"Are we sure the crazy mage hasn't finally gone over the edge?" Isabela sighed.
"I'm just as confused as you are, Rivaini," Varric said. "But it's not like we have any other leads. Unless you wanna go wandering around like blind and deaf nugs."
Anders shushed them and closed his eyes in concentration for a few moments, trying to sense Hawke. When he opened them back up, he said, "This way."
The former Grey Warden had led them to the docks, which they found puzzling, since he'd suggested looking through Hightown earlier. None of them knew how he had suddenly known where to look, but if Anders really could lead them to their friend, they figured they may as well follow him.
Anders abruptly stopped then and grunted with sudden shock. Pain didn't transfer through their bond, but he felt Hawke's distress and knew that it was caused by pain. He'd already felt it once before on the way down to the docks. The mage clutched his head, trying to block it out. The feeling went on for what was surely an eternity.
The mage wanted to make it stop, not for his sake, but for Hawke's. Someone was hurting him, and Anders wasn't there to protect him.
When it finally stopped, Anders called to Hawke through the link. Janus?
It's alright. She just started hitting me again. She gone now, but I heard her mention an iron poker and coals.
Oh Maker! Just hold on, we're at the docks. Just keep focusing on me.
"This again?" Isabela asked, once Anders straightened out.
Anders looked at the others and said, "I promise, we're getting closer. He's in a warehouse around here."
"As if we never see enough of those," Varric said dryly.
As they continued to follow Anders, the mage felt Justice grow restless. He wanted to find these templars now, and make them pay.
I'm going as fast as I can. And since when do you care about him?
Distraction or not, the templars must pay for hurting him. They must pay for their crimes.
He's not a distraction, he's… Look, you know how I feel about him. If something happens to him… I don't know if I could keep going.
Justice was silent for a moment as Anders felt the spirit mull this over. Then finding him is all the more important.
Anders knew that Justice didn't approve of anything that could sidetrack Anders from their cause, and the spirit saw Hawke as such a disturbance. But just now, Justice seemed to understand that it wouldn't do any good to have his host fall into a despair which he might never recover from.
Don't you remember Kristoff's love for his wife? How much she meant to him?
Of course.
Then you understand why I care… You envied their love once, remember? You wished you could've experienced something like that.
Justice was silent again for almost a minute. Focus on finding Hawke.
Anders didn't need to be told twice. He could sense Hawke's mind, like a flickering candle in a dark hallway. The closer he got, the brighter it burned, giving Anders an idea of where to look. Hawke was getting closer.
"He's underground," Anders said.
"Did anyone bring a shovel, then?" Merrill asked.
For once Anders wasn't in any mood to snap at Merrill. He closed his eyes again, while he concentrated on his connection to Hawke. When he opened them again, he turned towards a small warehouse that looked like it hadn't been touched in years.
"There," The mage said, immediately walking towards the building. Once again, the others figured there was no use in questioning and followed the healer.
It wasn't long before the head templar returned, carrying a fireplace poker that was glowing red at the tip. Hawke could smell the burning metal radiating from it, as well as the lingering scent of hot coals. The rogue widened his eyes at the sight of the poker, but wasn't about to give his captors the satisfaction of seeing him shake or beg.
"This'll get that mouth of yours moving," The head templar sneered. She waited for her minions to unlock the cell before slowly creeping inside, holding the poker level with Hawke's chest. Despite himself, Hawke begin to sweat.
Right when the poker was close enough for the smell of burning metal to block out all other smells, there was a loud clang of something falling in another hallway. This was followed by a female voice with a Dalish accent echoing through the hallway. "That was my bad, sorry!"
Hawke felt annoyance through Anders and his face lit up instantly. Anders had come for him, with friends.
The templar lowered the poker. "What was that?" She looked at her minions. "You two, go investigate."
Oh no. Janus quickly sent his thoughts to Anders. Anders! They're coming for you!
Not long after the templars went to investigate, the sounds of battle echoed through the hallway: cries of pain and rage, as well as spells flying, from ice to fire to lightning. Hawke even heard the sound of a glyph being cast.
The rogue then felt the familiar rage that was Justice. The familiar fury filled him up, directed at the templars. Yes, the templars would pay for taking him prisoner and torturing him. This showed that they would stoop to any low and not stop at mages. They deserved to be torn apart for this.
He heard one of the templars shout "demon", which made Justice even more enraged. He was no demon! The rogue then heard a scream that was abruptly cut off, followed by Justice's satisfaction at having removed one more templar from the world.
The spirit's rage faded instantly, and Hawke gasped as his emotions became his own again.
The rogue should have been terrified again, and maybe he was, in the back of his brain. Yet, Justice's emotions had felt different this time. The spirit wasn't mad at him this time, but the templars. Justice's emotions were hard to read clearly through all that fury, but the rogue was definitely glad that he wasn't on the receiving end of the spirit's wrath.
