Final Thoughts

Characters: Many, but the main ones are Murphy, Dresden, Ramirez, Luccio, Lily
Author's notes: Contains a cliffhanger. Nobody likes them too much but they make very good dramatic endings.

Written in Murphy's POV … for the most part …

My thoughts made furious attacks at one another as I tried to process the sight of Harry intentionally driving himself and his attacker towards the ground.

I watched them struggle intensely against one another as they traded blows between one another. Harry's voice flew through the air as he took a nasty blow in the gut and blood poured from the wound.

He grabbed the other man in a bear hug and activated the same shield he had used countless times to save others and the blue orb circled around him and the man.

As they plummeted down, he began to glow brighter than I had ever seen him before. Shafts of light bounced off every surface within a hundred yards and the area around us lighted up more than a street lamp could ever hope to do.

My gaze followed his drop as he disappeared behind the walls of the crumbled warehouse, only to reappear a split second later behind a wall. Though it was short, in that brief time, our eyes locked and the world became still as I understood what he was doing. His eyes held that same look of duty that I remembered him showing years ago during a loup-garou scare. He was trying to take down a werewolf behind me as I tried to protect him from an enemy behind him. He thought I was going to kill him, but he refused to back down for fear of me getting hurt, sacrificing himself for another. That was the Dresden way.

My heart shattered as he hit the ground and an explosive, bright white light filled the area he had been in.

The power of a thousand explosions was released as a ball of blue energy. Combined with the energy from the drop, it multiplied quickly and filled the space between the shield in no time at all.

With the sudden pressure, the barrier expanded to accommodate the rush and filled the size of the warehouse. Metal and wood and stone were destroyed in an instant, after either being flattened by the shield or evaporated inside it.

The shockwave from the force spread out through the barrier and into the environment around it. Every window in a building flexed and shattered with an explosive roar as the force was knocked against it. Cars too close to the wave were tipped over and those that weren't were pushed back against the screeching protest of the tyres.

Upon sight of the fiery power, every cop in the area once again took shelter behind cars and scenery, dragging civilians and apprentices down with them. I myself quickly rolled behind her squad car and held a riot shield above my head as the rain of glass slammed down into it.

As the energy wave expanded, it rushed towards my car. With violent winds blowing viciously around, I couldn't move anywhere.

Once again though, Harry saved me.

Getting a grip and accomplishing its original purpose, the blue shield solidified and held the explosion back. Like piranhas, bolts of lightning swam beneath it, eager to continue outwards and eviscerate the environment but still the shield held.

After agonizing minutes of roaring flames and screaming winds, the fire lost its energy and began to dissipate. Upon sensing this, the shield lost its glowing aura and faded away. A bright white light shot out as its hold was released and blinded the area. There was no sound, just a sea of light that reflected off even the most callous of surfaces. Using up its power, the lights went down and I was left in darkness.

Very carefully, I raised my head over edge of the bonnet to take note of the surroundings. Though it was still uncomfortably dark, small fires were dotted around the area that gave off a red glow on the buildings surrounding me.

All the while focusing my eyes, I rose from my sitting position, dumping the riot shield along the way and strode carefully towards the area in front of me. The were a few cries of protest from the cops behind me, but I took no notice and continued forward.

Harry's managed to get out of bad positions before. He could be laying down injured and needing my help. I wouldn't allow myself to think anything else could have happened to him.

These thoughts were put under strain.

Before I had taken shelter, I could picture clearly the sight of the warehouse. Most of its walls had fallen inwards, forming a large pile of metal in the middle. Steel supports jutted out here and there, bent and twisted under the strain of the collapsed building.

This skeleton of a building would have been preferable to the sight now.

I had to stop moving forward as I reached the edge. In front of me was a large hole, smack bang at ground zero. The stone and concrete had been vaporised beyond measure, leaving jagged outlines of the bedrock beneath. The steel poles had melted were they stood, leaving red hot glowing puddles of metal that dotted the area around us. Metal sheet walls that had been thrown upwards by the blast, were now falling into the pit in small clusters.

I frantically scanned the area for signs of life and almost gave up hope before seeing a faint green glow on the edge of the opposite side of the pit from where I was standing.

With new purpose I jumped into the crater and absorbed the fall in a forward roll, before bounding towards the glowing object while carefully avoiding dotted flames and molten metal.

My heart leaped in my chest as I approached the glow and saw a cowering figure in the centre that had wrapped himself around the grey cloak that Harry had forced to wear for his Council meetings.

