The voice was breathy and reverberating and mostly devoid of emotion. "Warden. Speak with you, I would. I am-"

Neria's voice came around the corner. "What are you?"

"Warden. Dryden. Sophia. Commander." There was a slight questioning as those words were spoken, but then an undercurrent of confidence became audible. "Yes, those things am I, and more."

"Uhm, no offense commander, but you've really let yourself go." Alistair's voice didn't have the usual ring of sarcasm; whatever he was looking at had him kinda freaked out.

And it was making me curious as hell. I was on rear guard with Sten watching both the Veil portal and another door, but we kept looking back towards the room the Wardens were in. Leliana was in my line of sight; she looked a bit freaked herself and a lot disgusted. Morrigan merely looked contemptuous.

"You are a Warden, as is the mage." It was a statement.

"I am."

"Respect; you will show it."

"You're not a Warden," Neria said. "Whatever you are you merely…inhabit this…shell."

"Shell. A fine word. Yes, but this shell: I would be rid of it."

I hissed at Leliana and moved quietly towards her as she moved towards me. I whispered to her quickly and we both moved back to our stations.

"One of us, or many of us," the demon was saying.

"Neria," Leliana said, "perhaps the…commander would be interested in the same thing we offered Uldred."

"Your underling: keep her silent."

"No," Neria said, "I think you might be interested in this. Alistair?"

"I think it would be an excellent offer." Ah, sometimes Alistair's really on the ball.

"Tell her, Leliana."

I looked back just in time to see Leliana draw and release a quick shot that caused the demon to scream. And then she smoothly reached for, found, nocked, and loosed another shot that got no audible reaction. I heard a yell from Alistair and what was presumably a sword-on-skull crunch. A couple seconds later there was a flash from the tear. I tapped Sten and we turned to watch it, but I kept glancing towards the fight in the office.

"There!" Neria shouted.

Morrigan threw out a spell before Leliana could shoot, but then the bard turned and dropped a mostly skeletal corpse before it could even rise. Alistair stepped into view and bashed in its skull, and things got quiet again.

Zevran appeared at the doorway below us. "Is all well, mia amici?"

I nodded. "We're good; come on up."

"Jeff," Alistair called, "could you come in here, please?"

Hmm. I went into the commander's office. The only thing of note was a beautiful set of plate mail lying on the floor with a couple of arrows where the wearer's head should be. "Where's the body?" I asked.

Neria was poking the armor with her staff. "I think the demon was holding it together. It just collapsed into dust when we killed her. Killed it."

Alistair put a hand on my shoulder. "You need some better armor, and this looks to be in good condition. Would you like it?"

My reaction? Whoa. And ewww. I looked down at the armor. It's pretty ornate with the impractically high shoulder guards and that beautifully embossed griffon on the chest. And I think it's anodized somehow; it's certainly not painted. And it's not like we had to pry it off a body (at least a fresh one), so that wasn't an issue. Yeah, I'd need to give a good scrubbing first. But…

It took me a couple tries to speak. "I'm…honored," I said, and I was. "But Alistair, this is Warden armor; shouldn't you or Neria be-"

Alistair laughed. "I'd like to see that."

The mage snorted. "That'll happen the same day you put on a dress and dance for me."

Leliana chuckled. "I'd love to see that."

Me, too, but, "Okay, not Neria…well, I would like to see her-" She wrinkled her nose at me. "-but…shouldn't you have dibs on it?"

"Well, this-" He indicated the Templar armor he was wearing. "-fits me fine, and I'm pretty used to it, and it helps me focus my Templar abilities." He nodded towards the Warden armor. "And I think that would be a bit tight on me. We'd have to test fit it on you, of course, but…."

I held up a hand. "We'll test fit it on both of us. You still get first dibs, though. I'm perfectly willing to scrounge another set of chain."

Alistair looked like I'd kicked him in the shin. And he gave me puppy dog eyes. "If you're sure-"

And that made me feel like a jerk. But still…. "Alistair, I am flattered and honored, but this is Grey Warden armor and it should be worn by a Grey Warden. Besides, I think the blue will set off your eyes."

Alistair gave me a small smile. "Well, maybe, but it matches yours."

