It felt like Hellboy was walking through a dream.  An everlasting nightmare.  Everything fell deaf to his ears, the blinding flashes of the cameras filled the Bureau as the agents and employees surveyed the scene.  The crime scene. Time felt like it was slowing down as he drew closer to the office, everyone was there, taking samples, pictures, examining the body.  Kat was right behind him the whole time, but she couldn't offer any support.  As soon as she sees Travis lying there in a pool of his blood, she fell to her knees with a scream, sobbing her eyes out.  Hellboy walks towards Travis' body, barely glimpsing at the agents who respectfully move away.

With tears in his eyes, a disbelieving Hellboy looks at his dead uncle.  His face held such grief as he falls to his knees next to Travis' body.  He gently holds him in his arms, weeping softly. 

"Uncle.  I'm back.  I'm back.  I'm back." He chokes up. 

Kat sobs as she watches Hellboy.  She crawls towards him and holds on to him and Travis.  Hellboy could only hold on to Travis.  He lost Liz.  He lost his father, now he lost his uncle.  Everyone watches as the red giant held the cold body in his arms.  Like a dog with a lost master.

"I wasn't here. You died alone..." Hellboy says softly, regretting everything.  How he acted with Travis.  Like a spoiled brat.  He should have been there for him.  He should have spent more time. 

Hellboy and Katherine continue to weep over Travis body until they were forced to let go.  Hellboy raged at the agents to leave him alone, he even fought a few men until they tranq him. 

On the day of Travis' funeral, as if Heaven was weeping with Hellboy and Travis' loved ones, the storm clouds rolled in and poured heavily over the mourners.  In a sea of black umbrellas, the pallbearers, Manning and Myers among them, load Travis' casket into a hearse. Flanking it are two rows of B.P.R.D agents. The hearse doors close and the vehicle pulls away.  Everyone slowly made their way towards the cars and limos to ride towards the graveyard.  Kat, who wore nothing but black and held her umbrella as she blends with the mourners. She stops and look up. 

Watching like a gargoyle from a distant roof was Hellboy. Rain bounces off his wet overcoat as he watches them drive Travis' body away.  In his human hand, he carried Travis' rosary in a tight fist.  Worry filled Kat's soul for Hellboy. 

After the funeral, Hellboy has been incredibly distant towards everyone, even Katherine.  As badly as she just wanted to tend to him and heal him, but she couldn't.  He needed space and time to mourn.  He has known Travis longer than she has, but Travis always treated her like a daughter.  She grew close, but not as close as Hellboy.  From how Hellboy use to talk about him, he was like a second father to him.  When Trevor needed a babysitter, Travis watched over Hellboy for him.  He was the 'cool' uncle...for a while. 

Sitting in the med bay, next to Abe's tank, Kat informed him about Travis passing and Hellboy's situation.

"He hasn't spoken to anyone in three days. Not a word. He doesn't eat, he doesn't sleep..." She says as she watches Abe float upside down as he tries to solve a Rubik's cube.  She carried a lost look as her eyes were littered with bags from the lack of sleep.  Without Hellboy sleeping next to her at night, she couldn't without him.  "I've never seen him like this. Never." She sighs, "What should I do, Abe?  How can I help him?"

Abe stops fumbling with the cube and sighs softly, "Listen...I'm not much of a problem solver..." He holds up the cube, "Three decades and I've only gotten two sides." Kat gives him a faint smile, "But I know this much...if there's trouble...all we 'freaks' have is each other. And I'm stuck here." He gestures at the tanks, "So...Take care of the big monkey for me, will you?"

Kat sighs and gently places her hand over the glass as Abe covers her hand.   Abe looks at her with gentleness, "I never felt such love as you have for Hellboy.  But I'm happy to call you my sister."

Kat smiles softly, "And you as my brother, Abe.  Get better soon.  So I can hug you."

Abe chuckles, "I'll do my best."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At dusk, the agents and B.P.R.D employees have worked all night long as they went over all the clues that Travis left for them to follow his footsteps. Kroenen's paper displayed on a projection screen, enhanced with the Cryillic characters.  In a meeting room, Manning stands at a polished obsidian desk. A group of agents, Myers among them, listens attentively.

