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Chapter Text

“Elaine, would you please see me in my office?”

I guess it's happening now.

Elaine knew that the complaint was coming, but it was still upsetting to get an official reprimand.  She joined her supervisor and he closed the door behind her.

“You've always had an impeccable work ethic, and I'm not going to let this adversely affect your career.”  He smiled comfortingly.  “We are always going to make people upset, that's part of the job.”

“Thanks, Rick.”  He really was an excellent supervisor and had been a mentor as she worked her way through law school.  “Could I see the wording of the complaint?”

He hesitated. “We don't usually share those, it's not considered a breach of confidentiality, but there is an expectation of privacy when an official complaint is lodged.”

“I understand.” She pulled out a small card she had been keeping in her back pocket all week, waiting for this meeting. “It's just that depending on the wording of his complaint, I'm hoping we can catch him violating the court order to separate from all of his business operations during discovery.” 

She handed over a list of places and times, secretly enjoying the surprise on Rick's face.

“Those are all the places and times where I met with CompTech employees.  If the complaint came from their interim CIO then I'll go pack my bags, but if Mr. Edison was the one who filed the complaint, we can subpoena their communications to see how he's still getting inside information.”

She savored that thrilling feeling of seeing her boss's eyes sparkling as he cross referenced her list with what was sure to be a complaint that she was harassing their staff.  After months of mind-numbingly boring paperwork and set-up, these thirty seconds were going to be the most excitement she'd get out of this case.

“Elaine, you took a huge risk and acted without authorization. Expect a raise upon the successful litigation of this case, which of course you can no longer be a part of.  Take the rest of the week off. With pay.  Now get out of here and please consider yourself officially reprimanded.”

Several minutes later, walking down the street with a milkshake that everyone pretended was actually coffee, Elaine didn't know it was the last time she'd spend on Earth.

It was a world-wide event with an unknown epicenter that blurred the lines between fantasy and reality.  In the aftermath, scholars probably advanced their understanding of a multiverse, with alternate realities and fantastical realms which have somehow bled through into our imaginations.  They probably have research that shows how artists and writers were subconsciously influenced by these alternate realms, resulting in stories that mirrored real events elsewhere.  

That’s all well and good for those scholars and the people remaining on modern “normal” Earth.  For the people who happened to be caught in the folds between universes while they collided, there was no explanation.  

Elaine felt the indescribable sensation of being squeezed between two colanders while bright lights exploded behind her eyelids.  Crashing backwards and down, she gasped a lungful of ocean water and opened her eyes to see sunlight filtered through shallow water.  

Survival instinct took over well before actual thought.  Choking and coughing the moment her head breached the surface, she managed to paddle towards some nearby rocks and hold herself still while she gagged salty water out of her lungs.

Vision blurry, the transition from walking on the sidewalk to ocean swim was so nonsensical that the first several minutes of gaping was spent in sensory overload, not understanding the sights and sounds around her.  Slowly some comprehension filtered in.  There was shouting nearby, and she could see in the middle distance a boatyard swarming with people.  

She wasn’t far, but there were rocks and rough terrain between her and the docks.  So as she carefully swam and picked her way towards what seemed to count as civilization, her relative invisibility saved her life.

“Demons!”  People were screaming. “Abomination!” The clash of violence and confusion engulfed the docks.  Elaine watched from the water as someone in a business suit was run through with a sword.

Protestations of the victims went unheard, as a population raised to fear magic and demons appearing from the fade were suddenly faced with strangely dressed people appearing out of thin air.  Anyone who had been ignobly tossed into this realm with the bad luck to be seen popping into existence was attacked on sight.  

All of this was something Elaine would realize later.  At the time, her thoughts had gone something like: What?  WHAT?  What? Okay, water…. sand… oh, thank goodness, people!  Move towards people!  People good!  Rocks and water…  Swords and killing… oh no… people bad!  People very bad!

Elaine was an intelligent and well educated young woman working as a paralegal while advancing a career in law.  Or at least, she had been.  Between the sudden shock and violent arrival into a different world, she was struggling to achieve “Me Tarzan, You Jane” levels of coherence.  

But she was well hidden in the water and rocks, slowly coming to terms with her surroundings and quietly getting the panic out of her system as she observed the pier.  She listened as sailors and guardsmen yelled and demanded explanations.  She waited as the sun slowly set and the crowds started to thin.  

And then she pulled herself onto the docks in a quiet moment between shifts.  She stole a tunic someone had left soaking in a laundry bucket.  It was just as wet as the button down blouse she quickly shucked and tossed into the ocean.  Her sneakers and socks followed shortly thereafter, but at the very least the slacks didn’t look too out of place.  Not wanting to stay still and risk getting caught, Elaine shuffled herself into a dark corner further down the street and crouched there.  

Barefoot.  Sopping wet.  Traumatized.  But alive.

Chapter Text

The next day was spent in a daze wandering barefoot through the streets.  She wasn't accosted by virtue of very obviously having nothing valuable to steal.

But that luck didn't last through the night.

Elaine gritted her teeth, thinking through her very limited options.  Three human vultures were smiling viciously down at her, hemming her into a space they’d be able to do… something vile, surely.  She had some self defense training, but no real experience in a fight.  What she did have, however, was a fist sized chunk of rock in her dominant hand and a sincere willingness to do violence in self defense.  

Greasy hair on the left was closest, but Big-nose in the middle was the only one with a blade drawn, so he was the bigger threat.  Snaggle tooth on the right was hanging back a bit, well positioned to prevent her from getting away if she tried to run.

Well, fortune favors the stupid.   

“Wha- what do you want?” She kept her voice quavery and weak sounding, continuing to back up slightly and keep her eyes on all three of them.

Big-Nose opened his mouth to say something cliched and villainous, probably, but all she had wanted was the momentary distraction.  Not waiting for an answer, she threw her rock with every bit of strength she had.  It hit Big-Nose right on target with a satisfyingly wet crunch.  Before the rock hit the ground Elaine was already darting forward to get behind the blade to grab his sword arm with both hands and drop her weight.  She used her body weight to jar the sword from his hand as it smashed against the cobblestones, elbowed backwards into his pulp of a nose just to get him further away, and then picked up his sword and swung wildly at whatever fleshy bits she could see.

His throat was fleshy, and parted easily as the blade first hit his leather chest plate but then slid up to catch at his neck.  It had only been a few seconds, but he lay gurgling blood on the street.  Greasy-Hair gaped, and wasn’t prepared for Elaine to flow immediately towards him.  She got a lucky gut-stab in, and stomp kicked his head as he bent over in pain and shock.  He wasn’t dead, but he was down enough that she raised her sword against the third attacker, but Snaggle-Tooth wasn’t interested in an actual fight.  He was running off, abandoning his friends.  

Greasy-Hair wasn’t all the way down, and grabbed her leg as he snarled through adrenaline and un-righteous anger.  He got more blade for his troubles, as Elaine frantically stabbed down at him with barely enough control to not stab herself in the leg.  Quite a few stabs missed or glanced harmlessly away, but she killed him quickly anyway.

Elaine panted, salty ocean air stinging her lungs as she looked down at two bodies in one large pool of blood.  Big-Nose was wearing a belt with a scabbard that would presumably fit the sword she took off him.  She tried not to think about what she was doing as she unbuckled his belt and wrapped it around her smaller waist.  She went through his pockets, finding a small coin purse and some random bits and bobs she didn’t recognize that were probably garbage.  He had been wearing a thick, woolen cloak which was only slightly bloodstained.  She took it all.  Greasy-Hair was a little harder to search since she had turned him into a very wet pincushion, but he had a few coins on him as well as a dagger he hadn’t managed to draw.  His boots were a bit too large for her, but beggars not being choosers, she twisted them off his feet and held her breath to avoid the stench as she shoved her feet inside.

She wiped the blood off the sword as best as she could on Big-Nose’s shirt, sheathed it, and attempted a casual walk away from the crime scene.  Two bodies, freshly stabbed?  Me, splattered with blood and holding this stabby thing?  I don’t know what you mean, officer, I wouldn’t stab a fly.

But this was Lowtown, late enough that the drunks had stumbled home but well before dawn would bring more people back out onto the streets.  The fight had certainly been heard by people nearby, but no one who would do anything about it.

As long as you weren’t in Hightown, there were places to sleep outside without being hassled by the guards.  Elaine made her way cautiously to where she had managed to get a little rest last night.  It was already packed in the alleyway, a filthy and odorous group of reluctant neighbors carefully trying to avoid eye contact as they hunkered down and attempted to sleep.  The lucky ones had tents they could set up, but Elaine was far from the only homeless refugee to just sit down in the dirt and lean against a wall.

She carefully tucked her new sword just under her leg as she sat and made a convenient blanket out of Big-Nose’s cloak to make sure it was fully hidden.    

Exhaustion dragged her eyelids down, but she didn’t fall asleep immediately.  Looking down for a self-assessment, the only injuries were bruises and some minor sprains.  I got lucky .  She grimaced at the feeling of blood sticky between her toes, now trapped in the ill-fitting boots.  She considered her survival priorities.  Water, Shelter, find out What the Fuck.  Not sure how much money I just picked up, can’t count it with anyone else around.  

At this point, Elaine had managed to connect a few dots, and recognized the name of the city Kirkwall as well as some of the topics of conversation that had happened around her.  Having played the second Dragon Age game one time, many years ago at that, she was now more convinced that what she was experiencing was a psychotic break.  But what are you supposed to do when suffering from a psychotic break so incredibly realistic that you could smell the body odor of the man you just killed emanating from his stolen boots?  Unless the answer was “just lay down and die hoping to wake up in an insane asylum”, the only remaining choice was to try and roll with it. 

Wracking her memory for details of the game lore, she could piece together the major events and characters but had only fuzzy recollections of timelines.  From what I’ve seen, Kirkwall is still inundated with refugees from the blight, so it’s probably early in the game setting.  Fuck, what even happens?  It was all Templars versus Mages and then the Chantry explodes.  

Dozing lightly was the best sleep she could manage, crammed between strangers in a very strange place.  But by the time the sun rose she felt somewhat better.  Even with the bloodstains, or maybe even because of the bloodstains, she could fit into the crowds.  

Time to explore, I guess.

Chapter Text

Kirkwall wasn’t so bad once you had a bath, clean clothes, and a few extra coins in your purse.

Elaine smiled too many teeth at the crook currently trying to convince anyone in earshot that he wasn’t a miserable waste of skin.  A large man whose entire job was to look threatening loomed behind her, and he was doing an excellent job.

“You tell your boss, you tell him that I delivered that grain fair and square!”  Crook was sweating, face flushed, his voice came out in a scared whine because he knew he was caught.  “If he lost it, he needs to…”

“Freddy.”  Elaine interrupted. “Frederick. Fredster.” Her tone was mocking, keeping the people nearby interested in the drama.  She wanted the witnesses to keep him on the defensive.  “Your men delivered five crates of grain to my employer.”  She held up some delivery manifests, pointing at a random line.  “I’ve got statements from three different millers who ordered from you.  I’ve got timelines.  I’ve got corroborating evidence of numbered crates.”

His face was red, but before he could sputter a denial, she continued.

“You’ve been playing a shell game and selling the same product to multiple customers.”  She tsked, scoldingly.  “Why would you run the same scam twice, Fredhead?  Too dumb to think of a new trick?”  She lowered her voice slightly, leaning in as she continued “Do you want to resolve this here, or would you like to make a deal in private?”

Less than an hour later, Elaine was whistling cheerfully as she and her personal guard delivered the refund, plus damages, back to her employer.  Who was actually all three millers working together to scrape together the money to pay Elaine’s retainer fee.

“Here are the separate manifests and delivery receipts, I’ve made copies for each of you and you can decide who will keep the originals.”  She laid out the paperwork and stacked the sovereigns neatly into piles.  “You can take the paperwork to the city clerk if you’d like to press charges.  Or just keep it if you'd like to remind him about this incident later.”  

Pushing the coins into four different directions, she carefully counted out the refunds, showing the extra paid out to each of the millers ‘for their trouble.’  “And these are the funds I promised to get back to you.  Minus the retainer fee already paid, the remainder is what I’ve earned in commission.”  All the amounts were neatly lined up on the receipt.  Elaine gave a real smile this time.  “Gentlemen, it has been a pleasure working with you.  Are we settled?”

Kirkwall had no need for a paralegal from a world with a completely different legal system.  But it turns out that an enterprising woman willing to do the legwork could find people willing to pay for her to bring justice a little faster than the local guard could provide.  

“Thanks, Bolster.”  She had paid for her guard’s services up front, but handed him a tip as they separated.  “I’ll let you know next time I need you.”  He was a part time merc and a bit of an asshole, but he took fair pay for guard work and didn’t try to extort her for more.  When she needed someone to look like a tough son of a bitch, he was top tier.

He grinned some blackened teeth back at her, and went wherever it was he went when he had some extra money to spend.  Don’t get all the diseases in one place, my man.   Elaine thought wryly.  Spread it out amongst all the whores.

It had been a difficult six months in the hellhole that was Kirkwall building up an understanding of how this world worked.  There was a lot of luck involved, but with an almost nonexistent financial literacy rate there were opportunities for someone willing to be a shark.  

The more work she got, the better her clothes.  The better her clothes, the better clients she could get.  And so on.  

Elaine walked through the streets of Hightown, giving small smiles and nods to passersby as she made her way to the Chantry.  Climbing up the steps to the gilded doors, Elaine bowed her head reverently to the Chantry sisters as she walked through.

The Grand Cleric stood up on the dais, but Elaine didn’t have the social capital to approach that high.  Instead, she knelt before a statue of Andraste on the ground level, softly murmured a prayer, and lit a candle to place among many other flickering candles from other penitents.  Chantry sisters, templars, and respectable citizens of Hightown came and went behind her.  Voices were hushed in prayer, and conversation was muted and respectful.

This was one of the few peaceful places in the city.  Guarded by the entirety of the templar order and sitting in the safest and wealthiest part of town, this was the only place Elaine had found where she could truly relax and stop worrying about being attacked.

But that’s not why she was there.

After the socially expected amount of time devoted to prayers, Elaine stood and made her way to Sister Colinda.  

“Blessings of the Maker, sister.”  Elaine smiled and bowed as she pulled a tithe of coin and signed a donation over to the Chantry.  

“And to you, Lady Elaine.  May the Maker watch over you.”  Colinda collected the tithe and the transaction was done.

This accomplished two very important things for Elaine.  

The Chantry had as much if not more power than the Viscount’s office.  By being known and respected here, she was not worried about accusations of being an “Outlander”.  Less risky now, but in the first several months after appearing in Kirkwall there was a literal witch-hunt for people like her.  She didn’t know how many others were left, if any.

But almost as importantly, Elaine made her money by convincing increasingly respectable businesspeople that she could help recoup stolen funds or bring pain upon the people who cheated them.  It was necessary to appear absolutely trustworthy.  And being publicly religious and accepted by the Chantry was a shortcut to respectability without the need to actually… you know… practice morals.  And that was as easy as paying the church.

Just like on Earth .

Turning to leave the Chantry, a glint of light caught her eye.  A handsome man in intricately designed and painstakingly polished armor was talking quietly with a petitioner.  He looked up and caught her with accidental eye contact.  Whoops!

Tamping down the immediate panic as he approached, Elaine kept a blandly friendly expression as she greeted him.

“Good evening, Brother Sebastian.”  

“Lady Elaine, it is always a pleasure.  What brings you to the Chantry this evening?”

“It is a comfort to stand in the light of Andraste.”  Elaine lied through her teeth as she smiled up at him.  “I am glad for the reprieve before I must brave the streets of Kirkwall once more.”  

“The Chantry is always open.”  His smile was brilliant and painfully sincere.

Trying to prevent her smile from getting too glassy and forced, Elaine gave a small bow and turned to exit.  It’s open to the wealthy, the clean, and the ‘respectable’ people.  She thought bitterly, stepping outside the enormous doors.  The moment someone who actually needs help arrives the Chantry doors are mysteriously shut .

Suitably far from those Chantry doors, Elaine allowed a small shiver as she shook out her nerves.  Sebastian was the only character from the game that she’d met so far, and she did her best to avoid anyone whose name she recognized.  But he was harder to avoid when she attended services and provided a regular tithe.

Elaine made her way back to the small, dingy apartment she was glad to call her own.  The lock was cheap, so not much point in locking the door, but she did slide a heavy table in front of it.  Dinner was heavy seed bread and butter, and she set up a kettle on the stove which would toast her bread, boil her water, and provide all the heat in the apartment.

After eating she pried up a floorboard near her bed and pulled out a thick sheaf of notes and a piece of charcoal.  Flipping to the page titled “Close encounters”, she carefully scratched a new entry:  “Ran into Sebastian at Chantry shortly before sundown on tithing day.  He remembered my name.  Try early morning next time to avoid him.”

When she had finally managed to scrounge together some money and a reasonably safe space to live she had spent some time writing down everything she could remember about the games.  She kept adding to it whenever something jogged her memory, but so far her rough timeline was:  

• End of blight - escape to Kirkwall
• Year of mercenary or smuggler
• Earn money - quests
• Deep roads
• Qunari invasion (missing holy relic or something)
• Hawk fights Qunari leader
• His mom gets cut up into a Frankenstein monster of some kind? It was fucked up
• Templars go crazy - want to kill all mages
• Chantry blows up
• Big fight with statues

At this point she had heard of Garrett Hawk, but hadn’t met him or the other companion characters.  The rumor mill had gone wild when Hawk came out of the Deep Roads and reclaimed the Amell family manor in Hightown.  The Qunari had arrived claiming to be shipwrecked, and they were peacefully isolated in their compound at the docks.  Who knew how long that power keg would take to blow.

She had also written down her memories of the events in Inquisition and Veilguard, but she wasn’t sure why she bothered.  Elaine had no intention of doing anything to change events.  The main reason she was tracking what she could in Kirkwall was to make sure she avoided the big fights and wasn’t in the Chantry at the wrong time.

If all went according to plan she’d save enough money to sail to Orlais.  From there she could do… something.  Attend university, become a clerk, pipe little rosettes onto cookies in a bakery, it didn’t matter.  Kirkwall was a hellhole and from what she recalled Orlais stayed pretty safe inside the city.  

Tucking her notes and her money away into the hidey hole, she wedged the floorboard back in place and shifted her bed on top of it.

Laying down with a sigh, Elaine kicked off her boots and stared up at the ceiling.  She had nowhere near enough money yet, but she had time.

Chapter Text

All the shit hit the fan while she was walking through Darktown with Bolster at her side.  She was taking a financial risk, because at the moment Bolster was being paid out of her pocket while she chased rumors.  But if she could get some leads on an illegal Lyrium smuggler there was a good chance she could get a lucrative Chantry contract.

And then she heard the screaming.

Bolster earned his wage by quickly tucking Elaine under his bulk as he pulled her back from a mob of people trampling through Darktown.  She watched as dozens of people streamed past, all of them in some state of injury or distress.  Some were sobbing, pushing past others and carrying loved ones who were unable to walk.

“Must have been a bad day at the mines.”  Bolster sounded pretty calm about it, but it was the worst mass of injured people Elaine had ever seen.  They were all headed in one direction deeper into Darktown.

“What do you mean, what mines?”  Elaine found herself following the crowd.  Some instinct akin to an ambulance chaser, looking for a problem she could turn into a payday.

He grunted.  “Bone pit.  Pays good for a day’s work, but you’d never catch me there.  If it ain’t spiders it’s demons.  If it ain’t demons, it’s dragons.  You can’t spend the money if you’re dead, and you can’t work if you lose your legs.”

She vaguely recalled something about the Bone Pits.  And now that he mentioned it, she had heard people talking about it on the streets as a way to make money.  Usually desperate people.  

“Where are they going?”   

Before Bolster could answer her, she saw the tide of people crash against the doors to the Darktown Healer’s Clinic.  Shit shit shit, I knew I didn’t come down here for a reason .  

She would have turned around and backed away, leaving the city of Kirkwall to its own misadventures without her.  But… as she watched from a distance she saw people shoulder to shoulder in an unmanageable wall of misery.  Someone who was probably a volunteer at the clinic was desperately trying to sort through the masses, finding the ones with the most urgent need, but they were all clamoring loudly for help.

This was painful to watch.  No one was in charge and people were bleeding out.

Elaine found herself forging ahead to stand at the doorway.  It was worse on the inside.  The healer was tending to someone on a cot, but people were shouting at him and pushing past the only two volunteers trying to keep them in line.

“Bolster, this isn’t what I paid you for today, but if you could help me by being very loud for the next few minutes, you can head home early.  Is that alright?”

“Whatever you say, boss.”  He grinned.  “I can be loud.”

“Excellent.  Here’s what I need.”  And she told him.

“SIT DOWN!”  His voice boomed louder than she expected.  Everyone in a large radius around Elaine and Bolster were shocked into silence.  Elaine didn’t wait for them to respond.  She raised her own voice with the most authoritative tone she could muster.

“No one will get healing if you kill each other on the way in.  Everyone STOP where you are.”  She pointed at someone who was still moving.  Bolster cheerfully yelled at them and they froze.  “Stop!  Stop moving!  Now then… if you aren’t bleeding, you’ll need to wait.  You, you, and you-” She pointed at some people in the doorway.  “Back up - you’re blocking the door.”

“You!” She pointed at a weeping woman supporting someone whose arm looked like it had been crushed.  “Move forward, everyone, let her through!”

With a grinning, looming Bolster at her side occasionally repeating what she said in a much more threatening voice, Elaine directed traffic flow.  She helped the clinic volunteers find the most urgent cases and then ordered the more able-bodied patients to help.  She made sure there were cleared walkways so people could come and go.  And she yelled at anyone trying to push through other patients.  

And through it all the healer worked silently.  He spent his mana healing whoever was in front of him, staunching their bleeding and closing their wounds, then he moved to the next person.

Hours passed, and Elaine’s voice was hoarse from shouting.  She had given Bolster permission to leave a long time ago, but he seemed to be having the time of his life repeating after her whenever she screamed at someone.

Slowly, the mass of people thinned out.  Trying not to think too much about how he was a Named Character, Elaine prioritized the healer above all else.  He had been working non-stop as new patients were presented before him, and he hadn’t even looked up when she took control of his clinic.

The volunteers - two haggard looking women - were doing their best to splint broken bones and bandage smaller wounds.  There were several able bodied people who had helped their friends or loved ones get to the healer, and Elaine shamelessly demanded that they help while they were there.  She directed them towards whatever looked like it needed doing.  They pumped clean water and boiled bandages, swept the floors, mopped away blood, and delivered drinking water to the people waiting their turn.

Shockingly, no one complained.  No one asked Elaine who she was or why she thought she was in charge.  

At one point Elaine found herself blotting sweat from the healer’s brow, and he didn’t notice or acknowledge her at all, too focused on his work.  As soon as one patient was healed enough to recover on their own, a new one was placed under his hands.

Giving Bolster too many of her coins, Elaine asked him to bring back whatever food he could find.  He returned with a large pot of soup and a shit-eating grin that she suspected meant he hadn’t actually paid for it, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.  He disappeared shortly after.

Distributing soup in whatever containers she could find, the room was calmer and emptier. Even though the remaining patients were still in pain, being fed had helped them quiet down.  After waiting enough hours, some patients decided their hurts were not that serious and left.  One of the two volunteers had left, so Elaine helped with wound care for the people who didn’t need the mage.  Did she actually know what she was doing?  No, of course not.  But basic first aid was enough to get by.

Finally there was no one left that required the healer’s services.  Elaine was exhausted and sore, feeling like she’d been hit by a truck, but she and the other volunteer smiled at each other when they realized it was done.  The satisfaction didn’t last.  Looking over to check on the healer, a new problem became obvious.

Hairline cracks of blue glowed through his skin as though he were made of shattered glass.  He blindly reached out as if feeling around for the next patient.  Strained and pushed far past his limits, it didn’t look like he was aware of his surroundings.

“Messere, you can rest.”  He didn’t seem to hear her, blue glowing eyes unfocused and unseeing as he turned his head.  Elaine pushed a bowl of cold soup into his hands.  He clutched the bowl, but didn’t realize what he was holding.  “You’ve helped them.  Please, sit and eat something.”  He didn’t respond.

Elaine looked towards the remaining volunteer.  She had never bothered to get the woman’s name, they hadn’t had time for conversation.  “Is he… can he hear me?”

The woman looked worried, and hurried over as if to tap him on the shoulder, but then she acted too nervous to touch him.  “I’ve never seen it this bad.”  She murmured softly.  “M-maybe we should… give him some privacy and-”

“Help for everyone except himself, huh.”  Elaine put on her In Charge voice again.  “You need to eat Messere Healer.”  He looked up but completely blue eyes looked right through her.  The blue cracks flashed and dimmed, but didn’t go away.

His skin was damp and his hair was plastered to his head with sweat.  His hands were trembling enough that she worried he’d drop the bowl.  Elaine dragged a chair behind him and put a hand on his shoulder to guide him down into it.  She cupped her hands over his and helped him lift the bowl to his lips.  It was several long moments before he actually opened his mouth and started drinking.

He chewed slowly, as if he was half asleep.  His shaking only got worse.  Elaine held a cup of water for him while he drank.  Gently tilting water into his mouth while supporting him with an arm over his shoulders felt uncomfortably intimate.  But even with the light slowly petering out and the cracks closing as if they were never there, he was incapable of helping himself.

“Ma’am… we, we shouldn’t see him like this.”  The volunteer was stammering and nervous.  “He said.. He said if he went blue we should leave.  He’ll be fine in the morning, I’m sure…”

“I’m sure you’re right.”  Elaine hoped she managed to keep the contempt out of her voice.  It had been a long day, and the woman had to be exhausted.  But she worked with him, how could she leave him this helpless?  “You’ve saved a lot of lives today, I’ll make sure he’s okay.”

Finally… finally someone noticed that a complete stranger had walked in and started giving orders.  The woman was exhausted, but looked at Elaine with suspicion.  Elaine continued, trying to assuage doubts.

“I want to make sure that…” she lowered her voice conspiratorially, “the you-know-who don’t come by and see this.  I’ll make sure no one gets in.”

It was even true.  If a templar were to walk past the open door, they’d strike down the healer without a second glance.  The volunteer seemed mollified that Elaine was here to help, and she gathered a small bag of things and slipped gratefully out the door.  She put out the lantern on her way, and Elaine dragged what they were apparently pretending were doors, but were really just large planks of wood, over the doorways.  A child could have broken in here.

And now she was alone in the clinic with a Named Character, who was shivering and unresponsive on the chair she had pushed him into.  Great.  How had he survived this long?  

She hadn’t intended to spend the night guarding or caring for him, but it was late enough she didn’t want to risk the streets between here and her apartment in Lowtown.  And she might not be a hero, but she wasn’t a monster .  She had taken responsibility, so now she was responsible.  My fault for volunteering.   

He wasn't going anywhere, so Elaine spent a few minutes exploring the back of the clinic.  His living space was so much worse than hers.  A bureau, a small table, and a couple chairs were in a nook on one side of the clinic.  A ratty curtain hid his bed, which was nothing more than a few blankets laid out on the floor, hidden from view.  

Pumping water into the cleanest bucket she could find, she ended up helping wash some of the dried sweat off his face and neck.  At this point all the blue cracks were gone, but he was still disoriented and mostly nonresponsive.  His robe was stiff with blood and needed to come off.  His under-layers weren’t in great shape either, but she wasn’t about to strip those off someone who couldn’t consent.  

“Arms in the air.  Good job!  Okay, can you drink this for me?  It’s time for bed. Up we go, this way!”  He responded best to simple commands, and she realized belatedly that she was using a toddler voice on him.  Ah well, he didn’t mind.  She put a shoulder under his arm to help guide him to his bed.  

He fell onto the bedroll as if his strings were cut.  Pulling off his boots and dragging a blanket over him, Elaine finally felt as though she could leave him alone.  She stepped to the other side of the pathetic privacy curtain and looked around.  The place was a mess, but that wasn’t her problem.  Every muscle ached, she’d be stiff for days.  

It felt almost nostalgic as she slid her back down the wall and stretched out her legs.  On the ground with her back to a wall was how she had spent her first several nights in Kirkwall.  She closed her eyes and fell asleep immediately.

Chapter Text

Elaine blinked the fade from her eyes to see the healer crouching in front of her.  He had cleaned up and changed at some point.  His brown eyes crinkled with humor, and they were actually focused on her which was a change.  Dressed in a clean tunic belted at the waist with his hair pulled back, he looked distressingly handsome and competent for someone who was practically catatonic the night before.

They stared at each other for a moment before he said in a friendly tone, “Sleeping in, boss?”

