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

Chapter 40

It took a couple days for CJ to realize it, but she'd begun to notice a pattern. No matter where she was, someone had an eye on her. Either Bull, Talon, Krem, or Cole were near her. At least within sight. More often within yelling distance. They seemed to rotate in shifts. When CJ was assigned to a forward scouting group in the morning, one of the four were in the same group. If she went hunting, Cole would be shadowing her. Her watch rotations always seemed to pair with Bull's. And her rotations never crossed with Blackwall's. That was unusual. On every previous mission, she and Blackwall had shared at least one watch, because they fought well together.

CJ was bent over a tunic, attempting to repair a hole she'd gotten earlier in the day by firelight when the sound of arguing caught her attention.

"I have to talk to her." Blackwall.

"No, you don't." And Bull. She looked up, and saw Blackwall trying to force his way around the larger warrior.

"Yes, I do." Blackwall protested. Krem and Cole had joined Bull now, the three of them forcing the man to step back. Even with the three of them, they were having a tough time of it. Blackwall was putting up one hell of a fight.

"So you have been keeping him away." She mused, standing up.

"Kadan, I'll handle,"

"It wasn't necessary to do that, Bull." CJ said, walking towards the group. "We are adults. Surely we can have a civil discussion."

"But," Krem began, but Bull shook his head.

"All right, Kadan."

"Have you eaten?" CJ directed the question at Blackwall. He shook his head, and CJ tipped her head towards the fire. "I think Bull left some rabbit, if you want it." She turned back towards the fire, not stopping to see if he was following.

CJ sat back down, and resumed her stitching. Blackwall could speak first. She'd seen how the others had been treating the man. Drawing away from him as if he were a stranger. They'd all felt betrayed by the man, which CJ could understand. He had betrayed them, by pretending to be a Grey Warden, but surely he hadn't faked his entire personality. In the week since CJ had returned with Tommy, she'd noticed that Blackwall was steadfastly ignored by much of their group of companions. Or when they weren't ignoring them, they were verbally lashing him, like Cassandra was prone to do. He'd drawn back into himself, becoming as reserved as he had been back when he'd first joined the Inquistition.

"CJ," Blackwall began hesitantly. "I'm sorry."

She glanced up at him. "For what?"

"For leaving Tommy and Lia. I should have brought them inside Skyhold before leaving. I didn't think,"

"No, you didn't think." She said simply. "And Tommy and Lia were put in danger." There was no accusation in her tone. No anger. She just stated simply. Evenly. No emotion.

He reacted to her words as if she'd slapped him. "I'm sorry." He said again.

CJ inspected his face. There was remorse and regret. He'd spent ten years living as a different man. A better man that Thom Rainier had been. He'd become that man, in the end. But he didn't see that, CJ realized. Couldn't see that he was no longer that same man who'd followed orders and slaughtered that entire family. He'd carried that burden for so long, it weighed heavily on his mind. Forced his shoulders lower.

CJ couldn't remove the burden for him. But she could extend a hand to help him.

She stood up and moved towards him. He met her eye evenly. For all he knew, she was attacking him, but he made no move to stop her. She crouched down in front of him, staring into his eyes.

"Was it all a lie?"

"What?"

"Was it all a lie? The stories you told about your past? Your childhood? Was all of you a lie?"

"No, it wasn't."

Then CJ made a decision. She stuck out her hand. "My name's CJ. And you are?"

Blackwall stared at her blankly for a minute, not understanding. "My name's Thom. Thom Rainier. Previously, I was known as Blackwall. Someday, I hope to earn that title."

"In my opinion, you already have." CJ said, as he shook her hand. "But know this," She tightened her grip and hauled the man forward so their faces were close. "If you ever abandon my son when you are supposed to be watching him, I will kill you. Slowly and painfully. Do you understand me?"

"Yes." She released his hand and then moved back to her original spot.

"All right then." She picked up her mending again. "Oh, and Tommy needs a new leg. When we return to Skyhold, I'm sure he'll want to visit you. Can we measure out and make a new one for him? Our previous measurements are too short now. The boy's growing like a weed."

Blackwall blinked in a stunned silence. "You . . . . . You'd still allow your boy to be by me?"

CJ didn't look up. "Of course I would. You're his Uncle, don't you remember?"

Blackwall took a sharp breath in. "Thank you." He said softly.

CJ merely nodded her head, continuing to stitch. She heard Blackwall get up and walk away, but she didn't look up. Nor did she look up when she heard the heavy tread of Bull's steps. He sighed as he sank down beside her.

"Whatever you said, he was about in tears, Kadan."

"Said he was Tommy's uncle." CJ used her teeth to break the thread, and then held up the shirt. No light filtered through the repaired hole. Deeming it good enough, she packed up her sewing kit, rolled the shirt, and bundled it all into her bag. "So, what's the deal with my four keepers?"

"Noticed that, did you?" There was no apology in Bull's voice, not that she'd expected it.

"Why?"

"You've got a bad habit of wandering away into dangerous situations. At least this way you won't be alone."

"You willingly, gleefully, run into way more dangerous situations than I do!" CJ protested.

"Which of us has fought a dragon?"

"Which of us would volunteer to fight a dragon?" CJ retorted.

"Who took on someone at least two times bigger than them, without back up?"

"Where could we even find someone at least two times bigger than you?"

"Again with the weight, Kadan?" Abruptly, he pushed her backwards, pinning her to the ground easily. "Tommy's not here to stop me this time."

She grinned up at him. "Who says I want you to stop?"

"Kadan," He growled, dipping his head down. "You make me crazy." He kissed her deeply.

"The feeling's mutual, Kadan." She murmured. He growled again, and scooped her up. CJ was laughing the entire time to their tent.