Okay, enough was enough. After four days I was done with not being able to move or think properly; I wasn't spending another morning in bed with my head wrapped in cobwebs.

I sped up my own personal time. I really needed to ask about the side effects of doing this; I didn't want to be an octogenarian at twenty. But I hadn't seen any side effects yet.

My own healing, already high, shot up as I started experiencing a day per minute... but then I realized I would be experiencing a day a minute. The boredom would be real, and the power drain would be intense. Why had I thought this was a good idea, again?

Oh right, concussion.

Grex wasn't here; I couldn't sense him. "Grex, veni huc!"

Grex's gentle hands pushed me back into bed. "My mistress, you should not strain yourself."

It seemed Grex wanted to play games this morning. "That's exactly why I called you Grex. It occurred to me that in using my powers to speed up my healing, I would be experiencing time at a much faster pace and thereby not actually speeding anything at all."

Grex favored me with one of his more insufferable smirks. "Bored so soon, my mistress?"

I couldn't really deny it. "I might be a bit anxious to get back to work. Maybe."

"Well, there is a way to do what you wish with your power," Grex informed me. "And since it is personal, it devours less power than a stronger use of our abilities often does. You simply focus on the cells alone - speeding their own natural division and healing. With such a focus your own perception need not change, and there will be no evidence of the technique's use on your body."

That sounded promising. "Show me."

"Watch carefully, then." Grex said as he floated up, assumed the lotus position, then landed on my bed like a showoff.

However, he was also manipulating our shared ability in a very specific way, and watching carefully I could see it. I wasn't sure how I was seeing it since my vision did not extend into the microscopic, but saw I did. When I attempted to duplicate the feat, I felt the full body tingle immediately; it was very weird.

Grex nodded immediately. "It seems you are a natural at this. Perhaps we should step up your training and teach you the finer points of selective time manipulation."

Great, I'd be tearing apart all the existed in no time. "Well, that doesn't sound ominous at all."

Grex favored me with another smirk, this one smug.

Speeding up cell division without speeding up my own consciousness didn't make much sense... but then again I did reverse that a few times in order to see or sense more, and I didn't include my cells specifically into that mix. Maybe it had been part of the package and I hadn't known?

Or worse... maybe I had some control of the very concept of time and how it worked, and not the actual physics of it. Magic could be tricky. I really hoped that wasn't it, and I was doing something else because trying to wrap my head around that sort of thing would break my brain.

Grex kept his smirk up, almost as if he knew what I was thinking.

Either way, it worked, and the tingle soon gave way to a dreadful horrible itching in my wounded areas; even my scalp. Ants were crawling across my arm and ribs. I cut the power off in a hurry.

"Probably for the best my mistress. You should not appear fully healed too quickly."

I glared as best I could with one hand scratching my armpit and the other my head. "You didn't tell me it would have side effects. Especially not this one."

Grex shrugged but stopped smirking in favor of a more gentle smile. "It is natural; after all does your kind not itch as wounds heal?"

"And I'm healing faster, so more itching. Yes, I came to that conclusion almost immediately. That doesn't mean you shouldn't have mentioned how bad it would get. Will I need some anti-itch cream or what?"

"No, the sensation should cease momentarily. Shall I go make breakfast?"

I did seem to be thinking more clearly, the cobwebs dissolving. My arm didn't hurt as I moved it, and my ribs didn't hurt when I took a deep breath. I jogged in place a few steps - and realized that was a bad idea in silk pajamas and only silk pajamas.

Still, I felt I could jog, which was good news. Running, and especially running for distance, was something of a survival skill, and one should never fall out of practice on those.

Breakfast was waffles, judging from the smell. Toaster ones direct from the freezer. The coffee was bound to be more fresh. I gave my head one long last scratch and sat down at the table in time to be served.

"We're going jogging today."

Grex rolled an eye; just one. "Of course we are my mistress."

Two waffles slathered in syrup and a cup of coffee later, and it was time to go. Pulling my running clothes on (my normal ones, not that stupid jogging suit) was easy today, and while I felt a twinge in my ribs as my hands went over my head, it was nothing compared to yesterday and there were no stars or graying around my peripheral vision.

I grabbed my phone and debit card and jogged my way out. "Lock up behind me Grex, and follow."

I dodged a few other summoners, getting out and about and going to work. Oh hey, there's Charlie; the other Charlie, not the hurt one. I dodged around him with a wave and took the stairs - one at a time, I wasn't stupid.

I wonder if I could go to work today; would I get sent home if I showed up, like a middle schooler?

