Prompt from dragonagekink. Original prompt: Wee!Hawke/Fenris Vows: Because Fenris being around children is hilarious and endearing. Because Fenris being growly and protective is hot and sexy. And Hawke needs someone to take care her/him sometimes. So Hawke gets turned into Wee!Hawke and somehow Templars threaten Wee!Hawke so Fenris pulls out all the stops as Anders does not have a monopoly on glowy protective vengeance.I prefer F!Hawke because in my head canon Hawke was a completely girly girl when she was little playing Rebels and Orlesians but always had to be the Hero of River Dane and save everyone. So props if you pull a princess and her knight, especially when wee!Hawke becomes Lady!Hawke again.
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Fenris
I had watched her for these long years, always longing to be close, but too afraid to make a move. I had missed my chance. We had kissed once, but I had run like a scared child.
After my debacle with Hadriana I had gone to her house. I had hurt her. I had seen it. She wasn't the one I was mad at, but that hadn't stopped me from yelling at her and shoving off her offer of comfort. I had apologized, trying to explain it. And she had been infuriatingly Abby. Kind and understanding. I wanted her to be mad at me. I wanted her to make me feel better. Her kindness always filled me with guilt. I didn't deserve it.
Instead of yelling, she had gently asked if I was alright. She had said she had been worried about me. She had watched me with those compassionate eyes and undone me. I had confessed all my woe to her. Trying to put into words all the anger and hate I felt. How it was consuming me. She listened quietly. Almost reaching out to take my hand. But we had had that conversation a few days before. I didn't like to be touched. I let her think it was the pain of the markings. It was partly that, but so much more. She was too good to be damaged by the taint that was me.
She had then asked about what I wanted to do about my sister. Did I want to find her? Abby offering to help me. I had ranted at the futility of it all. I knew this hurt her. She desperately missed her family. It was a painful subject for her. They were all gone now. Dying one by one until Abby was all alone.
I turned to leave, and she did the one thing I hoped she wouldn't. She reached out and caught my arm. Asking me to stay. I shoved her to the wall. At first in reaction to someone touching me, but as I watched her looking at me, my fear gave way to need. I kissed her. Letting all my churning emotions pour into the kiss. She was shocked at first, holding back from me, but then she had melted into me, careful to keep her hands on my armor. Even in that I had seen she cared. And it scared me. To let someone in was dangerous. For them and for me. I had shoved away from her and ran.
I started to go back a thousand times, but always held off. She was better off without me. She didn't need me to complicate her life. She was still reeling from the death of her mother. She didn't need me around. She didn't need anyone.
Abby was tough and independent. She didn't like to depend on others. She was there for all of us, but kept herself fairly closed off. I had started to get to know her, really know her. Staying close to her after her mother died. But that kiss seemed to spell the end of our closeness. We drifted apart a bit. And after she killed the Arishok she had avoided me for a while. Eventually things went back to normal between us. Or as normal as it could.
I was back by her side. Fighting for mages of all things. Only she could ever get me to do anything as foolish as that. She had always been understanding of my opinion on mages. And she made no apologies for her belief that mages deserved better than they got. Even her mother's death hadn't swayed her opinion on it.
That was how I happened to be in the secret tunnels that mages used to escape the Gallows and the templars used to smuggle in lyrium. She had asked, and I had agreed. With only a slight sneer for her taking Anders with us. It was his friend who was in trouble. Again. Nothing good came from helping his friends. Someday she would wake up and see this.
I hated magic. I always had. Nothing good ever came from it. It only tore lives apart. And it seemed today was going to be no different. I watched helplessly as my beloved Abby took the blow from the apostate mage she had been trying to help. The mage had resorted to blood magic, so mad with fear that she had been unable to see we were trying to help her. I wanted to rail at Abby that that was what happened when you tried to help mages, but I froze as I saw what had happened.
In place of Abby, was a tiny girl. She looked around confused. Hawke's armor hanging off of her as it was too large. I knew without a doubt that I was looking at Abby when she had been a child. The little girl lifted her big eyes to me, fear clearly visible in them.
"Hawke?" Anders asked shocked as the mage was finally subdued.
She turned away from me and looked at him. Varric moved closer to her. "Is that you, Hawke?" He asked as he crouched down.
She made a small whimpering noise that tore my heart apart. I moved like lightning and pulled her into my arms. She looked at me for a second before her tiny arms wrapped around my neck and she buried her face in them. The armor dropped away, leaving her in a far too large chemise.
"It's going to be alright." I promised her as she began to cry. I wasn't so sure it was going to be alright, but I couldn't let her be afraid. Somehow, someway this was going to be made right. I inclined my head to the others. "We need to get her out of here."