She flushed, pushing herself to her feet despite stiff muscles.  “I’m sorry, Messere, I meant no offense.  I-”

“No offense taken,” he interrupted, smiling as he stood with her.  “I just wasn’t aware someone new was coming to help.  What’s your name?  Did Lirene send you?”

“Ah…” Who was Lirene?  Was she supposed to know them?  “Ah, no. No, I was just nearby and saw the…” she balked before the word ‘shitstorm’ could cross her lips.  She was trying to be meek and unmemorable.  “...the problem and I wanted to help.  I didn’t mean to intrude so long, Messere, I’ll be on my way.”

She bowed slightly and moved to step around him, but he wasn’t letting her go that easily.  His body language said ‘open and welcoming’ but the sharp focus of his eyes and the way he moved to block her said ‘understandably suspicious of the complete stranger.’  

“Please, call me Anders.”  He sounded genuinely friendly even while he was keeping a cautious distance.  “What was your name, again?”  Fuck, an official introduction.   If she kept trying to get away it would look more suspicious.

“I’m Elaine.”  She held out her hand and he looked a little surprised but didn’t hesitate to take it. “A pleasure to meet you, Anders.”  She wasn’t sure what would get her out the door fastest while being as bland and unmemorable as possible.  “You helped a lot of people yesterday.  It was the least I could do.”

“Is it?”  His tone was sharp and he was still holding her hand.  “A pleasure to meet me?”  Finally letting go, he stepped back and gave a self deprecating smile.  “You met… more of me yesterday than most people care to.”

Ah, yes.  He was an abomination and worried she was about to run straight to the templars.  Understandable.  If she were an average person who had grown up in Kirkwall she would probably have run away screaming.  She smiled as sincerely as she could, and held eye contact when she reiterated,

“What I saw yesterday was someone who gave everything he had to help every stranger he could.  That's all I saw.”  He nodded, seeming to appreciate her response.

“In that case, Elaine, please sit, I’d love to talk.”  She reluctantly walked with him to the chairs and table he was gesturing towards.  He pulled out the chair that was furthest from the door and waited until she sat down.  “You helped a lot yesterday, and I don’t remember… all of it… but I do know that without you we would have lost a lot more people.  Can I offer you tea?”

“Um, just water please, I’ll need to be heading on soon-”

“It’s still early.”  He handed her a cup of water and sat opposite her.  He was good.  How did he manage to act so friendly while positioning himself between her and the exit?  “Are you expected at work somewhere?”

“Not… immediately.”  They were both pretending so hard to be casual that it was a little comical.  He wanted to make sure she wasn’t a threat, and she didn’t want to get involved in anything “plot” adjacent.  Directness would probably work best.  “I assure you, Messere Anders, I have no intentions of telling tales outside these walls.”  He narrowed his eyes as she talked, entirely focused as he evaluated her response.  “You do good work here, and Darktown needs you.”

“You commanded the clinic yesterday.”  His voice was flat; she wasn’t sure if he was upset or not.  “Just walked in and took charge.”

“Yes.”  No point denying it.  “It looked like it needed doing.  But… I’m sorry if I-”

“What can I say for you to come back and do it again?”  She froze.  He chuckled softly and leaned forward over the table between them.  “I need someone who can help when I’m… indisposed.  Last night would have been a lot worse for me if you hadn’t been there.”

Curiosity won out.  “What normally happens?”

He winced slightly, leaning back again and breaking eye contact to look into the middle distance.  “Normally?  I wake up on the floor a bit before daybreak.”  Smiling a little sheepishly, he shrugged.  “People know not to bother me when I’m… glowing.  In the morning I get cleaned up and start the new day.”  That clearly wasn’t everything, but she had barely met the man, she didn’t expect him to give her details on how exposed he was when he was in that state.  It was pretty obvious, anyway.  

“How often do you heal that many people in a day?”

“Not often.  Maybe a few times a year, thank goodness.  And on better days we have more supplies.  Poultices, potions… it makes it easier for me.  But we haven’t gotten many donations recently.  Are you looking for work?”

“No, Messere.” She lowered her eyes, pretending to be a lot more meek than she had been yesterday.  “I have work already and I don’t come to Darktown often.  I’m sorry.”  

Anders nodded, acceptingly.  “Well, I thank you for what you did yesterday.  And for your… discretion.  I do what I can to stay hidden here, but sometimes I can’t suppress the… symptoms.”

“I’d say I understand, but-” Elaine laughed, only a little forced, and pushed herself up out of the chair.  She winced as stiff muscles complained and seized up at the movement.  “-but I do wish you the best, Messere Anders.”  

He chuckled and reached out to help her stand.  “Here, it’s the least I can do.”  His hands glowed as he took her elbow and the warmth of magical healing spread out through her muscles.  It felt like a warm bath combined with the relaxation of having just stretched a muscle.  Spreading quickly from her arm to her chest, comforting pulses of magic matched her heartbeat to suffuse the rest of her body in moments.

Several things happened in fast succession.

His eyes widened in shock, and Elaine suddenly remembered with a chill of fear down her spine I have several fillings… an IUD... and my appendix was removed.  None of which would read as ‘normal’ to someone from Thedas.  She stepped back, but he moved with her, his hand snapped from her elbow to her throat faster than a snake as he pushed her back up against the wall.

A crackle of electricity in his other hand stopped Elaine from making any further moves.  She could breathe, but he kept pressure on her neck.  Oddly, she still felt that warmth of his healing magic traveling through her.

His voice was soft but deadly as he asked, “So, where do you come from?”

Chapter Text

Elaine was silent and kept her arms up in surrender as Anders pinned her to the wall.  His right hand was tight against her throat, while the left held a ball of electricity the same way someone might hold a dagger.  When she didn’t respond to his first question, he tried again.

“Why are you here?”  

“Not by choice, I promise you.”  Controlling her voice to stay as calm as possible, Elaine did allow some of her anger to come through.  “I’d go home if I could.”

“Right,” he said mockingly “you just happened to appear when you were most needed.”

“Fuck you!”  Elaine hissed. “I’ve been minding my own business for six months. Let me out that door and I promise you’ll never see me again.”

“No, because the templars will have killed me by nightfall.  How stupid do you think I am?”

“At the moment? Pretty fucking stupid.” It was hard to keep her voice quiet while cursing him out, but she was a goddamn professional and she managed it.  “We’re both trying to keep a low profile, asshole.  You need to avoid templars, but I need to hide from everyone .  The moment anyone thinks I’m an outlander I get killed on suspicion.”  

The mage digested that for a moment.  “Is it true you can see the future?”

“See the…” She didn’t understand the question at first, not expecting the change of topic.  “No, what?  Of course I can’t see the future.”

He glared at her suspiciously.  “I thought you people knew everything about us?”

“How could I-” The realization struck her suddenly.  “Is there an outlander claiming to know the future?”

They glared each other down, coming to the mutual understanding that they were shifting from interrogation back to conversation.  Slowly, Anders took his hand off her throat and allowed the electricity in his other hand to dissipate.  He didn’t back away though, still caging her in and blocking the exit.  “You’re not working with him?”

“No.  I have no idea who you’re talking about.”  Elaine’s thoughts were racing.  If someone was claiming to know the future, it means another Earth person (she refused to think of themselves as Earthlings) was here who had played the games, and he was meddling in the plot.  Maker knew how they’d managed not to get themselves killed.

She had spent six months blending in and avoiding Plot Stuff.  As far as she knew the world events were continuing on their own, but if another outlander was interfering then her timeline was going to be increasingly worthless.  Not only that, but someone from her world was messing up the timeline from this world, and that was a trolley problem she really didn’t want to think about.  What kind of changes was he trying to make, and did it even matter?  Was it her responsibility to help keep the world on its original track?

“I think…” against all her better judgement, Elaine pulled the chair back out from the table and sat back down.  “I think I need to know more about this other outlander.”

Anders did end up making tea while he described exactly the kind of Plot Nonsense she had worked so hard to avoid.

“After Hawk, Varric, and I got back from the deep roads, Hawk had a private meeting with the Viscount.  He started going on jobs, helping Aveline with the guard presence and clearing bandits out from the roads leading into Kirkwall.”  Pushing a mug of tea in front of her, Anders sat down across the table again with his own mug.  “I went with him on a few of those jobs, and there was someone working for the Viscount who told him what to expect.  Goes by the name of Marcus.  Skinny guy, yea tall,”  Anders held his hand up to about his shoulder height.

“Marcus would say things like ‘there are going to be Tevinter slavers in these caves’ and ‘Sister Petrice is setting up a trap with the Qunari.’  And he was always right.  The Viscount said that Marcus was an outlander being kept under strict guard, but that he knew all of our secrets and had visions of the future.”

Anders swirled his mug of tea, staring down at the leaves floating at the top.  “At some point a few weeks ago, Marcus said that I couldn’t be trusted.”  He sipped at the tea to give himself time to keep composure.  “I don’t know why.  Hawk and Varric aren’t talking to me and won’t explain.  Fenris has always hated me, and for some reason they trust a blood mage and a pirate more than me!”  His voice had raised towards the end, and he took a breath to bring himself back down.

“So that’s what I know.”  He looked up, clearly ready for Elaine to take her turn.

I guess I’m doing this .

“I don’t know this Marcus person, but I promise he can’t see the future.  Think of it like…” She wracked her brain to think of a good analogy to avoid discussing weird outlander technology.  “If you were suddenly dropped into Andraste’s time.  And you saw her and Shartan before their battle at Minrathous.”

I’ve been spending too much time at the Chantry.  

She dropped her gaze to the table, picking through her thoughts.  “You know their story from the Chant of Light.  You know who they are, sort of.”  And here, Elaine wobbled her hand in a so-so gesture.  “But how accurate is the Chant of Light?  How much of what happened really still needs to happen, no matter how horrible?  How do you know you’re changing the right things, and how could you possibly trust everything you’ve learned from the Chant to be accurate?  Reality doesn’t hinge around just one person, and stories can’t include everything you need to know.”

She sighed, sipping her tea and wishing it were something stronger.  “There are stories about your world that I’ve… read.  I’m sure Marcus has read them too.  It sounds like he remembers them a lot better than I do actually.  But those stories are about Hawk.”  Anders took a breath as if he was about to say something.  Pausing, Elaine looked up.

“Are you comparing Garrett Hawk to Andraste?”  

She barked out a laugh, and thankfully Anders joined her, reducing some of the tension in the room.  “Hah, not even a little bit!”  She chuckled and brought herself back to her message.  “I mean to say that whatever Marcus and I might think we know from the stories of your world, that’s all they are.  Stories.  And there’s no way that living here for a few scant months would be enough to know fact from fiction.”

Nodding, Anders gave her a small smile that looked heartbreakingly sad.  “And what do the stories you’ve read say that I do?”

At this, Elaine hesitated.  “I… don’t know if I should say.”

“Please.”  His voice was barely over a whisper, and he stared down at his hands when he said it.  “I need to know.”

I guess I’m doing this .

“You blow up the Chantry and kill Grand Cleric Elthina.”

“ WHAT?”  The burst of blue light was blinding.

Oh, hello Justice.  Nice to meet you.

Chapter Text

The blue cracks which had shown through his skin yesterday were nothing compared to the jagged ropes of energy crackling over and across his skin.  His eyes shone blue, his hair floated around his head in a halo of sparks, and the air tasted ionized like right before a storm.

Elaine was scrambling backwards out of her chair, tea spilled on the table while she couldn’t take her eyes off Justice’s light show.  He wasn’t even standing on the ground anymore; his feet seemed to float a millimeter off the ground as lighting coursed under his feet.

“ We would never kill innocents in a place of worship. ”  His voice was deeper than it should have been, and he didn’t say the words so much as project them to vibrate inside her skull.  

“Yes, of course!”  She would have said anything to calm him down.  He was the scariest thing she’d ever seen. “Like I said, it’s just a story!”  Crouching behind her chair, not hiding so much as having no idea what to say or do, her heart was pounding out of her chest.

The blue high beams of his eyes cast a long shadow behind Elaine.  He seemed to almost glide around the table to approach her.  The spirit didn’t look angry, but he was just… so much .  Elaine felt her ears popping as if she was quickly changing altitude.

“Please, Anders, you’re scaring me!”  That made him pause, as though it hadn’t occurred to Justice that he was a terrifying lightning monster.  The light dimmed as Anders gained control over his passenger.  Several tense minutes later, he was back.  And he was looking at Elaine with an expression of abject horror.

“Oh Maker, Elaine I’m so sorry!”  Reaching forward to comfort her, Anders caught himself and jerked back as though his hands were still wrapped in lighting.  “I didn’t- I mean…”  Shuddering and looking ashamedly away, the mage turned and walked several paces to clear Elaine’s path to the doorway.  He gestured towards the exit, “You can go, I’m so… I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s okay.”  She had been scared and surprised, but seeing how quickly her fear brought him back made it more obvious that he hadn’t been trying to threaten her again.  In fact, the only time he had threatened her was because he thought she was working with this ‘Marcus’ person, who had arguably ruined his life.  “I guess that wasn’t what you were expecting to hear.”

“No,” he scoffed, shaking his head and avoiding eye contact.  He moved further away as though worried he was still too close.  “I wasn’t expecting that.  But maybe I’m not in as much control as I thought.  Maybe I-”

“Well, fuck that .”  Elaine interrupted before he could continue down that line of thought.  “Do you know what I would have said if you told me last year that I’d be killing someone with his own sword and stealing his boots?”

It was amusing to see how his brows furrow, confusion interrupting his self flagellation.  “Um… no?”

“I’d have told you that it’s impossible.  Couldn’t have imagined a situation where it would have been necessary.”  She opened her arms in a gesture that encompassed everything around them.  “But I didn’t predict Kirkwall.”

Anders looked down at her boots.  Involuntarily, she looked down as well.

“Not these boots!  I got better boots.”

“So… because you killed a man for his boots, it will make sense that I blow up the Chantry?”  

“I didn’t kill him for his boots, he was attacking me and- look, that’s not the point.  My point is that Kirkwall is a shit hole.  And something that seems impossible might not be so unbelievable after situations change.”

Anders didn’t look convinced.

“And even if I didn’t just change things by having this conversation with you, which I absolutely did, it would have been after years of other bad shit happening. Ugh!”  She let her head fall into her hands, voice muffled into her palms.  “This was everything I wanted to avoid.  This isn’t my world, and it’s not my future to change.”

“Look, are you running away or not?”  He sounded put out that she hadn’t made her escape yet, like maybe she hadn’t noticed he was giving her an out.  He was now as far away from her exit path as possible.

“Don’t you have more questions?”

“I have nothing but questions!  Apparently someone at the Viscount’s office is accusing me of crimes I haven’t even thought to commit yet, and I don’t know what to do!”  Anders started to pace, pulling his hands anxiously through his hair.  “But I shouldn’t have attacked you like that.  I’m not holding you here against your will.  Just go, I’ll… I’ll figure it out.”

They’re accusing him of future crimes.  Would he have done it anyway?  Maybe.  Who cares?  My client is suffering damages because of an unsubstantiated rumor of a crime he might commit years from now.

Wait… my client?  

The mage had paced away from her, apparently so convinced she was just waiting for the right chance to get away that he wasn’t sticking around to say goodbye.  He was muttering to himself as he pulled the ingredients for a meagre breakfast from some shelves across the room.  Meanwhile, her thoughts raced.

What is this other outlander trying to do?  If I assume for the moment that this world is predisposed to follow the game plot, then major world events are likely to change.  Is that… should that be something I worry about?  

I need another perspective.

“I have a question for you and Justice.”  She called, walking closer to see him startle at her voice.  A small apple was hanging half out of his mouth while he was using both hands to mix what looked like a bowl of thin porridge.  

“Mmph?”  

She continued,  “What do you and a spirit of Justice think about an outlander using knowledge from another world to change what happens here?”

Taking the half apple while he chewed, Anders gave this some thought.  His eyes dropped to the bottom left as he considered, looking pensive.  “Justice doesn’t talk to me like a separate person.  But… we think…” he nodded slightly as they internally debated her question.  Brown eyes locked with hers.  “Can you get back to your own world?”

“Get back?  No, I have no idea how to get home.”  

“Do you think this other outlander does?”

“No.  Unless he has magic that doesn’t exist either there or here, he’s just as stuck as I am.”

“Then this is your world.”  He said it without reservation.  “Justice cannot go back to the Fade, but he is here and we are trying to make life better for mages.  It would be unjust to be forced to live somewhere where you couldn’t make choices.”

She nodded.  It was a completely different perspective from the one she had been living with, but it made sense and it came from a local who had been personally affected by an outlander making changes.  Roughly detangling her hair with her fingers and stretching her neck slightly, Elaine sadly gave a quiet goodbye to her plans for a peaceful life in Orlais.

“In that case, Messeres Anders and Justice, I believe you are being held liable for actions you haven’t yet, and may never take.  You need someone who can defend you from accusations that would be impossible for you to predict on your own.”

“And what… does that mean?”

“It means your breakfast looks like shit.”  Elaine grinned as she felt the excitement of starting a new and interesting case.  “Come on.  I’ve got food at my place and we can go over my notes.”

Chapter Text

After he belted on his strange, feathered robe and closed up the clinic with a note for his volunteers, they started their way to Elaine's home.  It was a long walk to Lowtown.  Some people nodded greetings at Anders as they passed, but it was obvious that anyone who recognized him kept a wide berth.  He walked with a polite but distant smile as the citizens of Kirkwall bumped into each other trying to stay at least two meters away.  Was this how they treated all apostates?  It seemed rude and dangerous to ask in public.

Thinking back through the tumultuous conversations of the morning, she decided there were some details she could ask before they were behind closed doors.

“You said that you, Hawk, and Varric got back from the deep roads.  What happened down there?”  

“You mean you don’t know?”

He might not have meant it to sound accusatory, Elaine couldn’t help feeling defensive.  “I told you, I don’t know how much of what I-”

“No, I mean, didn’t you hear about it?”  Anders sounded puzzled.  “Varric spread that story everywhere he could.”  At her continued silence, he shrugged.  His voice took on a story telling cadence, like he was reciting something.  “The Tethras and Hawk expedition went down into the deep roads, where danger could be found around every corner, and explored the caverns for several weeks.  Adventurers, all, the warrior Garrett Hawk, the cunning adventurer Varric, the Grey Warden Anders, and Hawk’s devoted sister Bethany killed countless dawkspawn, possibly preventing the next blight-”  He smiled and pretended as if he didn’t hear her disbelieving laugh.  “I mean definitely preventing the next blight right under your feet.

“There was gold and treasure guarded by darkspawn and demons alike.  Hawk returned with the wealth to reclaim his family estate, bringing back the noble house of the Amells.  But Hawk’s brave sister, Bethany, seeing the threat so close to our doorsteps, chose to stay behind and join the Grey Wardens to defend us all.”  His voice became somber.  “She fights while we rest safely in our beds, demonstrating the sacrifice and nobility of the Amells.”

They walked in silence a while longer.  

Elaine cleared her throat, not knowing what the right thing to say would be but pretty sure “Wow, that’s a lot of bullshit” probably wasn’t it.  But he had given the salient details.  

She smelled one of her favorite vender carts and decided for a distraction; they must both be starving.  Paulina was usually just a few blocks inside Lowtown, with prices cheap enough that Elaine would frequently splurge.  She changed directions.

“This way, I’m too hungry to wait until we get there.”  Half a block later and there was a vendor cart laden with a variety of boxes, the smell of pastry thick in the air.  “Good, she’s still got plenty in stock.”

Paulina smiled at Elaine, but that smile froze when Anders stepped up beside her.  He pretended not to notice.  

“Good morning, Paulina, how’s business today?”  Without waiting for a response, Elaine looked through the boxes.  They had labels but also simple drawings to show what was inside.  Egg and cheese, chicken, that one was probably supposed to look like a pig…  Turning to Anders, she said “I owe you breakfast, what can I buy you?”  

Paulina was very bad at pretending she wasn’t terrified of Anders, and he was very good at ignoring it.  He wasn’t even carrying his staff, did everyone in Kirkwall recognize him?  He was carefully holding his hands behind his back as he politely glanced at the boxes, then up to Elaine.  

“It all looks good.  I’ll have whatever you recommend.”

His voice was different. He was speaking softly, as though they were in a library.  Thinking back to the morning, she'd seen him deliberately code switch between scary and non-threatening with her as well.  

Nodding, Elaine had to step slightly in front of Anders to get the vendor’s attention.  “We’ll have two of the cheese and two pork pies, please.”  Doling out the coppers necessary, four small hand pies were wrapped up and quickly handed to Elaine.  “Thanks, Paulina, I’ll see you soon!”

She handed him a pie as they were walking away, taking some time to unwrap half of hers so she could hold it by the paper.  

Watching him from the corner of her eye she waited until he was taking a bite before she asked,  “So what, did you fuck everyone’s mom or something?”  Anders sputtered, but didn’t actually do a spit take.  “I’ve walked this street covered in blood and nobody blinked an eye.  But Paulina, who I’ve actually seen break a man’s thumb when he stuck it into a pie he didn’t pay for, was ready to shit bricks when she saw you.  What’s that about?”

It took him a minute to chew and swallow his bite before he could answer, and he stared at her incredulously the whole time.  “You should write poetry.”  He said, finally.  “You have a talent for painting pictures with your words.”  

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“You said you’ve been here for six months?”  He took a smaller bite while he talked.  “When did you last see an apostate walking free?”  

“I don’t know, I assumed they were hidden in plain sight.”  She shrugged.  “But there’s no way everyone in Kirkwall knows you.  How are you still free?”

“Hawk and Varric.”  He sounded matter of fact, but there was melancholy poorly hidden in his voice.  “Varric spread the story of our deep roads expedition, and I was in it.  I’m known to be a Grey Warden, so the Circle can’t take me without the Warden’s making a stink about it.  And I’m- or I was - a friend of Hawk’s.  No one wants to be on his bad side.

“You’re right, though.”  He added, “There are a lot of apostates hiding in plain sight.  And living in just as much fear as others have for us.”

They were getting close, so Elaine paused the conversation and pointed towards her apartment building.  Back home this place would have been the source of at least a dozen lawsuits against the landlord for unsafe living conditions.  But as she used a shoulder to shove her ill-fitting door open, she didn’t notice the stained ceilings or cracked walls anymore.  

“Welcome!”  Gesturing to the tiny living space with both arms as though it were a grand estate, Elaine cheerfully beckoned Anders inside.  “It’s not much, but the rats keep the roaches away, and the spiders are quiet.”  She jammed the door shut after he stepped inside.  

Standing close to him in her home Elaine suddenly noticed how much taller he was.  The top of her head went to his chin, and she had to crane her neck back to make eye contact.  He was lean but well muscled, and she wondered for the first time if he might be as strong as Bolster without all the showy bulk.  Maybe swinging a staff was good exercise, she should try it.

He looked down, noticing her assessment.  She knew by now that he was someone constantly aware of his presence and working to either put people at ease or, when he felt threatened, do the opposite.  Inside her doorway and holding his half-eaten second pie, he pretended to admire her apartment and let her stare at him.

“You have a lovely home.”  He was a better liar than that, why would he pick something so obvious?  “And I do appreciate the invitation.  But… why am I here again?  You said something about defending me and then a lot of other things I didn’t understand.”

“Right.”  One of her major expenses, after rent, food, and bodyguards, was paper.  She pulled several pages out of a drawer, followed by a meticulously sharpened stick of charcoal.  “Before I was dropped in Kirkwall like a sack of hot garbage, I worked in law.  Interviewing accused criminals, reviewing contracts, helping people know what their rights were, that sort of thing.”  

He was watching her with interest now, but hadn’t moved away from the door.  She wondered how closely Justice was listening.  

“I thought that I was doing the right thing by staying uninvolved here.  And if I'm being fully honest, it was also the easy thing.  But when you said that you were being accused of a crime you didn’t commit yet…” she winced.  “I can’t ignore that.  It’s wrong.  It’s not fair to you, and even if everything this Marcus guy and I think we know about your world is true, that doesn’t give him the right to fuck you sidewise like this.”  

Anders seemed to be getting used to her casual profanity.  That only got a small eyebrow raise.

“I was lying by omission before.”  Now both of his eyebrows were raised.  He stayed silent though and let her continue uninterrupted.  “I pretend like I don’t, but I know about you and your world.  Not as much as Marcus, maybe, but he and I learned from the same source.  If he’s trying to shape your future in some way that you can’t control, I want to help you get control back.”

“I appreciate that.”  He said it slowly as he finally took a step further inside.  He set his half pie on what passed for a kitchen counter and clasped his hands behind his back in his increasingly obvious ‘nonthreatening’ posture.  “But are you sure you want to do this?”

When she looked at him in confusion, he clarified.  “This morning I attacked you.  After you talked me down, I scared you half to death by losing control of Justice.”  Something in her face made him take a step back again, closer to the door.  “Elaine… you don’t owe me anything.  And I don’t want you to be afraid of me.”

Like everyone else in Kirkwall.

Her first instinct was to say she wasn’t afraid of him, but in all honesty she was a little afraid of him.  The more she saw him interact with the world around him, though, the more she saw how isolated he was despite doing nothing but helping people in a free clinic.  And she wanted this.  Finally there was an interesting problem to work on and she was the only person in Kirkwall qualified.  Fuck it.  They were going to figure out how to work together, and this was as good a start as any.

“Anders,” she said.  “I’m sorry, but you’re a scary motherfucker when you want to be and I’m going to shit my pants the next time Justice comes out.”  He laughed involuntarily even while his back hit the door, trying to give her space.  “You’re also a good man.  You have a good cause.  I want to help you.”

Was he.. Were those tears in his eyes?  He blinked a few times and looked away.  Feeling awkward with unexpected emotions, Elaine turned to push her bed off the hidey hole and she pried up her floorboards.  By the time she had pulled out her notes he was composed again and sitting at her table.

She pulled a chair next to him so they could make a plan together.  “Let’s get started!”

Chapter Text

She was going to begin by reviewing what she knew about Anders and Kirkwall to make sure it was accurate, but he didn’t even glance at her paperwork before he started asking questions.

“What are you getting out of this?”

“The same thing you get out of running a free clinic in the ass-end of Darktown.”

“Fleas?”

“The satisfaction of doing what needs to be done.”  She paused at how closely she and Anders were sitting side by side.  “And yes, possibly fleas.”

“And you’ll really just tell me everything you know about the future?  Whatever you think is going to happen?”

“Sure.  Why not?”

“Ignoring for a moment that the one thing you did tell me made me lose control?  What if there’s something about the future I shouldn’t know?”

“No one is supposed to know anything about the future.”  Maybe this was getting into theology territory, but it felt like a universal fact when she said it.  “But if it helps, how about we focus on what you want to achieve.  I don’t need to talk about everything.  What are your goals?”

“At the moment my only goal is not to blow up the Chantry.”  His voice was wry, belying the deep emotion he was hiding at how scared he was of that future.

“Really?”  Elaine set aside the papers since they clearly weren’t going to need them yet, and she put a hand on his shoulder.  She got the sense that people didn’t touch him… ever.  He flinched and went quiet, staring at her hand before looking up into her eyes.  “Can I tell you more about that?”  

He nodded mutely, sensing the energy in the room getting much more serious.  Taking a deep breath, his hands trembled before he lightly gripped the edge of the table trying not to look like he was bracing himself to keep Justice under control.

“Okay.  Well first of all, I should say that I’m doing my best to remember but I might get minor details or order of events wrong.  According to the stories I know, there was a lot that happened between the deep roads and the explosion.  A bunch of shit with the Qunari that we don’t need to get into right now, but Meredith was cracking down on the city and the mages more and more.  She was losing it, seeing demons and blood mages everywhere, and wouldn’t listen to reason.

“There were even some reasons for that, but when you and a lot of other people begged Grand Cleric Elthina to help stop the templars from hurting more mages, she did nothing.”

He was still with her, keeping his breath slow and controlled.  She squeezed his shoulder as a warning before she continued, but didn’t move her hand away.

“Corrupt templars were… are… turning mages tranquil to keep them under control.  Eventually, Meredith calls for the right of annulment.”  

His eyes were squeezed shut and he was breathing faster.  She smelled ionization but so far no lightshow.  The only way forward was through.

“Not all the templars went along with her.  Some called her out on the madness and helped Hawk put her down.  Cullen and some others whose names I don’t know.  In the aftermath there were… revelations about the Chantry and they lost control.  The Circles were disbanded as part of a widespread mage rebellion.”

Humming to acknowledge that he’d heard her, there was a deep tonal quality to his voice.  When he spoke his words were layered like he and Justice were speaking at the same time.  “What revelations made the Chantry lose control?”

