Ashley Williams

If you had asked Ashley a week ago where and who she would be drinking with on leave, she would have said with her squad in Eden Prime’s bar. She would not have answered with a Krogan and a Turian on the Citadel. Yet here she was.

And they were her squad, Ashley had to remind herself. She had originally tried to maintain a professional separation, yet every time she tried to distance the aliens as seperate from her team, she just pictured Jenkins. That stupid man had dared to call her a racist and then had the further audacity to have a point.

Ashley could admit when she was wrong, and she was a lot of things but she certainly wasn’t an extremist. She didn’t trust the Council to look out for human interests and figured that humans at the very least had to watch out for themselves, but that didn’t mean she thought they should go to war with the Council again, or isolate themselves away from it.

Terra Firma would never have her vote, the idiots wanted some sort of neo-isolationist state, undoing all the work humanity had done to earn the little respect they had in the galaxy. And don’t get her started on Cerberus. That was an organization that would do anything and everything all in the name of ‘human superiority.’ Yeah, Ashley could recognize the group for the pseudo-terrorist organization they were. It would only be a matter of time before they did something stupid that got them put on a registry.

Still, she would admit to herself that she had allowed prejudice to cloud her perspective of Garrus when they had first met. If it weren’t for Jenkins, she probably wouldn’t have let him join them in the assault. However, over the past few days, she was starting to get the feeling he would have followed them anyway.

And then there was Wrex. Ashley hadn’t interacted with Krogan much and didn’t really have any preconceptions about his people before they met. Krogan were known to be tough and violent, but Ashley was a soldier raised in a military family. Toughness and violence are something she understood well. Still, she had been growing to understand exactly what it meant to be Krogan.

“Wrex, could you please explain why we are going to Chora’s Den to drink? You trashed the place only a few days ago. I can’t imagine you would be welcome there. If it’s even open.” Ashley didn’t understand why Wrex was insisting this was where they went, but she also didn’t have the energy in her to argue and go somewhere else by herself.

“That’s exactly why we are going there. Nothing better than getting a drink in the place you spent an hour trashing before. Sends a message.” Wrex chuckled as he walked, and Ashley couldn’t help but sigh.

She didn’t even think it would be open, from what everyone had said the place was trashed by the time they made their way out. Hell Jenkins set off a grenade in the center of the room. By all rights, it should be closed for weeks.

Yet as they approached the entrance of the bar she was surprised to see the lights flickering and the door open. The sound of music was coming from out of the room and the red and purple lighting lit up the walkway outside of the door. Ashley had to stop for a second just to process that the bar was open for business. Garrus just laughed from beside her.

“I suppose you would have expected it, but this isn’t the first time Chora’s Den has been trashed. Honestly, I’m not even sure it’s the first time Wrex has been responsible for trashing it. Wrex was that you in the incident where the whole central bar got split in half?” Garrus asked the question and Wrex turned around laughing.

“Ah, shit was that your scrawny Turian ass that tried to write me up for that? I stand by what I said at the time, I’m not responsible for putting an end to the clan fight that Weyrloc bastard tried to start.” Garrus just shook his head as Wrex let out another laugh.

“You two had met before?” Ashley was surprised to hear that but Garrus just waved an arm.

“Only through an incident report, I was still in training at the time, this was a decade ago at least. But yeah the point is that Chora’s Den is a hub for shadier dealings, it will always stay running. Someone will have taken Fist’s position before long if they haven’t already.” Garrus spoke assuredly, and talking about his past had Ashley curious for a moment.

Just how old was Garrus? What was his history like? He had military training clearly, but Ashley had never bothered to learn or ask about Turian culture before. She hadn’t ever considered it worth learning before. On Eden Prime when Jenkins had said a few words for the dead Turian Spectre she didn’t understand. Why would he even bother learning about Turian beliefs, much less respect them enough to follow through? But the more she thought about that moment in the days since, she realized that if she had died on a mission, she would only hope that someone would show her body the same respect.

Ashley shook the thoughts from her head clear as she entered the bar. Overthinking is specifically what she was trying to get away from, and why she followed Wrex. That and the fact that Jenkins was currently spending his limited time with Tali. Not that Ashley was against that, no of course not. Tali was very sweet and was into all that same technology and nerd shit that Jenkins liked. Even despite the weird feelings she had about the idea of humans and alien species together, it’s not like she couldn’t see that they were good together. It’s just that if she thought about that too closely she started feeling angry.

