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Shepard had tried gallantly to hide her rising tension as the Normandy approached the Citadel, but Thane could still see it in her. She hadn't shared with him all the details of what had occurred on her mission, but she had told him enough to know that her decision had been the only one she could reasonably make under the circumstances, and that she nevertheless felt extraordinarily unhappy about it.

But she had been sent by Admiral Hackett to do a job—and even though the mission had not gone as Hackett had planned, Shepard had done the job. She had kept the Reapers from coming through. Thane could only hope that Hackett, and through him the Alliance and the Council, would understand.

Even though he knew it was selfish, Thane couldn't help the way his spirits rose as they neared the Citadel. Whatever else lay ahead in his future, he could see his son once more. Undoubtedly Kolyat wouldn't want to see him, but Thane hoped he would agree to a meeting anyway. Perhaps with Shepard, if her meetings with Hackett, Anderson, and the Council went quickly enough. Under normal circumstances, he would have waited to introduce Shepard and Kolyat—reintroduce, really, although neither of them had seen each other at their best the first time—but given his most recent spell, the step forward his illness had taken, he didn't believe he had the time to wait. And when he was gone … well, perhaps it was romantic foolishness on his part, but he hoped that when he was gone, they could be of some comfort to one another.

While Shepard went through her debriefings, Thane visited with Captain Bailey, who had encouraging things to say about Kolyat's progress. Thane was grateful that his son was responding to fatherly attention from someone, even if it wasn't him. After all, he had more than proven in his misspent life that he had never had the first idea how to be a father—and it was probably too late for him to learn.

Shepard found him waiting for Kolyat to be brought to an interview room. "How did it go?" he asked her.

She shrugged. "Hackett understands I did what I had to do. At least, I think he does. But he also has a good point—my actions cost the lives of three hundred thousand batarians, despite how many more lives they saved. At some point, there will be a reckoning."

"What manner of reckoning?"

"Nothing I can handle," she assured him. He knew he was being brushed off, and that there must be more to it, but at that moment Kolyat was brought in and all other discussion would have to wait.

"Of course," Kolyat spat, seeing Thane and Shepard there together. "It would be you."

"I am pleased to see you looking so well," Thane told him, ignoring the rudeness. It was no more than he deserved, after all.

"Bailey keeps me hopping," Kolyat said, taking a seat across the table. "But … I like it," he admitted, almost shyly.

"I am glad to hear it."

"And I see you've brought your boss, too." Kolyat looked between them and frowned blackly. "Oh. I get it. You've replaced Mother and brought your—"

Thane half-stood in his chair, anger coursing through him. "Be careful in what you say, my son. No one could ever replace your mother, and Commander Shepard has more than earned your respect and that of the rest of the galaxy. Do not use words you will regret later."

Kolyat cleared his throat. "Commander Shepard."

"Kolyat."

They looked coldly at one another across the table, and Thane's heart sank. This was not how he had hoped the interview would go.

"So this is your life now, Father, flying across the galaxy in your little love nest?"

Thane reined in his irritation with some difficulty. "Commander Shepard is an exceptional woman. To have found her at this point in my life, when I had all but given up … I am a most fortunate man."

"How nice for you. I'm sure Mother would be thrilled."

"Your mother would have wanted me to find happiness again. You know that as well as I do."

Kolyat had the grace to look somewhat shame-faced. "No, you're right, she would have." He cleared his throat. "Commander Shepard, I apologize for any offense. Captain Bailey, and many others here on the Citadel, have sung your praises to me until I could hardly believe there was such a person, much less that my father …"

Shepard smiled. "I don't think there is such a person as the Commander Shepard people like to look up to in the way that you mean, and I can't blame you for finding her annoying. As for your father …" She reached out and put a hand over Thane's. "He is a good man, Kolyat, despite his past mistakes. We all make those. The lucky ones of us are able to put them behind us, to make amends and move forward. Others are caught in the web of their own frailties their entire lives." Her hand tightened on Thane's. "He says he's fortunate, but I'm the lucky one."

There was a silence, as her gaze lingered on Thane's face and Kolyat watched them both and Thane tried not to be overcome by the impossibility of this moment when he was sitting here with both of them.

At last Kolyat said, "That's … very nice for both of you," but for once he sounded as though he wasn't sure what to say, rather than insolent or challenging. Thane counted it as a win. Kolyat cleared his throat. "Where … will you go now?"

Shepard looked instantly alarmed, but tried valiantly to hide it. "I thought maybe I'd take your father to Earth," she said nonchalantly. Thane could hear what she wasn't saying, however. They wanted her on Earth to face a tribunal, to appease the batarians. Well, he would be there with her, whatever she needed.

Kolyat responded as though it was a mere pleasantry, expressing polite interest, and the conversation went on for a bit—stilted and formal, yes, but at least they were talking. It was enough.