Disclaimer: Hellboy doesn't belong to us and neither does Full Metal Alchemist and Edward Scissorshands *^_^*

Rating: M just to be safe because eventually we'll have some scene of violence and because eventually we'll be dealing with mature subject matter.

Oh! And before I forget, this is "talking", this is 'thinking' and *This the infamous narrator talking*. Have a pleasant read.

Hellboy – A place to belong

Chapter 11

A proverb:

When an 'Arc' is done, it doesn't just mean an end. It also means the arrow's coming at you. DUCK!

'Damn it, work you piece of scrap.' Clutched in a dead grip, the radio kept on with the monotone sound of static.

In the distance, over the wall and the trees tops in direction of the city, the bottom of the hill radiated a dance of red, yellow and orange colors before the light bleed into the smoke who in turn, mixed with the cloud of the overcast night sky.

The various pops and cracks of what Edward recognized as gunshots and explosions had stopped moments ago and were replaced by the distant sound of sirens. It's was surprising on how well the sound was carried over where they were and that he could hear it over the noises the children under his protection and the 'snip-snip' of… the other guy hands were making.

Edward Elric, the short blond BPRD agent, was actually glad he was present to distract the kids, because he didn't knew if, himself could conceal his worry in front of the kids. They needed them calm and distracted from their current situation and a panicking bunch of kids would be less than ideal at the moment. In fact, the weirdo seemed perfectly happy to perform tricks with folded piece of paper (courtesy of the numerous knick-knack a BPRD agent are to carry around) that he dissected with miraculous speed and precisions into, when unfolded, artful series of shape. Human, snowflake, flowers, undiscriptable blob…

And before that, a bush that was shaped into a dinosaur was shredded into a storm of leaf and branch only to emerge as a flying butterfly, awing the kids and filling the blond agent with a little dread. The shredding powers of those hands were noting to scoff at.

So, as he kept looking through the front gate in the direction of the fire and the only path the rescue team could take, he kept himself angled so he could keep an eye on the whole group and the surrounding.

Some of the kids were huddled together with the large aluminum-looking survival blanket he also unfolded from his equipment and lended his large BPRD green-brown duster to keep another couple of them warm. He let them have his flashlight and all the glow stick he had in his position to reassure them. They quickly learned to not point the beam of the flash light toward the face of his black haired 'same named counterpart' face. His 'crawled from the dead' white complexion of his skin and his stony perpetual dumbfounded face, when shined with the light, looked like something out of a horror film…

So far so good, but he wished the others would hurry. Their positions, the garden in front of the manor, while magnificent looking, was right in the heart of enemy territory, was less than ideal.

A strong gust of wind in their direction carried over the smell of smoke and ruffled his braid over his shoulder made him shiver. Looking once more toward the glow of the fire, he considered lighting a couple of position flare to indicate where they were for the eventual recue and get where the kids where there was better cover against the wind, when he realized that everything had gone quiet.

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A gnome was sitting on a tree looking over the construction site, looking bothered like he was the one who had to clean up later, AKA, like it's a pain in the ass. He was also attempting small talk.

"Man, look at that." The gnome had a thick Jamaican accent for some reason. "Rampant fire and loud explosion gather crowd. And I don't mean fireworks here. Which lift the point about crowds: they are stupid. Anyone knows you have to get AWAY from uncontrolled danger. A simple concept that seems to escape the grasp of the general population." He was doing a bit of nervous rambling too.

"Why the human species does isn't instinct yet, I don't know."

Still no comment from his interlocutor.

"Just look at video reel on youtube with word like 'Epic Fail', stupid mistake and snake bites."

Because, the silence in this case, could mean worst than any threat.

"And that's the dominant being on the planet mister and madam! A round of applause please!"

*Yeah, they are pretty dumb, I'll give you that.*

Sitting beside him was the Narrator.

"Aren't you needed down there? I mean, when you narrators get involved, you stick to the STORY like glue. NOT that I pretend to understand any of it man! Mister… Sir."

The gnome wasn't stupid either, when narrators get involved, there was a STORY in the making. Whether they were simple observers, agent in its creation or if they simply feeded on the mystical energy generated by a STORY, nobody knew. They were being not quite there in the tram of the world as Gnomeity knew it and they jealously guarded their secrets.

They also rarely interacted with people of this plane unless they had a role to play in what was going on.

So bad news for him that a quasi-omniscient being took interest in him, because: STORYs have a way to make you History.

After contemplating the view like he was appreciating the look of the gleaming red fire trucks and the way the flames were reflecting on their paint he deemed he could give his branch companion another answer.

*It's not my cue yet. There still a bunch of general observation and introspection that needs to be done. It's a pretty automatic system so We just need to stir thing in the right direction and give our input there and there to max the impact. Crowding the text is a newbie mistake you know.*

"Ha ha, yeah… Err…" Not good, he didn't know where to pick up from that.

*But you are right, better get ready, we are almost done with today. Hmmm, maybe we are looking at an 'It's a brand new day' type of ending. I am not bad at those. The timing is crucial. It need the to be the right blend of 'sunrise', 'closure' with a dash of 'loose tread' for the next time its picked up."

