Cat went straight for the Rose as she ran, knowing she could hide easily there. She may have had the night off, but no one else knew that, and that's where Isabela was going to come for her. Before turning the final corner, she yanked the scarf off her head and stuffed it in her pack stopping to listen for anyone trailing her.
Upon entering, she nodded at Viveka, and asked after Idunna. She had finished for the night, so Cat hurried up to her room.
"Oh, Cat! I didn't think I'd see you tonight."
"Why not?" Cat asked.
"Well, it's much later than normal, isn't it?" Idunna replied. "But no matter. I was just going to let you know that we are running low on tonics. Everyone contributed this time," she said as she handed Cat a pouch full of coin.
"Oh, great. I'll get an order in tomorrow," Cat said as she sat heavily on a chair. She was finally able to fully relax, and she was ready to crash.
"Is that… blood?" Cat glanced at Idunna, noting her gaze at Cat's side.
"Yeah, though it was just a scratch. Some idiot thought he could rob me earlier." Cat took in Idunna's horrified expression, knowing exactly what to say as a distraction. "Then this incredibly handsome elf saved me, though I did get scraped up a bit." Cat held out her arm, showing off the large scrape down the side from falling to the ground.
"Incredibly handsome you say? Tell me more!"
Cat grinned, her injuries forgotten as she described her "hero", giving him attributes of both Fenris and Zevran to entertain her. She continued to gossip with Idunna as she cleaned herself up until Isabela showed up to walk her home.
"No luck with Hawke?" Cat teased as they headed home. When she didn't get an answer, she looked at her friend. "Issy? You okay?"
"Kitty, you weren't supposed to be seen."
"An unknown woman was seen, not me." Cat pointed out, unsure what had Isabela so serious. It always put her on edge when her friend wasn't smirking.
Isabela rolled her eyes. "Fair point." She was quiet for a moment, then asked, "Just how many times have you gone to Darktown?"
Cat looked at her, confused. "A few times, I get the tonics from Anders' clinic for Idunna and the others."
"You do realize that's its called the UNDERCITY for a reason?" Isabela said slowly, as if she was talking to a child.
Cat understood now, and tried to keep her temper in check. "And you realize that you trained me to be able to take care of myself, yes? I can't keep having this same fight Issy. Either you trust me, or you don't."
Cat meant one thing, but Isabela's thoughts went to the relic. She did trust Cat, but… Isabela stopped suddenly, and sighed. Cat stopped as well, turning to face her.
"Cat…"
"Whoa, it's really serious, you're calling me by my name," Cat said only halfway teasing.
"Look, I do trust you." Isabela ignored the comment, but since she hadn't been able to say what she wanted to, she changed tactics. "But I'd prefer to be there, you know to watch your back. You've had mine, and… well… we're in this together, right?"
"Right." Cat felt she was missing something, but this was more than she was expecting, so she'd take it. "Okay then, I'll let you know when I need to go to Darktown. Deal?"
"Deal."
"Oh, and Issy?"
"Yeah?"
"I need to go to Darktown."
Isabela laughed. It seemed like she was rubbing off on Cat, as she was much more snarky than she used to be. "Very well, but we've got to go in the morning. We're meeting Hawke at the Hanged Man at midday."
"WE are?"
"We're a team, right? So we both have to go." Cat's grin helped squash the guilt of continuing to keep secrets. Cat already knew too much about the relic as it was, in fact she was surprised Cat hadn't already guessed. If Isabela wanted to protect her, she'd need to keep her in the dark.
They continued on towards home, Isabela inquiring about work.
"Actually, I had the night off," Cat told her. Isabela gave her a questioning look and she explained about her conversation earlier with Madam Lisene. "So," she finished. "We now have to tell people that ask that I, you know, work there."
Isabela smirked. "I've already been doing that Kitty, though it's good that I don't have to say it behind your back anymore."
"It's so absurd, no one would believe it," Cat replied.
"I think you'll be surprised by how many will want to believe it, Kitty."
"Kitty, quit sulking."
Cat glared at Isabela, and continued to walk towards Anders' clinic.
