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Don Bertollo

First she unwound like a child's top then he grabbed her hand and spun her back into his embrace. His hand ran over her silken leg as she kicked it out and wrapped it around his waist for a moment, then pulled away again. Her dark, snapping eyes met his. Ah, this one can dance! The pair of dancers moved in the violent, sultry movements of the tango, a dance imported from Rivain.

The Crows stayed out of the master's way as he danced. The don's temper was legendary and his passion for dance was unmatched… until tonight.

"How did Ignacio hide you from me all this time… hmmm?" the Crow master spoke into her ear as they came together in another move.

The woman smiled mysteriously before she pulled away again. "I can only guess that Ignacio wanted to surprise you."

Striding around the dark, Rivaini beauty, clapping his hands in time to his stomping feet, his eyes nearly devoured her whole. There was little that her tight dress could hide from his eyes. She was a Crow, a trained assassin, so her graceful arms were muscular, yet feminine. Her bosom was small, another testament to her physical life.

The Crow master's mouth twitched with a small smile. "I think you must join my cell, my lovely Rivaini. Ignacio is weak. He doesn't have the strength to survive this war. He's tried to stay neutral while everyone else fights, but eventually he'll be forced to take a side." Don Bertollo's eyes narrowed. "Perhaps even tonight."

Around them were several Crow masters and their cells. This group was celebrating a truce. One that Master Ignacio had worked long and hard to achieve. The warring Crows had lain down their daggers in a rare gesture of goodwill, coming together to celebrate and sign a nonaggression pact. Not a one of them believed it would last, but it provided an opportunity to regroup and seek new alliances.

Her dark eyes held the master's. So intent was he on the dance, on the woman, that he never saw the ring on her finger turn or heard the tiny click as a sharp needle shot out the false stone.

"Ah, Don Bertollo, I suspect you are right," she said, her voice a pleasing alto. "Master Ignacio will have to make a move and quite soon." She spun into his arms again and her hand wrapped around in neck for stability as he lifted her off the floor.

The tiny needle pierced him. It was barely noticeable. No one but a Crow would be alarmed by such an innocuous prick. The Crow master let go of the Rivaini beauty, whose name he didn't even know, and reached for his daggers but already his reactions were slowing. The minute amount of poison worked quickly and his head was swimming.

"Ah!" he shouted, or tried to; it merely came out as a gasp. "My Crows, to me! We are betrayed." His warning was a whisper from faltering lungs. It was too late; archers armed with crossbows had appeared on the balconies and the Rivaini woman was armed with a slender dagger. It slipped between his ribs and found his heart.

"You see, I was right," she smirked, addressing the dying master. "Ignacio has taken a side in this conflict." She turned to find Ignacio looking down on the dance floor. They exchanged nods. "His own." She gracefully stepped over the dying master and slipped away in the ensuing battle. After tonight, Ignacio's cell would be in the middle of the Crow wars that he and the Rivaini woman, Daniella, had started with rumor, deception, and a bit of murder here and there.

~o~o~o~

Lucy forced her way past howling, gale-strength winds and into the bright light of the Fade where Justice stood beckoning her. He didn't look like the Justice she had come to know; he wasn't wearing Kristoff's body any longer. He was back to the form they'd first seen in the Fade when they'd been trapped there by one of the Mother's minions.

As soon as she passed through the portal, the winds ceased, but the landscape looked strange as it always did in the Fade. "You could have given me some warning you were going to do that!"

"You said you were ready. It seemed unnecessary to discuss it further." He looked around the landscape. "It is strange. I found your world beautiful, something you humans take for granted, but I find myself feeling strangely comfortable back in the Fade. It is as if… I can't quite describe it. This seems like a better environment for me."

"You feel at home here?" she suggested.

"Yes, that is it, I suppose. It is like I've returned to my home. I didn't realize that I had missed it."

"I on the other hand, feel distinctly out of place here." She looked around at all the oddities. "We need to find Anders. I'm supposed to cast a spell..." She concentrated on the horizon and spoke the words of the spell, finding that mana came to her with no effort. A golden ribbon unspooled from her hand, leading down a long roadway for as far as she could see. "I guess there are some advantages to being in the actual source of our power, rather than having to reach across dimensions, veils, or whatever, to access it." There was a certain effortlessness to casting in the Fade. "Well, this appears to be leading us somewhere. Let's not waste time!"

