A/N: Oh jeez, I'm so sorry for not updating frequently there's just a lot going on in my personal life right now. And thank you for the reviews, guys :D
It had awoken her.
Sonya had been sleeping peacefully on Hellboy's chest, her wings spread out across the sheets.
"It" was a repetitive knocking sound originating from the large metal door to Hellboy's room. She had been startled awake, unsure if the sound was real or simply the lingering remnants of a particularly vivid nightmare.
She had just about rationalized it to herself as nothing more than a figment of her subconscious when the tapping came again. Testing her full weight on her legs and finding they didn't crumple beneath her, she stumbled out of bed and slipped Red's shirt—which went down to about her thighs—to cover her nude form.
Jerking open the door, she found herself face to face with a woman with black hair. Smiling, Sonya leaned her hip against the door-frame. "Hi, may I help you?"
"Hello," The woman was eyeing the long black shirt that was over Sonya's frame, but put on a small smile anyway. "I was looking for Hellboy, does he still live here?"
"Uh," Sonya blinked. "Yeah, who's asking?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, my name's Liz, Liz Sherman."
Sonya's mouth parted, but before she could speak up, she heard a shuffle of footsteps behind her then Hellboy's voice.
"Liz?"
"Hey, Red."
The air had gone still with silence as he and Liz sat at a table in one of the meeting rooms.
On the other side of the table, Hellboy's fingers drum a careful rhythm against cold glass table-top. For all his futile efforts, he still held some semblance of hope that this was simply a dream, that he was still sleeping peacefully next to Sonya, but he knew that this was real. He lifted his wary gaze to Liz.
Her eyes caught his, a flutter of her eyelids clearly stating how awkward she felt. A tensing of his lips was all he could give her in return.
"HB..." She mumbled nervously, she tilted her head to the side, eyes focused on the floor.
"What're you doing here?" He asked, but she remained fixed in her spot as though he was a complete stranger rousing her from unconsciousness.
After a moment or two, she spoke. "You once said that...you'd never give up on me. Ever."
He knew that was true. And in a way, he never would. The black collar of his shirt suddenly tightening around his neck, choking him, as his teeth worried the flesh of his bottom lip. Did Liz being back change how he felt for Sonya? No, but it certainly gave him something to think about.
He chastised himself internally; he couldn't choose between them, that was ridiculous. Liz had always been there, hadn't she? They grew up together, she was his first real love, the choice should obviously be her. But then again, there was Sonya.
His mind was whirling, a cacophony of furious scarlet and sinister indigo. He had fallen for Sonya, that much was true but why should it come between him and Liz. Why Sonya?
"Liz, I can't...drop everything for you." As soon as he said it, he knew that it was a lie. He would drop everything—and had—for Liz. "I mean...I'm with Sonya now and I...just—" He rubbed a hand over his face, trying find something to say.
Silence settled in again, and finally Liz breathed out, "I'm not…asking you to take me back, Red. I'm trying to earn your forgiveness," She said in a tone that told him she was being sincere.
Hearing her say these things made this all so much more real, his brain pounded against his skull painfully. He stared at the ground to avoid her gaze. The two had last seen each other a little under a year ago when she had up and left after the miscarriage, so it was no surprise he felt awkward in her presence.
She was observing him now with her ever-watchful eyes that calculate and scrutinize each breath. "Look, I...don't want to go each day knowing that you're mad at me." She drew in a breath and shut her eyes, shaking her head. "You've obviously got something going here, and I'm not trying to interrupt that, I just need to know that things are going to be okay between us."
"Liz," He began, eyes searching ever-vigilantly for a sign of fault or repentance, a sign that reminds her of why he is here in the first place. "I'm sorry."
"W—what? For what?"
"For not going after you." He said to her shoes instead of her face, as if while convincing both her and himself of the meaning behind the apology, he was incapable of addressing her knowing eyes.
Heaving a sigh, she shook her head. "Don't be sorry. I'm the one that should be sorry for leaving you when you needed me." She wished she could get rid of the feeling of loss and dread that hung over their heads, but it was intangible, an disembodied mass that weighed heavy and caused the act of drawing in a breath incredibly difficult.
"I think I should go," she told him, the decision of a judge, jury, and executioner. "It's probably—"
"No," He interrupted. "No, Liz, you don't have to go." Hellboy met her gaze and lifted his shoulders just a little. "I forgive you."
The words could have been silent and she still would have felt their meaning, she felt as if he'd pulled her back into the boat she'd tumbled out of, desperate for dry warmth to shake away the icy shock of frigid waters. These words were equivalent to extending an olive branch.
