So, I've been looking at these and for some weird reason the words come out formatted crazy. I didn't do that. And if I did, it wasn't on purpose. They're not like that for any special reason. They're just like that. So anyway, I know the last chapter was super short, but hey, Richard isn't a serial killer of many words. This one should be a bit longer, and thanks to the only THREE people that have reviewed this story so far, you guys are awesome and the only thing besides a super annoying twin sister that's keeping me going.

"Oh my gosh Spencer. You're a life saver." Emily reached for one of the cups of coffee that the young doctor was holding, only to have it snatched quickly away from her.

"This isn't yours." he said, shaking his head slowly, as if he was really focusing on every word he was saying, making sure that it made sense.

Emily watched him as he walked away, the worry she felt hidden to most eyes.

Unfortunately, Morgan's eyes weren't most eyes.

"He's been like that all morning."

"What?"

"I don't think he got very much sleep last night. When I woke up he was already dressed and ready, reading through The Art of War."

"Hasn't he already read that?"

"Yeah."

"But he hates rereading books. He-" realization dawned on the agent.

Morgan nodded solemnly.

"This case isn't the worst we've seen. Granted, it most certainly isn't the best, but is it really getting to him that hard?"

"Not even I could tell you what goes on inside that kid's head. Maybe it's not even that, I heard he had some sort of… argument or something with Dresden yesterday. Maybe it's got something to do with that."

"Yeah…" But for some reason, Emily doubted that.

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"Dammit Harry! Where are you?" Murphy muttered, slamming the phone down on the receiver for the fifth time.

It wasn't like she could leave to go and get him. The cops and detectives who worked in Chicago's SI unit were getting more than a bit frustrated with the case, and the FBI was noticing. Everyone who'd ever worked with Harry knew that Murphy wouldn't bring him in unless there was something… other about the case. Sure, he'd helped with kidnapped kids and stolen things before. But the majority of the cases he worked on involved some sort of horrible monster or evil necromancer or something that would potentially end up destroying the world.

So that was pretty much what everyone, Murphy included, was convinced was going on. Except the BAU, and since they didn't really know what was going on, that meant that they were kind of a hindrance.

So…..

"Hey, Agent Hotchner!" Murphy called.

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JJ hated dogs.

They were big, slobbering, loud obnoxious monsters that didn't need to exist.

And this place smelled of dog.

Why Hotch had sent her and Emily to pick up and find this Dresden guy, she would never know, but dammit if she could see any sign of a dog when she walked through the door, she was going to…

"MOUSE! Will you get that?" someone shouted from the other side of the door that Emily had just finished banging on.

The handle started to wobble and abruptly a very, very, very large dog answered, yes, answered the door.

JJ fainted.

The dog darted behind the FBI Agent and caught her. It nudged Emily with it's great head, and walked slowly past her with the girl on his back.

Harry walked upstairs just as Emily was getting JJ onto the couch. He saw the two of them and frowned slightly.

"Is she afraid of dogs?"

"Yeah… and after seeing that mammoth you keep as a pet, can you really blame her?" Emily grinned slightly.

"Oh, Mouse is harmless," Dresden said, reaching down to scratch the dog's head. "Hells bells, he barely even growls."

And then Mouse started to growl.

Emily felt the sound more than she could hear it. Behind her, Harry tensed up instantly and moved quickly in front of her.

"Do you have a gun Agent Prentiss?" he asked, his voice calm and hard.

"Yes."

"Now would be an excellent time to bring it out. Mouse, stay with JJ." the dog walked over and stood stock still over the unconscious blonde.

"Dresden what is going on?" whispered Emily. The feeling that something bad was about to happen couldn't be shaken. As many times as she told herself that this was just a paranoid PI overreacting to his guard dog's warning… it just wouldn't go away.

"Did you close the door after you came in?" he asked slowly.

"Maybe, probably. Why does it matter?"

"Because now, there's a good chance that we're about to be screwed." His words made absolutely no sense.

At least, not until the things walked into the room.

Their movements were stiff, almost mechanical, they were covered in this sort of drippy, thick slime, that looked like old bacon grease. Perhaps though, the most startling and terrifying thing about them was the fact that they had no faces.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God-"

"Emily," Dresden's voice was sharp and loud, quickly replacing the eerie and terrifying silence that had paralyzed the dark headed Agent.

The change was instantaneous and exactly what Harry had hoped for. Emily steeled herself, tensing and readying herself for the impending attack.

"When this is all over, I'm going to expect an explanation."

"I will gladly give you one."

Then it spoke.

Neither Harry nor Emily would be able to actually recall whose voice it was, but the message was very clear.

"This is just a taste." The voice dragged itself across their minds, scratching and scraping with hard syllables, but at the same time dripping and oozing with undisguised malevolence.

Then they launched themselves.

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When JJ woke up the house was a mess. The carpet was covered in a thick, flaky brown crust, and the furniture had be tossed around.

The dog was there though. Just staring at her. His eyes were big and brown and somehow, they took away the feeling of unease that had wormed its way into her.

"Why is it that you're growing on me?" she asked warily.

The dog whined slightly and nudged her shoulders, as if telling her to get up.

JJ obliged and stood, following the dog out the house, and into the backyard of the building that Harry lived in.

Emily and Dresden were standing there. In front of a bonfire.

Thick, greasy, black smoke rose from the flames. Both Harry and Emily were filthy, covered in the same flaky shell that JJ had seen on the floor in the apartment. Their clothes were torn and scorched. Harry was carrying a heavy looking stick, covered in odd carving that seemed to writhe and move as JJ watched.

Emily turned around and gave her a tired smile.

Dresden raised his hand and passed it over the fire, it went out an instant later. JJ's eyes widened at the action and Emily shrugged, she nudged Dresden with her elbow and they walked towards her.

"I'm surprised you actually stayed out through all of that." Emily said, a lifeless kind of wonder running through her words.

"Don't be, if one of those things had even tried to get near her Mouse would have had it on the ground and out in a second." he looked at the dog and thoughtfully scratched it's head. "He's good like that."

"Uh, yeah." JJ scratched her head and blinked the last bit of sleep from her eyes. "Does somebody want to tell me exactly what just happened?"

"I was actually just about to address that, when I decided that I would wait until your whole team was here to hear it." Harry said. He flung the oddly carved stick across his neck and draped his arms over it.

"Well, that shouldn't take to long." Emily said, looking over her shoulder. Abruptly all of them were aware of the sounds of sirens in the distance.

Harry sighed and sat down heavily on the ground. He looked up at Emily and JJ and smiled warily. "Come on, kick your feet up and relax while you can. Trust me, things are about to get a whole hell of a lot crazier."