Author's Notes: Hi everyone! Sorry this took me so long to post. I've finally gotten all of my boxes from my move in my apartment and have been putting things away more so than hanging around the computer. At any rate, here is chapter nine! Yay! Lots of fun to be had here, so I hope you all like it ;D

Gatorsnacks: Fenris is really growing on me, I can't explain it. I might have to write something with him later on. :3

Lihael: Me too! I was playing Legacy not too long ago and it made me long to play DA from the beginning, but I just don't have the time!

Kinay: Thayer was working with Blood Magic in the first story, however here he has backed off for Alistair's sake. :) I'm glad my story was able to suck you in so quickly! Hee.

Zeeji: Ask and ye shall receive! In this chapter comes the infamous Anders and Thayer talk! Yay!


"Behind you!"

A sudden jet of fire shot past Thayer, erupting a Shade from the inside out. The beast fell to the ground with an ear-piercing shriek that sent the Grey Warden reeling back. He looked at the body, making sure it was completely dead before stepping over it.

"Thanks," he said to Hawke, noticing that his cousin was rubbing a wound on his arm. Garrett seemed to catch on quick; he dropped the sleeve of his robe and cleared his throat.

"No problem. That looked to be the last of them…"

That couldn't have been…

No, Thayer was seeing things.

The DuPuis estate had proven to be a complete mess from the very beginning. Immediately after stepping inside, Thayer, along with Garrett and Anders, had felt an ominous presence that soon manifested itself into several demons. They realized they were in far deeper than originally planned, which led them to scouring the home for any and all evidence of foul play. Demons and Shades didn't just pop up like that—a connection was to be found somewhere in the house.

When things seemed to hit a dead end, a muffled scream came from further down the corridor in which they stood.

"That sounds like a woman's cry," Anders said. He readied his staff.

Hawke guided them down the dimly lit hallway, stopping just before a set of double doors. From the other side came another scream, louder this time. The cry was terse and shrill—she was scared and likely in danger.

"Why aren't we going in there?" Varric asked breathlessly. "She sounds like she's scared shitless. What if she's getting attacked?"

"Shh!" Garrett whispered, holding up a hand. "She's not alone."

When all five men fell silent, another voice—a man's voice—became apparent.

"Be quiet! Do not make me hit you again!"

"That's DuPuis," Varric said. His eyes were wide in surprise. "Maybe he does have something to do with these disappearances…"

"All right. I'm going to open the door and we'll prepare to launch an attack." Garrett eyed his companions. "Fenris, if he looks like he might run, you stop him. Thayer and Anders, I want you both prepared to lay down some glyphs to protect the innocent woman."

Thayer's gut reaction to Garrett's command was to question it. When he took a moment to think about it, he realized it was because he had been so used to issuing orders for so long that taking them from someone else seemed almost laughable. On some level he felt relief knowing that it wasn't him this time throwing them into danger.

"Everyone ready?" Hawke asked.

He turned toward the doors, gripping the handles and pushing through them quickly. They stumbled upon a man—Gascard—and a woman cowering at his feet.

"Stop right there!" Hawke called out. "DuPuis, don't move!"

"Stop him, please! He's gone mad!" the woman cried.

Gascard held up his hands and gave a shriek. "I—I did not hurt her, I promise! I was keeping her here for safety purposes…someone is after her."

Varric rolled his eyes. "Oh, yes, of course someone's after her. Why are crazy killers always blaming someone else?"

"He looks far too puny to be a murderer," Fenris said. He scoffed. "I doubt he even has a weapon on him."

"You said someone's after her," Thayer said. "Why should we believe you?"

"I believe someone is playing us the fool," Gascard said quickly. "Please, allow me to explain."

"Continue," Hawke said, tone flat.

"I got twenty silver on him blaming a ghost." Varric smirked.

"Several years ago," Gascard began, "My sister was murdered. I was never able to find the killer—I believe he fled Kirkwall to save himself. But now, I think he's back. He's killing women the same way he killed my sister. His signature method." Gascard appeared visibly upset. He rubbed his hand down his face and sighed.

"So what's this 'signature method'?" Anders asked.

"It starts with white lilies." Gascard faced the group. "He sends his victims flowers. That was what happened to Alessa." He pointed to the woman who had now moved to stand. "I brought her here so he would have to come to me. I was going to face him, but then you all showed up."

"He's lying!" Alessa cried. "He hurt me!"

"I did it for your own protection," Gascard said. "I told you that I needed your blood to track you in case he managed to take you from here."

"I don't care, get away from me!"

Alessa bolted through an open channel between Gascard, Thayer and the others, and the door. She was gone before anyone was able to stop her.

"She'll go straight to the city guard!" Gascard exclaimed.

Thayer raised an eyebrow. "Why can't you just tell them what you told us?"

"The guard is corrupt," Gascard said. "And I do not want him arrested. I want to bleed him dry for what he did to my sister."

"Creepy," Anders murmured beneath his breath.

"You realize the guard is well aware of what you're doing," Garrett said, letting out a snort. "Emeric was the one who told us about you. He thought you were the killer."

