So. Here it is. Flame me if ya' like. Just one of many stories. Although it is a whole month late, this is for the Kofessionist. For her birthday. :3 Enjoy.
He looked down the barrel of her 10mm Pistol, watching her fingers tremble, the flesh over her knuckles fade to white, and the distant look in her eyes as she pulled back the hammer, the sound of their breathing, hers' heavy and labored and his own calm, and the sound of the gun cocking being the only thing in the still room.
He remembered the first time he met her.
"This should be an easy one, right Zane?" Cole drove his elbow into his side and he glared at the other male, giving off a snort. They had been friends since they were two, brought up in Rivet City. He heard Nina give a huff from his other side, crossing her arms in annoyance.
"Because our bounty is for a woman, right, Cole?" She snapped, glaring. She had been the subject of many sexist(and sexual) comments when she worked as a slaver in Paradise Falls, mostly revolving around the large breast she had, so she was easily angered whenever Cole had made comments about women, which was always, being a lecher.
Zane just gave off a shrug, folding the paper neatly and sliding it into the pocket of his Regulator jacket. Frankly, they never had many women bounties. That wasn't to say a woman couldn't be evil, just ask the fucked up women in the raider or slaver groups. But they were usually softer than men, with a better sense of justice.
"Apparently not this one." He murmured under his breath as he ran a hand through his shaggy auburn hair, sweeping it back. He shot a glance at Cole, who read aloud what was on the paper like a second grader.
"Notice to all Regulators seeking Lawful Bounties in the Capital Wastes:
Let it be known that the following individual is offered for bounty in the sum of 1,000 caps or similar compensation of expended equipment and/or medical expense, for crimes against the good people of the Capital Wasteland and environs:
Name: Ashley Anders
Race: Caucasian
Sex: Female
Hair: Black
Eye: Green
Target is considered armed and extremely dangerous.
Capture is NOT recommended – Bounty will be paid upon proof of death (head).
Let's put this devil in the ground and be done with it."
Cole waggled his eyebrows at him and he gave off a snort in reply. "She sounds fun, right Zane?" He elbowed him again and Nina rolled her brown eyes at them, muttering "children" before skulking off to gather her supplies. Zane just gave him a grin, rolling his eyes and strapping his Chinese Assault Rifle to his back.
When the trio were ready, they set out, Nina's face buried into the map. "She's been seen hanging around Rivet City lately." She murmured, her boot catching on a large crack in the busted up sidewalk, catching her balance before she could fall. This made Cole cackle and Zane just rolled his eyes.
Something gleamed at the top of the metal structure, catching his brown eyes. He lifted his hand, blocking out the sun and dirt as the gleaming seemed to fade away. "What is it, man?" Cole asked beside him, Nina looking over to him as well but he just gave off a shrug. "Nothin'."
"Nothing? You sure?" Nina snapped from his left side, and Cole leaned back to glare at her from Zane's right. "If he said nothin', he meant nothing. Dumb bitch." Her face turned red and she opened her mouth to give a smartass reply, but nothing came out of her lips. Instead of words, the ring of a fired bullet flowed through the air as Nina fell back, a smoldering hole now present within the middle of her forehead as Zane and Cole looked down at her for but a brief second.
"Cole! Move!" He was too late, though, for another bullet was fired, this one hitting Cole straight in the chest. He could only watch in horror as his friend dropped to the ground before another shot and he was falling after him, something piercing through his collar bone and embedding into the ground(which he only assumed was another bullet).
Zane stared at Cole, his eyes moving out of focus of his best friend's dark face, blurring sharply. He could hear footsteps, and the pants of a dog before he blacked out.
He dreamed of nothing but that single moment when Cole fell, over and over, watching in fast forward or slow motion at any time, pain riddling his heart as he tried to close his eyes and block out the image. But it was there. Behind his eyelids. Like it was burned into his mind. The terrible image.
But suddenly, it all stopped.
He could hear humming, then, and the occasional sound of metal scrapping softly against metal. He opened his eyes for only a moment before rolling over and pulling the blanket further over him, wishing Sonora Cruz would stop sharpening her knife for the night and let him sleep(she was always sharpening her knife at odd hours, even if she barely used it). A warm breath wafted against his face, smelling sourly of rotten meat and wet dog. He cracked open his brown eyes for another moment, glancing at the dog who's head rested chin-to-mattress next to his face before closing his eyes, reaching out to pet his head.
But his hand stopped as he remembered one thing. No one in the Regulators had a dog.
His pause in petting the dog resulted in the beast clamping his jaws down on his hand, piercing through his leather and fingerless gloves. Or so he thought, but when he jerked his hand from the dog's maw he found his hand was bare of any material, nasty indents on his flesh now that were starting to leak red. Actually, all of him was bare save for his boxers, his upper torso wrapped in fresh bandages.
He glanced around, eyes wide like a beast caught in a cage, landing on the woman sitting at a work bench, stomach pressed against the back of a desk chair as she fiddled with something he couldn't see past the plant in the pot with a screw driver.
"Oh, you're awake." She murmured, leaning back to peer at him through her glasses. "I was a bit-"
"Why the fuck am I here?"
"Worried when you weren't waking up. Do you know-"
"Who the fuck are you?"
"Where you are? And would you stop-"
"Where the fuck are my CLOTHES?"
"Interrupting me?"
"Answer me." Zane responded, glaring at her. His eyes then did a sweep around the room, landing on the My First Infirmary rolled next to the bed, a used stimpak on the top and a blood pack hanging from an IV cart, needle pushed into his vein. "Isn't it obvious who I am?" She questioned as she rolled the chair to the table next to Work Bench, lifting a vial from the Laboratory set that sat atop it, adding it to another mixture before rolling her chair back towards the bookshelves on the wall to get a better look at him.