When she didn’t respond immediately he opened his oh shit shining blue eyes and stared at her.  He was still mostly in control and she kept her hand on his shoulder despite feeling her pulse racing in her ears.  “This one is going to hurt.  I’m sorry, and I don’t blame you if Justice comes out.”

“Just say it.”

“The Chantry knows how to cure tranquility.  They’ve always known.”  She was ready this time, and had her eyes squinched shut to avoid temporary blindness when Justice came through.  

Instead of backing away like last time, Elaine leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Justice in an awkwardly seated hug.  The lightning crackled over her, but it felt more like a thrumming vibration than electricity.  She tightened the hug, trying not to hyperventilate as she wondered if the bandaid ripping technique was the right way to tell someone they’d mercy-killed their lover when a cure was possible.

She held on and waited.  It felt like hours, but could have been minutes, before the light faded and she felt his arms circle her to return the hug.  She found herself pulled into his lap as he clutched at her, his face buried in her hair as he cried.  He was eerily silent, shaking with sobs which never made a sound.  

After the shaking had subsided, he only moved slightly to settle her more comfortably on his lap as he wept and tightened his grip on her.  She waited, determined to give him the time he needed even while she felt intensely awkward about the intimacy.  If she thought hand feeding him and undressing him last night was uncomfortable, this was several times worse.  

This poor, fucking guy .  

There were a few false starts, but eventually he calmed down enough to speak.  Even if it was a rough whisper into her now-damp shoulder.  “I changed my mind.”

“Hm?”

“I do want to blow up the Chantry.”  

She gave him a soft, mirthless laugh.  “Yeah.”

Finally he pulled away.  His eyes were red and puffy, and he turned to wipe his face on his sleeve.  She felt him tense, unsure of where to put his arms or what to do with her on his lap.  “I’m sorry I… I mean, thank you.”  

Moving slowly, if only so he didn’t think she was running away, Elaine shifted off his lap and back onto the chair right next to him.  She kept a hand on his shoulder.  “You don’t need to thank me, Anders.  I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”

“Good.  I hope you never know what this feels like.”  He took a deep, shuddering breath and then let it out slowly.  “Do you know what it is?”  He cleared his throat and adjusted his chair back a few inches to turn and face her more fully.  “The cure for tranquility?”

“Um.. the tranquil person needs to be touched by a spirit.  Something about that reconnects them to the fade.  But I don’t know if there’s more to it than that.”  He nodded.  

“That makes sense.  When Justice came out close to Karl, he-”  Anders choked back more emotion as he brought back the memory. “Andraste’s tits, I was so close .  Justice had reconnected him to the fade and then I-”

“That’s not on you.”  She made her voice as firm and commanding as she could under the circumstances.  “ Stop .  It’s not your fault.  You were in an impossible situation and did the best you could with the information you had.”  He didn’t seem to agree, but didn’t press the argument.  

Elaine couldn’t help the stab of her own guilt.  “There’s a good argument that I’m at least partly to blame.” continuing on despite her better judgement, this was something she felt like she needed to say.  “I arrived here with this knowledge and did nothing.  Maybe if I’d said something earlier-”

“I don’t blame you.”  He was sounding mostly back to normal except for a roughened throat.  “And you’re right, it’s not my fault either.  The blame is on the monsters who did that to Karl, and are still doing it to other mages.  But maybe now I can help them.”

They sat side by side for a while as he processed.

“So, um.”  He finally broke the silence.  “What is your world like?  Are the mages free or in Circles?”

“Eh, our worlds aren’t that different.”  It was a ridiculous statement, but in the moment she felt like it was the truest thing she could say.  “We don’t have mages like here.  But there’s still prejudice.  Bigots still try to control anyone who’s different from them.  Normal folks just want to live a good life, and people are capable of incredible acts of love and cruelty.

“If I’ve learned anything from my time in Kirkwall, it’s that people are people no matter where they are.”

“So what next?”  Anders was refusing to read through the notes, choosing instead to trust what pieces of knowledge Elaine wanted to give.  “If Marcus already knows all this, they might be working to prevent Meredith’s madness already.  I won’t abandon the clinic.  I can keep working to help get mages out, and we can get word out about curing tranquility.”  He was getting increasingly excited as he thought it through.  “No need for a war, the Chantry will lose all credibility and their biggest weapon against us!”  

Elaine wasn’t as sure.  “You said that Marcus is being held under guard at the Viscount’s Keep?”

“Yes.”  Anders frowned.  “Do you think he needs to be rescued?”  

“Maybe, but let’s burn that bridge when we get to it.  Right now I think he’s a threat to you.”  She chewed her lip as she thought.  “The biggest danger to the Viscount is the Qunari, but Marcus still went out of his way to put Hawk against you.  Why would he do that?”  

And then Elaine had an idea.  “You saved Hawk’s sister’s life, right?  If you hadn’t been there, she would have died instead of joining the Grey Wardens.  But Hawk stops talking to you because of something a complete stranger who claims to know the future said?  They must really trust everything Marcus says.”

“Well, so far everything he’s said has been correct.”  

“Yes.  Let’s change that.”  She matched his grin.  “As far as Marcus knows, he’s the only outlander fucking with the ‘story’, so he can try and control the changes.”

‘What do you want to do?”

“Let’s go off script.” 

Chapter Text

“Not even Hawk could have dragged me into doing this.  And I went into the deep roads for him.”

“That’s the point!  It needs to be something they think you’d never do.”

“It is something I’d never do.  I’m not doing it.”

“I’ll be right there with you, nothing is going to go wrong.”

“...”

“ Fine .  I’ll be right there with you when something goes wrong.”

“I’m trusting you.  A lot.”

“What’s the worst that could happen?”

The new robes she had purchased for Anders were richly designed and well fitted. His hair was cleaned, brushed, and neatly pulled back and he had spent time shaving.  Elaine wasn’t blind enough not to notice that he looked good .  For the first time as they walked down the street together, people didn’t seem to recognize him.  Instead of wary glances and people shying away, he got blatant appraisals and once-overs.  He didn’t seem any more comfortable with them.

They stopped at the base of the steps to the Chanty shortly before services were about to start.  Glancing around nervously, he leaned close so he could talk into her ear.  “Why would you even say that?”

“Chin up, Anders.  The holy light of Andraste has blessed us this day.”

“Let’s get this over with.”

As they mounted the stairs and walked through the gigantic arched doorways, Elaine smiled and greeted the various Chantry sisters by name as they passed.  She was walking arm in arm with Anders, who for his part was managing not to look nauseous.  Mostly.

Leading him to where she normally sat during service, they knelt side by side and waited for the service to start.  With their shoulders touching he leaned closer to her to whisper.  “They’re going to say that magic exists to serve man.  And I’m going to fucking lose it.”

“You can do this.  You’re in control.”

“Right now I think you’re the one in control.”

“Then do what I say and shut up.”

He finally quieted down as the service started.  There was a regular ritual where the Chantry sisters gave announcements, described the good services of the church, and led the congregation in hymns before the Grand Cleric stood on the dais to give the sermon.  Elaine didn’t attend every service, but she came often enough to be recognized.

Even though Anders had claimed he’d rather tongue kiss a darkspawn than attend, he remembered the hymns and didn’t stumble through any of the responsive readings.  

Elaine dropped several silvers in the donation basket as it passed, ignoring the micro expression of disgust that flashed across Anders’ face.  Yes, that could have fed a family for a week, I know. 

After the closing, they stood together and slowly shuffled towards the doors with the rest of the congregation.  Members of the Chantry were standing along the aisles to shake hands, and Elaine made sure she kept an eye out for- yes, there he was!  

Elaine smiled and bowed her head to Sebastian as they walked past.  “It was a lovely service Brother Sebastian, blessings of the Maker to you this evening.”  And she kept walking.  Anders kept his eyes down in what was passable quiet contemplation.

They made it several more paces before she heard footsteps coming up quickly.  

“You!”  Sebastian spoke softly enough to try and not cause a scene.  He put a hand on Ander’s shoulder to turn him around.  “What are you doing here?”

Anders sighed and glanced at Elaine apologetically.  “I’m sorry, I told you this wasn’t going to work.”  He looked sorrowful, and gave Sebastian a polite nod.  “Don’t worry, I’ll go.”

“Nonsense!”  Elaine put her arm around Ander’s waist in a side hug.  “Andraste’s grace and the blessings of the Maker are for everyone.  Brother Sebastian, is there something wrong?”

His face went through some contortions of confusion, disbelief, and suppressed rage.  “Lady Elaine, do you know who this is?”

“Of course!”  Mindful of the other congregants pretending not to be listening, Elaine pulled Anders to the side and Sebastian followed them.  “I met Messere Anders after he almost killed himself to save over a hundred victims of the Bone Pit.  If it weren’t for him, dozens would have died, and many more would have suffered!”  She was amused to see the embarrassed flush of his cheeks while he stared intensely at his own feet.  

“It’s okay, Elaine.”  Anders’ voice could barely be heard.  “I’m not welcome here, I can… I can find somewhere else to worship.”

“Not at all, tell him Brother Sebastian.”  She gave Sebastian the most confident and friendly smile a lawyer trying to trap someone in a lie could manage.  “The Chant of Light brings comfort to all the faithful.”

“The.. yes, of course.  The faithful may find grace and comfort in Andraste’s eyes.”  He glared at Anders.  “Since when are you one of the faithful?”

Elaine gasped like a spanked nun.  “Brother Sebastian , I’m surprised at you!”  She kept her arm around Anders, squeezing the side hug a little tighter.  “Messere Anders exemplifies the Maker’s will more than anyone!  We know that-” and she hushed her voice for the next word “ magic exists to serve man.  But I didn’t know the meaning of service until I saw him working.”  

She pressed a hand to her heart, taking a shuddering breath as if steeling herself.  “I hate to admit I was… I was faltering in my own faith.”  She swallowed, took another deep breath, and powered through her ‘shameful’ admission.  “But I’ve never felt closer to the Maker than when I saw Anders saving lives.  It gave me faith.  And when he said he couldn’t worship, I… I wanted to share that with him here.”

“Lady Elaine..”  Sebastian was clearly at a loss for words.  It may not have been her speech that shocked him, but the way Anders was standing silently, eyes down with his hands clasped before him.

“If I may, Sebastian..”  Anders glanced up, but then quickly dropped his eyes.  “I don’t blame your suspicion, I know we’ve never seen eye to eye.  But I assure you, I only wanted to share in a worship service with Elaine.”  

Oh no, oh no don’t look. Don’t look in his eyes .  The affectation of adoration in Ander’s gaze was intense, she couldn’t help but flush beet red.  

“I think- perhaps we should be going.”  She turned them both away from Sebastian to walk out the door. 

“Anders, wait.  I apologize, this was shameful of me.”  Anders and Elaine both gaped back in surprise.  Sebastian was bowing his head with a fist held tight against his heart.  “Anyone who comes here in peace with the Maker in their heart is welcome.  I hope to see you again soon Anders.  You as well, Lady Elaine.”

And with that, Brother Sebastian turned and continued his duties.

Elaine and Anders walked away from the Chantry in silence for several streets as they headed back towards Elaine’s apartment.  The crowd thinned the further from the church they walked.  

“Well, what do you know?”  Anders finally said.  “The self righteous princeling isn’t a complete hypocrite.  Also-”  He turned in mock outrage and poked her repeatedly in the ribs.  “How dare you say the line!  I specifically said I didn’t want to hear about magic serving people, and then you use it on me!”

“Ow!  Haha, stop!  I’m sorry!”  Laughing and trying to bat his hands away, he continued poking her.  “I didn’t mean it!”

By the time they got back to her apartment they were both laughing.  

“That went well, you’re an incredible actor!”  Elaine finally relaxed and shook out her shoulders once they were inside closed doors.  “We should wait a week before the next step, I don’t know how long before Sebastian tells Hawk about you.”

“He’s not going to tell Hawk about me .”  Anders was putting a kettle on the stove for tea, looking comfortable in her kitchen.  “Finding a beautiful woman who admires me is much harder to believe than me finding religion.  You were flawless.”

“Hah, thanks.”  Pulling off her thick jacket, she smoothed clammy hands against her softer linen shirt.  I’m an adult.  Adults communicate .  “But I wasn’t acting.  I really do admire you, Anders.  You’ve been selflessly helping others despite the danger.  Despite everything you’ve been through, you’re still kind and considerate.”  Feeling awkward, Elaine shrugged.  “I don’t know if I believe in the Maker, but I wasn’t lying when I said you gave me faith.  Faith in what people can do for each other when they care.”

She turned away from him to hang her jacket on a hook.  When she turned back he was standing in front of her.  Woah, he’s close.

“Elaine…” he raised a hand to gently cup the side of her face.  “May I kiss you?”  

His thumb traced her cheekbone, callouses would be rough against her skin except for how gently he touched her.

Answering him with action instead of words, she hooked her arms over his shoulders for leverage, meeting him as he leaned down.  He started soft, pressing chaste kisses over her lips that deepened until he was running his tongue against hers, angling his head and alternating between passionately delving into her mouth and pulling back as he adjusted to her reactions.

He was an exceptional kisser.  He had a hand cupped behind her head and the other at the small of her back as he slowly pulled her in.  Even as she gasped and came up for air, he still stole her breath as he mouthed his way down her neck, sucking gently wherever it made her shiver.

“We should... should we talk about this…?” 

“Mmmm.”  The vibration of his hum felt amazing, a warm pleasure radiating from where he was pressing kisses against the junction of her neck and shoulder.  “You’re very good at talking.  Let me show you what I’m good at.”

And he did.

Chapter Text

Waking up slowly, Elaine felt the fade dissipating from her mind in exchange for alertness. Cuddled onto a bed only big enough for one person, she was half on top of Anders with his arms around her and their legs tangled together. He was still asleep, and she carefully tried to lever herself up without waking him. As soon as she got her feet on the ground and pulled away, he curled into the empty space as if seeking her warmth.

Now that she could admire him without any distractions, she allowed herself the indulgence of staring. He was thin but built with well defined muscle. She’d never seen him fight, but she knew he was an experienced battle mage. Even so, his chest and back were littered with scars. What looked like a lot of whippings were engraved on his back, and one spectacular scar over his heart had an exit wound on the opposite side. Dusky gold hair speckled his chest and became thicker further down as part of his treasure trail. Her eyes were following the trail down and she startled when his voice broke into her reverie. 

“Did you want to hire a painter?" He smirked, stretching to show off a bit more. “I can wait here while you find one.”

“Hah, no I’ll keep this view to myself." 

He sat up, smiling and taking the time to admire her as well. After the events of the evening it felt silly to be shy, but she still flushed a little at standing exposed. “Last night was the best night I’ve had in… a long time." He admitted. 

“Me too." Pulling on a shirt and stepping into a clean set of smalls and trousers, Elaine moved towards the kitchen to make breakfast, searching her tiny cupboard for a pan. “Should we have the talk now, or do you want to eat first?" He didn’t ask what ‘the talk’ was. Maybe some things were universal. 

“We might as well get started." He bypassed the nice robes he had worn to the Chantry and put on more worn and mended robes. “How many babies did you want?  Three?”

She dropped the pan. Maybe the morning-after talk wasn’t universal.

She gaped at him, but he started laughing before she could worry he was actually serious. 

“Your face!" He chortled as he was pulling his hair back. “Don’t worry, Elaine, one of the very few benefits of being a Grey Warden is that I can’t father children." He paused, concern crossing his face. “I… hope you knew that. I didn’t mean to make fun if you actually-”

“I'm not talking about kids." She assured him, pulling a hand down her face. This went off the rails a lot faster than she was expecting. “I meant talking about us. Whether this was a one time thing or whether you want more. But, I didn’t actually know that about Grey Wardens, I’m sorry.”

She recovered the pan from the floor and kept pulling the ingredients out for sandwiches. Egg sandwiches were one of the few meals for which she didn’t need to worry about refrigerating the ingredients. Doing something with her hands let her feel a little less awkward while having this conversation. He continued talking.

“Anyone who’s with me is at risk." Sitting down across from the counter where she was working, he picked at invisible dirt under his nails. “We’ll be hunted, never able to have a moment’s peace. I’ve been lucky so far, but mages are barely tolerated. I don’t want to ruin your chance to have a peaceful life.”

Stoking the fire under the stovetop for a moment, Elaine nodded. “You know, I could say something similar as an outlander. I’m already on a path that’s going to be risky. You being a mage isn’t a problem for me.”

“I hope you know how rare it is to hear that." He smiled up at her. “I want more than just one night with you, Elaine. Whatever you’re comfortable giving, I’ll return it.”

“I prefer exclusivity." She said this a little haltingly, not sure if it was necessary but after having had a few relationships go wrong on that issue she didn’t like leaving it unsaid. 

“Did I somehow give you the impression that I’m getting a lot of other interest?" 

“Hah, that’s their loss. But I saw how people were looking at you yesterday." She winked at him. “I think you’re selling yourself short.”

Blushing, Anders shook his head. “They were looking at the expensive robes. But yes, if I’m with you I’m not interested in being with anyone else. Anything else?”

“Well.. um, I need good communication. If something is bothering you, tell me. And I’ll do the same for you.”

“I like the sound of that.”

“What do you need in a relationship?" The pan was hot enough, and she added some butter to melt. Pulling several eggs from the basket, she rolled one around in her hand. It was smaller than the ones she was used to buying at the grocery store, and felt waxy. But the eggs here were fresher, with bright orange yolks.

He was silent for a moment. “I never really had to think about it. Love wasn’t… allowed in the Circle. It was something else for the templars to use against you." He sighed. “What I need right now is companionship. Someone to help me and believe in me." 

Cracking the eggs into the pan, she listened to the sizzling of the butter. “Then I think we’re off to a pretty good start.”

He smiled back. “I think so too. Who knows what’s going to happen in the future, but I’ll treasure this while we have it.”

“I think we need to adjust our game plan a little.”

“How so?”

Flipping the eggs over to fry on the other side, Elaine hummed in thought. “At first I wanted to discredit Marcus by making it look like you were on a completely different path. We would start at the Chantry, and you would make nice with Elthina and work to help the mages by preaching their own bullshit back at them." 

“I do love showing people their own hypocrisy." 

“Hah, and they’ve got plenty of it. In the story that Marcus and I know, you would be antagonistic to the church. You would write a manifesto and obsess about fighting the templars, but when people don’t really listen you change tactics.”

He frowned as though someone had spat in his tea. “Good to know my manifesto isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.”

“I’ll read it if you like." Honesty is important. “But as far as I know it doesn’t get very far.”

She sliced the bread and transferred the buttery eggs on top, assembling a few extra pieces while she talked. When she handed him his plate the sandwich was neatly cut into two triangles and there was a small pile of sliced apple on the side.

“So what’s the new plan?”

“If we’re together, that’s going to change the script as much as the Chantry stuff. In the story you don’t- well, you aren’t with anyone else, I guess." She stumbled over the words. “Um.. is Hawk in a relationship with anyone?”

“Last I saw, he and Fenris were getting pretty cozy." Anders narrowed his eyes at her while nibbling a piece of apple, “Who was he with in your story?”

“I don’t know." She really didn’t want to explain what a video game was, and how the player was able to make certain choices. All the major plot points were the same, after all. “There were different versions. In some of them he was with Fenris. But he could also have been with Merrill, Isabella, or-”

“Me?" Anders smiled. “It’s hard to imagine now, but if he hadn’t stopped talking to me I’d have been interested.”

“Yeah." She took a bite of her own sandwich, taking the moment to think. “But with me in the mix, we need to figure out how to hide the fact I’m an outlander.”

“That’s easy enough.”

“Oh?”

“I’ve traveled a lot. You and I met years ago in Denerim. That was in my, um… my more wild days. So we had some fun and never saw each other again until you showed up out of nowhere and took over my clinic." 

“I like it. We obviously can’t prove it, but it should give us reasonable doubt." Quickly losing her good manners, she took a bite and talked out the side of her mouth while chewing. “I’ll need some help memorizing place names, maybe give me some details so I can sound like a local. I came to Kirkwall as a refugee like everyone else, and maybe I’d never have run into you if you were still prancing around town on Hawk’s heels.”

“Excuse you, I never prance ." 

She smiled. “I bet I could make you prance.”

“You can do anything you want with me." He smirked at her while she choked a little. “But speaking of my clinic, I’ve been neglecting it." He stood, cleaning up with surprisingly comfortable domesticity. He bent down to give her a kiss. “When can I see you again?”

“Soon. There are some less-fun things I really want to talk through with you.”

“Oh." He shifted his weight as though trying to figure out whether he was leaving or not. “Let’s do it now, or I’ll be worried about it all day.”

“I’ll be quick." She put her hand on the stack of notes about the future which he had avoided looking at. “Unless Marcus has already changed things, some bad shit is going to happen. Some of it might need to happen, but… if I’m already meddling I can’t ignore everything.”

“What do you need from me?”

“Advice." She cleared her throat nervously. “This is dangerous and neither of us can reveal that we know about it, but I don’t know what to do. There’s a serial killer attacking women. He leaves a flower behind or something, I think there was a templar trying to get Hawk to look into it.”

“I remember that. We didn’t find anything.”

“At some point he’s going to kill Hawk’s mother.”

Suddenly he was a lot more alert, tensing up and baring his teeth in a scowl. “When?”

“I don’t know ." Frustration as she ran her hands through her hair. “And if Marcus is doing his job, he’s already told Hawk about this. But I’d hate myself if it still happened and I did nothing. It’s… it’s really bad.”

Nodding in acceptance, Anders started pacing in the small apartment. “I’ll ask about disappearances in Darktown." He paused, looking around. “If Sebastian tells Hawk I was at the Chantry, I expect to be getting a visit soon. I’ll try and find out what Marcus has been saying.”

“There’s other things… unless Marcus prevents it, the Qunari are going to kill a lot of people and Meredith is-”

“Wait." Anders held up his hands to forestall her telling him the future. “I know you feel responsible because you have this story in your head. But the people in this world are making their own choices." He stopped his pacing to walk over and pull her into a hug. “You aren’t responsible for bad things happening. And the more you try to get involved, the more you’re at risk.”

“If I’m not doing nothing then I have to do something.”

“You’re preventing a madman from blowing up the Chantry, helping get mages out from under the yoke of the templars, and protecting Hawk’s mom." He kissed her forehead. “Marcus is stationed in the Viscount’s office. Let’s see what he’s doing before we try to change everything.”

“You realize how hypocritical it is for you to tell me we don’t need to save everyone?" 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about." Lifting her chin, he gave her a parting kiss before he turned towards the door. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go to the clinic and save everyone.”

Chapter Text

As much as Elaine’s new focus was on her burgeoning romance with Anders and their plan to discredit Marcus’s visions of the future, she still needed to work. She continued to follow leads, taking a few smaller jobs while laying the groundwork for some bigger ones.

She was reviewing the Chantry’s bulletin board, noting a few potentials for later. Looking up at the Chantry doors, she decided that while she was here she might as well make an appearance for piety’s sake. 

The hushed quiet of the Chantry was, as always, an oasis from the chaos of Kirkwall. Nodding and smiling at people as she passed them, Elaine took her usual praying spot in front of the Andraste statue. After lighting a candle and bowing her head, it wasn’t long before Sebastian joined to kneel next to her. 

Elaine liked going first to control the narrative. “Thank you, Brother Sebastian." Speaking softly and smiling piously, she kept her head bowed. “You have helped make this place a sanctuary for me." 

He was silent for several beats. “I behaved poorly before. You have shown impressive kindness and generosity. I just…" He must be having a hard time finding words that would not make him sound like a mage hater. “...worry for your safety. And the safety of all our supplicants." 

“I never feel safer than when I am here." At least that was true. “And… if it will put your mind at ease you should know that Messere Anders has been a very dear… friend… of mine since before the blight." Sebastian’s surprise was palpable. “I believe it was the Maker who brought us back together.”

For the next several minutes she and Sebastian had a surprisingly pleasant conversation. He asked about her experiences during the blight, and she learned a little more about his backstory, which she hadn’t really remembered much anyway. 

The story that she and Anders had agreed upon was that she was originally from Denerim. She had grown up there as a devout Andrastrian, and it was there that she first met Anders on one of his escape attempts. She hadn’t known he was a mage at the time. They had a strong connection, among other things, but he disappeared without a word. The cad . (He had laughed sheepishly, and said that it was unfortunately true.)  When the fifth blight started, she was warned to get far away from Denerim, knowing that fighting was getting closer.

Her family was long gone, and she abandoned her home and all her worldly possessions on the trip to Kirkwall. She arrived hopeless, alone, feeling abandoned by the Maker. But after getting her feet back under her, she heard rumors of the brave Grey Warden Anders living in the city. And the rest is history.

Of course she only told Sebastian small details to hint at the bigger picture, but he managed to make it feel more like a conversation than an interrogation. 

When it felt like they were at a good stopping point, she carefully got up to her feet and stretched to work out the kinks of kneeling for so long. “You are a credit to the Chantry, Brother Sebastian, I thank you for coming to sit with me.”

“You as well, Lady Elaine." 

Instead of heading home, she decided that there was enough daylight left to make it to Darktown.

The lantern was on and Anders was hard at work in the clinic. There was only one volunteer at the moment, Margerie. She had been the last one remaining on the Bone Pit day. The other one was Nanette. Though they hadn’t talked much, both of them were overjoyed that Anders had ‘found a woman’ and were very welcoming.

Not interrupting his work, Elaine went straight to the back and started up a kettle for tea. She kept herself busy by sorting through and organizing donated supplies. When that got boring, she sat down at the table and started scratching notes on her current job prospects.

So she was distracted and almost jumped out of her chair when someone barged into the clinic loudly shouting “Anders!  Are you in here?”

Everyone else in the clinic was startled too. Margerie tucked herself in the back of the clinic and half the patients ducked out the door. Anders finished healing the patient in front of him (who then quickly left), and glared up at Hawk.

Garrett Hawk was huge . He was wearing heavy plate armor and a large shield hung on his back. He had a smear of red across his nose, just like in the game. Between his size and sheer energetic presence he drew all eyes to himself, but he wasn’t alone. Trailing behind him was Fenris, Aveline, and Varric, also looking remarkably similar to how she expected them.

After a little over six months of avoiding Plot Nonsense, Elaine finally acknowledged she was right in the thick of it.

“Why hello, Anders!" Anders said in an overly cheerful falsetto. “What a pleasure to see you!  It’s been ages, you look well." He said in a more normal voice, “Hi Hawk, welcome in!  I’m so glad you didn’t come in here screaming and scaring away my patients!" The falsetto came back “Any time, my old friend. That would have been unnecessary and rude of me!”

“Shut it, mage!" Fenris’s voice really was incredibly deep.

Hawk, for his part, seemed a little embarrassed to realize he had cleared out the clinic. He looked around, eyes lingering on Elaine, who was sitting at the table with her cup of tea hanging in front of her lips watching the situation unfold.

“I’ve been hearing some crazy things." Hawk said, finally. Walking further into the clinic his three companions fanned out behind him. Fenris was close at his side, glaring at Anders. Aveline looked like she was in parade rest, calmly keeping a loose focus. Varric, however, was eagerly drinking in the room and shamelessly staring at Elaine. He had an intensity that comes from hanging on every word being said.

Hawk continued, “Crazy things like you’ve found Andraste and are attending services at the Chantry.”

“Do the rumors also tell you how many shits I take every day?" Anders sneered. “What do you care?  You made it clear we aren’t friends.”

Hawk didn’t answer that question. He looked again towards Elaine. “Who is she?”

Anders stepped between them to break the line of sight, not giving Elaine a chance to respond. “That’s my dear Aunt Gertrude, visiting from the Anderfells.” He snapped. “You’re not welcome to join us for tea.”

“Your aunt, Blondie?" Varric sounded amused. “She’s younger than you.”

“It’s rude to comment on a lady’s age." Elaine finally broke in. Standing so she could step from behind Anders. Hawk towered in the room, by far the largest human being she’d ever seen. It was a challenge to make her voice sound unimpressed. “I thought you’d be bigger.”

Hawk grinned widely, suddenly ignoring Anders. “And I thought you were imaginary. Where are you from, ‘Gertrude’?”

Walking over to stand next to Anders, she could see he was frustrated and angry, but if he was nervous he was successfully hiding it. He angled himself to try and stay protectively in front of her.

“Anders,” she said finally, “would you like to introduce me to your friends?”

He continued glaring, but pointed at each of them in turn, “Hawk, Fenris, Aveline, Varric.” Then he laid a hand on Elaine’s shoulder and said in a much kinder voice. “Elaine. But they’re not my friends anymore. And they were just leaving.”

“We’re not going anywhere, mage." Fenris growled. Wow, was it possible for him not to growl?  Maybe that was just his voice. “You’re up to something and we’re going to find out what.”

