Monster whumpee stumbling into Caretaker’s backyard, a few tranquilizers patterned across their back. They collapse just in time for Caretaker to witness.
Anders wasn’t sure how long he’d been their captive. By some miracle he still had his mind, and as they dragged him up from the darkest depths of the Gallows he cataloged every ache, every abuse, every pain. They would fuel his fight for justice once Hawke negotiated his release.
“I’ll remember, I’ll remember,” he muttered, over and over again. He hoped the promise reached the ears of his fellow captives, somehow.
Kirkwall’s blazing sunlight burned harsh against his skin. He squinted on reflex, blinking rapidly until he properly saw the scene laid out before them.
On one side, the Knight Commander, flanked by her second and a squadron of Templars. A few paces across, Hawke, flanked by Sebastian and a particularly murderous looking Fenris. At her feet lay Neria, half-conscious with hands and wrists bound with rough rope. Her head lolled to the side as Hawke pressed a boot to her prone figure. Anders saw a trail of fresh blood trickling from her temple, and the bright red of a new bruise at the base of her neck.
No, Maker, no—not her—
He had been walking placidly, letting his captors guide his weak body along, but now he dug his heels into the cobblestone grooves. He ground his teeth and strained against the surprise that had the Templars’ metal grip clenching around his arm. A horrid screech echoed off the high walls of this prison as they resorted to simply dragging him forward. The terrible scraping drew the attention of the entire stand off and Anders hated the relief he saw in Hawke’s eyes when they landed on him.
What was she doing? Why was Neria here? Like that?
You know why, his thoughts whispered. Energy rippled, just below his skin, ready and waiting to be tapped. They would never see it coming. They didn’t know his full potential—
No. Anders shook his head sharply at himself. That was not the way, not like Ella, not when there were so many innocent apprentices and mages in the crossfire. Hawke must have a better plan; he had to trust her.
“Here is your mage, Serah Hawke.” His captors shoved him forward and the Knight Commander’s disdainful gaze followed his stumbling. “Intact, as promised.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.” With a rogue’s touch, his shackles fell away. Mari ran her hands up the length of his arms, held her fingers against the jumping pulse in his neck, and finally buried them in his hair, thumbs ghosting over his sunken cheeks.
“You’re alive,” she breathed.
“I’ll be fine. Maybe. I think. How are we getting out of here, Mari?” He glanced at Neria, her lips half-parted around a moan as she shifted against her bindings. “What is going on with this?”
“Do you trust me?”
Anders hesitated, even though he knew he shouldn’t; Mari had pulled his ass out of the fire more times than he could count. But nothing short of outright grabbing his hand and running would have soothed his nerves in this moment. And running just wasn’t Mari’s style. Not when there was an angle to be played.
“Of course.” He managed a thin grimace that might have been a smile if it hadn’t hurt so much. With a fleeting kiss to the corner of his mouth, Mari stepped back. Her hands slid down to Anders’ wrists and used them as leverage to throw him behind her.
“Fenris?” Anders tasted more than felt the grapple Fenris clasped him in as the lyrium brands flared to life and his grip turned to iron. He dragged Anders back a few paces as Mari kicked Neria’s body forward. She flopped across the stone and landed, arms splayed, at the Knight Commander’s feet.
“Another in exchange,” Mari said. “As agreed. I believe she’ll be of particular interest to your Knight Captain.”
Anders had just the briefest moment to scream; when he opened his mouth, a gloved hand took the place of his anguish and what should have been a soul-rending wail muffled harmlessly against the leather.
What was she doing?
Cracks of blue rippled from his fingertips up to the corners of his eyes. Sebastian angled himself between Anders and the Templars, effectively blocking their view, though his own gaze stayed sharply on Hawke. Any hope Anders had of a better plan evaporated; she had planned this. She brought the two of them, on purpose, for this.
“Neria!” he screamed, but nothing escaped the gag of Fenris’ hand.
