Warning - we have achieved gargoyles. Probably not a good chapter to read at work or someplace where getting too caught up will get you in trouble...
Though the trip from the restaurant to the abandoned building was short, Carl had begun to feel his nerves coming back. He wished again that someone at the Order had done some research that would have let him better pinpoint the crippling frequency they needed. He was worried that the process would take too long and Van Helsing would not be able to stay out of range of all of the gargoyles. It only would take one lucky swipe for the gargoyles to get him down and Van Helsing was not exactly at top speed right now. Carl tried to take several deep breaths to steady himself but his chest was far too tight to allow it. He sighed and mentally ran algarhythms in his head – his old standby when he needed to clear his head. It did at least give him the illusion of calm, which was good because Van Helsing was giving him a very searching look.
Van Helsing could see the tension in Carl's body and decided to give one last try at keeping Carl out of the building. He waited until Carl had taken his device out of the car and then planted himself in front of him. "I know that it would take me longer to make the device work but I'm willing to chance that if you want to stay out here. This isn't your work, Carl and there's no shame in admitting that."
Carl felt a small flare of annoyance, which he quickly tamped down. He knew this was just Van Helsing being protective of a non-hunter in a dangerous situation. But he was determined to watch the Hunter's back, nerves or no nerves. He had made a pledge to the man – no more going it alone - and he wasn't going to wimp out at the first chance to make good on that promise. He squared his shoulders and said, "It may not have been my work but it is now. We're partners and partners do things as a team. Where you go, I go. That's the deal and I'm not backing out now that we are here. Now what do you say we go in there and take care of these things once and for all." He looked Van Helsing square in the eye to show that he was ready to do this.
Van Helsing could see Carl's determination and a stab of admiration hit him even as the rest of him wanted to push Carl in the car and send him off to safety. The man had guts and loyalty and while he might want to keep him safe, it was clear Carl was not going to let him. Best he could do was make sure that the gargoyles were clearly fixated on him so that they were too busy to notice the other person in the building. He sighed at the flimsiness of that plan and then shrugged and said, "Ok, then. We do this together. " He removed his jacket to free up his movements and gave the tojos one final check before reholstering them. Then giving Carl a nod, he gave one final order.
"Remember, if I tell you to get out of there, I expect you to do it. I'm in charge. Your job is to stay out of sight, out of danger and get the machine to work. Those first two are the most important and if you can't do them, then you get out. I mean it Carl. You've got guts but I'd rather not see them all over the floor." He knew that last part was crude but he was hoping that if he could rattle Carl just a little that maybe he'd consider following an order to run.
Carl winced inwardly at the graphic comment but outwardly showed no signs it had gotten to him. "I'll do my part of the plan, Van Helsing. Now you do yours, which is to distract them while staying well away from them. Note the well away part, Van Helsing. That means you don't let them close enough to do damage. I don't care what's going on, you stay out of range." Carl glared at the Hunter who he knew was going to do something foolish, just because he thought he had to in defense of Carl.
Van Helsing shrugged and said, "I'll do what I have to." When Carl opened his mouth to argue, he just held up his hand and said, "I'm not going to argue about this. You know the plan. I'm going in and you're going to stay 5 feet behind me. You wait for me to call you before you leave the stairwell. When I do, you break from the stair well and make for the pile of debris and hide. You head straight for the pile – no detours. I can't afford to be worrying about you. I need to know that you are safely out of the way."
Carl bit his lip and hedged his bet by saying "I'll keep safe. Now lets get this over with before someone comes along or the damn things try to leave. I'm not going to chase them all over the city."
Van Helsing was less then pleased by Carl's response but also knew it was the best he was going to get. Sending out a silent prayer to whoever watched out for Hunters, he asked that they keep Carl safe and unharmed. Then he squared his shoulders and said "OK, let's do it."
Carl nodded and swallowed against a suddenly tight throat. Silently he prayed "Please. I know I haven't exactly been the most devote man but please watch over Van Helsing. After all, he's doing your work so you should be willing to keep him safe. He's a good man and he deserves to be watched out for. Just give me the strength to be there for him like he needs." He followed a few feet back from the Hunter as they entered the building.
