Chapter V: Decisions

AN:

Heya fan-fic folks!

So, this chapter is a little bit odd. I drew the main portion of the story from a scene in one of the Dresden Files books and I had my copy of it open in front of me as I read. The result is kind of a weird blend between my style and Butcher's.

Also, for those of you who aren't familiar with the series, The White Council is basically the fraternity group that rules Wizards. They've got seven rules that have an absolute death penalty if you break them. Dresden and Max are under a sort of Wizarding Probation called the Doom of Damocles. Basically, if they break the rules again, they're dead.

'Walkers' are a weird blend of alien lovecraftian creatures that work for the Great Old Ones. Outsiders are the weaker footsoldier version of Walkers. They're both basically the incredibly powerful agents of super-deities from beyond the universe that are nigh-indestructible, hence Dresden's concern. Walkers are trying to open up a way into the universe so the GOOs can get back in and rule/destroy everything. If you know Lovecraft, you'll get the idea. Ok, Lore-Download over.

So, I realise I've been a little absent the last couple of weeks. As an apology for being late, there's a link in my Ao3 profile I think you'll enjoy. (Same username as here, btw.) It only works on HTML Browsers, unfortunately, so you'll have to use Chrome or some other such thing to use it. Safari users, sorry.

I can't tell you about any other browsers, but if you use it on Chrome, a file should pop up with a whole bunch of code. If you download the file, you should get a HTML file called "The Airplane Job." You can run it in HTML Browsers.

It's a short Text-Based game in a similar vein to Love is Strange, except based in the world of The Blackwell Job. You play Max and make your choices as you progress through the Contract. It's just a short thing I made, nowhere near complete, but if you like it, I might continue it and make it a full story/game to run alongside The Blackwell Job. Review or PM or comment or something if you want me to do more. They're hella easy, so it's really no trouble at all to do.

Thanks for reading fan-fic-folks and, as always, please review.

GrumpyCat42: Hey Mr Sulu. :D Glad you liked it.

MaxNeverMaxine: It certainly is. And heh. Love is Strange was a pretty decent game/VN. Not quite Katawa Shoujo, but still ( Hanako 3 )

Angela3000: Ain't it just? I love Chloe in her child-like moments. They are adorable. And thank you, I'm doing my best. :) I love writing and I love these characters, so I try to fit it in where I can.

I stop outside the store and fire off a text to Max. We'd been chatting on and off for the last two weeks. Magic fucks up technology, so it's not like we can really keep conversations going for hours.

CHLOE: Hey Max off 2 bocks CU l8r cffeeshp?

I turn my phone off and put it away before I walk in. The wards on this place were weak, but better safe than sorry. No fuckin' way I wanna replace my phone AGAIN.

"Hey Big Guy." I grin and finger gun the guy as I stride in the door.

Bock nods. "Chloe." He always just nodded now. I kept trying to get him to fistbump me, but his fucking golf-ball sized knuckles were hella bigger than mine. A couple of weeks of bruised fists made me give that shit up hella quickly.

He nods over to the back shelves. "Got some new inventory in. Held a couple for you."

I grinned. Aww. "Awesomesauce. Thanks, Bock."

He gave me one of his gruff rumbles and went back to his reading. Some kinda car mag, I think. I headed over to the back shelves to check out his new stock.

Oooh. Evolutionary Witchcraft, that sounds cool! I picked up the book and flicked through it. Chapter Two, 'Recognising the Divine Within'.

"God is self and self is God and God is a person like myself"

-Victor Anderson

Huh. Apparently this thing called the 'tripartite soul' appeared in loads of places. Some greek guy, 'Plato', even liked it. According to Max, the Greeks and Romans really started off modern magic, so maybe this Plato guy might know something. I added it to the pile and kept looking.

Rach always liked all this philosophical and spiritual crap. She always said there was something more out there, something part of us. She went Wiccan a few months before I met her. Never pushed it on me though. Something about needing to 'embrace the mother' or whatever.

I sighed and leaned my head against a shelf. Damn it, Rach. I miss you so much...

A couple of hours of searching and reading later, I had a little pile of four books to get. I headed over to the desk. "Hey Bock, just these today."

He nodded and started pricing them up. "You read quickly."

I shrug. "Yep. They're hella cool books."

please don't ask please don't ask please don't ask

He nodded and handed me a brown bag. "$56.40"

Oh thank fuck. And shit, research is hella expensive… But I forked over the cash and took the bag.