"I'm not sulking. I just don't understand why I can't have my crossbow. They barely saw me with it! I mean, who cares if they know I was there last night?"
"I care," Isabela said with finality. She thought of a surefire way to get Cat on board. "Besides," she added. "Your knife skills need work."
"What?!" Cat demanded, fuming. "Argh! I know what you're doing, and I'm so angry that it's working!" She fumed silently for a few more moments then said, "Fine! But only to prove you wrong about my skills."
"Of course," Isabela drawled with a smirk.
Cat continued on to the clinic, greeting Anders and ordering several weeks worth of toiletries- as she had dubbed them. She could probably make a fair amount of money if she charged the others, but she was paid well enough already and she wanted her friends to be as safe and as healthy as they could be.
After Anders discovered they were heading to the Hanged Man he decided to walk with them, so the three of them made their way out of Darktown.
"See Issy? Safe as can be," Cat remarked, still somewhat annoyed at Isabela's protective behavior.
"Did you just call Darktown safe?" Anders asked incredulously.
"Don't be daft," Cat replied. "I'm simply saying that I can travel safely there and back without needing someone to protect me."
Isabela was surprisingly quiet, and Cat decided not to push the point. That is, until Anders kept talking.
"You've been coming to Darktown by yourself?!" He stared at Cat with his mouth agape, then turned to Isabela. "And you let her?"
"Excuse me?!" Cat demanded, before Isabela could respond. "LET her? No one LETS me do anything."
Anders was not slow, and easily realized the mess he just created. He glanced at Isabela, but she simply smirked and gave a wave of her hand in a "it's all yours" gesture. He cleared his throat, worried about how he might fix this.
"Of course not, that… that's not what I meant, of course."
Cat's eyes narrowed dangerously. She could see how nervous he was, but she had no doubt that he had meant exactly what he had said. However, if he apologized, she wouldn't be able to stay mad. And she had quite a bit of energy to get rid of, so she'd let him worry while she got it out of her system.
"C'mon. Let's just get there already," she said as she pushed forward.
"Right! I could use a drink," Isabela commented.
Anders couldn't decipher the looks from either woman, so he simply followed after them, working out how to apologize under his breath.
Meeting with the group did nothing to improve Cat's mood. Hawke asked why she was there, and after being informed by Isabela that they were a team, shrugged then ignored her. It wasn't that she expected to be welcomed with open arms, but still. Carver was sending looks her way that she didn't want to think about, and Aveline was looking at her like she was a bug. What exactly happened since I saw them last?
Hawke talked about inconsequential things with Varric, while waiting for Fenris to arrive. Varric tried to pull Isabela and Cat into the conversation without any luck, and once they all were seated, Cat realized that they had been boxed in by the other group. She and Isabela were seated against the wall, with Hawke's companions all around them. She traded looks with Isabela, and got a silent response to let it play out. She put her best poker face on, and waited.
"I have some questions," Hawke began, looking at the pair of them. Cat had to severely restrain herself from making a snide remark, as she had already thought of three of them. She felt Isabela's hand on her leg, and stayed quiet.
"I suppose I did offer you an explanation," Isabela replied.
"That you did. I merely want to know more about you, so I know if I can trust you."
"Fair enough, though if I don't want to answer, I won't."
"Fair enough."
Cat rolled her eyes at the two of them. Again, several smart remarks came to mind involving measuring… things… but she knew they wouldn't be appreciated.
Hawke probably figured he started with the easy question first, though it was actually the most difficult. "Who is Castillon, and why is he after you?"
Cat and Isabela both sighed. "Short version?" Isabela said. "A powerful man with ties to the Felisicima Armada. I botched a job-" she paused as Cat interrupted with a disgusted noise, then continued. "and in order to even things out, I have to get him the relic. Honestly, it would be easier to kill me, but Castillon isn't that merciful. Plus, I like living."
"That guy here in the Hanged Man, he was helping you look for the relic?"
"Yes," Cat answered. She was tired of feeling left out. "They insisted they could get information on it. They lied."
Hawke glanced her way, then turned back to Isabela. "What exactly is this relic?"
