Interlude
Hey everyone! I got a couple of comments/reviews from people who thought that I had ended the story at the end of chapter 20, so I had to write a quick note to say:
Keep Breathing is not over!
As I've said, I couldn't in good conscience break from canon that happened during the games. Thane's story, however, is not over! I don't want to give anything away, but suffice it to stay, I haven't ended this fic, not at the end of Chapter 20, and not at the end of this little interlude. Stay tuned for more!
Same bat time, same bat channel.
Thane ran through the Citadel, heart pounding and lungs burning, desperate to reach his destination. He could hear Shepard over the comm, his warrior angel battling once again for the fate of the galaxy.
He rounded a corner, struggling to keep up the pace that was taxing his body beyond its capacity. The Citadel was under attack, the Council was in danger, and Shepard needed his help.
He came to a halt outside the room where he could hear voices, one of them Shepard's, the others not as easily placed. Creeping with practiced silence, he peered into the room and took in the situation.
The Salarian councillor was being threatened by an unknown human male. The assassin was dressed in black, carrying a sword strapped to his back, had a Cerberus emblem on his clothing, and spoke with arrogance, dismissive of both Shepard and her team.
"Three on one, pal," Shepard said, and Thane could hear the edge in her voice. He crept closer, pulling the modified pistol from his holster, calculating the best angle from which to strike. Shepard continued to speak, "It's over."
"No," said the man, "Now it's fun." He raised his hand, a biotic glow forming around his palm, and Thane saw his opportunity. He stood, his pistol level with the man's head, but he was slow, the running having taken its toll on his body.
The human spun, knocking Thane's arm, and he was forced to counter. The resulting hand-to-hand grappling was swift, each of Thane's moves countered by the human. He spun, trying to grab the man's arm and force him into a hold, but found himself flipped. He rolled, drawing another gun to shoot the would-be assassin, but found himself firing at thin air. The man had cloaked.
There was a tense moment where no one in the room knew where the man was, until Thane heard the telltale sound of a sword being unsheathed. He turned, firing, but he was still too slow. The man ran for him, and Thane ducked, feeling the blade cut through the air above his head. He spun out from his crouch, landing two kicks to the man's side before pulling on his biotics, adding strength to his fist and sending the man sliding back across the floor.
Both men stood for a moment, two minds calculating ever angle of attack, every ricochet of every bullet, and then they ran for each other, Thane shooting with his pistol, the human dodging every shot as though they were firing in slow motion. Thane pulled again on his biotics, trying to ignore the dizziness invading his mind, trying to push himself to move as he had once been able to. He moved forward, preparing to knock the man down, when suddenly it was over.
He had been too slow, and the assassin had used the opening. The blade slid through him, and he fell to the ground. He heard Shepard breath his name, pain in her voice, as he collapsed, momentarily incapacitated by the wound. He could feel blood pouring from the hole in his gut, and what had been a faint sensation of breathlessness was now a rapid spiral that threatened him with unconsciousness. He wasn't done yet, though.
He had heard the assassin run, and knew that Shepard would follow, so he pushed himself up, going after them as fast as he could, pushing the pain to somewhere in the back of his mind. He reached the bottom of the stairs just as the sky car carrying the Cerberus agent took off, and neither Shepard's shots nor his own made any impact. The assassin had gotten away.
Thane tried to go to Shepard, but found himself unable to stand. He slid down against the wall, and she ran over to where he was.
"How bad is it?" she asked. He knew what she really meant, even if she might not have been admitting it to herself. She was really asking if she could go after the assassin and be back in time to say goodbye.
"I have time," Thane said, "Catch him." She nodded, emotion shielded behind her eyes, and spoke briefly over the comm system, informing the Citadel Security officer of the situation. Thane leaned his head back against the wall, struggling to pull enough air into his lungs, and watched as she ran for a car, her team in tow.
"I'll wait for you, Siha," he whispered.