Abe and Locke sat drinking tea and talking awkwardly about Egyptian lore for a little while before Hellboy and Liz wandered into the Library, Kate following shortly. Locke shifted his position, half-sitting and half-lounging on the wide steps near the stereo, Kate sitting behind him, smiling a bit.
Hellboy took a seat near Abe, Liz sitting next to him, leaning on him lightly. Locke nodded, understanding why no one spoke immediately, smiling a bit.
"I guess it would be best if I start from the beginning. I'll warn you now, it is a bit confusing, but as I continue, several questions will be answered." Locke began, flicking out a wing and laying it out on the stair next to him, the other flaring out and lying in Kate's lap backwards, Kate gingerly moving to stroke it, causing him to shudder and smirk at her. "I'll begin by saying that I've known about the BPRD since I was five, my father having taught me about the American organization and history as the Professor was a close family friend. Not to mention a fellow Englishman. My father, Sir Arthur Fairbanks Wingates van Hellsing, only settled down with my mother, from the Middle-East, as the Queen had ordered him to produce an heir as she did not trust his brother with the family headship." Locke sat up, digging into his pants-pocket and withdrawing a picture of himself and a small girl with brilliant blue eyes and glasses that looked like a mirror image of him. "He sired first me, then my sister, nine years later."
"Sir Integral, from the Hellsing organization of London is your sister?" Abe asked, blinking incredulously as he passed the picture to Liz and Hellboy.
"Yes. When she was conceived, my mother was warned that she would likely die during childbirth. She died only several moments later, I swearing to protect my little sister as she passed." Locke bowed his head a bit, looking at the picture of himself with his sister before putting it away again carefully. "My Given name was LeonLocke Fairbanks Wingates van Hellsing, and at the age of nine I officially began studying the occult, magicks, the art of creating barriers for offensive and defensive purposes, and swordcraft along with my studies for the headship of the family. All the while I became more and more aware of the presence of a greater power guiding me, but eluding my sight and senses for the most part.
"Shortly before I turned eighteen, I already dwarfed my father, and was asked to go to the Vatican on a peaceful mission. That was where I was diagnosed with cancer, so I wasn't necessarily lying about that part in particular." Locke smiled, pausing before continuing. "When I returned home I explained what had happened to my father, and he seemed to be hiding something. When Integra ran into my Father's study and nearly sent us both flying from the chair, he moved to speak with us more closely. He collapsed shortly after." Locke paused again, breathing deeply. Hellboy frowned, knowing exactly what had happened when the last head of Hellsing had died, Liz and Abe giving him a look when Locke shared a sad smile and nodded to him.
"He too had been diagnosed with cancer, and died the day I turned eighteen. Again, I promised him that I would protect my sister with my life." Another pause, this time he withdrew his inhaler, shook it, and used it once, keeping it in his hand just in case. The action drew Kate's concern, which Locke waved off before continuing. "Three days later, after the funeral and once Integra and I thought we would be safe, our uncle, my father's younger brother Richard, who had flown back from Germany once he had been informed of Father's illness taking a turn, and attempted to kill us. I moved quickly, understanding his motives and meaning for staying in our home near immediately, and had my sister hide in the heating ducts, instructing her to head for the place father had previously told us about. A room, long forgotten, hidden in the basements of the manor, where there was something that would protect us, from the likes of my selfish uncle.
"Luckily I had learned a cloaking barrier so, when my uncle stormed into Integra's room, gun at the ready and two lackeys of his at his side, I was unseen. Uncle, unfortunately, knew about the hidden room in the basement of the manor, and quickly pursued my sister through the rest of the house. I first thought to follow Integra down the ventilation system, realized I had gotten too big, and followed my Uncle and his dogs.
"Integra had nearly entered the room when Richard and his lackeys, I shadowing them, entered the hall. Richard fired once, missing my sister by a hair, a fine gash appearing on her face. I acted quickly, deftly moving between Richard and my sister as she backed away into the room." Locke smiled forlornly then, thinking back to that time brought many mixed emotions, yet he continued, having the full attention of the others.
