Welcome back everyone!

As always thank you to all who reviewed, alerted or placed this story on your favorites!

To Jankmaster98: That would be pretty funny and I have a good idea about how to work that in, just gotta get to it!

To Inverness: Thank you for the suggestion. I'm gonna work on making Hawke more modern. Merrill doesn't need it so much do to her abilities.

How that you all enjoy this chapter! Please leave a review if you want!

Merrill POV

"-medical scans show extensive tissue damage in her extremities Shepard. Poor girl. They damn near lobotomized her. What the hell where they doing?"

"New species. Had to learn all they could. Not condone practices however. Unacceptable practices, too inhumane, unreasonable. Believe subject is waking Shepard."

Everything was so fuzzy. And who was talking? Where was she? There was white all around her. Was she…was she still in that awful room? No, please Creator's let her be free of this all. Please let this have been a terrible, terrible dream!

The Creator's weren't on her side however. She was in a white room. With more effort than she wanted to admit she managed to turn her head. There were…people in the room with her. She was laying down on something much softer than what she was used to. Two of the people looked like all the others, a young man and an older woman. But the third. She had no idea what it was! But they were in the room with her. Hawke wouldn't let this opportunity slip, so neither would she!

The strange lizard like creature came closer to her. Its arm was covered in that strange orange glow that all the others had. "Hmm, interesting." What? She could understand it? It was speaking Common? "She shows remarkable –" Just as the creature stepped within reach of her arm she grabbed hold of it.

Using what Hawke taught her she had the creature turned around; it's back pressed against her front with her left arm across its throat. The palm of her metal right hand opened. Focusing her magic into her hand she formed a small fireball in her open palm. "Say back!"

Both of the shemlen took a step back and raised their hands. "Wait," the male's voice was calm. "We don't mean you any harm."

Before all of this happened, before she was tortured, before they took her arm from her, before they showed her Hawke being tortured day in and day out she might've believed him. But not now. "I don't believe you!" She shouted pulling back harder on the creature. "Give me Hawke! Let us go!"

The man looked at her questioningly. Pulling out some strange piece of metal he took a few cautious steps towards her. "Is this Hawke?" He asked turning the metal plate towards her.

The piece of metal was showing her a picture of Hawke. He looked exactly the same as he did before all of this happened. Everything that'd happened to her since coming to this strange land came back in a rush. Her magic failed her as the ball of fire died out. Her arm loosened letting go of the strange creature as she collapsed onto her hands and knees. "Please! Please don't hurt him anymore!"

Shepard POV

Sharing shocked looks with Mordin and Dr. Chakwas on either side of him Shepard started down at the kneeling girl. "Strange behavior, possible learned response during incarceration," Mordin theorized. "Would suggest not showing picture of male counterpart in future when talking to her."

Taking a few cautious steps towards the kneeling girl he tried to reach down to her, only to have her scout back on all fours until she was backed into a corner and rolled into a small ball with her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. By god, what did they do to this poor girl. Kneeling down in front of her he tried his best to be as non-intimidating as possible. "My name is Commander John Shepard of the Alliance Navy." The woman's eyes were still wide and frightened, but she at least held his gaze. "I don't know what happened to you before. But I promise you, we'll do whatever we can to help you, and your friend."

She didn't move. "H-how can I understand you?" She asked. "Before-before here, I, I could never understand your language. B-but now you're speaking Common. How?"

Turning his head to the side he pulled forward on his ear. A thin scar barely visible was behind his ear. Everyone on the crew had similar scars near their auditory channels. "We placed a universal translator just behind your ear. Don't worry," he assured her as her hands went protectively over her enlarged ears. "Everyone on this crew has one. It's considered standard practice in the galaxy for just about everyone to receive one once they reach a certain age. It's completely safe I assure you."

The young woman felt behind her enlarged ears. "Whe-where am I?"

"You're on board the SR-2 Normandy," Shepard kept his distance. The woman was obviously a biotic, and from the brief few moments more than likely unstable. No need to give her a reason to lash out at them. "I'm Commander John Shepard, Alliance Navy and Council Spectre." Motioning behind him Chakwas and Mordin stepped forward. "This is Dr. Chakwas and Dr. Mordin."

Woman looked back and forth between all of them, her eyes resting longest on Mordin. "Where's Hawke?"

"He's alright. There was a slight, incident when we found you." Stepping up to her he held out his hand still a fair distance from her. "If you're up for it, I can take you to him."

