A/N: My second foray into The Exorcist. Pretty sure this was already done several times, but I think there's never enough fic out there:) Chapters will be added as I write them in reaction to the episodes. Non-betaed yet. I welcome any comments and suggestions.

It was his first vision after six months and it came at a rather inopportune moment, while he was driving a truck on a dusty field road, being chased by a pissed of cop, whose wife was currently tied up in the back of the truck, shielded by Marcus. The vision was short but vivid and it left him with a sickly taste in his mouth and a startling headache as he was violently thrown out of it and right at the steering wheel.

„What are you doing?!" Marcus shouted at him as Tomas corrected the trajectory of the car.

„Trying to save your life!" Tomas shouted back, the sudden dose of adrenaline pushing back the hazy feeling of the vision as well as a headache. When the back window exploded as the cop shot at them and Tomas was showered with glass all thought about the vision vanished. They needed to get out of this situation and do it fast before one of them was seriously harmed.

Luck was with them and Tomas managed to lose their followers for a while. They found an empty barn and barricaded themselves in with Cindy and the demon. The fight for her life and soul has already started.

Twenty-four hours later, Marcus hummed behind the wheel, the song stuck in his mind like a bad commercial jingle.

„I will never get rid of that song now, huh?" Marcus asked suddenly and Tomas shot him a tired but amused look.

„You just need to replace it," he drawled, turning the knob on the radio. He sipped at the coffee they bought at the gas station before they headed out of town. Tomas still wasn't sure what exactly did Bennett say to Marcus that made him hightail it out of Montana. All Marcus told Tomas was that the Vatican has been compromised and someone will be looking for them.

"For us or for you?" Tomas asked, still a bit pissed off over Marcus' sulking. As soon as he said it though, he realized it didn't matter and the look Marcus gave him told the same thing. It didn't matter, because after six months away from Chicago, away from his parish and his church and training with an excommunicated exorcist, Tomas was just as much on the radar of the Church as Marcus. And based on what he knew about the methods the Church used to investigate Bennett and Marcus as well, Tomas was pretty sure he wasn't ready to face the inquisition anytime soon. Not that he ever planned to lead Marcus into danger, however annoying the older man could be.

"So where are we heading?" Tomas asked after another sip of coffee, hoping that the caffeine might help with his growing headache. Or at least keep him from falling asleep. After Cindy's exorcism and that little trip into her mind infested with the demon, Tomas was pretty sure he had more than enough material for some vivid nightmares.

"I have a place in mind," Marcus replied to his question, pulling Tomas out of his thoughts. Tomas grimaced at the answer as it didn't tell him anything. It seemed like Marcus was still sulking over the fact it was his vision that helped them defeat the demon.

"Well, let's hope there's some motel on the way. I would just about kill for a bed right now."

Marcus gave him an amused look.

"Careful, padre. You still have the collar," he reminded and Tomas thought he heard some bitterness in the statement, but looking at Marcus and his relaxed face he realized it was just his imagination. Shaking his head a bit, Tomas sighed and leaned back into his seat. He was really done in and somewhere in the back of his mind there were the nagging words of the demon 'He's afraid of you' and Tomas wondered if it was true and if so... was that fear justified?

"If you want to sleep, just go ahead," Marcus spoke suddenly, startling Tomas.

"What?"

"I said get some sleep if you want. I'd like to get out of Montana before we stop anywhere."

Tomas grimaced at the thought of spending the next few hours in the car and rubbed at his eyes.

"You alright?" Marcus asked, looking at him searchingly. Tomas blinked, surprised at how muddled his thoughts suddenly become.

"Yeah... just a bit of a headache," he muttered, wondering who he was trying to convince. The adrenaline of the exorcism has finally left his body and the stress of the last few days seemed to catch up with him in an instant. He could feel Marcus eyeing him from behind the wheel and tried to give him a reassuring smile, but it wasn't worth much. Marcus snorted then turned his eyes back to the road.

"You sure your 'chat' with the demon didn't mess up anything in that brain of yours?" This time the bitterness was clear and Tomas chose to ignore it by looking out of the side window.

"Thought so," Marcus muttered, taking the silence as an admission of doubt, whether Tomas meant it that way or not. Tomas looked at him, mouth open in protest, but Marcus stopped him with a glare. When he spoke next, Tomas thought it would be with anger, but instead, there was weariness as he said:

"Get some rest. I'll wake you when I'll get tired of driving."

Unaccustomed to that tone and feeling too tired and beat to argue the point, Tomas decided for once he would listen.

TBC