"I had hidden, beneath my sister's mattress and held in place by a potent spell to keep her from detecting it, a sword that I had crafted. My masterpiece; that I left in her care when I left, but I'm getting ahead of myself... I held the sword drawn and ready as my uncle and I argued over the futility of my actions. A Sword cannot stand to a bullet, but I was, and still am, confident in my abilities with a blade over the aim of a projectile weapon. He fired, catching me in the left shoulder, the bullet going right through the flesh, missing the bone, deflected slightly and continuing through, grazing Integra's shoulder as she turned and attempted to dodge. On the door had been a seal, drawn in blood, which had been designed to maintain the containment of the one locked in that room. I know this as I had been tasked with learning as much as I could about it and our family's research from a young age. I and Integra felt, as we moved further inside, an ominous and heavy aura that withdrew and seemed to react negatively to Richard and the other two, distracting them a bit. I was backed into the room while deflecting the odd bullet fired from Richards lackeys and down the short stair, Integra flattening against the far wall.
"Richard saw the corpse before we did, the black leather buckles pinning it to the wall and heavily constricting it, long white hair, about as long as my own, covering most of its hideously sunken face. When I glanced at it, I saw that the mixture of my and my sister's blood from the bullet had splattered across the floor, and on the corpse itself. Richard taunted us, that the only audience to our death would never speak a word." Locke paused again, looking over the three, seeing another growing frown on Hellboy's face.
"As I'm certain you've heard, Integra of the Hellsing organization employs a garrotte wire wielding family retainer, and a vampire that is under her complete control, so what I'm about to tell you will likely further concern you. I understand fully if you wish me to leave once I finish explaining my story, but I implore you to reconsider." Locke said wholeheartedly, green eyes pleading with the three before him. Hellboy and Abe exchanged a glance, Abe more confused and before looking back to Locke for him to continue as Liz simply shook her head and smiled.
"Thank you. That corpse, whilst I dashed forward suddenly, under the bullets of Richard's lackeys and managed to dispatch the two of them, Richard watching in awe, began to move. I froze, turning to look at the corpse, wide eyed, as its restraints tore from the wall, allowing it to lean forward and lap the blood from the floor like an animal. I knew it then, a vampire, one that father had locked away after the Second World War, and left to us. It rose, moving with a speed that I could not follow, even with my training, and first destroyed the fingers on my uncle's right hand forcing him to drop his weapon, and tossed him aside, leaving him alive.
"Being the protector I was named to be, I backed up away from the monster and shielded Integra with my body, sword at the ready. The vampire kneeled before Integra and I; that was when I became aware of his aura a second time, informing me that he would listen to every order I would give. I lowered my sword again, which turned to be a fatal mistake." Locke then moved to sit up more, unbuttoning his shirt, revealing four sealed-over bullet holes in his chest, dark beneath as though the bullets were still within his flesh.
"Richard fired with his left hand, able to aim well enough to miss the vampire entirely, and hit me straight in the chest with the remaining shots. Snarling, the vampire whipped around, severing Richard's other hand, yet still left him alive. Integra, much to my chagrin, instinctively picked up one of the guns that had fallen near her from the other two, taking careful aim. She asked the vampire his name, and he replied with Alucard. I'm still, albeit rather morbidly, proud of my sister for shooting Richard between the eyes with the little training she had." Locke rebuttoned his shirt, settling back down, fluffing the feathers on his wings unconsciously. "There was no way I would have survived my injuries, and I had an oath to my Mother and Father to protect Integra. So, I asked the vampire Alucard to turn me. This was nearly fifteen years ago now, and my sister is now twenty four and searching for me." Locke sighed again, looking at them evenly, green eyes now sporting cat-like pupils, the group seemed to stiffen or jump, yet did not speak on the sudden change. "I left after a time, seeing myself as a liability to her, being without seals with which to keep me from harming her. Once I learned to use my new vampiric abilities and Integra was settled as the new head of the Hellsing Organization, I left to complete missions that needed immediate action, and would allow Integra to remain in London. Inadvertently, and completely unintentionally, I was taking a plane from Egypt to Singapore, and ran into Professor Bruttenholm. By that time, I had learned of my patron, and was gifted with a renewed 'life'. My heart beats, I can stand sunlight, and my magicks are far more potent thanks to her, not to mention I can, oftentimes, converse with spirits." Locke smiled then, most genuinely, looking to the portrait of Trevor on the wall near them. "I met Sera'phna in Singapore, and brought her to Canada, as you know, shortly before I went to the bureau, quite briefly, at the very specific and urgent request of the Professor."
