Obligatory Disclaimer: Dark Horse and Mr. Mignola own all, save for my own original characters. A special thank you to Guillermo del Toro for bringing this wonderful character to my attention.

It had been just over a week since Hellboy had left Torie's apartment and he was nervous pushing open the door to the stairs leading up to her home – but she had told him to come back "any time." And he was hoping against hope that she meant it… literally.

As Hellboy slowly climbed the steps, he was convinced that his footsteps echoed loudly enough to announce his returning presence. He opened the door to her floor and faked a coughing fit in case his clomping up the staircase failed to announce his presence. But when Torie opened the door, right before Hellboy was about to knock, he gave the poor woman a fright. She was on the phone and shrieked into the receiver.

Frantically motioning Hellboy into her apartment lest her neighbor across the hall came out to investigate, Torie looked both ways before shutting the door behind him and then nervously laughed into the phone. "No, no Monica. Everything's alright. I was about to go get the mail when I opened the door and saw a friend who swung by unannounced. No big deal. He just startled me."

Although she raised a brow in curiosity, Torie smiled at Hellboy and waved in the direction of the fridge, then pantomimed opening a beer and drinking it. Once Hellboy understood that he was free to help himself, Torie got a wink and a wave in return.

But her smile quickly dissipated when Torie went back to listening to the person at the other end of the telephone line. "What?! No, NOT a boyfriend. Why are you always wanting me to get into a relationship? As it is, I hardly ever see you, but if I did start dating, you could kiss those brief, fleeting moments goodbye."

Torie rolled her eyes in frustration as she paced before her balcony doors and Hellboy laughed, deep and rolling. She closed her eyes and stopped in her tracks, wishing for the ability to get lost in the melody and wrap it around her like a blanket, but instead she nodded her head and pulled out the ponytail holder she wore, slipping it onto wrist before resuming her pacing.

"Okay, yes – it's a guy. There! Are you satisfied? Does me telling you that make you happy? What? Oh, I met him in the park the other day and after a while, he came back for coffee."

Hellboy figured that Torie could use a drink more than he could at that moment and held out a beer towards her, but she shook her head in the negative. She mouthed 'thank you' to him and held up her index finger, indicating she'd drink it in a minute. He nodded in understanding and put it back in the fridge.

"Monica! First you tell me to date and then you chastise me for having a guy over for coffee. Which WASN'T a date, alright? Which is ONLY me making another friend. Don't be getting ideas."

A look of panic came across Torie's face while Monica began talking. It was obvious that she was thinking quickly to formulate a response to whatever it was that her friend was asking. Torie bit her bottom lip and eyed the large, red fellow before her before answering.

"His name?" she slowly repeated. Torie looked at Hellboy and frantically gestured for his help. Would he be cool with the idea of other people knowing they were… friends? Well, what else can I call him? And frankly, what to call him? Do I give up his identity?

Hellboy scratched his chin as he thought of an appropriate answer, then shook his head in defeat, shrugging his shoulders. He was secretly pleased that Torie wanted to spare him from being public knowledge, but Hellboy wasn't sure if she wouldn't spill the beans. Try as he might, Hellboy couldn't come up with anything witty, but prayed that Torie didn't tell her friend his real name; he was enjoying the anonymity he had with Torie. Unsure of how long going incognito would last, Hellboy was grateful for the unique situation he was in and he hoped to ride it out for as long as possible.

Now, he only hoped he had genuinely surprised her with his unannounced visit and that she didn't scream because of how he looked.

Iritated with his lack of help, Torie shot Hellboy a dirty look before walking back over by the sliding glass doors in her pacing. A lot of help he was in helping to hide his identity. Another moment or two and Monica would figure out that Torie was stalling because she was trying to concoct a plausible answer. She laid her forehead against the cool glass in the hopes that an obvious answer would come to her.

It did.

"Well, actually, it's Sam. Sorry, got momentarily distracted there. You know me and my shiny moments – just like a cat. Now, I'm going to let you go as I have said male visitor here and he can hear everything I have to say. I'll call you later this week. Okay? Uh huh. Bye."

Torie clicked her cordless phone off and plopped down on the couch with a loud sigh. She laid her head back and chuckled to herself as she closed her eyes. Torie then turned her head to her left and let her gaze settle on the beer-drinking guest sitting next to her.

"You scared the crap out of me," she informed him, her eyebrows raised nearly to her hairline.

"Sam?" he countered, desperately trying to hide a smile.