She began to run down the road but Justice grabbed her arm.

"Run if you like, however, you won't get there any faster," he told her, "you'll just be sweaty and out of breath when you arrive."

"What? Why not?"

"Distance and time are the same thing here. It is going to take the same amount of time no matter what speed you travel at."

Lucy's brow furrowed. "So if we stand still we'll still get there?"

"No, you must travel, but speed is irrelevant. A stroll, jog, or even a sprint will get you there at exactly the same time as it is measured in Thedas." Justice seemed clearly unperturbed by the strangeness of the Fade.

She shook her head and slowed down, her anxiety still making her want to go quickly. "All right, this place has some weird physics, that's all I can say. I suppose I should have expected it."

They traveled some ways down the road and rounded a bend, bypassing by an ancient ruin. Lucy looked it over briefly but her attention was fixed on the golden ribbon she was following.

"Lucy, over here!" A familiar masculine voice shouted.

"Anders?" She turned abruptly to scan the ruins. He was running toward them, a big grin on his face.

She took a step, ready to break into a run when Justice put a restraining hand on her arm. "A demon. Pay it no mind, Warden."

"Lucy!" the Anders-demon called. "Wait up!"

Justice stopped and turned to the imposter. "Begone lowly hobgoblin. She isn't fooled by your tricks!" He drew a shimmering sword of Fade-i-ness and waved it menacingly.

"Are you sure that isn't him?" she whispered.

Justice frowned at her. "I should know a demon when I see one. Do you doubt me?"

She shook her head vigorously. "No, absolutely not. I suppose I just want to see him so badly that I'm projecting my desires… in a manner of speaking."

He resumed walking down the road and she followed after. "That makes you vulnerable to their deceit. It is a good thing I came with you. I have no such desires that can be exploited."

She walked beside him, thinking. "Are you sure about that? It seems to me you expressed a few desires, but one in particular. You desire justice, don't you? Are you sure you can't be exploited?"

He walked beside her quietly, thinking hard. "Not here. Demons are uninterested in spirits, we have nothing to offer them. On your world… perhaps I could be exploited."

She nodded. "People are always doing things in the name of justice. Sometimes what people called justice is really vengeance." She looked intently at the shimmering spirit beside her. "Justice isn't a binary condition, you know? It is a complex set of human values, definitely not an absolute. By itself, justice is cold and unreasoning, it needs to be tempered with mercy." Lucy brightened and smiled impishly. "Hey, maybe there's a pretty lady spirit here called Mercy. You two could hook up. I bet you'd be a fine pair! We could double date."

As much as a being of energy and light could, it turned to Lucy and glared at her. "Is this what your people call humor? Spirits don't hook up."

Lucy shrugged. "Well why not? Seriously, you should seek her out. I think she'd be a good for you."

The pair followed the golden ribbon for what seemed a long time, or long distance, arguing about spirits and hooking up. The ribbon finally led them to a parking lot.

Lucy stopped in her tracks when she recognized where they were. A sob wrenched itself from her throat. "He came here… he knew somehow this was where I said farewell to Riordan. He…" She stopped crying and a look of amazement formed on her face. "Wait, how would he know that? Did I tell him?"

Justice watched her, not comprehending anything she was saying or why she was crying. "I would suggest that you carry on with your plan, Commander. Time outside the Fade does move more slowly, but we have been here for a while. His condition will continue to deteriorate."

"Wait here, Justice. We'll be out in a…" she wanted to say minute but who know whether such a thing had any significance here, "…short unit of time."

She walked across the parking lot, gravel crunching under her shoes. As she got nearer the building she changed. Her long, Fereldan gown became a short red skirt that barely covered her butt. Her sensible shoes became strappy sandals with impossibly high heels, her bodice changed into a pink spandex tube-top, and her breasts grew.

"Good grief!" she huffed. "This must be Anders's dream. I'd never wear this. I look like a color-blind hooker." Even worse, she was commando under the micro-miniskirt. Another incongruity struck her: How does Anders know about spandex tube-tops? She shook her head, putting the question on hold.

Anders was sitting at the bar where… We sat together at that table. The memory bubbled up from somewhere. The dream superimposed on a dream was confusing. Lucy shook her head, trying to clear the muddle. She walked to Anders's table and sat down. He stared into his drink, muttering, not looking up, but she wasn't surprised. The book had said that magic helped to draw the dreamer's attention. Her finger flared softly in warm, comforting magic, and she drew it down his forearm.

