An Old Story
Part One of the Bianca Hawke Trilogy

Varric/F!Hawke

Slightly AU, not by much. Mild references to violence and unnecessary gore, and a newly re-added lemon at the end. This story was directly influenced by a cute little fic I read; I took the idea and expanded on it a little bit, definitely ran full throttle with my own creative liberties on the back-story. I give full credit for this brainchild to MadDoggyClown on .

Don't hate, but I totally pulled the story of "Bianca" out of my ass. And I did go back and edit that part for better effect.

I own NOTHING, damnit.

._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.

It had started as simple curiosity. A question he'd never thought to ask or ever had to ask until now, but the answer was proving to be something of a challenge to acquire. It wasn't as a result of how long he'd known her without asking, it was purely a matter of the ultimatum she'd given that was keeping him from his destination.

Hawke was a professional warrior, a profoundly intelligent human, a quick-witted, silver tongued business woman, and never had any of that been to his disadvantage until today. Sitting comfortably in one of his low seated dining chairs across the table from him, the woman in question was still smiling in the same sultry way she had been when the subject had first been brought to the forefront. The glow from the fireplace brought out the fine natural red highlights in her long auburn hair, left flowing around her shoulders for the informal visit. Though not planning on any rowdy errand running for the evening she still wore tight fitted leather armor, dark brown with green designs embossed across the chest and down the sides, matching gloves, greaves and boots, just in case. With her reputation growing as it was, she only expected the worst, even on a quiet day, and so she was never seen without protection for battle. Heavily plated chainmail for their adventures, easier-to-move-in leather for everyday journeys. Her trusted and well used maul rested heavily within her reach against the table side, silver details engraved in the sylvanwood handle, the head brutally shaped from steel of her own creation. She was quite the weapon smith given the time and materials present, and had once offered to craft for him a new crossbow, to which he had respectfully declined.

She was firm in her challenge today, and Varric was struck in a situation where he didn't have the upper hand, and completely lacked the words needed to talk her out of her offer and into answering him anyway.

"It must be something deliciously embarrassing for you to try and bargain for something you know I can't give you." He said finally after the long stretch of silence, breaking his gaze from the staring match they'd had to drink lazily from his stone mug. Hawke hummed under her breath, her grin spreading a little in amusement at his attempt.

"It's my only offer. My real first name, in exchange for the story you claim you can never tell."

When she had come to him earlier that morning, one of their slower days in months, she had wanted to talk finance. It had caught him quite off guard when she approached him with the idea of investing in, if not a full joint take-over of the Hanged Man. She knew he'd been searching for a way to swipe it from the current owner, localized within the Coterie, but to no avail. He had quickly conceded to the fact that though she lacked entrepreneurial experience, she was extremely sharp, and without much talking on her part Varric found he was sold on the idea of being business partners with her once more. They started researching for their commerce plan, and began to draw up the legal paperwork after she talked him out of any of his more shady ideas. Between them they had more than enough coin to buy the property properly. Somewhere along the line some of the contracts they'd procured required full name signatures and family seals for the rest of their endeavor to be legit, and that's where their planning had stopped, put on hold indefinitely. She'd done a fine job acting surprised at the prospect of sharing with him what her real name was.

"Then I guess we have hit a stalemate my friend. So much for our vision of grandeur in Lowtown."
"Maybe one day you'll give in, and all of this could be ours." Hawke spread her arms, gesturing dramatically about the room and failing to withhold a small un-warrior like giggle. Varric shook his head, a sad smile flashing on his expression.

"I'm sorry to say, that day will never come."

A twinkle lit up her chocolate brown eyes, "We shall see."

._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.

Aveline shifted from one foot to another, carefully monitoring the proceedings she was a witness to. A blood mage was arguing avidly with Hawke, who was trying desperately not to lose her patience. The woman held so much sympathy for apostates it bordered sometimes on the dangerous, but it was understandable considering her family circumstance, and the company she kept. The red head took a mental breath in preparation as the voices started to rise in agitation. These encounters were almost guaranteed to end with swords instead of words; it always seemed to with apostates.

