AN:- First off, thank you to everyone who has reviewed - you're all absolutely amazing and make me smile every time. Secondly, this fic has almost 10,000 page views total. Ten thousand. People, you're crazy, but thank you!

Sorry it took a while, I've been doing springkink. If you want to know what that is, go here:

http (://) community (.) livejournal (.) com (/) springkink

Essentially, people submit prompts for a month, then authors claim them and then have a month to write them. We're just making our way through April's lot, which is what I've been doing for the past two months, but prompt submission for May will be open soon and this time there were no Trinity Blood prompts at all. Help me remedy that in the next round.

Anyway, on with the show. Usual disclaimers apply.

---

By the time Anna had made it around the heavy oak door and into Catherina's study, the others were already gathered around the fallen Cardinal. Catherina was lying on her side in the pool of her crimson robes, her head cradled gently against Tres' thigh. Abel was bent over her speaking softly as Hugue and Leon hovered uncertainly, Sister Kate a silent spectre at their side.

Catherina's skin was pale and her breathing shallow but she was awake and aware, her eyes flicking up in response to Abel's softly insistent voice.

"Excuse me, young lady."

Anna turned just as a pair of hands settled on her shoulders and gently but firmly moved her to one side.

"My sincerest apologies, ma'am, but I must get past to attend to the Cardinal."

She barely had time to take in the good natured smile behind the words before the man was past her in a sweep of priestly vestments and the lingering scent of tobacco. He crossed swiftly to kneel beside Catherina, Abel relinquishing his position without protest. The others appeared to relax at this man's arrival and he quickly took over, his hands checking the Cardinal's pulse and cupping her cheeks to look into her eyes.

Catherina let out a shallow breath that might have been a sigh and reached a hand up to grasp at his wrists.

“William, I'm all right really.”

The man, William, made a non-committal sound and cast around the room as if looking for something.

“We can't have you lying here on the floor,” he said.

As soon as the words were spoken, Tres leaned forward and slipped his arms beneath Catherina's shoulders and knees, lifting her effortlessly before rising to his feet. Striding swiftly across the room he made quickly for the half-open door in the back wall. Disappearing within he could be seen laying his charge down on a chaise longue, pulling the cushions forward for her to rest her head upon more easily.

And that was the last Anna saw, for the cyborg was followed by both Abel and William, who paused to close the door quietly behind him, blocking all further view. Almost at once, Sister Kate flickered out of existence with a hiss of static and the two remaining priests were left staring at each other.

“Well...now what?” said Leon gruffly.

Hugue shrugged, an almost dismissive lifting of his shoulders, and shook his head slowly.

“We wait,” he replied. “Kate will let us know if anything happens.”

Leon folded his arms unhappily and frowned, his consternation mirrored in the uncomfortable shifting of Hugue's gaze. The tall swordsman's eyes came to rest upon Anna's form where she still hesitated in the doorway, and a flash of remembrance stirred in his expression.

“Ah...we should take you to Sister Beatrice, Lady Anna," he said.

Leon, apparently glad of the distraction, nodded enthusiastically.

“Yeah...we'll get you settled in and sorted. Might be able to grab a free lunch too since you're new, and I'll teach you another type of poker I know. Gotta get some sin in before the holy vows shut you down after all!”

“Leon!”

“What?! Come on Hugue, I'm just joking, you know that...”

Still bickering, the two priests led the young woman away and out into the echoing corridors of the Vatican.

oOo

Dropping a single spoonful of sugar into the tea, Abel stirred it carefully before setting the teaspoon back in the saucer and placing the cup on the low table next to the chaise longue. Catherina smiled wearily at him and closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the side of the chair. Beside her, the Professor levered himself back to his feet, dusting his knees off and chewing thoughtfully on the end of his pipe.

“I'm fine now, William, really,” Catherina said softly.

The Professor made a humming noise in his throat that sounded entirely unconvinced.

“Of course, Catherina-sama, but you will keep me updated if you experience any further symptoms...”

“It's very important, Catherina-sama,” said Sister Kate softly from her place at the foot of the chaise longue. “We worry about you...”

