Fire.

Buildings, trees, bushes, everything was on fire. He didn't know where to go; the whole village was simply on fire. People were running all over the place, screaming, trying to avoid the burning debris that fell down. He was having trouble moving and that made him scared, scared that he wouldn't be able to get out of here. He tried to call for help, tried to call his comrade's name, but he couldn't hear his own voice.

There was nothing he could do. The fire could not be stopped. The people... No, he couldn't do anything about them either. They were all trying to make their way out of this inferno, and if he tried to approach them, they looked at him in horror and fled.

He looked around, trying to find Tres. There was no sign of him anywhere; just people trying to get away from the fire. From their screams, he could also make out something - there was a monster around here. He was exhausted, and didn't really want to know what kind of monster it was. Besides, he had no weapons and would not be able to fight if he happened to run into anything. There was indeed something in the village; he could see several bodies that were lying on the ground. No one had time to carry the remains of the dead out of there.

It was a nightmare.

Blanketed in despair, he tried to make his way to the edge of the village. The chaos around him was just too much; he had to get out of here, somewhere where it was safe.

Somewhere along the way his legs refused to move, and he collapsed to the ground. He tried to force himself back up onto his feet but failed and he just lay there. He didn't want to give up yet, but there was no one here to help him; all the people had run somewhere else.

Or had they? There was someone by the stone fence, looking in his direction. The person spoke, pointing him out to someone else, crying out one word.

Monster.

He was the monster everyone was running away from. He lay still, not wanting to move anymore. Not this. Not this all over again. Now that he had stopped he had time to acknowledge it. It was too natural for him that he would have realized before that he was in Kresnik form.

He looked at his hands and saw blood all over them. It was all over his clothes, too. The sight hurt; his heart ached to know that it was him; he was the one who had caused all of this, and he didn't know why or how. Tears falling down to the ground, he could only hope for death, something that would not be granted for him. Not here...

A burning tree fell down near the stone fence, and the few people there ran, leaving the burning village behind. There was nothing here now. Inevitably, there would be nothing left once the fire had no more fuel to allow it to spread and went out. He would be gone, too...

He was alone, and suddenly he didn't want this to happen. He was scared, and all by himself in there, and it was so cold... The whole place was freezing. Freezing, while there was fire all around him, and all he could do was shiver from the cold and cry...

And then Abel Nightroad woke up, still sobbing and shivering. It was indeed cold in there, and he tried to wrap the blanket around himself better. The temperature in the room was quite low, and it was freezing outside. Once he got his glasses on he could see that frost had gathered outside of the window pane.

It was late at night. The only source of light around was the small fireplace on the other side of the room, and the fire was almost out. He gritted his teeth and got up, wincing when his feet touched the cool stone floor. It was no use; he would have to put more wood in the fire or freeze.

He performed the task done quickly enough and escaped back into the warmth of the bed. He stared at the fire and tried not to think about anything. The dream had made him uncomfortable; those kinds of dreams were far too familiar to him already, although they had never stopped bothering him. He had once sinned. This was his punishment, and no punishment would ever be bad enough considering what he had done.

The knowledge of the fact that there was a real reason for the dream saddened him. What had happened today wasn't exactly what he wanted from a mission, but it there was nothing he could do about it anymore, and they had not been given a chance to even try to prevent it from happening.

They - Tres and he - were in a mountain town to the north. They had been sent there because something - or rather, someone - had been attacking the small villages and their inhabitants here lately. It was said that it was a renegade vampire from the Empire. Rumors said that the Empire didn't want anything to do with him anymore; according to the nastier rumors, the Empire had sent an assassin to take care of him. Either way, the Vatican couldn't ignore this.

They had arrived yesterday morning and spent the whole day collecting information and clues about the vampire's whereabouts. Abel had barely gotten a couple of hours of sleep last night, then Tres had woken him up and dragged him off to check some old mine which had turned out to be empty. They had made it back to the base, the church of the town, at sunrise.

The better part of the day had been spent looking for more clues. Finally, in a tiny village to the north of there, they had found some information about an abandoned village further up in the mountains. They had checked the place out, but there hadn't been anything in there either, so they had returned to the village where they had heard the lead - only to find the place in fire and their informant dead. Several people had seen the vampire there, and there was no question about whose fault it all was. The local priest had helped to evacuate the people of the burning village while the Ax members had gone vampire hunting.

