Note: So I decided to try something a little different here. This is a different style of writing for me because I do not often write in first person or with differing POVs. But I'm messing with it. Basically each number signals the chapter number but also a POV change. I tried to make it as easy to understand as possible, but feel free to ask questions. Enjoy!

1

I suppose I should have expected that the culmination of my life's actions would have led me here. The NCR troops that cracked me over the skull with a shock baton made sure to very violently arrest me, berating me the entire time as well. I was quite literally thrown into this 6' by 8' cell, the walls bleak and oppressing, littered with graffiti from those who had spent time here before.

I memorized their names, the MPs who did this to me. They were a hindrance, just a slow to my progress. I wasn't too worried about it, because I knew that I would get them eventually. Dubbed "The Freeside Fiend", I was less than amused by such a foolish title, but it seemed to have an effect on the of the guards here. I was in segregation because I was deemed high risk, but I had several notes passed under my door to make me aware of a plan to take over the prison. Some man named Samuel Cooke seemed to really want my help in this. It was lost on me as to how I would do anything from the hell hole that was my cell.

My days dragged in NCRCF. You could only work out so much, and reading the same book over and over really was a fucking bore. Escaping grew more and more appealing, and I found myself rubbing the handle of my little plastic toothbrush on the wall until the tip of it was deadly, satisfyingly sharp.

I was sitting on my bunk, fiddling with my little shank until I heard my door start to screech open. I shoved it in the small hole I had made in my mattress without a second thought, jumping down off of my bed to look at the officer that opened my cell. His name was Williams, unfamiliar to me. "Moretti, you've got a visitor."

I arched an eyebrow at him, pulling my blood red hair back into a ponytail. "Visitor?"

"Yeah. Are you fucking stupid? Don't know what that means?" He motioned for me to come to him and turn around.

I smiled, and did so like a good little girl. "No sir, Williams." I would remember his face, and I would remember it even better when I cut it off of his skull.

I had never had a visitor. Mostly because I did not have any friends, nor did I have family that cared about me. Once I ran away, I had been written off. No search parties, no missing person posters. Not that I was really shedding any fucking tears either. The visitor room was surprisingly open and warm, there were actual windows with sunlight coming in. I felt my blue eyes narrow a little from the shock of the light.

Looking around the room, I saw multiple people that appeared to be waiting for other prisoners; there was no way to tell who was waiting for me. Williams shuffled me awkwardly along in my leg irons, my hands secured down by my waist. He plopped me down in front of a rather handsome young man with a little more force than necessary before stomping away.

The young man had sparkles in his eyes when he looked at me; it was unsettling. "Who are you? Did I eat your mom or dad or something?"

To my shock, he responded with a genuine laugh that made his eyes crinkle up at the edges. I leaned away a little, arching my eyebrow in confusion. His voice was low and smooth, with a accent that was typical of people from the Mojave. "The Freeside Fiend, in the flesh."

"That's me...woo." I gave my hands a little dramatic shake, like I was presenting myself in some grand fashion, my wrist irons jingling loudly. I had no clue why the hell this man was visiting me or what he wanted, but I didn't say much about it.

He pushed some of his hair back and away from his face and leaned a little closer to me, those blue eyes suddenly very sharp. I expected him to curse me for killing one of his loved ones, but instead his voice was low and urgent. "Look, I know you don't know me, but I know you. And I need your help."

I scoffed a little, cocking my head at him and fighting the urge to tell him to fuck right off, but I was slightly intrigued what some man would want with a serial killer. "You're serious? What the fuck could I possibly help you with? And if you haven't noticed," I gestured about the room and at the guards, "I'm not exactly in any position to do anything more than sit and rot away at the moment."

He rolled his eyes a little and held up his hands in a gesture of painful obviousness. "Yeah yeah, that's very obvious to me, honey. I've got this all planned out, I've been hearing about your whole case for a while. You're perfect for what I need help with."

I was intrigued as to what his offer could possibly be. Freedom seemed to be a sure offer, at least I was hoping so. I hummed a little in thought, drumming my fingers on my knuckles under the table. "And what exactly do you need help with?"

He looked around a little, making sure the guards weren't listening too closely I assumed. "Look, I'm in a really fucked up position right now and I think you're the only one who can adequately handle this, um, job. I can give you more details another time, but it involves your...skill set."

I nodded slowly, smiling to myself. My heartbeat had picked up a little at the thought of being out of this hellhole and doing what I was intended to do. "And what exactly are you offering me in return?"

He paused for a moment, his sapphire eyes looking off to the side in thought. "Freedom. The chance to kill again. Whatever you want from me."

That was deliciously appealing. The thought of feeling the sun again, of tasting my prey, feeling my veins warm with adrenaline and psycho. However, I did not quite trust this strange man. "What's the catch?"