"That's why I recognize you! You dyed your hair and wore contacts then though." Hellboy bellowed suddenly, pointing a finger at him briefly.
"No no, one of my abilities, as you saw with my being in my 'child' form, is to change my appearance at will. I changed my hair and eye colour to keep a low profile." Locke chuckled, taking a strand of his hair and with only a thought, changed the strand from blond, to red, to black, and then back to blond. "Once I arrived, I instantly felt a strange presence here, and poured through the Hellsing information databases on my Laptop. I then realized that you had so many cats, and surmised then that you had more than likely and mistakenly brought in a Chordewa. Little did I know, these felines had powers not unlike my own, and nearly overpowered me. One got away, their mistress, and is the one that attacked Abe a few months ago. I blacked out from exhaustion once the battle was done, and woke to find myself hanging from shackles, nearly naked."
"Whoa, hang on, where and when did you get your wings? Were you born with them?" Hellboy interrupted, frowning.
"Oh, I forgot about that. Well, after Alucard had taught me everything he could, I demanded he return the piece of my soul that he had taken from me when I was turned. He returned it, although reluctantly and angrily so, and once I had rested that day, I rose and went to join my sister as she ate her dinner and told me about her day. Walter, our family retainer, kept close, and he admitted later that he had sensed something was going to happen. When I was going to tuck Integra in, I collapsed, as waves of agony tore through my back and my temperature began to rise for the first time since I 'died'. Walter helped me remove my coat, revealing that blood had begun seeping into my shirt. Before he could fully remove it, my wings tore from my back." Locke raised both wings then, seeming to strain a bit to do so, flaring the feathers. He laid them down after a moment carefully, seeming to wince a bit, before he began to speak again.
"When I woke in my shackles, someone stood behind me with a silver blade against my flesh. Despite being somewhat immune to silver thanks to my patron, it burned lightly and created an uncomfortable tingling in my skin. A woman stood before me, asking over and over in a German accent about a statue that I had no idea about. When I first said I knew nothing, my left wing was slowly sheared off. Again, I was asked, said I knew nothing, and she then changed her tune. Asking about you Hellboy. I refused to tell her, and lost my other wing which caused so much agony I was rendered unconscious." Locke carefully resettled his wings against his back, looking to Kate briefly. "When I woke, I was back in Canada, being cared for by Sera'phna. She urged me to change my form to hide myself and keep my power output to a minimum, hence why I was using a younger form with differently coloured eyes. My patron gifted me with this bracelet, which further preserved me and gave me the opportunity to search for my wings, which were locked with that Aspect of Setesh within that block, given form by the Ogdru Jahad. How Sera'phna found me still baffles me, as I was on her doorstep, bloodied and broken, without any clothes and it was the middle of winter, yet not a footprint nor a trail of blood led to the house through the snow." Locke finished, smiling lightly. "There are certainly other things I have left out to protect those that have helped me through the years, as I'm certain you can understand."
Hellboy seemed to accept Locke's explanation of things, looking to Liz who shrugged, little bothered by Locke's being a vampire.
"Where does Kate fit into this?" Abe asked, Locke nodding, looking to her briefly and receiving a smile and nod.
