One Giant Problem
With Abe out of action, due to recovering from the previous mission. Hellboy's 'usual' interaction with Manning, and him not taking well to the new comrad. Things hasn't gone down so well at The Bureau.
On top of all that, duty still calls and Hellboy has another mission to do. Not realizing that it may open up more problems... for what happens when the 'evil' you're fighting against, turn out to be people within your own ranks?...
Contents: Mild Coarse Language. Spoilers for Hellboy film (2019). Fluff. One bed cliche hinted towards end. (Part 3)
New Girl Saga. (If you'd like to be tagged for future parts. Let me know.)
Part 1 Part 3
"What?"
You took a step back as Hellboy raised his voice. Keeping your eyes low, simply gazing at the floor, as a gentle sigh left Professor Broom.
"My boy..." Broom approached Hellboy, sitting upon the armrest of the couch while leaning upon his cane. "I know you're upset about Agent Clay. It's not an easy job."
Hellboy continued to stare at the multiple screens, of the box TV's which stacked on top of one another.
"But... it's apart of the job. Everyone here knows that."
"Try and tell Manning that." Hellboy's voice had a firm tone. "He's not in charge, yet the asshole walks and talks like he is."
"I know you and Agent Manning don't always see eye to eye-"
"Father, please! The guy talks to me like a piece of shit, and holds me accountable!"
Professor Broom nodded while placing a gentle hand upon Hellboy's shoulder. "I'll speak with Manning. I agree that he has no right in the matter of addressing people the way he does. But please... there's something important I wish to discuss with you."
A heavy sigh left Hellboy, as he silently nodded. Giving the Professor a chance to continue with what he was trying to say before.
"As I was saying... the Osiris Club. They're a British occult society formed in 1866, by the ranking members of the Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra." Broom adjusted his semi-circle glasses. Feeling Hellboy's confuse gaze. "Like us, they fight against the forces of darkness. Our organizations have had a long-standing relationship."
"We scratch their backs and they scratch ours?" Hellboy questioned.
Broom gave him a warm smile, "in a manner of speaking... they're old friends of mine, and they need your help with dealing a curtain type of problem."
"Oh yea? What kind of problem?"
"Giants..."
Heathrow. England. 6pm
The cargo plane rumbled and shook as it came to land. Waking up from an uncomfortable sleep, a groan left you as you became aware of the crick in your neck.
"You alright, Kid?"
"Hmm?"
Your eyes fluttered open. The leather of Hellboy's trench coat rubbed against your cheek, as you looked up at him. Cheeks going red, once realizing you were resting upon his shoulder.
"H-How long was I out?"
"Roughly about most of the trip. You snored a little."
"O-Oh... umm, sorry."
"Don't be. I thought it was kinda cute."
A small smile came to Hellboy, as he noticed your cheeks redden even more.
"Good morning guys, this is your pilot speaking. We've landed into Heathrow and luckily it's warm and sunny weather. Please stay seated until the plane has come to a complete stop."
Hellboy undid his belt. standing upon his feet and holding onto the railings above him. "Get ready, Kid. These guys run like clockwork from what I've heard."
You struggled onto your feet. Holding onto his coat for balance, as the plane shook one final time while coming to a complete stop. Causing you to fall into his open arms. You both remained speechless as Hellboy helped you back onto your feet, holding you against him to keep you on balance.
A concierge lead you to the taxi which waited at the bottom of the portable stairs. Holding an umbrella, covering Hellboy from any possible views from passersby.
Sitting in the back of the taxi, feeling Hellboy briefly gazing at you throughout the trip. Biting your lip, you slowly looked at him as his attention snapped away from you. His golden eyes gazing out of the black tinted windows.
"Professor Broom was right." Your voice felt loud in the silence that was held between you for so long. "What happened to Abe and Clay... it wasn't your fault. Without you, nothing would of been achieved."
Hesitating for a moment, softly biting your lip before you continued. "I know you don't like me."
Hellboy's attention suddenly snapped back to you, his features softened as his gentle gaze saddened. Looking at you as though he was hurt by your words.
"It's ok." You assured with a weak smile, "but I'll always be here for you- and not because it's apart of my job." You leaned in a little closer to him, "y'know... you're not as bad as you think you are."
"Kid-"
"We've arrived." The driver announced, interrupting Hellboy.
Black iron gates automatically opened, allowing the iconic English car to pass. You looked out of the window, looking up at the impressive Victorian manner. Reminding you of the old fashioned manner from shows like Downton Abby.
Hellboy saw the small smile forming upon your lips, as the sunlight of dusk reflected from the windows and sparkled in your eyes.
I don't hate you, Y/N... his sadden voice echoed within his head. I just hate the fact of what I am keeps us apart...
Exiting the car, the driver opened your door. Gesturing towards the large double wooden doors.
You couldn't help but gaze at your surroundings, as you and Hellboy followed the butler's lead. The foyer itself was huge and grand, a crystal chandelier hung central to the space. You and Hellboy gathered around the small, circular table underneath the impressive fixture. An elegant rug covered the vintage flooring, while renaissance style paintings lined the wooden panelled walls.
"Your... guests, m'lord." the butler announced as he stopped in front of the flight of stairs before you. Hellboy raised an eyebrow at the man's appounciation, while well dressed gentlemen came down the stairs. Approaching you and Hellboy with warm smiles.
"Hellboy, welcome! I'm Lord Adam Glaren."
A middle aged man stepped a little further in front of the other two. His studious gaze fell on you, as you held your hand out.
"I'm Agent Y/N, sir. You have a beautiful home."
Lord Glaren hesitated before shaking your hand. Your smile slowly fading as you became uncomfortable under his curious stare.
"Welcome my dear, and a pleasure to meet you as well. I thank you for your compliment."
As he let go of your hand, you slowly stepped back to Hellboy's side. Your eyes slowly looking around the foyer. Sensing your sudden unease, Hellboy wrapped an arm around your shoulders.
"May I introduce to you my associates? Dr Edwin Carp and August Swain." Lord Glaren introduced.
Hellboy smiled at Dr Carp, "hi. Have you guys ever been to the Osiris Club in Jersey?"
"No, I do not believe we have." Dr Carp spoke in thought, "say Glaren. Do we have a club in USA?"
"It's like this, but with strippers."
You couldn't help but smile at Hellboy's joke. Watching the Dr's face screw up into an unimpressed expression eased you to relax a little. Clearing his throat as he walked away and adjusting the blazer of his suit.
"Pay him no mind." Mr Swain politely spoke, stepping closer to you and Hellboy. "Your... hand" he pointed to Hellboy's hand of stone, "a fascinating thing. What purpose does it serve?"
"It smashes things good." Hellboy's voice kept it's bold tone.
"We are so very glad you accepted our invitation." Everyone's attention fell onto Lord Glaren again. "The Professor and I go back a long way."
Hellboy silently nodded, as you slowly approached one of the paintings upon the wall.
"The Osiris Club has been long dedicated to preserving the secret history of Great Britain." Lord Glaren explained, as Hellboy's wandering eyes left him and onto you. "It affords us certain insights into... 'certain individuals'-"
"By that, I assume you mean 'individuals' such as Hellboy?" you spoke over your shoulder.
Lord Glaren raised an eyebrow, as his associates nervously chuckled. The Lord noticing Hellboy's small smile, as the demon's gaze never left you.
"We've also given vital counsel to your B.P.R.D on occasion." Mr Swain added.
Your yawn interrupted the gentleman. Hellboy's attention fell back onto Lord Glaren, "perhaps skip onto the important part? My girl is tired, and I doubt you've flew us halfway around the world just so you could give a little history lesson."
Your body stiffened at the new nickname. An uncomfortable chill slowly crawled up your spine, feeling the two mens studious stare upon your back. While Lord Glaren pulled a fake smile.
"Perhaps... we should just show you?" you could hear the Lord's patronising tone.
Lord Glaren walked towards the bookcase in the far side of the foyer, his fingers tilting the spine of a green, leather book. A squeak echoed throughout the space, as a section of the bookcase opened inward. Exposing a small, spiral staircase which was hidden within the wall.
Hellboy approached you, placing a gentle hand upon the small of your back.
"Shall we?"
His voice snapping you out of your daze, and bringing you back into the moment. "Your... girl?" your brain could barely form the whisper.
Your eyes widened a little, as Hellboy's cheeks flushed to a deeper tone of red. Using his hand of stone to scratch the back of his neck.
