This chapter ened up being a total surprise to me. Didn't go at all where I expected but that's the fun of writing.
Van Helsing watched Carl leave, his thoughts swirling about his head. He thought that Carl wouldn't hear his muttered comment and was surprised by Carl's response. You're the first but I'll keep you because you've got a lot of potential. Potential… it had been a long time since anyone had said that about him. Years in fact.
Van Helsing had been working as a runner for a bookie when he was approached by the Order. They told him that he had been born a Hunter – a rare person with special gifts that would enable him to fight evil. They said they wanted to take him back with them to receive the training he should have gotten years ago. He had told them to stuff their offer, thinking it was just some scam to trick him into god knows what but they had proven persistent.
Refusing to take no for an answer, they had shadowed him on his runs. This inevitably led to an ugly situation with the criminals he dealt with on behalf of his boss. The fight had been nasty and full of knives but Van Helsing had come out of it without a scratch. The Order members once again tried to convince him that his superior reflexes and speed were part of his gifts. They argued that he was wasting those gifts away on a life of crime. He was more then a thug, he was a child of Destiny.
Van Helsing had lost it at that point. "Child of destiny? Listen mates, I'm not the child of anything. I got left on a doorstep of St. Patrick's church with not so much as a note to say please look after me. I've been in every orphanage and juvie hall in the tri-county area and the only reason I've got a name is that the priest who found me baptized me before handing me off to the State. I'm a damn good fighter because you need to be if you want to survive being in the "care" of the State. I'm not one of your damn Hunters and I don't give a rat's arse about "fighting for Good". Where the hell was Good when I was getting the crap beat out of me by an official who was trying "beat the wickedness out of me"? He had stormed off and spent the rest of the night drinking himself into oblivion.
Van Helsing had intended to continue on with his life as it was. Fate, however, decided to intervene. His boss, the bookie, apparently pissed off the wrong people and ended up getting killed along with his two bodyguards. And since Van Helsing had never been all that popular with the other criminal elements that worked those streets, he was not only out of work but without protection. It wasn't surprising, therefore, when several days later, he got jumped by goons who worked for a rival bookie.
He fought hard but he was badly outnumbered and it was looking like this time, he wasn't going to make it out of there alive. He was being held by 2 goons while being worked over by the others when suddenly all hell broke loose. The goons let go of him and he dropped to his hands and knees, coughing blood. He didn't see who was helping and at that point didn't care. If they decided to go after him next, there was nothing he could do about it.
The fighting ended pretty quickly and he heard footsteps approaching him. Deciding to show some bravado, he pushed himself upright, trying to look like he wasn't afraid. He was stunned to see the two Hunters from the Order. One of them looked at him and said, "Is this all you want from your life? To die in an alleyway at the hands of thugs? Just another piece of garbage?" Van Helsing snarled, "I am just a piece of garbage. Another worthless scrape of humanity that society would like to forget about. This I learned real early in life"
The Hunter just looked at him sadly and said, "This is the Order's fault. You should have been under our protection a long time ago. We don't know how it came to be that you were lost but I promise you, we are here now and we intend to see to it that you are given all the things that should have been yours. You are not alone anymore, Gabriel. " He held out his hand to Van Helsing who took it shakily. The Hunter helped him gently to his feet and led him out of the alley.
For the next couple of days they took care of him. There wasn't a lot of conversation and Van Helsing knew they were waiting for him to feel better to begin their recruitment campaign. After two days he had become so bored that he decided to bring the topic up himself.
"So, tell me more about the Order" he said, trying to seem blasé about the whole thing. The Hunter, whose name was Collette, looked at him thoughtfully and then moved to sit closer to the bed.
"The Order has been around for thousands of years. Some say that it has existed since the first evil walked the land. It was founded to hunt down and destroy evil in its many forms. You and I are part of a special breed of men, born to destroy these dark creatures in the name of Good. We are the Hunters – gifted with the skills of a warrior. Your speed, agility and most of all your healing ability are all signs of who you are. There are other gifts as well. Gifts you have not had the training yet to utilize. When you are well enough to travel, you will be taken to our Headquarters where you will be shown all you need to know to take up your rightful place."
