A/N-- You must forgive any inaccuracies in this chapter. I took a couple pieces of paper and a pencil into the bookstore, found the movie novelization and copied down as much as I could. And I was hurrying and missing parts, so I dunno how accurate all of this is... As promised, all reviewers get a bag of M&M's!

Irish Anor: I'm glad you liked that little humor! I thought we needed the comic relief... And I think that it just wouldn't be very dramatic if Van Helsing went around giving monsters puppy dog eyes and going 'Please die, just for me...' Originally, I was gonna redo the whole movie with Van Helsing and Carl knowing what was going on, but I balked in the end and decided not to mess with it. --bites Irish Anor's hand--
Doris()- I'm glad you found my take on the movie refreshing... but thank Irish Anor and Lovely() for the accuracy! they noticed it, not me! I'm really happy you love this story... sadly, it had around five chapters to go and it ends. Maybe even less. Don't hesitate to post some of your work. It takes courage to do it the first time, but once you get your first good review you won't be able to stop!
The Wishmasters- Heh, I absolutely love getting reviews once people have read Carl's near-death scene... I've gotten so many death threats.... And I actually am in the process of writing a Carl/Gabriel slash, but I'm not really sure if I wanna post it or not.
HyperCaz- You want Anna to live...? okay, but you asked for it....
Dare()- I'm glad you like the humor! I've discovered that I seem to enjoy giving Carl bizarre internal monologues... There's another at the beginning of this chapter. And I'm gonna start doing the spacing thing with this chapter.
Anthem82()- I'm glad you liked Carl's outburst. I thought he needed it.
Allora- OMG, Everyone loves that whole pouty face thing!!! I just came up with it off the top of my head.... And don't worry, Dracula is mine... and I intend for it to stay that way!!!! LOL, I actually didn't do a very good job of copying, as this chapter will show.
HealerAriel- NO! CARL MINE! They've already taken Gabriel! LOL.

In closing, there is a twist at the end of this chapter... as indicated by the title.

Chapter 15:
A Twist of Fate

"Castle Dracula..." Anna whispered in awe. The torchlight shone in her eyes, her mouth slightly agape with wonder. They had done it.... for centuries, long, bloody centuries, her family had been unable to find this place... and now she stood there...

Van Helsing glanced briefly at Anna, a little distracted by the werewolf venom pumping through his veins. The look on her face was priceless; she was standing on the brink of discovery, fulfilling a desire that had been bred into her. Being able to see her at the culmination of not just her life's work but her father's life's work a thousand times back to 1462 was a true gift.

Carl, however, was failing to see the magic of this moment. As he stepped through the ice obelisk and saw the horrific, icy beauty of Castle Dracula, he decided that hiding in some dark corner might be just the teeniest bit more magical. Running desperately for the entrance he had come from, he realized it wasn't the same fear that had gripped him once. It was a different kind. It was like he was in mortal peril... But smacking into the solid ice helped greatly to clear his thoughts; he wasn't in peril. His mind was in peril of becoming lost to insanity, he decided as he followed Anna and Van Helsing. Why the hell was he still following that man again?

The things we'll do for friends.

"Do we have a plan? It doesn't have to be Wellington's at Waterloo but some sort of a plan would be nice." Carl piped up as he trotted along beside his friends.

"We're going to go in there and stop Dracula." Van Helsing said calmly.

"And kill anything that gets in our way." Anna continued with her usual determination. Carl was mentally bashing his head against a brick wall. But then again, what sort of answer could he expect from two monster hunters? Something that involved death. Someday, he was going to start his own organization of sensible Friars that went out and saved the world... logically and with a plan that did not involve mass murder. Someday...

"Well you let me know how that goes..." He replied, beginning to walk away.

As he caught sight of the gates, his heart began to race frantically, and suddenly that plan about an organization of logical-world-saving-Friars didn't seem like such a bad idea. But all his hopes were yanked from him as Van Helsing took hold not only of his shoulder but of Anna's. Mustering all his strength, he leapt straight over the frozen gates and into the entrance hall. Promptly, he fell to his knees. Ice stung his lungs as he took ragged gulps of cold air. The energy drain, while expected, still didn't fail to leave him dizzy with its force.

