Animal Instincts
Psycho Llama
Disclaimer: Mike Mignola owns all but mousy. Yes, that does mean Mike Mignola owns the world. Flee; flee for your lives!
'I'll be safe here, he'll never find me…'
The erratic thoughts of someone sneaking about in the library awoke Abe from his light afternoon doze. He blinked a few times in confusion, wondering if he had only imagined the thought… or that someone he didn't recognise was in the library. He scanned the library again with his mind, and was met by an onslaught of thoughts.
'I've got to hide, I've got to hide, he'll kill me…' 'The red demon lives in this place, surely he won't try coming here. No, I'm safe. I have to be.' 'I'm so tired of running…'
Abe tensed. 'Red demon'? If she was in the BPRD and didn't know who Hellboy was, she obviously had not been invited in. Well, that and the thoughts about hiding made it a complete give-away. He searched the person's mind, trying to see what they were running from.
'Dark… evil… killer…' her thoughts were too jumbled to get a clear picture from. Abe glided silently through the cool water of his tank; right up to the heavy wall of glass that displayed the library before him. The Icthyo looked around the room; no one was in it.
'Ah! What is that?'
Abe looked around the room frantically. They could see him, but why couldn't he see them? Were they invisible? He frowned, "Hello? Who's there?"
'The one in the tank is looking for me… I can't be seen, I must hide…'
Abe scowled; there wasn't one place in the library big enough to hide a human that he couldn't see from his vantage point…
"Hey, Blue? How ya doin'?" Hellboy's deep baritone floated into the library; shortly followed by the demon himself. Abe started to reply, but got sidetracked by the intruder's thoughts.
'Blue? Is that his name? How does 'Blue' know I am here? Am I safe? There is no where else I can go… he'll find me… he'll kill me…'
"Earth to Blue, you in there?" Hellboy asked, standing right up to the glass and tapping on it
Abe shook himself out of his revere; jumping and gliding backwards when he saw how close Hellboy was to the glass. "Someone is in here," Abe's serious voice spoke through the speaker mounted on the wall.
"Really? Where?" Hellboy spun around, startled.
"I can't find them, but they're very frightened. I think they came here seeking asylum," Abe explained, hoping his knowledge of the person would encourage the hidden person to reveal themselves.
'No… not possible… how did he know… they're going to catch me. They'll throw me out. He'll get me!'
"We wouldn't let that happen," Abe replied consolingly, looking around the room in search of the source of the thoughts.
"Huh?" Hellboy looked around in vague confusion. His eyes caught on something on a bookshelf beside Abe's tank. He frowned, "Damn bugs…" Abe could see in Hellboy's mind the image of a tiny black spider scurrying across the bookshelf. Hellboy lifted his giant stone hand, ready to smite the little insect. Abe sensed the person's thoughts becoming even more panicked, as if they were about to get squashed by…
Hellboy brought his hand down on the spider. Abe started, "No!" he yelled, air bubbles rushing out of his mouth in an underwater scream.
Hellboy stayed his stone hand, "Relax, Blue. It's not like I would have damaged the wood or anything… and he's getting away," Hellboy grumbled, watching the black spider scurry along the spines of some ancient novels predatorily.
"First of all, the spider is a 'she'," Abe placed both hands on the surface of the glass, "Second of all, that 'she' is not actually a spider."
"She's a shape-shifter?" Hellboy puzzled, looking more closely at the frantic arachnid, "Doesn't look like one."
In a split second, the black spider morphed into a tiny grey mouse, which scurried away as fast and far as it could from Hellboy. Bute he was quick to react, catching the mouse by the tail and holding it up. The mouse transformed into a skink, which disengaged its tail and fell onto the floor, slipping under the bookcase where no one could catch it.
"Damn!" Hellboy cussed, dropping the dead tail.
'Shape-shifters are not easily caught, if ever. I think we will have to lure her out," Abe observed with some interest.
"Hey, you're the psychic, you make her come out," Hellboy retorted.
