Hope you enjoy the latest chapter (it's a... tad interesting). Again, much thanks to Wynterkiss 3 And NoMadKa for her review! (You may like this chapter!)
By the way, no one proof reads or 'betas' my work, so if there are mistakes they will be edited the next time I read this (next few days). Bear with me :3

The last smuggler slid from Hawkes sword with a squelch and fell to the dirt, eyes open and blank. During battle Hawke never noticed the blood spray, screams and gory limbs that flew from their bodies. The frenzy of battle removed her from herself; the adrenaline kicked in and sang in her veins as she sliced her way through them in a kind of mad glee. It wasn't until the final enemy fell from her sword that she came back and realised what had taken place. But all she felt was a dull emptiness, cold and hollow in her chest. Even so, she made herself look into the eyes of her final foe and remember them. Defending herself or not, these people deserved the respect of a well fought battle. She smeared their blood from her face with a cloth hiding in her bust, she would burn it later.

"How much longer do we have to go Varric?" Anders asked, blood free and walking from the back of the cave where he had been fighting from a distance.

"From your description of where the opening into the Gallows is- " Varric looked upwards and around the cave, "- I'd say we're almost here."

"It worries me that you know such details of a lyrium smuggling cave, Varric." Aveline eyed him suspiciously, sheathing her sword and turning to keep watch of the area.

"Aw Aveline, I'm hurt. I only do honourable work, I promise." Varric smirked, leading them onwards. "I like to think I have a tiny bit of stone sense left in me. But it was probably just that small scratching in the cave wall there. The one that says 'Gallows' with an arrow." Hawke sniggered and Aveline shot her a look, but Anders interrupted their soon to be squabble.

"Look, if you want to joke around just leave. I will do this with or without you lot." He huffed, striding away into the tunnel. The Guard Captain raised her eyebrow to Hawke. Hawke gave her a 'don't ask' look.

They walked carefully through the final few tunnels, aware that more smugglers could appear from their presence. Quietly at first, but growing stronger, was the sound of raised voices from a lit opening ahead. Anders signalled at them to sneak forwards against the wall, hoping to hear snippets of the conversation.

"Please! No! I didn't do anything!" A female begged, her sobbing voice clearly heard.

"You're lying!" A man snarled back.

"No! I just wanted to see my mother, please, don't make me tranquil! I'll go back to the Circle!"

"There is no hope for a lying, untrustworthy mage like you. You are a danger and will be treated as such."

Anders face turned to Hawke and the fissures of blue began to pulse. He shook his head, muttering, trying to control the light. They moved closer to the entrance, Aveline and Hawke flanking Anders, with Varric behind them to shoot from a distance. The scene unfolded before them. Templars gathered around a small, dark haired mage girl who cowered on the ground, sobbing into her hands. A bald, white bearded man stood over her, threatening her with the edge of his longsword.

"Is that Ser Alrik?" Hawke whispered to Anders. It was all he needed to lose control.

The brightness of Justices fury as he took over Anders' body blinded Hawke and her companions. They heard the eerie double timbre of his voice bellow across the cave.

"You will never harm a mage again!" And he immediately raised his staff and crashed it upon the ground. A huge swirling mass of fire rose above him and spread across the cave ceiling, where it fell in massive balls of flame onto the templars. One caught alight a began screaming horribly as his flesh melted under the searing heat of his metal armour.

The distraction of the first death allowed Hawke and Aveline to charge into the fray while Varric loosed arrows in quick succession from Bianca. The templars were well trained in combat, unlike most of the groups thieving foes, and soon Hawke was covered in sweat and blood, not sure if it was her own or someone elses. One templar parried with her for minutes until she found a weakness in the way he swung from his left and thrust her sword into his right rib. He gurgled and fell to his knees just as Aveline yelled to Hawke to turn around. She blocked the sword just in time and threw the new templar off balance letting her slice into his arm, removing it from his body. An arrow whistled through the air and pierced between her shoulder plates and Hawke held back a scream. Looking for the attacker, she found him and charged. He fell to his knees in fear and she swung downwards, her huge blade cutting through him like cheese. She swung around to see the final templar falling to Avelines hand.

