Author's note: It's been awhile, but at least it's long! Once again, all time lines kind of run like an interpretive dance in my head. If the 'facts' don't match up, I assure you that I have done this with the mind relaxed and completely attentive of it. Also, not beta'd. All mistakes are proudly owned by me, unlike the following...

Disclaimer: Not making any money from this... Characters aren't mine. I just wish I were that brilliant.

Chapter 21

Hellboy stepped out of the army style transport, helped Kate down and then whistled low. "And Mark thought that Wooster ghost had nice digs." He announced.

"No kidding." Kate agreed.

The house wasn't a mansion... But it was close. Everything was quiet in the mid-afternoon heat, and even the bugs seemed to be taking a siesta.

Kate and Hellboy were about to ascend the stairs, and were greeted by a pair of amber eyes and set of bared teeth. The eyes and teeth were attached to an overly large black wolf, which at the moment was letting out a low growl. It stopped their progress fairly quickly.

"Nice doggie." Kate said. The wolf licked its chops and resumed snarling at them. Hellboy shifted so that he was protecting Kate. The wolf's gaze was intense; the animal's mind appeared to be in alpha mode, ready to strike.

"S'alright, Kate. You just gotta show 'em you're not scared and that you're not a threat." Hellboy said quietly. "Easy boy, nobody's gonna hurt you." Hellboy murmured. The wolf was unmoved. The stalemate was broken when the front door opened.

"Girl." Mark's voice came from the doorway. "She's a girl, and rather devoted to her purpose." Mark explained. He then whistled a descending note and immediately the wolf's expression changed. She backed off and went and sat on her haunches beside Mark. "Hey Red, Kate." Mark said and smiled at them.

"Hey Mark, how's things? Other than wolf infestation and the regular amounts of weirdness." Hellboy asked.

"I'm pretty good, actually. Keeping busy. There's been so much to do and to change." He replied. His voice was quieter than Hellboy remembered, as if he expected people to listen to him no matter how quietly he spoke. He looked fit and radiated inner peace. In faded jeans, an old t-shirt, and barefoot, he was more the picture of a hippy farmer rather than a master of the dark arts. The only odd looking thing about him right now was the over-sized wolf at his side.

"Where'd you get the wolf?" Kate asked.

"She's not... Well, come on in and I'll tell you all about it." Mark said. He stood aside in the doorway and ushered them inside. "And you, Perdy, I have no idea what you were doing out in the midday heat in the first place. Strange girl." Mark said. The wolf sniffed at his pant leg and fell into step at his heel.

Mark scrounged up a small roundish woman, and asked her politely for refreshments for their guests. She nodded and was on her way before Hellboy could place her voice. He knew he'd heard it somewhere before.

Mark led them into a moodily lit, climate controlled cool library with a seating area. Hellboy had to be impressed when he saw a chair large enough to support his weight easily. It was nice when people accommodated him in quiet ways. They sat and the wolf sat beside Mark, he gave her head a gentle pat automatically. "So, a wolf named Pretty?" Hellboy asked.

"Perdy... Perdita. And it was Jackie who came up with the name. She seems to like Jackie the best out of all of us. Her case is, well, unfortunate hardly begins to cover it. When she was a teen, she went to Paul and needed a cure for a sibling who was plagued by a ghost in the house. The trade off was her service and the wolf shape is what she chose. Thankfully, recon is all he demanded of her. Then Paul left her like this for too long. I've brought her back to her human form, and she can't handle it. In both forms, she still thinks and reasons like a human, but with a wolf's instincts and senses, which we've found pretty much short out a human body. I've even worked a human voice for her in this form, which she rarely uses. Simply, the fact remains is that she's spent more years as a wolf than she has as a human, and this body is now more familiar to her... Of course that led to the severing of all family ties that she had. Either way, her family lost a child, and she lost a family. Hence, Perdita. She won't answer to her real name anymore, and the one Paul called her wasn't... Polite." Mark explained. He rubbed under the wolf's ear. She leaned into his touch and half closed her eyes.

