Author Notes: Thank you for those who have favorited this story and have taken the time to read all of my verbose ramblings. This is dedicated to you.

He had her back pressed up against the wall, her legs were entwined around his waist. He couldn't remember how they had ended up like this. He could only remember her hungry kisses and her searching hands as she removed his vambraces letting them just fall to the ground before she pressed herself closer to him. She had wrapped her arms around his neck to run her tongue over his ear and he had nearly lost it. He glowed a dull blow before slamming her against the wall and hiking her up to kiss her desperately. She had moaned his name so faintly that it sent shivers down his spine. He wanted her like no other, and she wanted him back by the way she clung to him.

He remembered how she had pulled back and sighed as she looked at him running her fingers through his hair. "I can't do this tonight…It's already late and I have to go to the Qunari compound tomorrow…"She grabbed his hair hard to pull his head to the side, leaning down to nip at his ear, sliding her tongue over his earlobe because of his previous reaction to it. He shivered to turn his head to the side slightly wanting to kiss her again. "I don't want to leave… but I have to…Can we continue this another time?"

She was pleading with him to leave though her body was saying something out, he had to admit it was funny… He finally held her in his grasp and she was trying to wriggle away because of her commitments to others. She was never going to be fully his, and though that pained him he had to admit it was funny how he wanted so much of her time. The lone wolf being obsessed with a hawk that circled just out of his reach, fluttering dangerously close to him to dart away. She was teasing him, tempting him with every move she made though it seemed to be by accident. It seemed she was just curious to get a good look at him. He laughed. "Sure… why not? Some other time then." He let her slide to the ground, kissing her hard one last time to leave his face close to hers. "You might have to get me drunk again." She smirked before sliding away from him, her fingertips trailing down his arm as she brushed by him.

"That won't be too hard…" His playful Hawke disappeared before him as she turned to look at him a final time in the doorway. "I would prefer if you went with me tomorrow… you know much more about the Qunari than I do…" He couldn't argue with that so he agreed and watched her walk out from his position against the wall.

He lingered at the spot she had been, it still felt warm from her presence, he could still smell her lavender scent in the room. She was worse than the lyrium in his viens. She set his blood on fire more than the lyrium ever had. She eclipsed every thought he had, did he have the same effect on her? He thought he did, the way she had looked at him, the way she could barely stop herself even when she said she had to leave. It was painful to have had her so close, to have felt her lips against his and then to pull away. He was starting to hate her notoriety. Part of him wished they could step away from everything and stay inside, away from the nobles, away from their friends.

He now looked at her back as she led the way up the stairs of the Qunari compound. They didn't even wait for her to say anything to them, they just opened the gates expectantly. Aveline stood on edge, as they walked up the stairs, and Anders bound up the stairs after them. None of them knew exactly what business she was on.

"What do you want now, human?" The Arishok sat on his throne, leaning forward to get a good look at her.

"Well… you requested me so you must have known I would be here eventually." She looked around at the other Qunari around them. She was on edge, what exactly had the Viscount told her? "You mean specific business though… I'm here about the Viscounts son…"

"Are you? In four years, I have made no threat… and fanatics have lined up to hate us simply because we exist. The son has made a choice, you will not deny him that." The Arishok seemed more violent, more on edge than he had been in their previous meetings.

"Is this some ploy to gain political advantage over Kirkwall, or is it merely that you are strengthening your army."It was a question, but she didn't word it like a question. She seemed to have the Arishok figured out. He was not here waiting for a ship… and he sure wasn't peaceful.

"Only a fool would arm his captives as you seem to think they are. This one joined the Qun at a time of peace, his life is in no danger with me. The son isn't here, though, he went to see his Father. I don't see why he would send a letter and you. He is at the Chantry."

She bristoled as Anders spoke up. "The Chantry is involved?" It was a simple question but it reverberated through the air, infecting the atmosphere with the implications it held.

"No but I know who is…" She turned her back to walk away. She had no other information to gather. She knew that the Arishok was the only one who would tell her the truth in this city. He was a leader to be respected, and possibly feared.

