Wheelsy AU ~ Tire changing

[noteasytobepink]

"You know Bill..." Clarice drawled cheerfully. "When you said you wanted to show me the nearest 'city' I thought you meant we'd actually get there." She took her hat off and fanned herself with it, the ballcap doing little to stir the hot, damp air, but at least it was better than glowering.

"And yeah, that really does look like dry rot in the spare there. Never seen it in a tire before but I've seen it in other materials..." She wasn't even sure why they had headed out. A better bar where no one expected him to fix their problems? A place she was suppose to get fitted for a civilian aid uniform? Who knew!

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[no_andy_taylor]

Both men were taken by surprise by the action. Bill blinked, and Roger had his head snap back and his nose crunch.

The bottle pulled Bill out of it, and he glanced at Clarice, then looked around.

"But... "

Getting the hell out would be the smart thing to do, but being the cop that he was he felt like maybe he should try and diffuse the situation.

And then a chair went sailing by and the bar errupted, and he thought better of trying to police the situation alone.

He turned, having lost track of the exit since they came in.

"Wh-- " That Uphf and grunt was the result of Bill being clocked upside the head by a man who just didn't know when to quit.

[noteasytobepink]

Yeah, well, Clarice really hadn't liked Roger at all and it was nice to get to hit him? But then ther ewas a brawl and nothing EVER went as planned in a brawl.

Ever.

She tried to keep track of Bill but she had a suddenly crazy blonde after her and taht took a bit of not getting stabbed, "Bill?! Speak up babe!"

[no_andy_taylor]

Bill was known and well liked for his easy going nature, but that didn't mean he didn't know how to fight. He was a cop, after all, and a country boy, and at one time he was a dumb twenty-something hanging out with other dummies that age doing things guys do to earn their manhood.

Which sometimes meant bar fighting.

His disadvantages were, one not being twenty-something anymore, and two a whiskey shot count that was up into the double digits at this point.

The last part had the slight benefit of making the blows he took hurt a bit less, but it blunted his reaction time quite a bit and so he got tagged more than once in the course of fighting back.

He was still holding his own, and just when Roger thought he had the fight, Bill threw a left haymaker that floored the man.

Bill's victory was short lived, though. Hearing his name he turned towards Clarice's voice and straight into a flying fist that sent him ass over tea kettle into a group of chairs, and found him on the ground beneath a table.

"Ow."

[noteasytobepink]

Clarice's main problem in a bar barwl was...she wasn't suppose to disable or kill anyone. With how much she'd had to drink it was a little hard to rein herself in.

Especially when the weapons came out.

Luckily a pool cue made a pretty good equalizer. She didn't get her hands on anyone directly and she only really, really bruised people.

Granted she still caught her own blows, it was impossible not to when the whole place was a seething morass of limbs now, and once or twice she felt hands coping a feel or going for the money she'd taken from Roger.

Those people got broken hands and fingers.

Then she couldn't see Bill anymore.

That was bad.

That was very bad.

Yeah, she was going to take and hold the bar. It'd give her a height advantage while she tried to find her man! And if worse came to worse it was by very flammable alcohol!

[no_andy_taylor]

Bill struggled to get to his feet and was helped along by a rough hand seizing the back of his collar.

The overzealous brawler didn't stop with just dragging Bill up, he hefted the sheriff off the ground like a wrestler and prepared to toss him over the crowd.

Bill flailed and grabbed at the guy, and let out a very unmanly, "Shiiiiiiit!"

[noteasytobepink]

Oh. Oh! That was Bill. That was Bill getting hauled up by a rather tall guy there! And...he didn't want her teleporting in public.

Shit indeed.

Well, the other option was to drop her pool cue, ignore the people flailing at her above the bar, and take a running jump at the guy holding Bill? Sure, they'd all go down but then it'd be two on one!

[no_andy_taylor]

The flying attack worked. Sort of?

Rather than being chucked across the bar Bill was unceremoniously dumped on the floor as the big guy went down under Clarice.

Picking himself up, again, Bill laid a hand againt his back and groaned.

"I am officially all funned out."

Can they go home now?

[noteasytobepink]

"Door!" Clarice pointed, trying to get off the tackled man without more damage to either of hem really. "Move dear! MOVE!'"

