A/N: This is pretty fluffy and set more in the Dresdenverse than Buffy or Arrow. So if you haven't read the Dresden Files, you might be pretty lost.

Enjoy and Nerd On!

Again, I do not own any of these characters.

Three Blondes, a Bar and Some Much Needed Beer

The beer was heaven. Mac's brews always were, but after the morning she'd had, it was just was she needed. Murphy shook her head thinking of their morning. Man, she had thought that Dresden held the copyright on burning down buildings. . . then Buffy and Felicity had come along.

Ghouls and fire don't mix that well, Murphy thought that should go down on record. Well, it'll get the job done, but not very neatly. It had been a close one for both Murphy and Buffy and . . . there had been kids. Kids held hostage by ghouls. She shook her head again in amazement that they all got out alive. Hence the beer and bar. Well, McAnally's is a pub, and a damn good one at that, with the best beer in Chicago, maybe in the world. Not to mention the pub is an almost supernatural safe haven.

Murphy sighed and looked at the two women. They were silent, which had to be a first. Felicity cradled her beer in both hands on the table and stared into its dark, hoppy depths, barely blinking behind her rectangle glasses. Her fast thinking and tech knowledge really saved their asses today. Murphy couldn't help but think back when she wouldn't accept the IT girl's help. She held back a smile remembering how persistent Felicity had been. The 25 year old genius girl had now saved both Buffy and Murphy's own lives multiple times now, and all from behind a computer screen. Murph had been around real, honest to goodness, magic for around 15 years now, but she still couldn't believe all the things Felicity could do with a computer.

Buffy had an elbow on the table and one hand holding up her head, the other was lazily lifting a beer to her lips, completely zoned out. The girl wasn't 21 yet, but Murphy thought if she was old enough to save the world a couple times over, she was old enough to drink. There were a lot of things Murphy wouldn't let slide, but this was one of them.

Murphy looked up to the 13 ceiling fans trying their hardest to cool down the pub, but they just weren't cutting it. God, I miss AC, Murph thought. She slid her jacket off and moved to place it on the back of her chair but it slipped to the ground and its pocket's contents clanged out.

"Are those Felicity's iron bullets?" Buffy asked. "Tsk, tsk, Murph. You're supposed to put the toys away after you're done playing with them."

Murphy didn't think a response was needed, so she ignored the girl and jammed the bullets back into her jacket's pockets.

Felicity raised her eyebrows at the exchange, but also deemed a response unnecessary. She took a sip of beer and scrunched her nose after she swallowed in obvious disgust and then leaned over to Buffy who was closest to her and sniffed. "You smell like burned ghoul. It's ruining my beer."

Buffy leaned down to her elbow on the table and smelled her jacket. "You're right," she said tiredly. She lifted her beer and drank the rest in one long gulp, and then took off her jacket and let it fall to the ground. "But let's not forget who made the fire-throwing thing-a-ma-bob in the first place," Buffy said pointing at Felicity and then got up and went to the bar.

Mac had made Buffy's spidey senses tingle the first time she had met him, yet she couldn't place what was different about him. But after seeing that he had three beers waiting for her on the bar, she was sure he must be magical in some form. As ever, Mac was silent, and barely made eye contact, he just kept wiping down the already clean counter. She knew about eye contact and wizards and how they normally ended in a soulgaze, which according to Murph wasn't always pleasant. So were her spidey senses tingling around Mac because he was a wizard? Or was it something else, and the man was just cautious? She left that puzzle for another day, all she wanted to do today was drink. She nodded in thanks and brought the drinks back to the table. She sat back down and slid Murph and Felicity their new beers before making a sizable dent in hers. Neither woman talked, heck, they barely even looked up from their beers. The silence was weird but welcoming after their morning, Buffy didn't think she'd forget the scared looks on those kid's faces for the rest of her life.

The pub's front door slammed opened, loud in the silence of the small room and brought all three ladies' heads up. A tall man stood in the opening, his large frame looked impressive silhouetted from the light of the outside. The man's eyes scanned the low lit bar until they landed on Murphy. Buffy peeked over and saw Murphy casual as can be drop her right hand down under the table - an obvious reflex to get closer to her gun - but her eyes never left the now approaching man.