She pushed her glasses up into her hair, pushing back stray black strands hanging in front of her eyes as she peered at him once more. "Name's Ashley."
He stopped, freezing for the second time in a matter of minutes as his body when rigid. The bounty. She was the bounty. The girl(woman was more like it) from the Vault. His eyes swept over the room again before he ripped the IV out of his arm and dove for a blade on a table next to the Nuka-Cola machine in the room. But the hound had tackled him in that moment, standing on his back and snarling deeply in warning.
"I wouldn't be doing that. With a few words, I can have that collar explode." She murmured, her tone sleepy as she brushed her fingertips over her cheek bones, frowning. And for the first time he registered the soft beep near him and the heaviness around his neck. His hand raised, fingers brushing the cold metal of the collar around his neck, and suddenly he was filled with a burning rage.
"Take this damned thing OFF OF ME!" She frowned, crossing her arms under her chest. "The dog, or the collar?" She mused smugly, giving a soft grin. "BOTH!"
"Dogmeat." She called, cooing softly. "To me, boy." The dog moved from his back, trotting over to his mistress and sitting on his haunches. He gave a low growl at him again as he pulled onto his knees and then stood clumsily, his head spinning from rising to suddenly. "What is your name?" She questioned lightly, her head tilting to the left. His lips pressed tightly together in a line and she frowned. "And I repeat. What is your-"
"What the fuck is it to you? You're just going to send me to Paradise Falls." He snapped angrily, glaring into her blank green eyes. Her lips pulled down further, a deep frown settling on her face. "I never said I was sending to you Paradise Falls. That's why your head hasn't exploded yet. I wouldn't have wasted my time patching you up if I was just going to send you to them."
"Then why am I here?"
"You're mine."
"Here you are." She chimed happily as she shoved another box of items into his hands. He glanced inside to see bits and pieces of scrap metal, a few pilot lights and motorcycle handbrakes. Zane frowned as he shrugged off the large backpack, shoving them into it and throwing the wooden box behind his shoulder.
"C'mon, Grumpy!" She called over her shoulder and he growled as he stomped after her, arms crossing tightly across his chest. The mutt, Dogmeat, nipped at the back of his legs to hurry him further before trotting next to him, his tongue lolling from his maw. He grumbled under his breath and she glanced back. "Hurry!" She called loudly. "Hurry up, Grumpy." Which caused him to grumble even more. She had been calling him "Grumpy" since the first day he woke up in her room in Tenpenny Tower, since he refused to give her his name, didn't want her to know all of him.
The tower rose in the sky like a great giant from where the stood and she hurried along, like a Jet-addict, anxious to get home finally. They had been scavenging the wastes for three days now, going as far as Evergreen Mills. The dog was panting besides him still, and he could feel a dull but burning ache in his muscles.
She took down in the dirt, sprinting her way down the slopes before darting up the steps and roughly jabbing a finger at the button on the intercom. "Gustavo, let me in, damnit." She growled into the speaker.
"Hold on and keep your panties on." A reply came, static laced before the gate creaked open. Her hands grasped her hips as she waited before stepping through, Mellicent Wellington shooting her a glare, to which Ashley stuck out her tongue and maneuvered around the fountain in the middle of the courtyard, pushing open the door. He paused once he entered the lobby, glancing around.
This was his first time not unconscious or being hurried to leave in Tenpenny Tower, having heard much of it but never once seeing it. They only let the best in here, and the people he usually hunted were far from the best. Had her detonating the atomic bomb in the middle of Megaton been her ticket in here? It would seem so.
So he paused, studying the building. She moved around the receptionist's desk, pressing the button to call the elevator. As she stood, waiting for the elevator, she hopped from one foot to the other, fingers brushing stray strands of her jet black hair once more. A ding sounded and the elevator doors slowly rolled open. She all but jumped in the elevator, waiting for him before pressing the button for it to go up, the elevator jerking once before lurching up towards the fifteenth floor. She leaned back against the handle bars, her head resting against the cool metal as she closed her eyes.
While she was oblivious to his eyes, he studied her. Her skin was tanned, kissed by the sun from countless treks across the Wasteland. Her hair was black, strong and shiney and pulled back into a messy bun. And though he couldn't see them past her lids, he knew she had bright green eyes, pools of clear emerald. It was the first thing he had noticed about her.
Zane blinked, finding the green eyes he had just been thinking about fixed on his face. He casted his gaze downwards and she moved her own eyes down to her hound, running her slender fingers through his coarse fur. When the doors rolled open once more, he darted around the corner to her door, waiting for her to unlock it. Why was he embarrassed? Because she caught him staring at her? That seemed unlikely, yet somehow he was angered and strangely ashamed.
She pushed past him, the door unlocking with a loud click before she shoved it open. With a quick tug on the chain, she turned on the Nuka-Cola bottle lamp on one of the pillar-turned-tables next to the chair and pointed at the work bench, issuing him to place the back of items they scavenged there. As he did, he watched her back, watching her open the door to the balcony and drag blankets from the shelves out, throwing them onto the stone balcony. She returned in the room, gathering two of the many pillows on the heart bed she slept on and threw it out on top of the pile of blankets.
"Get out." She demanded then, thrusting her finger towards the door. He frowned, his arms crossing over his chest, his feet flat on the ground. She looked angry with him then, a slow red flush filling her cheeks before she shoved him forward. "Out!" he complied after the third or fourth shove, turning to have the door slammed in his face, the lock clicking into place.
Thankfully, the balcony was large and separated from the rest. Stripping his Regulators jacket from his shoulder, he kicked off his boots, tugged off his socks and stuffed them down into the boots before pulling his shirt over his head, leaving him only in his pants. He piled his clothing(and shoes) in the corner before spreading out the blankets, making a cot for himself.