"But the contrast with yours; the ladies'll be all over you."

The smile broke into a grin. "Well, there is that. Although to be fair, the Templar armor does keep the crowd down to a manageable size."

"I can see how it would keep the lady mages away. But that means I can swoop in and pick up the hey!"

Morrigan had jabbed me with her staff.

"Do you mind? Male bonding going ow! Neria!"

The bridge to the next tower has a great view. The path we'd come up was clearly visible. I could see a pond that supplied the little stream that flowed towards the caverns; there are open gates on the downstream side. The mountain side is amazing. Tall peaks studded with pines until the mountains get too steep for trees and even dirt. The keep is backed right up to them; no way anybody's getting in or out from that side. Not unless there's another passage going north through the mountains. And I wouldn't be surprised to find out there is.

"A lovely view," Wynne said tiredly. "Much nicer than the Tower's."

"It is," Neria agreed, then nudged me. "Done gawking?"

"Is that what I think it is?" I pointed to a turret off the back side of the tower.

"Potted plants?"

"And a rain barrel, I think." I gave her back my glasses. "I'm ready."

We stepped around the handful of corpses we'd had to take down and approached the door.

"Should we knock?" Alistair asked.

"'Twould be polite-"

"But not prudent," Sten added.

"The darkspawn I'm sensing are inside," Alistair added. "Along with something else. I think it's a Warden. It could be the mage."

"Just go in," Neria said.

Wardens – My attention is focused elsewhere at the moment. Feel free to wait here. I will be with you soonest. VRNS

"This is some scary shit." I'd skimmed through one of the journal/lab notebooks we'd found while waiting for whoever wrote the message to open his doors. "Apparently Avernus, or whoever wrote this, has been experimenting on live subjects. I'm not sure if it's darkspawn or…someone else, though."

"Does it say anything about this?" Alistair was looking at a table with a handful of glass vials on it. Each vial had dark fluid in it. Schmuck bait if I ever saw it, but nobody rose to the occasion.

"Nothing that I saw. You two find anything?"

"'Tis as we thought. Blood magic." Morrigan looked thoughtful as she looked up from a notebook. "But specific to Grey Wardens. I am not certain, but these potions-" She pointed to the vials. "-appear to release…well, 'tis described as the potential of the Joining draught."

"Let me see that." Alistair's voice was sharply serious.

"See it. However, I doubt you will find yourself enlightened."

Alistair didn't quite snatch the book from Morrigan. He read the page it was open to with a growing scowl on his face. "Neria, look at this. Tell me if you think it means what I think it means."

Neria took a look at the book. "I'm not sure. I think he's saying-"

Alistair grabbed Neria by the arm and pulled her across the room and away from everybody. The pair started a quiet conversation.

The rest of us were split between watching them and the two doors that lead to Avernus' room. But Morrigan leaned towards me and whispered. "Grey Warden secret, do you suppose?"

I figured she was fishing for information and decided to throw her a bit. "Not as secret as they'd like," I whispered back.

"Mother always said the Grey Wardens kept their secrets poorly."

"I don't know that I'd say that. But there are…patterns that you can see. If you look carefully."

"What pattern do you see here?"

I looked over to where Neria was reading Alistair a passage from the book he was holding. "Two confused kids tossed in over their heads. They need all the help they can get."

"Then 'tis a good thing you are here, is it not?"

I decided to ignore the sarcasm. "Not just me, but all of us."

"But I wonder what price you will attempt to extract from this venture."

That came out of nowhere and I had no answer to it.

"Oh, come now. Every one of you has a reason for being here."

True, but what's mine?

"Ah, the blank face. Wonderful for games of chance, but not-"

One of the doors opened and everybody jumped. Even Sten. "Hello! Please come in," Avernus stated simply.

Avernus: Wrinkled. Emaciated. Ancient. Shrunken. Withered. Frail. The dude's old and skinny. He reminds me of a pale Ghandi. His robes (which aren't in very good shape themselves) are just hanging on him. But he moves like every step isn't a chore, but rather something to be savored, and his eyes have the gleam of a '50s B-movie mad scientist. Which is kind of the case, I guess.

