AN: Chapter 20, brought to you in association with Nescafe. What that means, kids, is I've been awake for about 30 hours straight now, I've consumed enough coffee to give an elephant the jitters, and I can hear colour and taste sound. I'm okay, probably. Your left leg's supposed to feel numb, right? Right. Everything's normal.

We approached Redcliffe just after noon, and the sun was still high in the sky. Alistair looked around, dreamily, as we entered the village.

"I haven't been back here in so long." He said, wistfully. "It looks smaller than I remember."

"Childhood haunts usually do." Grayson replied. A yell of surprise stopped us in our tracks, and a man ran up to us. I vaguely recognised him from the game...ah, what was his name again? Todd? Rod? Cod? Nod? No. Those last two weren't even names. I racked my brains, annoyed that I couldn't remember, like when you get part of a song stuck in your head but you can't think of the next line.

"I thought I saw travellers on the road but I could scarcely believe it! Have you come to help us?" Todd asked, panting with exertion.

"Help you?" Grayson asked. "Why? What's the problem?"

"So...you don't know? Has nobody out there heard?" Rod asked, desperately.

"We heard the arl was sick, if that's what you mean." Grayson offered.

"He could be dead for all we know, nobody's heard from the castle in days! We're under attack. Monsters come out of the castle every night and attack us until dawn." Cod said, his voice trembling.

"What are you talking about, man?" Alistair demanded, stepping forward. "What monsters?"

"I don't know." Nod replied, shaking his head. "Nobody does. I should take you to Bann Teagan. He's all that's holding us together. He'll want to see you."

Alistair nodded, but didn't relax.

"Bann Teagan? Arl Eamon's brother? He's here?"

"Yes, I'll take you to him. He's holed up in the Chantry. It's not far from here." Zod said, turning and gesturing for us to follow him. Pod took off at a run and we jogged to keep up. Alistair, Grayson and I took the lead, and we reached the Chantry in no time at all. I turned to Sten.

"Sten, could you wait out here with the hounds?" I asked. "I'm not sure it's such a good idea to bring them into the Chantry with us, and Larry seems to like you." Sten growled. Honestly, that could have meant anything, the man was impossible to read, but I chose to interpret it as, "Yeah, Lauren, I'll watch them and also your hair looks great today, by the way." I smiled, gratefully.

"Thanks, Sten." I grinned, and instructed Larry to stay. Grayson gave Kahn the same order and we pushed open the heavy doors, marching down the aisle to where Teagan stood, overseeing the villagers. He regarded us curiously as we approached.

"It's...Tomas, yes?" He greeted what's-his-name. I slapped my thigh - Tomas! Huh. That doesn't even sound like Todd. - and Grayson shot me a concerned look, but I waved him off. "And who are these people with you? They're obviously not simple travellers."

"No, my lord." Tomas, agreed. "They just arrived, and I thought you would like to see them." Teagan nodded and dismissed the man.

"Greetings, friends. My name is Teagan, Bann of Rainesfere, brother to the arl."

"I remember you, Bann Teagan." Alistair spoke up from beside me. "Though, the last time we met, I was a lot younger and...covered in mud."

"Covered in mud?" Teagan repeated, bewildered for only a moment before recognition dawned on him and his face broke out in a warm smile. "Alistair! It is you, isn't it? You're alive! This is wonderful news!" He exclaimed, wringing his hands together. His eyes fell to me, at Alistair's side, and I smiled, politely. "And who is this lovely creature?" He asked, grinning at me.

I squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze and instinctively looked to Alistair for assistance. He clapped a hand lightly on my shoulder in a subconsciously protective manner.

"This is Lauren Duval, my partner in crime." He proclaimed, loudly, in that deliberately over-dramatic way he often likes to announce things.

"Ah...I see." Teagan responded, slowly running his eyes between the two of us. "You have done well for yourself, Alistair."

"What? No, we're not-" He quickly removed his hand from my shoulder, like he had been burned.

"Ha! Me and Alistair? That's-" I started, dismissively, but Alistair cut me off.

"Ridiculous!" He laughed.

"Absurd." I agreed. "I mean, he's way too old for me, for one thing."

"Hey!" He wheeled around, glaring offendedly at me. "I'm not that old."

"Sure you are." I retorted, glibly. "I mean, what are you? Like forty?"

"I'm twenty one years old!" He cried, defensively. I raised my eyebrows in genuine surprise. I had always assumed he was older than that for some reason. I mean, I was kidding with the forty comment, but I had thought thirties at least.