“Silence,” the elf hissed in his ear. “You are lucky she even dreamt up such a plan. Do not prove your foolishness by squandering it.”
Lucky? His vision went white. Yes, he was lucky, wasn’t he—hadn’t he always been? Kinloch was such a nice Circle; he was lucky no one there raped or brutalized him. Mages in the Wardens were free; he was lucky to have the choice to be Tainted instead of Tranquil or dead. And now, this.
Lucky? He was cursed.
Only one thing kept Justice in check, a half-baked plan already formed in the back of Anders’ mind. The underwater tunnel from the Gallows to Darktown was still active; if Mari went through with this, he could still get Neria out. He could get her out and they could run, together again.
But if they identified her—if they knew how long she’d been free—
She’d be branded before he had the chance.
“Is that so?” Meredith glanced between Neria and her Knight Captain. “Is this true, Cullen? Why would a mage be of interest to you?”
Anders held his breath. He and Neria had shared many a disdainful conversation about what the pretty-boy recruit she’d flirted with had become. But perhaps there was a shred of dignity left…? He had to know what would become of her if he revealed what he knew.
Foolishly, Anders thought that might still matter. How hard it was not to hope, so desperately, that there would be a way out of this. Even when he knew better.
“She was of the Ferelden Circle, Knight Commander.” The Knight Captain removed his helmet and tucked it under one arm, stepping forward for a better angle. “She is not just an apostate, but an escaped apostate.”
“How long ago?”
“Nearly a decade.”
“An unfortunately long time,” said Meredith, drawing her sword. She drove it down, unceremoniously, through one of Neria’s upturned palms. She barely reacted to what should have been searing, burning pain. Just a whimper passed her lips, drowned out by the chorus of hastily hushed gasps from the mages watching. Only her eyes moved with any awareness, darting between the Knight Commander and Knight Captain, to Hawke, and finally locking on Anders, still straining against Fenris’ hold. Within them, panic. Panic, and a horribly, dreadfully clear awareness. She knew what was happening, he realized. She knew what was happening and they’d robbed her of any way to stop it.
What did you do to her? Anders glanced desperately at Mari’s profile. What have you done for me?
“She could still be possessed,” Meredith was saying. “Perhaps by a demon too clever to respond to brute force. A decade, you say? And from Kinloch. Tsk. Well, that’s more than enough exposure to warrant the order. You there—“ she snapped her fingers at one of the faceless Templars. “Take this mage and follow the Knight Captain. Assist with preparations for the Rite.”
“NO!” The last, fraying cable of Anders’ hold snapped. For once, he did not resist as Justice rose to the surface; whatever happened could not be worse than losing his best friend to Tranquility.
Blue light poured from him like a righteous font. His eyes burned with the electricity of it. He felt the scrambling of Fenris attempting to recover the grapple as one might feel an annoying gnat in their ear. Arcane energy gathered about his mind and blasted out, clearing both the elf and Sebastian from the vicinity.
“You will not take her,” Justice roared. He swept Anders’ staff in a wide arc and the lesser Templars fell back under the blaze of his holy fire. He advanced on the solid wall of the Knight Commander & Captain’s locked shields, burning fiery righteousness.
A blade in his shoulder—he staggered.
Quick and light, Mari followed the path of the dagger she’d thrown. Her hand closed around the hilt and she pulled it out, mindless of how his blood spattered across her angry face.
“Go away, Justice,” she snapped. “You’re not wanted here. Or needed.”
“I am needed wherever Injustice reigns. You would give over this mage to a foul and corrupt system, sentence her to certain Tranquility—“
“To save Anders,” Mari hissed. Justice blocked one of her strikes, but her offhand dagger drove up under his guard, digging deep into the fleshy, vulnerable skin of his gut. “Yes, I would. A thousand times over, if I had to.”
As she pulled her dagger out again, a ripple of energy emanated from the Knight Commander and echoed across the Gallows. Justice fell to his knees as the Purge took hold. For a moment, his eyes were brown.
