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Living Stone
By : AceMaxwell
Category: G through L > Hellboy
Views: 4868 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Hellboy and I make no money off this fiction.
Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
Sorry this update took a little longer than the others. Sadly, I work retail and this is our busiest time of year. I've had a lot of hours lately. I'm going to try and dedicate more time to the next few chapters since I think there's only going to be two more.
As usual, I didn't get anyone to beta it, so please point out any glaring mistakes so I can fix them and update it.
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Hellboy woke to find a pair of soft, brown eyes staring at him. Light was streaming in through the blinds, slanting across the room at such an extreme angle that Hellboy knew it was still very early. His internal clock said it was about six-thirty or seven, but he didn't feel like pulling away from John to find out for sure. The kid was propped up on his elbow, one of his legs thrown leisurely across Hellboy's thighs.
Hellboy groaned, "Do you ever sleep?"
"I slept."
"For what, an hour?"
"I can't answer that. I don't know what time we went to bed."
Chuckling, Hellboy rolled onto his back and pulled the kid on his chest, "Late."
"See, that doesn't help me any." John quipped, accepting Hellboy's morning kiss with a smirk. "Because late could be two AM, in which case, I got plenty of sleep. Or it could be four or five, which means I got a nap."
Hellboy tried not to let his concern surface because he knew John didn't like being coddled, but it was easy for the kid to pick up on it. He let his hand wander over John's back, the slight texture by his shoulders reminding him of the scars. They weren't the same as the marks on his wrists, they definitely weren't self-inflicted. They did, however, look intentional. Hellboy noted that there were no scars where someone might see them, like on his neck or face.
John laughed bitterly, "No, she was smarter than that."
"She? Who did this to you?"
The kid adverted his gaze and laid his head against Hellboy's pectoral, "It's kind of a pathetic story, I don't think you want to hear it."
Hellboy's brow furrowed deeply. He stroked John's hair, asking, "Are you afraid to tell me?"
"No," the kid's voice was choked. His fingers tightened in the hair on Hellboy's chest and he whispered, "Yes."
Hellboy opened his mouth to answer, but the door burst inward. Every muscle in the kid's body tensed as Liz came in shouting.
"The helicopter will be here in ten-" She froze, her expression going blank and her mouth falling open. "Oh!" Liz broke out of her shock and turned away from them. "Uh, sorry. I'll try and knock next time. The helicopter is going to be here soon. You might want to put some clothes on."
She shut the door behind her, leaving them alone. A chuckle rolled in Hellboy's chest when he felt John's face heat against his skin. The kid covered most of Hellboy and Liz had seen him more than once with his clothes torn to shreds after a mission, so she'd gotten more of an eyeful of John than anything else. The sheets were tangled around John's legs, coming only to his knees. Hellboy understood his embarrassment, but it amused him anyway.
Hellboy gave John's ass a light slap, "Go get a shower."
The kid edged out of bed and limped to his room. Hellboy's stomach churned. Something heavy was hanging over them and Hellboy knew it wasn't going away until John trusted him enough to tell him about the rest of his scars. He wondered how they could possibly be worse than suicide. He could tell they were from abuse, but why John was afraid to tell him about them was what bothered him.
Hellboy got in the shower for a quick rinse and threw on his gear before he went looking for Abe. The icthyo sapien was strapping on his gun holster when Hellboy leaned in the open doorframe. There was something black and lacy peeking out from between the unkempt sheets. When Abe noticed him looking at it, he snatched the pair of underwear and shoved them in his pocket.
"She wears lace?"
If Abe could've blushed, he would have, "It's a new development."
"You buy them for her?" Hellboy asked with a smirk.
"No, I had nothing to do with the decision."
"Oh, I'm pretty sure you did."
Abe sighed and picked up his trench coat, "Did you come here for any particular reason?"
Still smirking, Hellboy said, "I need a gun the kid can handle. Something compact. What've you got?"
Abe went to a hard case sitting open on the floor. There were several weapons packed in custom cut foam, a basic array of traditional firearms and other, more arcane weapons that were only good against certain enemies. Abe picked one of the handguns and lifted up a secondary layer of foam to get a spare clip.