“Fenris," Hawk sighed in a tone of impotent rebuke. “We’re just here to talk, Anders." He tried to give a friendly smile as if he weren’t a mountain wearing a suit of armor. “There’s been concern that you’re going to get in trouble, I’m here to keep the peace.”

“You come yelling into my clinic to keep the peace?" Anders scoffed. “What am I being accused of, exactly?”

There was a long moment of silence as Hawk apparently hadn’t planned this far in advance. Probably a lot more comfortable with action than words. He glanced at Varric as if asking for help, but Varric was too busy studying Elaine. Glowering at all of them, Anders turned his back to Hawk so he could try and gently guide Elaine to the side. 

When she didn’t move he murmured, “I think you should head home, I’ll deal with whatever this is.”

“They came in four to one. I’m not leaving you here." 

He groaned, still trying to gently pull her away. “I’ll be fine. I’m a big, scary mage, remember?”

She smiled at him briefly, but directed her response at Aveline. “Is someone under arrest?  If not, I think this counts as trespassing.”

“I’m off duty." Was all Aveline said, but she did cast a disapproving look at Hawk. 

Before anyone else could get a word in, Elaine turned back to Hawk. “You said that ‘there’s concern about trouble’. What’s going on?”

“I was hoping you could tell us that." He rocked forward and back on his heels as if incapable of standing still. “You never did say where you’re from.”

“You’re very observant." He didn’t seem to know what to do with that. Maybe he was used to his bulk intimidating people into talking more.

Varric stepped in to keep the peace before there could be too much glaring. “We got off on the wrong foot here. Blondie, it’s really good to see you. You’re looking well." 

At least he managed to sound sincere.

“There have been rumblings at the Viscount’s office. You know how it is." Varric shrugged as if the Viscount’s office was a thunderstorm and they just had to deal with it. “We need to ask some questions. It’s all part of the job, nothing personal. How about if you and Elaine here meet us at the Hanged Man tonight?  We can play Wicked Grace like old times, I’ll buy the first round, we can catch up.”

Anders didn’t look any happier about this, but at least Varric had successfully reduced the tension. He threw his hands up in capitulation. “Fine!  If it’ll get you all out of here, I’ll meet you at the Hanged Man tonight. Now unless any of you are bleeding, get out. This is a place of healing, as I think you already know.”

They shuffled out, with Fenris looking the most upset but he went along with Hawk. After they had disappeared down the street Anders shook himself like a wet dog. 

“How do you like that?" He grumbled. “Shuts me out for weeks, then comes in here like he owns the place.”

“Careful,” Elaine laughed, “that’s how you met me.”

“Hah!" He pulled her in for a kiss, distracting them both a little longer than planned. “Are you ready for the Hanged Man tonight?”

“Almost. I do need your help with something, if you have a few minutes?”

“Anything for you.”

“How do you play Wicked Grace?”

“Cheating, mostly. I’ll show you.”

Chapter Text

Later that evening when Elaine and Anders walked into the Hanged Man, it was with Bolster cheerfully looming behind her. She had hired him for the short and easy assignment of looking like a mean and ugly bastard in her proximity all night. He would also get her beer, since she wasn’t planning on drinking. “You give me the best jobs, boss!”

They walked towards the back room where the group would be sitting. Not everyone was there yet. So far Varric was sitting at the table with Isabella, who was half draped over Merrill. As they approached the table Varric’s eyebrows raised, and kept raising as he craned his head back to look at Bolster. “And who’s this?”

“My bodyguard." Elaine smiled. “Maybe it’s not a problem for you, but I need to get home safely after this.”

“Doesn’t Blondie help with that?”

“Other way around, Varric." Anders hugged Elaine under his arm briefly, then pulled out a chair for her. “She keeps me safe." 

Sitting next to Anders and across from Isabella and Merrill, Elaine nodded to Varric on her right. “I’ve already met you, Master Tethras, but I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting your lady friends. Would you give me an introduction?”

“Oooh, I’m ready to be your lady friend too." Isabella was everything expected and more. Utterly gorgeous, with dusky brown skin and gold jewelry sparkling across her neck, ears, arms, and probably a lot of other places she couldn’t see. It was an act of supreme, unimaginable self control not to stare into her breasts. Her cleavage was the most prominent part of her, making it a statistical improbability to actually see anything else. 

Nearly invisible when seated next to Isabella, Merrill was thin even for an elf. Her vallaslin were iridescent green and looked engraved rather than tattooed. She seemed content to nod a greeting and fade into the background. 

“Elaine, allow me to introduce the illustrious Captain Isabella and the inimitable Merrill. Rivaini, Daisy, this lovely lady Elaine has managed to capture Blondie’s eye.”

Giving Anders a small nudge, Elaine said softly “Just the one?”

“I can get eyeballs. How many did you want?”

“Aren’t you two just the cutest." Isabella cooed, leaning her weaponized cleavage further onto the table. “Tell me, sweetheart, has he shown you his electricity trick yet?" She wiggled her fingers to imitate casting a spell. “That trick made him very popular at the Pearl.”

Looking to Anders for clarification, “The Pearl?”

“It’s a whorehouse in Denerim." Anders explained, pointing a disappointed look at Isabella. But he didn’t give the emotional reaction she was trying to get. “You probably never went to that part of town.”

“Huh. I learn something new every day." Shrugging, she turned back to Isabella. “I know I’m here to answer questions, but my sex life isn’t on the table." Finally she allowed herself to look down at The Breasts. “Unlike those.”

Bolster interrupted whatever innuendo Isabella was going to say, shifting his weight behind Elaine and warning her “Incoming, boss.”

“Thank you Bolster!" Not waiting for a response and not bothering to turn around, Elaine called out “Come in, Messere Hawk. You don’t want to be late to your own interrogation.”

Hawk walked in alone. Maybe Fenris and Aveline decided they had better things to do. He seemed to recognize Bolster, and they nodded a greeting before Hawk proceeded to ignore his existence. Which was how you were supposed to treat a bodyguard, so Elaine could hardly fault him for it.

“Hawk!  Sit down." Varric waved him forward. “We were just getting to know each other. Norah, a round of drinks, please!”

Sitting down didn’t really make Hawk look any smaller. He was doing a decent impression of friendliness, but Elaine felt like she was starting to get a handle on his character. He was terrible at subterfuge, a little socially awkward, and he would plow a straight line between any two problems and tank everything in the middle.

No wonder he believed everything Marcus told him. It probably wasn’t even personal when he cut off Anders, he just believed it was what he needed to do, so he did it.

They all received their drinks and waited until the waitress, Norah, moved out of the room. Elaine handed hers up to Bolster, as promised. Without waiting for someone else to talk first, Elaine did what she did best.

Addressing only Hawk, she said “If you’re here to warn me about Anders being a mage, I’ve already had that conversation with Brother Sebastian. If there’s something else going on, I’d appreciate you telling me what it is.”

“Woah, straight to business?" Varric’s laugh was a little strained. “This is supposed to be friendly.”

“I’m very friendly, Master Tethras. See?" She proved it by giving him a lawyer’s shark smile, then dropped it. “But Messere Hawk seems like the kind of man who gets business done. I respect that." Gesturing to Hawk, she then leaned back and put an arm over the back of Anders’ chair. “Please get us started.”

The man in question shifted in his chair, glancing again towards Varric, who was probably supposed to be the talker. “How did you and Anders get together?" He finally asked.

“That’s not what you want to ask." Elaine responded sharply. “In the clinic, the elf said ‘you’re up to something and we’re going to find out what.’  So let’s not waste time, what do you think Anders is up to?”

“I guess you like when a lady takes charge, eh?” Isabella gave an exaggerated wink towards Anders, desperately trying to lighten the mood. 

“Don’t answer that.”

“Yes dear.”

“Well?" This last was to Hawk, who started looking more frustrated with her staring challengingly at him.

“Are you an outlander?" Hawk finally asked, point blank. He sounded frustrated, clearly not having wanted to just ask the question like that.

Elaine gave no physical response. “No." She said firmly. “Did you have another question?”

Silence around the table as Elaine and Hawk maintained their staring contest. 

For several arduous seconds the only sound was the distant laughter and conversation from the main room of the bar.

Anders waved a hand between the two of them and then pretended to yelp and pull it back like it had caught on fire. Blinking, Elaine gave him a smirk and let him talk.

“This is obviously because of something Marcus said." Anders interjected. “But need I remind you, I don’t know what Marcus said . I have no idea what’s going on. What do you want from us, here?”

“Who is Marcus, and why does he think I’m an outlander?" Elaine asked, perfectly reasonably. “If he’s going to accuse me I hope he has a reason, because if anyone believed it my life would be at risk." 

Hawk ignored her questions. “When did you get to Kirkwall?" 

Calm and collected can only get you so far, sometimes. While she could have kept it professional, her annoyance at the shitty interrogation combined with the entire situation was building. She decided to use it.

Pushing up to stand and brace her hands on the table, she allowed anger to control her voice. “Who the fuck is Marcus, and why is he trying to get me killed?" She jabbed a finger at Hawk, who shifted in surprise but didn’t back away. “Not that it’s any of your business, I fled the blight to get here, just like you!  But I didn’t have a family name or a fucking manor house waiting for me in Hightown. I lost everything . And just when I find Anders again, you show up to piss on my face and tell me it’s raining.

So thank you, Messere Hawk, for giving me all the excuse I need to crawl up your ass and break every bone in Marcus’s hand.”

Stepping away from the table, she turned to Varric, who was wide eyed and tilting his chair backwards at her unexpected outburst. She held up her hand without looking, and Bolster, beautiful Bolster, immediately put her business card into it. It wasn’t a card so much as a small flier neatly hand illustrated. She made painstaking copies for her contacts so they could see the quality of her work.

“Master Tethras," She dropped it in front of him. “I’m a fixer. I’ve got a few references on there you’re welcome to follow up with.

“If you are so inclined, you may tell Marcus that I will be inquiring further into his business. But it’s not necessary, as I’m sure he'll find out soon. Good day, gentlemen. Ladies.”

Anders was still sitting with his beer, smiling up at her. She bent down to give him a kiss. “Tomorrow?”

“I can’t wait." He beamed after her as she and Bolster made their exit. Anders turned back to the table. “Am I still invited to play Wicked Grace?”

Chapter Text

After his incredible woman had stormed away from the table, Anders allowed himself to moon after her only briefly. He turned back to the group he used to consider his closest friends. “Am I still invited to play Wicked Grace?”

Isabella got the first word in. “Only if you’re willing to share. Mmm, that woman has more sparks than you do!”

He grinned. “All mine, Izzy. I’m greedy.”

“She was angry." That was Merrill, speaking softly. Whenever she spoke everyone made sure to hush so she could be heard. It gave her quiet voice a lot of influence.

“Well… yes." Anders raised his eyebrows at her. “Wouldn’t you be?”

Merrill looked at Hawk. “She was angry, but not at you. And she didn’t get more angry when she yelled, that’s just when she decided to yell." 

Varric was reading her business card. “Daisy, I get the sense that that’s a woman who only does and says exactly what she means to. Blondie, how are you doing, you feel safe at home?”

“She's really very sweet, when her life isn't being threatened.” He heaved a sigh in Hawk’s direction. “Really, Hawk?  This is how you say hello after weeks of cold shoulder?”

“Marcus didn't predict her.” He finally admitted. “And that makes her an outlander. She's up to something and we need to know what.”

Laughing incredulously, Anders took another drink. “Tell Marcus to re-commune with the Maker, or however he claims to know everything, because she's not an outlander. I've known her since before the blight." He was sitting at a table of highly observant and suspicious people, but Anders was a very good liar. Even if they didn't believe him, they couldn't be sure.

“Really?” Varric started dealing cards. “You've never mentioned her.”

“No,” Anders agreed. “Because at the time she was a good Andrastrian woman and I was a runaway mage with templars on my heels. But you should have seen her,” the very real admiration in his voice would make the whole story more believable. “There was a Bone Pit collapse and my clinic was overrun. She walked in and took charge. Got the most injured people to me first, and she made sure everyone got the help they needed." He picked up his hand of cards. “Including me." He added as an afterthought.

“And what's this about you finding the Maker?” Hawk asked. Demanded, really. The cards looked small in his hands, but he deftly fanned them out. Anders could immediately see that Hawk wasn't happy with his hand. He was terrible at this game.

“Elaine is very devout.” Anders said, as if that answered the question. “So, are you talking to me again?" He probably had what he's been told were puppy dog eyes. He wasn't trying, but damn if being ostracized didn't hurt. “I missed this, but if I'm only here because the all knowing Marcus has his smalls twisted, I'll just go home." He drew a card.

For a minute there was nothing but the sound of cards being drawn or placed on the table. They weren’t placing bets, which made the game a flimsy excuse for conversation. 

“You're dangerous, Anders.” Hawk said finally. “Someday you're going to lose control of Justice, people will die, and if I'm there I'll have to cut you down. I don't want to have to do that.”

The simmering anger, never too far from the surface, threatened to boil. But he had a lot of experience controlling his emotions. “Is that what Marcus said?  And you decided it was better to keep me isolated? I was spiraling, Hawk. I'm even more glad Elaine found me. If it weren’t for her, I think he may have been right. No one makes good choices when they're alone in the dark." I would know .

“That’s interesting, Blondie.” Varric was subtly cheating by drawing two cards. “You think Marcus is predicting to get the outcome he wants?”

If Anders had to guess, this was a suspicion Varric has had for a while and now was a great excuse to bring it up again.

“I know I've said this already, but I'll say it again, I have no idea what Marcus says, thinks, or wants." He adjusted so that when someone else was talking he could slip a low card into his sleeve. “But don't worry, Elaine will figure it out.”

“She won't be able to get to Marcus.” Hawk said confidently, and maybe a little resigned. “The Viscount is very protective.”

“Loves him like he's his own son.” Isabella added, “Always kept nearby in the office to the left of the large red tapestry of a dragon.”

Varric nodded. “He's never alone. Unless you count when the guard changes for lunch at noon and the new shift doesn't come in until after 1. But that only happens on Wednesdays.”

Merrill was looking around the table, gently holding the cards she hadn't been paying attention to. “I don't think he can even see much of the sky from that third floor window facing the West road.” she added softly. 

Hawk sat quietly with his losing hand and a small smile.

A sharp sense of joy lifted Anders’ spirits. Maybe his friends weren't as distant as he thought. He snuck a card from the discard pile. 

“So Hawk,” Anders knew that direct tended to work best with him. “Should I be looking for you over my shoulder now?  Are you ready to cut down the dangerous apostate if he sneezes?”

“I was just supposed to confirm that she's an outlander and then take her in to the Viscount’s office." Hawk shrugged. “But she's not an outlander. She said so herself.”

“And what about me?”

“I don't know what you're up to, Anders.” Hawk discarded and drew a new card, carefully inspecting his hand. “But maybe the Chantry isn't the best place for you to be seen.”

He could do it to Sebastian,  but he wasn't good enough to fake religious piety here. 

“Like I said, Elaine is very devout.” Shrugging like it was something you just live with. “I support her.”

Merrill was a bit too intense in her scrutiny. He shifted nervously then pretended to care about his cards. Suddenly she smiled, vallaslin spreading on her face.

“She will support you too. An ally who brings you hope and fights with words.” Blushing a little, she added, “I'm happy for you, Anders.”

“I'm curious,” Anders asked Merrill, “what do you think about Marcus?”

“He's trapped.” 

Isabella flopped her face dramatically into her hands, but Merrill continued before anyone could complain she was pointing out the obvious.

“He can only see a future without himself in it." Merrill said sympathetically. “Every prediction is a new bar in his cage, but if he runs out of predictions he loses everything.”

Everyone was silent for a moment. Hawk was the one who found this the most interesting. “He can't see himself in the visions?”

Shaking her head, “He speaks of only one future, and it's a future he's not in. He doesn't fit.”

“Well he is an outlander.” Hawk said. “They're not supposed to be here.”

Merrill's big eyes looked up at Hawk. “None of us are supposed to be here, Hawk. We just are.”

“I suppose you don't think the Maker has a plan for us. Or the Elvhen gods, I guess." Varric said as he toyed with the card that would end the game, but drew instead. 

Instead of answering, Merrill turned the question to Anders. “What do you think?”

Hmm. Briefly Anders wished Elaine hadn't left, he didn't know whether he was about to say something that would tighten his noose. 

“I don't know about the Maker having a plan for us.” Anders said, finally. “But I believe that a loving Maker wouldn't have a plan that removes our ability to make choices.”

Sighing, Anders folded his hand and stood up. He smiled at everyone. “This was fun.” At least he could be truthful about that. “But if you can't tell me what I'm supposedly doing in this one future Marcus sees, Elaine will figure it out.”

“Yes, I believe she will.” Hawk said with good humor. “But if only to spare her a harrowing journey up my ass, I can tell you Marcus said you would trick me into killing a lot of innocent people of the Chantry. He wouldn't, or couldn't, say how.”

Blinking in shock, Anders stared momentarily dumbfounded. In his silence, Hawk continued. 

“I have missed you, Anders. We all have. But I can't risk being involved in whatever you're doing.”

“Thank you for telling me." Anders shook his head sadly. Denials would be meaningless, and also possibly false. He still wasn't sure how to help mages find freedom and he wasn't ruling anything out. “My clinic is always open if any of you need healing.”

And with that, Anders walked away.

Chapter Text

When Anders got back to Elaine’s home, she was on the floor with a semicircle of papers laid out in front of her. Sorting through her regular notes and her ‘outlander’ notes, she was jotting down a list of officials and authorities to whom she could complain, in ascending order of power.

Before he had even fully closed the door, she started talking.

“The biggest problem with my approach is that it’s slow . I’ll start with introductory letters of complaint, and when those are ignored I can escalate." She started chewing on her thumbnail with nervous energy. “And when those are ignored I’ll be able to show up in person. But by then I’ll be able to place a petition that will be a lot harder to ignore. They’ll still ignore it, mind you, but they’ll notice it”

Anders very carefully placed his steps around the piles as he moved to look from her vantage point. As always, he meticulously avoided looking at the ‘outlander’ future notes. 

“This is a lot of work to be ignored in person." 

“Ah, but I’ll have a paper trail!" She laughed in sarcastic triumph. “This is slow, and agonizingly frustrating, but people trying not to be noticed don’t like paper trails. And no one in the Viscount's office wants Marcus to be noticed. I start complaining on paper to larger and larger groups of people, they’ll want to shut me up. And they do that by giving me what I want.”

“And what do you want?”

“An official meeting with Marcus. With however many people as they want in the room, but I’ll want you and Hawk, at least.”

“Then what?" Anders knelt so he was at the correct height to dig his thumbs into her shoulders for a massage. He urged a little healing magic into her muscles, enjoying the quiet groan of pleasure that elicited. 

“Then we… oh wow that feels good… then we pin Marcus down. He either needs to defend his prediction or- or he..” Slumping forward a bit, she braced against the floor. “It’s really hard to think when you’re doing that.”

“Mmm." He stroked down her back on either side of her spine. “Don’t get distracted. Marcus needs to defend his position?”

“Haha, oh you’re evil. Yes, he needs to explain how you’re going to blow up the Chantry to your face, at which point we can rebut him and spread doubt on his prediction. Or he explains how maybe there’s a chance something else happens, at which point he’s lost all… hmmm… all credibility.”

“You don’t want to try and talk to him sooner?  And alone?”

“Well of course I’d like to, but I can’t get to him.”

“Not even if we know exactly where he’s being held, when he's going to be unguarded, and how to get in and out unnoticed?”

“... Do we know those things?”

Leaning down to place sensuously slow kisses against the back of her neck, Anders hummed. “I don't know when your name day is, so I'm either early or late.”

“Is a… is a name day like a birthday? Our dates don't match up, so I don't know either." It was getting increasingly difficult to talk. “But do you trust Hawk's information?”

“Mmm.” His voice vibrated behind her ear. “That's complicated." The topic was getting more important and he sadly backed away so they could both focus. But he kept his hands gently warming her shoulders. “Hawk always has the same goal: ‘Keep family safe’. And he thought I wasn't safe. But now he's got doubts, and he's giving me a chance to prove myself.”

“And why should you need to prove yourself?” Elaine felt offended on his behalf. 

“I know this doesn't mean much where you're from, but I am an abomination, Elaine.” He rested his head against her shoulder as he curled up to sit on the floor behind her. “And I've lost control before.”

Anders shared with her the conversation she missed over Wicked Grace. 

“That’s a lot.” Elaine started shuffling her papers together. “Does Hawk even know how to pronounce the word ‘subterfuge’?”

Laughing, Anders’ voice was incredulous. “Please don't tell me you fell for the Big Dumb Warrior act?  Hawk is a straightforward guy, but he's always thinking a few steps ahead.”

Elaine turned to face him. “Maybe I did. Can you spell it out for me?”

He looked around for a way to get comfortable and ended up leaning against the wall and pulling her into a cuddle on his lap.

“Hawk doesn't like relying on predictions or visions of the future any more than we do. But he's seen them come true, and he doesn't think he can risk being involved if it's also true about me.

“But you were right. When I went ‘off script’ it gave room for doubt. So he barged into my clinic with Fenris to rile me up, and had Varric there to make a compromise when I would inevitably tell him to go to hell. Now he gets us at his home base with no one else around. We show up, and between Isabella, Merrill, and Varric, they leak enough information so we can investigate. Now he can claim he did his best when he reports back, and he's using us to get more details about Marcus. Win win.”

Anders had restarted the massage during this explanation, and Elaine was having a hard time feeling upset while she was being turned into putty. Which was probably his goal.

“So you're saying I got played?”

“Just a little." He kissed the back of her head. “I don't think he expected you to leave so early though, he probably wanted to get more out of you.”

“At least that's something. I'll have to be more careful, I hate underestimating people.”

“Try to avoid underestimating Hawk. But he's still human. He knows we’re up to something, but he’s not sure what, I’d bet my staff on it.”

She leaned back, pressing against him while they spooned together. “I’ve got a few ideas of what I can do with your staff."

Chapter Text

Hawk’s mother Leandra was a consummate hostess, and Elaine felt at home after only a few minutes of sitting down with her for tea. The woman was lovely, carrying her age with dignity and poise, but laughing and smiling with sincerity.

Elaine had secured an invitation by virtue of writing a letter informing Lady Leandra that Elaine was overjoyed to be assisting Hawk with an ongoing investigation in collaboration with the Viscount’s office, and she was hoping to get the expertise of someone more familiar with Kirkwall politics.

Once inside, Elaine had started the conversation professionally, but then guiltily admitted that she had an ulterior motive.

“I, ahm, I have recently started a relationship with an apostate." She held her breath slightly to make her face red, as if in either shame or embarrassment. “I know a little about your story… do you.. Would you have a few minutes to give me some advice?”

That led to a loving and heartfelt conversation about the challenges of being with someone in hiding, which led to a light luncheon extolling the virtues of the Chantry while sharing concerns about some of their politics, which led to afternoon tea while laughing at gossip. Which was when an unsuspecting Garrett Hawk opened the door and walked in.

Elaine had a small almond cookie in one hand, and was bent over in laughter with the other hand holding Leorah’s shoulder for support. 

“I swear to you, Lady Leandra, pants around his ankles!  And he looks up at me as though I’m the one intruding!”

“Oh heavens, what did he say?”

Elaine slightly deepened her voice to be a mockery of her ex-boyfriend Patrick. “He said ‘This isn’t what it looks like!’ and I said ‘I hope it is what it looks like, or else that woman in my bed should be calling the guard!’" She had actually said something closer to ‘get the fuck out of my house’  But that wasn’t as funny.

Elaine looked up. “Oh, good afternoon, Hawk!  It’s lovely to see you." 

He was standing in the doorway, which meant the door may as well have been closed for how little sunlight trickled through around him. There were stains on his plate mail boots, he was carrying a large sack, and had a completely blank expression of shock on his face. A deep voice behind him growled,

“Move you oaf, you’re in my way." 

Shuffling slightly to the side, Fenris stepped through and also froze to stare at Elaine.

“And Fenris!" Elaine put down her cookie and stood with a friendly smile. “We met briefly, but I’d hardly call that a formal introduction. I’m Elaine, as you know. I’m still working on the petitions to the Viscount’s office, but I’m hoping to get some responses soon.”

And then she stood there smiling at them, allowing a hint of lawyer shark joy to sharpen her expression while Leandra was sitting behind her. 

“Don’t mind us, boys." Leandra waved them forward, unaware of the tension creeping into Hawk’s shoulders. “Elaine and I stopped talking business ages ago. There are plenty of tea cakes in the kitchen though, if you’d like.”

“That’s… lovely." Hawk said finally. He carefully set his sack down inside the door and closed it. Fenris was mostly watching Hawk, probably to follow whatever his lead would be. “Elaine, do you have a moment?  I’d be interested to hear more about your progress.”

“Certainly!" She turned and gave Leandra a wink. “Don’t go anywhere, I still want to hear that story about the goose!  This will just take a minute.”

“Of course, dear!”

Hawk gestured a little stiffly towards a side room, and Elaine suppressed her nerves as she stepped into an enclosed space with him and Fenris. Squaring up with Hawk, she waited for him to speak first.

“What are you doing with my mother?" He asked flatly, his voice atonal like he wasn’t sure what emotion he was feeling. 

“Messere Hawk, your mother is a lovely and welcoming woman. But other than asking some questions about Kirkwall politics and having tea, I have nothing to do with her.”

He nodded, seemingly mollified. “Good. Now get out of my house.”

“Ooooh” Elaine modulated her tone like someone who had to inform their young child that there’s no ice cream left. “Not just yet, Messere Hawk. We’re in the middle of a fantastic conversation.”

“The man said you’re not welcome." Fenris backed up Hawk, but Elaine noted with interest that Fenris did not sound upset. She had expected a lot more anger from him in general. His voice was actually fairly soft, not unlike Anders’ non-threatening voice.

Narrowing her eyes at Hawk, Elaine called out to the other room “I must apologize, Lady Leandra!" She stepped around the men to come back to the tea table. “I did not realize that I would be imposing." A sad pout briefly crossed her face as she looked up towards Hawk, but she gamely suppressed it, trying to look like someone who was trying not to look sad. “I hope you don’t think too poorly of me, it was never my intention to waste your time.”

“I never said-!” Hawk’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as he watched his mother turn murderous eyes in his direction. 

“Garrett Hawk, we will discuss this later. But Elaine, please sit and stay, you are not imposing and it has been a true pleasure getting to know you." 

Elaine visibly waffled, flicking her eyes between Hawk and his mother. “I… I hate to intrude.”

“Nonsense." Hawk bit the word out through his teeth, probably seeing his life flash before his eyes at the rage in Leandra’s face. “I didn’t mean to imply… Please.” He glared. “Be welcome in our home.”

She allowed the sadness to slowly creep into acceptance and happiness. Shrugging slightly and slowly sitting back in her chair. “I’m very sorry for any misunderstandings. I know it can be… unnerving when business and personal lives overlap.”

Haha!  Now she was the one creating the gracious excuse for his miserable manners and he was still on the back foot of why he would make Leandra look bad by being rude to a guest. By the look on his face, he knew it too.

Elaine and Leandra continued their conversation. A little stilted, but quickly both of their social skills combined into an energetic back and forth.

At first Hawk hovered, as though worried Elaine would stab Leandra with a butter knife, but eventually he moved along and would only occasionally peek over a railing or around a corner to keep an eye on her.

In between relatively meaningless gossip, Elaine did make sure to comment on the bulletins that a dangerous man was leaving white lilies as a calling card. Several women had already been found dead, with only that flower left behind. 

Elaine knew that this was a posting on the bulletin board, because she had left it there herself. After confirming the flower with Anders from their first unsuccessful attempt to catch the killer, she was trying to leave anonymous tips wherever possible to make sure someone was keeping an eye out.

Knowing it was time to start saying goodbye so that she wasn’t actually imposing on Leandra, Elaine gave her a hug and thanked her profusely. “You don’t know what it means to me, to have someone like you to talk to. I was feeling so alone. Please know you can reach out to me if you need anything.”

“Of course, darling. I’d love to have you back next week if you have the time.”

“I wouldn’t miss it." Elaine and Leandra gave each other kisses on either cheek, and Elaine stepped out the door to make her way back home.

She made it about twenty steps before Hawk loomed around a corner.

“Mess with me all you like, Elaine, but my mother is off limits. She’s not involved in any of my work.”

Putting up her hands in surrender, Elaine shook her head. “I’m not trying to fuck your mom, Hawk. I’m trying to get information. Unless you’re volunteering, then I’ll go wherever I think I can get it.”

“What do you want to know?”

