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The General's Crusnik	By : vbruce Category: +S to Z > Trinity Blood Views: 4086 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Trinity Blood. All rights, proceeds and monies go to the original creator. Making no cash from writing this. It's just for fun.

Chapter List
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Lucien settled himself in one of the big chairs by the fire and waited for Abel to return. He sincerely hoped no one would trouble him on the way. He detested the thought of beating another crew member black and blue.

It didn't take long before he was back, a tray balanced on his hands. He moved over and placed the tray near the fire before offering the open bottle and the crystal glass to Lucien. "For you, master."

Lucien took both the glass and the bottle from him, setting the bottle next to his chair. "Thank you, my beauty."

He got comfortable near Lucien's feet and poured himself a cup of hot tea to sip, ready for this conversation.

"Where shall we begin, my dear 02?"

He tilted his head, thinking logically. "I know I can fly, create a scythe from my blood, create and generate electricity in massive amounts, regenerate severe wounds that would have crippled anyone else." That got a shiver and his left wing twitched in remembrance. "I know I'm susceptible to bloodlust if I overfeed after a long time of abstaining." He paused, thinking about what else he could do. "And I live a long time."

"That isn't much, all things considered. Do you know that if circumstances had been different you would have been born instead of grown in an incubator?"

That got a slow blink from him and he put his tea down, afraid he'd spill it or worse. "No, I didn't."

"Before the four of you, there were two others. The initial prototypes for the project."

He clasped his hands together to stop their shaking. "Why didn't they tell us about these prototypes?"

"Because it would have most likely disturbed you to know you would have had parents. Real parents. It would have interfered with your training."

"It would have been nice to know where we came from, to know that someone wanted us beyond what we could do for them."

"I'm sure it would have been nice for them as well. They were bioengineered. Created as breeders for super soldiers, i.e. the four of you."

He looked up at Lucien, wanting to know more but almost afraid. "Were they nice?"

"They weren't initially allowed to see anyone but eachother. Even their caregivers sedated them first, saw to their needs then left them alone. So I wouldn't know about that since I never had the honor of meeting them other than when they were drugged for experimentation."

"What happened to them?"

Lucien sighed. "Maybe I shouldn't be telling you this, Abel."

He shifted to lay his head on Lucien's leg. "It can't be any worse than having my twin and lover present me with Lilith's body like a dog presenting its owner with a fresh bird."

"That's true enough. As it happened, Adam was comfortable with his lot, perfectly fine with being drugged on a regular basis as others went in and out, did tests on him etc. But Eve, she knew almost instinctively the way they lived wasn't how things were supposed to be."

He nodded, understanding that. He hadn't liked it when they had been confined to the labs for various testing either.

"Eventually, she had built up a tolerance for the drugs they were given. Feigned unconsciousness and listened as the medical people and military talked around her as though she was nothing."

That got a small laugh from Abel. "Sounds like something I would have done. Or Seth."

"Indeed it does. She found out through listening that she wasn't capable of bearing children but that they'd already harvested several of her eggs and were planning to dispose of her to find Adam another breeding partner."

"Did she escape?"

Lucien smiled a little. "Right after she slaughtered everyone on the station."

He looked up at Lucien. "Did she have a nice life?" He didn't want to ask if she was still around. That would be too much to hope for.

"I don't know that, Abel. I wish I did. However, do you remember that incident when you were all . . . oh, around fourteen or so? Someone had breached the station where you were being kept."

He frowned. "I think so. At the time, we thought it was just another drill that got us into lockdown, and if Lilith knew differently, she didn't say anything."

"Lilith wouldn't have been who was being looked for. You and Cain would have been."

He blinked and made a few connections. "Lilith was to replace Eve, wasn't she? And it was Eve that came for her children; myself and Cain.”

Lucien nodded. "That seems to be what happened."

"And when Eve was driven off, they decided that we needed stronger ties to keep us from going rogue. I was given to Lilith and Seth was created for Cain."

"Yes."

He was silent, turning this over in his mind. "What happened to Adam?"

"Eve killed him when she disposed of everyone else on the station because he was weak."

He nodded. "Do you think it might be possible to find Eve? Either find out what happened to her or make contact with her if she's still alive?"

"Oh, I'm certain she's still alive. As to where she is now, well, I only hear rumors here and there."

"Maybe we can use those rumors and send some back ourselves. Let her know that at least one of her children is alive and wants to talk to her."

"I'll see what I can do in that regard. The last I heard she was rumored to be in what was formerly Japan. Makes sense actually, she wasn't a terribly social creature as I understand it and that would be a good place for her since it has mountainous regions and is fairly isolated."

He nodded. "Do you think Seth knows about them?"

"I doubt that very much. Seth was engineered from a completely different set of DNA as was Lilith. Couldn't have siblings breeding after all."

That got a nod of understanding. "I'd still like to meet Eve if it's possible. Maybe get to know her a bit if she'll let me."

