Champagne Supernova (Part One)

~ Day 21

The pain on his leg was getting worse. At first he hadn't paid attention to it, but now that the hunger, the exhaustion and the heat were stronger, he was beginning to feel that it had been wrong to dismiss the cut so quickly.

"Commandant!" Lily called.

Cullen turned around. "What is it, Lily?"

"I know this passage," she said, passing her hand over the rock. "At least I know this composition is the same type of the passage through which the birds came." She rubbed her fingers together.

Cullen touched the wall. "Melt," he frowned. "This can't be the same passage." He smelled his fingers. "This seems to have a hint of…"

"Plastic?"

Cullen nodded. "There's only one type of rock that smells like this, and has this type of rubbery texture. But that would mean we're at least 150 kilometres below the surface."

Lily looked at him warmly. "At least we're not dead, Commandant. And 150 kilometres is nothing."

Cullen looked at her and smiled. "Wait…" he said. He closed his eyes, trying to remember. What had he seen before Keran had mentioned the birds? He recalled the images in his display. Another passage, right behind them. "There has to be another passage to the left. That's where we came from, where we encountered the last group of people. Their camp might still be there."

Lily took her bag and got ready to leave.

It took them six days to find it, but they'd made it. The last settlement they'd visited. It was still intact. Cullen wiped his forehead. He was sweating profusely. The cut on his leg had taken a nasty colour. For the last stretch, he'd had to rely on Lily. His body ached and burned.

"We're almost there, Cullen," she said, her voice quivering a bit. "Don't give up, please. Don't leave me alone here."

Through the chills, he felt her warmth, her words… Her dark hair caressed his cheek. Her hair… How had she got there? He blinked, and the other woman's face was gone. His love. The woman he'd left in Kirkwall. He couldn't see her face, unless Lily stayed close to him. He felt the woman dumping his body on a pallet. He spoke a name. Not Lily's, the other woman's…

Lily returned to his side, having found a carboy filled with water. She'd drunk some –she was thirsty, after so many days of barely keeping their mouths hydrated with the emergency pads– and then poured the rest into a recipient. She zipped down Cullen's suit and soaked several pieces of cloth into the recipient. She placed some under his armpits and one over his eyes. With the last piece, she cleaned his torso, glistening with sweat. He was certainly beautiful. She struggled to control herself. That was hardly the right moment...

He was mumbling, pleading for something, but she didn't understand what he wanted. She moved her face closer to his, and when he felt her hair touching his chest so lightly, he shuddered. His love had come to him; she had found him. He took her in his arms and kissed her.

~ Day 29

Carver threw up. Jeven frowned. "Don't be such a pussy, Hawke," he grunted. "It was him or us."

~ Day 30

"So… How are you holding on?" Leto asked, nursing his cocoa mug.

"Much better than other people. I'm in awe when it comes to Leandra, though. She's such a strong woman. I guess having Bethany around is a great help for her." Anders finished eating his cinnamon roll and cleaned his fingers. "I try to help, although I don't know what else I can do."

"It must be hard for her: two of her children down there." He was trying very hard not to bring up her name. For a moment he thought that Anders was going to say something, but he'd just nodded.

"I think they're fine. Something tells me they'll be fine. I haven't felt anything strange or disturbing."

"Lucky you," Leto sighed without thinking. This time Anders didn't fail to notice the words.

"Why? Have you dreamt differently?" Anders asked.

Leto opened his mouth to deny it, but he found himself saying, "I don't know. I've been… dreaming about this woman. Her name's Marian." He hoped the name would throw Anders off.

"You met someone? Why didn't you tell me? I'm so happy for you, cousin!" His cousin's voice sounded so genuine that Leto hated himself for lying.

"It's not that I met her. I can't explain. I've been dreaming about her. Quite often. Always the same woman."

"Not Lucía?"

There it was. He'd finally said it. He was surprised to hear that her name in his lips was like an open wound. Leto found himself wincing. Anders hadn't noticed that last movement – he was busy picking another cinnamon roll. "No," Leto said slowly. "Not Lucía. Not anymore."

