Update 5/13/2012: I did a bit of editing on this chapter and reuploaded it so it might be a little easier to read and follow. I'll reiterate here that I do not own Elfen Lied, or its characters portrayed in this story. Sole copyrights go to Lynn Okamoto, and bless him for the creation of this series. I am not receiving any kind of monetary gain from this project, I merely wish to honor the man's work. I hope I am succeeding in that endeavor. As always, to my readers, I thank you very much for continuing to read this rather long story, and all of your kind words have been greatly appreciated. To new readers, thanks for giving me a chance. I hope you stick around and that you enjoy reading this as I have enjoyed writing it.

This story takes place after the events in my two short fanfics "One Bullet Left" and "I am what I am", and the timeline is some six months or so after "I am what I am". It is not necessary to read either of those stories to pick up on this one, as the summery is simply that Mayu and Bando are now better acquainted, and Lucy has come home.

Five years ago: The Kamakura Institute

Erich Vanith watched the small child on the other side of the two way mirror glass. As unremarkable a Diclonius as any. At least at first glance. The physical characteristics were similar to the others, and the circumstances of her retrieval were similar to the others as well, an orgy of violence bringing them to the Institute's notice. He brushed a stray strand of carefully combed, jaw length black hair, out of his face as he watched her in the observation cell. He preferred to call it a "cell" instead of a room because that's exactly what it was. He wasn't the type for euphemisms, and preferred to call a spade a spade.

"Director Vanith?" an all businesslike, droning voice called out. Kurama he presumed, being sent like a dog to fetch him so that he could speak with Director Kakuzawa.

He knew exactly why he had been summoned here, and could really care less about Kakuzawa's desire to replenish his Diclonius bloodline. For all his bleating about how the subjects were just tools, he was secretly coveting them because they had what he did not have: pure blood. Unlike that desperate fool, Vanith knew exactly what to do with the Diclonius, and it had nothing to do with creating any sort of life. What did they all think they were doing here? They were weapons manufactures, and he damn well knew it. Some people made guns, others made bombs, the Institute created living weapons of mass destruction.

"A moment Professor Kurama," he said in his seducer's drawl of a voice. He really couldn't help the way he spoke, having to ease so many young girls into their new lives under the Institute's heel. One had to know how to comfort them, cajole them so that before they knew it, they were in chains having steel spheres fired at them to test their vectors and lying on operating tables suffering the effects from a myriad of experimental chemicals. A lot of test subjects died, and most of them at his hands, the last things they ever heard being his liar's tongue purring that everything would be alright.

The ones that survived were put to a most interesting use: assassins. But so many of those had to be destroyed by the explosives surgically implanted within their bodies because every one of them had eventually succumbed to the desire to become free of the Institute. Their usefulness was akin to the life of a battery, always dying on you just when you've gotten used to how well they work. Oh well, what was the old saying? Practice makes perfect? He'd make a perfect assassin yet.

He cocked his head as he watched the child on the other side of the glass, he wondered if she would be a good killer like so many of the others had been, at least for a time. He thought she might, there was something about her, just something different. She sat there…reclined really, restraints on her arms and the vector canceller upon her head. That technology was still in its early stages and Erich though it would be much more effective if the device could completely enclose their face. As it was, it was only a headband with a series of wires attached to it, which connected to needles that were inserted beneath the skin of her forehead. In order to make her further docile, they had stripped her naked, and Erich couldn't help but notice the developing body of the fourteen year old test subject.

"Do you think perhaps I could speak with number 5?" he asked.

It wasn't a real question, as he would simply do what he wanted anyway, merely voicing his intentions early. He began walking to the door that would take him inside the cell before Kurama could answer him.

"Yes sir," Kurama had said, perhaps to convince himself he had some semblance of authority. Erich was intrigued by this one, the way she held herself, the look in her eyes. There was something…wicked…there. Knowing, and aware of the realities and cruelties of the world. And she looked like she wanted to laugh in the face of it all.

He was dying to get to know her. Perhaps she would imprint upon him as many of his 'girls' often did? That would be wonderful.

