The bright, fluorescent lighting of the medical bay illuminated Kate as she lay on the metal table.

Regaining her senses, she opened her eyes and was blinded by the light. She attempted to sit up as she shielded her eyes, but someone pushed her back down.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, kid," warned a familiar voice.

As her eyes adjusted, Hellboy's bulky figure came into view above her.

He seemed relieved as he watched her regain her senses. His stone hand was still resting lightly against her shoulder, keeping her in a lying position.

Kate moaned when a wave of pain washed over her.

Hellboy only nodded. "Yeah, that's what I'd be doing too if I had a bruise on my head the size of the one you've got."

Instinctively, Kate raised a hand to the back of her head, but Hellboy grabbed her arm with his other hand.

"Don't touch it. It'll just make it hurt more," he instructed.

Glancing around, Kate noticed she and Hellboy were alone.

"Where's John?" she asked, quietly.

Hellboy withdrew his hand from her shoulder and took a step backwards.

Before he could answer, Myers stepped into the room. Noticing right away she had awakened, he moved towards her and took her hand.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked, softly, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

Kate opened her mouth to answer, but coughed instead. Myers left her side for a moment, quickly returning with a cup of water. Kate took it from him gratefully and drank a bit. She handed the cup back to him.

"What happened?"

Myers winced and glanced over his shoulder at Hellboy who crossed his arms and waited for him to continue.

He turned back to Kate. "You passed out. That bruise on your head came with a concussion. Luckily, Hellboy saw you and was able to get you up here for treatment. I got here as soon as I could. Kate, I'm so sorry. I never would have left you on your own if I'd known how serious it was."

Still disoriented, Kate simply nodded.

"How long have I been out?"

"An hour," said Hellboy.

Someone cleared their throat and the three noticed Abe standing at the other end of the room.

"Gentlemen, if you don't mind, I'd like to speak privately with Dr. Hayward about her injury," he requested, waiting patiently for them to leave the room.

Myers leaned over Kate and placed a light kiss on her forehead before leaving the room. Hellboy followed swiftly, looking rather perturbed.

Kate sighed and tried again to sit up. This time, she was able to do so without excruciating pain.

Abe came to her side.

"Kate, what can you tell me about this?" he asked, indicating the wound on her head.

"I…found it when I was washing my hair. I don't know how I got it," she explained, not recalling much before she passed out.

Abe narrowed his eyes in thought and crossed the room to a type of mini-fridge. Opening it, he glanced passed the medication and supplies and found an ice pack. He returned to Kate and placed the pack on her head, guiding her hand up to the ice pack so that she would hold it there herself.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to take a look myself at what happened earlier today. A common side effect of concussions is memory loss. I might be able to see something you can't remember."

Kate nodded wearily, hoping he could figure this out for her.

"Give me your hand, please," he said.

Hesitantly, Kate placed her hand atop his. Her first instinct was to pull away, feeling as though her thoughts were being invaded. Forcing herself to remember Abe was helping, she tried to remain calm as scenes of her day flashed before her eyes. Her date with Myers, pouring over books, visiting Mrs. Hardy, her chat with Hellboy, and her morning routine all flashed before her eyes as if she was simply watching a television show. It was then she remembered the dream she'd had. There before her, her dream played out right up to where she was struck by an invisible blow to the back of her head.

Suddenly, she was back in the medical bay with Abe by her side. He appeared flustered and they both seemed to have the same thing on their minds.

"You don't think…" Kate began, but couldn't find the words to finish.

Abe nodded. "That was no mere dream you experienced, Kate. If I'm not mistaken, it seems Ystehogol is trying to get information from you."

Kate felt her heart pound. She had simply believed to dream to be caused by all the research she'd been doing on Ystehogol.

"Why did he ask for my name in the dream? If he can read minds, why didn't he know?"

Abe thought for a moment before answering. "I'm not sure. It's possible that because the mind loses conscious awareness of its surroundings and is dethatched from conscious thought during sleep that Ystehogol is unable to obtain any information from anyone who is asleep. Although, that does not explain why he hasn't come to you during the daytime if that is the case," he explained.

"But, how did he learn about me enough to contact me?"

Again, Abe paused. Shrugging, he said, "I do not know."

Kate glanced down at her hands. She was beginning to worry that Ystehogol might find a way to contact her when she was conscious. God, what would happen then? What was he looking for?

Looking up at Abe, Kate knew he was quite aware of every thought going through her head. Both remained silent for a moment.

An idea came to Kate. "Abe, I don't know what Ystehogol wants with me or how he knows of me, but couldn't you teach me how to block my thoughts?"

Abe contemplated the idea and Kate watched him.

Finally, he said, "I don't see why not. It would certainly guarantee that any information he might be trying to obtain from you would be safe. It will not be easy, Kate. We will have to work at it every day, but it is possible."

Feeling much more at ease, Kate smiled slightly.

"Thank you," she replied.

Abe patted her on the shoulder comfortingly.

"Not at all. Now, let's see about finding some medication for your headache, hmm?"

---

In the library, Hellboy watched Myers across from him sitting in a worn, leather chair.

The poor sucker looked nervous, and he either knew Hellboy was angry with him, or he was worried about Kate.

Psh, why the hell should he be worried about her? Wasn't he the one who left her alone in the first place even though he knew something was wrong?

Hellboy glared at Myers until the agent finally cracked.

"Okay, Red! I know I shouldn't have left her, alright? It was completely irresponsible of me. She just seemed so adamant that she was okay."

Hellboy scoffed at him. "And you believed her?" he asked.