Isabela didn't glance at Cat, though she wanted to. "I don't really know. It's valuable, and Castillon wants it."
Cat held on to her poker face. If she didn't already know what Isabela was going to say, that wouldn't have been possible. She could feel the stares from the group around her.
Hawke paused as well, looking between them several moments before continuing. "You were shipwrecked?"
If his plan was to throw off their guard, it worked. The shipwreck was something that neither woman thought of, let alone spoke of. It was all horrible memories, and horrible loss. Cat didn't think she could even talk about it now, and they both sat silently.
"There was a storm," Isabela began quietly. "My ship… ran aground on some reefs near the city. Cat and I- " she stopped as her voice broke, and looking at her, Cat continued.
"We managed to make it to shore. Most of the others, weren't that lucky." She placed a hand on Isabela's thigh, hoping to provide comfort without letting the others see. Isabela hated looking vulnerable in front of others. She looked around the table. Though everyone was content to let Hawke take the lead, they were all leaning in, catching every word.
Cat tried to stop the tear, but her mind brought face after face, memories of those that had helped her, had taught her, had given their all and had been lost. She reached up to wipe it away, and the movement was noticed by everyone, including Isabela.
"Balls. I'm sorry Kitty,"
Cat smiled back at her, letting her know it wasn't her fault, though Isabela would always blame herself.
The silence, or perhaps the tear was uncomfortable for Aveline, and she asked, "I thought I heard something about freeing slaves?"
Cat knew Isabela didn't want to talk about it, yet she did anyway, probably anything to stop thinking of the shipwreck.
"I was hired by Castillon to escort a cargo ship," Isabela said. "About halfway through I boarded the ship only to find the cargo were people- hundreds of men, elves, even children. They had paid Castillon to get away from the blight. He took their money, and sold them into slavery. I let them go." She chuckled, "I can see from your face that you weren't expecting that, were you?"
Aveline shrugged, and Cat grinned at her. She got a small smile in return, and took that as a good sign.
"Okay." Hawke said. "I'll let you know when I need you in the future. You're free to accept or decline any job, though not after we're already in it. Varric gave me the details of the missing cargo for your friend, and I've added it to the schedule."
"Schedule?" Cat and Isabela asked together.
"Hawke is very… organized." Varric said diplomatically.
"He's a control freak," Carver muttered, his face lighting up when he heard Cat's giggle.
"Should be interesting," Cat said. "Issy likes to be in control too."
Isabela stood, and simply stepped across the table to head toward the bar. "That's NOT true. I just prefer being on top," she said to Cat with a wink and sauntered off to get another drink. Cat noticed that all the men had turned slightly, to watch her exit, and her eyes met Aveline's. They both gave an eye roll, then smiled at each other.
"I must admit, I thought you were like Isabela when we first met, Cat," Aveline said.
Cat laughed loudly, "Oh no. Issy's one of a kind."
"Well, either way, I apologize for my assumptions."
"No problem Aveline."
"If… that is, I can help get you a position in the guard, if you are wanting different employment."
"That's kind of you," Cat beamed. "But I have a great job."
"Yes, Madam's special customers only," Isabela added as she returned.
Cat noticed the looks from the others, and felt the need to defend herself. "It's a great job! Good pay, few hours." She could tell that they weren't convinced, so she simply muttered under her breath, then raised her voice with a change of topic. "So Hawke, what's next on the schedule?"
There were several groans, and shaking heads, but Hawke's face lit up. "Well, we have several rumors to gain more information on, but the most pressing items are a trap laid for a member of the guard that we need to stop, and a delivery to a group of dalish elves."
Cat's heart rate skyrocketed as she took that in.
"Dalish elves?" she asked.
"Yes, we have an amulet we need to bring to them, to repay an old debt."
"Looks like we're in," Isabela stated. "When is it?"
"Tonight at dusk, we'll meet here. The day after we'll head out to the elves, unless something else comes up."
Cat wasn't sure why Isabela was so keen to agree to this, but her mind and pulse were going a mile a minute. She might actually figure out how she got here, and more importantly, how to get home. Now she only needed to figure out how to get Flemeth to help her.