Chapter 34

"Okay, what do you mean you're here because of her?" I asked Ivy, once everything had settled down. After she chased Torchwick off, we took a few minutes to fix the door and tend to the wounded. The son of a bitch was lucky that no one was seriously injured, but the next time I saw Torchwick, the kid gloves were coming off.

I wish I had dropped them sooner though. Karrin and I briefly investigated the guardhouse Molly had setup across the street. We found half a dozen dead fae, their bodies a barely recognized mess of burnt flesh and shattered bones. Torchwick had to have broken in and beaten them to death with his iron cane. If he'd been a normal mortal, he wouldn't have lasted five seconds. But, as I was being reminded constantly, Remnanites were far from 'normal'. The Fae never knew what hit them. Molly was going to be pissed when she got home.

Until she did though, there was the issue of Ivy and Kincaid, though technically I should say The Archive and Kincaid. Ivy is a nickname I gave her years ago, back when she was a small seven year old girl, and it had created a... I want to say, separate personality, but that's not quite right. The Archive is more a state of being and a possession of knowledge. Whoever made the Archive was very paranoid (Correctly) about a cataclysm wiping out human knowledge. The Archive was a living repository of all knowledge written in human history since its inception, passed down a long line of women who had bared the curse, until poor Ivy was saddled with it as an infant. Until she met me, the only name and purpose she had, was as the Archive. Now she was Ivy the Archive, and when she switched from one to the other, it could be… disturbing.

Right now, she was in Archive mode.

We sat around the Carpenter dining room table, Ivy and Kincaid on one end, Karrin, Pyrrha and I on the other. Michael was in the kitchen with his kids, including Maggie. She hadn't said a word since we chased off Torchwick, and I was finding it hard to concentrate without glancing back at her constantly.

Ivy folded her hands together on the table and took a deep breath. It was odd, seeing the little girl I'd met all grown up. Ivy wasn't just taller than Karrin now, she had noticeable… assets. Curves where there had been none before, and a mature face that met the aged look of her eyes. She had worn a heavy raincoat when she first arrived, but had hung it on a coat hook it after we'd cleaned up, revealing a white blouse and deep blue vest and a pair of slacks. In another year or two, she would be an adult woman.

That thought made me realize something truly terrifying: I was getting old - well, older anyway.

"I may have been… indulging in theatrics." Ivy admitted. "I am not here specifically for… for…"

Ivy looked at Pyrrha like she just saw her for the first time, a faint look of shock on her face, "I'm… sorry, I don't believe I know you…"

"Pyrrha Nikos," the redhead replied, jovially. "And we haven't met before, Ivy."

Kincaid looked down at Ivy with a raised brow. He might as well have let his jaw hit the floor for how expressive it was on his face. "That's… what has surprised me."

Ivy looked at me and asked, "Where did you find this woman Harry? As far as humanity knows, she doesn't exist."

I couldn't resist. I grinned like an idiot and leaned back in my seat, "Why, Ivy, do I know something you don't?"

"I presume you know a lot of things I don't," she replied. "I possess Intellectus, not omniscience, Harry."

Despite herself, she smiled faintly as she spoke. I returned it and said, "You won't find any records of Pyrrha, human or not, on Earth. Because she's not from our universe." Then a thought occurred to me. "Unless Rawlins actually filed a report - which I'm guessing he didn't, since you didn't even know her name." I looked over at Karrin. "What do you think, will he put it down on paper?"

Karrin looked at me like my brains had started to dribble out of my ears. "You're kidding me, right? What would he say that wouldn't catch Hell?"

"I'll take that as a probably not, then." It would have been interesting if he had. I briefly toyed with the idea of testing it and decided there were more important things to worry about.

Ivy stared at Pyrrha for a long moment without saying anything. Kincaid went back to looking at his gun, but something pulled at the corner of his lip. If he were anyone else, I'd say he was smirking triumphantly. Finally, Ivy slumped back in her chair and crossed her arms.

