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Thane was sent rolling across the floor by the Shadow Broker's first attack. His head thudded painfully against something and blackness closed in on him.

When he returned to consciousness, everything was quiet. Too quiet. He tried to sit up, but a gentle hand pressed against his shoulder, and a familiar voice said, "Stay still. You had a nasty bump on the head."

He opened his eyes, blinking, and then smiled to see Juniper's face bent over his, an answering smile lighting her eyes at the evidence of his return to consciousness. "Siha."

"You scared me," she told him, the candid admission coming easily to her lips, and he marveled at that, Commander Shepard admitting to fear so simply.

Thane raised a hand to trace the edge of her jaw, and Juniper trapped it with hers against her cheek.

She was looking at him intently, her eyes wide and her lips parted, and she breathed his name softly. "Thane …"

But he knew what she wanted to say and even now, even with his head pillowed on her lap and his hand pressed against her skin, he couldn't. Not yet. Not now. Not with this fresh reminder of his own mortality facing him. He had failed her, let her face off against the Shadow Broker alone. No, not alone—with Liara.

He struggled to rise, and this time Shepard helped him, holding him with an arm around his waist as he swayed dizzily. "We need to get you back to the ship," she said, and he didn't have the strength to argue with her. His breath was coming short, and he focused his energies on keeping his breathing even, knowing all too well that if he gasped for breath he would feel worse.

He was only vaguely aware of Shepard speaking to Liara as she led him from the room, of a young drell, the one they had seen earlier being tortured, limping past them into the room.

It took a long time to get back to the landing pad, time in which Thane was forced to allow Shepard to carry more of his weight than he would have liked, and to let her manage the treacherous surfaces of the outside of the ship.

At last they were in the shuttle, and Thane could relax and lean back against the seat while Garrus handled the controls, carrying them back to the Normandy. Shepard's hand held his in a firm, strong grip, a grip that warmed him all through.

"We're going to get you back to the ship and let Dr. Chakwas take a look at you, and then … Thane, I thought—I thought—"

"All the more reason, Siha," he told her. "Because what you thought will come true, sooner rather than later."

"Yes, and I know that. But to lose you without—without ever really having you … Thane, I'm stronger than you seem to think I am."

"Possibly you are. Probably so, in fact. But I regret to say that it appears … It appears I am not." Gently but firmly he disentangled his hand from hers and moved down to the other end of the seat, leaning his head against the wall and closing his eyes so he couldn't see her saddened face.

Shepard stood staring at the fish, watching them dart back and forth. Their lives were short, their trips across the aquarium seemingly meaningless. Did her life seem as short, as pointless, to the Reapers? It must, since they considered all forms of organic life to be as expendable as the fish were to her.

She thought of Thane, so afraid to lose her by dying that he couldn't bear to have her while living, and sighed heavily, at a loss as to how to convince him to reach for the life that remained to him.

The door chimed softly and she said "Come in" listlessly. It slid open and Liara entered the room, smiling at her.

"I can't wait to tell you all about the Broker's ship, Shepard. There's so much to be learned!"

Shepard managed a genuine smile at her friend's enthusiasm. "Just like researching the Protheans?"

"Better," Liara admitted. "No digging, no trying to put together vague clues and little shards of pottery. All this information is lying out there waiting for me to pick it up."

"Be careful. That kind of power—"

"I know. I have a responsibility to use it wisely. And I will."

"Good. Remember you're Liara T'Soni first and the Shadow Broker second."

"Promise to remind me?"

"Anytime you need it." Shepard gestured toward her couch and the wine bottle and glasses already laid out on the table. "Come have a drink."

"I don't mind if I do."

They sank onto the couch cushions, glasses in hand, talking about general things—the new Normandy, Joker, the hunt for the Collectors. Then Liara put her glass on the table, leaned forward, and fixed Shepard with an inescapable gaze. "And how are you, my friend?"

"Fine."

"Tell me another one."

"No, I am. Tired, but fine."

"You were dead. How does it feel to come back to life?"

"I don't remember being dead," Shepard admitted. "It doesn't feel any different to me. I've tried, but … if there was anything out there in the beyond, I don't remember it."

Liara shrugged. "That's probably for the best—you would either be too fascinated with what lay there and want to get back to it, or too frightened of it to perform the tasks ahead of you effectively."

The words brought Thane to Shepard's mind. She tried to cover the thought by drinking deeply from her glass, but she could see that Liara hadn't missed it.

"Of course," Liara said gently, "in order to perform those tasks, you have to have something to fight for. What is it that matters to you, Shepard? What do you hope to have for yourself when you have defeated the Collectors? A few stolen moments with Thane before the inevitable?"

Tears prickled at the back of Shepard's eyes and she closed them tightly to hold back the tide. "The Kepral's Syndrome isn't bad yet, but … I don't know how much longer there is."

Liara nodded, understanding. "Asari often have to go through this same thing with a shorter-lived mate. We learn early on that it isn't how much time you have, it's what you do with it."

Bitterly, Shepard said, "You're giving that advice to the wrong person. He's the one who can't embrace the life he has left. I know—one morning you wake up and you're hunting geth, and by night you're drifting through space, dying. You have to take the moments you can, and not worry about the next one. But Thane … He got so used to having nothing to live for, to the luxury of allowing himself not to care that he was dying, and I … I don't know how to make him care."

"He does care. Very much."

Shepard glanced at her friend. "I won't ask how you know that."

Liara smiled. "It has nothing to do with the Shadow Broker. It's in the way he watches you, and the way he tracks those who have targeted you and eliminates them first in a fight, and … Well, really, it's in every line of his body and every movement and every gesture. He wears his heart on his sleeve. But his fear is there, too, equally clearly."

"So what do I do?"

"You always want to jump in and fix our problems for us." Liara's smile widened affectionately. "But some problems we have to solve ourselves. You have to be patient, let Thane conquer his fear on his own."

"And if that comes too late?"

"You will have to appreciate what you did have time for—his friendship, his respect, his companionship."

"I want more," Shepard admitted.

Liara chuckled. "Wanting things for yourself is new for you, I know, and finding something you want that you can't make happen must be a particular challenge. He'll get there. Be patient, Juniper." Shepard looked at her, startled at the use of her name, and Liara's chuckle deepened into a laugh. "Whose did you think would be the first dossier I looked up once I had access to the Shadow Broker's files? Never fear, your secret is safe with me."

"I never doubted it," Shepard told her.

Getting to her feet, Liara reached for Shepard's hand, holding it tightly for a moment. "I should be getting back to my ship. If you ever need anything from me …"

"Thank you, my friend. Be careful."

"I will be," Liara promised, and then she was gone, leaving Shepard to contemplate her fish again and wonder if any of them ever worried about what lay beyond the glass that formed the boundary of their world.