Our Ghosts Are The Same

Dragon Age 2

Chapter 25: Something Blue

A/N:I'm sooooooooo sorry this is late. Training has been hectic.

Also I had art commissioned of Aedan and Hawke and it's on my tumblr (vault-escape-artist) and "our ghosts are the same" has it's own page on my blog if anyone wants to see it.

I have watched Strange Magic six times. Soooooo sorry.

Varric's hand had started cramping from his vigorous note taking so they were forced to take a short break. Hawke took this time to pour both of them a couple glasses of some aged Warden spirits that from the tag still on it had been an expensive gift from Aedan to his brother, but, hey, that could have meant anything.

Downing the liquor too quickly to be enjoying it, Varric asked her incredulously, "Do you think Meredith is really going to believe your sudden disappearance is all because of some wedding?"

She had been asking herself that same question for days now. When she had explained her plan to Aedan she had almost convinced herself. Now, though, with everything going to shit she wasn't so certain anymore. "Honestly, no. But this whole demon thing might actually help. I could say, 'sorry I skipped out on you trying to behead me, Mer, but I was sort of vanquishing demons. You know, what you're supposed to do?' Thought maybe that might sway things in my favor."

"You're going to go with obvious sarcasm when you talk to Meredith?"

"It's probably going to be more like pathetic begging." When her friend seemed dubious of her hastily thrown together plan, Hawke continued in earnest, "I'm not saying it's going to be easy. Nothing I've ever done with the word "Kirkwall" in it has ever been painless, but if I ever want to go home again-"

Varric gestured around the room, a brow carefully raised. "You sure you don't think this is home?"

She was visibly offended. "The only reason I ran to Ferelden was so none of you would have to be involved! Running from templars is not nearly as fun as Anders might make it seem."

Hawke was trying to use jokes to distract him from the important bits of what she was saying. A trick Varric knew well and had perfected years ago. "Yeah, we've been noticing you've been doing quite a bit of that lately. Trying to protect us. Like when you hired Meeran to track down that mage. And look where that led you."

Anger had never looked good on Hawke; she just didn't wear it well. It was too unpracticed. "Just because I put an unexpected plot twist in your damn narrative, Varric, doesn't give you the right-"

Varric's mouth fell halfway open in shock. Now he was angry, if that solitary word could ever be enough to name what was rushing in his veins just then. "You think that's what this is about?"

Hawke leaned away from him and backpedaled, "I haven't slept in four days."

That momentarily distracted him from his grievances with her. "Hawke, look at us. Despite us all being almost unbelievably attractive, we're also very, very deadly. We don't need you to protect us from your problems. How many swarms of thugs have you literally thrown yourself into for one of us?"

Her answer was a little too honest. "Probably too many to be healthy."

"So many times that I don't even need to exaggerate the numbers," Varric clarified pointedly. "Now finish explaining what happened and I hate to say it but give me the short version. There's a rather angry elf waiting to speak with you."

"The captain of Rendon Howe's guard?" Hawke repeated, hoping she had simply misheard Aedan and she was not about to witness cold-blooded murder on someone's wedding day. "He's not dead? Are you sure it's not a cousin or an aunt or-"

"Hawke, stop talking."

"That's usually for the best."

Though Aedan seemed to be certain of the man's identity, he appeared unsure of what to do next. He started forward and took a step before hastily taking it back and frowning. "Maker," he exhaled, his breath a sharp whistle, "I miss the days where there were no consequences of my playing judge, jury, and executioner."

She nudged his side, watching the guard closely. "If you don't get caught there are never consequences."

Aedan narrowed his eyes at her, momentarily distracted. "Some days I forget that you're a lunatic."

"I've gotten very convincing, right?

Cousland clarified, "Hawke, I don't want my brother to know that bastard is here. I'm going to have to ask you to do something for me. I need you to get him out of the main room and into somewhere a little more private."

Hawke hoped her face showed exactly how disgusted she was. "Whoa, pal, I am not using my womanly wiles to seduce some old-"

He quickly hissed back at her, "I was going to suggest blood magic."
"That's... I probably shouldn't say better," she replied, considering the situation. She looked back to Cousland. "Okay, so, once I make the puppet dance out of sight what are you going to do? You can't just murder him without-"

"Cause? I think I have cause and if it's a confession you want I can guarantee one."

