Thane's grin widens, then disappears. He wrestles himself around into another headspace, adjusts his tone and cadence and the quality of his vowels, the set of his jaw and the look in his eyes.

He may only have met Harkness twice, but he made an impression. And because that was the last impression before the most trauma he'd ever undergone, it seared its way deep into his memory. It's not a perfect impression, but it's better than passable. It's right, except for slips and telltales.

"I'm sorry," he says, to all appearances genuinely – oh, if Tyler were here, he'd feel it, and it's almost a shame that he isn't. "I know what it's like to be betrayed by someone you thought you could trust."