A/N: At this pace, the story will be finished by next week xD

Ordinarily, I'd space it out more, but this has become what I work on when I don't want to do real work. Ah, well. This is more fun anyway.

And thank you all for the lovely reads/reviews/follows! Pretty please leave a quick little review to let me know what you think!

"You will not deny me!"

Olivia froze as a dagger flew through the air and lodged into the doorframe, just inches to her right. She turned, glaring at Isabela. "You aren't coming."

"Damn." The pirate looked down in anger, grunting. "That always works for Aveline."

Varric chuckled. "Come on, Hotshot." He swung the door open, beckoning for Olivia to follow. Once they were outside The Hanged Man, he asked, "So, surely you aren't planning on taking just the three of us?"

"Three?"

"Me, you, and Bianca."

Shaking her head, Olivia frowned. "No. I want to stop by the estate and see if Hawke can come. I'd like to bring Anders, too, if he isn't too busy." They turned down into Darktown and she grimaced at the stairs. Why are there so many of these things in Kirkwall? It's like a nightmare. Her bad knee protested, but she did her best to keep pace with Varric.

"I'd recommend leaving Hawke out of it. Today is her free day, and she spends those with her elf," he explained. "Aveline, though, would be a huge help. Just tell her that we're out to stop an assassin, and she'll be ready to go."

She furrowed her brow in confusion. "What do you mean, stopping an assassin? I thought we were helping Zevran?"

"Yes, but you can't just tell people that. I'll explain in a minute." They walked into the clinic, which was unusually empty. "Blondie?" Varric called.

"Please, just let yourselves in," Anders grumbled from behind them.

Olivia turned to see him walk in with an armful of canvas sacks. "Sorry, Anders," she apologized. "Are you busy, or can you come help me with something?"

"I was going to mix up some potions," he shrugged, dumping the sacks off to the side, "but I'm always up for a little adventure. What is it this time?"

Varric turned to leave, motioning for them to follow. "I'll explain on the way." As they walked back up to Hightown, the dwarf began rambling on about a contact and Hawke. "She'd picked up a job from this Antivan, who wanted her to track down an assassin. But, with this whole the-Hero-of-Ferelden-is-my-cousin thing, I guess she hasn't had time to look into it, because I intercepted a letter yesterday meant for Hawke. It was pretty simple: take care of the assassin, or be taken care of. They're offering a lot of coin for this job, so I was planning on talking to her yesterday. Problem is, nobody showed. I spent the whole night drinking with Isabela and playing cards with Hawke's Mabari," Varric complained.

"And I'll bet you lost a lot of coin, too," Anders smirked.

"Hey – just because the dog beat you, doesn't mean he can beat everyone."

Olivia sighed, her patience wearing thin from the excess of stairs they were climbing. "The job, Varric?"

"Right. So, I send some friends of mine out to the Dalish to investigate. We now know who the assassin is—" he glanced at Olivia, but pointedly didn't mention Zevran's name, "—and where he's hiding. The rest is profit."

As they reached the Viscount's Keep—and more stairs—Anders groaned. "And we're bringing Aveline?"

"Who's Aveline?"

Varric pulled up short, his face twisting in confusion as he searched for a way to explain the Guard-Captain. "She scares the shit out of people." He looked to Anders for confirmation.

"Pretty much."

"There's something you aren't telling me."

"Relax," Varric assured Aveline. "I've told you all you need to know."

The guardswoman grunted. "That's what worries me."

Olivia sighed. As soon as their little group had left the Dalish camp, the bickering had started up again. She was trying to like Aveline, but the way she was badgering Varric made it difficult. "So, Aveline," she remarked casually, "you were at Ostagar?"

"I was at Ostagar, yes," she confirmed.

Olivia waited for more, but the only sound was footsteps on the smooth grass of Sundermount. Not one for small talk, she noted, adding to her mental list of observations about her new companions. Deciding to focus on the task at hand, she inspected the rocky cliffs to their right. "So, according to your friend, Varric, there should be a cave along here?"

"Yep. Right about…" The dwarf picked up his pace, walking a few steps in front of Olivia. "Here," he announced, pointing to a low opening in the rocks.

"We should remain alert," Aveline suggested as they descended into the cave. "I've heard stories about these Antivan Crows."

"So have I. And if I know Ze—the Crows," Olivia stuttered, "there's going to be traps waiting for us." With a flick of her magic, she summoned a wave of ice to coat her sword. Looking back, she covered Aveline's as well.

Anders gave Olivia a mischievous grin. "I've been missing tricks like that. You know," he remarked, moving closer to Olivia, "sometimes I do miss being a Warden. Not the darkspawn, certainly, but the thrill of it all."

"Before Justice?" Olivia guessed quietly.

"Yes." He looked down guiltily. "It was simpler then, wasn't it?"

Hoping to raise his spirits a bit, she elbowed him lightly and chuckled. "Running around Ferelden cleaning up after a Blight? That was simpler than this?"

But Anders' eyes darkened. "Yes," he glowered. He was silent after that.

