A/N: This is my first multi-chapter story. It will be broken up into 3 different stories with each story being an act from Dragon Age: II – It is A/U and the characters are OOC but I will loosely follow the events of the game. Please read and review. I apologize for spelling and grammar mistakes and will try to fix any found.

Disclaimer: I only provided the plot. Everything else is owned by BioWare and EA.

Trust in Him

Isabela was at the bar in her usual place, drinking her usual cup of spirits. She was ignoring the dimwitted man that was spouting horrible lines of poetry that he thought were clever enough to land in her bed. She grimaced and turned her attention on a table near her. Merrill and Bethany were sitting there along with Anders. They had started a game of cards but none of them seemed to be concentrating on their hands.

Isabela smiled when she noticed Hawke coming in the pub followed by the lanky elf, Fenris, and the silver tongued dwarf, Varric. They spotted the table where their companions were sitting and greeted them. Hawke made her way to the bar and nodded at the dark haired beauty. At the same time, Isabela caught a glimpse of dirty blonde hair in the corner. He seemed to be deep into several pints of ale that evening but that was not what she really noticed. No, what she really noticed was how his eyes followed Hawke. He was staring intently at the warrior, clearly interested in seeing more of her. The pirate smirked and began to think of a way to get them together. She cared about Hawke and wanted to see her happy. She knew that the man in the corner seemed to be a hopeless drunk but she remembered him from her time in Denerim. There, he had been a powerful warrior, a Grey Warden. She finished her drink and made her way to him.

He knew his drinking was worse than it had ever been. He was well aware that everyone in The Hanged Man thought he was just a drunken lout with no prospects but he didn't care. The female warrior that was called Hawke had been coming in almost nightly for the last few months and he had been drawn to her beauty from the first. He would stare at her every time, thinking of ways to get her attention. He never got beyond that other than the fantasies that he had of her every night. He would have a couple of drinks to bolster his courage but instead, it would just confirm his fear that he would never be good enough for her. He sighed and looked over at where she was sitting with her friends and that is when he noticed Isabela coming towards him. Yes, he remembered meeting her at The Pearl in Denerim over a year ago. Back when he was still a Grey Warden. Back when he still believed in justice and loyalty. Back before he was betrayed by the woman he thought he'd loved. Thinking of that made him grimace as the dusky pirate sat herself down across from him.

Alexia Hawke, known as Lexie to her friends, when they weren't calling her by her surname, sat drinking the swill the pub tried to pass off as ale. She was watching her friends and sister talking about their day. She listened to Varric spin a tale about what they had been up to before they got there. They had gone to investigate a cave on the Wounded Coast that supposedly had blood mages in hiding. No such luck. Instead, they had found several large spiders and broken crates that held nothing of value. She chuckled when Varric described a spider that was as large as ten Arishoks and how he and Bianca had bested it. Really, it was an average sized spider and although Varric helped, he was not the one covered in foul spider bits after it was all said and done. She looked around for her friend, Isabela and finally spotted her talking to the sexy, man in the corner. She was well aware that he was usually pretty drunk by this time at night but that didn't detract from his good looks. She had never spoken to him directly but she couldn't help but notice him all this time and she often wondered what he would be like, fully sober. He seemed to have a soldier-type build as he was all muscle which she expected was from heavy armor and wielding a sword. She imagined something terrible happened and that was why he sat and drank most every night. Lexie wondered what Isabela was doing over there as she hadn't ever said much about him before other than she had met him briefly while in Denerim.

Isabela looked at the man sitting across from her. "What the hell are you doing here? I mean, what could be so bad that you've pickled yourself since being here?" she asked, as blunt as usual. She was determined to hear his story. She was usually a 'live and let live' kind of person and didn't interfere when it came to others' love lives, but there was something about him that made her think he could be perfect for her friend. Or at least he'd be good for a lusty night that would put a real smile on Lexie's face.

He frowned and finished his drink. He contemplated about ignoring her but she seemed too determined to leave it alone. Finally, he spoke, "I'm here drowning myself in this shite that passes for ale because it was that or my life. In one fell swoop, and we all know swooping is bad, everything I thought was true and right was wiped out by a vicious bitch." He looked at his empty cup and sighed.

"Are you talking about that mage you were with when I saw you in Denerim?" Isabela asked. She remembered that the raven haired mage had asked about learning to duel and was highly offended when the pirate had explained that because she used magic and wasn't the rogue type she would be unable to fight the same way. The rogue elf, Zevran had been with them at the time. He smoothed things over as much as he could but Isabela could see he was unhappy about the whole situation and she had seen a look of contempt that he sent the mage's way. Later, when she and Zevran had met up on her ship for a passionate reunion, he told her quite a bit about said mage and the man that had accompanied her.

