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John was cold. The bag stopped being useful within three minutes of sitting on it. He kept leaning up against the walls, unable to stay seated upright for very long. Every time he touched the walls, warmth seeped out of his body and it would force him away for a few minutes. He was also getting tired, a combination of no food and the long hours that must have passed. He almost fell asleep when the door to the room was unlocked. He tried forcing himself up, but couldn't manage when the door opened.
“Agent,” a woman greeted, holding a tray with food on it, “There are three more people outside if you decide to try anything.” She set down the tray and pulled out a knife to cut the ropes. John rubbed his wrists before pulling the food closer and eying it carefully. “There would be no point in drugging you through the food. You are to remain healthy for our master.”
Still wary, he started eating the soup. He kept himself from downing it fast, but still finished it quicker than would have been good for his stomach. It was slightly achy, but not overly so when he placed the bowl back down and grabbed the water off. He backed into the corner when she picked up the tray and walked back out. She reappeared a minute later, throwing a blanket into the room before locking him back in.
John surged forward and grabbed it. He unfolded and found it would provide enough protection against the floor. Balling up his jacket, he curled up and faced the door. He knew he probably shouldn't sleep, but there was no way he could do anything else. His only and possibly best option would be to sleep and make sure he was at the top of his energy to try anything. Only a few minutes later, he did.
=
Nick Fury didn't even need to have Thomas Manning on the phone to be beyond annoyed at the man. Inter-agency cooperation didn't exist in his vocabulary, and it has cost him resources and manpower. He doesn't know what he did to destroy the relationship that used to exist between Hellboy, Sapien and Sherman, but it ruined any chances for someone else to try and approach them.
Being on the phone with him, trying to secure some of Hellboy's weapons and Abe's equipment, he could steadily feel his patience with the man falling below a gauge's zero. “You took the case away from the Bureau; there's no reason for me to help you outfit my former agents,” he grumbled.
“You should be grateful; you've been stretched thin with the deaths of several agents. We have more resources,” he argued, “Look, the stuff we're asking for can only be used by them, it makes a hell of a lot of sense for them to have it.”
“Why can't your R and D department come up with something, if you have more resources?” he accused.
“We don't have time. That demon could kill Myers at any moment. Instead of wasting time trying to develop a gun that Hellboy can use with ease, we could just use the one you already have and that he's used before,” he shouted, before forcing himself to bring his voice down. “This demon killed Myers' parents, and with his sacrifice will have enough power to take over most of the world. Do you want that to happen?”
“Of course not,” he defended.
“Then put aside the politics for a few days so we can stop these people.”
=
Hellboy may have had all the answers, but he couldn't (or wouldn't or didn't want to) help with the gathering of the items. Abe was a great resource when it came to finding areas of white oak, and for getting the protection amulets. Liz worked with the clover leaf oil and quickly got it on all knives. She also contacted and collected holy water from a majority of Catholic churches in the area. Identifying was seemed to be the highest on the list of possible sites, Coulson readied himself to head out.
And was stopped before he even got to the elevator.
“Agent, it may not be wise for you to lead any of the groups,” Abe stopped, “You would be a highly valuable target.”
“I'm already a highly valuable target for several other reasons, Mr. Sapien; this isn't the worst,” he said.
“Yes, but for the sake of the world, you should stay here.”
“Agent,” JARVIS brought up, “Director Fury would like you to coordinate from here.” He wanted to argue with the man, but he had likely passed on the message so he couldn't. “He also says that Agents Barton and Romanoff are going to be the leads on raiding the factory they've been watching.”
That was probably to pacify him, and he knew it was working on him. They were his best. If at all possible, they wouldn't fail him. As if to read his mind, Hellboy followed up, “We're checking out the site you spotted. Gotta agree, it's a good choice.” Liz was behind them, loading a gun and checking her vest.
They all reacted to the elevator opening. Two men were standing with a large trunk between them. “I guess Director Fury was able to talk to Manning,” Abe said, everyone moving to allow them off.
Hellboy unlatched the trunk and ran his hands over the bullets and pulled out the large gun that was sitting in an equally large holder. “Missed this thing,” he murmured, finding a few rounds to load up and others.
A briefcase was also handed to Abe, who opened it to see his breathing device. “Fury must have gotten to Manning,” Liz commented.