“Give me something strong!” Ashley slammed her hand on the bar, not having realized she closed the distance so quickly. She had been getting stuck in her thoughts a lot lately.

“You want strong for a human or strong for something else?” The bartender was a human woman, and she asked the question in a voice that seemed far too excited to be there.

“Give her the Krogan stuff, and one for me as well. I want to see how she can handle it.” Wrex slid up against the bar side as well, giving a smile to both the bartender and Ashley. The bartender flinched as he arrived and seemed suddenly much more hesitant to get involved.

“Uh, well. I can do that it’s just…” She trailed off and pointed to a sign hanging on a wall next to the entrance they had come in from.

It was a small poster, and a photo of Wrex holding some guy in the air by the throat, In the background she could see both Shepard and Kaidan engaging in a firefight. It must have been security footage from when they last came through here. At the bottom of the poster was the word banned in plain font.

Wrex simply stared from the poster and then back to the bartender, who flinched at his gaze. Wrex was still smiling, but any levity in his tone dropped as he spoke.

“Are you sure you want to enforce that?” The Bartender flinched and shook her head no as fast as she was able. Garrus just shook his head and sat at the bar to Ashley’s left.

‘I’m sorry about that,” He leaned forward to read the tag that the bartender wore, “Jenna. We aren’t going to cause any trouble, just some drinks. That whole mess was with the previous owner, and if someone wants to see us about it we are happy to talk all about it. In detail. Is that alright?” Garrus' words were polite, and Wrex just let out a chuckle at the implication of a discussion in detail.

“Right. Um, okay. Two Krogan stiffs. Anything else?” She asked the question to Garrus, but Ashley was a little miffed by the fact that her opinion on whether she wanted Krogan booze was seemingly unneeded. Oh well, she wanted something strong, and she wasn’t one to back down from the challenge Wrex had seemingly placed.

“Just a Turian highwater, thank you very much.” The bartender nodded and got to work preparing their drinks.

“A highwater, really Garrus you might as well just have not ordered anything.” Wrex looked at the Turian with some frustration. Garrus just shrugged.

“I told the Commander I was ensuring you weren’t getting into trouble. So yeah less alcohol for me. Tragedy I know, but next time you can buy me the strong stuff.” His words got another laugh out of Wrex as he finally stopped leaning and sat on the stool at the bar.

“Ha deal, you don’t know a person until you’ve gotten into a drunken brawl with them.” Ashley for her part felt a need to defend herself.

“I’m just having some drinks Vakarian, I don’t need you to look after me. I can handle my drink.” She gave him a look and Garrus just met her gaze, before glancing back to the barkeep.

“You’re drinking Krogan liquor, we will see how that goes for you.” Garrus nodded as Jenna came back to their section of their bar with something far different than what Ashley had expected. An artillery shell was hoisted onto the countertop, the top missing its ammunition and instead sealed with a metal cap welded shut.

“What the hell is that?” Ashley couldn’t help but exclaim as the barkeep grabbed a metal spike and hammer and with two whacks put a hole in the top of the shell.

“Krogan stiff. Brewed on Tuchanka. We make and store the stuff in old artillery shells, glass doesn’t last long on my world.” Wrex simply scoffed at Ashley’s reaction and grabbed the glasses the barkeep had gotten out.

“Leave the shell, I’ll pay for the whole thing.” Wrex’s words ushered Jenna away to get a much more traditional bottle out and fill Garrus’ glass with some light blue liquid.

Wrex instead poured from the hole in the top of the shell, first filling a glass for Ashley, and then one for himself. The liquid that came out was mostly clear but had some dark flecks that floated in the drink. A sniff resulted in the strange sensation of Ashley not smelling anything. It certainly didn’t smell strong.

“What’s the flakes floating in it.” Ashley turned to Wrex who grabbed his glass and sighed contendly as he eyed the flakes.

“Firing residue. Adds to the flavor.” He gave it a sniff and sighed once more, before looking at Ashley.

There was a part of her that told her that drinking firing residue that got left behind in a drink made on a radioactive planet was a mistake, but there was a much louder part of her that thought it was super metal. She could get behind the aesthetic of brewing liquor in old artillery shells. She grabbed the glass and held it towards Wrex.

‘What are you doing?” He looked at Ashley and her drink, a look of confusion.

“Um, cheers?” The look of continued confusion got to her and she glanced at Garrus as well, surprised to see the same confused look. “Really, you guys don’t do cheers? It’s a human drinking tradition. When you drink with friends you clink your glasses together before you take the drink. The stronger the drink the more necessary the cheers.”

