Thane

Pain consumed him. His chest burned with an angry fire, head throbbed hard enough he thought his skull might burst. When he tried to lift his heavy lids, the light created explosions in his eyes. Metal grating scraped his fingertips, snagged on his boots, and tore at his jacket here and there as if he were being dragged across its surface. His thoughts came slow and disjointed, the memories of where he was and how he'd gotten there little more than fog lazily drifting along water. Something hissed and clanged nearby, growing louder each moment.

Suddenly, a rancid odor flooded his nostrils, smelling of decaying flesh and refuse, and his stomach roiled. Coughing and gagging, Thane rolled to his side, tearing himself loose from whomever had a hold of him. In no condition to fight, he tried to push himself to his hands and knees nevertheless, but even such a small amount of movement made his every muscle spasm in revolt, his stomach lurch, and his head spin.

He wretched, bile burning its way up his throat and searing his sinuses. Collapsing, he caught the flicker of a shadow, and then a keeper stood over him, looking at him with the blank expression all keepers wore. He groaned, rolling over to his back again. A moment later, the keeper grabbed the shoulders of his jacket and started dragging him again.

In and out of consciousness, Thane let himself be pulled along like little more than a sac of soiled linens on the way to the wash. He prayed he'd regain his strength by the time the keeper arrived at its intended destination, wherever that may be. He didn't entirely understand what happened to leave him in such a state. All he recalled was being with Avalina, Feron, and Pelathya as they worked to place the monitors as discreetly as possible. Moving through the corridors in pairs, he with Avalina and Feron with Pelathya, they parted from Feron and Pelathya when they reached a divergent path.

He realized during one, brief moment of awareness, that he no longer smelled the protein vats—and yes, he realized protein vats were exactly what he'd smelled—nor did he hear the sounds of heavy machinery. The lighting didn't sear his eyes quite so much, and he seemed able to breathe a bit easier. His memories also came with more ease, and he remembered what happened with growing dread.

When they'd found Pelathya and Feron again, they were unconscious, lying on the ground at the base of a pillar suspiciously similar to those he'd seen James and the others deal with on the derelict reaper. It was too late, though, they were already too close when the artifact emitted a shockwave of sorts. That was the last thing he remembered until he awoke to his keeper escort.

When consciousness returned the next time, he was no longer being moved, and he heard the steady sounds of someone breathing nearby. Pushing himself up to sitting, he closed his eyes for a moment and took several deep, anchoring breaths before looking around. Near enough to reach without moving, Pelathya lay on the floor, eyes closed and motionless. Feron and Avalina were nowhere to be seen. Try as he might, he couldn't place the location, having no memories of ever being in that particular part of the Citadel. He appeared to be utterly alone with Pelathya, not even the usual hustle and bustle of such an active space station reached his ears.

"Pelathya," he said, just above a whisper, not wishing to draw the attention of anyone else if there were others nearby, but the asari didn't respond.

Reaching over, he settled his fingers on her wrist. Her pulse pounded strong and steady against his scales. He saw no blood and no indications of injury. Gently shaking her did nothing to rouse her, either. He was just about to call her name again when a noise drew his attention to a door sliding open. A keeper backed its way inside, dragging Avalina in its grasp.

"Avalina!" He climbed to his feet, swaying as the stolid keeper brought her closer.

The odd creature let her go and left, returning to the door from which it came. Thane hoped it'd gone to fetch Feron as well. He moved to Avalina's side, each step nearly sending him face first into the floor. Easing himself back down, he knelt next to his associate … to his friend. He realized he feared for her safety, truly feared. She drew breath and had a pulse, rousing only in the slightest when he shook her and called her name.

"Garrus, good. I'm afraid we might need your assistance," Thane said when the turian answered his call. He hadn't wanted to disturb Garrus, not while he still recovered from the injuries he sustained on the Shadow Broker's ship, and not when Thane already tasked him with keeping Shepard safe.

"Is that Thane?" Shepard's voice came over the line, the desperation in her voice twisting a blade in his chest.

He didn't see her, however, Thane was certain they were no longer at The Pearson Sisters' Sanctuary. Garrus wore his armor, his assault rifle visible behind one shoulder, sniper rifle behind the other. The sedate, soothing colors and furnishings of Shepard's suite didn't fill the background, instead, he saw the foliage of a tree and heard people going to and fro.

"Yeah," Garrus said, turning to reveal more of the Presidium as he moved closer to Shepard until the warrior-angel appeared on the screen next to him, likewise dressed in her armor.

"Siha?" Thane narrowed his eyes. Mind still muddled, he struggled to process the situation.

"You're alive." She breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Where are you, what's going on? We tried reaching you for a couple of days, but you never answered. We're out searching for you right now!"

Days? How can that be?

"I—I'm not certain, but I think we encountered a reaper artifact. There was a burst of energy ... and—and I think it did something to knock us out and keep us unconscious. I didn't awaken until a keeper dragged me away from the device." Thane glanced at the others, likewise still groggy and confused. "It brought us all here, one by one, but I don't know where we are now. And I'm … my apologies, but I'm struggling to think coherently."

