Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. I won't be coming out with chapters every day due to the fact I am a full-time student again that also has a job and many, many historical documents to read.

Chapter 28:

Fenris had gone downstairs to the awaiting crowd of their friends. Anders had apparently slipped out her back door and gotten the supplies necessary to make the salve Fenris' sister had told them about. He wondered how exactly he had come so familiar with the back-root, but the key dangling from his wrist said it all. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he took the salve as Anders held it out to him.

"How did you get here and back so quick?"

Anders gave him the smile that Fenris hated the most, not a kind smile but a smile that said he knew more than Fenris did. Fenris hated it the most when Anders was either correct, which he hardly ever was, or when Anders knew something that he didn't and this was such a time. "She gave me a key awhile ago. She said it was in case the Templars started snooping around too much in Lowtown. It did ease my fears at the time."

Fenris just nodded before telling them that Hawke had regained consciousness, and explained how she said that they should all go home. He could see the looks on their faces of concern, and their want to go against what Hawke wished. He thought Varric would be the one to stand against what Hawke said, but there was something in his eyes, as he looked back at Fenris, that seemed to say he knew more than what Fenris was told to say by Hawke.

Varric sighed and shrugged his shoulders, "Can't go against what the Champion wants. I think Bodhan and Orana can take good enough care of her anyways… Plus, Fenris is right around the corner."

Aveline was shaking her head no as Anders sounded his disapproval vocally. "I think I should stay if anyone, I know more about healing and her wounds are substantial."

Fenris went to open his mouth to tell Anders to shove it, that Hawke didn't want the abomination around but Varric cut him off. "Look, Blondie, I would say by all means to stay with Hawke.. but she might kill you when she feels well enough for going against a command." Varric was grinning like a chesire cat as he turned to Fenris. "I bet she was pretty adamant even in her drowsy sleep? She is always crankiest when she's woken up.."

Anders seemed to back down at that, the way he looked seemed to suggest he had caught one of her early morning tirades. "I can come up anytime if she needs help too… I'll be sure to tell Bodhan to alert me if they need anything…" Anders took the key off of his wrist and shoved it into one of the pockets on his robes.

"Anyways, Hawke would appreciate if we drank to her at the Hanged Man tonight since she's out of commission. Fenris told us she was fine, and would that broody face ever lie to you guys?" Fenris had to admit that Varric was good. "..and if you guys don't want to drink with me and Bianca well, then I have to assume that your beds are much comfier than Hawke's floor."

They chatted even after Varric's speech that had them all agreeing that it was best to do what Hawke wanted this time, though they had gone against her wishes many a times when she was acting foolish, it seemed this time they realized that what Hawke needed most of all was her sleep. The talk focused mostly to Fenris and his knowledge on what had occurred to Hawke. Would she be the same person? Would she be able to do that glowy hand thing, as Varric put it, that Fenris did? Would she forget them? Did she remember them? His answers bordered on the vague, he truly had no idea what Hawke was capable of, what she was thinking at the moment. She had survived through something that even he had trouble coping with, and she seemed just fine as she confided her feelings to him. He had always thought her some desire demon come to haunt his waking hours and his dreams, but perhaps she was something of that fabric… something much stronger than just a mere mortal.

Fenris lingered in the living room as the others dwindled, making some excuse that he had to talk to Orana about how to take care of Hawke's injuries. They all seemed to buy it, though Anders eyes lingered on him as he left, skeptical for a good reason, and Varric seemed to knowingly smirk at Fenris. He could feel his face hotten at Varric's look, Hawke and him had always been some entity at the peripheral of everyone's view and now he felt like he was standing in the spotlight, naked before all of their friends.

As soon as they were gone he ran up the stairs to her, barely touching the stairs as he tried to get back to Hawke as fast as he could. She was sitting up expectantly, the sheets curled around her waist as she laid her lyrium laced arm in her lap, barely letting it touch anything. She crawled forward like a cat, purring at him as she sat up to wrap her good arm loosely around his neck. He could feel her fingers trace down the back of his neck before she relaxed to press her face close to his. He could see how tired she was now that she was so close to him. He had never truly realized how worn she looked, or perhaps he had ignored it, hoping it was a figment of his imagination.

