"Get that out of your head right now." Said Hellboy to Angela. "No one is going to kill you that includes this maniac or Rasputin."
"Fine then ill do it myself." She said with determination as she walked over to the table and picked up a letter opener and aimed it at her chest.
"NO!!!" yelled Hellboy as he rushed over and grabbed her hand.
She began to flap her wings furiously as she tried to pull her hand out of his grasp.
Her body lifted from the ground as she tried to wrench her arm free of him, papers Flew everywhere as a strong gust of wind blew around the room.
"Shetletok oni." She yelled.
"I don't know what the hell that means but this is not a solution," he said, grabbing her other arm with his stone hand. Pulling her closer to him. "STOP." He yelled.
"Then let go of me." She growled. Without letting up.
"Only if you give me that letter opener and listen to reason." He said as he released her hand and snatched the letter opener from the other.
"Fine." She said angrily as she lowered herself to the ground.
"Now listen." He said pointing a finger at her, "that was really stupid, think about what your doing. Its madness."
"This is my world to, I have sworn to protect it and I will do whatever is in my pow…"
"Alright we get it your noble, but just wait." He said with frustration. "Just wait a damned minute for us to try and find some other solution."
"And what if you can't find one?"
"We always do." He said. In a low voice,
"WHAT IF THERE IS NONE!" She yelled, as the tension in the room got really high.
"THEN I'LL KILL YA MYSELF, THERE ARE YOU HAPPY!!!!" He yelled, not really believing what he was saying.
Angela stared straight at him filled with so much fury that she could not speak. Not angry at him but at everything, at all she had just heard but could not believe. Without saying another word she left.
Hellboy turned to go after her but Broom stopped him. "Son, wait." He said. "Let her go. I need to speak to you in private."
Everyone left the room except for Hellboy and Professor Broom. "Son, we need to train her," he said.
"What do you mean train her, train her how?" asked Hellboy,
"She needs to be taught how to fight, how to respond, If she is to defend herself against Rasputin she needs to learn how to fight. I know the BPRD had planned on training her in a month or so. To see if she would fit in with you and Abe and the rest of the defense department but I don't think we can wait that long." He said.
"But why tell me, cant the boys in the training hall take care of it."
"You two are becoming friends despite your argument and….." he stopped afraid to say it. "If it comes down to it, and you have to kill her.."
"Hay I'm not killing her," interrupted Hellboy.
"If you have to…. you need to know how she moves, what her abilities are and what she has learned, It will be a great advantage." He said.
"I am not murdering my friend." Hellboy stated again. "Is that it, is that what you wanted to tell me. You want me to come to her training sessions so that if I have to kill her I know what to expect as a defense."
Professor Broom stood there in silence for a log time before muttering his answer. "Yes."
Hellboy shook his head. "I don't believe this, I would expect this kind of thing from Manning but not from you." He said. "I wont do it. There is no way you can make me." He said.
"I understand how hard this is for you son…but in the end, if we exhaust every option. If we cant find any way to prevent Rasputin from performing this ritual. Son if it gets to that point no one can save her. You must be prepared for the worst-case scenario." He said.
Hellboy was no more convinced than when he had pulled the letter opener from Angela's hand. "How can you know that, you only just found out about the ritual today. How can you know she can't be brought back after Rasputin takes her soul."
"We have known about it for three months." Said Broom reluctantly.
Hellboy looked confused.
"We knew what was coming out of the gate when we sent you and Abe there." He said. "We told you it would be a demon because…well…."
"You thought there was a chance we might kill her then, and stop the ritual from the start." Hellboy said, suddenly realizing he had been lied to the whole time.
Broom looked ashamed to admit it but nodded his head. "Hellboy, this is the greatest threat the world has ever seen. We needed to create as many options as possible."
"How could you lie to me." He said.
"I don't think you understand what we are dealing with here son, If Rasputin starts that ritual… we have found no way to stop it except killing Angela."
"Then you search harder." Said Hellboy angrily.
"We have been searching for three months."
"So that's why you are forcing her to stay here, so you can keep an eye on her, keep her away from him, well you cant do that forever, eventually she is going to go outside."
