Kate rolled over sleepily but her head suddenly pounded angrily and she let out a loud groan. Her mouth felt fuzzy and her head was throbbing miserably. All of the infamous signs of a hangover. Great, she thought grumpily. No way am I going to work in this condition. Her fingers gripped the edges of the blanket and pulled it tighter around her body.

Several striking abnormalities hit her at the same moment and confused her foggy mind. First off, the blanket that she pulled around her was thicker than the sheets that she slept under at home, and they smelled faintly of cologne. Also when she pulled her arms against her body they connected with her bare chest. Her eyes flicked open instantly. One hasty glance revealed the fact that she was nude beneath the warm blanket. Feeling extremely self-conscious, especially since she had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there, she wrapped the blankets around her body and sat up to look around.

The room was dimly lit, the only illumination coming from the sunlight filtering through the cracks in the curtains. Kate could hardly make out the contents of the room in the semi-darkness, but she could pick out a handful of different pieces of furniture. There was a bureau standing against one wall with a small bookshelf standing next to it. Beside the bed was a nightstand with an ugly, old-fashioned lamp on it, and to her embarrassment she could make out the shadows of her discarded clothing strewn across the floor of the bedroom and they were mingled with a few articles of clothing that she knew were not her own. A quick survey of the bed helped her determine that she was alone in the room, although where in the world this room was she still couldn't be sure.

Trying to be quiet, Kate reached over and flicked the switch on the lamp. It flared into life, casting a dull orange light that only lit half of the room. She spotted a piece of paper resting on the nightstand, its corner pinned beneath the edge of the lamp. Squinting her eyes because of her headache, Kate lifted the paper close to her face and peered at the untidy scrawl.

Kate,

I left you to sleep because I knew you'd have a horrible hangover. I'm out in the living room, unless you slept past ten, then I'm at work. I'll leave out the aspirin bottle and a beer for you on the table. You're welcome to stay here until you are able to drive home.

There was no signature but Kate didn't need one to recognize that handwriting. Filled with horror, she glanced at the wall opposite the bed and saw a worn poster that confirmed her fears without a doubt. Star Trek. Two of the shoes that lie scattered among the clothing were enormous, and in the light of the lamp she was now able to recognize several pieces of clothing.

Lewis.

There were no clocks in the room so she couldn't be sure of the time or if Lewis would even still be in the apartment. Kate scrambled out of the bed and managed to unearth all of her clothes with the exception of one sock. She hastily dressed and then ran her fingers through her hair, although the tug of the snarls made her wince as they enforced her headache. Once she was content that she was as presentable as she could possibly be, she walked slowly out to the living room, trying to ignore the way the world seemed to wobble.

Lewis was sitting at the booth table, his long legs stretched out across the leather and his head reclined back on the edge of the seats. He was clad in only a white tee-shirt and a pair of dark blue boxers, and there was a bag of frozen vegetables on his forehead. Judging by the fact that his mouth was opened and he was breathing deeply, Kate assumed that he had fallen asleep. There was an opened beer on the table in front of him, and on the opposite side of the table were an unopened beer and a bottle of aspirin, just like he'd promised.

Kate grabbed the beer and a used it to take a few of the aspirin. Feeling a tremor of nerves, she decided not to wake Lewis. She wasn't sure how she felt about the idea of having slept with him, even if she was so drunk she couldn't remember it. Instead she crept as quietly as she could from the apartment and back down into the bar. To her relief the bartender was nowhere to be seen, so she hastily slipped out of the Warsaw and made her way to her car. There was a soft layer of powdery snow coating it and she brushed it off before she climbed into the car, and once it had warmed up she drove home. She only paused long enough to call her boss and tell him that she would be taking a sick day before she collapsed on her couch and tried to relax. There was just one thought she couldn't get to leave her alone, no matter how she tried.

She had just had sex with Lewis Michelangelo Kiniski.

Lewis heard the faint sound of a door and he grumbled and stirred. A sudden pain in his head made him groan and he forced himself to sit up. As something slipped off of his face and into his lap, his hand went to his forehead.

"Ow, brain freeze," he whimpered, feeling the frigid skin of his brow. Then he realized where the still cold vegetables were sitting and he hastily removed them from his lap and dropped them on the table. "Great, now I have brain freeze and a chilled dick." Mumbling grumpily, he reached for the beer on the table and took a deep swallow. Thankfully most of his headache from the hangover was fading and he no longer felt that his mouth was stuffed with cotton, but now he had a headache from falling asleep with frozen vegetables on his face and a cramp in his neck from his awkward sleeping position.

Groaning, Lewis climbed out of the booth and made his way over to replace the vegetables in the freezer. He caught a glance at the clock, which for reasons unknown was lying in the kitchen sink, and cursed. Nine forty-five. "Damn it, I'm going to be late." He drained the rest of his beer and walked into his bedroom, being quiet in case Kate was still there. When he saw that she wasn't he resumed his frantic preparations for work.

Without the time to shower and clean up, he simply slid his coveralls over the top of his boxers and tee-shirt. He grabbed the nearest sock and tried to slip it on but couldn't get it over his toes. Confused, he looked down at the tiny sock and concluded distractedly that it must not have been his own. Tossing it thoughtlessly over his shoulder, he finally managed to find his own socks and once he was fully dressed he hurried out of the door at exactly ten o'clock.

Drew leaned back in his chair and checked his watch. It was almost two, which meant that it was nearly lunch time. He smiled eagerly, already contemplating the different meal choices he could have.

"Anxious to hit the trough, pig?" Mimi asked, a sneer on her face as she dropped a stack of manila folders on his desk.

