6Author's Note: haha so I decided to comment. My ears itch and I just got off work. BUT! for the love of you I'm posting this right now before I collaspe in my bed and not wake up for another four hours.
Chapter Two
Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense Gamma Edifice, Germany/Three Days Later…
Abe Sapien was not asleep. No matter how hard he had tried to sleep he could not. Not even during the short flight from Scotland to Germany did he sleep or feel sleepy and even when he closed his amphibious eyelids he was not sleep nor looked like he was sleeping because his eyeballs were moving rapidly under the thin layer of transparent skin which was creeping out the quiet hostess sitting opposite of him in the car. Abe quickly blinked and abruptly apologized then began to stare out the window.
The scenery was the same like last time Abe had to visit the Gamma building a few months ago with Dr. Kraus; a long winding country road that led into the deepest parts of Germany's natural beauty where a rectangular concrete building stuck out like a sore thumb in the wooded mountain-range surrounded by tall autumn trees. It took forever to get there and since the Bureau preferred to avoid any suspicion from the locals (like rectangular concrete buildings in wooded mountain-ranges doesn't raise curious eyebrows) they had all agents taken by car to the building once they reached Germany. In addition, depending on which city you landed in and what time of the year it was, the car ride could take up to at least two days.
Luckily, or should one say, unluckily, Abe Sapien was in a hurry. He had left the area after the explosion to clear his head in an unfit manner. Abe had not done anything quite unprofessional like that in years but he had felt such a pressure of grief and guilt that only the frigid waters of the Lochs could help him forget. Now he was on his way to the building to discuss the Bureau's next step; not like Manning really needed him to decide what the Bureau was going to do about Massys. He had not heard anything since his departure but he anticipated that Kraus was close on Massys' trail.
"Mr. Sapien…"
Abe looked up at the hostess who tried smiling but it soon failed.
"We'll be arriving any minute soon."
Abe nodded and continued to stare out at the landscape. Minutes later the car slowed in front of a gate where a German solider stepped out and went to the driver's window to address him. He opened the gate and the driver pulled up to the front. Manning and Malvec were waiting at the front doors. Abe stepped out and greeted Malvec with a gripping handshake. Manning stepped forward and gave him a limp handshake.
"Forgive me Abraham." Manning apologized, "Haven't been asleep for days… affecting my focus."
"Same here. The sleeping part."
"We have a lot to talk about." Manning started as the hostess unloaded Abe things and went through the front doors, "First off as you may know, Massys escaped killing seventy-four people, thirty-nine of them—ours—the rest, his own men…"
The three men started speed-walking towards the more secluded part of the building.
"From what we can tell Massys has collected a large cult of followers who are willing to do anything he says, including suicidal tasks. From the autopsy reports, some of his followers were wearing fire-proof gear, trying to prevent death but the explosion was too huge. We are surprised, by our calculations—neither Liz nor you should have survived the explosion." Malvec said. Abe stopped mid-step to look at Malvec. Malvec looked over his sunshades, his blue eyes cold and piercing.
Horatio Malvec was apart of the International Investigation Squad located solely in Italy. They did the same thing as the Bureau except all their cases were in the Mediterranean and frequently if a case was too big or involved too much paranormal mischief, the B.P.R.D were usually called in. Malvec had been assigned the Massys Project by his superior, a friend of Manning's. Since Massys had started his rampage in Italy, Massys was a big help with the scientist's history.
"Speaking of Agent Sherman we will need your wisdom in psychiatric episodes." Manning stated.
"Liz…"
"Yes Agent Sherman had another episode after escaping the cave." Malvec replied.
"As you witnessed her good friend, Agent Hewlett, took a bullet for her and he died… it is evident she cannot handle death well." Malvec remarked.
Abe again halted but did not stop long.
"What's she doing now?"
"We have her in a room by herself. Kraus and other doctors are monitoring her but she will not talk to us… she'll only address Kraus."
Abe bit his tongue stopping himself from telling Malvec and Manning how stupid they were for locking Liz up like that. Abe had known Liz for a long time and he had seen her before and after she had her episodes. She always went into a state of 'shock' where she wouldn't react but they didn't last longer than a few hours. It was unhealthy for her to be alone even in the care of Kraus.
