This wasn't a place for a lady. Lily shifted uneasily on the hard bar stool, purposefully avoiding the gaze of the men milling around her as they tried to be casual. She glanced at her watch impatiently, silently cursing Abbot for not choosing a bar that didn't turn into a sausage fest on Saturday nights.

A man tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around halfway and gave him a taut smile, then fell into a fit of coughing. He reeked of alcohol, sweat, and vomit. And was grinning at her chest unabashedly.

"Can I help you sir?"

He looked into her face in a startled way, then blinked and scratched his head thickly as he spoke.

"Uh...would...you...drink?"

She raised her eyebrow and shook her head.

"No. I'm quite fine with my current drink."

"Oh." He let his gaze drop once more and mumbled something that ended with "touch yer tits."

"Sir, step away from me before something happens that you'll regret."

He scowled at her and started to say something before one of his friends pulled him away. Lily snorted slightly before turning back and sipping at her sangría.

Yawning and stretching, Abbie rolled out off of his couch half
asleep. In an attempt to wipe the sleep from his eyes, he rubbed them
for a few minutes before stumbling into the bathroom. 

Every night before he went to bed he took off his valuables, and
set them on his bathroom sink. Assorted items such as cash, his gold
necklace, and his watch were among them. Turning on the water to splash
some of it in his face, he happened to glance down at his watch. OH NO!
Nine fifteen! He was supposed to meet Lily at the bar in thirty
minutes.

Rushing to strip himself down and shower, Abbie tripped over his
clothes and knocked his head off the side of his tub. Cursing his luck,
he turned the hot water on and quickly showered. 

Shaking the water off his hair like a dog, he grabbed his
toothbrush and began brushing furiously. Suddenly he looked up at the
mirror and saw that his left eye had swollen tremendously. 

"Son of a bitch," he exclaimed, splashing some cologne
on his neck and wrists. He was used to smelling nice, and just because
he was only going to meet a friend, didn't mean he was about to change
that. 

Clasping his watch to his wrist, Abbie noted that he only had
fifteen minutes left. Scurrying into his bedroom, he picked up a shirt
and sniffed it; the ever faithful test of whether it was clean or not.
Deciding it was indeed a clean shirt, Abbie pulled it over his
shoulders, wincing slightly as the fabric touched his eye. Pulling his
pants up and zipping them, he ran back into the bathroom and grabbed
his wallet from the sink, stuffing it into his back pocket. Ten minutes
left. 

Slamming the door behind him, Abbie rushed out of the door and
hopped into his car. Speeding away from his house as fast as he could
go without wrecking the car, Abbie raced over to the bar where he was
supposed to be meeting Lily. Finally arriving, he glanced at his watch.
Sweet success, he was five minutes early! 

Opening the door he looked around to find Lily, sitting
apparently uncomfortably at a bar stool. Making his way over to her,
Abbie witnessed a drunken fool trying to hit on her. Feeling his lip
twitch, as the man walked away, he took a seat next to Lily and
smirked, winking as he said, 

"So... Deny that many people every day?"

Lily turned a sharp green eye onto Abbie, her nostrils flaring slightly.

"Abbot, I was to understand this is a popular spot to come drink. You didn't tell me it's a popular spot for men to come drink. This last one stank so badly that I wanted to vomit, and blatantly offered to grope me."

She looked away from her friend, tilting her nose into the air. After she heard him give the sigh that was a precursor to a reluctant apology, she tilted her head back with a grin, holding up her glass and looking at him with a sparkle in her eye.

"Of course, it does boost my ego some to know that so many men want to take me home."

Abbie laughed openly, ordering himself a shot of scotch. Of course so many men wanted to take Lily home, she was beautiful. She also happened to be funny, intelligent, and quite well set in the money department, all of which had a role in why she was his best friend. Except the money, he had enough of his own to care whether or not she was rich or poor.

"I'm sorry for picking a bar that uh, as you say, is a popular place for men to drink. Just about every bar this side of the Mississippi is full to the brim with drunken men on a Saturday night."

As his drink came, he took a look around the bar and noticed that there was quite the amount of men here. Taking his shot down with a smack of his lips, Abbie glared at the man who had just annoyed Lily. Feeling his lip twitch, Abbie turned back around and smirked to Lily,

"So, what's new?!"

The corners of Lily's mouth twitched upward and she turned to look fully at her companion. As she opened her mouth to speak, though, she noticed his swollen, discolored eye.

"Oh, my God, what happened to you?" She scowled slightly as she examined the bruise more closely. "Have you been fighting again? At least they didn't pull out a knife this time...or did they?"

She glanced quickly over his body, trying to pick out more signs of a scrape.

"What was it over, anyway? Poker?"

Tilting his head to the side wondering what Lily was talking about, Abbie raised an eyebrow and said out loud,

"Fight? What are you..." And then it hit him, she was talking
about his swollen and bruised eye. Her face looked worried and annoyed,
he had quite the knack for picking fights with people bigger than him.
Though, quite often he ended up winning.

