A/N: Another early posting, but things are just flowing along, and I couldn't wait any longer!

Cat didn't say much as they walked along the coast, heading after a recruit named Wilmod, who had also disappeared, but just returned this morning.

"Are you all right?" Fenris asked quietly.

Cat nodded, though she couldn't bring herself to smile. "Just remembering a few details of this quest that are not pleasant," she answered softly. She was glad to be able to see Cullen again, making sure he was okay, but after that… she was worrying about going to the Rose. She hadn't thought about Idunna's role in all of this, and was hoping that perhaps she wasn't involved at all this time.

"That bad?" he asked, and she glanced at him.

"Nothing we can't handle," she assured him, but he didn't seem reassured, instead he became more alert for any approaching danger.

Suddenly Hawke started jogging forward, the rest of the group following, and Cat and Fenris had to run to keep up. As they came around a bend, they could hear the voices that had obviously spurred Hawke on.

"Please sir!"

"Tell me!"

Cat stopped as she recognized the two men. Cullen had the young templar recruit by the shoulders and was shaking him roughly.

"Andraste be my witness- I WILL have the truth from you!"

Wilmod looked like he would be ill, and once the shaking stopped he begged. "Mercy sir, please, don't hit me!"

Cullen leaned in and growled. "If only it were that easy!" and he reared his leg back, bring it forward to knee Wilmod in the stomach, and the young recruit collapsed on the ground coughing. Cat was wondering how effective it had actually been through the templar's armor, but forgot the thought as Cullen reached back and pulled out his sword, pointing it at Wilmod.

"I will know where you are going! Tell me now!"

Cat looked over at Hawke, who was standing next to Anders. Anders seemed indifferent to the recruit's plight, but Hawke was fuming. He had seen enough, and stepped forward.

"Hey! Stop that!" he called. "Why would you do this to your own man?"

Cullen glanced over momentarily, but returned his focus to Wilmod. "This is templar business, stranger. Leave now, before you regret interrupting."

Before Hawke could reply, the young recruit rose up, having everyone gaping at him. He didn't stagger to his feet as one might expect, instead he rose as if he were lifted, or pulled up by a string- it was very unnerving, even if one was expecting it.

Wilmod looked at Cullen, a wicked smile on his face, which had the Knight Captain falling back a step. He spoke, his voice a mixture of his own and something… else. "You have struck me for the last time, you pathetic human."

His skin began to bubble and bulge outward as he grew and stretched within his own skin. The group stood there, horrified as the they could hear the simultaneous scream and laughter as fire spewed from the creature. The arms raised, and the shout rang out, "To me!"

"Shades!" Cat heard Varric yell, as he ran sideways and flipped backward out of the front line. Weapons were grabbed, and everyone flew into the fray, Cat included. She felt sorry for the young recruit, but the only mercy they could give now, was death.

She pulled out her crossbow, taking her time to ensure her shots were deadly, helping Cullen, Hawke, and Carver in taking down the abomination. She could see the others moving swiftly from shade to shade taking them down easily.

As the abomination fell, she moved forward, pulling Hawke backward as it exploded in a gust of flame. He gave her a nod, stowing his staff, and they both turned to Cullen.

He was on the ground, panting heavily, his head in his hand, and speaking… though Cat wasn't sure they were meant to hear. "I knew he was involved in something sinister… but this? How… how is it possible?"

Cat immediately turned to go to him, worried that it had somehow triggered memories. But before she could help him, he stood, and sheathed his sword. He glanced at her curiously, but Hawke stepped forward as well, and Cullen gave a nod in acknowledgement.

"Thank you for your help," Cullen said to Hawke.

"It looked like he was an abomination," Hawke replied, as they both looked over at the mess on the ground.

"Normally, we only worry that mages will fall prey to possession-" Cullen said, and Cat interrupted.

"I have heard of blood mages that could summon demons into unwilling hosts."

Both men turned to her and yelled, "What?!" simultaneously.

"Where did you hear this?" Hawke demanded just as Cullen said, "That's not possible!"

Cat looked at Cullen with a sad smile. "I'm afraid it is, and unless we do something there may be more. Aren't you missing other recruits?"

"Maker preserve us…" Cullen said, dazed at the new idea. "Yes, Keran is still missing."

"Cat, are you sure about this?" Hawke said, turning her to face him, and both missing the focused look from Cullen at the mention of her name. "I've never heard of anything like it before."

"Yes, I'm sure. But it takes several blood mages to tear down someone's defenses. This is bad, but… we should be able to find someone who has seen such a group of mages. We have contacts we can ask."

