One of my favorite missions! Trouble on the Home Front was something I just had to get Lou and Ginger in the vault!
Trouble on the Home Front
He'd dragged her out of the rotunda and forced her into the escape tunnels. She'd kicked and screamed the whole way. Once underground she brought up her gun and did the job at hand. Ginger was all business as they'd led the scared, and quite frankly useless, scientist to The Citadel.
Elder Lyon's had talked to Madison Lee first when he met them in the courtyard and then he'd talked to Ginger. He invited her to stay along with the scientist but hadn't extended the same offer to Lou. She'd noticed.
"You are welcome to stay under our protection until we understand the situation. When that's done I'm sure there will be work for you to do. I understand we are going to need to locate a G.E.C.K, once it's been found you're the most suited to retrieve it. If your reputation precedes that is,"
Lyons never looked at Lou and the ghoul could see her patience draining quickly. His poor Ginger had had a long hard day.
"We," she emphasized coolly.
"Excuse me?" Elder Lyons asked with a little confusion.
Ginger slipped on her sunglasses and nodded towards Lou. "We…Lucifer and I are a team and yes, we are the best,"
"Well…I had heard but I assumed the ghoul was more of a servant, you did pick him up in Paradise Falls didn't you?"
Ginger's hackles went up immediately. The man's audacity to imply she kept slaves had her clenching her fists, "No! We met in the wasteland! You dare…Lou is worth twice what any one of your gods all damned brotherhood assholes!" her voice kicked up in volume with every word, the carefully built walls around her emotions cracking. "Don't you dare think that a man is worthless because of how he looks, that will get you killed. You fucks got my dad killed! You knew the project was open again! You should have been protecting it! But No, clean free water is impossible according you so might as well let the whole damn wasteland die instead of taking the chance!" she was screaming now but Lou knew the only way to help her now was to let her go.
"I assure you-"
"Save it!" she barked the order like any ten star general and the elder obeyed, startled into submission. "The memorial is right there! Guess clean water wasn't important enough to send a few units across the damn street. The Enclave disagreed! How does it feel to have them in spitting distance? You know what? Get the fucking G.E.C.K yourself! I'm done being an errand girl, this," she waved her hands around vaguely, "this project has taken everything from me and I'm done!" she turned on her heel and stocked back the way they'd come.
"Where are you going!" Lee called while everyone in the yard starred. Ginger spun back around.
"Away, you all can fuck off! Project Purity…" she said the name like it left a bad taste in her mouth. "took my mother, kick me out of my home, and now my farther is dead. I've taken bullets in its name and lost plenty of nights working to get it in running order. Now! Not six hours after the last of my family died in a cloud of radiation, I'm told to rest up cause I've gotta drag my ass and my servant off to fuck knows where to fetch a thing that may or may not even really work? I don't think so."
Lou could see her trembling as she tried to hold on to the last scraps of civility. He moved to stand just behind her, glaring at everyone while he placed a comforting hand on her back where no one could see.
Anna shifted back against his touch ever so slightly, her ragged breath evening just a little.
"Now see here!" Lyons growled, finally recovering from his shock. "I am the Elder here and will not tolerate your attitude. I would have thought that James would have taught you better manners in the vault. You're spitting on your father's grave by abandoning his life's work. Your mother's life's work! I can tell you that both of them would be ashamed of whom you've become and the people you have chosen to be loyal too!"
Everyone in the courtyard inhaled sharply, even that asshole energizer Daniel. The glare Ginger sent at the old man froze everyone as she set her jaw and slowly rolled her head to crack her stiff neck.
Ginger moved before Lou could stop her, she sprang across the short distance with an animalistic snarl and punched the man, throwing her weight and memento into it. Her knuckles where definitely broken but the crack of the pretentious man's jaw made the pain and the seventeen laser rifles aimed in her direction well worth it.
Ginger spat on the ground and advanced, sweeping her hand down towards the combat knife tucked into her boot.
"No!" Lou growled as he caught her, one arm wrapping around her waist and the other hand slipping along her arm to her wrist. Her forced the knife from her hand and dragged her to the dirt as multiple lasers fired in her direction.
Somebody called a cease fire but neither girl nor ghoul knew who it was. Ginger was furiously trying to simultaneously beat the shit out of Lou for stopping her the first time and getting her knife back to take retribution for the Elders' words in blood.
Lou was busy doing everything in his power to restrain the furious woman without causing any lasting damage. It was harder then he thought it would be because at the moment she didn't give a damn about giving him the same curtsy.
Finally Lou got behind her and hooked his elbows under her armpits. He kicked the back of her knee harder then he wanted too but she wasn't his Ginger right now. She was a wasteland predator with the taste of blood in her mouth. Lou felt like an asshole as she fell to her knees with a string of curses falling from her lips but he laced his fingers behind her head and held on tight.
Ginger yelled furiously but the ghoul didn't ease up. He'd much rather have her pissed the fuck off at him over dead. During the scuffle Lyons had backed up, the old man opened his mouth to say something else. Lou glared at him but Sarah slid smoothly between her farther and her friends.
