Alright so here's the next chapter I said I'd post. Uhh this chapter was originally something entirely different, but it was too hard to write so now it's this. This chapter is kind of different. I actually really like the way this turned out, and it was incredibly refreshing to write.

Oh yeah, I wanted to say that thank you, Venandi, so so much for your suggestions. I know for a fact that some of them will be used but also you've reminded me of great characters who I now have a place for in this Au. Thank you so much.

The other side

If there was one thing the Head Director of the G. E. A. R Departments knew, it was that they were behind schedule.

The recent... incidents regarding the escape of certain subjects were pushing an already delayed project farther back. He had a headache just thinking about how complicated things became all of a sudden.

Putting his head in his hands he turned his chair so that his back faced his desk; a big, full wall mirror was now directly in front of him. Peering into said mirror, he took his reflection in.

His crisp white uniform was covered by a crisp white lab coat, as it always was. The left breast pocket was filled with tissues and a blue ball point pen, and the name tag under the pocket read 'G. E. A. R. D Head Director Justin Marne'. His blond hair was short and tousled and his blue eyes shone in the light. Everything about him was pale in color, down to his far too pale skin. Perhaps that was why the bags under his eyes seemed so dark.

Those bags were the result of many sleepless nights chasing this so-called 'Resistance'. None of his men had managed to find anything that would help with their capture, and people always 'did' say that if you wanted something right you had to do it yourself. But even Justin wasn't able to find anything. Yet.

They hid themselves well, Justin thought.

Then, a trail arose; a phone signal that he was able to hack into and trace. The head members of the Resistance weren't even smart enough to use code names or anything of the sort. This Alfred F. Jones character threw around his teammates names like there was no problem with it.

Of course, Justin didn't have a problem with this. It gave him names, which gave him family and friends and locations.

And finally, the Resistance was in his grasp, they were caught... and then they were gone.

And Justin didn't have a clue why.

So the very people that had cause so much trouble for him were still free, still able to cause more trouble. And more trouble would delay his project even more.

The door to his right burst open, and a young scientist in all white clothes- similar to those Justin himself wore- stood in the doorway.

"Sir," the scientist said, "subject 335 is responding negatively to the sedatives we have him on. What action would you recommend?"

Justin considered this question for a moment or two. Subject 335 was a... special one. He had entered the experiments willingly, on the condition that his sister remain unharmed. She didn't know the extent of that agreement, nor was she ever taken in for testing. She was taken in as a nurse, however she was forbidden from working on 335. Justin had made sure to honor the agreement as long as 335 stayed a part of the tests.

"... You have permission to use force if needed. Use a stronger sedative, one strong enough to render him unconscious... bring him to test room 1-G later, while he is still asleep. I wish to start a new batch of tests on him."

The scientist stood straighter, as though the answer was in any was reassuring. "Yes, sir. Will you be present for the experiments, sir?"

"Yes. You are, under no circumstances, to start without me."

"Yes, sir." And with that, the doorway was empty, and the door promptly shut with a quiet slam.

In truth Justin had no reason to be present during 335's new tests; the chief scientists knew exactly what to do and how to do it. Justin knew that some part of him was just 'curious' about the Abnormals and how they reacted to the chemicals and tools used during experiments. He wanted to add to the research they already had.

He didn't have anywhere to be for the next 3 hours or so. 335 wouldn't be responsive in the slightest for quite some time, and there was no pressing paper work needed since he'd finished it all earlier. Having nothing to do, he decided on going for a walk.

'Hopefully it would clear his headache' he thought.

He was wrong.

Halfway through his walk around the D block, reserved for some of the oldest, high security subjects, he was interrupted. The D block always made him a little uneasy as most of the Abnormals that were kept there were extremely powerful and isolated. Who knows what they were capable of?

And that's when he ran straight into Vlad Popescu.

Justin liked to think that he didn't hate any of his employees, but Vlad pushed every one of his buttons the exact wrong way. The young boy was optimistic, cheery, peppy, and energetic, which would be great qualities if you didn't consider the line of work the boy chose to pursue. Soldiers were supposed to be stone cold and fierce, which was almost the opposite of Vlad. The Romanian was almost friendly.

Of course, the boy was also and Abnormal, which made it hard to trust him.

Vlad had joined their ranks a year or so back, and quickly made and example soldier. Along with jumping up the ranks, he jumped into to hearts of many other soldiers with that personality of his. Unfortunately, he wasn't great at keeping secrets. Justin called him in one day to promote him, and the moment Vlad sat down he started blabbering about how his Abnormality could be used to 'help' G. E. A. R. and how it didn't make him any less of a soldier. Before Justin knew it, he had knowledge of Vald's whole life.

Justin had extended an invitation to Popescu. He would allow the boy and his family to stay in G. E. A. R protection until further notice as long as Vlad never told any one else, and as long as he didn't show any hesitation when it came to bringing other Abnormals into their compounds.

Needless to say, the boy agreed.

"Oh, Mr. Director, fancy seeing you here!" Vlad's heavy accent snapped Justin back to reality. He wore heavy combat armor, as every other soldier did, but his was accented with a green tint, showing his rank of Commander.

The Director just hummed in response.

"Where are you going? You're not supposed to leave without supervision. You know what happened to Mrs. DiVaulderbilt?"

"Mmm, a shame. It's a good thing in not leaving."

"Heading somewhere then?"

"Not in particular. Not for a while anyway."

"-"

"How is your family, Popescu?" Justin interrupted. He wasn't in the mood for small talk, but it was painfully clear Vlad wasn't going to let him go.

"Oh uh. Nikola is doing well, he's grumpy as always. He still insists on paying part of the rent. Aurel is also well... uh he's getting a bit bigger. Growing up, you know?"

Justin knew the subject was awkward, but it successfully stopped the oncoming barrage of conversation. Excusing himself, Justin continued his walk by diverging into the D block.

Inside, the D block was just like every other block. It was light, clean, polished. Almost hospital like in its appearance, although no effort was put into making the D block- or any block for that matter- friendly looking. The building was small, it could house up to seven people at once but currently only held two.

Subjects 63 and 75. The last two subjects still held with numbers lower than one hundred. Most passed on, but one of them, subject 96, had escaped. 96 wasn't near as old as the two here, but he was caught a lot younger than most, he being sold to their compound at the age of seven.

The two elders-as the Director liked to refer to them- were hard to find, and extremely hard to keep held. Because of their age, they had far more control of their powers. Add in years of isolation and you have the recipe for some incredibly unstable Abnormals.

Truth be told, neither of the elders had volatile Abnormalities. But they knew how to use them and how to use them well. 63 had to be monitored constantly, but otherwise the block was the most ignored.

Justin decided to end his detour and walk back to his office slowly. With his headache receding, he could focus on G. E. A. R's big project.

Once he was back, he sat down and stared at his computer screen.

Not many employees knew about the project. It's was a silly idea to begin with, and having too many people in on it would inhibit progress.

After all, trying to remove the Abnormality from the Abnormal entirely was no small feat.

Eight Abnormals had already died during the 'extraction' process, and the Director had halted any more extractions until more information regarding Abnormalities themselves becomes known. This was what every test had lead up to, and they still were so so very far away from actually achieving anything at all.

Then, Justin Marne had an idea.

A brilliant, possibly insane idea.

He started typing away, his fingers blurring across the keyboard.