Disclaimer: I own none of the recognized characters. I am merely borrowing them to satisfy my muse

Chapter 11

The group Cole had summoned just crested the hill when they saw CJ running straight towards the dragon.

"What the hell is she doing?!" Iron Bull demanded.

"She's going to feed it." Cole answered immediately. "Can't let it hurt them. Can't let them die. It'd kill him."

"Feed it what?!" Stitches asked.

"A grenade."

"Shit." Iron Bull took off down the hill, running as fast as he could towards his men and CJ. A loud explosion split through the air, the dragon dying in a burst of blood and gore as its head was forcibly separated from the rest of its body. "Shit!" Dalish and Rocky had split up, one running to where Krem was lying prone on the ground, the other to the last place CJ had been seen.

Seeing Krem sit up, Iron Bull veered towards CJ.

"Fighter?!" Dalish was yelling. "Fighter, can you hear me?!"

The ground was covered in pieces of dragon, some of them as big as Iron Bull himself.

"Here!" Cole's voice sounded out. He was crouched down beside where a large part of the dragon's shoulder had landed. "She's here!"

Working together, Iron Bull, Dalish, Cole, and Stitches quickly uncovered the prone figure of CJ. She was covered in blood, not all of it the dragon's.

A tooth was lodged in her arm, pierced straight through the armor there.

"CJ?!" Cole touched her face.

No response.

"She's insane!" Krem exclaimed, hobbling to join them, aided by Rocky, who had filled him in on CJ's actions.

"She's badly injured." Stitches said, looking over the woman with a critical eye. "Burns, cuts, maybe some internal injuries. We need to get her armor and clothes off. I need to be able to see where I'm healing."

Iron Bull crouched down, beginning to unstrap her armor.

"Chief, you shouldn't be here." Krem's voice startled him, and Iron Bull looked at his lieutenant with a glare.

"Like hell." He retorted.

"She wouldn't want you to see!" Krem exclaimed.

"See what?!"

"He doesn't understand." Cole spoke up. "He doesn't understand why she pulls away. He wants her. She wants him. He can see it in her eyes. Why does she pull away? It hurts him. It hurts her that she hurts him. Let him see. It will help." Krem stared at Cole, but then nodded shortly.

"Stay. Don't stay. I don't give a damn." Stitches bit out. "But if you want me to save this woman, I need to see her wounds immediately!"

Working quickly, CJ's armor was carefully removed. In some places on her arms, the heat had seared it to her flesh. It had to be peeled away. As Dalish cut away her clothes, Iron Bull became very aware of why Krem had told him to leave.

Starting at the base of CJ's feet covering the area until her lower stomach, CJ's skin was covered in a patchwork of white lines.

"What is that," Rocky asked. "Some sort of tattoo?"

"Scars." Iron Bull answered, his voice blank. "From being tortured."

"Tortured?" Rocky spluttered. "I'm never seen torture scars like that!"

"You wouldn't, unless you've been captured by the Ben-hassrath." Iron Bull exclaimed. "This," He indicated to the scars. "Was a specialty of the re-educators. Start at the soles of the feet. Work your way up. Slowly and carefully cutting a design into your victim's skin. You do a little at a time, deep enough to scar, to hurt, but not kill. Rub a paste into the cuts that slows the healing. Increases the pain. Most break before they get past the ankles. Plead and beg and give into whatever their captor wants." He kept staring at those scars. How long had she suffered? How had she even been in a situation to receive them? "I've never seen someone with marks so high on their body. How long was she tortured?"

"Six months." Iron Bull's head whipped towards Krem, who was looking at CJ with intense sadness. "They had her for six months. Tried to break her. They never did."

"Why wouldn't she want me to see this?"

"Weak. Terrified and scared and weak. That's what she feels when she sees the scars." Cole was speaking again. "When she feels them. When they ache in the night. Such weakness. Can't let him see. Can never let him see. The weakness. Pathetic little whore. Never be good enough for him. Doesn't deserve him. Too weak."

"We need to get that tooth out of her arm!" Stitches cut in, interrupting them. "Bull, you're the strongest. You'll be the one to pull it out. Dalish and Rocky, hold her arm steady. If it jerks or the tooth shifts too much, more nerve damage could be done. More than I can fix. When she's braced, Bull, you've got to pull the tooth out very carefully. It went straight through two muscles. From what I can see, it's actually a clean penetration. I can heal it. But if you do more damage pulling it out, she could lose permanent use of her arm."

Iron Bull forced all of his emotions back to focus on what Stitches was say. CJ needed him right now. He could focus on falling apart later.

Almost an hour later, Stitches had healed all she could. Everyone else had minor wounds, Krem sporting a large knot on his head. Digging through CJ's pack, Cole pulled out an extra set of clothes and he and Dalish dressed her carefully.

"When will she wake up?" Rocky asked Stitches, who was looking quite worn out.

"I don't know if she even will." Stitches answered, masking a yawn. "There was a lot of internal bleeding."

"That's what happens when you blow up a dragon." Krem muttered, scowling at the unconscious woman. "When, and I mean 'when' not 'if', she wakes up, we are going to have a long talk about stupid ideas."

"No doubt Talon and the rest of the group are on their way here." Iron Bull said. "We'll camp here, make sure no scavengers try to make off with our dragon. Rocky, Dalish, Krem, and Stitches, you all get some rest. Cole, keep an eye on them."

He turned his back on the unconscious woman. "I'll gather some wood. Get a fire going."

Cole caught his arm before he got too far away. "You are not to blame for her scars." He said. Iron Bull looked at him. "She's not afraid of you. She thinks you're better than the ones who gave her those."

"Am I, Cole?" Iron Bull said. "You can see way down deep in my head. Tell me, am I better than them?"

"That you're even asking already confirms it." Cole answered. "I will protect her while you are gone." Iron Bull watched as Cole went back to CJ's side before shaking his head. Firewood. He needed to collect firewood.