“Enough!” said Catherina sharply. “I shall not have you all hovering over me like chaperones the entire time!”

The three humans looked chagrined, Kate clasping her hands before her and looking down at her feet, the two men shifting uncomfortably. Tres for his part, did not move, staring ahead at the wall steadily.

“I appreciate your concern, my friends,” she continued more gently. “But you must understand. These things look worse than they actually are.”

The three humans stared back at her unhappily, their disbelief poorly veiled. Catherina sighed and her stern expression softened.

“I promise to let you know if my condition deteriorates any further,” she said.

William nodded and Kate smiled. “Then we shall leave you in peace,” the Professor said. Kate's hologram flickered out of existence and the Professor bowed to the Cardinal and the others before turning to take his leave.

“Abel.”

Catherina's voice stopped Abel in his tracks as he made to follow the Professor and he turned back, eyebrows raised in query.

“You must stay here with Tres and report upon your journey to me.”

“Ah! Of course!” he replied, and pulled up a chair. “Shall I, Tres?” he said, looking up at the cyborg.

Tres nodded once and Abel began their report.

oOo

"You gonna eat that?"

"Yes."

"Nn...okay."

Leon hunched back in his chair again, shifting around awkwardly in an effort to make himself comfortable. Beside him, Hugue sat straight-backed, the picture of elegance. The two priests were waiting in the Professor's study, ready to turn their mission report over for his perusal. The early afternoon sun slanting through the windows was lending the room a pleasant warmth that had set Hugue to drowsing, his half-closed eyes on the dust motes sparkling in the shafts of sunlight. Leon however, was bored. It was not often he was allowed freedom from his prison cell and the thought of losing the precious time to idling in the library of a half-crazy bookworm was beginning to grate on him. Carefully, aware of the Sword Dancer's viper reflexes, he eyed the paper wrapped sandwich sat on the edge of the Professor's desk. If he could just...

"Ah! Sorry to keep you waiting, gentlemen!"

Hugue's eyes snapped fully open at the sound of the Professor's voice and any opportunity for sandwich-napping was lost. The two priests stood politely to welcome the third and Hugue stepped forward quickly to relieve him of the silver tea tray he carried in his hands.

"Wonderful," the Professor said, allowing Hugue to set out the cups and pour the tea. "Now that's taken care of..."

He seated himself behind his desk and looked expectantly across at them.

"How's Catherina?" Leon asked without preamble.

Hugue's eyes flicked up briefly to gauge the Professor's face as he listened to his reply.

"She's stable," William replied. "It concerns me that these fainting fits are becoming more frequent, but there is little to suggest an explanation for their cause save that they tie in directly to her continued illness. Would that there was some way of alleviating them, but it seems in all honesty that the best cure will be for her to simply rest."

The three men sipped tea in silence for a moment after that and then William shook his head, as if clearing away his concerns. "Tell me now then," he said. "Were you successful?"

Hugue and Leon exchanged glances. "Well," said Leon. "I got him drunk and asked him what the hell was up with him. Turns out it's the same old, same old with him. Remember that case he an' Tin Man took a week or so back, the one with the newlyweds turned vampire?"

The Professor nodded. "The Vespario case," he replied.

"Yeah, that one. Cult of the Star or whatever it was."

"Cult of the Star of Dawn," Hugue supplied quietly.

"Whatever. The two psychopaths, killing clergy as young as they could get 'em. Anyway, those two. Turns out that Abel's not so happy about the way he handled that case. Turns out that it wasn't the hot shot that killed 'em like it usually is. According to Abel he was the one to take them down, killed the pair of them while he was in that devil form of his. And you know what that means..."

The Professor breathed out long and slow. "He lost control."

"Yeah," Leon said. "Broke his promise to himself good and proper."

"That promise is important to him," Hugue said quietly. "We may not know the reasons behind his making it, but nonetheless it is of great significance to him. He has based his very life around it."

The Professor folded his hands on the desk and leaned on them with a grave sigh. "Did he say anything else to you?"

"Well," Leon frowned. "Sort of. Not really. Mostly he was just hung up on the fact that he'd done it. Said he couldn't stop himself."

"He said what?" William asked quickly.

