Author's Note: That awkward moment when you realise all your DF-related fics are dedicated to the same person.

Anyway, enjoy, Musa!

Set after Dead Beat and before Proven Guilty.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Dresden Files. All my fanfic writings are non-profit. Tis all for fun.

Outsider.

I paced about my office like a caged animal - though, considering that many animals showed a great deal more respect for the upright and intactness of buildings than I did, perhaps it would be better to say "like a caged Dresden".

Outside my window, snowflakes swirled in the dark sky. It was cold and dark, but there was a vaguely festive sense in the air.

It was Christmas Eve.

Why, then, I was alone in my office, when I had neither a case nor a stack of paperwork to deal with?

I could give you a nice long answer, full of psychobabble, explaining how I needed to reconnect with myself, how I needed to step away in the relationship.

The short, and far more accurate answer, was that I was avoiding Thomas.

We'd had an argument that morning. He'd been getting increasingly distant since Halloween, since the whole debacle over the Darkhallow. At first I thought it was because I'd been made a Warden, but now I wasn't so sure. That day, at breakfast, I'd pushed him, trying to get him to open up.

"Have I done something to annoy you?" I'd asked.

He'd been silent, just staring moodily into his cornflakes. He was barely out of bed, and he hadn't even washed his face, but he still looked good, the bastard.

"Come on, Thomas," I'd said. "I want to help you."

That hadn't had a great effect. His eyes had flicked up to me, and he'd snapped, "I don't need your help!"

That had made me pause. After a few awkward moments of silence, I'd said, "Look, whatever it is that's annoying you, or getting you down, just, let's talk about it."

He'd shook his head angrily. "I don't want to talk," he growled.

Then he'd jumped up and disappeared into the bedroom, slamming the door behind him. Before I'd left for work, I'd knocked on the door, and called through, but I'd gotten no response.

I found it frustrating and disheartening. The trouble was, I felt like such an outsider when I was talking to Thomas about anything personal. His basic nature was just so different to mine, it sometimes seemed as if I could never truly empathise with him.

So there I was, hanging around at my office, long after everyone else had left. I felt completely ridiculous, but I couldn't muster the gumption to go home. If worst came to worst, I could always sleep on the floor.

I slumped down heavily on my chair, scowling at the desk. All I'd been trying to do was help, and look where it got me. Look where it always got me. What was the point?

The phone rang.

It might have made me jump.

I quickly worked out who could be ringing at this time. Barring anything seriously unusual, it was either the Wardens or Thomas. If it was the Wardens, it most likely meant I'd have to deal with some supernatural nasty.

I have to say, at that moment, I preferred dealing with the supernatural nasty to trying to deal with Thomas.

I picked up the phone, tentatively. "Hello?" I said quietly.

"Dresden," Morgan's low voice rumbled.

I stiffened slightly, my hand stealing towards my gun in my coat pocket.

"Good evening, Warden Morgan," I said. And then, because I couldn't resist, "Isn't it a little late to be on duty? Christmas isn't actually cancelled, you know."

I could almost hear his scowl. "I have a situation here, Dresden," he said darkly. "I'll thank you to be more serious."

I rolled my eyes, but I changed my tone nonetheless. "Alright, Warden," I said. "What's the situation?"

"We have a Class A contravention on our hands," he said immediately.

I sucked in my breath. Since the war had gotten underway, the Wardens were forced to start classifying contraventions and dangerous magical acts. Previously, they'd acted on the basis of the Laws of Magic alone. Now, because they had new concerns like the safety of wizardly strongholds and of the White Council, a rudimentary classification system was in place.

Class A was the highest - a serious contravention of the Laws of Magic that could cause drastic damage and chaos if left unaddressed.

"I'm listening," I said.

There was a pause, and I heard Morgan turning pages in a notebook, presumably as he consulted a report - something else the Wardens had gotten stricter on since the war had begun.

