Thane felt the doors close behind him as he surveyed the room labeled life-support. Small generators and storage tanks lined the wall to the right, and partially along the wall to the left. Half the back wall was taken up by a widow looking out over the Normandy's engine; where the room bent and formed a little nook, there were numerous boxes stacked on top of each other filling the space, partially obscuring the window. A small metal table that brought back childhood memories of laying on a similar table with a rifle in his hands and a vid about Krogan anatomy, was wedged along the back wall, loaded down with ship parts in various states of repair; the tools to fix them neatly placed on lit shelves above.

Keeping a hold on his bag of possessions, Thane approached the window and wedged himself between the boxes and the view port to look out over the engine room. There was a Quarian, loaded down with a harness and pulleys for safety, crawling over the glowing blue surface of the spherical engine block. How Commander Shepard got a Quarian to agree to work with Cerberus was quite the puzzle. Thane had done some research on the human organization when they had first approached him, and had discovered a nasty exchange between a Quarian exile under Cerberus payroll and the Migrant Fleet, that had involved betrayal of the deepest kind, and the destruction of two of the Fleet's ships – with all hands on board. Given how loyal and protective Quarians were of their own, the presence of one of the Hooded Ones onboard a Cerberus ship was a statistical anomaly.

He put the question aside for the moment in favor of contemplating his new quarters. The room was obviously never intended to be habited; there was no space for meditation or repose. He eyed the floor and wondered if his new Commander would spare him the time to go back to his safe house and bring a cot back with him. He could sleep on the floor should it be needful, but he'd rather avoid the inconvenience if he could.

Approaching the small table, Thane pushed a few of the items aside and laid his travel bag down in the cleared space. He was in process of unzipping it when the door swished open. Thane quickly thumbed the safety off the SMG in his hand even as he lifted his head with a pleasant expression on it.

"Oh!" A light-colored human stepped through the doorway, his mouth open with surprise.

"Good day to you, Sir." Thane said agreeably, relaxing as he took in the man's food-splattered apron and cut-riddled hands.

"G-good day." The man spluttered, clearly still flummoxed by the appearance of an alien in his workspace.

"I apologize if my presence has startled you."

The human grunted and turned his head, looking out over the room even as he kept glancing at the Drell out of the corner of his eye every few seconds.

Thane released the SMG and folded his hands loosely behind him, rumbling his amusement. Clearly this human thought he was being subtle.

Satisfied that nothing in the room had been broken or damaged in the few scant minutes that Thane had been along with the stuff, the human returned his attention to the alien intruding on his workspace. "And who might you be, eh?" he asked gruffly.

On the left hand side of the room, a small panel unfolded from the wall, revealing a holographic projector from which an image of EDI was being cast. "Ser Krios has recently been recruited by Commander Shepard to help us fight the Collectors. Drell prefer arid regions, and life-support has slightly drier air here due to the presence of the equipment. The Commander has requested that this area be provided for his use." EDI said, the lights on her display blinking in time with her words. It was almost like the bioluminescence spoken by the Hanar.

The human stared hard at Thane for a moment longer before the hostility slowly drained away from his body language. "Well, if you're alright by the Commander, you're alright by me. I can work down in the hold just as easy as here, so long as the parts get fixed." His voice was still gruff, but there no longer was any heat to it. Was it really possible to diffuse aggression simply by mentioning the Commander? From his reception in the meeting room, Thane had gotten the impression that the humans on board weren't going to be very welcoming. The solder from Cerberus had been particularly hostile, and it had been Thane's understanding that the men from lower echelons took their queues how to act from those in the higher. It could be that the Soldier wasn't very well thought of, or that this Cook didn't follow the usual social rules. But it was far more likely that the support of Commander Shepard was enough to put Thane in the good graces of the Cook. And that alone said so much about how her people thought of her.

The Cook took several steps into the room and as he did, Thane caught the discreet re-folding of EDI's projection plate back into the wall as the man began to speak, "Nice to meet you Ser Krios. My name is Eric Gardner, mess sergeant extraordinaire. But you can just call me Gardner." He held his hand out for a shake, which Thane took gratefully with a smile. Before Thane could properly introduce himself, Gardner released Thane's hand and slapped his palms together, rubbing them back and forth gleefully. "Now, lets see about getting this room cleaned out for you, what do you say?" Turning on his heels, Gardner strode for the door, leaving Thane with a negligent gesture cast over his shoulder that could mean either 'follow me' or 'stay here'.

Unsure of which was correct, Thane chose to follow the human in hopes of seeing portions of the ship he'd not yet encountered. Gardner flashed him a grin as they stepped onto the elevator and rode it all the way down to the cargo hold.

"Now, let's see…" Gardner said, looking around the room with a frown of concentration. "If I put the spare parts here…" he trailed off as he wandered away, occasionally pausing as he bent this way and that, trying to judge special distances. "This'll work just fine." Gardner turned back towards the elevator where he'd left the Drell, only to find him gone. "Mr. Ser?"

Thane turned at the odd form of address, Gardner was peering into the shadows of the cargo bay, obviously looking for Thane.

"I am here, Mr. Gardner." Thane said, stepping back into the minimal light provided by the elevator.

"Teh, don't DO that," the mess sergeant admonished.

"My apologies," Thane sketched a shallow bow.

Gardener merely grunted and gestured for Thane to follow him back onto the elevator.

"I can move all that stuff down here, no problem. Then you will have life support all to yourself." Gardner assured him as they stepped back off the elevator on the crew deck.

