A/N-- Wow! I was very shocked to wake up to reviews this morning! I had expected all my lovely reviewers to forget about me.... M&M's to those that didn't!

kydasam- I was a bit shocked to see you here! I'm trying to remember if you read Ripples in Time or not... Oh, I worked some more on ATF last night and if I do a little more today I might be able to get it up by tonight.
(1st review)
Wow! Comparing me to Stephen King! I had a lot of fun writing that chapter... it was meant to be eerie and leave you wondering. I guess I succeeded!
(2nd review)
I can completely picture Van Helsing blushing!!! He'd have the best blush! I'm willing to bet that he's rarely embarrassed, but when he is it's just AWFUL! That was another chapter that was all too much fun to write... I just let myself go on that one. I wish i could write a whole fic like that.... but my inner angst calls out for some, well... angst.
(3rd Review)
HA! I GOT YOU! JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE! Sorry, everyone was all flipping out over the ending of the chapter and you fell for it too! --dancing with self-- It is most definitely karma for all the heart attacks you've given me! I actually favor my heart attack endings more than my heart attack openings, though.
Thanks for saying I have a gift for humor! I've been told that quite often. It's surprising, I write all this dark stuff, but I'm really a very happy-go-lucky person!
A nice ghostly bar maid for Carl to play with... --wipes away tear of laughter-- oh god, that one was good.
(4th review)
I'm glad you liked the scene in the village... I was afraid that one wouldn't come out right. I really love putting human emotion into the story because I know it captures me and it makes it more fun for me to write... and also because it makes it more real.
(5th review)
I can't tell you happy your comments on Cathy made me (and her!) She's one of my most beloved OC's and I was so afraid she'd come off wrong, or that she'd rub people the wrong way, because she definitely has a strong personality. But you described her perfectly, which means I portrayed her well! Thank you!
Hollysgirl- Long time no see! I actually had stopped writing for a while... but Van Helsing came out on DVD and a friend of mine started "peer pressuring" me into finishing this:-) So hopefully updates will be more regular now. I'm really glad that you like Cathy too!
Cathy: M&M'S!!!!!! --leaps on M&M's and guards jealously-- Mine! Mine! All mine! She likes me! Therefore I get them!!!! --gobbles M&M's-
Verona: --smacks forehead and shakes head-- you'll never change.
Irish Anor- Ahh! Another reviewer I had missed greatly! --glomps--
's okay, didn't expect you to remember everything that happened after I waited so long. And your review was hilarious! Then again, when are your reviews NOT insane and wonderful to read? Here's the update!
WackyD- Thanks for your review, it really bolstered my confidence. You've praised all the things I was worrying about! Unfortunately, you probably are going crazy! No, Cathy and Carl will probably just be what my friend Isak has termed "friends that communicate well" (translation: friends that flirt but never intend to go anywhere with it) or maybe even just friends. Hope I didn't burst a bubble!
Anthem82( )- Yay! I am not forgotten! Thanks for the review!
HyperCaz- Yay! One of my favorite reviewers has returned!
I'll be buying Van Helsing on DVD very soon... I've already rented it twice, but I'm kinda broke now so I have to wait. I'm sure it'll help me, though!

On with the show!


Chapter Five:
Trust and Suspicion

"Wow. And I thought I was lucky I found a nice cave to live in." Cathy murmured fervently as they came upon the Valerious Manor. They had traveled all that night from the village and the sun was just now beginning to broach the horizon.

"Let's get inside! I want to see if it's as cool as in the movie!" She cried, sprinting up the slope towards the front door.
Anna and Van Helsing exchanged glances, laughing and following. Carl had disappeared with the moon, not to be seen for a little bit, at least.

Anita nearly fell over with shock when she opened the door and the small, lithe woman bolted right past her and into the house.

"Who's that?" She asked as Gabriel and Anna approached, comfortably hand in hand.

"To tell you the truth, Anita, we don't really know either." She shook her head, still smiling as they entered.

Cathy had made a beeline for the weapons room, seeming to know exactly where it was, and was sitting there when they arrived.

"Some pretty cool stuff you've got."

"Thank you." Anna replied. At that moment, Carl reappeared. As it was daylight, they could only see the faintest of smoky outlines; it was moonlight that made him appear whole and so real you could touch his silver body.

"Oh, you should come back to my lab if you really want a surprise." The Friar wasted no time in saying.

"Can I play with the Glycerin 48?" She asked with a sly smile.

"Well, I suppose-"

"Carl, do you listen to every conversation we have in this house?" Van Helsing asked, hands pushing back his coat and bracing themselves on his lower back.