"Called it," Kincaid said, matter-of-factly.

"You said Inter-dimensional. Technically, this would count as extra-dimensional." Ivy replied, with a tone of voice only a teenager could muster.

I coughed into my hand, and they both looked at me. "I answered your question Ivy. Now you answer mine. Why are you here?"

Ivy sighed and sat-up in her seat, "Of course. Miss Nikos is not the primary reason I am here, however, her presence is similar to the actual reason, th-"

"The Grimm. You saw the news, didn't you?"

"The world thinks Chicago is being assaulted by terrorists," Ivy explained, "Politicians and local authorities are baffled and waiting for others to step forward. But this is recent for them, I have been aware of these attacks since they started. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of assuming it was another turf war between Marcone's forces and the Fomor. Once I saw the news though, I came as fast as I could."

I frowned at that, "I appreciate the gesture Ivy, but… isn't the Archive a neutral force? No actual involvement?"

The biggest grin broke out on her face, and Ivy giggled, giggled at me. "These are extra-dimensional forces, Harry. The Archive is only meant to act as a neutral figure for parties on Earth."

Realization dawned on me and Karrin. Her arms dropped to her side and she muttered, "Mother of god…" under her breath. I silently agreed. There's an old saying that knowledge is power, and when it comes to matters of the Arcane sort, this adage rings true. Ivy possessed enough info that she could go toe to toe with one of the Fae Court Ladies and win. Molly might disagree, but I'd seen Ivy manhandle forces on her own that were so dangerous it would take the entire Senior Council to match it; and according to her, the Grimm were not covered by her neutrality clause.

Our entire situation flipped from 'Near Hopeless' to 'Pretty Damn Good' over the course of a single conversation.

Pyrrha frowned, confused, "I don't understand. Another person is always welcome help, but what makes Ivy any different from any of us?"

I took a moment to find my voice, and it came out in a hushed tone, "Pyrrha, Ivy is more than just a powerful teenage girl. She is the Archive. Everything written and recorded in human history, she knows. Everything, big, small, and in between."

The implications were not lost on the red-head. Her brilliant green eye's widened into dinner plates and she openly gawked at Ivy in awe, tinged with sympathy.

"That is… incredible. I can't imagine how difficult that is to manage."

Ivy's grin faded a little, "You learn to manage. But that is beside the point. I have come to do more than simply assist you in combat. I know where the next assaults will take place."

Pyrrha's mouth fell open in shock. I almost joined her too, but kept my mouth closed for the sake of appearances. It didn't surprise me that Ivy might know what Cinder's plan was, but it wasn't something I had been holding my breath for. But now…

"Okay, where? And how do you know in the first place?"

Ivy sighed, "The enemy must be unaware of who I am or what I can do. One of them was foolish enough to write the location down as a reminder."

We all stared at her. Even the Carpenters in the kitchen paused what they were doing to stare at Ivy. Karrin pinched the bridge of her nose, "Ivy, did you consider that they might be using your abilities to lay a trap?"

Cinder had known who I was, and about Mac's. It made sense she might know about Ivy and use her to lure us into a trap. Though trying to get the Archive to attack you was as dumb as it got, when it came to bad guys. The last time that happened, no one had come out of that event unscathed, and Cinder had looked like she had one foot in the grave last time I saw her.

But still, if we knew where the next Grimm attack would take place, we could stop it before it got out of hand. Plus, Ivy wasn't dumb, of course she would consider that.

"Miss Murphy, of course I considered that. But if what I know is true, then Chicago may not survive the night. I couldn't take the chance."

I looked at Karrin, and she looked at me. She looked conflicted, her brow pulled into a knot on her forehead. She wasn't sure what to make of this, and was leaving it up to me to decide. This was my area of expertise, as a wizard I was supposed to be the super-wise bender of reality who knew the right choices to make. Karrin knew me well enough to know that wasn't entirely true, but it didn't stop her or the others from deferring to me for god only knew what reason.

