For somewhat of a genius, Soultar found the smallest things amusing. In some respects he was like a curious child, with his ability to look at something he had seen thousands of times but still ask just as many questions about it.

Like right now, he was counting stars.

They were above him, tiny silver fireflies flickering in that great unknown that was space. Even under his cynical mercury gaze, he saw them as something beautiful. That was a word he had pondered over for all of his life, a word that had a different meaning to everyone...a word that had lead him to become what he was. Because he was human but not right in his own species eyes. They had rejected him long ago and now they had forgotten him. It was better like this though, without family, without friends or ties and emotional bonds. There was just him and his plans and nothing to stop him. Well, nothing to stop him if he ignored the fact the BPRD actually exsisted.

They hadn't been difficult to handle though, he just found it surprising that they had found him...and that it had lead to him having to blow up one of his own lairs. He would like to say he was furious about this – loosing years worth of work, along with one of his seven immortals- but he found he hardly ever lost his temper at setbacks. Everything happened in life for a reason.

"And so he who plots drinks his youth from the stars, much like his loyal servant. But I find myself wondering why Master dreams while he wakes, when a place to slumber is waiting for him?" Chryses lay next to the man on the edge of the chalky white cliff, her eyes cast out to the black sea that merged with the dark sky, only the moon and its reflection defining water from air.

"Because he is tired of seeing nothing but cave walls," he replied in his smooth voice, "And the dreams that I have while I sleep change into nightmares before morning," chuckling dryly he laid a hand on one of the sphinxes legs, burying his fingers into her golden fur. He was sat cross legged in the dew wet grass, his other hand fidgeting with the small seal-bone whistle he had used to summon Chryses before. He had transported them here after the Lake Cave(As he had named it,) had been reduced to nothing but rubble, along with anything that happened to be inside at the time. They were now miles away from civilization, which gave him the freedom of movement above ground without attracting attention. This Sea cave was the only one that gave him that luxury. He took a long moment to think about her reaction – or lack thereof – to practically blowing up a few hundred of her children just hours ago. Whilst eyeing his delicate trinket, he spoke almost softly to her,

"I hope you are not mad at me for what happened earlier today?" Even he knew that the words were shallow things to say to someone who had just lost so many. Chryses got up after a short pause, then prowled away down the cliff flicking her tail side to side as she went. Just before she was out of ear-shot she called over her shoulder,

"Creatures without soles lost their empty shells today, no one will mourn for the loss of nothing but the greedy and the selfish," she continued to stalk back towards the cave entrance, "And I am neither." He did not watch her go, instead deciding to close his tired eyes. she would never hate him for what he had done – not only did she have hundreds more children located in every immortals cave, part of his own personal army – she didn't really, truly care about the deformed beings he had ordered her to create. He lay down. Tonight he would count the stars until they lulled him to sleep, leaving behind a world with only the cruellest intentions.

At the BPRD, nothing was nearly as peaceful. Taya had been instantly throne into a medical room and hocked up to all sorts of machines, as well as being chained to the bed. Apparently Manning didn't like the idea of a rampant cat-thing tearing its way through the corridors. He was also under the impression that everything that had happened was Hellboy's fault. But that was nothing new.

"And why the hell did you let Abe go off fighting monster by himself?" He yelled, turning his face a furious red. Hellboy clenched his fists in a weak attempt not to punch the agent.

"You're the one that wanted the water and the cave being checked out, not us!" He retorted quickly, lashing his tail back and forth. Abe, who was floating upside down in his rehabilitation tank, decided it was best to keep his mouth shut. He had been half heartedly listening to the conversations going on around him but his mind lay elsewhere.

"Yes! But I didn't ever say go let fish-sticks here get turned into sushi. And what about the lab you found? You totally destroyed it! We could have had all the information we needed from there, but you went and blew it up!" Red gave a sigh of disbelief, then turned to Liz for some back up.

"Babe, help me out here," he pleaded. She simply crossed her arms over her chest and frowned at him. She was still angry. "Arr! I already told you, psychopath blew up his own pad, I had nothing to do with it!" Manning snorted, but didn't say anything more, in a clear gesture that said he was done listening to 'Excuses.' Everything the team knew had been relayed to him and now it was his decision they waited for. He knew he had to do something; the world seemed to be in some sort of danger, which was for sure. But they couldn't act until they knew more about the situation and had some fully functional agents again.

"Ok," he said, gathering thoughts quickly, "I want you Abe, to do some research on that stupid legend you told me about. Try and find out where the other immortals are being held...we find them...we find out man."

Abe nodded absentmindedly.

"Good. Hellboy, you'll be...well, staying out of trouble until we have something for you to do, then you'll do it without question, understand?" Red grunted, then turned to leave. Liz followed him, not because she wanted to comfort him...but because she had her own shouting to do, even though she'd been doing it for the entire helicopter ride home. Manning left the room to after a few seconds of shaking his ever-balding head.

