Just an idea I had. Set after the first Old Guard movie and before the new one picks up. We can pretend the time lines are all in order.
Joe Dawson had been a bartender long enough to recognize a sorry drunk when he saw one.
The truth was, he had been trained to watch people and the many years of it didn't go away just because he wasn't a Watcher any more.
Immortals and drunks were two things he knew and the new regular in his bar definitely fell into the second category.
The young man had shown up just about out of nowhere and now every night for the past two weeks he'd turned up and planted his ass firmly in a back booth, sipping endlessly on a drink and staring miserably out at the world with something close to loathing.
He's seen Methos pack away the booze before and for a mortal the man was nearly keeping up. He ordered drink after drink after drink, apparently intent on floating away.
Joe had even had to cut him off a few times for the sake of the man's health. It wasn't good business to let a man kill himself on your floor.
Tonight was shaping up to be another of those instances. The man was nearly incoherent and very sloppy.
He had his head down on the table and a finger raised, indicating he wanted another.
The new waitress looked at Joe who grimaced and shook his head, sidling over to their new regular and trying to get a look at him.
"Another." He heard him mutter.
"Alright pal, I think you've had enough." Joe said, folding his arms and standing over him as sternly as any tavern keeper ever had.
The man glared up. "You don't like money?" He asked, shoving a few Euros his way but letting the coins scatter across the table and onto the floor. He looked down at them dismally. "Oh fuck."
"Okay, I'm gonna call a cab. How about that?"
The man made a sloppy noise. "A cab." He muttered. "What a joke."
"Well you can tell it to the cab driver because that's where you're headed. Maybe he'll get a laugh out of it."
The man scoffed and tried to get up but he was clearly too hammered to do so and slipped, hit his head on the table.
Joe cursed. "Oh damn it, just stay still till the cab get's here. You're going to crack your skull open like that." He backed up as the waitress hurried over and helped the drunk back into his seat.
The man muttered something he couldn't understand and he rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, buddy. Miriam why don't we close out this guy's tab?"
She looked up and then shrugged, relieving the man of his wallet and passing it to Joe.
To his credit, the man was still awake and watching.
"I know how much I drank." He slurred out.
"Yeah, so do we. No one's stiffing you."
A snort and he looked at the license. "Sebastain le Livre." He muttered. "Alright le Livre, I'm gonna close out your tab and Miriam here is gonna call you a cab. Think you can handle that?"
The man let out a grunt and his hand flopped over but he was still awake. Clearly too drunk to articulate his displeasure or his agreement.
Joe glanced at Miriam who retreated back to the bar and dialed up a cab while he made his way over to the till and cashed the man out, shaking his head. The man had drank an impressive amount.
He looked down at the id card however and frowned. It was two years out of date. Great, the guy wasn't even supposed to be using it but whatever, he wasn't a kid and he clearly had something he was trying to out run hanging around in the back of his head. He almost felt sorry for the guy and when Miriam nodded to him to let him know the cab was on it's way he went and got him a small plate from the kitchen.
"Here ya go, on the house." He said, setting it down in front of the man who had lifted his head slightly from the table.
"I didn't order it." He said.
"I'm not charging you." He set the man's wallet down too and watched as he clumsily shoved it back into his coat pocket. "Go ahead and eat. The cab will be here soon."
The man forced himself to sit up and sighed, poking at the food with his fork. He looked far from hungry but he did eat and it was a small relief. Stranger or not, Joe was a good man and this guy was trying to kill himself on his booze.
"There you go pal, get a little something in you."
An irritable eye ball found him but the man was evidently too pathetic to do anything else. The food wasn't nearly enough.
"You're le Livre?" Joe asked, trying to make small talk.
"Booker." The man slurred out.
Miriam brought some water and he didn't see any harm in staying with the man. They were nearly at closing time anyway.
"Alright Booker, look man I don't know what you're going through but you're gonna die doing it like this. I've been in this business a few years now. I've seen men drink like you. It doesn't go well. Whatever's behind you-"
The man tilted his head back and gave him a nakedly miserable look. "Everything that's behind me is in front of me too." He said, wincing slightly.
Joe fell quiet and then sighed, looking at the floor. "I suppose so but it doesn't change the fact that you're gonna die."
That actually got a laugh but it was dark and angry and ended in a sniff. "It's never that easy." The man muttered, shaking his head and abandoning the rest of his food to stew in his own misery.
Joe was quiet for a moment, frowning and watching him but then a moment later Miriam was tapping him on the shoulder.
"The driver's out side." She said.
He nodded, wondering if he would see the man again after this and sighing to himself. "That's you buddy."
Poor Miriam had to help the bastard up and into the cab. Joe could only offer so much help but in they got him and as the door shut and she gave directions to the driver Joe caught a last look at the drunk.
He looked a wreck but a wreck in the back of a cab and most times that was the best place for wrecks.
"Thanks." The man muttered, speech still slurred and slow.
Joe sighed. "No problem buddy. Just do me a favor and take it easy, okay?"
Something almost amused passed over the man's face and he knew he wouldn't. The guy was unhappy and looking for something to kill him. He wasn't the first and he wouldn't be the last man to try to go out that way but at least for the night he wasn't getting anywhere except back to his place.
Joe sighed again and the cab pulled away, nights like these he almost wished he'd stayed a Watcher. Immortals weren't easy but this. . . this kind of thing could get to a man.
I know it's pretty short and simple but I've loved immortal characters for years and would love to see more crossovers between these two series. Maybe in the future I'll try to write something with a bit more substance to it. Thanks for reading!