AN: Obvious Avengers ref is Obvious. Shameless liberties taken with both canons and what I feel is an incredibly weak ending, sorry. Enjoy.

Chapter Two: What Kind of Magic Spell to Use?

I had no idea how long I'd spent trapped in the Erlking's little dream, and no idea how much time I had left. For all I knew, I might have spent all my remaining eight hours in the thing. It might have been years.

I tried to ignore the little part of my brain that said that it wouldn't be such a bad way to spend the rest of my life.

Still, I had to keep going. I might still be in time to save Thomas. The castle seemed to be closer now, that was something. I picked up my staff – which was on the ground beside me – and started off at a jog. My eyes were still watering a little, but that must have been the glitter that pervaded this place. The sooner we got out of here the better.

I reached the gates of the little city – it was more of a town, to be honest – that surrounded the castle in maybe an hour or two. The gates were open, although as I approached they began to swing closed. I picked up the pace and slipped inside just before they slammed shut, only to be faced with another set of gates that were closed tight. I was trapped in a sort of small courtyard, which didn't seem to bode well. On the other hand, if people were still stopping me from doing stuff, that probably meant I still had some time left. It's always nice when my continued existence irritates people. Gives me a warm fuzzy glow.

I strode over to the other set of gates and banged on them with my staff. 'Oi!' I yelled. 'Open up!'

There was some whispering. Then a small voice shouted, 'No!'

I stepped back a bit. 'Please?'

Well, it is the magic word. The Right Words got me into this mess, they could get me out of it.

Some more whispering. Then, 'Sorry?'

'You heard me! Please!' I bawled back. I wasn't exactly in the best of moods right now. 'Please open these gates right now or I will break them down, set them on fire, and do the same to you because the Goblin King has taken someone I care about and you are in my way!'

I didn't mean for the last bit to sound so threatening. Much. I didn't have much sympathy left anymore, not after that crystal dream. I was in the kind of mood where you hit things just because they're there, and when you're me that normally means that something ends up on fire.

Either way, it worked. I'd have to remember that. The great gates swung ponderously open and I prepared to step forwards, only to find that my way further into the city was blocked.

By a giant robot.

I really, really wish that I was kidding, or being my usual witty self. But this is my life, so giant robot it was.

I think I just stood there with my mouth open for a bit. 'Hells Bells,' I said finally. 'I'll admit that I didn't see that coming.'

Literally. I should have been able to see the top of the robot over the gates before they opened, but I hadn't. I guess it had been sitting down or something. Maybe even giant Faerie robots need down time.

Calling it a robot might have been a little overhasty. Now that I looked more closely at it, it seemed to be a loosely mechanical suit of armour, with what looked suspiciously like clockwork operating bits of it. I was fairly sure that if I took off the head I'd find a small goblin sitting inside.

Any other day, I'd have stuck around to fight it, more out of a sense of curiosity and for the bragging rights than because of any real need. I mean, it's not every day you get to fight a giant Faerie robot. A glittery giant Faerie robot. But Thomas was in danger, and the Erlking had just crossed nearly every line I had, and I was dangerously close to making a really permanent enemy of the immortal, super-powerful kind.

I began to walk straight forwards and past it, when the robot took a step towards me and swung a fist clumsily in my direction.

I hadn't expected it to be so fast. Actually, I'd been counting on being able to just walk past it. I had to jump sideways to avoid the fist, which swished past me and nearly caught the tails of my duster. I raised my staff and yelled, 'Ventas Servitas!' A gust of wind swept up out of nowhere and hit the thing with what should have been enough force to flip a car. It barely stumbled.

I took a few steps backwards as the thing advanced and decided to try my other major talent; fire. With a cry of 'Fuego!' I sent a blast of heat and flame towards the robot, which halted for a moment but didn't stop. It didn't even catch fire. I felt this to be a kind of betrayal of the way that the universe worked.

I took another couple of steps back and fetched up against the gates, which had been re-closed behind me. Swearing, I looked about for new options. Killed by a glittery fae robot would be a terrible way to go.

There was a flash of silver and the robot stumbled back. I blinked, and the robot slowly tumbled over backwards, falling to the ground with a clatter. Clouds of dust and glitter rose from the impact, and I doubled over coughing, still squinting at the now-dead robot.

A figure was emerging from the dust cloud. It was carrying a silver longsword, cruciform, with a ruby set in the hilt, and it was wearing impeccably tailored and stupidly expensive clothes.

Thomas looked up. His eyes were silver from edge to edge. 'Hi,' he said, and his voice was husky and disused.