Leon frowned uncomfortably. "Look, I don't wanna go gettin' him in trouble or anything."

"Leon," the Professor said sternly. "We're trying to help Abel, not condemn him. God knows there's not a one of us here whose soul is spotless. If you hold back information we can't do what's necessary to help Abel."

Leon shook his head unhappily. "I know that...it's just..."

"He appears to be addicted to the blood," Hugue said quietly.

"Hugue!"

"It is as though he draws pleasure from its consumption. Similar to the way that a vampire does."

"I didn't say that!" Leon protested furiously.

"You didn't need to," Hugue replied calmly.

"Gentlemen, please. That's enough. We need to look at this development calmly and scientifically."

The two priests continued to glare at one another for a long, heated moment until Hugue turned his gaze coolly back to the Professor and Leon settled back in his chair, his arms folded unhappily. "That's better," William said. "Now, both of you, tell me what else you found out. Everything please, leave nothing out."

Leon shifted uncomfortably. "That's about it really," he said. "He didn't really say much else. Just kept on repeating what he'd already said. That he'd killed the pair of 'em and that he'd not been able to stop himself. And that it wasn't right what he'd done."

"He showed remorse?"

"Yeah, all the way through. Just kept on and on about how he'd destroyed something precious. That he'd destroyed their love. Called himself a monster at one point too. I dunno, I told him to stop that shit and he didn't say it again after that."

Hugue stared at the Professor as Leon related what Abel had told him. When it was clear that the other priest had finished, he continued in his place. "It appears that Abel believes even more strongly than we had at first guessed in the sanctity of all life, both human and vampire. I know not what causes him to hold such mercy in his heart, but I feel that he is somewhat misguided."

Leon snorted indelicately and the Professor raised his eyebrows noncommittally.

"Be that as it may, Hugue, this is a belief of Abel's that is very dear to his heart. A belief that threads through all his decisions and affects the very way in which he leads his life. We will respect that until we can discover the reasoning behind such a view. Which brings me to the next part of your mission. Have you got the package?"

Hugue nodded and reached inside his coat, drawing out the parcel that he had picked up from the antique merchant, Arthur Bardeville. Placing it on the table he slid it across to the Professor who pulled the paper wrapping quickly off and pressed the centre of the lid until the box clicked open. Reaching inside he drew out a small cubic crystal that flashed with a blue gleam in the sunlight.

"Wonderful..." he breathed.

"What is that thing?" Lean asked, leaning forward.

"This, dear boy, is a book."

"A...book? It doesn't look like a book..."

"You're right, it doesn't. But the fact remains that inside this little crystal there could be stored thousands upon thousands of pages of information. One could speculate that perhaps there would be enough to fill an entire library!"

"Right..." said Leon, unconvinced. "So how do you read it then?"

The Professor's face fell a little. "Well now," he said, scratching his head. "That remains to be seen."

"You don't know?" Hugue asked, an edge of surprise in his soft voice.

"Well, 'don't know' is a strong way of putting it," William replied cheerfully. "Am not yet versed in its translation is a better way I think!"

"That's the same thing," Leon muttered as the Professor pulled out two more of the small objects and set them side by side on the desktop.

"Have faith, dear boy!" William grinned. "For I do know where to start to find out!"

"And what are you hoping to find in them, Professor?" Hugue asked.

"Well now," William replied. "Arthur Bardeville and I go back a very long way. We attended University together and were students of the same field. He and I share a common interest in the lost technologies and many is the afternoon we've spent trawling through research papers and old documents searching for clues as to its uses and implementation. I've seen these things before many times. They're called data crystals, and as I said, if you can find the correct way to read them they contain a huge amount of information. Information which specifically may help us to understand the true nature of Abel's Kresnik form, and from there, find a way to help him integrate himself fully into society."

"Integrate?" said Hugue.

"Why yes. We need to help him overcome his inner demons so that he can lead a normal life."

Leon snorted. "Like any of us lead normal lives!"

Hugue folded his arms and leaned back in his chair, his eyes hooded and thoughtful.

