Chapter 5

The platform had barely locked itself into place when Anders pressed his hand to the wall, his eyes flashing white as he mumbled to himself.

It was the least elegant solution, but Fenris jumped, driving his shoulder into Anders' sternum and knocking the two of them through the wall. It dematerialized around them, sending them sprawling into a hewn rock tunnel. More magic, Fenris thought, his blood simmering. Seeing Eleana shoved from the platform had been the last straw. Anders was through. It would take a mere moment, and the mage's heart would be crushed in his fist. No one would be hurt by this maniac ever again.

So simple. So crude...yet so full of justice. Fenris raised one hand, summoning the magic that would let him plunge seamlessly into Anders' chest.

"I wouldn't," Anders gasped.

Fenris' lips peeled back as he snarled, lost to his rage.

"Kill me, and the city will blow."

"How?" It was enough to buy the mage a few more pathetic seconds. But not enough to save him.

Anders licked his lips, his eyes trained on Fenris' hand. "There's a paper in a vault just around that corner. Listed on it are the locations of three dozen live bombs. They're scattered throughout the city." Anders quirked a grin, one eyebrow rising in challenge. "You'd better hurry."

"I can still kill you, and then go open the vault." Before the mage could protest, Fenris' hand shot forward, phasing through cloth and skin alike. He could feel the heart in his hand, could squeeze it...

"Kill me and you'll never get the vault open," Anders gasped. His head tipped backward, a moan of agony lifting from his throat.

Fenris froze, his fury growing. "What?"

"I need to open it. It's keyed - to me." Anders took a long, slow breath. "That really hurts."

"Good." Fenris squeezed, just a little. "Let's go open the vault, shall we?"

"It takes. Two people." Anders panted for breath, his eyes squeezing shut. "For Maker's sake-"

"We have two people." Fenris eased his grip just a bit. "Talk faster. I grow tired of your whining."

"You at the vault door. Me over there." Anders' eyes rolled toward one end of the tunnel, opposite the vault. "I have to activate it from there. And then someone has to push open the door at the same time. You. You have to push it open. That, or the city goes up in smoke."

Fenris' mind flipped through his options. There were none. Anders would get away. He would activate the door and run, while Fenris was disabling the bombs. Save the city, or kill the villain. There was no way to have both.

"Tick tock, Fenris," Anders whispered.

He was so close. So close! And now, this?

"Maker damn your blighted soul," Fenris whispered. The glow from his hand as he withdrew it was almost as bright as the flash of the mage's abominable eyes.

Anders drew a shuddering breath, his body going limp as the pain receded. From his wrist came a beeping. "Right on time," he murmured, glancing at his watch. "The first bomb is set to go off in ten minutes. They're cascading; ten minutes for each. You'll have to do them in order. But the list is complete. I have utter faith in your ability to save Kirkwall."

"You want me to thank you? Stop talking and open the door." Fenris stood, struggling to control his urge to howl at the inequity of it. "I will come for you, Anders. There is nowhere you can hide."

"I suppose that remains to be seen." Anders gave him a wry smile, then stuck out his hand. "I look forward to killing you in the future. You're a worthy opponent, Fenris. I may be a criminal, but I'm not unreasonable."

"Open the Maker-damned door," Fenris growled. Ignoring Anders' hand, he marched off down the tunnel.

"He's all over the city," Chief Vallen said. She pointed to her computer. "Look at his route. He's here in Kirkwall, he hasn't left - but what is he doing?"

Varric frowned at the screen. They'd only just gotten back to the station, and the chief's first action had been to find their elusive elf. Fenris' every move had been tracked by the ankle monitor, and it painted a crazy network of lines that ranged all over Kirkwall. "Any ideas, Sassy?"

From the cell, Eleana shook her head, her eyes pinched. "He's still alive, though. That's a good thing. Maybe he's chasing Anders?"

"Anders got away," the little elf chirped. Her right eye was puffed and bruised, her nose swollen like a cabbage. "And he'll come back for me. You watch."

"Shut up, Merrill," Eleana snapped.

"I'll go out after him." The chief stood. "Cullen can come with me, just in case."

"I don't think you'll need to, chief. Look." Varric pointed, his worry fading as he watched Fenris' monitor trace a line back toward the station. "He's headed here."