I blinked. 'I don't think I've ever been so glad to see you.'

Thomas didn't respond. Normally, he'd have been instantly replying with some sarcastic quip. But he just looked at me with those frankly creepy eyes, as though he didn't even know who I was. That terrified me a little bit.

'Thomas,' I said slowly. 'Do you know who I am?'

He blinked, and a little bit of the silver receded from his eyes, until merely his irises were covered by the mirrored sheen. Some of the colour drained from his face as well, but at least some expression of recognition returned. 'Harry. Good to see you too.'

We didn't hug, or anything. I just gave him a manly slap on the back, and he punched me in the arm. That's like a full-blown Moment in guy terms.

'So what's the plan?' Thomas asked shortly. He wasn't looking too good, but I decided not to mention it.

I hefted my staff grimly. 'We go to that castle, we find the Goblin King, I kick his ass, and then we all go home.'

Thomas frowned. 'I just managed to get out of there. Why do we have to go back? Can't you just open a portal back to – to –'

'Chicago,' I supplied, trying to hide my concern. 'And because then I'd have cheated. If I drop out of the Labyrinth, I forfeit.'

'Forfeit what?'

'Well, you, for a start. I'd have to leave you here. Turn you into a goblin.' I frowned. 'This idea is looking better and better.'

He slapped the back of my head, but it lacked the usual force. 'Jerk.'

I didn't deign to reply. 'Look,' I began to explain. 'The Fae basically run their world by stories. Sort of like scripts. You know, fairytales. And right now, the Erlking can't just kill us because that's not how the Labyrinth works. He has to give me a chance to get you back. He has to stay on-script. But if we go off-script – as in, leave – then we've broken the rules first and suddenly, there's nothing stopping him from turning me into Wizard Kibble. OK?'

Thomas sighed. 'So we head back to the castle.'

'Yup,' I said resignedly. 'It's the way things are done.'

We began to trudge through the winding streets of the Goblin City. It was surprisingly empty. I suspect that our spectacular take-down of the robot thing had made an impression.

'Where did you get that sword?' I asked suddenly, nodding to the longsword that Thomas had propped across his shoulder. (It looked impossibly stylish and somehow went with the designer clothes. Jerk.)

Thomas swung it off his shoulder and looked at it. 'I think I took it from the castle. There were things hung up on the walls and…' His sentence trailed off. I waited politely, but he showed no signs of finishing it.

'Thomas?'

He turned towards me and I saw that the silver had spread across his pupils. It was disconcerting, like looking into mirrored sunglasses. 'Hello?' He sounded unsure.

'Thomas, stay with me,' I said, a leaden weight forming in my gut. 'C'mon, man, don't do this.'

Thomas frowned at me. 'I have to find Harry,' he said, in a childish tone. 'Can you help me?'

I closed my eyes for a moment. 'Sure,' I said quietly. 'Just come with me.'

He nodded trustingly and walked alongside me as we made our way to the castle walls. Suddenly, I heard him stumble, and then he looked up. The silver was banished momentarily from his eyes.

'Harry,' he said urgently. 'It's getting worse.'

'I noticed,' I said grimly. 'You blanked out for a bit there.'

'I don't mean to be rude, but can we hurry this up?' It was creeping in again, around the edges of his pupils. Hells bells, I should have thought this through.

'OK,' I said, as we made our way to the castle gates. 'We're nearly done. Just hold on for a bit longer, OK?'

'OK,' Thomas said. 'What's happening?' The childish element was back in his voice, and when I glanced at him I saw his eyes were all silvered again.

'Lemme just look after that,' I said, and took the sword away from him. I juggled sword and staff for a moment, ending up with the sword in my right hand and my staff in my left. I glanced at Thomas and found him lagging behind me, looking up at the walls. 'Thomas!'

He didn't respond. I felt dread settling on me like snow on a window at Christmas time. 'Hey!'

He looked up querulously. I motioned to him to keep up and he ran to my side, moving like a little kid, not with his usual lithe grace.

The White Court are anathema to this place, and it to them – he is… incompatible. The longer you wait, the more he will begin to deteriorate – he will forget what, and then who, he is, and who you are, and everything he ever knew.

I ground my teeth as the Goblin King's voice flitted through my head. I knew that it was more than just memory – the Goblin King was trying to psych me out. Paralyse me with guilt.

I stood before the castle gates. They were firmly closed. 'Let me in,' I said loudly.

There was muttering. 'No.'

