Hellboy kicked opened the heavy metal doors to the Health Ward effortlessly with the heel of his boot. Held close to his chest was John. The young agent remained unresponsive in his hold and appeared to be barely breathing. "C'mon Squirt," Hellboy mumbled desperately to himself, "stay with me here. Don't leave me…" The quiet mantra was repeated over and over again under the demon's breath as he hurried his precious package through the wide, sterile halls.
Abe ran beside him matching him step for step. He steered Hellboy into an unoccupied operating room and ordered the nearby nurses to prepare the screening monitors and IV units.
"Agent is down, possibly due to traumatic shock," Abe informed his staff. "Start me up with point two milligrams of epinephrine. I will also need a saline drip and an epinephrine drip for backup." The medical crew moved about to efficiently perform their tasks. Meanwhile, the merman glanced over at his large friend, who was currently giving the orderlies grief. "Red," Abe admonished. "Let the men do their jobs and put John down onto the table."
"Forget it," Hellboy growled. If anything, he held the human even closer to his body.
"Hellboy," Abe said firmly. "Let John go." He walked right up to the red demon and stared him straight in his yellow eyes. "Hellboy," he said again. "If you do not let him go then I will not be able to perform on him. I must attend to John and the baby."
It slowly dawned on Hellboy what his friend was saying and very reluctantly his grasp on his lover slackened ever so slightly. The orderlies took this opportunity to take the fallen agent away from Hellboy and carefully laid the body onto the table. When they began to tie down the man's limbs with wide straps of leather, Hellboy protested loudly.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" he demanded as he stood up to his full height of 6'9". "Why are you strapping him down?" He moved to his lover's side and was about to rip apart the holds when Abe quickly stepped up to him and held him back with a simple push of the hand. There was no force needed, just the serious gaze of his expression was enough to make Hellboy pause.
"It is only a precautionary, Red. As sick as John is at the moment, please remember that he is still in his Felesdaemn form. Until we can normalise his condition we must assume that his actions will be unpredictable."
"Why don't you just stick the antidote into him and take care of that problem?"
"Unfortunately, I am not certain if John's physiology can handle a sudden shift in physical and chemical change at this time. I am going to play on the side of caution and wait until we get his condition stabilised first before dealing with his transformation. So until then, I am afraid that the straps stay."
Hellboy was breathing hard and tried to calm himself down. "Blue, look at him.
He's not going to hurt anyone. I'll stay here and make sure of that," he beseeched.
"I am sorry, Hellboy." Abe gently, but firmly, began to push him towards the door. "I can not allow you to stay in this room at this time. You must wait outside like everyone else. I can not afford to make any mistakes and in your emotional state you may compromise what goes on in here."
Red sputtered and begged and pleaded. Then he growled and snarled and threatened. But to no avail, he soon found himself out in the waiting area with the metal door slammed shut in his face. In disbelief, he listened to the sound of the heavy lock on the other side of the door engaged into place. And cursed, did he ever.
>>>>>
After taking a long breath of relief, Abe stepped away from the door and accepted the clear syringe that was given to him by a nurse. "That's point two of the epi," she confirmed.
He nodded and tapped lightly at the inside of Myer's wrist. Carefully he inserted the tip of the needle into the faintly blue vessel of a vein and injected the vasodilator into the man's bloodstream.
"BP is slowly rising," another nurse announced. "Heart rate is at 65… 67… 70…
He's plateau'd at 73."
"That appears to be working for now," Abe said. He took a small penlight and pried open John's eyelids to direct the small beam into the pupils. They constricted from the sudden light source, which pleased the merman. "What is his BP at currently?" he asked.
"It's reached only about 90 over 60."
"Hook him up to the saline bag and put him on an epi drip for the time being. Once his BP hits his norm please remove the drip." Abe pulled aside the last remaining shreds of what was left of the agent's shirt and applied some gel onto the man's bare abdomen. "I am going to take an ultrasound of the fetus while he's out. Please prepare the sound head for me."