A few minutes later, Fenris stalked through the door, escorted by Officers Cullen and Donnic. It was still raining, and the proof of it dripped from Fenris' overcoat. The question 'where ya been' was on the tip of Varric's tongue, but the expression on Fenris' face was enough to shut him up real quick. He didn't get Anders, Varric thought.

"Unlock this." Fenris hoisted his foot onto a chair, lifting his pant leg to reveal the ankle monitor. "Now."

"Easy," Chief Vallen warned. She fished a key from her belt and slipped it into the lock, freeing Fenris from his electronic bonds. "What happened? Where is Anders?"

"Anders is gone. He got away." From the pocket of his overcoat, Fenris brought out a small metal doohickey and dropped it on the chief's desk. "Do you know what that is?"

"That's a thermobaric incendiary device," Eleana said. She'd gone pale as a ghost. "Fenris, where did you get that?"

He shot her a wry look. "This one was planted in the ceiling above Anders' hideout. Thirty-five others were squirrelled into locations all over Kirkwall. I've spent the last ninety minutes disarming them all. You're welcome."

"Maker," Eleana murmured. "I - I didn't know-"

"What didn't you know?" The chief swung around, her face stony.

Eleana took a long breath, her eyes going to Fenris. "Anders hired me about a month ago. Said he needed someone with special abilities... Well, in the Red Iron, I learned a lot about bombs. I'm good with mechanical stuff, it's just what I've always liked. So, Anders asked me if I could design a thermobaric explosive."

"Back up," Varric interrupted. "Thermobaric? What's that?"

"Dangerous," Eleana said coolly. "It uses air to create a super-intense, fiery explosion. Most effective in small, confined spaces."

"Air? Like, the stuff we're breathing? Shit." Varric shook his head. "Go on. Anders asked you to make him one of these death machines."

"Not make. Design." Her eyes scanned the room, her brows drawing together as her shoulders slumped. "He said it was a test, that was all," she said in a dejected tone. "That if I could do it, it would prove my intelligence. All I did was draw up the plans, show them to him, and then I got rid of them." Her voice had gotten very small.

"You 'got rid of' them." Chief Vallen crossed her arms. "Yet this is your design. You're certain of it?"

She nodded, looking dismal. "I don't know how he got the plans. They never left my possession; I drew them up, showed him, and burned them...but yeah, it's mine. See the chamber? It's specially shaped to promote the flow of the fuel. A slow release - he said he wanted a boom, I gave it to him. He had my sister," she flared. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Not design a bomb that could destroy a city," the Chief snapped.

Eleana sank down on the bench within the cell, her face dropping into her hands.

Varric's eyes flew to Fenris, wondering what his reaction to this would be. But the detective's face was like marble. Cold.

"Come on, Varric. Chief Vallen? I assume you're finished with us?" Fenris asked.

"No, actually. I need a statement." The chief motioned for them to follow. "I promise we'll make this quick, but procedure demands it."

It was another hour before Varric and Fenris left the station, their accounts recorded for posterity. Varric was stunned by his friend's report of what had gone down with Anders. Fenris clearly was roiling on the inside, his movements quick and jerky as they walked down the road in the pouring rain.

"We just leaving Eleana in there?"

"Have you got enough for bail?" Fenris asked dryly.

"Oh. Right." The rain was coming down in sheets. Varric squinted at the sky. "You could put up your umbrella, maybe," he suggested.

Fenris made no answer, only shoved his hands into his pockets and hunched his shoulders. Already his white hair was dripping, the water streaming down his cheeks and over the bridge of his long nose.

"Spill it, broody. What's eating you?"

Fenris sighed, his head dropping. "Eleana designed those bombs. They almost took out Kirkwall. And I had to let Anders get away in order to make sure no one else died tonight." He was quiet for a moment. "I don't know how to feel about that. She's caused an awful lot of mayhem."

"But she also confessed to it. She didn't know what she was doing. You said it yourself - she was desperate. Felt like she was outta options. You gonna condemn a person for that?"

Fenris said nothing, the sound of the rain on the sidewalk Varric's only answer for a time. "There's still one thing I don't know," he said at last. "Clearly, Eleana has the resources to design a bomb. So who gave me the jewel? Eleana, or Anders?"

Varric whistled.

"I've thought of little else since seeing Bethany," Fenris went on. "The fact that Anders took her hostage means Eleana was ready to do anything to save her. 'You promised,' she said to Anders. Remember?"

