The sun was barely peaking up from the horizon, painting the sky with hazy oranges and violets. Thane was awake sitting atop the boulder their little tent hid behind in not but his skimpies and the band around his neck he always wore. His legs were folded in front of him, one over the other so that one foot lay over the knee of the opposite leg. His back was strait and his eyes were closed with his head slightly bowed, hands poised in meditation. The dry air was life to his lungs. The rising heat from the sun was warm and welcome on his skin. The woman he loved lay asleep in the tent behind him, safe and at peace. He opened his eyes to watch the sun, surveying the surrounding desert. He too was at peace.

Shyra Krios, as she was now, lazily opened her eyes. Her Mëhana was not beside her, but she was not worried. She could see his shadow cast over the tent. He was meditating, as he did every morning. She lovingly caressed the pillow where his head had lay. If she wanted to she could burry her nose in it and smell him there. She didn't. The whole tent smelled like them. She basked in it. She let the sheets slide off her form, exposing her soft, pink nipples and the lean lines of her midsection. She traced her fingers over the 'V' that led to her temple. His temple. It was where he went to worship her. She smiled as she let herself feel the wetness that was still present from the night before. She gave herself a few moments of pleasure before dressing in her white tunic and trousers and crawled out of the tent into the sun.

They had explored much of the canyon. Discovered small purple flowers growing in the cracks. Even found a natural supply of fresh water from a small spring. They had made love the whole week as if it were the very air they breathed. She was sore, but she felt wonderful. She wondered how Thane could have survived being away from home so often in his past if he was always this randy. It was the passion he hid from the world behind the mask of the professional killer.

She quietly ate her breakfast of dried fruit and water in his shadow, watching the winds toss dust across the sands. A small beetle like critter scuttled past her in search of smaller life to eat. She offered it a dried bit of berry. It didn't refuse, scurrying away with the morsel securely in it's mandables.

Thane sat quietly down beside her with the grace he embodied. It almost startled her when turned her head and saw him there. She offered him some fruit. He also didn't refuse.

"We will be returning to the Normandy today." He said. "I am glad for the time we have spent here."

"I was hoping to also visit Juxhi." She replied. "The desert there has more plant life, cacti and such. Maybe next spring when everything is in bloom?" She grinned at him.

He smiled back and nodded in agreement. "That would be... wonderful." He snaked an arm around her waist while they finished eating. She leaned into him. Every moment was the best.

They'd packed up everything and were heading back to the apartment. They were meeting the Kodiak for pick up in five hours. They had plenty of time.

"Siha, our mission is important, though it is proving to be a difficult challenge. Wherever Harbinger is, he has left no other evidence of himself in this galaxy. His only connection, it seems, was through the Collectors. With the base destroyed, it may be that we will find nothing more with which to convince the Council. The Reapers will not give up their conquest, but they have been considerably delayed." He turned his gaze to her as they neared the city. She was listening, considering his words carefully. "It may be that they will not be able to return in our life time."

"What are you trying to say, Mëha?" She glanced at him. He was looking ahead of them.

"Spending this brief time here with you has been an experience I have visited many times. Though I will be with you on the Normandy, it is not a peaceful life. I had a chance for that, once. I was foolish. I paid for my mistake. Others paid more." He paused for a moment, resisting the memory trying to force it's way to the forefront of his mind. "I have lived an adventurous life, and I am grateful for it because it brought you to me. But it was not my choice. Now that I have the choice, I'm not sure I want it... the life that was chosen for me."

"What life do you want, Thane?" she asked him as himself and not her mate. It made him nervous that she might not go with him.

"I want to live in peace... with you, Arasiha. I wish to enjoy the gift of life I've been granted. We've done what we can, more than anyone has ever done, to improve the galaxy and make it a brighter place." He paused. She wasn't going to respond. "We could live here," He gestured around them with a gracious sweep of his hand. "Or Juxhi, or one of the worlds in hanar space... or Earth."

The last suggestion earned him a harsh look.

"Mëhana..." She stopped in her tracks.

He turned to face her. He couldn't read what she was thinking.

