The moment Cullen leapt over the railing everything became deathly quiet. He couldn't even hear Trev's heartbreaking scream anymore. He couldn't hear the song either. Most importantly, he wasn't falling. He opened his eyes, which he had screwed shut a second earlier, unwilling to witness his own end. He could see now that he was suspened in mid-air. He didn't understand what was happening. A moment ago he had been in agony, the whispering trying to make him kill Trev. He resisted as much as he could, fought harder than ever before in his life. But he had known it would only be a matter of minutes, maybe even just seconds before it broke him. It was otherworldly, inhuman, stronger than any demon he'd ever encountered. He would rather die than give in to it. His life would be a small price to pay if it meant that Trev would be safe. So he had done the only thing he could and thrown himself off the balcony.

When he opened his eyes, the sight was terrifying. He couldn't see what was holding him up, he was just hanging there in the middle of the air. He craned his neck to look back over the railing and found himself still level with the balcony, he hadn't fallen an inch. He was even more surprised when he saw Dorian standing just inside the double doors, his hands stretched out in front of him, blue sparks flying from them from what must have been the effort of keeping Cullen from falling to his death.

The silence was broken by Trev's desperate voice. "Maker, Dorian, pull him in!" She was on her knees beside the mage where she'd fallen only a moment before when she'd watched – horrified - as Cullen tried to kill himself.

Dorian obeyed and with one, fluid motion, Cullen was dragged out of the air and crashed down onto the floor of the balcony. Trev let out a pained whimper and threw herself over him and cradled his head in her arms. Cullen was so relieved that he couldn't hear the singing anymore and looked at Trev with an assertiveness and a clarity that he hadn't shown since right after he'd recovered from the assassination attempt. She seemed to see it in his eyes and she started crying, sobs racking through her body as every emotion she'd felt for the past few days and the shock of what had just happened hit her all at once.

He looked up at her and thanked the Maker that the singing had ceased and no one was telling him to hurt her, at least for now. But the things he'd already done to her... It pained him to no end to know that he had betrayed her and he hadn't even gotten the chance to explain himself yet. But she didn't seem to care right now. He sat up and took her into his arms.

"It's alright now, love. Hush now, don't cry..." He stroked her back as she continued to sob, her face buried in his neck. "We'll figure this out."

"Yes, can we, please?" Dorian said.

Cullen and Trev both looked up at him and Trev stood up and threw her arms around him. Cullen followed and put his hand on the Tevinter's shoulder and squeezed it, a small gesture of gratitude amidst the chaos.

"Thank you, for everything." Trev's voice was almost down to a whisper, her voice raw with emotion. "I'm so incredibly happy to see you awake. Do you have any idea what's been going on?" She turned to Cullen. "Do you? What's happening to you? You haven't been yourself..." She trailed off and Cullen could see that she was thinking of that other girl.

"I haven't, I swear to you Trev. I barely know what's going on but I'll tell you everything I know." He looked at Dorian. "I'm glad to see you looking healthy, my friend. Do you know how long you've been asleep? What woke you up?"

"I don't know but I was woken up by something. It was like someone shaking me and screaming at me to wake up but there was no one there when I did. I was drawn here right away however, I knew I had to run for it and when I got here, you were leaping over the railing, Maker's breath... I think we all need to go inside and sit down."

They did what he said and Dorian closed the doors to the balcony behind them. Cullen led Trev to the sofa and sat her down. She was still shaking, from the cold or the shock he didn't know. He gently put a blanket from the bed over her shoulders and sat down next to her while Dorian pulled up a chair and seated himself in front of them. He stared at Cullen.

"Ehm, Dorian? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Quiet, Commander." Cullen raised his eyebrows but didn't speak. Dorian closed his eyes. He looked like he was straining to hear something. After a minute of silence, he opened his eyes again.

"Oh, dear."

"What? Please tell us if you know something," Trev pleaded with him.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure but something has... how should I put this? Latched on to you, Commander."

"A demon?" Trev asked, her voice unusually small and trembling.

Dorian looked at Cullen and rubbed his chin, clearly thinking hard. "No, I do not believe so. Does it feel like a demon to you, Commander?"

"No, not really. I've been... hearing things, ever since I woke up after you healed me." He could feel Trev's gaze at him.

"Why in the Maker's name didn't you tell me, Cullen? I could have helped you! I... I didn't know, I just thought that you... Maker..." Her voiced trailed off as she seemed to put things together in her head.

Cullen took her hand in his. "At first, I didn't want to worry you, but then I simply couldn't. It controlled me, made me forget everytime I thought about telling you. I think it wants to hurt you. At first, it was just little things. And then it made me think... that that girl..." he paused as she turned her head away from him and his breath caught in his throat when he saw the hurt on her face. "It made me think it was you. Didn't you see how confused I seemed when you slapped me? But then it started to whisper things in my ear, unspeakable things. Tonight, it wanted me to kill you. That's why I did what I did just now. I could barely control myself and I would rather die than let anything happen to you." He pulled her in and kissed the top of her head.

"What exactly is it you've been hearing?" Dorian asked, his brow furrowed in thought. Cullen told them about the whispers and the singing, the haunting melody that had filled his head ever since he woke up.

"And you say it stopped when you came to visit me? That's interesting. And worrying," Dorian said.

Trev looked concerned. "How so?" She sounded scared again. Cullen hated what this did to her.

"Well, I hate to be a party pooper but that's probably the reason why you don't hear anything right now. It hasn't gone away. It's simply because I'm here that you don't hear anything."

Cullen blinked, processing his words. He was right, of course.

"Maker, this nightmare never ends..." Trev mumbled.

"Cheer up now, darling," Dorian said. "We will find an answer to this. It must have something to to with what happened when I healed Cullen since I clearly have a connection to all of this as well. The details of what happened when I did heal him are still a bit fuzzy, but I'm sure it'll clear up when I've had some time to think."

"What do we do until then?" Cullen asked.

"Well, seeing as how you turn into a cheating, homicidal maniac without me, I guess you'll be my new bunkmate and my new accessory, Commander. You and me, twentyfour seven." Dorian grinned at him and Cullen groaned.

Maker, help me.