Tres had tracked down the vampire, and the battle had not been a long one. Abel was quite relieved from the fact that there had been no need for him to use the nanomachine powers; Tres had been more than capable of taking down the vampire, though the enemy had been skilled. But then, that's what they always were...

Abel sighed and looked around for a moment. The bed was a mess; there were sheets and pillows everywhere. He knew there was a second blanket somewhere in there, and once he found it he drew it over himself. It offered him little comfort; though the fire was burning brightly now, the room was still cold and it would take some time before it would get warmer. Of course, he was certain that most of the heat escaped outside. The small stone building near the local church was old, and the town had minimal electricity, which wasn't used for heating.

He wondered where Tres was. Although they had killed the vampire there was some unrest among the people, and the cyborg was keeping watch over the church area. The people were apparently convinced there was another vampire around here, too, and were being careful up to the point of paranoia.

Finally he took his glasses off, put them on a small shelf which was on the wall above the bed, turned his back to the fire and curled up in the bed. He was tired after all that had happened, and after last night he would have wanted to sleep for a whole day. Tres would surely drag him up at sunrise, but that couldn't be helped; he would sleep until then.

About half an hour of restless dreams later he was awakened by Tres. The cyborg was leaning over the bed, holding him by the shoulder and shaking him gently when he finally gave in and opened his eyes to indicate that he was awake.

"Father Nightroad."

Abel closed his eyes. He was feeling quite miserable. "...What?"

"You were crying in your sleep," Tres stated in his typical monotonous tone of voice and stepped back. "I concluded that you were having a nightmare."

Abel drew the blanket over his head. His eyes burned slightly, which meant Tres was right. He couldn't remember the dream that had caused it, though. He wondered if it had been the same dream; that one he could remember, not that he wanted to. He did his best to push it out of his mind; it was simply better never think about it again.

"Tres?" He mumbled after a while. The cyborg was standing still, and Abel lowered the blanket covering his face a little to see what he was doing. Tres was apparently looking at the fireplace. He sat up while making sure to be covered by the blankets. "What are you doing here? You were supposed to be outside..."

"Positive," Tres confirmed and turned around to face him. "However, it has been 5155 seconds since I left. I came to check that the fire is still burning."

5155 seconds... That was around eighty minutes. Abel was too tired to figure out how much time it exactly was, but in any case he was sure that at least twenty minutes had passed since he had fallen asleep again. This all simply meant that he had gone to bed about an hour and a half ago, which was when Tres had originally left. The night had not been a good one so far.

"I put more wood in there earlier," he said quietly. "The fire was almost out when I woke up. It's so cold in here..."

"The current room temperature is fourteen degrees Celsius," Tres informed him. "The temperature outside is minus five degrees." He looked over his shoulder and then added, "Clearly, shorter intervals for adding wood into the fire are needed. Information has been stored into the database; I will check on the fire more often. Returning outside."

The cyborg headed out, leaving Abel sitting on the bed, and the silver-haired priest suddenly hoped Tres had stayed. He couldn't really figure out a reason for such wish, but being alone in the room made him feel somewhat nervous. Sleeping, although he was quite tired, didn't sound so good either. The room was so quiet, and the only sound was the fire burning. After the dream he had had earlier he certainly didn't like that sound. He lay back down and stared in the direction of the flames, very much wishing he wasn't alone.

Exhaustion took over soon enough, and he fell asleep again.

He was awakened by the sound of the door opening and closing as someone entered the room, and despite the fact that he couldn't remember anything he knew he had just had another nightmare. The room felt a little colder than before. If he could have seen the fireplace he would have known there were only glowing embers and some occasional flames. It made no difference; it was cold, and he just groaned and curled up under the blankets, wishing he could just sleep.

Tres got the fire burning again soon enough and stopped to look at him for a moment. "Are you unable to sleep, Father Nightroad?"

"No, it's just... dreams." Abel trailed off. A short moment passed, and then he poked his head out of the pile of sheets and blankets. "And the temperature..."

"I apologize. It appears the fire burns out quickly."

"Not your fault they don't have proper firewood here," Abel mumbled and drew the blanket over his head again. He considered asking Tres to give him his clothes, but decided against it; sleeping with clothes on would surely be very much uncomfortable. "Never mind me, Tres. It isn't your problem anyway..."

"Negative," the cyborg replied. "It is my duty to make sure my colleagues are well. I request that you sleep, Father Nightroad. I will watch over the fire."