As one of the nurses hooked an IV to John's arm, another prepped up the required equipment for the ultrasound. Once the fuzzy images cleared up slightly, Abe stared at the black and white screen with a look of disbelief. Uncertain if he was seeing things, he moved the sound head to another angle for a better view. The new imaging did not clear things up for him.
While he pondered over this new bit of information, one of the nurses glanced over his shoulder to see what was so puzzling. She glanced down at the file she held, which contained all of Myer's health records, and did a double look at the ultra- screen. "Is this record correct?" she asked incredulously as she waved at the file.
"Yes," Abe murmured as he moved the sound head to yet another angle. "I recorded the information down myself. This is very remarkable," he mused.
The other nurse stood next to them to see what the new commotion was about. As she looked down at the screen, then compared it to the records, the same look of confusion appeared on her face. "That's odd," she commented.
"Indeed," Abe solemnly agreed.
>>>>>
Hellboy glared through the glass pane of the operating room and controlled his urge to break through the thick panel. Instead, his foot tapped impatiently at the ground and his tail twitched in agitation. Sitting on a fine line of wrath and fear, he watched as Abe and two other aides moved around the pale figure on the bed.
A bag of a saline solution was hooked up through an IV to Myer's left arm, and several more wires were attached to his chest and temples. The monitor sitting on the right of the patient bleeped with readings of BP, EEG and EKG. Hellboy could see the green numbers on the black screen clearly though the glass panel, but had no frickin' clue what they meant.
"What's going on?"
Hellboy scowled when he realised whom it was that stood all to closely next to him. "John somehow changed back into his demonic form when we were dealing with that Lilith demon. He was held captive and Blue thinks that he might've undergone some physical injury to the baby. They've been in there for…"
"What? Myers is a demon again?" Manning interrupted and glared hard through the glass. "Should we have those aides in there?"
"The man is strapped down for God's sake," Hellboy growled.
The Director still seemed antsy about the idea. "Shouldn't they be feeding him the antidote or something?"
"They will as soon as they have his condition stabilised," Hellboy slowly gritted between his teeth. "Trust me, Myers is no threat to anyone."
Manning made a sound of disbelief but spoke no more of it. "I trust the mission was a success then?"
Hellboy grunted an affirmative, having decided that he'd spent too much energy conversing with the man already. Instead, he returned his attention to his lover and perked up when he realised that Abe and his two assistants were coming out of the room. "How's John?" he demanded when Abe had no more than opened up the door. Hellboy moved to fit through the door but the merman stopped him.
"His condition is stable for the moment, his body went into shock and he seems to be responding well to the dose of epinephrine I have administered. The IV will ensure that his body recovers the fluid that he had lost and he should be well by tomorrow."
"Will you be giving him an antidote for the transformation?" Manning asked. Hellboy glared warningly at him; the man was starting to rip away at his last nerve.
Abe nodded. "As soon as John's vital readings become satisfactory once more I shall inject a dose of the serum into his system."
"So can I see him now?" Hellboy wanted to know. He was anxious to get to his lover's side.
"In a moment. I have something I need to tell you first."
"Is it something that I'll need to know as well?" Manning questioned. "If not, I have other things I need to attend to."
"No, it really only concerns Hellboy," Abe told him. The older man nodded and quickly exited the health ward. "It is about the baby," Abe continued.
Hellboy paused and stopped breathing. "What about it?" he finally asked.
"The fetus caused a heavy influx of hormones to be produced, which was what caused John to transform into a Felesdaemn again…"
"Yeah yeah, you've already covered that," Hellboy prodded along. "Cut to the point already."
Abe pursed his lips but continued, "When I took an ultrasound of the fetus, it had grown exponentially from the last time we did an imaging, which was only two days ago. Originally we had determined the fetus to be roughly around 11 weeks along, but now it appears to be about 13 weeks or so."
"The baby's growing faster? So what does that mean?"
"As you know, a human male's body is not designed to undergo certain stresses, pregnancy being one of them."
"Uh huh."
"If the fetus continues to develop at this rate, John will be ready to deliver in 2 weeks instead of 4 months."
"Go on."
"I am hoping that once the antidote is working and John is back to his human state again the development will slow down."