Elaine stared at him for a moment, not having expected him to make an offer. Her mind raced, trying to think of what she’d really like to be able to get from Hawk. He stood impassively, impossible to read. 

“How could you trust Marcus more than Anders?" She asked finally. “Marcus is an outlander you’ve known for five minutes, and Anders risked everything for you and Bethany.”

His face fell, and for a moment Hawk looked ten years older. “I wish it were about trust, Elaine." Holding both his hands palm up in front of him, he weighed them back and forth like a scale. When the left hand was higher he said “If Marcus is wrong, I’ve hurt someone dear to me.” and when the right hand was higher he continued, “If Marcus is right, I’m responsible for the death of innocents and will need to personally kill someone I consider family." 

He dropped both his hands, tucking them into his pockets. “I’d rather hurt him than take the risk. I’ve lost too many loved ones to bear it.”

Elaine nodded. “I think we’re going to be friends one day, Hawk." Smiling, she added, “Not today. But eventually.”

Chapter Text

Elaine and Anders, having recently left the service at the Chantry in their pious and respectable clothes, were enjoying a walk into the merchant district. Anders still had some anonymity while wearing nicer robes and allowing his hair to hang loose. Every now and then he would be recognized, but really people looked at the feather robe more than his face.

It wasn't a busy time of day, but more tranquil than usual were calmly working in store fronts to sell and buy goods. 

They stood at their stations, and they would look like mannequins except for when they occasionally shifted their weight.

“It’s like there’s a new one every day." Anders was livid, but hiding it well. He had a lot of practice hiding his anger. “I recognize some of these people. They passed their harrowing, they should never have been made tranquil.”

“No one should be made tranquil." Elaine countered. “It’s barbaric. Who should we start with?”

He made a slow 360 spin, surveying the area. “The herb stand is more isolated than the others, and I know her. Her name is Jenny, she specialized in ice magic.”

“Let’s go say hi.”

The two of them sauntered over to the herb stand, which currently had no customers. Jenny was a beautiful young woman, maybe in her early thirties. She gave a bland acknowledgement in their direction, and waited. Elaine suppressed a shudder, this was a woman completely cut off from her dreams and emotions.

Anders didn’t bother with pleasantries, because he knew they wouldn’t mean anything to her. “Your name is Jenny, right?”

“Yes.” She said softly, and without intonation.

“Why were you made tranquil?”

“I was not able to control my magic." 

“Did you attack someone, or did you hurt yourself with your magic?”

“No.”

“What were you not able to control?”

“I was at risk of possession and tranquility protects me from demons. Are you here to buy herbs?”

“Do you like being tranquil?" Elaine asked, while pretending to look at a mixture of elfroot and what she thought was embrium.

“I do not like or dislike being tranquil." Jenny responded blandly. “It is just how I am.”

Elaine turned so she was facing the market square, keeping an eye on the other people around. Seeing nobody close by or paying attention, she nudged Anders.

He closed his eyes, and a controlled electric hum buzzed faintly across Elaine's nerves. Looking to the side she saw Anders’s eyes glowing blue, but the rest of him looked normal from the outside. She saw first hand as Jenny’s eyes widened, stared out at the world around her, and her face transformed from bland disconnection to terror.

“Shhhh, shh shh shh…” Elaine hushed in as comforting a tone as possible. Anders wanted to avoid a scene, so Elaine was the one to talk first, since he couldn’t prevent the double-tone of Justice’s voice talking over his. “It’s very important that you don’t draw attention!  We’re working on a cure for tranquility. Please, Jenny, look at me. Look only at me." 

Elaine tamped down a growing panic as Jenny was quickly moving through stages of surprise, fear, anger, grief, and seemed to be about to settle on the age-old emotion “primal screaming." 

“Be at peace, child." Justice managed to keep his voice quiet, probably more worried about unjust stress on Jenny rather than avoiding attention. “We cannot take back the suffering you have experienced, but we will remove the affliction so unjustly placed upon you.”

“Jenny, this is important." Elaine spoke quickly, not sure if Justice was going to keep to the plan. “Do you want us to try and reconnect you to the fade?  We know it’s possible, but it may take a few tries before we succeed, and we won’t torment you with this if you tell us no.”

Tears had welled in Jenny’s eyes as she stared at Elaine, unfiltered emotion warring with her desperate attempts at self control.

“Please, help me!  Don’t let me go back to that!" 

Immediately Justice/Anders stepped forward, laying his hands on either side of Jenny’s face. He gently rested his forehead against hers.

Justice could not reconnect Jenny to the fade because he was not fully in the fade. But Anders was a spirit healer. He called upon a spirit to help, inviting it through the veil to envelope Jenny's mind. In the end the cure for tranquility was painfully, heartbreakingly simple. And he had had it all this time.

Several streets later, Elaine and Anders ushered Jenny into an underground tunnel they could access from Lowtown. They managed to get her to a safer area before her meltdown started. 

It was a long several hours of cradling the woman while she processed her emotions. Anders came and went to keep the tunnel safe, but returned to sit with the women when it looked like Jenny was ready to talk.

The conversation started and stopped - constantly needing to take breaks for water and emotional breakdowns. But it was hard not to sympathize, Elaine couldn’t imagine how she’d feel coming back from being lobotomized.

As they had suspected, Jenny was made tranquil because she was questioning the templars' methods. More and more dissenters were being removed, causing fear and quieting any others who didn’t want to risk a fate arguably worse than death.

Jenny flipped through various states of rage and heart wrenching sorrow. But as gently as possible, Elaine got a list of names of the templars who targeted her. Once they had as much information as possible, Anders escorted her through the tunnels to a spot utilized by the mage underground. His contacts would assist getting her somewhere safer, if not safe.

Their one request, if she was willing, was that she tell whoever she could that tranquility could be cured. 

Two days later, they did it again. And again.

Chapter Text

The space was small, so it only took him two long strides to reach one wall before he turned towards the other one. “This is important work, but we need to do something at the source. As long as templars are abusing the mages without consequences, we'll just find new tranquil victims waiting for us.”

Anders went through periods of intense anger, when the ongoing work of the mage underground and his helping the tranquil were only reminders of how many atrocities were being committed. Elaine’s role during these times was to maintain her own calm and let him work through it.

Unfortunately she was also feeling ramped up and jittery from their latest tranquil rescue, which had been a painfully young girl abused in the worst ways. 

Meredith and the Circle had noticed that some tranquil were missing, but so far hadn't seemed to do much about it. There was a slightly larger templar presence in the square, but nothing they couldn't easily evade. That was only more infuriating, that they cared so little for the people they lobotomized. 

Elaine was feeling ready to blow up the Chantry herself. Grand Cleric Elthina was in a position of power to care and respond to so much human suffering and all she gave were meaningless platitudes. She claimed not to take sides, which meant she either didn't understand or didn't care that inaction during an abuse of authority was taking the side of the abuser.

It was in this mindset of anger that she blurted out, interrupting Anders, 

“Did you know that if templars stop taking lyrium they suffer terrible withdrawal symptoms which can make them go mad or kill them?”

He fell silent, cautiously sensing her mood wasn't the usual venting space he was used to. “I… did know that, yes. When a templar is cast out from the circle they often end up on the street.”

“It's a leash the Chantry keeps on the templars. They can't leave the order or step too far out of line because of it." She saw Anders about to say something and she cut him off preemptively. “I'm not saying this to give them sympathy. I mean that the lyrium gives the Chantry power." As if from a distance she heard her voice go harsh and loud. “And templars can't abuse their mages if they're mindless shells drooling on the floor.”

She couldn't read his expression. Usually he was very enthusiastic about these kinds of discussions. He smiled at her a little weakly.

Elaine looked around her home, where Anders had been pacing small circles and she had, as usual, been writing and organizing notes. It was too small an apartment to allow anything to get cluttered, and they worked well together to keep it clean. He hadn't moved in, but was spending more evenings with her than without.

“What's wrong?” She asked, finally. He was silent for a minute.

“You don't sound like yourself." He came closer and sat close by, but didn’t touch her or rub her shoulders the way he usually did. “I'm the violent one. You're usually the one using people's authority against them.”

“My way can only go so far." Elaine took a moment to breathe and reset her tone. “But yes, I'm feeling more violent than usual. It just… I mean, of all people you understand!”

“I do understand.” He said softly. “But it made me think… you said that in your story of our world I corrupt Justice into Vengeance. I worry I'm doing that to you.”

The words didn't make sense to her at first. She scoffed. “I'm not a spirit, Anders. I can't be corrupted.”

“I'm not so sure it's that simple. People can be corrupted. Good people join the templars and turn into monsters every day.”

She sighed, leaning back into her chair. “I don't know. I mean, yes you're right about corruption, but I don't know about myself. The rules here are different than I grew up with, but some things are universal. People in power won't willingly relinquish their power. Someone or something has to make them." 

Finally, he reached out to hold her hand. “The lyrium shipments to the Circle are well protected. That's a lot more dangerous than anything we've discussed so far.”

Her eyes lit up briefly and her fingers quickly flipped through her folders looking for the right one. Pulling it out triumphantly, she brandished the pages between them. 

“A while back I was looking into a lyrium smuggler operating out of Darktown. I didn't get very far with it, but I started with what I could find using official channels." She laid out a simplified, hand drawn map of Kirkwall. “The Chantry has four major routes for deliveries from Orzammar. And you're right, they are well defended, but they're defending against theft .”

Anders was listening, nodding along with her as he delicately looked through her papers. 

“Lyrium is so valuable that they have armed guards and security intended to fight off anyone trying to get close, but they don't expect anyone to just attack the shipment. There are plenty of places where a well placed glyph or a fire bomb would destroy everything. If that happens a few times, the Circle will be so busy trying to manage their templars that they won't be able to crack down on the mages.”

Anders nodded, acknowledging that he heard her.

“It’s a good idea. But, darling, you’re going in every direction. You’re still working your usual contracts, we've been going out to heal the tranquil, you've been petitioning the Viscount for a meeting with Marcus, and you've even taken the time to annoy Hawk, which is a worthy and honorable mission." He gestured at the many folders and piles of notes, copies of letters, receipts, and records slowly taking over her home. “You're stretched too thin. We haven't even snuck into the Viscount’s Keep to terrorize Marcus yet, and I know you wanted to do that.”

Feeling chastised like she was back home trying to balance school work and office work, Elaine’s first instinct was to argue. She wanted to explain how she could find time to do everything. 

But she also knew when she was on the losing side of an argument.

She sat quietly, digging herself deeper into the hole trying to think of options. Until Anders finally came closer to put his hands on her shoulders in a comfortingly familiar gesture that she wasn’t in the mood for.

“I’m not the only member of the mage underground. I’ll make copies of your notes, send them to some people I trust. They’ll be able to look into it." It was a physical weight off her chest and suddenly breathing felt easier, but she still rankled at her idea going to someone else to implement. 

“I guess my notes are the most valuable part of me!" She lashed out, knowing it was unfair. “I don’t need to leave the apartment, I could just stay here and give you visions, like Marcus!”

Anders was shocked into silence, his hands coming off her shoulders for a moment before gently coming back down. She stood and turned, shrugging his hands away as she felt her frustration and anger turn to the only other available target. But before she could say anything she’d regret, Anders put a gentle hand against her temple and she felt a burst of healing magic suffusing her with warmth.

“You’re so much more valuable than the notes you write." He said softly. “You think I don’t understand?  You think I haven’t felt what you’re feeling?" Another pulse of magic eased tension she hadn’t been aware of tightening her expression. “Don’t turn my story into your own." He said it carefully, as if picking the words from a minefield. “You kept me from spiraling out of control, let me help you the same way.”

“I want them to suffer." She whispered. “I want to see those templars pay for what they’ve done.”

“Me too, but that isn’t justice." He pulled her close and wrapped his arm around her. “And we can keep reminding each other when the other goes too far down the path of vengeance.”

Chapter Text

It wasn’t going to be easy, but Anders assured Elaine that a lot of the skills he had developed escaping from Circles could be used to break into places as well. One particular guard had a habit of showing up late, so they tracked his shifts and planned on a day that he would be working.

“We’re going to want at least two ways out." Anders was pointing to the third story window from a shaded spot across the street. “There’s a ladder on the other side we can use to get on and off the roof. I’ll connect a rope so we can climb down and back up from there, but if we need to get out in a hurry we’ll have another line that I’ll connect over there. " There was a small ledge outside the window, not enough to comfortably walk on. He was indicating an anchor point at least three meters down the ledge from Marcus’ window.

“How do I get to it?" Elaine was confident that Anders could climb brick walls with his fingertips, but she would be a stain on the pavement in less time than it would take to scream ‘Aaaaaafuck!’

“Hold on to me." He smiled at her incredulous expression. “Trust me, just hold on tight.”

“You know, if we just wait another two months I’ll have our official meeting scheduled…. to occur another month after that." She groaned. “Yes, okay, I really do want to do this.”

“It’ll be fun!" Anders’ smile was a little mean. “I’ve been wanting to say a few words to Marcus’s face for a long time.”

Anders was the one to crack open the window, and he helped Elaine slide in. He was going to stay outside for the first several minutes in case of immediate retreat.

The room was comfortably appointed, but it was a comfortably appointed prison cell. There was a small bed in the corner, a chamber pot (covered, thankfully), a desk, and a small stack of books. The carpet looked worn out. A man was sitting on his bed, staring at her in surprise like she was some kind of unexpected stranger crawling in through his window. He was in his mid to late thirties, maybe, Caucasian with brown hair. Attractive in an average way, but without any features that stood out. 

“Good afternoon, Marcus, hope you don’t mind if I pop in!”

“Who are-  Oh!" Suddenly his face lit up. “You must be Elaine!  The one seen with Anders!”

“The one and only!" She held out her hand and he shook it. His hands were even softer than hers, and she only had callouses from holding pens. “I’ve only got a few minutes. Are you being treated well?  Are you healthy?”

He seemed surprised at the questions. He looked around at his little room. “Yeah, I’m good. It’s not much,” he admitted, “but it’s safe. I almost died a hundred times in the first week." He grinned at her. “Where are you from?  Are there any other outlanders out there?”

“No time for that, Marcus-”

“It’s Mark, actually.”

“Mark?”

“Yeah." He looked a little embarrassed and shrugged. “I thought Marcus sounded more… Thedas, you know?” 

There were very few things about which Elaine cared less.

“Sure." She agreed. “I only have a few minutes, I can’t let anyone see me here. What’s your game plan, Mark?  Are you trying to prevent Corypheus from being released?  Have you warned anyone about red lyrium yet?”

He backed up, shaking his head vigorously. “Woah, hold on!  There are some things that need to happen, or the whole timeline is ruined!”

Holding up his fingers to tick off items as he lists them, “Meredith needs to get the idol so the templars eventually turn against her, and Anders will blow the Chantry whether or not he has Hawk’s help, so the Mage-Templar war will happen. The Corypheus prison thing hasn’t happened yet, but I don’t know how Solas will try to unlock the orb otherwise, so we need Hawk to let him out for the events of Inquisition to start.”

“Have you warned Hawk about his mom?”

Mark had the good sense to look upset about it, but he shook his head. “That’s a major event. We need Hawk to be the Champion of Kirkwall, and that might not happen if she doesn’t die before he kills the Arishok.”

“What are you trying to change?" Elaine was getting increasingly frustrated and confused. “This is just the normal timeline!”

He clearly didn’t like being questioned like this. ”The biggest threat is during Inquisition, and I can’t help with that if everything changes. Hey, wait a sec, did you play Veilguard?" 

He sounded excited again, looking around for a notepad on his desk. “You need to tell me some stuff, I know it was supposed to have more of the backstory.”

“You didn’t play it?”

He grimaced. “Everyone said it was crap!  Bioware made it look like fucking Fortnite and it was super cheesy and woke." He looked at her eagerly. “But you played it?  You can tell me what happened!”

“Have you actually left this room, Mark?  Can you leave this room?”

“I’ve gone out… with a guard. But it sucks out there. I don’t know how you’re still alive, honestly. I was attacked, like, ten times in one day.”

“So what are you doing in here?”

“Giving predictions." He was starting to get frustrated that she wasn’t answering any of his questions. “I tell Hawk where to go so things move faster, I help move things along.”

She didn’t hide the scorn in her voice. “Do they feed you on time and change your litterbox for you too?”

“Hey, what the fuck?" His face darkened. “I’m doing what I can in here!  And I’ll be able to do a lot more once the Inquisition starts!  But the second game needs to happen for that to work.”

“This isn’t a game , Mark!" You’re going to let Leandra get turned into a meat puppet because it’s a plot event?

He glared at her. “What exactly are you doing, anyway?  You probably just wanted to see Anders because he’s dreamy and angsty and ohmygod !”

Naturally that’s when Anders decided to slip inside the window.

“Hello Mark!" He said with a dark voice despite a wide grin. “I’ve gotten such an education this morning.”

“What the fuck?" He turned on Elaine. “You bitch, you brought him here?  You’re going to ruin everything!”

“You’re damned right I’m going to ruin everything." She hissed, “I’m going to ruin you Mark. You’re protecting the timeline or something. I get that, I didn’t do shit to help people when I got here. But you’ve actually set yourself up as a goddamn oracle and claimed you’ll save lives. You’ve taken responsibility . How can you let hundreds if not thousands of people die just so you can keep track of the story?”

“Because it needs to happen!" He whisper-shouted back. “I can’t let you ruin this." 

He took a deep breath as if to shout for help, and Elaine did the first thing she could think of, which was to sucker punch him in the stomach. She tried not to enjoy it.

 “You crazy bitch!" He wheezed, but at least he was smart enough to learn that calling for help was a bad idea. 

“You haven’t even begun to see crazy, Mark. Your predictions are going to be just as useless as you are, and no one is going to believe you. Anders, heal him so there aren’t any bruises." 

Anders had an expression that either meant he was worried about her mental state, or he was intensely turned on. It could easily have been both. He did as she asked though, healing the effect of her sucker punch to remove any proof of their visit.

“You know, I really thought I’d be the scary one when we planned this." Anders was commenting to Mark more than Elaine. “Dreamy and angsty, hm?  Is that how I’m described in your story?”

“You’re a loser who whines about being a mage and cries into his mommy’s pillow!" Mark sneered. “And in the end Hawk puts you down like a rabid dog.”

“We’ll be seeing you soon, Mark." Anders grinned. “Or maybe not. There’s a room right under this one that’s just perfect for a bomb.”

Mark’s face froze, clearly not as confident as Elaine was that he was joking.

Feeling like it ruined a dramatic exit, but not willing to splat against the cobblestones thirty feet below, Elaine jumped onto Anders' back like a spider monkey. He effortlessly pulled the both of them outside, closed the window, then hauled her up to the roof. It was a matter of moments for him to release his anchor points so there was no evidence of their entry.

“That was fun." Anders had what Elaine thought of as his ‘murder face’ on. He was pissed , but holding himself together. “I’m glad I met you, or I’d have a very low opinion of outlanders.”

“That’s not fair." Elaine hurried to keep up with Anders’ longer legs as they traversed the roof to an exit point and scrambled down an escape ladder, finally hitting street level where they could casually walk away unnoticed. “You wouldn’t judge everyone in Kirkwall based on… Gamlen, would you?”

“Point." Anders conceded. “I only followed some of what he said. Did you get what you needed?”

“Yes." Elaine confirmed, grimly. “I have to see Leandra again.”

Chapter Text

Oddly enough, having shown up to threaten Mark made him ask the Viscount to agree to the meeting Elaine had been petitioning. She wasn’t sure if maybe he thought he’d be able to accuse them in the meeting, or if he was just scared shitless that Anders was going to blow him up.

She arranged for herself, Anders, Hawk, and Varric to be present, and the Viscount had several representatives on his side that he scheduled to attend. Mark would be present under guard.

It still took weeks to schedule. During that time, Elaine regularly met with Leandra for tea. And while Elaine couldn’t be sure, she thought that she headed off the killer between convincing Leandra to keep the family dog at her side whenever she went anywhere and putting pressure on the guard to find the serial killer. 

There were rumors starting to spread wider about a cure for tranquility. More and more mages were hearing about people who had been made tranquil showing up later with their full connection to the fade. The Chantry was doing its best to tamp down the rumors. Elaine hadn’t seen any action against lyrium deliveries, and she was struggling to remain patient like Anders was advising.

On the morning of their meeting at the Viscount’s Keep, Anders and Elaine met with Hawk and Varric where Lowtown exited into Hightown. Elaine and Anders were wearing their ‘Chantry outfits’ to look as clean cut as possible. Hawk was in his ever-present armor, but it was shinier than she was used to seeing it. Varric wolf whistled as the four converged.

“Blondie!" Varric opened his arms as if for a hug, but didn’t come closer. “You can clean up!  But it’s not the same without the feathers.”

Anders looked mildly embarrassed to be seen by his friends wearing nice clothes.

Hawk gave a polite smile to them both. “I’m impressed you got the meeting arranged so quickly." He started walking, leading the group forward by instinct. 

“How’s your mother doing?" Elaine asked politely, because she knew it annoyed him.

“She’s well." He glanced down towards her as they walked and said with an almost grateful tone,  “She’s safe." Whoops, maybe he wasn’t actually that annoyed?  Damn, how much had he figured out?

“When will I need to figure out a nickname for Elaine?" Varric mused, “I’m thinking… Charger!  Or maybe, Dancer?  Because she takes the lead?  Hmm.. no, I’ll keep working on it.”

“I don’t need a nickname, Master Tethras. I won’t be running around with your team getting into trouble.”

“Don’t be so sure!" Varric countered, cheerfully. “You’ve gotten us into some pretty interesting trouble already.”

“Bite your tongue, Master Tethras!" She responded just as cheerfully, matching his energy. “I get people out of trouble.”

Anders coughed, for some reason unable to hold a straight face at that one. She glared playfully at him and he laughed, holding his hands up. “Don’t look at me like that!" He kept laughing, “You get people out of trouble the same way I treat a bone that healed crooked.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Sweetheart… darling… you create newer, bigger troubles to beat up the trouble we already have. You adopt troubles like a pack of dogs so you can train them and sic them against other troubles.”

Elaine grumbled good-naturedly as the others joined Anders in laughter. “I thought you were a cat person." He only laughed harder.

The group of them mounted the steps up the Viscount’s keep. They were greeted by Seneschal Bran, who looked monumentally annoyed to be there.

“Please follow me." He bowed slightly, guiding the group to a room at the far back of the Keep. It was a large conference room with a heavy wooden table that spanned from one wall to the next. Servants standing along the walls ready to serve wine and platters of food laid out along the table gave the appearance of a much more cordial gathering than Elaine was anticipating.

The Viscount wasn’t there yet, but Mark was. He sat glumly at the back of the table with a guard on either side of him. He had a glass of wine in front of him and he glared at Elaine as she walked in.

Elaine had her folders of paperwork held in one arm like it was a weapon. For her, it was. She had quotes and timelines of predictions, events described by witnesses to rebut potential arguments from Mark, she even had a signed character witness statement from Leandra saying that Elaine was a woman of impeccable character. 

Setting her papers down, Elaine smiled viciously at Mark.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Marcus. I’m so glad you were able to make the time in your busy schedule.”

He glared harder, turning away from her without responding. She took a moment to survey everyone else in the room. 

There were several other people already situated around the table. She recognized a few of them as low level bureaucrats who she had pestered to try and get this meeting. They probably weren’t here for any reason other than set dressing so the Viscount didn’t feel outnumbered.

As her eyes scanned the room, she did a small double take at a tall elven servant. There wasn’t anything that stood out about him but there was something…

She froze in shock.

Somehow, inexplicably disguised as a servant of the Keep, Solas aka the Dread Wolf aka Fen’Harel the Elvhen trickster and god of rebellion was standing at the back of the room holding a pitcher of wine. He had a short head of hair for some reason, but it was unmistakably him.

It was so out of place and unexpected that she stood there like a deer in the headlights, unable to think. He returned her look. The smart thing would have been to smile and move on, maybe ask for wine, pretend everything was going as planned. But a mixture of panic and shock froze her in place staring.  She saw the moment his eyes focused on her and his expression went from curated boredom to real interest. 

Shit shit shit, she thought, still staring at him. He knows I know. I know he knows I know. He’s here for outlander knowledge, he must be. And I just gave him an outlander buffet. She tore her eyes away from him, staring into the middle distance as she desperately tried to think. Fingers feeling numb and distant, she dropped her folders, the papers scattering across the floor. Mark hasn’t played Veilguard, which makes me more valuable, and it won’t take long to figure that out. I can’t let myself get caught. 

Without a plan, without another thought, and without a word, Elaine turned and ran.

Chapter Text

Anders watched, confused, as Elaine dropped her paperwork and dashed out of the room. Everyone else was staring after her as well for a long, silent moment.

Varric cleared his throat. “Uh, maybe she just really needed a chamber pot?" Anders barely paid him any attention. A little known side benefit to dating a healer was rarely having gastrointestinal distress.

Looking around the room to see if anyone knew what was going on, no one knew if they should go after her. What if she came back as quickly as she’d left?

What was she doing before she ran?  She had stared at a servant…

Anders looked at the servants. They were all elves, which was unfortunately normal, and they all looked as confused as everyone else in the room. There had been another one though, right?  Anders hadn’t counted them as he walked in, but maybe the one she had stared at was missing?

He felt a deep pit of anxiety forming. Obviously something had happened, but he didn’t know what.

“Marcus,” Anders asked, finally, “do you know what that was?”

Mark was sitting up in his chair, suddenly alert after her unexpected escape. His brow was furrowed, and he also looked around the room, confused. 

Varric had bent down to gather up the spilled pages. He laid them out on the table, flipping briefly through them. “This all looks normal." He said. He turned slightly to keep an eye on Anders. “She was here to argue that you’re not a threat to the Chantry, right?  That’s what all this says. Was there anything… else planned?”

Anders wasn’t sure what the dwarf was implying. The familiar frustration of being suspected of unknown nefarious actions burned, but he was more worried about Elaine at the moment.

“Our plan,” Anders bit out, “was to prove that I’m not a pawn in whatever prediction Marcus gives. And for Elaine to demand proof that she’s an outlander if Marcus was going to accuse it of her.”

“She is an outlander, and you know it!" Mark stood out of his chair, pointing angrily at Anders. 

At least they had had a plan for this, even if it was supposed to be Elaine here saying it. Anders shrugged and said, “You’ve got all the answers, right?  Can you give us anything more than ‘because I said so’?" 

“That’s not important right now." Hawk interrupted. “If she’s not an outlander, she’s in some kind of trouble. If she is an outlander, she’s in some kind of trouble and she knows something we don’t. Marcus," He furrowed his brow at the man. “We’re going to need something less vague to work with. What exactly did Anders do in your prediction?”

Mark stammered for a moment, not wanting to pin himself down, but ultimately folded. “He tricked you into getting ingredients for a bomb… a really big one… and got you to distract Grand Cleric Elthina while he planted it in the Chantry. The explosion kills everyone, all those innocent people-" 

Hawk glared at Mark and cut off his tirade. “And you don’t think those details would have helped me prevent it?”

“It sounds like ‘preventing it’ wasn’t part of the prediction, Hawk." Varric drolled.

The anxiety in Anders’ stomach grew. “I’m going after her." He said, finally. “You can tell me what I'm guilty of later, it’ll be a fun surprise.”

If they said anything else as he was leaving, he didn’t hear it.

She wasn’t in the Keep. Anders prowled the streets of Hightown first, but quickly moved to Lowtown. He had started by trying to ask people near the Keep if they saw a young woman running, but after the third terrified and stammered denial he gave up that idea. Even if someone had seen which way she went, they probably thought she was running away from him.

He could go straight to her apartment, but he had an instinct she wouldn’t be there. She was running from something, and she wouldn’t want to lead it straight to her home.

But after checking the market where they had multiple escape routes to guide tranquility victims, the tunnels, and the docks where she knew about access points to the mage underground paths, he came up empty.

Finally, hours later and as the sun was starting to set, Anders went to her home.

Pushing the door open, it was untouched and looked exactly as they had left it. He checked her normal files and papers to see if anything was missing. Looked around in case she had left a note, but he found nothing.

Growing increasingly desperate, he stood at her table nervously tapping his fingers against the rough surface, and finally looked towards the floorboards under her bed. He knew there were secrets and future information in there, but at his own request had remained ignorant. He didn’t want to know all of his friends’ secrets, and he was scared of what he might end up doing if he knew about the future.

But he was out of ideas.

He shifted her bed the way he’d seen her do before, and pried up the floorboard. There was a thick sheaf of papers in there, some of them torn and quickly scribbled on. She had mentioned that her memories of the ‘story’ were distant and imperfect, and he knew that she had used these notes to try and jog her own memory as things in Thedas reminded her of something.

