"The fuck's the 'Combat Zone?'" Allen asked his companions.
"Raider hangout," Nick answered, "Best we keep moving."
Allen had a list in his Pip Boy, locations to scout, jobs to do, loose ends to tie up, and Allen and Co. (patent pending) were checking off that list one item at a time. Today's item was the so-called Combat Zone.
"No, he couldn't possibly do that." Piper said, "That would be leaving dangerous men at large to rape, pillage, and plunder." She did a purposefully bad impression of Allen as she spoke.
"Are you mocking or disagreeing?" Allen asked.
"Mocking," Piper answered. "Go for it," she encouraged.
"Watch my six," Allen ordered.
"He means watch his back, correct?" Curie asked.
"Yes Curie." Nick assured.
"Stay here, stay quiet, and don't fire a shot until absolutely necessary."
That was the order he gave; it was also the order they disregarded.
It had been perfect, a distracted crowd in a theater, Allen with the perfect vantage point, all lights pointing away from him, and a silenced 50 cal. But no, the second the raiders realized someone was shooting was the same second they started shooting themselves (not even at Allen, the dumb bastards). When his gang realized Raiders had started firing, they started shooting back, and since their weapons weren't silenced, they gave away his position. So, Allen had to take a different approach to keep his friends alive, an approach that involved a whole lot of yelling, and a high caliber revolver.
When all was said and done, Allen and Co. came out no worse for wear, better in fact, cause it seemed that the performers weren't overly fond of the their audience.
"I don't know if I should kiss you or have my little bird here feed you your own entrails" the ghoul who spoke first wasn't overly fond of Allen either, it appeared.
"Sorry, we thought you were in trouble." Piper said, apologizing for Allen, who seemed to be busy.
"Your technique is impressive, where did you get your training?" Allen asked the woman who was standing nearby the ghoul.
"Technique? You coming onto me or something?" The redheaded cage fighter fired back.
"No."
"Too bad, I could use a tumble after a good fight."
Allen blinked and turned back to the ghoul.
"Yeah, it seemed pretty rough in here. I thought I was saving your lives," he said, latching onto Piper's earlier apology.
The ghoul scowled. "I can see why you'd think that, but you just killed our meal ticket."
Beside him, the redhead proclaimed rather loudly, "To hell with 'em, I just need a breather and I'll be ready to go."
"A breather, yeah right, a chance to stick yourself with Psycho more like." The ghoul gave a great big sigh, "Ah fuck it, this might just be a blessing in disguise."
"How so?" Allen asked.
"Who's the leader of this merry little band of misfits?" the ghoul questioned, looking around at the group.
"Monsieur Marks seems to make most of the decisions," Curie said, while Piper and Nick settled for pointing at Allen.
"You said Cait's technique was impressive. Was that a pass or did you mean it?"
"She's a good fighter, and I'm impressed," Allen replied defensively, "That's all there is to it, why?"
"See, Tommy," Cait snapped at the ghoul, "somebody knows skill when they see it."
"It ain't ya' fighting skill I'm concerned with." Tom retorted, before turning back to Allen. "Here's my predicament, I've got no audience, no audience means no fight, no fight means Cait won't be bringing in caps."
"What're you getting at, Tommy." Cait demanded.
"If you're not bringing in caps, then I don't need ya." Tommy said coldly. Allen could hear how hard this was for Tommy, but the two of them had deduced the same thing, the Combat Zone was killing this girl, and the only way to get her to leave was to push her out the door.
Allen, however, wasn't sure where the ghoul was headed. "Again, what does this have to do with me?"
"Why don't you take over her contract?" Tommy offered, "She goes with you, watches your back, etcetera."
"Don't I get a say in this?" Cait asked, clearly outraged.
"If she doesn't want to come with, I'm not taking her." Allen said.
"Do you really want to stay here?" Tommy asked the woman, "No fights, no caps, no one but yours truly."
"Jesus, point taken." Cait exclaimed.
"So, how 'bout it?" Tommy pitched again.
"Cait," Allen said, ignoring Tommy, "Seeing how you're unemployed now, how'd you like to pal around with me?" Allen extended his hand.
"Sure, why not" Cait answered, shaking Allen's hand. "Just let me pack."
Allen and company had took some time to unwind while Cait packed.
"Look, this has been nine different kinds of fun," Nick said, "but I should probably get back to the agency."
"I'll come with," Piper proclaimed, "I need to check on Nat anyways." Piper and Nick gave Allen and Curie a quick handshake before leaving.
"Be careful you two, stay in trouble." Allen said, waving goodbye.
"Isn't the term 'stay out of trouble'?" Curie wondered aloud.
"I don't give orders I know will get disobeyed."
"Where they goin?" Allen and Curie turned to face Cait, who had snuck up behind them.
"They've got their own things going on." Allen explained. "Look, Cait, before we set out…"
"I know," Cait interrupted, "follow your lead, do what I'm told, don't talk back...I know how this works."
"Actually," Allen countered, "I was going to say that this isn't a one way street. I wanted to assure you that you're not some slave."
"Well then," Cait said with assertive nod, "we're off to a good start. Just keep your eyes on the road and off my ass."
"No problems there." Allen assured.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
He grit his teeth. This was going to be a long month.