‘Damn I hurt… why does it feel like there’s a sledgehammer war going on inside my head? And my chest… is that a concrete slab lying on top of me?’ John took a deep breath in to try and expand his chest. ‘Good Lord, what is that smell? C’mon Myers, get up off your ass and investigate.’
Hesitantly, he blinked his eyes to test the room’s lighting. The sun hadn’t quite fully risen yet and the lights were turned off so there was no glare to distract him. His eyes first roamed down his front to convince himself that there was nothing sitting on his chest, and next across the room to target the source of the horrible smell. John tried to lift his head up for a better look and bit back a moan when the pain in his head began to ring louder.
“’Scout?”
John averted his eyes towards the direction of the voice and smiled weakly at the sight of his lover sitting close to him. “Red,” he whispered, his voice hoarse and dry. He cleared his throat and managed to croak out, “Water.” A straw was quickly placed between his lips and he took a few sips of cold water before letting go of the plastic tube.
Feeling marginally better now that his throat didn’t feel so parched, John gamely tried to sit up again. He didn’t have to struggle for long as large strong hands were immediately at his beck and call, helping him to upright himself. Pillows were propped up behind his back and he gazed around the room. “What is up with that smell?” he demanded. His stomach, though empty, was feeling queasy from the odor.
“It’s incense,” Hellboy answered as he perched himself carefully on the edge of the bed. He leaned his arm against the headboard and John leaned into him, nose wrinkled up and a look of disgust on his face.
“Why are we burning incense?” John rested his hands lightly on top of his abdomen and tried to calm his stomach down.
“The priest guy said that we have to burn this stuff for the next 3 days.”
John groaned. “I have to put up with this smell for 3 days?” he whined. “My stomach feels like it joined the acrobats or something.”
Red looked down fondly at his lover. The brown hair was mussed and sticking up in all sorts of direction and there was some dried crust around the edges of his eyes. He leaned down to place a kiss on top of John’s head as the man continued to rant and whine about the smell. A newly awoken, pre-caffeinated John was never fun to be around, but after the close call of last night’s near death experience, Hellboy was ready to cherish any and everything about Myers.
John stopped talking when he realised that Hellboy wasn’t really listening to him. The large half demon was, instead, staring distractedly into space. He elbowed Hellboy to get his attention. “What are you thinking about?”
Hellboy broke out of his thoughts and glanced down at John. “Oh, just about how much I love you,” he murmured. Without giving the man a chance to respond to his heartfelt announcement, he quickly swooped down and gave the agent a deep kiss, morning breath and all. He chuckled as he felt hands on his chest trying to push him away and the sounds of protest coming out of the young man. Finally he relented and let go of his lover.
Myers glared at Hellboy and wiped the spit from his mouth. He didn’t care how much his lover chastised or told him that it was okay… he absolutely could not get over his own stigma about morning breath. He hated it when Hellboy surprised him with a kiss first thing in the morning before he was able to brush his teeth. Luckily, that didn’t happen too often as he was an early morning riser; whereas Hellboy will sleep in through the whole day if given half the chance. “Help me up,” he muttered. “I need to brush my teeth and I gotta pee in the worse way.”
Hellboy did one better and with effortless strength he lifted John up and cradled him to the bathroom. Carefully, he set the man down to the floor and steadied him when John began to sway slightly. Worried that the agent will fall, he wrapped his arms around John by the waist and contented himself with stroking the soft skin beneath the scrub top as the man attended to his morning routine. Once he was done, Hellboy carried him back to the bed.
John allowed Hellboy to fuss over him. He couldn’t remember much about last night’s ritual, and although Hellboy hadn’t said anything about it yet John knew that something must had gone horribly wrong for his lover to be fretting over him so much today. So once he was tucked in and given more water to drink, he decided to breech the subject. “So,” he asked. “How did the exorcism go last night?”
Hellboy looked at him suspiciously. “You don’t remember any of it?”
