Can't Let You Go

            Varric was at his wits end with fence straddlers.  He had tried for weeks to chase down the photos Fellon had given him and any leads in regards to the rumors he had heard, but he was coming up with nothing.  Either the people who had been informing disappeared, or they refused to talk.  All their usual information pools had run dry, because the Coterie had thrown up blocks at every turn.  Not even a raise in price was enough which Varric could only gather meant one thing: the Coteries’ price was higher.  It always had been.  Cross them, and it was your life.  Even his contacts outside of that circle were avoiding him.  While the Hawkes were bunkering down in recuperation the past month and a half since Halloween, everyone on the fringes had scattered to the wind.

            Another voicemail, another name crossed off the list. Varric turned from the desk, and walked to the wall of windows.  Varric and Fellon had been trying to keep the place going along with everything else on the side plus this new issue, but they were chasing their tails on all fronts.  The club was almost a ghost town which was not helping his frustrations.  Sure there was business, but not the kind he needed right now.  The pretty people scattered on the balcony and dance floor were just that. Besides his fiancé, pretty people of no value to him at the moment.  Even allies had fallen off the face of the planet.  Bianca was keeping customers entertained as best as she was able with the lack of regular faces.

            He turned back to the interior of the room, taking it in.  Hawke’s office was still as he had left it except for a little less neat.  No one could bear coming in this room anymore.  Isabela never did.  Douglas might never again.  Bianca suggested redecorating, but she said it from the doorway.  Varric had smiled at the suggestion, but he was unsure of how much that would help in the long run, knowing the why for the change might still have the same effect. The first time Varric did was with Fellon.  Varric didn’t know a man so tan could look so ashen.  Varric had spent the better part of that meeting skirting around and quiet, because Fellon was understandably more surly than usual.  When he had what he needed to see to the club from the estate, Fellon made his exit, but not without looking like he wanted to tear the office to shreds.  He has yet to come back either.  Which only left Varric.  Out of everyone outside of Anders, he had known Hawke the least amount of time.  That hadn’t stopped them from becoming close.  They were partners.  Hawke was going to be his best man.  Now this? 

            The cellphone going off from the desk pulled him from his spiraling thoughts, and he moved to snatch it up. “Hello?”

            “Varric Tethras?”  The voice on the other end sounded nervous, high pitched and fast.

            “Yes.”

            “This is Tom.  In Darktown.  I have something- something for you and Hawke.  Meet me in 30 minutes.”

            “Something? What something?”

            “I can’t explain. Just hurry.”

            “Alright. Alright.  Where?” Varric took down the address before hanging up.  He hated going to Darktown, and there was no way he was going to get anyone else out there with him fast enough since everyone’s been hunkering down at the estate.  Fenris was with Isabela at The Rose, so that was out.  There wouldn’t be time to find and pick anyone else up either.  That made him uneasy.  The Hawkes might walk into something like this alone, but he didn’t, not if he could help it. 

            He slipped the address and phone in his pocket, checking his gun before exiting the office to the balcony.  He grabbed Bianca, turning her to face him.  Calmly and flatly, he told her, “I need you go home.  Take a cab, go straight there, and call me from the apartment phone when you get in.”  Their building was guarded, so once she hit the sidewalk, he hoped she would be safe.  “Take some of your friends if you want, but you have to go straight there.  Now.”

            She looked at him obviously a little confused, and the flit of fear was recognizable as well, but she nodded, turning to the people she was entertaining and explaining she had to leave suddenly.  She gathered her things, and Varric lead her outside to a cab before giving her a kiss.  “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

            She nodded again, her green eyes bright with easy tears, and she bent to kiss him again.  She knew better than to ask questions she couldn’t get the answers to, and then she was gone.  Varric watched the cab until it was out of sight, praying to the Maker this wasn’t some sort of trap.

*   *   *

            Bianca called on his drive which relaxed Varric slightly.  She should be safe now.  Not long after, a gaunt, dark haired man was waiting at the address proved, and hopped into the black sedan when it pulled closer.  Varric looked him over. The man was extremely nervous which didn’t put him at ease as he pulled away again.  “Tom was it?”

            “Yes. Tom Wise.”

