A/N: Well, I'm sure you all know the drill, please read, review, etc. I won't bore you with the details. Please enjoy chapter 7!

Chapter 7

Vision and Memory

The shuttle stood alone in an empty field, the long grass that stretched on as far as the eye could see in all directions swayed gently, brushing the hard metal hull. Across the undulating field, small ramshackle huts rose, seeming out of place, solid and immovable among the constant motion that engulfed them, the homes of the destitute damned to suffer Keplar's syndrome, unable to afford homes in the dome city. The air was relatively arid, however; the sky clear and blue, the one place on the planet that was not in view of an ocean, river, or lake. Still, sometimes carried along by a humid breeze from the West, clouds would roil across the sky, dark and ominous before they unleashed Heaven's wrath upon the small village below. Arriving at one house, three shadowy figures disappeared inside the entryway, the knotted wooden door closing behind them.

Inside the house, Garrus, Miranda, and Tali stood in a cramped hallway, dust gathering on the sparse selection of decoration that stood on small cupboards or hung drearily on the walls. They stood just inside the door, unsure what to do just as Kolyat stepped quietly onto the dusty carpet. There were deep creases between his jet black eyes as he motioned them into the room from which he had just stepped out.

As they entered the room, they could see Thane lying on his small bed, one of the only furnishings in his Spartan room. His eyes were closed, and he appeared to be sleeping, but he opened them as a fit of coughing racked his body, sending violent shudders pulsating along his prostrate form. As the attacks finally began to lessen, he once again tried to suck in the air as his lungs slowly filled with the liquid that permeated almost every inch of Kahje's surface. His breaths came quick and shallow, his chest rising and falling rapidly. He succumbed to another fit, and as he did so, Tali turned to face Kolyat. "Why isn't he in the hospital, with these conditions?" she asked.

"Because a hospital won't do anything for him, only prolong his agony. There is no hope."

No hope. Tali looked back at the man as he lay on the bed. She had known what it felt like to be hopeless. She was just beginning to overcome the feeling, but Thane never would. His death hung in the air, ubiquitous.

Thane's hacking once again ceased, and is it did, he looked around, taking in the three new arrivals. A look of confusion was replaced by a dawning realization on his pale, prematurely aged countenance. In a voice soft and cracked, he began to speak, straining to form each syllable. "Hello, old friends. I'm glad you have come. There is something I need to share with you, but I'm not sure of its meaning."

Suddenly, his eyes seemed to glaze over, and he seemed to forget they were in the room. His words began to paint a picture, the sentences uttered in broken fragments.

"He stands alone. A long scar crosses his face, deep, like a ravine. He holds a gun over his shoulder, a man fallen at his feet, a shadow. A planet swirls behind him, oceans swirling like hurricanes, they glide over one another. The light illuminates them in a soft glow, as if it is a sun that shines behind them." Thane's words hung in the air, the image frozen in everyone's mind.

Breaking the ponderous silence, Miranda asked, incredulous, "Is this what we needed to hear? Just a random memory?" She shook her head, annoyed at the waste of precious time when Thane responded.

"No, not a memory. I have never seen this before, not physically. I have had this vision multiple times since my condition has left me bedridden. I know the man in the image, we all do. The man is Shepard. I do not know the one at his feet; his face is always hidden in shadow. There is however, one thing different about Shepard in my vision. He now has the scar across the left of his face. I do know what this means, if the gods have given me a vision of hope for me to carry on to the afterlife, or if the neurons in my brain are simply misfiring, projecting images of my past that have no meaning."

During his description of the new scar across Shepard's face, Tali and Miranda had turned to look at each other, Tali seeing the same bewilderment plastered on Miranda's face as she herself felt. As Tali began to contemplate the significance of the vision, she once again felt a surge of hope. Could this really be a sign given by some benevolent god to ease Thane's separation from the world? Was it a sign that they would succeed, that Shepard would return once more?

"When the vision first began, I believed it was indeed conformation that Shepard would return. My confidence led me to confide in my son to tell Shepard of my fate upon his return. But now, as my days grow dark and bleak, my meditations have led to me question myself. I think my brain may already have begun to die."

A third outburst of coughing, even worse than the first two suddenly ravaged the already dead man's body, leaving him clutching his burning chest in agony, as he lay gasping, unable to take in the oxygen that hung so tantalizingly close in the air all around him. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, he was once again able to draw in ragged breaths. He closed his eyes again, the conversation thoroughly exhausting the little energy he still had. Garrus, still standing silent and reserved by the door, slowly slipped back out into the hallway, Kolyat behind him. Tali and Miranda glanced back at Thane, before exchanging one more look and following the two men.

Outside the room, after closing the door, they spoke in hushed voices so as not to disturb the dying man.

"Just what in the hell was that about?" Garrus asked. "Shepard?"

"My father is very sick; he will never again leave the bed you saw him in. Even if there was a cure, he would have needed the treatment weeks ago to stop the progression. He's been deprived of oxygen for weeks now; I wouldn't be surprised if it's lessened his brain function substantially."

"You're saying he's just having random memory flashes, or making things up?" Garrus pushed.

"I'm saying it's very possible. He may be having meaningless visions that incorporate other memories, or it may be a memory, but he doesn't remember it. He is losing his past and confusing it with the future. After seeing his condition now, I wonder if it would not be kinder for death to have come for him weeks ago."

"Thane mentioned a scar on Shepard's face," Tali began, before she was interrupted by Garrus.