I heard a weary sigh, and for a moment, I was reminded that Morgan was, for all his brusqueness, human just like me. Even a hardened Warden like him had to get worn out by the continuous stream of dark magic and monstrous actions.

"The situation is this," he said finally. "A sorcerer has summoned Outsiders."

I immediately felt my head inclining towards my desk.

Dark magic was bad. Contravention of the Laws of Magic was worse. Outsiders? They were the worst.

"They were summoned by the Grilnaf lord, a vampire and sorcerer of the Yellow Court," Morgan continued.

I paused for a moment, to clarify that I had really heard that. Then I said, "Who?"

"The Yellow Court," Morgan repeated.

"Who are they?" I asked, feeling rather dumb.

There was an uncomfortable silence from the other end of the phone.

"You're not too sure yourselves, huh?" I muttered.

"Our information on this group is limited," he replied. I couldn't understand why he didn't just say "yes".

"However, what we do know about them is worrying. They are known as the court of madness. This Grilnaf lord is one of their chief vampires, and a formidable sorcerer to boot," he said.

"And what about the Outsiders? What are we dealing with there?" I said.

I heard another rustle of a page, before Morgan replied, "They are called Mary-Sues. Not very magically powerful, and physically weak, but they are very dangerous nonetheless. They make their victim succumb to their will, forcing the victim to worship them. Then they drain the person of all creativity."

I shuddered. Outsiders were foul, evil creatures, with no remorse or awareness of human concerns. I'd met one once. He Who Walks Behind. I'd been exposed to its power and brutality, in a small way. It had made the Red Court look reasonably civil.

And now these… Mary-Sues. They sounded no less disturbing.

"They conquer their prey through small objects they secrete on the victim's person. They can then influence the victim's mind," Morgan continued. "However, unlike most monsters, the more people know about these creatures, the less power they have."

I frowned at that. "Really? That's very unusual."

I heard a rustle of fabric, presumably as Morgan shrugged. "Perhaps," he said seriously. "In any case, these creatures have been sighted at a camp in Long Island. Public records have no trace of the camp, leading us to believe it is a place possessing some degree of magical energy."

Now that's weird, I thought. Long Island wasn't exactly next door to me, so why did Morgan want me to go, when there were other Wardens nearer to New York?

"There is a Way through the Nevernever you can take," Morgan said.

"Alright," I said evenly, rummaging in my desk for a notebook and pen. I found them buried in a corner of a drawer, and I tugged it out. "Shoot."

He quickly outlined the Way I had to travel. There was a spot a few blocks away, that opened onto a temple in the Nevernever. Once at that temple, I was to take ten steps eastwards, and then open a second Way. Then I would be at the camp where the Mary-Sues were at.

"Is that everything?" I asked, having gotten the route clear both in my mind and on paper.

"That will be all, Warden… Dresden," Morgan replied.

He hesitated between the "Warden" and the "Dresden". It was funny how much discomfort putting those two words together caused him.

"Very well, Warden," I said. "I'm on the case."

Then, because I can never resist an opportunity to antagonise Morgan, "Warden Dresden, signing off."

I put the phone down, grinning from ear to ear.

As the phone rested on the stand, my thoughts rested once more on the Outsider incursion.

I didn't exactly scowl - it was more that my grin turned upside down.

I could've sat there for some time, trying to cobble together some sort of strategy. Knowing that all my attempts would result in the very simple plan of "get in, blast and fire, get out", I decided to get moving. I stood up, doing up my coat as I rose. Then I checked my gun, making sure it had a healthy supply of ammunition in its chambers. I grabbed my staff, leaned on it for a moment to compose myself, and then left the office.

When I came out of the building's main door, I was greeted with a sight that surprised me so much I stumbled backwards.

Thomas was leaning against the side of the Blue Beetle, his hands dug deep into his trouser pockets, his eyes fixed on the sky above.

I stared at him for a moment, before walking towards him slowly.

"Hi, Harry," he said softly, without looking away from the sky.

