My super long Opening A/N which really needs a TL;DR:
Hello! Welcome to my not-so-simple retelling of DA2.
Why's it not-so-simple, you ask?
Well, as the summary suggests, none of the Hawke siblings were turned into ogre paste and are thus all happily wandering around. (To those curious, my Surana killed the ogre before the ogre killed one of them. Very handy that- she was a bit miffed with ogres after watching the King get hugged to death by one and didn't fancy seeing that happen again).
I will also be having my Warden, Neri Surana, turn up later on because her boyfriend wandered off to Kirkwall without her. Speaking of Anders, he's not joined with Justice in this-I know, I know, BIG change. Whatever will I do with the Chantry at the end of the fic now!? Well, you'll just have to read to find out, won't you?
You'll find I change things to suit my needs quite a bit in this. Like the terrible timeline at the start here? Yeah, I fixed the hell out of that by having the Hawke siblings do two years of servitude with Meeran, rather than one. I figured it would cost more to get three people into the city anyway. I also like changing up quests, so most while following the game's events, won't be quite as they are in the game- 'cause where would the fun in that be?
I do have to say, although I am loathe to do it because most of you won't want to give this a chance once I have, but this story is technically a sequel to my Awakening fic The Sacrifices We Make: Consequences of Choice. This will continue my Warden's story, once she arrives but I will be doing it in a way in which ALL can follow along. I'm rather good at that, explaining events without you ever having to click back to go read that first. Of course, I won't stop you if you do want to read a 300k Awakening fic *blushes* - yes in case you haven't noticed, I'm a word whore. Don't know when to shut up, me.
So, other than all that, this is a MHawke romance fic. He's a rogue. And a total grump here at the start of the story-meeting Fenris loosens him right up though. I fully expect these two boys to be fucking before the end of Act 1 because they have no idea that the word slow burn even exists. And Neri and Anders are also in a relationship already in this- Neri's other boyfriend, Zevran (yes you read that correctly, she's very polyamorous) is currently in Rivain. You can expect him to make an appearance a bit after Neri does. And eventually-like Act 2 eventually- Anders, Neri and Zev will all be in a wonderful poly threesome. That's the plan at least!
This story is, and will always be, mirrored on AO3, that also happens to be where you will most likely find most of the explicit scenes, should I write any. (Who am I kidding, I'll write loads). Regardless of that, it is still rated M because my characters are potty mouths and like to fuck a lot.
Finally, you can follow me on tumblr under chanty92 (link on my profile) to watch me flail about over DA hotties.
Oh and I need to throw out a huge thanks to ElyssaCousland for continuing to beta for me, you rock! And to Eclectify for the awesome artwork of Hawke and Fenris. Isn't it pretty!?
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy this story! 💛
The Hawkes
Two years, two fucking years, that's how long Theo and his siblings had been working for that greasy haired prick of a man, Meeran, and the Red bloody Irons. Having fled from the Blight in Ferelden, it had been their only way into the city. Their family had an estate, once; a title and gold too, but their sleazy uncle had squandered it all. Thanks to him, the only way into the city had been through their uncle's contacts in the mercenary group. It had taken Theo, Carver and Bethany two years to pay off that debt, but now their contracts were finally over. All three of them were finally free.
"I'd say it's been a pleasure, but it really hasn't," Theo sneered dryly to the old mercenary. Part of him knew that burning this particular bridge probably wasn't the smartest move on his part, but he couldn't help but lose his cool whenever his family were put in danger, something Meeran had done repeatedly as their contracts neared an end.
"You piece of shit; you ought to be grateful!" Meeran spat, the wrinkles on his brow deepening with his fury as he threw his arms out at his sides.
"Grateful?" Theo echoed incredulously. That was the last thing he felt toward the slippery bastard.
Meeran had been sending them out on more and more jobs, often back-to-back, as their servitude slowly drew to a close. Theo and the twins had been left completely exhausted by the end of it and their reaction times had suffered for it. All three of them had been injured at some point over the past few months and it had only served to make Theo all the more irate at Meeran for using them so carelessly. Simply put, he was sick and tired of the slave labour, the long hours, sleepless nights and Meeran's ugly mug always barking orders at him.
