well my update schedule i decided to shoot it to hell. I decided for my first fanfic ten reviews is a bit much to ask. so, ya know review, constructive criticism helpful. The reason the first three chapters have showed so fast is cause i wrote them before i knew how to post with my phone.

I grabbed my gear and set out. I took the Way from Arctis Tor to Chicago, then followed Sith's instructions to a nearby parking garage. Not too long ago, I had asked Sith to get me a car that would run despite having to deal with a wizard. Technology is something wizards have trouble with. The more modern it is, the higher chance of it breaking down. When I got to the parking garage, I did a double take. The only car there was a pink car. A bright, blinding pink car. I swear, the room seemed darker after looking at that, pink, pink, car. I slowly walked over, cursing Sith the whole while. As I got closer, I noticed a few more details. The neon blue ring around the licence plate. The multitude of bumper stickers, proudly displaying very bright ponies. I cursed Sith some more, swearing to make my orders a hell of a lot tighter in the future. I knew I wouldn't. Trying to win a verbal battle with a Fae is nearly impossible. Because they can't tell a direct lie, they learned to twist their words to make my head hurt. I got into the pink car, hoping against hope that the interior would be better. I found hoping to be too mild, and started praying instead. Apparently He was laughing to hard to listen, because the interior was worse than the exterior. Everything was purple with pale green trim. And not even dark purple, which would have been fine. No, this was a lighter purple, almost pink. I didn't want to be caught dead in this, let alone alive. But I didn't have a choice, not if I wanted to save Maggie in time. Every second she was with the skinwalker was an hour to long, in my opinion. I got in and turned the key. I expected a cough and a wheeze as the car started, but instead got a simple purr. I looked at the car in surprise. Apparently Sith was good with cars. I almost forgave him for the car, then looked around again, and swore to turn Sith into scraps when I next saw him. I pulled out and went to the first place that came to mind. Michael Carpenter lived in a house that made all the others on the street look shabby. It was also guarded by angels (yes real ones, yes I have seen them) on account of being a former Knight of the Cross. The Knights, technically Knight now, wielded swords made from the Cross that Christ was hung on for the Crucifixion, all capital Cs. They traveled the world, fighting darkness and saving the innocent. Their main task is freeing the people under the control of the Knights of the Blackened Denarius. Michael had retired after being shot by a leader of the Nickelheads, as I termed them. After I had found out I had a daughter, and gone to Mexico to find her, she had been adopted by the Carpenters. As far as I knew, she still didn't know I existed. I walked up to the door and knocked four times. Charity, Michael's wife, answered the door. She didn't look like the steely, powerful woman I knew. She looked beat. Her eyes looked red and puffy, as if she had been crying. The mantle of Winter immediately started voicing its opinion of vulnerable woman. I forced down some images and ideas and said, "I would like to speak with Michael." Charity didn't say anything, just nodded and waved me in. She went upstairs, presumably to fetch Michael. I sat on the couch in the living room, waiting. A few seconds later, Michael entered and sat in the chair across from me. He started to speak. "Harry, I..."

"No." I said it calmly, no emotion in my words or my expression. "I don't want to hear apologies. Just tell me what happened, so I can go save my daughter." It was a low blow to point out so viciously that Maggie was mine, considering I had never been around for her. Michael took a breath and started his story.

"Maggie, Harry, and Hope were outside. Charity was taking Mouse for a walk. I was inside, leaving Daniel to watch over them. I suddenly heard a scream, but whether it was Hope or Maggie I couldn't tell. I heard Daniel yell for help. By the time I got out there, Maggie was gone, and Daniel was... Daniel was dead."

I suddenly realized why both Charity and Michael seemed more subdued than usual. I felt a tiny bit of guilt at being so abrupt. I quickly brushed it away, though. I didn't have time for emotion, not when my daughter was in danger. Michael continued.

"I wanted to find her, but without Mouse I couldn't find anything. By the time Charity brought him back, or rather the other way around, there were no scents left."

