DISCLAIMER: I do not own any original BPRD character. I just own the plot and the OCs. I do not think I own Ruddy either: he has a kind of life on his own.

No warnings for this chapter: just some bad language and irony.
The section in italics at the beginning of the chapter is a dreamlike sequence. Any other part in this formatting is in Latin and will be translated at the end of the chapter.

Challenge's still up: who Ruddy really is?
Come on, I gave you a fair amount of clues.
There is a new secondary challenge: who is the woman in Ruddy's dream?
Please reply by reviewing.

Enjoy!


Pain and rage had faded completely, leaving him empty, almost peaceful.
He could not feel his body at all.
Where was he?
Had he left the material world?

Was he home?

He was floating weightlessly in the white mist, moving slowly but surely towards a distant light.
Try as he might, he could not alter his course or turn around to explore his surroundings.
Suddenly the scenario changed: floating shapes of light and colour swirled around him, creating indescribable monuments which defied any law of logic and geometry and destroying them again in the time of a breath.
He contemplated the amazing show for what felt like eons, then the light changed sharply turning to a warm red and suddenly he was falling at terrible speed towards the red sand below him.
The impact was terrible, but, strangely, he felt no fear.
He felt his body was completely broken, bones pointing out at awkward angles.
Lying on the warm sand, he felt no pain even if he knew he should.

It felt like home, like Dashre.
It smelled like home and he knew his house was near, yet he could not move a single muscle to reach it.
Feeling frantic, he willed himself to move but could not.
He tried to call for help but could not.
He was trapped and was starting to panic.
There was somebody coming in his direction, but he could not make out his or her outline as his sight had gone awry.
It was as if his eyelids were glued together and he was trying to see through the narrowest slit.

He heard footsteps approaching and a soft voice: "It is not time you return here, brother." a woman said.
He could smell the sweet white scent of hyssop and jasmine her skin exuded.
"Sister." he whispered hoarsely, the feat costing him an Erculean effort.
He felt her kneeling beside him and desperately wanted to be able to look at her, but his frantic efforts were not rewarded with success.
She raised her delicate hand and touched his forehead lightly, caressing him between the ears, and he calmed down instantaneously.
"It is time you wake. Or are you going to give up?" she whispered.
"No, never." he breathed, barely audible.
"So, go." she ordered, her gentle voice bearing the hint of a smile.
He could not disobey her in anything, he never could, not when she was being gentle.
So he willed himself awake with all his concentration.

Pain flared throughout his body at his least movement, at every breath he took.
Now he knew he was still on earth, still alive and awake.
Wherever you go, no matter how far, when you return in yourself, pain will always welcome you back.
He was lying on his burned side, which might not be the optimal solution, but it was fairly good at the moment, since he had at least a broken rib on the other side.
His vision was still misty and blurred, but got better as he blinked repeatedly.
Apparently his captors had locked him in a sort of cage made of an unknown substance which looked like glass but didn't feel like it.
He heard some repetitive noises and felt a slight vibration. It reminded him of the sensation he got by traveling on a chariot, but had some alien quality he could not exactly place.
Where was he now?
Trying to make out his surroundings, Ruddy struggled to get to an upright position.
After some painful failures, he desisted from raising himself and opted for just lifting his head from the hard surface he was lying on.
That also proved an inappropriate move as the world started spinning and whirling around him.
He lay back again with a groan.

A noise woke Liz from her fitful sleep, making her lift her head from Hellboy's shoulder.
She rubbed her eyes and cast a circular look at the compartment.
Most of the team had almost passed out in exhaustion.
Abe and Daisy were sharing one of the other blankets, sleeping seated next to one another.
Professor Krauss did not sleep since he was ectoplasmic, but was meditating quietly in a corner, his contention suit hastily repaired with duct-tape. He probably considered it an indignity.