"Thank you."
Rubbing his hands along his knees, he turned toward her with a small smile. "Any time."
Sonya had been pacing back and forth for the last fifteen or so minutes, gnawing at her bottom lip nervously. Hands over her eyes, she could only hear the ticking of the clock in the hallway and the muffled speech from behind the door. She heard footsteps coming her way, and her hands fell away from her eyes and she backed up a few steps to allow them to emerge from the room.
The glass door opened and Hellboy emerged first. And she managed to maintain her calm air despite the awkward presence that filled the hall.
"Are…you alright?" Sonya asked awkwardly, broken speech tumbling awkwardly from her tongue despite her genuine tone.
"Yeah," He exhaled as though exhausted. Not a witty response on his tongue, he nodded, brushing past her to go back to his room.
By a moment's happenstance, she found herself alone in Liz's presence. Her mouth opened awkwardly, a gaping fish out of water.
"And...uh, what about you? Are you okay?" An awkward shuffling of feet accompanying Sonya's words.
"Yes," Liz smiled weakly. "I feel better actually."
Sonya suddenly felt as if there was an anchor pulling on her stomach and she cast her eyes away. "That's good." She raked through the recesses of her mind, trying to find something to soothe her own nerves. But as if she couldn't hold it back, guilt rose fast and sputtered out in choked syllables. "I'm sorry."
The other woman looked taken aback. "Why?"
"For being the thing that's keeping you and Hellboy apart."
"No," Liz said. "Don't be sorry. I'm the reason he's not with me."
"It' just," She sucked in a breath. "I haven't known him for very long and you—" She broke off, tucking hair behind her ear nervously and offering Liz a forced smile. "You've known him forever. I shouldn't come between you two."
"But you do," She said the words with a gentleness that surprised Sonya. "You come between us because he loves you."
Sonya blushed and directed her eyes to the tiles beneath her feet.
"It's true, I can see it. And you love him."
Liz came forward, a hand placed upon Sonya's shoulder. "It's okay. Really."
With a dejected breath, Sonya entered Hellboy's room to find him on the bed, a kitten curled up next to him.
"I take it that Liz didn't set you fire," Red smiled as the kitten got up and pranced away. "That's always a good sign." It surprised him then how freely she laughed at his words, the first unfettered emotion he'd witnessed from her all day. "So, how are you doing?" he asked, trying to discern the fluttering in his stomach.
"I feel fine." Her answer was followed by a smile that he pursed his lips at.
"Really?" Hellboy fixed her with a measured look.
"Well, maybe, I'm a little jealous..."
"That's almost human of you," He smirked teasingly.
She nodded. "I know." And then as quickly as she had conjured up her air of false bravado, she let it slip away, her lips set in a firm line; her face grave.
"You're not really 'fine', are you?" Hellboy asked, getting up and walking over to stand in front of her.
Sonya's hands reached up to comb through her hair in a gesture of exhaustion. "No...I don't know how I'm supposed to compete with someone like that." She regarded him with wide blue eyes, begging for comfort.
"A competition for what?"
"A competition for you."
He sighed, and took her hands into his and kissed her forehead. "I'm not going anywhere."
She was like a child before him, captivated by his promises and proximity. "Good."
Then her mouth was against his, speaking volumes without words. Absently he slowly lowered himself to get better access, and his mouth caught hers more heavily, escalating the kiss. There was a quick sweep of tongue that made her gasp, a fleeting biting sensation as he slid down her chin and followed the curve of her jaw.
"You'll be the death of me," she said unevenly as she pulled away.
He laughed and shook his head before his mouth traced down the line of her jaw, the soft curve of her neck. She choked on a moan, a primal desire rising from within her chest. Of course, Sonya could choose to remove herself from the moment. But it had become second nature, automatic, that whenever Hellboy touched her, she felt it. When had the interaction become vital to her? When had she ceased to be so concerned with her heavenly vows?
Her fingertips began to tug at Hellboy's clothing with the alacrity and impatience of a lover one had gone too long without seeing. Then he was lifting her up onto his hips and stumbling backward until her back hit the wall, his hands at her hips were hiking the skirt up to her waist. Sonya broke the kiss and leaned back, her long dark hair falling messily around her face and shoulders, lips red and swollen, her blue eyes even more bright than usual, her nimble fingers undoing the buttons on her shirt.
As soon as she rid her body of the shirt, his hands began roaming over the freshly exposed skin, and her fingers were busy undoing the belt to his pants and pushing them down. Hellboy was busy pulling off her skirt and tossing that and her underwear away blindly.
