(A/N – 12-28-08: This chapter has been revamped due to my dissatisfaction with it. Hopefully, no one will be left with confusion at the end. I'm working on chapter three as you read this. :) )

Genre: Action/Adventure/Crime/Romance/Supernatural/Drama/Humor (That's a lot of genres. o.O )

Warnings: Language, slight gore.

My Rant: Less humor, more action ( I think. ).

I hope the chapter is long enough to suffice. I'll be out of town for the rest of the week so it'll be a while before another update. It's my grandfather's 80th birthday, and all of his friends and family are flying out to Arizona to throw him a surprise party! Whoohoo!

I just hope we don't surprise him so much that he has a heart attack. -.-;

That would be really bad.

Anywho, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the four people who were kind enough to review! They were lovely comments, and I'm glad you enjoyed my attempts at humor. I would especially like to thank epalladino for giving me help on the character spellings and other little facts about the Hellboy Universe! Greatly appreciated. :)

Nina Rogers, Alice and Judith Grey and Ian Markovich belong to me. Everything Hellboy belongs to Mike Mignola. -bows down-

-. Chapter 2 . Rampant Serpent .-


- Tepper Galleries Auction House -

"I can't believe we're back here--again."

"Can it, Red," Manning says, his eyes roaming around the familiar rooms once again.

The last time they were called in, a small grindylow had escaped from a sealed urn originating from 17th century Yorkshire. It was attempting to eat a large group of children visiting the auction house with their school. Luckily, security was able to toss the pesky thing into a broom closet, but the BPRD was brought in anyways under the impression it was a serious matter. Needless to say, HB was annoyed.

He gruffly speaks over the comm. system, "Liz! Ya got anything?"

She nudges a splintered leg from an antique chair left scattered on the floor. "I've got nothing over here, Red. Just a bunch of trashed antiques."

The bud in her ear crackles from the static, hearing HB move on to the other agents. Flashing her light across the rubble left on the floor, she continues to kick things out of the way.

"Lots of broken, expensive crap, but no bodies."

Sighing, she starts to trace the walls, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

Manning told them most of the people had evacuated when they saw others running and screaming about a monster in one of the auction rooms. The police chief said the auction house security ran in to assist, but never came back out. While searching the area, two city officers spotted what looked like a giant griffin. So now, the team is left searching for a monster with little description and a bunch of bodies.

Ditching the scattered pieces in the room, she follows the trail of chaos into another room, running into Agent Myers along the way. "Hey," she says, "Any luck on your end?"

Myers shakes his head in the negative, "Just a lot of broken stuff. Not one body." He sighs, "There's got to be at least 20 people missing."

Turning around in the room, arms out gesturing to the space around them, Liz makes a frustrated grunt, "Where the hell could they all have gone? There aren't that many exits." She lifts her palm up, pointing towards the main hall connecting all of the different display rooms. "Their best bet was the front door."

Suddenly, a loud crash is heard, causing both agents to jump and draw their guns in the direction of the noise.

"What the hell was that?" Myers harshly whispers.

"No idea," She moves towards the noise, a soft growling echoing off the walls.

She lifts her hand in a stopping motion at Myers. "Do you hear that?

He tilts his head towards the sound, the growling just barely reaching his ears. "Yeah. It's subtle, but I can hear it."

They both start to slowly move in, taking quiet steps towards a large pile of broken armoires.

Out of nowhere, Abe comes bursting into the room, shouting. "Both of you get down, now!"

Just as he grabs the back of their protective vests, sharp pieces of wood burst forth from the pile and fly across the room, a blood curdling roar in its wake. Abe looked up in time to see the giant beast soar over him, its eyes making contact with his, full of rage, eyes bloodshot.

Abe immediately reaches for Myer's gun, easily slipping it out of its holster. He aims directly at the thing as soon as it lands on the ground skidding towards the corridor and spinning to halt, facing all three agents. Liz is already standing next to Abe, her hands engulfed in flames, ready for a fight. Myers stands slightly behind, fishing for his backup weapon, ready to assist.

Down the hall, Hellboy can be heard shouting from one of the rooms, making his way towards the commotion. Bits and pieces of sheet rock and paint crumble from the walls, the building moaning under the sudden strain. The beast's head shifts to the hallway at the sound of Hellboy and the other agents making their way towards it. It quickly turns back to the other three and unleashes another bloodcurdling scream. The force of the sound was like a shockwave, sending all three of them sprawling to the ground in a heap. A chorus of "oof"s and "ow!"s echoing in the room. Abe attempts to regain his balance above the others and sees the creature make a dash for the exit.

HB bursts in the room through a side door, gun at the ready, but is shocked to only find Abe huddled over Liz and John. "What the hell happened!?" He rushes over just as Abe stands up, brushing dirt off his pant legs. Hellboy makes a grab for Liz's hand and helps her.

Abe lets loose a string of coughs and starts pulling pieces of wood splinters from his suit. "It was waiting in the rubble. I had picked up on it just before it could strike."

He makes a grab for Myers and helps him stand.

John looks up at him and smiles, "Thanks."