The woman looked from his outstretched hand to his face several times. "Merrill."

"What?"

"My name," she said taking his hand. "My name is Merrill."

Hawke POV

"Hawke. Hawke can you hear me ma vhenan? Please, open your eyes ma vhenan."

Opening his eyes Hawke was greeted with a slight that he'd prayed for day in day out for only the Maker knew how long. Merrill was above him; her wide golden brown eyes were moist with unshed tears. "Merrill," he breathed. "Please tell me this isn't a dream."

"No ma vhenan," she whispered bringing her face down and lightly brushing her lips against his own. "This is no dream."

Whether it was a dream or not was lost as Merrill brought her lips down again. Maker, he never thought he would ever be able to feel this again. His arms felt as if they weighed down, but he still managed to wrap them around her petite frame, holding her to him.

After what seemed like an eternity Merrill pulled back away from him and looked him in the eye. "Elgar'nan! What happened to your eyes Hawke? Why are they so green?"

Closing his eyes he didn't want her to see them. "They…they took my eyes Merrill. And gave me these."

Her hands caressing his face made him snap his eyes open. One of her hands felt normal, but the other. Was she wearing some sort of metal glove? Just as his hand touched her right arm Merrill shot back away from him, her right arm going behind her back so he couldn't see. "Merrill," he grunted trying his best to sit up. Why was it so hard for him to move his body right now? It felt like he'd been out binge drinking with Isabella and Varric for three days. "Merrill, what's wrong."

Merrill looked away from him as she slowly brought her arm out from behind her back. It took him a second to realize just what it was he was looking at. Her right arm was covered in skin tight metal greave. When he got a better look at the arm however his stomach tightened into a dozen knots and his want to kill those who did this to them intensified ten-fold.

Hoping off whatever he was lying on, and having to hold onto it to prevent himself from collapsing; he took two unsteady steps towards Merrill. Taking her arm in his hands he began running his fingers over the metal. The metal was cool to the touch. Where the skin and metal met the two were weaved together almost like a tapestry. "Can you-can you feel anything Merrill?"

Merrill's eyes were moistening. "I-I can't-no. I can't Hawke. I-I'm a monster. I-"

"No Merrill," cutting her off he let go of her hand and gently caressed her face. "You could never be a monster to me Merrill. Never."

"You're awake, that's good."

Looking towards the voice red hot rage went through him. It was the same man he fought, and lost against, aboard the other ship. The same man who was leading those people who came on board wearing the mark of Cerberus, his enemies. "Stand behind me Merrill." He hissed putting himself between her and the man.

"Hawke wait!" Merrill forced her way in front of him now standing between him and the man. "He-"

"He's with them Merrill!" Merrill winced at his tone and he instantly hated himself for it. But damn it, he wasn't going to let either of them be hurt again. "He's with those people that did thi-"

"Hawke, please." Damn it. Merrill was staring up at him with those wide eyes of her that she knew he was defenseless against. "Please Hawke, just listen to him."

"Alright Merrill," he whispered to her before going back to the man. "Talk."

The man kept his distance from them both. Even though it might seem like the man was relaxed, a trained eye like Hawkes could tell that he was ready to jump into action on a moment's notice. This man was no stranger to fighting that was for sure.

"My name is Commander John Shepard," the man stayed where he was. "Alliance Navy and Council Spectre."

'Alliance, Council? Those were two of the organizations Susan told me to search out. She said that they would help us. If this man, Shepard, is affiliated with either, why is he with Cerberus?' "If-if you're who you say…then why are you with Cerberus?"

Merrill looked up at him curiously while Shepard nearly arched an eyebrow at him. "How do you know all of that?" Shepard asked him.

"I was freed on that ship from you bastards days before you ever arrived." He explained. "One of your people, Susan, freed me from that hell. She died, trying to help me. But before she was sent to the Maker's side, she gave a device and showed me how to use it. She told me all about Cerberus, the Alliance, and the Council. So tell me, why should we trust someone who's with those with imprisoned, and tortured ma vhenan and I?"

"Because I'm not with Cerberus." Shepard said harshly. "Lately there have been human colonies are disappearing into thin air. Tens of thousands have gone missing without a trace. Both the Council and the Alliance are both sitting on their collective asses while thousands disappear. Cerberus is actually trying to do something about it. That is the only reason I'm working with them. Not for them."

