unfallenangel — Roleplayer Guild

GRACE POTTER
 
LOCATION: Room and the basement lounge

VS

GRACE POTTER

And
 Raylan Elisha Wilcox 

Location: Out on the town.

Looking over her shoulder, Grace took a deep breath and ducked into a narrow alleyway. She knew the area pretty well because she had been in a foster home a few blocks from where she was currently walking. An alley cat jumped out from behind the dumpster and hissed causing Grace to nearly jump out of her skin. Laughing at herself, she pulled her jacket a little tighter around her and kept walking. “2 more blocks. Just 2 more,” she muttered and rounded the corner at a brisk walk.

She might have grown up here, but that didn’t mean anything for her safety now. The house she was aiming for came into view as she rounded another corner and dipped through another short alley. It was a dilapidated one story house with peeling white paint and a broken, green shudder on the window to the left of the tan front door. The front porch looked like it was about to cave in, as did the roof. Grace stopped just across the street and just stared for a few moments, thinking of what life might have been like for her if she hadn’t been a freak.

A small girl, about 8 years old, can barreling out of the house and stopped just shy of the broken mailbox. “Gracie!” she called and waved both hands above her head. Grace made a motion to be quiet as she darted across the street and scooped the little girl into her arms. “I missed you, Gracie, where have you been?” she asked with a slight lisp.

“I’m sorry Clara, I live on my own now. Don’t you remember? I’m too old.” Grace scrunched her nose up at the child and giggled. Clara was one of the fosters that she had helped raise at her last home before they threw her out. The little girl was like a sister to her. A loud pop echoed off the brick buildings as the two clung to each other. “Clara, go back inside. Don’t come out until I say, okay? Be good!” Grace called and sent the little girl scurrying away.

Another loud crack sounded somewhere in the distance. She knew that sound. Gunfire. Perched to take flight if needed, she turned to face what was behind her. Two large men rounded the corner and sneered at her. “Lookey what we got here,” the bigger one cackled. He had a large tattoo of a dragon on his bald head and his eyes were red. “A pretty little thing, lost in the world.”

His partner leered at Grace. “We’ll save you!” he lunged forward and grabbed both of Grace’s wrists in his large right hand. “We’ll save you real good,” he whispered into her ear. His breath reeked of alcohol and weed.

“Get the fuck off me,” she spat and drove her knee right between his legs. The man’s knees buckled, but he didn’t let go. Squeezing her wrists tighter, he twisted to the right sending Grace to her knees. “Let me go. Now.” she said and prepared for another calculated kick.

Raylan felt at home in places like this. A lot more than he did at Frank's House of Madness. Maybe it was the chaos, maybe it was the hard living. Maybe he was just crazy.  

His shirt was tucked into his pocket, he was laughing with some kids from the neighborhood. Raylan liked the kids around here. If for no other reason than they had bigger issues to worry about than mutants.  These kids were survivors to be sure. None of them were older than fifteen but already they knew loss, each of them had known someone who died. Most likely a victim of gang violence. 

As they rounded the corner, Raylan couldn't help but notice two men. Two very big men, he could smell the weed from where he was. “Aye man, don't go down there. Those two are crazy. They always trying to do some shit.” one of the kids said. 

Raylan knew the smart thing was follow the kids advice. He was just about to walk the other way when he heard a voice. “Damn it, don't tell me she's down here.” Raylan said as he tossed the ball to one of the kids.  He started to walk towards the two large men. 

“Yo Ray Ray, we ain't strapped and those mother fuckers are cray. I'm tryin to tell you man, you don't want none of them.” The eldest boy said. 

“Ya'll go on, I'll get up with ya'll later.” Raylan said as he walked towards the men. “Aye dick lickers. Why don't ya'll come play with me!” Raylan shouted as he started to run towards them. 

One them turned to Raylan. “One Imma fu-” the only words he could get out before Raylan jammed his heel into the man's sternum. A loud crack could be heard coming from the man's chest. 