For a time, he had considered changing the way things happened. He did after all have the advantage of knowing every single thing that was about to happen before it happened. Why not turn that to his advantage? But then he considered the implications. He was messing with time. He in disturbing its threads, he could send ripples through it that backfired and came back to haunt him. Why take that risk? There was only one thing he wanted to change after all... and it was standing right behind him, hand lightly resting on his shoulder.

"Well as grateful as I am to be out of the cold, that doesn't seem like a good thing." Carl whimpered, looking at Van Helsing. Even knowing that there was a cure, he still didn't like him becoming a werewolf. Anna, however, seemed occupied with the hundreds of thousands of green eggs, all connected to electric wires, coating the icy walls of the fortress.

"Oh my god, if he brings all these to life...." The thought didn't need to be finished.'

It was then they heard a howl of agony. Running over to a grate in the wall, the trio could see Frankenstein. He was at the bottom of the room into which they peeked, held prisoner by a massive block of ice. At a command from Dracula, thick chains began to hoist him upwards, as if on some grand ascent. But they all knew, this was no heavenly ascent... it was a horrifying one.

"The cure." The so-called monster gasped. Van Helsing, in the middle of trying to pry open the thick grate, paused.

"What?"

"There is a cure. Dracula has it here. Go. Find it. Save yourself!" The words rose in a shriek as he neared his destination.

"Igor do this, Igor do that. Igor-" As the three companions whirled to see Dracula's servant, Igor, hauling huge, thick cables across the room, the speaker froze and dropped his load. "What? How is it possible..?" He began to run for the exit, but a now thoroughly agitated Van Helsing detached one of his Tojo blades and sent it flying into Igor's sleeve. The ensuing force trapped the humpbacked man.

"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you." Van Helsing snarled, clutching Igor's throat.

"I uh, well, I-" Igor trailed off, obviously not able to think of a valid reason to not die. (A/N-- Here is where I go impromptu on yall...) Just as Van Helsing reached inside his coat, not doubt for something Igor would not like, he thought of something. "I know where the cure is!"

"You what?" Anna asked, she and Carl now standing very close to the two.

"But why would Dracula have the cure for werewolfism?" Carl asked, befuddled.

"Because that's the one thing that can kill him." Van Helsing said at first slowly, and then more fast.

"Exactly! That's what the moving picture meant!" Carl said excitedly.

"But Dracula's been using werewolves to do his bidding for centuries." Anna's brow furrowed critically.

"And that's why he needs the antidote! Should one of his servants ever break the thrall, he'd need it to turn them human again!" Carl explained.

"Alright Carl, now we have a plan." Van Helsing turned to Igor. "You're going to lead them to the antidote."

"No I'm not." Igor responded. A low growl rose in Van Helsing's throat and his eyes flashed yellow. "Yes I am." After he removed the Tojo blade, he took something else off of Igor's person: a pair of circular wire cutters. He handed them to Anna.

"If for one moment you believe he may be steering you wrong..." He clicked the shears together. "Cut off a finger."

"Oh I'll cut off something." Anna hissed as she took the shears. Needless to say, all the men in the room were starting to feel a teensy bit uncomfortable. "Well what about you?" She turned to Van Helsing.

"At midnight, I'll turn into a werewolf and kill Dracula. before the last stroke, I want you to give me the antidote. It should cure me." He said after taking a deep breath. He hated having to use this plan again, but now that he knew the possible consequences, perhaps he would have more self control.

"And what if it doesn't work?" Anna fired back. Van Helsing produced the silver stake and activated it.

"Then use this." He handed it to Carl. The Friar's face was white as he accepted it.

"I couldn't." He said in a shaky voice. I don't haev your strength. I couldn't kill my best friend... His pleading blue eyes said.

"You must." Van Helsing said urgently. Find the courage to look for that strength. I know you possess it.... His eyes answered.

"Godspeed, my friend." Carl whispered, roughly pushing Igor ahead of him as he started off.

"Godspeed." Van Helsing replied. His gaze now fell on Anna, the woman he was going to alter time for. "Be careful. I don't want you getting killed."

"You still don't understand." Anna said with a wild shake of her head. Her eyes had a look of utter desperation in them. "It doesn't matter what happens to me. We must save my family." She began to run away, but Van Helsing caught her and pulled her close. Her heart did a little flip at this gesture. She had hoped he would...

