Second chapter in the series, and it's one I really wanted to write. Honestly, the whole idea from the story revolved around this idea I had for Hawke. The very first time I played her, she was diplomatic warrior, solider for the king and protector of her young sister, and it just stuck in my head. Even when I tried to play her another way, it never fit. The comments from her mother about how Carver dying was her fault, how Bethany resented her for being a Grey Warden and the, "You didn't know my mother," statement when Anders told her Leandra wouldn't want her to blame herself over her death really struck me, even though that part was on my second play through and I thought I was prepared for all the shit that could have happened to the poor woman.

Hawke has a sense of duty I can't help but admire more than anything else in Dragon Age II. Even though I could possibly play her as a self-serving, bitch in the future, it will never really be her to me. To me, Hawke believed in helping others, be damned the personal consequences, but there's only so much one person can really do.

Chapter 2: The Champion of Kirkwall

'Reach down in your heart and you'll find many reasons to fight. Survival, honor, glory. But what about those that feel it's their duty to protect the innocent? There you'll find a warrior savage enough to match any dragon.' ~ Varric Tethras, Dragon Age 9:40, Dragon Age Inquisition

The rain felt cold as it poured down on Hawke, but she didn't move from the spot she was at. The weather didn't bother her much, and she felt oddly warm in her core despite it all. She had firm suspicions on why it was.

"Anders, you don't have to stay out here and watch me, you know," she said as she turned to him, away from the grave of her mother. It declared her name in embellished silver, the crest of the Amell family and the date of her life. It had been cut too short, much too short and the numbers seemed to mock her in all their finery. Even though she'd spared no expense for the resting place of her mother's ashes, she knew she should have been able to do more. This seemed a hollow apology for being unable to save her and she couldn't look at it anymore.

"You're going to catch your death of cold like this," Anders protested softly. He wasn't close, hiding under cover beneath a tree, but she could feel the influence of his magic anyway. Fenris, leaning against the tree next to him, scowled when he looked suspiciously at the mage.

"What are you doing to her, mage?" he spat.

"Keeping her warm. What, you want her to get sick?" he asked incredulously.

"Now listen here, mage. If you think I'm going to-"

Hawke sighed and rolled her eyes. Why this had to happen so often was really beyond her. She could understand their opposing views. She'd grown up with Carver and Bethany bickering all the time, and even siblings had argued over the dangers of magic, so it made sense how these two could do it. What she didn't understand if they loathed one another so much, why did they both have to stick so close to one another? It seemed whenever she went anywhere, Hawke always had the both of them coming. Either Fenris would say he should follow her and Anders would insist he tag along or the opposite would happen. Did they live off of bickering?

She couldn't possibly believe their explanations were true when they'd claimed they were protecting her from the other. She was an adult that could handle herself.

After all, she'd handled Fenris breaking her heart just fine, leaving her when he refused the chance to be happy. She could handle this heartbreak too.
What she couldn't handle right now was the two of them arguing with one another just hours after her mother's funeral. The ashes of the logs would have still been hot if not for the rain. Did they really have to do this now?

"Have you sensed Bethany coming yet?" she cut in just as Anders started to compare the plight of mages to slavery. It would do no good. They'd had this argument so often, the same points made over and over, it might as well have been scripted and recited like a play was.

"No..." he admitted softly. "I don't think she's going to come, Hawke. The life of a Grey Warden is demanding after all."

"I thought for sure when I sent her the letter. It's been three years. Isn't she ever just going to come home, even for a visit?" she asked worriedly. "Don't they give them breaks?"

Anders looked uncomfortable for a moment. He clearly didn't want to say what was on his mind, a first for him.

"It's not like that. We're not exactly tightly knit or anything. Yes, we have our orders and we're excepted to keep close to whatever keep or mission we have, but it's not like we're never allowed to come home. There's a lot of freedom to the order when off duty. If Bethany isn't coming... it's probably because she doesn't want to," he admitted. "I'm sorry."

She stood there for a moment, her black hair plastered to her face and the rain running underneath her clothes and over her skin. Finally, she shook her head and turned back to the grave, sitting down in front of it.

"You two should go home," she said finally. "No need for all of us to wait for her."

"Hawke, as much as I don't like to agree with the mage-"

"I have a name. I use yours, Fenris."

"The mage, I think he's right. Bethany doesn't seem to want to show."