Raylan didn't even give the other one a chance to react before punching him clean in the jaw with his right hand. Just as quick Raylan hit him in the liver with a left hook. He didn't stop hitting him in the liver until the man fell to the ground. 

Both of them were down but the fight wasn't over.  Raylan couldn't help himself. He saw the house, looked like it was gonna fall apart. It looked like he could tear off a part of the steps and beat them with it. 

That's just what he did. Raylan rushed over and pulled up the first thing he could. To his surprise the one he kicked in the chest was to his feet. It didn't take long for Raylan to make sure he knew his place was one the ground. He hit him in the head with what he had picked up. Breaking it into two pieces. He wasn't getting up. 

Raylan turned his attention to the other one. The one that had grabbed the Little Bird. Raylan punted him in his head, it was hard to tell what flew higher. Raylan's foot, or the blood. Grabbing him by the shirt Raylan punched him in the face. “Don’t.” Punch. “You.” Punch. “Ever.” Punch. “Touch.” Punch. “Her.” Punch. “Again.” Punch. “You.” Punch. “Dumb.” Punch. “Mother.” Punch. “Fucker.” Raylan came down on his face with his elbow, cutting him open. 

The man's face was a bloody mess already. A combination of well placed punches and elbows. Raylan looked at his hand covered in blood. He ripped the shirt off the battered and bloodied man, using it to clean the blood off his hands. “I get anything from beating your ass, Imma come back.” Raylan said tossing the shirt on the man. 

“I'm not even gonna ask what you’re doing down here, Little Dove. You alright?” Raylan asked with a hand extended.

A whirlwind of motion happened all at once and Grace couldn’t turn her head fast enough to keep up with what was unfolding before her. Raylan had appeared out of nowhere and completely beaten the daylights out of the two men in less than 2 minutes. Looking up at him from where she was still sitting on the sidewalk, she couldn’t help but shy away from him. She had never actually seen him lose his temper before. Well not violently anyway. She had been known to make him lose his temper a few times.

Taking the hand that he offered to her, she let him pull her to her feet and brushed herself off. “I’m fine. I had everything under control,” she lied smoothly and grinned up at him. “Don’t you have somewhere that you need to be today? Somewhere important?” Blinking up at him, she noticed that he had been here all day, just like she had.

“I had some pressing matters to attend to.” She tried to sound businesslike and professional, but failed. She raised her eyebrows at Raylan as he wiped the palms of his hands on his pants. “You sure you’re finished? I think that one is still breathing,” she laughed and nudged the guy with the tattoo on his head with her right foot.

“And for the love of god, put a shirt on,” she muttered and picked up the jacket that the guys had torn off of her. It was ripped under the arm. She had seen them around before, but she didn’t know who they were. Drug dealers looking for a lay more or less. Shivering slightly, a thought crossed her mind.

“Raylan, Don’t tell Latour that I was here. He’ll go postal. Kinda like you went postal, only more thermonuclear. You just bash stuff with anything you can find.” Grace grinned sweetly up at Raylan and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “So...What the hell are you doing here. Besides the obvious. Beating people to death and shooting hoops?”

“I'm keeping these streets safe!” Raylan said as the kids came running.  “Why do I gotta put a shirt on? You getting all hot and bothered? You know you like what you see.” Raylan said with a wink. 

“Yo homie, you just went beast mode one them! You two can't be coming around here no more. You two are gonna get got.” The elder boy said standing over the two men. “Ray Ray you are crazy man.”

Raylan shrugged his shoulders and went to checking the pockets of two men. He pulled out two large rolls of money. Raylan laughed to himself. He just beat the two biggest drug dealers in the neighborhood. “Take his shoes kid. He ain't gonna need for awhile. Dudes gonna have bigger problems to deal with for a while.” Raylan said as he stuffed one roll into his pockets and gave half of the other roll to the kids.  “You guys go spending that on stupid crap or drugs. Make sure I don't find out. Clothes, food, help your Momma out,” Raylan said looking into each one of their eyes. “Go on. Get.” Raylan said waving the kids away. 

