Quinn looked down the crowded hallway leading to the Sistine Chapel with frustration. It was nearly closing time, but still the hallways were as full as a fisherman's net. On a whim, he turned to the stairs and headed down to the lower levels to avoid the mass of tourists flocking to see the masterpieces on the ceiling up ahead. It was amusing to watch them all stand in the room with their heads turned up to the paintings, staring with looks of awe on their faces. And those pieces of art are truly something to behold, he thought to himself. Funny how after hundreds of years, they've never lost their power.

He was on his way to a meeting with the newly elected pope of the Catholic Church, and the current leaders of the vampires and the Red Guard. An interesting assortment of individuals to be sure. He was already starting to sweat in his formal priesthood cassock. Unlike many of the Red Guard, he enjoyed wearing his collared uniform. He found it non-restrictive and conforming. He liked to conform as much as possible. Sometimes standing out was inconvenient. As he approached the antechamber of the Sistine Chapel, he hoped that Chloe had the sense to wear her nun attire. Felicity as well. But, he thought with a shrug, they probably didn't.

He climbed the stairs leading to the antechamber, walked intently through the beautiful stone hallway and approached the large oak door with a sigh. He entered the meeting room and saw Pope Francis was already there, sitting at the head of a large table with Richard, who was the leader of the vampires in Rome. Quinn wondered if Richard had known he'd be the new leader when he had killed the former one. It was a big responsibility that Richard had undertaken with limited enthusiasm. The two were hunched in deep discussion and turned to look at Quinn in unison as he entered.

"Hello Quinn," said the pope with a slight smile.

"Your Holiness," Quinn responded with a slight bow of his head. "Richard, I trust you're well." He guessed that Richard had taken the pathways underground to get here, since the sun was still up.

"As well as anyone, I guess," said Richard with a grim expression, "but we have some problems on the horizon."

Quinn felt his eyes narrow at these words. There had been one problem after another since the Red Guard had it's coupe a few months ago. The Red Guard, responsible for killing rule-breaking vampires within the city, had taken out it's own ruler after discovering he was a vampire himself. Overall, things had gone fairly smoothly. Power vacuums had been filled with the right poeple, in Quinn's estimation, but problems were bound to come to light no matter what when you were leading thousands of immortal beings.

"Are Chloe and Felicity coming? They're late," sniffed the pope.

Ah, yes, the pope's personal pet peeve, thought Quinn with some annoyance at Chloe and Felicity.They know he hates their tardiness and yet they are always slightly late for appointments. It is almost as if they do it on purpose. He would have to talk to them about that again.

"They are on their way, to be sure, Your Holiness," Quinn responded diplomatically.

"While we wait, then," said Richard with his eyes set on Quinn, "I need to know how things are coming along with your special mixture?"

I bet you do, thought Quinn. He wished he had better answers for his old friend and comrad. A vampire hunter turned vampire, Richard hated to hunt. Quinn knew that Richard had always done his best to kill only the most vile humans that he could find, but the act of eating was almost more than he could bear. "I'm still working on my ability to create large batches of the synthetic blood. But it is going to take time to be able to make batches large enough to feed the population of vampires just in Rome, never mind the rest of the world."

"What do you need to make it happen?" asked Pope Francis.

"There are certain ingredients that are difficult to obtain without raising questions from the human population," said Quinn as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"Oh?" responded the pope, "And what ingredient might that be?"

Quinn closed his eyes in relief as Chloe and Felicity opened the door at just that moment. Their timing could not have been more perfect. The very last thing he wanted to talk to the pope about was the ingredient list to the synthetic, but high quality, blood product he used to produce in order to feed the highest echelons of the Roman Catholic Church – who also happened to be vampires. Quinn was sure the current, human pope would be thoroughly disgusted and outraged. The fact that they were demanding he make it in such high volumes was a problem that Quinn had not yet addressed adequately.

"Sorry to keep you gentlemen waiting," said Felicity with a blush on her cheeks as she swept into the room. "We were held up by throngs of tourists."

Quinn noticed that, as he had predicted, both Chloe and Felicity were wearing their hunting gear. Always dressing to show their true station, thought Quinn with a slight shake of his head. Why do they always insist on doing that? The remaining Red Guards, about ten of them who had survived the coupe, had taken too consistently wearing their hunting gear. They used to only wear it when they had a mission or were training. But the uniform was becoming something of a common sighting around Vatican City these days. Quinn had stuck to his regular routines, reluctant to draw vampire attention to himself. He couldn't understand why the other Red Guards wanted to stand out the way they did.

