Hellboy had been asked to leave the room when the professor grew tired of watching him pace back and forth.
Rai had been in and out of consciousness for two days. The last time she had been conscious Hellboy was carrying her out of the wreckage of the ballroom, wrapped in his jacket. The only thing she was able to tell me when I asked if she was ok was that she wanted ice cream.
Since then, all I had heard from her was the mumbling in her sleep but unfortunately it was never understandable save for the few times she mentioned Hellboy's name.
She was currently lying on a medical bed with plenty of injuries. She had bruises and scrapes covering pretty much her entire body. Her head injury wasn't very serious now but I wasn't sure when she was going to wake up.
"Abraham, has there been any change?" The professor asked, entering the room after sending Hellboy out. "No. Sorry professor. How is he?" I asked as I checked Rai's vitals just as I had the day before.
"He is just anxious. Rai reminds him too much of her. He can't remove his mind from the possibility that Rai may disappear like Liz did." The professor removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. I nodded and moved towards the door after finishing up with Rai's care.
"Liz…?" The professor and I both turned when we heard Rai's weak voice. Her head was turned to the side and she stared at us, struggling to keep her eyes open.
"Rai, how are you feeling?" I asked as I rushed to her side and felt her head.
"Fine." She breathed, pushing my hand away. She tried to sit up and I did my best to restrain her but her persistence won in the end.
"Where…what happened?" Rai asked as she looked around and tried to stop her head from spinning.
"You're at home Rai, we made it back. The monster is gone and everyone is ok. There was only one casualty." I explained. I placed a hand on her shoulder to help her sit up straight and watched her face as she tried to wrap her head around this information.
"Hellboy…" She suddenly seemed as anxious as Hellboy, after I mentioned the one casualty.
"He is fine Rai. Agent Corbin was the one that we lost." I said.
She sighed heavily and swallowed hard. She opened her mouth to speak but was unable to. She nodded instead and buried her head in her hands. The professor made his way over to us and placed his hand over mine on Rai's shoulder.
"Tell Hellboy she's awake." He whispered to me. I nodded and removed my hand so his could take my place. I walked through the door and then raced through the halls. It took me sometime to track down Hellboy but I finally located him in the kitchen, drinking.
"Hey blue…" Hellboy mumbled as I entered the room. He was drunk, fantastic.
"Red, what are you doing?" I asked, kicking an empty can aside with my foot.
"She left me Blue." He started. I sighed and sat beside him at the table. "She left all of us, Red. You can't just blame yourself." I replied.
"She left, and now this new girl… I thought of her like I did Liz." He took a swig of his beer and threw it across the room before opening another.
"Red…" He interrupted.
"I even called her Liz. When I was down there, I opened my eyes and I saw her hair… I thought it was fire so I called out to her…"
I watched him and waited for a chance to speak and tell him that Rai was awake and was looking for him, but he continued on.
"She was nice Blue. You wouldn't even think it was fair the way she treated me after I was such a jerk to her. I wish that was the reason I could say that I saved her. But I can't Blue. I hate her because I wish she was Liz and I wish Liz could look at me the way she did. It's just so unfair." He took one last drink of his beer and reached across the table for another but I pulled it back from him.
"She's awake, Red. She was looking for you." I said and he just watched me for a few minutes. He jumped up suddenly, beer forgotten, and darted out of the room. I sighed before getting up and followed him at a leisurely pace.
I looked up when I heard Abe leave and then looked to the professor. He smiled at me and I gave a weak smile in response. He sat down in the chair next to the bed and I did my best to swing my legs over the edge of the bed.
"You gave us quite the scare." The professor said suddenly. I looked up and smiled sheepishly. "Hellboy was worried most of all." The smile slowly fell.
"What do you mean?" I asked. The professor smiled. "Hellboy carried you out of the hotel's collapsed ballroom faster than any of our other man could have. We aren't sure if you would have made it otherwise." The professor's words hit me hard.
Did he really care that much, Hellboy? I owe him my life and he probably acted like it was no big deal. My mind drifted aimlessly for an explanation of his behavior until another thought reached the forefront of my mind.
I clenched my fists in my lap and tried to decide whether or not I should ask my question.
"Professor, who's Liz?" I asked hesitantly. He was silent for a minute and then, instead of becoming defensive like Hellboy had, he smiled.
"She was an agent here much like yourself, and she had abilities similar to yours." He said. I stared at him a little apprehensive. "What happened to her?" I asked, knowing I was meddling.
"She left, 12 times."He said.(*) I stared at him wide eyed. "Twelve times, why would she keep coming back just to leave again?" I asked in surprise.
"She had trouble controlling her abilities and was scared of what she could do. She leaves searching for answers and help. She comes back when she feels there is no help for her." The professor explained. I stared at my hands again as I thought about what he had said.
"Were Hellboy and her close?" I asked out of curiosity. Professor Broom simply nodded. That explained a lot. I came in and took her place so he hated me, still hates me. She must have been really important to him and she left, again.
"Wow." I whispered to myself. The professor nodded again. I started to turn inward to think but was shocked back to reality when I heard the screeching sound of a chair scrapping across the floor. The professor got up to leave and turned back to me with a smile before he walked through the doors.
Only a few seconds passed before someone burst through them. I blinked in surprised and then focused on the six foot red demon in the room. We stared at each other for a few minutes and then he looked away slightly embarrassed.
"Hi." I said trying to keep myself from laughing. He turned back to me while rubbing the back of his head. "Uh…Hi. Are you… um… how ya' feeling?" He stuttered. I shrugged and regretted the action. I tried to hide my flinch before Hellboy noticed.