He brought both to Hellboy and commented, "It's not like I was the only one getting laid last night. For a few minutes, I thought you were murdering that psychic."
"He probably feels like I tried to kill him," Hellboy grunted as he checked the gun's sights.
"You haven't been with anyone in so long, why him?"
Hellboy tucked the gun and clip into his belt, "Why Liz?"
Abe's gills flared slightly at the question, "Liz and I make a lot more sense than some agent you met less than a week ago. We've known each other for years. And-" Abe pushed a finger against Hellboy's broad chest, "And you are notoriously cautious when it comes to relationships, for good reason, so what could make you throw that out for this boy?"
"I don't know."
Abe glared at him, clearly not satisfied with his answer. Problem was, Hellboy didn't have a better one for him. He and John had a connection he couldn't explain. It went way beyond the fact that John could read him, a lot of agents could do that. It was more that the kid accepted him so easily. Most people took time to get used to him, but, from the moment he and John met, the kid had taken him at face value and not cringed. Whether it was his ability or something else, the kid saw him through the horns and tail and red skin. The kid saw him.
At the moment, that wasn't something he wanted to admit to Abe, "He's not like them."
"How could you possibly know that already?"
"I don't, I just feel like he is."
Abe put his hands on his hips, sighing again, "Your instincts are usually on the money. I just hope they work as well off the field as they do in it."
"Yeah, me too."
Hellboy returned to his room, pausing with his hand on the doorknob. The door that connected John's room to the exterior hall was ajar and he could hear Liz's angry, but level voice coming from inside.
She was saying, "Do I make myself very clear?" when Hellboy pushed into the room.
Liz had John trapped near the armoire and he was looking particularly livid about it. He must've finished his shower because his hair was wet and he was in a fresh pair of jeans. There was a clean shirt clutched in his hand, giving Hellboy a good idea as to when Liz had burst in on him. Hellboy tried not to let his eyes linger on the bruises on John's hipbones, barely visible above the hemline of his jeans. He'd wanted to be gentle with the boy, but hadn't done as well as he'd thought.
John's gaze flicked to Hellboy and Liz turned to follow it. They were both spitting mad, which Hellboy didn't like. But, considering that John wasn't a pile of ash and Liz wasn't bleeding out of her eyes, Hellboy figured it could've been worse.
"I'll see you at the chopper in five," Liz snapped at Hellboy, giving John one last scathing look before she walked out.
They both watched the door for a moment and then John went into the bathroom. He yanked the shirt over his head, mussing his hair to get some effect Hellboy didn't understand.
"I didn't know you already had a girlfriend," John griped.
"What did she say?"
"That if I wasn't serious about you, that I should leave you alone. I'm really sick of being treated like I'm some kind of untrustworthy swine that's going to run around behind your back." Some of John's anger faded as he went to his suitcase to get a pair of socks. He sat on the end of the bed and somberly asked, "You've had a lot of bad relationships."
The statement did exactly what John probably wanted, making Hellboy think about some of his worst breakups. John's mind brushed his and Hellboy let him see everything. Out of the few people Hellboy had allowed into his life, one had cheated with a fellow agent, one had only slept with him thinking he could get her a better position within the agency, and another had looked at is as his good deed for the year. The best relationship he'd ever had was with the woman who couldn't stand his tail. She was part of the reason why he'd started filing his horns.
Hellboy cleared his throat and pulled the gun out from under his belt, "Have you ever used a gun before?"
John nodded, "I grew up in Arkansas, remember? I knew how to shoot before I knew how to tie my shoes."
"Sure didn't seem like it when you used mine."
John's glare had little power behind it, "That's because you use a freaking hand cannon. It's got to be over a fifty caliber."
"Seventy nine." Hellboy flipped the pistol around so John could take the handle, but didn't let go when he grabbed it. "You really should stay behind on this one."
"You know the answer to that."
"Yeah, but I've got to say it anyway."
John took the gun when Hellboy finally let go of it, "What about the holster?"
"There should be one on the helicopter you can use."