“Only up to the point when I was told to look at the crucifix. Things started to get dizzy shortly afterwards and the next thing I knew it was morning.” Hellboy began to blink rapidly. “Red?” John asked, worry evident in his voice. He placed a hand over Hellboy’s and stroked the red skin. “I know that something happened so just tell me.”
Hellboy looked away slightly and focused on nothing. “You became possessed. Something, I’m guessing the succubus, took control of your body and started to make threats about making you and the baby pay for what we did to Lilith. After the exorcism was over you went into cardiac arrest. Blue said your heart had stopped beating and they had to use the shock paddles to bring you back to life.”
John let out a gasp. He didn’t realise things had gone that bad. “I don’t know what to say,” he finally murmured as he continued to rub his lover’s hand. Suddenly the hand he was stroking moved and John found his own hand engulfed in it. He looked up and was shocked at what he saw. “Red?”
“Hmm… yeah Squirt?”
“Are… are you… crying?”
Hellboy took his flesh hand back to angrily wipe away the tears that had formed in his eyes. He glared at John and silently dared the man to make another comment about it. But Myers never spoke another word. Instead, he wrapped both his arms around the demon and curled up against him. He began to rub Hellboy’s back and before long, Hellboy let go of the façade he had been wearing for the last several hours and wept long and hard.
>>>>>
John stirred awake when he heard the door open. He blinked his eyes and saw a nurse coming into the room with his breakfast tray. Hellboy was still snoring loudly beside him and the nurse noticed this with disapproval. Behind the nurse followed Agent Connelly. Myers studied him wearily as he elbowed his lover awake. Hellboy snorted as he jolted awake and proceeded to yawn loudly as he stretched.
“Good morning Agent Myers. Good morning Hellboy,” the nurse greeted them as she placed the tray onto a side table and pulled it up to the bedside. “Perhaps Agent Myers would be more comfortable if you slept in your own bed,” she hinted in a not so subtle manner as she looked pointedly at Hellboy.
Hellboy looked innocently back at her as he stood up and sat in a nearby chair. The nurse threw her hands up in frustration before leaving the room, mumbling something about errant demons under her breath as she left. But the other agent still remained in the room.
“What is it, Connelly?” John asked.
“Sir, I was wondering if Hellboy would like to receive his breakfast here or in his room.”
“Bring it on here Probie,” Hellboy told him as he lifted up the lid that covered John’s food. “Sausages and pamcakes, make it extra syrupy.” Once Connelly had left, he looked over in John’s direction and found an annoyed look on the man’s face. He didn’t think that his lover could work up such irritation towards the simple eggs and toast sitting on the plate, bland as they looked, so he asked what was wrong.
“He’s getting you breakfast now?” John asked instead as he picked up a fork and began to play around with his scrambled eggs.
“Well somebody’s gotta feed me,” Hellboy began to joke. “And it’s obviously not gonna be you since you’re all knocked up and laid up in bed.” He stopped chuckling when he felt a fork hit him on the head.
“It’s your fault that I’m like this,” John scowled at him. Hellboy opened up his mouth to apologise but before a word could slip out a spoon was next thrown at him. “Get out!” Myers yelled. “Get out of my face now!”
Hellboy scrambled to his feet and quickly hurried out of the room. As the door closed behind him he heard another object hit it. Most likely a knife. He swallowed hard and took a step away from the door for safety measures. When he heard the sound of a wheeling cart approaching, he looked up to see Connelly pushing in a large bowl containing his breakfast. “Erm, slight change of plans, Probie. I’m gonna be eating in my room after all.”
Connelly looked at him in confusion but nodded. He strolled beside the tall demon as they walked back out of the infirmary and towards Hellboy’s living quarters. “The nurse kicked you out of the room?” he asked.
Hellboy shook his head and snorted. “The nurse? Kick me out? Yah right, that’s a good one.”
“Mood swings?”
“Oh yeah, in the worse way.”
>>>>>
It was lunch time when Hellboy stuck his head back into his John’s room. The man was finishing up a bowl of Jell-O and smiled brightly when he caught sight of his lover. Hellboy wasn’t sure how his reception would be received and had been wary, but smiled back in relief at John’s apparent good mood. “How was lunch?” he asked.
