Ok... make that my first born AND second born being owed to this damned college... :sigh: Oh well. As you can well tell, i still don't own anything... though it'd be nice to own something other than a lamp...

Sorry, this was supposed to be here the other day, but you know how muses are... they told me to get working on a SeaQuest fic... and holy cow did I work on that fic! 40 freaking pages worth... wowo.

Anyway... here you go.

Liz's POV

Hellboy started laughing the moment he saw John get splashed the first time. One look from me and he stopped. John really needed our help, but wouldn't accept it. From what Abe and HB told me, he wasn't allowed to, nor do I think he would have if he had been allowed. He felt a responsibility for the girl, and something else was there too. He had made a promise to be the only one to care for the girl and her 'sister' until they were in full health once more. He was the only one to touch them, or really speak to them I guess. Suddenly there seemed to be something that twitched, and that was the best way I could say it. He suddenly had enough strength to lift the wolf girl out of the tank.

"Let John be. He's doing a lot more than you can say." I whispered fiercely.

That's when HB decided to look busy sharpening and other weapons stuff. I looked back over at John, and saw that he had a towel around the young woman, and was helping her to get dry. After a while he led her to a place to sleep, she lay down with the white wolf, and fell asleep, much like wolves did. Both were curled up to get maximum warmth from the other. I thought it looked cute, since John was sitting next to them, looking exhausted.

I stood and was trying to find a blanket and pillow for John. He had already said no to going to his bed.

"I've got to stay near them. I'm still trying to gain Shadow's trust. Moon is watching me like a hawk to make sure that I do what their mother told me to. If I'm not here when either wake up, I'm pretty much dog meat." He said.

I smiled and continued the search. Soon I saw a blanket and pillow dangling in front of me. HB had found some. I smiled and looked at him. He was trying to look tough, that he couldn't care less that John was passed out on a crate, shivering. I knew however, that deep in there, he was worried about John, just as much as I was. He knew how frail humans were, and knew John could get seriously sick, especially since the plane we were on had no heating. He shook it at me again.

"Come on, take it over there Sparky." He said.

"I can't. You know they don't trust humans. I'm more human than you are, at least in appearance. You'll be able to get closer than I would." I said.

"Liz is right. You're going to have to go over there. You have a definite animal aura to you." Abe said.

I watched as HB walked over there, silently. He set the pillow down and made John cozy. I smiled. The boy could really have a warm heart, and it wasn't so bad if he let others see it every once in a while. I mean, yeah, Abe would tease him. Sometimes even I would, and so would John, but HB had a soft spot for all of us, and took it all in stride. Not to mention he got back at us sometime in the future.

It was amazing, to watch him handle John like he would a baby.

HB's POV

I knew they were watching me. I really didn't want to do this. I tried to get Liz to go over there and help him out; she was considerably tenderer than I was. But she pointed out that I was the least human of the two of us, and would be the best bet. Abe backed her up, I think mostly because he wanted to get a good laugh out of it.

I didn't really mind. Myers was good to me. He was a good ear when I wanted to talk about Liz, among a few other things as well. He was such a good guy, and I still kinda felt guilty about being so mean to him in the beginning. He had seemed to be moving in on what I did, but I had realized at the end of it all, he was only doing what his heart told him to.

Abe and Pops were right. He did have a pure heart. He did all in his power to help me when I was trying to make him leave. He worried me sometimes, like now. He was exhausted from reviving the wild girl, and now dripping wet in a cold ass airplane. The boy was going to catch pneumonia. All he thought about though, was the promise he had made to an ancient wolf, and to her two daughters.

His heart was in the right place, even if he wasn't. I set the pillow down, close enough to the wolf girls to keep John in good standing, but far enough away so they wouldn't get angry for his invading their space. After arranging things for him, I picked him up gently. He was clammy, and that worried me. I kept hold of him a while longer to make sure that his clothes were drying fast. Once I was happy with his body temperature, I lay him down on the makeshift bed and covered him up.