"Without me, you'd have been shipped off back to Ferelden long ago!" Meeran yelled.
Theo's lip curled in disgust. "I would have figured something else out," he stubbornly stated.
"The void you would have; you'd be nothing without me, dog."
"You fuck-"
Bethany suddenly grabbed a hold of his shoulders, stopping him from advancing on the merc. "We'll be leaving now," she said, her voice stern as she eyed the two of them with an unimpressed scowl.
She tightened her grip on her brother's arm, hoping his anger would abate quickly as it usually did. Theo and Meeran had been butting heads for months now and Bethany knew Theo was angry with the older man for overworking them all, for putting them in danger all of the time. But ending on such bad terms with one of the more successful mercenary companies in Kirkwall probably wasn't his finest moment, especially as the Red Irons had been the only thing protecting her from the Templars. With them gone - and now not even potential allies - Bethany couldn't help but worry. They had no plan, no idea what they would do next to get by, and that scared her more than she cared to admit. In Lothering it hadn't been so bad; she knew all of the Templar patrols, knew how to avoid them, but here in Kirkwall you could barely pop out to get freshly baked bread without running into the silver-plated horrors. It didn't help either that their patrols were less predictable; apparently the Knight Commander was zealous enough to constantly change the patrols in hopes of catching apostates out.
She tugged her brother back. "Theo, please," she begged. "Don't make a scene; what if the Templars see?" she cautioned.
It had the desired effect; Theo's anger dissipated and he took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. He gave her an apologetic look before he turned sharply and stormed away, back toward their home. She sighed and glanced at Carver, who was standing with his arms folded and looking unimpressed. He rolled his eyes at her and stalked off after their brother.
Bethany looked so sad, so worried, but there was little Carver could do to cheer up his twin when he was in such a gloomy mood himself. He was just as sick of Meeran as Theo was, and seeing as he was their only warrior, it was Carver leading most of the fights, keeping the bastards off of Bethany and his brother. Despite that, Theo was the only one he ever heard anyone talk about. They had even taken him to calling him Hawke. It was fucking idiotic; that was their family name! Carver was a Hawke too and yet he never got mentioned.
But it had always been like this; people just seemed to be drawn to his brother's easy smiles and loud laughs. Even at Ostagar it had been that way, though Carver was better at fighting darkspawn, all because of Theo's wit and charm. From day one Meeran had trusted Theo to get stuff done, to be in charge and Bethany and Carver were just 'the help'. His fists clenched at his sides. All his life he had been on the sidelines as his brother continued to impress and provide for them all. But they were free of Meeran now and Carver could finally be free of his brother; he just had to figure out what he wanted to do.
Bethany came to stand at his side, giving him a small watery smile as she looked up at him. He sighed and continued walking, trying to catch up with Theo. He couldn't help but scoff a little as he looked ahead, realising that he was literally walking in his brother's huge shadow thanks to the setting sun in front of them. The Maker really did have a sense of humour.
...
Theo trudged up the steps to their hovel of a home with Carver and Bethany following closely behind. He opened the door and was greeted by the sound of a crackling fire, the bubbling of a stew, and their mother rushing forward.
"My children, free from that awful mercenary at last!" she said gleefully, relief pouring off of her as she grabbed hold of Theo and crushed him to her, holding him tight as her arms wrapped around him, squeezing.
"Mother," Theo whined as he tried to untangle himself from her arms but that only made her cling to him harder.
"Oh my sweet boy," she crooned before finally pulling away so that he might breathe again. He crossed the room and stirred the stew while mother hugged his siblings half to death. She had cooked up their favourite it seemed: chunky vegetables and beef all bubbling together in thick gravy: the Hawke family recipe. After the day they'd had, he couldn't wait to simply sit down and relax for a while. He was knackered.
"Do you have any plans yet?" his mother asked. "What will you all do for work now?" Theo could feel eyes on him before he turned around and shrugged. Of course everyone was looking to him for answers; he was the oldest, the man of the house, and it was always up to him to figure things out. Only he had no answers this time.
"I haven't thought about it yet, not with Meeran overworking us so much lately," he freely admitted as he turned and began cutting up some bread to go with the stew.
