Chapter 25 – Discipline
…They kept looking at each other for a few moments, in silence, until the door opened, revealing Manning and the rest of the team.
"You're up! Good!" Manning said in a sharp voice, eyeing Nuada. "How is the princess?" he asked Adela, in a warmer tone.
"She's fine, she is still tired so she is resting, but her vitals seem OK", she answered.
"Good. she will stay here with Abe. Prince Nuada, since nobody knows what to do with you without harming your sister, you will be locked away, to make sure you never endanger human kind ever again. Agent Hellboy, please take care that the prince is taken to his cell. I do not want any more problems with this", he said, as he left the room.
Red approached the prince and gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry for this, you royal pain, but it won't be very dignifying", he said, as he got ready to untie him from the bed and cuff him up.
Adela stopped his hand, looking him in the eyes.
"I don't think that will be necessary, Red, he can walk".
"Are you crazy?" asked Red in a hushed tone.
Lowering her voice, she pleaded. "I'm not. Red, he's still weak after his injury, and we will be escorting him. He is also unarmed. Nothing will go wrong, right?" she asked, turning to Nuada.
Nuada nodded, trying to hide his anger but failing miserably. That made Red sigh. With a muffled curse, he agreed.
They untied the prince and he got up, still slightly insecure on his legs. Regaining his sense of balance, he waited for Red to lead the way. Adela walked next to him as they turned various corners, approaching the elevator.
They got in, and Red pressed the last button on the panel. They were descending deep in the underground, and Adela sighed at the irony. He battled to see the sun and ended up deeper into the underground. Looking at the prince, she could see no emotion on his face. He locked away everything, but at a closer look, she could discern sadness.
They reached the bottom floor and Red led them to a big metallic door. It looked just like the door of a bank vault. Inside, there was a common prison room. The space was designed in such a way that it allowed any person who entered a buffer zone between the door and the actual cell. Inside the cell, a stone wall separated the toilet and the shower from the rest of the room, which was furnished only with a mattress.
The prince still guarded his expression. Red unlocked the cell and invited Nuada to get in.
"Sorry for the lack of furniture, but we don't want to test your creativity and allow you to transform them into weapons" said Red.
Nuada walked in slowly, not looking at them. His head was a bit bowed, and Adela's heart ached at the sight.
I'll make sure you don't stay in here for long, prince. You're the last person in the world that should inspire pity, so I won't give you that.
"Demon," said Nuada, turning and facing Hellboy. "You are a worthy opponent and I would have gladly killed you in a fair fight over the army. However, my rage made me forget my moral code for a moment... There are no words to express my regret for what I attempted to do and I will not ask for forgiveness. May time allow me to regain my honor!" he finished, placing his right hand over his heart and bowing to his adversary.
Red was staring at him with a shocked expression. Jaw on the floor, eyes almost popping out of his skull, it would have made Adela roll on the floor in laughter and take a picture any other day. However, at that moment, she could not find anything amusing in the situation. She could understand her friend. It was hard to imagine hearing that from the opponent. After a few moments of silence, Red mumbled
"See that it will!"
Red turned towards the exit, but, before he reached the door, he stopped and addressed the prince again
"Oh, and, your highness..."
The prince raised his head and looked at the demon.
"The kid is practically trying the impossible to help you and make the situation better. She even convinced me to help you. You can start regaining your honor by listening to her", Red said, as he exited the room, taking Adela with him. She took one last look at the surprised expression the prince was giving her, before the metallic door closed between them.
Outside the cell, Red turned to Adela and gave her a key.
"The bastard just can't act like a normal villain, can he?" he asked, frustrated.
"Apparently not. Welcome to my world! Now you see why I can't just let him rot in here!" she mumbled.
"Yeah, that and you have the hots for him. Anyway, let's say I somehow understand you and that you're not completely whacked. I only hope you know what you're doing. That's the key to the cell. The other set will be with Manning, so be careful. Only you and I know about the duplicate, don't misplace it. The combination to the door vault is 9619884001. What do you plan on doing now?"
Adela gave him a grateful smile, looking at the key. "I'm glad you thought of this, buddy, I forgot to tell you about the duplicate. Next step, we'll persuade Manning that I should be the one taking care of him".
"How are we going to do that?"
Adela frowned "We have five minutes to figure it out, so start thinking!"