He had just finished gathering the pages out of their hiding place when a creak of hinges made him look up to see a tall elf gently pushing the door open.

He was nondescript, wearing plain clothes but with an odd necklace made of an animal jawbone. He had very short, reddish brown hair and carried himself with confidence even as he broke into Elaine’s apartment. Anders was kneeling at the floor next to her bed, quietly assessing him, but didn’t stay hidden long. The elf glanced around the room and settled his eyes on Anders.

“You’re what Elaine ran from." Anders said, finally. “Who are you?”

“Do you not already know?" His voice was smooth, almost silken as he walked in uninvited. 

Anders felt Justice suddenly go on alert. A chill like ice water trickled down his spine from a shared instinct that this was someone very dangerous. Justice never spoke to him more than impressions and insights, but a distinct thought passed his mind. Be cautious, my friend.

Not saying anything, he studied the elf for anything out of the ordinary. Any clue that might tell him what was so dangerous. He saw nothing that would have made this man stand out as unusual, which made the danger sense even more unsettling. Ignoring the assessment, the elf stepped closer and focused on the papers in Anders’ hands.

Fire!

Almost without thought, Anders enveloped his hands in flame. The elf lunged forward to stop him, but it took the space of an instant for Anders to reduce all of Elaine’s notes to ash. 

Glaring at the cloud of ash and soot now staining Anders’ robes and the floor around him, the elf’s voice betrayed no emotion when he said in that same smooth tone as before. 

“I wish you had not done that.”

Chapter Text

Standing up out of his pile of ash, Anders brushed his sooty hands onto the now ruined Chantry clothes Elaine had bought him. He hated them, anyway.

“Whoops!" He said with false cheer, defaulting to being a smart ass through sheer virtue of having no idea what was going on. “You know us mages, always losing control. What did you say your name was?  You must be good friends with Elaine if you come barging into her house like this.”

“You may call me Solas." The elf said, but he spoke as though the conversation was entirely unimportant to him. Frustrated and looking around, Solas finally came up with whatever decision he was making and gave Anders a mild glare. “I think Elaine would be a good friend to have.”

Danger!  Danger!  Anders’ instincts screamed at him, but he had no idea what to do with them. The elf was just peacefully standing there. Trespassing, yes, but making no hostile moves.

“It’s hard to make friends when they keep running away." Anders nodded sagely, trying to hide his nervous energy. “I’ve found that not stalking them or being creepy helps.”

“You are important to her." Solas said it calmly, now giving Anders a very different assessment. The intention was obvious, even if the reasons weren’t.

If I can’t fight him off…. well, I’d rather not set myself on fire. The elf hadn’t moved, but the situation made Anders step back and get into a defensive stance. “I’m not going anywhere with you. You haven’t even bought me dinner yet.”

The anxiety and confusion of the day were catching up to him, and Justice had been close to the surface ever since Solas started talking. Feeling a slip of control, Anders knew his skin was starting to crackle blue. He didn’t fight it, hoping that the added power from the spirit would help.

But instead of any of the normal reactions people gave when Justice made himself known, Solas suddenly looked at him as though he hadn’t noticed him before. Like a new person had walked into the room and the elf was actually interested in talking to them.

“Oh, hello." Solas smiled, and Anders felt the world go black.

Justice stood in Elaine’s apartment, not feeling his friend Anders’ presence in the mind at all.

“What have you done?" He asked the fade creature, shocked at suddenly being in full control of the body. The creature, which had the form of an elf but was connected more fully to the fade than anything Justice had seen before, was still smiling.

“He is safe, merely sleeping." The creature assured him. “What is he to you?”

“A close friend and a noble warrior." Justice responded immediately. “He saved me when I was lost and trapped outside the fade, and he advances the cause of Justice for those most in need.”

“Amazing." The creature seemed friendly, benign magic gently inspecting Justice and his connection to Anders. “How long have you been together?”

“We have been companions for many years on this side of the veil.”

“And your purpose hasn’t been corrupted?" 

“Not… to my knowledge, no.”

“And what of the woman, Elaine?" The creature asked. “What is your opinion of her?”

“She is a different kind of warrior, fighting for the rights of people who have none." Justice particularly liked Elaine’s style of Justice, and the love Anders felt for her suffused his own thoughts. “I will allow no harm to come to her, person of the fade.”

“I mean her no harm." The creature assured him. “But she may have knowledge that will help me prevent much suffering. Would you help me talk to her?”

“I…” Justice wasn’t sure what to do and his energy crackled with uncertainty. He wished that he had Anders’ insight into the complexities of thoughts outside the fade. The creature seemed wholly sincere. 

“If it will help,” the creature continued, sensing Justice’s concern, “you should know that my own cause is to correct the harm from many centuries of injustice perpetrated against this world." Justice perked up, interested. The creature elaborated, “I would like to speak more of this, the opinion of a Justice spirit is rare and valuable. Would you please be a guest of mine?  I am staying in a place closer to the fade, where I believe you will feel a stronger connection through the veil.”

Justice was eager to learn more, and he felt nothing but honest concern from the creature. He usually only had control of the body when fully enraged, and hadn’t felt this level of control since before he had merged with Anders. And at that time he had been controlling a corpse with very stiff joints. 

Surely this was a useful purpose. He would learn more of the injustice the fade creature spoke of, and together they would find Elaine and keep her safe. Anders’ would appreciate that above all else.

“Do you guarantee the safety of this man, Anders, and the woman Elaine?”

“Should they not attack me, neither of them are in any danger from me." There was no deception that Justice could detect. “And if they are within my power, I will keep them safe.”

“Then I will join you." Justice said, finally.

The creature’s smile widened.

Elaine splashed her way through a Lowtown sewer. Her nice Chantry clothes were ruined, but she hated them anyway.

Will he be able to find me in my sleep?  What is he even doing in Kirkwall?  Was he supposed to be awake at this point?

She had no answers, only questions. She ached to think about Anders and how worried he must be. She had no idea what happened in the room behind her. Mark would surely have recognized Solas if he was paying any attention. And it was fair to assume that her secret was out at this point.

Panting and out of breath, she finally paused when she hit another junction. She had been moving nonstop for hours, and was probably somewhere under Darktown at this point.  I have no plan other than getting lost. I have no idea what I’m doing. This was an odd, floating sensation. Her boat had no oars, and she didn’t like it.

Okay, Elaine, think this through. If he heard there was an outlander with future knowledge, that meeting was probably his best shot at learning more without blowing his cover. But then I show up and panic all over the place, staring at him like a gibbering idiot before I run away. 

So now he knows that Mark and I are both outlanders. If he’s trying to get information he’ll start with Mark; that guy is a fish in a barrel. And sure, he’ll drop a bunch of information about the events of Inquisition, but the first thing out of that asshole’s mouth will be telling Solas that I’m a juicier fish.

What will Hawk do next?  What will Anders do next?  I’m sure they’re looking for me, but until I have some idea of what I’m doing, just being near me is dangerous.

Who would be able to help?  I need someone who can defend against motherfucking Fen’Harel, or at least someone who can talk to him so he’ll listen.

That gave her an idea, but she had no idea how she could accomplish it.

Fuck. I need to get to Orlais.

Chapter Text

Elaine had been awake and moving for more than 24 hours. She caught caravans or wagons when she could, begging a ride if they had room for an extra passenger. When they veered off course or she wore out her welcome, she walked. She wanted to travel quickly, but what little money she had would be for food along the way. 

The need to sleep was a constant presence. If she hadn’t been pushing herself, she could have stayed awake longer, but she wanted as much distance between herself and Kirkwall as she could get.

I’m at my limit. She thought dimly. I can’t put it off any longer.

Stumbling off the path into what looked like a marginally comfortable grass clearing, Elaine curled herself under a shady tree. A bed of nails would have felt comfortable at this point. She was asleep in moments.

She opened her eyes in the fade, immediately knowing she was asleep. She stood on a rocky outcropping, plateaus of land floating slowly past. It was beautiful, with green trees growing off of tiny clumps of floating earth, grass and moss cushioning the ground under her feet, and light emanating diffusely without an obvious source. There was only greenery around her, no buildings or structures to be seen.

Turning and craning her head around, she marveled at the floating land masses, then she carefully leaned over the edge of her own landmass to see that nothing supported it either. She was on all fours looking over the edge when she heard Solas’ voice behind her.

“I wouldn’t recommend jumping.”

“Motherfuck!" She nearly fell off in surprise. Spinning and sitting on her ass to prevent herself from going over the edge, she stared up at Solas. He definitely hadn’t been there a moment ago.

“You have nothing to fear from me." He was standing placidly several paces away. “I have given my word that as long as you do not attack me, you are in no danger from me.”

She stood up, instinctively brushing non-existent dirt from her hands. She thought that through. “Did you give your word that I’m in no danger from people working for you?”

“No. I did not.” His smile probably wouldn’t have looked sinister if she didn’t already think he was sinister. 

“Then that’s a shitty deal. Who did you give your word to?" 

“There is a spirit of Justice currently residing in your paramour." Her eyes widened in fear, suddenly worried for Anders. “He thinks of you very highly.”

“What have you done with Anders?”

“We both want to know things." Solas clasped his hands behind his back. When Anders did it, he wanted to look less threatening. Somehow on Solas it looked more intimidating.

He began to walk around her. It forced her to walk the edge of the land mass to keep him at a reasonable distance. Already making me retreat, putting me on the defensive. But she couldn’t bring herself to stand her ground and let him approach. He continued, “Your lover is safe for now. But of course he has nothing I need.”

For the time being, Elaine kept quiet. She knew that she was off her game, scared, under-resourced, and defensive. Anything she said would be more likely to help him than herself.

“How much do you know about my future?”

Fuck, okay think like a lawyer. Answer the question and only the question.

“I don’t know the future.”

“I would advise against lying to me." His voice went sharp, the first indicator that he had fangs under his peaceful exterior.

“It’s not a lie.” She said it with desperate sincerity, because as far as she was concerned it was the truth. “I had no idea you would be in that room, so I clearly can’t predict you. I know a story about a potential future, but everything has changed and I don’t know what happens next.”

“Ahh,” he smiled. “That is different from Marcus’ assessment.”

“Marcus is a fucking asshole.”

“Yes.” That seemed to be the end of that conversation thread. “I would like to know more about this potential future.”

“And I would like to not be kept like a caged animal and fed the promise of treats." She countered. “I won’t be a pet seer for you, or anyone.”

“And your lover, what becomes of him?”

“Like I said, I can’t see the future." She glared at him. “But if I could, I’d say that he lives his life however he chooses with full autonomy and without the influence of explicit or implied intimidation.”

“I do not want to be your enemy." He stopped moving, allowing her to stop retreating. “Any information you provide under duress would not be trustworthy. But I am not above using the tools I have to get your cooperation." 

He made a small hand gesture, pulling on the material of the fade to conjure a doorway. Through the door she could see Anders, except it was clearly Justice in control. His shining blue eyes and electric presence projected flickering light all around him while he sat in… what looked like a library. He held a book and was avidly reading, not seeing them on the other side of the portal.

“They are both well." Solas assured her. “I have taken them to the Crossroads, where Justice is stronger closer to the fade. Anders is entirely unaware of his surroundings, having pleasant dreams while he sleeps within his own mind.”

Elaine was unable to tear her eyes away from the vision of Justice. “Has he eaten?" She asked, finally looking back at Solas. “Justice is a spirit, he doesn’t always remember that the body needs food.”

“I am ensuring their wellbeing." She scowled at him bitterly. He knew that didn’t answer her question. “I welcome you to join us at the Crossroads." She scowled harder. “Speaking to you while you sleep like this is limited. Your body is exposed to the elements, and while you are in my power, I will keep you safe." His eyes glinted. “In this moment, Elaine, you are in my power.”

“You will keep me. Safe." She repeated flatly, emphasizing the pause before the last word. 

His smile looked briefly wolfish. “There is an eluvian in the Alienage of Kirkwall. It was broken, but I have taken the liberty of fixing it. If you go to that eluvian and say my name, it will guide you to your lover in the Crossroads.”

“Which name?" Elaine asked immediately and only a little sarcastically. “You have so many.”

His smile looked much more wolfish than anything he had revealed so far. “I am confident you will figure it out. Now would be a good time for you to wake up.”

Chapter Text

Elaine had fallen asleep curled under a tree a few paces from the main road. She woke up the moment hands grabbed her shoulders and pressed her face down into the dirt, a knee pushing into the small of her back. Struggling instinctively as her adrenaline spiked, she had absolutely no leverage or chance of getting anywhere. 

“Calm yourself." She recognized the voice instantly. “I am bringing you back to Kirkwall. Hawk wants to talk to you." She stopped struggling, there was no point.

Looking over her shoulder, she watched and blinked sleep out of her eyes as Fenris efficiently bound her hands behind her back.

She groaned. “In this moment you are in my power." She muttered to herself, remembering Solas’ exact phrasing. “So he wakes me up the moment before I’m about to be kidnapped. That fucker.”

“Is this really necessary?" She groused, as Fenris pulled her to her feet and walked her back towards the path. 

“I don’t know.” he rumbled in his deep voice. “But it is funny.”

“Where are the others?”

“They followed different leads. You had the good fortune to be on mine." He had a horse hitched to a small wagon nearby, and at least the wagon was reasonably comfortable after she was deposited inside like a sack of potatoes.

She sighed and leaned her head back, still feeling groggy and uncomfortable from lingering sleep deprivation. Fenris sat next to her, taking the reins and turning them back towards Kirkwall.

“This seems like a lot of effort to transport one woman.”

“We didn’t know if you would be injured." He said, “Or if you would have accomplices.”

They rode in silence. Fenris wasn’t a talker, and Elaine felt like crap. She wasn’t even planning out what to say to Hawk, she just sighed and consigned herself to being out of control for a while.

After several hours, the muscles in her arms were cramping painfully. “My fingers are numb." She said finally. “If you don’t want me to lose my hands, please loosen the ties.”

He stared at her like he was trying to figure out if she was lying.

“Look, Fenris, the only way I’m even slightly dangerous is if people listen to me and do anything with what I say." Wow, that was depressing. “I’m not a mage. What are you afraid of, here?”

“I’m not afraid of mages." He growled. But he did untie her arms and let her massage the blood back into her fingers before re-tying them more gently in front of her. “And we don’t know what you’re capable of.”

“Right now?  Not very much." She watched him as he impassively guided the horse. She thought about how Solas must have questioned Mark before meeting her in the fade. “What happened to Marcus?”

“He went back to his room where he fell asleep and still hasn’t woken up, last I heard.”

She wasn’t surprised. Solas wouldn’t have wanted Mark to tell anyone about Fen’Harel, and if he was asleep then he was still available for later. Like a snack in the freezer.

“Where were you trying to go?" Fenris asked after about another hour of silence. 

“Not that it matters now, but Orlais." She sighed and closed her eyes. “It probably wouldn’t have worked anyway.”

“You’re being much more reasonable than I expected." Did he think that was a compliment?  “I was prepared for more of a fight.”

“I’m tired." She admitted. And said nothing more.

The day passed slowly as they approached Kirkwall. She fell asleep and jolted awake at various bumps, each time seeing the city looming closer.

Apparently saying nothing all day is how to get on Fenris’ good side. As the road became more crowded with people entering and exiting the city, he voluntarily untied her, allowing her a little dignity. 

He didn’t actually take her into the city, but skirted around it and took them a ways up the mountain. A fire was burning at a large campsite, and Varric was sitting alone at the fire writing on a notepad. He looked up as their horse approached.

“Broody!  You’re the first one back. Any luck?" And then he saw Elaine, who probably looked like a complete wreck after hiking along the roadside and then being trussed up like a thanksgiving turkey and hauled back. “Oh shit, Elaine are you okay?”

“Just dandy." She felt the crust of dirt and oils as she worked her fingers through her hair, not sure if she was straightening it or just making it stick out more. “Got a bucket of water or something?”

“There’s a river not far from here, do you… would you rather Fenris or I come with you?" Very diplomatic. Naturally, the prisoner couldn’t go alone.

“You can both come, we’ll have a party." She grimaced, finally looking down at how filthy she was. “Got anything clean I can change into?”

Which is how she ended up bathing in a freezing cold mountain river while Varric sat nearby holding onto a towel and a spare shirt of Hawk’s that would work reasonably well as a dress. Or a tent.

“That was some exit you made." Varric was the wrong choice for a bathing partner. At least Fenris would have been quiet.

“If I talk about it now, I’ll just need to say it all over again when Hawk gets here to question me." She shivered in the water, dunking her hair and scrubbing mercilessly. It felt awful, but she was grateful for how much it was waking her up. 

“Yes, but he’s not as pleasant as I am." She wasn’t looking at him, but Varric was probably giving a charming smile. “So what went wrong?  Not sure how to let Blondie down nicely?  Decided to make a clean break of it?”

Ouch. “This is you being pleasant?”

“I’m waiting on answers, Elaine." He sounded much less friendly all of a sudden. “We don’t like being lied to.”

As clean as she was likely to get, she stepped out of the river and snatched the towel out of Varric’s hand. He definitely got an eyeful, but he was married to his crossbow and probably didn’t care. Drying off and trying not to shiver too much, she slipped into the enormous shirt. It went below her knees. She looked like a child wearing her dad’s clothes.

From Varric’s expression, he was thinking something similar. Too tired to wash her clothes or shoes, she walked barefoot back to the fire to get warm.

“It probably won’t surprise you to learn, Master Tethras,” she wanted to sound angry, but her voice was distant to her own ears and she just sounded like she was about to cry. Maybe she was about to cry; her own emotions felt muddied. After the last couple days she couldn’t regulate herself like usual. “That I am having an absolutely shit day. Now I’m going to sit in front of this lovely warm fire and try not to fall asleep, because if I do there’s a chance I won’t be waking up again.”

She didn’t actually expect another fade visit from Solas this soon. He would be playing patty cake with Justice, or whatever it was they were doing, and waiting for her to somehow make it to the eluvian. If it took her too long, then maybe he would pop back up and see what the delay was. 

People in Hawk’s company filtered in through the day to join the camp. Isabella and Merrill came in a few hours apart, Aveline actually came and then went out again, quietly telling Varric something before she left. Through it all, Elaine didn’t say anything. She sat with her arms hugged around herself and stared blankly at the fire.

Is this what giving up feels like?  The thoughts felt detached. Am I just biding time until I turn myself in for Anders?  That felt right, somehow. Like the decision to trade herself for him was a foregone conclusion, and she just needed to realize it.

She was jolted out of her thoughts when Hawk’s voice boomed nearby. “Finally!" He stomped his way into the campsite and knelt down in front of her. Without warning, she felt herself gently crushed against his breastplate as he pulled her into a hug. “I was so worried!”

CUT CONTENT:

Varric and Hawk conferred together on the different reports that could match Elaine’s description, directing companions to investigate the more reliable sightings.

“Why are you so convinced she’s an outlander?” Isabella asked. “All we know is that she ran.”

“We’ve always known she’s an outlander." Varric confessed. “I checked records in Denerim, nothing matched. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but she’s got the same accent as Marcus." Varric demonstrated, shortening some vowels and exaggerating the consonants “Ow-oot-laender. The hard ‘cha’ sound when they say Chantry. It’s subtle, but they’re from the same place.”

“So what do you want with her?" Fenris asked Hawk.

“The same thing I’ve always wanted." Hawk grumbled, frustrated. “A straight, goddamn answer. But she’s with Anders, which makes her one of ours." His voice had the kind of confidence firm enough to scratch diamond. “And we protect what’s ours.”

Chapter Text

“Be gentle, Hawk." That reminder came from Fenris, who up until this point had been quietly sitting across the fire from Elaine.

Pulling back, he held her shoulders with his comically large hands and inspected her. She was freshly washed, but wearing nothing except one of his shirts. She probably had dark bags under her eyes from sleep deprivation, and her skin would be chapped and sunburned. She didn’t look him in the eye, just stared off to the side passively. 

“Here, drink this." Hawk put a healing potion in her hand. She didn’t argue, chugging it back quickly. Next he put a cheese roll in her hands and urged her to eat that. That was followed by a flask of clean water, which was followed by a small cup of weak wine.

As she processed the healing herbs and calories, she was starting to come back into her own body. She blinked, suddenly feeling her eyes focus as she came out of her fugue state.  

In addition to Hawk and herself, they sat at the fire with Fenris, Varric, Isabella, and Merrill. 

Hawk was sitting next to her, a proud smile on his face like she’d just done something impressive. “Are you back with us?”

Her throat was scratchy, and she had to clear it a few times. “Yes, I think so.”

“Good!" He leaned forward, elbows on his knees as he gave her his undivided attention. “Now then, I’m going to ask you some questions, and you’re going to answer them. Got it?”

“Got it." Standing and twisting, she stretched, feeling every joint pop like she was made of bubble wrap. She was surprised at how out of it she had been, and how obvious it was now that she had some of her senses back. Wow, I really fucked myself up. Well, I’m here now. Time to pay the piper.

She took a deep breath and sat back down, finally giving Hawk her attention back. “Ask away.”

“What did you run from in the conference room?" Hawk asked eagerly. Elaine tried to pretend like she didn’t see Varric avariciously waiting with a pen poised over his notebook.

“Fen’Harel." There was a split second wherein Hawk looked legitimately hurt. He glanced at Merrill, who was watching quietly.

“Elaine,” he said softly. “We really need answers. And please don’t joke about peoples’ gods.”

Taken aback, Elaine had to replay the last few lines in her head. She hadn’t thought about how the honest answer would sound. “No, wait." She said, holding up a hand. “I promise I’m not trying to be an asshole." She sorted her thoughts, debating where to begin.

“I don’t know how much Marcus tried to explain his ‘visions’, but he can’t see shit. We have one story of what happens in your world, but that’s all we have. It’s why he was being so vague, because he knew that if he actually changed anything, his predictions wouldn’t work. You figured some of that out already, I think.

“So I’ll start by saying, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I mean, I really don’t know what’s going to happen. We’ve diverged from the story I know. A lot. But I do know what could happen, or what might happen if certain choices are made.

“In the conference room there was an elven servant. I recognized him from the story of your world that I know, but he didn’t belong there. He surprised me and I- I panicked. He’s a powerful mage named Solas, but he also goes by Fen’Harel.”

“Ah. Marcus has been sleeping since that meeting. Is Solas a somniari?”

“Yes. He probably questioned Marcus in his sleep and then decided to keep him asleep to avoid people hearing… what I’m saying right now.”

“What does he want?”

“To tear down the veil and recombine the fade with this realm.”

Silence as the fire crackled in the middle of camp.

“You see,” Varric said, putting his pen down and closing his notebook, “this is the sort of thing that makes it hard to believe you. You say batshit unbelievable things.”

“I’m answering your questions!" Elaine said, exasperated. “May I volunteer some information that would make more sense?”

“Please do." Hawk was sounding frustrated. He had probably thought her answers would help explain things, instead of making everything more confusing.

“Alright." Just for the sake of drama, she rolled up the sleeves of the enormous shirt she was wearing and cracked her knuckles. “The Arishok is stuck in Kirkwall because an important relic was stolen. If he stays there long enough, he’ll hate everyone so much that he decides to conquer Kirkwall and convert everyone to the Qun. I don’t know how many people die, but it’s a lot. Hawk, you stop him by killing him in single combat." Isabella looked queasy, but Elaine didn’t say more on that for now.

Next she looked at Varric. “The red idol you found in the deep roads eventually makes its way to Meredith. Maybe it already has, I don’t know. It drives her mad just like your brother.”

Then she went back to Hawk. “That’s why Anders was going to attack the Chantry. Templars are making anyone who dissents tranquil, Meredith was making things worse, and Elthina was doing nothing. Eventually he radicalized and decided the only way to make change is to send a big message.”

“What was going to happen with my mother?" Hawk asked. “I know you were protecting her from something, but I don’t know what.”

She hesitated, turning that answer around in her head. “You… probably don’t want the details. She was going to be murdered by the white lily killer.”

His eyes bugged out. “There are details that make it worse than that?”

“Yes. I thought Marcus was safely cocooned in the Viscount’s office giving you all these warnings, but apparently he was just seeing how many thumbs he could fit up his ass.”

“And what about you, Elaine?" This came from Fenris, startling her. “What have you been doing with Anders?”

“We’ve been healing the tranquil and helping them escape Kirkwall.”

Letting them absorb that, Elaine drank some more water. She didn’t know what her end game was yet, but there was more important information she needed to give. She looked over to Merrill. “This isn’t from my outlander knowledge, this is just something I learned last night. Your eluvian was broken, but that mage I mentioned, Solas, has fixed it. It’s a doorway to a place sort of between here and the fade. He has Anders and offered to release him in exchange for me.”

Hawk jolted, concern clear on his face. “Merrill, is that true?  Is the eluvian fixed?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t been home since yesterday." She said softly, her eyes boring holes into Elaine as though she could see right through her. “Are you going to do it?”

“Yes." Elaine admitted as much to herself as anyone else. “He deserves to be free.”

Hawk’s face brightened into a wide smile. “Ahh, finally!  See, Varric, I told you it would happen.”

“Can’t be proven yet, Hawk.” But Varric sounded good natured about whatever it was.

“What?" Elaine finally asked a question, instead of just answering them. “What happened?”

“I can finally prove you’re wrong about something!" He put a hand on her shoulder that started out like a comforting pat, and then clenched into an unbreakable vice. “Because no way in hell are you turning yourself in.”

Chapter Text

Having gone through so much to avoid being captured by Solas, it felt surreal to be arguing in favor of turning herself in. 

“It can’t be good for him, being controlled by Justice the whole time." She said, trying to appeal to Hawk’s concern for a friend. “Solas cares about Justice a lot more than Anders, and wouldn’t care if Anders wasted away inside his own body.”

“Not going to happen." Hawk sounded calm, almost resigned. “I’m doing this for him, Elaine. I haven’t been a good friend recently, but he would never want you to make the trade.”

“Anders has spent his life avoiding captivity. He needs to be free.”

“We can hope and trust that he is able to escape his current captivity, then.”

“He can’t escape the goddamn fade!”

Varric’s voice unexpectedly cut in. “What were the terms?" 

Elaine’s mind went completely blank. He repeated himself, maybe thinking she hadn’t heard or understood him. “What were the terms this Solas guy put on the exchange?”

She thought back to her conversation. Her physical exhaustion hadn’t affected her in the fade, but it did affect her memory after she woke up. He said… he said he didn’t need Anders. He invited me to… to join them. He never actually said he would let Anders go.

“Fuck." She put her head in her hands. If she were back in her own world and made a mistake like that she would quit law and become a sheep herder or something.

“See, it’s obvious you love him." Varric spread his hands like he had just completed a magic trick. “You’re not thinking clearly. That’s why you need brilliantly intelligent and handsome friends like us around." 

“I can’t just leave him there.”

“What were you planning in Orlais?" This time it was Fenris who cut in. “You said it probably wouldn’t work, but you had something in mind.”

“I… uh…" Shit, this conversation is going to get weird again. She couldn’t help but glance in Merrill’s direction, then at Hawk. “I don’t want to offend.”

“It has to do with my gods." Merrill deduced calmly. She hadn’t been talking in exchange for her unique brand of intense scrutiny. “You said Solas was a powerful mage who also goes by Fen’Harel. But you actually do think he’s the Dread Wolf.”

“... yes.”

“So what do you think is in Orlais?" Merrill didn’t sound offended so much as curious. 

“Ultimately I was hoping to find the- the woman who came out of that amulet Hawk brought to Kirkwall." Elaine had forgotten her name. “The one who turned into a dragon. She has a daughter who I think is currently in either Val Royeaux or the Winter Palace as an occult advisor to Empress Celene.”

“Asha'bellanar." Her voice was soft and the name sounded musical. “Why would she be able to help?”

“I don’t know if she could." Elaine admitted. “Or would, if she could. But I think she’s someone who Solas would listen to. Or at the very least, either she or Morrigan might be able to give me advice with the knowledge I have.”

“I think I would like to hear the story of my gods, the way you have learned it." Merrill said, finally. 

Nodding, Elaine took another sip of water to ease her throat. She was going to be talking for a while.

It was very late, and the fire had been rebuilt and stoked many times while Elaine shared her understanding of the lore. She described how the gods had started as spirits, made themselves bodies at great cost to the titans, severed the titans from the fade to end the war, and how some of them started using the blight to increase their power. She spoke briefly of the murder of Mythal, and how a fragment of the goddess has been living in women such as Asha’Bellanar for countless generations, building strength.

Fen’Harel led the slave rebellion. He freed as many as he could and led armies in battle. He had created or otherwise discovered the ability to remove vallaslin, which had originally been slave marks. 

And finally, he created the veil to lock away the other gods. The effort put him into uthenera. 