Hawke still wasn't convinced. "So why did you come after us?"

"The Illusive Man, the leader of Cerberus, sent us to the Salson to try and recover what he called 'lost research material'. It turns out that 'research material, was in fact you two." Shepard explained.

"So why did you wake us?"

Shepard shrugged. "Why wouldn't I? I've made a career out of finding and shutting down operations much like what you two went through. And if you two think that you are the only ones with a grudge against Cerberus, you'd be wrong. There are at least two aboard this ship right now who would sooner drop a grenade on Cerberus rather than help them. But they are able to put their feelings aside for the moment to focus on the greater threat."

A loud crashing made both men nearly jump as they turned to face the noise. Merrill was standing off the side. His elf lover was staring down at the strange metal stand that had crashed to the floor; her hand was frozen in mid-air. "I-I um, I'm so sorry!" She shouted scurrying so that she was standing behind him again. "I-I didn't mean to do that! It-it was just shiny and I want to tou-I mean I-I'll just shut up now."

The two men stared first at the reddening Merrill and then at each other. Shepard's lips twitched and Hawke felt his own twitching. Soon enough both men were chuckling, and then full out laughing as the tension was lifted from the room. "So," Hawke stammered managing to compose himself. "What happens to us now?"

"That is now up to you two," Shepard said gathering himself. "You have two choices. I can bring you both to the Citadel and present your case to the Council. They'll more than likely grant you both an asylum and try to find your home world. But that will take time, and you two will be sealed off from everyone until they can bring you home. Or, you can join my crew."

Sharing a quick look with Merrill, Hawke tried to keep his confusion from showing. "Why would you want us? We don't know anything about this, world. How could we be of any help to you?"

"I'm looking for the best the galaxy has to offer Hawke, Merrill. And you Hawke, you took on six of the galaxies best with nothing more than your hands and nearly won." Shepard said. "I can use your help. And Merrill, she appears to be a biotic. And you can never have too many biotics on your side."

Going back to Merrill the two shared an unspoken agreement about what they were going to do. "Do you know whose making all these people you spoke of disappear?"

Shepard nodded solemnly. "Yes. The ones responsible are known as the Collectors. While strong in their own right is not the true threat. That title belongs to their master's, the Reapers."

Hawke POV

Sitting down at the metal table Hawke set down the metal plate of what he could only assume was food. He'd gotten far to use to the fine foods in Hightown over the past few years. When this, food, was place on his plate he nearly asked if it was supposed to be food. But after hearing several others on this ship make the same comment he decided that it may not be in his best interest to do so. He remembered his and his family's long journey from Gwaren. There was one carnal rule on a ship. Never piss off the cook.

Looking around he kept careful tags on everyone who was eating with him. He didn't recognize anyone who was sitting near him. Not that he really expected too of course. But what really unnerved him was that all of the people who were sitting around him were wearing that symbol. The mark of Cerberus. The same bastards who kept Merrill and he imprisoned for a year and tortured them day after day. Shepard said that they could trust those on this ship. But trust was something earned, not given. The only reason he trusted Shepard at the moment was because he set Merrill free and was trying to help them.

A loud bang right in front of him jolted him out of his musing and made his hands twitch for his daggers. Only when his hands touched nothing by air did he remember that he didn't have them anymore. Looking up towards the source of the noise he was met with…something…that could rival the Arishok in pure size. The large creature almost resembled a large fish that'd grown two legs. He also remembered that he fought this large creature on the other ship.

Swinging its legs over the bench the large creature sat down across from him. Its metal plate was literally a pile of food standing nearly half a foot tall. Maker, he didn't need silverware, the thing needed a shovel!

"Grunt."

He was so focused on the pile of food that he didn't registered that the creature had said something. "What?"

The giant shoveled a pile of food into its gabbing maw. "Grunt. My name is Grunt."

"Garrett Hawke," he said in kind taking a tentative bite of the food. Maker, did these people not know what spices were? But then again, he'd eaten a lot worse back when his family was still living with his Uncle Gamlen. "Everyone calls me Hawke however."

"Hawke. Hmm. A good name. Strong." Grunt shoveled a pile of food into his mouth in between each word. Maker, whatever appetite he had was gone between looking at the food before him and watching Grunt eat.

