Building Faith

By Ellf

Fools Rush In 37

Disclaimer: Jim Butcher owns the Dresden Files, any other works of fiction mentioned are not owned by me.

If the proof hadn't been sitting right between my arms, I wouldn't have believed it. Drew lived. He lived, and I just… God, he'd been through so much. Drew hadn't woken yet, but I ran my hands down the side of his body, feeling his head, feeling his hair, feeling his pulse. I'd asked for a miracle, and I'd thought Sanya's appearance had been it. Sanya might have been necessary for us to win against Guase, but what Kumori did… I glanced to the necromancer.

The real question was what did Kumori do? Did she use necromancy to bring Drew back from the brink of death? From beyond death? Drew wasn't a zombie in my arms; he lived, he breathed, had a pulse. No drums were beating in the background. If I recalled correctly, it was entirely possible, under the right conditions, to die temporarily, leave a ghost, and then come back. Was what Kumori did the magical equivalent of CPR?

"How?" I managed to get out, looking at the cloaked woman.

"The True Magic is capable of more than just zombies and ghosts. The end goal is to end Death itself," Kumori said, gesturing at Drew and I. "I was able to save the life of the boy and stem his bleeding, but he will still need medical attention."

Sanya looked at Drew strangely, a feeling of… well, perhaps it was pity… came from the Knight. It had to be because of the missing arm. "I do not like this, but I can see that he lives."

"Necromancy," Molly said, and this time it was less of a curse. In this one case, I could agree. Whatever Kumori did, however she did it, it was nothing less than a miracle. Drew was alive… and… I could feel as he started to stir.

Drew's eyes blinked open in my arms, and he looked up at me. I met his eyes for half a second, but I looked away as I started to feel the pull of a soulgaze. It was… He was there.

"Fai," Drew said, and I felt the warmth in his tone. "What? I re—oh, God…"

"Drew, it's okay… you're alive… you're here now…" I spoke soothingly. Pain flared up within him, from his missing arm, and I felt his heartbeat increasing as I held him close. "We're going to get you somewhere…"

"… Is that Andrew Warren?" I must have missed Murphy approach, but she'd shown up from behind me.

Drew made a noise, halfway between surprise and pain, and I clutched him tighter, making shushing sounds. I tuned out Molly explaining to Murphy what had happened, focusing my attention on Drew. I needed to keep him calm, keep him steady. He seemed to quiet at my voice, and… Fuck, I just needed to keep focused on him. Keeping him safe. Keeping him awake until whatever could come. Someone would come, I was sure of it, and then they could make sure he stayed alive and I could just process what had happened. Focusing on Drew meant I wasn't focusing on the fact that I killed something wearing his face. It might have already been dead, but it was something wearing his face. I could feel the chunk of me it had torn out…

I don't know exactly how long I sat there, clutching Drew, with Molly, Murphy and Sanya standing near me. I do know that at some point, Kumori disappeared, almost as if she'd never been there in the first place. Perhaps she went wherever she'd come from. Marcone had come over, talked with Murphy for a bit, and Murphy didn't exactly seem happy about whatever it was they'd spoken about, but I do remember him kneeling down to look me in the face, as I refused to look him in the eye.

"Miss Carpenter, I've arranged for a medical team to arrive for your people. They are discreet, and they have seen things. They will likely suggest taking Mister Warren to a hospital," Marcone said.

"He's alive," I whispered, but I grimaced as I looked at his arm. Drew had passed out again at some point, but he was still breathing. "I'd like to keep him that way, thank you, Mister Marcone."

"You and your sister will be looked at as well," Marcone said, and it wasn't quite an order.

"For once, I agree with Marcone," Murphy said, and I looked to her. Murphy had a few lacerations on her body, but she looked mostly unharmed, just tired. "Faith, you and your sister went through a lot. You need medical attention as well."

"Right," Molly said, placing a hand on my shoulder, which was less a show of solidarity and more a need for support. Judging from my sister's pupils, I was pretty sure Molly might have had a concussion. Plus, from the way she was holding her arm… at the least, it was strained. I hoped it wasn't broken again.

