The fear traveled in Renee's veins but never made it to her facial muscles or her pale skin. She should have known Jehan wasn't going to let her go, such a thought had been foolish. In the time since he'd kidnapped her, she'd been forcibly stripped of her red gown and forced into a different dress by a few of his serving wenches. Quasi had been released, though they weren't permitted to get within ten feet of each other. Not with Jehan keeping such a firm grip upon her arm like this.

But Jehan made it perfectly clear where he was taking her, not speaking much as he walked her back towards the cathedral.

"Oh, no," she whispered. This was it. What he had seemingly been building up to for all these months. "Don't do this, Jehan, please…"

Her complexion remained white, her eyes steady as if she were in the marketplace, shopping for a new trinket or food, instead of in her wedding dress, staring the Devil himself right in his handsome face. Renee knew all too well what she looked like in her dress; she knew the man's thoughts. Her wedding dress was truly beautiful, a brilliant white in color, cascading to the floor gracefully, with only a slight train in the back. Silky white opaque fabric made of cotton was the material she'd chosen for her dress. The dress had a waterfall neckline and airy wide sleeves adorned with gold embroidery. The neckline of the dress fell backward into two long scarves over the back of the gown. Around her waist she wore a beautiful gold brocade braided belt adorned with rubies.

The gold in her gown and the beautiful golden leaf headband she wore complemented Renee's pale skin and her short blonde locks.

She let out an understated sigh and turned to leave, showing Jehan that she was not afraid to turn her back, but before she could turn to leave, Jehan caught her wrist in an ironclad vice grip. "Don't walk away from me," he whisper-hissed through clenched teeth, his eyes hard. "You know better."

Jehan gave a curt, polite nod towards King Louis the Prudent, who was eyeing the young blonde woman with increasing interest, having seemingly followed them from the Palace of Justice, under the guise of claiming to want to attend a Mass, though neither were fooled. "Your Majesty," he murmured lowly in acknowledgement as France's crown passed, shooting a coy little smirk and a wink Renee's way, enough to make both of their bloods begin to boil, but Jehan, to his credit, ignored it.

"Jehan," she pleaded, her eyes desperately scanning the massive crowd, the throng of people come to pay their respects to the youngest Frollo brother, and to honor Claude, some of them claimed, but most were here to catch a glimpse of the rumored distinguished beauty that had so easily stolen his heart before he knew it was gone. They had all come to see her, a fact that Renee hated very much.

"Shut up, harlot," he snarled, his grip on her arm tightening. "Come with me. Don't turn around. If you open your mouth, he dies. If you make a scene in front of all these…nice people," here he spat the word as if it were poison on his tongue, "then he dies. If you want your fiancé alive for a few more precious moments, you'll do as I tell you and come quietly. Now," he added, when she did not immediately nod to acknowledge that she understood.

"Please, Jehan," she pleaded. She bit her lip, hard enough to bleed and she could taste the salve that one of the women had applied to emphasize her lips' natural fullness. "Don't do this to me, I know this isn't you," she whispered, hoping the revelation would be enough to placate Jehan, to stay this madness to stop him whatever he planned on doing with her and Quasi, who, thankfully, was nowhere to be found. As much as I hate this, if it means keeping you safe, then stay away.

"I don't give a damn," Jehan Frollo hissed. "Now move!" he commanded, shoving her forward into the crowd, making towards the south tower stairwell.

Jehan thrust her forward so violently that she fumbled out of her white slippers, and soon they blended into the crowd of dispersing people, his grip on her forearm tightening, threatening to break it if she so much as dared to lift her chin to meet a stranger's gaze to silently plead for them to help her.

"You don't want to do this, Jehan," Renee whispered desperately, trying to reach the man.

All the while she wildly searched the over-crowded nave for any signs of Adam or Quasi. Finally, she spotted Adam's lean form and locked eyes with their priest. She begged him as best she could to come rescue her, but the crowd was making it difficult. His eyes widened in outrage and fear as he looked upon Jehan Frollo's face, truly seeing Claude's younger brother.

Adam shouted something inaudible, but whatever it was, she couldn't hear him as Jehan shoved her violently shoved up towards the bell tower steps.

If going with Jehan meant there was even the slightest chance that she could save Quasi, then she would go with Jehan.

"Oh, God," she moaned under her breath, but not low enough, for Jehan heard her and she could almost feel his cruel smile forming.

"God can't save you from me," Jehan spat, disgusted. "Now move!"

Someone help me, Renee pleaded, praying with all her might, but no one listened. "So…" sneered Jehan, leading her out towards the balcony and glancing around out at the city of Paris with something akin to amusement in his eyes. "This is where my brother died. Dear, sweet Renee, I knew you'd not fail me…" Jehan took a moment to hold both her hands in his, and his dark eyes drifted towards her left hand, where her simple yellow gold band glinted.

"Jesus," he scoffed, lifting her hand slightly, raising it just so to closer examine the wedding band she proudly wore on her left hand. "That's the best my bastard son could do for you. But it's so…so plain. It's a disgrace."

Disgusted, she jerked her hand out of Jehan's touch, gingerly rubbing her hand as though Jehan had burned her. "He could have given me nothing and I still would have married him, Jehan!" she shouted, feeling insulted.

"What is that you see in this monster that you don't see in me?" he demanded, a muscle in his jaw twitching. "Tell me, right now, Barreau, or—"

Despite her fear at her current company and situation, Renee felt a genuine smile creep its way onto her face, a faraway look in her blue eyes as she chose to stare out at the city instead of at Jehan. "He's handsome," she said softly. "He's kind. Treats me with respect and kindness." She frowned as she turned back towards Jehan. "He's no monster, Jehan. He's not the monster here, Jehan, you are!" Renee spat venomously, disgusted.

Jehan let out a guttural growl from the back of his wrist and seized her arm, shoving her backwards violently against a stone pillar with no way out.

A brief flash of red appeared out of the corner to her right. Quasi, she thought, breathing an audible sigh of relief. Adam was trailing close behind. Stall him, Adam was trying to silently communicate to her with his eyes.

Renee gave off the tiniest nods, not enough for her captor to notice, and turned her attentions back towards Jehan, who was admiring her slender form in her wedding dress. He scoffed and rolled her eyes at her glowering look of hatred. "Do you feel as uncomfortable as you look, my love?" he said, keeping one hand grasped tightly around her delicate thin wrist. "I think so!"

"I wouldn't give you the pleasure!" she snarled through clenched teeth, a fire blazing in her haunting blue eyes. Her gaze flitted back towards her fiancé , who made a silent motion with his hand for her to keep him talking.