"Ye..ah" he nervously chuckled. "You're... y'know... and we're..." his body slouched as a heavy sigh escaped him. "F-Forget I said anything... let's... just follow Mr Fancy-Pants..."
You tried to keep a straight face, as you and Hellboy followed the three men down the spiral staircase, and into a basement like space.
"Giants once dominated the British Isles." Mr Swain explained. "Vile, loathsome creatures that would likely eat you, as to look at you."
"They've always been a problem." Dr Carp added, stroking his mustache. "Bodies buried all over England. It's a curious feature of giants, that they occasionally rise from their graves and wreak havoc."
Lord Glaren flashed a smile that made you comfortable, "and when they do... we organize a hunt."
I'm not liking that tone of his... your thoughts wandered.
Coming to the bottom of the stairs, and walking into an archway. Your eyes looked up, placing a hand to your throat as you swallowed your nerves. Framing the high, circular ceiling was a ray of severed heads of giants- multiple ranging in size and colour. Some had broken tusks and horns sticking out from their grotesque faces. Your stomach turned as your eyes continued to scan the area.
"And I thought you had a big head." Nerves taken over your voice, reducing it to a small whisper that Hellboy couldn't hear your joke.
Slowly panning down from the ceiling to the walls, more paintings and photographs came into view.
"We call it, The Wild Hunt." Lord Glaren announced, as Hellboy walked around the room.
"Clearly, you guys are old pro's at this." Hellboy's attention fell onto Lord Glaren, as his associates stood behind him. "Why request my help to kill a giant?"
Hellboy's looked over his shoulder as you bumped into his back, you flashed him a weak smile. Attempting to not raise his suspicions, as Lord Glaren caught his gaze again.
"Three giants, actually."
Hellboy raised an eyebrow at the gentleman's cocky tone.
"One we can handle. Perhaps even two. But three?... now that's a different matter altogether."
"This particular trio is terrorizing the New Forest." Dr Carp explained, his gaze studying you and Hellboy made your spine tingle. "Sucking on the bones of anyone unlucky enough to fall foul of them."
"The marrow, you see." Mr Swain added, "they can't get enough. So if any were to reach a populated centre-"
"It's meal time?"
Mr Swain turned up his nose at the demon.
"This task isn't something to be taken lightly, Hellboy." Lord Glaren's voice held a serious tone. "These are Gigantum Mortis. The most unpleasant and horrid species of the giant-kind. Just ask your father..."
Hellboy followed the direction of Lord Glaren's pointed finger. His eyes widening as his gaze fell onto a black and white photo. Framed in a copper frame, the photo showed a group of men in their twenties. Standing around the severed head of a giant, while they wore armour that looked like something a medieval templar knight would of worn.
"Professor Broom was a guest of The Hunt, when we took a giant down back in '43." Lord Glaren's voice eased his serious edge, but a firm tone could still be heard.
"I always knew Dad aged well..." Hellboy looked at Lord Glaren, "but you guys... picture looks like it was taken yesterday."
"There's a reason for that..." a feminine voice echoed throughout the basement. Everyone's eyes fell onto a beautiful woman, as she emerged from the spiral staircase.
You couldn't help but gaze at her appearance. Silver hair styled in a 1920's updo framed her delicate face. Rabbit fur coat complemented the pearls that hung around her neck, while her pure white eyes gave her native complexion a mystercal glow.
"The phenomenon you so rightly observed was the by-product of a seance." Her voice held an elegance that just captured the attention of anyone whom she spoke to. "The four of us- along with your Professor Broom, were involved in just before the war."
Your eyes widened, "the war? You mean World War II?"
The woman smiled, appeared to be amused by your shocked tone.
"Allow me to introduce our resident seer, Lady Elizabeth Hatton." Lord Glaren introduced.
"The spirit I made contact that night was exceptionally powerful." Lady Elizabeth circled the room, continuing speaking as though she didn't hear Lord Glaren's voice. "It warned us that something was coming... Something that would end all of mankind, as we know it. Therefore we were chosen to seek it out. And destroy it..."
You felt the atmosphere change within the room. Biting your lip as the stare's from the men begun to play on your building anxiety.
"Ever since, we've aged at a snail's pace in order to fulfill that mission." Her eyes wandered over you briefly, "no matter how long it took."
"Okay... and this, ugh thing you're worried about." Hellboy spoke, "did it show up?"
Lady Elizabeth's eyes wandered over the demon, raising her eyebrows as she said with a small smile. "Yes... it did..."
"You and... your girl, must be exhausted from your trip, Agent Hellboy." Lord Glaren butted in, attempting to ease the tension that begun to build. "I have a guest's quarters prepared for you. One bed wouldn't be problem would it?"
You and Hellboy stiffened, as you both awkwardly glanced at each other.
Oh shit...
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Huddle Up
Y'all remember my post about the Black Sun Job where Diyana and Hellboy were stranded in an arctic wasteland for a little over 6 weeks after Hellboy blew up a Nazi's base? Well, this drabble is what came to mind for a bit of what happened between them during those weeks on the ice.
Hellboy huffs to himself in frustrations as he dug at the snow and sleet hoping to find something from the remains of the hangar to use as fuel for the fire, he and his fellow agent only have so much daylight left after all.
"Just more useless crap."
The large red man grumbles, tossing aside scrap metal in a small pile of similar debris. He then looks up to find his fellow agent, Diyana Swann, a little off in the distance; a black setter dog is currently digging deep into the snow. Hellboy watches as Swann briefly disappears into the hole she dug before reappearing, completely covered in snow contrasting brightly against her dark fur but otherwise without any tinder. The dog that is Swann frowns before speaking.
"I have nothin' here either."
Swann lets out a huff before shaking her entire body, briefly appearing as a dark blur that then shifts into a more humanoid form that Hellboy is more familiar with. Despite having the general shape of a human of African descent with black wavy hair, it's not hard to miss the dark rabbit ears sprouting from the sides of her head or the long tail extending from her spine that ends with a tuft of blue-gray fur. Upon closer inspection past the winter boots she's currently wearing, anyone could see that Swann's legs don't exactly resemble a human's either. Sure, they seem normal above the knees, but going down from there, they're more digitigrade in appearance, like that of a four-legged animal.
"You just had to blow up the entire hangar, eh? Deadly job ye did there leaving any kindlin'."
"I'll keep that in mind next time Nazis try to use me as their guinea pig."
Hellboy sarcastically quips back. Swann sighs as she places her hands on her hips before returning to where their impromptu firepit is, which is basically a small hole in the ground with a pitiful amount of wood in the middle, they dug out earlier. Hellboy is not too far behind as he joins his coworker, sitting opposite her.
"I gotta ask though, where were you during that? You seemed to have vanished into thin air when the grunts started pulling out the ray guns."
Hellboy narrows his golden eyes in suspicion at the pooka across from him. Swann waves a gloved hand dismissively with a nonchalant grin.
"I knew you had it covered, 'sides you're able to take those shots than I could anyway."
"Doesn't mean they didn't hurt like a S.O.B."
Hellboy subconsciously runs a hand over the burgundy-colored bruise on his right shoulder where the ray guns first hit him. Diyana grits her teeth as she lets out a hiss at the various bruises and injuries that decorated his hulking form.
"I can imagine, yer gonna be so sore in mornin'. But hey, at least I got ya out just in time before ya could blow up with the rest of those morans."
"That reminds me, you haven't exactly answered my question. What were you doing while I was having my ear talked off by wannabe Hitler?"
Swann maintains the same unbothered expression in contrast to her colleague's persistent gaze. She's the first to break their eye contact as she gives a shrug and a hum.
"Eh, no use keepin' it hidden, 'sides we'll need the kindling."
Swann then reaches into her stylish coat to pull out a small stack of papers. They crinkle in her hand as she shifts through them with an analytical eye; some she throws in the fire pit, and others she tucks back into her coat. Hellboy isn't sure he would like the faerie woman's answer when spotting a familiar symbol on the corner of one of the documents and recognizing the writing to be in German. He isn't going to stop Swann from using her lighter to set the papers ablaze, though. The faerie snaps her lighter close when the kindling does its work for the few wood pieces they can find.
"I don't need to be a psychic to know yer askin' why I have Nazi papers."
"Yeah."
Hellboy confirms, observing as Swann warms her gloved hands over the small fire. She then moves her hands to grab a pack of cigarettes and her cigarette holder from her coat pocket to use the small fire to light one. Hellboy watches Swann take an inhale before exhaling a smoky yellow hand grabbing at the air.
"I'm simply fulfilling the research aspect of your organization as upon my agreement with the Professor and the board members. While you're their smash, I am more of the grab."