"She's my sister," Hawke said in determination. "I'll wait here as long as it takes. You two need to get home. Get some rest, okay?"

They didn't leave, and neither did she. It wasn't until the woman's head slumped onto her knees and she nearly fell over did they rush to her. Anders reached her first, catching her in his arms as she slept, the dawn coming.

"So stubborn," Fenris muttered. His hands twitched, moving to collect her out of the mage's hands, but the human glared up at him.

"Don't you dare say those things about her," he bit out as he stood up. "She needed comfort. It wasn't stubbornness. It was a desperate hope."

"She's not as weak as you seem to think," the elf muttered.

"Well, she's not as strong as you think," he snapped back, cradling her tenderly to his chest despite his harsh words thrown at the other man. "Not all of us can walk away from those we need like they don't matter. If you were a man at all, you would have been there for her."

"I was here for her!" Fenris snapped, his lyrium flaring for a second in anger.

"No," Anders said as he shook his head and began to walk away. "You really weren't. I don't even think you know how to be there for anyone, and that's the real tragedy here. Go slink back to your stolen mansion, Fenris. You've already proven you care more about yourself than you do her."

"It's not as if you have been any better for her."

"She didn't pick me. It, as much as I hate it, not my place to do so. You can believe me when I say I would give almost anything to have made her chose differently."

The former slave followed angrily, but the two didn't exchange any further in their arguments. It wasn't as important as getting her home safe.

By the time they reached her estate, the rain had stopped. It was so early, but everyone was still awake from the night before. Bodahn and Orana rushed over the second they came in, taking her with worry clear in their eyes. Anders and Fenris were both shocked when the elven woman hugged the both of them as the dwarf took Hawke in his arms to carry the woman to bed.

"Thank you so much for seeing Mistress home safe," she breathed before rushing off after her fellow servant to see to Hawke.

"Well... I guess at least she has some people who can put her first," Anders sighed out.

"She certainly deserves to have more."

The former Grey Warden looked at Fenris, and scowled softly.

"She could have," he muttered before leaving.

#-#

"Somehow, I just knew it would be you," Bethany said as she stood up from from a Qunari after checking to make sure it was dead.

"Bethany!" her older sister cried out happily as she rushed over to her. She was surprised to see there was no such happiness in the mage's eyes, looking away when Hawke reached her.

"Hello, sister," she said, her tone cold. "How fitting we should meet here."

She was surprised by the reaction, but tried not to let it get to her. It had been three years since she'd seen Bethany. She'd obviously grown up, but there was still a desire in Marian to hold her close and see if she was okay.

"Are you alright? Are there more of you?" she asked instead. She was still worried after all.

"This is everyone, thank you," she said, though she didn't sound at all grateful. In fact, as Stroud said the same thing, he sounded much happier to see her than her own sister did.

"Bethany, wait!" she cried out as they all turned to leave at Bethany's urging. "I need to tell you about mother. You must not have gotten the letter. She-"

"I know," she interrupted. "I did get it. The Wardens helped me hold a wake."

"Could you not make it?" Hawke asked. "You never came home for the funeral."

She didn't answer, just shook her head.

"I'm glad you were with her in her final moments," she said, clearly avoiding the question. "I have to go. It's not the time for this."

She watched Bethany leave with the others, swallowing the lump in her throat. Bethany's letters had always been a little passive aggressive, the few times she'd bothered to write at all, but Hawke had always told herself she was just reading too much into it and was paranoid.

There was no denying it now. The expression her sister, her own sister, had given her confirmed it.

Bethany hated her for what had happened to her, and why shouldn't she? It was all her fault she'd gone down there in the first place.

#-#

Hawke could barely believe her eyes when she watched Isabela stroll into the throne room of the Viscount, stepping on a Qunari as she did so, and with the look of absolute confidence on her face. She held the Tome of Koslun in her possession.

"I'm sure you'll find it... mostly undamaged," she said as she handed it carelessly over to the Arishok.

"You came back," Hawke breathed happily. "I thought you'd be long gone by now."

"This is your damn influence, Hawke," she snapped, though there was a smile on her face. "I was halfway to Ostwic before I knew I had to turn around. Ugh. It's pathetic."

Even as much as Isabela griped, Hawke didn't believe it for a second. Her friend had returned and the pain of her betrayal was already gone. She was about to say so when the Arishok spoke, shattering the moment.

