Year 2102, Outskirts of Toronto, Canada
The heavy snowfall pounded against the large stain glass window adorning the worn brick wall within the dark church. It had been coming down for the last few hours at an ever steady pace, preventing the two forms huddled inside from leaving the abandoned building.
The smaller of the two quietly shifted in her position on the older boys lap; looking up at him with a sleepy gaze as she stifled a yawn and rubbed her eyes. She blinked as a large jacket slipped off of her shoulder, gazing at it curiously.
"You looked cold." The boy stated as he replaced the jacket over her and managed a faint smile when she looked back at him.
Noticing he wore only his thin military uniform, she went to give his jacket back to him before a delicate hand was placed over hers, stopping the action. Her eyebrows knotted as she stared into his crystal blue eyes. "But… aren't you cold, Abel?"
He shook his head, "No, I'm fine. You should go back to sleep. I don't know how long we'll be stuck here before they find us. That blizzard outside doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon, and I doubt those cowards would be out in it just for us."
"I think they would if General Hall was yellin' at them," The girl giggled at the thought and laid her head on Abel's chest, listening to his heartbeat with a small smile on her face.
Abel silently wrapped his arms protectively around her as the wind roared through the cracks in the brickwork, carrying with it the faint sound of dogs barking.
The small girl quietly murmured, "Brother, weren't we supposed to be testing something tonight?"
Letting out a sigh, the boy replied, "Yeah. Some sort of time travelling device. I think it's a load of crap, personally, but the Doc was keen on doing it tonight. So if they don't find us I guess we have nothing to worry about."
Wrapping her small hand around the cloth of his shirt and pulling herself closer to him she confessed, "I'm scared… What if they find us, Abel? I don't want to test it…"
Pausing a moment, he reassured her, "Well, if they do somehow manage to find us, I think we should just go with them back to the base. It's better than being stuck out here in the cold. And, if anything happens, I promise with my life that I'll protect you, Seth."
He gently kissed her forehead when she gazed up at him.
"Pinky promise?" Seth demanded as she held up her small finger.
Letting out a small chuckle, he wrapped his little finger around hers and stated, "Pinky promise."
A smile stretched across the small girls face and she quickly wrapped her arms around the boy, burring her face in his chest.
Abel's head suddenly snapped towards the large front doors of the church as they were slowly pushed open. Light flooded into the space from the flickering lantern held in a young man's hand as he slipped through the crack he had created, sighing heavily.
Pulling his scarf off his face, muttering under his breath about the storm, he looked up. Stopping, he stared at the two children sitting on the only pew in the church that wasn't toppled or broken.
Lifting his little sister off his lap and holding her protectively, Abel stood facing the new man with a scowl on his face, "I didn't think you people would be out in this blizzard."
The man continued staring at them in shock, before quickly shaking his head and pressing his gloved finger to the device attached to his ear, "Sir, this is Captain Damir. I've located two of the children."
Seth turned her head to look at the man, still clutched in Abel's protective arms.
Turning away from them, he continued talking into the device attached to his ear, "The storm's getting worse, I don't think we would be able to make it back to the base even if we tr- … but Sir, I- … Yes, Sir. I understand. We'll be there as soon as we can."
Heaving out a sigh he looked back at the two children with an annoyed expression, "we should start heading back to the base. It's pretty far from here, but if we hurry then we should make it back before midnight. Don't keep me waiting. I'll be the one in trouble if we're late."
Scowling, Abel glared at the man before silently lifting his jackets hood up over Seth's head, adjusting her in his arms before walking to the door. As he passed Damir, he growled out, "Let's get going, then."
Effortlessly pushing the large door open with one hand, he made sure Seth was covered before stepping out into the snow, cringing as the cold easily bit through his thin uniform.
Captain Damir quickly put his scarf back over his face and followed after them swiftly. Catching up, he stared at the boy as he asked, "Do you even know where you're going?"
"No."
"Didn't think so. It's that way," he said, pointing in the other direction.
Coming to a halt, Abel stared at the man, "Then lead on, Captain." He felt Seth giggle against him as she clutched his uniform with her gloved fingers, her face against his chest in an attempt to hide from the blizzard.
Turning on his heel and trudging through the snow in the right direction, Captain Damir quickly began to distance himself from them, staying just close enough so he could glance back even now and then to ensure they were still following.
Peeking her small head out from under the large hood, Seth glanced up at Abel as he slowly started trekking through the snow after the Captain. His breath was freezing in the air, coming out in huffs of smoke. He looked cold, and Seth could feel him trying to suppress the urge to shiver.
"Why the hell is it so cold here, anyway?" He grunted out as snow found its way inside his boot, shaking his foot between steps in an attempt to get it off his skin.
"'Cause it's Canada, silly. It's always cold here in the winter. Isn't it cold in London?" Seth asked, smiling up at him.
Glancing down at her, he blinked, "Uh… Actually, I don't know. They don't let us outside there. It's only when we come to the base here in Canada that we actually go outside." Pausing for a moment, he added "Though, it's usually summer." He shivered, holding Seth closer to him in an unconscious attempt to warm himself.
She looked shocked, exclaiming "What! But don't they take you to outposts and stuff?"
He shook his head, staring forward at the form of the Captain ahead of them, "There are no outposts in London. Everything is in the main base below the palace. You've been there once, don't you remember?"
