Thane Krios.
It rolled off the tongue. Thane Krios. Krios. Thane. Shepard just loved saying it. Thane. It practically purred coming out of her mouth. She wanted to get to know him better. Yeah, that's what she wanted. She wanted to get to know him.
Oh, who was she kidding? She wanted more than that. And she felt bad about it. Kaidan and her had been together. They had seen so much together. Had. That was the key word.
They had been together.
Two years and death can change a relationship, huh?
She had brought Thane aboard the Normandy and directed him toward Life Support. Jacob had given him an icy reception upon coming aboard to which Shepard had reprimanded him for. Thane didn't seem bothered by it at all. Of course he wasn't. He was an assassin. He was used to being calm and cool-headed. If it had bothered him, it wouldn't have shown.
Regardless, Shepard made her way to Life Support to check in on her new crewmate.
She walked into the arid room, a smile upon her lips as she looked around. He seemed to not have much except a few guns. Of course he didn't have much, he was probably used to traveling light.
She could tell he noticed her, but he made no movement and uttered no words as she looked around his room until she directly approached him to which he answered a simple, "Do you need something?"
She did need something, but she supposed she needed to get to know the Drell better first. Or did she? What did she want, even? What did she really need? Was she even ready for another commitment? Was she ready to love someone again?
Ha, love. She was already thinking about it and had barely even talked to him. That, if anything, proved just how awkward Shepard was at relationships and love. The only thing she was more awkward at was dancing. She bet Thane would be a great dancer. Kaidan too. But she couldn't actually see either of them dancing. Well, maybe Kaidan if he was drunk enough.
God, she was really thinking about him still? Shepard mused over the thought of being with the Drell and the thoughts of Kaidan in her head.
There was no harm in talking at least, right? Right. So talked she did.
Thane was sick. He was dying. It wasn't contagious, but there it was. She felt sadness upon learning this and anger. There had to be something she could do. However, even if she wanted to do something Emily Shepard had learned long ago that sometimes good people die without reason and to bad things. Did her parents and friends deserve to die on Mindoir? No. Did her squad deserve to die on Akuze? No. They just did. Life had a way of doing that.
Dying was terrifying. Shepard knew from experience. Knowing your life is slowly coming to an end? Well, that must be downright torture. Thane was handling it quite well though. Well, most of him looked to be handling it well. Part of him just looked so lonely.
It was in his eyes. Those big, beautiful eyes held so much loneliness in them.
At the end of their little talk, Shepard turned around to leave, "I know you're still settling in, but we're going back to Illium to pick up another teammate. You ready?"
He nodded.
Shepard wondered what he was thinking. What were his thoughts? How had he seen her?
What was Kaidan doing now?
Fuck, stop thinking about Kaidan, Emily. Stop it.
She took a deep breath, exiting life support. The Normandy was still docked in Illium so she figure it would be easiest to pick up the Justicar while they were still here before heading off to pick up Tali.
The Commander took Thane and Kasumi into the battle. The Assassin and the thief complemented her well, actually. Shepard was a Vanguard and was used to charging into battle. Stealth and her never mixed. Shepard hated firing a sniper rifle, even though she could. She preferred shotguns and melee combat and biotics. Oh, did she love biotics.
They traveled off to search for the Justicar. It was interesting to watch Thane fight. He was excellent with a sniper rifle, as expected. He also possessed a unique sense of clam when fighting. It was something Shepard wasn't used to seeing. No one was usually that calm on the battlefield.
And then it hit her. He was so calm because death didn't scare him. He was dying anyways.
That practically broke he heart to think about. It was the reason he accepted the mission anyways. He wanted to do good before he died and the mission through the Omega 4 Relay was practically a suicide mission. He needed no payment like Zaeed or Kasumi. He had no orders from above like Miranda and Jacob. He had no pre-existing friendship with Shepard like Garrus and soon-to-join-the crew-again Tali. He had made no deal benefiting himself with Shepard like Jack had. He had no moral obligation like Samara, who Shepard had talked to and agreed to join her crew so long as Shepard gave her a ship name and because the collectors were evil and violated her code. He was far away from being similar to Grunt who just wanted to kill as much things as he could. If anything, the closest person on the team Shepard could compare Thane to was Mordin. Mordin was old as far as Salarian age was concerned and Shepard could tell the idea of death did not particularly scare him either. Mordin wanted to do good with the time he had left, but yet stopping the collectors was also a challenge to him.
Thane wanted no challenge. He just wanted to do good with the time he had left.
He looked so empty though.
After acquiring Samara, Shepard took her usual rounds visiting her crew on the Normandy. The closer the Suicide mission came, the more people wanted to finish unfinished business. So many of her crew would call her up and ask her for a favor: "Let's find my sister!" "My father's ship sent a distress signal!" "Let's blow up Pragia!" "I need to control my Krogan bloodthirst!" etc, etc.
Thane hadn't asked her for anything...yet...
She walked into Life Support, asking him if he wanted to talk. He nodded and waved Shepard to the seat in front of him. She listened to him talk of his people and being trained as an assassin. Drell were fascinating. The bond they held with Hanar was so interesting. However, it also sounded like slavery which was something Shepard could not stand. She hated slavery and slavers with a passion almost as great as her hatred of collectors and reapers. Slavers had killed her family and friends back on Mindoir. Shepard tried not to hold a grudge, but sometimes she couldn't stand the sight of Batarians. They just made her think of her mom and dad dying and the faces of people she couldn't protect.
Laser dot trembles on his skull. One finger-twitch, he dies. Then the smell of spice on the spring wind. Sunset-colored eyes defiant in the scope. The laser dances away.
...He had slipped into some sort of memory? It intrigued Shepard but also confused her. She wanted to know more, but Thane looked reluctant. He looked like he didn't want to discuss it further so the Commander got up and excused herself.
Scarlet colored hair shining like the feint setting sun. Eyes green like a jungle's trees and just as dangerous. She looks upset and noticeably on edge. Her armor is a dark purple with red accents, making her look like a blood covered lilac. She is making her way up the tower just like myself, but is far less obscure in her actions. I could take her out in a shot from above but won't. She fights the enemies I fight.
Shepard took a deep breath, running her hand through her red hair as she made her way to the CIC, deciding to leave Illium's docking bay and head to Haestrom for Tali. She needed things to keep her mind occupied and shooting geth (because geth and quarians go hand in hand) would probably be more than enough to help get her mind off things.
A broken neck. A punch to the face. Shot to the chest. I grab my target, unable to look my prey in the eye. A shot to the stomach. A prayer for the wicked is needed. A prayer for myself is said. She speaks and I stare at her. Scarlet hair shining in the feint setting sun. Eyes green and noticeably staring at me back. She is beautiful, but also deadly. What she wants if for me to join her to stop the collectors. Yes, the collectors are a threat to humanity. I will accept. What else do I have to lose? What does a dying man have to lose?
I'm trying to make the universe a brighter place before I die.
Siha, you were already shining so bright when I first met you.
A/N: I'm really happy this chapter was longer ahhhh. I'm really fascinated by the Drell's memory thing so I'm gonna play a little more with it and hope it doesn't get too confusing. I also want to make it seem like Emily loves both Thane and Kaidan equally and don't wanna be biased. It'll be interesting to write how he relationship with Thane comes to be. Hope you enjoyed and I'll try and update soon. :)