"I will not sit blindly and let this slide as I did the last time. I have let them offend me too many times."Fenris started to follow her before looking back at the Arishok. He had stood up with his axe in his hand, he knew the implications. If Hawke didn't fix this there would be battle.

Hawke stopped and stiffened. "I don't plan to let this slide… I will deal with this."

"I will be watching, Hawke."

"You always are, Arishok. I am not ignorant to your movements." The Arishok had smiled at that. It seemed eerie to see him smile but Fenris could see how Hawke had gained the Arishok's respect. If even the Arishok was susceptible to her charms then Fenris had to admit he stood no chance. He hadn't even dreamed of someone speaking the way Hawke did to the Arishok. The first time they had met this man she had turned to him letting him be her words, but now, now she was in her element as she stood before the Qunari leader.

The walk was in mostly silence as she led them to the wounded coast. "Aren't you going to go to the Chantry, Hawke?" Aveline felt this issue needed to be resolved right away but Hawke was trying to ignore it.

"Aveline, I sent word to the Viscount about this… it isn't my place to barge into the Chantry and reclaim his son. I need to wait until he tells me what he wishes to do or sends for me… I wish I could squeeze the life out of Patrice with my own hands but I can't. Do tell me why I became a noble? I much liked it better when I had no political tape holding me up." None of them could tell if she was joking or not, she had that characterized smirk on her face but there was something darker in her eyes and appearance. She looked unnerved, shaken from her meeting with the Arishok.

"I hardly see him being able to get in touch with you as you are wandering on the outskirts of town… and why you became a noble.. I think it was for the view from that estate wasn't it?"Aveline making jokes, it had to be bad if Aveline felt the need for humor.

Hawke smirked. "That's the point…" She waved her hand dismissing Aveline. "I am not ignoring my duties however as you would have it look… I put in an order for a blade from the Dalish, it is time for me to go pick it up. You don't truly have to follow me to go pick up my sword…but some air would do you good. You are too much in the barracks."

Aveline didn't seem pleased with that but Hawke continued walking, ignoring her friend's anger towards what Aveline deemed carelessness but she didn't leave Hawke so Fenris assumed Aveline wasn't too angry. He didn't understand women but their talk left him walking next to Anders as they seemed to be getting out of their earshot on purpose. Anders seemed to be just waiting for the perfect moment to say something to him and Hawke and Aveline's chatter gave him the perfect chance.

"You aren't worth her time, you know." He said it so nonchalantly as his eyes stared forward at Hawke.

"And you are, Abomination?" Fenris growled, how dare Anders pry into his personal life or Hawke's personal life for that matter.

"Simply put, yes." Fenris didn't like the smug smile on his face, but he had to oddly jealous of his confidence that he was what Hawke wanted. Fenris didn't talk about it anymore, he felt odd that Anders and the others looked so much into their relationship. Perhaps Anders was just stating that to what he felt was competition. The rest of the way to the Dalish camp they walked in silence as Aveline and Hawke discussed how to handle the Qunari problem, it was all that engulfed Aveline right now. He thought he heard her talking about a serial killer, but he doubted he had heard that right. Kirkwall had its share of problems but he had never heard of a serial killer in Kirkwall. But then he heard Hawke say she would look into it after she had spoken with the Viscount.

It seemed to pass so normally, Anders and Fenris in angry silence with each other and Aveline and Hawke talking about the guard shifts and Aveline's husband. Hawke never said a word about her love life, she always deflected the question back to Aveline. Perhaps she was doing that for him, or perhaps she thought it would be awkward for her friends to know of their romance. Could it even be called a romance? It was just tension between them and desire. Their respite to the outskirts of Kirkwall were shattered though as shouts filled the air. Aveline, Fenris and Anders all got into defensive postures but Hawke merely looked up at the culprit.

"Return the magistrate's property and none of you will be hurt."

"Do you mean this elf here? Because I don't believe Fenris is anyone's property. I could be mistake though." She looked casually back at Fenris. "Are you anyone's property?"

Fenris growled. He could feel his face heating up. How could she make light of the situation? These were slavers come to take him back to his master. "No. I am not a slave."

