So so sorry for the wait guys!

Combo of things that prevented me submitting earlier (writers block, work, sunshine etc.), but I've spent today polishing off not one but two chapters for your pleasure in penance.

As to your query dstorrs you are right in saying that mental summoning is dangerous and requires massive concentration and energy. Just remember that Harry has lost his apartment including his solid gold (?) summoning circle in his basement and all his potions, chalks etc. also Rawlins wouldn't know how combat Harry mentally and Lea wouldn't be able to with Mab "possessing" Harry as winter knight so he wouldn't have any backlash from those two.

I also like to think that he learnt a thing or two about mental summoning in Changes and that he is growing more powerful, but that's just me.

Anyways, Enjoy.

Chapter 11

Everything that I had at my apartment was gone, so it was no surprise that we all ended up at Murphy's house a few hours later. As part of Molly's tutelage both under me and my deranged godmother, Molly had managed to get herself quite a modest collection that mirrored most of what I'd lost or managed to remove before my apartment and all its contents went up in flames.

A crude summoning circle and ritual later saw me sitting in Murphy's plush living room stroking my enormous cat, Mister, as I managed to pinpoint the general direction of my brother from my pendant. Mister, for once, seemed content to let me stroke him after he barrelled straight for my shins upon entering what was ostensibly his house now. I allowed myself five minutes of distraction before getting up and leaving the house to the dismay of my furry companion as he looked up unmoving from his spot.

Though Molly and Murphy both accompanied me, little was said as we meandered through the streets. Wherever my brother was, he was on the move, never staying in one place long enough for me to narrow down to a location.

As the search started to enter the more questionable parts of Chicago, we came across areas we remembered from dark magic in the past; including where the black court vamp Mavra holed herself up with Thralls. It was at this point that I really started to fear for my brother, him being in such dark and dismal places. The possibility that the Formor could have built a stronghold here in a place as miserable as this was more than plausible.

Just as my nerves tingled and my hair stood on end, I heard something that stopped me in my tracks. Loud gunfire erupting several hundred yards in front of us and inhuman shrieks rise in reply.

My legs carried me forward in a run before my brain could fully register the noises as gunfire. Molly and Murphy took only a second in following suit but my longer strides quickly left them in the dust. As I skidded round a corner, I saw that I'd landed myself in a full-blown battle.

Dozens of freakish looking men, all with lop-sided, muscular bodies and eerie appendages had managed to corner a man and a woman and now advanced on them threateningly. What made it a slightly fairer fight though was the fact that the cornered duo wielded semi-automatic guns in each hand. A quick look at them told me that the man was Thomas, the other also had the look of a White Court vampire but I didn't recognise her.

My brother and his friend did a fairly good job of keeping their enemy at bay with lightning reflexes and a sniper's aim. That is until their clips ran out at the same time. In the time it took for me to react to the change in the situation, Thomas had unhooked his wicked-looking sabre from over his shoulder and engaged them. The vampire at his side having no such weapon merely used her superior strength to crush anyone getting through Thomas' blistering offense.

It was then that I invited myself to the party. Targeting the nearest freak, I sharply pulled in my will and fear for my brother and shouted, "Laqueus".

A whip-like cord of silver flame erupted from my hand and wrapped around my target. I merely twitched the rope in my direction and the head fell from its shoulders. The cold fury of Winter and shining flame of Soulfire coursing through its length emitting a blinding light as the whip lashed out again and again at those nearest.

The cracking sound of Murphy's guns came into play as our opponents turned to the threat we posed them. Molly though, had somehow appeared at Thomas' side as I could see her quickly talking to him. The next chance I had to look in their direction, I saw Thomas gazing at me completely gobsmacked, his sabre falling from suddenly limp hands.

Though Molly automatically went to retrieve it, she was no swordsman. It was all I could do to yell in their direction, "Get down and shield yourselves now!"

As soon as I saw the hallmark shimmer of Molly's shield energies covering herself, Thomas and his companion I reached once more into my cache of will and Soulfire as I yelled the signature "Fuego forzare!"

