The Dresden Files/Codex Alera is copyright Jim Butcher. This story is licensed under the Creative Commons as derivative, noncommercial fiction.

Mac shook his head. "So, there's a lot, of course, I can't share with you. Things happen on planes unseen, dimensions unfathomable, that which is Me is only a fraction of a fraction of what I am et-cetera."

"I get it."

"There was a Cataclysm in one Dimension. And it has led to a fracturing of nearby Dimensions, causing…oh…"

Mac looked thoughtful, crooking one corner of his mouth up. "Pocket realities."

"I see."

"Anyway, of those realms with Magic," he spoke with his hands, clasping them together. "A force that combines many cosmic forces into one sheared off from the natural universes, those where Magic doesn't exist." He moved his left open hand against his right in a shearing motion.

"Like this one."

"Yes." He smiled. "And, it caused all supernatural beings to be contained within a few cosmic dimensions. We're still sorting it out, but wait times might be extended while we fix the glitch."

I chuckled.

"But, Molly is okay?" Michael said.

Mac sighed. "Molly and the individual you call 'Mab' had been combining agencies for awhile now, as you know."

"Agencies?"

"Yes, Harry. Let me explain. Each of you, Harry, Father Forthill, Michael, Molly, are representative of an agency. You are a collective of many things, including your body, mind, spirit, soul, energy, talent, personality, and many more. Your perception of 'you' is represented by your corporeal body, but you are far more than just a pretty face, as you well know since your agency combined with Lara's in the last entanglement."

"Yes, but I'm back to being myself, or at least it seems that way."

"Correct." An ice-chest materialized in Mac's hand and he opened it to pass out his special Ale to us all.

"This is how I know you are the Lord." I toasted Mac's bottle, and he grinned.

"Yes. When the fracture occurred, it solved your entanglement problems. However, in the magical realms, the entanglements actually increased. Mab and Molly are so entangled now it will be difficult to disentangle them completely, and it might be impossible."

"That's not good." Michael took a pull on his ale. "I hate the thought of my daughter being caught spiritually with that creature of Darkness."

"It's worse than that, unfortunately. The longer this fracture occurs, the more entangled they become. I fear we may have already passed the Inception point."

"Inception point?"

"Correct. You and Lara were near that point, Harry. You 'became' Lara and your soul anchor had swung so far I wondered when you materialized on the Spiritual plane of existence a few weeks ago if you'd be her or you. I was very happy to see you as you should be."

"So the Inception point is where a soul—"

"When an Agency ceases to be one identity and assumes another as an amalgamation, combination, or evolution."

"Is there anything we can do to help her?"

Mac shrugged. "Well, if we could get you over to the Sidhe realms, possibly. You'd have to appeal to Molly inside Mab, and there might be a way to extract what is left of her back into her…well, vessel. We have other issues in that reality that you could also help with."

"Such as?"

"Oh, where to start. What do you think would happen if the never-never suddenly had no boundary to the Demon realms? Creatures of Demonic might and magic have run rampant, capturing and enslaving those sidhe less fortunate and less powerful. I'd love to see the balance righted a bit until we can get the Never Never, and this reality conjoined again."

"When that happens, won't I be entangled again?"

"I don't think so. Lara, the agency, is now whole again in the form you last saw. Sadly, she's been enslaved by a demonic creature in that reality."

"Maybe she deserves a little enslavement," I said.

"Mmm, not on this scale. Basically, every ounce of magic Lara produces with her Sprite body is being harvested for another entity. She's locked and secured in a bell-jar along with Toot-Toot and all the other Sprites."

I stood up. "Not Toot! He's helped me too much in the past to let him suffer!"

Mac nodded.

"Murphy is also concerned about Goodman Grey and how he might be faring."

Mac nodded. "Mr. Grey is a secretive creature. He is more Demon than sidhe, but has fallen in with a 'bad crowd' I guess would be the best term. He has adopted a very aggressive form and is, unfortunately, one of the beings preying on the weak."

