A/N: Important update: Upon further review and based on all your reviews, I have decided to more or less rewrite the whole story. I understand that it was getting confusing as it was moving entirely too fast and getting mired in useless plot. I have lost sight of where the story was supposed to have gone and was more interested in putting out chapters than developing the relationship between Thane and Shepard. Essentially, I understand that people have lost interest in this. Because, honestly, so did I. So now, I will attempt to correct this and steer it in a more appropriate direction. I will be discarding many elements of the original while keeping some that I feel are important. Your reviews, of course, are always very helpful in keeping me on track.

Hopefully, you will give me one last chance. I hope you do.

For this chapter, I kept the beginning the same, but I will be taking things a bit slower.

CHAPTER 2: Underground

"Thane, wait!" Liara stopped him, her slender fingers tightly curling around his wrist, pulling him back down. "I really don't think this is a good idea." Thane crouched down beside her and looked at her quizzically. He understood her concern. To witness such cruelty to your own kind was...painful and disconcerting. But if this was their only chance, he wasn't about to give it up to end up waiting another three years.

"Liara. I know what I'm doing." he reassured her, placing his hand on her shoulder. He was lying, of course. When it came down to it, Thane had no idea what he was doing because he had no idea what he would find inside. But that suited him fine. If only it would bring him closer to Shepard.

After a long pause, Liara looked up at him, her face riddled with worry.

"Please, be careful. These people-"

"Are dangerous. Yes. I know." Thane finished for her. He was quite aware of the risk. A knowledge that did not stop him. He couldn't possibly be more ready than he was now. But despite his projected confidence, the concern on his companion's face did not lessen. Thane sighed and leaned against the rock. "Let's go over my persona again." he suggested. A small look of appreciation crossed Liara's face as she herself sat close to him and pulled out a bunch of data pads from her bag.

"Alright. Let's start with your name."

o0o

"Ularik Donnes." Thane voiced with confidence as the name smoothly rolled off his tongue. The guards looked at him skeptically.

"Never heard of you." one of them said after a pause. Thane raised an eyebrow.

"Because all who have are either dead or permanently... mute." he replied in as casual a tone as he could, adding just a touch of insanity with a half smile. "So, you can let me in, or you can let me kill you. Your choice."

As much confidence as Thane had in his acting skills, the fact that he couldn't see their faces slightly unnerved him. In the past, when it came to armed and armored opponents, he preferred to take them out without a single word. Conversations were usually exchanged with people in fancy suits sipping on expensive champagnes. But as it turned out, brutes were easier to fool. The two guards looked at each other, punched something into the monitor by the door, then turned back to face him.

"Sorry, Mr. Ularik. We did not know you would be visiting!" one of them stammered out, pushing the other out of the way to let him in. Thane nodded in response and walked past them, glad that Liara's information checked out. He knew his body well enough to know that he would not have been able to fight them in such close proximity. Once inside, he lowered his hood as his eyes adjusted to the strobe lights. The deep music rhythms reverberated in his head from the lower levels and he searched out a staircase, locating it on the far side of the corridor. There he was met by another guard who let him in without question, likely warned by the guards at the front. The door opened and Thane was suddenly overwhelmed by the smell of alcohol, tobacco, and sex.

It took a moment for his brain to process what his eyes saw. The atmosphere was dark, matching the music. The furniture, despite the devastation of the galaxy, was lavish, made of nothing but the finest velvet and leather. The walls were lined with doors, leading into private rooms. And at the center of it all was a circular stage displaying the 'merchandise'. Barely dressed females of all races writhed on the platform, trying to catch the attention of many surrounding customers. A familiar face flashed through Thane's mind as he remembered the asari shot outside the bar. Moments ago, she herself must have been up here, trying to make a living. Or at least just living. He quickly shoved the memory aside as a hand came to rest on his shoulder. Firing up every instinct in his body, he swiftly turned around to face the intruder. In a place inhabited by world class criminals, being stabbed in the back was more common than anyone would have liked to admit. But when he turned around, it wasn't a criminal who stood before him.

Thane's career had taken him to many strange places and as such, full frontal nudity wasn't much of a shock to him. However, after so many years of being on the run and then have it in his face like this, it made him take a step back. An action that didn't seem to phase the asari that stood before him.

"Can I get you a seat, honey?" she smirked, moving closer, her body language making it evident that her intentions were more than just finding him a seat. "You've come on a very special night."

The statement managed to do what her assets couldn't. Get his attention.

"I got the invitation." Thane replied, thumbing the data pad in his pocket. "What's the surprise?"

"Oh, but I wouldn't want to ruin it for you! You'll just have to wait and see!" she smiled in what she must have thought was a seductive way, moving within an inch of his face. "Until then..."

Thane had to restrain himself from pushing the woman away as her fingers crawled under his clothing, reminding himself that she was only doing her job.

"I'm sure I'll be fine." he stated firmly, taking her wrists and removing them from his person. That offended her, but she didn't pursue.

"Fine." she replied crossly. "Suit yourself."

Straightening himself up, Thane took a seat at the bar and scanned the premises. Typical underground slave market bar. But no sign of Shepard. Whether that was good or bad was yet to be determined.

"What will it be?" the salarian bartender slurred.

"The strongest thing you got." First things first, Thane needed to loosen up. In places like this, information didn't come easy or cheap.