So you don't sue me (aka: disclaimer): I own nothing of Mike Mignola's or Guillermo's Hellboy. IDO own the character Evan (but not her name), and her personality. If you want to use her for anything, ask me through review or one of those nifty little messages (if you're a member).
I also don't own the concept of Tarot cards. My brother owns a little mini pack, and that's all. (Just as a little note as well: my friend did a simple reading for me, and my card, or the cardwhose description fits my personality,was the Paige of Cups, and that's where that came from.)

AAH! I am SOOOOO sorry I haven't updated in forever! My schedule has been busier than EVER before in my LIFE! It's been driving me nuts. Especially because I recently did this Hamlet production with a local theater guild, and for two weeks, I had to practice for three hours a day! And I was just an extra! It was a blast, though.
And I changed the title! Because I didn't know where this was going at first, I didn't have many ideas for a title. So I changed it now I know what I wanna do, and if you're confused as to why I picked what I did, it explains itself in this chapter. You'll see. :)

Anyway...I want to give a VERY special thanks to epalladino for stickin' with me through the suckiness of part of this story, as well as the ridiculously long breaks between chapters. I know I wasn't the best writer at first (I really hope I've grown as an author), and this story was started before I was even a member, so it was sort of just a leisurely thing. I never really thought what I'd to with it. But so I planned out the rest of the story (sadly, there isn't much left, but I've been thinking of starting another HB fic), and I've tied a lot of the loose ends.
I would also like to thank her for giving me a little inspiration. Whenever someone reviews, I want to check out what they've got up, if they're a member. I found that Beth is a professional Tarot card reader, and I got a little inspiration from that. So...yeah. MANY THANKS, BETH! -hugs-

A big thank you goes out to all my other little reviewers out there as well. You guys make the world go 'round! -hugs all around-

Okay. Happy Winter Solstice and winter holidays to all!
Hope you like!
--Trii

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"ALRIGHT, I WANT THAT KID OUT!" Manning stormed through the lavish wooden doors into Broom's office, his face beet red.

Professor Broom and Abe looked up from the ancient volume they were both looking at, Abe wearing the device that assisted his breathing out of water. "Please calm down, Thomas. Now, please, tell me calmly what happened."

Manning took a deep breath and held it until his face was not maroon, but blue. He released the gulp of air quickly, took another, and repeated the process until the pigment of his skin returned to normal. "I was changing the kid's bandages from her burns, and saw that they were completely healed! It should take weeks with the extent of those injuries!"

Broom shook his head, remaining calm, "Now, Thomas, you know as well as I that some, er, beings heal faster than others. Just take Hellboy or Abe, for example." Tom Manning's gaze quickly flicked to the few waterproof bandages wrapped around Abe's arms, mostly, from the attack that Evan had envisioned, then back to Broom.

"I know, but there's another thing, too. Did you see her eyes?" If not for knowing Manning's personality, Broom would've figured the man had gone completely mad.

"Yes. Quite fascinating, isn't it? Not much of a poker face, now, is she?" Broom chuckled a little at his joke.

"Can we please get serious now, Professor? There's something wrong with that kid."

Broom opened his mouth to reply, but before he could utter a sound, Abe's walkie-talkie was flashing blue; an alert concerning the whereabouts of a supernatural creature. Hellboy had once called it the Welcome Wagon, but since last year, it has just been 'another day in the office'.

Abe, Hellboy, and Manning met John Myers (Thanks for the spell check, epalladino!) and Evan at the dreaded garbage truck, Evan filling her companions in on the situation in the back.

Sitting down on one of the benches bolted to the floor of the truck as it started up, Evan reported, "I had a vision. There's a haunting at an old building downtown. We're going to do an intervention." She pulled a stack of Tarot cards from a bag next to her and put them in her black BPRD trench coat. She had gotten the jacket shortly after her two visions in a row. When she had opened the box containing the BPRD 'signature' jacket, her face had lit up and she exclaimed that she finally had a 'Matrix' jacket of her own.

