Alright, another Fallout 3 fanfiction.
NOTE: THIS STORY IS RATED M FOR HEAVY SWEARING, DRINKING, AND SOME SEXUAL REFERENCES. This is mainly because the writing is characterized by Jericho and the way he thinks/talks. I do not swear this much in real life - not in the least. So for those thinking that this story is graphic in a gory or sexual way, you should look elsewhere, as you will be disappointed.
This was inspired by what I once read on Colin Moriarty's terminal about Jericho possibly attempting rape on Jenny Stahl and some of the the dialogue between Jericho and Jenny. I always wanted to know more about them and whether it was attempted rape or if they were in a relationship. This is my take on it. I tried to keep the characters in line as much as possible, but Jericho is really hard to write for.
Hope you guys like this story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout 3.
"What a fuckin' day."
Jericho sat down on a weathered stool at the Brass Lantern, nursing back a double scotch. He just returned from the Wasteland that endlessly stretched to the horizon outside of Megaton. He had planned to try and find some venders selling new armour but instead trampled upon a Raider site. Twenty drugged-up young raiders against a retired raider who found it difficult to just get up in the morning; the outcome of the battle seemed inevitable.
There were twenty less assholes in the Wasteland that evening.
"Another scotch," Jericho said, smirking at the thought of their bodies being ripped apart by deathclaws. Served the bastards right. All he was looking for was some fucking armour, but the Wastes made even the simplest tasks feel like obstacle courses.
A glass filled with dark liquid was gently put down in front of him. His eyes trailed up to land upon Jenny Stahl: a snarky but gold-hearted blonde in a yellow jumpsuit that contrasted the drab colors of Megaton. It was hard not to notice her brightness, and Jericho was no exception. Oh, he noticed her, noticed a lot of things about her.
"Rough day?" Jenny asked, knowing the answer but offering to listen. Jericho would never admit it, but he appreciated it. She was really the only person who would take time out of their day to listen to him bitch about this or that.
"Damn right," he mumbled, rubbing a hand over his tired face and along his stubble. "Raiders."
An immediate understanding was written over her face. There wasn't a single person left in the post-apocalyptic world that didn't know the word.
"A bit ironic, seeing as how you used to be a raider yourself."
Jericho chuckled, finishing off his scotch. "Yeah, the good days."
Jenny's eyes darkened. A fellow Megaton resident sat down a stool away from Jericho and she attended to him, heading inside to make his order. Her sudden mood swing didn't go unnoticed to Jericho. Her upstanding, goody-goody morals contrasted his view of a raider's life. He missed the action; missed the thrill of spilling blood and going against the law even if it had fell along with the rest of civilization when the bombs fell.
Jenny returned and served the excuse for decent food to the Megaton resident with a warm smile and a laugh.
"Y'know Jenny, what I said about raiders - it's all I've ever known," Jericho said.
"I know that." Jenny sighed. "Besides, who am I to say what's right and wrong?"
She was only being nice, as usual. He knew she was right, and like he had been all his life, he was wrong.
...
As much as he couldn't stand that fucking Andy Stahl and his junkie brother Leo, Jericho nonetheless helped drive a stray group of raiders and scavengers away from the Brass Lantern and out of Megaton. Alongside Lucas Simms, Billy Creel and Colin Moriarty, Jericho did whatever necessary to rid the town of the scum. Rules and laws didn't matter at that moment, and that meant he could whip out his gun and unleash hell onto those that dared to penetrate the walls of their crap-shack community.
Out of the seventeen that managed to get in, only five made it out. The others were taken care of.
Jericho spat out his cigarette and hurriedly shoved it deeper in the soil with the sole of his boot on his way back to the Brass Lantern. Lucas tagged along; Moriarty was only concerned with his saloon and Billy claimed to have seen a raider try to break in to the Craterside Supply and he "just wanted to make sure Moira was alright." Jericho scoffed at the thought. Ever since he knew the man Jericho knew Billy had a hard-on for Moira. Best of luck to him. Billy had more of a chance getting laid than he would ever have now.
Lucas stopped at the door and talked with Andy. Jericho went inside and saw Leo being consoled by Jenny. If it wasn't for her, Jericho thought, the whole fucked-up family would fall apart.
"Simms is here to talk to you, Leo. Talkin' to Andy now."
Leo glanced at Jenny and she reassured him with a nod. It was only when he walked by Jericho that he saw his huge pupils and his shoulders shaking. Drugged up. High. Flying. Whatever term you would want to call it.
"They get ahold of anything?" Jericho asked.
"No, nothing."
