"Where is she?" Abe asks desperately, pressing himself against the glass.
"Mill Valley," Manning smugly answers.
"Of course," Guillermo moans as he sinks into a nearby chair. "She's gone to her childhood home. Why didn't I think of it?"
"How do you know that's where she is?" Abe questions.
"There have been several large orders for furniture and appliances to be delivered at a property that she owns," Manning replies in a superior tone of voice. "And the person who placed the orders is using credit cards that have been issued to one Margaret Susan Cavendish."
"So, now what do we do?" Guillermo inquires as he leans back in his seat.
"I'm arranging to send agents to retrieve her," Manning responds.
"What are you planning on doing?" Abe demands. "Putting her in cuffs and dragging her back here kicking and screaming."
"If necessary," Manning retorts heatedly.
"You mustn't like those agents very much," Guillermo points out. "A Mage who doesn't want to go somewhere, isn't going to go."
"So, what's she going to do?" Manning asks sarcastically. "Stomp her feet and throw a tantrum?"
"Guess you didn't get the memo," Guillermo snaps back. "Maggie's got her powers back. You try and force her to come back and those agents will returned to you tied in knots. I'll go and get her."
"I'm coming with you," Abe insists.
Guillermo glares at the merman for a good minute before he replies with a snarl, "Fine."
"Excuse me," Manning interrupts heatedly. "Last time I checked, I was still in charge of this circus. I say who goes and who stays."
"Maggie doesn't work for you," Guillermo reminds Manning. "We're going to have to convince her to come back or she'll just leave again."
"Fine, you two figure out what and or who you need and then tell me," Manning grumbles after a couple of minutes trying to find a hole in Guillermo's statement. "I get final say though."
With that Manning turns and stalks out of the room.
"He's planning on stopping me from going," Abe informs Guillermo.
"As much as I'd love to bust you in the chops for sending her away," Guillermo growls, scowling at Abe, "You're probably the only one who can convince her to come back."
"If it's any consolation, I feel the same way you do," Abe admits quietly. "Who else do you think we should bring along on this little safari?"
"Me," says a commanding voice from the doorway.
Startled, both men look towards the door and see Dr. Hodson standing there with her arms crossed and a very determined look on her face.
"But…," Abe starts.
"'But' nothing," she snarls. "I want to make sure that everything's ok with her and the babies before you drag her onto a plane. Is that clear?"
"Yes, ma'am," they respond in unison.
"Good," she states with a curt nod. "I'll start getting my things together. I'll let you know when I'm ready to go."
As if on cue, Hellboy and Liz come in with Trevor just as the doctor exits.
"Heard they found her," Hellboy grunts by way of a greeting.
"She's in California," Abe replies.
"What's out there?" Red asks as he plops himself into a large chair.
"Her childhood home," Guillermo answers as he starts to straighten up his desk.
"So what's she gonna do? Buy the house she used to live in?" HB inquires.
"Doesn't need too," Guillermo responds. "She never sold it. She was planning on moving back out there after college, but a nasty run in with her mother's family's lawyer killed that plan."
"So why would running into this lawyer stop her from moving into her own house?" Liz asks as she gets comfortable in another chair and starts to prepare to nurse the baby.
"Her mother's family lives in California," Guillermo explains. "When she was getting ready to move out there, she invited them to lunch so that she could finally meet them. Their response was to send their lawyer to the restaurant with a cease and desist order. After that she decided to put as much distance between her and them."
"So why'd she hold onto the house?" Hellboy questions.
"Not a clue," Guillermo states with a shrug. "Sentimental reasons?"
"Convenient to have a fully furnished house to go to when ever you want," HB comments.
"House, yes; fully furnished, no," Guillermo states as he starts putting a pile of books back onto the shelves. "Her grandmother tried to convince her to sell the property twenty-three years ago, but couldn't get Maggie to agree to it, though she did agree to sell pretty much everything in the house. There are a few personal items that are in storage, but other than that, the house is empty."
At this point Manning comes barreling back into the room and he doesn't look the least bit pleased about something. He goes charging past the others towards the large gold doors on the other side of the library.
"Oh dear," Abe mutters.
"Ah crap," Guillermo groans.
"Uh oh," Liz mumbles.
"What?" Hellboy demands.
