Disclaimer: I do not own Hellboy, or anything affiliated with Hellboy.

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Bound

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Delusional Dreams

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"Grandpa, you have to drink your orange juice. You need your vitamins."

Alexis rummaged through the refrigerator, and pulled out a carton of orange juice. A glass was filled half way and placed in front of her grandfather. He briefly looked up from the note pad in front of him, eyeing the orange liquid.

"I've got everything I need right here, thank you." He replied pushing the glass of orange juice away, and taking a sip from his coffee mug.

"Coffee's not good for you." She lectured sliding the glass closer just for good measure.

"I'll stop drinking coffee when you quit smoking."

Alexis sighed, but couldn't help the smile that tugged at the edge of her lips. They went through this every morning, and every morning turned out the same. The older man would push away the orange juice and drink a cup of coffee, maybe even two, just to make a point.

"You know I love you more than anything, don't you, Alex?"

His voice was just above a whisper, but she heard him loud and clear. Sitting down next to him, Alexis took her grandpa's free hand in her own. The other was occupied with a pen. He had been writing something since he woke up.

"Of course I do. You know I love you, right?"

The older man's lip curled into a smile, his eyes momentarily falling to the notepad before him. The smile quickly dropped and with a shaky hand he reached for the glass of orange juice.

"You should head to school. You don't want to be late for your appointment."

There was a moment of hesitation, but Alexis nodded and gathered her things. It was getting late. Before she left, she kissed her grandfather goodbye just like she did everyday. But something felt different today.

"Make me proud, Alexis. Make me proud."

The voices were just mummers in the dark. A weight, heavy on her chest, made it difficult to breath. The sharp, quick intakes of air were not enough to sustain her. Then it was over.

She bolted upright into a sitting position so fast to anyone watching it would seem she was probed in the back with a hot poker. Her right hand clutched her chest and her eyes darted around the room in an attempt to make sense of where she was. The sound of her heart beating pounded in her ears making it difficult to think straight, or make sense of anything around her, but she immediately recognized her living room. She was lying on the couch, in her living room, in her house.

"Good, you're awake"

To her left, the blonde cop that escorted her earlier lounged in a chair. He straightened up once he realized she was awake, and stood. Alexis eyed him cautiously, her entire body tense.

"You gave all of us quite a scare. You had a panic attack. A bad one."

All of us? Alexis' eyebrows crinkled in confusion as she looked around the room and found no one. They were the only two in the living room.

"I knew I should have taken my damn pill today," Alexis murmured, and stood, regretting it the moment her butt left the couch. A sharp pain spread through her head causing her to groan, and, sit back down. When the pain subsided enough to think straight she asked. "Where's my grandpa?"

The question seemed to hang in the air, stale and unanswered. Alexis stared at the blonde man waiting for his eyes to tell her something -anything- but they held no emotions, and no answers to her questions. Then it happened. For a second his eyes flickered towards the back of the house. Towards her grandfather's room.

Alexis didn't hesitate. She didn't have time to. As quickly as she could, she was off the couch sprinting towards her grandpa's room. But, she wasn't quick enough. Somewhere in her delusional mind she decided she could make it past a man much bigger than her, but he easily caught her arm. He said something; something along the lines of 'don't go back there' but Alexis was determined. She vaguely remembered a self-defense move- a move she saw on some television show-and after twisting, and squirming in the man's arms she managed to turn her body so she was facing him. In one quick motion, her palm crushed his nose, sending the man flying backwards. The move gave her just enough time to slip from his grasp, and continue to the backroom.

When she finally reached her destination her heart dropped in her chest, and she instantly regretted not listening to the blonde man. The smell was what hit her first. There was no way to describe it other than something that had been rotting in the sun for weeks. It took all her strength not to throw up what she eaten earlier. Then there was seeing what actually caused the smell.

The scene before her was something out of a horror movie. A dark green slime covered the carpet, and blood was splattered across the wall and the ceiling. The source of the blood was obvious and scattered around the room. Body parts were scattered around the room. Her grandfather's body parts.

A hand covered her mouth, mostly out of shock, but also in an attempt to keep back the vomit quickly coming up her throat. It was a vain attempt, and she lost the battle ending up in the bathroom with her face half way down the toilet.

