Disclaimer: belongs to Jim Butcher and Scifi channel.
Rating: PG
Book or TV verse: TV with some bits of bookverse
Warnings: Language. A tiny spoiler from the books (6 or 7 I think)
Summary: Morgan hunts dangerous prey

---

Fortunately Dresden was home. Morgan introduced Carla to him, and explained what was going on. Morgan counted on Dresden's weakness for women in distress.

"Set your wardings as strong as you can, and stay inside with her." He instructed. "Talk to her and find out as much as you can. I will return after I find out what is going on."

Dresden nodded, and led Carla deeper into his apartment, offering her tea. As soon as Morgan left, he felt the wards on the apartment go back up, stronger than he had ever felt them.

He turned and headed back to the Council to find out what was going on.

---

Ancient Mai and the stranger were in the lobby when Morgan returned.

"There you are." Mai said, reaching out to Morgan.

"I want you to meet Blackstaff Carter, he's visiting on his way to Oregon."

Morgan shook Carter's hand, and was promptly chilled to the bone. Carla was right. This man was a killer – A Blackstaff, the Council's Official … cleaners. Blackstaffs worked apart from normal restrictions on magic. They could even use black magic when they deemed it necessary.

A rogue Blackstaff. Morgan had never even considered such a nightmare. Extraordinary power and license, free of the Warden's oversight. This man was more dangerous than any Morgan had ever dreamed he would encounter. He pulled his hand back and gave a slight bow.

"It is an honor, Blackstaff Carter. If you will excuse me." He needed to get away from both of them, and find a way to consult council records for information on Carter, and perhaps his history with Ancient Mai.

Morgan descended the stairs, headed for his private office. He closed the door behind him, but suddenly the Blackstaff was pushing in behind Morgan, wrapping him in the overwhelming grip of strong magical energy. Carter pushed Morgan up hard against a wall and threw his sword across the room. His low rumble was calculated to terrify and paralyze.

"You know where she is, I can smell her." He snarled.

Morgan nearly fainted. He had never been this frightened of any human. He felt the Blackstaff forcefully invade his mind; it was a brutal violation. He tried to free himself, tried to resist, but he was pinned to the wall both by Carter's hand on his throat and the bonds of the spell Carter had woven so around him so tightly that he could not breathe.

The Blackstaff sneered and asked: "Who is this Harry Dresden? Where can I find him?"

Morgan tried to think of anything else, but lack of oxygen and the human tendency to think of a white elephant when told not to gave the rogue Blackstaff everything he needed to know.

The pressure on Morgan's body constricted alarmingly. He felt bones crack before everything went dark.

---

"I'm alive." Morgan was surprised when he woke up.

He had been flung against the far wall. Carter must have thought he was dead. Morgan felt he had just experienced a miracle. He was in great deal of pain. He felt like every bone in his body had been broken and every corner of his mind viciously torn apart, but he was alive.

Ancient Mai was the close friend of a rogue Blackstaff. Morgan almost refused to accept this. He had to get out of here, without anyone seeing him. He didn't dare trust anyone on the council, not even his wardens. He had to get to Dresden's and try to save both the girl and Dresden.

He retrieved his sword from where it had been thrown and using it as a cane headed out his emergency bolt hole.

---

Murphy opened the door of her home and gasped. Morgan was more or less standing on her porch, swaying on his feet. She helped him inside and led him to lie down her couch.

"I found him." Morgan tried to say brightly. His wry grin turned into a grimace.

"Really, no kidding?" Murphy responded in kind. "I hope he's worse off." she knew that was not the case.

Morgan groaned.

"He is headed for Dresden's place, I took Carla there."

Murphy's blood drained from her face.

"You said you're the 'chief of police'. Can't you send people to stop him? Why are you here?"

Morgan groaned again.

"I can't trust them." he admitted. "The man is..." Morgan hesitated. His aversion to giving information to civilians was deeply ingrained.