"Yeah, I remember…" She quietly pulled her scarf from around her neck and stretched upwards in Abel's arms to wrap it around his neck, tying it in place. When he looked down at her, she looked away and whispered, struggling to pronounce the long word, "You'll get pn… pneom….pneumonia." Raising her voice, she added, "Some of the soldiers got it last month. Their skin turned all blue and their fingers and toes almost fell right off!"
"That's called frost bite, Seth." He couldn't help but let a small smile on his face as she huffed out her chest.
"I knew that!"
Abel slowed his pace as they caught up to Damir, who had stopped and turned towards them.
"I almost forgot to ask. Where are the other two?"
Readjusting Seth in his arms, he looked out over the barren snow-covered field beside them. The small town they had stumbled upon was abandoned and falling apart. Because of the blizzard, it had been hard to see. This is how he and Seth had gotten separated from Cain and Lilith. "I don't know. We lost them. Has no one found them yet?"
Grunting "No", the solider quickly turned on his heel and continued making his way towards the base, stopping only for a moment to turn his head and shout back, "You should really put your jacket on. I'll get in trouble if you die."
Seth pulled his jacket off of her shoulders and held it out to him, "He's right, Abel! I don't want you to get hurt! And plus, I'm used to the cold!" She smiled up at him.
He stared at her for a few moments before sighing and gently putting her down, her small boots being swallowed by the deep snow. She let out a small gasp from the sudden cold and stepped quickly from foot to foot, attempting to keep warm.
Taking his jacket from her, he quickly slid his arms in, and zipped it up, thankful for the warmth. Scooping her back up into his arms, he muttered, "You're a brat."
Giggling, she wrapped her small arms around his neck and whispered, "I know."
The wind was picking up, causing the snow to get whipped about. It was nearly impossible to see, and Captain Damir had been forced to stay near the children, so as not to lose them. They had been walking for about forty minutes before they met up with the rest of the search party Damir was from. It was easier walking through the blizzard with five extra people, as the heat radiating from them helped to keep each other warm as they trudged along through the snow. It also helped take the bite of the wind off, which Abel was thankful for.
As the time ticked past, Abel's arms and legs began to hurt, and he noticed a few of the soldiers were lagging behind. Most likely from the energy they had drained hiking through the deep snow for such a long period of time. Every now and then a solider would ask for a break, but Damir would just bite back at them, saying he wasn't going to get in trouble for being late, or some comment about them being weak morons. Abel wasn't really paying all that much attention to their bickering; he was focusing on not dropping his sister or tripping over anything.
The last thing he needed was to hurt her. She may have been a tough girl, but she was still only four years old.
Seth was starting to nod off in her brother's arms, before a sudden yell startled her back awake. She gazed angrily at the solider, who had found it necessary to point out the fact that he could see the base so loudly, and grumpily rested her head against Abel while rubbing her eyes and yawning.
Captain Damir glared at the solider as well, before raising his gloved hand to his communicator and speaking into it, "This is search party D-6, and we've just arrived back at the base at Gate C. Please open the door; we have two of the children."
A few seconds later, the large metal door shifted, slowly lifting up as the ice that had formed cracked and broke under the pressure. Once the door had fully opened, Abel followed the others inside, listening to Damir bark orders at him.
"General Hall wants you two to get changed out of your winter gear, and get down to the testing bay as fast as possible. Don't keep him waiting." He quickly turned and walked off down one of the stark white hallways, taking off his gear as he went. The other soldiers did the same, before soon Abel was left standing alone in the entrance, holding Seth in his arms still.
Gazing up at him curiously, Seth wondered, "Abel? Are you okay?"
He gently set her down, and pulled her scarf off his face, managing a small smile, "Yeah. I'm alright. My legs are just sore." He pulled his hood off before reaching down and taking her small hand in his, "Come on. Best not to keep Hall waiting. He's bad enough to deal with when he's in a good mood."
"But I'm tired; I don't wanna test that time thingy…" Seth whined as she walked alongside him, staring at the floor intently, and trying not to step on any of the cracks between tiles.
"Did you already forget our pinky promise?"
Seth stopped, and Abel glanced down at her. A smile then lit up her face and she started off again, dragging Abel behind her, "Okay, but I wanna sleep when we get there! I'm tired!"
A small chuckle escaped his lips before he could stop it, and he let himself be dragged along.
After the short walk to the locker room, Abel helped Seth to change out of her winter gear and into her military uniform, before quickly changing into his own.
Grabbing her hand and looking down at her, he gave her a small smile before heading off to the testing bay where this supposed 'time machine' was being kept.
AN: I'm so sorry about how long this chapter took to get posted. Life kind of happened on me, and I wasn't able to find any time to write it. But I stayed up late for a few nights and managed to get it done XD so excuse any errors in it, as about 90% of this was written at 2 in the morning.
But other than that, this was a pretty relaxed chapter. Not much action really happened, and it was mostly for showing Abel and Seth's relationship with each other, and to set up for the next chapter, to show how differently Abel acts towards family as opposed to how he acts towards everyone else.
For any of you who read the original version of this, you will notice that quite a lot has changed. (Considering I never even had a plan for the original, this was bound to happen.)
By the way, for those of you who don't know the dates that events occurred in the cannon timeline, by the year being 2102, Seth would be 4 years old, Abel and Cain would be 14, and Lilith would be 17.
Okay =u= Ima go get back to life now. Haha. I will try and work on the next chapter, but I am really unmotivated. XD Reviews would be lovely if you have the time… *heart*