Hellboy walked into John’s room and headed directly for the chair by the bedside. The nurse on duty nodded his acknowledgement in Hellboy’s direction and went back to monitoring the various readings on the EKG screen. The demon sat down ungracefully and immediately reached for John’s hand, reassuring himself with the cool touch of his lover’s skin and presence.
After a few minutes the nurse left, closing the door quietly behind him. Hellboy took this opportunity to let his calm façade fall apart and allowed the tears to form in the corner of his eyes. His external shell of indifference was crumbling and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could watch his lover suffer. Desperately he wished he could switch places with John, or at the very least share the stress load.
With effortless power Hellboy destroyed creatures of a dark and evil nature. Without so much as a blink of an eye he was able to take down a building and dismantle its structure. With a few whispered words and his right hand of doom he was able to open up the gates of Hell and bring upon Armageddon to the world.
And yet, here was John. One mortal; vulnerable and oh so fragile. One man who used himself as bait to bring out a demon, one man who brought down Lilith with his own bare hands, one man who endures the pain and effects of the succubi alone…
...The one man who is selfless and strong enough to carry Hellboy’s child, out of love.
Hellboy watched quietly and willed John to awake, to come back to the conscious world. He craved to gaze into those blue eyes again, lighting up at the sight of him. He yearned to see those lips smile again, and laughing at his lame jokes. He wished he could hear that voice again, even if to lecture him once more.
Suddenly, he shook his head clear and quickly wiped away at the tears before they had a chance to fall down his face. He needed to rid those morbid thoughts from his mind, John was merely unconscious for the time being, and it was nothing permanent. Hell, Red had faith that in the next few minutes Myers will wake up and laugh at him for being so melancholic.
The thought of a sarcastic John brought a smile to his lips and he gazed fondly at his lover’s face. In his sleep the man looked younger than he already did, and so serene and peaceful at the same time. Dark lashes stood out as they fanned across the pale skin of the man’s cheeks. Thin pink and purple veins lightly traced along the delicate eyelids, and for once the seemingly permanent frown the agent always seemed to wear was absent.
‘At least he looks healthier now than before,’ he mused to himself. He listened to the rhythmic ticking of the clock on the wall and the beeping on the machines. Realising that he had been up and about on his feet almost non-stop for the past couple days now, Hellboy allowed himself to finally close his eyes to rest. Gently, he stroked the hand he held in his with a thumb, content with his safety blanket.
>>>>>
He slowly opened his eyes and blinked quickly, surprised that he was looking up at the leaves of a tree and the blue sky above. What was he doing outside? For another second he pondered his situation when he heard the high pitched giggling of a child beside him.
Quickly he glanced to his right and stared into large brown eyes. The owner of these eyes giggled and cooed happily back at him, short stubby arms waving in the air in his direction. A thin line of drool had escaped from the corner of a widely opened mouth and made its way down the chin to add to the already wet spot on the bib.
Another giggle accompanied the child’s and Hellboy managed to tear his gaze away from the infant to stare at its guardian. John grinned back at him, his eyes shining bright and looking absolutely beautiful. “Did you wake your Da up?” he asked the baby. The child giggled louder at the thought and blew raspberries at Hellboy.
“John?” he asked, unsure of what he was seeing before him.
“Yah Red?” John looked away from the baby in his arms and smiled down at Hellboy again. “He’s your son, don’t blame me he woke you up. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree it seems,” he chuckled. The man readjusted his hold on the baby and lifted the small bundle up in the air. “You woke Da up didn’t you?” John cooed. “Didn’t you?”
Chubby hands and feet waved joyfully and more giggling ensued.
“We had a son?” Hellboy asked dreamily, unable to tear his attention away from the sight of his child and its bearer.
“Of course we had a son,” John chided him. “I didn’t endure that horrible pain for nothing. Well, at least watching you faint and ending up with a concussion made me feel a bit better.”
“He beautiful, just like his mother,” Hellboy whispered.
John nudged him with his foot and scowled lightly. “I thought I told you never to call me mother, mom or any other crap like that.”
Hellboy laughed and offered a finger to his son, who immediately latched onto it with his own tiny fingers. “What’s his name?”
“Hellboy,” John answered, smiling.
“Hellboy? Why?”
“Hellboy,” John repeated.
Hellboy stared at his smiling lover in confusion. “Huh?”
“Hellboy… Hellboy…”
>>>>>
“Hellboy!” Abe finally yelled next to the red demon’s ear. Hellboy snorted loudly and jumped up out of the chair he had been sleeping in.