"After he pushed her. Yeah. 'You swore she'd be safe.' So Anders had Bethany as insurance that Eleana would follow his rules." Varric sighed and turned up his collar, then buttoned his overcoat up to the neck. "I'll open a bottle of Aggregio when we get back."

The violin was a beautiful mistress.

Fenris closed his eyes as he played, giving himself over to the sweetness of the instrument's voice. He needed the catharsis.

As soon as they'd gotten home, Varric had begun scouring the house for cash for Eleana's bail. Now the dwarf stomped into Fenris' office, his footsteps likely waking the neighbors. "What happened to the thousand Eleana gave us?"

"It's Eleana's," Fenris replied shortly. "I intend to give it back to her."

"Don't you think she'd be okay with us using it to get her out of jail?"

Keeping his eyes closed, Fenris drew the bow across the strings, producing a tremulous note.

"When are you giving it back to her?" Varric's voice came from the doorway. "If she's carted off to prison, she probably won't be needing it for Big Macs. Sooner would be better."

Clearly, Varric did not intend to leave him be. Pressing his lips together, Fenris opened his eyes, laid the instrument back in its case and loosened the bowstrings. "I don't know where to take it."

"Seriously? You're not taking it back because you don't know her address?" Varric began to laugh. "Broody, tell the truth. You could probably figure out where the Hawke residence is just by sniffing the ground."

"Are you calling me a dog?" Fenris asked, his tone both wry and joking. He wasn't offended.

"A wolf, maybe." Varric clumped into the room. "Come on, Fenris. What's the problem? You like her, she likes you. Go get her outta jail."

"And what if she's still working for Anders? I bail her out, and she runs right back to him. Then I'm twice the fool. Thank you, no."

"He hired her, Broody. That was it. You heard her confession."

"Words from a liar. Hardly trustworthy." Fenris stood, reaching for his coat and umbrella. "But since you won't let me be, I'll go sniff out the Hawke residence and return the cash to them. They can bail her out or send Bethany back to school with it, as they please. It isn't up to me."

"Want me to come?"

"Not in the slightest." Fenris was out the door before Varric could follow.

He should have gone straight to Lowtown. Should have taken the shortest route, dropped off the money and been home before the drunks left the bars after last call. It was never smart to be a lone elf in Lowtown in the middle of the night.

Not that he was really worried. But he doubted Chief Vallen would appreciate his involvement in another altercation before the evening was out.

The umbrella rested on his shoulder, its handle crooked against his neck as the rain sluiced all around him. It was a cold, misty night, the sort of evening one reads about in old English mysteries. A touch of fog obscured the city, turning it into a skilled artist's dreamy rendering. Fenris wandered over the Hightown bridge, adjusting his scarf a bit closer around his neck. He leaned on the bridge's stone railing, staring moodily down over Kirkwall.

"They'll never know how close they came to dying," a voice said behind him.

Shock filtered through him. He turned his head, lost for words.

"Has this sort of thing happened before?" Eleana eased up next to him, her hair dripping as she leaned casually on the bridge's railing. "You going up against Anders, saving us all, and no one knowing the first thing about it?"

"Here." Fenris handed her the umbrella, then unbuttoned his coat and draped it around her shoulders. "You're soaked through."

She shrugged, though she nestled herself into the jacket with a grateful look. "Not the first time I've been cold and wet."

"But it's the first time around me," he chided her. The scarf came next, coiled around her neck with utmost care. "Red is a good color on you," he said when he'd finished. "You should keep that."

Her cheeks went pink, a sparkle touching her sapphire eyes. Those eyes canted downward, finding the road beneath their feet. "Shall we walk?"

"Going home?" He took the umbrella from her hand, holding it over both of them as they strolled. "You're out of jail."

"I am." She offered him half a grin. "Bethany showed up with bail. After we left you frozen in the manor house, I managed to get home and drop off the gold we got out of the safe."

Fenris nodded. One mystery cleared up. "Here." From his pocket he fished a folded stack of twenties and hundreds. "Your money."

She began to laugh. "I'm pretty sure that's yours."

"I didn't exactly keep you safe," he jibed. "Besides, doesn't Bethany owe White Spire for back tuition?"

Eleana shook her head, her brows crinkling. "Bethany graduated last month... How did you know about White Spire?"

