Lightning, Thunder, and Fireflies
Disclaimer: I do not own these amazing characters (except for my originals). All rights belong to Mike Mignola, Guillermo del Toro, and all the other folks involved. I just own my imagination. Enjoy!
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Within a few hours the plane landed at the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Liz awoke sitting up against the side of the plane, Hellboy's head in her lap, his body stretched out. "Red, Red wake up," Liz said, gently rubbing his shoulder. His eyes opened, immediately focusing in on her.
"Guess nap time's over," he said, before slowly getting up and standing. He offered her his hand, and pulled her up beside him. Even though she was up, HB did not release her hand from his. Liz looked down at their locked hands, then looked at him. A smug expression crossed his face, though something deeper surfaced in his eyes. After a quick moment she broke the gaze, a bashful smile crossing her lips. Their hands stayed clasped even as they exited the plane, and walked into the main building of the BPRD.
By that time it was around three in the morning, and all was quiet except for the returning company. When everyone else had cleared out, only Liz and Hellboy remained, standing in the open foyer.
"G'night, Liz," HB said, leaning over to cradle her head with his hand and kiss her on the forehead. A smile came.
"It's not night anymore, HB," she responded, before hesitantly taking the lapel of his trench coat in her hand, and leaning up to place a quick kiss on his mouth. The contact shocked Hellboy for a moment. She had initiated the kiss. He stared at her, as she walked away toward her room. That powerful feeling overcame him, the feeling he had felt for such a long time. And now it was finally being returned. Reluctantly, he walked down the hall to his own room, Liz never far from his thoughts.
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Later in the morning, after the sun had finally risen, investigation continued on why Professor Broom had been murdered. It was a clear act of arson, someone who apparently knew what they were doing. But why?
"It doesn't seem like we have any immediate threats, since Yafaran is now gone," Abe said, standing in the BPRD's main conference room.
"Well someone wanted him gone, and they succeeded. So we need to get this fiend and keep him from doing it again. That night that we were all at the swamp, I think that might have been a distraction. To get us away from here so they could do the dirty deed," Manning said. Hellboy stood nearby, leaning against a wall. He didn't like discussing the topic of his father's death, but he knew it had to be done. Liz stood next to Abe, trying to figure it out.
"But why would they want Professor Broom dead? Unless he had something that they wanted, or maybe it was revenge?" she suggested.
"Revenge for what? Father never harmed anyone, what would they be taking revenge for?" Hellboy inquired, his face dead serious, an expression of unhappy discomfort on his face. Liz looked at him.
"We know that. But people don't always have logical reasons for doing things. Things like this," she said, before walking over to stand at Hellboy's left side. Liz ran her hand along his arm, which hung limply at his side. He looked into her eyes, seeing the deep understanding that lay there. When her hand went down to rest at her side, his quickly found hers, this small gesture a reminder of their deepened relationship.
"Well just keep working on it. We got agents working their asses off, we're going to find this guy," Manning said, picking up a file, then turning to head out. Abe looked at his two remaining friends.
"Don't worry, Red, we're doing everything we can," he said, then turning, walked out of the conference room. Hellboy groaned.
"Yea, I bet." Liz released his hand, then walked toward the door. "Liz," HB said, walking over to her. She stopped, turning to look at him.
"Abe…told me what ya did for me, when I almost drowned in that river," he said, never breaking his gaze. Liz returned it.
"You've done a lot for me, HB. I wanted to return the favor," she said, leaning up, and kissing him gently on the cheek. Both knew it was more than that, and therefore it didn't need to be said.
Most of the day passed without event, as everyone continued to question why the professor had been murdered. Hellboy wandered from room to room, trying to help with the investigation, but providing no real assistance. Liz worked diligently with Abe in the conference room, searching through the professor's journals as well as the BPRD computer. It seemed nothing would turn up.
"What if we never find the one who did this, Abe? What if he's still out there, waiting to hurt us again?" she asked, tiredly closing another application on the computer.
"We won't let that happen. Something will turn up, and we'll have a lead, don't you worry," Abe replied, pausing for a moment to look at her. Some of the professor's journals had been recovered from the fire, and were still legible.
"We have to find him, for HB," she said, thinking about how broken hearted he had been. Abe nodded, continuing to read through the pages.
"Liz, listen to this. On the date of October 27, 2004, professor Broom made an entry. 'I've yet again received threats from the Raja natural. It seems he is willing to use force to try and take my son way from me. He will not succeed. I will not let him. I shall have to tell Hellboy soon. Raseinai will not accomplish what he has set out to do'". Abe was silent, trying to understand.
"Someone's after Hellboy," Liz said, fear in her voice.
"It appears so. He never got the chance to tell Hellboy, since he died only a few days after this entry. I wonder who this Raseinai person is. Try to see what you can find on the database," Abe replied, as Liz began furiously searching the computer. At that moment, Hellboy walked in.
"Find anything?" he asked, coming over to Abe.
"As a matter of fact, yes. And I think you should read this," Abe said, handing the journal to Hellboy. HB read silently, his face falling. Looking up, there was much distress in his features.
"Someone was after me? And they killed father as a way to get my attention," he said, putting the pieces together. Then, a shadow of anger clouded his face. "Well they sure got it."
"Abe, I think you should come over here," Liz called, alarm in her voice. Abe quickly walked over, followed by Hellboy. "Hear this; in 1981 the BPRD received a series of attacks, all caused by 'natural sources'. But they were actually caused by a man named István Raseinai. It says he practiced a type of voodoo that only corresponded to natural things…plants, weather, water. He disappeared when pursued by the BPRD and hasn't been heard of since…until now," she finished, looking up at the two males.
"I remember that. All those attacks. I was here, and father had me locked me in my room. He was gone a long time, and when he came back, he wouldn't tell me what had happened," Hellboy said, his eyes distant.
"I guess we know why, if you were the reason," Liz said, leaning back in the chair. "What are we going to do?"
"Does it say when he was seen last?" Abe asked, referring to the file on him. Liz looked again.
"Last seen in Maiduguri, Nigeria. Apparently he's quite the voodooist." Hellboy grumbled, obviously miffed by this latest development. Suddenly, the door to the conference room was forced open. An agent walked in, clearly upset.
"We just found this note, slipped in with some documents that came today," he handed the note to Abe. Abe opened it, cocking his head to the side slightly.
"It appears to be in French…we'll need to translate it," Abe stated. Liz took the note, and placed it under the scanner. An application popped up on the screen, showing the written note. Another version of it in English popped up next.
"J'ai pris le père et je prendrai le fils. N'essayez pas de m'arrêter."
"I took the father and I will take the son. Do not try to stop me."
On the bottom of the note were the initials, "IR." "Looks like this is our guy," Liz said, her face solemn, eyes focusing on Hellboy.
"And it looks like we're going to Africa," Abe said, retrieving the note, then heading out to go tell Manning.