"Sounds to me like the easiest thing to do is to threaten and or kill the Vanards. Then the whole problem will be solved." Siobhán concluded.

They were in a safe house, the basement room of a draper's shop that Zevran swore would be safe for at least a limited time. The four of them sat on boxes around a lantern and prepared their next move. When Siobhán suggested killing the Vanards without any real remorse, Hawke choked on the water he'd been drinking, could someone who talked that way really be the Hero of Ferelden? Somehow, her cool calculation didn't match up with the heroic persona that Fereldens all thought of her to have.

Zevran and Fenris didn't seem to notice anything strange, they were both nodding their heads in agreement.

"Just leaving the city won't be to any benefit now that there are so many after you. If this can be dealt with cleanly, it would be best in the long run." Zevran commented.

Fenris agreed, "We cannot let them continue in this way, and looking over our shoulder for the next few years is not a good option. However, that is on the condition that we can deal with this without too much trouble."

"What do you think Champion?" Siobhán asked, her deep-sea blue eyes seriously calculating Hawke's reaction.

Hawke fought the urge to simply sigh in response. Honestly, he was getting sick of all the blood on his hands. He'd left Kirkwall to avoid more bloodshed but it dogged him at every turn, was every city going to be like this? Just because one Vanard didn't like him did they all had to die? The others seemed to think it was for the best, but Hawke couldn't help wanting another way.

"Hawke." Fenris said, shaking Aiden from his depressing ruminations.

"I agree that we can't have them chasing us all across Thedas, especially not when I'm trying to lie low. I prefer the threatening method if possible, if not, a low body count is best."

Siobhán nodded, "Very good. As you are the principal target here we are going to act according to your wishes." She drummed her fingers on the box serving as a tabletop and thought for a moment, "Wait here while my husband and I do a little information gathering, we will move more easily around the city just the two of us."

Zevran explained an escape route and a backup meeting place in case anything went wrong. Then the two elves vanished into the night.

"They make a good team." Hawke said with a smile. She had very quick reasoning, probably what had saved all of Thedas from the Blight, and she didn't waste any time worrying over small issues. It was still alarming to him to hear her speak like that in person, but Hawke could admire her for that trait. Zevran seemed a good match for her, picking up on some details and making sure that their backs were covered while she focused on the larger issues.

"I would not have expected this from him our encounter in Kirkwall. Yet he does seem to read her every move." Fenris agreed.

"Yes, at that time he didn't seem like the type who could be married to the Hero." Hawke was jealous of their relationship, they certainly seemed to bring out the best in each other and also found time to be a happy couple in the midst of their crazy lives or so at least it seemed to him.

Aiden paced around the small room, he felt awkward letting the other two leave to do all the work while he stayed hidden. His hangover had mostly receded but his head still throbbed occasionally. Fenris said nothing, he simply took out his sword and began cleaning it.

"Are you mad at me?" Hawke said before he could think better of it.

"I am mad at you." Fenris frowned and Hawke was surprised by his honest confession, "You make it hard to be anything besides mad at you." Fenris dropped his sword on the floor, tossing down the cleaning rag on top of it in anger.

Hawke nervously rubbed the back of his neck, "Umm." Well what else could he say to that?

Fenris continued, "You have so little concern for your safety! I told you not to go into that bar last night but you said it would be fine. You let a strange woman throw herself in your lap, what if she had had a knife? You don't think about things like that. Then you go out drinking with people you don't know and get yourself drugged, you are lucky they only wanted information from you. If you don't get yourself killed, then one of these days I am going to strangle you myself." Fenris got to his feet and stood in front of Hawke, put his hands lightly around Hawke's neck and imitated strangling Hawke.

Aiden didn't move, Fenris' markings glowed in the dim light of the room, a response to his anger. Hawke wasn't sure when he had last seen Fenris so upset, "I'm sorry."

"You're always sorry. Stop being sorry!" Fenris let his hands drop so they were pressing on Hawke's collarbone, pushing him into the wall. "You will be the death of me. I know it." Fenris' eyes were wide with anger and something that could have been fear if Hawke didn't know better.

