Burning Cold [Hellboy x Abe]

Chapter One

Hellboy noticed Abe was acting different lately. Over the past month, he had been awfully quiet and recluse. He wasn't even talking much to him, the one he would always come to when he was troubled. HB tried asking him what was wrong many times, but never got a straight answer from him, always some excuse about just being tired or too busy to talk at that particular moment. Eventually, he decided to give his friend some personal space, he hated when people pushed him to say something, so he figured out Abe would talk to him when he felt like it.

Abe, on the other hand, didn't have everything figured out in his head. He was going through a lot lately, ever since some scientist on the BPRD decided to continue studying Abe, it all became hell. It started small, some blood samples and X-ray. Abe didn't like that from the start, just remembering everything that happened to him. Gradually, the physical exams became more frequent and more invasive, just like they used to be. Abe was ready to talk to a superior about it but unfortunately, he discovered that the orders were coming from above. He couldn't even say anything since he was being threatened to stay quiet, otherwise, he would be banished from the BPRD. He even thought he'd rather leave than continue like this, but he had nowhere else to go and he was becoming quite weak with all the tests they were running on him, he wouldn't last long by himself out there anyway.

Hellboy noticed his friend was covering himself with clothes a lot more recently, which was weird since he would usually just wear something on the bottom, everyone being used to see him like that. But what really made him put an end to his wait to confront him was when he was assigned to a field mission and arriving there, they told him Abe wasn't assigned as well, like he usually would. That pissed him off, apparently, he was the only one who didn't know what was going on. But when he arrived after the mission, his anger became concern, since he couldn't find him anywhere. He asked many agents if they had seen him, but no one knew where he was. Hellboy looked in his tank and all his secret places he would sneak out sometimes to read in peace or just when he needed some time alone. Still nothing. He went to his room, defeated and very worried. It was a bit past midnight, where could he be? He took a shower wondering if someone had kidnapped him, but he didn't believe in that. Abe knew how to defend himself and it would take a great deal of trouble to kidnap an agent inside the BPRD without anyone seeing it. He was agitated, but also very tired from the mission, and when he laid in bed to rest his body a little, he couldn't help but to fall asleep.

Abe was being kept in a very hidden lab in one of the lowest levels of the institution. Today they were testing an experimental drug on him, not really concerned about the side effects he could experience with it. Not even Abe knew what it was for, he even bothered to ask, but they said that to prevent any kind of placebo effect, they couldn't say anything. "Your drug sucks," Abe thought to himself since he didn't feel anything different, but he was still bothered since they collected blood from him all the time to see how quickly his system would eliminate it. He was allowed to go back to his tank around one in the morning, feeling dizzy because of the amount of blood they collected without giving him anything to eat or drink afterward. He just dragged himself to the tank and slept almost instantly.

Unfortunately, his sleep was filled with nightmares and he woke up with his heart beating fast as he remembered some very disturbing image he had just seen while he slept. He curled to a corner of the tank, feeling very sad and alone. He was on the edge of what he could handle both physically and psychologically. Nightmares were becoming frequent and this was affecting him a lot. He allowed himself to stay there for a good while, he was exhausted but nowhere near sleepy. That's when he decided he wanted to see Hellboy, not saying anything to him, but just the idea of having him around was comforting to him.

He got out of the tank and dried himself fast, almost giving up on the idea, fearing Hellboy would be angry with him for his absence and silence. But he needed his friend right now so he walked his way to Red's room quietly and knocked on the door hoping no one else would hear it. He waited a little before knocking a second time. Hellboy woke up on the second knock, wondering if he had really heard that or if it was a dream. He opened and saw his friend standing there with a very sad and exhausted look in his face.