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Always ch 69

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69. Second Guessing

It was pure luck that Sigrun moved as far away from the rope as she did. Luck, and a creeping sense they were being watched. The combination of the two had her roving a rough perimeter around where the others would come down.

Which meant she was far enough away to avoid being landed on when Jowan came crashing to the ground. She heard at least one something break, followed by a painfully hissed obscenity stronger than anything that had passed the mage's lips before.

With a final glance to insure no one was coming, the dwarf stowed her weapons and moved to help. "Are you-"

"Don't. Say. It," Jowan ground out, levering himself semi-upright with one arm, the other curled in close to his chest.

Sigrun shut her mouth with a near-audible click of teeth and simply offered him a hand instead. It had been a stupid question, anyway. "How bad is it? That better?"

The mage basically growled as he took her hand with his good one, muttering something that sounded an awful lot like Andraste's bloody tits as she helped him sit up and lean back against the side of the building. "Yeah... Better..." He sucked in another sharp breath.

"Okay, well, do what you can so we can run for it," she instructed, more brusquely than she intended. "I feel all exposed just sittin' here."

He gave a nod, leaning his head back against the stone foundation as his hand glowed with healing magic. In halting jerks he ran it down his left arm, hesitating where his elbow was pulled in close to his side. "Arm broke.. nngh... in two places... couple ribs... elbow's out of joint..." His closed his eyes and swore again under his breath. "I'm an idiot..."

"No, you're not," Sigrun contradicted. "Need lyrium?"

He nodded, eyes still closed.

She dug a good sized flask out of her belt pouch. "Figured it might come in handy." She pulled out the stopper and handed it to him.

Jowan downed it in a few hard swallows. "...Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now, seriously, patch yourself enough to move and let's go."

"But Rahna-" he began, even as the pale blue glow resumed.

Sigrun shook her head. "All they wanted was her an' Zevran. Not us, not Aenya, just those two. Notice how they aren't down here finishin' the job? We mean less than nothing to them." A feeling she knew all too well. She scowled, the dark look made even more frightening by the light from Jowan's spell. "I'm gonna kill him."

Jowan looked up at her between loose locks of hair from his ruined ponytail, hand clenched slightly against his side. "...Who?"

"Nevio. They played us, he played me. And now the Crows have Rahna... I don't hafta know everything about them t' know that's bad."

"Sigrun?" the mage mumbled, biting his lip. "Do me a favor? Two, actually..."

"Sure." She raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"First, can you maybe until we're somewhere it's safe for me to have a panic attack before we start in on the whole Crows have Rahna thing?"

She nodded. "Mmhm. And the second thing?"

He held up the hand of his bad arm. "Pull. Hard."

The rogue's eyes widened as she caught his meaning. "What?!"

"Magic doesn't fix dislocated joints," he reminded her though gritted teeth. "Just pull."

Knowing he was right, she took his hand, braced herself, and pulled.

oOo

He very nearly passed out from the pain as his elbow popped back in the socket. And the sound it pulled from him was half scream, half growl.

Jowan fought off the doubling vision and nausea by sheer strength of will, grateful that Sigrun was kind enough to give him a few seconds for the world to stop swimming. "Alright..." he managed. "Let's go."

Sigrun offered him a hand up, which he accepted, feeling his arm twinge in reminder he needed to really heal things before they attempted anything crazy. Like a rescue.

"So, you think we should even bother heading for the rendezvous?" the dwarf asked cynically as they crept away from the building. "Or d'you think Nevio killed Aenya and took off?"

He shrugged. "Can't hurt to see... And Aenya would be pissed at us if she's there and we don't show up."

"True..." Sigrun nodded thoughtfully. "But serious, how dumb a traitor would you hafta be to show your face again after this?"

About as dumb as I am for wanting to trust them... Jowan kept that to himself, instead giving another shrug and mumbling, "You never know."

They walked the rest of the way in silence, Sigrun looking like she was plotting numerous painful ways to kill Nevio, and Jowan fighting not to let the sense of self-blame overwhelm him.

It was was a losing battle.

oOo

There was no sign of Nevio or Aenya when they reached the agreed upon alleyway. The murder in Sigrun's eyes just about tripled, and Jowan honestly didn't feel like he could blame her.

"We're a little early," he pointed out all the same, internal numbness leeching into his voice. The Crows had Rahna. They would kill her. And all because she'd trusted him when he advocated trusting the twins. I told you not to have so much faith in me...

Sigrun jumped and swore when Aenya dropped from the eaves of a nearby building. "Soddin' stone, don't do that!"

The redhead frowned at the sharp rebuke. "Sorry, salroka. What's-oop." She dodged sideways to avoid Nevio landing on her.

He frowned as he straightened. "Where are the others?"

Sigrun just stared at him for a second before letting out an enraged growl and bull-rushing him. He went down easily--she hit his bad knee first--and she threw herself on top of him, her dirk in hand and pressed against his throat in the space of a breath.

Aenya swore and grabbed Sigrun's wrist. "What the sod are you doing?!"

"They betrayed us," the brunette snarled, shaking free and pressing the dirk hard enough against Nevio's skin to draw a thin line of blood.

A string of injured, indignant Antivan burst from the pinned-down rogue. "Betrayed- What are you talking about?!"

Sigrun just glared at him, shaking with fury.

Jowan was the one who answered, stepping forward to make sure Nevio could see him. "You see this?" He ran his thumb along the cut down his jaw, now flaking dried blood from the edges. "I got it from a man following your sister's orders. They tried to use me as leverage to make Rahna surrender."

Nevio blinked, looking lost. "What?!"

Sigrun scoffed. "D'you honestly expect us t' believe you weren't workin' with her?"

