Chapter Four: Fracture

Nightshade slipped her hand into mine and I gave her a small smile. Normally, the Enchantress would make a snippy comment about Eve and I acting like a couple while 'on the job', but she didn't, simply walking over to Ragman and offering her arm, preparing to teleport the two of them to the Justice League's HQ orbiting the Earth.

He didn't take her arm.

"Ragman," she said, "we need to go. Are you homesick for this dungheap or something?"

He sighed and gripped his mask, pulling the cowl of his Suit of Rags over his head, revealing his haggard face, dark bags under his eyes. "I can't."

I blinked, a sinking feeling in my stomach. "What do you mean?"

"Look," said Ragman, scowling, "I can't do this anymore. What we just saw?" He pointed up to the sky. "That's so far beyond any of us it's not funny. So was the Spectre, but at least we had the remaining Lords of Order with us. Now all we have is cryptic bullshit from the Phantom Stranger spoon-feeding us information when he sees fit－damn his long game!" He sighed and ran a hand down the side of his face. "I'm done. It's too much for me. I'm sorry, Harry. I quit."

"W-Wait…" said Nightshade, taking a step towards Ragman, "Rory, why? What's wrong? Talk to us－we can help!"

"What's wrong," asked Rory, a note of hysteria in his voice, "are you fucking kidding me?"

He looked like he wanted to say more but instead he sighed and shook his head. "I'm going home. I'm sorry. You want my advice? Make the most of things then find a comfortable spot to die in."

I scowled and stepped closer to him, looking him dead in the eye. I didn't know what I was looking for, but a part of me hoped to see the haze around the iris that indicated the Imperious Curse, but his blue eyes were clear. Was this really the man who had stood with us against the Spectre? The one who had charged towards the Enchantress with a broken arm when she had been taken over by the Hag? I shook my head. "Rory, please…" I said, "we need you on this. I need you on this."

Ragman looked down and turned away. He put his mask back on and he drew upon the souls of the sinners within his Suit of Rags, empowering himself dozens of times over before he blurred away, leaving the three of us in silence.

"T-That idiot," snarled the Enchantress, starting to shake in anger, "find a comfortable spot to die in? Fuck that! That dumb ass thinks he can just quit the 'Pact?" She rounded on me and poked me hard in the chest. "New plan," she spat, "go get the Chimp and Blue Devil yourself. I'm going to go drag that fucking coward back by his toes!"

"June!" shouted Nightshade, moving forward, her hands up in a conciliatory gesture, but it was too late. With a flash of eldritch green light the Enchantress took her leave.

I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Just fuck my life…"

"Later," mumbled Nightshade, sounding as tired as I felt, and considering she had been going as long as I had that was no joke.

I lifted my wand and murmured a spell to tell the time.

We had been on the go for hours and the Pepper-Up potion we had both taken after Buckingham Palace was bound to wear off soon. "New-new plan," I muttered, blowing a breath through gritted teeth, "Grimmauld Place, shower, bed, Sword of Night, Chicago, League. In that order."

"Awesome," said Nightshade, lifting her arms as her Darkstuff swallowed us.

-0-

After a solid eight hours of sleep, I almost felt like a human, but I still didn't want to crawl out of bed. Part of that was because I wasn't looking forward to trying to fix this latest bit of insanity thrown my way. Give me a Dark Lord or a Basilisk or two to kill over the sort of stuff the H.P Lovecraft popped his morning wood over any day of the week. The other reason was because the naked form of Eve Eden was spooned against my side, her head resting on my chest while hair so dark that it almost looked blue tickled my arm. When we had returned to my Godfather's old brownstone we had both been too tired to do anything but bathe but now… I mean… yeah there's a world ending event on the horizon but surely that meant an hour or two of fun was warranted, right?

If I was going to die then I'd definitely want one of my last memories to be of Eve and all the canoodling we could fit into our spare time together.

That's just what it meant to be human in my book.

"Later, Harry," mumbled Eve, "don't think I haven't thought about it but we have too much to do right now."

I grumbled but I rolled out of bed, stretching my back and cracking my neck.

Eve sighed and followed.

-0-

Only moments later, I was garbed once more in my armor and hooded scarf-thing, this time with the Sword of Night strapped around my torso, the handle peeking up over my shoulder to be drawn with my off hand. Eve, decked out in her dark blue and gold costume, this time with a thin layer of Darkstuff protecting her vitals underneath the skintight fabric, used her powers and had transported us to Chicago.

