Fic: Hail Conquering the Heroes
As he paced through his office, picking through the mess that the police had left Marcone wanted to kill someone.
Murphy specifically though he'd settle for whatever investigative team had rampaged through this building. The excuse of looking for his attackers had been all they needed to try and find out everything they could about Marcone. All of his financials had been dug through with a fine tooth comb and then tossed into bins to return them to him in disarray.
If he actually had to re-sort any of the paperwork he would have already flung the smug looking men in uniform that had returned the bins to him out of the window. As it was, some poor intern would be scrabbling to put everything back in order for weeks if not months.
Dresden leaned against the nearest uncluttered wall arms crossed loosely over his chest and a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"I don't understand what you're so upset about John. It's not like it was your real financial information."
"It's real enough Harry. It's what is used to do my taxes, which are coming up in less than two months. The blatant disrespect is what's really getting me though. The sheer lack of professionalism that the department is showing me is one of the many reasons that they have completely failed to pin so much as a misdemeanor on me."
"Do you want them to be able to pin anything on you?" Harry arched an eyebrow. "That seems rather counterproductive to our plans."
"Of course I don't, but if they could at least be competent at their jobs I wouldn't have to clean up so many messes when some moron with a dream tries to pull himself up by tearing me apart. I don't know if you've noticed love but we're fairly busy trying to take over the environs surrounding Chicago. I don't have the time to deal with every common criminal. Not yet anyway."
As he ranted John paced the lengths of his office, fury allowing him to turn a blind eye to the turbulence that was rising in the air like a palpable fog.
Crack
The room went dark as all of the lightbulbs in the room blew up at once.
John eyed his lover accusingly without saying a word.
"Don't look at me. That was all you. Seems the ritual is still working perfectly."
"What the Hell do you mean, me? I'm not the one who can jinx a piece of electronic equipment by looking at it a little too hard."
Harry pulled himself away from the wall and edged towards the door.
"Do you remember the ritual at all."
"Vividly."
"Look we were running out of time, and I needed to get you back on your feet as quickly as possible."
"So you..?"
"So I created a ritualistic potion with our blood and bound us together for all eternity."
"And the side effects are?"
"Shared lifespan, we'd basically have to be killed simultaneously."
"And?"
"You'll be able to access and manipulate my magic and we'll both be able to draw on each others memories."
"Why does this sound too good to be true? What else?"
"I've basically turned us into very picky vampires. One's who can only feed on each other. If we're separated for too long we'll both die horribly."
"How long is too long?"
"I'd say two weeks would be really pushing it. But then the ritual wasn't exactly specific.
"So you've made us functionally immortal?"
"Well, immortal might be pushing it but as far as I can tell the last two people who performed this ritual lived for a very long time."
"Who were the last ones?"
"Merlin and King Arthur."
Marcone dropped into his leather chair burying his face into his hands. His shoulders were shaking and Dresden studied him with some alarm before the older man pulled his face up revealing the manic smile that was stretched across his face.
"Jesus Fuck, Harry! We're going to rule the entire God Damn World by the end of this."
"That's the plan love. But first we've got some Councils and Courts to deal with."
Marcone pulled himself towards his desk slapping the power button on his computer with an easy swipe. "Should be easy enough to look up these locations and see which one will do us the most good." "John, I don't think that's..." As soon as Marcone put his fingers down on the keyboard the computer gave a loud angry sounding whir before shutting down with an indignant huff of smoke. Marcone studied the totaled machine in front of him with a blank expression.
"Well this is going to take more getting used to then I expected."
The two men had separated at the office both of them giving the shadows that the afternoon sun shone on the street a wide berth as they headed off to gather their personal forces.
Marcone was still cautious enough that he wanted to avoid using his cellphone until he had gotten a better idea of how to restrain the magic that he was siphoning off of his lover. With Hendricks and the small unit of heavily armed body guards still trailing behind him Marcone felt safe enough to enter one of his many ubiquitous black cars. As soon as he was enclosed in the privacy of the vehicle with Hendrick's he began to snap off orders. Magical powerhouses or not, Marcone had a few mundane ideas to take out at least some of the White Council without having to resort to close combat.
Dresden had kept a steady eye on his lover until the older man disappeared behind tinted bulletproof glass. Turning on his heel he strode off in the opposite direction of the car. He had a couple of fairies that he needed to talk to about dealing with any possible repercussions from the Fairy Courts.
They weren't going to just ignore the power struggle that was currently taking place. Not unless Harry managed to distract them with something a little closer to home.
