Harry's eyes darted around the pub and found no one paid them any attention.

"Veil," Merlin, well, Marlin explained easily.

He hadn't even felt one go up. Damn, this was powerful magic! Old, very old and seasoned magic. Seeing who he was facing, it was probably no more than a thought for this man. A simple thought and no incantation, no flick of a finger, the raw power following his command easily.

He didn't really want to think about what this man could do, how much magic he could wield, how proficient and accomplished he was. Sure, Marlin wasn't the first of wizard-kind, but the most legendary. There had been others before him, all over the planet. Some going back as far as thousands of years…

"Mac makes an exception for old acquaintances when it comes to powerful magic," Marlin added with a small smile. "As long as it is simply a veil. Anything else even I wouldn't get away with."

"How very reassuring," was John's dry comment.

"It is, isn't it?"

"Why did you come here?" Marcone asked, returning to what was burning in Harry's mind as well.

"We came to Chicago because of you. You are where we were so many years ago. With no idea what to expect, what you are, how to handle this. With many questions."

A million and one! shot through Harry's head. He was looking at the greatest wizard who had ever lived, and his shield! A wizard who had disappeared one day, without a trace, and now was here.

No one had known about the mundane connected to him! There was nothing anywhere in any books, nothing anyone had ever talked about, mentioned or whispered of! Yes, Arthur was a legend, had been kept a legend due to his involvement in the magical world, but Merlin's name was what had survived.

Now… now he was looking at those two men, understood what they were, and Harry felt absolutely stunned; shell-shocked. He helplessly looked at his own shield.

Dark eyebrows winged up. Marcone kept his pleasant façade firmly in place. "How can I believe you are who you say you are?" he asked, matter-of-fact.

"John!" Dresden hissed.

"A valid question, Mr. Dresden," Marcone told him. "One that should have been the first on your mind, too. We take their word for who they are?"

"Uhm…"

"Ask Harry." Marlin gave him a smile.

And Harry knew… felt… it was the truth, not a glamour, a lie, a trick. It was a surge and a gentle wave in one, a recognition. His magic confirmed it, was thrilled to touch something as equally unlimited and raw as it was itself.

From the way John looked at him he understood and accepted it. His features shifted back to business.

"Why do you figure we still have questions, Mr. Emris?" he asked smoothly as if this was just another business meeting. "We have handled ourselves quite well so far, even with so-called well-meant interference and meddling. Is there anything of use you can tell us that we haven't managed on our own?" His eyebrows twitched again. "Because according to you, you have been surveilling us all the time and only now showed yourselves."

Dresden gaped at him, not sure to be affronted or astounded by the audacity of the questions. John Marcone, ladies and gentlemen. It got him a bland look and raised eyebrows. Marcone was in element, no matter who he was faced with. He had sat down with the Queens of Summer and Winter. He had faced absolute evil and stood his ground against creatures some seasoned wizards feared in their dreams. This was just another day at the office for him, dealing with a legend and very powerful man.

Lennart chuckled. He popped some peanuts into his mouth. "Only a few of the most powerful wizards have had mundane mortal partners over the centuries. Arthur Langtry being the last I know about before you came along. With you, we became more interested."

"Why?" Harry blurted.

"You are a very strong young man, Harry. You came into your magic in your early teenage years like almost all, but it was more power than any other of your age had ever been confronted with. You stood out. In many ways. Sadly, also to the wrong people."

Harry's face closed off and his hands curled into fists. Marcone's leg pressed tightly against his own. His magic reached for John, curled around him, needing the reassurance and the strength. A year ago Dresden would have been horrified how much he depended on one John Marcone as his steady rock in the violent sea of elemental magic, of his not so straight-forward life. Today it was absolutely the norm. Marcone gave him that calmness and control and Harry returned the favor with his personal brand of unpredictability and chaos.

It worked. Somehow it worked and each needed the other just as he was.

Marlin gave him an apologetic look. "I don't want to drag out old memories, Harry. My apologies. We didn't seek you out to talk about what you are in regards of being a wizard. You will work all of that out on your own. I'm not here to offer to teach you magic, only insights into what it is you, the two of you, are. Wizards today know little more than we did about shields and anchors, about the counterbalance a bond might bring to a very powerful practitioner, because barely a handful would consider a mundane worth the effort. All the old knowledge has disappeared."

Harry felt Marcone's leg briefly brush against his again while the man looked as cool as a cucumber, watching the two legendary figures with calm composure. The touch was calming and grounding.

"Hardly anyone knows what the connection that forms between a wizard and his shield means for the mundane," Marlin added, glancing at his own companion. "They never cared. But power corrupts. It also corrupts the shield if the bond is rotten and wasting away."

Dresden felt a surge of nausea. John's leg was now firmly pressed against him, reminding him that the man was right there, whole and healthy, and they were doing just fine.

"There is a fine line between the dark and the light, but you already know that, Harry. It's a balance that needs to be maintained. It's a balance that can tip either way all of a sudden and when it goes back to its original state, no harm, no foul. If you stay in the dark or if you think you can surpass the light, the imbalance will tear you apart."