"Sometimes." The Friar admitted with a shrug. The Hunter shook his head. "I do have a reason for being here today, though."

"What?"

"Research."

"Of course." Anna joined in. "The inscription we found. But it was so vague, Carl."

"Not when you put it in context." He turned- or they guessed he did, it was so hard to see -to Cathy. "You said we were dealing with priests and priestesses, right?"

"Well, yea." She shifted from one foot to the next, hands disappearing into her trench coat.

"Then we only need to research about goddesses, and any that vampires might worship. Maybe there'll be prophecies, or something. Legends at the very least. It never hurts to be prepared." "No." Gabriel said, his dream coming suddenly to his mind and giving him chills. "No, it never does."


"Found anything yet?" Anna asked, reentering the library with a tray of coffee Anita had made for them.

"No." Van Helsing and Cathy said instantaneously. Van Helsing was leaning up against a wall, a book cradled in his hands. Carl was impossible to see, but judging from the rapidly turning pages of the book on the desk, he was somewhere over there. Cathy was sitting upside down on a couch she had pulled up to the wall, staring tiredly at a book. She flipped over when Anna offered her coffee and took it, but after a couple sips didn't seem particularly interested in that either.

"Nothing?" Anna pressed in vain after handing a coffee to Gabriel and taking a seat next to Cathy.

"The answer hasn't changed, you know." Anna rolled her eyes; Carl was definitely by the desk somewhere.

"Well, let's stop looking at the books a minute and think about what's going on." She instructed. Van Helsing and- unseen -Carl looked up, knowing that tone of voice. "There's been a rise in vampire and werewolf numbers." "And activity." The Hunter added.

"Which could mean that we have another vampire leader on the rise." Carl continued.

"And now we have reason to assume they're female." Anna concluded.

"And not a goddess at all." Cathy rushed to finish, as though determined to be a part of this whole powwow too.

"Well, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss that." The Friar piped up. His chair creaked and they assumed he was standing.

"Earlier, I did find an interesting reference to-"

"Argh!" There was the sound of something shattering and some choice swearing as Cathy leapt to her feet, staring down at her lap. Apparently, she had spilled her coffee and dropped the mug in surprise.

"Sorry." She muttered. "Bit of a klutz, you know..."

"It's fine, I'll have Anita clean it up." Anna dismissed.

"Maybe we should do that now, before it soaks into the rug." Cathy replied, pointing to the stain slowly sinking into the plush, soft thing at their feet. The colors were just right so that it looked like blood. The Gypsy Princess made some noncommittal sound of agreement and was about to hurry off when she looked back at the other woman. She was bent over slightly, just enough so that her coat fell open and her newly cleaned shirt leaned forward in the front. She caught the glint of something underneath, the gleam of metal or jewel.

"What is...?" Cathy straightened easily and gave Anna a queer look.

"What's what? It's just a stain. I'm sorry I made it, but some things can just be beyond our control, sometimes." There was something about her voice... something about the way she said those words that defied description. It was almost dangerous, almost pleading, almost angered and almost pained all at once. Her face was carefully blank, but there was a hidden play of emotions in those golden eyes, so quick that you couldn't tell what they were. The two men could not help but look to her as well.

"I'll... just get Anita then." Anna finished somewhat dumbly, heading back out into the hall. She frowned as she went.


Gabriel's head went up immediately when Anna reentered the room, and he smiled warmly at her. Cathy was curled up on the couch, looking mostly asleep. He had been watching her, but now he had eyes only for his gypsy.

"You didn't go and die again, did you?" He joked lightly, an eyebrow quirked.

Anna smiled appreciatively at the joke. It had taken them a long time to be able to speak easily about that subject.

"Unfortunately for you, no." She smirked. He closed his book with a faint snap and put it on a nearby table, standing as she approached. She nodded to Cathy. "How long has she been asleep?"

"Not too long. I'm surprised she didn't fall asleep earlier, though. Those wounds were nasty. Oh, and Carl's gone. He went off to check on some reference he found earlier..."

"Mmm..." Anna mumbled, letting Van Helsing draw her into his arms. So warm, so safe, so strong. Together, they could take on the world and win with time to spare. There was no doubting that. She let him tip her head backwards, and was about to let him kiss her, when suddenly she pushed him away. "You distract me too easily." She shot, feigning disgust. "I almost forgot that I had something for you."

The Hunter just raised an eyebrow, planting his hands on his hips and an expectant look on his face. She mimed him, her expression far more serious, and then broke out into soft laughter. Nearby, Cathy grumbled and peeked out from her arms, hissed, then rolled over so she was facing the couch and pulled her coat over her head. They caught some muttered insults to the light in the room and only laughed harder, trying to still stay quiet enough so as not to disturb her anymore.