"Volokolamsk Fields, 50 miles from Moscow.  That's where we're going.  Sebastian Plackba, number 16. That's the only clue we have." Manning says as he takes off his reading glasses and faces the agents.  "We've collected and destroyed thousands of eggs. No trace of this 'Sammael' or this 'Rasputin' character. But we have this address..."

Everyone looks up as the door opens and Kat walks in.  Myers looks up as he sees her, worried for her.  He silently asks her if she was ok, she shakes her head at him and listens to Manning. 

"We leave as soon as we get clearance and equipment." Manning continues and looks at Kat, "Hellboy is coming.  Now, I'm not pleased with that, but I will be in charge this time." He states as he eyes her. "Is that clear, Miss Hemlock?" He asks. 

She rolls her eyes at him. 

"Either we wrap this up or I'm closing this freak show for good." He adds. 

Kat's eyes glowed red for a brief moment, then dims back to her blue eyes, "Crystal." She mutters bitterly and Manning was pleased with that.  He turns back to his men to continue the meeting.

Kat sighs and turns to walk out of the conference room, "Asshole."

Manning snaps towards Kat as she leaves, muttering in disappointment.

Walking down the hallway, Kat finds herself walking towards Travis' office.  Unconsciously, she walks inside, almost forgetting that he was dead.  But it hits her once again as she realizes he was never coming back.  She sniffles as she pushes her tears away.  Knowing that Travis wouldn't want her to cry for him.  When she steps inside, she halts as she sees Hellboy leaning on Travis' desk, his eyes glued on a stack of papers. 

"Hellboy?" Kat's voice calls out softly. 

He looks up and sees his love.  His bare chest flexes as he moves to turn towards her.  She walks towards him, but stops a few feet away from him. As if she was scared what would happen if she moved closer.  Knowing he was hurting, she didn't want to take any sort of advantage of him. 

"Hey." He says softly. 

She honestly didn't know what to say to him, for the first time.  She did wanted to know if he was ok, but she knew he wasn't truly.

Hellboy could see she was struggling to speak, to say anything to him, but she didn't know how.  He sighs and moves to walk down the steps to reach her.

"Hey." He takes her hand and pulls her closer, looking down at her, "I'm ok." He says and brushes her hair away from her face. 

"I know you're not." She says softly. "Red, are you sure you want to go to Moscow?  I can't help but feel that..."

"I know." He strokes her cheek, "We need to.  I need to.  I want to end this."

"But I don't want anything to happen.  To you or anyone else." She says. 

"As long as we're together, nothing is going to happen." He stops and sighs heavily, "Look, Kitten," Then clears his throat. "I have something to say." He pauses, struggling with his words. "I am jealous. Of Myers.  Of every ...human...that can be around you.  Not like how I can be.  How I want to be.. What I am...I can't be out there...with you like you and Myers can be."

Kat shakes her head, "Red..." He gently places his fingers over her lips. 

"Shh, let me finish.  Listen. I'm not like Myers. He makes you feel like you belong. And that's good. It really is." He lets out a shuddering sigh as he gestures at his own face, "I...wish I could do something about this."

He looks down at her, staring into her eyes, "But I can't."

Kat sighs, her heart was hurting so much for him, she reaches up and cups his face in her hands, feeling him sigh at her touch, "I don't want you to." She gently brushes her thumb over his skin, "I rather see this, than something normal.  This is what I fell in love with, Hellboy.  Even if you were completely human, I would only fall in love with you. No one else but you. Not this." She brushes her hand over his face and trails it down to his chest, placing it over his heart. "This. This is what I love more than anything."

Hellboy's human hand cover hers, holding her hand tightly as he looks down at her with loving tenderness.

"Don't ever put yourself down or think you should be out there in the world with me. I don't need the world. I have you. That's enough for me." She says softly.

Hellboy leans down and presses his head against hers, holding her close against him, "You're more than enough for me, Kitten." He sighs, "I can promise you only two things. One: I'll always look this good." He grins as she laughs. He lifts his head and tilts her chin to make her look at him. "And two...I won't give up on you. Ever."

Her breath catches in her throat as he declares that last promise to her. She could see he truly meant it, "I like that." She smiles softly.