"Switch the call to my omni-tool," she said to Garrus, voice full of strength and command, something Thane hadn't heard from her in quite some time. "I can decrypt his signal and backtrack it to his location."

"I'm afraid that won't work. I use very special encryption, siha." For the first time ever, Thane cursed himself for the extra bit of protection. He'd tried looking at maps of the Citadel, but he couldn't quite focus on the pathways to determine where they were and how to get back to the public areas. The little blip on the screen indicating his location didn't even seem to be in an area outlined on the map.

"I know." She glanced at him and then Garrus once more. "I can handle it."

"You can?" Mandibles flaring, Garrus looked her over, doubt clear in his voice. "Tech's never been your, ah, strong point."

Lips twitching downward for just a second, she shrugged. "I can now. Send me the call."

Thane watched as Garrus did as she commanded, images on the screen shifting angle and positioning, making her the center focus. She met his gaze for a second or two, just long enough for his cotton-filled brain to register the complete clarity in her eyes, before she set to work. Nibbling on the corner of her lower lip, her fingers moved with expert ease as she picked apart the code meant to hide his true location. Brow furrowing, her concentration never wavered until at last, she gave a triumphant cluck of her tongue and grinned.

"I've got you," she said, meeting his gaze again, love and affection in her beautiful eyes. "Stay put, we're coming."

Shepard and Garrus arrived—James conspicuously absent—with their helmets on, airlocks secured. Only then did Thane realize why he couldn't seem to clear his head and neither could the others; there was something wrong with the air, a toxin of some sort or perhaps too low of an oxygen content. He smelled nothing off, it left no residue on the back of his tongue, yet obviously something tainted the air, keeping his senses dulled and his mind numbed.

Squatting down in front of him, Shepard pressed a gauntleted hand to his face, watching him through the visor of her helmet. "You okay?" She didn't wait for an answer before slipping her hands under his arms, urging him to his feet. "Come on, let's get you out of here. I didn't realize the area had such high levels of carbon monoxide until my sensors went off, otherwise I would've tried to direct you somewhere else to wait for us. Cleaner air isn't far away, though." Holding onto him, keeping him steady, she asked, "Can you walk?"

Carbon monoxide. Of course.

"I believe so," he said, watching Garrus help Pelathya to her feet. "Perhaps it's best if we take it slowly, however."

Avalina got herself standing and shuffled over next to Thane while Shepard helped Feron. The other drell and asari both seemed less stable on their feet, perhaps because they were hit by the artifact's pulse twice. He locked his jaw on a startling realization … if the pillar was indeed a reaper artifact, might the pulse have contained the ability to indoctrinate?

The longer he was away from the room where the keeper deposited him, the better he felt. The aches and pains which plagued him vanished, all save for the dull ache in his chest—but it came as no surprise. His Kepral's Syndrome was worsening. Chest pain, shortness of breath, vertigo … the symptoms had been appearing more frequently for awhile. He was not far from the sea.

Dr. Chakwas fretted over him, scanning his chest and head, insisting on extra breathing treatments …. And his siha sat by his side the entire time, holding his hand and fighting to keep the fear from her eyes. He saw it all too clearly, though. Garrus remained with him as well, watching over him in silence, posture speaking of a willingness to bring a swift end to any who might threaten Thane as easily as he might one who would seek to harm Shepard. It was endearing.

As soon as Avalina, Feron, and Pelathya were out of earshot, Thane settled his gaze on Shepard and said, "You can't trust any of us now. The artifact, it looked like those on the derelict reaper. We might very well be indoctrinated. If we have been out of contact for days, then that time was spent lying at the base of the artifact."

Tears welled in her eyes, and her grip tightened on his hand. "I know." She sniffed and cleared her throat. "I've already called Mordin and Grundan Krul. The female krogans are stable enough for Mordin to make a trip to the Citadel so he can exam all of you, and Grundan Krul is going to contact Feron and Pelathya to insist they allow Mordin to check them out and clear them before leaving. Will your friend be a problem?"

He freed his hand from hers to brush tears from her cheek, offering a soft smile. "Avalina will do as I ask. I'm sorry, siha."

Kissing his wrist she put her hand on top of his and held it against her cheek for a moment before gently pulling it away. "You don't have anything to apologize to me for, Thane."

He did, though. He'd left her to worry about him. He wasn't careful enough, he didn't consider all of the possibilities before walking into dangerous territory. He'd put himself at risk, and in doing so, put her at risk. Put her mission at risk.

Still, he knew better than to push her, so instead he changed the subject. "I'm surprised to find you outside of The Pearson Sisters' Sanctuary … and in your own armor. I believe I may have missed something important."

Garrus hummed, drawing Thane's attention. "A few important things."

"Indeed?" Thane raised a brow ridge, glancing between Shepard and Garrus.

"She came back to us," Garrus said with a purr, gaze locked on the woman whose heart they shared. "Dawn came back to us."