The smokey apparition then disperses before Swann takes another inhale to exhale a blue and yellow stream of smoke that resembles the planet, Earth, along with a few of the aircraft that dragged them to their current location.
"If it's any comfort, there wasn't really a lot of juicy intel as much as much as thick crackpot plans for world domination."
Hellboy follows where Swann is gesturing to the ashy remains of the documents she burned, his lips are pressed together in a thin line as he stares intently at the fire. On one hand, he knows that it's always these Nazis' plans to take over the world, essentially. On the other, he's not a fool to accept what Swann told him to be the whole truth. She's come through in a pinch within the hangar and now with the fire, though.
After a few moments of silence, Hellboy looks from the fire to his fellow agent, her cigarette half its original size.
"Did you at least gather any idea on how to get out of this winter wonderland?"
Swann shakes her head to which Hellboy gives a tired sigh.
"You blew everythin' up, handsome. Any vehicles ain't nothin' but scrap now."
"Well, why not teleport us out like you did with me?"
"I'd have to know what continent we're on first to figure out where to go. Though, all I see is ice and snow to the horizon."
Swann then makes a sweeping gesture to the frozen land around them. A icy breeze then blows by which cause the agents' small fire to dance rapidly in the wind, looking almost ready to go out. Both Hellboy and Swann desperately start to shield the flame with their body, the large man begging under his breath for the flame not to die. Once it stabilizes again do both agents back away a bit from the fire.
"Any word on the radio?"
Swann inquires, once she's able to stop her teeth from chattering too much. Hellboy shakes his head before pulling out the blocky radio that was one half of a two-way radio, one of the only things they could find amongst the wreckage.
"Nothing, just static."
"Here, let me."
Swann holds out a hand to which Hellboy obliges. He watches as Swann takes out some small screwdrivers and a plier then starts to disassemble the radio.
"Can ya find a small thin and malleable piece of metal?"
She asks him while wiping the batteries with her coat. Hellboy, again, acquiesces to the phooka's request, finding and breaking off some scorched metal the size of a fist into rough strips the width of his pinky. If there's one thing Hellboy can trust Swann with, it's her way around machines. He watches his fellow agent use one of the metal strips to attach to the radio's antenna, using a rubber band and bobby pin she found in her pocket. Swann appears to pay special attention to a small scorched cube in the radio, then fiddles with the wires within it before returning it to the radio.
"Alright, the batteries seem to be in working order, with no sign of damage or corrosion. Added some length to the antenna to hopefully boost the signal 'fore takin' a gander at the repeater. It seems to suffer a bit of damage from the blast, but everythin' else looks good. Just wish I had my carpet bag on me."
"Only one way to find out."
Hellboy then takes the radio from Swann and switches it on.
"Mayday, mayday, mayday, this is Agent Hellboy and Agent Swann of the BPRD requesting rescue and pick up. We're stranded on what looks to be a tundra. There's snow and ice everywhere. Last known location, is Fletcher's Ice Island T-3 in the Arctic Ocean. Hurry, we don't have a lot of fuel for a fire."
Hellboy then releases his hand from the receiver before glancing back at Swann.
"Fingers crossed that your upgrades worked and somebody heard it, otherwise they're gonna find some strange snowmen by then."
Hellboy gives a dry chuckle while Di nods in agreement with her arms wrapped around her in a death grip.
A Few Days Later
As Hellboy feared, their fire situation worsened to the point that both he and Swann had to dig through their pockets for any flammable miscellaneous items. This includes Swann's carton she held her cigarettes in, her hat minus the hat pins on them, old receipts and memos, and even some of their hair or fur in Swann's case. The latter made their small camp stink as hell to the point it became hard for either of them to choose between getting away from the stench or getting closer to their only source of warmth. Well, perhaps the fire isn't their only warm source.
Hellboy looks up from their only line to the outside world to the woman across from him. On Swann's lap is loose wiring, screw, and more metal scrap as she works on disassembling and picking apart the repeater from the radio. Swann hopes that by making repairs to the repeater or even making a new one, could boost the signal of their radio. However, the faerie woman's progress is slow as is evident by her trembling hands causing her to drop a screw or cause her to start over what little progress she made. The sound of Swann's teeth chattering together is the only other sound to fill the silence between them besides the weak crackling of their fire and howling freezing winds. Hellboy couldn't stand it for much longer.
"C'mere."
The large man beckons Swann toward him with his giant stone hand. Swann tears her gaze away from her work her long ears tilted at an angle to express her confusion.
"W-w-what?"
"I'm not gonna repeat myself."
Hellboy then stands up to shuffle over Swann's side of the fire, securing the radio in his belt before sitting down behind the faerie woman and scooping her up into his lap, bridal style. He then wraps his muscular arms around Swann's shivering form, flinching slightly when brushing against her ice-cold cheeks. Said woman lets out a small squeak at the contact but instinctively clings to the larger red man once fully processing how he's pretty much a living furnace.
"Christ on a stick!"
Swann happily mutters to herself. She wraps her arms around Hellboy's barrel chest as best as she can.
"You're welcome."
Hellboy could've sworn he felt a rumbling sensation coming from her. It seems that Hellboy huddling close to his fellow agent did the trick, as after Swann took a few minutes to warm herself up by greedily taking in his body heat, she is able to complete making a new repeater. She then installs into the radio before handing it to Hellboy, who gives more or less the same message as last time. After taking his hand off the receiver. Sensing he's being watched, he looks down at Swann gazing up at him with hooded eyes and a sultry grin.
"I always knew you were hot, Handsome."
"Don't start. You're lucky I feel like being nice."
Swann gives a shrug before crooning,
"I'll still take what I can."
Hellboy lets out a groan but doesn't object when Swann intertwines her tail around his nor does she say anything when he rests his chin on top of her head right between her small horns. Although, Hellboy does note that Swann is soft and warm to have in his arms. For a while, they both sat in silence to simply bask in what little heat their fire gave and the warmth exchanged from their combined body heats. The silence is eventually broken by Hellboy, who doesn't bother moving from the top of Swann's head.
"You're lucky to have small horns. Must make everyday life easy for ya."
"Aye, how else do you think I'm able to put on my hats or lay my head down on a pillow without tearin' it to pieces?"
Hellboy lets out a huff in amusement, his warm breath brushes against the fae woman's long ears, sending a pleasant shiver down her spine and causing her to tighten her tail around the large red man's. The latter thinks nothing of it, chalking it up to the bitter cold. He raises a brow when hearing a sudden crunchy pop similar to whenever he cracks his neck or spine while stretching. Then, out of the corner of his eyes, he can spot Swann's horns lengthening like trees growing 100 times faster. He moves his head from the top of Swann's head in time to catch her horns twisting and curling before settling to resemble a ram's. Swann twists in Hellboy's lap with an amused smile.
"What did I tell ya? Sure, they're grand an' everythin', but I'd prefer a bit less of a hassle. Ya like?"
She runs a hand down one of her horns as if brushing back a strand of hair while maintaining heavy eye contact with Hellboy. The latter gives a barely perceptible shrug.
"Horns aren't really my thing, but they're fitting on you."
Swann then places her hands over her cheeks before using one to fan herself in an overexaggerated fashion.
"Ah shucks, you make me blush, Handsome!
The fae woman then raises her hands to run them over her horns as if sweeping back her hair, causing them to shorten and shrink under her touch until they're back to their usual convenient size.
"Speaking of horns, where's yours exactly, Big Guy?"
Swann gestures with one hand to the smooth stumps on Hellboy's forehead. He glances up at them before lifting his normal left hand to feel the mostly smooth stumps.
"Don't got'em 'cause I didn't want them. I used to be insecure about them as a kid, but nowadays I file them down for about the same reasons as you."
Hellboy gives a shrug in response. Swann gives hum as she contemplates what her fellow agent just told her.
"I suppose that's best for ya,"
The faerie woman then starts giggling to herself, causing the giant red man to raise a brow in confusion.
"What's so funny, now?"
"I was just thinkin' of ya tryna put on a shirt only for two absolutely massive horns-"
Swann holds her hands about a foot from her forehead.
" -to rip a hole through them, leaving ya stuck mid-dressing."
Swann then bursts out into full laughter.
"Or-or-or ya tryna to go through one of the doors at HQ, but ya can't cause the horns are too wide to let ya through! So you're just left havin' to figure your way in, only to get stuck in the doorway!"
A wry grin makes its way on Hellboy's face before he's too left chuckling at the ridiculous imagery.
