Fuel

Aly wrote:"I'm gonna sleep for a week." She slowly sipped the cold drink letting it reduce the swelling in her throat.

"I think I might just join you," Caleb answered, his exhausted brain not registering what he'd said, all filters between brain and mouth gone.

It was the exhaustion getting to him. He knew it, and did nothing to stop it. Not only was he driving, with no sleep through the full moon, he'd had the combination of hunting a ghost pretending to be a Werewolf, fending off his own need for sleep with a feral supernatural influence, and the possibility that one of their own was a Werewolf too, all leaning on him. He glanced at Aly and let his mouth run without his brain to rein it in.

"Seriously? Rome? The gigolo? The Dungeon Crawl Party Bike?" Caleb laughed, "What were you thinking?"

It had to be the exhaustion, or the near death experience, that opened her mouth. Aly looked up at him from her perch on his shoulder.

"That I'd never been so alone in my life and I needed someone and I couldn't go to you because I'd shot to hell any chance of that after that damn d'jinn."

The truck lurched to a stop.

Caleb sighed and pulled up at another (conveniently-placed) rest stop, flashing his headlights at any cars that looked remotely like those the others were driving as an all-clear to keep going. This felt like it needed to be dealt with when there was zero chance of outside interference - even a concerned friend asking if everything was okay. He was unsure if he'd be able to start driving again afterwards though.

"We had something good going on in that nightmare, didn't we?" Caleb sighed, "Felt like a dream for a while. Just so you know ... I wouldn't have kicked you out. I don't have a lot of friends, so anyone who's willing to give me the time of day is important."

Aly swallowed hard and took his hand, trying not to react to the pain in her throat.

"I'm sorry, Cal."

She sighed and stared out the window for a moment.

"I just keep thinking you know--if there was something starting we didn't know about--or if the d'jinn was just royally screwing with our hearts as well as our heads. We are a pretty badass team--maybe the djinn had good instincts?"

She tucked her hair behind her ear as she watched him nervously.

She took her mobile and wrote quickly a text to Georgie.

Rome dumbed a house on the witch of the East and got the ruby slippers, see you in Kansas L&R

Lenna loved Rome’s new car and she was glad to get rid of all the girlie music. She liked to listen to it but not none stop.

“Rome this car is so cool.”

When she suddenly looked worried at him.

“Is it a really new car? I mean no one owned it before, so it is um… you know ghost free right?”

Rome first was about to start laughing until he saw her face. “Yes it is new and completely ghost free.”

“Good. I’m sorry for freaking out in the store earlier. I shouldn’t have just marched away. I didn’t mean to do that and I wouldn’t have gone anywhere else except the library across the street. Really. I never run away, ever. ”

Lenna looked relieved but guilty when she leaned back in the seat.

“Rome? Is there any chance you let me drive? Not now, and maybe not anytime soon but when I feel better. And we are sure my head is not more messed up than I was before and it is safe.”

"Maybe she did. I mean, there's gotta be some truth to it if we both fell for it," Caleb answered, "It's not like we're easy to catch out or anything."

He gave her hand and gentle squeeze and closed his eyes to think for a second. It took every ounce of his fading strength to open them again and not keel forwards against the dashboard snoring.

"Never considered I'd be a detective though. Only thing came out of my neighbourhood was cops, convicts and clergymen. So I said 'screw you guys' and joined the Army," Caleb rambled.

A slight thrill went through her as he spoke and squeezed her hand. His tired rambling was the most adorable thing in the universe--even if it did divert from the topic at hand. She tested the waters slowly, reaching up and brushing his hair back. He moaned softly at her touch.

"Cal?"

"Huh?"

She reached over and took the keys out of the ignition.

"We should really stop for the night--motel across the street?"

Her fingers were still entwined in his hair while her head leaned on his shoulder. His breath was warm on her face making a blush burn her cheeks.

((Damn you, Calaly!!!! *shakes fist at sky* I've told you already, romance isn't canon to SPN! ))

"Haha," Rome laughed. First I thought you were gonna ask if I stole this thing: to which the answer is no. One, I have no friggen clue how to steal a car, and, two, I don't go in for used crap. And, yeah, you can drive it anytime you want, baby. These long stretches of road make me sleepy--and you know how much I don't want to be sleepy, you know, like, ever again." He winked and settled back into the perfectly crafted seats. "I'm more of a car chase kind of guy. The long haul is so boring."

He chuckled internally at that. What a universal statement.