Van Helsing frowned at this. "My rightful place? I haven't agreed to anything yet. And what are these other gifts?" He looked at Collette with deep suspicion.
The Hunter sighed. "Among other abilities, you will have the power to sense evil. Some times the things you will come up against will seem quite innocent but the gift of the Hunter cannot be fooled. This skill will be one that you will come to prize greatly as it will save your life many times over."
"Save my life?" Van Helsing said sharply. "I'm not so sure I want a job that puts my life in that kind of danger.
Collette looked at him impatiently. "This is not a job, Gabriel. This is your calling. This is what you were born to be. The Order will see that you have the training and tools that you need to be a Hunter. And its not like you have not been living a life of danger. Had we not been following you, you would have died in that alleyway. The Order offers you a chance to fight for something that matters. You have had a hard life and have much to be bitter about. I wish I could take that away from you but I cannot. But you can chose a different road. Will you continue to live on the streets, fighting for your survival or will you become the warrior you are meant to be?" He stared intently at Van Helsing, the challenge in his eyes apparent.
Van Helsing stared back at him defiantly but the words of the Hunter rang in his head. Did he want to go back to the streets where he was as good as dead? All his life he had to fight to have even the smallest of things. He had been looked down upon as worthless from the time he was born. This man was offering him a chance for a life of respect and a place to belong. While he always told himself such things were traps that no real man would tolerate, the reality was that he wanted them very much. And the fact was he had nothing to hold him here.
Four days later he was on a plane to Rome. Little had he known that life as a Hunter in many ways was no different from the life he thought he had been leaving behind. Respect, as it turned out was not in the cards. Neither was belonging.
And yet here was Carl offering him both. Could he really believe that this time it could work out? He looked at the door that Carl had left through, a frown marring his face. The cynical part of him said not to get comfortable. That it would only be a matter of time before Carl got bored with his little charity project. But another part of him said to give this a chance. That here was an opportunity to find something he had been missing all his life. He shook his head and got up from the chair, his conflicting thoughts causing him to pace across the room.
Experience had taught him that people generally didn't want him around. It had been something of a theme in his life. Why would this be any different? He paced some more, his frown growing deeper. He thought about his time with Carl – god, had it really been only 24 hours? Somehow it felt like they had been together a lot longer. A smile briefly crossed his face as he remembered how much chaos had happened in the short period of time. Life with Carl would never be boring, that's for sure.
Thinking back over it all, he realized that Carl had probably seen him at his worst and still hadn't run. He had snarled at him, ragged on him, threatened him, scared him half to death and Carl was still hanging in there. No one else had ever held up under even a portion of what he had put Carl through and in spite of it all, Carl was hanging around for more.
This thought stopped him dead in his tracks. Carl didn't seem to mind his moods. Hell, he even seemed to be adapting to them, not out of fear but because he wanted to. This thought so shocked him that he collapsed back down in the chair. It would appear that Carl wanted him to stay around.
It was in this slightly dazed state that Carl found him. Carl had called in the order, then headed back towards the living room, beers in hand. He had paused in the doorway though when he saw Van Helsing. The normally self-possessed Hunter seemed almost… lost. Carl felt a surge of compassion for the man. This can't be very easy for him. He's use to only having to deal with himself and now he's got a partner he didn't ask for and a home base that could double as a mausoleum. Carl knew he was going to have to try extra hard to make Van Helsing feel more comfortable here.
Clearing his throat to get Van Helsing's attention (having learned the price of startling the man) he walked slowly towards him, beer held out before him like an offering. Van Helsing quickly shifted to his usual mask of confidence and took the beer. Carl sat down on the couch and decided how best to approach things.
Van Helsing drank from the beer to cover his still slightly rattled state and shifted so that he was lounging more comfortably. Not that you could really get comfortable on this furniture. Seeing an opening gambit, he shifted again and said "Tell me Carl, could you have found more a more uncomfortable chair then this one?" He watched the blush creep over Carl's face.
"Probably not. My grandparents were not big believers in comfort. It was all about the right appearances. I inherited the house when I was still in college so there didn't seem much point in doing anything about the décor and since then its just seemed like too big a task to do something about. I rarely have anyone here so there usually isn't anyone around to complain. But now that you are going to be staying, I should probably do something about it." He looked around the room and sighed. It really was beyond stuffy.