Lucien ran a hand down one of Abel's wings. "Abel, she full out stormed a heavily armed station to try to find you and Cain. I think that says a great deal."

"True, but a lot of things can change in nine hundred years." He wasn't going to get his hopes up. not until Eve was standing in front of him, willing to talk to him and get to know him. Then, he'd dare to hope.

"Not when she did it repeatedly."

"She did it more than just that one time?" He couldn't help the faint note of hope in his voice.

"As I understand it, she searched everywhere for you. Following leads for missions you'd been on only to be just an instant too late."

He made a small noise in his throat. "We have to contact her, find out how to meet her."

"Since it's that important to you, we will, my beauty. Somehow, we will."

He looked up at Lucien. "I used to wonder about the people I had been created from. At least in the beginning. Until it started hurting too much to pretend that the woman with the gentle smile and kind eyes and the man with the strong arms and fun laugh really existed."

"Well, I don't know about the kind eyes and gentle smile, that doesn't exactly mesh with the woman who managed to kill off an entire station armed to the teeth with experienced military. But you do have a mother and from all that she's done to try to find you, I would have to say she wanted you very much."

"I'll tell her about Cain myself and how he turned out." He offered a wry smile. "So what else do you know about me that I don't?"

"I know why Cain is the megalomaniac he is. I also know why you have the numbers you do."

"Why?" He continued looking at Lucien, wanting to know.

"It was encoded into Cain from the moment he was a bundle of cells in a tube. He was engineered to believe he was a god. That didn't take terribly well until after he became an adult."

That got a confused frown. "But why? I thought we were supposed to be *weapons*, not *gods*." It didn't make any sense, because the humans wouldn't be able to control a god or someone who believed they were.

"I couldn't tell you the why of that, Abel, and unfortunately the ones who could have are long since dead."

"All right, so why do we have the numbers we do? In order of being born?"

"Something to that effect. Though I’m not sure why Lilith was classed as 04 when she should have been 03 at very least. Cain was also labeled as number one because he was the first of that experimental phase. The prototype of the second generation if you will."

"But, I thought we were twins, created at the same time."

"You were. But he was pulled first. The moment it was obvious there would be two instead of one the additional experiments began."

"Additional experiments? Like his programming?"

Lucien nodded. "His programming, your enhancements and a myriad of other things I'm certain."

"Enhancements? What do you mean? Seth and Cain both can create weapons of their blood, and they use sound waves like I use electricity."

"True. But you were engineered to be physically stronger, more durable. If you'd been shoved from the airlock instead of Cain you would have taken very little damage."

That got a startled noise. "That explains what happened," he murmured, more to himself.

"Explains what?"

He licked his lips. "There was a mission in Carthago where Catarina was touring the Vatican Embassies after one of Cain's 'clients' nearly destroyed Rome. An Imperial liaison, Ion Fortuna the Earl of Memphis, was sent to meet with Cat about peace talks, only he didn't realize his tovarosh was an Order member. After Radu attacked the Embassy to frame Ion, the Inquisition was sent in. I managed to piece things together in time to figure out that the Order was behind things."

"What exactly does that explain, Abel?"

"Sorry. I was explaining the background. Esther, Ion, Brother Petros, and I were almost back to the Embassy when we were attacked by Radu in a stolen Goliath tank. Ion was wounded and bleeding freely, and I was a bit greedy. I accused Radu of being food, sustenance, and he panicked, firing on me." He drew a line down his chest to curve almost right above his hip. "All of this was blown off. Seconds later, it reformed as if it had always been there."

"Yes. That would be part of your engineering."

He sighed and curled back up to rest his head on Lucien's lap. "What else did they do to me?"

"I'm not sure of everything but I can probably try to track down the files and find out. I do know that you are vastly stronger than Cain ever dreamed of being, Abel."

"Please? I want to know how they screwed with my head because I don't doubt they resisted that much temptation."

Lucien sighed. "Since you are stronger and Cain was supposed to be the leader of your group, they programmed in certain . . . triggers to make you more submissive to him."

"Makes sense." He shook his head. "Couldn't having a follower be better than the leader and take over."

"I'm sure it would have to them. If they'd just waited any imbecile could have guessed you were naturally inclined to being owned."

"What sort of triggers did they use?" Maybe if he knew, he'd be able to protect himself better.

"Again, I'm not certain. It would be in the files."

He nodded before staring up at Lucien. "I trust you with whatever information you find in those files."

"I'm glad to know you trust me that much, Abel. Is there anything else you'd want to know?”

He sighed. "A lot of things, but most of it is probably in that file." He looked up at Lucien. "I want to know what abilities I have that I don't know about, what fail-safes they might have put in, what triggers, and how to undo the damaging stuff."

"That will take digging into those files and consulting Natalie, most likely."

He laughed, a soft sound. "I have time."

"You most certainly do, my beauty. You do indeed."

"I'll try to control my anxieties until we have answers. Maybe during that time, I'll be able to get past Lilith."