"Like James Dean?" Elenna asked, picking up on what he hadn't said. He was pretty sure there was some biting sarcasm in her voice, but he ignored it. "Live fast, die young?"

"Oh, you know, maybe not that young. Kinda like to make it to twenty-seven, you know? How long 'til we get to Tex's, anyway? Do I just stay on this road?" He produced his phone with a wicked laugh. "Oh, wait, never mind, let me just ask my new phone." Half an eye on the road, he programmed the navigation system for Protection, Kansas. "I swear, this thing could take over the world if it wanted to."

Lenna smiled and for the first time in well days it was not a careful smile, it was the true Lenna-sunshine-smile. “I bet you can make them to take over the world.”

Lenna tried whatever button she found around, and got to know the Ferrari. “You know I could show you how to steal a car. It is easier with older models, but that is just me because I never know how to turn off modern alarm systems. But I guess you would like finding out how to turn off the alarms.”

Lenna just found the manual of the car and started to read it.

“You are not really reading the car manual?” Rome looked shocked at Lenna.

“Um yeah why not, it is kind of interesting and you will thank me if something is wrong with the car and I can fix it.” It was unbelievable Lenna could read and actually enjoy every written piece.

Lenna put the manual away after some time and closed her eyes; she was exhausted and even though she wasn’t that close to Rome as in the backseat of the Barbie mobile but the whole Ferrari was Rome all the shiny technical new stuff was Rome, in a much healthier way then it was in the Mustang. And even though she didn’t dislike Georgie’s music taste that much as Rome did but she enjoyed the change music.

“Why the new car? Didn’t you like depending on the others? And what if you have a vision while you drive?”

She was actually reading the owner's manual. Who did that? That was worse than reading instructions and asking for directions combined. Not that Rome could change the oil if his life depended on it--that was why people had mechanics--but as far as the gadget aspect, the computer part, well, Rome was insulted that there was an instruction manual.

He couldn't wait for Elenna to ask to drive, actually, because he really wanted to sit and fiddle: he had designs to program his phone to be able to talk to Vera. If he could, he'd totally make it drive around by remote, batmobile style, but unfortunately, the technology hadn't caught up with his high demands yet.

And then Elenna dropped the bombshell.

“Why the new car? Didn’t you like depending on the others? And what if you have a vision while you drive?”

"Um. Because, kinda, and whatever?" Rome grinned widely, hoping that would work.

"Rome, I'm serious!" she snapped, irritably.

"Okay, okay," Rome laughed, trying to stall the serious discussion. "Honestly, I got the car mainly because if I heard another Britney Spears song I was going to stab myself in the ear."

"Rome, most people don't solve a slight annoyance by buying a new Ferrari."

"Yeah, well, I'm not most people. I normally prefer getting chauffered around, so, yeah, but that's why I have you," Rome winked at her, getting a blush for his efforts. Then Rome paused. "Aaaaand..." He sighed. If he had a vision while driving--he couldn't walk when he got one of those, much less operate heavy machinery. "Well, I guess that's what I got you for, too, huh?"

He patted her knee and, before the awkward moment could get any more massively chick-flicky, he turned up the volume on the radio and drove off toward the setting sun.

The car slowly came to a stop in front of Tex's place. The door swung open and a cane made of dark wood touched the ground followed by a pair of loafers and khaki clad legs.

Theo shut the car door and settled his cream color hat on his bald head. He smoothed his dark grey cardigan before walking slowly to the porch.

Tex came out the door just as he reached the steps. She held in her hands a shaker of salt and a small silver glass of holy water.

"It's good to see you, Texas." Theo said with a smile as he climbed the steps. He put a pinch of the salt on his tongue and took a sip from the glass, crossing himself as he swallowed.

In a rare showing of affection, Tex gave his old hand the briefest squeeze. "It's good to see you too Theo." She started back inside. "You gotta be tired. C'mon in and lemme make you some food."


