Disclaimer: Bioware created the characters. I'm just feeding my need for Varric/Hawke sexy times. I regret nothing.

"Hawke! Duck!" Immediately, the rogue ducked and rolled to the right, towards the voice that had warned her of danger and hopped up in time to see a heavy bolt rip through the would-be assassin. The figure crumpled to the ground, dead before his body landed, and took in the carnage around her.

"Well, that's the last of them," she grinned and turned to her companions. Fenris was already looting the bodies and Anders was passing cursory healing checks over them to see if any of them needed aid. Varric gave her a cocky grin as he wiped his crossbow clean.

"Saved your ass again, Hawke. You owe me a round tonight."

Her rich laugh echoed among the cliffs on the coast. "That I do, my friend. Let's head there, what do you say? I always get thirsty after a good fight." As they made their way back to the city she was making mental preparations for their Deep Roads expedition. She was pretty sure that she was going to be taking her current companions, even though the mage-templar arguments between Fenris and Anders aggravated her, she needed a warrior and a healer. This was her big break and she didn't want to screw it up by having the wrong people with her, miles beneath the surface, in case things got messy.

Hawke knew her mother would be pleased to find that Bethany would not be venturing into the depths of Thedas with her and she was sure she could convince her sister that it was for the best. Of course, leaving them behind meant she wouldn't know how they were faring and that was just as frightening as taking her little sister into Darkspawn territory. She made a mental note to talk to Varric about having his contacts keep an eye on her sister while they were gone.

Once they entered the city, Anders and Fenris declined the offer to stay and drink. Hawke understood, but it made her wonder yet again if taking the two of them underground was going to be to her advantage or her doom. Varric invited his partner to his suite instead of sitting among the rabble of the pub and she readily agreed.

They shucked their weapons and gauntlets, preparing to settle in for an evening of easy friendship. Hawke fell into one of the short chairs and propped her feet onto the one beside her. Varric smiled to see his partner so relaxed around him. He was tired of the posturing from the Merchant's Guild and the strictures they clung to. It was more rewarding to have a good friend lounging on his heirloom furniture than calling him "my lord."

"Varric," her quiet voice broke the silence, "I was thinking that we should take Fenris and Anders with us on the expedition." She gave a short bark of laughter at his uncertain expression. "I know, they bicker every time they see each other, but we need a healer and Anders was the one with the maps. And if we don't have a warrior to back us up we won't stand a chance. Aveline is out of the question with her new responsibilities so he's really our only option."

He hummed into his ale. "You're right. I was thinking the same thing, but I was hoping we would run into another warrior or apostate mage without a serious rap sheet."

Hawke gave him her most brilliant smile, the one that made her blue eyes sparkle with an inner light, and replied. "Unfortunately, we attract crazy people like flies to honey. I only hope that the expression 'opposites attract' is accurate."

The dwarf laughed. "Well, that means I'm the only sane one in the group since I approached you first and then the rest of the crazies followed." She laughed good naturedly.

"To success in the depths."

"May we both find what we are looking for."

Their mugs clanged together in salute.

One month later they were underground listening to Bartrand yell at his stewards about the path being blocked. Hawke rubbed her hand over her eyes in frustration. How could the brothers be so completely different? Varric was reasonable, understanding, and obviously the only one with any sense. Bartrand was more the punch first, ask questions later type with a massive chip on his broad shoulders.

Behind her Fenris was glaring at nothing and Anders was grumbling under his breath about the blighted Deep Roads and hate the Wardens. This was going to be a long trip and if she didn't kill anyone in her immediate party while she was down here it would be a miracle. Varric came to the rescue again and convinced Bartrand to stay behind while they found a way around the cave in, even promising to find Sandal along the way.

"Let's go kill some Darkspawn then," Hawke said brightly. Varric chuckled beside her.

"Right behind you, Hawke." They made short work of the spawn in the first tunnels, but when they veered into a depression on the right they realized it was a spider's nest and it wasn't easy to take them down. Anders quickly patched everyone up and they continued through the tunnels, clearing out the small groups they ran into.

"How does it feel to be underground, Varric," asked Hawke. The dwarf glared up at his partner, but his expression softened to see her teasing smirk.

"Just great. I'm thinking of relocating actually. Who needs the sun or fresh air?" She gave a low chuckle that gave Varric an unusual fluttering in his stomach.

"Awww, but what would I do without my trusty dwarf? I'd be lost without you." He could hear the teasing way the rogue had said it, but he caught something swirling in her piercing eyes that made him unsure how much of what she had said was a joke.

"I could never leave you, Hawke. Who else would save your ass on a daily basis and who would help me edit my stories when everyone else is three sheets to the wind? No, my friend, you can't get rid of me." He gave her a genuine smile instead of his trademark smirk and was pleased to see her brilliant smile and slight flush on her cheeks.

They came around the corner and saw Sandal surrounded by dead Darkspawn and a frozen ogre. "Well, I'll be – isn't that Bodahn's boy?" He passed a special rune to Hawke and gave an enigmatic response when she asked him how he had managed to freeze the beast.

