Leon almost collapsed upon returning to his room, heavily flopping onto his side on his bed, curling around his abdomen as he groaned lightly in pain. He remembered having cramps during menstrual cycles and controlling them for three weeks of the month with oral contraceptives, however this was more relentless and felt as though his innards were trying to twist around completely. It had only ever been bad like this once, just past his sixteenth birthday, where even Walter had been at a loss to help him, the usual hot water bottle and day in bed had done nothing to even lessen it for a full day.
This was similar, but worse, as he had been with Abe recently, in fact just after having his wings returned to him and lowering the barrier spell he had placed on himself to keep from bleeding out. He worried they had done some damage to his insides somehow as it had been unused for so long he might have simply been so numb to pain that Abe had done internal damage and he only felt the pleasure of their interaction, not the pain. Yet, he was fine otherwise, no pain in his hips or lower back, all in his abdomen, around his uterus.
**I could look, if you wish...** Kuno offered sheepishly, Leon groaning lightly, sighed, then extended out his shadow to release the doctor, who visibly winced, yet remained rather calm and waited for Leon to use shadow to strip off his pants, subconsciously locking the door with a thought. Kuno blushed but gingerly spread Leon's flesh when he exposed himself, Leon stiffening and arching his back lightly as the touch generated pleasure.
"No blood, bruising or discharge, perhaps it's just from being unable to operate as normal? You did have that barrier spell, it may have caused a sort of stasis on other biological processes." Kuno mused, letting Leon roll over to his other side, shadow reclothing his lower half as he curled back up in a ball, the door quietly unlocking as Kuno turned and paced lightly, thinking. Leon flopped a wing over himself, hands lightly held over his abdomen as he tried to concentrate, focusing on the long dormant organ which was not actually causing the pain, but rather something within it. Leon's eyes widened as he realised then that Kunos hunch was right, that Leon had kept his uterus in a form of stasis to keep himself hidden in plain sight for so long without losing too much blood from losing his wings, and his one intimate interaction with Abe had made him pregnant. Not only that, but Leon swore he could almost feel his innards being pushed outward as his uterus swelled.
"I... I could... End it, if you are not ready?" Kuno offered, hands shooting up placatingly when Leon growled loudly at the suggestion. "Think on it. You don't know what could happen to you, or the child, being as you are. Vampire, alive yet not really alive? And his genetics, how will they factor in-"
"Enough doc, thank you." Leon growled, shuddering lightly as Kuno bowed his head and was returned to his place within Leon's shadow. Pregnancy would explain why he felt oddly hostile when talking with Shelby earlier, how just watching Integra begin cutting into her steak had turned his appetite, why he wanted to keep her near him more. He was being maternal, which deepened his frown. Not even two full weeks, and already Leon notably realised he was experiencing some questionable hormonal reactions. Pain like this was definitely abnormal, though thankfully the fetus likely lacked a heartbeat yet so he would be able to expell anything if he miscarried without surgical intervention, however he worried what may happen when and if he did miscarry.
What if he went into bloodlust? Alucard and Seras would probably be able to help keep him from Integra for a while at least, but not completely. Walter would be likely affected by him, so he would add further threat to Alucard and Seras' protecting of Integra, the mercenaries would be nothing more than fodder. Leon sighed, slowly relaxing as the pain subsided, lifting his shirt to idly run a hand over his abdomen, which was less notably defined than he remembered, thinking he should give it some time before making any decisions. He would also need to talk to Abe, and find out his wishes.
A light knock on his door had him rolling back to sit on the side of his bed, smiling as Integra stepped in with a worried expression.
"Hey, Walter was acting a bit strangely, are you alright?" She asked pointedly, moving to look him over as he stood. He chuckled, taking in a deep breath and spreading his wings out loosely. He was glad whatever the pain was had passed, or settled, or whatever had caused it to begin with had finished.
"I will be, My body is just catching up on the last ten years or so I've been in a sort of... Stasis, while I was without my wings." Leon explained, omitting only what he knew would worry her more. Her saddened expression and frown almost broke his heart, leading him to gently hug her, wrapping said wings around them both. "I'm getting better, I promise. It's nothing you could have helped, not even Alucard could have. I'd love to tell you about it, if you're up to it?" Integra was unreadable a moment, yet nodded, Leon could tell she was getting tired, moving to gently scoop her up and carried her into his study, plopped her on the sectional there and moved to sit to her left on it as she squeaked a protest. His shirt disappeared in a breath, and Leon sat forward and adjusted his right wing to let her see the marks around the base of his wings, and the bite marks on the leading edge of his right wing and along his shoulder. Integra leaned forward to gingerly run her fingertips over his wing, seeing the raw red marks as though they were punctures from blades, brows furrowed in a concerned frown, awed that such damage could be done to him and still remain visible.