'Psychic? Psychic? Oh no, they're going to find me…'
Hellboy signalled for Abe to get out of the tank and watched the merman swim up out of sight before getting down on his knees and peering under the bookcase. His eyes adjusted to the dark light only to see the coiled black snake about to strike. Hellboy yanked his head out of the way just before the creature struck. Hellboy tried to grab the snake's head, but missed.
"Any luck yet?" Abe called, plodding into the room; still dripping slightly. He had obviously got out of his tank in a hurry, still fiddling with his dry-suit and breathing apparatus.
"Snake tried to bite me," Hellboy growled.
"Hmm…" Abe got down on the floor beside Hellboy and looked under the bookcase himself, "Melissa?"
'The psychic! He knows my name! No…' the mind of the shape-shifter hissed in frustration and fear.
"That her name? Nice. What else have you got on her?"
"Not very much. Amnesia… woke up in a hospital… no one knew who she was…" Abe replied distantly.
"She wants sanctuary, right? Just tell her to come out and we'll let her stay here," Hellboy suggested.
"She doesn't trust us. The last people that granted her sanctuary betrayed her. I guess they were too afraid of whatever was chasing her," Abe sighed, looking down.
"…What's she running from?"
"Hard to tell, her thoughts are too erratic…" Abe tried to scan the girl's mind again, but was interrupted as she changed from one animal to another, brain patterns changing to that of a mouse's again. The grey mouse scuttled out from under the bookcase on Abe's side, making a break for it.
Abe caught the mouse, gently picking it up in his hands and trying to ignore the massive wave of panicked thoughts of the shape-shifter, magnified through touch. The little grey mouse became a little grey bird and flew out of Abe's webbed hands.
"Oh dear…" Abe murmured.
'Escape, escape, escape,' the girl's mind cried, the sparrow fluttering around the library's high ceiling.
"Dammit…" Hellboy cursed.
"What's going on?" Agent Clay called, stumbling into the library. Abe scuttled over to the agent and deftly shut the door behind him, preventing the shape-shifter from getting out.
"Shape-shifter," Clay heard Hellboy growl, his yellow eyes trained on the bird, "Think I got it…"
Hellboy jumped, making a grab for the sparrow. But he missed, landing on the floor with a loud 'thud' and a mini earthquake. Clay and Abe had to take a minute to steady themselves. Hellboy took another leap into the air, just brushing a wing of the bird before landing again.
"Woah!" Clay was almost knocked off his feet by the tremor.
"You are only scaring her more!" Abe warned. He moved away from the door, trying to get closer to the sparrow. Clay resumed guarding the door, watching the sparrow curiously.
The bird was leading Hellboy and Abe deliberately away from the door. Before they had time to react, the sparrow flitted over their heads and towards the library door. The bird dived to the ground, becoming a leopard before Clay's wide eyes. The shape-shifter roared, trying to scare the agent away from the door.
Clay stood unfazed; his hand reaching for his gun… but he didn't pull it out. The leopard paused in her tracks, surprised by the sudden development.
Hellboy's little earthquakes had the whole bureau into a panicked state by now. Professor Broom and a few others were already making their way to the library. Professor Broom opened the library door behind Clay, starting to ask, "What's going on in here?" but was interrupted when a leopard apparently became a fox and darted through Clay' legs and around the professor's own to get out of the library.
Hellboy and Abe, also running towards the door, were crying out indistinguishable pleas for someone, anyone, to stop the shape-shifter. But it was too late, by the sounds of the surprised yells that followed down the corridor and then the, "Damnit, I've lost it in the air vent!" that followed.
"Oh, forgive me, I didn't know the three of you had something there," Broom apologised quietly.
"It does not matter, she will not leave this place…" Abe reassured, his tone distant. His head was pointed towards the ceiling, following the shape-shifter's path through the air-ducts.
Hellboy blinked, "…Why not?"
"She believes this is the only place safe for her," the amphibian sighed.
"I think we had better discuss this in my office," Broom smiled warmly, "I'll go tell the kitchens to make us some hot tea and pancakes…"
"She came here to seek asylum. For the last three years she has been constantly on the run, and only two and a half years before that woke up in a hospital with complete amnesia. No one knew who she was; the hospital staff affectionately named her 'Melissa'. She can change into any of over a million species of animals. She has no idea how it works, but has an innate sense that she was not born with it," Abe explained, going over the few facts he had gained from her when he had picked her up.