"Really?" I asked, studying his face closely. "I thought you were way older than that!"

"Alright, alright...hurtful, that is." He replied, crossing his arms huffily.

"I just call 'em as I see 'em." I shrugged.

"Anyway...she's not my type. Trust me." Alistair assured Teagan, rolling his eyes. I cocked my head, glancing sideways at him.

"Okay, now what's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing." He held his hands up, refusing to look at me.

"Well, what's wrong with me?" I demanded, moving to stand directly in front of him. "I have great teeth, my hair's fantastic. And I'm a bad ass warrior chick! I literally slay. I'm perfect. Clearly, you have issues."

"And modest, too." He quipped. I rolled my eyes.

"People so often mistake self-deprecation for modesty, it's not. It's self-obsession." I bit back.

"So refreshing to see that you don't go in for the whole self-obsession thing." He replied, with a lopsided smile.

"Oh, sarcasm? We're doing sarcasm now?" I replied, with my hands on my hips. "It's the lowest form of wit, you know. Well...right after "that's what she said"."

"You're incorrigible." He grinned.

"That's what she said." I grinned back.

"I hate to interrupt, but we did come here for a reason." Grayson muttered, exchanging an exasperated but amused look with Leliana. Both Alistair and I had the decency to look sheepish and I winced, apologetically. Oh, right. Mortal danger. He turned to Teagan. "Tomas said there was something happening at the castle? Something about monsters attacking the village?"

"Uh...well," Teagan cleared his throat, awkwardly, still regarding Alistair and I with a strange look. "Yes. My brother, the arl, is gravely ill. No one has heard from the castle in days. No guards patrol the walls, and no one has responded to my shouts. The attacks started a few nights ago."

"What's attacking you?" Grayson asked, impatiently.

"An unnatural evil, some would call them the walking dead." Teagan said, gravely.

"Aw, man. I love that show." I whispered to myself. Teagan and Grayson continued their conversation, discussing the whys and the wherefores, and Teagan looked to Alistair, pleadingly.

"Alistair, I hate to ask but we desperately need the help of you and your friends."

"We'll do anything we can to help." Alistair replied, immediately. As an afterthought, he looked at Grayson and I. "Right?"

"Obviously." I replied, without hesitation, and we both looked at Grayson, who nodded. The three of us exchanged significant looks, and Grayson turned back to Teagan.

"Of course we'll help."

"Thank you. This means more to me than you can guess." Teagan replied, his shoulders sagging with relief. "There is much to do before night falls."

Grayson spoke with Teagan a little longer and I excused myself with a silent nod and left the Chantry to stand outside with Sten and the hounds. I already knew what was going to be said and churches had always creeped me out. Or chantries, I guess, but from where I was standing it was the same difference. I filled Sten in on what was happening and he frowned.

"How will this end the blight? That is your goal, is it not?"

"Yes. Look, as far as I can tell, we can probably save these people tonight. If we get to Eamon and help to cure him, he'll give us an army. We need an army, right?"

"There are others you can go to." He replied, still frowning in disapproval.

"Well...yeah. But we need as many people as we can gather." I said. "And...look, we can't just leave these people to die like sheep."

"This man. The one who is sick."

"Arl Eamon." I offered.

"It is my understanding that he sold your fellow Grey Warden into slavery as a child."

"What? No, that's not..." I shook my head. "We are getting way off base, here. Arl Eamon is Alistair's family. His Kadan."

Sten growled in understanding but he still didn't look very happy. I reminded myself that Sten never looked very happy.

The others joined us soon after and Grayson informed us that some of the villagers had offered us beds. Since the battle might last the entire night, he told us to get some rest now, while rest was still possible. One of the villagers started to lead us to the houses, but Grayson stayed behind.

"You're not coming?" I asked, puzzled.

"I am. I'm just going to take care of some things with the mayor and the militia first. Don't worry about it." He replied, with a wink. And I didn't. I had to keep reminding myself how capable he really was. He was destined to become the fabled Hero of Ferelden. It was so easy to forget the legend once you got to know the man. I gave him one last smile and followed Alistair and the rest of them to the houses. One hut had been provided "for the Wardens" and another, slightly smaller hut had been set up for our companions. One look at the hounds told me there was no way I was getting either of them to lie down in a dark room and sleep right now, so I sent them off to find Grayson. I wasn't worried about them tiring themselves out, Mabaris had seemingly boundless energy.

