..." Ashley began with a certain hesitance. "You wanted to see me?"

Luckily for her, the krogan happened to be Wrex, just as he said.

"I've got a question for you, Williams." Wrex folded his arms across his chest.

"Uh-oh," Ashley took a step back. "I don't like the sound of that."

Wrex couldn't help but snicker at the human's wariness.

"How much does your family mean to you?" He asked.

Surprised by this, Ashley spared no time in contemplating Wrex's question. When it came to family, it was perhaps the most important thing in her entire life.

"They mean everything to me," she spoke with sincerity."I'd do anything for them... and on occasion I have."

This was quite intriguing to the krogan, to say the least.

"Such as...?"

"Well, there was this one time my sister Sarah was having some 'boy trouble', I guess you could call it," Ashley rubbed the back of her neck. "I requested a week's leave and I made sure she didn't get hurt by some guy she jilted when he tried to get her to 'do it', you know?" She couldn't help but laugh a little, albeit embarrassed somewhat. "By the end of the week, things got really weird... but she managed to hold her own. Let's just put it that way."

Tired of standing, the gunnery chief decided to sit down on a nearby bench. Wrex followed, though he didn't sit down, on the account that the benches in the Presidium were 'uncomfortable'.

"I guess my father really gave me a sense of responsibility for protecting my family. Even if he wasn't always around, I held him in high regard... I still do, even though he's passed on," she looked up to the artificial blue sky. "In some selfish way, I'm... kinda glad Shepard chose to save me on Virmire."

"Ironic, considering just a month ago you were cursing his name," Wrex was quick to add. "Heh."

"Har, Har," Ashley muttered. "But yeah, family is important to me," she looked at the krogan. "What about yours?"

Wrex didn't even look at Ashley and instead kept his eyes focused on the monument.

"I have no family." He said bluntly.

'You're serious."

"I am serious."

There was a long, uncomfortable silence between the two.

"... Why are you so interested in me and my family?" Ashley then inquired.

The krogan didn't say anything right away. He instead walked over to the railing by the monument, leaning along the metal railing. Ashley got up from the bench, slowly walking towards him. She then leaned on the railing next to him, the pair looking at their reflections in the crystalline water below.

"... I envy you, Williams," he finally said. "That's all."

Ashley raised an eyebrow.

"You... envy me?" She was quite confused by this.

"Your grandfather was the one who surrendered at Shanxi," he said, subtly changing the subject. "Yet you still respect him?"

The mere mention of 'Shanxi' was enough to cause Ashley to become a little more than agitated. Only a few people on board the Normandy knew the story of the Williams' family's shameful past and she was certain that she never told Wrex at all during the time he was on there.

"How did you know?" She spat. "I never told you that!"

"You'd be surprised at how loud your voice can be even indoors," he grinned. "But that's not the point."

"Yeah, my grandfather was the guy," she groaned, realizing that Wrex wouldn't let her get away unless she answered his question. "Okay, so the surrender nerfed my dad's military career and it's caused me to be put on some really sucky assignments in boondock colonies," she threw one of her hands in the air out of exasperation. "But I can't hold it against him all my life. I mean, what good will that do when I finally meet him when I die?"

"I don't know how you do it, Williams." Wrex looked away from her once again.

The pair paid no attention to some of the rather rude glances they got from assorted species that passed by the monument.

"I guess since we're admitting about eavesdropping," Ashley felt a rock form in her throat. "I overheard you talking to Shepard about your family a while back," she didn't even want to see the steely glare the krogan was giving her upon this admission. "... Sorry to hear that."

"Why are you saying 'sorry'?" He asked. "My family is dead to me."

"I just think it's really kinda... sad that your father betrayed you and tried to kill you," she said. "That's all."

Wrex wasn't quite sure if Ashley either had pity or genuine sympathy for him. He was hoping it was the latter, as he had heard enough of the former from just about everyone else on the Normandy and pretty much everywhere else he'd been. Except from the turian, who had virtually no sense of tact when it came to conversation with him, so pity and genuine sympathy from Garrus sounded like an insult either way.

Glancing at a nearby clock, Ashley decided it was time to go. She'd promised a few of her former squadmates that she'd meet up with them at Flux not long after arriving, even though she'd promised the krogan she'd meet with him at the monument. How now, she though, could she gracefully exit this meeting without upsetting him?

"Hey Wrex, ummm... I kinda have..." she began.

"... to go somewhere else because I'm tired of talking with you," he finished. "Whatever."

Ashley was genuinely offended by Wrex's mockery.

"Hey now, I promised some guys I'd meet them for some drinks," she protested. "Sheesh."

Without saying much more, the gunnery chief left the monument and headed over to the nearest rapid transit terminal. Wrex decided it was time to leave as well and began to head over in the direction of the Wards. He contemplated what he would say to Ashley the next time he'd see her... how he could make her an offer she, for all of her warrior's spirit, couldn't possibly refuse.