CHAPTER 13

Dinnertime in the refectory was cheerful and noisy. Monica and 
Gibson arrived late and stood at the doorway searching the crowd. 
Monica saw Gibson's excited expression and followed his gaze to 
find... Rosalita. She smiled, disappointed that it wasn't John, but 
pleased that Gibson was experiencing some normal teenage feelings. A 
touch on her shoulder made her smile broaden, and she turned to see 
John, sunburned and smiling, his damp hair tousled into random 
spikes. He kissed her cheek, then pulled back and reached for her 
hand.

She leaned in to whisper, "You took a shower without me?"

"Sorry," he grinned. "You don't know what I smelled like after I got 
done with that truck!"

They wound their way to their usual table, and found Rosalita sitting 
there, her food and utensils daintily arranged. Monica maneuvered 
herself next to Rosalita, edging out Gibson's attempt to sit next to 
her. Gibson settled for the second best option: sitting across from 
her. John smirked in Reyes' direction and she smiled back. They ate 
in silence, as all four took turns eyeing the others.

Mother Catherine stood and started reading from her giant Bible.

"And there he came to a cave, and lodged there;
And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him,
"What are you doing here, Elijah?"
He said, "I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; 
For the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, 
Thrown down thy altars, 
And slain thy prophets with the sword;
And I, even I only, am left;
And they seek my life, to take it away."
And he said, "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord."
And behold, the Lord passed by, 
And a great and strong wind rent the mountains, 
And broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, 
But the Lord was not in the wind;
And after the wind an earhquake, 
But the Lord was not in the earthquake;
And after the earthquake a fire, 
But the Lord was not in the fire;
And after the fire a still small voice.
And when Elija heard it,
He wrapped his face in his mantle 
And went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
...And the Lord said to him,
"Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus."
--1 Kings (19:9-15)

Doggett could see Reyes' nervousness at the imagery of the Bible 
passage, and he reached across the table for her hand. Her hand 
found his and she smiled at the warmth of his touch. "It wasn't 
prophecy then, and it's not prophecy now," he whispered 
huskily. "Relax. We're safe here," he assured her.

She shook his hand lightly, reassuring herself. "I know," she 
mouthed. "Thank you."

He pulled his hand back and reached for his coffee. "You're 
welcome," he mouthed to her. Monica turned to listen to the rest of 
the readings:

"As they were going along the road,
A man said to him,
"I will follow you wherever you go."
And Jesus said to him,
"Foxes have holes,
And birds of the air have nests;
But the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head."
--Luke 9:57-60

"When I was a child, I spoke like a child,
I thought like a child,
I reasoned like a child;
When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
For now we see through a glass darkly,
but then face to face.
Now I know in part;
Then I shall understand fully,
Even as I have been fully understood.
So faith, hope, love abide, these three;
But the greatest of these is love"
--1 Corinthians 13: 8-13

"See?" John reached for Monica's hand again. "It got better."

"Maybe it got truer," Monica suggested.

After dinner, Monica and John walked hand-in-hand to their cottage 
while Gibson sat in the refectory with Rosalita, under the watchful 
eye of Sister Martha. "What's going on there?" Doggett asked.

"I don't know," Monica said, swinging his arm a little too vigorously.

"I think you do," he smiled.

"I never betray a confidence," she smiled back.


When Tomás arrived, Doggett felt himself grow tense just being in his 
presence. They drove in near-silence, then entered the church from 
the rear. Tomás led them to a small office, stocked with religious 
and psychological books, a desk, two overstuffed chairs and a 
comfortable-looking couch. John took one of the chairs and sank into 
it, his arms almost level with his shoulders. Monica sat in the 
middle of the sofa, and Tomás sat in the other chair.

Tomás began with instructions in meditation techniques, techniques 
which Monica had been practicing daily for many years. She slipped 
into a meditative state almost immediately, but she could hear John 
fidgeting, sighing, clucking his tongue, and tapping his foot. Tomás 
continued talking to John, probing his mind to find soothing images 
for him to use.

Suddenly, Doggett exploded. "Is this what you did to Gibson?" he 
shouted. He got to his feet and pointed a finger at the 
priest. "'Cause I didn't like it then, and I don't like it now! You 
have NO right...!" his voice started to crack. "NO right to invade 
my mind that way!" He stormed out of the office, and Tomás and 
Monica could hear the door slam behind him.

Monica smiled weakly at Tomás. "He's not comfortable with this," she 
said with some embarrassment.

"Oh?" Tomás grinned. "I couldn't tell."

From the other side of the door, they heard Doggett yell, "Monica!! 
Are you coming?!"

"No, John," Monica shouted back. "We're not finished!"

They could see the shadow of his legs under the door as he paced back 
and forth. After a few passes his shadow stopped and they 
heard, "What happened to Where you go, I go?"

Monica sighed. "That doesn't apply to bullheadedness!" she shouted.

He threw open the door and she could see how angry he was. "Can we 
at least talk? Away from him?" he nodded toward Tomás.

Tomás stood and said, "I'll be back in fifteen minutes." He looked 
at each in turn and added, "Don't go anywhere."

John sat next to Monica on the couch. "Mon," he pleaded. "This is 
nuts. This guy is..."

"Exactly what he claims to be?" Monica finished.

"Mon, I could *feel* him in my mind, looking around, bringing up 
memories..." At Monica's sympathetic look, he added, "Good memories, 
but... Dammit, Monica, they're mine! and they're private!"

"I know," Monica put a hand on his forearm, almost immediately 
calming him. "But he knows what he's doing, and we need his help." 
Her hand started rubbing up and down his arm. "Please, John, for 
me... for us?"

He looked into her liquid brown eyes and his heart melted. "Mon, you 
know I can't say no to you..." He put his free hand over hers. "But 
I'm not sure I'm ready to leap into something like this."

"How much time do we have?" she asked.

He nodded, eyes closed, and let out a long breath. "There's no way 
to know... Okay," he said. "I'll try again."

Tomás returned and took a more gradual approach with meditation, 
using John's relationship with Monica to jump-start his telepathic 
training. He placed an image in Reyes' mind, and with her long 
experience in meditation she was able to hold that image for long 
periods as John attempted to access it. By the end of the evening 
all three were exhausted, but John had had his first intentional 
psychic experience, and they considered the evening a success.

After stopping his SUV at the front gate, Tomás turned to his 
backseat passengers and said, "About Gibson..."

"What about him?" Doggett said defensively.

Tomás sighed. "You're taking care of him?" Doggett and Reyes 
nodded. "I know you both mean well, but..." Tomás studied their 
faces, being careful not to invade Doggett's mind. "...he's not 
being straight with you. He told you he wants a normal life..."

"And how do you know that?" Reyes demanded, glaring at him. 
Doggett's mouth was set firm and his eyes were glaring in equal 
determination and anger.

"Look..." he held his hands up, pushing back their rage. "I had to 
do it. It's part of my job here... Before we asked you to trust us, 
we needed to know if we could trust you... *all* of you." Doggett 
and Reyes remained motionless, staring coldly at the priest. "He 
told you he wanted a normal life, and that's partly true..."

"Stop right there!" Doggett ordered. "I've heard enough of this 
crap." He grabbed the door handle and leapt out of the SUV, then 
leaned in and looked at Reyes. "I don't care if this *is* being 
bullheaded, I'm not listening to this. Whatever we need to know 
about Gibson is for Gibson to tell us!" He turned and stormed away, 
not looking back to see if Reyes was following.

She was.