I stood at the door, Listening to McCoy and myself leave. I hadn't explained a thing to Ebenezar, beyond saying that I'd had to come back alone, for a very specific reason. He'd done like the Gatekeeper, and not asked for any more information.

No wonder he'd been so distracted in the elevator. Or was now. Either way.

"Alright, Lash, let's have a face-to-face."

She flickered into existence, a pretty brunette now, sitting on the bed in her toga, hands in her lap. She smiled up at me.

"Before you say anything, thank you."

She blinked. "You are welcome, Harry."

"You figured it out before I did. You figured out everything."

"You obviously did, as well."

I nodded. "I think I get it, now. Though I'm sure if I slip up, you'll be there to point out the obvious to me."

She bowed her head. "Of course."

"So, are we going to talk?"

"While we can speak, I would point out that the metaphorical clock is still ticking."

"So it is." I held up the Key. "Ready to go where no Fallen Angel has gone before?"

She stood and stepped up to me. "I am." She blinked out of existence.

I nodded and left the hotel room, locking up. Leaving the Black Hall was easy – I just needed to find the right exit door. To enter it, McCoy had explained, I needed an entry door. Not just any door, of course. I needed a crossroads.

The metaphysical power of a crossroads can be very important – some would say, of greatest importance – to the barrier into the Nevernever.

Oh, you can cross over pretty much anywhere, if you know how, opening a random portal. But that portal is connected to you, as much as the place you're in. No two people, even standing in the exact same place, could open a portal to the same location in the Nevernever without very powerful foci.

The energy flow in a crossroads, however, is different. Because of the sheer number of people passing through, and their accompanying thoughts and feelings, no portal opened in a great crossroads can be linked to any one individual. Which makes them ideal for stable portals. The geography of the Nevernever is constantly shifting at the whims of the powerful beings who live there, and to reflect the events and emotions of the real world on our side of the barrier.

But a crossroads can be linked to specific place, and won't change. Chicago itself is one of the dozen or so greatest crossroads in the world, and as such is relatively stable all around. But even here, there's a lot of drift. I needed a place where lots of people went by every day, and few if any lingered. A train station is ideal, but I didn't have time to walk all the way to Union Station.

So, like I often do, I cheated. I walked down to the lobby of the Amber Inn. You see, the lobby itself is a crossroads. People coming and going all the time, employees and guests alike, for all manner of reasons. I stood near the front door, waiting for a old couple to pass by and the heavy oak door to swing shut.

With a quick glance around the lobby and through the front windows to make sure no one was coming, I gripped the Key tightly, concentrated on the Black Hall (which was hard, since I'd never seen it before – so instead I concentrated on the idea of the Black Hall) and pushed the door open.

The sudden lack of light and the tingle of foreign magical energy over my skin told me it had worked. The door swung shut behind me. My eyes adjusted quickly, and as I watched, the door clicked shut into a jamb of solid rock.

The rock itself was rough obsidian, almost pure black shot through with occasional luminescent lines. The ceiling and floor were the same. There was a small torch mounted in a sconce next to the door, and a small window set in the door, showing me the lobby I had just left, and the people milling about.

They weren't actually milling, of course. They weren't moving at all. The window was a still-life.

I shook my head in disbelief, then looked down the Hall, first in one direction then the other. There was no variation. The Hall just continued in a straight, dark line, receding into the infinite distance in both directions, lined with torches and doors.

As caves go, it wasn't too bad. Not cold or hot, no dripping dampness, and the floor was worn smooth. But it was a lonely place. I silently wished for Mouse, though it wasn't like I didn't have a friend to talk to. "Walk with me?" My voice didn't echo. Lash stepped up beside me from nowhere, her hair now a bright, natural red. "You going for blue, next?"

"Like Molly?"

I made a face. "She only changes her hair colour all the time because it was the first potion I taught her."

"And you enjoy seeing it?"

"I… guess. It's nice to know she's perfecting certain skills." I started walking, and she drifted along beside me. For some reason, I was just a little apprehensive about this topic of conversation.