Hawke sighed for a long time; Cousland was starting to scare her. All she had wanted was to get piss drunk at a wedding and them maybe later for Meredith not to execute her on site once she returned to Kirkwall. Maker, was that really so much to ask? Hawke attempted to find out what he was planning and not sharing with her again. "And then what? We sweep the body under a rug? That isn't even... I mean, unless I set him on fire long enough to reduce him to ashes but then my clothes are going to get that gross smokey human remains smell and I-"

If Cousland had a more detailed plan he never got a chance to share it. His brother and his new bride were roaming the hall together, stopping every so often to speak with their guests. Anora was using this time for some political maneuvering and as far as Hawke could tell Fergus was using it to try out new jokes. Hawke could see it in his face that he was about to deliver a killer punchline when Fergus saw him.

Hawke wondered if the joked would have been any good if Fergus would have gotten the chance to finish it.

Varric was leaning forward, their shared bottle of liquor was left dangling in his hand. Hawke laughed at how his brows were knitted together, irritated that she had stopped.

It was then that she suddenly realized why Varric bothered at all with story telling. Starting the narrative, building up the suspense, and then the hitting the climax and pausing ever so slightly to get your audience hooked and waiting on edge. It was addictive. Hawke probably needed to get Varric some kind of rehab before her life story ended up on every two bit merchant's shelves.

"Well?" Varric prodded her. "What happened next?"

"What do you expect? It all went to shit."

He wasn't having any of that. "Uh, can I get some details, Hawke?"

"What more do you want?" Hawke asked, clearly exasperated and her voice rising. "How am I supposed to explain to you how it happened when I don't even know? That Howe bastard shows up and the Cousland brothers fall to pieces."

Varric's patience was wearing thin. When Hawke reached for the bottle he yanked it away. "When my life's on the line I'd at least like to have some idea why. I'm sure there's a little more to it than demons appeared and they put the apostate in charge. I mean, where are the Cousland brothers?"

"They're upstairs, waiting on me to come up with some battle strategy to save the castle." Hawke's palms came up and cupped her face. She groaned for a long time before she pushed off her knees in order to stand up.

"Wait, I thought the point of you dragging me in here was to give me the whole lowdown," Varric asked in confusion.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore," Hawke's voice was a harsh whisper. "With this demon running loose I can't afford to, to feel regret about anything."

"What precisely do you feel guilty about, Hawke?"

"One, let's avoid using the word "guilty" for awhile and, two, I ran off without telling him and I ran away with someone." Varric didn't even bother asking who "he" was. Hawke rushed on quietly, her eyes darting towards the door that separated them from the rest of the crew. She continued, "That and I had to dance with Cousland seven times at this shindig and in these bluebloods' fucked up little world that practically means we're married." Hawke tried reaching for the bottle again. "But worse than all that, is that this little escapade wasn't terrible. I would feel so much better if I could just hate that arrogant, too tall, pretentious..."

Varric came to a realization that Hawke still had yet to discover. "Oh, I wish you could hear yourself, kid."

"I don't know what that means, but I'll tell you the rest. Forgive me if I skip a few boring details, take a few liberties...you know, the spiel you normally give."

Fergus was screaming. Childishly, Hawke slapped her hands over her ears and backed away. She watched Cousland rush over to his brother, trying to use that quiet voice of his to calm him down. As it was Aedan had to physically restrain Fergus to keep him from attacking Howe's old captain of the guard.

She knew she should do something and instead her feet were rooted to the ground. She cursed, removing her hands from her ears to tug uselessly at her hair. "Shit. Shit. Someone needs to, we need to...before..."

Fergus managed, in all his grief, to shove his brother away and draw the ceremonial sword he wore for the wedding. Its point found its way quickly underneath the guard's chin.

Aedan was at his brother's back, a hand clamped tightly down on his shoulder. "Fergus, please, step away." Hawke swore that for a moment Aedan glanced back at Anora. For advice or help, she didn't know. "Brother," Aedan continued, "Take a step back, think. His Majesty is here, we can handle this justly. Let me..." Fergus's enraged, ragged breathing was not at all reassuring.

"My men are standing by whenever you are ready," Alistair offered loudly. Eamon stood behind him and nodded as if giving permission.

Still paralyzed by indecision, Hawke was startled out of it by Anora's oddly strong grip on her arm. "I need you to get everyone out of here while I handle this."

