Part IV: Streamline

Chapter: No Happy Ending

"Myers…? What the Hell are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at home?" Kat stated stepping into Myers' office.

It was seven o'clock in the morning, less than 12 hours after Margot's death, and Kat had been 100% certain that she'd be the only one of their team up and about.

"I'm working." was Myers' blunt response.

Kat blinked a few times.

"I can see that, but I cannot understand why." she said pointedly. "Shouldn't you be… I don't know, with your children?"

Myers lifted his gaze from the computer screen, and frowned. He was wearing his usual office uniform - a spotless white shirt and a sharp black suit, and his face was clean shaven. The only thing that told Kat something was off with him, was the colour of his face, that was pale as death, and the dark shadows under his eyes.

"Amanda is with them." Myers replied, his voice tense as a string. "She can handle it."

"No doubt, but-"

"Just… leave it, Kat." he gave an exasperated sigh. "Sean hates my guts. He blames me for Margot's… for what happened. I cannot… I cannot deal with that right now. I have things to do."

Kat stared at him silently for a few heartbeats. She had noticed how he had avoided saying 'Margot's death', but she could hardly blame him. It wasn't like she could force those words out of her own mouth either.

"You look like Hell, Boss." she noted. "Did you get any sleep?"

"No. Did you?"

Kat shook her head. "But it's different. I can go without sleep for a lot longer than humans."

Myers rested his head on his hands, and gave a sigh, or a sob, Kat wasn't sure. When he finally looked back at her, his eyes were dark and deep, the blue of them like the sea before storm, and the look in them made Kat restless.

"What are you doing here, Kat? I am not in mood for your chit chat."

Kat shrugged.

"I came to ask someone where are they holding Margot. I wanted to see her."

Myers was silent for a few heartbeats.

"You're too late."

"What do you mean too late."

"She was cremated. Last night."

"Already?! But… but why would you do that?!"

"You know why." Myers' tone was now as dark as his eyes. "There was the possibility she'd been turned. I had to take care of that."

Kat bit her lip not to snap back at Myers. She knew, alright. But still… it was so permanent. Now there was nothing left of her friend, nothing but a pile of ashes, nothing she could tell her goodbyes to, and it was his fault.

But she would have time for that later. For a proper goodbye.

"Alright." she said. "I get it."

"Good. We had a deal, Margot and me. That if something like this happened… to either one of us, the other one would make sure that..."

Myers didn't finish his sentence, and Kat didn't press on it.

"When is the funeral going to be?" she asked instead. "Or the memorial service?"

"We're not going to have one."

Now Kat was shocked. The cremation, fine, she understood it. The not sleeping and looking like Hell, that was expected. But this? No funeral? It felt like a punch to her sternum, like a slap on her face, and she felt the primitive instinct to fight for her friend - for Margot. It was really hard not to get angry at Myers right now, but Kat decided to try nevertheless.

"What the Hell are you talking about?" she asked, fighting to keep her voice calm. "I loved her too. I want to say goodbye."

"It's not…" Myers buried his face into his hands again, to hide his eyes from her. His shoulders were shaking, and for a moment Kat thought he'd start weeping, but the moment only lasted for a few seconds. He seemed to get a grip of himself, and when he sat up again, his eyes were still dry.

"She didn't want one." he groaned. "She made me promise. No funeral. No memorial service… she wanted for us to have a party."

"A party?"

"Yes. A party, where there would be lots and lots of Tequila, and… and music, and happy people… dancing and getting drunk while remembering the things that we loved about her. No tears and no sorrow, she said."

Kat could not respond anything to that. It sounded just like Margot, a crazy-ass selfish idea, and beautiful, as it was.

"So… you see?" Myers breathed. "You see now, that we cannot have a funeral? I gave her my word. And the party…"

"It's going to have to wait." said Kat. "I understand."

"Yeah."

Looking at Myers' desperate face, the way he fought to keep himself together, all the anger Kat had felt suddenly left her.

"So, Boss…" she said with a gentler tone. "You said you've got work to do. Care to share some of it?"

Myers shrugged.

"It's the security tapes. I got them early this morning… I'm trying to find the right one."

Kat walked closer to him, to take a look at the computer screen.

"Shouldn't we get Abe?" she asked raising an eyebrow. "He's excellent with this kind of stuff."

"I just… I don't want to bother anyone."

