Oh hey it's the number 13! The unlucky number! Also, some religion.

Uploading this so it'll be Friday the Thirteenth on Eastern Standard Time (US). Everyone else can enjoy the chapter a few hours earlier or later depending on your time zone!

Ch 13- Sanctuary

"It would be less obvious to take you to the Murphys' church rather than going directly to their home," Brick explained as the limo pulled into the downtown area. "Savannah and I determined through careful observation that Brigette Murphy regularly visits the church by herself while her husband and daughter are at work and school. Luckily for you, today would be one of those times."

Milo's eyes were fixed on the aquarium in the backseat. "I can't believe I get to meet my mom," he murmured. "You think she'll look like me?"

Vinnie ruffled his hair. "Maybe. Or you could take after your dad. Who knows?"

Balthazar barely paid attention as Brick rattled off details of the Murphy family. Something about a safety inspector, an architect, and a comic book store.

If this was indeed Milo's biological family, they at least had a steady income. He could have a sister. He would be able to go to school like any other child.

So why did he feel as though he was abandoning Milo? Due to circumstances beyond their control, the Murphys had missed out when Milo chose his name, his first time purchasing clothes he liked, or seen the laughter when Milo touched a horse for the first time.

It hadn't been a week, and he was already fond of Milo. No wonder emotional attachments were highly discouraged for agents. It made it hard to think properly.

But it was for the best.

And he wished he could convince himself that.

The limo pulled up to the steps of the Danville Catholic Church, the steeple towering high over the other buildings. A stained glass window of a dove was set above the heavy wooden doors.

He and Vinnie had passed by the church several times back when they were still lowly pistachio sellers. Now that he had to go inside, it was starting to look more ominous by the minute. Churches just didn't agree with him. Not after the blackout he had in the Puritan era.

"Before you leave, there's one more thing I must ask you to do," Brick said sternly as they exited the limo. "You will not reveal to Brigette Murphy that Milo is her son on the grounds of the church. That information is best reserved for a private conversation."

The limo sped off, leaving a trail of dust in its wake.

"We'd better get inside before anyone sees us," Balthazar said. He placed his hands behind his back, his fingers twitching to clutch the watch. The habit was spiraling out of control.

In a matter of minutes, the tub of holy water burst, a candle claimed a painting of the Last Supper, and four crosses had splintered.

"Echo!" Milo shouted, his voice bouncing off the walls. "Hello! Salsa!"

Balthazar sat down in one of the front rows, ignoring the oily water that was covering the back area of the church. He rested his head on the pew in front of him, the watch trembling under his shirt.

Vinnie rested a hand on his back. "Maybe you oughta lie down."

You can never come back.

"Dakota," Balthazar gasped. "I think...I think it's happening again."

The ticking was the only thing he could think about. It filled his mind, the hands beating without end.

"Try and fight it," Vinnie urged quietly. His grip tightened on Balthazar's hands.

A swift end will come to those who reject heaven. You cannot fight it.

He couldn't.

He just couldn't...

Balthazar's vision darkened, and the collar of Vinnie's shirt was the last thing he felt as the accusatory voices took hold, dragging him away to some unknown, lonely place.

Heavy metal chains and locks bolted him to the chair, its monstrous four legs parading him through the flames while horrible, grotesque demons cackled and jeered.

They prodded his face with sharp sticks.

They grabbed the chains and forcefully yanked in every direction, forcing him to gasp for the heavy, stuffy air that made it almost impossible to breathe.

They appeared out of nowhere, their faces melding with the brimstone walls, fangs bared in horrible toothy grins as they delighted and reveled in his humiliation.

The chair ground to a halt at the end of the long hallway.

"GUILTY," a chorus of voices proclaimed.

Balthazar couldn't speak. Only a hoarse cry came out, his desperate plea falling on indifferent ears.

"GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY!"

A wall crumbled away, and a clawed, red hand reached through to drag him to his punishment...

And a spray of cold water hit his face.

Balthazar's eyes flew open, and he groaned as another wave of mist hit them. "Was that necessary?" he complained. He tried to sit up, only for his chest to feel like it was on fire. He grimaced in pain.

