A/N: Disclaimer: I own none of the recognized characters. I simply am borrowing them to satisfy my muse.

Chapter 34

Sound came back slowly. Low murmurs. Something dripping. The smell was damp and musty. A yell, "Let me out!"

Where the hell was she?

CJ opened her eyes. Bars. Hands bound in front of her with a strap of leather. Straw and dirt strewn stone floor. One guard in front of the door. CJ blinked, startled. She could see. She could see!

She was in a cell. One of the holding cells. What was she doing there? CJ turned her head and winced. That hurt. What happened? The fragmented memories began coming together. She'd been hit. Bull had hit her. He'd hit her, knocked her out, and then tied her up.

Oh he was going to pay for that. Once she had Tommy back, CJ was going to tear that Qunari a new one.

But first she had to get out of this cell. With some careful movements, CJ discovered the leather around her wrists was secure. She wouldn't be able wriggle out of them. Damn it. Did she have any of her weapons? As best she could, CJ checked. No. Double damn it! Bull had gotten them all, and she wasn't wearing any boots so that ruled out the blade she kept hidden there.

Gnawing through the leather was an option, but it would take a considerable amount of time and unlikely to go unnoticed. Footsteps brought CJ's eyes back to the cell door.

"Any movements, Krem?" That was Bull. She shut her eyes and blanked her face. It would do no good to let him know she was awake. He'd just tie her up better this time.

"Nothing yet, Chief. How hard did you hit her?"

"I couldn't let her leave, Krem."

"Any news on the boy?"

"Boss called a meeting. I'm heading there now. Keep an eye on her, Krem."

"Course I will, Chief. Bring home your boy."

CJ listened to Bull's retreating footsteps. A meeting? She needed to hear what was being said. But how the hell could she get out of this cell?

And then a thought came to her.

CJ let out a moan, curling onto her side. "No," She whimpered, as if caught in a bad dream. "Don't touch me!"

"Fighter?" Krem's voice sounded concerned. "Fighter, you all right?"

"Don't touch me!" She moaned again, beginning to thrash. "No!"

She continued acting as if she were caught in a nightmare, or a memory.

"Fighter, calm down," Krem said, and she thrashed violently, her head connecting with the hard floor. Krem swore, and she heard him fumbling with the lock. Good. It was working.

"No!" She thrashed again. Krem was in the cell now, approaching her carefully.

"Fighter, wake up! It's just a dream. You're safe," The moment he crouched down to touch her, CJ acted. Before the armored man could react, CJ had shot up, getting her arms around his neck and squeezing tightly enough to block air-flow, but not enough to crush his windpipe. She wanted him unconscious, not dead. "Fighter," He gasped.

"I'm sorry, Krem." She said softly. "I need to find my son." He tried to peel her off, but CJ was determined to get free. She wrapped herself around him and refused to be budged. He fought hard, but after a minute, he went still.

"I'm sorry." She said again, as she unwound herself from him. Once she had one of his knives out, it was a simple matter to cut through the leather. Krem wouldn't stay unconscious long, and she couldn't risk him sounding the alarm too soon. So, she tied a gag around his mouth and bound his hands semi-loosely. It'd be enough to give him some difficulties at getting free, but not impossible.

She then got the keys and locked the cell behind her. It was of little consequence to make it back to her room unnoticed. No one was on the look-out for her, thinking she was locked in the dungeon. CJ found her armor and weapons placed on her bed neatly, and she got dressed quickly. It felt good, being able to see the weapon holsters, the way her leather bracers strapped across her forearms. The bandage around her left hand caused her to frown. Making a decision quickly, she unwrapped the bandages and looked at the slow-to-heal wound. The scar was bright and raised, pulling tight when CJ experimentally clenched her fist. A little pain, but nothing she couldn't handle.

A little dexterity had been lost, she noticed as she went through some stretches, but that could be regained with time.

"I'm coming for you, Tommy." She said softly and shouldered her pack. Now, she had to listen in on Talon's meeting.

Despite a few close calls with some Inquisition soldiers patrolling the halls, CJ made it to a small, mostly forgotten room located above the war room.

"-heard anything yet?" Bull's voice.

"Blackwall's been found in Val Royeax." Leliana.

"The children?" Josie.

"Said he left them less than a quarter of a mile from the front gate. They were supposed to head straight back."

CJ was going to kill Blackwall. He left two children alone. In the country side, in the middle of a war. Lia was what, nine?

"Did anyone see them? Find any signs of them?" Talon asked.

"Not so far."