"We were hoping the window that Rasputin could perform the ritual in would pass within a month or so." Said Professor broom. "But we aren't certain, it's just an estimate."
"This is, I assume, also why the Agents have been so stand offish to her. Why they are so quick to fire on her, they don't want to get to close, just in case… in case they have to…to kill her." said Hellboy.
"Yes." Said Broom.
"Why bring her in here then. Why subject her to that madman at all if you knew everything already?" he asked. Still in disbelief that they would lie to him all this time.
"We needed to know we were right. She can translate his words in moments and we needed it from his own lips. But Hellboy, this still leaves us in the same place. If further research leaves us without an alternative solution you must be prepared for the worst." he said, placing hand on his sons large shoulder.
Hellboy shook his fathers hand from his shoulder.
Professor Broom looked hurt but knew why his son was mad. "son….Hellboy, I never meant to hurt you, to lie to you, I am sorry." He said.
Hellboy leaned back in his chair, taking on his classic sarcasm. "You gotta do what you gotta do." He said, as he stood up and headed for the door not looking at Broom.
"Oh and Hellboy, if Rasputin should come for her here. Manning's men have been ordered to kill her before he reaches her." he said concerned. "You will protect her?" he said.
for a moment Hellboy saw that his father really did like Angela, he never wanted to hurt her.
"Yeah. You know I will, but I hope to have her trained and able to protect herself by then." He said.
He walked slowly; a sick churning in the pit of his stomach was threatening to make him vomit.
He walked past Angela's room, feeling that if he saw her now the feeling would surely cause him to hurl right there.
Entering his room Hellboy flopped himself down on his bed. He looked over at the TV, which had cartoons on all the time and shut it off with the remote. He didn't want to see them now; all he wanted to do was lye down.
How was he going to talk to her now, how could he live with himself. Hellboy pushed it out if his mind and tried to sleep, maybe a nap would help clear his head.
An hour later he awoke. Feeling no better but also feeling that the only approach was the direct approach and that talking to Angela was the only way he could begin to sort things out.
He prayed his father and Abe would find some way, some solution.
He dressed and combed his hair, then headed out to the Garden.
He walked the path from his door and saw Myers coming back along it. He was heading for Angela's door.
"Hey Red." He said.
"Hi, is Angela here?"
"She's here somewhere, I talked to her but she was so upset. I think she climbed one of the trees, but i couldn't find her." He said.
"Thanks."
Red continued down the path, passing trees, flowers all things that just two days ago could never have grown here. Plants that took years to grow to the heights they now reached.
"HAY, KID!!" he yelled. His voice bounced off the walls echoing through the humungous room.
"Leave me alone Red." Her voice sounded like it was coming from every direction.
"Damnit!" he said under his breath, he hated this. This was defiantly not his style.
He looked around at all the treetops, searching through the canopy for any sign of her. He ran through the trees abandoning the path looking upwards as he went. Then stopping when he saw a glimpse of her shoulder at the top of a huge oak.
"Will you please talk to me!" he said. The sound again reverberated off the walls and Hellboy didn't think she knew he was right under the tree.
"No, leave me alone Hellboy,"
Hellboy sighed and began climbing the tree. "Come on kid, don't do this." He said. As a few minutes later he reached the top of the tree and took hold of her arm.
"Well I don't think you have any right to…..AAAGHGHHH." She screamed when he took hold of her arm, scared that someone she had no idea was there grabbed her.
"WHOOOH." Hellboy was so startled at her scream that he lost his footing and dragging her with him they both began falling from the tree.
Angela took hold of an extended branch with her free arm and held it as tight as she could. The branch began to break and she looked down at Hellboy who had a hold of her arm.
"Oh shit that's a long way dow…." He said as he peered down at the ground. But before he could even finish the sentence the branch broke.
Angela leaned down and put her arms under Hellboys and spread open her wings as full as they would go. Then with a whoosh she flapped them down as hard as she could lifting them away from the tree. She flew down to the ground as best she could while holding Hellboy.
They landed with a thud in a heap on the grass. Angela was on top of him with her hands under his arms. She turned to the side and spit grass out of her mouth.
