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It was a hot humid summer and the people of Lowtown were particularly hostile between the weather and the coughing sickness that had been running through the town. Anders was exhausted. He slept only a few hours in the last few days. He had to close the clinic because he was out of Spindleweed and Elfroot. Hawke had said he would gather more for the warden mage but he had not returned and Anders was beginning to worry. Hawke was a joker, but he was a man of his word.
Anders took a long drink from his canteen and splashed some water onto his beautiful long blonde hair. Suddenly, there was a loud bang at the clinic door, Anders jumped.
“I hope it isn’t the templars.” Anders worried. He had healed many people in the last few days, which could of brought unwanted attention from the mage hunters.
“Andraste’s ass mage! Open the damn door!” Isabela hollered.
Anders ran to the door and began unlocking the chains. He could hear Fenris and Isabela arguing on the other side.
“Keep holding him, he’s sliding off my shoulder!” Isabela huffed.
“I am holding him! You’re not holding his body in the right places, that’s why you’re dropping him!” Fenris grumbled.
“Oh, I know exactly where to hold his body, and,..."
Anders opened the door to see Isabela and Fenris carrying Hawke’s limp body on both of their shoulders. There was a huge gash across his chest armor and there was blood staining his clothing and his teammates.
“Well Don’t just stand there! Help me carry your boyfriend! He’s heavy!” Isabela slowly handed her side of Hawke to Anders.
Anders pulled Hawke’s body close to him. He could feel Hawke’s blood seeping into his robes. Anders was in shock. He had seen Hawke injured but never like this. In all their years together, Hawke had never lost a battle. Anders and Fenris gently laid Hawke’s body on a clinic cot and Anders began to gather potions and bandages.
“How did this happen?” Anders asked.
“We were gathering these for you,” Isabela threw a bag of herbs towards Anders feet. “And a bunch of Qunari attacked us, said we killed their friends. There was one with some kind of strange dagger who went straight for Hawke. Hawke did take the bastard down but not without getting that gash on his chest. At first, we thought he was fine. We were cracking on and then..”
Isabela’s voice started to fade out and tears built in her eyes. She always played the tough pirate, but she too had developed feelings for her friend Hawke. What kind of feelings remained a mystery, but she was surprised with her sudden emotional reaction.
“Then he stopped talking,” Isabela continued. “His eyes rolled in the back on his head, the way they do when you’re shooting your cannon, if you know what I mean, and then crash! Down he went face in the dirt and totally unresponsive. I did manage to clip this off of one of the bastards before they left.”
Isabela threw the strange dagger on the small table near Anders. It was curved and had a jeweled handle. The blade was covered in Hawke’s blood, but the color had turned a deep black. Anders had never seen anything like it.
“Tevinter poison.” Fenris stated. “This is more mage trickery. “
Anders scowled. Why Hawke insisted on traveling with this mage killer was beyond him. “How do I heal him then elf! If you know so much about it, make yourself useful!” Anders closed the gap between them and stared at Fenris with hatred in his eyes. Fenris glared back.
“Let him die. It would be kinder then to poison him with more magic and prolong his suffering.” Fenris snapped.
Anders eyes began to glow a blue hue as the anger rose in him. His voice lowered as Justice began to empower him. “This is your fault elf! You should’ve protected him!” Anders and Justice roared.
“Now, now, boys play nice.” Isabela stepped between the arch enemies. “We all care for Hawke, so let’s do whatever it takes to get our team mate back on his feet okay?”
Fenris and Anders continued to glare at one another for a brief moment before Anders glowing eyes returned to their normal state.
“You’re right.” Anders sighed. “Fenris please sort these ingredients you gathered, and place all of the Elfroot into this solution.” He handed Fenris a large bottle filled with a murky brown fluid.
“Isabela, help me to remove Hawke’s armor.”
“Oh, I always get the best jobs don’t I?” Isabela quipped, as she helped Anders remove Hawke’s chest armor. Suddenly her smile turned as both her and Anders saw the wound.
Fenris had been correct. It was clearly of magical origin. The wound was black and there was some kind of bubbling goo around it. Red blood was seeping out of the wound, and then slowly changing into a deep black color. It appeared that the wound was also growing in length and depth.
“Shit.” Isabela looked to Anders for a sign of hope but the fear in his eyes brought no relief.
Fenris stared on with no emotion in his eyes, but he was worried for his friend. Hawke had stood by his side and helped him escape Danarius. Together they had killed hundreds of slavers, and Hawke did it with a smile, and a laugh. He had always had his back and that was the only reason he had let Hawke’s mage lover live. He had planned on killing Anders several times, but he knew it would break Hawke’s heart. If Anders was able to save Hawke from this wretched spell, then he would be glad he spared his life.
Isabela removed Hawke’s leg armor as Anders cut his tunic from him. She looked at his muscular body in admiration. Hawke was a dashing man, and all his sword skills had given him lots upper body strength. His chest, abs, and arms were gorgeous, and she was suddenly very jealous of Anders. She knew Anders was open to sexual endeavors with both genders, and spirits she supposed, but she wasn’t so sure about Hawke. He had turned down her advances before. But If he was open to an encounter she wouldn’t mind sharing him with his mage. After all, she had bedded Anders before, and he wasn’t half bad. Not the best she ever had but he did do this magic thing that was quite interesting.
“Isabela.” Anders called to her and she awoke from her daydream. He smiled at her for a brief moment as if he knew what she had been thinking. It was hard for anyone to be around Hawke and not fall in love with him. He was charming, hilarious, and kindhearted. What wasn’t there to like about the Champion of Kirkwall.
