Party hard; crash harder (Morry)

[Lexine Sullivan]

Lexi was pissed. And not in that 'I'm so angry I'm going to rip your bloody head off kind of way'- although she had been like that earlier on in the day- no, this was the 'I've had way too much vodka' pissed.

It had all started off well. She had gotten up in a rather good mood and had walked into work with a smile on her face. Until that fat pig turned up with his bloody awful car that seemed to break every week just so he could come in and stare at her working on it. So, as an obliging employee she got under the bonnet and was searching for the newest problem when he had come up behind her- how he had managed to be so quiet when he was that large was a mystery!- and had grabbed her ass. Well, what had happened after that would probably mean he wouldn't come near her again....

Which was why she was out tonight, dressed in one of the shortest skirts she could get her hands on, a black bra covered only by a black netted long sleeved top and heels that would leave a nice mark if she kicked out at anyone. A handbag dangled off her shoulder haphazardly as she teetered along, holding her fags and money for the evening. In her hand was a nearly empty bottle of vodka that she had been drinking for the last hour or so.

Pausing, she swayed on her feet as she stared up at the bar she had nearly walked past before making her way inside, dropping the bottle into the bin on the way. The bouncers didn't even bother to stop her- she looked like a whore of course but since she was so pissed she would probably buy more which would make the boss happy...if she didn't end up passed out on the floor of the bathroom first.

Swaying she stood at the bar and blinked rapidly as she tried to get her vision to stop doubling everything up before her, before catching the attention of the barman.

"Double vodka....straight." Her words were slurred and he was tempted to refuse but instead got her the drink and watched as she stumbled away to a table in the corner where she sat herself down, swinging her legs up onto the padded bench she had perched on. Woah, she really needed a different tipple! Vodka got her drunk after only a few straight shots...maybe she should look at starting on something a little lighter like beer or something. What the hell! She loved vodka and wouldn't give it up anytime soon and getting drunk straight away was exactly what she wanted right now.

How could she have been so stupid to attack the bloody man? He had surprised her with his touch and she had reacted like any other woman- she had turned around and swung her foot straight into the place the sun chooses not to shine....Bert had not been impressed and the pig had left threatening to sue. Damn it all! And if that wasn't bad enough ever since the night at the church she had had Morrison stuck in her head!

A scowl planted itself on her lips and she downed the drink before her in one go, grimacing only slightly at the barely noticeable burning as it ran down her throat. How could she like someone like him? She had sworn to herself that day that any supernatural being she came across would regret meeting her yet she couldn't bring herself to think about hurting this one. His friend was another matter mind you...but why did she feel the need to like him?

[Morrison Whelan]

Morrison had to admit that today had been better than any he'd had in a long time. Just for the fact that he'd been able to go to work normally, since he'd finally worked out a regular schedule again, and he hadn't had to deal with any idiots all day either. His boss had decided that it would a bad idea to give him his interns back just yet because the wolf really found them all rather insufferable, with their constant questioning and with them always screwing up his paperwork. Today he'd been allowed to work in the lab all day, so no one would really bother him.

And so, tonight, to end the day on the high note, he and Iivan had headed down to one of the local bars for a few drinks. The other wolf, having been cooped up in the apartment all day due to his nose, was very glad to be out for once. Morrison knew he'd have to keep an eye on his friend in case he drank too much and got in a fight as he was prone to, but it was worth the risk. They hadn't really had a lot of time to spend together lately, so this would be the perfect opportunity to be away from the house and just talk.

They'd already been at the bar for a few hours during which time it had managed to go dark outside, and neither of them had downed more than three beers. Currently, the two were engaged in a rather heated discussion about Iivan's guns, but at the sound of the front door of the bar opening, barely able to be heard over the crowd, the blonde wolf stopped speaking abruptly. He glanced around to who had come in and then ducked his head, pulling his glass closer as if he were afraid someone was going to take it away from him.

"What?" Morrison asked with a small laugh, looking behind him to see who the other man was so freaked out by. His eyes registered a few familiar people before he caught sight of a girl in a very revealing outfit. To see Lexi here of all places, fabulous. "Just ignore her," the man said with a smile, nudging his friend's shoulder. "She doesn't even know we're here.

"I think I'm gonna go home," Iivan muttered, draining most of the rest of his drink then standing up to leave.

"Come on," Morrison groaned, "are you afraid she's going to beat you up or something?"

The other wolf shook his head and sighed deeply. "It just makes me uncomfortable." He pulled out his wallet to pay for the drinks. "You coming with me?"

After thinking for a moment, Morry shook his head in return, getting up, glass in hand. "I'll get home later." Iivan gave him a quick nod then turned to leave. He watched the man walk off then took a deep breath and moving over to the table that Mercy had decided to seat herself at.

He had to shove past a man who was ogling at the girl, pushing him out of the way and giving him a sort of disapproving look, before he got to the table. "Can I sit here?" he asked the human, announcing his presence. Without waiting for a response or permission he slid onto the bench beside her, taking on a leisurely sitting posture that told her he wouldn't be moving any time soon.

For a second, Morrison just stared at her, interested to see how she would act when she was so incredibly drunk. She seemed calm enough, which was good. A bit frown-y perhaps... "That's an interesting outfit you've got there," he teased, smiling softly. It was actually proving very difficult to not stare down at the girl in the shirt, but he managed it well enough, keeping his eyes on her blushed face.

[Lexine Sullivan]

Lexi had been so intent on getting so drunk she wouldn't remember today that she hadn't even noticed the two wolves being in the bar- if she had she would have done something about their presence but as it was she was blissfully unaware and had gestured for the barman to bring her another drink. Once that was safely before her she informed him to just bring her the damn bottle...which was promptly placed in front of her before she was even aware of what was going on.

Ignoring the men staring at her she took the shot glass and necked the liquid, this time not even noticing the usual burning that should have accompanied the drink. It was so not healthy to be drinking this much of the spirit straight but she didn't care...everyone died one day so who cared if she ruined her liver in the process? She didn't that was for sure!

