a/n: I finally pounded out the end of this chapter, of which I've been sitting on forever. I'm still trying to get a feel for writing in the Trinity Blood universe, even as skewed as the AU version of it is I've created. Once I find my groove in this, the chapters should come more easily, and thus faster-ish. Not to mention the writing itself will get smoother(i.e better. i mean-what?)

a/n2: at this point, Abel is still young, still human. As in, he hasn't become a Crusnik yet.

Chapter 1:
Summary: A young, rule-breaking Abel sneaks into the restricted section of the current compound he's in in search of a 'weapon'. What he finds is no rocket launcher.

The hallway was dark and foreboding in such a way as to be almost stereotypical, but none the less unnerving. The only sounds that reached him asides from his own were that of the pipes complaining within the confines of the walls. Abel eyed the shadows warily as they danced away from the light of the small flashlight he'd 'acquired' earlier. For all extents and purposes, this part of the compound was abandoned; at least, that's what the generally spread belief was. 'Let go for the sake of furthering the rest of the building' is more or less what he'd been told on his first tour of the place. It was only in the restricted documents that the truth of the place was brought to light. Documents he'd managed to see with his own eyes not a fortnight ago.

He paused at an intersection of hallways, pulling out the hastily drawn map he'd made. It was quickly done, and only showed the portion of the area he planned to search. It probably didn't help that the map he'd copied had come from a hand drawn one, as opposed to actual blueprints. A bit of calculation and he stuffed the thing back into his pocket, continuing on into the hallway to his right.

As he progressed, Abel noted that the hallway seemed to be getting closer, the building noises changing subtly. Sweeping his light over the walls, he noted that somewhere along the way they'd gone from being concrete to a dull, rusted metal. He shuddered, telling himself firmly that it was just that, rust, not the dried blood his imagination was creating.

The hall ended abruptly, and if he hadn't known it was there thanks to the details in the report, he never would have noticed the door. It blended perfectly, and he had to look hard to see the little give-away details. Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, Abel went to work picking the peculiar lock. It didn't take long, but again that was thanks to his foray into the restricted records. And Cain, who'd helped him a great deal as it where. His brother had been the one to help him iron out the kinks in his plan, as well as give him an opening and an alibi, should he need it. Of his three siblings, Cain was the only one whom he felt able to trust fully with his rule-breaking, and this was a doozy. Not only had they managed to break into the records room (the restricted section no less) but had taken the disturbing information they'd found and used it to break into an off-limits area.

Opening the door just enough to slip through, Abel found himself atop a set of narrow stairs, the bottom of which he couldn't see, even with the aid of the flashlight. "Well, this is it, no going back now." He'd been hoping the sound of his voice would reassure him, but instead found it even more disconcerting. The walls seemed to swallow the sound, and the darkness was trying its damnedest to swallow his light. "Wish I'd brought a bigger light."

One hand on the wall, the other holding the light in a death grip, he made his way down. The surface beneath his hand scraped lightly against his skin, and thoughts of tetanus danced momentarily through his skull before he'd managed to snuff them. There were bigger thoughts to ponder on than a potential snag in his health. Like what he would find once he reached the end of his journey.

Stuffed neatly into the thick manila folder marked 'Classified: Hellsing' were a plethora of legal documents, hand drawn diagrams and maps, as well as plenty of other things he didn't quite understand. Everything, however, pointed at one thing: a Trump Card, a weapon. The details had been vague; some to the point of sounding like something out of a twisted fairy tale, but one thing had cemented it into reality for him: Project Eden.

Since he was a kid he'd heard that thrown around, and by the time he was 16, had realized why: He was project Eden, He, his brother Cain, and his sisters Lillith and Seth. Project Eden had occasionally been referenced, more so towards the back end of the file. And although he didn't really understand why, it still hit something deep within him. A powerful need to understand, to know what it was that connected him and his siblings to this weapon. He had no illusions about their existence, having read the file marked Project Eden when he was 17, along with Cain. It had been their first foray into a restricted file room, and obviously not their last. He knew they were engineered to be superior beings, things to be used to rebuild the world should humanity have its destructive way. But nowhere in that file he'd seen three years ago had there been any mention of Hellsing. Or what's more, the other thing he'd seen thrown around on the very last pages of the file: Project Venus. It seemed to be the thing that bridged some unseen gap between Eden and Hellsing, and for some reason it made him uneasy. Even with his intellect, he hadn't been able to decode all the backwards talking and gibberish that coded the file, but had managed to get enough from it to make him feel ill at ease. A little voice in the back of his mind told him with the utmost certainty that it meant more laboratories, more pain.