"On the run from what?" Manning asked stonily.
"That's the interesting part; it is one of Rasputin's followers, Dr Karl Ruprecht Kroenen. I am guessing he was trying to either capture her for medical experiments or simply following Rasputin's orders. Melissa is quite sure he is trying to assassinate her."
"Three years? That's a long time to chase someone," Clay frowned.
"Which is why I'm starting to think that it was one of Rasputin's orders. She would prove a worthy ally to us, and it wouldn't be surprising if they thought the same about her, or at least her ability to shape-shift. I believe it is something to do with her DNA. I think it has been modified in some way," Abe stated.
"You said she had amnesia… do you think you could bring any of it back?" Hellboy asked, mulling over how the girl remembered nothing of her past. Maybe memories prior to her amnesia could prove why Rasputin's followers were chasing her, or how she became a shape-shifter.
"It's difficult. The amnesia was drug-induced. Someone meant for her to forget everything," Abe replied quietly.
"Drug-induced? Perhaps by the person that made her into a shape-shifter?" Broom theorised.
"Yes, but I do not think it was Dr Kroenen," Abe answered before Broom could even ask. Abe had done some research on the Nazi scientist. Whatever happened to Melissa was in a completely different science from what Kroenen practices.
"Hmm… well we want her to know that the door is open, and she is welcome," Broom smiled thoughtfully, "There is a spare living unit near the medical bay, we'll give her that."
"Professor Broom, are you sure that's a wise idea?" Manning scowled.
"Yes, I am," Broom confirmed loudly, he lowered his tone to a friendlier pitch when he talked to Abe, "Kindly show her where it is next time you see her, Abe. The rest of the bureau will need to be alerted that there is a shape-shifter in here. We don't want her to be accidentally squashed now, do we?" his eyes twinkled at Hellboy's nervous cough.
'That's a clever hiding place.' Melissa almost jumped out of her skin when she heard the psychic's voice inside of her head. 'No, no. Please stay calm, I won't tell anyone where you are.'
Melissa clung on tighter to the wall, her tan-coloured moth wings blending in perfectly with her surroundings, she didn't know if she could trust the fish-man…
'Have I given you any reason not to trust me?' the voice echoed in her mind.
'You and that other one were trying to capture me! Why should I trust you?' her thought came off louder than she expected, like a mental shout to Abe.
'Hellboy and I were only trying to help you. Professor Broom also asked me to show you where your room is,' Melissa almost let go of her grip on the wall as the mental image of how to get from where she was to her room downloaded into her mind.
'A room? They mean to keep me here. They want to hold me prisoner here. Experiments… scientists… restraints…' Melissa's mind went wild.
'No, we just want you to feel welcome here. Please understand that you are safe while you are with us, but we could use your help…'
'Help? What good am I to anyone…?'
'We don't currently have any agents who could disguise themselves as well or get into places that you could, with your abilities.'
'But I can't fight. I've seen what you can do. I watched you and the red monkey fight. I followed you here… I can't help you. All I can do is run and hide. Hide, I can't even do that. He always finds me; it isn't fair. I've run so far…'
Abe decided to interrupt before her thoughts turned into an erratic buzz, 'If you help us, we will do whatever we can to make sure you are safe.' Abe worded his promise carefully, knowing that the 'we' could only certainly apply to him and Hellboy. Hellboy would be willing to defend a fellow… special person. 'And the red monkey's name is Hellboy.'
'Safe? Safe? If you can promise me safety, I will do whatever you ask of me,' Melissa pleaded.
The heavy banging on the tank's glass window to the library severed Abe's psychic link with Melissa. Snapping out of his trance, the ichthyoid did a little flip in the water and swam to the glass panel. He looked peeved, "What is it?"
"Jeez, Blue, I've been calling ya for the past five minutes! Where were you?" Hellboy scowled, 'where' meaning mentally rather than physically.
Abe blinked, "…I was communicating with Melissa."
"Who?"