Abel didn't answer, and Tres chose to remain quiet as well. He glanced at the fireplace one more time before heading out again.

The silver-haired priest sighed. He had probably slept for about an hour, but he was still feeling dead tired, like he hadn't had any rest. The fact that the room was chilly didn't help either; he felt weak and queasy, and he sincerely hoped that they would be able to leave tomorrow.

So tired... He thought to himself sullenly. And yet, I don't want to sleep.

He pressed his head against the pillow and closed his eyes, determined to stay awake a little longer. Or maybe he would just sleep; it was pointless to try and stay awake just because of some stupid dreams. Besides, drifting off to sleep was so easy, and once he gave in he wouldn't have to think about anything.

Falling asleep was easy indeed, but resting peacefully was another matter. His dreams didn't make any sense, but they were unpleasant enough to make him toss and turn in his sleep - at least until he was suddenly awakened by something that felt quite cold touching his face.

"Mmh?" Abel blinked and tried to sit up, only to find that he couldn't. Something - or actually, someone - was holding him down. He spun his head to the side to see who it was, and realized it was Tres who was lying in the bed next to him. The cyborg's arms were around him.

"Is something the matter, Father Nightroad?" Tres inquired.

"I-I... N-no," Abel stuttered. A little shocked, he moved away from the cyborg until his back was against the wall. He fumbled around until he could find his glasses, and put them on. "Tres... What are you... doing?"

"I am trying to calm you down," Tres stated matter-of-factly. "You were not sleeping well. According to my data, when in a foreign environment, most people feel more at ease in the presence of a person they are familiar with."

Abel looked at the cyborg and tried to comprehend his words. Unfortunately, his mind was clouded after being awakened yet again, and he had to shake his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts. "But weren't you...? Why are you...?"

"Incomplete inquiry," Tres responded. "Please repeat."

It took Abel a moment to get his brain working properly. "Um... I thought you were outside," he said. He shifted his position a little. "Why are you here? I didn't sleep that long. I think. The fire is still burning and all..."

"Positive; I did not need to do anything about the fire when I returned," the cyborg reported. He took a pause and then continued, "The people are calming down. I am not needed outside anymore, so I returned here."

"Oh. When? And how long has it been since you left?" Abel asked, pretending that the information didn't really matter that much. It actually did; it would tell him how long he actually had slept. Tres obviously thought he had been having another nightmare, and he was starting to wonder if he had truly rested tonight at all. Once again he had no recollection of his dream, but the mere thought of it bothered him.

"I returned 345 seconds ago," Tres informed him. "It has been 1220 seconds since I left." He studied Abel for a moment and then added, "You seem to be quite interested in how much time has passed, Father Nightroad. I do not see why."

"Er..." Abel looked away while he tried to think of an excuse. He then turned to face Tres and grinned innocently. "I was just... wondering, that's all. And you said I wasn't sleeping well..."

"Positive. It is the reason why I chose to accompany you in bed."

Abel stared at his companion for a short moment, eyes wide. His cheeks felt awfully hot all of a sudden, and he quickly hid under the blanket to conceal his face from his companion. Tres surely had no idea what was happening, but then, the cyborg was pretty much clueless when it came to certain things.

His companion was indeed clueless. "Inquiring the reason for your actions, Father Nightroad."

"Uh... I..." Abel moved the blanket down a little, just enough so he could see Tres. "I'm... embarrassed," he admitted in a low voice.

Tres sat up and asked, "Why?"

"Because..." Abel began, but couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. There was no use explaining Tres that his choice of words had been somewhat questionable; the cyborg had a very logical reason for lying next to him and he had merely stated facts - in his own opinion anyway. The whole thing would have probably been amusing had Abel not been busy being embarrassed about it.

"Repeating question. Why are you embarrassed?"

Abel opened his mouth but wasn't able to come up with anything to say. He did, however, perceive something that he hadn't paid attention to before - Tres didn't have clothes on. He looked again; the cyborg was covered with a single sheet from waist down, and he certainly was not dressed. A quick glance to the side revealed that the cyborg's clothes were in a neat pile on the desk.

He turned his attention back to Tres. "You're naked!" He shrieked and hid under the blanket again.

"Positive," Tres confirmed in his dead-serious tone of voice. He evidently didn't have any idea why this fact bothered his companion so much. "I did not bring any sleepwear with me for this mission. However, it would be improper to enter bed with clothes on, so I removed them."