"I was staying with her back while I was investigating the Chordewa presence here, she's a friend I met briefly when she had been studying abroad and visited the Vatican at the same time I was there, before my untimely demise... At any rate, without my sister's aid, I have no steady supply of blood. For example, to keep her pet vampire sustained, the local blood banks make regular deliveries of blood that would otherwise go to waste, as it can only be kept for about a week before becoming useless to patients. I had no supply, and luckily enough, Kate has no qualms about gifting me a pint of blood every few days."
"She's your familiar then?"
"In one sense, yes, yet not entirely as a familiar would be a creature or person permanently attached to me through my vampirism. I assure you though, there is no particular relationship between us, however. She has someone back home."
"And she can't speak for herself?" Abe's eyes narrowed, a bit annoyed. Kate smirked a bit, resting a hand on Locke's shoulder to keep him from retorting.
"I can, I just choose not to, as he and I have a mental link so he can protect me, and I can know if he needs me. Like when he was having a fit at Sera'phna's home." Kate stated, looking a bit tired.
"You don't need to stay awake Katherine, I'm feeling much better." Locke purred, a bit concerned for her despite his own obvious injury.
"I know, but it doesn't mean I'm not going to still act like your care giver." She smirked, receiving a sheepish grin from Locke. Kate stood anyway, said a brief goodnight, and left the library quietly. Locke looked to the others then, cat-like eyes showing an unspoken concern and sadness.
"As I said before, I understand if you would like me to leave." He stated simply, head hung a bit, wings flopped on the stairs and floor behind him. Hellboy and Liz said nothing, looking to Abe. They had no qualms about Locke staying, though Hellboy obviously had to put aside his distaste for Vampires, but could see that Abe remained unsettled.
Abe then remembered, the entry in the Professor's journal, and stood, carefully retrieved the open notebook from the desk, and handed it to Locke.
"I'm certain he'd want you to see this..." Abe said, taking a step back. Hellboy raised a brow, giving the two a dubious look. Locke blinked, having expected Abe to just go to his tank to think, looking over the script on the page. As he reached the end, he hung his head.
"Thank you for showing me this. Did he speak to you?" Locke looked up at Abe, whose scales turned a bit lighter and gills flattened suddenly, turning near white. He nodded, Hellboy glaring at them.
"What the hell? Did I just miss something?" He demanded, still frowning deeply. Locke sat up then, holding out the book to Hellboy, who turned away, not wanting to read it. "If it's important, just tell me." Locke looked up to Abe, who nodded. Abe remained where he stood, Locke keeping the journal open, but not really looking at it.
"Trevor was severely ill Hellboy... He was diagnosed with an illness that would have claimed his life only a few weeks after he last returned here, before Sammael appeared. What Rasputin did, was the most mercy that man could have ever shown anyone." Locke paused, clenching his unoccupied fist before continuing, "Your father knew what I was, and I, admittedly, knew he was ill many years ago. I did not know the extent of his illness, nor where it would lead, but I offered him-"
"No. He'd never agree to that!" Hellboy roared, anger rising. Locke raised his hand, sternly looking into Hellboy's eyes.
"You are right, he declined my offer. He regretted it the day he wrote his last entry, his will, in this journal. I will be acting upon this, and having Doctor Manning forcibly removed from the premises, however, he left control of the Bureau to you. If, in the event that you feel unprepared for leadership of the Bureau, or would simply prefer to remain as an agent -and the most highly decorated agent here I might add- I would step in as head administrator." Locke explained, Hellboy gaping with each word. "No more locks, no more secrets, and you will be free to raise your family in peace. However, the position of Monster Hunter, will always be there, and you will be asked for in emergency situations."
"Dad did all this?" Hellboy stammered, a bit choked. Locke nodded, smiling.
"He wanted the best for his son." Locke coughed once then, quickly shaking and administering his inhaler again. His free hand rested on his chest, a look of pain contorted his face, Abe moving closer in concern. "I'm alright... I'm alright..."