"It gives me no pleasure," Jehan Frollo said quietly, his serious tone unlike his usual jovial behavior. "I would much rather set you free, sweetheart."

"Then why don't you?" Renee shouted desperately, wrenching her arm free and backing away against a stone pillar, almost tripping over her dress's long hem. Her eyes darted back towards Quasi and Adam. Please. Adam nodded, raising a finger to his lips, silencing her. Jehan continued.

"Because in order to do that, I would need you to make me a promise, dear," Jehan retorted softly, his ironclad grip on her hand tightening. "Marry me, come away from this wretched place," he added, glancing around the balcony with a look of disgust in his eyes. She knew he was thinking of him.

Renee did not know how to respond to his pleas. She fell silent.

"You see?" Jehan said, beads of sweat forming on his brow now. "I still want to save you, Renee. I still believe that your soul can be saved!"

"Not the way you'd save it, I'd rather die!" Renee bellowed, trying her hardest to ignore the pained look in Quasi's eyes. "Go to hell, Jehan!"

"What about Quasimodo, the monster, your husband?" he hissed, his tone sounding utterly disgusted. "Would you rather he die as well? His fate lies in your hands, lovely. If you don't come with me, then he dies a painful death."

"No," she whispered, her voice coming out as a low, breathy squeak.

"What is your answer?" Jehan demanded, no warmth in his voice.

"I…I don't understand!" she sobbed, tears welling in her eyes and cascaded down her cheeks in desperation. "I don't understand. Why me, Jehan, of all the women you could take for your wife in Paris, why me?"

Jehan paused, suddenly looking defeated. "I don't know why. I wish I knew," he sighed, sounding, dare she think it for a moment, truly remorseful.

Renee had heard enough. She had been foolish to think there was any sort of hope for Jehan's character and his soul to be redeemed. He was well and truly lost, and only his death might bring him some small form of peace, though she highly doubted that. "You truly are a monster, Jehan!"

Jehan's dark eyes grew even darker, almost black in color, and her wrenched her wrist forward, his vice grip tightening and threatening to dislocate her wrist if she so much as spoke out of turn against him again.

"Oh, no, my lovely. Take pity on me, Barreau. I'm only human, after all. You don't know what my love for you is!" he bellowed, a pleading, desperate edge to his voice now that Renee knew she did not like, and even the shift in his tone had temporarily halted Father Adam and Quasi in their tracks. "It's fire, it's—it's hot lead! You rouse in me the wish to set you free. I will save you, sorceress. I'll take you away from this place, just you and me. You know I'll love you until the world ends," he added, almost as an afterthought as he made to cup her chin in his hand, but she violently wrenched away from him.

"Jehan, your love for me is nothing more than a false love, based off of lust and conquest!" Renee hissed angrily through clenched teeth. She closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths, willing her temper to calm down, lest she say something she truly regret, and then she would really be in trouble.

Jehan fell silent, regarding his prisoner in silence for several long excruciating moments before finding his voice again. When he spoke, his voice was shaking, and full of a strange resolve she'd not heard.

"If you want your…lover…alive, you'll come with willingly of your own volition. If you so much as look at me in a manner that displeases me, he dies. If you decide to be noble and take your own life one day, he dies. And as for you," he growled, fixing Renee with an ice-cold stare. "You will love me as I love you. You will provide me with an heir of pure blood, so that our family's name and progeny will rule France for a thousand years."

Renee was rendered speechless at Jehan's so-called 'plan.' Is he stupid? Does he really think that I would willingly go with him and sire children with him? She stared, unable to believe what had just come out of Jehan's mouth. Jehan frowned, taking that as his sign to continue as he advanced upon her, cupping her chin in his hand, tilting it slightly to force her to look at him. "Am I not merciful?" he murmured low, his voice heavy with desire for his own son's fiancé, what he wanted was still incredibly wrong.

"Jehan, you…" Her voice trailed off as Jehan pressed his lips to her cheek for a gentle, chaste kiss. Scream at him. Yell, be defiant! But she couldn't will her lips to move to form the words she so desired to scream and rage at him.

Jehan pulled away from her slightly, pulling back to study her pale face. When she did not respond, unable to fight against his urge any longer as he forcefully lunged himself at Renee, closing off the gap of space between them. "AM I NOT MERCIFUL?" he screamed, his powerful voice echoing all throughout the south bell tower's balcony and into the loft as well.

Renee gazed up at Jehan in utter fear and trepidation, her mind no longer forming coherent thoughts. Her eyes darted around wildly until her gaze rested on Quasimodo. She froze. The outrage, the entitlement, the jurisdiction in his voice frightened her more than anything physical he could do to her. She needed to escape from him. If she didn't, she was going to die.

Renee tried to apologize to both Adam and Quasi for what she was about to do with her eyes, begging both men to forgive her for this next part.

She turned back to Jehan, not wanting to give away her rescuers' position.

"Jehan," she said smoothly, transforming her normally shy, quiet, kind voice into something more like a seductive purr that was not like at her at all. She hated it, what she had to do to keep Jehan Frollo distracted, but so this was.

Renee noticed Quasi and Adam had been rendered frozen to their spots behind a nearby pillar, Adam's hand hovering over the hilt of his sword, his fingers twitching as he seemed to resist the urge to pull it out.

She smiled at the young lord, snaking her arms around his neck and pulling him down slightly, desperate to keep his attentions focused on her for just a second longer. "You're right," she whispered in what she hoped was a convincing enough tone. "I don't need him, that—that demon in my life," she spat, disgusted. "He cannot satisfy me like you can, Jehan. All I've ever wanted is you. I—I was foolish to reject your advances for so long. I realize that now. I…" here she hesitated for only a fraction of a second. "I adore you," Renee said quickly, biting her lip playfully and hoping that gesture alone was enough to convince him that she was truly genuine.

"Now you're seeing reason," he grunted, satisfied. "That wasn't so hard?"

"Take me away from Paris. I can't stand it here," she lied, her eyes still flicking from Adam to Quasi, pleading for them to hurry the hell up and do something—anything—take him out before she gave them all away.

Her gray eyes widened as Adam crept closer towards Jehan, his sword finally drawn from its scabbard. Jehan started to turn around, but thinking fast, she cradled his face in her hands and yanked him forward to kiss him passionately, cringing, her mind screaming at her to break it off.

Her hands entangled in his dark hair, her hand pressing against the back of his skull, desperate to keep him from turning around, but it was to no avail.

