DISCLAIMER: I do not own Valek, Montoya, Katrina, Jack, or Father Adam Guiteau. Other than that most of the characters in this fanfic were created by me, but I hold no leash on them. Enjoy the story!

"What the f--- do you want from me, Valek?"

"You hate me so, don't you? But you made me crusader, you hate what you made. You fear it because it is superior to you....for 600 years I've fed on your kind at will...."

The words meant little to nothing to Jack and he rolled his eyes during Valek's entire speech. When he saw those talons and felt the vampire's hands upon his face he recoiled in disgust. The entire predicament enraged him, especially Cardinal Alba's treachery.

The dream came to him in flashes rather than actual clarity. He tossed and turned, mussing the sheets and waking up Father Adam Guiteau who had fallen asleep in the chair beside his bed waiting for him.

"End of the line, Valek!" He had chased the master vampire into a run down building, whose roof was barely stable enough for a fly to land on. "Die! Die you f---er!" The pointed end of the Berziers Cross passed through Valek's ribs, but to Jack's surprise, the only reaction he got was laughter.

"Jack.... Jack, you can't kill
me...." It was in those crucial moments, when Valek was preoccupied with removing the black cross from his body, that Jack saw his opportunity. He launched himself at the only wooden beam that remained standing to support the rafters of the building, and with a creak and groan form the wood, the entire roof collapsed. Boards fell and dust rose, stinging his eyes, but he had never in his life been so happy to see the sunrise. The screams of agony from the master vampire brought a smile to his mangled face, and he watched as Valek's skin ignited. But then something he didn't expect happened. The master exploded and sent him stumbling over backwards.

The explosion was enough to shock Jack awake and he sat up in that bed with sweat pouring off his forehead. After a few sharp breaths, he finally noticed that he had his shirt off, and was absolutely covered in bandaging.

"Padre! What the hell is this?! Why am I dressed like a f---in' mummy?! AGH!" When he tried to turn his head, he felt a sharp, stabbing pain near the base of his neck. Muttering random expletives beneath his breath, he sat back, holding his chest gingerly.

"You've got a popped vertebra in your neck Jack, please stop jerking your head around like that." Adam scooted his chair over a little closer and leaned forward, resting his elbows upon his knees and clasping his hands. "You've also got three broken ribs, ninety-two stitches between your leg and your head, a sprained bicep, and one of the nastiest concussions I've seen in my life."

"Why'm I half naked? Jeezus, Padre, I was never serious with those wood jokes!" The look of horror on the priest's face was all too amusing."What the hell happened?"

"Well, you...Valek.... And Cardinal Alba they tried to....but I-..."

"Yeah, yeah, I remember THAT Padre! I mean how'd I get here? Matter of fact, where is here?" The jumpy priest nearly fell out of the chair at being cut off so harshly by the slayer.

"I....well....when you got into the car, you passed out in the driver's seat. You were out cold, and I never learned how to drive....So I um... I found a payphone and called the nearest mission and had them pick us up. We're in San Miguel. You've been out for three days." Jack grimaced and sighed, putting a hand to his head and closing his eyes.

"Were ya worried about me Padre? I'm flattered. Where're my clothes?"

"Oh, the mission confiscated them. They were covered in Valek's blood so they burned them. I took the liberty of going out and buying you some new outfits though." He lifted the plain black t-shirt and leather jacket, and held them up as if he was expecting praise. Jack sniffed and made an unpleasant face.

"Not my style Padre. Where the hell'd ya pick these up anyway? Nevermind, I don't wanna know. What about pants?" Impatient to be back on his feet, he again forced himself to sit up. Adam lifted the brand new pair of blue jeans that lay folded at the foot of the bed and handed them to the slayer, who grabbed all of the garments out of his hands and inspected them.

"Don't you holy people know how to remove tags? Useless, I swear." Jack ripped all the tags from his clothing and then with a little difficulty, dressed himself. He couldn't ignore the pain in his ribs and neck, but he'd been through worse. "I need a new van, 'nother jeep and a new team. I've been laid out on my ass long enough. First things first I'm goin' after Montoya and... whatever the f--- her name was. WHAT PADRE?!"

"Well, I....you see it's not that simple. We need to report back to the mission in Monterey and report everything that's happened to the Arch Daises. While we're there we can pick up your new team, the church already has two new slayers on standby, and three more in training. You should really rest another day though Jack, you're in horrible shape for doing anything." Adam argued fiercely with the slayer, but he knew his words were just going through one ear and out the other with Jack; and he handed him his favorite pistol, which the man tucked into his pants.

"Whatever, Padre. You win this time, I can't do this without weapons or vehicles anymore. Be nice to have a little bit of backup too. Alright. We'll go to Monterey, but if I decide those cadets aren't up to chalk we're f---in' outta there. I'll kill the bloodsuckin' bastards on my own from now on if I have to." Adam sighed and followed the slightly limping man out of the room and down the hall.

"Shouldn't we tell them? We're just going to leave?" Jack stalked along the walkway and finally out into the dirt lot where three vehicles rested. He had his choice from a dirty SUV, or a Buick with a missing steering wheel and two flat tires. He chose the SUV.

The door was left unlocked so he opened it an immediately made a move for the keywell on the side of the steering wheel.

"Um....Mr. Crow....the k-..."

"Would yashut it, Padre? I'm workin' here." Jack snapped at the priest and popped the well cover off, tugging it out and untangling the brightly colored wires.

"But Jack, you don't need to hotwi-..."

"I said, SHUT IT PADRE!" He found the green and black ignition wires and tapped the live ends off of one another, making a spark as the engine roared to life. He then twisted the wires together and let them hang before turning back to Father Guiteau.

"Now, whadid ya want?" Adam reached past him and plucked something from one of several garter belts lining the sun shades, and as Jack held out his hand, he dropped the keys into it.

Never one to let his pride take a hit like that, Jack simply gave him one of his 'I'm gonna kill you later' smiles, and put on his shades.

"....Thanks, Padre." The priest nodded and made a nervous motion to show he was going to move, then headed around the other side of the SUV and climbed into it.

Jack looked up at the sky, as if asking God to forgive him if he couldn't hold himself back from beating the living s--t out of the guy, and slid into the driver's seat. He shifted from park and pulled out of the dirt lot, the spinning tires kicking up pebbles and dust.

He turned the vehicle towards the road and drove out of town onto the highway, leaving the sun to set behind them.