"Well I was until I saw that hideous mask you're wearing," Drew responded casually, staring at her face with a serious expression. "Oh my god, that's your actual face. Wow, now I've really lost my appetite." He shook his head with a heavy sigh and leaned back in his chair again. "Well, congratulations, you just became the scare tactic half of my new diet."

Mimi scowled. "You could use a diet," she snapped. "Dough boy," she added as she made her way back to the desk. At that moment, Oswald approached her in his typical brown work uniform.

"Aw, Mimi, you shouldn't call yourself names like that," he said, trying to hold in a smile as he patted her on the shoulder. "Remember, you're only a dough boy if you think you are."

"And nothing changes the fact that you're an idiot," Mimi said, shrugging off his hand. "What do you want?"

"Package for Mr. Wick," Oswald said simply and placed the box on her desk before turning and stepping into Drew's cubicle. He perched himself on the edge of the desk and Drew swiveled to face him. "Ready for lunch?"

"You bet," Drew said with a grin. "Do you know if Kate and Lewis are coming?"

"No clue," Oswald said, shifting almost anxiously. "I haven't seen or heard from Kate since I went up to bed last night, although her car was still in the parking lot when I left so I think she must have taken a cab home. And Lewis was passed out on the couch with a beer and bottle of aspirin when I left this morning so who knows if he even made it to work."

Drew shook his head sadly and then pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "I hope they're both alright," he said quietly. "They hit the bottles pretty hard last night. I don't think I've seen either of them that smashed in a while."

"No kidding," Oswald said in agreement, his face glowing with childish amazement. "Lewis hardly spoke all night, and he didn't even hit on Kate either. He normally does that whenever he finds out she's single."

"That's true, I hadn't really noticed," Drew said, his face thoughtful as he reran the night's conversations through his head. Truthfully, he hadn't really been paying more than a spot of attention to Lewis as his entire energy was focused on Kate. Still, he wasn't going to admit that to Oswald, since Lewis was his best friend. Drew knew he should be paying equal attention to all of his friends, but he couldn't help but play favorites with Kate as she was not only his best friend but he was also still in love with her even though they had been broken up for a while now.

"I think there was a lot more on his mind than some bruises from a monkey," Drew added in, keeping the subject on Lewis. "I've never known work injuries to stop him from being a smart ass."

Oswald nodded, but his eyes widened suddenly as he saw Lewis' lanky frame striding toward them. He surveyed his tall friend with a worried eye. Lewis' hair was distinctly more tousled than usual and there were enormous rings beneath his eyes to match his dark bruise. In Oswald's opinion, he resembled a zombie as his whole figure gave off a vaguely zoned out aura.

"Hey, buddy," Oswald said, trying to sound cheerful as he stood up next to Lewis in the cubicle. He clapped Lewis on the back and Lewis promptly stumbled forward dangerously. "Whoa, careful," Oswald said and put a hand on his friend's chest to keep him standing.

"You look awful," Drew commented, the expression of concern on his face echoing Oswald's own.

"Oh good, because I feel wonderful," Lewis said sarcastically, his voice droning slightly.

"Well, at least your sense of humor's come back," Drew said. He stood up and walked around to stand beside his two friends, glancing from one to the other with curiosity. Now he definitely knew that there had been something up with Lewis the night before, as his bruises didn't seem to stop him from wanting to speak his word now. "Hey Lewis, did Kate get home alright?"

"How should I –?" Lewis trailed off, remembering that he was supposed to have seen Kate into a cab after their drinks and that the other two knew nothing of what had occurred between him and Kate after they had left. "Oh, right, I forgot. Brain's still a bit foggy. Yeah, she was fine. Had a few more drinks and then caught a cab home. I doubt she'll be at work though, she is going to have a hangover from hell today with how much she drank."

"Maybe we should go and check up on her later," Oswald suggested, glancing at Drew for support.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Drew agreed. "But it will have to wait until after work, because I only have a forty-five minute lunch break and I intend to enjoy it fully. I'm starving." Oswald murmured an agreement and they started out of the cubicle. Lewis trailed behind them, his mind only half-focused on what was going on around him. More than once he nearly ran into people, only being saved when they ducked out of his way at the last second, as he blindly followed in Drew and Oswald's wake.

"You sure you're alright?" Oswald asked Lewis nervously, startling him. They had just stepped into the elevator and when it lurched into motion Lewis' knees buckled and he sagged against the handrails for a moment before he was able to straighten himself out again with Oswald's help. The movement had resurrected Lewis' headache and he massaged one of his temples with his eyes squeezed shut.

"Yeah, I think I just had one too many beers last night," Lewis replied when he realized he still needed to give a response.

"Yeah, you sure did drink quite a bit," Drew agreed, exchanging looks with Oswald again before they both looked back at Lewis. "That bruise really hurt you that bad or was there more to the story?"

"The bruise is murder," Lewis grumbled out, forcing his legs to steady beneath him. This was quickly lost as the elevator lurched to a stop and he would have collapsed to his knees were it not for his friends' hands holding him up. They heaved him back up onto his feet and once they were all sure that he could walk normally again they exited the elevator. Lewis was grateful that they had accepted his statement as an answer and didn't press him further. He really wasn't in the mood to talk about Sandra right now. He continued along between the two silently as they made their way out to Drew's car with the two of them walking protectively on either side of him, ready to catch him every time his legs wobbled.

Man, I'm this wasted and I didn't even drink as much as Kate, Lewis thought with a hint of dry humor. I can't even imagine how great she must feel right now.