Previously: The drive was short, and she waited patiently for the two men to say their final goodbyes. She smiled as she heard them discuss visiting one another, but her smile faded when she was reminded that they would never get the chance. But with her intervention, she hoped that they would at least get the chance to see each other again.

A Flaw in the Plan

Chapter 12

It became worryingly evident to Celine that she and Jude were running out of time. When they had returned to Rome from Slough, Christof had been there having finally solved the mystery of Naples and in a foul mood. His presence in Jude's office had made her blood run cold. She had hoped that they would have left the Vatican before now, but had not found the occasion to bring up leaving to him. She had been trying to come to a decision about what to do with the Malta case, she didn't particularly want to subject herself and Jude to the kind of scrutiny they had undergone in the past. But perhaps that location, which had been so important to them, might become important again.

In Malta they had worked their way through the levels of the cult, but this time they were a lot more believable as a couple, even with Jude's obvious frustration at how long it was taking them to meet 'Ruthless'. When the woman told them they would have to marry, his annoyance had been obvious.

"This is ridiculous." He muttered. Celine elbowed him playfully.

"Is that your deep-seated fear of commitment kicking in?" He scowled at her.

"I do not have a fear of commitment!"

"Then prove it," she challenged, "let's get hitched."

Queueing at the altar, Celine admired the flowers she had been handed as Jude fidgeted beside her. Instead of the elaborate backstory she had given in the past, she had suggested they stick to their normal first names. Knowing that this would be their only chance to get married, she wanted there to be as little pretence as possible. Jude was trying to peer at the couple currently at the altar, several couples in front of them.

"Fuck, they are marrying over a Bible." He whispered to Celine, sounding worried.

"We've already broken our vows, I don't think God is going to be too upset if we add marriage to the mix." She reasoned. "If anything, that probably helps to make up for it."

"That makes a worrying amount of sense."

"Of course it does, marriage means I am automatically always right." She said with a grin.

Once they reached the front of the queue, Celine did not hesitate to place her hand on the Bible and Jude's hand joined her soon after. Looking at one another, they said their vows. She could not help but feel that there was a vast difference between now and the previous timeline, they had spoken far more hesitantly then but now the words were said with much more sincerity. Perhaps Celine was not the only one treating the ceremony as real.

Having escaped the mass orgy, they arrived at the pier to see that once again they had missed both the ferry and the launch of Saviour.

"Looks like we're camping out until tomorrow, then back to Rome." He said. Celine sighed in response, causing him to look at her in concern. "Is something wrong?"

"No." She avoided looking at him as she went to sit at the front of the pier, her extremely unsubtle behaviour screaming that there was something wrong. Jude sat beside her.

"You know that you can tell me anything, right?" She didn't reply, and still tried to avoid making eye contact with him even when he tilted her chin up to try to force her to meet his gaze. "Celine?"

"I don't want to go back." She said quietly. The answer clearly came as a complete surprise to him and it took him a while to respond. He watched her carefully, expression inscrutable.

"Why not? What has brought this on?"

"If Saviour doesn't work, then we will spend our last few weeks on this earth searching for a messiah that probably will not be found. I think I would rather spend my last few weeks being happy."

"If Saviour works then there will be more time."

"If Saviour works, then what? Do we keep sneaking around the Vatican for the rest of our lives?" She finally looked back at him, her eyes wet with tears.

"Is this about Saviour, or is this about you and me?"

"Both." She said. "I don't know where we stand, the wedding made me realise that maybe I am far more invested in this relationship than you."

"That's ridiculous."

"Is it? We may not have known each other long, but I know that I love you." She had laid out the truth, it was just a matter of seeing if he felt the same after so little time together.

"If you think that I don't feel the same about you, then you've clearly not been paying the slightest bit of attention the last few weeks." He actually looked quite annoyed that she doubted him. "I wouldn't have broken and continue to break my vows with you if I did not love you."

"I'm sorry I doubted that." Celine said, resting her hand on his shoulder to try to calm him. "But do you actually want to return to the Vatican?"

"It isn't about what I want, it's about making sure our job is completed."

"But anyone can do our job, the Church has assigned Christof to the same task, it is not as though we are the only ones capable of investigating messiah claims. Don't you want to take a trip where we don't have to justify to the Church our reasons for going? Where we don't have to book two separate rooms?" She could see the idea did appeal to him, but he was still fighting against it. "We wouldn't need permission to return to Slough, you could spend some more time with Jaime before the end."

"Can't we talk about this more when we get back to Rome? And make a decision then?" Jude pleaded, she could tell he was completely torn between his duty to the church and his love for her and what she was suggesting.

"No. I've made my decision, I'm not going back." She took his hand. "You can go back to the Vatican and do your job, but you will lose me. Make your decision."

Her ultimatum lead to a prolonged silence as Jude tried to come to a decision on what he should do, whether he should choose her and the opportunity for happiness or whether he should take the 'safe' option and return to the life he had led for the past twenty years.

"I don't want to lose you." Jude admitted eventually.

"Then don't." She pleaded

"Okay." He ran a hand through his hair distractedly. "Fuck it, I pick you." Celine choked out a relieved laugh.

"Very romantic." She said sarcastically, while struggling to hold back tears. He gently wiped away the few drops that managed to escape."

"I thought you would be happy."

"I am, you idiot." She managed a weak smile. "I don't know what I would have done if you had picked the church."

As they embraced, Celine was able to check off another part of her plan. She had successfully convinced Jude to leave the Vatican. All that remained now was to make sure he reached the bunker and would be willing to stay in the bunker while the rest of the world was wiped out around them.

AN: Sorry I haven't updated this in a while, I thought I had posted up until the final chapter which I still haven't finished writing. I'll try and post up the next few chapters really quickly after I look them over a bit.