John made a face. “It’s your usual hospital fare, nothing great. Even this Jell-O tastes bland. What I could really use is a large greasy plate of fries and a huge cup of coffee to go with it,” he sighed wistfully as he finished off the last of his apple juice.
Hellboy chuckled. “We’ll make sure to get you your fill of the stuff as soon as we break you out of this pop stand,” he promised.
Myers smiled and closed his eyes as he imagined the taste of caffeine and ketchup in his head. “Actually, I don’t care what I eat as long as I don’t have to smell that incense again. I think it’s actually making me lose my appetite.”
“It’s only two more days,” Red consoled.
“Yeah right,” John snorted. “Plus the rest of today technically makes more than two and a half more days. And I’m so bored out of my wits, I’ve been allowed to do nothing but lie in this bed and I’m going crazy. I need to do something, anything.” He perked up. “Maybe you can bring me some of my paperwork so that I can catch up on it while I’m stuck here. I might as well be productive.”
“Sorry Squirt. I’m not gonna bring you nuttin’. You’re supposed to lie there and rest and that means mentally as well as physically. And besides, Manning has Connelly doing most of your paperwork now. See? Nothing to worry about.” Hellboy grinned, and he shouldn’t had been surprised by the shocking behaviour of the other man as he was told the news, but yet he was.
“The new guy is doing what?” John cried incredulously. “Connelly is doing my work? MY work? How can he possibly know what needs to be done?” he demanded.
“Hey, John calm down. Connelly will be just fine, you know that Manning wouldn’t have let him do anything he’s not capable of.” Hellboy made sure that John didn’t look like he was going to throw anything at him and sat down close to the man. “The kid’s not going over tactics or research you know. Just menial shit, like requisitions and filing.”
John took a deep breath and looked pleadingly at Hellboy. “Do you think? Are you sure?”
“Yes I’m sure.” Hellboy frowned at the man. “Squirt, are you afraid that he’s out to get your job or something?”
“He IS out to get my job!” John snapped. “He’s a leaner, meaner agent. And most importantly, he’s not some pregnant freak like I am!” And at the drop of a hat, John broke out into tears. Hellboy froze and desperately replayed their conversation, wondering how it went so wrong. He stood and shifted from foot to foot, unsure of how to handle a crying John. When the young agent showed no signs of calming down, he finally went with instinct and gathered the man into his arms, praying that this was the right move to make.
Fortunately, John wrapped his arms around Hellboy’s neck and buried his head against his chest, still sobbing. He rubbed his left hand soothingly across John’s back and murmured soft sounds of reassuring nonsense. His lover seemed to buy it as he eventually calmed down to just the odd hiccup. When Myers finally pulled away he quickly wiped away the remaining tears on his face, but his eyes were puffy and his nose and cheeks pink. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” he whispered. “I cry over nothing and get mad at the smallest thing. It’s starting to drive me crazy.”
“That is perfectly normal and to be expected during pregnancy.” Both John and Hellboy looked up at the voice and saw Abe walking through the door and towards them. “Good afternoon, young John. I am so sorry that I have not been able to visit you until now. How are you feeling today?”
“Pretty lousy, Blue,” he admitted. “These mood swings are driving me crazy, my appetite is shot, and I think I’m finally getting used to that God awful smell.”
“Yes, I apologise for the incense. Father Ricci said that demons can not stand the smell of incense.” He cocked his head to the side in thought. “Which is quite odd as Hellboy do not seem to mind it very much.”
“Half-demon, Blue boy,” Hellboy said, smirking.
“Riiight,” Abe drew out. Then he looked at John again. “Your appetite should start picking up again once you begin to gain more weight. If it does not we will have to look further into it. The muscles of your child are beginning to lengthen and organise by this point, and it is important that you maintain a satisfactory intake of protein.”
“Steak every night?” John asked.
“Perhaps, but I would not count on it,” Abe grinned. “Now, on to other matters at hand. I wish to take another ultrasound of your fetus to make sure that it was not harmed during the exorcism.”
