Thanks so much to all my wonderful reviewers: Philliwolf5, Eilonwycousland, Apollo Wings, Violet Enigma and anesor. I would also like to thank those of you who have included this fic in their list of favorites and those who are now following it! :D Huge thanks also to my lovely betas Eynla and CouslandSpitFire! :D

Time for a little bit of smut…not much though! :P So be warned, this chapter is SLIGHTLY NSFW!

Things are getting a little bit complicated. Let me know what you think! Your feedback is VERY much appreciated! :D

Chapter 12

Kirkwall = Madness

Anders lay down his quill and sighed as he looked at the two words he had just written. He was so exhausted, he simply could not even pick up the quill again to continue writing. The images of what he had just been through kept popping up in his head and he groaned.

Rhianna Hawke hadn't been kidding about the thugs that were parading Hightown in the evenings. They had been around every single nook and cranny and had successfully eliminated every single bandit they could find.

This, of course, hadn't been enough for Hawke and her bloodthirsty disposition.

Instead of heading home and thanking everyone as she should have done, she had immediately taken the bridge down to Lowtown, looking for any of the gangs that patrolled the empty streets there. Anders silently prayed the bandits had all dropped dead suddenly, so they wouldn't have to continue fighting, but sadly, this had not been the case. To top it all off, the bandits had had mabari dogs fighting with them.

It wasn't that he hated dogs – but a great big mabari hound snapping at your family jewels was exceedingly frightening.

After dealing with those, Hawke had burst out laughing. Isabela was standing next to her and shook her head, rolling her eyes. When Rhianna had announced that it was time to go to the docks to weed out the gangs that operated there, Isabela had protested.

"I'm tired of this!" the Rivaini pirate had pouted. "Why don't we go have some fun?"

Hawke had ignored her comment completely, nonchalantly wiping some blood off her right cheek with her hand. Then, she had made her way to the stairs that led to the docks, without even looking back to see if the rest followed.

The gangs at the docks had been the worst of the bunch. Fortunately, they had managed to kill them all in the end. Anders was not surprised at all to see the sun peeping out over the horizon when they were done. They had been fighting non-stop all night long. Even though Rhianna had suggested heading over to The Hanged Man for drinks, everyone had been quick to mumble some kind of excuse. Rhianna had then waved her goodbyes to all of them heartily, and disappeared, happily skipping up the stairs leading to Hightown and her estate.

I had to go and fall for a woman who not only has a death wish, but thrives on bandits for dinner and breakfast!

He rose from his chair and stretched, then headed directly for his tiny room. Flinging himself on the cot face down, he fell into a blissful, dreamless sleep.

When he woke up, he noticed that the day had turned to night and groaned, sitting up quickly. After a few moments, he decided to make his way over to The Hanged Man to take a relaxing bath and go back to sleep. At least that was the idea he had while he was shaving. As soon as he was done, he smiled at his reflection in the mirror and patiently combed and tied his hair back, then turned and entered the main room of the clinic.

He froze when his eyes fell on the object of his affection, who was standing in the middle of the room holding his journal.

"See? I read it. It was only a matter of time…" Rhianna smiled triumphantly at him.

…

The woman crawled a bit further ahead, pausing only to gather her strength. Her breathing was coming in short gasps and she was covered in blood. She had seen an opening in the distance and was determined to reach it.

Mages. Demons. Shades.

The woman groaned and grunted with each movement she made, until she finally reached the opening, the bright light blinding her momentarily.

Mages. Demons. Shades. You must prevail!

She took in a breath of fresh air, mixed in with the aroma of flowers and green grass. That breath gave her the strength to open and shut her eyes repeatedly, until the glare of the light stopped hurting.

Mages. Demons. Shades. Prevail! Prevail!

A streak of lightning crashed down from the sky, and thunder rumbled nearby as dark clouds rolled in. A storm would be upon her soon. Instinctively, she knew she had to make it to some kind of shelter, away from the rain. In her weakened state, a storm would prove to be another hardship for her – one that she might not overcome easily.

She opened her eyes. One of them was so swollen and bruised, it refused to open all the way. The rain was falling over her fast, and was washing away some of the grime and blood, but she was still bleeding from her multiple wounds.

Mages. Demons. Shades. Prevail! LIVE!

There was an elderly woman bending over her. A woman with kind green eyes and white hair, golden tattoos on her face that glistened as the raindrops fell over her. The woman frowned and then was gone.

