"Caterina, what are you doing?" Abel followed Caterina as she charged into her quarters.

Caterina didn't answer. She pulled off her monocle and dropped it on an end table. Then she threw off her hat and tugged off her gloves, tossing them haphazardly behind her. After that, she plopped down on her couch, unzipped her boots, and kicked them off. She then flew into her bedroom, slamming the door in Abel's face.

"Caterina?" Abel had no idea what his boss was up to.

Caterina went into her walk-in closet. She quickly snatched up some items of clothing, along with a pair of black rain boots. She threw the clothes on her bed and started to undress.

"Caterina?" Abel pounded on her bedroom door.

"Don't come in here!" Caterina yelled.

"What's going on?" Abel demanded. "Why did you leave the office?"

"I had my reasons!" Caterina began to put on the clothes she brought out. "Now, go back to the office!"

"What are you doing?"

"It's not your concern!"

"Caterina, when an AX agent is kidnapped by the Rosenkreuz Orden, it's everyone's concern!" Abel argued. He had no intention of going back to the office.

"God, he never listens!" Caterina growled to herself. She pulled on her rain boots.

"What's the plan? What are we going to do? How are we to handle this?" Abel's questions came as fast and as hard as the rain outside. "What are your orders? What are we doing?"

"We are not doing anything," Caterina replied tersely. "I am doing something, and that's all you need to know." She jerked open the drawer of her nightstand and found the small box she kept there. She opened the box and took out a compact handgun. She checked the bullets and the safety before she carefully slid it in her back pocket.

"Caterina!" Abel gasped. He was shocked at the sight of the lady cardinal. She trotted out of her bedroom in a pair of designer jeans and a T-shirt. "Why did you change your clothes? Why are you dressed like that?"

"Don't worry about it," Caterina told him. She went to the phone mounted on the wall, right beside the entry door. She picked it up and punched in a few numbers. "Yes, I need a car," she requested. "No, I'll be driving myself. Just bring it to the west gate and leave the keys. Thank you." She hung up.

"Y-You can't be serious, Caterina!" Abel couldn't believe what she was about to do.

Caterina rested her hand on the knob. "Go back to the office and wait with the others, Abel," she ordered. "I'll let you know when it's over." She twisted the knob and pushed the door open. A room-rattling thunderclap didn't even make her flinch. "I have something very important to do." She stepped outside and tried to shut the door behind her, but Abel caught it.

"Caterina, please don't do this!" he pleaded. "Send us. Send all of us. We'll get Tres back. I promise!"

"I can't do that, Abel." Caterina thought of the pink sapphire bracelet. She thought of the little video of the dancing children and their snowman. "Not this time."

"Are you mad?! Do you know what Contra Mundi is capable of?" Abel grasped Caterina's shoulders. "You know what I can do, right? He can do just as much, maybe more! You won't la-"

Caterina gave Abel a hard shove. "He has informed me that unless I come alone, they'll send Tres back in pieces! I don't have time to stand here and argue with you, Abel. Get back to the office and wait! That's a direct order!"

Abel grabbed her wrist, desperate to stop her. "Think of your baby brother!" he shouted. "Think of how alone he'd be if something were to happen to you!"

Caterina paused. The thought of leaving Alec alone and unprotected in his position would've stopped her, but it didn't. She couldn't stop. Not this time. "If I turn back now," she told Abel, "I am not qualified to be cardinal."

"What?" Abel didn't understand.

"It was my duty, my responsibility." Caterina hung her head. "I was supposed to take care of Tres, to look after him, to help him become a person. He's really just a child in a mechanical soldier's body, Abel. And, I took advantage of him. I took advantage of his power, his skill, his strength. He gave me all of himself, but I gave him nothing. Not a shred of my love, not a piece of my heart, nothing. I brought him back from St. Angelo's, and that was it. From then on, I took and never gave."

Abel's grip on her arm weakened a little. She pulled it loose. She turned and started her march toward the west gate.

"What about Tres?" Abel asked her. "What will become of him if you don't survive? What will he do?"

Caterina stopped. "He won't belong to a spoiled brat anymore," she replied softly. "He'll be much better off."

Abel stared sadly at Caterina. The sky flashed cruelly, but she was undeterred. She was going and no one was going to stop her. He thought he was seeing Caterina alive for the very last time.

Caterina walked a few paces and stopped. "Abel, listen carefully," she instructed. "These could be my last orders. Go back to the office and wait. Wait forty-five minutes. No more, no less. Do you remember the park on the west side of the city? The one with the old railroad bridge?"

"Yes," Abel replied, defeated.

"Good." Caterina touched the gun hidden in her pocket. "That's where their sick little party is being held. After forty-five minutes, Abel, take everyone and go there." She walked a few more steps and stopped. "I want you to tell Alec that I wronged someone and this is a penance. Tell him that if I don't make it, he is to give Father Tres the best care and guidance he can give. Tell him to give Tres the best love he can give. Tell him Tres can love and needs to be loved. Tell him to keep moving forward, to keep working toward peace with the Empire. Tell him not to let anyone pull him back from it. Ever. Understand?"

Abel nodded unhappily. "Please be careful."

"I'll be as careful as I can," she promised. She crossed herself and moved on, putting her survival in God's hands.