What was it with these Valerious women and running away to hide behind Dracula, in love or in war, to see if he loved them enough to pursue or not? Van Helsing thought as he pulled her close. If he had any true command over the flow of time, this would be the moment he would freeze. Her cheeks were rosy with cold, and light nested in her eyes, accentuating that indomitable fire. The air around them was frigid, but that only gave them more reason to move close. And it allowed him to see her breath leaving her lips in small puffs. It allowed him to see that she was alive.

He swore it. Carl's warning be damned, he swore that no matter the costs, this would not be the last time he saw her alive..

"If you're late, run like Hell." She started to turn again, but he pulled her back. her breathing changed. No longer was she panting from fear and exertion, but from anticipation. "Don't be late." He whispered.

Anna hesitated for a few moments, taking sharp breaths. When she was younger and her mission to destroy Dracula was being ingrained in her, she taught herself not to show fear and to live without love in the thankless world of revenge. Now she was breaking both of those resolves. And hell, it felt good! Dracula be damned, she was out from under his thrall. He had no power over her life and, looking into Van Helsing's eyes, she knew he was as good as dead. Van Helsing would kill him... for her? She didn't know or care. But whoever it was being done for, it would set her free. And she wanted to thank him...

When they kissed she felt free for the first time ever. He kissed her hard and then soft and then hard again. The touch struck her deep and torturously, sending pangs of longing that were sickeningly sweet through her body. This was a kiss born of the rawest elements: fear, desperation, hope and maybe even love. It was fierce and hard as desperate fear, yet soft and sweet as hopeful love. Her heart fluttered as their lips parted and rejoined urgently, their hands lost in each other's hair. As Anna could feel the kiss ending, she found herself fearing for Van Helsing. This was no longer just about her, and her family's salvation. It was about him too...

They were forced to pull back. Anna tried to kiss Gabriel again, but thought better of it. (A/N-- Seriously. Watch the clip on vanhelsing.net and look really closely. She does!!!) He hadn't noticed that the first time, but now he was drinking in every little nuance. Just in case...

"Now go... go." He whispered desperately, releasing her. Knowing that if she didn't leave now she might never let go, she bolted away without hesitation. Van Helsing watched her go. I will see you again...
(A/N-- By a show of hands, who here can tell I had too much fun rewriting the kiss?)
He was there. It hit him as suddenly as Anna's kiss had. He was back there, in this timeless war against Dracula. Midnight was nearing, he could tell by the fire in his veins. And he was in the library about to kill Vladislaus Dracula again. He had found Castle Dracula, yes, he had kissed Anna, yes, he had tried to save Frankenstein, yes, but none of that really mattered in hindsight. This was what the night was about. This was the true test.

"You are too late, my friend! My children live!" Dracula howled with glee, his obsidian eyes shining triumphantly in the sparks' light. He was practically dancing with joy, and for a moment Van Helsing was wondering if it was right to be hating him. Shouldn't he be rejoicing? Why was he disgusted with his best friend for being happy about the birth of his children...? But he forced the thoughts to go away. He had to start concentrating on two things alone: on killing Dracula and on not killing Anna. He had no time for thoughts of any other kind.

"And the only way to kill them is by killing you." Van Helsing replied. With impeccable timing, the clock began to toll midnight. "One." He growled thickly as he fell to his knees.

It felt as though little insects were crawling all over the underside of his skin, nibbling at every bit of his flesh. He had to get them out of there. They hurt so horribly... He began to tear at his clothes and then his flesh. Those crawling, biting insects spread all over him, forming a coat of thick black hair. Some exploded, forming gigantic, corded muscles. Now they were in his head, gnawing at his brain... he was forgetting everything, everything. Who he was, who those people he had journeyed with were, where he was, how he came to be there, and what he was. No! I cannot lose all that! He shrieked mentally. And so he clung onto a single word:

Anna.

In his moments of fading, he managed to convince himself that that was all that mattered. Anna. Anna Anna Anna Anna Anna. That word made up who he was... He concentrated solely on it as he howled. In his own wolfish way, he was honoring who he was fighting for, howling her name: Anna!

"No... this... this is not right... This cannot be!" Dracula howled in pure rage. He had hoped that after knowing how it would end Van Helsing would choose to avoid becoming a werewolf, but there he was in all his lunar glory. He began to back away slowly as the werewolf approached. "We are both part of the same grand game, Gabriel. We need not face each other from opposite sides..." He said quickly as he backed into a table. His hand found a knife there. As Van Helsing leapt, he plunged the knife downward. It struck the vampire hunter cum wolf-man in the upper arm, just as it had done all those centuries ago... (A/N-- I know, that didn't happen in the movie...)

