Of youth, and growth.

The wings of the spirit as he called them carried him above the lights of his beloved city, he saw underneath him the buildings, and the gardens, everything that he fought dearly to protect, everything that he loved was in this city. Yet a monster had come to his very own home, almost without a fight. Anthony was disturbed too by the look on the monster's face. He admitted, he had never felt this way before for a monster. It was not just pity that came in to his heart.

But he had almost wanted to help him.

The wall had appeared and he lay on the floor, once a target of upmost importance, and then suddenly nothing. That was certainly fine with him. But the way the monster gazed at the wall was more...awe filed, rather than fearful. He hadn't expected that. It was like he had accomplished something, like he had actually been happy that happened.

No.

It couldn't be. Whatever this monster planned, whatever it's intent, it's desire. Something like that could never make them happy. That was their worst nightmare. Wasn't it?

Anthony would need to think about this for a while, perhaps now was not the time. A child was on the streets tonight, but not just any child, one of the children in his care. Ada Koch. She was rude, shrewd, and crude. They had taken her in and provided her a loving home with food and a loving family. She seemed to appreciate none of that, and was constantly sarcastic, snarky, and shirked her duties. Needless to say.

Anthony was fond of her. She always brought a smile to his face.

But tonight of all nights was not the night to be out on the town. For anyone, but especially not her. She was a trainee in their organization and he feared that if she saw that vampire she might do something stupid, like attack it. If he a fully fledged exorcist and paladin could not do so, at least not this time around. He didn;t think she would survive such an encounter.

Anthony landed close to where he had last seen her, but she had moved by then, probably just wandering the city at night. Something Anthony did regularly.

Anthony tried to take one step and his breath was taken from his lungs. He was brought down to his knees as his eyes went wide and his body exploded in pain. He had broken more than his arm...

Anthony wrapped his busted in scripture like a cast, he could keep that up for a while. If that didn't move, he thought maybe, just maybe, he could find Ada. His back, his neck, and his other shoulder even, they were wounded too, but there was nothing he could do about that now. He needed to find Ada.

Getting up, assisted some by his scripture, he walked shakily on his feet calling to his hand a stick that he found lying on the ground with his faeth. He balanced himself on this, tried to take as much weight off of...everything. That he could.

Anthony looked around for her, his walking carrying him down the street he thought he saw her walking. Hopefully it was this way. Hopefully he would find her soon. His vision had started blurring too.

Anthony almost out of breath, and almost unable to walk sank to his knees. His mind and his heart racing, illogically perhaps, the vampire was no where near here and Ada had just as much of a chance of running in to him as any one else.

Anthony looked around desperately wondering where she could be. He would not loose her, he could not loose her! She was just a child, God had saved him tonight but he had already lived a life, he would have been fine dying, Ada was still just a child!

Horrible guilt struck Anthony in his condition, that he had asked the almighty waste his time on him, instead of saving a child that couldn't even defend herself against something like this. He had failed as an exorcist, as a priest, and as a father.

Hollering out hoping that someone would hear him, any would hear him before he could no longer retain consciousness.

"Ada!"

His voice rang loud, yet it did little to keep his mind sharp, now the only thoughts that were going through his mind were.

Take it back, save her, take it back, please, I beg you.

He prayed this, and that someone might come along, and carry on his task that he feared he would fail.

Ada had been wandering about the city, It was getting quite a bit late and she was sure Sister Maya couldn't stall for her forever. But Ada just wasn't ready to go back and face Veronica again. She wasn't angry, She was confused but not angry and she just wasn't ready to go back with her mind in it's current state. Her encounter with that mysterious blonde vampire hadn't helped clear her mind of it's troubles either. If anything it had made it all worse as she passed by a small cafe that still had it's lights on Ada spared a quick glance inside. She could see a few people sitting inside chatting and sipping coffee. Ada reached out towards the handle of the door to enter herself to perhaps spend a fair bit of time alone but just as she was about to pull the door open a shout drew her attention.

Ada released the door handle she could hear a few passer-bys whispering in hushed tones about some sort of crazy man stumbling about bloodied and bruised screaming a girl's name. As she moved through the streets the whispers seemed to become more detailed each and every detail painting a more in depth picture in her mind.

Cassock...Priest...Diem...Bleeding

There wasn't any doubt in Ada's mind anymore she knew who this so called crazy man was. She had to find him quickly as she moved through the streets she stopped passing bystanders asking for directions to put herself on the right path to her target. It wasn't long before Ada came across the old priests trail the trail however made Ada's stomach sink. It was a trail of blood small drips that dotted the ground leading down the street. Ada rushed down the street following the trail of blood trying to find the man who was shedding it.

"C'mon Uncle Tony how can a man bleed so much and get so fucking far?"

---

Near Tony

Pietro scowled as he looked into a piece of broken mirror his nose had never reset properly after that bitch Koch had broken it. "Fucking bitch..." Pietro hissed as he threw away the mirror letting it shatter on the ground. That fucking priest and bitch nun had ruined everything for him that day. First the priest had called the police and then that damned nun had taken them all down and gotten most of his boys arrested and put into juvenile hall. Pietro grit his teeth and stomped on the already broken mirror crushing it's shards into tinier pieces until it resembled dust. His fists clenched tightly as his anger simmered.

"Pietro!" A voice called. He turned to see a hooded boy run up to him seemingly out of breath. "What is it?" Pietro hissed. The boy pointed out towards the street "Me and some of the boys were out looking for marks! It's the priest we saw him!" The boy said. Pietro raised an eyebrow, That priest was out and about this late in the night? "He looked pretty beaten up too if you wanna get him we gotta do it now!" The boy said. Pietro stuck his fingers in his mouth letting out a shrill whistle. From the darkness of the alley 8 boys stood up to gather around near Pietro. "Let's get that bastardo boys..." Pietro said before stalking out of the alley picking up a piece of lead pipe on his way out. His minions following suit as they followed his steps.