Vinnie set the spray bottle down, throwing a wad of slightly damp paper towels at him. "Your watch was burning you," he said. "I tried taking it off, but you were thrashing around so much and screaming when I barely touched the strap so...yeah. And I needed to cool the watch down."

The watch had burned him? He gingerly unbuttoned his dress shirt, carefully peeling the rather warm watch away from his skin. Sure enough, there was a red circular imprint where the watch had been.

He dabbed the area with a damp paper towel, wincing as the edge brushed the sensitive area.

"It's not too deep," Vinnie sighed. "And don't worry about Milo. I sent him out to get paper towels before your episode hit its high point."

Balthazar looked away. "He's seen me have one before."

Milo had survived countless unethical experiments. Surely he would be able to handle a caretaker who occasionally hallucinated eternal damnation.

However, he knew Vinnie would disagree if he said it out loud.

"Not one as bad as this," Vinnie murmured. "He handled it a lot better than me the first time. I had to make it up to you. I was so mad at you after the first time. I shouldn't have gotten that mad. But no, past me just can't seem to be there when you need it."

Balthazar sat up, ignoring the pain in his chest. He lifted Vinnie's chin up so they could look each other in the eyes with no hesitation. "We had this conversation earlier," he said sternly. "You're not to blame and I will not allow you to leave this room until you see that. Understand?"

"You mean it?" Vinnie asked. There was something odd about his hesitance now. It shifted to another place.

But where?

If he wanted Balthazar to answer, then he shouldn't have been leaning in that closely.

He chose to ignore it, nodding. "Absolutely."

A door slammed against the wall, and Balthazar jumped, quickly buttoning his shirt up before Milo could see the burn on his chest. He would have to get some ointment for that later.

"Sorry! Didn't mean to bang it that hard!" Milo exclaimed, not noticing that he was covered head to toe in paper towels. He rushed over, dumping two rolls next to Balthazar. "I guess I kind of took a while, huh? You're alright now?"

Vinnie shook his head. "Nah, your timing's fine."

"I'm fine, don't worry about me," Balthazar said, hoping to wave away his concern.

Milo still didn't look convinced. "You weren't fine. You were clinging to Mr. Dakota and shouting," he said.

Why did his companions feel the need to restate previous conversations? He was getting tired of repeating himself.

"You got paper towels all over you, kid. Did the dispenser vomit on you or something?" Vinnie chuckled as he discarded all the loose towels from Milo's head.

"No," Milo said, still looking concerned. He was expecting an answer.

Balthazar was glad Vinnie had switched to another topic so rapidly. It was wise to avoid another long, draining argument.

Especially when the other party was a boy who was all smiles even when life handed him the short end of the stick. He couldn't begin to imagine a Milo unwilling to speak with him.

"-so then she said she'd put in a request at the church office to clean up the water before weekend service. She was really nice about it too. It was funny, she said the office was used to her requests anyway," Milo explained, his concern replaced by excitement. "Oh, and she's coming by the chapel, so if we stay long enough, you guys can meet her!"

"We aren't going anywhere," Balthazar reminded him. "We're on a lookout for Brigette Murphy, remember?"

"Brigette?" Milo gasped, jumping back in surprise. "You mean-"

"Wait, that woman you were describing, did you happen to get her name?" Balthazar asked. Brick and Savannah had left out any physical features, nor did they have a picture, so dumb luck was all they had in picking her out from all the other church patrons.

Milo nodded, grinning. "I found Brigette! I found-oh my gosh, I found my mom! I dunno, I don't think I look like her though. And she doesn't seem like the abandoning type. She's really nice."

"This is great, Milo! I love a good coincidence, isn't that right, Balthy?" Vinnie grinned and elbowed him.

"Right," Balthazar said. "Milo, I know this is exciting for you, but we cannot reveal your biological relationship to her just yet. It should wait for a more opportune time."

Not even that warning could deter Milo. He was sure the boy wouldn't slip up, but he also wore his heart on his sleeve.

