Chapter 2 – You've Got A Friend

"If the sky above you should turn dark and full of clouds and

that old north wind should begin to blow, keep your head together and call my name out loud.

Soon I will be knocking upon your door.

You just call out my name, and you know where ever I am, I'll come running to see you again.

Winter, spring, summer, or fall, all you have to do is call and I'll be there.

Hey, ain't it good to know that you've got a friend? People can be so cold.

They'll hurt you and desert you. Well, they'll take your soul if you let them,

oh yeah, but don't you let them."

You've Got A Friend by James Taylor

Anders watched the beautiful rogue pace back and forth in his clinic as she ranted about her uncle squandering their mother's inheritance and selling their estate to slave traders. She had asked him to accompany her, Bethany, and Varric when they broke into the basement of the estate to retrieve the will. She had been irate when she read the will and discovered that her mother and her children had been named sole heirs and that their uncle was supposed to live off a stipend controlled by her mother.

Obviously, the confrontation at home hadn't gone well.

"I know he is family, but he is the vilest person that I have ever met!" Rylee said.

Anders snorted. "Well, that is saying something, because we have met some very depraved people. Does he really compare to Magistrate Vanard or his loathsome son Kelder or despicable Ghyslain or how about—"

"Okay, I get your point. No, he isn't as bad them, but to steal my mother's birthright and then to lie about it… makes me so angry I want to hit something! I wanna hit something hard!"

"Well, then, hit Fenris. He can take it. We'll sell shirts that say, 'Today I hit a lyrium tattooed elf! Have you?'," Anders deadpanned.

Rylee looked at him, and then burst out laughing as she sat beside him on the cot. "You just want an excuse to see me hit Fenris."

"Am I that obvious?" Anders asked with a smirk.

"Oh, only to anyone who really knows you, my friend," Rylee said as she patted his knee. "Thank you for letting me vent and for making me see that I'm acting like an ass."

Anders took her hand in his and smiled at her. "Isn't it good to know that you got a friend?"

She smiled back at him. "Yes it is."

"It's late, Rylee. I hate the idea of you walking through Darktown and Lowtown at this hour. I have an extra cot, why don't you spend the night here," Anders said.

"Thanks, Anders. I think I will take you up on that," Rylee replied.

"Good, let me get you a pillow and some blankets. It gets chilly down here at night." He helped her make her bed then he pulled the dividing screen between them. He settled on his cot and began to remove his robes when he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned and gulped.

The candle on Rylee's side silhouetted her figure against the thin material of the dividing screen, and he watched, mesmerized, as she slowly began to remove her chest piece, and then slid her trousers off. She pulled her hair out of the ponytail and he watched it fall down around her back. Maker, the candle outlined her exquisite figure and Anders' breath hitched in his throat. She lifted her leg and rested it on the side of the cot, her silhouette bent over as she ran her hands down her leg as if she was inspecting a previous injury.

There was a time in his life that a beautiful woman would not be sleeping in a separate cot mere feet away from him. She would be in his arms as he explored every inch of her.

Justice took exception to the thought. Well, those times are over and, if I remember correctly, you were to think of her as asexual.

Are you bloody blind, man? There is nothing sexless about the womanly figure on the other side of that screen.

There was a long pause. I am not blind, but you are the one who wants this friendship to work. So you must find away to be blind to her… well-formed attributes.

Well-formed attributes, huh? Glad to see you're a man after all. Welcome to the human condition and the well known feeling of being aroused.

Is that what that is? I was starting to get worried that you might now be possessed by desire demon.

Oh, she's a demon all right, but one you would love to get possessed by.

I am above such things.

Yes, but still unable to stop staring at her.

Enough!

Fine, I'll go to sleep now. Anders looked over at her one last time as she blew out the light, he heard her crawl into bed.

"Good night, Anders," she whispered.

"Good night, Ry."

The following morning he was up early. He quickly and quietly filled his water basin, washed up, and got dressed. He made some tea for them then moved aside the screen and watched her peaceful sleeping form. He set the tea down on the table beside her cot. Then he knelt beside her and gently brushed a few strands of hair out of her face.