"Not enchantment," he said with a smile as he walked back the way they had come.

After taking out a larger group of spawn and an orge while trying to disarm some nasty traps, they passed through another long corridor. Hawke held up her hand and the team proceeded with caution towards a large antechamber. There was no telling what would be waiting for them there. Anders shook his head when she shot him a glance which meant there weren't any Darkspawn, but it had them at a disadvantage to be walking in blind.

As Fenris stuck his head carefully around the corner a blood-chilling roar sounded above their heads and a large dragon landed in front of them. Immediately, the group took up their usual fighting positions – Varric and Anders long-range support, Fenris front and center hacking at everything he could reach, and Hawke ghosting in for the best critical hits. When the dragonlings began to descend on the team members, Hawke called out for Varric and he answered with a shower of bolts to pin most of the weaker dragonkin to the ground.

Fenris' voice rang throughout the stone chamber, "I am about to fall!" Anders healed his wounds and the elf gulped down a stamina draught to continue his onslaught. After Hawke removed her twin daggers from the back of an unfortunate dragonling, she saw the weak spot she had been searching for. With a quick run to give her momentum, she leapt off the ground and curled her body in the air, daggers flashing fiercely in the dimly lit room and with a cry she closed the distance to her target and thrust her blades to the hilt under the dragon's ribs. A direct hit into its exhausted heart. It gave a weak roar as it collapsed and fell to the ground, shaking centuries of dust from the ceiling of the antechamber like golden snow.

No matter how many times he watched her do that, it never ceased to take Varric's breath away. She was so lithe, yet powerful on the battlefield, and her moves made her look like some kind of barbarian warrior goddess. He watched as the fine dust settled into her auburn hair, blood coating her armor and splotched across her face, blue eyes shining with victory, and he felt the fluttering again.

"What do you say, Varric? Was that enough of a tale for The Hanged Man?" She laughed richly as she wiped some of the blood from her face, only smudging a thick line across her nose, adding to her warrior-like persona.

"Oh yeah, Hawke. That's one for the books and I don't even need to embellish it…much." He winked at her playfully. They found the dragon's hoard and took all the things they could use or sell to Bodahn and made their way back to Bartrand.

When they reappeared in the camp, the hired hands gasped to see the four of them covered in dust, blood, and who knew what else, but Bartrand was in a hurry so they packed up camp and lead the way through the cleaned out tunnels. When they reached a small crumbling settlement long abandoned by the dwarves, they discovered there was a natural water source and Hawke forced Bartrand to stop so everyone could rest and clean up.

Hawke set up her tent and located a bucket so she could use some of the precious water to wash off the grime and blood of battle. By the time she returned to her tent she found Bodahn instructing some of the hirelings to place a small tub inside. "Bodahn, what are you doing?"

"Ah, Miss Hawke! We found this small tub in one of the buildings and thought you might like to have a proper soak, yes?" He gave her a satisfied smile as one of the men took her bucket and dumped it into the tub and then three others followed with full buckets.

"I don't want anyone thinking I'm asking for special treatment, Bodahn." She wrung her hands nervously. "I know Bartrand doesn't like me and I don't need to make an enemy out of him." The hirelings returned with more water until it was almost full and then Sandal entered with a heated stone stretched out from his body in a pair of tongs. He added the scalding stone to the water and gave her a small smile on the way out. Bodahn gave a short bow and turned to leave. "Thank you, Bodahn for your thoughtfulness. It really is a wonderful gesture."

He paused with a look of surprise on his care worn face. "It wasn't my idea, Miss Hawke. It was Master Varric's. He was quite adamant when he discovered the tub that it would go to you." Nodding his head, he exited her tent and left a very confused Hawke in his wake. She poked her head out of her tent and saw Varric having a very quiet, but obviously heated discussion with his brother and she ducked back inside before she could be seen spying.

With trembling fingers she removed her leathers and smalls and stepped gingerly into the hot water. It was heavenly when she was sitting completely enveloped in the heat and began to wash off the dirt and caked blood from her skin. With a muffled curse she realized her soap was still in her pack, which she had dropped outside the tent flap when she was setting it up, and she knew she'd never get all the knots out of her hair without it.

"Um, hello?" Hawke flushed deeply at the predicament she was in. She was the only woman in a troupe of men and she didn't want them to think of her as beneath them because of that, or that she was expecting them to wait on her hand and foot. "Could someone toss me my pack or kick it? I left my soap in it." No response. Urgh, she'd just have to go without it and make do with hot water to work out her tangles.

Suddenly, a recognizable brown glove entered her tent, pack dangling from stocky fingers and he gave it a gentle toss to land within reach of her hand. She gave a grateful sigh and smiled broadly. "Thank you," she whispered. It was so quiet she was sure he hadn't heard her.

"Anytime, Hawke, anytime," he whispered through the canvas.

A/N: Please leave reviews! I want to make sure that you guys like where this is going if you want me to finish it!