I walked over to the man in the foetus position and gently clasped his shoulder. I was forced to jump back though as the man suddenly jumped up and whirled round to face me, holding a glowing sword in the direction of my neck. Shock hit me and I almost fell to my knees in pain. It wasn't that the figure was ugly of anything…it wasn't Harry…

Standing in front of me was a tall, dark man with a hint of Spanish heritage. Wet dark hair, fell down most of his face as he bared his teeth at me and clutched possessively at something in his arms.

There was a moment of silence before his eyes seemed to recognize me and he relaxed his stance, lowering his sword and looking down at the object he cradled.

I looked around him slightly and saw the object was an unconscious teenage girl, in fact, the same teenage girl Harry and I had rescued from that fortress only hours ago. Molly Carpenter I think her name was.

The man turned back to me with a child like gaze I had seen on many people after a massive trauma like an explosion or a death.

I tried to lock eyes with him, but his gaze shifted slightly to look at the bridge of my nose. Must be another magical user as well.

I ignored his avoidance and put on my most authoritative tone. "Sir? Are you all right? Do you know what just happened?"

He nodded his head slightly. "I was protecting her," he tilted his head towards the girl, "For Harry, though I don't suppose he'll know now."

My body stiffened at the mention of Harry's name and I grabbed the man's shoulders. "Sir, do you know if Harry is alright?"

The man's muscles slumped as he tightened his grip on the sleeping girl, looking away from my eyes and down at the floor. "He…he fell. He took that bastard with him but…he fell…"

My legs finally gave out as I took in the words and the echoed through my mind. I had to hold out my arms onto the ground as I toppled towards the earth.

nonononononononono

Tears fell from my eyes, even though I held them tightly shut and splattered the ground in front of me.

Ideas went through my head of how he might have survived, but they were just pictures that refused to face up to the hard truth that Harry was dead.

Throaty cries emitted from my mouth and I began to shiver from the pressure of so many emotions pouring through me.

Fear…anger…pain…loneliness…love…

They all joined into a ball of suffering that racked through my body and refused to calm down or surrender to reality.

A gust of wind suddenly tore through the area and I heard a surprised shout, followed by a thud as bodies hit the ground.

Refusing to ignore my honed instincts, I grabbed the handle of my gun and span round onto my back to aim at the intruders around me.

From seemingly nowhere, several dozen people had randomly appeared at ground level where the warehouse used to be. With a crater being here now though, they had all dropped over a meter and landed in very surprised looking heaps. Most of them wore long brown cloaks and some wore grey. One man was completely covered from head to toe in a black cloak that shielded his face. Others though were dressed in strange outfits. Without focusing, I could pick out a redneck, a native American and even a knight.

Furiously blinking away the tears in my eyes, I focused on the knight. His hard features dug at my memory, before I recognized him as the Carpenter girl's father, who I had seen several times already in Harry's company.

For a moment, he dusted himself off, before tilting his ear to the sky as if hearing someone, and then quickly focusing on his daughter in the arms of the Spanish man behind me, even though she was hidden behind a grey cloak. He cried out her name as he sprinted to grab hold of Molly and hold her tightly, while the other man relinquished his grip and fell to the ground.

He didn't have long to rest though, before a bulky man dressed in flannel with short-cut hair, strode up to him and lifted his body up by the collar. His image floated through my mind until the name Ebenezer popped up. He was Harry's old tutor who had helped us with a vampire problem a while back.

"My lord, Ramirez, what happened here?" Ramirez got some colour back into his face and grasped Ebenezer's arms. "Was it the Red's? Ghouls? Outsiders? What happened here?"

A short Asian women strode past me and touched Ebenezer as she tried to relax him. He got control of himself and carefully laid the man down on the ground while supporting his head. Grateful for the new position, Ramirez looked up at the Asian. "Morgan and Merlin…tried to kill the Carpenter kid…don't know about Morgan…Harry fought Merlin…they killed each other," he stumbled over the last few words and fell into unconscious.

Aside from Carpenter who still murmured soothing sounds to his kid, all eyes turned to me. I wanted to keep them aimed at with my gun, but I lost the will for it. Dropping my weapon to the ground, I laid back into the dirt and closed my eyes.

All the emotional and physical adrenaline during the day suddenly came back to me as I let the quiet embrace of sleep take me with just the image of Harry in my mind. I don't know if I was still crying.

As my conscious began to drift away from the ignorance of a dreamless sleep, short boosts of memory came to me in snippets.