Her eyes fluttered open and she grinned at him. "Morning."

"Morning, sleepyhead. I made you some tea," Anders said.

She stretched and the blanket slipped down revealing a form fitting shirt. Before Justice could even say anything, Anders averted his eyes. "Thank you. It smells wonderful," she mumbled as she took a sip.

A cough came from behind him, and Anders turned to see Bethany standing there. He realized how this very innocent exchange must look. Anders stood up to face Bethany as Rylee wrapped the blanket around her.

"So here you are. Mother was worried half the night about you when you didn't come home," Bethany said as a pained expression crossed her face.

"I-I came here last night to vent about Gamlen and by the time we were done talking, it was late. I didn't want to walk home by myself, so Anders offered an extra cot for me to sleep on. I will apologize to Mother for worrying her," Rylee said.

Bethany gave a curt nod, and then walked back into the clinic. Rylee closed her eyes and squeezed the bridge of her nose as she let out a frustrated sigh.

Anders bent back down to her and whispered, "I will let her know that it was completely innocent, and that nothing happened here last night."

She looked at him for a long moment with a complex mixture of emotions that flickering across her face. He couldn't make out all of them, but he could have sworn there was a hint disappointment and wistfulness. Then she smiled. "Thank you. I know that you said that she is too young for you and I get that, but I don't want her to think that I am the reason that you aren't interested in her."

"I understand. I will do my best to try and explain it to her," Anders said as he stood. "I will let you get dressed."

Rylee had quickly gotten dressed. She said good-bye to both of them, but Bethany had hardly even acknowledged her sister's departure. Throughout the day, he had tried to explain to Bethany that nothing had happened, but she managed to change the conversation before he could ever really give her an explanation and she had remained aloof the entire time.

Both Anders and Bethany were lost in their thoughts as made their way to the Hanged Man after a long day at the clinic. He had been truly grateful for the help that the young mage had been providing at the clinic these past couple of months. Her healing spells had definitely improved a lot under his instruction. Teaching and training had always been one of the few things that he enjoyed during his time at the Circle and Bethany was a very willing student. At times, she was too willing. He knew that she wished for more between them, but he didn't see her that way. The pained expression that he had seen on her face this morning just reinforced that her schoolgirl crush had grown into outright interest in him. As they walked into the Hanged Man, she slid her arm through his as if announcing they were arriving together, which was not the impression he wanted to give at all. He slid his arm away from hers and gestured for her to go ahead of him to the group's table.

You need to make it clear to this child that you aren't interested in her. You are only leading her on.

I am not leading her on. Can I help it if she finds me charming and irresistible?"

That young, naïve girl would find a hurlock irresistible if it smiled at her nicely and told her stupid jokes.

Thanks for stroking the ego there… and my jokes aren't stupid! Thanks for being so supportive. I really appreciate it, my friend.

I am supportive and I am your friend. I know how bad you will feel if you break that young girl's heart. I'm just trying to look out for the two of you.

I know. Thank you.

Varric chortled. "It's about time you showed up with Sunshine, Blondie. We were beginning to wonder if you putting in a little extra tutoring time."

"Ah, it's not like that, Varric," Anders said.

"Does she know that?" Varric asked in a whisper as he nodded in Bethany's direction. She looked a little disappointed that Anders had sat beside Varric and Rylee.

"Ah… well… maybe not," Anders replied.

"Well, don't you think you should be up front with her?" Varric asked.

See, even the dwarf agrees with me.

Maker's blue balls, would you give it a rest?

"Did you talk with her today?" Rylee asked.

"I didn't have a chance, she kept avoiding me all day," Anders replied.

Rylee groaned. "Great, so she still thinks I slept with you."

"Now why in my ancestors smoking arses would Sunshine think that the two of you slept together?" Varric asked.

"Argh, I need an ale… Nora, make that two," Rylee said as the barmaid passed by.

Fenris' eyes furrowed as he glared at Anders. "How does the abomination get so much action?"