Abe nods in acknowledgement, "You're most welcome, Agent Myers."

He looks back to Liz and HB as the other agents come pouring into the room. "At first, I was unsure as to what I was sensing, but as soon as I touched one of the broken vases in the other room, I realized what I was feeling was excitement, adrenaline, and a thirst for blood." He waves his hands around him in fascination, as if he could still feel those feelings pulsing through him.

Hellboy hoists his gun on his shoulder and takes a drag out of his cigar, pulling it away to release the smoke. "Just get to the point, Abe."

Abe's head shifts to the right and he blinks, "Right. This creature was preying on Liz and Agent Myers. At first I thought it was some species of lion considering the fact that I was sensing emotions rather than actual thoughts and memories. But upon closer inspection, I have reason to believe that this creature, my dear friend, is some sort of hybrid animal."

HB just stares at him, cigar hanging from the corner of his mouth. "Huh?"

Liz laughs at the look he gives and shakes her head.

Abe continues with the explanation, walking towards the outline of the door of the room. "Generally, a hybrid is something that combines two or more different species of something, in this case wild animals, into one final product."

Pointing at the edge of the door, he traces the outline of a dent. "If you notice, feathers lodged into the wall. Then," He steps back over to where the pile of armoires once were, "small patches of black fur clutching to broken wood from the blast."

Liz and Myers look at each other and she states, "Well we caught a glimpse of it. It had folded wings and a lion-like torso."

Manning steps into the room clearly annoyed, "So we're looking for a hairy bird?"

Abe looks back at him, "Not necessarily. The part that I witnessed has me believe that the creature is not dominantly bird. In fact, this creature had patches of scales and a serpent like tail."

He walks back over to the group and lifts his hands up, gesturing to the building they stand in, "The sound of its roar was piercing. Nearly to the point of paralyzing. Naturally, your bodies curled at the sound."

Liz stares at the ground and nods, "It was pretty loud."

Abe nods and continues, "hence, why I believe that our monster here is mostly made up of serpent."

Myers looks around the room and back to the others, "Okay, so we have a monster and missing bodies. Not really much further along than before." His face sets into confusion and asks, "Now what?"

A look of amusement passes Abe's face as he answers, "Why, I thought that would be obvious to you, Agent Myers."

Hellboy pulls his gun back down from his shoulder and grasps the longer end with his other hand, "We find it."


- M.C.I.A. Headquarters -

Nina grumbles as she flitters through another set of case files, occasionally stopping to type out a little more of the reports due on captured mutants. She taps her finger against the desk, waiting for the computer to catch up from whatever the damn thing was doing. "Ergh!" She grabs the mouse and starts clicking it repeatedly over the "bold" option. "C'mon!" She smacks the side of the screen. "Stupid thing! Work!"

An error dialog pops up on the screen and Nina can feel a headache coming on. Rubbing the side of her forehead, she grabs the phone on the side of the desk and punches in the extension to the service team.

The phone rings three times before a soft click and a muffled "hello" reaches her ears. With a sigh she comes off as whiny, "Hey frank. I've got an issue with my computer--again. It keeps freezing up and giving me some error message. Think you can come down and fix it for me before I toss it out the window?"

A chuckle reaches her ears and she can't help but smile. Frank lets out a tired sigh and answers back, "Sure thing, Nina. I'll be up in a few to fix it. Think you can manage till then?"

She smiles, "Yeah. Thanks buddy."

A quick "no problem" can be heard before she clicks the receiver back down.

The sound of heavy footsteps can be heard down the hall, and crescendos as Alice comes bolting into the office.

Nina smiles at how out of sorts Alice looks with her hair flopping around as she runs.

Waving her hand up with two fingers, she says, "Hey."

Alice's face lights up as she reaches the desk.

"Nina! Rep's on the move!"

Realization dawns on her at the woman's words.

Jumping up from her chair, Nina drops her paperwork on the desk and gathers up her coat, a look of satisfaction crossing her face.

"Excellent! Let's move!"

Practically trotting down the hall, she heads for the elevator, Alice beside her. Their breaths are already coming out quick, the excitement of an old case springing back to life raising their adrenaline.

Just as Nina's about to push the down button to the elevator, it gives off a ding and the double doors open.

Ian and Judy are already inside. The young woman breaks out into a smile when she sees Nina and her sister standing in front of her, "Hey boss! Just the one I wanted to see."

Nina nods, lungs still huffing. "Good, I needed you anyways. Makes this easier."

Ian starts walking off the elevator, hands in his pockets and a soft whistle escaping his lips.

Before he can get far, Nina moves her hand to his chest and pushes him back. "I don't think so. Get in the elevator too."

He sputters, completely bewildered, "Wha-?"

Nina cuts him off, a common thing among the group, "Get in! We've got a hot one." She grabs his arm without hesitation and shoves him into the elevator. Light snickering is heard in the direction of Judy. Alice side steps the stumbling male and squeezes into the elevator.

Facing up at the lit number plate above the doors, Nina waits as the elevator closes.

