Disclaimer: I don't own My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Singing in the Rain or Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
The only sound that can be heard is the constant droning of the planes' engines. Abe's gloved hand covers mine. I hadn't realized that I had grabbed hold of his arm after Manning's' announcement. The thought of her loose again chills me to the bone.
"What happened?" Hellboy asks.
"They took her to a hospital to tend to her wounds," Manning answers. "After she was treated for various lacerations and puncture wounds, they put her in a private room to recover. There were two guards stationed outside of her room. From what they've been able to piece together, one of the guards went on break, but when he came back, his partner was gone. He went in the room to check on the prisoner and was attacked. They found both of the bodies in her room."
"Let me guess," I say quietly. "The guards' bodies were completely desiccated."
"Yes," Manning states.
"Dissected? What?" interrupts Hellboy in confusion.
"Not dissected, desiccated," I explain. "It means totally dried out. She drained all of the water out of them. Dr. Manning, are we going back to look for her?"
"No," he answers. "The Panama government thinks they can handle it. And until they ask for our assistance, there's nothing we can do to help. Are there any more questions?"
After a brief pause, he nods.
"We'll be landing in New Jersey in about six hours," he tells us. "I want an inventory done of everything that needs to be replaced, repaired or replenished. Miss Cavendish, I wish to speak to you. Alone."
I nod as the human agents start to file out. Hellboy and Abe remain seated, and Manning glares at them.
"Would you two please leave us?" I ask.
Hellboy scowls and Abe tightens his grip on my hand.
"I appreciate your concern," I tell them, "but I will be all right. Besides, I'm sure you both have something better to do."
"No, not really," says Hellboy leaning back in his chair.
"Me either," Abe chips in, slightly tilting his head to the side.
"Please leave," I repeat.
I pull my hand away from Abe, and I refuse to look at either one of them. My empty coffee cup is suddenly very fascinating. Manning is off to the side watching this. After several minutes, Hellboy gets up and stomps out. Abe reaches for my hand again, and I pull away.
"Abe, you're skin is all dried out again," I say without looking at him. "I think you need to go get wet."
Abe stares at me for a moment more and then finally leaves. Manning takes Hellboys' seat and looks at me.
"Thank you for sending them away," he says.
"I really didn't want an audience for this," I respond without looking up.
"Miss Cavendish," he starts rather sternly. "While I am aware that you are not a regular agent with the bureau, I expect you to follow the rules and regulations while with us on a mission. I've come to expect this kind of behavior from Hellboy, not from you. You have proven yourself to be a level headed person in some very stressful situations. So it's needless to say I was very shocked at your actions today. If there is ever another situation like this, I expect you to report to me before taking any actions. Is that understood?"
"Yes," I answer quietly. The imaginary crumbs on my lap are very interesting at this moment. "You're right and I'm sorry. I let my feelings for Abe get in the way. I was frightened with him being in the water all alone with all those things and I never meant for him to come in contact with Lewis. It's my fault that he was nearly lost to her."
"Actually, no it's not," Manning replies a bit more softly. I finally look up at him. "Abe felt Lewis's power the instant he got into the water. He followed it to the source. The fact that you and Hellboy were there probably is what saved him from her. You're just lucky that the Wyrm managed to turn on your transmitter; otherwise, the rest of us wouldn't have been able to get there in time. Not that I'm approving of what you did, but it probably did work out in our favor. I still expect you to report to me before doing anything like this again. Understand?"
I nod. Manning stands up and leaves. I just sit there and stare at the little table. I notice that Hellboys' bowl is still sitting there and the left over smell of chili is starting to get to me. I stand and take the dirty dishes back to the galley.
Once there, I discover that no one has cleaned in here for a while. I find all of the necessary items and start to clean the place up. By the time I've scrubbed the place to a fine polish, I'm a bit sweaty and a little less depressed.
"You should go and get some more rest," Abe suggests quietly.
I hadn't heard him come in, but that's not too surprising. I put the sponge down and take the rubber gloves off before turning to face him.
"I'm fine, thank you," I finally respond.
"Manning…" he starts.
"Gave me the chewing out that I deserved," I interrupt. "I was wrong to leave and not tell him where I was going or why. I jeopardized the mission and the lives of myself and fellow agents. My feelings over rode my common sense and I'm not proud of that."
"But it worked out for the better," he rationalizes.
"That doesn't make what I did right," I reply more heatedly then I meant to. Leaning against the counter, I stare at the floor. "I'm sorry, Abe. I shouldn't yell at you for my stupidity."
He takes a step into the galley and pulls me into his arms. I close my eyes as my arms circle around his waist. We stand there for who knows how long, but finally, he pulls away from me. He puts his hand under my chin and makes me look up at him. Then he leans down and kisses me gently. I can feel goose bumps forming on my arms as a shiver runs up my spine.
"Want to finish watching the movie?" he asks.
"Ok," I answer. "I could use a bit of a distraction right now."
We go and watch the end of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I rewind the movie and pop it out of the machine. After putting it away, I put another movie in and then settle back down next to Abe again. He cranes his neck around and looks at me.
"Robin Hood: Men in Tights?" he asks.
"What?" I respond. "It was that or Singing in the Rain. There are a decidedly too few movies where things don't blow up on this plane. I'm going to have to remedy that."
He chuckles as he puts his arm around me. Pulling me closer we settle down and watch the movie. As we watch Maid Marion get out of the tub I have an inspiration.
"I'm getting you one of those," I say pointing at the screen.
"Women wear chastity belts, not men," he says.
"Then I'll get you a cod piece," I barely manage to say without laughing.
"It would rust," he points out.
"I'll have it made out of stainless steel," I respond.
"It'll chafe," he replies.
"Then I'll have to kiss and make better," I tease.
Instead of responding, he just starts nibbling on my ear. I let my head loll to the side so he has easier access. More shivers and goose bumps arrive, making me totally forget the movie. He moves down to my neck and closing my eyes, I forget my name.
"Don't you two ever quit?" John asks teasingly while he walks by.
"Not if we can help it," Abe answers as I sit there breathing heavily.
Abe settles me back against him and we go back to the movie. We manage to make it through the rest of the movie without too many interruptions caused by wandering lips or roaming fingers. After the movie ends, I send Abe back to his tank since his skin feels like it's drying out again. I spend the rest of the flight filling out my report.
Eventually, we're given the word that we'll be landing soon. I return to the cargo area. Hellboy is already there. I sit near him and Abe joins us a few minutes later.
A short time later, the plane lands and then taxis into a hanger where we're able to unload without any prying eyes. I get into one of the sedans and we head out into the night. After a while I notice something is wrong.
"Where are we going?" I ask the agent driving.
"Back to headquarters," he answers.
"Um, would it be possible to be dropped off at my house?" I inquire.
"Sorry, miss," he responds. "I have orders to bring you back to headquarters."
"Why?" I demand.
"I don't know," he replies. "I'm just following Dr. Manning's orders."
I sit back and wait for our return to the BPRD, quietly fuming. When we arrive, I go looking for Manning.
"Dr. Manning, might I ask why I've been brought here and not taken home?" I demand.
"Well, you said it yourself, Miss Cavendish," he answers. "Either Mr. Chavez would have to come and live with you or you would have to come and spend your nights here. Since Mr. Chavez's skills are needed at odd hours, I thought it best that you stay here. And since Abe has proven that he can prevent the nightmares all together, he also thought it would be better that you stay here."
I can't argue with him, so I hitch my bag over my shoulder and go wait for Abe to emerge from the back of the truck. He and Hellboy walk down the ramp and we head inside. We open the doors and step into the library.
"SURPRISE!"