A/N-- Wow... that last chapter took it out of me... anyways, I need to ask all of you a question: do you think this is dragging on too long? I have two plans for this story: the first one involves anywhere from four-six more chapters and Carl's death. The other would end the story in the chapter after this. I like either one, and I was just wondering which yall wanted....

Thanks to all my lovely reviewers! They get more M&M's:

HyperCaz()- If Carl was only second, was Van Helsing first? Cuz I was an inch away from killing him, but then Carl got the axe. And yes, I know I'm evil.... here, have some more M&M's!
Dare()- Wait, come back! I'm responding to your review! Anyways, you'll see as to whether or not dearest Carl comes back... and a trio without a third person is a duo:-) I'm glad that you're happy Anna lived... And this isn't the last chapter (dun dun dun) it could be the second to last, however.
Lovely()- Thank you, I AM an evil person! --beams-- I'm glad you enjoyed the kiss scene... I spent an ungodly amount of time on it, but it was fun! And- well, this chapter will start to reveal what Van Helsing will do about Carl's death...
Anthem82()- Yes, moment of silence for Carl... I'm glad you liked that chapter. It was one of my favorites!
Allora- OMG, your review had me rolling around on the ground in laughter! Yea, I just couldn't bring myself to kill Anna again. I gave all of you M&M' just so you'd be too busy eating to try and kill me... And yes, I did nearly swoon when Van Helsing changed back into a human covered in sweat and in minimal clothing!!! And that sequel sounds promising... LOL.
Celia()- I actually like Carl/Gabriel's, but this one isn't one of those! And thanks for pointing that out about the author's notes, I hadn't noticed their frequency.
HealerAriel- Yea, I thought naming the baby Carl was a nice touch.... and who knows? I believe in reincarnation too!
Doris()- Wow, I'm glad you liked that chapter! Well you aren't special and you can't see her almost kiss him again!! I can!! LOL. That whole 'someone-has-to-die' thing is one of my favorite themes to explore in writing... there will always be fatalities in war, that's the way it is. And I thought it was good Stephen Sommers upheld that, so I wanted to preserve it. And I'll miss writing this...

Okay, read this chapter and remember to tell me if you want me to cut the story off after one more chapter or if you want the 'extended' version!

Chapter 16:
Home, Hollow Home

While Anna had been enchanted with the sight of the sea, her stomach wasn't all too happy with its rolling gait. She was utterly miserable throughout their trip across the Adriatic, and that mood certainly complimented Van Helsing's. In a day, he would speak scarce 20 words to her... which worked, since if she tried to say something back, she had to find a bucket first.

Of course, Van Helsing had always been a quiet man. He was used to his solitude, day one had told her that. But something had changed in him, snapped. Before he had been quiet, but he had radiated a kind of aura, a strong physical and spiritual presence that set him apart and drew her to him. Now that aura was much weaker, as if something had greatly weakened it. But she had been forced to let it go. Not all wounds bleed, and some have to heal on their own.

When they reached Vatican City, he changed again. Now instead of seeming disbelieving, often standing long, expectant hours at Carl's side as though waiting for him to leap up again, he seemed resigned. But not defeated. He was far from that.

"Bless me father, for I have sinned." He said as he knelt in the confessional. He and Anna waited for almost twenty minutes before a squat monk arrived.

"So sorry Mr. Van Helsing. We still can't find the Cardinal, and no one thought that you'd be back from Romania so no one thought to wait here." He puffed as he opened the grate and led them to the secret staircase. "But then I thought I'd come up an check anyway.. most of us do every half hour or so." He chattered on as they descended. "I take it this is Princess Anna?"

"Yes." Anna replied, looking about herself. "This is impressive." She remarked as they came into the main room.

"Isn't it? We- what's that you've got?" The monk stopped midsentence and stared at Van Helsing. He was holding a large black bundle in his arms; as the cloth covering his face fell away, the others could tell it was Carl.

"Good God, he's-?" The monk stopped short, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"He's dead." Van Helsing confirmed quietly. At first only the people directly around them froze, but like a disease it spread through the whole room, until they were all gaping at Gabriel and Anna, unsure of what to do. If anything, it was Van Helsing who was supposed to come home dead. Not Carl.