"Exactly. He must be confusing memories. Shepard never had any scars, at least not the kind Thane described. There was never a deep gash, just some small cuts from the first Lazarus, and he healed those in the med bay back when the Normandy was more than just a crumpled up chunk of scrap." Garrus looked down sadly, as the simple statement brought memories rushing back. On the citadel, as flames burst forth through the walls as Sovereign plummeted, torn apart and dead through the tower. As he looked through the scope of a sniper rifle at the Turian who betrayed him, his whole team, as his finger tightened around the trigger. As the lifeless body of the human reaper collapsed before him into a great chasm, and the ground began to shudder before giving way. As Shepard picked up the Turian and dragged him into an escape pod, sealing the door as he struggled against the Commander. As he watched the Normandy plunge into Harbinger, liquid fire erupting through the hull, sending chunks of shrapnel launching like rockets in all directions as electricity crackled across the crumpling, interwoven spacecrafts like lightning.

Garrus's reverie was broken up by Tali, once again trying to finish her statement. "No, you misunderstood, Garrus. The scar, it's real."

Garrus paused, trying to figure out what she meant, but was unable. "I'm afraid I'm not sure where you're going, Tali," he said, confused, never having seen Shepard's body, knowing only that it was frozen in a makeshift cryo chamber.

"When we were bringing Shepard's body back on board the shuttle, the left side of his face was sliced open by a chunk of metal. The cut went deep, and it left behind a nasty scar. If Thane was just seeing random images, how would he know about the scar?"

"It could have just been coincidence," Garrus said, refusing to let his hopes up.

"Yes, but how would that explain him knowing its location across the left side of his head? What if there is a god, or gods? What if he was given a vision, a prophecy or something? I know it may not be right, but maybe it's something, more than we had before at least, even if it is a false hope," she said, the desperation she tried to contain only slightly showing through her barriers.

"Tali, you've known me for several years, now. I'm sure you've been able to guess in that time that I don't believe in any higher powers. Everything is just coincidence. Things don't happen because they're predestined. They happen because nature makes it so. If this Lazarus project does work, by some unforeseen miracle," Garrus said, his voice rising, not even sure why he was becoming heated, "then it will be because we fired him back up again, not because the neuron's in a dead man's brain are firing off random images!"

Tali stepped back, shocked at the outburst, turning away from the Turian. Kolyat, having watched the exchange in riveted silence, found himself stepping to Thane's defense. "That dead man is my damn father! I thought giving the dying their due respect was universal, but I guess I shouldn't assume anything!"

"You said yourself that the vision almost certainly meant nothing," Garrus shot back.

"Yes, but…but, I agree with you, I know, but hearing you call him a dead man, I…it just finalized his death. I can't help him." Kolyat slumped against an old, faded, dusty wall. He cradled his head in his hands, trying to build up his barricade again, trying to be indifferent to his father. As he had watched Thane's slow deterioration into the frail shell he had become, Kolyat had dropped his barriers, trying to regain the time he had lost with the father he had never knew. If he could once again return to his unconcerned apathy, he could keep away the demons that had haunted him his entire life. He told himself this, but he knew it was a lie. He had come too far to revert back to his cold manner.

Garrus stood helplessly, watching Tali as she proceeded down the hallway, refusing to make eye contact with him, or Kolyat, slowly sliding until he was sitting at the base of the wall, his head in his heads as he tried futilely to collect himself. He felt the first wave of guilt wash over him, knowing he was in the wrong on both accounts. Here he was thinking he was the mature one of the group, aside from Miranda. She stood to the side, refusing to interfere, watching Garrus passively. He saw the slight disdainful shake of her head, but refused to comment. He knew she was right, no point in trying to fool himself.

As the day progressed, Tali began to grow anxious. She knew they had to stay until Thane died, but she couldn't help but find herself agreeing with what Miranda had said on the Citadel, that this entire trip had been a waste of time. Thane didn't know anything about who was killing them. If he did, he would have told them upon their arrival. She doubted he even knew about the killings in the first place, and she didn't have the heart to tell him, to burden him with the weight of their troubles days, maybe even hours, before he passed on. Tali couldn't help but feel guilty for thinking these thoughts, that this journey had been a waste of time, but there was no point in trying to deny it. She knew she would only be lying to herself.

Tali had split away from the other three, who sat in silence in the kitchen. Nobody spoke, but nobody needed to. They all knew what it was that was on everyone's minds. Thane's imminent demise hung in the air; it seemed to weigh down on the room at large. She had been unable to stand the dismal hush in the small room, had left to be alone with he thoughts. She leaned against the wall outside Thane's room, when she heard a faint whispering coming from within.

Silently opening the door so as not to disturb the dying assassin, she glanced around the doorframe, not stepping into the room proper. He saw her enter, his faded eyes looking at her pleading, what little color that still remained in his atrophied body slowly fading. She noticed in horror that his chest was no longer moving. He gasped, desperately trying to breathe as he slowly drowned from within. Tali quickly withdrew, sprinting into the kitchen. Garrus, who sat facing the door, stood up quickly as she appeared suddenly in the doorway, gesturing, urging them to hurry, the scared desperation explicit in both her voice and actions. Garrus swiftly stepped to the door, following Tali as she returned to Thane, struggling helplessly against his lungs as they finally failed, after years of weakening. Kolyat and Miranda arrived breathlessly behind them.

As Kolyat saw his father, he ran over, kneeling at the bedside, holding the man's struggling hand within his own. At his son's long absent touch, Thane's struggling stopped. He turned to look at Kolyat, the latter finally allowing his father to see more than a blank stare. Thane struggled to speak, but was unable to speak them, the oxygen needed for the act absent, but Kolyat could make out the words his father had wished to speak. With a dry sob, he gently leaned over and embraced Thane, whispering words only for his hearing. "I love you too, Father."

Thane's eyes closed for the last, and as his thoughts began to blacken, tight in his son's warm embrace, Thane entered into one last memory. The last thing he saw before the world turned black was a pair of sunset eyes staring back at him through a scope.