"Can I sit here?"

The familiar voice cut through her hazed mind and she swore mentally before turning her head to look at the male as he sat down next to her. Of all the goddam places she had come to he had to be here as well? Why did she have such terrible luck today?

"That's an interesting outfit you've got there,"

She glared at him from beneath her pink hair, a scowl plastered on her lips as she did so. Oh, so now he was paying attention to what she was wearing! She had practically stripped before him and he had said nothing but she wore a skirt and suddenly he grew some balls....men! She picked up the bottle and peered at the label, checking what she was actually pouring down her throat before deciding what the hell and brought the neck to her mouth and tipped it so the clear liquid spilled into her mouth. After the mouthful she felt a little better and turned back to the man, the glare still in place.

"Wha' do you care?" She slurred, placing the bottle onto the table a little too hard causing it to bang louder than it would have done normally. "S'wat people expect me to wear.."

It all came down to that of course. She dressed like this for some sort of identity, never mind that it was one she had once thought was bad. Hah. Once upon a time she had thought she had the perfect family, she had her whole life planned out! She was going to teach and fall in love...marry a great guy and have the whole two point five kid thing and the house with the white fence! Then it all went to hell and she ended up like this. Bitter and drunk. People thought she was some sort of whore so she might as well accept it and dress like it...might as well pick up some bloke in a bar and just get it over with- she was completely pissed and would hopefully not remember it in the morning but it would make it a fact.

She really didn't want to do that...

She took another swig and waved the bottle towards him. "You," She bit out, "Your a freak...God I hate you! You and your wolf-ishy-ness..." The last word came out a little more slurred that the rest, the vodka clearly working its magic. "Your kind ruined my life and I hate the whole god...goddam lot o' you!" Another swig and she swayed dangerously in her seat as she did so.

She blinked again, trying to stop the double vision of him from moving about before making the decision that having another drink would probably stop that from happening and so was soon having another gulp of liquid.

[Morrison Whelan]

While Morrison was usually an angry guy when he had a little drink in him, he was in such good spirits today that he would easily grin and chuckle when he had insults thrown at him. Seeing Lexi this was tickled him, though in the back of his mind, he knew how sad this was, seeing her like this, and she must do this often, coz she was holding that vodka pretty well. At the moment, however, it was just kinda cute, the way she swayed in her seat, clutching that bottle. It looked like a slight breeze would knock her over.

"Wha' do you care?"

The wolf raised an eyebrow, thinking that he cared a whole lot, and then blinked with surprise when her bottle smashed onto the table.

"S'wat people expect me to wear…"

He tilted his chin down a little bit and lifted his glass to his lips. “Shouldn’t be,” he shrugged, looking over at her then taking a short drink. He actually couldn’t understand why she would dress like that, like a… Well, like a whore. And the cheap color of her pink hair didn’t help. She wasn’t even like that! She was a sweet enough girl and she seemed strangely innocent from what he’d seen of her. Perhaps she dressed like that so that she could get in fights often, she’d just wait for some man to come up behind her and grab her ass or something. It was sort of sad, sort of funny, and sad again…

Setting his cup back down in front of himself, Morrison sighed and rested his elbows on the table as he watched Mercy. A slight smile played on his lips as he stared at her, noticing how her body continued to softly rock from side to side and then forwards and back, how she kept blinking to keep her eyes focused. She reminded him of a tired little puppy, only she was a drunk little human. Aww.

"You," The wolf gave her a smile that asked “Me?” What more did she have to say to him that she hadn’t already. "Your a freak...God I hate you! You and your wolf-ishy-ness..." The man couldn’t help but grin and let out a short barking laugh. Yes, his wolf-ishy-ness, that did describe him perfectly. He enjoyed the way she had said that and it made the ‘I hate you’ part bite less, not that it would have gotten to him anyway.

"Your kind ruined my life and I hate the whole god...goddam lot o' you!"

Morrison snorted softly out of amusement and indignation and opened his mouth to speak when Lexi started to topple over. He reached out a hand to grab her shoulder and got a grip of her arm, but apparently it wasn’t needed as she quickly righted herself. His hand stayed in place for a second before he slowly pulled it away and rested it on the table. “Now,” he said, with a sigh and a slight smile. “that’s not fair. We’re not all that bad, I think I’m alright at least.” He leaned forward against the table to see her face better and watched her take another drink from the bottle, which was almost half empty by now.

“You’ve had enough,” he smiled, reaching out and yanking the bottle away from her. “We don’t want you to pass out.” He placed the vodka on his other side so that she would have to get around him to get her drink back and if she tried to get another bottle, he’d just have to pick her up and carry her out. Or something along those lines… Though that would be fun.

[Lexine Sullivan]

Lexi was more than ready to tell him exactly what she thought about him 'being alright' but was cut short before she could even open her mouth as he took away her bottle of vodka. For a moment she gaped at him prettily as if she couldn't quite believe he had had the nerve to do such a thing. How dare he take that away from her!

“We don’t want you to pass out." He told her as he placed the half empty bottle on the other side of the table and her eyes moved from the bottle to him and back again before settling on his face, a scowl on her lips and the usual glare still in her eyes. He couldn't tell her what she can and cannot do! No one had that right anymore and she would be damned if she allowed some...some bloke to control her life in such a way!

"Passin' out seems good to me..." She muttered as she forced herself to stop swaying long enough to get onto her knees before moving to lean over him. Resting her weight on the one hand pressed onto the bench she reached with the other towards the bottle, not paying much attention to anything else- like the fact that half of the males in the bar were suddenly staring at the rather nice view of her breasts as she did so thanks to the netted top being a little loose on her frame. Said breasts were currently pressing into Morrison's shoulder as she wiggled closer to the vodka bottle...not that she noticed it of course, or the looks many of the men were throwing at Morrison.

She finally grasped the bottle after missing it once or twice thanks to it swimming about in her double vision but once it was safely in her hand she was moving back to her sitting position, taking a long swig from it as she did so. She tossed him the finger as she did so.