I sighed. "Murphy's not going to like that."

"So how can we help, Lord," Michael said.

"Well…I supposed I could bring you over."

"Always a danger," I said. "And I'm sure something hideous happens if we stay too long."

"Not hideous, but you will Incorporate there the longer you exist in that state."

"Incorporate?"

"Yes. Your agency will associate with the vessel, and your mind, body, spirit, and all the rest will be aligned. If Incorporation happens, you won't be able to return here in the form you now occupy."

"Great."

"How long before that happens, Father?" Michael said.

"Hard to say. Less than a week. I'd give it three days, but you might make it four."

"Not much time," I said.

"Yes, well. If you'd like to wait, we do expect to have your realities back and coordinated shortly."

"How long is short?" Father Forthill said.

Mac shrugged. "Less than a thousand years. Maybe in the next several hundred. Hard to say, really. It's a very complex problem."

"Great, so, if we don't save them in three days, we run the risk of Incorporating in that reality and stuck as we are for the next several hundred years."

"Yes," Mac said. "Do you wish for me to perform this now?"

I held up my hands. "Not without talking to my wife. And I probably should see if Thomas wants to go along with us since his sister is in trouble too."

"Sounds fine. Just know that one hour here is about a week there. So the less time spent here dilly-dallying, the better."

"We'll keep the dally to a minimum," I said. "The dilly is a different story."

"What time shall I, the ever present God of all, attend to you, then, Harry?"

"Say around seven ish tonight?"

Mac rolled his eyes and nodded. "Bring whoever you'd like, and meet me here. Be it known, however, I won't have much control over the vessel you are cast into on the other side. You can make a request of the sidhe or demonic forms, and I will do my best, but the details may be lacking."

"Of course," I said.

"So, we shall return at seven tonight?" Michael said.

"Agreed," Mac said. "I will be here."

Father Forthill nodded. I'll make sure the Church is empty by that time."

"Thank you, Father," Mac said.

I glanced down at my watch, then at Michael. "Can you run me home?"

"Of course, Harry."

I walked out of the Hall and gave a breath of relief.

"Feel better?"

"Yeah, Churches always make me nervous."

"Pity," Michael said, as we made our way outside. "They bring me such peace."

I reflected on that as we sped toward my home. I also wondered what I'd tell my wife.

Shaking my head, I hit the dash in frustration.

"I know," Michael said.

"Just when things were normal, finally. I mean, I want to save Molly, believe me, Michael. She doesn't deserve that."

"No, she doesn't. And frankly, you owe me."

"I do."

"So, buckle up, buttercup. I suspect Charity might be in on this one too."

"Charity, Thomas, and Murphy, I imagine."

"Why do you suppose Lara and Molly weren't incorporated into this reality, but Bob, Billy, and Andi were?" I said, not really expecting an answer.

Michael shrugged. "Maybe because they were had a more 'human' intellect?"

"That doesn't track, though. Bob has been a spirit of intellect for hundreds of years; Molly has only been a sidhe for three."

Michael nodded, and I could see him wiping tears.

"Sorry, man, that was insensitive."

"Guess you're not the only buttercup that needs to buckle up."

"Yeah…I'm sorry, though. I can't imagine how frustrated you must be."

He smiled. "I know a certain someone who performed an extinction event on the last group that threatened his daughter."

"Geez, that guy," I said as we pulled into our driveway.

"Need some backup on this?"

"Nah. I got it. And I'll call Thomas. Meet you back at St. Anthony's tonight?"

"I'll be there, Harry."

"Drive safe."

I gave him a fist bump and got out of the car.

Maggie and Murphy were in the back yard. They each had a tatami mat, and Murphy was leading Maggie through some tai-chi moves. Interestingly, I remembered those moves from when I was in Karrin's body and could almost feel the way her muscles would be pulling.

"Hey, you two!" I waved as I stepped out of the house and onto our small back porch.

