A/N: Here's a much longer chapter for anyone who is actually reading and enjoying this. Apparently that's not a whole lot of people because I have over 200 hits and only eight reviews. Come on people, please review? I don't care if you say this story is pure dog mess, anything is better than nothing… or is no news good news?

Whatever, here's another chapter for you. Enjoy. : )

As the World Falls Down

Chapter Five

Liz sat alone in her bedroom. Her hand was engulfed in blue flame and she sat, staring at it thoughtfully. It was true that she had some sort of control over her ability but she knew she could easily lose it. She had spent hours on end each day, trying to train herself, trying to learn how to keep the fire tame, but it still wasn't enough. What if she lost control and hurt someone again? She still carried the scars from her childhood, and she knew if anything happened again, she wouldn't be able to live with herself, knowing that she had taken yet another innocent life.

There was hope for her, she mused, staring at the flame that gently tickled her fingers. Serena had said that there was a haven for psychics, a place where they were trained and taught how to control their abilities. Perhaps Liz could go there. She would have to ask Serena about it.

Then again, if she did leave again, she didn't know how Hellboy would take it. He wasn't happy the last time she left the B.P.R.D. and she knew he'd be less than pleased if she left again.

She sighed heavily. What was a girl to do?

"Hey," came the familiar gruff voice of Hellboy as he opened her door, uninvited, as usual.

Quickly, Liz closed her hand and extinguished the flames. "Hey," she replied quietly as he crossed her room.

"We're heading out," he said. "We have to go see Serena's friend's apartment. You comin'?"

For a moment Liz thought about saying no, but decided to tag along anyway. What could happen? Besides, she needed to talk to Serena. "Sure. Let me get my coat."

It was a good three hours after Myers had given her the tour of the B.P.R.D headquarters and Serena was more than confident she could find her way around without getting lost. She was also rather bored.

Despite having said it would take one hour to get all the paperwork done, Manning had taken three. Serena has returned to the library after the tour and continued reading The Odyssey. To her relief she had even dozed off for a short, forty-five minute napand was slightly more energized when she awoke.

Abe hadn't been up for too much chit chat and had sat quietly in his tank, reading his books. Like before, Serena would lazily turn the pages whenever he needed it.

To her surprise, Abe had climbed out of his tank and appeared in front of her in a tight black top to match his black shorts. He also had a strange device around his neck, which he had told her was a specially designed respirator that provided water to his gills. As he appeared, Hellboy, Liz, and Myers all entered the library, ready to go.

The group had moved outside, into the cool autumn dusk, where a garbage truck and a black SUV were waiting, each with its own driver. While Abe and Hellboy climbed into the back of the truck, the others piled into the SUV and they were off.

It took less than forty-five minutes to get into New York City from Newark, and find Dulcie's apartment building, and that was with a quick stop at Serena' place so she could pick up some clothes and toiletries. The garbage truck backed into the large alleyway between Dulcie's building and the one next to it while the SUV went down a block to a parking garage.

"This the place," asked Hellboy, nodding to the door of apartment 5C, as he and Abe joined the others in the hallway.

"Yeah," said Serena as she stood on her tiptoes and began to feel along the doorframe for the spare key. "Damn it. The key's gone."

Hellboy seemed more than happy to volunteer to open the door. "Stand back," he said as he positioned himself in front of the door, ready to kick it in.

"Wait," cried Serena, stopping him. "Let's not make it obvious we're here." She turned to the door again and there was a soft click! as the door unlocked and the knob turned, seemingly on its own.

The group filed in, Hellboy taking the lead 'just in case' as Myers had whispered to Serena. The apartment seemed normal enough but Serena still peered around, looking for the slightest thing to be out of place.

"There are spirits here," Abe said, looking about through his goggles.

Serena slowly nodded. "Dulcie was a channeler, she communicated with them. They won't hurt us."

"I hate ghosts," muttered Hellboy, glaring at thin air.

As the words left his mouth, a book flew off a shelf and whacked his head. Recovering from the assault, he glared around again, rubbing his head. "I thought you said they wouldn't hurt us," he said accusingly to Serena.

Shrugging she replied. "They're not killing us, are they?"

The team fanned out across the apartment, searching for any clues. Serena stepped into the bedroom and bit her lip. The windows had both been shattered and shards of glass littered the carpet. The curtains fluttered freely but Serena didn't notice. Her attention was on the closet door.

It had been splintered and cracked, hanging on one hinge. Some of Dulcie's clothes had been ripped from their hangers and lay on the floor. Amongst them, Serena could see the phone, broken and crushed. She bit her lip and tried to keep her emotions in check, for the sake of herself and the others.

"I think I found something," she called, causing the others to rush in. She turned to Abe. "Can you get a reading from anything in here?"

Pulling off one black glove, Abe slowly and gently laid a webbed hand on closet door. Two seconds later, he pulled his hand away, blinking his black eyes and turning towards the group.

"She was alive when she left this room," he said, reassuring Serena who let out a breath she had been holding. "There were six stone creatures. The spirits tried to help but the creatures were quite powerful."

"What'd they look like?" Hellboy was lighting another cigar as he asked the question.

There was a screech from outside and they all turned in time to see a large, stone dog fly in, knocking any remaining glass from the already broken window. Five more followed the first and they stared at the group hungrily and snarling.

"Oh," said Hellboy before pulling his Samaritan gun from its holster. The bullet hit the first stone beast directly in the head, chipping it, but not stopping it. Hellboy sighed with annoyance. "You've got to be kidding me."

The six creatures lunged all at once, going in different directions. Hellboy grabbed one as it was inches from his face and threw it back out the window. Simultaneously, he wrapped his tail around one the that had gone for Liz whose hands were now flaming.