I rolled my eyes.

"That's just guesswork," I said, striding over and standing in front of him.

"Guesswork," he repeated drily. "Yes, guesswork. I guessed it was you from the fact that you're the only one insane enough to be still here. I guessed it was you from the way you stopped when you saw me. I guessed it was you from the thump as you bring the staff onto the ground while you walk."

He finally turned his gaze down from the sky, and he met my eyes. "Really, Harry," he said sarcastically. "I should take over your job."

Somehow, when he'd been looking away, we'd both been able to ignore the issues that hung over our heads. Now, though, when he met my eyes, the problems rose back up between us like a wall.

I stood there awkwardly for a moment, then walked over to the driver's door. I paused, and said, "I can't hang around. I'm on a job."

Thomas looked surprised. "A job? At this time?"

"Yeah," I replied. "It's for the Wardens. There's been an Outsider incursion."

I opened the car door. "I'm on the way to Long Island. I have to go through the Nevernever."

Thomas opened the passenger door and hopped in. I scowled, and then smiled slightly. I got in.

"You don't have to—"

"I want to co—"

We stopped, glaring at each other.

"You first," we said simultaneously.

"No, you—"

"No, really, go ahead."

My brother sighed, and rolled his eyes. "You're infuriating," he said darkly.

"You too!" I responded cheerily.

He shook his head again, before finally starting to talk.

"I'm sorry for acting the way I did," he said quietly. He stopped again, looked at me, then waved his hand at the wheel. "Don't you have a job to do?"

I shrugged, and started the engine. He continued as I pulled out.

"I know you're only trying to help. It's just… I feel like such an outsider in your world. It's so far from what I'm used to, it can be hard to deal with sometimes."

I gave him a surprised glance.

"That's pretty much how I've been feeling," I said.

Now it was his turn to look surprised.

"Really?" he said.

I nodded. "Yes. It's down to your nature being, you know…"

"I see," he murmured.

We didn't say anything for a few minutes, instead enjoying the comfortable silence. Then, a question occurred to me.

"Why the sudden change of attitude?" I asked curiously.

Thomas went from looking completely relaxed to deeply awkward. And, bearing in mind he was a White Court vampire, that was really saying something.

"Murphy rang," he muttered.

I quirked an eyebrow at him. "Oh?"

"It was about an hour ago. I was there, brooding, and the phone rang," Thomas said. "I didn't really want to answer it, but who knows who it could have been? So I picked it up, and it was Murphy wanting to talk to you.

"You weren't there, obviously. She asked why. I told her."

I tried to suppress my grin. "I'm guessing she had a few things to say about that?" I said, with a touch of sarcasm.

"A few, yeah," he said. "More than a few actually. All of them were along the lines of, 'The two of you are morons and you both need to shut up and be nice.'"

"Ah," I said solemnly. Then, as we reached a red light, I couldn't contain myself. I started chuckling, and soon descended into roaring with laughter. Thomas stared at me for a minute, before laughing himself.

We sat like that for two or three minutes, until the lights changed. Then I stopped laughing, and looked at Thomas.

"Hey," I said, and I held out my hand.

He gazed back for a moment, his expression a mixture of embarrassment and humbled pride.

He shook my hand.

Luckily, that road was a quiet one, otherwise I would have had angry drivers honking at me by then. I turned back to the wheel and drove on.

"So what are you dealing with here?" Thomas asked, moving on.

My mood darkened as I remembered the Mary-Sues. I laid out the situation to Thomas as briefly as I could.

He whistled softly when I mentioned the Yellow Court. "Haven't heard of that crowd in a while," he said. "The court of madness, they're called."

"That's what Morgan said. That was all he said about them, actually."

"Figures," Thomas murmured. "They keep to themselves, and are pretty small. They feed off sanity."

I blinked. "Come again?"