After the swig she made sure not to put it down onto the table just in case he decided to snatch it off her once again.

"S'my drink and I'll...I'll drink it!" She blinked again, mentally telling him to stop moving about so bloody much, he was making her head swim! Or was it the booze? Whatever! He needed to stop whichever way it was!

"The problem with you wolves and your wolf-ishy-ness is you'se think your so great...trying to rule our lives," She swayed dangerously but stopped herself from falling over in her seat by holding onto the table. "You can't fix me," She waved the bottle at him in anger as if it was going to stop him from coming into her life...

"You make me sick," She bit out, taking another drink then gesturing at him. "But you still make me fall for you!"

Oops. she realised too late that she had said that out loud and not in her mind voice like she had meant to. The blush that graced her face was more crimson than pink and aided mostly by the high levels of alcohol in her body. She had not meant to say that! But it was true....he was attractive and despite everything telling her not to she wanted him. He was a wolf! A bloody wolf that she had sworn to hate no matter what and here she was telling him she fancied him!

She took another gulp of the vodka, hoping against all hopes that it would completely erase her memory of ever saying those words.

[Morrison Whelan]

Morrison couldn’t help but laugh at the look that crossed Lexi’s face when he took the bottle from her. It wasn’t a teasing laugh, or mocking, it was kind-hearted enough. She looked terribly cute with her mouth slack like that, reminding him of a little kid who’d had their candy taken away and was just about to whine about getting it back. Then her expression changed, that hard glare coming into her eyes, and wolf stared at her with a light, amused smile on his lips.

"Passin' out seems good to me..."

“I’d have to carry you out though,” he grinned, watching her get slowly onto her knees, still wobbling as she did. “And since I don’t know where you live…” He paused for a moment, leaning back into the bench as Mercy started to reach around him for her drink, then continued with a sigh. “I’d have to take you back to my place.”

Suddenly, he found it very hard to keep talking, as the girl had become pressed up rather close to him. His eyes shifted downward for a moment, then he shook his head and looked away to keep from staring. If he’d known she was going to be all pushed up against him in that top he would have given her the damn bottle back! It would have been easier to ignore if she hadn’t kept wiggling to get closer to her drink and he would have pulled the vodka back to give it to her if that didn’t mean he’d have to reach under her. That would be even worse… His eyes shifted off to the side, trying to stop looking at the top of her head, and he caught the stare of a man who was standing close by. Morrison returned the man’s glare with a confused look and a half shrug. He didn’t know what was going on either…

When Lexi finally grabbed her bottle up and plopped back down on the bench, he let out a short sigh, turning his head to look at her again, though he couldn’t quite stop thinking about that view he’d just gotten of her. Jesus, he had to stop being such a man… But he was sure she’d say something to pull his mind somewhere else.

At her telling him that she was going to drink her own drink, he glanced away with a smile, and took a sip from his glass, supposing that was enough to distract him for a moment. He was feeling bad and a bit disgusted for thinking of Mercy that was, but it was her fault she’d dressed like that, and he had to admit that he could be more of a ‘dog’ than most men, so woof, woof…

Morrison looked back up at Lexine as she spoke, not really listening to her, just watching how violently she tilted to the side, looking as if she were going to topple onto the floor, but she had such a tight hold of the table that she’d be laying on the bench before falling off. "You can't fix me," The wolf blinked and looked up to her face at this, giving her a small, doubtful smile. Maybe she was right, maybe she couldn’t be fixed, but he was going to try his hardest to do so.

"You make me sick," He raised his brow softly at this, taking a drink right after she had. "But you still make me fall for you!" Morrison had to spit his beer back into the glass as he let out a short, loud laugh. He didn’t find it funny that she liked him, he knew that already and he though it rather sweet. It was amusing that she’d let it slip out so casually, like she hadn’t been putting on that she hated everything about him for the few hours they’d ever spent together. “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” he grinned over at her, resting his arms on the table and leaning forward. “You wanna know something?” He said this in a quieter voice, leaning over as if he were telling her a secret. “I think you’re quite beautiful, for a human.” He sat back again and reached over to tousle the girl’s hair, figuring that if he could find any room to tease her a little without getting her terribly upset, then he was going to take it. And it was only half teasing, really, she actually was quite pretty, and that wasn’t only comparing her to other human females.

[Lexine Sullivan]

In her very drunken state she took his laugh the wrong way, thinking that he was laughing at her for saying what she had. She was such an idiot! How could she let such a thing slip out like that? Her face was still crimson and she moved back away from him slightly, her bottle on the table completely forgotten as she tried to control her total humiliation. What had she been thinking? Oh yes, she hadn't been...alcohol confused the mind and more than that it loosened her bloody tongue more than was needed! Then he leaned forwards as if he were going to tell her something really important.

“I think you’re quite beautiful, for a human.”

"Uh..." Her face flared up once again although partly in anger as he tousled her hair. He was playing with her! Teasing her! The scowl settled back on her lips and she pulled back away from him completely her hackles rising as she did so.

She pushed herself away from the table, stumbling to her feet so she could head away from his as fast as she could without falling flat on her face. "Bastard!" She was almost tempted to throw a punch at him but even she wasn't good enough to actually land it in the state she was currently in...she'd heard of drunken boxing but now wasn't the time to try it out on someone much stronger than she was.

Anyone looking from the outside would have (wrongly) assumed that the pair of them were having a lovers quarrel and many of the men who had been staring at her before were now doing so once again, each wondering if the pretty pink haired girl was back on the market and each thinking how they were going to get her attention what with the man still sitting at the table. No one made any move however until she had left the building and one of the more shady looking men slipped out after her.

Lexi was furious with herself. And Morrison. But as soon as the cool air hit her she felt a little more sober and more than embarrassed...how could she have said such a thing to him! And he had turned it around and used it to tease her! For just a moment she teared up slightly and she had to stop and swipe at the stray tear that threatened to fall. This was one of the few things she didn't like about drinking...it made her beyond emotional and she couldn't count how many time she had woken up after a night on the town with mascara and eyeliner streaked down her face. She was glad she didn't remember those evenings since she hated being seen as weak.