Sticking the weapon in the waistband of his pants, John pocketed the clip and reached for his shoes. Hellboy watched him silently, his mind tumbling over the scars. After John had tied his laces, he leaned his elbows on his knees and scrubbed his face with both hands.
"My mother smoked," John mumbled.
"And she what, used you as an ashtray?" Hellboy growled, coming over to sit next to the kid.
"No, she just… I don't know," John left his face in his palms, keeping his gaze trained at the floor. His voice was barely above a whisper when he said, "I lied to you."
Hellboy lifted his chin, feeling a rush of anger course through him. He'd already told the kid he hated being lied to, but John was trying to set things straight and Hellboy would let him, "About what?"
"About my mother, about what happened."
When John dared to meet Hellboy's gaze, he seemed terrified. Hellboy realized that this truth was what held the deadfall over their barely hatched relationship. Whatever it was, the kid seemed to think it was going to end everything. Hellboy wasn't sure that they had time for any dramatic reveals. He could hear the chopper in the distance and they only had until nightfall to stop the resurrection of the Shade Court.
"Kid, it can't be as bad as you're making it," Hellboy said. When John started to say something else, Hellboy cut him off, "You can tell me all about it if we survive this."
John's eyebrows arched slightly, "If?"
"Yeah, kid. If. You sure you don't want to stay here?"
After a moment of silence, John got to his feet, "I'm going with you."
"That's what I figured." Hellboy held out the iron pendent he'd already given to John once. "Try to keep it on this time."
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John felt like he was the only one that was nervous. The other agents were worried, but they weren't scared. Once he'd been on enough missions, John figured that his nerves would harden up too. When the pilot shouted that he had a visual on the loch, John wondered why he didn't stay at the hotel. He could've been having room service and watching TV or getting caught up on his email. Though, in reality, he would've been losing his mind with worry if he'd been left behind.
John took a deep breath and glanced over at Hellboy. The noise from the rotor made it impossible to have a conversation, so he took the demon's hand and squeezed it. They had headsets, but everyone in the helicopter would hear them and he didn't need the others to know that he was scared shitless. Hellboy returned the gentle pressure, rubbing his thumb over John's knuckles. Across from them, Liz watched the exchange and wondered if John would be good for Hellboy after all. John smiled at the thought.
The thin voice of the pilot came through the headphones John was wearing, "You guys seeing this?"
Hellboy got up and stepped through the narrow opening into the cockpit. Through his eyes, John could see the black, writhing shape in the sky ahead of them. It almost looked like a flock of birds, but Hellboy didn't seem to think so.
"What is it?" Liz asked.
Hellboy came back and shouldered open the helicopter's side door. Cold air rushed around them as the demon leaned out of the aircraft to get a better look at the flying mass. Feeling Hellboy's slight anxiety, John drew his gun.
"Get the other door open," Hellboy shouted.
Abe did, the swirl of air in the cabin became a strong crosswind as the other door slammed open. Even with the soundproofing in the headset, the roar of the chopper's blades made it nearly impossible to hear anything else. Liz jumped up and joined Abe, her voice a low hum in the speakers. John could tell that she was asking what was coming.
When Hellboy answered her, he cupped his hand around the speaker at his mouth so they could all understand him, "Witches."
John grabbed the loop of leather near the roof to haul himself into the cockpit. The cloud ahead of them had broken apart into hundreds of shapes. They were flying on all kinds of enchanted objects, brooms and horse skeletons and goats with fish tails. Their tattered black cloaks whipped behind them like shadows.
One of the women in the lead released her hold on the moldering animal she was riding and lifted her arms high above her head. A glowing circle of symbols appeared at her fingertips, growing so it looked like her mount was getting ready to leap through the pentagram at the center. Green light gathered at the heart of the emblem.
"We've got spell activity," the pilot reported calmly, despite the sweat gathering at his brow.
John could hear Abe and Hellboy arguing over the headphones. Neither of them acknowledged the pilot's concern. Abe was angry, ripping into Hellboy about something he'd done at Dagdea's house and that the witches shouldn't have known they were there yet. There wasn't much of an argument coming from Hellboy. His silence was condemning enough, even without the demon mentally repeating his actions in the witch's house to see what he'd done wrong.
