Chapter 9: Maxwell

(Inquisitor's Chambers)

Shepard gave the Inquisitor a glare as she sat in front of his desk. Cole continued walking to wait for the meeting to complete out on the balcony. Since her return, he has not let her out of his sight for more than a few minutes. During their training sessions, Jane made sure to hit him extra hard with the wooden training daggers when she could land a hit in payment and that he was aware of it. When she complained to him about being to obsessive with her protection, he said it was only until she would make a promise to be more careful and mean it. She tried to make that promise, but deep down she knew that if necessary she would sacrifice herself again for the greater good.

"You still have your shadow I see, "said Maxwell as he opened up a folder, "You know it shouldn't be too difficult to admit you are a little self-destructive and promise to work on that."

"Let's don't go there, "said Shepard tiredly, "You wanted to talk to me about the Grey Wardens?"

Maxwell nodded and turned the folder around to show the latest report. "Your idea about bringing Duncan back was a good one, but there are still problems. I have a feeling the Grey Wardens will remained split for years to come but at least they are no longer at each other's throats. The Inquisition Wardens decided to name Duncan their High Warden and Weisshaupt have named their own. "

Shepard frowned and then asked, "Are we going to keep an eye on the Weisshaupt Wardens?"

"We're going to let the Inquisition Wardens deal with it now but Duncan has agreed to keep us up to date. Anders of course will remain here since it won't hurt to have Grey Warden prescience here and we are starting to run low on mages experienced with living outside of the Circle. Blackwall has decided to go ahead with the Joining and plans to leave with the Wardens."

"Our numbers are starting to thin all over, "said Shepard with some concern, "Varric is leaving to check on Kirkwall and no word as to when or if he is returning. Vivienne declared insane. Cassandra becoming Divine. Who does that leave for the field? You, Iron Bull, Dorian and my team?"

"Don't remind me, "sighed Maxwell, "Until we get more people we will no longer be able to have two teams in the field any longer. Fortunately, with Corypheus gone and the Warden issue cooled down, we can concentrate on Harbinger full on."

"Remember your promise, "Cole's voice floated in from the balcony.

"Let us not forget, you are restricted to light duty until you learn to stop throwing yourself in harm's way, "said Maxwell then added thoughtfully, "Maybe we could recruit Hawke?"

"You can try but she'll say no, "said Shepard with a smirk, "From what I understand, since Anders is no longer insane she's going to try to start a family while she can."

Maxwell's eyebrows went up in surprise as he said, "I thought Grey Wardens couldn't father or bear children?"

"It's difficult thanks to the taint, "Cole said walking back into the room, "but not impossible. With Anders magic and Justice's help they might succeed."

Maxwell looked thoughtful for a few seconds and then the former spirit said, "No, that's not how it's done."

"Okay back to the issue of numbers, "said Shepard changing the subject back to where it belongs,"Maybe we could recruit more dwarves. They are immune to the indoctrination after all. If we could replace her in the scouts, I would say bring Scout Harding in."

(A few hours later. War Room)

"You didn't tell her, "said Cullen, "Is that wise? She is the only one here that may have an idea who these people are."

"Not until it is determined that she will no longer take unnecessary risks, "said Maxwell, "I agree with Cole even if for a different reason. Shepard is too valuable to let her go off and get herself killed when there are other options available to save people."

"And there is no doubt in my mind, "said Josephine, "that once she hears of these reports she'll head out to confront these people. With or without, Inquisition authority."

"You're experience at training soldiers, "said Maxwell to Cullen, "How long do you think it'll take."

"The problem isn't learning new skills its unlearning a habit, "said Cullen, "That is harder, but she seems willing to at least try. Her biggest problem seems that she is too skilled at what she does and she's use to having to pull other people's weight. She needs to learn not to do that with Cole and Anders. Know that they can take care of themselves. It won't completely fix the problem but it'll be a good start."

Maxwell nodded and then said, "Keep me up-to-date on her progress. Leliana have your scouts try to keep track of those people and narrow down where they camp but do not engage unless absolutely necessary."

Leliana nodded as she picked up to examined the bullet hole filled breast plate and said, "Guess we are lucky they showed up while she was trapped in the past."

The End…