Part II: My baby left me!
Chapter: Funhouse
It was just another ordinary Friday night in August, that Myers and Clay stepped into a Pub. It was a small, cosy place, not that far from BPRD, and many agents used it as a place to relax after a hard day's work. And as it often was a hard day's work in BPRD, the agents were a familiar sight in the "Bucket of Blood".
Myers had lately been a rare sight in The Bucket, though. He didn't quite feel like he belonged. He had never been really 'one of the guys', like he knew Clay and Hellboy were, familiar with the guy talk and feeling like a part of the gang. And now, more than ever, he just couldn't make himself to pretend that he enjoyed that kind of things.
The truth was, that he was depressed. And he knew no amount of beer and chatting with other agents, could make him feel better.
But still, being a nice guy, he had felt obligated to join Clay after tonight's mission. Clay had taken some serious beating from an angry spirit, and he was in need of a beer.
"Get us a table, I'll fetch some beers." Clay said, as they walked in.
"Sure." Myers replied, and headed to search for at least somewhat peaceful table as Clay went to the bar. The place was relatively full, it was Friday night after all, and it took some time before he found a table, and took a seat, waiting for Clay.
He let his gaze wander on the people as he waited. There were a few pretty girls in a table not so far, both blonds with pretty faces and nice curves, and Myers realized they were giving him glances. Oh, swell. This was so not what he needed.
Even if Clay and some other agents had tried to convince him that all he needed to get over Margot, was to get someone else under him, Myers knew it didn't work like that. At least not for him. There was no way he could get in on with some girl, not as long as he felt like dying inside.
Besides, even if his heart hadn't been broken, he had definitely had enough of pretty blondes for a lifetime! Being hit in the head with a hammer, and almost cut open like fish, by a Victoria's Secret Angel, had something to do with that.
He tried not to answer the glances the other girl was giving to him, but apparently in vain, for the girl stood up and approached him. She took a seat on his table, and leaned closer.
"Hey." she said, her voice sweet and dark like forest honey. "You alone?"
"No." Myers said. "I'm with a friend."
He knew he was being rude, but he'd learnt from his mistake. Nothing good came from being too nice to beautiful woman, when your heart was taken.
"A girlfriend?" the blond raised an eyebrow.
Myers was just about to answer, as he noticed Clay approaching with two beers. He raised a hand to make Clay notice him.
"A boyfriend." Myers said to the girl. "That's him. We're so gay."
The blond blushed deeply.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I-"
"No problem." Myers gave her a smile. "It was nice to meet you."
The blond girl stood up, taking her curvy gorgeousness with her, and left Clay staring at her swinging hips open mouthed.
"What did you say to her?" Clay asked, taking a seat. "She left in a hurry."
"Nothing." Myers stated, taking a sip of his beer.
"Didn't look like that."
Myers rolled his eyes. Gods, he hated it when Clay tried to push women at him.
"Just told her I wasn't interested." he said. "'Cause I'm not."
"Yeah, yeah. Still dwelling on that, are you?"
Myers didn't reply. He really wasn't going to get into a discussion about Margot with Clay.
"Anyways," Clay continued after taking a few deep gulps of his beer. "That girl was hot - you didn't have to make her leave."
"You serious? What about Brexia?" Myers asked.
"Nah, it's complicated." Clay replied. "I dunno if it's gonna work out."
"Well, it doesn't help if you mess around with another woman. Take it from someone who knows."
Myers couldn't help the fact that his voice was a bit bitter.
Clay had a nice thing going on with a girl he'd met earlier this summer. She was a voluptuous, blond stripper that Clay had met on a strip joint (where both Myers and Hellboy had been too, but that's another story), and for some reason Myers quite didn't see, Brexia seemed to be genuinely in love with Clay. She didn't even mind his hair implants, to everyone's great amusement.
"Well, I think Brexia is great." Myers continued. "She's cute and funny and she adores you, God knows why."
"It might have helped that I saved her from a flesh eating demon." Clay said, raising a glass. "Cheers to that."
Myers sipped his beer, his thoughts in Margot again. She had saved his ass a couple of times, and yeah it had made him adore her, alright. If there only was a way to save her from something, perhaps it would make her see him with new eyes too.
But where do you get a flesh eating demon to threaten your ex-girlfriend so you can save her? Besides, it would take a hell of a demon to be brave enough to attack Margot.
"Hey, Myers." Clay said suddenly. "Isn't that Kat?"
Myers looked up, towards the door. Yeah, it was Kat alright - and she wasn't alone. Myers felt his cheeks blushing at the sight of Margot, and for a short moment he forgot everything else.