Without hesitation, everyone turns to the middle and huddles. This was always the perfect place for their private briefings.

Nina lays a hand on her hip. "What've ya got, ladies?"

Both girls start off at the same time, but stop short, turning to each other, Alice waving a hand at her sister, "You first, mine will take longer."

"Thanks," she says, nodding in recognition. "As I was saying, some new nano-equipment just came in this morning. The director went ahead and filled me in on some of its uses. Alice and I can use our abilities to activate some of them." Turning to Alice, specifically she says, "I'll need you to peruse my mind later and read up on the new technology. We can probably do it on our way, after the briefing."

Alice nods quickly in understanding, "Alright, is that all?"

"Yeah--oh wait!" Turning to Nina, Judy smiles mischievously, "The director wants me to remind you not to forget to pick up the return files from Dr. Manning."

Nina cringes as the mention and gives Judy a wry smile, "How could I forget? She should know better. Have any of us ever forgotten anything involving the FBI?"

Ian gives off an indignant snort, "I'm still recovering from the last catastrophe they called "a successful mission."

"Ugh," Alice scoffs out. "Let's please move on."

She pulls open a file that was tucked away under her arm. "Anyway, we just got a hit from one of the bigger sources we've been tracking. It's involved with the Rocardi drug ring."

"Hahaaaaa, yes!" Ian shouts. "It's about time something came up."

Alice smiles at his enthusiasm, pleased that everyone in the group is just as interested in her finds. "Looks like they've stopped playing it safe, Mr. McAllister has been put back to work. We've got sources spotting him wandering around the Fulton Fish Market, just a few blocks from some empty warehouses. There's a surveillance tape confirming the statements. It shows him sneaking around a furniture storage facility earlier this morning."

Nina wraps her hand around her chin, nodding in acknowledgement, "'kay, we need to set up a surveillance station around the actual storage facility, but I want other units placed near the surrounding warehouses."

The group nods just as the ding of the elevator indicates they've reached their destination.

Doors opening, Nina turns and is the first to exit into the car park. The others follow her to a small set of lockers stacked on top of each other. Small labels line them, each holding an agent's name.

Pulling their consecutive locker's open, they start shuffling around for protective vests. Ian and Nina the only ones strapping on standard issue .40 calibers.

"I want everybody to park over near Logan's. You know where that is?"

Ian looks up from his locker, "Parking garage off North Elm, right?"

Nodding, she confirms. "Yup."

Scuffling her feet down the lines of cars, she waves over her shoulder. "See you there."


- Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense -

Hellboy lay spread out on a large couch, his head leaning back against the arm. His large, stone hand hunched over the back and his other arm resting atop his forehead. A tired rush of air passes his lips and he lets his body sink farther into the plush cushions.

"Tired?"

Popping one eye open, HB is met with Liz leaning over his face, hair gently grazing his cheek. She smirks at him and lightly shoves his arm off of his face to lay a gentle kiss on his forehead.

He closes his eyes again and smiles. He couldn't remember being this content since his younger years spent with his father. Ever since the incident with Rasputin, he's been getting closer to Liz. Sometimes, they would fight. Sometimes, they would sit in pained silence.

She still holds a fear of her own powers, but the improvements have become more apparent over the last few months. He cant' help be feel a sense of pride at her accomplishments. The developing relationship between them seemed to deepen in their state of mourning for his father. They sort of held onto each other, like a life line. It was rocky for the longest time. Angst always made its way through, but for some reason, she never left like she used to. She stayed. And for that, he was forever grateful.

HB reaches out for her hand and pulls her towards him.

"Hey."

A small laugh escapes her lips as she whispers, "Hi back."

"Come 'ere, Babe."

She pinches him on the arm. "Ow!"

Giving him an irritated look, she barks out, "You know not to call me that."

Rubbing his arm, he mumbles, "Sorry, sorry." He then wraps his arm around her waist and pulls her in. Her knees gently glide over him and she rests on top of his broad chest, nuzzling her face into his neck.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly lets out a long "Hmmmmmm" and stretches her arms over his shoulders and past his face. Still nuzzled against him, she smiles, "This is nice."

The scent of her hair wafts up to his nose. Taking a languorous whiff, he lets her comforting presence sink him further into relaxation.

Looking up from where she lay, she lightly kisses him. He rests his hand on the small of back.

The slightest pressure of teeth graze his lower lip. Red gently runs his hand up her back and places it behind her head, cradling it, and slowly working his fingers through the sensitive parts of her scalp.

Sighing into the kiss, she pushes herself farther up to ease the strain on her legs and squeezes his shoulders.

HB just starts to deepen the kiss, when two of the cats suddenly jump onto the couch one stepping in between and the other just trampled all over them, both meowing incessantly.

Apparently, it was time to feed the cats.


In the library, Abe shifts through his tank, moving from one spot to the next, reading the many books placed on the stands. Agent Myers is perched on a ladder, attempting to grab another book that Abe has asked for.

"Agent Myers, when you're done, please be so kind as to turn the pages?"

A slight huff escapes John's lips as he finally snatches the book, happy that he didn't lose his balance and fall to his death.

