AN: Many thanks to all who reviewed the first incarnation of this story-I hope this reboot doesn't disappoint anyone! Bioware owns all-depressingly-I'm just borrowing.


They were losing this fight. The onslaught of shades and corpses was relentless; the magnitude of Hadriana's own spells had knocked Cassidy off her feet more than once. Her head had cracked painfully against the stone floor for the third time, and she was only saved from a shade's painful dismemberment by Isabela's quick intervention. The pirate's daggers had made short work of the creature, but she'd paid for her uncharacteristic selflessness with a wicked slash from the shade's claws as it was banished back to the Fade. Cassidy healed it as best she could, but her meager skills were nothing compared to Anders's. And he had been left to his own devices in Darktown.

Fenris fought as though a man possessed. He paid no heed to the spells Hadriana threw at him, didn't seem to care if his blade cut through her barrier spell. Cassidy, Varric and Isabela fought tooth and claw to clear the room of the abominations Hadriana summoned, to give Fenris just a little more time to strike down his hated enemy. But they were running out of time to give him.

A shade struck a lucky blow on the back of Varric's head, and the dwarf crumpled almost instantly. Isabela sprang to the dwarf's defense, but her daggers were just a fraction too slow, and the shades backed her into a corner of the room. Cassidy lost sight of the trademark blue scarf, and felt the first, icy tendrils of defeat sluice through her veins like cold poison. Oh Maker, someone please help me, she prayed silently, desperately. Her eyes found Fenris's back. He'd finally broken through Hadriana's magical defenses, but two more shades were closing in on his unprotected back. Cassidy put all her remaining effort into a freezing spell that would catch both shades before they reached the elf before collapsing against the wall. Maker help us all.

Take Courage, came the gentle answer. I hear you.


Fenris almost groaned in relief as he felt Hadriana's heart give way under his crushing grip. He'd felt the healing surge of Cassidy's magic whip through him, and for once, he hadn't minded. It had given him the strength and time he'd needed to strike down his old tormentor. But after it was done, all he felt was a void where the satisfaction of revenge should have been. Anger flared, hot and instant, at this small pleasure being denied him. He lashed out at his mage leader, hating her for one enraged heartbeat, hardly knowing what he was saying. It must have been hurtful, for she finally drew back as though he'd struck her. He fled back to Kirkwall, ashamed and angry, seeking the only solace he knew how to find.


"You all right, Hawke?" Varric asked.

Cassidy tore her gaze from Fenris's retreating back and forced herself to smile jocularly at her best friend. "Yeah, I always like a blood bath first think in the morning," she joked, pointedly scrubbing gore off her face with her sleeve. "Come on, let's get out of here. Aveline will be wondering if she'll actually have to work during her patrol with Donnic."

Clearing out the raiders on Aveline's patrol gave Cassidy time to think. She tried not to dwell on Fenris's angry, bitter words, but they haunted her all the same. "What has magic touched that it doesn't spoil?"

But Fenris's continued hatred of mages—including her, much of the time—was nothing compared to the extra presence that seemed to stand vigilant within her very soul. She hadn't intended to call a Fade spirit with her desperate prayer in the cave, but one had come all the same.

Courage.

The thought had not been hers. Cassidy stilled utterly, senses tingling as she reached out to the other presence within her. She ducked into an alley for some resemblance of privacy. "What are you?" she whispered, half fearful, half reverent.

Courage, the presence repeated patiently. You called. I came. I will help you now.

Cassidy knew what she needed to do. The Hanged Man wouldn't be crowded yet this time of day, and Isabela was just where the mage thought she would be. "Isabela, I need you to do me a favor…"


Fenris was waiting for her when Cassidy arrived home, Isabela's favor in her hands. For a split second, Cassidy caught an unguarded glimpse of him. He looked…profoundly unhappy, she realized. His head rose at her approach, and then he stood.

"I've been thinking about what happened with Hadriana," he began without preamble. "I—took out my anger on you, undeservedly so. I was not myself. I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologize," Cassidy assured him, setting her burdens down on the floor to sit beside him.

"You are generous," he replied, with a rare, self-deprecating smile that quickly faded. "When I was still a slave, Hadriana was a torment. She would ridicule me, deny my meals, hound my sleep." He turned away from her. "Because of her status, I was powerless to respond. And she knew it." His customary scowl darkened his face. Cassidy had the mad thought that his angry, vengeful expression was one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen. "The thought of her slipping out of my grasp now…I couldn't let her go. I wanted to, but I couldn't."

Cassidy frowned, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"This hate," Fenris continued, almost to himself, "I thought I'd gotten away from it. But it dogs me no matter where I go. To feel it again, to know it was they who planted it inside me…it was too much to bear." He shook himself slightly, as though realizing where he was. "But I didn't come here to burden you further." He turned to go.

Every sensible instinct Cassidy possessed told her to let him go with a wave and a gentle quip to make him smile. He was hurting, that much was plain. But no one should hurt alone.

Cassidy threw all caution to the wind. No one ever achieved anything by being sensible all the time, she reasoned madly. She closed her fingers impulsively around his elbow, right at the gap in his armor. "You don't have to leave, Fenris," she blurted.

Fenris whirled at her touch. The lyrium in his veins surged to life, filling the hall with its eerie, beautiful glow. His face was within a hand's breadth of hers, close enough for her to see the anger and pain smoldering in his green-gray eyes.

And then his lips were on hers—brief, challenging. He pulled back, and something…else flickered to life in his face.

That was all it took. Longing roared through Cassidy's body as she jerked his hips against hers. She hungrily pressed her mouth against his, hoping to convey through her kiss what she couldn't seem to with words. Everything else faded into insignificance in the wake of the fire that leapt to life between them.

The initial wave of heat subsided long enough for them to come up for air. Cassidy searched Fenris's face; he searched hers. He brushed his thumb over the swoop of her cheekbone, more tenderly than she would have ever thought him capable of. "Last chance, Cassidy," he warned huskily. It was the first time he'd ever used her first name. "Command me to go, and I shall."

Cassidy pressed her cheek into his calloused palm. The lyrium under his skin sang against her senses, just below the range of normal hearing. She turned her gaze to him and felt a giddy smile pull the corners of her mouth upwards. "The entrance hall is probably not the best place to continue this," she pointed out, leaning forward to brush his lips lightly with hers. Her fingers tightened their grip on his armor. "We should probably move upstairs."

Fenris's tender, wicked smirk was all the answer she needed.