"Okay."
"If not, I do not know if John's body will be able to cope."
Hellboy paused. "Exactly what are you getting at here Blue?"
"I just want you to be aware of the current scenario."
"But John will be okay right?" Hellboy persisted.
"If everything goes as I anticipate it will."
"Right," Hellboy mused slowly. He wasn't quite sure if he fully understood what Abe was telling him, and therefore not sure whether to be concerned or relieved. Meanwhile, Abe himself wondered if he should try to explain it again, in more simplistic terms. The two of them quietly pondered in silence when a faint hiss could be heard through the door. They both turned their heads towards the glass panel and saw John alert and well, thrashing about in his restraints. "I guess Kitty's up again." Hellboy followed the merman into the room, refusing to be locked out again, and rushed over to his lover's side.
>>>>>
He watched warily as two large figures entered the room and he hissed and screeched at them. If his arms were free he would have happily scratched their eyes out as well. When the larger of the two, the huge red one, approached closer, the hybrid sniffed delicately and recognised the scent of his mate.
Immediately, he stopped with his hissing and began to purr. His mate started to stroke his hair and he closed his eyes in contentment. He could feel the little one inside of him stir in its sire's presence.
When he suddenly felt a sharp prick on his arm, his eyes flew opened and he began his verbal assault on the other figure in the room. The blue one had a syringe piercing his flesh, injecting some clear serum into his system. His mate began to whisper soothing words into his ear, and he looked up with a wounded look, confused at what was going on. Soon, he felt his eyes begin to drop, heavy with sleep, and slumber took over.
>>>>>
John felt like crap. There was a small man with a jackhammer going at it inside of his head, and a fire burning behind his eyes. His whole body was sore and his throat was dry as a desert. He went to scratch his chest, and opened his eyes when he realised that he was strapped down.
"What the hell?" he muttered and looked up to see Red slumped over in a nearby chair, asleep. "Red," he yelled, trying to wake the demon up.
Hellboy snorted and jerked awake, nearly falling out of his chair in the process. Suddenly alert he frantically surveyed the room before his gaze settled on the agent. "'Scout, you're awake!" he exclaimed.
"Red, why am I tied to the bed?"
"You somehow transformed into a Felesdaemn again last night." Hellboy stood up and stretched, yawning loudly.
"I did?" John was in shock. He didn't realise that he still had the capability to change form. "What happened? What happened to Lilith? Did anyone get hurt? Where's Blue?"
"Calm down Squirt." Hellboy reached over and began to gently undo the leather straps. "We kicked ass, what can I say? You were great out there. My little Kitty… attacking the big mean demon with your claws and… Dammit!"
Hellboy rubbed the back of his head, wincing from the pain radiating back there. "You've been getting very abusive lately," he muttered to John, who was busy rubbing the circulation back into his limbs.
The man glared at the demon. "First of all, do not under any circumstances ever call me Kitty. And second, do not talk to me like I'm a five year old. I am not a child, and will not tolerate being treated as such."
"Mood swings again huh?"
"I am *not* having mood swings!" John screamed. Angry, he jumped off the bed, and immediately regretted it when he was hit with a dizzy spell. His head throbbed painfully and he instinctively reached out with his arms to steady his balance. A pair of strong hands wrapped around his waist and John leaned back into the hard body.
"Are you okay?" Red fretted as he steered the man back towards the bed.
"Yeah," he mumbled. "I guess I moved too fast."
Hellboy sighed, pulled John onto his lap and rubbed him soothingly. "You'd just had the snot beaten out of you, you were suffocated, and you were transformed back into a demon all in the last 12 hours. Please, John, I'm begging you to take it easy."
Myers rested his cheek against the warm chest and listened to Hellboy's heartbeat. He could hear it quicken slightly so he knew that his lover was scared. When he looked up he could see the concern written all over Hellboy's face. "Fine," he finally conceded. "I'll try to take things easy from now on."
"Promise?" Hellboy demanded.
"Yes," he muttered petulantly. "But just until the baby comes out," he warned.
"Who will take care of the child then?"
