Hello lovelies! SabakuNoKel here, technically I shouldn't really be here since this isn't my story and all but I just bothered the writer of this story until he let me type this, so here I am! The reason I'm here is to inform you of a minor detail that wasn't mentioned in the first chapter. As you might have noticed in the fist chapter Hellboy is sorta out of character right now but there is a reason for that and it is only temporarily so please don't let that affect your judgment while reading. Also please review! Feedback is always appreciated and ideas are very much welcome! Now that that has been said enjoy reading and see you all on the flip side ;)

"Max?"

"no."

"Richard?"

"no."

"Peter?"

"no."

"Ryan?"

"no."

It seemed that coming up with a name for the demon wasn't as easy as john had first thought, the demon was rather picky. They had been discussing this the entire way, yet John had not been able to find a name that suited. They had been walking for quite some time now, getting a lot of uncomfortable stares from people. There was even a little girl who asked her mother why that man was walking around with an ugly red monster.

The demon did not have much confidence, so that wasn't really of any help but it was difficult to explain that she was just an infant and had no idea what she was talking about and that he just had to ignore the other people. Easier said then done. The dried up blood did not help either but luckily that would be taken care of soon. John's humble apartment was not far away.

"Ok, I give up, I'm out of names. Are you sure you didn't hear anything you liked."

The demon shook his head.

"Hmm, I had no idea that coming up with a name could be so difficult."

"Sorry."

The demon said with a low tone of voice, it sounded as if he was blaming himself for not liking any of the names John had called out. The agent really couldn't blame him for that though, he wouldn't exactly want to be stuck to a random name he didn't much care for himself.

"Ah don't worry big guy, we'll find something that suits you. Might take us some time to do so, but I think we'll come up with some-"

John froze in the middle of both his sentence and his step as a sudden particularly brilliant thought struck him.

"I think I've got it! How does Red sound?"

The demon gave it some thought instead of discarding it right away. Red? It did have a nice ring to it, plus he would know right away that people meant him since he was the only red guy. A broad smile bloomed to life on his face, indicating to John that he had found the perfect fit. The demon now known as red turned to him and nodded approvingly.

"Good, now that we've gotten that out the way I think it's time that we move over to the next problem, cleaning you up, you do know what a bath is right?"

"… bath?"

This was something John had been afraid of, he was going to have to learn a grown man how to take a bath. That was going to be a lot of fun, note sarcasm.

Meanwhile Red felt a little unsure, what was this bath thing? Was it going to hurt? No, that wouldn't make any sense, John said it was for him to get clean again, how bad could that be?

"So, here we are, home sweet home, or at least almost home sweet home since I live on the fifteenth floor."

The demon looked up at building that reached up high in the sky. His jaw dropped down while he stared upwards.

"Come on."

John took hold of red's tail, which was still wrapped around his wrist. The demon hadn't released him ever since John had decided to take the demon with him. Not that he minded, he thought that it was rather cute to see a big man like him so insecure.

"Come on, let's go inside. Don't mind the mess though, I haven't really had the time to clean up."

Red just followed with a contend smile on his face. Mostly ignoring all that john had to say about his messy apartment. Why would he even care about something as unimportant as that, he finally found someone who would take him in, nothing else mattered.

John guided the demon inside, and up the large staircase. Maintenance still had to repair the elevator so that wasn't an option. But he wasn't sure if it would have been a smart idea to take the demon inside an elevator, god knows how he may react. The sound of the demon's hooves echoed through the deserted staircase. Luckily there wasn't anyone there that night, it would have been weird explaining to his neighbors why he was bringing a demon into his apartment.

After climbing several flights of stairs John started to get tired. His heart was racing and his breathing was heavy. He tried to hide the fact that he was in terrible shape (the elevator had made him lazy) but without any success. The demon stared down at the panting agent, his head cocked to the side as it looked very peculiar to him. Was he tired already? He didn't feel a thing, maybe he should help him out?

"Need a hand?"

The demon asked politely.

"No thanks."

John declined trying to keep what little dignity he had left intact. This was absurd, he was an F.B.I. agent for God sake. This was really embarrassing. It was a good thing that his colleagues didn't see him right now. He looked at the sign which indicated on which floor they where.

Tenth? He would be dead before they would reach the apartment. He sighed and was about to continue his long climb but before he could take another step he was hoisted up in the air and thrown over the demon's broad shoulder. He tried to resist and wiggle his way to freedom, but Red wasn't giving in.

"Red let me go, I said I didn't need any help."

He kept trying to push Red's hand away but he wouldn't budge.

"Nope."

The demon simply replied. The human weighed near to nothing for him so carrying him was no problem at all. John gave a few more words of complaint before finally giving in. What was he thinking, he couldn't even beat a couple of stairs let alone a muscular demon. Who was by the way vey comfortable to hang on.

After climbing several more stairs the duo finally made it up to the fifteenth floor, standing in front of the door. John searched through his pockets to find his key. The demon was very curious to know what his place would look like.

The door opened, the room was dark and the curtains closed. As the light was flickered on the room became visible. The room itself felt very comfortable and warm, with wooden floors and a black rug on it. The couch and arm chair were also black and looked very comfy. In the middle of the floor and on top of the rug was a white coffee table with several large decorative candles, which looked like they had already been lit several times. The room let to an open kitchen to the right and a door, which was closed, on the left.

"So! It's not much, but its home I guess."

The demon stepped in and looked around him, and there was one thing that immediately drew his attention. He stepped towards a large flat screen. He cocked his head to the side and took a closer look to this strange thing.

"I would take your coat but it's kind of problematic since you don't- . Something the matter Red?"

The demon turned to John.

"What is that thing?"

