Chapter 14

Six Months Later

An incessant beeping filled the room. It took Samantha a little while to realize that the beeping wasn't actually coming from the surroundings of her dream, and she woke up enough to realize it was actually coming from her omnitool. Knitting her brows as she looked to the clock – 3:00 in the bloody morning! – before grabbing her omnitool from the bedside table and peering at the display.

Lieutenant-Commander Ashley Williams

Smiling a little, she answered it, not bothering to hide her naked body from her omni's camera. "Hey there, soldier. You do realize how early it is, don't you?"

Ashley just stared, her eyes fixed at a point just south of Sam's face. Sam smirked. "Eyes up here, Ash."

The lieutenant-commander blinked rapidly a few times before her eyes settled on Sam's face with a grin. {Well can you blame me for staring when you answer like that?}

Sam just continued to smirk. "I suppose you have a point. But seriously, Ash. It's 3AM. I've figured out that no one has died… so what on Earth could you need right now?"

{Besides you and those glorious tits you have hanging out like no one's business,} Ash said, waggling her eyebrows suggestively, {I had good news I couldn't wait to share. Also, I forgot you're in Japan and not in Vancouver. It's a reasonable time in Vancouver right now.}

Samantha sighed. Tokyo was a lovely place, with such different local traditions from anything she'd ever experienced. And the sushi was to die for. But she missed her first assignments, when she was stationed in the Americas. It was a lot more like home there. "Alright, well, since you couldn't wait, what's this big, exciting news?"

{I'm coming to Earth, baby.}

Sam sat up at the news, no longer even "trying" to cover herself as she grabbed her omnitool and brought it closer. "What?!" Her voiced came out in a squeal – incredibly unlike her.

Ashley grinned again, showing her teeth in her happiness. {Yeah! My next posting is in Vancouver; Alliance HQ. I'll be there in less than twenty-four. Hence why I was thinking Vancouver time.}

"How… Why?"

Surprisingly, Ashley scowled a little. {It's… classified. I can't say over the comm. But it'll be in the news before I get there. You'll find out by morning. I'm… sorry I can't say.}

Samantha just smiled. "I understand, darling. I… would I be right in assuming it has something to do with Shepard?" Ashley just nodded her answer, brows knit.

Samantha smiled broadly in return. "I can't believe you'll be here so soon!"

Ashley's scowl disappeared as she mirrored Sam's smile. {I have more news, too. You… well, you're going to have a new assignment in the morning.}

Samantha furrowed her brows. "I am? Why?"

{I can't say. It's for the same reason I'm going to be on Earth. But we'll be in the same place, for the same reason, for the next few months at least. I… hoped you'd be excited…}

"I am!" Sam rushed to say, wishing she could reach out and grab her girlfriend and haul her into the bed. "I'm just… tired. It's a lot to take in at three in the morning, darling."

{I know. I'm sorry I forgot about the time… but hey! We'll both be in Vancouver soon!}

"The things I plan to do to you," Sam murmured, watching the holo of Ashley close her eyes and shiver involuntarily.

{I… I should let you go, let you get back to sleep…}

Sam blinked rapidly for a moment before smiling coyly. "Sleep? I don't think I'll be able to get back to sleep with the wonderful news you just gave me." Lying back, draping herself over her bed, she added, "Not without a little help, at least."

Ash raised an eyebrow, smirking. {Really? You wanna have phone sex? At three in the morning?} Sam just reached down, toying with herself a little, watching as Ashley's expression changed to one of intense desire. {Fuck, Sam…}

Sam raised a brow. "That is the idea, yes."

Chuckling, Ashley got to work, making sure Sam got a good night's rest despite her rude interruption of the specialist's sleep.

End

A/N: Alright, folks. Here's the end of this little fic! I hope you enjoyed it! I sure enjoyed writing it. And it served its purpose, too - I'm now totally ready to pick back up where I left off on Forbidden Magic. :)

Hopefully in a couple of months I'll have it finished and will start writing/posting this into ME3. We're moving and all that, and it's starting to look like we'll be road tripping it across the country, so it might be a while before anything actually gets posted. So, if I don't post anything, Happy Summer! (if you're in the northern hemisphere, of course - which I am)