Hellboy glanced at Evan's bare forearms when she rolled up the jacket's sleeves, recalling what Manning had said maybe ten minutes ago. Evan's black eyes followed Hellboy's yellow ones and she hastily shoved the sleeves back down again, masking a glare. She fell silent and turned to stare out the double-sided window.

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When the Squeaky Clean garbage truck pulled to a halt in a dead end and parked, Hellboy, Abe, and Evan got up to head out to the older building. Each walkie-talkie buzzed to life as they heard John's voice on the other line, "Wait just a minute until there's no one around. I think someone's watching." While Abe waited patiently, there was a foreboding air with Evan and Hellboy. Apparently, Abe thought to himself, Evan likes being caged in no more than Hellboy.

Abe gently reached into Evan's mind, just to make sure she was really all right. There was a strange animosity about her lately that even someone who has only known Evan for as short a time as Abe has would know something was amiss.

The merman flinched and recoiled almost immediately; Evan seemed to have replaced her protective mental brick wall with an electric, barbed-wire fence. The girl shifted her piercing gaze over to Abe, giving him a death glare while pressing down on his mind, "Do that again, Fish Stick. I dare you." Her voice was slightly deeper now, and much more menacing.

"Kid!" Hellboy gave Evan a sharp stone rap on the head, "Not cool."

Before Hellboy could move, Evan snapped up a hand and caught Hellboy's in a white-knuckled grip. She turned and opened her mouth to say something when the large door banged open, John and Manning waiting on the other side, each equipped with a crucifix and holy beads.

"Ready to go?" Myers asked in his upbeat voice. He seemed to struggle to plaster a smile on his face; since his first mission with the Bureau against Rasputin and Karl Kroenen, the horrifying image of his new friend, Hellboy, with a savageness and lust for pain on his red face had been permanently burned into his memory. Since then, John was slightly more cautious around Hellboy.

Evan released Hellboy's stone hand and stomped out of the garbage truck, smirking at Manning's pale face as he laid eyes upon her. She jumped down when she reached the ledge, ignoring Myers' helping hand, and walking to the old, run-down building, snatching her Tarot cards from her pocket as she crossed the empty street.

Abe and Hellboy jumped down from the truck, but held back when John asked, "What's with her?"

Abe remained silent. He was still perplexed with Evan's 'electric fence', as well as her uncharacteristic meanness, for lack of a better word.

Hellboy, on the other hand, responded, "Dunno. Maybe hormones, or something." He shrugged, "There's something wrong with that kid."

Manning, who was closing the back of the garbage truck, practically leapt for joy in the fact that he wasn't alone thinking something wasn't right about the young member, even if it was Hellboy who was agreeing with him. Abe 'heard' Manning think, Hm…Maybe King Kong over here isn't as brainless as I thought. Before he had time to confirm his jaded suspicions, though, Manning flinched as Hellboy cocked the 'Good Samaritan' with some of his special bullets. Or maybe not.

The two agents headed their way to the run-down building, Abe deciding it was best if he didn't mount the already uneasy relationship between an ignorant a-hole and a seven foot demon who is quick to anger by saying something. Manning soon followed when he realized he was being left behind.

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Myers, Abe, Hellboy, and the muttering Tom Manning entered the creaking threshold of the old establishment, immediately having to hunch over against the wind that seemed determined to push them all outside.

A smoky, transparent figure blew down and, before something could have been said or done, flew straight through Evan, seeming to push pure black smoke out from 'inside' Evan. She, too, was blown back, conveniently onto considerate Tom Manning, who had, eh….decided to break her fall. The Tarot cards slid out of Evan's hand from the force, and they spread randomly across the room, except for four cards that were blown instead into a corner of the single-roomed building, all face down.

Just like that, the wind stopped.

Outside, Manning shoved the unconscious Evan off of him, and Myers came back out to hoist her up. Abe hung a warding amulet on the doorway, so the 'disturbances' won't occur again. "Hm…that was easier than I thought it would be. What do you think?"