Abel was pulled from his worrisome thoughts by a jarring that ricocheted up his leg. He blinked, taking in his surroundings. Looking down, he realized he'd tried to take a step down another stair that didn't exist; he'd made it to the landing. Glancing over his shoulder at the staircase, he wondered just how long he'd been lost inside his head. Shrugging, more to ease his nerves than anything, he continued on.

This hallway was even narrower than the one above, the ceiling and walls littered with pipes and wires of all shapes and sizes. A wave of paranoia washed over him as his light swept across what was unmistakably a camera, and he seriously hoped that the lack of movement or little red light meant the thing was off. He trailed the light along the wires, seeing if there were more of the accursed things. Sure enough, he saw more of them, all placed at measured intervals. He repressed a shudder and dropped the light back to the floor.

The hallway seemed to stretch for ages, and Abel found himself pausing every so often to recheck his map. Finally he found himself at the next divergence point, this time a choice between two doors. Only one was marked on his paper, the one he was looking for. He cast a wary glance around before moving to examine it. This one was a bit less tricky to open, and in no time he found himself half stumbling into the room he'd been hunting for all night.

The door closed with a soft click behind him, but for the moment the possibility of being locked in was far away from his mind. He swept the light in time with his eyes, taking it all in. It wasn't exactly what he'd been expecting. But then again…

"The research center…is a security room?" For indeed, that's what he found himself in. A giant black screen to his left, along with the necessary control panel; to his right sat a desk, a cot, and a file cabinet; directly in front of him a wall covered in papers, clippings, photographs, charts….His mind buzzed. Even in the poor light, he was able to ascertain the lack of dust and disorder that by all means, should have been there. Instead, the place seemed to be spotless, and not only that, but warm. Especially so after having been in the cool, dank air of the hallway.

He moved forward cautiously to give the adorned wall a look over. Many of the pages where either a bunch of scientific mumbo-jumbo, or written in another language entirely. He ignored these and moved onto the photos, only to recoil when his mind processed what his eyes were seeing. Gruesome scenes of gore, dead things, captured stills of a man being tortured; close-ups of wounds…Abel lowered his light and took a step back. "Moving on…"

He went next to the desk, systematically searching it only to find more useless papers. He closed the last drawer with forced calm, trying to reign in his sudden anger. He needed something he could work with, and gibberish wasn't going to cut it. Abel turned his attention to the file cabinet, which he found locked. He searched the thing for the secret release button, only to find nothing. He glared at it, but of course that had little effect, and he had to struggle to keep himself from kicking the thing. It was old fashioned, requiring a key, and the only way he knew to open it without said device, required either paper clips, or bobby pins, which he had not. He looked between the desk and cabinet, annoyed with both of the obsolete models. That thought process however, gave him an idea. Opening again the long middle drawer at the center of the desk (which thankfully wasn't locked for whatever reason) Abel ran his fingers along the top of the drawer. "Ah ha!" Careful as he could he removed the key from its hiding place, holding it triumphantly up to his light.

He opened the top drawer, sticking the light in his mouth so he could flip through the files with both hands. All were more of the same gibberish, save for one. He pulled it from the back where it sat, flipping it open atop the cabinet.

Day 22
Test 0924E5
Subject has responded well to item 354-2G results listed below.
Subject still at capabilities above 70%.
Experiment V24-006 for CR0001-22 serum status: FAILED

Notes:
Although we've been at this nearly a month, the subject is still as strong and quick witted as when he was awoken. Fortunately the men's mortality rates have gone up now that we've been able to properly bind the creature, allowing a more thorough and intense study. So far the progress made is little to show for the losses acquired.

Abel let his gaze move further down the page for the aforementioned 'results'. He was met with more grizzly photos, as well as a sentence or two describing the cause and effect. Disgusted, he flipped to another random page, this one quite a bit further in.

Day 176
Test 5294D8
Subject has responded poorly to items 5524-K7, 9382-F, and 1028-I6, results listed below.
Subject capability estimated at 43%
Experiment V583-0353 for CR0243-176 serum status: FAILED

Notes:
Though still far from being broken, the creature has become far more docile, choosing more often to ignore us rather than fight us. Experiments still failing. Alternative plans being put into motion: via Eden.

This time Abel pointedly ignored the 'results', scanning the next few pages. It was more of the same: failed experiments and notes on 'the creature'. A footnote caught his eye, swinging his attention behind him towards the security equipment.

*Subject broke room camera via item 6275-GF2; sedated until fixed: switch from CAM13 to back up CAM14 for monitoring.

Following that was a bunch of gibberish he actually understood: the control sequences for both of those cameras. Picking the file up to take with him, Abel crossed the small room to the control panel. Setting the file down where he could easily see it, he set to activating the cameras to show live feed, careful not to record anything. Unexplained recordings would raise too many alarms.