The knowing look had him shiver. Marlin nodded, looking pleased.

"All powerful wizards struggle with this. It's so easy to follow a lure. It takes an incredible strength to stay sane."

"Hence the anchor and shield," Marcone remarked.

"Yes. And also no. The shield can only ever be passive. No mundane has the power to take over, pull the wizard back once the imbalance has been created. Should I have tipped to the black magic, Lennart wouldn't have been able to stop me or turn me back to the white side. You showed an incredible strength in doing what you did, Mr. Marcone. While Harry was not about to go dark, he had lost control of himself. You asserted that control, gave him back control."

John's features shifted into a mild scowl. "You said a shield has no active powers. I didn't do anything."

"Yes, you have no powers. Yes, you can't do anything. But the two of you had the emotional bond already, before you ever knew what else you had. That is a very strong connection, Mr. Marcone. Stronger than anything else. Whatever those emotions were on the surface, deep inside they were true and strong. Enough to get through to a wizard who was already very close to the point of no return."

"I had lost it," Harry murmured. "Because we did it backwards."

"Yes," Marlin agreed. "You were almost gone. If not for the past manipulations and abuse you would have been more receptive to your shield. Mr. Marcone proved that an anchor can work even then if, and that is to be stressed, if there is a solid emotional bond. Your emotions, Harry. All that temper, those fights, the intensity of your relationship."

Harry exhaled slowly, felt his magic whisper through him, echoing those words in its own way. They had done it backwards because he was a hot mess, and because of it Marcone had saved him; again. John lightly bumped his leg against his again, startling him out of his thoughts. He looked into those pale green eyes, saw the fire, the conviction, the strength. The man was the epitome of calmness.

"Do you know what this connection means for the man who is now your partner?" Marlin broke into their moment.

Harry shrugged. "I know we share a life."

The other wizard inclined his head. "Yes. You have a strong, very solid bond. The emotions that existed between you from the beginning sped up the process, cemented the fact. It was never an arrangement like others had. It was something that flowed naturally, ebbed, then spiked, and you both developed very strong protective instincts toward each other, even before you acknowledged the reality of what you have. Not just simple fondness or a friendship."

Harry refused to blush and from Marcone's expression it was a failing endeavor. Briefly, there was this fondness, this softness, one reserved for only Harry. His magic purred, reminded him that yes, he loved this man and had long before that fateful near-catastrophe in his lab.

"But this strength that came from both of you also reflects on your shield," Marlin stated evenly.

Marcone's face went blank and his eyes narrowed fractionally. "Explain," he demanded, voice soft and polite, yet loaded.

"A wizard protects his shield at all cost and with all means, including a very personal magic that forms between you as you grow together emotionally. You, Mr. Marcone, might not be as innocent and as susceptible to the dangers of the Nevernever, the faerie, the vampires and all other kinds of the supernatural, but you cannot defend yourself with magic."

"I have my ways."

"Some of them very effective," Lennart agreed. "It doesn't stop Mr. Dresden from worrying. The wizard never stops worrying." He shot his wizard a brief grin. "Because we are not only mortal but also mundane."

Harry willed his teeth to unclench, his fingers not to curl into fists. He knew just how the chances in a magical battle were should John get in the line of fire. He had already been mauled by a wyldfae since they had connected. It wouldn't be the last encounter.

"It's also our advantage," Lennart added with a grin. "Because others keep underestimating us."

Marcone gave him a cold, shark-like smile. He had been underestimated countless times.

"As a mundane you cannot learn magic," Marlin told him. "Nor can you learn how wield magical objects. What you have is your anchor in your wizard's soul, his very core. You could be mainlining his elemental magic, if you had any scrap of a practitioner's talent, but you don't. But Harry's magic will protect you through it. You are still very much mundane and passive in a magical sense, absolutely neutral, but it won't be easy to entangle you in spells that wouldn't hurt Harry either. There is a certain… spillover, we discovered." He glanced at Lennart again, who nodded, a fond, almost reminiscent smile on his lips. "It normally happens in time; at least it did for us."

"Uhm…" Harry stammered.

"As you grow, so does your connection. It usually starts out small and then, as you grow accustomed to one another, the connection starts to branch out, to envelop your shield as he envelops you."

Marcone's expression was neutral and unreadable. Harry was trying to understand.

"My shield lived a very happy and long life with his wife before our connection finalized."

John nodded, probably recalling all he could about one Arthur Pendragon.

"You are on a much faster track, seeing how your lives have become so much one already."

Dresden blinked, flabbergasted, absolutely at a loss for words. He knew his magic responded strongly to John, but he hadn't given it much thought. It had seemed… normal, considering. Hell's Bells, they were connected, so why shouldn't his magic love him? It was sometimes like a big, fluffy kitten, rubbing up against its favorite human. Yes, it was lethal, very feral if provoked, but it loved John. Because Harry loved him.

"Uhm..?"

Marcone gave him one of those looks of fond exasperation that told Dresden he was behaving like a complete idiot again.