"Public records. So..." Fenris frowned, trying to make sense of the evening. "I could make educated guesses all night, but believe it not, most of my intel comes from research and a photographic memory. Fill me in? What's the whole story, Eleana?"

She smirked, her eyes gleaming. "You mean, the mud on my shoes doesn't tell you everything you need to know?"

Fenris huffed a laugh. "If you'd like, I can tell you what my theory is for why you went to work for Anders. But I have a feeling I'm wrong."

She slid him a sidelong glance. "Bethy graduated a month ago. Before that, she was tutoring rich brats in Orlais to pay White Spire, since there were no more checks coming from home. I've been looking for work ever since I got out of prison, but the system isn't kind to ex-felons. And with the recession, no one local is hiring. I had an offer for tech support in Seheron, but Mother doesn't want to leave Kirkwall." Her voice got softer, touched with sentiment. "I wasn't lying about the house. It really was ours, and she really does want to buy it back."

Fenris nodded.

"Anyway, last month, we went to Orlais to bring Beth home. But she got in a car with one of Anders' men. Don't ask me why," Eleana sighed. "She claims he had a sign that said her name, and she thought we'd hired a driver for her. She's sweet, and she's really smart, but she isn't very street wise.

"So then we get the ransom call. He's got her, and he makes us an offer. 'Come work for me,' he says. 'Both of you. I can pay more than you'll make anywhere else.' I refused. I'd heard about him; he's infamous in Kirkwall. And I was done with that life... The Red Iron killed my brother. I didn't want to see a crime lord take my little sister, too."

"But you did end up working for him," Fenris commented.

"One job," Eleana said in a hard voice. "That was our deal. He wanted one job out of me, and he'd guarantee Bethany's safety. Even Mother thought it was a good deal, when she heard Anders' offer."

"The contents of the safe," Fenris realized. "And here I thought you'd gone to him asking for the money to pay for Bethany's schooling. But - he offered you your own money? It was yours all along."

"But we couldn't get it," Eleana pointed out. "The house belonged to Anders, and so did everything in it. Uncle Gamlen sold the whole lot out from under us. I tried to sneak in once, and got my ribs fractured for my efforts. That was a terrible two months of healing. Never fuck with your ribs."

Fenris gave a ghost of a smile, recalling an agonizing time when he'd lain broken upon a mage's operating table. "Noted."

"Anders didn't give me too many details about the actual job," she went on. "He had me design the bombs, rig some showy electronic toys for his home base. The cameras, the screens, the platform. When it came to today, though, when it was time to bring you in..." She shook her head, looking faintly amused. "He wanted Bethany to do it. I was the brains, she was the face. But I wouldn't let her. There isn't a deceptive bone in her body, you'd have seen right through her."

"I saw right through you," Fenris couldn't help pointing out.

One corner of her mouth rose in challenge. "Did you?"

"Beautiful woman asking me to be her bodyguard?" Fenris snorted. "There are goons you can hire for far less than you offered. The stink of a trap was all over your proposition."

She turned her face toward the ground, one hand rising to tuck her damp hair behind her ear. An ear that had turned quite pink. "Anders told me what to do, what to say. He gave me the cash to give you."

Fenris nodded. "In that case, I'll keep it. He owes me for an evening of trouble. Though I'd prefer to see him behind bars." He tucked the bills back into his pocket. The rain had slacked off, and so he closed the umbrella and hooked it over his wrist. So much to consider. Not at all what he had expected. He'd let his assumptions get the better of him, and it had colored his perceptions of her.

Eleana's breath made white plumes in the moonlit air. "It's this way," she said quietly, indicating a time-worn set of stairs that headed into Lowtown. She shrugged out of his jacket and held it out. "I can make it from here. You probably want to get home."

Fenris ignored her offering. "Are they waiting for you?"

She paused. "My mother and Beth? ...they're probably in bed."

"I am happy to walk you home, if that's where you want to go. But..." Fenris took a hesitant step closer. "There is a bottle of wine back at my place that I would be more than happy to open."

She surveyed him for a moment, then before he could react, she stepped into his arms and pressed her mouth to his.

Fenris reeled, his senses overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught. Her body meshed close, the feel of it not unlike the molten magic he so hated...but this was no excruciating inferno. Sweet. Inviting. A delicious heat that began at his core and spiraled outward, driven by the rush of his desire. She was a miracle made flesh, the answer to his unspoken prayers. He kissed her back, their lips hungry for each other. Eleana's fingers tugged through his hair, his arms winding her tight and close.

