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Since Devon was not a jerk, of course he wouldn't mind, but it had been polite to ask. And if Donnie was up there, then AJ wouldn't feel so guilty for making the effort and failing the execution. He really hated failing the execution.

It was a squeeze on the stairs that Devon had described. "You seem to know your way around." Not that it was a dig, just an observation. AJ was a reluctant participant in any kind of night on the town. The medical profession chewed people up and spit them out. You could only last with some hefty self-preservation techniques. For AJ that was strict self-care: water, sleep, and working out. That was all out the window tonight. Eschewed for some social time he wasn't actually participating in. At least he had some water.

The top of the stairs proved to be a bit of a disappointment. There weren't any booths or a minibar or anything like what he'd imagined. Worst of all his work friends weren't here, if they even had been to start with. It was quieter, at least. Quiet enough that AJ's sigh could easily be heard over the base.

"Are you AJ?"

One of the girls from the table had broken away, the rest had their heads together and were whisper fighting.

"Uh. That's me, yeah."

"Huh. Didn't think you'd actually show. Your friend had to bail. He asked me to give you this." She pressed a napkin into AJs hands and started to turn away on wobbly heels.

The napkin had a circle of condensation on it.

"Was there a drink? With this?" He held up the napkin and it flopped limply because of the moisture.

Called out, the girl paused before figuring she couldn't get out of the answer.

"I didn't think you'd show." She shrugged unapologetically.

That didn't explain where the others had gone, but it was a big weight lifted all the same. He chuckled and shrugged to Devon. "Well, I'm off the hook, I guess." He passed over the napkin. And then remembered there was an abbreviation that needed explaining. "Make My Night Better. It's a booty call. Donnie's my driver. He was there that night too and really the one I felt obligated to accompany." Probably because 100 days accident free was more of a driver success than a back of the bus thing. The group was still whispering behind them. Maybe he'd picked someone up and ruined their evening.

"Balcony?" It seemed the least crowded and with the most airflow.

Devon had a confession. And a defense for when AJ opened his mouth in disbelief.

"It's only bad if you think the classics from the 70's come after the ones released in the aughts." There was no faster way to weed out the young and immature than to ask them what order you should watch Star Wars in. Prequels, they were not. Of course, some people would make fun of him for growing up liking the Ewoks, but he hadn't been old enough to hate them on first viewing. AJ waved for the bartender's attention and was ignored at first. Someone much prettier had walked up. Figured.

"Local brand theaters sometimes run marathons of the good ones. It's definitely worth doing once." AJ smoothed his hair and hoped the low level pounding in his face was the bass and not an orbital fracture. No point in ruining a perfectly decent evening with an injury he could and would ignore.

Once he did get the attention of the bartender, he ordered two water bottles. For which Devon was glad, apparently.

And there was a fair amount of backtracking too. AJ was still getting used to the fact that he was a walking-talking wet blanket for the mutant population.

"Your..." AJ had to cast around for the right word. "Powers" sounded too sci-fi. Irregular genetic expression of the X-gene was the technical term, but there were connotations that people didn't appreciate from "mutant." "...abilities. They keep you cool?" How unfair. Here he'd been sweating with the rest of the club.

"I don't have the most exposure to mutants. I figured I was just lucky or something." He grimaced at his own bungling of words with his water bottle half way up to his lips. AJ stopped to reel it back in. "I mean, what you see on TV isn't the most flattering picture of the mutant community, you know?"

And how could AJ possibly be an ally to mutants when he inadvertently shut them down? Man. They'd somehow waded into something way too heavy to be shouting over the bass about.

Okay so they were moving way past his comfort zone, which was back at the bar... or maybe all the way back outside. But AJ'ed asked for it. Quite literally he'd been telling Devon that he needed to put himself out there. So turn about and fair play and a hefty tug from Devon's hand were what it took to get him to follow the man out onto the floor.

And it wasn't like he could ignore the beat. It was so loud and so prevalent that he could feel it in the soles of his feet on up through his spine. Hell. Now that they were out in between all the speakers, AJ could feel the beat bouncing around his rib cage, affecting the pace of his heart. That was it. It was the music. Not the crowd. None of them were even looking. And it definitely wasn't the small side to side stepping that AJ would swear counted as dancing. He had a PT test that he aced every fiscal quarter. He could run with a 200lb sack of sand, if he had to.

The real question was, how did he do this and have that fun he'd been pushing? And what did he do with his hands? At least one of them still had a glass in it.

> "Not even Beyonce can escape it I guess,"

AJ was shaking his head with a smile. "Is that Beyonce?"He had to lean back to answer. "These remixes are pretty mixed." Ah wait. There was the part he recognized. And you know what? He could drink the drink in his hand. That would keep it from spilling better than anything else, he figured. So he knocked more of it back in a single swallow than he had so far. Ah. Not too bad, really.

And before one song was done, the DJ was fading into the next without a single seam. Where did the frenzy stop?

"You gotta put your hands up!" They'd gathered a few other people or maybe there just wasn't enough room for everyone to not be in everyone else's business. AJ wasn't sure who that advice was for, him or Devon, but he took another sip and obliged.

AJ gave him a perfectly serviceable exit. If he'd wanted it, he would have taken it. Right? But he didn't. So now AJ was worried he'd sounded like he was trying to brush Devon off. As he spoke, AJ checked his lip and dropped the ice back into his drink so that the melting run off didn't completely soak the sleeve of his shirt.

