Chapter 51
The Brawl
You walk back into the bar and look over the chaos in front of you. People are arguing, laughing, and trying to drink each other under the table. Why did you agree to this? Mack walks back to you and winks. He tells you to leave it to him and you rejoin the Smith booth. You give them the rundown of what happened as you watch Mack usher people out of the bar who were too drunk or too rowdy. By the end of the explanation, there are only about fifteen people left. Dean comes over to the booth and motions for you to talk with him in private. As you walk to the other side, he pulls you against him and talks silently to you.
"So, um, who is that gal?"
"Wow… Dean, there are at least two in the booth and three out here on the floor."
"The blonde…" You smile.
"Beth. That's Rick's daughter. Be careful Dean. If you piss her off or hurt her you will have to answer to me." You poke him in the chest for good measure.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. You know what I have always loved about you?"
"Oh great… I really don't want to know…" You roll your eyes.
"You never flirted seriously with me." You stare at Dean as he gives you stern eyes. "I have always had women throwing themselves at me back home. I'm considered a bit of a celebrity for my looks. Main reason I wanted to leave. Too much. It's actually hard when women only want to fuck you and then leave to brag to all their friends about what they did."
"That usually happens to women Dean."
"I know. That's why I've always been different. Remember that last girl I was with? Fuck… I thought she loved me…" He rubs the back of his neck.
"She left?"
"Oh yeah, you were gone by then… Yeah she was fucking another guy from the squad. Caught them. I was a fool you know? Girls like that don't hang around squads like ours and not fight, just because they like our personalities… But anyway, I have been back and forth tonight to talk with them. Morty showed me what you taught him around weapon maintenance, that kid really listened, and Summer even dragged me around asking about different guys. And Beth… she didn't really say much but when I looked at her, she blushed. I kinda liked that. Her kids are great, so their mother must be as well right? What can you tell me? Am I out of line to flirt?"
"Wow…" A huge smile plays across your lips. Your heart speeds up with joy. "I really didn't think you… but yeah, go with it. Beth is a good woman, she has just lost contact with who she is. Currently she is going through a separation with her husband. He already moved on while she was struggling with the decision on top of trying to be a mom and reconnect with her dad. You know how that is…"
"Yeah. Went through that about fifty years ago… Glad my kids turned out alright after that bitch… no, not going to do that. Anyway, thanks for the info. I really want to get to know her. She has a great sense of humor, she has been laughing at the same things I have…"
"Dude… totally go for it. But if she gets hurt, you will regret pissing off her dad." You look over at Rick, who was currently drinking and trying to knock a shot glass off the top of Mack's head. You cock your head as you see Rick reach up on tip toes to kiss Mack. Mack busts up laughing and the shot glass falls. Everyone is cracking up while Rick jumps up with hands held high. "Then again…"
"I like him." Dean chuckles. "He suits you. In some ways; and Mack will wait his turn…" You whip your head around to stare at Dean while his hands went to cover his mouth.
"Oh no… I heard that. What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Come on… I knew. Not the others, but I knew. Okay? I encouraged it with Mack. He didn't want to continue the relationship while you were married. But after what I saw…"
"What. Did. You. See?" You push Dean up against the wall. He raises his hands.
"Dude… I saw your husband… with someone else."
"You did?" Fuck. "You didn't tell me?"
"Mack asked me not to. He said you didn't need that on top of everything else you were going through…" Dean looks guilty. You lean in against him and allow him to wrap arms around you. "Shit baby girl, sorry. Maybe I should have…"
"No. It's all in the past now. Thank you for watching out for me. I love you."
"I love you too baby girl. Now get off. You cramp my single guy vibe. Need to get my mack on… oh shit. Need to get my swagger on… yeah, that's better. Getting my mack on would be with you… yuck…" You smack him as he shakes with fake disgust. Dean leaves and you watch as he sneaks into the booth and starts talking with Beth. She is blushing and she looks beautiful. Summer and Morty quietly leave and join in the gang near the stage. Morty comes up and drags you up with Torren. The two of you break out in some old songs you used to sing around the campfires at night.
