Summary:
I've dragged you through hell, now I think you've earned a little bit of fluff wrapped around some loose end tying up!
Cocktails & Cheese
Cullen and Alistair - A Modern Day AU
Chapter 57
Mishaps & Misfortune - Part 14
The next time Cullen woke, Alistair was there: eyes closed, head pillowed on his arms, a trail of drool leaking from his mouth. Cullen managed a small, fond smile that pulled uncomfortably at his lip. Alistair looked so peaceful when he slept. The weary, careworn lines he'd acquired of late were finally relaxed. He hated the fact that he was the one responsible for putting them there. Alistair was so open and carefree by nature and, by some miracle of the Maker, he'd chosen Cullen. He couldn't imagine feeling any more blessed than he did right now. Yes, he was still attached to his IV, but he was unrestrained, breathing on his own, and in the presence of the most wonderful person he could ever hope to share his life with.
He was incredibly lucky and he knew it.
He closed his eyes, muttering a silent prayer of thanks to the Maker for another chance, vowing not to screw up his relationship any more than he already had. With a contented sigh, Cullen gently combed his fingers through Alistair's deceptively soft, spiky hair.
At Cullen's gentle touch, Alistair began to stir. He looked up through tired eyes and jumped out of his chair when he noticed Cullen smiling at him.
At least, I hope it resembles a smile.
"Sweet, Andraste!" he exclaimed. "Mother Natalie said you'd woken up more coherent and I was kicking myself for missing it. Are you ok? Can I get you anything? Maker, it is good to see you with your eyes open." Alistair seemed flustered and indecisive about where he wanted to touch most. He touched Cullen's hands, arms, neck, face, and ran his fingers through the little bit of hair sticking out through the top of Cullen's bandage.
"Alistair… I…" Cullen began coughing, so Alistair brought over his cup of water and held it carefully to his lips.
Cullen gave him a grateful smile, then tried again. "I- I'm sorry, Alistair. I am so sorry."
"Hey, shhh. No, not now. Please, not now. I almost lost you. I don't want to fight anymore. I don't want to fight… ever. I'm okay, we're okay. I promise." Alistair gently cupped Cullen's cheek and bent over to rest their foreheads together. "I love you so much, sweetheart. You're all I ever wanted and everything I could ever need. You know that; don't you?"
Cullen reached up, wrapping his arms around Alistair. "Love you too. Please don't leave."
"Never. I've done what I needed to do. I'm not leaving your side again."
"Mother Natalie said you were… working. You didn't do anything stupid, did you?"
"Now you sound like Rylen." Alistair chuckled. "And no, we did things by the book… mostly." He shrugged. "We were just getting ready for Dorian to cast his tracking spell when Rylen called and told us Loghain phoned in a tip on the general area where his son might be."
Cullen nodded. This wasn't new information to him, even if it was a bit hazy.
"Once we got over the shock of Loghain helping us, we went to the neighborhood and let Dorian do his thing." Alistair smiled, trailing his finger over Cullen's palm. "It's a good thing you managed to get a piece of Nick's shirt; it made finding him fairly easy."
"Dorian would have his hands in the cookie jar." Cullen snickered.
Alistair's face fell. "I… needed him." He hung his head in shame.
"Hey, what is it?" Cullen asked.
"I was having a bit of trouble keeping my… temper in check," Alistair admitted.
"I can imagine it wasn't easy for any of you." Cullen cupped Alistair's cheek, rubbing his thumb in soothing circles.
"It was better with Lana and Dorian at my side, y'know? The three of us together…" Alistair leaned into Cullen's touch, closing his eyes. "Well, lets just say, we kept each other in check. It helped having people with me that wanted revenge just as badly. If they could hold back then I could too."
"I'm grateful you reached out to each other."
"I'm not so sure 'reached out' is the appropriate term. Lana was with me when Rylen came in covered in your blood." Alistair shuddered. "There was no way she was going to let me go anywhere without her; she's protective over her family that way."
"I know she is. I'm honored to be considered a part of it. So, how did Dorian join the party?"
Alistair chuckled, shaking his head. "When I called to tell him what happened, he just…" Alistair waved his free hand around wildly, "...materialized in this room right behind me. I'm so glad I was alone, because I'm sure I made some fairly undignified sounds." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It would have been nice to know he could do that," Alistair said indignantly.
Cullen laughed which dissolved quickly into painful coughs. Alistair waited patiently for him to catch his breath before bringing the water closer for a sip.
