A/N: I got this idea about the Deep Roads being a totally crappy club. And then this happened. 12k words of this happened, to be specific. I'm not totally sure what this is other than Hawke dealing with a whole lot of emotions in a weird, modern Act 3/Post-Game world without magic. But she's kind of a still a mage. In a way. It'll make sense later. I think. I hope.
Starts in the Deep Roads, where Hawke meets Nathaniel Howe. I'll give it a few chapters. Let me know what you think, so I know if it's worth continuing.

Marian hunched her shoulders and pulled the collar of her leather jacket up against the fog. The air was thick and wet. Like most nights in Kirkwall. She could hear a muffled refrain coming from one of the bars she passed. One of the bars she avoided, not because of the live music but because of the crowd. The one Lowtown bar that catered to Hightown snobs wanting a taste of how the other side lived.

She turned the corner and made her way down the quiet, dark alley. If she hadn't been there before, she might have missed the entrance to the Deep Roads. The only sign that there was anything there was a small neon light, a red arrow pointing at a slightly off angle, above the door. No sign. No bouncer. Just a dark door in the middle of a dark alley. The arrow flickered intermittently.

Inside, the air felt just as thick, but now instead of smelling like fish and piss like the streets of Kirkwall, it smelled like sweat and smoke. Marian wasn't sure which was worse. She hated Kirkwall. Always had. But she hated the Deep Roads even more. The only reason she'd agreed to come was because Carver had sounded so bloody eager on the phone.

She understood. She really did. It had been nearly three months since she'd called him to let him know that she had broken things off with Sebastian. In truth, she and Carver hadn't always been that close. There were times growing up when they didn't even like each other. But sometime after moving to Kirkwall, after Carver's twin, Bethany, died, after Carver joined the Grey Wardens, they'd started to talk to each other like normal human beings, if not siblings. Then when their mother had died unexpectedly, they'd actually gotten to be quite close. The last of the Hawkes.

And when she'd walked away from Sebastian, Carver was the first person she'd called. The conversation started with her laughing hysterically about Sebastian's "chaste marriage" proposal and ended with her sobbing about having forgotten who she was. Poor Carver just listened and promised he'd come visit as soon as he could. With his job, though, that meant three months. He'd called to say he'd be in town for work. He and his team, or some of them, would be staying an extra night. To blow off some steam. And Carver wanted her to come. She knew he meant well. She knew he was worried about her. She'd been mopey ever since her break up. And Carver just wanted to try to cheer her up the only way he knew how. With booze.

She pushed her way through Deep Roads, keeping an eye out for her brother but mostly looking for an empty table at the back. Somewhere she could sit, drink, and keep out of sight. She was not in the mood to be hit on or chatted up by some annoying blogger. After ordering a beer, she settled on a stool at one of the hightops in the back and looked around the club with a frown. She really hated the Deep Roads. It was probably the darkest, dirtiest club in Kirkwall. Its saving grace, if you could even call it that, was that they had a decent beer selection. And the music was at least tolerable. Not like that dubstep crap the Bone Pit was always playing.

She unzipped her jacket and raked her fingers through her hair, reminding herself that she still needed a haircut. She hadn't cut it since she'd left Sebastian. Then again, she hadn't done a lot outside of her little flat since she'd left Sebastian. She took a swig from her beer and texted Carver to let him know where she was. She was sure he was on the dance floor somewhere. He'd find her eventually. She wondered how long it would take her to talk him into going to a different club or bar. Maybe the Hanged Man. She also hadn't seen much of Varric or Isabela since she'd split with Sebastian. She felt a little bit guilty about that. Lost in thought about her friends, she didn't notice the guy step up next to her.

"You're Carver's sister, aren't you?"

Marian jumped at the voice that appeared next to her. She tried to play it off with a small cough and a nod of her head. She wasn't sure if it worked.

"I still admit that on occasion." She eyed the guy as she answered. Tall, long, dark hair pulled back at the temples, stubble, and a long, aquiline nose.

"Right," he said, lips curling into a crooked smile. "I'm Nathaniel. Nate. I work with Carver."

Marian took his offered hand and shook it. She recognized that name. Older, by-the-book Warden, tragic family history, also from Ferelden.

"You're the roommate, right? It's nice to meet you. Marian Hawke." Then she chuckled. "But you knew that already."

They made small talk for a few minutes. They established that he was, in fact, Carver's roommate, also a Grey Warden, and also from Ferelden and that she was, in fact, the Champion of Kirkwall and the one responsible, at least in part, for Carver's recruitment to the Grey Wardens.

"Did you want to sit down?" She asked, waving her hand at the empty stool next to her.

"Ah, I was actually headed to get another beer when I saw you. Would you like another?" He gestured at her bottle.