“He must have woken up recently." Elaine concluded. “In the story I know, he doesn’t appear for another several years, maybe. I’m… not great at the timeline. But from what I know, whenever he wakes up he is horrified by the world that we live in now. 

“Elves have lost their connection to the fade that had granted them long lives, and he sees everyone here as being effectively tranquil. He wants to undo what he did by tearing down the veil, and is trying to get the power necessary to keep the gods locked up while doing it.”

At some point Hawk had wandered off to scout the area and make sure everything remained clear. Isabella had fallen asleep. Varric was still scribbling in some kind of short hand to try and copy everything down. Both Merrill and Fenris were intent and alert, but otherwise giving no reaction to the story.

“You don’t think of him as a villain." Merrill said finally. 

“He freed slaves." Fenris commented, as if it proved a lack of villainy. Maybe it did.

“He thinks he’s doing the right thing." Elaine sighed. “But as long as he doesn’t consider the people living on this side of the fade to be real people, he considers our deaths an unfortunate necessity.”

“Fascinating." Merrill’s soft voice was hard to read.

“Do you…. believe any of this?" Elaine had to ask. “I really don’t want to disrespect your religion or culture.”

“You have not." Her vallaslin crinkled as her expression shifted into contemplation. In the dark with the firelight, they reflected the light more than her skin and made her look ghostly. “If there are many worlds, there can also be many truths.”

Hawk reentered the light of the fire. He didn’t look tired at all, despite wearing plate mail while scouting a mountain late at night. 

“You’ll come back to my house." He started packing up the camp. “You can stay there under my protection while Merrill investigates the eluvian. We can figure out what to do about Solas and Anders, but first it sounds like I need to kill the Arishok." He said it in the same way he might have said ‘I’ll get more milk from the store.’

Merrill was still staring at Elaine, but spoke to Hawk. “You can’t guard her sleep from a somniari. She is planning to make a deal.”

Elaine didn’t bother denying it. She shrugged and grimaced at Hawk. “I’m not exactly in a strong bargaining position right now, but it’s only going to get worse. When I sleep, I’m in his power anyway. I’ll discuss terms first, but if I can trade myself for Anders, then at least he can be free and I’ll just be… in Solas’s power more.”

Hawk was thinking. He glanced around at the people in his camp, then seemed to be counting something on his fingers. Remembering what Anders had said about not underestimating him, she waited and tried to keep an open mind

“Give me two days." 

“Two days?”

“With caffeine and elfroot you should be okay to stay awake that long. Give me time, Elaine. It’s what Anders would want you to do.”

She was sure that was true. Anders wouldn’t want her to trade herself in without a plan, at the very least. 

“You have a deal, Hawk." Two days. She could stay awake that long.

Chapter Text

Anders blinked, waking up laying on something comfortable, which was worrying. He didn’t own anything comfortable. Sitting up, his body was stiff, but he was the most rested he’d been… possibly ever. He was on a small but very soft bed, the room was sparsely furnished with nothing else except a small table and a large ugly mirror. He felt amazing, like he could run a hundred miles or heal a hundred people without breaking a sweat. Something has gone horribly wrong.

The walls looked like a large stone building had been broken and then carelessly glued back together. Outside the window was a sky unlike any he’d seen before, with no sun or moon visible, but a peaceful glow that illuminated everything perfectly as rocks and trees floated past.

“My friend, you are awake!" The voice was familiar, but sounded wrong. Looking up, a blue spirit hovered at the doorway with a beautiful electric light pulsing from its center, it stood about as tall as Hawk would be. 

Standing, Anders gaped at the spirit, never having seen him like this before but automatically knowing who it was. “Justice?" His voice cracked from disuse and disbelief. “What?  How?”

He clutched a hand over his heart, although that wasn’t really necessary, and cast magic into an internal probe and Anders felt… nothing. The spirit was no longer inside him.

“I have learned so much!" The spirit’s voice boomed jovially. “Our ally has extended his abilities and spared you from the sacrifice you should never have had to make on my behalf. I have a pathway back into the fade, where I may continue our good works without fear of corruption.”

“Ally?" Everything was confusing, how did he get here?  What was the last thing he could remember?  The dreamlike state of his surroundings didn’t help him pin down anything solid. “What ally?”

“That would be me." 

“Aaah!" Unable to hold back the startled scream, Anders jumped and spun to see that elf again, standing behind him. He definitely had not been standing next to the bed a second ago. Anders was confused and out of sorts, but knew he didn’t imagine the amused expression that briefly crossed the elf’s face. That bastard.

“I am glad to see you well." The elf continued, “The process of removing Justice was complex due to your long connection, but you should suffer no ill effects.”

“No ill…" He wasn’t used to being at a loss for words. “Justice, are you okay?”

“I have never been better!" If nothing else, the joy in Justice’s voice was wonderful to hear. “Our mission continues and we will right the most grievous of wrongs. Solas is a warrior for a noble cause, and I have pledged our service to his mission.”

“Oh, you have?" Thank goodness, the sense of foreboding dread finally had something to latch onto. He looked at ‘Solas’, who was impassively waiting for whatever outrage he thought Anders would express.

Except that Anders knew what a trap looked like closing from the inside. If Justice trusted Solas, attacking him would only alienate his friend.

“Where is Elaine?" He asked Justice, hoping he would give a more trustworthy answer.

“She will be joining us shortly!  Do not worry, friend, Solas has assured safe passage for her.”

“I see. And what is the mission, Justice?”

“Pardon me,” Solas finally interjected. “We have had so much time to discuss while you rested, that there is quite a lot to review. Justice, perhaps you might secure the tome regarding fade connections through the veil?  As I recall, you thought Anders would find it illuminating.”

“Indeed, you are correct!" The spirit’s simple excitement was innocent as he left the room. “That will explain a great deal!”

After the electric charge of Justice’s presence faded, Anders allowed himself to glare at Solas. “What the fuck have you done?”

He smiled and lifted his hands as if to show they were empty. “I have done nothing. The credit goes to Justice. It was his idea to separate so that you could live a life of freedom from his overwhelming presence.”

Anders turned and walked out the open doorway to explore his surroundings. The land stretched maybe twenty meters in every direction, with only a few shrubs and plants to break up the scenery before a sudden drop into empty air. The building he walked out of was the only structure.

“That’s great news." He said dryly. “How do I get off this rock to enjoy my new life of freedom?”

“Ah." Solas walked up alongside him, staring out at the strange floating scenery. “Now that is a different challenge.”

Obviously the first thing Anders tried was jumping off the rock.

The fall felt normal at first, but then it was as if the world stuttered, blinking around him as he found himself back on the same rock. A fun pastime, but not productive.

His magic was significantly stronger here, but none of the elements he could summon had much of an effect other than blackening the innocent plant life around him. As much as Anders would have been willing to try attacking Solas, even knowing it would probably be futile, that would leave him even more trapped. 

Solas rarely visited, but Justice was a frequent presence. Unfortunately, Justice was single minded in his purpose and he was a staunch supporter of Solas’ mission. 

Which. Was. Insane.

“Take down the veil?" Anders gaped at Justice. “That would… I don’t even know, it would be a catastrophe!  You’re talking about merging two separate worlds.”

“That is why the good lady Elaine is needed!  Her knowledge will ensure a safe transition, and the resulting unification will provide new life and prosperity to those who have had it unjustly torn from them.”

“Justice,” he tried talking slower, as if that would help. “If Elaine comes here, she will be trapped. She will not be able to leave, and that is wrong. Do you understand?”

“I do not understand, my friend." The spirit sounded so cheerful about it, too. “She will want to protect and save the people harmed by the veil as much as you do.”

“Well, you’re not wrong there." Rubbing at his temples, Anders tried a different tactic. “I am unable to leave this place because I am a hostage. Do you understand that?”

“My friend,” Justice suddenly sounded much more solemn. “It grieves me that you are stuck. Solas has assured me that your safety is paramount and that as soon as you may be safely returned, he will personally deliver you back where you belong.”

I sure hope I don’t belong in the middle of the ocean. “What is unsafe about delivering me back right now?”

“Impossible!" Blue light crackled in what might be an equivalent of laughing. “The way is kept safe for Elaine’s arrival, and to clear a different path would risk her wellbeing.”

“So…” Anders attempted to put the pieces closer together for Justice. “I can’t go unless she comes here… is that right?”

“Right!”

“And my being here is the only reason she would come, right?”

“Correct, she has not yet learned of the injustice Solas fights.”

“And that makes me a… ?”

“An honored guest!" And we were so close.

After Justice left to peruse the library more, Solas returned with food and water.

“Justice is a simple concept." The elf sounded almost loving. “There is right, and there is wrong. And if you are doing right, then you are not doing wrong.”

“You’re a goddamn son of a bitch.”

“Perhaps." Anders was getting sick of that fucker’s enigmatic smile. “But perhaps you can spare Elaine the trouble of making this journey. How much has she told you?”

Knowing that he had no chance of lying, Anders felt an odd twist of both gratitude and regret that he had been so careful not to learn anything. The satisfaction of being able to tell off the elf was unequaled. 

“I know absolutely nothing that doesn’t relate to me.”

The elf glared at him. “You were holding her papers. You knew where she kept her secrets.”

Anders nodded smugly. “Those were her secrets. I didn’t even try to look until she went missing, then you interrupted. What do you want with them, anyway?  Maybe if so much hadn’t changed she’d have useful information, but she doesn’t know the future anymore.”

“Unfortunately, she is now the only one who knows if her information is useful." Solas looked mildly perturbed at that, which probably meant he was enraged. Still angry about Anders’ burning the notes. “And she has chosen to run, which would imply that she knows I want what she has." His eyes glowed. “And that makes me want it more.”

Chapter Text

It was getting close to the two day mark and Elaine had to admit, Hawk was efficient. 

Shortly after they had left the campsite Merrill stopped by briefly to confirm that the eluvian was no longer cracked. Even though she hadn’t tried to activate it, she decided to stay elsewhere for the time being so she wasn’t sleeping with a portal to Fen’Harel in her bedroom.

In less than 24 hours he had challenged the Arishok into single combat, killed him, and the rest of the Qunari were in the process of being escorted out of Kirkwall by the Viscount’s forces. They would probably be a big problem for someone else, but… well, that was someone else’s problem.

He had returned to his house, partly supported by Fenris, with dented armor and blood still leaking from a head wound. Elaine did her best to help with first aid, and thankfully they had an excellent supply of poultices and potions so after a short nap he was back up on his feet in just a few hours. 

Staying awake was a lot easier when she was able to rest in a comfortable house with easy access to healing potions and very strong tea. She knew Hawk was trying to figure something out, but he was rarely home so she wasn’t sure what. After two days of reading and restless pacing, Hawk finally approached her. His armor was still badly dented from the Arishok fight, so he just wore a plain leather jerkin and had a harness that must have been custom made for his girth to hold his sword and tower shield on his back. 

He didn’t show much emotion when he asked, “Alright, a deal’s a deal. Do you still want to turn yourself in?”

“Yes." She was sick of waiting for something to happen.

“What’s your plan?  Once you’re there you don’t have anything to bargain with.”

She sighed. “I’ve been going in circles. If I fall asleep he can capture my mind in the fade, but he can’t hold me forever. But living in fear of falling asleep is no way to live. I’ll demand proof of Anders’ safe return, then offer my cooperation.”

“Your plan is to give up?”

Glaring at him a little, she couldn’t find it in herself to argue. “Yes, essentially. He’s not evil, and maybe I can actually guide him in a better direction with what I know. When he knows everything I do, I won’t matter to him anymore and I can come back.”

“May I ask you a question?”

“Hah, I don’t see why not at this point. Ask away.”

He knelt down to make eye contact, looking very serious. “Why didn’t you come to us for help?  You were trying to walk to Orlais, and I know you’re smarter than that. Did you think I wouldn’t help you?”

The question took her completely off guard. She blinked, realizing that it had not even occurred to her to ask for help. Looking down for a moment, she shrugged, finding it hard to hold eye contact.

“I…” She started and stopped. Then started again, “I don’t know. I’ve been working by myself or just with Anders and… it didn’t occur to me. What would you have been able to do, anyway?”

Frowning, he shook his head as he stood up again. “I guess we’ll never know." He gestured for her to follow him as he opened the door. “Let’s go.”

The walk to the Alienage took no time at all. She felt her heart racing and tried to calm herself down. I need to be able to think. I need him to promise to let Anders go instead of just adding to his ‘snarky human’ collection. 

The eluvian dominated Merrill’s small home, reflecting more light than should have been possible in the dark space.

Standing in front of it, her own reflection looked warped in the otherwise perfectly smooth glass. She cleared her throat.

“Fen’Harel.”

Nothing happened. 

“I think it’s pronounced har-el, not har-el." Hawk commented, helpfully.

“Ugh. Fen’Harel." She tried again. 

This time it worked. The glass illuminated from the inside out, turning translucent and misty where it had been opaque. She couldn’t see what was on the other side though, just vague impressions of movement.

While in retrospect she should have known he wasn’t going to let her just walk through, Elaine still wasn’t prepared when Hawk picked her up under his arm like a sack of groceries. “Upsy-daisy!" He called out as he jumped them both through the mirror.

Elaine and Hawk crashed into a small room that wasn’t prepared for an enormous warrior carrying an average sized woman to appear. A table splintered under Hawk’s feet and Elaine’s forehead smashed painfully against a wall. Then he dropped her.

“Augh, what the fuck!" Elaine clutched her head as the room spun around her. 

“Elaine?" Anders appeared in the doorway, staring. He took in the tableau of Hawk towering in the small space and Elaine on the ground amidst splintered wood. “Hawk?  No, no, no, get out!  Get out now!”

But even if they had wanted to leave, the mirror was cold and dark.

Anders rushed to Elaine, but Hawk blocked the way and drew his sword. Hawk’s face was grim, forcing Anders to scramble backwards as the tip of a blade pointed unwaveringly at his neck.

“Take several steps back, mage." Hawk’s voice twisted with disgust and he spat the word the same way Fenris would have. “Whatever you think is about to happen, you’re wrong.”

Anders stared down the wrong end of Hawk’s blade at someone who he had once considered his closest friend. The bottom dropped out of his stomach seeing impassive determination in Hawk’s eyes instead of compassion or humor.

“What are you doing, Hawk?”

“I’m here to make a deal. I just need to talk to the elf." 

“You are not going to trade her for me. I’m not worth it, Hawk.”

“It would be preferable if no one is harmed." That came from Solas, who was not standing in the small room, but had wisely decided he would stay a safe distance away from the conflict. “But I am amenable to discussing a trade. Would you please come out so we can talk?”

“Back away, mage." Hawk spat out again, glaring intently at Anders. “I won’t ask again.”

Backing away under Hawk’s intense glare, it finally clicked. He doesn’t hate mages. He’s trying to tell me something. 

“I don’t understand,” Anders wasn’t sure how to play along, but was willing to try.  He kept backing up, giving the warrior space. “Hawk, please, don’t do this.”

Finally ducking his way out of the structure, Hawk stood blocking an increasingly furious Elaine inside and drew his shield with a bit more showy flair than usual. He wants a distraction. 

“It’s already done, Anders. You can’t stop me from-”

Anders interrupted him with an electric blast directed straight at the shield. The leather armband would insulate Hawk from the worst of it, and thankfully he wasn’t wearing his metal armor or it would have been a lot more painful. It was probably still painful, though.

With a roar, Hawk brandished his sword and charged at Anders, who was fully prepared to be stabbed for whatever this plan was, but would really rather not if it wasn’t necessary.

Before any blood could be shed, however, Hawk and Anders were frozen in place with a gesture from Solas applying a paralysis glyph onto them both. “This is a poor beginning to a negotiation." He said, smoothly. He raised his hand towards Anders.

“No, don’t you dare, you-" Anders fell asleep. 

By the time Elaine squeezed herself around Hawk to exit the building, Anders was on the ground and Hawk’s sword and shield were back on his harness.

Not caring that it made her look like a damsel in a bad spaghetti western, she found herself running to Anders’ side to see if he was okay. His pulse and breathing were fine, both of them slow and steady.

“Just a moment,” Wheezing slightly, Hawk took several long minutes to recover from the lightning blast. He worked the leather bracer off his shield arm and carefully massaged the muscles underneath. “That stings like a sonofabitch.” Finally, he looked down at Anders and gently nudged him with the tip of his boot.

“He is merely asleep." Solas barely paid Anders any attention. 

“That’s fun." Hawk looked between Ander’s body, crumpled on the ground where he had been standing, and Solas inquisitively. “Where does he dream, when he sleeps in the fade?”

“We are not actually in the fade, but a middle place. He sleeps as anyone would.”

“And does he need food and water, when he’s asleep like this?”

“...yes, just like any mortal creature.” Solas looked confused at the line of questioning. “He is merely asleep. He should not stay asleep for too long or it would harm him.”

Hawk thought about this for a minute, his face scrunched in concentration. “Wait, does that mean that Marcus is wasting away right now?”

Solas sighed, starting to sound exasperated. “Yes, but very slowly. He is in no imminent danger.”

“Are you controlling their dreams too?”

“I could if I so desired, but without interference they are dreaming whatever their minds would naturally dream.”

“But what if-”

“We are wasting time. He will surely be easier to transport like this." 

“You can keep him." Hawk sounded dismissive. “He’s not what I wanted.”

“Oh?" Solas actually looked a little interested at that. He raised an eyebrow and smiled in a distant way, as though indulging a child. “What did you hope to receive in exchange for Ms. Elaine?”

“You misunderstand, I didn’t bring Elaine for you!" Hawk grinned widely. “She’s here to negotiate the terms of your surrender.”

Chapter Text

Solas blinked at Hawk for a few seconds. “I confess, I don’t understand the joke." He said, finally. 

“Well you see,” Gently pulling Elaine to her feet, Hawk gave her a small wink. “We all want different things, and Elaine is a master of negotiation and writing contracts. She’s also the most impartial negotiator we could get, since she’s not from either of our worlds.

“She will hear each of our terms and come up with a compromise that both sides will consider tolerable. I’m representing the mortal races on my side of the veil. I couldn’t get everyone in Thedas to approve, but representatives from each race have said I’m ‘big enough to speak for everyone, combined.’”

“For me to agree to any kind of negotiation,” Solas said slowly, enunciating each word carefully in case that made it easier for the warrior to understand. “You would need to have some form of influence over me. You do not." 

Elaine was starting to see the danger of underestimating Hawk. His smile was more shark-like than anything she could have managed.

“So you don’t care that I’ve stolen your glowing orb thing, and that it’s probably half-way across Thedas by now?”

Solas’ expression dropped into shock, staring at Hawk before he suddenly blinked out of sight. 

“It’ll take him a minute to check." Hawk chuckled. “But he’ll be back.”

“I would… really have loved to know any of this in advance, Hawk." She was ready to stomp her feet in frustration like a child. “Do you actually have the orb?”

“If you’re going to be an impartial negotiator, you can’t be implicated in acts of theft against one of the two parties." He sounded like he was reciting something. 

“You… I…” At a complete loss for words, and still not sure exactly what was going on, Elaine settled on the one solid thing in front of her, which was Anders. Kneeling down, she guessed correctly that Solas was probably distracted and wasn’t forcibly keeping him under. Shaking his shoulder had him blinking and struggling up to his elbows on the ground.

“I hate it when he does that." Anders grumbled, looking around. He didn’t seem upset at Hawk when he asked, “Whatever it was, did it work?”

“Still in progress." Hawk pulled Anders to his feet as well, giving him a manly pat on the back that only made him stagger forward a little. “Thank you, my friend, I knew I could count on you.”

“That’s me." He was brushing bits of grass off his robes distractedly. “Reliable patsy ready to jump in blind. What exactly are we doing?”

“I’ll catch you up later." Hawk was positioning himself to stand between them and a rapidly approaching Solas, whose face was dark with rage.

“What have you done?" The very sky seemed to darken and shake, as the environment responded to Solas’ emotions. “That is an item of power that could destroy-”

“I understand it’s capable of an explosion which would tear a hole into the veil itself." Hawk rocked his weight back and forth, not looking the least bit intimidated. “Which would be a pity, since I would like to avoid death and destruction against the people I’m representing." 

“You will return it to-”

“Oh, so you are willing to bargain!" Solas wasn’t used to being interrupted, and didn’t seem to know how to get control of the conversation from Hawk. “But you’re going to need to offer something good in exchange, because my other buyer is very motivated.”

“Other-" Solas shook in rage as he bared his teeth in a snarl at the warrior. 

“It’s a valuable relic of the ancient elves, don’t you know?" Hawk sneered down at Solas. “A lot of collectors are interested.”

“Hawk,” Elaine cut into the conversation. She was back on her two feet. She had a task she roughly understood, and it required fancy words. It was Christmas morning and Santa came. “Am I to understand that you claim to represent the mortal races of Thedas?”

“Yes, indeed!" 

“And you got an authority from each race to agree that you are capable of negotiating on their behalf?”

Hawk started to tick off his fingers as he listed names. “Varric is a businessman representing the dwarves, Merrill was First of her clan and represents the elves, and the human Viscount of Kirkwall agreed I would be an excellent representative when I told him to tell me I would be an excellent representative.”

“What about the Qunari?”

“The very leader of the Qunari, The Arishok himself, said ‘Yes, please, whatever you want! Gurgle gurgle.’" After a brief pause. “We probably didn’t need to transcribe the last part.”

“This is a farce!" Solas snarled. “And you do not understand the levels of destruction you are threatening. If that orb were to get into the wrong hands it would devastate peoples on both sides of the veil.”

“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong!" Hawk exclaimed cheerfully. “I do know the levels of destruction the orb is capable of. And I know that neither of us want anything… unfortunate to happen." Gesturing at Elaine, he continued, “Hence, our negotiator!  I’m coming to the table, Serah Elf to whom I have never been introduced and I certainly wouldn’t claim to know who you are.”

“That is an excellent point, Hawk." Elaine turned to Solas. “How would you like to be called during this negotiation, and would you like to state if you are representing any parties other than yourself?”

Fuming, Solas said nothing. Possibly too angry to respond immediately.

Anders, who had been quietly enjoying the show until now, finally interjected. “Justice, please join us, my friend!”

Both Elaine and Hawk startled when the blue spirit appeared, floating nearby. The Crossroads had already been dark with Solas’ anger, and now brilliantly blue electric light scattered shadows in all directions.

“Greetings Elaine, it is a true pleasure to meet you with my own senses." The spirit gave a small bow, blue light crackling in what she very much hoped was some kind of positive emotion. 

“Justice,” Anders tried to put his arm over the spirit’s shoulders and ended up just holding it there when it was clear it would pass through on its own. “I am so glad you’re here, we have a situation in need of you. If we had some form of conflict with our good ally here, Solas, would you recommend Elaine to be an effective negotiator?”

“Yes!" Justice did not seem to notice the expression of pure frustration and anger that would hopefully give the immortal wrinkles. “I can think of none better to broker a just solution.”

Elaine stared at Anders as if he could telepathically explain how the hell the spirit was floating around on its own. But that was for a different conversation.

“Thank you, Justice. Messere Solas, do you agree for me to act as a negotiator in this matter?”

His teeth were clenched and he was holding onto his self control with his fingertips, but he gritted out a harsh, “Yes.”

Hawk grinned, leaning down challengingly close to Solas’ scowling face. “Then let’s make a deal.”

Chapter Text

It went something like this:

When Hawk asked for two days to figure something out, the first thing he did was go to bed and talk to Feynriel in the fade. With the help of his somniari friend, he entered Mark’s dreams and had a very nice long conversation to learn whatever Mark could tell him about Solas/Fen’Harel.

Hawk learned about the conclave, how Solas was weak from uthenera and had tried to get Corypheus to unseal the orb, and the resulting explosion. How the orb was ultimately broken, and how he ended up stealing the life force from Mythal to get more power instead.

“But what about his people?” Hawk asked, pulling as much detail from Mark as he could. “Who does he care about?”

“He loves Mythal, or, like, the piece that’s still here. But he still kills her to take her power. He killed one of his own friends, Felassan, because he didn’t succeed at a mission. There’s a version where he falls in love with the Inquisitor.” Marcus shrugged. “Because she makes him doubt if elves aren’t all tranquil, or something. But it’s never enough. He’ll always want to tear down the veil.”

After asking more questions, he learned about Morrigan and what she wanted, as well as other people that may be powerful or meaningful.  

All of this happened within a dream, so it took barely any time at all outside the fade. 

Hawk and Varric put their heads together, consulting with their friends but making sure to exclude Elaine. 

“We can’t tell her." Varric said, seriously. “She needs to actually be a negotiator for this to work. And that means she can’t be on our side. She’ll understand.”

Once they had a plan, Hawk promised Feynriel he would only need one more favor. Hawk asked to be guided into Morrigan’s dreams the next time she slept.

“It would seem an intruder has entered my realm of the fade. Tis’ a rude thing indeed to arrive uninvited.”

“Very sorry to intrude!" Hawk was cheerful and open, “but I have been told that you’re an occult advisor and expert in ancient Elvhen magic. Would you be willing to speak with me if I told you I knew where to find the Well of Sorrows, and I need help stealing the Orb of Fen’Harel?”

“Young man, we are in the realm of dreams, where thoughts and intentions are tangible things. I can tell when you are lying.”

“Oh good!  Am I lying?”

“... keep talking, I would know more.”

And so he filled her in and shared his plans. She made adjustments and suggestions, and agreed that she would be a part of the scheme in exchange for information leading her to the Well of Sorrows. 

It took her almost a day to fly from her location to Kirkwall, cutting the timing very close. But she made it, and she was perched in the form of a raven hiding behind Hawk’s shield when he jumped into the Crossroads.

Morrigan snuck out the moment they arrived, using the chaos to stay unnoticed. The distraction between Hawk and Anders was supposed to last longer, he wasn’t expecting Solas to immediately end the fight. So he did his best delaying and extending their conversation while Morrigan flew through the Crossroads. 

This was the riskiest part of their plan. They were depending on Solas keeping the orb close, and that Morrigan could sense its magical energy to pinpoint it. But they agreed it was an acceptable risk, since Corypheus hadn’t been released and Solas should still be trying to unlock it.

Even so, if she was unable to find it they would try to use the threat of having stolen it to flush it out, knowing Solas would go to its hiding space as soon as he thought it might be missing. But they were lucky, and Solas was so confident (prideful, one might say) that it was out in the open. 

Morrigan took the orb scant moments before Solas arrived to check for it. She was still traveling the Crossroads when Hawk and Solas started negotiating, but quickly found an eluvian she could activate to get out. She handed the artifact over to Isabella who would keep it moving in a fast ship over open water away from civilization. If there wasn’t a nearby eluvian or she couldn’t activate it for some reason, the backup plan was for her to use the form of a spider and cling to something out of sight until the coast was clear.

Hawk liked backup plans. After having nearly every plan in his life go wrong at some point, he always wanted to have at least a couple plan Bs for when something unexpected happened. In this case his absolute last ditch, if all else fails, we’re in the shit now plan was to hit Solas with his sword really, really hard. It’s just as well they didn’t need to resort to that. Yet.

“And now, all you need to do is make a deal. This is where Elaine will be able to help." Varric wrote down some key phrases for negotiation. “Start high and allow yourself to be talked down, but don’t look happy about it. She won’t let you mess up too badly. Just make sure the negotiations go long enough for Merrill to get back in time." 

Elaine was standing at the head of a large table. Hawk and Anders were on one side. Solas was glowering on the other. Justice floated off to the side, eager to watch Elaine work.

“The best chance for us all to come out satisfied is if we acknowledge that you are not enemies." Everyone except Justice stared at her in disbelief. Smiling graciously, she nodded. “It may seem like you’re against each other, but really you both want the same thing." 

Elaine walked closer to Solas’ side of the table. “Messere Solas wants to improve the quality of life for everyone harmed by the veil. What was once one has been torn asunder, and the wound still bleeds.”

She turned and walked towards Hawk. “Messere Hawk, representing the mortals of Thedas, wants to protect their lives and wellbeing from any damage sustained in the removal of the veil.”

Standing in the middle, she clasped her two hands together demonstratively. “If we work together, perhaps we can find a solution to benefit everyone.”

At the very least, her description of what Solas wanted reduced his scowl. He leaned forward, ignoring Hawk and glaring at Elaine. “While we waste our time in this performance, the devastation that orb could cause will wreak havoc on both sides of the veil.”

She nodded sympathetically and turned towards Hawk. “A good deal cannot be made under pressure. Do you have any assurances to the safety of the orb while we negotiate?”

“To avoid accidentally revealing its location, I can honestly say I don’t know where it is right now." He smirked at Solas’ horrified expression. “But it is with a trusted person and far away from any civilization.”