"Thank you," Cullen said, laying his head back on his pillow. "It's not a skill that Dorian likes to flaunt, and it's exhausting for him to do it, but it has come in handy a few times. We were both pretty surprised the first time he appeared during an episode of mine." Cullen sighed. "We believe that he needs a strong emotional attachment to someone to be able to translocate like that. Up until then, he'd only been able to do it to get to Bull. We both endured a lot of teasing after that, but thankfully, their relationship is more secure than…" Cullen looked down and away.
"Hey," Alistair said, catching his jaw and turning Cullen back to face him. "We're okay. You and I… we'll get there too."
"If it weren't for my insecurities, none of this would have-"
"Stop, please. This isn't all on you. I didn't realize how much your lack of sleep was affecting you. I should have been more-"
Cullen placed his fingers over Alistair's lips, then pulled him in for a soft kiss. "If I'm not allowed to blame myself, then neither are you," he said as they pulled apart. "I'm really glad that you're here."
"There's no place else I'd rather be." Alistair leaned in and gently wrapped his arms around Cullen's shoulders as best he could. "Maker, Cullen. I was so scared I was going to lose you."
"I'm okay, sweetheart."
"I know. It's just… I didn't want those to be our last words to each other. I was worried that you were going to die thinking that I didn't want you around -that I didn't love you- when that's the farthest thing from the truth."
Cullen sighed. "I was on my way to come see you and grovel my way back into your good graces when I… when they-"
"Hey, you don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to," Alistair soothed.
"I don't actually remember much about what happened. I remember leaving the Chantry. I was so distracted; I didn't see who attacked me until right before I lost consciousness. I don't even know how many there were."
Alistair looked down and sighed. "There were six of them… at least, there were six that we… apprehended."
Cullen shrugged, then winced from the pain. "There were more than I could handle. Granted, I was taken by surprise and was never able to get my bearings after the first blow to the head. Nick's was the only face I saw."
Of course Alistair noticed Cullen's flinch. "Lana said as soon as we can get you home again, she will take care of the rest of your injuries. She had to leave the ones that were the most visible, otherwise it would draw suspicion."
"It's okay, I understand. I should thank her… and Anders."
Alistair smiled, softly. "There will be plenty of time for that. Sam has been so impressed with your current rate of recovery, they said that you should be able to go home tomorrow or the next day."
"Sam?" Cullen asked.
"Your doctor, Samantha Parker. Apparently they're an acquaintance of Dorian's and prefer Sam to anything else."
"I will have to thank them too, then," Cullen said. "And Rylen."
Alistair smirked.
"That look worries me. What is it?" Cullen asked.
"Well. Rylen has insisted that you take the next six weeks off from work so you have time to fully heal ."
"But, you just said that Lana will-"
"Yes, she will. But the rest of the world knows that you've been badly injured. So, I'm sorry to say that-healed or not-you're going to have to lay low for a while."
"You're not sorry at all, are you?" Cullen quirked a small smile.
"No, not really." Alistair grinned. "Locked away with you for a full month and a half? I can think of worse fates than that."
"But what about the case and Dania?"
"Dania is fine. She's happy that you're on the mend and relieved that Nick has been locked away. She's decided to prosecute him to the full extent of the law. When she heard that you'd been attacked, Anders said it was all they could do to restrain her from going after Nick herself."
"She's so strong." Cullen smiled. "I'm proud of her."
"I am too. I'm sorry she had to go through any of this at all, but seeing her that pissed… well, lets just say, between your shining reputation, her fiery determination, and all of the diligent records your team has kept… Anders believes this case will be pretty open and shut."
"Is Anders with her now?"
Alistair nodded. "Rylen will contact us if they need anything from either one of us. But for now, he and Anders are taking care of everything."
Cullen nodded, then shifted over on the bed as much as he could. "Do you think… could you… lay down with me? I… really want to hold you while you fill me in on everything I've missed."
Alistair climbed up next to Cullen. "Okay, but if the nurse comes in and gets mad, I'm blaming you."
"I think, with this being your family's hospital, they might look the other way."
"We're only shareholders. That doesn't mean we own the place and can boss people around." Alistair looked away, pointedly.
Cullen wrapped his arms around Alistair, tucking his head under his chin. "So you didn't —for one minute— use your family name to make sure I had this big private room…? Or park in the special Theirin family parking spaces?"
Alistair narrowed his eyes. "Mother Natalie's been telling stories again?"
Cullen chuckled, pulling Alistair back to his chest. "She only ever speaks the truth, even when it's painful."
Alistair huffed, indignantly.
"Maker, I missed you." He kissed the top of Alistair's head and then his lips when Alistair looked up to meet him.
"I missed you too. I'm not hurting you am I?"