“What?” he snarled. Then quickly and frantically he studied his surroundings. “Goddammit,” he swore. His glance fell back to the bed to where John was lying, still unconscious. “Aww damn, it was just a fucking dream,” he cursed.
“Hellboy, are you quite alright?” Abe asked, his face portraying concern.
“Yeah, just great,” he muttered. “What’s up, Blue?”
“Have you any information for me?”
“Yeah. Rabbi Hillel suggested I contact the Roman Catholic. Turns out that we might need to exorcise the succubi out of John and he doesn’t deal with that. So I grabbed one of the probies to look around for a priest that can do us the favour.”
“I thought you were going to take care of it?”
“Yeah I know,” Hellboy mumbled. “I was going to but I couldn’t bring myself to…”
“Red?” Abe finally asked when the demon grew silent. “What is it?”
“Pops was a big believer in that stuff,” Hellboy said quietly. “That whole Godly stuff. He had a bible in his hands when I was conjured out from the portal almost 61 years ago. All my life I remember seeing him reading that same book, and praying every night before going to bed. And every Sunday morning he would leave me for two hours to attend church. He believed so strongly in his God, and devoted most of his life to it.
“But where was his God when he was murdered?” the half demon asked bitterly. “Killed point blank by a creature that made a pact with the Devil. Killed and left all alone, his blood dripping down his clothes and soiling the floor he laid on, while his precious bible sat all pristine on his desk. Why wasn’t his God there to help him? To save him? To prevent the goddamned kill?”
Hellboy looked away and glanced softly down at John. “Why wasn’t I there to save Pops?” He reached for the man’s hand again, stroking it in both an effort to alert the agent of his presence, as well as to soothe his own nerves. When a hand was placed on his shoulder, he glanced up briefly at the merman and grunted in appreciation. “Didn’t mean for that bitch fest there to happen, Blue.”
“You can always count on me to be there to listen to you Hellboy,” Abe said. “I was very fond of Professor Broom, and his death affected me a great deal also. We can sympathise together one day after this whole ordeal is over with.”
“Thanks Abe.” Hellboy gruffly cleared his throat and looked up at his friend. “So any news for me?” he asked.
Abe went to grab another chair and pulled it close to the other side of John. “I have viewed the surveillance tapes. It appeared that John and Agent Clay were both sleeping at the same time at some point. That seemed to be when the succubi attack occurred. For no apparent reason at all, Clay stood up and sat on the bed at the same time John sat up by himself. Their eyes were opened and they stared at each other for several minutes. It was quite odd; they exchanged no words, nor body language. And although their eyes were opened it looked like they were not seeing anything.
“Then shortly before we walked in the two men started to gravitate towards each other, like magnets. Their lips touch but that was about it. Nothing else happened. This is unusual, I have not been able to find anything that documents a similar occurrence.”
“Wait, nothing happened you say?” Hellboy asked. When Abe nodded, he went on to say, “I don’t have to kill Clay when he wakes up then. That’s good, cuz I like him.”
“Yes, I am sure he would appreciate that, Red,” Abe said dryly. “I shall continue now, if I may?”
“Go on ahead,” Hellboy agreed cheerfully, shamelessly happy for the moment that no one else, except for him, had been physically intimate with his lover.
“I was just going to say that although our case is unusual, there have been some instances in which they describe the succubus drawing the life source from her victims through their mouths. Hence the saying…”
“’Sucking the life right outta me’,” Hellboy exclaimed excitedly. “I’m not just a pretty face you know,” he said pointedly when Abe stared at him in silence.
“Both Clay and John are exhibiting normal vital signs. The only thing is they seem to be experiencing extreme delta waves. This is not a coma they are in, but a case of a really deep sleep.”
“I’d always thought that I would be the one to sleep through World War 3 if given the chance,” Hellboy mused distractedly.
“At this point it is difficult to tell who drew on whose breath. In fact, I am not even sure how to wake either man up. We have tried almost all tricks in the book and still they continue to sleep. My only hope is that once we find someone who is familiar with the exorcism of the lilim they will awaken.”
Hellboy sat up straight and looked Abe in the eyes. “Trust me, Blue. We’re gonna find a way to nip this in the bud. Failure is not an option.”
>>>>>
“Father Anthony Ricci, the senior priest of the St. Mary’s Holy Sacred Heart.” Agent Connolly flipped through the pages of the small notebook he held and cleared his throat nervously as he glanced at the large, looming red half demon he was reporting to. “On several occasions he’d been approached to perform exorcisms and cleansing rituals. He’d apparently dealt with all sorts of possession and hauntings, people and buildings alike.”
