Cara stared at the sky as it darkened. The storm didn't so much roll in as just break open above them. The horses grew nervous a few moments before and was the only warning something was going to happen.
Fenris yelled at her as he rushed out from the barn and drug her inside as the first strike of lightning flashed in the sky. The thunder boom, which followed seconds later shook everything.
"Something is different about this one." Cara fought to get her heart beat under control. Damn him anyway. Just one touch sent her senses reeling. Two weeks had gone by since their last night together.
"It's larger than the last one. The Fade is stronger."
"Are they only happening here? It seems weird they happen here," Cara said.
"You haven't told me what they remind you of, why?"
Cara took a breath and let it out. "Because if you get sent back you can't know what is going to happen. It could really mess things up if you do."
"If it saves my friends I should know."
"And what will you do? If you knew something was going to happen, you would do anything to stop it. What if stopping it from happening makes things worse? What if you can't stop it no matter how much you try?" Cara thought about Kirkwall and the mess Hawke dealt with. Nothing would have stopped Anders from his course. Fenris might have resorted to killing him to prevent the destruction of the Chantry and to stop the war before it started if he knew ahead of time. Would he try to stop Solas or see him as a way to destroy Tevinter? Still, he had the right to know as much as she could tell him. "There are things you shouldn't know, but I will tell you what I can."
"What is it that brought me here? Have you found a connection?"
The storm ended as quickly as it started. The silence stretched out. She needed to tell him something. He deserved to at least know what brought him here.
"I think it's connected to an event called the Breach. Someone used ancient magic to rip a hole in the Veil between the Waking world and the Fade. It has caused rifts in the Veil throughout Thedas, they are everywhere. I think it was one of these holes that pulled you through. I just don't know what the connection is on this end."
"Holes in the Fade are dangerous. Demons can enter the world with little difficulty," Fenris said.
"Yes, very dangerous, but there is a way to close them. Or rather, one person has the ability to close them."
"This started in Haven, is Varric safe?"
"If the game is a depiction of actual events then yes, as safe as he can be. He's fighting alongside whoever they have closing the rifts."
"What of Hawke? Is she in danger?"
"They wanted Hawke to help bring peace between the Mages and the Templars. The Seeker who took Varric to Haven is the Right Hand of the Divine."
"Fenedhis."
"I'm sorry, I can't tell you anything more. When you return you can't know any more than they do."
"We have only storms. I know nothing of the magic that creates them, nor do you. Returning may be a fool's wish."
"You didn't think so two weeks ago. Besides, we have to try. I won't believe it impossible unless the storms stop."
She didn't know what the recurring storms were, or how to use them, but there had to be something they could use.
Jess and Harris came in just before dinner. They had spent the day clearing irrigation ditches for the hay field. Remus had gone with them.
"Did you guys get caught in the storm we had?" Cara asked as she passed the platter of steaks to her right.
"No, it was pretty quiet. Saw lots of deer. Remus hunted rabbits and ended up in the stream, but no storm. Not even a cloud in the sky."
Cara looked at Fenris and gave him a slight nod. She'd been right that the storm was instant, and that it hadn't moved in but just opened above them. The storm ended just as it started. No normal weather event created it.
"They aren't normal storms. They act like a thunderstorm, but they don't move. There is no warning when they start, other than the power going out each time."
"How do you use the storms to get him home?" Jess pointed his fork at Fenris.
"I don't know. They don't last long enough for me to see anything we can use. The green glow lasts only moments and then fades out quickly. I think we have to somehow tap into that. But with the disruption to all things electrical, how to we study them?" Cara shook her head. It seemed hopeless.
"Didn't you have a friend who studied the planets? Maybe they know someone who studies stuff like this," Harris said.
"Stuff like this happens in movies. I don't know if anyone really studies these events. It's all so very -"
"X Files," Harris interrupted. "We should call Mulder."
Cara snickered while Jess snapped at his partner. "Mulder is a made up character, just like the damn X Files."