"Those are from a fight with a Kelpie matriarch, after Abe, Red and Liz helped me get my wings back." Leon explained, watching her over his shoulder, moving the wing as she ran her hands along it to let her see the healing damage from his battles abroad. She had a wry smirk that appeared as he mentioned the Kelpie, her frown deepening as she saw just how much had been damaged at the base of his wings, the ragged flesh still slowly and almost visibly curling back to knit together as she looked it over.
"The Incident in Canada last month, I remember seeing a report on it pass across my desk. You let it get close." Integra mused, sitting back, content with her probing at his wings. He sat back, shirt reforming over him as he was feeling a slight chill.
"Stupidly, yes. Abe had my back though on that one, thankfully he's a wonderful swimmer." Leon chuckled, Integra simply rolling her eyes at him and sat back, sleepily resting her head on a hand, elbow on the couch arm.
"So tell me everything, from when you learned where your wings were being hidden to getting them back." Integra asked, though Leon could tell she was slowly falling asleep. Leon chuckled, but obliged, explaining how he had met and been working alongside Kate Corrigan in Singapore, following his rescue and time with Sera'phna, continuing on to explain events in Egypt that had happened before he went to Singapore and then moved on to Canada and the interaction with the Bureau team in Winnipeg, which then ferried him back to the BPRD. He explained how he kept himself hidden for the most part, helped Hellboy with his cats, without the big demon knowing at all, and had killed a remaining Chordewa that had gone after Abe within the Bureau before he nearly died as his barrier spell started to fail and his blood seeped from the wounds in his back. Abe had meanwhile been figuring out how to help Leon, with hints from Ashtareen, the goddess Leon interacts with that Integra simply rolled her eyes at the mention of, and that Leon had almost sent his intended life-partner to his death.
Leon continued on with his tale, explaining how he had been carried by Hellboy, with Liz and Kate following behind, just as Abe with Aureiahnna opened the temporary prison of a Servitor of Setesh, a massive slavering corrupted monstrosity that Hellboy, Liz and Abe had distracted to give Leon time to retrieve his wings from the prison and regain almost all of his abilities. He made a point of mentioning that he still used magic to destroy the beast, while wrapped in only the bloodied bedsheet Hellboy had carried him in.
"So wait, you were naked?"
"As the day I was born." Leon jeered, Integra snickering lightly, leaning against him now on the couch, one of his wings wrapped around and under her. "It took me a little bit to get back to normal, even with, and were it not for Kate and Abe, I don't know if I would have been able to get to London in time to help."
"I'm glad you did..." Integra muttered, Leon looking down and smiling as she slowly closed her eyes and drifted into a quiet sleep. Leon carefully picked her up and placed her on his bed, deciding to sleep off some of the soreness still in his back and wings, moving to lounge in his coffin on his left side with the lid set aside. He normally could sleep easily enough, yet found his mind running in circles. What if using his magic had accelerated, or done something to damage the fetus he had conceived with Abe? He knew how to find out, not wanting to use magic now lest he possibly cause more harm to himself, or whatever child he had conceived.
Leon soon jolted awake, having somehow fallen asleep despite his concerns and running circles in his mind, daylight seeping in through his balcony windows. He frowned, not remembering opening the blinds, or the large glass doors separating his room from the little balcony outside, moving to stand carefully, his coffin automatically closing itself.
Integra had since departed, his bed cool to the touch told him she must have left hours ago, so how long had he slept? Leon frowned, moving to the balcony and looking around, finding nothing out of the ordinary, shrugged, and closed the doors and their locking latch.
Before he could head downstairs however, Leon was suddenly overcome by nausea and dizziness, quickly skittering to his bathroom and retching into the toilet. Only fluid, likely bile and who knows what else had remained in his stomach from the day before, or even several days before, as he did not remember when he had last eaten outside of when he had sired Walter and slain Kuno. He heaved again, almost painfully, eyes going wide as his hands touched his stomach and felt something strange. He straightened up, lifting his shirt, and gasped, hesitantly stroking his lower abdomen that was now visibly bulged outwards.