"Well, elf, if you didn't piss and moan so much about the mages, you might get some too," Varric said.

"Plus, it helps to have stunning wit and amazing charm… all of which you lack," Anders said.

"Excuse me? There was no action," Rylee said.

Fenris ignored Rylee's comment. "You know, mage, it's not enough that you have one Hawke sister swooning over you, but now your ego requires you to have both. I'm just about at the end of my rope with you."

Rylee waved her hands between the elf and the mage. "Hello? No swooning here."

This time Anders ignored her. "Well, then, why don't you tie a noose, slip it 'round your head, and go jump off a tall building?"

Nora set down two pints of ale in front of Rylee. "Oh, for the love of the Maker's one-eyed ogre, I might as well be talking to myself," Rylee said just before she chugged her first pint.

Fenris was about to retort to Anders comment, but stopped in mid-sentence, and both the elf and mage spun to look at her. "What?" they asked in unison.

"Oh, so I have your attention now? Good… No action," Rylee said as she pointed between Anders and herself. "No swooning! Understood?"

Varric and Fenris nodded and Anders saw Bethany smile. Damn it, it might have been better if she believed that there was something going on between him and Rylee.

He looked at Rylee and grinned. "For the love of the Maker's one-eyed ogre?"

"What? You thought you had the market cornered on creating blasphemous phrases?"

Anders grinned at her. "How long did it take you to think up that one?"

She smiled that roguish grin of hers. "Half the night."

Anders laughed. "Well, it was worth it. For the love of the Maker's one-eyed ogre… that's awesome. I'm going to have to remember that one."

Just then, a drunken sailor stumbled up to Rylee. "E-excuse me, b-but did you hear that the word of the day is l-legs?"

"Let's go to your house and spread the word," Isabela said as Anders pushed the drunk away from Rylee. "That loser used that line on me last night."

"And it didn't work?" Anders asked with mock surprise.

"This place smells of sour ale, vomit, and desperation," Fenris muttered as he sipped his ale.

"It's early yet, give it time and it will reek like the beer farts of a dwarf, the Blooming Rose's oldest hooker, and sex," Rylee said.

"And that's what's on the menu tonight," Varric said just as a good-looking human sauntered up to Rylee and pulled a chair up beside her.

"I noticed your eyes from across the room. They are as blue as the ocean and right now I'm lost at sea."

Rylee smirked and raised an eyebrow, but it was Isabela that replied, "Pl-e-asse! You couldn't get laid with that line in a whore house with a case of ale."

The noble ignored Isabela and continued to focus on Rylee. "I only speak the truth! You have the most dazzling eyes I have ever seen."

Rylee smiled and tilted her head. "Ah, thank you."

"And a stunning smile to match. This must be my lucky day," the noble replied.

"Not yet, it isn't," Fenris grumbled.

"Not if we have anything to say about it," Anders muttered.

"My name is Jamison. What is yours?"

"It's Rylee," she replied warily.

"A beautiful name to match the angel's face," Jamison said. He ran his finger down her arm, and leaned in to whisper, but spoke loudly enough that both Anders and Fenris heard his words. "This shirt is very becoming on you. If I was on you, I'd be coming to you."

Rylee's face reddened and she cocked her arm back to punch him, but Varric grabbed it just as Fenris lunged at the man, grabbing him by the collar, his tattoos beginning to glow. "No one speaks to my friend like that."

Isabela glided up beside him and placed a calming hand on his arm. "Fenris, stop the glowing thing. We've talked about this; there is no fisting in public."

Fenris shoved the noble back. "Get out of here before I regret sparing your life."

The man stumbled backward, but found his footing. He spun to face Rylee. "Fuck you, you whore!"

Anders opened his hand and pushed a wave of energy toward him, zapping the obnoxious pig in the privates. The man squealed and ran out of the tavern.

