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.
A/N: Sorry for the delay. My old laptop shot craps and getting a new one took a little more research than I thought. Also, woke up extra early this morning, so if there's more mistakes than usual, I am so very sorry. I tried really hard, if that helps! :)
Hellboy watched Torie as she slept, unable to drift off himself from too many thoughts ricocheting through his mind. The recliner was oversized, which was a nice change from the normal miniature chairs that he had tried to cram himself into in the past, but every time he lay back Hellboy thought that he was going to flip the chair over.
And those thoughts eventually led to ways to stay awake.
Which always led back to Torie.
Her eyelashes kissed the curve of her cheekbone, but a tinge of blue colored the delicate skin right below her eyes, making it look as if she were battered and bruised. It was her body that lay below her collarbone that was maimed, but her face still looked as beautiful as it always did, even if she did look hurt in areas that should have been untouched. Covered as she was with the hospital gown and bedding, it was difficult to imagine the bandages covering her gunshot wounds.
Just the thought of guns made Hellboy roll his shoulders. He was a bad shot at best… and part of the reason was because he felt like a coward hiding behind a mechanical weapon. And damn if he didn't hate cowards. Hellboy much preferred hand to hand combat. Of course, he had an unfair advantage, but as the old adage went – don't fight fair, you get hurt that way.
But Torie hadn't been fighting and she got hurt real bad.
However, she was going to be released tomorrow, so all was apparently well.
She looked tiny in the hospital bed, which Hellboy didn't understand. Hospital beds were always too small to comfortably hold him, but as Hellboy watched her sleeping form he noticed that Torie looked like a tiny island in an ocean of white bedding.
Most of the tubing and wires had been removed, but Torie still looked so fragile, so delicate. Neither were words Hellboy would have used to describe Torie prior to the shooting. But seeing her connecting to machines made him think of the past when the government studied him with intense scrutiny. His father had allowed some testing to occur, but intervened when it became too intrusive.
Earlier in the day, Hellboy and Tom Manning had an altercation. No one was supposed to know Hellboy was in the hospital, but even though he worked for the government even Hellboy sometimes forgot just how accurate the term 'Big Brother' actually was.
Manning had burst into the hospital room, completely ignoring a startled Torie – who quickly recoiled in fear at the intrusion.
"Hellboy! Outside! Now!" Manning barked.
Hellboy nodded at Torie that everything was alright and followed his boss into the hallway. Once the door to Torie's room latched behind him, Hellboy turned to face the wrath of Manning.
"So how long you plan on keeping a living dead girl in your quarters?" If looks could kill, Hellboy would be flat on his back in a morgue.
"Wha… What are you talking about?" Hellboy was all wide-eyed innocence. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.
The ever-present roll of Tums antacids came out of Manning's pocket. A recent addition to his repertoire, Hellboy watched as his boss chewed down two like they were candy. "Did you really think that you could bring someone into the Bureau who wasn't cleared by me? And don't look so surprised – I am always aware of patient discharges that are of a… nefarious vein. What's her story in relationship to you? How do you know Victoria James?"
Fuck. Of course he would know. How could he not know. Since the FBI's involved, I'm only surprised that he didn't show up sooner. Dammit, dammit, dammit.
Hellboy traced an image on the tile floor with the toe of his boot. "She's… uhm… she's my girlfriend," he muttered.
Manning rolled his eyes and walked a few paces away, his hands clasped behind his back. Sighing heavily, he then turned around, grimacing at Hellboy. "You are not going to keep her in your apartment. Just what is she going to do all day? She needs to be someplace where she won't go stir crazy. I mean, my God, she's still practically at the scene of the crime! Witness protection until the bad guys are caught? No? Why not?" Manning seemed to lose steam as Hellboy slowly shook his head in the negative.
