Disclaimer: Bioware owns all the characters in this story. I just take liberties and make them kiss. This is also my first fanfiction so be easy on me.

It seemed like yesterday when all of this had started; the flight from Ferelden with Darkspawn at her heels, her brother's limp body at the feet of an Ogre, Flemeth. It took her years to work her way up in Kirkwall, so many battles and so many faces lost but one still haunted her. Those pale green eyes, the stark contrast of his white hair against his tan skin. That night had almost killed her. She had no idea what she was getting into, just another job to get enough money to go down the deep road. They had all left blood on her hands, but it didn't matter so long as they weren't innocents, and any task in Lowtown never involved innocents.

She had remembered Varric's temper with her as he saw her handing out coins to the orphans. He said it would be five years before she made enough to convince his brother to let her join, but she knew it wouldn't be that long and anything in the Deep Roads wasn't changing though they insisted the Darkspawn would be back soon. She wasn't afraid of the Darkspawn. She owed them retribution for what had occurred to Carver. She still shook remembering how it had occurred, and she still felt the joy when remembering what it felt like to sink her blades into the Ogre's throat.

But none of that was important, it was that one night. She had received a letter at her uncle's writing desk, telling her that help was required in retrieving an object. The pay was fair enough, and it seemed like an easy task. Go to Lowtown and retrieve an item from an abandoned house. The man, Anso, said there would be little resistance as it was in an abandoned district. Robbing an empty house and she was making a fair share off of it. She had agreed and walked off with her blades at her side. Anders, and Bethany told her it would be foolish to go off by herself. Varric and Aveline told her it was surely a trap. She had laughed at them, who could possibly want her dead? She had been a slave til a few months ago. She was a nobody, her name meant nothing. She was just a hired blade. She had told them that they were worrying for no reason and that she would be fine by herself, it would be better if she went by herself. A large party would draw attention in Lowtown, and if anyone tried to accost her by herself she could just outrun them. She was a shadow, a rogue; she would blend in much better than the guard captain, or two apostates.

Anders and Bethany had tried to force their company upon her, but she soon ditched them down a dark alley. She had always felt Anders had another motive in his companionship. She saw the way he looked at her, and how possessive he seemed to be of her company. She didn't want any of that. She just wanted to make something for her family; there was no time to think of companionship or crushes.

She crouched on a rooftop and watched them look around for her before she started to travel from rooftop to rooftop to get to her destination. She slid off an awning to get to the clearing where the house was. It was completely deserted, dark and empty like she was told it would be. She unsheathed her blades for good measure and opened the door slowly. It creaked on its hinges announcing her presence to the darkness. The moonlight through the broken roof gave her enough light to see the chest, and her sharp ears heard the rubble shift behind the next room. Someone was here.

She stopped dead in her tracks and reached into the pouch at her hip grabbing a vial to toss it into the next room. As the glass shattered on the floor smoke started to blanket the room. Coughs and choking echoed from the next room, curses and scrambling as they rushed into the clear air where she was. Mercenaries. She was at their throats in an instance. They had long swords, that would have given them an advantage if they were not cramped into one corridor, or if they didn't realize she was there waiting for them. The smoke had left them teary eyed and blinded, but she was perfectly fine.

Her blade sung as it arced through the air, finding it's home in the first one's leather armor. Leather armor was decent, but it only took a little more effort to push the blade through and she dug her blade deep. She kicked the first one away from her, sliding the blade out as he fell back. The next one she brought her blade up and slashed at his throat, sending a gush of blood at her and her foe falling to the floor drowning on her own blood. The third one was wizened to her, he had heard his comrades fall and he backed off into the smoke. She stepped back a few paces letting the night air diminish the smoke. She wasn't going to charge, she had the advantage. The man stared at her down the hall, he was trapped. There was no way out from the back. They had hoped to kill their foe by surprise but mercenaries never got her back.

"We could make a deal… just let me go." He was begging for his life, a mercenary begging for his life. It was true that gold only got one so far.

She was crouched, ready to rush at him. "No."

"Well I'm not going to come after you."

"On guard then…"

She rushed down the hall against her better senses. He brought his long sword up in an attempt to parry her blades. It would have worked had she only one. She blocked him with her one blade, pushing his sword aside to stab her other blade into his gut. She saw the shock and fear take over his eyes as the whites got bigger. She saw him fumble as she stepped back. He dropped his sword and grabbed his wound as his life spilled over the floor. She just stared at him as he collapsed to the floor.