Torie shrugged nonchalantly, but blushed. "Yeah… well… I was stuck. A lot of help you were! But the other day when we met, you acted like I should know who you were. So I'm presuming that others would be less dense than I am. Would you like me to tell people your real name? Because I can, you know. It's just that you seemed so… relieved that I knew so little about you that you almost became… mysterious – for lack of a better word – about what you do. And I figured you might not want to advertise where you are and who you're friends you're with. Because, I figure, a seven-foot tall red man living in Connecticut is pretty memorable."

Hellboy nodded his head and shrugged shoulders in a quiet acknowledgement of her reasoning.

Torie continued, "And besides, you're so not like your name and Red just seems so damn obvious. So I just spit out Sam. You kinda seem like a Sam to me. Unless you hate it. Not that it really matters because I don't think Monica will be coming out here any time soon."

"Hate it?" Hellboy looked at Torie as if she were crazy. "What's to hate? It's so… normal sounding. My own name always reminds me of how different I am. Of where I came from. Which I hate, hate, hate. Man, that is actually the coolest thing anyone could ever do for me. I'm… touched. But why Sam?"

Torie blushed deeper, a reaction Hellboy found very charming, but she shrugged it off with a roll of her eyes and the comment, "Yeah, touched in the head. Now, since you came in here unannounced and nearly caused me to have a heart attack – and yes, I told you to come by anytime so don't be gettin' that look – why don't you get your happy butt up off the couch and get me my beer you tempted me with earlier? I could sure use it. And just so you know, normally I would be a good host and see what I could do for you, but I think I can by-pass being gracious. For now." She winked at him and he ruffled her hair as he stood. His touch, while so innocent, was also an intimate gesture that caused her to glow. To his retreating back, she said, "And Sam because of that samurai 'do."

The newly anointed Sam chuckled to himself, fingering the ponytail holder in his hair, as he crossed the room to the fridge. Opening the door and peering into the unit, Hellboy saw that Torie had bought quite a variety of beer. He didn't notice when he snatched his brew earlier, having just grabbed the one closest to the front. Resting his right arm on the open door as he squatted down to study his options. before Hellboy realized it, his weight was tipping the refrigerator forward and a sudden bang scared them both.

"Aw crap, Torie! I didn't mean to do that!"

Torie hopped up from the couch and scurried over to the kitchen. On the floor, sugar and flour were spilled everywhere as her canisters lay dented on their sides. With a rueful sigh, she patted Hellboy on the back and tugged on him to stand up from the squatting position he was in. Before standing, he looked at her over his shoulder and said, "I'll pay for all this."

Torie continued her upwards tugging as her hands slid under his armpits. She knew she was no match in strength against Hellboy, but Torie also knew he felt worse than her needed to. "Rubbish. Let me get a broom and sweep this up. Flour and sugar are probably the two least used items in my kitchen. And the canisters are only banged up a little. I can get those fixed in no time flat. Now have a seat at the counter and tell me what brought you by this afternoon. I have to admit, I never thought I'd see you come by here in the middle of the day. You seem more like a drop-by-when-it's-really-dark-out-so-you-attract-less-attention-from-my-neighbors kind of guy."

Slowly, Hellboy stood and went around the counter to a stool. He looked at her glumly as Torie grabbed a broom and swept up the dry goods into a dustpan. He took a long pull on the beer bottle as she set the canisters on the counter.

"Well?" she asked.

"Well what?"

A hand went to her hip as she sighed. "What brings you by? Just a visit or is there something I can help you out with?"

His chuckle was completely devoid of mirth. "Bad night at work. I got back into town at around dawn or so and caught a few hours of sleep, but I realized that I just wanted to escape to a place where I could just be a guy who liked to have a beer with a friend and watch a little bad TV with someone who would help him make fun of the program." He had to turn away from the look of concern that Torie cast his way. Hellboy could feel her brown eyes watching him carefully. He didn't want sympathy, just a distraction.

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

Torie really wanted to ask him what it was that he did, but thought it prudent to push the issue some other time and instead just nodded her head in acknowledgement. She then set aside the broom and walked around the counter and grabbed Hellboy by his stone hand, the intimate gesture not lost on him, and led him back over to the couch. Torie directed him to sit and went over to her collection of DVDs. Her finger skimmed over the spines of the cases and finally stopped. Pulling one off of its shelf, she opened the case and popped it in the DVD player.

Hellboy raised a brow. "What are we gonna watch?"