"Are you ok?" asked Red. As he lay in the grass. The wind was knocked out of him and he thought it best to just sit still for a second.
"Give me…. a minute to catch my breath." She said. She was breathing hard, she had never carried anything as heavy as Red before.
Her wings drooped over them both like a blanket; they were sore and exhausted from the sudden excursion.
"C-can we, please stop being angry at each other. I think it's a danger to my health." Said Hellboy. As he lifted his head to look at her.
"S-sure thing," said Angela as she sat up. "Yaw know the next time you decide to climb a tree, please tell me so I can steer clear. I don't want to have to save your ass like that again." She said with a smile between breaths.
"Scouts honor," he said, lifting his stone hand up and putting two fingers up.
"The boy scout solute has three fingers." She said.
"Oh, right, I was just testing you." he said, replacing the two fingers with three, A smile on his face.
Angela laughed but suddenly realized the position she was in, she was straddling him. She turned slightly pink and removed her legs.
"Ok, so you and me, we are alright, we are friends again?" asked Hellboy.
"Mono e mono." She said with a smile.
Hellboy hadn't worked out the possibility that he might have to kill Angela, but the more he thought about it, the more he suspected he wouldn't have been able to even if he had wanted to. He didn't know if that comforted him or not but decided to just think about protecting her from capture rather than what to do after she was caught.
He sat with her on the couch as she looked at some catalog and he watched cartoon network.
Something he liked was that they didn't have to fill in every moment with talk; he was comfortable just being himself with her.
And as the afternoon turned into evening they had a bunch of conversations. Hellboy learned that in addition to not liking cabbage, which her parents used to make all the time, she hated medicine, doorbells, and advertisements. They had a laugh about the morning's conversation where she cleared up the fact that she was allergic to coffee and hated toffee but kept a coffee machine around because she loved the smell of coffee.
Hellboy was not surprised to find out though that she hated the taste of alcohol and had never drank more than a few sips in her life. She loved mountains. And loved the rain, though when her wings are soaked through she couldn't fly.
The evening continued and Hellboy invited Angela to his place.
"I didn't notice the other night that you had so many cats." She said. Maybe they would like it if you let them out into the garden."
Hellboy thought this was a great idea and one by one he let them out to explore.
"What about this one?" asked Angela as she peered at a Black and white cat that was asleep in its bed.
"Oh, her, I found her in an ally about a month ago, turns out she's pregnant. The kittens should be here anytime. " He said.
Angela crouched down next to the cat and pet her. "She's beautiful." She said.
"Do you think I could have one of the kittens?" she asked. Looking up at him.
Hellboy knelt down with next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Yes. When she gives birth do you want to be here?" he asked.
She smiled with happiness. "Of course." She said with delight.
They smiled at eachother and Angela felt butterflies in her stomach kneeling here with him. She was happy when he was with her and it was then that she realized she hadn't thought about the ritual or Rasputin since she had been with him.
She had half expected to be terrified but she found that she wasn't scared at all.
She felt Reds hand on her shoulders, its large smooth stone texture refreshing against her skin. She turned and peered at the designs that were engraved in his skin. She thought they were beautiful.
She heard a noise in the doorway and her heart skipped a beat as she turned to see what it was. One of Hellboy's cats came in through it. She relaxed and turned back to the cat.
"What?" asked Hellboy, seeing her look behind her at the door.
"Oh nothing I thought I heard something but it was just your cat." She said.
Later that same evening Angela found herself lying with Red in front of the TV watching cartoons again. His arm casually draped over shoulders.
She glanced at the clock. It was one in the morning and Angela knew she had to get up early the next morning. She looked up at Hellboy but saw that he was asleep.
She picked up Reds arm and placed it on his thigh and Gently so as not to disturb him got off the sofa and headed out the garden door. She closed it as softly as she could and then walked down the path. It was dark and after walking for only a few moments Angela's heart began to beat faster. She could feel a fear creep ever so slightly up into her chest and she walked faster, finding relief only once she had securely found her way to her apartment and locked the door behind her.
Some men were there working which startled her slightly.
"Hi, Ma'm, we will be finished in just a moment, we are just finishing up here," he said.
"Ok." She responded. She remembered that they were going to be sound proofing her room.
