Chapter 9. Read + Review

True to his word, Abe checked out my knee once we got back to the BPRD. He found nothing too serious but I was a little grossed out when he pulled a tooth from the injury. I required a few stitches but was still able to walk on it.

Abe and I walked to the library together after he took care of my injury. I was hoping to find Hellboy but I found someone far less pleasant instead.

"Director Dyke." Abe acknowledged in surprise. I was even more surprised to see him there. "Abraham." Director Dyke replied.

"You're waiting for the Professor."Abe stated the obvious.

"Yes, I've been here for a while now." The director said

"I suppose I should go find out where he is." Abe said. I panicked as Abe headed back through the door. He turned back to me when I reached out for him but he said nothing. He left me standing there, alone, with the director.

"Rai…" I turned around slowly to meet him. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." I snapped. He sighed as I glared at him.

"What happened to you?" He asked. I rolled my eyes.

"What do you think happened?" It was a stupid question for him to ask.

"Well… Rollins and you just disappeared. The next thing I know there are four bodies found in the Middle East. Then Rai Lightning appears in the papers out of nowhere. What am I suppose to think? You disappeared, Rai, and you just left your father behind. I thought you might have even…" Dyke stood there staring at me. I felt my face heat up as my temper became more difficult to control.

"You need to leave." I strained to keep myself in check. "Rai… It was just an assumption. The rest of the team defended you, I was just unsure." I glared at him and let some of my energy out. The lamp on the desk beside him exploded. I glared at him for a few more seconds when a thought dawned on me.

"You? You're the one that started that investigation against me?" I accused. Dyke took a step back and sighed. "I wanted answers Rai. What else was I to do?" He asked. Another lamp exploded on the other side of Dyke.

"You don't know what I had to go through! Frankly, I don't give a damn what you think of me. All I know is that that investigation of yours ruined my career in the military. You just had to take the last thing I loved, didn't you?!" I turned sharply on my heels and headed towards the doors. I paused for a second once I was there and blinked back tears. "You ruined everything!"

I stormed out and was still in an explosive rage when I ran right into someone. "Sparky, hey, how's your leg kid?" A voice asked. I glared but my eyes weren't focused. I literally felt as if I might have been blind with my rage but the true reason was most likely tears that had found their way into the brims of my eyes.

"Why should you care?" I shouted before brushing passed him and quickly making my way to the gym. I needed to hit something and I would spend all night working off my anger if I had to.

I knew when I saw Hellboy that something had set him off. He stormed into the kitchen and instead of grabbing his usual one can a beer he grabbed a whole six pack and marched back out the way he came. I stood from my seat next to some other agents, and followed after him.

"Hey Red, what's going?" I asked, trying to start a friendly conversation. "Bug off, Clay." He replied with a huff. I sighed and continued to walk beside him.

"So does this have something to do with the shouting we heard down the hall last night?" I asked as I recalled what had sounded like Rai's voice the previous night.

"It's doesn't matter." Hellboy growled before lengthening his strides and leaving me behind. I stopped and turned back to the kitchen where I found the other agents watching from behind the doorway.

I decided now would be the best time to go find Rai. Nobody had seen her since she went off with Abe to get her leg fixed up. Abe was my best shot at finding out what happened to the little squirt.

I was about half way down the hall leading to the elevator when I heard a crash come from the room down an adjacent hall. My curiosity got the better of me and I found myself in the doorway of one of the spare rooms that was used as a gym. To say it was trashed would be an understatement.

I stepped over a few splintered benches and shattered glass until I spotted something that surprised me even more than the state of the room. I pushed a tattered punching bag out of the way and saw her more clearly.

Rai was here, sitting with her knees hugged to her chest and her face buried in her arms. There were a few pieces of glass stuck in her hair but she didn't seem to be injured.

"Rai? Hey, sweet heart, are you ok?" I asked as I reached a hand out to pull the glass from her hair gently. She showed no signs of moving until I had successfully yanked the last jagged shard from her head. Then she lifted her head slowly and stared into my face. She looked like a lost child as she sat there with her head still leaning on her arms. Her eyes were puffy as if she had been crying and I felt myself lose some years as I watched her cold eyes search mine.

"What do you want?" She asked finally, in a very harsh voice. I flinched but regained myself and knelt down beside her. "What happened kid?" I asked wondering if I should place my arm around her or if that would be too weird.

"Dyke happened." She replied bitterly.

"The director? Why, what did he do?" I asked, watching her glare at her shoes.

"It doesn't matter. He's just a jerk and I hate his guts." She replied.

"Can't argue with that." I replied. Rai sighed and looked up at me. "Why are you here?" She asked with the same cold and empty eyes.

