WARNING: Rated T for some language here and there.

A/N - Just a small lovey-dovey story about one of my favorite characters in Skyrim, Faith, and her unlikely love interest.

Faith. You hear this word and think of a belief. Maybe you think of religion, or maybe a deep trust in something. Maybe you hear the word and you don't believe it. Or maybe you think it's too rare to count on. Whatever you think, that is what Faith is.

She is unbelievable. She is devout. Unending trust is placed with her. She is rare, and she is counted on. She represents the beauty of the night, the creeping in the shadows, the thrill of the hunt, and the power of life. Her talents are extraordinary. Her abilities - unending.

The world counts on Faith. They have faith in Faith, for that is who she is. She is meant to save the universe. She is Dragonborn - Dovakiin. The most powerful being in Tamriel, and the only person who can stop it from being destroyed.

And yet... She has boy troubles.

Or, rather, man troubles. Sure, Faith is great and all, but she's really just another woman who has a - really - terrible taste in men.

Yeah, being the leader of all the organizations in Skyrim, piece of cake. Being thane of every city? No problem. Fighting dragons on a daily basis - like she was born to do it. But put her in a situation with Mercer Frey, her knees turn to jelly and she struggles to even think straight. I told you. Bad. Taste. In. Men.

And when I tell you this is bad - I mean it, this is BAD. This beautiful personification of faith is reduced to a ten-year-old girl crying over Justin Beiber.

So you can imagine how well the whole "Mercer's a lying, cheating, son-of-a-bitch that needs to die now" thing went.

Faith was not okay with this at all.

Every fiber of her being was telling her to hate Mercer, reminding her just how much he had hurt her and her friends. He stole every coin they had, killed their last leader - his own friend - and tried to kill her. But her heart just wouldn't allow it. It kept screaming at her to get a grip and try to think through the possibilities with reasoning, but her mind knew she already had a thousand times over.

So all this internal conflict was not helping with the whole falmer-infested ruins.

But, thankfully, the trio made it through the crowds of ancient elves. No thanks to Karliah and Brynjolf, though. Sure, they had some talent at sneaking, but their abilities leant more towards combat, rather than staying unseen, like Faith's. She had boundaries, and as an assassin, stupidly running into battle like a commoner was not a normal. In fact, she didn't usually engage in combat at all. If possible, she would simply sneak around everyone and get to where she needed to go - No bloodshed on either side.

But, as stated before, her internal conflict was putting a huge disadvantage sign on her forehead. She couldn't concentrate long enough to really blend in, and the three thieves had to fight quite a few battles.

Nevertheless, they made it to where Mercer was. The sight of her love climbing all over the statue made her heart break. She never really wanted to believe any of what Karliah was saying was true. But seeing him up there, harshly yanking out the eyes of the statue made something inside her snap.

She stood up from the crouching position and started shouting her anger.

"You son of a bitch! Do you really think you can get away with this?" Anger and betrayal seethed throughout her blood, and you could almost hear her teeth grinding as she spoke. "There's no way you'll get out of here alive!"

Mercer finally got loose the right eye and turned towards the intruders. His face showed anger, but also revealed smugness, and he looked almost... impressed. "Ah! So the tiny pacifist finally lets out her inner lion? What an interesting twist!"

Faith sneered menacingly at him. "Pacifist, huh? I don't suppose you know about the Harbinger of the Companions then, huh? Or the Listener and leader of the Dark Brotherhood? Ah, or the Dragonborn business? Yeah, you can't get those kinds of titles being a pacifist."

Mercer obviously didn't believe her. "It doesn't matter. You'll die soon enough."

Then the platform they were standing on began to shake and collapsed. A pipe had broken and the room was filling with water. The time for talk was over, they needed Mercer dead and they needed to do it quickly, before they all drowned. Faith turned back to Karliah and Brynjolf, but the two were too busy fighting each other. It was just Faith and Mercer.

The fight was brutal. Each party took heavy damage, and both were out of breath and about to collapse when Faith pulled one last move. "Fus... Ro... DAH!" she shouted, flinging Mercer high in the air and catching him with a strong levitation spell.

She held him there as he struggled to break free. The magic was too strong, however, and his effort were in vain. Faith looked at Mercer and the previous heartbreak came flooding back. Tears came to her eyes and Mercer looked at her with certain anger and slight confusion. "What..."

"You bastard," she cut off his question. "I trusted you. I put all my efforts in trying to impress you. Me, Harbinger, Listener, DRAGONBORN, tried to impress YOU, the simple leader of the Thieves' Guild! I worked my ass off for you - I did everything you asked, straight on the dot, and you were never pleased. I admired your determination, and your abilities. I thought you were a great leader, but really, you were a fake!" She spat the word in his face. By now, tears were streaming down her face. "Being selfish is one thing, but killing your BEST FRIEND? Not even the Dark Brotherhood would stoop so low, Mercer. Not even I."

A long pause filled the air, and Mercer surprisingly stayed silent. His eyes still showed anger, but there was a slight tinge of something else... sorrow? Regret?

Faith shook her head slowly, then brought Mercer closer, but still holding a tight grip on his so he couldn't move. His face was inches from hers now. She gently leaned up and pressed her lips against his, feeling the rough chapped lips and the spikes of his unshaven stubble. He tasted like copper and blood - probably from the battle. But he reminded her so much of something she loved dearly - the Thieves' Guild. She couldn't think of the Guild without thinking of Mercer first, and to have him this close - to feel his lips on hers - it was too much.

Another choked sob broke the kiss. Her eyes immediately looked up into his. The anger was completely gone, replaced by surprise and a tenderness she would never have expected from the wretched man.

Drawing in a shaky breath, she placed her hands on each side of his cheek, filling him with a spell that would kill him quickly, and painlessly. She couldn't bear the thought of him in such pain. She gently laid his weak body on the ground. Before he was gone, she couldn't help but say it.

"I love you."

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