Part III: Family Matters

Chapter: Eternal Flame

"We need to talk." Margot stated.

"About what?"

They had just finished having dinner, Chinese takeaway, and Myers was stuffing the boxes to the trash can. He turned to look at Margot, just to notice that her face was very serious, and she seemed to be avoiding his gaze.

"Hey, what is it?" he asked, immediately concerned. "You feeling okay?"

He had noticed she'd been quiet and absent minded during the dinner, but he hadn't thought too much about it. It had been a long day and Margot had worked her butt off trying to put some restless spirits in an old hotel to rest.

"Yeah, I'm fine… It's just. There's something really important I have to tell you. Before we go together to your sister's place. And Thanksgiving is next weekend."

"Okay. Then tell me, what is it?"

Margot was silent for a short while, nervously shifting from foot to foot, fidgeting an unopened pair of chopsticks in her restless fingers.

"You remember when we first started sleeping together, and I told you we didn't need birth control? That I had it covered?"

A cold sensation spread to Myers' chest. Oh yeah, he remembered all right. They'd never used condoms, for she had said they didn't need to, and he had trusted her word, thinking she was on the pill. But now, seeing the nervous look on her pale face, Myers felt a bit uneasy. She wasn't… pregnant, was she?

"Yeah, I do. Why?"

"Well. The reason I told you that, was that… that I can't have children. Not ever."

Oh. So definitely not pregnant.

Myers wasn't quite sure how he felt about that, though.

"What? You sure?"

"Yes John, I'm sure. I've been sterilized."

"But… but why? Why would you do something like that? And keep it from me?"

Margot turned her back at him, and opened the fridge to pull out a bottle of white wine. She poured a glass for herself, and took a long gulp, before turning back to face Myers again.

"I'm sorry, John. I know I should've told you this ages ago. It's just… it's not something I like to think about, and it was kinda difficult to bring it up. " She paused for a few heartbeats. "I understand if… if this is something you can't live with."

"Come on, I don't even know if I wanted to have kids."

Margot made a small, sad laughter. She looked him straight in the eye, and he knew she saw deep into his soul, into his most profound hopes and wishes.

"You do. I know you do, I've seen it in your mind, John." she breathed. "You want the kids, and the perfect family, and a dog too if possible. The American dream. And it breaks my heart to have to tell you, that's not possible with me. This is why I wanted to come clean before I meet your family - I understand if you want to rethink our relationship because of this."

"Don't be absurd. I'm not going to 'rethink our relationship', whatever that means." Myers shook his head. He couldn't deny the fact that he felt annoyed, angry even. Keeping a secret of this magnitude from him? It suited him ill, and he wasn't going to pretend otherwise.

"I'm sorry, John. I should've told you this already when you came to see me in Hamburg last Christmas. You had the right to know. But it's not something… one can easily drop into a conversation. And the longer I waited to tell you, the harder it became."

"Yeah, I get it. But Margot, I need to understand. You say you've been… sterilized? What does that even mean?"

"That I can never have children. That's what it means. My fallopian tubes are blocked with metal clips, to prevent fertilization."

"When did you get it done?" Myers asked.

He felt like he needed to sit down, so he slowly walked to the couch and took a seat.

Margot kept silent for a long while, her face was pale as death. Gripping on her wineglass, her knuckles almost white, she followed him to the living area and leaned on the wall, unable to relax enough to sit down. Her posture was stiff, her eyes that avoided Myers' gaze, had a haunted look on them.

"Again, not something I like to think about, or talk about." She finally said, her voice nothing but a faint whisper. "But I will, for you. You deserve to know all there is to know about me, even if it makes you hate me."

"I could never hate you, you know that."

But Margot's eyes were dark, when she glanced at him.

"Don't be so sure."

"Try me." He said, leaning his elbows to his knees. "Tell me all there is."

"Twelve years ago, John. I was just 14 years old, and had someone told me what was going to happen to me soon, I would've told them to fuck off." She looked down, to her feet, and her voice was faltering. "It was a Friday, just like any other day, a normal Friday night… and I was going to this party, my friend Jeanne threw. You have to realize, I was a good girl. I didn't go to parties, or do any other things that could've upset my parents. But I was… ah, I had a huge crush on this guy in our class, Philippe, and I knew he was gonna be there, so I went too."

Margot paused for a while, sipping on her wine. Myers silently observed her, not saying a word to interrupt her story, even if he did have difficulties in seeing how this was relevant.

