"Miss Salem?" came a soft female voice. A woman in navy scrubs straightened herself and turned to look at the little girl that addressed her.
"Yes, honey?" the woman answered kindly.
"Do you know where my daddy is?" she asked staring up with big green eyes.
"He's in surgery, hun. When he's done with this patient, he'll come see you," she explained. "Come on. Let's get a soda from the staff lounge," she said with a smile. She took the tiny hand in her slender hand. The woman sat next to the little brunette on a sun-faded blue couch in the staff lounge. They each had a fizzing Coca-Cola in hand.
Round green eyes looked up at the woman. "You're so pretty, Miss Salem. I wanna be just like you when I grow up."
The woman chuckled good-naturedly and ruffled the little one's hair. "I'm sure you'll be even prettier." The woman had straight black hair pulled back into a long ponytail. Dark blue eyes the color of sapphires looked down at the little girl through thick black lashes. She was an attractive woman, though only thought of herself as average. She body was slim with slender muscle but still had womanly curves; she worked out a little to keep in shape for her job. Her ever-pale skin seemed flawless, but she had tattoos hidden under her scrubs.
A tall man with round green eyes and short brown hair walked in wearing green scrubs. "Sarah, why are you having soda before dinner?" he asked in a fatherly stern voice.
"It's my fault, Steve. I couldn't help giving sugar to such a sweet girl," she said standing.
The man chuckled. "I have problems saying no to her too." Sarah hopped off the couch and hugged the woman's leg. "Thanks for watching her, Dez."
"Anytime," she said with a smile. "I gotta go do my rounds, my shift is almost over." Desdemona Salem walked down the brightly lit hospital hallway. She was head nurse of the secure upper floors of the hospital where they kept the psychological patients. A young woman with a passion for the insane, she was recently out of college and already had made her way up in Rosemary's Hospital which included an E.R., a clinic, and a psych ward in a five story white brick building. After taking her rounds and passing on the information to the night nurse, she headed home as the sun set.
She lived in an average brick apartment building on the second floor. It was a nondescript one bedroom that she lived in alone. She had been wanting to get a pet of some sort so she wasn't so alone, but this complex didn't allow pets. She had been meaning to move, but got too busy after her promotion. Only twenty-four and she felt like an old woman married to her job. With no social life to speak of, she didn't have any friends outside of work.
Plopping herself down on a time-worn leather couch, she kicked off her shoes. A buzzing noise sounded as her cell phone vibrated from within her many pockets of her scrub pants. She growled, "Stupid phone. What do you want from me?" She slid out her cell and saw the number was restricted. "Great," she said dripping with sarcasm. "Oh well, nothing else to do." Flipping the cell open, she answered.
The call that followed shocked her. A man explained that he had a job offer. To take this job would mean that her existence would have to be erased. It was a top secret government job of some sort. She guessed it was either medical or psychological sine the man said they could use her expertise. Whatever the job was, it scared her.
But it also excited her. She loved her job, loved working with crazy people and sneaking sodas to Sarah when her dad was in surgery. She hated repetition. And that's what her life had become. Repetitive. She didn't have anyone that cared about her except little Sarah. Her mother and younger brother had died in a car crash two years ago and her father had deserted the family years ago and now lived several states away. After sitting in silence for few minutes, mauling the job over, she finally accepted.
The next morning, Desdemona had packed two bags and was ready when an unmarked taxi showed up at the front of her building. She tossed her bags inside and hoped in. Later she arrived at what looked like a processing plant. The taxi dropped her off and left her at the enormous gate. She walked over to what looked like a call box. She pressed the only button she saw "Um…hello? This is Desdemona Salem. Um… I don't really know what to do, I guess…" she trailed off feeling stupid. The gate swung ominously open and she walked about a hundred yards to the front door, which too, swung open.
There was a large open room with impressive columns, a desk at the far end with a man behind, and a huge insignia on the floor. She walked up to the carving on the floor and examined it before looking up to the man behind the desk. "I'm Desdemona Salem…" she trailed off again, feeling very nervous.
"Step on, please," the man said.
"What?" she asked, confused.
He gestured with his hand at the insignia. "Step on, please."