"Like how the Raiths have their particular food, so too do the Yellow Court," he explained. "They feed from the sanity of others. They are, by default, essentially insane, and they leech the sanity from others by various means, such as disruption, and they consume it."

A few pieces of the incursion fell into place. "And they want to use the Mary-Sues to disrupt people's sanity en masse," I breathed. "Preparing the way for a massive feeding."

Thomas nodded. "That sounds right," he said. "So all you have to do is take out the Outsiders, and their plan is ruined. Not the best strategists, the Yellows."

"I love how easy you make it sound," I muttered darkly. "Why are the Wardens so keen on me sorting this out, anyway?"

Thomas started laughing again.

I shot him a dark look.

"Oh, Harry," he chuckled. "For a detective you can be really thick sometimes."

"What are you talking about?" I said, scowling.

"Look, how often do Outsiders turn up?" he shot back.

"Uh, very rarely. There was that time when the Council were fighting the Red Court, and the time I met He Who Walks."

"Right. So that's only two times, and it's unlikely they'd turn up and you wouldn't hear of it, yes?" he said.

I nodded.

"Well then," Thomas said, his grin starting to reappear. "Bearing that in mind, and remembering that you defeated an Outsider and lived to tell the tale, is really that surprising that the Wardens are sending you to deal with this incursion?"

I frowned as what Thomas was saying started to make sense. After all, there weren't many wizards who had seen battle with Outsiders, and those who had were too important to go gallivanting off to Long Island at the drop of a hat.

"I see," I muttered.

By this time, we'd reached the pub that was the point where I had to cross over into the Nevernever. I parked the car outside, and said to Thomas, "I'll try to finish it quick. If I'm not back in two hours, inform the Wardens by whatever means possible."

He nodded, his eyes betraying his worry.

I got out of the car, and hurried over to the front door of the pub. Luckily, the place was closed early, because of Christmas. I reached out with my good hand, just over the door handle. I drew in my will, focussing carefully.

Then I said, quite literally, the magic word.

The window opened quickly, and on the other side was a deserted temple. I glanced back at Thomas for a moment, and he gave me the thumbs-up. Then I hopped through the portal.

My senses were assaulted by bright light and a strong woody smell. The temple was open at the front, with no doors or gates. It was a huge edifice, but it was almost completely empty - there were a few benches, many supporting columns, and an altar, but that was all.

I didn't waste time looking around too much, though. Depending on which part of the eldritch world I was in, five minutes could be an hour or a day.

I faced eastwards, my navigation helped by the sun being high in the sky. I quickly walked ten paces, counting carefully. At the tenth pace, I found myself in a beam of sunlight. I drew in my will once more, and murmured the word. This time, I invested more energy into the portal, so that it would stay open for longer - just in case I needed a fast exit.

I stepped through.

Twenty minutes later, I emerged from the pub door portal. Thomas, upon glancing up from a magazine, started when he saw me.

I sealed up the portal, and went back to the car. As I opened the door, Thomas exclaimed, "That was fast!"

I shrugged, settling back into my seat. "I got in and out as fast as possible," I said. "There was some really weird stuff going on. Centaurs, magic floating around everywhere…"

"What about the Sues?" Thomas asked.

"Meh. They weren't that hard to deal with. I took them out quickly. I spent most of the time answering some olive-skinned kid's questions."

"Huh," he said. "Pretty weak Outsiders, then."

"Yeah," I replied, starting up the car. "Hell's bells, I'm glad that's done."

As I got back onto the road, Thomas flicked open his magazine again. "So, I'm reading about this thing called shawarma," he said.

I gave him an odd look. "What the heck is that?"

"I'm not sure," he said. "But I'd like to try it. How about we look for a shawarma joint in town?"

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. Let's go back to my place first, and I'll call Murphy, fill her in."

"Great," Thomas grinned. "And then shawarma after."

As some of you have no doubt guessed, this is a companion piece to my PJO fic, "A Very Mary Suemas." If you want to know what happened when Harry went through the second portal, read that fic.