"As Father Nightroad's friends, and as priests of the Lord, Leon, it is our duty to aid him in whatever way we can, and that includes taking care of his immortal soul and his emotional wellbeing," the Professor said sternly. "Abel needs to be encouraged to put his past behind him and join in with the rest of society, leading a life just like any other man's."

There was a long, thoughtful pause as the three priests considered the implications of that, and then Leon frowned and shifted his folded arms. "A normal life, huh? You mean like...with a wife and kids and stuff?"

Hugue and the Professor blinked as they worked the thought through their heads. Then a slow smile pulled at the corner of William's mouth. "Why now, Leon. I do believe you've hit the nail right on the head. Giving Abel a reason to live, and a focus for his energies other than the work of the Vatican. A wife, or at least, a lady, might be exactly the solution Abel needs."

Hugue was frowning but William's enthusiasm had been kindled and already they could see the wheels turning behind his eyes.

"Right...but who?" Leon asked uncertainly.

"Catherina," Hugue said immediately and the other two stared at him with raised eyebrows.

"The Cardinal?" said Leon hesitantly.

"He is devoted to her," was the calm reply.

William and Hugue exchanged glances, but neither of them could think immediately of any reason to naysay the idea.

"That...well. That seems like a good enough idea, for a starting point anyway," the Professor said eventually. "Well...all right! That's decided then. Now, I need you two gentlemen to take a request to Sister Kate for me asking her to release the cipher crystal into my care for a little while. I'm going to need it if I'm to unlock the data crystals you brought back with you from London. And in the meantime, I suppose I shall have to think a little more on just how we're going to go about introducing the romantic element to Abel's life."

"Yeah...Uh, Proff?" said Leon. "I gotta go back soon...you know. 'Cos they're gonna be wondering where I've got to if I don't turn up again soon. At the clank...they get pretty upset if I skip curfew..."

"Oh, don't you worry about that," the Professor said, waving a hand dismissively. "I asked Catherina to have your parole extended for another two weeks whilst you and Hugue help me with this research."

"You mean I got another two weeks free?" exclaimed Leon in delight. "That's great, Proff, thanks! You hear that, Hugue? We get to spend some more time together!"

"I heard," Hugue said tonelessly.

"Now if you gentlemen will excuse me, I need to start setting up to crack that crystal," William said. "And you two need to visit Sister Kate for me."

With a grin that would have made a Cheshire cat envious, Leon threw the Professor a mock salute and such was his glee that he didn't even complain when Hugue wordlessly handed the wrapped sandwiches to William and led the way back out into the Vatican.

oOo

Catherina's bedroom was warm and yet still the Cardinal huddled her thin frame beneath three thickly embroidered quilts, her sleeping robe pulled tight around her shoulders. The windows had been left wide open to allow the late afternoon sun to fall across her bed as she read. Currently her hand was holding her place in the book as she rested her head back against the headboard and enjoyed the feel of the sun on her cheek. Beside her Tres sat on a bedside chair reciting the sights he had seen whilst on the mission to Albion.

"...the bridge is a rebuilding of a much older structure destroyed during the bombings of the last war. It has been styled on the photographic records kept in the central library and the work took some five years, three months and four days to complete."

His voice was monotone, dull, full of the specifications and terminology that his cyborg mind relied upon. Nonetheless, Catherina listened raptly to him, her thoughts far away in a city she had only heard tales of. She smiled as he came to the end of his recital and sat waiting for her questions.

"Did Abel like it?" she asked eventually.

Tres paused before replying. "Father Nightroad gave no indication of discomfort during our visit to the bridge. He remarked at length upon the river below and voiced an inclination towards obtaining passage upon one of the smaller pleasure vessels."

"Did you?"

"Negative. Mission funding did not include the payment of tariffs for non-essential journeys."

Catherina smiled softly. "Tell me then, how is the other mission that I gave you proceeding?"

Tres nodded once. "I have been able to confirm with 94 certainty that Father Nightroad is undergoing an elevated level of emotional response to current situational stresses, however I have been unable to ascertain the cause of such a response or to isolate the factors involved."

Catherina paused for a long time, considering how to phrase her next question. "Do you consider him a danger to himself?" she asked eventually.

