SARAH'S APARTMENT 11:22 PM
"Ah crap," John mutters as he watches Hellboy, Liz and the boy disappear with the Goblin King.
"Damn," he swears. It doesn't seem like enough. "DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN!"
There, that was better. Well, a little bit better at any rate. With a sigh, John starts to systematically search the apartment. He knows that they're not here, but he searches anyways. He checks the bedroom, the tiny bathroom and the almost nonexistent kitchen. He checks the closets, the shower and even the kitchen cabinets.
With another sigh, John ends his search. He knew he wouldn't find them. He just wanted to make sure that he could say that he did search for them.
"Admit it, John," he mumbles to himself. "You're stalling."
He stands in the middle of the tiny apartment staring at the front door. He knows he has to go out there and report to Manning. He can already see his boss's reaction in his minds eye. Manning's going to blow a gasket.
"I am so dead," he moans as he heads for the door.
Taking the few steps necessary to cross the room, John opens to door and looks out into the hallway. Manning and several other agents turn towards the sound of the door opening, looking expectantly at John.
"Um, sir?" Johns says hesitantly.
"Yes, Myers, what is it?" Manning asks in a haughty tone.
"Uh, there seems to be a problem," the younger man starts.
"What problem?" Manning inquires, his voice taking on a more dangerous tone.
"Well, you see, sir," John stammers. "They're gone."
"Who's gone?"
"They are."
"Hellboy's gone? AGAIN?"
"And Abe. And Liz. And the boy."
"WHAT?" Manning screeches as he charges past John into the apartment with several agents in his wake.
Manning takes a brief look around the room and then turns towards the other agents.
"Search everywhere," he orders the agents with a wave of his arm.
"I've already done that," John states quietly.
"How did this happen?" Manning demands of the younger man.
John relates what happened several minutes earlier. He tells Manning about the noises in the shadows, Toby's confession about wishing his sister away to the Goblin King, the kid trying to wish John away, Hellboy accidentally wishing Abe away, the arrival of the Goblin King and everyone but him leaving in a cloud of glitter. As he finishes his tale, John glances at the clock. It's now 11:59.
With an exasperated sigh, Manning glares at his subordinate for a minute. The clock on the wall starts to chime 12:00 just as Manning opens his mouth to tear John a new one. But before a single word can pass his lips, Sarah Williams appears out of thin air right next to them. Manning gives a little yip of surprise at the sudden arrival while glitter slowly settles to the ground.
Sarah's hair is messed up, her clothes are torn, dirty and damp, she has several bandages on her arms and she has a look of complete and utter relief on her face. At her feet, hog tied, gagged and stuffed into a burlap bag is her brother Toby. He also looks like he's been rolling around in the dirt and he has a livid expression on his face. Sarah takes a quick look around her rather crowded apartment.
"Who are you people?" she asks.
"Miss Williams?" John counter asks. When he gets a nod of confirmation, he continues, "Hi, I'm John Myers. We're with the FBI and we're here because of a rather unusual report we received from the police who were called by your neighbor."
"So you came here with Hellboy, Liz and Abe?" she inquires.
"Um," is all John gets out before she continues on.
"They were still there when I left," she tells him. "God, I hope Jareth didn't do anything to them."
"We're quite all right," Abe reassures her.
She turns towards the bedroom door as Abe, followed by Liz and Hellboy, comes out of that room and Sarah gives out a sigh of relief. If the apartment wasn't crowded before, the addition of three more people, especially a rather large red one, make it now seem down right claustrophobic.
Sarah wonders how to get people out of her place but her train of thought is interrupted by muffled screams. Looking down, she realizes that Toby's still trussed up on the floor. She contemplates leaving him like that just for the fact that he had to be forced to come and get her, but decides better of it. With a reluctant sigh, she bends over and starts trying to untie his bonds.
"Why is Toby trussed up like a Thanksgiving Day turkey?" John asks, looking straight at Hellboy.
"He wouldn't come quietly," Hellboy states with a shrug.
"Hellboy, you should get a special merit badge for these knots," Sarah grumbles as she struggles with the rope.
Liz comes over and places a burning finger against one of the loops. Within a matter of seconds, Toby is free. With a thrashing of arms and legs, Toby rids himself of the rope and bag. Standing up, he removes the gag, throws it onto the floor and then glares at his sister.
"I'm telling Mom and Dad," he threatens. "You're going to be in so much trouble."
"What are they going to do?" Sarah retorts. "Deny me the privilege of your company? Don't I wish."
"And YOU!" the brat yells, rounding on Hellboy. "My dad's going to sue you."
"I don't think so, young man," Manning interrupts with a superior tone. "If your father tries, the government will deny the existence of Hellboy. Your father will be made a fool of and his reputation will be ruined."
