A/N: Thanks for the fav and the follows. I know a lot of people don't like OC fanfiction, but I promise this one is neither going to be a Mary-Sue, nor the hero of it all.

Chapter 2: A mage

The mage, named Ava Miller, because her family had been farmers, were still farmers and would probably always be farmers, with the exception of her great-grandmother who had been a mage and had passed the talent onto her, was not a warrior.

Her skills lay in healing and supporting only and that was why she had once upon a time slept with a templar. Just to save her ass, truly. And maybe a little bit because that special templar had been gorgeous; deadly and gorgeous. Well, it had worked out back then.

It was also the reason why she had joined Fiona, because the rebel mages could do with a little more defence and a little less warfare.

Had she known that these two decisions would come back to haunt her, she would have cast it aside with a laugh.

That was until an elven mage who bore a mark of the Fade had come to save the rebel mages from themselves and offered them to join her as free allies; before she had followed Fiona and her fellow mages through the gates of Haven, just to see the knight-commander was the exact same templar she had encountered so many years ago.

Fate sure was cruel.

As she saw him, there was a second in which she didn't move, couldn't in fact and that almost blew her cover.

"Ava, is something wrong?" Susannah asked, who was walking right beside her.

"What? No, nothing," she replied, but her friend knew better than to accept such a blunt lie. Her eyes followed her gaze and she herself stopped in her movements.

"That's Cullen Rutherford," she said, her expression a mixture of astonishment and detest. "How did he end up here?"

Ava shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Someone probably found him useful."

"Why? Do they plan to lock us up and torture us?"

Ava looked at her in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Haven't you heard about Kirkwall?" Susannah asked.

"Of course, but..."

"Ser Cullen Rutherford was the knight-captain of the templars back then. And you know what they did to our kind."

Of course she did. The stories of violation, abuse and torture had travelled the land quickly, making sure every mage steered clear of the forsaken town. Still, some of the stories had been hard to believe

"Well, I guess we'll better stay out of his way then," Ava said.

"Or get into his way and blast him off his feet with a fireball," her friend remarked darkly.

They hurried past the gates and as they reached the village, Ava took a deep breath.

He hadn't seen her – how should he, hidden well between dozens of her own – but she had almost given herself away. And judging what Susannah had said, none of the mages would be happy if they found out one of their own had been involved with that particular templar, even if it had just been to save her life.

He was still gorgeous, though, probably even more than back then. Yet, he seemed a lot calmer than in that ruined city.

Maybe time had been kind to him. After all, it had been a lot kinder to his kind than hers. It mattered not, of course. She didn't plan to catch up with him, for some kind of happy reunion.

Her plan didn't work out, of course. Haven was attacked only a few days after the mages arrived and she found herself battling for her life against a fucking dragon. Well, maybe more running away from it than fighting it.

Its nasty roars were echoed from the burning roofs, the screams of the inhabitants tingling in her ears and then, all of sudden, a familiar voice right behind her shouted: "Back up to the church!"

If she hadn't been so overwhelmed by the flying death above her, she might have just lowered her head and ran, but the fire spitting beast upon her had wiped out all her senses entirely.

So she turned – and there he was. A scar ran over his cheek, a scar that hadn't been there then and as he turned his head, his eyes lit up in surprise – and shock.

Before he could say anything, her brain kicked back in and she turned on her heels, following Susannah back up to the church of Haven, running as if the devil was behind her. And it was – only to her, it wasn't the dragon anymore. The dragon appeared like a little annoyance, in contrast to him.

At the church, she dragged Susannah into a corner, hiding, mumbling something about "not ending up as the spare parts". Later, at the camp, she did as well, watching him in the shadows as he carried the Inquisitor back into the camp. The little elf had survived the fight with their attacker miraculously, but the mage wasn't exactly sure if she was to be called be lucky. Whatever the seeker and the others believed the elf was destined to be, it sure implied a lot of dangers.

Yet, she followed her to Skyhold – it would have been easy to vanish on the way, take her stuff and run, but she owned Fiona and wherever Fiona was going, she would be sure to follow. Besides, that elf impressed her. And she had no other place to go on the whole damn earth.

And Skyhold was huge, huge enough for a woman to hide. At least, that was what she thought. Honestly, she didn't think he'd really search for her – rather avoid her, just like she avoided him. She was wrong.

Three days after the Inquisitor had announced she would fight for order, he found her on the battlements, which had turned into her favourite spot at whole Skyhold, until that moment.

She knew it was him even before she turned around. His walk hadn't changed since back then.

"I thought you were dead," he said.

It wasn't the best start for a conversation, but at least, it was an honest one.

She turned and looked at him. "As did I."

He raised his hand to the back of his head, as if he was embarrassed. The gesture surprised her. As she had met him, he had been vicious, ferocious – now, if he hadn't been wearing armour and a sword, he could have been mistaken for a Ferelden noble. Calm. Polite.

"You shouldn't have searched for me," she said as he didn't continue.

"I wanted to make sure I wasn't mistaken," he replied.

"And? Does it calm you you weren't?"

"Not exactly," he replied and looked at her. "You said you would kill me the next time you'd meet me."

"I think people will notice if I throw the knight-commander off the wall," she replied calmly.

"You have every reason to. What I did to you..."

"Wasn't even half as bad as what your fellow templars did to my kind in Kirkwall."

He stared at her in surprise. "You were..."

"I wasn't. But the stories spread quickly."

"I am sorry... What happened in Kirkwall..." he started.

"Did you order them?" she asked.

"What? No. No, I had no idea."

She laughed out sarcastically. "You were the knight-captain and had no idea?"

He avoided her gaze. "I didn't think templars were capable of that."

"You didn't think templars were capable of that? So, if I had told you to stop back then, you would have?" she asked.

"Would you?"

"I would have killed you," she replied honestly.

"So would I. But I don't believe I would have continued... Well, at least I hope so," he said.

She shook her head. "What's done is done," she said sharply. "There's no need to ponder it now." She looked at him. "I would prefer if our past wouldn't be spread out through all Skyhold, though. I am with the rebel mages. If they find out I let you have me, I am as good as dead."

"They don't trust me," he stated.

"Mages will never trust templars again. Just as templars don't trust mages. And you... You have a reputation since Kirkwall," she said. "I am seriously surprised none of them tried to cut your throat while you slept."

"Are you giving me a warning?" he asked sharply, for a second sounding like the templar he had been.

"I am no danger to you. I never have been," she said.

"Of course you have," he said and with those words, left her standing there.

It wasn't true, of course. She wondered if he really didn't know how easily he could have overpowered her, back then, or if he simply didn't want to. How would he able to justify his weakness, letting her live?

Still, meeting him was so very confusing. As she strolled back to the fortress, Susannah caught up on her, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Why should it be?"

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

Ava shook her head. "It's nothing. Just been thinking."

But it wasn't nothing. Ambivalent feelings never were, even more when you were a mage irritated by a templar.

Next chapter: Smut. And questions. If you liked it, or disliked it, have any suggestions or vice versa, please leave a review.