Tres blinked. "Negative," he replied.

"That is a relief to hear," she said softly. "Tell me then, what makes you think there is still something wrong?"

"Father Nightroad continues to sleep less than three hours a night. His required minimum for full functionality is five hours and his optimum is seven hours. In the past he has only exhibited such an atypical sleep pattern when he is undergoing heightened emotional stress. Furthermore, he has allowed himself to become intoxicated on a single occasion which is anomalous in that his usual intake of alcoholic beverages is limited to formal occasions only."

"Abel got drunk?" Catherina's eyes flicked open, her head turning to regard Tres.

"Positive."

"With who?"

"Father Leon de Garcia."

Slowly, Catherina sat back. "I see," she replied. "Did Abel say anything to you afterwards?"

Quickly, the cyborg related the few sentences that he had exchanged with the other father on their walk back to the hotel. Catherina made him repeat the bit about the central database, and then when he reached the part about Abel mentioning a 'task' he had set himself, she made him repeat that bit twice until she was satisfied.

"And so...you have not managed to implement a solution yet?" she asked.

"Negative. Insufficient data."

She closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun on her cheek and hearing the tolling of the cathedral bells in the distance marking the hour. On the mantelpiece the clock joined in the chiming, its light voice offsetting the dull tolling of the grandfather clock down the hall.

"I want you to act as his support, Tres," Catherina said. "I want you to be there for him to remind him that he is not alone in the dark. To be his anchor to all the things he holds dear. He will allow you to be that, I know he will."

It occurred to Tres then that he was not the most suitable agent for this task. It struck him that the Professor, or the Iron Maiden, or Mistress would all, with their various talents and human experience, be far more suited to the undertaking of such a delicate task. And yet...and yet the Cardinal most certainly already knew this and had still chosen to assign the task to him. He considered the implications of that and took time to gauge the resources available to him.

After all, Tres never failed his mistress.

"Affirmative," he said.

oOo

The corridors of the Iron Maiden were dark save for where Abel trod. Each ten metre segment lit up as he approached, then fell dark again as he moved on, the battleship's internal power monitoring system ever vigilant to its economic functioning. It gave an eerie feel to the place that would have affected him more had the memory of the colonies and the colony ships not been so ingrained in him.

He made his way up to the central control centre alone, with no ghostly companion to accompany him and the lack of a greeting made him wonder if perhaps he was intruding. By the time he had reached the double blast doors leading to the heart of the battleship's nervous system, he had almost convinced himself to turn back. But then the blast doors whisked open through no command of his own, and the glow from beyond caught his attention far more than the movement of the doors had. Smiling a little wryly to himself, he stepped inside.

Sister Kate lay recumbent amidst a web of wire and light, glowing fibres feeding into her skin like nerves that had grown out instead of in. Her skin was pale, that small part of it not covered by cybernetic plating and datajacks, and her eyes, still those of a young girl, were open, staring endlessly up into the shadows of the ceiling. Abel knew that what she saw went far beyond the stretch of mortal imagination, into the realm of data matrixes and algorithms, control systems and monitoring devices that gave her sight beyond human sight, but still. To see her eyes so pale and unblinking, and so very far away, made him wonder that he felt no horror and if such absence of feeling indicated yet again an absence of humanity in himself.

"Father Nightroad."

Her hologram flickered into existence at his side, a glowing techno-ghost that in centuries past might have been called an angel. It was only long exposure to her that kept him from jumping.

"Sister Kate," he smiled. Was it him, or did even her hologram look tired? How intuitive were the translation formulae that governed the conversion of electric impulses in her brain to the representation of self that hung in the air before him now?

"Abel, how can I help you?" she asked.

How indeed, he thought. Of all the mortals with whom he had become friends over the years, Sister Kate, with her sweet smile, her gentle wisdom and her will of steel had been the source of his greatest comfort in times of distress. He'd never told her that though, because it would have embarrassed her, but it remained true nonetheless. He had never spoken to her of his troubles either, had never confided in her his great burden and his awful past, and yet, she had always found the words to assuage his pain and lift the darkness that ever dimmed his vision without even needing to know those things. He suspected privately that she knew more of him than she let on, but that was a thought he could not bear to examine too closely.