"That's enough," she looked between Ginger and Elder Lyons, highly aware that she was ordering a man that was both her superior and her farther, "Stand down,"
The men around her hesitated but obeyed; nobody want to get on Sarah's bad side. She glared at her gaping farther and shook her head. "I never thought you could disappoint me but you have. Ginger is a hero in the wasteland and a damn fine solider. I'd have her at my back any day or night, however she just lost her farther and she's hurt.
"I think barking orders like she's one of our initiates was the wrong call. She never signed up for any of this. It was forced on her in the middle of the night. You should know better and Ginger I apologize…for everything. We should have been there to guard your people and my farther should not think that you owe the world anything. You and Lucifer can stay if you want. You could get fixed up and sleep. If not Star Paladin Cross as already offered to escort you anywhere you want to go,"
Lou was a little awe inspired by the way Sarah disarmed the situation. Elder Lyons grumbled something that made Sarah glare but then he retreated back indoors. When the man was out of sight Ginger sagged all the fight seeping out of her.
Lou carefully let her go, stepping around her while Sarah crouched down to inspect her as well. She had a few minor laser burns and a couple bullet grazes that were bleeding again but that wasn't what had her on the ground shaking.
"Ginger…I am so sorry," Sarah whispered so the last of the onlookers wouldn't hear,
Ginger didn't say anything but after the longest minute of Lou's life she hauled herself to her feet. She checked her gun, retrieved her knife from the ground and then she turned away from The Citadel. Ginger was headed for the wasteland. Lou jogged after her, following the woman like he knew she wanted him too.
The sound of GNR playing led Lou threw the dilapidated house they'd been holding up in. She was curled in an easy chair right where he'd left her hours ago when he'd gone into Megaton for supplies.
"Hey kid, I brought you a present," he told her softly holding out a nearly full bottle of vodka. Anna didn't make a sound but her red rimmed eyes shifted towards him. It was more of a reaction then he'd gotten out of her over the last couple weeks so he took it as a good sign.
Fourteen days ago Ginger's farther had sacrificed himself for the wasteland. Twenty nine hours after that they had found themselves in Springvale. Ginger had paused to glare at the sigh that announced Megaton.
Lou sighed; she didn't want to be around people. Hell he didn't blame her.
"We could hold up in Silver's place for a while, it's not like she's using it," he'd suggest softly. She had nodded, leading the way.
Now Lou bit the cork from the bottle and spat it on the floor. The ghoul took a long swig. She had collapsed in that chair, exhausted, the second they'd walked in. Ginger hadn't moved since. Lucifer hadn't seen her eat or drink or sleep.
It was like she'd died along with her farther and hell if he didn't miss her like crazy.
"Anna," he pleaded softly. "Come on kid, talk to me. Please,"
Anna's eyes tightened ever so slightly and Lou's heart twisted. Maybe she wasn't just grief stricken. Maybe she was pissed that he'd stopped her from attacking Lyons.
"I'm sorry I restrained you," he whispered "but I couldn't let you kill him. I couldn't watch you be executed right there in front of me. I- I… listen; I need you to snap out of this. Grieve all you want but you gotta eat somethin'. You gotta get some rest. Anna I'll do anything," he was begging now, desperation in his raspy voice.
Anna's fingers twitched and and Lou's heart stuttered in his chest. Ginger met his gaze slowly. Cautiously Lou held out the vodka bottle again, he knew it was the opposite of what he should have in her stomach after two weeks of fasting but It was her favorite and he just wanted her to give a reaction. Anything to let him know she was still alive inside her own body.
Ginger's eyes dragged sluggishly from his worried face to the bottle and then by some miracle she reached for it. Her movements were stiff, her hands was shaky but she took the bottle and took carful sip. She coughed at the harshness of the liquid as the alcohol burn down her parched throat but took another larger sip.
Lou hovered like a mother hen, he wanted to pat her on the back or smooth her hair or something to let her know he was there but he didn't touch her. H hadn't touched her since The Citadel.
He pulled a package of Fancy Lad Snack Cakes out of a pocket and opened the plastic. Lou setting the food on the arm of Ginger's chair. He didn't want to spook her, as crazy as it sounded he was afraid to draw attention to the fact that she was moving again.
"I'll get some water or something," he told her quietly and left the room, taking his time retrieving a bottle of purified water.
When he got back one cake was gone and the second was in Ginger's trembling hands. He watched her rip off a small piece of cake and nibble yellow sponge cake. It was beautiful.
Lou twisted off the cap to the water, take a sip before holding it out to her. Ginger looked at the water for a second but then she took it. She sipped it at first but ended up downing the whole thing. She coughed at the end of the water, breathing hard. She dropped the empty plastic on the floor next to her chair.
"Do you want more?" Lou asked, holding his breath in hopes she'd talk to him.
Ginger just shook her head back and forth. Lou sighed and picked a blanket up off the floor, draping it over her, "I'm gonna turn in. The doors are locked, Try to get some sleep smoothskin,"
Ginger sat there for another hour after Lou had gone to bed and then she had to pee. It was a simple thing but with her mind working again she couldn't ignore it. She carefully got up, wincing at the soreness in her legs as she stood.