"I love you. I would do anything for you." She looked him in the eye when she said this, then looked away. "I don't know if I can do that. I'm still a Spectre, though not much of one lately, and a Commander in the Alliance. I havn't been doing that lately either. I'm too young to retire. How would we take care of ourselves?" She sighed. "I'm not saying it isn't a tempting thought, but I have other responsibilities. The galaxy is bigger than we are." She wished she could take back the last words as soon as they fell out of her mouth. "I'm not saying 'no', just... give me time to think about it." She was trying to soften it.

"I understand. You are correct, of corse." He said. His face was blank. "Perhaps I am being selfish."

"Mëhana... "

"We should return to the apartment." He turned and started walking.

She hated it when they argued like this. It didn't happen often, and there was never shouting. There was no heated passion of opposing ideas. Just the cold silence that followed.

When they entered the apartment it was as they'd left it, but something felt... off. Thane could since it. He motioned to Shyra and casually took off his pack. Un-natural caution would alert any intruders. Shepard followed his lead. She checked the bathroom first and found nothing. The ceiling was stone. No one could hide there. Thane checked the only closet, then he started checking under bed and table, inside dewars and along the window sill. He was looking for 'bugs'. Shepard assisted. Thane found what he was looking for. It was in the upper corner of the room. How long had they been spied on? They had to leave, now.

"Shepard," This was not the time for intimate names. "We have to leave, now."

She nodded and headed for the door, pistol in hand. Thane had his as well. They never went anywhere outside the Normandy unarmed, even if it was vacation. She checked the hall, it was clear. She used her omni-tool to send an urgent message to the Normandy, then took strife steps down the hall. Thane covered her back. The took the rear exit of the building to try and sneak past any security that may be watching the front. They both knew the rear was likely also being watched, but they had little choice. Their suspicions were correct. The alley had precious little cover, and escape wouldn't be easy. Cerberus had found her. This was a small infiltration team, meant to hold them here until reinforcements arrived. They must have planted the bug in her apartment before they arrived. The Illusive Man could easily have gained knowledge of the property. He had seen everything that happened there. Everything. She cursed herself for being so careless as they ducked into cover behind a trash collector.

"Mëha, I'm sorry... I was careless." She apologized while sending bullets flying into her target's head.

"There is no need, Siha. Now is not the time." He fired a few rounds of his own. "If you wish to apologize, you may do so aboard the Normandy." He sent a bullet into the head of a Cerberus agent. The man's head exploded as if to punctuate Thane's point.

Shepard-Krios blazed with blue flame as she sent a shock-wave toward their assailants. It sent her enemies flying in every direction. She left cover to move ahead. She did not see the sniper that had reached his position in a window above. Thane had searched for such a person when they'd taken cover to insure there were none. This one had taken the stair from the interior of the building to avoid detection. It was what he would have done. They had not been prepared for this attack. Rounds from the pistol would not reach the sniper. His body erupted into a blue inferno as he sent the fastest biotic field he could manage toward the sniper as he shouted to Shyra. He had to stop him from pulling the trigger. He sent another toward his Arasiha to push her out of the way.

"Sniper!"

Shepard heard Thane shout behind her. She caught the blue glow of his biotic flare out of the corner of her eye as it rocketed toward it's target. She felt herself being thrown toward the nearest available cover. Thane was trying to push her out of the way. She hit the stone wall on the opposite side of the building they had exited with a dull thud. A warmth was spreading quickly over her skin. She looked down to see a red rose blooming on the white fabric of her tunic. Her vision blurred. She saw Thane running to her. She felt him lift her as if she were weightless. She would vaguely remember seeing the stonework of the buildings flutter past and the pounding of his heart in her ear as her head rested against his chest. His rumbling voice was as if from another world when she slipped into unconsciousness.

"Normandy, come in! This is Thane, Shepard's been hit! Please respond!" Thane shouted, hoping the omni-tool was picking up his words. A small bit of relief came when he heard Garrus' voice respond.

"This is the Normandy. We're in orbit and sending the Kodiak down now. What the hell happened?"

"Cerberus found us." Thane replied.

"Damn it. They're probably hiding on the other side of the planet. We'll get you up here as fast as we can. We may be taking fire when you arrive."

Garrus was pissed. The drell had let her get hurt. He would pay for that.