Disclaimer: If I owned Dark Angel or V would I be writing fanfiction?
Summary: Father Jack Landry remembers the pulse. More than that he remembers what actually happened, not just the government cover-up.
Pairings: Max/Logan & Jack/Erica
Notes: Welcome to the next part of The Soldier Priest. This story frequently changes viewpoints allowing the reader to see the same events through the eyes of multiple characters. This Chapter's POV character is Father Jack.
Chapter 2
A Strange Meeting
Jack stood in the back of the church, watching. It was something he often did, joy filling him as he looked upon who came to God even in the midst of these trying times.
But today he wasn't observing those who came to the sanctuary and prayer, but rather all of his attention was drawn to a young woman sitting quietly by herself near the back of the church. If Jack wasn't mistaken, she had been here when he left yesterday. In fact, he'd put good money on her having been here all night.
A voice that sounded suspiciously like Erica whispered in his head, Go talk to her. That made Jack stop. Go talk to her? That was as likely to scare her away as anything. Her body language screamed a desire to be alone.
Jack go talk to her. His imaginary Erica now had the tone that the real Erica would get right before she ordered the Fifth Column to do something impossibly brave, impossibly stupid, or both.
"Great," he muttered. "Now the voices in my head are ordering me around."
Jack! He could almost hear the exasperated sigh. Go talk to her. She needs someone like you in her corner for the things she's about to face.
"Fine." He grumbled. Maybe when this was over he could go find the real Erica and yell at her for the things that her imaginary counterpart was having him do. She'd probably laugh at him, tell him that it was his own problem that his subconscious used her voice when ordering him around, but at least he'd be able to hear her voice. The real her that is, not the one in his head.
Quietly he slid into the row beside the young woman. "Are you waiting for someone?"
He watched as she turned startled to face him, a smile, that even the most unobservant person could tell was forced, on her face, "Picking up girls in a church now?"
That made Jack laugh. Carefully he undid his coat. "No actually, this is my church. I'm Father Jack Landry, the priest here. How are you doing?" Jack watched her tense at the question. So there was something wrong then. Well, best not to scare her off. "I only ask because you've been sitting here for over a day."
Jack watched her bite her lip as if trying to decide what to say, "I just… I have some things to think about."
Jack smiled encouragingly, "Church is a good place to do that."
"Yea," She looked around as if seeing it for the first time. "I suppose it is."
Okay, her feelings were showing more openly now. Time to see if she would talk about them, "You know, sometimes talking helps."
He heard traces of bitter laughter in her voice as she answered. "Trust me. This isn't the kind of thing you can talk about."
"Well, if you change your mind, I'm always willing to listen." Jack smiled comfortingly, even as inside his mind screamed. This girl couldn't be more than twenty years old! What could she have experienced that was so horrible that she couldn't talk about it?
"Believe me Father. You wouldn't be able to deal with what I've faced." The anguish that Jack her in her voice made his blood boil. Now he knew why his subconscious had forced him to come over here. Someone had hurt her, and badly. Jack didn't know how, or who, but he knew someone had, and that alone made her someone Jack would try to help.
He tried as best he could to get across the message that he would be ready to help if she ever wanted him to, "You might be surprised. I've faced some pretty odd things in my time. Things even you would be surprised at."
"Yea, I'm sure you have." He could tell she was humoring him.
"No," he met her eyes. "Trust me, I have." He smiled one last time and slid out of the pew and walked back to the back of the church.
Jack felt her eyes following him as he walked. Good. The fact that she was watching meant that maybe something he said had gotten through to her.
Jack was nearly at the back of the church when he saw him. He was a young man, with a small bundle clutched tightly in his hand. Instinctively Jack knew that this was whom the girl was waiting for.
Silently Jack moved to the shadows and watched the scene unfold before him. He saw the young man approach the statue of the Virgin Mary and lay the bundle at her feet. Then he stilled as the young woman approached, whirling on her as soon as she drew near.
He watched as the young man's lips quirk happily at the sight of her. But as happy as he looked to see her, all she seemed was sad. She whispered something that Jack couldn't make out.
Instantly the man's demeanor turned frosty. Silence stretched between them before he answered her in a tone that made Jack's blood. Even from where Jack was hiding he could hear it. "You know why."
Jack felt as if he has just been handed a key without knowing what it unlocks. All he knew was that it was important, that if he knew the story behind them, those words would change everything.
But Jack didn't have long to think on it, for suddenly the man was running past him faster than Jack had ever seen another human being move, the woman close on his heels. Briefly, Jack wondered if they were renegade Visitors who stayed behind when Lisa ordered them to leave, but he quickly banished the thought as ridiculous. After the war Jack's face became well enough known as a Fifth Column leader that no Visitor would ever dare show his face in Jack's church.
No, they weren't Visitors. But they weren't human either. Their eyes would have told him that if nothing else. Those eyes were not the eyes of the twenty-something year-olds that they appear to be. Rather they were the eyes of soldiers who had seen the heat of battle. Jack sighed. He knew those eyes. They were his too.
Jack shook himself from his thoughts. He could think about young people with old eyes, mysterious answers, and who move to fast to be human later. For now, he had work to do. Confession was about to begin.
AN: So here's the second chapter of The Soldier Priest. Hope you enjoyed it. Hence forth, The Soldier Priest will update every Tuesday, so check back next week for the next chapter.
Remember Reviews Make Writers Happy!
Til Next Time,
Regal
Up Next in The Soldier Priest:
Chapter 3: A Killer's Confession