--

Professor Broom was the first to hear the screaming, and Hellboy was the first downstairs to check it out. The house was checked thoroughly when they arrived so he doubted monsters were the cause of the commotion, but to be on the safe side he pulled his gun from its holster.

The first thing Hellboy noticed when he reached the bottom of the stairs was the couch was empty. The girl was gone. The second thing he noticed was Agent Kulpa standing near the back of the house, head back, and blood covering his hand and nose.

The gun was shoved back into its place at Hellboy's side, and a deep sigh escaped his lips. "Where's the kid?" he asked eying the damage to the man's nose. It didn't look too bad. At least not broken.

The agent attempted to reply but didn't get a chance. The sound of coughing and retching answered for him. Then a string of curses. Hellboy frowned sending the agent a glare.

"You were supposed to keep the kid in the living room, Kulpa."

Agent Kulpa nodded in understanding, struggling to keep his nose from bleeding. "I had a good grip on her. I wasn't expecting her to turn around and deck me." He replied. "She's quicker than she looks."

"Yea, quicker than she looks..."

Hellboy cracked his neck and let out a long breath. He was tired, he was hungry, and he just wanted to go back to the bureau and relax. The last few days had been tiring for him, both physically and emotionally. For the first time in weeks he broke out and saw Liz. Sure, he got himself on the news again, and his father was a little upset, but he saw Liz. And for the first time since he knew her she agreed to come back to the bureau and watch a movie with him. Somewhat like a date, although he hesitated to call it that. He didn't want to give his hopes up just yet. Liz was a difficult person to figure out. Hell, all women were difficult to figure out, but perhaps, that was due to his limited interaction with the opposite sex.

A hand touched Hellboy's arm and immediately he knew it was his father. He pushed the thoughts of Liz from his mind, and tried to set his focus back on the mission at hand. The quicker he focused, the quicker this would be over, and the quicker it would be tomorrow.

He looked over his shoulder at Professor Broom and nodded towards the bathroom. "She's back there. Kulpa couldn't handle her."

Agent Kulpa mumbled a few choice words and headed towards the kitchen. Professor Broom simply let out a small sigh, slowly heading towards the bathroom, signaling Hellboy to stay behind.

The professor found Alexis on the bathroom floor, hunched over the toilet. It was obvious she saw the scene in her grandfather's room, something he did not want. Nobody deserved to see a family member in that condition, but what was done was done. He couldn't do anything about it now.

"I am so sorry about your grandfather, Alexis."

Alexis tensed the voice startling her. For a moment she forgot she wasn't the only one in the house. All she could think of was her grandfather ripped into pieces. It took her three times coughing and clearing her throat loudly before she found her voice, and still it was hoarse and timid.

"Go away."

The professor ignored her request and moved forward, entering the bathroom. "I'm afraid I can't do that Miss Darby."

"You've got the wrong person." Alexis spit in the toilet and sat back on the heels of her feet. "My name isn't Darby."

"I'm afraid it is my dear."

Alexis bit her lip, her teeth clinking against the metal rings. Finally, she turned and glared at the man behind her. He was about the same age as her grandfather, maybe a bit younger. She took in a breath before she spoke to keep her voice calm. "No, my name it Kyte, Alexis Kyte." She stressed the last name her voice rising.

Professor Broom did not want to overwhelm Alexis with information, she had been through enough today, but he needed to get her safely back to the bureau. It was a promise he made to her grandfather many years ago. And he wasn't about to break a promise.

"Alexis Darby. Your name it Alexis Darby. Your father was Alexander Darby–"

"My father is dead." She cut him off, and clamped her eyes closed trying to block out the man's voice. But he continued.

"And your grandfather was Alfred Darby."

Alexis gritted her teeth, and swallowed hard. She had heard enough.

"They are dead! They are all dead! There is nobody left!" Her throat burned as she screamed at the man, and her voice cracked. "My birth certificate says my name is Kyte, it's always said Kyte, and it always will say Kyte."

Professor Broom allowed her to finish, standing perfectly calm. It was obvious she needed to release some pent up anger. "Alexis, when you were only a few months old there was an incident." He paused, allowing her to absorb what he was saying. She simply snorted at his words, and he continued. "Your grandfather had your birth certificate altered and your name changed."