"Maybe that's what they want you to think." Harris pointed in Fenris' direction. "He's real, the storms are real, that place he comes from with magic and dragons is real. Seems to me, you should be thinking more stuff is real."
The two men exchanged teasing barbs and Cara couldn't help but smile. She'd figured out there was more to their friendship when she was a girl, but they had kept it from everyone else.
"When are you two going to make it official? You've been together for 35 years and the new laws make it possible."
"I've asked, but he's a stubborn old coot. Says we didn't need that paper for 35 years, we don't need it now," Jess said.
"Well, we don't. 'Sides, what would everyone think of two old men tying the knot? They'd say he was marrying me for my money," Harris teased.
"Who says I wasn't?" Jess teased back.
Both men had inherited a sizable sum from Cara's grandfather and then her father. They could have retired years ago, but once a cowboy, always a cowboy. They would die in the saddle if they could, they'd said. So she kept them on. Giving them winters off. The ranch was pretty quiet then anyway. She made weekly trips on the snowmobile or 4-wheeler. Taking hay and grain to her herds once a week, but there was little else to do when the snow was three to six feet deep.
"A piece of paper isn't going to make me love him more than I already do." Harris said, "we already have our wills set up so the other gets anything we leave behind. I don't need his insurance, I've got my own. I don't need his social security and he don't need mine."
"It's so you get treated like his spouse. If either of you were in the hospital for any serious reason they only let family in."
"Let them try and keep us from visiting each other. Let the young folk celebrate the new laws. I don't need them to prove I'd do anything for Jess and he for me."
"Alright, I won't bring it up again. But if you ever talk him into accepting, I get to throw the reception."
"Fair enough."
Fenris listened with a slight smile on his face. He'd suspected the two men were close. Theirs was a friendship that had lasted the test of time. He watched Cara as she cleared the dishes and stood to help her.
Her cheeks darkened when her hand brushed his taking the plate. He began helping clear the table.
"I've got this, you guys work hard. A few dishes is nothing."
"You work just as hard. Allow me to help." Fenris reached for another plate.
"I don't need your help. You do enough around here."
"Cara..."
She dropped the plate she held in the sink and slammed the cloth onto the counter. "Stop it! Stop all of it. The brooding, the smoldering looks, the gentle smiles, offering to help, all of it. You made your choice and I have accepted it, but these mixed signals you throw me are more than I can take. Do the damn dishes yourself if you must."
She rushed to her room and slammed the door. Fenris clenched his fist in frustration. Jess gave him a short shake of the head.
"Better let her cool down." Harris stepped to the counter with his plate. "If we all work together this won't take long."
Cara berated herself for her outburst. She wasn't the type to lose her cool so easily, but Fenris had a way of hitting all her buttons. Often without trying. She grit her teeth when they worked closely together, which was daily. Harris and Jess knew the chores better than she did, they were half a step ahead of her with their lists of things needed tended. They were also the ones who spent the most time away from the main house. Cattle, fences and horses stretched all over the ranch, some even ranged over leased lands. She didn't know if it was selfishness, or protection that made her keep Fenris close by.
Torture was more fitting. She'd expected things between them to change in the last few weeks. The only change was her own emotions. They were all over the place. His mixed signals didn't help. She tried to see him as a friend, but each time his smoldering gaze held hers, butterflies came to life and she ached for his touch. She was selfish to want to keep him here when he clearly didn't wish to stay. He may have said it was a fool's wish to find a way home. Cara hadn't missed the longing in his gaze as he started at the fading light, nor the defeated slump to his shoulders. For his well being and her own sanity, she needed to find a way to send him home.
Cara decided to call a friend from college. There were few she kept in touch with, but Sadie was one of them. She may not be able to help, but she might know someone who could. She checked the time. In Florida is would be only 5:00 PM. Cara chewed her lip, would she still be at work, or on her way home?