Ginger quietly slipped outside to do her business and when she was back in the house she went to the cracked mirror in the bathroom. She looked awful. Ginger used a hotplate to heat some water and gave herself a sponge bath, munching Yum-Yum Deviled Eggs as she scrubbed her skin clean.
She rinsed her greasy hair out over the sink in the kitchen and toweled it with one of Lou's shirts from his bag. After pulling on clean underwear and a white tank top she felt better. She thought about going back to her chair but she was afraid she wouldn't wake up again if she settled there. Instead she went to the bed room.
Lou was sound asleep when she crawled onto the bed, kneeling next to him. Anna put a hand softly on his shoulder and his eyes slid open, searching the darkness of the room. His gaze focused on her and he propped himself up on his elbows, "Anna…?"
He breathed her name, not sure rather he was dreaming or not. She nodded, touching his face, running a still trembling finger from his temple to his jaw. Lou sat up all the way, cupping her face tenderly while he looked her over.
Anna leaned into his touch, meeting his eyes in the darkness. "Thank you, Lucifer"
The words were soft and almost as raspy as his own voice. Lou's heart thudded in his chest. He wasn't sure exactly what she need the most right now but he was going to make sure she knew she was still alive. Lou pulled her into a tight hug against his chest. He showered her neck and face in kisses, unable to contain the emotions he was feeling. "Anna, I thought I'd finally lost you…"
They stayed in the little bungalow for two more days while Ginger regained her strength. Lou did his best to make up for not touching her in so long. By the time they were ready to leave he had her acting almost like her old self.
It was only natural that as soon as they were ten feet from the house her Pipboy made a noise indicating that a new signal had been found. Ginger quickly flicked threw the knobs and frowned. "It says it found Vault 101's emergency signal,"
Lou held back a string of hatful curses he hadn't used in a century. Of course, it wasn't like the universe would give his pretty little smoothskin a fuckin break.
This is an automated distress message from Vault-Tec: Vault 101. Message begins: It feels like you left home a long time ago, but I know you're still out there. I just hope you're still alive to hear this. Things got worse after you left. My father's gone mad with power. If you can hear this, please stop looking for your dad and help stop mine. I changed the door password to my name. If you're hearing this, and if you still care enough to help me, you should remember it.
Ginger let the message repeat a second time and looked at Lucifer. The ghoul sighed and turned pointing in the opposite direction they had been about to travel. "Let's go smoothskin. Maybe you can save the day and we can be drunk at Moriarty's Saloon by nine."
Ginger laughed in spite of herself. It was scratchy but Lou still enjoyed the sound. Together they walked in the direction of the only home she'd ever known. "They don't have any idea what it's like out here. I'm sure however bad it is it's not the worst thing you and I have seen together,"
Lou nodded, knowing she was telling herself that to keep from panicking. He also knew she was in fact right. Whatever was going on in the vault was not going to be worse then what they'd already seen.
The tunnel that hid the door was dark and cool, a relief from the midday sun that beat down on the wasteland.
Ginger went straight to the controls and took a steading breath, whispering the letters she typed into the system. "A. M. A. T. A. Amata…"
Lou put a gloved hand on her shoulder as the klaxon alarm rang out loudly. The cog shaped door hissed and groaned as it rolled out of the way. Ginger froze when she got eyes on the inside. The Vault looked like a warzone. There was trash everywhere and she could see blood splattered on the wall.
"Maybe it's worse then I thought," she breathed, pulling her Chinese assault rifle from her back. He didn't like it. Ginger was still recovering and he didn't want her opening any more emotional wounds.
"Let's go find your friend," Lou growled, readying his own rifle. They proceeded down a tunnel, pausing when they spotted movement just beyond the doorway up ahead. A security officer by the look of the man that had walked past the doorway.
Anna signaled a stop with a raised fist and crept forward on her own. Lou didn't like it but he understood that he would get them shot a lot faster if he appeared like a creature out of a horror holotape.
Anna eased up from her crouch, gun aimed and ready to fire if she need too. "Hands up, drop you're weapons,"
She said the word quietly but the man still jumped and whirled, fumbling to get his own gun up. Lou gritted his teeth, yelling at her in his mind to fire but he stayed in the shadows. She was a good merc, she knew what she was doing.
"What the-" the man stammered, dropping his gun on the steel floor, "How did you get in here?"
Ginger realized that she looked a lot different now. With her bandana keep her hair back and sunglasses covering her eyes the officer wouldn't know who she was. One corner of her mouth tipped up and she let her aim drop from his face.
"Hello Gomez, It's been awhile. Over a year if I remember correctly,"
"What?" he asked and Ginger pulled off her bandana and sunglasses, tucking them in a side pocket.
Gomez's eyes widened, "You, with all the dirt from out there I hardly recognize you. How'd you get back in here?"
"Amata called for me, She seems to think I can help," Ginger told him calmly,
"Things went to hell after you left, the whole Vault's divided. Lots of the younger people think that your dad had the right Idea and we should leave the vault. The others blame him for the bugs that attacked. Personally I don't think it was his fault, we've always had Radroaches. Hell I don't know. Boy you sure are lucky it was me that found you,"
Anna cocked an eyebrow, "I think I was the one that found you, Mr. Gomez. Where's Amata?"