I weighed my options. In any other situation, from any other source, I'd consider this to be an obvious trap. But Ivy was more than just a girl with a lot of knowledge in her noggin, she was smart. There's a distinct difference between the two, and Ivy had a perfect balance between the two. I thought about that for a moment and remembered something very important. Ivy existed as more than just the Archive because of me. Because she had a friend, someone who treated her as more than just a powerhouse on legs, but as an actual girl. There was no way that she would have told me this information if she had even the faintest shadow of a doubt that it would put me and my friends in more danger than if she kept it to herself.

I sighed, "Alright Ivy, where is the next attack taking place?"

"Attacks, plural," Ivy corrected, and raised three fingers. "The Chicago Graveyard, Chicago International Airport, and the ruins of the Red Room."

I cringed at that last one. The Red Room had, at one point, been the home of a powerful Red Court vampire, Bianca. She was the one in charge of most of Chicago's prostitution racket, and after one encounter with me that she instigated, decided to make me her mortal enemy. A lot of people died in that place and because of what went on there, and I lost the woman I loved. The Red Room would draw Grimm to it like moths to an open flame - any of the locations Ivy listed would.

"I understand the Graveyard, and I assume the Red Room has a history," Pyrrha said. "But why an airport?"

In hindsight, it did seem like a random location. "People from all over the world pass through Chicago," I explained. "It's a crossroads for world travel, and you'll get people with millions of different stories passing through every year. That alone would build up a lot of bad ju-ju, but… we lost a good man there a few years back."

Pyrrha looked at me with questioning sympathy, but I wasn't in the mood to tell the full story. I glanced away from her and added, "Plus, if Cinder wanted to be all stealthy-like, I bet she could sneak some of those Blackstones aboard the planes. Then you've got Grimm raining all over the world wreaking havoc, planes falling from the sky. It's a good place to attack if you think about it."

"How many people are usually at this airport?" Pyrrha asked.

"Too many," I sighed. "Even if we left now, it could take hours for us to find the exact location and stop the portal from being opened, and that's not even covering the other locations. This is going to require more than just the three of us to handle."

I saw the frown form on Pyrrha's face, "I don't think the Alphas would be of much help against Cinder. If she is coming, we need power, not just numbers."

She was right of course, and I had no intention of getting Billy and Georgia involved. They had helped me through some tight situations before, but Cinder was on another level. Dragging them into the fire would be worse than murder. We'd need an equalizer for Cinder before I even thought about dragging anyone else into this mess I'd found myself in. But that solution wasn't exactly going to just walk through the front door.

It was at that moment that the Carpenter's front door began opening, and promptly fell off its hinges onto the floor with a hollow 'Boom!'. We all turned to the door and saw Molly and Charity stood at the door with shopping bags in their arms and wide eyed expressions. They glanced around the wrecked house, their gazes stopping on Ivy and Kincaid.

Molly closed her eyes and dropped her bags on the floor. "Thirty minutes Harry, I was gone for thirty. Minutes."

I looked around at the house, then at Karrin and Pyrrha, and then back at Molly and said, "Really? Felt like longer."

"Harry, what happened?" Charity asked as she moved her and Molly's bags inside the house. She moved past us to the kitchen to help tend to her family's wounds, but never took her eyes completely off me.

I sighed and gave them the brief version, explaining Torchwick's attack and Ivy's sudden arrival and rescue. By the time I finished, Molly looked furious, her face twisted into a sneer and her hands clenched into fists. I could feel the temperature in the house drop like a rock. "When I find that tacky red-haired Clockwork Orange wannabe," she hissed through clenched teeth, "I'm going to drag him kicking and screaming back to the Nevernever."

"Molly, wait, there's more!" I said, hastily. It was important she knew, but I also wanted to keep her mind off Torchwick for now. Molly had a lot of power, and when she had been human she'd had trouble controlling the magic she had. I had a hard time believing that her emotions and magic were completely separate now as the Winter Lady.

