"He said what?" Hellboy stopped pacing and glared at his friend. "What did Myers say he wanted?"
"He wants the fetus aborted," Abe repeated himself as he cleaned up the equipment around him. He had respected John's request for privacy and allowed the young human to venture off alone. Soon after, he called Hellboy into his lab and told him what had transpired.
"And you just let him up and go wandering off alone? Without telling me first?" Red demanded.
Abe paused briefly in what he was doing to glance up at Hellboy before continuing with his work again. "John is a grown adult capable of making sound decisions."
"The man just found out he's pregnant with a half demon child. No man I know would be in their right frame of mind after finding out something like that."
"Do not worry, Hellboy. John will not be leaving these perimetres tonight."
"Oh really? And what makes you so sure of that?" Hellboy's voice had taken on a sarcastic tone.
The merman carefully organized metallic implements into a drawer and shut it closed before eyeing the red demon. "I am certain that John will not be leaving the BPRD because I have ordered his ID Code on lock-down." Abe looked away then and started wiping down the counter surface.
"Very smooth, Blue," Hellboy admitted admirably, and soundly took off in search of his wayward lover.
>>>>>
It took longer than Hellboy had anticipated, and he grumbled to himself about it, but he finally found John. It was in an empty training room that the demon found his lover sitting on a windowsill, looking forlornly out into the night sky. Hellboy was by no means a graceful soul, and no doubt John must have heard him come into the room. But the human made no outward sign that he heard him come in.
Hellboy quietly studied the agent as he stood by the entrance. John sat with his head and back propped up against the window frame. One leg was bent and rested its foot on the sill while the other extended down to the floor. Red eyed John lovingly as he noticed slender hands unconsciously protecting a still-flat abdomen. "Hey," he quietly interrupted.
Myers finally spared a glance over in his direction and Hellboy quickly approached the man when he saw the look of despair in those brown eyes. He engulfed the smaller man into a firm hug and sat down to the ground, making sure that John was wrapped around him. Myers held him tightly around the neck and buried his face into the crook of it. Hellboy can feel the warm breath of his lover as he breathed erratically against his skin. He made soothing sounds and rubbed his John's back softly, waiting for the man to speak when he wanted to.
"Is it true?" Myers tentatively asked.
"Yeah `Scout," Hellboy quietly confirmed.
"I told Abe that I wanted it aborted."
"I know."
Myers pulled away suddenly, wanting to look Hellboy in the eye. "I don't want to be pregnant."
"I understand. I don't blame you. Whatever decision you make you know I'll back you up 100%," Red told him quietly.
"But this is your child too," John persisted.
Hellboy didn't say anything at first and lifted up the hem of John's shirt so that he was able to place his flesh hand onto the naked skin of the flat torso. He felt the muscle beneath it shift back and forth with each breath that John drew and Hellboy could almost imagine feeling the slight beating of his child's heart from within. When he started stroking the smooth skin there, Myers gasped lightly. Reluctantly, he removed his hand and returned to stroking his lover on the back. "It's whatever decision you make, John," he repeated himself. "I'm still getting used to the idea that you're carrying a mini-me inside of you, and I'm not quite sure how to feel about that yet. But I do know how I feel about you, and that is I love you, John. If you don't want to carry through with this, or you don't feel comfortable doing it, I will not have you subjected to any of it."
John looked into his yellow eyes and saw sincerity in them. "You don't think me less of a man? You don't think that I'm a freak? A demonic hermaphrodite?" Myers voice was building in volume and getting angrier with each sentence. "Do you know what the others will say about me? A pregnant man… someone that fucks around and obviously takes it up the ass. What's Manning going to say when he finds out? Better yet, how about Clay, Moss, Quarry and the others?"
The agent was clearly agitated and Hellboy didn't offer resistance when John removed himself off of his lap and started pacing and gesturing wildly with his hands. "I worked so hard to get to where I am today. I studied hard and graduated top of the class. I underwent brutal training and endured countless hours of PT and beat out God knows how many other agents to get here." John stopped and stared down hard at Hellboy, who was still sitting on the floor. "I will not let this freak of nature take all that away from me," he screamed.
Then, just as sudden as his fit of explosion began, John collapsed to his knees and started bawling. Hellboy scooted over and quickly embraced him. "I don't know what to do," John sobbed. "I don't want this, but it doesn't seem right to get rid of it either."
