Part IV: Streamline

Chapter: All you hold dear

Before Myers had even time to knock on the door, it opened and a face of a young girl with a lots of curly, dark hair and skin the color of cafe latte peeked out. It had to be Alice Monaghan. She seemed to be about the age of Amy and Sean - which immediately reminded Myers of the fact that he had promised to call Amy. He really, really should do that after this.

"Are you Myers?" Alice asked. "John Myers?"

"Yeah, that's me." Myers gave a half hearted smile. "Did Major Daimio tell I was coming?"

"Nope. I have other sources." Alice said, and opened the door wider. "So, you met Ben Daimio, then? He's a pain in the ass, I can tell you."

"Umm. Yes, I went to the Fish and Chips place, and he—"

"Yeah, Yeah, You coming in or not?" Alice stated, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, sure. I'm just—" he spread his hands to show the miserable state he was in. Walking another bit in the rain had done nothing to improve his condition.

"You look like shit - no offense. Just get in, and Let me put the kettle on."

Ten minutes later they were sitting at Alice's kitchen table - Myers his feet in borrowed but comfortable, warm slippers, holding a cup of steaming, dark, English tea in his hands. Even if he was still wet and shivering, he felt a bit better, for the first time in ages.

He glanced around, noticing all the signs of this being a room of a psychic or a fortune teller or just a person who's as crazy as a bag full of cats - tarot cards, crystal balls - and maybe the creepiest: two urns that were marked: 'Mom' and 'Dad'.

Experience had thought Myers that the vast majority of people who were claiming to be psychics, were actually fraud or just delusional, so he really didn't want to get his hopes up - but then again, Daimio had told Myers to meet Alice and something told Myers, Daimio wasn't the type of a guy to make practical jokes like that.

"Thanks for the tea." Myers said, turning his glance away from the urns on the wall, back to Alice. "You really didn't have to do that."

"No biggie. I was gonna have some myself anyways."

"How did you know I was coming? You opened the door before I could—"

"There aren't many things that surprise me." Alice shrugged. "You know, the upside of being a psychic."

"Or the down side?"

Alice laughed. "You're funny. I like that."

Myers couldn't help but to smile back. There was something very likable about Alice - or maybe it was just the fact that he was so lonely, had been so lonely and miserable for such a long time, that just talking to anyone made his heart warm.

He had forgotten how good it felt. To actually sit down and talk to someone over a cup of tea.

Don't get too comfortable, he told himself. You're here for business, not for socializing.

He cleared his throat, took a sip of the hot beverage, that had a strong, bitter, earthly taste.

"Daimio sent me here to ask your advice on a case that's been particularly hard. To see if you could tell me where to find a Goddess that doesn't want to be found."

"Ooh, sounds wicked!" Alice grinned. "Why do you want to dig her out, then?"

"Because she keeps killing people." Myers stated. "And I actually get paid to stop that kind of stuff."

He made the wise decision to leave out all about personal revenge and his death wish.

"Sounds fair." Alice replied. "You have any clues of where to look?"

"Well, not as such. We… um, we already killed her once, by ripping the heart out of her chest. Or out of the host body she was using—"

"Eww, that's not nice."

"That woman was an evil person, believe me." Myers made a face. "She hit me with a hammer. But anyways, the Goddess didn't stay dead. She's back and I don't know how to permanently finish her."

"Have you tried googling it?"

Myers blinked a few times.

"Seriously? Googling it?"

"Yeah, you wouldn't believe the stuff that's in there."

Alice was already on her phone and Myers leaned over to see.

"How to kill a Goddess" she was indeed typing, and Myers made an exasperated sigh. When Alice had mentioned she had sources, he certainly hadn't thought about this.

"So, here we go. There's an actual step to step guide here!" Alice said. "First - kill all the hardcore believers and brainwash the rest."

Myers rolled his eyes. "Since it is unknown if there are any, that could be a tricky quest."

"Alright. So what about this? Send the chosen one on a mission to fight the ultimate evil?"

"Been there, done that." Myers stated dryly. "Didn't work out that well."

"You were the chosen one?" Alice asked. "Neat!"

"Well, not as such, no, but…" Myers shrugged. He had been a chosen sacrifice by Connelly, though. Not that he liked to think about that too much.

"Okay, what about this? 'Destroy all the sacred artefacts that might hold the God or Goddess' powers?"

Myers looked up from his tea.

"What did you say?"