But "man" was not the correct word. Yes, he was male, but anyone that inhumanly pretty could not be human. A White Court vampire? A Faerie? Buffy had thought she'd seen it all in Sunnydale, but Chicago was beginning to weigh in pound-for-pound on the weirdness scale.

He was built like an MMA fighter, was at least 6'5 and again, easily one of the most beautiful things Buffy had ever seen. His shoulder length honey blonde hair somehow shined, even in the bad lighting, perfectly salon tousled. He had regal, straight features and a jaw that could rival Superman's in square-ness. But it was his eyes that gave him away. They were honey blonde, like his hair, but flashed cat-like when he stopped in front of the table and looked down his perfect nose at Murphy.

"I'm looking for Dresden," he said. His voice was as haughty as his looks and vaguely British.

Murphy pretended to look around the bar, like she'd be able to point him out. No one else was in the pub besides their group, it was too early for the day drinkers, and a week day to boot.

"Huh. Well, he's not here."

"Are you not Karrin Murphy? Known associate of Harry Dresden?"

"Oh! Is he talking about-?" Felicity started.

Murph cut her off, "Listen, Dresden obviously isn't here. And I don't know where he is, I'm not his keeper."

The man-thing, smiled at her without any light in his eyes. "Did you just tell me to listen?" He sounded genuinely surprised.

"I. Don't. Know. Where. Dresden. Is," Murphy said slowly, punctuating every word.

He lifted his top lip and a snarl came from deep in his throat.

"You know what I am, do you not?" he growled low and mean

Murphy nodded.

"Then why do you not give me the information I wish for? You know I could snap your human neck before you or your friends could even blink."

Buffy let out a long and loud sigh, then stood up and took a sip of her beer. She couldn't take it any more, they'd already had the morning from Hell. "She said: She doesn't know where he is."

The man-thing, confirmed non-human, turned to face her and looked her up and down. It didn't take long, her 5'3 frame didn't take up too much space. He wasn't impressed. But Buffy got that look a lot, heck, she didn't even take it personally anymore.

"Sit down woman. Before I make you," he said. His eyes cat-like again flashed and were obviously meant to scare her.

Buffy raised her eyebrows at him, then at Murphy before turning back to him. She took another sip and asked, "Can I kill him?"

"No," Murphy said.

"How about just a little bit?"

"No. This is neutral territory." She lifted her chin in the direction of a sign by the door. "You can't fight and neither can he without messing with the Unseelie Accords. And since he belongs to the Summer Court, he doesn't want to do that." Murphy took a sip of her own beer and looked up at him. "Do you?"

Felicity caught Buffy's eye and mouthed "Faerie"? Yep most definitely a Faerie. She nodded as subtle as she could. But she was never too good at being subtle, which was obvious when the Faerie's head swung around and stared her down. Buffy held up her the hand not holding her beer to placate him. Even though she had very limited knowledge on the Unseelie Accords, she knew enough to not start a fight in an Accorded Neutral Territory. No matter how douchey the bad guy was.

"Tell me where Harry Dresden is," he said facing Murphy again. He leaned down and put a fist on their table.

Murphy was starting to lose her patience, but Buffy watched as she visibly reigned it in. "Go through the correct channels then. The last time I checked he was on alright terms with both the Summer Lady and Summer Knight."

The Faerie growled and had a large hand wrapped around Buffy's neck before she could do anything. "Tell me where I can find the wizard Harry Dresden, or I will snap her neck!"

Buffy watched as Felicity jumped up out of her chair and scooted back against the wall. Murphy just went deathly still, her right hand still under the table. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. She's already had a day and a half."

The Faerie's smile finally reached his eyes as he looked down at Murphy. "It's about to get a lot worse." He flexed his arm and tightened his grip on Buffy on neck.

Buffy had been practicing getting out of holds like this one since she was 15, but instead of breaking out, she just stayed relaxed. So when the Faerie finally turned to see why she wasn't struggling or crying out, his surprise when she threw her beer in his face and broke the glass over his head was very satisfying. He sputtered and shook his head to either shake the glass out of his pretty hair, or recalibrate. Buffy was betting on the latter.