"Punk-ass fuckers," Jericho muttered, taking another cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it up. "Think they own everything."
"You always go on about how much you hate it here...why would you help protect it?"
"Babe, this is the only shithole I got left."
Jenny smiled. "So you consider this your home?"
Jericho smirked and sat down across from her. "Tryin' to soften up an old man like me, are ya?"
"You're not that old," Jenny murmured, so quietly that he barely heard her. Her eyes met his. "Anyway, I'm just glad that you're safe-" She suddenly stopped, voice tight, and swiftly added: "I mean, if you were killed, who would regal me with stories of the slaughtering of innocent people by their own hands?"
Jericho chuckled between inhales of nicotine. "Ah, one day another jackass will come across an empty seat at the Brass Lantern and you'll forget about ol' Jericho."
"I'm not one to disagree-" Bullshit. She never held back her opinion to anyone, including him. "-But it would be hard to forget a character like you."
"If I stay here any longer, I'm gonna need a new pair of boots."
Jenny snorted. Jericho promptly stood up and smothered his short-lived cigarette into the nearest ash-tray. When he made it to the door, he turned towards Jenny and grinned.
"Take care of yourself, Jenny."
"You, too."
...
Weeks after the citizens of Megaton fought off the invasion, Jericho found himself more and more on the same stool by the Brass Lantern. His reoccurring appearance didn't go unnoticed by many: Jericho was more keen of Moriarty's saloon for a drink. His smug face angered Andy, and the oldest of the Stahl siblings made it clear to Jericho on various occasions that he would rather serve a pile of Brahmin shit than serve him. Jericho would make a smart remark about Leo's drug use or Andy's rivalry with Moriarty in return and then be all smiles as soon as he saw Jenny's yellow jumpsuit appear.
Man, did that yellow jumpsuit ever hug Jenny's figure.
And the more and more the ex-raider visited, the more flirting replaced small talk. It was refreshing for him. He hadn't been with a woman properly in years...if one didn't count the few hours he spent with Nova (which he declared to this day a waste of time, money and energy). Sure, it was Jenny's well-kept hair, her soft curves, and the dimples in her cheeks when she smiled that caught Jericho's attention. When they started to talk on a regular basis, he came to appreciate her smart remarks and her cooking and how she tried to see the humanity in people rather than their glaring faults.
Jenny was just...not what he was used to.
So when she invited him inside one particular night when neither Leo or Andy were hope, Jericho accepted the offer without any doubts.
He knocked on the door three times. Jenny opened the door and stepped aside to let Jericho inside. The first thing Jericho noticed was the numerous candles lit around the trailer. Through the shadows and the candlelight, he sized Jenny up: same old yellow jumpsuit, but it looked like she had more make-up on than usual. For a moment she reminded him of the pin-up girls from the pre-war magazines...only much more conservative.
"Are you going to sit any time soon or are we just going to stand all night?"
Jericho wanted to say that there were more interesting things they could do all night, but the impatient look on her face told him to not try and pull any shit on her. How boring.
Over a bottle of wine they began to unwind. The trailer was filled with laughter and stories, from Jenny's embarrassing first kiss to Jericho's childhood fear of blood. Jericho would have never told a soul about that unless he was splattered, and evidently, he was becoming more drunk by the glass.
Jenny, while she had a pink glow on her cheeks, was still sober enough to notice the changes in Jericho's behaviour. The radio playing in the background was increasingly turned up until it was blaring in the background, the bottles of wine became bottles of whiskey, and the conversation had turned to slurs and repetitions.
"Here, Jenny, have anuther glass!" Jericho hollered in her ear, nearly falling on her lap before reaching for a just opened bottle.
"Don't you think you had enough?"
Jericho rolled his eyes. "Now, c'mon, don't ya piss around with me - we're havin' fun right?"
Jenny avoided his gaze as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
"Lighten up willya? Isn't that whut we have in common - we both know how to have fun...I mean-" His eyes and his free hand began to drift further down, a move he would have held back if he was sober "-you'd tell me if I wusn't given ya what you wanted..."
"For all those shots you drink and the tall stories you tell, you handle your liquor like an eight-year-old child," Jenny snapped, shrugging his arm off with vehemence. "Now get off me. I think you should leave - it's late."
"Jenny..." Jericho dragged the name out as he eased off the couch and followed her to where he had slung his overcoat. "Why are you bein' such a tight-ass bitch?"
Jenny whirled around, a deadly look in her eyes. "Don't ever expect me to put up with you again."
Before she could hand over the coat, Jericho had a hold of her arm. "C'mon Jenny."