"We need to find work or something," Bethany implored; the worry in her voice made his chest tighten with guilt. If he hadn't been such a dick to Meeran he might have been able to secure them a few more jobs to tide them over until they found something more permanent; it might also have allowed Bethany to maintain under the Red Iron's protection, at least for a little while. There was no chance of that now, though. "I won't be safe from the Templars now," she said apprehensively, making his shoulders tense as he continued to distract himself with menial tasks.
"The bloody Templars," Carver sighed roughly. "They're everywhere. How are we supposed to hide from them now?"
Why did his brother have to be such a bloody pessimist? Theo turned back around and glowered at him. "By doing whatever is necessary, as always," he replied sternly.
"I wasn't suggesting we give up!" Carver retorted indignantly, folding his arms crossly.
Theo ignored him, instead glancing at his sister who was being embraced by their mother still, offering her a reassuring smile. "It'll be alright, Beth; I won't let anything happen to you," he promised.
"Thank you," she replied sincerely, her doe-eyes looking a little less fearful now.
"A load of good that is considering you don't even know what we're going to do next!" Carver pointed out as he glared critically at him, his blue eyes looking extra icy tonight.
"Carver," Theo snapped wearily. "Can we please just have one night off before we start worrying about it all?" Carver at least had the good grace to look guilty as that glare dropped to the floorboards instead.
"Yes," his mother said. "This is supposed to be a night of celebration!" she insisted as she untangled herself from Bethany. "Come, let us eat together," she said as she made her way to the bubbling pot.
"Are we expecting uncle any time soon?" Theo asked, hoping that he would only need four bowls and not five. His mother shook her head.
"I don't think Gamlen will be home until later, dear. We'll save him some."
He sighed, nodding as he pulled the bowls out of the cupboard, adding bread to each before his mother served up the stew. Theo and his uncle usually didn't see eye to eye. He exhaled roughly through his nose. That was a bloody understatement. His uncle knew just how to get under his skin; he was always so ungrateful and yet expected so much. Theo couldn't stand him.
They sat down and ate amicably. Mother filled them in on the usual gossip: so and so was pregnant, so and so had an abusive husband; Theo had listened to most of it before his mind wandered. Despite wanting a night off, he couldn't quite bring himself to fully do that. He was already making a list in his head of all the contacts he had made through the Red Irons, people he had come to trust, more or less, and others who he might be able to reach out to for work. The list wasn't very long, however. Sure, people liked him well enough; it was easy to get people to like you when you smiled and charmed them, but Theo tended to keep most people in this city at arm's length, if he could help it. He had learnt quickly that most people were only out for themselves. If he was going to find a new employer, he'd want to know he could trust them not to throw him and his siblings under the cart when something went wrong, and something always went wrong. That didn't leave them with many, if any, options as of right now and that worry was eating away at him.
The door creaked open then and Gamlen stumbled in; Theo's nose crinkled as he got a strong waft of just what Gamlen had been spending his evening doing. His uncle kicked the door shut behind him, making the house shake and dust fall from the rafters into Theo's remaining stew. His fists clenched in frustration. He could already tell that he was too tired, too on edge for this to end well with his uncle.
"What ye eating?" Gamlen asked, swaying a little on his feet as he moved toward the table.
"It's stew," Bethany said with a smile.
"We saved you some, Gamlen," his mother said. "It's in the pot."
"Bet it's bloody cold by now," he grumbled as he staggered over to it.
"I can warm it up again, if you like," Bethany said as she eyed her uncle warily. They all knew it was like walking on eggshells around their uncle when he was drunk. Unlike the rest of his family though, Theo never bothered. He always had been terrible at stopping himself from saying whatever he was feeling.
"No," Theo said, "Uncle can light a fire if he wants it warm; serves him right for not being here when it was served up."
"You little shit," Gamlen said, his words slurred as he levelled a stony glare at him. "This is my house, boy," he said with irate arrogance. Haven't heard that one before, Theo thought ruefully.
"I'd hardly call this a house, uncle," he retorted with a disdainful snort.
"It's a damned sight lot better than you deserve!" Gamlen shouted belligerently, throwing his arms out in annoyance as he took a threatening step forward.