Being so deep in her own thoughts allowed the man from the bar to come up behind her and before she was even really aware of what was going to, found herself against a wall, a small shriek escaping her before a hand was pressed against her mouth effectively stopping the noise leaving only a 'mmmph'! sound coming from her. Then the knife was pressed against her throat and with wide, unfocused eyes she felt very sober all of a sudden...was this how she was going to die? It was a bloody crappy death if it was! She had hoped to go out fighting now as some unknown victim of the night like so many others.

Then his hand was moving down her body and she shuddered in revulsion, even more so as the offending arm reached her suddenly far too bare thigh, squeezing at the skin. Oh god...this was not how she had pictured her evening....He looked around for a moment and seeing no one dragged her down an empty and very dark alley way.

Why wasn't she fighting back? She wasn't afraid of death and had fought people like him before but for some reason she was completely frozen in sheer terror. Her body wouldn't move despite her brain telling her to get away and get away NOW!

"Girl like you shouldn't dress like that..." His lips were right against her ear and she gave only a small whimper in response. "Gives us men all kinds of ideas...and you having that little tiff with your boyfriend means you really need a proper man."

~I'm going to die. I'm going to die in an alley way....why can't I fight back?~ Her thoughts were flying about in her head but despite every instinct in her body telling her to fight back and run away she just couldn't do it. And thanks to it being this part of town...no one was going to find her until it was too late....

[Morrison Whelan]

Perhaps it had been a bad idea to start teasing Lexi. Her face went an even darker shade of red and a deep frown pulled at her lips. Morrison pulled his hand away from her hair, giving her an apologetic sort of smile. He hadn’t wanted to upset her, he just thought he was having fun, but when she was this drunk, she seemed to have a hard time keeping her emotions all under control. He reached out after her as she got up then let his hand fall back onto the table, watching her stumble out of the bench. "Bastard!" He looked up at her at this then glanced down with a sigh as she began to wobble away, off through the bar.

After a minute, he slowly got to his feet, figuring that he should followed after to her to make sure that she didn’t get herself in trouble. He left his glass where it was, sure that someone else would take care of it, and hurried outside, ignoring the stares that quite a few men were giving him. Horny, jealous perverts, all of them, he thought bitterly, glaring at a man by the door who was giving him quite an amused, malicious look. Only when he got outside, could he remind himself, again, that if Mercy didn’t want that sort of attention, then she wouldn’t have dressed like that in the first place. But to get herself that drunk at the same time was more than idiotic, since there was very little chance that she would be adept at fighting when she could barely stand straight.

She’d gotten herself in situation that could turn dangerous, so the sooner he got her somewhere safe, the sooner he could stop worrying about her. If only he could find her… She couldn’t have wobbled off that fast, he should have still been able to see her moving down the sidewalk, or collapsed on it. And she couldn’t have gone back into the bar, he would have at least seen her, she would have had to walk right past him. For a short while, he stood in place, looking around to make sure he hadn’t missed anything, then called out Lexi’s name, turning around then yelling for her again.

There was no response, great, now he’d have to go looking for her! Had she perhaps gone off and stumbled into some random person’s car? He hoped not.

Morrison slowly moved off to the right, sniffing softly, trying to pick her smell back up, or at least the scent of alcohol still on her. It was actually quite easy to find Lexi’s scent against, but he couldn’t see her anywhere. She had moved along the side of the building and then down an alley, where someone else had joined her. This was not good, not good at all. Quickly, he moved into the alley where he immediately caught sight of a man pressing Mercy hard against the wall, his hand up by her neck and his lips pressed up by her cheek. This was not going to turn out well for him.

Silently, the wolf moved closer to the pair, hoping that the man wouldn’t look around and see him. As it turned out, he was so wrapped up in the girl that he didn’t notice Morrison even when he stood right behind him. He now realized there was a knife pressed to Mercy’s neck, which had to be the reason she wasn’t fighting back at all. She was obviously a fighter, but she wasn’t stupid enough to fight when moving at all would cause her to have her throat cut open. He didn’t want to do anything that would get her neck slashed either. Gritting his teeth to keep from growling, the wolf lashed out and grabbed a hold of the man’s wrist that was attached to the hand that clutched the knife. The man started to yell something, but he was stopped when Morrison smashed his knee into the middle of his back and yanked him backward and away from Lexine.

“You.” Morrison swung the man around so his back was pressed to the opposite brick wall. “Fucking.” He swung his knee up between the human’s legs. “Bastard.” He threw the man down to the ground, letting the back of his head scrape against the brick, before kicking him hard in the gut, just for good measure.

Breathing heavy, the wolf shook his hands out to stop himself from clenching them up in anger and turned around to look at Lexi. His expression and body immediately relaxed, concern for the girl making his touch soft as he moved over to her and gently took a hold of her shoulders to move her out of the alley. “Are you alright?” he asked her quietly. He couldn’t see any physical injuries on her, but mentally, she had to be shaken.

[Lexine Sullivan]

Lexi had been brought up better than this. Brought up to be respectful and to dress right and proper and once they had been murdered everything had fallen apart more than it had and she guessed that what was happening now was completely and utterly her fault- why couldn't she have just died with them instead of having to live in this life now? She could have avoided all of this! It was during these thoughts she heard someone shout her name and her eyes widened slightly as she recognised the voice calling out but she didn't dare shout out thanks to the knife that was still pressed against her throat. He too heard the call and turning his head to look towards the alley entrance soon decided that whoever it was wasn't going to interrupt him.

"Don't even think about it," He growled at her at the same time she was thinking she wished she could shout out, "We don't need anyone to join out little party do we?" She shook her head slightly, eyes still wide and now completely focused thanks to this rather sobering experience...She could add this to the (short) list of things that terrified her.

