(AN: I have not seen The London Assignment yet. Originally, "Hope" was supposed to be a one-shot, but someone said they'd like to see more, and well, the idea started brewing in my head, and work was slow, so here you go.)

Four months!

Gabriel Van Helsing stomped through the great basilica, barely noting the penitents and pilgrims who stared in shock at his passing. Four months of chasing one possessed lunatic killer across Austria and Germany. And if that wasn't enough, he didn't speak a word of German!

Mentally he ticked off the time in his head. Two months spent eradicating a pack of werewolves in the Ukraine. Then he spent a month tracking down a mad scientist in Turkey. Another month spent in Ireland trying to catch a banshee. A half dozen other shorter assignments separated all of these 'adventures', culminating in the frustrating and lengthy hunt through Teutonic lands. He barely had a break between them all, just enough time for a bit of sleep and a bath before the Cardinal sent him off again. He realized that they were keeping him busy. Sometimes he wondered exactly what Friar Carl might have said to the Cardinal that caused the jump in assignments. Not that Van Helsing would have had a chance to chat with Carl; he'd hardly seen the monk in the last – dear Lord, was it really almost a year since Transylvania?

At least this time, Van Helsing had managed to follow not only the spirit but the letter of his assignment. He had been sent to capture the madman and bring him back to the Vatican for exorcism. When he finally had caught the poor fellow, whose possession made him brutally kill young men and women in their teens, Van Helsing had the good fortune to catch him in a rare moment of lucidity. When Hans Opitzer was told that the Vatican wanted to save him, the fellow wept in relief and gladly suffered the heavy shackles Van Helsing put him in for transport.

Van Helsing prayed that this time, he'd get at least a week of rest before being sent out again.

He slammed the confessional door shut and sat. "Forgive me Father, for I have sinned."

The panel slid open immediately. "For once, Van Helsing, you have not!"

Van Helsing grinned a little. "Actually, there ARE other sins besides murder, you know."

Cardinal Jinette snorted, then triggered the door to the Order's Headquarters. "I am sure that the sins of blasphemy, anger, and others have made such a stain on your soul, no amount of confession will ease them."

"If I'm such an evil vessel, why ever do you keep me working for you? Oh, wait, I know, because I'm so good at what I do!"

"And now you add arrogance to your faults."

"Speaking of arrogance how's Brother Carl these days?"

To Van Helsing's surprise, the innocent question brought the Cardinal to a halt. "An excellent question, Van Helsing." He led the monster hunter to a door. "In here, please."

The Cardinal never handed out assignments in his office. Always, the briefing was given in the main workshop, usually with a projector and any number of maps. This small room was new to Van Helsing. A large desk dominated the space. The walls were completely covered in floor to ceiling shelves containing a jumble of books and scrolls and artifacts. The Cardinal sat behind the desk and waved impatiently for Van Helsing to settle in the stark wooden chair before the desk. It was distinctly uncomfortable.

"Now. How much do you know about Friar Carl?"

Feeling vaguely alarmed for his friend, Van Helsing replied, "Besides the fact that he's talkative, funny, has excellent aim, and may very well be as brilliant as he claims to be, not much."

Cardinal Jinette frowned. "Carl Sherman was sponsored to the Order when he was 10 years old. He had just graduated from Oxford."

"At TEN?"

The Cardinal ignored the startled outburst and continued. "He'd been sponsored by a Reverend Michael Bristol, an Anglican minister who once worked for us as a researcher. This minister recognized the lad's brilliance and sent him to us. Carl has been here for twenty four years." Van Helsing must have made another noise of disbelief, for the Cardinal gave him a sharp look. "He has lived here, in the Vatican, in the workshops of the Order, most of his life. He keeps a sporadic correspondence with a sister in Hartfordshire, who cares for their mother, a retired seamstress. His father, a cabinetmaker, died ten years ago."

"Should you really be telling me Carl's life story?"

"Unfortunately, Carl has never truly felt the Call to God's Service. In an effort to appease His Holiness, who was opposed to a layman in the Order, Carl was made a friar. He keeps only one vow, that of obedience."

Van Helsing kept quiet, despite the number of humorous comments he could make about that revelation.

"Lately, Friar Carl has been.... Reclusive. Antisocial. Lazy."

"Lazy? Impossible. Carl couldn't stop tinkering if you cut his hands off."

"Nevertheless, he has not been himself. We had several operatives make inquiries. Apparently the problems began almost immediately after returning from Transylvania. They were acerbated two months ago by the arrival of a letter, the contents of which are unknown. We know his mother and his sister and her family are fine. He has no other family or acquaintances outside of the Vatican."

"I don't understand. Why in God's name are you telling me all of this? Carl is my friend, yes, but wouldn't I have found this out on my own?"

The Cardinal looked Van Helsing in the eyes. "This IS your next assignment. Find out what's wrong with Friar Carl."