"Well then, tell me about it," Anders said kindly. "It might help you relax a bit."

~ Day 38

The negotiations had taken far too long. Major Vallen and Captain du Lac had done their best, but for Aveline, a week down there had surely been too much for them to survive.

Little did she know that the teams hadn't even felt the external collapse, other than consider it a distant rumble. If she had known about the first collapse, Wesley thought, she would probably have let her emotions get the best of her. He respected her, but he couldn't help seeing her as a woman. She'd never know about that either.

They were standing on the edge of the opening. The machines had shown that the first kilometres would be safe enough for them to march with their team, and there hadn't been any quakes for a couple of days now.

"Ready to go in, Aveline?" Wesley asked her. There was a certain look in his eyes that made her feel as if she was having a déjà-vu. They would be running into something they could not assess properly. They'd trained all their lives for situations like this one, but still, it felt foreign, unknown. Somewhere, deep inside, she was afraid of failing, now more than ever. He'd told her that he wouldn't leave her alone if she fell, that he'd bring her back. But how could she tell him that she felt that he would be the one to fall? She'd never doubted herself, but this time… This time everything felt different.

"I need to know if there's a chance," Aveline muttered, looking into the gaping mouth of the mountain. "I need to know that I may be able to bring them back alive." She felt Wesley's hand on her shoulder, and his reassuring look on her. She'd felt it all along the week; he'd been with her all the way, even if he didn't understand a word of Orlesian. Every time she'd turned around, he was there, supporting her.

"I'm not going to lie. We may not get to them as soon as we'd like. But we're definitely going to bring them back, Aveline. I swear."

And she believed him.

~ Day 39

Varric swallowed hard. "It's just I... We all thought you were dead."

~ Day 55

Cullen held her from behind. Her screaming filled the passage. The Spawn would find them if she didn't stop, and this time they had nothing to bargain with.

~ Day 56

After listening to Leto, Anders had started dreaming about this woman, Marian. For a few days, he'd felt relieved. She didn't look like Lucía. And then Bethany had spoken. "I promised him I wouldn't tell Lucía, Andy," Bethany had said. "But I must tell you."

That's when Leto's dreams had started permeating his own. He had to know if it was the same woman. She didn't look like Lucía, but now Anders felt it was her. When he'd told Karl about it, his friend had looked at him as if he was crazy. And perhaps I am, Anders thought. Soon, his new dreams had turned against him. They oozed jealousy and doubt, and Anders found himself filled with inexplicable self-hatred. The images of Leto and Marian haunted him even in his waking hours.

Why did you let me believe that everything was fine, Leto? Now he knew that there was no Marian. Or if there had been, it was the same woman. It was always Lucía. Anders lay on his back, looking at the empty ceiling. He'd heard his cousin when he'd told him some months ago that he cared for Lucía. He'd also heard his cousin a couple of days before saying that he was fine with Anders and Lucía being together. But as Bethany had said, holding on to something as seemingly meaningless as a handkerchief proved just the opposite.

Anders raised his left hand and rubbed his eyes. Karl's voice came through the speakers, letting him know that it would start soon. A night of dreamless sleep. That's what he needed. Not to think, not to dream, not to feel or get confused. He'd made up his mind and the decision hurt him. He knew that she was still alive. When he saw her again, he'd tell her about Leto. He'd explain that he didn't feel comfortable being with her, knowing how his cousin truly felt about her.

As soon as she came back, he would break the pattern. He would set her free.

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Title: a song by Oasis. I started writing this chapter from the end, and by the time I got to the parts that were missing, I realized that it would be too long if I included them here, since they're important. The three parts missing are -in order- Carver's dilemma, Varric's surprise, and Lucía's fears.

Update: Special thanks to CouslandSpitFire, whose "immersion-breaking" comments made me edit the "coming up next" lines.

At some point in the near future, there will be an explanation about Cullen's visions of a woman. Since it's not directly relevant to the story, I decided I'd write it as a one-shot and leave it outside the storyline. I'll link you to it when it's ready.

Thanks for reading!