"So she's got a new one?" A voice called from the dark. His brown eyes jerked up, standing cautiously to his feet before moving to the balcony. There, on the balcony to the left of the one he was on, stood a man, not quite elderly but not quite young. He wore a fine pin-striped suit, white with grey lines. Zane could see a 10mm holstered at his side. He leaned on his arms which were propped up on the balcony railing, glancing at him. "Who are you?" Zane found himself asking without really thinking of it, and the man smiled. "I, my good boy, am Mr. Burke. And you are?"
"Zane." Burke smiled, a kind of smile he didn't exactly like. "You said I was her 'new toy'? Does that mean she's had others?" The older man glanced at his face once more before looking all the way down at the ground below them. "One."
"And what happened to him?" He paused. Did he actually want to know? But he found his curiosity getting the better of him, and he looked towards Burke again. "What happened to him?" He repeated. Burke made a motion with his hands, gesturing towards the ground below him with a graceful sweep of his fingers. "Look below. Do you see that red splotch on the ground?" Zane did as he said. Though the dark was creeping over the sky, he could still make out the red-tinted dirt below. "There he is."
And then Zane understood. "Long fall, isn't it?" Burke asked. He could only nod numbly, frowning. "How does she pick us?" he asked then, and Burke just shrugged. "No one knows. Now I must retire to my room. Have a nice night." He gave a half bow before turning to return to the brightly lit room behind him.
His motions were mechanical, like someone was controlling him with strings as he pulled back the top blanket of his cot and crawled in, pulling it over him to block out the dust and the cold.
Again, he dreamed of Cole, but this time he was smiling a bloodied smile. "Don't listen. Don't listen. Don't listen. Don't listen. Don't listen. Don't listen. Don't listen. Don't listen." He kept repeating, each time the volume of his voice rose until he was shrieking it at him. "DON'T LISTEN! DON'T LISTEN! DON'T LISTEN!"
"Listen to what, Cole, what?" He kept asking in reply, and when Cole's mouth parted to reply, he was shook awake.
"Can I wet your whistle?" The Protecton asked from behind the bar, its arms making jerky motions as he looked up. "I have no caps." He replied, and the Protecton moved on to the next customer. The stool next to his was dragged out, and a man took the seat next to him.
"You know, you can just put it on her tab. She'll pay it at the end of the month." The man said as he leaned against the bar, whistling to the Protecton. "Shakes, get me a scotch and the new guy a-?"
"Whiskey."
"Get 'em a whiskey." The Protecton unlocked the cabinet behind him, producing a bottle of scotch and pouring a glass, pushing it before the blond male besides him before doing the same with the whiskey. He grabbed it up once it was in front of him, taking a drink before looking at the other male. He smelled heavily of alcohol, his eyes bloodshot, nursing his drink. "What's your name, kid?" The man asked finally and Zane took a quick drink before answering him. "Zane."
"I'm Michael Hawthorne. Nice to meet ya'." His words slurred slightly, but he never seemed to notice as he continued to babble on. "So where's your. . . mistress? Should I call her your mistress? She does own you. But maybe your boss?" Already, Zane knew this guy was going to get on his nerves. "She's not my mistress and she's not my boss." He snapped in reply, causing the other to laugh. "But she slapped that collar around your neck, and you're stuck here waiting for her. Where is she?"
"Dr. Banfield." They had run into a nasty group of Yao Guai early that day not far from the tower. When he thought they had gotten by without getting hurt, she began to carve at the bear-like creatures' corpses, blood staining the back of her jacket. When they had returned to the tower, she asked him to take the meat to the suite and put it in the fridge, leaving further down the hall instead of going to the elevator, murmuring something about having to see Dr. Banfield to the security chief when he stopped her to complain about the trail of blood she was leaving on the floor, which had been the first time both of them had noticed it following their steps. The hard-ass chief had thrown her arm over his shoulder and helped her on when her knees threatened to give out on her.
It had been a week and this was the first time he had been let loose to explore the tower, so he planned on making the most of this moment.
First he had checked out the shops.
The first one he had discovered was New Urban Apparel, brown eyes scanning over the neatly folded items, at the clothing on display, catching the shop owner eyeing him from behind the counter. He had approached Zane a few minutes later, commenting on his apparel with disgust (what was wrong with his Regulator jacket?) before offering to give him a "friendly" discount. He had politely excused himself, catching Anthony (what the owner had introduced himself as) glancing at his form before he disappeared as Zane passed the door's threshold.
Next he had visited Boutique Le Chic. He instantly determined that the owner, Lydia Montenegro, was a complete and utter bitch. From the moment he walked in, he could feel her eyes on him, her gaze much different from Anthony's studying glance, a gaze of mistrust and anger fixated on him. When she approached him, she made jabs at him, at Ashley, at the dog. He instantly left after that.
Another woman watched him as he headed into Café Beau Monde, catching her blue eyes for a moment before stepping in, hoping to find a better experience in there. It was fairly nice, Margret Primrose being a kind hearted old woman. Despite his obvious lack of caps, she gave him a cold Nuka-Cola and a plate of the best iguana bits he had ever had (although anyone could top Cole's cooking), even sitting with him to have a chat. Almost instantly she had apologized for the Montenegro bitch's behaviors, explaining that her husband recently died. He had thanked her and left.
And so he found himself at the bar, with the urge to punch the drunk's face in. but instead, he just nursed his drink, enjoying the liquid slipping down his throat and leaving a burning path in its wake.
"Got a light, handsome?" A voice asked from behind his shoulder and he turned to find a young blond fluttering her lashes at him, a cigarette poking out of her mouth. "Sorry, but I don't." He replied after a moment of studying her, glancing to the side to see the Hawthorne guy hurriedly digging in his pockets, slurring "I do, I do." But with a cold flick of her gaze to him, she dismissed him by saying "It's alright; I'll get one from Shakes." Before swaggering off towards the Protecton, her hips swaying at him.