It wasn't long until Pietro and his posse came upon the bloodied and beaten priest, 3 boys were already confronting him ceasing him from moving on further. Pietro moved to the head of the group resting his pipe on his shoulder "Long time no see priest..." Pietro said smirking at the seemingly weakened priest. "I think I owe you an ass kicking for that shit you pulled a month ago." Pietro said venomously as his boys began to form a circle around the priest.

His thoughts were broken up from their muddle state as someone spoke behind him. It was a boy...the boy who had threatened Ada...

Anthony wasn't sure what he was doing here, but he imagined it was nothing good. Already nearly his entire focus rested on making sure Ada was safe. These boys, however young and not all that threatening they might be. Still posed a danger for her. They would not be standing when he found her. They would not even get the chance to hurt her.

The lead boy, he had a pipe, no weapon. None of them really seemed to be carrying weapons. For just a moment he wondered as to their age, and then remembered that Ada was 19. Well then, in this case. Being fully grown men, it was time they started getting treated like that. Anthony whiped the side of his good hand at Peitro's head, his speed and strength easily outmatching the boy's own.

This strike to the temple would render him unconscious, but not seriously injured. His kick would send another reeling backwards gasping for breath as he approached him. Anthony let his staff fall as he began this fight, it was too deadly to be used as a weapon of it's own. It would just get in the way.

The boys were scared at first, but as Anthony's knees wobled and his head bobbed up and down just trying to stay awake,  they seemed to gain a little of their courage back and dove at him. Anthony threw and elbow and extended that in to a fist as he dropped a boy with the first blow, the fist breaking the nose of the other. His knee came up to stop another one in his tracks as he came at him with a knife. He slid to the ground as well, but then, before Anthony could even turn to see this coming, one of the boy's picked up a board from behind him and struck his injured arm.

Anthony screamed in pain as his arm was struck dropping to one knee again not knowing what to do to these children. The only things he could do would either kill them, or do nothing at all. He was to weak to pull his punches, it was all or nothing at this point. Anything supernatural was out, that was just a given. But they started to come at him again, one with the board, the other with his stick, and a few more waiting to take their turn at him.

He would suffer it. Anthony closed his eyes and tried with all his might to block out the pain, or to at least fall unconscious. He refused to hurt these children seriously, he would suffer their wrath instead, if that was truly all he could do. He just aked, that hopefully, if Ada was ever hurt tonight, that she would forgive him.

After that, things went slightly black, and his ears began to ring as another board crashed down over his skull. He knew that he wouldn't be conscious for much longer if this continued.

With Tony

Pietro came to as one of this lackeys shook him awake all the while the other boys had begun taking turns striking the injured priest with various improvised weapons such as boards and pipes. Pietro got to his feet and shoved aside some of his boys taking up the pipe he'd previously been wielding when he'd been sucker punched. "You think your tough shit huh!?" Pietro hissed kicking the injured priest in the side. Pietro grit his teeth as he looked down at the man his eyes burning with rage.

"You think you can make a fool out of me!? Fuck up my operations!?" Pietro yelled he continued kicking the man in the ribs. Pietro's minions watched some of them smiling in a sense of cruel sadistic glee while a few others winced with each punishing kick Pietro dished out upon the man. Pietro raised his pipe above his head preparing to deliver a blow with the weapon but frowned as the pipe seemed to refuse to come down. "What the fuck!?" Pietro hissed before turning his head only to see the knuckles of a person's fist before it smashed into his nose.

Pietro stumbled forward tripping over Tony's prone form his hand gripped over his nose in a feeble attempt to stem the bleeding the hit had caused. He glared at the person now holding his pipe the same burning hate he'd shown towards the priest evident in his gaze.

Ada returned the glare her hand tightly gripping the lead pipe held at her side. The moment she'd seen what they'd done to Tony it was as if a switch had been flipped within the confines of Ada's mind. This wasn't a fight between pickpockets anymore not to Ada, This was a fight against an enemy who she had every intention to destroy. She pointed the pipe at Pietro taking a step forward to stand between Tony and the remaining minions Pietro had at his disposal. "I'm going to fucking break your legs Pietro..." Ada hissed her eyes burning with hate and killing intent.

Pietro seemed visibly shaken by the threat but quickly regained his composure, "There's almost 10 of use and only one of you Koch...You gonna take us all down?" Pietro asked spreading his arms gesturing towards his companions. Ada's eyes slowly scanned over the group a few of them seemed injured likely from the initial fight they'd probably had with Tony if Ada knew anything about the priest it was that he didn't go down without putting up a fight first. As she took note of each of Pietro's lackeys her eyes turned to look at the smug look on Pietro's face. "You should have just kept walking Koch it would have been way better for your health!" Pietro said.

Ada shook her head "Fucking moron..." Ada muttered. Pietro's lips immediately turned down into a scowl "I'll make you regret those words bitch." Pietro said before pointing at her. "Get her you idiots!!" Pietro called. Ada quickly took steps back luckily the boys coming after her were to focused on her to really pay any attention to their former prey. The first boy too reach her received a swift strike to the gut from the tip of the pipe causing the boy to double over in pain she quickly followed up with a quick strike to the boy's chin using the pommel of her makeshift club before wrapping the shaft of the club around his neck and pulling his back up against her chest creating a shield between herself and her incoming attackers.

The next boy to reach her had already been preparing to send a kick toward's Ada's back before she turned with her human shield in place. The boy stumbled in his attempt to cease his attack in order to spare his comrade more pain but this caused him to stumble into close proximity of Ada and her shield. A quick strike from Ada's elbow followed up with another strike from one of the ends of the pipe sent him sprawling to the ground motionless. The next to come forward were a trio of boys seeking to overpower her with their numbers. Ada quickly released her captive and launched a forward kick into the center of his back propelling him forward into his would be saviors.