"You don't need to decide right now," Hellboy reminded him. "I want you to rest and forget about this for a moment. Tomorrow you can decide what you want to do if you like." John nodded silently and Hellboy just held him, waiting for the hiccups and tears to calm down. He had never seen the normally well-composed man break down like this before, and therefore knew that John must be really torn up inside to lose control like this.
Once Hellboy realized that the young man had fallen asleep, in a state of exhaustion, he carefully picked him up in his arms and carried him back to his bedroom. Gently he laid the body down onto the mattress and smiled to himself when a couple of cats immediately curled up around agent.
They say that hindsight is 20/20, and Hellboy now saw all the signs that he had interpreted incorrectly in the past. The dry heaving and moodiness that John blamed on stress, the lack of appetite blamed on an overwhelming workload, the sudden increase in affection from the cats… This must've also been the reason his pregnant cat seeked John out instead of staying within the relative safety of his room.
Hellboy lay down onto the mattress next to John and curled himself around the man's body, making sure to hold him possessively around the waist. Silently, he watched his lover sleep; John's facial expression was relaxed and he looked much younger than he already did. Hellboy was grateful for what he was given in the form of the man's love for him, and he wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. For certain, he did not look forward to the difficult choices that were about to be made. He worried about the kind of stress that would result and hoped that it would not impact upon their relationship too greatly.
>>>>>
When Hellboy woke up, he saw a pair of expressive brown eyes looking down at him. "'Scout, what time is it?" he yawned.
"Morning time, about 8 o'clock."
Hellboy studied John's face intently. The man looked a little better than he did last night, and there was even a slight twinkle in the eyes. "How ya feelin'?" he asked.
"Better. I've been thinking…"
"Yes?" Hellboy gently prodded when John petered off.
"Um, well maybe… it wouldn't be too bad if… I kept the… baby?" John looked up questionably at him. "I mean, everyone already knows about what happened two months ago. And I'm pretty sure that there are already assumptions about the two of us. They'll eventually just put two and two together and we can write if off as some side effect of the demonic protein."
Hellboy personally don't give a fuck about what the other agents thought of him. But he knew that John didn't have as thick of skin as him when it came down to other's opinions of them, so he understood why the agent was trying to justify his reasoning. It didn't matter though, because whatever John decided, Hellboy would make sure it happened. And if anyone were to give his lover grief over anything, Hellboy would also make sure it's dealt with personally.
"I'm sure they'll think nothing of it," Hellboy assured him. Myers smiled and looked like a huge load was lifted off of his shoulders. "So, I take it you want to keep baby Red?"
John blushed lightly and found himself touching his abdomen. "Yeah, I guess I do."
"Even though it's a freak of nature?"
The young man had the grace to blush even further. "I'm sorry about that," he mumbled.
"I'm sure it was just the mood swings kicking in," Hellboy teased.
"Mood swings?" Myers repeated, horrified.
Hellboy froze, not quite sure what to say. This wasn't usually his department.
"Uh… maybe you better drop in on Blue and have a visit. I'm sure he'll have lots to say to you. He'll be thrilled, in fact, when he finds out he's gonna be an uncle."
>>>>>
"You can not believe how pleased I am that you have decided to keep the baby!" Abe exclaimed. He motioned for the man to make himself comfortable on the examination table and settled down for a long chat. "I am sure you have numerous questions you will want answered. And there are many aspects of the pregnancy that you will need to be made aware of. Where would you like to begin?"
"Um," Myers leaned back on his hands and swung his feet back and forth. "I'm not even sure where I want to begin. I guess the main thing I want to know is how long will this last and how will the baby be delivered?"
Abe cocked his head in thought. "The gestation period for humans, as you know, is approximately 38 weeks from time of conception. However, we must not ignore the obvious discrepancies in this case. A domestic feline's gestation cycle can last anywhere from 58 to 65 days. But we must also consider that the gestation periods of larger wild cats can last anywhere from 90 to 110 days. In fact, lions can go on as long as 120 days. I can assume that your pregnancy may last somewhere in between these time frames."
"But we're talking about a difference of 2 to 9 months," John sputtered. "Isn't there an accurate way of finding this out? I don't want to be out on the field one day and all of the sudden go into labour."
"First of all, you will no longer be able to participate in field work. That is simply too risky for someone in your condition."
"My `condition'?" John scowled.
"Yes," Abe replied firmly. "What I will do is take regular images of your fetus and your hormone readings; every week preferably. I will compare these to the parametres of a regular human pregnancy. I hope this will give me a more than accurate gauge of how yours will progress. From what I can gather so far from the ultrasound image I took last night and your current blood work, I would say you are presently near the end of your first trimester."
