Not Again (Peter and then Aly)

[father-peter.livejournal.com]

Ironically, it wasn't until Peter fell asleep across his journal, where he had once again been complaining about the elusive nature of his dreams, when the dreams got just that little bit clearer.

Peter was standing in a darkened corridor which was flickering with the light of several candles. It took a moment to realise that his ankles were adorned with shackles, but when he did, a small whimper escaped his lips. He glanced frantically around the narrow space, and then he felt a hand, pushing him hard between the shoulderblades. "Keep walking!" A cold voice demanded of him.

Peter stumbled forward, but he didn't try to escape. He was shaking now. He knew where he was. He was with the Templar. Everything inside of him wanted to run away. To escape. He had been in a place like this before. So many times. The last time, they had tried to cut off his head and when that hadn't worked, they had run him through with silver stakes and buried him under the ground. Peter wouldn't survive another guillotine. But no matter how hard he tried, his body refused to cooperate. He simply put one shaking foot in front of the other until he reached the work room.

"Ah, welcome back." Peter was greeted by another masked man. "Do not fear, my child. We will make you once again worthy of God's love. It has been a long journey, I know. But I have faith that it is near to the end."

Peter wanted to yell. To scream and shout and argue that God's love was not theirs to give and take away as they saw fit. But he remained silent, only his eyes were defiant.

"Affix the sinner to the strappado. I wish to punish her for her corruption."

Peter didn't register that he had just been called a woman. Only one word stuck in Peter's mind. Strappado. And then Peter did something he couldn't comprehend. Something he thought he wasn't capable of, no matter how bad things got. He fell to his knees, and he begged. "Please! No! I'll do anything!" Even as he felt the Templar's hands close around his arms. "Please!" His eyes were watering now, in anticipation of the pain he was about to endure. "I can't! I'll repent! I want God's forgiveness! I want it! God, please forgive me! Please! I...I'll give you her name!"

Peter woke with a start, a woman's scream echoing in his ears and a sticky note he had scribbled bank details on stuck to his cheek. "Mwah?" He spoke into the silence of his living room, causing Aly to poke her head in from the entrance hall.

"Peter?" Aly raised her eyebrows and then she stepped forward, Baby Lauren in her arms. "Did you have a dream?"

"Mmm." Peter looked up at her, the dream obviously still haunting him. "Bad."

Aly reached out and she picked the sticky note off of his face. "Can I do anything for you?" She asked, handing the note to him, which he stared at blankly.

"I think...tea. Tea is a good idea. And then ringing Rolf. Mmm." Rolf dealt with the Templar. Rolf and Saul and Deirdre and a goddamn army. He wasn't going up against them alone. They weren't going to get him again.

It didn't yet occur to him that in the dream, he was someone else.