Thracius ran. He ran like the Reapers themselves were behind him.

There was no way out.

He'd spent so long looking... so long searching so desperately... his father was right here...

There was no way out.

So close, yet so far! Like some cruel joke, like the galaxy was laughing at him. Morgan would laugh at him... oh, he certainly would. Here he was, Thracius Vakarian... for once, he was all out of tricks. There was no place to hide, no clever plan, and, as far as he knew, nobody coming to save him this time. His last, laughable mistake, was to do what he'd promised Sotta he wouldn't do; he'd gone in alone. He'd been chasing a lead, he hadn't planned on it actually resulting in anything useful.

His old line to Feron had gone out of service long ago, likely replaced by some more urgently important Shadow Broker contact. The London Bound ground team had long since broken up, scattered to the winds. Grunt to lead Aralahk Company, Vega to teach the N7's, Javik to... wherever it was that Javik had gone. And poor Ashley...

Bullets send grit flying up at his feet as he ran, jerking him out of his hopeless thoughts, reminding him that, no matter how far he ran, there was no way-

He screamed as a bullet pierced through his armor, and his leg buckled under him, sending him tumbling painfully into the nearest ditch. Mandibles pressed tightly against his jaw, he gripped his leg, trying to stem the flow of blood. Above and behind, bullets still flew, and the boom of a ship breaking atmosphere completed his world of hopelessness.

There was no way out.

Many Years Previously...

It always started out the same. Thracius saw it happen every other week. The seeking couple would walk into the orphanage, uncertain about which child to choose. They would walk among them, looking for one to talk to. And once they started talking... they started deciding. And it was usually the kid they talked to who left with the couple.

It had been two years since the Reaper War. And with such an abundance of orphans still at large, the chances of actually being chosen was slim to none, unless you were the first person to talk to the prospective adults. Thracius, who had long since forgotten his original family name, was five. Five, and very observant, because the first thing he noticed about this couple... was that the other kids wanted nothing to do with them once they spotted the man.

They were a cross-species couple, Turian and Quarian. Her environmental suit was quite pretty, and his colony markings stood out on gray scales, with glittering blue eyes that currently looked almost ashamed. Thracius watched them carefully. One Human girl peeked around to get a good look at the Turians right side, made a frightened 'eep' sound, and ran off. She was four. She didn't remember the war, a lot of the kids in this end of the ward didn't; Thracius did. He'd been old enough to remember. It had been horrible, he'd seen the scariest, most terrifying things in his life, but it was over.

So when the couple sat down at the end of the room, he wondered what could be so horrible the other kids didn't like the Turian. So it was that he inched closer, just enough until he could see...

The right side of the Turian's face had been mutilated. Horribly. Some of it looked like old burns, some it, like cuts. Did he get that during the war? The Reapers had liked blowing things up; maybe the Turian had gotten caught in a blast.

"...offered once to fix my face; maybe I should take her up on it." he was saying ruefully. His mandibles flickered.

"No. We'll find a kid who doesn't mind, or we won't find one at all." The Quarian woman declared. "It's your face, Garrus. I didn't fall in love with it just for you to go changing it. And contrary to popular belief, it's the best face ever."

Thracius couldn't resist giggling. Oh, why did he have to giggle! In a split second, both adults were looking at him, and he was painfully aware he'd been caught eavesdropping. He quickly looked at his feet.

"Sorry!" he felt his mandibles flicker with unease. Being rude was the worst thing to do to someone looking for a kid, and he'd just eavesdropped! He'd never felt so ashamed.

"No worries." The Quarian said warily. "It's a small ward; we don't mind if others overhear."

"Oh. Good." Thracius said quietly. "Because there's lots to overhear. Not much people can do to keep privacy... even if it should be private."

It was true; he'd overheard a lot of things. Sometimes bad things, kids planning to play mean tricks on other kids, adults saying nasty things about the younger children. He knew why nobody wanted the younger kids; they got underfoot too much. They were considered annoying. This was the first couple he'd seen in the younger kids' ward in over a month.

"What do you mean?" 'Garrus' asked. He didn't sound accusatory, and Thracius forced himself to meet the older Turian in the eyes as he shrugged.

"You just hear things if you listen. And if all you do is talk, then other people hear things from you; maybe something you shouldn't want other people to hear. Like Ronda." he pointed discreetly at a dark-skinned Human girl. "I heard her telling her friends she was going to put itching powder in Will's bunk. I told Will, though. He says he's going to leave a bag of turds in his bed so when she tries, her hands'll get all gross. So I told Ronda. Then, I heard them both planning to put turds and itching powder in my bed, so I switched beds today. They don't know that, yet, though."

The Turian was giving him a look of absurdity, and he exchanged glances with his partner... or, at least, that was what it looked like to Thracius; it was hard to tell through the Quarian's fogged-out mask.

"That's... awfully clever of you..." Garrus trailed off, looking at him expectantly.

"Thracius." he told him.

"That's awfully clever of you, Thracius." his mandibles quirked up in a smirk. "Sounds like the sort of thing I would do."

"No; it's more the sort of thing Kasumi would do." the Quarian disagreed. "But yeah... clever. I bet they'll get a shock out of that. Kind of feel sorry for whoever get's your old bed, though."

Thracius flinched; he hadn't thought about that. He could hardly tell the Matron; she'd know he was an eavesdropper(even if it was unintentional... most of the time). He'd be labeled a trouble-maker, then he'd never get adopted! He'd be stuck here until he started service, he'd never get a real education, and... oh, bother, why did life have to be so complicated?

"Oh... I guess I'll just... stay on my bed all day!" he realized. Why hadn't he thought of that before!? "Then they won't have the chance! Thanks for the idea, mister!"

He turned and practically ran back to his bed, on fire with his new plan. He checked the sheets and pillow carefully before climbing in his bed, and grabbing a book off the shelf next door. it didn't matter he couldn't read; he could pretend to read and that would be the perfect excuse to stay here. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ronda re-stash something behind her bed with a look of frustration, and he gave her a friendly wave.

Oh, it was good to be a listener!

Sadly, for all his cleverness, he failed to recognize what had really just happened, nor the fate he'd just written for himself.

For after the Turian boy left, Tali and Garrus exchanged a look.

"Do you think... maybe?" Garrus asked out loud. Tali nodded, still left bewildered by the conversation they'd just had.

"You know... I think he might be."

Just a plot bunny that refused to stay in it's hole. Read, review, and let me know what you think about this! Not sure if it will continue, but hey; I'm going to give it a chance.

Fare Thee Well!