"Fine." I replied. "I really want some ice cream though." He laughed and my head tilted to the side in confusion without my thinking about it.
"You said the same thing when we were leaving the museum." He explained.
I rolled my eyes at his smirk and decided that now would be a good time to stand. I lowered myself to the floor but the minute I put weight on my legs, they buckled. Thankfully Hellboy was there to catch me. I stared up into his eyes and felt my face heat up.
"Thanks." I replied as I tried again to stand, this time with more success. He held onto my arm longer than he needed to and when I stared down at his hand he stepped back and released me, embarrassed.
We stood there awkwardly with nothing to say, stared at the ground instead of each other. Abe's arrival to the room spared us from the awkwardness.
"Are you feeling well, Rai?" He asked. I smiled and nodded. Abe looked over at Hellboy and he looked back at Abe. I watched them have a silent exchange and wondered what might have happened prior to them entering the room.
"Um… Abe, can I go to my own room now?" I asked, wanting to be alone for a little while. Abe looked away from Hellboy to nod and moved so I could leave. I left but keep my eyes on the two of them until I was no longer able to. I only made it half way down the hall before the pain hit my head and I passed out again.
I wasn't 'fit' to go on missions for three weeks because of the injuries. I had to watch Hellboy, Abe, and Clay go out and enjoy killing off all sorts of monsters. In the beginning, Hellboy came back from missions and would do nothing but brag.
After a while, he began to tell me full stories. He was my only source of entertainment while I was stuck inside and playing pranks on him was more fun than I had ever experienced.
Eventually, after many events that involve too much detail, we ended up in one of the locker rooms covered in different colored paint. After a few more intense fights such as that we started to become kind of close; I could almost say we were friends.
I found myself sitting in the kitchen about a month after the kraken mission, with my arms folded and a sneer on my face.
I screamed for the third time today only to have someone entered the room interrupting me.
"Hey Sparky, what's going on?" Hellboy asked, pulling a beer form the fridge.
"I'm bored." I whined dramatically. He laughed at me and I retaliated with the messy explosion of his beer can. "Nice." He replied sarcastically. He cursed and whipped himself off.
"I'm still bored." I complained. "Then go out." He replied, still cleaning. "I can't" I replied solemnly.
"You've been stuck in here for a month, you need to get out." Hellboy encouraged.
I thought about it for a minute and decided I liked the idea.
"Ok fine. You get me out of here and I'll owe you big time." I cheered. He rolled his eyes at me and turned to leave.
"Hellboy, hey come on." I shouted as I ran after him.
"I'll take you later I'm busy right now."He replied.
"Please!" I asked. He sighed and nodded. "I'll take you later." He said again. I jumped in excitement. "Promise?" I asked. He nodded again. I placed a hand out for him to shake and again forced him to shake with his right hand. I placed a can of beer in his left hand before smiling and walking off to find something to do until 'later'.
"She was definitely different." I thought as I watched the red head leave. It made my head hurt when I thought of how much she made me think of Liz.
When she looked at me I could feel her staring but it was my eyes that she was watching not my horns or my red face or anything like that. She saw me for me, just like Liz did. I looked down to the beer in my left hand and sighed.
I caught one last glimpse of Rai as she rounded the corner at the end of the hall. Her hair defiantly stood out. It was about as red as my skin and her eye were just as vibrant a green as her hair was red.
I shook my head to clear the thought and headed in the opposite direction of Rai. I had only taken a few steps when suddenly an alarm sounded.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me!" I heard someone scream. It was followed by the sound of running footsteps that were heading in my direction. I turned around as Rai ran right past me saying something like, "What are you waiting for, HB?" I blinked a few times as I processed what she had said and then took off after her.
I made my way to the garage where I found Rai watching everyone and looking completely lost. I smirked at her and bumped her in the back with my stone hand. "Well let's get going newbie." I said and she glared at me with distaste for the title of 'newbie'.
She followed me anyway until we got to the truck. "Looks like you have another adventure." She said sounding disappointed. I watched her pout and cursed myself inwardly for what I was about to do. "Get in." I ordered. She looked up at me a little surprised until I clarified.
"If you're fit enough to bug me to death then you can handle one mission." I said trying to sound uninterested in actually helping her.
She smiled up at me and got on the truck. "It defiantly looks cooler on the inside." Rai said turning to me with her smile growing. I nodded and tried not to smile at her. I wasn't that friendly.
I spotted Abe making his way to the truck and nodded in his direction. He nodded back and joined Rai and me in the back of the truck.
I found it a little entertaining as I watched Rai stare out the one way glass on the side of the truck as we set out on the road. She stared at everyone we passed as if she was memorizing each of their faces. It seemed strange to me but I watched her anyway while I finished up the beer she had given me.
I couldn't help but think about how scared Liz got when people stared at her, I wondered if Rai was the same. The minute I thought of Liz, Rai turned back and caught me staring at her.
"What?" She asked giving me a confused look.
"Nothing." I replied and smirked at her. She stuck her tongue out at me and pouted childishly before turning back to the window.
The truck stopped and I closed the window in front of Rai. She stood and we waited for the door to open. Once it did she took a step to get out and I put my arm in the way. She narrowed her eyes at me and folded her arms over her chest. "Fine heroes first." She snapped sarcastically.
I smirked at her and stepped out with Abe and Rai behind me. Once locators were synced up and everyone was ready we followed the agents inside.
(*)I know she left 13 times but I plan on bringing her back and then leaving for a '13th' so don't flip out on me. This is before the Hellboy movie but I'm not sure how much time is between now and then. I may go as far as to connect up with the movie later but I'm not there yet. =) Anyways review!