Normally the magical side of the American government would demand any foreign wizard or witch be declared and their wand scanned in case there were any issues surrounding them (read: crimes) but I was so far beyond caring about customs agents at this point that I simply created a handful of Portkeys out of some garbage lining the street and sent them on their way to confuse anyone tracking magical entry into the country, if there was anyone watching, that is－Eve's shadow teleportation was leaps and bounds better than any other form of magical transportation I've ever experienced and MACUSA might not even have the ability to detect it.

Still, better safe than sorry.

Once more I pulled the little slip of paper from a pocket and then looked at a nearby street sign and then a building for a starting point. I smirked. "Nice job, Nightshade, we're pretty close."

"Let's get going, then." she said, ignoring the stares of the muggles gawking at us with a practiced ease.

I drew my hood around my face a bit deeper, despite the Aversion Charm layered over my face, and we set off.

"Tell me more about this 'help'," said Nightshade, gripping her wrist with her offhand behind her back, "what can he do that we can't? The 'Pact handled the Spectre. This is bad but Ur-Koranth and Faust can't top that."

I shook my head. "You heard Rashid－this Detective, Harry Dresden, was a powerful wizard. He's also Starborn, like myself. That's firepower we need, considering things."

"Yeah," said Nightshade, a note of defeat in her voice, "I just don't like scouting this guy out with the stunt Rory pulled earlier. I should be able to put my feelings aside, considering my job with the American government, but it feels like we're replacing or abandoning him. I-I don't think Rory was himself when he left."

I rubbed my chin. "You think he was being controlled?"

"I've been thinking about it," she said, nudging me in the side with her elbow, "you had Occlumency to protect your mind from the throng of Outsiders while I've seen stuff just as grotesque in the Realm of Nightshades. The Enchantress is, well, the Enchantress, but Rory is just a guy from Gotham with a creepy costume－he had no real protection from their mental influence."

I stopped walking. "FUCK," I swore, "why didn't I think of that!?"

I couldn't believe I had been so blind to my teammate's needs like that. I was the Leader of the Shadowpact－the super-team team that killed what went bump in the night. I should have realized that the Outsiders had some sort of supernatural pull that burrowed its way into the brain of the unprepared. I couldn't afford to make mistakes like that. I was already utilizing Occlumency when I had first seen them, to insulate myself from the power of the Gates themselves.

Poor Rory.

He had been hit with the double whammy of the Gates and the damned Outsiders.

Breathing heavily, I fought the urge to hit something－preferably myself. I pushed my disgust at my inattention aside and said, trying to keep my voice even. "I didn't think of that. We'll just have to put our faith in the Enchantress' empathy and hope she realizes it before she murders him…" I scowled. "I can't believe I just said that."

Nightshade snorted. "I dunno. I like to think that the Enchantress has warmed up to us at least a little bit."

There was a beat of silence before we both grimaced.

I shook my head. "I'll send her a messaging spell when we're done picking up Dresden."

-0-

The Enchantress scowled.

Normally that wasn't a big deal, the Enchantress was the very definition of 'resting bitch face' and why not. She had a lot to be angry about, the nigh-immortal hag in her psyche was only the tip of the ice berg.

She hated easily, and she trusted seldom.

The Enchantress had been alone and on her own since that party at Terror Castle had merged her and the Hag and she had learned to work and survive without aid, only rejoining society in the intermittent times where she followed her whims, or to meet with other practitioners of the Art to trade spells and artifacts.

Such as that night a few months ago in the Misty Wood when the Spectre had butchered hundreds of her peers, including infamous the super villain Blackbriar Thorn.

It was a threat so far above her that she knew that even the Hag inside her would be unable to deal with it, and so she had gone to a bar and kicked over the metaphorical pebble that had started the avalanche known the world over as the Shadowpact－the premier team of magic-based superheroes.

Her… on a team.

Somehow they had done it though, even if she had been forced to work with an Idiot and an actual animal.

She had just started to accept that, perhaps, being with other people could be okay. That she didn't need to walk her path alone－not together, no, but not alone… More like adjacent.

Then Ragman, the one who had dug her out of the wreckage of Misty Wood, who had once kissed her, had walked away from the 'Pact.

"Asshole," she grunted, flying over Gotham, a pointed crystal dangling from a few twined together strands of her dark hair shifting direction and guiding her to said asshole.

She didn't know why she cared so much, but no one, not even the Head-Idiot himself, let alone Rory Regan, could leave the 'Pact so easily. Not while she was a member.

Suddenly her impromptu scrying crystal pointed straight down and she lowered herself to a roof top, knowing he'd be within spitting distance, and sure enough, he was in an alley, sitting on an overturned garbage can, holding his head in his hands, his shoulders heaving as he seemed to be having some sort of fit.

Once more she took to the air and levitated over the edge of the roof and down into the alley. "Ragman…" she called darkly, "we need to talk."