Van Helsing waved his hand dismissingly. "Don't bother on my account. Wouldn't want the ghosts of your ancestors rising up in protest." He drank from his bottle and tried not to feel like some mongrel who was not really suitable for the environment.
Carl just laughed and said "Please. My ancestors gave up on me in disgust ages ago. Besides, I would think you'd be trained to handle a ghost. " Carl looked mock-thoughtful and said "Wow, that's certainly an added bonus I hadn't thought of when I proposed all of this. It just keeps getting better and better…" He grunted when a pillow hit him square in the chest. "Hey, that was uncalled for. I was merely pointing out one of the many good features of this partnership"
Van Helsing looked at him skeptically. "And what are some of the other good features?"
Carl hesitated for a moment. Unfortunately the first though that came to mind was eye candy. He stalled for a moment by rearranging himself so that he was sprawled on the couch. Then inspiration struck. "Well, for starters we can have beer in our meetings. And I don't have to wear a bloody suit and tie. That alone is a first class incentive." He raised his bottle in salute.
Van Helsing just snorted. "Its quite safe to say that a suit and tie will never be necessary in this line of work. Alcohol, on the other hand is often vital." He took another drink and then set the bottle down on the table next to him. He looked at Carl who was sprawled on the couch like a cat. Away from his lab, Carl lost a lot of his geekiness and looked more like a guy you'd hang out with and have a few pints. He wondered if Carl had friends that he went to the pub with.
Carl noticed Van Helsing's speculative look and raised an eyebrow. "And what is that look all about?" He was feeling relaxed and lazy, something he hadn't been in quite a while. He was enjoying just spending time with Van Helsing.
"I was just wondering what you do with yourself when you aren't playing doctor for stray Hunters?" Van Helsing said. Soon as the words came out of his mouth, he wanted to take them back because suddenly he wondered if Carl was in the habit of collecting "strays". That thought was not very comforting.
Carl just snorted. "Playing doctor. I've hardly been doing a good job of that seeing as I've forced you out of bed to go hunting for your tojos, made you break down a door to rescue me AND made you carry me out of my lab to stop me from overworking. Frankly, you are lucky to have survived my care" Carl grinned at Van Helsing who found himself grinning in return.
"Yeah, but you did bring me breakfast in bed and fetch my stuff so it hasn't all been bad" Van Helsing said teasingly. He watched as Carl gave him a mock-pout and pretended to sulk. It made him itch to go over there and wipe the pout away with a kiss but that way lay disaster. So instead he picked up his bottle and pretended that nothing was wrong.
Carl held the sulk for another moment and then started to laugh. "We really have had quite an eventful twenty-four hours haven't we? After all of this, everything else should be downhill. Who would have thought that getting lost on the way to find dinner would turn out to be a life-changing event? He was grinning crookedly and his eyes were twinkling with mirth.
Van Helsing was caught for a moment by sparkling blue eyes and the clear invitation to share that was in them. It had been a long time since someone had wanted to include him in something. It left him feeling warm and comforted and he basked in the moment. Then the rest of what Carl said sunk in.
"What do you mean, you got lost? Are you saying that you weren't even suppose to be there that night?" He looked at Carl in surprise. Even though he had thought at the time that Carl didn't belong in that neighborhood, some part of his brain had concluded that Carl had been down there for some reason of his own. But it would appear that that wasn't the case at all.
"No, I had no intention of going there. I had a meeting at the office that ran late so I was intending to go to a restaurant somewhere near by, only I got lost getting there and finally decided to stop at the first place I saw. Not such a hot choice in hindsight seeing as I ran into the gargoyles on the way back to my car. Still, if I hadn't gotten lost, I wouldn't have met you so I guess it wasn't all bad."
Van Helsing raised an eyebrow at that last bit. "Most people would not say that meeting me was a redeeming factor." He tried to make that sound funny but the edge of bitterness couldn't be entirely concealed.