The blonde man's eyes were open and genuine. "There's no catch. These people...they, they ruined my life. They need to feel the pain that I have, tenfold. You can do whatever you want to them, I don't care. Burn them alive, cut their fingers off joint by joint. Whatever you see fit." His voice was breaking a little; he was begging.

I smiled at him a little. I didn't really feel much sympathy for him. I didn't know him from a hole in the ground, but I couldn't deny the chance at freedom again. I didn't have much faith in Samuel Cooke, whoever the hell he was. It was looking like this stranger could be my best option for getting out of here. "I'll do it."

The blonde man looked like he wanted to do a backflip. He struggled to keep his composure for a few moments, smiling like he had just won the lottery. "You won't regret this. I'll be in touch."

With those words, the guards were stepping back in, and it occurred to me that I hadn't even gotten his name. I wasn't entirely sure that he knew my name either, or my alias at least. It was too late to ask however, because Williams was already grumbling and pulling me away, back to my hell.

2

About a little over two weeks had passed since I had seen the Freeside Fiend. I did not know her by name, all I had was her prisoner number. R4-269. It had been a bitch to get even that, but luckily for me I had a silver tongue and a few stolen caps. Bribing an NCR soldier to get some more information had been easy enough, but setting up the visit was terribly complex, even for me. Visit number two already had my stomach doing nervous little flips and my hands felt sweaty. I spoke to the gentlemen at Mick and Ralph's and had a nano explosive wired up.

The thing was tiny, about the size of a bottle cap, but they said it should be powerful enough to blast a hole in the wall big enough for my new friend to climb through. It was remote detonated, I would instruct her to wait about thirty minutes and then place it inside of her toilet. I would hit the button, the shitter would go kaboom, and she should be able to make her way outside after that. I had stashed some bolt cutters outside so that I could cut a hole in the fence, and escort her out.

I knew that if this backfired we would both be fucked, but I could not rest knowing that the people who had killed Jodie were still out there, living their lives happily. The explosive was shoved into a tiny pocket that I had stitched into the waist of my pants, and despite how tiny it was, it felt like it weighed a ton. Thank god that the old prison's metal detectors didn't work anymore.

My pat down was quick, and I struggled to remain completely composed for it. I felt like my eyes were screaming "Don't mind in the bomb in my waistband officer!"

"Reason for your visit today, sir?" The guard pulled out a clipboard, his eyes looking about as interested in me as a kid watching paint dry.

I swallowed thickly, completely forgetting what I had said last time. "She's uh, she's my...fiance. Yes that, I'm here to propose. It's our anniversary, you see?"

The guard gave me a simple, "Uh huh. Good luck with that one."

I mentally wiped the sweat from my brow as I headed inside. There was a short hallway and a guard posted up on the other side of the door. My thin fingers worked down to the side of my waistband, struggling to pull the little device out without dropping it onto the floor. My eyes, didn't leave the man at the door, but he wasn't looking at me, he just stood by the propped open door. I shoved the bomb into my mouth so quickly that I nearly swallowed the fucking thing.

As I stepped inside, the guard slammed the door behind me and I took my seat at the table. She wasn't here, yet and I felt like with every minute I waited, the taste of metal in my mouth became more and more overwhelming.

After what felt like an eternity, my favorite serial killer came shuffling in, completely covered in chains. I stood up, trying to look as open and inviting as I could, holding my arms out wide as she shuffled up to me. She stood there for a moment, looking me up and down like I was a super mutant.

"Hello, baby! I missed you so much, you look as beautiful as ever," I hugged her tightly, it was the most awkward feeling in my entire life.

I pulled back and she looked at me like I was a fucking retard. "What the hell-" I cut her off quickly with a kiss, feeling my stomach tighten uncomfortably. The bomb worked its way to the middle of my tongue, and I quickly slipped it inside her mouth, fighting the urge to scream. The bomb was transferred easier than I thought, and when I pulled away, the redhead looked like she wanted to cut my head off.

Forcing a convincing smile, I motioned for her to sit down. I could see that she was struggling with the thing as well, either that or she was trying to not vomit on the table. I kept my voice low, "I'm so fucking sorry. There was no other way, I told the guard that I'm here to propose."

Her blue eyes were wide with what I assumed was rage, but she didn't speak. "Throw that thing in your toilet when you get back, and get away from it as much as you can. I'm giving it thirty minutes from the time you leave this room until it blows."

Those eyes went even wider, and she looked a little panicked. "Don't worry, it won't go off until I hit the button, then you just run like hell and I will be at the fence in an NCR uniform."

She nodded slowly, before speaking carefully and slightly muffled. "What is your name?"

"Ace Sinclair. And you?"

"Call me Red." With that, the guards were pulling her off again, but I knew that I would see her soon enough.

