Disclaimer: Mike Mignola owns all but mousy. Yes, that does mean Mike Mignola owns the world. Flee; flee for your lives!
Kroenen waited until all noises of human activity had completely stilled in the depths of Rasputin's mausoleum before going to work on himself. Struggling to move his limbs under the weight of the massive gear, he managed to bring his blade down to his side. His free arm pushed upwards against the gear while his other arm sought just enough movement to begin slicing through his ropy abdomen. Sand-like blood poured out from the wound, but Kroenen paid it no heed, it could all be replaced.
Kroenen slid off the knife, wrenching his arm free from another steel blade while continuing to push up against the gear. The gear began to move, almost painfully slowly, off of the bleeding assassin. Kroenen sat up, freeing one arm to wind himself up again. He sighed inwardly at the feeling of the dust in his veins running anew. With renewed vigour Kroenen forced the gear off him and slid out from under it.
Kroenen pulled himself up the side of the octagonal pit, sand still pouring from his side. His metallic hand ran along the surface of his damaged mask until he found the latches at the side. He wrenched off the broken mask in favour of a new one.
'Munich, Germany. Munich, Germany,' if Kroenen had blood, it would have been boiling.
The once creamy walls of the house had been somehow painted a stark white colour that burned Melissa's amber eyes. She sat perched on the sidewalk, watching the old house carefully. There was a family living within it, Melissa noted, 'After everything that has happened in that house, there are people still living there, oblivious to its past. Of me, of what I am, what I was…' something at the back of Melissa's memory twinged. The shape-shifter had been watching the house for some days now, watching to see when the house would be empty long enough for her to search for any trace of her or her father inside of the house. 'Or father's laboratory…'
Melissa slid up from her perch and jumped the wrought iron fence. The back door slammed and the last of the family members bustled out of the house, the mother herding the children into the family car above shouts and demands from the kids. The little grey cat slid past them, unnoticed.
Melissa instinctively headed in the direction of the closest tree, easily scaling the rough trunk and soaring up through the branches. Slight memories of climbing awkwardly up the tree as a human surfaced and faded as she went.
The smoky-grey cat leapt off the branch and onto the porch roof. Melissa's face blanched noticeably at the state of the guttering, but she continued. The first two windows she came across had been shut and bolted, but not the third. Melissa got up on her hind legs and used her little cat paws to wrench the window open, but only managed a small gap. 'Life never gives me a beak.' Melissa wedged her head in the gap, pushing forwards.
The cat slid through with a 'pop' as her head squeezed through. "Ow!" Melissa rolled onto the floor, once again human. She looked about, speechless. 'My old room…' the image in her mind of her old room superimposed itself onto reality; Melissa shook her head to clear it. The only things that had survived all the years were the walk-in closet and the old mirror, now antique.
Christine sat on the edge of her thin bed, scribbling an erratic entry into her diary. Melissa focused closer on her former self in her mind's eye; Christine was stifling tears as she wrote. Melissa searched her memory for something else, 'Where did you keep the diary?'
Christine rose from the bed, clutching the diary close to her chest. Melissa followed her actions. Christine ran a hand over the wooden panel wall, her nails digging into a slight crack between two boards. Melissa ran her hand over the wallpaper, knowing what was behind it. Without hesitating Melissa tore the happy-hearts wallpaper from the wall, aching to reach her diary.
Bare plaster stared back at her. Christine was already hiding the diary in the cavity inside of the wall; Melissa brought up an arm, shifting it into a horse hoof, and rammed it into the plaster wall. It took several blows to create a hole large enough for Melissa to squeeze an arm in, 'If only I had Hellboy's DNA…'
Melissa's spindly arm stretched out into the cavity, her splayed fingers searching for the book. All she felt was empty space and wooden walls. Whining, Melissa stretched her fingers deeper. The tips of her fingers brushed against the cover of the diary. Melissa pushed herself against the wall, cramming more of her arm into the cavity to reach the book. She grabbed the diary and at once yanked it out, fragments of plaster scattering across the once clean carpet.
Melissa handled the diary as if it were made of glass, and worth a whole lot more. She gingerly flicked through the yellowing, spongy pages, marvelling at the grace of her former self's handwriting. Two-thirds through the book, the writing ran out. Melissa skipped backwards through the blank pages to the beginning of the last entry.