Abe watched the door close, then turned his attention to the sleeping woman in the bed only a few meters away. Two broken ribs, a puncherd lung, sever bruising to the back and four knife like wounds to the front. Her form was still, the only thing giving away life being the steady but slow rise and fall to her chest and an odd little twitch of a finger now and again. He thought that tying her down was cruel, but his protests had gone ignored as his own wounds were being treated. He had told Red on the way back of everything that had happened to the pair, (leaving out the kiss of life, to prevent future jokes,) including her transformation. Hellboy didn't seem to freaked out by the matter, but when he told Manning, the man ranted about her keeping secrets from him when she signed up to be an agent, that she didn't mention all of her powers. But Abe had insisted that she had complete control over her animal side and that she didn't know anything about even possessing it before earlier events. But really, he wasn't sure if that fact was true or not. He saw no reason for her to hide such a thing...but then again, she could be very cage at times. He knew, for some strange reason, that if he found she had kept a secret from him, he would be hurt quite deeply. Which was strange, because she had no reason to tell him everything.

Sighing, he closed his tired eyes. He would ask her when she wakes up. And try to apologize for making her cry. He'd never made anyone do that before.

Taya woke up the next day, but refused to utter a single word to anybody. Abe had been the first to try to speak to her, but his efforts went totally unrewarded. At one point he thought it was only him she was ignoring – she would tilt her head away from you as she lay in her bed, never making eye contact- but he soon found that no one could get a word out of her. It went on like this for a month and a bit. Abe recovered long before she did leaving the room to herself but despite her attitude towards him, he insisted on visiting every day. He would bring books with him that were about ancient legends and so on, so he could research and still keep her company. He wasn't really sure why this felt so necessary, but it defiantly did. He would update her on the progress he was making – which was admittedly very little, then read parts to her that he found interesting.

Now and again he worried if this was permanent, she wasn't the same person anymore. She had seen the handcuffs that bound her wrists and gave them a long and dangerous look, but then didn't do anything about it, again turning her head to face the blank grey wall. This wasn't like her at all. The Taya he knew would have done anything to get out of those chains, screamed at Manning until he freed her. But no, she accepted it.

Then Abe remembered what she had said in the cave...that now she had him and the team, she wouldn't just lay down and die. She'd fight. It was on a husky winters day he had remembered this, when he found himself thinking of that 'Kiss' they shared a little to often. He had laid down the book he had been reading and placed his webbed hands in his lap. The sight he was so used to now – the back of her head – greeted him.

"Remember the cave?" He asked softly. There was no reaction from her. He had already said his apologies over the being he had killed, so he knew that she knew he wasn't talking about that. "That thing that happened underwater..." he chuckled, "It's never too far away from my thoughts." After a second she moved her head, not to look at him but at the door and through the window it had there. Her face was empty, but this reaction was better than none. "Which always leads me to thinking about everything that happened down there," he continued, very carefully trying to pry other signs of life from her, "Which in turn leads me to thinking about what you said. You told me you weren't just going to take what's coming to you...but...you are," for a long, long time there was no movement, no noise from either of them. Abe sat and watched, waiting and hoping that she'd take the bait and snap out of her waking coma. Then, when he was losing faith, she spoke, very quietly,

"I don't like him," she said. Abe almost jumped out of his seat at her tiny words, but at them he gave something very close to a cheer.

"This is wonderful!" He exclaimed grabbing hold of her hand without realising what he was doing. She turned her blank gaze towards him and he let go, looking father flustered, "I mean...who do you not like?"

"Nuke."

Abe leaned forward so he could see out of the small window on the door. Outside stood Agent Nuke, laughing and joking with someone who was just out of view. He had never really paid that much attention to the man before, he seemed to be one of the people you only noticed if someone pointed them out to you. He was wearing the same as the other agents – a plain black suit with black tie and white shirt. His hair was short and dark brown, matching his eyes. Normal looking. Nothing evil about him at all.

Suddenly he turned to them, the smile from the previous conversation still plastered across face. Abe looked away but Taya was still staring at the man, her eyes locked in a silent disbelief that he was actually coming into the room. The door opened with a slight squeak that filled the quiet completely. Taya's hand searched for Abe's, finding it resting on the rail of her bed. He flinched at the contact then remained still, watching the agents approach.

"Hey," he said with a cheery smile, showing off his gleaming white teeth. "I heard one of our newest members were feeling ill," he moved his hands from behind his back, reviling a large, flat pink box. "I would have brought it earlier but I was in Greenland chancing a headless horse man, long story, won't go into details," he laughed nervously when Taya didn't reply, her gaze never leaving his face. Timidly he placed the box next to her on the table beside her bed. He held his hands in front of him for a long time, fidgeting. "It chocolate by the way," he said quickly, "Not just a box...because that would be...that would be stupid," again that charming smile and light chuckle filled the room.