One of the boys managed to avoid the incoming body, His fellows were not as fortunate as they ran into the it full force falling to the ground in a writhing pile of limbs. The boy who had managed to avoid Ada's human projectile quickly threw a right hook toward Ada only to have a right jab catch him in the elbow as he cocked his arm back. The boy shook his arm out focused more on easing his own pain to notice the swinging piece of metal aimed at his temple. The pipe impacted the side of the boy's head with a loud clang sending the boy to the ground.

Huh. I never knew she actually cared about me that much.

Were the only thoughts running through Anthony's mind as he gazed through his fading vision at the Ada, and her beat down on the thugs before her. Perhaps Anthony might have disapproved of this at one time, but she was in the right. These boys were no longer just pick pockets, they were thugs, maybe even potential killers. Heaven knows that boy Pietro didn't know to pull a friking punch!

Though bloodied up now, and covered in searing horrible pain just lying on the ground. A small smile touched his lips as he saw Ada go to town on these boys, one of them, dropping his pipe on to him as he tripped over his body. Suppressing a groan from the pain of the this, Anthony's "good" left hand twitched a bit, and shakily felt the pipe on his chest. It seemed to be decently made, wooden, nice and simple, the smell? Tobacco, nothing extreme. He might as well...

Anthony asked his scripture to carry him gently towards a fountain just behind him, under the distraction of this fight that shouldn't be too much of a problem at all. Reaching this fountain he set his back to it and breathed deeply waiting for a bit of the pain that had flared up on him while he was moved to die down. When it did Anthony wiped the pipe off on his cassock and pulled out the small matchbook he kept for his own cigars, and lit the instrument before him.

He set his teeth down gently on the pipe, tasting the tobacco first, and noticing that it wasn't half bad. This Pietro had good taste at the very least. After a moment he breathed the smoke in to his lungs, and let it sit there for a moment, and feeling the familiar buzz of the tobacco he smiled once again as he breathed out the cloud smoke making rings in the air.

Anthony continued to watch Ada with his smile stuck on his face. She performed so well, and she had the fierceness of her mother! Truly frightening.

Anthony took this opportunity to splash some water on his face from the fountain and get a quick drink as well. As far as internal damage went, not that much from these boys. They merely sent his head swimming but he was a rather large man, and had a lot of muscle to cushion these blows.

Now, having gotten a drink, a little rest, breathe or two out of a pipe, and a show even. He began to think a little more logically; he was no longer begging and pleading to have died in Ada's stead. No, that was illogical. His father had plans for him, and he didn't care what they were, he would follow them through to the best of his abilities. No matter what.

Anthony saw the three boys approach her, and wondered what she would do in response. Anthony would have thrown the club at one, disabled him and while that happened flying side kick the second, thus taking out two of the opponents in a very small amount of time, and from there leaving an easily manageable one. But he liked her idea a bit better to be honest.

He leaned his head back against the stone and sucked in another breath of the warm smoke, blowing it out in a steady puff and then chuckling to himself. Maybe, just maybe, it seems she had been paying attention in class.  

Anthony had his two knives at the read and wrapped in scripture in case something really serious happened, like if one of the boys pulled a gun. But he doubted he would need to use them. Ada was handling herself masterfully well, and this was a joy to watch if he did say so himself.

Breathing in gently through his mouth he set his teeth down on the pipe again, leaving them there and letting the smoke out his nose. Something was wrong...

His vision had been blurry ever since that fight with the vampire, and true it had gotten worse but still. Something was screwy, it wasn't just exhaustion.

Anthony closed his left eye, and his vision got worse, useless almost, he opened his left and closed his right. Frik. His vision was nearly flawless. This creature had probably knocked around his insides a little too much. His right eye must have just snapped. Ah well. He still ha the left.

Closing the malfunctioning eye, and starring widely with the other, Anthony just tasted the pipe now, let the smoke run through his mouth and his nose, savoring the flavor; and smiling as he savoring the show.

The Kicker and The Boxer

As the the three boys on the ground struggled to untangle themselves from one another two other boys had vaulted over them to confront Ada. Though having learned from the mistakes of their predecessors they were more cautious with their approach stopping just far enough to keep themselves out of Ada's striking range. Ada gripped the lead pipe in her hand tightly keeping it low to her side somewhat behind her keeping her eyes evenly trained on both boys. The last three of Pietro's henchmen were clustered in front of Pietro himself like a sort of meat shield.

The two boys before Ada seemed to be two of Pietro's more competent lackeys. One seemed to be in a boxing stance similar to those she'd seen others use during her training. The only difference being the fact that her opponent seemed to be hopping a short distance in place to keep himself moving. The other seemed a bit overconfident taking up no particular stance simply standing with his feet spread shoulder width apart with his hands tucked into the pockets of his hoodie. "What a fucking cliche..." Ada thought thinking back to every martial arts or fighting movie she'd seen where the henchmen seemingly came in tiers of weakest to strongest.

Ada kept her gaze locked with the boxer for a moment too long and in a split instant the other had stepped in and delivered a quick side kick towards her right leg. Ada quickly reacted lifting her right leg up to step back but in the instant she'd shifted her focus to handle the kickers attack the boxer had stepped up to plate delivering a blazing fast jab and hook combo. Ada quickly brought her arms up to cover her face blocking both jabs but the last hook collided with her cheek hard causing her head to snap to the right. This combined with her brief lapse in balance caused Ada to fall backwards  the pipe slipping from her grasp as she hit the ground bottom first.

A smirk passed over the Kicker's lips as he stepped forward hands still tucked into his pockets. With a swift jerk of his leg he kicked the pipe Ada had previously been using away out of grabbing distance. He withdrew one hand from his pocket to wag his finger at Ada making a chiding tsk noise. Ada's fists clenched as she got to her feet she'd been denied her weapon and was fighting an enemy that focused on creating openings for each other. Ada took a few steps back and on cue the Kicker took a few steps forward however it seemed his companion was less eager to pursue their target opting to instead stick his hands into the pockets of his own hoodie.