"Seven slash six," Melissa murmured, skimming through the erratic entry and picking out fragment, '7/6: I know I have to tell him… I'm worried; what if he tries to kill me… I pray he will understand… I don't want him to hate me, but I must tell him. I will tell him.'
"Tell who?" Melissa demanded, turning the page. She couldn't find any corresponding memory. In reply, several old letters slipped from the aged pages of the diary and scattered on the ground.
'I will tell him. I will go to Munich and I will tell him. I doubt I will ever come back.'
Melissa traced her fingers over her own signature, 'Christine.' "I must have left. Then… I must have found my father, in the laboratory… but who was I going to see?" Melissa growled impatiently. She bent down, picking up the letters, 'Father? …The blue eyed boy?'
The girl jumped at the sound of someone down on the first floor knocking something over, 'Back already?' Melissa's heart raced. She darted over to the wall-length closet, careful not to make a noise, and hid inside. Letters and diary still clutched in her hands, Melissa felt around the low ceiling of the closet for the opening to the attic. She found the square 'lid' and pushed it upwards and slid the square of ceiling out of the way. The noises downstairs were getting closer to the staircase. Melissa gently placed the diary and letters on the floor above her head before quickly shifting into a crow to fly up into the attic. She landed on the attic floor and morphed back to herself.
She silently placed the slab of wood back the indent in the attic floor; 'They must have left something behind… or something.' Melissa considered with some annoyance.
Without any windows, the attic was pitch-black. Melissa's human eyes took longer to adjust than if she had exchanged them for night-vision eyes, but she didn't feel like losing the link to her former, completely human self.
Melissa wondered if she was seeing things in the dark, but finally concluded that there were several stacks of boxes surrounding her in the cramped attic. Almost set out like a cardboard city of skyscrapers, little paths and 'roads' wound in-between the stacks.
The shape-shifter habitually moved away from the entrance of her hide-away, walking over to the far edge of the attic and kneeling down before one of the boxes. Curiously, she opened the box. 'Oh my…' Melissa eagerly dove her hands into the box to pull out its contents. Out of all of the stuffed toy animals, Melissa picked out what had been her favourite; a ragged teddy bear her mother had given to her when she was a child. The shape-shifter ran her hands over the coarse fabric, marvelling at the familiar texture. 'My toys… my things. These are my things.' Melissa turned to another box, opening that too, 'And father's things…' she mused in disgust at the dusty medical novels.
Melissa sat back down on the wooden floor, taking a moment to reflect on her good fortune. Dizzy with happiness, the shape-shifter snatched up the letters once again. They had already been opened, and the pages were dog-eared. Melissa scanned the envelopes curiously. They all bore German stamps of 'return to sender'. The sender, she found, was Kroenen. Melissa's eyes widened, 'This must be why he is after me… An affiliation, or perhaps it was a family matter of his. Family assassin, perhaps?' the shape-shifter speculated.
She opened the first letter, the oldest, and pulled out the letter. She scanned it briefly. Some sort of personal note from Kroenen to Christine about the university he was at, 'With all my affection, Karl Kroenen,' signed the bottom of the note. Melissa felt her stomach lurch, 'Oh God…'
She took out the next letter… more or less a copy of the first, except with a minor irritation with the post accidentally returning his mail. The third, much the same to the other two, claiming that he would go see the post company if any more of his letters were returned.
Melissa's trembling hands were flurrying to get the letters out faster.
The fourth was different; it enclosed a piece of paper different to the rest: a note from Christine, instructing not to write to her any more, 'I don't remember writing this,' Melissa thought distractedly. Written in a different handwriting was a simple 'why?'
"Oh great," Melissa muttered, feeling as if she were about to vomit, "An epic love story."
The other letters from Kroenen kept asking Christine why she was ignoring him. Confusion turned to sadness, and then the threats started. Accusations, pleas, threats, promises…
'Is your father keeping you from replying to my letters?' 'Did the others put you up to this?' 'You were all I had…' 'If you hate me so much, why not tell me? Why do you hide from me?' 'I will come back and see you personally if you continue to refuse my letters.'
Melissa picked up the final letter, almost afraid to open it.
'I will find you.'
