Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Hellboy Universe, but I own Rielle and Lavinia. So there. :P

Note: Wow. You guys are great to me, thank you so much. One question though, What the bloody heck is Mary Sue? I'm sort of dense, I have no clue. I'll try to update again ASAP.

Chapter Six

Lavinia:

"What the hell are we supposed to wear today?" I whined, picking up my stank socks. I wondered if they'd stick to the wall if I threw them hard enough. Gross.

Both me and Rielle were running around in towels, hurrying to get ready for another meeting with Broom and an introduction to some of the others, but we couldn't find a shred of clean clothing anywhere. Even Rielle's ever-present backpack was empty of spare changes. She used her last T-shirt to bandage my foot that night.

"I don't have a freaking clue, but I'm not going to meet these people in those clothes." Rielle replied, pointing at the pile of dirty clothes in the corner, they looked as bad as mine and smelled worse.

I got fed up with searching and centered on getting. I headed to the door, pulled it open and stalked out into the busy hallway. The replacement guard's eyes popped out when he beheld me in nothing but a towel.

"Vinny, get your big brown butt back in here!"

I had an audience! Soldiers bumped into each other and some weenuk balding guy in a suit literally gave himself whiplash passing me.

"Excuse me," I started, doing a showy spin, "Me and my friend need some clothes, and would appreciate it very much if some very nice person could bring some to us."

Rielle's arm shot out the door, grasped the back of my neck in an iron grip and yanked me back inside the room. "God, your crazy!"

We both heard the applause outside our room and Rielle huffed in exasperation.

"What?" What'd I do?

Five minutes later there was a light knock on the door and I have Ellie my patented 'told you' look before opening it with flourish. Unfortunately it wasn't some hot soldier boy like I had hoped; it was a slightly shocked Professor Broom holding a pile of neatly folded military wear.

I heard Rielle yell "Gah!" and run off to the bathroom with her towel flapping behind her. The door slammed hard.

I resolved to make this as unembarrassing as possible in spite of the circumstances. "Good morning, Professor Broom. I'd shake your hand, but..." I clutched my towel tightly. "Not exactly the brightest idea at the moment."

"No need, I can see you're," he stopped, grinned, "In an awkward position."

You can say that again, I thought as I heard Rielle open the bathroom door.

"Is it safe?"

I took the clothes from the Professor with a 'thank you' smile, finally noticing he was leaning on a cane today, and said, "Say good morning, Ellie!"

"He he he, uhh, hi."

"I'll just leave you two alone for a few minutes; can you be ready in five minutes?"

"No problem."

"I'll be outside."

He shut the door behind him and Rielle stepped out of the bathroom, red as red can be. I had to bug her.

"Showin' the old man some skin you pervert?"

She whacked me with the cargoes I handed her.

"Hag." How dare she?

"Slut." She closed the bathroom door again, and only then did I notice she stole my pants.

Bruttenholm:

The two escorts and I stood patiently outside the door, and I watched as the soldiers struggled with their sense of humour at hearing the two girls making such a racket. We could hear them through the door, yelling at each other and the occasional Thump as something heavy hit the wall. The discipline of one of my men broke as he asked "Just what are they doing in there?"

As if in answer, a shrill voice penetrated the walls. "Give me my pants!" Thump!

"Make me!" Thump.

Oh dear lord, they'll tear the place down.

It was no mystery to me why my son liked them so much already. He so much as said why late last night when he invaded my bedroom and started babbling until I was forced to stop him. He told me all about the kitchen talks and had nothing but praise for the girls, only disliking Miss Cyr's taste in beer. I told him to go to bed after a half hour of ranting as I was too tired to take any more, but I was happy that my son was so thrilled.

All the noise inside the girl's room now only reminded me of when Hellboy was much younger and more hot-tempered. We soon learned that having him near anything breakable when he was in a mood was an invitation to destruction.

"Say sorry first."

"Never!"

We're going to be late. I checked my pocket-watch and knocked on the door. "Is everything all right in there?"

"Fine!" said a faux-innocent Rielle, obviously out of breath.

"Yah, fine!" echoed a choked, grainy voice, which I only assumed was Miss Asaiken in a headlock. I'd heard enough to recognize a headlock from years of tearing my son off of various insulting rookie soldiers.

I saw the escorts look at each other and glance at the door like it held candy inside. I avoided thinking of why, I was young once as well.

Not long after, the door opened and the girls came out, fully dressed, unbruised and presentable, much to the disappointment of the escorts. I greeted them again and received warm smiles in return. Miss Asaiken apologized for 'flashing' me earlier, and Miss Cyr blushed. They each took one of my arms, Miss Asaiken being careful not to hit my cane as we went, and we walked together to my office where I was about to introduce them formally to both the 'Special Team' and some of the people they would be working for.