And Balthazar wanted to meet Brigette and her family first before entrusting Milo to them. Based on Brick's observations, they were likely good people.

As far as Milo knew, his family abandoned him. Yet he was still excited to meet them.

He didn't know how to be suspicious.

"I never caught your name, you know," someone said. They glanced over to a side door, and a woman with short, dark blonde hair waved at them. "Hello, you must be his guardians."

"My name's Milo!" he exclaimed. "This is Mr. Dakota, and next to him is Mr. Cavendish!"

Vinnie waved at her. "You don't have to include the mister part for us, don't worry."

"Is your name Brigette by any chance?" Balthazar asked. "Apparently you and Milo had a fascinating conversation."

Brigette smiled, shaking hands with Balthazar and Vinnie. "Yes, I'm Brigette. Nice to meet you. And it was no problem, I was just helping out. The church office has a separate box for my husband. It was easy to stick in a cleanup note along with a half dozen other repair jobs."

As she spoke, her gaze lingered on Milo. "Are you all right?" he asked.

Brigette nodded. "I'm fine. Your cowlick just reminded me of someone, that's all. Don't mind me." Her voice wavered slightly. "Would you three like to join my family for dinner? It's been a while since we had guests."

Vinnie nodded eagerly. "Yes! Thanks so much! Come on you two, it'll be fun!"

Balthazar rolled his eyes. "Of course you wouldn't turn down a free meal."

"Where else are we supposed to get one?" Vinnie asked.

But he was right. And Balthazar certainly wasn't wasting this opportunity.

"We'll be happy to accept," Balthazar said.

Milo smiled. "Are you a good cook?"

"I think so. It's not really one of my main talents though. That honor goes to being an architect," Brigette admitted. "But someone's gotta do it, right?"

"Tell me about it," Vinnie muttered. "Last time Balthy cooked, he wouldn't leave me alone because he couldn't tell when the noodles for spaghetti were ready."

Well, excuse him for not wanting to throw it at the refrigerator as Vinnie instructed. He didn't want to clean carbohydrates and water off the surface, thank you.

"Well, let me give you my address so you can come over later," Brigette said, reaching into her purse.

She didn't realize they had no means of transportation other than walking. He supposed he could call a taxi, but he'd rather save the dwindling wad of cash they had for food or other emergencies.

And it would be easy for an agent to pose as a driver. It was far too risky.

"Ma'am, while I appreciate the gesture, we don't have a way of getting to your home," Balthazar said. "You see, we became homeless recently and we can't even afford gas."

It was technically true, even if he did oversimplify the situation.

"Oh," Brigette said, her gaze softening. "Then why don't I give you a lift? There's plenty of room in my car. It's no trouble."

"That sounds great," Vinnie said.

"I'm sure Martin and Sara would love to meet all of you," Brigette smiled. But there was something...sad about it. At first Balthazar thought it was because he mentioned being homeless, but then she reached towards Milo, as if she wanted a closer look at his face. She thought better of it, pulling away. "Do you mind if I go pray for a few minutes? I'm sorry, it's something I've done for years. Ever since one of...since one of my children died shortly after birth."

She rushed off to the opposite side, quickly kneeling on a bench in front of a statue of Mary, her head bowed in prayer.

Milo gripped Balthazar's arm. "Do you think I have another sibling?" he whispered, his eyes wide.

"I'm not sure," Balthazar admitted. "But you were certainly not abandoned."

His theory was that someone from the Bureau had lied to Brigette and her family about her son dying after birth.

Savannah and Brick likely never realized that aspect of the story. It hadn't been in the file they'd given him that contained all the background information on Milo. They only looked at facts and consequences, but never the hurricane of emotions that followed.

Vinnie pulled Milo close to him, stroking his hair soothingly. "It's complicated, huh?"

Milo nodded silently, curling into a ball on the pew. His head rested on Vinnie's leg. Balthazar inched closer so that his side touched Milo. He really wasn't sure what he could say, so he hoped a tiny amount of physical contact was enough to reassure him.

Brigette's back was turned to them, but it didn't escape Balthazar's notice that she reached up and touched the baby in Mary's arms.