"I was actually looking for you." I said. She continued to stare at me and there was no need for her to voice her question. "Because Hellboy was a little upset by whatever you said to him yesterday." I finished. She was a little confused but something clicked in her head, clearing everything up for herself.

"Oh no… He was the one I snapped at in the hallway? Damn it!" She jumped up and winced when she remembered her knee.

I stood as well and tried to help her through the mess she had created. She ignored me and tried to get out as fast as she could.

"I thought it was just some other agent. I didn't think it was him, damn." Rai made it to the door and dashed out of the room. It wasn't hard for me to follow seeing as she was injured. Once we got to an intersection of hallways, she looked around in a panic, unsure of where to go.

"Where would he be?" She asked as she turned around to me. I shrugged and she whined impatiently. She took off down another hall and I decided not to follow this time. I just watched her go and shrugged again.

I ignored the pain in my leg as I ran through the halls. I knew where Hellboy's room was because of the various pranks I had pulled there. I would start looking for him there.

"I really shouldn't care about this so much. I don't know why I'm getting so worked up." I thought to myself. Hellboy and I weren't really close but I felt like that was what I wanted our relationship to be. I continued towards Hellboy's room.

My heart dropped when I found myself there and he was nowhere to be found.

I cursed and turned back the way I came. I was only half way down the hall with my eyes on the ground in despair when I ran into a rock, one particular rock that was purposely put in my way by the owner. I wheeled backwards and held my face.

I glanced up to find Hellboy standing there with his right fist held out in the air for me to run into. It seemed like something that he should have been rolling on the floor laughing about, but apparently he wasn't in the mood.

"HB…" I said, attempting to smile. He didn't return the warmth. I cringed internally. With a sigh I did the only thing I could think of. Eating my pride and dignity in one bite, I bowed my head in front of him.

"I'm so very sorry for yelling at you. It was unintentional and I didn't even realize it was you. Please forgive me." I stood with my jaw clenched and my eyes squeezed shut as a moment of silence passed. I glanced up to see if he was even there anymore. He stared down at me with a ridiculous smirk on his face.

"Well aren't you cute." He replied, causing me to blush insanely. I stood up straight instantly and glared at him with the blush showing no signs of dimming. Hellboy lifted his left hand and tapped me on the nose to further embarrass me.

"Hey I was just trying to say I was sorry. Now I'm not so sure I am." I snapped turning my back to him. He laughed at me and shoved me out of the way so he could get to his room.

"Sure you are." He called back and I followed him reluctantly. He invited me into his room and I felt a little awkward as I stood there amongst his things.

"Here" Hellboy sensed my distress and cleared a seat for me before taking his own seat on his bed. Once I sat down I found myself surrounded by his cats. One decided to make my lap its new bed and I scratched his head lovingly.

"I never did get the chance to ask, what's with the cats?" I asked with a teasing smile.

"What's with your hair?" Hellboy retorted. My smile became a glare and I dropped the subject.

"So can I ask a serious question instead of that?" He asked. I nodded. "What were you so mad about yesterday? That wasn't all just because I made you go to the infirmary was it?" Hellboy asked. I sighed and held one of the cats in a hug.

"The Director was here. I had a chat with him and it wasn't so friendly." I replied. Hellboy nodded and continued to stare at me, hoping for details.

"Well aren't you a curious cat? Fine, I told you that Dyke thought I had something to do with my father's death. Turns out he issued an investigation against me while I was in the military, the same investigation that cause me to quit." I said. Hellboy nodded and stood from his seat on his pickup truck bed.

"Well, sounds like you need some cheering up." Hellboy stated sounding quite out of character. "What?" I asked with a smile, as I stood up. The cat jumped from my lap and onto the floor.

"I think now counts as later, don't you?"He said. I perked up instantly at the mention of Hellboy's promise.

"Absolutely." I cheered.

"All it would take to cheer this girl up was some ice cream?" I thought as I sat watching Rai buy her ice cream across the street. I stood in an alley watching her and cursed myself for noticing that Liz didn't live that far from here. I shook my head to clear the thought and watched Rai thank the person at the counter and then run back across the street with a large smile on her face.

"And here's your reward." She announced with a grin. She held out an ice cream cone and I stared down at her quizzically. "Oh, just take." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Alright then." I replied, taking the ice cream from her and inspecting it. I watched her take a large bite out of her own treat before I tasted mine. It wasn't bad.

We walked down one alley after another, not heading anywhere in particular. There were no words exchanged until Sparky finished her treat and I finished mine. Then she decided to start up conversation. She asked me all sorts of questions about missions I had done in the past and I couldn't help but tell the stories of my heroic adventures.

