Over the course of the next few weeks, Fenris tried relentlessly to remove Anders from the equation. After the night of Hawke's collapse, he had thrown the mage out of the house and demanded he never return. Orana sent for a circle healer, and the Amell fortune was dipped into to cover an evening of intensive healing and constant observation. Fenris was thankful that Aria was too exhausted after the collapse to put up much of a fuss about the fact that he had sent the abomination back to his hole in Darktown; However, when she awoke to someone who wasn't Anders caring for her the next morning, she promptly fought back the only possible way she could…with a hunger strike. She kept it up for a solid three days before Fenris finally sent the circle healer home and sent Merrill to find Anders once more.

If Fenris had had the energy, and hadn't had the past that he did, perhaps he would have fought her little display of stubborn anarchy more tactfully. Force feeding was an effective way of breaking a rebellious slave bold enough to recognize they weren't nearly as expendable and easily replaced as their masters let on…but that was a violent process that oft involved restraints and a struggle that could be traumatizing. In order to harden Fenris and isolate him from the other slaves, Denarius often forced Fenris to administer this punishment to his master's other fleshy property. He had experience…but the consequences were too much of a risk. If she was in more stable condition, he maybe would have matched her stubbornness and waited a good week or so for her to cave. However, with her already being dehydrated/malnourished and towing the line between life and death as it was, Fenris decided it was safer to give in to her demands than be responsible for the damage she caused herself. Naturally, the abomination held her slightly deteriorated state above him and refused to let it go once he returned. It was positively infuriating. It was the first time Fenris had felt this powerless since before the death of his former master.

With Anders back in the house, everyone was walking on eggshells. One comment phrased just the wrong way and the two men would be at each other's throats once more. It was not a conducive recovery environment according to Merrill who often dragged the two out to the back garden if they were going to have a go at one another. Anders went through a streak of winning arguments for a while which made him smug. He knew what Hawke would do if Fenris threw him out again or followed through with all of his threats to kill him/call the chantry to come get him. He knew Hawke refused any other healer and would likely resort to another hunger strike (if not some other form of rebellion) if faced with a situation where Anders was not her caretaker alongside Fenris. This gave him the upper hand and according to Fenris, he became a jackass for it. Anders was able to push Fenris to his limits outside matters of Hawke's health simply because he knew there was nothing her lover could do about it. A typical mage exploiting the power he was given.

By the Maker's mercy Anders was no longer needed around the clock by about a month after her initial injury. Instead, he popped by twice a day to check up on her and ensure she was eating and drinking her potions. If there was an emergency, they sent Orana through the tunnels below the cellar to find him, and he was at her side in an instant. Thankfully though, he was no longer "living" with them (although Merrill stuck around as the peace keeper).

At about the five-week mark, Hawke was up and moving again…if not at the pace of a snail. She relied heavily on an old staff borrowed from Anders to use as a walking stick to get around. She also still needed some help getting to the bathroom, dressing and bathing. It was a challenge for her to be so reliant on Fenris and Orana for daily life, but at least she could navigate the upper floor pretty sufficiently. Twice a week Varric would usher Fenris and Merrill out of the house for a few hours in the late afternoon to allow Hawke a bit of space, and the two of them a break from playing nursemaid. Orana and Bohdan always stayed behind to look after Hawke in case she tried anything stupid. For a while Fenris refused to allow her downstairs while he was gone in case she got the bright idea to sneak out to the market unsupervised (which she had mumbled about in a fever induced sleep earlier on in her recovery). Naturally he never told her why he wouldn't take her down before leaving, but he would leave her behind on the upper floor confident that Orana could not get her down all those steps with just Bohdan's help.

As Hawke strengthened, eventually he did start carrying her to the study while he was out, for a change of scenery. If it was nice out, he'd help her hobble to the back veranda so she could get some fresh air in the garden. Summer in Kirkwall neared the end however, and the cold began to set into the Champion's bones aggravating her wound. Lounging in the garden came to an abrupt halt. Aria was the most restless she had been since she was on the run with her apostate father, but even with magic there was only so fast the wound could heal.

By the time there were leaves on the ground, there was no more Anders could do magically to speed the process of healing besides providing decreasingly less powerful and less frequent potions for pain (for fear she may become addicted or reliant). This wound was the worst wound she had ever sustained. She knew deep down that if it was not for Fenris's and Anders' immediate and persistent care, she would have been reunited with her family in the fade by now, yet her gratitude only took her so far. She was beyond the point of cabin fever, and was sick of seeing the same faces every single day as they fussed over her. Even Fenris's usually welcome company had started to grate on her nerves. He had gone from ruggedly handsome warrior to fiercely protective caretaker who at times felt more like a jail warden or a suffocating Nanny depending on the situation. She had to give the elf credit: nothing slipped past him.

Either a lifetime of slavery or three years on the run had developed some habits that made it impossible to try breaking any of Ander's strict rules of recovery. He was too light of a sleeper to not notice the subtle shift in her body when her pain medication had worn off in the middle of the night. Rather than try to ignore it and sleep through it like she had so many injuries before, Fenris would snap awake and be on his feet in an instant to administer her another rancid vial of liquid relief. The scariest part was that he wasn't even groggy. He was wide awake and on his feet doing exactly what he had to do, no complaints and no questions besides the threatening quirk of a brow when Hawke protested the potion. Having a light sleeper in her bed also made it impossible to try and sneak down to the lower levels of the estate in the middle of the night.

Even more infuriating, his ears were as sharp as a wolf's (if not sharper). In battle and while in open areas where enemies could be lurking in the shadows, Hawke was eternally grateful for his incredible ears. However, besides catching the snap of a twig beneath an untrained bandit's boot, he also caught the slight hitch of her breath when she tried to push herself too far. He also would catch the creak of the window when she would try to slip out onto the ledge for some fresh air.

Probably the most infuriating was his iron will. Hawke already knew that once her beloved set his mind to something there was no stopping him; reading lessons had taught her that. But she was not prepared for his sudden insistence on abstinence while she was recovering. She may have suffered a stab wound but she was still a woman…a woman with…needs. She had to give him credit for at least trying to find other ways to satisfy her, but none of them were quite the same as having him. That was one infuriating matter he refused to budge on though. Under normal circumstances, his appetite was insatiable. Yet while she remained injured, every proposition and opportunity was met with a firm and simple "No." Aria suspected that he feared harming her in the process, and that fear is what translated to his sudden change of demeanor when pushed on the subject. Yet the damned gentleman of an Elf remained resolved to hold his stance, and the answer always remained, "no." The consequence of this decision, was a very wanton Champion of Kirkwall often spending her unconscious hours of the evening dreaming of all the ways she wished Fenris would impale her with his great sword…while silently thanking the maker she was not, in fact, a mage capable of being possessed by a desire demon.

When the autumn had come, and the festival of the dead was around the corner, Hawke had decided she had had enough of complacency with her new life in recovery. That morning, Fenris had helped her down the stairs into the study, setting her up with a towering stack of new books to read. He then offered Orana the day off to do as she pleased since she had been working nearly non-stop for the past few months with Hawkes injury. The tiny elf gleefully accepted the vacation and packed her things to spend a few days visiting with Merrill (who had finally returned home only two weeks before) at her home in the alienage. Fenris kissed his beloved farewell and made his way out the door to pick up some mercenary work once more as yet another change of pace, leaving Bohdan and Sandal to look after the lady of the house. An explosion in the cellar only a few minutes after Fenris and Orana had left sent Bohdan running after his son…and left Hawke with the perfect opportunity for rebellion.