I stood and turned to see Liz and Abe staring at me. Liz had this unreadable expression on her face, and I was sure it meant something for me. I walked up to her and she put her arms around me, hugging me tightly. I smiled. It must have meant she was happy with me for some reason.

"That was the sweetest thing you've done for John. I'm proud of you Red." She said to me. I grinned, no doubt looking pretty goofy.

"You say a word of this fishy…" I started.

"If I had lips, they would be sealed. Don't worry Monkey. You have a reputation to keep, who am I to tell everyone you're just a big softie." Abe said with a grin.

"If you weren't in your tank I'd let you know." I said.

I felt more than heard him laugh at me. He knew I wouldn't do a thing, and so did I. I just wanted to make sure that my tough guy act wasn't seen as just an act. I did have a reputation to keep, to make sure that all little monsters that had heard of me wouldn't be so bold as to try something. Sometimes it worked. Other times it didn't, but I wasn't too let down by those. They normally expected their prey to quiver in fear, and when I didn't, it set them off, and they didn't know what to do next. It was kind of fun.

I sat back down where I had been before Liz had egged me on to help John out. We were going to land back at home soon, and as much as I didn't like it, I couldn't wait to get back there and eat again. I was pretty hungry, and with the time changes, it didn't help too much. Leaning back in the chair, I proceeded to take a nap.

? POV

Meanwhile, far enough away that none of them could feel the chill as he laughed, a man watched the group on the large plane fly further and further from his present position. He glared balefully at the figured laying on the ground next to his target. He would have a rather hard time getting to them again, so he might as well try a different route. He spun the crystal in his hands, looking at things here and there, and rarely settling on any one thing.

He kept his sky blue eyes devoid of emotion. He had reasons for being this furious. The last attempt he had made at longevity and power, had ended up in his being sealed in a hell like he had not heard of in many a year. But he had been freed. He didn't know how, or why, nor did he particularly care. He had found something that would gain him much more power than the medallion would have.

He knew he had to follow them. But he had to make sure that he could do what he needed to over there as well. He knew he would be able to; he just had to find the correct place to do so. Finding a wonderful spot, he called up his personal jet and ordered it to be prepared within a few hours. He then went to gather what he needed, with a wicked grin.

Shadow's POV

I opened my eyes, yawning wildly. A giant bump had me on my feet again, growling. Moon was also awake and growling. The human shook his head and began muttering in the human tongue about something, then looked around in surprise.

: Don't worry Shadow, Moon. This is where we will be staying. It is your new den. It's not much to look at, but we can fix it to the way you like. : The human said.

I looked at Moon, and she nodded we trotted after him, hoping to go find a warmer place to sleep. We went into a large cave. It was really cold, and suddenly began to move. I was knocked down, still not feeling well. The human male, John, helped me to stand again, on two legs instead of four. I growled at him. I did not like acting like a two legger, and he was making me do so.

: I am sorry Shadow. I am only doing what your mother told me to. She told me to help you to learn how to be like your true people, but to remember that the wolves will always be a part of you. You have to be yourself, and walk the path that only you can see, even if it means becoming the human you were born to be. : He sent.

I looked at him as if he had just sprouted another head. I felt anger well up in me, and fear. I knew he was right. I had been fooling myself into thinking I had been a wolf all along, just badly misshapen. Deep down I knew I was something else… something human. I just didn't want to accept it because it meant that I was the thing that my family feared, hated, and most of all avoided at all costs. I knew I would no longer see them. Moon whined next to me.

"It's ok Shadow. I'm here, and I always will be. We were bonded for a reason, I don't hate you because of what you were born as, I love you because of what you chose to become. You are my litter sister." She barked.