Abe reached over to pull a file from his desk. He took out the black and white printout of the ultrasound and showed it to John. He pointed to various spots with the end of a webbed finger. "Right here you will see the development of facial features. The eyes and mouth are right here and here where you see those pin points." A warm sensation was starting to flow through John's body as he listened to the blue demon describe his baby to him. His baby… Hellboy's baby… *Their* baby. He liked the sound of that.
"This cloudy area here is the beginning of lung formation and that little dot there is the heart. That is actually one of the main reasons that I strongly suspect that you are at the end of your third trimester, because the heart is just starting to beat, but not the lungs. At this rate I can assume that your pregnancy will last about six months. You should be able to deliver in about four months."
"Four months?" John whispered in a daze. In four months he will be able to hold his child in his arms? "How will I deliver it?"
"There is no indication yet that your body will provide a natural means of delivery. We must be prepared to perform a caesarian section on you when the time comes."
"Oh," John processed the information in his head. "What sort of other… symptoms will I have to look forward to exactly?"
"Well, every pregnancy is different. You might experience nothing more then the occasional spell of nausea or dizziness. But on the other hand you might suffer morning sickness for the entire duration of your pregnancy. We will deal with them as they come up," Abe assured him. "You must also speak to Manning. He will need to know about this. I am also going to recommend that you be taken off of field duty as we do not know what kind of stress might trigger a miscarriage."
"Oh," the agent repeated, dumbfounded. "Everything will be okay right?"
"I am hoping that with your reduced work load, and the frequency of your examinations we will be able to limit our risks to a minimum in regards to complications. I will do further research to see if I can find anything about pregnancies in demons and cross-reference them with human ones. As well, I will need you to play a proactive role in this. Never disregard any unusual signs or symptoms you may be experiencing as insignificant. I want you to report to me as soon as anything off occurs, even something as simple as a headache. Understood John?"
"Yes sir," John mumbled. "Will that be all then?"
"For now. I will need you to come in at the beginning of each week for your tests. Do you have any more questions for me?"
"No. I think that's all for now."
"Of course," Abe placed a comforting hand on John's shoulder and squeezed in support. "Do not hesitate to come to me at any moment's notice. I will be honoured to aid you during your time of need in any capacity I can."
"Thank you Abe," John told him sincerely. "That means a lot to me right now."
The next big thing Myers had to deal with is how he was going to handle this subject with Manning. The new Director of the BPRD did not possess the most approachable personality, to say the least. As it was, all too soon he found himself standing just outside the door to Manning's office. Pausing for a moment, he straightened out his suit and took a deep breath before finally knocking on the door.
"Come in."
Myers let himself into the vast, immaculate room and made eye contact with the man working busily behind the large mahogany desk. Tom Manning looked almost glad to see him.
"Oh good. I was just about to call for you Myers." Manning reached for a folder on his desk and passed it on to the younger man. "These are some witness reports that were sent in to us by our FBI mole. Apparently there has been some paranormal activity in the old warehouse district down by the pier. I want Red and Blue to look into this. Meet me for a briefing in fifteen minutes."
Already forgotten what he was here for, John immediately focused in on the reports he held. He browsed through the details as he kept a mental awareness of what his commanding supervisor was telling him. "I'll make sure they get there on time," he noted and strode out of the office in search of
Abe and Hellboy.
>>>>>
"Thank you for coming in to this briefing on such short notice gentlemen," Manning began. He turned on an overhead projector and a blurry headshot appeared on the screen. "This," he pointed, "is the image captured by a witness roughly two days ago. The FBI is trying to keep the current situation contained, but it's getting harder for them everyday as more and more sightings come in."
There were eight other men in the room, including John, Hellboy and Abe. They all intently studied the hazy picture in front of them. From what they could tell, the subject of the photo had a mossy glow on its skin. Despite the angular and sharp facial features, it was apparent that the demon was feminite in nature. The eyes glowed white and an armour plate covered its chest and torso. The most significant feature was the set of elaborate horns that jutted out of the figure's forehead. It was the same mossy colour and appeared to be ridged in texture, much like a mountain goat's. The horns rose high above the head, almost by a foot, before curving downwards to about the level of the demon's elbows. From there it turned sharply back up until the tapered, sharp tips reached past the apex of the head outgrowth.
Serpent like appendages seem to exist on the demon's back and each seem to have their own separate range of motion. John shuddered internally, reminded very much of the Sammaels they had fought when he had first met Hellboy.