"Anders, sweetheart… see me," she said.

"Lucy!" He rose from the table and pulled her out of her chair into a long, passionate kiss. One hand wrapped around her back, the other working its way down to her ass. "Maker, you look hot."

She pulled away, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "Anders… not in public." Then, remembering this was his dream and none of the people around them were real, the discomfort eased somewhat. Still, she knew it was important to get him inside her body as soon as possible. How they were going to accomplish that, she wasn't exactly certain. Hopefully Justice had some idea.

"Darling," she said softly, caressing his cheek. "We have something very important to do. We need to get you into my body."

A soft, feral growl came from Anders throat. "Indeed we do," he said softly. He let go of Lucy and swept the top of their table clear. Silverware, a vase with an exotic flower, and a pair of menus went flying.

"Sir! Please!" a waiter objected. There were little gasps of shock from the other restaurant guests.

Anders paid them no heed whatsoever. "I've waited a long time for this, Lucy." He began unbuttoning his shirt then lost patience and ripped it open, spraying button everywhere.

Oh dear, that might have been the wrong choice of words, Lucy thought. "No, no, Anders, darling, listen to me." She caught his face in her hands and directed his eyes into hers. "I mean, we need to switch bodies. You can use my body to heal yourself. Justice is waiting outside, he'll help us do it."

Anders shook his head. "I don't need help doing it, Lucy." He reached out and grabbed the top of her pink-spandex tube and began to tug it down, a breast, then two, popped free of the pink top. "I can do it just fine, all on my own."

Lucy pulled up her top, stuffing herself back into the impossibly tight spandex. "You don't want our first time to be like this do you? In front of all these people? I promise you, if you come with me and do what I ask… I will make it very worth your while." Her eyebrow rose and she tilted her head to the door. "Very… very worth your while." Come on, Anders.

Anders's eyes dilated and a grin grew on his face. "Oh really? How worth it?"

Dammit Anders, just come on! Lucy was getting impatient, but Anders's id was obviously very much in control of this dream. She slowly licked her lips seductively and began to walk toward the door leading to the parking lot. "You'll just have to come and find out," she threw over her shoulder and crooked a finger to beckon him.

"Maker… yes!" he whispered and followed her like a puppy following a piece of bacon.

Lucy stayed just out of arms reach and went out the door first, holding her breath that he would follow. "Be ready, Justice!" she warned him.

Anders came through the door and Lucy waited for him. He swept her into his arms and kissed her passionately. His hands trailed over her butt, then reversed course, pulling the back of her skirt up, over her pantiless backside.

Justice stepped forward and placed a hand on them both.

"Get off, Justice. She's mine. Go find your own," Anders growled.

"Just do it!" Lucy said, panic rising in her voice. Is this going to even work? What if we get stuck here?

Justice's form shimmered more than normal, looking like he was half-static, half-energy. He concentrated hard and channeled a tremendous amount of energy into the pair, hoping he was sending them out of the Fade and exchanging their bodies. It was something he had never even heard of anyone doing. "I'm trying, Commander." There was a tremendous burst of energy that threw all three of them… somewhere.

~o~o~o~

Lucy moaned and stirred. Her eyes cracked open and she took a tentative look. Back in Thedas, good. She sat up and looked down at herself and saw her own body. "Shit!" she said loudly.

Nathaniel looked at her anxiously. "Anders? Is that you?"

"No! It's me, Lucy!" Her face crumpled. "It didn't work. Oh, Maker!" Her eyes filled with tears and she looked distraught.

Yes, it did. Well, something worked…

Lucy looked around wildly, trying to find the source of the voice. It sounded like Anders. She looked at his body but he was still unconscious and, if anything, his conditioned had worsened.

Justice sat up from where he'd fallen on the floor; he also looked worse. His absence from his body had drastically speeded up his decomposition. "Did it work?" he asked, looking at Lucy anxiously.

"No."

Yes.

There it was again! Anders's voice. "Anders?" Lucy said. Her brow furrowed as a look of puzzlement crossed her face.

Nathaniel looked at her as if she'd gone mad. "Commander, what is it?"

She inspected the room very carefully. "I hear his voice. Do you hear it?"