"Yeah, okay," I said, still holding Drew. I turned back to Marcone. "We won't be stubborn about it. Thank you."

"No, Miss Carpenter," Marcone shook his head. "Thank you. What the two of you accomplished today was impressive. You would be welcome to work for me after you finish your education."

"Or work with Monoc Securities," one of the larger men said as he came up. "While we are not directly recruiting these days, warriors such as yourselves have the right—"

"Mister Svenson, please," Marcone said, cutting the man off. "I would rather not lodge a complaint with your employer."

"Very well, Mister Marcone," Svenson said.

I shook my head. "Thank you, but, for right now—"

"—we have other plans, Mister Marcone," Molly said, squeezing my shoulder. "So that would be a no."

Marcone nodded and climbed to his feet. "Medical should be here shortly. Lieutenant Murphy, Faith and Molly Carpenter, Sir Knight, please give Mister Borden and his pack my regards."

And then he walked away. I assumed that Marcone probably went back to his car, taking his people with him, and when I next looked up, the only living left in the cemetery were my sister, Murphy, Billy, Georgia, Andi, Kirby, Sanya, Drew and I. At some point the Alphas had returned to their human forms and donned their normal sweats. They looked in worse shape than Murphy, but they were able to move. The cuts that had seemed deep on their wolf forms were shallower as humans, and they looked a couple days old compared to how they'd looked as wolves. It didn't matter, at least not yet.

The medical team turned up… sometime after that, I suppose. As great as I am at perception, I'm not so great at perceiving time. They took Drew and put him onto a stretcher, saying they'd get him to a medical facility and contact Murphy with the location so she could alert his mother. A hospital would be required to ask questions, they'd reasoned, and with Drew's situation, these weren't questions that could reasonably be answered.

They'd looked Molly over too, concussion, strained arm, bruises and some lacerations. Her jacket managed to shield her from the bulk of the damage. They'd recommended she try to stay awake until her pupils returned to normal, at least.

In my case, as they'd looked me over, I hadn't quite realized the shape I was in. I'd been thrown into a wall, had a ghost do something with my soul, and the previous day I'd had my gut torn into by a ghoul. Apparently, at some point, I'd aggravated the wound on my stomach enough to tear open the stitches that Georgia had done. The cold combined with the bandages I'd already been wearing kept the blood flow down, but if the wound didn't get stitched shut there was the chance I'd lose a lot more. Luckily, the area had already been numb so the medical team was able to stitch me up right there. As for my other injuries, my ankle was sprained, I'd probably have a good amount of bruising on my back, and I just felt… drained. Sick, still, remembering what I'd felt when Guase had died. Remembering what I'd seen when looking at the thing that wore Drew's face.

When the medical team had finished, Billy and Georgia had offered their place as a place to recuperate a bit and maybe spend the night. I don't really recall getting into Georgia's SUV, other than the damn thing barking something about the door and jars for a few seconds before we closed them after us. Murphy must have had something to do or she'd have taken us herself. Sanya had climbed into the back with us.

We'd been at Billy and Georgia's apartment for a bit before we'd spoken. Molly and I ended up spending a little of that time around the toilet. God, the night had been so messed up. The shit we'd felt in that cemetery. If we hadn't been so determined, we probably wouldn't have been able to force it away, to force it out. It was way too easy to let emotions in, to read them from other people, and then there was the death. Hell's bells, I'd just… I didn't want to think about it, dwell on it or anything.

We were sitting in the living room, Molly and I leaning on each other, when Murphy came in, accompanied by Georgia. I didn't quite bolt to my feet, but I did stand.

"Lieutenant, how is he?" I asked. I hadn't gone with Drew, primarily at the suggestion of the medical team. I'd wanted to. Oh, Lord, I'd wanted to.

"Stable, or so I was told," Murphy said. "Marcone's team seems to be pretty good. They're confident he'll pull through."

I breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank God."

Murphy nodded. "Sit back down, please. We need to talk."

I did, and Sanya walked into the room, accompanied by Billy at his side. Billy nodded to us, and the two of them walked over to stand near us. I wrapped an arm around Molly, and she did the same to me. We needed to be able to focus.