The pope glowered at the two women with annoyance clear on his face. "Yes, yes, I'm sure." he murmured.

"Good afternoon, You Holiness," said Chloe sincerely. "Hello Richard, Quinn." Everyone shared their pleasantries and Quinn felt the tension in the room settle.

"We have a problem rising within thevampire population," started Richard again.

Chloe huffed, "When isn't there a problem within the vampire population?"

Richard turned a hard stare to her. "There are many more of them than you, so I would choose your words wisely, Chloe." There was a definite edge to his words; he was clearly growing weary of Chloe's off-handed comments. Quinn knew that her words were a part of her sense of humour and how she dealt with stress, but jeez, time and place!

Chloe looked back at Richard with some surprise. "I didn't mean to offend, Richard, but honestly, it really is one problem after another. You really have your hands full."

"They are a disjointed bunch, to be sure," he sighed, slightly appeased, "There are many, from many walks of life. They have different values and different desires. Some want to hunt only the rich now that we have renegotiated the terms to include them on the... menu," he could not hide his own aversion to his diet as he said these words.

"Well, luckily, the terms stipulate, wealthy or poor, the food source must be guilty of egregious offences. So, rich or not, what difference does it make?" wondered Felicity.

At this Richard shifted in his chair, not happy with which direction this discussion had to go. "There is a rather large segment of the population that is not following the terms. They are taking whomever they please."

"Oh really?" said Felicity as she leaned forward, her eyes alight with new interest. "What are you doing, as their leader, when they break the rules, Richard?"

"Listen, Felicity," started Richard defensively, "I am but one being. I was a Red Guard and I have killed more than my share of recalcitrant vampires in my two hundred years on this earth. And, yes, I've had several of these rule-breakers staked. However, there are too many for me to monitor and punish on my own. I have only been in power for a few months and my inner circles are small."

Felicity grinned, "So you need help. Finally. The Red Guard has been growing restless, Richard. We would be more than happy to assist you with your troubles."

"There will be resistance to your participation, Felicity," Richard responded reluctantly. "Our former leader's final words struck a chord with many of our kind. The Red Guard have, truly, been a bane on the vampire existence. There are a multitude who would love the opportunity to kill all of you."

These words gave Felicity pause. "We will manage. There is no reason why we cannot operate in a fashion similar to what existed before. Except, you tell us who our target is. We will just help to enforce the laws."

"Let me think on it," said Richard.

"Richard, to be sure, this is ultimately my decision, is it not?" questioned the pope.

Richard's head snapped up at this and Quinn was surprised to see that he bit down a hiss. "This problem needs to be addressed for the long term, Your Holiness."

"I undestand that, Richard. Don't underestimate me simply because I am human. I understand your reluctance to relinquish the power that is already mine; however, I hold the deep and sorrowful responsibility for giving credence to the terms of your existence. If the vampire population is not following the very generous stipulations of the agreement, then they must pay a deep price. The Red Guard is mine to control, and I will do so at my leisure and desire. If you don't like it, well, I have only about twenty years to live. So you can address your concerns with my successor."

Quinn looked at Pope Francis with admiration. They had chosen very well. He was smart, thought deeply and made good decisions.

"If you are not careful, your successor will fill your shoes sooner than you may plan," warned Richard.

The pope shrugged. "Perhaps. However, I cannot let the fear of death guide my decisions. Living in fear is no way to rule people who need moral guidance. You will tell me which vampires have broken our laws, Richard. The Red Guard will exact retribution for their crimes. The laws need to be clear and upheld swiftly. Change is hard on everyone, but is accepted when it is clear there is no real choice. Unfortunately, this means that some examples will have to be made."

It was clear that Richard did not like these words, but that he knew them to be true. "Very well. I will gather all of the former Red Guards in the vampire population. I know that they can and will help. We will police what part of the population we can manage on our own. I will provide a list of names weekly to you, Your Holiness. Those names which we cannot manage on our own."

~~ 

A/N I'm thinking this is the first chapter of a possible sequel. Let me know what you think! And a vote would be lovely, too. <3