Connor pulled into the school parking lot and parked next to the van. Marsh and the others were forming a cluster on the van's passenger side, so Connor got out and joined them. He made a point of ignoring Zephyr, who took his time getting out of the car. Connor knew from experience that it was the respectful thing to do; with Reg there, Zephyr didn't need any additional attention.

Marsh gave them the run-down. "Fr. Solano should be in his office, so we'll go check in with him first. I don't think school has let out yet... has it?"

They all turned to the building, and right on cue, a bell rang. Less than a minute later, the first of a steady stream of children poured out the main entrance. A few more appeared at the side door closer to where the group stood.

"Right," said Marsh. "Okay, it's probably not a good idea to force Reg to walk into that mess, so some of us can go check in, and somebody should stay here with Reg until we're ready to start."

Shauna peered around Connor at Zephyr and Reg. "What are they doing over there? Is Zephyr okay?"

Still refusing to look, Connor did his best to reassure her. "Yeah, he's great. He was grouching a little bit on the way over... the usual."

Oscar snickered dismissively. "He's just being Zephyr. Let him take his time if he wants to. Ay, I'm going to grab a couple of things from the van. You, you go ahead and I'll meet you."

Marsh and Shauna headed across the lot toward the school. Oscar opened the sliding side door of the van and hopped inside. Connor turned to check on Zephyr and saw that he and Reg had finally gotten out of the car and were now approaching. He greeted the pair with a wide smile.

Zephyr barely even looked at him. "I'm fine," he growled. "All right?"

"That's what I told everybody," Connor informed him.

Zephyr didn't seem to know how to respond to that. He stared at the growing crowd of schoolchildren milling around the row of buses. Reg watched them, too, but with a great deal more energy; his eyes darted here and there and he fidgeted and bounced on his heels.

Oscar poked his head out of the van and grinned upon seeing them. "Ay, Zeph. Marsh and Shauna went to talk to the priest. Marsh wants Reg to stay here until we get things going."

"I can stay here with him if you want to go," Connor offered.

Zephyr eyed him suspiciously, but Connor knew to hold his ground. He had proven himself able to take care of Reg so many times that Zephyr's initial reaction of distrust must now be just for show. In a minute, he was sure, Zephyr would entrust Reg to him.

Sure enough, Zephyr sighed and said reluctantly, "Okay, you and Reg wait out here, and I guess we'll come get you when we're ready." He glanced again at the throngs of children. "It might be a while, though."

"That's okay." Connor scanned the area for somewhere nicer to wait than the van. The Holy Name church across the street looked promising; he pointed to it and told Zephyr, "How about if we just wait in the church?"

"Sure, whatever. See you in half an hour or so."

"Zephyr I want to," Reg announced suddenly. The eyes of three startled men fell on him. It was easy, Connor mused, to forget that Reg was a co-worker rather than a problem to be solved or a burden to juggle. Even Zephyr shoved him into the role of burden. Connor got the impression that none of these guys, not even Zephyr, quite knew how to handle Reg's presence at on-site assignments. He felt a little twinge of guilt for participating in such degrading behavior, although he knew that none of the engineers meant to be insulting.

Zephyr took Reg's hand and said to him, "I know you're ready to work, but you have to wait. It's not..."

"It's not ready yet," Oscar interjected. "We have to wait for all of those kids to clear out before we can start building. Otherwise they'll just get in the way."

"Yeah. You and Connor wait until we get all the kids off the site, and then we'll come get you. And then you can work. I have to go talk to the man, okay? I'll be back to get you and Connor in a few minutes. Half an hour. Okay?"

"Work," Reg insisted, but he took a step backward and allowed Zephyr to leave.

Oscar closed the van door and he and Zephyr walked away. Connor turned to Reg, who continued to stare intently at their backs. "Well," he said, "let's go sit in the church and wait." He took Reg's arm and they walked together across the parking lot, across the street, and up the massive stone stairs leading up to the church entrance. It occurred to him when they reached the heavy oak doors that Reg might have some unexpected aversion to churches... but he had come this far willingly, so Connor decided not to worry about it. If Reg had a problem with anything inside, they could just leave.

It wasn't the biggest cathedral he'd ever been in, but a high ceiling and faux arch decorations along the walls testified to some attempt to emulate the old-fashioned style. Large marble statues guarded both side entrances and the altar area was lavishly decorated in gold plating and murals.

Reg made his way to a pew near the front and Connor joined him. They sat there, still and silent, and Connor wondered whether Reg might have been familiar with churches. Zephyr was an atheist, if he recalled correctly... or maybe it was just that he didn't have a strong religious background. What would Zephyr say if he saw Reg slip so easily into this setting? He wasn't exactly crossing himself and reciting ten Hail Marys or anything, but Connor would definitely describe the man as 'comfortable' at the moment.

He noticed a definite purple theme going on. Purple sashes hung on the walls near the front, and the altar cloth was also purple. Several vases filled with lilies stood scattered here and there. He realized it was Lent. Oh, shit, he thought. When did Lent start? He hadn't given anything up or started avoiding meat on Fridays... and he had missed Ash Wednesday entirely! His mother was going to kill him! No, even worse - she'd be disappointed in him. He could picture her sighing and frowning, saying in a tired voice, Connor, being old enough to live on your own means you're old enough to keep track of important dates. If you can't take the responsibility yourself... I don't know, maybe I should ask Mike to call you up and remind you. Then he'd try to defend himself by describing how busy he'd been, and the breakup with Lauralynn had thrown him off his routine, and the excuses would sink like stones in his mother's unyielding gaze. Just don't forget to go to church on Easter, she'd then say, and mark the end of the conversation by turning her back on him.

Maybe he could lie and say he'd been practicing Lent all along. The ham sandwich he'd had for lunch today was the last Friday meat he'd eat until Easter, and he could make a concerted effort to attend church the next few Sundays. And maybe a few early weekday Masses thrown in to compensate for missing the previous few. Oh, and he should probably go to confession. He hated confession. He had to be meek and apologetic all day at work; listing his sins to some priest seemed particularly unappealing. But he couldn't face his mother knowing he'd missed Ash Wednesday and not confessed about it... because, after all, lying to her was a lost cause.

Connor glanced over at Reg. Reg continued to sit perfectly still in the pew; now his eyes were closed. Connor wondered what he was thinking about. Maybe he was praying. Praying was probably a good idea. He reached down to pull the kneeler out but discovered that Reg's feet were in the way, so he settled for leaning forward slightly and resting his forearms on the back of the pew before him.

"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit," he whispered. "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be..."

He sneaked a quick glance at Reg to make sure his praying hadn't disrupted Reg's meditation. It hadn't. Connor gazed up at the gigantic marble angels behind the altar and continued.