Oh, stars and stones. 'I'm not going through this charade. You saw what happened to your friends at the other gates.' I raised my staff. 'I am Harry Dresden, and you guys messed with someone I cared about. Let. Me. In.'

It did the trick here, as well. Maybe I looked angrier. Thomas, standing next to me, was looking at me with a childish awe and maybe even fear. That was probably why.

The gate swung open and I strode inside, Thomas tagging along behind me. The corridors here were straight, leading directly to what looked like a throne room.

It was empty, although probably not for long. A couple of barrels of ale were standing, or lying, around, with liquid still dripping from the taps. There were feathers and fur scattered about, cushions and pillows with the stuffing ripped out of them, and everything was covered in glitter. They'd clearly been having one hell of a party.

There was a throne, too, and – although I'm prepared to swear he wasn't there when I entered the room – the Erlking was lounging on it. He'd changed his outfit again, for something that was indescribably… glittery, but I was almost too angry even to make a sarcastic comment. For those of you who know me, that speaks to my state of mind.

'Goblin King,' I growled. He tilted his head towards me, but didn't look away from the crystal he was spinning between his hands.

I lost my temper. I'd spent the last… however many hours running his stupid maze, playing his little games, fighting for his amusement. My brother, the only family I had, didn't even know who I was. And he wasn't paying attention to me.

'Fuego,' I yelled, and sent a fireball screaming across the throne room. The Goblin King held up a hand idly and it stopped in front of him, condensing into a large crystal which fell to the floor and shattered in a pile of glitter.

'These dramatics – tell me, for whose benefit are they?' he said coolly. 'They help thee not. Nor do they help the vampire.'

I scowled. 'You're talking to me about dramatics? When you're sitting there posing in that fear-me-I-am-lord-of-glitter outfit?'

Hey, I said almost.

'And while we're on the subject,' I continued, warming to my theme, 'how about some vocab lessons? The Shakespeare gig is getting old. Like, five centuries old.' I made a sarcastic bow. 'Dost thy mother know thou wearest her eyeshadow?'

The Goblin King rose to his feet, still tossing the crystal from hand to hand. 'Wizard Dresden. If you are here to ask me for thy brother back, I fear that you may forget thy manners.'

I snorted. 'Manners? I've never had any. Besides, etiquette tends to be one of the first things that I forget when people start messing with my friends.'

The Goblin King shrugged. 'You wished away your brother. You chose to run the Labyrinth. I have done nothing but what you asked. Everything I've done –'

'You've done for kicks,' I snapped. 'Don't pretend there's some grand motive. And you can cut the speech, too – I know it by heart.'

The Goblin King gave a long suffering sigh. 'Dresden, your relentless iconoclasm is beginning to wear upon my nerves. You are as bound by the rules as I.'

'Fine.' I spread my hands. 'I've made it, I've won, I get my brother back. Now you get to try and trick me.'

The Goblin King glared, but spoke nonetheless – quickly, unenthusiastically, and with a certain degree of homicidal loathing. 'Forget about the vampire. Fear me, obey me, do as I say, and I will be your slave.'

'No thanks,' I said. To our mutual relief, I'm sure. 'And don't think I didn't notice the change in wording.'

'Would you prefer I asked you to love me?' the Goblin King said sarcastically.

'I think you know what the answer is. Anyway.' I cleared my throat. 'Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the goblin city, to take back the –' I hesitated. 'Person? That you stole.'

'Dresden.' I looked up. The Goblin King was looking at me seriously – with loathing and irritation, sure, but seriously. 'I am bound to offer you once again your dreams. Think what you throw away. Your happiness – your only chance, some might say. And your brother, too; thinkst thou he will ever find happiness in the real world? His lady poison to him, his very nature against him? And all you have lost - the girl – the hybrid girl. And your friends. All those who have died, all who have suffered. You have lost so much already, wizard. Many mortals who have suffered far less than you cry out for a chance to dream of happiness.'

'Sorry,' I said. There was an element of sincerity in my tone as well. 'I happen to know what happens when you live too long in dreams.' The Goblin King raised an inquiring eyebrow and I smiled grimly. 'You forget how to wake up.'

I raised my chin. 'Goblin King, you have no power over me!'

He nodded once, with a grudging respect, and then the castle began to fall apart. I turned to grab Thomas, to get out of there, but he was sitting cross-legged on the floor watching me with that simple, heart-breakingly childlike gaze. I had a moment to think of what the Erlking had said, and to wonder whether he had been right – if a dream of happiness was all he, and I, could ever hope for.

