This day just kept getting better and better. Fix had the drop on me, and I hadn't seen him since Demonreach. I couldn't be sure if he blamed me for what happened to Lily or not.

"You really suck at this, Dresden," he deadpanned. Yang looked at me with an eyebrow raised, her hands clenched into loose fists. I shook my head.

"Gosh, Fix, I hope you're not talking about my witty banter – I might get all offended." I craned my neck to look around at him. Fix hadn't changed much since our last meetup. He was still lean and muscular, but his hair had gone full platinum. "We talking or fighting?"

He shrugged a shoulder, "Could be fun, Winter. You wanna talk? Talk." The pressure lifted off my kidney and he held up two fingers pointed like a gun. He smirked and let his hand drop. I turned to face him at an angle and motioned Yang over. "Wow, Dresden, what is it with you and blondes? Who's the babe?"

"The babe is standing right here, mister," Yang said flatly. I gave them both an annoyed look.

"Cool it, you two. Fix, this is Yang Xiao Long, Yang, this is Fix, Knight of Summer."

"Right. Nice to meet you, Yang Xiao Long." Fix held his hand out with a wry grin. "Sorry if I ruffled your feathers."

"No problem, Sir Knight," she replied. She took his hand and gave it a shake. As soon as they made contact, the smile slid off his face and he gave me an unreadable look. Oh yeah, I could see the wheels turning.

"Dresden, where did you find her?" He let go of her hand and looked back to her warily. The Summer Mantle must have recognized her power like I had. "Is this Winter business?"

"No, it's mine, actually, and I'd like to keep it that way. Do you recognize her?"

"Not specifically, no, but I know a powerful Wyldfae when I meet one. Where are you from, Yang?"

"Remnant, the Kingdom of Vale. Have you heard of it?" she looked hopeful. I wasn't going to hold my breath. Nothing ever works out that easy.

"I haven't, sorry to say." Yang deflated. "Look on the bright side, you've got Harry. If there's a king of beating the impossible, it's him." Thanks a lot, Fix. No pressure or anything.

"To answer your earlier question, she showed up on my doorstep, so to speak. Given where I was, that shouldn't be possible, but here she is. The fact that you think she's Wyldfae gives us a better direction to look in." Fix shrugged.

"What's a Wild fae?" Yang asked? "I mean, I'm human, right?" Fix and I both shook our heads.

"I don't think so, Sparky, at least, not by our definition. Wyldfae are unaligned Sidhe, owing loyalty to neither Winter nor Summer. I can't think of any other way you could have appeared on the island – even if that still shouldn't be possible." I looked over at Fix. "Aren't they all aware of the Courts, though?"

"Supposedly they are – that doesn't mean I know for sure, though." He shrugged.

"Any chance we could meet with Sarissa?"

"No. Honestly I shouldn't even be here, myself. Titania was angry with you before Lily… When she learned about what happened, she forbade the Summer Lady to have any direct contact with the Winter Knight." Crap. I could see why Titania did it, though. Summer Ladies had a nasty habit of dying around me.

"I guess I can't really blame her. Do you think you could ask around?" Fix shook his head.

"I don't know, Winter. I'm pushing it just by being here." He looked at Yang, debating. After a moment, I guess he decided it couldn't hurt to have more information. "Can you give me more details about Remnant?" Yang spent a few minutes telling him about her world, and I would add things that she left out. I was surprised to learn that there was a shattered moon and animal people called Faunus. In the end she fished out a short bandolier of what looked like shotgun shells and pulled one loose.

"Here, you can take one of my Dust shells if you think it will help." Damn, I don't know why I hadn't thought of that. Fix took it and bounced it in his palm a couple of times and started to put it into a pocket, then thought better of it.

"No promises, Dresden. I'll leave a message with your service if I can." I grunted and nodded. Fix turned toward the street, but I stopped him with a light touch on the shoulder.

"Hey, man. I never got a chance to tell you how sorry I was about how things went down." He didn't move, but he tensed up. "Mab made a nice place for them in the grove down the hill. If you want to come out some time…" I left it there, not sure what else to say. He muttered a quiet 'Thanks', then walked to his SUV, got in, and drove away.

"Harry?" Yang asked.