"Yes, I know what you're thinking. I should have listened to the others when they told me that she was not to be trusted. I didn't though; I thought that she loved me as much as I loved her." Alistair said.

Isabela gave him a calculated look and said, "Look, you can sit here and feel sorry for yourself getting pissed every night or you can get off your arse and be a man." She stood up from the table. "I have a feeling that there is something or someone that would be perfect motivation, Your Highness." With that, she swaggered over to her friends and left Alistair with much to think about.

Lexie was thinking about leaving for the night when Isabela sat next to her. "You need to let your hair down and live a little, sweet thing." She told Hawke. "You could have your choice of delights if you just looked around you."

Lexie groaned and shook her head. "Leave it to you, Bela. I am quite fine without complicating my life with a relationship." She glanced quickly over at the corner where that gorgeous man was sitting. Isabela noticed and rolled her eyes. She was going to have to work much harder than she thought at this. Oh well, she thought. Not like I'm going anywhere soon without my ship.

Lexie stood up and said good bye to her friends and headed out with Bethany following her. She noticed that Fenris had also decided to take his leave and fell into step with the sisters. She had noticed that the elf had been doing that as of late. Her first thought was that he wanted to talk to her but he never started any conversations during the short jaunt to her uncle's hovel so she had come to the conclusion that he had appointed himself as a body guard to the Hawke sisters. While they were quite capable at defending themselves, she was touched that he would make such a gesture. In spite of his outward appearance and broody personality, he was being a gentleman and she thought it very sweet. Of course, she'd never tell him that, but it did make her smile knowingly. Maker only knew what he'd say to that.

"Good night, Fenris." Lexie said as they reached home. He nodded and waited until they were inside before he continued on to Hightown to his borrowed mansion.

Still sitting inside the pub, Anders had watched Fenris as he followed the sisters out the door. He had noticed that it was a regular occurrence as of late and he wasn't happy about it. Not only did Anders dislike Fenris, but Justice seemed to hate the Tevintor elf. Anders was infatuated with Lexie Hawke. He thought that she was beautiful and enchanting. She wasn't a mage hater either as her deceased father had been one and of course, she was very protective of her magical sister. She was much too kind and smart to be with the elf that hated everything magic. That was the deciding factor for Justice. He just knew that if allowed, Fenris would try to convince her that mages didn't deserve freedom. The healer would have to find a way to prevent anything developing between those two and at the same time, he would figure out a way to pursue Lexie for himself.

Alistair had watched Lexie and her sister leave. He saw the elf with the shock white hair and strange markings follow close behind and wondered what his relationship was Lexie. Even in his drunken stupor, he'd not seen any evidence of anything other than some sort of friendship between them. In fact, he'd noticed Isabela making moves on him and it never seemed to bother Lexie so it wasn't a romance going on between them. Alistair looked at his empty cup and decided he'd had enough to drink. In fact, since the sultry voiced pirate had spoken to him earlier, he had decided that he was going to make some changes. He wasn't fool enough to think that he'd wake up in the morning and be like he was before the blight or even during the blight, but he was determined he was done being the damned drunk. With that final thought, he got up from the table and went up to his rented room and to bed.

Varric was not only a fiendishly handsome rogue dwarf, but he had an arsenal of talents that he utilized. He spun fantastic stories, played cards, and drank everyone but Isabela under the table all at the same time while still observing all that was going on around him. He had been aware of Lexie's sneaking glances at the ex-Grey Warden, Alistair for some time now. He knew that the ex-Warden had been staring at her as well. He had enough contacts to know quite a bit about him and thought that he'd be an asset to their group if he could stop getting completely pissed all the time.

The dwarf was also very aware of Anders fixation of Lexie. He sensed a potential problem in the unforeseeable future as he was relatively sure that the feelings would not be reciprocated by the pretty warrior. He had concern about the angry glowing spirit that was riding on Blondie's shoulders and was quite sure they were headed towards disaster if Justice was allowed to rule the healer. He shook his head and glanced down at his hand. Nope, he wasn't going to be walking away with a pile of coin tonight but he'd make up for it tomorrow. He got up from the table and motioned for the Dalish mage to follow him upstairs. He'd let her use the cot he had in his rooms so she wouldn't have to walk back to the Alienage alone. "Come on Daisy. It's time for you and Bianca to hit the hay." He lovingly stroked his crossbow. He saw Isabela smirk his way and then she blew a kiss. "That had better not have been for Bianca, Rivaini." He growled. Isabela just laughed and told Merrill good night before sauntering off to the bar.

Anders was the last to leave The Hanged Man. He headed straight for Darktown and his clinic. He wanted to write a few more pages of his manifesto before going to bed and he had already wasted enough time watching the others acting like nothing was wrong in Kirkwall. He knew better. He trusted his instincts but even more, he trusted Justice.