"Let me first begin by congratulating the two of you," Murphy said. "I might not know much about magic myself, other than what certain things are, but I do know that the two of you showed a lot of skill tonight against the necromancer."

Molly and I smiled at that. "Thank you."

"Yeah, the two of you were pretty cool," Billy said. "It was almost like watching two Harry's."

"He'd have had a lot more fire," I said, my cheeks flushing.

"Neither of us is really all that good with it," Molly added.

"You work with what you have," Sanya said. "Your father would be proud, if he had seen you today."

"That said," Murphy interjected. "There were things that could have been handled better. I did ask the two of you to stay out of this investigation."

"But…" We started, only to be stopped by a raised hand from the diminutive detective.

"No buts. I did ask that," Murphy said. "You two are minors, and it isn't your responsibility to protect Chicago from supernatural foes. It isn't even Harry's. I took an oath to protect and serve, and I can't very well protect you if you're going off on your own to investigate things. This isn't Scooby Doo."

"We could have brought Mouse," I said before I could stop myself, and Murphy just looked flatly at me.

Molly, on the other hand, just slapped me in the back of the head. "Fai... You went right into that circle. If it weren't for Kumori's help, you'd probably still be stuck in there. With it doing whatever the heck it was going to do in the first place."

I nodded, sheepishly. "I suppose. But we needed to help, Lieutenant Murphy. If we hadn't helped, people in SI would have—"

"Died? Maybe. But they'd have died doing the job they'd sworn an oath to do. It wouldn't be the first time I'd lost someone in my department," said Murphy. "But your mistake wasn't investigating it. You actually did a pretty good job there. Your mistake was not calling me sooner. You should have done so yesterday."

"We're sorry," Molly and I said in unison. "We thought about it, but we didn't want to talk with you unless we had something you could use."

Murphy shook her head. "You should have called me earlier than you did, at least after talking with Butters. Still, I am glad that you brought me in when you did."

I nodded. "We needed you, all of you. Neither Molly nor I are experienced enough to tackle something like this on our own."

"I don't think even Harry would," Molly added. "It just… It was a lot to take in."

"The two of you were very successful for your age out there," Sanya said. "Your father would be proud of what you managed to accomplish if perhaps a bit worried for you. It is good that you brought someone like Lieutenant Murphy in on this."

"Thank you, Sanya," Molly said.

"It means a lot," I added.

"I have but one question," Sanya said. "Do your parents know what it is you were doing tonight?"

I looked to the ground. Daddy was off doing what he did as a Knight, and if he'd gotten Forthill's message, he might have shown up and known. However, we still hadn't told Mom, and as far as I knew, Daddy hadn't found out yet either. Molly squeezed my hand.

"I thought not," said Sanya. "You should tell Michael. He is a good father; he will understand what it is you faced."

"And Mom?" Molly asked.

"I am sure that once Michael talks with her, she will understand," Sanya looked from my sister to me. "If you are honest with your mother, she will understand eventually."

I looked to Billy, and the werewolf raised his hands. "I'm not getting involved with this. I don't know your parents."

"What about yours?" I asked. "Have you told them what you and Georgia can do?"

"Not… exactly, not yet." Billy shook his head. "We're going to, soon, but…"

I nodded.

"Nevertheless," Murphy said. "The two of you did pretty good out there. You just need to learn from the mistakes you made and do better next time."

"Right," Molly and I said. "We will."

"What ever happened to the drummer?" I asked.

"One of the Monoc men knocked him out, and I cuffed him. He's in a holding cell downtown right now," said Murphy. "We have enough evidence to charge him for a few murders, and he's got two warrants from out east. I can't really share specifics with you, but it's looking like he'll be going away for a while."

"Good," I said.

"Hey, the two of you can spend the night tonight if you want," Billy said. "I know Georgia's going to want to make sure Marcone's medical team did their work right."

"Thanks," Molly said. "Assuming Mom followed Father Forthill's advice, it probably isn't a bad idea."

"I will be going to Saint Mary's," Sanya said. "I need to talk with Father Forthill, and I will have reason to talk with Michael when he gets back."