Standing next to her on Hawke's opposite flank was Anders, eyes locked forward and hand gripping tight to his staff as he fought to keep a diplomatic pose. Directly behind them, with his ever cool and collected expression and his trigger finger at the ready, was Varric. He'd taken to that position more recently on the last couple of errands, Aveline had noticed. She was a battle master after all; a change in routine between comrades and soldiers could mean a certain number of things. Mainly it meant there was a shift in a relationship with a fellow in arms, if it was more of an informal group. It could be he was posting up consistently in a position to watch Hawke's back, though the fact that he was a ranged fighter could also mean he was merely sticking to an arrangement that better suited his talents. Aveline hadn't decided yet, and wasn't the type to ask. As long as everything continued to run smoothly she would remain out of other's personal affairs.

Something was telling her, however that something dramatic had happened, not necessarily life-changing, but something was about to alter considerably when it came to their unofficial leader and her handy dwarf.

The young mage cast out the first strike, a ball of fire flying towards them at great speed, but Hawke had seen it coming and rolled under it as it continued past her. Varric side stepped in time, turning with Bianca at the ready and aimed instantly at the offender's head. The apostate raised a shield in time to block the bolt laced with electrical energy, before ice formed around his fingers. Ander's reacted perfectly, hitting the boy with a mental blast to stun him long enough for Hawke to cut him deep in his leg. It was always risky to make a blood mage bleed, and though the boy seemed novice he managed to raise a few shambling opponents to distract the advance.

Hawke was immediately surrounded, five skeletal creatures that they'd faced many times before stepped out of the fade in full armor and swinging swords. The warrior was quick with her battle axe, knocking down three and evading the others. A shield pummeled one to dust as it started to rise from where it had fallen, and Aveline took her place back on Hawke's left side. Arrows fell to shred another two, beams of light disintegrating a freshly generated group entirely, and Hawke moved quickly on the director of the fight. The apostate begged for a moment, then began to curse as he forced more blood out of his leg to cast another spell, but Hawke silenced him and the energy in the room evaporated.

Aveline wiped dirt from her face before holstering her sword and shield, Varric's crossbow clicked as he closed her action, Ander's readjusted his robes and Hawke stood to catch her breath. She always took a moment to send well wishes with people like this, mage or not. Mages were harder for her, she didn't want to hurt them, she didn't want to imprison them, but some were so broken and so distraught that she usually had no other choice. Mages that desperate, that abused were more of a threat to themselves than other people, and hazardous none the less. If they couldn't be contained, it always ended up being that they needed to be destroyed.

After another moment she stooped to search for anything useful on the mage's person, hearing her group stripping the corpses behind her. The arisen demonic things never usually had much on them, but every once in a while they'd cash in big on a rare metal or a pouch of coins. The boy had only a picture tucked in his robes, and looking at it for a second she placed it back where she'd found it.

"Nothing," Aveline reported and Hawke faced her.

"Turn in; I'll make the run to the templar."

Aveline and Ander's nodded, both were tired from the journey to their current location in the underbelly of the city, her renegade friend feeling sore over their lack of ability to save another of his brethren, but when they left Varric stayed behind.

"So," He said after they'd left ear-shot. "Is it…Martha?"
"No."
"Hmm, how about Pinckney?"
"Definitely not."
"Oh, then it must be Elsie of course."
"Of course…not."
"Fine then. Is it…"
"Is this your plan? Hassel me every time we're together and not about to die, maybe in the hopes that I'll break under the frustration?" Hawke interrupted, stopping in her steady walking towards the exit ahead. She had a hand on her hip and a grin on her face, and Varric winked.

"You better believe it."

._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.

Fenris threw his cards to the table with a very un-sportsman-like grunt. Some nights he was truly terrible at this game, even when that cheating scoundrel Isabella or the smooth talking bluff-master Varric wasn't robbing him blind. Tonight, it was just Hawke, Merril and Aveline for the moment and Merril was a total amateur.

"Looks like you're about to resort to betting the clothing on your back, ser." Hawke quipped, purposefully as cheerily as she could.

"Oh, that must mean it's time for me to join the game!" Isabella's voice carried over the noise in the barroom as she approached, and Fenris literally growled.

