I'm going to be posting an update to each story all at once; whoo, I'm actually working on all three at the same time right now. One after the other though, not all at once. Crazy, lol.

Every review means so much! Thank-you and please review if you have time!

Disclaimer: I don't own DA…or Fenris. ;_;

It was two days later that Anders opened his eyes. Except that it wasn't Anders. Those flaring blue eyes were boring into Hawke as she stood at the window, where she looked out over the rolling landscape of Starkhaven; the mansion, or palace, was nestled in the hills just outside of Starkhaven where the lands were green and fertile, awash in flowers and laughter, happy people and bubbly children, flourishing merchant shops and content middle class, and nobles – Sebastian had made Starkhaven live up to its name. With Justice's stare burning into her back, Hawke gave the Maker a silent prayer that she would not bring ruin to what Sebastian had worked so hard to build from almost nothing. Slowly, she turned to face him.

"Justice. Listen to me," she started but was cut off by the snarl Justice spit out on her. It broke her heart to see such a look of hatred on Anders' face, which had always held a caring, or concerned expression when he used to spend the days in his clinic. To think such a man had fallen so far, her friend; was he the only one who hadn't ended up in a better life? "Stop that. You're bound and only my magic can release you." Hawke crossed her arms and braced her legs, staring him down.

Justice scoffed. "Mortal, there is nothing you can do to bind a fade spirit like me." When he struggled, she only smirked and waited until he growled with frustration and stilled. He didn't say anything else, just glared at her for a very long, chilling moment. As much as she didn't want to, she inwardly shuddered; what if her magic couldn't hold him? How long would it hold him?

"You're not even curious as to why I went to find you?"

"You didn't find me, I found you." He grunted, pulling his wrists against the physical binds, as well as the magical ones. It couldn't hold him for long, he knew. Why not bide his time? There wasn't much else that could happen, as long as he kept that obstinate counterpart buried deep in his mind.

"Wrong," Hawke chuckled and shook her head. "You just happened to come upon on us on our search for you. Or Anders, if I am to be completely honest with you. You…you just happened to come with the friend I need."

He scowled and yanked at his binds, his chest heaving with jealousy and anger as that blue aura flamed around him. "Why?" he growled out word bitterly.

Hawke sighed and moved closer, taking a seat on the chair beside the bed as Justice continued to struggle with his holds. She folded her hands on her lap, fingers twitching ever so slightly now and then as Justice pulled with all his might; the thread of her magic, she could feel it stretch taut, barely holding strong, before he fell back with a frustrated huff. "I need Anders' help," Hawke said as she lowered her eyes to her hands, not wanting to admit that fact to Justice. She then raised her eyes back to his bravely to find that Justice was watching her with lowered brows and a slight frown.

"What for?" He finally asked with a sigh, falling back on the bed in partial and temporary defeat.

"I really should speak to Anders about it," Hawke mumbled, not trusting the spirit to take a genuine interest in her concerns. Justice only scoffed and shook his head, a long lock of blonde hair falling over his glowing eye. "What?" She glared, crossing her arms back over her breasts.

"You really think that spineless fool could do anything to help you?" Justice shook with laughter, crossing his ankles, beginning to find some amusement in his predicament. "Anders cannot help you, much less anyone else."

Hawke had to take a deep breath to keep herself composed, her teeth biting her lower lip to use that little sharp of pain to curb her irritation with the spirit. Finally, teeth grit with annoyance, she said, "That's only because of you. Deep down, I know you know that. Anders' hate, his anger, and feeling of being treated unjustly; it has warped you. You used to stand for true justice, not this warped.." she made a gesture with her hand "…sense of vengeance."

Justice scowled. "What do you know mortal?"

"I know what Anders had told me. He respected you, he cherished you; you were his friend, Justice. He felt guilty for what happened to you, that his feelings changed you. And yes, I know you never approved of his feelings for me, but because of those feelings he confided in me and I began to know who Anders was as a person," she sighed softly at the memory, when she had sat in Anders' clinic with an injury. Anders had set her on one of the beds and went about healing and bandaging her, their conversation became intimate and confidential. Feelings and words only shared between friends.

Justice frowned tightly. "Just let me hear what you need help with," he said gruffly, his aura beginning to die away; Hawke didn't let it fool her, she didn't let her magical restraints falter an inch.

"On one condition," she compromised. "Let me speak to Anders first. I promise, on my blood as a mage, we will talk again, Justice." It wasn't a lie, not really. She would talk to Justice again; she owed Anders that much for being her friend. If he could help her with her daughter, she would help him with his possession.

