Thank you so much Virginia Gale, Warrose (loved the details on The Calling, too! haha), and Jinx1983 for your awesome reviews! :D

Bioware owns! :D

Chapter 12 - Down the Hole and into the Deep

I remember what you wore on the first day

You came into my life and I thought

"Hey, you know, this could be something"

'Cause everything you do and words you say

You know that it all takes my breath away

And now I'm left with nothing

So maybe it's true

That I can't live without you

And maybe two is better than one

But there's so much time

To figure out the rest of my life

And you've already got me coming undone

And I'm thinking two is better than one

Two is better than one - Boys like Girls

.

.

They were about to leave, when Fiona stopped them.

"Commander," she called out. Alistair paused and turned to look at her, a questioning stare in his eyes.

"What is it Fiona?"

"I am going with you." It was not a question, nor it was a request. It was a statement.

Alistair shook his head, so violently that he was surprised at his own reaction.

"No," he added, just to get things straight, but Fiona was looking at him with grim determination in her eyes, and anger.

Wait! Was that anger? He was instantly amused at the look.

Fiona caught his amusement and her eyes flashed up at him.

"You must think for a moment what you are up against. I am a mage. My magic will be exceedingly useful," she said, standing defiantly before him, her eyes still flashing darkly at him.

"I don't want to put you through an unnecessary risk," he began, but clamped his mouth shut when she scoffed, interrupting him. He tried again and this time said, "We already have a mage in the group," nodding towards where Anders was standing, who had a maddening grin plastered on his face.

"Risk? I decide where, when and why I want to put myself at a risk. All of you are taking this risk. And this is my decision to make. You have no say in the matter. I have made up my mind, and if you still say no, I will follow you, whether you like it or not," she crossed her arms in front of her chest, which was now heaving, anger exuding off her, so much so, that Alistair could taste it.

He finally saw that she would never falter, so after a few moments of agonizing silence, in which Anders chuckled and looked up at the ceiling innocently when Alistair glared at him, he reluctantly included her in the group.

The group.

There were only eight of them in the group. Well, nine now, if you counted Fiona.

Nine of them against a whole army of darkspawn. Well, he could be exaggerating, maybe there wasn't a whole army down there in the tunnels after all...

So he nodded at Fiona and said, "Welcome then. I do advise you to stay close to us, and to Anders. You said you no longer carry the taint, so you might not feel them as we do. Therefore, you have to-"

"I know what I have to do," she snapped as she moved closer, revealing a pack strapped on her back under her staff.

"Well, then," Alistair smiled. "Let's get a move on, shall we?"

And they all silently followed him out of the compound.

...

They arrived at a village north of Val Royeaux later that evening, when the sun was setting. They had travelled quickly and Alistair was in high spirits, in spite of passing the occasional burnt down farmhouse along the way. The grass was green where they stopped, and there was a brook not far, which made a lovely sound as it bubbled happily along its path.

He breathed in the woodsy smell of the nearby forest, and put up his tent, the rest already falling into their usual tasks of setting up camp as well.

"Fernan," he called, and the young rogue warden was instantly at his side. "Scout the area, see if you can find anything amiss." He nodded and vanished.

Alistair looked around and noticed that Chantalle had already put up her tent, and was busy getting some things out of her pack. He turned to Fiona and saw that she was fuming beside her tent, clearly unable to set it up properly. He grinned and walked over to where she was.

"I'll get that," he said quietly and proceeded to set the tent up with great ease. When he was done, he turned to look at her and gave her a lopsided smile.

Her eyes softened at him and she smiled. "Thanks, Commander."

"That's what I'm here for. Well, this and the witty one-liners," he said cheerfully and walked off to the center of the camp, where Marcus had already started to set up logs to build a fire. Anders flashed a firebolt at it, instantly setting the logs aflame.

"I'm putting a charm on the fire, so that it burns steadily and the logs don't burn out, as usual," Anders said as he flicked his hand forward. "If anyone is interested in taking baths, I can heat a portion of the brook up for you to bathe, so you'd better raise your hands and stand in line," he shouted at the rest, looking very smug.

"Show off," Alistair muttered under his breath and smiled at Chantalle who was now slipping her hand in his. He pulled her close and kissed her gently and then felt a pair of eyes staring at them, so he turned. Fiona was looking at them intensely.

"What's up with her?" He gestured, his eyes not leaving Chantalle's face.

"I don't know, but she seems to look at you a lot," Chantalle replied thoughtfully. Fiona noticed and turned to her pack immediately, apparently looking for something.

"You noticed too, huh?" Alistair said, bending down and kissing the top of her head. Her hair smelled of flowers and he breathed in her scent, holding her closer.

Fernan appeared beside them, startling Alistair, who tightened his arms around Chantalle, causing her to gasp.

"Sorry, love," he murmured, and turned to Fernan. "You always startle me. Can't you say something first, or whistle? Never mind," he added hastily when he saw that Fernan was about to reply. He didn't want to hurt his feelings. "Did you discover anything at all?"

"No, Commander. All is clear, though the forest is kind of dense, there may be something around the trees, but I could sense no darkspawn."

"That doesn't mean they aren't around. They move underground, but we should be able to sense them if they venture above. Unless they decide to drug us again," he shuddered slightly as he remembered the night they had managed to do that and Teslin had died. "We must be especially vigilant now and on our toes at all times."

Fernan nodded and they all gathered around the fire, Alistair still holding Chantalle close. They all knew about their relationship, so it was natural to see Alistair's arm over her shoulders in a protective gesture.