"Who was that?" He asked the drunk, catching her blue eyes again. "That's Susan Lancaster. The prettiest woman here."
'Not the prettiest.' His mind mused and her almost spoke the words but caught himself at the last minute. "Then again, that Anders chick you work for would be gorgeous if she wasn't so damned . . . evil." He thought about her then. And as if thinking about her summoned the devil herself, she appeared with one arm slung around Gustavo's shoulders, her hair wild and her shirt clutched in one hand, her torso heavily bandaged with off-white gauze.
"Don't say a damned thing." She snapped, obviously irritated. "Let's just fucking go." It had been the first time in a whole week her had heard her curse, so he listened to his instincts which told him to get up fast. He offered to take her from Gustavo, but the man brushed him off and moved to the elevator.
Zane could see the obvious limp in her leg, the way her knees seemed to wobble like jelly, and the tight grip Gustavo had on her waist. He moved ahead then, calling the elevator with the push of a button and leaning against the wall in wait. When it screeched its way to the lobby floor, the doors opening noisily, he got in and watched her pry herself away from Gustavo, leaving him on the lower floor.
He offered to help her once the door slid open, but she shoved past him and used the wall as a brace, moving to the door leading to her suite at a snail's pace. He just rolled his eyes, walking slowly behind her. Ashley almost fell against the door but he grabbed her arm at the last minute, helping her stand straight. She unlocked the door, weakly turning the nob and once again almost fell, but he had hold of her arm again, leading her forcefully to her bed. "Out." She ordered in a growl as she crawled into bed, not even bother making sure he left as he skulked to the balcony.
"C'mon, baby, give me some sugar." Zane wanted to hurt this guy but more importantly he wanted to grab Ashley away from him. The "gangster"-like slaver leader of Paradise Falls, the instant they walked into his building he knew he was going to hate him.
"Eulogy. We have a business relationship only." The man smiled a cruel looking smile and he just snorted. "You got somethin' to say, law man?" He asked and Zane just frowned, tightening his arms over his chest. "Thought so. Honey, why didn't you send this fuck head to the Falls? We would'a made an obedient little bitch outta him. Could'a gave him to Forty, let him have some fun with this prick and –"
"Because he's mine." As swift as a Deathclaw she strode to stand before the slaver boss, a 10mm pressed against the underside of his jaw. "While we're here, Eulogy darling, Grumpy (He still hadn't told her his name.) here better not be harmed." He just simply gulped and nodded, which she replied with a bright smile and holstering her gun on her hip. "So, how about that slave you were gonna sell me?"
"Clover?" He asked, coughing to compose himself and adjusting his tie. "Why would I sell you Clover?" He snapped, but it didn't seem to faze her. She fluttered her lashes, pursed her lips, and looked up at him with wide green eyes. "Because you already offered her to me." He sighed, as Zane had seen many men before him do, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Fine. I'll sell you Clover. One thousand caps. And an extra five hundred for letting your raider friend stay here." Zane glanced at Ashley, watching her face freeze as she thought as it did whenever she was deep in thought. "One thousand five hundred caps for Clover and Jericho's room and board? That's a little steep, don't you think Eulogy?"
The African American male just glared at her and she fluttered her eyes once more, frowning deeply at her once more. "No. I don't." Ashley just fluttered her eye lashes, pushing out her lower lip. "Seven fifty. For both."
"SEVEN FIFTY!" The slaver hollered, two women in pink dresses running into the room to find out what the commotion was. "Yes. Seven fifty." He glared at her, and with tight lips nodded sharply. "Why thank you. Have her sent to the front gate, yes? Oh, and Jericho too, please." She grinned at him, swaying her hips seductively as she left. He followed her, never taking brown hues off her bodice. Well, not her bodice. More like her hips.
She didn't go straight to the gate but rather headed to the food area where she ordered a quick shot of the watered down whiskey from Frank. Zane could just see the light color of the usually amber liquid, but she made no face to show she acknowledged the watery taste, just knocked it back, slammed it on the counter, left a few caps, and then left the area. She headed to the gate then and almost instantly the old man standing there let out a cat call.
"Shut the hell up, Jericho." She snapped, but her tone was playful. Zane just arched a brow as he followed her up the small slope to the gate made out of the car doors. "You three better get along." She said in makeshift introductions and Jericho just gave a snort while Clover smiled widely at him.
Ashley hadn't wasted any time getting on the roar. They distributed some weight to Jericho and Clover and were on their way in a matter of minutes. Zane stood close to Ashley, Clover and Jericho pulling up the rear. He could see the black haired woman was deep in thought, her face pulled into a delicate scowl.
"Hey doll face." Jericho jogged up to stand between them before her jerked his thumb in Zane's direction. "Send this asshole to walk besides Clover so I can talk to ya'." Ashley looked at the old raider first before her green eyes landed on Zane and he could see she was considering the request.
"Alright." She murmured and Zane had no choice but to fall behind, waiting for Clover a few feet back. As he walked besides the slave, he could see them talking quietly, but just out of earshot. The once-raider leaned closer to Ashley, his hand snaking out to grab hold of her rear.
Anger shot through him at the sight, but no relief came when she gave a growl (so loud he could hear it from where he was) and shoved Jericho away. Her reaction didn't seem to faze him because he grinned widely, repeating the action when they passed by an abandoned train car.
