Part III: Family Matters

Chapter: Growing up

"Red, have a beer with me?" Myers asked, leaning on the door frame.

"Sure." Hellboy stepped aside. "Wanna come in?"

Myers peeked at his room, noticing Kat, who was slacking on the truck bed. She had a huge bowl of popcorn on her lap, and a few cats purring contently by her side. Even like this, in her sweatpants and a black T-shirt, she was breathtakingly beautiful - her black hair forming a sharp contrast with her white skin, her human form still having a touch of her elvish beauty.

"Hey Myers, what's up?" Kat asked, not turning her eyes off the numerous TV monitors, and Myers only replied with a wave of his hand. He knew better than to intrude, when Kat was like this.

"I need to talk to you about something, Red." he said, turning his eyes back to Hellboy. "Let's go out?"

"Like really out, out?"

"Yeah. It's fine. I checked it with Professor."

"And Manning?"

Myers rolled his eyes. "You really care about what he thinks?"

"You've got a point. I'll grab some beer."

"I've got it covered." Myers lifted a six-pack he had brought. "Bud fine?"

"Fine." Hellboy replied, taking his coat and making sure he had a cigar in it's pocket. "I'm going out, Babe!" he announced Kat, but she hardly noticed. West Wing was just too irresistible.

"So, how was Thanksgiving?" Myers asked when they had reached the outer world, and were walking towards a small, relatively quiet park nearby. It was late, and it was dark, so it was unlikely that they'd ran into too many people.

The November night was chilly, and their breath vaporised in the cool air. Hellboy lit his cigar and Myers wrapped his scarf around his neck, pushing his hands deep in his pockets. Red was carrying the beers with his tail.

"It was fine." Hellboy shrugged. "I don't know why Kat's so jumpy about her family. I mean, yeah, her parents are intimidating, but her brothers are-"

"Not intimidating?" Myers raised an eyebrow.

"Not to me." Red grinned. "Maybe I'm not that easily scared."

"It's not that Jay scares me. But he does make me want to punch him in the face."

"Nah. He's not that bad. He just gets under your skin, because he has history with your girl."

"Christ, does everybody know about that?" Myers sounded exasperated

"Yeah, pretty much." Hellboy replied. "There's no privacy in this place, you should know."

"Oh, I know, alright."

Myers walked to a nearby bench, and took a seat. Red sat by his side, and in a moment of silence they both opened a beer.

"We're thinking about getting a place outside of BPRD." Myers said after a short while. "A real house, with a yard and all."

"Really? That sounds… adult."

He made a small laugh. "Yeah, I guess it does. But that's the way it is for us regular folks, we grow up and we grow old."

"Huh." Hellboy took another gulp of the cool beverage. "Boy Scout's growing up. First getting married, then getting a house… What's next, kids?"

Myers didn't reply, but looked away from him, and for a second or so Hellboy had the feeling he had said something stupid. But the moment was over soon, and Myers turned back to Red, with a small smile.

"Come on, tell me you never think about marriage. You love Kat, I know it."

"Yeah, but we're happy like this. Things are good."

"She's a good woman, Red. You've been lucky."

"Tell me about it."

Yeah, he had been lucky indeed. Finding a woman who didn't mind him sleeping in a truck bed or having a dozen cats, or eating pizza or nachos every night… it was like winning in the lottery.

And then there was the other stuff. Kat being dumb enough to risk her precious life to save him? That was some real love, and Hellboy knew he'd been blessed. Letting Kat go the past summer, after some very bad advice from the late Ms. Botox, had been the worst mistake of his life, and he sure as Hell wasn't going to repeat that.

But marriage? He hadn't really thought about it, but now he wondered if he should. Maybe it was something Kat expected of him, now that even Myers was getting married.

With this distracting thought in his mind, he brought the beer to his lips, and took a long swig. It was actually too cold to be drinking beer outside, but Hellboy was never cold, and Myers didn't seem to care either, even if his nose and cheeks had gotten red from the chilly air.

"So… there was something I wanted to ask you." Myers said after a while, turning to look at Hellboy.

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Would you be my Best Man?"

The question took Red by surprise. He certainly hadn't been expecting this!

"Your… Best Man?"

"Yeah, for the wedding."

"You serious?"

"I am."

"But… but wouldn't Abe be a lot better for that job?"

"Abe would no doubt be excellent in that post, but he is not my best friend. You are."

Myers' reply silenced Hellboy, but only momentarily.

"Damn, you don't have enough friends." he said after a while. "You should get out more."

"Probably, but you still haven't answered the question."

Hellboy took a long look at his friend.

Yeah, they had gone through a lot together.

Hellboy knew he owed his life, and a lot more to Myers, who had reminded him of his true soul in that wretched mausoleum in Russia. If it hadn't been for Myers… well, the world would look a lot different right now. And then, In Prague he had almost lost Myers, a bit more than a year ago. Even if the kid was fully healed now, that memory still brought a foul taste to Hellboy's lips. Not to mention the time that crazy lady Ms. Botox had drained his blood and tried to slice Myers to pieces… Hellboy still felt like it was his fault. Letting his guard down had almost gotten both of them killed.

And those weren't the only times their lives had been in danger when working together. There were too many times to count.

They had bled together, suffered together - and laughed together.

From the beginning, when he had disliked this young brat and teased him relentlessly, a lot had changed. He knew better now.

If it hadn't been for Abe, who was no doubt his best friend (after all, they had been friends for decades), Myers would've held that title.

"Yeah, kid. Of course I'll be your Best Man." he said. "It's an honor."

Myers broke into a relieved smile.

"No, the honor is mine, brother."

"So, when's the wedding gonna be?" Hellboy asked.

"Sometime in spring." Myers shrugged. "We haven't decided on the date yet."

"In here?"

"Nope. Margot want's to get married in Brussels."

"As in Europe?" Hellboy raised an eyebrow. He put the now emptied beer can down, and concentrated on his cigar again.

"Yeah. And you know what? I really don't care." Myers finished his beer too, and leaned back on the bench. "It's all the same to me where we get married and how. The only thing I care about is, that… Well, you know. That she's happy."

"Yeah. I know." Red replied. "You're so henpecked."

"Hah! You're one to talk."

"Dunno what you're talking about, kid." he replied coolly, but decided it was best to change the subject. "So, about being your Best Man… I really don't know that much about weddings. Is there a guide or something?"

"Don't think so." Myers laughed. "You should probably ask Abe."

Yeah, or Margot, Hellboy thought to himself. For if he knew her at all, she had every detail planned already, and he sure as Hell wasn't going to anger her.