She picked up and gave it a shake. It was nearly empty. She hadn't actually realized she'd drank that quickly.

"Sure," she shrugged and reached for her wallet. But Nate had disappeared before she could pull it form her pocket. As she looked for him in the crowd, she found Carver instead.

"Annie! There you are." Carver draped a sweaty arm over her shoulder. "Why are you hiding in the back? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?"

She couldn't help but grin up at her brother. It had been nearly a year since she'd seen him last. He always had been big, built like an ogre. But he seemed even bigger now, any trace of baby fat completely gone and replaced by thick muscle.

"Maybe I was hiding from big, sweaty oafs like you?"

"Oh, shut it," he said, grin never leaving his face. "I thought you were coming out tonight to get drunk and dance and forget about that self-righteous piece of shit. But you're back here moping?"

"I'm not moping." She poked him in the side. "And I wasn't thinking about him until you brought him up."

"Maker's balls. Sorry, Annie."

Just as Marian was about to mention having met Nate, he appeared just off of Carver's shoulder and set two cold beers on the table.

"There you are, Nate!" Carver grinned.

Marian watched Carver's eyes narrow as they darted from the bottles and back up to Nate.

"You bought my sister a beer," he said, his tone somewhere between a question and an observation and just a little suspicious.

Nate just shrugged. And Marian rolled her eyes and said, "You always were a sharp one, Carver Hawke."

"And for that…" he winked at Marian just before grabbing her fresh beer and drinking a quarter of it in one swallow. When he set it back on the table, he pointed at Nate. "We're trying to not let her mope tonight. Can you do that?"

"Go dance, Carver." Marian shrugged his arm off her shoulder. He flashed her another grin and darted back out to the dance floor.

"Maker, I think I liked him better when he hated my guts," she sighed.

Nate chuckled and slid onto the stool next to her. "I have a hard time believing he ever hated you. I've only ever heard good things."

"He used to be such a grump. All the time. He used to grumble about being in my shadow, like I was holding him back on purpose." She shook her head and gestured to the dance floor. "It's strange to see him like this. Happy. Trying to take care of me."

Nate was quiet for a moment, taking a long drink from his beer, looking out over the dance floor.

"He was pretty surly when I first met him, I suppose." Nate said, his voice thoughtful. "But we see a lot in our job, you know. And he's good at what he does. And I think he…grew into it." He paused for a moment before adding, "And I think he's worried about you."

Marian picked at the label on her beer bottle a little unsure of how to respond to that, wondering just how much Carver talked about her.

Nate interrupted her thoughts, asking, "So why exactly are you not allowed to mope tonight? Is it related to the 'self-righteous piece of shit' he mentioned?"

Marian nearly choked on her beer. "You heard that?"

"I did." His lips twitched at the corners.

"Yeah. That's one of many names Carver has for him."

"If it helps, he calls my ex the Abomination." He gave a slight shrug as Marian let out a laugh, and he added, "And like most of his nicknames, it was deserved. He turned into a bit of a monster at the end, really."

Marian caught both the gender of Nate's ex and the hint of resignation in his voice. She held out her beer.

"To getting over men who deserve Carver's nicknames, then."

He smiled and tapped the neck of her beer bottle with his own and took a swig.

The fell into easy conversation after that, sharing stories about growing up in Ferelden, the disgraced son of a disgraced politician who joined the Wardens because he had nowhere else to go and the oldest daughter of a starving artist just trying to get by. But, as always, the conversation came back around to Marian's title. She cringed inwardly as Nate asked what the "Champion" had been up to recently.

"I haven't seen much in the news," he commented.

"I…haven't been working much recently." She admitted. "Well, at least, not working like that. I stopped doing portraits and such for the wealthy families of Kirkwall a few months ago. I'm just teaching art at the orphanage right now. But I do occasionally work for the City Guard. Facial composites, sketches of suspects, that sort of thing."

"You make it sound like those are disappointing jobs."

"Do I? Maker, not at all. I actually love teaching. And the stuff for the Guards is good, it's meaningful work. Much better than some of the bullshit I've done in the past, marketing and commission pieces for nobles. It's just that's the stuff most people know me for. Hawke. Champion." She shrugged, knowing she was dangerously close to bringing up Sebastian again. "I'll never get away from that blighted statue down at the docks. But you can't say no to the Arishok."

"No, I suppose you can't," Nate chuckled.

"I'm hungry," Carver announced, interrupting their conversation as he marched up to the table again.

Marian smiled up at her brother. "Hanged Man?"

"Hanged Man," he nodded.

"Hanged Man?" Nate asked, arching an eyebrow at them both.

"Beer's closer to water than beer, the only things edible are deep fried, but it's Annie's favorite."

"Way to sell it, Carver." Marian laughed.