"The shape-shifter."
"Oh, her," Hellboy growled.
Ignoring him, Abe continued, "She's agreed to help us, if we protect her."
"Really? Good. Found out anything new about her?"
"Mmhmm. She is a shape-shifter, but she can only shift into certain shapes. Animals. And it's definitely something in her DNA. Certain codes have been somehow planted in her system, allowing her to replace parts of her DNA to change into an animal instantaneously. Someone did this to her," Abe murmured darkly.
"You two have a lot in common then. D'ya know which hospital she woke up in?" Hellboy asked, mouth full with the cigar he was smoking. Abe read his comrade's thoughts.
"It wasn't St Trinian's. It was some small hospital in Germany; she finds it difficult to remember the name. She wandered half of Germany trying to find out who she was. Nothing."
"Jeez…" Hellboy murmured, stubbing out his cigar, "When did she wake up?"
"Five and a half years ago, approximately. It took a while for years and dates to become important to her, so it is difficult to predict exactly when," Abe sighed, floating about in his tank.
"Any clues about why Kroenen is after her?"
"Just one," the fish-man nodded, "But I find it more confusing than helpful."
"Let's hear it, then," Hellboy shifted, readying himself for a long explanation.
"I'm afraid you will have to experience this one instead," Abe stuck his webbed hand to the glass wall separating them, "It's quite long."
Hellboy gave the webbed hand an unsettled look, "Alright then," he grunted and pressed his left hand to the opposite side of the glass, opening his mind to Abe's projection of Melissa's memory.
Hellboy's eyes were given the view of a little German village; the local speech conveniently translated into English by Abe's extensive linguist skills. Hellboy could hear Abe telling him facts on where he was and what was going on in the back of his mind.
"It is about eight twenty five at night in the village, Melissa had spent the whole day looking for clues on a photograph she had found with herself in, currently folded up neatly in the left-hand pocket of that cardigan she is wearing. That's her there by the bakery…" Abe's voice cut out, letting the scene unfold in Hellboy's mind.
A tall, gangly European girl with a head of thick, dark wavy hair pushed open the bakery door and exited. The little bell on the bakery door jangled merrily as it shut behind her. Hellboy noticed a corner of folded paper protruding from the left-hand pocket of the brown, woolly cardigan she was wearing.
'Bingo,' Hellboy's mind confirmed to himself.
The girl clutched a small paper bag to her chest. Obviously dinner, but it didn't look like much…
"Poverty, she received very little money after being found, but she still went on in the search for her identity," Abe's voice answered.
The tatty cardigan and second-hand ankle-length black wouldn't have been enough to evade the obvious cold that late at night. And she was beginning to shiver.
Breath shaking with the cold, Melissa strode directly past Hellboy's viewpoint and further down the street. Hellboy's viewpoint moved as Melissa moved away. Hellboy could only hold on and enjoy the ride.
There was a time-skip, and Melissa was found resting against the brick wall of a small shop, one of the few with the lights still on. Her eyes fluttered open and rhythmic ticking could be heard faintly in the air. The night sky was dark, lit only by the moon and the few stars not shrouded in cloud. Melissa moved closer to the sound of the ticking, further down the street.
Hellboy tensed, 'Kroenen?'
She was sure it was coming from the alleyway ahead. She poked her head around the corner; Hellboy held his breath in suspense. No one there. Melissa frowned and walked to the shop on the other side of the alleyway, light flooding the street outside. It was a clock shop.
Hellboy groaned; Abe's chuckling filling his head, "I thought I should have left that bit in there. I was so worried when she stuck her head into the alley… I was sure Kroenen was about to jump out and grab her."
'Thanks, Blue,' Hellboy thought sarcastically.
Melissa entered the clock shop, looking at the clocks hung on the wall distantly. Hellboy overheard her asking the man behind the counter if he had any spare rooms she could use for the night, even though she didn't have any money. The man quite rudely shooed her out, thinking she was just another street rat.
Hellboy felt a twinge of sympathy for the girl. Underclothed, underfed and no place warm to go home to. 'Did she ever find anything out about the photo?'
"No, and yet she was so close…" Abe's voice sighed.
