Universe Three: Denerim, many years in the future. Alistair is (Batman's) the caped crusader Duncan's apprentice, sent to spy on a girl known only as (Catwoman) the Grey Warden, an accomplished jewel thief, to see if she would join their (Justice League) Griffin League. Superhero AU FTW!

A/N: I totally didn't intend to write this chapter, but then it hit me and I couldn't let it go. So there's going to be five chapters instead. Which is fine by me, I love AUs.

Also, if someone were to draw fanart of this I would be legally obligated to owe them by first born and a significant portion of my soul. Just saying.

The Jewel Thief

Sometimes, Alistair wondered if Duncan simply hadn't lost his Maker-forsaken mind.

Really, a jewel thief? What use did the Griffon League have for jewel thief? Weren't they the good guys?

Then again, Duncan had a remarkable ability to judge a person's character beyond what Alistair could understand. The man was also notorious for withholding crucial information until the absolute last minute possible.

Still, anyone with eyes could know Alistair wasn't good at the whole sneaky thing. Give him bad guys to beat up, and he'd given them a thorough thrashing. But ask him to use the grace and stealth needed to sneak away as a spy? …Yet Duncan sent Alistair here anyway, not to capture the infamous cat burglar, but to spy on her instead. To see if she would make a good recruit!

Sometimes, Alistair wondered if Duncan had lost it completely.

The Grey Warden, they called her, though Alistair didn't know why. Nothing in her file seemed to suggest she was very warden-y—or very grey, for that matter. For all that he knew about the woman, she was just an accomplished jewel thief—a talented thief, but a thief nonetheless.

Though he had to confess, she looked fantastic in a tight leather catsuit. Maker's breath. Talk about a woman.

And those heels! How the woman managed to jump rooftop to rooftop in thigh-high boots would remain a mystery to Alistair for the rest of his days.

If the sisters at the monastery knew what he was thinking about right now…

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he did not notice the woman he was suppose to be watching disappeared entirely, until he felt the sharp sting of a dagger at his throat.

"Well," She whispered seductively in his ear from behind, her dagger still far too close to his throat. "What do we have here? The Dragon Prince, I wonder?"

Ugh. Who thought of that stupid name? Oh right, Duncan. The Griffin himself.

"You don't look much like a dragon." She commented, sounding more amused than dangerous. "You look more like an overgrown lizard." She slapped his arse. Andraste's flaming sword! "Tail and all."

"What I want to know," she asked, her dagger remaining close to his jugular. "Is what the Griffin's sidekick wants with little ol' me."

Sidekick? Sidekick?! He wasn't a sidekick! He was a—

Okay, he was pretty much a sidekick. But still.

"Know that I could kill you in about ten different ways before you could reach your sword." She smiled at him in a flirting manner, dropping the dagger. "So start talking. Now."

"Griffin sent me to spy on you."

"Hmm." She whispered. "I figured that. How about you tell me why?"

He frowned at her. "I'm not at liberty to say."

He barely blinked before her dagger was pointed on him again. "Wrong answer."

He flinched. "I promise, I'm not here to hurt you."

She merely snorted at him. "And I suppose I'm just suppose to believe that? Everyone knows old man Griffin means to clean up these streets—what could he possibly want with a jewel thief like me?"

He couldn't help but chuckle. "Lady, I wish I knew."

He noticed (he could still hear Duncan pounding the lessons into his head, details, Alistair, you must remember the details!) how she twitched ever so slightly at being called lady. That was odd. Was she high-born or something? A noble? If so, why on Thedas would she being out stealing jewels?

Wait—wait, it made sense. Suddenly it all clicked together for him. Grey. Black and white together. Good and evil. Warden. One who takes care of others. A guardian. "We're the good guys."

She didn't keep the jewels she stole.

In fact, if Alistair had to hazard a guess, all the money she looted from corpses, all the chests full of gold she broke into and stole, probably went to saving orphans and rescuing kittens.

Duncan, you are a crazy genius.

"You're laughing." She pressed the dagger tighter to his throat. "Rather bold of you to laugh at a woman with a dagger to your throat. I find that attractive in a man. A bit for your thoughts?"

"Oh, it's nothing." He grinned widely at her. "I just realized why D—why Griffin wanted me to spy on you."

"Oh?" She asked. "Care to share this bit of information, ser?"

"Nah." He chuckled at her. "You'll find out sooner or later."

Her pretty blue eyes narrowed at him. "Assuming I don't kill you first."

"You won't kill me." He whispered, his voice husky. He hadn't realized how tantalizingly close she was. "In fact, I bet you don't kill anyone."

Before she could collect her thoughts, he grabbed her hand and yanked the dagger away from her. "This is the Cousland family crest, is it not?" He asked, holding the hilt of the knife up to her so she could see the emblem clearly. "I happen to be close friends with Fergus Cousland, and I would also know if anyone stole from the Cousland estate. Which means this must belong to you."

He handed her the dagger back. She shoved him half-heartedly, and he couldn't help but smile in response. "Tell me, are you a Cousland, then? A niece? Cousin? Daughter?"

She scowled at him. "How long have you been following me, exactly?"

"Not long." He confessed. "I just figured it out a few seconds ago. Nice title by the way. Grey Warden. I suspect calling yourself the White Warden would have made it too obvious, then?"

"I didn't choose the name." She slid the dagger back into its place at the top of her boot. She then shimmied closer to him, every step coolly calculated and mesmerizing. He didn't know hips swayed like that. "But you seem to know so much about me, dear Dragon, and I so little about you."

Maker, was it hot up here, or was she suddenly entirely too close? "I—there's not much to know. I'm not really that interesting."

Outside of the bastard prince part, but really, she didn't need to know that.

She smiled at him. He could feel her breath on his face. "I find that hard to believe."

And then she kissed him.

His first instinct was to run, to push her away and to run straight back to the church he spent the past seven years in. But her lips were sinfully warm and inviting in ways he didn't expect. The leather she wore made it possible for him to feel her every curve pressed tightly against him.

A man could die for this.

Even he needed to breathe at some point, and the kiss was hastily broken.

"Why did you do that?" He asked, hoping his voice didn't suddenly get higher as it was prone to do when he was nervous. "Why did you kiss me?"

"I don't know." She answered, patting his cheek playfully. "Maybe I have a thing for handsome men in masks."

She pulled him closer and kissed him again, a light peck on the lips compared to their previous kiss.

She turned and walked away, her hips swaying gently with every step she took. "Tell Griffin I expect to hear from him in a couple of days. I suspect he knows how to get a hold of me." She blew him a kiss. "I look forward to seeing you again, Dragon. Hopefully under…better circumstances?"

And then she disappeared like a leaf on the wind, invisible to the night.

It wasn't until he got back to the Griffin Cave did he realize that she had stolen his wallet.

Maker, he was not sneaky enough for this job!