"Our emotional connection sped up the magical component," Marcone summarized.

"Indeed. It is like an imprint, a mark on both of you."

"This imprint isn't detectable by magic or other methods?" John asked, calmly meeting Merlin's eyes. He sounded like he was asking if he could get those shoes in a different color.

"No. You are neutral. Undetectable. Nothing can change that."

"Good."

Harry managed a squeak. "Good?"

"Of course. One less reason to worry in future encounters with the unsavory elements of your profession, Mr. Dresden. I believe surprise is always in our favor." His smile was sharp and to the point. "Rumors about what we are can be dealt with, feeding more rumors and lies. To know that any magically talented being can see our connection would be both a weakness and a liability."

Harry felt his temper surge. "You are not a liability!" he hissed.

"I didn't say that," was the calm, reasonable reply, and the leg pressed against him again. "I just don't like giving an opponent a heads-up warning about who and what I really am."

He stared at him. "You are taking this rather calmly!" he accused.

"Like I told you before, when it comes to you, Harry, hardly anything surprises me anymore. You are very much unpredictable." The smirk was downright dirty. "Given your lifelong association with magic, I'm slightly troubled you are so shocked."

Dresden flailed for a comeback, then just slumped back in his chair. "Stars and Stones!"

"It won't protect you from physical attacks," Lennart cautioned.

"We already noticed," was the wry reply.

"Yes, we heard." Marlin folded his fingers. "While there is no protection against such attacks, you will gain more of a resilience. You will be harder to kill."

Marcone stiffened, his eyes narrowed, and his attention was now singularly on the powerful wizard.

"Harry will always pull you back. You can die, but you cannot perish."

Harry's face was pale as a sheet and his eyes absolutely wide. "W-what?" he stammered.

"Death is only momentary," Marcone translated.

"Wizards are not immortal!"

"No, they are not," Lennart agreed. "And as their anchors and shields, we share their lifetime. Because of how we are connected to that life, we won't be the first ones to die. We share the wizard's lifetime, John. All of it."

"Only fair," the other shield agreed.

Harry swallowed hard. For the first time, John touched him in a visible way, not just a leg underneath the table. He entangled their hands and squeezed gently.

"You will have difficult decisions ahead of you, Mr. Marcone," Marlin told him. "You have established yourself as a Freeholding Lord in a short amount of time. A mundane has never held such power. Chicago's power is spreading to the cities affiliated with your organization."

Dresden grimaced. While New York had not fallen under Marcone's rule, the new head of the New York mafia had grudgingly signed an agreement whose legalese would probably make Dresden's head spin.

"Believe me, Harry, when you have lived my time, you accept there is a large grayscale in life. Your shield is part of that gray area and he walks it with a power that is reflected in the strength of the Hold. Your connection is mirrored in him and vice versa. You are a very strong pair. Young, still learning, but you will come into that power gracefully."

"Not a word synonym for Mr. Dresden."

"Jerk," he growled. "I hope you don't have any new plans to take over the world now," Harry muttered under his breath.

John chuckled. "I harbor no such ambitions."

"You will have to step down one day, out of the limelight, become someone else again," Marlin warned. "I believe you are prepared for that, John Marcone. I also believe your Hold will not falter."

"It's my city," he stated with a dangerous warning in his voice. "I have taken and always will take full responsibility for it. I will not leave it open for anyone else."

It was delivered with such finality, Harry felt a slight shiver down his spine at the hard words.

"It is yours." Marlin smiled benignly again. "I would have gravely misjudged you if you had plans to simply hand it over to another."

"I have contingency plans," Marcone added. "I will not tolerate a shift in power or balance. A face is exchangeable. Names can change, I will not."

Okay, that was clear and very simple. Harry knew that Gard had been pulling some strings and that Donar Vadderung's association with Marcone gave him an edge. Harry had never made all too many plans for the future. He hadn't really seen much sense in it, looking at what his life was like. Marcone saw the bigger picture for a future he shaped himself.

"We can offer no allegiance forged in words, but know we are there." Marlin's words held a touch of elemental magic that seemed to whisper between them. "Our own Protectorate cannot be entered by any means, except for one Waypoint. I was told you are in possession of Margaret LeFay's map."

Harry nodded slowly.

"It contains our portal. You will be welcome to visit, should you feel the need to talk to either one of us."

"We appreciate it," Marcone replied formally.

"You have an interesting path ahead of you. I will be most interested to see if it ever ends."

Harry swallowed and from John's minute twitch, he saw his shield had read between the lines.

He simply inclined his head, too used in dealing with Faerie not to say 'thank you'.

Mac suddenly appeared at their table, holding four new bottles of beer, silently raising his eyebrows at Marlin. The man smiled and nodded.

"I have ordered dinner. I hope you don't find it too preposterous."

Since it was steak and Mac's steak was one of the best out there, Harry had no complaints at all. Marcone accepted it with the grace of his standing.

They were having dinner with two legends; casually. In a pub. Really good steak dinner.

And Harry felt more relaxed in the men's presence than he had even with Ebe.