Previously: 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.
A Flaw in the Plan
Chapter 6
For the most part, their work examining the false messiahs was going very smoothly. Celine's prior knowledge meant that her research was a lot more effective and pointed towards easy solutions to disprove the various miracles that were being performed. While Jude's work was still excellent, Celine could tell that he was rather distracted as he had not yet received an e-mail from Jamie. At the moment, it wasn't much to worry about as he had been e-mailed by Paula quite frequently to update him on the fact that Jamie still had not returned from his search, so at least he knew that his son wasn't purposefully ignoring him.
The morning had mostly been going rather well, until the human snake that was Christof arrived and promptly ruined Celine's morning by his mere presence. Jude had been away, sorting some matter or another, and during his absence Christof had arrived at the office to collect his share of the case files now that he had also been assigned to the search for the messiah. He had introduced himself with his customary charm, this time having absolutely no effect on Celine. She had shaken his hand and given him her own name, expressing no emotion stronger than indifference. Reluctant to leave once he had collected his files, Christof had stuck around for nearly half an hour. He told Celine about his various exploits, not noticing how little she cared to hear about them. Eventually he did begin to seem rather put off by how unimpressed she seemed, even after telling her of his claim to fame. Knowing the truth about him, it was a struggle for her to remain so calm. The man sitting in front of her, drinking tea like he didn't have a care in the world, was a murderer, or at least he would be if she gave him the opportunity. Christof was still present when Jude walked in.
"Ah Jude, I was just entertaining your lovely assistant with some old stories." Christof had turned away from Celine, so she rolled her eyes at his statement, causing Jude's lips to quirk up into a smile.
"I'm sure." He retorted.
"As pleasant as this has been, Father Christof, we all have work to be getting on with." Celine said as nonchalantly as she could. At least this time he seemed to get the hint.
"I shall get out of your way then, I look forward to us all working together on this important task."
Neither of them replied as Christof left the room, Celine letting a sigh of relief out as soon as the door closed behind him.
"Were you not impressed by Father Christof? He's rather popular."
"I might be if he wasn't such a self-centred awful man." Jude grinned in response.
"I like you more and more every day, Celine, not many can see through Christof's saintly act." She blushed a little at his compliment before abruptly remembering with no small amount of regret about how she had been one of those who had admired Christof originally. She had probably made Jude feel like absolute shit when she had sided with Christof against him. That would not be happening this time around.
"We have a local case." Celine said, changing the subject. "A man says he will perform a miracle in the square."
"Yes I saw the file, most of the local media is no doubt going to show up to film whatever he is planning on doing."
"I have a bad feeling about this case. I rang the man's family, they have no idea where this behaviour has come from. If he truly was the messiah and was going to perform a miracle, he would have told his family."
"That is worrying news." Jude said thoughtfully. "It was a good idea to check with the family, and I think you are right. We should still make an appearance and find out what he is doing."
Once they reached the square where the miracle was set to be performed, the man's plans became horrifyingly clear.
"A jumper." He sounded defeated already, knowing his past Celine could not imagine how he was feeling at that moment.
"What shall we do?"
"There's not enough time for someone trained in this sort of thing to arrive. I think I might be able to talk him down."
"Ah Jude." Christof made his appearance. "The man has asked for you by name." He almost looked annoyed that the man had not asked for him instead, no matter, he would probably still take the credit once Jude succeeded.
They headed for the building adjacent to the ledge of the clock tower that the man was standing on. It had already been outfitted with plenty of equipment to enable people to listen in on Jude's conversation with the suicidal man. Before Jude headed out onto the ledge, Celine caught his hand.
"I have complete faith in you, but if the worst does still happen, it is not your fault." Celine told him, he squeezed her hand gently in response and left the room.
"He does not have the training to handle this situation." Christof said from her side.
"Do you?"
"We should have waited for a negotiator." He replied, completely ignoring her sarcastic question.
"It would be too late by then."
They were both handed a pair of headphones to listen in on what was being discussed. Celine prayed to God that Jude would succeed in convincing the man not to kill himself. As far as she could remember, the conversation was proceeding exactly as it had in the past. When Jude helped to throw the fliers to the crowd assembled below, Christof cursed beside her.
"What is he doing?"
"Trying to stop a man from killing himself, I imagine." She answered drily.
"But he is damaging the reputation of the church!"
"It's nice to see where your priorities are, Father Christof, you seem to value the church's reputation over another man's life. I'm sure God is very thankful." She did not even bother to hide her contempt this time, and was gratified by his complete silence.
Ignoring him, she turned her complete attention back to Jude. She felt her heart break again when she heard him describe his father's death, but his story had the desired effect and the man agreed not to take his own life. The two men returned from the ledge, and Jude had a quick word with the man before he was whisked away by Christof to try to reverse the damage that had been done.
"You did really well." Celine told Jude once they had escaped from the suffocating atmosphere of the building and surrounding area. "And I'm sorry about your father." She added, trying to convey as much sympathy and sincerity as possible.
"Thank you."
Later that night, once everyone had gone to sleep, Celine who had been lying awake thinking abandoned the attempt at sleep and redressed. She lit a candle and wandered the dark hallways until she reached Jude's study. Not bothering to knock, she walked straight in and saw the predicted sight of Jude behind his desk nursing a large glass of whiskey. He looked surprised, but not displeased to see her.
"Do you have a second glass?" She asked. He nodded and searched around his desk for the spare he kept. She dragged a chair over to sit beside him and accepted the drink he gave her. She had been right that he would wait until there was little chance of interruption before wallowing in his grief.
They drank together silently for some time, occasionally talking about anything that did not relate to that day's events. She entertained him for some time with the antics of her convent, and he immediately put her stories to shame by telling her about some of the mischief he had caused at the schools he had attended before getting kicked out.
"I was such a stupid kid." He said.
"With what happened to your father, no one can blame you for acting out." He nodded absently.
"I was the one that found him after he shot himself." He shuddered at the memory, and took a deep gulp of whiskey. "I didn't even know he was depressed, the last time I talked to him we had a massive argument, and I told him I hated him."
"You were twelve." Celine pointed out. "What twelve year old hasn't said the same thing in a moment of anger? It wasn't your fault."
"I know that now, but it took a long time before I could believe it. My family was extremely messed up, and my mother wasn't the most supportive. I imagine it must be nice, not growing up in such dysfunctional circumstances."
"I wouldn't know." Celine said. "I never knew my father, and my mother wasn't the best at parenting either. I think she thought I was holding her back from achieving the things she wanted. One day when I was young, she left one day and never came back. I ended up living on the streets for a few weeks before the nuns at the convent took me in." Jude looked at her in confusion.
"There was nothing about that on your file."
"I didn't want anyone's pity." There was a moment of silence, Celine helping herself to more alcohol, a little surprised at how quickly she had emptied her rather full glass.
"I am sorry for the things I said when we first met, it was completely unjustified." Celine waved off his apology.
"You were right. The convent has been my home for so long, the church is the only place that has offered me stability. Even if I wanted to leave, to seek a life where I could have children and be happy, I would be too scared to."
"That's nothing to be ashamed of." He told her. "I would probably be the same if I hadn't managed to collosally fuck up everything I have ever tried to accomplish in my life. Jamie and Ariel are lucky to not have had me in their lives, I would have been a terrible father."
"I disagree, I think you would be a great father."
Celine had to avoid looking at him as she said it, overcome by a sudden moment of grief as she remember the life she had been recently carrying. He might have run from the responsibility when he was eighteen, but she was sure he would have embraced the second chance. He drained his glass before picking up the bottle for a refill.
"I guess we will never really know."