The Kicker let out a mocking yawn as he waited still seemingly as relaxed as ever. Ada wasted no time taking her offensive as soon as the Kicker had opened his eyes from his yawn Ada's fist was inches from his face his eyes shot wide open as he stumbled backwards dodging the punch by a hair. Ada stepped back shifting into an open handed stance. The Kicker raised an eyebrow but his smirk remained firmly planted in place as he moved forward delivering a swift roundhouse kick aimed toward Ada's firmly planted right leg. But as the kick came Ada quickly stepped forward into close proximity with her foe delivering a strike to the center of his chest with her right elbow. With the distance having been closed between them the Kicker quickly attempted to take a step back stumbling a bit. But as he moved to take a step backwards Ada's hand shot out gripping the lapels of the Kicker's hoodie and quickly pulling him back in.

The Boxer quickly stepped forward to intervene but as he came close enough Ada quickly pulled the other boy in front of herself placing him in between Ada and the Boxer. Having her opponent where she wanted him Ada quickly brought her knee up striking the Kicker inbetween the legs. For once the normally cocky boy lost his composure completely letting out an unmanly squeak and doubling over. As he doubled over Ada gripped the back of his neck with one hand while grabbing hold of his hair with the other before bringing her knee up to smash into the kick boxers face. Each subsequent strike causing the geyser of blood spraying from the boy's nose to bleed even more profusely.

The Boxer tried to work his way around Ada but each attempt to do so was met with another pull that brought the Boxer's partner to the forefront of Ada halting any attempt to intervene. Finally in a bout of impatience the Boxer stepped in throwing a right straight toward's Ada's face over his partner's head. Ada having waited for this gripped the Kicker's hair tightly and yanked his head up in to the path of the strike. The Boxer's fist impacted the back of the Kicker's head sending him forward as Ada stepped aside into the ground unconscious and bleeding. Ada turned to face the Boxer who was now studying her with a venomous glare at having been used as a tool to eliminate his own comrade.

The Boxer wasted no time coming after Ada throwing punch after punch at the girl. But unlike before there was no distractions Ada had fought Boxers before and she knew where most of their power lay. With each punch throw Ada's hands shot out striking her foe's elbow joints, wrists and biceps. Each strike forced a pained yell from the Boxer's lips he pulled back shaking out his arms trying to regain control from the pain that plagued his mind and body. Taking advantage of the brief lapse in the Boxer's offensive Ada quickly launched a flurry of punches into her opponent's chest. The Boxer immediately tried to block bringing his arms infront of his chest but each strike seemed to hit the same point over and over only amplifying the pain of the last.

The Boxer quickly stepped back his face twisted with pain, His arms and hands shaking as he struggled to keep them up. Ada kept an eye on her opponent's feet he was still using that hopping motion he hadn't really been doing much evasion up until now however. "Is he doing it just to look cool?" Ada thought with a quick low side kick Ada kicked one leg out from beneath her foe sending him to the ground on his side. The boy groaned but was quickly silenced as Ada's foot connected with the side of his head knocking him out. Ada glanced back over toward the Kicker who was out like a light just like his partner before turning her gaze back towards Pietro who now stood alone.

Ada looked past the now visibly shaken thug leader to see the retreating backs of his once loyal minions. Pietro shook his head "K-Koch wait!" Pietro said taking a step back. In a split second Ada had closed the distance between herself and her former rival gripping him by his shirt and sending a hard right cross across his face. Pietro gripped Ada's arm trying to free himself only to receive another punch to the face for his trouble followed by another and yet another after. "S-Stop please!" He choked between punches as blood sprayed from his nose and mouth as broken shards of teeth cut the inside of his mouth. But Ada's ears were deaf to his pleas as she continued to rain blows upon the face of the boy who had thought to harm those she'd learned to consider family.

Each blow couldn't bring enough satisfaction to Ada no matter how hard she punched or how much the object of her hate bled. Ada grit her teeth punching harder and harder as Pietro's pleas grew weaker and weaker with each unforgiving strike. "You should have just walked away when you had the chance Pietro!" Ada hissed. Pietro had gone limp now and now sat upon his knees the only thing keeping him in an upright position was Ada's hand firmly fisted in his now bloody shirt.

"I-I'm sorry...I'm sorry." Pietro whimpered coughing a bit of blood out onto Ada's arm. Ada's grip on him tightened it wasn't enough his apology wasn't enough for her. Ada reached into her jacket and swiftly withdrew her knife holding it at her side. "I should kill you..." Ada hissed. Pietro's eyes shot wide open he shook his head "No!! No!! No!! No!! Please no!!" He begged his eyes staring at the knife held in Ada's grasp. Ada placed the edge of the knife to the pleading boy's throat "SHUT UP!!" Ada yelled. The boy's protests died in his throat his eyes staring wide eyed at the blade tracing a thin line on the skin of his throat.

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’
Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’
He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’
And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Anthony spoke up loudly, yet calmly as he saw Ada pull out her knife. He knew she had never put much store in to his biblical quotes. But there was no quote quite so serious as this. Nothing of the word of God was quite this direct, quite this terrifying to wonder about. The tales of when your time had finally run out, the day that you could no longer repent. The day that the mercy of the almighty God was given out, and then with the other hand his wrath.

People had often asked him how could there be so much evil in if God was truly so good. He would smile at them, and calmly tell them the answer he had found. If I am not free, free to choose evil. To really, truthfully go through with an evil dead, then I am not truly free. Which makes anything good, any action that I perform which is good, completely meaningless. For there to be good, and freedom, there must be the option of evil. God would not let his plans be destroyed, sin could not conquer him as was just displayed with Anthony. But he knew, he was apart of the plan. He had a calling not yet fulfilled. He was by no means protected against this free will. And it was rare, rare for anyone to be. He would not expect the same aid to come here again tonight. But then again, why should it have? Anthony was here, and since that was true, so to, were the hands of Christ himself.