Hellboy muttered, “About time someone did.”
“Agent Coulson, the conference room is set up to watch the seven operations and the raid on the warehouse,” JARVIS informed, “The first ones are about to start searching.”
“Thank you, JARVIS,” he said, going back while the group went down.
=
Both met the agents when they pulled up hundred feet away from the factory. Barton nodded to the one he recognized and grabbed what was handed to him. “The knives have been coated with clove leaf oil. The necklaces are amulets,” he explained, “We've also got squirt guns with holy water in them.”
“Are we expecting more supernatural elements to be working with the demon?” Natasha questioned.
“The consultants Coulson was talking to say 'Better safe than sorry,'” he responded. All nodded and they latched into the frequency of group, Barton also getting a small camera so Coulson could watch the action before heading back.
Natasha headed the front group while Barton went around with a few others. Silently, the lock was picked and everyone in her group entered. The first two enemies were disarmed and knocked out before they knew someone was behind them. Knowing at any moment they could be discovered, the group was extra cautious going around corners and thoroughly checking rooms to make sure no one could sound an alarm. There were three more HYDRA agents taken out before Barton cursed on the comms. “We were spotted; possible alarm soon,” he reported, and the second after several HYDRA members starting coming out and attacking.
“Barton, possible location on Myers?” she inquired, taking out one and using her as a prop to hit the other three coming at her.
“Getting down to the basement. Saw one rush down that way.”
“Coming towards you,” she informed, then turn to her group, “Make sure no one helps the demon or gets out with Myers.” She then ran.
In the conference room, Coulson had the factory raid maximize while all the others were surrounding it on smaller screens, audio only for the factory. Three of the places had been desecrated with standard graffiti and 'Satanic' symbols. There was nothing to indicate the places had even been visited in years. The other three were cleaner, but there were signs of actual ritual use. With the little they knew, some were protection spells and more white or good magick. For a demon to use those for evil purposes, the magickal buildup would stop him from being able to complete the ritual.
The last one was clean, but there were traces of magick use. Abe was trying to determine which it was. Hellboy noticed signs of both, but sometime good intention spells could be perverted. He made their search a little bigger and placed it close to the video he was most concentrated on.
Barton took out two more agents and Natasha searched them for indications. “Nothing.” Both moved ahead, checking rooms that were locked and just finding civilians HYDRA had hired. They just relocked the doors and barred them so SHIELD could arrest them later.
Two people standing outside of a door alerted them to the possibility that was where they were keeping Myers. Spotted, both pulled out their guns and fired. The two of them fired back, hitting and killing the guards. Barton quickly picked the lock and opened to expect the agent.
He wasn't disappointed, as John was standing with the demon at his back, holding him in place with help from bound wrists and a gag to stop communication. Both raised their guns, but John being used as a shield stopped their thought of shooting. The demon grinned darkly, then began reciting something that caused a mist to consume them before they disappeared.
“What the fuck?” Barton swore.
Coulson was thinking the same thing, and switched completely to Hellboy, Abe and Liz. “How did the demon teleport last time?” he inquired.
“Fancy mist,” Hellboy grumbled, “Shit, he just did that to you?”
“Barton, he teleported,” he reported back, “Finish securing the site and see if they had anything that could identify the ritual site they're planning to use.” Then he switched back to Hellboy. “Yes, and he took John.”
“Understood,” Barton concurred, then turned to Natasha. “Let's talk to the civies and see if they know.” She nodded and both went back to a room to start interrogating.
“Ah, hell,” the demon cursed. Coulson brought the other group to the main screen.
Abe was concentrating on the spell to identify previous rituals and spells. Liz was looking through the building for anything that would help while Hellboy stood guard. The three of them overheard what the agent had said and started to worry. If they didn't have the right areas, if an area had been left off, they may not be able to get to the site quick enough to stop the demon. None of them heard from Coulson again, too busy listening into the factory angle.
He may have been listening in to the factory, but he wasn't watching that feed. His entire visual focus was on Hellboy's group. In the upper corner of the scene, he saw a mist starting to roll in. He switched back to their audio feed. “Hellboy,” he alerted, “Your right.” He checked the SHIELD agents that were supposed to be with the group. “Hodgson, Nelson, get your men inside the building.” All he got in return was silence and white noise. “Hodgson, Nelson, Servo, Crow, Gypsyum.” He went over to the factory feed. “The group I sent with the former agents aren't in contact. At least one hostile, possibly more. How close are you?”
