Dresden Files

Portus

storiesofdarkness

Summary: There'd been a vampire involved (of course) and a person of immense power (as usual) but for once, he hadn't been even remotely hurt by the end of it all…

Rated: G

Tags: completely implausible fic, written purely for my own amusement, don't expect anyone to like it with how utterly out there it is, OC characters, vampires, gremlins, cool magic, warriors, monsters, dark, humor, crack!fic maybe, shortish fic with plot, action/adventure, magic, other

Notes: I do not own Dresden Files, but I do own the characters you don't recognize: Corpeous, Rafael and Cassandra. Apologies for spelling errors, this fic was not beta'd.

Word Count: 3,000

Usually when Harry gets to the McAnnally's Bar and Grill, it's peaceful. The customer's mostly keep to themselves [except when their ordering from Mac's Menu] and leave the other supernatural people in the place alone, including Harry himself. However, sometimes things happen. Like this afternoon for instance. Harry had been happily munching on his burger and fries, while drinking some of Mac's famous beer, when the door opened to the Bar and Grill, and in stepped…power.

Well, not literally. The power came in the form of a slightly dejected looking girl, or young woman. She was red-haired, a little chubby but not enough to bother people over, and she clearly had no idea of the danger from just stepping down here. Harry, who'd been sitting innocently eating his food, froze at the sudden power that filled the room as did all the other supernatural creatures, including Mac who had no magic in him, but could feel that the rest of whom did noticed something strange.

Of all the luck, the girl chose to sit next to Harry, at least one seat over. She picked up a menu, and seemed to frown as she studied it. Mac relaxed slightly when it seemed she was just a customer, but…the other creatures in the room were staring at the girl intently, though looking innocuous doing so.

Harry inwardly groaned. This was his lunch hour. He'd just wanted to eat in peace, not protect some human who clearly had no idea how much power they had inside of them. Gritting his teeth, he moved over towards her, and then noticed the look in her eyes…and glanced towards Mac, who seemed to notice it almost as soon as Harry did.

"Hey," Harry said coming to sit next to her. The girl shifted, not exactly tensed but seemed to be wary of him. Wise, kid. "You don't look like you're from around here,"

"I got recommended to this place," She answered quietly, her voice sounding sincere and-full of pain. Probably without realizing it. "I was told that it was a perfectly safe place."

"From who?" Mac rumbled, his eyes trailing on the rest of his customers who were mostly staying where they were at. Harry relaxed slightly.

"Um…he said his name was…" She hesitated, as though afraid of pronouncing the name wrong, of which Harry sympathized. Some of the weirdo's in this state were known for their strange names alone. "Corpeous?" She tested the word out, and Mac relaxed almost immediately. Harry, unsurprisingly, also knew who that was. A vampire who sensed that there were hurt people around and usually managed to get them to Mac for help.

"Corp is easier," Harry, told her, and she nodded.

"You want something to eat?" Mac questioned, and the girl looked over the menu, and Harry suggested,

"His burger and fries are really good-"

"Er…I don't eat a lot of meat," She answered, hesitantly.

"Salad's what I got, and there's soda," Mac offered, and the girl nodded.

"Salad is fine, if you have honey mustard that would be nice too, please."

Please…that would seem to fall easily from her, and Harry glanced towards Mac who gave the barest inclination of his head. Harry went silent for a bit, hoping the creatures in here wouldn't suddenly decide to go after her.

"Did Corp say anything else to you about this place?" Harry asked, and she sighed.

"He told me to look for a wizard named Harry Dresden if I wanted help, but I didn't understand him. There's nothing wrong with me, except I don't have a lot of money to keep paying for rent." She said with a frown.

So the girl was suffering and keeping it to herself, or she was honestly unsure of what Corp was talking about. Fantastic, Harry thought in irritation.

"Well, you're in luck…I'm Harry Dresden," He introduced, and the girl seemed to study him for a few moments, and then nodded before turning to watch Mac getting her food together. Harry frowned-usually people asked to 'prove it' and this girl had barely glanced at him. Probably because she didn't care.

"Look, why don't you tell me what you think you need, and I'll help you? It's my job after all, to help people." Harry offered, and the girl sighed.

"I guess my main problem is…" She hesitated. "I'm lonely."

Harry blinked, not expecting that. She shrugged.

"Yeah, that sounds kind of stupid doesn't it? But I sense that I'm supposed to have a soul-mate or whatever the term is these days, and truthfully…I could care less. I get around a whole bunch of people, and I get nervous, anxious, and this place…I feel slightly claustrophobic down here. Not enough to cause problems, but enough that I notice it. It's like this place has a whole lot of power, just waiting to be tapped into, but it's being…blocked. Protected somehow." She gave a short snort. "What I'm saying doesn't even begin to seem normal or make sense, does it."

"Actually, it does. This place is warded, that's probably what you're feeling. Not to mention, there's a ton of powerful people in here, that you're feeling their 'whole lot of power'," Harry said, staring at her in awe. Exactly what was she? "So you're in good company…maybe," He added.