Their eyes were as big as the moon and the joy the kids felt made everything worth it. Who would have thought Raylan of all people could make some kids so happy. As the kids ran off, Raylan looked over to Grace and her torn up jacket. He was just happy her wings weren't more noticeable. He was about of offer his arm to the Little Dove before he heard one of them let out a groan. 

“Oh you wanna talk some shit now? Yeah keep talking. Dumb ass.” Raylan said trying not not hit them again. “You know whose house I tore up? Kinda wanna give them the other half of this.” Raylan asked Grace. His intentions weren't so much as being as to make sure whoever lived there didn't call the cops or snitch.

Smiling as the boys ran off, shoving each other playfully, she turned back to the two idiots on the ground. Grace put her hand lightly on his bicep and laughed. “I think they’ve have enough for one day. Maybe you can come back next week and rescue some other girl in the hood and keep the streets safe for them as well.” She scrunched her nose up at him and followed his stare.

“Yes. I know the people in that house. Mr. Timber died a year ago and Mrs. Timber is so depressed she never leaves the basement bedroom. There are two foster girls that live there. One is 16 and is probably working, and the other is 8. I can give her that, if you’d like.” Grace held out her hand.

Raylan dropped the wad of cash into her open palm and stepped back. With a quick glance around the dead end street, Grace hurried across and let out a loud whistle, almost like she was calling a dog. Clara poked her head out the front door just a crack to see if it was truly safe, and then ran to Grace’s outstretched arms. “Here,” Grace whispered. “This is for you and Tyra. Don’t let Mrs. Timber see it or she will take it, okay?” Grace tucked the money into the pocket of the small girls jeans and stood up. “I’ll be back soon, kay? Be a good girl.” She smiled and waved as Clara disappeared back into the house with a large grin. The warm fuzzy feeling she got when she saw Clara always made her smile.

“Well, it seems you have probably maxed out your good deeds for the day. What was that? 3 in less than 10 minutes. Man, you are on a roll!” She laughed and pushed his arm playfully. “We should probably be getting back, don’t you think?” Grace asked and started walking away from the two men still lying on the pavement.

They would wake up eventually. With a killer headache and a hangover probably, but she didn’t really care at that point. Shifting her shoulders slightly, she readjusted her wings to sit tightly against her back once more. The encounter had left her feathers ruffled and out of place, and without the jacket if she wasn’t careful they would show from underneath her shirt.

“We should go, but I just got paid and you need a new jacket. I ain't going back, I'm gonna hit up a bar. I gotta celebrate this nice thing. You're welcome to come or you can go back and sit with Frank. Sipping whatever weird ass tea he's got this week.” Raylan said walking in a different direction. He wasn't sure if she was gonna follow, but he did know, a drink was is in his future. 

Weighing her options carefully, Grace bit her lip. The sensible thing was to go back to the institute. But where’s the fun in that? The other was to follow Raylan. That in itself isn’t usually a great idea, but he did just save her and she needed something to calm her nerves.

“Wait for me. I’m going with you,” she called and jogged to catch up to him. “Jacket and then bar?” she asked and tossed her old one over her shoulder, carrying it with one finger. She took a few steps ahead of him and turned to face him, walking backwards. “Those kids. They friends of yours?” she asked nonchalantly as she led them out of the depths of the projects and to a little side story that looked more like a pawn shop. “Hold on.”

She marched into the store and tossed her jacket onto the counter. The man behind it looked up from his book and blew a large cloud of smoke from the cigar he was smoking. “Do you have something like this? I have cash and you can have this one.” He nodded and disappeared between two towers of shelves. A few moments later he returned with a small, brown leather jacket that had been worn and seen better days, but it looked perfect. 

“That’s great. Thanks!” she let the cash and old jacket on the counter and met Raylan on the sidewalk just outside. Shoving her hands into the pockets of her new jacket, she grinned. “Ready.”

By the time Grace had came back Raylan had lit a cigarette and put his shirt on. The tattoos were nothing in the projects. Out here in the ‘safer’ part of town. His tattoos were going draw too much attention. “Did you really just swap out jackets? Why not get something different?” Raylan asked again offering his arm. Her answer didn't matter, the next stop was the Blind Elephant.