My first thought was of when Harry kissed me. Our lips explored each other and his hands ran down my sides, springing up goosebumps along my flesh as I shivered with happiness.

I frowned in my sleep slightly as I stood helpless on the ground while Harry fell towards me, fire shooting around him as he shot into the ground and a massive explosion poured from him to engulf a dark man who had threatened his life.

With happiness though, I remembered that we had found Harry again. Me and the strange magical community who were now constantly jumping in and out of my life had searched the area for him and found him buried in the dirt. It only took the sound of footsteps for his eyes to shoot open and stand up with no sign of damage. He looked around at his friends and allies and smiled in a way only he could muster.

Our eyes had locked together and he ran over and grasped me tightly in his arms, burying his face into my neck and making promises to me that we would stay together until the end of it all.

Even now, as I lay in his bed, I could smell his musky scent coating the area. His strong body being held against me as we embraced in the aftermath of the night.

These could only ever be dreams though.

While I was in his bed, he wasn't there to hold me. To comfort me and make promises he would give his own life to keep.

Slowly fluttering my eyelids open, I groaned as sunlight poured in through his tiny apartment window and lit up the shabby disgrace that he called a bedroom. His clothes had been thrown across the floor in chronological order with the clothes from the night before on the top layer and increasing signs of dirty laundry spread to the bottom.

He never could handle the simple things...

I didn't want to linger to long in the false hopes of dreams, so I slung my legs over the side of the bed and put my face in my hands. Aside from a few buttons undone, I still wore my standard issue uniform and my hair was streaked about in an untidy fashion, from the pressures of a difficult day.

Hearing voices from Harry's front room, I grabbed my gun – Harry's revolver, and brandished it before me as I slowly stalked into the front room. I struggled to manoeuvre carefully though the hallway, as familiar figures lay sleeping in the hallway, young men and women wrapped in grey and brown cloaks lay on the ground. I studied a few of their faces and was hit with scars and cuts that dotted the resting bodies. They must have been the wounded from one hell of a fight.

Like the battle last night...

In the living room, several people were still awake and talking, though thick, dark bags hung below their eyes from a lack of sleep and all of them were leaning on some object or another as standing up was too much of an effort.

Sitting in a chair in the middle was the young man Ramirez from the night before. His wounds had been cleaned and healed, but he still struggled to answer the rapid amount of questions being directed his way. Sitting on the sofa in front of him was a tall, muscular woman with thick white hair, who seemed to be the main interrogator. Next to her was Ebenezer. He was supporting his face in one hand and he massaged his head from which protruded several bulges from what must have been heavy blows to his scalp.

Standing next to them was Charity Carpenter and her husband. She had evidently recovered from our combined assault to rescue her daughter and even from here, I could feel waves of anger pouring from her will as she glanced at the people in front of her. I think only the presence of her husbands hands on her shoulders stopped her from launching at everyone in the room in a wild fury.

Standing in the far corner was a man completely covered by a black robe. Even his face was shielded by a wall of shadow, as he held his arms across his chest and relaxed against the edge of the mantelpiece, carefully avoiding items and photographs from his family and friends that Harry had saw fit to keep. There was even one of me and him at a Christmas party I had invited him too.

I had put him into an arm lock after he offered a hug for a Christmas present...

On the coffee table between them all, sat Harry's skull that he had worshipped as if it was an actual person. Evidently, the people in the room thought so too, as the white-haired woman had turned to the skull and was yelling orders at it, "Hrothbert of Bainbridge! I command you to show yourself this instant and tell us how Harry was behaving!" The skull didn't do anything. It just sat there as a skull was forever meant to do.

The black hooded man in the corner looked up at the woman and spoke in a soothing voice, "I don't think he's there any more Luccio. He hasn't spoken since we told him about Harry and I fail to detect his presence at all."

I was about to cut him off mid-sentence, but the hooded man actually stopped talking just before I spoke "What the hell is going on here?"

They all suddenly shot looks to me as I entered the room with my gun hanging freely next to my side, aside from Ramirez who took a few seconds to register that someone new had even spoken. He eventually though looked at me and grinned, "Ah, it's the woman from the crater," before abruptly falling asleep in the chair.

Charity noted my features and the aura of rage dissipated from around her as she walked towards me and lightly held my arms. "Hello again Lieutenant. I wish I could have thanked you for your help under better circumstances but…" She left her words hanging in the air as she tried to think of something more to say. I nodded a thanks to her and she visibly relaxed.