Their breath came quick for a moment after, when noses and foreheads touched but lips had parted. "You planted something on me earlier when you kissed me," she whispered.

He nodded, feeling a twinge of shame. "It's how I tracked you to Anders."

"I had to know," she went on. "But it's true, isn't it? It's all true."

She'd said almost the same words in his office that very afternoon. He held his breath, wondering what she would say next.

"Fenris, the first moment I saw you, I... Look, I had to know," she said again. "I had to kiss you now. I had to see if you reacted. Earlier, you kissed me because it was a means to an end. You spun my head with that kiss - and then, it was just a ruse. Just something you did to solve this whole thing. My heart broke when I realized I was just another obstacle, not something you could actually care for. But you do care. Don't you."

He closed his eyes, attempting to organize his whirling thoughts. "I care," he murmured at last.

She gave a short, breathy laugh. "Are we insane? Do you feel this, too?"

"I feel it." His mouth found hers again. Less talk was needed right at this moment.

A broken sigh lifted from Eleana as she melted into him. "Maker's breath," she whispered when they separated once more.

"Now answer me a question," he said, then realized it wasn't really a question he had for her. Hesitating, he picked up his coat from where it had slipped to the ground and settled it over her shoulders once more. His hands found the edges of her waist, easing her close to him. "Tell me about the jewel you handed me."

She winced. "Where did it go off?"

"The Darktown sewers, about thirty seconds after it began vibrating in my pocket."

Her eyes closed as she sighed with relief. "Anders told me to give you the jewel. But it looked strange to me... I took it apart yesterday, realized it was an explosive. So I rigged it up with the buzzer and the LED's, replaced most of the fuel with harmless filler, and then put it all back together. He expected me to hand it to you, and I couldn't just disable it. He'd have known. Was anyone hurt?"

Amazement rippled through him. "No. Where did you learn to do all of that?"

She giggled. "What, like it's hard?"

A full-blown laugh spilled from his throat as he dipped in to kiss her once more.

"And a question for you," she said when he'd released her. "How did you get out of the noose?"

He chuckled, then took her hand and held it up. Closing his eyes, he summoned the lyrium to the surface of his skin. Eleana gasped as his fingers phased through hers. "A talent the Tevinter mages forced upon me," he said. "Anders didn't tell you about my little ability?"

She shook her head, her eyes filled with fascination. "Does it hurt?"

"Yes." He took her hand again, holding it gently as he cooled the volcano that ran in his bloodstream. "But it's handy when someone tries to tie me up."

She began to laugh, an amazed, incredulous sound. Her lissome body was joy itself as she cuddled into his embrace, her head nestling perfectly into the crook of his shoulder. Fenris closed his eyes, treasuring her nearness.

Anders was still out there. Eleana would still face trial for her involvement in the city's troubles, but Fenris' mind was already formulating ways to finagle the best possible outcome. He couldn't help but admire her grit. Life had dumped misfortune in her lap, but she'd fought back, keeping herself afloat even in the choppiest water.

This gorgeous, wild, brilliant woman was unlike anyone he'd ever met. For some reason, she'd chosen him... a quandary he would never be able to solve. She was more than worth fighting for. Life was always a mystery, but one thing was for certain... If he had his way, he would never let her go.

A/N: This is the final chapter! If you've been following from the beginning, and you still bothered to come back and read after all this time, I can't thank you enough for your patience as I wrote this story. It took *far* too long to complete, but it was extremely important to me to see it through.

Ekocentric is a fantastic muse, and her patience through my process was nothing short of amazing. So much love to you, my dear friend! Thank you for all of your amazing artwork. You inspire me. :-D (If you still haven't looked her up on DeviantArt, do so. Scenes that are currently illustrated (that I lifted and placed into this story) include Fenris on the bridge with his umbrella, Fenris and Varric playing cards at the Hanged Man, Fenris playing the violin, and Fenris and Eleana as she whispers the line "Go on, impress a girl.")

I seem to be moving away from fanfiction. I still write, but much of what I do is original now. If you are at all interested in following my career, PM me and I will be happy to give you details for my author Twitter and Facebook. :-)

For now, I hope you will leave me a review! Thank you so much for reading!