The gnome was looking at the Narrator like he had grown a second head.

*The rest are almost finished coming down the hill, so you won't have to spy much longer and we will be able to report to our respective boss soon about this development. I bet this is not exactly what they had planned when they put their money in Caliban scheme. I guess they both expected him to be eventually dealt with to erase all the trace that could lead back to them, but that he would end up a roadkill as a Wyvern… Ha!*

The gnome didn't even look startled at being accused to be a spy nor did he try to deny it. He figured that was why the strange being approached him. No, he was terrified.

Someone was openly working with a narrator. Last time someone did that it turned into a fragging SAGA! The gnome wasn't sure the tram of the world could handle that anymore. The ages of hero were done a long time ago and for good reasons.

Who would be insane or powerful enough to do that? And a STORY that involved Hellboy on top of it? That was enough to turn is marrow to ice. As soon as he was done with his job, he would skedaddle out of here and get the further away he could from it. Maybe Australia would be far enough…

Down there in the chaotically busy construction site, the Narrator was already halfway toward his destination humming a merry tune to himself.

*Australia, huh? I can work with that. Hehehe.*

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'It's almost dawn'. 'It's been a long night'. 'I wanna go to bed…'. 'Somebody gonna hear me complain about this.'

If you could read the cloud of collective thought hanging over the crowd, this would be the common denominator. The construction site was alive like a drowsy anthill that has been kicked by a sleep walker: Bustling with activity but all party wishing that everyone was still in beds.

Roughly three quarter of an hour as passed since the small scale war between the BPRD against Caliban and every first-response personnel of the state seemed to converge on the place.

Firemen, policemen and paramedic were recalled from the now dried-up changeling search to help contain the fire at the site but also at some random parts of the neighbourhood courtesy of the earlier explosions.

And as it was mentioned earlier by the gnomish spy, a mass of onlooker gravitated toward the construction site to see what the loud noises were about and complain about it. To see what was burning was in any chance their own stuff and complains about it. And if not, see if they could A) Gossip and complain about it later, B) Make fun of it, or C) All of the above and finally D) to give their grievance to whoever was in charge should he want it or not.

Grievances such as who their assurance company should contact about the rocketed propane tank that landed on your car or what was he supposed to do about the fuming axe that flew through the living room window, smashing itself on the urn containing the ash of his late mother in law.

That last one was mostly complaining about his window but wanted to thanks whoever was responsible for this. His hated his mother in law who in life was a real battleaxe and made his wedlock a living hell and though what just happened was poetic justice.

Like mentioned, the police had their hands full and had to call back those involved in the city wide search. Well… to be fair, half the police force present was already here due to agent Armstrong, err… efforts to bring everyone along, so it did not meant that much more manpower.

However, what could be spared was sent alongside the rest of the BPRD agents still in shape to walk up the hill once again to rescue the now found children.

Ah, here we are. What you were surely asking yourself: But what about the BPRD, the stars of the show?

Well first, the mobile command center was moved to the construction site so it could be at the heart of the action. Good thing for them that the REAL action was over and all danger had come to pass without them having to be in the line of fire. Oh, it's not to say that it was a bad thing. That's generally how you recognise a good command center from the bad ones.

Next, Agent Havoc was sent to the hospital as soon as the ambulance got there. He was accompanied by agent Maria Ross who would call the team if there was any change with him. At that point, he was launching insults at an empty space in front of him about lousy commentary or whatever in his pain induced delirium when the paramedic drove off.

And as soon that ambulance was off, others were on their way here.

Winry was put in charge of watching and cordoning the wyvern corpse still sandwiched between the hummer and the dumps truck. With the heavy use of yellow biohazard warning tape, she managed to add a few cops' cars and some tarp to cover the greenish giant winged lizard from the public prying eyes. The BPRD existence was public now but mythological creature corpse sticking out of a governmental vehicle radiator was bad publicity all around. Or worst yet, somebody could get poisoned mishandling the thing.

A specialised team from the clean up department was called to handle the remains but the forensic and the crypto-zoology where also on their way, already squabbling on whom should get a first go at the beast.

Winry, the mechanic maniac that she was, kept lamenting to herself and whoever was within earshot about the poor hummer and was being kept from fixing her "baby". From what she observed, the poison was corroding the paint and the front would need some serious time in the body shop. Also she was going to chew Armstrong about proper vehicle handling because from what she gathered, his reckless driving messed up a lot of stuff.

Schiezka kept to her communication station, relaying message left and right. But despite the closeness to the hill and great frustration of everyone, all communication short of smoke signals could not get to those within the woods. Whatever was used to do this was a concrete wall and electronic signal were dental floss.

Maes Hughes, took upon himself to coordinate everyone efforts and assessing the situation, which could be resumed as such: him running around like a headless chicken to keep the other from doing so. If you weren't doing something or looked like you were almost done with your job, he would pester you endlessly with tales and photos of his baby daughters until you suddenly remembered about thirty other things you should be doing.

