"So," Ruby said after Ram retreated upstairs, "What really brings you out here?"

Kate shrugged and took a sip of her water. "I'm not sure. I don't think I should be anywhere else, though. So why not be here?"

Ruby drummed her fingers in the bar top.

"Besides," Kate said, "I could be useful at some point."

Ruby was waiting for Lex to come back inside. She was getting impatient. He should have come in long ago. Ruby didn't care for Lex the way she did for Slade, but she still watched out for him. Suddenly, there was a commotion on the stairs. Someone came down. Kate hoped it wasn't Ram, Slade, or Ebony. She didn't feel in the mood to deal with them. On the other hand, she didn't even want anyone to come downstairs.

Kate stood up and stepped away from the bar, smoothing down her skirt. Lex wasn't coming in anytime soon, so she had better go and check on him.

"Hey, Darryl," Ruby said, just by her voice, Kate knew she was smiling. Kate turned around. A tall man stood there, annoyed.

" 'Go get this, Darryl!', 'Go get that, Darryl!' " he mimicked, "I hate this. If he hasn't noticed, he can walk now."

Kate realized he meant Ram. Darryl met Kate's eyes, realizing she was there.

"Darryl, this is Kate, Kate, meet Darryl," Ruby said, a sparkle in her eye.

"Um, h-h-hello?" Darryl said, unsure.

"Hello, Darryl," Kate said as cheerfully as possible.

The three of them stood there in an awkward silence when Darryl took a step back and said, "Well, I came down here to get Ram a drink…so that's what I'll do before he yells at me again…" He rambled.

Ruby handed him a drink and he went to the stairs. He turned around. "It was nice meeting you," he said.

"You, too." Kate said.

Kate when back to the bar and looked at Ruby. She sat down. "Why is he doing all Ram's errands?"

Ruby sighed. "Because that's Darryl. Darryl will trip over himself to get you to like him. Darryl is a friendly enough person, very human but he's quite vulnerable. I think he has a lack of self confidence and feels like he needs others to make himself feel better," Ruby came around the bar and sat in one of the bar stools near Kate, "It bothers me how Lex and Ram take advantage of him…"

"Where did he come from?"

Ruby shrugged. "I have no idea. He came from the city."

"I've seen him before…his voice sounds so familiar…"

Ruby smiled. "He should be familiar. He was the most popular face in the city for a while, everyone listened to what he had to say."

Kate stared, frowning, not understanding.

"He was Zoot…"

Ruby told Kate about the whole Zoot/Darryl scandal. Kate, again, stared. "And Mega pulled all this off?"

She nodded. "Yep. I think that's also something that affected Darryl. One minute he's nothing, then suddenly he has all this power, and everyone recognizes him, even if he's playing someone else, but all of a sudden, he has nothing again…. that's got to do some damage on a guy…"

Kate nodded. They sat there for a while quietly. Kate stood up. "I'd better check on Lex…"

Ruby nodded, she understood. Kate went to the door and stepped outside. She saw Lex sitting on the steps that lead to the Saloon door. He didn't turn around or look at her.

She went and sat next to him in the dark. He didn't even glance at her. He knew it was her even before he could see her out of the corner of his eye.

"Ram can be pretty harsh sometimes, you know that…" she said.

He shook his head, angry. "I don't usually let him affect me this much…"

Kate shrugged. "Everyone's human, Lex. We react at some point."

He stood up. "Everyone but me."

Lex went inside. As soon as he stepped inside, Ruby quickly turned away, suddenly distracted by wet spots on the bar top. Lex walked straight for the stairs and when he got to the first one, Ruby called out, "Goodnight, Lex," in a soothing voice.

After Lex had retreated upstairs, Kate went inside, deciding it was safe. Ruby looked at her. "How long do you think it will take to get him back to normal?"

Kate shrugged, picking at a seam on her skirt. "It'll be a long time. He lost someone close to him…"

"Yeah, and she wasn't even the first."