He opened the door and stepped inside, closing it softly behind him. It wouldn't do to be harsh and businesslike right from the beginning by walking in and slamming the door. As the door clicked shut, she raised her eyes to look at him, but did not raise her head, the look in her eyes sent chills down his spine. Oh yes, he liked her very much. Long reddish-pink hair spilled down her shoulders and down her back, with more brushing against her thighs. It shined with natural oil and fell straight down like water, having little to no volume. The horns were slightly larger than he knew other Diclonius horns to be. She licked her lips when she saw him.

"Good afternoon number 5," he said in a soft, friendly voice, then began to cross the room slowly towards her. He would not rush, this had to feel like a social call.

"What's your number?" She said in a chilling whisper. He had not expected the sound of her voice and it stopped him dead in his tracks. She smiled, showing teeth.

"Excuse me?"

"They gave me a number when I got here. Five. It's mine, to keep forever and ever. It's the only thing they let me have in here. Nothing else belongs to me. Since they say that all I need is a number, it must be the most important thing in the world to have a number. So if you're an important man, you'll have a number too. You're dressed like you're important, So what's your number?"

"I don't have a number. I have a name," he extended his hand, "my name is Erich." He then remembered, she could not reach out to shake his hand, how silly of him. How did he just suddenly forget that? Those eyes…that voice….

"Erich?" she said slowly, coldly. Testing the name on her tongue.

"Yes, Erich. It's nice to meet you number 5." She started to laugh.

"Well then I guess you aren't shit…Erich." He bristled. He had NEVER been spoken to like that by a test subject. He reached into his pocket for the remote to the electric charge attached to her arm restraints, and was moments away from pressing the button when she spoke again.

"How many letters are in your name?"

The question seemed odd. "Five…actually," he answered.

She shifted on her seat, lifting a knee to rest a foot on the chair as she rolled her head to the side…it was a disturbing movement, as it implied seduction.

"Five," she whispered, "maybe you're not so bad after all." Erich let his hand back away from the button.

"You had a name before a number, do you remember it?" He didn't know what made him ask that question, just something so strange about this one. He was having trouble putting his finger on it.

"No," she said simply.

"No? You wouldn't be lying to me would you number 5?"

She smiled again and it was not a friendly smile. It was a smile of taunting, of playing games. He tired of these games and pulled out the device in his pocket.

"So, no name then?"

"My name is number 5." He pressed the button and watched her muscles lock up and a grimace of pain contort her facial features.

"mmm…mmmrrgggggaahhhhhhhhh!" He released his hold on the button and she slumped in her chair, her arm restraints the only things keeping her from sliding on the floor.

"That was a lesson number 5. You will answer any questions you are asked, and you will do whatever you are told, or there will be pain."

He said the words apologetically, in a conspiratorial tone, as if to say 'I don't make the rules'. He still needed to build rapport. She needed to see him as a confidant as well as a master. The eyes that looked up at him almost made him physically strike her. Hate was too small a word for what he saw there. She mumbled something.

"What was that number 5?"

"I said FUCK! YOU! MOTHERFUCKER!" He yanked the button back out of his pocket, intending to teach her a lesson she would never forget.

"Director Vanith?" came an amused voice spoke from behind him. Director Kakuzawa, of the Kamakura Institute stood before him at the door, leaning against it with a knowing smirk on his face.

"I see you've met number 5. Fascinating little thing isn't she?"

"Quite…" Erich said irritably, feeling a lot like he was just caught with his pants down. He put the button back in his pocket and turned back around towards the girl.

"Come back and see me…baby."

She laughed mockingly, a lurid sound. He wanted to strike her, but still…he felt drawn to the test subject. He would have her, he decided. She was going to be his newest project. Perhaps this one would last longer than the others he had to eventually kill after their expiration date came up and their minds snapped. This one's mind was clearly already gone for some reason prior to her capture. He could work with that. He couldn't imagine what in hell could cause a fourteen year old girl to act that way. It would be fun finding that out.

"May we speak Mr. Vanith?" Kakuzawa said, beckoning him out of the cell into the observation room. He walked out and saw that Kurama was still in the room, eyeing him strangely.

"The way you dealt with her," Kurama said, a puzzled look on his face, "do you typically always handle the test subjects that way?"