Cullen stepped forward, and Cat turned. "The templars are in your debt," he said gently. "I can't thank you enough for what you have done," he said and Cat smiled.

"It is no problem, Knight Captain."she replied.

He reached up, rubbing the back of his neck. "This may seem forward, but have we met? You seem very familiar, my lady."

Cat bit her lip so she wouldn't smile. "Perhaps we have, though we will have to speak of it another time," she replied, turning back to the group. She looked over at Isabela, giving a specific look as she spoke.

"Hawke?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"I have a few ideas on how to proceed with this, but I need to get to work. Can we meet up later? At the Hanged Man perhaps?"

"Uh… sure," he replied, confused.

"I'll walk with you," Isabela replied immediately, and Cat strode off towards the city. Isabela followed, turning back to give a Hawke a pointed look.

"You didn't have to come," Cat said once they were back in Kirkwall.

"And she speaks!" Isabela teased. "You did give me that look, you know."

"That look was help me get away with this not come with me… and you know it."

"True, but you're up to something, and what kind of friend would I be if I didn't tag along?"

"I figured you would understand. I need to do this my way."

"I see," Isabela didn't really appreciate her own words from this morning being thrown back at her, and could understand why Cat had reacted the way she had. It wasn't easy to not help her friend, especially when she was in the dark about what she wanted to do. "I'll leave you to it then, once we get there."

Cat sighed. "It's not that I don't want your help, it's just… personal."

"All right, don't worry," Isabela smirked. "I'm here if you need me Kitty."

"Thanks Issy," she said.

Isabela was true to her word, once they arrived at the Rose, she stopped at the door, asking Cat if she wanted her to stay and wait, and Cat refused. "I'll meet you at the Hanged Man, you can get started on the drinking," she offered, and Isabela laughed.

"How can I say no to that?" she joked, and turned away from the Rose. "Good luck Kitty," she added as she walked away.

Cat steeled herself, and walked in, determined to talk to Idunna first.

Isabela turned as soon as she noted that Cat had walked inside. She walked back to the door, waiting. Hopefully Hawke got the message, but if not, then she'd be there for Kitty, even if she didn't want her to be.

It didn't take long for Hawke to stride up, his face impassive. He walked to her, coming close and placing his hands on his hips. "You going to explain this to me?" he asked her.

"Just a hunch," she said. "Kitty went inside to speak to someone, which means she knows something that she isn't telling us."

Hawke eyed the door, and nodded. "She won't appreciate this," he commented.

"I'd rather have her alive and angry, than dead."

Cat had double checked the schedule, not wanting to barge in on anything… indecent. But where she had once been so determined, she now worried. She climbed the stairs, looking back, almost hoping to see Isabela, and made her way to Idunna's room, knocking softly on the door.

"Cat! What a surprise, come in, come in!" Idunna opened the door and greeted her with a smile.

Cat walked in, and they both sat on her bed, as they had done so many times before. Cat smiled, reminding herself that Idunna was her friend.

"So? What's going on?" Idunna asked, her eyes bright and full of mischief. Lately, Cat had only visited to share gossip, but not this time.

Cat inhaled deeply, and sighed on her exhale. "There has been some crazy things happening in the city," she began, looking down at her hands. "Involving the templar recruits and blood mages."

"What? Really?" Idunna said, the shock in her voice seemed genuine, giving Cat hope.

"Yes." Cat looked up, her face full of worry. "Please tell me you didn't have anything to do with Wilmod or Keran…"

"Wilmod... Wilmod…" Idunna looked up as she thought, and Cat's stomach dropped. "That doesn't sound familiar," she said dismissively.

Cat's eyes closed, and she felt tears forming. "No… Idunna, no…"

Idunna straightened, reaching forward to grab Cat's hand and giving it a squeeze. "Cat, please just leave. Don't get involved in this, pretend you never came here! Please!"

Cat's eyes snapped open in anger. "I'm already involved! How could you do this?! How could just hand over those boys to be possessed!"

"It wasn't like I was given a choice!" Idunna hissed. "It was help or be turned over to the templars! It was this or tranquility!"

"You have friends! You have me! I would have helped!" she lowered her voice, "We can still help." She reached forward, hugging Idunna. "Just no more, please. I was there… I saw that poor boy be taken over."

They sat for a moment, tears falling silently, before Idunna pulled back. Reaching up, she wiped the moisture from her face. "You told your friends about me?" she asked.

"No, of course not. I told them I would ask around and we'd meet later. You just give me the location, and we'll go take care of the mages that are doing this, and you'll be free."

"Cat…" emotion welling in her voice, Idunna asked, "will you do me a favor first?"

"Of course Idunna," she said as she looked at her with a smile.