The lab was a cross between the mad scientist's lab and the Spanish Inquisition. Tables covered with brewing apparatus, ingredients, and log books were scattered through the room. I took a look in a pit; it was full of bones, but, fortunately, I guess, nothing fresh. Spikes, cages, and chain were attached to one wall. One of the cages had a couple of darkspawn in it. That didn't scare me, but what did scare me was that they only stared at us listlessly.

We followed Avernus into his lab as he spoke. The only thing not unusual about him (which in turn, made it unusual) was his voice: it was clear and strong; the voice of an older man just past his prime rather than an ancient fossil on life support.

"I suppose I should thank you for the welcome yet temporary imbalance you have inflicted upon the demons. Don't worry, though; the imbalance will last long enough for us to plan our next actions."

"Uhm, Avernus?" Neria asked.

"Be careful, Neria," Leliana said. "He dabbles in things forbidden by the Maker."

"Pah!" Avernus said. "Men have forbidden my dabbling. As for the Maker; well, he's had plenty of time to put a stop to me if he cared enough to do so." He turned as he reached the center of his lab and gave Neria a withering look. "But that's not important! My time is short; why are you here?"

Neria just stared, so Alistair spoke up this time. "We, erm, were led here by a man named Dryden. We think-"

"A Dryden? Related to Sophia?" At our nods Avernus let out a short bark of a laugh. "So Fate does have a sense of humor. Where is the boy?"

"He's waiting outside; he found-"

"Too dangerous for him? Understandable, I suppose. But two Wardens-"

"Be careful," Wynne called from the back of the room, "he is likely a blood mage."

Avernus smiled. "Blood magic. Another forbidden art, yet so useful. But, please! You look exhausted; feel free to find a chair." He reached for a set of test tubes on a table.

"I am well enough."

Avernus' hand dithered then made a choice. "Try this." He held up a vial and offered it to Wynne.

"I require and will certainly accept nothing from you."

"'Tis a simple restorative. Nothing more. There is not even any blood involved."

Wynne was silent.

"And yet you approve of phylacteries. Very well." Avernus shrugged and drank the vial himself. It took a few seconds, but he did seem stronger. "You, ser!" He suddenly pointed at me. "Why are you attempting to flank me?"

I stopped cold where I was. "Sorry. Habit." I walked back to the group as he continued speaking.

"I suppose you have questions, young Wardens, but I've anticipated some of them…." He started explaining how he'd kept himself alive by experimenting with potions, and how he'd kept himself safe from the demons by experimenting with the Warden's darkspawn Taint, and how he'd used darkspawn that had wandered in to continue his research, and how, finally, he'd sensed the oncoming Blight and sent a compulsion of sorts out years ago that, by chance, reached Levi. "But," he finally said, "I have questions of my own." He stepped forward towards Neria, but she stepped backwards at his approach. Avernus shrugged and faced Alistair. "Junior Wardens, you both are. And this one a Warden for barely a month! Is the order so pressed-"

Alistair drew himself up. "We are the order. At least in Ferelden." It was his turn to info dump; he gave a summary of the events at Ostagar, as well as a quick run down of our travels together.

Avernus looked to Neria again, but she drew herself up while stepping closer to Alistair. I don't blame her; Avernus looked at me next and it felt like he was wondering how many pints of blood he could draw. But his view continued to others; most of them flinched under that gaze.

The gaze finally returned to Alistair and flicked back and forth between him and Neria. "So rather than seek help from the order elsewhere you made a side trip to my abode?"

Alistair stammered. "I wouldn't put it quite like that. We were hoping to find-"

"Find what? Wardens? You've found him."

"Weapons. Or something."

"The keep is…." Avernus looked at our Wardens for a moment. "Yours," he finally said. "I have little time left, but there are useful things here aside from myself. My research. Maps. Other information. A safe refuge. Some coin and weapons. All yours."

"But at what cost?" Wynne asked.

"The Veil must be repaired. Unless, of course, you simply wish to grab what you can and flee." The look he gave Alistair made him step back. "I do not recommend that. But your tame Circle mage asks what I want. I merely want a place to safely continue my research until my time arrives. Oh, I will aid you in combating the Blight; I am still a Grey Warden. But killing the Archdemon?" Avernus chuckled at that. "That is an improbable ambition. No, that responsibility is still yours."