Once inside he had to let his eyes adjust to the gloom. There was light spilling in from the street lamps outside but it was not enough to light the whole interior. Shadows danced along the walls as the two men moved slowly into the building. Carl could see Van Helsing carefully checking out the room, his eyes moving swiftly from corner to corner, checking for danger, his body alert and ready for action. The tojos were now in his hands and Carl knew he was seeing Van Helsing as the Hunter truly was. It was an awe-inspiring sight. The man was like a warrior of old – the perfect balance of skill, intuition and control. There was no doubt of this man's deadliness and Carl felt a wave of gratitude that this man was on his side.
As Van Helsing moved further into the building, his senses were on full alert. He could hear some moving around on the upper floor but continued to make sure that the downstairs was empty and that Carl would have a clear path to safety if need be. Having confirmed that the downstairs was empty, he gestured to Carl and began to make his way to the stairs. He didn't bother to look back, being able to sense that Carl was only a few feet behind him. Giving off one final prayer that Carl remain safe, he reached the bottom of the stairs.
He paused again to listen and could here the scratching noises of the gargoyles stirring as they awoke from their slumber. Carl came up behind him and touched him lightly on the shoulder. Van Helsing leaned so that his face was close to Carl's and whispered "What is it?"
Carl whispered back. "I'm going to start up the machine. The stairwell will stifle its effectiveness but I want to give you as much support as possible as you leave the cover of the stairwell."
Van Helsing nodded and then watched as Carl flipped a switch and a light came to show that it was working. Carl fiddled with a couple of dials and then nodded. Neither man said anything else as Van Helsing climbed the stairwell.
Carl could feel his heart pounding as he watched Van Helsing move closer to danger. He wished he could have gone up first, had a few moments to adjust for response from the gargoyles before the Hunter left the stairwell but he knew that Van Helsing was far too stubborn to allow someone else to take a risk before him. He strained his ears to listen for any noises that might tell him how the gargoyles were responding. As he saw Van Helsing reach the ½ way point on the stairs, he began his own climb. He could feel his breathing picking up as well and tried to force himself to slow. If he hyperventilated, then he would be no use at all.
Van Helsing reached the top of the stair well and could hear the movements of the gargoyles increasing. It was clear that they were almost awake and that he was going to have to make his move quickly if he wanted to catch them unaware. He glanced down at Carl who was ¾ of the way from the top and gave one final nod. He gestured out to let the other man know that he was going to leave the stairwell.
Carl made a sharp negative gesture with his hand. He moved a bit quicker to make it up to where Van Helsing was standing. He didn't want Van Helsing to leave until the machine had a chance to work.
Van Helsing glared down at Carl who was trying to tell him to wait. He knew what Carl wanted but he wasn't going to take the risk that the gargoyles would sense Carl's presence until they were far too occupied with him to go after Carl. He shook his head sharply and gestured again that he was going out. Carl had practically reached the top of the stairs and he was afraid that he might do something foolish.
The decision was taken out of both of their hands as the effects of Carl's machine made themselves known. Bloodcurdling shrieks came from the gargoyles and it was clear that whatever Carl's machine was doing, they didn't like it one bit. The sounds of the gargoyles moving about became louder as the gargoyles were now fully awake and searching for the thing that was bringing them pain.
Van Helsing
At the first shriek, Van Helsing dove from the stairwell, determined to keep the gargoyles from tracking the noise to the stairwell and Carl. Carl called out to him but he ignored it, his every sense on high alert, the Hunter in action.
Racing down what was left of the hallway, he saw the first of the gargoyles clear the room they nested in. It shrieked angrily and came after him. Van Helsing yelled and then dived into one of the damaged rooms, determined to lure the gargoyles away from the hallway so Carl could get into place. He heard the other gargoyles responding to their nest mates call, and backed farther into the room to allow himself space to maneuver.
Carl
The gargoyles' shrieks sent a cold chill down Carl's spine and he swallowed hard as fear washed over him. But then Van Helsing ran from the safety of the stairwell and fear for himself became fear for Van Helsing. It was clear that the frequency he thought would be debilitating was merely annoying and instead of helping the Hunter, he had only made the gargoyles mad. Taking a deep breath, he began to adjust the dials, listening frantically for a response from the monsters. But when he heard the angry shriek and Van Helsing roaring, "come on then, let's do this" he realized that Van Helsing was going to do something monumentally stupid and that he couldn't stay in the stairwell if he wanted to be of any help at all.
Van Helsing
Van Helsing heard the answering calls from the other gargoyles and knew he had their attention. He would pull them all into this room with him and give Carl a clear shot at getting into his hiding place. He moved into a fighting stance as the first gargoyle came into the room. He could hear the sound of the other three as they entered the hallway and made to join their nest mate.