"That's... so sad." Kate said.

"I thought the same. I try to make her life as easy as possible now in order to make up for it." Mark said.

"I'm happy." It took Kate and Hellboy a moment to realize that Perdita had spoken. She looked up at Mark with adoring amber eyes. "Really, Taker. I'm happy." She said. Mark smiled back at her and resumed that peaceful look.

"Good." He said softly.

The roundish woman returned with a tray of beer, lemonade, and food. It was when she said "Will that be everything?" that Hellboy placed the voice. It was the large female rat they'd chased down back in New York. Her features were still somewhat pinched looking, but otherwise it looked like she'd escaped her ordeal unharmed. Mark told her they were fine, and that since Bradshaw had 'some large mammal' ready for the BBQ that she could go home to her family early that day. She thanked Mark and then was gone.

"The rat?" Hellboy asked when she was out of the room. Mark look surprised, but only for a moment and then smiled.

"I am continually amazed by your perception. And you ain't even psychic." Mark said. His smile now settled on his features. "She showed up here shortly after I arrived, vowing her service. Thing is, I didn't have much for her to do. So I gave her a job instead. She and her family seem happy with the arrangement."

"Steady income does that for a lot of people." Hellboy quipped.

"That it does." Mark agreed and handed him a beer. "So, what brings you here? I haven't heard much over the last couple of months except from your father."

"Got a haunting in Florida. You interested?"

"Where in Florida?" Mark asked and grinned when Kate took the long neck he'd offered her.

"Orlando area. Poltergeist." Hellboy said before Kate could mention the terrifying 'Disney' word.

"How bad?"

"It's losing some people a lot of money." Hellboy said, but trying not to give anything away. Mark's head tilted and his eyes narrowed slightly as he appraised his friend.

"Disney World, Red?" Mark asked. "You want me to go to Disney World?"

"Damn psychics. They always ruin the surprise." Hellboy grumbled in a good natured way. "Look, I've already scoped it out, something's there and it's threatening lives with its activity. Nearly drowned three ride operators last week."

"Cast members." Kate casually corrected.

"Whatever. Disney World drones who, other than working for Disney, haven't done anything to deserve peril in the work place." Hellboy concluded. The door to the library opened and Jacqueline leaned on the door frame.

"Who's in peril?" She asked. The wolf, whose ear had been cocked towards the door for the last two minutes, now thumped her tail on the floor and looked up at Mark. Mark gave a subtle nod and the wolf was up and trotting over to greet Jacqueline in proper wolf fashion, head down and tail wagging. Jacqueline smiled at her and touched her fondly before proceeding into the library. "Dr. Corrigan, Hellboy, how lovely to see you here at last." She said and took the fourth chair after giving Mark a peck on the cheek. Mark, ever the country gentleman, leaned forward, poured her a glass of lemonade and smiled at her. To Kate, it was the smile of a man very much in love and much to Mark's luck, Kate thought, Jacqueline returned it.

"So, what brings you to New Orleans?" Jacqueline asked and the situation was quickly relayed to her. She listened carefully, as did Mark, when they expanded on their recent experiences in the Happiest Place on Earth.

"Well babe, can you spare me for a few days?" Mark asked.

"Can you spare yourself? How crowded is your schedule?" She asked.

"I can clear it. There's nothing pressing, and Bradshaw can handle minor emergencies. Can you give me long enough to make the arrangements? We can leave in the morning." Mark said.

"I'm fine with that." Kate said and Hellboy nodded in agreement.

"Good, that means you can stay for supper." Mark said.

Mark spent the rest of the day on the phone and in meetings, Kate spent the afternoon digging through Mark's library, and Hellboy spent the afternoon lounging on the back porch in the shade, drinking beer, and hanging with the wolf at his feet. He spoke to her, and while she twitched her ear towards him, didn't say anything.

