Maizie opened Hellboy's heavy door, and she walked in. A wad of paper flew by her head.
"What the hell?" Maizie exclaimed as she bent down to pick it up. She unfurled it and read the lines on it. Some words were scratched out and replaced with others.
"What do you- "
"Shh!" Hellboy shushed her. "Just a second."
Maizie raised an eyebrow. She stepped further into the room, bypassing cats, and paper.
"Myers, you're a woman," Hellboy began. "What's a good word-a solid word- for need?"
"Uhh, I'd say that's a good, solid word," Maizie said. "You know what…I think I came at a bad time. I'm gonna go."
Maizie backtracked her path. Hellboy didn't hear her.
"Nah…sounds too 'needy'," Hellboy muttered.
The door opened. Liz stood in the doorway as Maizie passed her.
"Good luck with him," Maizie said. "I'll see you in a bit."
Liz snickered before she went in. Hellboy looked up at the snicker and dropped his pencil. Liz made exclamations about the cats as he picked up the paper he was writing on.
"Um…Liz…I-there's something I'd like you to-"Hellboy stuttered through his words. "Something I need you to hear."
Liz looked up, a cat in her arms. The cat jumped down and curled around her leg.
"Well…is it long? I'm going out but-"
Hellboy dropped his paper, "Out? Like outside?"
She nodded, "For a cup of coffee, but she can wait a bit. Go ahead and read."
"She?"
"Maizie is taking me out for some coffee and fresh air."
He raised an eyebrow, "Maizie?"
She gave him one in return, "Yes, Maizie. Your new bodyguard, Agent Myers?"
"Oh," Hellboy said. "Why her, why not me?"
The sounds of a trolley interrupted them. An agent had brought in a trolley of nachos.
"Take it back, I'm not hungry."
The agent became confused, not sure what to do. Liz looked over and gestured to leave it. The agent left them alone.
"HB, what did you want me to hear?" Liz asked.
He shook his head, put a foot over the paper, and muttered, "Nothing. It's not important."
Disappointed, Liz nodded. "Okay…maybe later then."
She turned and left the room, leaving Hellboy in anger.
"So…you and Hellboy?" Maizie asked as she and Liz walked down the sidewalk under a series of lights. It was starting to get dark. Stores were closing. They were lucky to even grab a cup a coffee. Liz had a polaroid camera slung around her neck. They each bundled up against the cold. Both Maizie and Liz had on a BPRD jacket and a cap that fit snugly on their heads.
Liz smiled as she took a sip of her drink, "What about us?"
"Oh, come on," Maizie scoffed. "This is just us girls here. No agents or even Hellboy around. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if he's up on one of these roofs, just watching us with jealousy."
Liz laughed, "I bet he is. He was touchy that I was going out for coffee with you."
"Really? He was mad cause I invited you for some coffee?"
She nodded, "He wanted to be the one to take me."
"I…I would've been okay if you wanted Hellboy instead," Maizie looked at her.
Liz gestured to a bench under one of the lights.
"You're sweet," Liz said as they sat down. "But no. I wanted to get to know you. I'll be honest, I've never had a woman to talk with."
Maizie grinned as she took a sip from her cup, "I feel flattered."
Liz laughed, "You should."
Silence ensued between them as they enjoyed the coffee warming them up.
"I grew up with Hellboy," Liz said.
Maizie looked at her.
"He loves me. I know that, but I-I don't know how to feel about him. I've spent so much time trying to fix myself, to focus on myself that I've only let him stay in my mind," Liz paused. She stared out into the darkening night. "I missed him every day. But any time he came to visit me, I get confused."
"I can't claim that I know what you're going through or to even understand it because I've never had someone who makes me feel that way," Maizie said. "I think Hellboy is a complete idiot. He doesn't know how to work with a team properly. But…I can tell that he does love you. And that you love him. I know it's hard to feel that right now but maybe now's the time for you to let him in. Take a moment, take a beat and go from there."
