There was a knock at Commissioner Stannard's office door.

Before Meredith could answer, it opened just a crack and in poked a blond head. "I was just seeing if you were busy."

"Oh, Cullen, it's only you." Her white-blonde hair was escaping the tight bun she had kept it in, a few errant strands falling in her face. One hand was at her temple as she scanned through a stack of paperwork.

"You shouldn't push yourself too hard. It's not good for you." Cullen stepped into the room and quietly closed the door behind him, his police academy uniform slightly disheveled as if he had had a long day already. "I have some coffee if you want some."

"You are a lifesaver, my dear boy." Meredith took one of the travel cups he was holding in the cupholder balanced on one arm and took a tiny sip. The coffee was made just how she liked it; still steaming hot too. He must have run up here as fast as he could to have gotten it up to this floor still hot.

Cullen looked down at the floor, a gentle smile on his lips, as he rubbed the back of his neck. "You're welcome."

"How was your day?" Meredith leaned back in her chair, looking up at the young man in front of her. Already the coffee was a welcome pick me up.

"Good, well, good enough. Carver's working late tonight, so I thought I could give my mother a visit while I wait. Maker knows we barely have time enough to see each other."

Meredith made a face and put the cup down on her desk. "You're still seeing that Hawke boy, I take it."

"We are roommates, Mother. Even if I wasn't dating him, I would still be seeing him."

"Don't argue semantics with me, I just think he's too rough around the edges. His brother's no good." Stannard turned the page of the packet she was studying intently.

"Bethany works for you, though. She's Carver's sister." Cullen couldn't help but notice all of the trash and papers that littered the Commissioner's desk.

"Despite her upbringing and troublemaking siblings."

"Mother." Cullen sighed, covering his face with his hand. "Carver's a good guy. You just need to give him a chance."

Meredith tipped her cup to her lips once more, eyebrows making perfect arches as she lifted them. "No more chances." Not for him, not for anyone else. Not even for herself.

The wind had picked up again when Thom managed to get through midday traffic to the Hanged Man, Tethras' haunt of choice. As soon as he pulled the doors open, the entire bar went silent. They could tell he was a cop just by the way he walked.

Rainier assumed this guy would be somewhere in the back, hidden in the shadows of this dump. A boxing match was playing on one of the dingy tvs overhead, and most of the patrons' attention went straight back to the television as soon as they spotted Thom.

"Big guy, over here." A short but thick arm waved him over to a table near the front. That must have been Tethras. Was he expecting him or had someone tipped him off? "Yeah, I mean you. Get your gangly ass over here."

Thom started toward the table, and the dwarf offered him a chair. "Varric Tethras. You're one of Stannard's boys, right?"

"You could say that." The captain shifted uneasily, wondering if he had stumbled into a trap.

"By the look on your face, I guess you weren't expecting me to just welcome you like this?" Varric tipped the mug of beer to his lips, grinning the whole time. It put Thom off guard. "Yeah, figures. You're the chump from the pictures. Didn't think you were going to be the one to show." He tapped his fingertips against the grubby table top. "What brings you here, then?"

"Why did you bring the photos to the Commissioner?" Rainier looked at him sideways, trying not to touch the sticky table.

"And it always comes down to that." Varric set his glass down once more, turning to engage him fully. "Where's your lady friend? Out hustling some junkies?"

Thom clenched his hands into fists in his lap. He shouldn't want to punch the dwarf but if he said any more comments about Anais, he would have to. "She's not my 'lady friend', as you called it. I'm working with her on a case."

"I don't know, you two do look kind of cosy all cuddled up like that." Varric gave him a shark like smile, and Thom made a sound of disgust.

"I fail to see how that's any of your business." Rainier responded, not letting him get under his skin like that. "We're colleagues. That's it."

"Sure didn't look like it to me. Plus, any time you're on public property, photography is fair game. I know my way around the laws."

"Not well enough not to be arrested."

"Hey, it led you right to me, didn't it? Now we can talk business." Tethras steepled his fingers on the table's surface.

"Business. This is about the photos, isn't it? You know you're not getting the money you asked for." Thom pressed his hands to his knees, fighting the urge to tap them anxiously on the table.

"And you can't, or won't, share any of this top secret information about the case either. I could settle for that in a pinch."

"You're just a story chaser, aren't you?" Rainier was disgusted with him.

"You say it like it's a bad thing." Varric shrugged his shoulders, rolling them back for a second. "The public is dying to know these things."

"You're just going to scare them."

"It gets my views up. Clickbait, y'know?" He chuckled under his breath, shaking his head. "People can be gullible. If it sounds over the top and misleading, they'll probably check it out. More money for me, man."

"You sent it straight to the Commissioner's home. I could have lost my job over this!" Thom banged his fist against the table top, unable to take it any longer. A few other patrons looked over at the outburst but quickly went back to their boxing match and drinking themselves into stupors.

"Maybe you shouldn't be canoodling with known criminals then." Varric shrugged his shoulders. "Not much else I can really tell you, unless you want to spill the beans. I can buy you a drink if you want. We've got plenty of time."