Chapter Three:

Hellboy's POV

For the hundredth time that day, I heaved another heavy sigh. We just got back from the Isles and I was craving a shower, beer, and food. Ashe wouldn't talk in the plane, so I'm assuming that I have to look forward to a delightful chat with her later. Great. I wanted to forget about it, but no, she had to be a damn woman and have a discussion about feelings. I'm going to need more than just the one beer…

I waited for the damn door to open, attempting to ignore both Ashe's smirk and cleavage. Who's a dirty old pervert? I am that's who. Even though there was dried blood all over her, including her ample breasts, it still didn't seem to matter to little Red downstairs.

Yes, his name is little Red. Deal with it.

Looking down at myself, I noticed the gore staining my own clothes and body. The blood no longer blended in with my skin since it darkened to a sickly brown and it really stood out on my coat. I'm going to need that dry cleaned pronto.

When we were leaving the jet or whatever, everyone was stretching from the trip, I saw father waiting for me at the door. Making my way to him, I asked, "Is everything okay?"

"I don't know. Did the mission go well?" he inquired, a curious look on his face.

I looked away for a moment, feeling a sense of guilt. "Well enough…" Father looked up at me skeptically. "What exactly happened? Was there nothing there?"

"Oh there was plenty there. One just sort of… lived." I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. I've never failed a mission without good reason. Either I got beat up or pass out, but that didn't happen. I wasn't even out of breath. Her death would've been so easy, maybe almost too easy. Damn, Ashe, now you've got me confused. At least I'm not thinking about her like a pervert… anymore. Is that really going to get brought up? That's going to get annoying fast. Why can't she find a boyfriend or something so my body realizes that she's off-limits? Stupid body. Doesn't know how things work in life. I stifled back a groan of frustration when father drew me from my thoughts.

"Did it get away?" he asked.

"It is a female, and no she did not get away." I replied with a bit more hostility than was intended. I sighed, "She didn't need to die. The girl didn't seem to be able to kill much anyway…"

"Hellboy-"

"Father, don't worry about it. One succubus roaming Scotland is hardly a matter of national security. It won't happen again. Now if you'll excuse me, there's a 'bud' of mine calling my name." I pushed past him, feeling more guilt than irritation now. That irritation was directed at me though.

"Red!"

Turning around, I saw Ashe running up to me. "I'm really not up to finishing that talk quite yet." I snapped. Her eyes furrowed with both confusion and something that looked like annoyance. Her cheeks flushed, in embarrassment and anger, before she said, "I wasn't going to talk- you forgot your gun, dumb ass." Tossing the gun, she tried to walk past me. I caught the gun and also managed to stop her by merely holding up my stone hand. She stopped but glared up at me while crossing her dusky arms over her chest. "I thought you didn't want to talk."

Grunting in frustration, I pinched the bridge between my eyes. "Sorry, Kid, but I'm just a little stressed. Even though that's partly your fault- don't you say anything, I'm not blaming you just stating the facts. Thanks for bringing my gun, but I'm covered in who knows what so I'm going to shower. I suggest you do the same, you weren't exactly spared from the 'warrior's musk.'"

She was about to say something rude but stopped, made a funny face, and asked, "Warrior's musk?"

"You know, after fighting vicious monsters warriors are covered in blood, sweat, filth, you know, the works." She just stares at me like I'm an idiot, which I am not saying that I'm not, but I continued, "And since we kill vicious monsters we tend to get a little dirty… so I've dubbed it the 'warrior's muck'."

"So you're calling me filthy and gross?" What? That's all she got out of that? I swear women only hear what they want to…

"Noooo, I'm saying you've killed somewhat recently and all that bloody stuff is starting to coagulate so… go wash that off." I managed to piece together my intentions, but it didn't seem to help any.

Ashe only shook her head and made her way around me. "I'm just happy you know what coagulate means." Some people can't take an apology I guess. "Love you too!" I called after her, feeling somewhat childish.

