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Die Nacht öffnet ihren Schoß
Das Kind heißt Einsamkeit
Es ist kalt und regungslos
Ich weine leise in die Zeit

Strib Nicht vor mir - Rammestein

Germany was a world apart for Charlie but they had been twice and the first time she'd seen snow and angels. This time she wondered what she would see but didn't ask. Maybe Tru wanted it to be a surprise. He looked serious sat in the corner of the place he had arranged to meet the man named Thomas.

At five and three quarters Charlie liked to think of herself as rather grown up. Stalwart in fact as she folded her arms like the Hellion and put on the same determined face. Her eyes sparkled as she looked about the Marco Polo because although she imitated the guardian in her life she was still a child and very curious.

"I'm bored." Charlie told him, as she sat playing with the water from her glass that had dripped on the table.

"Only boring people get bored." He said to her and watched the vacant reaction. "Charlie it means find something to think about."

"Play a game." She demanded.

"What?" He asked her raising an eyebrow.

"I spy!" She giggled.

Tru looked up at her from under the hat and rolled his eyes in mock annoyance, which just served to make Charlie giggle even more. He sighed and picked her up to sit her on his knee and she scrambled up in to his arms. They were hiding in the corner because he was still waiting for Thomas to arrive and he did not want to draw attention to their presence. Charlie took to playing with his hair that poked out around the hat and fell down to his shoulders. He mock played biting her fingers, which kept her entertained for some time.

"I didn't think you would want to eat her. I thought you wanted to protect her." A young man said sitting down in front of them.

Thomas was one of the newly acquired Guardians for the Vatican. It wasn't even a requirement to be of the Faith just willing to protect what they asked. Tru was what they asked of him. He was appointed to be there for Tru and his needs. If a story leaked Hellion would be hunted down like a new age Yeti or Loch Ness Monster. Tru knew it and so did those that came to his small section of the world. Tru was not the only one but unlike others he never sought out what he considered to be freaks of nature. Who needed to sound like a version of Hellboy or something from the X-Files. Tru just wanted a normal life.

Thomas was a start contrast to Tru who had a brooding demeanor and dark features. Thomas had bright ginger hair and green eyes with freckles littering his mid-twenties face. He had a drink in his hands already and poked his tongue out at Charlie with a giggle. Tru sighed. He was dealing with two children now but really he wasn't all that angry. Charlie seemed to like him and she wasn't hiding the fact.

"Hi Thomas." Tru smiled back at him and Thomas just caught it from behind the high white collar. "I wanted to ask you about something but I was hoping to keep it from the public."

"Well here is a pretty safe bet I would think. It's a little dark but then again I know you like your shadows." Charlie stood up on Tru and then dropped back to her own chair.

"Charlie meet Thomas, and vice versa." Tru said. Charlie looked up to ask him what that meant. He often forgot she didn't really understand half of what he said. "It means the other way around, Thomas meet Charlie." He explained. She gave him the same questioning look for a moment but then settled back down to play with the water on the table.

"So you called me but not the others. Is it because I am not a priest?" He asked being quite open about it.

"Pretty much. What do you know about Iterations?" He asked him.

"Something to do with mathematics I think." He said wracking his studious brain. "If you are talking about organizations however that's a different matter. Iterations are a scientific group but really it's more a cover for underhanded deeds. Let's face it Tru there are always anomalies in nature erupting. Some believe it to be the work of God, some other religions and others that science likes to throw a bone once in a while."

"Yes, yes spare me the theology." Tru said but was listening really. Thomas was a neutral person and didn't have any sense of loyalty to any belief. "So what is the Vatican's stance on them?"

"We leave them alone if they leave us alone." He said and Charlie pulled the rosary beads from Tru's pocket as they talked. "There is no set agenda in the city Hellion. We protect those we can and we keep your stories and records in the archives. We don't do it to lie to people we do it to protect you. You were unique in that your history is unknown and whilst the Church tells you that you are the child of Teresa or whatever the truth is no one knows."

"Least of all me." Tru nodded and finished his tea. He motioned the bartender over and ordered them more drinks. "Well at least my language skills are improving. I can order beer." Thomas laughed.

"So what do you need of me?" Thomas asked him interested in why it had to be such a guarded conversation. "You call up a guardian and you pick one that is not a priest. You ask me about a group and for what?"

"If what you are saying is true, about Iterations, then they are going against the ideal of leaving each other alone." Tru explained. Charlie sat listening but it was only because she enjoyed the soft voice of the Hellion when he was talking. "Both myself and Charlie have been targeted by them. I was finally caught by a woman called Lucy Fielding. I don't know her and I don't want to but the reason we got out is due to someone called Shanemah."

"That sounds like some Persian religious book." Thomas said his mind going over what he could remember. "Well yes anyway I think a little info seeking on this Fielding woman might be a good idea." He took as much information from Tru as he could. "What are you planning to do now?"

"There is a place called Wartburg and there's a pretty huge castle up in the middle of nowhere. I want to head up there and hide out for a bit." Tru admitted. "I wondered if you could take Charlie back to the Vatican and have her kept safe?"

"You want me to go in to the Vatican?" Thomas rolled his eyes. "I don't much go in for all that but okay. We'll smuggle her through tonight."

"That's the safest plan." Charlie suddenly said. "Together we are a target with full resources. Tomorrow they must decide who they want more."

Thomas looked over at the kid who seemed to be staring off vacantly in front of her. Tru leaned and put his hands on her shoulders. Again she looked into his eyes, like that of a long lost lover before passing out in his arms.

"Hellion what was that?" Thomas looked at him as the drinks came over. Tru explained she was tired from her flight and took her drink as he let her sleep in one arm and held her up. "She's not a?"

"Fielding said something about a recipient. I don't know what that means." Tru told him the fiery blue eyes watching their surroundings. "She's got some gift but I don't know fully what. She seems to be able to predict the future but that didn't sounds like a premonition."

"A recipient." Thomas nodded. "It means if there are other empathics that touch her she will be able to utilize it for short bursts. I would guess however that she does not know how to use it and that's why it comes out in bursts. You say she was near Shanemah?"

"So he must be some kind of psychic then." Tru mused. "This goes over my head. She's just a kid. She needs to be playing and grazing her knees."

"Then she picked the wrong person to want as a dad." Thomas told him bluntly. "Okay well as a recipient she will be able to learn to block it in time I suppose. It's not that she is able to draw on any one power more that important feelings and powers will be magnetized to her. Take you for instance, if the night you were passing was highly emotional she would have been calling without knowing it."

"That is a dangerous thing." Hellion nodded. "She needs to be with the central counsel. They have to assess her. What if those idiots or worse get hold of her? The last thing we need is them shouting they have a new prophet or something."
"She could be that but I agree." Thomas said as they sat to discuss moving her and how to contact Tru. Thomas wasn't sure he liked where this was going. If the Guardians didn't like their choices he might be in real trouble.