It was as his free hand was starting to wander up her skirt that Morrison appeared in the alley way and she had to fight to keep her relief at seeing someone she knew from her expression although the fear wouldn't leave her eyes no matter how hard she tried and a small whimper escaped her as the unknown male pressed his lips against her cheek causing her to cringe in disgust. How dare he touch her like this? Ok, so it was her fault for the way she was dressed but that didn't give him the right to do this to her!

She wasn't sure what happened next but the next thing she knew the man was being ripped away from her, leaving only a small nick on her throat and her pressed up against the wall as far as her body would allow her. As Morrison beat the man to the ground in anger (assuming that it was aimed at the fact that a man trying to force a woman was completely immoral and not because the man had any feelings for her) she let out a little sob and felt her knees try and buckle beneath her but she refused to have a complete breakdown in front of the sick bastard in front of her.

When Morrison placed his hands onto her shoulders she flinched violently before realising who it was that was touching her and she allowed him to lead her out of the alleyway and into the street.

“Are you alright?”

What kind of question was that to ask her? However it was with those words that she realised she was trembling violently and felt the shock settle in...this was the second time she had been attacked in such a short amount of time and she couldn't help but think that maybe her time was up. Or she was turning into one of those pathetic girls who only seemed to be alive on the planet to get killed by something stupid...and she really didn't want to be one of those people!

"I.." Her knees buckled completely this time and she reached out to grasp his arm before she could fall down onto the ground. She was shaking so badly she wasn't sure how far she would get before her legs gave out on her again. Tears threatened to fall and she bit her lip hard to stop them in their tracks although it didn't stop the tears gathering in her eyes. "I..." She swallowed and shook her head silently as she looked away from him.

Guilt was now starting to bite into the terror and shock and she couldn't help but wish she hadn't been so horrible back in the bar...or on every occasion she had met him but she couldn't really help her prejudice against his type and it had all come so natural...him saving her was not something she had expected and quite frankly she would have expected him to just ignore it and walk on by. Why the hell was he bothering with a pathetic, stupid and idiotic human like her? He must be insane.

[Morrison Whelan]

“Are you alright?” Really? He’d asked that? Of course she wasn’t alright, she was a mess, the poor thing. But it was a reflex and it seemed to wake Lexi out of a shock she’d fallen into. Her body was shaking now and it felt as if she’d lost most of the control of her legs. Morrison had to stop and grab her up under her arms so that she wouldn’t fall to the ground. Slowly, he coaxed her to the side of the bar, now that they were away from the alley, so that she could have something sturdier than him to lean on.

"I..." The girl’s legs completely gave out and Morrison held her tighter to make sure she wouldn’t fall, even though she had a tight hold of his arm. He watched her silently, his eyes full of concern. He hated to see her like this, even if he did resent her for hating him for no reason, to him this just wasn’t how she was supposed to be. She was supposed to be some badass bitch and now she was wasted and on the verge of collapsing on the ground, bawling like a child. He didn’t think her weak for it, not at all, he just didn’t want her to be feeling all of this; she’d suffered enough lately, hadn’t she?

"I..." He slowly lifted his hand from the girl’s torso to place it gently on her cheek, hoping she saw this as a comforting gesture. “Shh, Lexi,” he whispered, sinking down a little so that he could look at her straight on. “come on, let’s get you out of here.” He softly wiped away the tears that were gathering on her eyelashes then stood up fully and half-dragged her away from the wall. Though he didn’t want to carry the girl, he kept a very secure hold on her, just in case she found that she couldn’t walk anymore. As he started walking her to the parking lot, he pulled her arm around his waist so she had something to lean on.

Morrison had hoped that he could take Mercy away from the bar without being bothered, but one of the men he’d seen earlier had come up behind them and he turned to look at the human. Before the man could say a thing, the wolf opened his mouth. “There’s a guy in that alley,” he pointed with the hand not supporting Lexi. “he might need an ambulance.” The human blinked and looked between the two of them then he slowly turned around to head back the way he’d come. Good idea.

His attention back on Mercy, he led her quickly as he dared to his car. He was glad that he and Iivan had decided to take separate cars out here, otherwise he would probably have had to carry Lexi somewhere or wait for his friend to bring the car back. And Mercy really didn’t like the other wolf. Still holding the girl up, Morrison reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys to open the back door, thinking that she might like to lay down instead of being forced to sit in the front seat. “I can take you home if you like,” he told her, carefully removing his arm from around her since she now had the door and the frame to hold onto now. He was almost sure that Lexi wouldn’t want to go back to his apartment, because then she would be completely under his mercy and he still wasn’t sure how much she trusted him, though it certainly had increased since he’d saved her from that bastard in the alley. Plus, Iivan was at home and she surely wouldn’t react well to that.

[Lexine Sullivan]

Morrison began to move her away from the alleyway and she was grateful for it although his grip was a little too tight and she couldn't help but react to it with a wince- she never had taken grips to the arm very well but that all stemmed from her brother..and that was something she really didn't want to revisit tonight. This was enough to make her feel like a little girl all over again without adding that to the mix! So when they came to the side of the bar she leaned against the wall breathing in deeply trying to get herself under control, not liking the way she was losing the cool she usually managed to keep up. Get a grip! She chided herself mentally as she fought to keep the tears at bay, flinching only slightly when his hand pressed against her face in what she assumed was a comforting manner although thanks to her 'near miss' any touch was enough to make her cringe in horror.

Then she was being pulled away from the wall and led across the way to the car park, stopping only for Morrison to turn them both to look at a man she only vaguely recognised as being in the bar when she had been in there and she shied into the much larger male holding her up. She didn't want this other man near her! Luckily Morrison spoke and pointed towards the alleyway where she hoped the man was still unconscious if only for her sanity's sake! she wasn't sure she could handle him being able to walk out of there and after her after such a short time after the incident.

As Morrison opened the car door for her she moved so that she was no longer leaning on him and instead shifted her body weight onto the door frame only really sparing a brief thought that it was a nice car as she did so.