"All right. Let's decide who is doing the cooking," Alistair said and all of them shuddered, visibly dreading what was to come. Nobody raised a hand to volunteer anything, so after a while Alistair sighed.

"Wait! I can cook," Chantalle said in a loud voice.

All of them gave a sigh of relief.

Fiona suddenly said that she would help her, and the two women went to the brook to gather water in order to cook the meal. Leliana looked after them thoughtfully. There was something about this Fiona that she could not put her finger on. She sighed.

Whatever it was, she hoped she would find out soon, because she didn't like secrets at all.

...

All of them had eaten and had bathed in the stream, and were just sitting by the fire relaxing, telling stories. Alistair and Chantalle moved away and left them, strolling quietly along the perimeter of the camp, until they reached the beginning of the tree line.

She leaned against a tree, and sighed. She loved the forest, there was no other place she would rather be.

"It's a beautiful night, isn't it? Hard to believe that there is a darkspawn threat on a night like this." Alistair's voice cut through her thoughts and she smiled up at him.

He smiled back and bent down to kiss her lips gently, but she opened her lips and her tongue darted forward, brushing against his lips. The intensity of his reply surprised him, for he opened his lips and his tongue went forward boldly, and the kiss turned into a very passionate one.

His hands were lightly resting on her shoulders, and he pulled her closer. She gave a little gasp into his mouth which drove him crazy.

"My love," he crooned, "we have to stop, or I won't be able to control myself."

She stiffened slightly, and pulled away enough to gaze into his eyes. There was such love and adoration in his look that she melted.

How could she have thought, even for the tiniest of moments, that he would ever give in to his desire? Not while he looked at her like that. She was sure then that he would never do anything to hurt her.

"Alistair," she whispered. "I understand you want to-"

"Yes, I do. But that doesn't mean I'm going to," he whispered back. "I can't do something you are afraid of, my love. And I won't. Not until you are ready and you want to."

"Do you know...what happened?" She asked, her eyes holding his, her question burning him for he didn't want to tell her what he knew, but he didn't want to lie anyway. So he didn't answer, choosing only to kiss her tenderly.

"It's all right," she said. "I imagine Anders told you what my injuries were, he healed me after all."

She was so clever. He should have known he couldn't hide anything from her. He sighed audibly and looked deeply into her eyes.

"I know enough to want to kill them all over again. To feel that I have failed you terribly," he said in an agonized whisper, as his forehead touched hers, his eyes closed.

"You think you have failed me? Why?" She said, her eyes revealing a great deal of surprise.

"I should have gone into the tunnels immediately. I should have found you earlier!" He exclaimed, his anguish evident.

"But this wasn't your fault! I should have fought back, and helped my family, but I've finally realized that I couldn't! I was in shock! You shouldn't blame yourself for something that was out of your hands, Alistair. What happened was not your fault at all. It was nobody's fault. It just happened," she ended miserably, looking down.

"My love, it will be all right, it can only get better," he said softly, putting his hand under her chin and lifting her face up gently. Her eyes and his locked and they both held the love they felt for each other.

"It's so unfair to you. And to me. We should be...making love to each other right now," her voice ended in a whisper. "Instead, we are discussing my unnatural fear."

"Shh, my dear. We will overcome this," he whispered, his calloused fingers tracing the outline of her face softly.

"How can you be so sure? What if I never want to do...it...that?" She stumbled over her words. "I know men have to, it's something they have to do, like breathing."

He burst out laughing.

"Hey! Now that is not entirely true! I've never before done it, you know!"

Her eyes narrowed. "Not even with the Orlesian Warden Commander?" She shot back angrily.

He was taken aback and faltered briefly. "That was different. That wasn't, well. It wasn't complete," he stammered nervously. How could he tell her what had happened, when the whole thing embarrassed him greatly? "I can tell you about it, but I don't know how you would...er...take it."

Her eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. Yet, she believed him .

"So you've never really done...it?" She asked, her voice laden with surprise and wonder.

"No, I was raised in the Chantry. It's not easy to do it, when you have others telling you it's sinful," he laughed again.

"I was a virgin too, before...before, well...you know," she said quietly, her eyes searching his. Whatever she was searching for, she had apparently found it, for the next thing he knew, she was holding him closely and kissing him. His heart fluttered wildly.

"I want to do it with you soon, Alistair. I know you will be very gentle and tender. I can feel it. Let's not wait long, all right?"

He nodded dumbly, words failing to come forth and he could only stand there, his arms around her, thanking the Maker for her as he fought to control his desire which was threatening to overcome him completely.

"Whenever you're ready, my love. I can wait."

And somehow when he said those words, he found himself more in control than he ever had before.

...

They all stood around the gaping hole and looked down into the darkness, waiting for their Commander to give out orders on what they should do.

He stared at them all before speaking.

"We all know why we are here. We know this will not be easy and it will be several weeks, maybe even more, before we can see the light of day again. Any of us can die down there. If any of you want to turn back now, you can. I would understand completely and would never hold it against you."

Nobody moved.

"We're with you to the end, Commander," Anders said quietly.

Everyone spoke their agreement, if not in words, in gestured as some nodded. Oghren's gruff "Aye" was heard, and Leliana's sweet voice was heard above the rest. "I am not afraid."

Alistair felt a lump in his throat, touched by their loyalty and their belief in him.

"Let's do this then," he finally said. He looked at them one more time and took Chantalle's hand, holding it tightly. She squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"Down the hole and into the deep." Alistair said in a deep voice.

And they followed him down into the underground tunnels.