“Not close enough,” Barton replied. Coulson started looking at possible teams to send over.
Said half demon looked over and raised his gun toward the rapidly forming figures. John was surprised at the sight of Hellboy and Abe, but the demon looked angry that someone was already there. “You,” it growled.
“Long time, nineteen-eighties. Big hair, bigger egos,” he mocked, “See yours hasn't gone down, Rocky.”
“You will not stop me this time,” he asserted, one hand holding John by the neck. “I will become the ruler of this planet.”
Unseen to the three non-humans, but not the human, Liz had come back into the room and seen everything going on. John's eyes locked with her and started figuring out a way to move so she could get a shot in. “And how ya going to do that?” he taunted, “You don't have anything for the ritual. You've got no helpers.”
“Who says I have no help?” A couple of dark mists popped up and formed into minions that most demons could conjure. A few humans also joined in, guns drawn and aimed at the two.
“Stay down, Blue,” he ordered, then shot at the two minions. They disappeared, then reassembled by him. Abe ducked bullets to get behind a wall and pulled out a few distractions for the humans. Liz literally fired at the guns of the humans closest to force them to drop them.
Two of the humans grabbed John and dragged him over to a heavy table that must have been purposed for an altar. He was untied to be redone to the table. The demon walked over to meet him. Liz tried to concentrate and throw the fire so it hit him in the back. She succeeded, but it gave her away as humans started going after her. The fire also didn't last long, the demon only mildly burned before putting out the flames. “Red, stop him.”
He fired once, the bullet hitting his arm. The Berockh demon howled and turned towards him. Anger clouding his objective, he stalked over to Hellboy. Abe took the opportunity to knock out one of the helpers and start untying John from the table. The other one got around the table and attacked him, but he had managed to get John's arm done enough so the agent could get himself untied.
The demon realized he had been distracted, and pulled out a knife before rushing back and stopping John before he could get off the table. Holding his sacrifice by the neck, he started muttering the spell he needed, the knife glowing at the words. He got to the last word and was about to stab him straight in the heart.
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“Agent,” a woman greeted, holding a tray with food on it, “There are three more people outside if you decide to try anything.” She set down the tray and pulled out a knife to cut the ropes. John rubbed his wrists before pulling the food closer and eying it carefully. “There would be no point in drugging you through the food. You are to remain healthy for our master.”
Still wary, he started eating the soup. He kept himself from downing it fast, but still finished it quicker than would have been good for his stomach. It was slightly achy, but not overly so when he placed the bowl back down and grabbed the water off. He backed into the corner when she picked up the tray and walked back out. She reappeared a minute later, throwing a blanket into the room before locking him back in.
John surged forward and grabbed it. He unfolded and found it would provide enough protection against the floor. Balling up his jacket, he curled up and faced the door. He knew he probably shouldn't sleep, but there was no way he could do anything else. His only and possibly best option would be to sleep and make sure he was at the top of his energy to try anything. Only a few minutes later, he did.
=
Nick Fury didn't even need to have Thomas Manning on the phone to be beyond annoyed at the man. Inter-agency cooperation didn't exist in his vocabulary, and it has cost him resources and manpower. He doesn't know what he did to destroy the relationship that used to exist between Hellboy, Sapien and Sherman, but it ruined any chances for someone else to try and approach them.
Being on the phone with him, trying to secure some of Hellboy's weapons and Abe's equipment, he could steadily feel his patience with the man falling below a gauge's zero. “You took the case away from the Bureau; there's no reason for me to help you outfit my former agents,” he grumbled.
“You should be grateful; you've been stretched thin with the deaths of several agents. We have more resources,” he argued, “Look, the stuff we're asking for can only be used by them, it makes a hell of a lot of sense for them to have it.”
“Why can't your R and D department come up with something, if you have more resources?” he accused.