"That's it." Zane found himself growling, taking long strides forward as Ashley pushed Jericho away once more. He grabbed the front of the older man's leather armor, slamming his back against the rusting car, maneuvering his arm so it was pressed tightly under his throat. "You got a problem, asshole?" Jericho asked, voice breaking as Zane's arm pressed further against his wind pipe. "If not, get the fuck outta my face." His anger kept rising and rising and he leaned his face closer, brown eyes hard and cold. "Keep your fucking hands off her." He had growled, slamming him against the train car once more. "Or else what? What the fuck you gonna do." His free hand flinched, fisted, and swung. But he stopped only inches from his face, smiling in satisfaction as the older man flinched. Her hand was on his shoulder, then, and she was whispering for him to let Jericho go. He released him, a light growl passing him as he let Ashley pull him away.
She was angry with him, he knew, but Jericho never touched her, never even moved to stand beside her. He just stayed besides Clover the whole way. And this made Zane smirk smugly.
Someone shoved past him, grumbling in a scratchy voice as they told him to "Get the hell out of the way, smoothskin." He was watching Ashley speak to another ghoul, Winthrop he thinks. She handed him a large bag of scrap metal with one hand (Her other hand was pushing her sunglasses in her hair so she could make eye contact), and though he couldn't see it, he knew that was what it was because it was him who had to haul the large bag across the Wasteland. He now understood what he thought at the time was a stupid request, but it seemed it was an act of good faith.
So there they were. In the city of ghouls, Underworld.
He could only catch a few words from her this whole time. But he heard one question clearly. "Where's Moria?" Winthrop only jabbed his finger to the backside of Underworld and she let gave him a smile that could melt ice as she gave him a quick embrace, which Zane was surprised to see the ghoul return, and hurried to the back. He followed her slowly and he caught the flow of her hair as she threw herself at a ghoul in a RobCo jumpsuit. Her shoulders shook as she buried her face into the woman's stomach.
Was she . . . crying?
He couldn't tell with her face in the other woman's abdomen, and as he moved to get a closer look the ghoul, Moria, had taken hold of her hand and pulled her into a janitors closet, Ashley murmuring "I didn't mean for you. . . " But he couldn't hear as the door closed and locked. All he could do is wait for her to leave the closet and hope that she wasn't wearing her sun glasses.
But when she stepped out, the dark lensed glasses were snug on her face and she stood tall. "Let's go, Zane." She murmured and they walked to the front. She stopped to say hello to the ghoul behind the counter at Underworld Outfitter, who beamed yellow teeth as she waved back, before they pushed on into the museum and then the night air.
"Daddy." Her voice came out a whisper before it raised an octave. "Daddy!" She screamed as she lurched towards her father behind the door of the Rotunda. Tears started to fall freely from her green eyes as her father crawled to her, his hand smacking the glass door with a loud thump! And he muttered the words "Run" like a mantra before he went into a coughing fit, blood splattering the ground from his maw before he fell to the ground in death. "Daddy. Daddy wake up! Daddy!" She was banging her fists on the glass.
"We have to go!" The scientist yelled, Dr. Li, and she reached for Ashley. "NO!" The ebony haired woman had screamed before the moved to the control panel, pressing buttons to get the door open. Jericho and Clover stared at her in disbelief but then again, Zane did too. This was the first time she had showed such emotion, and such a broken, raw sadness.
Zane couldn't help but sigh before his hands were on her shoulders. She began to thrash in his arms before he moved them down to rest at her waist and wrapped around her. Somewhere in the background Dr. Li was still yelling about escaping but Zane could barely hear her over the sobs of the woman in his arms. "Ashley." He spoke the words softly, but urgently. "Ashley. We have to go."
"We can't leave him in there." She quickly replied and Zane couldn't help but sigh against her shoulder. "Ashley. Your father gave you his life. You must escape. Escape and exact your revenge. But live. Don't let his death be in vain." She sobbed, but he could see her face over her shoulder and he knew by her look he was right and she knew it. A sigh passed her, she turned in his arms and simply peered up at him. Something in the back of his mind screamed "This is right!" as he thumbed away her tears, something else in his mind screaming "This is wrong!" but he pushed both to the back of his mind as he gave her a smile, which she mirrored. "You lead. We'll follow."
The woman had simply nodded once more, and took her Hunting Rifle from her back. She stepped carefully, quietly through building and pushed over the door, which creaked. She aimed, one eye closing before she breathed as she squeezed the trigger, the bullet shooting from the barrel and embedding into an Enclave soldier's helmet. She shot off another round which broke past the helmet this time, killing him. She snuck over, holding a hand up for them to wait before she began to rummage around the soldier, removing all but his armor and slipping a laser rifle onto her back, some ammo, cram, and a bottle of scotch and a few caps into her back before she moved on.
"There they are!" Someone yelled and three soldiers dashed towards them. She slipped her combat knife from a holster on her hip, embedding it into one soldier's neck under his helmet as Zane shot down another and Jericho took the last. "This way." Dr. Li hurried to a manhole hidden by a large piece of equipment. Jericho shoved it aside and she slid off the cover, beginning to climb her way down the ladder. Her high heels caught on the rungs and she almost tumbled down, but Ashley had been quick and caught her wrists. "Take your heels off." She commanded and the scientist kicked them off before finding her foot hold again, making her way down once more.
Clover followed her. Then it was Jericho. Then it was Zane. But before his head disappeared he glanced at Ashley, who scanned the area like a hawk. She turned to look at him and let a smile cross her face, following him down. With a screech, she pulled the cover into place before the dropped down to the ground. "What the fuck is happening?" Daniel Agincourt howled at Ashley. "I knew having you here was a bad idea. You and your no good father probably led the Enclave here!" Zane turned on him in a fury and he towered over the shorter man. "Her father is dead!" He growled at him. "Sacrificed himself so you and your "no good" friends could escape. So shut the hell up before I shut you up!" Ashley sighed from besides him and Dr. Li stomped her feet (her high heels back on her feet) before yelling at them all. "That's enough! We need to go!"