"I highly doubt you'd die if you fell from that short distance, but if it makes you feel better, I won't be needing any other books. These should do just fine."

John blows out a puff of air, walking over to the tank to place the book out for Abe and turn the pages of the others. "I shouldn't complain. You haven't had the chance to relax in there for a while."

Moving to the next stand, he flips the page over, pausing at the drawing of a creature that looked like a cross between a rabbit and cat. "Abe, what exactly are we looking for?"

Abe moves towards John and replies, "I'm searching for any exact data on the hybrid we encountered. I want to see if there is a story behind it. If not, we just might be stuck."

John walks over to the couch and plops down onto it.

At Abe's words, he sarcastically replies, "Oh great. I bet Manning will be thrilled to hear that."


- Fenton Docks -

"Aaaaaaah!"

Ian flops back on the chair, head hanging back with his mouth wide open.

"I'm so boooooored!"

Alice laughs at his exaggerated manner. "What did you expect? That the suspect would just magically appear just when we did?"

Ian sits up, resting his lower arms across his thighs and slouching forward. "It'd be nice--for once. Besides, Nina already got some shots in with Judy earlier. I don't know why we need more. We don't even know if this guy'll be coming back."

Flicking his hand over, he checks his watch. "We've been sitting here for six hours. I'm going to lose my mind if he doesn't hurry up."

Alice shrugs and goes back to watching the video feed. "Be grateful that you're not the one holding up the nano-cams for said six hours. My brain is practically numb."

Ian grumbles and adjusts the glasses on his nose. Grabbing a deck of cards, he begins to stack them up into a tower. Occasionally, he'll bump his leg into hers, doing his best to annoy her. It only manages to make her laugh at his immaturity. But then, he absentmindedly throws a question at her amidst the silence of the room, "Hey, maybe after this, we can get some dinner?"

"Huh?" She blinks for a second wondering in her mind if she had heard him right. It takes her a second to realize that he was just asking in a casual manner. She blushes and mentally berates herself for getting her own hopes up.

Finally gathering her wits she replies, "Uh, yeah. Dinner would be nice."

The cards on the table collapse, some scattering on the floor. Ian bends down to pick them up, back turned from her. A little smile graces his lips. It felt like a small victory for him, asking her to dinner. Of course, he made it sound so casual that he couldn't help but think himself a coward as well for not being forward about his intentions.

"Ah!"

The sound catches his attention and he turns back to Alice. "What is it?"

She points to the screen and smiles. "Looks like one of our guests has finally arrived."


The little girl hesitantly makes her way into the warehouse, the eerie sound of dirty water dripping into a moldy puddle echoing throughout the building. Crate after crate line the area, leaving winding walkways around them.

The sound of shuffling feet from behind reaches her ears. She's frozen in fear, her heart pounding in her chest, palms sweaty and afraid to move. A large hand suddenly clamps onto her shoulder and she starts to scream, said hand quickly covering her mouth to silence her.

"Calm down, Sophie!" He says in a harsh whisper. "It's just me."

Her chest rapidly rises and falls as her breathing tries to adjust to his hand blocking some of her air supply.

"Are you going to be quiet?"

She quickly nods, and he slowly removes his hand from her mouth.

Her soft little voice comes out in a quiver, "David?"

She turns to look at him, her eyes watery and hands trembling, the softest of sobs escaping her lips.

The pale teen looks down at her, his face giving a reassuring ghost of a smile, "Yeah, sis?"

The little girl's face breaks out into a smile, throwing herself into him, she hugs him tightly. "I'm glad you're safe."

He places his hand on top of her head and holds her close. "Yeah, me too." He kisses her head and pulls it back slightly, making her look up at him.

"Look, Soph--I gotta take care of something before I can go with you. I need you to stay near the door, okay?"

She clutches the bottom of her dress and nods in understanding.

Giving her a reassuring smile, he gently pushes her towards the door. "Don't go wandering around. This'll only take a few minutes."

Sophie shuffles her feet and moves over to the door, fidgeting with her hands.

Sighing, David turns towards the darkened paths between the crates and starts making his way through them, his body disappearing from his sister's view.


- B.P.R.D.: Fenton Docks -

The claxon had gone off again this week. Agents lined outside parking garages, waiting on stand by for their orders. Hellboy, Abe and Liz stood off to the side, listening to Manning rambling on about a sighting.

"Look, we got a call in about a creature matching the description of that hybrid thing crawling around the docks. We need to locate it immediately and take it out."

One of the agents opens the weapon's casing, moving over so HB can access it.

He walks over takes one of the guns, grabbing a stock of ammunition, placing four bullets into the revolver.

"Little bastard isn't getting away this time," he says around his cigar. "I'm gonna blast him to bits."

Manning turns around and starts barks orders at the other agents. Over his shoulder, he throws a quick, "Good." and goes back to shouting.

Liz walks up to HB and touches his arm, "Abe and I are gonna take the east side, you take the west and we'll meet up in the middle."

HB nods, "Alright, just be careful." He looks over to Abe, "Don't let anything happen to her or I'll break you."

