Molly had argued, of course, but there was no way we were fitting another body in the Beetle. Before we'd set off, though, she surprised me again by being more on the ball than I expected. She spoke to me quietly, as the pair managed to pile into the car. "OK, boss," she'd said, "where did you pick up a couple X-men cosplayers. Only, there's no con going on right now, and you wouldn't be acting so circumspect if it were just a couple kids in costumes. Oh my god, they're real, aren't they? How can they be real?"

I tried to calm her down, "Not so loud, Molly. Sheesh, we don't want to go spreading that around. And yes, near as I can tell, they're the real McCoys. Out of curiousity, how'd you know?"

"C'mon, Harry, Buffy was my favorite show for a while there, and Joss Whedon based her on little Miss Pryde there. Of course I know who she is."

"Of course," I said, somewhat amused. "Just keep the fangirling to a minimum, OK?"

"Aye aye, Professor D," she said with a mock salute.

"Tell you what, Grasshopper, just for that, can you give Kirby a call, see if he has any recent X-men issues, particularly anything involving Peter's sister, Illyana? Maybe we can get filled in on the back-story and see why Fix would be after her." I left her with that task and took off - well, coughed and sputtered along anyway - on the way to Mac's.

It didn't take long to get to the bar. It's an honest-to-god authentic pub, set down a flight of stairs, kind of like Cheers, but here you really hoped nobody knew your Name for fear of what they might do with it. I pulled into the parking lot.

"MacAnally's," Kitty said, reading the sign. "I haven't heard of this one."

"Do a lot of bar hopping, Ms. Pryde?" I asked.

"Not a whole lot," she admitted, "but I did work at the Bells of Hell when I was attending the U of C."

Bells of Hell. Hell's Bells. I wondered if we had a version of that place in my Chicago. "I must have missed those issues," I muttered as I parked the Beetle next to a couple SUV's, the sort that made it a total pain in the ass to try and pull out. It was pretty full for this early in the afternoon, which wasn't a good sign.

"Popular place?" asked Kitty.

"Best beer in town," I said, "but usually not this busy this early."

I frowned. It meant that the minor talents, the ones beneath the notice of the almighty White Council, were congregating for whatever protection they could get from Mac's Accorded Neutral Territory status. I explained, "Mac's in the know, about magic and the like. The local crowd tends to gather here when things get dangerous on the spooky side. It's got some protections for them. It might not be due to your sister, Mr. Rasputin."

"But it likely is," Kitty said from the backseat, as if speaking for her stone-faced companion seated next to me.

"Yeah, well, don't flatter yourselves. A lot of my cases seem to bring 'em flocking to Mac's." Now that I came to think about it, I wondered if I should ask him for a commission. I spoke seriously, "Don't start anything in there. It's neutral territory. I called the guy my informant said Illyana went off with, and he said he'd show. I trust him, and he's played things pretty straight with me in the past. But he's beholden to the Summer Queens, so he may be limited in what he can say."

"What, he's under some sort of geis?"

"Something like that," I said, recalling the time I'd had to offer a favor owed to Charity Carpenter to circumvent Titania's order not to assist me.

"So... Faerie Queens, huh?" she asked.

"Queens of the Sidhe," I responded, emphasizing the last word. Who says I haven't learned any tact? "I would advise against calling them faeries. They tend to find it insulting. "

"Gotcha," Kitty said. "So... Queens of the Sidhe, huh?"

"Yeah, three each for the Summer and Winter Courts. Lily, Titania, and Mother Summer for the one, Maeve, Mab and Mother Winter for the other."

"Whoa, like Shakespeare and Spenser?"

"Much, much scarier than that." A glance at the rearview mirror showed her face pensive at that thought.

"What about Oberon?"

"Didn't make it," I said. "Came between Mab and Titania, apparently. You do not want to piss them off."

Peter, who had been silent for pretty much the entire trip, spoke, "I think that they should care not to piss me off. But I will not start anything. I just want my sister returned."

Kitty reached forward and gave his shoulder a slight squeeze of reassurance. "We'll get her back, don't worry."