“We don't have time. That demon could kill Myers at any moment. Instead of wasting time trying to develop a gun that Hellboy can use with ease, we could just use the one you already have and that he's used before,” he shouted, before forcing himself to bring his voice down. “This demon killed Myers' parents, and with his sacrifice will have enough power to take over most of the world. Do you want that to happen?”
“Of course not,” he defended.
“Then put aside the politics for a few days so we can stop these people.”
=
Hellboy may have had all the answers, but he couldn't (or wouldn't or didn't want to) help with the gathering of the items. Abe was a great resource when it came to finding areas of white oak, and for getting the protection amulets. Liz worked with the clover leaf oil and quickly got it on all knives. She also contacted and collected holy water from a majority of Catholic churches in the area. Identifying was seemed to be the highest on the list of possible sites, Coulson readied himself to head out.
And was stopped before he even got to the elevator.
“Agent, it may not be wise for you to lead any of the groups,” Abe stopped, “You would be a highly valuable target.”
“I'm already a highly valuable target for several other reasons, Mr. Sapien; this isn't the worst,” he said.
“Yes, but for the sake of the world, you should stay here.”
“Agent,” JARVIS brought up, “Director Fury would like you to coordinate from here.” He wanted to argue with the man, but he had likely passed on the message so he couldn't. “He also says that Agents Barton and Romanoff are going to be the leads on raiding the factory they've been watching.”
That was probably to pacify him, and he knew it was working on him. They were his best. If at all possible, they wouldn't fail him. As if to read his mind, Hellboy followed up, “We're checking out the site you spotted. Gotta agree, it's a good choice.” Liz was behind them, loading a gun and checking her vest.
They all reacted to the elevator opening. Two men were standing with a large trunk between them. “I guess Director Fury was able to talk to Manning,” Abe said, everyone moving to allow them off.
Hellboy unlatched the trunk and ran his hands over the bullets and pulled out the large gun that was sitting in an equally large holder. “Missed this thing,” he murmured, finding a few rounds to load up and others.
A briefcase was also handed to Abe, who opened it to see his breathing device. “Fury must have gotten to Manning,” Liz commented.
Hellboy muttered, “About time someone did.”
“Agent Coulson, the conference room is set up to watch the seven operations and the raid on the warehouse,” JARVIS informed, “The first ones are about to start searching.”
“Thank you, JARVIS,” he said, going back while the group went down.
=
Both met the agents when they pulled up hundred feet away from the factory. Barton nodded to the one he recognized and grabbed what was handed to him. “The knives have been coated with clove leaf oil. The necklaces are amulets,” he explained, “We've also got squirt guns with holy water in them.”
“Are we expecting more supernatural elements to be working with the demon?” Natasha questioned.
“The consultants Coulson was talking to say 'Better safe than sorry,'” he responded. All nodded and they latched into the frequency of group, Barton also getting a small camera so Coulson could watch the action before heading back.
Natasha headed the front group while Barton went around with a few others. Silently, the lock was picked and everyone in her group entered. The first two enemies were disarmed and knocked out before they knew someone was behind them. Knowing at any moment they could be discovered, the group was extra cautious going around corners and thoroughly checking rooms to make sure no one could sound an alarm. There were three more HYDRA agents taken out before Barton cursed on the comms. “We were spotted; possible alarm soon,” he reported, and the second after several HYDRA members starting coming out and attacking.
“Barton, possible location on Myers?” she inquired, taking out one and using her as a prop to hit the other three coming at her.
“Getting down to the basement. Saw one rush down that way.”
“Coming towards you,” she informed, then turn to her group, “Make sure no one helps the demon or gets out with Myers.” She then ran.
In the conference room, Coulson had the factory raid maximize while all the others were surrounding it on smaller screens, audio only for the factory. Three of the places had been desecrated with standard graffiti and 'Satanic' symbols. There was nothing to indicate the places had even been visited in years. The other three were cleaner, but there were signs of actual ritual use. With the little they knew, some were protection spells and more white or good magick. For a demon to use those for evil purposes, the magickal buildup would stop him from being able to complete the ritual.
The last one was clean, but there were traces of magick use. Abe was trying to determine which it was. Hellboy noticed signs of both, but sometime good intention spells could be perverted. He made their search a little bigger and placed it close to the video he was most concentrated on.
