Thank you all for reading!
As they made their way back through the halls of Nos Astra toward Liara's office, it was her former teammate Shepard was thinking about. The Liara she remembered had been gentle. Compassionate. Possibly a bit on the innocent side. This one was cold, and hard, and altogether too knowledgeable. Much as Kaidan had been. Much as Garrus was. Although Garrus had been harder than both of the others to start with—maybe that was why he didn't seem as different.
Whatever Liara was up to, Shepard couldn't shake the feeling that the asari was in over her head. But then, apparently she'd become a powerful information broker in the past two years. Was Shepard underestimating her old friend? She supposed it was possible.
As they exited the corridor from the market and began to pass the shipping office, Thane stopped and cleared his throat. "Shepard, would you mind if we paused for a moment? I would like to thank Seryna for her assistance."
"Of course." She followed him to the office while Miranda wandered over to a vid screen to watch the Galactic News.
Only one of the two asari she had met before was still in the office. The other desk was empty, clean even of dust, as though it had never been occupied.
"Pardon me," Thane said, and the asari turned around.
"Can I help you?"
"Do you know where we can find Seryna?" Shepard asked.
The asari looked them both over. "Oh, yes, you're the ones Seryna was helping. I see you found each other. That's tidy."
Thane and Shepard looked at one another and shrugged. Tidy enough, she supposed? Although she could have hoped for fewer mercenaries. No job was ever as easy as asking someone on board and them saying yes, it seemed. "It looks as though Seryna may have taken another job?" she asked.
"Yes; off-world, as it happens. Didn't say where. Oh, she did give me something for you, though, in case you ever turned up again." She turned and rummaged in the side drawer of her desk. "Looks like a message." She handed it to Thane.
"Thank you."
"Sure."
"And there was nothing else?" Shepard asked. It seemed strange that a person would just give up their job and move to a different planet—apparently Seryna really hadn't believe Thane and Shepard could take out Nassana … or she feared reprisals from Nassana's associates.
The asari shook her head. "She just gave me that and left. Didn't even say goodbye." She looked both irritated and sad for a moment … then the irritation won. "And now I have to do all her work as well as my own. If there's nothing else?"
Thane gave her a courtly bow. "Thank you for your time."
Shepard noticed with amusement the way the asari blushed. There was something about Thane—the way he looked at a person as though he was really seeing them, actually paying attention, or perhaps that deep, soothing voice. Kaidan's voice had been deep, too, but it hadn't flowed over the ear in quite the same way.
She gave herself an internal shake. What was she doing thinking about Kaidan? That was over—he had made it perfectly clear that he was ready to move on, and even if he wasn't, there was no future for them as long as she worked with Cerberus. Work had been enough for her for so much of her career; it would have to be enough again.
Thane had moved away from the shipping office and clicked the button to listen to the message. Shepard thought she ought to move away to give him some privacy, but he didn't seem to care that she could hear.
Seryna's voice came from the datapad. "Hey, good-looking. I was on my way to a new life when the news burst arrived: The bitch is dead. I assume that means you finished your job. Shame we couldn't have celebrated together. If I ever see you again, drinks are on me."
As the message ended, he looked up at Shepard with a small smile and a shrug.
She chuckled. "I see you made an impression. Occupational hazard?"
Thane nodded. "At times." With a little shake of the head, he added, "Women are surprisingly interested in hired killers." He appeared to be frowning, although his face didn't move. Shepard wasn't certain how he managed to be so expressive despite what appeared to be a lack of facial muscles. Perhaps it was those deep-set black eyes? Those were certainly eloquent on their own, although again, she wasn't sure how since they never appeared to change either.
She realized that she was staring at him, and hastily averted her eyes. "Possibly it's because an assassin has to study his target so carefully before he strikes? Women like the idea of someone focusing on them."
"Do they? Hm. Perhaps so. I have never looked at it that way." He tilted his head a little to the side, looking intently at Shepard, focusing on her. She found she liked it, but she was uncomfortable under that steady gaze, as well.
"Shall we rejoin Miranda? We still have a lot to do here on Illium," she said, before he could ask any questions she didn't want to answer.
"Of course."