The first gargoyle shrieked again and dove towards Van Helsing. He spun away, the tojo scoring a deep gash into its back as it shot past him. Its cry of pain spurned the other gargoyles onward. He saw a second gargoyle enter the room as he pivoted to give himself a clear view of the room and space to move in.
Carl
Carl heard the sound of the other gargoyles moving about the far side of the building and peered carefully out of the stairwell. He saw a second gargoyle enter the room that Van Helsing was no doubt in and knew he had to act fast. He set the machine down and quickly turned a dial, guessing that a high frequency would create more pain for the gargoyles and slow them down. The gargoyles shrieked even louder then before and Carl heard glass shattering in response. He also heard a thud and afraid that it was the Hunter going down, he grabbed up the machine and sprinted down the hallway.
Van Helsing
The two gargoyles in the room with him shuddered and clawed madly at the air. It would appear that Carl's machine was still working on them though it wasn't really slowing them down. If anything, it was riling them up more. Grimly he moved, trying to find a way inside their defenses. An irate gargoyle nearly caught him with his claws and he had to dive rapidly to avoid it. His not yet healed ribs groaned in protest but he couldn't let up now. A third gargoyle entered the room and Van Helsing was forced to move in rapid dives and lunges to keep out of their way. His tojos were scoring marks along their bodies but not enough to cripple them. As he ducked and weaved, he began to worry – where was the other gargoyle. As he rolled sideways and scored the underbelly of one gargoyle, a horrible thought came to him. What if the other gargoyle had gone after Carl? An icy cold wave of fear washed over him…
Carl
Trying to stay as low to the ground as he could and still run, he dashed up the corridor. He needed to be in a better position for the harmonics of the machine to have maximum effectiveness. He heard more crashes and shrieks from the room where Van Helsing was and his heart leapt up into his throat. There were now three gargoyles in there with Van Helsing and they were angry enough to tear the man to shreds. He sprinted towards the room that had his safe place to hide and was almost to the doorway when he heard a shriek that was not coming from the room where Van Helsing fought. Turning around, he saw a gargoyle standing in the hallway looking right at him. It was the one that Van Helsing had injured but not managed to kill the night they met. It was missing an arm but even with that handicap, it still looked murderous and Carl swallowed hard as he realized that it was going to come after him. Spinning he dashed into the room and dived behind the pile of broken furniture. Setting the machine down, he began to frantically adjust dials. He could hear the angry, pained shrieks of the one armed gargoyle as it moved closer, looking to find Carl and tear him to pieces.
Van Helsing
Van Helsing heard the shriek of the fourth gargoyle and knew that Carl had not been able to make it to his hideout unseen. His mind racing, he realized that he was going to need to somehow make it back out of room he had deliberately lured the gargoyles into if he was going to save Carl. Unfortunately, he had chosen this room precisely because he could easily keep the gargoyles contained and prevent them from getting to Carl. Spinning again, he used his tojo to drive one of the gargoyles back into the other. They snarled at each other and momentarily began to swipe at each other. Van Helsing feinted towards the third and then lunged quickly so that the claws of the third one missed him and scored across the two fighting gargoyles. This caused enough of a distraction that he was able to dive through the door before they caught on. Unfortunately it was not long enough and they were hard on his heels as he sprinted down the hall towards Carl
Carl
Carl could hear the one armed gargoyle getting closer and while his cries sounded pained, it was clearly not enough to stop him. Thinking quickly, he ran through his calculations again. By all rights, this should be near enough to crippling them entirely. Yet from the sounds coming from the monster now less then 10 feet away, his calculations were wrong.
He heard Van Helsing call out to him and realized that the man was coming after him. Knowing that running away from the gargoyles in this enclosed space only increased the chances of the gargoyles managing to claw him, Carl decided that he was going to have to try something drastic. Offering up a quick prayer to the Saint of Geeks and Nerds, he grabbed a dial and twisted it hard….
Van Helsing
Van Helsing ran through the door and saw the fourth gargoyle only a few feet away from Carl's hiding place. Rage filled him and with a savage cry, he launched himself across the room towards the monster.
It heard him and turned towards him, a feral snarl coming from its snout. It recognized the smell of the man who had cut off its arm and it wanted revenge. It also heard its fellow nest mates joining it and knew that it would only be a matter of time before they had man flesh to feast on.