((Maeg, edit Tex's stuff if you like. I don't know her well enough to be accurate ))

After Georgina received Lenna's rather unusual text message, Rome dumped a house on the witch of the East and got the ruby slippers, see you in Kansas L&R, she got back in her car and set her GPS.
"Well, I hope I'm not going to see little Dorothy running around anywhere", Georgie said to herself while thinking about her friend's message. Do I really want to know what on earth Rome did? I'm not sure... Obviously he and Elenna found a way to get to Kansas without her Barbie mobile, so they either found a magic carpet like in Aladdin or...they stole a car?
"No!" Georgie shook her head. "You got to be kidding me."
For a moment she thought about the possibility of Rome and Elenna stealing a car, and yes, she kind of expected that from Rome somehow, but since he had 'Little Miss Responsibility' with him there was no way Lenna would let him get away with that.
It was weird, but after having people around her all the time the last days it felt awfully quiet in her car. She actually felt quite lonely. Georgie shrugged her shoulders and turned on the radio. She changed the channel immediately after the chorus of Celine Dion's All by Myself was booming through her car. "No freaking way!"

((OOC: I promise we'll be good Mae. No ubermush. ))

"Three nights with no sleep makes that Motel sound like Heaven," Caleb answered, kissing her lightly and freezing, "Holy s***. I really just did that, didn't I?"

Everything seemed to grind to a halt. He froze like a deer in the headlights of a Kenworth bearing down on him at a hundred miles per hour.
One tiny brush of his lips felt better than the entire night with Rome. She gasped, her eyes darkening. There was no point in fighting it if he wanted it to happen as much as she did. Three days apart from him had been torture even though she'd never been with him in the first place. She didn't care. It felt so right.

"Yes...you did." He started to pull back. "Do it again?"
"Let's try getting to the motel first," Caleb groaned, climbing awkwardly out his door, "You know, three nights without sleep is having a similar effect on me to half a bottle of scotch."

Extending his hand to her, Caleb helped Aly out of the truck and wrapped his arm around her, kissing her one more time before shuffling towards the pedestrian bridge between the parking lot and the motel, locking the truck almost as an afterthought. He moved like a zombie as he slowly, deliberately took the steps two at a time and shambled across the bridge. He had to lean on the guard rail to avoid doing a header down the steps on the far end, finally hobbling into the motel's office and calling a room.

The young man behind the counter tossed him a key and after some more stumbling, he damn-near fell into the room, kissing Aly a little more intently as he tossed his jacket aside.
So she felt a little like a slut, going into a cheep motel with another man from four days ago, but somehow this was different. God his lips tasted good. She returned his kisses, starting a fire in both of them that could only be quenched by one thing. Despite the exhaustion, and the pain, she managed to open his shirt. She slipped her hands under and paused, noting the heavy bruising around his ribs. He twitched before capturing her lips again with tired fervor. Her jacket was gone now and his hands under the turtleneck.

He backed her against the bed. She closed her eyes as he lightly brushed his lips against the marks on her neck.
Caleb tried to get through her clothes as quickly as possible, tossing her turtleneck aside and repeating the process on her belt as they scrambled onto the bed. This was going well and could only get better. He closed his eyes as he kissed her and tried to stay with it, but the pull of sleep was too strong. He announced his surrender with a loud snore against her neck.
Aly sighed softly. Her body was on fire, but she was glad he'd KOed. Neither of them had slept in days. She wasn't much more than a positionable doll at the moment.

She squirmed against him getting him to move a little, then sat up, reaching for her undershirt. She unclasped her bra--underwires were a b*tch to sleep in. Then she pulled the shirt back on and slipped off her suit pants. He was still wearing his shoes, so she tugged them off for him, along with his pants. At least they could be comfortable while they slept.

Aly curled back into his arms and passed out with his breath on the back of her neck.

Rome nudged Elenna awake as they pulled up to Tex's. It was dawn, and they had driven through the night. Rome's eyeballs felt cracked and weird, but other than this, and his hands shaking faintly from the two cups of coffee he'd just consumed, he was fine.

Glad as all hell to be back, though.

There was blue Cadillac in the front. Rome grinned as he pointed it out. "Old folks convention, maybe?" he asked Elenna sarcastically.

The front door burst open to reveal Tex, aiming a shotgun at them. "Whoa!" Rome shouted, raising his hands but realizing the windows were closed and too tinted to see through. "Hello, it's just us!"

She wasn't satisfied until she got up right near the window and peered in, and then she looked ready to throttle him.

"Land sakes, boy, you got a death wish or something?" she asked as he crawled out of the driver's seat and went to the trunk for his and Lenna's bags.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that? That's my retarded brother you're talking about. Fraternal twins, hello." Rome looked up to see a dumpy old man in a gray sweater standing on the porch. "Who's this guy?"

