Enjoy!

ASTARION POV

He burst into the room, calling her name, panic ruling every movement as that scream rung in his mind. Steam was everywhere but bright crimson was clear through the room divider. And then he staggered. Amaya naked, limp over one of Orin's arms, covered in blood as it ran down her back and legs. Orin winked. A plume of spores erupted and Amaya was teleported away. Gone.

"NO!" Astarion yelled, raising his dagger as he lunged forward to strike at the remaining Orin and that damned smile. "Bring her back now!"

"Oh I will, little Elf, I will." Orin parried his strike and laughed shrilly. "But you have to play your parts, just like she has to play hers. I will return her to you, if you do as told."

The others piled into the room in the next moment, but Astarion held up a hand for quiet. Right now they had no bargaining chips. Right now, all they had was an empty room and Amaya's blood on the wooden floorboards, slowly seeping into the grain. They had to be careful. They had to save Amaya.

Astarion pulled his mask into place, trembling with rage. "And this task would be, what? For us to do your dirty bidding and kill Gortash?"

Orin squealed and spun in place. "A clever elf indeed!"

"And if we refuse?"

Those eyes sparked with the possibility, and bloodied teeth beamed into a wide smile. "If you don't little elf, my slaughter kin will be painted the most beautiful crimson you have ever beheld! Oh she will shine with it. She with bathe in it, she will drown, choke, writhe with it! So do as you like, but if you come to us too soon, and I do not hear of the lordling's pretty death first? She will know my blade. Oh yes. Most intimately."

It was a vague memory, from when he had known Amaya for only a few nights. But she had started to open up to him a little, she had admitted to being on the run, that much he had learned from her otherwise tight lipped stance on the past. But then, as another wine slipped between them, she met his gaze and then sighed wearily.

"I just couldn't take the fear anymore, y'know? Home's meant to be a place of comfort, of safety… at least… that was what those books kept saying… Shit, sorry. I shouldn't be whining…"

And then she turned to other things, other subjects, other distractions. But when she had spoken of the fear, it had been true, it had shone in her hazel eyes like stars above. And at the time, he had wondered what she would have to fear. She was capable, he knew that, the blades at her side told him that much. But then he would study the scars, the way her hand slightly shook if he drew too close too quickly. He knew true darkness, of course, but it seemed she had her own demons lurking.

Looking back, it was clear that the night she had been attacked, the night she lay clutching her belly as it had been torn open, it had been Orin's doing. Or her cronies. But it had been that same terror, that same fear.

And as he stood in the present, in front of that which had likely set those shivers into Amaya's frame, Astarion felt utterly helpless. Furious, yes. Horrified, of course. But above all else, helpless.

He set his jaw. "Alright, you have a deal. But you cannot harm her befo–"

"Oh no little elf, you do not hold a single card in this game." She grinned and ran her finger along the bath edge, where Amaya's blood shone bright. It gathered on the end of Orin's pale digit and she studied it for a moment. "My slaughter kin is the bargaining chip, and she will not die before the deal is completed. As promised. But there are many beautiful stages before death, are there not?"

"You sick piece of–"

And she was gone.

He staggered and stared at the spot where they had been standing, where puddles of bathwater and blood now merged on the floor as the steam dissipated through the open door. The others were asking questions, trying to figure out what had happened. Gale went over and cast something. Shadowheart was checking Astarion over for any wounds. Halsin was kneeling to the wooden floorboards, placing a big hand flat against the grain as if it might tell him something helpful. Karlach stood trying to stay calm, the heat radiating off her as her emotions blazed out of control. But none of it would help. Had Astarion been in the room, had he not let her go alone, had he spoken to her about their twisted past beforehand, none of this might have happened. His cowardice might have cost Amaya her life.

"Shit!" He bellowed, stepping away from Shadowheart's fussing, tossing his blade onto the nearby bed, pacing. They had no loyalty to Gortash, of course, but killing him was hardly going to be simple. And having Amaya's skills for the fight would be invaluable. And the more time they wasted, the more pain she would be forced to endure. His mind reeled. Every second could be another cut. Every moment more blood lost. Every hesitation an inch closer to death.

"Astarion, please." Gale beseeched, coming over with that horribly pitying look in his eyes. "What the hells even happened? I thought you were in here with her, but then you came and got another key, and–"

"I ruined it all, as usual."

Karlach looked at him in accusation. "But what does that mean? Huh? We heard yelling before, but figured you guys had a lover's tiff or somethin', but this goes deeper than that. Why's that freak calling Amne 'slaughter kin' over and over? She said it before and I ignored it, but it means something, don't it?"

Astarion dropped his gaze to her boots. It wasn't his tale to tell. "It's not my place to say."

"Not your… The fuck's that mean?"

"It means it's her past and I won't divulge what I do not know that she would want to share. What will the information tell you, Karlach? Whether she's worth saving or not? Does her actions not do that? Or is your affection for her as easily swept aside as ours was supposed to be when hearing word of you fighting for a devil?"

Karlach stopped and bared her teeth. "I ain't judging her you pale little rat, I'm scared for her! If that thing Orin has some kinda hold on her it's gonna be all the worse for her. Don't you dare turn me into some judgemental bastard. I love that gal, you know I do, she's like a fucking sister to me. So don't–"

"I'm sorry." He blurted out, hands up. Clearly something she saw in his face made her listen, because her rage subsided and in its place was that horrible pity all over again. "That was wrong of me, Karlach. I'm jumping to conclusions, I'm… I apologise."

