Date Night

This is set between Act 2 and Act 3 (probably closer to Act 3), when the templars are cracking down on the mage underground, and Anders has taken up the cause of mages again after the Ella incident during Dissent (Olivia calmed Anders down and Ella lived).

It was a busy day in the clinic. There was a bit of an influenza epidemic running rampant in Darktown, and Anders had his work cut out for him. Olivia watched as he healed patient after patient, his face set in concentration, tendrils of blue magic pouring out from his hands. As much as she hated to see people sick, she was glad for the distraction it provided. Healing was something that kept him in one of his better moods.

He caught her staring and smirked at her, sending his newly healed patient off so he could take care of another one. For a brief moment, electricity danced between his fingertips, and he suggestively waggled his eyebrows at her.

"You'll get your turn later, sweetheart," he said, and Olivia laughed, rolling her eyes at him.

"You should pay attention to your patients," she playfully chided, gesturing to the young woman who had settled herself onto his examination table.

"And you should pay attention to your potions," he shot back, beginning to heal the woman. "We don't need a repeat of last week. That poor boy had the runs for three days straight."

"Oh, Maker, don't remind me," she groaned. She felt horrible for accidentally screwing up that potion, and she'd apologized to the boy repeatedly.

"You'll never live it down, love." Anders shot her one last smile before fully focusing his attention on his patient.

She shook her head and waited for him to finish before shooting a spark of electricity right at his behind. He jumped in surprise, his hand darting back to cover where she'd hit him. Olivia quickly returned to her potions, suppressing a giggle and pretending to be innocent. It was her turn to be surprised when he stepped up behind her and pressed his lips to her neck. She sighed contently at the tender kiss, enjoying the way his stubble softly rubbed against her skin.

And then he zapped her right back.

Olivia jerked away from the little burst of electricity, turning around and shoving him in the chest. "You are such a tease."

"You started it."

"Just get back to work," she said.

"As you wish, oh, mighty Champion," Anders replied with a mock bow. He smirked at her again, and she softly smiled back at him. It was good to see him happy like this. Maker knows he deserved it.

Both mages got back to their work. Patients flocked into the clinic sick and left healed, with the bonus of a potion to help keep them that way. The rest of the day flew by quickly, and soon enough the last of the patients trickled out of the clinic, leaving them to clean up and close for the night.

Olivia was putting away various medicinal plants and other ingredients, when a lone man walked into the clinic, looking around for Anders. She recognized the man as one of his contacts in the mage underground, and gestured towards where Anders was. The man quickly nodded at her before going to discuss whatever it was he was there about.

She didn't bother trying to eavesdrop; Anders would tell her what was going on if it pertained to her. After he decided to get involved with the mage revolution again, she'd demanded he let her help. She needed something to do instead of lying in bed alone while he was out traipsing all over Kirkwall to save mages. He'd refused, said that it was too dangerous, but she pressed the issue and finally got him to cave in. His only stipulation was that she only involve herself with the actual rescuing of mages, leaving all dealings with the mage underground's contacts and connections to him. He wanted to keep her from that world as much as possible, again, for her safety. She wanted to be a part of everything, but she saw how serious he was when he spoke of the dangers it would place her in. So she agreed to his terms—and thus "date night" was born.

Anders approached her as his contact left, stepping up to her and placing his hands on either side of the table she was leaning back against.

"So, is tonight date night or not?" she asked, looking up at him expectantly.

He let out a light laugh. "If you're interested…"

Olivia scoffed and shot him a wry grin. "If I'm interested. You should know the answer to that." She stood up straight, loosely draping her arms around his neck, his arms wrapping around her waist. "Freeing mages and maybe even taking out a templar or two… it's so romantic… and exciting! It really gets the blood going, you know?"

"You're absolutely mad."

"You know you love it," she said, and he shook his head, trying not to smile. "Besides, you'd be lying if you said you didn't enjoy taking out templars."

"It's one of the best parts of date night," Anders replied.

Olivia laughed. "Yes it is." She pressed her lips to his, and he pulled her body flush to his as he deepened the kiss. When they broke apart, he rested his forehead against hers, and she smiled as he gently nuzzled her face with his. "We should prepare," she murmured, even though she didn't want their little moment to end. Once they helped the mages they'd have time for more sweet stuff—another bonus of date night.