He just kept staring, confusion filling brown eyes. "I-I don't-"

"Melita was working with the Crows," Jowan filled him in bluntly. He was so tired, and his head hurt, and arm, but the Crows had Rahna... "For real, I mean. Traitor, double agent, spy, whatever you want to call it. She tried to capture us, and they did get Rahna and Zev. Your twin sister sold us out, and now I'm half inclined to let Sigrun cut your throat."

Nevio appeared not to have heard the threat. "Lita... Lita is..."

"Working with the Crows. Yes." Sigrun bit the words out, shifting her weight to lean a little harder on the dirk. "If you really expect us to believe for one second that you weren't in on it, you better start talkin' real fast, Crow boy." The dwarf looked like she regretted the nickname soon as she uttered it, but it snapped Nevio out of his fog of disbelief.

"I swear to you, cara, I did not know!" he insisted, fingers tensing uselessly against the dirt beneath him.

Sigrun flinched at the endearment. "All that talk about how close you two are, how you kept each other alive, and I'm supposed to just believe you didn't know?! Just like that?!"

Nevio gagged slightly at the pressure against his throat. "Why would I lie? You are going to kill me either way, yes? I say I was working with Melita to trap your friend, you kill me for that. I say I knew nothing of it, you kill me because you don't believe me. I'd rather die honest."

The duster fixed him with a skeptical stare. "Honest? A Crow worrying about honesty?"

"I am not a Crow!" Nevio growled, pushing himself upright, Sigrun's blade still against his throat. "If that is truly what you think me to be, then cut my throat and be done with it. I used to be one, yes. I pretended to be one for your little deception. But I am no more a Crow than you are!"

Between his vehemence now and what looked like genuine shock when he was informed of his sister's betrayal, Jowan was almost inclined to believe him. Almost. Maybe that's what he wants, the cynical voice in his head whispered. The mage sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose. Was he ever going to stop second guessing himself? Probably not. "Sigrun, let him up."

The dwarf's head whipped in his direction. "What?!"

"Either he's telling the truth, or he's working very hard to convince us he is. Either way, he can help us."

"Uummm, why?" She cocked an eyebrow, dirk still firmly to Nevio's throat.

"Well, if he's telling the truth, he'll want to, and if he's lying to save his arse, he can still lead us to Rahna and Zev."

"What if that's a trap, too?" Aenya pointed out.

Maker, the second guessing was not helping his headache. "They have Rahna. I'm sort of beyond caring if it's a trap or not. Let him up."

Sigrun sighed heavily but complied, sliding off of Nevio's lap and sheathing her dirk. She very pointedly didn't offer him a hand up.

Jowan did. Nevio accepted it without a word and used the leverage to haul himself to his feet.

"Thank you," the Antivan nodded. "What now, amico, hmm?"

"Now we go back to the inn and you tell us everything you can remember, or overheard, about where they might have taken Rahna and Zev. And then you pray like mad that something you tell us pans out in time. Because if we don't manage to save them, then nothing is going to save you." He turned and started walking back to the inn without another word.

"I'd believe him if I were you, Crow boy," he heard Sigrun inform Nevio with almost macabre glee. "I watched him take down a twenty foot tall pride demon single handed last time Rahna was in danger. You'd be no challenge at all." There was the crunch of boots on gravel and the Legionnaire joined the mage, leaving Aenya to 'escort' Nevio.

Jowan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "So, who's in charge until we get Rahna back?"

Sigrun shot him a look that plainly asked You're kidding, right? "You, duh."

"Wha- Why?!" He'd been afraid she'd say that.

"Because you care more about Rahna than the rest of us put together, you kept a level enough head to stop me killin' Nevio-" she almost spat the name.

"Still pissed at him?"

"Ancestors, yes. -And you were the first one to figure out the Crows woulda brought Zevran here, rather than Antiva City. So, you have a good head on your shoulders. At least, I think you do," she teased.

"At least one of us does," Jowan muttered under his breath, smile barely teasing his lips.

"Hey. Rahna's not here to smack you for bein' hard on yourself, so I will happily fill the role. And I prob'ly hit harder than her," Sigrun warned.

This smile was a bit more obvious. "Noted. So... I'm in charge, huh?"

"Temporarily," she clarified. "And I'm not callin' you boss."

"...I think I can live with that."
...Also know as The Chapter When Jowan Hit His Limit. Seriously. After the breaking his arm/ribs thing the man who is usually the most forgiving of my muses went 'NOPE' and hid in the back of my brain and refused to talk to me. xD It took me three hours to coax him back out, with promises of future badassery and that I wouldn't be that mean to him again for a very, very long time. He's also verging on 'No more Mr Nice Guy' territory regarding the Crows(yes, badass!Jowan will be making a reappearance). Also, I love the irony of him giving Nevio a 'If they die, your fate is sealed' ultimatum, considering Teagan's "If Eamon dies, Jowan's fate is sealed" in the Redcliffe questline(this parallel was not done on purpose--though I wish I was that clever--mostly because in Rahna's canon, she popped the lock on his cell and told Jowan to run for it. So that dialogue isn't in her canon). And-last also, I'm really, really enjoying the way Rahna and Jowan have subtly adopted each other's habits over the course of their friendship/relationship. I think it's adorable. :3

Chapter One

Chapter Sixty Eight

Chapter Seventy

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Jowan, Sigrun, the Crows, and Dragon Age in general belong to BioWare

Rahna, Aenya, Nevio, and Melita are mine
© 2014 - 2024 queen-scribbles
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kitiaramajere's avatar
Jowan's grown up a lot to be able to compartmentalize this way, putting off freaking out about Rahna so he can actually do something about it.