“I can take you home if you like,”

Home? Even though the incident had sobered her up nearly completely she was a little slow on the uptake and blinked as her brain tried to catch up with what was being said. Home? Wasn't Bert at home? No... He should have gone home long before now and apart from the cats there would be no one there. Then she thought that she really didn't want this man into her home...the thought that he would know how to find her at any given moment was just horrific! What would she do if he just appeared one night or something? How would she keep her lives separate then?

Lexi had always been able to keep her nightlife separate from her 'normal' life and if she brought this man to her home she might as well just throw everything out of the window! She didn't want to feel like home wasn't safe anymore...although 'home' hadn't been safe in such a long time. In fact, there wasn't even a home now her family were gone, just a place to live. It wasn't the same.

And if she was completely honest with herself the very thought of letting this male into her home was enough to nearly make her blush. Despite everything she really liked him (and hated him for it) and to bring him home was like telling the world that she was ready for something she wasn't sure she would ever be ready for. She was quite comfortable with having this awkward 'relationship' they already had going thank you and didn't want to change it...despite every time they met it was changing all the time.

Finally she gave in, and, sinking down onto the seat she looked away from him and her voice dropped to just above a mumble as she gave him the address to the garage although knowing her luck he would know already (and she really hoped he didn't!). She would just get him to drop her off and she would get inside lock every door in the garage before climbing up to the apartment she rented right above it. If she did that she could avoid having him in her home! Yeah. That was a good idea.

It would of course be just her luck if he did something to completely throw that plan out...or even worse (or was that better?0 Bert would be waiting for her like he had a habit of doing if she just disappeared out on a bender. No. She was sure he had a date or something tonight so was probably getting lucky so it would more than likely be Morrison who changed her plans...

...It was whilst she had been thinking all of this that she suddenly realised that she wasn't shaking nearly as much as she had been only a few minutes before. Obviously keeping her mind on something else was working wonders!

[Morrison Whelan]

Silently, Morrison watched as Lexi tried to process what he’d asked her. He half expected her to tell him that she didn’t know, because she was now so out of it that she couldn’t even remember where home was. Another part of him wondered if she would say anything, since she looked on the verge of just sitting down and passing out. In that case, he’d have to make sure Iivan wasn’t around when he brought her back to the apartment. That made his mind shift to the other wolf, wondering why he hadn’t called him by now, asking where he was. He might have brought a girl home...

When Lexine sat down, he forced himself to stop thinking of his friend and if it was possible he’d find blood all over the living room when he got home, it had happened before. As it turned out, the girl did tell him her address, though she did so with her eyes down turned and resignation in his voice. Clearly, she didn’t like him knowing where she lived in case he... Turned up in the middle of the night perhaps? He was a bit insulted to think that she imagined he was that creepy. He wasn’t a stalker, not really.

Repeating the address to himself so he wouldn’t forget exactly what it was, he moved to shut the door and waited for Mercy to scoot her knees out of the way before shutting it completely. Sure that the girl wouldn’t run out of the car as soon as he turned away from her, he slid into the driver’s seat with little worry, still repeating the address under his breath. After starting up the engine, he turned on the GPS for directions so he wouldn’t have to keep reminding himself what the street and number of Lexi’s home was. Finally settled, he glanced in the rearview mirror to look at the girl and make sure she was doing well. His chest tightened a little, seeing how miserable she looked now. The sooner she was back home, where she (hopefully) felt safe the better.

As Morrison began to pull out of the parking lot, his phone rang, but he only pulled it out to hang it up and then turn it off. It had been Iivan, finally, yet he didn’t want anyone calling him and distracting him right now, especially not a friend who might be a little bit worried. He should know by now that Morry was a big boy; he could take care of himself.

During the drive, the wolf was quiet, figuring that it would be more comforting for Lexi to only have the sound of the car moving and not feeling any pressure to keep up a conversation, especially with her mind being as sluggish as it was. Plus, it would only distract him from the road and the directions the GPS was giving him, and he didn’t want to miss a turn and end up taking a long detour; that wouldn’t be fun for either of them. Not that any part of tonight had been fun. It could get better, but he doubted it would.

Within minutes, they were arriving at the right address, though as first Morrison thought that he’d gotten it wrong because they were pulling up in front of a garage. It was only when he realized there was no reason for the place to have two stories that it occurred to him that Mercy actually could live here. He parked the car along a curb right up besides the building and turned around in his seat to look at Lexi, leaving the car running. She still looked depressed, in need of comfort, and he wanted to do something for her, but he wasn’t going to force his company on her. “Are you alright to go in on your own?” he asked, leaving it open for her in case she did want help, but she wasn’t willing to ask for it.

[Lexine Sullivan]

The ride back to her home was quiet and for some reason she wished it wasn't- she didn't like being left to her own thoughts which was probably why she was always getting into fights or high as a kite....thinking led to memories and it was never a good thing to think back on. So instead of thinking she simply lay her head against the window and stared out into the world as they drove by, listening only to the breathing of the wolf and the occasional directions from the computerized female voice coming from the satnav.

She was feeling a lot more sober now and was able to see straight without feeling like the world was about to tilt on its axis like it had threatened to do so multiple times in the bar earlier but she supposed an incident like the one she had just had was enough to sober anyone up...no matter how drunk they were! Sighing softly she moved slightly so she could reach down and undo the straps that were holding her shoes onto her feet before pulling them off and placing them on the floor so she could wiggle her toes slightly, relishing in it as she did so. That was better....

Before she knew it however the car was pulling to a stop and he was turning around to face her although he made no move to get out of the car and she couldn't decide whether she was thankful for it or not...she really needed to make her mind up when it came to him!

“Are you alright to go in on your own?”

She briefly considered telling him yes, that she was more than fine to go in on her own and that she was a big girl but she doubted he would believe her after tonight...she wouldn't believe her either! Damn life getting like it was! Why couldn't things just be easy instead of being so hard? She bent down and picked up her shoes from the car floor before opening the door so she could get out and as she was doing so spoke up. "You can come in if you want," Her voice was soft and only a hint of embarrassment came through although the pink was tinging her cheeks again. She would have blamed the vodka if it wasn't completely worn off in all ways that mattered.