Anders nodded and released his grip on her. He held out his hand and she took it, lacing their fingers together as they left the clinic. They had a date to get to.

It was time.

They ventured through Darktown to the entrance of the tunnels that led to the Gallows. Olivia went to climb down the ladder, but Anders caught her arm and stopped her. She sighed, looking to him, knowing what he was going to say.

"If there are Templars—"

"I can't promise that I won't get up close and personal with them," she started. "What else says 'I hate you' like a flaming fist to the face?"

"I'm serious, love," he said, a pleading look in his eyes.

"I may be crazy, but I know what I'm doing." She placed her hand on the side of his face, rubbing her thumb over his cheek. "I'll be careful." He leaned into her touch, placing his hand over hers. "We'll be fine. It'll be a routine and boring date, and you'll have to make up for the lost excitement once we get home."

That got him to crack a smile, and she smiled back, pleased with herself. In reality, their date could go horribly. Things had gotten harder for the mage underground, thanks to Knight-Commander Meredith assigning some ruthless Templar with the sole job of destroying it. Their raids into the Gallows used to go smoothly, but lately the Templars always seemed to show up sooner or later. But they weren't going to let that stop them.

"I love you, Liv," Anders breathed, his eyes boring into hers.

"I know. I love you, too."

After a brief kiss, they made their way down into the tunnels, navigating to where it exited—past the outer walls of the Gallows. Their contacts within the Circle had done their part and gotten the mages to their meeting location. Anders and Olivia gathered the jittery mages—who were barely out of their teens, the youngest just a child—and started to lead them back to Darktown. They'd almost made it back when they ran into a problem.

The Templars were waiting for them.

"Anders, they can't fight," Olivia whispered, readying her staff and calling on her magic. She glanced back to the mages they were rescuing, all of them petrified in the presence of the metal-clad men.

"Run, get out of here!" Anders shouted at them as he too prepared for battle, and they scurried off through the tunnels towards the exit back to Darktown. Some of the Templars made a move to chase after them, but the one in charge made them stand down.

"Champion," he greeted, almost cordially, and Olivia huffed, her lips curling into a predatory grin.

"I'm not interested in any banter," she spat. "You're interrupting our date, and I'd very much like to get back to it."

She didn't give him a chance to respond, slamming her staff down to the ground. Cracks and crevices fanned out from the bottom of her staff, the ground shaking with a localized earthquake. It knocked a few Templars off their feet, and she laughed as she finished off the immobilized warriors with a shower of exploding fireballs.

Her and Anders moved fast, unleashing as much fury as they could before their remaining enemies had a chance to drain their mana. She used her staff to stab and smash just as many Templars as she burned and electrocuted, and soon enough there weren't any left to fight.

She exchanged a weary glance with Anders before he grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the mess they'd made. They ran towards the end of the tunnels, where another group of Templars were waiting for them, the one in charge from before at the head of the group. Behind them lay the bodies of the young mages they were supposed to help, all of them slaughtered.

Olivia stared at them in disbelief. They'd had trouble before, but this… they'd never lost anyone during an escape. Beside her, Anders was furious. Veins of blue light glowed through cracks in his skin before fading away as he regained control of the spirit inside him. It was he who attacked first this time, releasing a battle cry as he hurled a stone projectile into the crowd of Templars.

She joined him in battle, and for every Templar they killed, it seemed two more appeared out of nowhere. The Templars overwhelmed them, and if they didn't do something to change the tide of the fight soon, they'd both end up dead.

She released a burst of telekinetic energy that sent the warriors flying away from her. She lifted their bodies with another wave of telekinetic force, then slamming them down into the ground, their armor clanking loudly at the impact. She prayed it would keep them away from her long enough to cast a spell that would annihilate the rest of them.

Carefully focusing on the raw power she had access to, Olivia started to summon electricity to her hands, sparks jumping between her fingers as she charged the spell. She was going to rain lightning down on them and fry them in their metal suits for killing those mages.

"Olivia!" At the sound of Anders' voice, she stopped her casting, whirling around to face him. A Templar she'd missed—how had she missed him?—was practically on top of her, sword ready to strike. She didn't have enough time to think, let alone defend herself.

She flinched, gasping and closing her eyes, bringing her staff in front of herself. She waited for the inevitable hit, but it never came. She opened her eyes to find the man completely encased in ice, sword inches from her face. Olivia glanced behind him and her eyes met Anders', his free hand outstretched towards her, the remnants of a frost spell fizzing away between his fingertips.