Anders was standing over Ser Alrik whose blood was bubbling from his mouth and staining his beard, Varrics arrow protruding from his throat. He was dying slowly as the blood drained from his body. Hawke moved closer and crouched beside him, pulling out her dagger to make his death quick and the templar watched her with a pleading in his eyes that willed her to do it.

"No." Justice commanded. "I want to watch him die."

"That's twisted, even for you!" She ignored him, her instincts as a warrior telling her that every man deserved the mercy of a quick death. She lowered the dagger to Ser Alriks chest but Justice kicked her arm away, which made it fling backwards and twist her injured shoulder. She gasped as her vision swam in and out of focus. Aveline swore at Anders and Varric hurried to her, pulling her away from Anders to tend to her shoulder.

"You fell at the hands of Justice for what you did. May the Maker curse you!" Justice roared, and the light from Ser Alriks eyes faded. Justice immediately turned to the terrified young mage in the corner who had watched the battle.

"Demon!" She screamed, pointing at him in horror. "Stay away!"

"You call me a demon? You must be one of them! I feel their power in you!"

Hawke stepped forward, sensing danger. "Anders, this girl is a mage. You were trying to save her, you fool!"

"No! She is one of them, she is one of the templars and she will not escape Justice!" He raised his staff above the mage and the girl screamed.

Hawke had only a few seconds to react. She threw herself into Anders, smashing him sideways into a cave wall, his staff flying out of harms reach. "Run!" She called out to the mage girl, who took Avelines hand to rise and sprinted from the cave.

The blue had not yet resided, and Justice turned towards Hawke, enraged. She grabbed him by the collar and looked straight into those burning eyes.

"Anders, you're in there somewhere, so listen to me," She demanded. "You almost killed a mage! Someone you were trying to save! Come back to me."

"Please." Helplessly whispered its way into her mouth. The radiating light faltered and fell away, leaving a pale, shaking Anders in its place.

"What did I do?" He breathed, tears welling in his dark honey coloured eyes. Before she had time to reply and pushed himself upwards and ran from the cave.

"Why does this feel like the other time someone ran from me after something bad happened..." Hawke mumbled, walking back to where Aveline and Varric were surveying the scene.

"That was..." Aveline said.

"Fucked up?" Varric offered.

"Definitely." Hawke nodded.

"We need to keep an eye on him." Varric decided. "That's not going to get any better if my brother was any judgement of crazy."

That worried Hawke further but she didn't show it.

"I have no idea what I'm going to do with all this. It's my duty to tell my City Guard AND the templars AND the Viscount what took place here!" Aveline looked around at the dead templars strewn haphazardly around the cave.

"Let me take care of it Aveline." Varric patted her on the arm.

"What do you mean, 'take care of it'?" She growled.

"I mean, don't worry, you won't have to tell anyone."

"It's not a matter of not telling anyone, it's a matter of duty."

Hawke interrupted quietly. "Please Aveline. Pretend it never happened, just this once. For me."

The Guard Captain looked affronted for a moment, before taking a deep breath and nodding once. Hawke took her hand and squeezed it.

"Personally, I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight, let alone forget about it." Varric sighed and led them out of the tunnels.

The moon sparkled on the dark Waking Sea below Darktown by the time they returned. It was all too peaceful for the agitation and worry Hawke felt inside. After sending Ella the mage away to find her mother, Varric and Aveline insisted on coming with Hawke into the Clinic, but she refused, telling them to get some rest. She felt guilty for bringing them into such a mess, and wanted to clear up the situation with Anders on her own. At least the note in her hand, taken from Ser Alriks dead body, felt like a welcome relief.

Knocking on the door seemed like the prudent thing to do due to recent events. Hawke waited, her stomach twisting in knots out of frustration and anxiety.

"Hawke?" Anders voice was hoarse as he called from inside.

"Yeeup." Hawke replied.

"Come in."

He was in the corner of the clinic messing around with a chest and its contents. Hawke couldn't quite make out what he was muttering so she fake-coughed to interrupt. He stood and turned, looking down at the hard packed dirt of the floor.

"Here." Hawke said brusquely, pushing the note towards Anders. He took and read for some while before putting it into his coat pocket. "Aaand?" Hawke asked.