My I-beam special may not have the pinpoint accuracy or elegance of more aged Wardens, but that didn't matter. A tongue of fire, a foot in diameter scythed the remaining forces as I wielded the flame left through to right leaving torso's and bottom halves lying next to each other on the ground.

Murphy's guns fell silent as the fire dissipated, the whole area becoming deathly quiet in the aftermath of the confrontation. As I glanced in Thomas' direction I was relieved to see that the trio were still behind Molly's shield in a crouched position. The top of the shield had been shredded to pieces though as my lance of flame passed over their heads.

I watched Molly lower her shield as a wave of exhaustion hit me. It was more from the run to the battle than the actual fight itself as I only used a meagre amount of soulfire to give my spells an extra kick. Having said that, I was still out of breath and the sudden idea of a steak sandwich at Mac's popping into my head was more than a little tempting.

As I approached them, I kept my eyes glued on Thomas' eyes for any sign of what he was thinking. His face was still pale and his eyes gave off a feeling of shock, his expression as a whole though was unfathomable. Was it surprise? Joy? The ghost of the person I saw Uriel was gone and on closer inspection he seemed to have left the despairing and grimy past exactly there. I don't really know what to expect though, I mean, would I really have wanted my brother to shatter like glass in the wake of my death? Standing in front of me Thomas was by no means broken but there was an uncertainty and a faint hope in his eyes behind it all.

Closing to within ten feet of him, the companion moved to his side with all the subtlety she could manage, as if to put herself slightly in front of him and defend him herself. I turned to face her fully then as I knew I had to recognise her duty first, "we come in peace, vampire. You have my word we do not bring violence on you or yours," I said straight up.

The woman, if you could call her that, relaxed her stance slightly before looking at Thomas and nodding, "I shall hold you to that Wizard, and you have ours as well." As if to punctuate her meaning, she immediately reloaded the gun still in her hand.

As I return to look at Thomas, he seems to regain his voice as he says, "I don't believe it!"

I couldn't resist it as I say, "that is why you fail." A laugh bursts out of Molly at the Yoda reference as the corner of Thomas' mouth twitches. At the least my brother has regained a portion of his old humour. "How have you been, bro?" I add before the mask slips back on.

Thomas looks at Molly and Murphy, as if for confirmation that it really is me. As if a Yoda quip and my general appearance isn't enough to convince him. "I'm good. Better now we got rid of that lot," he motioned at the bodies, "they've been hounding me all day, even after I met up with Elisa here," he added by way of introduction to the vampire next to him.

I nod at her in return as I remember why she looked so familiar. Of course, she had been completely devoid of clothing the last time I saw her on the island of Demonreach as she came with Lara Raith and another sister.

"What's with the clothes? I thought they were only optional after the last time I saw you and your sisters?" I ask her innocently.

Molly's and Murphy's eyebrows go up until they disappear into their hair as Elisa smirks by way of reply. "We must have made quite an impression on you," she looked around as she added, "Now is not the time, nor the place to continue our discussion. We have to be someplace else before others come. You are welcome to join us though as you might find it to your benefit as much as ours."

At that note, we gather up Thomas' fallen sabre and discarded guns as well as anything of value from the bodies as sirens begin sounding in the distance. As we walk away from the scene, I hang at the back where Thomas soon joins me in silence with a jostle of the shoulder and short embrace. I let him have a few moments of quiet before I start opening up conversation. What I gathered didn't really have any importance towards my return but it was still good to hear; him and Justine were able to touch one another again, he spent more and more time at the Raith mansion as a result and Justine relayed the fact that Lara had been busy forging relationships with distasteful and honest people alike.

"She made an agreement with Marcone?" I asked surprised as I heard that particular titbit of information. As Thomas confirmed it, I mulled it over. It made sense of course, as it was a mutually beneficial relationship to both of them; they both maintained strict order and hated disorder as well as policing their own people with ruthless efficiency. The two of them could even be of use to the White Council as a way of aid against the Formor in the area.

"That was the conclusion they came to as well," Thomas said as I voiced my insight. He motioned that I look ahead, my gaze following his as I look across the road to discover where our path had led us.

We'd come across a roundabout way to get to it which is why I didn't recognise it immediately but there it was, the same as ever.

McAnally's Pub.