"He was there, indeed." Margot finally continued. "When I stepped into the room, I saw them kissing. Philippe and Jeanne - my best friend. And I don't know what happened, I really don't. I try to remember it, but all I can recall is this… this rage, this emotion that took over me, and I could not keep it under control. I felt it, like an a-bomb in my head."

"Your talent broke out." Myers stated, silently.

It took a long time before Margot continued.

"Yeah, it did."

"What happened?"

Another heavy silence. Margot bit her lip, and Myers noticed the wine glass in her hands was shaking.

"They died."

"They… what?"

"Jeanne. Philippe. All of them. I killed them all, John. I…. I didn't mean to. It was an accident. It was like my mind… was on fire. I could not stop the explosion. I felt it leave me like a pressure wave, and it hit them. The room was destroyed, all the furniture all of it. And the people-"

Margot couldn't continue. She brought the glass to her lips, and took a long gulp, and another. Her face was pale and she didn't meet Myers' eyes.

"Hey, you don't have to talk about it." He breathed. "It's fine."

"No, it isn't fine." she snapped. "And I must. You said it yourself, 'tell me all'.

"I meant, about the 'not being able to have kids' -part."

"Ah." Margot breathed. "Oh, I'm getting there, alright. Or have you heard enough already? I told you, you would hate me in the end."

"I don't hate you. But I feel bad, for I see you are hurting."

Margot gave a long sigh before answering.

"Hurt is the only thing that keeps me human. Botox was right about one thing - that I've done my share of heart ripping. I've spilled more blood than anyone should, and it started that day, 12 years ago. They were the first people I killed, and I hope I'll never forget how it felt. I hope I'll never stop feeling hurt and guilty about it."

"No matter how guilty you feel, it won't bring them back."

Margot shrugged. "I know that. But it works as a reminder."

"A reminder of what?"

"That I should accept my punishment." Margot stated, on a silent voice. "You want to hear the rest?"

Myers gave a small nod, to let her go on with the story.

"I was taken into Europol's Paranormal Unit, of course. Where else? But at that time it was a very different place than it is now. I was not treated as a human, but as a monster - but who could blame them? They had never seen anyone like me before, and they were scared. The Hell, I don't even know if there is anyone like me in the world… And I guess they wanted to make sure there never would be. They experimented on me, John. All kinds of operations… I would wake up, realizing something had been done to me, and no one told me what it was. They poked on my inner organs, observed my brain waves, all that. Like I was nothing more than a lab rat. And during one of those operations, they sterilized me, without even telling me about it. I only found out about it a lot later."

Myers tasted blood, iron on his lips. The taste of rage.

Just the thought of Margot being treated that way… it made his chest ache, as if there was a spear point stuck to his heart, digging it's way deep into the muscle. There was something in his throat, that made it hard to breath, almost impossible to speak.

"Who ordered it?" he could barely force the words out.

"Not my Dad, if that's what you're asking." Margot's voice was sharp. "He wasn't in charge at the time. It was him, who got me out of that locked room, and convinced everyone that I deserved to be given a chance. Dad took a huge risk by taking me in, taking full responsibility of my actions. Had I truly been the monster the rest of them took me for, he'd lost everything. But he just couldn't leave me there. He hated what they had done to me, and when he became the director, he made sure that branch of the unit was shut down, permanently."

Myers leaned back on the couch, trying hard not to let the tears come.

He had to blink a few times, and clear his throat to be able to keep his emotion under control.

"I'm sorry, John." Margot breathed, looking straight at him from across the room.

"Don't be sorry. None of it was your fault." he stood up, and walked to her, gently taking the wine glass from her hands and placing it on a nearby table. He took her hands into his, her bare hands, and let their minds merge.

She wasn't blocking him now, not even a little bit, and he fell right into her consciousness, into the deep well of pain, hurt, guilt and remorse. It took his breath away, but he accepted it, accepted it all and felt it for her.

"I love you." he sent to her mind. "I don't care what you've done in your past, and I could never hate you. You are beautiful, inside out, and I love all of you. Do you hear me?"

Margot made a sound, that was like a sob, a wail, and shook her head.

"I don't deserve it" She finally replied. "I don't deserve you."

"Yes, you do. You are a good person, and you are worthy of being loved."

"I'm not. I'm flawed, my soul is tainted and everything I touch turns to dust."