"Perhaps you should lie back down, Commander. I'll get the medic to bring you a sleeping draught. You've had a traumatic couple of days," Nathaniel said soothingly. Lucy had finally cracked. Well, more so than normal anyway.

I'm here, Lucy. Well, I'm somewhere. I can't see or hear anything but your thoughts. I think, somehow, I'm in your body with you. What the hell is going on?

"Anders!" Lucy jumped out of bed, her face suddenly looking excited. "He's here! He's in my body with me." She spoke very loudly. "CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

Yes! You don't need to shout. Wow! I can see your memories. Interesting… Huh! So that's what it is like to transform to a crow and fly. Very cool. What's down here? Hey… whoa! You are a very adventurous girl, aren't you?

"Anders, listen to me! You have to heal yourself. Stop playing around in my memories and do it!" Lucy's voice was bordering on panic again.

All right, I will, but how? You seem to be in control of your body, I'm not.

"I don't know. I guess I just need to give it over to you somehow." Lucy sounded frustrated.

"Commander?" Nathaniel asked politely, wondering if he should restrain her. Would she become violent?

Justice stood up. A piece of skin fell off his jaw, leaving the bone partially exposed. "I think I see what the problem is. When I sent us all out of the Fade both of you ended up inside one body."

"Can you put him in charge of my body?" Lucy asked.

Justice shook his head. "I'm afraid I have no idea how."

Harrison got up from the chair he'd been half-dozing in. "What if you were asleep?"

What's going on? Anders disembodied voice asked Lucy.

"Harrison just wondered if it might work if I were asleep," she repeated for Anders.

You can just think it, you know.

"Oh." She grew quiet and the others watched as she held an internal conversation with Anders.

So… I could spell myself asleep. Maybe that would work.

Maybe. Maybe I could spell you asleep. Go sit down somewhere so you don't fall over and knock your head. Wouldn't want to addle our brain, now would we?

"We're going to try something. If it doesn't work, Harrison, dispel the sleep and we'll try something else." She lay back down on the bed and folded her hands over her stomach. All right. Ready when you are, Anders.

Right. Here goes…

Lucy felt a glow kindle within her. It tickled at her spinal column and made her nerves tingle. The last thing she saw was a flare of white light.

"I'm sure I'd never let Anders control my body. I think Lucy's finally cracked," Oghren said.

Nathaniel shook his head. "It's terribly risky. What if he gets stuck in there?"

Oghren pulled at his beard a moment. "You know, that body has probably set some sort of record for the non-demonic possessions."

Harrison bit his lip, trying to stifle a very inappropriate chuckle. "I think she probably did with the first one."

"Just what the hell do we do if they both end up stuck in the same body?" Nathaniel growled, irritated by the absurdity of it all. What if they have to be… put down?

"Two mages in one body," Harrison sighed. "The Chantry would have a fit."

"I can hear you, you know." Lucy sat up from the bed and looked down at herself. She flexed her arms and examined her hands, and then she looked at her cleavage and smiled. "Wow… I always wondered what having breasts would be like."

"Yup. That's Anders," Oghren said confidently.

Lucy's hands caressed her breasts. "Interesting… it's not quite what I expected. Kind of erotic though."

Nathaniel turned bright red. "Andraste's ass, Anders! Don't do that! It's…"

"Hot!" Oghren chimed in. "Very hot! Do it again!"

"It's disgusting! I don't want to see the Commander feeling herself up in front of us." Nathaniel folded his arms and glared at the dwarf.

"And that's the difference between you and me, Howe," Oghren pointed out.

Harrison cleared his throat. "Commander… err, Anders, you'd best get to work on… yourself. You're not looking so good."

Anders sighed. "Such a shame. I could have a lot of fun in this body." She waggled her eyebrows at Nathaniel. "I'm a bit curious. Perhaps I could take her out for a test drive. You game?"

Nathaniel growled at her but said nothing.

"I'm just kidding." He shrugged. "Oh, come on! Tell me you wouldn't be curious if you were in my… her shoes."

Nathaniel shook his head.

Anders leaned over and looked at his body. "Wow… Well, two observations. First of all, I can finally really appreciate how extraordinarily handsome I am, and, secondly, how incredibly close to death I am. Could someone go fetch the medic and my herbs and instruments? They're in the chest at the foot of my bed."

"I'll get the medic," Nathaniel volunteered, glad to leave. This whole situation was very disturbing to him.