"We wouldn't want to scare her away, now would we?" Van Helsing said with faint graveness. "After all, she still has to save you."

"Gabriel," She warned. "I don't like this overprotective streak. Soon you won't trust me at all and that will be a problem. You need to trust me to take care of myself, alright?" He nodded mutely. Their mood was suddenly sullen.

"I will not lose you again." He whispered, half to himself. "I won't." Anna reached into her pocket and drew out a silver ring.

"Here." She whispered, folding it into his hand. Gabriel picked it up with his other one and held it up to the light; the band formed two hands that held a heart, on top of which was a crown. It should've been plain, since it was all silver and a little worn, but there was something beautiful about it.

"It was my father's." She explained softly. "It's an Irish claddagh... the hands mean friendship, the crown means loyalty, and the heart means love. Or something like that. I want you to keep it with you always. It doesn't matter whether you wear on your hand or on a chain or just keep it in your pocket... but keep it with you always, to remind you that I love you and I trust you. And let it remind you to trust me."

"Thank you." Van Helsing said with a faint, unconscious smile. Carefully, he slid the ring onto his right hand, having taken his gloves off when they returned.

"Not that way!" Anna cried. He jumped back a little, startled, and Cathy let out an anguished groan and flipped over under her coat, curling up and covering her ears. "You don't wear it that way!" She admonished, pulling the ring off and turning it around, putting it back on so that the point of the heart faced in towards the knuckle. Before, he'd had the heart pointing out. "The heart points in to show that you're taken. And to remind you that you belong to me." There was a certain amount of haughtiness in her voice, balanced by the twinkle in her eye.

"Speaking of owning me, when's this whole ceremony going to take place?" He asked, eyebrow raised.

"Oh, wedding plans!" Anna said with a start, just now remembering.

"I suppose monsters do tend to distract one from trivial things like that."

"Don't start." She warned.

"And I'm guessing I'm still not allowed to give you this look." Gabriel replied with a perfect smirk.

"No, you are not." She said, her crossed arms fitting her cross tone.

"Then how shall I look at you?"

"You know that's not your normal face!"

"What am I doing?"

"Oh God, will you two just stop?" The two verbal sparring partners turned to look at Cathy, who had flung herself into a sitting position. Her hair was rumpled around her face but her gold eyes were all too clear, flashing almost to the point of seeming to change color.

"Sorry to break up the tender moment here, but that is really irritating. Shoot me for a hypocrite cuz I do it all the time but I am really in no mood to be bringing up memories." She snapped. Van Helsing was a bit taken aback by her anger and was about to argue, but Anna was transfixed by the pendant she could see just slipping out of her shirt (which she had termed a tank top.

"That." She said suddenly, pointing to it. "That's what I saw earlier. When you broke the cup." Cathy jerked her shoulder so that the pendant slid back inside her shirt. She said nothing.

"Why did you hide it?" Anna asked sharply. "Let me see."

"Begging your pardon," Anita felt suddenly meek, entering that tension-filled room. "But there's been a report of werewolf attack."

"Urgent?"

"They always are. Off we go." Van Helsing replied, walking swiftly out the door with Anna on his heels. Anita was just leaving when Cathy came out, slouching against the doorframe.

"Look, I'm not feeling too good. Sorry for snapping at you. I should probably just stay here before I cause any problems." She muttered.

"Understood." Anna replied a little coolly. "Hurry. Anita said she'd get the horses ready." Van Helsing nodded and began to follow her, but she was so deep in thought that when he turned back to look at Cathy she didn't notice. The other woman was still standing in the doorway. Her arms were wrapped around her ribs and her gaze was focused on some invisible in front of her, judging by the slight frown on her face. He could see that she was filled with a sudden sense of pent-up longing, that she was missing something deeply and longing for comfort but refusing to admit that longing out loud.

She saw him; her legs uncrossed and she stood straight, arms dropping to her sides. The walls went back up again. He nodded to her and continued on his way.


A/N-- Meh, not too happy with that chapter. I didn't leave enough notes on where I wanted it to go and I completely forgot what I wanted to do with this. I hope everyone likes the business with the Irish claddagh... I love those rings and have one myself. The information might not be accurate. It's just what I've been told and what I looked up briefly last night. Not too exciting, I know, but next chapter will be, I promise! Reviews will keep Cathy and me happy!
Cathy: Oi, leave me out of this!
Me: --glaring --
Cathy: --eyeroll and massive sigh-- Hey. People. Review. I like reviews.
Me: --beaming--