Now this genuinely shocked my. Mouse had always been able to track something. You didn't just have to get up early to fool Mouse, you had to study through the whole freakin' night. I decided I had gotten all I could from here, and got up to leave. I said goodbye to Michael, turned to leave, and damn near slammed into Charity. She was standing by the door, dressed in her custom armor of titanium rings with Kevlar in between. She had a huge hammer on her back, and two swords at her sides. Her words confirmed what I first thought. "I'm coming with you." Her tone suggested I had better not argue, but in my current state, I was not thinking logically. "No. I'll be busy enough without having to look after you." I practically spat out the words. Charity's eyes flashed, not with determination like before, but anger. "Mister Dresden, my own son was murdered by that creature. I will come with you, or so help me God, I will do it alone." Both the Winter mantle and my chivalrous nature agreed to taking her with me, though for very different reasons. I wanted to say no, but the words just wouldn't come. Instead, I just jerked my head to the door and walked out. As expected, she followed me. While I just walked up to my car and got in, Charity stopped dead halfway. Her face contorted, trying to decide whether to laugh or grimace. She started walking, and got all the way into the car before the floodgates burst. As she laughed her ass off, I just started cursing Sith again. It took fully ten minutes before she calmed down. I didn't comment on it. I decided to let her laugh. It could be one of her last. I just said, "One more stop, then we can start looking."

After driving awhile in complete silence, we pulled up to some very nice apartments. I went to the correct one and knocked. My half-brother/vampire Thomas answered. We hadn't seen each other for a year, so it was no surprise when the first thing he did was pull me into a bear hug, slapping my back heartily as he did so. I returned the favor, although with not nearly as much enthusiasm. He seemed to catch on, and released me to look me in the eye.

"Harry," he said. "What's wrong? You look like ten miles of bad road." I almost couldn't speak, my voice was so choked up. "It's Maggie, Thomas. They got Maggie." "What!?" he exclaimed. "Who, when?" I suddenly had doubts about bringing Thomas into this. The naagloshii had hurt Thomas physically, mentally, and spiritually. It had taken him a year to recover. Although it was a little late to back out now. "You remember that shapeshifter that was hunting Morgan?" Thomas nodded, his eyes flashing pale silver for the barest of instants. I told him the story Michael had told me. At the end, he immediately said, "What are we waiting for then? Let's go!"

He made sure his house was locked up and Justine knew where he was going. As we got into the car, Charity immediately stiffened and said in a terse voice, "Why is this vampire coming with us? It can't be trusted for this." I wasn't supposed to reveal the fact that that Thomas and I were brothers, but this was a special occasion. "Would you force Maggie's uncle to sit out on this?" Charity looked rather stunned at the revelation, but took it in stride. She didn't say anything, just nodded. Thomas was the one who asked the obvious question. "So where to next?" I answered in a dark tone. "Now? Now we summon a demon."

Charity wasn't exactly thrilled with my idea. My wizard sense was telling me this. It was helped along by the fact that she hadn't stopped protesting for the past 2 hours. It wasn't like I was any more enthusiastic, but by God, I would do whatever it took to get my little girl back. My patience finally ran out. "Charity, damn it, shut up!" It was a hell of a lot louder and sharper than I had intended, but I got the point across. Or, at least, I think I did. It did absolutely no good though. While she did shoot a glare at me for swearing, her protests continued unabated. I could hear Thomas grinding his teeth together, clearly just as sick of it as I was. I finally stopped the car, and turned to look at her. My voice was hard as I said,"Charity, I don't like this any more than you do. But, despite that, I'm going to summon a demon for information. I don't care if you like it or not. I am sick of your voice, and I haven't even done anything yet. So shut up, sit still, and stop complaining about my methods unless you have a better idea."

I hated lashing out like this, especially to a wife of a friend, but I hated this time period out of all times in a case. I lived for straight up fights, and smashing things to pieces. The fact it was my daughter in danger did nothing to alleviate my stress. Charity looked at me, and did that thing girls do when they suddenly figure out everything you're thinking about. She reached over, patted my shoulder and softly said, "Harry, it's going to be ok. We will find her. Have faith." I scoffed at the mention of faith, but let her continue nonetheless. "I know you love Maggie, but you, and me, need to focus, not fight each other." I considered her words. My eyes were a bit misty, but I ignored it. I nodded, too choked up to talk, and started driving again.

ok i just noticed i forgot the disclaimer thing so i don't own harry dresden that's Jim butcher, pretend you read this at the beginning of all chapters.