"No!" Melissa choked out in horror. Memory fragments swam about in Melissa's mind like leaves caught in a hailstorm. Below her she heard another noise. Melissa's sanity was stretched to the breaking point connecting the blue-eyed boy from her dreams, the friend she had grown up with and probably even loved, to the un-dead assassin that had chased her to death's doorstop on more than one occasion. Melissa cracked the diary open again; the shape-shifter's now blood-shot eyes darted to the date of the last entry as she stared in disbelief. 1918. 'I'm as old as that un-dead, un-dying clockwork Nazi?'
The sound of wood scraping on wood interrupted her speeding train of thought. Someone had opened the hatch leading from the attic to the closet in Melissa's old room. Melissa froze. Light shone up from the hole in the attic floor, silhouetting the head and shoulders that shot upwards. The silhouette of a hairless shape of a head; twin disks of glass glinted in the dim light. Melissa screamed.
"Melissa?" a torch flickered on, shining in her eyes. The torch was pointed back at the owner, Abe's smiling blue face shone in the yellow torchlight; "It's just us."
Melissa's heart felt like it was beating hard enough to break one of her ribs, "Abe?"
"Hello," Abe waved.
Melissa frowned, "What are you doing in Germany?"
"We came here looking for you. We were lonely at the bureau. Are you all right?" Abe asked tenderly.
Melissa slowly shook her head, "No."
Abe ducked his head down to the floor below, "Pipes, give me a boost, would you?"
"One fish, going up."
Abe clambered up into the attic, "Would you be able to find us some light sticks, Pipes? And could you get one of the other agents to fix that hole in the wall before the owner of this house comes home?"
"Alright. I'll leave you a ladder."
"Thank you Pipes," Abe replied, walking over to Melissa. He found a small space beside Melissa on the ground and sat, cross-legged, trying to ignore the thick layer of dust that clung to his damp skin. Melissa remained silent, waiting for Abe to make the first move.
"I am sorry we did not arrive sooner, Melissa," Abe started, "I… felt the realisation hit you, moments ago. Please forgive our lateness."
"It's okay," Melissa murmured.
"We found out about who you were only after the—the incident at the bureau. We thought they had taken you…"
"No, no. They didn't," Melissa shook her head, "I'm sorry about what happened to Professor Broom, I really am—"
"Professor Broom's murder was a tragedy, but it was Rasputin's work, not yours. Nobody blames you for what happened, not even Hellboy," Abe explained in soothing tones.
"I grew up with him!" Melissa hissed, "He was the boy with the blue eyes. I grew up with him, here, in 1918, I wrote this diary… And he sent me letters saying he was going to find me. I stopped talking to him, I think… I can't remember much closer to these dates…"
Abe took her hand in his, as a comforting gesture, "It's all right—you don't have to worry about running from him any more."
Melissa stilled, "Why?"
Abe grimaced, "When Hellboy was confronting Rasputin in Russia… he and Kroenen came into conflict." It was too dark for Abe to see the mortification spreading across Melissa's features, and he was politely not monitoring the shape-shifter's thoughts as he spoke, "Kroenen lost."
"He—Hellboy killed him?" Melissa's voice was shaky.
"Yes. Red thought that Kroenen was holding you prisoner there. It was only after he came out of the mausoleum that we were able to radio him the information that you had been seen in Germany—"
"Did Hellboy know, a-about Kroenen and me?"
"Yes, we both did. We also told agent Myers, but that was all."
"And you still killed him?" Melissa whispered.
Abe's head turned sharply at the sudden change of direction, "Well, yes. Melissa, Kroenen was trying to murder you. He has killed countless others in his extended life span—"
"Yes, I know, but…" Melissa stuttered, lost for words, "I knew him, and I didn't know… I didn't get a chance to tell him that I remembered. I've remembered, I know who he is," Melissa choked on tears, "God, I think I loved him…"
"Would someone that loves you hunt you down and try to kill you?" Abe asked with strained patience.
"But—he never actually tried to kill me. He could have done so easily… he never has. Every time, he was just trying to debilitate me—probably to tell me who he was—but I always ran away. He never got enough time to tell me. I kept running away from him and he kept chasing me. He just wanted to tell me… God, what if he never knew I had amnesia? What if he thinks I'm still like these letters? That I don't want to talk to him…" Melissa sobbed, "Karl…" she cried, as she had so many times before.
Abe held her shaking frame gently, waiting for her to finish mourning.
"You killed him. You knew and you killed him!" Melissa hissed.
"Hellboy had to do it. For the good of man-kind," Abe replied stiffly.