Stepping into a nearby alley and ensuring that there were no eyes or cameras around he slit a neat hole in the air and stepped into the NeverNever.
The door that he had opened was an old favorite that let him slip easily into the warm meadow of Summer.
The Fairy Courts had never held much respect for the much smaller Dewdrop Fairies. They were a good source of information but the Queens just weren't interested in protecting or assisting anything or anyone that wasn't likely to be of immediate use.
The Fairies were all for long term planning but the Dewdrop Fairies were omnipresent and were given little more regard than firefly's were on Earth.
Harry had never been interested in the sort of power that the Queen's and their courts thrived on. His was a slinking sort of power that slid into place without a single blatant sign only in the last moment before he had utterly destroyed whatever he was after did he show his cards.
The Dewdrop Fairies were in every Season of the Court and he had managed to befriend many of them. Pizza bribes were the very least that he did, though it was a favorite of theirs. His attention and assistance had allowed many of the previously nearly powerless Fairies rise in their ranks.
As soon as he entered the area he was swarmed by a small cloud of tiny bodies each of them watching him eagerly as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pretty bauble that thrummed with some sort of minor enchantment.
"I have a task for several Fairies. Each Fairy that helps me will receive one of these. It will allow you to pull a single guise over yourself for twenty minutes. More than enough time to steal whatever you want from whatever hapless Delivery man you might find wandering the streets of Chicago."
The thrumming sound of a hundred rising shouts of glee from tiny throats made Harry smile nastily.
"The only thing I want you to do is whisper to any of the Court Fairies that you've heard that some of Winter's less charming inhabitants are planning to attack the Summer Court within the next couple of days."
Toot Toot fluttered up to Harry, sitting happily enough on the Wizard's shoulder.
"To whom do we tell this to 'Za Lord?"
"Any Fairy who will listen. But remember I need both of the Courts to know that this is going to happen and soon. Who's willing?"
A rousing shout from all of the Dewdrop Fairies made Harry grin happily.
"My word as a Wizard that all Dewdrop Fairies that help will receive one of these bracelets."
The 'bracelet' was actually a child's ring that he had enchanted. The faux gold tone of the metal and the colorful glass rhinestone made the small Fairies oooh eagerly before they flit away from the clearing that Harry had entered into.
There that should hold off the Courts as they tried to figure out who was going to attack without provocation or without permission respectively.
Lovely.
Murphy specifically though he'd settle for whatever investigative team had rampaged through this building. The excuse of looking for his attackers had been all they needed to try and find out everything they could about Marcone. All of his financials had been dug through with a fine tooth comb and then tossed into bins to return them to him in disarray.
If he actually had to re-sort any of the paperwork he would have already flung the smug looking men in uniform that had returned the bins to him out of the window. As it was, some poor intern would be scrabbling to put everything back in order for weeks if not months.
Dresden leaned against the nearest uncluttered wall arms crossed loosely over his chest and a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"I don't understand what you're so upset about John. It's not like it was your real financial information."
"It's real enough Harry. It's what is used to do my taxes, which are coming up in less than two months. The blatant disrespect is what's really getting me though. The sheer lack of professionalism that the department is showing me is one of the many reasons that they have completely failed to pin so much as a misdemeanor on me."
"Do you want them to be able to pin anything on you?" Harry arched an eyebrow. "That seems rather counterproductive to our plans."
"Of course I don't, but if they could at least be competent at their jobs I wouldn't have to clean up so many messes when some moron with a dream tries to pull himself up by tearing me apart. I don't know if you've noticed love but we're fairly busy trying to take over the environs surrounding Chicago. I don't have the time to deal with every common criminal. Not yet anyway."
As he ranted John paced the lengths of his office, fury allowing him to turn a blind eye to the turbulence that was rising in the air like a palpable fog.
Crack
The room went dark as all of the lightbulbs in the room blew up at once.
John eyed his lover accusingly without saying a word.
"Don't look at me. That was all you. Seems the ritual is still working perfectly."
"What the Hell do you mean, me? I'm not the one who can jinx a piece of electronic equipment by looking at it a little too hard."
Harry pulled himself away from the wall and edged towards the door.
"Do you remember the ritual at all."
"Vividly."
"Look we were running out of time, and I needed to get you back on your feet as quickly as possible."
"So you..?"
"So I created a ritualistic potion with our blood and bound us together for all eternity."
"And the side effects are?"
"Shared lifespan, we'd basically have to be killed simultaneously."
"And?"
"You'll be able to access and manipulate my magic and we'll both be able to draw on each others memories."