Neria finally came out of her shell. "But the other Wardens. You experimented on them!" Neria spat. "You killed them!"

"I did what I could to protect myself and my research and prepare the order to combat the next Blight. This Blight! The other Wardens-"

"Your brothers and sisters," Alistair said bitterly.

"-were going to perish anyway. I gave their deaths meaning!"

"But did they consent to their deaths and your meaning?" I asked as calmly as I could. I had visions of too many well-intentioned, and mal-intentioned, extremists running through my head.

"They were Grey Wardens. They were willing to do whatever it took to combat the darkspawn."

"Did they consent?"

Avernus locked his eyes on to mine, and I could feel the years of loneliness and suffering and resolve behind them. I couldn't feel any guilt or pain or remorse, but that didn't mean it wasn't there. Whatever else he was feeling was locked away behind those eyes, and I wasn't going to get that lock open. "They were willing to do whatever it took. Do not let their sacrifices be wasted."

"But they-" Neria started.

Avernus interrupted her. "I will not let their sacrifices be wasted. But neither should we waste any more of our time squabbling, for the demons are regrouping." He held up a hand. "Hear me on this: Soldier's Peak and its resources are yours and I will aid you in securing them. Until such time as the Veil is repaired and every demon in this keep is destroyed we are allies. And once that is accomplished we will sit and argue to our hearts' content. But for now our goals coincide, and their realization requires we cooperate."

"How can we trust you?" Alistair asked.

"I realize it means little to you, but I swear upon my oath as a Grey Warden that I will take no action against you, or against any of your companions."

"How can we trust you?" Alistair repeated.

"We can trust him." Everybody turned to look at me.

"You should listen to your companion, Wardens."

Alistair spun to look at me. "Andraste's ashes, Jeff! How can you say that?" His voice was tight.

For a change I didn't need metaknowledge. "Look at him. No matter what else he is, he's still a Grey Warden. And for some twisted reason that still means something to him." But he hadn't answered my question about consent, so I added, "Maybe not the same thing it means to you two, but it's still important to him."

"Your companion speaks bluntly, but he speaks the truth."

Neria glanced at Avernus then walked over to me. She put her mouth to my ear. "Jeffrey, are you sure? He scares me."

"He scares me, too," I whispered back. "But-"

Alistair strode towards me. "By the Maker! What is with you? First Zevran and now this…person!"

Zevran spoke from where he stood near Wynne. "Do not put me in the same category as this individual."

Alistair ignored him. "How can you say you trust him?" Like I'd said before, Alistair doesn't get angry often, but when he does you know it. And Alistair was angry.

But I was calm and, well, resigned, and went with the obvious line of attack. "Alistair, you trust me, right?" A sharp nod was his answer, so I continued. "So when I say I trust him- Look, we need to get Veil sealed." I could still see it flashing in the back of my head. "Wynne's too wrung out to-"

"I'm well enough," Wynne called.

Everybody called her out on that. Even Avernus.

"So unless we want to grab what we can and just leave then I think Avernus here is our best bet for getting this done. And I trust him, at least enough for this, because…I just…know I can."

Alistair visibly relaxed as spoke, but he wasn't convinced. "I don't know-"

"I understand. And if I were in your shoes I wouldn't trust him either, and I'd have a hard time believing me."

"Jeffrey," Neria asked, "is this like when you warned me about the Tower?"

"Yes. Yes, it is."

Alistair still wasn't totally convinced. I doubt the others were either. "Do we even need this place, though? Maybe we should just grab what we can and go."

"Alistair," Wynne said, "it would irresponsible of us to leave the Veil torn. What of other travelers?"

"Aside from the point that we're the first ones to come here in ages?" Alistair suddenly seemed to think of something. He turned around to address Avernus again. "The demons can't leave, can they?"

"Only as long as I remain alive to confine them to the keep." Avernus actually gave Alistair a pleading look. "Please, young Warden. Listen to your mentors. If nothing else allow me to repair the Veil and avoid releasing the dangers unleashed here into the world. Afterwards…well, should you find my aid unpalatable then lock me back in this room until I expire. I deserve no more."