Out of the corner of his eye, the newly recruited FBI agent could see Hellboy’s tail twitched in agitation and impatience. Clearing his throat quickly, Connolly continued on, “I told him about the situation with the succubi and he immediately became interested. Father Ricci seems to be quite familiar with this sort of demonic activity. We’re waiting for clearance to go through and then he will be escorted here to perform the ritual immediately.”
“And how long will that take?” Hellboy drew deeply from his cigar. He had been dying for a smoke all day but his need to be by John’s side in the Health Ward was stronger. So naturally, the first thing he did when he was kicked out of that wing was light up a Cuban. He nearly wet himself with that first puff. And he had been enjoying himself so much when this probie showed up.
Although, he had to give the kid brownie points for getting the job done so quickly. Silently he studied the young agent, amused with the man’s apparent willingness to please and not disappoint. A bit wet behind the ears and Hellboy couldn’t help but compare the newbie to the first day he met John almost a year ago.
Perhaps about a year or two older than Myers currently was, Connolly wore the same look of eagerness, mixed with a touch of naivety, that John had then. Hellboy frowned when he thought about how much his lover had hardened since that time. As time passed the bright eyed, optimistic look that John used to wear slowly faded away, to be replaced with a more worn, hard-edged look. Hellboy wondered how long it would be before the kid in front of him took on the same attitude, assuming he lasted long enough for the change to occur.
When he saw the frown form on the large demon’s face, Connelly stopped himself from fidgeting nervously. “As long as it takes for the papers to process. The Director needs to read the application and give his approval.”
“Fuckin’ Manning,” Hellboy muttered under his breath as he let out a long stream of cigar smoke. “As soon as the clearance goes through, bring the good priest in to see Myers and come get me ASAP.”
“Yes Sir,” Connelly replied.
“Aw shit, don’t call me ‘Sir’,” Hellboy grunted. “I’m not some old stick in the mud. Everyone else around here just calls me Red.”
“Okay, Red. Got it.”
Hellboy nodded and took another deep drawl of his cigar. Lazily he glanced over at the young agent and noticed that the man was still staring at him. The not-so-subtle look of awe on Connelly’s face was starting to make him feel uncomfortable. “What is it?” he finally asked, his voice sounding a bit exasperated.
Connelly blinked and blushed lightly, not realising that he had been staring. “I’m sorry. It’s just that… you’re Hellboy,” he exclaimed. “I used to read about you in comic books when I was a kid. And now I get to work with you.”
Hellboy snorted and inhaled his cigar some more. “Funny kid, Myers said about the same thing when I first met him. I’m gonna like you, I think,” he decided aloud. “Now go, I’ll be back with John as soon as I’m done with this. When the priest gets here you’ll find me there.”
“But, didn’t Abe kick you out of that ward?” the man asked, confused. He still couldn’t believe that he was working with these legendary beings, and looked up to these so-called ‘super heroes.’ Hence his reluctance to piss them off, but he had been given strict orders to keep Hellboy away from Agent Myers’ room until the demon got some sleep. “I was told to make sure that you get some rest,” he said hesitantly.
“That’s gonna be tough for you, cuz I don’t really feel like resting,” Hellboy told him. “If you need to know, I won’t be able to rest peacefully until John wakes up again, so Blue can just kiss my big fat red ass.” He grounded the stub of his cigar into a nearby ashtray and started to walk towards the door.
“Red? Seriously, you can’t go back in there. You need to rest,” Connelly protested firmly.
Hellboy sighed and rolled his eyes. His hands rested akimbo on his hips as he turned around to face the frustrated agent. “Kiddo, there’s two very important things you’ll need to learn if we’re to get along.” He held up his index finger. “First, my food always get to me on time, no exceptions.” Then he added his middle finger to it. “Second, no one never ever gets in my way when it comes to John. Understood?”
Dean Connelly swallowed hard. He needed to learn to pick his battles. And judging by the glint in the demon’s yellow eyes, he figured that receiving a reprimand from Abe was less detrimental to his health than taking up on Hellboy’s unspoken threat. So he nodded in understanding and didn’t say a word when the red half demon walked out of the room.
He predicted that his time spent here in the BPRD was going be an interesting experience.
>>>>>
“Why am I not surprised to find you here again?”
Hellboy tore his eyes away from John’s face to grin up at Abe. “Persistence is my virtue,” he smirked.
“I hope you did not scare Agent Connelly too much, as I am sure you must have if he had let you come back in here,” Abe responded dryly.