Justice regarded her for a long, long moment, and then sighed, knowing he would not be able to convince her otherwise, he nodded. Those glowing blue eyes closed and Justice went limp on the bed. Hawke watched on anxiously, but he remained motionless for awhile. Long moments passed and then she leaned forward toward the mage, looking at him closely. Just then Anders' eyes popped open and she jumped back surprised, but happy to see those warm, amber eyes that she had not seen in so very long. "Anders," she smiled as she said his name and he blinked several times, regarding her for a long moment.

"It this real?" he croaked, trying to sit up but found that he couldn't, eyes looking to see that he was bound to the bed posts. His brows pulled down tight and then he laughed softly, looking back to her with a sheepish grin. "It can't be. Only in a dream would you tie me up."

Hawke blinked a few times, much as he had, then burst into soft laughter, pressing the back of her hand against her lips to stifle it. He watched her with confusion, and then blushed when he did indeed realize that this was real when his stomach growled so loud he was embarrassed. "It's quite real, I assure you. Unbelievably, you have been asleep for nine days. I am sure you are in dire need of food." She stood up at the wide look in his eyes. She walked to the door and opened it. "Fenris!"

There was a moment of silence before Anders could see the elf standing just outside the door, looking the same as ever with his silver white hair, long ears, the black armor, and jade green eyes; the only difference the mage could notice was that his hair was longer and tied back in a braid. That must have been Hawke's idea, he mused with a slight quirk of his lips. She talked with him for a few moments, a frown tight over Fenris' lips as he glanced at him over Hawke's shoulder. His lips moved but Anders couldn't hear anything from the bed. Hawke stamped her foot and stuck a hand on her hip; Anders' brows raised up as Fenris narrowed his eyes at Hawke, before he smiled and leaned down, kissing her – he assumed. He really couldn't see well from his position. The elf then pulled away and disappeared from the doorway. Hawke left the door open and moved back to sit in the chair, offering him a small smile. "Now, Anders…before I ask you what I need to, I'd like to know how you have not lost weight or become malnourished in your nine day coma. I was worried but it seemed I didn't need to be."

Anders shrugged – the best he could with being tied up – and gave her a sheepish grin. "You knocked out Justice. The sleeping phase is where I spend most of my time fighting with the spirit now. It is hard to keep track of time in your mind. I had just managed to nearly wrestle away control, when he used my weakening state to wake up in control. I weaken, but Justice does not. The connection he has with the Fade keeps whatever host he's in alive, so long as it is alive. Kristoff…well, when he possessed Kristoff, he was already dead and thus Justice walked around in a corpse. That's when I met him. But just because he can sustain from the connection, does not mean I don't suffer. I am starving," he explained.

"I…see," she said after a long moment of contemplation. She cocked her head and regarded him with a curious expression. "May I ask something of you?"

"Anything, Hawke. You know that, but may I ask to be let out of these bindings? I am becoming rather…uncomfortable."

"I'm afraid I can't let you free, just yet." Hawke told him with a regretful frown. She leaned forward and touched her hand to his dirty and somewhat tattered coat. "Justice tried to kill us, Anders. He tried to kill me. I am surprised I managed to convince him to let you out, but there are…people here I cannot risk harm to."

Anders swallowed hard, visibly, and nodded. "I am sorry I hurt you, Hawke. Justice is out of control, I know…I wouldn't risk harm to you and your…elf." He stilled slightly on the last word, still not very fond of Fenris; they had never gotten along. In truth, he had been heartbroken when Hawke had run away from Kirkwall, then furious when he realized that the elf had been the reason, then heartbroken again when he'd been left alone. Without Hawke there, he had fallen easily enough of out the group, Isabella and Varric being the only ones who even made an effort to keep him involved. Anders had been amazed that Aveline hadn't put him behind bars. Sebastian and Fenris had left as well, Sebastian's departure a little suspious, but Fenris' expected. Things had only gone downhill from there. Meredith and Orsino, and Elthina – they had all worked Justice into a rage. So that fateful day, when everything had just become too much, Justice had taken his body from him completely for the first time – and proceeded to blow up the chantry of Kirkwall. To think while he had been suffering that the elf who'd been a thorn in his side, had all along been happy here with the woman he had secretly been in love with since the first time she'd helped him try to rescue Karl from the Templars.

Hawke seemed to have caught him wandering about his memories, a knowing smile gracing her lovely lips. "My husband, Anders," she whispered, a secret twinkle in her beautiful blue eyes that had always threatened to consume him. Her words caused his heart to ache and his chest to tighten so badly he found it hard to breathe. Her husband? That elf had become her husband? He swallowed. "Anders, it's not just him though."

"Who…who else?" he croaked, his voice not wanting to cooperate with him.

"I…I have a daughter, Anders." She confessed with an almost embarrassed laugh. "And I have another on the way, another child, I mean. I don't know if it will be a girl or boy."