"Good." He grins and leans down as he kisses her lips softly, placing all his love and passion into that soft, little kiss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Topockba Steel Mills, deep in Moscow, a wasteland of rust and decay, rotting warehouses line in the street like dead steel watchdogs. No one was around, except a few lonely sentries. Through the thick fog, a limo and a motorcycle caravan wave through securities gates of a Moscow Warehouse. A metal door trundles back and the limo and motorcycles enter. As the the vehicles parked in front of the warehouse, a tall Russian General named Lapikov exits the limo. Following behind him were Grigory and Ilsa.

"I have accumulated many objects of great interest. Preserving our heritage." General Lapikov states as he shows them both inside his private warehouse.

Inside contained a world of bric-a-brac: a towering marble Lenin Head, Old Master paintings, tanks, warheads, missiles, etc. Like a personal museum of Russian, German history.

"Many, like me, believe Mother Russia to be very close to a historic rebirth." General Lapikov says proudly.

They stop before a cargo container and with a butane torch, a solider melts away the lead Kremlin seal and opens a door before them all.

"'Rebirth'?" Grigory grins at that word, "I like that."

Inside the container lies a massive stone monolith of polished marble.

"Twenty tons of stone. This thing fell from the sky into Tungaska forest." General Lapikov says as he remembers partly of the history of the stone.

"June 30th, 1908. It burned hundreds of square miles of forest. The Romanovs took possession of it immediately. The Czar guarded it jealously." Grigory recites what he knew about the stone, he has studied and searched for this as long as he could remember, "I have wanted it for ages." His breath is taken away as he walks up to the stone, his fingers brush over its smooth, perfect surface. At the center two circular imprints that matched the symbols on Hellboy's stone hand. "Now, finally, it's mine." He says, awed with its beauty.

"You are aware, of course, there's no way you'll get it out of Russian territory." General Lapikov warns.

Ilsa looks at the General with a sneer, "He is aware." She says curtly and brings out a chrome box, full of gold.

General Lapikov eyes the gold with greed, "It's a pleasure doing business with you. Perhaps you have other interests..."

Grigory's dripping voice of serene brutality stops him, "Enjoy the bright metal you've earned. There will be no further transactions. Only closure." He grins.

Inhaling deeply with a slow exhale, "She is here." Grigory whispers and looks directly at Katherine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With a shout, Kat sits up fast, panting heavily. She looks around and finds herself in their room. Hers and Hellboy's. She sighs softly and rubs the sweat off her face. She felt soaked. The vision she had in her sleep disturbed her. What was that thing that Grigory had and why did it carry familiar symbols? Without waking Hellboy, she gets up and heads to the bathroom. Flicking on the light, she walks to the sink and turns it on. Scooping up water, she splashes her face, washing away the sweat and fear she carried. Grigory needs Hellboy to complete what he stared 60 years ago, she knew that...but what was it?

She sighs and looks at herself in the mirror, questions filling her mind and she had no answer for any of them. Not yet. She reaches and grabs a towel, patting her face dry. When she removes the cloth from her face, she looks up...and sees her father standing behind her.

"Daughter..."

Katherine shrieks and turns fast, slamming into the sink. She falls backwards, but instead of falling to the floor, she falls into a sea of blood. Screaming in terror, she feels the warm blood hit her skin and soak her clothes. She yells and screams as she splashes around to get out, but there was nothing there to hold on.

"Katherine..."

Turning fast, she sees her father again, standing on a small hill with a throne behind him. The Throne of Agony. He stood dressed in black from head to toe. Even his eyes were black. He was reaching out for her.

"Beware, my child. He cannot waken the god..."

Kat frowns at him, but struggles to reach for him. She screams as a dozen of hands burst from the bloody sea and begins to pull her down.

"No!!!" Her screams turn into gurgles as the hands pull her down, drowning her in the sea.

Katherine screams and jerks around to be free from the hands, to be free from the bloody sea. Suddenly, she feels strong hands shake her awake. She sits up fast and sees red arms wrapped around her. She was still in bed, with Hellboy holding on to her with a worried look. 

"Hey, hey, hey, it's ok. It's over. It's over. I'm here." He soothes her gently.

Whimpering, Kat grips on to Hellboy and burst into tears. It felt so real. She sobs into his shoulder as he rocks her and strokes her back. Trying his best to calm her. Kissing her wet hair and whispering nothing but soothing words and love.