Hawke felt foolish for not realizing why Fenris had been so upset, and he felt very bad for making Fenris feel so distressed in the first place. His reaction told Hawke that he wasn't mad so much as terribly concerned. Hawke knew he had a tendency to fling himself into danger, his mother had often complained about it, now Fenris was also feeling anxious because of Hawke's actions. Though, his reaction was surprising, after all, they had been together in far more dangerous situations than this and Fenris had never seemed to have a problem at those times. However, Hawke thought, as their emotional connection deepened it might be affecting Fenris in other ways, such as making him overly anxious about "routine" danger.

Aiden slowly put his arms around Fenris and held him, "I've got you." He whispered, pressing a kiss on Fenris' ear. If he was right and Fenris' reaction was out of concern more than genuine anger, this might do the trick.

"You've got me?" Fenris laughed coldly though he didn't move out of Hawke's arms, "You won't have me if you're dead." He stood stiffly still slightly glowing in anger.

"You have to stay around and protect me."

"It's hard to do that when you throw yourself at danger all the time."

Hawke gently stroked Fenris' back, "I've got you." He reiterated and pulled Fenris tight in his arms.

"Shut up." Fenris said, his face buried in Hawke's chest, finally acquiescing to the hug.

Aiden didn't say anything more, he wished he could promise that he would be more careful in the future but that wouldn't be a promise he could keep. It was a sad statement about their lives but it was true. For now all he could promise was this moment. Until now, Fenris had never made demands of him though, he had never asked for anything more than one day at a time. Hawke felt a warm curl of pleasure inside to know that Fenris wanted more, could get angry with him and still accept to be held rather than simply leave.

Holding him didn't last long of course, after an indeterminate amount of time Fenris pulled back and broke Hawke's hold on him.

"If you want me to stay around and protect you, you must listen to me when I tell you no." Fenris said, sitting back down and working on his sword. Last night Fenris had been very serious when telling Hawke not to stay at that inn, but Aiden had ignored his protests.

Honestly, Aiden ignored many of Fenris' protests. During their adventuring days in Kirkwall, they wouldn't have taken half the jobs presented to them if Hawke had taken Fenris' advice. However, most of the time when Fenris objected it was because of lingering issues with mages. Aiden thought Fenris was overly cautious about almost everything, mages especially. Maker knows Aiden was going to be hard to change his habit of charging into everything; however, if Fenris was distressed enough to ask him to stop then Hawke was going to try his hardest.

"I will try." Hawke promised solemnly.

Fenris acknowledged the promise with a nod but didn't look up from his work, likely he was embarrassed by his outpouring.

"I suppose this means we really are partners then?" Hawke smiled.

"What else would we be?" Fenris grunted as he kept working.

Aiden didn't explain how happy it made him to think of being partners rather than just the Champion and his lover. He grabbed his sketchbook and started drawing, sketching the image of Fenris bent over his blade.

Zevran led his wife through the city, Siobhán never questioning the directions he took or making needless conversation. The two of them had planned to leave Antiva last week, but something always came up that delayed their travel. Zevran felt the danger of staying any longer though, with Hawke in the city things had become exponentially dangerous. The whole city was on edge, waiting for the temporary truce to end so they could go after the famous outlaw. With so many more active Crows and other mercenaries in the area it was not safe for Zevran anymore. He'd tried to overtake the Crows with Siobhán but their takeover had been short-lived. As a result of their time in the Crows, the new Crow leadership was only too happy to hunt the married couple down and kill them.

The festival raged around them, people everywhere in the streets seemed in a maddened frenzy, every building was full of music and the streets echoed with laughter.

"We have a strange sort of luck to always run into people in dire need of our help." He said at length with a smile to his wife.

Siobhán chuckled, "The universe is just restoring the balance, it wasn't many years ago that we ran to everyone in dire need of help."

"The universe might chose better timing." Zevran said with a wry grin.

"I do feel sorry for Hawke though. He looks like how I felt leaving Amaranthine. It isn't easy to be in his position."

"I thought you were delighted to leave Amaranthine because you could not wait to return to my side."

"Well of course! How silly of me." Siobhán winked at her husband.

Zev laughed, "At any rate, Hawke should like the information we're bringing back." Zevran slipped into a shadow, trying to shake off the people who he suspected were following.