"She's in the old Clinic with the other rebels. My Freddie's with them, I hope he's okay,"
Ginger nodded, "Take us there, I wouldn't want to have to shoot anyone that gets in my way,"
Gomez's eyes widened when he realized she wasn't kidding. He cleared his throat and asked, "Us?"
Ginger didn't take her eyes off Gomez as she lifted her hand and signaled Lou to come. Gomez's face went white and he backed away a few paces. Anna felt her dog brush past her legs and Lou's presence at her back.
"Officer Gomez, this is my partner Lucifer and my dog Dogmeat,"
"What is that!"
"He…is a ghoul. One of the many kinds people in the wasteland. Gomez take us to Amata," Ginger ordered, shifting the grip on her gun pointedly.
Gomez nodded mutely and did as he was told. Lou always admired the way her voice got hard and authoritative whenever she ordered people around. She always got them to do what she wanted because she looked like a superior. When he'd commented on the ability she'd laughed and told him it was all about the confidence.
Gomez led them through the trashed vault hallways in silence. Ginger remembered playing in these halls and it hurt her more then she cared to admit to see it in such bad shape. Ahead Ginger spotted a Tunnel Snake shouting insults at an elderly guard. Freddie waved his knife and the old guy fired.
Gomez yelled for a cease fire but Ginger was already around him, she disarmed the old man in a quick movement. holding the pistol up in one hand she glared daggers at the shaking man. "What the flying fuck is wrong with you! You almost shot Freddie!"
"I'm sorry!" he old man wined, frightened by Ginger's over bearing presences. "He had that knife and…hey you! Boy you're in trouble now. You shouldn't even be here!"
"Maybe not." She snapped. "But I was called back to knock some sense into you assholes!" Ginger tucked the pistol into the waistline of her pants growling, "You've lost your gun. Men who are twitchy around boys with switchblades don't deserve firearms. Gomez I can get there from here, you're dismissed,"
Without another word Ginger walked away. Lou locked eyes with the old man and grinned. The old guy went white and wet himself. Ginger was right, the man didn't need a gun.
Ginger paused when she was out of sight and asked Lou to keep a lookout. "I want to look a little less like an outsider when the rebels see me."
Lou snorted, knowing full well she'd burned her vault suit months ago. "Don't lie to me smoothskin. You want to turn a few head with how badass you are now,"
Anna grinned, stripping out of her leather armored jacket. Underneath was wearing a black tank top the ended just above her belly button. The shirt showed off her lean hardened muscle. She had a bullet scar to the right of her belly button and thin claw marks on her collarbone. Lou could see a laser burn on Anna's arms from the Taff Tunnels and knew there were more scars and half healed wounds hidden under her dark leather pants.
Anna made sure there were grenades clipped to her belt along with her two pistols and twin combat knives. She tucked the stolen 10mm into her pants at the small of her back made sure the bullet holders on the front of her belt were fully loaded with the ammo for her assault rifle. Lou handed his partner her goggles and she perched them on top of her head.
She made sure her hair was still contained in a messy Wendy Welder style and tugged her fingerless gloves into place.
"Do you feel like a badass?" Lou asked with more than a little amusement as Anna held her Chinese assault rifle in front of her.
"I do," She smiled at her ghoul, "let's go hot stuff,"
They turned a corner and halfway down the next hall a kid stepped out from behind a barrier made from piled furniture.
He flicked open his switch blade and ginger instinctively brought up her rifle, all business.
"No way, Anna?"
Ginger dropped her aim and rested her gun over her shoulder, hip cocked. "Hello Butch,"
He dragged his eyes over her toned body with a wide grin, "Whoa baby doll, you look different."
She nodded, "I am different Butch. Where's Amata?"
"Oh don't be like that," he leered at her. Once upon a time that look would have melted her. In fact it had, many times. They'd never formally dated and Butch had always been an ass but sometimes late at night they'd meet in the hallways. Neither of them able to sleep and with nothing better to do they'd sneak into the supply rooms and help themselves to boozes.
Ginger had been a quiet nerdy little thing and she'd always drank up whatever attention he'd been willing to give her. He'd shown her how to pick locks and she'd shown him how to hack computers.
He'd been her first kiss and her first fuck. Neither experience had been that great but at the time she hadn't known any better.
"Oh Butch," she sighed, "You haven't changed a bit. Now put away you're silly little toothpick and get out of my way. I'd like to deal with this and get the fuck out of vault 101,"
"Toothpick! Baby boll this is probably the best knife in the whole damn world!"
Ginger laughed and Lou could see the kids temper start to flare, he thought about stepping in but Butch hadn't noticed him yet and this was kinda fun to watch.
Ginger flicked her wrist in a quick movement and yanked her twin 7 inch long combat knives from their sheaths. "No Butchy boy, this is a good knife." The kids eyes widened and Anna flipped on of her knives in her hand, pointing it at him, "And I'm not going to warn you again, Don't call me baby doll,"
"Listen Anna," Butch cooed, more turned on by her show of weaponry then put off. "I know we've had our differences but I would love to show you a good time right now. What do ya' say?" He smiled like he used too, sliding a hand along her neck, "You wanna roll in the hay with the Butch man?"