She decided to chance it. After three rings Cara prepared herself to leave a voicemail. A breathless and excited voice greeted her. They exchanged pleasantries, caught up on the latest gossip and discussed plans to meet for dinner the next time they were near each other. Cara held her breath, trying to find the right words. All of it sounded crazy, and if it were anyone but Sadie, she doubted she would be able to say anything. She hated not being able to tell her the full story, and felt guilty about having to leave out the arrival of her special visitor. Fortunately, once she explained the first storm, Sadie took over asking all the right questions and Cara easily evaded mentioning Fenris.
Cara wasn't surprised when Sadie wasn't able to help. Her focus was space travel. She did know someone from school who might be interested in studying the strange anomalies. Cara jotted down the name and email. With the call ended, Cara flopped onto her bed.
The loneliness and isolation of her situation hit her. She'd been unable to tell her best friend about the man she'd fallen for. She couldn't confide in her how they met, who he was, or why they couldn't be together. She couldn't tell anyone. The reminder that she and Fenris could never work, didn't help ease the ache in her chest. If anything it made it worse. How cruel life was to hand her exactly what she wanted only to snatch it away.
He paced the cabin living room. Even after the long day his mind raced too much for him to sleep. He raked a hand through his hair. "What are you doing?" he spoke into the air. Cara was right. He made the choice to put distance between them. A moment of weakness had him reaching for her hand. It happened more often in the last week. His resolve to keep distance between them was quickly deteriorating.
He nearly jumped at the knock on the door. His heart leaped in his chest thinking Cara wished to see him, and plummeted when Jess stood on the porch.
Jess pinched his lips together, and shifted his weight. "I know it's late but your light was on."
"I can't seem to sleep." Fenris stepped back and waved a hand at the couch. "Would you like a drink?"
Jess nodded and entered. "I came to apologize."
"Apologize? I don't understand." Fenris crossed to the small bar. "Wine or something else?"
"Whiskey if you have it."
Fenris searched the unfamiliar labels.
"Jack Daniels or Southern Comfort," Jess offered.
Fenris nodded, finding an appropriate bottle he poured two shots. He opened the small ice box and pulled two bottles of beer.
Jess took the offering, tossing down the shot. He sat with a sigh, and opened the beer.
"I feel like tonight was our fault. Mine and Harris."
"How?"
"Look, kid, I see her as my own daughter. Soon after her divorce, she lost her parents. Me and Harris stepped into the role of fathers." Jess ran his hand through the thinning silver hair. "I'm a might over protective of her."
"I'm glad she has someone to rely on." Fenris tossed back his own shot. He grit his teeth at the burn in his throat. He'd not expected it to be so strong.
"We over stepped our place. It ain't no business of ours who she spends her time with. It's our fault she's hurting."
Fenris eyes snapped to his. He fought down the surge of hope. "I wish things were different." Fenris shook his head. "She deserves better."
"Maybe, but she wants you. She's avoided, or ignored, every man who's showed interest for over a decade. I ain't a superstitious man, but it seems to me there was a reason you two found each other. Stuff like this doesn't just happen."
"Thank you, but she needs to be free of me. It will be easier once I leave."
Jess pulled a book from under his vest. "Before you make a decision you should look through this."
Fenris hesitated but took the offered book. "What is this?"
"Stories she wrote as a teenager. Dreams she's documented, and some other things."
Fenris shook his head and pushed the book back into Jess' lap. "I won't invade her privacy."
Jess sighed and finished his beer. He set the book on the table by the couch and stood. "Maybe it changes nothing, maybe it does, but you'll never know unless you read through it."
"Why? I don't belong here? You know that."
"Because we want our girl to be happy. She's lost more than any person ought to. She deserves to find someone who loves her." Jess smoothed down his hair and put his hat back on. "And maybe she don't belong here neither. If you read that, you might see what I mean."
"I won't. If I were meant to, she would have given it to me."
Jess stopped at the open door, pursed his lips and shrugged his shoulders. "I've said my piece. Maybe you're right, maybe not, you'll do what you want. But you better make sure you stick to whichever decision you make. I won't stand by while someone spins her in circles."