Carl heard the edge in Van Helsing's words and it bothered him. He looked Van Helsing directly in the eye and said "Well, I'm not most people. I do think meeting you was a good thing and I'm glad that you are giving me the chance to help you out with all of this. I know I'm not much help in the Hunting department but I do think there are things I can offer in other ways. And, despite certain bad habits you have - like tossing people over shoulders - I find you good company." His grin now was worthy of the Cheshire Cat.
Van Helsing was torn. The cynic in him wanted him to stay hardened and not let Carl in but there was something about Carl's genuine warmth and sincerity that was chipping away at the defenses he had built up around his heart. He looked in those blue eyes that held no trace of mockery or deceit and it was so very hard not to give in to what they offered. It was like an invitation to sit by the fire after being lost in the snow.
Carl watched the expressions chase across Van Helsing's face. There was a struggle going on and while Carl didn't understand the details, it was clear that Van Helsing wasn't sure if he could believe Carl when he said he liked him. He wondered about what lay in Van Helsing's history that made him so wary of trusting but decided that the best plan was just to pretend he didn't see the conflict and act as if Van Helsing did accept him. In time, he'd become more confident that Carl didn't intend to withdraw his friendship. With that in mind, he decided to bring things to a more friendly footing.
"You know, now that I'm actually sitting here, I'm realizing I haven't sat back and watched a movie in ages. What do you say we grab a couple more beers, pick something suitably mindless and goof off for the night?" He looked at Van Helsing with a deliberately casual expression.
Van Helsing looked bit surprised. He figured that Carl would hightail it back to his lab as soon as he finished eating. Yet here he was offering to hang out with him. It didn't make sense… unless Carl was feeling some kind of obligation to entertain him. If that was the case, he was going to put a stop to it right now.
"I'm not a guest, Carl. You don't have to entertain me. I am capable of amusing myself." He waited for Carl to agree and beg off and tried not to feel too disappointed.
Carl had to bite back a sigh. Van Helsing was going to be a tough nut to crack. "I wasn't doing it out of some misguided attempt to play the host. I was offering because I thought you might like to join me. I'm going to take the night off regardless but if you'd rather spend the night in your rooms…" he trailed off and waiting for Van Helsing to take the bait.
Van Helsing gave him an accessing look but Carl merely looked back at him, the portrait of innocence. He had a momentary struggle with his cynical side but it was no match against Carl's offer and so he shrugged his shoulder in an attempt at nonchalance and said "Sure, not like I'm doing anything else this evening.
Carl had to fight down a triumphant smile. Instead he got up from the couch and said "Well, let's take a look at what I've got and if anything appeals. I think we can rule out anything with subtitles… though I've got some good samurai flicks if you like that sort of thing." He reached the cabinet where he stored all his movies and pulled it open. It was one of his few vices and he had an extensive collection.
Van Helsing joined him at the cabinet and snorted when he saw the amount of videos Carl owned. "Christ, Carl. This is a better selection then my rental place has." He scanned the titles and was relieved to see that not all of them were highbrow art films. He even saw a couple of his favorites among the selection.
Carl colored at Van Helsing's comment. "Its one of the ways I gear down when I'm stuck on a project. Sometimes I just need to have something else to occupy my mind. And since I work such strange hours, using a video store isn't usually an option. " He shrugged and began to scan the movies, looking for one to suggest.
Van Helsing saw a couple of monster movies and rolled his eyes. Carl, seeing which movies he had been looking at, chuckled and said "I think we can safely rule those out. I really don't want to listen to you critique the Hunter's technique."
Van Helsing laughed since he knew he had been guilty of that more then a few times. Spying a possible candidate, he grabbed the case and said "How about this one?" holding it out to Carl.
Carl looked at the movie and nodded. It was a sci-fi movie from a couple of years ago that featured lots of fight scenes and cool scenery. It was perfect choice for their first attempt at hanging out together. "Sure, this one is fine. How about I grab a couple more beers while you cue things up?"
Van Helsing looked at the extremely complicated home entertainment system and said "How about I get the beers and you deal with the equipment. That is, after all, your half of this team."
Carl just chuckled and said "Fair enough. Kitchen is down the hall to the left. Feel free to grab any snacks you want while you are there." Van Helsing nodded and headed out of the room.
Carl smiled as he cued up the DVD. He was looking forward to a little bonding time with his new partner…
To Be Continued...