AN: I haven't done a Cullen romance for Dragon Age Inquisition yet so please excuse any inaccuracies you find while read this fic.
Broken Circle
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Cullen was hardly a fan of paperwork but it was something that needed to be done. Joining the Inquisition, he found himself buried in even more of the nightmarish work. On the bright side, he had his own office/bedroom in which he could write in relative peace. Today, the only noise that Cullen could hear was the distant chatter below him in Skyhold, the occasional bird chirp, and the scratching of his quill. So engulfed in his work, the former Templar didn't hear the frantic steps that was quickly coming towards his quarters.
The deafening sound of hard wood against stone was what broke Cullen out of his studious trance. Looking up he saw a disheveled Josephine, the Ambassador of the Inquisition, breathing heavily in the doorway. Her stylish bun was a mess with several hairs sticking out on the top. Her usual clipboard with the red candle was no longer at her side. Something was clearly wrong.
"Maker Josephine! You nearly gave me a heart attack. Whats so important that you had to come rushing here?"
The Antivan took two more deep gulps of air before speaking.
"The Inquisitor"
She now had Cullen's full attention. Over the short time they knew each other, Inquisitor Melissa Trevelyan and Cullen have grown close. After the Circle incident in Ferelden, Cullen never thought he could care for a mage again. The Inquistor was a woman who surprised everyone she met and he found it hard not to fall in love with her peach-shaped face, that cheeky grin she gave when telling a joke, the splash of freckles across her nose, and how she became such a fierce, guiding leader to all. If there was something wrong with her, he definitely wanted to know.
"What is it?"
Josephine motioned him to follow her. Cullen stood up from his desk and followed the adviser to the Great Hall.
"Leliana and I went to the Inquisitor's room to hand in some reports. We found her sitting on her bed talking to herself. Leliana approached her but then..."
The two stopped in front of the door that led to Trevelyan's quarters, muffled arguing could be heard from behind it. Josephine's unfinished sentence left Cullen waiting for news he was going to dread when hearing.
"The Inquisitor didn't seem to recognize us. She reverted back to a time when she was still in the Circle. She thought we were taking her back"
When Cullen didn't respond, Josephine continued.
"We've tried to calm her down but nothing seems to work. You and her have become intimate with each other lately. Perhaps she will listen to you."
Cullen was speechless. He would have called her a liar if he had known her any less, but the stressed look on Josephine's face begged to differ. He couldn't even comprehend how such a thing could happen. Even if he couldn't understand what exactly was going on behind the Inquisitor's door, Cullen was going to try. He regained his posture and replied to Josephine.
"I'll try my best" Cullen answered simply.
"That's all we can ask of you for now"
With a deep breath, Josephine opened the door, leading the Commander to the chaos contained inside.
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"Inquisitor, please calm down. No one is trying to hurt you"
"Stop lying! I know you're lying! You're just trying to take me back!"
Cullen and Josephine reached the top of the stairs just in time to witness Leliana trying to settle down a frantic Inquisitor. Melissa Trevelyan backed herself in the far left corner of her room, making sure no one came up from behind to restrain her. So disconnected from the real world, Melissa didn't notice the two other advisers walk slowly to Leliana.
The Spymaster spun around, a small, relieved smile appeared on her lips when seeing Cullen accompanying Josephine.
"Lady Montilyet, I see you brought Ser Cullen with you"
"I have already explained the situation to him"
Leliana held Cullen's arm, bringing him to the other side of the room. Josephine took her turn attempting to soothe the Inquisitor as Leliana briefed him in.
"She won't let anyone near her so I've stayed my distance. You must do the same until she gives you permission to do so. Do not remind her of her duty to the Inquisition, it will only stress her out more and will make her withdraw into herself even further. I've only called her Inquisitor so far hoping it would help her remember the present. Other than that, don't remind her of the Inquisition"
Cullen was surprised how professionally Leliana was able to address what to do in such a time of high tension. Though thinking about it, she was a former bard. It was her job to observe and respond to a person's body language and emotional state. That way, they could determine what the next best course of action was.
Cullen nodded and made his towards the Inquisitor. He took Leliana's advice by staying a certain distance away to make the Inquisitor less frightened. Josephine took a step back, letting Cullen take control.
"Inquisitor..." He began. "You have no need to wor-"
Cullen's presence had to exact opposite affect on the Inquisitor than they hoped. Her eyes, already wide with fear, turned to the size of dishes when noticing him. Her breath quickened to an alarming rate.
"A-A-A Templar. He's a Templar. Why did bring a Templar? You promised, you promised there were no Templars but you lied. I knew you lied. I knew it, I knew it!"
A Templar? Out of all the times she thought of him as such, this had to be it? He remembered having a conversation about his former Templar status and her being a mage. He asked her if him being an ex-Templar was a concern to her. She admit, she never had the best relationship with the Templars at her Circle. But even when she met him at Haven, even when he said he was a Templar, she never thought of it meaning he was a bad person. Yet her she was now, trying to meld in with the wall, trying to escape from him. All she saw now was a monster who was going to drag her back to her cage to torture her.