"Playtime . . . is . . . over," Buffy choked out and reached up, gripped his wrist and squeezed. The Faerie's eyes popped open along with his mouth, beer still streaming down his face. A startled scream of pain came out. Buffy forced him to loosen his grip on her neck enough to say, "Leave now and I won't kill you."

The next sound out of the Faerie's mouth was one of anger. "What are you? You're no mere mortal."

Buffy just rolled her eyes and then kicked out with her right foot. . . right into where she hoped were his faerie balls.

Bullseye.

He let go of her and doubled over, hands cradling his otherworldly junk.

"I'm the Vampire Slayer," Buffy ground out, rubbing her neck and then added, "Asshole."

He made no show of recognition, well that, or he was in too much pain to care.

"Huh," Felicity said. She was still backed up against the pubs' far wall. She had pull out two iron battons from her coat (a gift from Murphy, along with lessons on how to use them) and held them at the ready. Buffy was still waiting for her iron stake. She shook her head and imagined how much quicker this little scuffle would have been with one of those bad boys.

"It was not confirmed in my research that a swift kick to the nards would affect a male Faerie or not. Good to know," Felicity finished, her voice only slightly shaking, but her arms and hold on the battons were steady.

Atta girl, Buffy thought.

Murphy got up from the table and moved to stand in front of Felicity, gun out. Yes, she'd been teaching the girl some defensive moves, but none that would help her against a Faerie, iron or no iron. "Right, well, I'm pretty sure that was blatant disregard for the rules in a Neutral Territory. What do you think Mac?"

Both Buffy and Felicity had forgotten about the nondescript bartender, but turned to look at him then. He had a shotgun out and pointed down at the still incapacitated Faerie.

He just nodded. Then his eyebrows rose and eyes widened. "Look out!" he shouted.

Buffy didn't get to "look" for not even a second later she was flying through the air and then breaking a table and a couple chairs on her descent and landing. She had no time to tuck and try to roll correctly, so she just landed how she would: in pain.

A shotgun blast followed by shorter bursts sounded off, extremely loud in the small pub, and fortunately brought Buffy around quicker. She looked to see Murphy still standing a couple feet in front of Felicity, unloading her whole clip into the oncoming Faerie. They'd been over this before, her normal bullets wouldn't do much damage to something from the Nevernever. But a magazine filled with specialized iron bullets (a gift from Felicity - what? They were a giving group!) in Murphy's jacket pocket would do quite nicely. But said jacket was presently draped around a chair at their table, and Buffy knew there was no way in Hell Murph would leave Felicity to her own devices.

Mac was still behind the bar, shotgun raised, but smart man that he was, wasn't firing. The blasts could do more damage to Murph or Felicity than the Faerie.

What Murphy needed was a distraction and it was a good thing Buffy wasn't half bad at those. She picked up a broken chair, yelled, "Hey! Faerie face!" and threw the chair at its back and hit her mark. He turned back to Buffy with a snarl, his handsome face now held no trace of humanity. This was his true form. "You want Dresden?" Buffy asked. She looked around and picked up another chair, then broke it over her knee. The jagged wooden leg now resembled her favorite weapon. She stretched her neck left and then right, cracking it and then spun her newly made stake in her right hand absentmindedly and said, "I'll tell you where Dresden is."

The Faerie snarled and faced her fully then. "Tell me!"

Murphy took one step closer to the table, her jacket and iron infused bullets. Don't say in bed with your mom. Please, don't say in bed with your mom.

"He's in bed. With your mom," Buffy said, and small smile playing on her lips.

Ah, shit. Murphy thought, but took another step toward her jacket.

"What did you say?" the Faerie asked, his voice was so low that Murphy almost didn't hear him.

Buffy kept spinning her newly made stake in her hand. "You heard me, Faerie face."

Oh, Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

"Do you wish to die, Vampire Slayer? Do you wish for your friends to die?"

"Well, I've already died a couple times. Wasn't really pleasant, so . . . no. But I'm not worried about dying today."

He took another step towards Buffy and Murphy another closer to the chair.

"And why is that? Your wooden stick won't do me much harm, no matter how fast and strong you are, Slayer. I am no vampire."

"Oh, well, I think you'd be surprised at how much damage I can do with a piece of wood," Buffy said, grinning widely now. "Wanna find out?"