Ginger smiled sweetly and shoved him. She pinned his back against the wall with her body tight against his. Ginger skated her lips an eighth of an inch above his neck and purred into his ear, "Butch you will never hold power over me again. I've been away a year and believe me, you are nowhere near as skilled in bed as you think you are."
Ginger stepped back smugly and Butch glared, "You are such a liar, I know how good I made you feel,"
She nodded solemnly, "Unfortunately I didn't know any better. I have a whole new perspective. The best I've ever had is an amazing man and I have had my fair share of lovers since I left so I feel confident saying he is way ahead of the pack,"
"Well who the fuck is this amazing guy?" Butch spat and Ginger smiled, jerking her thumb over her shoulder.
"It's Lucifer, a hundred and fifty years of practice dose make perfect,"
Lou grinned, delighted to be her number one. Butch looked around Anna and stumbled back. "Fuck! What is that!"
"A way better lover then you could ever hope to be," She answered sweetly, stepping around Butch. She'd had enough of a chat with him. "Come on Lou, Let go see who else we can scare the fuck out of,"
Dogmeat and Lou followed Ginger past the barricade. A minute later they were standing in a crowded infirmary. Ginger spotted her old friend immediately. Amata was talking softly to Freddie and Christine.
Freddie nodded and walked away while the girls continued their chat. Ginger cocked her hip and rested her gun back on her shoulder. Lou waited just outside the door so people wouldn't see him immediately.
"Well, Looks like you could use some fuckin' help," Her voice was clear in the quiet room. Amata turned and her hands clapped over her mouth.
"You're back!" Amata shouted when she recovered from her shock. She threw herself at the smaller girl, throwing her arms around Ginger's neck. "I knew you'd come back!"
Ginger hugged her friend back warmly but she was the one to step back. "I brought some friends with me. This is Dogmeat," she gestured to the dog.
"A real dog!" Amata cried, holding out her hand to the animal. Dogmeat looked at Ginger and she nodded. Permission give the dog wagged his tail, licking Amata's fingers. The other "rebels" in the room came over too. Dogmeat rolled onto his back and wiggled, more than happy to let Ginger's old classmates fawn over him.
"Amata?" Ginger called, reclaiming the dark skinned girl's attention. "There is somebody else too. Do not shoot him," she warned, staying it loud enough for everyone in the room to hear her.
"Why would we-" Christine began to ask but Ginger held up a finger to silence her.
"Lou, come on in,"
All eyes turned to the doorway while Ginger griped her gun and watched the crowd for any panicky trigger fingers. The eyes all went wide and a couple girls shrieked while the men swore. Amata's hand was back over her mouth and this time she'd gone pale.
Amata cut her eyes to Ginger and she took a deep breath. "Anna…?
"Amata, Everyone," she raised her voice, commanding attention. "This is Lucifer. He's a mercenary if you know what that means. A gun for hire if you don't. He's a ghoul. Ghoul's are human who got a nice blast of radiation and didn't die,"
She smiled back at Lou, "Isn't that right beautiful,"
"Absolutely correct, gorgeous," He rasped, standing behind her right shoulder like aways. He smiled at everyone and slid his rifle back onto his back. The chance that these kids would attack was slim and if they did there was no way they'd be organized about it.
"So," Ginger turned her attention back to Amata, "What's going on in here?"
Amata told her everything. About how her father had lied to them all, about his mad decent into lunacy and about the people who'd died so far. Ginger listened to all of it, holding her tongue until Amata finished. The girl ended her report by telling her how Mr. Brock had been missing for the last week.
"I'll find him." Ginger promised. "Hopefully I'll find him alive,"
"Don't say that Anna! How could you think he's dead?" Amata asked, horrified.
Ginger gave her a sad smile. "Because I live in the Capitol Wasteland. Outside is harsh and dangerous and if people go missing it's because they ended up dead one way or another."
"What about your dad? Do you think he's dead too?"
Pain shot though Ginger's chest and Lou put a hand on her back. "I know he's dead. My father died right in front of me and there was nothing I could do to stop it,"
Amata drop her eyes, "I'm sorry Anna,"
"It's Ginger," She corrected.
"What?"
"My name is Ginger now, Anna died the night I was forced from the vault."
"Oh," Amata said quietly, sad confusion written on her face.
Ginger squared her shoulders and held up her gun. "I'm going to find Mr. Brock and when I come back we can talk about what I'm going to do about your father,"
Ginger left again, telling Dogmeat to stay and guard the people in the room.
Lou snagged her around the waist as soon as they were out of sight and held her back against his chest, "You okay smoothskin?"
"Surprisingly, I am holding it together." She turned around and kissed him. "Thanks for looking out for me though,"
Lou nodded and they continued on. They checked both Mr. Brock's rooms and the storerooms nearby. When that turned up nothing Ginger lead the way to the security office. Vault 101's defenses were a joke, there wasn't even anyone in the office. The jail cell door was locked but she smiled when she saw her old teacher sitting on the cot inside.
"That's him,"
Lou nodded, "Should I start looking for a key?"
