The Boys Are Back in Town

[Taylor McCarthy]

Taylor hadn't been in town long.  It had taken him only enough time to drop his stuff off at his new barracks and sign a few documents before he headed out on the town to see what sights the new and improved Kalispell, Montana had to offer.  He'd gone around, taking in the revamped downtown area.  It was almost impressive how quickly the city had grown and become somewhat of a hub within the usually quiet region.  There were brand new clubs and ritzy bars to choose from and, for some reason, Taylor had opted to forego all that and hit up the rare beacon of the city's former, sleepy identity:  Matt's Hole in the Wall.  It was good to know some things never changed.  The theme of the bar never appealed to Taylor at all, though the country music that was always playing could be forgiven so long as there was a cute girl at the bar or two.

With a short glance around, Taylor headed for the bar.  He'd been here before, on many occasions and it looked as though it hadn't changed a bit from the last time he'd walked in three years prior.  He took up a spot on a stool at the bar and waved over the bartender.  It was time to get the night going, it didn't matter whether or not he had anyone to drink with he had a little bit of money left over from his last paycheck and he intended on spending it.

A couple hours went by, pushing the night well into 'late' territory.  Taylor had chatted up a few patrons here and there with friendly bar talk and was currently working his charm on this cute little blonde number with too-tight jeans and a ponytail when a shout from across the room turned all eyes toward a scuffle that looked as though it was about to break out.  Curious as ever, Taylor slid off his bar stool, drink still in hand and crossed the bar to see if there was any trouble he could get mixed into.  He didn't care who started the fight but if fists were about to fly he wanted in on it.  Why?  Because he could and it'd probably be fun.

[Jack McCarthy]

“So, as you can see….” Jack whined as he was held up against the wall by a quite large gentleman with a skin head with his arms covered in tattoos and piercing with a similarly large gentleman in a muscle shirt pacing back and forward as if trying to restrain himself from beating Jack like they were in prison together, practically chomping at the bit to beat the snot out of Mr. Mccarthy.

…..Leave it to Jack to somehow manage to piss off two quite intimidating gentlemen when all he was trying to do is grab a quiet drink with his good lady friend. That was all he wanted. Just a night out with Onnie. Was that REALLY so awful? Why could it never be just. That. Simple. But oh no….

See, Jack had conveniently forgotten that the universe seemed to hate him. And had conspieried in every way possible to screw over Jack.

Take tonight for instants Jack didn’t want any problems. Really he didn’t….but at the same time….he just couldn’t keep his mouth shut….

One thing lead to another and hey presto here he was pinned against the wall with two gentlemen with ill intent “...When I threw into question your mother's sexual decently, that was just me me breaking the ice, trying to go get a raise out of you. Honest! okkkk...I can understand why my comments might be considered a little bit…..hurtful and I got slightly carried away with the whole “Your mother’s a ho” thing. I see now that I was mistaken ever so slightly. I was wrong and I apologize for my words. and really, at the end of the day. isn’t an apology much better than breaking my face. So wadda say? Why don’t we put this alllll behind us and you and your boyfriend….NOT THAT THERE’S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT. go on your merry way? Huh? What do you say guys. doesn’t that sound so much better….Right? Guys? Guys?...Please don't hurt me.

[Taylor McCarthy]

Now this was something Jack hadn't anticipated and yet it didn't surprise him. The faint hint of panic that was beginning to creep into the voice attempting, probably in vain, to reason with the large fellow who seemed hell bent on violence was all too familiar. He'd been back in Montana for less than a day and he'd already happened upon none other than the sole representative of a family he'd never known. Part of Taylor pondered whether or not it said something that he opted to head for a bar rather than let his own brother know he was back in town but the notion was quickly pushed aside. There was far more important matters to tend to.

"I don't usually get involved in these things. Especially on his behalf. Whatever he said or did, he probably deserves whatever it is you want to give him." The mirth and humor drained instantly from Taylor's demeanor. The usually calm, laid back young man stood straight, eyes locked upon the threatening group of guys. "But your mistake is putting your hands on a McCarthy." He didn't waver under the heavy glare of the duo who had Jack's demise on their minds. "If you were smart you'd let him go and walk away while you still have the legs to carry you."

[Jack McCarthy]

Jack didn’t have a clue how this kept happening to him. Seriously,here was a young ragamuffin just drifting through the world, a song in his heart and cheer on his voice and everyone just wanted to bring him down because of it. What did Jack ever do to truly deserve this kind of assault! You know who the real victim here was? Society. Not Jack. Society was the REAL villain here. Promoting such a violence culture in general, Would this happened 60 years again, No. Jack would have just gotten a big old hug a highfive and a tab of acid or whatever it is that people did back them. But ever since the rise of internet and porn and Donald Trump and video games, and pogs and Ipod’s ETC people have just become so violent

Really the best thing they could do in this situation is to sit down rationally and calmly and attempt to figure out how exactly things got to this point….

