A/N: I want to take a moment to thank everyone who has read this story. I've been sitting on this idea for a long time now and I can't tell you how much joy it brings me to know that at least some of you are enjoying it.

I just wanted to put a quick note to warn you about one of the OCs that will be apart of the story. Myrris is my husband's character and…you're either going to find him entertaining or want to stab him repeatedly…in the book. He also curses, a lot. I apologize in advance.

Please leave any comments or thoughts about the story and what you like and thank you again for reading. Enjoy

As soon as he stepped through the Eluvian, Myrris knew that this world was going to be…interesting. The kind of interesting that would likely give him a great story to tell the Inquisition whenever he finally got back to Thedas. A quick look around at the dark space confirmed that this world would have been far too 'modern' for his homeland.

It appeared that this Eluvian was housed in…was this the back of a moving truck? "Really?! Who puts an Eluvian in the back of a Penske?!"

His voice seemed to echo oddly. Not just inside the truck itself, but it seemed to ring out further. He waited for a moment. But he heard no other voices or movement anywhere near him or the truck. "Probably in some kind of hollow structure…a garage, maybe?"

Using the glow from the Eluvian as his only light source, Myrris approached the sliding door. He fumbled around the dusty thing for a second but there seemed to be no latch or lever to free himself. The elf rolled his eyes in annoyance.

He turned back to the mirror and yelled towards it. "Hey! What the shit am I supposed to do here?"

The mirror remained unchanged, glowing almost eerily in the darkness surrounding it. No response came from the other side.

"Hey!" He shouted again as he stomped over to the mirror. "Falon'Fuck! What are you—"

He was maybe one or two steps away from the mirror when the glow suddenly died, leaving him in darkness. It made Myrris stop in his tracks. A bad feeling washed over him. "No…no, no, no!"

A sudden crack formed violently in the mirror. It spread until the glass shattered to pieces and fell to the truck bed. Myrris just stared for an uncharacteristically quiet minute. But then of course the shouting began once again. "REALLY?! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! YOU MASSIVE FUCKING ASSHOLE!"

His voice echoed much father this time. On the street below the ruined parking garage, a patrolling templar stopped and stared up in the direction of the sound. He removed his helmet from his head, hoping to get a better sense of what he had heard. Surely no sane person would be hanging out in that structure. The place was condemned after all. It was likely to collapse at any moment.

"Knight-Lieutenant! Put your helmet back on and keep moving!" Meredith's snappy voice called out to him, seemingly degrading him even without using the words to do so.

"But I thought…did you hear that?"

"The only thing I hear, Alistair, is the sound of your procrastination." Even with her face still covered by her helmet he could tell she was scowling at him. "I won't tell you again."

"Right, right. Forget I asked." Alistair begrudgingly slipped his helmet back on. "I'm just saying if there's an apostate in there summoning some giant, slobbering darkspawn, I'm going to say I told you so."

"Knight-Lieutenant. How you were possibly able to receive your rank is beyond me, but I would strongly suggest you not color your first assignment by disobeying orders."

Despite her very obvious discontentment with him, Alistair decided to keep prodding the bear. Or perhaps, the bitch in this case. "Well, technically the commander said to patrol the block. Seeing as how the old garage is in fact within the block—"

"You would do well to follow your orders to the letter. Perhaps one day you'll earn a posting that doesn't require you to be babysat, orphan."

"Ouch."

Having been thoroughly shut down, Alistair resigned himself to focusing on the task before him. Which evidently consisted of simply walking the streets of Lothering in the area in which he was assigned; saying nothing, doing nothing, but somehow looking imposing. Truly stimulating work to be sure. Really, nothing ever happens here. If it weren't for the Lady Seeker now breathing down the Knight-Commander's neck, Alistair was certain that he'd be sitting on his hiney somewhere in the Chantry, carefully timing and preparing for the next shrill scream he'd let out just to break the bloody silence.

He contemplated doing it right out in the open here. But one look in Knight-Captain Meredith's direction made him think better of it. He sighed quietly to himself, contemplating the dull existence he was chained to…why was he even in this damned town anyway? The only one worth staying for left years ago after all…

Alistair's depressive thoughts were suddenly interrupted by—incredibly—something happening. The watchtower on the wall suddenly sounded the alarm. Whether it was darkspawn attacking the gate or invading avvar it was impossible to tell at the moment. But either way it would at least prove interesting.

Meredith shot a red flare up into the air. The signal to the other templars that someone was answering the distress. "Double-time, Lieutenant!"

She didn't wait for his response before she took off towards the tower, shoving the already frightened civilians out of her way harshly. Alistair really hoped someone up in the tower was simply sounding the alarm because they desperately needed to relieve themselves or something equally insignificant.

Upon seeing the signal flare, the guards in the watchtower dulled the alarm a bit. A sign that something is still wrong, but it's being handled. Handled by Meredith. I'm sure they're thrilled.