"So you've really met a vampire before?" She asked. I nodded.

"It was an ugly one too. She didn't have the whole, 'eternal youth' thing so she went around killing girls in order to get it." Rai made a face but asked another question before I could laugh at her. "So how did you kill her?" She asked anxiously.

"I smashed her under a few dozen tons of stone and wood." I said with a smirk. A lie, but she didn't need to know that I was actually getting my ass handed to me by an ancient goddess while my old man took care of the vampire bitch. She rolled her eyes as if she could tell I was lying but continued on to question me about Zombies.

I found myself actually enjoying the walk with her until I suddenly noticed the building that we were passing and forced myself to stop.

I walked beside Hellboy and couldn't keep myself from laughing. He was supposed to be my enemy. The guy I hated and despised for the shit he made me go through on my first two months in the BPRD. Yet here I was, laughing at a joke he just told about the living dead.

Everything seemed fine until he suddenly stopped laughing and stopped walking for that matter. I had only taken a few steps when I noticed he was no longer beside me. I turned back and spotted him starring at something across the street. I quietly rejoined him and tried to see what he was staring at.

Across the street was a large building that resembled a school or an institute. There were a few lights on in the second and third stories of the building. It was surprising, seeing as there shouldn't have been anyone awake at this hour. It was almost two in the morning. I gave the building one last inspection and then looked back up at Hellboy.

There was no emotion on his face but his eyes told a different story. There was a mix of conflicted emotion behind those yellow orbs. I watched him sift through them until my curiosity got the better of me.

"Hellboy? Is everything alright?" I asked, feeling stupid for asking. There were a few minutes of silence where I continued to inspect his features. Finally he snapped out of it and the winning emotion in his eyes seemed to be anger.

"I'm fine." He snapped, forgetting to be quiet in the sleeping neighborhood. He turned on his heels, sharply, and practically left me in the dust. I stood staring after him, dazed by his bipolar attitude. I glanced at the building once more before racing to catch up with him.

"Hey, HB, wait up!" I shouted after him. He stopped his angry march to nowhere, and I nearly ran into him. "Damn Red, what was that about?" I asked. That one phrase triggered something in Hellboy's system to go off. He reached out and grabbed the front of my jacket and shirt. The next thing I knew I was being lifted off my feet by an emotionally conflicted demon.

"Don't call me Red." He growled in a viciously dead voice. I stared into his eyes unsure of what was happening. My mouth just hung open as I tried to catch my breath. I realized that this was the first time I had ever called him Red. It was always HB, or Hellboy, or jerk. I never actually got around to calling him 'Red'.

What had happened? I asked myself as I hung suspended in the air by Hellboy's fist. He slowly lowered me to the ground when his sanity caught up with him. He placed me on my feet and stared down at me, probably wondering the same thing that I was.

"We better get back. They'll be wondering where we are." Hellboy said in a voice that was almost inaudible. I nodded slowly, unable to remove my eyes from his face. His eyes wouldn't meet mine and suddenly he was walking again. I followed about ten feet behind him, unsure of what had just happened or why he had exploded on me.

We were having fun. He seemed to be enjoying it just as much as I was. What did I do? Was it something I said? Why couldn't I call him Red? Everyone else did. The more I thought the angrier I became. I found myself burning holes into his back as I followed him through his secret entrance into the BPRD.

The minute I reached a familiar hall I changed my direction and headed for my room rather than continue to follow the jerk. I hated how upset he had made me. I hated how much it hurt that he was angry with me. I hated it even more because I didn't know why he was angry with me.

I noticed when she stopped following me and decided to change directions as well. I could practically feel the heated glares she was giving me on the entire walk home. It was almost a relief to have that disappear, but I couldn't blame her.

It was Liz's newest institute that we had stopped in front of. It was too much for me to handle. The light in her room was on and I almost felt like she could see me. It made me feel sick to think that she might see me with this new girl. I couldn't control the anger that had appeared when I thought about how it should have been Liz standing beside me laughing and smiling.

It was made even worse when she called me Red.

That was Liz's name for me. Everyone else called me that but it was worse to have Rai call me that as well. I was sorry but I didn't know how to tell her that. The look on her face was enough to guess that she most likely wouldn't accept it.

I felt guilty that I had attacked her the way that I did. It wasn't fair to explode on her when she had been so sorry about snapping at me earlier. She at least had a good reason. That thought was displaced the minute it came to my head. I did have a good reason. 'Liz' was the reason.

It went from sad to happy to sad again... how depressing. Next chapter will be a lot happier. Reviews please!