Jehan reached out his free hand as he broke apart, adjusted his stance just so and backhanded Notre Dame's young priest so hard he staggered backwards. "You really didn't think I would make it that easy for you, did you, Father?" he taunted. He turned towards Renee, a look of disgust upon his handsome face. "Give me some credit, sweetheart," he grinned. "I'll deal with you in a moment, dear thing," he snarled, grabbing her arm and standing up with her on the ledge of the balcony's railing with careful footing.

"Jehan, no!" Renee begged, but he gave her wrist one sharp twist and she quieted. "Please don't do this," she tried again, but he wasn't listening.

"Are you still angry with this bell ringer after he…what he did to Claude?"

"Why are you doing this?" Renee demanded angrily, hating all of this.

"Because," he added, pressing the tip of his blade into Renee's throat. "Your lover has something to say to me and to both of us. Don't you?"

Quasi said nothing, a look of outrage and horror dawning in his eyes.

Jehan sighed. "An apology? Apologize to me for what you did. Apologize to me for murdering my older brother," he commanded. His voice was slow and dangerously calm and quiet. A storm was coming.

Quasi hesitated. "I—I'm sorry," he said quietly, having eyes only for Jehan.

"Look at her, boy. An apology doesn't mean anything if you're not looking the person in the eye," Jehan mocked coldly, a twisted grin upon his features.

Notre Dame's bell ringer cringed, lifting his chin slightly to meet Renee's gaze. What he saw in her eyes broke his heart several times over. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" prodded Jehan, pressing the tip of the blade into the column of her throat even harder. "I want to hear you say it, boy. Tell me what you did."

Quasi's voice cracked as his gaze flitted from Renee to Jehan Frollo. "For…" his voice faltered, and he fought back the lump forming in his throat.

"Yes?" Jehan continued, starting to get slightly impatient. "Get on with it."

"For killing your brother," he finished, never taking his eyes off Renee.

Jehan lowered the tip of his dagger just slightly, fixing his son with a cold stare, before breaking into a surprisingly charming grin. "Fantastic! Over and done with," he grinned. "Glad that's settled. Things were getting rather intense," he chuckled. But then his smile faltered. "You know, come to think of it, with Claude dead, you and I are the closest thing to kin we have left, and for killing my brother—your own father—it still needs punishment."

Jehan glanced sideways at Renee, whose face remained impassive, but the briefest flickers of fear passed through her blue eyes. "Good. This'll do."

"No, no, no, take me!" Quasi pleaded, raising his hands in surrender. "Let Renee go. It's not her you want. Take me instead," he begged desperately.

"NO!" Renee shouted, seemingly forgetting for a moment that Jehan was holding her at knifepoint. "Take me. Let him go. Spare him."

Jehan merely laughed at her plea. "Oh, how noble you two are! Lucky for both of you, I plan on dealing with you both in a few moments."

He turned towards Renee, cupping her chin in his hand, tilting it and whispering into the shell of her ear. "Exchange your last words with one another. It's all the time you have left, sweetheart. If I cannot have you, if you will not come with me, then I am afraid, that no one shall have you," he growled. Jehan turned his gaze towards his boy, who was rapidly losing his temper, his entire body trembling with the effort to control himself, his strong hands balled into fists. The boy was losing himself to the darkness in his heart as Jehan could clearly see it in his eyes, he wanted to kill Jehan.

"Let her go right now!" Quasi bellowed. "I'm warning you."

"Or what?" taunted Jehan, shifting the edge of his dagger down towards her side. "You killed my brother, you son of a bitch," Jehan Frollo growled lowly. His body was shaking as he looked into the dark brown eyes of his brother's ward. He had Claude's eyes. "Like father, like son, I guess," he snapped. Turning towards Renee, who was silently crying, tears cascading down her cheeks, he grinned. "Which one is it going to be?" Jehan challenged, his eyes half-crazed with madness. "You can only go after one. Me, or the witch," he snarled, twisting his sister's arm hard enough that she cried out. His gaze fell upon Father Adam, who made no motion to surrender his weapon. "Drop your sword, Adam," he retorted calmly. "I said drop it. Drop it right now on the ground there, or she dies. Sheath your sword or drop it."

Seeing no other choice, Adam swallowed nervously and gingerly laid his weapon on the balcony floor, all the while wildly glancing around, searching for another way to get Quasi and his fiancé to safety. He only saw one way out of this mess, and he didn't like it. Renee met his eyes and begged him not to do this. No. Don't do this, Adam, please, she seemed to say to him.

I must. There's no other way. Adam hoped that one day, she would understand why he did it. Renee shook her head slowly at him, fresh tears welling in her eyes. He silently pleaded with the young woman for her to comprehend his decision. If anyone understand what he had to do, she did. He had to save her. He had sworn an oath to the Archdeacon to protect her.

"Jehan, let her go!" Adam ordering, standing to his feet, wincing at the pain in his ribcage from the blow Jehan had dealt him. The man was strong, he would give him that. "Don't do this! It's not too late for you. You can stop this, and we will let you live. You can walk away from here, but only if you let the lady go and do not harm her. Don't harm her, and your life is yours. Let her go. Right now," he commanded, fixing Jehan with a glacier cold, icy stare.

Jehan laughed, his laughter cruel and mocking, echoing through the balcony. He shifted Renee his arms, shooting his sister one last apologetic glance. "Very poor choice of words, Father." His eyes landed on Renee. "You, sweet, darling little dove, have been a thorn in my side long enough. I've had enough," he growled harshly through gritted teeth.

Jehan Frollo's eyes burned with such anger and hatred that an icy, cold chill ran up the length of her spine, paralyzing her in fear. She was no soldier.

Like Captain Phoebus was. Then again, Jehan himself was no great warrior anymore either. Once he had been, but no longer. Perhaps he had enough knowledge and skill to suffice in a mild skirmish, but this was not so. In this, Renee knew she was to die now.

"Then," Renee began slowly, not looking at Jehan, feeling her eyes grow wide and round with fear as she locked eyes with Quasi, apologizing for this. She could not lose her courage now, not when it meant she could save him. If the only good that came of this was the chance that her love was safe, then it would have to be good enough. She could live with such a death. As long as it was fighting for her friends. As long as she fought to protect him.

"You must remove it. Jehan," she hissed through clenched teeth.

That was enough for Jehan. Jehan Frollo did not hesitate to plunge his dagger into her ribcage on her right side, taking immense pleasure in twisting the hilt. She could barely hear Quasi's screams and Adam shouting something.