Alistair jogged a few paces behind her. His conscience wouldn't allow him to treat these poor people so disrespectfully as Meredith had. "Please, don't panic. You all know what to do. Make your way to the shelter beneath the Chantry. We will let you know when the threat has passed."

Despite his best attempts to calm the agitated crowd, they did in fact begin to panic. The people began running past him, making it difficult to keep to his path. Meredith would surely have his hide now. Figures. But he pressed on, trying his best to hug the wall and stay out of the stampede's way.

Through the frightened noises of the crowd, one voice stood out. A little kid was huddled by the wall, wailing for his mother. Couldn't have been more than 3 or 4 years old. As Alistair pushed his way up to him, the kid looked almost hopeful. Way to pull at the feels, kid.

Even with the threat of earning Meredith's ire, Alistair couldn't stop himself from trying to help the kid. He knelt down and removed his helmet. "Hey there, little guy. Where's your mother?"

The kid sniffled uncontrollably. He simply pointed toward the middle of the street. He didn't notice her at first but in the midst of the stampeding crowd, a blonde woman lay curled up on the ground. People were tripping or stepping over her without a regard for her at all. It nearly boiled Alistair's blood. He turned back to the sobbing kid and grasped his little shoulders encouragingly. "I'm gonna go get her, alright? Can you stay here and be really, really brave?"

The kid's eyes lit up, for a moment he stopped crying. He blinked the tears out of his eyes and nodded excitedly. Alistair smiled a little and patted him on the back. "Good lad."

He turned his attention back to the boy's mother. With a deep breath to prepare himself, he dived into the crowd. He forcefully shoved his way to the poor woman as quickly as he could manage. Once he found his footing again, he screamed angrily at the frightened people. "I just told you specifically not to panic!"

Now that he stood between her and the crowd, he clearly saw the extent of her injuries. She was bloodied, bruises had already begun forming on her arms but she slowly got to her feet now that Alistair had given her the opportunity. Her movements were staggered but she didn't ask for help. She grunted in pain and Alistair reached to help steady her almost reflexively. "I'm so, so, so, sorry for this. I told them not to panic! I just—sorry, are you alright?"

He helped her shuffle to the side of the street where the kid waited for them. The moment she leaned against the nearest building the kid came running up to her. "Mama!"

Despite her injured state, she picked up the boy and hugged him to her chest. "Shh, it's alright, baby, I'm here."

Alistair couldn't help but smile pridefully. This templar thing usually sucked raw eggs but at least now he knew he did something good. The boy's mother seemed to suddenly remember her rescuer and turned her attention to him. "Ser Templar, I can't thank you enough for…Alistair?"

Now that he actually got a good look at her face he realized he did in fact recognize her. Which was great…but also awkward… "S-Solona? I—um—I mean, hi! It's, um, good to see you! You look great!"

Solona smiled politely. "Despite my nearly trampled-to-death-state, I assume?"

Alistair laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "Uh, yeah, right. I-I mean of course you do! You always looked good. Like now, right, especially now…"

The little boy giggled at him. "You're funny."

Solona nearly laughed there. It had been a few years since he'd seen her last but somehow Alistair still remember all of her little quirks, her facial expressions, everything. She didn't have a kid back then though, that was…different, to say the least. "Alistair, this is my son, Ayden. Ayden, this is Alistair. He's…" She hesitated for a moment, obviously trying to figure out how to explain to her small child what an ex-boyfriend is.

"He saved you!" Ayden exclaimed excitedly. "He's a hero!"

"I—uh—well, I mean any templar would have done that, really."

Ayden's little expression grew angrily suddenly. "Nuh-uh! The lady was mean!"

"Shh," Solona said, rubbing Ayden's back. "It's alright now." She shifted uncomfortably on her feet. A small grunt escaped her throat.

"Look, I um—you really should see a healer. Can I take you there? I-I mean with the crowds and all, you, um, could use some, um, help?" Alistair was on the verge of hitting himself from how badly he was rambling. But instead he settled for rubbing the back of his neck again. Because you know, that definitely looks cool, you blighted idiot.

Solona smiled as brightly as she could manage. "We'd appreciate that, Alistair. I suddenly have no desire to walk down a crowded street ever again."

She pushed herself off the wall slowly. Alistair made sure to keep himself between her and the rest of the people on the street. The crowd had dispersed considerably in the past couple of minutes but it didn't stop him from feeling a little overprotective. Not that he had any right to feel that way now…blast it! Not the time, you idiot!

Solona only managed a couple of steps on her own before she had to lean on the wall again. "I'm fine, I promise." She said before Alistair even asked.

"I could carry you?" Alistair somehow said without his usual stuttering. But the moment Solona looked up at him again it came right back. "I-I mean, um, if you want—or I mean, need to—I'm gonna shut up now."