Wrex looked from his glass to hers, before another smile spread across his face, he raised the glass and smacked it against Ashley’s, the clink audible as it hit. He gave her a look before setting the drink down on the counter. He pulled out a rectangular device from his side and gave her another look.

“We Krogan got a tradition too, I think you’ll like this one. Stiff is meant to be drunk in one go, and thrown back, the proper way. If you're drinking with… allies, however, there’s something else you do.” He lifted the rectangle to the glass, squeezing the side and causing a spark to come out its end.

The surface of the drink lit ablaze with a white flame, lapping across the surface, the occasional gold spark of color flashing up and out of the top of the glass. He held the box over to Ashley’s glass, and her fascination with the drink only grew as he lit hers.

“Drink up, let’s see how you handle it.” He grabbed the glass and in one motion tossed the liquid back, fire and all into his throat.

Ashley paused only for a moment. In the end, though she was far too interested in seeing what this tasted like. She grabbed the glass, opened her mouth, and threw the drink back in it. The glass was only so full as to allow a mouthful of the drink, and Ashley swallowed the drink fast preparing for the burning feeling of a strong booze, and was surprised as it went down smoothly. There was a heat, but she was almost certain that was from the fire on the drink itself as opposed to the feeling of the booze. Its flavor was something else as well, almost sweet, but with a bitter tang as she swallowed. There was no head rush or feeling to follow it, just a rather pleasant taste.

“Well shit, that wasn’t so bad. It’s really good actually.” Ashley couldn’t help but smile at the surprise of the drink and Wrex smiled and clapped her on the back.

“That’s the attitude, here let’s do another.” He reached forward and poured another glass which they lit up first this time, following it with another cheers of the burning booze before throwing it back again. Ashley was waiting to start feeling the booze, but nothing was coming. After ten minutes and five drinks total she couldn’t help but ask, hoping it wasn’t insulting to say.

“Wrex, the drinks are good but I’m surprised, I expected Krogan booze to be stronger, but I don’t even feel it.” She looked at him as he said it, taking a moment before pouring what would be their sixth glass.

“Well yeah, Krogan booze is an ambush predator. Wait until it hits your second stomach, the buzz will start to come in then, although, with this number of drinks, you’ll probably be feeling more than a buzz, should be gradual though, so no worries.” He filled her glass, then his. Ashley didn’t take it in hand immediately this time. Instead, she turned slowly towards Wrex.

“What do you mean second stomach?” Wrex looked at her a little surprised before explaining.

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“Well, the first stomach holds the liquid while antibodies attack it looking for toxins or poisons before it filters into the second stomach where the alcohol mixes stomach acid. There it takes about fifteen minutes or so but the reaction turns it into the strongest drink you’ll find. The Krogan way is to drink as many glasses as you can before your first stomach filters into the second. Mine should be moving over any minute now. So in another fifteen minutes, we will be having a good time.” Wrex just slapped her shoulder, smiling as he did so, while Ashley blankly stared at the glass in front of her.

“I don’t have a second stomach Wrex.” Wrex looked at her surprised for a moment. Before he began laughing, louder and harder than she ever could. Ashley in turn stared a the glass in front of her. She had made a terrible mistake in not asking for clarification on how exactly this drink worked. Her stare stayed on the drink in front of her for a while longer, before she made up her mind.

“In for a penny in for a pound.” She said the words and threw the drink back like all the others.

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Garrus Vakarian - 30 minutes later

“Krogan drinks are WEAK!” Ashley shouted as she threw more drink back into her mouth. Garrus to his credit did not just let this happen. After her eighth glass, he made sure that any drink she poured was quickly replaced by water.

Garrus knew how Krogan booze worked of course. He was C-Sec and half the incidents that occurred with Krogans were because of stiff. Ashley is not the first human to have drank some and he knew pretty comfortably as long as they stayed below ten or so drinks they would be fine. Drunk, absolutely, but physically fine. It showed how remarkably durable the human immune system was since the Elcor was the only other race that could consume any more than one glass of the stuff.

And for Ashley’s credit, while she was drunk, she had waited after that sixth glass for the booze to hit before drinking any more. If she hadn’t shown that responsibility Garrus would have stopped her. If she had let him anyway. He had a feeling she was the sort of person to do what she wanted before listening to orders when she was drunk.

