This one was probably the biggest challenge for me. I've written Nathaniel plenty of times before but I have never (seriously) paired him with anyone but Ely in my stories. I almost felt like Nate was cheating on her, except she isn't in this story. Its a completely different universe but I can still see Ely glowering at Bethany (and Kassie) in jealousy and stomping her foot. Heres to Headcanons permanently messing with our minds and other headcanons. Bethany's brother is none other than Neilan Hawke of the Hawke and Merrill story. First one of these stories to intermingle, aside from the two Alter-Ely-Verses. Fists Fall is an awesome song by the band Otep.

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Fists Fall

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The taint whirled its way through Bethany's body. She could feel it changing her and even more so now that she was a Grey Warden. Stroud had taken her to Amaranthine. Back to Ferelden. She fled so far only to come back here, in the end, anyway. The commander here was an elven mage, Kassie Surana. Mistress to the King of Ferelden and hero of the Blight, the woman seemed mysterious and strange to Bethany. To think a mage, and an elf at that, had the ear of so many nobles. The woman was a legend and Bethany felt nervous in her presence.

The others here were less legendary but as nerve-wracking. They all knew Anders though none knew where he had disappeared to. Not that it was Bethany's place to tell anyone. Such a strange lot, these Grey Warden fellows. But, they felt like a family. Sigrun, Oghren, Nathaniel, and the Commander. Bethany could tell they all held a strong bond and the Commander was always having such strange guests. An elf from Antiva. A Orlesian Chantry sister. An old mage wearing Circle robes with a Golem in tow. Bethany had never seen such a strange lot of people and the Golem was even more impressive.

But the one who had Bethany's eye the most was Nathaniel Howe. He was dark and mysterious and scowled a lot. But his jaw was strong and sturdy, his eyes a memorizing shade of gray. His hair was long and pulled back in a ponytail, today. He was practicing out on the field with some of the new recruits. No shirt, just a pair of worn breeches. His tanned skin glistened with sweat under the hot sun. Bethany couldn't take her eyes off the man, no matter how hard she tried. If she didn't know better, she'd have figured the man had her under some sort of blood magic.

Thinking of blood magic, Bethany scowled. She worried about her brother, so far away and surrounded by such unsavory people. And everyone could tell he was sweet on that elven girl, Merrill. Merrill with her stupid blood magic. Her brother could be so dumb sometimes, why would he fall for such a girl? How would he go on now, without Bethany to keep him out of any serious trouble?

Bethany sighed, eyes still on Nathaniel. Almost as if he sensed her presence he looked up and over to where she was standing on the balcony. When he saw her he cast a rare smile her way and waved. Tentatively, she waved back, happy to be noticed.

"So, have your eye on our Nate, do you?" a voice came from the shadows.

Bethany gasped and spun around to see Kassie standing behind her, chuckling. Her blonde hair had streaks of silver running throughout and her eyes were a deep purple ringed with gold. She was lovely and it was easy to see why the King was infatuated with her.

Kassie sauntered over to the edge of the balcony, hips swaying with every step. "Nice view. If I wasn't madly in love with Alistair, I might make a try for him myself. Lucky for you, I'm taken," she said with a wink.

Bethany blushed, unsure how to respond. How does one converse so casually with the Hero of Ferelden? "I, uh, wasn't staring at anything in particular. I was, uh, just glancing, really." Smooth, Bethany.

Kassie let out a low, sultry laugh. "Mmm, Maker's left ass cheek you weren't staring," she quipped before shaking her head. "Maker's left... Oghren is finally rubbing off on me. Fantastic," she finished dryly.

Bethany let out a giggle and Kassie smiled encouragingly. "You know, I'm not so scary. I mean sure, I've defeated more than a few Broodmothers, put two Kings on their thrones, cured a centuries old werewolf curse, been to the Fade a few times, and killed five or six dragons but I'm really just your average girl."

Bethany gulped. "Five or six?"

Kassie shrugged. "I lost count. So many dragons, all dead. Whats the use in counting, right?"

Bethany's mouth fell open as she stared at the woman a moment. "You lost count? Of how many dragons you've killed?"

"Eh. You win some, you lose some. Mostly, the dragons lost and I won. But lets not talk of all my glorious victories. Lets talk about you and your crush on the deliciously sexy Nathaniel Howe," Kassie replied and licked her lips.