John stared at him, blinking in confusion. "What?"
"Who's going to baby-sit the kid? If you're off running around playing with guns, who's gonna take care of…"
"We'll cross that bridge once we get to it," John said dryly. Carefully, he removed himself off of Hellboy and stood on his own two feet. Once he was sure that he wasn't going to fall down, he walked over to the bathroom to relieve himself.
He pulled the elastic waist of the white pants down and aimed at the toilet. As he let go of a stream, John glanced down at the front of his abdomen and almost lost his aim. Quickly, he finished with his business and, after pulling his pants back up, he lifted the hem of his scrub top and stared disbelievingly at his stomach. "What the hell?"
Hellboy came rushing in at the cry and looked ready to do battle. "What is it?" he demanded. His yellow eyes scanned the small room for signs of danger.
"How the hell did my gut get so big? It was still flat last night!"
The red demon slapped his face in relief and looked to see what the fuss was about. It was true that Myer's abdomen had grown larger in the last 24 hours. What was once a very soft curve was now a definite lump. It was still easy to hide it underneath clothing, but there was now no denying Myer's pregnancy.
Hellboy brought his hand up to touch the warm skin of his lover, only to have it abruptly slapped away.
"Don't touch me," John growled and quickly pulled his top back down. He promptly sidestepped around the large demon and headed back into the room. The door was almost opened, when Hellboy materialised beside him.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Hellboy asked quietly.
"I'm going to find Blue and make him tell me what is going on with my body."
"I can tell you that."
John stared hard up at Hellboy. "Spill," he ordered.
>>>>>
Myers paced the small room from one end to the other. Red had clumsily explained the situation. John had listened in frustration as Hellboy stumbled along with the details of the pregnancy, the hormones, and the antidote. Just as John became thoroughly confused and ready to punch his lover out, Abe had appeared in time to soothe his nerves over. He definitely didn't like the thought of delivering the fetus in two week's time and hoped that the merman's final hypothesis was correct.
John had all of a matter of minutes to digest this information in when Manning unexpectedly dropped by. The Director had given him a brief look over and asked insincerely if he was alright, before proceeding to tell them that they were needed. Unexplained activity going on deep in the sewers was reported and required immediate investigation. With so much as a kiss and a hug goodbye, his two friends abandoned him.
He grunted in agitation. Not only had they not allowed him to go along on the mission, they had the audacity to lock him inside the room! Annoyed, John glared and kicked furiously at the door, only to wince in pain as his bare foot contacted the metal panel… hard.
"Goddammit!" he swore as he hopped around on his good foot. Quickly, he landed on the bed and rubbed his sore limb. "I hate this," he scowled. Once the sharp pain in his foot subsided, he fell back onto the mattress. In boredom, he stared up at the ceiling.
He wondered what the others were doing. He hoped that the mission wouldn't run into complications leaving Hellboy hurt. But what if they didn't plan well enough? Normally he was the one who developed the tactics… what if they missed an important piece of information? What if there was some vital factor they didn't account for? What if the mission goes all horribly wrong and Hellboy gets injured? Or worse, he ends up getting killed?
Myers realised that the boards on the ceiling looked blurry, and when he blinked he could feel drops of tears running down the sides of his face. Surprised, he wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand and saw that it was wet. Dammit, he hated these sudden mood swings. He couldn't wait until the pregnancy was finally over and done with.
Tired of feeling sorry for himself, John got up and walked over to the bathroom. He saw that his cheeks were flushed and his nose slightly pink so he rinsed his face with some cold water. Then, curious, he studied his body in the mirror. With the loose scrub he wore he couldn't even tell that there was a bulge in his abdomen. He turned to his left and then to his right, scrutinizing his profile.
Myers even went as far as extending his body backwards and thrusting his pelvis forward in an attempt to emphasise the belly. When he had seen enough, he straightened up and lifted the hem of his top. Looking into the mirror, he carefully stroked his belly and traced along the curve. Thoughtfully, he cocked his head to the side and gazed at what he was doing. In his head he imagined that it was Hellboy's red hand, instead of his own, that was caressing his skin.