I looked into her eyes seriously and she tensed up once more. "Charity, will you please tell me what has happened."

Her body turned to face the wizards and she stood next to me. Through the layers of uniform, I could still feel her grip tightening on my arm as that same wave of anger flowed back around her.

"The White Council," She pointed a finger at the three figures sitting down, "They tried to kill my daughter. Harry offered to train her. They refused."

A wave of outrage hit me as I stared at the wizards who were still awake. Ebenezer had folded his hands into his lap and was now nervously playing with them. Luccio was keeping her back straight and held a stiff upper lip in our direction but didn't even attempt to look at our faces, let alone our eyes. I stole a glance at Michael and while his face was giving off no sign of emotion, just those same, trustworthy eyes, his knuckles had gone white as he tightly grasped what looked like a crucifix in his hand.

I looked back to Luccio as she took in a breath to say more. "We don't know the entire story yet Mrs Carpenter. Even if Ramirez's account is true, we all must obey the laws of magic and see to it they are not broken," her head turned away from us, "Even if a child broke them."

"YOU IGNORANT BITCH!" The words I yelled surprised everyone in the room, including myself a little. Luccio and Ebenezer hesitated under the verbal assault, but I continued to glare daggers at them. "Harry told me about the trials you take. If he wanted to take responsibility for her, he had every right to. Why would they pronounce her guilty?"

Luccio looked up at me pleadingly, searching her own mind for an excuse, "If the Merlin felt she was too dangerous then it was our duty to take care of her."

"Bollocks," I replied, "You know, Harry told me about your little Council. The way you constantly look down on him like a lesser being. How you hide behind your laws in the name of duty and look to execute all traces rather than help something good to grow!"

Ebenezer arched his eyebrow. "It is not Dresden's place to discuss the White…"

I turned my glare to him and he abruptly fell silent. "Harry did nothing but stand in the defence of those around him. You people tested his morals to the limit until he had been forced to act against you." I drew in a breath and calmed myself down.

"Harry would always avoid taking another life. He was terrified of what he would become…"

I looked at the wizards before me.

"How wrong must this Merlin have been for Harry to willingly sacrifice his life to kill him?"

I span on my heels and walked back to Harry's room, leaving the drawn eyes of the people behind me. Before I reached the door, I felt someone tug at my arm and I turned around to face the black robed man.

"You must understand Ms. Murphy that this was all for the best," he muttered sombrely.

I wanted to scream at him and yell into his face.

I wanted to beat him to death to maybe get rid of some of the pain I was feeling right now.

With no energy left though, I settled for tearing my arm from his and stalking into Harry's bedroom, slamming his door and fell into the embrace of his bedsheets.

As my eyes drooped down and my body relaxed, I went over all the feelings I had for Harry and all the memories that featured him.

I cried myself to sleep as the picture of Harry in free-fall kept flashing through my mind.

Over and over again, I watched him give his life for the safety of another and could only hope that the bright flare that had been his dying power would have extinguished him without the same pain I was feeling now.

Last night I dreamed of Harry Dresden and the wonderful smile that he would only give me.

At the death site of Harry Dresden, no longer Murphy's POV

A young couple stalked the edge of the massive crater that had once been an abandoned warehouse. The man examined the edge for a moment before turning around and offering his hand to the young lady. Long white hair whipped around her waist as a small wind blew through the streets and she smiled at the man before accepting his hand and carefully jumping into the pit. Her skin had a warm glow to it and this glow illuminated the features of the man standing next to her. Like her, he also had a bit of brightness in him and it only illuminated the strong muscles in him as the lady took his arm and they walked towards the centre of the crater.

"I still don't understand why you expect to find anything here Lily," the man muttered to himself. "The blast vaporised the very bedrock itself." He told her, waving his free arm at the damage that surrounded him.

Lily cast an annoyed glance at the man before resuming her search on the ground. "You know as well as I do Fix that anything with that much power will have at least tried to protect itself. There is still hope."

Fix started to mutter to himself once more, but was pushed forward as Lily pointed at the ground in front of them, wide-eyed, and jumped up and down. "Right there Fix, I can sense the power. Dig dam you."

With a grumbling moan, Fix grabbed onto the end of a shovel that was protruding from his backpack and started to scoop up dirt at the precise point where Lily had pointed. After just a few scoops, Fix's shovel, slammed into something just below his surface and the shovel bounced off and flew into the night sky.

Fix watched it go up for a few seconds and turned to the now squealing form of Lily. "I was right Fix, keep digging. Hurry before anyone else shows up to claim the find!"

