...:::Slip:::...
When Red and Liz's relationship falls apart at the seams, our favourite demon is feeling down. John can't stand seeing his charge so down. Will a slip of the tongue make or break them? Slash John x Hellboy! Oneshot!
Rating: M
Genre: Drama/ Romance
Warnings: Slash (M/M). If you are not interested then please re-frame from reading it. Possible language… Enjoy!
John stood outside Hellboy's door, his eyes sad, staring through the metal almost radiating empathy. The human wanted nothing more than to walk in and offer Red a shoulder, but knew too well that said demon would sooner use the Samaritan than let John get close.
The smaller man understood; no one wanted to be seen at a time of weakness. Sighing quietly John reached forward and pressed a palm flat against the metal door, wishing he could help.
Hellboy had smelt his liaison through the door and was grateful when the agent didn't enter.
The demon was lying on his stomach; his head buried in pillows, flesh and stone hands sprawled over the large bed and his heart in pieces.
He had promised himself and Liz that he would never give up on the fire-manipulator. But four months into the relationship and both knew it couldn't last. At every turn they fought, small things became gargantuan; it became too hard for both of them. Soon John had slotted into the role of peacekeeper. Talking to each of them, trying to keep the spark of the relationship going. Now, all knew it had been in vain.
As Hellboy sunk deeper into his mattress he felt John shift, the scent of sadness and disappointment throbbing off the agent in waves.
It did nothing to brighten the demon's mood.
"Red?" the voice was small, hesitant "I-… You hungry?" the pause in the agents voice made Hellboy tense; John wanted to say something, but was holding back.
"Come in" croaked Hellboy, surprised at his mouth for working without his brain's consent.
There were clicks of locks unlatching before the door groaned unhappily. John poked his head in, the hesitation clearly plastered over his face. On closer examination Hellboy saw the tiredness in the agent's eyes, not to mention a whole lot of empathy.
Moving into the room silently, John hurried over to Hellboy's side. Blinking the demon almost flinched away from the human's touch when fingers pressed against his head,
"You let your horns grow out?" asked John carefully.
Hellboy grimaced, bowing his head. He decided he might as well spill his guts to the kid; he had nothing better to do.
"Couldn't… couldn't be bothered"
John nodded, forcing himself to hide the sympathy that must have been splashed all over his face,
"You… want me to shave them down?"
Sighing Hellboy let his head fall forward weakly.
"Sure Boy-scout, why not?"
Smiling at the pet name he'd received from Hellboy six months prior, John snatched up the demon's angle-grinder,
"Lay back" he said simply.
Blinking Hellboy nodded silently and rested himself against his wooden backboard. John smiled appreciably and got to work, grinding the horns down carefully. When he was done John turned off the electric tool, brushing his fingers over Hellboy's horns clearing them of dust.
"Done already?" asked Hellboy surprised, reaching up a hand, accidentally touching John's fingers. Pulling his hand away sharply, John blushed and turned to put the angle-grinder away while Hellboy watched him with a raised eyebrow. "You okay kid?"
"Y-Yeah…" muttered John quietly moving to lean against the opposite wall. John stared at the ground before speaking "Listen… Later tonight I'm going to Central Park… and I was thinking, hey, what Manning doesn't know won't hurt him right…?" John let his sentence trail off "I'll bring beer" he added as an afterthought.
Hellboy stared at his carer with wide eyes; usually John was the anti-rule-breaker.
"Who the hell are you and what have you done to Meyers?" muttered Hellboy blinking.
Laughter surprised the demon and he blinked as the other man covered his mouth to muffle them.
"I-Sorry, Hellboy, it's just-" John laughed for a few more moments before calming himself. Then after a pause he smiled, composed, all signs of unease lost "So that's a yes?"
Hellboy smiled, he liked the smaller man's company,
"Sure, it's not as if I'm doing anything"
The roar of the motorcycle was enough to startle Hellboy from his thoughts, so when he saw John lead the slate-grey Ducati into the clearing the demon couldn't help but gape.
"Where d'ya get that?" he asked, surprised.
John smiled and set up the stand before grabbing two six-packs and plopping down next to the red-demon.
"Bought her last year, nice?"
"Yeah" said Hellboy eyeing the bike, "I'm jealous" he took an offered beer and chugged it down.
