The soft light of morning shifted through the buildings and into the window of the port observatory on the crew deck of the Normandy docked in Nos Astra. With it came Shyra's hang over. She rolled over to nuzzle her lover, but he was gone.

"Probably having breakfast." She thought. "Or whatever it is he does on the ship when it's not me." She smiled.

Her head was pounding and she felt a queazy. She doubted Garrus felt much better. Good thing they were docked.

"Damn it!" She swore. "I still have to read those reports!"

Her head throbbed more.

"Maybe Chakwas can give me something."

She slid out of bed and robed for a shower. She vaguely remembered the conversation from the night before. She was starting to wonder if Thane's idea wasn't such a bad one after all, but they had to take care of the Illusive Man first. She wasn't about to be chased through the galaxy under threat of some mad man.

Shepard went to the captain's loft instead of the observatory after Chakwas reluctantly gave her some pills to clear her head. She needed to focus and read the data, formulate a plan of action. She had a goal beyond the mission now. She intended to reach it.

Thane had gone to Life Support to meditate with out the distraction of his Arasiha. She'd started snoring, something she only did when she drank. It woke him and kept him awake, so he simply left.

It was strange to be in his old quarters. The memories of the time he'd spent there preparing for death, thinking about his wife and son, the conversations with Shepard that built a friendship and eventually something that was much more. The empty shelves on the walls taunted him with his past. The leather covering the back of his hands a vestige of the life he'd lead. His own body, trained to kill, felt threatening around him. He only felt this way, thought of these things when he was alone. When he was not focused on a mission or on Shyra. She made him feel the most peaceful, complete. She was his purpose, the light unto his soul. She calmed the storms.

Thane prayed. He recited mantras, pouring out the negative energy building in him that threatened his sanity. He uttered a closing mantra and left his pain and his guilt behind in Life Support. That was where he kept it, like a box full of relics from a violent and bitter war.

Shepard looked up from the data pad as she lay across the sofa against the wall when she heard the doors hiss open. Thane appeared at the top of the stairs, proud and reserved with his hands at his sides.

"I was looking for you." He said calmly.

"Well, it seems you've found me. Did you need something?" She teased, welcoming a break from reading all morning.

Thane took the stairs with deliberate steps and secured a seat center of the adjoining sofa. He rested one arm over the back and crossed one leg over the other so that he leaned toward her slightly.

"To be near you." He said. He kept his face sincere.

Shyra smiled up at him. Her eyes trailed over the lines of his body, admiring the way his leathers hugged his form, exposed his chest... He always said the most suave things on top of being so damn sexy. No wonder she spent most of her time fucking him. She felt a warmth rise to her face and averted to eyes to the data pad.

"I was just reading the data Liara sent."She said, changing the subject. She bounced the data pad in her hands.

"What have you found?"

"Well, there's a lot on information he's sold, to whom and how the client paid for it. Name, race and rank of dozens of contacts and other subordinates, their locations. Nothing on the Shadow Broker himself or how to contact him directly. If we can get to the higher ups, maybe one of them will know how to find him... if we can get them to talk."

"You got Kelham to talk." He reminded her.

"Do you think the Shadow Broker's men will be so easily persuaded to give up their pay checks?"

"No."

Thane studied her a moment. Her eyes looked tired from reading. Her lips were pale. The voluptuous curves of her body stretched out behind her along the sofa. Her feet were in the air, locked at the ankle. A smile played at the corners of his mouth. She could be so cute. The look she gave him reminded him of her temper.

"Perhaps your experience with Kelham combined with Garrus' expertise with interrogation from his time with C-Sec will provide us with an advantage." He said.

"Maybe... I think we're going to need more people. Tali would come. I'll send her a message. We could see if Liara has any information on Jack. She's always wanted to take the Illusive Man out." Shepard suggested.

"We should attempt to send a message to Legion." Thane said.

Shepard cocked a brow at him.

"He would be useful."

"He would, if he would join us. We have no way of know if he's even the Legion we knew."

"True. I believe it would be worth a try."

"What about Grunt, then. We may as well send out feelers for the entire team if we're taking a chance on the geth."

"I'm glad you agree. We should be getting responses from them in about a day."

Shepard sat up, leaving the data pad on the cushion.

"What? You already sent the messages?"

"Garrus and I talked when I went to the Command Deck to look for you. He made the choice to send messages to Tali, Grunt, Mordin and a general message for Legion on all geth frequencies."

"Dr. Solus may have..."

"Returned to the sea." Thane finish her sentence for her. "And we have no location for Jack, as of yet."

"Ok, well ask Liara about her tomorrow."

Shyra looked over at her husband. It seemed strange to think of him that way. Calling him her Mëha or Mëhana was exotic and comfortable. She knew it meant the same, but using the title in her native tongue made it seem more real. More permanent. More about sharing the rest of her life with him and less about mating. It changed her view of him, of their relationship. Somehow it seemed intimate on a deeper level.

"I can't believe you two." She said, pretending to be angry.

She knew she hadn't much right to be. Garrus had been taking over for her. He was a good friend, irreplaceable.

Shyra got up from her seat to sit beside Thane. His arm slid off the back of the sofa and around her shoulders. She rested her hand over his where it lay on his knee.

"I should throw you both in the brig." She said with a false harshness.

Thane playfully narrowed his eyes and scowled at her.

"Who would kiss you and keep you warm at night if I am imprisoned?"

"Well, I guess I'll have to dig out some more blankets and sleep with sand paper. Let's face it, human skin wouldn't give me the rash I've grown accustomed to having. I don't know what I'd do with myself if I did't have to put cream on every morning." She teased.

Thane gave her a hurt expression and pulled away slightly. She wasn't sure if he was sill playing along or not. She regretted her jestingl words.

"I would miss it." She added trying to spit her foot out of her mouth.

The silvery glint around his irises twitched as he searched her face. She wasn't going to give him the chance to develop more self doubt. She took his face in her hands and kissed him, tenderly.

When he tightened his arm around her shoulders again she parted her lips, allowing her tongue to seek out his. He responded without hesitation. His lips were cool on hers, refreshing. His tongue was relaxed, more supple than usual. The texture was the same, smoother than her own except at the back where it became akin to a cat's. He let her lead the dance.

Thane wove his fingers into her hair, cradling the base of her skull. His breathing deepened with the kiss. He uncrossed his legs, allowing her to mount him. Her own breathing became more passionate, soft moans sighed in her throat. Thane let the arm around her shoulders drift down her back, settling his hand on her hip before trailing up her side and over her back again finally tangling into her hair beside the other. His heart beat faster in his chest, pounding against the ribs that sheltered it. Shyra broke the kiss, breathing heavily into his face, smelling his spice.

"I love you, Thane." She whispered.

"I know."

He took one of her hands and put it against his chest. He hoped the gesture meant the same thing in human culture.

"You are all I need, all I give me rest. I am... lost without you."

His voice was a low purr in his throat. His deep eyes gazed intently into hers, pouring his soul into her like so much dark water.

"I'm glad I found you." Shyra whispered back.

She could feel his heart beating hard against her hand. Hers beat equally hard in her chest. She took one of his hands from her hair and placed it over her chest. She smiled softly at the way he grinned up at her, his eyes wetting with tears.

"As am I."