Searing fiery bursts pulsated around the wound site, intensifying with each dragging step as the young woman stumbled backwards, the only barrier between her and certain death was Jehan's grip on her shoulder. With each step she tried to take, the pain only intensified, the wound site screaming for relief, her consciousness ebbed. Black mists swirled at the edges of her mind, drawing her into sweet oblivion that she desperately fought, trying her hardest to stay awake. She had to save Quasi and Adam. Even the passage of light slowed and the sounds of the bell ringer screaming something became as if underwater. Aside from the beat of her heart, no muscle moved. That pounding inside beat a rhythm to the words of her execution, that cold steel of Jehan's blade was her judge, jury, and executioner. Her face was frozen now, blue eyes open, as she was propelled backwards towards the balcony's ledge.

Renee's eyes held Jehan's steel dark eyes, how like Claude's they were, and in those fractions of seconds, she was there and then gone, the warmth of the ages that had been her love slowly heading towards extinction. She fought to stay awake, though it was becoming harder for her. Her eyesight blurred, but not because tears were welling up, though they were. Everything became hazy, and then she saw nothing at all.

Not Adam, not Quasi, not Jehan. Her consciousness was floating through an empty space filled with a strange black static. Throughout the inky space, her heartbeats pounded loudly, echoing in her eyes, alongside her weak, fading pleas for help. The feeling in her body drained away until all was finally black, and she lost herself to the darkness of a deep, dreamless sleep.

Everything was black. She found herself falling in this darkness, hurtling to an invisible floor. A floor that would most likely kill her if she continued to fall at this speed. The air pushed against her face, she closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. She was not awake as Jehan dropped her off the edge of the balcony to fall to her death, for which she was grateful. The last though she had before allowing herself to succumb to her wounds was, At least I won't be awake when I hit the stones below. If I'm to die this way, at least I saved him.

Her screams pierced the air as she plummeted to the stones below, certain death waiting for her if she hit the ground.

Quasi let out a shout of panic and went after Renee without hesitation, shoving Jehan out of the way. "No, Quasi, don't!" roared Adam but had no time to dwell on it. Letting out a shout of rage, he hurled himself at Jehan, tackling him to the ground. He had to take care of Jehan now. The priest momentarily felt his vision go black as Jehan countered every hit he threw at the man. Whoever had taught him to fight; it almost paralleled Adam's own skills.

He was good. Maybe even better than Adam.

Adam felt his mouth fill with blood as Jehan's fist made contact with his jaw. The copper taste of blood filled his mouth and he spat, disgusted, rubbing his jaw with his hand. It had been a good hit. His entire body screamed with pain as he wrestled Jehan, slamming Frollo's younger brother against the balcony wall, struggling to hold his arms so he couldn't hit Adam.

Jehan was strong, maybe even stronger than Adam.

Hollering, Adam yelled in pain as Jehan grabbed him by a tuft of his dark hair and slammed his face into the church's stone wall. He felt everything all at once and nothing at the same time. That was a broken nose, maybe even a cracked jaw.

"Is this all the great general of France has to offer? Oh, I know all about you, Adam Carrion, thinking you could run away from your past by joining the priesthood," leered Jehan, shouting. His dark wavy hair stuck up in tufts, and blood poured from a cut on his cheek Adam had managed to give him. "And here I was, hoping for a challenge. You've killed thousands, Adam, and you still don't have what it takes to kill me. You've gone soft! You're weak. You're nothing! You won't kill me, Father. You won't!" Adam's body ached and his eyes burned. His body screamed for relief from this pain. He'd never felt anything like this, not even during the wars. He wanted this to be over. Jehan's thick hands wrapped around Adam's throat.

Adam coughed, fighting the urge to resist the darkness that was filling his vision, to lose himself to unconsciousness. If he did, he would die. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a blur of white and yellow as he saw something emerge from the shadows. Help was here. Phoebus.

The captain didn't have his sword, but he'd managed to find a wooden rod and he hovered, poised to attack, waiting for the opportune moment. Relieved, Adam felt his shoulders relax. Jehan noticed him looking and with a roar, turned and drew his sword, charging at the captain. The captain had no shield to protect himself. If he were disarmed, he would be killed. Jehan wasn't going to let any of them other than Renee live. He would see to it.

"NO!" shouted Adam, grabbing the man by his tunic sleeve, pulling him back down and wildly began to deliver punches to the man's face. "You're finished, Jehan! You won't kill anyone else!"

"Stop!" Jehan begged, his mouth a bloody and broken mess.

"No chance in hell!" snarled Adam, pure anger coursing through his veins. His hate for the younger Frollo brother was consuming him. His hate was enough to kill. His fists were bloodied and bruised from ruthlessly hitting the younger Frollo brother to a pulp. "Your days of abusing her are over!" he shouted, his blue eyes freezing over as he punched Jehan. How long had he waited for this.

"Stop—I—" he shouted, but Adam wasn't hearing any of it.

"You'll just come after her again!" he roared. "You won't stop!"

"He—killed—my—brother!"

"YOU'RE A MURDERER!" screamed Adam, beside himself with rage, any coherent thoughts he might have once had gone as he raged at Jehan Frollo.

Grabbing his sword, which he had dropped during the chaos, he raised it above his head, prepared to deliver the killing blow to the man's heart. How he longed for this man's death. To see the blood pour from his chest and onto his sword, knowing that he was dead. Adam had to do this. There was no other way.

Jehan laughed, revealing his bloodied teeth. He was missing a few. "If you do this," he gasped, spitting blood and a few more teeth on the floor, "you're no better than me, Father," he mocked, his wicked laugh haunting. "You and I, we're not so different after all."

Adam screamed, torn between two desires. To rid Paris of another Frollo and kill the man where he lay or to remain faithful to the church and his life of solitude and peace. His heart full of rage, he did the only thing he could.

Adam screamed black obscenities, calling upon the old and the new gods, commanding them to send Jehan to hell, to spend an eternity in flame, burning for his sins. He cursed Jehan. Jehan seized his opportunity at Adam's hesitation and plunged his knife deep into Adam's shoulder, twisting it and letting go, satisfied to listen to Adam's screams and watch as the priest's robes stained red with his blood. He laughed as he watched the younger man on top scream and shout obscenities, digging at the blade lodged in his shoulder. The wait to duel Adam had been worth it. Screaming and digging at his shoulder, he struggled to remove the dagger. Adam felt his body go slack and he slumped to the balcony floor, writhing as his shoulder burned with hot fire. Every time he touched the blade, his skin was tender, on fire to the touch.

"Oh, God! I have to get it out!" he groaned, gritting his teeth, steeling himself for the immense pain he was about to undergo in pulling it out. He bit his tongue hard enough that he drew blood. He had to get it out. No matter what. It couldn't stay in. Adam desperately wanted to sleep, to lose himself to the darkness of unconsciousness that overpowered him in waves, to sleep through the worst of the pain, but he knew if he did, he would die. He steeled himself for the fire as he gripped the dagger with both hands and wrenched it free, shouting obscenities to the heavens, not caring if God heard him at all. "Have to get it out," he growled.