Anthony wondered to himself why he had been saved. He imagined at first that it was to warn his agents about that vampire’s powers, to prepare against him so he could be stopped. But truly, they had been fighting evils like that for so long now, and they had always come out on top. He doubted they would need an intervention for that. But since it had come, clearly something was on the line; clearly he needed to do something still. God didn’t need him to do his will certainly, but undeniably, he wanted him to.

Perhaps it was as simple as just one soul. Maybe a couple more. Who knew. Would the almighty God interfere in a battle between good and evil incarnate in his servant’s very home, just so that he could be there for Ada tonight, to stop her from making a mistake like this? Anthony believed he might.

As he spoke to her, and these thoughts quickly ran through his mind. He set the pipe by his side, and extended a hand to her, almost like an offer.

There was the boy before her, beaten, weakened, sniveling and crying, with a knife to his throat. She could choose to do what she would with him. Anthony would, and could not stop her, short of killing her. He refused that. She needed to make her own choices anyways; she needed to choose her own path in life. He would not force her down any road, only make sure that she knew there was another to walk, if she wished.

Then there was Anthony, and though bloodied, and more broken than he was functional, he offered her his hand. It was a simple offer. It was the offer to come to him. The offer to just go home. Leave things be here. His one good eye looked at her, understanding her anger, he had been young once too. He had been angry at the world, angry at even God. He had stood where she was now, teetering on the brink of a warrior for all that was holy and good, and a murderer. He knew what she was feeling, but also knew, that things got better somewhere down the road. Little by little, time would heal her heart.

He did pray that she would not succumb to vice, to wrath to rage. To all the chains of evil that bullied your spirit around until they had it wrapped around their finger. But he would not stop her. She had to choose.

That was hard. He knew it. She might even hate that he didn’t stop her. He wasn’t sure. She might feel like he was abandoning her when he was supposed to take care of her, help her grow up. But he was doing just that, he was helping her to grow free, to grow in to who she wanted to be. Not try and mold her into what he himself would like. Not try to control her.

He could leave her with nothing but an offer, nothing but a road.

Ada's grip on Pietro's blood stained shirt tightened the blade of her knife slowly cutting a thin red line in the young man's pale skin. Ada's entire body was shaking with rage she'd seen what he'd done to Tony and he thought that sorry would make everything better? He was wrong his bullshit apology didn't change a damn thing in Ada's mind in fact it seemed like a damn mockery in itself. Ada's eyes seemed to burn holes all the way through to the boy's soul as she glared at him, "You think fucking sorry makes up for all your shit?" Ada hissed through clenched teeth her knife digging just a bit deeper biting into skin causing her prisoner to whimper out of discomfort but said nothing.

Ada drew her hand back and punched him in the jaw drawing a groan of pain from the boy. "Answer you me!" Ada growled. The tip of her knife had nicked the boy's cheek but he was otherwise unscathed other than the injuries she had already inflicted upon him. "N-No!" He cried his hands reaching up to grip Ada's wrist trying to free himself from the angered girl. Ada's mind was battling against itself two sides waging war on each other. One struggled to remind her that she wasn't a killer, To tell her that what she was doing was wrong.

But another part pulled at the borders of her mind telling her that she was justified, Telling her that killing him would be doing a favor for dozens of people around Rome. And in another isolated part of her mind there was a voice so soft in it's tone and volume that Ada had no choice but to focus in to listen. A voice that told her that she wanted to do it and what scared her was that she believed it. Ada's hand tensed pushing the blade deeper as she slowly ran the tip of the knife over Pietro's throat just light enough to trace where she'd strike in red. She could feel a sense of excitement slowly rising from the deep untapped recesses of her mind. The voice in her mind seemed to encourage her egging her one to take the single move it would take to end a life.

Just as Ada's hand was about to deal the blow she stopped blade held out ready to fall upon her victim. She could hear another voice but it took her a moment to realize that the voice wasn't a variant of her own. A bible quote being recited almost as if taken to memory, Ada looked toward the fountain to see Tony sitting looking at her as he spoke. She didn't understand, Was there supposed to be some meaning behind Tony's words? Was she supposed to have some great revelation that would help her decide what to do. She looked back toward Pietro who was now staring at her eyes wide in horror whimpering in fear as he struggled weakly to free himself form her grasp.

A fire of hate still burned within the gut of her stomach and she could slowly but surely feel it spreading once more. But Tony's words had given her the distraction she needed to break away from her murderous thoughts. Ada released Pietro shoving him to the floor before looking away he was broken, beaten and scared he wouldn't try anything after the show of dominance she'd exerted upon him. "Get the fuck out of here..." Ada said simply. Pietro sluggishly and clumsily stood "G-Grazie mille you won't worry about me anymore I swear!" Pietro said frantically. Ada scowled "GET LOST BEFORE I CHANGE MY FUCKING MIND!!" Ada roared taking a step toward the boy.

Pietro yelped before turning tail and stumbling away shooting fearful glances back at Ada as he made his retreat into the streets of Rome. Ada closed her eyes taking a deep breath before walking towards Tony and taking a seat next to him ignoring his outstretched hand. She sheathed her knife back beneath her jacket before crossing her arms. She remained quiet for the moment staring up at the sky before looking toward Tony's battered form. "You look like shit..." Ada said simply.

She had looked at him, seemingly not understanding of what he said. That was alright, she appeared to have decided to let the child go. Father Diem let out the breath he had been holding and his shoulders sagged visibly, as if he had just been forced to hold the weight of the world on his back, and was only now relieved of that weight. She screamed at the boy, a few times actually. He ran off, he didn't think they would be having any more problems with him in the future.