"Well you heard it boys. Time to pack up and leave." He thought Hawke had come to get a blade, but truly she had come out to the coast looking for a fight. It all made sense now, the way she joked, the way she stood so calmly. She was trying to pull them in, taunting them as she stood there so confident. It seemed to work as well as the slavers rushed at them, their leader full of anger and the hope of bringing back Fenris to earn his weight in gold.

She was on them in the time it took him to process the scene fully. She didn't even pull her blades, she just round-house kicked the leader. The leader was knocked to the ground with all of the air taken out of his lungs. Fenris' blade clashed with one of the slavers as Anders sent a fireball raining down on fire in the back. Aveline was at his side as they fought them off back to back. Hawke seemed to be laughing, he could hear it ring through the air like bells, and he glanced over for a moment to see her kick the man's sword away to place her foot on his chest. She was toying with him, it was sadistic to watch but he understood why, she was taking out all of the frustration on this man, and he deserved it, all slavers did. He felt a pain in his arm as he turned his attention back to his opponent, his glance over had dropped his sword too low and his opponent cut into his arm. He winced backing off to drive his great sword across the man's gut. The man fell clumsily, and died nosily. It wasn't a clean death but he looked at Hawke playing with her catch. She wasn't though, she was keeping the man down and looking over at him. What exactly did she want? He took down another slaver, but Anders had destroyed more than he had, Aveline was tied with him in the end as they looked at the poor, little slaver group decimated.

They started to walk over to her, Fenris holding the gash in his arm. She was smirking at them and her conquest. "I thought you guys would have finished them sooner… and look Fenris cut himself." She tsked at them before looking down at the slaver. "He has some interesting information for you, Fenris… He said he would do anything I wished if I didn't kill him. Isn't that right?" The slaver nodded his head, and went to speak but she placed her boot over his mouth. "Shh… I didn't give you permission to talk."

Fenris narrowed his eyes, and the others looked at him cautiously. "What exactly did he say?"

"Something about a woman named Hadriana?" The slaver nodded her boot still over his mouth. Fenris could feel the anger rising in him, wanting to engulf him. Hadriana, the one who had tortured him all those years, denied his food. She was here, right before him. "…and he said he would take us to her… She's in some cave."

"I know which one… I don't need this man." She stepped back from the leader, putting herself between him and his blade that lay in the dirt.

"Then I guess you get to go."

"No." He had come up behind her in an instant, piercing the man's chest with his own blade before Hawke had a moment to disagree with him. He could feel Anders hatred at his back, and Aveline's judgement. "He chose the wrong master." He saw Hawke staring at him inquisitively, trying to figure out how he was reacting.. It was like she had seen this coming. He wanted to say how he needed their help, how he needed her help to get this knife from his back, but it was hard admitting he couldn't face Hadriana by himself, he so wished he could do it without Hawke's eyes at his back. He felt like he was disappointing her by holding this rage in, but he couldn't let it go. He swallowed the lump in his throat to stare at the man he had killed.

She didn't say anything, none of them did. All she did was take the red armband with her family's shield off of her own arm to tie it around his gash in an attempt to stop the bleeding. "I will go. I cannot say the same for Aveline and Anders."

Anders was frowning. "I do not approve of this… but I go where you go, Hawke. I will not leave you with this wild dog." If Fenris could say anything, he didn't approve of Anders coming either. It was a mutual feeling but he needed the mage for once. They both looked at Aveline to see her arm's crossed over her chest.

"I will go if you tell me the truth… there wasn't a blade was there, Hawke?" Hawke gave a slight chuckle, she seemed to be satisfied with herself for keeping this from them. The talk about needing to go to the Qunari compound early the night before was because she had planned to confront the slavers.

"You wound me, Aveline… There is a blade, but I do not need to get it today. The Viscount had told me about slavers in the area, it was my price for helping him with the Qunari today." That seemed enough of an answer for Aveline. They had to admit she was cunning. Sometimes it was hard to remember, the way she seemed to walk into situations without realizing, but she had known what she was doing every step of the way so far. She could see the situations and she had been trying to plan out the best course of action this whole time, for all of them. "Now if you are done grilling me, Aveline then you could lead on Fenris."