Melissa continued down the empty street, unperturbed. 'I can keep the cold off if I just keep walking…'
Hellboy now heard Melissa's voice in his head, her thoughts, most likely.
Hellboy's vision followed Melissa down the road. The next three blocks passing in complete silence. Then the soft ticking sound returned. 'Whole town's just full of clocks…' Melissa thought dejectedly, thinking back to the storekeeper in the clock shop.
'Here we go…' Hellboy's mind growled.
"It can't be…" Melissa's disbelieving whisper broke the heavy silence. She sprinted over to the old village library; the windows cracked and dirty. On one of the windows, taped against it from the other side of the glass, was an array of old photos. She hastily pulled her photo from her pocket and pressed it to the glass beside its twin. She squealed in happiness at the exact match.
'Hey, she found her picture,' Hellboy inwardly grinned.
"Oh wow…" Melissa laughed in joyous surprise, 'I can find out who I am… what happened to me… all my questions will finally be answered!'
The girl was so rapt by her discovery that she didn't even care about passers-by that noticed her ecstatic reaction. She had noticed that her perhaps over-the-top shout had turned at least one head. But she didn't care; it was only one person anyway.
'Only one person?' Hellboy was beginning to get the creeps, wishing hard that he were in control of where the vision. He wanted, no, needed to see who that one person was…
"Three guesses?" Abe's voice offered.
'I'll take one,' Hellboy's mind growled.
Melissa accidentally dropped her copy of the photo on the ground as she moved from the window to the library's main doors. Finding them locked, Melissa banged loudly on the historical building's door, "Hello, is there anyone in there? Hello?"
Hellboy noticed the passer-by had stopped in their tracks, watching Melissa flit about the door and windows to see if there was a way inside.
Melissa noticed the dark figure in the reflection of the glass, 'Damn, I can't change into an animal in public. But I must get into that library! Is it worth the risk?' Then she noticed the dark figure making its way towards her, 'Oh great. Don't panic, the worst it could be is a police officer wondering what I am doing at this hour of the night…Heh.'
Hellboy felt sickened at the impending doom Melissa was so unaware of. He saw the figure pick up something off the ground, Melissa's photograph, and then pocket it.
'Hey, maybe he knows what time the library opens…'
Hellboy could hear the crunching footsteps of what was obviously Kroenen coming up behind Melissa.
Melissa; too excited about finding the match to her picture to care about how suspicious the person approaching her was, decided upon asking them about the library. She turned around to face the person, already half way through her sentence, "Excuse me, do you know…"
Horror spread across Melissa's pale features, her words dying on her lips. Every muscle in her body seized up in fear, her eyes widening at the frightening presence before her.
Hellboy was blown away by the onslaught of animal instincts that flooded Melissa's mind, escape strategies and adrenalin boiling through her brain. It wasn't so much the inhuman mask, the Nazi symbols or the tips of swords protruding from the person's sleeves that scared her; but what her animal senses were telling her. She could smell blood. Blood even from decades ago, blood long washed away and gone, but the mark of blood was still there. It scared her to imagine how much blood the person before her had spilled, her animal senses reeling.
'RUN, RUN, RUN!' Melissa obeyed her instincts and fled. With lightning-quick reflexes, the figure's leather encased hand grabbed her arm. 'Hunter… predator… killer…' Melissa shrieked in fear and surprise. An inhuman, wraith-like scream sounding from her half-inhuman vocal cords.
She felt the hand release her arm in surprise as the flesh turned to feathers and arm turned to wing. Melissa launched herself into the air, letting her wings propel her skywards.
Hellboy watched the falcon fly away in awe. Kroenen snapped out of his own surprised trance and took off; making his way swiftly to the main road that Melissa was headed for. Hellboy cursed in his mind, watching the vision follow Melissa.
An alley cat poked her head around the corner of the alleyway, scanning the main road for any signs of activity. Melissa's feline eyes spotted the dark outline of the person's trench coat standing next to a tree.
'What is that?' Hellboy puzzled.
"A decoy," Abe's mind muttered into his own.
'Crap.'