The Faerie gave her a smile of his own, an extremely predatory one. "I will enjoy killing you, little girl."

"Well then, let's go, big guy," Buffy said and took a stance, stake gripped in her right hand ready. All she had to do was hold him off for a minute. Maybe less. "I want to get back to drinking."

Again, his lips lifted in a snarl, wholly unnatural and animalistic. He took one step, two and then he was upon her. A fist came down faster than she thought possible, she barely dodged it. And Buffy thanked her lucky stars that she did or else she'd have to get her face re-arranged. She swept out with one leg, trying to use her low center of gravity to her benefit, but the Faerie saw her movement coming and stepped in closer, negating most of the power of her kick. What he didn't anticipate was getting her makeshift stake stabbed into his chest.

He howled in obvious pain, but as Buffy had expected, the wooden stake was more of an inconvenience to the Faerie rather than a mortal blow. Need a goddamn iron stake! Buffy thought as she dealt him a blow to solar plexus, which caused him to double over in pain and conveniently lowered his face within her reach. She planted her right foot and used her whole body to try and punch his perfect square jaw off his face. It didn't work, but she thought she heard something break before he half fell to the ground, kneeling on one leg.

Buffy glanced over to see Murphy load the magazine into her gun with a final click and motion to Felicity to follow her. They moved closer to both Buffy and the Faerie, keeping the wall at their backs. When they got close enough Felicity called to Buffy and tossed her one of her iron battons. Buffy caught it with ease and took a deep breath.

"Look at me," Buffy growled out, standing over the broken Faerie. She let all the weariness, anger and yes, a little of the crazy of her terrible morning seep into her voice and eyes. He brought his head slowly up. She held the batton just like she would a stake. "This is iron, and that gun Murphy has pointed at your head is now filled with specialized iron bullets." He visibly blanched. Buffy went on, "Yeah, I know. That wouldn't just be agonizing. It would be deadly."

Murphy took over, "I don't want to kill you, Sir. So, get up and walk out of here alive." That brought Buffy's head up, she glowered at Murphy as the woman stepped up beside her. "We have already stretched the Accords limits, I don't want to do so further by killing you."

He stood up slowly, a hand holding his jaw. "You will regret this," he said, hatred emanating off him.

Oh, goodie! A new enemy! Buffy thought.

"Maybe," Murphy said with a shrug and a shake of her head. "Or maybe you will."

Murphy kept her gun trained on him as he turned and made his way to the door and out into the light. "Will he come back, Mac?" she asked the bartender.

"No," he replied in a gruff voice. He had kept his shotgun in hand at the ready through the whole fight, and finally lowered it to the bar. "Not today, and not here, at least."

Murph allowed herself to lower her own gun and check out her team. Buffy looked a little worse for the wear, but fine, in what could have been a very deadly situation. "You good?"

"I need a drink," she said. She started righting tables and chairs around her. "Sorry about the mess, Mac."

"It could have been worse," the man said. He pulled out three new glasses and poured them what Murphy recognized as the really good stuff. "Dresden could have been in here and end up burning the whole place down."

A startled, "What the -" at the pub's door brought all their heads up and around. Another tall man's silhouette filled the pub's front entrance. Buffy and Felicity tensed again.

"Oh, you have got to be freakin' kidding me," Murphy said aloud.

The tall man that stepped through the door had long, shaggy, brown hair, hawkish features and some serious five-o-clock shadow. He wore a long leather duster that swept around him as he stepped into the pub. He looked over the mess they had made of Mac's and turned to Murphy, surprise evident on his face.

"Stars and Stones, Murphy, what the Seven Hells happened in here?"

Mac let out a low guffah of a laugh behind the bar and grabbed another glass.

"We had a little run in with an angry Faerie who wanted to know the whereabouts of a certain professional wizard," Murph said and sat down in a chair, utterly exhausted and really wanting for this day to just be over.

"What! Why didn't you call me?"

"I'm beginning to wonder that myself," Murph said shaking her head.

Buffy and Felicity's heads ping-ponged back and forth between Murphy and the tall man.

"Buffy, Felicity, meet Harry Dresden."

"Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me?" Buffy and Felicity said simultaneously.