The Church of Eternal Life. The goddamned Church of Eternal Life. Without realizing it his face had assumed a certain glower as he looked at the documents in front of him. Sure there had been certain underground stirrings of the church on the island before, a renegade sort of sect. Apparently one of their members had disappeared and the rest sort of diabanded after that. It wasn't exactly the kind of loss that Ash was likely to mourn over. A soft whispering sound accompanied his movements as he turned the page to look at the information that had been sent to him from the old Captain in Salem. With each passing notice he was just praying that the mysterious new Master of the Islands would keep the Church out. You knew your life was really hitting bottom when you were pinning any of your hopes on vampiric aid.

By the end of a week away from the station he was as nervous as a tiger in a cage. Work was oxygen to him and since at the moment his own personal life was taking a nosedive into the seventh circle of hell it was the best possible place for him to me. The one place where for a little while at least he would be able to shut off the incessant noise inside his head. Kalika, Evie, Marcus, those gargoyles, and now Tino. It was like Grand Central fucking Station up there. If he let himself concentrate too hard on any one connection inside him something strange almost always seemed to heppen. The last thing he wanted right now was to dip into Valentinos head and see another memory of him and Silent together. It was enough to make him vomit on himself. One time and that was that. He had shut down his shields so tight that even an emergency siren would have trouble getting through. Which consequently also cut him off from the people he loved, but it seemed a worthwhile trade.

Fingertips rubbed idly at the corner of his right eye like someone with a headache. Habitually enacted movements, nothing more. As a matter of fact since Kalika had given over the marks he was feeling much better at least physically. He wasn't constantly distracted by hormones and pheremones and....moans. How anyone could get anything done with that bitch in their head was amazing. Though trading one devil for another still wasn't comforting. At that moment he realized that he hadn't been paying any attention whatever to what he was reading and the scowl lines on his perfectly pale face deepened.

With a sigh he pushed up from his desk, the chair make a horrendous screeching sound against the floor as it rushed back. He wanted Frosts expert eyes on this one. She had a way about her, almost a second sight. If there was anything, even a minor infraction in their set up that they could throw red tape up about then she would find it. Might not be a solution but it would sure as hell give them some extra time before the church could set up shop and start recruiting.

His jacket was left draped over the back of his chair as he moved out into the main part of the offices so that his guns and badge were clearly visible. It was always a bit funny to see the reaction on strangers faces when they showed up at the station and met him. In a suit Ash looked like some cross between a dark haired Cuban drug lord and an electric eyed superman, but one thing he definetly did not look like was a cop. Maybe in another life he'd been on the other side of the fence and was still making amends. Who knew. As he moved he tapped the manilla folder lightly against his thigh, that rythmn the only sound as he moved. With perfect blank face he dropped the file onto Detective Carmichaels desk.

"I need your instinct on this one Carmichael. Let me know if you find anything."

When it came to criminal profiling Frost was an expert, and he trusted that expertise. Same way he would have trusted Jane with leading a raid, or Llydia with.........it was when he was turning away from Frosts desk to head towards the break room where they kept the coffee (or as he called it ambrosia) when Detective Chapman literally ran into him. On instinct his body tensed and he didn't move in the slightest as she bumped into him. When she went staggering back his hands reached out to take hold of her arms in light circling grips.

Seeing her was a shock, and he hadn't realized until that moment just how hard he had been trying to avoid her. Since telling her to stay away he had pushed and shoved and cajoled her back into the recesses of his mind, and somehow in all that he had forgotten about work. After all she had turned in her badge before leaving for Europe and since then most of his interaction with her had been through a wall of jade. Just goes to show how little you retain when you are under the attack of the undead. For a moment he wondered if Tino would like Lydia and then immediately recoiled from the thought. What in hell was he thinking about that leech for anyway?

Only after several long moments did he realize that he was just standing there with his hands on her arms in the middle of the bustling station. It felt like the activity around them had slowed to a crawl and then it seemed to all move at hyperspeed to catch up. He was letting her go even as she was quickly turning to get away from him and he winced inwardly. A jab of pain shot through him as she pulled away so quickly. It reminded him that she was human again and he was just another kind of monster. There was just enough time for his electrically charged blue eyes to glance at the file she was holding and see that their minds were still simpatico when it came to work. It was almost enough to make him smile, but somehow (har har) he controlled the unusual reaction.

"Detective Chapman. I've just given Detective Carmichael my files on the Church. It's not exactly a case yet but I think it's something we should look into given the disappearances."

Crisp accented voice fell into easy rythmns and for a moment he thought that maybe this would all be okay. Then she turned to look back at him and the heat of those bahama blue eyes made him want to rage and scream at the world around him. Walls slammed into place and he bit at the inner flesh of his mouth.

"The two of you should check the project out together. Maybe try to speak with this leader of theirs. See what he knows about the disappearance of that member last Spring.....Dusty was her name I think."

Detective Bret Rodgers saved him in that moment from having to further complicate his already overburdened heart. The man came towards him with papers in tow and Ash gave Llidya a nod before turning to lead Rodgers towards the break room where they could both get coffee and look over the items he was so intent on.

Maybe not all at once, but a little at a time he was sure he could get through this. He would wall off a piece of himself here and there, and before he knew it he would be safe again behind the walls that had protected him for so long. In the meantime he just had to breath through the pain and keep his heart beating one day at a time while he waited for the next bomb to drop.