Tojos whirling, Van Helsing attacked the gargoyle, trying to destroy it before it reached Carl. He tried to drive it away from Carl's hiding place but the gargoyle seemed determined not to be budged from its cornered prey. He could hear the other gargoyles charging into the room and knew that time was running out for them. Barely dodging a swipe that was intended to slice open his stomach, he scrambled desperately to find some way to save Carl.
As the other three gargoyles closed in on Van Helsing, he braced himself and prepared to go down fighting…
The gargoyles shrieked so shrilly that in almost dropped Van Helsing to his knees. It was only knowing that he was holding the tojos that kept him from trying to cover his ears. He watched in stunned belief as the gargoyles collapsed around him shrieking and twitching. It was clear that Carl had finally found the magic frequency. Acting quickly before the gargoyles could recover, he quickly struck the heads off them all. Once they were dead, he turned to get Carl only to find him standing there with a large piece of wood in his hands, clearly intending to take action if necessary. The absurdity of it brought a smile to Van Helsing's face. He holstered the tojos and walked across the room to Carl.
Carl threw down the table leg and began to search Van Helsing for injuries. He was terrified that his delay in finding the frequency had lead to Van Helsing getting hurt. "You are covered in gargoyle gunk and I can't tell if you are bleeding anywhere. Did they get you? Should we be heading to a hospital?" Carl circled the Hunter like a nervous puppy and Van Helsing had to grab him by the shoulders to make him stop.
"Carl, I'm fine. I was more concerned about you. Why didn't you wait until I called you before leaving the stairwell? I was trying to get all four into the room with me so you'd have safe passage."
Carl glared at Van Helsing. "Oh yeah, that would be real safe for you. Trapped in a room with four angry gargoyles. I was trying to get to a position where the machine could actually be effective. I think the composition of the walls was damping the harmonics. It was much more effective when I got farther into the building."
"Yes, and you were also in a lot more danger. I thought we had an agreement?" snarled Van Helsing. Now that the immediate danger to Carl was out of the way, he was starting to get angry at Carl's reckless behavior. Damn it but the man was suppose to stay safely out of sight.
Carl was equally as angry. Van Helsing had carelessly rushed into danger rather then give Carl a chance to do his part to lessen the threat and he was not going to apologize for doing what had to be done. He stuck out his chin, glared back at the Hunter and snapped "We did have an agreement. I said that if you gave me an order to leave, that I would. I don't remember hearing any such thing." Crossing his arms across his chest he continued "I know you are use to working alone but you are part of a team now and you have to give me a chance to do what it is that I do best. My machine worked and if you had given me a few more minutes, you would never have needed to get into that room with them at all. The whole point of this is to make you take less risks not more. You aren't out here alone anymore and there is someone here who actually would care if something happened to you." Carl turned away and stormed out the door, his emotions having reached such a pitch that he just couldn't stand there anymore.
Van Helsing looked at the door where Carl had just exited, his face a portrait of shock. He hadn't expected Carl to blow up at him like that. He had been so focused on his own fears for the man that he forgot that Carl would be equally afraid for him. He sighed, his own anger gone and made to follow Carl out. He was going to have to do some apologizing it would seem. He was almost out the door when he heard Carl call back up the stairs "Grab the machine. I left it behind."
Van Helsing was heading back across the room when a police siren suddenly made him pause. Looking at the gargoyle carcasses scattered across the room, he realized he was going to need to call for a clean up crew from the order. Sighing, he finished crossing the room and grabbed the machine. His phone was in the car and he wasn't looking forward to having to talk to Jinette.
He headed quickly down the stairs looking to rejoin Carl. He wanted to apologize before he called Jinette since he knew he'd be in a foul mood afterwards. Reaching the outside, he found Carl sitting in the car staring steadily in the opposite direction of the building. He didn't so much as move when Van Helsing climbed in the car. When Van Helsing handed Carl the machine, he took it without ever looking him. In the light of the street lamp, Van Helsing could see Carl's face, which was a mixture of anger and something else that Van Helsing couldn't identify. Hating this sudden distance between them, he struggled to find the right words to say to make things better.
"Look Carl, I'm sorry. When I heard the gargoyles reacting badly to your machine, my first reaction was to protect you. I was afraid if they made it to the stairwell, that I'd be unable to defend you in the tight quarters. I had every faith your machine would work – if you were given time to use it. I never would have been able to take them out without your help and I'm really grateful that you did this for me." He hung his head, uncomfortable with Carl's lack of response to his apology.