"Why does this sound too good to be true? What else?"
"I've basically turned us into very picky vampires. One's who can only feed on each other. If we're separated for too long we'll both die horribly."
"How long is too long?"
"I'd say two weeks would be really pushing it. But then the ritual wasn't exactly specific.
"So you've made us functionally immortal?"
"Well, immortal might be pushing it but as far as I can tell the last two people who performed this ritual lived for a very long time."
"Who were the last ones?"
"Merlin and King Arthur."
Marcone dropped into his leather chair burying his face into his hands. His shoulders were shaking and Dresden studied him with some alarm before the older man pulled his face up revealing the manic smile that was stretched across his face.
"Jesus Fuck, Harry! We're going to rule the entire God Damn World by the end of this."
"That's the plan love. But first we've got some Councils and Courts to deal with."
Marcone pulled himself towards his desk slapping the power button on his computer with an easy swipe. "Should be easy enough to look up these locations and see which one will do us the most good." "John, I don't think that's..." As soon as Marcone put his fingers down on the keyboard the computer gave a loud angry sounding whir before shutting down with an indignant huff of smoke. Marcone studied the totaled machine in front of him with a blank expression.
"Well this is going to take more getting used to then I expected."
The two men had separated at the office both of them giving the shadows that the afternoon sun shone on the street a wide berth as they headed off to gather their personal forces.
Marcone was still cautious enough that he wanted to avoid using his cellphone until he had gotten a better idea of how to restrain the magic that he was siphoning off of his lover. With Hendricks and the small unit of heavily armed body guards still trailing behind him Marcone felt safe enough to enter one of his many ubiquitous black cars. As soon as he was enclosed in the privacy of the vehicle with Hendrick's he began to snap off orders. Magical powerhouses or not, Marcone had a few mundane ideas to take out at least some of the White Council without having to resort to close combat.
Dresden had kept a steady eye on his lover until the older man disappeared behind tinted bulletproof glass. Turning on his heel he strode off in the opposite direction of the car. He had a couple of fairies that he needed to talk to about dealing with any possible repercussions from the Fairy Courts.
They weren't going to just ignore the power struggle that was currently taking place. Not unless Harry managed to distract them with something a little closer to home.
Stepping into a nearby alley and ensuring that there were no eyes or cameras around he slit a neat hole in the air and stepped into the NeverNever.
The door that he had opened was an old favorite that let him slip easily into the warm meadow of Summer.
The Fairy Courts had never held much respect for the much smaller Dewdrop Fairies. They were a good source of information but the Queens just weren't interested in protecting or assisting anything or anyone that wasn't likely to be of immediate use.
The Fairies were all for long term planning but the Dewdrop Fairies were omnipresent and were given little more regard than firefly's were on Earth.
Harry had never been interested in the sort of power that the Queen's and their courts thrived on. His was a slinking sort of power that slid into place without a single blatant sign only in the last moment before he had utterly destroyed whatever he was after did he show his cards.
The Dewdrop Fairies were in every Season of the Court and he had managed to befriend many of them. Pizza bribes were the very least that he did, though it was a favorite of theirs. His attention and assistance had allowed many of the previously nearly powerless Fairies rise in their ranks.
As soon as he entered the area he was swarmed by a small cloud of tiny bodies each of them watching him eagerly as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pretty bauble that thrummed with some sort of minor enchantment.
"I have a task for several Fairies. Each Fairy that helps me will receive one of these. It will allow you to pull a single guise over yourself for twenty minutes. More than enough time to steal whatever you want from whatever hapless Delivery man you might find wandering the streets of Chicago."
The thrumming sound of a hundred rising shouts of glee from tiny throats made Harry smile nastily.
"The only thing I want you to do is whisper to any of the Court Fairies that you've heard that some of Winter's less charming inhabitants are planning to attack the Summer Court within the next couple of days."
Toot Toot fluttered up to Harry, sitting happily enough on the Wizard's shoulder.
"To whom do we tell this to 'Za Lord?"
"Any Fairy who will listen. But remember I need both of the Courts to know that this is going to happen and soon. Who's willing?"
A rousing shout from all of the Dewdrop Fairies made Harry grin happily.
"My word as a Wizard that all Dewdrop Fairies that help will receive one of these bracelets."
The 'bracelet' was actually a child's ring that he had enchanted. The faux gold tone of the metal and the colorful glass rhinestone made the small Fairies oooh eagerly before they flit away from the clearing that Harry had entered into.
There that should hold off the Courts as they tried to figure out who was going to attack without provocation or without permission respectively.
Lovely.