Chapter Nine: Trial by Fire.

Author's Note: Hey…what's up everyone :ducks and cowers underneath computer desk: no one hates me for Jin's situation anymore right? I hope not…anyway, please keep reading…and reviewing because I'd really appreciate it! MUCH LOVE TO EVERYONE!

Jamie awoke under a mountain of blankets, and underneath a comfortably soft mattress. He furrowed his brow as he dreamily wandered where he was…

It wasn't like he had never slept on a bed before…it's just that the feeling felt somewhat alien to him…seeing as how he hadn't been in one in the past two days…

Suddenly, the thoughts came rushing back to him with startlingly cruel clarity…Jin's sacrifice so that Jamie could continue living.

He couldn't lie down like this anymore…he had to figure out where he was…and where were the others…

They probably dumped me off in a motel…afterall, thanks to me their lover, their son, and their rival is gone…and in the vampire's grasp…

Jamie slowly rose from the bed and wiped the sleep from his eyes…he remembered that his shirt had been ripped into unsalvageable threads from the night before…and that chunks of hair and scalp had been ripped from his head…slowly, he ran a hand through the shoulder length, flaxen locks…they had healed.

All of his wounds had healed…

Then, Jamie began to survey his surroundings…and in an instant, he remembered where he was…even though he hadn't been back here since well…since he had first became the Nephilim and had to go through training.

This was the Via de Angelus central headquarters in Vatican City Rome…

He immediately felt a sense of overwhelming dread fill him…and for some reason…he felt like he was on an elevator that was calmly descending into hell.

The higher-ups for the VDA never liked Jamie that much…to them, Jamie was the most recent in a string of Nephilim who didn't take their calling very seriously…the key rule that had been drilled into Jamie's head was that the life of a Nephilim was a life of anonymity, selflessness, sacrifice; simply put, Jamie was to have no friends.

Jamie knew that they didn't like him…and if he had been a crappy Nephilim then they would have had him "taken care of" but one couldn't argue with results…truth be told, Jamie was probably one of the better Nephilim that the VDA had seen in a long time…apparently, the last "great Nephilim" was a young man from England named Christopher "Kit" Bothwell…he had been the Nephilim from 1996 to 1999.

Oddly enough, Kit had, by far, one of the crappiest Nephilim deaths ever…as the story went, he was escaping from a Satanic Cult's church. Explosive charges were set and he was running towards freedom.

As he ran, he dove into a pool that they had on the property…the drain led directly into the sewers where he could run to safety. Only problem was, about fifteen of the cult members were chasing him. Running on pure panic, Kit performed a perfect swan dive into the water…only he had fallen into the shallow end…head first…

His neck broke, and he had become paralyzed…but he couldn't move, so the official cause of death had been by drowning…

Jamie was sure that every Nephilim in Heaven…or wherever people go when they die were up there, looking down at Kit's demise, and yelling: DAMN IT!

The whole fact that Jamie was back in his old room from three years ago was a sobering thought. He looked around the room, and found a pair of old clothes that he had left behind…as well as a few CD's…some of which he had been looking for.

Lately, Jamie had wanted to stay out of the VDA's business…the Vatican was already up in arms over the recent death of their leader Pope John Paul II, Jamie had met him a few times, and he had actually liked the man.

With nothing else to do, Jamie changed into a pair of baggy, blue basketball shorts, and a white tank top. Bravely, he opened the door from his room and walked through the main halls.

Beautiful artwork and sculptures flanked the walls…but Jamie could care less about them…his "Guinness" flip flops (left behind three years ago as well) echoed through the halls as he walked…he needed to find someone…anyone who would tell him why he was here, and where his friends went.

He walked slowly, with his eyes staring down at the marble tile floors…his hair hung around his face and in his eyes…he nervously brushed it behind his ears and he could feel the stares of countless priests…and with his Nephilim hearing, he could hear the whispers.

Apparently, everyone knew about the big Nephilim screw up.

Suddenly, Jamie remembered life before becoming the Nephilim…back in his days of being a Freshman and Sophomore in high school…now, he felt as if he was that scrawny, shy, insecure teenager again…and he hated it.

Finally, one priest did come up to him…he was a cardinal to be precise…Jamie had met him before and he remembered him…vaguely…he was a sweaty, nervous kind of man…hiding behind huge coke bottle glasses…he had the disposition of a cockroach and the resemblance of one too.

"Mr. Parker?" He asked timidly.

"Yeah?" Jamie asked. "I mean…yes?" He asked in a slightly more polite tone.