He also was doing this to push back the responsibility to report directly to the B.P.R.D. director in the absence of the commander of the operation. No way was he going to be chewed by Manning for this SNAFU. And he didn't think distracting him with tale of his dear sweetie princess would work. This time. Or the one before that. Or the other one before that one…

Team 6, consisting of Kimblee and Curtis were called back. They claimed to have been involved in the most amazing adventure while searching for the changeling, have found an ancient society that erased people memory with a downloading gun residing in a ancient labyrinth built by alien, booby trapped to the teeth and had to rescue the kidnapped princess of a kingdom of fungus-men residing in a parallel dimension of our earth. Sound pretty exiting but since nobody like Kimblee and Curtis, who care what happened to them.

They accompanied, Hawkeye, Mustang, Bradley, Clark and Heiderich who had to trek back up those "damn" wood once again to get to the mansion. The B.P.R.D agents kept close watch on ANY suspicious movement on the vegetation around, who were strangely still compared to their earlier vigor to grab them. It may have to do whit the assortments of chainsaw, axes and machetes they were sporting. And don't ask where Mustang got his hand on a flame thrower…

Following them was Armstrong, looking as fresh and enthusiast as ever, a dozen of cops with stars in their eyes, looking at him with admiration. All thought of the car chase gone from their mind. They, who just before, where hoping to slap the cuffs on the public danger on wheels... Probably with an extra dose of pepper spray.

But Armstrong used his over flowing charisma and his rippling charm (not to mention his impressive rippling bodybuilder muscles ... so much ripple ...), to dazzle the crowd of angry law enforcement personnel with an hair twisting tale (funny because Armstrong is practically bald if it wasn't for the small blond twisting toupee) of bravery, heroisms and galavantry that swept the men of their feet and made them feel like heroes and that the whole dangerous car rodeo was only a small misunderstanding. By the end, the one who wanted to introduce the second biggest mountain of muscle of the BPRD with a romantic rendezvous' with theirs tasers-gun were ready to follow him into the hell breach like meat bags.

Trevor Bruttenholm, Hellboy father and founder of the BPRD, once claimed that you couldn't fight the weird and unusual without being somewhat like that yourself. That why the Bureau was such a jumble of… eccentrics and colorful characters.

But talking about colorful characters, codename Red and Blue were... taking a breather from all the excitement by sitting at the back of an ambulance. Well... Abe was sitting, Hellboy was stuck on his side atop a gurney, wiggling all of his extremities to shake off the paralysing poison. Abe knew Hellboy for a long time now and with the progress he was showing, his quasi legendary resilience and bedrock like constitution would pull him through and in about ten more minutes he would be walking about.

For Abe, it was always fascinating what Hellboy was able to walk-it-off or his 'I spat on it so it should be fine' attitude could carry him trough. Morbid but fascinating none the less.

Liz called it 'him just being a jackass'.

So to distract his currently hapless companion, Abe was telling him about his own finding and from what he could decipher from the mumble that was passing Hellboy half paralysed lips, everything was connected.

When he was following the angle of the local legend, Abe managed to locate the family of a woman who was implicated in the incident decade earlier, in hope of finding more information. He found a teenage girl who was babysitting the neighbor's kid at the time. The girl was surprisingly knowledgeable of that story and showed Abe a plethora of evidences she inherited from her grandmother that proved the existence of this Edward 'Scissorshands', a modern bogeyman of sorts. It was really intriguing for the two veteran paranormal inspectors because they usually have to deal with thing that crawled from the abyss of the septic tank of times immemorial. A less than a hundred year old legend? The egg hadn't even begun to turn green enough for Abe taste but in way... It was quite refreshing feeling.

News paper clips, an old publicity for an hair salon, photographs, a law court recording attached with a psychological evaluation, two different police reports, statements from locals, impossible weather reports over the years of snow at Christmas night... there even was a videotape the girl grandmother managed to recover from the local news station. Piece by piece, Abe and Hellboy were able to put together what roughly happened

The grandmother was either quite obsessed or that Edward meant something to her. It was the diary and the retelling of the event she told her granddaughter in the form of a bedtime story that painted the clearest picture. The teller of that story could be biased but it was now a second-hand account of what happened but it's what sounded the truest.

The people failed to recognise WHAT Edward really was, followed by a series of misunderstanding, a classic mob mentality that led to pitchfork and torch chase that killed someone. Edward was just lucky to have escaped and was able to hide all these year.

"It's hard to believe he managed to hide at all", said Abe. "He was so close to the population in plain view that it's a miracle that squatters and junkies didn't invade the place before."

"Mumblemumblemumble." Mumbled back Hellboy.

"I know we are not in Manathan, but you remember that crumbled mid-eighteen century tower in Estonia in the middle of NOWHERE, and we still found a hobo camp? They were half chewed but it was clear they were there prior to the banshee."

"Muffff"

"I guess it's where the Fae comes in. From what you told me there was quite a cultural mix in there. Not unlike the Trollmarket I imagine but from the sound it had more to do with a refugee camp than a hub of commerce."