"I'll be at home if you need me tonight, but first I need to go down to the station and nail the bastard properly," said Murphy. "I'll leave the contact information for where Andrew Warren is staying with you along with someone I think the two of you should talk with. It isn't easy seeing someone die that close, and the two of you probably need to talk to someone, even if it's not a professional. I'll see you around."

Murphy jotted down a number and a hospital name before leaving the living room. Sanya's eyes followed her movement, and I heard him whisper something to Billy. I really didn't want to hear about how small and fierce Murphy was, even if she was an attractive older woman.

"I will be seeing the two of you," Sanya said, standing. "If you see him before I do, give Michael my regards."

Billy walked the Knight of the Cross out of the apartment, and Molly and I just… Well, we relaxed on the couch. I'm not entirely sure when we fell asleep, but my dreams that night were not calm. Despite Drew being alive, despite us winning, I still had tumultuous dreams. I couldn't recall any specifics, but I had flashes of teeth, of the cold energy, and of Guase, her brains splattering on the fresh snow.

I don't know how long I slept, but I woke the next morning to the smells of breakfast cooking and Georgia checking my bandages. After everything was verified to be in order, we made our way to the table which had one additional occupant at it other than Billy, Georgia, Molly, or myself. Our mentor, Harry Dresden sat at the table, his leather duster folded over the chair behind him.

Even sitting down, Harry was still tall, and he didn't look to be in great shape. From the way he held his body, the wizard probably had several bruises all over to match the cuts and lacerations on his mostly bare arms. Bandages peeked out from under his T-shirt, indicating the possibility of a broken rib, and he seemed to be nursing his left arm a bit, which wasn't exactly as bad as it could be. If his right arm had the issue, someone would have to feed him as the functions in his left hand were still fucked. I had no clue how long it would take for them to recover, if they would at all.

"Morning, Grasshopper," Harry said, nodding to me. Molly already sat at the table, a plate of eggs in front of her. "I'd have woken you up myself, but your sister said to let you sleep. Something of a long day yesterday?"

I looked to Molly, locking eyes with her. He knew already, but Molly hadn't told him. That much was clear. Which left two people: Murphy and Thomas. Given that someone had to pick him up from the train station and he had to get a ride here somehow, I was leaning toward both of them, actually.

"You could say that," I said as I sat in a spot at the table, wincing slightly as I settled into place. My stomach still hurt, and I'd have to take the painkiller that they'd given me soon. "It wasn't very fun."

"We'll talk about it more in the car as I take you two home," Harry said, not quite looking to Billy and Georgia. I felt… maybe a bit of apprehension from him. He didn't want to talk about it in front of the Alphas as they put food on my plate.

"Okay," Molly said. "Focus on eating, Fai."

"Yeah," I said, looking to the eggs and bacon. They looked pretty appetizing, but I could only bring myself to pick at the food a bit. After a little, I'd finished, and I looked over Harry. "What happened in the Ozarks?"

"Long story," Harry said. "Little painful, but when I get a call like that, I need to help out."

"Gnolls tough or something?" I asked.

"You could say that." Harry looked to my plate, and then looked away. "Billy, Georgia, I'm going to take the two Grasshoppers home for you. Thanks for helping them out."

"We'd do the same for you," Billy said as Georgia nodded. "In a heartbeat."

"And I appreciate that. Come on, you two." Harry stood and put on his duster, and Molly and I followed him out the door of the apartment. Parked in the street was Harry's Blue Beetle, which would be a bit cramped with the three of us in it, but we'd made it work in the past. I climbed into the back seat while Molly got the passenger side and Harry was going to be the driver, of course. After he'd started the car and we'd gotten situated, he turned to us. "I want you to tell me everything."

We nodded. When your mentor makes an order like that, you tend to obey, and we did. Molly and I alternated telling the story, filling in details here and there about things that happened over the past weekend, about what we'd done, what we'd seen. I might have left off things like how I knew about Kemmler, mentioning that Guase had said it, and Molly backed me up. However, I didn't lie. Then we told him about the previous night, and through it all, Harry had been rather calm. At least up until the point we mentioned Marcone's involvement.

"Wait… you called Johnny Marcone in on this?" Harry asked sharply. "Stars and stones, are you out of your mind?"