"As long as you don't get too wiggly, we should be fine." Careful not to get his IV lines tangled, Cullen gently ran one hand through Alistair's hair while the other gently rubbed his back. "This is much better. Now, why don't you tell me what happened while I was taking my... nap?"
"Taking your nap." Alistair scoffed. "I wish you were only taking a nap," he said sadly, then kissed Cullen's chest, laying his head back down.
"After Anders healed me, I was mostly napping, if that helps any. So, lets start there. What happened while Mother Natalie was keeping me company?"
"Okay, I can do that." Alistair shifted a bit then settled in. "When we first found the old warehouse they were holed up in, we phoned our location in to Rylen, like a good girl and boys." He traced his finger up and down Cullen's chest. "Fair warning, Dorian's a little upset that he missed all the fun. He ran around to cover the back while Lana and I walked in the front, but the fun was mostly over by the time he made it inside."
"You just... walked in? Nick's been on the run… hiding from us… and he wasn't even in a secured location?"
Ducking his chin sheepishly, Alistair mumbled, "There may have been locks on the door, but that couldn't very well be part of the official story, now could it?"
Cullen chuckled. "Duncan would be proud."
"But not Dorian, the back door was locked too. It took him too long to freeze the lock so he could break it. Everything was over by the time he joined us."
"I'm sure he'll forgive and forget… in time." Cullen brushed Alistair's hair from his forehead. "So, tell me what happened when you went in."
Alistair sobered. "Those assholes were standing around an old oil barrel. They were burning stuff in it to stay warm."
"You're kidding?!"
"Nope." Alistair popped the 'p' sound. "It was surreal. Like, something out of a cheesy movie."
"I bet you liked that." Cullen yawned.
Alistair huffed a laugh. "Usually. Now let me finish before the sandman steals you from me again."
Cullen nodded slowly, placing another kiss on Alistair's forehead to continue.
"So, Nick and his buddies were laughing and joking about what they did to you and what they planned on doing to Dania once the dust settled. Apparently, they didn't know that you'd survived the attack, which, considering their jovial banter about it, is going to seriously be held against them." Alistair looked up, brushing a stray curl from Cullen's forehead. "I might have stayed in the shadows for the first part. Call me crazy." He grinned. "But, I get sick satisfaction out of watching people misjudge Lana."
"No one should ever underestimate Lana," Cullen agreed.
"She sauntered in, as calm and peaceful as you please, walked right up to them and held her hands out to the warmth from the barrel. It was impressive how quickly Nick's face lit up. He said, 'Well, well, well, looks like we've got a stray wandering into our hideaway.'" Alistair sneered. "I could have killed him just from the leer he directed at Lana, but she just smiled up at him, sweetly. I swear he must have almost two feet on her—I mean, he's taller than we are and she's so tiny!"
"Alistair…"
"Sorry, so she gave him her sweetest smile and said, 'In the future, you should be more careful about whose family you fuck with.' He grinned at her wider and said. 'Oh, so you're related to…' well, you know who he was talking about, anyway - she told him that he had one chance to come with her peacefully and turn himself in. He actually raised his hand to backhand her before she took him to his knees. Poor ass, didn't know what was happening. She didn't even touch him; her hands were still out being warmed by the fire." Alistair chuckled again. "She held him, pinned in place with her magic, then-bless her sweet angelic heart-she reached for her staff and swung it around in a dramatic arc and asked if anyone else wanted to have a go."
Cullen snickered. "I would have liked to have seen that."
"It was beautiful. She's deadly. And, with her confidence, you'd think they would have been smart enough to back off, but no! Well, two of them were smart enough to try to run, but three of them rushed her. Nick, the poor boy, was frozen in place and could only piss himself as he watched what was going on around him."
"So you let Lana take on six people on her own?"
"What? Like she couldn't handle it?" he deadpanned. "Wasn't like she was fighting darkspawn or demons, they were just unawakened assholes; which means, she went exceptionally easy on them. You would have been proud of her."
"I am… I'm proud of both of you." Cullen tightened his arms around Alistair. "So, what happened next?"
"Well, if you think I let her have all the fun after what they did to you, you really don't know me very well." Alistair beamed. "I... intercepted the two that tried to get away, then Dorian joined in and we helped Lana restrain the rest." Alistair reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pair of handcuffs, waving them in the air. "These came in very handy, until Rylen got there with his team."
"Are those my-"
"Weeeeell, my orders were to incapacitate, not decapitate. Even though, after what they did to you..." He shrugged and tucked the handcuffs back into his pocket and ducked his head sheepishly. "I really wanted him to pay for what he did to you. But I knew you wouldn't want me to take that route. I promised you that I wouldn't."