A minute later, Anders, Varric, Isabela, and Merrill ran into the prison area. All but Merrill were covered in gore.
"Hold it!" The remaining templar shouted. She drew her knife and held it to Hawke's neck. "One more step and he dies. Keep those hands where I can see them."
Anders and the rest froze. Hawke could feel the internal battle going on within Anders. Justice wanted to be turned loose, while Anders didn't want to risk Hawke's safety.
"Please don't hurt him," Merrill begged.
"I might consider letting him go, if you apostates surrender yourselves," The templar sneered. "If you're lucky I'll make sure you're just made Tranquil or put in solitary for a year."
"Oh, sure, that's a damn good deal," Isabela said sarcastically.
Hawke locked eyes with Anders. Take her out.
Janus…
She won't honor anything. She'll lock you two up, and then have the rest of us executed for harboring apostates.
…You're right.
"So, what'll it be, apostates?" The templar demanded.
Her answer came in the form of Justice once again taking the reins of Anders' body, blue energy surging through his body. The templar gave a faint "What the..?"
"You will suffer for your deeds!" The spirit snarled.
Frightened now, the templar tried for one last effort to frighten them into submission. She sank her knife into Hawke's stomach, and the rogue cried out before going limp in her arms. Justice let out a furious roar. "No, I will not allow this!"
He leapt at the templar, first breaking the wrist that held her knife. She let out a pained cry and dropped the weapon. She prepared a Holy Smite, but Justice threw her to the ground before she could complete the attack. Varric, Isabela, and Merrill stood by and watched while Justice tore off silver armor, then whipped Anders' staff out. The templar let out a final scream of terror before Justice sank the staff's blade into her heart.
Now that the templar was dead, Justice retreated. Anders looked at Hawke's wounded body and gave an anguished, "No!"
Isabela and Anders instantly went to Hawke's side, where the pirate picked the locks on his shackles. Once the rogue was freed, the mage instantly pulled Hawke's limp body out of the chair and cradled him in his lap.
"No, don't be dead, please!"
The mage's hands shot out to hover over Hawke's body, channeling waves of healing magic into him. Anders put everything he had into the spell, watching as the wound closed, and the flesh knitted back together. He began to feel lightheaded, but he didn't stop until the rogue was completely healed and the internal bleeding stopped.
Now spent of mana, Anders put his ear to the rogue's chest. He was breathing normally now, but he still hadn't awoken. Anders cupped Hawke's face in his hands. A low groan passed from the rogue's lips.
"Please, Janus, open your eyes!" Please don't leave me! I love you…
Hawke groaned again, louder this time, and his blue eyes fluttered open.
Anders smiled with relief and held the rogue close. Hawke wrapped his own arms around the mage, pressing their cheeks together. "Thank you, Anders."
Anders took in Hawke's smell, relishing it. He'd come so close to losing this man; this man who meant more to Anders than he could ever express. Relief and happiness resonated between the two men across their bond.
"Okay, hold up," Varric said. Both men looked at the dwarf, Anders visibly annoyed that their moment had been interrupted. "Can we get some answers here? Blondie, how did you know Hawke was here? First you say you have no idea where he is, just that he's in trouble, and the next thing we know you've led us right to him. And don't think I couldn't tell that you were bullshitting about how one of your helpers told you something had happened."
"Was this all a game? If it was, then it wasn't a very fun one," Merrill added. "Usually fun games don't involve someone getting kidnapped or stabbed."
Anders and Hawke exchanged looks, silently telling one another that they might as well confess their secret. The mage helped Hawke to his feet as he explained, "You remember the incident at the Blooming Rose, where we ran into that blood mage?" Everyone nodded. Isabela and Merrill hadn't been there, but they'd heard the story. "Well, I had to call on a little extra help to save Hawke, namely Justice. Something… happened. We don't know how, just that it had something to do with the mixing of blood magic and Fade energy." Anders swallowed, knowing that what he was about to say would sound crazy.
"So what happened?" Isabela demanded.
"It caused some sort of mental link between us," Anders finally said. Sure enough, they were met with raised eyebrows from Varric and Isabela, and amazement from Merrill.
"It's true," Hawke piped in. "We can sense each other's thoughts and emotions. After I regained consciousness, I contacted Anders through the bond."
"And after that, I just used it to sense the source of his thoughts," Anders added.
"And once again you prove just how crazy hanging out with you guys can be," Varric snarked.
"I didn't think blood magic could do that," Merrill said, fascinated.
Anders sensed a pang of guilt in Hawke and looked at him curiously. "What's wrong?"
Hawke sighed. "I'll tell you later, Anders. But… can you take me home? Suddenly I don't feel so good." Not long after the words left his mouth, the rogue rushed over to a corner and vomited.