"That isn't what I meant."

"My feelings for Molly are strictly teacher-student. You should know that."

"I do. Yet I should point out that since your relationship with Anastasia Luccio ended, Molly Carpenter is the only female wizard you know whom you may have a potential relationship with."

I was instantly hot under the collar. "Point number one, she's my best friend's daughter, so not a chance in hell. Point number two, I'm her teacher, see point number one. And point number three," I said, stopping and facing the pretty image beside me, "she's not the only female wizard I know." My mind briefly flickered to Elaine.

Lash actually looked pained. "I know, Harry. But in many ways, you and Elaine have both moved on. She may have been your first, truest love, but you have loved since." I started walking again, looking in windows as I went, trying to get my metaphysical bearings. Most of the windows looked out onto intersections on the streets near the Amber Inn, or in to lobbies or platforms at bus stations.

"Susan Rodriguez is suffering as a half-vampire," she continued, and I let her, because I'd been thinking these things myself. Travelling through time, seeing mistakes undone and your own, younger body, gets you thinking about mortality. "And while Karrin Murphy loves you, she could never allow herself to be with you."

"How the hell did we get on this topic?" I glared through another window, and saw Union Station.

"You mentioned my hair."

I looked at Lash, who was dead serious, and laughed. She didn't look like she understood, so naturally I laughed harder. She just stood there, looking confused.

Eventually, I sank to my ass, leaning against a door, still chuckling a little. She kneeled down beside me, concern in every line of her face. "Are you alright, Harry?"

I shook my head. "Not even close." Things had been bothering me, and I had to let them out. I had to say them out loud. And I finally had time to do it. All the time in the world. "This whole trip was a bad idea." She sat, and watched me. I knew she wasn't really watching me, wasn't even really sitting there, but I appreciated having a face to talk to.

"This was such a bad time for me. Murphy was giving me the cold shoulder because I never told her anything about the White Council or the greater supernatural world.

"Michael – you know he never had a single serious injury in all his hero-ing until he met me?

"The White Council – they considered me a threat to be watched and destroyed, like a poorly trained dog, even while I was upholding all their freaking ideals.

"And Kim! Hell's bells, that's got to be the worst of it. I was so hung up on being a wizard, being so smart and powerful, and taking that position so seriously, protecting a Council that hated and feared me, that I got a friend killed!"

I finished my rant, and deflated a little. I closed my eyes, felt tears welling up, felt a few get out… felt a warm hand on my cheek. I opened my eyes to see her smiling sadly at me. She wasn't actually wiping away my tear, she was just telling my nerves what to tell my brain, but it still felt damn good. Then she was hugging me, and that felt even better.

"In the last eight years," I muttered, "I've done almost as much damage as I have good. There are buildings that will soon be burned down in this town because I got carried away; there are innocent people who will die because I was too stupid to help them."

"Yet think of all the people who lived because you protected them. Remember the Darkhallow, a ritual which would have killed nearly every living being in Chicago, that you prevented. Regardless of what else you have done, in just that moment, you saved several millions of lives. I dare say no damage you have done has outweighed that single act."

I leaned back against the wall, away from her illusory comfort. "It's good to save a lot of lives, Lash, no argument. But there are single, individual lives I would liked to have saved, too."

We sat there for a bit, while I worked the regret out of my system.

Then, in a tiny voice, she said, "I am sorry, Harry."

"What about?"

"Your emotional difficulty at this moment."

"Yeah. I thought I was holding together just fine, but I guess not."

"Actually, I meant that I may be having an effect on you, regarding that."

I tried to give her a sharp look, but she was gone. "Lash? What are you talking about?" I stood, awkwardly, my staff tumbling out of my fingers.

"Some of the parts of your mind that were damaged… were very close to your emotional centre. My return may be causing you some… distress."

A bit of fear and anger crept up on me, now. "You're messing with me? With my feelings?" I dropped down and groped for my staff.