She rolled her eyes and placed her arm in his. “I like my jackets the way they are. No change. Besides, this one is brown, the other one was navy.” She fought the urge to stick her tongue out at him as he led the way to the bar. Grace had actually never been inside one of the local bars, so this was all a new experience for her.

As they approached the building, she couldn’t help but notice the dingy windows, the neon sign that read ‘The Blind Elephant’, and the chipped brick siding that covered the outside of the building. People were entering and exiting as they approached.

“Do you come here a lot?” Graced asked as one of the guys at the door waved and gave Raylan a pat on the shoulder. The room they entered seemed cloudy with all the cigarette smoke. The music was playing, the floor seemed to be thumping, people were stumbling and cackling, and the lights seemed to get dimmer and dimmer the farther inside they went. “Do all bars look like this?” she asked. She couldn’t help but sound naive when it came to this. She was out of her element completely, and Raylan was completely in his.

“Only the fun bars are like this.” Raylan as he looked to see who was in the bar. The old wooden floor was thumping from the music being played from the jukebox. The walls were exposed brick and covered in posters and other memorabilia.  A stage was in the corner, with stands for instruments and microphones. There was even a drum set. At the moment the stage was ready to go. Raylan eyed for a moment before shifting his attention elsewhere. 

The bar itself was long and made from a dark but beaten wood. It's rustic look and feel seemed to match perfectly with the atmosphere. Raylan pulled Grace by the hand and they made their way to the bar. The moment they set down a bartender, blonde and gorgeous seemed to appeared outta nowhere. “Raylan, I've missed you. I was worried you'd finally got yourself killed.” The blond hair bartender said as flirtatious as possible. “Who's your girlfriend and what'll it be?”

“Usual and you two can introduce yourselves. Where’s my baby?” Raylan asked in a hurry to get his is information. She pointed to the stage and there sat his guitar. He smiled when his eyes found it. He left it there more often than not. More out of drunken forgetfulness than anything else. Still he loved playing. It calmed his frantic mind.

Grace perched herself on the edge of the barstool and just took a minute to watch the people interact around her. When the bartender bounced up and greeted Raylan, Grace cut her eyes toward him and raised her eyebrows slightly. Conquest? She thought idly and smiled at her.

“Oh. I’m not his girlfriend,” she clarified and held up her hand, waving it off. “I’m Grace.” she smiled at the bartender and continued to glance nervously around the room, pulled at the zipper of her jacket out of habit. “I’ll have a whiskey on the rocks, please,” Grace said quietly and shrugged her shoulders. 

She wasn’t really a drinker, but she knew that she didn’t really like the fruity stuff that they usually served to girls her age. Her fingers tapped mechanically on the smooth surface of the bar as she noticed Raylan smiling and followed his gaze up to the stage. “You play?” She asked and realized that apart from him being a mutant and having a short fuse, she didn’t know that much about him. 

The bartender slid a small glass to her and Grace took a small sip. It was bitter, and boy did it burn. Fighting the urge to cough and sputter, she took another small sip and then set the glass back on the bar with a soft clink.

When his drinks came, a double whiskey and beer. He slammed the double in a single go. “Bartender let's do that one more time.” Raylan said holding his glass up. 

He looked over at Grace. He had done well to avoid all her questions to this point but there wasn't much getting out of this one. There was nothing to deflect the question. It made him a bit uneasy. “I play as much as I can. I started when I was a kid. I haven't heard a song yet I can't play. Been playing a lot of slide lately. Surprised you didn't hear me playing before.” The next double came and again it was gone in an instant. 

“Play a song and I'll get your tab Raylan. You know you want to.” The bartender said batting her eyes. “Maybe later.” He replied. 

She had heard music on occasion when she sometimes was out and about around the institute, but never would she have guessed that it was him playing. Grace rolled her eyes at the bubbly blonde and took another swig of her drink. After the initial burn it went down a little easier, and it wasn’t that bad either. 