"Kinda reminds me of when Mac tried to bring in a whole tree branch inside, but he didn't figure that the branch was too wide until after he ran full force at the door frame."
A moment of silence passes between them before both burst out into laughter to the point Swann has to grab onto Hellboy's broad shoulder to keep from collapsing, which is harder than it sounds considering how his shoulders kept shaking from the force of his laughter. Hellboy raises his left arm to wipe at his eyes for any tears that leaked out, which gives Swann a good look at a faded bitemark. A bitemark that's a lighter shade of red than the rest of Hellboy and appears to be the result of a large creature by the looks of it.
"How'd ya get that scar? Looks like it got ya good."
Hellboy glances over at the bitemark on his forearm and flexes his left hand.
"Yeah, but I'd say the mutated mutt got it worse in the end. I can at least say I'm alive."
"Mutated mutt? Do ya mean what happened last year in Rosemead, California?"
Hellboy nods.
"Yup. Guessin', you read the papers about it?"
"Aye, kinda hard not to when your face and name were everywhere.
"I can't help it I got a mug that cameras just love."
The giant red man gives an amused grin at his joke. Swann reciprocates his expression with one of her own and lightly elbows him in the ribs.
"Don't get a big head about it, yours is already large as it is."
"Guilty as charged."
Hellboy shrugs without an ounce of guilt.
"I'd wager though you got your share of scars."
"More than you can believe."
Swann glances down at one of her arms before adjusting the gloves to smooth out a small wrinkle, her grin falling ever so slightly. Hellboy could sense the change in demeanor from the smaller woman, making him furrow his brow.
"What kind of scars are you talkin' about?"
He asks quieter and gentler than his voice was just a minute ago. Swann remains silent, making no indication that she even heard Hellboy. The latter chooses not to push the fae woman, but that doesn't stop him from noting how unusual this sort of heavy silence is for her compared to her normal chatter.
Eventually, the silence is broken when Swann opts to shrug off her coat, revealing the white blouse with long frilled sleeves underneath. She then turns around and stands between Hellboy's legs to drape the blue coat over his broad shoulders. The large red man raises a brow but doesn't stop the smaller woman from smoothing the way-too-small jacket over him.
"You sure you wanna be giving this to me? I don't believe it's my style and I don't really need it."
The corner of the fae woman's mouth twitches.
"It's the best I can do given yer own was cut into ribbons, plus I can't have my personal heater turning into an ice cube."
"Touching."
Crinkle
Both Hellboy and his fellow agent turn their heads, Swann's ears standing at attention, in the direction of a familiar sound of plastic clinking followed by a light thump, followed shortly by a loud clink. Looking over to Hellboy's left side, they find a small packet of airplane biscuits and two mini bottles labeled "bourbon". Both agents look at the unexpected sustenance and then at each other again with wide eyes. Swann then gives a shrug to the large man's silent question.
"Even I sometimes forget what I keep on me."
Some More Days Later
After some thorough searching and Hellboy shaking the coat turns out Swann had half of another airplane biscuit pack in her and Hellboy has a mint broken down into dust in one of his pockets. While it isn't much in normal circumstances, to both BPRD agents, they may as well have found a feast. They both nibble their share of a cinnamon and sugar biscuit, both sharing half of one of the scarce biscuits while engaged in conversation with Swann still sitting in Hellboy's lap.
"....Why Romania? I figured you'd wanna go somewhere warmer like Mexico, Africa, the Sahara desert, the Bahamas, or Florida after this."
"You'd be wrong, Red. For one thing, I still have fur, so what may be mild to ya, is fiercely the opposite. 'Sides, I know a couple of great restaurants there, including one that makes some of the bleedin' best paprika chicken ya ever tasted."
The fae woman then takes another small bite from her quarter of the airplane biscuit, closing her eyes to briefly imagine the paprika chicken she mentioned; she can almost taste the delicious dish on her tongue, not the stale sugar cinnamon of the biscuit. Hellboy opts to wash down his biscuit with a small sip of bourbon, which is barely an ember warming his chest.
"You'll have to take me to one of those restaurants sometime then."
Swann gives a coquettish grin as she playfully bats her eyes.
"Are ya askin' me out on a date, Red?"
Hellboy's brows shoot to his forehead.
"Uhhh, no? Not really."
The large red man reaches his left hand behind his neck, suddenly feeling warmer than he did a minute ago. Swann's grin softens into a small smile as she turns her head to look up at him.
"Date or not, I'd be happy to show ya."
Hellboy gives a soft grin of his own.
"Sounds like a plan. Though, honestly,"
Hellboy leans back against the wall of the pit they dug, craning his neck to stare up at the bright full moon in the sky.
"I'd like to spend some time home. I know the Professor, Margret, and Archie must be scouring the Earth right now to find where we're at. It'd be nice to see them all again, and I'm sure Mac is missing me as much as I miss him. What I wouldn't give right now to be back in my warm bed with him. "
The large red man glances back at the fae woman in his hold, certain he would find her batting her lashes at him before making an innuendo; however, this is not what he finds. Hellboy finds Swann looking over at the fire with a stolid expression on her face as if in deep concentration.
"Swann?"
At the sound of her last name, the fae woman turns to look at Hellboy with a smile that doesn't quite reach her forlorn eyes.
"Ya lucky to have so many folks waitin' for ya at home. At least, I got Romania and all of Europa to head to."
Swann then gives a bitter chuckle. Hellboy doesn't say anything, pressing his lips in a thin line, silently hoping for his fellow agent to elaborate. His patience pays off when Swann gives one final detail.
"It's the closest I'll ever get to going home."
"Why? Are you saying that you can't? Actually, why do you stick around HQ and not Ireland?"
The faerie woman doesn't say anything in response, leaving them both in heavy silence once more.
...
Even More Days Later
Swann didn't speak much after mentioning home, barely uttering a few words. Even then, only when necessary, such as asking Hellboy to hold a few components of the radio as she got to work trying to strengthen the signal again. He watches as she screws and unscrews each piece in repetition with no real progress other than, perhaps, a way to keep her hands busy. While Swann is occupied with the hand radio, Hellboy looks over their remaining food, which, while not a lot to begin with, is nothing more than crumbs. The large man gives a sigh as he looks at the sad crumbs and dust in his normal hand.
"Any luck with the radio, Swann? Cause food's here is just crumbs you'd feed a mouse."
"s-s-sickner for-r-r yaaa."
The Fae woman slurs thickly in reply, stuttering at the same time from what Hellboy figures to be from the cold. He quickly takes the coat draped on his shoulders to cover his partner, even rubbing her shoulders a bit to generate extra heat. Hellboy then presses the back of his hand against Swann's cheek, finding that he may as well be touching the snow around them. He throws a quick glance at the small fire that may as well belong to a candle. Hellboy clenches his jaw tightly as he then looks back at Swann, finding her hands to be moving at a snail's pace and her head bobbing, causing her wavy locks to fall forward.
Before she could fall forward as well, Hellboy uses his giant right hand to catch the fae woman and tilt her back and used the other to place the radio down. He attempts to will away the way his heart started clawing its way up his throat by talking to his fellow agent and putting her coat back on her.
"Hey, Swann? Why don't you take a break from workin' on the radio for a bit? We're gonna need more fuel."
"A-ayeee... an féidir leat an fhuinneog a dhúnadh, le do thoil?"
"I have no idea what ya just said, but I'm gonna need ya to stay awake. Just don't close your eyes, yeah?"
Swann only lets out an acknowledging hum which Hellboy figured is good enough. He then snaps his fingers in front of the woman's cat-like eyes, briefly getting her to keep open without struggle for a few seconds before she's back to struggling with their weight. Hellboy ends up cradling Swann's shivering form, so small compared to him, close to his chest. Hellboy shuffles around, trying to find any flammable debris that both of them may have missed. Occasionally he would jostle her in his arms when she seemed too still, sometimes engaging in nonsensical conversation with her, anything to keep the fae woman from falling asleep and dying.
"I missh the soft ground a-and the grass 'tween toes."
"Uh-huh, and what else?"
"mo dheartháireacha agus deirfiúracha amaideach,"
Di gives a small drunken laugh as she gives a thousand-yard stare without actually seeing anything.
"plainsss, fielllds, winds... Jesusss I misss the aaaale...."
"We can get some ale later, but we can't if you go to sleep."
"Mmmmhhhh... souuuunds goood."
"I hope you mean the ale."