…

Thirty minutes later I was clipping open the prison fence in my hefty NCR gear. It was heavy and uncomfortable, making me wonder how the hell these men did it every day. I was already sweating like a pig, my unnaturally blonde hair sticking to my forehead. I shoved the bolt cutters quickly back into my duffel bag, and checked my battered little pocket watch. It had been about thirty five minutes. The little detonator met my fingertips quickly and I took a deep breath. What if she was too close? Or if it didn't go off? Here's hoping that she isn't taking a piss.

I mashed the button down with a small yelp, expecting an ear splitting explosion; but was met with nothing. I looked back at the prison, waiting for anything. I hit it again, and then again before I was smashing the thing against my hand. My heart felt like it was in my throat, and then suddenly I felt the Earth tremble a little beneath my feet. I looked back at the prison again, and saw a hole in the wall barely big enough for someone's head and shoulders. Bright red hair peeked through, and then she was shimmying her way outside.

Red came sprinting across the prison yard like a fucking track runner, and it suddenly occurred to me that this was really happening. "Oh fuck, oh Jesus." I gripped my 9mm Submachine Gun tightly, motioning for her to run faster.

As if on cue, alarms started blaring like it was the end of the world all over again, and guards in the watchtowers were opening fire. Bullets sent up little plumes of desert dirt around Red, and she nearly tripped and fell flat on her face. I was motioning wildly for her to hurry, making small sounds of panic. "Fucking run, please, Red!" I held the fence open, firing some potshots at the guards that were trying to take the woman that would avenge Jodie away from me.

I don't think I actually hit any of them, but it was enough to stop them from firing for a few moments at least. The redhead ducked through the hole quickly, the hem of her shirt getting caught as she struggled through. I pulled her hard, the cloth tearing off onto the fence.

I looked up in panic as she scrambled to her feet, seeing a few guards making their way across the prison yard, shouting loudly and training weapons on us. "Dammit, we need to get the fuck out of here now." Red's breath was labored, and her eyes were wide and wild. She gave me a rough shove to move me from my shock, I nearly fell over but it did the trick. We set off running away from the prison, making our way up a small hill and into the desert.

I was sweating like a whore in church already, and I struggled to try to tug the jacket off without dropping my duffel bag of supplies. I tripped over the large boots that encased my feet, and fell flat on my face, forcing all of the air out of my lungs. Red looked back at me and it seemed that she was in thought for a moment. If you fucking leave me…

My eyes seemed to communicate just that because she gave me a look of exasperation before spinning on her heel and hauling me to my feet quite easily. I blinked at her in shock for a moment, to which she gave a cocky grin and a wink before setting off running again.

…

After running for what felt like hours, we found ourselves looking out on Jean Skydiving. Some fiends puttered about around the small shack, working on their makeshift camp. I was completely soaked in sweat, my hair sticking uncomfortably to my forehead. Red wasn't much better, her correctional outfit nearly soaked through. We quickly drained the two bottles of water that I had, but the desert sun was completely unrelenting; beating down on us oppressively.

Red wiped some sweat away from her mouth, eyeing the fiends almost hungrily. "Alright, so I'm going to fashion a few weapons and take these assholes out. I can handle it on my own if you would rather hang back and observe what exactly you're buying here."

I shook my head in confusion a little. "Fashion a weapon? What the hell are you talking about? Just take my gun." I pushed the handle of my submachine gun to her, but she shoved it away.

"No guns. Not with NCR right up our asses. Plus, I prefer to get a little closer than that." I arched my eyebrow at her and watched her stroll over to a small tree that was struggling its way out of the dust. She snapped off three arm length pieces of branch, and scraped around in the debris of a car wreck until she found a rather large shard of glass and a few pieces of metal. Ripping a few cables out of the car, she crouched back down beside me and began her work.

She snapped at the glass until it was a point and affixed it to the end of the stick before doing the same with her little metal shards. I raised my eyebrow. "Spears? Really?"

Red stood suddenly, facing the fiends with a sharp determination in her eye. A cocky smirk was flashed at me as she pulled the thing back with her right arm and used her left hand as a sight. "No dumbass, a javelin."

The javelin was thrown with such deadly accuracy that I couldn't help but gasp a little as the projectile punctured one of the men's ribcages with a sickening crunch that I could hear from how far away I was. I covered my mouth with my hands as the man collapsed like a sack of bricks, blood staining the Earth. "Oh Jesus…"

Her eyes were wild with fire, and she let out a laugh quite unlike anything I had ever heard in my life. She wrenched a piece of glass out of the car's windshield before jumping onto the roof on the car. The remaining four fiends looked up from their fallen comrade's corpse with expressions of rage and confusion.

At that moment, I was a little terrified. This bitch was actually insane, thinking she could take down four armed people with some trash. I gripped my gun tightly, ready to take down anyone that got too close.