"Daddy!" Maggie said and ran to me with her arms outstretched, ready to play airplane.

I zoomed her around the yard a bit, over the swingset and around Murphy, who was still finishing her tai-chi.

"How are you?" I said, kissing my wife after she finished up.

"Good. Your daughter is learning this easily."

"She's got the best teacher." I grinned, setting Maggie down.

"Learn anything?" We sat down at the outdoor table. Murphy had a pitcher of lemonade sitting on a tray with three glasses. She poured each of us some.

"Yeah."

"Doesn't sound good."

"It's not," I sighed.

"Fuck," Murphy said.

Maggie immediately said; "ummmmm, Auntie said the F-word."

"Auntie is allowed to because she is an adult," I said.

"No, Auntie isn't. Auntie will wash her mouth out with soap later."

Maggie giggled, taking a sip of the lemonade.

"So, lay it on me, hoss," Murphy said.

So I told her. Afterward, she nodded.

"So you and Michael and Thomas are going to go?"

"I figured you might want to as well."

"What about this little munchkin?"

"Yeah, Daddy! I want to go!"

"Honey, we're going to be fighting monsters. You're still a little too young for that."

"Awww," Maggie said, crossing her arms and sticking out her lower lip.

"Charity might come as well," I said.

Murphy rolled up their mats. I could tell she was thinking things through, the muscle at the corner of her jaw pulsed a bit. She finished rolling them and sat next to me on the outdoor chairs.

"Maybe you should sit this one out, Harry."

I frowned. "Wait; what?"

"Look, I'm going in after Goodman, Thomas is going for Lara, and Charity and Michael for Molly. Why do you even need to be there?"

"Well, in case there's any magical gunslinging that needs to happen."

"You'd be in the body of a sidhe, Harry, and only as magical as that body might allow."

"But what if something happens to you? I'd never know?"

"Then, you can get Mac to have you come to rescue me," Murphy said. "You have a daughter now who needs you. Let me handle this extraction, this time. For once."

"But you've never even been to the never-never. How will you—"

"Give me a little bit of credit, Harry. You've told me about it how many times now?"

"So, what? All of you go in, and I'm here?"

"Yep. Have you ever considered how many times you've put me through that exact same thing?"

I crossed my arms, much like Maggie.

"Are you going to pout now, too?"

"Three days," I said.

"Three days?"

"Yes. Mac said you'd Incorporate as whatever you go in as after three days, and might not be able to get out. So, three days, Karrin. If you're not back in 72 hours, I'm coming to find you."

She wrapped her arms around me, nodding. "You better."

"Have you given any thought to what form you might select."

She nodded. "Probably best not to tell you."

"Tell me you're not considering going in as a Naagloshii. Please tell me that."

She shrugged. "How best to find one than to become one?"

"Karrin, they're demons. They aren't Sidhe. They live off the power from consuming practitioners or other creatures of Magic."

"Goodman seems to do okay with it."

"Please, Karrin? Anything but that."

Murphy sighed. "Harry, I don't see that I have any other choice. It's only for a short time, I promise I'll be back when the clock strikes 72."

I swallowed. I didn't like this, not one bit. Naagloshii were skinwalkers, semi-divine beings that could morph into the general shape of any animal, or human. They were walking demons, incredibly strong, incredibly powerful, and as dark as they come.

"If Goodman doesn't come with you, Karrin, you promise to return."

"I promise, Harry."

I sighed trembling. "I don't like this."

"I know," She looked up at me, smiling as she hugged me. "But you love me, anyway."

"I do."

"I do too."

We shared a kiss, but I couldn't stop the butterflies that had set up and decided to have a party in my stomach.

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Author's Note: There was a question about Butcher's forthcoming Dresden Files novel: Peace Talks that drops on Tuesday (squee!) . This story will NOT contain spoilers for that novel and has been written prior to its release. This has always been my fun little romp with Butcher's characters and will need to be considered an alternate universe, non-canon fanfiction