Hellboy moves aside a piece of metal that's roughly his size with one arm, finding something charred in the snow. He crouches down next to the partially buried item and uses his free hand to start digging at the snow around it. His face brightens when he unearthed a mostly charred piece of wood that could've been part of a door.
"Ah ha! A bit burnt but it's still wood."
Swann can only give a breathy giggle.
"bleedin' kelpies... gotta hog waterrr..."
"Right."
The large red man sits in front of the fire, its flames larger than a minute ago, thanks to the charred wood he found. Once he's taken care of the fire, Hellboy turns his attention back to the smaller woman in his arms, the knot in his stomach somewhat lessening when finding her no longer shivering as badly. To be safe, though, he takes one of Swann's arms tightly wrapped around herself to check her pulse.
"Mmmhhh... weak, but at least it's still there."
"A-are we in the w-wetlandsss?"
Swann mumbles out as she starts to kick her feet against the snow with barely enough force to flick a snowflake away. Hellboy is quick to hoist the faerie woman up more into his hold.
"No, we're in the ice lands."
"Ohhh booo..."
"Yeah, I know."
For the rest of the day, Hellboy continues to make nonsensical small talk with the barely conscious fae woman, which admittedly. During one conversation, he stopped to give Swann a few crumbs and the few drops of bourbon left in his small bottle.
"Cén fáth a bhfuil an fuisce imithe i gcónaí?"
Swann slurrs as she tiredly squints at the tiny bottle in Hellboy's hand.
"Sure is, Swann."
The fae woman then goes silent for a moment longer than he would've liked. However, before Hellboy could open his mouth to say anything, Swann speaks again at a volume her fellow agent had to lean down to hear.
"W-why can't I gooo home?"
"What's stopping you?"
"Them..."
"Who's them?"
The demon-like man couldn't make out the rest of what his fellow agent said, but they were swears and curses, given how she practically growled them out. Feeling it'd be better to get straight answers when Swann is more lucid, Hellboy changes the subject.
"You wanna hear about the time I crashed a vehicle when I was a kid?"
"A-aye...hehe..."
"Figured you would. To start, I love reading Lobster Johnson comics and I had something of an overactive imagination..."
Hellboy spends the rest of the night recalling his childhood and the places his job has taken him around the globe, having found that telling anecdotes from his life stories helped keep Swann awake. For the most part, he still had to shake her around to keep from dozing off. Sometimes, Swann would interject with some murmured commentary, which is how Hellboy learns that she's apparently banned from places in Sweden. Something about framing a giant talking squirrel for crimes she committed, but the large red man decided that's a question for another time.
...
He must've dozed off at some point since Hellboy opens his eyes to blink blearily at the rising sun. He then looks to the fire pit, where only ashes, embers, and smoke remains. Hellboy gives a heavy sigh to himself at the idea of scrounging up more fuel for the fire.
"Hey Swann, we're gonna-"
The large man is jolted fully awake as everything comes rushing back to him. He looks down to find the fae woman curled up in a fetal position on his lap with her back with a light cover of frost that gave an almost glazed look to Swann. He feels his stomach lurch as he raises a hand to her neck to try and search for any sign of a pulse, finding her skin to be cold as the landscape around them. Hellboy then feels it sink when he finds nothing.
"No,no,no, no come on."
Hellboy mutters to himself as he picks the smaller woman to squeeze against his body, which likely may not have been as effective as he would like given he's been shirtless in the cold the entire time, with frost forming on him. Yet, none of this bothered Hellboy, who starts rushing around the area with Swann still in his arms, desperately searching for anything he can burn while ignoring the hunger pangs from days of little food. While he didn't find any wood, he did find miscellaneous melted rubber parts from a variety of destroyed machines and items. Hellboy didn't care that it smelled worse than when either he or Swann would use a bit of their hair for kindling, as long as it made a fire which it did.
Sitting as close as he can, Hellboy sits by the fire again to get to work to warm up his fellow agent. After putting his hand directly in the fire for a few seconds, he rubs at her shoulders, arms, and neck to help give and generate heat. When this didn't make the faerie stir, Hellboy wracked his brain for anything else he could do to warm Swann up. He faintly remembers something about skin-to-skin contact being used in cases of hypothermia during the briefing before embarking on this job. Hellboy groans to himself at what he knows he has to do, but his resolve is steeled when looking down at the frozen fae woman in his arms.
Hellboy then starts unbuttoning Swann's jacket, enough so his left hand can slip down to her sternum, just above her breasts. He then starts rubbing counter-clockwise with the intention to generate heat to keep his partner's heart pumping. While not meaning to, as Hellboy was focusing on not overstepping his boundaries with the unconscious fae woman, he gets a glimpse of several stitched-up scars in the shape of claws peeking out from both sides of Swann's ribs. The large red man quickly looks away out of respect and embarrassment. He keeps averting his gaze from Swann as he holds her bare chest against his own bare chest with his beefy arms wrapped oh-so-carefully around her smaller form.
"I just know if you were awake, you wouldn't let me live any of this down. Right now, though, I wouldn't mind since it'll mean you're not dead."
Hellboy murmurs to the still-unconscious faerie.
The large red man sat there for what could've been hours, although there wasn't really any telling given how the sun seemed to barely have moved across the sky. Still, the fae woman didn't stir or give any indicators that she was still alive, not even a twitch. Hellboy knows he purposefully put off checking on the state of his only companion in the wintery landscape; which is why by the time the sun started to lower behind the horizon, he finally decided to grab one piece of metal from within Swann's pockets. Hellboy specifically rummaged for the most reflective piece before taking it out of his fellow agent's pocket and placing it under her nose. After a few moments that had Hellboy holding his breath, he takes the metal piece from under Swann's nose, finding nothing has changed for the metal not even the barest hint of steam.
"Swann? Swann? SWANN!"
Hellboy drops the metal piece to start shaking the unconscious, no, dead woman in his arms.
"Come on Swann! You know it's not the time to be foolin' around, Diyana! Diyana! Diyana please!"
After a few more minutes of futilely trying to wake Diyana up, the reality of the situation finally sinks in for Hellboy.
Diyana Swann is dead.
...
Hellboy may not have exactly gotten along well with the phooka, but he decided the best way to honor Diyana was to give her a proper burial. Well, as proper as he can with a six-foot deep grave, buttoning her back up in her coat, and placing a makeshift cross made of scrap metal. Hellboy has never really been to a funeral before so he doesn't know what exactly he's supposed to do. He spent a good part of his day just sitting at the foot of Diyana's grave, just twiddling his thumbs as he tries to come up with something to say, some nice last words, but nothing came.
Hellboy felt frustration bubbling hot in his chest and mixing in the heavy stone that settled in the pit of his gut. He wishes he could've done more to keep his partner alive, to not have let her down so badly. While he wishes he could've learned more about her, being stranded with Diyana gave him a glimpse behind the flirty and lofty persona of someone much more vulnerable, human even. Hellboy concludes that now, any secrets she hid, died with her, meaning he may never really know Diyana.
Hellboy curls up on himself with the two-way radio clutched in hand, the fire having gone out hours ago. He spends the next few days like this, slipping in and out of consciousness, only moving to eat some of the snow around him. Hellboy ends up staying in his curled position for so long that frost and icicles start forming all over him.
...
crunch
Hellboy slightly raises his head at the sound. What was that noise?
crunch
There it is again. The large red man turns his head in the direction of Diyana's grave in an attempt to pinpoint the noise. Could it have been some fallen snow? No, Hellboy reasons to himself. It's just hills and hills of snow all around him. Besides, he hasn't even moved from his spot to disturb any of the debris around him for days.
crunch crunch crunch
Okay, definitely not falling snow. In fact, if Hellboy's hunch is right, that noise is coming from-
Crunch Crunch CRUNCH
A muddied gloved hand pops from out of Diyana's grave, followed by another hand, then a muddied and snow-covered Diyana gasping for breath. Hellboy scrambles for the gun he swiped from the fae woman to aim it at the latter as she starts dragging her upper half out of her grave. He could only stare slack-jawed as his formerly, dead partner starts to sink a bit back into the loose snow before she starts to claw at the snow to get a good grip on the ground. Diyana's grunts and heavy panting helped snap Hellboy out of his stupor, making him rush to the faerie's grave to offer her his giant stone hand. She takes it, and Hellboy heaves against the snow and mud's suction around her waist to yank her out of the grave onto more stable ground.
Diyana crawls a few feet from the grave before collapsing on her back, taking huge gulps of air she's been deprived of. Hellboy stares down at her with his hooved feet on either side of her head, disbelief in his features. His, now-alive, partner lets out a few coughs before speaking in a scratchy voice.