Well done, Olivia, she chastised herself. Shaking her head, she led the group around a corner. A muffled rustling sound caught her attention, and she held a hand out to stop everyone. "There's something up there."

"Well, I was expecting to run into some trouble, considering who we're chasing," Varric shrugged.

Cautiously, Olivia readied her sword and shield and ventured into the clearing. "It sounded… bigger than our assassin," she called over her shoulder. "Be careful." Waving her companions into the clearing, she turned and surveyed the entire clearing.

She took another step forward, and the cave rumbled with a low growl. Olivia jerked backwards, avoiding the creature that barreled towards her.

Varterral.

One of the beast's front legs swiped at Olivia. She ducked and rolled, popping to her feet behind the varterral. The creature reared backwards as Aveline bashed into it with her shield and Olivia was on the move again. Taking care to avoid Aveline, Olivia let a burst of magic leap from her hands, freezing the varterral in a case of fragile ice.

A well-placed arrow from Varric shattered the ice, causing the creature to shriek and growl. Olivia charged forward, slicing the beast's legs with her sword. A fireball from Anders caught her off-guard, but she recovered quickly and followed up with her own blast of fire.

The varterral began thrashing wildly, one of its legs catching Olivia in the chest. She flew backwards, the wind knocked out of her. All throughout the clearing, the varterral's thrashes caused rocks and stone to plummet from the ceiling.

As Olivia gasped for breath, she saw Anders collapse to the ground, knocked unconscious from one of the falling rocks.

"Heal!" Aveline called hoarsely, bleeding profusely from a wound on her thigh.

Gathering her strength as best she could, Olivia sent a wave of healing energy towards the guardswoman. She sprinted forward, grabbing her sword and shield and crashed into the varterral, throwing as much force as she could muster into each swing. Whenever she saw an opening, Olivia shot a bolt of electricity or ice at the varterral.

As Olivia sent a stream of flames at the creature, it staggered backwards. With a quick slam from Aveline's shield, it fell to the ground.

Seeing the paleness on the guardswoman's face, Olivia struggled to conjure enough energy to cast another healing spell. She pulled off one of her gloves and wiped her brow.

"Maker!" Varric groaned. "What was that thing?"

"A varterral," Olivia managed between her heavy breaths. "I've fought one, once before." That had been an entirely different fight; she had been searching for Morrigan, and, unlike today's search, she hadn't expected to find happy results.

Which, she hadn't.

Pushing those thoughts away, she knelt and shook Anders awake. "Aveline needs a healer," she told him as his eyes fluttered open. "I did my best, but…" She shrugged. "I'm not you."

Squinting, Anders cracked a grin. "I take back everything I said about missing the thrill of being a Grey Warden."

Not wanting to sour his mood again, Olivia just smiled back at the healer. "Healing," she reminded him, pulling him to his feet.

"Right, right." As he set to work mending Aveline's wounds, Olivia leaned against the cave wall and closed her eyes, lost in her memories.

"I'm guessing there's a story behind all this?"

Olivia cracked an eye, trying not to scowl at Varric. "Behind what?"

"That… thing. You said you've fought one. Is there a story, or is it just another part of the Warden-Commander's travels?"

"There's a story," she admitted with a sigh. "It starts with the Commander leaving Vigil's Keep on personal business, and ends with the Commander coming back thoroughly disappointed and gravely wounded."

Varric chuckled. "So, this isn't a story I'll ever hear?"

"No."

"I'll just have to make one up, then," he warned. "Come on, I think Blondie's done. We should probably go find this friend of yours."

"Looks like he found us," Aveline growled.

Olivia looked towards the opening and found her favorite Antivan assassin. "Zevran!" she cried happily, throwing her arms around him, leaving Aveline stunned and Anders smirking.

"Ah, my dear Warden," Zevran grinned. He pulled away, inspecting Olivia. "As beautiful as ever, I see."

"Don't start," Olivia chided lightly. "You have no right, after that stupid note. You can't just disappear and leave only a note."

The assassin chuckled. "And what did Alistair think?"

Frowning, Olivia planted her hands on her hips. "He said no."

"Tell him to reconsider."

Olivia pursed her lips. "He was very adamant."

"So this is the deadly assassin who helped stopped the Blight?" Anders inquired from behind them, his voice incredulous.

Zevran offered a little bow. "Zevran, at your service. Formerly of the Antivan Crows, and more recently, formerly of Vigil's Keep."

"This is the assassin?" Aveline demanded. "You allowed an assassin in Vigil's Keep, and now we're helping him?"

"Aveline, please." Olivia turned to the guardswoman, hoping she would understand. "We can't just leave him. I won't let him be killed by the Crows."

She sighed heavily. "What choices does that leave us with, then?"

"Well…" Zevran drawled with a sly grin.

Olivia held up a hand to cut him off. "Don't. Start."

"Fine." He held up his hands in surrender, shaking his head. "If you truly wish to save my life, I suggest you start by killing the men who hired you." When Olivia nodded, he continued, "They have a camp not far from here. Our little group will waltz in and slaughter them all. Just like old times, no?"

The Commander found herself smiling despite the gravity of the situation. "Just like old times."

From behind her, Anders just groaned.