"And it's a lot fucking less than we are owed!" Theo all but snarled as he pushed up to his feet to go nose to nose with his uncle.
"Boys! Stop it, please," his mother begged tearfully, her damp eyes flicking between them both, and just like that Theo's anger was gone. He sat back down in his chair, looking contrite. Gamlen, on the other hand let out a scathing chuff of laughter.
"Know what? I ain't hungry," he said before he stormed across the room and into the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him, making yet more dust fall into Theo's now cold stew.
"I swear, I will get us out of this damned hovel even if it kills me," Theo sighed as he wearily shook the dust from his dark hair.
"Don't say such things, darling; the important thing is that we're all here, together, as a family," his mother said as she squeezed his hand comfortingly.
"It would be nice to live in that estate in Hightown though," Bethany said with a wistful smile.
"I doubt the Templars would bother us there," Carver agreed.
"Oh my beautiful children, one day we will live there and I will shower you all in presents," their mother said, her eyes sparkling with hope. Theo couldn't help but roll his eyes; he never had cared for any of that stuff. The only possible reason he could have for wanting that mansion back was to see his mother happy and Bethany safe. "You would look so handsome in a doublet, Carver, and Bethany, the dresses!" she said with a hint of longing in her voice.
Leandra knew her hopeful smile was tinged with sadness, but it was all she could manage. Just like her children, she was exhausted. She tried to keep their spirits up; she hated seeing them all so unhappy. Bethany was always so sick with worry, always fearing the Templars- although she did well to hide it most of the time. Carver was always brooding in his older brother's shadow, so rarely getting to see the light for himself. Her sweet little boy, she had tried to help him, tried to encourage him to pick up a hobby while they lived in Lothering; he was a natural with a sword and so very strong, but her first born always seemed to outshine him, through no fault of his own. He just had such easy charm, much like his father.
She hated to see how bitter and angry Theodore had become over the years, the past two being the worst for it; his smiles were rarer now, his laughs even more so. He worked so hard, all of the time, to keep them safe; since coming to Kirkwall she could count the days off he had taken on one hand, and even then he was usually doing something to keep himself busy. She knew he hated the mercenary company, so often he had come home furious, ranting about something or other before finally calming down enough to talk about it; on other days he would quietly brood over a drink, lost in his thoughts and his anger. The fuse of his temper had become shorter, too, since coming to this damned city, and he seemed to argue with Gamlen and Carver almost hourly. She hoped he would be happier now that they were free of the mercenaries, but she knew that was wishful thinking. Theo was always looking out for them, always pushing himself, and the fact that they didn't know what to do next was a worry they all held. She wanted so desperately for her beautiful children to be happy; it broke her heart to see them in such a way.
"I'm going to The Hanged Man," Theo said, rising from his seat. He knew it was selfish of him, but he could see the tearful look his mother was giving them all as the twins finished their supper and he knew that it meant she was thinking about how shite everything was and he really wasn't equipped to deal with that right now. "I'll try not to be too late," he said as he rose from his seat and kissed his mother's head. "Thank you for dinner," he added with a smile.
"I'll come with you," Carver decided, also rising from his chair. "Maker knows I could use a drink."
Theo nodded at his younger sibling, hoping that Carver had the common bloody sense not to piss him off tonight. He could still feel his temper bubbling far too close to the surface, like it was just waiting to properly explode. He looked to Bethany expectantly, and she smiled and nodded.
"Be safe, my children," their mother said as she pulled Carver and Bethany into a hug. "Try to enjoy yourselves. And here," she said handing Bethany some coin, "have a round on me."
"Oh mama," Bethany gushed, leaning into kiss her on the cheek. "Thank you!"
Theo managed to avoid any further hugs from his mother as he reached the door and headed outside. It was a warm evening with only a light breeze on the air, the sky lit up a dusty orange from all of the smoke the foundries pumped into it. He pulled up his scarf around his mouth and headed down the steps, hearing the door click shut behind him as Bethany and Carver followed after him.
Even from half way down the street, Theo could smell the tavern; the lovely stench of piss, vomit, cheap ale and desperation permeating the humid air. He grinned as he walked through the door. It had been months since he'd had a damned drink, let alone been able to just spend an evening at the tavern.