Melissa noticed this too; her night-vision eyes registering that the outline was merely the trench coat and hat hanging from the tree branch. She morphed back into her human self, fear gripping her chest tightly, making it hard to breathe. Melissa froze at the sound of soft ticking that began to fill the night air. She checked the roads again, not a person in sight.
Then she looked up… two soulless dark lenses stared back down at her.
Hellboy was given the view of the chase sped up. Melissa ran, morphing into a cheetah. She sped away as fast as her limbs would carry her. Kroenen pursued her from the rooftops, speeding across them with the superhuman balance and agility his surgical 'modifications' granted him. But the cheetah was faster.
Hellboy was brought with a jolt back to the real world, staring up at Abe in confusion and horror, "What happened? Why'd you stop?" he demanded loudly.
Abe's face remained emotionless, "She ran for three days solid, as a cheetah. The longest time she had ever spent as one animal alone. She took refuge in the neighbouring village, but Kroenen caught up with her six hours later. Then she had to run again."
"Damn… how long did that last?" Hellboy murmured, unsticking his hand from the glass wall of Abe's tank.
"Almost two months of running and hiding. Then Kroenen disappeared, I am guessing he was called back to his duties to Rasputin. Melissa kept running, in various animals all the time so no one became suspicious of her. It was only half a year later that Kroenen found her again. Ever since then, she has constantly been on the run, only managing rest in Kroenen's infrequent absences."
"That's harsh, no wonder she's so panicky…"
"He grabbed her photo, why did he do that?" Abe hissed to himself, somersaulting in the water to alleviate his stress.
"Maybe he doesn't like people littering?" Hellboy suggested. Receiving a blank look from Abe, he shrugged his shoulders "Just a thought…"
"The most disturbing memory of the chase was when Melissa hid in an old Church in England. Kroenen slaughtered every person that went past the church to try and make her come out. Melissa was terrified, her humanity to stop him from killing all those people and her animalistic need for survival fought hard against each other. Her human side eventually won, but only just," Abe told Hellboy in a quiet voice, "And I have no idea why."
"Hey, don't worry. We're here to protect her now," Hellboy grinned, "And we could send a team up to that village she was at to find out who she was, you know."
"Hmm, good idea. And while you're out there, would you mind finding out if there are any more rotten eggs available? All that projecting has left me rather famished," Abe smiled widely, showing his two rows or needle-sharp teeth.
"Yeah, sure," Hellboy nodded vaguely, making his way towards the library door.
Melissa buzzed happily around one of the lights on the ceiling, masking her appearance by giving into the animal instinct that constantly plagued her mind. Sometimes she worried that her animal psyche would one day get the better of her, and she would go mad… or wild. At least that psyche allowed her to blend in more, acting like an animal.
She didn't use the housefly often; getting used to the insect's eyes was a nightmare. Thousands of little pictures, all at different angles, showed the world before her. It was enough to give any one a headache.
Abe was working on the negotiations for her joining the BPRD, mainly trying to get Manning to consent to the agreement. Melissa knew not to trust anybody until the word was final, she spent the day exploring the vast expanse of the bureau. She found herself in the corridor leading to Hellboy's room. She felt safe there, as if the red monkey was some strange parody of a guardian angel.
She heard footsteps and turned her attention to the approaching gentlemen.
"…Just be careful, okay? We've got a rogue shape-shifter in the building." Melissa saw the other agent give her a shifty look. Melissa changed into a mouse in midair, falling to the ground and bouncing a little before taking off in the opposite direction from the two agents, disappearing around the corner.
Clay smiled at the other agent's bewildered look, "Yeah, don't worry, she usually hangs out around this place."
Melissa placed her tiny paws on the wall and leapt up, gripping the wall with her lime-green lizard paws in mid-change. The green lizard wasn't much for camouflage, but it was perfect for scaling walls fast. She paused at the top of the doorframe, readying herself for a complex shift from one animal to another.
Melissa made the change; she felt the organs beneath her skin change and grow, the blood in her veins warming, her senses transforming in quality and priority. A barn owl, she flew into the spacious library with all the clumsiness of a reptile been given wings. Landing on one of the music stands before the tank, Melissa craned her neck to see which book Abe was currently reading.