Myers shrugged in compliance. Abe retrieved the necessary equipment that now sat on a trolley and wheeled it next to the bed. Without a word, John shoved the blanket that covered him down to his waist and lifted the hem of his top up, exposing his swollen abdomen. Efficiently and wordlessly, Abe applied a clear, cool gel to the surface of John’s skin as Hellboy looked on curiously. With the flick of a switch, the merman turned the sonograph machine on.
As the screen revealed a series of black and white images, Abe and John looked on in concentration. Hellboy didn’t even pretend to know what he was supposed to be looking for and stared with a confused look on his face. As Abe slowly moved the sound head against John’s abdomen, changing the angles of the gadget, the images on the small screen would change. Now and then Abe would make a soft sound of approval. Finally, he paused at one angle and pointed at a small blob on the screen.
“See that?” he asked quietly.
“Is that the face?” John whispered.
Hellboy looked from Abe’s face, to John’s, and then back again. He squinted hard at the image and then studied his companions’ faces once more. “What am I looking at?” he asked loudly.
“Look closely at this Red,” Abe instructed. “You should be able to make out a pale oval in this darkness, and two tiny black beads against it. That is your child’s face. Now see this tiny protrusion with little buds coming out of it? That is its hand.” Abe took a closer look at the ultrasound as the fetus shifted. Then he smiled widely. “Your child is sucking its thumb.”
Hellboy concentrated on what he was supposed to be seeing and eventually the image made sense to him. “That is so fucking cool,” he grinned. “Lil' Baby Red,” he cooed to the screen. “Good to know that it doesn’t have no horns,” he noted. Then he squinted some more. “Damn, kid’s got a big head or what?”
Abe turned the ultrasound off and began to wipe the gel off of John’s stomach. “The brain is fully formed by now,” he told the man. “As it continues to expand your child will begin to experience pain. So,” he said assertively to the agent, “it is very important that you do not participate in field missions anymore as we had discussed before. Do I make myself clear?”
Myers nodded, too shocked at the implications of potentially harming his child to have any snarky comeback for Abe.
“Nothing to worry about there Blue,” Hellboy assured him while keeping a firm eye on his lover. “He won’t be going no where, and I’m gonna be taking his gun away from him. We’ll see how far he goes without that.”
John snorted some more at the thought. He was torn between being irritated at the over protectiveness of his two friends, and being pleased that they were so concerned over his well-being. “I’m more than aware that I have months of bed rest to look forward to, as well as needless amounts of coddling,” he muttered.
“Just for the next four months,” Abe consoled.
“Three and a half as I recall,” Myers corrected him.
Hellboy laughed loudly. “’Scout, if you think the coddling is gonna stop as soon as Junior pops out then think again.”
John looked on in horror while Abe just smiled smugly.
>>>>>
The moment John was released from the infirmary, he made a beeline for the commissary. Abe had been occupied in his tank and many of the nurses were busy with other patients so John okay’d his own check out. The nurse on staff in admissions had been reluctant to let him go, but John had been counting the days until he was allowed to be released so he knew that it was fine and convinced her of such. He had been so eager to leave the Health Unit that he didn’t even bother to wait for Hellboy to come retrieve him.
Since he had been stuck in bed for the last week, he had worn nothing but scrubs for the entire duration. The last suit he wore was destroyed in the mission with Lilith, and to his dismay his spare suit that he had kept in his locker didn’t fit his changing body. Not wanting to walk around the Bureau in a set of scrubs, he grabbed some BPRD issued sweat pants and t-shirt to wear.
Because the shirt was slightly baggy, nobody could tell very well that his belly was larger than normal unless they looked very closely. But he figured that many of the agents here must know about his current condition by now and he felt self conscious every time he passed by someone. Nobody gave him a look of scorn or disgust; in fact, everyone had smiled or at least nodded in acknowledgement. The unease was still with him, however, until he was safely in the commissary, which was empty for the most part at this time of day. It was just after the breakfast hour and everyone should be out and about performing their duties by now.