"No need, the locking mechanism is tied into the computer and there isn't anything down here I haven't hacked a dozen times," Ginger grinned.
"You are so sexy when you're working," He growled.
Ginger chuckled, fingers flying over the keys. "You should watch me hack something hard. This is almost insulting,"
Ginger read threw a few files, her eyebrows snapping up. She checked the time on her Pipboy before disengaging the lock with a quick tap on the keys. Ginger hit the button on the wall and the door slid up. Mr. Brock just stared at her. He had a black eye and his lower lip was split but other than that he looked okay.
"Anna?" he asked slowly, not believing his own eyes.
She took a firm hold on his elbow and hauled him to his feet. "It's Ginger now but yeah, I'll be your savior today. I accept Caps, water and Stimpaks as payment but right now we need to get back to the Rebels,"
Brock started to laugh but he spotted Lou and was suddenly silent. He wanted to run, react or do anything but gawk in horror at the thing following his old student but he was only able to move in the direction Ginger was dragging him.
Amata clapped her hands together when Ginger showed up with a bruised but very alive teacher in tow.
"They had him locked up, Amata we got trouble," her tone scared the other girl more than anything else had in the last few months.
"What do you mean?"
"Security is planning a massive take down operation tonight at midnight. It'll be surrender or die. I've been in a similar situation recently and it doesn't end well, trust me." Ginger loaded her gun as she spoke. "I'm going to try to stop this be you should prepare for a fight."
Ginger pulled the stolen gun out of her waistband and handed it to Amata, "Here, these aren't hard to use. You just point and pull the trigger. I'll leave Lucifer here while I go deal with your dad,"
Amata grabbed Ginger's sleeve. "Please don't kill him."
Ginger went silent for a long minute, "I will do my best Amata, for you. But if he comes at me I will defend myself,"
"Ginger I think I should come with you," Lou rasped, hefting his rifle.
Ginger just smiled, "Sorry big guy, I need to face the Overseer on my own. I can't be in top form if I'm worrying that security is swooping down on this place early. You know you're the only person in the world that I think is as good as me."
"Kid you haven't been here in over a year, if he really is crazy that makes him especially dangerous. Please Ginger," he gestured to Dogmeat when he saw that she wasn't going to cave. "At least take the mutt,"
"Fine,"
Ginger snapped her fingers and moved to leave. Lou grabbed her wrist and she turned enough to look up at him. Lou pulled her against him, kissing her with a hand under her chin and an arm around her waist. He didn't like that she was going without him but there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.
"Don't get yourself killed smoothskin," he whispered as he let her go. Anna left and Lou turned, finding himself face to face with a dozen curious teenagers. The men and some of the girls looked like they just might be sick. The other where unsettlingly curious, maybe even envious and those were the ones that had him suddenly nervous.
One of them, Christine if he recalled right, cleared her throat. "So do you kiss Anna like that a lot?"
"Like what?" he hedged.
"Like you'll never see her again," a blond girl interjected with awe in her young voice.
Lou sighed, fine. If they wanted to ask him he'd tell them and hope Anna wasn't shy around these people. She wasn't shy around anyone else though so fuck it. "Of course, Every time I kiss her might be the last time I see her alive. She wasn't exaggerating about the wasteland. It's survival of the fittest. I don't like that she's gone to meet an unknown enemy by herself,"
"Do you kill people for her?" the blond asked,
"Yes, and she's killed for me too. She's saved my life as many times as I've saved hers. Ginger's one of the best I've ever seen, they rave about her exploits on the radio,"
"They do?" a boy asked with interest.
"Yeah, if you can boost you're receiver you could probably pick up GNR and listen in."
"How did her farther die?" Amata asked and everyone looked at him expectantly. Lou rubbed the back of his neck, not sure if this was a story he should be telling. "He…Jesus I'm not sure I should be tellin' you this. It only happened a month ago. This morning was the first time she's spoken in since his death."
"Well if you tell us then we can all promise not to ask her about it," Christine offered and the others nodded,
"Alright," Lou sighed, he'd almost liked it better when they were afraid of him. "James was working on a science project way back before Ginger was born. After her mother died James abandoned the project and brought her here to keep her safe. But Project Purity is really important to the whole wasteland so when she was old enough to take care of herself he left. He had no idea she'd be chased out and he kicked himself for the rest of his life over that miscalculation.
Well, Project Purity is an Idea her mother had. Pure, clean water for everyone. All the water in the rivers are highly irradiated and if they could purify it then people in the wastes would have a lot better chance at surviving. James wasn't the only one who wanted clean water though. There are military factions. The ones who are widely considered the good guys are the Brotherhood of Steal. And then there is one called the Enclave. The Enclave want a pure wasteland, meaning anyone or anything tainted by the radiation dies. They want to dominate the waste, not help it survive.
They tried to take the purifier but James started it to prevent that. See it's not working right yet. The blast of radiation that happens with its turned on is instant death for anyone in the chamber. It killed everyone inside including James. It bought us enough time to escape with our lives. Those burn marks on her are from the Enclave's weapons. Ginger didn't fall apart until the people under our protection were safe at the headquarters of the brotherhood."
