A Broken Man: Story of Xavier Brennan

The bar was poorly lit, the dim light diminished even further by the thick clouds of smoke that lingered from the tips of the cigarettes of the many patrons. The place was a dive, where a lot of soldiers came to get away from their responsibilities, and the occasional officer visited to disappear. One such man say quietly in a dark corner, the table in front of him littered with empty tumblers and shot glasses as he downed yet another whiskey on the rocks. An ashtray on the table was overflowing with a bouquet of cigarettes, a sign of the amount of time he had wasted away in this corner of the establishment.

"Another drink..." His voice almost growled at a passing waitress who seemed to squeak as the man startled her. He didn't say much and when he did, it always made her feel a little uncomfortable. She nodded in acknowledgement as she regained her composure and ran off to let the barkeep know.

A group of soldiers shooting pool had been in there sometime and had not seen the gentleman move once from his table, and they began whispering among their selves about the pathetic excuse for a soldier, amazed that he was still breathing after all the alcohol he had ingested. Their hushed voices and snickering caught Xavier's attention as he looked up from his empty glass at the younger enlisted men pointing and staring. The ice collapsed in the glass, spinning around in the amber liquid that remained at the bottom as he sat it down in front of him.

"You boys have a problem over there?" The officer's gruff voice cut through all the noise as he growled, the hairs on the back of his neck bristoling as he stared them down. He had lost his patience and gained quite the temper since the loss of his daughter, and much of his down time had been spent in shit hole bars like this, trying to drink away the memories and the pain.

"Huh?" The men looked startled as they saw the previously silent stranger's piercing gaze directed at them. The youngest soldier took a step back out of fright as a chill ran up his spine. "Um, sorry sir... we were.. um... ummm...."

"Spit it out kid." The Schuzstaffel officer stood from his seat, brushing aside the waitress who was returning with his drink, grabbing the glass, downing it in stride and making his way to the pool tables. The kid couldn't find the words before Xavier was standing, barely, in front of the group of soldiers. "Uh..."

WHACK!!!

The pool stick that one of them had been holding was suddenly missing and before they knew it the closet man to the Officer was cracked across the face, sending his limp unconscious body to the floor. Xavier growled in a feral tone, baring his teeth, launching himself at the rest of them, swinging. The drunken man tackled the next closest one, taking him down while clothes lining another, riding the startled man to the ground before pinning him and unleashing hell on the poor soldier. He didn't stop punching and beating the man until he was good and bloodied and his mates pulled the wild man off of him.

By this point in time, everyone in the bar had stopped what they were doing, a hush had fallen across the crowd as they watched the group of soldiers try to subdue the crazy guy. A few bystanders rushed to help, only to get a foot or a fist to the face as Xavier tried to fight his way out. Elbows were being thrown left and right, the mad man flailing about as he tried to get to the final conscious member of the idiots that had been snickering at him.

Before he could reach the young man, a chair was crushed across the mans back, his hands grasped firmly around the kid's collar as he fell unconscious "Get him off me! get him off me!" He screamed as he crumpled to the floor under the weight of Xavier.

"What the hell was wrong with that guy?"

"I don't know..."

"He jus' stood up and launched himself at that group of soldiers..."

"Did they do anything?"

"I couldn't tell you."

The waitress stared wide eyed at the unconscious officer on the ground, shedding a tear for the poor man as he lay bloody and beaten. She had a few words with the officer before he became drunk, and she felt for the man. He had mentioned his daughter and his tragic life; what a mess...

Now that the fighting had subsided, a squad of MPs burst into the room to break it up. Spotting the fallen man on the floor and having the spectators point him out as the agressor, they rushed over to handcuff him; a faint light reflected off a blood covered silver pendant that fell from his sleeve as he was carried out.

"We'll send the paramedics to tend to the rest of these guys, and an officer to get statements from all of you..." The sergeant nodded to the waitress as he removed the drunk from the bar.