Hope you liked the last chapter, it was the most challenging I've written so far when it came to content. I tried to mirror JB's writing style as much as possible with the conversation between Mai and Harry.

Chapter 6

"That old bitch!" McCoy swore loudly as we re-entered the tunnels beyond the Crystalline hall. Retracing our steps he continued, "She knew I would have to agree with her. The merlin would never let me go with you and she knew it, and she can't arrest you for your apprentice's actions as you are winter's Emissary."

"Cutting me off huh? Gone into worse situations than this Sir"

"With help Hoss, with help! Everyone back in Chicago thinks you're dead. Unless you tell them different, you'll get no help from them."

"I'll figure something out. I have a plan, I think anyway." What I didn't add was my plan so far started and ended the moment I returned to Chicago

McCoy knew I was lying but thankfully didn't press. We walked the rest of the way in silence, eerily echoing our first pass of the tunnels. Walking straight past the Warden's Room we soon emerged at the entrance to Headquarters and Steed standing just beyond.

We both stopped and turned to face each other. Ebenezer drew me into a back-breaking hug once more, whispering "Luck Hoss," before withdrawing and putting a hand on my shoulder. I could see unformed tears in his eyes as they met and we solemnly shared a quiet look. It passed quickly as I squared my shoulders and, turning away from my grandfather, strolled up the path passing Steed with an exchanged nod and walked onwards.

Just before the entrance would disappear from view, I risked a look back to see McCoy's silhouette still there, barely visible. His shoulders were sagged and his body thinner than it should be, evidence that he had not looked after himself in recent months.

Concern and angst rippled through me as I forced my eyes back in front of the path and made my way back home at last.

I arrived in Chicago two hours later, by a car park adjacent to the piers. It was dawn by now and though dark, the pink of the sunrise was touching the horizon. The air smelled fresh and new energy surged in my limbs as I surveyed the area.

No one was around, a fishing boat leaving its dock the only evidence of human activity in sight. Watching the small trawler leave, I scanned the dock and was shocked to see my brothers boat still there. Something was wrong with this picture though.

I approached the boat and I noticed why. The paint was fading quickly, the police tape from my shooting was flapping wildly in the slight breeze and there was stuff all over its deck. In my demise, Thomas had obviously let this place go. I could sympathise, I would never have willingly returned to such a place myself.

As my eyes wandered over the stuff on deck, I noticed that some of it belonged inside and was torn up badly. I ventured onto the boat and inspected it closer, some of it was torn so badly the bed sheets resembled rags and shelves lay broken over cabinets.

Troubled by this, I opened the door into the small space inside. The place had been ransacked! Wall panels were torn off the walls completely and anything large enough to hold something inside, say a sword, had been torn apart and discarded.

Someone had been here looking for the swords! Murphy knew where they were hidden and didn't do this, which meant one thing, the Fallen were already here!

Visions of Michael Carpenter being filled with lead filled my head before changing, the face turning into Murphy's, then Molly's and the Alphas and so on. Bitter anger rose inside like a snake coiling to strike as I returned back outside and onto the dock.

It was then that I did something reckless.

Rather than letting my emotions flood out of me, I let them build up layer upon layer as I extended my senses. Why shouldn't I put doubt and the fear of God in them? I thought as I concentrated on the water directly below me and the pier, taking its energy, its heat and storing it for the desired spell.

When the pressure became painful between the eyes, I raised my right arm to the sky and spoke in one thundering word, "Fuego!"

A pillar of flame five feet wide erupted from my hand and leapt skywards. The pillar would be seen for miles and would wake anyone with enough talent from a dead sleep, so I kept the fire raging for a full five seconds before releasing the energy.

Shaking from the effort, I knelt down beside the water Beetle and scratched symbols both on its surface and on the dock. Chicken scratching's to uneducated people; I put ward symbols in amongst foxfire sigils I remembered from Demonreach and symbols akin to those on my staff. Prominently in the middle of them I scratched a rough diagram of three swords crossing each other.

Finished, I hobbled off the dock whilst taking deep breaths. It was the concentration of turning the energy in the water into fire rather than the actual spell itself that caught my breath. Evidence of ice in a hundred foot circle showed the area I had affected with the spell.

I quickly turned away from the pier and set off at a brisk walk away from the scene, eager to get out of sight and see if anyone turned up. Taking refuge behind the gated entrance to the docks, I settled myself on an upturned box amongst discarded wood fragments which were concealed with a few rags of tarp. From my hiding place, I could see anyone entering the docks and the water beetle all in one glance.

Sure enough, ten minutes later, a sleek black car drove up to the gates. Blacked out windows and a familiarity to a government sedan set my hairs on end as it pulled into an empty bay before the driver's door opened.

The man who emerged from it could pass for an FBI agent. The pressed suit and dark glasses matched perfectly and there was nothing supernatural about his appearance in the slightest. I watched as he passed within ten feet of my position and continued onto the pier. For ten minutes I watched as he took in the symbols and photographed them along with the melting ice off the dock. He then started back in my direction as he put a disposable camera back in his pocket and came out with a cell phone before dialling a number.

"…. Arrived and no one is here. Whoever did it left markings though. Mostly warding symbols along with some I don't recognise…No, but there was something …there was something else. Whoever it was knew of the swords…..I'm sure, they were placed right in the middle and you can't miss them. I have photos if you want to see them yourself, I'm on my way back now before anyone can bring the police…." Was all I could hear as he passed me on the way to his car and climbed in.

I waited for the car to disappear round the corner before taking a deep breath. The conversation I heard troubled me. It seemed obvious now that whoever was just here was most likely a Fallen and thus maybe Nicodemus was on the other end of the line.

The guy turned out to be right about the police though because two minutes after he left, three squad cars from the local PD came through the gates. Approaching without sirens, they pulled up right next to the dock before getting out of their cars. I recognised one of the cops immediately as Henry Rawlins, an old head from SI. Why he was there with the other cops I didn't know but it was obvious the other cops didn't like him around. It was just another reason why SI was seen as punishment to all those who were assigned to it.

I watched from my hiding place as the cops looked at the former crime scene. The police tape had come loose and was now flapping in the slight morning breeze, Rawlins staring at it and the chicken scratch thoughtfully. I was sure Rawlins would recognise the symbols even if he couldn't place them back to my apartment and my staff from his rare visits.

It was then that I took a calculated risk. Leaning out slightly from behind my cover I envisioned a summoning circle in my head, and picturing Rawlins, called out, "hey Rawlins turn around!"

He instantly started at the pure mental shout, his hand going straight to his gun before he wondered aloud "Dresden?" before turning to face my direction.

Raising my hand in a slight wave, he zeroed in on my face and the colour drained from his face. He stared at me for a few seconds before turning to his companions and said something that didn't go down well with them, the other officers scowling at him before one of them nodded reluctantly. All the officers apart from Rawlins returned to their cars and left quickly, venomous looks back at Rawlins still visible as they passed me on their way out.