I wanted to reassure them, but couldn't find it in myself the heart to lie to them. We weren't in the comics. The bad guys could win here. Were winning, in a lot of ways. "All right, kids, I said, let's get going. We don't want to be late."

We walked down the steps. I nodded towards the low hung ceiling fans; Peter returned the gesture as a sign of acknowledgement. In the center of the room, Fix sat alone at a table. Despite the crowd, everyone was giving the Summer Knight a wide berth, leaving the two tables nearest to him unoccupied. Weaving around the intricately carved columns, meant to diffuse and ground magical energy, I grabbed a couple of extra chairs, and placed them at his table. "Heya Fix," I said, "What's the good word?"

"Harry," he said quietly. His eyes remained fixed on his drink, but he didn't appear to have drunk anything yet.

"Fix, may I introduce-?"

"I know who they are," he answered,

"Ooookay," I said, elongating the first syllable dramatically. "Let me get something for our guests, and I'll be right back." I made my way to the bar, the crowd parting for me as I walked. Being a Warden of the White Council has some uses, I guess. I put down a twenty, and Mac gave me three dark bottles of his ale in return, along with my change. I returned to the table to find everything the same - Kitty and Peter still standing stiffly, and Fix still staring at his drink.

"Don't tell me I've got to be the adult here," I said. "I don't think I've got it in me. How's Lily, Fix? I'm surprised she isn't here."

"I'm not here as Lily's Knight, Dresden. In this matter, I'm Titania's," said Fix, "And while friendship may have brought me here, there's nothing I can do for you."

"Nothing you can do, or nothing you will do," I asked. "C'mon Fix, throw me a bone here. They just want her back and to go home."

"The girl will be returned to them in two days, if she wishes. No sooner."

"Unacceptable," Peter said, his voice a low growl. "Return her now."

"Mr. Rasputin. Peter. Please," I said. "Have a seat, have a drink, and let me talk to him." But I could sympathize. If it were my brother Thomas, I'd probably shoved my blasting rod up the Summer Knight's nostril. Why two days? I'd lost track of the calendar again. It was March... 19th? It had been an odd month. A week ago, it had been below freezing; two days ago it had hit a high in the mid seventies. But that was Spring in the midwest for you. "Oh shit," I said aloud, "That's why the conversation with Morgan felt like a rerun of last time. "It's the damn vernal equinox, isn't it? Something about the balance between the courts."

Fix looked at me sharply, then dropped his eyes. "Something like that."

"And somehow Illyana represents a threat to both courts?" I asked.

"Her and her brother," he said, "but he wouldn't be a good guest in the Nevernever. So Mab and Titania agreed that we would take the girl off the table until the threat has passed."

"And then she'll be released?" Kitty asked.

"If she wishes," he repeated.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Summer finds her... attractive," he said, "Winter too, for that matter."

"I suppose she's pretty enough," I said, "but among the fae? They make supermodels look plain."

"No, Harry, I mean…"

Kitty interrupted, "He means that she has abilities that they want to exploit."

"I don't like it," said Fix, "but my opinion doesn't count. On our way back to the Summer Court, we were jumped by some Reds- a full vampire and a couple of their half-turned foot soldiers. She pulls this sword out of nowhere, slices the first two guys in one stroke. I got the other flunky and the vampire bolted. This glowing circle appears in front of him, and suddenly he's back in front of us. She stabs him, and the guys flesh mask just vanishes. Poof. He stands there, gaping at her, and I blast him, and go to check the first three."

He paused, then, as if finally noticing it was there, took a long drink of beer. "One of them was dead. aged to death, and the others started swearing at her. Cursing her for taking away their gifts, for robbing them of their chance at immortality. Harry, they were human."

Kitty nodded with understanding, "Her Soulsword. It destroys enchantments."

I sat there blinking. Destroys enchantments. Turns half-vampires human. Susan.

Susan Rodriguez and I had dated several years ago. One of my enemies had turned her to get revenge on me. I had loved her. Hell, I'd proposed to her.

