Abe looks over the same piece of news print that's yellow with age, not really seeing what's written there. His eyes are so dry that he's almost constantly blinking, his head aches, his skin feels about two sizes too small and his stomach has tied itself into a knot in protest from the lack of food its seen. He's frustrated, grouchy and exhausted. He's not sure how long he's been looking, but maybe if he goes over everything again he'll find what he's searching for, whatever it is.
WHAM!
Abe nearly jumps out of his too tight skin and stares dumbfounded at the carved cane with the ornate silver handle currently lying on the table in front of him. Before he can react, the walking stick is dragged across the table top sending papers, books and photographs onto the floor. Abe looks up at Guillermo with his blue jaw hanging down and Guillermo is glaring back at him. Guillermo's face is beet red with anger, it seems like he's about to breathe fire and something looks like it's about to pop.
"WHERE THE HELL IS SHE?" Guillermo demands at the top of his lungs.
"Where's who?" Abe asks in confusion.
The look of utter rage on the other man's face is surprising to Abe to say the least. Guillermo raises the hand holding onto the end of the cane over his head while the other hand balances him against the table. Abe starts to push his seat back but the leg of the chair catches on something and the merman goes flying over backwards to land flat on his back. Abe looks up and sees the enraged man towering over him with the cane ready to come down.
Before the arm can make its decent, a red hand grabs the cane and yanks it out of Guillermo's hand. Liz catches the distraught man before he can collapse and helps him into a nearby chair. After putting the cane down safely out of Guillermo's immediate reach, Hellboy leans down, and helps Abe to his feet. As soon as he regains his footing, Abe looks around at Guillermo.
The man sits dejectedly in his seat with his head in his hands. Liz is leaning over him with an arm around his shaking shoulders. She's talking quietly to him but he doesn't seem to hear her. Abe can hear Guillermo chanting the same phrase over and over again. "She's gone."
"What's going on?" Abe questions Hellboy.
"Your wife's missing," Hellboy tells him bluntly. "Last person to have seen her was you. At least that's what we've been able to put together. One of the cooks saw her take a bowl of rotten eggs out of the kitchen. He said she told him she was bringing them to you. Considering the bowl's sitting on the side table over there, I'm guessing we're right."
Abe looks around and sees the aforementioned bowl with a single egg still in the bottom though it's now covered with a fine layer of white fuzz. Hesitantly, Abe takes his glove off and slowly crosses the room. With great trepidation, Abe places his hand on the bowl. In an instant, the last fateful conversation he had with Maggie races through his head. With a gasp, he quickly pulls back his hand and then hangs his head in shame.
"I told her to leave," he admits quietly, his voice cracking. "She came here to talk to me and I told her to leave. I actually pushed her out of the room and told her to leave.
Abe hears scrabbling and then a brief struggle across the room. He doesn't have to be a telepath to know that Guillermo went for his cane and Hellboy stopped him. Abe can't really blame the man. Hell, he's on the verge of grabbing the walking stick and doing the job himself.
"How long has it been?" Abe asks no one in particular.
"You mean 'how long has she been gone' or 'how long have we noticed that she's been missing'?" Hellboy counter questions.
"Yes," Abe answers.
"She's been missing for nearly a week," Red replies without missing a beat. "We only noticed a little while ago. And before you ask, she had locked the passage from her side. We thought she was up there moping. Guillermo had to unlock the doors and it was only then that we found out."
"And if Vic hadn't called with the information I had requested, who knows how long it would have been," Guillermo snarls. "We're wasting our time here. She was right. He doesn't love her anymore."
With that, Guillermo snatches his cane from Hellboy and limps angrily from the room. The others stand and stare at the door that he's just huffed through for a moment. Abe can feel his knees start to go out, but is helpless to stop from collapsing. Luckily for him, Hellboy simply reaches out and catches his friend before he hits the floor. Hellboy dumps Abe in a nearby chair and then starts to help Liz to pick up the mess on the floor.
"Why does Guillermo think I don't love Maggie anymore?" Abe finally manages to ask as the last of the clutter is deposited on the table.