John returned to the cabin, getting between the two agents, "It doesn't matter how it happened, it just did. We've got to figure out how to get past them."
Something hit the helicopter and the machine lurched and groaned, nearly pitching everyone off their feet. Hellboy grabbed John's arm to steady him. In the cockpit, an alarm wailed as green energy rolled past the open doors. When it was gone, the seasoned agents jumped into action, leaning out the windows to open fire at the hoard of witches. The closest ones dropped out of the sky, their enchanted mounts falling after them as they lost their power.
"How far are we from the loch?" Hellboy shouted into his microphone.
"A few miles."
"Take us underneath them."
The pilot followed Hellboy's order and the helicopter dipped sharply. Like a squadron of fighter jets, the witches all changed direction at the same time to dive after them. They swept around the side of the helicopter, giving the flashing rotor a wide berth. John could see them more clearly as they came down on them. Most of them had faces like grandmothers or great-grandmothers, too old to be fighting an aerial battle over Wales. The matronly appearance ended at their age. They bared mouthfuls of sharp teeth and waved weapons adorned with human skulls.
"Liz," Hellboy drew out the pyro's name as he dropped the empty shells out of his gun and started slamming new ones into the chamber.
Elizabeth's eyes had taken on the glow John had seen when he'd first met her. She lifted her hands so they were palm up at her sides and said, "I'm already on it."
At first, John didn't notice anything happening, but then several of the closest witches caught fire. It started on their cloaks, racing hungrily over their bony frames. One let out a shattering scream as she dropped out of sight. Others echoed her cry and replaced her. As fast as Liz could burn them, their numbers still swelled. They were so thick in the sky around the helicopter that the light from the sun faded.
There was too much wrath, too many thoughts for John to read anything specific. He didn't like not knowing what was coming. Staying in a crouch by Hellboy's feet so the blasts of energy rocking the helicopter didn't throw him out the open door, John squeezed off round after round into the dense hoard. Aim for the eye and you won't miss the head was something his father used to tell him before he died. Though he'd been out of practice for more than a year, almost all of John's bullets found their mark.
John was so focused on his aim that he jumped when something touched the small of his back. He craned his neck to see Hellboy's tail hooking around his belt. The panicked flutter in John's chest settled and he managed a half smile as he fired another round.
Another siren wailed from the cockpit. It chirped at a different pitch than the first, seeming to argue with the deeper alarm. John would've wondered what it meant, but he could hear the screeching noise the rotor had started making. The bulky machine was listing slightly to the right. Water spread out in front of them, their destination a tiny smudge of dirt and grass and trees that could hardly be considered a sandbar. John hoped the pilot could get the helicopter back on course in time to land on it.
Something thumped against the metal wall and John felt the witch's blood curdling hatred before he heard her war cry. He whipped around. The woman filled the open doorway on Abe's side, her thin hair thrashing around features so drawn that she looked more like corpse than living flesh. She hoisted a blade over her head, her sunken eyes set on Elizabeth's back. Abe was a lightning strike. He dropped to the floor and kicked the witch's feet out from under her, coming up in a lunge to push her out the door as she fell.
John yelped when he was forcefully jerked backwards against Hellboy's legs. A spear hissed through the air where his head was a half a second earlier. It clattered across the metal flooring, sliding out the opposite door near Abe. John looked up at Hellboy and thanked the demon with his eyes.
John tried to get up, but a massive bang made the helicopter shudder and pitch towards the ground. A dented cauldron and a hailstorm of rotor fragments flew past the windows. Smoke filled the small aircraft, swept away almost as quickly as it could form. In the cockpit, the pilot was screaming something incoherent, his voice lost in the dozens of sirens and alarms. The loch rushed towards them and the witches stopped their chase. John could feel his heart in his throat, along with his stomach and possibly every other organ he possessed. He gripped the edge of one of the seats, squeezing his eyes shut so he couldn't see the swell of water waiting to take them with open arms.
A hand clamped down on the back of his jacket and hauled him upright. Hellboy's lips brushed his ear as the demon shouted, "Can you swim?"
John gave him a bewildered look, but nodded.
"Good," Hellboy said, and threw him out the open door.