"How?" asked one nearby priest in a faltering voice. Van Helsing closed his eyes and was about to say it when Anna intervened.

"My brother, Velkan. He was turned into a werewolf and killed Carl." She supplied quickly. She was afraid that if the Order knew Van Helsing killed Carl, they might kill him or turn him out onto the streets where, as Europe's most wanted man, he would be just as dead. Van Helsing looked at her briefly, but said nothing. He knew it probably hurt for her to have to frame her brother, and didn't want to belittle that.

"God rest his soul." The monk that had led them in murmured, crossing himself. The others around them did likewise, bowing their heads. "Shall we take care of him now?" He asked kindly.

"Yes." Van Helsing replied with hesitance, handing the black bundle with greatest care to a small party that was formed. As they took Carl away, he stood and watched. He took a half-step, as though meaning to follow, but Anna laid a hand on his arm.

"You have been with him all this time, and you will be there when he finally goes." She said quietly. "It cannot be good to spend so much time with the dead. Come and be among the living for a while."

"You are right." Van Helsing said with a weighted sigh.

"I know you might wish to be in morning, sir," said a timid Friar that had often worked with Carl. "But you should report of the mission to Cardinal Kokolios. He's taken over in Cardinal Jinette's disturbing absence."

"I expected that. Where is he?" He asked, fighting the urge to rub his eyes.

"In Cardinal Jinette's office." The Friar replied before scuttling away again.

"I shall go with you." Anna declared, keeping pace with Van Helsing as he made his way through the familiar catacombs.

"It's nothing important." He said blandly. "I'm lucky they're even having me report. Normally it's 'good you're alive, here's what we want you to kill next now hop to it.'" A smile spasmed across Anna's face, but she held it back, abruptly unsure of whether she was supposed to laugh or not. Van Helsing noticed and gave her a smile.

"I'm sorry my moods have been so hard to read lately." He said quietly as they paused in the corridor outside the Cardinal's office. "I should feel bad... you lost your brother and your father to Dracula and showed much less emotion than I am."

"No, you should feel proud that you can show your emotions." She replied, taking both his hands.

"Speaking of Prince Velkan... why did you lie about Carl's death?" He asked in a low voice, not meeting her eyes.

"Because I didn't know what their reaction would be. I wouldn't want them to kill or forsake you." She said firmly, her grasp on his hands tightening slightly. "I'd understand if you wanted to tell just your leader or a select few, but not in front of all those people. You could not defend yourself against so many."

"Are you implying that I'd just fight back and kill them too?" He asked with sudden sharpness, jerking his hands out of hers.

"No, but you would defend yourself. If you didn't I'd be disappointed in you for not standing up to be counted." She shot back.

"Standing up to be counted as a murderer?" He raised his voice slightly. "I've already been counted a hundred times for that. And maybe right now that murderer feels like dying!" Anna froze, watching as Van Helsing turned away.

"Please don't say that." She whispered finally. "I have nothing Van Helsing. My family is all gone. Dracula was my only reason to breathe. I lived to kill him. And now... I don't know what to do with my life. I was hoping I could find that here." She took a deep breath; it shuddered out unsteadily, punctuating her next words with nervousness. "And I was hoping that somehow I could work you in to that. Please... don't take that away."

There was a tense moment of silence, and then Van Helsing turned back around.

"I'm... sorry, Anna. I've been a bit of a bastard lately." He said quietly.

"Dracula must've rubbed off on you." She said with a soft laugh.

She stepped a little closer, her hands resting lightly on Van Helsing's forearms. He knew she expected a kiss, but all he could do was wrap his arms around her. He found himself a little love-shy now; the last two times he had let his love for the amazing woman she was get out of hand people around him had suffered. She didn't seem unhappy with the warm embrace either, resting her head on his shoulder. He leaned his head against hers and rested his existence for a moment, letting go of his weariness and pain, but then he drew back.

"You should stay here while I talk to Cardinal Kokolios." Van Helsing said.

"All right." She sighed, leaning against the wall.

Shaking his head, he knocked and, without waiting for an answer, entered the room.

"Who is there?" Asked a sharp voice. Van Helsing almost winced; he had only met Cardinal Kokolios a few times and didn't like him very much. He was a strict, unforgiving leader, and while Cardinal Jinette had also been rather strict, it had been in an almost paternal manner. This was pure harshness. "Gabriel." He said curtly. "I was in the middle of prayers. You should've waited outside.