Taking a few more tentative bites of food he could only marvel as Grunt ate the tasteless food like it was some prime piece of meat. "How can you eat this stuff?" He asked pushing his metal plate away. He'd never seen so much metal in his life. Where did they find all of this stuff?

"I'm hungry." Was all he said before taking another mouthful of food. "You fight well."

"What?"

"On the other ship. You fought well." Grunt had nearly finished off the plate of food. "I can respect that. But do not fight like a true warrior."

Maker, he even sounded like the Arishok. "That's because I'm not what my people consider a warrior. I'm more of a rouge fighter."

Picking up his tray Grunt held it before his face before licking off any residue that was still sticking to it. Setting the tray down with a bang he eyed Hawke's tray. "You gonna eat that?" Shaking his head he pushed over his still half full plate over to Grunt. Finishing off half of what was left Grunt continued. "What is a rouge?"

"On my, world, those who are the in army are usually devised into two types of fighters. Warriors and rouges. Warriors prefer to use their strength in battle. They wear heavy arm and larger weapons and are usually front line troops. Rouges, like I, prefer lighter combat. Blend in, attack from behind, kill your enemy, and leave."

By the time he'd finished talking Grunt had managed to clear off his plate and added it to the growing pile. "Doesn't sound like much honor if the way you fight Hawke."

"No," he said simply. "Honor and glory just end up getting people killed most of the time. In battle, you do what you have to in order to survive."

"Have you fought in battles before Hawke?" Grunt was now eyeing him. "You sound somewhat like Shepard."

Leaning back from the table he tried to fight back the memories of the two wars' he'd been a part of. "I fought in two wars Grunt."

"Tell me about them!" Grunt had a large grin on his face. Maker, he looked like a child asking a parent for stories.

"Not much to tell," he said honestly. "The first war was the Kings army of Ferelden against the darkspawn. I was part of a small scouting detachment. During our largest engagement with the darkspawn, the Kings second betrayed the King and turned over half the army that was gathered away from the battle leaving everyone to die. My brother and I barely managed to get out alive. We got home just in time to gather our mother and sister and run. My brother however, he didn't make it any further. We ran across an ogre, about a ten fifteen foot tall creature that has arms roughly as big as you. My brother was trying to defend our mother against it. The ogre grabbed him, smashed him against the ground, and then threw him against a cliff face."

Grunt still had an excited look to him, but slightly solemn was joining it. "Your brother died a good death. I would love to go and fight these things you call 'ogre's'. It would be fun."

Biting back his retort he pushed on. "The next large battle took place in my new home, the city of Kirkwall. The qunari, specifically the kossith, attacked the city after years of just sitting around. The battle was insane. The city guard was nearly wiped out in its entirety, and to the end the battle I dueled the leader of the qunari warriors one on one."

"Perhaps you're a better warrior than I thought." Grunt was looking at him in respect. "But you can't fight against me!"

"You already lost once against me once Grunt, don't push your luck boy." Hawke was starting to feel an itch that could only be solved with a good fight.

Grunt's face nearly split in half. "Hahaha. This is gonna be fun."

Merrill POV

Merrill was trying to keep up on everything Kelly was telling her. But it was difficult. She was saying so many things she just didn't understand. But, it was nice to have someone to talk to. That was what they'd been doing since she'd left the med bay with her. Hawke had fiercely whispered to her to not let her guard down with her, but all she wanted to do was talk. And she'd found it extremely easy to talk to her.

After Hawke had agreed to them joining with Shepard the Commander had insisted that there was someone he ad aboard who could help them with what happened to them. A woman with short cut red hair came into the room, her body went completely stiff when she stood next to Shepard and her hand went up to her brow. Did she have an itch?After introducing herself as Yeomen Kelly the red-haired woman led her away from Hawke. She'd thought that Kelly would open the door for them both, but as they approached the door opened for them! What a strange thing! But handy. She couldn't remember the number of times she'd been walking back to her house with arms full of stuff and unable to open her house because of it. These doors must make things so much easier!

Just beyond the self-opening door was another much larger room. Only this one was filled with dozens of people. All of whom were looking at her. Oh, she hoped she didn't have anything on her face! Maybe that was what they were looking at? There were also some others standing in the crowd that almost made her lash out with her magic by reflex. Most were shemlen, but some of them looked almost more like demons! But everyone else around them seemed fine by their presence, so perhaps they weren't bad? Maybe they were like the kossith. Oh she hoped they were as stringent as the qunari.