Siobhán followed gracefully, her years as a hunter among the Dalish had trained her well for stealth.

They'd discovered that the head of the Vanard family was the person calling for Hawke's blood. Kelder's father must have passed his vexations about Hawke to the family head and though he didn't live in the city they were still carrying out his wish for revenge. The head of the Vanard family was a cruel woman, even by Antivan standards, named Vestal. She lived outside the main city on a private estate with its own boat dock. So, in a worst case they could always just abscond with her vessel. The downside was that she had a lot of money and was willing to pay royally to see Hawke dead.

"It might be time to consider another way." Siobhán whispered. Meaning, the people they'd thought were following were definitely following. It was impossible to say what they wanted, whether they were after the two of them or simply following them back to Hakwe, either way they needed to be dealt with.

"As you say my love." Zevran showed her a grin and they stepped into a small park and waited.

The banging on the door upstairs made Hawke and Fenris jump to their feet. The festival meant the streets were noisy but this sounded distinctly like the no nonsense knock of the city guard. The draper who owned the shop moved slowly to answer it.

Hawke looked to Fenris for his advice. A conversation with the city guard could lead to trouble. Fenris nodded, giving him the unspoken cue that it was time for the escape plan. Hawke grabbed his bag and they opened the concealed trap door that Zevran had shown them before. The door led down to the old city sewer, which Zevran had pointed out was ironically used more for assassins to get back and forth than anything else. It wasn't safe to stay underground for long but they could hopefully get a short distance without being noticed.

Thankfully, it wasn't an active sewer but the smell wasn't excellent either, it reminded Hawke of living in Lowtown. Fenris let Hawke lead the way with the lamp while he stayed back with his sword drawn, ready for trouble.

Zevran had told them that after about half a mile they could exit in a fairly safe alleyway and that would hopefully put distance between them an any pursuer. Hawke hurried, the sewer was built so there was a small footpath on either side of the drainage way, he didn't want to be down here long.

Unfortunately, another figure was hurrying toward them. Hawke held the lantern aloft, hoping to see the faces of their friends. Sadly, the person in the mask heading toward them drew a sword, clearly not interested in anything friendly, the ringing steel echoing in the sewer. Hawke quickly flattened himself against the wall, so Fenris could go in front. Fenris quickly engaged him, the attacker had no chance against Fenris and he was quickly dispatched, falling into the drainage way.

Neither of them said anything, but Fenris took the place in the front, setting an almost sprinting pace to get them out of the sewer.

They came out into the alleyway that Zevran had directed them to, the alleyway was deserted, but the party could be heard echoing down it. Fenris and Hawke put back on the masks that Siobhán had acquired for them.

"Which way did he say to go?" Hawke asked, his sense of direction was only so-so.

"This way." Fenris led the way without pause.

The rendezvous location wasn't too far from where they came out, a corner shop that had been closed sometime in the past, the windows were boarded up but the front door was easily unlocked. Inside there was a healthy layer of dust over everything and two people sitting down in the dark.

"Seems like you ran into a little trouble as well?" Zevran spoke softly but in his usual merry tone.

"A bit." Hawke admitted.

"Well we have some good news for you." Siobhán quickly told them all that had been discovered.

"I propose that we sneak into the estate, confront Vestal Vanard,"

"Did we mention this is a foolish name even by Antivan standards?" Zevran interjected.

Siobhán almost completely ignored him, "We confront her, ask her to drop her issues with you or we kill her. Then, I suggest stealing her boat and the four of us sail on up the coast a ways."

"The vessel is a small ship, not good for long distances, but that means we should be able to manage it ourselves. We can get up the coast some and find other means of passage, there is a city not far from here where I have more friends who would be willing to help us." Zevran added.

"Let's hash out the details as we walk huh?" Siobhán suggested.

Hawke purposely looked to Fenris for his approval. Fenris seemed a little disgruntled but finally agreed to the plan.

Hawke realized as they snuck into the estate that there was a reason he'd never tried to go into smuggling. Years ago in Kirkwall, he'd had the chance to join the smugglers but not being one for stealth he'd joined the mercenaries. Now with two experts at stealth leading the way Aiden realized how bad he was at anything that involved stealth.