I huffed out loud before continuing on to my room. It had a lovely shower in there just waiting to make me squeaky-clean. Once the warm water washed over my red skin, I swear I fell in love with it although I hardly saw a healthy relationship with me and the shower head. I took my sweet time getting the gunk off of me, trying not to think about that girl's face. Usually monsters don't make me feel like one, that's what people are here for. I wonder what it would be like if I was normal… to at least be appreciated for all the work I do. It would be nice to be able to write with my right hand because I think I'm supposed to be right-handed. That's what Abe thinks, anyway, claiming my handwriting was too 'horrendous' to be real.

Shutting off the water with renewed malevolence, I grabbed a towel and left my bathroom only to find Ashe picking up my room. This isn't unusual for her; she has this weird OCD cleaning thing… Ashe does this with everyone but since my room's always a mess, she's here a lot.

Though you'd think she would have enough common sense to wait till I was dressed. I noticed that she also took a shower, though it would seem she didn't take a half-hour to take it. Her hair was up in clip, the tips shooting out from behind. The black tank was replaced with a chocolate brown off shoulder sweater that reached past her hips. If she wasn't already bent over, I wouldn't be able to see the faded green pajama shorts. My inner pervert was ogling her lean legs and ass like a pedophile, while I was musing over why she was barefoot. I was surprised she wasn't wearing any slippers or something; the steel floors of Area 51 are rather nippy to unprotected soles.

"Hey Red I was just- what the hell?" she cried out, her hands rushing up to covering her face even though it wasn't hard to see she was blushing. "What? You knew I was in the shower, dill hole, maybe you should've waited till I was dressed." I walked around her, trying to find some pants.

"Yeah, well, I thought you were getting dressed in there or something since you were in there for so long." Now she was completely facing away from me, arms crossed once more.

"Oh stop acting like the blushing virgin; you've seen me in a towel before." I smirked devilishly, my tail grabbing the pants I sought. That only seemed to make her face heat up more, because she was almost as red as I was.

"When your nine a guy's chest is about as interesting as blank paper. Well, unless you're an artist. And what if you decided you didn't want to wear a towel? Huh? That would be an awkward day. Besides, I'm not acting like a blushing virgin. I am a-" She stopped her rambling when she realized what she revealed.

I stared at her in shock, "You've got to be shitting me. There's no way- what about that one guy? I thought you two… yeah." This is getting more awkward than I intended.

Ashe fidgeted for a moment before facing me again, though she didn't look at me nor uncross her arms. "No we never did anything, even though he was more than willing. I'm not ready for that sort of thing. Shouldn't you be rejoicing? This is usually when you turn to 'protective big brother' mode." She said with disgust and bitterness.

"What's with the attitude?" I asked in a sing-song voice.

"There is no attitude; it's just been a long day. Now could you please put a shirt on?"

I grabbed a random shirt and made a point to put it on. Placing my hands on my hips, mimicking her usual temper-tantrum pose, and raised an eyebrow, "Happy now?"

"Quite."

"So was there a reason for you to be here or were you only going to clean up the place?" I asked, hands still resting on my hips. So this is what an argument won feels like… no wonder women use the 'hip' stance, it's really effective.

"I was going to just clean since I knew the cats have been suffering but now that I think about it, I'm going to leave." Ashe answered more calmly than before.

"Why? Is it because of what I said?" I took a few steps toward her, not wanting her to leave quite yet. Ashe smiled lightly, "No it wasn't that. I just have things to do in my own room. It probably could use some cleaning itself."

I snorted in disbelief, "What's so great there that isn't here?" It was meant to be a joke, but she looked a little taken aback. Her orange eyes looked away but her eyebrows remained in place at the top of her forehead. "Other than-than some organization, not-not much." She tried to sound suave, but her words jumbled out in a stutter.

Giving me a quick look, she turned and opened the door to leave before saying, "Night Red."

"Good night, bright eyes."

A smile took hold of her lips, a familiar smile that she used to wear when Ashe was but a child.

I need a drink…

Ashe's POV

I shut the door behind me softly, taking a shaky breathe in to keep me steady. That damn demon was going to be the death of me. What a tease, he must know what he does to me. Surely he's not that dumb. Okay, Red's not dumb but I swear he's pretty oblivious. My true intentions were just to be with him, hang out before they shipped him off somewhere without me tomorrow. His room was a bigger mess than usual.

Just thinking about his delightfully large and muscled body made me quiver. Everything rippled deliciously when he moved. I shouldn't drool on myself, it's very unladylike… Seriously though, the man was huge. Big and muscly, makes you wonder if anything else is big and muscly- holy shit, I'm a pervert.