"That's just stupid." Kat stated. "Abe and Red are gonna be so pissed at us, if they hear we started this job without them."

Myers shrugged, and turned his eyes away.

"Fine." his voice was tense and thin. "But just them, no one else. You got it?"

"Yeah, I got it, Boss." Kat said. "I'll get them. You go and fetch us some coffee, will you? You're no use to us without a functioning brain."

A few minutes later the old team, Kat, Red, Abe and Myers were sitting in a conference room, watching the security camera tapes that were displayed on a large screen. The room was silent and dark, only the bluish light of the screen playing on their serious faces.

"Abe, stop!" Myers commanded, and the film came to a stop.

"Is that you?" asked Kat, tilting her head. The picture was really out of focus, as security tapes often were.

Myers gave a sharp nod. "Yes. I'm taking the civilians out. I've just… left her. Abe, can you find the camera of the second floor lobby?"

"Of course, John." Abe's cool voice answered, and after only a few seconds, another picture appeared on the screen. "Is this what you were looking for?"

"Yes. That's better."

They all observed silently, as Margot stepped into the view. She briskly walked through the lobby, and soon disappeared from the screen.

"Abe, we're losing her." Myers muttered. "Get the next one."

"I am on it." A footage from a different camera was displayed. "I believe this is the correct one. This camera is placed right outside the Dior boutique, so it should-"

"Yes, this is it." Myers interrupted him.

"Look, she's seen something." noted Red, speaking up for the first time. "Back there."

"In the shadows." Myers breathed. His face twisted, as if he was tasting something foul. "I wonder… can you zoom it, Abe?"

"Not much." Abe said, but did his best.

The image was pixelated, and out of focus, but still clear enough for them to see what was happening.

A figure stepped out of the shadows, and approached Margot. She let her guard down, lowered her gun, and tilted her head, as if perplexed.

"A vamp." Red muttered. "Damn thing, didn't leave a trace."

But Myers didn't even hear that his friend had spoken. With all engulfing terror he watched at the thing that walked into the view, and he felt his heart freezing, it's every beat like razor blades in his chest.

It turned his stomach inside out.

"Stop the film!" he groaned, standing up. "Stop, right there!"

Hellboy took a look at Myers, frowning.

"You know that guy?"

"Oh yes, I do." Myers replied. The words had acidic taste on his lips. "I've met him."

He stared at the image on the screen, and the world seemed to shrink around him, into a place where only he existed, and the horrible guilt, pain and rage that pierced his heart in the moment he recognized that pale, bloodless face on the screen.

It felt like dying.

"He's Lucien." Myers forced himself to speak up. "He was a… friend of Margot. From her past. That's why she didn't call for help."

"A friend?" Red raised an eyebrow.

Myers shrugged, and didn't meet Red's eyes. "So she said. I didn't pry, she didn't like talking about her past."

"How do you recognize him?" that was Kat. "I doubt Margot kept pictures."

"We met once, in Brussels, more than ten years ago." Myers replied. "It wasn't planned."

"I've heard Margot mention him a couple of times." Kat said. "But I thought that he was working for Europol? Selling them information about the downworld? What reason would he have to attack Margot?"

"I do not know." Myers muttered. "But I plan to find out. Abe, let's move on."

"As you say, John."

The image on the screen tilted, and began to move again. In silence they watched, as Lucien approached Margot, and then, without a warning shot her. Margot went down, and Myers noticed that Kat turned her eyes away from the screen.

A pain, so fierce that it took his breath away, cut through Myers' core as he saw how Lucien smiled when he fired the gun again, and again, the bullets pierced Margot's flesh, the blood poured out, she gasped, there was blood on her lips, on her chin, and she was choking - and still Myers could not turn his gaze away from her.

He felt drowning, but he welcomed the pain, for it lit the rage in him, and he needed the strength it could give. It would keep him going, until he would find a way to finish this, and then-

Then, what would follow, he didn't dare to think.

There was no future for him, no tomorrow, no living on and getting old with Margot by his side, having a happy life until they'd be both old and toothless and demented. No happy ending. There was only this day, and perhaps tomorrow, time would go on until he'd find Lucien and take his revenge, and then-

Then he could give up.

He didn't close his eyes even in the end, when Lucien's greedy lips met Margot's neck, and he saw the life go out in her eyes.