Chapter Text
Cameron sat staring around the bar, the blaring music making her head ache. Joe was supposed to be meeting her here now and all of her senses were on edge because of it. It was, as he had said, “Just a conversation to discuss business.” She knew better than that. They weren’t exactly back together, but both had ended things with their respected partners. Tom had even said that he couldn’t compete with what was between Joe and Cameron. She had rolled her eyes at him and scoffed, but once he had said it, she couldn’t get his words out of her mind. He was right, though, she knew that. He wasn’t Joe and because of it, she couldn’t be in love with him in the same way he was with her, at least not while Joe was still in the picture.
What had bothered Cameron most was that she hadn’t been upset when Tom called things off, not in the way she had expected to be. She had imagined she would be devastated, hurt, betrayed by another person she had loved. Instead, she had felt a weight lift off her shoulders that she’d had no idea had been there. She had cared for Tom, for sure, but he wasn’t who she thought of late at night, alone in her bed. He wasn’t who she called out for when she was in trouble. He wasn’t the one whose arms she wished were wrapped around her when she was scared and vulnerable. He wasn’t Joe.
Tom had called it off the night before, but no one in the house seemed to notice the next morning, only asking why he wasn’t at Mutiny that day. The only one who had sensed trouble between them had been Donna. She seemed to know intuitively that things were over between Tom and Cameron. She hadn’t questioned where Tom was and apparently accepted the fact that he wouldn’t be coming back for a long time, if ever.
As usual, Joe found out new information before most people did, so it didn’t surprise her when he called at 1:00 am, saying he heard about her breakup with Tom and wanted to meet her for business purposes the next night night at Callahan’s Bar. So here she sat, ready to see whatever storm Joe was going to bring with him.
Cameron waited a few more minutes before the anxiety reached a tipping point. To hell with this, she thought as she stood up and walked briskly to the bar to get a drink. Anything to help calm her nerves was necessary at this point.
“Hey, can I get a Lone Star?” she asked a frazzled bartender.
“Hey, bitch. Why don’t you wait your turn?” a voice to her left said. She ignored the man, leaning further over the bar to try and get the bartender’s attention again.
“I said, get out of the way. Did you not hear me, cunt?”
“Excuse me?” She whipped her head around to look at the man. He was middle-aged, thin, and balding. He was clearly wasted and looked like he had just failed a three-week stint at anger management.
“You heard me. You want a drink, you wait behind me like a woman should. There ain’t no room in this place for bitches like you. Now get outta the way.”
“Oh, is that right? Because I was under the impression that there wasn’t room in this world for dickheads like you,” she countered, turning back to the bar to call out to the bartender again.
“Women always speakin’ their minds now and doin’ whatever the fuck they want. This is the problem with this world. Ain’t no respect for men anymore.” He moved to her right to try to catch her eye. She diligently focused her attention on anywhere but him. “Oh, so now you got nothin’ to say?”
Cameron rolled her eyes and let out a long sigh. “Why don’t you go suck your own dick and cry about your failures with women somewhere else?”
“What did you just say to me?” he shouted. He grabbed her arm roughly and yanked her back.
“Get the fuck off of me,” she said, trying to wrench her arm out of his vice grip.
The next thing she knew, she was shoved back into a pillar next to the bar by her neck. She strained against the hand tightening around her throat, grabbing at it, trying to break lose and get the hell out of that bar. To hell with Joe, he could meet her somewhere else. She heard a commotion starting behind the guy, but she was starting to see stars in her eyes and could barely make out anything around her.
Cameron managed to get a swing in that connected with his jaw. The hand around her neck loosened slightly and she managed to shove him back and rushed towards the door. He caught her just before she made it, grabbing her by the shoulders and spinning her around. He rammed her into the nearest wall and she felt her head knock painfully against the cement.
“Joe!” she called to a person who wasn’t even there. The drunk man slammed her again into the wall and she felt a deep bruise already blooming on the back of her head. She scratched at his face and he responded by grabbing a fistful of her hair and yanking her head painfully to the side.
“You want to disrespect me again, bitch?” he growled in her ear, his warm breath making her gag. Cameron squeezed her eyes shut tightly and kicked at his shins.
She suddenly felt the weight being lifted off and a rush of cold air as the man was thrown off to the side of her. Cameron slid down the wall slightly and tried to catch her breath as she heard a venomous voice speaking threateningly to the man.
“You leave her alone,” the voice snarled, anger pronounced in every syllable. Cameron finally turned her head and was shocked to see Joe standing there. He was holding the man several inches off the ground by the throat, his face contorted with livid rage.
“Yeah? What you gonna do…bout it?” the man choked out. Joe’s fingers tightened and the man started gagging. “She asked…for…it. Bitch…got what she…deserved.” Joe’s composure seemed to come back and he dropped the man unceremoniously to the ground. The man slumped over, gasping for breath and rubbing his bruised neck.
Cameron’s terrified eyes were still glued on the scene in front of her. She barely noticed Joe approaching until he gently took her by the shoulders.
“Are you okay?” Joe asked her softly, staring deeply into her green eyes to try and assess her pain. For some reason, she couldn’t make a sound, so she just nodded her head. She absently felt his hand on her lower back trying to coax her towards the door
The man’s voice suddenly rang out shrilly behind them. “I knew you wouldn’t have the balls to do anything to me! Bitches like her ain’t worth defendin’ in the first place.”
Joe stopped suddenly and turned around, the anger back on his face. “Joe…” Cameron hesitantly called out to his retreating back as he walked back over to the man.
“But I bet that ain’t why you keep her around, is it?” the man spat mockingly.
Joe cocked his head to the left, eyeing the wretched man. Within a split second, he drew his fist back and landed it square in the man’s nose. The drunk stumbled back and fell to the ground, his head making a dull thunk that knocked him out.
Cameron watched with her mouth open as Joe smirked and squared his shoulders, staring down at the man. He turned back to her and gestured towards the door.
“Let’s go,” he said before putting his arm around her and pulling her close to him.