Kelly didn't introduce her to many of the people who were busy working; instead she led her further into the ship. Oh, if only Isabella could see her now! She would be so jealous! A ship that sailed the star's instead of the sea. At least now she could say she'd done something Isabella hadn't. Isabella had always insisted that she'd 'done everything imaginable', and if she needed any tricks for Hawke to ask her. Although whatever she meant by that Merrill honestly didn't know. She doubted however that she would be able to ask her now though. Shepard had promised to try and bring them home, but even he'd said it would take a lot of time, if they even could at all.

Kelly walked up to what looked like a wall, and it opened just as they approached! How did it know? Was there some small man opening if for them? That must be boring for the small man if so.

The room she was led into was empty except for a large padded bench that stretched across most of the center of the room. But it wasn't the empty room, or the cushioned couch that drew her attention. No. It was the large window on the other side of the room. Just outside was the night sky! Star's moved by them as they sailed through the night. By the Creator's, what Shepard told them was true. They weren't sailing on some sea. They weren't on Thedas, or even a planet for that matter! They were sailing across the stars! Oh, she so wished Hawke was here beside her. Some of her fondest memories where of her and Hawke lying in the fields outside of Kirkwall gazing up at the night sky.

Kelly didn't say anything for the longest time. She just let her gaze silently out the window into the sea of stars. It was at that moment that it truly set in about hers and Hawke's situation.

After a long time silent Kelly led her over to the cushioned bench and told her to sit down. It was comfortable! Perhaps even more so than Hawke's bed. Oh no…bad thoughts Merrill! Stop thinking about his warm soft bed that you share with you vhenan-stop it Merrill! Focus on Kelly! Yes that would stop the thoughts!

She wasn't sure what Kelly was going to do to help her and Hawke, but Shepard assured them both that if they were to help him, they would have to see Kelly first. At first she thought that this woman was like Anders. But all she insisted they do was talk. Strangely enough, Merrill found it extremely easy to talk to this woman. Even though Hawke had warned her to keep her guard up around any who was wearing that strange orange circle on their cloths, this woman wasn't too bad.

They talked for a long time. She kept asking questions about her home, although the woman almost seemed to know when something was too painful or personal because she would back off the question and then ask another one. After they talked about her home for a long time she started asking Merrill about hers and Hawke's captivity. Merrill, really didn't want to talk about it all, but somehow the woman managed to get her to talk about what happened. Not everything, but most of what happened. After talking about what happened…she felt strangely better. Perhaps this was what Shepard meant when he said that Kelly could help them.

After she was done talking, Kelly started to talk. She told her all about this 'galaxy' they were now in. Or at least that they were always in but now knew about. About the different species, some of whom were on this ship. About the governing body in the galaxy, more about these strange Collector's and Reapers, and…about Cerberus.

Why anyone would want to be a part of such a group, she couldn't understand. But Kelly was insistent that what happened to them couldn't have been done by the core group. Cerberus worked to better humanity, not torture it. She really wasn't sure what to think. But it also sounded much the same as the humans who belittled the elves and thought themselves better just because they were different. But once again Kelly surprised her. Just as she was starting to become extremely uncomfortable talking about this…Cerberus…Kelly changed the subject. This time to something that, to her chagrin, made her face go red. Hawke.

"Well, I think this was a very productive," Kelly said finally taking pity on her after Creator's knew how long. How was it that both Isabella and Kelly could make her go stumbling over herself at the mere mention of Hawke? Standing from her seat Kelly held out her hand. "Well, shall we go and see how the others are doing then?"

"But…I thought that Shepard said you were going to help Hawke and me." They hadn't done anything. Just talked. She…did feel slightly better. But it didn't changed what happened to them both. She originally thought this woman was a healer, like Anders, but she wasn't.

"I am," Kelly said motioning for her to follow. "I'm not a traditional doctor. I specialize in helping those who've gone through traumatic experiences. The best way to deal with such a thing is to talk about it. And that is what I do. Do you feel better now than before we started?"

Merrill shrugged. She did slightly. And…and it did make a certain kind of sense. Whenever she was hurt or something bad happened to her the Keeper helped her get through whatever it was by talking her through it. And later that role went to Hawke.

As the two exited the small room, how did those walls even know they were coming? Creator's it was going to take her a while to get use to this! The few times she's experienced these strange moving walls she was afraid that either herself or Kelly were going to walk right into the wall. But just before they did it opened in a flash. This world…is so strange.