Picking her way lightly across the path to the small door next to the large metal roller doors she fished out a bunch of keys from her bag and slid the correct one into the lock before opening it and stepped inside, flicking a switch as she did so since she didn't really fancy tripping over any exhausts that might still be laying around from earlier. Holding the door open she turned to look at him, "Are you coming?" Before she flicked the catch to lock once he closed it behind him and made her way across the garage floor.

Skirting around oil spills and various odd parts she brushed past several cars that ranged in old and decrepit to beautiful sleek machines. She was tempted to have a look at a few of them just to make sure nothing had happened in her absence but thought it would look a little strange to be doing such a thing after what had happened but then, people dealt with things like that in their own way didn't they? And fiddling about with cars had always kept her head level, even as a little girl. She missed her daddy so much and it was times like this she wished he had never left her. She wished none of them had left her....

Reaching the far side of the garage she turned to see Morrison had followed her across before she turned her attention to the door that seemed to blend into the wall, and grabbing another key off the bunch, opened it up and made her way into the small corridor, turning to the light switches on the wall and flicking the one lit the way up the stairs and another turned the main lights off in the garage before she set the code in the security system that was placed next to it. If he wanted to get out anytime soon she would have to disable the thing so hopefully this wasn't going to be 'I'll see you up the stairs' thing where she would have to come back down again.

"This way," She led the way up the stairs until she reached another door, and opening this led the male into the apartment she rented from Bert. It wasn't a shabby place, in fact it was decorated quite well and had nearly a 'homely' feel to it...although not quite. It was more a 'this will do' feel, lacking those little touches that made it a real home. She had never bothered with it past making it look nice for any visitors she may have (although technically Bert had been the one to get it looking good), instead she thought of it as somewhere she had to come to until she either moved away or she died...whichever came first.

Looking around she noticed the absence of the cats and assumed that they had gone out for the night when Bert locked up for the night and so made her way into the sitting room (this place was open plan apart from the bathroom...obviously) and placing her shoes to the side of the sofa looked at the man lost for words all of a sudden.

Now what was she supposed to do? Offer him coffee? She bit her lip softly before decided that taking off the netted top would be a good start so she could put something a little warmer on and made her way over to the large queen sized bed that could just be seen between the sheer pink curtains that kept it separated from the rest of the huge room. Pulling back the curtain she tied it back before pulling the top over her head and tossed it onto the chair by her bed before picking up a blouse that had been tossed there earlier.

"Do you want a drink?" She turned around and moved back into the main part of the room, pulling the blouse on as she did so but neglected to fasten the buttons as she spoke. "I have coffee...or tea? Beer?" Her eyes moved over to the side where several empty bottles of vodka and beer sat from what had obviously been a good few days worth of solid drinking. She was rather glad that there were no drugs about although a few crumpled packets of cigarettes could be seen about the place...although it wasn't messy by any means since she was actually a very tidy person.

She moved to the fridge and opened it, bending slightly at the waist so she could actually see what she did in fact have in, discovering mostly beer and a half empty bottle of milk...maybe she should do some shopping...

Why had she let the man in? her face was still tinged pink and she was so glad she was currently half in the fridge so he couldn't see how embarrassed she was at having a male in her home...the first male she had ever had in her home for that matter not counting Bert!

[Morrison Whelan]

Whatever Lexi told him would probably decide where he was going to sleep tonight. If she told him no, she was fine, which was what he expected of her, then he would be off home and would get to stay at his familiar, comfy apartment. If she told him that he could walk her to the door, perhaps, then it would be home as well. And if she did allow him to follow her up to her flat, then there was a 50 percent chance that he would be sleeping on her couch, depending on how she was feeling. Honestly though, he expected her to say nothing and just leave him sitting there. He’d let her be if that was the case since she’d had enough to deal with tonight.

"You can come in if you want,"

Morrison smiled softly at this. He could hear that bashfulness in her voice but she would be even more embarrassed if she was aware that she had been doing an incredibly poor job of not letting on how much she really liked him. He thought it cute of her, since she was so much younger and he almost thought of her as a little girl, a very mature little girl. And he tried to keep that mentality, but only so that he wouldn’t lead her on and into anything that she would regret. At the same time, he’d be perfectly willing to try some serious sort of relationship if she started it because she would have to feel really comfortable with his ‘wolf-ishy-ness’; it wasn’t going away. She was alright with letting his wolf-ish self into the building, so that had to count for something.

For a moment, he watched Lexine get out of the car before he turned back around to switch the car’s engine and headlights off. It worried him for a second about leaving this nice, very out of place, sports car on the side of the road, but he reasoned that anyone would be too afraid of the consequences to mess with it. The garage had to have surveillance, didn’t it? Putting the safety of his car out of mind, Morrison opened the door and slid off his seat, locking the door behind him and then pocketing his keys. His eyes now turned up so that he could follow after Mercy and at seeing the back of her pink head, all thoughts of his auto were pretty much gone.

Lexi was already up by the door as he was walking toward the path. "Are you coming?" Of course he was, silly question. He only responded by hurrying up and jogging over to join her at the door where he waited for her to move ahead before closing it up and letting her lock it. Slowly, he followed her across the floor, looking around him as he did. This was a nice looking place, and it must be trusted, there were some really nice rides sitting around, it was strange that he’d never noticed it before. Perhaps he could bring his car here, though he really hoped he wouldn’t have to, and if he did, it would be better than letting one of Iivan's 'friends' work on the car.

Morrison had been staring at a black BMW, restraining himself from going over to look at it, and turned to look back at Lexi in time to see her glancing back at him, making sure he was still following her. Was he that quiet on his feet? Not that it mattered... He now stood behind her as she opened up a door that blended in with the wall and then followed her through, shutting the door while she went to turn on the light. So far, it didn’t seem like a bad place to live, at least everything was clean enough, though it would be better if there was a separate entrance for the rooms upstairs. Though he really shouldn’t care much about all that, it wasn’t as if he had to live here.