"Why the fuckin' hell did you bury me alive?"
A long pause sits between them to the point Diyana thinks that the large man didn't hear her. She opens her mouth to repeat her question, but Hellboy finally answers her inquiry, gesticulating with his hands to hammer his words in.
"Why? Why? I thought you were dead!"
"Well, it's fierce obvious that I ain't."
Diyana then rights herself in a sitting position to stretch her stiff arms and crack her neck. She then starts to dust off the mud and snow on her.
"I-I checked for a pulse, and if you were breathing, you didn't have one, and you stopped breathing!"
"Technically, yes, I was dead for a few hours or so, but no, I wasn't really. Help me up, please?"
Diyana raises her arms up toward Hellboy, who obliges and reaches down to help the fae woman to her feet. It's clear that the long period of inactivity in the cold has affected Diyana's leg muscles, given how when she tried to take a step of her own, her legs wobbled before collapsing under her. The whole sight reminded her partner of a newborn deer taking its first steps. Hellboy helps her up again, but keeps an arm extended like an old-fashioned gentleman for Diyana to hang on to as she takes some shaky steps toward the now-extinguished firepit.
"You haven't answered my question, what do you mean you weren't really dead?"
"While my form is humanoid,"
Diyana gestures to herself with a free hand.
"... and follows most of the human anatomy rules, I made a few adjustments to it when I first conjured it, including hibernation for our sort of situation."
"You mean you were going under Torpor?"
The faerie woman nods.
"Aye."
Hellboy then proceeds to help his alive partner to take a seat near the firepit, carefully lowering her down in a sitting position before taking a seat next to her.
"And you're just now telling me this, why?"
Diyana at least had the decency to look sheepish. She places her tail in her hand and starts to pick at the mud still stuck to it.
"See here, Red, I really didn't mean to give ya such a startle,"
"Too late for that."
"... Either way, I was gonna say somethin' about it, but I suppose it slipped my mind."
Hellboy gives a few incredulous blinks.
"Yeah, the fact that starving while in freezing temperatures leads to you becoming essentially dead to the world, is totally easy to forget about bringing up."
Diyana raises her hands up in surrender.
"Aye, aye, aye, I get it. But to be fair, I was a bit busy with other tasks at hand and I thought I would go into hibernation later."
Hellboy lets out a heavy sigh as he starts to slouch forward while rubbing a hand down his face and muttering under his breath.
"Goddammit lady..."
He then turns his head to look back over to Diyana with a softer expression.
"At least you're not dead. That's all that matters."
Hellboy recognizes the coquettish smirk that spreads across his partner's face and how her tail curls up in a tight "S" shape.
"Hold on, were you actually concerned for lil' ol' me, Handsome? I didn't think you cared so much."
"I was concerned about going crazy on my own, but at least with you still alive I have someone to blame."
Diyana titters in amusement with the tip of her finger delicately placed over her mouth at Hellboy's deadpan delivery.
"And yet you went as far to give me a nice little burial."
"It's not like I could've just left your "corpse" on the ground like garbage."
The phooka woman gives a dismissive wave of her hand.
"I wouldn't get in a twist too much over that, when I actually die, you wouldn't have anythin' to actually bury. I'd just return to the earth one way or 'nother."
"What do ya mean by that?"
"You'll know it when you see it."
Diyana ends on an, in Hellboy's opinion, ominous note. The faerie woman leans in his direction before speaking.
"Mind if we huddle up again? I'm bleedin' foundered from just having to dig myself out of the snow since somebody buried me alive."
Hellboy rolls his eyes but obliges and places Diyana on his lap.
"Yeah, yeah, I figured. I would've let you anyways so need to rub it in."
"That's grand to know, Handsome."
Hellboy didn't need to see his partner's face to know she was grinning.
"This is only because we're in this sort of environment, so this is a one-time thing."
"I have a feeling it won't be just one-time,"
Diyana gives another low chuckle that causes Hellboy to feel more warmth building up in his body than earlier.
"but in all seriousness, I should warn you given our current situation, I'll be falling back into Torpor in perhaps a few hours to a few days."
"Thanks for the heads up."
"Oh and Red?"
Hellboy lets out a hum in acknowledgment.
"When I do go into hibernation again, please don't bury me alive."
"Keep bringing it up and I might just be tempted to do so."
...
Diyana stares at the low fire while eating her ball of snow for the evening, cat-like eyes in deep contemplation. Over what? Hellboy doesn't have a clue, as he, too, finishes his snowball. He then wraps his arms around his partner and sets his head on top of her head in their usual position. Hellboy doesn't worry too much when he starts feeling a wave of exhaustion creeping on the edges of his mind, as even in this freezing climate, he doesn't quite feel the unforgiving bite of winter the same as everyone. He's about to doze off until he's interrupted by Diyana speaking.
"Do you remember our conversation about where we would go after this ordeal?"
The fae woman asks in such a low volume that, even when the larger red man gave a low hum in acknowledgment, he could almost write it off as something his sleep-deprived mind conjured. That is until Diyana kept talking, a little louder this time.
"You also asked why I'd rather mingle among our fellow human agents than head back to the Emerald Isle. The answer's simple, I can't go back there because, I was exiled."
Hellboy's eyes widen in surprise as exhaustion starts to fall away.
"Did ya do something extremely horrible?"
Diyana gives a dry chuckle.
"Depends on your perception of "horrible," but I didn't commit any crimes against humanity. In fact, it was because I tried assisting that I can never go back."
Hellboy shifts in his position to get a better look at his fellow agent's expression to gauge whether or not she's lying. However, a part of him already knew that was not the case.
"How was that deemed horrible?"
Diyana sighs in melancholy, her ears drooping to match her feelings. She then reaches out a hand to the fire pit, where the shapeless smoke rising from the smoldering remains starts taking on a humanoid form with a faint purple outline around it.
"Perhaps a bit of visual aid would help to explain."
Hellboy squints at the whispy figure his partner made, recognizing it to be a smaller model of the latter. He watches in quiet awe as Diyana begins to weave her tale with smoke and color.
"Hundred of years and many moons ago, I was the typical young faerie. I would run across the Isle's plains and hills to my heart's delight and play tricks on any passing humans on a whim,"
The faerie woman then waves her hand to make the figure representing her turn change into a horse, then uses her other hand to creature a human-shaped figure that mounted her back. Horse Diyana appears to snicker before bolting off into the air, running circles around Hellboy's head. The horse-shaped apparition then dumps the unharmed and discombobulated person to the "ground" before galloping off. The horse shifts back into a younger Diyana, who turns to spot an entire phantasm village complete with featureless and ghostly men, women, and children milling about. The smoke-made faerie climbs a constructed tree to watch the village from afar.
"Other times, in between playing tricks collecting trinkets, and shining baubles that caught my eye, I would spend hours observing humans and all their quirks. So fickled, many of them are, clinging to rules and then having to adapt to seemingly nonsensical new rules before deciding ta hell with them! Yet, I can't deny how fond I am of their creativity and ingenuity,"
With a flick of her wrist, the village becomes formless for a moment before splitting off into shapes consisting of heavy plows; musket rifles; mechanical clocks; wheelbarrows; a water mill; the spinning wheel; along with much more inventions that the large red man could only vaguely recognize from textbooks on the Medieval Ages. Hellboy can't take his eyes off of the smokey images as they move to reform and reshape the misty shapes into new figures, bending to Diyana's will as if she simply raises her hands. The images then solidify to show the younger faerie passing by non-humanoid figures working with hammers and anvils or on a loom, all to then raise their blades, chest plates, and robes in presentation.
"In that same vein, I would watch the goblins and hobgoblins taking the pretty baubles they collected to make splendid blades and armor for the fae kings and queens,"
Diyana then makes a fist that she brings down on the flat of her palm.
"BANG! CLANG! Went the hammers,"
The conjugated shapes of the goblins raised their hammers and smashed them against their anvils, with sparks somehow flying from within the smoke.
"WHOOSH! Went their great furnaces."
Smoke, tinged orange, surged from behind the figures before dispersing and adding to the weaver's loom; from it, they produce a long unbroken flowing stream of smoke that gently flutters in the air.
"How could I not also love watching the other faeries and queens create beautiful art resulting from all the dedication and intricacy equal to that of the goblin forgers? Eventually, I had enough of simply watching and decided to try crafting, but with my own twist."
Diyana then manipulates the smoke to depict her younger self using her hands to shape formless blobs of smoke before presenting them to changing crowds of faes, including ones with crowns on their heads.
