She was spent. Absolutely and completely spent. The money in her handbag was the last she had, even less than one hour before because she had needed to spent a part of it to buy a decent dress. It was her only chance to get into the club everybody in the city was talking about: A place full of decadence and - at least rumour said it - more than one possibility to win a LOT of money.

One last time she was checking her outfit in the mirror of the public bathroom she was using. Dark make-up, a dark dress and dark high heels: Nothing special, but the material was good and the dress short and tight enough to be sexy, but not vulgar. She was wearing her short, brown hair in pixie style. Combined with her huge, brown eyes, she looked young, naiv and eager to make her first experiences in Kirkwalls night life.

Every doorkeeper who would sent a single woman looking like this away, would be an idiot.

Leaving the bathroom, she took the next tube and left the underground station in the Red Lantern Dictrict.

The streets were full of people who were looking for amusement. Neon signs announced which shows the different bars and clubs were hosting tonight, and street hawkers tried to make their daily rate by selling everything from trash over condoms to cigarettes and probably also drugs.

A group of college girls with too short skirts was heading in the same direction than Liz. Quickly she passed them because her chances to get inside the Dark Pearl would drop drastically when she had to compete against 5 chicks who looked willing to get drunk and laid.

When she arrived at the club and saw the long crowd in front of it, she squared her shoulders, passed the line and directly approached the doorkeeper.

As planned the elf wasn't present. During her investigations she had heard about him and knew that he - the head of the doorkeepers - did decline a lot of people the entrance. Part of her had been wondering how he had come into this position. Elves were normally servants or underclass workers, but never had a really responsible task. The fact that HE had meant that he was either really good... or someone was favouring him.

Anyway: It did not matter anymore. He wasn't here, that was all what counted.

The man who was standing next to the entrance was young, blue eyed and bulky. When she stepped closer, his eyes crossed hers and she gave him her sweetest smile. For a long moment he seemed to measure her, than opened her the door without another word.

The crowd was complaining, but immediately went silent when he looked at it.

"Thank you", she said and walked towards the door, already seeing the money she would earn this night in front of her internal eye.

"No!" A dark, rumbling voice let her stop midway. "Not this one."

"Sir?" The voice of the dookkeeper. "I don't understand. She seemes to fit."

Slowly she turned, keeping a straight face. Next to the doorkeeper the elf had appeared, out of nowwhere, and watched her out of deep green eyes.

The rumours were true: He WAS handsome. His skin was tanned, his lips full and his cheekbones high. The tailor-made dark suit he was wearing clearly showed his lean build, and his silver-white hair looked silken, as did the complex tattoos covering his chin and neck.

"Is there a problem?" she asked and made sure that her eyes were wide and pleading.

He simply ignored her and said to the doorkeeper: "Not this one. She means trouble."

The man's eyebrow raised in surprise, but he did not argue... contrary to her.

Thinking before acting had never been her biggest strength. Neither had been thinking before speaking. "What? Why? That's bullshit!" As soon as the words had left her mouth, she bit on her lower lip.

Green eyes met hers. "That is why."

She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "So speaking my mind disqualifies me to get into the club?"

"If you want to put it this way: Yes." His voice sounded unhurried and cool.

Before another, even more rude answer could leave her mouth, she inhaled deeply and answered: "That's unfair." Out of the corner of her eye she saw the 5 college girls enter the bar and pointed at them. "Why can THEY enter?"

"I don't think that I need to discuss the entrance criterias with you, Miss", was all she received as answer. "And now: Please step aside. There are plenty of other etablissements in this street you can visit." Green eyes met hers again. "I am pretty sure there are also some more... suitable for you..."

Her eyes widened, and again she was acting before thinking. Stepping so close to him that she could feel his body heat and smeel his aftershave - which smelled nice, by the way - she said with low voice: "Would you mind explain me what you mean, SIR?"

He sighed and watched her for a long moment, probably thinking about the best way to get rid of her without causing a sensation.

"Spit it out, elf!" she hissed.

His eyes narrowed. Part of her wanted to back off, but her stubborness let her stay where she was. She had known that using his lineage like an insult would work.

"You don't move like the innocent girl you pretent to be", he eventually said, his voice as dark as hers. "You move too silent and light-footed. The muscles on your arms show me that you are able to climb a large building - these aren't the mucles from workouts. You are thin, but not the kind of thin the young women are today, but the kind of thin you get when you don't have enough to eat. And apart from all that: Your smell isn't right."

"WHAT?"

He shrugged. "You smell of soap and leather. Not of one of the overpriced parfums our clients are wearing. So no: This club doesn't suit you."

"You... you..." He had no idea how angry she was. Arrogant, selfish prick! "... Freak!"

"How very eloquent", he answered dryly, took her arm and pulled her to the side. "Would you please leave now? Or do you prefer that I drag you away?"

Breaking away from his grip, she hissed "No need!" and stormed off.

Only to pass the next corner and prove him that he had been right indeed: There WAS no building she couldn't climb.

She WOULD get into the club. One way or another.

Slipping out of her high heels, Liz studied the wall in front of her and searched for a best place to start climbing. It wouldn't be easy, but she already saw a route she could take to get to one of the windows on the left. From the way it looked like it probably would be an entrance to a storage room.

Hooking the heels of her shoes under the small belt she was wearing, she started to climb. Fortunately she was in a side street and the building in an old style, meaning the stones were big and offered more than one possibility to find footing.

