I'm late, I know. But I've been bogged down even more, which I don't think is fair, seeing as it's the end of school. But whatever.

Chapter Twelve looks to be the best chapter yet, and I really like it. And it eclipses 3000 words, the first chapter to do so for this fic, so hopefully that'll make up for this.

By the way, has anyone elseseen the Goblet of Fire preview? All I can say is that November should come five months earlier in the year. Supposedly, Miramax is making a Barty film (well, Stroud has said it multiple times), but I don't really trust them. I say they just give it to the good folks at WB and let Alfonso and Mike do their directorial work.

Disclaimer: Now, honestly, haven't we gone over this? I don't own the trilogy, don't sue.

Chapter Eleven
Devils and Dust

"I've got my finger on the trigger.
Tonight faith just ain't enough.
And I look inside my heart:
There's just devils and dust."
-Bruce Springsteen's "Devils and Dust"

Morris seemed to be the only member of the odd trio not particularly affected by the statement. "Hold on… who's alive? Who's Nathaniel? What?"

"She's alive," Nathaniel continued in a quiet voice. His eyes had locked themselves on the eagle. "You lied to me. Kitty Jones is alive."

Bartimaeus regained himself and his unperturbed appearance took over once more. "I didn't lie. I resent that you would say that."

"But it's true," Nathaniel pressed on, his anger growing inside his chest. Bartimaeus had led him on, and it could have cost him dearly. "You said she had died fighting the golem, but she never did die, did she?"

"You've gone completely bonkers."

"No, I haven't." A fierce fire burned within Nathaniel, even though the rest of his body was tired and hurting. "You said she hadn't survived just to spite me, and it was rather convenient, wasn't it? The search spheres had gone into hiding during the fight. You can't even say she wasn't. I just saw her detain all of us with my own two eyes."

The djinni observed him warily with one open eye. His feathers remained unruffled.

"Morris," Nathaniel said, "I think you should go hail us a cab."

Morris nodded. It was clear that this was not his business. "Got it." He paused before turning back reluctantly. "Hold on, who's Nathaniel?"

"That's not important right now," Nathaniel snapped, and Morris recoiled slightly, but his eyes were still suspicious. Still, he knew that he had hit a touchy point.

And he left, leaving the two completely alone in the alley behind the flats. Nathaniel sat up against the dumpster, as his strength had already been replenished somewhat.

"Why?"

Bartimaeus stared at him stonily. "Because, she deserved something better. I didn't do it to spite you. I did it to help her. If you had known… she would have been captured by now, probably, when there are probably a good many folk that deserve to go to the Tower that you magicians have completely ignored." He picked at his plumage proudly for a few seconds before continuing. "I do have some compassion, Nat. Don't be so surprised."

"Oh, of course, I'm sorry. It was just hard to see it through all of the sarcasm."

"Maybe I'll try harder, then, Nathaniel," Bartimaeus replied darkly.

Nathaniel was prevented from any sort of response when Morris appeared from behind the dumpster. "I got the cab. You guys ready to go?"

The young magician threw one last glare at the djinni before nodding and following his trainee. "Yes," he said, "we are."

They walked in silence to the taxi and finally squeezed in as Nathaniel took up the passenger seat and Morris and Bartimaeus took up the back. As they drove away, they never suspected that someone had been listening in on them, or otherwise, the mood would have been even grimmer.

-

"Yes, sir, we are trying our best. No, sir, we are not Czech spies. Yes, we will find your cat as soon as we can. Don't worry, we'll get Mr. Hankins back to you in no time."

Nathaniel hung up the phone with a sigh. Was this what they had been reduced to, a pet-catching department? With as shake of his head, he turned to more pressing matters.

So, Kitty Jones was alive and well, it seemed, and possibly heading the Resistance. He should have expected as much, especially when Bartimaeus was his sole witness. It was a bit of a touchy issue with both of them, but particularly Nathaniel. This girl had saved his life for no reason, even when he had betrayed her trust. She really was a tricky specimen.

How had she survived? How could she, a mere commoner, defeat a golem? Granted, she had resilience to magic as he had deduced, but that shouldn't have accounted for that- should it have?

The shock had begun to wear off, but it was still something he couldn't quite grasp. She shouldn't be alive. It wasn't that he didn't want her to be. He wasn't sure about that, actually. It was just that she had been dead, to him, at least, for so long, and the fact that she was living was a bit unsettling.

"John?" It was Morris.

"Yeah?" he said in response.