Since Tex wasn't going to get an apology out of this kid--not when he looked and smelled like that, anyway--she turned back to the guest. "Father, this is Romulus Remington, and Elenna Fee. Rome, Lenna, this is Father Theo. He's a good friend of mine, lives in town. You can talk to him," by way of explaining that this man was--like, maybe a hundred years ago by the looks of him--a hunter.

"Padre, huh?" Rome brightened. "Good, because I'm way past due. You taking confessions?" He chuckled. "I usually need, like, a good two hours."

"Rome?" Elenna looked lost and very tired.

"I'm, ah, putting Lennie to bed here, though, first. If you don't mind. Excuse us. The hunt was...well. Are we the first back? I'll tell you about it later, Texie. Actually, no, wait. You may wanna take a look at her, first. Kid got pretty roughed up, poor thing, I mean look at her. We all did. Got--"

Tex stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Rome, sweetie, quit talkin'." Rome snapped his mouth shut.

Tex bundled Elenna up into her arms, like a mother hen. "Lenna, honey, you wanna come with me? I'll look after you, sweetie, let's get you cleaned up and in bed, okay?" The woman exuded comfort and care, so Elenna didn't appear the least bit worried to be pulled off in another direction, as Tex called over her shoulder. "Father, would you mind lookin' after the boy? He's probably hidin' something."

With some alarm which he attempted to school into scornful amusement, Rome grinned at the Father, and shrugged sheepishly. "I'm an open book," he said.

Lenna turned around and smiled at Rome a last time before she went with Tex inside. “I’m not tired at all and I’m fine.” Lenna mumbled. That made Tex smile. “I know you are. But you look like you need a shower.”

“Yeah shower sounds good. Hey Tex can I go after the shower in the library, you know organizing it?”

“Maybe a bit later, honey. I wanna have a look at you, and then you will eat something and sleep in a real bed. How does this sound?”

Lenna leaned against Tex. She felt safe and knew nothing will happen to her here. Even with Rome not at her side.

He is not going away. He promised!

“Great.”

Lenna took a long shower and saw for the first time how bruised she was.

Ohmygod I think it was a week since the last shower.

Tex checked Lenna from head to toe, while Lenna explained what happened just that she left out to say the ghost and werewolf was her brother. “You look worse than you think you are. I think you might have a mild concussion and your left wrist seems to be sprained but everything is just bruises. You are lucky you survived that car crash.”

Lenna pulled her shirt over her head, she looked still tired. She did sleep a lot on the car ride, but she just felt tired and somehow she wished she could sleep and wake up and everything was back to normal.

“They had to burn that Mustang, I think it worked as the ghost’s remains.”

Tex pulled her into a hug. “Everything will be alright. Come on you look really tired, so let’s fix you something to eat.”

Lenna followed her to the kitchen and sat down at the table. “Where is Rome?”

Tex saw the nervous look that appeared for a moment on Lenna’s face. “He is around, don’t worry. Father Theo's looking after him.” Tex started to make pancakes while she passed a huge glass of orange juice to her. “Drink up, honey.”

Lenna smiled and enjoyed the pancakes Tex made for her.

Caleb woke her with a gentle bite to the slope of her neck, his fingers tangling in her hair. Just as he was about to pick up where they left off last night, a knock came at the door. Nothing killed a buzz like the cleaners. Caleb sat up on the bed and reached for his clothes. He had his jeans, boots and watch on by the time the "cleaners" announced that they were, in fact, Ohio State Troopers. Caleb finished pulling his t-shirt on and walked slowly over to the door. He pulled it open slowly, putting on his best groggy face as Aly made an exasperated noise and hurried to get herself dressed and presentable to the Troopers.

"Anything I can help you with?" Caleb asked through a faked yawn, staring longingly in Aly's direction.

"We're looking for a fugitive believed to be passing through these parts. The clerk said you arrived late last night. Have you seen this man?" the Trooper asked, holding up a picture of Rome.

"I've been riding the highway from New York non-stop, sir," Caleb stated grogily, "I've seen a lot of pre-pubescent prettyboys like him. What kinda electric razor car was he driving?"

"He's believed to have changed vehicles at least twice by now. We can't rely on his transport for a positive ID," the Trooper answered with a frown.

"Damn. Hey, baby, you seen this guy?" Caleb asked, waving Aly over to the door.

She stared daggers through him before approaching tiredly and leaning against him.

"Looks like that candy ass headed up north through Pennsylvania, doesn't he?" Caleb suggested.

"How long ago?" the Trooper butted in.

