Hello everyone. I apologize for the delay in updating...school this week was a nightmare. X_X Also, I'm trying to not use the exact dialogue from the game, but keep it about the same but different...if that makes sense. Also, this chapter is somewhat short, but you guys will have a lot more action in the next chapter, I promise. I just had to get something uploaded. Well, here you go, enjoy. Also, please R&R if you have the time, I'd love to know your opinions and any advice you have to improve the story!

Chapter III

That had been only one of countless nights without sleep. I was always haunted by my dreams, seeing visions of Hawke or Danarius every night. They were nothing alike as far as I could tell, but I was starting to feel bound to both of them. I had been Danarius's slave, and as I tried to escape him, I found myself obeying every order of another master.

Of course, Hawke was nothing like Danarius…but I was starting to feel that she was developing a power over me, as if she was my master now. I thought I'd never be free if I let her pull me in as she did, but I was always helpless to resist her.

It was comforting knowing back then that she and I at least shared a lot of similar views.

Even though my eyes were closed, I could tell that sunlight slowly began to trickle through the windows. I groaned as I realized that it was morning. After my nightmare, I had hoped that I would fall back asleep, but I never did. I had closed my eyes, and I was comfy in my chair, but I couldn't stop thinking about the dream. I knew that this was foolish though, since dreams are nothing but dreams, visions in the Fade. Even so, I could not stray my thoughts away from that cursed woman, Hawke Hawke. I never realized how fearful I could feel for someone's life until I thought I saw hers diminish right before my eyes.

Why I was so worried about her, though, I didn't understand. I didn't want to. I didn't completely trust her, nor did I want to have any feelings for anyone.

Especially her.

I opened my eyes slowly, adjusting to the light, and rubbed my eyes sleepily. I rose to my feet and stretched my arms and my back before retrieving my armor from the corner. After I was fully armored, I decided to go see if Hawke was awake, since it was early in the morning. I traveled to Lowtown and to her uncle's tiny house and knocked on the door. I had hoped that Hawke would answer the door instead of her uncle, but unfortunately as the door opened, I first saw a tall, slightly stout man with a tired expression on his face and slicked-back grey hair.

"What do you want, elf?" He asked in an impatient voice.

"Is Hawke awake?" I asked him, keeping my composure.

"Why do you need to know th-"

"Gamlen!" He was interrupted by a woman's voice coming from inside the house. Leandra, I recognized. Hawke's mother. I saw a glimpse of her from behind Gamlen. Her face was turned towards me. "This is that elf boy that our girl speaks so fondly of!" She scolded the man, and as I heard her, I felt a heat tinge my cheeks. Hawke spoke of me? Fondly?

I quickly recovered in time before Leandra gently pushed Gamlen aside and faced me. "I'm sorry about my brother's behavior," she sighed. "Do come in."

"Uh…no, that's fine," I mumbled. "I just wanted to see if she was awake yet."

"That girl is such a heavy sleeper," the older woman laughed. "In Lothering when there was Chantry service, Bethany would always be the first one up, and she would try to wake up her sister, who would just sleep all day." She was smiling as she told the story, and I couldn't help but return it, even if it wasn't much of a smile. "Oh, forgive me, I'm rambling on. I'll go wake her." With that, she went back inside the house, and I waited outside the door, feeling a bit awkward. A few moments passed, and then I saw Hawke wave goodbye to her mother and walk out the door. She smiled at me when she saw me, and I hated that happy feeling that I felt in my gut.

"Good morning," she yawned.

I nodded. "You too."

"So," she started. "I heard that the son of a woman in the alienage has gone missing."

"And?" I inquired. There had to be more to it than this.

"I think I also heard that he's a mage," she whispered. "Something about him refusing to go with the templars."

I sighed. This was typical. The boy would refuse to be controlled by the Circle and the templars. Eventually, demons would haunt the boy, and he wouldn't be able to resist the temptation, thus resulting in another maleficarum. He would be another blood mage. Or he'd become an abomination, and neither result was desirable. The best course of action to take would be, of course, to send him to the Circle. "We need to find this boy and make him go to the Circle," I spoke to Hawke. I knew how Anders felt about the "oppression of mages" but I hoped that Hawke would be much more open-minded.

I watched her as she studied me for a moment, and then she looked off into the distance. "I would never send Bethany to the Circle by choice," she spoke quietly. "But you may be right. There is the risk of him getting involved with demons. He'd be safer in the Circle."

I was surprised by her agreement. "I'm glad that you see my reasoning," I told her. "We should head quickly to the alienage, then."

With that, we left her house, and we stopped by the Hanged Man for Varric to join us, and I was surprised and slightly irritated to see Anders walk out with him instead of Isabela, who stayed at the bar. Anders usually stayed at his clinic in Darktown.

Hawke must have been surprised as well. "Anders, what are you doing at the Hanged Man so early?"

"I was awake at an early hour, so I decided to come chat with Varric here for a bit. We figured you'd stop by soon, dragging us out on your little adventures with you." I looked back at Hawke and noticed that she looked almost uncomfortable taking Anders with us today to find the mage. There was nothing we could do about it now, though, so we would just have to see what would happen. I was interested in the abomination's reaction after finding out that Hawke trusted my opinion better than his. The thought of that made me more confident than it probably should have.

