Chapter Two

I wasn't completely sold that they were who they said they were, but I've seen too much to dismiss them out of hand. Besides, come on, real life superheroes!

"Let's assume that I believe you and that I'm going to take the case," I said as I pulled out a notepad from my desk. "I really haven't read any X-men in years, so you're going to have to fill me in. The girl you want me to find - Illyana. That's your sister, right?"

"Da," the big Russian said. "We arrived here yesterday. We seem to have been... diverted, somehow."

I scribbled down some thoughts as I racked my brain. Illyana... she was the demon sorceress? I'd thought she was dead, but then, I'd heard over at one of Kirby's game nights that Colossus was dead too - or was he back and Kitty was dead? No big deal, in the funny books. It wasn't like my world, where dead meant dead. I thought briefly of my trouble with Cowl and the necromancers a couple years back, and wondered if comic resurrections followed similar mechanics.

The sheer idiocy of the situation struck me. There was, of course, one way to make sure they were who they said they were. "OK, I have to ask... can you really turn to metal? Or walk through walls?"

The one calling herself Kitty responded, "Can you really do magic?"

I grinned, "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

She chuckled, just a little bit, the first positive reaction I'd gotten from her. She took a pencil from my desk, twirling it a couple times in long, nimble fingers of her right hand. Her left lay flat on the table. The movement was so sudden I wasn't even able to yell, as she drove the pencil down through her left hand until only the top couple inches were visible. My eyes must have bulged a bit, as she gave me a reassuring smile and pulled her left arm back smoothly, sliding through the pencil. She stepped back from the desk, leaving two inches of yellow wood and an eraser sticking up out of what I knew to be a solid desk.

"Your turn," she said.

I had recovered my composure quickly. It usually takes a lot to get me off my game, but I guess real life mutant powers make that list. I glanced at some candles on a file cabinet. "Flickum bickus," I intoned casually, as the wicks burst into flame. The two watched, non-plussed but seemingly satisfied with my demonstration. I suppose, assuming this wasn't all a dream or a hoax, they'd dealt with a pyrokinetic or five in their time. I used a light wind spell - "Ventas reductas" - to blow out the candle. "So, do I get to see Colossus here do his thing?"

He looked around, apparently judging the load-bearing capacity of my office. And then he transformed. It was different from magic transformation. There was no blending; just a burst of light and suddenly where once was a flesh and blood human now stood a seven and a half foot steel golem. "Does this satisfy your curiosity?" he asked, his voice sounding... more resonant? Organic steel vocal cords, probably. I nodded.

He reverted to human form in another flash.

I adopted a blasé, seen-it-all attitude that totally hid the sheer nerdgasm and turned my attention back to the pad. "So, why don't we start from the top? How'd you come to be here in Chicago?"

"I live here," objected Kitty, but she corrected herself, "Well, a half hour north of here, and who knows how many dimensions away. I did go to school here, and things seem to be pretty much the same. I see the Cubs can't win here, either."

I remembered vaguely that Kitty hailed from Deerfield, which was twenty-five miles north of the Windy City. Her and the Bundy's from that show Married With Children. I even had a storage unit there, a bolt-hole in case things went to hell.

She continued, "We were going home - that is, back to the mansion - after a run in with some bad guys and their pet mastodon in Kansas City. The thing took up the entire cargo hold of the X-jet, so Peter and I figured we'd catch a ride back with his sister - she's a teleporter." I nodded, amused that for once, I wasn't the one with the more unbelievable story. "She used to have issues with long distances, but she's been better since coming back. I'd mentioned that I was planning to visit my mom, so maybe that diverted her attention, but we appeared in Chicago, near an old meatpacking plant."

"Peter's sister - her teleportation, is that part of her magic?" I asked.

She shook her head, "No - it's her mutant power. It's tied to Limbo though, and we think that was part of what Belasco - this evil sorcerer guy - did to her."

I began to wonder if I would end up in that Gaming/Comic shop that Billy and the Alphas frequented as part of the investigation, just to get the background on my clients. I could see my apprentice Molly rolling her eyes at that one.

"OK," I said, "Since she's your sister, the easiest thing would be a simple tracking spell using your blood. Unless you have some of her hair on you?"

"I'm not so sure about letting you have any of Peter's blood." Kitty said, her voice concerned, even as she checked over her costume for any stray hairs.

"Katya," Peter said, who was doing the same, "I am willing, if it will help find Illyana."

"He's a magic-user, Peter. You know what kind of havoc he could do to you with your blood?"

"Nothing, I expect, significantly more than he could not do without it, with us here in his sight. And if he were to try something, I believe that shifting to my armored form would break the connection."

"Hrm," I said. "I hadn't even considered that. That would probably work, too." I envied him if it would. There were times when an enemy had samples of my own blood or hair where it would've been very convenient to swap them out for a body of organic steel. Ha, organic steel. It was coming back to me – there had been comics where his armor was likened to cold iron and had hurt demonic creatures. Now, wouldn't that infuriate my godmother and any of the other Sidhe I might run into. Having the ability to knock over buildings with my bare hands and not just errant evocations would be a bonus. "But back to the problem at hand, I'm hoping you can just trust me. You sought me out, and if you want me to help you, then I will need something to locate her with."

She looked me over, and then sighed. "OK, let's get it over with."

I nodded. There was an unspoken threat there, and part of me – the reflexive smartass that's gotten me in more trouble than I care to remember – was stifled by the old-fashioned chivalry that's probably responsible for most of the remaining trouble. There was a pain in her eyes, of unimaginable and repeated loss. She'd had most of her loved ones taken from her, and for all those jokes about the revolving door to heaven in comic books, it didn't make that pain any less. I could relate – I'd grieved for Elaine the same way.

