Carry On, Wayward Son [HB/Liz]

[hb]

Date: March 5th
Time Frame: Evening
Place: BPRD main hall
Status: Closed

Deep under the BPRD, life was going as usual. Federal agents, all looking spic-and-span in their perfectly matching suits, hurried about on confidential business. They moved with a rehearsed ease, as if there was some order to the chaos known only to them.

There was one unexpected variable thrown into the organized disorder, however - one annoyed, slightly tipsy son of the devil.

Uniformed agents and higher-ups alike squeezed themselves against the hallway walls to give the demon as wide a berth as they could; they did not want to get on his bad side, especially now that he was in one of his 'moods'. Murmurs flared up in his wake, and Hellboy caught snatches of the agents' whispered conversations: "I heard his wife left him," "No, no, the elf prince killed her," "Poor thing, no wonder he drowns himself in beer."

Hellboy gritted his teeth and took it. He was angry, but he wasn't in the mood to lash out. No, he was too busy wallowing in self-pity. What he couldn't understand was why Liz had left. He had promised the best for her and the kid - no, kids. He was prepared to follow up on his promise as well. Had she mentioned that she wanted to get out, he would've told Abe to watch the cats and left that very night. But no, it was she who had left, and without so much as a note.

Was there someone else? No, that was ludicrous. Sure, they had their ups and downs, but it was never something that they couldn't work out. Last time he had seen her, she had seemed perfectly fine. So what if she tended to bottle things in; if it were something as big as wanting to leave, she would've told him. ... right?

Hellboy pulled open the door to the kitchen and looked around as if he had suddenly gotten himself lost. He blinked in confusion for a moment before spotting one of the many coolers and shuffling over to it. He retrieved his prize (an ice cold case of beer) and slammed the fridge door. With another look around, Hellboy exited the kitchen and hurried back in the direction of his room.

[lizsherman]

[hb]

Hellboy cradled the case of alcohol in the nook of his arm as though it were a baby (it was a feeling he'd better get used to, he found himself thinking). With the quickened pace of a demon condemned, he quickly made his way back to the main hallways that connected each part of the underground structure.

A moment later he was stopped momentarily as a young agent whom he had never seen in his entire life proceeded to warn him about the ill affects that alcohol had on one's health. The poor man's advice went unheeded, however, and, with a very stern look from Hellboy, he was sent scurrying away.

Now adorned with a rather smug smirk, the demon continued on his almost merry way, albeit now at a slower pace. He still heard the hushed discussions that flared up when he passed, but he ignored them. He had his Tecate and soon he'd be back in his room, locked away from false concerns and judgmental stares.

Hellboy rounded the corner to the entrance hall in a much better mood than he had been in the last time he was there. The smirk hadn't left his face and, if he ever got back to the confines of his room and took comfort from his cans, it was going to be there for a while. Until he had another mood swing, that is.

However, it was not meant to be.

Hellboy had remained only half conscious of his surroundings, and he was unfortunate enough to walk chest-first into one of the stockier agents (who apparently had nothing better to do but stand in the middle of the room). Fortunately for him, Hellboy had just bumped him, so he only stumbled forward into the throng of agents that were clustered about him.

The well being of the agent didn't interest Hellboy, however (to him, suits were just cannon fodder); what interested him was what they were looking at.

Sitting in a corner of the room was a small, raven-haired woman. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary about her; nothing that would betray the fact that she was like Hellboy: different. She looked exhausted and he had the sudden urge to pick her up and take her to his room so that she could rest properly.

There was a slight problem, however; Hellboy's limbs weren't working properly. He found himself frozen to the spot, unable to speak. His jaw dropped, and his case of beer went along with it. One of the cans had popped and was now spraying alcohol all over the bottom of his pants, but he paid no mind.

"L...Liz?"

[lizsherman]

[hb]

By now a small circle of agents had gathered around the two, watching and whispering, but Hellboy paid them no mind. For once, all of his attention was focused on one thing, and that was Liz.

She didn't look very different; but then again, she was wearing a rather large coat. Was it to hide her stomach? It had to be; Liz normally didn't care for clothes that were too baggy. She looked stunning nonetheless. At that precise moment, his limbs decided that he could use them again, and he took a tentative step forward.

A million questions raced through his mind: where had she gone? why did she leave without saying anything? why hadn't she told him she was upset? and the like. However, he said nothing. The only thing he could manage was incoherent mumbles, anyway. Instead, he did the first thing that came to mind: he stepped forward and pulled her to his chest, hugging her a bit harder than he meant to.

He stood like that for a while, making sure not to give her the slightest chance to slip away. Hellboy then realized that a hug of such force could not be beneficial to his children, and he quickly loosed his grip. He still held onto her hand, though.

"I'm glad you're back," he whispered just loud enough for her to hear. With a start, he suddenly became aware of their audience. With as much viciousness as he could muster, he snapped that there was nothing for them to see here and recommended that they get back to work.

[lizsherman]

[hb]

Upon hearing her confession, Hellboy let out a bark of laughter. He could never hate her, and he told her so. Sure, he had been upset, but it didn't matter now. His life was complete once again, now that she was back.

A small tremor shot through Hellboy's body when she rubbed his hand; he hadn't realized how much he had missed her touch. He sent a small smile Liz's way and paused to take in her face. He had nearly forgotten how short her hair was; the only pictures he had were of her with longer hair. Not that it mattered - she looked amazing regardless. There were slight bags under her eyes. This, combined with her slightly slumped posture, gave her a look of fatigue.

Oh, Hellboy could have hit himself. Of course she must be tired! Was she not resting when he found her? Ever her knight in shining armor, he took it upon himself to worry about her comfort. After all, she was pregnant, and with demon twins, nonetheless. They were his demon spawn, though, and he was damned if he wasn't going to take care of them.

"Oh, are you tired?" Hellboy blurted. "Come on, we'll go to the bedroom so you can get some rest." He fumbled a bit to pick up her luggage with his stone arm (she had gotten away before, and he was not going to let go of her any time soon), but he managed with the use of his tail.

[lizsherman]

[hb]

Hellboy shuffled along next to Liz, making sure to keep a slow, comfortable pace. He had never taken care of a pregnant woman before, so he had absolutely no idea how to go about making sure that she was content (he made a mental note to talk to Abe later; surely he must have read a book or two about pregnancies). He did remember something about keeping off their feet, but aside from that he was at a loss.

As the couple walked the short distance to their room, Hellboy found himself thinking that this might possibly be a dream. He could hardly believe that Liz had come back to him. Yet here she was; he gave her hand a soft squeeze, more for his benefit than her's. He had to be sure that this was, in fact, reality and not an extremely convincing hallucination.

At the sound of her voice, he looked down at her and furrowed his brow. "There's time for that later," he replied. "Right now you need to get some rest."

It was true; they were going to have to have a serious talk, as Hellboy had a million unanswered questions. However, that could wait. He didn't want her homecoming to be marred by an argument or something similar. Instead, he opted for some (hopefully) lighter small talk.

"So... how are the kids? Have they started kicking yet?"

[lizsherman]