Shepard woke up gasping for breath, the echoes of a scream echoing in her ears. For a moment, she wasn't certain whether the scream had come from her or from one of her many phantoms, a remnant of the nightmare that was already fading.

There was a movement beside her, barely visible in the dark. She narrowed her eyes, giving them a moment longer to adjust to the darkness. She could see well enough to tell when Thane pulled his arm back, his hand letting go of the gun he'd instinctively reached for. That answered the question of whether or not she'd been the one screaming, at least.

"Fuck," Shepard muttered, her head dropping back down onto her pillow. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"I was not sleeping," Thane replied without hesitation, not a hint of dishonesty in his tone.

She didn't believe him for a moment.

Shepard snorted, bringing one of her hands up to rub the bridge of her nose. A tiny thread of red glowed on the back of her hand, one of the few remaining external signs of her cybernetics. She pulled her hand away after a few seconds, her eyes focusing on the crimson glow despite her best intentions. It was always there, a constant reminder of everything that she had lost.

And everything she had gained.

Thane reached over and covered her hand with his own, wrapping it loosely around hers. Shepard smiled despite herself.

"Bad memories," he said. It wasn't a question, and both of them knew it.

Shepard shifted so that she could meet his gaze, his eyes darker than normal in the dim light of her quarters. She didn't say anything, only leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. The usual tingling around her mouth appeared almost instantly, a side-effect that even the pills Mordin had given her couldn't completely stop.

Thane didn't lean into the kiss, but then he didn't pull away either. He simply gave her a moment, letting her decide exactly what it was that she needed. Smiling against his lips, she pressed the kiss a bit harder, letting her tongue slip into his mouth. One of her hands moved down to rest on his bare chest, his skin surprisingly soft under her touch.

He groaned against her mouth, one of his hands brushing over her bare shoulder. Then, without warning, he pulled away.

Shepard made a wordless noise of protest.

Thane didn't say anything for a moment, his gaze focused intently on her face as he studied it. Shepard had a feeling she knew what he was looking for, and she barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Instead she reached out and put her hand under his chin, lifting his head a tiny fraction; it wasn't much, just enough to make certain he was looking her straight in the eyes.

"I'm fine," she said, not even attempting to keep the hint of annoyance she was feeling out of her voice. "It was just a nightmare. I'm not going to shatter."

He stayed quiet for a few seconds. Then he laughed, and the sound sent a pleasant shiver down her spine. "I can truthfully say that I have never thought such a thing, siha."

Shepard grinned, and she saw him tense slightly as he realized she was up to something. She flung herself at him before he could react, pushing him down onto the bed, staring down into his eyes as she straddled him. She quirked an eyebrow, her mouth twitching as she fought to keep herself from laughing.

His eyes flashed, dark and dangerous. Then, before she even knew what was happening, there was a flash of blue – biotics, it had to be – and the world seemed to spin for an instant. When it righted itself, she was the one on her back, Thane kneeling over her as her arms were trapped firmly at her sides. Thane wasn't quite grinning, but she knew him well enough to read the smug look on his face.

"If you wanted to be on top this time, you could have just asked," Shepard said lightly. Then one of Thane's hands brushed her inner thigh, just high enough up that she felt it intensely. She hissed, her body jerking upward slightly. "But, hey, this works too."

Thane leaned down, pressing a kiss against her neck. "You are beautiful."

Shepard felt her face flush, ever so slightly. Then she shifted, giving her just enough leeway to move one of her arms. Her mouth twitched, ever so slightly.

A hint of suspicion flashed in Thane's eyes. By the time he realized what she was doing, though, she had already managed to get her free hand on a rather sensitive part of his anatomy. The noise he made was one she planned on remembering for quite some time.

Neither of them really had much of a need for words after that.