I had some questions to ask the loon we picked up before the angel or his handler showed and offed him. I had no doubt that the angel would be stupid enough to attack, and I still needed to ask about or go over the defenses again.

Maybe everyone would be too busy to worry about little old me for a day. Honestly if felt that such a thing hadn't happened yet, but everything couldn't actually be revolving around me - could it?

Nah, that was just arrogance and paranoia combining.

I did my normal route, for the most part. Well, my normal route when off work and not late to go to said work, which to be fair was a bit too often lately. I stopped when my ribs started stiffening up and walked the rest of the distance; Grex matched my pace without any effort the entire time of course.

A long walk back and I'd burned off all the calories I'd eaten, as well as a few extra. Which may not be a good thing with the thing I'd done with my cells earlier. Whatever, I could stand to lose a pound or two, and I wasn't collapsing.

By the time I got back to my apartment building it was close enough to lunch time to seriously consider it. I debated and got a quick sandwich and some chips from the coffee shop before heading up, letting myself in, and taking my now much-needed shower.

I had just dried my hair and sat down to eat when my phone rang. "Hello?"

"Did I wake you up?" Cords asked from the other end.

"No, I felt better so I was out getting a little exercise and a black forest ham with pepper jack. Anything new going on at work?"

"Not a thing. No new attacks, it's a bit early for it, but people are beginning to stand down just a little bit."

Cords wasn't wrong, it was a bit too early for that. Then again, before I got hurt I was getting tired of all the shifts I was pulling too.

"I can understand that, but they shouldn't get complacent."

"No no no, nothing like that," Cords assured me. "Just officially stand down. People around here are just as paranoid as ever."

Oh, that was different then. "How's the watch on the prisoner?"

"As tight as ever; almost a full squad with a summoner in support, and a bunch of blues."

"Good," I muttered into the phone even as the hamster wheel stopped turning. There was no way I would be able to sneak past all that; if I was on a list or something I wouldn't get let in, and either way, my presence and visit would be noted.

But perhaps I was attacking this from the wrong side - maybe I didn't need to attack it at all.

"Cords can you do me a favor?"

"It depends on what it is." Cords replied, his voice a little wary.

"Can you check and tell me if I'm barred from interrogating our prisoner? I'd really like to ask him some questions, but I'd rather not piss off any of the higher-ups."

Cord's voice fairly bristled with relief. "Oh sure, that I can do. In fact, I can do it right now; let's see...."

I heard him clacking away in the background for a moment. I idly wondered how bored he was, that he would get right to it. I didn't hear a show in the background, not even Top Gear. I guess it could be paused, but even then....

"Alright, it looks like no one is actually barred from interrogating our prisoner, and several summoners and more professional types have, only to be met with silence. I actually have a not here from Karen stating she wants to see the guy's reaction to you, so my guess is you'd be good to go - if you weren't hurt and on sick leave right now."

Urk. That last part did not sound happy. "Right, I'm not doing anything right now; just chilling out with my lunch. After that, I'll probably nap or something."

I heard a door open on the other end of the line. I imagined him swiveling his chair in the office and holding up a finger. "Good. Anyway, I've got to go; duty calls. I just wanted to check in and see how you felt. Don't do anything I wouldn't."

That tired old joke. "I won't. Have a good day at work," I told him as he hung up. After all, he totally would go behind my back and interview the crazy guy. Or anyone else's back for that matter - I think I had his character pegged. Or maybe I was projecting. It was fine if I was projecting.

I wondered how I rated an interview with the crazy guy; it wasn't my specialty and I was still inexperienced. But it didn't sound as if they were limiting access and maybe everyone got a turn or something. I know my Dad would probably be screaming, were it his jurisdiction. Maybe I'd tell him about it after I did my thing, just to see the reaction; it would be amusing.

It still felt wrong somehow.

I threw a robe on over my jeans; Grex knew me well, he was already heading for the door.

"No fear of getting in trouble, let's go figure out what's going on."

"No fear of any trouble on my part, my mistress." He replied with one of his grins.

I was half tempted to walk, but I really didn't want to be noticed by any stray winged people who may or may not be in the clouds, so I decided on my car instead. Of course, it wasn't really any less obvious, but it might be to someone not an actual part of humanity.

Then again the wards could shine like a beacon to an angel, for all I knew. At least it was fast.

Once down the stairs, I detoured to the coffee shop. The barista saw me coming and put my usual on the counter just as I arrived, ringing me up wordlessly. I gave him a tip for that.

No sword came from the heavens came and pierced my car hood came as I pulled out. The expected sword didn't come as I wound my way carefully through the busy streets either; I made it all the way to the underground parking garage.