"No, no. No fighting this time. Unless you count my tub as a
fighter. I was in a rush to get ready because I ended up passing out on
the couch. Good thing I set my alarm, or I would have slept straight
through. I just tripped is all. No need to worry."

While pulling out a cigarette and offering one to Lily, Abbie
ordered another shot of scotch and rested his head in the palms of his
hands, setting his elbows on the bar. He was getting into the drinking
mood, all of the elements were there. His best friend, excellent
scotch, and a general atmosphere of good mood.

She narrowed her eyes to him for a moment before shrugging and motioning to the bartender. She muttered something to the man, and he nodded and turned to busy himself with the ice chest. She turned back to Abbie and took the cigarette halfheartedly, letting it hang unlit between her two fingers.

"Well, back to your question...I've got a job I've got to slink down to the South for sometime soon. I have a truck to deliver back to the fair city of Detroit."

She smiled to her friend, her eyes wavering on his black eye for a moment. He was always a bit of a big mouth, and it had gotten him into trouble on more than one occasion. She remembered helping him home one day when she was fifteen and he was twelve. He had taken a severe beating after trying to convince the local bully that he should donate money to his cause. The fact that the "cause" was raising money for a new bicycle was not convincing.

The barkeep suddenly slapped a small bag of ice on the counter, smiling curtly to Lily.

"Thank you, sir."

"Yer welcome, lady." He shuffled off again, muttering something along the lines of "Wish she'd let those guys buy her drinks."

Lily rolled her eyes and leaned back slightly on her stool.

"Abbot, put the ice pack on your eye please. I think it's throbbing."

Abbie sighed and took the bag of ice, pressing it against his eye to please Lily. Normally he would complain and argue about it, saying it was a battle scar, but what the hell, why not just do it now. She'd eventually have convinced him anyway.

"This makes me look like a pansy, you know." Abbie stuck his tongue out at Lily, downing another shot of scotch. Thinking about what she said, Abbie smiled to himself and was already imagining the nice weather and fair amount of fine looking women down south, though he had not asked or been invited to tag along. 

"So, can I come with you?" Abbie cut to the chase, "The weather up here is cold and blustery, I could use some time down south."

Lily hesitated. She wasn't looking forward to the job a huge amount, honestly. She'd always thought of the sleepy towns in the South as boring and full of stupid hicks. And the job itself, besides dodging the easily-bribed police, was fairly tame. Maybe taking Abbot along would make it more...interesting.

And conspicuous. Abbie was a loudmouth, and while she didn't think he'd talk openly about what they were doing, he might draw unwanted attention. She didn't need to shake off the police only to have their truck raided. Of course, there was always that chance. And having another person around would make it a lot safer. She shrugged.

"If you terribly want to, sure...you can't draw attention to us, though. I have to meet up with some friends and friends of friends while I'm there. On both sides of the social spectrum."

She fiddled with the cigarette in her hands. It would be strange, going from a debutante's parlor for lunch to a seedy backroom of a bar for dinner. But Lily was determined to balance the two. She tilted her glass back into her mouth to get the last few drops of sangría. Almost immediately a man slid onto the stool next to her and asked if he could buy her another one. As she began to open her mouth to speak, his eyes slid over to Abbie. A smirk slid up on his face before he looked back to Lily with swaggering eyes.

"Babe, you can do better than that, you know. Come on, I'll show you a good time tonight."

Abbie looked over the guy once, and decided that there was no immediate threat to himself or Lily. The guy had almost half of his teeth missing, and was too drunk to sit on the stool properly. The smell coming from his body was worse than that of three week old milk mixed in a batter of rotten tomatoes.

Nodding to the bartender, Abbie ordered a beer and swigged it down in one gulp. Taking the cap from the bottle, he flicked it into the mans ear as hard as he could manage, looking away and whistling innocently, all the while trying not to crack up laughing. Lily really did have a knack for picking guys. 

He remembered back in the town they used to live in, as neighbors, she had once come home with this complete snob of a guy. He was always dressing in fancy clothing and wearing a pocket protector... She still to this day swore that the man followed her home, but Abbie wouldn't let her live it down, insisting she invited him over for "tea and crumpets."

He heard the man next to her exclaim "WHO THE HELL THREW THIS?!" At this, Abbie could no longer control his lungs and face, in turn letting out a fit of laughter and breaking into a smile.

Lily's lips drew together tightly as the man tried to talk her into leaving Abbie.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but I really didn't come here to find a date. I just came to spend a few hours with my friend here. While I appreciate the flattery, I--"

The man reached out a hand toward Lily, sending her own hand flying toward the butt of her gun. But not before a bottle cap came flying from behind Lily, catching the stranger right on the ear. He yelped and stared stupidly at her for a second before roaring in bestial rage. Abbie burst into his trademark laughter, giving away the culprit immediately.

The man rose from his stool, pushing it over dramatically onto another patron. Ignoring the customer's cry of "Watch it, bub!", he grabbed hold of Abbie's collar and shook him, causing the ice pack to fall from his hand. The drunk gave a chuckle as he looked at the bruised eye.