"I'll get your supplies." Harrison followed after Nathaniel.

"I'll get some booze, just in case someone needs it. I know I do." Oghren felt a little disturbed but oddly turned on by Lucy/Anders and that made him very uncomfortable. He definitely needed something to drink to help him clarify his thoughts on the matter, or get so drunk he'd forget all about it.

Justice watched from across the room with his exposed jaw bone. Anders looked up at him. "Justice, you're falling apart and I can't really take the time to patch you up. Are you in pain?"

He shook his head and his left ear shook loose and hung by a few strands of skin. "No, Warden, I don't feel pain. Don't worry about this body. I knew it was only temporary."

Anders got up and drew a stool over to the side of the bed where his body was lying. "First things first. We need to get you stabilized, handsome devil." He put her hands over his body's heart and cast the first of the healing spells.

The magic was very odd, casting from Lucy's body. She had a sort of innate wildness to her magic, something completely foreign to him. He could even feel the lyrium necklace pulsing against her chest. Lucy had spoken to him about how she had to "close the door" to the Fade to control her magic and he understood now what she meant. Something like muscle memory - magic memory? - showed him how to do that. With the strange combination of his knowledge and her inborn abilities he was able to do a very thorough job of patching himself up, temporarily, unfortunately. At least his body might have a chance of surviving surgery. As soon as the medic and his supplies were available, he would cut himself open and go after the souvenir left inside him by the darkspawn grub.

While waiting for the medic and his supplies he thought about the terrible risk that Lucy was taking to save him. He never would have let her do it, if he'd had any say in it. If his body died, he and Lucy would be stuck together in this one body. It was an uncomfortable few minutes he'd spent without being able to see, hear, speak or use any of his senses. Surely they'd go mad if left in that situation for long.

"I'm going to have a long talk with you, Lucy, when you wake up," he muttered. "You should have just let me die." Suddenly, from nowhere, a deep, strong urge to weep swept over him. "Damn it!" He gritted his teeth and refused to give way to the emotion. "Are these those hormones you're always talking about? Maker's breath, woman… that's bloody inconvenient!" He tried to distract himself by remembering what she'd called it… andrastegen?

The medic arrived and was lugging Anders's chest of supplies. The timing was good, he needed to keep his mind and hands busy.

"Commander… Warden Nathaniel said you needed some assistance with Anders," the medic said. "I didn't know you were even a healer." He looked at her warily.

"Well, you see… I'm not exactly the Commander. I'm Anders… just borrowing her body so I can heal myself."

The medic turned pale and backed away a few steps. "I… I…" he stuttered. His eyes darted around the room and he caught sight of Justice's exposed jaw and missing ear. "Maker… that man needs medical attention!"

Justice shook his head. "Do not fret over me. This body is at the end of its usefulness. I suggest you concentrate on Warden Anders's body." Justice took a step to sit down on one of the nearby stools but his boot feel off, taking his foot with it. He stumped along on the footless end of his leg hardly noting his altered condition.

"Probably best you not think about it too much," Anders said soothingly to the medic. "Just soldier on and do what's required. Someday you can include all this in your memoir." Anders stood and looked around the room and found an empty basin. He cast the spell she used to create water out of her hands and filled the basin with hot water. He found a bar of soap next to the basin and washed his hands thoroughly. He threw out the water and refilled it for the medic.

"Wash up. I've got enough to think about without having to worry about sepsis. What's your name, anyway?"

"Derrick, my lady… er… Warden Anders." He still looked extremely suspicious and hardly looked away from her as he washed.

Anders dug through his supply chest and laid out an assortment of tools and potions. He put them on the stone floor and swept them with fire from his hands. Then he turned them over and repeated it. Germ theory was something he'd never heard of until he met Lucy. She had explained what germs were and how they caused infection and disease. Normally he didn't concern himself with infection since they could be cured with magic, but in this case, the patient - Himself! How strange to think of that - was in a particularly fragile state.

"All right, Derrick. You're going to hand me things as I ask for them and assist if I need an extra pair of hands. Are you ready?"

The medic nodded.

Anders swabbed off his chest – damn, this is confusing – his patient's chest with a healing, antiseptic tonic. "Give me the little knife."

Derrick quickly found the smallest knife and handed it to him… her… him.

