Previously: "You seem close." Layla noted. "We work together." Celine answered simply, not wanting to suggest anything more to the other woman.

A Flaw in the Plan

Chapter 5

At the plane, she waited anxiously for Jude's return while Layla talked quietly to Frankie. She was still thinking about the little girl's message and how she could carry out her task. She completely dismissed the idea of telling him what she knew, in all likelihood he would not believe her and she did not think she had enough evidence to convince him otherwise. If he did believe her, there was also the distinct possibility he would do something rash and stupid after finding out that Christof had killed him.

Her best option was to make sure Jude was nowhere near the Vatican on the day when he was supposed to die. The difficulty would be in convincing him to leave, if she let their relationship progress as it had in the past then it was likely that she would be too late by the time she managed to convince him. Leaving it that late could lead to many unexpected complications that might still result in Jude's death. The other option was to try to initiate their relationship at an earlier point, which should leave her more time. The problem with that was that if she didn't handle it carefully, Jude might reject her and worse he might send her back to the convent in order to avoid the temptation of being with her.

The most important thing she needed to do was make sure he trusted her. She could already think of a few ways in which she would be able to make some subtle changes that would bring them closer together. Her planning was interrupted by Layla sitting in the seat opposite her, Celine looked back to see that Frankie was fast asleep and would not be listening to their conversation.

"So you did most of the research for Father Jude?" Celine nodded. "I have to admit to being a little confused as to how you managed to identify 'Jamie Conroy' as Frankie's father when I wrote 'Jamie Winton' on the birth certificate." There was steel to her voice that suggested Celine should treat carefully.

"I can't quite remember where I found the information, but it definitely identified Jamie Conroy as Frankie's father." She lied, hoping that it would be enough to deter the angry mother.

"There is not a single legal document that would even know that Jamie's last name could be Conroy."

Before Celine could come up with a response, their discussion was abruptly brought to a halt by the arrival of Jude. He looked a little banged up, but no worse than he had been the previous time. Layla immediately vacated the seat and re-joined Frankie, casting one last suspicious glare at Celine. Jude looked at Celine questioningly, having noticed the slightly hostile interaction, she shrugged as though ignorant of why Layla was distrustful of her.

"Did the mob do that to you?" Celine asked in concern, eyeing a developing bruise under his right eye.

"Never try to use science with an angry mob of fanatics." He suggested drily. "You had no problems getting past?"

"None, thanks to you."

"Glad to be of service." He paused before resuming with some hesitation. "After we have dropped Layla and Frankie off, I would like to run a personal errand, if you have no problem with that."

"I have no objection, what errand do you need to run?"

"I'll tell you later. You may want to rest, it's going to be a long day before we get back to Rome."

He left to notify the pilot that they could now set off to the airport near Layla and Frankie's home. Celine decided to take his advice and try to get some sleep, she had felt like an insomniac since she had returned to the past, every night she had managed to work herself up into a state of worry about what she needed to do. Now that Frankie had told her the task she needed to perform, she could finally get some rest.

She awoke an hour or so later, the first thing she noticed was that Jude was not sitting in the seat facing her, and the second thing she noticed were the hushed voices behind her.

"I will tell him, I swear."

"When? The world is going to fucking end in less than a month, he deserves to know as soon as possible so he can enjoy the time he has left with her."

"Soon. I need to make sure that Ariel doesn't have his home or workplace under surveillance first."

"Is Ariel really that dangerous?" He sounded incredulous.

"He is. It is difficult to explain, I've been trying to hide from him since I married Jamie. If you do see Jamie, could you promise me you won't tell him about Frankie? He needs to hear it from me. He is already going to hate me enough as it is, even more so if he hears about her from a stranger." There was a pause.

"I won't mention anything about you or Frankie." Jude reluctantly agreed.

"Thank you. What about the nun? Do you think she would say anything?"

"What, Celine? Not if I asked her not to."

"I don't trust her."

"Well I do." There was a finality in Jude's tone that effectively ended the argument. Celine felt a small surge of affection towards him from the way he defended her even though they had not yet known each other for very long in this timeline.