"Hey, as long as I'm not in charge," Hawke nodded and threw herself into action, waving her hands wildly at the gathering nobles. Damn, noisy Orlesians. "Get back!" she ordered, shooing the encroaching circle away. What Aedan and Fergus needed was space. And also some family counseling in all honesty.

"Fergus," Aedan tried again, his voice taking a tone Hawke did not recognize.

"I don't want to hear it, Aedan," Fergus snapped. "I want him gone. Dead. While I was away he...this man...and you were-"

"Here." Aedan answered and then he spoke so quietly that Hawke didn't hear what he was confessing until it was too late. She caught the "I'm sorry" after she felt the barely held together Veil tear.

Oh, shit.

"Aedan! Aedan!" she tried, childishly tugging at his sleeve. Aedan didn't even turn around, he simply threw one arm back and shoved her away.

"Not now, Marian!" Aedan tried once again to lower his brother's sword. Howe's old guard captain was desperately trying to make a case for his life and it was doing more harm than good. "We can do this the right way, Fergus."

"They didn't."

Obviously not helping their situation any, Hawke stumbled away from the Cousland brothers and found her own brother instead. "Carver!" It took her longer to find him than it should have. He and the other wardens had been stuffed into nobleman's clothing. Carver looked uncomfortable and out of place and was happier to see her than he would have been in a normal situation.

"You should leave," Carver told her quickly. "Don't like where this is heading. Nobles and their inflated sense of honor are dangerous."

"You're right. I think Mother used up all our family's common sense when she made you. But listen," Hawke continued speaking so quickly that Carver could only understand her with years of practice. "Remember how the Veil around here was wearing a little thin? Well, that's not a problem anymore. It's been torn fucking wide open and now we need to-"

She had no idea where Carver had finally picked up his 'big boy' voice but he shouted so loud the entire room of whispering and gossiping nobles quieted. "Party's over! Head back to your rooms! NOW!"

That was her baby brother. While her brother sent the gentry scurrying back to their master bedrooms, Hawke went to check on the Couslands. At once she saw Anora and felt a large pang of jealousy. She had the guard in the King's custody and had somehow managed to get Fergus to sheath his blade. All without throwing a single punch. It was really too bad it was all too late.

"Hey, Blueblood!" Her shout finally tore Aedan away from his brother. Hawke elbowed her way through the escaping crowd and ran over to him.

"What are you-" Aedan's attention was torn between her outburst and his brother's.

"I told you to be careful! Told you what would happen if you...You didn't listen to me and now-"

"The Veil," he realized to which Hawke nodded vigorously.

"Yes, the Veil," she repeated impishly. "You egotistical, giant...ughh," Hawke actually grabbed his ear and pinched it hard. "You couldn't wait for me to leave before you woke up that damn demon? Not everything can be your fault, you know. Even you're not that big." Her words might have been gentle but they were meant to heal not to hurt. Perhaps they even would have but Aedan was not focused on her.

Aedan shook his head. "We can't hold them here. We couldn't hold this room before. There were too many."

"What are you talking about?" Oh, fuck, it already had him. Hawke released his ear and grabbed Aedan's face in both hands. If she concentrated hard enough she could almost hear the whispers eating at him.

"I don't...I feel ill," he confided and any other day Hawke might have felt touched that he trusted her enough to admit that. Today she took a step back and slapped him as hard as she could.

"You need to ignore it. Whatever history it's digging up you need to concentrate on the here and now. It's going to come up from the kitchens and with friends. We need the guards and whoever didn't runaway to barricade the main door."

"A barricade? It didn't-"

"It will now," Hawke snapped back. "Now help me."

His only response was a quiet nod before Aedan left to herd all the guards towards the main doors.

Hawke watched with satisfaction while the guards, still in armor that was mainly for decoration, pressed their backs against the door and dug their heels in. There were other doors, sure, but only one way into the ceremony room from the kitchens.

Aedan was already long gone. He was helping, of course, but he was distracted and muttering. "Oh, it's got you. We need to get you out of here and far, far away," Hawke muttered mostly to herself. She looked for anyone to help her but everyone else that seemed even moderately useful was already preoccupied.

Anora and Fergus found her to demand answers. "Why are we locking ourselves in?" Anora asked loudly.

"We're not, my Teryna. We're locking something out."

Fergus was quick to catch on. Hawke looked at him, eyes wide and serious. "You and/or your brother woke up that demon. We have to keep it from getting into the castle. Keep everyone safe. And then some of us sneak outside and..."