She pitied Ash and the other guy from the support squad, the one who had shot the last dart into the creature: they had to drive the team to the camp after being both electrocuted during the fight.
Scottie, instead, was laying on a makeshift stretcher after an agent of the support squad had splinted his broken arm and sedated him directly on the spot.
The pain was so much the guy had to use morphine but also ketamine, taken from the tranquillizer darts they had used to knock out the beast.
She turned to the plastic cage they had put him into and locked stares with a pair of wide open scarlet eyes.
Liz gasped: after all the damage he had taken and the double dose of drug, he was not supposed to regain consciousness so early.
She got to her feet, letting the blanket covering her and Hellboy fall to the floor.
"Red! - she whispered, gently shaking her boyfriend – The beast is awake."

Hellboy woke up with a start, mumbling incoherent words.
"Whatever is up, now?" he asked in a sleepy voice.
Liz just pointed her hand to the cage.
Hellboy turned to look that way.
The red thing was struggling to his feet: he managed to stand for a moment, then collapsed down again with a whimper and hissed something he could not understand but was almost certainly a curse.
The expression on his muzzle was quite comical and frustrated.
"No need to play the macho, doggy. - he teased, sniggering – We know you are scary and though. Just relax."
"Go get hanged, demon." the creature said, with his baritone, weirdly accented voice. Hellboy was starting to wonder how he managed to talk at all.
He decided to postpone the question and just shrugged. "You'd better calm down, you know? It's gonna be a long way home." he advised.
"Where are you taking me? You have no right in keeping me here against my will!" the creature protested vehemently, little sparks emanating from his body.
He was clearly trying to gather some power from showier manifestations.
Hellboy was quite appalled as he had thought the creature had exhausted his forces in the fight.
It was not true apparently, as a small lightning crossed the air in his direction.
He jumped back, recoiling from its path, even if it was stopped mid-way by the plastic wall of the cage.
"Blessed be plastic!" Liz sighed.
The creature looked really disappointed, his ridiculously long ears drooping down, then he threw himself against the plastic wall in a fit of terrible rage.
It was however short-lived, and ended in much blood coughing and panting.
"You're gonna kill yourself with all this trashing about." Hellboy commented.
The creature did not reply but the repressed fury burning in his scarlet eyes spoke volumes.

The noise of the creature's wild trashing woke up Daisy and Abe.
Only Scottie continued sleeping his drug-induced sleep.
The creature glared at the lot of them, as they gathered around the cage, refraining momentarily from any other act of hostility because of the pain.
The two cryptid-maniacs were staring at him with eyes full of wonder: now that they were not threatened of being clawed or shocked to death, they could fully appreciate the unusual characteristics of their capture.
"Fascinating." Dr. Marsh softly whispered, coming closer to the plastic cage. She inspected him as closely as possible, taking mental note of every detail.
He fitted perfectly in the more absurd descriptions of Salaawa, except for the not-so-irrelevant ability of being able to summon lightning and to speak in English and Latin.
She approached further and addressed him in Latin: "Ave canis tonitruans. Mihi nomen est Margarita. Quaeso, revela nobis quid est nomen tibi." she worded cautiously.
The creature blatantly ignored her, staring at the empty space.
Hellboy and Liz looked a question to Abe.
"She has asked him what is his name. It is Latin." he explained, in a voice that was barely a whisper.
"Mihi nomen est Margarita." Dr. Marsh insisted, almost touching the cage.
"Mea non interest." he growled, baring his fangs.

Daisy backed hastily away, overcautious.
Plastic was good to block electricity, but she still thought it was too frail to contain the creature effectively, even in his wounded state.
Well, at least she had the confirmation: the creature really knew Latin.
"He is a vicious, stubborn bastard, Doc." Hellboy said, half-sardonic, half-apologetic, having perceived the rudeness in his reply.
"I think he may be a berserker somehow. - stated Professor Krauss, thoughtfully – He ignores pain and wounds when he lets rage control him. But hopefully he is too weak now."
"Stop talking about me as if I was not there!" the creature protested in a painfully raspy and low voice.
"Behave civilly and we would." the German replied severely, like a high-school teacher scolding a naughty schoolboy.
The creature growled again and tried to straighten up, to look more imposing. "Thank your gods you are already a spirit, or I would have made you cry for it." he whispered menacingly.

