InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "keep moving forward"

Karrin Murphy (i_putontheboots) wrote in we_coexist,
@ 2011-05-28 10:39:00

Entry tags:

dinah lance, harry dresden, karrin murphy

Faith & trust & pixie dust. [Murphy, Dinah, Harry]
Murphy was having a hard time thinking wonderful thoughts. Her best friend was missing and presumed dead, her badge had been suspended, and to top it all off, now she was trapped in Never-Never Land. Second star to the right and straight on till morning. Except this wasn't Never-never Land, was it? And it definitely wasn't Chicago.

Either way, what good could she possibly do here? She couldn't try to look for Harry on the sly. She couldn't even distract herself from her grief--or her refusal to grieve until she'd seen a body--by helping Sanya the lone Knight of the Cross, or Will and Georgia and the Alphas. She couldn't even seem to find a damn coffee shop, because the City kept rearranging itself every time she turned a corner. It was like a damn circus funhouse.

And then she saw it. An old, brick boarding house, with a set of stairs that looked like it led down to a basement apartment. It couldn't be. Harry's apartment in Chicago had burned to the ground. She stopped in her tracks and blinked, shaking her head as if to shake the illusion from her mind, but there it was, and there it stayed.

She touched the amulet that hung beneath her shirt--the one that let her through Harry's wards without setting off the big badda boom. She didn't know what this place was, but if she really was chosen to be the Knight of Faith, maybe she just had to trust that there was something in there that she was supposed to see. Steeling herself, she headed cautiously down the steps, one hand reaching for the doorknob while the other reached for her ever present sidearm. Better safe than sorry.

She just hoped she wouldn't dislocate her shoulder trying to shove the battered security door open. She doubted there was any subtle way to get into Harry's apartment, unless you happened to be an actual pixie.

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i_putontheboots
2011-06-02 03:21 am UTC (link)

Sanya hadn't spilled the beans, much to Murphy's annoyance. Not that it had mattered when Harry was supposedly dead anyway, but now that he was alive, the niggling curiosity--mingled with a touch of nauseating dread--had returned. Damn it, why couldn't she just be happy for the son of a gun? It seemed like for once in a rare blue moon he wasn't miserable. Could she really begrudge him that?

She nodded, her features softening a bit more at the thought of Harry's little girl. "She's safe, Harry. I promise you that."

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i_wizard
2011-06-09 01:21 am UTC (link)

A faint, sad smile touched Harry's lips. His hand found hers and squeezed for a moment before releasing. Then he let out a long, slow breath. "Thanks. I just... needed to hear it."

He shifted position a bit, leaning against one of the sofas. Mouse came to stand beside him, batting his head against Harry's hand. Obliging, Harry set the hand down on Mouse's head, rubbing behind the dog's ears. "I'm not sure how you got here, Murph, but I haven't been able to find a way out. From what I hear, we're pretty much stuck here until the City decides to give us up."

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i_putontheboots
2011-06-09 02:45 am UTC (link)

Murphy told herself she wouldn't be jealous of the dog, but there was no way she was snuggling up to Harry while his girlfriend was out hero-ing. She'd have to get her comfort elsewhere. Like, in her own kitchen, with a rich, chocolate cake. Or an apple pie.

But beer was good, too. She took another long pull on the bottle, and shook her head. "I guess Someone's trying to get me to reconsider taking up the life of a vigilante, eh?"

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i_wizard
2011-06-09 02:56 am UTC (link)

Harry lifted both his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Hey, don't ask me. I was just told to watch over the Swords, and see that they went to a suitable candidate. I let you use if a couple of times. Me and Him don't necessarily see eye-to-eye on a lot, but the blade's in your hands now, Murph. You drove back Deidre by taking it an inch from the scabbard. That was you. And when you killed one of the Lords of Outer Night? That was you, too."

He nodded his chin towards Fidelacchius. "And you're the one holding it now. There's always free will. But it seems like..." He let out a soft sigh. "Like Someone wants you to at least have the option of staying in the game."

That old smirk reappeared in the corner of his mouth. "You can think of it like leveling up, if you want."

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i_putontheboots
2011-06-09 03:22 am UTC (link)

Murphy had to laugh, then. She couldn't help herself. Leave it to Harry to inject humor into any hollow situation, like the filling in a jelly doughnut. It probably saved her from getting all squishy and emotional, too.

"Not me," she said, shaking her head, "I was there when it happened, Harry, but I was just a conduit. But maybe, in a way, He was preparing me for this all along." And, with a statement like that, was it any wonder she'd been granted access to the Sword of Faith? "Besides, it seems to me like the good guys can never have too much help."

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i_wizard
2011-06-09 03:49 am UTC (link)

Harry had seen the fire in her eyes when she charged at the ancient vampire. Raphael might have spoken through her, but it had been Karrin Murphy who had charged her way into the fray, cutting down vampires like magic. He knew what he saw when he looked at her with his Sight. The golden-haired avenging angel, the bright sword at her side, white robes stained with battle both internal and external, but no less lovely for it.

Even without CPD, Murphy was a cop. She had faith in the law, in justice. She had faith in herself, in her friends. In doing the right thing. Murphy had kept him grounded time after time.

His grin only widened. "Looks good on you."

He glanced towards the door, then back at her. "The Beetle's outside. Want to see if we can find your house? Mine just sorta... turned up. I even have an office, in it's own building. The streets here change a lot, but if you concentrate on where you want to go, you normally get there."

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i_putontheboots
2011-06-09 04:06 am UTC (link)

She hid a sheepish smile at the compliment behind another sip of beer, then nodded her head. "Sounds a little wizardy, if you ask men," she quipped, "But all right then. I've got nothing better to do, and I'm sure you and--" She stopped herself from saying Legs again. "Dinah are going to want me out of your hair before long. Maybe while we're house hunting, you can fill me in on where I might be needed."

She might have accepted that she had a higher calling now, but she still wasn't used to the whole get up and go 'as the Spirit leads you' thing like Michael was. Maybe she should have been.

Or maybe she was, and she just didn't know it. After all, she'd wound up here, on Harry's doorstep. She didn't really believe in coincidence anymore. "I don't suppose you've given that poor thing a new paint job, have you?"

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i_wizard
2011-06-09 10:42 pm UTC (link)

"If we don't find your place, you're welcome to crash here long as you need." He meant it, too. Murphy was family. It didn't matter whose DNA had recombined with whose - when everything went to hell, the people who stood by you were your family. And Murphy had been to hell and back for him. She was one of the few - the very few - that Harry trusted completely, without question. This was no invitation, but a statement of fact.

She was always welcome.

"What, the Beetle? Heck no. Do you know how much that costs?" Harry sighed. "I haven't gotten enough jobs here yet to afford something like that, even if the rent for my office went down. At least the Reds don't own this building."

He went to the door, using his longer reach to get there first, and yanked it open for them. When he turned back, Mouse was sitting beside Murphy, his lead in his mouth, tail wagging hopefully.

Harry couldn't help but grin. "Alright, mutt. You can come, too."

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i_putontheboots
2011-06-09 11:04 pm UTC (link)

Murphy laughed softly as she rose to follow, making a halfhearted show of trying to beat Harry to the door, but not really minding that he got there first. It was their thing. A friendly rivalry, and one that Murphy had missed, even in the short time that Harry had been gone.

"If you hadn't told me it was in its own building, I might wonder who did own it. Luthor Corp?"

She smiled, clipping Mouse's lead onto his collar, and slipping out the door. "I missed you too, you big, shaggy mop," she conceded, flashing Harry a glance as she ruffled the dog's fur. Yeah...she'd missed him too.

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