Using magic to sense what was just below the surface of the skin; Anders cut into his… the patient's chest. It was easier to just forget exactly who he was operating on. Every time he thought of it as being himself he started to get nervous. He just needed to not think about exactly what was at stake here; both his and Lucy's lives would be ruined if he failed.

The knife sliced cleanly through the patient's chest and there was far more blood than he expected. That meant something had been punctured and was bleeding into the chest cavity. He tried to see where it was, but there was a rib in the way. It was going to have to come out. He cast his tiny, very focused, flame spell and used it to cut through the rib, just as he'd done to drill through Harrison's skull.

"Maker…" Derrick breathed. "What are you doing?"

"Steady, my man. There's a bit of a fang left in there and I can't see it to pull it out with this rib in the way." The last of the rib burned through and Anders handed it to Derrick. "Don't lose that. I want to have all the parts I started out with."

Anders shot the medic a quick look. Derrick looked a bit pale, but he thought the man wouldn't pass out on him. "All right, I'm going to need you to hold the incision open while I stick my hand in and fish out that fang."

Derrick nodded and placed his hands where Anders directed him, holding the incision open.

"Here goes," Anders muttered. Lucy's slender hand fit better than his would have. Just beyond the ribs he bent his fingers slightly. The fang was there, but it had pierced an artery leading to the heart, pulling it out was going to be touchy. He felt the full weight of the moment. He'd either be able to patch the hole quickly or this body would die in a matter of moments.

He closed his eyes and his lips moved as he spoke silently to the woman sharing this body. I love you, Lucy. I swear I will spend the rest of my life making you know exactly how much. He juggled casting a healing spell with detecting the location of the fang. His fingers finally contacted it. He murmured a prayer to any listening deity as he gently tugged it free.

The hole squirted a stream of blood with the next contraction of the patient's heart. He ignored the streaming blood and did his best to locate the hole. He redoubled his healing, patching the punctured artery, but the force of the pumping heart simply widened it again. This was particularly delicate. Too much healing and the vessel would become thickened with scar tissue to properly pass blood, too little and the hole would tear open again. He used all his mana and then drew from the lyrium necklace Lucy wore. Her knowledge and skills were all accessible to him, but other than the steady supply of lyrium, there was little that she possessed that would help him.

He looked down at the blood pooling in the patient's chest cavity. This was not working. If only the heart weren't pumping…

"I've got to stop his heart," he muttered.

Derrick looked up with alarm. "Maker… that'll kill him… you."

"Not if I'm real fast." Anders took a deep breath to steady his nerves and cast a tiny paralysis spell around his heart. It stopped beating. Now he could accurately fix the torn artery. He worked quickly, carefully rebuilding the walls of the artery where it had been punctured. "That should hold. Now… how do I restart this thing?" He dropped the paralysis spell and nothing happened; the heart didn't resume its beating.

Sometimes… sometimes… pounding on one's chest could do it, but his chest was laid open and pounding was out of the question. Perhaps… instinct and training guided his hands. He gently wrapped Lucy's hands the around the patient's heart and pumped it.

Almost immediately it twitched and fluttered under his hands. He cast more healing into his chest cavity and continued the gentle pumping. Suddenly it leapt in his hands and resumed a strong, steady beat.

He carefully, slowly, withdrew his hands and kept his eyes glued to the organ, watching and hoping it would continue. After long minutes of intense scrutiny he exhaled his tension and sat back. "I think it worked. You can let go of the incision now."

Derrick looked at him in awe, his eyes wide with admiration. "That was amazing."

He flashed a smile at his assistant. "Give me that piece of rib. I'll get this exceptionally good-looking man closed up and hope that ticker keeps ticking." Anders drew on the lyrium necklace again and took the piece of rib from Derrick. His healing magic sealed the bone into place. Next he held together the sides of the incision and healed it.

As the skin knit together, he backed off the magic, not entirely healing the wound as thoroughly as he normally would. He left it pink, with a long ridge of scar tissue. He could have healed himself completely and not left behind any evidence of the trauma, but not this time. His eyes welled up with tears again and he turned his head away from the medic until he got control of the emotions. Shit! How does Lucy deal with these sudden urges to cry at the slightest provocation?

Anders got up and washed his blood-soaked hands, turning to Justice as he dried them on a clean cloth. Justice nodded at Anders. The skin on the left side of his face came loose and began peeling away from the underlying skull. Anders's stomach lurched as he saw his fellow Warden falling to pieces before him. He knew there was nothing more he could do to save Justice from total failure of Kristoff's body.

