Hawke's blade connected with the hurlock's with a clang, sending a painful reverberation up her arm all the way to her shoulder. The hurlock didn't give an inch; it growled and leaned all of its weight onto his blade, pushing Hawke slowly backwards with inhuman strength.

Not good, Hawke thought. She kicked at the creature's legs in an attempt to disturb its footing, but the weight pushing against her blade made her lose hers instead. The stone rushed to meet Hawke's backside, making her wince, but she refused to lower her blade.

The hurlock stood over her and let out a monstrous sound Hawke could only assume was a laugh. Fury bubbled up in her stomach and all combat knowledge left her mind; all she wanted to do was land a hit. With a cry, she struck at the leg, only registering Anders' cry of "NO!" as her blade sank into flesh and the hurlock cried in pain.

Something heavy landed on top of her, knocking the wind from her lungs. A dirty blonde ponytail smacked her in the face, and Hawke could make out a burst of light, a spurt of black blood, and the hurlock flying backward.

Hawke laid there for a minute trying to absorb what the hell was going on. Anders was on top of her. Why the hell was Anders on top of her? She waited a moment, trying to give him time to explain, but he just laid there, shoulders heaving with deep breaths.

Ok, so it was up to her. "Anders, if you want to bed me, you could at least wait until we're out of the Deep Roads."

Not even a smile. Maker, he must really be upset this time.

"Anders, are you alright?"

"Am I alright?" Anders stood up and offered Hawke a hand, despite his narrowed eyes and edgy tone. "Am I alright? Do you realize what you almost did?"

"Won a fight all by myself, like a big girl?"

Still no smile. Yeah, he was definitely pissed. "I don't doubt your ability to take care of yourself, but you would have covered yourself in darkspawn blood!" Now Hawke noticed the black splatters across Anders' face and robes. "Do you realize what happens to people who ingest darkspawn blood?"

A little stunned by Anders' mood, Hawke simply shook her head.

"They're infected with the taint. Hawke, I've seen people die of the taint! And I've seen what the darkspawn do to women who survive…" Anders shuddered at some memory Hawke couldn't even guess at. "Do you have any idea what I would do if you… If… "

There he went again. This damn mage somehow managed to go from angry to vulnerable at paces that kept Hawke reeling. She almost put her hand on the mage's shoulder, but remembered the blood at the last moment and pulled it back to her chest. "I'm sorry, Anders. I didn't mean to worry you."

Anders looked like he was about to say something, but decided against it. He just looked her up and down, a visual double check that no blood had reached her.

But he was covered. "What about you?"

"Me? Well, that's one of the real perks of being a Grey Warden; I'm immune." A crease formed between the mage's eyebrows. "Well, sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Grey Warden secret. The bottom line is that, unlike you, I'm in no danger of being poisoned in battle."

"You're sure?"

"Absolutely. So, while we're down here, consider me your own personal meat shield. In the best way possible, of course."

"I can think of more pleasant uses for your body than that."

Anders looked away. "I've told you, Hawke, don't go there. It won't end well."

Hawke shrugged to cover her frustration. "Well don't blame me; you're the one marketing your meat."

The mage frowned, but his voice softened a little at the joke. "Just promise me you'll be more careful down here."

" 'Blood and bile' was never really my color anyway."

"Really?" Varric strode toward them from across the room, Bianca resting against his shoulder. "I think you looked positively ravishing sporting that drake blood in the Bone Pit. Added a little danger to those feminine wiles of yours."

Hawke mock-gasped. "Varric, I can't believe you're discussing my feminine wiles in front of Bianca. Won't she be jealous?"

"Oh, Bianca knows she's the only woman for me." The dwarf patted the handle of his crossbow fondly. "Speaking of feminine wiles, where's Sunshine?"

Anders frowned. "Now that you mention it, I haven't seen her since that second wave of grenlocks."

Hawke tried to remember the flashes of action she'd vaguely noticed behind her targets. "There were a few grunts trying to get past her ice spells, but Varric picked the survivors off before I could get to her."

Hawke's chest tightened, making it difficult to breathe. What if something happened? Hawke surveyed her surroundings, looking for any signs of movement, but all she could see was stone and darkness and darkspawn bodies.

She caught Anders' concerned gaze. "Hawke, Bethany's a strong mage. I'm sure she's fine."

"Blondie's right. She's probably just up ahead." Varric nodded toward the passage. "Come on, let's go find her."

Hawke didn't need to be told twice. Not caring about whether Varric could keep up with his short legs, she ran around that damned bend and into a much more open cavern. Stalagmites (or was it stalactites? Andraste's ass, who cared?) hung far overhead, and a cliff separated the dwarven ruins they stood on from the mostly undisturbed deep roads on the other side. A few seared grenlock bodies littered the ground, telling Hawke that her sister had definitely come this way.

"Bethany? Bethany, where are you?"

"I'm here."