I had mulled over whether to do a meet and greet with my son and Abraham last night and had concluded it wouldn't be a good idea just yet, but when Hellboy told me about the kitchen I reconsidered. If Lavinia had the same attitude towards Hellboy and Abraham as Rielle did, maybe things would be easier. I wouldn't have to explain the massive amounts of pancakes and rotten eggs, for one thing.

We rounded a corner and faced the large oak doors to my office, and here I hesitated. Lavinia squeezed my arm very lightly and appeared troubled. "Are you alright, sir?"

I patted her hand and opened the doors. I had no choice but to be alright with this. It didn't mean I had to like it.

Rielle:

I still hadn't told Lavinia about my meeting with Hellboy last night, and I felt sort of bad for it. It had been bugging me all morning. So when Broom pushed the doors open to reveal the big man lounging in the same chair Vinny was perched in yesterday, decked out in black and gripping a full pot of coffee in his stone right hand, I reached around and rubbed Vinny's shoulder reassuringly, hoping she wouldn't run off.

Hellboy waved cheerfully at us as we came in, and I waved back, watching for spazz-signals from Lavinia. Even Broom seemed to brace himself for an explosion.

Surprisingly enough Vinny kept her cool, even when Red got off his chair and shook her hand. "So you're my new chef, huh? Hi, I'm Hellboy."

Her eyes bugged out a little but she managed to return the greeting. Good for you, Vinny.

"How's your head?" I asked, indicating the bump on his temple, which was now a darker shade of red and almost looked like a third horn.

"Could be worse. How's your foot?"

"Better. Bath made the swelling go down."

Hellboy let go of Vinny's hand and went back to his seat. Broom gave Vinny a pat on the shoulder and he stepped past. "Coffee anyone?"

I waved my hand excitedly, needing the caffeine boost right now, but before Broom could even get a cup for me, Lavinia grabbed my arm and said "Excuse us." In a jittery voice, then dragged me away to where we could confer privately like yesterday.

"Lavinia..." I started but she shut me up fast.

"What... The... Fuck?"

I gave her a quick hug and felt her shaking. She was so frightened and did such a good job of covering it, but I knew her much too well.

"Calm down sweetie." I brushed her hair out of her face. "He's a good guy."

"How do you know?" Her eyes were accusatory, a little angry.

"Look, I'll tell you later, but for now, just... just think of him as a really big Indian."

That got her giggling. "A big Indian." She said a little doubtfully.

"Yah, like Maurice."

"As if!" Maurice was like an uncle to us, huge and goofy and the best dancer anyone's seen in years. We both adored him.

"Please? Give the big lug a chance, trust me." I pleaded.

Vinny took a deep shaky breath and closed her eyes. "A big Indian, a big Indian." She repeated over and over, like saying it enough times would make it true. I sympathized but I also knew she'd come around eventually.

I had to grin when I saw Red's tail flipping around holding a coffee cup. I wanted to talk with him again so I started pushing Vinny back into view. She smiled at Hellboy when he held a cup full of steaming coffee to her, and took it without trembling as much. Yay! He handed me my cup as well and sat back down.

Broom watched all this silently but his mind was on something else. His eyes kept darting to the fish tank and back to the three of us. "Where's Abraham?" he asked Hellboy.

Lavinia poked me and whispered, "Who's Abraham?" I didn't know either so I shrugged.

"I don't know, I woke him up a while ago."

Broom rubbed his temple in frustration, "He was up reading all night again, I'll wager."

"He finished Moby Dick yet?"

We were virtually forgotten as Hellboy and Professor Broom spoke about this Abe guy, who apparently read a lot and slept late very rarely. I didn't mind, the conversation was fascinating in itself and the relationship between Red and Broom felt strong, almost father-son. It was sort of cute, the little old man and the big red behemoth being so close.

Lavinia also kept her mouth shut, entranced by Hellboy's flicking red tail, her eyes following every movement. If she was a kitten I swore she would have attacked it by now.

Hellboy:

I could feel the redhead watching me and it made me feel uncomfortable, so I tried to ignore it and talked with Dad instead. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Rielle smirking at her friend, twirling a lock of hair around her index finger. The clothes they had were military issue but I was right about her, she looked good cleaned up. I took back the word 'handsome' I labelled her with last night.

"Good Morning, all!" came Abe's electronically projected voice from the tank. There was a light thud as his hand hit the glass.

The girls reacted better than I thought they would. Rielle's expression was priceless, jaw dropped, eyebrows straight up. Then she covered her gaping mouth with a hand and just looked.

Lavinia fainted.

"Oh, they're here already." Blue swam around to get a closer look at the girl on the floor, only then did Rielle notice her friend was unconscious.