"Sometime yesterday morning, I guess," Caleb answered with a shrug, glancing at Aly and squeezing her waist, "You might wanna pass that on to the New York State Police. We left before him, but he was talking to some girl about the weather in New York."

"Did you see him leave?" the Trooper asked.

"Nope," Caleb answered, "We were gone before he was done making eyes at the waitress."

"Thank you for your time," the Trooper answered, moving on to the room next door.

Caleb shut the door and turned to Aly.

"As soon as they're gone, we get the Hell outta here," Caleb sighed, his hands resting on Aly's waist, "God damnit."

Caleb watched the window intently until the patrol car returned to the freeway before grabbing his jacket and heading for the front desk to pay and get out. Once in the truck, he grabbed Aly and kissed her, then gunned the engine and roared out onto the road.

"How do we break it to Rome that his face has filtered down to the State Police?" Caleb muttered.

Theo gave the brash young man in front of him a quick once over before turning and heading back into the house.

"Come along Romulus. Let's get you cleaned up and fed. Then we can talk about that confession."

There was some grumbling behind him, but the screen door creaked as the kid followed along. Theo walked down the hall to the nearest unoccupied bathroom, flipped on the light and began rummaging through cabinets. He handed Rome soap, shampoo, a towel, toothpaste and toothbrush.

"Get yourself cleaned up. I'll be back when your done to look over your injuries." He said calmly as he began to shut the door.

"That's really not nec..."

Theo turned fixing Rome with a look that stopped his protest.

"Yes sir?" The young man backpedaled meekly. Satisfied, Theo shut the door and headed into the kitchen. He was waiting in the hallway with a plate of sandwiches and apple slices by the time the bathroom door opened again.

Rome humored the old man by letting him lead him down the hall to the room Rawson had claimed--it had the biggest bed, but Rome wasn't about to let him keep it if he had gone AWOL--and made him set on the edge. Although, if Rome thought about it, he didn't exactly feel like he could hold his own in the ring with a potholder right now, so maybe this old man could take him down if he had half a mind. Anyway, he was a priest, and even Rome had standards. So he obeyed.

"You know, I'm really okay, Padre," Rome said, snatching a sandwich off the tray with one hand and a cup of tea with the other. He continued with his mouth full: "And I'm not even tired or any--ow!" Rome yelped as Father Theo prodded his side with experienced hands, feeling the floater in question give way under the light pressure. He jerked, spilling hot tea on his hand, and "F*ck!" he shouted, before he remembered whose company he was in, adding, "Oh, sh*t, Padre, I'm sorry--I mean--dammit, I mean--uh...." Rome bit his tongue and oops-grinned at the older man, eyes shining with I'm-sorry-please-don't-hurt-me.

Theo raised an eyebrow calmly as Rome stumbled over words before giving up and smiling sheepishly. The old man just continued to gently prod and poke. There was a nice lump on the back of Rome's head and the black eye was nasty. Theo checked his eyes for signs of a concussion. After a moment, he moved and began pulling back the covers on the bed.

"Well Romulus, the good news is that you're not gonna die. The bad news is I can't do much for broken ribs and black eyes. The best thing you can do is get some sleep."

Rome watched the man work, surprised he hadn't become upset with him. Father Grisholm back home was always giving him crap and about a million hail-Marys for his antics, so he had developed a pretty good filter to used around priests and old people. Right now he was just too freaking tired to keep it up, though.

"But I'm not sleepy," Rome said, but he was looking at the bed longingly.

Father Theo just looked at him. His eyes were deep and long and knowing, like Rome imagined an Ent's eyes would be. Rome felt like a bug under a microscope, but, at the same time, not uncomfortable. He knew instantly that he could trust this man, that he didn't have to fake it in front of him--that he couldn't even if he tried.

Rome licked his lips. "I...can't sleep," he corrected, giving up sadly. Then he rallied, put the gameface back on: "Look, where's Lenna? I need to make sure she's okay."

"Elenna is with Texas. She is perfectly fine and when last I checked was eating bacon. Now into the bed. Scoot."

With gentle hands, Theo pushed the young man towards the bed. Rome looked for a brief moment like he might put up a fight, but then reluctantly climbed into the bed.

The old man settled into a chair by the bed, resting his cane against his knee. He pulled off his glasses and began cleaning them with a handkerchief produced from his pocket.

"So tell me Romulus. Why can't you sleep?"