"You stay here. I'll go scout ahead." Ashley murmured and Dr. Li settled a look upon the younger of the women. "Are you sure?" She asked and Ashley gave a nod. While she was gone, Zane did a head count. One – Daniel Agincourt. Two – Garza. Three – Alice Kempeski. Four – Dr. Li. Five – Clover. Six – Jericho. Seven – him. And eight – Ashley. But that left them with missing three people. Two had died on the Rotunda, Dr. Li's assistant had been shot by Colonel Autumn and James had died so they could escape. So who was missing?
He snapped out of his thought as gun fire sounded down the tunnel. Dr. Li looked at him and he almost took off down the sewer tunnel but Jericho stopped him, with no explanation why. Did this asshole really want Ashley to die down here? But what was he saying? She had survived for a few years before she even took some companions on and was probably the most qualified for protecting the group out of them all.
Coming into sight was Ashley, her hair having fallen a bit from the messy bun atop her head, another scientist in tow. "Alex!" Garza and Daniel had exclaimed and the other had rushed over to them. "Found him trying to out run some ferals." She explained in a breathy tone as she stood beside Zane. She gave her a look that he couldn't quite read before she turned to Dr. Li. "Let's go." The older woman nodded and Ashley led the group down the tunnel, looking as much the leader as she was.
To be back in Tenpenny Tower was the best thing ever. Zane was so over joyed to be back and in one piece he contemplated falling to his knees and kissing the dusty carpet. But he didn't. He just followed Ashley past the receptionist's desk and to the elevator. She hadn't spoken the whole way back, just told Jericho and Clover to wait at the Citadel while she and Zane headed back to Tenpenny Tower to resupply. The journey was long, and multiple times had they ran into scouting Enclave, but they took them out easy enough. That wasn't what had worried him. What worried him was his companion and her silence.
The elevator screeched down to their level and the door slid open. She just stepped in, and he after her. She said nothing as the doors closed and the elevator worked its way up to the suites level. She hurried to their door, unlocking it and letting him in before she followed suit. Zane closed the door to the bathroom behind him as she plopped down on her bed. And made Dogmeat go to his bed in the corner.
Behind the closed door, he studied himself. He had a large gash on his forehead and a purple bruise curling under his eye. But he knew he looked like nothing had happened compared to Ashley. Though he knew she wouldn't admit it, she was in pain. He knew there were burn blossomed across her body, bruises and cuts just about everywhere. She had tended to everyone's wound without even a squeak of a protest, just worked like a machine with no words, no expression. He gave a sigh, leaning his forehead against the mirror before he took a quick shower.
He left the room wearing a pair of sweat pants and a tight shirt and was shocked to find her curled up on her heart shaped bed, red silk sheets and pillow piled high behind her. She was sobbing into the only purple pillow (which she had explained to him was really the only thing she remembered her best friend from the Vault by), hair disheveled. He didn't know what to say, so he settled for clearing his throat.
She looked up at him, her eyes resembling that of a wounded animal. She was broken inside, he could tell. "Ashley." The word flowed from him soft as he kneeled besides the bed. At first, when she glared at his hand as it outstretched to her, he thought she'd jerk away or swat it away from her. But she let him touch her, and he put his hands gently on her shoulders before taking a more firm grasp. With a gentleness he never knew he even had, Zane pulled her off the bed and into his lap, wrapping his arms around her for security and his mind screamed "safe".
She sobbed into his chest like a child, her body shaking under his fingers before he swept them through her blood, dirt, and sweat covered hair. "Ashley." Again the word was soft on his tongue and he liked the way she looked up at him like a lost little puppy when he said it. "Ashley. Go take a shower." He wasn't demanding. He'd never command anything of her. But she nodded and pulled away from him, leaving to close herself in the bathroom to the side of the master bed room.
Steam flowed out the door as she opened it and she stepped out clothed in nothing but a towel. Out of some decency he turned his head, standing to move from the master bedroom to the living room area where she had put his mattress (after his time alone in Tenpenny Tower she decided he could have more rein and let him sleep inside when she found him that night covered in sand) but her hand was curling around his. "Don't go." She squeaked and the look on her face broke his heart. He nodded and she gave him the saddest of smiles. Zane let her pull him to her bed, sitting down while she went to her dresser and slipped on a shirt and pair of shorts. When she returned, she lied next to him, mere inches of space left between their bodies.
He must have fallen asleep because when he woke up her hands were sliding up his chest softly. He cracked his eye open just a bit to see her through his lashes and almost jerked up when she pressed a kiss to his jaw. The next kiss was pressed to his chin and before she could get a third on his skin he grabbed her face. "What are you doing?" He questioned and her eyes dropped and she sighed. "I'm sorry." Ashley looked ready to cry again and he did what his mind told him to. He drew her to him and let his lips press against hers.
She was clearly shocked, body rigid. But eventually she relaxed, her hands wrapping around his neck. Zane moved his lips down her jaw to her neck, giving quick kisses and soft nips as he grasped her hips and rolled her under him. Ashley wrapped her legs around his waist as they broke away for air and he looked down at her with a grin. She was flushed, her hair disheveled from their roll. With new found confidence she leaned up, capturing his lips again in a rough kiss, her fingers roaming his chest. He slid her shirt up to her shoulders, never breaking the kiss as his hand slowly began to knead her left breast, thumb and fore finger until it hardened. Breaking from her lips he removed her shirt with one swoop, watching with a smirk as she blushed and moved her arms to cover her chest. He grasped her wrist then, prying her arms away. "Let me look at your beauty." He breathed before he pressed his face to her neck, taking in her scent. He then stopped, blinking. She was his enemy. He could still hear the soft beep of the collar around his throat. Yet she was all he wanted for the past month. He didn't know if this was right or completely fucking wrong, but all he knew was what he wanted.
He wanted her. Even if that meant his freedom.