Soon enough they arrived at the airport and said goodbye to Layla and Frankie, Jude spoke to the pilot briefly before they themselves set off in the opposite direction.

"So where are we going?" Celine asked as she waited for Jude to get some appropriate currency out of a cashpoint so they could get a taxi.

"Slough." He paused before turning back to her. "I have a son there, from before I made my vows. I've not met him before, I was very young when his mother became pregnant and I couldn't handle the responsibility so I left. With the world about to end, I thought I might at least let him know who I am."

"That makes perfect sense." Celine reassured him.

"Layla is his wife, and Frankie is his daughter. He doesn't know though, there's apparently some big complicated scenario involving his twin brother. Layla has sworn that she will speak to him soon, but until then I am not going to speak to Jamie about it and I would appreciate it if you could also not mention anything about Layla or Frankie."

"Of course."

A short time later they found themselves in front of the door to Jamie's house. Jude had pressed on the doorbell twice, and was now starting to look doubtful.

"Maybe he's not home?" Celine suggested. It was definitely the right house, she recognised it from the last time she had been there when she had left the Vatican to live with Jamie and his family while they arranged Jude's funeral.

"It seems that way." Jude shrugged, clearly trying to hide his disappointment. They turned to leave when the door finally opened.

"Alright, alright. I'm here, what do you want?" Paula's tone abruptly changed when the two looked back at her and she caught sight of Jude. A big smile spread across her face. "Sorry for my rudeness, I thought it was the brats from next door playing knock-a-door-run again. How can I help you?" Jude seemed a little disconcerted by the amount of attention he was getting from Paula, which made Celine have to cough to hide a laugh at his uncomfortable expression.

"We are looking for Jamie Conroy or Jamie Winton, there has been a bit of confusion about his last name."

"It's Winton, I'm Jamie's mum. He's not in at the moment, he's gone searching for his birth mother."

"Do you have any idea when he will be back?" Paula shook her head sadly.

"I have no clue, he probably won't be back for several days. I think he's upset with me about not telling him he was adopted. What was it you wanted to speak to him about? I can take a message and tell him when he's back. Is it about a local church collection?" The last question was said rather hopefully.

"Nothing to do with the church, I think it is very likely that I am Jamie's biological father. I was hoping to get back in contact with him before the meteor hits."

"Oh!" She looked completely shocked. "Of course, I can take you contact details and give them to Jamie when he's back, do you have a phone number."

"Yes, but we live in Rome so phoning might not be feasible." Jude ripped a spare piece of paper off the report Celine had assembled and quickly scribbled something down. "This is my e-mail. I understand if he doesn't want to speak to me, but if he does I would like to hear from him."

"I'll give it to him as soon as he gets back. Are you sure you would not like to stay? I have several photo albums of his baby photos."

"We really should get back." Jude said hastily. "We have quite a heavy workload, don't we Celine?" She gave him an amused look.

"We do. It's a very busy time at the Vatican at the moment."

"The Vatican?" Paula's eyes widened like saucers. "Oh yes, I can imagine you would be very busy. I'll make sure Jamie e-mails you as soon as possible."

"Thank you."

They promptly set off in the direction they came, Celine snickering a little at Jude's expense.

"I can go back to the plane and leave you two alone if you would prefer." She suggested jokingly.

"Don't you dare leave me." He warned, causing her to giggle again.

"Don't worry, I will protect you from the hordes of women." He glared at her again, deeply unamused about the situation. "I'm sure Jamie will be back soon from searching for his mother." She said more sincerely.

"I hope Mary doesn't deter him from speaking to me, God knows she had every right to, we didn't exactly part on the best terms."

"I'm sure she won't." Celine reassured him.

The mention of Mary reminded Celine that the poor woman had died after being crushed by a pile of bricks. The outcome should be easy enough to prevent, but Frankie's words passed through her mind. She was meant to keep most events the same, changing Mary's death might have huge consequences for the time when they needed to reach the bunker. The thought of not doing anything to help Mary made Celine feel ill, but perhaps that was the price she had to pay to ensure Jude's survival. It wasn't nice to admit it, but for both herself and for the sake of the child she would carry, she would do anything to make sure that Jude lived.