Barton took out two more agents and Natasha searched them for indications. “Nothing.” Both moved ahead, checking rooms that were locked and just finding civilians HYDRA had hired. They just relocked the doors and barred them so SHIELD could arrest them later.
Two people standing outside of a door alerted them to the possibility that was where they were keeping Myers. Spotted, both pulled out their guns and fired. The two of them fired back, hitting and killing the guards. Barton quickly picked the lock and opened to expect the agent.
He wasn't disappointed, as John was standing with the demon at his back, holding him in place with help from bound wrists and a gag to stop communication. Both raised their guns, but John being used as a shield stopped their thought of shooting. The demon grinned darkly, then began reciting something that caused a mist to consume them before they disappeared.
“What the fuck?” Barton swore.
Coulson was thinking the same thing, and switched completely to Hellboy, Abe and Liz. “How did the demon teleport last time?” he inquired.
“Fancy mist,” Hellboy grumbled, “Shit, he just did that to you?”
“Barton, he teleported,” he reported back, “Finish securing the site and see if they had anything that could identify the ritual site they're planning to use.” Then he switched back to Hellboy. “Yes, and he took John.”
“Understood,” Barton concurred, then turned to Natasha. “Let's talk to the civies and see if they know.” She nodded and both went back to a room to start interrogating.
“Ah, hell,” the demon cursed. Coulson brought the other group to the main screen.
Abe was concentrating on the spell to identify previous rituals and spells. Liz was looking through the building for anything that would help while Hellboy stood guard. The three of them overheard what the agent had said and started to worry. If they didn't have the right areas, if an area had been left off, they may not be able to get to the site quick enough to stop the demon. None of them heard from Coulson again, too busy listening into the factory angle.
He may have been listening in to the factory, but he wasn't watching that feed. His entire visual focus was on Hellboy's group. In the upper corner of the scene, he saw a mist starting to roll in. He switched back to their audio feed. “Hellboy,” he alerted, “Your right.” He checked the SHIELD agents that were supposed to be with the group. “Hodgson, Nelson, get your men inside the building.” All he got in return was silence and white noise. “Hodgson, Nelson, Servo, Crow, Gypsyum.” He went over to the factory feed. “The group I sent with the former agents aren't in contact. At least one hostile, possibly more. How close are you?”
“Not close enough,” Barton replied. Coulson started looking at possible teams to send over.
Said half demon looked over and raised his gun toward the rapidly forming figures. John was surprised at the sight of Hellboy and Abe, but the demon looked angry that someone was already there. “You,” it growled.
“Long time, nineteen-eighties. Big hair, bigger egos,” he mocked, “See yours hasn't gone down, Rocky.”
“You will not stop me this time,” he asserted, one hand holding John by the neck. “I will become the ruler of this planet.”
Unseen to the three non-humans, but not the human, Liz had come back into the room and seen everything going on. John's eyes locked with her and started figuring out a way to move so she could get a shot in. “And how ya going to do that?” he taunted, “You don't have anything for the ritual. You've got no helpers.”
“Who says I have no help?” A couple of dark mists popped up and formed into minions that most demons could conjure. A few humans also joined in, guns drawn and aimed at the two.
“Stay down, Blue,” he ordered, then shot at the two minions. They disappeared, then reassembled by him. Abe ducked bullets to get behind a wall and pulled out a few distractions for the humans. Liz literally fired at the guns of the humans closest to force them to drop them.
Two of the humans grabbed John and dragged him over to a heavy table that must have been purposed for an altar. He was untied to be redone to the table. The demon walked over to meet him. Liz tried to concentrate and throw the fire so it hit him in the back. She succeeded, but it gave her away as humans started going after her. The fire also didn't last long, the demon only mildly burned before putting out the flames. “Red, stop him.”
He fired once, the bullet hitting his arm. The Berockh demon howled and turned towards him. Anger clouding his objective, he stalked over to Hellboy. Abe took the opportunity to knock out one of the helpers and start untying John from the table. The other one got around the table and attacked him, but he had managed to get John's arm done enough so the agent could get himself untied.
The demon realized he had been distracted, and pulled out a knife before rushing back and stopping John before he could get off the table. Holding his sacrifice by the neck, he started muttering the spell he needed, the knife glowing at the words. He got to the last word and was about to stab him straight in the heart.
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