He followed his nose towards the coffee pot and filled his cup to the brim with the hot beverage. Surprisingly, it was the strong scent of caffeine that actually calmed him instead of bringing his stomach through a somersault. As he walked towards the cashier to pay he caught sight of all the various displays of food and paused to see if anything caught his eye.
>>>>>
Hellboy ran through the halls of the building, frantically searching for his errant lover. He had gone into the infirmary about fifteen minutes ago to be told that John had approved his own release from the ward. He made a mental note to ream out both John and Manning for the seriously deranged loophole as he searched all over for John. First he had looked in the man’s office, and next in his living quarters in case they had someone passed each other. When he came up empty his next destination was the commissary.
He breathed a huge sigh of relief when he ran through the entrance to find his lover sitting alone in the empty room. For the moment, all plans to throttle the man were put on hold as he looked on. John had a mug of coffee cradled in both hands and he was inhaling the scent like it was the elixir of life. His eyes were closed and there was such an expression of bliss on the agent’s face. Red smiled in amusement and hurried over to the table, then stopped short as he examined the contents that overflowed the surface. Plates containing key lime pie, fries loaded with ketchup, honey and peanut butter sandwiches, pizza, and cookies sat on the table alongside bowls of soup, pudding and ice cream.
“Hey Red,” John said, grinning up when he caught sight of him. “Wanna share?”
Hellboy raised an eyebrow and pulled up a seat. “Hungry are we?” he asked. He picked up a slice of pizza and ate it in a few bites. He selected a random glass of milk to wash it down with and watched his lover as the man took alternate bites of pie, fries and soup. He shuddered at the madness of the combination of food but made no comment.
“You try living on hospital food for a week and you’ll understand,” John managed to say between mouthfuls of food.
“Oh, well I’ll just have to take your word for it. I’m never stuck in the infirmary,” Hellboy said proudly.
Myers rolled his eyes as he reached for a sandwich, biting into it with a contented sigh. Was there a better combination in the world than nutty peanut butter with sweet honey? He quickly ate the sandwich as he eyed the cookies, anxious to get to that next.
Red watched in fascination as his lover ate. “I don’t think I’d ever seen you eat this much and this fast before, ‘Scout.”
John shrugged as he reached for a chocolate chip cookie. “It must’ve been that damn incense you guys insisted on burning. Now that I can breath normal air again I guess I gained my appetite back.”
He sensed a shadow come up from behind him and he stopped eating long enough to look to see who it was. To his dismay he found Connelly standing there, looking down at him. John scowled. “What is it?” he asked.
“Sir, as my superior I’m here to report to you for my duties today.” Myers looked at Hellboy questioningly and the demon shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve caught up on all the necessary paperwork that Director Manning had me working on. All that is left to do is out of my expertise so I’m here to find out what my next orders are.”
John munched thoughtfully on a bite of pie as he considered Connelly’s words. “All the requisitions are done? All the filing and briefing reports?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“It takes me the entire day to even get through a few folders,” John muttered. “You must be either really good or really shotty with your work.”
“C’mon ‘Scout. Lay off on the Probie,” Hellboy chuckled. “It takes you the whole Goddamned day to get anything done because you have a crap load of other work to do on top of field missions. Kid here hasn’t been cleared for any of that yet.”
Connelly stiffened. “I assure you that my work is impeccable,” he said formally.
John nodded dubiously and gestured to an empty chair. “Pull up a seat then, Connelly. Once I’m done stuffing my face I’m sure we can find something for you to do.”
Dean sat down in the offered seat and gazed at the array of food in front of him. The experience was almost surreal as he looked on. A comic hero to his right, and a pregnant man to his left, both enjoying a bowl of ice cream. “Help yourself to whatever you see here,” Red said. “You better hurry though before John boy here eats it all up.”
Myers glared at the red demon but remained silent as the man reached for another cookie. Connelly shook his head as he reached for a bowl of pudding himself. He was actually looking forward to his time here.
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