Lou looked at them. They were solemn, all thinking about what they'd learned.
"You're a mercenary," a boy piped up, "we learned about them in class. You take money and fight for whoevers paying you right?"
"Yes, Personally I have to agree with whomever I'm fight for but there are mercs who'll work for the highest bidder,"
"So you work for Anna?" the boy asked,
"No, we're partners. We are hired out as a team. Us and the mutt, people contact us and we decide whether or not the job it worth our bullets," Lou was starting to like these kids. They'd never been taught bigotry against ghoul so now that they were more or less over his lack of skin they were curious.
"It's hard to imagine," Amata was talking now. "Anna, I- I mean Ginger, the sweet little book worm we all grew up with. Now she's a cold blooded killer. She looks a lot different now too with all that muscle and in those outsider clothes. She looks like she could kill us all if she wanted to,"
"She could," Lou told them firmly. They all looked startled, "Ginger is one of the best Mercs I've ever had the pleasure to work with. She's cool under fire, quick to react and aware of her people. There are men born into this life. They carry a gun as soon as they're strong enough to lift it and they still aren't as good as the little Lone Wanderer from Vault 101."
Amata's eyes flicked towards the doorway and back to Lou, "The Lone Wanderer?"
"That's what Three Dog, the DJ for GNR, started calling her when she first started looking for her farther. She's not alone anymore but that's what the people of the wastes know her as."
"How did you meet?" Christine asked, Lou noticed that the girls all watched him eagerly while the boys waited. Probably for him to start talking about the fighting again.
"Well, I was attacked by a centaur while trying to steal from the wrong place. They are grotesque monsters that have three tongues and spit acidy shit. I killed it but the Super Mutants it was with didn't like that. I was hurt, bullets had torn threw my chest and I barricaded myself in this old gas station. I thought I was a dead man at last."
Lou pulled a chair over with his boot and took a seat, the kids all gathered around him, setteling in a semi circle on the floor. Amata and Butch where the only ones still standing. Butch leaned against the wall and Amata sat on a table.
"I could hear them beating down the barricade I'd managed to get in front of the door. I was almost out of ammo. I'd already lost too much blood to see straight so I was waiting to die. Then I heard a dog barking and a girl laughing. I thought I'd died and was halfway to paradise because the sounds didn't make sense to me.
I remember there being a lot of Mutant war cries and a lot of gunfire. I must have passed out because the next thing I remember is opening my eyes and looking into the face of a pretty smoothskin with glowing hair.
See she'd put my head in her lap and had fallen asleep so the lantern was making it look more angelic then it was. I was suffering from blood loss though and I already was convinced I was dead so I touched her face. I was thinking about kissing my own personal angel but the pain in the arm I'd moved made me think maybe I'd lived somehow.
I'd lived because Ginger had killed three super Mutants, broke through my barricade and nursed me back to health. She saved my life,"
"And you've been together ever since?" a girl asked, starry eyed.
"No, when I was well enough she left. But we kept running into each other. It was weeks before we decided to travel together,"
"When'd you start sleepin' together?" Butch sneered. It was clear the kid didn't think they were really together.
Lou leaned back and grinned, "We started not too long after we started traveling together. It was a convince thing for both of us. Settlements are days of travel and there's no guarantee you'll find a worthy fuck when you get there. It's only been a couple months since we've been exclusive."
"How long have you been together?" Christine asked, eating up the story.
"Almost a year. Ginger had only been in the wasteland a couple months when we met,"
00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Ginger hit the button and the office door slid up. She and old amadius had had a nice chat about how he was a crazed old bastard with a god complex. The Overseer hadn't known anything about the attack that security had planned and after a long conversation Ginger had made him see that there wasn't enough people to maintain genetic diversity for more than another generation.
He had agreed to step down and now Ginger was charged with telling Amata that the title of Overseer had been passed down to her. It had taken every ounce of her will but Ginger had managed not to spill the man's blood.
The only thing that was regrettable was Allen Mack. He'd been furious when the overseer had stepped down and he'd attacked her. She'd defended herself but she'd be lying if she said she hadn't enjoyed ending the brutal mans life.
Two 10mm slugs had caught her. One grazed her arm and the other had embedded itself in the lowest rib in left side. She was lucky the gun had been in such shitty condition; otherwise it would have shattered to bone and been a lot more dangerous an injury.
She was almost back to the clinic when the pain killing adrenalin wore off and her vision blurred. Ginger gritted her teeth and trudged on, blood ran down her arm and dripped from her fingers. It was flowing freely from her side too and the bright red was soaking into her pants, that was annoying.
Dogmeat was close to her side, looking up at her with concern in his two toned eyes. She rubbed his ears and paused, taking a moment to lean against the barrier outside the clinic. She could hear chatter from inside, Lou was talking.
"- growls at me every time I try to get into bed. The little bastard thinks he's funny. He does it on purpose, Mutts a lot smarter then he seems,"
Anna smiled and looked at her dog. He did growl at Lou at night. Sometimes he'd wiggle between them so Lou couldn't cuddle her at night. Dogmeat sniffed the blood dripping onto the floor and whined loudly.
"-actully a good dog…" Lou paused mid sentence.