"What I want to happen is to eliminate this demon. It seems to appear only at night and the FBI has not been able to determine what happens to it during the day. Because this is all happening so far in a primarily abandoned area, the general public is not exposed to this. The reports so far have been from the homeless population that occupy the surroundings." Manning pressed on a remote and a closer shot of the demon came into view. "This picture came to us because a reporter just happened to be in the area doing an expose on the lack of our government's role in dealing with poverty." He snorted. "Anyway, lucky for us I guess."
"So what's the big deal so far?" Hellboy asked. "Lady Spook killing anyone? Molesting? Sucking blood? Strip teasing?"
The Director took the time to glare steadily at Red before gesturing to the files sitting at everyone's place. "In there you will find copies of the witness reports, as well as what attributes we have been able to place on this demon so far. There haven't been any accounts of death or fatality yet. Although we do have two cases of injury to date, both females. Myers, I want you to do a thorough investigation on these two and see if you can come up with any similar connection between them. Abe, you will see if you can find out anything that might be of use to us in the destruction of this creature. Hellboy…"
Red looked charmingly up at Manning, a smirk on his face. "Yes?"
"You will keep this mission contained. I don't want any more people finding out about this than there already is. If things go out of control, I want you to do what you do best."
"Blow things up?"
"Yes."
"Those are my favourite orders," Hellboy grinned.
Manning cleared his throat in acknowledgement and turned the overhead off. "Gentlemen, you have your orders and have been assigned your respective commanding personnel. Good luck." And with that, he left the room and the organization to the next authority, Myers.
"Alright, we still have a few daylight hours left, so I want everyone to gear up and head out to the targeted location. You have the coordinates in your notes. Team Red will scope out the area and perform perimetre checks and Team Blue and myself will search out the two victims for questioning. At sundown we will rendezvous at the activity point for debriefing." Myers looked around the room at the serious faces. "Are there any questions?"
Nobody raised their voice so Myers dismissed them all. Only Hellboy and Abe remained behind. He averted his eyes when Abe looked almost accusingly at him.
"You have not alerted Manning of your current condition, I presume."
"Um, no. I went in his office and before I had a chance to say anything, Manning started going over the case files with me. I was so involved with the details I completely forgotten what I was supposed to tell him," John finished sheepishly when Abe continued his blink-less stare.
"This is unacceptable," Abe firmly stated. "You should not be out on this mission."
"Hey, what's going on here?" Hellboy stared to and fro between the two.
"John has decided to keep the child."
"I know." Hellboy's yellow eyes lit up and reached to grab John into a bear hug. "Ain't it great? I'm gonna be daddy."
"He was supposed to inform Manning today that he is to be taken off the activity list." Hellboy could feel the body in his arms tense at Abe's tone and he pulled back. He made eye contact with hesitate brown eyes. "We do not know what the risks and complications are as nothing like this has ever been documented before," Abe continued flatly. "We have no idea that this mission will not cause a miscarriage."
"That true, `Scout?" Hellboy asked. John nodded quietly. "Maybe you shouldn't come on this trip then. I don't want anything to happen to ya."
Myers frowned at the two of them. "I'll be fine. I'm just going to ask a bunch of questions, that's all. And besides, I've been running around on missions for the past two months and so far nothing has happened. What's one more? It can't be any more stressful then having to deal with the two of you," he muttered under his breath.
"What was that now?" Hellboy raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing," John replied. "When we come face to face with the demon I'll make sure to stay back and let you guys take over. And I'll let Manning know about me as soon as we get back. I promise."
Hellboy didn't look convinced and looked over at Abe for reassurance. There was a brief moment of uneasy silence as they waited for the merman's final assessment. "Very well," Blue finally conceded. "But as soon as we get back in from the mission I am personally escorting you myself to Manning's office, John."
"I can live with that," Myers smiled and followed Abe's grumbling retreating back towards the armory, Hellboy chuckling right behind him.
>>>>>
"What happened next?"
The young woman bit her lower lip and blinked rapidly at the agent questioning her. "There were these… tentacle like things that it threw at me. They pulled on everything, my arms, my legs, my neck…" She started to hyperventilate as she relived through those images again.
"Are you alright?" Myers asked in concern. "Please take your time."
She nodded and gave him a grateful look. "Thank you, but I'll be fine. It's just a bit difficult to remember everything. I was mostly paralyzed with fear at the
time," she laughed weakly. "There was a group of us… it was a pretty chilly night so we were all trying to keep warm around a bonfire. But that… thing… knew exactly what it wanted. It came straight for me. I don't understand." The woman started to tear up. "Next thing I remembered, all hell broke loose and these FBI guys come running out of nowhere and bullets went flying all over the place. Even Bob got shot with one of their bullets."