The bartender pouted but went to attend other customers as Raylan and Grace sat in silence. The air was becoming a little easier for Grace to breath, and she already felt a little more relaxed as the music continued to play. “I think you should take her up on that offer. Hell, you probably spend a fortune in here on any given night,” Grace said with a quiet giggle.

“Besides.” Taking another drink from her glass, she swung her whole body around to face Raylan. “The music coming from that hunk of junk needs to go. Play something good, will ya.” Tipping her glass back, she drained what was left. “I may want to dance to something.”

Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe it was the adrenaline from early. Maybe it was because Raylan made her do stupid things. Either way she didn’t know, but being here made her feel braver, like she was finally coming out of her shell and spreading her own wings, no pun intended.

“People wonder why I'm not social. Try to be nice and get strong armed into shit.” Raylan said as he pushed himself away from the bar sloppily. The full effect of the whiskey was in play. He made his way to the stage, somewhat off kilter. “Ned! Turn the jukebox off. I got words!” Raylan shouted as he flopped into the stool and took up his guitar. 

His ego started to run away from him. The song he had in mind was stupidly hard but he knew he could play it.  his hands seem to fly across the instrument as the notes came flying out. His  singing left a little to be desired. Even still the crowd seem to enjoy it. He wondered if people knew what he was doing. If they knew he was playing for two. It didn't matter either way. He was having fun right now and no one was getting hurt. He almost wished frank was around to see it. 

As Raylan stumbled his way to the stage, Grace ordered another whiskey and spun to face the stage as he sat down. She had heard him play from afar, and she didn’t know it was him until now. Eager, she watched his fingers as they stretched across the strings and brought the guitar to life.

Music filled the air and the floors seemed to vibrate once more from the sound. Raylan moved his hand across the strings faster than Grace thought possible. The song was fantastic. The music seemed to tug at her. People started getting up from where they had been sitting and came to the middle of the floor. A group of young college girls pushed their way to the front of the stage and started dancing.

Grace took a long swig of her drink, sat the glass on the bar, and stood up. The room seemed to swim for a second and she held the edge of the bar with both hands. “Whoa,” she muttered and stood still until she got her bearings. The music was rocking the entire building, and everyone was either dancing, tapping their feet, clapping, or passed out.

With a half smile, Grace made her way onto the dance floor and started to dance to the rhythm. He was good, she had to give him that, really good. The look on his face when he was up there meant that this really meant something to him. This was something that he did often. With alcohol fueling her, she cheered with the rest of them as he continued to play. She was going to regret this tomorrow.

When he was done playing his first song, people were cheering and clapping. He smiled and tried to calm them down. “Ned! I need some drums. Don't worry it ain't hard.” Raylan said pointing at an overweight man that looked like he stepped out of a punk rock band. As Ned climbed the stage. Raylan leaned over and told Ned exactly what he wanted in. “So, uh,  this a slow one. Ya'll grab partner and get to dancing.” Raylan's voice seemed to change all at once. What was a neutral, regular, American accent quickly turned into southern accent with a long draw. 

“Aw hell he's talking a hillbilly again.” One man shouted out from crowd. Even Raylan laughed at the comment. His only reply was a middle finger. He knew what he sounded like, that's why he his accent. 

Raylan looked back at to make sure he was ready. When Ned gave the nod, Raylan stomped his heel four times on the fourth time both of the started to play. This was a much slower song, one that was more about the words than the music. It was still a hard song to play none the less. Raylan sang like he meant every word. He watch as the crowd began to dance. His eyes found Grace, she held his gaze longer than expected . 

Everyone around her seemed to pair up with anyone that was around them. Panicked, Grace took a few steps back and cocked her head as Raylan’s voice changed. A slight pink blush crept up her neck as he closed his eyes and started to sing. Once again, the music filled the room and people were laughing and carrying on.

She scanned the crowd, enjoying every minute of being her, until her eyes landed on Raylan again. He was staring at her as he sang. The breath got caught in her throat and she couldn’t seem to look away. Thankful that the place had shitty lighting and no one could see how red she had gotten, Grace took another step back, grabbed her glass, and downed the entire thing.