Before Olivia could even register that he'd saved her life, she witnessed the beginnings of a scene that had regularly haunted her nightmares. A Templar was coming up right behind Anders, who was too focused on her to see him. Her world stopped, her heart seizing in her chest as the Templar grabbed Anders' shoulder and ran him through with his sword.

Eyes wide, he looked down at the sword sticking out of his stomach, almost surprised—as if he couldn't comprehend how it got there. Anders met her gaze, falling to his knees when the Templar pulled out the sword. The man pulled it back, getting ready to swing it at Anders' neck, and something inside Olivia snapped.

She lost control of her magic, her emotions getting the better of her. Her anger and fear washed over her as she drew on every last bit of mana she had, a ring of fire starting to build up around her. She lashed out with a scream, a maelstrom of flames incinerating everyone around her.

The anguished screams of his brothers in arms were enough of a distraction to prevent that Templar from killing Anders. Instead, he and the others that remained standing used their abilities to Smite her, draining her remaining mana, the inferno of flames around her instantly dying out with a hiss. She could feel them ripping the last of her mana away from her, her chest painfully constricting as she grew dizzy and disoriented.

She wasn't the only one affected—they drained Anders of his mana as well, and without it, he couldn't heal himself. He was going to bleed out.

Olivia spun her staff and swung the bladed end at the first Templar she saw, desperate to get Anders, but she was weak, and her attack was futile. The armored man caught her staff, ripping it from her hands. His fist connected with her face, and it stunned her, her vision blurring for a moment. She was hauled up by her hair and shoved against the wall of the tunnels, an armored hand clamping around her throat.

She clawed at the hand, desperate for air, desperate to get to Anders, but it was no use. She tried to summon electricity to her fingertips to shock the man off of her, but her mana was gone. She was helpless.

"That was impressive, Champion," a voice said, and she realized it was from the Templar restraining her. His face swam before her until he loosened his grip just a bit, and she was able to breathe enough to focus on him. It was the one in charge—the one who'd ordered the deaths of the mages they were trying to help.

Olivia ignored him, her eyes darting over the carnage around her until they found Anders. There was a Templar on either side of him, each holding one of his arms, his body hanging limp between them. Maker, there was so much blood. How much blood could a man loose before he couldn't be saved?

She mustered up a glare at the bastard pinning her to the wall, struggling against him with all she had to try and get free. She needed to do something before it was too late…

"You put up a good fight, but your time interfering is over." The Templar looked to his fallen comrades with a frown, turning his unforgiving gaze back on her. "You're going to pay for what you've done here."

"I'm t-the Champion… you c-can't kill me," Olivia rasped. She was too important a person in Kirkwall for them to just kill her.

He laughed, laughed, and it sent chills down her spine. "We may not be able to kill you, but we can kill your friend, instead." He nodded to the Templars holding Anders, and one of them jerked his head up, the other bringing his sword to his neck.

"N-No! No, please! P-Please don't hurt him!" she begged, frantically struggling against her captor. She couldn't let them kill him, she couldn't. "You can do… whatever you want to me, just… leave him out of it! Please, I b-beg you!"

"Anything?"

"Yes, a-anything. Just d-don't hurt him," she croaked, on the verge of tears.

"Maybe I'll make you Tranquil," he mused, dread creeping up her spine at the thought. "The Champion of Kirkwall would make a fine pet." He brushed aside her hair from her forehead, his hand around her throat preventing her from jerking away from his touch. "The Brand will suit that pretty little head of yours."

The Templar finally released his grip on her, and she fell to the ground, terrified and gasping for air. As the fog cleared her head, she felt the air around her shift. It was subtle, but she'd come to recognize what it felt like when traces of the Fade emerged—and what it meant. Olivia looked to Anders, who was now standing between the two Templars who had restrained him, his skin cracked open and glowing the same blue as his eyes.

But he wasn't Anders anymore. He was Justice.

"You will not lay another hand on her!" he boomed, drawing the rest of the Templars' attention. Olivia could only watch as Anders—no, Justice—fought off the rest of the warriors, destroying them with magic and practically ripping them apart with his bare hands. When they were all dead, he stood among the bloodbath, his chest heaving, glowing eyes looking over what was left of the Templars.