"Already got yer ass kicked once today, I see. Looks like you didn't learn yer lesson 'n' I gotta do it fer ya."

Abbie smiled and responded quickly to the drunken fool, building up the tension,

"If you must know, I fell down earlier. I see your mother didn't teach you anything about hygiene, it's a real shame that I'm not going to either."

Abbie shrugged and turned away, faking to walk towards a different section of the bar. Abbie was fully aware that everyone was watching, and couldn't help but to grin as he got a few feet away.

Just as he'd hoped, the drunken man couldn't let it go. Excellent, though Abbie, here we go again. As the man reached Abbie and put his hand on his shoulder, turning him around, Abbie drew his fist and cocked it back as far as possible, spinning right into the mans jaw. The fool was already intoxicated, and lost his balance easily, stumbling into the other customers.

Lily stared in shock as Abbie clocked the man right into a small group of his fellow patrons. The bartender was already making his way down to break up the fight, but he wasn't as fast as the offended man, who, fueled by drunken rage, leaped clumsily at Abbie. The latter quickly sidestepped and kicked the drunk to the ground.

"That's enough, you two!" The bartender blustered forward, coming between the two men. "I won't have that in this establishment. Stop or take it elsewhere. Either way I want both of you out of here."

Lily groaned under her breath. This was the fourteenth bar Abbot had been kicked out of in her company. And now she'd have to go with him to ensure that he didn't get into too much trouble. She sighed and slipped off her stool, throwing plenty of money on the counter for the bartender's trouble.

 Abbie scowled at the bartender, shouting like a little kid, "He started it!"

Bowing to the people in the bar, Abbie laughed and put his arm around Lily as they walked out of the bar. So what, they had now been kicked out of... thirteen... no, fourteen bars together. Well, "together," it was always Abbie to blame for it, though Lily never seemed to mind.

"Oh come on Lily, brighten up. It's a lovely night, we're not totally trashed, and I totally saved you from having to deny that man your company."

Lily smiled briefly, unable to stop herself. She seemed to go with the flow most of the time, being the quiet one of the two had its advantages. She never got into fights, thrown out of bars, or in trouble with the local enforcements. No, somehow Lily Evans seemed to live a pretty quiet life, despite her friendship with Abbie.

Lily rolled her eyes even as she smiled, her hands tucked deeply into the pockets of her heavy woolen coat. She shivered slightly in the cutting wind that blew through the streets of New York City. Maybe a trip southward was in order. She turned her face over to look at Abbot, twisting her smile wryly.

"Well, in that case I guess it's time for us to find a bar you haven't been banned from. And hopefully not one filled with ugly men."

Even as she laughed, Lily saw a figure lurching unsteadily out of the shadows, the gleam of metal in its hand. Lily instinctively pushed Abbie away with one hand as the other darted to her gun. Then the figure spoke in a gravelly but familiar voice.

"Now, now, lady. I don't want nothin' to do with you. Just yer man here. He made me look like a damn fool in there, and I'm aiming to fix that."

Abbie almost shouted at Lily for pushing him, and then realized she was just trying to help him. Oh,  the man wanted to fix looking like a fool did he? Abbie chuckled under his breath and stepped in front of Lily protectively.

"First off, buck-o, I am not her "man," we're just friends. Secondly, I didn't make you look like a fool anywhere, you did that on your own." Abbie stopped abruptly as the man stepped forward, bringing his hand down bearing a knife. Abbie quickly side stepped, causing the man to stumble forward, barely keeping himself on two feet.

Abbie spoke again, his voice dripping with malice and venom, "Might I suggest something," Abbie punched the guy again, this time in the nose, "Try fighting someone when you're not drunk, you might actually accomplish something." Abbie spit on the ground and kicked the fool in the ribs, for good measure.

Looking up at Lily, Abbie's eyes traced down to where her hand had flown so immediately. Frowning slightly he spoke slowly and calmly, despite his racing heart and quick breathing,

"I wish you wouldn't fly to that thing so quickly."

Lily shook her head slightly and glanced down at the man on the ground. She slowly let her arm fall to her side and shrugged her thin shoulders.

"Abbot, hon, I can't throw a punch like you. Or like him for that matter. I might not have much in physical strength, but my aim is damned good. I just use what I can when I can."

She stepped forward, scanning her friend for fresh injuries.

"You okay? You look all right, but I just want to make sure."

Abbot nodded with a short smile before linking arms with her in an overly elegant manner.

"Yes, milady, I am in tip-top shape, which is much more than I can say for that dirtbag. Shall we away to another watering hole? I know of one that I think you'd like that is merely a few blocks from here."

Lily smiled and nodded to Abbot, following him as they stepped over the prostrate man.

"I hope so, dear Abbot. And don't get kicked out this time. I want to try more than one type of alcohol at at least one of these places."

The pair made their way down the street, the sharp clicking of Lily's heels filling in the pauses between the broader clacks of Abbie's loafers.