With a few soft whirs and clicks, two boxes near the center of the screen came to life. They weren't very big, and Abel knew that if he put in the right code, they'd be surrounded by other boxes, all showing a different camera view. He also knew that with the right code, he could split screen them. A bit of button pushing and he managed just that. He frowned up at the screen. The images, though bigger, where no more clear than they had been in the first place. In fact, all he could make out was what looked to be a chain of some sort, the rest of the picture cloaked in darkness. He turned his attention down to the controls, sweeping his light slowly over the panel. There was a control that looked as though it controlled lighting of some sort, but he was wary of lighting up the wrong room and making his presence known. He turned his attention back to the file, flipping to the front to see if there was a run-down of some sort. To his amusement there was, in fact, a whole paragraph of decent length dedicated to the room controls. Taking a deep breath to prepare himself, Abel punched in the correct sequence.

The image on the left, the one previously hosting nothing more than the chain came into sharp relief as the lighting in the room activated. He had to blink a few times to adjust his eyes to the sudden glare, then a few more to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

In the center of the screen, strung up by the wrists and held down by the ankles with nasty looking chains, knelt a man. Nude, pale, impossibly thin, and covered in scars, his face was obscured by the dull grey hair cascading over his shoulders.

Frowning, Abel glanced back at the file, even going so far as to brave the gruesome 'results' photographs to confirm the man was, in fact, what he'd been looking for. For the most part it was rather inconclusive; obviously whoever it was writing the reports did so knowing the person reading them would know exactly what he was talking about. Smart really, he supposed.

Flipping to the last page, he scanned over the report.

Day 267
Test 9839V32F
Subject has responded well to test 9142-C and items 57397-K9, 028475-V90, and 5965907-V6. Responded poorly to tests 0287508-A, 805293-KDG09, and items 0277593-HK, 09427-NL, and 93876-CTY results below
Subject capability estimated at 29%
Experiment 4928309-AD for serum CR9328-KJ087 SUCCESSFUL

Notes:
Subject unresponsive, yet docile. Possibility of self induced catatonic state likely. Successful serum to be put to next phase. If successful, subject termination likely. If unable to terminate, subject to be retained until such time termination is made possible.

Abel shuddered, doing his best to lock away the morbid thoughts entering his mind. He flipped the pages back, searching out the one he'd browsed earlier that contained the holding room information. He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but something drew him to his fellow guinea pig, even though common sense demanded he get away and stay away.

He was finishing copying down what was listed when the clinking of chains stilled his hand and made his heart jump unpleasantly. Slowly, he turned his gaze back to the monitor.

Hair shifted as the man lifted his chin from his chest, turning his gaunt face up to the camera. The bright blue veins of his eyelids jumped as the eyes roved beneath them. The movement stilled, eyes slitting open slowly, as if to allow just enough light in for adjustment.

Abel unconsciously held his breath.

The eyelids snapped open with startling speed, revealing two crimson irises with slit pupils. They seemed to capture his own, despite the improbability of such a feat. A chill raced along his spin and over his skin, adrenaline making his heart pump fast and painfully against his ribcage. Even though he knew there was no logical way the man could actually see him, knew that it most likely was based off the knowledge that light meant someone was watching, Abel couldn't shake the absolute certainty that the man was looking at him.

"Abel, you there?"

He jumped, the sound of his brother's voice pulling him from the eerie state he'd let himself fall into. He'd forgotten about the earpiece. "Yea.."

"Wherever you are, get back here quickly or the keepers will get suspicious. Well, more than usual anyway." A mischievous chuckle followed.

"Right. Keep them distracted long enough for me to get back. I made it all the way; hopefully I'll be able to get back out."

"Find anything good?"

"I'll tell you later. Out."

Pointedly not looking back at the screen, Abel deactivated the lights, and then entered the code to turn off the cameras. Finger hesitating over the enter key, he glanced back up at the screen. Two red pinpricks of light that hadn't previously been there looked back. He swallowed hard, trying to convince himself that they either weren't there, or were something other than the eyes he knew them to be. He failed.

Gaze remaining on the screen, his finger moved of its own accord, severing the connection. Sighing, he pushed everything except his coming escape from the lower levels to the back of his mind, snapping up the folder and stuffing his scribble filled paper back in his pocket. Now all he had to do was make sure everything was back where it was to begin with, and there was absolutely no trace of him left behind what so ever. Not as easy as it sounded, he'd learned that the hard way.

X

Even deeper in the bowels of the compound, the chained man welcomed the darkness, chin again resting against his chest, eyes slit and a thoughtful expression lost to the nothingness.

bit slow, I know. But things will pick up quite a bit, fairly soon. I have much violence, and bloodshed, and what have you in mind, oh yes.

deadpan_riot