"This man is known to the council. He has friends in high places. He is … " Morgan fumbled with a way to explain without revealing too much. "he works for the council, doing … distasteful jobs."

Murphy backed away from him, anger flashing.

"My police station was invaded; my partner is in the hospital- all because one of your associates is trying to kill a witness?"

Morgan was almost more afraid of her at that moment than he had been of Blackstaff Carter. She was reaching for her holster.Morgan put out a hand up in a defensive gesture and she wrapped a cuff around his wrist.

"Please, lieutenant, I need your help. I must stop him." He hesitated then looked her in the eye and held the look until the soulgaze kicked in. The world stopped for both of them as he saw deeply into her soul and, more importantly at the moment, she saw into his. The soulgaze ended and time started again. Murphy gasped. Her eyes softened and the anger left her. Not for the first time Morgan wondered what others saw in him during a soulgaze.

She unlocked the cuff and stood up.

"Let me get you some painkiller, you can barely stand." Murphy moved around the house, she returned with ibuprofen and a glass of water for Morgan. She put on a shoulder holster with her pistol, and then shrugged into a coat.

"Lets go." she said.

---

Murphy drove.

When they were a block from Dresden's apartment they nearly hit a running figure. Murphy stopped the car with a squeal of tires and a curse. Carla's pale face was frozen in the headlights, her eyes wide. She was carrying Dresden's most prized possession, the decorated skull.

"Carla!" Morgan shouted.

Murphy got out of the car and grabbed for Carla's hand.

"Get in the car," she told the frantic young woman "get down. Here are the keys." Murphy put her keys into Carla's hand and closed her fingers over them. " If you need to, take off without us." Murphy scribbled in the small notebook she kept in her jacket, tore the page out and handed it to Carla. "Here is an address you can go to and a number to call." The younger woman nodded and got into the driver's seat. Morgan climbed out of the car slowly. He spoke softly to Murphy so Carla wouldn't hear.

"If Dresden gave her that" he pointed to the skull "he doesn't expect to survive this fight."

They both looked towards Dresden's apartment, the windows were dark. Morgan could feel the magical energies that were being emitted from the apartment like light even from this distance.

"Stay behind." he told Murphy. "If I don't come back, you need to protect Carla."

Murphy grabbed his jacket sleeve. "You can't do this alone, you're nearly dead on your feet" Murphy objected, "You stay with her to protect her."

Morgan shook his head.

"You aren't one of us, so you have a better chance of getting Carla somewhere safe."

He leaned in the window as if to speak to Carla.

"Bob, help them however you can."

Two confused women said "Huh?"

Lights flashed briefly in the skull's eye sockets, but neither woman noticed.

Morgan headed to enter the fight. He barged into Dresden's apartment, it was trashed. He saw Dresden writhing on the ground, still hanging on to his hockey stick. Carter was so focused on torturing Dresden that he did not sense Morgan entering.

The warden didn't hesitate for a second. He put all his remaining strength and will through the sword and struck out at Carter. The startled Blackstaff was blown to his knees, howling in pain and rage, giving Dresden a chance to scramble backwards into the narrow hallway between his office and the apartment.

Morgan dove for cover. He was nearly done in. Dresden hurled his last weak blast and dropped the hockey stick as he fell to the floor. Morgan raised his sword, preparing to attack Carter the old fashioned way. Carter waved a hand casually and threw Morgan hard against the ceiling; the warden fell to the floor. His head barely missed his own sword.

Two loud blasts interrupted Carter's laughter. There was silence and the sound of a body hitting the floor. Morgan made a fruitless attempt to haul himself up. Harry was leaning against the hallway wall.

Blackstaff Carter was on the ground, a spray of blood coated him and everything near him. Judging by the mess of blood and bone his chest had become, Morgan was fairly certain the evil rogue was dead.

Murphy stood in the doorway, holding a smoking double barreled shotgun pointed upward with its butt on her hip.

"You people are hopeless." she said, taking in the carnage of the apartment.

Morgan decided that this was a good a time as any to loose consciousness.