They all clattered around the long banquet tables, mouths watering as they looked at the delicious looking food. There were so many creative dishes around the table that Chloe was having a hard time deciding what to eat first. She knew she wouldn't get to try everything with so much variety. She thought she'd take a bite's worth of as many things as would fit on her plate. She started to reach for a particularly scrumptious looking roast of beef when Quinn quickly slapped her hand away from the table. "Not yet!" he whispered into her ear. "You need to wait until the Pope arrives and takes the first bite."

"What?" demanded Chloe with a hiss. "Why?"

"It's called respect, Chloe," he said with a roll of his eyes. "The one who pays is the one who eats first. It's pretty common knowledge. It's called... manners."

Chloe had the grace to look at least lightly embarrassed, but inside she actually felt a little under-appreciated. She looked around at the food mournfully as she thought. The old coot is only alive because of me... or least... after I kill a few vampires, he will only be alive because of what I do. So, eventually, she reasoned with a tilt of her head, he should show some appreciation. Like, letting me eat whether or not he's taken his first bite.

"Hey, Chloe," whispered Felicity from across the table, "What's going through your mind? You look a little peeved."

"Nah," replied Chloe, "Just thinking about the little things."

Felicity raised an eye brow at her, "Sometimes the little things can do you in. Like nails in a coffin. Little things can seal your fate."

Chloe looked at Felicity with some surprise. It seemed like a pretty deep, thought-provoking thing to say. For some reason she hadn't expected it from Felicity. The comment made her like Felicity more. She smiled at her and Felicity smiled back.

Chloe looked around as she heard the scraping of chairs and shuffle of bodies standing up. She followed everyone else's motions as they stood up to welcome the Pope into their midst. As the guest of honour, Chloe was sitting at a table very close to the Pope and she had a great view of him as he entered the grand room.

Chloe couldn't help but notice his apparent youth. Every picture of the Pope she had seen made him look a little bit older. But, while his hair was certainly white, his face was not very wrinkled at all, even though it was thin. She always thought chubbier faces tended to more wrinkle-free than thinner faces. This was not the case with the Pope. The only thing that, perhaps, aged him was his greyish complexion. His eyes struck her as being sort of weasel-like. They were small and he was squinting them a lot on top of that, making them appear even smaller. His eyes darted around the room until he saw her, and to her surprise, they got even smaller as he took her in. His face became harder somehow and she felt a growing sense of unease as he continued to stare at her. If the eyes were the window to the soul, then his was intense and creepy.

Chloe shuffled her feet nervously. She fidgeted, but held his gaze with her own. She would not back down from this man. Not ever. She couldn't help feeling a little bit defiant towards him. She pretty much disagreed with every single thing that he stood for. She faltered in her thinking as she felt a nudge in her side. She glanced over to Quinn who continued to stare straight ahead.

With their eye contact broken, the Pope continued on to his place, greeting his friends along the way. He shook hands and smiled. There's some obvious small chat going on, thought Chloe, meanwhile, I'm starving. God, if there was a baby somewhere nearby, He'd probably stop to kiss it! Finally, he reached his seat.

"Let us pray," the pope announced.

Chloe let out the softest of groans as the pope said a short prayer before starting to sit down. A young teenaged boy had pulled out the Pope's chair and waited for him to sit. The boy pushed the chair in as the Pope lowered himself and the chair was adjusted to the Pope's specifications. He looked out to his guests and gestured for them to take their seats.

Finally, thought Chloe as she quickly sat back down. She looked once again at all of the food before her. She wasn't sure if she'd ever been so hungry. It struck her then that she probably hadn't eaten in over a week. No wonder she was drooling. She hadn't even thought about food since she'd woken up, but now that she saw the food she could barely control herself. She watched impatiently as the Pope chose several items for his plate.

"You need... to stop glaring... at the Pope," Quinn whispered as he leaned towards her. "You are glaring. Stop it."

Chloe forced her face to become smooth, relaxing all of the muscles in her face. "I'm so hungry," she whispered back. She felt him sigh next to her. "I am going to die, I'm so hungry. Look how slow he's moving. Like, take a bite already. Take... a... bite..."