But as I told her about what we knew, that seemed to draw Molly back from the brink for the moment. She let out a frustrated breath of frost and folded her arms. "What's your plan then boss? We charging in guns blazing?"

I drummed my fingers on the table and thought. Trying to take things covert hadn't exactly worked the last two times I'd tried. There was a hole in The UC, what was left of Club Zero was a smoldering ruin, and my apartment was literally in pieces. Now that we knew where the enemy might strike next…

And we had at least four different groups that they'd managed to piss off.

A grin spread over my face and I clenched my hand into a fist, "I'm going to make a few calls. Your phone still working Michael?"

He had fresh gauze around his face and a few new bruises, but my old friend grunted and jerked his head down the hall. I nodded my thanks and got up, marching to the phone. We'd been on the defensive long enough; it was time to call in the cavalry…

I hung up the phone forty-five minutes later and rubbed at my temples. Managing political favors was never a favorite hobby of mine, and getting everyone to cooperate was going to be a difficult game. Yet, if I could get them to work together, then Cinder wouldn't know what hit her when she came walking through that gate. That was a pretty big if though.

Besides, before I could worry about any of that, I had to get the gang ready to move. I returned to the kitchen to find that the some of the tension had been let out. I saw that Pyrrha was playing a game of twenty questions with Ivy, who had to be starved for knowledge on any and everything in her universe, while Kincaid hadn't moved from his spot since I'd left. Karrin had taken a seat in my chair, silent but smiling faintly at Pyrrha's mood. The Carpenters had all gathered in the kitchen, talking idly amongst themselves.

Everyone fell silent though when they saw me return. I got several expectant looks, and let out a long sigh. "Right then. Karrin, Pyrrha, gear up, we're moving out. Molly, I need to talk to you in a minute, and Ivy?"

The girl sat up straighter, and a bit eager. She was not going to like what I said next. "We're going to need you to stay here."

"...What?"

Karrin looked at me like I was crazy. Molly too. I was pretty sure I was crazy, for keeping Ivy on the sidelines, but I had good reason for it. "You're too valuable a source, Ivy. If something went wrong, a stray bullet, a lucky Grimm, or just falling debris, that's it, you and the Archive are done. This is going to be a nasty, nasty fight, and if things go sideways, I want someone I know I can trust holding the line."

Her lips tightened, but Ivy accepted my logic and gave me a stern nod. "You… make a good point, Harry. I don't like it, but it makes sense."

"Please tell me you're not making me sit out too." Molly said, folding her arms defiantly.

I grinned at her, "Nah, you're immortal now, that makes you expendable, Padawan! Besides, what with you being the Winter Lady, I was wondering if you could… prepare a welcome wagon for our guests."

A mischievous grin spread over Molly's face, practically inhuman in its impishness. I had seen that grin before, on my godmothers face. I felt a chill run down my spine, even though it was plenty warm inside.

"Oh, I think I can throw something together boss. Where do you want to meet up?"

"We're heading to the Chicago Alliance HQ," I explained. "You can link up with us there." Molly snapped her fingers and gave me the thumbs up. Then she turned to her family to say her goodbyes.

I felt something big and shaggy brush against my leg, and I looked down to see Mouse sitting patiently at my feet, with a big doggy grin on his face. My little girl was still next to him, her arms wrapped tight around his neck, and her eyes vacant. I knelt down in front of the both of them, and cupped Maggie's chin with my finger.

"Hey, munchkin," I said, softly.

Her eyes flicked to me and she whispered, "Please come back."

Like a bullet to the chest, her words hit hard. I swallowed the pit at the back of my throat and smiled for her, "Margaret Angelica Dresden, I swear on my power that nothing on Earth will keep me from coming back."

It was a bold statement to make, but I meant every word of it. No two-bit power stealing bitch was going to keep me from coming home to my little girl. Mouse made a whining noise and licked my hand. His eyes were still watery from the mace, and his snout runny, but he was looking much better than he had an hour ago. In a fight, Mouse could help make the difference, but…

"I need you to stay here boy." I ordered. "Keep doing what you were doing. Protect Maggie with your life, no matter what… and watch out for flashbangs."