The uniform guarding the garage gave me the mother of all funny looks though. Did he know I was on sick leave? Wait, if some of the usual crowd saw me walking around here, would that mean I'd have to go back to work? I really didn't think this through.

I forged ahead regardless, my faithful demon right behind me. It was now after lunch, so the garage and entrance I was using was near deserted; most of my co-workers had eaten by now and were back at work. The few rushing to and fro or pretending to be busy didn't even give me more than a glance, which was bad operational security; I felt I should be calling them out on it. At least the two uniforms set to watch the garage side holding cell entrance were present and accounted for; I lowered my hood and they waved me through; I guess Grex and my skin color made a good enough ID.

The holding cells weren't segregated, which also seemed a little odd; who would want to put a summoner, even one too out of their mind to do much, into a general population cell? Even without the tools to start with, I could probably bust my way out inside of twenty minutes, without Grex. At least, unless I was gagged and had my hands cuffed while in the cell.

The man in question, however, was alone in a cell. The cells next to him were full, but not a single toe on either side was closer to the summoner's cell than halfway, even though both of those cells were standing room only as a result.

He had been cleaned up a little; his beard had been trimmed and his clothes changed to neon orange, trimmed with red. a slight difference from the standard to indicate extreme danger. He looked dangerously thin and the lunch in his cell was sitting on the floor, untouched. Part of that at least might be due to the fact that his fingers were still restrained to each other with the restraining gloves and his hands were still cuffed. There was a gag in his mouth too, a collar locked around his neck with a chain hanging from it, and ankle chains around the feet. He was busy shuffling around as best he could with his face aimed upwards, making random sounds.

The cells became even smaller as everyone shrank back from Grex and myself, which was a little amusing. My target looked down, directly at me, and stilled completely. The cell was one of the old kind, required a key, which made perfect sense because electronic locks were too delicate, even with a backup power supply.

Unfortunately, I had no key and I wasn't about to wave to the camera while picking the lock. So I had to go find the uniform with the keys since I wasn't about to ask my questions here with so many prying ears; that would just be stupid.

Right, curiosity sated, we were keeping him in one of the standard lock-ups but with standard precautions and cameras trained on him. So I went down the hall, the silence rippling among the cells as I was spotted, almost like ripples in the water when you drop a stone in.

"Hey summoner chick, how about you let me out of here so we can get to know each other!" Well, almost. There was always one.

"No Grex, you can't kill him."

Grex lifted an eyebrow at me; I could feel it. Without orders he wouldn't do anything of the sort no matter what the prisoner did - but the prisoner didn't know that.

"Summoner babe, it's worth it if he does, as long as you keep walking way like that! Roll that big ole booty!"

Wow, that prisoner had some balls.

I ignored him in favor of the door; the watch Sargeant was on the other side busily hen pecking away at the ancient computer on his battered desk.

"Sargeant; I'd like to talk to one of your prisoners."

He turned and half jumped over his desk at the same time. "Jesus, don't DO that!"

What did I do? ...Oh. Whoops. "Sorry Sargeant, I didn't mean to sneak up on you."

The Sargeant sighed and waved it off. "Never mind, I should be used to it by now. You lot can't seem to just use the door or make noise. The crazy in cell seven, right?"

I nodded.

"Right, I'll have someone escort you back and lead you to the interview room we have set up. Dennis, front and center!"

A young uniform all but sprinted up; he was dressed in full riot gear complete with a face hiding helmet and a cold forged iron knife - but he wasn't ADTF. In fact, he looked to be fresh out of the academy.

"Sir!"

The Sargeant threw the keys at young Dennis; to his credit, he caught them before they bounced off his chest.

"Snow needs the crazy; interview room two."

Young Dennis actually saluted. "Yes, sir."

I let him lead the way; had I leaked water from behind my ears like that? I had always been at least a little more world wise than this guy seemed, right?

The ballsy prisoner was silent this time through.

"So Ma'am... your turn with the prisoner?"

"Yep."

"Not to pry, but... weren't you injured in the line of duty almost a week ago?"

"Yep. I got better." The crazy, as the cops had dubbed him, was shuffling around and muttering again, face to the ceiling. He stopped and dropped his head to face me as soon as I got within thirty feet. The muttering cut off as if I (or someone else) had shouted at him.

"Let me guess? Clean living?"

Okay, maybe Dennis wasn't as new as I took him for. "Exactly."

Dennis matched my smile with his own before making the effort to wipe his face clean as he stepped up to the cell and put key to lock. "Alright, look sharp, Game time."

"Of course. Grex, if our prisoner tries anything I would not approve of, break as many bones in his body as you can without killing him."