"Oh, hello again," Melissa heard the Ichthyoid's voice crackle over the speaker, "Would you mind turning the pages? They've just gotten to the interesting part."
The barn owl became a spider monkey, the fingered hands more adept for turning the pages of a book. Melissa turned her furry face up to the glass tank, "How are the negotiations?" she asked calmly, curling her black tail around the bookstand.
"You can talk as an animal? That's clever," Abe grinned with interest, "The negotiations are fine, Mr Manning is coming in to meet you later on. I'm sure everything will go smoothly."
Melissa wasn't fooled by his lie, "I may not be able to read other people's mind, but I can tell when they are lying. You are worried about Manning meeting me. Why?" the girl kept a close eye on Abe's body language.
"He is not as understanding as Professor Broom. He has… issues with people as different as us. And he hates spiders."
Melissa grinned at the implication, shifting back into the barn owl. Abe cocked his head to the side, "I could try to bring back some of your memories, if you would let me."
The girl's eyes went wide; "Really?" the shock soon left, leaving only her reluctance to trust the psychic. In all her experience on the run from death, trust was a futile hope. Too many people had sold her out… she didn't blame them.
'I assure you again, we won't betray you in any way. It is our business to stop these kinds of people. Your peruser especially,' Abe's mind consoled her silently.
Melissa jumped on her perch, Abe's presence in her consciousness startling her. "Oh, sorry, I forget my place sometimes. I didn't mean to startle you," Abe apologised.
Melissa waved the apology off, "I'm just skittish. Thank you for the hospitality, you have no idea what it means to me," the monkey stated quietly, her head bowed.
Abe grimaced, sensing Melissa's fear of bringing Kroenen down on the BPRD. He wanted to tell her that she would be fine and that no one was in danger, but that would betray the fact that he was reading her thoughts again. Most people became uncomfortable around Abe if they became aware he was reading them.
"How long would it take for me to get my memory back?"
"Quite a while. It would be a slow process, a little more each day, but worth the time spent."
"Would it be tiring for you?"
"Not really," Abe smiled, almost to the point of showing off. The process would take a lot of time and energy; but nothing he couldn't handle, of course.
'Do I really want to remember what happened? What if it was bad… what if it hurt…? Something happened to me to make me like this. Something dark…' Melissa thought to herself.
Abe just smiled encouragingly, biting his tongue to prevent himself from saying how much better it would be to know than not to. If he had the choice to find out his own past he would gladly embrace it.
"Dr Manning is heading this way," Abe sighed.
Melissa turned her head towards the door. She tensed, fighting the urge to run and hide at the approach of a potential predator. She moved from the bookstand to one of the plush armchairs. Curling her furry black tail around herself, she prepared for meeting the fabled Dr Manning; the one Hellboy was always cursing and yelling about.
"…Is that it?" Manning asked, shoving open the library door and staring down his nose at the little spider monkey.
"Her, yes," Broom corrected. The aged man smiled at the shape-shifter, "Thank you for agreeing to participate with the interview."
"It's okay," Melissa mumbled shyly, earning a few more surprised looks.
"Hey, she can talk!" Hellboy grinned as he followed the two men into the room.
'May I?' Abe's voice asked in Melissa's head, implying sharing the facts about the extent of her shape-shifting abilities to the other three. With the consent, Abe cleared his throat lightly; "She has the potential to combine different animal DNA patterns; as she has already managed to incorporate human vocal chords into any animal she chooses and has harnessed the sharpest and clearest animal senses into her human form."
"You mean, she could become a fish-girl if she wanted?" Hellboy grinned.
"Or a large red monkey," Abe counteracted smoothly.
"Wow," Melissa murmured, looking at her monkey paws in disbelief of the potential they held.
"So what use can she be to the bureau?" Manning drawled.
"Spy? Lookout? Translator for talking to the animals?" Hellboy suggested eagerly.
"Like Dr Dolittle? Well come on then, show us your trick," Manning grumbled at the shape-shifter.