"It was his man who died," I said, a little taken aback by the venom in his response. I swear I could feel some anger coming off of him, but I needed to defend myself. "He had the people, and he had the resources that we needed in order to deal with Guase. It was the right play."

"It's Marcone. You know what he does, Faith. You know what he represents. You should have had Murphy bring in SI. They could have handled it," Harry said.

"And what, have them listen to a pair of sixteen-year-old girls? 'Oh, there's a necromancer out there raising zombies? Let's make sure the pair of minors are protected and can't get in the way.' Yeah, it would have worked out great, Harry." I couldn't believe him. Surely he could have seen why we needed to call Marcone in. He'd have done the same in our circumstances, wouldn't he?

"They'd have deferred to Murph, and they'd listen to you. Anyone would have been better than Johnny Marcone." Harry's voice had taken on a bit of his anger. Why the fuck was he so angry about it? We did exactly as he would have done, and he had the gall to say we should have done otherwise? "Hell's bells, kid, this isn't a game. This is life and death here. You need t—"

"You think I don't know that?" I asked, nearly snarling it out. How dare he? I mean, life and death? He's one to fucking talk. Not a game, not life and death. "Who the else was I supposed to call, Harry? SI wasn't an option because you weren't here. We couldn't call you because cell phones don't work for wizards. We tried to call the Wardens and couldn't get through! Who the fuck else was I supposed to call? Johnny Marcone had made his offer, knowing that we weren't going to accept it. He still made it. Drew was dead as far as I knew, and Guase needed to suffer, needed to be stopped. And she was. Thanks to Marcone, the person we weren't supposed to contact."

"Fai," Molly said, placing a hand on my shoulder, and I could feel her being upset as well, but somehow she was calmer than me. She wasn't getting as worked up, but fucking hell, Harry's hypocrisy pissed me off. Calm down, sis. Please.

"Tell me, Harry. Who was I supposed to call? Who?"

"Anyone but Johnny Marcone!" Harry yelled. "The man's a murderer, he's scum. He's a criminal, and he relishes in the suffering of others. You could have gotten Mac to give you another number for the Wardens. You could have gotten the number for Ebenezar McCoy from him. You could have had Murph call Jared Kincaid, called your dad, called anyone but him!"

"Murphy was with us, Harry!" I yelled back. "If SI was going to be brought in, wouldn't she have made the call? Hell, Thomas agreed that Marcone was the right call!"

"Fai! Harry!" Molly snapped out. "Calm down, both of you. This isn't helping either of you."

"I don't believe it," Harry snapped, ignoring my sister's call to calm down, which just made things worse on my end. "Thomas and Murph wouldn't have let you call Marcone in if you'd asked them first. You didn't, did you?"

"I didn't have a choice! What number for McCoy? The Wardens didn't answer! The fucking Hellhound didn't answer! We didn't have time to wait on trying other numbers, and the only option we had was Marcone!"

"There's always another option, Faith! You didn't need to bring him in! I wouldn't have done it!"

"Faith…" Molly said warningly. I didn't care. She knew what was going on as much as I did. Harry was wrong, and he needed to realize that. Marcone was the only option available and he couldn't fucking accept it.

"You would have. You did. He was there on the train with you and Daddy. You helped him out when he was attacked by the Loup-Garou. You'll call on him again at some point and you'll pay his price because sometimes there just isn't an option, Harry!" He'd make the man Baron of Chicago, and he'd do it with a smile on his face because Marcone was the least evil. I'd called Marcone because it was the only call I could make without the Wardens.

"No, I won't! Every time I did so in the past was a mistake, Faith! One I'd hoped you two would avoid! You made the wrong choice here, and I don't know how you're going to have to pay for it!" Harry's anger started to peak as we pulled into our neighborhood, but I felt a little bit of worry in there as well.

Normally when Harry gets angry, it's a bit scary, but this time, it only pissed me off further, and my voice went quiet as my rage stirred. "Marcone provided us with medical attention. He provided Drew with medical attention. I know the kind of business he does, Harry. He had the necromancer killed while I held her. Brain exploded out the side of her head."