After a small silence and a few more beers Hellboy found his mouth running off, spilling the sadness in an effort to be rid of it.
"-It got too hard y'know?"
John had been listening carefully, already into his third beer, but his mind still relatively clear.
"… Are you going to be okay?"
The question surprised Hellboy; he blinked his gold eyes and raised an eyebrow,
"Course I'll be fine Scout! I'm always get over… stuff"
John smiled lightly, enjoying Hellboy's momentary mental lapse.
"I know… You recover from battles… But this isn't about defeating evil Red… I know this is gonna sound sappy, but what about your feelings?"
Hellboy chuckled, downing another beer,
"Sure, whatever Scout, I'll be fine"
John, unconvinced, decided to give a subtle jab,
"Are you gonna date anyone anytime soon?"
"Wha-?" Hellboy shook his head, "Wit' who? If you haven't noticed Meyers, I ain't exactly eye-candy!... Look at me… I'm red!"
John's shock was quickly swept away by uncontrolled anger,
"Bull shit" he snapped startling Hellboy from his muttering, "You're bloody handsome! And since when did it matter to you?"
After a pause, John was blushing and growling as Hellboy started to snicker, crushing a half-full can of beer spattering the liquid on the grass.
"Y-You…!" the demon couldn't get his words out and instead laughed loudly, clamping a hand on John's shoulder trying to steady himself. "Scout… People could get the wrong idea 'bout you if-"
John's face heated up, angry and surprised,
"You got a problem with that?"
Hellboy took in the simple statement and froze; golden eyes flickering to John's slightly hurt and flustered features. John, thoroughly embarrassed brushed away Hellboy's hand, stood and walked towards his bike.
"Wait-" before John could touch his motorcycle a stone hand grabbed his wrist and whirled him around, throwing him off balance, slamming him against Hellboy's chest.
John blinked, his eyes took a moment to focus, but when they did he couldn't help but blush.
"Uh-"
"You like me Meyers?"
'Damn!' John closed his eyes, the blush deepening. His voice was small, timid.
"…Yes" opening his eyes again, John was surprised to see Hellboy's face seemed closer; it was then he found his feet were no longer touching the ground.
"You're lying…"
John bit his lower lip, unsure and confused as he stared up into Hellboy's face that was full of conflicting emotions, his stone hand tightening on his small shoulder.
"What? Ug-"
John barely had time to think before he found himself on the ground. Air whooshed from his lungs and surprising pain flared in his head and side. Blinking John watched Hellboy storm away and he felt his stomach drop.
Rolling away from Hellboy's retreating figure John curled into himself to muffle a sob. Covering his face, the agent wished he had kept his mouth shut.
When Hellboy got his lunch, and like breakfast, and morning tea, received neither a glance nor a word from his watcher the demon started to feel the wall placed up between them. He said nothing, ate his food quietly, wondering who would heal the gap. Who'd play peace keeper?
After waking with the memory of how he had acted the night before, Hellboy had felt low. He had been unsure and confused, and the alcohol had done nothing to help him work out the situation, so had acted the only way he could, violence a second nature to him.
"Hellboy! What did you do to him!?" the roared words threw Hellboy out of his thoughts.
"Wha-?"
"Don't act dumb!" growled Liz storming towards him and thwacking him across the head "Whatever you did, fix it! Fast!"
"Do… to who? What are you talking about?"
Liz snarled and whirled away facing another wall,
"Are you that idiotic?" Hellboy hid the hurt and stood growling "It's John!"
Hellboy instantly moved away from his ex, wishing she wasn't there,
"Oh"
Liz stopped mid-rant and saw the shadowed look and winced,
"What happened…? Wait, I don't want to know! He's handed in his resignation; if you don't fix what you did he'll be gone Friday!"
Hellboy felt his gut twist and he winced,
"Maybe… it's for the best"
Grabbing Hellboy's small amount of hair and pulling it sharply, the demon yelped as he found himself face to face with Liz's snarl,
"You selfish asshole! I can't believe you; whatever he did it doesn't matter! Even if you don't care about him, Abe and I do! Stop being a selfish bastard, get off your ass and fix whatever you did!"