Dennis shuddered as Grex took on his predatory cast. "As you command, mistress."

The crazy didn't so much as twitch, and his eyes never left me; was Grex losing his touch? I wasn't even the dangerous one. Of course for my part my eyes never left him; even caged summoners who had been strip-searched sometimes still had a surprise or two.

I stepped past Dennis, who seemed to be frozen at the door, and snagged the loose chain around the old man's collar; a gentle tug had him following me like a dog. A small dog who was wary of the newspaper or foot. Grex fell in behind the old man, uncomfortably close by any standard, looming over him with all his teeth visible. The old man never so much as glanced his way.

Dennis shook himself and shut the door, stepping quickly to bring up the rear. The prisoners remained silent and edged as far away from us as they could manage.

I managed to find the proper interview room without my 'escorts' help and opened the door. It was a normal door for the building, pressed wood with a window set in the upper half, but there the similarity ended.

The visible wards were promising, as was the fact that I could feel the dampening effect on my power the moment I entered. There was a table and two chairs, all made of heavy wood chased in iron and bolted to the floor, and every single tile on the floor and ceiling were circles of abjuration or power repudiation. The walls were coated in gleaming silver circles, one each, and each had the purpose of halting a type of element.

This place was safer than my house and more scary. Even Grex paused before following me in, and small wonder; stepping into the room felt like going blind and deaf. I doubted I'd be able to use my tricks here, but that was fine. If I couldn't, chances are no one else could.

I led the old guy to a chair and set him in it, running the chain through the bolt hole in the floor. No lock was needed, I simply looped it and latched it to a hook set further down for the purpose.

Grex stopped me. "Sit down my mistress, I'll handle the rest."

"I'll just... wait outside. Let me know if you need me." Dennis stammered out before gently shutting the door.

The rest was apparently removing the gag and wrapping arms around his shoulders, which Grex did. He also breathed as raggedly as possible into the guys left ear.

The old man was silent and unmoving, his eyes still on me.

"What's your name?" I asked. Something in me knew he would answer.

"Fritz." The accent was vaguely German. The name was bull.

"Bullshit."

"It was not always so," the old madman admitted. "But that is my name, august Lady."

Something in the way he said that... and august Lady? What was that about? No, he was talking, and I needed to keep that happening.

"And what are you doing here, Fritz? What brings you to my city?"

The old man started to lean forward, and Grex's nails dug in, just a little; he took the hint and stopped, but still responded.

"I am summoning demons at the request of my dark master, august Lady."

Right. "And who is your dark master?"

This time he showed some emotion; sardonic disbelief. "You know well who my dark master is, august Lady."

He had a point. There couldn't be that many dark masters out there, so he had to mean a demon; it was commonly known that German summoners were basically second fiddle to the demons they had summoned and unleashed. I was inclined to believe his dark master was high up as demons judged things. The title all but sealed the deal there for me, and the fact that he knew I could warrant one was troubling. How did he know who I was? No, focus. Get the answers to the important things first, as short and direct as possible.

"Did you have any friends helping you summon your demons?"

The old man shook his head. "No, I did all the summonings at the behest of my dark master; he alone offered assistance in that matter."

Why would any demon that strong need a human to do their dirty work in that regard? "How many demons did you summon?"

"Eleven, august Lady."

So all of them; all of the ones that had plagued us the last few months. "To the best of your knowledge, were any other demons summoned by groups other than your own and the ADTF?"

"No, august Lady."

I kind of expected his voice to give out by now, but it was still strong. He hadn't asked for anything yet either, not even a glass of water. So it was time to ask the million dollar question.

"Why did you and your dark master summon these demons?"

"To test you, August Lady."

I, wait, what? "Test me? Me specifically? And test me how?"

"Yes to test you. Yes, you specifically. To test your abilities and power. Should you be unworthy, you would not survive, august Lady. That you have is proof positive of your identity."

So some asshole had summoned multiple demons, endangering life and limb, in order to have them fight or test me and me alone. The mind boggled; this guy came off sounding cultured and urbane for all his looks, but he was absolutely insane. "How do you even know me?"

"My dark master informed me of course, august Lady."

Alright, bull. If I asked this guy, there was a chance his head could explode, but if I didn't ask I'd never know for sure; I decided to chance it.

"And just who, once and for all, is your dark master? Answer me with a given name."

The reply was as dry as the desert outside the city: "My dark master is none other than Lucifer himself, august Lady."

It was a good thing I was sitting down. The big guy, the capital L, working actively in my home city. Even worse, an active interest in me? I was beyond screwed.

