by Danny and I'm Not Mister Mxypltk
Danny Hearn slowly made his way back to Jake's Place, about two hours or so after he'd left to chase Sam Dawson. He wasn't even sure that his friends would still be there.
"Hal... what just happened?"
"You had a shag. Congratulations. About time."
"Right..."
"You know, it's weird. That last girl who liked you, you couldn't get out of her place fast enough. But this girl wants to jump your bones, and you're all for it..."
"That was different."
"How so?"
"It just was."
"I get it. That last girl, you actually liked... you thought there might be relationship potential there. So you freaked. This girl, she was just in it for the quick, post-rescue fuck... there's no attachment there."
"Can we drop it, Hal?"
"Fine. Just learn how to dress yourself before anyone sees you."
"Huh?" Danny looked down and noticed that the buttons on the shirt he had borrowed from Mick were buttoned unevenly. "Oops..."
He quickly buttoned them up and headed for the entrance. The walrus-toothed bouncer was still there, guarding the door. "Chewy."
"Danny."
"My friends still in there?"
"Yeah, a couple of 'em. Come on in."
Danny came on in. After briefly scanning the room, he noticed Grimm sitting at the bar. He walked over and sat down next to him.
"Danny... welcome back."
"Hey."
"You're wet."
"It's raining out."
"That'd do it. You want a beer?"
"Yeah, sure."
Grimm raised his arm to signal the barkeep. Some kind of stalk shot down from the ceiling, a flower bud hanging from the side. The bud opened, revealing a two-foot-wide flower with a human face in the middle.
"In any other bar, that'd seem strange," Hal said, heard by no one but Danny.
"Bring us a couple've Boag's," Grimm said to the barkeep.
"No problem, mate," came the reply. The stalk retracted, only to reappear a moment later holding two bottles of James Boag's premium. Sprouting another stalk, seemingly from nowhere, the barkeep poured them into two glasses. The barkeep then disappeared from whence he came.
"He seems nice," Danny said.
"Yup. Drink your beer," Grimm said, sliding one of the glasses across to Danny.
Danny hesitantly took a sip.
"What do you think?" Grimm asked.
"Not bad... for a turn of the century beer. They're a bit different at home. But... not bad. What is it?"
"Boag's. It's Australian. I thought you'd like it."
Danny smiled at this. He had to admit, he was beginning to like Grimm.
"So what was that between you and Sam back there? I thought you two were pretty close," Grimm said, taking a sip of his beer.
"We are. We were. Um... I'm not quite sure. I think he had some kind of hallucination back at that messed up Castle... thought he saw me attacking Michelle or something. Then he stabbed me. He's been acting weird around me ever since."
"That's fucked up."
"Yup."
"You should talk to him."
"I'll try. Whenever I see him again." Danny paused. Grimm paused. Together, they were pausing. "He's really gone, isn't he?" Danny said quietly, breaking the silence.
"You mean Sam? I'm sure he'll be--"
"No. Not Sam."
"Pete?"
"No. I know Pete's gone. I mean..."
"Turkish." They paused again, apparently settling into some kind of routine. "Yeah. Turkish is gone..." Grimm said softly.
"Weird. Just as I was getting used to him."
"Yeah. It's kinda sad."
"Well yeah, it is..." Danny began. "But then, not really. I mean, I liked the guy, I'll miss him, but... he seems like the kind of guy where he could show up in six months time, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, and no one would bat an eyelid."
Grimm laughed at this, following the laugh with, "Yeah. Something like that."
"If you know what I mean," Danny added.
"Yeah, I do. You're sure you haven't seen the last of him. And with him... disappearing without a trace, it really doesn't seem like that strange a thing to happen."
"Exactly," Danny said. After a brief moment, he added, "You know, it was bizarre having him around, at first."
"I can imagine..." Grimm replied.
"Like... here we were, with our team. We were kind of establishing ourselves... we were happy... we were all friends. Then... this new guy comes along. He's dangerous, he's mysterious. We don't know where he comes from, or what he can do."
Grimm looked sideways at Danny. He gave a smug grin, as much as it was possible for a skull to grin, smugly, even. "Drink your beer," Grimm said.
"I just mean... it took him a little while to win the team's trust. He's new, he's mysterious, he's powerful... we had to know we could trust him."
"So... this is the talk then, is it Danny?"
"The talk?"
"The let the new guy know he's gotta win our trust talk."
"I suppose it is. No offense, I mean, it's not that I don't like you..."
"I get it, Danny, really. You've got your close-knit team thing happening, then all of a sudden some skull-faced freak shows up on your doorstep. You're bound to be a little wary. In fact, I'd think less of you if you weren't." Grimm took a mouthful of his beer and continued.
"Just so you know... you can trust me, Danny."
"I think we can," Danny said, then added, "Cheers, mate."
"Cheers." They clinked their glasses and downed their beers. "Did you try giving this talk to Dirk?" Grimm asked.
"Yeah..."
Grimm laughed out loud, and said, "So how'd he take it?"
"Not... as well as you."
"Not surprised. So did the rest of the team appoint you the official initiation-speech giver, or did you just take it upon yourself?"
"Just kinda... took it upon myself."
"Right. I figured."
Danny looked slightly perplexed at this remark, and said, "How so?"
"You're very protective of this team."
"I am?"
"You are. You're not about to let a couple of dangerous new guys waltz on it and ruin it for you."
"I'm not?"
"Nope. The team means too much to you."
"It does?"
"Indeed it does. And I think I know why..."
"Enlighten me."
"Well, Danny... you're from the future, right? So... you have nowhere else to be. Everyone else... they have lives that they've lived. Places they've been. Somewhere on this planet... they have somewhere else to be."
"They have a past..."
"Right. Whereas you... this team is the only thing in this world that you know, the only place you can really be. Out of all of us... you may very well need this team the most. But then, because of that... you may be the one the team needs the most."
Danny was silent, taking all this in. He finally said, "So how do you know all this?"
"I look. I listen. Another beer?"
Danny smiled. "Sure."
Mick Harrison, beer in hand, from afar watched Danny and Grimm talk for three minutes, without taking a seat or walking away. He wanted to go sit with Danny, but he didn't want to go sit with Grimm. The logical answer to this dilemma, in his mind, was to just stand there looking at them, doing nothing.
He turned, looking for someone else, and spotted Edulcore Cicciotto, Dr. Henry Quantos, and the new guy Chance seating themselves on a table next to the stage. They were watching someone Mick recognized as the turtle dude perform some Bob Dylan song.
Mick approached the table, and was about to join the guys, when Bhaghhh-rupth, lord of the flies and of the rotten land, finished the song and said, "AND NOW, SOMETHING A BIT MORE ROCKIER..."
The guitar started playing a tone Mick recognized immediately. Before Bhaghhh-rupth, lord of the flies and of the rotten land, could start singing, Mick closed his eyes and did it.
"Love me two times, baby,
Love me twice today,
Love me two times, babe,
I'm goin' away."
Suddenly, another voice continued the song.
"Love me two times, baby,
One for tomorrow,
One just for today."
And then, Mick joined the other voice.
"Love me two times,
I'm goin' away!"
The two completed the song, and Mick laughed as he opened his eyes and turned to the mysterious voice. His laughter stopped and was replaced by a look of horror when he realized his partner was... Grimm.