“Isabela, can you fetch me some water to clean the wound with?” Anders handed her a canteen to fill.
“Here. The elfroot is soaked.” Fenris handed Anders the marinated herbs. He watched Anders pack the wound with them as he stated some magical incantation. Fenris hated magic and he wanted to leave but his concern for Hawke kept him present.
Anders hands began to glow with a soft blue healing light. He was tired, and scared, but he was still able to channel healing magic from the fade.
Hours slowly slipped by as the team continued to care for their leader. Fenris had gone to the Hanging Man and the Elven alienage to gather Merrill and Varric. He had been worried that it would be the last time they would see Hawke alive, and he thought it was only right to gather the team. Aveline was on patrol and could not be located, but Merrill and Varric had come right away. Merrill was helping Anders with her magic and Varric stood by anxiously with Isabela.
“Oh, Hawke. You can’t die here in Lowtown. It’s a terrible ending for the book.” Varric smiled, but inside his heart was breaking. Hawke was his dearest friend. Isabela bent down to hug the Dwarf.
And then it happened. Hawke opened his eyes.
“Anders?” Hawke whispered hoarsely.
Anders stopped chanting and looked at his lover’s face. It had worked. He had healed him.
Merrill squealed with joy! “By The Maker, he did it! Anders healed Hawke!”
Anders held Hawke’s hand and slowly fell to the floor. The spell had been overwhelming and he was near unconsciousness from exhaustion.
The team raced toward them.
“Hawke! My Buddy! You had us mighty worried for a moment there!” Varric smiled.
Isabela smirked flirtatiously. “Yes, there are absolutely not enough good-looking men in this town we surely could not spare to lose one.”
Fenris rolled his eyes at his teammates banter. This was no time for humor. Hawke had almost died. Fenris was surprised how much this fact had upset him. “Good to see you will fight another day friend.” Fenris placed his hand on Hawke’s shoulder and smiled before turning away to leave.
“You’re just going then?” Merrill pleaded. “Ander’s is weak, he still needs our help. If the templars should come.”
“He has served his purpose, let them.” Fenris snickered as he left the clinic. He was worried that if any of them saw how relieved he was that Hawke had lived they would exploit his caring as weakness. No, he would not let them know what Hawke meant to him. He decided it was time to return to his mansion, but he would sleep soundly tonight.
“Huh, what crawled up his butt?” Isabela asked.
Merrill giggled and wrapped her arms around Anders. “You did it! You really saved him!” She hugged him tightly and Anders winced.
"Wow, he must of over did it! If a hug from Daisy was too much." Varric teased. "Come on, let's help Blondie off the floor."
Varric and Isabela helped the tired mage stand. Once Anders was on his feet, he turned his focus to Hawke.
"Are you..."
Hawke interrupted the mage with reassurance. "I will be. At least I'm no longer knocking at the fade's door. Thanks to you." He stood slowly, and though he was weak, the wound was healed. Hawke wrapped his arms around Anders. Anders sank into Hawke's arms and felt the warmth of their love for one another.
"I love you." Hawke whispered as he brushed a strand of Anders hair from his face.
“Awww.” Merrill sighed. She adored a great love story, and Hawke and Anders were proving to have the makings of one of the best love stories she’d known.
Anders blushed and became aware of the teams presence. The team was aware of their relationship, but Hawke had never openly declared his love for Anders in front of them.
Isabela rolled her eyes at Merrill’s joy. “It’s sickening really. To lose oneself in someone else just because the sex is good. Nope, not me. Not ever.” She snipped.
But deep inside a small pain touched her heart. She had offered her body to Hawke in the past, but he had refused.
“It’s not that I don’t want to.” He said. “I want to, believe me! It’s just,…." He paused. " I’ve done the one and done thing, and I am getting older, and I’m thinking of finding something more permanent. If you would be willing to dock your ship in my port for a while I would maybe reconsider your offer.” He teased.
She had laughed at Hawke, but deep inside she had considered it. Only for a moment, but she had deeply considered it. Which of course had frightened her.
She avoided Hawke after that. She would flirt with him occasionally but never gave a serious offer of love or commitment. After three years of playful banter, she started to notice the long looks between Anders and Hawke. They had inside jokes and spent hours alone together. She had lost her chance with the champion and had handed him right to the grey warden. She was regretting that in this moment.
Varric had noticed the look in Isabela’s eyes and took her hand into his. “Hey Rivaini! The Hanged Man is probably still open. Let’s go get a drink to celebrate. Whatcha say?”
“I say make that two and you have a deal.” Isabela smiled and followed the dwarf to the door. Before leaving she turned back one more time and smiled at her friends. She was thankful for all of them.
“Where did everyone go?” Merrill flustered. “Oh, we’re all worried about Hawke, until he opens his eyes and then poof! Disappeared! All of you! Ugh!”
She started to clean up some of the clinic when she turned to see Hawke standing behind her. She screamed in fright and dropped the items in her hands to the floor.
“BY THE DREADWOLF!” She yelled. “You scared me!"
Hawke giggled but the pain of that laugh flashed across his eyes.
She blushed and smiled. “I fixed up Anders room in the back. I thought you might want to stay here tonight if you pulled through.”
“And if I didn’t?” Hawke inquired.
“Well, then, I was going to make myself comfortable and stay with the poor boy.” She looked at the exhausted mage with kind eyes. "He would have been heartbroken you know.”
The laughter left Hawke’s eyes. “I know.” He replied softly.
“And I made some stew. It’s not much but it’s in the pot over there. You could probably just eat it cold.”
"Ah Merrill, you were always the best of us all." He smiled as he kissed the top of her head.