He had come to the Iron Maiden seeking solace and an end to the constant buzz of self-recrimination; a friendly, down-to-earth mind to banish the darkness creeping amidst his thoughts. Looking at her now though, he wondered if perhaps he ought not to be offering her the same.

"Kate," he said gently. "Is everything all right?"

The hologram smiled, its hands folded neatly in front of it, and gave him a small bow.

"Yes, Father Nightroad."

They regarded each other in silence for a moment then, Abel unsure of what to say next and Kate patient, waiting him out.

"Is there anything you need, Father?" she asked him at length and he could read the hint in her voice.

"You're busy," he said, bowing slightly. "I shall leave you to continue. I apologise if I have disturbed you."

He smiled as he said the words, but still a look of distress flickered across her face.

"Oh no, Abel! Please don't go, it's not that I want you to go...it's just that...I'm sorry. I've been working so hard and I'm not getting anywhere."

Abel straightened, his face concerned. "You're still searching, aren't you?" he said softly.

Kate looked down at her feet, her face almost apologetic. "I know there's a cure for her out there somewhere. There has to be. The lost civilisations knew so much, they could do so much. Look at what Will did for me after the accident. If their technology was capable of this, then there has to be some way we can save Catherina."

Indeed. The smile that Abel put on his lips was only half lie. The people of today simply had no grasp of what the ancient technology had been capable of, and likewise, they had no real understanding of the complexity and requirements there were for its safe and flawless implementation. But still, it gave them hope to dream.

"We will always keep searching," he said to her with that same smile, and the hope it lit in her eyes made him hurt deep inside for his lies.

"Thank you, Abel," Kate said. "I know we can believe in you."

A pale, ghostly hand reached up as though she would touch his face, the computer program interpreting old physical impulses that could no longer be used. She hesitated a hairsbreadth from his cheek and it must have been his imagination that felt the warmth of her hand just before she drew it away.

"I'm sorry," she stammered, laughing a little. "Abel, did you want something? You came to see me."

Abel shook his head before he replied, still hearing the nervous shiver to her laughter. "No, Kate. I just came to make sure you were okay."

Her smile was warm, genuinely so, at his words. "I'm fine. I'm just busy. But I'm glad you came, it always makes me feel better to see you."

"Then that's good. I shall leave you in peace, I don't want to distract you."

He bowed to her as she nodded, and then turned to leave. The blast doors whisked open for him but before they could close, he stopped and turned to look back over his shoulder.

"I mean it, Kate. If there's any way, if there's any cure out there, we'll find it. I promise."

The last he saw of her before the doors slid closed again was her pale, serene smile.

oOo

Of all the humans that Tres had a close association with, other than the Cardinal de Sforza who had retired to bed some time ago, the cyborg reasoned that the one most suitable for him to begin his research with, was the Professor.

William Walter Wordsworth was in many ways the man responsible for Tres' existence and in a way, that made him the master to Catherina's mistress, though of course Tres' first and often it would seem, only loyalty, was to the Cardinal herself.

As medic, programmer, and sometime mentor to the cyborg, Tres reasoned that the man would be a good place to start in order to gain advice from someone most likely to understand what the cyborg was asking and provide answers in terms the cyborg could relate to.

And so that evening, once he had seen Catherina settled in bed and her guards safely posted, Tres made his way down to the Professor's study and knocked on the door. When he entered, responding to the Professor's voice, it was clear that the Professor had been expecting somebody, just not him.

"Ah, Tres! Good evening, how can I help you?" William said, tapping his pipe to settle the tobacco.

"Good evening, Professor," Tres replied.

"I didn't think you were due to be recharged until tomorrow morning," William said frowning. "Unless I have my dates wrong. You didn't sustain any damage on the Albion trip did you?"

"Negative, Professor. My internal power pack is scheduled to be recharged in fourteen hours and thirty-two minutes time and I have received no damage during the last mission."

"Right. Jolly good then. So, how can I help you?"

