You'd think that only so many terrible things could happen to me in such a short period of time. It doesn't seem fair but, life takes unexpected turns sometimes and in the end you are simple left to wonder, "Did that just happen?" That's how I felt.

"Did this all really just happen, Rai?"

"Did it?"

The air was cold and the buildings were dark. As I stepped over the scummy gutter and continued through the dark alley towards the back door of the infamous Chumley's I realized that everything sounded too quiet. The absence of sound made it all seem too fake and untrustworthy. It sets a person on edge. The surrounding apartments stared down at me with their dark windows.

The door to the building was whole but it lay on the ground. It almost seemed like a welcome mat… or a red carpet. A red substance, after all, was what covered the ground just beyond it and a few specks of the substance had made their way to the fallen door. My eyes trailed upwards, from the floor to the carnage that had become the interior of Chumley's. Carnage was truly what it was.

Glass and wood lay everywhere. Smashed tables and chairs littered the floor. A few pool tables were set up on the left hand side of the room, one of which was smashed in half. On the right side of the room was the bar, running parallel to the wall for about three quarters the length of the room before wrapping around and becoming perpendicular with the wall. The glass bottles and the glass mirror on the wall behind the bar were shattered, no longer able to reflect the dim light in the room. The bar was smashed in two places and two support beams from the ceiling had collapsed on the area behind the bar. The middle of the room had a large hole in the floor boards where a pipe line had been severed and water arched upwards before coming down in a light sprinkle. Small bits of the ceiling found their way to the ground, landing softly like snowflakes.

Once my attention was caught by the sheer complexity of the wreck, I lost track of why I was there.

The sound of my boot crunching down on a piece of metal reminded me of my purpose. I bent down and plucked the metal from the debris. It was a belt buckle attached to a small black belt; the belt with the blinking locator that belonged to the girl I was looking for.

I called her name but there was no reply.

In front of the bar was a body. It was sitting on its knees leaning against a barstool. The skin was ash gray. The hair was green. Blood was flowing from multiple bullet wounds to the chest.

I wandered towards the left side of the room, avoiding the large hole in the floor and the body by the bar.

I examined the remaining pool table. The green surface was vibrant and stood out among the dry lifeless shades of the rest of the room. The color also contrasted well with the red substance that appeared again, this time in the form of a large stain in the green.

I stepped back and scanned the room again. I inched toward the hole in the floor. Someone from the doorway gave me the cliché advice to "be careful".

I peered over the edge of the abyss and found a beast of a man. There was the same gray skin but with a blue buzz cut. The muscles were larger than the other one but apparently the only thing necessary to take him down was a pool stick that had been used as a make-shift stake, penetrating his shoulder, and holding him to the ground. He had most likely lost consciousness due to blood loss, that or the large grueling bruise on his head that looked as though someone or something hit him incredibly hard.

"Quite a mess." A voice behind me spoke softly. "You didn't need to drag yourself all the way out here, Abe." I offered as a reply.

"Is there any sign of her so far?" He asked, ignoring my comment regarding his health. I didn't turn around to answer. My hand gripped tighter around her lost belt, on which a locator continued to blink. It couldn't help us find her now. I shook my head and resisted the urge to throw the belt. She would probably want it back, if we found her.

"We found a third grey man right inside the doorway, unconscious. He was taken away to be treated for his wounds before you got here." Abe said.

"Take these two in. They need medical attention and we're going to need them to tell us what happened here." I ordered in as calm a voice as I could offer. Abe shook his head

"The one by the bar is already dead. As for him," Abe stopped motioning towards the blue haired man in the hole. "We can't move him without the threat of him waking up and hurting someone on accident." I laughed without any real humor.

"Like it would really be an accident." I muttered. Abe ignored the comment.

"We are going to wait until he wakes up and then offer to help on the terms that he doesn't injure anyone. His life isn't in very much danger at the moment so we can wait."

The only evidence that Rai had been here was her belt. I whipped my face.

What the hell was she doing in a bar in the first place? She ditches all of us to go to a bar, seriously? Were all of the top agents in the BPRD crazy?!

I massaged my temples. I couldn't wrap my mind around their antics half the time. Was this how the rest of my career would play out? I shook my head and thought about retiring. It didn't seem likely that it would happen. This job was my life even if it would be the death of me.

I looked back at Abe. "Does Manning know you're out here?" I asked, eyeballing his bandages and the sling on his arm. "No, but he doesn't need to."

I hadn't expected either of us to survive the shot but that didn't mean I wasn't happy that we had. Ironically, it was Mykail who came to our rescue. He tackled Karson and struggled to gain control of the gun.

The bullet escaped the barrel and launched itself at us, but it was off target. The bullet hit Caleb's shoulder, knocking him backwards. It didn't stick its landing. The bullet spiraled through him and was lost in some other part of the bar, never to be seen again.