Wrex for his part, was also drunk, although there was very little change in his behaviour. Granted there rarely was for Krogan. They just stopped hesitating when they thought of acts of violence. Or so Garrus had believed. All of his education, both back home on Palaven and as a C-sec officer, taught him that Krogans were violent thugs, barely better than animals. It’s why the Genophage needed to be deployed. But the more time Garrus spent with Wrex the more it seemed things weren’t so simple.

Wrex was violent that much was certain, but he certainly wasn’t mindless. Violence and aggression were just tools he knew how to use well, and seeing how he interacted with Ashley during his downtime, and even how he treated Garrus himself was putting some questions in the worldview he had been raised to accept.

“Garrus! What are you doing, you should be having drinks too.” Ashley slid into the chair beside Garrus, seemingly still riding the effects of stiff. She wasn’t completely off her rocker, but she was much more open and friendly than he had ever seen her.

“I’m doing just fine thanks, besides you're doing enough drinking for both of us I think.” Garrus slid her a glass of water which Ashley was quick to drink like all the others.

“Damn right, I am. Man, I haven’t had anything to drink since Eden Prime. Actually, I don’t think I’ve had downtime since then. It’s just been one thing after another.” Her voice dropped as she spoke, her mood seeming to lower as she thought about things.

“Yeah. It’s been a lot, shame the context for the downtime too. The group party after we stop Saren will be much more fun.” Garrus smiled at Ashley and watched as she sat up a little straighter, a smile falling back onto her face. That was good, she looked better with a smile than when she was all tense and serious. Although there were plenty of people who would probably say the same about him.

“Hell yeah, we’ll have to get Jenkins to drink some of this stiff. I am fascinated to learn how that man acts when he’s drunk.” Ashley let out a giggle that Garrus would have sworn could never come from the soldier he had been traveling with. Although he had a pretty good guess as to why that was.

“Hm, interested in getting the Corporal drunk are you?” Garrus asked the question, his tone sliding towards teasing as he gave Ashley a small look.

“Oh yeah. Could you imagine, he’s got that stupid dopey attitude all the time, imagine how much FUN he would be without all this stress.” Ashley smiled taking another swig of her water like it was booze, before stopping. She turned to look at Garrus, catching the expression on his face.

‘Wai- wait. No, I didn’t mean it like that. I just think he could use the time to relax is all. I’m not. I wasn’t trying to…” For the first time since he met her, it seemed Ashley was at a loss for words, stuttering and stammering as she tried to defend herself.

“Mhm, whatever you say, Williams.” Garrus turned to leave it at that but Ashley was content to dig herself an even deeper hole.

“No, I am NOT interested in Jenkins. He’s unprofessional, and rude, and has the most infuriating look on his face I’ve ever seen. That stupid grin he makes whenever he says something stupid is just… ugh… stupid.” Ashley slumped down into the seat, burying her face in her arms. Garrus didn’t bother saying anything, just nodding along to the woman’s supposed defense of herself.

“Besides. Even if I did… I don't know, have an interest in getting to know him more, that’s not something you can just do. It’s unprofessional. We are both soldiers, and I outrank him. There’s a dozen rules and regulations on that for a reason.” Ashley didn’t move her head as she spoke, her voice muffled by the sleeves of her clothes.

“Right. That’s mostly a human thing from what I can tell though. The Turian military doesn’t care what you get up to in between missions, as long as you can perform well. Besides didn’t you just say Jenkins is unprofessional?” Garrus couldn’t help himself, it was clear she wanted to talk about this, and while she was only talking to HIM because she was drunk, he could still try and help her out.

“What?! I mean, yeah but… I’m not. I’m a professional soldier, it’s the rules I follow. I have to, otherwise, they’d use every possible slip-up as an excuse to hold me back.” Ashley sat up quickly, before sinking back down as she spoke, staring at her glass.

“Right. Williams. There’s some prejudice still in the Alliance around what happened with your grandfather huh?” Ashley sat up very quickly staring at Garrus’ face as she did.

“What do you even know about that?!” The intensity in her voice was thick, and Garrus realized perhaps a little too late he might have stepped on a sensitive topic.

“I mean, the Turians teach about the Relay 314 incident in all military programs. An example of how not to handle an apparent breach of relay regulations by an unknown species, as well as how not to underestimate unknown species.” Ashley’s intensity dropped slightly, as she stared at him, before turning back to look at her drink.

