Wow. I didn't expect reviews so quickly. Thanks to watergoddesskasey, AuroreD, and epalladino.
Here's the next chapter! :D
They began to head down the hallway.
"May I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"Are you…never mind."
"What?"
"It's rude of me to ask."
"Yes, I am pregnant." Wendy blushed.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."
"It's fine. I was beginning to wonder when it would show." Wendy kept quiet.
They stopped before tall oaken doors.
"Hmm. These aren't usually closed," Liz said. She opened one and motioned Wendy through. As she walked past Liz, she stopped in her tracks. Liz turned to see what was stopping her.
"Wow. That's a bunch of books."
"Do you like to read?"
"Very much so." She looked around until her gaze landed upon the tank of water to their right. In front sat four podiums, for what she couldn't be sure. "There's a swimming pool…in the library."
"It's not a swimming pool." The indignant voice came from inside the tank.
"Sorry. I didn't know." Wendy looked deeply into the water, trying to discern a shape.
"Abe, this is the new agent, Wendy Waterbanks." Wendy jumped back when the creature called Abe came forward. He was part-fish, part-man, as far as Wendy could tell. She could see the gills at his neck and tried not to stare.
"Hello, Agent Waterbanks. Abraham Sapien, at your service." She overcame her hesitation and walked forward to lean on one of the podiums.
"Hello, Abraham. I'm really sorry, but I didn't know this was your…"
"Tank."
"Yeah." His face muscles didn't seem to move, but he cocked his head to the side and Wendy could tell he was confused about something. "What is it?"
"Your mind… I've never known anyone who could block theirs so well."
"Thanks. My grandfather taught me how in case I ran into anything…paranormal. Are you psychic?"
"Not exactly."
"Abe has a special frontal lobe that allows him to 'read' people," Liz offered as an explanation.
"Interesting. Well, as a sign of good faith…" Wendy took down her mental barriers for the first time in years. Abe couldn't smile, but he seemed happy.
"You didn't have to do that," he said.
"I'll be working with you guys, right? I need to show I trust y'all." At that moment, the robot-looking thing from earlier walked in.
"Johann, I didn't think you were coming," Liz said.
"Johann? Are you German?" Wendy asked.
"Austrian," he replied. He had a glass dome covering the top of the robot body. It appeared to be filled with some kind of gas.
"What are you?" She covered her mouth. "Sorry, you don't have to answer that. My mouth sometimes works faster than my brain."
"It's all right. I'm an ectoplasmic medium."
"And I'm an Ichthyo Sapien." Wendy turned to see Abe talking. "I saw the question in your mind."
"Johann, this is the new agent, Wendy Waterbanks. Agent Waterbanks, this is Johann Krauss," Liz introduced. They shook hands.
"It's nice to meet you, Herr Krauss," Wendy said.
"Ah, sprichst du Deutsch*?" She nodded.
"A little."
"You may call me Johann."
"Wendy…as much as I hate it."
"And why is that?"
"It's funny and people don't take into account my feelings when they laugh. Thank you all for not laughing," she added.
"No problem," Liz said. Before anyone could say anything else, Abe spoke up.
"He's in his room." Liz smiled and nodded, before leading Wendy out a back doorway into a hall. At the end, they could see a big metal door.
"I warn you now, don't stare too much," Liz cautioned.
"If I didn't stare too much at Abraham Sapien, then I think I'll be fine."
"Good. He just hasn't been that amiable since they convinced us to come back…" She trailed off and Wendy looked at her quizzically.
"Story for another time?"
"Yeah." Liz knocked on the door and a gruff voice answered.
"Come in."
"HB, this is the new agent, Agent Waterbanks." Wendy heard something that sounded like barbells hit the floor.
"We haven't been back a week and they've already gotten a new nanny?" the gruff voice asked, exasperated. He sounded like he was talking around something. Wendy put her hands on her hips and stalked around the door.
"Excuse me? I am not a nanny!" She didn't care who he was or what mood he was in, no one insulted her like that. Before her stood a very tall, very muscular man, if you could call a half-demon a man, with red skin, filed horns, and a tail. He was also shirtless, but Liz threw a black shirt at him to put on. He seemed surprised at her and her inflamed temper, but he didn't apologize.
"They got a girl?" Liz nodded and gave him a look that obviously said 'Be nice!'
"Oh, good, you know the genders," Wendy snapped. He was silent for a moment.
"Have you read the job description…what'd you say her name was?"
"I'm Waterbanks," Wendy said before Liz did. "If you want to know something about me, ask me please."
"Got a first name?"
"Wendy." He started to laugh, until Liz glared him down.
"That's funny." Wendy crossed her arms.
"I know. Now will you please stop laughing?" He did. "And if you must know… No, I have not read the job description. I just took the opportunity to get away from the big city." She sighed and massaged her temples. "I didn't even know what to expect."
"Wendy, this is Hellboy," Liz said.
"Hello, Hellboy. I'm sorry I snapped. I just…" She trailed off, shrugged her shoulders, and extended her right hand.
"Forget about it. Not many people stand up to me like that." He took her hand in his gargantuan right. It was made of stone, but he held her hand gently.
"Now that's cool," she said, indicating the right hand.
"Thanks."
"If you two don't mind, I think I'm going to finish settling in."
"You probably need to talk to Manning first."
"You mean Mr. Head Honcho? Do I really have to?"
"Well, he can tell you what the basics here are," Liz offered and Wendy sighed.
"Fine." After she left, HB chuckled.
"I like her," he said.
"Good. Maybe you two will get along," Liz replied.
"Maybe it's a good thing they got a girl this time." At Liz's cocked eyebrow, he added, "For your sake." She nodded sarcastically, then popped him on the arm.
"Oh, yeah, you'll be a great father."
Wendy seems to fit in so far.
How will she react to her job?
Let me know what you think, please!
A/N: Herr is Mr.
*You speak German?