"Ghuu, mumblemumble, gaah, mumblegrumble."

"Yes I guess with the human taking more and more space, those who cannot blend in have to resort to that."

"Mumfff mumff?"

"Hughes confirmed it, the changeling we captured are still in our custody and there was no attempt to free them either. When you flee you tend to leave the eldery and the sick behind... Quite sad isn't it?"

"Grumble."

"Yes it's going to be a headache to deal with them later."

"Mumblemumble?"

"The young lady? Would you believe she asked if she could meet him later? Quite a surprising woman. She did not even flinch when she saw me." Added Abe in a conspirational manner.

"Nuu?" Denied Hellboy jokingly.

"Yes. I swear", said a smiling Abe.

Hellboy congratulated him with what was meant to be a playful slap to the shoulder but turned out to be a weak flap on the knee due to their position. And Hellboy lackluster motor control right now.

"She is coming by later, I left instruction with Hughes."

A few minute of silence followed between them, listening to the hustle and bustle around them and the medic coming to see Hellboy fast recovery. He could almost flex his limbs in imperfect coordination.

Still, doing noting probably irked Hellboy to no ends, so he asked:

" 're 'hey 'ere 'et?"

"It shouldn't take long now, it…

Applause and cheers began to rise from the crowd and rescue worker alike. Apparently the heaven decided to answer Hellboy question, the rescue team was exiting the wood trail into the construction site in a single line, each carrying a child covered in an heavy blanket. They all looked tired and dirty but noting a shower could not fix.

The police let the relieved parent gather at the barrier rush past them to their lost, now found children. The scene was a happy one, tear of relief and joy were abundant and the storm of camera flash accompanied by the shouts of the reporter trying to get a comment with the cameraman filming in the background. The media were loving it.

To Hellboy and Abe, it was something they rarely felt before. Before their ousting to the real world, rarely they had witnessed the good they did. It's like they say: It's hard to hear 'Thank you' form behind the false garbage truck bin. And most jobs they work on don't often have good... situation to begin with.

But... It was good to hear the joy in the crying parent voices. The thank you weren't directly directed at them, they never would. After all, he and Abe were oddity that most did not want to admit they existed, so it was expected that they do their job, be done, be gone. But it wasn't important, knowing they did well was enough.

But the job wasn't done yet. They were expecting someone else to come down the hill, but apparently was a no show. It was perplexing. But Abe and Hellboy did not have to wait long before getting answers thought; Agent Clark and Edward were coming toward them and the blond pigtailed agent seemed nervous.

Hellboy had a hunch it was due to the agent namesake shining by his absence so he decided to lead the conversation with it: " 'o 'here 's 'asty 'ace?" only to receive blank stares.

Abe decided to come to the rescue of Clark and Edward and interpreted for them: "He said: 'So where is pasty face?'"

Clark answered that one: "Still up there, he headed inside the house as soon as we got there. He seemed... I wouldn't say distraught or sad... because it's really hard to tell with a face like his but... something as shaken him. Come on Ed, tell him what happened."

"There were... hundreds of them... all gathered on the lawn..."

"'ndreds 'f 'hat?"

"Hundreds of what?" supplied Ed.

"Hundreds of the manor resident! They were all there, one moment I was looking at the town to see what was burning and then I turned around and BAM, there a crowd behind me. Never heard them at all. There was all kinds of them too, not just ten or fifteen kind; there was more type that I could count! All different, all sorts of shape and colors, small AND big! I mean, where the fuck did they hide when we were searching the house? How could we miss something big like those? I didn't even recognise most of them either. I have a pretty good memory and I'm sure some of them are not even in the B.P.R.D. bestiary*... one was pretty much see through and that one was..."

From still lying on his gurney, Hellboy put his hand on Edward arm to shake him from his rambling. He was aiming for the shoulder but the hand/eye coordination wasn't there yet. Visibly, the event had shaken the agent a little. Which was surprising for Clark because Elric was known to keep his cool even in the most hairy of situations. "'hat 'id 'hey 'o?" He asked but Edward only had incomprehension in his eyes. "...?"

Clark, Edward and Hellboy looked at Abe.

Abe who was until now listening intensely to agent Edward tale, took a second to get why the other where looking at him. "Uh? Oh. Right... Err, he said: 'What did they do?' "

"They came to see Edward."

A trio of incredulous "You?" answered him. (Of course Hellboy sounded more like ''ou' but... 'ou get the gist of it).

"Not me, Mister 'Starfrit Hanshake', the other Edward, they came to see him. All of them. At first I thought they were going to rush us and get the kids but they did not even gave me or the children's any attention. They were all facing Ed... the tall... the average height guy in leather, then one guy in the crowd... I think it was a guy... Hard to say... tiny humanoid with a beard and a ratty pointy hat? I think it was a gnome? Anyway, he came forward and... He apologised in the name of all of those who were there. He apologised about abducting the children, lying to him and perpetrated act of violence under his home when they were guest there. That while Caliban didn't represent all of them, they still did nothing to stop him or those who obeyed him. He said they shamed themselves by braking ancient's laws of hospitality or something... when he accepted them all unconditionally under his roof and did nothing that justified such thing. Then they all bowed. To him. Weirdest thing I ever saw. But it get even more weird because E... the other guy said he accepted the excuse since the kids weren't hurt."