A lioness, rabbit, bear, tiger, elephant, mouse… Melissa cycled through some of her favourite animals, all the while maintaining smooth movements off the armchair and towards Broom and Manning. She stopped before the pair, as a giraffe, before letting her form return to human.
In contrast to the thin, impoverished girl Hellboy had seen through the memory Abe showed him, Melissa now looked closer to a living skeleton. Dark circles around her weary eyes and bony frame showed just how malnourished she had become. Her clothes looked worn and tattered, definitely second hand from some charity organisation. The clothes had been torn in several places, scabs and scratches decorating what little skin was shown. There were a few fading cuts on her pale face, her hair matted and dirty.
"Sorry about the… uh, mess," Melissa mumbled, indicating to her present state.
"Oh, not at all. Much worse has managed to drag itself into the bureau, we'll have you cleaned up in no time," Broom smiled paternally.
"…How are you still wearing clothes?" Hellboy frowned.
Melissa blushed, "I guess it's because my human form is my original, anything else is just a disguise over top of this," she gestured at herself, "which is why anything that's on me gets disguised too."
"You said that she was on the run from a dangerous murderer connected with the paranormal," Manning stated, turning to Broom, "What if she brings that dangerous murderer down on us? I don't want my men put in danger in any way."
Melissa looked suddenly very small when the greatest fear she had of becoming part of the BPRD was brought up.
"Nah, we can take him," Hellboy smirked.
"I assure you, Dr Manning, that I have absolute confidence in Hellboy's ability to protect your agents from any such threatening force," Broom added proudly, he turned to Melissa, "Now, let's get you some food, hmm?"
The shape-shifter thanked him graciously, following the professor out of the library; Manning following after a regarding the two other 'freaks' in the room.
"So, how is she?"
"Worried that she will bring Dr Kroenen down upon us and that many will be killed. She has seen it happen more than once," Abe replied, floating on his back near the bottom of his tank.
"Damn… At least she's getting along with Pops. What was her reaction to Manning?" Hellboy asked, striding over to his friend's tank.
"That he would be the first to sell her out in a crisis. She has nightmares… being betrayed…"
Hellboy grunted, "A few months here will put her right. She looks so… skinny."
"Malnourished, yes. She won't be joining us on the field for some time, either. She needs food, rest and a lot of therapy."
Hellboy grinned broadly, "Oh, is that what you call it?"
Abe felt his gills go a darker shade of blue, "Don't even think that."
Professor Broom walked Melissa down the lengthy hallways of the BPRD, heading for the kitchens. He smiled warmly; "So, what do you eat then, miss… may I call you Melissa?"
Melissa nodded shyly, "Sure. Um, anything," she shrugged. Professor Broom raised his eyebrows, Melissa sighed, "No, I'm not a vegetarian. The few I have entrusted this secret with have thought me to be so…" the girl laughed, "My animalistic side won the battle for food, so many of my forms are carnivorous… all my human side can do is try and stop the urge to eat it raw."
"Sounds like you have quite a battle going on up there."
"I can handle it."
The professor nodded. It amused him greatly how easily the girl could take up the same defensive attitude he had seen so frequently in Hellboy. "I trust Abe has shown you where your room is?"
"Yes. Thank you very much for this, I promise I'll do all I can towards the Bureau—"
"Oh, don't worry, you will always be welcome here," Broom chuckled softly.
"Thank you," Melissa repeated with heart-felt appreciation. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt such trust, not since she had been first betrayed, and they were doing so much for her and expected so little in return… 'Damn, I'm getting emotional…'
"And also, we don't mind if you prefer your meat raw. Diversity in one's choice of food is encouraged at the Bureau. Why, Abe's favourite food is rotten eggs, for example."
"They've got a nice tang, but that's just my reptiles talking," Melissa smiled lopsidedly.
"Do you have any favourite foods?" Broom prompted.
"Beggars can't be choosers."
"Then I guess you shall have to try a bit of everything," the professor grinned.
A/N: Yay! Up on the page for five minutes and already I get a review! D Domo arigatou, FlyingFish15! The previous chapter was a prologue for quite some time ago, as this chapter says. Enjoy reading!