The man in the ragged suit looked up, and he sucked in a breath. He tried to leap away but the Enchantress had been prepared for that, and the hand not holding the crystal snapped up, eldritch green energy snapping between her fingers like arcs of lightning as her binding spell formed around her prey. Three bands of pulsing energy glowed powerfully around his ankles, waist (pinning his arms), and biceps as he fell back to the nasty alley with a curse. "That means we sit down like adults and talk, Rory－without trying to run away," she said, tucking her crystal away in her sash belt and yanking his mask off. She frowned, taking note of the almost-insane amount of dread in his eyes and the answer to all this drama came rushing to her.

This wasn't Rory.

At least it wasn't the 'normal' Rory Regan, the one who had bragged after the Spectre that they as a team could handle anything thrown at them.

He struggled on the ground and the Enchantress felt a rare stirring of pity in the icy depth of her heart.

"The damned Outsiders really did a number on you, huh?" she said quietly. "When this is all over remind me to teach you some meditation techniques. I'll have to get the Idiot to help. He's a dumb ass but he's good at his own brand of mental defense. Maybe he's got something for you…"

"June…" he panted, exhausted, like a horse who had ran two marathons back to back… "we're all going to die… I'm sorry…"

The Enchantress' frown deepened and she groaned and helped the man to his feet, her binding spell forcing him to lean against her to remain upright. "We are," she said finally, "no one lives forever. Not even gods have that curse. We all die. What matters is how we greet Death. Do we cower like vermin? Or stand straight-backed and proud, having lived our lives as we wanted and to the best of our ability. You have pride, don't you Rory? You're not just some weirdo in a suit of captive souls, right?"

"Dead. No way to stop it. None."

She sighed, but before she could say anything else, or even plan her next move, there was a rumbling in the air, like a large semi approaching at speed, but there was no true sounds and after a half-second, she realized the rumble was more meta than physical. Then a portal opened and more angry muggles rushed out, like she had witnessed in the Idiot's memory of Buckingham Palace. They all carried those muggle weapons and she knew they'd demolish her spells should she try and fight, not that she could, carting Rory's despondent ass with her.

Grunting, she took to the air as they screamed insults and aimed their rifles at her, her eyes wide and her senses stretched to their absolute maximum, but no one could dodge so many fast projectiles at once, especially not carrying her captive/team mate.

She felt an impact against her leg and she screamed, glancing down as she cleared the nearest rooftop, putting her out of immediate sight, but it wasn't a bullet wound that greeted her, but a broken leg, her shin bone poking from her skin, blood staining her leggings, while already the flesh around the wound bruised and swelled, and she realized that it hadn't been a normal bullet that hit her, but something else.

The pain was terrible and her vision faded for a half-moment, but she got her bearings. She was unable to land with her messed up leg, and with every second more and more of her enemies were pouring from more and more portals that opened all around her.

One did so on the roof of the building next to her and the Enchantress glanced back at Rory, who's eyes were vacant and his body draped off her, slack.

She closed her eyes and gently placed her teammate down, lowering him to the roof and letting him fall into a heap before she straightened as much as she was able. Her leg was throbbing, like shards of ice had dug into her flesh, perforating her like a toughened piece of meat.

"Okay," she said lowly, as nearly one hundred men and women all pointed their weapons at her－their 'Spell-Breaker' rifles, "you think I'm weak? That your weapons make me some simple girl－that I'll roll over and die all easy-like?" She grinned a reptilian smile, her eyes wide. Her fingers started twitching in unnatural ways, like a spider's legs, making sharp cracking sounds. She gathered her power, flooding her body in an instant, and her eyes started to glow an acidic, poisonous green. Her hair faded from the roots out, losing the lustre she was accustomed to and going gray, then a wispy white. He skin wrinkled, her nose hooking as her teeth rotted. A drop of rain started to fall and first responders could be heard on the muggy night air. A breeze carried her hat away. "You fools," she uttered her voice dry and reedy, yet still impossibly strong, "I'm the Enchantress and you're already dead!"

On the last word, her own name, the Swamp-Mother raised her aged head, and glared at her assailants, and they fired on her.

She swiped an arm and the very bricks of the building she was hovering over ripped themselves free, flying up and forming a wall with lightning quickness, intercepting the shots, before she shoved her hand forward, sending her shield out into the mass of enemies directly across from her at a speed comparable to a run-away train, smashing into the first of them and breaking dozens of bones with the force of the hit.

He died with a wet gurgle, but he wasn't the only one.

As it hit, the spell holding the wall together failed but the sheer momentum behind the 'push' carried on into the individual bricks, which hit like buckshot, dropping half a dozen men in one move.

There was a beat of silence before the mooks with guns started firing again.