Hellboy was kneeled in the corner of the room, turning each card over, one by one. The cards had arranged themselves into somewhat of an upside down T; one on top, three below it. The red demon's brow furrowed when he observed the reading: the Paige of Cups, a fitting personality for Evan—the reading was about her—with the other three cards arranged from left to right: 20-Judgement, 13-Death, and 0-The Fool. The reading translated that Evan was going to 'forgive and forget' and do some soul searching, accept change so rebirth can occur, and have a willingness to leap into the unknown and start over.

He started when he heard Abe's voice, "Huh? Oh, uh…yeah. I guess. Sorta." He seemed quite flustered, and when Abe saw the surprise Tarot reading reflected through Hellboy's mind, he was as well.

"What do you think it means?" Abe said, considering the mysterious fortune himself, a frown creasing deeper into his face.

"Probably nothing." Hellboy scooped the cards up, and went for the rest of the deck, having to lift an old dusty couch to get to some of the stray ones. "Stupid ghosts…" he mumbled.

Myers was waiting patiently, Evan still in his arms, "Ready to go? Tom's already in the truck."

Hellboy shook off the whole Tarot thing. It was probably nothing to worry about. He stuffed Evan's cards into one of the many pockets of his jacket and took the small teenage girl from the former FBI agent.

"Let's blow this pickle joint."

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I shivered and groaned as I slowly but surely woke up in a concrete and metal room. We were also, apparently, moving.

"She's waking," I heard someone say in a gentle and wise voice—Abe.

I was still groggy, and a large shadow blocked out some of the blurred light above me. I heard a gruff voice attempting to be gentle and recognized it as Hellboy half-whispering, "Hey, kid. You took quite a bump to the head there."

My memory came flooding back to me as my vision cleared and saw my blue and red friends standing over me in what I was guessing was the garbage truck. I sat up quickly, blurting "What happened to Sasa…" immediately regretting doing so as my body seized up. I didn't notice I was toppling over until I knocked into Hellboy, involuntarily leaning on his massive chest for support as he eased me back down. I protested, finishing, "yaki…"

Hellboy's brow furrowed when he voiced both his and Abe's responses, "Who-sa-whatty?" Okay. Maybe not in the same words…

Abe cocked his head to the side, staring into my face. He murmured, "Your eyes…"

I was lost now. "What?"

"Your eyes." Abe repeated, "They're not black anymore." Perplexed, he continued, fidgeting with his portable water tank around his neck, "What is the last thing you remember?"

I rubbed my forehead with the palms of my hands, trying to prevent a migraine that was coming on fast. I noticed my hands were out of the bandages, and I asked tentatively, "How long was I out?"

"'Bout an hour. Maybe a little more," Hellboy answered, not knowing where I was going with this.

My brow furrowed, partly from confusion, and partly from the annoying, blinding light that was right in my eye. "What's the date?"

Abe answered, "It's November 5th. Why?"

I gasped; I haven't been out for an hour or so, I've been out for about two and a half days! I replied, "Cuz last time I checked, it was the third!"

Abe was quite perplexed now, and he asked again, "What is the last thing you remember?"

The migraine was coming on full blast on me now. It felt as if I had been run over by the very truck we were in. "I dunno. I feel kinda…'bleh'…right now."

We all stood (or laid) in silence for a few moments, all confused, when Abe seemed to have an idea. He shifted uncomfortably, apparently uneasy with it. He fidgeted with his water tank again as he asked tentatively, "With your consent, I can help you with remembering…" He seemed uneasy about probing my mind; I had no clue why. When he had tried in Broom's lab, I couldn't think of any reasons why that instance could make him uneasy. Unless…something might've happened when I was out.

"Okay." I said a little hesitantly.

Abe seemed to have a large weight come off of his chest. He relaxed a bit, took off one of his leather gloves, and placed his webbed, suction-cupped hand over my forehead and eyes. I closed my eyes, slowing my breathing and trying to relax and stay calm. I didn't like beings poking around inside my mind or sifting through my memories. But it had to be done. I inhaled sharply as Abe started delving into my thoughts. It was all I could do not to throw him out. It really helped that Abe calmed me down, though. It's interesting how one psychic's emotions can effect another's.

