"We've got about one more day before we reach Lulea. The trucks can't keep going in the snow, though. We'll have to stop for the night," John explained as Hellboy and Mary climbed out from the back of their truck. The large demon squatted slightly, trying to work the kinks out of his knees, enjoying the air.

The wind had stopped for the moment, allowing the snowflakes to drift sleepily in the orange-grey air. The sun was about an hour before setting but the form of it couldn't be seen due to the clouds. All lines in the mountains were darkened and sharpened until they resembled teeth.

All together there were eight team members, Hellboy, John, Abe, Mary, and four other members, Agent Bowing, Jackson, White and Sanchez. Within the hour they had up four tents, each a two person, and a tarp out to sit on before bed. Abe remained in his tank in the truck, floating contentedly in the warm water. Mary had muttered earlier about just jumping in with him and growing gills, making the fish man a bit worried about personal space.

"Hey, you know what's funny?" she prompted, sitting cross legged on the tarp with her bag in her lap. Hellboy plopped down next to her, grumbling about having first watch of the night. He hated having first watch; why? He didn't know. He just did.

"What?"

"We're eating cold, freeze-dried food."

"And that's funny, how?"

"We're gonna be the same thing if we're here much longer," she grinned sadistically, pulling out a bag of Jack Links Jerky and trail mix. Hellboy rolled his golden eyes, snatching a small cooler John set down. Out of it he grabbed a beer and tossed it to the agent, then one to Mary before snatching his pick of the litter.

"Well, that's great. Really," he muttered in annoyance as he cracked the tab on his beer. The other agents finished up whatever chores were meant to be done and came to sit. Bowing and Sanchez were alright guys, as far as Hellboy was concerned but the other two he wasn't sure. White was too quiet, a bit like John but more angry seeming. Maybe he had a tampon shoved up his ass, who knew.

It was Jackson that bugged him. Maybe it was his close shaved hair and military grunt look. Or the fact that he had this snide little smirk about him, one Hellboy dearly wished to beat off of him. Or perhaps it was because he hadn't stopped eyeing the one female in the troupe since they reached Sweden.

So far, Mary had noticed but ignored the obviously suggestive glances. In fact, she clung to his side and John's more and more as the trip progressed. Inwardly it delighted the demon that she recoiled from other men's advances. But then it made him wonder if she came to him as she would a brother. Now, that was not good.

"Anyone have even a clue as to what we're facing?" Bowing asked as he cleaned his rifle for the next day. His breath fogged in the cold but it wasn't half as bad as it was when the wind blew. The air was more close and clammy than anything.

"Nope."

"Nadda."

"Mm-mm."

"Well, this is just great," Jackson drawled in feign annoyance, flopping back on the tarp, a slim cigarette in his lips. The action brought him noticeably closer to Mary's curled legs which he smiled at. "We're gonna get chomped by some goddamn monster and we won't even know what it is."

"That's the way it is. Get used to it," Hellboy replied a bit sharply, dislike practically oozing from him. The young agent switched his gaze to him, the icy blue eyes narrowing at him. "Should be used to it anyway. How long have you been working here? A couple of years now? What've you been doing? Hiding?"

Jackson glared at him before snorting a laugh at him. Sanchez cleared his throat from where he sat, a bag of dried banana chips next to him and a book in his lap.

"I think we might have a clan of some sort on our hands."

"How'd'you figure?" John asked respectfully. Sanchez was probably one of the older agents in the bureau, besides Hellboy and Abe, and had gone on far more missions than the other humans. He had a kind face despite a wicked scar which ran across his forehead and down his cheekbone on the left side. Poltergeist attacked him with a china plate in Spain in '85.

"There's almost a methodical pattern to the attacks; always a three day period between attacks and they're spaced out to make it seem more accidental. They're all also along the shore area, some on the shores of Lulea itself. Not many animals think or act like that."

"So if not an animal then-"

"Something demonic, maybe a half-breed organization, like the Bulgarian werewolf clan."

"Or it could be some crazy humans trying to summon something without getting too much attention," Hellboy interjected, grumpy with the whole situation. Not to mention the Army Brat was eyeing her again. "It does happen more often than people believe."

"Guess we'll find out," White murmured finally, his voice barely audible. He looked more sour and upset about this than anyone else in the group.

A gust of wind suddenly whipped down, causing everyone to shiver at the abrupt chill. Mary huddled into her coat, teeth chattering, as it blew through, becoming thoroughly frustrated with being cold.

"Why couldn't this happen in Cuba or something? I friggin' hate this weather!" she bitched, huffing into her mittens. Jackson grew a twisted, seductive smile, his hands tucked behind his head as he lay there.

"You should probably go inside. Wouldn't want those prizes falling off, would ya? Use my tent, its got a nice heated sleeping bag, big enough for two," he suggested in what would be an easy tone. Mary's mouth fell open and her cheeks flushed in anger at his statement. Before she could say anything, Hellboy had leaped to his feet, towering above the man who scrambled to get up as well as retrieve a gun.

Mary reached out to calm the demon but yelped instead when he scooped her up in his arms. In stunned silence she stared up at him but his golden, smoldering eyes were locked on the wary agent. The others seemed similarly nervous and concerned but said nothing. John gave her a look but she shrugged in her position.

The look Hellboy gave Jackson practically spewed death in various painful ways. In return he tried to glare back, his own somewhat pitiful compared to the seething anger.

"You be careful what you say to my girlfriend. Got it, asshole?" the large demon snarled threateningly as he turned about to head for his tent. Five pairs of mouths dropped as he walked away, carrying a shocked woman and an almost visible cloud of death threats.

Once they were out of hearing range, Mary timidly looked up at Hellboy, her eyes quizzical.

"Girlfriend?" she asked curiously. "Is that what I am now?"

"Oh, can it. He was practically asking you to fuck him," he snapped in reply as he leaned down to unzip the door. She closed her mouth and frowned at his vulgar explanation as he set her inside upon a sleeping bag. "What? Ya wanna go back there and accept the invitation?"

The serious, seething growl in his voice made her partially afraid to snip back something sarcastic. He crouched down in front of the door, still out in the snow, as he unzipped her jacket and gruffly took it from her.

"No. No, I don't."

"Then stay in here. He won't leave you alone and I really, really want the pleasure of breaking his teeth in," Hellboy ordered as he stripped off her mittens and boots. Mary nodded but frowned thoughtfully as she let him take off most of her wet outer clothing. Finally she slapped away his large hands delicately and waved him away.

"You don't have to baby me."

"Fine, I'll be back in a couple hours. Go to sleep."

In response she closed the tent, her quiet frustration radiating from the structure.

AN: Hey, next chapter is a bit naughty and its gonna get worse later on. If you see this line at the bottom of the chapter, then be careful of the next one. Explicit material, people.

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