“Yeah? What do the Turians teach about General Williams? About Shanxi?” She didn’t look at him as she asked the question, and Garrus wondered how to word his answer to avoid angering the woman further. In the end, he just decided the truth was the best answer.

“Honestly it’s just another example of not to underestimate unknown enemies. The general in charge of that conflict accepted the surrender of Shanxi assuming that he had captured your people’s homeworld, or one of the major ones at least. He wasn’t prepared and hadn’t even considered the possibility of a larger fleet, so when your forces arrived to remove him, they were unprepared.” Ashley seemed unaffected by Garrus’ explanation, just nodding at the end.

“So a whole conflict of fuckups then. Sounds about right.” She huffed as she took another drink emptying her glass and signaling to Jenna for another. “Water please.” The actual request for water made it clear to Garrus that her mood was down, or at the very least she was done drinking.

“Yeah pretty much. That general was fired, and his name has probably been dragged through more mud than Williams. It’s one thing to make the tactical choice people consider dishonorable, but Mauritius fucked up repeatedly, escalating a conflict needlessly time and time again, without showing any caution of retaliation.” Ashley just scoffed, not bothering to respond.

“I’m serious. Our entire race has mandatory military service, for an officer who leaned into it and made it their career to be fired completely, it’s pretty much the worst punishment he could have gotten.” Garrus was speaking truthfully, Mauritius didn’t have any children but it’s likely they would have received similar, if not worse prejudice than what the Williams got from the alliance.

“Yeah yeah. It’s whatever, I’m used to it at this point. The point was however that I can’t push the rules on what’s acceptable, I have too much scrutiny on me. Besides, it’s pretty clear Jenkins is interested in Tali anyway, and I have no interest in interfering.” Garrus could tell that Ashley wasn’t as okay as she claimed, but it was also clear that she was done talking about it, given how she redirected the topic back to something she had already been embarrassed talking about. Garrus had to disagree with Ashley’s assessment though.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” He spoke as he took another sip of his drink, Turian Highwater being a fizzy mint-flavored drink and having almost no alcohol content it might have well been a soda as far as beverages were concerned.

“What? What do you mean.” Ashley was suddenly perking up and paying more attention. Not interested his ass, she was positively smitten. Or well, at least partially.

“I just mean that I wouldn’t be certain he’s interested in her. I mean she’s definitely interested in him and they are definitely friendly with each other, but I’ve seen no evidence that he has ever even considered her in that way. Now that might just be because he’s not aware she’s interested, but I wouldn’t say you're hopeless.” He smiled at her, and Ashley blushed before turning away.

“I’m not hopeless, mostly because I’m not even hopeful. Not interested remember.”

“Ah, right of course. Not interested.” Garrus took another sip letting the silence drag on.

“But… if someone were interested, hypothetically, what would you recommend as an approach to Jenkins? Since you are such an expert after all.” Ashley did not look at Garrus as she spoke, just sipping at her drink and staring forward. Garrus thought for a moment, considering the things he knew about Jenkins as to what would be the best way to approach with an interest.

“Hm, in honesty I think a direct approach is your best bet. He doesn’t seem to be the type to lead someone on if they are genuinely interested, but he also kind of seems like the type that would never assume someone was interested unless they said so. So just talk to him directly. At the very least you’d get an answer on things.” Garrus figured that was the right read on the guy. And even if it wasn’t it was still probably the best way to go about things.

“No no no, you have to challenge him to a duel, ideally in private. You challenge each other's strength physically and when you crush the much weaker man under your will you make your interest clear. That or right after an intense fight, battling side by side. The adrenaline rush will take care of everything else.” Wrex had returned from wherever he had been drinking, sliding into the spot next to Ashley causing her to jump.

“What?! No, what are you talking about I’m not going to do that. I don’t even know what you're talking about.” Ashley turned away not bothering to look at Wrex as he just chuckled at her reaction.

“I don’t know why you other races make mating so complicated. The female carries the power in the dynamic. Show your strength and make your interest known, no suitable male will turn down a willing mate.” Wrex seemed to smile to himself as he spoke and Ashley just shook her head.

“Ew no. I don’t just want to mate Wrex, god. Besides it’s not happening anyway, I don’t even know why we are talking about it.” Wrex just laughed at Ashley’s words before slapping her on the back.

“Whatever you say girlie.” Ashley quickly picked up her glass clearing the water out of it before raising it for Jenna to see.

“Jenna, another drink of stiff, please. Christ knows I need it.” Wrex just laughed again before nodding along.

