Malachi heard a commotion behind him, bit didnt turn around. He listened to the argument, but it felt wrong to stare. Johanna obviously didnt have such reservations. She turned around and watched Mel argue with Nev and walk over to the bar. Jo studied Mel intensively, like she was watching a shiny insect. Johanna was being unusually quiet, nursing her third drink and watching Mel wordlessly. Malachi held his breath, praying she would stay this way and not do anything stupid. Oh I shouldntve let her have all those drinks. He bit his lip as the girls locked eyes. Neither blinked, both seemingly turned to stone. Finally Jo moved a drunken hand to the spot on her hip where her sword should be, then tried to cover it up by clumsily hooking her thumb into her belt loop.

"What is this a Mexican Standoff? The bartender broke the silence with his disarming comment. They both looked a little surprised by his intervention. Johanna confused, having not a clue what that would be, Mel appeared amused, though Malachi suspected both of them to be to drunk to really think about what he said. Malachi thought maybe that was going to work until Johanna ruined the moment.

Jo drunkenly threw her arm around Mel, shaking her a little. "Good for you girl I must have forgot my knife at Phoebe's," she rambled. "Because I would have stabbed the guts out of you." She grinned hugely after her last declaration.

Malachi's stomach dropped. Sheit

Not good not good not good. Malachi was frozen to his chair. He knew he needed to get Jo but he couldn't move. He saw the others all stiffen, but they didnt move either. Malachi watched in horror as Jo continued drunkenly going on like her and Mel were old friends.

"Who'sss this president guy? He sounds like a silly fella. Mal is good at researching." She looked at him and grinned mischievously. "But no one gets ahold of him except me."

Malachi heard a couple people chuckle at that statement. "Johanna-" he started, but she stopped him.

"HUSH Malachi. Im talking to my good buddy Mev. She was going to give me something for my headache." Johanna poked a now furious Mel. "Right, friend?"

Malachi sucked in a breath. She's gonna get herself killed, he thought, not knowing which she he was referring to. At last he retained control of his leg muscles. Malachi jumped out of his seat to attempt to de-escalate the situation.

He spoke fast as he tried to pull Johanna away from Mel, he was almost incoherent. "I am very sorry Miss Mel. Johanna has had four tall, strong drinks and needs time to cool down. Do not worry about us. Believe me, if we could leave, we would. Unfortunately for the both of us, your superiors have confiscated our transportation devices, so we will not be departing for an unknown extended period of time. I offer you me deepest apologies for any inconvenience Johanna might have caused, or any gesture that has displeased you. I assure you, Miss Mel, it will not happen again." Malachi smiled nervously and tugged gently on Johanna's arm to encourage her to move to a different spot. Johanna, of course, fought him."

She yanked her arm back and clutched to her stool. "HUSHIE Mal. You cant tell me what to do. I'M talking to Nel, not you. Don't worry about me, Mallie, I'm all goody. No need for all your big wordses." Turning back to Mel, she continued rambling, swinging her free arm in wide gestures as she spoke. "I drink I want another think. What about you, buddy? More slurpies? Or..." Jo glanced down at Mel's holster. "We could try out your... blasty thingy," she finished, unable to think of the correct words. She has a death wish, Malachi thought. Johanna wants that girl it shoot her in the skull. She wants her to blow her brains out. Malachi was convinced of this even before she made the stupidest decision of her life. She reached a shaking, drunken hand to Mel's hip and pulled out her firearm.

Malachi was in shock. He knew Johanna did stupid things, even more so when she was drunk, but he didnt think it would get this bad. He should have expected it, she had caused problems for them before. For most people, it seemed like alcohol amplified their personality, but for Johanna, it reversed it. She became calm and mello. Giggly, slow, friendly, charming. So when Mel pinned her, instead of fighting she started laughing. Quiet, slow chuckles. She lay on the ground, hands behind her head in a pillow form, legs crossed, just staring at the ceiling. Oh. Oh no. It finally dawned on Malachi what she was doing. Malachi cursed in Latin. She's actually trying to kill herself. He looked up at Mel with her gun. She wants Mel to shoot her in the head. Malachi grabbed Johanna and dragged her up. He put her arm around his shoulder as she continued to giggled childishly. Her armor dug into his side, but he didnt care.

"For what it's worth, Im more sorry now than I was two minutes ago." He looked from the bartender to Mel to Nev to the rest of the group. "Clearly, we are not going anywhere, but I'm going to take her outside to cool off, if that's fine with everyone." Malachi didnt wait for verbal approval, for once, but just turned around and started heading for the stairs. He wasn't sure how he was going to get her up the stairs, but at this point he was so done with her bullcrap he was going to do it on straight power of will. As they were walking away, Johanna looked back at Mel and gave her a thumbs down.

Malachi jumped at the sound of Nev's voice behind him. He couldnt help but remember the boy making him jump earlier. Here we go. He thought sarcastically. This is gonna be fun. He slowly set Jo on the ground, who slumped down, eyes half closed, grinning. Malachi turned around to face Nev, not really wanting to after what his girl did to his girl. Malachi forced himself to look Nev in the eye and apologize for what seemed like the 100th time.

"Look man I'm sorry. I already said that. I know that doesn't do anything, but I really am. I can see coming hear was a mistake and following you guys was an even bigger mistake." He looked back at Jo, who appeared to be falling asleep. Malachi lowered his voice so she couldn't hear his next words. "I just wanted to bring her back. She was from here, you know. The research and documentation is real, but I wanted to bring her back home. I wanted her to be able to be here again, but this world has changed. All her friends are dead. There's new weapons she doesnt understand. This world cast her out for a reason. They're not ready for her again. I don't know if any world is." He locked eyes with Nev again. "I can see that Johanna causes problems for your group. Especially for Mel, it seems. We can vanish without a trace at any time, if our belongings are returned to us. I promise you though, Johanna is not always like this. She's brash and crazy on the outside, but she's good, I know she is. Whatever you guys decide, just don't separate us." Malachi tried to be firm, but he knew it sounded like begging. He couldnt hide the pleading in his eyes and voice. "Please."