“It’s for you, Anders,” she whispered, lifting her dagger over his head. “I’m doing this for you.”
She brought the dagger down, hilt first, driving it hard enough against his temple that he crumpled, unconscious. Sheathing her blade on a shaky exhale, Mari gestured to Fenris and Sebastian.
“You’ll understand,” she whispered, for her own sake at this point. “It was the only way.”
Charlie had seemed fine while they wrapped up the case, so no one thought there might be something wrong. He'd waved off any concern for his well-being, focused on wrapping up the case and getting the criminals put behind bars after his friends had pulled him out of that pine box in the dirt.
But now he was home after an incredibly long ordeal, finally winding down from the adrenaline of everything that had happened, and his system finally had time to acknowledge just how much it had been through.
Tag scene for 03.09 "Grave Matters"
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I haven't really been up to writing much of anything this year. I saw the @whumptober prompts when they first went up, but I wasn't planning to write anything for them. But now... here I am. 😅 No guarantees on how many I'll write - although I do think writing a flash fic for each would be a fun challenge, but no promises.
And since Hudson & Rex is my new TV obsession, (naturally) here we are.
Okay I think some of the whump community needs a quick reminder that sedatives, hypnotics, tranquillizers, analgesics, and anaesthetics are completely different things.
Here's a quick rundown (disclaimer that I am neither a doctor nor a whumper):
Sedative: A sedative drug decreases activity, moderates excitement, and calms the recipient
Hypnotic: A drug that produces drowsiness and facilitates the onset and maintenance of a state of sleep
Tranquilizer: A drug that calms and relieves anxiety
Analgesics: A drug designed to control pain
Anaesthetics: A substance that causes lack of feeling or awareness, dulling pain to permit surgery and other painful procedures
As you can see, yes, they often overlap and, yes, many drugs are multiple but if you are sedating a patient for surgery... good luck.
Some examples (under the cut because of specific drug mentions and the length of this post) for good measure:
But what's even better is a whumpee who is sedated, but not enough to put them completely under.
Just vaguely aware of what's happening, watching through heavy eyelids that keep wanting to close on them.
Too sleepy to fight back as they're picked up and strapped down, awake enough to know what a bad position they're in but too asleep to stop it from happening.
So drowsy that they keep drifting in and out of sleep even as the whumper prepares medical tools or torture implements or strange experiments.
Just awake enough to mumble sleepy little protests or respond to simple questions.
They manage to wake themselves up, but their body is still too uncoordinated to do anything about it when the whumper picks up their limp arm and injects them with another dose of sedative.
Fluttering, sleepy eyes above a mask that's keeping them dazed and out of it, as their kidnappers discuss what to do with them now that they're helpless.
So drugged and sedated that they lack the willpower to tear their eyes away from the hypnotic screen, letting their suggestible mind absorb all the words from the hypnotic earphones.
A sedated whumpee trying to escape, knowing that if they slow down or let their eyes close the guards will be on them in a moment and they're too drugged to fight back.
A whumpee who has been hit with a tranquilizer dart and managed to find a place to hide, desperately trying to keep themselves awake as their pursuers come closer and closer.
Request: Can you please write an asthmatic reader and Sam and Dean help calm her during an attack because they know what to do - helping her count and breathe and use the inhaler because it’s a really bad attack (I live for whump!) - Anonymous
Pairings: Sam x Asthmatic!Reader; Dean x Asthmatic!Reader
Author’s Note: Thank you for the prompt, Nonnie! I actually have asthma, so this was somewhat cathartic to write. I hope you enjoy!
Morning had always been your favorite time to run. There was something so calming about watching nature wake up: the sun rising over the treetops, birds greeting the day with their happy chirps. Living the stressful life of a hunter made you truly appreciative of these peaceful moments, and you did your best to incorporate them into your daily routine.
You were on a small trail that looped around the woods near the bunker. It stretched roughly two miles, the perfect length for a morning jog. Although you maintained a steady pace, you noticed your breathing rate increase around the one and a half mile mark. Wanting to enjoy the tranquility of the outdoors a little longer, you shrugged off the warning sign. Now, on the last leg of your run, a familiar sensation tugged at your chest.