Mac came back and sat the salad down along with the coca cola. The girl thanked him with a smile, and Mac blushed from the tips of his toes all the way to the top of his hair line, making Harry roll his eyes. The girl was nice enough looking, but not his type.

"How is it that this place is warded?" She asked, frowning in the familiar 'magic isn't supposed to be real' way. "I've tested many different ways of warding things, and nothing ever worked for me."

"Really? What all did you use?" Harry asked, curious.

"Mostly what I read out of books. There was one thing where I attempted to call upon Mother Earth, and managed to get a lot of creepy weather in return, but that's about it." She said with a sigh.

"Creepy weather?" Harry prompted, his heart pounding.

"Freak high winds going at eighty when there had been absolutely no wind going a moment ago. The water creek rising from where I was. The fire that I had built changing colors rapidly from blue to green to purple and back to its normal color. It felt like the dirt beneath me was moving, so I got out of there before anything could happen, like the ground opening up." The girl answered, biting into the salad, and looking surprised. The food was good, and though Harry had only had salad a couple of times, the salad's here were the best that he'd had compared to several other higher up places in the city.

"Do you understand how much power that would take? Did you feel weak after that?" Harry asked and the girl shook her head.

"I didn't feel a thing, except uneasy. I didn't know what to expect either, because I was just…trying to call and see if it would work,"

Trying to call for help, Harry thought to himself with a sigh.

"Right. So you believe that you have a soul-mate…"

"I don't believe anything," The girl said, in a matter of fact tone. "What is is. What isn't isn't." And Harry stared at her.

"You're saying you just believe what you see?"

"I don't believe that either," She answered, softly. "I've seen enough things, done enough things to know that anything is possible. If it happens to be true, then all right. I'll deal with it the best that I can. If it's not, then I'll just keep moving on."

Harry wasn't sure he agreed with the girl's logic, only that she made a little bit of sense…at least, he could see where she was coming from. She clearly has been suffering from a number of things in her past, and probably present. Harry frowned suddenly.

"What's your name?"

"Cassandra," She answered, frowning. "Cassandra Potter-and I'll hit you if you remark that I must be related to 'Harry Potter' in some way," She warned, and he blinked then chuckled.

"People tell you that a lot?"

"They constantly tease me about it-I don't even like the books…well, the first one was all right, but then it just started getting kind of annoying from there."

"I agree with you," Harry responded, nodding. "But enough about books-what did Corp say exactly? To just seek out my help?" Harry asked with a frown.

"He said that once I meet the wizard Harry Dresden and asked him for help, then the wizard should do a…checkup…on me," She said, frowning. Harry blinked.

"That's it? Really?"

"He said that he thought that I was a…Portal Opener," She added, hesitantly. "And that if I was, then I needed protection."

Harry flinched away from her as soon as she said 'Portal Opener'. He'd never encountered those types before, but then they were rare. The true term was in Latin, and invoking their name with the Latin term was dangerous, even when thinking about it. The Latin term was 'Portus' and it meant that one basically could travel to wherever they wanted, into whatever universe they desired if they could but imagine it clearly. No wonder this girl seemed filled with power.

And no wonder Corp had told her to come to him, seeing as how he was a Warden of the Wizard's Council. He had to help her, if not just for protecting her, then for the innocents around her. She could accidentally create a portal just by thinking about things…and then he noticed something-odd.

The girl seemed to have a block placed around her powers.

"Hells bells," Harry breathed, and the girl blinked.

"Why are you quoting AC/DC lyrics?" She wondered, and Harry ignored it turning to Mac.

"Mac, I need you to bring me one of your customers-the most powerful one-and ask them to look closely at the girl and see if they're seeing what I'm seeing," Harry ordered. Mac, knowing this was serious, didn't protest or anything but went to do as he asked.

Sondra kept eating her salad, and took a drink of coca cola. She seemed suddenly nervous.

"What's wrong, Mr. Dresden?" She asked, quietly, obviously sensing the mood.

"I'll let you know in a minute," He promised, and she nodded and accepted his answer. A tall looking guy, who was fairly handsome and carrying a large leather satchel, approached. The girl stared at him, obviously taken aback by how dangerous he appeared.

"You summoned me, wizard?" The vampire asked in a dark tone. Harry swallowed, hoping he wasn't one of Bianca's.

"Take a look at the girl, please, and tell me what you see," Harry ordered, and the vampire sighed but looked at the girl.

"I see…" And then the vampire hissed. "Blocks,"

"I thought so," Harry mused, staring at the girl himself. The girl was frozen in her seat, looking unsure if she should respond or not. Finally she seemed to gather courage from deep within herself.

"What are…blocks?" She asked, hesitantly. Harry ignored her and turned towards Mac, who looked horrified. To have someone put a block on your magic, especially when you were young, meant that you were always feeling some part of your body was missing.

"Thanks, I thought that was what it was, I just wanted to be able to double check. Tell me, do you remember things well?" Harry asked Cassandra, who fidgeted looking anxious and upset at not knowing what was going on. Harry could well understand how she felt, but he was more interested in getting answers than in comforting her.

"I have…problems when it comes to memorizing things," She admitted. "I read a ton of stuff, and certain things stick, but…the important things tend to fall right out of my head."