She inhaled deeply, calming herself perhaps. Then decided to join him by the fountain ignoring his hand. That was aright. She had chosen to accept it even before making the journey back here. He picked up his pipe as she came back, taking another breath in to his lungs. The calming tobacco doing wonders for him after that ordeal. As she sat just starring at the sky a moment, Anthony reached down and picked up a sheet of scratch paper on the ground. He touched his finger to his bloodied arm and use that blood as if ink to write on the paper. His scripture glowed a bright yellow as this happened, and scribed on to the pages now were the words he wrote. He let about 20 of these letters fly, they would find the men he needed to alert about this situation. He assumed the city was on lock down and the museum would be guarded and inspected by now. His report of his on where about would say that he was with initiate Ada Koch, engaging in keeping local thugs off the street, and maintaining watch over the area in general.

This done he turned to look at Ada after her comment. Raising an eye brow, with but the ghost of a smile on his face.

"Hm, funny. I don't have anything bad to say about you. In fact," and here Anthony grew a little serious, but very gentle. "I want you to know that I'm proud of you. We haven't talked about this much, but I was young once too. I knew the thoughts that went through your mind. I know what it takes to defy them. And I also want you to know that I love you dear."

Anthony was aware that she was probably not very keen on being emotionally open like this, and would appreciate a chance of subjects. He held the pipe out to her now. There was still a bit left in it. Plenty if this would be here first use, and enough even if not.

"Don't tell mom for me Ada, eh. Ever had one before? If not, careful on the breathing in. You'll choke, I'd just taste if it for bit. It's not bad."

Anthony would be very willing to go back to what he said earlier, but he doubted she would want too. This way he gave her an option on what to talk to him about.

Looking around and ignoring the bodies around him, and or the fleeing boys as they regained consciousness. Anthony rather liked the sites of the city. This place was so beautiful, but he determined himself not to be kept quite right now. He knew she rather hated that.

Anthony sighed a moment as he spoke to her next. He didn't know how to say to say this but he would have to tell her as soon as he could.

"These boys didn't beat me up like this Ada. Oh don't get me wrong, they beat me, beat me with sticks even. Probably would have suffered worse injuries maybe death if they had been allowed to continue. I'm sorry I didn't fight back. Or, well, I tried. But I couldn't bring myself to hurt them any more than I had. Anyways, I'm off topic. There was a vampire in the city. He raided the museum, someone set off the alarm. I don't know who, or how many people were there, but he tried to steal something. He was just fleeing when I got there, I chased him in to the building. He ambushed me, crushed me under a sphere of some kind of witchcraft. Broke my arm, maybe my shoulders, skull, and spine too. Not sure yet. But I escaped. And he left. I've already been to the orphanage and HQ. Sent out the men. We should be safe for now. Thats why I was out here tonight, looking for you. I saw you, and a bit delirious perhaps I thought you were in danger, and I had to warn you. I'm a bit better off now, the bodies kicked in to shock. Can't feel much of anything to be honest. But I'll live."

Anthony looked up at the stars now. Not sure what was going to happen now. Not sure how she would react to this. Despite his injuries, his ailments. He was actually rather enjoying himself now. He wished that he and her would sit down a bit more, talk a bit more too. Her mother loved her dearly, Anthony knew that. But being champion of the greatest monster hunting organization to ever exist was demanding. He'd like to be there for her when she couldn't be.

She reminded him of when he was young, the family he had found at the orphanage had meant everything to him. It had been the only reason why he kept going honestly. He wanted to give her the same opportunity for a family that he had had.

Ada watched as a few sheets of paper flew up into the sky appearing to drift along on the wind. But the glowing aura that encompassed them told Ada a different story. The same golden light that she'd seen around her mother graced the pages that Tony appeared to have summoned. She watched for a few moments watching the pages slowly drift off into the distance like glowing golden stars in the night sky. A small bruise was starting to form on her cheek from when the Boxer had punched her in the face. Slowly she could feel the pain from the punch causing her to wince a bit as she poked it with her finger.

She sighed glancing at Tony as he offered her the pipe. She shook her head "I don't want anything that's likely been in Pietro's mouth..." Ada said as she tucked her hands into her pockets leaning back against the fountain to continue looking up at the sky. She closed her eyes taking a deep breath once more enjoying the cool breeze that now swept through the plaza they sat in. By now most of Pietro's goons had made off like thieves into the night not wanting a second run in with Ada after what had just ensued. Ada opened one eye glancing towards where the fight had occured and spotted a pack of cigarettes sitting where the kicking boy had once lied.

Ada crawled a short distance over snatching the pack before settling back in her spot beside Tony pulling one out and sticking it between her lips. As bad as it may have seemed Ada wasn't exactly a stranger to smoking throughout her life she'd smoked off and on usually quitting when life was easy and doing well and picking it back up whenever hard times would hit. Ada patted herself but sighed "Of course I don't have a light...I haven't smoked since before Veronica picked me up..." Ada thought bitterly. She took a brief glance toward Tony and the pipe he was holding and perked up at the dull glow radiating from within the pipe's bowl.

Plucking her cigarrette from her lips Ada placed the tip of her smoke in the embers of Tony's tobacco smiling as the tip took to the embers. Holding her hand over the tip Ada put the cigarette back into her mouth and took a puff watching as the ember spread across the tip of the cigarette causing it to glow bright red as it burned. Ada glanced toward Tony taking a drag from her smoke as he spoke she glanced away plucking her cig from her lips holding it between her fingers as he mentioned his care for her. "Geez Uncle Tony no need to get all mushy on me..." Ada said looking away from him. Inside though she felt the same warmth she felt when she got to spend time with Veronica, When the nun wasn't angry at her that was.

A small pang of guilt struck Ada at the thought of her adoptive mother the fight had taken her mind off of it. But now that she had time to think the guilt and sadness was back full force. "Is mom st-" She was cut of as Tony spoke again this time outlining the true nature of his injuries. Ada's eyes widened as she mentioned the museum. Remembering her conversation with the blonde vampire Ada was assaulted with an entirely new wave of guilt. Ada looked toward the ground her hands tightening as memories of the nights earlier events replayed in her mind. "I could have said something...I'm the reason he's fucking like this..." Ada thought

"I don't wanna talk about vampires..." Ada muttered she couldn't tell Tony that she'd encountered his enemy before the fight had begun. She wouldn't know what to say "Sorry for not telling you blondie was gonna break into the museum? Yeah right..." Ada thought bitterly as she took a drag from her smoke exhaling it from her nose.

