Blood from Stone [AU]

[Carver Amell]

"Maybe," he snarls. "Maybe you should have sent me when I was cutting. I don't know. But I am not willing to risk her life because she doesn't have the capacity to weigh her options rationally. And I didn't think you were either."

[Varric]

"Because I'm not satisfied with just their life." Varric shrugs, eyes serious and grim. "I also want them to be happy and have family. Maybe I'm wrong to do it but I'm willing to gamble, to take some risks to get those instead of just 'surviving.' Hells, it worked for the three of you."

[Marian Hawke]

Liz shivers, clinging to Beth's hands, deep in breathing. I have to get out of here. Carver's not trustworthy. I'm sorry, Varric. I wish I could have... 

[Carver Amell]

"Worked," he says, grimly. "I nearly died twice in the year after we moved here. I'm not risking it. Are you on my side -- her side, whether she likes it or not -- or against me?"

[Varric]

"That's false dilemma fallacy." Before Carver can snap at him, Varric continues. "You're creating a limited pool of choices despite there being alternatives."

[Bethany]

Bethany shakes her head. No, there's... no. "Come on Liz. Let's go to my room and sit, okay? Can you come with me? Please? Just us and Silence."

[Marian Hawke]

Liz takes a deep breath, then another. Get away from Carver. Go with Beth. Go out the window. It's a better plan than any I've come up with thus far. She gives a small nod, letting Beth tug her up and away. 

[Carver Amell]

Carver scowls. "Fine. I'll get someone to pick her up." He turns to head for the front door. 

[Varric]

"Carver, stop. Stop a minute and think. What's your plan? What outcomes are you expecting to result from this? How do you even plan on getting this- whatever this is- to work?" He might have intended to say more, but gets distracted by Liz and Beth rising out from behind the table and heading off to the back of the house. Silence is already in the hallway, waiting.

[Carver Amell]

"I'm getting experts," he snaps. "I'm not stupid enough to think I can fix her all by myself with a deadline."

[Varric]

"There's a lot of ground between 'institutionalized' and 'let her die' Carver. A hundred and five days of Liz trying in exchange for promising to not do exactly what you just tried to do. If you hadn't decided to jump on the trip wire, I was going to try and convince them to start seeing a new therapist because the current one isn't working. Plus a family therapist, for all of us."

[Bethany]

"Come on Liz," Beth murmurs softly, leading her sister along with a light touch of her hand on the small of the merikos elf's back. Her door is open, Silence slipping in ahead of them as Beth activates the light fixture. "Want to get changed or..?"

[Carver Amell]

"She almost died this week! And she'd have gone to Hell!" Looks like Beth's spell's worn off.

[Varric]

"I. Am. Aware." Varric gets to his feet, revealing how tightly clenched his hands are. "I might not have been there this afternoon, but I was the one that woke her up. I was the one that saw here curled up in that chair, hardly breathing. I was the one that walked through her mind and talked them back into living while terrified that the soul I would marry could be dead or worse. Do not think for an instant that I am uncaring or unaware, Carver, just because I do not shout or hit things."

[Carver Amell]

"But you won't do anything about it! You just, just, give her what she wants?! As if she isn't trying her damndest to throw her life away! As if--"

He shakes his head. "You do what you like. I won't, I can't, just watch her die." Unaware how eerily similar his words are to Cindy's, he turns on his heel and storms to the front door, slamming it open with a wordless cry of rage.