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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-04
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909
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1/1
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3
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A Job Offer

Summary:

rating: if you could watch the series and the movie, you're going to be just fine.
main characters: (Wini)Fred Burkle, Hellboy
disclaimer: you know they aren't mine.
distribution: Twisting & Mental Wanderings
notes: Twisting's FfA pairing # 263. AU from AtS at Fredless - she left LA and decided to rebuild her life. It just didn't go quite as she'd planned...

Work Text:

A Job Offer
by Lucinda

 

Fred Burkle eyed the wires, hoping that they'd stay joined together properly, so that she could finish the test sequence this time. Her invention was being difficult. "You'd think with the kind of budget we've got here, the wires would stay put and the clips wouldn't try to fly away."

"Right, time to find out anyhow..." She walked over to the solid table where she had the control. She'd never really gotten out of the habit of talking to herself, a lingering reminder of her time in Pylea.

Taking a deep breath, she pressed the button, prepared to duck under the table if this one looked likely to explode, as several other attempts had done. Slowly, and with an annoyingly loud humming noise, the contraption rose into the air, and began to rotate. She could see sparks at the connection, and mane a mental note to try to fix that later.

The door opened just as smoke began to wisp up from the connection, and the contraption wobbled. A very large figure in a trench coat and hat froze, a deep "What...?" emerging.

Naturally, that was when the contraption, built using what were supposed to be quality controlled pieces, exploded, sending smoke and shrapnel everywhere. Fred squeaked as she dropped to the floor, knowing that the table, in conjunction with her safety goggles, would protect her. Hopefully, whoever had the poor sense to come into a room with a big sign lettered 'Testing - stay out - danger of explosions' had also ducked, otherwise she'd be in trouble with the head of the department.

The deep, rumbly voice spoke again, full of confusion. "What was that supposed to be?"

"It's a sign that the quality control here apparently isn't as good as what I got scrounging parts from old toasters." Fred muttered, rising from behind the table. "What it was supposed to be was a hovering platform, so they could put their cameras or a sensor on it, for the remote researches, you know?"

"I think it has a few bugs." He brushed at his sleeve with a very red hand.

"You didn't get burned, did you? And what did you think you were doing coming in like that anyhow? I put the sign up so nobody would get blasted, and there you were, coming right in and getting blasted anyhow..." Fred stopped, blinking at the stranger who had just removed his hat.

The very tall man with red skin and the sawed off ends of a pair of horns stuck on his forehead. She'd seen bulls with horns like that, back at home, but never a person before, not even in Pylea. They'd been green anyhow, in Pylea, not red. "You weren't worried about getting blasted?"

"I'm fireproof." He shrugged, and leaned against the wall. "You're Fred Burkle?"

"Yes. Fred's short for Winifred, I'm not a guy, and that still doesn't tell me why you're here." She pulled out her notebook, marking down to recheck that connection on the plans, and to find a better way to prevent sparking.

She had the oddest impression that she was confusing the big red guy. Not that she was doing anything particularly unusual, but he was giving her this funny look. "What?"

"You seem particularly calm." He offered. "I'm from the Bureau of Paranormal Investigations."

"Who aren't supposed to exist. That's what the fellow on the news was saying, anyhow." She looked up, and frowned at him. "Is this the part where I'm supposed to be panicking and tying to hide under the table again? I don't think it would do very much good, and I'm not afraid of you."

"You don't need to hide under the table." He looked a little amused. "We're trying to offer you a job."

"So I could make things explode over in some different laboratories?" She cold feel a smile forming. "I suppose they sent you in because I ignored that other fellow?"

"I'm a little hard to ignore." He agreed, folding his arms across a very broad chest. "And I think they were hoping more for things that only explode when they're supposed to."

"So, where are you from? I didn't see anything like you in Pylea, but there's a lot of types of demon out there..." Fred closed her notebook, and pulled off the safety goggles.

"I'm not sure where I'm from, I got here as a baby." He shrugged, looking a little stiff. "Will that be a problem for you?"

"Not really. Before I came back to the university, I worked for a vampire. I can handle strange, it's normal that gives me problems." She smiled at him. "So, what sort of terms would I have?"

Chuckling, he pulled out some pages. "Work for us, and I can promise you won't have a whole lot of normal to worry about."

 

End A Job Offer.