AN: Holy hell this took FOREVER to write properly. And it's still pretty short for one of my chapters. I hope you enjoy this brief set up, and I'll try to have some more out to you soon. Any questions or complaints about this, send me a message or leave a review.

The smoke and scent of a burning vampire is nauseating at two in the morning. Not that it's any worse or any better at any other time, but I like to quote Bond. Regardless of the unpleasantness, the body smoldered lazily in the darkness, small lights showing from still-hot embers burning in the twice-dead flesh. I sucked in a deep breath of the foul air. The horrific odor of burnt muscle mixed in with the scent of similarly scorched wood paneling.

I had caused this. I didn't really regret it, per se, but I was of the opinion that taking any life should be an emotionally impacting experience. So I stood there in the wrecked hotel room and breathed in the smoke rising from the charred corpse. I felt… Hollow. I didn't feel bad about what I had done, and I didn't feel good about it. A derisive snort fought its way past my lips. As if I had expected different.

My feet carried me out of the room without much thought. My mind was too busy to be concerned. Charlie watched me with something akin to concern, but I ignored him with the ease of long practice. I strode from the room, looking as if I hadn't a care in the world.

The spirit that lived in my head was talking. Charlie was, to continue the superspy metaphors, my handler. He kept an eye on me; made sure I didn't stray from the beaten path too far, and advised me when I was working for the Lady. He had been a living, breathing man, once. A... well, he had not been a hero, that's for certain. But he was, in his own way, a good man. A good man trapped by bad circumstances.

I guess that makes Her M. If M had owned Bond's very soul and forced him to do her dirty work that she was probably capable of doing herself. But then, perhaps not. The Fae are bound by rules and pacts that I can scarcely imagine. Perhaps She truly couldn't act in the places and ways that I could.

It's not like it mattered to me, honestly. She said jump, I didn't even bother asking how high, I just shot lightning at something. Hence the barbequed monster I was leaving behind. The Morrigan says go murder a vampire, I go murder a vampire.

Saying no for any reason was entirely out of the picture. A man has to be realistic about these things, after all.

I didn't notice her until her hand pressed against my chest, so busy was I with my misery. Of course, it's not like I could have noticed her even were I alert. The Fae are seen when they damn well please, and not a second before. "Good evening, Naime." The red-haired "Sidhe" smiled cheerily, her fingernails drumming a strange beat into my sternum.

My heartbeat sped up involuntarily. Naime was utterly gorgeous in a way no mortal woman could ever be. I clamped down ruthlessly on my less than pure impulse. Though we served the same mistress, Naime would suck the life out of me faster than I could think if I showed even the slightest sign of weakness. It was in her nature.

"Jason, my dear boy. So lovely to see you again." I kept my face neutral, acutely aware of her gaze roaming over my body. My skin would have crawled if I'd allowed it.

I kept my tongue in check. "What has brought you here, Lady Naime?" Now that I was part of The Morrigan's "Court" I had to observe the niceties.

She hoisted a pouting expression onto her lovely face, and I was struck with just how physically tiny the fae was. "I'm hurt, Chosen. You're not-"She paused and licked her lips in what I can only assume was meant to be a suggestive manner, but which reminded me more of a lioness seeing a sick zebra. "Pleased to see me?"

This time I couldn't contain my shudder. I'd seen her under the Sight, the otherworldly sense that allows a wizard to See things for what they truly are. Naime held about as much sexual appeal for me as a meat grinder after that little episode.

Like all memories formed from the Sight, I could never forget what I saw. Even the barest recollection of it brought the unseemly vision to the forefront of my thoughts. For the briefest moment, Naime's true appearance superimposed itself on her bubbly visage, and I recoiled in horror. My previously smooth breathing had transformed into ragged gasps for air, sudden terror driving the air from my suddenly weak lungs.

There is something in every human being, some old instinct, long buried beneath civilization and modernization. This ancient wisdom screamed for me to run, to claw and tear and drag myself away from this horrific evil before it could destroy everything I loved. My knuckles whitened as I fought to regain my composure, forcing down the entirely rational reaction.

Naime's expression was decidedly no longer cheery or teasing. She must have seen the look in my eyes as I flinched away from my memory of her real face. Her usually musical voice was harsh and cold. "The Lady wishes to see you, immediately." Charlie hovered next to me, watching Naime with undisguised disgust. Before I had looked on her, Charlie and I had both been under the impression Naime was a Sidhe. Powerful, treacherous, but still a known quantity. Now we both shuddered at the mere thought of her. After all, the spirit saw everything I saw.