Mages. Demons. Shades. Prevail! Live! Live to fight another day!

She struggled to stay conscious, but blood was still flowing from her wounds, her life force ebbing away. The dark clouds had now turned the day to night, and the storm was coming down on her relentlessly and cruelly.

"Don't be afraid, Da'len. You are safe now," the old woman said. She had returned to her with two more people, who lifted her up. The last thing she heard before the darkness enveloped her completely was the old woman's voice again.

"Everything will be all right…"

…

"What in blazes are you doing here?" Anders demanded crossly as he yanked the journal from her hands. "And does the word 'private' mean anything at all to you?"

"Aww!" Rhianna chuckled. "Wittle Anders is angwy. Wittle Anders finks he can –"

She never finished her sentence. Anders's lips descended on hers angrily, one of his hands yanking her head back by pulling on her dark tresses – his journal, now forgotten, falling to the floor with a thud. Rhianna gasped into his mouth as he hungrily devoured her lips. His head was swimming, his erection painfully straining against his smalls. The sweetness of her lips intoxicated him. He waited for her brusque reaction, but it never came.

Instead, she kissed him back with fervor, her passion only fueling his own. A whirlwind of emotions invaded his brain and the blood roared through his veins, setting his body on fire. One of his hands caressed the nape of her neck and the other travelled slowly down her back. Her hands laced themselves in his hair and the tie holding it back flew off, landing somewhere on the floor. His blond hair cascaded over her hands, falling against his cheeks and she moaned into his lips, causing him to hold her against him tighter.

One of her hands had made its way to the front of his trousers and brushed against his erection, and he ground himself against her as he trailed kisses down her cheek to the delicious curve of her neck. He steered her expertly against one of the walls and his hands now fumbled at the straps that held her leather jerkin in place as he kissed her lips again, while she worked at the lacings on his trousers.

Anders then lifted his head, fixing his eyes on her face and found her smirking at him – a look that he wasn't expecting to see. And when she caught him looking at her, she threw back her head and laughed.

He released her instantly.

"Why are you stopping?" she asked calmly, still smiling up at him. "We were getting to the 'good' part."

"I know what you're doing here, Rhianna," he replied softly. "I'm not going to bed you, only to have you run to another as if nothing happened."

Her smile vanished. "I thought you liked having fun."

"I did and I do," he replied, spotting his tie on the floor and walking over to retrieve it. He turned back to look at her sadly. "But you are not the kind of person I would have 'fun' with…"

She was frowning now and her violet eyes flashed angrily at him. "It's just sex!"

"No. If it's you and me, I don't want it to be 'just sex'," Anders shot back, feeling his stomach plummet to the ground. "I'm sorry."

She looked down and for a few moments did not speak. "Then, I'll go and not bother you again," she finally said as she adjusted her leather jerkin, fastening her straps securely.

"You think something will happen to me if you have feelings for me, am I right?" he asked, hoping for an answer – any answer.

She turned and opened the door, ignoring his question completely and disappeared into the gathering darkness outside the clinic.

Anders stood there for a few moments, staring into the darkness beyond the door. His heart was still hammering in his chest, but his breathing was back to normal. Breaking free of his desperation and sadness, he turned and went back into his tiny room where he collected his coin purse. He left the clinic and walked straight to The Blooming Rose where he got himself a girl.

Then, when his passion was spent, he headed to The Hanged Man where he applied the salve to a nice hot bath. While he lay in the hot water, he forced himself to think about nothing at all, but the image of Rhianna haunted him mercilessly. He gave up trying to relax and washed himself hurriedly, anxious to get back to his clinic and sleep. He smiled at Corff on the way out and walked slowly back to Darktown. Upon arrival, he automatically undressed and lay on his cot, hoping to fall asleep.

But sleep never came to him that night.

…

He didn't see Rhianna at all for two weeks, but he was the one who avoided her this time around, staying away from her favorite spots, including The Hanged Man. He even changed his daily bath routine to early in the mornings when he knew Varric and Isabela would still be sleeping to avoid running into them or Rhianna.

He continued to heal his patients whenever necessary, but there wasn't much to do these days, except walk around gathering ingredients and listening to the refugees' small talk during the day. He also managed to find some chamomile and valerian root, which made him smile, as he knew it would solve the problem of his sleepless nights.