Alistair and I retired to our hut and drew the shutters, blocking out most of the sunlight. There were three single beds but, I noticed almost immediately, nowhere discrete to change clothes. I was beyond caring at that point. I dropped my pack with a thud and fished out my yoga gear. I turned to Alistair.

"Do you mind turning around while I change?" I asked. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Are you serious?"

"Serious as Sten." I replied. When he didn't move I rolled my eyes. "Either turn around or I'm literally just going to take my armour off in front of you. I'm not the one with the nudity issues around here, pal."

He spun around, quickly, and I unfastened my breast plate, letting it drop to the floor with a clatter.

"I don't have nudity issues." He replied, defensively. "I've just...been raised to respect women."

"I see. Just not their choices if they wish to dress a little less conservatively than you would like." I tried to pass it off as a light comment but it came out sounding a lot more judgemental than I had intended.

"Excuse me?" He asked, and I tensed, hearing genuine offence in his voice. "What are you talking about? Last night...during sparring practice?"

I scoffed.

"Yes, last night." I replied. "What was that all about?" I muttered this last part to myself, but he heard me.

"I didn't mean to embarrass you." He said, quietly, after a few moments. "And I know that I did. I'm sorry for that. I'm just...not used to being around beautiful women, particularly when said woman is wearing next to nothing."

I started to argue about the "next to nothing" comment when I realised he'd just implied that I was beautiful. I hesitated, halfway through removing my boots.

"Beautiful?" I asked. He didn't reply, and I shook my head, pulling off my other boot. "I thought you said I'm not your type."

"And I thought we were teasing each other." He replied, and I could tell from his tone of voice that he was grinning. The corner of my mouth tugged in a half-smile of it's own volition. "Unless you really did think that I was an old man."

"So I am your type?" I asked, only half-serious, pulling on my pants and t-shirt.

"Oh, come on. That's not fair." He laughed, and I joined him.

"You can turn back around now." I told him. "And don't mind me. I just love to wind you up. It's so easy."

"Hmm. I don't know how I feel about that. That's usually my job." He replied, his face serious. "Nobody's ever been able to out-Alistair me before."

"I guess you've finally met your match, then." I shrugged. We looked at each other for a moment and a smile spread slowly across his face.

"I guess we'll see." He replied, softly. I felt my face grow hot, and I was suddenly painfully aware that we were alone together in a bedroom, and I dropped my gaze, busying myself by gathering up my armour and piling it neatly in the corner of the room. He cleared his throat, gruffly, and I figured he had just come to the same realisation I had. I stood back up and looked around, looked anywhere but him.

"So, I'm going to-" I gestured, pointing to the furthest away bed, by the wall.

"Yes. Do that." He replied, quickly. "And I'm going to-" He pointed to the bed nearest the door.

"Smart." I said, nodding. "You know, in case Grayson comes, you'll be close to the door..."

"And I can let him in! Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking."

It was the most insincere moment I'd ever been party to, but insincerity was working for me at that moment, since I didn't quite understand what was actually happening. I climbed into bed and rolled over to face the wall, giving him some privacy as he undid some of his armour and settled under the covers of his own bed. I wasn't tired in the slightest, but the lumpy bed was the closest thing to luxury I'd experienced since leaving Flemeth's hut over a week before.

I tossed and turned for a while, although it had nothing to do with the bed and everything to do with the unspoken tension permeating the air, and I heard Alistair do the same. I finally got comfortable, lying on my side, curled up in the foetal position and hugging the blankets close to my chest. I opened my eyes and saw that Alistair was lying on his side facing me. Our eyes met in the semi-darkness, and we lay there, barely breathing, just looking at each other. I should have been mortified. I should have had the decency to look away. But for some reason, the silence and the darkness made it safe, almost like it wasn't really happening. Like those few peaceful moments upon waking when you're neither fully asleep nor fully awake, and your dreams are still with you. I drifted off to sleep listening to the sound of his breathing and, for the second time since last night, my last conscious thought was: What the fuck just happened?

AN: This is a shorter chapter, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to update again until next week so I've just churned it out and uploaded it. I haven't proof-read because I've been awake for so long and I'm running on caffeine fumes so I can't actually make the words stay still on the page. I know it's mostly Alistair-Lauren fluff but I have it all planned out so don't worry, it's not going to be quite as rushed as you might think from reading the last couple of chapters. They've got a lot ahead of them in the next few chapters!

Please review! As always, I'd really like to know your thoughts on this and whether or not you think I should continue with it, or if there's anything you think I could change or do better. I do try to listen to all feedback so if there's something you want to see more of or something you don't want to see at all, please let me know. Thanks for reading!