Carl listened to Van Helsing's explanation and realized that it made perfect sense from a Hunter's perspective. You don't allow yourself to get caught in a place where you can't defend yourself. Unfortunately for Carl, that also meant that Van Helsing was likely to do this again. He sighed and made a promise that he was going to look for better ways to protect Van Helsing.
Looking over at Van Helsing for the first time, he saw the man looking down and biting at his lip – a surprisingly vulnerable look for a man who just fought off four gargoyles. Fighting an urge to brush the hair back from the man's face he said quietly "I'm sorry too. I don't think I handled my post-mission tension very well." He gave Van Helsing a small smile and continued. "Neither of us are quite use to handling having to look out for someone else. It's going to take us a little time to adjust but I think it will be worth it. We made a really good team in there. We took out four gargoyles in their nest without casualties or even property damage. That's never been done before. I'd say we've done pretty good for our first time out as a team." He tried to make his smile show that all was well between them
Van Helsing felt a weight off his chest as Carl began talking to him again. When Carl smiled, he felt a smile of his own forming. As tough as tonight had been, Carl was safe and even more surprising, still here. Maybe things were finally looking up for him.
The moment was broken by a car pulling down the street with its radio blaring. Shaken out of his immobility, he looked away from Carl and tried to cover up his embarrassment by saying "Well, shall we get out of here? I think we've had enough fun for one night."
Carl chuckled and said "Yeah, besides, you could really use a shower. You smell like gargoyle." He pretended to hold his nose until Van Helsing laughed.
"Hey, this is what real Hunters smell like. Don't let the movies fool you. We work up a manly sweat." He started the car and began the drive home.
Carl laughed and said "If it was just a manly sweat I could handle it but you, my friend, reek."
Van Helsing just shrugged and said "Well, that is the advantage of working alone. No one to complain when you come home smelling of hell beasts."
Carl laughed harder and said "Hope you realize you are doing your own laundry. I'm not touching those things. In fact, I should make you strip outside so you don't bring the stench in with you…" Carl trailed off as the image of Van Helsing stripping in the front yard left him more then a bit flustered.
Van Helsing was glad he had to keep his eyes on the road as he could feel himself flushing a bit at Carl's comment. He would be very glad to strip for Carl… if he had meant it the way Van Helsing wished he did. Feeling himself growing hard, he realized that if he wanted any kind of sanity left, he was going to have to find someone to work off his pent up horniness before he did something he'd really regret. He would drive home, see Carl safely stowed and then after a shower, find the nearest bar and pick someone up. Otherwise he was going to explode.
Carl stared out his window. He couldn't believe he had said that! And worse yet, now that he had said it, he couldn't get the image out of his mind! He was feeling incredibly restless now that the danger was over and the last thing he needed was to be all hot and bothered over Van Helsing who was clearly not suffering the same problem. Guess you get use to it over time… Still, that didn't help him right now. Guess he'd been spending the night in his lab… again.
Van Helsing navigated through the light traffic and decided he should get his call to headquarters out of the way. Grabbing his phone off the console, he flipped it open and hit the speed dial for Jinette. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he waited for Jinette to answer, completely forgetting it was early in the morning in Rome. He winced as an accented voice snarled "Van Helsing, this had better be good." Remembering that for once, he had nothing but good news he calmly replied "I thought you would like to know that the gargoyle nest is completely wiped out. I got the last four but we'll need a clean up crew to come in."
Jinette cut Van Helsing off before he could continue "How much damage did you do to the area? Were their witnesses? God damn, Van Helsing why is it your missions always end up in such messes?"
Van Helsing took another deep breath to stop the rising anger and said in a controlled voice "The building is fine – or at least, it is no more damaged then when I got there. Thing has been abandoned for years. And the only reason I asked for a clean up crew is someone should take care of the carcasses. Unless you'd rather have someone find them…"
Jinette snarled "I'll send in a crew to take of it. Now do me a favor and bugger off. Its about time you did something right." He rang off without asking if the Hunter was ok.
Van Helsing pushed down the usual anger that a conversation with Jinette brought on and tossed the phone back down on the console. Final part of the mission done. Now he was on his own time.
Carl listened to the short conversation and offered Van Helsing a compassionate smile. "Man really does need to work on his people skills. Don't let it bother you. You did good work tonight.'
Van Helsing heaved a sigh and said "Yeah. But now I just want to go home and shower. It's been a long night."
Carl nodded in agreement. "Yeah it has." To himself he thought and its going to get even longer for me…
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