"Let go of me!"
Jericho twisted her around so he could grab both of her shoulders, pulling her close so close their noses nearly touched. "You don't want me to leave."
"Yes. I. Do!" Jenny yelled in his face, hoping for him to back off. She tried to yank from his grasp but he only held her tighter, digging his fingers into her flesh.
"I'm not drunk-"
"Yes you are!"
"I'm not fucking drunk!"
Jenny struggled to get free and did the only thing she could think of. She smashed her forehead against Jericho's chin, catching him off-guard and sending him tumbling backwards. His back shook the counter as he fell against it. Jenny took off for the door only to have Jericho grab her again, causing her to scream and struggle to get outside. The fight fell out into the streets of Megaton.
"Jenny, I'm only tryin' to-!"
"What the hell is going on here?"
Jericho turned to see Colin Moriarty standing before him. Jericho's grasp on Jenny was released and Jenny darted over to Moriarty, her hair messed up and the shoulder of her jumpsuit ripped from the struggle. It was obvious what it looked like, and Moriarty took no hesitation to judge it as simply that.
"Get the fuck out here, Jericho!" the Irishman hollered, pulling Jenny behind him.
Jericho scoffed. "You tryin' to play hero now, huh?" When he saw Jenny staring at the ground, his chest felt as heavy as lead. "Hey, I was just-"
"I'll warn ya once more," Moriarty snarled, wrapping his fingers on his holstered pistol.
In no state for a fight, Jericho turned his back on them and stumbled back to the shack he had come to call "home." It was only the next morning did he realize what he must have seemed like to Moriarty - let alone Jenny Stahl.
...
"Listen, Jenny..."
"Stay the hell away from me, scumbag."
"Are you gonna let me explain myself or not?"
"You have nothing to explain."
"I was shitfaced. Didn't even know what I was doing."
"I did." Her weary eyes narrowed. "You terrified me."
"You know I would never wanna scare you of all people-"
"Oh really? Well, tell that to the bruises on my arms."
He glanced down at her shoulder, only to see a sewn-up rip on her yellow jumpsuit.
Once again, she was right. He was wrong.
...
One year since the incident passed. Moriarty never stopped serving Jericho in his saloon, but every time they came face to face, the saloon owner would glare at him with disgust. Jericho would flip him off and order his drink and retreat to his regular corner stool in the bar. He made eyes at the women who drifted in and out of Megaton and continued to hire Nova now and then because she was the only one who would even consider it - and that was only because he was paying.
Jericho had grown harder and colder. No skin off his shoulder. It helped that he had mastered a scowl that frightened even the toughest raider off. It had little effect on Jenny though. Jenny would reluctantly serve him and match his scowl with her own.
"Lookin' good, Jenny. What do you got for me today?" he would ask.
As always, Jenny would sigh and roll her eyes. "You're disgusting, Jericho. Now tell me what you want so I can get away from you."
"Oh, don't play tough. I know what your problem is."
"You of all people would."
That was the extent of their interaction now. Traded insults and the exchange of caps for booze or food. Jericho didn't expect anything else from her.
If only he could tell her, "I'm sorry."
...
"Did you hear? Jericho's body has been found."
Jenny immediately stiffened at Andy's words. "What?"
"Yeah. Bastard's corpse was found robbed and left in the sun to rot. Must've been those raiders and their dogs."
"Oh...I see." Jenny stared down at the counter top she had been wiping for the last five minutes. She could almost see her reflection through the rust and crud. She was stunned: Jericho was a survivor - an ex-raider. It was shocking enough the month before when the young man from Vault 101 was reported to have died. She never expected Jericho to...
"You know, you're gonna need a new outfit," Andy continued, oblivious to the crestfallen look on his younger sister's face. "That yellow jumpsuit has more stains and rips than my own clothes!"
Jenny absentmindedly touched the sewn-up rip on her shoulder, still processing the news of Jericho's death. "Yeah...yeah, you're right."
"I think Moira's got some new work suits in. Why don't you check it out? I'll cover for you here."
Jenny thanked him and walked towards the Craterside Supply. After a short chat with Moira and some time looking through the suits, she settled on an evergreen-coloured work suit. Moira gave her a free black leather belt to go along with it.
Before she left, Jenny glanced at herself in a mirror.
Jericho was dead.
Her yellow jumpsuit was gone.
Her nightmares had finally stopped.
For the first time in a long time, she smiled at her reflection. Maybe it was time to move on.
So there you are. I hope I did the characters justice! :) Read and review!
-PK