"Warren," Justice slurred his speech as half of his lips were now missing, "I thick bess I tur you to the Thade tho you can get to your proper body."

Anders nodded grimly, knowing that this would probably be the last time he'd see Justice on this side of the veil. "Yes, when Lucy awakens she can have her own body to herself again." He walked over to Justice, not wanting to risk him completely falling to pieces on the spot, and the badly decomposing man grasped his arm. There was a brilliant white light and an immense noise and Anders found himself in the Fade with the spirit of Justice.

"Tell the commander, and the other Wardens, goodbye for me. It has been interesting to spend time with your kind. I have much to contemplate over the eons."

Anders clasped forearms with the spirit and noticed his form in the Fade was his own again. "Take care of yourself Justice and thanks a lot for all the help."

The spirit nodded. He used the grasp to propel Anders out of the Fade and into his own body. "Be well, Anders."

There was a sense of falling down a long, dark hole and at the end there was nothing more.

~o~o~o~

Lucy

I awoke feeling like I had no concept of how much time had passed. Days? It felt like it, maybe even weeks. No, you can't sleep for weeks, that's ridiculous. Cracking eyes open, I could see daylight. I was facing the balcony and Orlesian doors in my room. The brain fog began to clear and I remembered everything that had happened. Anders? There was no answer. That's good, right? It meant he was able to get back into his own body, or at least out of my body. I was almost afraid to turn over and see if he was there, next to me. I snaked a hand out from under the covers and patted the bed behind me. Yes! There's a man-sized lump. I turned over and saw him lying there next to me, his skin paler than it should be, but his breathing was regular and unlabored.

"Anders!" I said out-loud. I burst out in tears, unable to contain my relief. I threw myself on him and kissed his cheeks, forehead and eyes with enthusiasm. "You're alive!" Then I realized I was mauling a man that had very nearly died. I pulled back hoping I hadn't hurt him.

His eyes cracked open and a smile worked one corner of his mouth up. "Lucy," he said quietly. "I would scold you for what you did…" He paused a moment, the effort to talk took a lot out of him. "But… you're the most beautiful sight I've ever seen."

"Shush." I put my finger on his lips. "You're still fragile. Don't strain yourself. Are you in pain?"

He shook his head weakly. "No, just weak from blood loss. Give me a day or two and I'll be fine."

I put my hand on his chest. "Can I lay my head here? I need to hear your heart beating."

He nodded and I curled up close to him and put my ear on his chest and listened to his strong, steady heartbeat. His hand reached up and stroked my hair and tears of relief slid down my face to his chest.

He chuckled. "I'd tell you not to cry but I know you can't help it. Stupid hormones."

"What? Oh, you got to experience them first hand," I snorted a sloppy laugh and cried even harder. I tried to still my emotions but it was impossible. I was still exhausted from everything that had gone on since we left the keep. I suspected that Anders had used a lot of mana and that probably contributed to my exhaustion too. More importantly, he needed rest. I didn't need to upset him with my blubbering. "Go back to sleep, Anders."

"You, too, my love," he whispered back.

I let the beating of his heart lull me back to sleep.

~o~o~o~

Notes: Shi, olivegb, Biff, Zevgirl, Josie Lang, .x, Jenna53, Bonkzy, Arsinoe de Blassenville, Ethizen, thanks very much for the reviews! You help keep the muse from going on strike.

I had some challenges with this chapter, like making Anders in Lucy's body be confusing but not so confusing it would totally lose my readers. I'm not sure I succeeded with that, hope so. I also knew it'd be an opportunity for some humor but I didn't want to lose the tension.

Many thanks to my adorable, Canadian beta-reader, Biff McLaughlin, who also has some wonderful stories. Go check them out! Thanks also to Zevgirl who cheers me on and laughs at my dumb jokes.

Reviews are massively appreciated, as always! This might be a good time to ask me if I'm going to include something in this story. I'm starting to think about ending it and there might be a loose end or two I have forgotten about. (No, Zevran isn't forgotten.)

Will there be a sequel? Probably not. Judging from how the reviews have dropped off, I think people are losing interest in Dragon Age fics. Maybe I'll go play ME and see what that does for my muse.

Thanks for reading!