Anders could force a smile onto his lips for her and he did, though he found he wanted to weep from the feeling of complete loss. There had been a chance, though slim, that when Hawke had fled, he could have found her when he escaped Kirkwall, during his travels throughout the land. Find her and confess that he was wildly in love with her, and would never hurt her the way Fenris had; he should have figured that when Fenris left, he would have found her. Before he could think more on it, he found her hand on his cheek, her body much closer now as she knelt beside the bed.

"I'm so sorry for what you've suffered, Anders. You were always a great friend to me and I was selfish when I fled from Kirkwall; I had no idea what it would cause to the people I cared about. I think I can help with Justice."

He just stared at her, his lips agape. "What?"

"I think I know of a way to separate you and Justice, so that you may just be yourself again. I know deep down that it was not you who blew up the chantry, but Justice. I hear the whispers and the rumors of a glowing blue mage who kills anyone who trespasses where ever he may be. I want to free you from that. I…I only ask one favor in return." Her eyes suddenly turned sad as she pulled her hand from his cheek and placed herself back in the chair.

"Hawke…what is it? What's wrong?" He was genuinely worried now; he'd only seen that look on her face a time or two before, when one of her loved ones was in danger.

"My daughter…she's ten years old now. Last year…she displayed her first use of magic."

"That shouldn't surprise you – you are a powerful mage, Hawke. As was your sister, and your father. Surely you expected that she would be a mage," he said, not really following why she was so worried, save that she may think the Templars would come for her and her child.

"I know," she nodded, looking down at her hands in a solemn silence. Softly, she started again. "When I first displayed my magical inclination, I had simply frozen over my supper because I was stubbornly refusing to eat it. Bethany, her first time was when I fell from the roof and broke my arm; she healed me. My daughter…Anders, she set the whole Starkhaven stable on fire in a split second. She stood inside the flames, untouched, eyes glazed over. And it just kept growing, eating up everything in its path. It took a great deal of my magic to freeze over the fire that had burst from her. I have never seen anything like it in my life, and neither have any of the other people I've sought out. I'm scared for her. She hadn't changed, become an abomination, but there was something unnatural about it."

"Oh Hawke, I'm sorry. I will do anything I can to help you, you should know that. I would help any mage in such circumstance, especially you," he consoled, his heart in his throat. He, too, had never heard of such a display – especially a first display – of magic.

Hawke smiled and let out a soft sigh. "Thank-you, Anders. You are really my last hope. As I said before, I will do anything in my power to help rid you of Justice in return for your help."

"What's her name?" Anders then asked.

Hawke blinked once, then twice, caught off guard by his question at first. Then she smiled down at her hands. "Cerene Bethany Hawke."

Anders couldn't help the smile that broke over his lips. "It's a beautiful name, Hawke. You sister would have been honored."

Just then there was a gruff clearing of a throat, and Anders turned his eyes to the door to find Fenris standing there with a tray of food in his hands. Hawke jumped up and moved to him, her hips swaying as they always had, tempting the mage with forbidden thoughts. He felt Justice stir and stubbornly clamped down on him. He heard Hawke speaking to Fenris, all the while the elf was watching Anders with a guarded look, his body tense as if he expected the mage to attack at any moment; he couldn't blame the man. He had just tried to kill them both days ago, or at least Justice had.

"Fenris, love, he's agreed to help us," she was saying, Fenris only nodding in return to her words. "I am going to unbind him so that he can eat, but I will keep my magical restraints on him to keep him on the bed should Justice decide to return."

Anders could see Fenris was uncertain, his jade green eyes turning back to look at Hawke with love and concern. "Will it be enough?" Fenris asked her. She nodded and he passed the tray to her, Fenris leaning down a bit to gently kiss her brow, his hands squeezing her hips affectionately. Hawke walked over and set the tray on the chair, gesturing to Anders to wait a moment as she returned to her husband. "Fenris, I need you to retrieve Cerene. I would like Anders to take a look at her." If he wasn't tense before, the elf was certainly tense now. Hawke rubbed her hands against his arms and smiled encouragingly. "If you don't think my magic will be enough, you and Sebastian are more than welcome to stand guard." Fenris nodded and turned to walk from the room.

Hawke turned back to Anders and walked over to undo his physical bindings. He could feel magical binds forming over his ankles and legs, holding him to the bed as she then undid his unseen arm binds. She helped him sit up and he absently rubbed at his wrists, his back against the headboard. Turning away, she grabbed the tray and then turned back to place it in his lap. Anders' mouth began to water and he embarrassingly wiped his sleeve over his lips as the smell of meat hit his nostrils. They flared with hunger and she smiled, taking the lid off his plate and setting it on the nightstand. He was treated to an assortment of duck, pork, and beef; it was almost too much. The bread was gone first, then half his water, before he began to devour the meat. Hawke only chuckled as she took a seat again, watching him eat rather enthusiastically. Once he was finished, she fetched him a wet cloth to wipe his face, he laughing a bit with shame at his lack of control as she took away his tray and set it on the nightstand as well. She covered the plate with its lid and then sat back down in her chair.