"Where's Tony?" asked Abe. Tony Sandoval was Liz's boyfriend; he had joined the Bureau over a year ago, a fresh weapons expert.
"Resting," Manning said, "He was in the explosion too. One of the lucky few to survive."
"Do we know where Massys is?" Abe asked. Manning and Malvec exchanged looks of pity.
"No, we don't." Malvec said.
Abe couldn't help but release a pitiful sigh to match their exchanged looks of pity, "So we're basically back at square one?"
"No Agent Sapien we are at a dead end!" Announced Dr. Kraus walking out of the opening elevator. He had papers in his hands as he stood in place, his body suit expanding like he was actually breathing.
"Well that's even better." Abe replied with satire before throwing a look Malvec's way. Dr. Kraus said something in German before repeating it in English, "What we do know is zat he is not in Scotland anymore."
All three men let out sighs so pitiful that Dr. Kraus walked over and patted Abe on his shoulder.
"I am working very hard to track Massys. Do not worry Abraham I will not let you down." Dr. Kraus strolled between Malvec and Manning into another corridor.
"He's a good man." Malvec said as Kraus's steps grew distant. Manning walked them over to the elevators, "C'mon let's go see her."
They took the elevator three floors underground before a disembodied voice announced their arrival. Here the corridors were slimmer and each room had windows where you could look in and see the experiments or specimens the BPRD scientist were studying. Finally they came to a set of large hospital doors with the word 'CAUTION' written in yellow over the front. On the side of the wall a scanner was installed and Manning scanned his palm; the doors swung inward revealing an area like a hospital. Manning nodded at the nurses sitting behind a desk as he turned to the first door on his right.
Opening it, they stood in a dark room where four doctors were staring through a window into a hospital room where Liz rested in a hospital bed and a nurse by her side coloring. The nurse's inaudible mumbles could be heard through the speaker system as Liz stared blankly at the wall.
"That's not good. I need to go talk to her." Abe said heading for the door inside the room. The doctors glanced at him abruptly but Manning gave them a nod to unlock the door. Abe entered and the nurse squealed at the site of him.
"You can leave now." Ordered Abe. The nurse quickly scurried out of the room and closed the door behind her.
Liz looked poor in health. Her skin was pasty her hair straw-like and a mess. She wouldn't look directly at Abe but blinked giving him the notion she knew he was present.
"Liz." Abe said getting down on one knee and holding her hand. Liz turned her head to look down at him but her eyes were so sad and empty.
"Liz. You gotta snap out of this. Wake up. Dexter's gone. There's nothing you can do about it."
It seemed this didn't compute in Liz's brain as she blinked and began to watch a dust speck in the air.
"Liz." Abe said shaking her hand gently, "Liz c'mon. I know it hurts. I know you're grieving. We haven't had a lost like this in a long time but you gotta pull yourself together. You didn't lose control—there was a gas leak. Massys planned to frame you but it isn't your fault."
"I killed Hewlett, Abe." Said Liz's voice.
It began to crack as tears rolled down her face, "I killed Dexter! I killed George! I killed Hanson, and Thomas and Artois and Gavel! I killed our team… they weren't supposed to die."
"But it's not your fault."
"It is my fault!" Liz shouted drawing her hand away from Abe, "It's all my fault! I killed our own men! I can't live with the blame! Their all dead!"
"Liz calm down!" Abe demanded, "It was an accident."
"It's always an accident and people I care about die!" Liz shouted sobbing loudly, "They always die! I can't control the fire anymore! All that work—in Tibet! I couldn't control it! I'm a hazard!"
"Liz you're no hazard."
"Stop lying to me." Liz groaned burying her face in her flat palms, "It's all a lie! I can't control it!"
Abe stood up and hugged his teammate. Never had Liz broke down in front of people before. Not even Abe. He had seen her cry before but not to this extent. He knew… hell, everybody knew about Liz's bipolar affair with her powers—one day they were under control—the next she had set half the building on fire. But stuff like that hadn't happened in over ten years and Liz had reached out for help years ago and they had been under control since even to where Liz could form shapes with the fire and she could pursue normal things outside of the BPRD headquarters and not worry about spontaneous combustion so Abe could understand why this was such a blow to her progress.