"See?" Harry asked with incredulity. "It was a stupid move calling him in, reckless and dangerous. Everything you did over the past weekend was reckless. You're lucky that you managed to survive at all, Faith, and then what would I be telling your mother?"

"You weren't there, Harry. If you were, maybe things would have gone different. Maybe Marcone wouldn't have been needed, and maybe Drew wouldn't have nearly died. But you weren't there. You were off in the Ozarks doing whatever it is you were doing with a gnoll invasion. Whatever the fuck a gnoll is. You weren't here. You don't get to judge what we did that we thought was necessary because we won. We beat Guase."

"Not the right way," Harry said. "Marcone was not the right play, and he never is. He's always got an angle when it comes to these things, and you played right into his hands."

"Drew was dead, Harry, and it was my fault. He's injured and it's my fault. So I was going to avenge him and take every single bit of possible muscle I could gather up. That meant Marcone. You'd have done the same thing." As Harry started to open his mouth to respond, I shook my head in disgust. I couldn't anymore. I couldn't deal with it. "I'm done, Harry. I appreciate what you've taught me, and I really enjoyed the time we had, but you don't trust my judgment, not with the way you're treating me. I'm done with this argument, and I'm done with you."

We'd come to a stop, and we weren't really all that far from home, so I opened the back door of the Beetle and stepped out.

"Get back in the car, Faith," Harry said. "We can talk this out."

"No, we can't," I said. Things were too far gone for me to deal with Harry anymore. He didn't need me. He never did. "Ask Bob about Kemmler, Harry. And tell Sheila hello when you meet her. Have a nice life, Mister Dresden. Moll, I'll see you at home."

I slammed the door of the Beetle and I ran. I couldn't really run all that fast with my injuries, but I ran from the street and through several yards so that I wouldn't have to look back at my choice. I couldn't, not with Harry acting that way. I couldn't stand the holier-than-thou attitude, and I couldn't just let him dictate what was and wasn't stupid like that. I couldn't have him judge one of the only correct decisions I made, the decision that got things done as wrong, especially when he'd do the same thing. I was done with Harry Dresden. I had to be.

When I made it home, the Beetle either had already come and gone or it hadn't arrived yet. I was leaning toward the latter as I didn't feel Molly at home already. Maybe she was trying to talk with Harry a bit; I hoped that I hadn't ruined something for her. I didn't want to make her choose between me and someone else. That was never a choice I wanted to have her make. Still, I'd made my own choice.

I stepped inside through the back door, and sitting at the Kitchen counter was Mom. She looked up at me when I came inside, and I winced slightly. I didn't want to deal with this on top of everything.

"Faith Jessica Samantha Carpenter," Mom said, and I winced again at her using my full Name. Mom might not have had magic, but there was something about the way she said it that just made a chill go down my spine. "Would you care to explain to me why Ellis Warren called me last night in hysterics, worried over her son? And then she called me again later, mentioning that somehow he had lost part of his arm?"

Shit. I should have known that Drew's mom would call Mom. Mrs. Warren didn't know anything about what went bump in the night, but she'd been affected through her son. Mrs. Warren and Mom were friends enough that Drew's situation would be something she'd hear about, and given what Molly and I did, Mom might have been able to piece together that something had happened.

"So this has something to do with why Father Forthill insisted that we all stay inside last night but when I tried to get the two of you inside, I couldn't reach you at Mister Dresden's home phone number. What was going on, Faith?"

"A necromancer," I said, sighing. "A follower of Kemmler tried to do something last night. She's the one who took Drew, and she's the one who cut off his arm. We needed to do something about it."

"You and your sister are minors. You're my daughters. You shouldn't need to do anything about something like that," Mom said. "You should have been at home with me."

I shook my head. "If we had been, Drew would have been dead… and a bunch more people would have as well, Momma. She wanted to do something—"

"You could have died, Faith!" Mom yelled. "You could have died and I wouldn't have known because you didn't tell me where you were! You should have told me yourself what was going on. You and your sister both should have told me!"

"And then what, Momma?" I asked. "Would you have let us go off to fight the good fight? Would you have let us do what we needed to do, put ourselves in harm's way to prevent the disaster from happening?"