Kate cocked her head to the left. "What?"

Ruby sighed. "First there was Zandra, then Tai-San, then Siva. They all died."

Kate shifted her weight. "Lex seems to be the type of guy to ally with in case of emergency…"

Ruby grinned. "Everyone thinks that when they first meet him. But you'll soon find out that Lex doesn't side with anyone. He doesn't like people to think that he needs them even if he does."

Kate nodded. She knew those types of people. Both Ruby and Kate stood there silently. Kate stared at the worn floorboards.

Ruby cleared her throat. "Room 6 is free. It's just up the hall and the second door on the left."

Kate smiled. "Thanks, Ruby."

Ruby grinned back. Kate went to the stairs, climbing them carefully, holding her skirt up as she ascended. When she got to the second floor, it was completely dark. Ram's door was closed and Darryl's, two doors down, was slightly open and Kate could hear him sigh, trying to sleep.

Ebony and Slade's room, on the left, Kate tried to ignore. Next to Ram's room, on the right, was Lex's. The door was ajar and moonlight streamed in. Kate couldn't help but looking in, to make sure he was all right.

The window was open and she could see Lex sitting in the window frame, legs pulled up to his chest, looking out. Kate stepped inside slowly. "Lex?"

He turned his head, not surprised to see her there. Kate stepped fully inside his room. "Are you all right?"

He looked back outside. "It depends on what you consider 'all right' "

Kate sighed and went over to him. She put her hand on his shoulder lightly. "You didn't ask for any of this to happen."

"Somehow this doesn't make me feel any better."

Kate really wasn't sure what to say. She looked up at the sky. Ever since power was hard to come by in the city, the stars were easy to see.

"You know," Lex said quietly, "Everytime I lost one of them, I promised myself that I would not fall in love ever again. But then I met the next one and things were just so…."

"Perfect?"

He looked over his shoulder at her. "Yeah. Perfect. Then when they got involved with me, things just screwed up and they died. Because of me."

Kate tightened her grip on his shoulder. "You didn't cause their deaths."

He laid his hand on hers. "I know."

It was silent for a second and Kate was about to pull away when Lex's body shuddered and he sniffled. He sighed. She realized he was crying. His hand gripped hers. She stepped closer, her hip brushing his shoulder.

"Lex, I am so sorry," she whispered. He leaned back against her, his head near her chest. He took a deep breath and let out a shaky one, trying not to cry. He hated that he was this emotional around someone he barely knew. He barely knew her, and that was the reason he was acting this way. If it had been Ruby or even Tai-San, he wouldn't be doing this.

Lex turned his body and without even looking at her, slid his arms around her waist, burying his head into her stomach, crying even harder. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him close. She whispered soothing words into his hair, smoothing it down.

Lex sighed into her skin, both loving and hating the feeling of being that close to someone. Ever since Siva, he hadn't even touched anyone. Not once. But Lex liked the solid warmth of her, reassuring. He closed his eyes and held her tighter.

After a few moments, she pulled back and he understood. He stood up, wiping his eyes. He tried not to look at her. Kate tucked her hair behind her ears and smiled reassuringly at him.

"I'm going to go get some sleep, you should, too, Lex," she said.

He nodded. He met her eyes. Kate turned and went to the door, closing it behind her.

"Kate?"

She opened the door again and looked in, questioning.

"Thank you," he said, unsure, "I mean it."

She smiled and nodded, closing the door and going back to her room. As she crawled into the blankets, she wondered what the next day would be like. She hoped Lex would forgive himself.

Lex lay awake in his bed, thinking, still, about Siva. He had appreciated Kate's friendship. It seemed everyone he came in contact with had an immediate dislike for him. He knew that when the time came, she wouldn't abandon him. She was the type of person who valued friendship, he knew that already.


Well, I hoped you liked. Poor Lex..I know...but I had to. Anyways, more Kate/Darryl/Lex friendship in the next chapter! R&R as always.