"The templars are going to want answers." Varric warned. "They're going to be waiting outside. Cullen was doing us a favor by giving us this head start."
"Then we tell them the truth. She turned to blood magic. We hand her over and they will punish her as she deserves." I sneered at the unconscious mage keeping Abby pressed to me. I made a soothing noise as she cried.
"Fenris, they're going to take Hawke. She's been…changed." Anders said watching the small girl horrified.
"Please don't let them take me! Daddy said they were bad!" She wailed and clutched tighter to me.
"No one is going to take you, Abby. I won't allow it." I assured her. I looked at Anders. As loathe as I was to let a mage go, or ask for their help, I had no choice. This was beyond me. I would do whatever was necessary. Anything to save Abby. "Can you undo this?"
"I don't even know where to begin. I don't know what she did. I don't know how she did this. I've never seen or heard about anything like this." Anders shook his head and looked dazed. Abby pulled back from my neck a bit and eyed Anders and Varric before she turned back to me.
"I want to go home." She said, her eyes red rimmed from crying. Tears streaked down her tiny cheeks. "Daddy can fix this." I cringed at this. Why couldn't she have kept at least her memories? Magic ruined everything.
"Honey, do you know where you are?" Varric asked moving closer to us. She clung tighter to me and pressed her tiny head against my cheek.
"You're frightening her." I said as I shifted her so I was between them.
"We need to know what she remembers, Fenris."
"I want to go home." She said again. "Please." She begged looking at me. Her voice wavering as did her lip.
"Soon, Abby. I'll take you home as soon as I can. I won't let anything happen to you." I promised. She snubbed and then curled into my neck again. I turned back to Anders. "Do you think the mage will know what to do?"
"I don't know. She was out of her mind, but she's our best option, short of handing her to the templars." Anders nodded. Abby whimpered and I tightened my arms around her.
"We are not letting them near her." I scowled at him.
"I wasn't suggesting we hand her over, Fenris." Anders snapped at me.
"Then what are we going to do?" Varric asked.
"Go and get the others, Varric. We need someone to watch her. Anders, can you carry the mage?"
"I thought you wanted the mage handed over to the templars." He snapped frowning at me.
Abby gasped and pulled back to look at me wide eyed. "You would turn a mage over to the templars? They…they would kill them. Please, please, don't!" Abby begged and began to struggle against me.
"Shush, Abby, no one is taking the mage to the templars. She's coming with us. She will undo this. We'll get you back." I promised. She looked confused but nodded slowly. "Varric, take her things and go for the others. Meet us back at my house. Anders, you said there was a way out of here, right?" I waited for him to nod. "Then get the mage and come on. Danarius had…ways to keep a mage 'safe' there." I said cutting my eyes to Abby who watched me. Anders nodded slowly.
"I suppose that will have to work. We'll see what we can do, I'm so sorry, Hawke. I never should have asked for your help with this." Anders said watching Abby for a moment.
"Why do you keep calling me Hawke? That's what Daddy's called." She frowned at him. She then turned to me. "Where is Daddy?"
"Away, Abby." I answered after sharing a glance with Anders and Varric.
"And Mother?" She asked looking worried.
"Away as well." She frowned and sighed.
"Did they take Carver and Bethany too?"
"Yes." I answered. How were we supposed to explain to her that all of her family were dead? It was too cruel. I couldn't bear to see her deal with the loss again.
"They left me?" She asked, her voice wavering again.
"They had to, Abby. Don't worry, sweetheart. We'll take good care of you." Anders promised giving her a smile. She bit her lip and looked back at me.
"I know you, but I can't remember why." She said watching me. My heart clenched painfully at that. I knew what it was like to lose your memories. I forced myself to smile at her in what I hoped was an encouraging way.
"We're friends." I nodded to her as we started off through the tunnels.
Varric had left through the front to buy us time with the templars. I wasn't sure how he would manage to talk his way out of the situation, but he had managed all these years. Always surprising me with his wild stories that never seemed to fail to get us out of whatever mess Abby had found.
"I like your vallaslin." Abby said moving one hand off my neck to lightly trace the pattern down my neck. "I've never seen white markings though." She looked up at me.
"You know what vallaslin means?" I asked.
"We trade with the clans a lot." She said it in a way as if I should have known this. "Is that how we know each other?" She asked.
"I'm not Dalish." I said before shushing her. I could hear boots clomping through the tunnels. I looked at Anders. His eyes were wide.
"Templars." He said. I crouched down and put Abby on her feet. She looked at me fearfully.
"It will be alright, Abby. I will never let them take you from me. Trust me." She nodded and moved back to the shadows, clinging to a rock as she watched us. Anders dropped the mage behind some other rocks and we braced for the templars.