"That's due to your blocks," Harry informed her tightly. "I need to bring you to the White Council. This is something that I can't do alone."

The girl blinked.

"Who's the White Council?" She asked, frowning.

Harry hesitated, and said,

"I'll explain all that I can later on-"

Without warning, the girl seemed to freeze, as though she had detected something dangerous. Every being that had been watching the girl stiffened as if she was about to attack someone in here. Harry blinked.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked her, his heart pounding.

"Something's…" She turned around to look towards the stairs, but nothing was there. And then-Mac's lights flickered.

"SHIT!" Harry snarled, and grabbed his staff. The girl blinked.

"Is that a hockey stick?" She wondered, and then tensed as her eyes trailed towards the walls. "Mr. Dresden…can you see what I see?" She asked quietly, and Harry looked at the walls, as did everyone else. Mac came out from behind the bar away from the walls towards Harry for safety, with his bat as well as his gun. The girl was holding her dinner knife in hand, but it would offer no protection.

"I don't see anything," Harry said, studying the walls. The girl swallowed.

"They look like little demons…" She whispered, shrinking slightly in fear at seeing them. "Get everyone out."

As soon as she said the words, the people began hustling for the stairs, Mac standing in front of them to guard them on their way. A few of the more powerful creatures stayed behind to help protect the girl.

"All of you get out…it's me that they want, at least that's what it feels like." Cassandra said quietly, looking absolutely certain as she said the words, and Harry shook his head.

"You asked for my help as a wizard, and you're getting it." Harry said sincerely.

"Besides, rarely do we get to help those that are as powerful as you are," The same tall, dark vampire that had double checked for Harry spoke seriously.

Three vampires, a werewolf, and a physic stood there, guarding her, along with Mac.

"Gremlin," Cassandra said suddenly, and Harry hissed as did the others. "That's what they look like, Gremlins."

"Then I know a way for us to see them," Harry muttered, and intoned, "Revealis Gremalas Corpus," He ordered, and laughter suddenly peeled from the walls, revealing dozens of large Gremlins on them that were like demons from the movie Constantine (of which Harry had liked, and read the comic books Hellblazer as well).

"Little girl, powerful girl, our master wants you," The Gremlins hissed, and the girl shook slightly.

"Tell your master I'm not available right now," The girl said snarkily, and Harry was impressed with her courage, though he tensed and prepared to draw upon as much of his magic as he might need as quickly as possible.

"Little girl, powerful girl, we will have you!" The Gremlins cried out and dove for Cassandra, who yelled in startled surprise.

The vampire yanked her back and clawed two gremlins, sinking his venom into their bodies, and they died instantly. Harry shouted,

"Fuego!" And a large ball of flame collided with the nearest bunch of gremlins, toasting them like marshmallows. There were only five left, and the girl looked wide-eyed as Harry held his hockey stick before them, protecting them.

Then, Mac surprised them as he opened fire, taking out three gremlins with bullets. They blew apart with the sheer force of his weapon, and their guts splattered onto the walls and counter. Two gremlins were left, and they were trying to sneak around them and snag the girl from behind. But the vampire saw and clawed them as well. The gremlins died, and the lights were bright again. Harry turned towards the girl.

"Are you okay?" He asked, serious. The girl nodded.

"It was…very strange. Even after all the books and things and stuff that I've dealt with in real life-that was one of the strangest," She said, in a sort of stunned tone. Harry didn't blame her.

"Okay, let's get you out and to my safe-place," Harry insisted. "Er…thanks…" He added to the vampire, who smiled.

"My name is Rafael, and I would like to accompany you to protect the girl," He offered. Harry hesitated, and then relented. The guy had been a major help.

"Yea, okay. But if you betray us-"

"I just saved your lives, I would not betray you," He said, frowning.

"Right. Bad experiences with vampires," Harry explained, and the vampire nodded.

"You talk of the Red Court. I am not of them," He responded seriously. "Therefore you're battle is with them, not me. I am…neutral," He suggested, and Harry nodded.

"I don't understand," Cassandra sounded plaintive and frustrated, and Harry sighed.

"Come on, let's get out of here-Mac, you going to be all right?" Harry asked, and Mac grunted, as he began moving to behind the counter again. "I'll let people know it's safe," He added, and Mac nodded in thanks.

"Should I pay…" Cassandra, gestured towards the food, and Mac shook his head. She bit her lip, and he sighed.

"Free this time," Mac offered, and she reluctantly nodded.

"Thank you," She said with a smile, and Mac blushed again, before ducking towards cleaning.

Harry watched her go, and turned towards Mac who was already behind the counter again. Customers drifted back into the place as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. It seemed as though another disaster had been averted, and surprisingly there weren't any casualties.

True, there'd been a vampire involved (of course) and a person of immense power (as usual) but for once, he hadn't been seriously (or even remotely) hurt by the end of it all. Grinning he waved goodbye to Mac as he followed Rafael and Cassandra up out of the bar and into the bright sunlight shining down on the city.

He had a hunch that things were going to work out just fine.

End

Notes: Written before reading Proven Guilty of the Dresden Files series.

Thank you for reading.