-1Disclaimer: I don't own any of these people, places or events.

A/N: I've only seen this once, so if I messed it up Forgive me. BTW I
switched the beginning around a little bit. HEY Poetic license or
something like that. Have fun.

When I pulled the door to, I heard bells chiming, "Be with you in a
minute," I saw a man start down the stairs. "There goes my day off," I
heard it as a murmur and smiled. 'I know the feeling.'
"Oh, cool!" Crow startled me by rushing over to a stack of old books.
Before I could say anything, he had plopped down next to it and
started flying through them.
"Kid, you really shouldn't be reading those," the man walked over to
take the stack and Crow threw his arms over the book he was reading.
"Relax," I couldn't help but smile at the man's reaction to Crow.
"He's probably already read them at least once." Crow just titled his
head at the man and, smiling, went back to reading.
"The ones at the house are picture books compared to these."
"You know, you really should've asked permission first. What if he
had... bugged them?" Crow gave me a half smile and tapped the feather
still woven into his hair. "Yeah, forgot. Where is that bird of
yours?" He pointed to a low beam just as Ka voiced an answer.
"Oh... Kay. Now that I'm confused, good job by the way. Can I help
you with something?"
"We've been looking for somewhere safe that Crow may learn his...
craft. It seems this place was on the list. And don't ask me how, I
just transport."
"Well, sorry, but I'm not taking students. I can recommend some
people though."
"I don't need a teacher. I need a place that won't hold me back,"
Crow had switched books and was looking at it with a confused
expression. "Greek?"
"Latin. Might as well give up kid, I even have a hard time with it."
"Name's Crow," I saw him trace an odd pattern over a closed eye, "And
this is what Translation is for," he opened a pale glowing, white eye
and continued to read. "The only problem is double vision."
"Crow? As in," he thumbed toward Ka, still perched on the beam.
"Yes, Ka," who flew down to perch on his shoulder.
"Huh? Now I'm completely confused."
"As am I," the unknown voice caused me to turn to see and old world,
man step through the wall.
"ACK!" The outburst, sounding much like something Ka would do, caused
me and my companions to go into a silent fit of laughter. "BOB!
Company!"
"Oh, relax Harry. She's dead and if the child is roaming through your
books it is obvious that he's a wizard.
"Wizard? I'm not one of those idiot Dead Wizards!"
"Heal Crow. They mean that you have magic, not that you're in a gang."
"Why do I have the feeling that I'm never going to know what's going on?"
"Because you won't," I looked at Bob. We had said it at the same time.
"Ghost," Bob nodded.
"You... I can't quite figure out. You are dead," I nodded, though it
wasn't a question.
There was a sudden knocking and Bob stepped back through the wall,
"Dresden. It's Murphy. Can I come in?"
"Yeah Murph, come on in."
I heard the chime on the door as a woman walked in. "Running a
daycare now?" I smiled as Crow looked up from the book, she hadn't
noticed his white eye.
"What can I say, rent's due," Harry shot a nervous look at Crow, who
just smiled and winked. The spell broken, Crow blinked matching eyes
at him. "So, are you just here to bust my chops?"
"No, have you seen or heard anything unusual today?" I shut my eyes
and forced my expression to stay neutral, while Crow was trying to
silently die of laughter.
"Understatement of the century," I went over to Crow and laid a hand
on his shoulder. "Do try to remember to breath." Crow proceeded to
fall onto his back in full laughter. Poor Ka had to move before he was
landed on.
"Did I miss something?"
"Only as much as I have."
"Crow. Calm down," I helped the poor boy to sit up, all he could do
was nod his head while trying to breath. "Do you want me to help?" He
shook his head, still laughing.
"Better calm down soon, you're turning blue," Harry's comment made it
worse. Crow, who's breathing had started to even, started laughing
again.
"Kni...ves," Crow had taken a shuttering breathe between laughing
fits and nodded his head.
"Stop," I whispered into his ear. "Just breath," he took a chest
rattling breath as the fit suddenly stopped.
"Wizards, witched, vampires, ghosts, skeptic cops... What a day."
"You forgot clueless Humans," I expected him to start laughing again,
the command must've held because he just smiled and nodded.
"Huh?"
"How'd you know I was a cop?"