Stroking the tight skin, John dreamily wondered about the unborn child. Will it be a sweet little boy or girl? And what will he or she look like? Will the child have any Felesdaemn attributes? And what about Hellboy's heritage? Of course, he can't forget that Hellboy had born from a human mother and was therefore technically a half demon. "Your just going to surprise the whole world when you come out aren't you?" he whispered at his belly.
Next, he wanted to experiment a little and grabbed a towel off of a nearby rack. John scrunched it up into a ball and shoved under his top, right over his abdomen. He raised an eyebrow at the weird sight he presented in the mirror. The agent wasn't sure he liked what he saw. Granted, the bulge under his shirt was uneven and lumpy.
When he heard a knock, Myers quickly pulled the towel out and threw it back onto the rack before the door opened. He turned to see a nurse coming in with a tray of food.
"Good morning, Agent Myers," the friendly woman greeted. She placed the plastic tray onto the side table and began to rearrange the pillows and linens on the bed.
"Morning," John said. He walked over to the bed and stared down at the tray in disappointment. It contained only a couple slices of toast, a cup of herbal tea and a glass of apple juice. There was also a small paper cup that contained a few colourful pills. He stared at the nurse in mild disbelief. "What's this?" he asked.
"Your breakfast," she chirped.
Myers eyed the dry looking toast again. "There's not really much to it," he commented.
The older woman moved around the room briskly to open up the curtains, letting the sunlight in. "Your lunch will be more substantial, Agent Myers. This is just to ensure that you don't get nauseous this morning."
He grabbed a slice and bit into it, washing it down with the clear juice. "Can I at least have a cup of coffee? I'm not a big tea drinker.
"Absolutely not," the nurse said adamantly. "Your caffeine intake will be limited throughout the duration of your pregnancy." She smiled at the look of forlorn that came across the young man's face. "You'll be able to have the odd cup of coffee every so often. No more than a cup every other day maybe. You just won't be receiving any of it while you're here that's all."
Relieved at the news, John swallowed down the rest of the toast and juice. Next, he tried the tea. After the first sip, he decided that it was really not his… cup of tea… so to speak. He made a face at the fruity tang and stuck his tongue out.
The nurse caught his look of distaste and laughed. "It's a blend of chamomile and orange extract. It will keep your stomach calm. Abe insisted that you drink all of it."
"Figures he would," he grumbled. He took another tentative sip and made another face. Oh how he longed for the strong bitter taste of coffee.
"Don't forget to take your pills," the woman reminded him. "There's vitamin A and C, along with iron and calcium supplements. The child will depend more and more of your own body's resources to nourish itself with, so we must ensure that you don't find yourself depleted of those nutrients."
Myers threw the pills into the back of his mouth and took another reluctant sip of the tea to wash it down with. He stomach began to churn. "I don't think I can finish the rest of this," he mumbled. "I think it's making me sick." He rubbed his lower chest when it started to feel uneasy, and threw his legs over the side of the bed incase he needed to make an emergency trip to the toilet.
The nurse frowned in concern and quickly took the tray away. "Let me get you some water," she said. "I'll make sure to let Abe know that you're having an adverse reaction to this tea." She hurried out of the room and returned shortly after with a glass of room temperature water.
John took it gratefully and swallowed a large gulp. He made sure to swish it around the inside of his mouth before swallowing to remove the lingering taste of citrus and flowers. Immediately, his stomach calmed down and he leaned back against the bed's pillows. A wave of fatigue suddenly overcame him and he felt sleepy.
The woman began to fuss over him and pulled the blankets over his body. "Sleep now, Agent Myers. You've been on your feet and running around for the last few days. Absolutely no way for someone in your condition to behave." John was too tired to even glare at that comment. "I will be back in a few hours to wake you up for lunch and your next dose of medication. Will you need anything else before I go?"
The man shook his head and closed his eyes. Faintly he heard the door closed as the nurse left the room, but already he was starting to drift asleep. When he saw his lover's face smiling down at him, John knew that it was going to be a good dream and he smiled himself.
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Table of Contents