"I have come to speak of my mission Father, and I wanted to do so as quickly as possible. I am tired and I have... other things to attend to." Van Helsing trailed off. He could face any amount of monsters you threw at him, but this Cardinal would never cease to terrify him.

"Then tell me what happened and be done with it. Did you destroy Dracula?" He asked briskly, seating himself at the desk.

"Yes, he was destroyed. Velkan Valerious-"

"One question at a time." The Cardinal interrupted. "Now what about the Valeriouses?" Van Helsing almost gaped in disbelief. What was the point of that whole interruption?

"Velkan Valerious was turned into a werewolf and I was forced to kill him once he was under Dracula's thrall. Princess Anna is alive and well. In fact, she's waiting outside." He replied.

"Why did you bring her back?"

"Because so she wished." Van Helsing said tiredly.

"Very well then." The Cardinal said. He looked back down at the papers on his desk and for a minute or two completely ignored Van Helsing. Then he looked up and saw that the monster hunter was still standing there. "Why are you still here? There are no pressing matters now, so you may retire. I will send Friar Carl for you once something arises."

"Father, there is something else you should know." Van Helsing pressed. Cardinal Kokolios looked up again, irritated. "Friar Carl... did not survive the mission."

The Cardinal bowed his head and began to murmur in Latin, a prayer Van Helsing recognized. Despair and self-hate filled his being in that moment, crushing him with their weight. He could not bear to tell that overbearing scarlet clown how Carl died. He couldn't. Without thinking, he whirled out of the room and back into the hall. He would've slammed the door shut, but his trembling arms would not allow it. All the strength he had worked for years to build up seemed gone as he leaned against the wall, his heart beating wildly. Now he understood Anna's fear for him...

"Van Helsing?" Speak of the devil. Anna was standing before him. "How did it go?"

"Fine. I told him what happened." He replied, having to fight viciously to keep a stutter out of his voice.

"Did you tell him how?" She asked with a slight raise of her eyebrows.

"They'll probably be cleaning out Carl's room. I should go help." Van Helsing said suddenly, breaking away from the wall and Anna. She sighed as she watched him go. She knew by his strong, fast pace that he did not intend for her to follow. By Hell, she swore to herself. when did I ever listen to a man? A soft, resigned sigh puffed out of her lips. It wasn't in her to agitate him again. Starting today I guess....
No one had touched Carl's medium sized room recently. Van Helsing knew it would be so. He knew that most people were too afraid to approach the Friar's room, unsure of what they'd find. They would expect him to clean it out, because he knew the eccentric man best and would know what to keep and what to destroy.

I want to keep all of it...

There was a small cot with a warm woolen comforter in one corner and a square, well washed window on the wall it rested against. At the foot of the bed was a shelf unit he had designed and built into the corner himself; the part that touched the bed was a bookcase, and the adjoined part was a closet. The floor was bare except for a circular rug, worn with much pacing. Ink stains covered the rest of the boards.

Underneath the window was a nightstand of rough wood. On top of it was a washbasin and a small black Bible; a rosary was dripped across it. But for a thin layer of dust, it was kept remarkably clean. That was more than Van Helsing could say for the rest of the room. The walls could scarcely be seen, because they were all covered in various pieces of paper, the plans for inventions. A large desk was opposite the bed, and not a single inch of it could be seen. It was covered in journals, notebooks, loose pieces of paper, crumpled pieces of paper, ripped pieces of paper, blank pieces of paper. Similar items littered the floor all around.

Van Helsing knelt in the middle of all the chaos, unsure of where to start. It felt like sacrilege to even consider moving any of it. They were a part of Carl, and he would have to disturb it. Feeling like a child who had been scolded for breaking a window on accident and was now told to pick up the pieces, he forced himself to start with the papers on the desk.

He began to make neat piles of them in some of the free space on the floor. Every time he came across a notebook, he laid it in a different pile. A ball of twine was found hidden behind one of those, and he used it to bind up the now towering stacks of paper. He brushed his hand across the ragged edge of one paper he retrieved; it reminded him so much of Carl it hurt. He was basically talking to himself on paper, writing about his ideas for the powder that created a flash of light. Look, there was an ink splot where once his pen had rested too long...