I tried to move to help him, but the pain seizing the right side of my body was too much. I stared across the room at the fighting brothers, struggling to keep my eyes open. Ja-kub tried pulling them apart but Mykail shoved him away to keep him from getting hurt.

Another shot went off and then another. Karson was thrown off balance when a fist connected with his left eye. He clutched his face and tried to steady himself but Mykail didn't give him enough time. He slammed into Karson, lifting him off his feet. They both crashed into one of the pool tables where Mykail proceeded to slam Karson's face into the green surface of the pool table repeatedly.

From the opposite side of the room Ja-kub roared at his brothers, begging them to stop. His older brothers were deaf to his cries.

We had time. Caleb and I could escape and get away if we acted quickly. I dragged myself to my knees and leaned my weight on my uninjured left arm. I pulled at Caleb's sleeve and to my relief he turned over with a forced smile on his lips.

"That hurt." He whispered in a pained voice. He tried to laugh it off but it ended up sounding like a cough. The hole in his shoulder wasn't large but it was bleeding heavily. I nodded my head at him and asked him in sort gasps if he could help me stand. Once I was on my feet the pain eased slightly and the relief nearly caused me to collapse. Thankfully, Caleb held me steady.

"Let's…get out…of here." I breathed. Caleb never replied. He saw the danger coming before I did and shoved me out of the way: hard. I hit the bar and felt a sharp pain in my chest. Ribs, damn it.

I turned back to see what happened to Caleb and found him cowering in front of Karson. The green haired beast picked him up by his collar and punched him in the face, knocking him out. Mykail, who had been lying in the remains of a wooden table and its chairs, stood up quickly and caught Karson off guard again. Caleb was dropped to the floor as Mykail used Karson's body to smash clean through the bar top.

The impact shook the rest of the counter and I could no longer hang on to it for support. Reluctantly, I let go and fell back into something hard and warm. Arms caught me around the waist and I looked up to find my fellow red head.

"Shit." I breathed. Ja-kub smiled at me darkly. "Pretty much." He laughed dryly. To my relief, he decided not to drop me. Instead he shoved me away from him and that gave me the leverage I needed to stand on my own. I turned back to him and saw my belt in his hand. He spotted the blinking locator, growled at me, and then tossed it over his shoulder.

"You and your friend aren't leaving until my brothers' figure out this mess. You got that?" I nodded and mentally decided that it would probably be for the best if I fought back. That way, even if I lost, I would be dead and the pain would stop.

"This isn't a good idea. Abe you are still really weak. I don't think the professor would approve of you coming out in the field like this." I said. Abe simply walked past me. I followed after him and sat in one of the only surviving chairs of the bar.

"I suppose the rumors of this place re-opening are just going to have to stay rumors." I said in an attempt to cheer up the dark mood that had settled long before any of us had appeared on the scene.

Agents were trying to clear away the bar. That was the only place we hadn't checked. The wood and ceiling debris were taking too much time to move. She could be underneath it all, dying, and we couldn't help her. Abe noticed my impatients and placed a hand on my shoulder. He lifted Rai's belt from my hands and I released it.

"I will try to find out if she really is beneath it." He said. It was a comfort. If we knew she was under there and found out where she was exactly then we could focus on that area alone and get her out faster. I stood from my seat and watched Abe intently as he raised a hand to test the area.

For a minute he stood completely still. His webbed fingers twitched and then he swung his arm around in the complete opposite direction of the bar. His head tilted to the side and his eyes flickered across the room quickly. Suddenly he didn't seem so interested in find Rai. He was seeing something. He turned to a different direction and then another. He turned in a complete circle and then went still again with his hand hanging in mid air. I reached out to stop him and ask him what was going on but he dropped his hand and turned in my direction quickly.

"Did you find her?" I asked. He blinked at me as though he didn't understand who I was talking about.

"Rai: do you know where she is?" I asked again. Abe shook his head.

"I will contact a medical team immediately to take my place." He said out of the blue.

"What? You're leaving? Abe, we have to find her!" I shouted in frustration. He didn't react to my outburst and instead started towards the door.

"You will find her. Give the men a few more minutes and they will. I have to go. Hellboy's life is at stake." He stated.

"You have got to be kidding me. Hellboy is fine. Rai needs our help right now!" I argued. Abe shook his head and kept walking. I watched him leave Chumley's and grumbled impatiently at my fellow agents.

"He has to have a good reason." I muttered to myself, trying to calm down. I turned back to watch the other agents work on the mess behind the bar. I started to try and think of a good reason for Abe. Nothing came to mind but I continued to try if only to keep my mind off of Rai's whereabouts.