Morris held up a stack of papers. "Well, I've got some stuff, but I think I deserve an explanation. Who is Nathaniel, and what does he have to do with this?"

Nathaniel sighed. "I am Nathaniel," he admitted in a low voice, carefully making sure no one was outside the door. No one was. "Bartimaeus seems to have let my name slip at some point while I was incapacitated. I suppose he wasn't intending to (he probably still doesn't realize that he did), and that is most likely why he hasn't been burned to crisps by the Shriveling Fire for disobeying orders. Oh, wait a second, I never did order him to not say my name, did I?"

"Yeah, he did." Morris shrugged and looked noncommittal. He decided to ignore the last two sentences of Nathaniel's miniature speech. "Look, don't worry about it. Everyone knows my real name."

His superior raised an eyebrow. "I don't." His eyes widened. "Unless… Your real name isn't Morris, is it?"

"Yep. I mean, people think, 'Who would be stupid enough to make their real name part of their given name? That's so stupid.' So they never even expect it." He held up the stack of papers once more, but Nathaniel was hardly paying attention. His name was Morris? " And also, turning back to business, I've got that research you wanted me to get for you. There haven't been any records of Kathleen Jones since her supposed death two years ago, which I guess isn't surprising. She wouldn't be a very good criminal if she still went by the same name, I guess."

"Oh. Then we'll have to find her alias and- oh, hello, Ms. Farrar."

None other than the one Jane Farrar was standing tall in the doorway next to Morris, a smug grin on her face. "Hello, John. I heard you've been sent to do undercover work. Not normal for the head of a department, is it?"

Her voice was laced with malice, which Nathaniel took in full stride. "Oh, not usually. But I'm not the normal minister, I suppose, and I did offer my services. Anything for my country, right?"

"Hm, I suppose," Farrar said offhandedly. She glanced at Morris doubtfully. "Who's this, your servant?"

Morris jumped slightly at her addressing of him and smiled awkwardly. "Only if you want me to be, sweet thing." He gave her an approving look-over with one eye. "Hey, you look a bit hungry. I know a pub we could hit up if you're in the mood-"

"Morris!" Nathaniel hissed. Morris shook his head slightly and looked back to the youngest of the group.

"Oh, right. Sorry, boss."

Farrar gave him one last glance before slowly backing out of the room. On the upside, Morris's sudden flirting with Nathaniel's rival had caught her off guard. At first, he had thought she'd put a Charm on the technician, but she seemed too repulsed to even think of such a thing. "Well, I think I should be leaving…"

She disappeared into the hustle of Whitehall and Nathaniel glared at his pupil. "What the hell was that?"

"What?" Morris replied wearily.

"What, you ask?" Nathaniel exclaimed irritably. He rubbed his eyes with passionate furor. "You were hitting on her as if you were playing cricket, you fool!"

"Settle down, it was just a little fun." Morris smirked. "And besides, you know you could sense the raw animal attraction I had over her. She wanted me."

Nathaniel cradled his head in his hands and breathed in deeply. Could he not catch a break? "Sure, whatever you say. Just don't do that anymore. It's scary to watch."

"While I hate to interrupt this, I've got some news," said Bartimaeus, now in the form of Ptolemy, as he strolled into the room. "Quentin Makepeace will be dropping by soon to see you, Mandrake. He says he has to talk with you about something."

"Where have you been?" Nathaniel inquired bluntly. Bartimaeus sat down tiredly.

"Finding out stuff, as usual." He allowed himself a small smile at this. "What, I can't do what I'm supposed to do anymore?"

Nathaniel made a noncommittal noise and returned to his papers. "No, it's just surprising."

"Talk about uptight," Bartimaeus whispered to Morris, who nodded. "Is it really that big of a deal?"

"Not right now, it isn't," Nathaniel cut him off icily. "But it could have been."

"Coulda, shoulda, woulda."

There was a knock at the door and Nathaniel sighed as he shuffled the work on his desk one final time. "Come in," he beckoned.

The door swung open, revealing the bouncing form of the playwright Quentin Makepeace. He waved at Nathaniel and took a seat in front of his desk. "Hello, John. I hope you're doing well."

"Quite, Mr. Makepeace."

"I trust you've seen The Guild of Anubis," Makepeace stated happily.

Nathaniel nodded. "Yes, I have." He cleared his throat professionally and pushed his pens into place on his desk. "I had to say, it was different from your other plays but still kept my interest just as well."