"He's dead… but he can't die," Melissa paused, "But…" a dull clatter at the other end of the attic sounded as a couple of light sticks were thrown up to light the darkness.
"Rasputin is dead; that could very well mean that whatever unearthly force that kept Kroenen alive is dead also."
Melissa squeezed her eyes shut; "He was just trying to tell me he loved me…"
"Melissa, he was trying to kill you," Abe reminded her softly.
"He wasn't. I know he wasn't…" Melissa touched where her heart was, "I know it, in here. Where I knew my father was dead, my mother was dead… that I am old and that I once loved a boy with bright blue eyes."
"Come back to the bureau, Melissa," Abe pleaded, "Please."
"No, I can't."
"No one blames you for what happened on that night—"
"No," Melissa repeated, "I'm not leaving Germany. This is my home. Everything I have is gone, now. Even Karl," she glowered.
"Not everything is gone," Abe reasoned, "You still have us. Hellboy, John, Liz… me."
Melissa's eyes darkened, "You all know what he meant to me—"
"We will not judge you, Melissa," Abe insisted, "You might have grown up with a nice, normal, blue-eyed boy, but this Karl Kroenen has become someone very different since you… disappeared."
"I disappeared to find Karl, actually. I had to tell him something—I can't remember. I must have found father's laboratory. I remember going there. That is the last memory I have of the before."
"Please, come back with us; if not to the bureau, then to Munich. We are staying in a hotel there while we are investigating something; you can stay there with us. Hellboy, Agent Myers and Liz will be meeting us there also."
"I thought you came here looking for me."
"We are also investigating the location of your fathers laboratory, in case there is anything of paranormal quality still in there. You don't have to come if you would rather not."
Melissa gave the fish-man a sharp glance, "…I'll stay at the hotel for the night, then I'll come back here," she motioned to the boxes around them; "I have to get rid of all this junk."
Abe nodded, "Very well. Come on, the garbage truck is waiting outside."
Melissa let him pull her up, trudging gloomily along behind the ichthyoid; "How did you find out who I was?"
"We found some early photos of you, in the archives," Abe smiled, climbing backward down the ladder Pipes had set up for them; "There was a school photo of you and Karl Kroenen that we found. Would you like to see it?"
"Alright."
Abe fished the print-out out of a pouch on his side, "Here."
Melissa took the paper, handling it carefully. They both looked so young… she doubted anyone could have picked out that happy little boy as a future surgically addicted assassin with a heart of clockwork, "I remember that day; it was sunny…"
"Glad to see your memory is returning to you," Abe smiled.
"Most of it. I flicked through my diary earlier; I can only recall a few of the entries written near the beginning, then nothing, just father shooting me with a sedative."
"Speaking of sedative; they found an empty emergency sedative needle in the library. What happened?" Abe asked softly.
"I went into the autopsy room to see Kroenen. I almost thought he really was dead. I was wrong. I turned my back on him and felt a needle sink into my neck. When I woke up I was lying on the autopsy table… I was alone so I went to find Hellboy. Then I saw professor Broom, and Kroenen," Melissa murmured, "Hellboy was gone… I flew out the same way he had." Melissa turned to Abe, lowering her voice to a harsh whisper, "Kroenen could have killed me then, but he didn't."
"He was probably too busy following Rasputin's orders—"
"He had his knives. One swing and a decapitation would be a lot faster that injecting me with sedative and laying me on the autopsy table."
"The wall's done," one of the agents called.
"Thank you," Abe smiled, then he turned back to Melissa; "We will talk about this with Hellboy, Melissa. Until then, you should eat and then get some rest."
Melissa looked down at the diary and letters she held, "Food, rest, Hellboy and then I come back here," the shape-shifter insisted.
Abe nodded once, "If you so wish."
The phone was ringing again. Dr Schnitt sighed in fatigue and picked up the receiver; "Doktor Schnitt."
The doctor listened to the deep voice of the person on the other end, "…Yes. Yes, she is here," Schnitt wheeled himself over to the calender, "She came to the hospital a few days ago. You are not the first to inquire after her either—Oh, you know him? Hmm, well, take care of them, then. Thank you. Auf Wiedersehen."
"When will Hellboy be here?" Melissa asked, sitting on the edge of the spa bath that Abe was situated in. Abe was lying on his back, submerged in the salty water with his legs crossed.