It had been years since, and even though we'd moved on and now I was dating the Commander of the Wardens, Anastasia Luccio, I had never given up the idea of somehow curing her, of undoing the curse that my failure had brought upon her. And now this. A chance to free her. I'd looked everywhere for even a hint of something like this, and the closest I found was a working by Mother Winter, one of the most powerful beings I'd ever encountered. And Illyana accomplished it with one snicker-snack of her Soulsword. And if it worked on Red Court, could it kill Thomas's White Court demon too, free him from his curse?

It was an easy trap to fall into. I found myself thinking of using her the same as the Sidhe Queens, and the idea sickened me.

"So she has power," I said, trying to focus on the matter at hand. "If either Queen were to acquire it, the other would have to move to maintain balance. What's that lead to - a superhero arms race? Your Queen gets Illyana, Mab goes out and grabs Dr. Strange, so Summer grabs, who, the wizard Shazam from DC? Then what? Rand al'Thor? Gandalf? I don't think the mortal world or Faerie can take that sort of interdimensional threat."

Fix took another drink. "I hear you, Harry, but what can I do?"

"Do you know how they plan to convince her to stay?" I asked.

"Same way as usual, I expect. Trick her into a compact to try to compel her," he admitted.

I held up a hand to overrule the X-men's objection, "OK, that figures. Well, Fix, since you got her into this mess, you can make sure she has some mortal food, and inform her about what they're trying to do to her. And let her know that her brother and friend miss her."

He considered my proposal. "Yeah, I think I can do that. In return, maybe you can figure out what's causing Summer and Winter to work together. They wouldn't even do that when the Reds invaded their lands. Titania isn't telling Lily anything."

"I'll see what I can do. My case load's not too bad right now." Something tickled my brain. Something from before my life turned into a comic book. "If nothing else, I imagine the Council will want me to investigate as well."

Fix nodded. He turned to Peter and Kitty, "Listen, I'm really sorry about all of this. I wish I could do more."

Peter looked at him coldly, "So do I."

Kitty looked at the two of them and forced a smile on her face, "So, Mr. Dresden, how're are the Cubs looking this year. Do you think they can get past the Divisional Series this year?"

Her attempt to change the subject threw me. "Um," I said, "I'm not sure." Last summer I'd learned that the the Billy Goat curse was real, in response to an insult to Gwynn ap Nudd, King of the Tylwyth Teg, and I didn't want to involve any more faeries to our current troubles. "Hopefully."

She smiled a bit. Hope, in spite of everything, albeit with a healthy dose of skepticism and resignation, was the hallmark of any Cubs fan. I guess she could see it in me; the team and I had a lot in common.

"How're the Bulls and 'Hawks doing these year?"

The 'Hawks. Crap, the Blackhawks. The game tonight, the meeting Elaine set up for me. "OK, I'm an idiot," I said. "I have an appointment with a client tonight. I'm going to need to find you a place for you guys."

"We can go back to the hotel," she said, and from the look in her eye, I knew that despite the agreement I just made with Fix, they'd be out, scouring the town the moment I left them.

I could maybe take the two back to my apartment, have Molly babysit them while I took care of business. As always when regarding an incident of leaving the Grasshopper unsupervised, I began calculating what trouble or temptations she'd be under. It was unlikely she'd try psychomancy on them. She might try to show off, but I figured the worst she might do is try to trick Peter the same way she'd done to Sanya years ago.

Come to think of it, I could see some similarities to the agnostic Knight of the Cross and the comic version of Colossus. Maybe the real thing was a bit grumpier, but his situation was enough to forgive him that.

Then again, they might prevail on her to help them. So, no, not Molly. I glanced at the clock, and tried to remember what schedule Murph was on this week. If I remembered right, she'd be done with her shift, and over at Dough Joe's, working off her aggression by beating up on men a foot taller and ten year younger and attitudes that me seem progressive.

Kitty was finally drinking her beer. She regarded the bottle with an expression of pleased surprise. "Wow, I wish Kurt were here. He would really appreciate this. I wonder if we can take a case back with us."

"Star and stones," I said, "Don't even joke. The Wardens would come down on a cross-dimensional import/export like a ton of unreasonable, very grumpy wizards. Now finish your drinks, we're going to the gym."