He went to Lirene's store and discovered that she had recently acquired some spell tomes and books and his eyes widened when she handed them to him.

"How much?" he asked her, his lopsided grin making her smile back at him.

"Oh, nothing. I don't need them, I'm no mage," Lirene replied.

"But they must have cost you something. Let me repay you with something at least!" Anders protested.

"You can continue to heal our countrymen as you do," the woman responded with a nod. "That will do."

"Thank you, Lirene. As soon as I have some coin, I'll pay you for these," Anders said, his eyes shining with gratitude.

"Then drop the money in the collection box, don't pay me," the good woman said.

"You have yourself a deal, my lady," Anders replied with a bow. Lirene giggled and shooed him off, as she turned to a pair of refugees that had only just arrived.

Anders carried his books to his clinic, a happy spring to his step. He was the kind of person that enjoyed reading a lot and he looked forward to a quiet evening with a nice cup of hot tea and some ham, cheese and bread for supper.

There were a few refugees in his clinic when he arrived and he quickly attended to them, eager to get to the books and his supper. Then, when the last person had left, he went out to extinguish the lanterns outside his clinic and lock the doors for the night.

"Hey, Blondie!" Varric called out cheerfully from the shadows as he approached the door.

"Hey, Varric," Anders grinned. "What brings you here?"

"Before you start hovering over me like a worried mother or something, I'm not sick or wounded," the dwarf replied with a smile. "I haven't seen you around and I know you come to The Hanged Man for your bath every night. Have you been avoiding me?"

Anders chuckled. "No. I – um – have been doing a lot of healing lately, so I get there late, and your door is always closed."

"You're a terrible liar, Blondie," the dwarf smirked as he sat down on a chair that Anders had dragged over for him.

"Not really, no," Anders grinned, sitting down himself on another chair directly opposite Varric. "But it seems I can't lie to you."

"It's Bianca. She tells me when a person is lying and never gets it wrong," Varric said smugly. "So, what's up?"

"I – I'm trying to avoid an awkward situation," he started to explain lamely, avoiding Varric's eyes. "But I can't really tell you the details because I honestly don't know what to do about it at the moment or what the outcome will be."

"We missed you the other day," Varric said thoughtfully. "Broody was helping Hawke with a job and we got ambushed by Tevinter slavers who wanted to take Fenris away."

"Really?" Anders leaned over with interest. "I'm not going to ask if you managed to get through the whole thing because you're sitting right here."

"No shit, Blondie," Varric grinned. "There we were…staring at death in the face! There were crazy mercenaries, shades, demons and a blood mage involved. No sign of his former master though. The elf went ballistic. I personally thought he was glowing more than he ever had glowed before. But it was worse when it was all over with!"

"What do you mean it was worse?" Anders asked.

"Well, Hawke tried to comfort the elf, and he turned around and yelled at her. He actually snarled! Then, he ended up saying something about how magic had ruined his life – I can't remember the exact words right now. Thing is, he ran off, leaving us behind. But Hawke grinned herself silly and thought it was 'hot'!" Varric shook his head. "That girl has some serious mental problems!"

Anders stood up quickly, walking towards a table where he kept his potions and food. "I was just about to have some dinner when you arrived. Care to join me?" he asked, keeping his back to Varric as he magically heated some water in a cup.

"Oh, no, I ate already. Truth be told, I only wanted to tell you we'll be heading out to Sundermount tomorrow and thought you should join us," Varric said standing up and moving towards the door. "Hawke asked me to let you know, as a matter of fact."

"I'll see if I can," Anders turned back to face him with a smile on his face.

Varric had already realized what was going on, and the smile Anders had on his face had just confirmed it for him. He didn't press Anders to tell him, though, but waved a goodbye at him with a grin on his face.

"It'll be good to have you with us again, Blondie. We leave at daybreak," the dwarf said as he left the clinic.

Anders sat back down with a frown, sipping his herbal tea thoughtfully, the butterflies in his stomach making it nearly impossible for him to eat. Nearly impossible. He devoured his food anyway, knowing that the Taint would never allow him to skip a meal for as long as he lived.

The tea he had brewed had the special herbs in it to soothe his nerves and he had no trouble falling asleep that night. Rhianna Hawke once again haunted his dreams, however. He made love to her and told her that he loved her. She told him that she loved him over and over, filling his heart with joy.

When he woke up the following morning, he had been so happy for the first few seconds…

…until he realized it had all been a dream.

…