The wind swallowed John's scream, tearing it away from his mouth and ears so all he could hear was his own heartbeat. He felt like he was falling forever, his sense of space affected by the fact that all he could see was the sky. Even the helicopter disappeared from his line of sight, leaving a blood red sunset and clouds that looked like clots in a vast pool. Somehow, he knew it was a bad omen.
When he hit the water, it was like hitting concrete. Pain ravaged him. The air was forced out of his lungs as if he'd been hit by a sledgehammer in the chest and then the water rushed up around him. After the pain faded, all that was left was the cold. The water was freezing. It made his muscles seize and reached down his throat as he struggled for breath.
In the distance, he heard the helicopter crash into the water. It helped orient him. John kicked as hard as he could, his legs burning with the effort, and broke the surface. He coughed heavily even as he searched for the others. There was a thick curl of smoke coming up from the water. A few scraps of the helicopter floated on the surface with a burning slick of fuel.
The witches circled the sky above them. Their cackling was barely audible over the slap of water and the sharp hiss of the fire. Beyond the wreckage, John saw what he thought was the island. Even if it wasn't, it was the closest strip of land and John knew he couldn't keep treading water. The temperature was making his limbs numb. He swam around the downed helicopter, putting plenty of space between him and the floating fuel.
Movement on the edge of the island caught John's attention. Two figures were dragging out of the water, one nearly carrying the other. They were both small and lithe, so John assumed it was Liz and Abe. The pilot was a bit portly and it was hard to mistake Hellboy's bulk.
A large, blue-green shape swam directly in front of John. It barely broke the surface of the water, revealing dark, short fur and flash of fin. John reversed direction, his eyes darting around as the animal disappeared beneath the water. The creature bumped against his legs and John fell into the fastest freestyle crawl he could manage. He wasn't a spectacular swimmer, especially not with his clothes and gear weighing him down, but he knew he had to try. He was too far from the shore to call for help, and even if they did hear him, there wouldn't be much they could do for him.
It ran into him again and surged to the surface, breathing out a plume of white steam as it regarded him. The kelpie's eyes burned. John didn't stop to find out what emotion made the animal's eyes so bright. He didn't want to know whether it was hunger, or revenge that was driving it. The shore was still so far away. John gasped for air, his arms and legs slowing as the cold edged into them. He half wished the kelpie would stop playing with him. When the animal grabbed his leg with its teeth, he realized how very stupid that wish was. John couldn't get a sound out before it dragged him under.
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It took Hellboy longer than the others to break away from the helicopter. Abe and Liz had gotten out before they'd hit the water. Hellboy knew Liz couldn't swim, but there was no way that Abe would let her drown. He hoped the kid hadn't landed too far from the shore because the icthyo sapien would be hard pressed to get Liz out and get back to John before he drowned.
The helicopter had settled to the bottom by the time Hellboy managed to get into the cockpit to check the state of the pilot. The man was already dead when he got to him, speared through his side by a twisted piece of metal. The water thick with his blood. Hellboy regrettably left him. When the mission was over, the BPRD would send a retrieval crew for him so he could be sent home for burial.
Hellboy shoved off the bottom of the lake to speed his way to the surface. His chest ached and his head was getting cloudy, but he stayed calm. He was a good swimmer, so it only took a few seconds to get his head above water. Inhaling deeply, Hellboy scanned the surface of the water for any other bobbing heads. The first thing he saw was Abe fighting to keep Liz afloat. It was a losing battle, but the pair was close to the shore.
Hellboy swam after them. When he got to an area where he could stand, he got his feet underneath him and walked awkwardly towards Abe. The icthyo sapien got Liz settled on the muddy bank and turned back to the water. Before he dove in, he spotted Hellboy and stopped.
"I was just coming to look for you," Abe told him.
"No need," Hellboy grunted, searching the shore for John. "You seen the kid?"
"No, but you tossed him out before we crashed, so he should be on the other side of the helicopter."
Liz sat up, still coughing and gasping. "He's going to have to fend for himself, because the sun is going down quick and we've got to get to that ceremony."
Abe concurred, "She makes an excellent point."