Then the Labyrinth dissolved around me, and I found myself falling into darkness.

My apartment was dark. It was night-time, and the bulb in the streetlamp outside tends to be temperamental. It flickered on and off, filling the room with an eldritch, unsettling light.

I found myself standing on the rug by the fireplace. The window was open, the curtains blowing in the breeze. I crossed the room to close it, and I thought I saw a flicker of white outside, then heard the distant sound of an owl.

I waved a hand over my apartment. 'Flickum biccus,' I murmured. The candles I had scattered over every surface jumped into life and I surveyed the room.

It was neat and clean, which suggested that my cleaning service had been in while I was away, unless that was part of the deal when you beat the Labyrinth. There was glitter ingrained into all the soft furnishings, but that didn't prove anything. The stuff got everywhere.

Thomas was lying on my couch. He looked pale, but no more than he usually did. His dark hair was tousled and his eyes were shut. I went and found a blanket, draping it over him roughly, then lit the fire and grabbed a beer from the kitchen. I left another one on the coffee table by my brother and then sat, watching the flames.

After a while, I heard the blanket shift, then the distinctive sounds of someone opening a beer bottle and taking a drink.

'Hi,' I said. I didn't quite look at him.

'Hi,' Thomas said, quietly.

I scowled at the fire. 'You back with us?' I finally turned to look at him.

His eyes were back to their usual grey. He raised the beer bottle in salute. 'No thanks to you.'

I flicked a small fireball at him. 'Jerk.'

He half-smiled as he took a pull from the bottle. 'Idiot.'

That wasn't quite the end of it, of course. When I went down to my lab, a few moments later, Bob started talking almost before I was in the room.

'Harry! Stars and stones, you're back! Do you know how long it's been?'

'Nope. A day?'

'A week, Harry!'

I groaned. Damn the Nevernever and its timeslips.

'Well? Did you get him back?'

I jerked my head at the ladder. 'Alive and well and drinking my beer.'

Bob whistled. 'I'm impressed. Do you know how many people have beaten the Labyrinth?'

'No.' I was curious, despite myself. 'How many?'

He told me. I frowned.

'Well, I guess there can't be that many people who wish people away. What's that as a percent?'

He told me. I swore. I won't trouble you with an exact transcript.

'Why the hell didn't you tell me, Bob?'

'Well, it didn't seem like much of a morale booster,' Bob said sulkily. After a moment, though, he bounced back. 'Hey, Boss, your wards are down.'

'What?' I rounded on him with (probably unfair) anger. 'What do you mean, they're down?'

'I mean, they're gone. Wiped out. En finite. They're just… gone, Harry. I think it might have been the Erlking crossing over – but then again, they were fine when you left. It's just when you got back that they vanished.'

I cursed. 'Bob, you remember the end of that Labyrinth book?'

'The one giving the Right Words?' Bob looked at me curiously. Or he would have done, if he wasn't a skull. 'Yeah, sure. Once you've run the Labyrinth, you get all the help you acquired once there. Like a retirement bonus.'

'Yeah, well, I didn't exactly make any friends,' I said grumpily. 'And even if I did, they wouldn't be able to drop in here –'

'-because of the wards,' Bob finished tiredly. 'Hell's Bells, Harry. Did you not think that the Labyrinth might think of that?'

'I've had a long day, OK?' I said defensively. 'Look, am I going to be dealing with incursions of glitter from now on?'

'I 'm not sure, but I don't think so,' Bob said thoughtfully. 'You said that you exercised your usual charming predisposition to friendliness?'

'Bite me,' I growled.

'Well, there should be no problem,' Bob said. 'But I'd steer clear of mirrors for a bit. And put the wards back up.'

'Well, we'd better get started,' I said heavily. Bob gave me the usual grumbling, but complied.

It wasn't exactly a happy ending, I figured as I left the lab some time later. I mean, I'd got my brother back, but that was it.

And some part of my brain wouldn't let go of those dreams. The crystals. The offer. I could have had Susan back, could have married her. All my friends, everyone I'd lost. I could have saved them.

Except I couldn't. I've learned a lot of lessons in my life, as a professional wizard, like always get payment up front and never trust anything that looks like it's too good to be true. But the hardest lesson I've ever had to deal with is the simplest. You can't undo the past, and you can't go back on loss. If you try, you just pile up more and more lies, unhappiness, debts, and unhappiness, and it will collapse on you just when you thought it was stable. You can't live in dreams forever. What's gone is lost; all you can do is live.

Maybe I'd been wrong about the Labyrinth not teaching you things.