"The relic is reclaimed. I am now free to return to Par Vollen," the giant claimed before adding pointedly, "with the thief."

"What?!" Isabela asked in shock.

"You thought you could strand here for four years without consequence?" Fenris pointed out.

"She stole the Tome of Koslun. She must return with us," the Arishok agreed.

Hawke glanced over at Isabela and the pirate actually seemed a bit concerned. Her confidence had evaporated immediately and she couldn't say she blamed her. She really had thought she could come in here, give the relic back, and then just walk away without any consequences. Isabela had indirectly caused all of this. Every person who'd died in this attack could be pinned on the pirate, and that was only this one night. Trouble had been brewing here for years because of the Qunari, and rarely had anything been resolved peacefully.

It would be just to let the Qun have her, even if it was only for pettiness sake at trying to leave Hawke in the first place. Even if she stayed, there was no guarantee that she wouldn't be lynched by everyone in Kirkwall. She didn't even seem all that sorry for what she'd made happen.

As she looked at Isabela though, she saw her mother. She saw Bethany and Carver, people she'd been unable to keep safe. She frowned before grabbing her sword off of her back and drawing it.

"She's staying with us," she informed him. "You have your relic. Leave."

"Then you leave me no choice. I challenge you, Hawke. We will duel to the death for the thief," the Arishok dictated. She wasn't surprised. She'd already anticipated it, actually. He wasn't a man who let things end without bloodshed, and she'd die before she let one more person who was important to her get put in harm's way.

"I won't let him hurt you," she whispered as the people moved out of the way to let the two fight. "Don't worry."

"But if you lose-" she protested before the warrior shook her head, her face set in determination.

"I won't lose."

There was no ceremony to it, besides the loud declaration of the fight. It seemed to be all the start there was needed before he charged, no bowing or signs of respect. The many discussions with him about the way of the Qun allowed her to respect that. He would accept nothing else but his way, and if that's how he wanted it, she'd give it to him.

Their weapons clashed against each other and she met him full force, putting everything she had into it. He was larger than her, and far stronger, but she was just as determined to win this fight. No, more. She wouldn't let him take her friend.

She'd destroy him first.

They moved around each other as they fought, but it was more about strength than any grace or dexterity. It was impossible to dodge both his sword and ax, and she couldn't hold him in place when he pressed down on her.

"Why do you fight for her, Hawke?" he hissed at her as he drove her to one knee. "You should accept your place. This is something you can not do."

"Don't you dare tell me what I can and can not do!" she yelled back at him. She pushed forward with all her strength, shoving him back. He stumbled for a moment, getting his footing quickly, but she pushed the attack. Screaming out a battle cry, she jumped at him, bringing her sword down full force. The handle of his ax snapped, broke to useless wood as she ended the arc only to bring it up again, the blade slicing across his chest. "You can't have her! I won't lose her! I won't lose anyone again! I'll rip you apart if you so much as touch her!"

Anders, Fenris, Isabela and Varric watched from the sidelines, some of them barely able to believe it.

"I've never seen her so... angry before," Varric whispered. "Andraste's ass, she's actually doing it."

"I don't believe it," Isabela whispered. "Why? Why's she doing this for me?"

"Don't get comfortable with the thought you're special," Fenris muttered, his arm crossed. Unlike the other three, he watched with a cold calculating eye. He knew the woman he loved. She wasn't weak, and moments of pain didn't make her so. They made her stronger. The Arishok had no chance against her. For all the faith he had in his way of life, Hawke believed in herself more. "This is a battle of wills, and Hawke will die before she backs down."

"She may very well," Anders protested.

"No. She's too strong to let herself die. That's not an option to her. It never is. The Arishok believes in his heart he'll win or he'll die. Hawke just believes she'll win. That's why she's going to."

Not hearing their words, Hawke continued to press the attack. Sword met sword as the Qunari swung at her, but she didn't buckle this time. Taking a sudden step back, she dived forward just as he stumbled into the empty air, the loss of the weight holding him taking him off guard. He looked up just in time to see anger and hatred in her eyes before she brought her weapon down on him, hacking through the arm that held his sword and embedding deeply into his shoulder. Bringing her leg up, she kicked him off of her great sword and sending him crashing to the stairs.