He was already damned, so it didn't matter.

Groaning, he barely saw Phoebus pull the enraged Jehan off of Adam and strike him with a jagged chunk of stone he'd managed to pry out from the wall. Jehan spat a mouthful of blood at Adam's feet and leered at the priest and the captain of the king's guard. The man was a monster. He was pure adrenaline.

He couldn't be stopped.

"The captain of the king's guard and the captain of the church," he sneered, the edge of his blade pressed against Phoebus's throat as he violently shoved Phoebus to his knees. "The two valiant noble protectors and no one will ever remember you. Your deaths will mean nothing to Paris. The histories won't mention you, the city will forget you, but I won't. To me, you'll be remembered as the cowards who didn't have what it takes to finish this for good. If only Claude could see you both now. COWARDS! I'm finishing what my dear brother never had the chance to do. My brother, rest now, for I give unto you the two warriors of Notre Dame, and then I'm going after the freak and my future wife," he snarled. "She's mine!"

Adam's sword lay several feet away from him.

Too far to throw, Adam thought, groaning. No way to help…

Adam could only watch in despair and scream as Jehan lifted his sword, ready to decapitate Phoebus in a split second with one swift stroke. He yelled helplessly, tears streaming down his face.

He couldn't lose another soldier.

Adam had lost too many people in his life already.

"NO, JEHAN!" a voice roared, a woman's.

He hardly dared to believe it. She's alive.

Adam couldn't move, but he could see her. The angel of fire. Though the sunset was illuminating the horizon, the woodland pathway was still dark in the distance. The trees in the distance stood as if charcoal against the deep blue sky. The only flash of color was the orange pouring across the skyline like molten lead.

In his haze of pain as his consciousness ebbed and flowed, he became aware of a glowing up ahead too low and too white to be the sunrise and he lifted his eyes to meet it. Adam froze.

An angel approached him, not human, but human form. She was not reflecting the twilight light, but emitting it, actually glowing from within. Her eyes, in her rage, were like fire. Hues of reds, oranges and yellows that flickered and sparked in her irises. Renee was walking calmly toward Jehan, utter rage and disgust upon her face. There was a small cut above her eyebrow that was bleeding and she was barefoot, but she was otherwise unharmed despite having almost fallen to her death only moments ago. She seemed to float as she walked, taking her time as she approached the man who had brutally attacked and raped her with a fire in her eyes, an inferno of burning rage and desire to finish this.

He was barely aware of Quasi rushing to his side and helping him up, supporting him by draping his arm over his shoulder and holding his waist. Adam had never felt such intense pain in his life. "GOD!" the priest shouted, his entire body on fire. Searing fiery bursts pulsated around the wound, intensifying with each dragging step, jarring and brutal. With each step, the pain amplified, the bloody muscle quivered, his consciousness ebbed. Black mists swirled at the edges of his mind drawing the priest into sweet oblivion. Blood was pouring from his shoulder, but he didn't care. He had eyes only for her.

What the hell is she doing? She's going to get herself killed!

"Easy, Adam," he muttered, not taking his eyes off Renee.

"Don't worry about me," he croaked, his voice fading. "Her."

"What—Renee, don't!" he shouted. "What are you doing? Get the hell away from him! He's dangerous! Get away! He'll kill you!" he cried. Renee ignored her fiancé and remained calm as she silently moved toward Jehan, the train of her dress trailing elegantly behind

"He won't," she called back calmly. "Not if he wants me alive."

"The angel of fire," Adam whispered breathlessly.

Quasi shot Adam a confused, worried glance, but had no time to dwell on it as a flash of gray moved out of the corner of his eye and he knew.

The familiar flame of hot anger welled deep in his stomach. The anger he was feeling at Jehan for taking HIS Heaven's Light was a vexing for his very soul that he knew was not human. It was twisted and distorted into something unfamiliar and strange. His rage burned his veins, creeping into his spine, and all he could feel was desire. Desire to hate Jehan Frollo for the rest of his life.

He was intoxicated with emotion he had no intention of ever feeling, the acidity of it rising in his stomach waiting to be spat out of his mouth into foul and vulgar words that he knew Adam would chastise him for. He wasn't going to say them; he was going to scream them. The bell ringer stood up straight to his full height, almost matching Jehan at his full height of five foot eight, his shoulders rigid, and his eyes burning with animosity as he glared at Jehan.

He turned his back to Jehan and Renee, shouting at something in the distance in the bell tower, his powerful voice intimidating and echoing into the streets of Paris. What it was only he and Renee knew. He screamed at Jehan, his fear bringing his rage, that familiar hot burning anger from deep within the pit of his stomach that always sought to harm. He knew his triggers, and Jehan threatening Renee was an unmistakable trigger. The muscles in his face grew tight and tensed, a muscle in his jaw twitching as he spewed black obscenities at Jehan. There was stillness on both sides. If hatred were visible, the air would have been scarlet. Then suddenly movement, so much force in every blow as her husband threw himself at Jehan, shouting at him. There was a cold burning to Quasi's rage, an ice that scared Renee. She'd seen that look in his eye before, but never toward her. It was how he showed hatred, dominance and imparted fear.

Renee stared at her husband, her eyes wide in admiration and love. She saw his gaze was not fixed on Jehan as he yelled. She found what he was looking at and she knew what she had to do.

"ENOUGH!" she bellowed, her voice echoing in the sky.

Quasi stared at her angrily, his eyes wide in shock. He'd delivered a blow to Jehan that sent him sprawling across the balcony. He had lifted Jehan by his throat and was strangling him, ready to drop him off the balcony the moment the life let his eyes, much as he had tried to do to Renee only moments ago. Notre Dame's bell ringer was not going to allow Jehan to leave his tower alive in one piece. Jehan was coughing wildly, struggling to catch his breath.

Seething, his jaw locked in anger, Quasi turned back to Jehan. "I don't just want to kill you. I want to hear the suffocation of your cries. I want to know the second you don't exist anymore so I can savor it. I don't care if you're sorry; I don't want to hear it. You're dead! You threatened her and now I'm going to kill you!"

Renee had no weapon in her hand to defend herself, but she didn't need one. Her words were her weapon, her eyes fire. She glowered at the cathedral's bell ringer, who seemed to lose his resolve to fight Jehan as he looked upon her face and into her eyes. "Don't do this," she pleaded, striding over to Quasi and taking his hand and giving it a tight squeeze. "Please. Don't kill him."