Edward took a pause in his narration, pondering something. He then continued: "HB, you've met the guy, look about as expressive as a funeral home but... I could see it in his eyes, he was angry. And hurt, but he still said that he forgave them. I think he was trying to defuse the situation from escalating any further and not because we were outnumbered a hundred to one. And after that... he said he said he was sorry too. Of all the thing... That he hadn't been able to provide a safe home. He was sorry he wasn't able to sooth the discontent they felt for his hospitality. And he didn't think the men with the big machine would be stopped anymore now. And... What?"

Hellboy was looking at him with deadpan eye. "'e 'aid 'll 'hat? 'eally?" he asked dubious if the guy wasn't shoveling them bullshit.

Edward didn't need Abe to traduce what Hellboy said, automatically getting what he meant. "Don't look at me like that; I was surprised too you know? Guy practically didn't say a word all night and barely answer in monosyllable when he did and then he practically gave us a speech like a politician. Ok, he didn't say think exactly like that but that about the gist of it."

Hellboy briefly wondered if the guy had been making fun of them earlier tonight...

Edward continued: "But the spokesperson for the group, was all humble and said that He didn't have to make excuses for the inevitable advance of men and in noting it was his fault. Then he bowed again and said that they thanked him for his hospitality and they would be going away to search for a new home and that by morning they would be all gone. And then... then, they got all blurry like a mirage and 'poof', they vanished."

It was Abe who had an inquiry this time: "Did they say anything else, or something specific that strikes you as important or odd?" Edward took some time to pass over the recent event in his mind once again but noting seemed out of the already extraordinary. "Did something else happened after that? And this other Edward, did he say anything else?" pushed Abe for more details. Unfortunately this Edward did not have much more to say.

"No, soon after that I heard the group coming up the hill and the other guy did not say anything else. I tried to ask him what that was about but he wouldn't say anything but when the rescue arrived, he just... walked back to the door. I asked him to come with us but he just turned around, looked at us didn't say anything and got back inside. We didn't follow... with the kid and all the non-B.P.R.D. personnel around it was more prudent to not push it."

Clark, the commander of this expedition, gave his opinion. "I doubt he'd want to flee, seems like he want to stay there, so he is probably going to hole up tight until the bulldozer comes. Then what? The second we put his name in the reports you know how the guys at Central will react to a case like him: 'He is an unknown who live in a ruin, so what will he do when it's gone?'. We all know what my orders are going to be."

Clark was a military man through and through and generally did not give this kind of consideration toward... paranormal being and was of the opinion that putting everything behind bars and let someone else decide what to do with it was the easiest option.

"Look guys, I know he is not the one responsible for the whole debacle, but we need to bring him in. So how about I finish, oh I don't know ... take my time rounding up ALL the loose treads before contacting HQ about this. Should give you guys enough time to look around before forensics arrives."

Hellboy and Abe looked at each other, immediately understood and nodded to each other. That way, they may be able to change how this leather clad hermit would come with them: freely, in chains or a bodybag.

As Clark was going away to... do whatever a commander have to do, Abe stopped him to say: "Mr Scott, thank you." To which Clark had to say: "Nobody died yet tonight and so far the mission is a success. Welcome back."

Hellboy swinged himself upright, stretching and flexing his limbs to get the wrinkle out, especially his mouth and proclaimed: "Let's go, I'll present you. You'll see, the guys dress like a Goth store exploded on him."

Abe turned toward Hellboy: "Huh? What did you say?"

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Abe was finding the garden enchanting, Hellboy now found it disenchanted. He was resting on an old carved stone bench half covered in vines, panting like he did a marathon. Thank God he did not sweat because climbing the hill again while shaking off the rest of the poison wasn't such a great idea. Maybe he should have stayed with the ambulance a while longer because it sure felt like he had towed the damn thing.

The garden was as beautiful has before but... it could be a trick due to the different lighting but the colors seemed less... vibrant, the leafs and flowers a little less healthy, the smells more dull. Everything was the same, just without thing that make you go from "wow" to "Woooaaah!".

From what Abe gathered from the few records found about this Edward Scissorshands was that he was known to be quite the artistic fellow who was especially good with his... hands. The topiary were obviously his doing but now it was obvious to him that the other residents of the place add contributed a little in their own way. Oh, some of the magic they've put into it was sticking, you could taste that special tang in the air but with them gone it would take some decades but it would eventually fade on its own.

Before that, the BPRD is going to pass the place into a fine comb and subject every inch of the place to rigorous test. It was rare enough to have sighting of multiple type of Fays in one place but to find a fresh 'nest' like that? The Forensics, R&D and Crypto-zoology departments were going to have their work cut out for them for at least... months. And there was Edward.