"I fold." He said to the table, and then promptly left. The pirate laughed.

"I swear, if we ever want to get Fenris to leave permanently, or kill us in an unsighted rage all we have to do is set you and Ander's on him until he can't take it anymore and loses all sanity and restraint." Hawke said mildly as she took up the cards and began to shuffle.

"Please, if you can prove to me that that man or any one of us is truly sane I'll strip down and fight the next bloody bed-wetter straight naked."

This time it was Aveline who groaned. "I think I'll be retiring for the evening as well. Thank you Hawke, Merril, always a pleasure."

The brassy brunette was not surprised to have scared off the two, nor was she insulted that the Guard Captain hadn't acknowledged her once. It was quite amusing, the group's dynamics, and Hawke never tired of watching the interactions both in and out of battle mode.

"So, who's buying my first drink?"

The night drawled on after that, and the three women relaxed into it, welcoming the lack of duty for the evening and each other's company. Though their unabashed ally started to drinking faster and flirting harder Hawke managed to keep the Dalish elf's attention mostly occupied with cleaner conversation. Isabella's raunchiness was starting to wear on her nerves when Varric finally made an appearance. She hadn't even realized she'd been anticipating him until he was walking down the stairs, lacking his coat and gloves, the almost invisible hilt of a dagger tucked in his right boot. Always being prepared was something she'd always admired in any person, but it was something that seemed to come naturally in Varric, among other things.

It might have been the booze, it might also have been from the mood Isabella was setting, but Hawke almost licked her lips looking at the blonde dwarf. She'd never met one that didn't have facial hair, and she'd decided long ago that she much preferred the constant shadow of golden stubble that refined his rugged features. Realizing he was getting closer to their corner and that she was about to get caught staring keenly at his partially unbuttoned red shirt she averted her eyes back to the cards in her hands.

"Good evening, ladies." He said as he joined them, a mug in hand. Merril made room for him eagerly to sit on her side of the bench and Hawke smiled. The little elf was so innocently cute sometimes, you'd never think she wielded a power coveted and feared by mages and non-mages alike. She remained juvenile in her tendencies to beg for stories and to listen and interact enthusiastically as he told them.

"Didn't think you were coming out of your hole, almost went up to barge in on whatever nastiness you were getting yourself into." Isabella said by way of greeting, and Varric smirked.

"If you weren't so prude, you would've. Might've asked you to join."

Hawke laughed at the face he made, Merril scrunched up her nose as she thought over what he'd said and trying to see why Hawke thought it funny. Isabella merely waved him off.

"Shouldn't you invite someone to such a thing? It seems more appropriate if we are indeed discussing an intimate arrangement."

Varric grinned at Merril. "You're right. Isabella, next time you feel the need to 'barge in', you are more than welcome to participate in whatever 'nastiness' I am attending to."

Laughter again, and then small talk for what seemed like hours. Merril left for home and Isabella disappeared to her quarters, leaving Hawke alone with Varric once again. She smirked when he looked at her, mischief in his eyes and a question on the tip of his tongue.

"Let me save you the trouble. No."

._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.

"Eleanor…?"
"No."

A mutilated spider fell from his perch on the cavern wall, screaming as another replaced it.

"Tatiana?"
"No…" Hawke grunted as she swung her weapon down, searing through the legs of the arachnid at her heels.

"Ok…" A quick reload and another bug fell, two bolts lodged in its head. "Ashley! That's a popular name."
"No! Will you give it a rest for just a moment?!" She hollered, suddenly swarmed by the last fighters in the nest they'd walked into.

"Never!" He answered, pulling back and launching a series of rapidly fired shots into the group, narrowly missing the warrior as she swirled around; taking out the few Varric had missed.

The two took stock of their surroundings after the skittering noises in the walls had stopped, before Hawke turned on her partner in a whirl of tattered leather, spider guts and feral hair.

"You'll know it the moment you hear it and that's all I'm going to say on the subject until the day you find it, or give in to my demands." She said with an amused smugness in her voice.

"I'll make you cave, or something else will give. But darling, I will never break a promise."

._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.