At supper, the house came alive very quickly. Bradshaw had burst onto the back porch around 4pm to warm up the barbeque. He'd had a beer in one hand and a tray of various things to start one big fire. He'd greeted Hellboy in a loud, friendly manner and quickly made a dirty joke. Hellboy decided that he liked Bradshaw. To his surprise, the wolf pinned her ears back, put her back to Bradshaw, and did her best to ignore him. Neither of them said anything about it, so Hellboy ignored it too.

By the time they rang the dinner bell, which amused Hellboy to no end that they actually had a dinner bell; he'd been dragged into the dining hall of the house. Long tables and bench seating made a lively, chow line atmosphere that Hellboy was well acquainted with and comfortable in. It an odd, occult connected kind of way, it was a family type atmosphere. Hellboy picked out Jacqueline's brother across the room and waved to him. There were other familiar faces, and everyone was personable, despite some eccentric outward appearances. Kate hung close to Hellboy and simply took it all in. They were seated and eating when Hellboy noticed the absence of the gentle Mideon. When he asked about it, he got a chuckle from Mark. "Remember how I told La Llorona I'd find her a new husband?" Mark asked.

"Mideon? Really?" Hellboy asked.

"Not much more strange than the prior ghost/goat man combo. So far, they seem quite devoted to one another. It's really very sweet." Mark said.

"You really have been tying up loose ends haven't you?" Hellboy asked.

"Yeah... I'm getting pretty good at it if I do say so myself." Mark said.

After dinner, Jacqueline made good on the promise of that witch worked wine, and Hellboy and Kate were shown to rooms next to one another after it took effect. Hellboy sank into a comfortable bed, let the booze do its work, and knew no more...

...Until about the witching hour, when he was roused by the sounds of a wolf making very unhappy noises, the ruckus of bumped and overturned furniture, and what sounded like the shouts of everybody in the house. "Crap." Muttered Hellboy and started groping in the dark for the clothes he'd abandoned beside the bed.

By the time he'd swung his coat over his shoulders, Kate was pounding on the door. "Red!" She yelled.

"Comin' Kate!" He said and opened it. "Any idea what's going on?"

"I was gonna ask you the same thing." She said. She still had on her pajamas, but had added her B.P.R.D issue coat and her second favourite pair of boots. Her shoulder holster was firmly in place.

"Taking no chances, Kate?" He asked and stepped into the hallway. She glared at him in return and they made for the central staircase.

What they saw when they got there defied explanation if not description. The wolf was embroiled with a heavy set figure, with long scraggly hair, who was screaming in a breathless way. Mark, Bradshaw, and Farooq were all in close quarters and just about everyone they'd seen at supper stood in a semi-circle around them. The wolf was snarling and whimpering by turns.

The figure, Hellboy assumed it was a man due to the size and general shape; had his arm crammed in the wolf's jaws and she had her teeth sunk right into the flesh. The really odd thing was that despite his hoarse screams, when he turned his face so that it could be seen, the man had an ear to ear grin on his face. "Well, that's odd." Kate said as quietly as she could over the din. She pulled the replacement sidearm from its holster.

"No argument there." Hellboy agreed, but he left his gun where it was. The screaming only stopped to be replaced by equally as hoarse shouting when the crazed man spotted Hellboy at the top of the stairs.

"I knew you were in league with demons, Taker!" He cried. He'd locked his eyes on Hellboy for a moment.

"Oh, for the lova..." Mark said and rolled his eyes. "What crazy fuck idea have you got into your head now?"

"Red, Kate, sorry for the unexpected interruption. We'll handle this directly." Mark's voice was directly in their minds conveying an easy, relaxed tone, despite his outward expression.

"Demons, Taker! Uncle Paul always said you'd take it too far! That you'd unleash Hell on Earth and destroy everything!" The man shouted. Hellboy noted that he was remarkably well composed for a guy who had lupine teeth embedded in his forearm.

"Okay, I know you're free from Paul's influence now, Mick. So I can come to the conclusion that you're still crazy anyway, or perhaps just stupid. Probably both. Now, if you calm down long enough, I'll explain, and then I'll let the wolf rip you to itty bitty pieces if so desire." Mark said.