Manning sat in the library, talking to Abe about the state of the princess when Red and Adela came in.
"Agents, I want to congratulate you on your success in dealing with the Golden Army", Manning said, as he turned to them. "Adela, I was informed on your evolution during the mission and I must say that I'm impressed with your capacity of immobilizing the Army and preventing any harm to the team".
Did something hit him in the head? Why is he being so polite? And since when is that pitiful try considered a success?
Adela smiled anyway and even managed to blush a little. It was a good start.
"Thank you, sir!"
"What will you do now that the danger is gone?" he asked, in a casual tone.
Bingo! "As a matter of fact, sir, I would like to rejoin the team, if that is OK", she smiled.
Manning arched an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yeah! I really like being around my friends, they are like my family", she said, patting Red's arm and giving him a short glare that sent a clear message: "Roll those eyes and we're screwed!"
"Very well then, you may stay" he responded, still surprised. "But may I remind you, Agent Adela, that rules are the same for everyone in this bureau and that I'll keep my eyes on you".
"Yes sir", she nodded. Oh, my stomach is making twists from all this ass-kissing.
"Now, as for the problem of the royal twins. The princess is free to join us, not as part of the team, but as a guest. She will be under Abraham's care. The problem is with the prince. We need someone to guard him. Agent Hellboy?"
Red glanced at Adela, who nodded as subtly as she could. "Of course I will take care of him, leave the bastard to me! After he tried to stab me, I'm more than willing to make him my personal punching bag," he finished with a grin.
"Red!" glared Abe. "You know you can't do that without harming the princess!".
"Oh, right! Sorry boss, but I just can't have the bastard around for too long without kicking his ass. I only have so much patience."
Manning frowned, but nodded. "I understand, agent Hellboy. I know your patience levels are close to zero and we won't risk it."
Manning resumed his pacing, taking his sweet time to think. The waiting was stretching Adela's nerves and she had to admit that patience wasn't her greatest quality either.
"Um...sir, if your are done with me, may I be excused? I need some time to rest".
That worked like a charm and Manning sharply turned his attention to her.
"You will do it!"
Adela looked shocked and started to gesticulate with passion.
"Oh no I won't! The guy kidnapped me, remember? I had my fair share of time in his presence, I think that was more than enough. Have Abe do it!" she said, sounding exasperated.
Red stared at her and shook his head, managing to hide his amusement.
"Abe is already assigned to take care of the princess and, unlike you, he is smart enough for me to count on his help and advice. Agent Adela, since you want to rejoin the team, you will have to obey orders".
"But sir..."
"But nothing! This is the first order I'm giving you. You take care of prince Nuada! You will get his food every day, check on his wound and inform me if any problems appear. Also, whatever issues may occur, you will be held directly responsible, is that clear?"
"Yes sir," muttered Adela, trying to hide her smirk with an exaggerated bow of her head.
"Here's the combination to the vault. You won't need the key to the cell, you can pass whatever you need to give him through the bars. When you want to change his bandages, I will give the key to Hellboy and he will escort you", he said. "Now you are dismissed!"
Adela muttered another "Yes sir!" and left the room as fast as possible, not sure she could contain her laughter any longer.
After she left, Manning turned to his two agents with a look of absolute glory on his face. "Discipline! That's what we do things around here!"
Red masked his burst of laughter with a series of coughs and Abe dutifully patted his back. "Absolutely, sir! Discipline is the key!"
Sorry that this chapter is so short, it was mostly an excuse to post this side note :) The regular chapter will be up in a couple of days.
Okay, now, to set some things straight here (otherwise I might be accused of reviewing myself to boost my review count)
1) Since it's a really small world, you might know already of what I said in the review i posted for "Too high a price". It seems like everybody is set on ignoring the first part of my review and lash at me for the second. I will not say I am sorry, because I did not insult the author, all I did was say my opinion about her attitude. Insulting is what some of you people are saying now to me.
2) I do not review myself, I sometimes reply to people on that page because the things they ask or some of their complaints might interest the other readers also, and no, I do not intend to PM each and every single one of them for clarifications.
3) I'm not a guy.
4) This is not a competition for reviews; I don't know why some of you act like it is.
5) I will update the story anyway, so don't bother to review it, just like I won't bother to review anything else. I had no idea that speaking my mind without being rude is considered a crime.