I nodded bye to Bock and headed out the back door to the alley where I'd parked my old truck. Mom was cooking and step-douche was out, so I hella wanted to get back in time for noms.

Wait. I blinked. Why the fuck is my truck so blurry?

I felt a hand around my neck, I screamed, and then everything went black.

We headed over to the counter. The huge, bear of a guy behind it looked up at us. This guy looked like he used to crack skulls for a hobby. He was huge, unshaven and had layers of muscle. He was like a walking piledriver. "Yes?"

"You called us? I'm Dresden. This is my apprentice, Max."

He nodded. "I did. I'm Bock. Come on out back, Mr Dresden."

He grunted up from his seat and lumbered out through the back door of the store into the alley.

We followed him out. The alley was well, just your usual alleyway. It ran along the back of Bock's shop and a few other buildings on the row. "The girl, Price. She always parked out here." He waved off down the alley.

Fuck… It was Chloe's truck. "Boss..."

He put his hand on my shoulder. "Yeah, I know, Kid. We'll find her."

Dresden turned to Bock. "What happened?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. The girl came in, as usual. She picked up her books and left. I heard a scream out back, so I came out to check." He waves off down the alley. "Her truck was there and I found her books on the ground. The wards detected some teleportation here, so I called you."

He held out a little brown paper bag. Shit. Dresden nodded. "Alright, thanks Mr Bock."

"Just Bock. Let me know if you need anything else." He turned around and headed back inside.

"Alright, Grasshopper. You know the drill."

I nodded. "Check the scene. See what we can find."

He smiled. "Learn quickly, this one does, yes!"

I snorted. "Come on then, Master Yoda. We've got to find her."

We searched the alley. Dresden took one end, I took the other. It was about half an hour before I found anything. It was a lighter. Her lighter.

I called him over and handed it to him.

"Can we use this?"

He frowned at it for a second, then grinned. "I think so. The energy is fading fast though, so let's get to it!"

We were standing outside some shitty warehouse in the docks. Tracing the lighter had lead us here. It's a thaumatergy thing. Stuff you keep with you all the time, with meaning and attachment placed on them, they sort of resonate with a similar energy to you. We can use that energy to find the owners of things.

Once we'd found the place, a quick deal with a Loa told us that some sorcerer and his pet demon lived here. For some reason, the Boss had decided we'd hit this guy at night.

Sometimes, for all his nerdiness, I wonder if he's ever seen a fucking horror movie…

One of the cops, the guy with the shotgun, looked up at the warehouse. The boss never let me have a gun. After all his 'magic doesn't solve everything' schtick, too. Anyways, the guy, Micky something, looked up at the warehouse and asked "So, we go in and then what?"

Murphy circles everyone up. "Here's the plan. Harry thinks the followers will be drugged out or asleep. We round them up, cuff them up and move on." She nods to the Boss. "The next part is Harry's."

Dresden shrugs. "The guy we're after, we think he's a sorcerer. It's like being a wizard, only he spends his energy doing destructive things. He isn't good at doing anything else. Kind of a one-trick pony, magically."

There's a lot of technical terms to wizardry. Wizards are like Jedi Masters. We can do lots of different things with Magic 'cause we've got the training. Sorcerers are like powerful amateurs. All power, but no training. A prepared wizard always has the advantage over a sorcerer.

"So," The Boss continued "Max and I are going to go in and lock down his magic. There's a demon in there too." He nodded his head to my Dad. "That's what he's here for."

My Dad nodded. "If the creature is here, do not get close to it. Don't even shoot it." Damn. Dad always did get all booming and dramatic when he was in Knight Mode. "Leave it to me. If it gets past me, throw your holy water at the thing and run while it screams."

He got a bit creepy, too. There's a reason the Boss nicknamed him 'The Fist of God' after all.

"That's pretty much the whole plan. Keep any human flunkies with knives from giving them to us. We'll take the Sorcerer's powers and the Demon out, and you grab the sorcerer as soon as we're sure he's down. If you run into any supernatural surprises, let us know and we'll take them out."

I waved and an image of Chloe appeared in the middle of the circle. A couple of the cops looked a little shocked, but most of 'em had seem enough to hold it together. "This is Chloe Price. We're here to find her. If you see her, don't shoot her or anything. Grab her and get her out, okay?" I looked over to the Boss. He nodded. "That's it. Questions?"

The cops all shook their heads and Murphy nodded. "Let's go." She signalled and the cops moved into the warehouse. We followed them in.