"Not on purpose!" she said, and she sounded urgent. Then, quieter, "I am sorry, Harry." No petulance, no arrogance. Just sorrow.

I fought to get myself under control. It took a few minutes, and a lot of deep breathing, but I did it. "It's alright, Lash."

She was standing beside me again. "I could help you, if I may, to maintain control, but I doubt very much you want me to."

I shook my head, still down on all fours. "I… appreciate the offer. But I need to be able to keep a handle on myself, at all times." I hung my head, suddenly emotionally drained. "Emotions are good, but they can also be dangerous. I have to be able to control them myself. Hell, I'm probably just tired. And hungry." I pushed up to my knees, and saw her, also on her knees, looking at me. There was admiration there, I think.

"You are…" she trailed off for a moment, shaking her head. "Remarkable," she finished.

"Yeah. I'm ridiculously remarkable."

"And remarkably ridiculous."

The surprise was plain on my face. "Was that a joke?"

She smiled, and laughed, and it was the most human thing I'd ever seen on her.

*****

We walked for a while. Alright, technically, I walked, and she pretended to, but the image was nice. We talked a bit, and though I was itching to learn more about Outsiders, I wanted to stay focussed for now. I stopped and looked through every door I came to, and saw still pictures, captured moments from around the world. I saw bus stations, train stations, airports, seaports, lobbies, schools and street intersections. I'm pretty sure I was looking out of a door set in the side of the Eiffel Tower at one point.

I didn't recognize a single one, at first. Then, after what felt like an hour or three, but was probably only fifteen minutes, I came to a door that looked out on something rather familiar. "I know that corner. Why do I know that corner?"

"That is the intersection of 95th street and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive," Lash said. "You must be looking through a door at Chicago State University."

"Great. Too bad I only meet the Alphas tonight. Now I just need something on the north side of town, and we're golden."

Eight doors later, I had it.

I was looking out at a short road, with a run-down tenement on the other side.

I was looking through the front door of another low-rent apartment, which made a sad kind of sense; many of the people living there would be just passing through on their way to a better place.

I was looking at the street where, later today, another version of me would fight a vampire.

To paraphrase my old teacher, if that ain't convenience, I don't know what is. "Here we go," I said, and pulled the door open. The threshold was a rectangle of perfect darkness. I took a deep breath, then stepped through, feeling a tingle of energy pass over me.

I hadn't realised how completely silent the Hall had been until I stepped back into the real world. Honking horns, people's voices, the cool October wind and the blare of sirens filled the air instantly. It was very bright out, after the Hall, and I checked my watch. It showed the same time as when I'd stepped out of the Inn.

I found that bizarrely inconsistent and very convenient, but that's faerie magic for you.

Anyway, I turned back to building before the door could swing completely shut, and pulled it back open. Thee was only a vestibule beyond, with a panel of call buttons on the wall and a locked safety-glass door. I stepped in, pointed my staff and murmured, "Forzare." The handle on the other side of the door clicked down, and I successfully entered without breaking.

I took six flights of stairs up, repeated my trick with the door, and found myself on the roof.

Harry?

Yes?

Kitoro will not pass this way for over five hours. Why are we here now?

I need a nap, and I might as well pass the time sleeping as not pass the time sleeping, if you see what I mean.

Ah. While you could sleep in the Hall, you would still have to pass the time somehow.

Exactly. I've got everything I need to chase her down with me right now. Can you block out the light and sound for a bit? Wake me if anything happens, or if the time goes by?

Of course. Rest. I will watch over you.

I smiled a little smile, found a relatively sheltered spot, out of the sun and out of sight of the door, and kicked it clear of that stone they always put on roofs. I doffed my duster, bundled it up into a pillow, lay down, and the world disappeared.

About four and a half hours later, a voice woke me. Harry, it said. Harry! I started and came awake. There is someone here.

Awake at once, I opened my eyes to a twilit sky, and threw up my left hand, readying my shield. I came face-to-staff with a very tall, dark, cloaked figure.

"Wizard Dresden, correct?" the Gatekeeper asked.