He began to nip at the soft skin of her neck and the feeling was a welcome one. Pushing aside all other thought but him, Sonya wrapped her arms and legs around him, clutching his body in a desperate fervor. She gasped into the kiss as he slid into her, her teeth sinking into his lower lip. He was a perfect fit, as though he had been made to be in her. Sonya hissed her appreciation as her nails dug into his back, scraping skin and feeling muscle beneath it all. Hellboy just about growled then, right into her ear, and Sonya bit her lip at the sound of it. She could never hope to respond to anyone like she did him. And even if she were to be with someone else, she was certain she would ache for him.
Thankfully, it hadn't taken Sonya very long to fall into sync with him and Sonya's pressed down against him in silent urging. She wiggled enticingly, pinned between the wall and Hellboy, and continued to moan and purr in turn, all depending on where his hands and mouth landed or how he thrust.
The bed was beneath them now, she hadn't even realized. She was busy feeling the world beneath them spin. Each quiver was a direct result of the assault he set on her body, each moan escaping because she could do nothing but.
Bereft of words or speech or thought, she arched her back and she tightened her legs around his waist. She didn't think about how she would be considered unclean in the minds of the family that she was born into, that she was tainted. She didn't think about how she could be condemned even more so for this, and she couldn't even think about the outside world and soon enough she cried out, clutching to him.
They both sucked in sharp breaths. Her lips hovered close, almost touching his, as her forehead leaned against his. Save that they were both relearning how to breathe appropriately, neither moved. Her trembling ceased, her breathing steadily evened out. But he didn't move until her eyes opened and sought him out in the warm, shadowed room.
As soon as he pulled out, she nearly collapsed, had they not moved from the wall to the bed, she may as well have. A smile ghosted over her lips before she idly kissed him and laid her head against his massive red chest. She reached out and her fingertips brushed his shoulder, tracing taut skin over curves where muscles bulge. She touched his face very lightly like a rush of delicate wind. The brush of smooth flesh that left her with an unusual feeling; the kiss of skin to skin, her fingertips trailed over sensitized flesh.
Satiated and content, she raised her face towards the man. "I don't think I'll ever tire of doing that."
He laughed and shook his head. "Me either."
"Red, I…may have lied to you."
That roused him somewhat. They had been lounging in his room the next morning and he looked up from the kittens and over at her. He opened his mouth and drew a quick breath to speak by Sonya beat him to it.
"It's been eating away at me and I want to tell you the truth."
Some part of him that hung on every word so he didn't speak. What could she have been hiding from him that was as bad as what he was hiding from her? He had lied to her when he said that he was sure he wanted her, he honestly wasn't sure of much anymore.
"I…was originally going to be sent down to Earth to kill you. I've been training for it and I've been watching you for years, planning it out so…precisely." She broke off. "I didn't tell you because I was scared to and—" She swallowed the rest of the words back and expected to hear some sort of rebuke, but there was nothing.
Hiding her fragility and standing upright, she shuffled where she stood ready to take any opportunity to run toward the doorway, hoping to get away from him before any sort of conversation could begin.
She bit her lip, she needed to tell him every detail. "I landed in this facility with the intentions of killing you, eliminating the option of them using you like they had planned for me to do. I was going to get close to you and then strike but I—" She shut her eyes. "I just couldn't."
She had felt trapped as if she was in the sea of people when there was really only the two of them, like there was pressure all around her. She felt a pang of discomfort deep in her chest and her fingers gripped the edge of her skirt with immense force.
"When did you decide not to kill me?"
She snapped back to the present and she saw the tawny eyes regarding hers with weariness.
Words failed her, weighing desperately against her legs as she steps forward. "I don't know, it was stupid, I—" A doubtful smile fading the moment it rose to her lips.
Tears have already begun to fall from her eyes before he could even speak, and he breathed heavily around the name his lips form, "Sonya," It was unfair of her to do this, to tell him this when he's distracted, when he's battling within himself. Her...or Liz.
"You didn't even know me, why would you do that?" He said, the cruelty that should have accompanied the words was lacking. "Are all angels like that? Only follow the logical choice?"
"Would it matter if I told you I was sorry?" She breathed, "Because I am."
He couldn't answer her–there was nothing to say. What did it matter that she was sorry, what possible good would that do? But she had been honest with him and after all, she didn't kill him, wasn't that what counted? "Look, all that matters is that you didn't do it, and you're not planning to anymore, right?"
"Of course not."
"Good." He pressed a reassuring kiss to her forehead and she smiled weakly.
Before the grave was dug further, she lifted her head in response, cutting off any words that might have followed.