A startled Gabriel jerked back with a yelp of pain. He had not done that before... A vague part of him muttered sleepily, but the savage werewolf took over/ This prey was clever. But who cared. He'd rip its clever brain to pieces. He did not lunge again this time, but began to back slowly away with a whimper. As Dracula leapt at him again, monstrous fangs bared, he ducked and came swiftly around behind him. With a roar of triumph, he brought his claws down on Dracula's back.

Dracula screamed in pain, transforming and rocketing for the skylight. Anticipating this, the wolf-man bounded up the wall alongside him and then leapt on top of him in a frenzy. Both were thrown back to the ground, sending lab equipment flying in a glorious spurt of red and gold sparks. The werewolf howled with sheer glee. Chaos, glorious chaos, as both were blinded. But he didn't allow himself to become lost in the ecstasy of the moment; he held Dracula pinned by his throat, to the ground. Now Gabriel began to take back over slightly. Anna Anna Anna Anna. His mind chanted, reminding him of who he was not supposed to kill.

"Don't you understand? We were friends! Brothers! Partners!" Dracula gasped.

You think I don't know? Van Helsing screamed inside.

It was at that moment that thick thunderclouds stormed across the sky and kidnapped the moon's light, leaving a sweaty, exhausted and barely clothed (A/N--Swoon) human Van Helsing pinning Dracula. The vampiric Count smiled his most wicked and moved one leg in between them, planting a powerful kick on Van Helsing's stomach that sent him flying up into one of the catwalks and then slammed him into the ground. Still smirking and dusting off his clothes, Dracula approached.

"Did I mention that it was you who murdered me?" He asked sweetly.

"You might've once or twice." Van Helsing coughed up blood as he stood.

"All I ever wanted was to live with the woman I loved, Gabriel. I wanted life and you took it away. Along with my ring." He raised one hand to show that its ring finger had been cut off. Van Helsing glanced momentarily at his own hand and at the token he bore there. "I'd like to have both back. But first... Why? Why twice, Gabriel?" He asked with a sudden, soft sadness.

"Well let's just say that you get so God damn annoying sometimes." Gabriel growled as the moon began to reappear. But Dracula was faster in his transformation.

"Now I will give you your life and memory back!" He howled as he lunged at Van Helsing, wings spread. He slammed into the half-transformed werewolf, crushing him against one of the metal staircases leading to the catwalks the Dwergi used. But van Helsing flipped him around and, fangs bared, clamped down on the side of Dracula's neck in a macabre tribute to the way many of his victims had died. As the creature that was once his best friend began to writhe and scream in agony, he decided he had had enough. He jerked back suddenly, ripping his throat from his body.

Instantly, the noises ceased. Black blood gurgled across his form as eh mouthed wordlessly, reaching out for Van Helsing. To kill him? In supplication? To forgive him? He did not know. But as they had been lost before, they were lost now. He slithered away in a puff of ash and dust. He was no more substantial than his unspoken words.

Van Helsing's chest heaved mightily with each breath as he turned to the huge bay window and the divan in front of it. With vampire blood seasoning his tongue, he was beginning to slip further and further from the shores of sanity, but as he looked at the red divan, something flashed in his head. Something bad. Bad, bad, bad, bad feeling. Bad memory. But foggy. What was it he had been fighting for...?

And then he scented her in the room. He whirled and she was already running for him, dark curls flying about her face and the antidote held above her head. His fearless gypsy. What was her name...?

Anna!

She flew on top of him as he growled and, as though burned, jerked away. The sudden movement made her fly onto the divan and land there, short of breath. With a cry, she leapt back up and plunged the syringe into his upper chest, then stumbled and fell back down. Her hand was on her sword as she watched with fear and hope in her eyes.

Slowly, he stumbled away. With a strange kind of fascination, he watched the thick red liquid dripping into him. It brought a smooth, creamy feeling, like a buttermilk bath, and soothed away all the itches and nips of the little crawling insects. his mind was returning and his eyes met hers with recognition; he bared his fangs in a werewolf's form of a smile as ecstatic happiness flooded him uncontrollably.

He had done it. Anna was alive! The cure was pumping through him and Dracula was dead. he had fought Time and Fate themselves and won! With a triumphant howl he raised his arms above his head. Anna watched with fear, unsure if he was attacking or not, and with a cry slipped off the divan and backed into the wall. Van Helsing was too elated to notice.