He was bleeding all over the carpet, his own blood splattered on her face as she stood there. He whispered a promise to return even as he laid there dying, but she didn't answer. He was already gone by the time he finished, and the other Qun walked away without a word. The nobles cheered around her and she turned to them as Meredith and Orsino burst in, surprised to see it was all over.

She didn't hear anything as they spoke, something about a champion, but she ignored it all. Turning instead to Isabela, she smiled as she walked up to her.

"Hawke, I-"

She didn't let her say anything as she pulled her close, hugging the woman to her. Isabela tensed against her, and she had to wonder if this was the first time the woman actually felt uncomfortable with being touched.

"I'm glad you're safe," she breathed out. "We'll work out the rest later, okay?"

Isabela sighed before she hugged her friend back and gave a chuckle in the back of her throat.

"Alright," she agreed. "If I get a lecture though, I expect a spanking to go along with it."

"Oh Isabela. Don't ever change."

#-#

"So, Champion of Kirkwall. That's going to make for an interesting read, don't you think? I'll be raking in gold by the pound at this rate if I put this in a book," Varric chuckled as he drank down a pint. He was sitting in Hawke's library as she leaned against a desk. Her armor was off, and bandages wrapped around her. She'd been put through a lot just to get to the Arishok, and Anders had insisted on sticking around to heal her.

"This is a challenge, even to me," he said as he poured magic into the slashes on her body. He tried not to blush, since she was barely in anything at all, only her small clothes. Even bruised and hurt, she looked magnificent. How in the world had Fenris been able to walk away from her? "Do me a favor at least. Don't do this again any time soon."

"I think a break would be wonderful, though honestly I'm not sure that's going to be possible," she said with a small smile. "Varric, just what is a champion, anyway? To the city, I mean?"

"Well, it's largely political," he said. "You'll be expected to show up to all sorts of parties, ceremonies, make speeches, be called on if there are signs of trouble. Kirkwall is going to need a lot of rebuilding, so you'll have your work cut out for you."

"Not much of a reward," Anders muttered.

"Actually, that doesn't sound bad," she said. "I've been trying to be helpful around here for a while. Now that I have a title, I might have some sway, and the official kind to boot."

"I didn't figure you for a politician, Hawke," Varric chuckled.

"I'm not, and I don't want to be," she informed him with a shake of her head. "I just mean for the mages. I might be able to do something now."

Anders' spell broke as his concentration was snapped, and he looked at her in shock, even as she winced.

"Ow. Anders, what was that for?" she asked him. "I didn't know creation magic stung like that."

"Oh, Maker. I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean it. Unfinished spells have a tendency to have a bit of rebound. Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Just took me off guard," she assured him. "Are you okay, though?"

"Yes. I... I was just surprised to hear you say that you wanted to help mages. I mean..."

"Why are you surprised? I've always done my best to help out," she asked him.

"With little things, yes. Because that's all I asked. I mean, I couldn't have expected you to be part of the resistance or anything. You've been trying to rebuild you life, and now you're someone important in this city, even more so than before. If you speak out about mages, you could lose it all," he said.

"If I didn't use it to try to help, there's no point in having that power," she said. "Meredith needs to stop treating everyone so poorly. Maybe with a new Viscount and me telling her to back off a bit, she'll actually listen to reason for a change."

If Varric hadn't been sitting there, he might have grabbed her to kiss her. He wanted to so badly, to pin her to the desk and make love to her until the dawn, and maybe even after.

"You are the one bright spot in all of Kirkwall," he breathed out, tracing a hand over her face.

"I only got here with help from you and the others," she assured him.

"Heh. Not the way I'm going to write it," Varric chuckled. "You think it would seem too bullshitty if I say you kicked down the door and beat the Arishok over the head with it?"

"Ugh, Varric. Please. I doubt anyone will believe I was able to do it at all," she said as she laughed before she cringed and clutched her stomach. "Ow, ow, ow, ow."

"Will you just stop squirming?" Anders muttered before he got back to healing. "I swear, you're going to get yourself killed one day."

"Well, good thing she'll always have you around to patch her up," Varric said. "This should be a poem all in itself, a warrior and mage, off fighting together to right wrongs and smite villains, showing Thedas that mages can be trusted. I bet Justice would love it at the very least."

"Yes," he breathed softly. "I'm sure he would."