"I would create enchanted clothing that not only was fit for royalty but for battle with layers of their robes and gowns doubling as an arsenal of blades or belts as whips and swords. Soon word spread of my talent, and shortly after, which were sought after far and wide by many kings and queen's courts, including their monarchs themselves!"
"Sounds impressive."
Diyana nodded in agreement without taking her eyes off the image she conjured of another goblin patting her younger self on the back while said self puffed out her chest and beamed in pride. With her focus diverted, Hellboy glances down at his fellow agent to find her pupils dilated and glistening. He then watches those pupils contract into thin slits and ball her hands into fists, the images darkening to match her change in mood.
"In my naive attempt to earn the praise and adoration of both human and fair folk, I tried to gift every human on the Emerald Isle items that I thought could improve their lives."
Diyana then makes a sweeping gesture to the smoke, causing it to writhe around before briefly stilling to create the items she then describes.
" Including mechanical bulls that would be more efficient in plowing their fields so they would not age nor become tired; small portions of lightning to help light and warm their homes; as well as clothing with pockets that are deeper than they first appear."
The fae woman clenches her hand into a fist, causing images, and the smoke disappears without a trace. When Diyana speaks again, her words are terse and have a venomous edge.
"Of course, the higher-ups didn't like that. They wanted to keep all the dwindling magic they could to themselves. When my mentor and the other royals learned what I did, they put me on trial. Heh, if you could call being chained up and forced to kneel while being scolded like a dog a trial. Even though, technically, by their own laws, I did nothing wrong."
Hellboy notices how his partner gripped her knees, causing the material of her gloves to creak. He's sure that if he could see her hands, the knuckles would be white from her grip.
"As the court decided my fate, I hoped I could rely on my friends and mentor, who encouraged my ambition, to defend me... I was wrong."
Hellboy looks back at Diyana, trying to gauge her thoughts, only to be met with a poker face that came from centuries of experience. The only thing to tell him about the pooka's internal state is how her tail twitched like an irritated cat. Diyana let out a heavy sigh, trying to push away the memory of how her mentor looked down at her chained form with disappointment and contempt etched deeply in his wrinkled face.
'If I knew you'd become a traitor to the wee folk, I would've never let ya step foot in my forge.'
She then takes a deep breath, her eyes burning with unshed tears. Diyana willed herself not to shed any before finishing her tale.
"After the court banished me from all of Northern Ireland, word soon spread of my... "treachery." No king or Queen's court would have me on their lands. Soon after, I was banished from setting foot in all of Ireland. So they put me on a boat with nothing but the clothes on my back, where it was decreed, I would never return to my homeland. Otherwise, I would suffer a slow and painful death before returning to the earth."
The pooka woman then leans back against Hellboy's barrel chest with her arms crossed over her chest. Without prompting, Hellboy wraps his arms around his partner, returning to their earlier position with him resting his chin atop Diyana's head. A veil of silence falls between them as the large red man contemplates and takes in what his fellow agent just divulged to him. Unlike when he buried his, presumably dead, partner, he's able to come up with a few words to say to her.
"... Do you ever miss it, your home? 'Cause for what it's worth, I'm glad to have you here."
Diyana feels her cheeks heating up and the corner of her mouth twitching, none of which Hellboy could see. Yet, he could hear the wistfulness in his partner's voice loud and clear.
"Aye, even with so many centuries have passed. I still long to run on its green grassy hills with the breeze in my mane; climb and rest in the woodlands, sometimes making small talk with travelers; drink from the marshes on a hot summer's day; pick blackberries in the brambles as a snack. It was once truly home for me."
"Do you miss anyone there?"
Hellboy catches Diyana's tail flicking in irritation out the corner of his eye.
"I doubt there'd be a welcome party much less a single faerie happy to see my mug. So they can all fuck their collective holes for all I care."
Hellboy lets out a chortle, which then breaks into a hearty laugh that proves infectious as Diyana soon joins in. A much-needed breath of alleviation both agents desperately needed.
...
Up high in the sky, miles the above the snowy landscape below is a chopper with the BPRD's signature logo on the side of the haul. Within the vehicle is Professor Broom and another agent accompanying the former in the search for Agent Hellboy and Agent Swann.
"We should be approaching the coordinates, Agent Muraro, but there's no sign of either of them so far."
Agent Muraro squints at the horizon, spotting what could be Hellboy's large figure crouched over.
"I think I see them or maybe just one, Professor. See something, anyway."
After landing the chopper, the Professor and Muraro approach the silhouette the latter spotted earlier. It turns out Muraro's initial assumption was correct as it became clear it was the two missing agents the closer they got.
"My word!"
Broom exclaims when he can make out more of the agents' states. Hellboy was hunched over with Swann's coat covering his back, although he and the coat were covered in snow and ice. However, the coat didn't do much to hide the large man's emaciated form, showcasing his prominent ribs and sunken cheeks. In his flesh hand was a similarly snow-covered hand-held two-way radio with some apparent modifications to lengthen the antenna. Similar to her larger partner, the faerie was covered in snow and ice with sunken in cheeks as a sign of starvation. Broom then takes notice of Swann curled up tightly in a ball in Hellboy's arms, one dirtied glove held over where his heart is and with both their tails intertwined.
...
Hellboy is the first one to regain consciousness, followed shortly by his partner, who's still in his lap. Diyana instinctively reaches for a knife strapped to her thigh when processing voices not belonging to her or her partner. When she opens her eyes, Broom and another man, another agent the faerie presumes, are standing on either side of her with a gloriously large campfire burning before her, melting the frigid chill from her bones with its searing heat.
"B-b-bruk Mor-r-rph..."
Diyana turns her head in the direction of Hellboy's groan, feeling his entire form shivering under her with both of them wrapped in a large blanket. She could feel his arms tight around her form trying to greedily take in her newly acquired warmth. Diyana opens her mouth to try and tell her fellow agent to ease up a little, but her words too came out as a jumbled mess.
" E-ee-ease u-upmh..."
"I think your lady friend is tryna tell you to ease up a little on her, kid. She's not a teddy bear."
The other agent speaks up for her. Hellboy glances down at Diyana before loosening his hold on her.
"Ssss-owy D-di-i-i."
Diyana gives a thumbs up to show all is good, not making any move to break away from Hellboy but opting to raise her hands toward the fire in front of them. Broom takes note of how at ease the two agents seem with each other compared to their usual quarrelsome interactions. Then again, he reasons, desperate times call for desperate measures.
The Professor then goes on to explain how the Bureau has been searching for Hellboy and Swann ever since they disappeared from the Ice Island for a little over six weeks. Finally, they had a lead when the U.S. department got word from Tokoyo that one of their whaling vessels picked up a BPRD distress call from the South Atlantic. Basically, the craft that took both agents ended up from the Earth's North Pole to its South in little time.
"...I can only speculate that the craft that brought you both here passed through the Earth, somehow. There are, of course, countless legends about the Hollow Earth, and hidden passages that connect one pole to another. I had assumed these to be metaphors for the hidden recesses of the human mind, but they may have a material reality. Perhaps those who constructed the craft had knowledge of such passages."
Swann then takes a sip from the hot cup of joe Muraro served her and Hellboy before handing it to the latter.
"Yer-rr... hmph... You're right the morans who had knowledge of the craft knew 'bout them and it's not too far outside the realm of possibilities for such passages to exist. We fae already use our own sorta of hidden passages to move from one place to another, however, while the Otherworld may be different in geography and built from the mortal realm it's still adjacent to it. I myself use but a fraction of them whenever I teleport."
Broom's eyes widen as his brows raise to his forehead.
"Fascinating, have you ever gotten a good look at these passages from within the Otherworld or this one?"
Diyana shakes her head.
"Nah, I don't really have to look, I more or less just know where I'm going when I'm in there."
"Genetic or muscle memory perhaps?"
"I would say more along the lines of the latter given I had years upon years of practice in regards to teleporting."
Muraro clears his throat to grab both scholars' attention.
"I have a question of my own for either you or Hellboy; what went on down here anyway?"
The man gestures with his head at the debris spread out around them. This time, Hellboy is the one to do the talking.
"Bunch of Nazis. Flying saucers. We took care of it."
Hellboy closes his eyes and takes a long sip of his joe.
...
EPILOGUE: Some Years Later
Hellboy and Diyana stand beside each other at the foot of a Queen sized bed with floral patterned covers and pillows. Hellboy glances between the bed to his fellow agent from the corner of his eyes.