Buying up property? Oh, no. Not Devon. Someone else. AJ sipped his drink and felt the burn uniquely sizzle on his lip. It burned the rest of the way down too, but in a much less biting way. The whiskey was smooth. So it wasn't the alcohol that nearly made him spit his drink. Devon was such a big deal that he even got a say in who bought what where? What kind of psychiatry was he into?

"Err. Do you live around here?" This part of town wasn't dumpy exactly, but it used to have some warehouses before some fires wrecked the area. It just wasn't what AJ expected. "The community around here's been through a lot considering the number of times calls came out. For sure." But... what? Was he secret mayor or something?

He took another sip to brace himself because this man was at a bar for business and now AJ was getting the brush off? Nah.

"You're going to schedule... or reschedule." He was fuzzy on which way actually applied there, but tried not to let it throw him off. "Because the night is young. The music is... retro." He hadn't actually noticed until that moment. Was that an EDM remix of Britney Swords' Toxic? "There's a whole world out there begging you to let down your hair for half a second, Devon." Looking out on the dance floor, it looked busy but not so packed that there wasn't room for a few more.

"You've got something to celebrate too, y'know?"

He was tempted to spread it far and wide even if it was obnoxious to talk about getting picked on. "You stopped an assault and battery, and, you got a fantastic wingman for the evening if you want one." There were a few people in their orbit just waiting for the right body language or verbal invitation.

He was here to celebrate. So he aimed to celebrate.

There was a lot more to Devon's thanks than just thanks. Halloween was still weighing on the other man, clearly, and AJ was a trigger as one of the few people who'd been through the aftermath. Maybe he should excuse himself and let the guy go, but if he did that every time he should, then AJ would be friendless outside of his work family. So when Devon called for him to stick close, AJ did. He knew better than to delve into Halloween. That was more Devon's realm than AJ's anyway. The mechanical side of the body was a more reliable puzzle to solve. The psyche got far too esoteric for his tastes, if anyone ever actually understood the mechanizations of a mind at all.

It felt good to get waved to the front of the line, even if it was expected. AJ raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. He was scanning the line as he passed to be sure none of this friends were stuck waiting. They must have been inside.

Was he Devon? Yes he was. And AJ was the friend. He turned to show his face to the man, knowing he wasn't going to be recognized. He let his hand fall away since the lip was scabbing up again.

> “You alright?”

AJ opened his mouth to answer, the question had been aimed at AJ, after all. But Devon again showed that he was used to being in command. Ugh. Yeah. It was the right thing to do to let the people in charge know, but did it have to be in front of the entire line? He did his best not too look back at all those interested ears.

"Just need some ice." AJ grumbled.

Just like that the door was open to them. Jumped in the alley apparently meant he got to jump the line. Oh. Wait. Didn't he have a cover fee? He had his cash and... nope. They were already inside. This Devon guy was a) expected here and b) recognized and c) not expected to pay his way in... soooo kind of a big deal. AJ smoothed his hair back and made himself stand tall. He wasn't going to let himself find a dark corner to hide away in. That hadn't been the intention of tonight.

The intention for tonight was to get a drink. AJ scanned the crowd and used his shoulders to make his way through in the fast closing wake behind Devon. Where were his workmates? Even at the bar, he didn't see them.

"What's your drink?" He made sure to get the bartender's attention before Devon could. Sometimes the leadership training that came with his EMS was handy outside of directing disaster aftermath. He knew when to flat out ignore the social norm in order to get the results he wanted. "Don't forget the first is on me."

And of course this was one of those testing moments. Alcohol was verboten, just like so many other things AJ did. He promised himself he would exercise discipline and not drink toward the outcome of indulging in escape or intoxication. With that in mind he ordered an old fashioned. If he remembered right that came with a giant single cube, usually.

> “Yeah I had hoped what I was hearing was simply misplaced anger and fear, but not simply illogical hatred. If you want to press charges, I’ve got video.”

"He's got his reasons, little as we understand them." AJ was standing alright. That was good as far as head injury went. He walked his fingers carefully around his eye socket to check for the telltale signs of a fracture, but decided it was just bruising and he'd be able to live with that.

"I don't really want to press charges." It rubbed him the wrong way and smacked of pettiness. On the other hand... if that man made a habit of trying to isolate and harm others... maybe they could turn the evidence over to the police in case of... something. "I don't want him doing it again, either." Hence the hope that their little chat had done something... He checked, but the man really was gone. Not even his shadow darkened their dim alleyway.

AJ could feel his impotent rage seeping away. His head hurt too much to hold on to it. He wiped his mouth again. Mouths could heal quickly. It would stop bleeding before they made it inside.

> “I don’t know about going in..."

AJ smiled just to show off how very okay he was. He knew in the dim light his pearly whites were rather bright.
"Aw c'mon, mom. It's dark. Nobody will notice." And he wasn't even out to find anybody anyway. Just a quiet drink with co-workers and people watching. That's all he'd had planned. He grinned a hair wider and that was enough to re-split his lip. Ah. Crap.

> “A drink is probably in order..."

"Yes. Ice. Cryotherapy is best for cutaneous, soft tissue injuries." And maybe he was showing off just a little bit. Wouldn't want his hero to think he was totally pathetic, would he?

> “How about we get you that drink and we figure out why you look so familiar.”

"First one's on me." That was both a threat and promise. As for where they'd met before, that was easy. AJ motioned for the guy with the striking eyes to lead the way. "Been around any disasters, phych treatment centers, or emergency rooms?"