#-#

"Fenris?" Hawke asked as she poked her head into the main room of his mansion. After Fenris had left after meeting his sister, she'd wanted to come check up on him. He had to be a mess right now, after the day they'd had. Killing his former master, finding out he'd actually worked for the supposed honor of the lyrium inside of him, and his sister betraying him... it couldn't be easy to process all of this. She knew him. He'd be warring with himself for days over how he should feel if he couldn't talk it out. "Can I come in?"

"If you want," he said, sitting by the fire. She was a little surprised he didn't have a bottle of wine by his side. Maybe after six years, he'd finally run out, or maybe he wasn't in the mood.

"I thought you could use an ear to listen," she informed him as she sat down with him. "This can't be easy for you right now."

"It isn't. You would think I would be happy. I'm free. Danarius is dead. Yet none of it feels as it should," he said softly.

"You won your freedom, Fenris, but that doesn't make it all suddenly go away," she said. "Pain has a way of lasting, and it seems intense at first, but you'll move past it. I know you can."

"I thought if I didn't need to run and fight to stay alive, I would finally be able to live as a free man," he admitted. "But how is that? My sister is gone, and I have nothing anymore. Not even an enemy."

"Maybe that just means you don't have anything holding you back," she offered and he seemed to honestly consider it.

"Mmm, an interesting thought. It's just... difficult to overlook the stain magic has left on my life," he confessed. "If I seem bitter, it isn't without cause. Perhaps it is time to move forward. I just don't know where that leads. Do you?"

She almost pointed out he'd asked for that magic. He was hiding behind a technicality, but it wasn't time to argue about it. She'd done her best to appease him. She knew magic was dangerous and that it could lead to horrible things, and she'd conceded to many of his points that mages have done many horrible things, but with the understanding that plenty without magic had done just as many horrible things. Still, now wasn't the time to get into that sort of conversation.

"Wherever it leads, I hope it means we'll stay together," she confessed to him softly.

"That is my hope as well," he said before glancing down at the floor. It was hard to tell, but he seemed suddenly so worried. "We... have never discussed what happened between us three years ago."

"You didn't want to talk about it," she said. The couple of time she'd approached him, he'd found some reason not to discuss it. Who could have blamed her for letting it die?

"I felt like a fool. I thought it better if you hated me, and I deserved no better. It isn't better though. That night... I remember your touch as if it were yesterday."

He stood and moved closer to her, and she looked at him in curiosity. There was a soft feeling in the air, but she was afraid to speak and ruin it. She didn't know what he was leading to, but hope was flooding her heart as well as fear. It had been three years after all. He might just be apologizing, but nothing more.

"I should have asked your forgiveness long ago. I hope you can forgive me now," he whispered.

Oh. That was it. Of course it was. He wasn't the type to stay in love, was he? She'd been the fool for letting these feelings stay, but he'd been her first and only. How could she have possibly let it go so easily? It seemed he had though.

"I need to understand why you left, Fenris," she said. If he wanted forgiveness and not love, she could accept that, but she wanted the answers he had denied her before.

"I've thought about the answer a thousand times," he admitted. "The pain... the memories it brought up... it was too much. I was a coward. If I could go back, I would have stayed, tell you how I felt."

Hawke's breath caught her throat, and she was barely able to manage the words she wanted to say.

"What would you have said?" she asked him.

"Nothing could be worse than the thought of living without you," he told her. It wasn't just a hypothetical answer, but a confession. He still felt that way, and he always would.

"I understand," she told him as a smile spread over spread on her lips. "I always understood."

"If there is a future to be had, I will walk into it gladly at your side," he said softly before she suddenly stood up. His arms wound around her tenderly as she kissed him. It wasn't like last time, full of passion pent up until it exploded. They just held one another closely and refused to let go.

"I love you," she whispered to him. "Tell me you love me to."

"I always have and I always will," he promised. "We'll never be apart again, I swear."

#-#

The red light that shot up into the sky pulled together for a moment before shooting outward, shaking the whole city. Fire and wreckage flew in every direction and she shielded her eyes as the shock wave hit her and the others.

"Maker have mercy," Meredith breathed after it passed, as they all stared up at the destroyed wreckage.

"There can be no peace," Anders breathed, his voice holding both a promise and an apology.

"Elthina, no! Maker, no!" Sebastian screamed as he fell to his knees. "She was your most faithful, your most beloved! Why didn't she listen to me?!"