Abe grimaces at the comment and walks up to Liz. "I'll keep her as safe as I can."


- MCIA: Fenton Docks -

Nina comes bursting into the musty room, startling both Alice and Ian from the video screen.

"Hey, got anything?"

Alice adjusts the screen and points to the little girl within view. "It's his sister. She's waiting for him at the door." Alice looks up at Nina, "She's really scared. Her brother walked into the warehouse doing God only knows what."

Nina's face crinkles in disgust. "He brought his sister? Crazy bastard, has no common sense." She pauses in thought, then brings her attention back to the others. "I need you to pack your stuff up. We've got enough info on this guy. The pictures we obtained will suffice."

Alice asks in confusion, "What about the arrest? He's there for the taking. And we can't just leave that poor girl there all alone."

Nina stares at the screen again, watching the poor kid standing around scared half to death.

"Shit." Nina looks around the room, deep in thought. "Look, I--"

"Huh!" Alice's heart skips a beat at the sudden shift she feels in her mind. "Something's wrong."

Ian and Nina stiffen at the sudden change in Alice's demeanor. "What is it?" Nina says, walking towards her and grasping Alice's left shoulder.

She looks up in a state of panic, "It's Judy. She says some of the agents report that there's a commotion going on not too far from the warehouse." Her face scrunches in concentration. "It's some sort of animal on the loose." Alice's eyes widen, "She says the B.P.R.D. is there!"

Nina stiffens, standing a moment to process the information. Taking a deep breath, she slowly lets it out and calms her nerves. "Alice, I need you to tell Judy that she's to meet up with you. You're both to go to the warehouse and secure the child. I want her taken to a safe place."

"But-!"

"Don't question it! Just go! I'll fill you in later!"

Nina grabs a hold of Ian and starts to head out the door. "I need you with me. We need to get to the docks--fast!"


Hellboy grunts as the large creature launches into him for the second time, forcing his body to fly through the air and into a crate, completely smashing it to pieces under his massive weight. Little, pink packaging peanuts stuck to HB's face and fluttered around him as he stood up, hastily trying to pick the damn things off.

"Pushy little shit," he mutters.

The hybrid was crouched low, growling menacingly at Hellboy, waiting for his next move. It was bleeding from its left hind leg, where HB's bullet had pierced through it. Patches of fur and feathers were missing from it's body as it had been thrown around a few times.

HB reached for his guy, planning to blast the damn thing again, but paused as he felt nothing but air where it was supposed to be. As the realization sunk in, the creature pushes its lower body up into the air and shifts its legs, ready to strike.

"Crap."

It leaps into the air, but a thin spear slams into its shoulder, making the animal skid across the ground, howling in pain.

Abe jumps down from atop a crate and races toward HB. "Sorry we're late."

Hellboy shrugs, "whatever." It takes him a second to realize who's missing, "Where's Liz?"

"Oh, she's just--" A menacing scream fills the air and both men look up.

Set ablaze, the creature crumbles on the ground, writhing in pain. The fire only seems to get stronger the harder it tries to move.

Hopping down from another crate, Liz walks up to the creature as it slowly turns to ash under the intensive heat. "Well--that takes care of that."

All three seemed intent on watching the creature burn, making sure it was dead. But, out of the corner of Hellboy's eyes, he noticed a sudden movement, eyes widening as he realized what was happening.

"Liz!" HB shouts just as a man comes out from behind another crate, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into his chest.

"Huh!?" Liz shouts in confusion. It happened so fast. The maniacal laughter floating past her ear. Shock sets in to anger as she prepares to light the guy on fire. Abe and HB start to move towards her, but stop at the man's voice.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he shouts, his voice taking on an almost metallic sound as his body starts to shift. Liz can feel his body changing and the skin touching hers becoming slick and scaly.

"Ugh, disgusting." She continues to twist under his grip, but shouts in pain as his legs become a long, slithering tail that binds itself around her body, slowly crushing it. Her teeth grind together, trying to stiffen her body against the pressure.

"What the hell is that thing!?" HB shouts, panicking at the sight of Liz under the man's grasp.

Abe looks on, completely bewildered. "I don't know. I've never seen something like this before."

Liz tries to gather flames in her hands, but the swift tightening on her body disrupts her concentration.

"Don't bother, or I'll break you in half."

Hellboy squeezes his hands into fists, knuckles tightening. "Let her go," He slowly grunts out.

The man gone serpent lets out a harsh, crazed laugh, "Ha! I ought to crush all of you for killing my master."

The man's eyes are wide and bloodshot, a maniacal sneer set upon his face.

"Master?" HB looks on, a tinge of confusion mixing with the anger in his voice.

Abe quickly stares off to the side at the heap of burnt flesh. Smoke was still rising into the air giving off a foul stench.

Nobody dared move. Both sides lay tense, a stalemate of stares waiting to turn into something more.

And just as suddenly, a screeching sound fills the air, and out of the sky, a large bird dives into the serpent, latching onto its head so hard it causes him to skid, taking Liz with him.

