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Surely it was coincidence that all the companions had gathered in the hall outside engineering when Shepard came down on the way to the shuttle bay. It couldn't possibly be that all of them wanted a glimpse of Shepard in the dress Kasumi had bought for her.
Except that of course it was. Thane had to admit that his throat was dry just trying to imagine what she would look like—and while the others didn't have the same reasons for wanting to see that he did, or so he assumed, none of them had ever seen her out of uniform either. Well … possibly Garrus or Tali, but they both were there, nonetheless.
Kasumi had 'let it slip' that she'd bought Shepard a dress and heels. Thane found it amusing that the sneak thief was apparently as big a gossip as their very own Archangel. He believed Shepard would find it less than amusing when the elevator doors opened to find them all standing there, and for that reason only had considered not being here. But Kasumi's description of the dress had been … detailed, and drawing himself away was really more than a mere mortal like himself could be reasonably expected to do, or so he told himself.
The elevator binged, and there was instant movement as the companions tried to move around and look casual. But they were all there—well, other than Samara, lost in her meditations, and Mordin, lost in research, and Miranda, presumably lost in her paperwork—and it was difficult to make that look casual.
Kasumi was alone, and her eyes twinkled as she saw them. "She's gonna know why you're all here."
Grunt chuckled. "She's crazy if she doesn't expect it."
That was true enough. Shepard knew her people well. She might not have been able to predict Kasumi telling everyone about the dress, since Kasumi was the newest recruit, but if she assumed the rest of them would know, she had to assume they would be waiting for her when she came down.
"Hey, there's only one elevator, right?" Jack asked suddenly.
"Only one," Tali confirmed. "Working, anyway." Thane would have bet his best sniper rifle that the quarian was grinning behind her mask.
The elevator whirred again, but didn't come down. Someone on the upper floors, apparently.
Kasumi frowned. "We're going to be late if she doesn't hurry."
"Think she knows how to walk in those heels?" Jack asked.
Jacob looked at her with curiosity. "When have you ever worn heels?"
"Never. But you don't have to wear 'em to know they're torture devices."
"Not if they fit right," Kasumi said. "And I know these fit right."
"Where did you get Shepard's sizes?" Tali asked her.
"I have my ways. Do you tell the double Ds in there all your engineering secrets?"
"Well, no," Tali conceded. She actually worked surprisingly well with Daniels and Donnelly, after an initial period of discomfort and distrust. To the engineers' credit, that had more to do with the two of them having worked together as a team since before they finished school than with Tali being a quarian. It had been hard for them to have a third person sharing their space.
At last the elevator was on the move again, and Thane could feel his heart speed up as it drew closer. Ridiculous, really, and Shepard was not going to be pleased at being on show. He should disperse this whole gathering. But he didn't want to; he wanted to see what she looked like, and it felt … safer to see her here amidst all the others than to go up to her quarters and ask her to put the dress on just for him. She would do it. If he asked, she would let him take it off her, too, he thought with pride and a white-hot flash of desire. But he couldn't. To reach for her in that way, to let his body and soul have what they mutually craved would be to awaken in a way he simply couldn't do, not and have the strength to get through the rest of what remained of his life.
He should go, he thought. He shouldn't be here right now. He shouldn't have been with her last night, holding her and talking her down from her panic. But she had needed him there; how could he not have been at her side, holding her hand, when she needed him so? Juniper Shepard badly needed someone to love her, inside and out, to show her all the things she could be—for herself, beyond what the galaxy asked of her. And Thane wanted to be that someone with a depth of longing he hadn't experienced since … In memory, he saw those sunset eyes again, knew the feeling of being seen that had shocked through his body as the defiant glare met his in the scope. But he had had time, then! The years had stretched out before him and Irikah as if they would never end. Before the Kepral's Syndrome, before his work had come into their lives and taken her from him … It would have been better for Irikah if she had never met him. Would it come to be better for Shepard, too? Would this … these feelings between them leave her with nothing but a broken heart and the imperfect memories common to humans? He should be strong enough to keep that from happening, strong enough to step away from her, for her sake if not for his.
Then the elevator doors opened, and Thane couldn't have moved if he'd wanted to. Had he ever thought Shepard wasn't beautiful? How blind he had been.
Amidst the wolf whistles and applause that suddenly filled the hallway, his eyes traveled over her body, from the slender legs in the high-heeled black shoes to the narrow hips hugged by the black leather skirt, to the firm swell of her breasts in the low-cut top, to the bare shoulders, to the swirl of her dark brown hair around those naked shoulders. What did that feel like? Thane wondered. Drell didn't have hair, and he had never been close enough to a human to know if their hair was as soft, as silky, as Shepard's looked right now. He imagined what that would feel like brushing against his skin, and trembled with the rush of desire that came with the thought.