Red launched herself at them like a bullet fired from a gun, skewering one of the men right through the throat before he had much time to react, and he fell quickly, hitting the dirt and gagging on his own blood. One of the remaining three rushed her with a tire iron, which she dodged quickly, spinning on her heel so that she was behind the man. The javelin punched its way right through his chest, and she twisted it as he fell, a terrifying smirk on her mouth. The remaining two raiders looked at each other in shock.

One held a laser rifle, and the other a woman with a battered looking sawed off. Laser rifle decided that he wasn't having any of this shit, and immediately set out pulling the trigger as quickly as he could. Red jumped to roll behind the building, but one of the shots hit her in the leg. I could see her face twist up in pain, but she didn't make a sound. Laser rifle took this opportunity to reload, so she peeked around the corner, launching the last javelin like it was nothing. It tore into his face with such brutality I could barely watch.

My eyes were glued to the violence that was unfolding before me. It was like watching a deathclaw take down Brahmin; horrifying and disgusting, but for some macabre reason you can't tear your eyes away. She was examining her leg, and I could see that her pants were scorched and her flesh was an angry crimson.

It seemed to just motivate her more however, and she tossed down the piece of glass that had been serving as her knife, opting instead for some sort of shank she pulled from her pocket. I narrowed my eyes in confusion a little. Sawed off was cautiously creeping her way towards the side of the shack where Red was taking cover.

As she rounded the corner, Redlunged at her, grabbing the barrel and pointing it away to the side. The gun fired loudly, and their struggle continued. With a loud grunt, she shoved the gun hard enough that the grip of it whipped the woman in the face with enough pressure to make her nose start spewing blood. The gun fell out of her hands at that, and she drove her shank into the woman's neck once, then twice, then three times before she met the dust of the Wastes.

I came out from cover on shaky legs, approaching Red slowly like she would kill me next. She turned to look at me, some wild fire blazing in those sapphire eyes. They were icy and sharp, hungry and unhinged, colder than the ocean sinking a body. "So, now you're aware of what you're taking on." She crouched down, wrenching her shank out of the woman's throat.

I squinted at it. "Is...is that a toothbrush?"

She examined it for a moment, arching her eyebrow a little and giving me a dismissive shrug. "Yeah. Made it in prison. Was gonna use it to kill the asshole that escorted me to and from our little visits. By the way, I vomited after you kissed me."

I rolled my eyes dramatically. "It's not like I enjoyed it either, darling."

"So you claim. Gay boy." She laughed at me before crouching down and examining the raider's armor. To my shock, she began removing the woman's clothing.

"Whoa, okay," I looked away as the raider's bare breasts met the air. "What the hell are you doing?"

She looked back at me like I was mentally incapacitated. "Do you expect me to run around in a uniform that literally has NCRCF plastered all over it?"

"Okay. I can respect this."

To my shock, she began to change right out the in open with no shame. I gasped a little, turning my back to her. "Oh Jesus…" I dared a glance back at her after a few moments and was surprised by how well the armor fit her. Tight brown pants and a matching brown corset, with a spiked armor piece on her shoulder. She let her hair down, and combed at it with her fingers a little before looking about as if she was searching for something.

I watched her curiously as she cut into some sort of cactus type plant and began squeezing some sort of thick goop out of it. "What the fuck?"

"Shut it. Now. I have to concentrate." She made her way over to the wrecked car and used the remains of the side mirror to start styling her hair into two large Mohawks that stood proudly towards the sky. Her eyes were narrowed with focus, the tip of her tongue sticking out of her mouth a little.

She looked at me with a wild grin, her bloody shank gripped tightly in her hands that were coated in crimson blood that was not her own. "I feel fucking amazing."

I was completely in awe from the strange woman. The look fit her so well. "You look...fucking insane. I'm absolutely eating it the hell up, Red."

She strutted her way back over to the corpses with an exaggerated sway in her step. "Bitch, I know." She smiled at me cockily and we both laughed.

A quick search of the bodies turned up a few useful items. Small amounts of varied ammo, a few caps, some bottles of dirty water, a stimpak, and last but not least some psycho; which Red immediately stuffed into a small bag that she had plundered from near their campfire.

"We can sell that for a good amount I bet. Get some caps and we can start making our way to Freeside." I nodded in approval.

Red gave me that signature look that seemed to question my mental capacity. "Um, no? This is mine."

That took me a little off guard for some reason, but at the same time I felt like I shouldn't be surprised. "Oh. Alright, whatever you need really." I awkwardly shoved my hands into my pockets, rocking back and forth slightly on my heels. I was a little nervous, but I was also the happiest I had been in a long time. Red was a bonafide psychopath, icy and blood thirsty; I was imaging the looks on everyone's faces when we burst in together, locked and loaded. But don't get me wrong, I didn't want Red to make it fast at all. I had heard the reports about her enough to know how much a sadist she was, and she was perfect.