Hawke couldn't bare to look as he stood and began to pray for the souls of the departed. Maker, why? This is what Anders had planned? This is why he'd asked her to help him collect those ingredients, asked for her to distract the Grand Cleric? How could she have been so stupid? Why hadn't she realized? He'd been getting more and more unstable over the years, yet she'd done what he'd asked.

She'd helped him kill all those people.

"Why? Why would you do such a thing?" Orsino gasped out.

"I have removed the chance of compromise, because there can be no compromise," Anders bit out. "This will not end peacefully. Every chance we have tried, we have been silenced, and gone along with it. This is the only way!"

"The Grand Cleric has been slain by magic. The Chantry destroyed," Meredith hissed. "As Knight-Commander, I hereby invoke the Right of Annulment. Every mage in the Circle is to be executed immediately!"

"What?" Orsino cried out. "No! The Circle didn't even do this! Champion, you can't let her! Help us stop this madness!"

"And I demand you stand with us!" Meredith ordered. "Even you must see this outrage cannot be tolerated!"

"Why are we even debating the Right of Annulment when the monster who did this is standing right here?" Sebastian yelled at Hawke, as if she'd been the one to bring it all up. She could barely hear everyone demanding her help. "I swear, I will kill him."

"It can't be stopped now," Anders said softly, staring Hawke down. She couldn't believe this. How could he have done this? "You have to choose."

"You fool!" Orsino snapped. "You've doomed us all!"

"We were already doomed. A quick death now or a slow one later? I'd rather die fighting," Anders said coldly.

Hawke felt anger swelling up inside of her. How could he stand there and still demand her to follow him? She'd done everything for him! Helped him with his manifestos, tried to convince Elthina to get involved more in the tensions, and all of it had been to try a peaceful solution. Yet he was flinging them all into war just so he could make everyone do what he thought would solve the problem, whether the other mages wanted it or not.

"You're a murderer!" she accused. "The Grand Cleric, the other mages! Their blood is on your hands!"

"I know!"

"No, you don't!" she yelled at him. "You don't care about any of that! You just wanted revenge! This doesn't have anything about justice! Everyone who dies because of this is because of you!"

"Enough!" Meredith snapped. "It does not matter. Even if I wished to, I could not stay my hand. The people will demand blood."

Hawke seriously doubted either of those statements were true. They'd want Anders, yes, but of course Meredith wouldn't wait for a trial. She'd been wanting to do this for years.

"I will not let her slaughter all of you," she said as she turned to Orsino. She'd helped with the death of the Grand Cleric, whether knowing or not. She had to save the others from this madness.

"Thank the Maker," Orsino breathed.

"Think carefully, Champion," Meredith hissed as she advanced on Hawke, glaring at her. "Stand with them and you share their fate."

"I'm not helping you, Meredith," she snapped.

"You are a fool, Champion," she hissed before she addressed her fellow templars. "Kill them all! I will rouse the rest of the order!"

Hawke drew her sword and she leaped at Meredith as she tried to leave, but a templar jumped in her way before she could make the hit. A mad fight ensued, and every time she tried to break off to stop the woman before she could get away to tell the other templars her plan, another fighter got into her way to keep her from pursuing.

By the time it was over, Meredith was long gone. Orsino looked grief stricken as he looked around himself.

"So, it has come to this," he whispered. "I don't know if we can win this war... but thank you. You are a true friend to mages. I will leave your... friend for you to deal with. I must return to the Gallows. Meet me there as soon as you can."

She watched him leave, and she wondered if it was already too late. Squeezing her eyes shut, she moved over to Anders, sitting on a box and awaiting judgment.

"There is nothing you can say that I have no already said to myself," he told her before she could speak. "I took a spirit into my soul to accomplish this. I... I turned him into a demon, made him Vengeance."

"So he made you do this?" she asked him.

"Yes... and no," he said softly. "He and I are the same. I have perverted him, changed him. He tried to make me a better person, made it so I could help others, and I did this. Yet... I can't regret it. I can no more ignore the injustice of the Circle than he could. He might have known a better way, but it's too late for that now. It's gone too far to stop it. The world has to see this... then we can all stop pretending the Circle is a solution."

"So you start a massacre to prove a point?!" she snapped. A large part of her wanted to grab him and start shaking him. How in the world could he possibly have slid this far into madness?! Didn't he see this would only make things worse?