So this was Mick, the sadistic fuck who used Mark as a punching bag. Hellboy disliked him immediately. But he supposed they couldn't all be Mideon and Bradshaw.

"How do you explain him, Taker?!" Mick pointed firmly at Hellboy.

"Don't you read, you ignorant fuck? He's been on the cover of Time Magazine. Have you ever paid attention to the outside world? You'd know that my guest has been granted the same rights as any human by the U.N. Mick the moron, meet Hellboy, who's far more human than you'll ever be." Mark said.

Blood dripped freely down Mick's arm and the wolf wasn't going to be moved. Mick paid her no mind though and kept looking back and forth between Mark and Hellboy. He suddenly shook his head, as if hearing somebody that the rest of them could not. "No. You can't fool me. I know what Paul taught me! I know this is Anung Un Rama!" He bellowed. Now Hellboy, Kate and Mark all rolled their eyes in unison.

"That's not who I choose to be." Hellboy said, and started down the stairs. Kate followed, two steps behind, her sidearm still out of its holster.

"Hey, fuckface." Mark said. "How long you been out of the mask?" He asked looking at Mick with a simmering hate.

"Don't know. Can't remember." Mick said, and suddenly became fascinated with the blood running down his arm. And then he lunged towards the wolf with a speed that surprised Hellboy. But crazy counted for a lot in the sudden moves department.

Mick brought a brutal blow down on the back of the wolf's head with his free arm. She yelped in pain as she flinched away, and took a good sized chunk of Mick's arm with her.

Mark wasted no more time. He stepped forward and grabbed Mick by the hair and upper arm and forced his head into the hardwood floor face first. "How do you like it?!" He bellowed and then repeated his action twice more with added vengeance. Mick laughed breathlessly between his own agonized howls. "What did she do to you? She was only trying to protect her home!" Mark yelled and slammed Mick's face down again.

Hellboy was at the bottom of the stairs now, and crazy or not, past incidents of horrific abuse or not, no one got murdered in cold blood on his watch. He put his left hand on Mark's shoulder. "Mark, stop." He said. He saw a slender, dark, feminine hand come to rest beside his. Jacqueline was there beside him, with the same goal in mind.

"Mark. Stop." She said quietly. Something, probably a psychic connection, flared up and Mark stilled as suddenly as he'd started. Hellboy could feel the tension in Mark's shoulder as it had to work to keep itself still.

Mark dropped Mick and in his hunched position put his hands out his sides. Mark's entire body was piano wire taught, but when he spoke his voice was measured and calm. "Farooq, Bradshaw, take him out of here. Lock him up... Or I'm going to kill him." Mark said. "I want to kill him." He repeated quietly, as if realizing it for the first time. He straightened up, but he was shaking. "Everybody else, out. Back to bed, or whatever you were doing. Show's over." He said, and the crowd around them started to thin out quickly.

Bradshaw and Farooq moved in and grabbed Mick firmly. Bradshaw still looked Mark casually in the eye when he spoke. "Want us to heal him, Taker?" He asked. Mark breathed in and let it out slowly.

"Heal his face. Leave the arm. We all know he'll want a souvenir." Mark said, and grinned at his own gallows humour. Mark's ability to compartmentalize rage was astounding to Hellboy. Mark took another slow breath and his eyes went wide as he looked back and forth between Jacqueline and Hellboy. "Fucking hell... I want to kill him." He said again.

Bradshaw and Farooq wasted no more time in hauling Mick away. Mark decidedly averted his gaze. Every muscle was still taught and he was still shaking, so Jacqueline got in close to him and put her hand on his forearm and trailed her fingers down ending by entwining them with Mark's. Mark looked down and then up into her eyes. "I never thought... never knew I hated him that badly. I had no idea... Fuck... I thought..."

"That it was over?" Jacqueline asked softly.

"Yeah, I guess that's the best way to put it. It should be over." Mark said.

"For all your power love, you are still human. You're allowed to hate somebody." She said.

"But to the point of wanting to murder them?" He asked.