Solona seemed to study the length of street left to traverse and sighed heavily. "I'm sorry to ask, but If you don't mind…?"

Alistair laughed nervously. "What? Really? I mean, ahem. Of course, sure, yeah."

Ayden giggled at him again. Solona smiled gratefully as hooked her arm around his shoulders. She hugged Ayden to her chest as Alistair picked up her legs. "Thank you, Alistair."

"Oh, um, You're wel—ah!" Alistair's response was cut off by Ayden scrambling up to sit on his shoulders, using his head as leverage and giggling the whole way up.

Solona seemed as though she was about to scold him, but the sudden sound of sirens blaring again cut her off. But this time it wasn't just one of the watch towers, it was all of them. The color drained out of Alistair's face. He slowly turned toward the wall…no way this was happening.

"Alistair?" Solona asked, trying to hide the worry in her voice. "What is it? What does that mean?"

Of course, she wouldn't know. She'd hadn't been to the city in nearly 5 years, and it wasn't real common knowledge to begin with. Seeing as how it should be, you know, impossible. He couldn't respond for a moment, he was seemingly frozen. He watched the crack form in the wall, watched it spread quickly. Alistair turned around again and started walking quickly.

"Alistair?"

"Nothing."

"Alistair…"

"Nope, nothing to see. Everything is fine. This is fine."

A huge, booming noise erupted from the wall as it began to collapse. Alistair hadn't planned on looking back at the scene, but an odd…what was that? A…scream? Two screams? What?

Ayden evidently turned around before Alistair did because he began to cackle with laughter. Whatever he was seeing was obviously hilarious to him. Alistair at first didn't believe it, but incredibly, one of those old, broken cars was flying through the air. It was barreling towards them, flipping repeatedly like a large, metallic ragdoll.

Solona must have seen it too. He felt her tense before she ripped Ayden down from his perch, securing him to her chest again. "Alistair!"

The bloody templars did not train him for this! The impending danger seemed to hit him all at once. His heart felt as if it had skipped a beat or two. He looked around for some kind of escape. It was far too late to try and make it to the Chantry now. But time was running out. In just a few seconds, they'd likely be crushed by the huge projectile.

The building next to them seemed to be boarded up. Figures. But there appeared to be an alleyway just a few feet ahead of them. Alistair gripped his charges tightly and sprinted for the alley. It turned out only to be a shallow alcove, however. Barely big enough for the three of them. He tucked Solona and Ayden into the corner and tried to make himself as small as possible.

With his back to the street, he couldn't see it but the growing noise of the screams were a pretty good indication of how close the car was. Maker, were there people in that thing?

The car whizzed past him, carrying the voices of two screaming men with it. The car landed initially just a few feet from them, but continued to skid down the street for several yards until it finally stopped. Alistair was sure whoever was in there wouldn't have survived that ordeal. But miraculously two men began to slowly crawl out from the wreckage.

"Holy Maker…" Alistair stared in total disbelief for a moment before Solona pulled him back to reality.

"Alistair! Get us out of here!"

From the distance they were at they couldn't actually see anything coming through the wall. But she was right, no way it just collapsed on its own. Had to be darkspawn…how did they throw a car?! Could they even do that? Maybe an ogre I suppose…

"Right. Yes. Scary. Moving now…uh, this way!" He looked back at the two dazed men as they leaned against the car. "Hey, guys! This way! I know a way out!"

Whatever the white-haired man said seemed to agitate the man with the dark hair. "Yes! What a brilliant idea! Follow the bloody templar! Why didn't I think of that?"

"He's not! A Templar! He's! A! hero!" Ayden shouted at them in annoyance.

"Alistair, leave them, please!"

He could feel Solona's shaky breaths, he saw her death grip she had on her boy. She was terrified. Alistair wouldn't prolong it a moment further. "It's alright, I'll keep you two safe."

He looked back at the two unfortunate men once more before taking off towards to safety of the Templar's personal bunker.

Fenris and Dorian had attempted to make their way towards the opposite direction. Mostly due to the fact that Fenris didn't care to hear Dorian complaining constantly about that particular course of action. But they stopped as an elven man leaped down ungracefully from a nearby building, landing in their path. The elf brushed himself off, muttering something to himself. He looked up at Fenris with a wide grin. "Hey! I know you!"

From the same building a human woman with long, dark hair, secured in a tight ponytail leapt down with a crushing force onto the street. Neither man could claim to be experts on chantry attire, but with how well-crafted her armor appeared, she must have been someone of a significant rank. She narrowed her eyes at the elven man. "In the name of the Maker, I demand you surrender!"

"Shit!" Myrris exclaimed as he took off running down the street. "I swear I don't have your smut!"

Fenris and Dorian sat there for a short moment. Dazed by the scene that they had just witnessed more than everything they had been through the last few moments. Neither said a word to the other as they turned around again to follow that blonde templar.