"We've come across so many. You all react the same way, speak the
same way," Crow smiled. Ka, perched on the stack of books he had been
reading, gave a cah and Murphy stepped back. "Ka, stop that," he
bowed his head and hopped to perch on his shoulder.
Company.
"Someone's here," I translated just as the bells chimed to indicate
the door being opened.
"AH," Crow had to tuck the feather behind his ear as it began to glow
so brightly that it blinded him. "What in the Never is going on?" His
eyes went wide when he saw a woman being carried by a group of people,
"She's injured."
I had to stop him as he tried to help, "No," I waited until he
noticed the broad sword one of the men was carrying. "Don't get
involved. If he strikes at you, he will die."
"Knives, trust me. No one has to die," he blinked solid black eyes at
me and went to aide the woman.
"Damn Foresight. Crow, just be careful with it," he looked back with
normal eyes and smiled.
Crow safe? A familiar weight settled on my shoulder as Ka landed.
Strangers friends?
We'll find out. Both Harry and the man with the sword furrowed their
eyebrows at me, I gave them a half smile.
"Black as night," Crow's words drug my attention to him as he
followed the man holding the woman up the stairs. "Looks and whispers
of promises unkept."
"Is he always that poetic?" Harry asked.
"Only when he's," I turned and saw dark shadows spread across the
outside of the building, "Under the Foresight. By the gods," the
lights flickered before the power went out.
Daynight? Moonsun?
"No, it's not an Eclipse," I started hearing the faintest whispers,
voices from the past. Murphy had started to freak out and ramble at
the windows. Harry was trying to calm her down but I could tell be his
movements that he was scared.
"Knives?" Crow's voice, the only one I could hear over the whispers.
I looked up at the stairs, he was leaning on the rail, "Tell them to
step back."
I looked over to see Murphy in freak-out mode, no one was paying
attention to Crow. "Humans! Listen to Crow!" Everyone froze to stare
at me. "He said, step back!"
"Humans? Dresden, what the hell is going on?" Murphy's eyes went wide
as the darkness started coming through the windows.
"Crow," I turned around, expecting him up the stairs, and had to
stop as he stood right in front of me. He was smirking. "You know
what's going on, don't you?" He full on smiled and bowed his head.
"Tell me."
"Better yet, I will let you see for yourself," he reached up, as if
to hug me, and I leaned down. He laid his forehead against mine,
"Trade you," I let my eyes close as his had. "I know you don't
practice but this is the easiest way to go about answering this." When
I opened my eyes, it was like a permanent sense of deja vu. Every
movement was shadowed, like seeing a film in slow motion.
"Crow...ow," it was like my voice was echoing but I knew I had only
said it once.
"You've got an odd sight yourself," he blinked sky blue eyes at me. I
could've sworn his were dark colored. "What? Don't you recognize your
eye colors?" He smiled and his eyes changed to yellow, wolfish eyes.
"Enough fun," he titled my chin to look at the stunned Humans. "What
do you see?"
"Food," whatever Crow did had taken more power than it should've. I
focused on him and could see... strands, barely the width of a silk
thread, leading back to me. He was... feeding off me to fuel the
borrowed eyes.
"Besides that," he gave a nervous smile and turned my head again. "I
thought you might like to see," my vision settled on Murphy, her
form... didn't fit right. It was like forcing a large picture into a
too small frame.
"Dragon," it wasn't even a whisper and I saw the form blur as Murphy
turned toward me.
"What was that?" the one with the sword asked. Morgan, the eyes told
me, was his name. Murphy shot him a panicked look and I smiled at him.
"We need to get out of the... Between. I know I can't open a portal
out. We're Between living and dead, if we were Between dementions I
could help."
"You just saw the cause," I looked at Crow in confusion, he smiled
and signaled for me to lean down. "The longer you let the drag out,
the more that die, and the longer you keep my eyes the hungrier you
will get," he whispered all of this into my ear and glanced around the
room to rest on Murphy. "One dragon for the life of these innocents.
What will it be?" He patted my shoulder, "Watch your back," I suddenly
had a flask of Morgan swinging his sword, aiming for my throat, "And
theirs," another flash, this time of Morgan being consumed by green
flames.
"Sorry Murphy," she looked at me with cautious eyes. "Playtime's
over," she took as deep breathe as I rushed at her. "Don't think so,"
I crossed one of my blades with Morgan's as he struck at me. "Be a
good boy and let the adults fight," I felt heat at my back s I kicked
him away from the flames.