Margot was so damn pretty, it took his breath away. She was wearing a pair of stonewashed ripped jeans, a black top with a low neckline and high heeled boots. With her generously applied black eyeliner and red lipstick, she looked different than he was used to seeing her, but no less attractive. Myers couldn't help but to stare at her - her tiny waist, her slender arms, the way her hair waved as she walked and turned to speak to Kat - it was all so painfully familiar to him, her every move, every gesture, that he felt like falling.
And then it hit him - that he could never touch her again. It was excruciating.
How could he live like that?
Like a man who's dying of thirst and is denied the sip of water that could save him.
In silence Myers observed, as the two women walked to the bar, and talked with the bartender for a few moments. Then Margot walked to the small podium at the other end of the room, and Myers noticed she was carrying a guitar case on her back. The guy from the bar was helping her now, fixing a mic for her, and bringing a high bar stool to the podium. Margot removed her gloves, took out her guitar, and gave the guy a few warm smiles before he returned to the bar.
"Did you know she'd be here?" Myers asked of Clay.
"No." Clay shrugged. "I mean, I knew she sometimes came here to play, but I had no idea, that she'd be here today. Hey, we can go someplace else, it's fine."
"No. We're staying." Myers stated, suddenly resolute. "This is our place. I'm not going to let her drive me out of here."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure." his voice was as dark as her moods.
It was just then that Kat noticed them, and walked through the crowd to their table.
"Howdy!" she grinned, and took a seat.
"Howdy?" Myers raised an eyebrow.
"Well, would you prefer a staider greeting?"
"What are you doing here, Kat?" he asked.
"Aren't you grumpy? That bad of a mission today?" Kat glanced from Myers to Clay. "What happened to you, Clay? You look like you've hit a truck."
"Nah." Clay said. "Just a bunch of angry spirits."
"Oh." Kat said, suddenly looking guilty. "Damn, I knew I should've been there to help you guys."
"No. Margot should've been there." Myers said. "She's the one who has most experience with ghosts, and she can kick their ectoplasmic ass like no one else. But she's asked Manning not to assign us on the same missions, and this is what we get."
"What!" Kat exclaimed. "That's nuts! Clay could've died because of that!"
"I'm fine, really." Clay muttered. "We took care of it."
"Yeah, this time. But what about next time?" Kat's tone was annoyed. "This stupidity has been going on for long enough. I'll talk to her."
"You do that. Since she still won't listen to me." Myers stated, taking a deep gulp of his beer, it's bitter taste echoing his state of mind.
"I'll do it, but after. She's gonna play some songs, and I'd like to listen. After all, it's a huge improvement that she's doing something else than drinking alone in my room, and weeping." Kat said, taking Myers' beer from the table, and drinking half of it, before he had a chance to say anything. By the looks of it, she was going to keep the bottle.
But Myers hardly cared, his mind busy with her latest remark.
He turned his eyes back to Margot, to her slender figure that had just hopped onto the barstool. She was holding an acoustic guitar, and the instrument seemed huge against her tiny, slender body. Her delicate fingers were holding it gently, as if it was living thing.
So, she spent her nights in Kat's room, drinking alone and crying? That was… interesting.
Myers got up from his seat, and walked to the bar to get another beer, just as he heard Margot play the first chords with her guitar.
After about an hour, Margot's small gig was over. She had played a variety of songs, from different female artists like Pink, Adele, Sia and Joni Mitchell - and they'd all been more or less about broken heart.
Myers couldn't say a word during the whole time.
Slowly sipping his beer, he stared at Margot and let himself enjoy this unexpected, stolen moment of being able to just watch her, and hear her beautiful voice, that - for once - wasn't calling him names or telling him to get lost.
He didn't care about the people, their chattering and the cheering. He didn't even notice Clay, who tried to talk to him a couple of times, or Kat, who gleefully cheered after every song. The only thing Myers saw, was Margot. The only thing he heard was her voice, the same that had called him back from the dead not even a year ago, the one who still held his soul and his heart.
And he knew, Margot had noticed him.
Every once in the while her eyes stopped at him, and he saw the blush on her cheeks, the glimmering in her green eyes. And her words - the things she sang, looking straight into his eyes, were the ones he knew she could never say.
The last song she performed, was the worst - on the best way. Her eyes never left his, as she belted out Pink's 'Please, don't leave me", with so much emotion it left half of the people on the small pub speechless.
"I don't know if I can yell any louder,
How many times have I kicked you out of here
Or said something insulting?"