Slowing your pace, you reached into your running belt and felt for your inhaler. When you found nothing, you tried the other pocket. It wasn’t there.
“How could I be so stupid,” you wondered. Asthma had been a part of your life for as long as you could remember, and you always had an inhaler with you in case of emergencies.
Panicking would surely make things worse, so you ran through your usual mantra of reassuring phrases:
“You can still talk, which means you’re getting enough air.”
“Your inhaler is close.”
“Sam and Dean will be able to help."
While your personal pep talk kept your mental game in check, the tightness in your chest continued to twist, and you were beginning to feel your throat constrict. By the time the bunker came into view, you were in the throes of a full-blown asthma attack.
The bunker door was twice as heavy in your current condition, but with a weak heave, you managed to nudge it open just enough to slink through. The door closed behind you with a thud, and you braced yourself against the loft railing.
"Y/N,” Sam called when he heard the bunker door close, “Dean found a hunt while you were on your run.” When you didn’t reply, Sam shouted after you again. “We’re in the library!”
No longer able to support yourself, you fell to your hands and knees gasping for air.
“Y/N?” Dean yelled a little louder, thinking you may not have heard Sam. When you still didn’t respond, the brothers exchanged a worried look.
You needed help, but you could no longer speak; there was no way you had enough breath to call downstairs. Trying to conserve what little energy you had left, you kicked over a small bucket of bullet casings sitting next to the door. At the sound of shells loudly scattering across the floor, Sam and Dean darted toward the stairs.
“Y/N!” Sam and Dean’s speed increased when they saw you on all fours. They quickly scaled the staircase and were next to you within seconds. Dean landed at your side and placed a hand on your back. Sam knelt in front of you, taking your face in his hands.
“Y/N/N, what’s wrong?” Sam’s hands moved from your cheeks to your shoulders and down your arms as he felt for injuries.
You responded by placing a hand on your chest.
“Y/N/N, are you having an asthma attack?"
Your eyes widened in confirmation and both brothers began to move on autopilot.
"Where is your inhaler?” Sam couldn’t hide the concern in his voice. He and Dean had been helping you cope with asthma ever since you joined them, but it never got any easier seeing you struggle for air, especially when an attack was this bad.
You tried to respond, but all that came out was a stifled wheeze. Sam knew they were running out of time.
“I think she keeps one on her nightstand?” Dean offered. Again, words failed you, but found the strength to nod “yes.” As soon as he had confirmation, Sam shot up and ran to your bedroom. Without Sam to lean on, you began to sway, and Dean slid behind you for support.
“Lean against me, Y/N/N.” Dean eased you into a seated position between his legs. Your fists gripped the rough material of his jeans as you fought for air.
“I know it’s hard, sweetheart, but try to relax.” Dean’s big hands enveloped your upper arms. He massaged them as he ran his thumbs across your shoulders. Your head lolled back in the crook of his neck.
“That’s my girl,” he soothed, “Try to match my breathing.” You could feel the steady rise and fall of his chest, but no matter how hard you focused, you could not calm the urgency coursing through your body. You were fighting a losing battle against the panic churning inside you when you heard the comforting sound of Sam’s boots growing louder as he bound up the stairs.
Sam crouched down, and you reached out a shaking hand to take your inhaler from him. “I’ve got it, baby girl.” Sam flashed you a sympathetic smile, “You just relax against Dean.”
Sam wrapped one hand behind your neck and eased the pump between your lips with the other.
“Ready?” You nodded weakly and Sam released a puff into your mouth. Sam’s heart dropped as he watched most of the medicine billow past your lips.
“I know it hurts, Y/N, but you have to do your best to take a deep breath.” Sam’s hand left your neck. “When you feel ready, squeeze my hand, and I’ll give you another puff, okay?”