            Varric was hoping that wasn’t just a very ironic name at the moment, and followed the directions to an out of the way alley a few minutes away.  When they stopped, Varric turned to the other man. “Well?”

            “Look.  I want you to know first off I had nothing to do with this.”

            Alarm bells started going off, and Varric growled back, “To do with what?”

            As the other man lifted his shirt, Varric leaned back, reaching for his gun but an envelope emerged.  Yellow envelopes hadn’t been good in recent history, so Varric didn’t release the grip hidden beneath his coat.

            The other man wasn’t paying him any attention, staring just as horrified at the envelope.  “Ever since Athenril was run out of town, jobs have been scarce.  As you know, the Coterie doesn’t like competition, so they have been going around eliminating the problems.  I’m sure I don’t have to tell you who the biggest thorn in their side is.  After trying the direct assault for years, they have apparently employed a different tactic.”

            Tom turned to hand over the envelope, but Varric was only more confused.  That didn’t sound like a threat, that sounded like an informant. He had many dealings with the like over the years.  Varric took the envelope cautiously.  When he went to open it, the other man stopped him.

            “You might want to know what’s in there before you look.  Like I said, I had nothing to do with this.  The only thing I did was get that stuff, so I could give it to you.”

            “So spit it out.”

            “The Coterie has been very happy with their recent success and have started to get a little… lazy.  At first, there were just whispers that someone high up your ladder had turned.  Apparently, when talk didn’t work, proof started to make the rounds.  Anyone with a brain knows how expendable they are in the Coterie, but if even the competition was making alliances… well, the shit hit the fan in the underground.”

            “Proof?”  Varric looked at the envelope with a sick feeling in his gut.

            “The thing is they have been recruiting, anyone and everyone they can get their hands on.  The underground knew they could count on the Hawkes to keep the Coterie in line, but now…”  Tom shook his head.  “The thing is, they tried with me.  They showed me this picture, saying the Hawkes were through, time to move to the winning team.  I was shocked, because even though they seem to hate each other, family was family.  It seemed to be their thing.  The picture didn’t lie though.  It could have been a fake, but the Coterie is full of idiots, and it looked too real.  Others were buying into it, but something about the picture seemed… off.” 

            Varric had been listening, but turned his attention to the contents.  “Holy shit.”  Pictures from Halloween were in the envelope, and he shoved them back inside.  They were obviously stills from their security system that had somehow “miraculous” failed that night, converted to black and white 5x7s, but only slightly grainy and quite clearly Hawke.  Varric was outraged.  “Do you know what this is?”

            Tom nodded hurriedly, reaching in like it was a bag of worms and letting the pictures slide back in until he found one he wanted.  “This is the one they showed me.”  Varric didn’t want to look at it, but Tom pointed to a small spot in the frame.  “Like I said, something seemed off, and then I noticed this.”  A small triangular shape just barely peeked out front above Hawke’s ribs.  “Everyone else is too interested in everything else going on, and it looks believable, but that looked like the hammer of a pistol to me.”

              Varric squinted at the photo, marveling at this guy’s ability for sight, because he could barely see it, and it could have easily just been background.  Tom swallowed, and Varric understood why.  The man could be in loads of trouble no matter what side he played.  If Hawke was Varric’s partner in everything, he could be part in the betrayal, too.  Varric looked out the windshield, and sniffed before clearing his throat.  He felt partially to blame for ignoring the onset in rumor which only allowed it to spread, and now it seemed like the Coterie had succeeded in at least getting everyone to turn tail.

            Tom said, “Ummm, they weren’t just handing those out.  I had to acquire them.  So, could you not tell anyone where you got them?”

            Varric almost immediately agreed to the status quo, but then it dawned on him he was going to have to be the one who gave the pictures to Fellon.  For an instant, he thought about handing them back over, telling this guy where he could take them, grabbing Bianca and watch the city burn from his rearview.  There was only one small flaw in his plan: his conscience.   Varric had a minute possibility of handing these over and coming out alive, this guy didn’t.  Finally, he just nodded, sealing his own fate.  Women dig bruises, right?  Guys they can doctor and take care of?  Shit.  Fellon and Bianca were both going to kill him.