"Katherine...I will always be at your side." Roth's voice echoes around her.  "There will be times where Grigory will take hold and nothing will seem right.  During those times, I will protect you.  I will keep his darkness away..."  His voice fades off into the shadows her of mind. 

Shuddering, Katherine finally calms and snuggles against Hellboy's chest, feeling so safe in his huge arms.  Slowly, he lowers them back on to the pillows, keeping her close against him. 

"Let's try to get some sleep.  We have to leave first thing in the morning." Hellboy whispers as he makes sure she was comfortable, never letting her go.  "It's okay." He strokes her hair softly.  "I'm not letting you go.  Just think of that.  I'm right here."

But neither of them could sleep.  How could they?  Haunted by visions and on their way to fight Rasputin.  Possibly, no one is gonna make it out alive, who wouldn't be restless?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a massive cargo plane, traveling over the Black Sea, the B.P.R.D, Hellboy and Kat were on their way to Moscow, using the Russian Airspace.  The plane slices through the white eye of a full moon.  As the plane engines drone, Myers supervises BPRD agents Lime and Stone, who stencil a large crate: FRAGILE! LIVE CARGO. Since they will be traveling on the roads as soon as they land, Hellboy could not be seen. 

Hellboy and Kat stand around a brightly-lit work table with a large map and several medieval illustrations of Sammael. 

"'One falls, two shall arise'." He reads out loud, "Just like you said, Babe." He looks over towards Kat.

"Trust me, this is not a time where I love being right." She scoffs. 

"So, you pop one, two come out. You kill two, you get four. You kill four, you're in trouble. We have to nail 'em all at once. And the eggs." Hellboy stats.

Manning turns and picks up a grenade belt, placing it over the table, "When we do, No mumbo-jumbo. Double-core Vulcan-65 grenades. We've installed a very handy timer. Set it, walk away. Cable pulls the safety pins, K-boom! Easy to clean, easy to use..." He pats the timer, proud of his design. 

Hellboy clicks his lighter as he lit his cigar, "Those things never work. Never." He scoffs. 

"Each of us gets a belt." Manning adds, ignoring Hellboy's comment. 

Hellboy shrugs, "I won't take 'em. They never work."

Manning looks at Hellboy, obviously irritated with his attitude.  John speaks up, not wanting any trouble before they all land.

"I'll carry his." He states. 

Hellboy wraps Travis' rosary around his wrist as he snorts at John, "Boy Scout." He snickers. 

After landing the plane, the B.P.R.D begin to unload the cargo on to a truck while the agents, John and Kat, all get into black vans.  Driving through snow covered Soviet roads.  The Volokolmask fields laid before them as they drive past.

While Kat and John occupied the driver and passenger seat of the truck, Hellboy sat hidden in the Cargo box.  His body jerking softly from the van's movements and the rough roads.  Kat looks over the map as John drives them.  She grabs the radio and sticks her head out. 

"Sparky to Big Red..."

Sitting in the cramped box, small breathing holes have been drilled in the sides, Hellboy grunts as he looks over the map with a flashlight.  He frowns as he hears Kat's voice over the radio. 

"Sparky?? Who came up with that? Myers?"

Kat giggles as she listens to Hellboy, "We're almost there.  We're leaving the main road, so hang on.  About to get bumpy." She warns. 

Soon, they begin to hit a series of bumps. The box rattles and shakes, "This better be the place or I'll puke." Hellboy bangs his head, "Ow!"

The truck and vans all lurch to a halt, shutting off the motors.  Hellboy freezes as he listens for any sign of trouble.  But, soon, the cargo box opens and there stood the agents, Manning, John, and Kat. 

"You better come out and see this." She says and moves to give him room to get out of the box and off the truck.  He stands with them all as they look at the sight.  The white snow gently fell from the storm clouds as the sun shinned over their destination.  It was a 19th century cemetery.

"Sebastian Plackba #16..." He says softly. 

Broken spiked fences succumb to rust and dead vines. Endless rows of crypts and tombstones poke through wild foliage.  The group and agents venture into the labyrinthine lanes of the dead. Each carries a backpack, a flashlight and a gun. They searched almost every mausoleum they crossed.  So far, nothing.  The group gathers in frustration in an area of baroque funerary monuments. John carried the explosive belts and looks around with everyone. 