You closed your eyes, mustering all of the strength you could and squeezed Sam’s hand. He discharged the medicine, and you took a shaky but complete breath.
“That’s it, Y/N/N,” Sam encouraged, “Let’s do a couple more.” After two more puffs, the tension in your throat eased. Sam set down the inhaler and grabbed your other hand.
“Slow breaths, Y/N/N,” Sam lowered his head to yours, “Look at me, baby.” Sam took a deep breath in through his nose and exhaled slowly through his mouth. You followed his example and took a shaky breath of your own.
“In: one, two three,” Sam coached, “Out: one, two, three, four, five.” He could see your face begin to relax as the medicine took its full effect.
Sam guided you through counting your breaths until your breathing evened and returned to a normal rate.
“How you feelin’, honey?” Dean questioned behind you, his hands still rubbing your arms.
“Better,” you replied in a raspy voice. “My chest is still tight.”
“We’ll get you downstairs to your room and set up a breathing treatment.” Sam assured. Both brothers were surprised when you shook your head “no.”
“Sweetheart,” Dean’s voice was gentle but firm, “you need a breathing treatment.”
“I know,” you wheezed, “Sammy’s room."
"You want to go to my room?” Sam asked, a hint of confusion in his voice. You usually wanted Dean after a particularly bad attack. When you nodded “yes,” his heart swelled. “Of course we can go to my room, Y/N/N. C’mere.”
Sam got on one knee and scooped you up in his arms. He carried you down to his room and laid you on the bed. He turned to go prepare your breathing treatment, but you grabbed his hand. Dean saw and smiled at his younger brother. “I’ve got it,” he mouthed across the room.
Sam walked around to the other side of the bed and propped up several pillows. He took off his boots and crawled in, leaning against the headboard. He reached over and pulled you to him, lifting you onto his chest. He used a pillow to support your back, knowing that being elevated would help your breathing.
Dean came back with your nebulizer and set it on the bed next to Sam. He filled the cartridge with medicine and attached the tubing to the mask. Dean gently lifted your head and placed the mask over your nose and mouth. He turned on the machine, and you began breathing in the mist, feeling relief almost immediately. Dean leaned in, placed a kiss on your forehead, and then looked down to his brother.
“I’m gonna get her some water, you need anything?"
Sam shook his head. All he needed was to know that you were okay. Dean left for the kitchen and Sam tightened his grip around you.
"Thank you, Sammy,” you muttered through the mask. Sam exhaled in amusement at your gratitude. As if there was anything he and Dean wouldn’t do to keep you safe.
“Anytime, Y/N/N,” he placed a kiss on top of your head, “That’s what I’m here for."
Zevran and Varric catch up about Hawke before the Rite of Tranquility incident.
(Other chapters are complete already and will be posted at least once a week. F in the chat for the missed opportunity to have 6/9 be Zevran's chapter. 🕯️)
can I get uhhhh….squints at menu…a tranquilizer whump where caretaker is lugging an unconscious whumpee along with them through a forest as they escape, but caretaker had been shot with a tranq mid escape and it’s getting hard to keep moving.
Caretaker was panting with exhaustion as they walked through the forest, their unconscious friend thrown over their shoulder. They tried to hurry, but their arms were cramping from how tightly they were holding onto Whumpee, and their legs were starting to buckle underneath them.
And that was before they felt the prick of the tranquiliser dart hitting their arm.
"Fuck," they muttered, determined to keep on going. "If you think that's gonna stop me, you're a fucking idiot!"
Despite their claim, their body was quickly becoming heavier and heavier. Every step was a struggle, every breath a chore, and it didn't take long before they tripped on the uneven forest floor.
They could barely keep their eyes open as Whumper emerged from the shadows, easily grabbing both Whumpee and them by the waist, lifting them into the air. Caretaker didn't have the energy to struggle.
"Don't worry," Whumper said with a smile in their voice. "I'll take excellent care of my pet's little friend."
~
this is one of my last drabbles here, please feel free to follow me on my new blog @sowhumpshaped