In the front of the warehouse, there were a dozen kids, some even younger than me, lying around the place. Shit, there'd been a hardcore party here. There were needles, clothes, bottle and cans and shit everywhere. The cops grabbed them all and shoved them in the wagon outside.

Dad, Dresden and I moved forward toward the back of the warehouse, through huge piles of shipping crates. Murphy and a couple of the other cops followed behind.

I was kinda glad the guy with the shotgun was coming with us, but also kinda baffled they let us go first. But hey, I guess the 6ft tall dude in platemail and the two wizards (Well, Wizard and Apprentice) got to go first.

We moved over to the back door of the warehouse and stopped there. Dresden peeked through and turned to my Dad. "Bingo. The Demon's in there. He's got it in a circle."

Dad nodded and loosened Amoracchius in his sheath.

Dresden pulled the door open and the three of us crept in. The Cops hung back, just until we'd got him tied down. There was an old guy in there. Tall, grey hair, tangled beard. Just like Bock said. He was standing in front of a big circle. Inside the circle was something out of a nightmare. Glowing eyes, dark and shadowy body and… I shuddered, taking my eyes off it and focusing on the sorcerer.

So, this is the asshole that took Chloe. I could feel that old anger coming back, from before I'd even met Dresden. I was such a pissed off kid when we'd come here, when we'd left Chloe. Side effect of the whole sensitive thing, I tended to feel emotions really strongly sometimes. I wanted to leap forward and tear the old bastard's throat out with my bare fucking hands.

But I didn't. I breathed deep, and took control. Just like the Boss taught me. I opened my eyes to see Dresden watching me. I nodded. I'm ok.

He just looked at me for a second, before nodding again and smiling. He pulled out his chalk, I pulled out mine and we both drew out the circle for the spell. The minute the Boss started casting, the old man's head snapped up, eyes focused directly on us. He snarled and broke the demon's circle.

The thing leapt towards us, snarling and slobbering. Dad stepped forward to meet it, big-ass sword in hand. The whole 'Spotlight of God' thing kicked in too, making him look every inch the avenging angel. "Stay back, Spawn of Hell!" He roared.

Yep… Definitely Booming and Dramatic.

The Demon squealed, a sound like some kind of weird, two-voiced baritone pig, and charged. Dad sidestepped and raked the tip of the sword along it's side. The thing squealed again, this time in pain, and took a swipe.

Dad tried to duck, but he took a hit to the chest. Luckily, the armour blocked it from ripping his guts out, but he did get shaken a little. The Demon, probably sensing the moment, swiped again, knocking him off his feet.

The sorcerer was standing back, maniacally laughing as he watched the fight. Dresden and I kept the spell going, slowly locking down more of his power. His eyes flickered over to us and he glared. He threw a bolt of lightning at us, helpfully blocked by Dresden's shield bracelet. The next glare was way more vicious, like he couldn't wait to squash us beneath his heel.

He threw spell after spell at us, each weaker than the last. But, they were still throwing us off the spell. Magic takes focus and being hit with that many spells was a pretty big distraction. So, Dresden raised his shield bracelet and stepped out of the circle. I immediately felt magical energies suddenly land on me, the pull of the spell like an anchor around my fucking neck.

"Dresden!" I called out, seriously panicked.

He looked over his shoulder at me and smiled. "You got this, Grasshopper. Take this asshole down."

I nodded. I can do this, I can do this, I can do this. I. Can. Do. This.

I focused entirely on the spell, blocking out Dresden, my Dad, the Cops, everything. It was just me and the magic.

I pushed my will against his, trying to wrap the spell around it, dampening his energy. It was hard, but I pushed.

Damn, this guy is fucking strong! Way too strong to be just a sorcerer. This guy had enough power to be on the Council. But so did I, and I had a much better teacher. My eyes flickered open and met his across the room. He looked shocked.

I did it! I fucking did it!

He turned to run, but Micky the Shotgun Cop stepped forward and shot at his feet. It was from all the way across the room, but he did it perfectly. The guy fell to his knees. I looked over and saw my Dad end the Demon with a gullet to groin slice, bisecting the thing. As the two pieces fell, they liquidised into ectoplasm and melted into the floor.

We turned to the bad guy and swept in to take him. Just before the cops got to him, I felt a push back. It felt like ice was being pushed through my head. A migraine and a thousand slushie brain-freezes all at once.

The spell dropped and the man met my eyes again. His back rippled in spikes and a voice appeared in my head. It hurt just listening to it.