Olivia scrambled to her feet, steadying herself against the wall. He whirled around and his eerie gaze landed on her, blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth.

"Anders! No!" she shouted, running up to him. Blood soaked his coat, and she quickly unbuckled the many clasps that held it closed, lifting up the tunic he wore underneath.

By the Maker, it was bad. The sword wound was right under his ribcage, blood still pouring out of it. She didn't know how he was still standing. Well, she most likely had Justice to thank for that. Olivia pressed her hand to the wound and met his gaze, panicking when she saw that Justice hadn't relinquished his control over Anders' body.

"Anders!" He didn't hear her. He was tense, still on edge, as if he expected more Templars to show up—which was still a possibility. But they were alone, and if he didn't heal himself now, he'd probably die. "Justice!" she shrieked, desperate and afraid of losing him. That finally got his attention, and he looked down at her expectantly. "Anders needs to heal himself or he's going to die!"

He nodded once, and then faded away, Anders' glowing eyes and skin returning to normal. Without the spirit holding him up anymore, he sagged forward with a pained groan, and Olivia caught him, lowering him to the ground. He gave her a weary look, barely able to hold his eyes open.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked, coughing up more blood.

"I'm fine, love," she started, grabbing his hand and placing it over the gaping hole in his torso. "Heal yourself." With a wince he began healing himself, his skin knitting itself back together until all that remained was a faint scar. He let out an exhausted huff before raising his hand to her face in an attempt to heal her as well. She shook her head and gently took his hand, lowering it to his chest. "You're still too weak."

"But—"

"Later," she interrupted, her voice cracking as she spoke. She didn't want him to kill himself trying to heal her, too. She'd already almost lost him to the damned Templars. Olivia choked back a sob and hugged him tight, burying her face in his neck where she could hear his faint pulse just beneath his skin. He was alive.

She didn't let him go until she calmed down and composed herself. She helped him up and together they hobbled back to Darktown, returning home through the cellar of the estate. When they got upstairs Bodahn and Orana nervously fussed over them, but Olivia assured them that they were fine; they just needed to get cleaned up and rest. They left their staves in their room, stripped off their bloody clothes, and hopped into the bath Orana had drawn for them.

They washed each other in silence. Anders was still weak and they were both exhausted, but he still insisted on healing the bruises on her face and her neck. When they finished, neither of them had the energy to leave the warm, soothing water, so they remained in the bath together.

Olivia sat behind him, her arms wrapped around his chest, laying her head on his shoulder. Her fingers aimlessly traced over his new scar, her mind replaying their failed rescue over and over.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "This was all my fault." She held him tighter and he gently placed his hands over hers, stilling them. "I know I can be reckless, but it's always me who pays the price for my choices, never anyone else."

"Liv—"

"I was just so angry at them for killing those mages, those children, and I wanted to kill them all. I didn't see him… and you saved me… and then…" Her throat tightened as she tried not to cry. "If it weren't for Justice, you'd be dead, and I'd be…" She shivered as she thought of that Templar's threats. Maybe I'll make you Tranquil… The Champion of Kirkwall would make a fine pet… The Brand will suit that pretty little head of yours.

"I won't lose someone else I love to them," Anders murmured. "I won't… I can't go through that again."

"I know," she whispered, pressing a tender kiss to his shoulder. "I won't lose you to them, either."

Anders shifted in the tub, the water sloshing around them as he turned around to face her. "This wasn't your fault," he said, cupping the side of her face with his hand. "The Templars killed those mages, the Templars hurt me, and the Templars threatened you. One day they will pay for everything they've done." He pressed his lips to hers and she let herself get lost in the feeling of his kiss. When they pulled back he tugged her close, and she wrapped her arms around him again, resting her head on his chest. Olivia closed her eyes and sighed, enjoying the moment while it lasted. For now they were alive, they were together, and they were safe.

But Anders was right. The Templars would pay for everything they'd done. It seemed like an uphill battle, but she wouldn't stop fighting because things needed to change. No mage should have to fear what they went through that night. They should be able to love each other without the risk of Templars driving them apart, killing them, or making them Tranquil.

After tonight, after seeing those mages killed and almost losing Anders, she knew there could never be peace. She would do everything she could to free mages and keep Anders safe. And if she had to take Kirkwall down with her… then so be it.