"Well, thank you, it is always glad to hear back from the fans." Makepeace's smile was considerably larger now. In fact, he was beaming with delight.

"You wanted to see me?" Nathaniel said. It was like him to get straight to business. No beating around the bush in these parts.

"Oh, yes, I did, didn't I?" The eccentric man seemed a bit lost at the moment, but he eventually regained his composure. "Oh, right. I have heard that there has been an interesting development in your pursuit of the Resistance. Is this true?"

Nathaniel shrugged. "Well, I am going into the field a bit more, but I'm not sure if that's interesting."

"No, not that. I've heard about that." Makepeace leaned closer, as if he didn't want anyone else to hear what he had to say. "I'm talking about a certain person… Kitty Jones, I believe?"

Nathaniel's throat tightened. How on earth had he heard about that? "Yes, sir, what about her?"

"I heard she's not as dead as we believed she was," replied Makepeace simply.

"That is true."

Makepeace raised his eyebrows in mild surprise. "Oh, really? Have you told anyone?"

"No, I haven't," responded Nathaniel quietly. What was Makepeace getting at? He certainly wasn't making any sense. He was acting even more oddly than usual. "How did you hear?"

"I have my contacts," Makepeace said with a wink. "Contacts who also believe they know where the Resistance will strike next."

The minister shot forward in his seat. "Really?"

The quirkier of the two chuckled. "Yes, really. You look as if Christmas has come early, my dear fellow! You clearly are much too enamored with your job."

"Where will they strike next?" Nathaniel pressed forward urgently. Makepeace regarded him with a dull gaze, a smile playing at his lips.

"Well, it's pure speculation, but…" He scooted his chair closer to his acquaintance and gave Morris a suspicious glance before turning back to Nathaniel. "Do you know of the harbor close to the collection of warehouses just a few minutes away?"

Nathaniel racked his mental map of the city before nodding enthusiastically. "Yes. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, my sources say that the Resistance believe that there are weapons onboard the Paix Fausse, a ship docked at the boat. This is completely untrue, of course, seeing as the Paix Fausse carries fish to the Continent and back, but to each their own, I guess. Anyway, they plan to seize the ship on the twenty-fourth. Of course, this would be the opportune time to seize them."

Nathaniel thought over the proposal carefully. "You're right. I will alert Devereaux immediately."

"No," Makepeace said firmly. "You will not. Think of it this way: if you get the Empire involved, it'll be blown out of proportion, the ship will be searched, and the Resistance and this Kitty girl will be scared away. Also, from your standpoint, why would you? If you catch these renegades, it'll skyrocket your entire career. You've doubtlessly heard of how the wars are going in the colonies. If you catch the Resistance, I'm sure Devereaux will look at you very carefully as a general in the Americas."

"Oh, so that's what this is all about," Bartimaeus mused quietly from his seat next to Morris. Nathaniel ignored him, instead weighing over each option in his mind. Both had their plus sides. On one hand, he might be ridiculed if he didn't tell the Empire. On the other hand, the possibilities were endless if he decided to go solo.

"What do you say?"

The young minister looked up slowly. "It's an intriguing offer, Mr. Makepeace ."

"Well," said his associate, "intriguing doesn't get people very far in life."

Nathaniel nodded deliberately. "Exactly. I will do what you said; the upside is far too great to turn down such an offer." He bowed his head slightly towards the playwright. "Thank you, Mr. Makepeace. Your assistance has been invaluable."

Makepeace grinned and stood as he shook Nathaniel's hand energetically. "No, thank you, John."

He spun around without another word, leaving the three alone in the spacious office. Nathaniel sighed and fell into his seat as he rubbed his temples ferociously. A robbery, a meeting with the most powerful people in England, a girl returning from the dead, real names slipping out, and now this.

What a day.

To Be Continued

Author's Notes: I like the tension between Barty and Nat in this chapter since it's something that's been playing out through the first two books. Trust is a big deal in my opinion. And the exchange between Morris and Nat has to be one of my favorite scenes. If you don't get why Morris revealed his true name... well, then, I can't help you. You obviously don't know who Morris is, and I think I might touch on that subject later on in the story.

Next Chapter: In Reflection Period, Kitty and the Resistance must once again regroup after their close call with Nathaniel, Bartimaeus, and Morris. Katherine and Kitty have a little "girl time", deli sandwiches are consumed, Kitty gets her spit all over some very important paper, and Glen goes to a dangerous meeting with an old friend. And what about this super weapon everyone's talking about?