"I AM RETURNED! HE WHO WALKS BEHIND!"

He waved and disappeared in an inky swirling cloud of shadow.

"Shit!" Murphy whirled on us. "Where the hell did he go, Dresden?"

He stared at the place where the guy had disappeared. "I don't know, Murph." She glared. He shrugs, hands out. "I swear to you, Murph, I have no idea. I've never seen teleportation done like that."

She ran a hand through her hair and growled. I shrank a little, trying to hide behind the boss. No way in hell I wanted her coming after me on this.

"Fine." She took a deep breath. "Fine. We lost him. At least we broke up his little cult." She turned to the other two cops. "And find the girl. He's got to have her stashed around here somewhere."

Dresden turned to me. "Well done, Grasshopper. I knew you could do it." I glowed under his praise. Back when we started I used to literally glow, but we'd got that under control a few months after.

I nodded, grinned, then fell to the floor. Shit, Magic is fucking exhausting!

I woke up again in the backseat of Murphy's car. Someone had put a shitty police blanket over me. I clambered out, looking around. Dresden was standing by the hood of the car, watching the warehouse door. He grinned when I got out. "Hey Grasshopper. How are you feeling?"

I shrugged. "Like there's an ogre with a hammer trying to break his way outta my skull, but other than that, ok."

I looked around. "Where's Chloe? Have they found her?"

Dresden smiled and nodded over my shoulder. I turned to see Chloe being led out of the warehouse by one of the cops. She was wrapped in another one of those shitty blankets and looked seriously beat up. She had a bloody lip and she was limping. But she was alive. She was fucking alive!

"Chloe!" I ran over and pulled her into a hug.

She grinned and hugged me back. "Hey Maxie. Thanks for coming to get me."

I leant back and looked her in the eye. "That's what friends do. Oh!"

I pulled away from the hug and ruffled through my pockets. Where did I put the damned..? Ok, here it is. I threw the lighter over to her. She caught it with a grin. "Thanks! I'd be so fucking pissed if I lost this."

"Anytime. Now, we're taking you to the paramedics. They need to check you over."

Chloe opened her mouth, but I interrupted. "No fucking arguments. You're going."

She nodded and I watched her walk over to the ambulance waiting outside. I turned to Dresden. "Boss, can I talk to you?"

He nodded. I took a deep breath. "Something happened. In there."

One eyebrow raised. He looked confused. I quickly clarified "Something other than the fight." I took a deep breath and told him about what I heard. The voice and the spines.

His face fell further and further as I talked. "Hells bells, Grasshopper. Are you sure that's what it said?"

I nodded. "Definitely. He Who Walks Behind. What do you think it is?"

He sighed and ran his hand over his face. "Bad news. It's a Walker."

Shit. "Are you serious? How are we still alive?"

He shrugged. "No idea. But this changes everything."

Max sat across from me. "So, who was the guy?"

I shrugged. "No fucking clue. He grabbed me from Bock's Books in Portland. I was walking back to my truck and I just sort of… collapsed." Heh. Bock's Books, Bock's Books, Bock's Books. There's a hella awesome tongue twister in there somewhere.

Max looked to Tall, Dark and Brooding. I guess this was 'Dresden', her teacher. He was even more brooding close up. "Shit, Boss. What are we gonna do?"

He frowned and stared over at me. He looked like he was thinking. I could practically see the little hamster wheel going in his head. He nodded. "We're going to have to take her in."

Max… did not seem to like that idea. "Seriously? We're taking her to the fucking council? After what happened with me?"

He shrugged. "Hey, I seem to remember that turning out pretty well. You're still alive, aren't you?"

She jumped up from the chair and got right up in his face. "Yeah, but with a threat from them to kill me if I ever step out of line! I'm only here 'cause my Dad saved some people. Chloe doesn't have that!"

Well, thanks for the fucking reminder, Maxie…

She stopped, turned to me. "Shit. Sorry, Chloe. I didn't mean it like that."

I smiled. I didn't wanna, but I really couldn't afford to piss these two off. And, they'd just saved my life, so I guess I can give her this one. "It's fine."

Dresden put his hands on Max's shoulders. "Max. We don't know who this guy is, he's using magic I don't recognise, he's still out there and he's working with outsiders. We need help on this one."

Max sighed. "Damn it."

He snorted. "Yeah. It sucks, Grasshopper. But we need to take the chance." He looked at me. "We're taking her to Edinburgh."