"Renee!" he shouted. "Don't try to talk me down from this!"

"This isn't you," she whispered, her voice cracking as her eyes welled with tears. "I'm not going to let you destroy yourself anymore," she responded desperately, reaching up a hand to stroke his flame of red hair in the way she knew he liked so much. "I won't let you kill anyone, not even Jehan," she snarled. "I only wish I could have told you sooner," she responded, her voice soft and quiet. "Jehan," she spoke up calmly, turning her attention to Jehan, who knelt on his knees on the balcony floor. "It's over. You've lost."

"I don't think so, my love!" he shouted, staring at her.

"You're finished, Jehan," she said through gritted teeth.

"You and I will do great things together, my darling! I can give you anything you've ever wanted! You're a part of me now. I will live on forever and our children will be beautiful!"

"Your lineage and your house will end with your death," she responded coldly, her eyes flashing angrily as she glared at him.

"It's too late for you, my lovely. You belong to me."

"You're the last of your kind. It's over, Jehan."

"You can't kill me," he sneered. "You can't! You don't have it in you, my lovely. You're fooling yourself if you think you can."

"I can't, but she can," she said, her tone ice.

Adam looked, but he didn't see anything. Then he did.

At first, he thought he was hallucinating as a female gargoyle roughly the size of a tiger was stalking Jehan. She came up beside Renee and hunched, her hackles raised, a low growl in her throat. Her yellow eyes were glowing like topaz, dark and stealthy as she prowled amongst the shadows, melting into the darkness of the fading light, waiting for the precise moment to strike. The great stone creature let out another inhuman, guttural roar and Adam didn't see what happened, but he heard it. Quasi was shouting something at Renee.

"Don't watch, don't watch, just…just look at me!" he shouted, leaving Adam for a moment to run to his fiancé, desperate to protect Renee from witnessing a horrific act of violence. He stood in front of her and cradled her head in his hands, desperately pleading for her not to look. "Don't look at him, look at me!" he shouted, holding her close and stroking her hair gently, wishing with all his might Renee would look away. "Don't look, my love, you don't need to see this."

She ignored him and didn't look at him. Renee watched numbly as his guardian lunged at Jehan, not holding back. The gargoyle let out another growl and he didn't see what happened after that, but the sounds filled his eardrums.

Adam felt his eyes go wide and round with shock. There was a ringing in his ears and he wasn't aware he was yelling as the world around fell into darkness. Adam shouted as his vision went black. He heard Jehan screaming and the awful sound of something ripping and what sounded like bones crunching, a terrible loud crunching noise that he knew he would remember forever. Someone was yelling, there was chaos all around them, the thick smell of blood filled his nostrils, something wet was leaking out of his arm, and then his world went black. His last thoughts before he faded were of the bell ringer—his friend—and Renee.

The angel of fire. That day she came to see us, the messenger was right. The goddess of light, fire, and warmth. He'd saved her. He'd saved her life and kept his promise to God.

Adam screamed in agony, he thought for sure he was going to die. Most men didn't walk away from a deep knife wound to the shoulder and live. It had all escalated so quickly, and now he was on his last breath and he'd never gotten to tell her how he felt. It had been so long since he'd loved another, and now he was about to die cold and contorted and alone, but worse, unforgiven.

Time had never been on his side. The sound of his own screams rang in his eardrums. There was a low humming in his ears from the chaos that surrounded him. His robes were drenched in his own blood. It clung to his skin as blood from his wound seeping, the thick copper scent filling his nostrils. Blackness filled his vision as his head throbbed, and he so desperately wanted to lose himself to the darkness. It was where he belonged. Every time he tried to dive for the darkness, to escape the pain, her light brought him back. He dreamed of Renee. He dreamed of her beautiful face, her pale skin, and her full lips. She was whispering something to him; he had to strain to hear, her voice fading as he lost himself to the darkness.

"Come home…"


Renee watched numbly as Laverne attacked Jehan, leaping onto him and pinning him down by his chest, her great stone paws crushing his chest. Quasi was screaming at her to not look, but she couldn't look away. Not until he was dead.

Jehan had tried to take everything from her.

She deserved to watch him die. Renee remembered he had been fond of saying he favored bloody deaths. It seemed only fitting to give him one.

Laverne snarled and lunged for his neck, biting it and sinking her teeth into his flesh. She didn't hesitate as she allowed her animal instincts to take over, not caring who saw at this point. Laverne was doing what she had to do to protect her family. She could do what the others couldn't. His screams were all too satisfying for her. Blood from his bite wound gushed out of his neck. Jehan was emitting a horrible rasping, gurgling noise from back in his throat as he struggled to speak. Laverne looked up at Renee as if to ask permission to continue, her yellow eyes blazing with anger.

"Kill him," she said coldly, dipping her head to say yes.

She wasn't going to allow Jehan to live.

Not after what he'd done to her. Laverne didn't need any encouragement.

The stone gargoyle attacked Jehan, mauling his face and digging into his flesh with her claws, ripping his intestines out. He screamed as his entrails spilled out and a pool of blood surrounded him. Renee stood and watched, her heart numb as she watched the man who had ruled her life and made it hell slowly bled to his death. Her wedding dress billowed in the wind behind her, the wind kissed her hair as it moved, and the sunset's warm glow illuminated her silhouette in a brilliant warm hue, giving her the appearance of a vengeful goddess, but she wasn't aware of it. Adam and Quasi saw it, though. They watched in shock and horror as Laverne finished what they couldn't. It had to be this way.

Jehan screamed, the blood from his wounds coming thick and strong, flowing through his fingers as they clasped the ripped flesh. He felt the blood move over his hand, the thick fluid no warmer or cooler than his own skin. After a few moments more the blood was still leaving his rapidly paling flesh, but the pulses were slower, weaker, his brilliant brown eyes growing steadily duller as the life drained from his eyes. As the life fluid drained out of him in its garish red, Jehan's skin took on the pallor of a corpse. His stomach felt sick and then one by one he lost control of his limbs until finally his head slumped. He could still hear, but he could control none of his body. Jehan slipped into a coma with Death not far away.

Renee didn't see the worst of it, but she wasn't surprised when Laverne finally took Jehan's head. Adam and Quasi were shouting behind her, screaming at her not to look, but she couldn't look away until she knew for certain Jehan was dead. Too long had he ruled her life and made it a living hell since she arrived here in Paris, she deserved this. She wouldn't look away until he was dead.

Laverne snarled as she clamped Jehan's severed head in her mouth, hanging onto him by his hair. His eyes were open, and his mouth open in a silent scream. She growled at Renee and dropped Jehan's head at her feet. Renee glanced down at in disgust.