Now that he was faced with the question in such direct terms, Tres realised that he did not in fact know precisely how to ask. He could come straight out with it and ask a direct question, but that might reveal his mission to the Professor, and although Catherina had commanded that he not tell Abel about his plans, telling anyone else might eventually lead back to Father Nightroad hearing about them indirectly and Tres did not want to risk that.

Instead, he tried for subtlety.

"Who is the main support in your life?" he said.

The Professor blinked and stared at him. "I'm sorry?" he said.

"Who is the main support in your life?" Tres repeated.

"Ah...well," the Professor stumbled. "That depends on what you mean precisely."

Obviously, Tres reasoned, he was not using the correct terminology. "Who is the main source of your emotional wellbeing?"

Very carefully, the Professor set his pipe down on its stand and folded his arms across the table. "Why exactly do you ask, Tres?"

"I am doing research," the cyborg replied, and then, when William continued to stare at him, "For a project."

"I see..." said the Professor thoughtfully. "Well, there's many people that influence me. Many whose advice and company I value and some to whom I turn when I have a particular problem. But...as for emotional wellbeing, I suppose once upon a time, that would have been my wife."

The sad smile that touched the Professor's face dissolved as there came a sharp rapping at the door. The Professor hesitated for a moment and then with an apologetic glance at Tres, called the visitor in. It turned out to be two visitors, Leon and Hugue to be precise and seeing the two priests enter, Tres decided quickly that any further questions for the Professor would have to be postponed to a later date. Excusing himself, he let himself back out into the corridor leaving the three priests to stare after him.

"What was that all about?" Leon asked, seating himself in front of the Professor's desk.

"Ah...nothing," the Professor said in a tone of voice that indicated it hadn't been nothing at all. "Did you get the cipher crystal from Kate?"

Leon laughed as Hugue drew the small object from his pocket and set it on the Professor's desk. "Yeah, we got it," he said. "But she didn't half give us an earful about it. You need to go talk to her sometime Professor, she almost wouldn't give it to us. Said you should have come in person."

William winced as he picked the crystal up. "Yes, I know. I'll pay her a visit tomorrow morning."

"She needs it," Hugue said quietly. "She is distraught over Catherina's collapse today."

"I think we were all a little shaken up by that," the Professor sighed as he slipped the crystal into his pocket. "Speaking of which, you two gentlemen didn't happen to notice Tres, ah, acting strangely whilst you were in Albion, did you?"

The two blank stares he received in return were answer enough. "I didn't think so. It's just that, well, Tres was asking some very strange questions just now."

"Really?" Leon said. "Such as?"

"Well, he asked me who the main provider of my emotional support and wellbeing was!" the Professor replied.

"And what did you say?" Hugue asked curiously.

"Well, I didn't really have time to say anything as you turned up just then. But...well, I suppose I did mention that once upon a time, it would have been my wife."

The three priests blinked at one another and for a long time nobody said anything. Then suddenly, Leon cocked his head to one side.

"Hey, you don't reckon..." he trailed off.

"I don't think..." the Professor said uncertainly. "I can't see how he would..."

"But why would be asking otherwise?" Leon said.

"But he's not programmed to be an emotional support to anyone," the Professor replied. "I don't think, due to his programming, that he actually can be. And besides, who on earth would he be trying to act as a support to?"

"Catherina," Hugue said softly. "She is the focus of his entire existence. For her, he would do anything."

The three priests exchanged long, amazed looks.

"Hey," said Leon after a while. "You don't think he's in love with her do you?"

For a long time, they just stared at each other.

"Well," said the Professor finally. "Well, I'll be..."

oOo

Tres was patrolling the corridors as he took time to evaluate the Professor's brief answer to his question. His mentor had named his wife as the one-time provider of his emotional support, and that made sense to the cyborg. It did not however, give him any real explanation of how to go about providing such support to Abel. What he needed, was a wife to talk to. Unfortunately however, in this situation, Tres was not familiar with anybody fitting that marital status.

He was however, familiar with several females. And out of all the females he knew, it occurred to him that due to her innate abilities, there was one female that stood out from the rest as being the most likely woman to be of assistance. He would seek her out and question her.

The decision made, Tres set out across the Vatican in search of Mistress.