Author's Note: This was inspired by the song Stand By Me by Ben E. King. I would highly recommend listening to the song on repeat while reading this. Mostly because this will go through a few couples through the Normandy, and I personally think that it fits so well for each one. Enjoy reading and please let me know what you think of the story!

"Hey Shepard... Did you need something?"

He looked up from the data pad in his hand as he leaned back against his desk. With a small smile he threw it back to the desk and pushed off to stand in front of her. John had asked her up over an hour ago and he'd been worried she might not want to come see him, but now that she was here - in a dress of all things - he couldn't have felt happier. The smile on his face fell a little when he saw the look in her eyes, and the lack of a similar smile on her face.

"Ash, what's wrong?" his hand was reaching up for her cheek but she looked away to the wall, or maybe towards the tiny hamster he'd purchased so long ago. Then he saw her swallow, and look back up at him, with red eyes. She paused, and shrugged with a tiny laugh.

"I'm scared John."

He dropped his hand into hers, and gave it a gentle squeeze before giving her a light tug to follow as he took half a step back.

"I am too." he said quietly when she was hesitating. Then, she took a step forward to follow him. He'd imagined how he wanted this to go, but something made him change his mind. Maybe it was because everything was finally becoming so real for them. He got her down the few steps towards the bed, and had her pause between the bed and the couch, in the empty space.

"Don't move." he said as he let go of her hand. She nodded, both arms hanging at her sides. He took a few steps back towards the small music player by the bed, spending a minute to look for what he wanted. As soon as he found it, he smiled and then hit play. He turned around and walked back to her, wordlessly bringing himself as close as he could to her without touching her.

"John..." she turned her head to the side again, trying to hide the small smile that was quickly growing on her face. He brought his hand to her jaw and gently pulled her face back towards his.

"Will you dance with me?"

His hand was held out, palm up. She nodded quietly and gave him her hand, letting her other arm slide under his arm and back up to grip his shoulder. Her cheek pressed against his shoulder the same time he pressed his hand against the small of her back. At the same time they both began swaying gently from side to side. John didn't say a word the whole time. He had too many things to say to know which single thought to pick out. At the same time, he was also perfectly content to have silence between them as the cabin filled with music, saying everything he needed her to know.

If only he knew that the song was being broadcast through the whole ship.

It was perfectly quiet in the main battery. Garrus was sitting on a crate in the corner of the room next to Tali in silence. Both of their legs were hanging off the side and he had his hands in his lap, because he really had no idea what to do. At least her company was appreciated.

And then something started playing over the speaker. They both looked up, as if the speaker would provide an answer if they looked long and hard enough.

"What is this?" Tali asked.

"I don't know..." he paused a moment while the translator began to pick up on it. Then he glanced over at Tali, then back to the floor. After a minute or so he saw Tali move, and that caused him to look up at her again. She wasn't going to leave, was she? He heard a soft hiss and then the purple mask was pulled away.

"Tali, what are you doing?"

"Taking my mask off."

"Why?" Garrus was too confused as to what was going on. He'd already pushed away the music into the background, but then he wondered if maybe it had made her think for a brief moment the same thing he had been thinking.

"We're heading to war directly with the Reapers in a matter of hours. If I'm going to die, it's not going to be from a stupid infection." She looked down as the mask touched the crate, and then she took off the helmet, leaving the hood up. Meanwhile Garrus just watched her, taking in her words.

"Garrus?"

"I don't think I can come up with anything better than what you just said without tripping over myself." Garrus clicked his mandibles in a smile, and took her hand in a rather bold move. It was worth it to actually get to see the smile on her face instead of just looking at her eyes through her mask. She jerked forward a little bit and he realized he'd just tugged on her hand some. But she leaned forward, her smile fading into something softer.

Right now she was more or less sitting on her hip, and that couldn't have been comfortable as far as Garrus was concerned. Because he was sitting so still, he could see that she was shaking.

"Tali?"

"What?"

"You're shaking."

"It is a little cold in here." she smiled. He realized she must have forgotten her mask wasn't on because he saw her eyes make a pass over his body. Well... If that was what she wanted...

"It's a good thing one of us has a higher body temperature." he said as he leaned forward to nuzzle her cheek gently, leaning forward just as much as she was, now.

"That was the worst pick-up line I've heard." Tali mumbled.

"Good thing I wasn't aiming for that." he purred.

"EDI, can you tell me what the hell is going on with the comms?" Joker said, trying to sort through the systems to figure it out. Suddenly the screen in front of him went blank, and he whipped his head to glare at her. "What the hell?"

"I am only following the Commander's orders." she said, still working on something that he couldn't see. She then paused and turned her head, smiling. "Relax, Jeff."

"You could have told me." he paused and sighed more heavily than the situation required. "Never understood why he liked this old crap, anyway."

"Shepard says-"

"EDI, I don't really want to know why."

"Jeff, you seem to be under significantly more stress than the situation calls for. Is something wrong?"

He couldn't bear to look at her. There were so many things wrong. He didn't feel right, he knew that he was likely going to lose a lot of friends in the next few hours, and if they were lucky, they'd get to live to tell the horrible story.

"Jeff?" her voice was closer this time, and he looked up so see that EDI was standing right next to his chair.

"I just have a lot on my mind." he muttered, trying to pull up something to work on. Her hand gripped his just hard enough to get him to stop, but not with enough force to break any bones.

"Talking can help reduce stress in some situations." he just watched her. "I will listen."

"Because you don't listen to me enough as it is." he cracked a grin, and saw her smile as she let go of his hand.

"If I do not listen, who will?" she asked with amusement in her voice as she sat on the floor. He had to let out a laugh. She was getting pretty good with the timing of her jokes, and he knew that there was some truth to what she'd said. No one else really listened to him with the same attentiveness as she did. Even if she was an AI at the core, she was more human than some soldiers he knew. He sat in silence for a few seconds before he looked at her, seriousness returning to his voice.

"I'm just worried about the rest of the crew... I don't know the math but I know that our odds aren't good." there was a pause to see if she had anything to say. The blank stare told him to keep going. "It just won't be the same if I can't walk away from this war and know that all of my friends will be there beside me."

"You mean Shepard, don't you?"

"Yeah." he lowered his gaze, trying not to think about if one of his best friends wasn't here anymore. He looked back up to her when she said nothing. He face was a little twisted. "You okay?"

"I... I do not know what to say, Jeff. I am sorry."

"Sometimes there isn't anything to say to someone, EDI."

"I see."

Joker kept looking at her and he sighed. It was now or never.

"Come here."

"What?"

"Come. Here." he smiled, holding one arm out for her. He could tell when she grasped the concept because she smiled and easily stood up, and then lowered herself to sit in his lap. He knew his femur had snapped, but he didn't care because he was finally holding her.

John sighed quietly as Ashley settled herself at his side. The music had faded away long ago, but he knew how much it had done to calm her nerves, as well as his own. Now it was quiet, and the cabin was dark.

"You'd better not leave me behind." he heard right beneath his left ear.

"How could I do that?" he paused, "You've already been through enough."

"So have you."

He smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"I'll come back for you. I promise." he wrapped both arms tighter around her and turned on his side to face her, letting her bury her face in his chest. It just felt good, for both of them. She fell asleep before he did, and when he fell asleep hours after there was nothing that felt better than letting his mind be free of thought. John was calm before the storm.