"Oh, alright then, it's the four of us today," she smiled weakly. She cleared her throat, and continued, looking at Varric. "Varric, you know how you told me about the missing child from the alienage?"

"The mage kid?" As Varric asked, I saw Anders look at both of them, confused but intrigued.

"What are you talking about, Hawke?" He asked, trying to figure out what was going on.

Hawke turned to him. "Varric told me that a child in the alienage went missing, and supposedly he's a mage who ran away to escape the templars."

"And rightfully so," Anders quickly added. "A boy like him shouldn't have to be locked away for the rest of his life." I couldn't help but sneer at his comment. It was people like him that were a threat to us all.

"Of course you would think that," Hawke sharply rebuked.

"And why wouldn't I? I know what the Circle is like. I know that it is wrong. And why wouldn't you think that? Your sister is a mage, and you risk your life protecting her from the templars." I couldn't help but find this argument entertaining as I listened.

"This boy could fall prey to demons! He'll be safer at the Circle."

Varric stepped between them. "Come on you two, save the fighting for the bad guys."

xxx

The four of us were silent as we walked to the alienage, which wasn't too far. As we approached, I saw a blonde elf woman speaking to a templar. I looked at Hawke, who had stopped walking. She turned around to face us. "I think that's her. Let me try to hear what they're saying."

"I am sorry for your loss, mistress," the templar spoke to the elf. "But I can offer your son mercy only if he turns himself in."

"I'm trying to find him, but…"

"The templars cannot tolerate apostates." The templar then left, leaving the poor elf woman weeping. I felt sorry for her. I couldn't imagine the pain of losing a child. Hawke motioned for us to walk forward, and I followed her as she approached the elf woman.

"It sounds like your son is in trouble," she said. "Is there anything I can do?"

The elf turned suddenly to face Hawke. "You heard all that, and you still would help? An apostate? Oh, thank you. My name is Arianni. When I learned my son Feynriel had magic, I didn't want to send him to the Circle, but his connection to the Fade caused him to have nightmares, dreams of demons haunting him in his sleep. I'm afraid without proper training he's going to kill himself." Dreams of demons? It was definitely necessary now to send the boy to the Circle, and I knew that Hawke was probably silently agreeing with me. He was definitely at risk. "I'd rather lose my boy to the Circle than to himself."

"Just tell me what you need me to do," Hawke spoke softly.

Arianni told us that we could talk to Templar Thrask to see what ground he's already covered, and we could talk to Feynriel's father, who was a merchant in the bazaar here in Lowtown. Hawke reassured Arianni that we'd find him, and we left the alienage. Hawke decided we'd go ahead and talk to his father first, since we were here in Lowtown. We walked to the bazaar, and then we found him.

The man was definitely hiding his secret at first. Hiding his son to protect him, we knew. But Anders displayed that he was a mage and reassured him that we weren't going to hurt his son. He told us that he sent Feynriel to a former templar. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that was his first mistake.

"Why would a templar help him?" Hawke asked curiously. I had asked the question myself in my head, but not out loud.

"His conscious plagued him too long," the merchant explained. "He now helps mages on the run." He also told us that we could find him here in Lowtown at night, by the entrance to the Undercity. We thanked him, and left.

"So, I guess we'll just meet up again tonight and go find him?" Hawke spoke to the four of us.

"Sounds good to me. You know where to find me," Varric laughed as he headed straight for the Hanged Man.

"Alright. I'll be at my clinic." And with that, Anders left as well, and now it was just me and Hawke. She was quiet for a moment, and I watched her look after Anders as he walked off. I started to turn to leave for my mansion in Hightown, when suddenly I felt her hand on my shoulder. Her hand didn't touch my markings, since it rested on my armor, but I still flinched as I felt her touch, startled by the tingling sensation I felt. I didn't like to be touched, but I couldn't bring myself to jerk her hand away from me. In fact, I wasn't even sure if I wanted to.

"Hey, don't go," she spoke quietly, looking at me. I stood frozen, looking back at her, and I was at a loss for words.

"Do you have need of me?" I asked her, unsure of her intentions.

"Well…no, not really," she admitted. I wondered what was going through her mind as she bit her lip. "I just don't really want to go home right now. Can I go with you?" She asked. I was happily surprised, but I tried not to show it.

"I don't see a problem with that," I nodded and we walked together in silence towards my mansion in Hightown. As always, I struggled with the door, and I felt her eyes on me as I fought with it. Finally I opened it, and I walked inside, Hawke following behind me. I wondered what she thought about the clutter on the floor, the holes in the ceiling, the dust that covered everything, and the ruined wallpaper. I wondered what she thought about me staying here.

"Fenris…this place is still as much of a dump as it was," she stated bluntly.

I grunted in reply. "I know. I do not see any point in fixing it up."

"Why not?"

I sighed, and turned to face her as we stood in the large foyer of the mansion. "This is not even my own mansion, first of all. Second, I doubt that I'll be staying here long."