Myers pulled his gun and fired a round into one of the beasts. It jumped for his face and he ducked just in time to avoid having his head bitten off. He got back to his feet and reloaded his gun, continuing to pump the beast full of lead.

As Abe gracefully dodged his attacker, he managed to slide his bare hand across the rough surface of the creature. The instant reading told him exactly what he needed to know. "There is a foundation stone on their undersides," he called to the others. "I would recommend trying to destroy it."

Two of the monsters attacked Serena at once who didn't have time to stop and think about an offensive maneuver. Instead she threw her hands out in front of her, palms forward and fingers spread. The two winged dogs were frozen in midair. When she moved her hands apart, one of the stone creatures each moved along with a hand. At an alarming rate, they flew towards each other, smashing together as Serena brought her hands together in a clap.

Hellboy was in the middle of dragging a creature that had gone after Liz by its wings. "Bad dog," he yelled as he threw it into the air and used his stone hand to punch its foundation stone.

The stone bird-dog crumbled and turned to red dust at Hellboy's feet. He turned just as the first one he'd thrown was flying at his head again. His stone arm went up in defense but the beast went into a dead stop, frozen in air. It turned so its belly was exposed and he shot it with his gun. Once it had turned to red dust he looked over and saw Serena turning her attention back to the two stone brutes that were circling her.

It lunged again but Abe was ready. He waited until the creature was too close for comfort, before he skillfully evaded it again. This time, he grabbed one of the small explosives from a pouch on his belt. He had a mere few seconds to plant and set the explosive but that's all he needed.

It landed on the ground a few feet from him and the small device exploded. Bits of rocks flew about the room but they all seemed to stop and fall to the ground before they could actually hit anyone. Abe silently thanks Serena.

Deftly, Myers reloaded his gun again and took aim. Before he could shoot, the stone dog-bird turned away from him and joined two others in attacking Serena. They surrounded her and he moved forward, ready to help.

The three remaining living-statues circled Serena. She had managed to keep two of them at bay while keeping an eye on,- and helping the others but the strain was beginning to show. A sweat broken out on her forehead and she knew that she didn't have the energy to keep doing this. She had barely slept in the last two weeks, and in the past twenty-four hours she had been using all her energy without sleeping enough to regenerate.

Abe, she thought urgently, catching the merman's attention immediately. Get everyone out of here. Now!

Doing as he was asked, Abe sent out a quick mental message to the others. He knew what Serena was planning and it would be dangerous if anyone was still in the room when she executed her plan.

Both Liz and Myers seemed to hesitate about leaving Serena alone with the creatures but didn't have to be told twice. Once they were gone, Serena knew she didn't have to worry anymore.

It hadn't even been a full ten seconds before the three creatures attacked at once. Drawing a breath, Serena focused her energy, pulling it to the center of her being. It was a trick that Sophie, her old mentor, had taught her. She had always been told never to use it unless she absolutely needed to.

Once all of her energy was gathered in a tight ball, she let it out. The psychic energy exploded outwards from Serena, catching everything in its path. The force was like a supernova of psychic energy and nothing could escape its reach. The three stone-birds were destroyed, instantly turning to red dust which, like all the furniture in the room, was blown away to the walls where the explosion of energy ended.

In the kitchen of the small apartment, Myers had just opened his mouth to ask if it was wise to leave Serena alone. He didn't get the chance because they heard what sounded like an atom bomb being dropped. The apartment shook, rattling the dishes inside the cabinets. Then all was silent again.

"What was that," asked Myers, dumbfounded.

Abe was the first to move back towards the bedroom. The others followed behind and they burst into the room to find the bed and vanity, the nightstand and lamp, and the chair all destroyed and mangled, pushed against the blue walls. Red dust coated the edges of the room, tainting the white carpet.

"Are you alright," Liz asked Serena as they all rushed to the young woman's side.

She was leaning against one of the walls, slumped over. Her hands rested on her knees and her breathing was ragged and uneven. "I'm fine," she croaked, looking up at them. Her voice quaked and her hands shook as she reach up and brushed a strand of black hair away from her paled, sweaty face. "I actually feel a little better," she joked weakly. "Got out some frustration."

Liz grabbed Serena's elbow and helped steady her. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," breathed Serena. "I'll be alright. I just need to rest."

Myers took a step forward to help but hesitated and decided not to, not really knowing what to do. "What was that," he asked at last.

"Force push, is what Sophie used to call it." Serena carefully made her way out of the bedroom with the others following. Her shaking hands gripped anything they could find to help keep her steady. "Basically it's a back up plan. If I'm absolutely desperate, I draw all my energy together and let it all out at once."

"That's useful," Myers said, holding the apartment door open for her. "Why is it only a backup plan?"

Too tired to keep explaining, Serena glanced at Abe. Picking up, the merman explained for her. "If she's not careful, she could easily die. The force push also uses life energy. A small one like that, isn't quite deadly but a large one could kill her."

Serena barely managed to give the fish-man a grateful smile. "Sophie once told me she knew a telekinetic who used it unnecessarily. He was in a coma for three years."

Once Myers and Liz had gotten Serena into the SUV, Myers jumped into the front seat next to the driver. Liz sat in the back with Serena who wearily looked out the window. It had been obvious that those stone beasts, wherever they had come from, were after her. So, finding out who sent them would lead to finding her friends.

Before her heavy eyelids closed and Serena dozed off into a long awaited and much needed sleep, she hoped that Abe had gotten a good reading off the creatures.

A/N: Phew. I'm so much more at home with longer chapters. Hope you liked it. Please, review if you did. Hell, review if you didn't! Thankies.