"I see you've brought me a present from Anders.. What is it? Another one of his dream tonics?" She could tell from the bottle that was used, she had given Anders his whole supply as a present to help his clinic move along. She wondered if he used this specific bottle on purpose, but it all felt so hazy as she teetered between reality and the dream world that was trying to engulf her. She could see the concern in Fenris' eyes, such pretty eyes too. Isabella had pointed that out to her one day. Why was that important now?

He could see the wheels turning in her mind as he stared back at her. "Variana gave him the recipe… I don't truly know what it is, and Anders didn't really explain it to me." She saw lines crease slightly in his perfect skin, she wanted to smudge them out with her thumb. Even now that feud persisted in her life, each wanting more than the other in anything.

"It's a numbing agent then." She pecked Fenris lightly on the lips before sitting back down where she was before. "She applied it to me after I awoke and complained about the pain… Danarius tried to tell me he had found me like this…" He saw her eyes glaze over for a moment in memory before she shook her head. He wanted to poke and prod to hear exactly what happened but he held his tongue as she reached out her hand for the salve.

He shook his head and sat down next to her, that white hair falling into his face. She wondered if her hair would turn that color. It was obvious that his hair was naturally a black color. She didn't think she could pull off the white quite the same way that Fenris did. "I can do it for you."

She chuckled dryly. "I would not suggest doing it. You'll ruin your gloves, and bare hands is not an option… I can do it just fine."

He leaned into her and she could feel herself flush. "You said you were tired of fighting… then stop fighting me." His voice was husky in her ear, and the feeling of his breath on her neck made goosebumps crawl across her skin. It was odd to be this close to him. It hadn't occurred much other than the time he left. It was just dancing near the edges of each other's comfort with small touches and occasional glances, maybe teasing and off-hand flirtation. She had loved her tutoring sessions with him for the closeness it had awarded her to him, and she had loved her late-night drinking at his place for the words they had shared.

She merely nodded her head in compliance, feeling her voice would betray her. The pain was searing but she wanted him. She could see his conflict of having her naked in front of him but the need to restrain himself because of her pain. She wondered if he knew she was in the same position, and now it all seemed to make sense how terrified he had been of their first encounter. She grabbed her hair, wrapping it around her hand to hold it up against the back of her head, away from her skin as she turned her back to him.

"If that is what you want."She had done a lot of things she thought he had wanted before, the way that she had convinced mages to go back to the Circle, the way she had targeted slavers directly… It gave her pleasure to do these things because they were ultimately for him. It was odd listening to him though, it had always been her commands that he followed.

She tensed as the salve hit her skin. It was terrifyingly cold, and the numb sensation made her wonder if her skin was there anymore. She felt every nerve was on its end, ready to break as it screamed in agony as she felt his fingers run over her form to be replaced with an empty feeling where all the pain used to be. She would never truly show her pain, she never had. She had cried few times in her life, she hadn't even cried at her brother's death… She had just smiled through the agony and pulled everyone else together. She had even smiled after the Arishok had broken a few of her ribs. She didn't feel like smiling now, but she didn't feel like crying either.

"Will you stay with me?" Her voice sounded more feeble to her than she ever wanted to let on. She felt her barriers break down around him; he had always been under her skin. She had always been open to him. "I don't want to be alone…"

"I will stay with you, Marian…" He seemed engulfed in covering every inch of her raw skin.

"If I forget, will you remind me?"

"Of course." He slide his hand down her arm, covering it completely in a thin layer of the salve. His eyes caught hers and he could truly see the fear she was holding back. Marian was such a different person from Hawke. She was such a vulnerable person. He had always seen this side of her, why had he never called her by what she was? Hawke was his leader. Marian was his world, and it crushed him to see her like this. He wouldn't run away anymore. He would never run from this again.