“So it is on a ship." Solas immediately surmised, scowling.

Hawk shrugged, quickly glancing at a small piece of paper badly hidden under the table. “I can neither confirm nor deny that supposition.”

“Messere Hawk,” Elaine interjected, “you made the initial request for this negotiation. Can you state what your goals are?”

“Gladly!" He shifted in his chair with another not-so-subtle peek at his cheat sheet. “We, the mortal races of Thedas, demand a minimum of 500 years delay in the removal of the veil. By neither action nor inaction will Solas, alias Fen’Harel, alias the Dread Wolf or any of his agents, whether aware or not of how their actions serve Solas’ interests, contribute towards the weakening or removal of the veil.”

Solas actually took interest in this, not having expected this kind of opening offer. “You are not demanding that I preserve the veil indefinitely?”

“You’re an immortal, so I’m told." Hawk gave kind of a halfhearted shrug, as though he wasn’t entirely convinced but was willing to go with it. “And you just woke up, probably. Where’s the rush?  Just wait a little while until we’re all dead anyway.”

“And the peoples that will exist in 500 years’ time?”

“Our deal will be concluded. Maybe they’ll be able to renegotiate with you, but I can only represent all the mortals of Thedas for the next five centuries, I think that’s fair.”

Solas glanced around at the people in the room, lingering his eyes on Justice. “Unacceptable." He said, finally. “There is suffering that I would alleviate, and dangers I would prevent from breaking free. Even if my life extends, I will not allow anguish to continue that long.”

Elaine studied him, noting that he seemed to actually be enjoying himself a little. She was going to have to be very careful. “It sounds as though,” she said slowly, “there is a larger conversation here. But first, Messere Solas, would you like to place an opening offer now that you’ve heard Hawks’?”

“My opening offer,” his voice dripped with sarcasm, “is that my stolen property is returned immediately and that you, Mistress Elaine, provide to me your knowledge of our magics and potential futures until I am satisfied." In the pause that followed, he smirked at her. “... with your knowledge.”

Anders glowered at him from across the table.

She kept her face neutral and professional, but gave an internal sigh. This is going to take a while.

Chapter Text

The bargaining process was adversarial, excruciatingly long, and Elaine would have had a splitting tension headache if Anders weren’t frequently reaching over to give her healing.

“I’m sorry,” Hawk said while not sounding sorry at all, “but if we go lower than three hundred years we’re going to need other concessions. Maybe a guarantee you’ll take no actions to cause a mortal death in the interim?”

“I will give you and your mortals no more than ten years to settle your affairs." Solas seemed to be having at least a little fun with the situation, but his pride was stung at losing the orb and he was not inclined to be helpful. “And in that time I will cause as many mortal deaths as pleases me.”

Solas noticed Justice taking extreme displeasure with that statement. “Do not worry, friend,” Solas said in a much nicer tone. “This is the way of negotiations. The number of mortal deaths which please me is zero.”

“We’re not getting anywhere." Hawk snapped. “And I’ve been very reasonable considering you’re going to try and kill us all.”

“That is not my goal." Solas snarled, “And it is a very peculiar form of reason you claim, when you steal and threaten destruction.”

Hawk was about to retort, but Justice interrupted the argument with a bright flash of light. He floated through the table to stand in the center of the group.

“Friend,” Justice was facing Solas, crackling with energy. “There is no justice in avoidable destruction. You told me there was a way to safely remove the Veil.”

At this Solas hesitated. He clearly liked to avoid outright lies whenever possible, and had probably given vague hints and indications to Justice that there would be some way of preventing mortal deaths. 

“Outlanders have seen the decisions made in other realms, and even have knowledge of multiple versions of these events." He said finally. “It is why I sought Elaine, who knows the most of any timelines.”

Elaine rolled her eyes to the sky, feeling the headache come back. “This is not something I can say in my role as an objective arbiter." She sighed. “But as the outlander who potentially has the most information, I can tell you that I have seen no version of the future where the veil comes down.”

She may as well have sucker punched Solas. She still wanted to. He frowned, trying to rationalize the conclusions he had already made for himself. “How far ahead does your knowledge go?”

Hawk leaned forward, his elbows making the table sway towards him as he leaned on it. “Not five hundred years, I bet?" His self satisfied smirk was also worthy of a sucker punch. I can’t solve all my problems with punching. Although… to be fair, I haven’t tried.

“It’s not the amount of time, it’s the decisions made." She wasn’t sure whether to give much information about the escape of the other gods or the blight devastating Thedas. “In one version of events you decide-”

“Elaine, stop.” Hawk’s voice boomed with command, all humor gone. Her mouth snapped shut instantly. “You are not here to tell the future. In fact, if I do my job correctly, the future you know will be meaningless.”

Naturally Solas took issue with this. “Even a brute would understand that good decisions require information.” His arm swept in an encompassing gesture to include her. “If another version of me has made mistakes, I can avoid them!”

“You shouldn’t be making mistakes with other people’s lives!” Hawk roared, “You rolled out of bed and decided you knew everything there was to know about our world, and that it wasn’t worth saving.”

Shaking with rage, Solas’ voice was nonetheless clear. “You know nothing about which you speak.”

“I know that we aren’t real to you.” Hawk was all but yelling, trying to hold himself in check. “There is nothing meaningful I can say, because I may as well be a bleating sheep.”

“On the contrary,” Solas snapped. “That’s the most meaningful thing you’ve bleated so far. You don’t know how stunted your minds are, in the same way a blind man cannot know colors.”

“Prove it.” Hawk’s face was still red with anger, but his expression became that of smug challenge. “You’re so confident that you’re better than us, or that we’re pathetic worms sealed away from the fade, I’ll make a bet with you.”  Curling his hand into a fist, the warrior extended one finger to the sky. “Pick one person. Any random person in Kirkwall. I won’t ask for you to wait five hundred years and we won’t interfere with you. But you will get to know that person. You will follow them, befriend them, hate them, whatever you like, but you will keep them safe until the natural end of their life. And if you still think we’re all bugs under your feet, then do whatever you see fit.”

Hawk was breathing heavily, his face flushed. It was a longer speech than he usually gave. Solas glared at him in turn.

“What will that prove?” Solas asked, seemingly dismayed and confused by the suggestion.

“It proves nothing to me. But you will learn that we’re people. We have as much to live for as you or anyone else.” 

Standing and gesticulating widely, Hawk was mocking when he loudly called out, “The high and mighty Fen’Harel claims he knows everything there is to know about the lives of the mortals he has barely met. Prove you’re right.”

“You are so confident, you would have me pick any person in Kirkwall?”

“Let’s say they need to be less than halfway through their natural life span. No picking an old man or woman already about to die. And you will guard them, without controlling them, until the end of that natural life span or the bet is forfeit.”

Elaine cut in, nervous about the direction this was going. Solas actually looked intrigued, and this was a huge departure from what Hawk had been trying to demand. “Hawk, don’t hinge your position on a bet.” She said carefully. “How would you know if a random person-”

“It doesn’t matter!” Hawk grinned. “This arrogant bastard won’t sully himself to guard one of us sheep. We’ll be waiting for him to fail. And if he actually follows through, he’ll understand we’re real. Justice, what do you say?” To this point he hadn’t really acknowledged the spirit, but now he turned to address him. “Can there be any Justice in taking down the veil without understanding the people it affects?”

The blue spirit had been listening intently, and Elaine didn’t know how much of this argument it really understood.  But it flashed vibrant electric colors as it considered the question.

“This… is not only a question for Justice, but for Wisdom, I think.” The smell of a storm intensified in the room. “A judge needs insight to choose a verdict. You cannot render a just decision to a people you don’t understand.”

She wasn’t so sure that watching someone age and die was the guaranteed proof of life that Hawk seemed to think. The expression on Solas’ face was one of frustrated determination. His pride had been challenged, and something about this bet appealed to him. It had to or he wouldn’t be considering it.

Sensing he was close to a decision, Hawk pushed a little harder to seal the deal. “Take us back to Kirkwall. We’ll find a group of people, you pick one, and you can have your orb back whenever you like. Unless that is… you’re afraid of gaining insight.”

His eyes narrowed, and Solas’ face firmed into determination. She helped solidify the language to avoid loopholes and wrote the official contract, but the hard work had been done. An agreement had been made.

Chapter Text

It was surreal to watch Solas walk into the Hanged Man, as casual and comfortable as any of the locals.  He followed behind Hawk as though he came here all the time, and no one gave him a second glance.

It was increasingly obvious how he had managed to fool everyone in Inquisition.  The man was a chameleon.

The bar wasn’t empty, but had fewer people than normal. From the mumblings and complaints easily heard the Qunari had not wanted to leave and the Viscount’s men were having a hard time herding them out. So the streets had been even more dangerous than usual, and not as many people were venturing out to drink shitty beer.

Varric was at his usual place at their table in the back, doing some paperwork.  When he looked up to see Hawk a relieved smile bloomed on his face, then wilted as Solas walked up behind.  His horrified stare shifted towards Elaine and Anders then back to Hawk.

“Whaaaat are you doing here, Hawk?” His voice trailed weakly as his thoughts tried to catch up.  “And didn’t I ask you to leave the Elvhen god of betrayal and trickery at home?”

“Yes, say it out loud.” Solas complained dryly, but without much emotion. “I do so love to advertise.”

“Why are you here?” Varric asked him directly. “Aren’t you supposed to be giggling to yourself for the rest of time?”

“Giggling madly to myself can only entertain for so long, child of the stone.” His eyes flashed with anger, but his expression was wry. “Eventually I must find new trusts to betray.”

“You didn’t tell me he had a sense of humor!” Varric’s hands were shaking slightly as he stacked and moved his papers off the table. He glared at Hawk.  

“He doesn’t.” Hawk replied flatly. “He’s here because we made a different deal.”

“Hawk, you lovable scamp, you know I hate it when you don’t follow a plan.” Standing and leaning closer to his friend, but not trying too hard to speak softly, he asked, “What happened to five hundred years? I liked five hundred years, Hawk.”

Not responding to the dwarf, Hawk tilted his head down to give his full attention to Solas. “This isn’t a good place.” He said, “There aren’t enough people to choose from, and no one respectable spends time here.”

“We would know.” Varric agreed.

“What about the Chantry?” Hawk started moving back towards the door. “Or we can check the Alienage…”

“No.” Solas said firmly. He looked with disinterest at the people he could see from his position at the back of the bar. He pointed at a young elf woman sitting alone at a table nursing a drink. “That one. She is acceptable.”

It was obvious to Elaine why he picked her. She was the only elf in the building and she didn’t have vallaslin.

Varric scrambled to get in the hallway before Solas or Hawk could move towards the woman. “Woah!” He held up both hands to stop them. “We do not sell women here, what the hell?”

The sneer on Solas’ face would have curdled milk. “I am not buying her, child of the stone.” He hissed quietly. “And if you imply it again I will ensure you have no tongue to say it a third time. The woman is part of a bargain in which I guarantee her safety to the best of my abilities.” With a sinister pause, he added “Which makes her the safest person in this room, by far.”

Nodding in agreement, Hawk shrugged. “Stay here a moment.”

For such a large man his steps were careful and quiet as he approached the woman. Her face twisted into suspicion when he sat down at her table, but she seemed to recognize him and relaxed when he started talking. Naturally anyone in Kirkwall would recognize Hawk.

Elaine looked at Varric, worried he would interrupt, but the dwarf’s expression was very carefully blank. She got the immediate and worrying premonition that this is what he looked like just before placing the winning bet in a game of Wicked Grace.

At the table, Hawk leaned in and spoke quietly with the woman for several long minutes. They both glanced at Solas during their conversation, who for his part did an admirable job looking detached and nonthreatening. Hawk nodded at the woman in confirmation and the two talked for a few more minutes. She looked puzzled and unsure, but nodded and they stood back up together to approach the group.

Hawk had a hand hovering carefully a few inches away from the woman’s back as he used the other to gesture to Solas.

“If you agree, this is the man who will be assigned as your bodyguard. His name is Solas. Solas, I’d like to introduce you to Ellana Lavellan.”

Hawk and Solas continued the conversation with Ellana, describing a very edited and in part completely fabricated story of how Solas was going to be her body guard on Hawk’s behalf to settle a debt. She did not have to agree, but if she did it would make her one of the safest people in Thedas.

Meanwhile, Elaine pulled Varric and Anders to the back of the room. “Varric, what is going on?”

“Not yet, Trouble.” It took her a moment to realize that he wasn’t giving her a warning, but a nickname. “Wait.”

Anders was even more in the dark than she was, but he seemed comfortable giving Hawk and Varric the lead. Now that she wasn’t acting in any official capacity, he glommed onto her, hugging her from behind and tucking his chin over her shoulder to watch what was happening. He seemed touch starved, having been separated for several days, and she couldn’t deny she appreciated the reunion as well.

She tried to think back through the last few days. They must have gotten information from Mark somehow, but how and why was Ellana Lavellan in The Hanged Man, of all places?

Considering that she was allowing someone to follow her around for an indefinite amount of time, Ellana didn’t take long to agree. She shook hands with Hawk, then gave Solas a kind of unsure, questioning smile and pointed a thumb to the exit. With a small bow, he followed her out the door without giving Hawk or Elaine a second glance.

Several quiet minutes passed while everyone stared at the closed door, as if worried they would turn around and come right back in.

Finally Hawk walked to their back corner, pulled out a chair, and fell on it with such a loud thump Elaine was surprised it didn’t collapse. He and Varric exchanged smiles that lit up the room.

Merrill came creeping in through a back door and sat down as well. She smiled at Elaine, then nodded to Hawk. “She’ll do a good job.” Merrill confirmed, although Elaine didn’t know what job she was talking about. “We got here yesterday. You kept us waiting.”

“It was hard to tell time over there.” Hawk grimaced, “Everything was foggy and uncomfortable. I almost threw up a few times. And I am starving! Norah!”

As he tried to wave down Norah and order food, Elaine did her best to stay patient, but she was ready to crawl out of her skin. “Varric,” she said tensely “can you tell me now?”

The dwarf was expertly shuffling a deck of cards.

“Trouble, it would be my pleasure.” He grinned, “Pull up a chair.” He started dealing.

Chapter Text

Holding a hand of cards with numb fingers, Elaine heard more about what happened behind her back in the past several days. She was perched comfortably on Anders’ lap, and he was playing her hand for her. No one seemed to mind.

“You and Fen’Harel were playing a different game than we were, Trouble.” Elaine didn’t like her nickname. “We don’t give a shit if he has the orb or if he’s a god. We just want him to mind his own damn business.”

“Marcus was very helpful… when I asked the right questions.” Hawk’s voice was soft, almost sympathetic. “But he always talked about events. Chantry explodes, Mage-Templar war, Conclave, Inquisition, and so on. He had already given the story to Solas, so I got to hear mostly what Solas heard. An Inquisitor leads the fight against Corypheus, the orb gets broken, he takes Mythall’s power.” His head shook, a sad smile on his lips. “I wanted to know about intentions. What does Solas want, and why? That other stuff won’t happen any more, but the intentions remain.”

Varric cut in, “And apparently, Fen’Harel’s whole deal is that he’s convinced we aren’t real, but there’s someone out there who can make him doubt that.”

“If the Inquisition does happen,” Hawk picked up where Varric left off. “It will be very different. No Corypheus, no explosion at the Conclave. But we need powerful allies, and someone strong enough, smart enough, dedicated enough to do the things the Inquisitor supposedly does? That’s a woman who rises to any occasion.”

“Daisy left to find Ellana Lavellen not long after you gave us two days to work with. We told her everything, and that she’s the only living being on Thedas who can protect us from the Dread Wolf. She’s agreed to keep an eye on Fen’Harel for as long as she can.”

“I had to keep negotiations going long enough for her to make it to Kirkwall. Sure, if he had agreed to a few hundred years’ delay I would have taken it.” Hawk shrugged like it made no difference. “But we’d have no way to hold him to it. And who knows what else he’d fuck up in the meantime? This way he’s got a personal challenge he doesn’t want to lose-”

“We hope.” Varric muttered softly.

Hawk continued, “and someone who theoretically can make him doubt his plans, even while she guards the world from him.”

There was a long pause as Elaine absorbed this. “How could you have been so sure he’d pick her?”

“I asked her to cover her vallaslin with makeup, just for today.” This time it was Merrill talking. Everyone leaned in slightly to make sure they could hear her. “We knew he wouldn’t like them. We also asked all the other elves to leave.” 

A new voice cut into their conversation.

“Truly I hoped it would be me chosen by the last of the Evanuris.” Morrigan herself walked up to the table, standing diffidently off to the side. “But ‘twas not to be. I would have enjoyed the expression on mother’s face, I think.”

“That would have made for a fun story!” Varric agreed, cheerfully. 

Elaine couldn’t help but stare at Morrigan, yet another surprise on an increasingly surprising day. The woman was dressed like an average traveler. She was beautiful, of course, but without jewelry or witchy clothes she had been an inconspicuous stranger in the crowd. 

“We have found the end of our bargain, young man. Twas an interesting experience.” Morrigan’s expression was one of cool distance, but not unkind. “If you have need of me, you may send a messenger. Do not intrude upon my dreams again.”

And without waiting for a response she walked away into the larger room, where she disappeared from sight.

Suddenly wondering if everyone in The Hanged Man was a plant, Elaine leaned into the hallway to look at who else was around. Varric gave a good natured laugh.

“Nah, we couldn’t seed the whole room. But there’s a few friends sitting around out there. They wouldn’t have agreed to the deal, and Fen’Harel would have needed to pick again.”  She suspected that his idea of ‘a few friends’ encompassed anyone visible from their vantage point.

“Why do you call him Fen’Harel, while Hawk calls him Solas?” The difference had been niggling at the back of her mind.

“Because Hawk has no sense of drama, that’s why!” Despite the cheer in his voice, Varric put on an air of disgust at his friend. “We tricked the god of trickery! If it wouldn’t ruin everything to write it down, it would be a best seller!”

“Until the Dalish hunt you down for heresy.” Merrill softly joked.

“Until the Dalish hunt me down for heresy.” Varric agreed, sighing. “And that’s only if the Chantry doesn’t get to me first.”

Even though there were a million more things she wanted to know, Elaine was getting tired of asking questions. She watched as everyone drew and discarded cards in turns, utterly confused about what they were trying to accomplish without actually placing any bets.

“I do have a question for you, Anders.” Hawk finally interrupted the silence. “Are you still an abomination, or is Justice actually gone?”

Anders grinned at the dumbfounded faces around the table. “We can thank Solas, or whatever you want to call him, for that. And yes, to answer your question, I am no longer joined with Justice.”

“How?” 

“I honestly couldn’t tell you. I managed to sleep through a lot of this adventure.” He didn’t seem too upset about that, and pulled Elaine a little closer on his lap as if he were afraid he’d lose her again. “But Justice is well. And I feel better than I have in a long time.”

“Thank goodness for that!” Varric exclaimed, followed by “You can come out now, Broody. You missed all the fun.”

Fenris appeared from the shadows and pulled a chair close to Hawk. He nodded amiably at Elaine, then Anders. “I am pleased for your good fortune, Mage. I have never seen an abomination reversed.”

“The Avvar can do it.” Elaine mused, trying to remember. “They join with spirits peacefully, and then the spirit leaves just as peacefully.”

“Are you sticking around, Trouble? Might have some questions for you, if you are.” Varric and Hawk were carefully not looking at her, as if they suddenly cared about their cards. Merrill however was staring with big, shining eyes as though she could see into Elaine’s soul.

“You can ask whatever questions you like, Master Tethras.” Elaine finally said. “I’m not telling you shit unless I want to. And by the way, I hate my nickname. And-” she continued despite his laughter threatening to override her voice. “And like I said before, I will not be traipsing about Kirkwall on your or Hawk’s heels.”

“Of course not.” Fenris rumbled. “You’d be a liability in a fight.”

“It would be much safer for you to stay here.” Merrill agreed, “Away from the action.”

“No, you know that’s not what I meant-” 

“Blondie, don’t play her cards for her. She gets her own chair. And no peeking!” 

Varric sounded outraged, as though he suddenly noticed that she wasn’t playing the game herself. Without paying attention to Elaine’s half hearted protests, Anders pulled another chair next to himself and plonked her down onto it, symbolically solidifying her independent presence at the table. Varric dealt her another hand.

“This game makes no sense!” She complained. “You’re not placing bets, you’re not even looking at the cards half the time!”

“You’ll pick it up.” Varric assured her. “And the lady is right, we need to raise the ante!”

“That is absolutely not what I said!”

Anders leaned over to kiss her temple, sneaking a peek at her cards even while he guarded his own, she noted with alarm. “Don’t worry about them,” his voice was too gleeful to be comforting. “Now it’s me you need to worry about.”

They played with tokens not unlike poker chips, and it became obvious quickly that no one expected those tokens to ever be exchanged for money. It was equally obvious that Anders and Varric were in a cheating war, with everyone else amusedly playing around them.

Elaine had fun despite herself. She didn’t know where this was going to go from this point, how much they’d need to keep managing Solas going forward, or how she and Anders were going to keep pushing the Circles to improve the lives of mages. 

She couldn’t see the future, after all. And now no one else could either.

CUT CONTENT:

“But if this was all part of your plan, why did you complain at Hawk and act like you thought Solas was buying someone?” Elaine was still confused and really hoped to get a glimpse behind the con-man’s curtain.

Varric didn’t seem to mind sharing his secrets.

“He has to think he’s pulling one on us, or suddenly he gets suspicious!” Varric winked at her. “Being smart doesn’t mean you can’t be conned. Heck, sometimes that makes it easier. If you’re used to being the smartest person in the room, you don’t question whether you’ve outwitted someone else. Now Hawk, here…” 

Hawk rolled his eyes a little and grinned wryly at Varric, knowing what was coming.

“Hawk here is always the dumbest looking guy in the room. No one thinks they’re being tricked by a guy who looks like a house grew legs.”

“Thanks, Varric.”

“I mean, really. He looks as if someone shaved a druffalo and taught it to walk on its back legs.”

“She gets it, Varric.”

“If an ogre were to put on a-”

“Stop complimenting me, Varric.”

“And Morrigan,” Elaine wisely decided to change the subject. “You gave her information about the Well of Sorrows. Did you tell her about…” 

Her voice trailed off. Hawk and Varric had both lost their joking affects and were watching her with interest. Dammit they were waiting for her to blurt outlander secrets.

“Never mind.”  She decided not to continue that line of questioning. Morrigan would figure it out.

Chapter Text

Pulling herself to her feet after the service, Elaine gave all the normal smiles and bows as she made her way towards the exit.  She was attending fewer services now that she wasn’t accepting Chantry contracts, but Anders had stopped coming with her the moment it wasn’t part of a larger plan. 

The mage underground had finally started attacking lyrium shipments and the Chantry’s response was immediate. The Chantry tripled the guards on their shipments and launched a massive investigation to catch the perpetrators, but they were caught with their pants down, metaphorically speaking. Guerilla warfare tactics had members of the underground laying traps and disappearing, blending into a crowd at a moment’s notice. They had been hiding their whole lives after all, they were experts.

The dwarves of Orzammar supplying the lyrium didn’t provide much assistance. All the attacks were happening above ground, and the sale had already been made. They tried packaging the substance in sturdier containers to withstand attack, but it wasn’t enough to offer real protection.

Some templars become more violent. The ones who had only recently joined were more likely to leave when the supply was disrupted, risking withdrawal symptoms that may be weaker with a more recent joining. The highest ranking templars always got lyrium, while the lowest ranking were more likely to go without if there was a shortage, causing dissent within the order.

It was a work in progress, but anything that weakened the Chantry’s grip on templars gave mages opportunities. 

Mark had lost credibility, but thankfully the furor around killing outlanders had long since petered away. He was still lodged at the Keep in case he knew anything helpful. It was a cheap investment on the part of the city. The real danger to his life now was from his own damn inexperience. Feeling bad about bullying him, Elaine had offered to walk him down the street for a meat pie. Watching him cringe and wince away from complete strangers made her want to mug him. He practically screamed ‘helpless target.’ No wonder he had been so grateful for a constant guard. She bought him a pie, then walked him right back to the Keep.

True to his word, Hawk had returned the orb to Solas after a few letters to coordinate a drop off. They got regular updates from Ellana, but no one actually trusted their contents. It seemed as though she and Solas were getting along pretty well, and they caught two different handwritings on the most recent letter. The important message was that the two were still traveling together. 

Hawk was declared the Champion of Kirkwall despite all the ‘plot’ changes. He had defeated the Arishok, saved the city from the Qunari, and worked to enforce a very tense peace between Orsino and Meredith. When her red lyrium sword mysteriously disappeared she became a tyrant in the attempt to find it, but eventually calmed back down to- if not reasonable- manageable levels. 

Eventually Cassandra came sniffing around, looking for Hawk. She found him where he could always be found: In the back of The Hanged Man conspiring with Varric.

Elaine didn’t know what that conversation had been, but she knew that if the Inquisition was still being formed, Hawk was going to push everything he had towards getting Ellana Lavellen to be the Inquisitor. And if that meant he was going to start as Inquisitor, then have a mysterious accident at just the right moment for her to come in and save the day, then Elaine would pretend to be surprised.

It was fascinating to watch them work. He surrounded himself with experts and specialists, then he trusted them to get their jobs done. He accomplished so much just by being the Big Dumb Warrior everyone underestimated, while his friends went almost unnoticed and saved the day. Varric was undoubtedly the brains of the operation, but she had personally seen Hawk give quiet suggestions and make off-the-cuff changes that showed how brilliant he really was.

Elaine had gotten a better apartment much closer to Hightown. This one had a door that actually opened and closed without needing to jam your shoulder into it. She was trying to convince Anders to officially move in, but he still ended up staying in the clinic one night out of four. 

Entering her home, she immediately smelled some kind of stew cooking and saw Hawk and Bolster playing cards at the table while Anders, Varric, and Fenris were discussing something in the kitchen. Quietly standing at the back wall, Merrill was gently cradling a small travel bag in her arms and watching in her creepily observant way.

Hawk looked up and waved as she took in the tableau. “There she is!”

“Noooope!” Elaine didn’t close the door behind herself, leaving it as an easy exit. “Whatever you’re involved in this time, the answer is no.” She held out both hands in front of her as if they could block the schemes from getting close.

“Come on, Trouble, you haven’t even heard what it is yet!” Varric looked too happy. Shit, this was going to be a big one. “Sit down, we’ll fill you in!”

“I haven’t recovered psychologically from the last one.” Elaine was only exaggerating a little. The last mission they had pulled her into was nothing but feeding her a series of increasingly ridiculous lies to keep her distracted, culminating in using her good reputation to obscure everyone else’s involvement into something she still didn’t understand. “And the more you pull me in, the more everyone will think I’m working for you!”

She was mostly backed out the doorway now, just a few steps left…

“It would be… a personal favor…” Bolster said slowly. “Very important to me.” 

Everyone in the room was a consummate liar and professional cheat. Except Bolster. Who was lying so badly that he may as well have been reading the words off his hand. She glared at Varric. 

“Really, Varric? Using poor Bolster like this?”

He shrugged, shameless. “It actually will help him. Did you know Bolster’s wife is with child? Due in a few months.” He shook his head with exaggerated sadness. “A little extra money would sure help them a lot…”

She knew when she lost. Which was… pretty much always against any of their machinations. She walked back into the room and closed the door behind her.

“Fine. But remember, I don’t work with children or animals.”

“Got it. Merrill, dispose of the kitten!” Hawk called out, pointing his finger at the window like he thought he was being funny. Anders’ eyes got wide and he lunged for the bag Merrill was holding.

“There’s a kitten?” Anders gasped. Merrill handed over the bag easily, and his face morphed into reverence as he opened the top. Elaine could practically hear an angelic choir singing as he reached into the bag and pulled a small ginger ball of fluff into the cup of his hand. In front of Elaine’s eyes he instantly soul bonded with the thing, rubbing his face against its ratty fur and laughing as it kneaded tiny claws into the meat of his thumb.

She was already glaring at Varric, so it took real effort to glare harder. He remained as shameless as ever. “We needed to make sure, in case Bolster wasn’t enough.”

“So, what, if I didn’t agree to help, you would threaten to throw a kitten out the window?”

“Of course not!” Hawk grinned, “If you hadn’t agreed to help, we were going to threaten to bring over a second kitten.”

Anders was already sitting on the floor with the new love of his life shedding all over him. He looked up, expression hopeful.

As quickly as she possibly could to forestall questions about how many kittens were waiting in standby, Elaine pulled out a chair and sat down with Hawk and Bolster. 

“What do you need? I’ll do whatever you ask. For the love of god, talk fast!”