Disclaimer: Priest and its characters belong to Scott Stewart.

Claimer: I own Tessa.

Chapter #4: All Good Things Must Come To an End

He didn't remember when he started to wake up, but he was positive he didn't want to. For what felt like an hour he drifted in and out of a content sleep, unwilling to allow his eyes to open and let light in just yet. His sleepy mind didn't question the unusual comfort he was experiencing, as it drugged him back towards sleep once more. Releasing a sigh of abnormal contentment, he pulled the comforter closer to him...

Suddenly his eyes were opening, and his entire body went rigid upon seeing the oriental embroidery sewn into the blanket. He was frozen, and he was almost positive his heart had stopped beating. When he regained his ability to move, however, he promptly flung himself up and stepped off the bed, but because he rose so fast without throwing the blankets off, he found himself tripping like an animal caught in a net, and the next thing he knew he was toppling over, arms flailing in a fashion that was a little too animated for his nature. There was a small, feminine squeak, and he snapped his head up. His eyes flew wide when he caught a glimpse of bare skin.

"Sorry!" he blurted, and in his haste he bumped the nightstand beside the bed. The lamp residing on it wobbled hazardously before taking a staggering topple over the edge. Reflexes kicking in, he lunged for it outfielder style, catching it in his hands just as it was going to shatter to the floor. His legs were still tangled in the blankets, and that was when he heard her laughter ringing through the air. Carefully placing the lamp on the floor, he turned his head over his shoulder to send her a cautious glance. She was now covered, having pulled a navy blue sweater over her head, and she was laughing heartily.

"Look at you! You're a mess!" she exclaimed with mirth in her voice.

He was in a state of numbing shock as she came over to help untangle him from the mess of blankets. Thinking he was free, he stood up swiftly, but his ankle was still snagged. His eyes flew wide as he tripped, and he before he could stop himself he was smacking straight into her, causing her to release a surprised squeak as they fell backwards. She landed on her back on the bed with him on top of her, but he had managed to catch himself with his arms. The look on his face was absolutely priceless, and for a moment they just stared at each other—before she snorted into another fit of laughter.

"You should see your face! You're beat red!" she laughed.

He quickly got off her, hastily moving to the spot beside her so he wasn't on top of her.

"What just happened? That was like a cartoon!"

"Why are you laughing?" he asked, finally managing to find his voice.

"Because I've never seen a priest trip all over himself like that before! You're so flustered!" She continued to laugh. He still looked shocked. "Relax! It's okay to laugh a little, you know. It's not like anything bad happened."

At seeing she wasn't upset, he hesitantly allowed his muscles to relax a little, auburn eyes darting all over her face. She gave his shoulder a small shove, and finally he allowed the tiniest of smiles to appear as he watched her. Her eyes were sparkling like diamonds, her entire face illuminated by her smile. Before he realized it, he was chuckling quietly. She was beaming at him with that look in her eyes he loved.

"Wow…"

He looked at her. "What?"

"It's just so strange seeing you laugh." She smiled softly.

The corners of his lips twitched. "It's not often I find myself in a laughable situation."

Her gaze held warm compassion. "It makes me happy to know I've changed that."

His lips twitched, and without really thinking about it his eyes shifted downwards towards her side. Her shirt was riding up slightly from the struggle, and he could see some of her skin was exposed. What caught his attention were the strange marks, which were slightly darker than the rest of her skin, and without realizing it his eyebrows knitted together a bit. Blinking, she followed his gaze to her side and realized what he was looking at. Reaching down, she moved the hem of her sweater up, and it was revealed that the marks were indeed scars, but not just any scars. It had hit him the moment she uncovered the rest that they were indeed bite marks. She had been bitten by a vampire. More scars were visible a little higher up in two sets of three, where the vampire had gripped her body to hold her down while it bit her. His eyes were wide as he stared at it openly.

"I told you I've had a few encounters with vamps."

His gaze moved to her face. "How did you survive?"

"No one bites me unless I say so." She attempted an indicative smirk. "I fought back teeth and nail. Managed to throw the bastard off me with my legs, and when it lunged at me again I drove a shard of broken glass into its chest when it pounced." She shrugged. "Personally, I like the scars. They keep me sharp, you know? Plus, they look cool." She let out a quiet titter at the look he was giving her. It was a cross between disbelief and amazement. "Yours are no different, you know. They're like badges of honor. They tell the world you kick ass, and you're not afraid to fight to protect both yourself and others." With a soft smile, she gave his shoulder a gentle nudge before sitting up and hopping off the bed. "Come on." Reaching down, she tried pulling him with her. "Get dressed, and let's go get some breakfast."

He seemed to hesitate.

"What?" she asked.

"Don't take this the wrong way… but I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"Why not?"

"You know why not."

She scoffed. "Okay, you know what? I don't give a damn what they think, and neither should you. From what you've told me, it's not going to make a difference what you do or don't do. So who cares!"

He was staring at her. "I'm more worried about how they'll treat you."

"Hey, if I'm shunned for being nice to my heroes, then the public can bite me."

"And what will happen if you're exiled?"

