Hawke Family Values

By: Adrienne Valentine

Summary: Twins run in the Amell family, it seems. What would happen if the infamous Champion had a twin? What if both of the younger siblings had lived? [A "what if" fanfic.]

Prologue

Varric continued to sit in the empty house for some time after Cassandra left before he dared let out the soft sigh that hinted to all the lies he had told the Seeker. Most of it was true, he had been lucky in that regard, but the subtle evasion of certain facts had been hard. The woman was good at sniffing out the truth, but Varric was an excellent liar. A noise off to the side caught his attention. It was a moment before the figure stepped out of the shadows. A woman, whose hair had once been a beautiful red, but was now a faded black that clung to the shadows, stepped out. A small, sad smile danced on her lips. She said nothing for a moment, until he stood up and walked over to her, embracing her gently.

"They think Bethany died that day you ran into the Orge." He said casually as he stepped back from her., "And they don't know a thing about you."

She nodded as she surveyed the place. The house stood abandoned now, with no one to claim it, it was hardly a surprise that they had decided to bring Varric here, of all places, to question him. She frowned a little. She sometimes wished that things had been different for them. That they hadn't had to leave their ancestral home. Mairwen owned it now. As a Grey Warden, she was free from the bonds of the Chantry. She only owned it so that no one else would, however. Gamlen would occasionally come and stay there, but he was getting old and didn't have the energy to deal with the Chantry coming and asking him where his family was. He certainly didn't turned her attnetion back to the dwarf in front of her when she realized he was still looking at her curiously.

"Thank you." She said, her small smile coming to her lips once again, "I know we're far too involved in all of this to evade any notice."

"Hopefully things will be changing soon." Varric murmured, his tone somewhat sad. She nodded in agreement.

"Either way, a revolution is happening." She said as she strode over to the fireplace, remembering times from before the house had been forgotten. When her mother had stood there, smiling at her and telling her that she wanted to find her a suitable husband. She winced slightly at the memory, wondering what her mother would think of them now. She pressed her hand against the stonework, the cool chill driving the thoughts away.

"Just like Blondie wanted." Varric commented dryly. She 'hmm'd softly, not giving him a direct answer as she glanced at the spot that the mage had often stood when they had lived here. She sighed.

"I have to get back to Leah." She said softly as she pulled her hand away from the nodded as he watched her head towards the wine cellar. She had snuck in that way, he knew, and would disappear back down that way.

"How is she?" He asked as she stepped away from him. She stopped, pausing for a moment to consider his question.

"Good. All things considered. She's too young to understand any of it." She stopped for a moment, her throat constricting painfully before she spoke again, "She keeps asking about him, though."

And with that, she was gone, leaving the clean shaven dwarf by himself. He knew who she meant, and he knew better than to ask anything else, despite her retreat.

a/n: Let me know what you think and if you think I should continue.