"Yes, it helps them to last longer. It would appear number 5 is a special case, but in most normal situations, if you become a person the test subject can latch onto, or attach some special meaning to, it gives them a will to survive. Something to strive for. A number of girls I have worked with have seen me as a father figure, or a close friend. It has even had the benefit of allowing them to survive for quite a while. My oldest girl was twenty-six before we had to put her down."

Kurama flinched, as if he had been slapped, but recovered himself quickly.

"You might consider adopting such a method of dealing with the Silplits," Erich continued, "that way you might have a few left to work with and not be calling my branch for supplements."

Erich looked pointedly at Kakuzawa, who laughed good naturedly.

"You know as well as I Director Vanith the delicacy of the test subjects and the intensity of our research here. We cannot afford the luxury of spending the time it would take to build an ideal subject to withstand the various testing procedures."

"Because your time is running out…isn't it Kakuzawa?" he said with a smile.

Kakuzawa glared at Erich and turned to Kurama, "could you give the Director and myself some time alone Professor."

"Of course, sir."

He turned towards the door, looking relieved and made a quick exit, Erich locking the door behind him as he left.

"How DARE you Erich!"

"Pipe down Kakuzawa…just having a little fun."

"I always knew the board had made a mistake, vaulting you to the position of Director so young."

"They saw I had a gift, and we both know my branch has had far more success with the Diclonius research than yours. But of course, that's because they don't really know what you're doing here."

"And I should never have told you."

"Who else would understand you?" He had him there, it was the one assurance Kakuzawa had, that Erich too wanted to change the world with his direction of the Diclonius research, though their ideas to that end were quite different. Kakuzawa wanted to discover what could strengthen the Diclonius gene pool in order to create a rebirth of that race, while Erich…his idea was a lot more simple. He would weaponize them, creating an army of Archangels that would carry his will across the globe. Oh sure, his mission statement called for the molding of the Silplits for use by his country's government as a method of deterrence, but it was Erich who was at the ground level, whispering into the ears of his country's "weapons". He would turn the guns on those in control, and write the pages of history in blood.

But first he had to find a way to stop them from burning out. That was becoming tiresome.

"We found a queen Erich." Kakuzawa said suddenly.

Erich was not as interested in the queens, they weren't integral to his research, but they did have their uses, being somewhat more powerful than the common Silpelit. And of course, they could reproduce, which was the primary reason Kakuzawa was interested in them.

"Kurama brought her in earlier this evening, along with a wounded child the Diclonius had been with at the time of her capture. They don't expect the child to survive of course, but the queen is in good condition. And still seems to be generally possessed of all her normal mental facilities, albeit her killing instinct of course."

"What does this have to do with me Kakuzawa?"

"Well, you see the board has been starting to ask some uncomfortable questions. They want to know what we are doing about the vaccine," he said, spitting the last word out like a curse.

Ah, now it was starting to make some sense. His branch was famous for its virology department.

"My son has been busy researching it as a way of placating and buying time," Kakuzawa continued, "but now that I have a queen under the most ideal of conditions, I cannot afford to put everything on hold now to put together some ridiculous cure for the virus. My son can't finish his research alone."

"So you want someone from my department?"

"Precisely" Erich sighed irritably, "Kakuzawa, I've been bailing you out for as long as I can remember. I might have someone for you but this time I'm going to have to ask for something in return." He would give it to him, he could see the look of desperation in Kakuzawa's eyes. He felt he was so close, and just a few minutes ago, Erich discovered that he had that feeling as well.

"Anything, name it."

Erich pointed to the girl in the cell, "I want her."

Kakuzawa turned to look at the girl, who was staring in their direction through the two way mirror. She couldn't see them, but she looked in that direction as if though she could. Kakuzawa smiled, "well, she's all yours then." Erich raised an eyebrow, "that easy?"

"In truth, I had her presented as an offering. I just never imagined you would have wanted her without any convincing. She is a queen as well you know?"

"Then why aren't you keeping her?"

"You were in that room, do you really have to ask? Besides, I can continue the research into the original Diclonii with this new queen. I don't need number 5 anymore. She's sterile as well, so breeding her would have been out of the question."

"I thought only the Silpelits were sterile, why is this queen sterile?"