She gave a nonchalant shrug. "Maybe I'll hunt vampires."

He scoffed and shoved her by her shoulder, earning a quiet chuckle from her.

"I'm not scared to be seen with you," she continued. "You're my friend. If they want to jump to wild conclusions, then let them." She shrugged again. "Frankly, they wouldn't be far off. If you weren't sworn under an oath of celibacy, I'd have grabbed myself a squeeze of those perfectly sculpted glutes by now."

His expression was priceless. She failed miserably at holding back a giggle.

"I'm sorry. It's just fun to watch you turn eight different shades of red."

He frowned at her, but she just gave him a light nudge with her arm.

"Come on. If I don't get food soon I might turn to cannibalism."

Defeated, he threw his hands up and walked over to where his shirt and robes were folded neatly on top of the chest. "Will you at least tell me why you thought it unnecessary to wake me up when I fell asleep last night?"

"I can tell just by looking at you that you never get any sleep. I didn't have the heart to wake you."

He pulled his shirt over his head. "I also want to apologize for earlier. I didn't realize you were getting dres—"

But she held a hand up. "You didn't do anything wrong, hun. It's not like you meant to look."

He made a quiet sound similar to a grunt. "Yeah, I made that pretty obvious, didn't I?"

Her face cracked into a grin. "You could say that, yes."

He smiled back at her as he pulled on his robes. "I told you, you ruin my focus."

She laughed.

They walked side-by-side through the city, as she lead him to a location that was unknown on his part. As he had predicted, they received many stares—some merely curious and others a little less friendly—but even when a few exchanged whispers here and there Tessa didn't miss a beat. She kept loyally at his side, her head held high with impassive confidence. Eventually she turned towards a small diner, and she held the door open for him as he followed her inside. Upon hearing the bell ring, a burly man behind the counter turned to face them, and a smile came to his unshaven face when he saw Tessa.

"You again, huh?"

"Hey, Benny."

His gaze shifted behind her to stare at her company. "You're hangin' around with priests now?"

"He lives in the apartment next to mine. He saved me from some creeps last night, so I thought I'd thank him with some breakfast." She looked over her shoulder at him. "This is Benny. I knew him before I moved here."

"Yep. I've known Tess since she was in diapers."

Her lips pressed into a thin, flat line. "That's not embarrassing at all."

Benny motioned towards the counter with the rag in his hand. "Hey, a friend of Tessa's is a friend o' mine. Have a seat."

As he fired up the grill, the duo took their seats on the stools along the counter, and he threw his hood back off his head.

"So tell me," Benny said, "how did you get to know Tess in the first place?"

"I told you he was my neighbor," said Tessa.

"Yeah, but I can take one glance at the two of you and see you've gotten to know each other. This isn't just some 'thank you' meal, is it?"

"I told you people would make assumptions," he muttered.

Tessa rolled her eyes.

"So, is this some sort of secret, forbidden romance you two have going on?"

"No!" they both chorused instantly, and then sent sheepish glances at one another for their hasty replies.

"No," repeated Tessa, a little calmer. "We're just friends. I ran into him one night and saw he had been injured, so I tended to his wounds, and that was the night after I arrived here. We've been talking since then, but it's completely innocent."

Benny grunted. "I see."

Rolling her eyes at his tone, she flung a hand at him in dismissal. "I'm gonna make a run into the back." Hopping off her seat, she retreated towards the back door in the rear of the diner, and they watched her go a moment before Benny turned his full attention to the priest. Leaning forward, he folded his arms on the counter while setting him with a look that was all too knowing, to which he was given a frown in response.

"What?"

"She knows you're celibate, right?"

"Yes, why?" At the suggestive quirking of the cook's eyebrow, he understood what he was getting at. "We aren't together. We just made that clear."

"But do you want to be?"

"She—"

"I'm not asking about her. I know she wants to be with you. What I'm asking is do you want to be with her?" said Benny.

"What?" He had been snagged by the ankle at she wants to be with you. "No she doesn't."

"Believe me, she does." Benny arched an eyebrow at him. "She likes you. More than a friend."

"You're mistaken."

"I've known Tess since she was a toddler. I can tell when she's into someone, and believe me she hasn't been for a long time."

He frowned. "Why?"

"Since those leeches killed off her family, she's pretty much separated herself from people romantically. That, and she was cheated on during her last relationship. The scumbag even had the nerve to propose to her after he's slept with three other women behind her back. The look on the bastard's face when she told him she knew was priceless. Poor thing. I've never seen her express a single mean bone in her body, and she's seen nothing but pain and betrayal."

His eyes averted back to the counter. This new bit of information came as a bit of a surprise to him. Her family had been killed by vampires? It puzzled him a little that she wouldn't bother to tell him this after telling him about her scar. She was always so opened with everything else, but perhaps that wasn't the case. Inevitably, he began to wonder what else she had kept from him.

"…Where did she get the scars on her side?"

"You saw those?" Benny's face said it all. "I thought you said—"

"Her shirt was riding up, and I saw part of it. When she saw my stare, she showed me the rest. That's it. Now where did she get it?"

