Author's Note: Thanks to all of you reviewing! I love reading your comments. To Serfius, yes, I've often wondered if Jory would have survived had he gone first, or even if he hadn't pulled his blade on Duncan, but alas. They sort of paint him as a cowardly fellow, so maybe he would have died or otherwise deserted anyway?

Chapter 15 - Joined by Duty

The Joining was always a bloody and awful thing to endure, whether you were the one drinking the blood or not, and this time was no different. Alistair watched as Serena lifted the cup to her lips and drank, poor Daveth and Ser Jory's lifeless bodies lying feet from her. Only one person had died in his Joining, and it certainly hadn't been from a dagger to the stomach.

He exchanged uneasy glances with Duncan as Serena swayed on her feet. Suddenly, she pitched forward, her eyes milky white, and Alistair rushed forward to catch her before she hit the stones. Her body hung limply in his arms, and he looked at Duncan, panic quickly rising in his chest.

"She lives," Duncan said, putting his hand to her forehead. He pulled it away quickly, and Alistair could feel the heat radiating from her pale skin. "I do not know how long she will be out. Do you need my help carrying her back to the camp, Alistair?"

"No, she's pretty light..." He swung his arm under her legs and lifted her up easily. "I've got her."

"I'll see if I can't find a mage willing to help us cool her skin... that fever is coming on quickly." Duncan disappeared down the stairs into the main camp as Alistair carried Serena's body back through the Grey Warden section of camp, thankful that the majority of the tents occupants appeared to be in the meal tent.

"Alistair? Is that you?" A tall man with a short black goatee strode toward him. "How did the Join- Oh." The man noticed the girl in Alistair's arms and frowned. "Is she...?"

"She'll survive," Alistair answered quietly. "She has a fever, though, I should get her to my tent. Duncan left to summon a mage." He nodded to his fellow Grey Warden and moved on, his arms starting to ache from the strain.

"Stay by her," the other Warden called behind him. "The Joining can have some unexpected side effects..."

They finally reached his tent and Alistair pushed the tent flap back with his foot. Gently laying her on his bedroll, he crawled into the tent beside her, worry creating a frustrated knot in his stomach.

A fine coat of sweat had broken out on her forehead, and Alistair took a cloth from his pack and wiped her face slowly. Her breathing was so jagged; she hadn't taken to the taint well at all. Not that anybody did, really, he reminded himself. But in his Joining, the other two men who had survived along with him were only down for a few minutes before they reawakened.

"Serena... I don't know if you can hear me," he whispered, his hazel eyes filled with concern. "If you can, I want you to know that I'm here with you. You're not alone anymore."

"Al...ster..." Serena murmured, her eyes fluttering. "Drag...gone..."

Alistair clutched her hand, shaking it gently. "Serena? Serena! Can you hear me?"

"Drag..." Serena's eyes opened briefly and her head lolled to the side. Alistair was relieved to see her blue eyes were no longer that eerie milky white. He put a hand under her head and lifted it gently. Her eyes blinked and tried focusing on his face, although she still appeared out of it.

"Burns..." she slurred, her hand grasping for him. "I..." She frowned, her eyes rolling to the side, and then fell limp again. Alistair laid her head back down, confused on what he should do for her. Shouldn't Duncan be back by now?

The tent parted and a Circle mage Alistair vaguely recognized crawled in.

"This is the... oh, it's her," the woman said. She waved a hand and Alistair felt a wave of cool air push through the tent towards Serena. "She is tainted?"

"It was the..." he paused, not knowing if he should divulge Grey Warden secrets to this old woman. "She... err... yes. Yes. She's tainted. But she'll survive, it's just... this fever?"

"I can't do much for the taint in her blood," the woman replied, her forehead wrinkling in thought. She pulled at Serena's armor, stripping it off her and tossing it to the back of the tent. "But I can cool her down, break the fever." Next came her tunic and leggings until Alistair realized she was lying in her small clothes, her pale skin made even more so by the fever. Her auburn hair appeared almost black in the contrast.

The mage put her hands over Serena's midsection, her eyes closing in concentration. Alistair could feel the magic flow from the older woman into Serena, and he saw her body visibly relax at the sensation, the tension in it broken.