[no_andy_taylor]

Bill heard the order and followed it quickly, heading for the door that was finally in sight.

A pool cue splintered against his shoulder, and a glass of beer exploded above his head, but he still managed to scramble outside.

[noteasytobepink]

She caught something, hard, across the ribs and dodged someone trying to wrap their fist in her hair but eventually she followed him, caught his hand, and kept running! Around to the alley where they could teleport safely...right? "Clear?!"

[no_andy_taylor]

He stumbled along with her.

"Yeah."

He didn't much care if it was, it was time to go.

[noteasytobepink]

She snatched up a bit of broken plank in the alley and used it to shape a portal ahead of them, that way they could just keep running. The portal came out where they'd first arrived in town, she'd promised to stop by and tell the others how the game had gone after all. But for now...she was going to keep an arm around Bill's waist and lean back against the wall trying to catch her breath.

[no_andy_taylor]

Bill hunched over, hands on his knees, panting and trying not to upchuck all the booze and bar food sloshing around in his gut.

Lots of drinking followed by fighting and running wasn't so good for the digestion.

Tilting his head, he looked her over.

"Y'alright?"

[noteasytobepink]

She slid down the wall slowly until she could sit with her head on her knees, also panting. "I'm fine Bill. Caught some blows but I didn't kill anyone," which was the greater worry by the sounds of it.

"Woo...adrenaline."

[no_andy_taylor]

"Good." That she wasn't hurt and that nobody died.

"An' now, if it's alright with you I'm gonna just pass out right here."

Straightening up, he looked around.

"This ain't Wheelsy."

[noteasytobepink]

"I said I'd stop by to tell the first guys we played against how it went. I'm just going to poke my head in, leave them enough for a round, then we can back to your place? I just kind of want to put on bandages and curl up now..."

[no_andy_taylor]

"You sure you're alright?"

He'd like some ice. A lot of ice. But he'd live.

[noteasytobepink]

She pulled him down beside her so she kiss his cheek. "I'm fine. We'll clean each other up at home okay? Here, hold this while I give the guys in there a round?" Yes, a wad of money! She figured a hundred dollars would cover rounds for the other guys? That left Bill with $1700 in his hand.

[no_andy_taylor]

He leaned into the kiss, and corny or not, the press of her lips did something to help the pain his face was feeling.

Taking the money, he blinked at it, then looked at her.

"Be careful in there."

True they hadn't had any trouble here, and she could handle herself, but that didn't mean he wouldn't worry some.

[noteasytobepink]

"I promise I'll be right back after I tell them not to go near that Roger guy for a bit and give them money." She kissed him once more for luck, and it felt good to have someone worrying about her, then trotted off to do exactly as she'd said.

It didn't take long at all!

When she came back she offered him a hand up. "Home?"

[no_andy_taylor]

He sat cradling his face where a bruise was darkening, and using his shirt sleeve to dab at a split in his lip.

Accepting her hand up, he nodded.

"Please."

[noteasytobepink]

A quick portal into Bill's dark livingroom and they were done, truly done for the evening. "Ice..." Clarice decided, vaulting the couch to go fetch some for Bill and herself. "...I'm sorry that happened. I didn't expect the whole bar to go up like a powder keg."

[no_andy_taylor]

He lifted his head, intending to offer and get it, but going by the way she leapt over the couch she was in far better shape than him.

Sitting down in his arm chair, he rubbed his bruised shoulder and shook his head.

"Wasn't your fault."

No matter what the blonde had said.

[noteasytobepink]

"And not really hurting anyone takes some options off the table." She came back with a pack of frozen peas for his largest bruises and an ice pack; for herself she was holding another pack of mixed vegetables to her ribs and dabbing at a small cut over her eye.

"Did we make enough?" Rather than sit in his lap she curled on the floor beside his chair to lay her head on his knees. "Please say we did, I don't want to go back tonight."

[no_andy_taylor]

He draped the peas over his shoulder, and used the ice pack on his face that was forming a lovely black eye.

"We should be good."

Frowning slightly, he adjusted the ice and shook his head.

"Y'didn't have t'do that, you know. I mean, I appreciate it, but I didn't mean t'make y'feel obligated."

He didn't mean for her to get in trouble or hurt.