"Look at me, Margot." he said out loud, and gently took her face into his hands. "Enough of this. I love you, and I'm not going anywhere. I'm not letting anyone hurt you, ever again. You hear me?"

Margot blinked a few times, her pupils dark and dilated, and Myers felt her desperate need for love in his soul.

"I hear you." she breathed.

"Feel my heart." he said, pulling her hand to his chest. "Feel it with your mind."

Margot closed her eyes, and Myers felt her mind inside of his soul, inside of his body, searching his heartbeat. It took only a couple of seconds for the rythms of their hearts to synchronize. It was the most amazing feeling in the world.

"It beats for you." he exhaled. "It has, from the moment I first laid my eyes on you in the Brussels Airport. There's no changing it, no matter what you've done, or what has happened to you in the past. And I don't care about the sterilization, I really don't. I can easily live without kids, but I cannot live without you."

He pulled her close, wrapped his arms around her slender, slightly trembling form, and buried his fingers into her hair. She stayed quiet for a long while, pressing her head on his shoulder, and Myers felt as silent tears fell to her cheeks, just to be absorbed into his shirt.

Christ, he loved her so much it took his breath away.

He could easily spend the rest of his days like this, just holding her in his arms, protecting her from whatever she would be afraid of.

"Will you marry me?" he breathed.

Margot froze, made a surprised gasp, and looked up to his face.

"What did you say?"

"This is not how I meant to ask you… but I-" Myers felt his cheeks blushing, his voice almost failing him. "I just… Margot, will you please be my wife?"

A few heartbeats of silence, the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Margot's eyes were wide and clear, like forest ponds, and he had no idea what she was thinking. But then, the release, the tension broke. She broke into a grin, and a laugh, and tears fell to her cheeks, tears of joy.

"Yes…!" she sobbed. "Yes, of course I'll marry you!"

"Really?" Myers felt like choking, but on a good way. "You mean it?"

"How could I not?"

And he kissed her, his hands on her waist pulled her close, her lips opened to him and he tasted the wine on her tongue, the sweet holy wine of love and lust, and he let himself fall.

His heart raced in his chest, the blood was like boiling oil in his veins, and Margot's body was so slender, so tiny in his arms. He'd never felt this ecstatic in his life, and he grabbed her, lifted her up and pushed her against the wall, her legs wrapping around his hips.

"You really said yes?" he sent to her mind. "I'm not imagining things?"

"Yeah, I said yes." she replied with a grin. "But I want the ring, and I want the proposal as you had planned it. And I need you to talk to my Dad too, to get his blessing."

Myers gulped. "The ring and the proposal, fine. But your Dad…? He's gonna kill me."

"He would never do such a thing. He wants for me to be happy, and I'm only happy with you by my side."

Margot's body was so petite, she hardly weighed a thing. Her legs around his hips were strong and slender, and he felt divine, squeezing Margot against the wall, her small firm breasts pressing tight against his chest. He couldn't help it, the hot need that was born in his core, and made his lust stirr. Groaning he pushed his hips hard against her crotch, letting her feel his hardening erection.

"I don't want to think about your dad right now." he breathed, his voice thick and raw in his throat. "But fine, I'll do whatever you want me to do, if you'll just agree to marry me."

"I already have." she replied. "So shut up and kiss me."

"Oh, I'll do far more than just kiss you." he promised hoarsely, and let his mouth find hers.

She gasped as he wrapped his strong arms around her, and carried her through the living area to their bedroom. Gently he laid her down on their bed, and kissing her all the time, he pressed her tight against the mattress, his aching hips between her thighs, his hands on her hair, on her waist, on her breasts. Her eager fingers helped to rip off his shirt, and he peeled off her clothes, revealing the wonder of her soft, white skin. His heart ached to hear the sounds of pleasure she made, the small moans and gasps that escaped her lips when he finally pushed inside, slowly, carefully, enjoying every inch of her sweet, slick heat that surrounded him on a way that took his breath away.

Sweet and slow. No rush, no games, just us.

Nothing matters but this moment, baby. There's no past, no future, just this. Please, hold me, darling, hold my body, touch my heart, be my soul. Touch me, lay your hands on my skin and pull me closer. Let me deep inside of you, deeper until I touch your heart.

Please, be mine forever. Please, never leave me again!

I love you. I love you. I love you.

His thoughts were hers, his wishes became what she wanted too. Together they fell into the sweet abyss of lust and love, letting the rest of the world fade far, far away.