I focused on the slightly damp coolness of Abe's hand, his smooth skin rather refreshing against mine. Abe started going through my recent memories, and the most recent he could find (not including now) were when I astral projected two days ago. He found absolutely nothing between those gaps. I was out cold the whole time.

He did, however, find some interest in the black shadow, Sasayaki Noroi. The same fear instilled in me when in Mr. O's apartment room came flooding back and tears came to my eyes, remembering the sheer terror I felt but could not express in front of him and his servant.

I also felt Abe's emotions through our connection, including his fear of Sasayaki, though because a memory is just a reflection of the past, he didn't feel the same fright I did, and a strange disbelief that the bald Russian man behind Sasayaki should be there.

The string of memories 'fast-forwarded' to where Sasayaki tried to take over my body, and eventually succeeded. Everything went blank, of course, when I was knocked out. The next recollection to come up was the one in the garbage truck.

Abe pulled back from my thoughts, comforting me as best he could. When we both opened our eyes, back in the present, Hellboy waiting for the 'results'. But I didn't care. I threw my arms around Abe, sobbing into his spandex-clad shoulder. The merman comforted me as best he could, filling Hellboy in on the information.

"Grigori Rasputin is back." Abe was aware this would be of most importance to Hellboy, to know that his 'father' had indeed not been killed. "And he's found a new ultimate power to serve. It's name is Sasayaki Noroi, and he tried to take over Evan's body. That was why she was acting so strangely lately. I believe the spirits haunting the building we were just in expelled Sasayaki from Evan."

When I calmed down, Abe helped me settle back onto the makeshift bed on one of the benches in the back of the truck. "You should rest a little more. We can sort this all out later." I nodded lazily, the last couple of days catching up with me, though I was unconscious for most of the time. I fell asleep, Abe and Hellboy heatedly discussing something as quietly as they could.

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I woke finding myself in the now familiar medical lab back at the BPRD. Hellboy was standing over me, Manning was scribbling something on a clipboard, and Abe was watching from a distance, seeming happy to be back in his tank. I smiled peacefully, rubbing sleep from my eyes. "'Sup?" I asked groggily.

Manning grumbled and left the room. I believe he mumbled something about how this job will kill him some day, or at least make him insane. Hellboy settled into a large stool near my bed, "How ya holdin' up, Kid?"

I shrugged, "Eh. Been better." I eased into a sitting position, Hellboy getting some extra pillows to prop me up.

He nodded back. "I can sympathize." We both laughed, a little uneasily, I might add, at both the statement and at Hellboy's rather weak attempts at small talk.

I decided to change the subject, "D'you know what I think is kind of…odd?"

Hellboy looked up, seeming to be interested in what I had to say. "What?"

"People are never happy with what they have. We always wish for a normal life, just to do nothing all day and be pleasantly ignorant of what exists in the night. But people who are 'normal' always wish for something more. Whether it is to be a celebrity or to be like us, they think anything is better than their boring lifestyle. We never know what we have until it's gone."

Hellboy nodded, "That's deep, Kid. Where'd you get that? A fortune cookie?"

I laughed and punched him playfully in the arm, "Shut up.

"But seriously, it's like we're all on the outside looking in. We see this world that looks so great, and we think, 'why can't I have that?' It's like…have you ever looked into a Starbucks?" Hellboy blushed slightly, shrugging like it was a stupid thing to do, but admitting to it anyway. I smiled, "It's okay. I have, too. But, it's like you see all the people walking around or sipping their coffee, looking so happy and peaceful, and normal, but you never really notice the person sitting in the corner, looking out the window and daydreaming their 'what-if's."

I sighed. "Sorry about my little rambling. I do that sometimes." Hellboy waved a hand as if it was no big deal.

"On a more serious note, though," I continued, "What did Sasayaki do to you guys while I was out? Did he hurt any of you?"

Hellboy's brow furrowed, "You—he—didn't really hurt any of us. But when Abe was worried about you, he tried to reach into your mind or whatever and you—dangit, he, sorry—hurt him a little, but I think he's fine." He looked over to his amphibious companion, who nodded his agreement.