"Leave him alone Liz," said a quiet voice from the door, both BPRD agents looked around at the smaller man, his face was calm, but his eyes were sad. "It's not his fault,"
"Rubbish!" snapped Liz pushing John against Hellboy's door, "I can see it all over your face John! Whatever he's done I'm sure he'll apologize"
"It wasn't him, it's me… I don't suit this… I should've seen it sooner, its just time I got out of everyone's hair"
Both Liz and Hellboy watched John's eyes and were both amazed to see the agent believed what he said whole-heartedly.
"Wha- But John!" started Liz but stopped when John shook his head and walked away.
Liz was furious, sparks started to fizzle and pop around his glowing hands, she faced Hellboy with a deadly look,
"Whatever you said or did Hellboy, kiss and make up!" Liz missed Hellboy's cringe "John's been too good to you for you to just let him slip through your fingers! He's even giving up his job because of you! He's family" with those words spat; Liz stalked out of the room to burn several unsuspecting targets.
The more Hellboy thought on it the more he regretted striking out at John. Liz had been right, the smaller agent had been too good to him, helping him every step of the way. Now finally, John had bravely admitted he had feelings for the red-demon. And Hellboy cut him down.
Walking down a hall, Hellboy blinked his glazed eyes and focused on the John walking out of the medical wing with a look of annoyance. A doctor hurried after John, worriedly babbling,
"You sure there's no pain? I can assign you some pain-killers for the bru-"
John's eyes caught Hellboy's gaze, he stopped mid-step surprising the doctor who saw Hellboy and scuttled away. When then silence grew unsteady with tension, John started to walk in the opposite direction. Hellboy froze, unsure, but forced away his nerves and walked after John,
"Wait Meyers"
John didn't stop, surprising the red-demon, instead the agent picked up his pace, keeping his head tilted downwards. Hellboy took a few loping steps and placed a hand on John's shoulder to stop him. So when John gasped, flinching away from the touch like a struck animal, Hellboy was at a loss until he smelt the pain coming off of John.
Before the agent could run Hellboy took his hand and led him into an empty med-room. He forced John to sit on an examination bed, his glare hard, refusing John's pleading looks to stop, to let him go.
Taking the sleave of John's shirt, Hellboy tore it, startling John who tried to cover his bare arm, but his small hand couldn't cover the raw red and purple bruise that looked ready to bleed through the skin.
Hellboy froze, his eyes glazed with shock. John's head lowered, the scent of tears hitting the demon hard. He had never wanted to hurt his liaison.
Without thought or consideration Hellboy moved forward and wrapped his big arms around the smaller man. Gently squeezing John, trying to comfort and apologize for what he did. More tears fell down John's face as he leaned his face on Hellboy's shoulder.
"I'm sorry," whispered John, his voice wavering lightly.
Hellboy was thrown off by the apology; he sat on the bed and shook his head,
"Don't be Scout, you've done nothing to be sorry about-"
"I ruined our friendship" burst John, tears falling faster, he wiped his eyes furiously, growling, trying to hide how terrible he felt.
Hellboy shook his head.
"No. Listen; I'm sorry. Nothing excuses how a reacted… I wasn't thinking, I was surprised… I just didn't understand how…" Hellboy trailed off. John didn't speak; he was covering his face, curled into himself. It pained Hellboy to see John like that. "…How someone so great could…" the words caught in his throat when John looked up, his eyes wide, hands shaking.
John's weak smile made Hellboy's heart race, the smaller agent leant against the demon's chest, eyes closed.
"I forgive you" the words were quiet, even for Hellboy's hearing.
"But- after what I did-?"
John grinned, shaking his head and looking up at Hellboy so the demon could see the forgiveness in his eyes.
"I understand" Hellboy was left speechless as John wrapped his arms around him and hugged him. "I should've kept my mouth shut… Can we forget it ever happened?"
Hearing these words jolted away his silent shock; he shook his head surprising John, renewing the flashes of hurt in his eyes.
"No, I can't forget…" John slowly started to pull away, but Hellboy wrapped a hand around the agent's waist tugging him closer, "But who said I wanted to?"
FIN
Lo' all… This is a rushed fic I had a hell of a time writing… It was mostly for fun on my part, so please don't point out any grammar k? I already know I suck at it! Anyway! I hope you enjoyed! Please read n' review!
Luv ya all!