Another mystery on his own that one. Just who was he? What was he? Where was he from? What does he do? What was he like?... Ok he pretty much knew that one but there was probably more to him. There also what happened fifty-two years ago to considers. Plus, from what he had seen when he was spelunking around the manor, there was a lot of curious thing and doodad lying in the dust, he's pretty sure he saw what's looked like a studies with sketch thrown around, yellowed detail drawing with lots of books with rotting leather cover lying around.

Until that is, the bulldozers passed through here. No more magic then. You can hardly find a more efficient anti-magic solution than a bulldozer.

And there lies the wrench in the machine. Unless they found some good pretty good reasons it seemed the law was on the side of the Hotel chain who acquired the right to the land.

That why, while Abe was letting him getting his third wind, Hellboy was secretly keeping a close watch on the windows, no movement or sign of him peeking through. Was he hiding? Skulking? One way to find out, he guessed, pushing himself up he beckoned Abe to follow him.

The door was closed and since today people had gone through it like it was a windmill he took the time to knock. No need to be impolite after all.

No one answered. Not that surprising, Hellboy thought, after a day... night like this, he too would be hiding behind the couch in hope that whoever was ringing the door bell would just go away and could stuff those pamphlets where he was thinking. He knocked once more, seeing no change, grabbed the handle and entered inside.

"Hello? Mr. Edward? It's Hellboy... We came to talk."

The fluttering of bird wing in the rafter, disturbed by Hellboy shout was the only response he got. Remembering where he first saw him, Hellboy signaled Abe to follow. The ambiance of the manor changed from the morning lights passing through the windows, passing from horror house to merely a sad abandoned building. But what a odd building it was.

Now that he had appropriate lightning, he could encompass the whole room from the stair case. All the machinery and tool bench left to abandon, with the factory treadmill that made who known what. None seemed conventionally built or looked like anything from the time they were made. All custom no doubt but also well ahead of their time if he estimated right when the person who made all this lived.

A genius who managed to bring his creation to life.

As he and Abe escalated the stairs, he quickly scanned his memory in search of any similar example or story he knew of that could relate to this case. And sadly, the closest he could come up with was that cold case in Transylvania and the play Pinocchio. He severely hopped it wasn't related to the former because that case was a fuming pile of doodoo and the later was eerily similar to the story that he felt like stepping into a fairy tale.

The first story of the house was calm like the ground floor and he didn't want to go back into the basement. So they pressed upward into the attic where as he predicted was Edward Scissorhands, his dark silhouette cutting an ominous figure against the sunlight entering the window he was standing in front. Like a reaper standing at the edge of the darkness having no choice to retreat from the light. As impressive and terrifying his figure made, a deep sadness was permeating it. The only indication this was not a statue was the slight swaying of his upper body and a brief movement from some of the blades of his hands, like an unconscious patois. A more somber though came to Hellboy, the unconscious twitch reminding him of wounded agent he worked before who had been burned or heavily maimed and they could not help the slight movement their damaged nerves was causing.

Was Edward in pain? Phisicaly, at least? Was this normal? What did they really knew about him? Did he eat, does he sleep, does he even need to breathe? From the photos, he looked virtually unchanged but the fact that he looked so human could induce you in error. So many unanswered questions. Was it safe to do what he was planning to do? Mental flash of Liz, pregnant with his kids, waiting back at the bureau combined with memory of the whole debacle with Nuada passed through his mind. Was he really going to expose his home to something he knew next to nothing about? Before tonight, the idea did not even passed through his mind. Does becoming a father could change his perspective that much?

As Hellboy was having a crisis of faith Abe took the initiative around stepped forward giving wide berth to the hole in the floor.

"Hello Mr. Farnsworth. My name is Abe Sapien and like Hellboy I work for the B.P.R.D. I am please to make your acquaintance."

That felt like a slap. Abe, his best friend for years, his buddy, one of the few people he really trusted in this world, what would have happened if himself had not stepped forward and brought him to the bureau? How many times would he have died on a mission if Abe did not have his back? How much thing would be different if had never joined them?

Strange encounter was his bread and butter and he found out over the year that the potential those you meet with, is exponential to the chance you give them. Sure it could be dangerous and scary but at the same time so rewarding. He could not let his unborn children grow in a world where they have to worry about every one they will ever meet.

And besides, He always prided himself on being a pretty good judge of character. And this time... He has a good feeling.

A silence ensued, that felt way to long. The air smelled of cold morning dew, dusty aging wood with an afterthought of burning chemical drifting through, courtesy of the warzone bellow.

The world stood on standstill. There are event that could change everything. Thing could go either way... But sometime events could bring forth unforeseen consequence. Like, when Sisyphus boulder tipped over the top, rolling down on the other side, crushing the toes of a distracted Persephone, raining expletive across the tartarus and Sisyphus smirking in his beard and denying every accusation that it was on purpose. Yeah, thing could go either way, but who said you couldn't plow everything in your way doing so?

Edward turned around, and Fate was distracted by Persephone.