Letting the pipe sit between his teeth Anthony smiled as Ada looked away. He felt like she had appreciated his words, even if she would not  admit that.

He also looked at her as she seemed to be a little stricken by his words about the vampire. She then told him outright that she didn't want to entertain that specific conversion. Anthony nodded as she said this. He would make no mention of this tonight. Ever that needed to be done had been done.

He looked at her again, and saw the blossoming of the discolored skin across her cheek. He had completely forgotten that she had taken that hit in the middle of this...excitement. He gently and without touching her wound stroked her behind her ear to get a better look at it. It didn't seem that bad, and nothing was probably broken, she was talking and smoking with him just fine.

He smiled more still as she lit her cigarette off his pipe, holding it out to her for easy reach. He truthfully hated cigarette's, but, when you almost die. And not just, go in to a situation where you could die, but actually get beaten within an inch of your life, your night is gonna change a bit. Besides, he figured she could probably quite pretty easy, he'd never noticed her smoking in the orphanage and it had been a while since she had come in, but she smoked it with obvious ease and experience.

He would need to teach of the finer things however...like cigars. A very significant improvement upon cigarette's in more ways than one. There was time for that later however.

He heard her try to stammer something before he had gone on about the vampire. Thinking back on that, he thought it had something to do with mom. He didn't know about what kind of shape she was in, but he did know that she back, alive, and well enough not to need the hospital entirely.

"Your mother is fine, or at least she is alive. She has not requested nor needed medical attention to the best of my knowledge. She should be right as rain in no time if anything is wrong at all. I wouldn't worry about her that much; she's our champion after all eh? Still though. I won't try to tell you not to worry about her at all. You can't. That's a good thing. It sets us apart from the things we hunt honestly...it's the fact that we give. That give a da*n even. We are't just black holes that suck up the life of the world. We can leave it better than we found it. So it's good to worry. Never stop worrying. God knows I can't....And a leader should never ask his men to do something he isn't willing to do himself."

Admittedly Anthony got a little side tracked with his words, they were still too Ada, but it had gone from being a message about her mother being alright in to a small confession on his own part. Something that he didn't normally let people in on. Was the crushing stress in his life, that every day he sent out his own children to die in the mud, and the blood, at the hands of these hellish creatures. He occasionally just wanted it all to end.

He sometimes feared the answers that lay deep in his own heart. Like why he still went on missions actively, as the leader. Why he had gone in alone tonight. Sure he would have asked his own agents to secure the other, and scout the place out for information, distract the creature until reinforcements arrived, and like he said he wasn't going to ask them to do something he himself wasn't willing to do.

But was there maybe another reason to keep risking his life? Was there another reason why he went in to battle unafraid? Why he could look death in the eye, calmly, joyfully, and without fear? He rarely; if ever asked himself these questions. Because he feared that answer might just be yes. Might just be that if died in active service on the field in honor doing his best to drive off Satan and serve God he could finally put this world aside. He would finally be free of the burden of sending his own family to their deaths, into the hands of monsters.

He would finally sleep without guilt. No one could even blame him...he died like his children, in the line of duty...

Coward.

That was what he was. He would face the demons down toe to toe if he had too, go at a dragon with a toothpick if that was all he had. But deep down what made his soul feel cold was the fact that he might still be a coward, afraid of life. Afraid of having to go on living and doing his assigned duty for the world and for God.

He hated that. And somewhere deep down. He hated himself for that. The fact that this could even be a question.

Anthony would only let his heart dwell on these matters for a moment. He had been about to continue what he was saying to Ada, include these new thoughts.

But leaders didn't do that. Leaders were strong, you leaned against them like a rock. They always knew what to do and how to do it. They had to. Otherwise people died. Even if they did. People still died. How much worse that is....knowing you did your best, knowing that everyone did what they could. But still loosing someone. Loosing someone following the orders that you gave them. It should have been me, those words would go through your head alot. If you orders were so da*ned good then why didn't you follow them yourself?

Anthony couldn't justly answer that question. No matter how many nights he lay awake trying.

The moment passed though. The weakness, the vulnerability, to indecision on his face was gone almost as soon as it had come. He turned away from Ada so that she wouldn't see this. He was ashamed he had broken down like that, even if it had been for just a moment.

Turning back to her he said again.

"Eh, never mind a lot of that. It's still true, but, you mothers fine. She's safe in the base. Probably resting now. That's all that you need to now. I'm sure that's all you want to know."

Anthony would smoke his pipe trying to make his next few breaths of smoke do the miraculous work of soothing his frayed nerves. Like every breath before this it only alleviated, never cured. He was willing to just sit here for a few moments, in fact mentally he thought he might just need to. Just sit here, and pull himself together with Ada by his side. Safely by his side. If she wanted to talk, he would talk to her, if not. That didn't matter. He just needed to be here for now.

Ada took another drag from her cigarette breathing in a fresh does of nicotine and tobacco into her lungs. After holding it for a moment she breathed out a plume of smoke drifting past her lips as she did so. The thought of what had transpired between the blonde vampire and Tony was still troubling her mind but she opted to push her negative thoughts to the back of her mind, Focusing instead of enjoying this rare moment with one of the few people who actually meant something in her life. She closed her eyes listening to the wind gently blow through the plaza and to the sound of the water flowing into the fountain behind her.