"We won't know what I would have done because you didn't give me the choice, Faith!" Mom's feelings were a nice mix of worry and righteous anger. "Anything could have happened, but you chose to not tell me. You're my daughter, Faith. I need to know what you're putting yourself into so I can help you."

"Momma, I'm not sure you can," I said, thinking about Drew. He'd been hurt because he had associated with Molly and I during the magic. He'd saved Molly and I from the ghoul zombies after we'd nearly tapped ourselves out in fighting the regular ones, and he got hurt because of it. Guase knew he existed because of it. I didn't want the same to happen to family.

"I can if you just listen," Mom said. "You should tell me these things, so I can keep you safe. It isn't your job to worry about me, Faith. It's my job to make sure you stay safe, especially from magic."

I shook my head and I headed out of the kitchen, ignoring Mom's yells to come back. I stormed up to Molly's and my room. I wasn't angry with Mom. I wasn't. I was angry with myself, for putting everyone in danger. It was my fault that Drew got hurt. Mine, not Molly's. It was my fault that Cecelia died. It was my fault that Glenn and Jason were in comas. This was making things better? Had I changed anything at all?

I dumped out my backpack onto my bed and I went to my dresser. I began to stuff clothes into it. I didn't want it to be my fault that Mom or the jawas got hurt. I didn't want it to be my fault that Molly got hurt, that Harry did. I might have been done with Harry Dresden, but I still didn't want him hurt because of something I did. This was the only path I knew that could keep those I cared about safe. If I removed myself from the picture, things would be better. I'd tried this when I was eight, and it hadn't worked because of the fucking ghoul and the fact that I was eight. I was older now, wiser, and I could protect myself from ghouls now.

I needed to keep my family safe. As Molly and I got stronger, we'd both attract things that might cause our family harm. If only one of us was there, it meant that the thing attracted would be less powerful, easier to deal with. Plus, Molly still had Harry.

Later that day, I sat on the bed in the Motel 6 I'd checked into using some of the cash I'd had saved up, and a knock came from the room's door. I'd given a fake name to the front desk, and I doubted anyone would think to look for me here, at least for now. I hadn't set any magical means of distorting tracking, but if Harry found me, I'd just leave again. I meant what I said when I was done with Dresden, at least for now. The knock came again, a bit more insistent this time along with a warm brush along my senses.

I opened the door, and Molly stepped into the room with me, letting the door shut behind her as she wrapped me into a hug. "Oh, thank God I found you…"

"Wait, Moll, what are you doing here?" I asked, backing away from the hug.

"Please," Molly said. "Like I'd let you go off on your own again."

"I'm not going back," I said. "They're safer without me. You're safer without me."

"Really now, Fai? Safer without you?" Molly scoffed. "Fai, you were really going to leave me on my own? After everything?"

"It seemed like… I mean, you should be safer if I'm not there with you…"

"Safer my butt, Fai. We're two sides to the same coin. I don't care what your past life says, you're my sister. Besides, how were you going to get any sleep tonight?"

I winced and I looked down. I hadn't thought of that. "You were supposed to stay and train with Harry… Everyone was supposed to be safe."

"Fai, if it came to a choice between you and him, ever, it's you every time. And you know what happens when we're apart too long," Molly crossed her arms and looked me in the eye. "Did you even think of that?"

I flushed, ashamed. I'd been so busy thinking about the harm that could happen if I stayed, I forgot about what might have happened if I abruptly left Molly behind. She could have… Fuck, what had I almost done to my sister? It didn't matter if I almost did it to myself, I might have deserved it. Molly didn't.

"S-Sorry… I didn't…" I shook my head. "But…"

"Fai, we made a promise, remember?" Molly asked, wrapping me in a hug once more and leaning her head against mine as I made an affirmative sound.

We'd pull through this together. After all, that's what we'd done in the past, and it's what we would always do in the future. Always together, forever as one.

Author's notes: Bit of a bittersweet ending to Book 2, but don't worry. There's lighter stuff coming. Though one of the interwoven short stories might be delayed from public release until next year around the 4th of July. Look for Fire Work and Mother's Insight coming soon.