She stared at the mess she had caused. Three dead when none were supposed to be here. She light stepped over the last body and walked towards the chest in the corner of the room. Their armor marked them as Tevinter. She hadn't seen Tevinter mercenaries since she had first come here. They were all slavers she knew, even though slavery was outlawed here they still crept in to take the unsuspecting away.

She easily unlocked the chest and opened it, to only be faced with cobwebs. "Are you fucking kidding me..? This was all a setup." She was cursing more at herself than the situation. They were all right and she was wrong. She wondered what she was walking out to find. Were they trying to capture her? She was just a smuggler… She wasn't worth anything.

She stepped over the bodies. She hadn't realized how messy she had finished them. She was covered in their blood. It was running down her cuirass and soaking into her clothes underneath. There was no hope of her going unnoticed now. She walked into the clearly and all that stood before her was a man in heavy armor.

"I don't know who you are, friend, but you made a serious mistake coming here." She stared blankly at him, why was he so angry with her? Oh, right, she had destroyed his family. "Lieutenant I want everyone out in the clearing!"

Only silence answered his command, and he turned back to look at her before she grew wide-eyed as she saw a man come around the corner holding his stomach as blood gushed from him. The man made a feeble plea of "Captain" before collapsing to the ground.

An elf walked around from the corner then. He was tall and his skin was an olive color. His hair was such a white that it seemed a stark comparison to his skin color. His skin… He had odd white lines running through him. "Your man are dead and your trap has failed I suggest running back to your master while you can." His voice was gruff and stern when he talked. She wouldn't have raised a question to this man as he walked down the stairs and towards her.

"You're going nowhere,Slave." The Captain reached out as he walked past him, grasping the elf's shoulder.

"I am not a slave."His skin burned a bright blue and in a second his hand was through the Captain's chest. The man gurgled out blood before collapsing to the ground dead as the elf removed his hand from the man's chest. "I apologize when I asked Anso to make a distraction from the hunters I had no idea they would be so numerous."

"I guess they were looking for you." The fears that she would become a slave in Tevinter washed away, leaving her slightly relieved. The fact she didn't have to kill anyone else made her feel slightly lighter as well.

"Yes…Even though the trap was crude, I could not face them alone. Good thing Anso chose wisely." He had a smirk as he looked at her, eyeing her up before glancing at the corpse before him. She doubted she looked funny, but who was she to say? She hadn't looked in a mirror since she had slaughtered those men, and she was covered in blood.

She bit her lower lip slightly before frowning, "Everything Anso said was a lie then..?"

"Not everything, your employer was just not who he seemed to be."He was at least clever, but she guessed he had to be clever to set her up like this.

"If you couldn't face them, why didn't you just run? That seems foolish."

"There come a time when you can't run anymore." He frowned slightly, the smug smile washing from his face.

"Whatever you say, it is just foolish to go after these people… but most of all it is foolish to anger me. You know I don't appreciate being lied to."

He laughed again, perhaps at the thought he should fear her. "Perhaps the deception was wrong, but I have come accustomed to lying. I apologize. What was in the chest though?"

"Nothing. Just spiders."She kicked lightly at the ground before her, finding herself feeling flushed in his presence. She was angry that he had put her in this dangerous situation, but he seemed like a dangerous person and that made her feel excited. He was nothing like Anders it seemed just from this brief glimpse. "Were you expecting something else?"

"Yes. Though I shouldn't have."

"I guess that's the second time tonight you've been foolish. The job is done. Where is my payment?"

"It isn't though, I need your help still. I believe he is still in the area."

"I guess you are going to do more than just talk then if you need me to help? Plus it would be two of us against however many he has..That doesn't seem smart."

"He wants to strip the flesh from my bones and sent so many hunters that I lost count, before that he kept me as a pet on a leash to mock Qunari customs. So yes I want to do more than talk. I will find a way to repay you. As a means of more help, I know you have other companions. I've been watching you for some time." The way he looked at her, it made her heart rush. She felt like a little girl in his presence.

"I'm not going to drag my sister into this or the others…. You get me or you get nothing. Plus I have no idea where they've gone it would take me all night to get a party together."

"Well then… It looks like we are off."