The room seemed to be getting a little warmer, or maybe it was the whiskey, she wasn’t sure. Her eyes finally broke away from his as he continued the song and people around her continued to dance. This was a bad idea. This was a very bad idea, and yet, here she was, having fun. She was smiling and dancing. Grace Potter was dancing in a bar. Hell surely must have frozen over.

An endless amount of time seemed to pass as Raylan played and sang on stage. People were filing in, getting a buzz, and dancing like there was no tomorrow. Even Grace had been pulled onto the dance floor by a guy that the bartender had sent her way. Perhaps it was to distract Grace from what the bartender wanted. Either way, she was dancing and buzzing and having a great time. She almost forgot that she knew the singer and it wasn’t a professional. She reminded herself that she would have to tell Raylan that he was really good, not just alright.

Raylan didn't get off the stage much through the night, one song lead into another, which into another. It was almost midnight, the sun was still out when they first walked in. Raylan was doing good to walk from drinking so much. Yet he still managed to play well, his singing was still somewhat passable, or maybe everyone was just too drunk to care. “Alright people, these last two, were gonna cut loose and have a little fun. For this one, Imma call out our lovely bartender. So if she’ll get off her ass and come  up here will get on with bidness.” Raylan said as he sat his guitar down and picked up another. He plucked a few strings checking the tune, when it was it right he did the same for his own. He now had two set up to play. 

As the bartender took the stage, Raylan tossed her the microphone and mouthed the words "Santana" to her and Ned. Ned was the first speak up calling for another man to join them on stage. A man known as Tee Tee. Tee Tee was a friend of Raylan’s and as luck would have it, a bass player. For a moment it seemed like they had a full band on stage.  After a small conversation on stage and some expletives, Ned bangged his drum sticks together four times and began to play. 
Raylan almost seemed lost in a trance as he was playing, pure unequivocal calm over him. Infact it seem like each member of the make shift band was lost in their own little worlds, each one of them playing their own roles as close to perfect as they could. As the last notes rang out and slowly faded out only the crowd could be heard cheering. Raylan seemed to ignore them as he stomped his feet twice and clapped over his head. He did it over and over until Tee Tee made his way to the microphone. It seemed like all at once the crowd joined in. Tee Tee was ever the showman as he grabbed the microphone and started to sing. The crowd joining in and singing almost every word. 

High fives were exchanged after that one. Each member of the band was proud in their own way. They each descended the stage and went different ways into the crowd. The bartender and Raylan booth headed straight for the bar celebrated with a shot.

At some point during the evening, Grace had been offered more whiskey on the rocks and a few shots of patron by some over generous boys who wanted to dance with her. She had accepted the drinks, but then bailed on most of the dancing. The song choices that Raylan made were definitely not ones that Grace would have picked for him, but somehow they fit him.

As the band set up to play another song, Grace wound her way back out onto the dance floor among the throngs of people. Clapping her hands over head head along with the others, she sang out every word. We Will Rock You was one of her all time favorite songs. With a grin, she continued to clap and dance as the group on stage hammered out a flawless performance. 

Grace clapped with this rest of them and cheered loudly while making her way back to the bar for the last swallow of her drink. As Raylan plopped down on the stool beside her, she leaned over and said, “I didn’t know you had an accent like that.” Running her fingers through her hair, she finished her drink and then leaned back, holding onto the bar as she stretched out her back. “This was great. Now I understand! We need to do this again!” she started giggling and placed both elbows on the bar. 

“You are a pretty dangerous combination, did you know that?” she asked with a small hiccup and another fit of giggles. Alcohol was running the show now, and she could say anything she wanted at this point, however, somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought better of it and bit her lip instead. Blinking a few times, she twirled her finger around the edge of her empty glass. The giggles had subsided and now they sat quietly watching everyone pack up for the night.

“Sweetie I'm dangerous in general and I don’t talk like that, it's how I really talk.” Raylan slammed one of his drinks and tossed some money under the glass for the bartender. “ You look like you got something you wanna say… Better speak up while you can. ” Raylan made eye contact with bartender. He signaled it was time for a ride home. 