And there she sat, on a pile of rubble behind a paragon statue. A dead Hurlock lay at her feet, and the blade on the bottom of her staff sported a fresh splatter of thick black blood.

"Bethany!" Hawke broke into a run, but Anders somehow passed her and got there first. Probably all those years as a Warden and a wanted apostate.

"Are you hurt? Did you get any blood on you?"

Bethany shook her head. "I, uh, I'm having some trouble walking."

Anders crouched down next to her and frowned. Hawke was too far away to see what Anders saw, but his eyebrows knitted together and he glanced up at her sister. "I can heal your leg…"

It sounded like there was a "but."

"Anders," Hawke said, making an effort to keep her voice steady. "Is everything ok?"

Anders opened his mouth, but Bethany interrupted, "I'm fine, sis."

Hawke didn't like the look Anders gave Bethany at that comment.

Varric ran up next to Hawke and sighed. "Andraste's bulbous bosom, Sunshine, what have I told you about hand to hand combat?"

"Stay out of the fray and leave the brute force to the brute?"

Hawke gave Varric her best death stare. "HEY!"

Varric didn't even have the grace to look abashed. "I call it like I see it, Hawke."

Hawke's gaze fell back on Bethany, who winced as Anders pushed her pant leg up to get a clearer look at the wound. "Anders, will she be alright?"

Anders didn't respond. Blue light glowed on his hands and pulsed over Bethany's leg. Hawke knew better than to interrupt, so she just came closer and tried to get a better look.

Bethany sighed. "Sis, if you keep looking at me like that, your face will freeze that way."

Hawke tried to wipe the frown from her face, but she still felt like it came off as a kind of grimace.

"How are you feeling?" Varric asked.

The glow faded from Anders' hands and he stood up, pulling Bethany to her feet as well.

"I'm fine, see?" Bethany grabbed her staff from the ground and smiled at her sister the same way she'd always smiled at mother when she was caught with a dirty book.

Hawke couldn't prove a thing… for now. "Fine," she sighed, then looked to Anders. "Now can we please get out of here?"

Anders saluted. "Yes, Commander!"

"I told you to stop that."

"Sorry, sorry…" Anders led the way through a particularly tight corridor, pausing to duck under a stalag-something-or-other.

Hawke only had to dip her head to miss it. "No you're not."

"But it just feels so much like old times down here. Creepy dark tunnels waiting to collapse, darkspawn hoards lurking in the shadows waiting to eat our faces, and ancient forgotten horrors waiting for us to stumble right into them because apparently they have nothing better to do than terrorize wayward travelers. You can't blame me for feeling like I'm back with the Wardens."

Anders kept a brisk pace in these tunnels. Hawke had always assumed it had something to do with his memories of Amaranthine. But something seemed different now; Anders wasn't even slowing down to talk. He was, in fact, so far ahead that all Hawke could see was his back.

Bethany shook her head. "You didn't have to come, you know. I could have handled things just fine."

"No, it's better that I came. There are a few very important perks to having me around."

Ok, that set up was too good to ignore. "Like me getting to use your meat?"

"Blondie! In the Deep Roads, of all places?"

"Eeeeew. That's my sister, Anders."

The path narrowed and a few feet passed over a jagged cliff. Anders flattened his back against the wall and skirted the overhang without any hesitation. "I'll get you for this, Hawke."

Hawke hesitated before following him, careful not to look down. "Promise?" Left foot, right foot, keep moving, don't look down…

Anders turned around and tried to glare, but Hawke saw the humor in his eyes. It was kind of adorable. "I hate you."

Hawke's left foot met with nothing but air. I can't believe I let him distract me! She flailed her arms, trying to keep her balance, but Anders lunged across the distance between them to catch her by the waist. Hawke smiled gratefully. "And yet, here you are, offering your body to me."

Gripping Hawke tightly, Anders led her across what remained of the narrow path. "For business purposes only, I'm afraid." He let go as soon as they were both on solid land, but Hawke could have sworn his hands brushed against her curves ever so slightly, possibly instinctively.

"Dammit, Anders," Hawke pouted. "You're such a tease."

A smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, the mage tipped his head and led on.

Varric came up behind them and turned around to offer a hand to Bethany. As she crossed, he looked around the cavern. "This doesn't look like the way we came, does it?"

Hawke hadn't been paying attention, but now that she thought about it, she definitely didn't remember that ledge. "No, I don't think it is."

"It's… a shortcut," Anders said. He didn't wait for anyone to respond; he just started walking again.

Hawke jogged to catch up. "A shortcut? Then why didn't you mention it before?"

"Because I didn't know our destination then."

Hawke frowned.

"Look, I promise this will take us where we need to go." Something in Anders' tone and the way he just kept pressing on told Hawke that taking this route might be more important than he let on. And, Maker help her, she trusted him.

So, she bit her lip and followed, even though it felt strange not to be in the lead.

Quick author's note: Hey, guys! Thanks for reading! I absolutely LOVE feedback, so please leave me a review, even if it's about something you didn't like!