A/N:- This is a birthday present for Mako. Happy birthday, dear!

The Promise

When Abel had been growing up, his promises had seemed simple and set in stone. Protect his family, and keep them safe against the terrans. That was all he had to do, it was the purpose of his life. They hadn't given him a real purpose, he was just spare parts for their greatest accomplishment, he was the one always lagging half a step behind and never quite impressing to the same levels. But for all Cain's smarts, he never swung his fist at anyone. For all Lilith's love, she failed to see the putrid disease that were the humans. His two perfect older siblings, shining where he and Seth could only glow, but... He wasn't useless to them. He could deal a punch better than anyone on the colony and dish out maximum damage before he was taken down; he could protect them, and that was his promise.

A promise all too soon broken.

First with Cain, just an accident they said, an accident that had robbed him of one of the precious pieces of his small family. Then Lilith, killed by his blindness to see what had been in front of his face all along. His original promise had been built on the foundations of fallacy, and when it had truly mattered, his family had been defenceless after all.

After that his promise became clearer, though so much harder to keep. The memory of brilliant red hair, and the guidance of a child in need, had led him to take up a different sort of sword. This time protecting the humans, protecting peace, protecting life. He hadn't always succeeded, there had been trips and stumbles that had almost cost him the last vestiges of his sanity. But he kept trying.

For the sake of the old family he had lost, and the new family he had gained.

He began to dream of a day when it could be over. When 01 was defeated and he could die peacefully, the last monster gone from the Earth, and be reunited with Lilith again. He wanted to see her smile more than he wanted anything in the world, he wanted to her Cain teasing them both as he used to centuries ago, while Seth watched and giggled from the corner. He didn't deserve it, not from the mistakes he had made... but he still selfishly dreamed of it, a peace of his own.

But he couldn't die while he had his promises to keep.

Yet time moved on, and one by one his promises began to fade. Esther took charge of the free world, reigning as a Queen that brought about peace and prosperity. With Seth gone from the Empire, slowly the Methuselah integrated with the terrans and the threat of war diminished. Caterina's body betrayed her in a way not even her knight could protect her from, and eventually Alec grew into a Pope who would have made his sister's memory proud.

He was protector to no-one, stood amidst a sea of ever increasing gravestones. The only one left unchanging, the only one left time would never touch.

What could a man become when even his promises had turned to dust?