"I'm not proving a point. I'm changing a world," he replied angrily, staring at the ground. "The people fear what we can do, but to use that fear to bludgeon us into submission is wrong! And they do it with our blessing! If I pay for it with my life, than I pay. The sooner you do, the sooner my name will live on to inspire generations."

That's what he wanted, wasn't it? He wanted to die, to not have to live to see what he'd caused. He'd rather go out now and pretend himself a hero, a martyr to his cause, as if he'd done some glorious and wonderful thing and died to help others. It made her feel sick. He really believed he was right, and nothing she could say would change his mind.

There was no way she was going to give him that. If he was going to die, it would be by his own hand. He'd see all the chaos this would bring, and he'd know every mage that fell would be his fault. Killing him now would only let people think he'd died for some noble reason or something like that. She wouldn't make him a martyr to encourage more actions like this.

"Just go," she bit out.

"No!" Sebastian snapped. "You cannot let this abomination walk free. He dies, or I will bring such an army with me on my return there will be nothing left of Kirkwall for these maleficarum to rule!"

"Do not interfere, Sebastian," she said to him. "Killing him now will do nothing."

"I thought I knew you, Hawke. I will return to Starkhaven, but I swear to you, I will come back and find your precious Anders. I will show him what true justice is!"

"Sebastian..." she said, but he was already leaving. She didn't want him to go, but she knew he wouldn't stay. Still, she knew killing Anders wouldn't serve justice. It would just be more revenge. She could only hope she'd be able to find him and convince them of that before he came back to Kirkwall to destroy it.

"Thank you for my life," Anders said as he slowly stood up. "I'll try not to-"

"Shut up," she muttered. "I don't want to hear it. Just get out of here."

He seemed hurt for a second, but he nodded and ran off. She walked toward the others, her heart in her throat.

"We should go," she said softly to the others. "Come on."

"Yeah. The Gallows is going to be quite a show," Varric agreed.

It was hard enough just getting there. Chaos had spread everywhere, just as bad as when the Qunari had attacked. She remembered both the panic of the people of the city, and her own grim determination to save them. It was exactly the same as before, but she didn't honestly know if she could stop it so easily now. Before, all she'd had to do was defeat a single person. Now she had to stop a war before it spread out of Kirkwall and to the rest of the Free Marches, if not all of Thedas.

Fighting through the city, she was surprised by the sudden flare of magic that erupted next to her, killing a shade just as it appeared. She looked wildly around, expecting Anders to have come back and insist on her help, only to see her sister there.

"Bethany?" she asked incredulously.

"I've been looking everywhere for you," she said as she approached, putting her staff away. "I thought you were dead."

"Last time we spoke, it didn't seem that would matter to you," Hawke admitted. It might have been a bit cruel, but the fact was she was confused by the sudden concern.

"I... wanted to apologize for what happened back in the Deep Roads. You saved my life and I couldn't even see that," she confessed. "You're the only family I have left. If you need my help against the templars, just say the word."

"I thought Grey Wardens were supposed to stay neutral," she stated.

"Right now, I'm not a Warden. I'm your sister. I blamed you for putting me in the Order, and I was wrong. I once said I could never imagine turning against you, yet when you saved my life when I asked to go to the Deep Roads, I did exactly that."

"It's okay," Hawke assured her. "I'm just glad you're here, and your magic would certainly be welcome."

"Good," Bethany said with a nod before she looked around. "Where's Anders though? I thought for sure he'd want to help."

Hawke swallowed and shook her head.

"I'll explain when I can. For now, we need to hurry," she said softly. Bethany had admired Anders, seen him as a good and strong man. Even if they had time to get into it, she wasn't sure she could say it just yet. It was all too fresh.

"Yes, I agree. The Hawke sisters, together at last," Bethany said, actually smiling a bit. "Just like old times."

They were able to reach the Gallows quickly after that. However, when she saw Anders there, she snarled and stalked up to him.

"You decided to join the mages after all?" he asked her before she could begin to yell at him. "Will it sully your victory to have me here?"

"I've stood with the mages all this time, something you never saw no matter what I did to help you," she snapped. "If you want to help mages, be gone from here. They can not win this with a murderer at their head. Get out of Kirkwall, before you give Sebastian reason to come back and you destroy even more innocent lives."