Both Abe and Red run after them with a shout, eyes wide at the scene playing out before them.

The serpent's head smashes into the concrete ground twice before its body slackens, dropping Liz from his hold.

With the bird still firmly digging its claws into the serpent-man's head, it starts to pierce the flesh, trying to pluck his eyes out.

"Aaaagh!" The serpent frantically grabs the bird and yanks it off of him, tossing it hard across the ground, taking satisfaction in the sound of it smacking into the cold concrete.

"Nina!" Ian shouts, running out to the bird, gently picking it up in his arms and cradling it. "Are you all right!?" he asks in panic.

Over across the docks, the serpent makes a dash for freedom all too aware of being outnumbered and disappears through the crates. A faint hiss the last of its presence.

"Quick little bastard," HB grunts too worried for Liz's sake to go after it.

Abe is also crouched around Liz, checking on her condition. Out of the corner of his eye, he watches the man aiding the bird in his arms.

Ian's face becomes distraught at the sight of her scratched up body. He holds her delicately nestled in his arms, checking for anything broken.

Suddenly, the bird's body starts to shift just as the serpent had, but into that of a woman.

Nina coughs and waves her hand dismissively at him. Her voice is raspy as she replies, "I'm fine. What about Reptilion?"

Looking up, he's no where to be seen. "Damn it!" Nina shouts, huffing in Ian's arms. "Why didn't you go after him?"

Ian looks down at her indignantly. "And just leave you here?"

Nina glares at him. "I'm not priority, Ian! The suspect is!" She rushes to stand, steadying herself from the slight vertigo of being thrown. "I'm not some delicate piece of china! You know better!" Ever so slight, a vein begins to form on her forehead, her blood pumping from the oncoming fit. She takes a deep breath, letting the air calm her. Releasing the air in her lungs, she relaxes her shoulders and speaks with blatant disappointment,

"God, you're such a rookie."

He manages to blush at her retort and glares at the ground. "Sorry," he mumbles.

Just then, agents start to swarm the area, both from the M.C.I.A. and B.P.R.D., Manning in tow.

Liz shifts slightly, Red's arm wrapped around her securely. "Now they show up," she bitterly whispers.

Continuing to stare at the other two people, many questions filling his mind at the incident that lay before him, Abe throws his comment to HB, "That was Agent Rogers."

Hellboy turns to Abe, barely hearing him over the commotion of the agents approaching.

"Huh?"

Before Abe can further his comment, Manning comes storming over to the group, jaw tightly set. "Did you get it!?"

HB points to the pile of flesh and ash sizzling off to the side. "Can't get any deader than that."

Abe steps up, "Yes, but we seem to have another problem."

"Oh great," Manning grumbles, knowing he isn't going to like what he hears next. "What is it, now?"

"It appears the creature we were tracking wasn't working alone. We ran into another being, a man who can turn into a rather large serpent."

Dusting herself off, Nina manages to look over at the B.P.R.D. Agents and she claps her hand against Ian's back. "C'mon. We gotta go make nice with the other kids. Call the others over, I'll handle Manning."

Ian only manages to nod, still a little burned from the earlier event.

Upon hearing Manning throwing his usual fit, Nina quickly approaches the group, interrupting their conversation.

Manning glares at her, clearly displeased by her presence and barely taking notice of her scuffed appearance. "What are you doing here?" He barks out.

"We're working a case. Same reason as you, apparently." She looks to the others and smiles. "Hey guys."

Liz's mouth quirks up. "Hey," she says, a little breathlessly.

Nina can't help but be concerned, knowing the girl might be suffering internal injuries. "You okay? You're not hurt are you?"

Liz looks skyward and shrugs, "Mmm, I'll live."

Manning roughly tugs on the front of his coat and makes an annoyed sigh. "Nina--"

She cut him off again, her face very grave and serious.

"It's not one of your super-naturals, Dr. Manning."

"Then what in the hell is it!?" He shouts , the sound of his voice echoing among the docks. His face held a deep frown, forehead scrunched up unattractively.

The sound of more agents arriving on the scene fills in the heated silence. Screeching tires and slamming car doors hovering over the entire group.

Roughly running her fingers through her hair, Nina shifts back to Ian and signals him to one of the newly arrived cars. Taking the hint, he walks over to a black sedan, and yanks open the back door. Rummaging through a cardboard file box, he pulls out a manila case file; then, slams the door shut.

Nina turns back to Manning. "We—Gentlemen," A slight pause.

It only takes a few quick strides before Ian's handing her the file. She takes it, and slaps it against Manning's chest.

"—are dealing with one David McAllister, a.k.a. Reptilion."

Her stare quickly spans across the group gathered around the scene,

"Under the M.C.I.A., he's listed as a B-Class mutant. Is wanted on numerous counts of aggravated assault, four counts of grand theft, and one count of attempted kidnapping."

She crosses her arms over her chest and shifts her weight to the right.

"He was last seen escaping from police custody two months back. Unfortunately, it's been hard to track the bastard."

Snide smirk in place, Manning was ready for his biting remark.

"Getting a little too old to handle the job, Nina?"