"This way,"

He looked around him a bit, wondering if there was actually anywhere else to go, but there wasn’t, so she must be right when she told him that it was ‘that way’. A small smile crossed his lips and he followed her up the stairs, keeping his nose turned to the ground so that he wouldn’t accidentally look up her skirt. Now they were at another door, and he was half expecting another set of stairs, but the door was opened, he could only see a room beyond the threshold. This was her house then.

Mildly curious to see how she lived, Morrison walked in after her then shut the door. He stood in place for a moment and looked around, deciding that he liked the openness of the space and noticing the faintest smell of cats, though he didn’t see any wandering around. Still, the whole thing felt a little small, though that could just be because he was used to having about half the floor space on their level of the apartment complex. It made him feel a bit spoiled, but if he could afford it, why the hell not?

He looked to Mercy finally as she was placing her shoes down and moved further into the room, stepping over to the sofa where she was. Their eyes met for a moment and he held her gaze until she glanced, away, apparently lost for words. He couldn’t blame her; he didn’t have anything to say either. She now turned for him and made her way through a pink curtain (it sort of matched her hair) to get to her bed. At first he was curious as to what she was doing, but when her hands moved to pull of her top, he looked away, staring over at the wall as if it had some inspiring painting hung on it.

"Do you want a drink?" The wolf looked back over at this, glad to see that she had pulled on a less revealing shirt, at least it would be if she buttoned it up. "I have coffee...or tea? Beer?" Morrison followed her gaze over to the empty bottles and tried not to frown or look disgusted, since he didn’t think it was that healthy to drink that much, though of course that was only when it came to Mercy, not himself. “Water would be nice,” he said, tucking his hands into his pockets and walking into the kitchen as Lexi poked her head into the fridge to scout out something to drink. He hoped she wasn’t looking to get herself something alcoholic again.

“Are you doing alright?” he asked after a few seconds. Lexi was acting fine, better than he had ever thought she would, and it worried him a little. He didn’t like it when people held in their feelings, especially when it was around him, because when all those emotions came out, somebody got hurt. Plus, what would be the point of him coming up here if she was just going to offer him a drink and then what? He wanted her to talk about what had happened, at least a little bit, though it might make her start crying. Oh well, he could deal with it.

[Lexine Sullivan]

Lexi honestly didn't know what the hell she was thinking. She had spent so much time and effort making sure that no one from her other life knew where she worked and lived and here she was letting this man into her home as if she had no cares in the world! She had to be going insane...there was no other logical reason for liking him as she did or for the madness that seemed to come about whenever she was around him. Hell, even Father Timothy had been surprised to hear that they were not in fact a couple and had informed her that they seemed 'rather well suited'. Stupid old man.

“Water would be nice,”

His voice broke through her thoughts and as she straightened up from the fridge she decided she didn't want either milk or beer and so closed the door with a bump from her hip and made her way over to the tap and turned it on before leaving it to run ice cold as she collected two glasses from the cabinet. Once this small but essential task was done she stuck her finger under the flow of water and decided that it was plenty cold enough before filling both glasses up, turned the tap off and handed the one over to him. "Here, sorry its not bottled." she knew that many preferred bottled water but it was such a pain to buy it in all the time when there was a perfectly good resource in her own home.

“Are you doing alright?”

Well, that was a good question. Was she ok? She wasn't actually sure about the answer to that...on the one hand she seemed alright, not in shock like she had been and certainly not drunk any more and yet on the other hand she was still reeling that something like that had happened to her and she hadn't even been able to fight the bastard off! She moved to the stack of bottle and without even paying much attention began to pick them up and transferred them into the bin that was hidden inside the cupboard beneath the sink, acting more on autopilot than anything else as she thought about the question.

It wasn't until she had finished the job and washed her hands that she decided she really was not alright but not because of the man from earlier- although that had not been a good experience at all-but because of what was happening now.

She picked up her glass and took a sip, her hand only lightly shaking before she moved over to the sofa so she could sit down, and once she had placed the glass onto the small coffee table, curled up into the seat trying her best not to look at him and blush like mad like she kept seeming to do...it was getting silly now!

"I'm alright," She finally told him. "Men are pigs...not much anyone can do about that." She seemed to realise what she had said but didn't make a move to apologise for it- men were pigs and women could be cows but that was just how it went and there wasn't anything anyone could do about it. "I was just.. caught out." Well, 'caught out' was putting it rather mildly...completely terrified would have been a better one to describe how she had felt about the attack but she just wasn't comfortable admitting that to herself let alone someone she had only met a few times yet was really falling for hard.

"Was bound to happen sooner or later I guess," Another shrug and she was reaching for her water, taking another long sip, her throat feeling very constricted all of a sudden and it was a few moments later before she put the glass back down. She wished he would take a seat, him hovering over her like that was making her nervous and she didn't like being nervous in her own home. then she decided she didn't want him to sit down and instead she got to her feet.

She stood there for a moment looking a little lost as if she wasn't sure what to do with herself although she was in actuality having an internal fight with herself about what she was going to do. A part of her wanted it very much and another part of her was totally against it...and she wasn't sure which part was the greater just yet.

It seemed like forever but it was only a second or so and suddenly she was moving towards him, her mind made up although this was yet another thing she was very much afraid of. What if he rejected it? Or did whatever it was that wolves did to their victims? Her skin crawled at the very thought but it didn't stop her from getting up onto her toes and pressing her hand against his chest pressed a small, light and barely there kiss onto his lips before pulling a full retreat back to the sofa before he could move, blushing scarlet as she did so.

"Thank you...for getting him off me..." She looked completely away from him not daring to look at his reaction to such an un- Lexi like thing. She didn't know how he was taking it but she was a mass of nerves...oh god. What if he took it the wrong way? Or wanted something she wasn't sure she wanted to give?