I looked at her with, with new hope that things may work out after all. Just because of what I was, didn't mean I couldn't be what I wanted to. I could still play with my sister, run through the grasses, and do what I did as a wolf. I just had to be more human. As much as I didn't like it, I knew it was what had to be done, to understand what was going on.

: I am hungry, John. : I sent to him.

He bared his teeth again, and his eyes held and expression of happiness. It was confusing for me to see such conflicting actions; I didn't know what to do, so I stood on guard. He stopped baring his teeth, and made another face.

: What is wrong Shadow: He asked.

: You bare your teeth, but your emotions conflict. You have challenged me many times, but I have chosen to ignore it because I knew I would injure you. : I replied.

: Bare my teeth? OH! You mean when I smile. It's a human thing, it's considered friendly, and is used when we are happy or excited. It's not a challenge, not all the time. There are times when you can challenge a person with a smile, but I can teach you all about it. But don't think I was challenging you, please. I was only happy that you used my name, instead of calling me just 'human'. : He sent.

: I thought it might be a strange human custom. May we eat now: I asked.

: I'm afraid we don't have anything like you would eat in the jungle, but we can see what you will eat. Follow me. : He sent.

I loped after him, on four legs once more. Then he told me that I needed to walk on two legs, since I was to learn to be human. That and the others at the bureau were giving him strange looks to see a wild girl following him. I commented that although I had much practice walking like a human, I would not change because of that. He then mentioned my mother's wishes, and although I growled at him about it, I did begin walking on two legs again.

Many of the humans still stared however, but I did not care. John told me it was because of my tail. They weren't used to seeing a human with a tail that moved like that. I smiled, letting my tail do what it wanted. It was much like the monkey's tail, except black. He commented that we should probably find me something else to wear. I growled, telling him that my living jungle garments would do just fine for now.

The cave that we had entered had many other caves within. John had called it a building, and in it were rooms. The place we were in was what he called a guest room, and that I could eat here. There was a large hole in the room and in the hole was water, but it did not come out at us.

John then told me he would be back, with food, and a few other things so that Moon and I could get a good sleep, and heal well. I watched him go, and sat down, staring at the water. I wished to be able to feel the wind, and be outside.

We ended up eating on the ground, and John showed me how to eat with my hands, saying that it was as close as we were going to get for now and at least I wasn't eating like Moon. She was making a mess, eating like all wolves do, except she was used to eating with the others. I would have joined her, but he told me I couldn't eat like that, that I had to use my hands. Then he used strange sticks and other things to look at me, and washed my head. It had been bleeding from where the men had hit me. He put what he called a bandage on it, and then told me that he had a surprise for me and Moon if she wanted to join with.

She still did not wish to leave me with a stranger she did not fully trust, so trotted alongside me, as I walked with him. It was amazing to find this many humans in such a cave. As much as I didn't like humans, I got the impression from John that these humans were different. They worked with the big monkey, called Hellboy, and the fish, called Abe. They understood that there were things out there, and they fought the bad, and they were the ones who were stopping the trade of my wolf kindred, and our friends of the jungle. I felt better about these humans than I had at first.

I was told that we weren't allowed to go outside. It angered me that I wouldn't be able to go out and be with the earth, to enjoy what I had known my life. He told me not to worry. Then he did something, he called it 'opening the door', and I saw a forest. I was speechless. He bared his teeth once more and told me to go in. I lay down under a tree and my sister lay down beside me. Soon we were fast asleep.

Ok. This is all I've got for now. I'm going to start working on it some more. I think I've got to watch Hellboy once to get into the swing of things again, since I've been on the whole SeaQuest thing. I also am going to be without a computer most of the summer... well, at least a personal computer like this one :babies laptop and coos at it: I love this thing. Somehow, i'm going to buy one from this school... I don't know how exactly... ack.. reminds me I need to find meself a job... maybe this summer will be a rest from fic writing, but I'll come back full and strong in the fall, I guarantee it! I promise! And those of you reading my stuff can prod me in the summer to make me post.