"Weren't you listening? 'Destroy all the—"

"There are probably a lot of those." Myers noted. "And most of them in Museums—"

"Maybe we don't have to destroy all of them." Alice replied. "Maybe the Goddess has tied her life force in one or two sacred artifacts and it is enough that We destroy those?"

"I just remembered something." Myers breathed. "There was this… mural. Margot said she felt weird about it."

"Margot?" Alice asked. "She a lady with a lots of hair and a sassy attitude?"

Myers' heart skipped a few beats.

"How did you know?"

"You know, the dead never shut up." Alice rolled her eyes."It's such a pain in the ass, I tell you! But There's a spirit Who's been trying to get your attention since the moment you stepped in."

Myers looked up from his tea, his hands gripping hard on the cup to stop them from shaking.

"Margot…?" he rasped, his voice failing him. "Is it… are you here?"

"She's telling you to get your shit together." Alice made a face. "Wait. There's more."

It wasn't like Myers was going to say something to interrupt. He felt like he was falling and grasped his tea cup like his life depended on it.

"Okay, okay, I get the message!" Alice made a face. "Geez, the dead can be so impatient! She says: 'I need you sharp on this mission, John. Not some crying idiot who can't keep his shit together."

Myers made a sound that was both a sob and a laugh. Tears flooded his eyes.

"It used to be a 'drooling idiot'." He managed. "Not crying."

"Well, things have apparently changed since I died." Alice stated."She said so, not me. She's the dead one."A moment of silence. "So, care to tell me who are we chatting with?"

"My wife." Myers sniffed. "Just… don't tell Daimio."

"Geez, why would I tell him?" Alice made a face. "He hates this death business anyways."

But Myers could hardly think about Daimio, or the case or any of those things any more. Margot was here, she was in the same room with him, and all he could think about was how horribly he had missed her and how much he wanted to tell her everything.

How every minute of every day had been torture. How he had wished he could just stop his heart from beating, because Margot's absence was a dagger of ice and fire buried in his chest and it just kept digging deeper.

And he wanted to ask, he wanted to shout out loud, that if he killed himself, would he see her again? Would they be together, right now and forever, if he just pulled his gun and shot his miserable brain to the wall?

He felt tears in his eyes, they fell to his cheeks before he could do anything about it. They felt like acid, burning all the way down. He couldn't help it, could not stop it, and the tears made his voice thick when he finally managed to speak up.

"I love you." he rasped. "I love you Margot. I am so sorry. It was my fault. Please, please, I-"

"Hey." Alice said, with a surprisingly gentle tone. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but they she seems to be in a hurry, and-"

"No, don't go!" panic hit Myers in the stomach like a wrecking ball. "Alice, tell her to stay, tell her, just - damn it don't let her leave! I can't-"

A book fell from the nearby table with force, slamming the floor with a loud thump. It shut Myers up, and Alice raised an eyebrow.

"She tells you to shut up." Alice noted. "I suggest you listen before she breaks something. A feisty spirit, that one!"

"Fine." Myers noted. "Tell me."

Alice tilted her head, as if listening very carefully, nodded a few times. Then, after a half a minute or so, she turned to look at Myers again.

"Alright. She says - stop being a selfish prick. Sorry, her words, not mine!" Alice raised her hands apologetic. "But she's pissed and she says that this is not about you, or how crap you feel, and how much you want to die. The Goddess will kill you and all you hold dear if you don't take your head out off your ass and start doing your job again."

That felt like a slap on the face.

All you hold dear.

A cold fear gripped his heart with iron claws and he felt like falling.

He hardly cared about his own life anymore, but… he still had loved ones to lose.

He felt like choking, tears burning in his throat and making his nose run.

"I am sorry." He breathed. "I don't know what to do. I… I can't do anything without you. I am lost! Just tell me, tell me—"

"Hey." that was Alice. "She says that she loves you. And that she's missed you too. And that everything is going to be okay, that there is nothing for you to apologize. But that you need to stop crying, and turn your phone on NOW."

Myers looked up, to Alice's dark hazelnut eyes.

"My phone? Why?"

Alice shook her head. "I don't know, but you'd better do as she says. The dead usually know important shit way better than we do."

The cold had spread from Myers' chest to his stomach and a shiver went through his core. He dug the phone out of his pocket and switched it on. It started buzzing as soon as it connected.

Crap.

A message after a message flashed to the screen, all from Kat. And they all said the same thing.

"BPRD is on fire and they got Maggie! Come home NOW you IDJT!"

Maggie.

Kat and Hellboy's only daughter was gone.