“That’s the way, drink it down girl.” Letting out another boisterous laugh. Jenna walked up filling the glass with more of the Krogan booze. Garrus would let Ashley get away with one more drink since she had been having water for the last fifteen minutes or so, but just the one. She needed to be at least able to walk back to the ship, although he was certain Wrex and he could manage to carry her back if needed.

Garrus’ attention was pulled away from the embarrassed and joyful drinking that was being done by Ashley and Wrex respectively, and towards a small commotion. As much as they were there to relax, his C-Sec training never let him just sit still, and a small group that had been eyeing the bar since they got here finally stood and made their way over. It was a mixed-race group, a pretty even spread of four Turians and another four Batarians. Garrus was warry of most Batarians he saw aboard the Citadel, but the fact the group wasn’t drunk made that even worse. You didn’t come to Chora’s Den not to get drunk unless you were there for work. As they made their way over he sent a quick and simple message to Wrex and Ashley, who both glanced over at the approaching group.

Ashley downed her drink quickly, and adjusted her spot in her seat, her stance adjusting while Wrex seemed entirely unphased, just smiling to himself as his eyes slowly judged the approaching group.

“Hey, Jenna was it? Lovely to meet you, haven’t seen you around this bar before. Don’t suppose you want to take a nice little walk with me, maybe introduce ourselves a little better.” The Turian at the head of the group, spoke to the bartender directly, ignoring their group of three. Garrus wanted to relax and assume it was just a drunk making a move while backed up by his friends, but the way the rest of his group kept their stance back and watching everyone else made that difficult.

“Oh, um. Sorry I’m working but I can’t.” She seemed nervous at the Turian's words, before turning away to continue to the other side of the bar, but a hand slammed against the table.

“Come on now, it's just a little chat. Trust me you’d rather talk about this privately with me, not in the middle of the bar surrounded by all my friends.” A look around the bar made it clear nearly half the room had stopped what they were doing and watched the encounter much more intensely.

There was something more going on here. Garrus was pretty sure nobody was armed, without a clear man in charge of the establishment there wasn’t any controlling power deciding who was allowed guns and who wasn’t, so for now Chora’s Den was a weapon-free zone. Still, the number of people was concerning.

“Sorry there buddy, but that bartender has been happily serving me drinks all night, so I’m sorry to say that you can’t take her.” Concerning to everyone but Wrex it seemed, as he took another sip from his drink, before turning to stare down the Turian responsible for interrupting his drink.

“Stay out of this Krogan. The lady you're defending isn’t your friend I promise you that, and you don’t want to drag your little crew into this.” The Turian for his credit, didn’t seem phased by Wrex’s words, which meant he was either much more dangerous than he let on or much more stupid.

“I think I decide who my friends are boy, and trust me any excuse to beat some Turian ass is one I will take happily.” Garrus could hear Wrex’s teeth grind as he smiled again, turning his chair to face the Turian, who for the first time seemed to flinch at the implication.

The Turian glanced from Wrex to the poster hanging by the door of the bar, and then back to Wrex. He smiled though at the realization, not seeming to care at the seemingly threatening picture of Wrex it should have painted.

“For a Krogan on such an interesting side of the law yourself, perhaps you’d be interested in knowing the little barkeep you’re defending is a C-Sec informant?” You could have heard a pin drop in the bar as the Turian finished talking. Everyone was now watching the interaction, either out of sudden displeasure with Jenna, or a fascination with what was going to happen next.

Garrus just sighed at the realization. He was hoping for just a relaxing couple of hours away from everything. Instead, it seemed they were going to get into a mess once more.

“Oh?!” Wrex turned to look at Jenna, who had shrunk as low into the bar as she could, looking absolutely terrified.

“You mean I get to kick some ass and C-Sec can’t get mad at me for it? Fucking A.” Wrex just smiled, standing from his chair to his full height, cracking his knuckles in his fist. The Turian looked shocked at the response, before steeling his resolve and turning to his allies.

“Well what are you waiting for, get that Cunt-” He was cut off as a glass shattered against the back of his head, breaking into a bunch of shards and dropping him to the ground, clutching the back of his head groaning. Garrus turned to see where Ashely was, now standing on her feet and arm still outstretched from having thrown the glass.

Everyone turned to stare at her for a moment, silence stretching on. Garrus just stood from his seat, stretching his neck as he did so. The silence lasted a moment longer, broken by an annoyed Ashley.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s fucking fight!”

Then all hell broke loose.