"I would certainly hope so. I have plans for you."

He looked up and blushed. "I hope so. I'll try my best, but it'll probably be hard. I was supposed to be hers after all, even if I wasn't originally."

"Hmm. That might be the easiest programming to break of yours since it was implemented long after you were past the other programming stages."

He tilted his head. "How would we go about doing that?" A small smile touched his lips. "Honestly, I'm getting tired of carrying that weight around. Especially since I have you and I left her in Rome."

"I'm just a simple soldier, Abel. Jeanette would be the psychologist in the family."

Abel shook his head. "You're anything but a simple soldier, Lucien. Cain might have been programmed to think of himself as a god, but to me, you are one."

"Thank you, my beauty. I've been the highest and the lowest. To know you think that much of me is an honor I’ve had from few people."

"You've offered me something that I never thought I'd have again after Cain's betrayal. A family."

"You do recall my family puts the fun in dysfunctional?" Lucien laughed. "Ah, I can hear Jeanette now when I bring you home." He pitched his voice to imitate the French woman. "Abel, mon petit coeur! Where 'ave you been?"

He chuckled. "True. So, which one has teamed up with which one? Or have they decided to be a trio now?"

"An occasional trio. Though Jeanette has whom she wants when she wants as usual."

"Well at least you know Nicolas isn't going to stray," he teased. Maybe he'd have Nicolas paint his portrait for Lucien as a present.

Lucien laughed. "Gods no. Natalie would hunt him down and hang him with his own intestines."

He grinned. "And you still say bringing her across was a bad idea?"

"Not a bad idea per se. Simply a necessity at the time."

He chuckled. "Seth asked me for a child once. I told her when she stopped looking like one herself, I'd consider it."

Lucien's smile widened. He'd spoken to the Empress at length about that. Abel still didn't know they were visiting relatives before going home.

"You don't mind?"

"That was a given, Abel. Her initial breeding partner is certifiably insane. It stood to reason she'd come to you."

He blinked. "I hadn't thought of that."

"It's also doubtful her DNA would be compatible with any of the Methuselah. Add to it the notion of the child being royalty."

That got a faint frown. "I wonder if any of us are compatible with Methuselah. That would make it hard because then there would be the debate on which DNA set would override the other."

"I doubt it. You were engineered to be compatible with each other. That was all."

He sighed. "Which means we're it."

"More than likely."

"You know, that's almost depressing. Three remaining people for an entire species, one is insane, and only one compatible person to breed with. When she has children, they won't have anyone to breed with."

"Unless Natalie's theory applies for the Crusnik as well as vampires."

"What? That we can change someone like you can?" It was an intriguing thought.

"It's certainly feasible since you do have vampire DNA.

He bit his lip, thinking. "Would it have to be humans or could Methuselah be changed?"

"I think it would be more likely for a Methuselah to be changed. They're basically the same as a vampire, just weaker."

"It would be nice to have others, to know that we as a species would live beyond us few. But we'd have to be careful about who we changed." He looked up at Lucien. "One of the people behind the assassination attempt on Seth was one of her closest and trusted advisors." He offered a wry grin. "But not so trusted to know she had a body double."

"That is sadly, the way of many attempts."

He smiled. "I didn't see the outcome. I was down in the missile silo trying to stop a puppeted Radu from stealing the launch codes."

Lucien chuckled. "I see. Leave it to Seth. I really do like that girl."

"Considering she saved my ass a few minutes later, I sort of had to."

"I believe they engineered Seth to be the hardest case out of all of you. Probably to deal with Cain."

"Probably. I hadn't realized that Radu was actually a corpse being used by Deitrich and that he had set up a trap for me specifically." He chuckled. "Then Seth shows up, casually talking about how long it's been since we saw each other before turning the Radu puppet into ash for throwing his fire at her."

Lucien laughed. "I do like Seth," he said. He looked down at Abel, running one hand through his hair. "Not nearly as much as I like her pseudo sibling though."

He purred and tilted his hand into that touch. "At least she picked the sane one, even if that is questionable at times."

"Not questionable. Reasonable considering all you've been through."

"Maybe, but there are times when I wonder about my sanity. Right about the time I start wondering why I was still grieving for Lilith."

"It was most likely part of your engineering, Abel," Lucien said, pulling him up onto his lap.

He went easily, curling up in his lap and twitching his wings out of the way. "Probably, but it still is annoying at times. Then something will happen, and I'll get dragged back in again."

"You said yourself you've not had anyone else all these years, Abel. That may be part of it."

"I tried once or twice, but didn't get much farther than talking to them." He shrugged a shoulder. "It sounds silly, but it felt like cheating on her despite the fact she was dead."

"Oh? How do you feel with me?"

"Comfortable."

"So glad to be compared to an old pair of jeans," Lucien said, sounding amused.

He smiled. "But old jeans are often put on more because they are better than a pair of dress slacks."
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The General's Crusnik