"I'm so glad that you're awake…there's a meeting in the main library to discuss the latest…turn of events…you're actions certainly have created plenty of precedent…" The priest said in a patronizing tone.

Normally, Jamie would have fired back with a sarcastic retort…but today he couldn't think of any that would suffice.

And so, he followed the priest through the halls and into a beautifully ornate library. It was tastefully decorated in various shades of soothing, varnished oaks and cedars. A beautiful skylight filtered in the early morning sun and washed against the countless rows of books.

In the center of the library was a massive oak table and sitting at it…were Hwoarang, Xiaoyu, Julia…and Kazuya…

They all looked up as Jamie walked into the room.

"Jamie…" Julia said with a forced, pained smile.

"What's going on?" Jamie asked warily. "Is this some kinda intervention?" He finished with a nervous chuckle.

"No," Kazuya stated in his signature low voice. "This is a confrontation…a confrontation about what happened last night!"

Jamie was stunned by Kazuya's rather brutal honesty…but he knew that he deserved it. Jamie stole a glance at Xiao…who stared down at the oak table…she was picking at her fingernails.

"Why don't you sit down Jamie?" Hwoarang asked.

With some effort, he slouched into one of the wooden chairs and drew his knees underneath his chin. A man wearing red robes entered the room before Jamie could say anything. The Nephilim knew who he was…it was Cardinal Doyle from Ireland…if there was one person on the whole VDA staff that Jamie didn't get along with…then it was this man.

"Well, last night was a complete and utter failure…" He said.

This was probably his warped and twisted way of a greeting.

Jamie glanced up and fired back. "Is your mouth even remotely connected to your brain?"

"Mr. Parker, I'm afraid that now is not the time for your trademark, juvenile sarcasm. Because of you, last night we lost one of our best members…because of you-"

"Now wait a min-" Hwoarang began.

"ENOUGH!" Xiao screamed.

She shouted so loud that everyone stopped what they were doing to look at her…even Cardinal Doyle turned to look at her.

"Blaming eachother won't get us anywhere! First thing's first! We," She glanced over to Julia and Hwoarang and Kazuya. "We decided last night that it wasn't Jamie's fault! Jin was doing what he felt was right! And if Kazuya hadn't stopped him, then Jamie would have laid down his life to protect Jin."

"It was a tough decision that Kazama had to make." Hwoarang reflected.

"But he knew that if Jamie were to die then it would have taken months to find and train Jamie's successor…and it's time we don't have."

"Besides, the Devil inside of Jin is the other half that was inside of myself…those that took Jin will not kill him…and they won't turn him…they're going to exploit the Devil within him…we have time to save him…not a lot of it…but we have some if we keep moving…and quit playing this idiotic blame game." Kazuya finished.

Jamie was amazed and awash with relief that his friends cared about him still.

"Well…where to next?" Jamie asked.

"Well, the next Chakra orb was in the Temple of Kali in India…but an adventurer beat us to it." The Cardinal stated.

Adventurer? Could it be…

Jamie's ears perked up at that bit of information…one of Justin's best friends from high school was an adventurer…a world renowned one at that…27 year old Dimitri Helios…but…he would never work for the bad guys…it didn't make any sense…Jamie realized that he better dip back into the conversation.

"…He's in London England right now…tomorrow, there will be an auction for the orb…unfortunately we don't believe he knows exactly what it does…logic states that Jinpachi's men will try to intercept him on the way."

"So…we protectin' him or what?" Hwoarang asked.

"That won't be necessary…Dimitri's pretty…well, he's more then capable of looking out for himself…" Jamie interrupted.

"Hey, Steve's in England now too…with Christie…he's got a fight in London tomorrow night with Marduk." Xiao said

"Then we need to help them too…I mean that one vampire's pretty relentless…he tried to kill Xiao…he's probably going to gun for them too." Jamie stated.

Suddenly, everyone got quiet and gave uncomfortable glances around the table.

"Jamie," Xiao said. "Last night we did some research on that vampire and Kazuya remembered something…"

"What?" Jamie asked on pins and needles.

"Jamie…that vampire is…you…you from another dimension…" Julia stated.

A million things ran through Jamie's mind but he could only utter one syllable for a response.

"Oh."

Author's Note: Hey, sorry it took so long to update, but my parents decided it was time to lay into a guilt trip real bad…so…yeah…anyway, plz don't hate me and sorry it took so long to update! I LOVE EVERYONE READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!