"Oh Hell." She hopped off her chair and bent to her friend, lifting her head and checking her pupils, worried but shaking with laughter.

"Is she okay?" I joined Rielle on the floor, waving a book to fan the poor kid.

"I'm sorry, Professor, I didn't know they were already here," Said Abe.

Rielle looked over her shoulder, "Don't worry. She's always been a bit of a fainter. She'll be alright in a minute."

"I certainly hope so."

I helped Rielle lift her friend off the floor and dump her in a chair. Rielle sat on the arm and checked her pupils again while I poured some more coffee for her. "Lots of sugar, she'll need it when she wakes up." She looked over at me with a thankful smile.

Rielle took the cup from me and set it on the table next to her, then, leaving her friend, gathered herself and turned to meet Abe formally. She studied him for a moment before speaking. "You must be Abraham."

"Abe is fine."

"Or fish-boy." I said.

"No, not 'fish-boy' you big monkey."

"Children! Must you fight this early and in front of guests?"

"Sorry, Pop."

"Sorry Professor." We said in unison, much to Rielle's amusement. From the looks of it, after the initial shock of seeing Abe, she had the same attitude towards him as me. She showed no fear at all, going right up to the tank, face to face with him. She whispered his name. "Nice name."

Then her brow darkened and she stepped back. "What..." She met Abe's unblinking eyes and a low growl emitted from her throat.

Oh, damn. He tried to read her.

Abraham:

I didn't do much better this time around trying to probe her mind, and actually just pissed her off some more. I ran into the brick wall again, but it was weaker this time now that I only had a plate of glass between us. Through cracks I could pick up worry for her friend's well-being, something about a car delivery, and ham sandwiches. What the...

Then the girl shut off completely, I only caught a glimpse of her betrayed emotion as she stepped away from me.

"Great first impression, Abe." Red muttered angrily.

"You two should leave for now, we'll confer later." The Professor sounded angry. Maybe I shouldn't have tried so early, but who knew the girl could feel me in there?

Red said goodbye to the girl, "We'll talk later." and strode out, all the while glaring holes through me. He was stomping towards my quarters to; I presume, give me a good bellowing at, so I met him there and explained myself from the safety of the tank.

"What's the big idea trying to read her already?"

"I thought you wanted me to!"

"That was before we talked last night."

"Pardon?"

Hellboy groaned. "We really have to work out our communication problems, Abe."

Bruttenholm:

One disaster after another. I took a pillow and laid it gently under the head of Miss Asaiken, gauging how angry the other was. Judging by her glowering at the tank, I'd say she's furious.

"I apologize for that. Abe is usually much more polite."

"He tried that yesterday too, didn't he? Getting inside my head, I mean." The redness was already fading from her cheeks as she looked to me for an honest answer. How she could tell Abe was in there was beyond me, and an honest answer I was afraid would only anger her again.

"Professor?"

Honesty, then. "Yes, he did."

She huffed and shook her head, stroking Lavinia's brow with one hand and gripping her coffee cup like her self-control depended on its stability.

"Look, I know there's a matter of security involved and all, and you need answers. But, please, if you want to know things about me, I'd prefer if you'd just ask. I hate when people seek things out dishonestly. Like this... it's mind-rape and I don't appreciate it."

Neither did I, personally. That's why I absolutely forbade Abraham reading me without my express permission. Mind-rape it was, other wise.

Rielle continued. "I know we've only known each other for a day but I already have massive respect for you. You've never been anything but honest with me and Lavinia so far, and I had hoped it would continue."

"Would you feel more comfortable if we just sat down and had a chat instead?"

"Yes. I would prefer that. If you would feel better, bring him. I'll open up a little and he can tell you if I'm being truthful, but please, don't try such an underhanded method again."

It felt like an ultimatum but I was inclined to accept. At least she was willing to compromise. We agreed to terms with a toast, her with a fresh coffee and me with my orange juice. The oddness of the moment made us both smile.

It was when our cups clinked that young Lavinia stirred. Rielle jumped to her side again, helping her sit up properly.

"Ahh, shit, I passed out again, didn't I?"

"Uh huh."

"And I just swore in front of Broom too?"

"Uh huh."

"Crap."

Rielle gave her her coffee and she drank it all at once. "Where's..." she shook herself. "You know what? Never mind. I'm sorry."

"For what, child?"

"I haven't handled any of this very well, and here I go fainting like some girly girl when this guy comes in to say hi."

"Understandable."

She groaned. "No, it's not. I wouldn't like it very much if someone fainted at the mere sight of me."

"You'd like it if he were a total babe." Rielle joked, squeezing her friend protectively.

"Well, that goes without saying. Mmm, unconscious man meat."

Oh dear lord.