As if she could feel what he was thinking, Shepard's eyes met his over the heads of the others. There was a question in them, and he felt an intoxication that came with being the man she wanted to impress. Out of a galaxy, she had chosen him. How could he deny her?
He smiled, trying to let some of what he felt show in his eyes, so that she would know how beautiful she looked. His Siha smiled back, relieved. Then she looked at the others. "Don't you all have anything better to do?"
They looked at one another. "Not really," Jacob said. He was leaning against the wall, his arms folded, his eyes on Shepard with appreciation.
"We just wanted to make sure you had everything you needed, Shepard," Tali added. It was hard to tell if she was sincere or not behind the mask.
"As you can see, I do not." She held out her bare arms as proof.
"It's all waiting for you," Kasumi told her. "I'll explain on the way."
Shepard shot the thief a pointed look. "Maybe you can also explain how everyone seemed to know there would be something unusual to see."
"We're going to miss you, Battlemaster. We wanted to see you off." To give him credit, the krogan actually managed to sound sincere.
"Yeah. That'll be the day." Shepard punched Grunt affectionately in the arm as she went by, and he did her the courtesy of wincing.
She glanced at Thane as she passed him, and her steps faltered. She was walking carefully in the unusual shoes anyway, so the hitch in her stride could have been due to that, but he wanted to think that she had stopped because she wanted … No, he didn't want to think that, either. Because he couldn't take advantage of her trust that way, he couldn't let her go down this path with him, of all people.
Shepard kept walking, as though she hadn't paused, and disappeared into the shuttle bay with Kasumi.
There was a collective releasing of breath when she was gone.
"Tali, what about a cup of coffee?" Garrus asked.
"I don't drink coffee, Garrus."
"It was a figure of speech."
"Oh. Then … why not?"
The turian smiled. "That's the kind of enthusiasm I was hoping for."
They got into the elevator, heading up toward the mess hall.
"Damn," Grunt said. "I knew Shepard had a quad on her, but I didn't know it looked like that."
"Get your tongue back in your mouth," Jack told him.
"Please! My battlemaster," Grunt said, offended. "But I can admire."
"Plenty there to admire," Jacob agreed. He raised an eyebrow in Thane's direction. "Don't you think so, Krios? You're pretty quiet."
They hadn't gotten off on the right foot, he and Jacob, and he still found Jacob a tad aggressive where he was concerned—and in general, really. They were two very different men. Stiffly, he said, "I was just looking for a glass of water." And regretted the obvious lie the moment it left his lips.
Jack hooted with laughter, Grunt cackled, and Jacob grinned widely. "Tell us another one," Jack said. "You came down here to ogle with the rest of us."
"I admit to some … curiosity," Thane said stiffly.
"Still haven't done anything about it?" Grunt asked, looking disappointed. "Battlemaster deserves better than that."
"She does, indeed, deserve better," Thane said, and perhaps they could sense how terribly serious he was, because the smiles faded from their faces.
"She deserves better than any of us," Jacob agreed. He looked at Thane with less challenge than was his wont. "Glad to see you know that."
Grunt was frowning thoughtfully down the hall in the direction Shepard had gone. "Hate to see her go into a fight so under-armored."
"Kasumi took her stuff along with them, so Shepard can change later."
"But before that …"
Jacob smirked. "Before that, the dress is her armor. She'll have to look impressive for all the fancy stiffs at the party."
"Assuming they will not know who she is," Thane said. "Kasumi's dossier was good, but Shepard is famed across the galaxy, and has no doubt killed a number of people who worked for and with many of those who will be in attendance."
"Good point." Jack scowled. "Shepard should have taken one of us with her, not just the new chick."
"Can you see any of us blending in at one of these parties?" Jacob asked her. "Maybe Miranda. But they probably all know who Miranda is, too."
Thane didn't respond, but Jacob was right … and not right, at the same time. Thane could have gone. Few knew who he was in specific; many knew there was a skilled drell assassin out there. His association with Shepard was not yet widely known, Kasumi had confirmed that. He could have blended into the background and been there to watch her. Why hadn't he insisted on going along? He could have talked Kasumi into it, he was sure of it.
Standing there, watching the empty hallway, he decided to himself that he was never letting her go out into the field without adequate backup again. There might not be much left of value that he could do with the time remaining to him, but he could protect her. And he would, from now on.