"The fever should recess soon, but she needs rest." The white haired mage looked around cautiously. "Is this your tent, young man?"

"Y-yes. She doesn't have one yet, though," Alistair babbled, unable to help his nerves. Sick or not, he'd never had a nearly naked girl in his tent before, and the strain was getting to be a bit much. "I mean, she could have Daveth or- or Jory's, but we just got back from the Wilds and..."

"It's alright-" the woman interrupted. "Just let her sleep, maybe have some water waiting for her when she wakes up." She touched Serena's forehead, and Alistair saw the blue light of healing magic. "She should awaken in a few hours." She touched Alistair's blonde head and smiled. "You ought to get some rest as well, young man."

Alistair nodded, the fatigue and worry about to overwhelm him. The mage nodded again, and moved out of the tent. He heard her converse with Duncan briefly, then both of them walked off, their footsteps crunching the leaves around the camp.

He looked down at Serena again, covering her with a light blanket. Her face now looked cool and the fever seemed to have receded somewhat from the magic. He ran a hand along her cheek, pushing her brown hair away from her eyes. She could have been one of his little figurines, she was so still and peaceful looking.

Alistair leaned back, exhaustion from the day's events finally taking its toll on him. He removed his splintmail armor and put it in one of the crates at the back of the tent. It had been such a long day... Wolves, and witches, and the Joining. He could feel his eyes drooping.

Alistair sighed, his shoulders slumping and he soon drifted off to sleep, one arm resting on a crate. His other hand hung down at his side, still holding Serena's.

Serena woke hour's later feeling groggy and disoriented. She could remember the Joining... Daveth had drank first and... oh. And then Jory had pulled his sword on Duncan and... there was a flash of him being cut down right in front of her. Then her own turn to drink had come and she had... collapsed? And then the dragon had come...

She peered about, the tent around her dark. She shook her head, trying to clear the fog and realized a large hand was pressed up against hers. She touched the hand hesitantly, feeling up the arm to the owner's face. The smell of pine was a welcome relief.

"Alistair..." she whispered. "Alistair, are you..." She poked him gently in the ribs and he started, grabbing her shoulders.

"Serena! Oh, good." He sighed with relief, and she felt him pull her into a hug. "I... we... we were so worried." Serena hugged him back, her body feeling awkward in such close quarters. Their bodies were a strange tangle together on the floor of the tent, but Serena was reluctant to let him go. And, oh, sweet Maker, he smelled terrific. She inhaled his scent and sighed, feeling better than she had in days.

"I have a lantern in here somewhere," he said in the darkness, hands fumbling around her. His hand landed on her thigh and she bit her lip, not knowing whether to brush it off or not. "Is that… oh, sorry..." he mumbled, and she could almost hear his blush. "Ah. Here it is." Light blossomed in the tent, and they both squinted, their eyes adjusting.

"How are you feeling? Okay?" he asked tentatively, his hazel eyes searching her face.

"I think so... I mean, I feel pretty okay, but there was a dragon..." Serena looked down and her eyes went wide. "And I'm practically naked." Her eyes met Alistair's and she could feel her face grow hot. She threw one arm over her chest, hoping her breast band covered more than it normally appeared to. "I... uh..."

"Oh, right, uh..." Alistair fumbled; the great swathe of her bare skin appeared to be making him even slower to react. He pulled up a blanket from under him and held it up with both arms, hiding her from his view. "Sorry about that, the mage removed your clothes."

"What mage?" Serena asked from the other side of the blanket.

"Duncan summoned a mage for you, after the Joining... you had a fever, you... do you remember anything?"

"I remember Daveth and Jory..." He heard her sigh sadly, and knew she was thinking of the others who hadn't made it. "Then I drank and... collapsed, I think?"

"Yeah, you sort of swayed and fell. I carried you here." His tone was matter-of-fact but Serena pulled his arm down, lowering the blanket so she could see his face. "I... oh, wow. Uh." Alistair's eyes dipped down promptly and his face blushed a deep crimson. "Wow."

"I thought we agreed that you wouldn't carry me anywhere anymore?" she asked, smirking, taking a small amount of pleasure in his awkwardness. Apparently the Grey Wardens didn't have very many women.