"The she and her parents were travelling through got attacked some years back. She was sixteen when it happened. A small group of vamps ambushed the place. That's when her parents were killed. She almost was, too, but she managed to throw the thing off her and kill it. God knows how. It didn't take long for another two to find her, though, but she was saved."

"By who?"

"All she said was that it was a priest. She was sure of it, even though she couldn't see their face. Said something about his eyes." He seemed to be thinking. "She said they were real blue… and sad or something."

"Blue…" It was all starting to make a little bit of sense. His mind instantly shifted to the painting of the eyes. There was only one priest he knew with blue eyes. "…She painted them."

"What?" Benny looked up at him from the grill.

"His eyes. There's a painting of them in her apartment. She told me she just saw him in the city."

"Yeah, she doesn't really talk about her past. She doesn't want people to pity her for it, you know?"

"Pity?"

"Tessa's an extremely independent woman. She doesn't like people doing her any favors because of the life she's lived."

"Just as I don't like my people telling my business to others behind my back."

Both of their heads snapped towards her at her voice, visibly startled. There was a vague look of annoyance painting her features, but she didn't look angry. Benny was the first to fold under her displeasured gaze, and he immediately went to mend himself.

"One thing just lead to another, Tess. He asked about the scars, so I told him."

"Why didn't you tell me about all this?" the priest asked.

She shrugged. "Now you know."

"That's why you want to meet him, isn't it?"

She tilted her head a bit. "What do you mean?"

"You want to meet him, because you want to thank him for saving you."

"…Yes."

"Is he even still alive?" asked Benny.

"Yes," she answered. "He's here in the city."

"Huh. What are the chances of that, eh?" The timer suddenly dinged, and his attention was redirected to the grill. While his back was turned, auburn eyes turned to the woman beside him.

"I'm sorry," he said softly.

She looked at him for a moment, but then she smiled softly as she reached over and patted his arm. There was no more mentioning of her past while they ate. Benny and Tessa did most of the talking, swapping memorable stories of their pasts, some of which were actually quite humorous. He remained quiet for the most part, listening as the two exchanged conversation and told him of their times together. Tessa explained the night before to Benny with vivid detail, putting extra emphasis on her heroes' skill as he took them down with little to no effort at all. A smile almost made it to the priest's lips, noticing she was purposely stroking his ego with her words, but he remained straight-faced. About an hour later they were headed home, and he found himself forcing back another smile as she practically skipped along at his side, completely unfazed by the looks she received. Without him really realizing it, her persona relaxed him. She had always stood out from a crowd, but this time she was with him. He wasn't following her at a safe distance, but walking at her side, and her aura seemed to spread into and around him. It wasn't even a question in his mind anymore that she was a fortune to be around. She was a source of light—an escape from the darkness that surrounded him at all angles.

But good things only lasted for so long.

He frowned as they approached his door when he saw a note was clipped to it. Reaching up, he plucked it off and read it over, and he felt his heart sink into his stomach like a lead weight. It must have shown on his face, because Tessa frowned beside him.

"What is it?" she asked.

"It's a notice from the clergy. I have to go." He looked down at her to see her eyes were filled with worry.

"What do they need you for?"

"I don't know. I'll be back." He went to turn, but then stopped at the last second. To this day he wasn't sure what invoked his next actions, but he turned his eyes back to her before gently whisking a finger across her cheek. Then he was walking back towards the elevator, robes swishing with the turn, and he could feel her eyes watching after him. He knew she was worried, but he didn't have the heart to tell her he was probably being called to go on a hunt—and not just any hunt.

He was knelt alongside the other priests in a circular room before the monsignors, heads bowed in submission. The armed guards along the rounded walls of the room hardly gave off an air of reassurance, but in their line of work reassurance was not important. They depended on focus, and at that moment he was as far from focused as he possibly could have been. Above them sat the clergy, eyes indifferent as ever when they looked upon them, and in their center sat Monsignor Orelas, who was the one addressing them.

"You have been called to serve once more. As you know, the vampire menace still thrives. Like any militia, they will fall if we can destroy their key source. Your mission is to travel to Sola Mira, where their queen resides. Find her… and kill her."

His eyes closed without his discretion, as a dreadful feeling washed over him like a black tide. They were to hunt the queen, a monster they had only ever heard of in stories. Instantly, all of them knew what that meant. It meant going into one of the largest hives there was, where the beasts thrived in thousands. It would be a miracle if they managed to get out alive, never mind in, but none of them argued or questioned the matter. They had their orders, and that was that. Obey. Yet deep within his darkest core, he wished he could just turn his back to them and return to his apartment—to Tessa. Also, deep down, he knew he would probably never see her again after they departed. They all knew their chances of survival were slim to none in a situation such as this—even if they were priests. There were only so many of them, and there would be hundreds of vampires awaiting them in those caverns. As they exited the Church, he didn't notice the pair of ice blue eyes watching him, or how they narrowed inquisitively when they saw the look of dismay on his face that he himself did not even know was being expressed.

Some minor dialogue and grammatical changes have been made to this chapter.

Next chapter he will be leaving with the others to find the queen. The story will start to speed up now. Black Hat will be introduced in chapter six! :D

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