"Deliciously sexy, am I, Surana?" A voice said from behind them.

The elven woman just laughed and turned around gleefully. "Oh yes, very delicious and well you know it, Nate. Too bad I'm hopelessly loyal to my Alibear," she murmured.

Nathaniel chuckled, his deep voice sending shivers down Bethany's spine. "Keep flirting with me and I might see how far it takes to tempt you away from your Kingly lover," he replied.

Kassie Surana giggled. "Oh, you know theres no other man for me. I'm a one man type of elf, sadly. But if you're really interested in tempting a lass, I'll just leave to two of you alone," she said. She winked at Bethany and sauntered off.

Nathaniel grinned at Bethany and moved towards, wiping the sweat of his brow as he walked. His muscles rippled and Bethany looked away before he could see her blush. She twirled a piece of curly brown hair between her fingers, nervous. She could never flirt so shamelessly with someone the way the Commander did.

Nathaniel leaned against the railing. "Enjoying the view?"

Bethany nodded. "I was," she replied and blushed.

He grinned again and Bethany's heart did a somersault. By the Maker, that mans smile must have killed more hearts than I could probably count.

"What do you think of us Wardens so far? Not such a bad lot, right?"

Bethany smiled. "Mhm. You mean aside from all the taint and death stuff? Sure, I like it. Its like a party."

Nathaniel let out a short bark of laughter and looked a little closer at the new girl. Bethany Hawke had been close to dying when Stroud brought her. Now, her health had returned and Nathaniel could tell the Joining had been a success. Her skin was the color of honey and her almond-shaped eyes were dark brown. Her brown hair was slightly wavy and long, luxurious waves of it reached her thin waist. Nathaniel found himself wanting to bury his hands in her hair.

He shook his head, amused by his sudden fascination with the girl's hair. "A party? Well, at least there aren't anymore darkspawn around. They make the worst party guests."

Bethany giggles, hiding her mouth behind one hand in a very girly fashion. "Can you imagine, a darkspawn at a real party? 'Would you like some tea with your taint, Messere Darkspawn?'" she said and giggled again.

Nathaniel laughed at her joke and then cleared his throat. "Well, its a good thing you chose to be a Warden then, plenty of darkspawn parties in our future."

Bethany scowled. "It wasn't my choice to be a Warden. Or a mage," she answered, voice heated.

Nate looked at her then, one brow raised. "I saw you when you arrived. If you hadn't undertaken the Joining, you'd be dead. If it wasn't your choice then who chose it?"

Bethany clenched her fists together. "My tit of a brother. Neilan was the one who wanted me to go with Stroud," she replied, tone bitter.

Nathaniel snorted. "Sounds like you don't care for your brother too much."

Bethany hung her head and shifted. "No, I love my brother very much. I- I'm sure he had good intentions."

He nudged her shoulder with his. "Don't be stupid. If you're angry, vent. I won't tell," he replied.

Bethany clenched her fists again, and this time her nails bit into the palm of her hand. "Angry? Why would I be angry? Neilan got to stay in Kirkwall, with Mother, and now he doesn't have to worry about looking after his mage-born sister. I bet he was glad to be rid of me. And where does that leave me? In Ferelden, without any of my family. First I lost my twin brother fleeing this retched place and now I'm stuck here, all over again. I'm not a fighter but I'm a Grey Warden. I don't want to fight darkspawn. I just want to go home and pretend I'm not a mage," she responded.

Nathaniel nodded. "I know what you mean. When I first came here I was intent on killing Surana. Then she forced me to become a Grey Warden," he said with a laugh.

Bethany stared at the rogue, mouth agape. "Y-you tried to kill the Hero of Ferelden? Maker, why?"

He chuckled lightly and rubbed a hand across his stubble. "She killed my father. It was a revenge thing. Unimportant, really." He glanced over at Bethany and laughed again to see her stunned expression. "Well, I have an errand I need to do tomorrow in the Wending Woods. Would you, uh, like to join me?"

Bethany blushed and nodded her head. At least now she had finally vented to someone.

So thats that. Bethany Hawke and Nathaniel Howe. I hope you enjoyed it!