The Professor gestured for Delmare to take a seat, which she did so with a shaky breath.
"Obviously you have found something to merit concern." He stated sombrely as he sat behind his desk. She nodded and clenched her jaw.
"I have cause to think, no, to know Andrew Penn has attempted to kill Abe." The Professors face paled, "Luckily Andrew also didn't really know what he was doing and messed with the internal mechanics of the breathing apparatus, making Abe take it off before the capsule could do its job properly."
The Professor slumped in his chair and rubbed his brow as if he had a headache.
"What was in the capsule?" He breathed weakly as he moved forward to lean on his desk.
"CO2. It is a slow release capsule, so it would slowly poison him. I don't know if it would have any severe affect as it would to a normal fish but I would definitely still class this as an attempted murder."
Trevor raised from his chair and walked to the office door, calling out to the two men still outside. They entered warily, probably feeling the tension in the room.
"First things first, Delmare this is my son Hellboy, HB for short or you can just call him red. Secondly, Hellboy, could you go and get Andrew Penn for me please?"
Hellboy looked even more confused but nodded his head respectfully and left.
"Professor?" Abe asked inquiringly. The old man said nothing and just held out his hand. Delmare watched in amazement as Abe grasped his hand and gasped, pulling away and facing her.
"My sincerest thanks for saving my life Miss Delmare, it was very good of you."
Delmare blushed slightly and nodded,
"No problem Abe, I did what anyone else would have."
They were interrupted from any more talk as Hellboy entered the room with a nervous looking man, he was thin with a mop of black hair cut close to his head.
"What am I doing here?" He exclaimed "Especially warranting the freak to come and get me!" He threw a dirty look at the behemoth beside him.
Before anyone could move there was a loud slap and the men's mouths gaped open when they saw that Delmare had hit Andrew round the face.
"Don't ever call them that horrid word! How dare you?"
Hellboy let out a chuckle as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back,
"Got spunk kid."
Delmare smiled shyly and backed away from the now furious man.
"Agent Penn," The Professor began, "There has been a development with Abe's breathing apparatus, it was quite a simple problem."
Andrew seemed to pale slightly, ire forgotten, as he gulped
"Has there? I didn't see the problem when I was working on it." The professor smiled gently and replied quietly,
"No, of course you wouldnt, seeing as you were the one that made all the problems in the first place. Where did you get your certificates in engineering?"
Andrew began to sweat,
"I…I.…"
Abe put his bare hand out towards Andrew and tutted dryly
"He seems to have lied and doesn't have anything close to a degree in mechanics." Delmare stood to the side, watching with awe. Hellboy still seemed a little confused, not being psychic at all but backed his father and friend still.
Andrew knew where the conversation was going and in a mad dash for the door ran into Hellboy's outstretched red rock arm and was knocked out.
"Anyone wanna explain to the rest of the class what's going on?" The Professor held up one finger in the universal 'one moment' sign before he called somebody on the phone at his desk. About two minutes later four men came in the room and removed Andrew.
Five minutes later.
"He What!" Abe held a hand daintily on hellboy's shoulder to stop him getting up.
"Everything is fine Red," Abe reassured, "He didn't have the knowledge to harm me. I knew something wasn't right." The Professor and Delmare sat opposite Abe and Hellboys sofa, Abe's pulled apart 'breather' on the table between them and the capsule next to that.
Delmare yawned subtly behind her hand, having been tinkering most of the day and then dealing with Andrew for the rest of it.
"I'm off up to bed now, goodnight." Hellboy and the Professor said goodnight but Abe followed her out the room.
Outside her door Abe cleared his throat
"I would like to thank you again, not just for the poison but for defending Hellboy." Delmare smiled softly, eyeing his nervous movements.
"No problem Abe. I abhor that word as I've been called it more times than I can count." His head twisted to the side in confusion as his eyes roamed her body, finding nothing out of the ordinary. She smiled sadly before leaning in close and giving him a hug. He froze for a moment, unsure, before his arms wrapped around her gently. Inhaling, He jolted in shock, breaking the hug abruptly.
"Goodnight Abe." He murmured back distractedly as his mind raced, 'how interesting' he thought, 'she smells like the ocean, never have I smelt that on a human before.' His eyes widened, head snapping to her closed door.
'She isn't human.'