"Hmm?" I looked in her direction. There was a frown on her face.

"What did he mean about this Titania being angry with you? Who is she?" I held in a long-suffering sigh; I definitely didn't want to get into this right now.

"Titania is the Queen of Summer. She's been mad at me for a while now – long story. I tried to stop it, but couldn't. Fix is good people. If he learns anything, he'll find a way to let me know."

"What about your own Queen, couldn't she help?" I shuddered.

"Trust me, let's not go there – not even as a last resort." She was so the last person I wanted to ask for help. "If we have to go to her, the world is probably coming to an end."

Yang scrunched up her face. "Is she really that bad, Harry?"

"Think of the most wicked person you can imagine, then multiply that times a billion. Then add immortality, cruelty and almost unlimited power." There was no really good way to describe Mab. "Her last knight betrayed her – she spent six years torturing him, waiting for me to take the job. When he died, he was relieved that it was over." I pointedly did not tell her that it was me who gave him that mercy.

"You sound afraid of her," Yang said.

"Of course I'm afraid of her. I'm sane. Ish." I couldn't say for sure any more.

"She sounds evil," Yang said, worry drawing lines in her face. "And she was the least awful choice you could make?"

"She's burdened with a terrible purpose, and will do anything to achieve victory. Given my other choices – and knowing what I know now – I stand by my decision. That doesn't mean I have to become her pet monster. We have an…" I paused for a moment. "We have an understanding. That doesn't stop her from pushing the boundaries, though."

Yang studied me carefully for a moment. "If we can't find any other way to get me home…" I sighed this time. "We'll do it your way, but I think I should have a say if it comes down to it." I nodded.

"I really hope it won't. There are plenty of options we can investigate. Even if you do decide to ask for her help, I can't promise that she'll do it, though. And even if she did, you might find the price too high." I know I did.

It was Yang's turn to sigh. "This is your life every day. Is it like Chicago air? Do you get used to it?" Christ. What a thing to ask. Then again, in her position I might consider it.

"No, but what's done is done." I cast a glance up at the sky. "We're burning daylight. Let's grab a cab and see if Butters is home."

"Okay, and who is he?" I told her. "You must be joking."

Elsewhere in the city

He stared at his reflection, barely recognizable, but he had survived. His skin might be bone white, shot through with tendrils of red and black, but he could see the last vestiges of hit humanity here and there. Certainly it was more recognizable than this smelly world he found himself in. He never should have made that bargain.

"Boss, we ran into trouble." He gripped his cane with claw-tipped fingers.

"Oh for f- How much trouble can one man be? Didn't you use the thing I gave you?" He turned to face his henchman, Styles? Styce? It made no difference to him. The humans in this world were all pathetic, sniveling imitations as far as he was concerned.

"We didn't get the chance," the man shook his head. "There was a freaky girl with him."

"Wait, freaky how? Describe her." Good help was impossible to find hereabouts.

"Blonde, skimpy outfit, and great big bracers that fired shotgun shells or something." The goon hesitated. "Actually, boss, now that I think about it, she kind of looked like you, but with bigger eyes."

'You have got to be kidding me!' he thought. If she was here, then her teammates were bound to be somewhere nearby. That annoyance would complicate their plans.

"Ugh. Alright, alright, forget about the Wizard for now." He reached inside his jacket and withdrew card, which he held out to the man. "Go to this address. Follow the instructions you are given when you get there."

"But, boss, I thought he was pretty insistent that we-" He flipped his cane and rapped the man's elbow. He gasped and clutched at it.

"Don't think, you idiot. Obey." He reached out and jabbed the card into the man's breast pocket. "You've got somewhere to be, so move it." The henchman nodded and left the room.

He turned to regard his reflection once more. The skin on the left side of his face had begun to harden into a plate. The eye encased within glowered a dull red. The right side remained unblemished, though bleached, and his other eye glowed green. Since the genesis, he felt whole for the first time in his life.

A/N: This is a shorter chapter, for which I apologize - I tried a longer version and it just didn't feel like good pacing. In the mean time, I'm looking for a beta reader. What I really need though, is someone who's knowledgeable about both universes and active in the community (aware of common theories and such). Side note, there will probably be spoilers involved, so I can understand if nobody wants to do it.