Abe continued to hug her until he heard the door to the hospital room open. He glanced to see Tony entering.
Tony Sandoval was Liz's boyfriend of one year. He was a weapon's expert, hired by Manning after seeing his impressive work with guns and clairvoyant machinery that could even capture ghost. Sandoval was about 6"3 with black hair (a caesar cut that reminded him of george clooney), well-built with hand Spanish features complementing his Caucasian traits. Tony's left arm was wrapped tightly in bandages as he walked with a limp but tried to cover it up. Liz looked up and her crying became heavier as she dashed towards Tony throwing her arms around his neck. Tony caught her bracing himself as the nurses came in scolding him for leaving bed.
Abe watched as Liz held on to Tony tightly, crying and thanking God that he hadn't died in the explosion and how much she cared for him and she was sorry. Tony quietly petted her whispering in her ear and Abe realized something. He was indeed alone in this world again.
Liz had found somebody to care for her, Roger was dead and Hellboy… they hadn't seen or heard from Hellboy in years. Only Abe and Kraus remained—if you counted Kraus as human—and Abe felt even colder and lonesome.
"Yes I know how you feel Abraham." Kraus spoke quietly as he and Abe strolled down the halls of the Gamma Building, "Being one of a kind is a lonesome path. No one wants to spend an eternity by themselves but some of us are just lucky like that."
Then, Kraus attempted to chuckle but it didn't work, "But! We must fully focus on this case. Massys is indeed out of Scotland—I believe he's out of Europe completely."
"It could take weeks to retrace him if he's left Europe—by the time we catch up he could release a spawn of the Ogdru Jahad and cause serious damage."
"I understand that Abraham." Kraus said shuffling his feet, "This last encounter with Massys was rare. He was a sitting duck. As you know he is very tactful —he recognizes secrecy and hiding places—for us to know he was in that cave before he could move scared him out of his unterkleidung. That opportunity will never be presented again—the next time we meet Massys we must stop him."
"Exactly." Abe said turning the corner to collide with someone head on.
A woman's arms flared in the air as her paperwork went flying above her head and Abe fell back but caught himself before he hit the ground.
"Ouch." Abe said rubbing the scorched flesh wound on his ribcage. He looked down to find Kate Corrigan sitting on the ground rubbing her head.
She quickly found her balance and stood up with the help of Kraus, "Ouch? Watch where you're going Abe."
"Sorry Kate." Abe said as she brushed herself off and bent over to gather her papers.
"It's okay." Kate said grunting as she rolled her back hearing a loud pop, "I'm okay. It's just… I'm sleepy…and the break room's out of coffee."
"No more coffee, my goodness!" Kraus said sarcastically.
"Just because someone doesn't need sleep and basic needs doesn't mean I can go without it too." Kate said sticking her tongue out playfully.
She placed her hand on Abe's shoulder, "heard what happened. This is horrible. Nothing's happened like this in awhile."
"I know…" Kraus interrupted, "And everything had been planned out so well."
"Where are all the dead right now?" Abe asked.
"In England ready to be shipped over the pond to their families. I'd hate to be Manning right now. He had to call everyone of them too and tell them their sons and husbands are dead and receiving some prestigious award that doesn't mean crap to them." Kate said with her brows arched.
"You sound angrier than you look Kate." Abe said gently.
Kate glanced up seeing Abe's face. Though her amphibious friend could not make facial expressions, Kate could hear the slight curtness in his voice about the situation.
"Well… I am." She said breathlessly, "And I'm as excited as any of you about avenging our comrades… this Massys guy… he's the scum of the earth."
"Excuse me Agent Sapien."
Everyone looked over at the fellow interrupting them.
He was a German solider waiting patiently for their full attention, "Director Manning would like to see you in the briefing room. And he asks that Agent Kraus and Dr. Kate join him as well."
"We must have a lead." Kate whispered ruffling her papers calmly.
Abe nodded to the solider thanking him.
"I'll lead the way." Kraus said.