"Just don't touch the dry wall for 24 hours alright." He said tipping his hat and leaving with his men.
"Thank you." she said as she closed the door behind them.
She looked down and realized they had fixed the doors also.
Just one night before hand she had spent her first night in this apartment. Taking showers and changing cloths were experiences she had to get used to again. But tonight she promised herself she would not let anything spoil the enjoyment of her new home.
She looked at the lock suspiciously and then went in the living room and pushed the love seat up against the door. If they wanted to break in they would have to work at it, she thought.
She could feel something growing down in the pit of her stomach. Something that made her on alert, she couldn't relax.
What she had heard this morning was slowly sinking in and she found moments where she was lost in fear. Btu carried on as usual trying to push it away.
It was this way through out the night; she thought she heard something and she would sit up afraid.
But eventually, sleep did take hold of her and she settled down into the sheets. Her nightmares were filled with the demons and monsters she had run from in hell. Their gruesome hunts finally successful in the one place she could not fight them, her dreams. She dreamed of the monsters she had killed, their souls taking revenge upon her. She dreamt of Rasputin, the demon capable of more evil than all the others. The little knowledge she knew of the ritual he must perform was terrible to even think of. It evolved torture, all kinds of torture. In her nightmares she could not escape it. But worse than all her nightmares was when earth was overrun by the evil. And every hope was lost.
She did not know how much of the night she screamed aloud but when she awoke she was screaming.
She looked over at the clock. It was 6 30 am.
As good a time to get up as any she thought.
An hour later Angela walked in the training room.
Hellboy stood leaning against the wall over by the firing range.
He saw her walk in, dressed in a black t-shirt and some jeans.
Some of the guys started introducing themselves to her.
Jim. Who was in charge of guns and ammo first, immediately followed by the Dawson brothers who stumbled over themselves to shake her hand. They were good kids but a little nutty, they invented all the interesting gadgets Hellboy had come to know so well. Such as the tracking devices.
Hellboy pushed himself off the wall and walked over. The Dawson's were handing her a tracking device of her own. Just like his but it was pink. Hellboy took hold of it before Angela even had a chance to touch it.
"Pink?" he said suspiciously as he examined the device. "No, absolutely not, there is no pink on my team. Take it back and fix it." he said handing the device back to them.
"What color then?" they asked.
"Green." Said Angela with a smile.
"I know the rest of the boys are interested in meeting you but I think I can show you around." Said Hellboy leading her over to the firing range and handing her a pistol.
"This is a 22 caliber. Do you know what that means?" he asked
"No, I have never held a gun before." she said, holding it as though she were holding a dangerous animal.
"Now, you don't have to be afraid of it, there is only one thing you should remember in order to always be safe with a gun." He said as he lowered himself and wrapping his arms around her so that he could show her how to hold the pistol when aiming at the target. "Never aim it at anything you don't want to shoot, so that means you are always aware of where the barrel is pointing." He said as he straightened her arms with his own.
"The caliber of the gun, in this case a 22, refers to the size of the bullet that can fit in the chamber." He said as he placed a box of bullets on the table in front of her.
"When you are shooting, the way you know what you're hitting it by looking at the front and rear sights." He said pointing to the small dots on the top of the gun. "Just line those up in a row and don't focus on the target or the rear sight, focus on the front sight." He said. "There you go, now squeeze the trigger slowly." he said.
She did but there were no bullets in the gun. "You should always start without rounds when you practice, it lets you feel weather your shaking the gun or pulling it to the right or anything like that." He said taking a bullet from the box. He removed the magazine and placed ten bullets in them.
"Here you go, try it now." He said.
Angela squeezed of a single round. The sound made her jump. It was so unexpected and loud.
Hellboy had a huge grim on his face and slapped her on the back, "there ya go, you got It." He said.
Angela smiled, still uncertain and a bit shaken by the noise but proud of herself.
Over the course of the day she learned all about guns, how to load them, how to clean them, how to draw them and How to use them.
But it wasn't until the end of the day that Hellboy handed her his gun from its holster, "here ya go kid, lets see how ya do with this old girl." He said.