"What's this? A mage in the tunnels? Our lucky day boys. Knight-Commander's giving bonuses to any who catch a runaway mage." Laughed the helmed templar.
"I suggest you move on. We are on a mission for the Knight-Commander." I answered them. I didn't want to defend Anders. I would have loved to let them take the abomination who enjoyed calling me a beast, but to do so would hurt Abby. And that wasn't something I was willing to do.
"Right, and we're supposed to believe that?" Laughed the templar.
"They are on a mission for the Knight-Commander. Stand down, Roberts." Cullen said appearing with a couple of other templars from the opposite way. "Where is Hawke? Varric said something strange about she wasn't feeling like herself and took a short cut to get home. I came to make sure she was alright."
"Gone." Anders and I both said as I shifted over slightly to farther shield Abby. Cullen narrowed his eyes at us.
"I'm to believe she came into the tunnels with the three of you and left without us seeing her by herself? You two are never far from her side. Further more, I highly doubt she would ever leave you alone in these tunnels, Anders. She would know you were only safe with her." Cullen said crossing his arms. "I ask you again. Where is she?"
"We can make him talk." Offered what had to be Roberts.
"Try it, templar." Anders snarled. I could see him struggling with Justice. This was going to get out of hand soon.
"I won't let you hurt one of my friends!" Said a little voice from beside me. I turned and watched horrified as Abby moved to stand in front of Anders. She placed her tiny hands on her hips, the sleeves of the chemise falling over her hands, and glared at the towering templars. She was in far too much danger for my comfort. From the templars and from Justice or Anders or whatever they called themselves.
"Sweet Maker! That cannot be Hawke!" Cullen crouched down to look at her. "How?" Cullen asked looking at us. His eyes cut back to her.
"Abby, come back to me." I ordered and held my hand out to her. She looked at Cullen and then reached out for me. Cullen placed his hand on her shoulder, keeping her in place. She looked at him fearfully. I couldn't stop myself and began to glow. I took a step closer and loomed over the crouched templar. He spared me a glance before looking back at her.
"What happened, Abby?" He asked.
"I'm not supposed to talk to templars." She said and tried to tug away from him.
"Sweet Maker! She doesn't remember anything, does she? What magic is this?" Cullen asked looking at us. She made a small frightened noise again, squeezing my heart painfully. Abby was always so strong. So tough. She never relied on anyone. To see her so frightened and fragile filled me with an overwhelming need to protect her. More so than usual. And this time, she would allow it.
"Release her at once!" I snarled at him. Cullen let her go and she scrambled behind me, clinging to my leg.
"The Knight-Commander is going to want to see this. Bring her with us." Cullen said as he stood up.
"No." I replied. He turned back to me slowly.
"Excuse me?" He asked. I had challenged him once before when he had started to bow up to Abby. I wasn't afraid of him, or all the templars around him. They wouldn't even wind me if I needed to kill them. But it would frighten Abby. And for some reason she…well, grown up Abby, liked Cullen. She said he was an alright sort even if he was a templar.
"We are taking her home. She's frightened and been through enough. I will not allow you templars to poke at her."
"She needs to be contained until someone can figure this out." Cullen said angrily.
"Contained? She isn't a danger, she's a child!" I snapped at him.
"We would take care of her." Cullen responded.
"Right. Cause templars are so understanding and nurturing." Anders scoffed.
"This doesn't need to be a fight. You can stay with her until the Knight-Commander decides what to do about her." Cullen tried again.
"There is no one going to do anything to her. I am taking her home. If you try to stop me, I will kill you." I said simply. I held out my hand for Abby. She took it and looked up at me. Her eyes full of trust. I waited glaring at the templars. Daring them to object. Finally Cullen took a step back.
"Fine. Take her home, but do not try to run with her. I'll explain it as best I can to Meredith. Maybe Orsino can find a solution to the problem. Too bad the mage got away." He said narrowing his eyes at me.
"As you can imagine we were a little busy trying to figure out what happened to Abby." I said never lying or admitting anything. I could tell he didn't buy the story, but he was going to let it go for now.
"Let's go." Cullen said ordering the men to move out. The others did, Roberts more reluctant than the others. Cullen looked back at Abby one last time. He shook his head and disappeared down an opposite tunnel.
"That was close. We should hurry." Anders said grabbing up the mage.
"Are you alright?" I asked crouching down to Abby. Her lip was out again. She was a cute little thing.
"Fenris?" She asked her eyes big and sad. "Something's wrong with me, isn't it?"
"It's going to be alright, Abby. We need to keep moving. Can I carry you?" I asked holding my arms out to her. She didn't even hesitate to move into them. I gathered her close and hurried through the tunnels trying to keep calm so I didn't frighten the tiny girl who was trusting me.