"Get rid of it, please," she ordered, her eyes flashing.

The gargoyle nodded and turned away; the head still clamped in her jaws. She had, at first, seemed surprised that Renee had known of their existence, but if they made it out of this alive, there would be time enough for that later.

What she was going to do with it, she didn't know.

She didn't want to know. All that mattered was Jehan was dead.

"Renee," gasped Adam weakly. "You're okay. Safe."

Damn it! How could I forget? "Adam," she muttered, rushing over to help her husband support their friend. "Oh my God," she whispered as she saw that his robes were covered in his blood. His shoulder was bleeding profusely, and his face was ashen. He struggled to stay awake, the light and kindness in his brilliant blue eyes was fading slowly. Adam groaned as the last of his strength gave out and he collapsed, bringing both with him.

"No, no, no, you stay with us," she pleaded, cradling his head in her hands, stroking his dark hair. His hair was matted and tangled with congealed blood and the color was drained from his face.

He didn't respond. He couldn't.

"Oh, God, this is all my fault. If I wouldn't have, this wouldn't…don't go, Adam, stay with us," she begged, tears welling in her eyes. "Don't die! Please don't go, just remember who you are!" she cried, tears streaming down her face. She was desperate. What had she done to him? She never should have brought this upon him… Renee couldn't let him die. "I'm not letting you go," she whispered through clenched teeth.

"Renee," Quasi started to say, but he trailed off.

She couldn't let him die like this. "I need you."

"Here," Quasi said urgently, taking sections of fabric from Jehan's tunic and ripping it into strips with brute force.

She grabbed pieces of the fabric and wrapped it around his shoulder, doing her best to stop the worst of the bleeding. "We need to get him to Alice and Jeanne," she whispered furiously. He can't die, not now. Not Adam…

Renee leaned over and kissed Adam' forehead.

His skin was so cold, it was ice. Adam moaned and opened his eyes. Renee laughed weakly. He was alive. But only just. "Hanna," he murmured, staring at Renee, who felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach.

Oh, God…. He was hallucinating. He was going to die here.

"Hanna," he whispered, closing his eyes. When he opened them again, tears flowed, his eyes hazy from the pain he was experiencing. "I am so sorry I couldn't protect you. I'm so sorry about our baby. I never should have put you through that. Please forgive me," he begged Renee, heartbreak and pain laced throughout his voice.

Renee knew what she had to do.

She had to do this for Adam. If he was going to die here like this, the least she could do for him was pretend who he needed her to be, if only for a moment during his last minutes. Renee held his face in her hands, staining her palms with his blood, but she didn't care. "I forgive you," she whispered, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs. "It wasn't your fault, Adam. Don't leave us, not like this. Just hang on. Hang on."

Quasi put a gentle hand on her shoulder, his face white with shock at the idea of losing a caretaker of Notre Dame, one who he considered almost like something of a brother figure in his life when he had no one else.

He didn't say anything. He couldn't.

Adam looked at Renee and smiled weakly through his haze of pain and darkness. "I love you," he whispered, closing his eyes and allowing himself to get lost in her gentle touch. Renee knew that he was speaking to her, not to Hanna. She turned her head sharply to control her tears. Renee's mind worked quickly into overdrive to put the pieces together. She wasn't stupid, after all. Renee guessed Hanna was once Adam's wife, and some tragedy had brought him here, to Notre Dame...

"I love you too," she said, her voice trembling. "Come home, Adam. Come home to us. Fight this, don't leave us." Renee leaned down and kissed Adam on the lips, letting her kiss linger. Turning to Quasi, she felt a surge of determination to make sure their friend lived. "Let's go," she muttered darkly, struggling to get their unconscious friend to his feet. "We have to save him. It's my fault."

"I've got him," he said quietly, his face still white.

"Don't go, Adam," she pleaded, draping his other arm around her shoulder and the two of them managed to get him halfway down the bell tower steps before the priest groaned and weakly opened his eyes. "Stay with us, you're going to be fine, you'll be fine, you'll see."

Renee laughed and cried. He's alive. He's going to live. He's alive. He'll make it. She whispered her mantra repeatedly under her breath as she struggled to hold his weight as they made it down the stairs.

"Are you okay?" Adam managed, his voice barely audible as he coughed, staring at them both with bloodshot eyes. His breathing was labored, rattling and awful to listen to. Adam needed Alice and Jeanne's skills. He couldn't die…

"We should be asking you that," Quasi responded, smiling at his friend in spite of his worry for the man. Their priest had almost died. He was lucky to be alive. The sisters immediately started shouting obscenities when they brought him to their quarters, but they thanked them both and took him in, promising to do what they could for him. "Save him," she pleaded with Alice, grabbing her arm. "It's all my fault, he can't die."

Alice glanced down at the girl's hand, which still had traces of red on them from Adam's blood. "We'll do what we can," she promised. "Kid, don't you wander too far," she shouted to Quasi, who jumped, startled at the outburst.

"We might need you!" bellowed Jeanne from the room.

Renee nodded, running a hand through her hair.

She took deep slow breaths to control her nausea and slumped to the floor, her back against the stone cold wall and buried her face in her hands. She was in for a long night. Adam was in for an even longer night. She had to remain strong for him. She owed it to him.

Quasi knelt beside Renee and pulled her close.

"Are you all right?" he asked thickly, reigning in the worst of his panic. He'd never gotten the chance to ask her.

He hadn't hesitated in going after her when she fell.

She was bruised and the cut above her eyebrow stung, but Renee knew she was lucky that was all she had to deal with. The wound from where she'd been stabbed was merely a flesh wound, nothing that a few bandages couldn't handle.

Renee glanced at Quasi and saw a muscle in his jaw was twitching, as it often did whenever he worried. "I'm fine, thanks to you," she whispered, burying her head in his chest and doing her best to drown out Adam's distant screams.

"You don't need to thank me," he replied harshly.

She shuddered. "What if he—?"

"He won't," Quasi answered, not letting her think it.

The bell ringer had been terrified at the thought of losing his Renee, but Adam had saved them. And Laverne too, he thought, making a mental note to thank her. She'd finished Jehan off when Adam and he couldn't; she'd done what she needed to. Like she'd always told him she would.

"Quasi," Renee whispered softly after a long silence as she rested her head against his right shoulder.

"What is it, love?" he asked gently, stroking her hair and rubbing her shoulders. She was exhausted and longed for sleep but couldn't. Not when Adam hovered so close to death like this. The luxury of sleep would come much later.

