"You knew?" the panic quickly turned to accusation.

"Shhh," Quinn hushed her and took her elbow with two fingers, trying to touch her as little as possible. "You need to get to your room and have a shower... in your clothes. You reek." His nose scrunched in disgust.

They got to her room and she opened the door. He rushed her into the bathroom and started the shower for her. He looked her in the eye and said, "We will talk when you get out. Wash really well. Take your clothes off in the shower as you wash. Let them get soapy. Rinse them well. We will deal with drying them after. Take your time and do a good job." 

Chloe looked at him with questioning eyes. 

"You smell like you've been hanging out with vampires. I don't think the pope would like that too much."

Chloe nodded as she moved to the shower without saying another word. She did as he said, taking care to wash every inch of her body. When she got out, she filled the bathtub and let her clothes soak. She dried off with a fresh towel and then wrapped it around her body. Then she went into the main part of her room and walked to the drawer that held her pyjamas. She looked at the clock radio beside her bed and turned it on to muffle their voices.

"Clothes?" Felicity's unexpected voice made Chloe jump. Chloe looked at Quinn who was sitting on her bed with a worried look on his face.

"I called her as soon as you got in the shower. She's filled in up to this point," he said in response to her reaction.

Chloe nodded and smiled at Felicity. "I'm really glad you're here. My clothes are soaking." She pulled some pyjamas out of her drawer and slipped the pants on under her towel. She reached for a shirt.

"Good. So how did the meet happen?" Quinn asked with an edge in his voice. He glanced her way as she pulled the shirt over her head and let the towel drop to the floor. He looked away quickly, although he didn't actually feel uncomfortable.

"He just happened to be where I was. I wasn't expecting it... you really need to work on these preparation skills, Quinn. You seem to miss some pretty pertinent pieces of information... eating... oaths... dead boyfriends that aren't dead..." She turned to face him with a confused look on her face. "Why wouldn't you guys tell me that he was alive, in some way, shape or form?"

"Honest to God, we didn't know he was alive," Quinn protested, "We didn't think he survived the transformation. Until I smelled you, I didn't even think it was possible to trick us that way."

"What gave it away then. What was so special about the way I smelled?"

"I hadn't smelled that scent before. You probably noticed his scent when you met, but then stopped smelling it after a while. It was pretty heavy on you," he had the audacity to wriggle his eyebrows at her. Chloe felt herself blush and she reached out to punch him lightly on the shoulder.

"You're lucky I came back in a good mood," she said with a smirk.

"Anyways, what did he say?" asked Felicity.

"You guys," Chloe whispered. Then she paused. She knew the radio was on, but she turned the TV on too, remembering that there were possibly eyes and ears in her room. Kind of creepy, but one must be prepared. "Do you think if we created an alliance with the vampires, we could make things more... right? Could we even things out between the rich and poor?"

Quinn leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees, a look of deep thought coming across his face. Felicity looked thoughtful as well. "I mean, we'd need to have a pretty solid plan. We have a lot working against us," said Felicity.

"Such as?" asked Chloe.

Quinn tilted his head to the side and then back again. "Consider the inner workings of Vatican City. It is a well oiled machine, especially compared to what the vampires have going on. They are, essentially, a rag tag bunch who maybe follow a leader sometimes."

"I'm sure they have some sort of structure," countered Chloe.

"Perhaps, but not in the same way as Vatican City," argued Felicity.

"Also, consider the money that the Pope has to spend on resources as he needs them. I'm pretty sure the vampires don't have resources like that," Quinn said.

Chloe knew that Quinn and Felicity were playing the roles of 'devil's advocate' and she was glad that they were. They needed to think of everything that could play a role in the conflict, if it came to that. Obviously money was a key factor. "I guess we need to find out about vampire resources. You'd think one or two of them would have accumulated some wealth over their long lives," said Chloe. "What about numbers?" she asked. "How many vampires are there in Italy?"

"I'm just not really sure how many there are. A lot. I would guess there are a lot of vampires," Quinn said with a shrug.

"There are eighteen members of the Red Guard. If the vampires got together, we couldn't kill them all," pressed Chloe.

"There are eighteen Red Guards here. There are probably about 3000 of us worldwide. And they could all get here pretty quickly," countered Quinn.

"Then maybe what we need is the element of surprise," thought Chloe out loud. Her face looked pensive.

This gave Quinn pause. "What, exactly, are you planning here, Chloe? I know we disagree with some of the stuff going on here, but are we talking anarchy?"

"I don't know... maybe? I think there's a lot of corruption and it's too complex for a simple fix. I think major changes have to happen, and major change usually hurts," said Chloe thoughtfully. "Listen, I know we need rules to follow. I think that the vampires need to be kept in check. For sure. And they also need to remain a secret. We don't need to create complete and utter chaos worldwide to change what's going on here and in other Catholic countries."

"Yeah, but I was kinda hoping to live through our plan when we came up with one," Quinn worried. "This is sounding like the Red Guard is going to be taken down. I don't think I'm okay with that. I mean, these people are my friends, Chloe, and they're yours, too."

Chloe paused, thinking, "You're right, of course. I don't want my friends getting hurt any more than you do. Surviving would be a definite benefit for all of us. But, if you think about it, our numbers were up the day those vampires bit into our necks. We're really just on borrowed time. Whenever we take a breath, it's against nature," she said softly.

"Mmmm, maybe. But I like it," said Quinn with curl in his lips. "I like every minute I'm alive."

"I do, too. Don't worry, I'm not about sacrificing our lives... it might be an undesirable side effect of doing the right thing, though." She sighed as she looked at the TV. She couldn't believe her eyes. It seemed like every time she turned it on there were refugees on the screen, hitting her guilt and conscience hard. "I don't think I can live knowing that I am here but to serve the person who makes it possible for all of those people to be picked off like they're nothing. The life of the Pope costs all of those people their lives."

"The Pope, yes, but many others as well," said Felicity. "Think of your parents visiting Rome. They are safe only because of the rules the Pope has implemented. How would you feel if they were attacked and killed by hungry vampires? Don't you feel better knowing that your family is safe from at least one danger in this world?" Chloe reflected on the world and thought that her parents and the rest of her family were pretty safe from almost every danger in it. They lived a life of privilege compared to most people.

"Maybe," considered Quinn, "it's really just a matter of killing all of the vampires instead of just the 'right' ones. Then we don't have to live at the expense of the most vulnerable."

Chloe thought about that. "Do you think they exist for a reason, though? What would happen to the human population if vampires weren't around to cull the herd, so to speak?"

"I don't know," thought Quinn, "perhaps people could become more educated and focus on creating a sustainable human population with sustainable growth."

Chloe growled softly. "See? Too complex. We can only focus on our end of the problem. And what I see as the problem is the protection of the rich and powerful at the expense of those people," she pointed to the TV with her chin. There were so many children. "That's wrong."

"Okay," said Quinn shaking his head quickly to clear his thoughts, "So we're talking about joining up with the vampires?"

Chloe nodded her head with a distant look in her eyes. Then she looked at Quinn and Felicity with deep thought, "I think we need to take over Vatican City," she whispered.