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At the same moment, back at the B.P.R.D. headquarter, his morning was beginning in the office, a mug of dark coffee in hand (no sugar, doctor order) opened the first report of the day in his mail box, saw that it was the one about the mission Hellboy and Abe took since their come back, opened it and read it.

Manning, over the last few months had lost the habit of receiving a Red and Blue styled report and was not ready for the mule kick. Midway through, his face was frozen in a horrified rictus, eyes wide open and dilated over the damage cost and PR nightmare. Snapping out, he threw his desk drawer open, frantically searching for his office TV remote, putting it on the news channel, greeted by image of burning machinery, exploded building, policemen firemen and ambulance in abundances. Manning inhaled deeply.

"HEEEELLLLLLBOOOOOYYYYYYYY!"

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Edward now facing our duo looked like a kicked puppy. A very gothic and sharp puppy who did not understand why he got the boots.

Oh boy. He didn't come up here to hide, he came here to cry. Figuratively, since there was no tear what so ever, but it seemed he would rather have liked the ability to shed tear.

"Hello, nice to meet you." He said answered Abe greeting.

Another long pause in the conversation. Abe feeling he wasn't in front of a well versed conversationalist, took the initiative. "Mister Farnsworth... or is it Scissorhand? How should we call you?"

"Edward is fine."

Nodding Abe continued "I know this must have been a tiring night for you a well but me and my colleague feel that we need to clarify some of what happened tonight with you, would that be fine with you?"

Edward had a hesitation before answering, why was hard to tell with a face like that, not reluctant but or maybe the event of tonight were still too raw...

"... Yes."

"Well first thank you for your assistance in finding the missing children, but is it correct that you had no idea they were here?"

"Yes."

"But you live here, did you not see anything unusual that could have indicated that something was afoot?"

"No."

Abe wondered if he was talking to a computer with pre-recorded answer. "Could you elaborate on the how?"... "Please?" he added to escape another monosyllabic response.

"I never go in the basement, there nothing there. I am usually here or in the garden."

"The other, did you know what they were?"

"No."

"No?"

"No."

"And it didn't bother or worry you?"

"No."

Physically, Abe wasn't subjected to nervous tic, but if he were human, his eyebrows would be twitching in annoyance about now.

"Why?"

Edward did not seem to understand the question and countered with one of his own: "Should it have?" he asked with genuine curiosity.

It was Abe turn to be taken aback after a second of turning the idea in his blue head said: "For a lot of people, it would. But its admirable from you that it doesn't." 'Incredibly trusting or naive.' He thought. He tried to change the angle of his approach.

"Why were they here?"

"They... lived here." Kicked puppy made a comeback, along with the sad bunny cavalry rode by crying kitten.

Abe counted to three. "But why?"

"I saw them around sometimes. Passing through, playing in the garden. People don't come here often but they were different than the other in town so it was ok if I spoke to them. They were trying to hide too. I spoke with them occasionally and then one day, they asked if they could come live here... I said yes." He added as if he needed to clarify that point.

"They asked? That surprising, did you know why?"

"They explained that this was my house and by the ancient law they had to ask my permission to live here under my roof and in return they would help upkeep it and live under the rules I would dictate."

Abe and Hellboy knew what he was referring to; the little people had a strict set of rules when it came to some things. Like vampires could not enter a house if you didn't invite them in.

"Did you give them rules?"

"I did not."

"You did not need them? Wouldn't they cause trouble otherwise?"

"They did not cause trouble at all. I never really saw them after all."

"Really, but there was a lot of them no? Did you try avoiding them?"

"Yes there were a lot of them, with lot of different ones too but they were the one avoiding me most of the time. I wanted to talk but... I intimidated them."

"... How?... Oh." Edward lifted his very peculiar hands, looking at them with melancholy.

"I can hurt people with them." That told Abe a lot, it indicated he was aware that he could hurt people and its consequence but did not want to. A conscience if you will. Edward didn't look like he would hurt a fly but with what happened decades ago...

"And these others... tenants who were here, did they say anything or let anything transpire that could have indicated what they were up to?"

"No." he replied, back to the simplest answer and it seemed he did not take the cue from Abe demeanor who was beginning to exasperate at his kind of... absolute definitive answer... Hellboy chuckling to himself at Abe expense, who in turn shot him a look. A look that said: 'Shut up and help me.' At which Hellboy put his hands up in mock surrenders telling Abe he was on his own still laughing at him. Its funny seeing someone else struggle for once.

Turning his attention back to Edward. "But from what we investigated you helped damage the construction site below but from the previous report it doesn't seem you were involved in the sabotages that took place. Is that correct and could you tell me why you did it?" asked Abe trying to sound the least accusing possible.

In his soft voice Edward tried to explain the story from his perspective in an awkward monologue of those not used to talk a lot "It is correct. I... I know I shouldn't have done this. Breaking thing of other people is bad but... The other told me what they were going to destroy the house and... They tried to lead them away, but they came anyway. They asked for my help but I didn't know what to do. I promised Kim that I wouldn't go out... They told me they were going to break their machine discreetly to discourage them without being seen... that the secret would be maintained. I did nothing because I wanted it to work. But they came back. Again and again. The other became more agitated, angrier. Caliban came himself to talk to me… He was one of the few who talked to me at all in fact. He convinced me to help them."