"I don't think that was the thrill he was looking for, but nice work, Blondie."

xxXxx

Anders woke with the warmth of the sun shining down on his face. He gradually opened his eyes and looked around camp. Everyone else still seemed be sleeping. They were on their way back to Kirkwall after rescuing the Viscount's son, Saemus. Anders was leery of nobles and politicians, and he wasn't happy when Rylee had volunteered for this job. If something had gone wrong, she would have been the perfect scapegoat. He looked over at her bedroll and realized she wasn't there. He sat up and looked around the entire camp. He didn't see her. He got up, threw on his coat, and grabbed his staff.

There was a path that led to a field with a stream that ran through it. Maybe she went down there to get cleaned up before the others woke. He followed the path to the clearing and, as he emerged from the woods, he spotted her in the field. She had her weapons drawn and she moved with grace and precision as if she were dancing with the blades—she rolled and twirled, flipped and spun. It was compelling to watch and he couldn't tear his eyes away from her. The dance looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place where he had seen it. The lethal dance continued as she picked up speed as she ran through the movement until she was nothing but a blur before she disappeared all together.

"You know it's rude to stare," she panted as she quietly appeared behind him.

"Shit!" He gasped and grabbed at his chest. "Sweet Andraste's tits, you scared me to death."

She giggled as she walked in front of him. "I'm sorry, Bluesy." He cocked an eyebrow at her, and she grinned. "No, you're right, I'm not sorry, but the last thing I wanted to do was give the old man a heart attack."

"Hey, I'm not that old," Anders said.

She grinned at him. "Really? 'Cause wasn't that the reason that you couldn't date my sister was because you were a dirty old man?"

"Well, the dirty part is correct," Anders replied. "So what was that dance you were doing? It was beautiful in a dangerous, deadly kind of way."

"Oh, it's a dance I learned a while back when I was learning a lot of my rogue techniques," Rylee said as she started to walk toward the stream.

"It doesn't have a name?" Anders asked as he followed her.

She smirked. "Well, it does, but if I told you I would have to kill you."

Anders stopped dead in his tracks and stared at her. "The Death Dance of the Seven Deadly Sins," he whispered.

She stopped and stared at him. "How have you heard about that dance?"

"Lillah was friends with an Antivan Crow. He visited her once at the Keep, and early one morning when he thought everyone was asleep he practiced the dance in the training yard. I couldn't sleep and was on the battlements. I asked Lillah about it later on that day and she said Zevran would be very unhappy to know that he had been spied on because the dance was considered a sacred training dance among assassins and rogue masters. So how did you learn it?"

"Well, I was in Ostagar a month before the final battle. One of the King's assassins…"

"One of the King's assassins?"

She chuckled at him. "Please don't tell me that you think only Orlais employs the services of bards and assassins?"

"Ah, no… of course not." He didn't sound very convincing.

"Uh-huh, if you say so. Anyways, this one assassin thought I had superior blade skills, so he trained with me almost every day, and when he thought I was ready, he showed me the dance."

Anders furrowed his eyebrows. "Ry, that dance is a closely guarded secret. I know that you are abundantly talented, but it still doesn't make sense that he would divulge such top secret ritual."

She looked at him for a long moment. "You aren't naïve, Anders. There are things that you share with a lover that you wouldn't share with just anyone else."

Anders blushed as he thought about all the intimate moments and lover's secrets that he had shared with Lillah. "Ah, yeah, I guess that is very true."

Rylee bent down to the stream, washed her face, neck, and hands then she sat down on the bank and patted the ground beside her. Anders sat next to her and watched the babbling water roll by. Rylee just sat there patiently waiting for him to continue or not. Finally, he said, "I was Lillah's lover when we were in the Circle together. I know what it's like to share those innermost thoughts and secrets with a lover. There wasn't anything that I didn't share with her."

Rylee studied him for a moment before she said, "And from the pained expression on your face, I would say that you were in love with her, too."

He smiled sadly as he thought about her. "I have had many lovers, but there is only one that I have ever loved."

She rested her hand on his arm as she asked tenderly, "What happened between you and Lillah?"