Neria looked to Alistair. "I think it's the best choice."

"As do I," Wynne added.

Alistair looked back to me. I knew it was a tough call for him, so I gave him a small nod. But I could still see the struggle in his eyes and on his face. He was torn between trusting his own gut instincts (as good as those were) and looking at the situation objectively. I think his guts were right; if I'd been in his shoes, I wouldn't have trusted Avernus in the least. But maybe that's why I'm here, though. Like I said to Morrigan: Alistair and Neria need all the help they can get. There's no omnipresent authority figure guiding their every move; maybe they need me on the ground to give them that guidance. Damn, that sounds egotistical. Okay, how about I'm here to give them some guidance. But maybe that's too strong as well. Maybe I'm just here to give them those little pushes every now and then to maybe help things go right. Or maybe I'm just ascribing outside motive to the actions I'd be taking anyway. But showing up at the time and place and manner that I did? I don't have a problem with coincidence, but everything that's happened is just way too coincidental to just be coincidence.

But I wasn't thinking that at the time. I was just quietly willing Alistair to go along with the plan. It worked. The defiance left his body and he nodded at us. "Fine."

Avernus told us what to expect as we headed back to the main hall. Demons would pour out of the gate he'd created as he destroyed the summoning portals. Once that was done he'd be able to actually repair the Veil. We just had to keep him safe while he did it. Easy, right? Actually, yes, at least compared to the fights we'd had earlier. No casting demons. No adds summoned. The demons that Avernus had said would swarm us clawed their way through a single portal; the same one the big demon we'd faced earlier had come through. But that demon had had the power to open the smaller portals Avernus created; these lesser demons either didn't have the power or didn't have time to use it, or Avernus was doing something to keep them from using his portals. None of them presented the challenge that first demon had. Alistair and I did our job; we didn't deal out much damage, but we held the line, bottlenecked the portal and kept the mages safe. Sten kept my flank safe but this time we gave him the space he needed to reave through the bad guys. Zevran and Leliana picked off stragglers and kept Alistair's flank covered.

This isn't to say we came through this unscathed. Zevran was a bit slow at one point and got slammed into and over a railing. Sten added a couple more scars to his collection. Both Morrigan and Neria lost some hair. Cullen ended up burned and bloody. And Alistair and I both absorbed more than our fair share of abuse. Wynne, at least, had listened to Neria and stood back and away from the fight, and promised to only come in if absolutely necessary, but I think she went to help Zevran and threw a few healing spells into the mix.

And, after a surprisingly short time, the fight was over.

"My work is done," Avernus announced. "The Veil is repaired, although it is possible some after effects will be felt. Now, if you will pardon me, I will return to my spaces." And he turned to walk away. Yeah, just like that.

Or at least that's what I was told. At the time I was dealing with a swollen eye and a broken and bloody nose, among other things, and yes, it hurt.

Morrigan was threatening to not heal me if I wouldn't stop looking at her tits. I wasn't (I swear!); it just looked like I was. And then I heard the yelling. I didn't catch it all, but Neria told me what had been said.

"Wait," Neria yelled. "We need to talk-"

"Not now; not today." Avernus just kept walking back towards his tower. "Speak with me tomorrow."

"You summoned demons! Lots of them!" Neria was almost shouting. "Do you know-"

"I did what needed to be done. But I'm tired now; speak with me tomorrow."

And I'm tired, too. See you tomorrow.

A/N: Two quick updates this weekend (three if you count SG:O; four with Family Ties); what is the world coming to?

I just hit 50 faves; special thanks to EmbertoInferno for helping me hit that milestone!

I got a bit more action in these last couple chapters and I'm pretty happy with how I pulled it off. Things are going to quiet down a bit, but that's partially because I figured out a good way to handle the increasingly large cast of characters. Hint: it involves a Crown Royal bag, a bottle of Sam Adams, and a German Shepherd. Or maybe a Commander Shepard? No, definitely a German Shepherd.

And at the risk of sounding like I'm begging, reviews (good, bad, or ugly) are always appreciated!