"Van Helsing!" Carl's voice called. From behind, it looked like he was making ready to attack the prone gypsy princess... Carl cursed himself for what he had to do. Now Van Helsing would never be able to laugh at his organization of logical-world-saving-Friars, and it would be because of his actions...

In a moment of wild glee, Van Helsing whirled. His arms were flung out wide to embrace his friend, even though he was still mostly in werewolf form. He did not know that Carl was almost directly behind him.

There was a sickening snap as his hand connected with the sprinting Friar's face and turned it sharply to one side. Van Helsing froze as he watched the slight man fall like a young tree uprooted in a storm. Just as his body slowly turned from that of a wolf's back into a human's, a feeling of molten horror roiled in his gut. He fell to his knees beside the still man and spoke in his newly regained voice.

"Carl... I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hit you. Are you hurt?" He asked hoarsely, feebly. Anna stood up cautiously behind him, walking to stand at his side. As waves of horror overcame her, she watched him touch Carl's pale face and turn his head slowly from side to side, feeling its limpness, and she saw the look of childish wonder and confusion on his face. "Oh no... God no... Carl... I didn't mean to... Carl... Carl!" He shouted in anguish as he staggered away. Her heart breaking, Anna stood and followed Van Helsing. He had backed himself into a corner of the room and was clutching his head, murmuring to himself. "No, no, he's not dead, he's not!"

"Van Helsing-"

"We can save him, there's a way! He was neurotic, he must've taken notes while he was making the potion that took us back. We can go back- change this all..." He half shouted.

"Love-" She tried to say, the name coming unbidden to her lips.

"We can, we can! He'd find a way if it-"

Suddenly, her lips were on his in a desperate kiss. He held her close; soon she could taste the salt of tears on ehr tongue, and she pulled back. Van Helsing was crying, and so hard that it hurt just to watch. It didn't seem right that he was crying. He was a Monster Hunter, a man who was on the most intimate of terms with death. It seemed so out of place that he, the Left Hand of God, was now sobbing on the shoulder of a gypsy princess who was the last of her line. He had so much power, but at that moment he seemed so frail and weak.

She held him for a long while, whispering to him, stroking his hair, running her hands along the muscles in his arms in a vain attempt to ease their tension. And, gradually, he began to tell her everything. How it had originally been she that had died, and the grief that had consumed him. How Dracula had returned to the past and he and Carl had followed. He'd fallen in love with her ancestor and killed Dracula for her love, only to watch the woman die. He had lived through four hundred years just to see her again, and compromised his mission to destroy Dracula once more for her sake. And now... Carl, his right hand man, had died instead of her.

"He was willing to risk everything for me, Anna. He went with me back in time because he was afraid I was losing my will to live. He wasn't even sure if it was safe for him to do so, and he felt so out of place, but he never once questioned his decision. He almost died even to help me kill Dracula." Van Helsing whispered, his tears now gone. "He was there, all the while. My faithful one... I may be the Left Hand of God, but who am I to strike down my own right hand?" Anna leaned her head against his, and they shared a silent moment as emotions overcame them both. At last, she spoke.

"Perhaps... we should not try to save him." She mused. "Someone was fated to die this night, so that somewhere else new life could begin. You tried to change that balance by saving me... and so someone else had to die." Her voice shook slightly. "And it was Carl who paid the price. Unhappy as that is, there is new life somewhere in the world. And we must meet it, no try to change the circumstances that brought it. "You tempted fate once to save me. To do it again could prove to have far worse effects than we can begin to grasp." Van Helsing was silent, numb. "Let us go from this place of death." She whispered against his hair before standing and taking his hands in her own. She pulled him to his feet. With a nod, Van Helsing gathered Carl's body in his arms and they left that hollow place.
When they reached the Valerious manor, they immediately got horses. They needed to tell the townspeople of Dracula's defeat. As they were leaving the manor at a walk, Anna realized something.

"Carl." She said suddenly. Van Helsing raised his head slightly; his face was barely visible from beneath the brim of his hat. They had put Carl in the tower library and lit candles all around him. The books, things that had been his friends for so long, would stand vigil over him while they could not. "What shall we do with him?" She asked hesitantly. She hated having to speak of it this way, but something did need to be done and she was unsure of their customs. Van Helsing lowered his gaze again.