Kissing her with a new found passion, he slipped his tongue into the warm depths of her mouth when she parted her lips for him. She was sliding her hands up his back, pushing the shirt up as she went. He let her remove it, lifting his arms to help her before he returned to her lips. He had the desire to taste her, pulling away to trail his lips along her jaw as he moved down. He ran his tongue along her right nipple before taking it within his mouth, enjoying the sound of her moan as she began to writhe under him. He gave her left nipple the same treatment as he pulled her shorts down her hips. She moved her legs, slipping them out of the legs before lying under him bare.
A smile was on her lips as she rolled him over with her hips, wasting no time to remove his pants. Kisses and nips were left on his chest as she moved her way down. When she reached his navel, she peered up at him, lips pulled into a pout before she dipped her head down and pressed a kiss onto the tip of him before completely sliding her mouth down. Inch by inch she took him into his mouth and he groaned, resisting the urge to thrust into her mouth, his hand flowing into her damp hair.
When he could take no more, he pulled her up and rolled once more, turning her around so her back faced him before entering her with one thrust. She was pure warmth and unexpectedly tight. A groan escaped him as she squirmed her hips from the full feeling he gave her, lifting her ass to press into his hips, goading him on. He kissed her neck as he pulled back and thrusted once more, finding a smooth but rough speed and she braced herself against the mass amount of pillows.
After a while he pulled out, listening to her whine from the sudden loss before he rolled her over and thrusted into her once more. This time, she cried out, arms wrapping around his torso, nails digging into his back. She bit his shoulder roughly and that sent him over the edge, causing him to spill into her, enjoying as she squirmed under him with her own release. He pulled out of her and dropped to rest by her side, pulling her into his arms. "That was nice, Zane." Ashley breathed, nuzzling into his neck and he blinked down at her. "When did you find out my name?"
Face settling into a pout before she smiled and looked up at him. "Your friend called you that." Of course. That was how she found out. He wanted to ask her why she never called him by his name if she knew it, but when his eyes glanced down she was asleep in his arms. He pressed against her as he let sleep over take him.
The next morning when he woke up, she was gone. There was no sign of her or Dogmeat. When he rolled to his side, he came face to face with a slave collar on the pillow and realized with a start that a weight had been missing from his neck. He stayed for weeks, waiting for her to return. But she never did and he finally decided it was time to leave. She wasn't coming back for him. And he had been ready to admit his love to her.
"Zane." Someone was rousing him to sleep and he rolled over, swatting at the appendage. "No, Ash, let me sleep." He mumbled into his bedroll before the person chuckled, a deep, rough, manly chuckle. He sighed as he sat up, coming face-to-face with Cole peering down at him. He stopped, froze as he stared at the dark face. "C-Cole?" He smiled at him and Zane couldn't help but hug his friend. When he pulled back, Cole was laughing and he joined in with him. "I thought you were dead!" Zane exclaimed and Cole shook his head. "That woman. She shot me in the collar bone. I survived. Nina didn't." He frowned. "It was Nina. She was bound to gun us all down eventually." Zane added and they both laughed.
Cole helped Zane to his feet, glancing at the bedroll he was sleeping on before casting his gaze at the Regulator's shack that acted at their headquarters with scrunched together brows. "You were right there. Why didn't you go in?" He asked and turned to find Zane staring down at his feet. "I felt like a traitor." He murmured before Cole clapped him on the shoulder. "Man. You aren't ever gonna be a traitor. Now let's go inside and see if we can get a mission." A smile crawled on Zane's face, nodding and throwing his bedroll over his shoulder as they walked back to the HQ.
Once inside, the first thing that happened was the Regulators had all either hugged him or clapped him on the shoulder, giving him a warm welcome he thought he wouldn't her. When he and Cole went to the back, even Sonora Cruz had clapped her hand down on his shoulder. "Welcome back." She told him and he nodded her thanks.
"C'mon, Cruz, we're ready for a mission!" Cole exclaimed from his side as Zane stepped back and she settled her gaze on Zane. "You sure?" She asked and he nodded. "Alright. A team was just sent out after Ashley Anders. If you leave now, you can catch up to them." Zane went rigid. They were after Ashley. "Where has she been spotted?" He asked, tumbling over his words. "Near RobCo." She was going back to Tenpenny Tower. He spun on his heel and left the room with hurried motions. He strapped his Assault Rifle to his back, slid on the back he had been carrying around full of food, medical supplies, and ammo, before he bounded for the door.
"Zane!" Cole yelled somewhere behind him as he ripped open the door, and suddenly his friend was pulling him back by his shoulder, glaring at him. "What are you doing, man?"
"I'm going after her!" Cole looked at him, like he was trying to decipher his emotions with just a glance. "For revenge?" Zane shook his head. "Then what for?" A looked settle on Zane's dirty face. He glared at the wall before he looked at his friend with a look all too pained. "I love her, Cole. She's not the woman we think she is." And as he spoke, Cole's look became horrified. "Are you crazy! She took you hostage. She killed Nina! She almost killed me!"
"But she didn't! Don't you realize, Cole? She knew you were my friend. She spared you. For me." And realization flowed over Cole's face like a broken dam. "Go. I'll tell the others I just got word she was at Paradise Falls." Zane nodded his thanks and took off to the Wasteland.
A dog was barking in the distance as he walked down the cracked pavement of RobCo. Where was she? He had been running for hours, he was worried. The dog barking broke his train of thought and he growled. Who couldn't keep their dog shut the fuck up? Ashley kept Dogmeat shut up. The hound only made a peep when someone was near, ready to strike or Ashley was hurt.
He paused. Frowned then. "If Ashley was hurt." He breathed before he gathered strength into his legs and bounded off towards the direction of the barking. Was it her? He sure in hell hoped so. If it was her, why was Dogmeat barking? That meant only a few things. She was hurt, or someone was hurting her. Each thought pushed him forward until he was running so quickly he almost passed her.