A split second later HB gets his answer as the gold doors loudly get blown open by a strong wind, knocking Manning off of his feet and flat onto his back. Standing in the doorway with a very displeased look on her face and without so much as a hair out of place is Maggie's grandmother. She stalks into the room and stands over Manning.
"And when, prey tell, were you planning on telling me that you had located my granddaughter, Dr. Manning?" she demands, her Southern accent more pronounced than normal.
"I was just about to call you when the guard called to tell me you were on your way down," Manning replies as he gets back to his feet and tries to regain some of his dignity. "How did you find out?"
"I have friends in all the right places," Mrs. Cavendish answers vaguely.
"I told her," Liz admits unashamedly as she stares straight at Manning and never breaks eye contact until he looks away.
"Yes, well, I'm putting a team together to retrieve Mrs. Sapien, so there's no reason to concern yourself," Manning states.
"I think I have every right to be concerned, Dr. Manning," she retorts. "This is my granddaughter we're talking abut, not some wanted criminal. Now where is she?"
"She's in California," Abe answers. "Guillermo and I will be going."
She eyes both of them for a moment before responding.
"I suppose that can't be helped," she mutters. "Who else is going?"
"Maggie's doctor," Guillermo replies.
"Good," Cavendish states with a nod. "Now, how are you planning on getting there?"
"They'll be going on the cargo plane we normally use on missions," Manning responds.
"You most certainly will not," she retorts. "My grandson-in-law is a pilot for a private charter plane service. I will book a flight to leave as soon as possible. Your people can be on it or not, but Margaret will most certainly not be flying as cargo."
With that, she turns on her designer high heel and marches back out the door. A sudden gust of wind causes the large door to slam shut with a resounding BOOM. The others stare at the closed door for several moments before Manning comes to his senses.
"Who said you could call her?" Manning demands of Liz, jerking his thumb over his shoulder towards the closed doors.
"No one," Liz replies with a shrug as she pats Trevor on the back. "You didn't tell me not to either."
Manning stands there gaping at her for several seconds, turning a lovely shade of red, before letting out a huff and storming out of the room. Hellboy gives a low chuckle while Trevor lets out a very loud burp.
"You know, I called her maybe a half an hour ago," Liz muses as she latches Trevor onto the other breast. "How did she get her so fast?"
"She flew in on her broom," Guillermo replies sarcastically.
Late the next night Guillermo, Dr. Hodson, and a heavily disguised Abe find themselves climbing onto a luxury charter jet at Newark airport. Mrs. Cavendish, Sharon, Vicki and Ron are already waiting for them. Ron greets the new comers before he disappears into the cockpit where he starts to do the preflight check. The others settle themselves down into the plush seats and strap themselves in. Sometime after midnight, the preflight checks are done and they're cleared for takeoff.
Once at cruising altitude, Abe strips off the heavy and rather claustrophobic clothes that he used to get on board undetected. After removing the coat, hat, boots, pants, shirt and long scarf, he settles back into his seat and stares out the window. A short time later, he feels little hands on his thigh. He looks down and sees Vicki standing next to him. As soon as she has his attention, she lifts her little arms up and says, "Up."
Abe obliges and lifts the little girl up into his lap. She pats his face with her little hand before she settles in and sticks her thumb in her mouth. A short time later, she's sound asleep and Abe gladly just holds her despite her mother's offer to put her back in her seat. Vicki is the first person to be truly nice to him and he wants to hold onto that as long as he can.
About six hours later, Abe is putting his disguise back on as they get ready to land. A short time later, all of them are trekking across the tarmac in the pre-dawn light. Shortly, they are climbing into the cars provided for them by Manning. Soon they are making their way through San Francisco and early morning rush hour traffic.
When they finally make it to Mill Valley, the sun is finally coming over the horizon. They get to the gates just as the sun clears the mountains. They drive through the open gates and make their way up the still wet driveway.
When they reach the front doors, Abe is the first out of the car. No sooner does Abe place a foot onto the steps when he can feel something's wrong. He rushes up the stairs only to be stopped by the locked front doors.
"Something's wrong with Maggie," Abe cries out desperately.
A second later Abe hears the lock click open and he's through the door with the doctor hot on his heels. He races through the house not sure where he's going but headed there anyways. When he enters the kitchen, he stops in his tracks causing the doctor to run into him. When Hodson sees what caused him to put on the breaks, she gasps.