I pulled out a small medical kit and took out a small needle, an alcohol wipe and a glass pipette. I handed them to Peter. "The tube should keep the blood from drying out long enough to get a fix on your sister, if she's in the area." And alive, but I didn't say that.

I pulled on my heavy-mantled leather duster as he pricked his thumb, collecting the blood that welled up in the pipette. He handed it over wordlessly, and I tied it to my mother's amulet with a silver thread. "Segui votro afini," I intoned softly, feeding energy into the talisman. "Segui votro afini. Segui votro afini."

The pipette gave a very light tug, so faint I wasn't sure it wasn't caused by an involuntary muscle twitch. I steadied my breathing, letting my energy flow gently into the blood. I felt the tug again. "The game," I said, "is afoot."

I motioned them to follow, out through my office door and towards the stairs. Five flights later, we emerged, blinking in the brisk Chicago sunshine. I led them to my car.

"You drove here in that thing?" asked Kitty incredulously at her first view of my battered multi-hued VW Bug.

"I'm braver than you thought, huh? The Blue Beetle may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts."

"OK, points for the Star Wars reference, but the Blue Beetle, really?"

"Not an Electric Company fan?" I asked. "No, I guess that's too old for you." Sliding timeline, I thought. Early twenties meant she was born in the 90's. Ouch. I suddenly felt a whole lot older, given that I was reading funny books with the two of them a decade before that. But it wasn't that unusual -anyone who'd been through the Nevernever was familiar with the way time could vary. "Do you guys get the DC Comics in your universe? Superman, Batman, those sort of guys?"

"Sure, why?"

"I was just thinking what it would be like if they show up too."

"That's ridiculous," Kitty said derisively. "Superman's powers just make absolutely no sense."

"Hey Pot. Kettle wants to talk to you about walking through walls," I responded. "Besides, didn't your universes merge during some event at some point?" I'd browsed Kirby's collection from time to time, remembering a DC versus Marvel crossover with fans voting on the outcomes of fights. "And what about Gladiator? Hyperion?"

Peter broke his silence, "I, at least, can attest to the strength of Gladiator."

I nodded. "OK, can one of you drive a stick? I need to keep my attention on the spell."

"You aren't serious. The three of us in that?" Kitty looked at me sharply. "Can't we get a cab or something?"

I gritted my teeth, trying to keep the spell running as I answered, "First, I don't think you're going to find a cab around here that'll pick up three weirdo's looking like us. Second, modern tech tends to go wrong around magic, so the cab might break down en route. And third," I coughed delicately. "I don't have the cash."

"We have some-," Peter said.

"From your universe?" I shook my head, "I appreciate the thought, but for all I know when we find your sister and get you home, all your possessions – including the money may vanish like so much faerie gold. I wouldn't do that to some cabbie just trying to make ends meet, would you?"

"Nyet. I see your point," he said. "Katya knows the area far better than I. She can drive. I will do my best in your back seat."

Watching the large man fold himself into the 'Beetle's back seat was quite a sight, as if he were a whole clown troupe by himself. I was sure the car could handle the weight – it had handled my apprentice and my dog on a number of occasions. When he was situated, I crumpled myself into the passenger seat, folded over almost double. I held the chain with the blood between my knees, locking in on any movement.

Kitty got behind the wheel, moving the seat forward to reach the pedals. She brought the 'Beetle to life in a series of mechanical coughs, causing her to look over at me, "'Got it where it counts', huh?"

"Yeah. It's paid for and it runs. Usually. Take a left up here."

I guided her through the city streets based on the subtle vibrations of the little tube of blood.

"Katya, is this not - ?"

"I think so," she said. She turned to me, "Mr. Dresden, this is…"

I shushed her. Rude, I know, but my attention was totally focused right now. The signal should have been stronger, and it bothered me. Unless Illyana had crossed into the Nevernever. After a particularly harrowing incident a year or so back, I'd tweaked my tracking spell a bit, refining it while I was teaching it to Molly. It now not only found out where someone or something was, but part of the path leading to it. "Turn left up here, and then take…"

"The next right," Kitty responded, "We know."

"Yeah, wait – what?"

Kitty made the turns and pulled into a dark alleyway, killing the engine as she did. "It's what we were trying to tell you. This is where we appeared. Is it possible that your spell just found that?"

I looked around. I knew this place. I suddenly remembered her saying that they'd arrived near a meatpacking plant. I unpacked myself out of the car, stretching my legs with a great deal of relief. The tug on my amulet was stronger here, but it led me just where I didn't want it to go. Right down a concrete stairwell leading to a locked and chained door.

The X-men appeared behind me. "What is it?" asked Peter.

"The path leads to a known Way through the Nevernever. It's – like another dimension, which we use to take shortcuts. The spell is working - your sister went through here."

"Well," Kitty said, "Open it up and let's go."

Well, it couldn't hurt to peek, could it? I knew this particular Way fairly well; I used it to get between Chicago and the White Council headquarters in Edinburgh. What troubled me is how unlikely it would be for Illyana to open the Way, which indicated that it was likely that another party was responsible for her disappearance.

I took a breath and gathered energy to myself. "Aparturum," I said, slashing the air with my hand. "Follow me."

I strode confidently down the stairs and into the portal I'd just created, only to walk face first into a solid wall of ice.

"Shit!" I exclaimed. My gloved left hand went to my face and came back covered with blood.

"What happened?" asked Kitty.

I pulled out a handkerchief and applied gentle pressure to my nose. "There's a damn glacier blocking the Way," I said.

"What does it mean?"

"I can't be certain, but it looks the Winter Court of the Sidhe may be involved." Which probably meant Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness, was actively discouraging me from seeking out Illyana.

Crap.