Fenris had been gone for well over an hour and a half before he came back. He pushed her door open roughly, the mangled doorknob causing it to stick in the doorframe, and marched into the room, the grief and rage on his face now replaced by a determined stare.
"Fenris, what is going on?" she pleaded.
"Come on," he said firmly. He took her hand and pulled her to her feet. "Get dressed."
"Where are we going?" Hawke prodded.
The elf refused to answer, and insisted she put on her usual armor. Once she was dressed, he took her hand again and nearly dragged her out the door.
The two walked for nearly an hour, slipping quietly out the main gates of the city and into the dark coast beyond. Hawke kept begging Fenris to tell her where he was taking her, but he kept silent. In the dim moonlight his hair shone like snow, and his eyes glinted with determination.
They followed the trail as it meandered down the mountainside towards the coastline, and the smell of the salty sea washed over Hawke. The ocean breeze was never really gone, this close to the coast, but the smell reminded Hawke too much of their cramped boat ride to Kirkwall six years ago. She shivered in the cold night air as distantly, the chantry bell struck eleven o'clock.
Fenris noticed her goosebumps and stopped. He stepped close and rubbed his hands up and down her arms, trying to warm her with friction. "It's not far now," he said in a hushed voice.
"Where are we going?" Hawke whispered again, eyes drooping from exhaustion. It had been well over twelve hours since she'd taken Orsino's potion, and the effects had long since worn off.
"Come on. We're nearly there." With that, he was pulling her along again.
The trail began going up the mountainside again, and Hawke kept tripping over rocks in the dark. Finally, a yawning cavern appeared to the side, and Fenris pulled her towards it. A flickering, yellow light emanated from the back, growing brighter the closer they drew to it. Finally, they rounded the last corner to find a small fire crackling in the center of the cavern. Kneeling beside the fire, warming his hands, was Anders.
She stifled a groan. Fuck. This won't end well.
The instant Anders' eyes clapped upon Hawke's Tranquility brand, the effect was immediate. He leapt to his feet and stared at her, horrorstruck, eyes wide with a haunting familiarity. In that moment, she knew that he was reliving the moment he had discovered that Karl, his ex-lover, had been made Tranquil.
Hawke cursed Meredith for holding her friends' safety over her head like one would hold a treat to get a dog to do a trick.
Anders rounded on Fenris. "I thought you said she was sick!" he exclaimed.
"Depending on your definition of it, she is," the elf replied tersely.
Anders stepped close to her, raising shaking hands to hold her face almost tenderly. Up close she could see tears swimming in his eyes. "Another lost," he murmured. Slightly louder, he asked, "How did this happen?"
"I went to Meredith," Hawke explained. "About Quentin escaping. I thought she could help capture him and bring him in to justice."
If Anders had looked upset before, it was nothing compared to his reaction to this. "You did WHAT?" he nearly shouted. His hands fell to her shoulders and he shook her slightly. "Don't you know how foolish that is?"
"It was a risk I was willing to take."
"Oh sure, you're willing to risk magical castration, having lived outside the Circle your whole life," Anders sputtered angrily. His eyes flashed blue, and his voice deepened and almost seemed to echo. Hawke stared, wide-eyed. Had Fenris planned this? "Did you decide not to stop and think about the-"
"Anders, please," Hawke begged. His hands tightened painfully on her arms, and flashes of blue fire flickered around him and singed her. "Anders! Justice, please stop, you're hurting me-"
A hand appeared and pushed her back, away from the possessed mage. Fenris had jumped between him and pushed her back to safety. He held Anders at arm's length, his lyrium markings already flaring white-blue.
"Get a hold of yourself!" the elf said harshly. Anders snarled in response, his glowing blue eyes staring sightlessly ahead. "If you do not stop you will kill Hawke. Is that what you want!?"
The change was miniscule, but Hawke could see the fight go out of the mage at that. He eventually slumped, the blue glow fading away. He fell to his knees, exhaustion etched into every line of his stubbled face.
"I have a plan to cure Hawke," Fenris said, directing his statement to the man at his feet. Both mage's eyes snapped to the elf, and he stared at them determinedly.
"This was your plan? Get me to come out to some cave in the middle of nowhere and make me angry enough to let Justice out?"
"It's out of the way enough that if you totally lose control, innocent people wouldn't die."
"You know there isn't a cure," Anders condescended, though his voice lacked its normal energy. "She may as well have been beheaded."
"When you found your mage friend, Karl, in the Chantry. You let that demon in you out and it woke him up."
In an instant, Fenris' plan was clear. Hawke stared at him, flabbergasted, but thinking rapidly. He stared back searchingly, clearly looking for some sign of emotion. What do I do?
A split second of deliberation later, Hawke made her decision; she burst into tears.
Arms wrapped around her and pulled her close. She felt the cold breastplate of Fenris' armor pressed against her cheek and she clung to him; for this moment only, she could seek this simple reassurance. He stroked her hair as she sniffled and inhaled his warm, rich scent.
"Hawke." His voice rumbled in his chest. "Look at me. Please."
Hawke sniffled again and pulled back, wiping her eyes. Fenris swam into vision, with Anders hovering anxiously behind him.
"This was your plan?" Anders said dubiously. "I could've killed her."
"I was here to protect her," Fenris growled. He wiped the tears from Hawke's face and she felt her cheeks redden from embarrassment.
"You know this isn't actually a cure, right?" Anders said somberly. "Karl went back to being tranquil a few minutes after and I had to put him out of his misery like a sick dog."
"I understand, but if you attempt to recreate that with Hawke, your friend Justice will become very lonely, very quickly," Fenris growled. The mage raised his hands in surrender, sighing.
"Guys, you shouldn't have done this," Hawke interrupted. This could endanger Meredith's plan to catch Quentin, and if she knew this had happened, she might bring in Anders and Fenris on principle alone. Hawke wasn't going to let that happen. "You could've ruined the-" She snapped her mouth shut, but it was too late.
"Ruined what?" Fenris demanded.
"Hawke, what's going on?" Anders asked. "Are you in danger?"
She stared back and forth between the two men, both of whom she trusted with her life. "Alright," she sighed. "I did go to Meredith for help catching Mother's killer. She did make me Tranquil. But it's part of a ruse."
"A ruse?" Anders repeated.
"I'm bait to lure Quentin in and capture him. If he believes I'm defenseless, he is more likely to seek me out for revenge." Hawke squinted at Fenris in the dim light, half afraid of his reaction. His expression had grown ever more stone-like with every word she spoke, and he stared at her with an inscrutable expression. "Fenris, please. Don't interfere. Meredith threatened you, and you, Anders. She threatened all of you, if you interfere."
"I don't care, we're not going to let you face that maleficar alone!" Anders protested hotly.
"Anders is right," Fenris said at last, surprising them both. "We won't let you put yourself in that kind of danger, at least without us there with you. You can tell Meredith that she may continue this ruse of hers, but we will be there if for nothing else but to keep you safe."
"Alright, fine" Hawke agreed hastily. This was stretching too long, they would suspect something if she didn't go back to being 'tranquil' soon. "Just please, don't act against Meredith. I want you all to stay safe. I…I'll explain everything once all this is over, I swear," she added on an impulse.
Then, she did her best to regain her neutral expression, becoming 'tranquil' once more. Anders' face twisted in grief and confusion, as she expected. Fenris, however, had his brows drawn together in thought, his green eyes lingering on her. Something about his thoughtful expression worried her. For a moment she wondered if perhaps he suspected what was really going on, but she dismissed the thought almost as quickly as it had appeared.