Rylee had a way of relaxing the person that she was talking with, of putting them at ease, causing them to want to open up to her, to tell her their deepest, darkest secrets. Anders conjured up an image of Lillah. "Your cousin was… is just as beautiful as you are. As you know, her hair is lighter… a strawberry blond, but she has the same sapphire blue eyes as you and they burn with the same passion and intensity." Anders paused as he collected his thoughts. "There wasn't a person in the Circle that wasn't drawn to her. She had a magnetism that pulled you in but, unlike you, she was very innocent… as if she didn't even realize the power that her beauty and personality held over people."

"Are you saying that I use my looks to my advantage?" Rylee asked with feigned shock.

Anders laughed. "That is exactly what I'm saying. You are gorgeous. You know it and you have no problem using your Maker given attributes to your benefit or for the benefit of others. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that. I actually admire you for it because, even though you do that, you are not in the least bit conceited. I'm not sure how you managed to pull that one off."

She smiled. "Conceit is a characteristic that can get you killed or bring unwanted attention to the father and sister you are trying to hide from the templars."

Anders nodded. "Your wisdom astounds me at times."

"Keep talking like that and it might just go to my head yet. Please continue with your story," Rylee said with a grin.

"Well, I had been recently been brought back to the tower when I saw her again for the first time in a couple of years…."

"Recently brought back?"

"Oh, I had this annoying habit of escaping the tower… annoying to the templars, but it only annoyed me when they brought me back. Anyway, the last time I saw Lil she was a gangly kid. In the time that I had been gone, she had grown—very nicely I might I add—into her womanhood. To make a long story short, I relentlessly pursued her and I finally won her over. We had a beautiful, loving affair for almost a year then by sheer accident Lillah overheard that I was scheduled to be made tranquil on the Knight-Commander's orders for all the problems that I had caused in the past. She insisted that I escape that very night, but because she hadn't passed her Harrowing yet, they could make her tranquil, too, if she were caught. I couldn't let them do that to her, so I insisted that she stay… the hardest thing I ever had to do was turn my back on her and leave her."

Rylee scooted closer to him and put her arm around his shoulders as she comforted him. "I'm sorry, Anders. I wish there was more that I could say, but there are no words to ease this loss."

Again, her insight amazed him; most people would try to offer up meaningless words to ease their own discomfort after such heartache had been revealed, but she had the foresight to realize there was nothing she could say to take the pain away. Rather than diminish his sorrow with empty expressions, she allowed the act of talking about his past to heal him.

"You don't have to continue if you don't want," Rylee said gently.

"No, I have never talked about this with anyone… it feels good to get it off of my chest," he said.

She nodded and waited for him to continue. He took a deep breath then resumed, "It was two years later that I next saw Lil. In that time, she had stopped the Blight by killing the Archdemon, become Hero of Ferelden and Warden-Commander and she had also moved on from our relationship and had become involved with Alistair. That isn't what I had a problem with; I always expected her to move on and eventually fall in love again. I even wanted her to. I didn't want her to be alone the rest of her life pining over me, but as wonderful and loving as Lillah is, she deserves more than being the mistress of the King."

"Having never been in love myself, it's hard to accurately express what she could possibly thinking or feeling, but I do know my cousin well enough to know that she is no one's fool and no one pushes her around. If she is involved with Alistair, then that is because that is where she wants to be at the moment. I also know her well enough to know that she won't like playing second to anyone for long. In time, when she is emotionally ready, she will let the king go and move on. Maybe if the timing is right, the two of you can work things out."

Anders adamantly shook his head. "First, I could never be with her again… not as I am now. Lil is kind, compassionate, and understanding, but as a mage, she would never understand or accept that I made myself a host for Justice. Second, she thinks I'm dead. When Vigil's Keep fell, I faked my death so that she didn't come looking for me."

"So you're telling me that not only am I running around with a possessed apostate who turns this fabulous shade of blue, which, by the way, blue really looks good on you, my dear, but also a dead one?"

He grinned sheepishly at her. "Yes, sorry, one of my many faults, as you can see and I'm sorry to inform you, but you're traveling around with a very well preserved corpse."

