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!
Melissa strode over to one of the grand wooden doors of the museum, leading from the Magick exhibit to a hallway of sorts. She looked it up and down, eyes focusing on the spider scuttling along the wooden frame. The shape-shifter bent close and started whispering; the spider stopped.
Broom watched the girl curiously as she spoke with the spider. She straightened up and looked towards where Abe was looking around the room. From the expressions flitting across the pair's faces, the professor could only guess at the mental conversation they were having. Abe moved over to the same door Melissa stood by, splayed his fingers and pressed them against the grain of the wood.
It certainly made finding which way the evil creature they were after went faster.
As Hellboy went through the door to say 'Hi' to the evil entity as he had announced, Abe sent a telepathic image of the creature he had sensed to Melissa. He picked up one of his books and started leafing through it to see if he could find out what it was. The ichthyoid had certainly seen a sketch of the thing before.
"Rectangular pupils… that'll be good for night-vision," Melissa murmured to herself, counting the different animal traits she could pick apart, 'Octopus eyes… reptilian? The skull looked feline…'
"Ah, Sammael," Abe announced, tracing the writing in the book with a webbed finger. He flicked his walkie-talkie earpiece on and began narrating to Hellboy.
Melissa moved away from the door at the sound of gunshots. Violence wasn't really her thing. The other agents were all watching the wooden doors separating them from Hellboy and the entity cautiously, listening intently. Melissa drifted around the room, goose bumps dotting her lightly tanned skin.
Something about the unnaturally clean cut through the wooden statue put Melissa on edge. Cuts like that she had only seen too often. 'No,' she told herself sternly, 'He's probably still running around Belgium wondering how in all my poverty I managed to move so far so fast. He hasn't a clue I am in America. How could he be here? It's impossible. It's impossible. '
Melissa had hidden herself in one of the BPRD private jets after she had seen Abe and Hellboy fighting a poltergeist in Belgium. The next thing she knew, she was in New Jersey.
Thankfully the shape-shifter didn't spot Kroenen's discarded dagger on the polished ground; she would have recognised it instantly.
To ease her mind off the matter, Melissa tried to interest herself in some of the other exhibits. Maybe she could learn something useful… she didn't want to be one who knew absolutely nothing about reliquaries and cultures from dark times and ancient occults. She had to rely on Abe to wire her some background information during briefings.
'I'm not sure wether to call that my job or simply a perk.'
Melissa's cheeks flushed red, 'You're always in there, aren't you?'
'Only as long as I am welcome.'
'America. Of all the places in the world, those damned Americans had to bring Anung-un-Rama to America. Damn America… in the middle of nowhere and probably as far away from Europe as possible. As far away from Belgium as possible…'
"Would you stop your brooding already?" Ilsa snapped at her comrade, "Why are you in such a bad mood anyway?"
Kroenen didn't answer, still glowering into the shadows. Rasputin turned his head in their direction, "He misses his hobbies."
"What, dissecting bodies and playing Wagner all the time?" Ilsa laughed, "I see. In America you would never get away with playing Wagner, what a shame…"
Kroenen stared stoic at the back of his Master's head as the three made their way through the shadows.
"Or are you referring to Kroenen's unexplained absences over the past years, Grigori dearest? I would like to know what he has been doing in all that time. Sometimes you can act so strange, Karl. Like that incident with the talking flamingo."
Even to Rasputin, the statement sounded odd, 'An incident with a talking flamingo? Oh yes, those two are definitely part of my occult…'
"Professor?" Abe called softly, motioning Broom over to him. The ichthyoid kept his voice low to prevent Melissa from overhearing. Melissa had drifted back over to the doors that led to the hallway where Hellboy had been fighting with Sammael. The two had then taken off a while ago, Myers following. Since then Melissa had wandered lifelessly around the exhibits, looking more and more pale with each passing moment.
Broom strode over to Abe, "Yes?"
"Melissa isn't faring all that well here, she's completely on edge," Abe shared his concerns, looking sadly over at the sickly shape-shifter. She stood rigid beside the massive doorway, her eyes fixated on the wood, trembling slightly every so often.
"What is she worried about?" Broom murmured.
"Her worry is not in her mind… I'm afraid I can't tell." Abe and Broom exchanged a look.
"Would it be better if we sent her back to the bureau, then?" Broom reasoned, weighing his options. It was the girl's first mission, and he would hate to ruin it for her, but then there was her health to consider. Some of the other agents were even murmuring to each other about how terrified the girl looked.
"Perhaps," Abe nodded, returning to his job.
With new resolution, Broom walked calmly over to the shape-shifter. Melissa jumped in surprise when she noticed another human in the near vicinity, "Oh, hi," she blushed.
"Hello. Are you all right? You're starting to look very… pale," Broom noted.
"I don't know… it's just something in this place that seems…" the girl couldn't place it.
"Evil?"
"Yes…" Melissa looked at the ground, "My apologies, I shouldn't let my instincts overcome me like this."
"No, you should. I haven't felt this much evil in one place for a long time, it's got me worried too. You could always go back to the bureau if you are feeling unwell," Broom offered kindly.
Melissa bit her lip. She did want to get as far away from this room as humanly possible, but she didn't want to disappoint the Professor, or Abe. She had to be of some use, she had to get over her childish fear and learn to pull her weight…
"There will be other days, and you've already helped us out a lot on this one."