Walking out into the large room again they were greeted with silence. Everyone who was there when they came through the first time where gone. "Huh," Kelly was scratching her head. "That's strange. This place is hardly ever vacant."

On the far side of the room another wall opened. A woman stepped out that immediately reminded her of Isabella. She had the same…swagger as Isabella. Her body was also curved much the same as Isabella's and her long black hair was allowed to flow loosely from her head. The only thing that set the two apart was the fact that Isabella's skin was sun kissed as this woman was as pale as Aveline. The woman also had a scowl on her face that could rival Aveline.

The woman looked around the empty room before settling in on her and Kelly. "Yeoman Kelly," the woman snapped marching over to them. Creator's she sounded just like Aveline too! She hoped that this woman didn't yell at her.

Beside her Kelly went rigid, her back going straight with her name. One hand came up to her forehead like she was guarding her eyes against the sun. So strange. Was that how they greeted each other out here? "Ma'am!"

Miranda gave her a passing glance before looking back at Kelly. "I take it that this is our new 'guest'?" Did she do something wrong? This woman didn't seem too happy to see her.

Kelly nodded. "Yes ma'am. This is Merrill of Clan Sabrae from the world of Thedas. Merrill, this the XO, second in command, of the Normandy Miranda Lawson."

Miranda was looking at her now. "Um, nice to…meet you Miranda."

Miranda looked her up and down as if she was inspecting something at market. "Yeomen," she said taking her eyes off of her and focusing back on Kelly. "Where is the rest of the crew? They should be at their stations."

Kelly shook her head. "I don't know ma'am. I just finished my session with Merrill, and when we came out everyone was gone."

"EDI," Miranda called out. Who was she talking too? Looking around it was only the three of them in this room. "Where is the crew at?"

"Currently Ms Lawson four-fifths of the crew is located down in the cargo hold along with Commander Shepard." By the Creator's! Where did that voice come from?

After listening to the mysterious voice Miranda turned and walked away from them. Looking up to Kelly for direction the red-haired woman motioned for them to follow Miranda.

Walking around the large wall in the center of the room they found Miranda standing in front of a wall. Why was she – oh wait. It looked like one of those wall-door things that were all over this ship. Just as they walked up to Miranda the wall opened for them. Inside was just a small room, smaller than Hawke's bedroom.

Giving herself a shake she jumped into the small room once she noticed that Miranda and Kelly had already walked into it. The wall shut right behind her as Kelly walked up to a brightly colored part of the wall. The room jolted nearly making her yelp in shock. Oh, this must be like the lifts going down into Darktown. But his was far more advanced than anything in Kirkwall.

As the metal wall opened again Merrill was greeted by a sight that was slightly nostalgic. Dozens of people were standing in the large room. All of them were shouting, or cheering for what was going on in the center of the room. Hawke and a large…almost giant fish creature with rocks on its head stood in the center. Hawke was without his shirt as he squared off against the giant creature that stood a full head and then some over him.

The giant creature threw a punch at Hawke. Easily ducking under the punch Hawke countered back with a punch to the underside of its arm followed by a quick kick to what she believed was the creatures chin. Oohh, was this a fighting pit? She knew that Hawke liked to go to them everyone now and then, usually to compete. She didn't like the fact that Hawke got hurt at most of these events…but there was something about watching Hawke fight. Watching him move smoothly from one attack to another. And then there was the way that the sweat made his body glisten. His strong arms that always held her so tenderly when – bad Merrill! Stop thinking about such things!

To her luck neither Kelly nor Miranda seemed to notice her ogling. Isabella always made her pay when she was caught ogling Hawke. While Kelly seemed to be smiling slightly at the sight, but Miranda did not look happy.

Taking off without looking back Miranda pushed her way through the crowd making her and Kelly almost have to run to keep up with her. Just as the three came to the inner most part of the crowd basically right next to Hawke and the giant, the giant landed a punch hard against the side of Hawke's face. Her vhenan didn't miss a beat. Turning in the direction the punch sent him Hawke kicked out while spinning around, the bottom of his foot catching the giant upside the head and forcing it back.