Despite wearing heavy armor, Fenris seemed perfectly comfortable slinking along in the shadows with the other two, which made Hawke feel even worse. Maybe it was an elf thing he thought briefly but decided it would be safer to keep that thought to himself.

They entered the mansion without difficulty, the guards at the estate were lazy as it was still Satinalia, and they were having their own little drinks and card games to pass the night away. They came into the house next to the kitchens, a small room used for storing dry goods. Inside there were some servants moving about in the kitchens, dawn was growing closer and they needed to be well up before their mistress. Zevran made a sign for the group to hold while he looked around for a moment to check out how to get to the mistress's room. Hawke crouched with the other two in the shadows, wishing that he hadn't opted for the sneaky method.

Zevran came back quickly and signaled for them to follow. Hawke tried his best to sneak, but his elbow caught a bowl of cherries. The bowl clattered the ground, making an impossibly loud noise. The three shot him an annoyed glance before Zevran motioned for them to backtrack some quickly. A few servants could be heard coming toward the sound.

Hawke, tired of sneaking, conjured a fireball, he carefully aimed it in the corridor across the way, catching the carpet on fire. Everyone who had been coming back to the kitchen hurried down the hall to deal with the fire. Fenris gave Hawke a look of disapproval but Siobhán looked pleased so Hawke considered it a win.

Without further incident, they reached the masters chambers where Vestal was likely to be sleeping. All together, they entered the room. Vestal stood in the center of the room, an older woman, wrapped in a floral shawl. She glared at the intruders, "So you decided to come to me yourself." She looked at Hawke with an evil glint in her eyes, "Hawke."

"I don't believe I've had the pleasure." Hawke stepped forward from the group.

"It won't be a pleasure. You killed my great-nephew."

Hawke paused, she had that air around her that radiated crazy. He doubted that he could talk her out of a fight, but he was still worth trying. One might think by now Hawke would give up on the crazy ones, "He was mad. You may not believe it but he asked me to end it for him."

She drew herself up, "He was a Vernard. I don't believe it. He was going to be the best of us. I even believed he might have inherited my gifts." As she spoke she cocked her head to the side, she looked very much like Keldar at that moment.

Hawke could see the way this was going to play out, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Silly me, I was hoping to end this without bloodshed."

"That became impossible when you decided to murder my nephew." She reached behind her, producing a beautiful mage staff. A single tap of the staff on the floor produced a variety of demons that charged forward to attack.

The battle was one that Hawke felt he'd had many times before, and Zevran and Hero were certainly adept at battling demons as well. It didn't take long for the four of them to dispatch the team of demons and Fenris took the job of killing the head of the Vanard clan. Hawke thought that Fenris was still peeved that he hadn't let him kill Keldar years ago. So maybe with a little too much enjoyment he killed Vestal.

"Let's get out of here before the alarm is raised." Zevran suggested.

They quickly hurried out of the mansion, much to Hawke and the Hero's dismay, they both would have rather spent time looting the place.

Along the way to the boat dock, they had to kill only guard who unlike his comrades was actually doing his job properly. However, the Hero sent her dagger flying and nailed the guard before he could call for help.

The boat was just as Zevran had described it, a small yacht, perfect for a getaway with four people. Luckily for Hawke, at least two of the people on board the vessel actually knew how to sail. Fenris admitted that he didn't have a great deal of knowledge in the area and Hawke had been avoiding the ocean ever since the blight. Siobhán promised that her husband was an excellent teacher and they would all learn before long. For now though, they left the sailing to Zevran while Siobhán, Hawke, and Fenris settled down for sleep.

I am sorry about taking so long to update. Thank you to everyone who waited and is going to read this story again. I already have the next chapter half done. I hope that my long break doesn't mean that my tone has changed a lot or anything. I have a steamy scene for you next time! Please drop me a little comment so I know you are still interested in this story.

I also have to give a shout out to ShadesOfCool for reminding me why I wanted to write in the first place. Please check them out if you have time: u/8875058/Shades0fCool (link doesnt work. You'll know it is them because they write Attack On Titan, one story is called Summer on You )