True to his word it didn't take long to stash everything in the cargo hold, though it was only with bad grace that he allowed Thane to assist with the move. Barely an hour later, Thane was standing in the newly emptied room. Everything but the metal table had gone downstairs, while a chair and a cot had made their way up.

Throughout the move, Gardner kept Thane entertained with bits of information about the rest of the crew. "We've got ourselves quite the eclectic crew, what's one more, eh? After all, there's the she-bitch from hell holed up down in engineering, a cloned Krogan adolescent soul-searching in the port cargo, and a dead vigilante fiddling with our weapons."

"Those are interesting titles you've given them, Mr. Gardner." Thane commented mildly, hoping to draw more information out of the man.

The mess sergeant snorted inelegantly. "You wouldn't say that if you knew them." He responded acridly. "Accurate's more like it. They're some strange folk."

"How so?"

Gardner shrugged, pulling against the weight of a box in his arms. "Well, take that vigilante. He's a turian. S'possedly the one that ran with the Commander when she went after Seren. But he almost never talks to her. She visits him often, but all he ever says is 'Busy with calibrations. Talk later?'" He deposited the box on the floor of the cargo hold, rubbing his shoulder as he straightened. "She walks away from the battery mumbling about stubborn raptors most the time."

Thane placed his box next to the humans. "You believe he avoids her on purpose?"

"Naw," Gardner shook his head and walked back to the lift, "more like he's distracted. Something's going on in his head and he doesn't want to talk about it."

"And the Krogan?" Thane asked mildly.

"That one's a bit scary, though not as much as the she-bitch. We went after his 'father' – Krogan scientist (and isn't that an oxymoron) by the name of Okeer. Guy sacrificed himself so we could get this clone out. But when it wakes up, it claims not to care about the Krogan. Says that all the imprinting Okeer attempted failed. Took the name 'Grunt' and has been fighting with us simply because we have the 'strongest enemies'." Gardner shuddered faintly as he led the way once again out of the lift and across the hallway into life support. "Don't rightly trust him, but Shepard says he's okay. And he hasn't hurt anyone on our side –yet. Still, I try and stay out of his way. But you – " here he cast a glance at Thane "you don't look that bad sort. What were you doing when the Commander scooped you up?"

Thane squashed his amusement; this man probably wouldn't appreciate it. "I was assassinating Nassana Dantius." He replied truthfully. No point in hiding his profession, the Cerberus soldier would likely spread the story of his recruitment shortly.

The human blinked and took a small step back. "Ah, that so?" He asked nervously. He paused and licked his lips before obviously deciding once again that Shepard's word was good enough. "Well, I suppose you'll be quite useful then, eh?"

Thane smiled softly, attempting to appear non-threatening. "I shall strive to be."

ooOO00OOoo

Thane glanced from his travel bag to the abandoned storage shelves in the corner. If he put his guns there, it would free up the majority of the space in his bag. Then he could stash it under his cot.

He'd just placed his third sniper rifle on the shelf when the door swooshed open again. A quick glance in the shiny metal before him revealed the disturbing gaze of his new boss.

"Commander," he said by way of greeting, turning to face her as he clasped his hands behind his back and drew himself up formally.

"Make yourself right at home."

Thane glanced at the table and cot set up in the short leg of the room, unsure if she was being sarcastic. Her dead eyes were impossible to read. Before he could formulate a response, Shepard spoke again. "You up for a mission? I know it's short notice, but I have someone else I want to speak to before we leave Illium."

Thane blinked. Had she just flicked her elbows at him? "Of course, Commander. I can be ready in a moment."

"Good," she said with a nod, "suit up and meet me in on the CIC."

She turned to go, and Thane spun in place, grabbing his favorite sniper rifle and SMG off the shelves. Holstering both of them in practiced movements, Thane was at Shepard's side and ready to go as she opened the door to life support.

She blinked at him, her fingers half-curled at her sides. "That was fast." She said with surprise.

Thane rumbled his amusement. "One never knows when they will be called upon to act. It is best to be prepared."

Shepard cocked her head at him, bird-like, as she contemplated his words. "Indeed." She said eventually.

Thane was glad when the doors to the CIC opened, allowing him to escape her piercing gaze.

Across the room and down the hallway towards the airlock stood the Turian, chatting with the pilot. "Yo, Garrus. Time to go." Shepard called as she preceded Thane down the hallway towards the pair.

"I hear you, Commander." The Turian rumbled, turning to face her. Thane found it intriguing that 'Garrus' had no problems meeting her eyes.

"Don't know if you two have been formally introduced. Garrus, this is Thane Krios. Thane, this is Garrus Vakarian – " there was a lough cough from the forward facing chair. "…and Jeff Moreau, my pilot." She finished smoothly.

The chair swung around. "Oh, hey Commander. Didn't see you there."

She merely lifted an eyebrow.

The pilot looked nervous. "Er. Right. So! Who are you going after this time?" Moreau asked brightly.

"An asari justicar." Shepard replied dismissively.

Both Thane and Garrus wore expressions of concerned surprise.

"What?" Shepard asked, seeing their faces. "You know her?"

Thane and Garrus shared a glance.

"I know OF them." Thane offered.

Shepard merely tilted her head to the side and waited.

"They're the figurative 'bogey men' of the Asari race, Shepard" Garrus said, using a term Thane had not heard before.

A grin spread across Shepard's face. "Sounds fun."

ooOO00OOoo

A/n: So. This chapter was like squeezing water out of rocks. But, it's done, and I'm moving smoothly onwards. Next chapter won't take three months to publish. Promise!