"Sometimes. The key is to only want to do it, not to act on it." She said. Mark gently pulled her into his arms and the tension started to go out of him.

"How do you put up with me?" He asked.

"Love... And I know how to, as you would put it, wrangle you." She replied.

"I love you too." He said.

"I know... Come on, now that you've calmed down, you've got a wolf to vet."

"Damn." Mark murmured. He stepped away from Jacqueline and looked around. The wolf was a mass of dark fur on the floor. Her head was cast at an odd angle and when she exhaled, small wisps of blood came out her nose. Her eyes were close and her breathing irregular. "Oh Perdy." Mark said quietly. He knelt down and touched her neck and gave a hiss through gritted teeth.

Years of using Mark to vent his frustrations had taught Mick exactly where to hit for the most results. "How bad?" Hellboy asked.

"Bad." Mark said.

"Should we put her out of her misery?" Hellboy asked. It was tough for him to reconcile a human consciousness with the animal form. He knew he wouldn't let any animal suffer, and he would have liked to think he wouldn't let a human suffer either.

"No. She is supernatural in nature, she'll probably heal on her own, but it would take time. I can heal her with little effort. Can you and Kate stay with her while Jacqueline and I gather what we need?"

"Sure, Mark." Hellboy said.

"Thanks." Mark said, and was on his feet and gone quietly, Mick having been forgotten for the moment.

"So, I can hear the gears in your head turning. What's up?" Hellboy asked Kate once they were alone with the wolf.

"I think we're lucky Jacqueline was here." She said. "Mark was completely out of control, and the rest of them would have just stood by and let him kill someone."

"Keep in mind Kate, that he didn't lose it because of what Mick did to him in the past, he lost it because of what Mick did to the wolf in the here and now." Hellboy reasoned. "For himself, he walked away years ago. For others he intervened. Not surprisingly, it brought up some bad memories."

Kate contemplated this for awhile. The level of violence that Mark was capable of displaying had disturbed her. It was Mark's reason and intelligence that had made her dismiss his more base tendencies and the power he had before now. But this show of pure emotional rage, especially considering the kind of powers Mark had, was something to be very wary of. "Madness in great ones must not unwatched go." She quoted.

"He's not crazy, Kate. He had a home invasion in the middle of the night, during which his 'dog' was badly injured. People have been shot for less. Hell, as we speak Bradshaw and Farooq are doing the same kindness to Mick that Mark will be doing for Perdita. That's a sort of compassion. Mark wants to kill him, but he still knows murder is wrong. He's sane. He's just had a bad night." Hellboy said.

"Now who shoulda been a politician?" Mark asked from where the hallway opened to the large foyer. "I thought I could spy a five star general in there."

"Don't let that get around." Hellboy replied.

"Mum's the word." Mark knelt down beside Perdita again. The whole time, the wolf hadn't moved at all.

Mark and Jacqueline set up candles and Mark burned incense. But when they laid hands on the wolf, they didn't do it with a whoop and a hallelujah like some old school Southern prayer healer televangelist. Instead, they were quiet, humble in asking the universe for what they needed. There were no gods invoked, just the use of a knowledge that was there waiting to be discovered, and a shifting of power.

The wolf's breathing evened out and her eyes opened. They took their hands away when she started to thump her tail on the ground and lifted her head to lick their chins. Mark let out a long breath and smiled. "I think we all need to go back to bed." He said and picked up the wolf in his arms with a bit of a heft. Nobody argued him on that point.

As they made their way up the stairs, Mark looked at Jacqueline and grinned. "We're running a goddamn three ring circus here." He observed.

"Can I have a high wire act then? I always wanted to do that." She replied.

"Only if you do it in a tutu and I get to be holding the net on the ground." He said.

"Any chance to look up a skirt." She said, and rolled her eyes.

"Correction, your skirt." He said.

"Oh gimme a break, you two make me sick." Said Hellboy and turned off to catch a smoke on the second storey terrace.

"See ya in the morning, Red." Mark called.

-To be continued.