"Commander Cullen is no longer a Templar!" Leliana exclaimed. "Don't you remember who he is to you?"
"All he is to me is a Templar. Templars never stop being Templars. It's like how I can never stop being a mage"
Melissa turned her gaze to Cullen. Never before he had seen such hatred directed at one person from her.
"You probably expect me to turn into an Abomination any moment now. Well, I'm not going to give you the satisfaction"
Before any of the advisers could interpret what she meant, Melissa sprinted towards the doors leading to the balcony.
They weren't going to take her back, no matter what.
She threw open the doors with such force, it almost shattered the glass on them. No matter how fast they ran to her, no matter the amount of words they say were going to get her off the balcony and get her foot off the stone ledge an-
"MELISSA! STOP!" Cullen yelled.
Hearing her first name spoken out loud, the Inquisitor hesitated for a moment. That was all the time Cullen needed to rush after her, grab her by the waist and drag her back inside. Melissa thrashed and struggled, shouting over and over again "Don't take me back!". Despite the sheer amount of force she out into getting released from his grasp, Cullen was stronger and wouldn't let go. This went on until all the energy the Trevelyan had was exhausted. Realizing her endeavor was useless, Melissa went limp in Cullen's arms.
"Please" She begged one, final time. "Don't take me back"
The only sound that filled the room after the Inquisitor's plead was her sobs.
"Maker" Josephine whispered, horrified. "What did they do to her in that Circle?"
The sobs became more intense, racking her entire body. The three advisers could only watch helpless as their fearless leader broke down in front of them. Every now and then, a hiccup would interrupt the sob session.
"Leliana, Josephine" Cullen said at last. "For now, you should leave. I will watch the Inquisitor, comfort her until she is okay"
The Spymaster and Ambassador lingered. As much as they trusted Cullen, they were afraid to leave the Inquisitor in her nearly stupor-state alone. After a minute of hesitation, the two agreed and left the two lovers be. When he heard the door shut, Cullen gently placed Melissa on her feet and led her to her bed. She didn't resisted as Cullen sat on the bed with her and placed her head on his lap. She once mentioned during a night in bed with him how she loved it when he rubbed the top of her head and played with her hair.
He brushed his calloused fingertips against her scalp, occasionally twirling a strand of hair with his finger. The sobs slowly came to a stop, her breathing returned to a normal rate. When the shaking stopped, Melissa inched closer to the source of comfort.
"Cullen" The Inquisitor said coherently."Did that just really happen?"
Cullen was glad his love finally broke out of her hysterical state that happened just a few minutes ago. It came to no surprise to him that she could barely remember what happened.
"Unfortunately, yes"
Melissa Trevelyan buried her face in his thigh. He felt it was soaked with tears.
"'I'm sorry" She said with a muffled voice.
"Don't be. You have been under so much stress lately. We all have been. It was only a matter of time before you've had enough. I just wish it wasn't so ….. severe"
They didn't speak again for another few minutes. Melissa let Cullen continue to gently tug at her hair.
"Do you wish to speak to speak about it?" Cullen asked, breaking the silence.
"No" Melissa replied bluntly.
Cullen didn't press the issue. Instead, he asked her a different question.
"Can you at least tell me what put you in that state of mind?"
Melissa nodded. She turned her face up to meet his. Her brown eyes were red and puffy from the crying.
"I'm not even exactly sure what happened. Josephine gave me a report of some Templars the scouts found on the Wounded Coast. They said they saw them capture and torture some mages for information. Some of the methods they used were what the Templars in the Ostwick Circle would do if they suspect a mage using blood magic"
She stopped when a stray tear fell down her cheek.
" Most of the time, they weren't blood mages but no one dared speak out against their cruel acts. I remembered how horribly we were treated, how you were always watch like you've done something wrong. After that, I just kind of... blacked-out"
Cullen didn't ask if they used those methods on her. She barely recovered and wouldn't want to make her return to a point where she nearly took her own life. He placed his thumb on her cheek, wiping away the single tear that fell.
"No one will ever take you back again. They would have to get through me first"
Melissa smiled from Cullen's proclamation to protect her. It soothed her in more ways than he thought it would.
"Cullen, can you stay with me? Just for a little while. I don't want you to leave yet"
He wasn't planning on leaving any time soon. Cullen remove her head from his lap so he could bend down to take off his boots. Melissa did the same and climbed in bed with him, slipping under the sheets. Cullen wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. He was afraid if he held her any looser she would attempt suicide once more.
"You must be exhausted after what happened" Cullen said
"I am. I really am"
The two nearly drifted off to sleep, but Cullen had one more thing to say.
"Oh, and Melissa?" Cullen said, using her first name again.
"Hm?"
"I love you"
He couldn't see her face, but he knew she was smiling.
"I love you too"