"We've got to find him. What if he's hurt?"
Liz used Abe's offered hand to get to her feet, pushing some of her long hair out of her face. "They can start the resurrection the moment the sun goes down. We've got ten minutes to get out there and we don't have any clue what's going to be standing in our way."
"One of you could stay behind and-"
"Red! He's got to learn to stand on his own if he's going to be part of the bureau. This is why we're not supposed to date other agents! You have to put the mission before everything else."
Hellboy growled at that, annoyed that Liz would look him in the eye and say something like that when her lover was standing next to her, "You've got some balls, Sherman. What about you two, huh? You going to tell me Abe wouldn't come back for you if you were drowning out there?"
A wave of heat hit him as Liz's eyes lit up. The water soaking her clothes and hair flashed into steam. "The mission always comes first. Abe and I know that, which is why we're still allowed to work together."
"Manning knows and he still assigns you together?"
Quietly, Abe added, "It's hard to walk away, but we need your help. Half the Unseelie court could've gathered near those stones by now."
As much as Hellboy hated it, he knew they were right. He looked out over the water, but couldn't see anything beyond the thick black smoke billowing from the burning fuel spill. The kid was probably at the other shore already… if he wasn't dead. Hellboy set his teeth as he thought about the height at which he'd made the kid bail out. It was too far. Hellboy's guts turned over, making him queasy.
"Hellboy," Abe pressed, motioning inland. "We don't have much time."
His tail curling wildly, Hellboy raised his gaze to the sky. The bottom edge of the sun was touching the horizon. He noted with no surprise that it was red. It steeled his decision. No matter what happened, he had to stop the resurrection. He hoped that the kid had powerful survival instincts to back up all of his talk.
Finally, Hellboy said, "Alright, let's go."
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John was thrown from the water with such force that he was airborne for a moment before he slammed into the muddy bank. He rolled over and struggled in the thick mud, trying to get up. The kelpie exploded out of the loch behind him. Its lower half was a long, twisting fin that slapped the shoreline wetly. As the animal pulled itself forward with its front legs, the spiny fin melted like ice cubes in an oven. It split in the center and solidified into haunches and legs.
John groped for his side holster, but it was empty. He had the gun in his hand when they'd crashed. There was a high chance it was at the bottom of the loch with the rest of the helicopter. The only other tool John had was the iron pendent, but he wasn't sure it would be enough to stop the gigantic animal. He'd put an iron round into the kelpie with Hellboy's gun and it lived, so he doubted a little necklace would have much effect.
Keeping his burning gaze locked on John, the kelpie slammed a hoof down on either side of him. The animal towered over John, water dripping from its heaving flanks in a rainstorm. John wasn't sure whether it was fear or uncertainty that kept him rooted in place. Perhaps a bit of both. In his subconscious, he knew the animal had the edge in the water, so why would it bring him out onto the land? It could've easily dragged him down and drowned him or eaten him, but it had brought him to the island instead.
"What do you want?" John asked, feeling a bit like a fool for asking but hoping he would get an answer in the animal's mind. He knew the creature was smart enough to understand him.
The knight flashed through his thoughts, making John shudder involuntarily. The second image made more sense than the first. There was a woman with curly hair, the one John had seen in Dagdea and the Bishop's heads. She was standing at the center of the erect stones, the knight kneeling at her feet, swearing fealty. Her expression was almost adoring.
Something deep in the kelpie crunched and his body started changing. His fur melted into pale human skin and his features flattened and softened. When he was completely human, he was still leaning over John, his eyes wild with a hatred that John realized was not aimed at him.
"I want you to kill the knight," the kelpie hissed. "I'm going to tell you how."
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So, for those of you scratching your head over the fact that Hellboy can swim with a boat anchor as a hand, you're not alone. In the comics, Hellboy swims well and fairly regularly. I don't think Mike Mignola thought that one through very well. Oh well. If the story was going to be in the comic-verse, I had to abide by his rules, not my own.
Not much left now! Bear with me during this Christmas chaos!
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Living Stone	By : AceMaxwell Category: G through L > Hellboy Views: 4868 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Hellboy and I make no money off this fiction.

Living Stone