Grace fumbled over her words. “No. Not like dangerous like you’ll kill me, but dangerous...Like… I don’t know,” she mumbled and hiccuped again. Stumbling after him, she followed him to a spot to wait for a ride back to the institute. She didn’t want to go back just yet, she was having too much fun.

Raylan laughed at the hiccup. He was by no means sober but it was still adorable to him. As they stood in the alley, he looked at Grace. “You got something to say, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

Taking a deep breath, she noted the smell of leather, whiskey, and cigarettes. The sum of Raylan in general. “I may take the peace option,” she whispered as a group of girls walked by, stumbling slightly in their heels. “But then again...I may never have the courage to do anything else.” 

Thankful yet again for the darkness that hid her blush, she stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him. Grace, standing in a dark alley, drunk, in the wee hours of the morning, in the projects, kissed him. What was wrong with her? She pulled away slowly and blinked up at him a few times like she was just realizing what she was doing.

With wide eyes, she took a few steps back. “Um...I…” she mumbled and another hiccup cut her off. Without knowing what else to say, and without waiting on the car that was supposed to meet them there, she turned on her heels and headed east, toward the main road out of the projects and into the city.

Passing the front door of the bar, Grace noticed the two guys that had been trying to dance with her all night stumble down the front steps. “Hey!” The tall brown haired guy yelled. “That’s that girl! Hey, Hey you!” He slurred to Grace and grabbed for her hand. “You’re nothing but a tease.” Grace pushed his hand away, eyes blazing. “Bitch, I’m talking to you!”

Her nostrils flared as she turned to face the guy. “Walk away,” she said quietly, not even thinking that Raylan was not far behind her. The shorter guy with black hair can up behind her and wrapped his arms around her upper body, crushing her hidden wings. Grace winced in pain and something inside her seemed to snap.

Using her right hand, she flicked her wrist very discretely and knocked the brown haired guy off her feet and directly on his ass. Then she drove her elbow into the guy hold her, jamming it directly into his sternum. “No means no, asshole,” she spat as he let her go with a groan.

Raylan placed his head against the wall and let out a deep sigh. “That girl is gonna find trouble. I know it.” As Raylan walked passed the front door of the bar. He called for his friend Tee Tee to follow him. He arrived just in time to see her get grabbed. 

Tee Tee leaned over to Raylan and whispered,”Yo Ray Ray, bitches is crazy.”

Raylan threw his hands in the air. “Right! Second damn time today she’s gotten herself into trouble.” Raylan said like she couldn’t hear what he said. “Just help me get her out of here. I got the two clowns.” Raylan said as he started to walk towards the two men. “Hey boys, I’ll tell you what. I’ll make you a deal. You get passed me, you can do whatever you want to her. No one around here is gonna stop you.” Raylan said as he loosened up his shoulders. 

One of the two something something to the effect of how they were gonna mess him up or beat Raylan up or something. Raylan wasn’t even listening. He did grab Grace and push her back to Tee Tee. Raylan simply waved them off and readied for what was coming. He had forgotten just how drunk he was, and just how sober they were. He didn’t care to tell the truth. The day had been going so well only for it end like this. He wasn’t sure who he was mad at more, Grace, or these two assholes. Right now he was pissed and was just looking for someone to take his anger on. 

Grace fought against Raylan’s friend’s grip as he pulled her back away from the fight. This had nothing to do with either of them. “I can take care of myself,” she snapped and kicked out her right foot, trying to pull free. “Let me go,” she said without conviction. Watching Raylan approach the duo she knew that this is all he wanted.

She couldn’t help but feel responsible for the whole issue. She shouldn’t have walked off. She shouldn’t have kissed him. She shouldn’t have been drinking. She shouldn’t have even come in the first place. A dark pit began to blossom in the pit of her stomach as the two guys started for Raylan. 

“Raylan. Don’t,” she said through gritted teeth and she pulled against Tee Tee’s grip again. “Seriously. Let me go.” Anger burned within her as she watched her mistake unfold before her. This was why she couldn’t have nice things. 