Myers sighed. "She made it clear she didn't want any help, Red. I couldn't convince her to see Abe. What was I supposed to do?"

Hellboy pulled a cigar from his pocket and lit it.

"Force her. I haven't even known her that long and I know she isn't the type of person who's gonna tell somebody when something's wrong. You should have made her go with you to get checked out," he answered, blowing out a puff of smoke.

Myers was becoming more frustrated by the second.

"Well…why should you care, anyway? You've been rude and disrespectful to her ever since she came here. Why are you so concerned for her well-being now?"

Now it was Hellboy's turn to be frustrated.

He didn't know why he cared so much. Hellboy had come upon her in the hallway as she'd been trying to open her door and had seen how pale and weak she was. Then she'd fainted right before his eyes and he'd caught her before she could hit the floor. Hellboy couldn't remember being so worried about someone in a long time. He had carried her up to the medical bay as fast as he could and laid her down. Hellboy had gotten a cold compress for her and laid it gently across her forehead. He remembered vividly how sick he felt at the sight of her unmoving figure there before him.

Hellboy was so lost in his thoughts, he almost didn't hear Myers ask, "Well?"

Not knowing what to say, Hellboy decided to change the topic. That was when he noticed the red lipstick on Myers' cheek. He hadn't thought Kate ever wore much make-up. It occurred to him then how her bright red lips had been the only source of color in her face when she'd passed out.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing to Myers' left cheek.

Myers lifted a hand to his face, recalling that Kate kissed him earlier, and wiped off the remaining lipstick.

"Nothing," he said, though he knew Hellboy was not going to let this one go.

Hellboy blew another puff of smoke in Myers' direction.

"Oh, yeah? So, that little moment upstairs was 'nothing' too, right?"

Myers knew Hellboy was referring to the kiss he had given her before they left her alone with Abe. He hadn't known why he'd done it, but he kept thinking back to the kiss she'd given him earlier. Myers didn't answer.

Hellboy smirked, satisfied.

He was glad Myers was uncomfortable. Why the hell should he get kissed?

Hellboy put his arms behind his head and propped his feet up on the coffee table separating him from Myers.

Oh, well. Why should he care? It wasn't like he felt anything for her. Myers could have her for all he cared. He wouldn't care if he never had to talk to her again, that irritating, smart-alecky pain in the…

"Red," called Abe, standing on the spiral staircase.

Hellboy looked at him. "What?"

"Kate would like to see you."

Puzzled, Hellboy immediately jumped off the couch and headed up to the medial bay.

---

Feeling much better after Abe had taken care of her, Kate tried to let herself relax.

Their talk of Ystehogol worried her. All she could imagine was meeting the same fate as Agent Hardy. Well, there was no sense in constantly worrying. Abe would work with her and then she'd be able to protect herself. She thought about what Abe had told her as he treated her wound earlier. He'd spoken of Hellboy bringing her up to the medical bay and trying as hard as he could to help her with the little medical knowledge he possessed. Abe said Hellboy waited with her for an hour until she'd awakened.

As she considered what Abe told her, Hellboy appeared at the far end of the room, out of breath.

"You okay?" she asked, wondering why he seemed so exhausted.

Hellboy stood at the foot of the metal table she sat upon, looking embarrassed. He'd practically run up the stairs to check on her after Abe told him she wanted to speak to him.

"Um, yeah, just, uh, wondered what you wanted with me."

The statement did not come out the way Hellboy intended it to and he winced.

Kate gave him a lopsided grin and indicated a chair next to her. Hellboy complied and sat down, seeming uncomfortable. They were silent for a moment.

Not being able to stand the silence, Hellboy spoke first.

"You and Myers have a good time?" he asked.

Kate sighed. "Look, I don't want you to think that there is more going on between me and Myers than there really is. We're just friends, okay? Please don't take what you're seeing and read into it further."

Hellboy quickly realized she thought he was being sarcastic after seeing Myers kiss her earlier.

Desperate to show her he was being genuine, Hellboy said, "I believe you, alright? Just wanted to know how things went."

Kate blushed when she realized Hellboy hadn't meant what she'd thought.

"It was fine," she responded, plainly.

Hellboy nodded and waited for her to tell him what she'd wanted to in the first place.

"Um, I…uh, wanted to thank you for, uh…for helping me. It was stupid of me to try to convince him I was alright and if you hadn't been there…"

She stopped and watched Hellboy.

When he looked confused she explained, "Abe told me everything."

The expression Hellboy cast was akin to the way a child looks getting caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Uh, you're welcome," he said, awkwardly.

Kate let out an uncontrollable giggle at his reaction and covered her mouth quickly. This caused Hellboy to smirk.

Knowing Kate would want to rest after her ordeal, he lifted himself up off the chair and began heading for the door.

Remembering something, he stopped in the doorway.

"Kate," he said.

She glanced at him and waited for him to continue.

"Uh, you looked…nice today."

Before Kate could reply, he left the room as quickly as possible.

Smiling to herself, Kate noted that he had used her nickname.

She stared up at the ceiling and sighed happily, letting herself lie back down on the table and drift off.

A/N:Thank you again to anyone who has reviewed! I love to hear from you. I was so happy to see some new reviewers after chapter seven was posted, so thank you for that! Please, leave a review if you have not done so yet, especially if you've had this story on your alerts for a while. Well, lets give a big round of applause to my beta, The-Gothly-Emo, for doing such a wonderful job and giving me some much needed encouragement. Special thanks to igbogal, Lightning Angel 64, Peya Luna, Opera-Gypsy, and Kima-Mitsura for always remembering to review, and to anyone else who has been gracious enough to leave some kind words. Thank you! Review!