"Oh." She stepped on and soon felt the floor vibrate. Panicked, she looked around and saw that the symbol had lowered itself an inch and was now sliding steadily, like an elevator, into the floor. She looked around curiously, waiting for it to stop. She fingered the silver chain around her neck that held a pentagram at her chest, just above her breasts. A man in a suit came to great her when the floor stopped moving. She suddenly felt under dressed. All she wore was a pair of black jeans, a grey v-necked t-shirt, and some black tennis shoes. She hadn't felt the need to dress up since she was moving. The man had introduced himself as Agent Myers and offered to take her bags. Not wanting to feel useless, she only let him take one so that she could carry the other.
He took her through a maze of hallways that seemed like some mix between hospital halls and a museum. They had the look and feel of a hospital with glass cases that housed artifacts and pictures. One picture in particular caught her eye. She paused at a case and pointed out the picture. "What's with the monkey?"
Agent Myers looked. He chuckled. "That's Hellboy as a baby, back when Professor Broom found him. You'll meet him later. He's all grown up now."
They had come to a random metal door that Agent Myers opened with a key card that he handed over to her. "This will be your room. Do whatever you like to it."
She looked around and saw nothing but white and metal. It made her eyes water. "Ugh, I think I'll tone it down some." The man chuckled. "I'm Desdemona Salem by the way," she said setting down her bag to shake his hand.
"Agent John T. Myers," he said accepting. "You can unpack for a while. Professor Broom and the other agents will be back soon. I'll bring you to meet the Professor when he gets back." She nodded in thanks and said good-bye to unpack.
This room was ungodly bright. She opened up her suitcases, put away her underwear, bras, and what-not, then threw her remaining shirts and pants around the room just to break the white. Her wardrobe was dark and monotonous. It was mostly black with grays and some dark colors. She looked around at her handiwork and decided she needed new bed sheets or something. She hated her room being a mess, but not as much as she hated how horribly bright the room was. Exploring the room, she turned on a bedside lamp and a corner lamp before shutting every other light off. The room now had a comfortable yellow glow to it rather than ghastly white. Maybe she could put some clothes away now and not go blind. But not now, there was a knock at the door. "Door's open," she called.
"Miss Salem?" came Agent Myer's voice as he opened the door. "Professor Broom is waiting to meet you."
They entered a large two-floored library with books up to the ceiling and a large aquarium on one wall with no fish in it. 'Weird,' she thought. They walked back to a wooden desk where a fragile looking man sat writing. "Professor Broom, this is Desdemona Salem."
He looked up. "Ah, yes." The man stood with the aid of a cane and walked around the desk to shake her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Salem."
"A pleasure as well, Professor Broom," she said politely.
"I trust you had a pleasant trip to the Bureau," he said in a warm voice that reminded her of a grandfather.
"It was fine, but if you don't mind postponing pleasantries for a bit. Why am I here? And where is here?" she asked.
"You are at the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. We research and protect the unknowing masses from all things all things paranormal."
'Is this guy serious? Or is he a psych patient?' she thought, very confused.
"He is quite sane, I can assure you," came a calculating voice from behind.
She turned and saw a blue fish-man with a big black…thing around his neck. She tried not to stare, but all she managed to do was not make her jaw drop. "Holy shit," she said quietly. "Um… I'm sorry. I don't mean to stare. Um… What? Who…?"
"I am Agent Abraham Sapien. And this is my breathing apparatus," he explained nonchalantly, gesturing with a webbed hand at the collar.
"I'm…" she began.
"Desdemona Salem. Maters in medicine and psychology. Twenty-four. With healing abilities," he rattled off. Ok, most of that he could have gotten off of resumes and whatnot. How did he know about her power? "I can read minds," he explained.
"Fantastic," she said a little disturbed by having her history read within a second's time.
"What are the extent of your healing abilities?" the Professor asked.
"I can heal wounds pretty easily, depends on the extent, sometimes I can only help it along. Disease, viruses, and the like are harder, I can only help them along. I can bring people back from the dead as much as a shock unit can, they have to still essentially be alive and recently have their heart stopped for me to do anything."
Professor Broom nodded thoughtfully. "You'll do wonderfully in the medical bay."
"Hey, pops," came a booming voice. Desdemona turned to see the speaker. This time she couldn't even hold her jaw up. At least she now knew why the doors around here were so big. Standing at nearly seven and a half feet was a hulking red man with a tail and two large circular stumps on his head. Golden eyes glared at her when he noticed someone was staring.