Thin, you ass, she thought, remembering the elfs' words. Now it's good that I don't have to hold so much weight... She flinched when she nearly missed the next option of savely placing her hands and feet and decided that she could wait being annoyed with him until she had reached the window above her. Two minutes later she opened it with one of her hair pins and pulled herself into the room behind.

Panting, she dropped to the ground. Maker, now she knew why she had stopped breaking in other peoples houses months ago. Apart from the fact that the local police had become far more vigilant -and some other reasons she did not want to think about now - her body simply wasn't as strong anymore as it once had been. The elf was right in one thing: She definitely WAS to thin.

Sighing, she got up and took a small mirror out of her bag, checking her make up. A bit of sweat covered her forehead and her hair was damp at the temples, but that wasn't so bad. She looked as if she had already been dancing in the disco which was located in the clubs' cellar rooms.

A quick look at the rooms interior proved that she was indeed in a storage room. As expected it was closed from the outside, but with another pin she was able to open it easily and entered a long corridor. The sound of music, laughter and voices fillled the air, turning louder the closer she came to the stair which was leading downstairs.

She reached the first floor nearby an entrance next to the bar. Once the barkeeper wasn't looking and she was sure that a certain elf wasn't nearby as well, she stepped into the room and looked for her first victim. Participating in a gamble did not seem wise, considering the high possibility that she would be witnessed by the elf. Instead, she needed to line her pockets as quickly as possible with the guests' money.

It did not take her long to find her first victims. A group of men was surrounding the five college chicks, not looking at anything else than the girls deep necklines. Liz took her chance and some wallets, withdrew a few notes and put the rest back into the victims pocket. This way it was less conspicuous, and the men would probably only realize that money was missing when they wanted to pay... or not at all.

Turning to the dance floor, she mingled with the people using it and crossed the room to continue on the other side, checking now and then that the elf wasn't suddenly standing behind her. Fortunately the bar was dimmly lighted and dark colours in red and gold covered the walls, allowing her to not attract any attention.

She froze when a soft, female voice started to sing, and turned to the stage. A pale redhead had appeared, wearing in a deep blue dress, her blue eyes fixed on her audience. It became notably quieter in the room, and Liz didn't blame the guests: The womans' voice was gorgeous, every tone a stroke to the senses.

What an odd thought... Normally she wasn't really the type who got captured by music easily... But here and now, she couldn't take her eyes of the woman, and neither could the other guests...

"Someting to drink, Miss?" An Elven waitress had appeared next to her.

"Yes", she answered without taking her eyes of the woman.

"A glass of champagne?"

"Yes..."

The singers tone changed, somehow getting even more intimate... but at he same time strange. Liz blinked and suddenly felt sick. Something... was wrong.

Apart from the fact that she had just oredered a glass of chamapgne she could not afford at all...

Blinking again, she moved backwards and forced herself to take her eyes of the woman on stage. The effort to do so was nearly painful, and her heart was racing... and nearly stopped when she met deep green eyes over the audiences' heads.

The elf was coming towards her, his eyes narrowed and his lips pressed together.

She stumbled backwards, than somehow managed to drop a mocking curtsy and quickly went into the direction of the stair. As expected he did not make any sound or shouted something, so she could use her head start. Still she knew that her chances weren't exactly the best - He would probably have figured out how she had entered the building and positioned guards next to the wall she had climbed.

So what now?

The fire alarm box which appeared in the same moment next to her seemed to be a sign of the Maker. Grinning, she reached out for it... and stumbled forward when something hid her hard in the back. Cursing, she found her balance in the very last second and whirled around, ready do charge... .

The elfs hand closed around her neck and lifted her against the handrail. How could he have caught up with her so quickly...?

But there was no time to wonder. She needed to get out of here: Now! Angling her knee, she aimed for the most valuable part of his body, but unfortunately without success. Instead, she was rewarded with a very inelegant growl into her face... and a hand in her chest, closing around her racing heart...

She gasped for air and froze, horror and pain flooding her body. Grapping his wrist, she tried to push him away and could not help herself from panting: "Please... don't do that..." When he didn't react, but simply looked at her out of these cool, green eyes, she added: "Make, haven't I said that you are a freak...?"

It was shock that let her speak the words out loud. Obviously, considering the fact that his WHOLE HAND WAS STUCK IN HER CHEST!

"Fenris!" Am mans' voice, sounding soothing. "I think she got it. Please, could you stop that? The guests will be very irritated when they see this... scene..."

For a moment that felt like hours the elf was not reacting at all, than he slowly let go of her heart. As soon as the pressure disappeared, she panically looked down on her body, but there was neither a scratch in her dress, nor a whole in her chest. Only her racing heart reminded her on what had just happened.

"Get back to work, Hawke", the elf said, taking her upper arm and turning to the man who had appeared at the stairs first step. "I am sure there will be some guests waiting for you to make them a drink..."

"Well, SHE looks like she could use a drink...", a slightly amused voice answered and gave her the time to pick up her courage again.

"Do you think that's funny?" The elfs' voice sounded as if he thought that the whole situation wasn't funny at all.

Dimples appeared in the barkeepers cheeks when he grinned and shrugged. Than his face became serious. "Fenris, what are you going to do now?"

"What do you think I am going to do?" came the abrupt answer. "I will bring her to Danarius of course."

If even possible, the concern in the bar keepers' eyes seemed to deepen further... and suddenly Liz wondered if she had just come out of the frying pan into the fire...