Taya gave him a weak smile, then turned over in her bed to face Abe. The chains allowing just enough freedom for that movement.

"Thanks," she said simply.

"No problem, it's not just from me. A few other agents signed the get well card. We even got Manning to write his name on it," when he didn't get a reply, he awkwardly left the room, leaving the two alone.

"That was nice of him," said Abe, unsure of how to act after her long silence. He didn't know if he should ask her about it, read her mind (which he promised not to do,) or wait for her to open up to him. Deciding on the latter, he concentrated on the warmth of her hand on his, enjoying the feeling maybe a little too much. Again he found it felt right, like somehow it was meant to be, but he stopped those thought there. Not again, he told himself, you're not acting like a lovesick school boy...it only ends in you getting hurt. Gently he moved his hand away from her, hating himself for it but knowing that if he left it there it would only lead it to...pain.

She opened her eyes at this action, meeting his own like she had done so many times before. Her cyan stare gave nothing of what she was thinking away.

"Sorry Abe," she said in her soft, angelic voice. "I didn't mean to ignore you all this time. I don't know where I've been these last few weeks, but I knew you were there for me. I just couldn't get away from that monster..well, that part of myself that I suppose," Abe wasn't quite sure of what to say, so he gave her a...loving smile,

"No need to apologize Taya. Inner battles can be the most tormenting, I know," Taya giggled at the elaborate hand gestured that he always seemed to be using, feeling relived that she remembered how to laugh. Then, she started to cry. How can laughing turn into crying? She asked herself in an almost comical inner voice. The tears streamed down her face freely, the things she saw as a sign of weakness disappearing into her pillow, leaving an uncomfortable damp. Abe, being ever concerned about everyone he cared about, but not entirely sure of what to do or say, settled on tilting his head to the left. Her tears and laughter confused him completely.

"Who am I?" she cackled into the air around her hysterically, reaching her arms out to the ceiling making the chains that bound her rattle and strain, "A monster right? That's why I'm chained to this bed, that's why I'm here! All my life I've wanted people to understand me, but what's the point when you don't even understand yourself?" she brought her hands to her face and wept into them, some sort of crazed madness taking her over that fuelled her manic laughter. "I just want to be normal!" she screeched,"I just want someone to understand me," now quiet, her words were shaking and full of pain.

"Tell me who I am Abe..." she sobbed.

"Your Taya Hawkins," he said, baffled by her sudden outburst. She hadn't spoken in weeks and now she was pouring her heart out.

"That's just a name! Who am I to you?" Abe's heart froze. She was...a lot to him. But he couldn't say that, couldn't even bring himself to express it in anyway. He was too scared.

"You are a remarkable woman, unlike any I have ever met. My life would never be the same if you left...disappeared," his words were almost dry, not anything even close to what he wanted to tell her. Yet, for a moment she seemed to be satisfied with this answerer.

"Help me," she said pleadingly, "Help me explore who I am. I want to know. I don't want to be a stranger anymore...I didn't even know about that...thing, I became. Do you know how frightening that is? Finding an entirely new part of yourself?" Abe swallowed.

"Yes," he said, quite simply and she looked genuinely surprised. "Before I met the princess, I was all this," he said pointing a webbed finger at his head, gesturing to his brain, "and this," he swept his hand before him, like he was using his physic abilities, "never before had I been this," he placed his hand over his heart and kept it there as he continued to speak. "It was frightening, I had never felt the emotion truly before and it was something entirely new to me. I fell in love quickly, exploring this feeling and expressing it as much as I could. I was blinded by my love for her...but I do not regret my actions," he blinked a few times, looking at something on the floor.

"Then no one seemed to ask me how I was feeling when Nuala died. I tried to act the same as before...so no one would worry. And no one did. So, I only cried one tear for her and I kept myself to myself..."

"Abe..." she had stopped crying now, listening intently to his story. Everyone had just carried on, leaving him to deal with his grief all alone. She didn't know how lucky she was to have him there for her. Struggling to sit up in her bed, she turned her entire body to him. "You want to talk about it Big Blue?" she asked, gripping the railing of her bed.

"Oh, no," he said, chuckling dryly. "I have..Moved on. I would prefer not to relive the emotions I felt after she died. I will always hold a place for her in my heart...and I will never forget her." They went quiet.

"Abe," she spoke after a moment, "Tell me what I can't remember. What they did to me."

A/N: Sooorrryyyyy, this chapter was very...rushed. I'd like to point out that Nuke wasn't randomly just handing chocolates to her...he will play a bigger part later*Evil Grin* I'd also like to say thanks to a few people, first Peya Luna for the advice and kind comments! It really helped ^^Also IzzyWolfeGrrl for following my story and leaving encouraging reviews! And last but not least my friends Nic, Samm and Sophie, who have helped loads XD Thanks guys!!!(: More mushyness will be written next chapter! :P