"Winifred...she's descended from Winifred..."

Harry's eyes widened in shock. "But...I thought you said they were-"

"I know what I said!" Bob cut him off viciously, and crouched down again. He extended his hand once more, the glow reflecting in Artemis' dull eyes. Once more he shivered, as if a chill wind had passed through the room, then straightened up. He looked pale and shaken for a moment, but it was over as quickly as it had come.

Diana was becoming very impatient. Too impatient, in fact, to contain by merely pacing the room. No, the combination of crazed desire (for Bob) and worry (for Artemis) had her sitting on her makeshift bed, chewing methodically on a corner of her sheet.

Suddenly, as is customary in such situations, Diana's shoulder angel popped up. She's dying in there, and it's your fault for dragging her into this mess!

"Oh, crap. What are you doing here? I thought I killed you off in the third grade!" she groaned.

Well, that curse did drive me away for a bit. I wasn't sure if I could save your poor tainted soul...but then I reminded myself that THIS IS THE GREATEST OF GOD'S WORK! Blah blah blah...

While her angel went on an impassioned rant, Diana slowly snuck away, grabbing her sheet by its wet and ragged corner. She rose to a crouch, then suddenly flung the sheet over her angel's head and tugged, trapping her.

And God gives the greatest reward to- WHAT THE HELL?!

You called?

Diana's favorite shoulder demon had finally made her appearance.

"Where were you? Aren't you guys supposed to show up at the same time?

Yeah, well, Jerry Springer was on…anyway, I'm here now, quit yer whining. Speaking of whining…where is Priss-in-Boots?

Diana pointed to the struggling lump under the sheet.

Ah. Took you long enough, didn't it?

"Well..."

It's to be expected...you're only human.

"Unfortunately."

OOH! Idea!

"Dare I ask?"

That arrow's got to be in this universe somewhere...are you thinking what I'm thinking?

"You're part of my subconscious of course I know what you're thinking! My God, I expected a smarter shoulder demon...did all my IQ points go to the angel?

You always liked the drama, that was a good line and you know it.

"Touche."

Anyway...a certain spirit comes to mind...shirtless, preferably.

"Only shirtless? I thought my mind was deeper in the gutter than that."

The angel starts screaming if I mention anything over PG-13.

"Your point being?"

Good point.

"I know. Put my love aside for the moment. What about Artemis?"

Go in there, see how she's doing. If she's better, then all is well. If she's worse, than start crying…I'm sure HE would go for a damsel in distress…Harry most definitely.

"Very well."

Suddenly, a female scream erupted from the lab. Diana ignored the shoulder demon's rantings about leather and ran to the lab. She flung the door open, eyes ablaze. "WHAT DID YOU DO?"

She looked down to find Artemis awake, but in the middle of a nervous breakdown. "It's not real…it's not real…"

Harry opened his mouth to say something, and instantly closed it after seeing the fury in Diana's eyes. Bob, however, stood between Artemis and Diana, his eyes issuing a challenge to the teenager before him.

Diana took a deep breath, and seemed to steady herself. "Bob…you have no idea how much damage this is doing to my psyche…I love you to death and the only thing I can think about right now is tearing your shirt off…and I really don't want to walk through you because that would be extremely rude and thoughtless, but STEP ASIDE!" Her eyes flared with anger, and Bob stepped aside.

She ran to Artemis. "Artemis, look at me! This is the Dresdenverse, and whether you like it or not, we are here! Look at me! BOB, I repeat Hrothbert of Bainbridge in all his sexy glory is standing behind me, in character. Neither you or I can write Bob in character-"

Harry sighed again and placed a hand gently on Diana's shoulder, only to have it immediately brushed off. "Diana..." He called her name gently, but alas! It was in vain. Diana merely snorted a bit and returned to her rant. "Artemis Shekarchi! Get! Your! Butt! In! GEAR! This is real, get used to it! If this was my fantasy, Bob would already be shirtless by now. You don't even fantasize about Dresden! Now get your ass off the floor and-" Artemis stared at Diana, fear in her eyes.

"It's not real..."

"Oh for the love of Bob!" Diana drew her hand back and slapped Artemis across the face. Almost instantly, Artemis' eyes seemed to focus once more upon the girl before her.

"What did you do that for?"

"Welcome back."