I dropped my shield, and made my breathing return to normal. "Yes," I said. "That would be me." And this would be your first time meeting me. What an impression I just made.

"I could ask what you are doing here."

I smiled. "I could ask you the same thing."

"Yes, but I asked first. It would be polite if you replied first."

He had me there. "Actually, I'm waiting for a couple things. You?"

He regarded me for a moment, then I felt the relaxing of energy I hadn't even realised was built up around me. He was letting go the magic he'd held to strike me with. And there was a lot of it. Good thing I'm so charming, I suppose.

"I am in town on Council business," he said.

"Official business, huh? Thought that started tomorrow. You're not, say, looking into a hush-hush temporal disturbance, the energy pattern leading you here, among other places?"

He stiffened. I couldn't see his eyes, but I knew they were trained on me. "Where did you get that information?"

I smiled, taking immense pleasure in the irony. "Why, from you, Gatekeeper."

His hood turned slightly, in a subtle statement of shock. Don't get me wrong, the Gatekeeper's a decent guy, but it's really satisfying to play the Mysterious card against him for once.

After a moment, he seemed to relax, and stepped back from me. I took that as permission to stand up.

"I take it," he said, "that we should not talk further?"

I smiled again. "Actually, I was wondering if you could pass on a message for me."

*****

Once the Gatekeeper left, I made a quick arrangement near the very edge of the building's roof, then headed back to street level. After a quick instant re-play courtesy of my Head-Angel, I formed an idea. I call it an idea because it was too simple to be a plan.

And I just realised how dirty the expression 'Head-Angel' sounds.

I crossed the road to stand at the corner across from the one my past self was about o come around, mostly for the view. Ignoring the people walking by, who also pointedly ignored me, I drew a circle on the ground and sealed myself in. I pulled out the bit of Mouse's hair I still had in my pocket and started my spell. Had to be careful - I didn't have too much time before the party started, and if I'd understood Ebenezar correctly, I was on my last mulligan.

I formed the spell as best I could, and willed it out into the universe as I broke the circle with my foot.

The effect was immediate. A small, grey patch of light, kind of smeared at the edge of my vision, appeared in my arcane senses. It was just up the road.

I leaned against the corner of the building, hunched down, tried to look like part of the wall, gave up, and raised a weak veil, which is about the best I can do. Colour drained out of everything. I quietly made a note to ask Molly to help me refine my technique.

I can help you perfect a veil, Lash said to me.

Right this instant?

She sighed. No. It will take some practice.

Right. Well, thanks. We'll try it if I live?

I felt her amusement. Of course.

The taxi that Kitoro was riding in turned down the road, and the Beetle, obscured by a giant grey paint blob that only I could see, swung around a moment later. I stuck my head around the corner. The next few moments played out pretty much as I remembered them, except slower.

The cars stopped, the doors opened. The blob of grey moved to the center of the road, while a smaller, pale blue smear attached itself to a very tall wizard in an awesome coat.

The rest of the encounter was a blur, with much flailing of limbs. I felt a searing surge of anger when I saw Mouse take a walloping for me. Though, I had to admit, I was kind of proud; in the reverse situation, I'd have done exactly the same for him.

It's a guy/dog thing.

I watched as she kicked my shield, pulled a ninja move and smacked me with the damn book I was now hunting. Then I smiled a little as the Grey blob around Mouse spread itself out a bit. He was nipping at her feet, but as I had seen in the replay Lash gave me, his saliva was flinging around.

As he spit, a little bit of his essence was transferred to everything he spat on… including a certain short, annoying vampire. As it touched her, the deep, strong grey turned to a pale, ugly red.

It was nice seeing where she went when she was veiled. She could hide herself effortlessly, but she wasn't trying to hide any part of Mouse, which was why the spell worked.

