A fog clouded Ellie's mind as she slowly began regaining consciousness. She shifted, acutely aware she was in a sitting position, but other than that she was warm. She had almost forgotten what warm was. The Herald was still exhausted and she didn't want to open her eyes yet all, enjoying the comfort of being cozy and allowed to rest. As she nestles into whatever she's sleeping in, she feels thick, soft fur tickling her neck. She moves to pull the fur up closer to her face, emitting a contented sigh as she does so.

She is settled for a but a moment when her brain actually begins to kick in.

Where am I?

Refusing to panic and act blindly, her eyes shot open revealing a man's leather-clad chest that she was leaning on and the one-of-a-kind pauldrons that were draped snugly across her body. Her breath caught in her throat as she hesitantly rose her face to be met with kind, golden eyes. It was then that Ellie clued into the fact that she was sitting in the Commander's lap.

Well, shit.

He met her gaze with a gentle smile, "Welcome back, Ellie."

Her eyebrows knit together in confusion, "How did you get here? Where are we? What happened?"

The Commander chuckled lightly at the barrage of questions, "We're still in the Frostbacks, we set a makeshift camp after we got far enough away from Haven."

His eyes gazed upon hers as realization dawned on her, "You made it out…"

"We did, Chancellor Roderick proved to be useful after all. What's more miraculous is that you made it out. We thought for sure you were gone," he replied, concern evident in voice.

She offered him a small smile, "I did what you told me to, I took him by surprise. Firing the last trebuchet caught the bastard off guard and I was able to slip away. But then I fell into some kind of old passage way. I'm not sure how I survived that fall, but at least I wasn't buried alive," she paused, remembering her confrontation, "What of Corypheus? Are we safe here?"

Cullen tilted his head, "Corypheus? That's who this Elder One is?" Ellie nodded in response. "We have not run into any trouble since our escape and have seen no signs of him."

Ellie exhaled, "That dragon carried him off before the avalanche could reach him. He came for this," she brought her glowing left hand out from under her makeshift blanket, "I doubt that's the last we'll see of him."

Cullen nodded thoughtfully, "I think you're right, but what's important right now is that you're safe."

"Thank you, Cullen."

"Uh, well we're all relieved to see you alive," he deflected awkwardly.

She laughed quietly at his misunderstanding, "No, I mean, thank you for what you did back in Haven. Your bravery and ability to think and act quickly saved a lot of lives."

He frowned, "We still lost so many, if only I could have.."

"Cullen, if it weren't for you, more could have been lost. A lot more. Do not blame yourself for this."

"We still could have been more prepared, we could have fortified the buildings, found that escape route before," he lamented, unconvinced of how much worse it could have been.

She sighed softly, "There will always be things we could have done better. But Corypheus is the reason for all of this, and none of us knew that until now. There was no way we could have suspected what we were up against. We can only move forward and learn from the past."

His brown eyes were staring into the fire, "You're right. I won't let this happen again."

"Besides, if anyone should be left feeling guilty here, it's me," his eyes snapped to her as she spoke, "I'm the one he wants, after all. He tried to pull the anchor from me, this mark that he created, but he couldn't. He said he's going to find some other way to carry out his purpose. I can only hope that will buy us more time to stop him."

"Ellie," Cullen called softly, putting his hand on her cheek, "Do not feel guilty for this. With this mark, you could have easily turned your back on us, and yet you've only used it to help, to right the wrongs of this Corypheus. That is beyond admirable and we all greatly respect you for it."

It was then, with the Commander's ungloved hand on her face, that Ellie became fully aware she was still in his lap and that this was the first time she had felt his skin touch hers. Other than when she kissed his cheek in the Chantry of course, but this was different. She could feel the callouses on his palm and fingers, the warmth in his skin. They held each other's gaze steadily, and while deep in Ellie's mind she knew that sitting on the Commander was less than proper, she couldn't bring herself to move in that moment.