"Stop it! Just stop it!" She stood and turned, pointing an accusing finger at the man. Her hand quivered out of anger, out of confusion. "You are so full of bullshit. I-I -you can't just decide to change someone's name. It's not possible."

Alexis didn't give the professor a chance to answer. She covered her ears and maneuvered around him unwilling to hear any more lies. She couldn't handle the lies. Her intent was to grab some clothes and haul ass out of there. If she had to sleep in her car she would, she just needed to get out of this house, and away from these people.

She barely made it ten steps down the hallway before she stopped, frozen. Hellboy, the red demon, a comic book character stood less than five feet in front of her. She stared, squinting her eyes for good measure. Hellboy thought she would scream and run away any moment - it wouldn't be the first time- but he received a reaction he never received before. Laughter. She let out a laugh. Everyone in the room, Clay, the professor, the other agents, Hellboy himself stared.

"Oh, I get it now," Alexis let out another laugh turning to look at the professor before her gaze landed back on Hellboy. "This is all a dream, or I'm drunk, or passed out, or high, or something I shouldn't be."

"Alexis, I assure you, this isn't a dream." Professor Broom said softly placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked at him briefly, before shrugging the hand off and shaking her head.

"No, no, no, he doesn't exist." She closed the distance between herself and Hellboy and poked his chest. "You don't exist. You're a comic book character. My grandpa owns every single comic about you. I read them when I was little. You are not real."

With his left hand - his normal hand - Hellboy grabbed the girl's wrist preventing her finger from poking his chest again. "Kid, I'm as real as things get. So, I suggest you stop poking me before I get real pissed off and start listening to the professor."

"Professor?" A light bulb went off in Alexis' head and she looked at the older man with her eyebrows raised. "Professor Trevor Bruttenholm?"

Professor Broom gave Hellboy a quick warning look and stepped between the two before Alexis could provoke Hellboy anymore then she already had. He answered Alexis' question with a nod, and again, Alexis shook her head in disbelieve.

"That's it. I have officially lost it. I've lost it and I'm so far gone I'm not coming back." She murmured the words mostly to herself pacing the small area of the hallway. She pointed a finger at Professor Broom. "My grandpa told me about you. He said you were part of some paranormal thing."

"The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense." The professor replied, and Alexis' mouth dropped open in shock.

"Shit."

The word slipped through her lips barely a whisper. If her grandfather were alive he would scold her and tell her to watch her mouth. But he was gone, and she was here, with people she thought were mere characters in her grandfather's eccentric stories.

Alexis hated anything that caused her to stray from her regular routine of going to work and coming home. Going to college was a huge deal for her. This- all of this- was a bit too much to handle.

"I think-I-I'm gonna go take a pill or two, or...something." Alexis stumbled over her words, her eyes glancing from Hellboy, to Professor Broom, then back to Hellboy again. This is not real, this is not real, this is not real!

"Alexis, I know this is a lot to take in at once, but you must trust me. You are not safe."

Closing her eyes, and shaking her head, Alexis blindly made her way back to the bathroom. She ignored Professor Broom's plea and began shifting through the medicine cabinet looking for something - anything- to make this all go away. Just breathe, Alexis. This is all a dream. You'll wake up tomorrow and everything will be fine.

"I'm sorry things have to be done this way, Alexis."

Alexis payed no attention to the professor, and continued her rampage through the bathroom leaving no pill container untouched. She was so involved she didn't hear the man coming up behind her. It happened so quickly, Alexis didn't have time to react. Not that she would have reacted any quicker if she knew it was coming.

A hand gripped her wrist and pulled her arm behind her back, and then the other. It was obvious the man was not using his full strength in fear of hurting her, and Alexis used this to her advantage. In a pathetic attempt to get out of his grip, Alexis let out a hoarse scream and shoved herself back into the man, using her weight to hopefully knock him over. She had a good one hundred and fifty pounds on her, but the man towered over her and was well over two hundred pounds. He didn't budge. Instead, the man tightened his grip and Alexis ended up with her face pressed against the wall, and her arms twisted at a painful angle. Blood from her nose smeared across the white wall, and dripped down her lips and chin.

Maybe she wasn't dreaming after all.