...That or Jack could start screaming “RAPE!” “RAPE!” on the top of his lungs. Yes that seemed like an option…..

But before Jack could even think about doing something like that, he turned his head at the sound of an all too familiar voice he couldn’t exactly speak considering the hand against his throat, but his eyes widened in surprised once he saw his brother for the first time in two years. Where the hell did he come from? Wasn’t he off playing solder somewhere? WAS HE HERE THE ENTIRE NIGHT?! Picked his moments didn’t he?

Once the two men got a sight of the large man their eyes narrowed giving Jack and his brother a dismissive glare they seemed to decide that Jack wasn’t won’t it and let him go leaving them to retreat into the night. Jack flopped onto the ground coughing and spluttering clutching his throat in somewhat over dramatic fashion before he managed to stumble up onto his feet breathing heavily before he called out after them “YEAH! THAT’S RIGHT! YOU BETTER RUN! OH YOU LUCKY! YOU LUCKY SON I WAS JUST ABOUT TO RIP OFF YOUR ARMS AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS”

[Taylor McCarthy]

Taylor wasn't, exactly, the most combative of guys. Sure, he'd gotten into a scrap here and there and rarely was one to back down from a fight despite how immature and childish the cause for it may have been but he generally preferred to remain calm and laid back. It was much easier to have a good time when you weren't pissed off all the time. That went doubly for bars. As a veteran of a few more bar fights than he'd admit Taylor was no fan of the chaos a bunch of drunken bastards looking to hurt each other could cause.

Which is exactly why the moment Jack started spouting off toward the guys walking away Taylor didn't hesitate to smack the younger McCarthy square in the back of the head.

"Shut the fuck up!" Taylor hissed, turning to glare at his brother. "Are you fucking crazy?" He lifted a hand, gesturing in the direction of the guys who obviously didn't really want to have a fight tonight. "Do you not see the size of that fucker there?" Taylor gave Jack another slap, this one to the side of his head. "You keep running your mouth and I'm gonna let them have you. I'm not gonna get my ass beat because of you!"

[Jack McCarthy]

Jack too, seemed to get into a ton of bar fights…..well not out of choice really, it just kind of happened to him. It was like at birth the doctor’s rushed him away from the loving arms of his mother and implanted in his skull an aggression magnet that naturally attracts any assholes that somehow just adore fighting Jack.

….Well he wouldn’t call them fights persay. Jack has never been in a fight that didn’t result in someone hammering fists against his skull over and over and over again about 30 seconds into the “Fight”

Hell, it was just fortunate that he had a literal tank in the form of brother dearest to back him up in situations like this.

Not that he would ever admit it…

Jack was all too content to laugh at the retreating men man swearing at them and flipping them off -Doing a total 180 in the last five minutes in the process- when he head swung forward on the impact of the slap making a loud high pitched whining sound in the process “OW!” he exclaimed looking at his brother with all sort of disgust in his eyes “It was’t my fault! I’m a pacifist! I’m all about peace and love and all that jazz! it’s not my fault if they i’m constantly surrounded by violent lunatics. every minute of every day. I’m the only sane person here! Besides I had the situation under control. I’ve invented this new form of kung-fu awhile ago, if anything you saved them. another five minutes and their eyes would have been in their butts! “Jack proclaimed with upmost certainty his hands swinging to and fro in frantic movements as usual “ ...and what are you doing here anyway? I thought you were back home playing solder or some shit..”.

[Taylor McCarthy]

Taylor stood, damn near dumbfounded as Jack started rattling off something about kung fu and eyes being in butts. The elder McCarthy brother rarely understood what the younger was saying. When Jack started going off on his tangents (which was often), Taylor's eyes usually glazed over and he started thinking about more interesting things like what color he wanted to paint the walls of his bathroom or whether or not he needed to pick up beer on the way home. His head shook, though, once Jack finally started to wind down and shrugged his shoulders.

"I was." Taylor confirmed with a nod. "I just got back. Apparently officers in the army don't like soldiers fooling around with their daughters." Taylor offered another shrug before a huge grin spread across his face and he moved forward, clamping Jack into a hearty, brotherly hug. "What about you?" He said, putting his arm around Jack's shoulders and practically dragging his brother over toward the bar. "What the fuck are you doing these days?" Taylor took up his previous spot on the bar, all but shoving his brother toward the adjacent stool. "You still with Onnie?" He asked, casting a glance in Jack's direction while waving over the bartender.