Rome sighed and settled back. The back of his head hurt, even with the pillow, but his rib hurt if he lay on his stomach or his side, so, in a fit, he wrenched the pillows out from behind him and threw them on the floor so that he was lying absolutely flat on his back.

"Is that better?" Father Theo asked, without any hint of blame or sarcasm. Which had a strange effect on Rome...

He wasn't used to feeling guilty.

"Why can't I sleep?" Rome took in a deep breath to give the old man the list: I've been beat to crap on three separate occasions in under a week, my brother's AWOL and hates me for no reason, Elenna just had the freakout of the century and I'm worried as all hell about her, Aly resents me for giving her the night of her life, and Cal's gonna kill me for the same reason, I'm a wanted felon and I watched a demon kill my parents with my own bare hands, let's see, why can't I sleep? Here's a better question: why aren't I clinically insane?

But Rome released the breath.

"I have...visions. Sometimes when I'm awake, but...they're worse when I sleep. And, okay, I get it, I'm being a little bitch about the djinni thing, but you have no idea how--"

"Romulus." A hand was on his arm, and Rome turned his head to meet the old man's eyes. "I know."

Rome backed down, and looked away, up at the ceiling. The nice, boring, empty ceiling, which was soothing, somehow. "So, yeah. I've tried, I really have. Last few tries don't go well. I don't sleep, anyway, when I try, so what does it matter? I've had enough caffeine to give myself a heart condition. I..." Rome stopped. "I'm babbling. Sorry."

Aly woke slowly, storing every sensation in her memory. His teeth nipped gently at the slope of her neck, below the bruises so he didn’t hurt her. Then his hands wound into her hair and he leaned over making her gasp as his lips brushed hers. She moaned squirming underneath him and nipping at his lower lip. They hadn’t even said good morning yet, but that was okay. She purred as his hands slipped beneath her tank top. Things were heating up nicely. Aly arched her back slightly as his tongue traced her ear.

The knock at the door brought them both down. He got up and pulled on his pants while she hesitated. It could just be the cleaner. She sat up on her elbows and flopped down with a groan of frustration. Her pants were uncomfortable when she slipped them back on. She almost reached for the gun, but seeing as these were police it was probably a bad idea.

And they were looking for Rome. This just got better. Cal sweet-talked them into moving on and shut the door.

"As soon as they're gone, we get the Hell outta here," Caleb sighed, his hands resting on her waist, "God damnit."

Aly flopped back onto the bed with a frustrated groan. She was not looking forward to a long drive while she was this uncomfortable—though he had to be feeling it worse. She got up and grabbed her bag. The few things she owned or borrowed were jammed in the bottom like a teenager’s school backpack. She let the pants fall to the floor and grabbed the jeans out of the pack. Cal’s eyes never left her as she changed, making her feel warm all over.

They made it over to the truck quickly after paying the bill. He didn’t even let her buckle up before weaving his hand into her hair at the back of her head and pulling her into another kiss. Their tongues danced against each other in frustrated fury before he pulled back with a deep groan and gunned the engine sending them back onto the highway.

They listened to the radio, trying to forget the fire inside them—though they didn’t exactly help themselves. Aly sat with his arm wrapped around her waist and his hand down her backside while she leaned her head back and carved circles in his thigh with her fingers. It turned into a game, how high could she go before he started swerving like a drunk driver?

After a while though it only made them feel worse and there was no stopping between here and Kansas. She settled into his arms and stared out the window, but there was only so much mind melting scenery she could take. Like seriously, could they plant something other than corn in the farms blowing by?

Finally she broke the silence. It was something that had been on her mind for a while. She didn’t really.

“Cal, it feels like I’ve known you forever, but we really haven’t so maybe we should get to know each other as we really are?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“How did you become a hunter?”

Theo sat back again. So much weight on such young shoulders.

"Visions, hmm? It sounds to me like you've been given a gift. But you don't see it that way do you?" The young man's eye darted over to him briefly before returning to the ceiling.

"Tell me this Romulus. Is it the visions themselves that trouble you? Or the fact that you aren't like everyone else?"

Rome bristled. "What're you talking about, old man? I'm just like anyone else. I just see things before they happen, and--and I hate it. It's like not being blindfolded in front of the firing line, it--"

Rome sat up.

"Look, why do you even care, huh?" He turned dark eyes on the priest. "I'm supposed to confess to you, not...you're a priest, not a counselor! Leave me alone!"

Rome didn't care that he sounded like a petulant teenager. Well, he didn't care much.