Disclaimer: Hellboy and all related characters are the property of Mike Mignola not me. If they were mine I most certainly wouldn't be posting stories here would I?
A/N: While this is movie-verse fanfiction any gaps will be filled with comic information. Any further gaps will have to be filled with the twisted work of my imagination. Let's hope there are few gaps.
"A church huh?" Hellboy said. "It's been a long time since we've been to one of those."
Abe fussed with his respirator, as was standard practice on these sorts of missions. "Is that a note of sarcasm I'm sensing?"
The two sat in the back of the B.P.R.D.'s mock dump truck preparing for their arrival at the latest monster hunt. As was often the case they were going in blind and had no idea what they'd be up against.
John Meyers and Liz Sherman sat up front with Meyers driving. It was a situation that had once bothered Hellboy, but these days it didn't matter. On a mission several months past Liz had made her feelings known and they'd been together since.
"We're here," Hellboy announced, feeling their ride lurch to a stop. The back opened and the two emerged looking more like a carnival freak show than a pair of federally funded agents.
"So what's the deal?" Hellboy asked once Liz and Meyers had joined them.
"This is the Church of the Oracle, founded by Alexander Cavanaugh some eccentric rich boy who didn't have anything better to do with daddy's money," Liz said. "We've been watching them for months but they've never tried to raise the devil or wake the dead so they really weren't seen as much of a threat."
"Then why are we here now?"
"Because it's come to our attention that the church's entire congregation has very suddenly turned up dead."
Hellboy glanced at Abe who nodded and approached the church's massive door. He removed one of his gloves and stretched out his hand, mentally grumbling about the lack of gloves made for ebbed fingers. How was it that Hellboy would get boots made for his cloven feet yet he had to wear gloves off the rack?
"Sense anything?" Meyers asked.
Abe touched the door and almost immediately pulled back. "She's very and almost… human."
He was met with looks of surprise, though Hellbox's faded the quickest. Evil knew no gender, this wouldn't be the first crazy female he'd have to take out.
"Also," Abe continued. "There's someone else, someone alive and scared."
"Might be Cavanaugh, no one has heard from him yet and they haven't found his body either," Liz said, lighting a cigarette.
Hellboy nodded to his companions and headed towards the door. "Well I guess this is our cue then."
Liz and Abe followed. Gone were Hellboy's lonely hero days, now the three worked together.
Opening the door they were surprised to find it dark inside and at first glance, empty.
"Over there," Abe said, pointing towards a door near the back of the church. As they approached it the feeling grew stronger. "She is definitely in that room."
Raising the Samaritan Hellboy leaned back, kicking the door in with one heavy boot. The splintered wood hadn't even finished flying before the three were inside.
They found themselves in a large office just feet away from the nearly unconscious body of Alexander Cavanaugh.
"Touch him and you die too," said a voice from the shadows. "But leave and I won't hurt you. My fight is with him and it's almost over."
"Y'see, we don't work like that." Hellboy trained his gun on the form of a woman he could barely see. "So how about you just give up and then we'll talk about this guy here?"
The woman stepped forward, challenging Hellboy's aim. In the dim light they could see that Abe had been wrong. She wasn't almost human, she was human, or at least she appeared to be.
A scream from the man on the floor brought their attention back to the matter at hand.
"Whatever you're doing lady, stop it," Hellboy warned.
"She's freezing him," Abe said, the words seemed to almost for a question rather than a statement.
"You freeze things? Oh then you'll love Liz here. See, she burns things."
Liz eyed Hellboy, wondering exactly what he had in mind. She was hesitant to burn another human but if it was necessary she knew she'd have to do it.
"How about you all leave now," the woman warned yet again. "Or I will kill your cold blooded friend." She turned her attention towards Abe, clearly doing something to make him fall to his knees in pain.
"No, stop!" Liz yelled, igniting small fires in each palm.
Hellboy was through with the warnings and was ready to simply shoot the girl when Abe spoke up.
"Crystal Carlson, that's your name."
Apparently it was because she took a step back and seemed to briefly lose her focus.
"You were raised here since you were eleven. You killed the members of the church because they lied to you."
"Church? You idiots think this is a church? It's a fucking cult! And all they care about is money, who has it and how they can get it. You bet they lied to me and they all deserved what they got."
Both Hellboy and Liz realized what Abe was doing. If he distracted her enough he knew she'd end up not only letting him go, but the other man as well.
"Killing them won't make it better, it only makes things more difficult."
"It's not about revenge. It's about making damn sure they don't' sue some other little kid like they used me. There are others out there I know it, and it's all their fault. We'll never be normal thanks to them."
Hellboy had to admit he was a little curious as to what she meant about the Church, but he wasn't about to lose Abe to find out. While she was distracted he leapt at her, knocking her down and consequently knocking her out.
"That worked out well," he said after he was sure she was still alive. "She's coming with us before she can kill any more people."
"What about him?" Liz asked, motioning to the motionless body on the floor.
"He's dead," Abe said. "I don't believe she meant to kill me, she just wanted to distract us while she killed him. She didn't seem to care what happened beyond that point."
"Bet she didn't think she'd be waking up in a holding cell, that's for sure."
Liz nodded. "What was her story anyway?"
Finally getting back on his feet Abe leaned against the wall. "She was abandoned and they took her in here. They pretended to care for her but only wanted to use her for her special ability and trained her to kill. She honestly believed she was helping people by wiping out the entire church."
Hellboy lifted the girl over his shoulder and began making his way to the door. "So is she for real or just crazy?"
"I'm not sure. She believes it's all true, but crazy people normally do."
"Right. Hey, how come that talking things out stuff never works for me?"
Abe almost laughed. "I guess I'm just a people person, that's all."