Red asked as one of his fingers from him normal hand traced over the side of the television. John couldn't help but chuckle at the demon's ignorance. It kinda reminded him of a caveman, the ragged piece of cloth wasn't really helping either. But then again he was too cute to be a caveman.

"That's a television."

"Television?"

He took another look at the appliance. What could it possibly do? It was just a flat thing.

"I'll show you what it does, but first you need a bath pronto. Come on."

He grabbed the demon's hand and guided him through the closed door which led to his bedroom. The demon didn't have enough time to look around because he was pulled in another room. The room was bright which was weird since there was no window or anything. He turned around and found himself facing the large mirror above the sink and immediately backed away. He took hold of John and was ready to sprint out but to his surprise the creature on the wall did the exact same thing. He stopped and slowly inched his way to it.

"Is there something wrong big guy?"

John was a bit shocked by the demon's sudden action but didn't see any harm in it, he had obviously never seen a mirror before. The demon didn't answer, he just couldn't keep his eyes away from the mirror. He reached out to it and the thing on the wall mimicked him precisely, how was this possible? What was this thing? He touched the surface of the mirror, it felt smooth and unlike his own skin. But the thing on the wall had the same color as him.

"John, what is that thing?"

"Ehm it's a mirror."

John hesitated. Was it a smart thing to tell him it was his reflection? But he had no choice, the demon would find out sooner or later.

"Ehm Red, that's a mirror. It reflects exactly what's in front of it."

The demon reached out again, and then back to his face. His fingers slid further upwards touching the tip on one of his broken horns, that thing was him? He looked at john.

"Is this what a monster looks like? No wonder those people wanted me dead."

That was a statement that John did not want to hear, he grabbed Red's face in both hands and pulled it gently down to his level.

"No Red, no. Look at me. You are not a monster. "

"How can you be sure?"

The demon replied.

"Well, mostly because a real monster wouldn't have cowered when people threw rocks at him. A real monster would have torn them to shreds."

The demon's face grimaced at that thought, he couldn't hurt anyone. Never, not in a million years. Then maybe John was right, maybe he wasn't a monster. The demon calmed down a bit.

"so… how about we clean you up?"

The demon nodded silently, still not able to take his eyes of the image on the wall.

"So, do you know how a bath works?"

Red kneeled down, maybe he did know. He tried remembering, but nothing came up. So he just shook his head.

"No worries. I'll just explain it. Ok, first I'll fill up this tub with warm water, then you can sit in it and use the water and soap to clean yourself, very simple."

John turned on the tap as the water slowly filled up the tub. He added some bath suds from a large bottle, which immediately drew the attention of the demon. He stared at the white soap suds, at first he just poked it with his stone finger. He grabbed a hand full and inspected it. It felt rather strange as it slipped through his fingers, a bit ticklish.

"But I do think we need to do something about your stone arm and hooves, they might damage the tub so follow me for a sec if you will."

John walked back to the other room as Red followed him on his trail. He opened a closet and pulled out two large white towels and three washcloths.

"Ok , now sit down please."

The demon obliged without questioning. The human grabbed the two washcloths and put them on Red's hooves. Next was the towel which he wrapped around the large stone hand making sure it was covered entirely.

"So, there we go, all set. Now this one you can use to clean yourself, and this one for when you are done and want to dry yourself of. Any questions?"

"Do I need to take this off?"

The demon asked while grabbing the cloth that was wrapped around his waist.

"Yeah, that would be a good idea. I'll throw that out if you don't mind and see if I've got anything that will fit you. Something a bit more appropriate."

John said, mentally going over all the items in his closet. He should have something that fit the big guy but if Red was going to be staying with him they were going to have to go shopping for clothes.

"So just let me know if you need anything ok?"

The demon nodded and went back inside the bathroom. John closed the door behind him to give some privacy, it wasn't really willingly but the last thing the big guy needed was a guy drooling all over him. He turned to his closet and started the search for some clothes.

While John was on a quest for clothing, Red had already removed the cloth around his waist only to find more underneath it. It was from a different fabric and was wrapped more tightly around his waist, butt and thighs. Strangely he did not notice it before. Did he have to take this one off as well? Better go and ask.

No! He thought to himself, he couldn't go to John for everything no matter how much he wanted to. Something in the back of his mind told him not to, a part that wanted to impress John for some reason, and protect him against anything that would bring harm to him. Why did he feel that way though? They had only just met, after all. The only thing he knew about the agent was that he had saved him and now he also knew where he lived. John was kind though and very sweet, sorta like the strange scent that hung around him. The scent was so intoxicating, so pleasant, so John.

Enough of that though, he had to focus on the task at hand. He had to get clean again. He stepped into the bath, being mindful of his hooves, as at first he didn't feel anything but as the water reached the bottom of his ankle a feeling of relaxation rose up.

Ok, this was nice he thought to himself as he lowered himself further down until he was completely seated. He leaned back against the back of the tub, enjoying the feeling of the hot water on his body. This was so relaxing, maybe now he could try to remember who he was or where he came from, but the only thing that came to mind was why he was acting like such a fool when John was around. He shouldn't have stared at that television thing like that but it had intrigued him. He wanted to know what it was for. John said he would show it to him later though so for now he decided to just enjoy his bath.

He could fully stretch out his legs when he laid down. He pulled up his legs a bit and sank down until his nose was just a few inches above the water. A bit of soap suds floated in front of him. It looked rather interesting. He scooped it up in his hand, studying the bubbles. Where was the thing John had used to make this? He looked at both sides of the tub and found what he was looking for at the far right side in the corner. Bingo, he thought to himself as he picked up the bottle of soap suds. He flicked of the cap and started pouring the contents in the tub. This was going to be fun.