Gabriel forced himself to add it to a pile. Now the shards of glass were beginning to cut.

There was something mindless in the work after a while, and he began to lose himself in it. After the desk was cleaned and he had moved the piles onto the bed, he began to take down the drawings on the wall, making similar piles. It looked like Carl had been working on improvements to the Tojo blades and the gas-powered crossbow, and smoothing out some of the impracticalities of the rapid firing gun that Van Helsing wanted so badly. Next came the books and the clothes, lain with utmost care on top of one another on the nightstand and around it.

When his work was done, he sat in the sterile clean of Carl's room. Now even IT felt dead. Putting back all that cheerful clutter would bring it alive again, he realized. And then he began to think about something...
For a solid hour, Anna gave Van Helsing his space by wondering the Order's catacombs. As that mark passed, she realized how pointless it was to be doing so. None of it made sense without someone to tell her about it. Her passionate independence made her hate to admit it, but it she wanted to start her new life here, she'd need Van Helsing's help.

"Excuse me." Anna called, stopping the large priest at the forge. "Could you tell me where the late Friar Carl's room is?

"Oh aye, it's just down the hall, up a flight of stairs through the cellar into the abbey and on the second floor. I think it's the middle room on the left side." He shook his head. "Shame 'bout him. Young man, brilliant man. Would ye like some boxes to help clean out his room?"

"Sure." She replied. The priest gave her two huge wooden crates. "Thank you." She said around them, then she set off.

It wasn't hard at all to find Carl's room once she was in the abbey; Van Helsing had left the door open. He was sitting in the middle of the room, chin on his hands, staring off into space. All the contents of the room, in neat stacks, were around him. He was surrounded by the pieces of a broken world.

"Van Helsing?" She asked tentatively. He started and then looked her way. It was hard to see her from behind the crates.

"Did they send me some walking boxes to help?" He jocularly asked.

"No, I came on my own." She giggled as he took a crate. "Want me to put some stuff away?"

"Yes. We'll put the clothes and books in one; the Order can still use those. We'll put all his papers, notebooks and drawings in the other. It'll take us a while to sort through the papers... I mean me." He quickly ammended. "You don't need to help if you don't want to."

"Why would I not? In a way, Carl gave his life for me. Caring for his legacy is the least I can do." She said in a firm tone. Silently, they packed the two crates. When they were done, Anna sat on the bed and watched Van Helsing lean against the opposite wall, looking out the window. She felt the sudden need for conversation. There was so little she knew about him.

"What's your first name?" She asked without warning. "I mean it seems a little silly... I've been calling you Mr. Van Helsing the whole time."

"Gabriel is my first name." Van Helsing replied quietly.

"Gabriel..." She said slowly, rolling the name around her tongue. "I like that name." He smiled gently, but said nothing She sighed inwardly and started again. "What's your favorite color?"

"You know, I never really thought about that." He laughed. "I don't have one. Or maybe I do and I just don't remember."

"Well maybe I can help... red?" She asked, watching for a reaction.

"Nope. Reminds me of blood." He said with a shake of his head.

"Green?"

"Nope. It's the opposite of red."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Anna asked with confusion.

"No because it reminds me of red which reminds me of blood."

"You aren't making this easy. Yellow?"

"Do I have to tell you why I don't like that?" Anna rolled her eyes at his boyishness.

"Black?"

"Too dark. Reminds me of Dracula."

"Blue?"

"No."

"Well what the hell is wrong with blue?" She quipped, her hands on her hips.

"Black and blue remind me of bruises!" He chortled. Anna stood and slapped his arm.

"You're a very violent man, Van Helsing!" She grinned. "Gabriel..." She added quietly a moment later.

"Analiese used to say my name like that." He whispered. They were so close, but then she stepped away.

"Forgive me. I did not mean to bring up painful memories." She said a little shortly.

"You could not help it." He sighed, retrieving one of the creates. Anna cursed inwardly. She had destroyed the momentary joviality she had worked to bring to him. "We'll take both crates o my room and start sorting the papers." He remarked dully as she picked up the other crate and followed him out of the room.