"That's the other thing, you're undead, why do you need to breathe?" Hellboy asked suddenly, changing the topic deftly. Locke smiled, thankful for the change in subject.
"When I cleared out a particularly nasty vampire coven in Egypt and first found my patron, she gifted me with a renewed life, as I stated. My heart beats, I need to breathe, I can eat food and drink things other than blood, not to mention I'm immune to sunlight. Sadly, with all that, my cancer is also brought back to the fore, with far more force and risk because of my regenerative abilities." Locke explained sadly, rubbing his throat and collarbone gingerly. Hellboy nodded, moving to stand and helping Liz up. Locke stood himself, keeping the journal with him. He looked first to Hellboy, then to Abe, and back.
"Do you mind if I keep this?" He asked, gesturing lightly with the journal. Hellboy nodded, smiling a bit.
"I think he'd want you to... What with him treating you like… Like you're my brother." Hellboy smiled a bit, Locke closing the journal and holding it to his chest, his heart, feathers fluffing up with his pride.
"Thanks... it means a lot to me." Locke smiled, wings quivering once lightly as he subconsciously fought to resettle the feathers. He looked to Abe, still smiling, letting him know wordlessly that his door will be open from now on, and doesn't mind being woken up if Abe wants to talk. Abe nodded, smiling also, blinking once.
Abe then had the feeling that everything would slowly be getting better, and that the void in his heart would slowly heal. Not to mention he'd be able to help Locke with his own depression and destructive tendencies.
"I think we all need a good rest and some food, hmm? Don't worry, I'll not eat in front of you unless it's proper food." Locke smirked, looking to Hellboy and Liz. The two laughed lightly, leaving the Library and the two alone. An uncomfortable silence filled the room, Locke sniffing once lightly, looking to Abe and his injured hand.
The vampire, and likely new administrator of the BPRD, moved forward, taking Abe's hand and bringing it up, shaking his head. Abe tried to pull away in disgust as Locke ran his long tongue, which seemed to have light barbs like a cats tongue, along the injured scales. He released Abe's hand suddenly, Abe falling back a bit comically, looking at Locke with awe and slight disgust.
"Does it feel better now?" He asked, smiling lightly and looking at him with some amusement, cocking his head to one side.
Abe blinked, looking at his hand. The dried blood had disappeared, and the scales looked as though there had never been any damage. Abe gaped, looking at Locke.
"Vampires have regenerative abilities greater than Hellboy's. Our saliva, when freshly applied to a wound, renews the flesh as if there were never any injury. This is why Kate has not a mark upon her from my fangs."
"And why could you not do this for me when I was attacked?" Abe demanded, frowning and a bit angry. "My flesh is still raw where I was burned!"
"And all I did was press a silver blade to your throat where you were bitten. I did nothing more than draw the vampiric taint from your body. That is what caused your flesh to burn." Locke frowned himself, more out of disappointment than anything. "Had I waited any longer, and had that wench finished, you would have been turned. An interesting concept, yet one I doubt you would appreciate."
Abe gaped, turning away. Locke had saved his life and did everything he could to protect him. Despite all he had said and done to insult and drive Locke away, he remained, as he himself had done for Nuala.
Locke had admitted to caring for Abe, could this be the same? Could this perhaps be, love?
Abe looked back to Locke, and found that the vampire had slipped out soundlessly, and Abe slapped himself mentally for being so blind and stupid. He looked into the pyre, sighed dejectedly before moving to ascend the stairwell to his tank. He froze, seeing briefly a figure by the Professor's desk, watching sadly. Abe sighed, shaking his head and continuing on.
For the first time in a long while, Abe was allowed to sleep deeply. No dreams came, yet he felt Nuala and The Professor's presences fleetingly through the night. Locke's presence also checked in on him from time to time, as though telling him he was being protected even in his dreams.