"Knives!" I heard Crow's strained cry as I was engulfed in the green flames.
"What's wrong, little bird, don't you trust me?" I let my form shift,
change to male. Less to cover, a surprise, an advantage. I felt my
cloak try to recover from the damage, it wrapped around my waist as
the flames receded. "Round two," I struck again and this time no one
tried to stop me.
"Bitch!" It, Murphy screeched as I pinned her against a wall. "You
can't kill me!" Her form was changing, the shadow images stopped and I
soon held a dragon by the throat.
"There are worse things than death," I looked over to the shop doors
as they flew open, pushed by a young man. "Ask my brother what they
are," I threw her into the waiting embrace of my long dead enemy.
"Take this boon and get thee back to Hell," barely a whisper,
inaudible over the dragon's screams.
A smug smile played on his lips as the dragon turned to dust in his
arms. "You will soon run out of boons, Dear Sister. Then I shall come
to claim the existence you stole from me," his hollow laughter
followed as his image faded into the receding blackness.
"That... was your.. brother?" Crow kept looking to where the image had been.
"I told you I swore to destroy my family. He was the only one stupid
enough to get close to me when I made the oath," I mussed his hair
until it fell into his, my, blue eyes. "Are my eyes really that color?
No wonder father hated me, I reminded him of the sunlit sky."
"Your eyes are blue? NO WAY!" I cocked my head in confusion and he
laughed. "Your eyes are always so dark, I wouldn't've guessed."
"We're going to have company. Can we continue this after I get
..uh... changed?" I was still in a male form and the only thing
protecting my 'modesty' was my near destroyed cloak still clinging to
my waist.
"Alright, change then," Crow crossed his arms and smiled.
"Fine," I stepped back into the shadows before there was a knock on
the door, "But I want my eyes back."
"Sure Princess, anything you say."
"Princess?" I stepped up beside him, a large wolf that nearly reached
to his chest. I had to force the Human words from the wolf's throat.
"No one has dared call me that. Not since father sentenced the last
one to watch the sunrise with me."
"You mean there are more like you?"
"No. He burned once the sun got past the horizon line," Crow looked
at me, mortified, as I led the way passed the stunned dragon look
alike, still holding the door. "What can I say," I looked back at the
stunned Murphy. Forget. He eyes went blank, "My father is a real
bastered."
Wait. Ka flew past Murphy and pierced on Crow's shoulder. Dropped. He
lowered his head and set my gold staff/pin in Crow's outstretched
hand.
"What's this?"
"Keep it for me. I can't very well pin it to my coat can I?" I shook,
much like a dog trying to dry its fur, and trotted away, toward the
mouth of the alley.
"So, off we go again?" Crow quickly followed as a man spotted me and
moved to get away. " Quite the charmer," he muttered as the crowds
started moving away and whispering. "Couldn't you at least Glamor so
they don't see you?"
"I could," I heard a gasp as a woman moved to run from the talking
wolf, "But what fun would that be?"
"You know," I could barely make out over a massive yawn. "As you
claim to be you can act like such a child."
"Boredom is my worst enemy," I brushed up against him as he yawned
again, this time nearly loosing his balance. " How long has it been
since you have rested?"
"Uh, I'm fine," He blinked his normal eyes at me and i realized he
had been using my energy to keep awake during the whole incident.
"No you aren't," i felt him lean on me and shift so he could lay
across my back. "Just sleep, little bird. I'll take us somewhere
safe."
"Not, ti..." the command took and he fell silent, sound asleep.
This way. I looked up as a rather tall, older man smiled at me from
across the street. he ducked down a shadowed alley, long robes
fluttering behind him. You seek safety and knowledge, come and you
will find both. I shifted back into male form, barely remembering to
keep my cloak around my waist, and quickly followed, still holding
Crow on my back.
"What trick is this?" The man had disappeared, all that was there was
a dead end and shadows too dark for even me to see through.
Have a little trust in us mortals. Not all seek to harm you.
"That's yet to be proven," i felt Ka shift as he flew away from me
into the shadows.
Follow. safe. I heard his call from within the shadows.
"It's on your head," I stepped into through, the shadows. i felt my
bare foot hit stone and heard the echoes play off the dark stone
hallway.