With a brutal swipe of the hand, she opened a Way to the Nevernever. I peered through cautiously. Waltzing into Faerie like the wind was stupid on any level. The clearing Naime's door opened onto seemed safe enough, but I flicked my newest scepter clear of its holster inside my sleeve nonetheless, fingers automatically curling around the comforting steel.

I stepped through the portal slowly, eyes darting around rapidly as I searched for threats. The small clearing was revealed to actually be more of a glade, surrounded on all sides by ancient trees. They loomed a little more than one would expect, and the whole area resonated with a sense of being unwelcome. The very air seemed to resist being pulled into my throat.

I was about a second from hightailing it back to Earth, Morrigan be damned, when Naime stepped in after me and sealed the Way shut. I could always tear my own, but open defiance on that level would be suicidal. If I had just turned around, I could have always claimed that I thought Naime was leading me into a trap, I suppose.

My fears ended up being unfounded. The fae just rolled her eyes dramatically and glared around at the forest. "He's with me." Immediately the oppressive feeling pounding down on my mind departed. I swear on my grave some of the trees even swayed back from me slightly.

We walked in silence, Naime leading the way through the forest by either instinct or very reliable memory, as there was no path I could see. I immediately noticed the unnatural quiet. No birds, no wind whispering through the trees, nothing. This was The Morrigan's land all right. Silence and trees.

Turning on a dime, Naime faced me. "You know the rules, Stewart." I sighed expansively. Yes, I did indeed know the rules. She waved her hand, and I felt my sight and hearing fall away. It was glamour, easily defeated, but I let it be. I couldn't know where The Morrigan held court. No one could, except for her chief servant. Naime, that is.

A time later, I had no how long or how short; I was in The Lady of Silence's…Barrow? Den? Regardless, Naime undid the glamour covering my senses, and I recognized the place. More importantly, I saw The Morrigan waiting for me in the center of the huge chamber I associated with my transformation.

Three years, give or take. I hadn't been back here since, though The Lady had deigned to occasionally visit me in the mortal realm. I could still see the spot of the ritual, the basin that I knew contained blood and water. I understood rather more than I did, and just the sight of the pedestal it stood on was enough to send shivers down my spine.

I saw Charlie bow out of the corner of my eye, his eyes riveted on the floor. Despite his unease at Her working relationship with myself, Charlie would be forever loyal to The Morrigan. Something about Her loving and killing him during his life had inexplicably compelled his spirit's loyalty. But then, that's Fae for you.

"Jason. Stewart." She said my name slowly, rolling the syllables around as if tasting them. Her attention hit me like a tsunami, and it took all my willpower to simply bow instead of collapsing to the floor in a heap.

"My Lady." I responded tersely, with all the cold I put into my voice without technically being disrespectful. I was afraid, but She needed me more than I needed Her.

One of Her eyebrows rose at my tone of voice. "Dear Cúchulainn, I thought you were teaching the boy manners." It wasn't a question.

The ancient ghost's dark eyes glared at me for a moment before answering. "I cannae teach a man ta go against his nature." I noticed his accent thickening. It always did in Her presence.

The Morrigan descended slowly from the slightly raised dais the basin was kept on. Her bare feet touched the floor gently as she strode towards me. "You are my Chosen, the greatest among my warriors, the first among my servants." Her rapturous eyes were colder than ice. "But I will not allow you to skirt even the knife's edge of disloyalty."

There was no air in my lungs. I frowned in dumbfounded confusion and took a breath. Nothing. Befuddled thinking morphed into realization. This was a lesson, both of metaphors and literal truths.

My lungs burned for a breath, and black began to crowd into my vision. The Morrigan padded closer as I struggled to remain standing still. Charlie's eyes were worried, his fingers nervously running through long red hair. He understood harsh lessons all too well, but he had his own agenda for my loyalties. Too much pressure from The Morrigan could, in his eyes, turn me away from his goals.

I choked on more perfectly good oxygen for a minute more, and just when I thought I was going to pass into unconsciousness, The Morrigan waved one hand and I felt the burn in my chest relieved. "Point taken, my Lady."

She smiled beatifically. "Good. See to it that you do not forget again." I shuddered and drew my coat in tighter around me. "I have work for you, Chosen."