"Jim I don't want to hear a peep from you she can do this got it." said Hellboy as Jim stepped forward in protest.
"There ya go, now just squeeze the trigger slowly just like you have been doing, I got some special bullets for this thing." he said as Angela took aim at a dummy that had been place about 10 feet away.
Angela squeezed the trigger. The kick back sent her to the ground. But she heard clapping and cheers as she stood up.
"All right kid you're a natural." Said Hellboy. The dummy's head had been blown off.
"I think that will do it for today." He said, as he led her to the door.
Angela smiled feeling very good about herself. But as she looked back, she stopped and turned and started walking to a caged in storage area. She could have sworn…she saw something out of the corner of her eye that brought back memories of when she was stronger, when she felt joy.
In the cage was a display case full of swords. A man walked up to her from inside. "Ya wanna try one?" He said. Seeing the desire in her eyes as she stared at the swords.
"I could give you a quick lesson." He said.
Angela Grinned thinking how surprised they all would be when she got a sword in her hand. "Sure. I would love to learn." she said.
"This is Jack, he is our resident hand to hand combat guy, he specializes in swords so watch out." Said Hellboy as Jack got two swords from the case and walked around to her.
He motioned her over to some mats, which were spread out like an arena. "Can I take my shoes off?" she asked. Not really caring weather he said yes or no.
"Of course you can." He said with a big smile as he handed her a sword. "I promise to go easy on ya."
Hellboy watched from the sidelines. " Hey jack, ive seen what you call easy so tone it down just a little more." her said.
"Sure thing." said Jack as he handed Angela a sword. "Now this is the way you hold it, I'm staring you off with a lighter one so you don't get to over whelmed." He said. I see your left handed so put it in your left hand."
"Whatever you say." Said Angela acting innocent. She held the sword in a beginners ready position.
"I see you have had a few lessons." He said,
"Just a few." She lied.
Jack began his attack and Angela clumsily avoided it letting Jack nock the sword out of her hand. "Oops." She said. Picking the sword back up.
"Now don't hold the sword so rigidly. Let your hand be loose so it flows more easily with your movement." He said.
"Like this?" Asked Angela as she changed her grip,
"Yes." He said, with a smile on his face.
Jack began his attack again, swinging the sword down from above. Angela positioned her sword to the side and deflected it. while positioning her feet so she could strike with an attack of her own.
Jack stepped back and blocked her strike. Then swinging his sword down went for her feet. Angela jumped away from the strike and flipped over his head, landing with the tip of her sword pressed lightly against Jacks neck.
Jack turned around. The smile was gone from his face. A mixture of surprise and deep determination filled his eyes as he positioned himself again ready for her to attack.
A smirk filled Angela's lips as she and Jack faced off.
"I see you have had more than a few lessons." He said as the two encircled eachother. Each never looking away from the other.
"A few." She said. With a devious smile still plastered to her face.
Jack seemed determined to win as he stared at her. Not wanting to underestimate her again.
"Then lets see what you do with this." He said as he spring forward with an attack.
The two fought for five minutes one never really besting the other. Until finally Jack drew back sweat pouring from his brow, an expression of unyielding defiance that she could be just as good as him.
BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP CODE RED CODE RED
"Aint it always the way." Said Red as he threw the lit cigar he had in his hand and smashed it out with his foot. "This was getting fun." He said, disappointed that they couldn't finish their fight.
"What is it this time ya think?" said Myers as he walked in and started loading his gun at the armory station.
"Hell if I know." Said Red as he turned to Angela.
"What's going on?" she asked. Jack had gone back in and replaced his sword and was pulling out army knifes from a closet.
Agents lined up and were taking one each, And placing them in their boots.
"We are saddling up for work kid. That alarm there means theirs some monster out there that we gotta go great with muffins and lemonade." He said as he strapped his gun belt to his waist.
"Ok, fine." She said as she walked into the caged area and grabbed a sheath with a belt. She wrapped the belt to her waist and placed the sword in it. Then grabbed knives and stuck one in each boot. Then exitingshe walked overand grabbed the pink locator before standing in front of Hellboy. "Lets go."
This chapter is long and took a long time to complete so I hope you enjoy.