Lexa Prine is mine. All other comic references belong to their respective owners, authors, directors, artists, etc...
“Is Red another freak like Blue?” Lexa asked as they passed down the sterile hallway, past glass-lined labs with people in white coats and blue surgical masks.
“There are no freaks here,” Myers chided, “Only superior beings.”
“Look, Myers,” she snarled, “I’m a mutant. I’m a freak. You heard what Abe said! So don’t tell me there aren’t freaks here.”
“Abe simply pointed out your special qualities.”
“You’re so full of shit.”
“I’ve heard worse before,” Myers continued jovially, which stopped her in her tracks.
“Wait…what the hell did he mean?” Lexa asked as she chased after Myers. He snickered, and glanced back over his shoulder, but kept walking. “Myers…tell me what’s going on?”
“Oh, don’t worry…you’ll be seeing Red in a moment.”
“Yeah…okay.” Lexa was not amused. It was hard to keep a strait face and even temper around these people, particularly considering her heart was still ready to jump out of her chest from her meeting with Abe. “So, Red…Blue…what’s your nickname?”
“Don’t have one,” Myers answered flatly, and made a sharp left into another austere metal-walled hallway.
“Why not?”
“Don’t need one.”
“Oh…so where are we going?”
“This way,” Myers responded. Infuriated, Lexa trotted up alongside him and grabbed his arm.
“Look, Myers,” she snarled, stretching up to her full height; still two inches shorter than him, “I’m not much for sarcasm, ambiguity, and silly little games. The sooner you get that through your head, the sooner we’ll get along. I’m not here because I want to be. I’m here because the Professor didn’t give me a choice. Now cut the crap and tell me what’s up.”
“I’m taking you to meet the rest of the family,” Myers responded evenly, tugging his arm out of her grip. He couldn’t help but think she was cute when she was mad…even if she was unknowingly turning her hair fire-engine red. “Nice hair.”
“What the…” she caught sight of the ends of her hair. “Oh…” she shook her head, dowsing her hair in its usual blonde. “So the rest of the family is this…Red?”
“Yes. Come on.” He started walking again, dragging her along. Up ahead, two people turned into the hallway pushing carts with large bowls of food. “Dinner time,” Myers said absently, and fell into step behind them. “Great…what are we feeding?”
“You’ll meet him in a minute.”
“Him?”
“Yeah, him…”
“Like Abe?”
“Sort of.”
“Oh, Goodie.”
Myers stepped between the two cart pushers and pressed a square metal rod into a very elaborate lock. The entire door shifted and moved, and swung in.
“MYERS!!!” came the booming voice from inside the room. Lexa jumped in surprise. “WHERE THE HELL IS SHE?”
“Hey Red…you’ve got company,” Myers called jovially, and moved aside to let the food pass. Lexa stepped up next to him warily and peered in. She could hear the meows of countless cats, and the distinctive smell of charcoal poured out of the room.
“I don’t want it,” the voice answered from inside.
“Tough. Play nice or I’m telling.”
“Telling who? Manning?” the voice asked. “What’s he going to do to me?”
“No…I’ll tell Liz.” Myers smirked at Lexa, who was becoming infinitely more intrigued by the exchange. No answer came from inside. “We’re coming in. Behave.”
“Yes, Dad,” came the flat reply.
Myers stepped into the room, leading Lexa by the arm. The smell of charcol was stronger inside, and the sound of cats was deafening. The room also smelled of spaghetti, which answered one earlier question. She looked around at the dimly lit room and all of the feline occupants, trying to locate the source of the voice.
“Red, this is Lexa,” Myers offered. She could clearly hear the hopeful lilt in his voice. “She’s the new kid in town.”
“Excuse me?” Lexa snarled, whipping around to face Myers. “New kid?”
“Whoa…just a figure of speech!” Myers threw his hands up in a defeated gesture.
“Mmmmm…feisty. I like it.”
“What?” she snapped, turning to face the voice. She had a quip prepared, but it melted from her mind alongside all of her better judgement. “Hellboy…” she gasped, and looked up at him.
“Were you expecting maybe the Easter Bunny?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Well, it would have been a little easier to comprehend,” she replied, and shook her head. “Wait, you’re not real!”
“Oh?”
“Well, I…yeah… You know what I mean!” she whined, throwing her hands up in the air and shaking her head.
“I get that a lot.”
“So, I guess I’ll leave you two to get acquainted,” Myers said, and backed towards the door.
“Wait. Just. A minute.” Red pointed the index finger of his stone right hand in Myers’ direction. Myers paused. “I need to talk to you.” He glanced back at Lexa, who still appeared confused, and patted her on the shoulder. “Be right back,” he added with a smirk.
Hellboy crossed the room, picked Myers up by the collar of his shirt, and carried him through the sea of cats to the other side of the room. The discussion was heated, and she could barely hear them though Hellboy’s tail whipped around wildly. She was amazed by him even though she knew she should be afraid. If there was ever a creature that could make her feel completely normal, it would definitely be him. Just being in the room with him made her surprisingly calm.
Finally having enough of whatever the discussion was, Red stormed back across the room and Myers flew back through the door. It slammed closed behind him, and she heard the locks catch. Lexa realized she had been forgotten. Standing in the middle of the unfamiliar room alone, she cleared her throat and shuffled her feet.
“Oh…you’re still here.”
“Yeah, I don’t really know where I am.”
“I suppose you want to be away from the monster too, right?” She could hear hurt beneath the sarcasm as he spoke.
“Actually, I like being here. Sort of,” she tacked on when he shot her a sideways glance. “Being here with you and Abe makes me feel like less out of place.”
“So what?”
“What do you mean ‘so what’? I mean its nice to be around people that are different…like me.” She sighed. He snorted in response and crossed to where she stood, a cat balancing precariously on his bare left shoulder.
“You don’t look so different,” he said, bending low to stare her in the face. “You just pretend to be different, right?” He poked at her shoulder playfully. “Just to get my autograph, right?”
Lexa’s nostrils flared and her eyes narrowed. Maybe she had thought wrong about him. Infuriated, she raised herself up on her tiptoes to face him, though she still fell over a foot short. She could feel her control slipping, and knew it was going to get ugly.
“You selfish, pig-headed…” she started, her body stretching until she was looking him in the face. “What makes you think that…”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Red said, pressing his palms to her shoulders. She was ready to rip his head off, but he was fascinated by her hair. “Turn off the fireworks, and we’ll start over.” Lexa lowered herself to a flat-footed position. “Nice trick,” he added with a smirk, gesturing toward the mirror. She looked, and realized her hair was, for the second time in an hour, blazing shades of red and orange.
“Yeah…” Again, she shook her head and cleared her hair of its psychedelic dye job. “Looks like you might lose your nickname if I’m not careful.”
“Nah…we’ll find something that suits you.” He smiled at her, and remembering the delivery, glanced over to the trays. “Want some spaghetti?”