She opened one eye as she felt Tony brush a bit of her hair away to get a better look at her bruise. It didn't really hurt she'd gotten used to bruises by now every Veronica chop she'd received from her mother was way worse than anything Pietro's goons could have dished out. "It's fine I've had worse." Ada said inching away from his hand mainly just out of a slight dislike of being touched. As Tony mentioned Veronica a small frown worked it's way onto Ada's face, She sighed taking another drag from her cigarette and then stubbing out on the ground in front of her. "I know she's fine...It'll take an act of god to take that woman out." Ada said with a small smile shaking her head.

"I wanted to know...Is she still angry at me?" Ada asked glancing at Tony sadness seeping into her slightly forced smile. "I fucked up..." Ada said shaking her head and looking toward the ground. "First I screwed up my first mission...Then I let my temper get the better of me.." Ada said hesitantly not used to talking about her problems like this. She let out a sigh pinching the bridge of her nose "But I don't know what to do...I'm not a Champion of God...How can I just kill something that thinks and lives like I do?" Ada asked she could help but feel a sense of irony in her worries considering she'd been ready to kill Pietro just moments ago.

"How am I supposed to do it?" Ada asked slipping her hat from her head and intertwining her fingers into her hair with a sigh. "

“Sorry.“ Anthony said softly, as Ada pulled away from his hand a bit. She didn’t seem to like being touched, but that was all right, he had seen the injury, it wasn’t serious. No need to do anything with it.

But her questions, they weighed heavily on Anthony. He was a little mad with Veronica. He felt she was to hard on Ada. She had dealt with difficulty her entire life, and he thought she would probably appreciate finding some rest with her family, rather than the usual difficulty of just trying to live life. Then there was perhaps the harder question. Which was basically, tell me how to not feel guilty about becoming a killer. When Anthony found out the answer to that he would have to be sure to tell her.

“Your mother shouldn’t be angry with you Ada, I’m not sure if she is still or not. But you’re just a human like her. She had spent most of her life learning to fight and to kill, when she was nineteen she was already a master. That being said I think she expects too much from you. You just didn’t have as much time to train. Of course you’re going to make mistakes in the field. But that’s why she’s there. I guess what I’m saying, is that she even if she is angry, so long as she’s being reasonable about this she will forgive you easily in due time.”

Anthony took in another breath breathing it out briskly so he could speak to her once more. His words growing slightly less angry, and more reassuring.

“As to loosing your temper, I don’t seem to recall that happening. No, I was just sitting here, beaten and bloody when you came in and saved me. Hm, come to think of it I can hardly remember how the fight went at all, must have taken a few to many knocks on the head eh?”

Anthony winked at her with a sly smile as he said those words. He wanted her to know that this would just be between him and her. No one else had to know what happened. There was no reason. She had been tried, and she came out victorious.

But he sighed and leaned heavily against the fountain now, this was the hardest thing he would probably have to say tonight. But first he just wanted to make sure she knew what she was getting in to.

“As to being a champion of God, you don’t have to kill to be that. In fact, most champions of our lord don’t. Although some indeed find their true calling on the battlefield. I know you want to make your mother proud Ada….but you don’t have to fight if you don’t want to. If it’s not your calling I don’t want to see you consumed by this, I don’t want to see you die out there. At the hands of these things. That being said, if you do choose to continue the fight, if you wish to join us still. I can only really tell you why I myself fight. Everyone has their own reasons for fighting, most revolve around our faith, our faith in God and desire to eradicate the enemies that would destroy his children on earth before their rightful time. Most of us Ada…most us here are orphans because of these beasts. We are the lucky few to escape these creatures wrath. By the graces of God alone it seems. I’m sure most of us.  are more than happy to fight for our savior.  But that is not us all, that is not us all indeed. I guess one of the things that I keep in mind when I fight them, is that we are healers for this world. We cure sin and evil inside of people. When such a thing is permanent, and starts to destroy the world around without a choice, like a collapsed sun turning into a black hole. We do the only merciful thing, and put those people out of their unholy misery. Let them rest in peace. This is in general, much of why we do, and can, fight. But, if you’d like. I can give you my personal story Ada. Fair warning. It’s not a happy tale. But it may tell you why I myself can kill them without hesitation. It may or may not help you to find your own way. Onto, or off the battlefield.”

Anthony would wait until she gave him the yes or no to hearing his story. Truth be told, he’d never really told it to anyone before. But, he thought it was about time he might have, and if it could help out his struggling adopted niece, all the better. It would be hard though, Anthony sucked in a few more breaths of smoke to just get his mind in the place to handle such a thing.

Ada sighed now wishing she hadn't put out her cigarette. "I'm not talking about just now...You weren't there I kinda lost it while I was fighting a sparring match with another girl in my training unit..." Ada muttered letting a hand rise up to take grasp of a handful of her own hair tugging lightly. "I was just so angry...And where I'm from we don't let people who bad mouth you walk away unscathed..." Ada said as her mind wandered back to the girl who had mocked her about her mission's failure. Ada felt the simultaneous burn of both anger and guilt smoldering in the pit of her stomach at the memory.

Ada glanced toward's Tony as he went onto a long speech about her final question. She looked away crossing her arms as he mentioned that she didn't have to fight. Ada got to her feet letting a small sigh escape her. "This is the life I chose...And to be honest fighting kinda suits me don't you think?" Ada said glancing towards Tony. "Killing will come with time...I hope...We should get back you can tell me your life story when your all safe and tucked into a bed in the infirmary okay?" Ada said bending down to throw Tony's good arm around her shoulder's to support him.

"Now try to work with me here kay? Your not the lightest person in the world y'know." Ada said as she began to make her way back to the orphanage.

"Heheh, alright. Plenty of time to bore you after the check up I quite agree."

Ada threw her arm around him, and he tried not leaning on her as much as he could. Though he failed for the most part, now hardly having the strength to stay awake.

"Thanks."

He grunted as she slung his arm aroun her shoulders to help him walk.

The journey would be hard, but at least it wouldn't be done alone Anthony thought to himself.

-------> Exit. To HQ. For becoming a cyborg, and for the halloween special.