"It seems that Ser Alrik was acting alone. Elthina and Meredith wanted nothing of his Solution."

"That's good, isn't it?"

"Perhaps I could talk to Elthina, yes. She may be more reasonable than I thought." Anders seemed to be preoccupied; the words coming from his mouth were merely sounds to fill the silence. Hawke twitched in the silence that followed. She had to do something.

"Right. We're going to sort your shit out." She walked over to a stretcher, sat on it, and pointed to one directly across from her. "Sit." Anders looked hesitant but followed her directions.

He sat, head in hands, rubbing his temples. Finally he looked at Hawke, the first time since she had entered.

"Is that... What's on your shoulder?"

Hawke tried to shuffle her body so he couldn't see, but he stood and walked over. Avelines bandana had been wrapped around her wounded shoulder and the blood had seeped into the burnt orange colour. Varric had removed the arrow skilfully, but it required some serious attention if it wasn't to be infected.

"Please, just leave it alone. Mother will tend to it tonight with some herbal remedies."

"You're being ridiculous, I'll heal it."

"No, just leave it."

"It could get infected, if you just let me –"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Hawke pushed him away roughly and Anders fell backwards into a post. A searing pain shot through her arm and she bit her lip until she felt the tang of iron on her tongue. They stood apart, panting. Anders pushed a strand of blonde hair from his face and looked heartbroken.

"I see." He muttered.

"I'm sorry Anders. I didn't mean to just snap."

"Yes, you did. You saw what I... was... and it disgusts you."

"I don't know what to think Anders. You nearly killed that girl. A mage, for Makers sake!"

"I know."

"Doesn't that scare you? What that... thing inside you could do?"

Anders was silent for a moment before looking directly into Hawke's eyes.

"I'm terrified." He whispered.

Before Hawke realised what she was doing, she had crossed the room and pulled Anders into a hug. He hesitated for a moment before collapsing into her, his shallow breath brushing against her neck. Hawkes heart was beating so fast she prayed he could not feel or hear it. She had no idea what she was doing, she had just moved and now she was holding him. It felt... Confusing. Her thoughts screamed at her to get out of there, but she stayed.

Anders pulled away gently and brushed her jaw line with her thumb.

"Thank you, Ophelia." He said, his breath warm against her face and smelling of mint.

Hawke was panicking as he looked down at her and slowly brought his face closer to hers. Their lips hovered so close for so long that a second felt like an eternity.

"I can't..." Hawke breathed, their lips moving closer still. She felt the insatiable need to run from the clinic and never look back. She needed to get out, before she did something stupid. Get out Hawke! Her mind screamed.

One more infinite moment – and then she pushed her lips against his. And in that moment her thoughts went silent.

They locked together, finding comfort in the taste of tongues running across lips and teeth. Their hands were frantic, moving and grasping, finding skin and hair, pulling and clutching. The tie that held Anders hair was taken out and a curtain of his fine strawberry blonde hair fell about his face. Hawke paused and pulled away.

"Your hair is long."

"Yes. It is," Anders smiled.

"It's longer than mine."

Anders stroked her hair. "Yes, it is huh. You look beautiful with short hair."

Hawke blushed and cursed herself for doing so. "Well, you also, look nice. With the hair. And things."

Anders laughed, "Are you always this awkward?"

"I can punch you instead?"

"Not necessary," Anders pulled her close again and kissed her lightly on the nose. Hawke readied herself for another round of making out but he didn't continue. Instead he narrowed his eyes.

"What?" She demanded.

"Can I heal you now?"

Hawke laughed and Anders looked as if that was the greatest thing he'd ever heard. She took his hand and sat them down on a stretcher so he could tend to her shoulder. They talked about silly stuff and serious stuff for an hour, and then Hawke kissed him goodbye for the night. He looked like he wanted her to stay, and she was tempted, but decided against it. It was finally starting to settle in and Hawke needed some to time to process what was going on.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" He asked hopefully.

"Maaaybe." She teased.

"Seriously though, can I see you tomorrow?"

Hawke just kissed him again and walked away, purposefully swaying her hips a little more than usual. She thought she heard him mutter 'Maker' and she grinned.