He walked straight to the bar, avoiding some of the less savoury clientele, and dropped a handful of coppers down onto the sticky wooden surface. "Three ales," he said to Corff before glancing over his shoulder, "oh and two meads for my siblings."
"Theo!" Bethany cried disapprovingly.
Corff chuckled, nodding his head as he began to fill their glasses. "Been a while since you were in here, Hawke."
"Yeah, this is my first night off in months. I plan on getting shit-faced, so keep the drinks coming."
"Alright," Corff smiled, and Theo could see Bethany shaking her head to his left.
Theo handed Bethany and Carver their drinks first before picking up the three glasses he'd ordered for himself and heading over to a table in the middle of the room. It was quite busy in the tavern tonight but he was glad for it; the noise of the drunks laughing and shouting around him helped to drown out everything else that was trying to drag him down. Not tonight; he was here to relax and he would damn well do just that. He guzzled down half a pint in seconds, much to Bethany's dismay.
"Theo, you've barely eaten today! Maybe slow it down a little?" she scolded softly, giving him a disapproving scowl. Theo looked up from his drink for a split second to cock an eye rather sardonically at his sister before he returned to downing the other half of his drink. He slammed it down on the table a moment later, wiping his lip of froth with a satisfied sigh, ignoring the scowls both of his siblings were giving him.
He picked up his second glass immediately after but slowed his drinking pace enough to talk with his siblings. He sat back in his chair, breathing in deeply. "I'm so glad I won't ever have to see that smug bastard ever again," he said with a relieved smile.
"You really think you won't? This city isn't that big," Carver reminded him dryly as he lifted his own glass to take a tentative sip of his mead.
Hawke snorted in derision. "Ah, there's that shining optimism again," he said sarcastically, making his brother give him a withering look from his glass in response.
"It wasn't all bad, you know," Bethany insisted. "It was always funny watching Meeran shout at the other mercenaries when they messed up," she giggled.
"His eye always did that twitching thing whenever they said or did something stupid," Theo reminisced, smiling at the memory.
"And that look that he always gave us just after, like are you hearing what I'm hearing?" Carver laughed.
"And then of course he asked us to fix their damned mess," Theo sighed. He chugged back more of his drink.
"And we always did; we were really rather good, weren't we?" Bethany said with a boastful smile as her hands cupped her flagon on the table.
"Perhaps we should start our own mercenary company; nobody would fuck with us then," Carver suggested all too seriously.
"We'd get carved up by every other mercenary group in the city before we even thought up a name," Theo said, shutting his brother's idea down with a rueful shake of his head. He looked at Bethany. "We need a title, money; we need to be somebody in order to keep you safe and preferably not somebody in the bloody undercity." He scratched his beard, running his fingers through the messy strands. "I don't know how we'll get any of those," he continued, "at least not yet."
"We'll think of something," Bethany said with a firm nod. He smiled and threw back the rest of his drink.
…
Varric had heard a lot about the Hawkes, and had even seen them on occasion from afar. They were downstairs now, drinking around a table together in perfect view of Varric's suite. He'd heard the most about the eldest son, whom everyone simply called Hawke – probably just to confuse people. He had heard a little of the sister's skill too - the apostate, Bethany, fond of her fire spells - but less so of the other brother, whose name he had forgotten entirely.
The Hawkes were laughing and drinking; the eldest Hawke had downed several flagons of ale since his arrival, and was teasing the younger brother, if the look of offence on the lad's face was anything to go by. Varric grinned to himself, a plan formulating in his mind; they would be perfect, he just had to introduce himself first. He decided to leave it for the night; they were busy celebrating their newfound freedom, so it was no time for a business proposition. He closed the door to his suite, still smiling smugly, and opened the new journal he'd bought that afternoon, and started to write.
A/N: There we go! It's ridiculous how nervous I am about everyone meeting Theo for the first time, but hopefully this opening chapter was enjoyable. I swear, he won't always be this grumpy! Any and all feedback is welcome, of course! And if you have any questions, do feel free to message me either here or on my Tumblr if you'd rather be anonymous while doing so!
I will be updating weekly for a while, usually on a Friday, but it's best to Follow just in case I'm late one time with it.
Thank you all again for reading!