She couldn't help but flash a fake smile. "I'm not the one with the bald spots, Manning. Besides, I have no interest in closing down my department."

That smile transforms into a genuine smirk at the foul look he gives her, which only manages to deepen at the barely repressed snickers erupting from his agents. Hellboy offers up his amused grunt only sweetening Nina's enjoyment.

Coughing in annoyance, she continues, "As I was saying—We made a discovery that's turned our investigation from a quick bag 'n' tag to a distorted mess." Another pause as her mouth sets into a grimace. "It appears our little friend isn't working alone."

An M.C.I.A. agent walks up to her and hands over a pile of photos.

"I had figured he'd taken on some sort of arrangement with other fugitives, but this is completely off from what anyone expected."

Nina sifts through the photos and starts handing them out to Manning and HB.

"At first, we thought these were mutants who could shapeshift or mimic, but our databases have no prior info on them. We searched for names, backgrounds, anything. I must have done over 50 failed traces. I spent hours studying their photos."

"And then, it struck me."

Handing a particular photo to Abe, she lets him take a second to look the creatures over.

"These are not human."

"Exactly!" She gestures encouragingly, excitement filling her eyes.

"I had a feeling something was amiss. But as soon as I saw that one photo I knew. It's almost an exact replica of the creature we saw last week, when we perused that book back at the library."

She handed over more blown up images of the creature to Abe. "And it gets better. It took a few hours, but after blowing up the images, I found this."

She made a circular motion around the creature's ankle, the image blurry. "You can barely see it, but look."

Able held the photo close, tightening his eyes attempting to see what she has. And it was like a light bulb went off. There standing on its ankle was the unmistakable symbol. The symbol of the chimera. "Remarkable!" It was all he could say. Never before had there been such a siting. It was obvious to him before at the auction house that these creature were in essence chimera like creatures, but he couldn't very well confirm that they held any ties to the research journals he kept safely in the library. But this! This simple little symbol made all the difference. Solid proof of chimera existing from ancient times. Sometimes god-like, it was almost frightening.

Pleased with Abe's response, Nina pulls one of the photo's already in Abe's hands and places it next to the other. "It gets better." The second photo showed the boy standing before the chimera as if he were conversing with it. "Tell me, what do you see?"

She points at the man, earlier identified as David McAllister, standing in the photo. "Look closely, we were unable to blow this image up anymore so this is the best we could get, but tell me you see what I see. Tell me I haven't gone mad."

Abe's face scrunched above his eyes, giving him a refined look of concentration. Though Nina wasn't sure how he could manage it. The man didn't haven any eyebrows and his forehead was just a smooth plane of skin.

Abe's sudden response pulls her out of her reverie. "His left shoulder, barely hidden from the sleeve."

Excitement returning, she nods in earnest. "He was the first one I had noticed it on. I recognized that symbol from our short encounter at the bureau and could not rest till I searched that creature top to bottom to see if there was a link." Lifting her head back up, she looks straight into Abe's eyes. "As soon as I connected all the dots, I knew I had to contact you."

He shifts his head to the side and nods.

Manning can't help but feel a sharp anger at her staring at the Icthyo Sapien with such burning excitement. The feeling brought up memories. Memories of when she would look at him the same way. Their time together. Partners. She always got that look when a case got hot. Had it really been that long since they worked together?

Focusing back on the situation at hand, he breaks into their little conversation, and asks,

"Why didn't you contact me sooner?"

She turns back to him her expression hard. "Because—these photos were only taken late last night."

Shoving her hands in her pockets, she manages to look a little sheepish under his scrutiny. "Look, you've got the info now. I think we should all head back to headquarters, get our shit in gear and cooperate the best that we can. I know I'm gonna need your department's help in this as you will need ours."

Manning manages a rude snort, his stubbornness never failing to piss her off.

Nina manages to choke down a scoff at his ever present lack of professionalism. Giving him one hard stare, she uses one hand to latch onto his coat and make him look at her. "You know I'm right..." Subtle. Her lips turns upward.

Manning lets his hard features soften just a little, hating to admit that she was right, but then again wasn't she always?

"Alright. But we're holding this on my grounds. I want as much information as you can give me. I can't have these damn things running all over the city."

Nodding her head she tugs on his coat once more, "Alright."

And just like that they had come to some formal agreement. With an objective set in motion, Nina turns around to address her agents when a loud shot rang out.

People were suddenly ducking behind cars and crates, frantically searching the area, guns drawn.

Nina's teeth clenched tight, feeling the warm liquid soaking into her clothes, the lightest 'patter' sound reaching her ears as blood trickled down her jacket and onto the ground.

Liz looked up from her position, eyes wide as she realized what had just happened.

Before anyone could react, the most hideous beast Nina had ever seen shot out of a crate, diving for her body. Roughly grabbing Liz by the arm, she attempts to throw her out of the way as far and quickly as she can. The creature latches onto her outstretched arm, an agonized scream tearing from her throat.

As the creature seeps its jaws in deeper, agents open fire.