"Shit you really are shaken up." She looked towards the spot Amaya had been taken again and drew a shaken breath. "We can't waste the time it would take to figure out how to get to Gortash, right? I want him dead as much as anyone else, more so, probably. But those bastards are gonna hurt her… with every second she's with them… We can't…"

"How do we risk it though?" Astarion backed up to the wall and used it to stay upright. "We don't even know how to find the Bhaal temple, we'd be stumbling around for ages, and if Orin knew Gortash was still alive…"

Shadowheart swallowed hard. "She'd have killed Amne long before we could reach her, and probably still doing it as slowly as possible. I dunno what 'slaughter kin' means, but I do know that Amne has been kind to me. She's not judged me, she's held me up when I wavered, hells she's even put up with me when I got shitty with her. We can't abandon her… But we also can't risk it by just charging in."

Halsin still had his hand to the wood, but finally hung his head and stood with a weary look in his face, the tan of his skin paled a little. "Poison. It's in her blood for sure. I detected trace amounts and was trying to figure out what it was, but it's a paralytic. They do not intend for Amne to make any kind of escape attempt. But they also do not intend to kill her. We have time… Precious time that is not to be wasted as she is no doubt being tormented. But Shadowheart speaks true. We must be careful, and unfortunately that means doing as bid, at least initially."

Karlach gritted her teeth but conceded. Gale nodded from where he was, at a loss of how to help immediately, and so instead opening his book to search for answers. Lae'zel had been staring out of the window the whole time, but turned back to the room, resolute and focused.

Astarion couldn't meet any of their eyes. He stared at his boots, splashed in the traces of blood that had been on the ground when he ran over there. When his blade clashed with Orins. When he could smell the blood from Amaya, and the little spilt from Orin too, and above all else, he could feel Amaya's fear. In the shuddering panic of her hammering heart, Amaya had confessed everything he needed to know – she was afraid.

Lae'zel stepped closer. "Astarion, I need to ask something, and I require you to be honest. Can you promise such a thing?"

"That…" He cleared his throat, a lump having formed. "That would rather depend upon the question, wouldn't it?"

She nodded and set her shoulders. "You care deeply for Amne, do you not?"

He blinked, what the hells did that have to do with any of this? Part of him figured they already knew, but he hadn't even told Amaya that information yet. Maybe he had shown it. No. No he hadn't. He had lied to her and let this situation unfold as it had. But still, the group before him, as wonderful as they were to be such steadfast allies, had no right to ask that information of him. He gritted his teeth.

Lae'zel sighed and dipped her head. "I do not snoop needlessly, rogue. I ask in order to understand your conviction. Your motivations are often hard for me to read, it is why I am glad to have you on the outskirts of a fight more often than not. I trust you to have our backs, but I do not understand it fully. For this mission? I need to know."

He looked her over. "Why?"

"Because this is not a mission towards our goal. If anything it is a petty dispute, beyond that, a personal one that distracts from the end goal of freedom from the parasite. Freeing Amne does not aid that. If anything, we could use their assumption of our affection to our advantage."

The rest of them bristled. But Astarion just stared at her. There was a 'but' coming. There had to be, or else the Githyanki was going to be holding her own intestines very soon.

Her keen eyes closed for a moment and she drew a deep breath. "But, I too have a connection with our taken Amne. She is bold of heart and stubborn of spirit. For one so small and seemingly helpless, she fights with the tenacity I have often wished to see in many a Githyanki warrior. So as much as the strategic part of my mind says to keep moving, to use this against our enemies, I am sullied by affection and must refuse the strategy. If I can admit such a thing, surely you can confirm where you stand, Vampire?"

Admitting to such 'weakness'. It was a big step for any of them really, but extra pointedly for the Gith. And yet there she stood, saying it out loud, clear as a bell. She cared for Amaya. She wished to help save her.

"You asked about my conviction." He stood straight and smoothed himself down, he sheathed his blades and made a low bow. "It is absolute."

A small huff of a laugh left the Githyanki. "Very well, point made. Let us away to quickly see if we can deal with this Lord Gortash. No longer is he only a problem for the stone he possesses, but the ways in which he has riled this red-dressed heathen and her love of carnage. If we can do so quickly, we shall dismantle the Lord and then seek the Bhaal temple."

"Fuck yes!" Karlach yelled. "And if we can't do it quickly?"

Lae'zel raised a brow. "Then we make like devils to this temple regardless and save our dear ally. Much as she would for any of us. It is a risk to do it without dispatching the Lord Gortash, but to waste time is also a risk. I do not for one moment think that red-oddity will have muhc patience. Nor keep to her word."

"Agreed." Karlach nodded, then she pointed at Astarion. "But after all this? When we find Amne, bring her home and get her good again? You have some explaining to do. Both of you. Slaughter kin. You screamin' her name and kicking down a door in a panic. All of it. We gotta be open with each other in this. Got it?"

Astarion had leaned back from the pointing finger, but straightened again and gave a small nod. "Of course. As soon as we have her back, as soon as she is safe and… yes, we'll talk and explain everything."

"Alright." Karlach lowered her hand and sighed. "I'll put out some feelers to old contacts. We still need rest unfortunately, no two ways about it. I'll get the work started, you lot try to sleep. Got it?"

And they broke, leaving Astarion in the room, staring at the darkening wood as the last of the blood was absorbed. But forever to stain…

"Just hold on, Amaya." He whispered to the silent room, his eyes blurring before he closed them and let the tears fall. "They all need you back. I… I need you back. So please, be kind once again and just… Please, just hold on…"

Thanks for reading!