Miranda stood still for a moment while she looked around the ring of people. Most of them were dressed the same as Kelly…but a few of them stood out. There was an older human man who had a strange scar on his face. A woman who was wearing even less than Isabella, but it was hard to tell due to the woman being covered almost completely in vallaslin. Another woman was covered completely in black with a hood pulled up covering her face. And then there was another strange creature. This one didn't look like the one fighting against Hawke. This one looked like a…lizard almost. She wondered if she could touch its skin. It looked so rough.

Miranda suddenly walked away from them towards another in the crowd. Standing up on her toes she saw that Miranda was walking towards Shepard. Unlike the rest of the crowd who was routing for either Hawke or the other, Shepard stood on the side with his arms folded across his chest. His head would move side to side as Hawke and the other fought and wince when one or the other landed a solid hit.

Staying close enough to Miranda while not taking her eyes off the fight she was able to overhear the two as Miranda confronted Shepard. "Shepard, with all due respect what the hell is going on? I asked EDI why no one was at their stations, and she informed me that everyone was down here. Mind explaining?"

The giant rushed towards Hawke. Right before the two collided Hawke rolled to the side kicking out and hitting the giant in the back of his knees brining him to the ground. "Nothing really Miranda," Shepard said shrugging. "Just a simple sparring match is all."

From his knees the giant backhanded Hawke in the gut forcing him back. "Are you crazy Shepard?" Hawke recovered from the hit spinning and delivering his own backhand to the kneeling giant. "I don't care how strong he is. No human can take on a krogan in hand to hand."

After the backhand Hawke followed it up by kicking the giant in the chest forcing the giant onto its back. The giant continued rolling right back onto its feet. "Seems like he's doing pretty good to me." Shepard said not taking his eyes off of the fight.

"And how long have they been going at it?" Miranda had her arms across her chest as she addressed Shepard. Oh, she reminded her of the Keeper so much in that moment. The Keeper always had the same type of look on her face when she was talking to da'len that were in trouble.

Hawke punched up hitting the giant under the chin just before the giant returned a similar punch taking Hawke in the face. Shepard winced watching. "They've been going at it for close to an hour now."

Merrill couldn't help but cringe as Hawke took a nasty punch to his side. Miranda still didn't look pleased. Oh, she hoped she never got on her bad side. She reminded her way too much of the Keeper with that disappointing stare. "And how long do you plan on letting this continue Hawke?"

"You're welcome to try and stop them if you want Miranda." Shepard said sharply. Oh, Merrill didn't think that was such a good idea. "If not, then I gave them an hour, which is up right about-" his arm suddenly started glowing followed by a strange high pitched repeating noise that made her want to cover her sensitive ears. "-now."

Merrill wasn't quite sure how he was able to do it, but Shepard just strode right in between Hawke and the giant holding his hands out separating the two of them. She was sure she wouldn't have been able to do that. She'd be too scared to. "That's enough Grunt, Hawke. Gave you two an hour and it's been an hour. That's all everyone."

No one really seemed too happy that the fight was ending. The marked woman seemed really disappointed for some reason. Before she could get very far the stiff lizard like creature stopped her with a hand on her arm. "Pay up Jack."

The marked woman, Jack, liked like someone had just told her that her pet had died. She would be sad to if that happened. Reluctantly Jack handed over something to the rough looking creature. "Yeah, go fuck yourself Garrus. Probably had the fuckin fight rigid with Shepard."

Ignoring everything else that was going on around her she made a straight line for Hawke. His face was already starting to turn a steady shade of black and blue. She hadn't seen him in this bad of shape since his duel with the Arishok. Hawke gave her a lopsided grin as she approached. "Hey Merrill."

"Hey Merrill? Y-you look like this and all you can say is 'hey Merrill'?" Oh Creator's. Why did she love this shemlen? She swore sometimes he was so…infuriating! He was still pretty beat up though. "Oh, by the Creators." Taking his head in both of her hands she drew on her magic. "Just hold still."

She wasn't the best at this. That was Ander's job. She'd asked him many times to teach her, but the man refused. And he was always so mean to her. Almost as bad as Fenris was. She could never understand why. Anders was far more gone than she was. But still – stop blabbering Merrill. Focus on what you're doing!

Drawing deep on her mana pool she let her magic flow out in gentle waves from her hands and into Hawke. Her metallic arm glowed a pale green that she slowly released into Hawke. This wasn't her greatest skill, but the small injuries that Hawke had, she could handle. But there was another down side to healing. She could sense all his wounds that'd had gone untreated. She could sense almost everything those wretched people had done to him while they were capture. How could he still be standing? The sheer amount of suffering he endured, it was enough to make her loose what precious little was actually in her stomach.