Torie's lips curved into a smile. "Who doesn't feel better when they see Kermit introduce the Muppet Show?" She then plopped down next to her friend, kicking her heels up onto her coffee table.

And so they spent the afternoon watching episodes of the Muppet Show until they had watched all that Torie owned, which Hellboy had to admit was a never-ending assortment. Then they switched to her animated films, starting with "Lilo and Stitch" and ending with "Finding Nemo."

When Nemo finally made it back to his dad, Torie eyed the empty bags of chips, cookies and popcorn that were piled up on the coffee table. Having a beer led to another, which led to snacks. Which led to a massive consumption of junk food. Just looking at the remains of their afternoon binge made her stomach hurt. Torie groaned as she slid her bottom across the seat of the couch, until her tush was halfway hanging off and her weight was held up by the balls of her feet. "I so need to go for a run after all the crap we just ate, but all I want to do is lay around and complain about it."

Hellboy nodded his head slowly in agreement. He had a high metabolism and worked out whenever there was a chance, but all this junk food pushed even his limits. Hellboy didn't relish the idea of going home and putting some time in doing crunches or the like, but realized that he'd never be able to sleep otherwise.

The two didn't move, absorbed in their own thoughts, and not noticing when Lance quietly walked over to the sofa. The dog had been patient for hours, waiting by the door to be let out. Realizing he was going to have to take matters into his own hands, Lance wedged himself between his mistress and his competition on the sofa. Looking at Torie with big, mournful eyes, Lance pleaded for relief.

"Uhm, that looks like last call for me," Hellboy laughed. "Lemme grab one last beer and I'll walk out with you two."

Torie pulled herself up to a sitting position and rubbed her dog's ears, nodding. "You want anything to eat before you head back to your homestead, though?"

"Nah, I ate way too much junk food and, anyways, I took up enough of your time, Torie girl. I have reports that need to be completed and reading I need to catch up on." Hellboy stood and then stretched. Torie was glad her apartment had high ceilings because any place else, Hellboy's fists would be through the roof.

Torie noticed that as he stretched, his shirt pulled out of his pants and a patch of his belly showed. She was surprised at just how cut and muscular he was. Berating herself for looking, Torie turned away and began collecting empty bags. "Ooohhh…you make it sound so exciting. Almost as much fun as I'm going to have making a slideshow presentation for the Board of Directors meeting that's happening in three days."

The smile on his lips Torie could only describe as devilish. "We have glamorous lifestyles."

While Torie was tossing the trash, Hellboy snapped the leash onto Lance's collar, pleased that the dog allowed him to do so. Maybe it was because the leash meant relief, but Hellboy chose to believe that the dog knew he was a pal and wanted to do good by Torie.

The trio made their way out of the building and onto the sidewalk. There was a hint of a chill in the twilight air, perfect for feeling melancholy. Torie and Hellboy were quiet, thinking far-away thoughts while the dog sniffed at the base of a speed limit sign. Hellboy bit off the end of a cigar once he finished his beer. The striking of the match head echoed in the stillness. Both watched, enraptured, as the end of the cigar glowed hot in the darkness.

Once the dog was finished, Hellboy began a slow sidestep away. He felt awkward and out of place. He didn't "hang out" with friends. Leaving the first time had been much easier, as Torie threw him out, laughing as she did so, when she started to fall asleep on the couch. This time, there was no definitive reason for his leaving; it was just time to go.

"Hey, you big goob, be careful going home," Torie said, interrupting Hellboy's torment. She shook her head at his not so subtle attempts at leaving and smiled at his discomfort. "Here, give me a hug and get out of here. Oh, but here's this. Call me if you ever want to talk. But feel free to swing by any time, as I told you before. Open door policy. Can't always promise I'll be home when you do, so give me a buzz if you're going out of your way. Cell phone is always on me."

Hellboy took the business card that Torie extended to him, taking note that it wasn't issued by the shelter Torie worked for or was one she created for herself. Rather, it was for a private office in New York, although no information was listed as to company name. He didn't feel like asking, so he slid into an inside coat pocket and hugged her. It was probably from her previous job and since the cell number was still the same… Regardless, it felt so good to have someone display affection towards him that the dejection he felt moments before dissipated.

"I'll catch ya on the flip side," he said with a wave, then turned away and headed off into the dark. Torie wasn't sure if he heard her say, "Later," but stood on the sidewalk and watched his retreating back until he was out of sight. She then sighed, patted Lance on the head and led the dog back indoors.