I can be so mean when I wanna be,
I am capable of really anything,
I can cut you into pieces,
When my heart is broken.
Please, don't leave me.
Please, don't leave me.
I always say how I don't need you,
But it's always gonna come right back to this.
Please, don't leave me.
I forgot to say out loud
How beautiful you really are to me.
I can't be without.
You're my perfect little punching bag,
And I need you.
I'm sorry."
It was after that song, that Myers realized, both Clay and Kat were staring at him, as if he'd done something incredibly stupid.
"What?" he shrugged, trying to hide the fact his voice felt a little thick in his throat.
"Man, you've gotta go and talk to her. Now." Clay chuckled.
"For once, I agree with you, Clay." Kat said. "Here, give her a beer. Roses would be better, but I have none at the moment, so this'll have to do."
Kat handed Myers an opened bottle of beer (from which she still hadn't had time to drink, gladly).
"I can't." Myers said, refusing to take the beer. "She'll just tell me to shut up again!"
"After that performance?" Kat blinked a few times. "Christ, you're slow! She was singing at you, you dumbass - go and get her, now!"
"Oh, fine." Myers gave in. He felt his cheeks burning, as he awkwardly accepted Kat's beer. "But you'd better not stare! And you'll be paying for my funeral, Kat."
"Sure." Kat grinned. "I'd outlive you anyways, kiddo."
Myers walked to Margot, hesitant.
"Hey, I brought you this. Thought you'd be thirsty." he handed out the beer.
Margot eyed him, not replying anything, but she took the bottle - her bare fingers almost touching Myers', and he felt the electric current that made the hair on his arm stood up. Christ, it made him long for touching her, so much he almost did.
"That was beautiful." he said, pushing his hands into his pockets, just to be sure. "I didn't know you were this good with a guitar."
Margot still didn't reply, just stared at him, blankly, her eyes like mirrors, not revealing anything.
Myers cleared his throat. Christ, he felt nervous! And it didn't exactly help, that he could practically feel Kat's eyes on his back all the time.
"Do you… come here often to play? Clay said-"
"Why are you talking to me, John?" Margot asked then, out of the blue. "Just spit it out."
"I… uh, I just-"
And he felt blushing. Great.
"Please, don't tell me it's because of my song choices." Margot rolled her eyes.
"The last one was pretty clear." Myers replied. "And the other ones seemed rather familiar too."
"They weren't about us." Margot snapped. "Just that you know."
"You sure about that?"
"Why would you think they were?" Margot asked.
"Because you told the audience that broken heart was good for the art?"
"Just chit chat." Margot shrugged. "You wouldn't think Lady Gaga was singing to you, just because she has a song called 'Bad Romance, wouldn't you?"
"That's different. I've never even met Lady Gaga!"
"Not that I know of." Margot muttered. "But how can I be sure? You do have a thing for blonds, don't you? At least the blond girl on that table over there was drooling all over you."
"I told her I wasn't interested."
"Is that why she keeps thinking that you're gay?"
"Yeah, I might have told her so."
"Ah." there was a small smile playing in the corner of her mouth. "Well, you should've told that to Botox too."
"Yeah, I should have."
"But you didn't."
He was silent for a short moment, and looked down.
"I messed up, I know that. What happened was all my fault, and I'm so sorry about that."
"I know you're sorry, John. But it doesn't change anything. What's done is done."
"Margot, I know you miss me too. I know you miss what we had. Please, I'm begging you here." Myers felt his voice shaking slightly. This was the first time they really talked about what happened, and he couldn't help it - he hoped, against all odds, that she would hear him out and forgive him.
But there was a cold flash in her eyes now, and her words cut like a knife.
"Begging? Was that what she did too? Beg you to stick your dick into her mouth?"
"No. I-"
"And you, John, such a nice guy. Always so eager to please everyone else, that you were incapable of saying no to her."
She stuck her guitar into the guitar case, not meeting his eyes.
"I did." Myers replied, rather pointedly. "Say no to her. Several times."
"Oh? And is that supposed to make me feel better?"
"I don't know how to make you feel better. I know I cannot undo what I did, but I'm willing to do whatever you ask of me. Margot, please. I know I fucked up, but please, please give me another chance."
"No, John. I don't do second chances."
"But I-"
"I'm sorry, John, I really am. But it's over."
He felt like suffocating. There was something in his throat, tears burning in his eyes, and he couldn't stand it.
Enough, enough already.
He turned her back to Margot, and walked out of the Bucket, not once turning to look back.