It's not like I can make an assessment from his feet, they're hooves. How can you tell how big someone is by their goddamn hooves? Well, there's the theory on hands and he does have one big hand while the other is one big, colossal hand. So which one do I go by?

Pervy Pervert that I am.

There will be that one day that he may exit his shower without a towel, and for some strange reason I'm there, well, let's just say he better hope I don't ravish him senseless. I wonder if I'm capable of such a deviant act. If it was the day before the full moon, I'm pretty sure anything's possible. Before I got caught outside of Red's room looking disheveled, I decided to actually go to my room. Running a hand through my damp hair, I stared ahead; horrified that he now knew that I was… a virgin. I winced visibly, biting my lip in embarrassment. Liz always has said that she's proud of me for keeping it 'pure' for so long but it only makes me feel more like a kid. A child. How could I let that one slip? The filter between my brain and mouth seems to slip whenever I'm nervous and rambling. Curses.

My stomach growled roughly, announcing that my love life is less important than it. "Fine. What do you want?" I half-expected it to answer, but since my stomach can't talk I would have to solve this mystery on its own.

I turn a corner and head down to the kitchen rather than my own chambers. I must've forgotten that I haven't eaten since before the flight. That whole thing with the girl really messed me up.

Peering into the obnoxiously large kitchen (it has to be if we wish to keep HB's appetite sated) and it turns out I wasn't the only one hungry. Liz had her long brown hair up in a white towel, a long navy blue shirt as pajamas. In her hand was a bowl of cereal which she was currently munching on. Her spoon kept clinking against the ceramic black bowl. It's always weird to see her eating, the girl's so thin I always thought that she evolved into a filter-feeder.

"Hey." She said through a mouthful of cheerios. Those better be honey nut.

"'Sup freaky child. I'm going to take a wild guess and assume there's no more cheerios." I grinned cheekily, returning from embarrassed, horny schoolgirl to mischievous friend.

"Sorry, I had the last of it." Liz apologized.

"I'll just go get some tomorrow. Of every flavor! Except that bland shit. I wonder if we got some- yes! PLAIN BAGELS!" I did a victory fist pump before grabbing the bag and looking for some jam.

"I still don't understand why you go for plain. There are other choices, you know." Liz stated.

"Yes, well, I enjoy the more natural and original stuff of bagels. Sometimes the other choices flavor doesn't mix well with my jam although I would never say no to some crispy cinnamon bagel. To die for." I replied with dramatic flair, swiping the jam across my bagel and making a complete mess.

There was a moment of silence while we ate. Our silly banter was shoved aside by our own thoughts. Then Liz had to say something.

"Why did you want the succubus alive?"

I froze in mid-bite before slowly backing away from the pastry. A soft sigh escaped my lips, and then I looked over to see Liz's brown eyes staring at me with the oddest expression. "It's a little complicated, but to put it bluntly… I felt like I was looking at myself." Her strange look turned to one of incredulous. Shrugging, I continued on, "I don't believe myself to be a soul-sucking pregnant whore-demon, but it felt like I was back at that orphanage. I was being punished for being different, an abomination. So was she, you know. I mean, I'm not trying to justify her killings, if she did indeed do any of that, but she didn't even lift a finger to defend herself. She gave up while I was chained. So we were both held back by something and stronger forces took away everything we had. Though, she had more to lose than an eight year old girl…"

Liz's face had softened to something like pity, but not quite. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realize… I thought it was because you were siding with the succubi."

I let out a snort, "Your crazy girl to think I'd ever side with whore-demons. No, this one was just different… kind of like a bunny but with fangs. So maybe a kitten. You wouldn't kill a kitten, would you?"

"Depends. Does this kitten turn into a flesh-eating monster?"

"Not really. At least it doesn't eat chicks like us."

Liz laughed, "That's good to hear. This kitten appeals to my feminine side. Maybe we could unleash it upon the world of men."

My turn to let out a guffaw, "You know, if we compared a kitten with the succubi to Red, he would feel soooooooooo guilty. I kind of want to now… just for giving me that scare." I smiled impishly.