Anders regarded her with his charming amber eyes and smiled then. "What?" she asked, slightly perplexed by his expression.

"Even with slightly grey hair, you're still beautiful," he commented, though he knew that he too had grey hair mixed in with his normally dirty blonde hair.

Hawke laughed softly and leaned back, her hands in her lap. "Still a charmer, I see," she teased.

He swept his arm over his middle and bowed in her direction with a wink. "At your service." Then they both burst into laughter, enjoying a familiar moment of comradely. After a few moments of shared laughter and friendly conversation, Fenris entered the room again this time with a small elven girl following him, with Sebastian right behind her. Cerene ran to her mother and plopped herself in her lap while Fenris moved to stand behind Hawke, placing his hands on her shoulders a little possessively. She only smiled and kissed a hand as Sebastian came forward to sit on the edge at the foot of the bed.

Sebastian inclined his head, though he was tense and angry – inside, for the grief he'd suffered at the mage's hands once he'd heard what had happened to Elthina and the chantry. "Anders, I am glad to see that Hawke managed to find you in one piece," he said politely.

"Mostly one piece," Anders replied with a sigh. He then turned his eyes to the young girl sitting in Hawke's lap and took a long moment to study her. She had elven features, he saw. Though her face was much like her mother's, much the same as the bright red curls that spilled to her slim shoulders and the ever so stealthy freckles dancing across the bridge of her nose. She had Fenris' green eyes and quite obviously his ears. Anders couldn't deny it though; Cerene was just as beautiful as her mother. To think such an innocent, pretty little girl had caused a whole stable to ignite without a thought. He gave the girl a charming smile and bowed slightly again. "Hello there, my name is Anders. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Cerene giggled and tried to hide her face in her mother's neck. Hawke smiled and leaned down, whispering something into the girl's ear. With an exaggerated sigh, Cerene turned her face back to Anders and lowered it in a half bow of greeting. "My name is Cerene," she said lowly, before jumping back up to snuggle against her mother, her head now resting on Hawke's shoulder as Fenris ran his hand over her hair affectionately.

"She's beautiful," Anders said with a small smile.

"I know," Sebastian, Fenris, and Hawke all said at once. They all looked at each and smiled knowingly, before turning individual glances back to Anders.

"I would like to see her hand, please," Anders then asked.

Fenris' hand tightened on Hawke's shoulder until she winced, where then he immediately loosened his grip with a muttered apology. "It's alright, love," Hawke said as she turned her head to look up at Fenris. "It's how a mage connects with another mage. Remember when I first touched her when she was born? I connected with her, felt that familiar pathway, and knew that is what she was. It is a lot like that," she reassured him. He nodded tensely.

Sebastian had his hands curled in his lap, as tense as Fenris was. Anders wondered vaguely at the behavior – the prince was acting like a father, not a friend. Was there something here that Anders had missed? The child was quite obviously part elf.

"Cerene, I would like you to hold hands with Anders. Is that ok?" Hawke asked as she nuzzled her daughter's hair absently. "Alright mommy," the young girl said as she lifted her head away. She moved to the edge of her mother's lap and held out a hand somewhat shyly to the mage. Hawke kept her hands on her daughter's hips protectively; she trusted Anders without a doubt, but there was no telling if Justice was going to make an appearance again or not. Anders turned on the bed to the best of his ability given his restraints and held out both his hands, taking the child's small hand in between his own. An electric, knowing shock went through him and then back through Cerene – whose eyes widened – and then through Hawke since her touch kept them connected. It was expected.

However, what happened next was completely unexpected. Hawke was the first to go, her eyes widening slightly as her whole body tightened like a coil, before she fell back against the chair losing consciousness. Cerene next, doing the same, before whatever had caused that traveled to Anders through their touch. He grunted and stiffened, before he too fell back on the bed into the dark embrace of unconsciousness, missing the scared and terrified looks on Sebastian and Fenris' faces.

Together, the three of them fell into the Fade through their connection. Little did they know the passenger they'd brought with them, one who was more than familiar with this place, much more familiar.

This visit to the Fade would prove to be the most challenging experience of Hawke's life.

Phew. That one took awhile, but I hope you enjoyed it as much as you've enjoyed the others.

8 pages in a word document! I'm so proud of myself, as silly as that it. Now off to work on a chapter for one of the other stories; feel free to check them out if you liked this one.

Please review! ^_^