Ja-kub hit the wall of glass bottles behind the bar and cried out in pain. He grabbed a broken bottle and threw it at me. I dodged the first bottle and ducked to avoid the second. He didn't throw the third and instead opted to try to use it as a dagger when he climbed back over the bar. He was much faster than me and would have been able to do some damage if we hadn't ran into Mykail and Karson.

I hit Mykail and we fell over while Karson caught Ja-kub's weapon with his back. Mykail tried to punch me but I rolled away from him. I tried to stand but Mykail's hand closed around my ankle and he yanked it with all of his strength.

I hit the floor (more hurt on the ribs) and yelp as he pulled me towards him. I was dragged a very short distance and was then lifted into the air. My scream was cut short when my back hit a table and smashed right through it.

Mykail left me on the floor in the remains of the table while he went to rescue Ja-kub. Karson had removed the broken bottle from his back and threw it aside. He tackled his little brother and they rolled back towards the pool tables. When I looked back towards them, I saw that Karson had a broken pool stick and planed on using it to beat Ja-kub.

I lost sight of them for a few moments as I tried to pull myself up. It was extremely painful but I managed to get to my knees and then took hold of a nearby chair and propelled myself to my feet. I ignored the loud crash that I heard behind me and moved towards Caleb's unconscious body. He was still breathing and I pulled him behind the counter in hopes that it would be safer than out there in the battlefield.

I didn't want to stop and rest beside him because I feared that I would pass out and be at the mercy of the crazy guys killing each other only a few yards away. I lifted my head over the counter and watched Ja-kub hit the ceiling. The room shook with the force and a large beam from the ceiling came crashing down beside Caleb and me. It created a small protected space between it and the back wall and I moved Caleb to it quickly. Once he was settled again I looked back up to find the Ornias Brothers.

Ja-kub wasn't moving from his spot on the floor. Mykail looked like he was running out of steam. Karson, on the other hand, looked completely pumped. They didn't even seem to remember why they were fighting; they just were. They were taunting each other but I couldn't hear them from where I sat.

My vision was starting to become darker around the edges. My head hurt and when I reached a hand up to massage my sore temples I found that my head was leaking loads of blood. I had lost a lot and I was starting to feel it take effect. The room shook again but I didn't look up from my blood covered hand to see who had hit what.

There were a few more crashes that sounded closer this time so I forced myself to look up. Mykail and Karson were gone. I checked to make sure that they were really absent from the room and then started to pull myself over the bar top.

I never jumped down. I heard a fierce cry and froze. From this height I could see the large hole that had been created in the floor.

Karson's body blocked my view for a moment but then he turned to pull himself out of the hole and I saw the rest of the scene. Mykail lay at the bottom of the hole with a pool stick piercing his shoulder and holding him to the ground. He was no longer conscious on the account of the large pulsing wound on the side of his face.

Karson made it to his feet on the wooden floor and glanced around the room. His eyes moved slowly as he examined everything. Finally they landed on me. I was still sitting on the bar top frozen solid with fear. He no longer had distractions to worry about.

He was going to kill me.

I didn't move a muscle as he walked towards me. With each step a wicked grin grew wider on his face. I felt moister on my cheeks and, for a moment, I thought it was the blood from my head, but it wasn't. I was crying. I didn't want to die. "Pl…please." I stuttered. His grin couldn't get any bigger.

I wanted to kill myself for being so stupid. I wasn't even trying to help myself. He stood right in front of me and I could feel his breath on my face.

"Please…" I whispered one more time. He didn't say anything.

We both flinched when we heard the explosion. Our eyes grew wide and we didn't breathe. But it wasn't an explosion that we had heard.

It was a gun shot. Together, Karson and I looked down at his chest. Karson touched the small hole in the middle of his chest and was bewildered when he brought his hand back to his face and found blood. Two more shots rang out and with them came two more holes.

Karson fell forward and nearly dragged me off the bar top as he slumped to the floor. I watched him catch himself on a barstool and glance up at me with pure hatred in his eyes.

I looked away from the dying demon and locked eyes with his murderer. Ja-kub stood to my left. The angle at which he made the shots allowed me to come out of this untouched by the bullets. His eyes were filling with tears. He backed up slowly and aimed the gun at me. His teary eyes caused him to misjudge his aim and each shot he fired missed me by a long shot.

I slid back behind the bar just in case and listened to Ja-kub fire the last few shells in his pistol. I faintly recall hearing another crash as my back relaxed into the floor beside Caleb. My view became dark even before I passed out and that confused me but I was too tired to think about it. I blinked a few times and then allowed my eyes to close.

My arm hurts.

To be continued...

I just released a one shot about Rai and Hellboy call This Means War. If you want, you can go read that for fun. If I get any other one shot ideas I might just group them with that. Feel free to review that and this. If you have any ideas for one shots about Rai/Hellboy throw them my way. It might be fun.