"We'll take him to the Vatican. They'll know what to do, what he would've wanted." He said in a hoarse and tortured voice.

"Shall we just ride on then?" Anna's question was soft as pale sky above.

"Let me show you the sea." He said after a quiet moment.

He led her there, to that cliff. Fate kept pulling him back to that place, he realized. While he was thinking about why that beautiful place was so entwined with death, Anna was caught up in the beauty of the sea below her.

"Oh!" She cried, running to the edge of the cliff. The cries of the gulls filled her ears and the breeze left the taste and scent of salt all over her. The waves on the shore far below pounded in time with her heart and filled up her soul... she turned to Van Helsing, wanting him to share in the beautiful moment, but saw the look on his face.

"This place..." He said with a hollow listlessness. "So timeless... We burned you here. And then we burned Analiese here.... We could take Carl here..." He shook his head. "No. He deserves to be at the Vatican, amongst his inventions and his books. Besides," He laughed shortly. "He was sort of our resident Friar. If we were to perform the rites here, there'd be no one to read over him. And maybe that's the way it should be because... no words could do him justice." He trailed off. The wind grew much stronger as Anna approached, stirring up the ashes of old memories. This beautiful, sad place felt wrong without Carl. Every other time he'd come here, Carl had been there. It was broken without him...

"Thank you." Anna whispered to him. She could've gone on about all the things she had to thank him for, but decided to leave it at those two words. He smiled weakly at her, then they went back to the horses.
Van Helsing remembered almost nothing of the trip to the small village. He didn't need his eyes to guide his horse, he simply followed Anna's presence. Although in reality he had only known her for a very short time, she was such a deep part of him, and he instinctively knew where she was going. He just let his soul follow her.

He found his soul calling out for a missing part of it. The friendly, warm presence that had been Carl, so subtle in life as not to be noticed, was now gone, and its absence was painful. His soul's cries echoed out hopelessly over the Transylvanian landscape, calling for something that would never come home, and he lost himself in them as they journeyed.

The villagers seemed to have known they would come, because most of them were waiting outside. Van Helsing pulled himself out of his reverie and moved his horse up beside Anna's, steeling himself for the usual response. The townsfolk were unusually quiet, however, as they rode through their mist. Their silence was almost worse than accusations. Say it, say it already. Call me a murderer and be done with it.

"Is Dracula dead?" asked one terse farmer, a grizzled man with scars all across him.

"The terror that was known as Count Vladislaus Dracula is no more." Anna confirmed loudly. A cheer rose up from the people. "The Valerious line has been saved, and so have the people of Transylvania! And of the world!" She cried along with them. And then, as the calls and celebration ebbed, she turned to Van Helsing. "And it would not have been possible without Mr. Van Helsing." She said softly, reaching out to brush ehr fingers across his cheek.

"What's this, what's this I hear?" Called a voice from within a nearby house. The crowd turned to see a middle-aged woman and her teenage daughter emerging.

"Mama, you should not be out of bed so soon after labor!" The daughter chided.

"I don't care!" The woman puffed. "I heard shouts of joy! What has come to pass as I gave birth to my son?" Now they could see that the daughter held a tiny, struggling bundle.

"Dracula has been vanquished!" Crowed the swaying mass of people.

"On the day of my son's birth!" The woman almost wept with joy. "Who did the deed?"

"It was Van Helsing." Anna spoke, moving her horse out of the way to reveal the tall, dark man. The woman approached shyly, the baby in her arms.

"You killed Dracula? Truly?" She asked. Van Helsing nodded. "Thank you sir! And thank God that this child has lived to see a brighter sunrise!" Her voice turned shy and quiet again. "Might we name him for the man who brought that brilliant dawn?" She asked, holding up the baby.

"No..." Van Helsing whispered as he dismounted, cradling the child. Anna stood beside him and leaned her head against his shoulder to better see his face. "Name him for a man far braver than I." One of his tears fell on ehr upturned face. So many emotions were written in his eyes: pain, hope, love, despair, darkness, light. Gradually, a single expression overtook them all: a smile. "Name him Carl."
A/N-- ....Well what was I supposed to do?!?! Have Carl get wrapped in a big wolf-hug and be held by a sweaty, barely-clothed Van Helsing afterwards?!?! I mean, I love the pairing, but STILL! Anyways, I hope that chappie wasn't too long... and no this isn't the end of the story!!!