Crossing his arms across his chest, Hellboy leaned against the wall and sighed. "Manning, look, I know we don't always see eye to eye, but I ain't going to blow this. I finally met someone who doesn't care about my job – Hell, who I didn't even meet through, or because of, my job! I'm not going to let her go somewhere else. I let her go and I might not ever see her again! You of all people know how hard it is to maintain a relationship, romantic or platonic, with someone not affiliated with the Bureau. How many marriages ended because you were more married to the job than your wife? How many said that you were married to your job instead of to them?"
"That's not fair!"
"I'll tell you what's not fair, Manning, the way I look. But she don't care." Hellboy voice was low as he jerked his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of Torie's hospital room door.
The color drained from Manning's face as he realized this was one argument he wasn't going to win. He tried another tactic – guilt. "So you're just gonna lock her up while you go out on assignment? Or wait! Are you not taking her in, to your place, SO THAT YOU CAN CARE FOR HER?"
Gads, what I wouldn't give for a cigarette. Leveling Manning with an unwavering stare, Hellboy said quietly, "I'm going after the totem. Wherever the totem is, her would-be assassins will be found."
"You mean she's going to be alone in your place? Is she really able to care for herself unassisted?" Confusion washed over Manning and concern for the injured woman actually came through in his voice.
"Actually, her friend Monica is going to be staying with her while I'm gone." Hellboy was unable to keep a smile from curving his lips.
Throwing up his hands in exasperation, Manning turned and walked several feet way before turning around and glaring at his top agent. "Great! Two unauthorized women in the Bureau! So when did it change from a government agency I was running into a bed and breakfast?"
Running his tongue along the inside of his bottom lip, Hellboy looked down for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts. His shoulders rose and fall as he sighed, "Tom… When Monica went to Torie's apartment to collect her dog and a few things, she planted a homing device in a crevice of the item. Three days later, Torie's apartment was vandalized and I've got a fix on where it's at. I don't give a flying leap about the totem any more. But the fuckers who messed with her? They're going down. Now, I am getting back to Torie, who I am sure is sufficiently freaked out by the amount of time I've been gone. If you need me, page me. I'll call you back when I can. And yes, I'll check in with you before I leave. But for now, consider me off active duty." With a wave and a tight smile, Hellboy opened the door and slipped into Torie's room.
"Dog? What dog?" Manning shouted after Hellboy.
After explaining that everything was alright, Hellboy watched Torie fall into fitful sleep, the stress of the altercation draining her energy. After several hours, her breathing became regular and Hellboy felt himself relax, even feeling a bit jealous that she was able to get some rest. Not that he would would begrudge Torie anything, but Hellboy was running on fumes.
But, later tomorrow Torie was going to be discharged into his care. For the duration of her recovery, and possibly beyond if her attackers weren't apprehended, Hellboy was going to get a roommate.
A roommate.
And a dog.
Who he hoped would get along with his cats.
Although he was going to be gone for most of her convalescence. While he felt a twinge of guilt that Monica was going to be the one doing the hardest work, Monica herself stated that she was thrilled to have the time alone with Torie. It had been eons since the two of them had really and truly hung out, rather than going a on a vacation and running, running, running, Monica had claimed.
Her repeated assurances helped alleviate some of his guilt, but not all of it.
After all, Hellboy had his doubts about the totem. Oh, there was no denying that it was of obvious interest to a certain person or persons. They wanted it badly enough to try and kill Torie. But it was the fact that Torie felt that an African totem that, supposedly, used Hellboy to transport itself back to Torie.
Hellboy still couldn't wrap his head around what Torie kept repeating. Her parents had been gone for over three years. If the idol wanted to get back to her, why did it wait so long? Now, others might not believe that an inanimate object might try to travel from one point to another, but there were a lot of things in Hellboy's life that people probably wouldn't believe.
So it wasn't that the totem was trying to get to Torie that Hellboy didn't believe – it just was the duration in time between the totem leaving her parents and when Hellboy gave it to Torie that made it difficult to accept. Why would three years elapse if it wanted to get into her possession? And why would it go to Torie when it was her parents' totem?
Hellboy looked down at the sleeping woman and realized that the nice, simple girl that came into his life one winter evening in a park was now the most complicated person he knew.