There. She was there. Surrounded by raiders who were all taking their turns beating her. "Uh oh, call a doctor!" A woman exclaimed in the group and the group laughed. "Yeah! She's a fucking bleeder!" Another woman with a shrill voice exclaimed. The men in the group laughed as one of the women stalked forward, a knife in her hand. It was the one with the shrill voice, who giggled. "It's time to end this!" She exclaimed, lashing out towards the curled up body. Dogmeat howled as Zane looked down the sight of the gun and shot it from her hand.
"What the fuck?" A man asked, wearing a firefighter's helmet as he broke away from the group. With one shot, Zane killed him with a bullet to the chest. That seemed to break the group out of their daze and they all flew at him with a fury. He dodged knife swipes, first killing a woman with a flamer before he killed the rest. It took too long but when he finished, he threw down the gun. Where was Dogmeat? The dog was howling and he looked around to find the dog chained to a light pole. He rummaged through the raiders' pockets, taking a key from one of the women and unchaining the hound before he returned with hurried steps to the bleeding woman on the ground, scooping her up in his arms. "Oh Ashley." He breathed, clutching her to his body.
Her eyes were blank as she stared up at him. It took her a moment to blink, her eyes suddenly recognizing him. "Zane?" She asked in a choked voice before she scrabbled out of his arms to throw up the contents of her stomach onto the destroyed sidewalk. When she returned to him, he could recognize the most obvious signs of addiction. She was pale, her eyes bloodshot. Blood flowed from her lip, busted with her beating, and out of the corner of her mouth. When she blacked out a few seconds later, he knew she was having withdrawals and gathered her up in his arms once more. He took a shaky step before another strengthened step, heading back towards Tenpenny Tower.
She had gotten herself addicted to Buffout, Jet, Mentas, and Med-X. In Doc Banfield's words, she was "Pretty much addicted to every damn thing out there except booze." But after further examination they realized that she, in fact, was addicted to Whiskey and Vodka by the way her liver was put on overcharge. The doc had to flush her system of the drugs before giving Zane some Fixer to inject into her every seven hours while she slept in her room.
When he had managed to carry her to the elevator and then to her room, he was exhausted. He laid her on the bed and Dogmeat took a seat next to her as he went to work. First he cleaned her busted lip, then removed the broken bits of one of her back molars as she slept. He hooked her up to a Blood Pack before leaning in the plush chair next to her bed, slowly going to sleep despite how hard he tried to keep his eyes open.
When he woke up, he found a gun in his face.
"Get up." She demanded and Zane had no choice but to comply. "Ashley I – "
"Shut up!" She cut him off, shoving the gun towards his face. "Why are you here?" Her eyes were wild, like a trapped animal. Slowly, his hand went forward to reach for her face but she swiped out with the gun, pushing his hand away from her face. "I saved you." He simply replied and she growled. "Saved me to kill me!" He shook his head. No. He wanted to speak, but words didn't come to him. He opened his mouth, but no words came. Nothing. Just silence.
He looked down the barrel of her 10mm Pistol, watching her fingers tremble, the flesh over her knuckles fade to white, and the distant look in her eyes as she pulled back the hammer, the sound of their breathing, hers' heavy and labored and his own calm, and the sound of the gun cocking being the only thing in the still room.
Her face was fixed into a solid expression and Zane half expected her to actually pull the trigger. And she did. But the gun just gave a click before she dropped it and began to sob. As he took her in his arms, a radio broadcast beeped on a ham radio she had set up on the work bench. He let her go for a moment, just long enough for her to press a few buttons. And the voice on the other side of the radio was one he handn't expected to hear. One he had heard during his first trip to Megaton. His only trip to Megaton because it was destroyed months later.
"Howdy, little missy." The voice through the radio said and she smiled a sad little smile as she pressed a button and replied. "Hey Simms." If Zane had any doubt who that was, it was cleared up then. Lucas Simms. The mayor and sherief of Megaton. One of the so-called casualties. "How are things?" She was asking, which broke him free from his thoughts. "Everythin's alright. A bit hard to start over. But we are, thanks to you. Everyone wanted me to pass on hellos. And Jenny Stahl asked when you were gonna come visit us." A smile was left on her face as she shook her head. "Whenever I can." She spoke. She opened her mouth to continue, but Zane reached over and flipped it off.
"What the hell?" She demanded and Zane stared down at her, arms crossed firmly over his chest. "Megaton was destroyed." She nodded. "But the inhabitants survived." She nodded once more. "And how did this happen?" a sigh passed her then and she ran her hands through her hair. "When I was hired to do the job, I told them al lthey were being targeted. After some convincing, they all agreed to leave if I find them a proper new home. I went searching and found some old ruins before returning to them. after that, I escoted them there myself. Ever since, they've been adjusting to new life. I was planning on killing Tenpenny but my plan was distrubpted when I learned of my father's wheraabouts in a Vault. I had to go help him. I had been searcfhing for him so long that I couldn't let Tenpenny get in my way. Then things got out of hand and –"
Zane hugged her and she fell silent before her own arms wrapped around him. "Everyone thinks your evil." He breathed and she nodded. "I know. Are you mad?" Was he? He never thought of it but he shook his head slowly. "No. I'm glad. More than glad. Overjoyed. Now, I know I won't ever have to hunt my girl." She smiled happily and he kissed her once more. Oh no. He would never let anyone hurt her.
And it's over. Not as great as I wanted it to be, but oh well.
Here's a little convo I told a friend I'd put in there.
Ashley: She made me go for a regulator. A goody-goody-two-shoes.
Zane: Y'know you love me baby.
Wolfe: God, shut up. *Rolls eyes*
Wolfe's Friend Alice: KITTY! *Glomps them all*