"Yes, Hellboy. Come in," Broom said gesturing with his free hand.
He thumped over in large black boots. "Who's this?" he jerked an enormous stone thumb in her direction.
"This is Desdemona Salem. She will be working in the medical bay, helping patch you up after missions," the Professor said. His tone was serious but there was a sparkle to his eye that said he was teasing the giant red man.
"Eh, Abe does fine," he said crossing his bulky arms.
"And should Abraham be the one that needs medical care?" he asked, trying to get Hellboy to see the importance of having someone that knew medicine. He rolled his golden eyes. "Agent Myers, will you show Miss Salem around?" Myers agrees and led Dez out of the room.
"You weren't joking when you said he's grown up," she said still a little awestruck
"You'll get used to things here. Don't worry."
xxxxx
After a restless night of sleep in an unfamiliar bed, Dez woke to a pounding knock on her door. She groaned and rolled out of bed. She answered the door in a black tank top and baggy navy pajama pants. Her black hair, which ended where her shoulder blades stopped, was messed and shaggy. She opened the door and crossed her arms over her chest to cover where she had no bra. "Yeah?" she asked groggily. Hellboy looked down at her quizzically. "Oh, Hellboy," she said waking up. "What do you need?"
"You to do your job," he growled. She raised an eyebrow in confusion. He lifted his shirt and revealed a gash on his side with some glass pieces inside. "And don't tell anyone."
Her gaze went back to his face. "Why?"
"Just don't," he snapped.
She sighed and opened the door all the way. "Alright. I'll see what I can find." She stepped aside and he walked into her room. He looked around, noticing all the dark clothes thrown around the room. Watching the look on his face she explained, "It was too white in here." She walked over to the bathroom. "In here. I gotta get the glass out."
"Can't you just heal it?"
"If you want glass inside you forever. It'd itch like hell. Ever touch insulation?" she said slipping a black hoodie on and zipping it half way. "Sit down," she gestured to her unkempt bed. He snarled at being told what to do. "Do you want me to fix you or not?" He grumbled and sat heavily on her bed. For a moment she thought it would break. "Ok, shirt off. I'm going to find something to get the glass out." Hellboy wasn't one who did well with orders, but this was apparently going to go a lot faster if he listened. The glass was starting to itch. She came back with a damp cloth, a towel, a cup, and some tweezers from her first aide kit. She lay the towel out by his side and set to work plucking out a large piece of glass from the gash.
"Ow," he complained. Dez laughed. Hellboy looked down at her.
"Sorry," she giggled and kept working. "Aren't you supposed to be a big bad demon?" she teased.
"Big bad somethin'," he grumbled.
"Lighten up, big guy. This is the last piece," she said plucking the last shard and dropping it in the cup with the others. She ran her hand along his side, down his back near his side, and down his chest and stomach near his side.
While Hellboy didn't mind the nurse feeling him up, it was incredibly odd and random. "Uh, what are you doing, kid?"
"Feeling the extent of the wound," she explained, repeated her rundown. "Not too bad, a little deep." She gently laid her hand over the gash. Hellboy cringed slightly at the odd sensation. Her hand grew hot and warmed the wound till he went numb in that area. Looking down curiously, he watched as red skin stitched itself together. He looked at Dez, her eyes were closed, messed hair leaving a few black strands on her pale face. His golden eyes followed down her cheeks to pink lips that looked soft, down her slender neck and collar bone to the rim of her shirt. "What are you doing?" she asked calmly without opening her eyes, she sounded almost as if in a trance.
"What?"
"When I'm healing someone, I can feel everything in their body. Including hormone changes," her voice was still trance-like but a smirk tugged on her lips. "And… done." She opened her eyes and gave him one last rundown to make sure everything was ok. "All better, big guy," she said and lightly smacked his side where the gash had been. "Alright, get out." He looked at her like she was crazy. "I'm still in my pajamas. Out."
He grumbled. She was an irritating little shit. All the same, he stood and she showed him to the door. "Don't tell anyone," he reminded her.
"Patient confidentiality," she promise and shut the door in his face.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Introduction's over with, more plot next time. About Hellboy's height, he's about 6'6" in the movie and 8'6" in the comics, so I went with the middle. Hope this chapter sparked a little interest in the story to come.