The guards started shouting. Three loud knocks sounded heavily on the door and with great enough force that the men staggered backwards before they rushed forward to hold the door again. Hawke ran to the doorway and shouted, "What the fuck is that?"

The guards gave her shrugs as much as they were able to. Aedan was standing by and his brow furrowed at her words. "Sounds like a heavy shield. A very heavy shield." Aedan had snapped out of the demon's hold long enough to answer her. "Probably a revenant."

"What the fuck is a revenant?"

That was a revenant. It was fucking huge and carried a blade that was so overcompensating it was ridiculous. It didn't even use the bloody thing. After it had smashed down the door it had planted the blade into the ground and was using it's heavy round shield to send guards flying left and right.

Hawke threw a spell his direction and without the aid of her staff it flew off target. But she caught it's attention.

And while this hulking revenant stalked her, Hawke could see a tiny, hunched, and floating robed being appear from behind him.

Varric waited patiently, he had been for a good hour now, but all Hawke gave him was a slight shrug of the shoulders. "No, no, no. Hawke, don't do this again. Skip out on all the nitty gritty. What happened to the Warden? Why are there still demons running loose?"

"What more do you want? And then the demon got him. And now Aedan, I mean, Cousland is being used as...as a power source. He's still here, physically, but we can't wake him." Hawke buried her face in her arm. "He's being used to fuel these attacks and if anyone finds out..." They'll turn on him.

"Maker, Hawke," Varric let out a low whistle. "The Warden's trapped in the fade? Again? What have you dragged us into this time?"

"You walked into this, remember? And if you're not feeling up to a challenge-"

"Don't you even finish that sentence," Varric warned her. "You'll just insult me."

Hawke's long breath of relief was worrying. She knew Varric wouldn't let her down but still... And what was even better was the fact Varric had stopped interrogating her. It was hard to repress memories when someone kept asking about them.

Like how that revenant had deflected every single spell she had sent his way. And before it was about to bring that shield down on her head how Aedan had pushed her out of the way just in time. The crack when the shield instead hit Aedan's leg in just the wrong way...

What had happened after that was a little fuzzy. The demons had retreated back into the courtyard and Aedan was... Well, gone.

Varric snapped his fingers in front of her face a couple times. "Well? You got a plan, kid?"

Without another word, Hawke led Varric out of the side room and back out into the main library. The rest of her crew stood at her reappearance.

Merrill flung her arms around Hawke's neck. "I was going to do this earlier but you were acting scary." Hawke was momentarily surprised at how hard Merrill's thin arms could squeeze. "But I'm so glad to see you again! We were all terrified for you. Aveline and Sebastian were at Meredith's door to vouch for you as soon as we heard. I think Sebastian slept outside the Circle waiting to talk to her and dirtied his pretty white armour-"

Hawke grinned into Merrill's shoulder. Merrill was liable to keep on babbling forever unless someone stopped her. "Merrill, Merrill. It's fine. I'll deal with it when we get back to Kirkwall."

"So you are returning with us?"

Disentangling herself from Merrill, Hawke started blankly at Fenris. His was seated at a table, arms crossed and looking over at Varric. "Why wouldn't I go back?" she asked him, wishing he would look at her. But she was used to his aversion to making eye contact by now.

Isabela explained in a bored tone, "You vanished without a word to any of us. That's usually my move. Anders was convinced you weren't coming back."

Still avoiding her gaze, Fenris sneered and added, "He was rather vocal about it as well."

"I'm going back," Hawke countered a little too loudly. And repeated, "I'm going back." Then she waved for Varric to follow her again. "Anyway, listen up.

And then I'll let you all in on my plan."

"Now you have a plan?"

"It's more of a last hope, probably will kill me type deal but really, Varric, doesn't plan sound so much better?"

Isabela sauntered over, resting a tanned arm over Fenris's shoulder. "Care to share?"

Hawke gave her a light shrug and a ghost of her old smirk. "It's rather simple really. I've tried everything. Tried waking him up from this side, tried to contact his old ex-mage girlfriend for help...It hasn't been going well. But," Hawke pointed at Fenris and Isabela, "you two just gave me an idea."

"And that is?"

Hawke answered them rather cheerfully despite the situation. "I'm going to enter the fade, find Aedan, and then I'm going to kill him."