I couldn't read her expression as I replied. I couldn't tell if she was sad or disappointed or didn't care. She was quiet for a moment before she spoke again. "Why?"

"If Danarius doesn't show up, I'm going after him," I explained.

"Really? You won't just let sleeping dogs lie?"

"No," I told her sternly. "That is foolish. I cannot live my life hiding from him forever."

She sighed. "I suppose you're right." The silence between us then wasn't comfortable, like it normally was, but it was slightly awkward. I continued on up the stairs to the bedroom, and I heard her follow behind me. We entered the room and as she sat on the bench by the fireplace, I started a fire, then walked over to the desk and poured us two glasses of wine. I then walked back over and stood by her, handing her one of the glasses before sitting down beside her.

"Thank you," she mumbled. I nodded in reply. It felt much less awkward as we sat together and drank our wine. We were both quiet for a moment, until she looked at me and said, "You've been on the run a long time, haven't you?"

I sipped my wine slowly before looking at her and nodding. I lowered my glass. "Three years now…it never takes him long to follow, but now I've given him reason to pause," I explained. "I suppose there are advantages in numbers."

In response, she looked at me almost incredulously, like she couldn't believe what I was saying. "So…you've never sought help before?"

I shook my head. "Hirelings, when I was able to steal the coin, but never anyone of substance – until you." I looked at her deep, dark eyes and saw something sparkle, but I didn't know what. I also thought I saw a slight blush crawl over her cheeks, but it was probably just the heat from the fireplace. She looked over at the dancing flames and was quiet for a moment. As I kept my eyes on her and listened to the crackling of the burning wood, I wondered what she was thinking about. Suddenly, her eyes were on mine again.

"You could start a new life here," she said quietly.

"I could see myself staying…for the right reasons," I admitted. For a split second, one of those reasons was her, but I quickly diminished the thought. The Blight was over now, anyway. She could go back home. "The Blight is over. Don't you ever want to go back to Lothering?"

"Lothering's gone," she said quietly. "It's not the same now. I have made a new life for myself here."

"But you could rebuild what you lost. Just to have the option…it's gratifying. Don't you at least think about it?"

"Sometimes," she admitted. "But it would be…" She trailed off for a moment, and then sighed. "Without my brother there," she continued. "It just wouldn't be the same."

"And so just because of his death, your home doesn't matter to you anymore?" I snapped at her, and then I immediately regretted saying those words. A look of hurt washed over her face, and I felt the guilt in my stomach. "I…I am sorry. That was…uncalled for. It's your life, it just…it sounds similar."

"I've left my past behind me," She nodded. "Why can't you do the same?"

I sighed, exasperated. I threw my hands up in the air. "Because it haunts me! Everywhere I go, I'm being followed by Danarius and those slavers from Tevinter. I'm trying to leave my past behind me, but it won't stay there!" I couldn't help myself as I started to yell. I stood quickly and walked over to the desk. The wine bottle sat there, and I picked it up. I drank the wine straight from the bottle, allowing the alcohol to enter my system and calm my nerves. I could feel Hawke's eyes on me, watching me. As the sweet, strong liquid poured down my throat, I thought of Danarius and my life of servitude to him. I lowered the bottle from my lips, and then threw the bottle as hard as I could towards the wall. The glass shattered upon impact, the red liquid splashing against the wall and the shards of glass falling to the floor.

I always did this when I was mad; it was a simple pleasure, drinking wine and breaking things. "It's good to know I can still find pleasure in the small things."

She laughed. "You could've poured me a glass first, you know."

I looked at her and smiled. "There's more, don't worry."

"Oh, no, perish the thought!" She exclaimed sarcastically. "How else would you redecorate the walls?"

I laughed at her response. She was usually cold and quiet, I noticed, but she had a delightfully dry sense of humor that never failed to make me smile.

I was surprised to see her stand, and then walk over to me. She looked over at the wall that was now stained by wine and at the pieces of glass on the floor. She then turned her head, and I followed her gaze to the other bottle of wine sitting on the desk. She walked towards it slowly and studied it, then looked back at the wall. I could tell what she was thinking.

"You can."

She suddenly jerked her head back towards my direction and smiled at me. She grabbed the bottle and chugged most of it down, and then looked at it for a long time in her hands before she threw it at the wall with all her might. The piercing sound of glass breaking filled the room as the bottle burst, bits of glass falling to the ground and the wine splattering all over the wall. I looked over at her to see her grinning. She looked up at me suddenly, her eyes wild and excited. "That was fun," she breathed. "Probably more fun than it should be."

I chuckled at her response. "I agree." I looked out the window to see that it was only a bit late in the afternoon. There was still quite some time left before we would need to find the ex-templar in Lowtown. I saw out of the corner of my eye that Hawke had followed my gaze, and was probably realizing the same. She spoke again. "I'm going to go speak with Varric, probably have a few drinks and discuss plans for tonight. I'll see you then," she said. I nodded, and she turned to leave. I was about to turn around, but her voice stopped me. "Oh, and, Fenris?"

I looked at her. "Yes?"

"Thank you. I had a lot of fun. I might start coming over more." She smiled at me, and then walked out.

I would be counting the hours until it was time to meet up.