Disclaimer: I do not own Penny Dreadful, or any of it's characters. They all belong to the amazing John Logan. This is just for fun :)

Gunshots.

Many gunshots echoed down the halls, through the iron door, and into the white tiled room she stood in that was lined with hundreds of candles. She knew that her family had finally come to save her. Little did they know it would be a losing battle. She had made her choice.

The Night Creatures had come out to feed, roaming the now deserted streets of London in the dense pestilence that has covered the entire city. The entire world. This horrible darkness has taken over, and a new world was beginning. The world of the Night Creatures. She, the Mother of Evil. She knew there was only one way to end this torment. Her soul couldn't be saved now. It was too late.

As she stood in her flowing beige dress in the dimly lit room, the gunshots stopped and she now heard foot steps coming down the hall.

Ethan. She knew it was him.

She heard the door open and Ethan's footsteps coming closer and closer. When they stopped, she turned to face him.

Both were taken aback.

The woman standing before him was not the woman he knew, the woman he loved. Her dark brown hair was down to her waist in soft curls, but what surprised Ethan the most were her eyes. Once a bright, vivid blue, were now a deep, sunken red, and her complexion was very pale.

"It hurts me more than I thought it would, seeing you." Her voice very raspy and low. She noticed his hair was cut short, and he had a large wound across his right cheek. From the battle fighting off the Night Creatures, no doubt.

"You need to come with me. Now."

"And go where? They will hunt me until the end of days."

"I can protect you." He says, almost desperately.

"No, you can't. No one can."

"Then we'll fight him."

"It's not him, it's me." She raises her arms out from her sides. "Look at me. This is what I am. And this is what I've done." Her voice starts to crack. "Brought this terrible darkness to the world."

"Vanessa. Please." He pleads.

"Vanessa? And where is she? When did we lose her, Ethan? She was standing in a quiet room, gazing up at a cross. She reached out, took it from the wall...and put it in the fire. And then she was lost, and so alone." She whispers sadly.

He walks up to her. "You are not alone. You never were. I have stood at the very edge. I have looked into the abyss. If I'd taken one more step I would've fallen. But no matter how far I ran away from God, He was still waiting ahead."

She looks down at the floor. "Not for me."

"For us all."

She looks up at Ethan. "My battle must end. You know that. Or there will never be peace on Earth. Let it end."

Ethan's eyebrows furrow as he realizes what she is asking him to do. "Don't ask it."

"I don't have to. You know you have a destiny. It's why we first met. It's why you're here now. You must help me defeat the forces of darkness and deny them their prize for all time."

"No."

Her eyes well up with tears. "Please, Ethan. Let it end."

A single tear falls down her right cheek as she reaches for his gun and puts it in his hand, then places it against her stomach. "With a kiss."

"With a kiss." He whispers, then takes in a sharp breath. "With love."

She smiles sadly. "With love."

They share a short, soft kiss, then rest their foreheads together. Ethan starts reciting the Lord's Prayer, and Vanessa looks at him with tears in her eyes, remembering the old words she once believed in so much. After a few moments, she joins him. "Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses. As we forgive those who trespass against us." Ethan stops as he hears her sob. She continues with tears rolling down her cheeks. "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, forever and ever. Amen."

The room goes quiet for a moment, then one gunshot pierces the silence. She slumps against Ethan's chest as he falls to his knees, holding a dying Vanessa in his arms. With tears in the corners of her eyes, she looks up at the ceiling, and says with a trembling jaw, her last words. "Oh, Ethan. I see...our Lord."

Deep down she always knew this is how it was going to end. She knew she couldn't fight forever. She knew this was her destiny. Their destiny. It was the reason they met after all.

THE END