"And I wouldn't bother trying to tell anyone about what happened," Sarah warns him. "Not unless you want to spend some serious amounts of time in a nice quiet room with padded walls."
"But..." Toby starts in near tears with frustration.
"'But' nothing, Toby," Sarah interrupts in a voice that brooks no argument. "Now go take a shower and get changed. You're filthy and making a mess all over my floor."
"NO!" Toby shouts defiantly.
"Fine, you can sleep on the floor then," Sarah states with a shrug. "You're not getting on my furniture until you've cleaned up."
Toby stands there fuming for a few moments before he goes storming into the bedroom, returning a few seconds later with a change of clothes in his hand and then slams the bathroom door shut. With a sigh of frustration, Sarah now turns her attention to the man in the expensive suit.
"Would you mind taking your men out of my apartment, Mr.…?" Sarah starts.
"Dr. Manning," Manning informs her. "I must warn you not to try and tell Hellboy's or Abe's existence to anyone."
"Dr. Manning, my best friends are a dwarf, a beast and a one eyed fox that rides a sheepdog," Sarah informs him. "I've never told anyone that for the past nine years nor have I told anyone of my first trip to the Underground in all this time either. Trust me, I can keep a secret."
"Very well, but if you do try, the government will deny your claims," he cautions.
"That's fine, Dr. Manning," Sarah agrees. "No would you mind leaving? I'm tired and want to go to bed."
Manning nods, signals his men, and leaves the apartment. The rest of the agents start to file out. Sarah reaches down and picks up the items that held Toby prisoner for a short period of time in order to throw them away.
When she picks up the gag Hellboy used, she gets her first good look at it and she starts laughing. Abe comes over to see what's so funny. She hands him the cloth, he looks at it and starts to chuckle. Soon, Sarah is laughing so hard she's having trouble breathing. Attracted to the sound, Hellboy and Liz stay behind as the other agents leave.
"What's so funny?" Hellboy asks his curiosity piqued.
Abe hands him the scrap of cloth and the others look at it quizzically.
"What about it?" Liz asks.
"What's printed on the cloth?" Abe counter asks.
"Apples," Hellboy answers. "So?"
Sarah is now sitting on the floor with tears streaming down her face, holding her side and on the verge of hyperventilating.
"I'll explain later," Abe replies as he sits on the floor next to Sarah. "Cover your nose and mouth with your hands or you're going to hyperventilate."
Sarah complies, and after a couple of minutes, her breathing returns close to normal. As the humor wears off, the stress of the past thirteen hours sets in and she starts to cry great gasping sobs. Abe pulls her to him and she gratefully leans on his shoulder, thankful for the support. After several more minutes, she calms down, but she continues to lean on Abe.
"What am I going to do, Abe?" she whispers without looking up.
"Do you love him?" he asks.
"I don't know, maybe," she replies. "He's the only one I've ever thought about as more than a friend. What am I going to do?"
"You'll have to make that decision on your own," he answers. "It won't be easy, and it will take a lot of soul searching. But in the end, I think you'll make the right decision for you."
"Thank you, Abe," she says as she finally looks up at him. "I think you're the only friend I have in this world."
"You're welcome," he replies.
He takes off one of his gloves and cradles her cheek in his bare hand. In the brief moment that skin meets skin, Abe gives her a small gift. She smiles and he gracefully rises from the floor and starts heading towards the exit that the others have already gone through.
"Are you going to be all right?" she asks from where she sits. "For the trip back to wherever you came from, I mean."
"I'll be fine, thank you," he responds. "I have a spare respirator in the truck."
"I'm glad," she says. "Good bye, Abe."
"Good bye, Sarah," Abe replies as he lets himself out of the apartment.
Sarah sits and stares at the closed door until Toby finally emerges from the bathroom. He's clean and in his pajamas. He walks past her, turns on the TV and then plops himself down on the couch. Sarah wearily gets to her feet, goes over to the TV and turns it down.
"Please keep it down," she requests. "I don't want the neighbors calling the police again."
Toby stares at her in disbelief as she heads for the bedroom.
"Aren't you going to order me to go to bed?" he asks in confusion.
"No, Toby, I'm not," his sister answers. "I really don't care what you do as long as you don't wake me after I go to bed."
"I thought I got the bed," he says in a rather combative tone of voice.
"Since you're determined to stay up, you get the couch," she responds. "Pillows and blankets are over by the window."
"But I want the bed," he whines.
"This might be a great shock to you, kid, but I really don't care what you want," she replies. "It's my bed and I'm sleeping in it. Goodnight, Toby."
With that she goes into her room and collects a few items. Then she goes into the bathroom, showers, dresses and then heads to bed. As she takes one last glance into the living room, she sees that Toby is already asleep on the couch. Sarah gets a pillow and a couple of blankets and makes him comfortable. Turning off the TV, she heads to bed and is asleep herself within seconds of lying down.
