Thank you again for all your reviews and sorry for the wait on the next chapter. Damn you television and internet for your enticing treats.

This week I found a new show called Lost Girl (think true blood where Sookie is not a hapless damsel in distress every week)

As to your comments (the curious fan) I can offer several suggestions;

1) Dresden received the Winter Knighthood in December at the height of Winters power not at September which is when we are now (Winter protection depends on the time of year)

2) Dresden was given the green light to use the full power of Winter (incl. his godmother and her power) to complete his quest

3) More of a personal opinion but I think that when a magic-user manipulates energy needed to use magic, the energy itself is a sort of minor shield (cocoon-think Jean Grey/Phoenix in x-men last stand film)

4) Dresden had been completely pain free for a few hours beforehand for the first time in years so a slap in the face would be even more profound than a similar action in the previous books.

I could also say that when I wrote it, I also referred to emotional pain as much as physical pain.

Anyways thanks for the analysis (really needed to activate the old noggin there and re-read Changes).

Here's the next chap. For you guys.

Chapter 10

"Bob?" I stammered, "what are you doing here?"

"Taking a well-earned break from Butter's, what do you think I'm doing?" Bob replied as if the answer was obvious.

Nonplussed, I looked at Murphy for an explanation only to remember I'd just dropped a pretty major bomb on her. I them turned my gaze on Molly instead.

"Butter's had Bob going through magical theory with him, as well as having him ask his contacts in the Nevernever for information on the Formor," Molly supplied as Murphy grunted in affirmation.

"Well-earned?" I added.

"Some of my contacts had to be persuaded to help me. So soon after facing the evil version of me, I was not yet recovered to press them." Bob replied as his flaming eyes dipped to a sullen orange.

"What happened to you when I left?" I asked, fearful of the answer. The last time I saw Bob, he had rigged a Way to collapse after we entered it and he faced off against an amputated part of him that represented over a hundred years of very dangerous knowledge; knowledge acquired in servitude to the deadliest single wizard the world had ever known. Even Bob had been unsure of success against the missing part of his very being.

"Nothing I wish to impart to you just now Boss, suffice to say he won't be a problem anymore." Bob said in a regretful tone, obviously still sore over the whole ordeal.

I hesitated. What could you possibly say to that? A few seconds of silence later I asked "…and the magazines?" eager to bring back cheerful Bob.

It worked. Bob's eyes flared mischievously as the papers closest to him rustled in reply. "My reward for helping out here, of course! I help Butters ID bodies in the morgue that have died in mysterious circumstances and advise our little resistance on what the murderers might be or what they use to kill their victims."

"How come you're here now then and Butters isn't?" I asked.

"He's at work. Can't cart around a human skull without getting odd looks Dresden," Murphy snapped. At least we had moved on from single-syllabled grunts. "While Butters is at work, Bob stays with one of us which today is me."

"And you just leave Bob here by himself, in Marcone's compound?" I asked, unwilling to believe that Marcone would allow a resource like Bob to remain in a room like this.

"Marcone has contacts of his own to keep track of. He may not however, be aware of Bob's full usefulness and wisdom." Murphy said, with a small smile for the first time.

I smiled wistfully in reply. Pulling the wool over someone like Marcone was satisfying to see, even if we were technically allies in our mutual goals.

"Me so dumb-dumb, me want gum-gum," Bob aptly demonstrated with a lazy drawl. His teeth clacking together loudly as his jaw moved.

I couldn't help but chortle in reply. But I sobered quickly as I remembered everything, and everyone, else. I looked at Murphy and asked, "Where is everyone else then?"

"Billy and Georgia are at my house, guarding the Swords with Daniel. The other Alphas are either at work, or still at college. Marcone is at his offices downtown and Thomas…" she hesitated, suddenly staring at my face being falling silent.

"And Thomas is…what?" I asked, pushing for an answer I knew I wouldn't like.

Murphy shrugged as she looked to Molly for help as she answered carefully, "We don't know to be honest Harry. We haven't heard from him in weeks and what we have managed to gather from Justine in our calls to Lara is very cryptic and hasn't helped us."

"Has Justine been seeing Thomas though?" I asked as I remembered my last look at my brother; broken, dirty and despairing as Justine was trying to lift the curse of love from herself so they could be together once more. The look of loss in Thomas' eyes and the touch of pity from Uriel towards him pained me even more deeply.

"Lara has given us updates on his physical well-being, even though Justine has hinted that he rarely stays at the Raith estate. Every time we have gone round to his house, no one is in and the place is empty. We just don't know what to do with him." Molly added.

As my mind struggled to process what they were saying, I noticed Murphy wasn't wearing her badge or her gun at her side. "What about your job at SI?" I asked, mentally numbed from the news of my brother.

"Internal Affairs has dredged up old case files in their lengthy investigation into all of SI. Stallings is still in charge and tells me that they are just looking for reasons to shut it all down. I've been on paid leave the last few months after they found out about Rudolph's questionable bank accounts and housing arrangements but they still haven't given me my badge back yet." Murphy said with sadness etched into her expression.

"Rawlins said as much down at the docks. He didn't look good either," I said as anger flashed across the faces of not just Murphy or mine, but also Molly's. This war with our mysterious new enemy was slowly strangling the life out of Chicago and its inhabitants.

"And you still don't fancy accepting another job?" I asked Murphy into the subsequent silence with a jibing edge to the question.

"The answer remains the same as last time Dresden, as much as you would wish otherwise" she replied with a weary punch of my shoulder to no affect.

"Worth a shot though, and no sign of Sanya is not good either if he's needed elsewhere." I said, "I owe it to Thomas to find him though, if only as an excuse to see his sister and abuse her resources and considerable reach," I added even though the two women knew my true motivation.

"How though?" Murphy said with an eyebrow raised.

Me and Bob shared a quick wink as I smiled at Murphy and stroked my mother's five-starred pendant, a similar pendant to the one my brother owned, and replied "with magic."