"Forget it. This is practically a city. And it stinks, and it's muddy. We'll go back, check into a hotel, regroup after breakfast. We'll have to make a grid, go by quadrants. Maybe satellite photography." Manning states, he was about to get them all to head back to the vans, but Hellboy brushes past him and pats his shoulder.

"Let me ask for directions." He says.

Manning frowns and leans over to John, "What'd he say?" He asks. 

Hellboy walks towards Kat and leans down, "Stay here.  I'll be right back." He says softly and brushes past her. 

Hellboy walks away from the group to hunt for a grave. But not just any grave.  Someone who knew where to find Rasputin.  He takes out a golden compass and opens it.

"Come on, baby.  Find me a talker." He says softly and begins to follow the arrow that pointed him towards where he needs to go. 

The compass ticks softly as he follows its path.  It begins to speed up as he comes across a crypt that was broken in half.  He raises the broken stone over and jumps inside. 

Opening the rotten, wooden coffin, he opens the cover and there lies a mummified corpse in a miserable black suit. 

"Hi, there." He says and takes a golden amulet and holds it over the corpse.  "Animam edere, animus corpus..." He whispers.  He presses the amulet on the cadaver's forehead. For a moment, nothing, and then...a brutal spasm! The corpse gasps, breathes....wheezing softly. 

Hellboy grimaces at the smell, waving his stone hand in his face to avoid the moths exploding from the corpse's mouth, "Come on." He says softly as he watches the corpse grip on the edge of the coffin to pull itself up. 

Wheezing still, the corpse mutters, something in tongueless Russian. "What do you want?"

Shivering softly, Kat holds herself as she waits with the group for Hellboy, siting on the snow covered steps of a mausoleum.  Manning was pacing and muttering at the same time, complaining about Hellboy none stop. 

"This is ridiculous." He scoffs. "I run this show.  Not him. This guy's nothing but trouble.  Nothing." Manning states, swiping his hand in annoyance.  "Anybody got a PowerBar?" He, suddenly, asks.  He flinches as Kat shoves a bar in the air, in his face. 

"Here. Stuff it." She glares at him with an arch of her brow.

Silently, Manning takes the bar and, finally, shuts up.  But, soon, John's voice erupts as he points off at a red figure approaching them all.  It was Hellboy, carrying the corpse on his back.

"Hey.  Hey, there...there he is." John says.

With a Russian accent, Hellboy flashes an ear-to-ear grin as he approaches the team, "Sixty feet further, comrades." He drops his accept as he holds up three stone fingers, "And three rows in."

The group gawks at the sight of the boney corpse.  Its rotten body wiggles against Hellboy's back. They could see its spine moving back and forth as it fidgets. 

"What the hell's that on his back?"

Kat laughs, impressed with Hellboy's improvisation.

"This here is Ivan Klimentrovich." Hellboy says.  "Say 'hi', Ivan.". Its bony hand weakly points, as if in confirmation.

The corpse mutters again with a gurgle and a snort.  "Go that way, Red Monkey."

"Gotcha." Hellboy nods. 

Everyone watches with different reactions.  The Agents, even though they deal with paranormal each day, it still surprises them all with Hellboy's tricks.  John was shocked, Kat was smiling, and Manning was disgusted.

"Here.  I'm not hungry anymore." Manning hands Kat the PowerBar as his face turns green.

Kat snickers and walks towards Hellboy, "Sorry we woke you from your slumber.  But we needed help." She says in Russian.

Hellboy and Ivan both look at her in surprise, "When did you learn Russian?" He asks. 

She gives him a soft smile, "Thank Abe and Travis"

Hellboy sighs and grins.  He silently sends his uncle a thank you.  He frowns when Ivan begins to talk. 

"Hey, pretty lady, I was a big popular man with the ladies.  Still give great hea..."

"Hey! Finish that and I'll make sure you're never going back to sleep." Hellboy growls as he yanks on the rope that held the corpse tied to his back.  Hearing Ivan grunt and grumble.  Cursing him in Russian. 

*Been trying to work on Hemlock Chronicles, but I'm so into this book right now.  I am working on the chapters but it's hard to focus on one book and move to the next one.  I really hope you're liking this book so far.  Please leave votes and comments to let me know what you think. Lots of love.  ~Song~