"W-what was I supposed to do?" he replied, his eyes flipping up to the tent ceiling. "You had fainted, and you had that fever..."

"Well, thank you... Again." She pulled the blanket from his grasp and wrapped it around herself in a thin makeshift dress. "I'm a lucky girl. You're like my white knight."

"Oh, I don't know about that... you didn't see me earlier," Alistair said, his eyes dropping to her face now that she had covered herself somewhat. "That poor mage probably thought I'd lost my mind, I was babbling so much."

"Well, it had been a long day, I'm sure you were exhausted," Serena offered lightly, trying to spare him his dignity.

"Oh yes, that was it," Alistair said, his eyes rolling. "It had nothing to do with the beautiful naked girl in my tent."

Serena laughed. "Flatterer. If I'm so ravishing, what's stopping you from babbling now?"

"Well, you put that blanket back on for one," he replied, grinning. "Plus, the Chantry raised me to be a gentlemen around ladies such as yourself."

"You mentioned that before, that you were raised by the Chantry."

"Ah, did I? Yes, well, you know." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Before that I was raised by wolves in the Anderfels, so..."

"Funny," Serena said, pushing on his chest. "And here I thought the Anderfels were much further north than Redcliffe..."

Alistair peered at her, his hazel eyes searching her face again. "You really do remember all I prattle on about, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Serena replied, readjusting her blanket so she could lie on her side comfortably. "How many friends do you think I have here?"

"Good point," he said. "Although I'm used to people just ignoring me."

Serena gazed up into her fellow Grey Warden's eyes. He looked so vulnerable, she wished she could just lean forward and give him a big hug. She wanted to comfort him like he had comforted her the night before. But maybe he would find that inappropriate? Instead she settled on putting a gentle hand on his knee. "Well, if you ever need to talk... I'm here."

He put his hand over hers and his smile was warm. "I know," he said. He stretched, putting his hands behind his head as he laid back onto the extra blanket. "I don't suppose you'd be kind enough to let me stay here the rest of the night... It's gotten quite cold outside."

"As if you have to ask," Serena said, unfolding the blanket from around her. "It's your tent, after all. Isn't it I who should be asking to stay?"

"True." He turned on his side and looked at her expectantly, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "Well?"

"I... you..." Serena shook her head and straightened, allowing the blanket to fall to her waist. If he was going to play games, then so could she. She grinned as his eyes dropped briefly to follow the blanket. "May I stay the night? Please?"

"Oh, yes." Alistair blinked several times before finally laying back and staring at the ceiling of the tent, his face flushed. "You are an evil woman. Truly."

"You seem to bring out the absolute worst behavior in me," Serena murmured to him, her voice low. "It's shameless."

Serena settled back onto the bedroll, covering herself with the blanket once again. She wished she could just shove her face into the pillow; his smell was so enticing to her. But she had been decidedly unladylike enough for one night. Perhaps it was the darkspawn blood that made her so brazen.

"And to think I used to be such a nice young man..." Alistair said wistfully, his tanned skin still carried some pink on the cheeks. "Alas."

"I don't think nice young men slay archdemons," Serena replied. She paused, thinking about the ritual from earlier. "Is there... anything I should be worried about? I won't turn green or anything, will I? I… I don't know what to expect now."

Alistair yawned, turning on his side to regard her. "You mean from the Joining?" She nodded. "Hmmm... did you have any dreams? I had terrible dreams after my Joining."

"There... was a dragon," Serena said slowly. "It was a dragon, wasn't it?"

Alistair sighed, his eyes closing. "That was the archdemon, most likely. What you're hearing, the roaring, is it talking to the horde. Since we're tainted, we can hear it. Duncan can explain it better than I can, but eventually you'll be able to block out the dreams a bit." He opened his eyes and looked at her. "Aren't you tired?"

At his mention of sleep, Serena yawned. "Oh... you're right." She snuggled into the bedroll, touching Alistair's hand lightly. "Thanks, again, Alistair. I mean it."

"I know you do." Alistair's voice was soft, and Serena saw him reach back with his other hand and extinguish the lantern. He squeezed her hand in the darkness. "Welcome to the Grey Wardens, Serena."