Liz drank up the rest of her coffee and set it beside her on the bench. She looked at her new friend.
"I think Broom hired the perfect person to be HB's bodyguard," Liz said.
Maizie blushed, "Oh. Well, I try."
Liz smiled and nudged her shoulders against Maizie's. She picked up her camera and took a picture of her. Then she stood up as the camera spat out the picture. Maizie stood up and stood next to her and looked at the picture.
"Hmm, I've never really had that good of a picture taken of me," Maizie commented.
"Good," Liz said. "It's time you had a good one."
Liz looked around. It was getting colder. "Let's go back. It's cold as hell here and I could use a good night's sleep."
Maizie smiled, "Absolutely."
She picked up Liz's cup and threw them away into a trash that sat next to the bench. She went back to Liz and slipped her arm underneath hers.
"Do you want to walk back or teleport?" Maizie asked.
"Teleport, might as well get used to it," Liz replied.
Maizie grinned, "Alright." She brought up her hand. "Actually, before we go, let's wave at some of these buildings in case Hellboy is being a nosy idiot."
Liz agreed and they waved to all the tall buildings they could see around them. They began giggling because they felt stupid. The smoke bellowed out from under their feet and enveloped them. They disappeared, leaving behind the echoes of their laughter. They teleported to one of the hallways of the BPRD, close to Liz's room. They appeared in smoke.
"Thank you for the coffee, I enjoyed it," Liz said.
"Anytime," Maizie replied. "Hit me up if you ever want to talk or grab coffee."
Liz smiled, "Of course. I'm gonna get ready for bed. What are you going to do now?"
Maizie pointed in the general direction behind her with her thumb, "I'm going to check in with Abe for a bit. See how he's doing."
Liz nodded, "I'll see you tomorrow. Night."
Maizie waved before she turned to leave. The sound of the door opening and shutting came from behind her. She walked until she found herself at the sickbay. The glass opening that had been destroyed was now covered with a sheet of plastic. She stepped through the opening of the room and headed to the container that Abe was strapped into. The doctor had said that being in the water, his natural habitat, would help him recover a little quicker.
A silver, metal contraption held water and Abe held up with straps and tubes that fed him medicine. Maizie stood in front of it and watched him. She watched the bubbles form in the water and float up until it popped. She stood like that for a while, thinking and watching.
She felt guilty because she hadn't been there. Sure, she was doing something important by picking up Liz and bringing her back. But that did nothing to reassure her of the guilt. She put a hand on the glass.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there," she said to the comatose Abe. "Maybe I would've been able to protect you and stop this from happening."
She looked at Abe, almost as if she was expecting him to reply. But when there was nothing, she got ready to pull her hand away. But as soon as she made the decision to remove her hand, Abe's eyes quickly opened and his hand shot out to slap against hers, the glass between them. She let out a gasp as her back arched. Voices swam in her head, and she began to see images. Her eyes closed.
"Sebastian Plackba #16," Professor spoke to himself as he examined a small piece of paper.
Moscow.
Broom realized, "Rasputin's Mausoleum."
Kroenen descending the spiral staircase. Broom turned, fearful.
"I see the puppet…But where is the puppet master?"
The vision flashed as a man descended behind Kroenen.
"Rasputin," Broom identified. "I should've known you would have survived all those years ago. You caused Liz's relapse."
The vision flashed again as the words, 'his destiny' was softly spoken by Rasputin. Broom was thrown into a vision of his own. Of the future. The ruins of New York charred and destroyed with Hellboy at the mantel.
Broom stumbled from the force of the vision as Rasputin spoke.
"He disclosed to me the child's true name…would you like to know it?"
"I call him son."
Kroenen brandished a knife and slipped it into Broom.
Maizie gasped as the vision stopped. She opened them to greet Abe's eyes. Her hand slipped from the glass, breaking the psychic contact between them. Abe's hand still laid on the glass as he watched her fall back.