"There's no way those two kids could have just disappeared by themselves. There should be signs if they'd wandered off in the wrong direction."

"If there were a rock slide, there wouldn't be any sign of the kids." A heavy silence followed Cullen's statement, and CJ swallowed hard.

"There haven't been any signs of a rock slide in the recent weeks." Leliana finally said.

"So where did they go? Lia's a bright kid, according to her parents. She'd know not to wander off the path and it's not like you can miss seeing Skyhold. Tommy would have listened to her." Talon exclaimed.

Before anyone could answer, there was a banging on the door. CJ tensed, assuming her absence had been noticed.

"Inquisitor!" A voice called out as the CJ heard the doors open. "Commander Cullen, this just arrived-,"

"Shit." Bull.

"Is that," Josie began.

"Who delivered this?!" Cullen demanded.

"It came in with the last merchant group. They couldn't give a description of who gave it to them. Just that they were supposed to deliver it here. To the Inquisition."

"There's something carved into it." Talon's voice was hard. "But I can't read it."

"Put it on the table." A low thud, the sound of wood on wood. CJ wished there was a hole that she could look through!

"Can anyone read it?" Josie asked, her voice soft.

"It's my language. The language of the Qunari." Bull swore again.

"What's it say?"

"Come find us where it began. Tick tock, Dearie."

CJ stopped breathing. Blatt. Blatt had Tommy and Lia. She needed to leave. Now.

It was only a matter of minutes before CJ was down at the stables, saddling up a horse.

"Are you going to find the children?" A voice stopped her, and CJ looked over the horse's back. One of the kitchen staff was standing there, wringing her hands nervously. She was a slight elven woman, who looked more tired than CJ'd ever seen her. This was Aria, Lia's mother. "Are you going to bring them home?"

"Yes, I am. Both of them." CJ said firmly, and a tear streaked down Aria's face.

"Thank you."

CJ nodded and hoisted herself up into the saddle.

"I've got to go." Aria stepped back as CJ nudged the horse into a trot. To leave at a gallop like she wanted to would only draw unwanted attention.

"I should stop you." She'd just exited the main gate when Solas stepped in front of her horse. CJ was half-tempted to just keep going.

"I'm going to save Lia and my son. If you try to stop me, I'll fight you."

"This is a stupid risk." Solas exclaimed and CJ glared at him.

"So? So was destroying the binding stones that held your friend instead of attacking the creature in the Exalted Plains, but what did I help you do?" She shot at him.

He looked at her evenly.

"What wouldn't you do to save your family, Solas? Your people?" He blinked, and something crossed his face. An emotion that CJ couldn't place.

"I'd do anything." He said slowly.

"And that's what I'm doing. Please, I don't want to have to hurt you. Just let me pass."

For a moment, CJ feared she would have to ride over him, but then he stepped to the side.

"They'll notice your absence before too much longer."

"Thank you, Solas." And she clicked her tongue, spurring the horse into motion. Right now, she needed to get as much distance between her and Skyhold as possible as quickly as she could. If Bull found her before she found Tommy, he'd want to send her back to Skyhold wrapped in chains. And CJ would have to fight him.

Hours later, she finally let the horse rest while her mind was racing. Come find us where it began. Where what began? Did that mean, Denerim, where Michal had first hired the bastard? Or the farm, CJ's heart lurched at that. The thought of going back to that farm. She hadn't been there in seven years, at least not physically. Her dreams had been much more recent than that. Or did that mean the lake, where the women had been killed? Or did it mean the site of the final camp, where CJ had gotten free? There was no way CJ could check them all alone. There was too much distance between each location. She would need help.

"Damn it."

There was no moon to see by, and rather than risking injuring the horse, CJ stopped for the night. She needed to plan. Wrapped in a blanket and leaning against Chet (what she'd named the horse), she settled down for the night. Which of the places was the most likely option?

Blatt wanted her to find him. There was no doubt about it. So would he have gone to Denerim? But CJ didn't know where he and Michal had first met. Michal may be a bastard, but he was no idiot. He wouldn't have had the mercenaries at his house. No, Denerim was too big for CJ to go and hope that she'd stumble onto their trail. So that was the least likely option. That left three other possibilities. Which was it?

By the time CJ finally managed to sleep, she'd come up with a plan.

First thing in the morning, she'd write a letter to Talon, detailing the four possible locations and ask for Inquisition assistance. She'd send that off with the first Inquisition scout she came upon, and then she'd set off. There was a lot of distance to cover between her and her son, and CJ intended on doing it as swiftly as she could. She would save her son.