“ Why is she still here!” Raylan shouted at Tee Tee as he made his way towards his two new toys.

“Come on girl, you don’t wanna see what's going to happen.” Tee Tee said with sorrow in his voice. He knew what was going to happen. He had seen this before a few times. Raylan was going to get hurt, not because he couldn’t stop it, but because its what he wanted. Tee Tee was always of a mind that Raylan deep down was a nice and kind person. He just wondered why Raylan seem to hate himself so much that he would do this to himself.

Raylan met the two head on, dodging everything they could throw at him. He made it look almost easy to stay away from their attacks while being so close. He wasn’t going to attack them until Grace was gone. He didn’t want anyone to know what happened.

Tee Tee hoisted Grace over his left shoulder and started back toward the front door of the bar. Beating her first against his back, she cried out in anger. “Raylan, you jackass!” Grace could see the back of  his shoulders tense as Tee Tee carried her through the doors and out of sight. “You are on my shit list right now, you know that?” she snapped as he dropped her on one of the soft love seats in the corner. 

Dropping her head into her hands, she groaned. Her head was pounding, whether from the whiskey, the adrenaline, or the anger, she didn’t know. What she did know was that she wanted to go home. She wanted her own bed where she could close her eyes and erase this entire night from her memory. 

Stifling a yawn, she leaned back against the cushions and fought the urge to just sleep right where she was. Grace knew that she had to stay awake because Raylan wasn’t getting back to the institute by himself, maybe not even in one piece. Looking around the empty bar, she watched Ned and Tee Tee pick up the last of the mess from the night. Grace felt sorry for the guys that had grabbed her and wondered idly how long it would take until Raylan stumbled back in so she could go home.

By the time Raylan had gotten back the bar.  Grace was already asleep. The One Night Stand Band as they decided to call themselves, we're waiting on him. They all looked down when he walked in. For someone who was clearly hurt, Raylan seemed to be in a decent mood about it. That bothered them more than anything, but they knew there was no stopping him. 

They talked for little while, it was Ned that ended the conversation by offering a ride to Raylan and Grace. A ride to that was quickly accepted. When the morning came Grace would find herself in her own room, tucked in nicely. Raylan couldn't help but feel about how the night ended. He wasn't going to apologize or even bring it up. 

Grace sat up in her bed and rubbed the back of her head with both of her hands. Her head felt like it had been beaten with a sledgehammer repeatedly. Blinking away the sleep in her eyes, she swung her legs over the bed. The night before can rushing back to her and she fell back on the bed with a loud groan. "I cannot believe that happened," she muttered and pushed the pillow against her face to muffle her groans. "Wait a second," she whispered and sat up. She was dressed in a loose fitting t shirt that she didn't recognize and her boy shorts.

She had no memory of anything after the big guy carried her back into the building. "Oh no." She had a sinking feeling in her stomach that she had done something completely idiotic and embarrassing. Fighting the fog in her brain, she padded to the bathroom and ran herself a hot shower, hoping that would alleviate most of her stiffness. With her wings stretched out behind her, she sat in the tub and let the water pour over her.

"We will not mention this to anyone," she muttered into her hands and peeked around the shower curtain to look at the time. 7:45. She hastily toweled off and dressed in her dark wash jeans, light blue top, and brown leather jacket that she had gotten last night.

Grace grabbed a pop-tart from her bedside table and slipped her grey converse one and headed out the door. She navigated through the basement maze with little trouble and found herself standing outside the large double doors of the lounge. With a growing feeling of dread, she pushed the doors open and glanced briefly around the room before taking a seat on one of the love seats with a direct view of the range.

She gave The professor a small smile and tucked a stand of her wet hair behind her ear, a nervous tick that she had picked up years before coming to the institute. The idea of meeting all these new students was threatening to give Grace an ulcer. She was fine with people that she knew, but when she had never even met them, it was very stressful for her. opening her small breakfast, she nibbled on the corner of one of the brown sugar pop-tarts, hoping it would help settle her stomach.
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Time Lord of Middle Earth

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