"Yes, well, of course he would. He doesn't have all of the information."

All the men in the room fell silent as the situation came to a head. Thayer looked to his cousin, wondering what decision he might make. After all, he was the one running this mission.

Hawke folded his arms over his chest. "So. Who killed your sister?"

Gascard looked away momentarily. "He's an extremely powerful blood mage. I believe he's using women in some ritual—no bodies have ever been found. He always chooses attractive women, healthy women, who are relatively low on the social scale."

Thayer and Hawke shared a look.

"What kind of ritual?" Thayer asked.

"I don't know. I was hoping to find out when I caught him."

Garrett sighed. Thayer could tell he felt the weight of the situation on his shoulders, and that he was hesitant to make a decision. He hoped that they were on the same page—Thayer would have let Gascard go and then sent someone to follow him. If it were true, and there were really another killer, removing Gascard from the equation could mess things up for them.

"Run away," Garrett finally said.

Thayer looked at Anders, Fenris and Varric to see their responses. Surprisingly, the only one who seemed frazzled by the decision was Fenris—he wore a disconcerted frown.

"Thank you," Gascard said, appearing relieved. "I'll be in Darktown. If you find anything new about the killer, you will find me there."

He was gone in seconds. Thayer and the others turned in toward Hawke.

"Do you want me to follow him?" Anders asked.

Garrett simply nodded.

"Find me in my clinic tonight. I'll let you know what I find out."

Anders followed suit, disappearing just after Gascard.

"Let's call it a night," Garrett said. "We'll regroup at the estate in the morning and then go talk to Emeric, let him know what happened."

"You let him go," Fenris said, his voice a low growl. "What if he's the killer? You could have sent that girl to her death."

"It's a risk I had to take. Let's hope it was the right one."

Thayer and Garrett split from Varric and Fenris at the entrance to the DuPuis estate, heading back to the Hawke estate. Though there were a few questions swirling around in the Grey Warden's head, he chose to keep them to himself for now. He wasn't really sure what it was he had seen earlier, and he wasn't about to make accusations that could earn him a boot out the door.

The two went their separate ways once inside. Thayer quietly slipped into his room, not wanting to wake Alistair. His snores could be heard through the door. He undressed and slipped into his pajamas, moving toward the bed and crawling atop it. Despite the vast amount of information rolling around in his head he managed to fall asleep without incident.

. . . . .

"It isn't like Fenris to be late."

"We should just go without him. Emeric is probably going to have a coronary if you make him wait any longer."

"Varric makes a good point…"

Thayer hadn't really known the dwarf for long, but he was tired of waiting for their other companion. It had been nearly twenty minutes and they had seen neither hide nor tail of him. Chances were he just didn't want to come.

Hawke rubbed his eyebrows. "All right, let's get going, then."

Thayer, Garrett, Varric and Anders traveled to the Gallows to find Emeric. They had agreed to meet in front of the Templar's quarters, but from the looks of it, he was nowhere to be seen. Just one look at his cousin told Thayer how irritated he was with this whole situation. Garrett often wore his feelings on his sleeves, it seemed.

"We agreed to meet him right here," Anders said, confused. "So where is he?"

"We could ask her," Varric offered.

He pointed to a Templar standing not too far away from them. She looked bored, as if she had been posted here against her will. Thayer supposed it made sense. There couldn't be much excitement at the quarters, seeing how many Templars hung around here.

"Couldn't hurt," Hawke said. He walked over to the Templar, but before he was able to say anything, she spoke.

"Ah, Ser Hawke. I was wondering when I might see you. Emeric told me to tell you that he got your note and that he'll meet you tomorrow night at the location you agreed upon."

"What?" Garrett paused. "Oh, oh, yes. Right. Well, thank you…?"

"Moira," she said.

"Thank you Moira. We'll see Emeric tomorrow tonight, then."

Strange though that was, Thayer kept silent as they walked away, not wanting to give any sign of his confusion. He waited until they were safely out of the Templar quarters before saying, "Could that be any more of a trap?"

"I don't think it's Gascard," Garrett said. "Killing the women, I mean. Not now, not after that. And I doubt it's Emeric. The killer must be on our trail."

"Let him be," Anders said. "He's going to regret messing with us."

Garrett ignored the comment. "We should just split up and regroup when it comes time to meet up with Emeric again."

"Good, this will give me some time to focus on the people in Darktown." Anders slowly began pulling away from the group. "If anyone needs me, come to my clinic."

Seeing his chance, Thayer jumped on it. "Anders, I'm coming with you."

The look on the blond mage's face read clearly that he knew what was going to happen, but he allowed it anyways. "Sure. You've never been. It makes sense."

Thayer shared a knowing glance with Hawke before saying, "Tell Alistair I went to see Anders' clinic and that I'll be back in time for supper, all right?"

"All right. Be safe, you two."

Thayer followed alongside Anders silently for several moments. He knew that waiting until they were safely out of view from their companions would be the best way to approach his once trusted friend, which was precisely why he said nothing until they were heading down the large steps from Hightown to Darktown.