**No questioning that...** Kuno chimed, almost sounding saddened, Leon realising it was more for his benefit, as Kuno worried he would be useless to Leon while he was in such a state. Leon shuddered at the feeling of pleasure and slight numbness as he ran his fingers over his lower abdomen where he could tell his flesh had distended slightly, eyes going wide. Had Integra seen it?
**She noticed you were sweating rather profusely while you slept, that's why the door to the balcony was open.** Walter shared, having picked up on Leon's concern when he had woken. Leon relaxed significantly, though still wondered just how much to tell her, now, before he spoke with Abe. **Sera popped in while you were resting, she's in the garden with Sir Integral showing her the new Waystone. Are you particularly ill or hungry perhaps? I could always see what I have to help with... Morning sickness.** Leon sighed, moving to sit on the side of his massive tub, smirking at the residual feeling of Abe in the air, shaking his head at Walter's suggestion.
**I should be out there, waystones can be tricky... I'm also not sure if eating is a good idea right now, ugh.** Leon shuddered, the idea of food just made his stomach flip again.
**Understandable. Your mother was much the same at first, mid-day you should feel better. It's only about ten. Some sun will probably help.** Walter offered, sounding surprisingly content and calm despite being awake later than would be normally expected of him now. Leon smirked, deciding to instead go out on his balcony and glide down to the garden, once he spotted where Integra and Sera'phna were standing. His wingbeats must have been uneven as he saw Sera'phna's ears twitch before she turned to look up at him as he slowly dipped a wing to swoop down to the two, in a clearing surrounded by lilac bushes presently in full bloom. He angled his wings and flapped to slow his descent so he did no harm to himself or the elaborate pathway around the pedastal Sera'phna stood next to.
"There you are, I was worrying if I needed to have Walter wake you. Feeling better after a good rest?" Integra asked, smiling at him as he shook himself lightly and folded his wings back. Sera'phna bounced over to hug him tightly, Leon returning the embrace. The stones under his bare feet felt comfortably warm, almost wanting to lie on the warm stone instead of returning inside or continuing with the rest of his day.
"Little fox, what wonder have you to show me this time?" Leon mused, Sera'phna laughing and lightly punching his arm, fox-ears flat back for a moment before she relaxed, five tails curling up happily and lightly wagging.
"Your waystones are attuned and should work with little issue. One is in the atrium at the Bureau, the other is here." Sera'phna motioned then to the pedastal, very simple marble styled akin to a roman column. Atop it sat an elaborate golden bracketed polished amethyst sphere that almost begged to be touched.
"I tested them before I went to borrow your sister, you never told me she'd be closer to my height." Sera'phna pouted, Leon smirking lightly, sheepishly meeting Integrals gaze when she raised a brow at him. Her glasses were in her breast pocket, Leon surmised because she had put them on habitually when she got up and then forgot to put them elsewhere.
Sera sniffed the air lightly, looking at Leon curiously, looked him up and down, but was promptly stopped before she could voice her thoughts. Her fur had risen and the excitement in her eyes, coupled by the sudden tensing in her body which deflated almost as quickly when Leon gave her a withering look.
**I know, I need to talk to Abe before I tell her. Will it be okay for me to use the waystone?** Leon privately cut her off before she could voice that he smelled different -and likely pregnant- to her, Integral however noticed immediately that Sera had begun to get excited and then promptly pouted more deeply.
"Yes, but come on, you-"
"No Sera, please. Seriously, where's your hostess personality at, you're never this excitable." Leon warned, grinning to play off the severity of what he was hiding, moving to scoop up the rather petit fox-woman who chirped as she was swept off her feet and twirled in his arms before she was plopped back down gently. Sera simply giggled lightly at his semantics, Integra rolling her eyes at his display of affection as it turned back to her.
"The activation words are Red, Sparks and Blue. any of the three will open the link, saying it again will teleport you to the Bureau. Coming back I put it as Feathers for now, you know the incantation to add control words right?" Sera explained, grinning at Leon who groaned, Integral smirking at him. When the three nicknames for the BPRD team were spoken, the sphere glimmered with an array of colours at its core, stopped and started again.
"Looks like Reds nickname has stuck. Yes I remember those incantations, though I might have to practice some pronunciation later." Leon sighed, looking to Integra. "Up for lunch with Red, Liz, Kate and Abe?" He extended a hand to her, one still clasped by Sera'phna. Integra glanced back at the manor, shrugged, and placed her hand in Leon's. Sera'phna then placed her free hand over the amethyst sphere and said one word, before they were gone in a flash.