I saw McCoy and Mouse get shoved into the Beetle; I saw myself get my ass handed to me. The Beetle fled into traffic, then Kitoro was screeching, bouncing off my shield again. I was on my back. Then the ugly red blur was grabbing me and throwing me back up the street. The other me was going to land on his neck – my neck - which would have been bad for both people named Harry on this street, so I put out my hand, palm up, and flicked my fingers upwards as I whispered "Forzare." The other me landed softly.

She was on me – the other me – in a flash. But out of the corner of my eye, I saw Michael's truck arrive.

I looked up at the roof of the building I'd slept on earlier. To buy my past self a few more seconds, I had arranged a minor distraction. I put all my power into my will as I pulled my outstretched arm in and whispered "Forzare!" one more time.

Three large planting pots, all made of heavy clay, swept off the edge of the building and crashed down around her. The other me had only been able to see one pot fall, but Kitoro had assumed she was under attack and stopped trying to kill me long enough for Michael to get closer.

I watched as Michael fought for my release without moving a muscle. They spoke, then she released me. She veiled herself quickly, but I could still see the red-ish haze surrounding the place where she was supposed to be, swiftly moving up the street toward me. I stood against the wall and thought flat thoughts. The red cloud zipped past me and shot down the street.

I started running. Normally, I could never keep up with a running vampire, no matter what Court she was from. But she was hungry, and had just had a very disconcerting fight. She wouldn't be going far.

At least, that was what I hoped. I like to run; it's my main exercise and I go just about every other day. But after a block and a half, I was breathing hard. Two blocks later, I started getting a stitch. Carrying my staff was difficult, and my blasting rod was banging against my leg. Maintaining a veil wasn't helping, either. Much longer, and I was going to get a headache. Well, maybe.

Finally, after another block, with my calves starting to burn, the little red blur slowed to a more human pace, and I was able to breathe again. Heavily. The chill air didn't help my throat any. I saw the floating blob move into an alcove in front of a darkened storefront. I jogged to catch up, but then she re-emerged, fully visible.

I stopped and stared. She'd just staged her re-appearance. Classy.

Trailing her while I was essentially invisible was a nice change. The widely spaced streetlights helped a bit. She kept checking around, but she knew Michael wasn't coming after her, and she also knew she could kick my ass.

She didn't walk much farther. To my great delight, she headed for a motel. I paused when I saw it. This was yet another building that was going to get 'accidentally' damaged in a few years – though in that case, it would be Elaine's doing, not mine.

I followed close, but not too close, staying out of the lights, and trying to step lightly. She stepped up to a door. I stopped behind a car, and ducked down. I watched her pull a key out of her purse and enter the room. As soon as the door clicked shut, I dropped the veil and took a deep breath. Colour rushed back in.

Huh. No headache, but I was feeling pressure.

You blocking that pain out?

Yes. It helps you concentrate, no?

You know, it does. In the future, just give me the heads up beforehand so I know what to expect?

I could feel her embarrassment. Of course. I apologize.

No problem. I thought about it for a second. This is something friends do, you know. They talk. They help. They make little mistakes. They make up… and they stay friends.

She was quiet for a second. Thank you, Harry. There was relief in her voice.

I smiled. Then I crept up to the window to Kitoro's room, and started Listening.

All I heard was, "Fine. Ten minutes." Then a phone clicking down. Ah. The plot thickens. There was a payphone on the corner, still in view of her room.

I made a call, then found a bench and sat down, trying to relax the pressure behind my eyes away. Lash was lifting her pain-suppressant little by little.

I heard a car, the first one in several minutes, coming up the road. I stood and wandered back into the parking lot, away from any lights. With one last, deep breath, I veiled myself again. It wouldn't hold up if someone came along specifically looking for me, but in a shadow, with no one expecting me there, it should work just fine. For a little while.

The car pulled in to the parking lot, and slowly circled, eventually pulling up a few doors down from Kitoro's room, in a deep shadow. The lights and engine went off, and I edged closer. A man emerged from the car, slowly checking around. I couldn't see his face, but he was damn familiar. Then he stepped into some light, and I realised why: I'd almost ripped his throat out with my own teeth, once.

Agent Denton.