They sat in comfortable silence, the Lamb on the False Shepherd's knee and the Destroyer, arms folded, looking about the room.

The crowds had thinned noticeably, although Jack Harkness was still kept very busy by those who remained. "He says much, but nothing of himself." Asura said at length.

"Maybe he got too close to someone once." Elizabeth said.

"I think we've all been there." Booker said, causing Elizabeth to turn her head and look him straight in the eyes. "What?" he asked. She didn't answer. "Silent treatment, huh?" Still no answer. "You know, far as I can remember, no one's ever tickled you before." One eyebrow raises slightly. "I'm thinkin' we should change that." The eyebrow raises slightly higher. "What do you think?" She shakes her head. "You sure?" A nod. "Cause I'm not." As if sensing her impeding peril, she started to back away, but not quite in time. Booker's hands were at her sides, tickling her just as he'd promised. Her peals of laughter reverberated throughout the bar and the conversations paused. "Elizabeth..." he chided her as he kept up the merciless 'torture'. "You're makin' a scene." She was laughing too hard to be able to hear him.

Asura stood up and addressed the people who'd begun to stare. "Go about your business," he advised, shouting to be heard over the girl's squeals of glee. "There is no cause for alarm." he finished and sat back down. "Mr DeWitt, I advise you to stop. You don't want your daughter to burst a lung." he added quietly. Reluctantly, Booker agreed. Elizabeth continued to giggle for some time after that, and the smile lingered on Booker's face just as long. Gradually, the other patrons began to talk again, some picking up where they'd left off, others discussing the strange group of people in the back.

Jack took a break from serving drinks and came to join them. "Dare I ask?" he said with a grin.

"Just *hic* just bonding," Elizabeth said. She hiccuped again and put a hand to her mouth in surprise.

"What's the matter, never had the hiccups?" Jack asked. She shook her head and tried to ask what the hiccups were, only to be interrupted by a textbook example of one. "You know science has done wonderful things in the fifty-first century. They cured the common cold by the late 2300s. Funny thing is, some people on the outer rim developed this genetic disorder that made them more prone to involuntary diaphragm spasms. And since genetic modification was banned almost as soon as it became widespread, they had to live with it, at least the first few generations."

"That so?" Booker commented.

"I know. Riveting, isn't it?" Jack said sarcastically. "Well!" He slapped the table with his hands. "Better get back to work!"

"Aren't you going to share the miracle cure they invented?" Asura asked.

"Hell no. First case of hiccups should be cherished!" Jack said, winking at the mildly distraught Elizabeth before heading to the bar. She turned back to face her father who tried his best to look suitably concerned. "Sorry." he said.

"No *hic* no you're not." she accused him. "Lucky for *hic* lucky for you I'm not *hic* sorry either!"

"Would a kiss help you feel better?" he asked.

"It might. Not that you *hic* need a reason..." she said. Booker smiled and kissed her on the forehead.

"That didn't seem to do it. Want me to try again?" he asked after a brief pause. She pretended to think, then nodded eagerly. So he kissed her on the other cheek. "There. Now you're all kissed up." he assured her.

"What does that MEAN?" Asura growled.

Booker shrugged. "Doesn't have to mean anything." Elizabeth chimed in with a hiccup. "She agrees."

Asura sighed. "What will you do now?" he asked.

Booker pursed his lips thoughtfully. "I dunno. We've been t' so many places since the siphon went down. There was the one with the nexus, the one with the glowing aliens, the one where we climbed a mountain only to have the physical manifestations of time and space try 'n' kill us..." He trailed off, remembering what had gone before.

"To say nothing of Columbia." Asura added.

"There is one place left." Elizabeth said. Booker looked at her.

"You mean P..."

She cut him off with a finger to his lips. "Yes. It's time, Booker." She stood up and began unrumpling her dress. Booker finished his last drink hurriedly and got to his feet. "Well, it's been nice meetin' you Asura." he said, offering the other man his hand. "You take care of yourself now."

Asura clasped Booker's hand and shook it firmly. "You haven't guessed? I am dead DeWitt. It was only chance I retained my body when I arrived."

"Oh. I, I'm sorry t' hear it." Booker said lamely.

"I died for my daughter, just as you would." Asura said. "I will wait here for a time, and then I shall enter the wheel. Perhaps my sins have been outweighed by the little good I did. But it matters not." He turned to Elizabeth. "I am sorry for all the pain you've endured, child. I hope the rest of your life is a happy one."

Instead of answering, Elizabeth came around the table and gave him a hug. "Your daughter is a lucky girl, Asura." she said softly. "I hope she knows it."

"I...I am sure she does." Asura said, clearly uncomfortable. When she let go, he cleared his throat loudly. "You should go. You don't want to be late."

"How can we be late?" she asked with a laugh. "We don't even know where we're going!"

Booker scooped up Jack's greatcoat. "Come on. Let's give this back before we go." He nodded to Asura as Elizabeth rejoined him, and they made their way to the bar. A customer was just leaving; an angry-looking man in a strange outfit, with a patch across one eye.

"That kid and Asura would get along like a house on fire. They look nice enough, but dig just a little below the surface..." Jack said almost to himself. "Hey, thanks for returnin' it. It's the only thing I have left of those times. They were fun while they lasted." He accepted the coat and stowed it away beneath the countertop. "Sure you don't want one for the road?" he asked.

"Nah. Think I pushed my luck by havin' as many as I did." Booker said. "Just wanted to say thanks. You may be an oddball, but you got it where it counts."

"I could say the same for you," Jack said, shaking Booker's hand. "You two take care now!" He made sure to kiss Elizabeth's hand one last time before she went.

As Booker and Elizabeth made their way to the door, he wondered aloud, "Wonder what this place and the lighthouses have in common."

"They're beacons of hope for people who've lost their way." Elizabeth replied.

"Think that's us?"

"No. We've found it."

And they left.

The adventure ends in Nothing Matters...