She studied his face as he did the same to her, taking in the shape of his eyes, the fine wrinkles that were forming next to the outside corners of them. Her eyes drifted down to his perfectly shaped nose and then to the new growth of stubble that ran across his cheeks and jaw. Then she had noticed his scar, the first time she had actually gotten a good look at it. It was old enough to be white in colour instead of a fresh pink, but the line was more jagged than she had originally observed.

Without realizing what she was doing, she reached her hand up to run her fingers along the ribbon of white. Completely lost in her curiosity, it wasn't until his hand left her cheek to pick up the one she had on his lip that her attention was snapped back to reality.

She thought for sure he would get upset with her, put her hand away from his face. But when he instead kept holding her hand to his lips and began placing feathery kisses on each of her finger tips, she was at a complete loss. Her breathing seemed to stop altogether and she felt as though she was paralyzed as she simply just watched his lips touch her skin. When all five of her fingers had been kissed, he gently closed her hand and dusted her knuckles with one last kiss, bringing his eyes back up to look at her.

Time seemed to stand still in that moment, the two holding each others eyes. The already small gap between their faces was slowly growing shorter, and even though it was against Ellie's better judgement, she felt as though she was being pulled towards the Commander and she was unwilling to stop it.

Just as their noses grazed each other, a sarcastic voice pulled them from their course, "Oh my, I do hope I'm not interrupting anything."

The Herald and Commander were snapped from their coarse, both pairs of eyes widening in horror and embarrassment as they took in the frame of an amused Tevinter mage, leaning casually against the entrance of the tent. The two simultaneously broke away from each other, Ellie scrambling off Cullen's lap only to wince as she stretched her sore, injured body. They were both blushing furiously and it only seemed to add to Dorian's entertainment.

"Please don't stop on my account, I was enjoying the show," the mage chuckled. His reply was two absolutely livid glares. "Don't get mad at me, I was merely checking up on our sleeping beauty. I heard voices in here and assumed she had come back to us."

Cullen huffed as he strapped his armor back on. Ellie handed him his pauldrons, nervously daring to look at his face that was still equally as red as hers. He didn't look back at her however, and gruffly excused himself out of the tent, saying something about how he needed to get back to work. Ellie watched him as he left, feeling that sinking sensation of disappointment hit her stomach.

When he was out of sight, she fixed her annoyed gaze on a smug Dorian. "If I were a mage, I would light you on fire right now."

He barked a laugh, "Oh come now Ellie, I came in here with the most noble of intentions. It's not my fault you were too busy making googly eyes at your beloved Commander." Ellie rolled her eyes as she sat back down on the cot, the Tevinter following suit. "In all seriousness though, I truly am pleased that you're alive and well."

"You and me both."

"He was the one who found you, you know," Dorian informed her softly, "He refused to let you go."

She sighed thoughtfully, running a hand through her hair. She didn't know what to say, what to think about the implications of what her friend was telling her. "So many people are counting on me, their lives dependant on me. I can't let myself be distracted," she steeled herself against indulging her fantasies anymore. She couldn't.

Dorian laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "Everyone is depending on you, yes. But amongst those, there are ones who care for you. You need to let them do that. For your own sake."

With those words Dorian rose from the cot and made to leave the tent, but stopped before he opened the flap, flashing the Herald a devious look. "Besides," he leered at her, "If you don't start tapping that, I will."

Despite herself, she let out a small laugh at the claim as Dorian left the tent.

Though, in all honesty she wasn't sure she could let the man with golden hair and kind eyes into her heart. A part of her desperately wanted to, a part of her reasoned that he wasn't like the last one, that she could trust him. But she hadn't carefully constructed her walls overnight. She wasn't about to let them be torn down overnight either.

I had to resist the urge to name this chapter 'Dammit, Dorian'

Hope you enjoyed! Any reviews and feedback on this chapter is appreciated, as always!