"It wouldn't be too much of an ask, would it?"
"Safety has no price, it will never be too much to ask," Broom smiled.
Melissa looked incredibly relieved, "Oh, thank you…" she whispered gratefully.
"Here," Broom pulled a piece of paper and a pen out of his pockets, "You should take this bus… this many stops… or at least until you get to this road… And then walk three blocks along and two left…" Broom murmured, drawing up a map of where she should walk after the bus. "And by then one of the agents will be waiting there for you. Or you could wait here for the ride home."
"I'll take the bus, if that's alright," Melissa nodded quietly, "I need to have some idea of what the city looks like at any rate," she smiled sadly.
Broom handed her a small collection of coins to use for the bus, "Safe journey," he beamed.
Melissa thanked him again and left, escorted by one of the agents to the back door so she wouldn't get lost. Broom smiled again and went back over to Abe.
"She's worried that she has disappointed you," Abe murmured.
"Mastering public transport should help remedy that," Broom said, and quietly hoped too.
"Sorry about having to let you guys down like this," Melissa sighed to the agent as he showed her the back door.
"Nah, don't worry. As far as first-times go, yours went pretty well. You've helped out a lot, haven't hindered the mission in any way and you're not injured so far. That's what most of us would call a record."
Melissa laughed, "Thanks. So, which way is the bus stop?"
"Over there, near that candyfloss stand… I'll walk you over," the agent beamed, staring at the candyfloss machine across the road.
Melissa hugged herself tighter from the wall of cold air that hit the moment the pair stepped outside. She smiled at the little children all dressed up in their costumes, dragging their parents along by the hand through the busy carnival atmosphere. She silently wished for her own childhood to come back to her. She wondered if she had been like those children… if she had gone to Halloween carnivals and gorged herself on candy and autumn preservatives…
"Heads up, here comes your bus," the agent called, "Now, are you sure you know where exactly to go?"
"Yes," Melissa nodded nervously.
"And where do you go after you get off the bus?"
"Three blocks along and two blocks left," the shape-shifter beamed.
The agent nodded "…Is this your first time going on a bus?"
"First time in memory," Melissa smiled, "I had no money on the run, and a bus would be a dangerous place for a little mouse or spider to get trapped on."
"Oh well, good luck!" the agent waved, trotting off to join the queue for the candyfloss.
Melissa smiled back, chuckling when she heard one of the children at the candyfloss stand exclaiming at what a cool costume the agent was wearing. The bus came to a stop with the doors exactly in front of Melissa, hydraulics hissing softly as the doors opened.
"H-Hey," Melissa grinned nervously, feeling terribly sheepish, though she was in her human form. She placed the money in the little tray.
"Hiya," the driver welcomed cheerfully, "Why no costume? Workin' late or somethin'?"
"Yeah, pretty much," Melissa blushed. She took the little receipt and stumbled her way down the aisle, being mindful of the small puddle of spilt drink on the floor.
'See? It's not so bad,' she told herself, 'I'll be in the car on my way to the bureau in no time. And there's a fail-safe, too. Nothing can go wrong…' her stomach gurgled in worry, '…NOTHING can go wrong!' she assured herself forcefully.
Abe felt dread creep into him where he stood, holding Kroenen's discarded dagger. Kroenen was in the city… Melissa was in the city. From what the knife showed him, Kroenen and company appeared to be on a mission rather than after the elusive shape-shifter. 'But what if they find her?' Abe thought in distress.
"Move," Ilsa commanded flatly, about to swing her mallet into the glass case surrounding the statue. Kroenen obligingly moved aside. Ilsa swung… Kroenen's arm shot out and stopped the mallet, apparently staring at something on the glass.
The Nazi assassin reached his other hand to pick up an ant that had been crawling across the glass pane Ilsa had been poised to obliterate. Ilsa snorted, "Karl Kroenen, a friend to the animals," she muttered. The blonde swung her weapon again and shattered the glass.
"They were here, Professor," Abe told Broom calmly, hardly masking the concern in his voice.
A/N: Yeah, you all know what's going to happen in the next chapter... hehehe. Thanks again to the reviewers!
FlyingFish15: Romance guaranteed, and don't worry, Kroenen will be in the next chapter. A lot of the next chapter.
Shadowcat: I'm doing my best to avoid mary-sueism, (frantic editing). Working OCs into the movie plots are always fun to do. It can be challenging but you can also make interesting connections with why people do something, it's always fun. Labrinth fanfics, on the other hand, are usually more about JarethXSarah than introducing OCs, which is why post-movie fics are so very popular. Or alternate endings; anything two get those two back together, heh.
epallidino: Sorry to disappoint, had to be true to the movie. Kroenen and company were already gone when the BPRD got to the scene... but don't worry, the next chapter will have much Kroenen :D
firepup: I know where you live.
Umbra the Dark: Wow, long review, thanks! Hehe, I've seen Teen Titans, it's great. I can't decide if it's Japanese cartoonists trying to be American or American cartoonists doing anime, but it's interesting to watch. :) Liz comes after the Museum, but I'm a bad llama, I'm not including Myers or Liz much in my fanfic.