"Well preserved indeed," she said as she eyed him up and down with an approving grin.

"Hey, I'm not a piece of meat, you know. I have a brain, too," Anders replied as he pretended to be insulted.

"Yes, but I'm sure it wasn't your brain that attracted all of those 'many lovers.' When you say many lovers, how many is that exactly?" Rylee was unabashed.

Anders smirked at her. "I'll tell you my number if you tell me yours."

She grinned. "I'll never tell, but it's up there."

"Like Isabela's 'up there?'"

Rylee chuckled. "Maker's breath, no, I don't even think the oldest hooker at the Blooming Rose has numbers as high as Isabela's."

"You know she likes you, and I don't mean in a platonic way either," Anders said.

She smiled coyly at him. "Yes, I know."

He raised an eyebrow and, for some reason, felt a pang of jealousy. "Does that mean you're interested in her?"

"Maybe to scratch an itch, but nothing more; she really isn't my type."

"And what is your type?"

She smirked at him again as she stood up and brushed the dirt off of her trousers. "That's another thing I'll never tell. You'll just have to wait and see."

Anders stood, too. "Don't make me wait too long. I am an old man, after all."

"That's true. I'm surprised your heart can take all the excitement during a battle. I might need to start bringing Merrill or Bethany along to revive you in case you have a heart attack. It's probably a good thing you're celibate. Your heart might give out on you halfway through the act. More than likely, before you even got to the good parts."

"Who said I was celibate?" Anders asked.

You are celibate.

Yes, but that doesn't have to be common knowledge.

"Oh, so you arehaving sex! Anyone I know?" Rylee asked.

"I'm not having sex at the moment," Anders said, a little flustered.

Rylee raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's obvious, or else that is the strangest way I ever seen it done."

"I mean, I am not currently involved with anyone sexually."

"So, you're just saving yourself for the right girl? Or are you just being picky? Either way, I wouldn't wait too long if I were you. You might keel over before you have the chance to see her in her birthday suit," she said.

"Funny, very funny," Anders replied.

She grinned her irresistible roguish grin. "I'm here all week folks, remember to tip your bar wenches. Well, we need to be heading back. Everyone should be waking about now."

Anders grabbed her arm and turned her so that she faced him. "Thank you for listening to me about Lillah. I've needed to talk about it for some time, but never had anyone I trusted enough to discuss my past with. You make it so easy… it's like I want to bare my soul to you."

"I believe it was you who said it's good to know that you have a friend. I'm here for you any time you need me." She placed her hand on the center of his chest and his heart began to pound as his stomach flipped. "You have a beautiful soul, Anders. You can bare it to me anytime."

She looked into his eyes, he saw tenderness and affection, but also noticed something else he couldn't put his finger on.

However, Justice could. Hunger.

You're mistaken.

I am not and you know I'm not. Be careful.

"Thank you for being such a good friend. It's more than I deserve," Anders said to Rylee.

She stepped into him and hugged him. As she pressed against him, Anders timidly slid his arms around her. She felt so soft and warm. Maker, he had missed the serenity that a tender embrace could bring. Her cool breath against his neck sent shivers down his spine as she said, "Stop being so hard on yourself. You deserve friendship, love, and happiness just as much as any other human being. Don't ever forget that."

After a moment, she released him. His head was spinning with a rush emotions and euphoria that this minor interaction had on him. She then turned to head back to camp and he quickly fell into step beside her. "So you think blue is my color, huh?"

She giggled. "I didn't name you Bluesy 'cause I thought you looked good in red."

Anders smiled. It felt good to have a trusted friend in his life once again.

A/N – I want to thank you everyone that has added this story to your favs and alert lists. The response has been awesome and I am pleased as punch that you like this story. To everyone that has taken the time to write a review, I appreciate you sharing your thoughts with me. Letting me know what you like about the story is a huge motivator and it let's me know that you like the direction the story is taking. So thank you and please keep them coming.

*A big shout out to my wowtastic betas, Jinx1983 and Mackillian. You ladies make me look good and for that I'm eternally grateful. You're the best!