Character: Red (Hellboy)

Fandom: Hellboy

Rating: PG (language)

Word Count: 457

Prompt: lj comm="scifi_muses" Vol. 2 Week 9

Arturo Bandini: But she couldn't believe a liar like me. It wasn't really a lie; it was a wish, not a lie, and maybe it wasn't even a wish, maybe it was a fact...

Setting: Pre-Hellboy I Liz is 18. This is her first departure from BPRD.

She's standing in my room with a suitcase. I wonder what that's all about. "You going on a mission without me, Kid?" Stupid question, you don't take a suitcase on a mission. She's in street clothes, too. I didn't even know she had street clothes.

She just stands there, not saying anything. That's never good. She's usually so chatty with me. Took her forever, but once she did, it was all I could do to get her to shut up. The only time she was quite was when she was feeling guilty about something.

"Not a mission." She says softly, staring at the floor.

"Vacation?" I ask as I walk closer to her. She's human. She could take a vacation. She looks normal enough.

"Nope." She shakes her head, barely audible over my TVs. I pull the flip off the power strip and my room is suddenly silent save the soft purring of some of the cats. She raises her head a bit; I can tell she's afraid, afraid of me? Why would she be afraid of me?

"Where're ya going?" I don't like this. She's got an envelope in her hands. The kind they give agents that quit. That doesn't happen often, agents here don't have the longest life expectancy. Once and a while though, one of the rookies gets wise before he gets killed and high tails it outta here.

"I'm going to go away for a little while, Red." She's still staring at the floor. "Maybe for good, I don't know."

"Really?" What the hell? Why would she go away? This is her home; we're her family, her friends. "Why?"

"I'm going to college." She nods softly. "Normal 18-year-olds go to college, and I'm going to be normal. I can be normal right?" She looks me in the eyes with that last question.

No, you can't. You're not a normal human, Liz. You're gonna get hurt. If you go out into the world they'll eat you alive and you'll do something you'll feel bad for the rest of your life.

"Of course you can." I lie to her, smiling as I do it. "You're the most normal girl I know."

"Really?" Her eyes light up as she smiles at me.

"Yeah, really." I feel a guilty burn in my throat as I say that to her. "You'll be fine."

"Thanks, Red." She reaches out an hugs me around my waist, that's all the farther she can reach when she's not wearing those big boots of hers.

"No problem." I wrap my left arm around her back and hug her back.

No, this is going to end up being a problem. A very big problem, I can feel it in my gut.