"Bob?"
"Yes, my boyfriend." The woman took a pro-offered Kleenex and wiped at the tears forming around her eyes. "He was trying to save me from that monster and got caught in the crossfire, I guess."
"Is there anything else you'd like to add?" John gently asked. He felt compelled to help the girl out in some way. She was so young; she couldn't have been more than twenty.
She shook her head. "No, I think that's about it." Then she gave him a shy smile. "It was scary when it happened at the time, but it was good in a way. The FBI is offering us accommodations in exchange for our silence. They're simple but it's a lot better than where we were. Especially with a young one on the way."
"Young one?" Myers paused in his writing and looked up with interest.
"Yeah," she said shyly. She started to rub her abdomen. "The doctor at the free clinic told me that I was about four months along."
"Oh, well congratulations then." John smiled and thanked her before stepping away. He compiled his notes together and stepped into a large van parked nearby. Inside, Abe was waiting for him. Two other agents stood outside the vehicle, nodding to John as he went in. Their stances appeared casual to the outsider, but their attentions to the surrounding perimetres were on high alert.
"Were you able to read her from here?" John asked.
"Yes, I was. I looked inside and it was just like she said." Abe continued thoughtfully, "It was most unusual that the demon came straight for her like she had described. There was no hesitancy; the demon knew what it wanted. It was surprisingly similar to the first woman you interviewed."
"I know." John flipped through his notes uneasily, and therefore did not notice the merman intently studying him.
"How are you feeling John?"
Myers looked up suddenly, surprised. There was no one else inside the van except for the two of them so he allowed himself to briefly caress his abdomen. "I'm fine. A little tired maybe, but nothing I can't handle."
"Are you experiencing any nausea or dizziness? You do not look very comfortable."
John grimaced. "Don't read too much into this, but that last girl mentioned that she was pregnant."
Abe stared at him. "The first woman you interviewed was pregnant also," he realized.
"I know. But that might just be a huge coincidence," John shrugged.
"John, this is no coincidence. I think we might have found our common connection." A light bulb suddenly went off inside of Abe's head. "My goodness, I think I know what we may be dealing with here. All the details make sense now. I have never seen one before, but have come across her descriptions many times over the course of my research. I cannot believe that I did not connect the pieces together earlier until now."
"What is it then?" Myers wanted to know.
"The demon we are dealing with so far seems to fit the description of Lilith. In the Hebrew religion she was Adam's first wife."
"Um, I'm not very up-to-date with the religion thing, but I thought Eve was Adam's first wife?" John asked, confused.
"There is a Hebrew legend that says Adam and Lilith were both created by God in the same fashion, from the dust of the earth. Lilith insisted upon equal
treatment, which Adam disagreed with and this remained a constant source of friction between the two. Eventually, Lilith used magical powers to fly away from Adam. It was said that afterwards, Eve was fashioned out of Adam's ribs, symbolic of her subjection to him."
"So then what? That doesn't explain anything yet."
Abe continued on. "Before Eve was created, Adam had first urged God to return Lilith to him. Three angels were dispatched to seek the stray wife out and found her sitting by the Red Sea, having already copulated with the demons there and bearing 100 children a day. At one point the angels made threats against Lilith's descendants and thus, she countered that she would prey for eternity upon newborn human babies. In the end, Lilith stood her ground and never returned to her husband. Later on she was said to become the wife of Satan and the princess of Hell."
John whistled. "That's pretty heady stuff. But none of these babies are born yet. They're still in the womb," he suddenly pointed out.
"Legends are variations of the truth. We do not know for a fact that Lilith preys upon newborns anymore than we know that the Boogieman attacks only children late at night."
"But they do," Myers muttered petulantly.
Abe ignored him. "It could also be simply the case that there are no infants around and she goes after the next closest thing available. This can be tricky, as the reports all stated that she only comes out when there is a wanted source nearby. If the FBI have evacuated this area, how are we to lure her out?"
The merman was deep in though and John placed a hand over his torso in an unconscious attempt to keep the entity within it safe. He had an idea and he knew that Abe was not going to like it. But it may be the only way right now to bring the hunted demon out from its hiding place.
"I will bait it out."
[Reviews - 1] [Kudos - 188]
Download story PDF format or ePUB format or MOBI format
Table of Contents
Download story PDF format or ePUB format or MOBI format
Table of Contents