Abel mumbled something inaudible as an answer and rolled over, turning his back to Tres. At least he wouldn't have to try explaining his original reason for being embarrassed now what there was another reason for it. The fact that Tres was naked didn't actually bother him that much; it was the cyborg's words - or rather, the combination of both.

Tres looked at the pile of blankets beside him. "I apologize. I was not aware that it would embarrass you."

"Well, um, it's just that..." Abel whispered. No, he wasn't interested in explaining this one either. He knew that if he tried, he'd end up giving away the original reason too, and that would just confuse Tres. He rose slowly, took his glasses off and put them away. "N-n-never mind. C-can we... sleep now?"

Tres didn't reply; he simply lay down and offered his hand to the silver-haired priest. Abel blinked when he felt a light touch on his shoulder, and he turned around. "A-ah... Tres!?"

"Your speech pattern is irregular, Father Nightroad," the cyborg noted. "Are you feeling unwell?"

"I'm quite fine," Abel replied quickly. He lay down as well and edged away from Tres until he was next to the wall again. "I think I'll just... sleep now."

He closed his eyes. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep anytime soon; the cyborg's presence made him feel funny. He had to admit that the fact Tres was here also made him feel comfortable. Maybe the other priest was right, and the mere company of someone familiar was enough to calm him down. That also meant there wouldn't be any more nightmares...

A short moment passed, then Tres shifted a little. Abel opened his eyes when he felt the cyborg move closer to him - and then Tres crawled under the blankets.

"...Tres!" Abel yelped. "W-what do you think you're doing?"

"All the pillows, blankets and most of the sheets are on this side of the bed," Tres said without actually answering the question.

"But...!" The silver-haired priest started, but went silent and just stared at the dark figure in front of him. It wasn't that he would have really been troubled by the fact that Tres was close to him, and he suddenly felt awfully silly about the whole thing. What was there to be embarrassed about in the first place? They were alone here and trying to sleep, that was all there was to it.

Tres says things that sound weird because he doesn't think like a human, he told himself. I'm the one who thinks too much here. And he came to bed because he thinks it might make me more comfortable - which it does. Right now, he'd laugh at me if he had a sense of humor...

"Father Nightroad?"

Abel gave him a nervous grin. "Oh, uh, nothing. I was just... momentarily shocked by your actions, that's all. Everything's all right now, so let's sleep. Well I don't know if you'll actually sleep but you know what I mean. You can just rest or something. Okay?"

"Positive." Tres rose a little from the bed and took one of the pillows lying around. He then lay down on his back and closed his eyes. Abel hesitated a little and then covered the cyborg's body with one of the blankets. Tres still felt quite cold, but then, he had only been inside less than ten minutes and the temperature outside was freezing. Of course, in Abel's opinion the room temperature wasn't much better...

"Good night?" He whispered and lay down next to Tres. The cyborg didn't reply, and Abel tilted his head and poked him gently. "Hey, Tres? Are you in hibernation mode or something?"

"Negative," Tres answered without opening his eyes. "I am merely simulating sleep."

"Oh... I see. Well, good night then." Abel smiled and closed his eyes. He shifted around a little until he found a comfortable position. In the end, he was feeling quite content, and the fact that Tres was next to him indeed calmed him down.

Tres took his hand, and he froze for a few seconds. Then he just relaxed and yawned. If Tres wanted to hold his hand, why should he not let the cyborg do so? Tres deserved to feel comfortable, too, not that Abel was sure if his companion really cared about it.

Silence - if the quiet sound the fire made, and Abel's breathing didn't count - fell into the room, and it only took about five minutes until Abel was fast asleep. He curled up in his sleep, and moved his head until it was on the pillow Tres was using, against Tres's hair.

Tres looked at the sleeping form next to him, and knew that if he were a human, he would have smiled.

Author's notes:

Pathetic attempt to write a TB fic. My first for this fandom.

Randomly, now after finishing this, I find that exposition part about their mission oh so boring but I'm not removing it since I put it there back when I wrote the first parts of this. It's kind of relevant anyway. Kind of!

And yes Abel's acting like an innocent moron. He should know better. Should being the keyword...

BTW - the temperatures Tres gave Abel are 57 F and 23 F respectively, for you Americans who don't use Celsius.

- Elmina (January, 2006)