I, however, didn't take it so lightly. My eyes flashed an angry red as I pushed myself out of bed until Hellboy interrupted, pushing me back on. I protested, "You guys are my family now! I won't let some butthole demon try to take over my body and hurt you!" I used my teke to freeze him in place long enough for me to run to my room to get prepared to fight Sasayaki. Stupid, I know, but I won't tolerate anyone hurting my friends.

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I geared up, strapping on various types of weaponry, including athemaes, grenades (I had heard they were useful in last year's epic battle with Rasputin), and I even swiped Hellboy's Good Samaritan. After loading it with special bullets that are able to hit intangible targets (i.e.: ghosts), I covered it all with my 'Matrix' BPRD coat.

I knew I needed transportation other than just walking up to wherever Sasayaki was (I didn't know exactly where; I just had a gut feeling that I think will lead me to the right place), so I used the ventilation system to get to the underground garage and picked out a cool black dirtbike modified to fit in on the streets but still be able to go offroading. Not bothering to grab a helmet, I used my telekinesis to turn the 'key' and start the engine, opening the door just enough for me to slip out unnoticed.

The tails of my jacket flew behind me as I let my instincts guide the way to Sasayaki, getting more impatient at every red light. I blocked out any second thoughts that might've come to my head by listening to the sometimes-deafening city sounds. Whenever someone drove by with their radio blaring some sort of noise, I tried to see if I could recognize the song.

My instincts ultimately led me back to the old warehouse I was in when I had met Hellboy. Shutting off the engine, I crept along the back until I found a window about thirty feet up. With my teke, I boosted myself up to the ledge, hoping my inconsistent balance wouldn't fail me, picked the lock, and jumped down. I was immediately blasted back into a stack of crates with a blast of black fire, my aching back gotten from the haunted building coming returning to…you guessed it: haunt me.

"They never teach children anything these days," I heard the Russian man I now knew as the legendary Rasputin hiss at me, Sasayaki brushing imaginary dust from his black, smoky hands.

"Indeed, they don't. But no matter; she has already given herself to me. All we need now is the sealing spell." I had no time to think of what that meant. All I knew was that I was against probably the two most powerful beings in this dimension, and Sasayaki was approaching me.

I hastily pushed myself back up with my powers, pulled out the Samaritan, loaded it, and pulled the trigger. There was a satisfying BANG that echoed throughout the concrete room, but when I expected to see my enemy double over in agony, pain instead exploded right beneath my ribcage, as if I was the one getting shot at. I screamed, falling to my knees and clutching my stomach.

Sasayaki, unfazed, approached me still, "Foolish child. I suppose you are ignorant of the accursed bond between us. It is the only thing that had restrained me from killing you when you were born."

Despite my pain, I was able to give him such a glare that, if looks could kill, he would have dropped dead on the spot. Reaching into my coat, I hurled a handful of throwing stars at Rasputin. If I wasn't able to hurt Sasayaki in any way, I would at least be able to get at his accomplice, who I assumed would be the one to perform the 'binding spell', which I assumed was not a good thing. Unfortunately, I wasn't a very good thrower when on my knees and feeling like a one-inch wide bullet had just shot me. Plus, 'quaking in my boots' was a complete understatement. I was shaking violently with terror, increasingly so as Sasayaki continued to approach me. Once he was standing right over me, a mere twitch of his eye sent me sprawling across the hundred foot long warehouse, almost completely crashing through the bare wall on the other side.

Blood trickled from my mouth and back of my head, and I had felt some vertebrae and ribs snap as I made contact with the reinforced concrete. I was in a coma before I hit the ground five feet below.

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I woke up in an endless, shimmering white room. Before me, two gleaming lights floated side by side, the centers of them a little darker, like the silhouette of a person in the middle of a ridiculously bright stage light.

An echoing voice came from one, a shining human figure forming from the shadow in the center. It sounded feminine, and had a strangely familiar sound to it, "Yin, honey, I'm so glad to see you."

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M'kay. Hope you liked!

Oh! Before I forget: you see that purple 'Submit Review' button down there? Yup, that one. It wants you to click it.
;)
Happy Holidays!

--Trii