He didn't say anything to defend himself, just looked at her for a moment, sadness in his eyes. She wondered if he felt guilt for his betrayal or if it was just because she wouldn't give him even a moment to think what he had done was the right choice. Maybe both. Either way, it didn't matter. She would not let him fight next to her.

"I wish you victory," he whispered softly before he walked away from her.

#-#

"Just go!" Hawke insisted hurriedly as the large demon advanced on them. "I'll distract it, and you run."

"No!" the Inquisitor protested. "Not without you! We'll all get out of here!"

She looked at Stroud and the elven woman before her, and smiled softly. She couldn't let them die here, not when she could do something about it. This man had saved her sister's life and the Grey Wardens needed him, and Thedas needed the Inquisition and its leader. She was the only one here that was expendable. More than that, she had failed to stop the war that had ravaged nearly all of Thedas, failed to kill Corypheus, and now everyone was paying for her mistake. She had to make up for it somehow.

"We don't have a choice. Take care of Varric, for me, okay?" she asked. Pain filled the Inquisitor's eyes, but Hawke looked away before she could let it sway her. "Go, now. I'll keep it away from you."

She ran towards the large spider, dwarfing her in size, and began slashing at the monster. She drew its attention to her and watched the others run past before focusing her attack back on the demon. She'd keep it away from them, no matter what it took.

"Fenris..." she breathed. "I'm so sorry."

The air crackled with energy as she slashed at one of the bits of flesh hanging from its mouth, chopping it off just as the breach was closed. The green light evaporated immediately, but she kept fighting, trying to fend it off as long as possible. She'd stayed, knowing she would die, but she'd fight until the bitter end.

It didn't seem that was the plan though, as the spider suddenly roared in her face and one of its legs swung out at her, hitting her full force. She went flying, her sword leaving her hand and clattering uselessly to the floor a good 30 paces away as her back slammed into the bare rock of the fade. Pain erupted in her body, striking her like a crack of lightning before she fell to her hands and knees, coughing up blood violently on the floor.

"Well now, this won't do at all."

She looked up suddenly with hope to spot her blade, but it was nowhere to be seen. Neither was the spider. Confused, she glanced around, trying to figure out where it had went. Her eyesight was blurry from the pain, and her scalp felt sticky and wet., no doubt with blood. She could barely move without pain screaming in her body, and she didn't know where that voice she'd just heard a moment ago had come from. It was clearly the fear demon, but the pain was making it too hard to think and figure out where it was.

"Whatever you want, demon, you'll not get it from me," she said. "You might as well kill me."

"Oh, you couldn't possibly give me anything I want. You have caused me nothing but grief, Hawke. You have cut me off from Corypheus, killed many of my pets, and I don't even have the Inquisitor. You are a brave woman, but it was foolish for you to stay. I am going to have to settle for you as a prize though, so I'll need to make the most out of it."

"I don't fear you," she informed the monster as she stood up. She winced and had to steady herself to avoid falling, but she'd meet her death like a warrior and nothing else. Hawke refused to let him see her cower.

"I know you don't. Not yet, but I know your mind, Hawke, and I know what you fear," the demon spoke before all the flames in the Fade extinguished except the one closest to her. It created a ring of light about her and she looked in every direction she could in order to try and find the voice. A familiar laughter filled the air, seeming to come from every direction as she tried to remember where she'd heard it before. Was there someone else here? Another demon?

Footsteps began to sound, slow and steady as they approached her. She set herself to face it, determined not to give it anything but defiance. However, as the flickering light met the one approaching, her eyes widened in shock at who was standing before her.

"Hello, Hawke," the nightmare said with Anders' form and voice, a smirk she must have seen thousands of times on his lips. "Get comfortable. We have all eternity to play now."

End of Chapter 2

This whole idea is what spawned this story. I must have thought about what happened to Hawke a million times and the fact the game said "will likely die" as opposed to die made me curious. Maybe it's just Bioware keeping things open, but I was hopeful. It killed me to lose Hawke and I want to feel like it wasn't really the end of her story.

Hawke is a strong woman, but she's not invincible. When you see her again in Inquisition, she seems so world weary and worn down. Enter in a fear demon, and being trapped in the Fade with it, no allies to help her I don't think it would just kill her and be done with it. It seemed to cruel to do anything like that.
Up next, the Inquisitor. Please, if you liked this, comment and let me know how I'm doing so far.