"Um-"
"Let me stop ya there 'fore ya embarrass yerself. We can both share the bed. We're both fully grown adults, not some hormonal youngins."
"I guess you have a point."
Diyana then bites the bottom of her lip as her tail curls tightly on itself.
"But I wouldn't mind if you decide to have a ride with me."
"There it is."
Hellboy rolls his eyes playfully, not so surprised that's where the faerie woman's line of thinking went.
"In all seriousness, look at your sleeping options; we have one bleedin' bed set, there's a hard cold floor, and there's no couch unless you want to sleep on the small table and chair,"
Diyana gestures to the furniture placed right under one of the windows, giving them a nice view of the dense, snowy Norwegian woods with the sun dipping behind the tree line to bathe them in ethereal glow. A thick blanket of snow covers everything, including the only road leading to this middle-of-nowhere motel they're staying in. Hellboy then looks back at the bed before avoiding eye contact with his fellow agent.
"Remind me again why you didn't just spring us for a nice hotel?"
"'Cause the nearest one is about 70 kilometers away from where we're supposed to find some fire giants and this motel is closer."
"Yeah, that checks out."
Diyana then turns her head to look at her partner with a teasing smirk and hands on her hips.
"Is the idea of sharing a bed with me that horrible?"
"Err no. No. It's just, usually we have our own beds and err well,"
Hellboy groans with his left hand rubbing down his face, his tail flicking on its own accord. Without another word, Diyana grabs the pillows and starts evenly lining them down the middle as a barrier. When she finishes, she turns around to face her partner, gesturing to the pillow wall.
“Better?”
“Uh yeah, yeah, much better. “
Diyana gives Hellboy a soft smile.
“If it’s any comfort, it isn’t too different from when we ended up around Antarctica.”
“Right, just without the threat of freezing to death.”
“There we go!”
Diyana then crouches down to reach into her carpet bag to pull out a manilla folder with some papers, including pages copied from old tomes and newspaper clippings pertaining to the fire giants. She hands this folder to her fellow agent for him to review.
"Imma freshen up in the jacks and slip into somethin' more comfortable. Could you review the file meanwhile?"
"Not a problem."
"Thanks, Handsome."
Diyana struts past her partner, briefly looking over his shoulder to blow him a kiss before disappearing into the bathroom. Shortly after, Hellboy hears the sound of pipes creaking and groaning, followed by the sound of running water. He then sits on the right side of the only bed before opening the file and taking out a printed page detailing the fire giants' homeland, Muspellheim. Hellboy is unable to focus on the paper to the point he finds himself rereading the same paragraph over and over again without actually taking really reading it, his mind entirely on something not giant-related.
'What would Di's version of "something comfortable" be?'
In his mind's eye, he could see the pooka in a lacey nightgown that stopped just below the knees and hugged her curves in all the right ways, extenuating her lithe figure. The gown has thin straps, displaying her collarbone and a tasteful peak of her cleavage. Hellboy can almost hear Diyana's flirtatious words while giving her usual coquettish grin before it turns into a sweeter expression, her body language relaxed and at ease. She then opens her arms, beckoning him to-
'NO!'
Hellboy's head shoots up from his reading, wondering where that came from. He pinches the bridge of his nose as he groans to himself, frustrated with himself for conjuring those images.
'Come on, get it together! You're not some horny teenager that loses it by sleeping near a woman, much less a friend. You're a grown-ass man that can control himself! You're just sleeping beside your friend, not sharing a marriage bed!'
Hellboy lets out a long sigh before placing down the file, deciding to head out for a quick smoke. He just got up from the bed before the bathroom door opened with a large cloud of steam pouring out into the main room. Hellboy watches as Diyana's familiar figure emerges from the steam, releasing a breath he didn't realize he's been holding in relief.
Instead of the alluring nightgown he imagined, his partner wore a blue-green sleeping shirt with long sleeves with ruffles at the end; the collar was covered in lace but in a way that completely covered her chest and most of her neck. Diyana's lower half matches her upper half with pajama pants that only expose her from the ankle down. Instead of letting down her loose ebony locks, her hair is confined in a silky purple nightcap. Hellboy notes the single pink hair curler set at the end of his partner's tail with an amused snort. Diyana rolls her eyes with a small smile.
"You finished reading up on the file?"
"Yeah."
The large red man then picks up the file to hand to his partner's outstretched hand. In the back of his mind, he notes something different from his fellow agent's usual attire but quickly rationalizes it to wearing ordinary pajamas. He then goes to the front door with Diyana plopping down on the left side of the mattress with file in hand.
"Heading out for a smoke. I shouldn't be long."
"Aye, Imma do some light readin' here before turnin' in. Just lettin' ya know so you don't mistakenly bury me alive again."
Diyana could only see the back of Hellboy's head as he let out a pantomime groan.
"That was one time, Di."
With that, he opens the door and heads out, not having to look behind him to see his partner's amused grin. Later that evening, after deciding his head is clear enough, Hellboy steps back into the shared motel room. He surmises he may have been out for some time, judging by how he found Diyana fast asleep, curled up in a tight fetal position.
After hanging up his duster, Hellboy tries to move as quietly as he can, trying to be courteous to his fellow agent. Of course, stealth has never been exactly his strong suit and the fact he's walking against a hard floor with hooved feet didn't exactly help. He tenses up and stops dead in his tracks when his partner lets out a groan.
"Sorry, Di."
Hellboy whispers to the faerie who, besides a twitch of an ear, didn't seem to react to his words. Diyana shifts a bit in her slumber when HB finally lies down on the other side of the makeshift pillow barrier, causing the mattress to dip under his greater weight and the springs to creak, causing him to cringe.
"Sorry again, Di."
"Mrrhhh..."
Came the faerie's only response before stretching a bit and nuzzling into her pillow with her hands gripping the soft material. Hellboy glances over and suddenly hit him about what seemed so different about his partner.
'So she can take them off.'
He takes a moment to look over Diyana's ungloved hands, almost feeling as if he's seeing something he's probably not supposed to. Yet, he can't stop his eyes from noting her short black claws or the faint scratch lines and uneven skin from scars that dot the skin, possibly from years of working with machinery and or in the clothing business. If he were to hold one of these hands, they're probably a bit calloused from centuries of labor. Would Diyana let him hold her bare hands, he wonders? Realizing he may have been staring too long, Hellboy is quick to lie down with his back to his partner and a giant stone fist hanging off to the side.
...
Dawn barely broke out from behind the horizon when Diyana woke up. She lets out a yawn before huddling close to the source of warmth in her arms, her mind in a sort of haze as it stood between sleep and consciousness. In the back of her mind, Diyana finds herself wanting nothing more than to stay surrounded by the warm cozy thing and its pleasant smell that reminded her somewhat of roasted peanuts. Yet the sound of light snoring has Diyana opening her eyes, filling them with crimson.
She pulls away a little to find the warmth she was cuddling is actually Hellboy. She glances away from him to find the pillows she set up yesterday scattered all over the bed, leaving nothing between them. Sometime during the night, he moved onto his back so his massive stone hand was still hanging off the side of the bed, but his left arm was wrapped around her shoulders. Diyana is on her side, tucked against Hellboy, with her bare hands pressed against her fellow agent's chest, one hand right over his heart. While their legs were still covered by the comforter, the faerie woman could feel her leg hooked on the inside of her partner's leg, their tails intertwined.
Diyana feels the back of her neck all the way to the tip of her ears grows hotter with each passing second, unintentionally giving Hellboy's tail a squeeze with her own. In return, the large red man gives Diyana a small squeeze of his own while muttering something too incoherent for her to make out. After spending a few minutes biting her lower lip to keep from screaming, she then takes a deep breath, willing her racing heart to slow down, which works, sorta. Diyana could still feel the prominent blush on her cheeks as she tucked her head back under Hellboy's jaw, the sound of his soft snoring in one ear and the sound of his heart beating strongly in another. She then closes her eyes, a small genuine smile on her face, and lets herself believe that, just for one moment, they're not merely co-workers and friends sleeping next to each other; instead, this is a-
'No. No, I just want to enjoy a few more minutes of shut-eye.'
Diyana fervently tries to convince herself before deciding to just let herself relax in Hellboy's embrace.
When her fellow agent began to stir awake, the faerie quickly popped into the bathroom to get ready for a day of giant hunting. Back in bed, Hellboy fully stirs awake and looks over the collapsed pillow barrier.
A/N I have no regrets for making such a long piece! Stay weird, my fellow humans!
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