"Oh God, please don't! You know he probably feels terrible for it."

"Doubtful. He's been killing paranormal creatures since before I was born. I was lucky that I'm not a flesh-eating monster otherwise I would've been one of them." I muttered bitterly before chomping on my bagel again.

"You don't really think he's that heartless, do you?" she asked, putting her bowl into the sink.

Finishing off my treat, I take a second to chew before answering. "Not heartless, just a little brainwashed. I'm not so naïve to assume every case has a semi-innocent person in them, but what if there were others? And we killed them? It just… makes you think. I wish he wouldn't care about humans, personally. They hate us, Liz, why can't he accept that?"

Liz looked away, her own shame bringing its ugly head into the conversation. Now I felt a little bad, but my guilt didn't get a chance to set in before she said, "He doesn't want to be what everyone thinks he'll be. Red doesn't want to be the reason for ending the world; he wants to save them from himself."

I gaped at her in shock, so taken aback by the answer. "I-I never thought of it like that…" Then I scrutinized her, "Liz? Is that how you feel?" The question of 'Is that why you leave?' hovered in the air like brain pollution.

"Sometimes."

"Then who are you protecting? Humans or us?"

She bit her lip, closing her eyes painfully. This must be hard for her. "It-it used to be just humans. People. Now, because of what I've seen people do, I try to protect you guys. I have more control now, so I won't have to go… so much." Liz looked me in the eye, her anguish apparent and then she added, "I know Red could never get hurt by me but you and Abe… I couldn't bare it." I stared at her, finally actually understanding why she kept leaving the Bureau and why she kept leaving me.

"I-I… dammit, we need to hug."

Her look of sorrow switched to confusion quicker than a light switch. "Uh, excuse me?"

My face was set into stubborn stone; I spread my arms out and my hands waving freakishly indicating her to come closer. "You heard me, this is a moment. We hug it out."

She inched toward me, almost like a timid animal, right when I wrapped my arms around her small frame. "It's okay, Mama's got you." I baby-talked to her creepily.

"You did not just refer yourself as 'Mama'."

"Oh yes I did."

Liz tried to pull away, believing that hugs lasted five seconds. I held on tighter, "We're not done yet."

"This isn't helping."

"Sure it is. Do you feel depressed?"

"…No."

"Do you feel sad?"

"I feel a little annoyed."

"Good, that means that it's working."

After I good squeeze, I finally let her go. "You're far more observant than I am, and intuitive. Maybe that gargoyle was wrong about me…" I said.

"No, you are intuitive, just not about people. For some strange reason you just have a harder time understanding others. Sure, you're great with being your own forecaster or knowing which turn to take, but you probably wouldn't see the obvious even if it hit you in the face." Liz argued, but it only seemed to puzzle me more.

"What's obvious? Am I missing something? What am I missing?"

"Uh, well, you know… I wouldn't worry about it. It's nothing." Liz looked away nervously, her hands fidgeting with her shirt. "Don't bring something up and then not explain it! Now, what do you mean?" my eyes squinted while I examined her, crossing my arms over my chest defensively. So I don't know Red as well as I thought. Big deal, it just crushes a huge chunk of my soul although I highly doubt that's what she was talking about.

"Nothing, I need to- to go to bed now. I'm beat. See you in the morning!" Liz faked a yawn before dashing out of the kitchen. My eyebrows furrowed together as I tried to contemplate what she was saying. Why can't people just say what they mean? I'm not exactly the brightest bulb so I may need some help.

Shaking my head in frustration, I left the kitchen for my own room.

Sorry that the stories a tad shorter than usual but I lost my muse and decided to just post it anyway. This was really just a filler chapter to express the awesome sexual tension. Gotta love it. Anyway, I would like to thank PureAngelEyes, Day-Of-The-Dead-TattooGal, shark-demon-luv, Lil' Bunny Lynn-Lynn, animeboyluv, animeprincess120, animecrazygirl1, tigerlilygirl97, ToxicFireStarter, psychicgirl32, Raine44354, Bravstar leader of Lightclan, and CharmedPrincessRach for either reviewing, faving, or adding me to their alerts. I appreciate every one of them. If I hadn't replied back to your review it's probably because I just figured out how to do that… :D

-Trickster's-Advocate