With new perseverance in his heart, Fix jumped to the ground and clawed his way a few inches deeper. As he removed the last layer of dirt, a bright blue shaft of light shot from the hole in front of him and illuminated the area around them. After a tense few seconds, the beam began to fade and the earth around it slumped from the released pressure.

"Fix! You grab one arm and I'll grab the other!"

I had been in darkness for who knows how long, and I was bored. I managed to pass the time for a bit by pondering if this was death, and I felt I was about to hit a philosophical breakthrough, before my little den was suddenly lit up with a bright blue light of my collapsing shield.

My eyes screamed in pain as I tried to cover them, but strong hands reached through my prison and held onto my wrists, pulling my entire body out into the open air. Before I could start up a good rant that I had created a few hours ago to deal with the God of Death when he came for me, I felt strong, thin arms circle around my neck as Lily pulled me into a hug and was making a strange squealing sound.

"HARRY! I knew we would find you! Fix didn't believe me but I knew I was right!"

More weird sounds erupted from her throat before she reluctantly released me and I glanced over to see Fix standing a little behind her, staring at me with shocked eyes. I put out a hand for him, but his shock changed to a smile as he slapped my hand away and pulled me in for a hug.

I still wasn't up to date on the more recent events, so I just accepted the hugs and patiently waited for the happy couple to calm down.

I stepped back from the pair and looked them over as they tried and failed to suppress the grins on their faces. Fix stepped up, "Mother Summer Harry, we all thought you were dead. Wizards had combed the area for hours and found not even a trace of you."

"Except for me!" Lily interrupted and Fix cast her an annoyed glare before continuing.

"Wait till you see their faces when we go and tell everyone you're alive!"

"Dresden, we won't stop hunting you…"

The Merlin's departing words echoed though my head and I looked solemnly at Lily and Fix. My expression must have got to them as they immediately quieted down and conveyed confusion to me.

"You will die. Your friends will die…"

As long as I was still alive, the Black Council would keep going after me. Just my state of being would put my friends, family and Karrin in danger.

The two faerie continued to stare at me so I shook my head at them and they looked for an explanation. "Listen to me you two; nobody can know I'm still alive. It's too dangerous for the people around me. I'm too big a target for them to even be associated with me right now!"

Fix nodded in understanding, but Lily glanced up at me with those big eyes and bore into my soul. "What about Ms. Murphy?"

My heart stopped for a moment as I thought about going over to Karrin's house to see her. I just wanted to lie down next to her and hold her strong body in my arms. Never wanting to let go and just stay like that until all the enemy's who had threatened our lives had faded into dust and we could start our lives without a constant sense of fear looming over our heads.

A man could dream, but he could do no more than that.

"I won't risk her life by being there and lighting up our position like a laser sight from a gun. I want to be able to promise her that I will protect her no matter what comes our way and if I'm with her…" I turned my back on Lily, "I won't be able to keep it."

Lily's hand circled around me once more and Fix grasped me on the shoulders. The human contact was comforting but I had important things to do.

"Lily?" I asked and I turned to face her, "That brooch you gave me. Will it grant me any boon I ask of?"

Lily quietly looked at me, "Within reason, yes. Why? What do you ask of?"

I closed my eyes and rubbed the bridge of my nose, before turning to look at both her and Fix. "I need you to erase the experience of this night from your own memories."

The couple glanced nervously at each other and a wave of understanding passed between them. Fix held my gaze and asked, "Are you sure about this Harry? If we think you're dead, we won't be able to help you."

"I know, but there is that possibility that Titania will ask you what you know of me and you won't be able to lie to her. It's too risky."

They both bowed there heads to me, "Very well Harry. As soon as me and Fix leave, our memories of this night will disappear. You will have to make your own way from now on."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence until they both grasped me at the same time and held me. This time I hugged them back and allowed the glow of the Summer faerie to sooth my muscles and relax my throbbing wounds.

"Goodbye Harry." They both proclaimed, and just like that, I was alone.

Shaking my muscles loose, I climbed back out of the crater and into the back alleys of Chicago.

The light dimmed away from me and I allowed the identity of Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden to slip into the history books of time.

I grinned as I crossed the city limits and into the open land of the world.

I had some work to do…

This plot is far from over. I'm currently writing the next few chapters and it will be set around six months after this story.

Next Chapter: ***Annual Report***

DON'T RUN! The title isn't excellent but you'll understand the concept when you read it.