He spoke succinctly: "We'll talk in private when we get to your clinic."

Little did he know how difficult that would prove to be. Upon entering the clinic, Thayer's mind instantly flashed back to the barracks at Ostagar. Seeing all of these injured men and women was triggering his memories of each painful battle: Redcliffe, Denerim, Amaranthine…

"Are you all right?" Anders asked.

"Fine," he replied dismissively. "Yes, fine. Sorry."

But he wasn't. Thayer realized he could never be fully desensitized to the sight of this—it was just too hard.

As they passed through the cots and makeshift beds that lay in rows throughout the clinic, anxious and fearful family members and friends eagerly requested Anders' assistance. The hope that clung to their voices, that glimmered in their eyes—this was what he had been doing all along? Healing the injured and the sick?

Anders expertly swooped through the rows of maladies before arriving at a door against the back of the clinic. He gestured for Thayer to join him inside. Once there, he shut the door behind them and twisted the lock tightly into place.

"You must make good money running a clinic," Thayer commented, musing aloud.

"Oh, I don't charge. It's all free. These people here, they can't afford much of anything, let alone medical care. I didn't think it was right, so I've been offering it for free, so long as my power sustains it."

Suddenly Thayer felt awful. He hadn't meant to sound opportunistic. Had Anders really changed so much in that he was now doing things free of personal gain?

"I can see in the way you look at me that you're still not over what happened." Anders moved to sit at the small table set up in his office, gesturing for Thayer to do the same across from him. "And I suppose I can't really blame you. But let me at least explain."

Thayer simply nodded.

"I need you to know something very important, Thayer. I'm still me. But there's someone else inside of me, too. Someone else you know."

"Justice."

Anders appeared surprised at first, but quickly thereafter a knowing smile lit up his face. "Ah. I guess I'm not the only one who can't keep a secret."

"Was it a secret, really?"

"I suppose not, but even still. It's not widely known, and it needs to stay that way."

"My only question is: why?"

Anders must have understood he meant why to the whole situation and not just to his merging with Justice, because he went silent for a few moments and closed his eyes. When he spoke, he did so with a soft, but assured tone.

"Justice showed me how important having a purpose in life is. The things we've accomplished together have been so fulfilling, so rewarding. To be honest with you…I felt trapped back in Amaranthine. I helped you out mostly because I was indebted to you. You saved me from the Templars, so I helped you with your quest. But I didn't want to settle down and be a Grey Warden forever. It's just not me. I—"

The blond mage stopped himself. There seemed to be more to the story, but Thayer didn't push just yet.

"I don't really remember how I ended up in Kirkwall. All I remember is that I began healing people because it was just what felt right. I set up a small clinic and became known for it. My doors are always bustling and my clinic is always packed. There is so much injustice in this city, Thayer, it's disgusting." For the briefest of moments his eyes seemed to glow blue, but they were back to normal before Thayer could even blink. "Justice and I together are working on righting what we can. It's why we're helping Garrett."

"But you couldn't even tell me you were leaving?"

"You would have tried to stop me. And knowing who I was back then, I probably would have stayed. And then neither of us would have been happy—me because I'd given in when I shouldn't have, and you because I would never truly be the recruit you'd want me to be."

"That sounds like a load of nonsense, that last part. You mean to tell me you would have just let go after the whole battle?"

"Not let go, just…redirect my focus. I needed to get out of Amaranthine. Out of Ferelden. There's only so much I can do to avoid the Templars."

"Well, you find yourself in an intriguing place, don't you? Templars are everywhere in this city."

"Yes, but none of them know me for who I truly am. None of them knows Anders the Apostate, or the people he's killed, or the kittens he's swiped." That last part brought a smile to both of their faces, but it was short-lived for Anders. "They treat us like second-class citizens here. Worse than in Ferelden. It's just…" He shook his head. "We shouldn't feel guilty for being what we are. Magic is a blessing, not a curse."

Thayer nodded in agreement. The pained tone with which Anders spoke assuaged his frustration with his companion's running away. Even though he had disappeared without a trace, it had seemingly turned into something for the greater good.

"I'm hoping that by running this clinic and helping to heal the sick and injured will help change the minds of the lower class but so far, nothing. While most are grateful, some have come to expect it. It's a vicious, never-ending cycle with mages at the bottom of the feeding barrel."

Anders' voice turned bitter by the end of his dialogue, after which he fell silent, looking toward his cot nestled in the corner. He folded his arms over his chest and closed his eyes.

"I'm truly sorry," he said earnestly. "I never meant to hurt you, or offend you. I just had to do what was best for me."

We have to do what's best for ourselves.

Zevran's words rang in Thayer's head once more thanks to Anders. After that, he felt what little frustration he was clinging to fade away.

"All's forgiven," Thayer said amicably, reaching across the space between them to pat Anders on the knee. "But I do feel the need to ask…"

Anders opened his eyes. "Hm?"

"You and Garrett?"

Anders turned pink. "W-What?"

Thayer's lips curled into a smirk. "That's all I needed to know."