Van Helsing's room was in the very back of the Order's catacombs. The mostly uninhabited place was dark save for two candles that he lit, which revealed a black cot in the corner, a nightstand, and a desk. Even with Van Helsing seated at the desk and Anna on bed dividing the papers between them, evening came and they were only halfway through the stack. It was probably because Van Helsing insisted it be very neatly and painstakingly separated. Diagrams and drawings had to be put in order as best they could and, if possible, but with any corresponding notes. The papers and journals were stacked according to their subject matter and their age. Conversation was minimal, occurring only when one needed the other's help placing this or reading that. so when Van Helsing spoke up Anna was a little surprised.

"It's getting late." He said., standing and picking up the crate of clothes and books. "I'm going to go give these to the other priests... want me to help you find a room?"

"Sure..." she said, languidly stretching as she stood too. They found a room at the opposite end of the hall Van Helsing's room was down, and there they bid each other a cordial good night.

Van Helsing continued on his way, into the main cavern. Even though night was fast coming, activity showed no sign of slowing. This place took no notice of time. That was well, he supposed, for a place and people that did not exist. The creatures he fought saw more of life and the sun, he thought with a little contempt.

"Here. I have some of Friar Carl's things I thought you might still find useful." He said to a couple of Carl's apprentices he pulled aside.

"Thank you, sir." One said, taking the books off the top. His fellow removed the clothes.

"You should take the books to the library. Unless they have his name in them, they were just 'permanently borrowed.'" Supplied the other as the first put the books back in the crate.

"I'll do that." Van Helsing replied. "Some time tomorrow I might be back with some diagrams and notes on inventions he was working on for you."

"We'll wait until then to see you again." Said the first. With that, they scurried off.

No doubt to be rid of his clothing somewhere. Van Helsing thought bitterly. They are so quick to do so. They are always ready to accept the death of someone like me, they would not be frightened if I died. Because at some point, I'm not supposed to come home. But they are never prepared for someone like Carl, one of their own, to leave them. That's just not how it works. So now they don't want contact with his things, like he contracted some rare disease and they're afraid they might catch it.

But then he thought of how quick he'd been to clean out Carl's room. Was he eager to do away with all traces of the man, trying to hide his guilt for murdering him? He justified his quickness to clean the room as a way to get some alone time. To be away from Anna? Was he trying to push away what he had fought so long for? Was Carl's sacrifice in vain?

He forced himself not to think about it any more. He would go to the library and lose himself among the memories of his oldest and dearest friend, whether they were unwanted or no.

The library was quiet, with only its curator, kindly Father Anderson, present. He had already heard of Carl's death, and thanked Van Helsing for the return of the books.

"I was fond of him." The older man sighed. "Very cheerful, always in here. And never returning his books!" He harrumphed, then laughed. "But I liked him all the same. Made me like him more, it seemed. Just another of his quirks. Would you mind putting those books back for an old priest?"

"Of course, Father." Van Helsing murmured listlessly, moving to a candlelit table. He found himself wishing Anna was there. Her graceful presence softened the light, dulled the pain, brightened the world. But she was sleeping now, and he was alone but for his haunting demons.

Locating a piece of parchment and a quill (Father Anderson was a nostalgic man) he wrote down all the names of the books in case the apprentices/helpers in Carl's lab needed them later. As he reached the bottom of the stack, they began to involve ancient history, attempts at immortality, and times itself. There, at the very bottom, was the fateful book itself that allowed them to turn back time, taken from the magic-user's house after she died.

Some titles he vaguely remembered being mentioned in Carl's notes, and he removed these. After making a separate list of the ones he assumed involved their time traveling adventure, he put the unrelated ones back. His coat had enough ingenious pockets in it to take the others back out...

"Mr. Van Helsing." said a dry, fricative voice. Caught off his guard, the monster hunter whirled to see a disdainful Cardinal Kokolios.

"Yes Father?" He asked stiffly.

"You never told me the nature of Friar Carl's demise." asked the cold-hearted man.

"You never asked." Van Helsing spat back. Drawing his coat, now a snug home to six volumes involving time, he exited quickly. All that night, he would study them as Carl must have. Hopefully, he would find a way to restore happiness to the void his 'home' had become.
A/N-- What will Van Helsing do with Carl's notes on time travel? What will Anna do with her new freedom? And what will the Cardinal do when he finds out how Carl died?!?

I dunno. Do you?