"Marry me this weekend. I don't care what we have to do to make it happen."

Quasi looked startled at her request, but he quickly nodded.

Alice rushed out, her forehead beaded with sweat and blood on her hands. "Quasi, I need your help in here, now."

Quasi scrambled to his feet and gave Renee a long lingering kiss, resting his forehead against hers. "I'll be back," he promised.

"Wait!" she cried, wringing her hands together until they hurt.

"What, child? We've no time to stop and chat, his life hangs in the balance. We need to care for him, but we need your husband's help for this next part. We promise, he's going to be okay."

"Please, is he…?"

"He's going to be fine," Alice breathed, exhausted.

"Oh, thank Christ," she cried, feeling her legs out as she wildly grabbed at the bell ringer for support.

"Easy," he murmured gently, guiding her back down as she fell.

"No," she protested, closing her eyes as another wave of nausea overcame her. "I need to help you," she gasped.

"Just sit there for a while, you're hurt, and in no condition to help us," he said soothingly.

"I don't—I need to help you!" she cried, upset.

"You need to rest," Alice spoke up, saving her husband the trouble of responding. "We'll come and get you when we're finished, I promise. I'm sending Ashan by later to check on you. There's no telling what your body underwent when you—when you fell," she finished. "You need to be looked at."

Weakly, Renee nodded and without another word Alice and Quasi fled to the nuns' chambers, where the bell ringer held Adam down so he wouldn't thrash as the sisters mended his shoulder, doing his best to drown out the priest's heart- wrenching screams. Renee drew her knees close to her chest and hugged them, waiting. She didn't know how long she waited. The agony of not knowing was killing her inside. Minutes or hours, she couldn't tell.

It was close to dawn by the time Quasi emerged, wiping his hands clean on a rag, tired but he looked better. She scrambled to her feet, ran to the bell ringer and kissed him, pulling him tight as she hugged him. "Is he all right?" she asked, closing her eyes and praying. "Tell me the truth, I need to know. Is he…?"

"He'll live," he said quietly, resting his head on hers.

"Thank God," she wept, burying her face into his shirt.

"I know," he answered thickly, relieved. "He—the sisters think he'll be in for a bit of a rough recovery, but they want us to help him. They won't take no for an answer," he smiled weakly.

"Help him? How?" she asked, confused.

"We have to make sure he doesn't move around too much," he responded, his eyes shining a little as he fondly remembered Adam's inability to sit still for very long. "He can be stubborn at times, but the sisters think he'll listen to us. We can only hope he will."

"I'll be sure to tell them they're wrong," a fragile voice teased behind them spoke up, startling them. "I listen to no one, they know this," he said, smiling despite the immense pain in his shoulder.

"Adam!" cried Renee, rushing to hug him. Adam had seen better days. His face was ashen, devoid of any color and the circles under his eyes were pronounced and heavy, but he was alive. One of his eyes was blackened and his face had harsh purple bruises from where Jehan had showed him no mercy. His dark hair was tousled as Alice had taken a wet rag and cleaned the wound on his head as best she could and removing any clumps of blood in the process. He walked with a bit of a limp, but they were all just grateful he was alive. The sisters had mended his shoulder and tended to it best they could, but even the two of them could see it would leave some scarring. He'd have that scar for life.

"You need to sit down," muttered Quasi, taking his arm and gently helping him sit down next to Renee.

"Thank you," he groaned, closing his eyes as a tremor of pain went down his side. He breathed heavily and glanced over at Renee, who had gripped his hand tightly and showed no signs of letting him go. Adam gently rested his head against Renee's, working through another spasm.

"How are you feeling?" the bell ringer asked gently.

"Quasi," he groaned. "About those gargoyles…" Quasi tensed, waiting. "Tell them…tell them I said thank you," he managed finally, throwing a weak smile at the bell ringer, who looked relieved. "I owe them my life. The female—she—she saved me."

"You can tell me yourself, Adam," Laverne's voice rang out from above them. Shocked, all of them looked up to see a narrow pair of yellow eyes glinting in the darkness. Laverne leapt down with ease and stood in front of them and curled up at their feet much like a cat would. Adam stared, still not sure what to believe.

"Thank you," he said when he'd finally managed to find his voice again, in awe of the massive stone figure come to life. Laverne smiled. She said nothing. Her tail flicked and Adam smiled, in spite of his disbelief that what he was seeing in front of him was real, it didn't change the fact that she had saved their lives. He wouldn't be here if she hadn't intervened. Adam turned to Renee, who was watching him carefully for any signs of a relapse. "I never congratulated you both," he said quietly, smiling gently despite the immense fire in his shoulder. "I know you will both be very happy here. I couldn't be happier for you both."

She and Quasi were watching him, concerned.

Renee smiled, fresh tears of relief in her eyes and leaned into his good shoulder and held his hands, her fingers intertwined with his. "We're happy you're with us, Adam. We love you."

Adam glanced at the bell ringer, and saw that he was smiling at him, a look of content in his eyes. This is my family now, he thought, close to tears. He was lucky to be alive and to be home, where he knew he belonged. He wouldn't have it any other way. Adam leaned over and kissed Renee's cheek gently and clapped the bell ringer on the back, groaning at the pain in his shoulder.

"Thank you both," he said softly. "For everything."

"We should be the ones thanking you," Quasi spoke up softly, gazing at him with an intensity Adam had never seen before. "Adam, you saved our lives. We can never repay you for what you've done. We owe you our lives. You deserve the life of peace you've fought so hard all these years to have."

Adam blinked; aware a lump was forming in his throat.

He fought back tears and swallowed. "Thank you."

The three talked through the night, neither of them able to sleep.

At one point, Victor and Hugo had ventured out of the shadows to join Laverne as she filled them in on their history as sentient beings and introduced the other two to a shaken but accepting Adam. The priest tried to offer his gratitude to Laverne once more, but she wouldn't hear of it. She'd stated it was merely part of her duties as an official protector of the church and as a guardian to her family. The three gargoyles offered congratulations to their bell ringer.

The boy whom they had known since infancy was finally going to be a husband. Adam was overjoyed at finally having a family of his own and a place he could call home. He was with his family where he belonged. The moon had waned to a slim crescent, a sliver of glowing light in an otherwise black sky the color of ink. The moonlight illuminated parts of Paris and seemed to shine especially bright on the grace of Notre Dame herself, basking the three family members in a soft glow.

Our own heaven's light, Renee thought, staring up at the sky and smiling. She could stay like this forever. The only key to heaven's gate was love; she carried it in her heart for her future husband, for Adam, for her family. Renee let it be the power that kept her safe and well.

When she was with her family… she was home.