The Pope glanced at her again, meeting her gaze with some intensity. She did her best to smile, but she was pretty sure it was some weird grimace. He took his fork and picked up some peas. He put them into his mouth and started to chew. Chloe breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed her fork. She stabbed four slices of roast beef and threw them on her plate. She picked up her knife, cut a piece off and quickly put it in her mouth and started to chew. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the tingling feeling as her mouth filled with saliva and the flavours of the meat filled her whole body. It was, truly, the most heavenly thing she had ever eaten. She quickly shovelled some more food into her waiting mouth and chewed some more.

"Quinn, didn't you feed her before dinner?" demanded Felicity, shooting him a glare.

Quinn's face turned about fifty shades of red as he realized that he had not. "It may have slipped my mind," he muttered.

"Slipped your mind? Don't you remember how hungry you were?" Felicity asked. "It's not something you ever forget, is it?"

"She never said anything," he started.

"We never do. Not until we see the food," Felicity commented as she watched Chloe shove more food into her mouth. "She's gonna barf. For sure."

"No, I'm not," said Chloe through her full mouth. "It tastes so good." There were chuckles all around the table.

"I'm glad my partner didn't forget to feed me before meeting the Pope," commented one of the other Red Guards. "If he doesn't remember her for eating like a wild animal, he'll remember her for the dirty looks. I honestly don't know which one is worse." A few guffaws sounded close by in response to this comment.

Chloe started to feel some level of gratification and began to slow down. She looked away from the food with some difficulty and started to study the people around her. She studied their faces, trying to read their intent. She had often had to gauge people's emotions growing up and she was pretty good at it. She thought everyone here was just having a bit of fun. Nobody was being nasty. They were trying to connect with her.

She smiled at the red-haired, green-eyed Red Guard who made the comment. "Of all the looks I gave him, I'm sure he'll remember my winning smile the most."

The Red Guard smiled back with an easiness that won Chloe over. "My name is Jessica," she said.

"Nice to meet you," said Chloe with a nod.

Jessica nodded back. "I think it will be the glare, by the way. Nobody ever glares at the Pope."

"Oh well," said Chloe with a shrug.There isn't really much I can do about it now, she thought. She deftly reached for some green beans and mashed potatoes. She was happy to see that many of her favourite foods were close to her.

After several minutes of eating, the Pope stopped and stood up. He tapped his glass several times with his fork, indicating that he wished to speak. The buzz of many discussions came to a halt as everyone looked over to him. He cleared his throat.

"Welcome, my dear friends," he began. "We are here to feast and celebrate for good cause tonight. We have been blessed by the Lord Jesus and His Holy Mother by the delivery of a new protector. A new member of the Red Guard has joined our ranks, and we are very grateful for such rich favour from our Lord and Saviour. We recently experienced some tragic loses from our ranks, making us all the more pleased with our newest member," he looked over to Chloe, raising his glass, "Chloe Desjardins, you have been chosen by the Lord for a high calling within the Holy Catholic Church. Will you swear to protect the Church interests as directed by He who holds the office of the Pope?"

Chloe was a deer in the headlights. She took the briefest of moments to shoot Quinn a quick glare. Another oversight? Some preparation would have been nice. She swallowed the food that was still in her mouth as she slowly stood to her feet. She looked up at the Pope, trying to calm her nerves, "I swear to protect the interests of all the Catholic people... and... I guess the non-Catholic ones, too... Your Holiness."

Chloe saw a slight twitch in his eye as he said, "Welcome to the Red Guard." A cheer went up through the room and everyone drank from their glasses. The chatter started up throughout the room once more.

"What was that?" asked Quinn.

Chloe swallowed some more food, "What was what?" she asked.

"That oath. He asked for an oath, but you changed the wording," he said.

"I just helped him get the wording right. Do you think he noticed?" asked Chloe, trying to sound innocent.

"Yeah, he noticed. He wouldn't want to make a scene here, but he'll be wanting to redo that. Be prepared," warned Quinn.

"Prepared?" repeated Chloe with mock surprise, "What a novel concept. I wish someone had prepared me for the first oath I was supposed to take." she leaned over to Quinn and narrowed her eyes, "I think I should get another crack at your neck as payment for this disastrous night."

He looked offended, "This evening has not been my fault!"

Felicity chirped in, "Yes, it's your fault. All of it. You should let her break your neck." More laughter followed her comment.

~~

A/N I love you for reading my book. I just thought I'd let you know that. ;) Please comment and don't forget to vote.