"Thank you." She smiled back at Cat. "Do your friends know where you are right now?"

"Uh… well Isabela" Cat was startled as she realized that she couldn't stop herself from speaking. "she walked with me to the Rose, but… left… after… that." Cat's heart began racing as she realized what Idunna was doing, and she had no way to stop her.

Tears welled in her eyes, as she realized that her friend was so scared, that she was willing to do anything to keep her secret, even kill her.

"I'm so sorry Cat, but you won't be able to beat them… there are too many, and Tarohne is too strong." She avoided looking at Cat, not really wanting to watch.

"Now, pull out a dagger, and bring it to your throat," Idunna said.

Cat couldn't speak, and she couldn't disobey. She reached behind her, pulling out a dagger, and brought it up below her chin. The tears slowly kept falling however, and Cat just let them fall, so sad that they were brought to this.

It took some convincing, but Hawke was finally pointed to the right room. He stood in front of it, debating if he should knock, or just barge in. If Cat was in trouble, then knocking could seal her fate. On the other hand, if she was simply talking with a friend, she might be royally pissed.

He heard Isabela's voice in his mind,I'd rather have her alive and angry, than dead, and his mind was made up. He reached for the knob, and opened the door as silently as he could. Before he could decide whether or not to rush in, he heard the voice.

"I don't want to do this! Why couldn't you have just stayed away?" He wasn't the sneakiest of people, but neither noticed him through the tears they were sobbing. "Don't look at me like that… I have to do this…"

Hawke could see Cat's back as he crept closer, she was sitting on the end of the bed. Another woman was in front of her, with her face in her hands. As he looked closer, his eyes widened as he took note of the dagger that Cat held to her own throat. What in the Maker's name was she doing? he thought.

He was done waiting, and stepped forward to grab the dagger from her hand, throwing it to the floor with a clang. "What is going on?!" he demanded.

The other woman jumped up, backing up against the wall in a panic. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" she asked in a high pitched voice.

"I'm sure Cat can make introductions," he said, as he looked back at Cat, just in time to see her pull another dagger from a sheath and bring it to her neck. "Andraste's ass, Cat!" he bellowed, as he grabbed at her hand.

The woman behind him shifted, and his eyes moved to her. Something was off, but he could see her excitement, sadness and fear in equal measures, and he wasn't sure what her game was. He looked back at Cat, noting her eyes seemed cloudy, and not just from the tears. It took him a moment, but he realized there was some sort of magic here, and he focused his own mana in order to dispel it.

Once his spell was complete, he no longer had Cat resisting him, and his pull brought her arm with his into his chest, the second dagger clattering to the floor. He could sense the movement behind him, and turned to look as the other woman knelt on the floor.

"Mercy sir, please!" she begged.

"What did you do?" he asked her, his voice dark and quiet.

"Blood magic, and desire, in equal parts," she answered, as if the noose was already around her neck.

"Blood magic," Hawke spit out in disgust. He turned back to Cat, to ensure that she was all right, however she was just staring at the bed, looking morose, her hand limp in his grip, and he let her go.

"Tell me everything," he said, as he turned to stand next to Cat, facing the other woman, and crossed his arms over his chest.

As she spoke, Hawke kept an eye on Cat, noting with displeasure how she became more and more upset. When the woman finished by saying she should have killed Cat, but couldn't bring herself to do it, Cat burst into fresh tears and covered her face with her hands.

"It seems you have punished yourself far worse than I could," Hawke noted, as the woman began crying as well. "I would kill you for this, but I am certain Cat would stop me. Just go."

He watched as the woman picked herself up, and as she came close, reached out for Cat, then changed her mind and ran from the room. He bent over to collect the daggers on the floor, and set them on the table, uncertain what to do. He didn't have a great wealth of experience with crying women, but he wanted to help. Bethany had always wanted to be held by our parents whenever she had been upset… Hawke thought.

He walked over to Cat, and picking her up, turned around and sat on the bed with her in his lap. He had an arm around her shoulders to support her, and brought his other hand up to her head, stroking down her hair in a calming fashion.

"Go ahead," he said softly. "Get it all out."

Cat had thought she was almost done, but the sudden kindness of the gesture brought a fresh wave of tears, and she buried her face into his chest and let loose all the pain and frustration that she had been piling up. She didn't know how long she sat there, with him stroking her head, but after awhile, her tears slowed. Her throat felt raw as she tried to swallow so that she could speak.

She lifted her head from him, his hand stopping at the back of her neck as she sat up. Her cheeks heated as she thought of how she had cried all over him, and was glad that no one else had been witness to it. She looked up as she felt his thumb brush her cheek, wiping away her tears, seeing him gazing down at her, though his eyes were not on hers, but rather watching his hand.