The fish-man tilted his head to the side, speaking to her mind, 'In a few hours. They are probably stuck somewhere in customs negotiating with the German government. Did you enjoy dinner?'
"Mm-hmm. I missed German food…"
'Do you… remember ever having any brothers or sisters?'
The question caught Melissa off-guard, "What? No, I was an only child, like my parents." Abe sank into deeper thought. Melissa leaned over the edge of the small pool, "Why do you ask?"
'I was curious, that's all. I couldn't find any memories of siblings in your mind, I thought if you had any that those words might jog your memory.'
"Oh…"
'We are going to where we think your father's old laboratory was located tomorrow. Alter Südfriedhof. We think it is beneath the old cemetery there.'
"That's—that's over the road from the hospital," Melissa frowned. 'I must have been in Munich when I found the laboratory. Why would I be in Munich?'
'To tell Karl Kroenen something?'
'I wonder what.'
'Do you know when the letters were sent?'
Melissa got up from the side of the spa bath and walked across the short hotel suite hallway to her little bedroom and picked up the letters from her bedside table. She flipped the first letter open as she walked back to the bathroom.
"The first one is dated around 1916… that was during the Great War…" the girl murmured.
'And after you disappeared,' Abe added silently.
'No wonder I couldn't return the letters.'
'Then who wrote that note telling Kroenen not to write back to you?'
Melissa took the letter out of its envelope, "I don't remember writing this… and it's not my handwriting, either. It's father's writing."
'That makes sense.'
"He must have thought that I had left him or something…"
'Do not worry about that. Get some rest before Hellboy and the others arrive, you look like you need it.'
"Wake me as soon as Hellboy arrives, okay?" Melissa asked, leaning over the spa pool to look Abe in the eyes. Abe smiled pleasantly and nodded. Melissa smiled back, blush creeping over her cheeks, "I'll see you when Hellboy gets here."
'Sleep well.'
'You too.'
A/N: Hello everyone! Apologies for the lateness of this update, I was in Queenstown over the winter holidays going skiing with my Dad and little sister. : ) I only had one crash. Yay!
Right, time for the reviews: D
epalladino: You're welcome, anytime: D hope you have/had fun singing! Sounds like great fun!
ToTaKeKe13: Thanks! Lol, I sure am enjoying the reviews! It's so great and encouraging to get feedback, especially on help how to avoid making a Mary-Sue, which I'm having the most trouble with.
FlyingFish15: Aw, glad you liked it! And I couldn't have just left Kroenen under that horrible gear, that would make the ending terribly boring ; ) and I have the whole thing planned! Tea-hee! I've seen some Kroenen/OC stories around… DarkCloudRider is writing one, I think. YOU almost did one! Which I can't wait to read the ending! EVIL CLIFF-HANGER! ; ) hehe, I've thought about that! Shh! Don't give away the ending! (insane giggling)
theshadowcat: Hehe, hope you enjoyed lunch! Thank you for the review: D
Roofoot: EXACTLY! I'm grinning; thank you so much for noticing that little part. I was seriously debating leaving that in or not. Decided to leave it in for a laugh. Nobody owns Kroenen's ass. Mwuhahaha. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Thrior: : P Would I leave Kroenen all alone in some cold, smelly mausoleum? (Rasputin: It is not smelly! I cleaned it!) Of courses not! Poor Kroenen… I began this chapter by bringing him back! Thanks for the review; glad you liked the rest of it.
Scorponis: Yes, tea shall rule us all. If you want spoilers, just ask.
Roofoot: Hello again! Ja, bring it on! It's twisted as pie!
boogalaga: Hmm. Okay, so you know how when Mousy changes she always has her clothes and she never loses them and she can hide items she's carrying at will also? It's all under this cloaking theory that the animal identities are just an over-layer over her actual DNA (her DNA being superior), like some sort of disguise. Her voice, sight, personality, etc all remain the same when she is an animal (otherwise she would have gone bush a long time ago, lol). This also applies to what she is. The disguise moulds itself around her age and the fact that she is female, which keeps it a whole lot simpler than her suddenly being a guy in every second animal. Hope that makes sense, and I hoped you enjoyed the rant: D Thanks for reviewing!
BLADE ASSASSIN: PLEASE MENTION SOMETHING ABOUT KROENEN'S ASS AND I WILL GLADLY UPDATE FASTER! Lol : ) thanks for the review.