Cullen chuckled. "Oh, sweetheart, I'm not mad. I'm glad you went in with alternative ways to restrain those assholes. I can't imagine you really needing the cuffs with Lana there, though."
Alistair laughed. "No. But they were a nice reminder to Nick of who we are to you. Once all of his lackies were unconscious around him, Lana and I had a little heart to heart with dear, sweet Nicky ." He tightened his grip around Cullen's waist, trying to get as close as possible. "By the time Rylen and the calvary rolled in, he was begging them to take him away. He said that he'd confess to anything, to everything, as long as he didn't have to deal with us anymore." Alistair grinned proudly.
"My hero." Cullen looked at Alistair fondly, pulling his hand up to his lips and gently kissing it. "I missed you, I missed this. Holding you in my arms. I… I almost lost you, even before landing myself here. I… " Cullen swallowed thickly. "My behavior was deplorable, and I regret so many things. I only hope that one day you'll be able to forgive me."
"It's already forgotten, sweetheart. It was forgotten the moment Rylen stumbled through my door covered in your blood." Alistair inched his way up to press his lips to Cullen's. "You and I may not be the best at communicating when we're stressed, but we are getting better and -with time- we'll figure out how not to get us to this point anymore. You're worth it… we're worth it."
"Yes we are," Cullen said as he pulled Alistair in for another kiss. One kiss led to more. Alistair was gentle and careful not to put too much pressure on any of Cullen's still-existing injuries, but neither could they stop touching and kissing.
A soft "ahem" from the doorway interrupted them.
"I… I apologize for interrupting your… uh, heartfelt reunion. But, I should probably inform you that you are setting off alarms at the nurses station." Nurse Eduardo indicated the beeping EKG monitor on the wall.
Cullen looked toward the nurse, then back at Alistair. Resting their foreheads together, he focused on his breathing and waited for his heart rate to slow down while Alistair giggled.
How did we not notice all that noise?
"Good… very good. Much better," Eduardo said. "I was sent in to check that everything is okay. And I see that, yes, you are in fact, fine. So I will leave you to your… well, I will give you some privacy. But I might suggest you wait to perform anything… strenuous. The good doctor would probably frown on our patient flatlining after such a miraculous recovery, no?"
Alistair finally recovered from his bout of giggles. "I promise, we'll behave from now on. Thank you, Eduardo."
"It is no problem. And it is nice to see you smile, sir. I feared for a while you would have me fired."
Alistair looked at Cullen and ran a hand fondly down his cheek. "You recovered respectfully, Lana would have seen to you otherwise." He kissed Cullen softly on the cheek. "I appreciate your concern and your support. I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost him."
"It is a good thing the Maker is watching over you both, then. I shall leave you, but please try not to set off our alarms again, I cannot say you'd get such a warm reaction should some of the other nurses have to come in here and split you two up."
Alistair just continued to grin. "I'd like to see them try."
With a soft chuckle, Eduardo closed the door leaving them to their devices.
"So where were we?" Alistair asked.
Cullen's eyes began to droop. "We were behaving, my love. You heard the nice nurse; no flatlining the patient."
"Lana's just down the hall." Alistair yawned.
Cullen echoed the yawn. "Lana doesn't need to heal me again. We can behave for a little while."
"If you say so," Alistair said, snuggling back into Cullen's arms, using his chest as a pillow.
Cullen wrapped his arms around Alistair and held him tightly. "Will you stay with me?"
With one last kiss, Alistair whispered, "Always."
End Notes
Only one more chapter to go... for now (maybe with an extra bonus sexy chapter, we'll see). Hoping to have 58 up next week, but seeing as how my original 58 is actually going to be the prologue for the next story arc, it might be an extra week before I get my shit together. I'll do my best to stay on deadline though. -fingers crossed.
But you know what that means? There will be (at least) one more major story arc for this series!
Promises and Proposals is in the works and will be out sometime soon. I don't think I can ever say goodbye to this world completely, though. The one-shots will still be updated periodically and who knows what other offshoots we may find in this AU Thedas. So never fear, as long as you want more of these Cocktails and Cheese stories, I will keep writing them. :) -Hell, I might keep writing them anyway because they make ME happy. ;) As long as you're subscribed to me, you'll see the updates as they come out.
Thank you all for your support and encouragement. :)
And to my ever diligent editor, Ponticle: you've been with this story since the beginning, I'm not sure how I lucked out to get your support and guidance, but you've had an amazing impact on my life and I can see it so much in the growth of my writing. Thank you a million times over for everything, my friend. I don't know where I'd be without you. /hugs
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