About three songs later a table goes flying across the room to collide with another soldier. This guy you didn't know. He takes off towards the thrower as 'fight' is called out by Summer. Torren jumps down from the stage, cursing how he is too old for this shit. You smile and jump off with him. What you saw did not make things easier… Rick was the one who threw the table. He is cursing and yelling at the man who had an intimate meeting with the furniture. Mack steps in front of Rick, yelling at the guy too. Torren is beside you and holds you back. He exclaims that this guy has been talking crap about Mack for a while now. He had wanted to take over the group and has not been silent about it. You look back and pay attention to the words Rick is saying. He is stepping up for Mack, protecting him against things the other had said. Rick was trying to start a fight. The other guy is yelling false claims to the room, telling people that Mack has become soft. You look at Torren and he shakes his head.
"Nope. He hasn't. It's because that guy wanted Mack to leave a small village unprotected to run off and save a village that had more… wealth." Torren speaks in a quiet voice as you shake your head.
"Well, there's going to be a fight soon."
"You know Mack doesn't like to display his power." Torren looks back to you as you are motioning for the kids to take cover. You look over to see Dean escort Beth to the other booth. An upturned table provides you with cover as you motion for Torren to join you. "What are you doing? I just told you Mack is not going to fight."
"Torren, he's with Rick. There will be a fight." Torren looks at you again, looks back to the scene unfolding and joins you behind the table.
"Fuck."
"Yep… fuck."
The yelling gets louder as you identify Rick spewing out all sorts of curses. Then the weapons discharge. You hear Rick curse loudly and scream in anticipation of being able to fight someone for once. More fire explodes off walls and tables. You peek out from behind the table to see Mack grab the weapons away from both guys. Rick easily relinquishes his and then swoops in from behind to leg sweep the guy to the ground. Mack then grabs the fallen man's head and lifts him two feet into the air. The guy has his hands on Mack's wrists but is unable to get himself loose. Rick yells in excitement at the idea of a humanoid piñata. Mack chuckles back and asks Rick what he thought would fall out. Rick replies that it would be nothing good considering the man was full of shit anyway. You lower your head, close your eyes and take a deep breath.
You spend a good amount of time sitting with your back against the fallen table, your eyes closed, trying to ignore everything going on right now. You can hear that Mack threw the guy and of course he came back to fight both of them. Between Rick's yelling curse words and stupid catch phrases and Mack's belly laughter, you could pretty much guess that they were embarrassing the other pretty badly. Torren looks to you and laughs hard.
"I gotta get in on this." Torren jumps out to join the group. You remain where you are for a while until the event is finished. When things turn quiet, you open your eyes to see Mack kneeling down in front of you. He has a huge smile on his face and is holding out a glass of whisky for you. You take it and down it, giving him a grin back.
"I like him. A lot. Poor you." Mack lets out a large bark of a laugh. You stand up and go behind the bar to start pouring more whisky for yourself. Rick stumbles up to the bar, laying across the top.
"Hey sexy… gotta… gotta… glass for… whisky… for me?" His speech is highly slurred. You smile and lean across the bar, your top showing off cleavage. His eyes travel downward as you feel his heat practically attack you. You chuckle.
"Whisky? That's all you want babe?" You shake your chest as he watches, licking his lips. Then he falls off the bar and onto the floor, passed out. You roll your eyes. Mack comes up next, picks up Rick and swings him over his shoulder.
"Got to take care of my new buddy here… I'll take him back to the ship to sleep it off. Thinking of taking all his clothes off too… just to make things interesting." Mack chuckles and walks off with Rick.
"What do you want Scar Rick?" He was further along the bar, his head down. A mumble is all you hear in return. He was out too.
You take out your portal gun and help Morty and Summer return home. You let them know not to worry about their mom for tonight. Summer winks at you as Morty gives a big smile. It was best that Rick got totally shitfaced before he saw Beth making out with Dean. Torren was dragging guys off to the ship to sleep it off as Groff joins you in silently cleaning up the mess.
"Decided not to get drunk tonight?" Groff says after an hour of cleaning.
"Nope."
"Too many people to take care of huh?"
"Yep."
"Good to see that change in you." He comes over to you and kisses the top of your head. You smile and retreat to find Mack within the ship. When you get to the room he was in, you slowly shake your head as he asks for help getting Scar Rick undressed and in bed with Rick. Yep, Mack was drunk. Silently you shake your head no and he gives you a frown. You take his hand and lead him back to his room. As he falls on the bed, you hear a loud snore. You return to the main bridge and fall asleep at the captain's chair, away from the snoring.