And they could roughly guess what happened. It seemed that the worst they could blame on Edward was property damage and the fact that he was cooperative in the investigation was in his favour so they could mitigate the legal repercussion for the recent case… the old one where that guy died fifty years ago could be investigated calmly far from the prying eyes of the media.

A old stab of guilt lanced through his guts: Countless time he regretted taking Liz and Abe right to choose for themselves if they wanted to be revealed to the world. They had forgiven him and he still believed that the pro outweighs the con but for someone like Edward…

The world burned him and he shied away from it for so long… He should be the one to decide to be in the scrutiny of the world or not. The fey hides themselves out of fear, Nuada wanted to fight back in order to prevent the extinction of his kind and Hellboy did not know on which side he belonged.

He tried to live a simple life in margin of society. By himself he would have been able to continue, but Abe was getting crazier by the day with his damned hobbies and Liz was getting unneeded stress with her pregnancy with them not being able to go into town even to just buy a damn pint of milk.

And Krauss was right; the BPRD was a mess right now. It was the legacy of his father to him not the other way around. He approached the problem all wrong: he shouldn't have left because the BPRD didn't do things the right way, he should have stayed to change how the BPRD do things.

Hellboy shook himself of his though realising he had miss a part of the conversation. Ah, Edward had retreated to his own way of answering thing: short on any detail with an unclear quality bordering of the philosophical. Abe seemed frustrated with trying to extract info from Edward and looked ready to tear of his own hair.

He decided to throw the fishman a life buoy. "Edward, I will be frank, I don't think we can save your house and a lot of people that we work with will want to look all that stuff lying around. I know you probably don't want any of this and it's the last thing you want to hear, but if you let us, we can help you. Come with us and I promise you, nobody will try to hurt you, we won't pressure you into anything you don't want to and you can keep anything that you have here, it's your stuff. But more importantly you won't have to be alone anymore and you will be safe.

Edward hesitated, unsure and nervous but looked forlornly at the town below.

Abe seeing what Hellboy was trying to do; Abe approached Edward and put his arm around his shoulder in a comforting gesture: "It will be ok. And there is someone who wished to meet you for a long time", he said with a cheerful tone. "Come; let's find you a ham sandwich."

In this world: All wanted a place to belong so he was going to make one. Watch out who ever was going to stand in his way.

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BONUS:

On the other side of the country, Peter Manning, the director of the BPRD, felt a glacial shiver of dread crawl up his spine. He looked around for danger, eyeing the printer he was using worryingly.

A small localized cold war was going on between the secretaries of level four and seven, where inter-politics was synonym of gossips, back stabbing, espionage, treachery and barelly dissimulated act of bureaucratic terrorism.

Manning wasn't deluding himself; the chance that he died of a good dead was quasy nill. His top three way he believed he was going to die was:

One: Hellboy giving him a heart attack or a stroke.

Two: Eldritch horror tearing his head off.

Three: Bystander victim of a printer bombing.

So he grabbed his copy and discreetly scooted away from the machine but not knowing why the felling of impending doom was still following him.

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Author note:

Bookeater: Ouch, it took a loooong time to put that one out. It was left practically done in my drive for almost two years. Writer block, moving to another city, new job and loosing the weekly meetings with Shiroyuki, my co-author, that we used to push the production of the fics, hurted my writing time more than I can admit.

To our reader, I must say: I am sorry that it took so long.

About this story, I still intend to continue to write it, even if its at a snail pace but it's not abandoned. You will probably see the side story like Truth Serum Interview, Abe Crazy Hobbies and other one-shots updated more frequently but this story is still something that I hold dear to my heart.

And I must say that my inspiration his taking me toward other fandom as of late so its possible that you see something other than Hellboy popping up! Shame on me…

Tell me if you liked it. I did not intend to finish the chapter like than but I decided to use the hanging threads to start the next one. Edward will make his debut at the BPRD base; we will also delve a little into his origin. There will be Liz pregnancy and more recruiting from Hellboy for the team. This story has always been about making a big crossover with movies from the 80 and 90 that had characters that would fit or clash with the Hellboy universe. One at a time I promise you. And we will also see a little of what the Narrator is really up to.

This chapter also conclude the appearance of the Fullmetal Alchemist cast as cameo secondary character. It was fun, but the goal was to easily fill the background with recognisable face with established characteristics rather than faceless and bland mob. So don't be surprised if you see the Starship Enterprise crew or Scooby Gang winking at you from behind Hellboy large back.

Shiroyuki :

Hello everone and my sincerest apologies to all,

I know Book already said he was sorry but the snail pace wasn't all of his fault, I have my part of responsibilities in this as well. For more than a year I was looking for a house with my boyfriend. It brought its share of stress and I found myself unable to concentrate on anything else.

But now I have my house and I hope that with a few renos I can make it my home.

I hope you had a good read and we'll see you in the next chapter.