"You see, Doc. - Hellboy laughed - That's about the conversation one can have with him."
"Not very stimulating." Liz added.
"Hey guys! - called Ash's young voice from the front of the vehicle – I am still damn angry with him for poor Scottie, but I must say I'd be wicked pissed if I got drugged and ass-kicked and then got trapped in a cage."
The beast nodded. "Your friend's words make sense. - he approved dryly– By the way, that Scottie shot me first. I just defended myself."
"That's debatable." Hellboy argued.
"Come on, demon, do not pretend. - the beast replied condescendingly – Your warriors attacked me first."
Abe inserted himself into the conversation. "That is not true. You struck first with a lighting." he remarked politely.

Ruddy glanced curiously at the triton.
How did he survive that long out of the water?
And what was the weird collar he had around his neck? It must be very uncomfortable, since it covered his gills.
"I struck only after the woman attacked me with light." he whispered painfully.
Talking in a higher voice would have hurt him much more.
It would have been best if he didn't talk at all, but he could not let his captors offend or accuse him without defending himself.
He simply could not stand it.
He so hated being weak and wounded.
The triton gave him wide eyes, uncomprehending. "What woman?" he asked.
"The one you were sleeping with." Sometimes he hated being obvious.
The triton and the woman blushed, embarassed.
Well, the triton did not exactly go red, rather bluer than usually, still embarassment was clear on his fishman features.
She recovered first. "I did not attack you – she said apologetically, and in truth she did not look like a warrior – I just shot a flash..."
Ruddy didn't let her finish.
"Aha!" he exclaimed, regretting it all too soon and coughing up more blood.
"So you admit it." he concluded weakly, after recovering.
"I did not intend to hurt you or make the events precipitate." she apologized warmly.

Having this woman apologize after he had wounded and almost maimed most of her comrades weirded him out like nothing before.
He looked at her, not knowing exactly what to say.
It was very awkward.
Eventually, he opted for simply letting the remark fall and insisting again on a more important topic.
"Where are you taking me?" he asked, not for the first time that night.
"At the BPRD headquarters. " the demon answered as if it explained everything.
"That is in prison, I suppose." he whispered, quite depressed.
The demon looked a little shocked. "No, it is no prison at all. It is just a safe place." he explained, not quite convincingly.
"Do not even try to tell me it is for my own good. - he cut short, feeling anger boil into his veins again – I was quite safe where you found me."
There was a moment of awkward silence, broken by the spirit with thick German accent.
"But the people around you were not." he argued.
The voice of the spirit had the ability to irritate him out of his wits, so pedantic and righteous.
"I had the right to defend myself. And I did not harm them. Well, not much. I was just hunting." Ruddy protested.
His captors just shrugged.
"I have the right to come and go as I wish as long as I do not harm anyone." he insisted vehemently.

He looked at the strange people he was talking to: a pyrokinetic, a triton and a demon.
They had a very sad and melancholy expression, and the other woman also shared their gloominess.
Realization dawned on him.
"We strange creatures are not free to come and go anymore, right? - Ruddy whispered sadly – Humans have forgotten about us and do not understand that they share the world with us."
He thought about the them, who had no place to go as they did not belong to the world anymore but just to their army, which they could not leave.
Humans would never accept them.
"You are prisoners too." he said with grim finality.
The demon nodded, sadly.
"I am sorry." Ruddy whispered. It was useless but he felt like solidarizing with them.
"It is not your fault." the demon replied dryly.
"I mean, also for being such a bastard." he insisted, quite embarrassed.
The demon and his comrades laughed.
"In that case..." the triton said with a smirk.
"I am Hellboy, these are Liz, Abe, Professor Krauss and Dr. Marsh and down there Ash and Rajeev." the demon introduced himself and his comrades, pointing them out as he said their names.
He thought a little about his next move.
He had many names, some he liked more than the others, but he did not want to be recognized.
The name his pack had given him was just perfect for the present situation.
"I am Ruddy." he said.

A.N about latin stuff:
Ave canis tonitruans. Mihi nomen est Margarita. Quaeso, revela nobis quid est nomen tibi = Hail, thundering dog. My name is Daisy. Please, tell us, what is your name?
Mea non interest = I do not give a damn.

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