Pushing past sensing all of his wounds she pushed on. The pale green light of the healing magic slowly spread from her hands spreading out all over his body. Before her eyes his bruised and swollen skin mended as the few cuts he'd got during the fight as sealed themselves. Reaching her extent of what she could heal, and not wanting to extinguish her entire supply of mana, she let go of the healing as she released his head.

Giving her a small smile Hawke turned his head from side to side. "Thank you Merrill," leaning in he gave her a quick kiss on her lips. Her heart fluttered up into her throat. It was the first time he'd kissed her since they'd woken up, but he could still make her blush like a da'len whenever he kissed her, especially while in front of others.

Going stock still she suddenly remembered just where they were. Feeling herself go completely red she nervously looked around at everyone who was with them. Everyone was staring at the two of them with wide eyes and mouths open. Did they do something wrong? Was it considered impolite to kiss one another in front of others out in…'space'? She hoped that they didn't offend anyone just now.

Why was everyone still just staring at the two of them? She could feel her face going steadily redder and redder with each moment of silence that passed by. She needed something to do or she feared her face would burst into flames! No one was healing the big creature. Didn't Kelly say that they had magic? They called it 'biotics'. Why wasn't anyone seeing to his injuries? He was covered in small cuts and bruises.

Walking towards the giant she repeated the same process that'd she'd done with Hawke. Dipping into her mana she released gentle waves of healing out of her right arm and into the giant. The giant stiffened as her magic touched him. But as the healing spread throughout his body he almost seemed to melt before her. His face went from rigid to relax in a second as his eyes closed. She swore the big creature was almost purring as her magic worked its way through him. It didn't take her nearly as long to heal him as it did Hawke. His body wasn't nearly as injured as Hawke's, and the few injuries he had were already mostly healed. As she felt the last of injuries heal she let go of her magic and stepped back from him.

The giant creature opened his eyes and stared at her in wonder as she stepped back towards Hawke. Looking down at his arm where there was once an ugly bruise the giant first tentatively touched the freshly healed area before hitting it slightly harder apparently surprised at finding no pain. Shepard, the rock lizard creature, Miranada and several of the others in the room gathered around the giant to see what'd happened. Shepard, after having checked over the giant, turned his eyes on her. "What did you do to him?"

Oh no. Did she do something wrong? Again? Stupid Merrill. Think first silly girl. But…but Kelly said they had magic, didn't she? "I-I-I healed him." She managed to get out.

Shepard was still looking back and forth between her and the giant. "How?"

She was really uncomfortable with everyone looking at her. Were the mad at her? "How? I-I used my magic."

The woman covered in vallaslin came forward. "Fuck girl. You can do this with biotics? What the fuck else can you do?"

They weren't afraid of her, instead they were…fascinated. It was a strange feeling to be the center of wonder, instead of hatred. Deciding on a simple display of her Primal abilities she held out her arm. Pool mana into her arm she let it out in split second as lightning arched through the air striking an unsuspecting crate and nearly destroying it.

"Shepard. I am detecting a large discharge of electro-static energy emanating from the cargo hold. Suggest immediate action to isolate th-"

"It's alright EDI," Shepard said out loud. Where did that strange voice come from? She really hoped that crate didn't belong to anyone. "Our new friends were just giving us a demonstration."

"I'm so sorry, was I not supposed to do that?" Backing up reached blindly for Hawke. He always protected her when she did something wrong.

"No, you didn't." Shepard turned to everyone else. "Alright everyone, show's over. Back to your stations." Rather begrudgingly everyone slowly left the room eventually leaving only Hawke, Shepard, and herself.

Hawke stepped between her and Shepard. "Is this going to be a problem Shepard?"

Shepard shook his head. "Not on my end Hawke." Letting go of the breath she didn't even realize she was holding Merrill let herself relax. "But that doesn't mean that others won't try to make it a problem. There's never been a biotic like Merrill before in history. But, I'll handle that if it comes to it. For now though, I think you two deserve some time to yourselves." Stepping to the side he motioned towards the lift in back of the room. "If you'll follow me. I'll show you two where you can stay for the time being."

Taking hold of Hawke's arm Merrill stayed by his side as Shepard opened the wall and motioned for them to follow.

Hope that you all enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review if you have any comments or suggestions!