"Look! He's coming around, his eyes are opening up."

Hawke jogged back from the cliff face to the opening of the cave where Varric had been keeping vigil over the unconscious form of Sebastian.

"Thank the Maker, I'd hate to have to explain your death to the Grand Cleric." Hawke smiled and Sebastian turned his heavy head towards her and she kneeled beside him.

"Hi there." Her eyes twinkled behind her veil of side swept hair.

Sebastian groaned in response, "What happened? My head feels like it was used for sparring practice against a horde of Qunari."

Hawke winced at how close of a description that was, "Well remember how I said I knew a shortcut back to town from the Wounded Coast?"

Varric could be heard chuckling from behind the bushes behind them, "Shortcut my ass. Flaming horn heads can't take a joke…"

Sebastian opened his eyes again to look in the bright blue eyes of the mage, "The Qunari were here?"

"What is he blind?!"

"Hush Varric!" Bringing her hand to his temple, she gently wiped away some grime from his forehead, "How much do you remember Sebastian? You did get hit pretty hard." She cast her eyes down in apparent shame.

"She asked her victim."

"Varric! Will you quit it with the commentary?!"

"Umm well I remember we came to the Coast to clear out the bandits we heard about," Sebastian closed his eyes and tried to remember. Flashes of a scene of a skirmish kept fading in and out, "We found some Tal-Vashoth…and…and Fenris was here."

"Yes…he was here, but he left…to bring Anders back."

"Speaking of the broody elf, here he comes." Varric stood up and slung Bianca on his back, "Uh oh, they look like they've been in a pissing match again."

Hawke rolled her eyes and shifted back on to her feet to look down the path and confirm that yes, her two companions appeared as angry and dour as ever in each other's company.

"They're both in love with you."

"What?" Hawke gaped down at the flushing prince.

"I, um, don't know why I said that Hawke. Forgive me." Sebastian's thoughts were racing through his head. He and everyone citizen of Kirkwall knew that both the warrior and the apostate were in love with Hawke, but he would never have said as such out loud. The impertinence and impropriety of the statement left him unsettled. He needed to get back to the Chantry.

"Choir boy's right you know." Varric shuffled up next to her and waved towards the two approaching figures, "For the sake of my sanity, please just pick one of them or both of them, I can't stand two broody, hormonal men in my life much longer."

"Varric!" Hawke swatted at the dwarf who ducked away from her swing. "Or sleep with Isabela so I can win the bet and write the finishing chapter to my epic tale of buried treasure at the Circle of Magi."

"You know you're the only man for me Varric. I will spend the rest of my life pining away for you and your chest hair." She smiled brightly and poked him just below his pendant necklace.

"Oh stop it, you'll make me blush and-"

"Hawke."

Fenris' deep baritone voice interrupted and announced their arrival.

Hawke smiled weakly at the tall elf, whose white hair glistened in the sunlight, "Thank you Fenris for going back and bringi-"

"Andraste's flaming knickers look at all these corpses!" Anders ran up from behind Fenris who glowered at the apostate's interruption.

"Are you okay Marian?" Anders rushed forward and grasped Hawkes face in his hands looking for injuries. "All this blood…"

"Is not mine." Hawke gently removed Anders' hands and stepped back to reveal Sebastian's limp form resting on the blood covered ground.

"Nice to see you too mage." Varric muttered before wandering off to undoubtedly help Fenris loot the bodies of the fallen Tal-Vashoth.

The healer in Anders took over as he circled the still body of the archer before kneeling near his head. Blue light began emanating from his fingertips and Anders closed his eyes in concentration.

"What happened?" Keeping his eyes shut he placed one hand on Sebastian's forehead and the other hand on the white armor near his abdomen.

"Well, long story short, two of them had Sebastian cornered and were backing him into the cave." Hawke knelt down at the moaning sounds of pain coming from Sebastian.

"He has a fractured skull and is bleeding into his brain. He's going to feel this." Anders flexed his shoulders and renewed the healing magic emanating from his fingers, "Grab me a vial of lyrium from my pouch. Good thing I brought so many."

The other mage rummaged through his pack and uncorked the blue vial and thrust it into Anders hand. He drank greedily in one long gulp, "Okay, but then what happened?"

Sebastian's eyes opened and locked on Marian's ice blue eyes, who blinked at the intensity of the gaze coming from the injured man.

"Sebastian took one down but I saw the other one grab a dagger from his back so I acted."

The archer grasped her hand and she could feel it shaking with the agony he was in. "Tell me what happened. I can't remember." She closed both of her hand around his and looked up to see Anders reach back into his pack to pull out another lyrium vial.

"I yelled for you to jump out of the way and threw a stone-fist at him."

Anders arched an eyebrow at Hawke before resuming his healing efforts.

"Well you took me rather literally and jumped straight up into the roof of the cave. Since you jumped up, the spell took you with him. You landed really hard on rock."

"Ahh that would explain the fractured rib cage then."

Sebastian turned his head and looked up at Anders with wide eyes full of concern. "Don't worry, no lasting damage. Everything feels healed now." Sebastian scoffed before Anders could continue, "What you're feeling now is just the residual pain from the impact. Do you think you can get up?"

Hawke moved her arm behind Sebastian's shoulders to help lift him into a sitting position, but his strained face was evidence enough for her of his pain, and he moaned in agony at the failed attempt to lift his head. "Maker have mercy on me, a sinner, and grant me a place at your side."

"Dramatics don't suit you choir boy." Varric reappeared behind Anders and leaned against the mouth of the cave.

"Look, I know a spell that'll make you forget the pain. For a little while at least, it'll get you through the night."

Both Hawke and Varric's heads snapped in the direction of Anders at that statement.

"What kind of spell is this? And why haven't we heard about it before?" Hawke crossed her arms across her chest and looked at her fellow mage questioningly.

"Well because it tends to make people a little loopy." Anders head was bent down placing the empty vials back into his satchel, "He'll feel the pain when he wakes up tomorrow, but for now he'll feel like he's invincible. Which means he can walk home and we don't have to carry him."

"Invincible? Loopy? What's he going to do, run through the streets in naught but his Andraste belt?" Varric laughed at his own image, "Oh that's good, I'll need to add that into one of my stories."

"If I was worried about what he would do, I wouldn't have even suggested it." Anders looked towards Hawke, "All he's likely to do is go back to the Chantry and pray right? Or Maker forbid, he skips prayers tonight and goes to sleep. Seriously, what kind of trouble can "Choir Boy" get into in one night?"

Hawke looked from Anders to Varric's grin and down at Sebastian's furrowed brows. Sebastian wasn't the type to inflate his injuries, and based on what Anders had said, they had been severe. The man in question tugged on the hem of her robe and ever so slightly, nodded his head at her.

Hawke wrestled with the choice, What kind of trouble can he get into? What do I tell Elthina? How can I keep Isabela away from him?

A bead of sweat dripped from his temple and across a patch of dried blood leaving a rust colored trail down his cheek, "Okay Anders, do it."

Varric's grin spread from ear to ear, "Hold on to your skirt Bianca, it's going to be a good night."