Mouse huffed indignantly, puffing out his already oversized chest and shifting in place. Torchwick had caught him off guard once, but that trick wouldn't work on him again. If anyone tried getting near the Carpenter Household, Mouse would tear them to shreds. I smiled and scratched behind his ears.

Ah, screw it.

I pulled them both into a brief, but tight hug, making sure to memorize the feeling of holding my daughter in my arms one more time before I charged off into the wild blue yonder. Then, I let go and stood up, smiling at them both.

Karrin walked over to stand next to me, wrapping her fingers in mine. Her touch was still electric on my skin. It was like Pyrrha's, but far more intense, like I'd grabbed onto a live wire. I returned the gesture and smiled at Karrin. Maggie let go of Mouse and gave her a hug around the waist too.

"You come back too."

For a moment, Karrin hesitated. She and Maggie hadn't had a lot of time to interact as far as I knew, and neither had really acknowledged the possible relationship between them since Karrin and I had started dating. I knew she didn't feel completely ready to try and take up the mom role for Maggie, but she also really wanted to fill that void too. Struggling to balance maternity and the kickassness that is Karrin Murphy had been a challenge for her. But for this one moment…

Karrin smiled and hugged Maggie in return. "I'll do my best. I'll keep an eye on your dad, too."

"We both will," Pyrrha agreed. At some point during my heart to heart with Maggie, the red-head had up and vanished along with Charity, and the reason why became clear when Pyrrha came back down the stairs.

Gone was the dog-hair covered shirt and jeans, and the ratty sneakers. Pyrrha had traded them for a set of Charity's patented anti-monster armor. Segmented titanium plating sandwiched between two layers of kevlar mesh, it protected against bullets and swords, and had served Michael well for years. This set lacked any of the flair and decoration of Michael's old templar armor and Pyrrha's own equipment, consisting mostly of black threads and black combat boots and black gloves. But I saw shiny new steel greaves and vambraces on her legs and forearms, as well as a skirt of chainmail. Her hair had been thoroughly brushed and pulled back into a tight ponytail, and she had replaced her tiara atop her head once more. The shapeshifting sword and shield she carried with her everywhere were secured tight to her back and were the only color on her armor, except for a bright red sash she had tied around her waist.

Pyrrha was armed and armored for war. She looked five years older, I barely recognized her.

"Wow…" one of the Carpenter kids murmured.

Maggie looked over and smirked at them. "See? Told you so."

Pyrrha shifted under the sudden attention and cleared her throat, "Last time, Cinder caught everyone off guard. This time, I'm going to be ready for her."

Smart kid. I looked at myself, in my loose t-shirt, duster, and jeans, then looked at Karrin who was wearing a grey hoodie and slacks.

"I think we could all do with some extra armor. Got any extra, Charity?"

Michael's wife beamed proudly, "I think I have just the thing. One minute."

Pyrrha was right about Cinder and what she intended to do. I had thought the Grimm attacks were random coincidences at first, maybe the machinations of some warlock in Chicago that was sneaking under my nose. Instead what I'd found was a woman who had determined to drag Chicago into her personal war against humanity. Well, if it was a war she wanted, then by God, she was going to get a war.

A/N: Exposition heavy chapters are hard.

I probably would've gotten this chapter out a few days earlier, but... the For Honor beta started this week and I was invited to it, so... that has consumed my life. And now school is starting back up again, so a minor change to the schedule is in effect. I'll be updating every Saturday now (Or trying to). This will give me time to work on the chapter little by little while giving me more time to focus on school work and life in general. Hopefully, I'll adhere to this schedule better than the last one.

One more chapter to go before I fall into the hiatus though. Remember that I intend on writing out the entire climax and conclusion before posting any of it. When we get to that point, I'll give you guys more info.

Otherwise, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, make sure to review and let me know what you thought, or critique anything that looks funky. Until then, I'll see you guys Saturday!