It begins to drag her body across the docks, the bullets flying off of its back. Large, metallic scales glistened in the sunlight, shielding the creature from harm.

Nina begins to panic, eyes starting to blur. Her voice continued to ring out. Somewhere between her screaming and the pain, she could hear people shouting and gun clips hitting the ground. It was so strange, like being in a stadium corridor, that echoing sound, muffled voices. It was so hard to concentrate. The air felt thick and her lungs burned like fire.

Another large shot rang out, this time from HB's weapon. It ripped into the beast's shoulder blade, making its jaws set even further into the flesh.

Nina could feel herself fading, the pain so intense. She knew she had little time. Why did she have to take an injury now? Now, when she didn't have the strength to help herself. Perhaps, Ian wasn't a rookie after all. She hated it when the director was right.

It was a last ditch effort. She needed him so she cried out to her friend, "Pulse!"

Ian's face ran white, she only called him by that alias when she really needed him. He hadn't been with the group very long and missions were few and far between for him. He was still getting used to the codename the department had bestowed on him. People only seemed to use it when he would have to do something drastic, something he knew he wouldn't like.

"I'm coming!" he yelled out, desperation in his voice. His friend needed him and he'd be damned to just sit there and let that thing continue to feast on his boss. Dropping his gun, he ran straight into the line of fire, agents suddenly shouting at him to stop, completely shocked. Was this guy stupid? But their shock deepened further as he started to glow. A purple haze surrounded him as he, unwavering, ran toward her the bullets bouncing off his body.

Running in as close to her as he could, he lifted his hand and squinted his eyes, heavy breathing turning into an almost wheezing sound. He couldn't hold out much longer. Long periods of use on his force field always drained him. He had to take the quickest and safest measure to secure Nina. With his powers already weakening and the monster still as strong as ever, Ian had to make his choice and he sure as hell didn't like it.

The sound of flesh being severed filled the air, the smell of burnt skin reaching Ian's nostrils. The creature clung to her arm, biting down hard, but Ian feared it would go after the rest of her. Without a moment's hesitation, he snatched Nina up in his arms, a light purple dome surrounding them as he began to sweat profusely.

Nina lay on the ground, unconscious and covered in her own blood.

The creature realizing the sudden detachment wraps it's tongue around the severed limb, lifting its head up and swallowing it whole.

Still enticed by the blood surrounding it, the beast starts to smash its head into the force field, trying to get to Nina, its hunger still unquenched.

Pulling himself out of his own shock, he tightens his hands into fists. A powerful determination enters his eye, it was time to put this to an end.

Gathering up his demonic strength, he comes charging through a crate, ramming into the monster and crashing it into the side of a warehouse, denting the wall behind them. Hellboy shouts in a burning rage, smashing his stone fist into the creature's face, making the wall dent even further, the metal starting to tear from the stress.

The creature's claws scratch at Hellboy, desperate to be free, but HB snatches it by the throat and swings it around him, gaining momentum.

With as much force as he could muster, Hellboy flung it into the air, its body hurdling through the sky and making a giant splash into the bay.

Just as he takes his first step towards the water, he falters at Liz's pained cry. Her mouth covered by her hands, sobs escape her as she stands 10 feet away from Nina's body. Manning is standing beside Liz, completely in shock. He looks to frightened to get close, afraid to accept what he is seeing.

Ian is hunched over Nina, attempting to cradle her mangled body, the forcefield completely dissolved now. His heart lurches at the site. His lungs ache at seeing the normally vibrant woman curled in his arms. He quickly looks to the other agents, eyes piercing. "She's still alive! We need to get her help!"

Ian's face was still white, he looks at the other with wild eyes, "Alice and Judy! We need them!"

Liz looks up urgency in her eyes, "They're back at the other warehouse watching the girl."

Without hesitation, Ian hoists Nina up, running as fast as he can.

Hellboy is looking at her in confusion. "How did you know?"

Liz turns to him, eyes still teary and wide. "There was a voice in my head. Told me to tell them."

Abe suddenly falls to his knees, hands planted flat on the ground.

Hellbody and Liz move to help him. HB lays his hand on Abe's back. "You all right?"

Abe releases a shaky breath. The emotions radiating from the people around him overwhelm him. Tightening his hands, he tries to regain some sense of composure. He could hear Ian in his head, the echoing sound of his voice just before he had carried Nina away:

"That was the hardest thing that I have ever had to do."

Abe looked up at Hellboy with painfully wide eyes, "I'll be all right. I just need a minute."

The voices continued to echo:

"And I never want to have to do it ever again."

Abe continued to stare down at the ground, the emotional flood finally waning. He could understand the man's reaction to what had happened. It was shocking even to himself seeing her arm completely severed from her shoulder.

But more shocking than that was the feelings being broadcast were not just Ian's. In fact, the emotions that spoke out the most,

Were from Dr. Manning.


(A/N:) And that concludes chapter 2. I hope ya'll enjoyed it. )

Chapter 3 should have more in-depth information on my characters. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave it in a review or email.

Reviews in general are loved and appreciated.

Enjoy the weekend everybody. D 07/23/2008