"Well, the fact that you've been treating her like crap since you were shot is pretty much a big clue," Hellboy states point blank.
"Guillermo called the Mage Librarian nearly two weeks ago," Liz starts as she begins to straighten up the mess on the table. "You and Maggie promised to love each other until the day you died, just like Red and I did."
"And then you had to go off and die, didn't you?" Hellboy growls irritably.
"Guillermo wanted to know if there had ever been a recorded case where one of a Mage pair had died only to be brought back," Liz continues but suddenly pauses.
"Well?" Abe prompts her as his skin noticeably lightens.
"There has been one," she states hesitantly. "It lead to the only know Mage divorce."
"Was it the Mage or non-Mage that died?" Abe inquires, dreading the answer.
"The non-Mage," Liz answers, not able to bring herself to look him in the eye. "After the divorce, the Mage took his own life."
Abe pales even more at this news. He feels a bit dizzy and immediately sticks his head between his knees. Several minutes later he sits up to find Liz sitting in the chair that Guillermo had been sitting in, and Hellboy leaning against the table, puffing on the ever present cigar stub. Both are watching him expectantly.
"I do still love her," Abe declares in a weak voice. "Please help me find her."
"Manning's already has every available agent on the job," Liz tells him.
"Manning is doing that for me?" Abe asks, stunned.
"Hardly," Hellboy snorts. "She's carrying your kids, isn't she? He wants them where he can keep them under his control. It's that simple."
Abe feels like he's going to be sick so he sticks his head back into his lap. A few moments later, he feels Hellboy grab him and start to carry him out of the room. He doesn't object as a few minutes later, he's stripped of most of his gear and then unceremoniously dumped into his tank.
He sinks to the bottom and lies there wallowing in self pity not even aware of how his skin hungrily absorbs moisture back into it or the sting of salt water in his the cracks in his hide. He's not sure how long he's down there before there's a gentle knock on the glass of the tank. Slowly, her rouses himself and swims to the window to find John waiting for him.
"I thought you'd like to know what we've found so far," John offers, continuing only after he gets a nod from the merman. "What we've been able to piece together so far is that after her meeting with you, she went back to her place, locking the doors behind her. After that, she packed some things, it's hard to tell how much, but we think she only took one small bag. She then left a note for the person she hired to care for Magick and Wizard last month asking her to water the plants as well as take care of the animals. She got in her car and drove to the bank, withdrew $50,000 and then opened her safety deposit box. We're not sure if she took something out or put something in. We weren't sure where she went after that until a little while ago. There was a really big snowstorm right after she left that dumped over three feet of snow. They just dug her car out at the long term parking at JFK. However, there are no records of her taking a plane anywhere. I'm sorry, Abe, but we just don't know where she is."
"Her family?" Abe questions hopefully.
"They've been contacted, but no one has seen or heard from her," John replies sadly. "Until she uses a credit card or writes a check or someone runs her ID through a computer, we just don't know where she is."
"Her laptop and cell phone?" Abe asks, his heart sinking with every moment.
"They're gone, so we're assuming she took them with her, but she doesn't answer either her emails or her voice messages," John answers. "Her grandmother and Sharon haven't had any better luck either."
With that, Abe sinks back down to the bottom of the tank in despair. He can hear John put something in the feeding chute. He barely even acknowledges the rotten eggs as they float down to him.
"Hellboy says you're to eat something or he's coming in after you and force feeding you," John warns.
Knowing that it's no idle threat, Abe reaches out and picks up the egg nearest to him. It's not until he's eaten all of the eggs John brought that the human agent leaves. Shortly after he leaves Abe drifts into a fitful sleep where he dreams of Maggie. She's lost in a snow storm unable to find her way home but when he offers his help, she turns and leaves.
A week has gone by and Abe's about ready to climb the walls as guilt, worry and loneliness consumes his mind and soul. Not knowing if she's dead or alive is slowly killing him. Guillermo isn't helping by giving him the silent treatment, refusing to even acknowledge the merman's existence. Suddenly, Manning bursts into the library with a smug look on his face as he stares at Abe.
"We've found her."