"She came that way when we picked her up three years ago." Erich enjoyed his phrasing of that, as though she were a product which came in 'sterile', he chuckled to himself.

"She's a handful, as you've already seen, and can't breed. She was actually up for disposal."

"What are you telling me Kakuzawa? That you're passing off expired goods to me? That doesn't sound like much of a payment. Maybe I should ask for further compensation."

"She's powerful. Six vectors with a four meter range. She seems to prefer using them to move her arms and legs. She's been in and out of the medical wing because she's always breaking her own bones. We've had to perform numerous surgeries on her. Her bones are practically made of surgical steel, so she's a lot more resilient these days. We'd been testing out what she can handle by firing spheres at her at 350 joules."

Even Erich bristled at such a thing. You only did things like that when you were trying to kill the test subjects, or if you were trying to have a bit of sadistic fun. Kakuzawa seemed to read his thoughts.

"She was indeed wounded in the experiments," Kakuzawa continued, "but we had to keep at it for a while. She was able to withstand much damage, and she actually was able to deflect a few entirely at that level. So you see Director Vanith, while in my line of research she is certainly "expired goods" she is perfect for your aims."

Erich looked back at the girl, studying her every feature. He wanted to get as familiar with her as he could. It was the same way with every girl he took in to research and train. They had to become his singular focus, or at least he had to make them believe that they were his singular focus. It took a special kind of mind to deal with numerous test subjects he had in his possession. This one however, he knew it would be true for her. This one was going to have his complete attention.

"Would you like to come down to observation 7 and see Lucy?"

"Who?"

"The queen that Kurama retrieved. It's the name Kurama has chosen to give her. We have a tradition of that around here to name the test subjects. It seems to cut down on the confusion of the various numbers."

Hm…he rather liked that idea actually. Good on Kurama, perhaps he had it in him to be a good handler for the test subjects.

"No thanks, I'm not interested in…Lucy. I would however like a few moments alone with number 5," he said while pressing a few buttons on a nearby console. The two way mirror raised itself up automatically until there was only a regular Plexiglas window, and the test subject could see them clearly.

"What are you doing?"

"I want her to see you leave Kakuzawa. You'll get your researcher. I have just the one, she's young but brilliant. Name's Arakawa. She hasn't been briefed on the actual research taking place at my Institute or yours so there's plausible deniability if anyone on the board starts asking her any pointed questions. All she's been given are the bare essentials of the virus' nature in order to work on its cure."

"Perfect. But what if she should find out anything, or discover what we're doing here?"

"Then I expect you to handle it…Director."

Erich turned to look at the girl, "leave us Kakuzawa. And lock it on your way out."

Erich never took his eyes off of her as he walked back into her cell, Kakuzawa exiting silently, the final sound being the click of the lock sliding into place and the jangling of keys as they were removed from the lock. Erich closed the cell door behind him, which was silly but he wanted to feel the closeness of the room around him, and couldn't get that with an open door. Sure there was the window but a window wasn't a way out into what you were seeing. That was a concept he wanted to impress upon…

"Angel…"

She stared up at him, her hands clenching into fists and loosening in a steady rhythm. "No angels here baby," she said coldly.

"I quite beg to differ."

"Whatever you say."

He nodded, "that's right, whatever I say. From this day forward, your name will be Angel. You did not give me a name when I asked, so I didn't think you'd mind if I simply gave you one myself."

She watched him, studied him. It almost appeared she was doing to him what he had been doing to hear, taking in every detail. Her eyes rested on the electric shock remote he was still holding in his hand as he'd removed it from his pocket. Her smile faltered somewhat.

"I can be a good girl…"

Erich shook his head and closed the distance between them, reaching out to take her face in his hand and tilted it up to look into his eyes. He brushed his thumb down her cheek and he felt her press her face into his hand, a look of disgust and anger burning in her eyes.

"No Angel…I want you to be bad. Can you do that for me?"

Her stare was locked on his, and there seemed to be something passing between them but he could not figure out what. He was just as confused by her as he had been when he first walked into the room. She seemed to be settling into a role that was comfortable to her, but he just couldn't figure out what that role was.

"I can be bad…I can be so fucking bad…"

"Good girl." This…was going to be an interesting couple of years.