“’Let me’ back in here?” Hellboy snorted. “That’s a hoot. Like he could’ve stopped me from coming back here. Well, he did have good intentions and tried. Not as hard as I’m sure John would’ve if their places were switched, but ‘Scout’s always been a tough scrapper,” he said fondly.
“Well, regardless, try not to frighten him too much, Red. He will be taking over John’s former duties to you until this whole ordeal is over. He will also be acting as John’s aide once he is back on his feet again.”
“A babysitter eh? I wonder who’ll be more pissed off when they find out… Connelly or John?”
“It is most required,” Abe stated. “The amount of trouble that John attracts is frightening, and I worry about what he will get himself into if there is no one watching over him. Especially in his pregnant state. I cannot be around him constantly, nor can you. Connelly is very reliable and trustworthy. He shows a lot of potential. Unfortunately for him, he has limited field experience, so hopefully through this temporary position he will be able to pick up a few pointers from John.”
“Is that wise?” Hellboy asked. “John can get pretty nasty if the wrong mood swing hits.”
“This shall test how good of a diplomat Agent Connelly will prove to be,” the merman simply replied. The two friends shared a knowing smile and sat back in silence, each contemplating their own private thoughts while sitting vigilantly by John’s side.
About a half hour later, Hellboy stirred out of his thoughts when he felt his hand weakly squeezed. Startled, he looked down at the hand he held and felt the light squeeze again. When he glanced over to his lover’s face, his face lit up with a mixture of surprise and relief to see John blinking up at him. The blue eyes that stared looked tired, and were barely opened, but Hellboy let out a loud whoop of glee. Abe sat up in alert and looked to see what the demon was getting so excited about.
“John!” he exclaimed. “You are awake.”
Myers turned his head over in Abe’s direction and smiled weakly. “Tir’d,” the man managed to whisper. “Sle’p now.” And the eyes closed again.
At that very moment, a nurse came through the door in search of Abe. “Agent Clay is awake,” she announced.
The merman got up to leave. “I will just be next door if you need me,” he told Hellboy before stepping out of the room.
Hellboy watched his friend leave with the nurse and gazed back down at his sleeping mate. He resumed stroking his thumb over the pale hand he held and smiled.
>>>>>
“Agent Clay, good to see you awake again,” Abe greeted the rumpled looking man. “You were beginning to worry us.”
“Hey Blue,” he mumbled, head still feeling a bit hazy. “What happened? Is Myers okay? How long have I been out? God, I feel like shit…”
“John appears to be alright for the time being. And you have been unconscious for approximately twelve hours now.” Abe went to read the charts he was handed and gazed at Clay. “As for what happened, I am hoping that perhaps you can give me a little insight as to what you know.”
Clay scratched his head and rubbed the back of his neck. A frown formed on his face as he concentrated on bringing up the wanted memories.
“I was watching over Myers and I guess I must have dozed off. I remember waking up and saw that he was having a nightmare or something. So I tried to wake him, and when I did Myers started acting really weird.”
The seasoned agent told Abe all that he could remember. Despite the horrible sense of embarrassment he was experiencing, in addition to the bright reddening that must be developing on his face, he plowed right on with the details. He knew well enough that harbouring any facts, regardless how important or not they may seem, was a sure way to hinder an investigation.
“Quite interesting,” Abe mused when Clay finally stopped talking. “It appeared as if John was acting in the role of the succubus and seducing you. Do you remember how you felt just prior to passing out?”
“Like I was being suffocated. Like he was sucking the life right out of me,” Clay slowly described. “White eyes, I also saw white eyes,” he suddenly exclaimed. “I remember opening my eyes at the last minute and saw these bright glowy things staring back at me.”
Abe stiffen his posture, alert. Facts were starting to add up and match. “That definitely sounds like the work of the lilim. I will need John to wake up to tell me his side of the story to see what it is we are facing. And to find out exactly what their intentions are.”
“Anything else I can to do help?” Clay asked.
“No, but thank you Agent Clay. For now I just want you to rest and restore your strength.”
“Roger that,” he said as he pressed his head back into the pillow. “Feels like a steamroller went over my chest,” he chuckled.
“That would be due to the acute constriction that occurred in your respiratory vessels. We injected you with some epinephrine. You may be sore for awhile yet,” Abe explained ruefully.
The man shrugged. “Well, it comes with the job I suppose. I guess that’s what I get for enlisting with the FBI instead of going to accounting school.”
“Your optimism is quite refreshing.” Abe smiled as he quietly closed the door, the sound of Clay’s laughter ringing out after him.
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