"Why would... that demon have an interest in me?" There were many superstitions left over from the old world; one of which was 'speak the name of the devil, and he will appear'. I did not feel like tempting fate.

"I do not know, my dark master did not see fit to tell me."

A valid point. I wanted another. "Why are you telling me all this then? Don't you fear his retribution?"

The old man leaned back, and Grex eased up a little. I pretended not to see the spots of blood. "My dark master ordered me too, of course. But I fear nothing; I have the assurance of a known fate."

Well at least he didn't say a bright one.

"Why would he want me to know?"

"I'm sure I don't know. I was not informed, and did not ask."

So the big L was after me, testing me specifically, and wanted me to know. I was so far beyond screwed it was actually funny. At least some of the times that Grex had danced around the questions I'd been asking him were starting to make sense now. He couldn't kill me directly, but he did answer to a higher master, and that master had some sort of interest. I needed to find out why in a hurry.

"Did your dark master have any other operations like the one you were involved in? Any other cells like you, ready to pick up where you left off?"

"No," the old man replied. "I was to be your test, along with those I summoned, august Lady."

Okay, that was getting on my nerves. I fought for control and won, calming. "Why do you keep calling me that? August Lady?"

The old man smiled. Smiled! "You are a Lord of Hell yourself, august Lady, and it would not do to be disrespectful of one's betters. Especially in light of whom I serve."

Lucifer was an incurable gossip, it seemed.

A knock sounded on the door; that was fast. It seemed our time was at an end, and the old man knew it. I gestured to Grex, and he replaced the gag while I got up and answered the door.

Karen was there, looking vaguely pissed. She swept in without so much as a glance at the old guy and stopped, folding her arms. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?"

I couldn't help it. There was no way the higher up and whoever else hadn't been watching the cameras.

"I'm beginning to get an idea," I deadpanned back at her. "Care to tell me exactly how bad it is?"

"Well, here while on medical leave and interrogating a prisoner without permission, for starters. What were you thinking?"

"Well, I was thinking I was better and could maybe get back to work, and since no one else had gotten this guy to crack...." Said guy was now drooling and muttering again, his eyes unfocused and gazing heavenward.

That was the first time he'd taken his eyes from me while I was actually around, and I found that more unsettling than his gaze.

Wait a minute. "Also, what do you mean I wasn't on the list. I most definitely was, the desk Sargeant didn't say anything."

Karen stopped cold. "Really? We normally restrict access. People not on the list don't get in, period. There should have only been three people on that list, since humans are more dangerous than demons anyway, and you shouldn't have been on it at all."

"Well again, the desk Sargeant didn't say anything, and neither did anyone else. How much did you see?"

"I saw enough," Karen admitted. "The big L huh? I wouldn't worry about it, chances are this waste of skin is just making the whole thing up. It wouldn't be the first time a rogue had made up some BS story in order to start crap or sow dissension."

Except none of the other summoners had been called 'august Lady' or even talked to, Karen included.

Karen pinched her nose. "Look, Snow, I can appreciate a certain level of motivation from any of us, and so can the chief. But I was telling you stuff about the case to avoid something like this; I was hoping if you knew how things were going you'd resist the urge to dabble and just heal; something you actually need to do."

Well, I couldn't deny that. I just didn't need to heal as much as other people thought, not that anyone needed to know that.

Karen's face hardened. "However we need to get to the bottom of this. Depending on just what happened, you aren't in any trouble here. Well, not much anyway... but someone is. Come on, let's ditch that guy in holding and go.

I turned around and liberated the chain; Grex let the old guy up s soon as I backed off to the chain's maximum range. Karen held the door.

The desk Sargeant was not the same man who let me in; this one was perhaps fifty pounds lighter and a few inches taller with a buzz cut and wore an ill-fitting, baggy uniform that seemed made for a man with shorter arms.

When the shot rang out, I was already moving and dilating time; it missed me. The yank of the chain told me the truth; I hadn't been the target.

The old man was down, a bullet cleanly through his forehead. Knew his fate indeed.

I turned to the source of the shot, continuing to speed up even as I noted the new desk Sargeant raising his own pistol, which in no way resembled a police sidearm. A man dressed in armor that seemed made partly from SWAT gear and partly from scrap with a partially silenced submachine gun that he was still firing.

I followed through and finished my own motion, shoulder checking the shooter and putting my athame through his hand; his scream was long and drawn out, attenuated.

"What's going on?!?" Karen asked, her words almost too distorted to parse.

I tried to slow down my response as Grex fell upon the desk imposter, taking in the movement around us. "We're under attack."