As much as she was embarrassed, she also felt a warmth that she hadn't felt in a long time. A safety, that being held could bring and that she had not had in years. It was such that she didn't want to move, and wanted to just revel in the feeling. She continued to gaze up at Hawke, feeling his thumb as it moved back and forth across her cheek.

The moisture was gone, but he just enjoyed the feel of her skin, touching the light dusting of freckles under her eye. His eyes roamed her face, noting that up close he could see the slight imperfections of her features, but deciding that it just added to the beauty.

He watched as her last tear moved slowly down her cheek, on the opposite side as his hand, and without thinking, he leaned down and kissed the tear away.

Cat inhaled sharply, feeling his lips catch the tear before it could fall completely. She could feel her heartbeat quicken, as he raised his head to look at her.

Hawke could feel her fingers clenching at his tunic, and he noted how wide her eyes were, her pupils dilating. His gaze was drawn down, as her tongue came out to wet her lips, and he continued to stare, clamping down on his desire to claim them.

Cat felt as if her heart was about to beat out of her chest, her body responding to the dark look in his eyes, and her head swimming as he leaned down again towards her.

Suddenly the image of Hawke and Isabela today flashed into her mind, and she jumped, as if cold water had just been thrown at her, her hand now pushing Hawke away instead of pulling him closer.

She placed both hands on his chest to keep him away, and said quickly, "We should go."

Hawke released her, though he didn't move from his seat, getting control of himself as she stood and gathered her daggers from the table. He was all calm, and she was nervous energy, and he knew she must have felt what he did, but he had seen fear along with desire, and didn't want to force it, so he slowly stood.

"Let's go meet the others then," he said, and followed her out of the room and down the stairs.

Cat's eyes were constantly moving, searching everywhere for Idunna. She hadn't meant to let her leave like that, and was worried of what would become of her. Before she could leave however, Madame Lusine approached her.

"Cat dear, there you are!" she said in greeting. "I had wanted to talk to you myself, but it seems as if Idunna already told you."

Cat looked at her in confusion, and Lusine continued. "You know I love having you here, but I need to have people that I can rely on to be here every night," she said quietly. "I appreciate all you have done, but now that the others are ready, there is no need to have you coming in randomly. Although I have to have two people to take the work that you would do yourself!" She smiled, and Cat supposed she should take the compliment. After all, Idunna had warned her this was coming.

"I understand Madame, and I appreciate all that you have done for me," Cat said quietly.

"You know you are welcome back anytime," she said to Cat, patting her arm. "And I will want to add to your order for potions next time you come in," she added.

"All right," Cat replied, wearily. "I will make sure to see you when I come back."

"Take care dear," Madame said, and turned back to her customers.

Cat continued out the door, noticing that Hawke was still following her, and was no longer calm. She rubbed her forehead, not wanting to delve into all of this right now.

"So, now you've lost your job because you've been helping me?" he asked gruffly.

"No," she replied. "I decided to do something else, and I trained others to do my job so that I could leave."

"Hmph." Cat could tell he wasn't finished, but she just quickened her pace. She had all sorts of emotions running through her at the moment, and needed to sort them out… away from Hawke.

They didn't speak for a while, but just as they entered Lowtown, Hawke rudely said, "Don't you think you've been keeping enough secrets?"

Cat was flabbergasted, and whirled around to face him. "Excuse me?!"

Hawke glared at her and pointed directly at her face. "You know exactly what I am talking about, don't play dumb."

"You don't know what you're talking about," she countered, and she turned back to keep walking, but was stopped by his hand grabbing her arm.

"Oh I know…" he said angrily. "Not just all the secrets aboutyour time in Ferelden, but I got the feeling you knew that witch up on Sundermount. You just happen to have some of the finest armor I've ever seen, and it fits you like it was made for you. Then today, you knew exactly where to go to find the information we needed about a group of blood mages."

Cat stood her ground, but inside she was sinking. He is far more perceptive than I gave him credit for, she thought, and this was trouble.

"I never agreed to share about myself with you," Cat answered haughtily. "If you don't like having me around, I can always go get my job back," she said, wresting her arm from him and striding back the way they had come.

"Like hell you will," Hawke said as he grabbed her again, whirling her back around. "You're a part of my crew now," he said possessively.

"Let me go," Cat said coldly, and he loosened his hands.

"Everyone is allowed to have secrets," he said, looking down at her, enjoying the stubborn tilt of her jaw. "But not when they affect everyone else." He stepped aside and started walking toward their destination without her. "If you want me to trust you, you'll remember that," he said over his shoulder.