"What?" she heard Amata ask and there was the scarping of a chair. The next second Lou appeared and he swore.
"What the hell happened!?" he demanded, lifting her shirt enough to inspect the hole in her. "You left the bullet in?"
"Didn't want to bleed out on the way back," she told him with a slight strain to her voice.
Lou scooped her up and she yelped as the sudden movement sent pain shooting threw her torso.
Eyes widened when they saw her and Lou set her on the table Amata had been sitting in earlier. He didn't want to bring her into the exam room and have that crazy ass robot think it needed to fix her.
"Anna!" Amata cried, paling as the amount of blood running out of her friend.
"It's fine," Anna assured her. "I've had much worse, right Lou?"
Lou nodded, half a dozen other times she'd been injured flashing threw his mind. "Yeah, you wanna dig that bullet out or should I?"
"You do it, I think a few of my friends will pass out if I do it," She told him in a breathy voice.
Lou chuckled and pulled a bottle of vodka, a roll of bandages and bottle of glowing water from his pack. Lou used his lighter to heat the blade of a scalpel and a pair of tweezers. He poured vodka over both of them and handed the bottle to Ginger.
She took a long pull from the bottle and set it down. Lou looked at her and she nodded. "Do it,"
"Lay back,"
Ginger obeyed, laying on the table with her knees dangling off the edge. Lou stepped between her thighs and set to work. He cut the wound open just a little while the others looked on in a mix of horror and fascination.
Ginger gritted her teeth and held the edges of the table. Lou expertly eased the tweezers into the hole and gripped the bullet, easing it out. It was follow by a fresh wave of blood but the ghoul wiped it away with a rag soaked in irradiated water. Her poured some of that water over the wound and then had her get up while he wrapped her in bandages.
Ginger hoped off the tables and accepted the water bottle, drinking the rest of the glowing liquid before tossing the empty into her bag.
Ginger looked at the others and blinked, "What?"
"You…you didn't use any med-x or anything," Christine was wide eyed and a little green, "and you didn't even make a sound. Didn't it hurt?"
"Hurt like a bitch," Anna laughed, "but I told you I've had a lot worse. I've built up quiet a pain tolerance in the wasteland."
Lou looked at her arm while she talked and nodded. It was already healing, not even worth a bandage.
"Your Pipboy was ticking;" Butch said slowly, the concept was making him uneasy, "That water…it was glowing…"
"It was irradiated," she told him matter a factly, "It's sorta a secret but I trust the people in this room. When I first left the vault I needed caps and I did some work for a local scientist. She was trying to find an alternate way to cure radiation poisoning and so I loaded myself up with 658 rads and let her run her experiment. Long story short Radiation heals me like it dose ghouls. I'm perfectly fine up to 800 rads and only get minor systems up to 950 rads. I don't know what'll happen after that."
Christine opened her mouth to speak but Wally Mack charged into the room, furious. "You!"
He pointed at Ginger, "You killed my dad!"
Everyone in the room gasped and starred between them. Ginger glared and put her fists on her hips. "Of course I did! He shot me so I shot him back. I was just a better fuckin aim,"
Wally turned red and snarled, "You should never have come back here! Your fuckin dad let all those bugs in! My dad single handedly save five people, old Stanly would be dead if it wasn't for him but you couldn't handle that. My dad tried to kill you because you're a traitor! He was a hero but you couldn't fuckin' understand that could you! Bitch! You're dad was a traitor, You have no idea what it's like to have a hero for a father!"
There was a collective gasp in the room and Paul glanced at them, momentarily wondering why they were looking at him like that.
"You dare…" Ginger whispered, handing her assault rifle to Christine. The girl almost dropped it, Ginger removed her utility belt and set it on the bloody table along with two pistols, her extra grenades, frag mines, pulse mines, plasma mines, combat knives, brass knuckles and a lead pipe she'd had hidden on her somewhere. Wally was still spluttering nonsense but Anna couldn't hear him over the rush in her ears, she was livid.
Lou took a step back, knowing better then to interfere with Ginger at this particular moment. Ginger lunged, catching Paul unaware as her knuckles cracked against his jaw. "You dare…talk about my father…" she said the words calmly and Lou got a shiver up his spine.
Ginger punched Wally again, catching him square on the other side of his jaw. "My father was a real hero,"
She curled her fingers into the front of his jumpsuit and hurled him across the room. Wally stumbled into the wall, only missing Christine because Lou had hauled her out of the way. Wally recovered and turned, lunged and Ginger sidestepped. She tripped him but he grabbed her injured arm, dragging her to the floor with him.
"I saved old Stanly," She snarled as they struggled on the floor, "you're father was a liar and a bully. We all know he abused your mother," Wally snarled and bit her. Ginger jabbed two fingers into his Addams apple.
Wally coughed and she straddled him, punching him in the temple. "He was a violent man and deserved much worse than what I gave him," she growled. Wally twisted and Ginger rolled, springing to her feet. She let Wally get his feet under him. When he charged she grabbed his vault suit and used his memento to swing him around and slam him into the wall.
Wally punched her twice in the gut but his punches were weak and did little damage against her solid abs. "Did you see him?" She asked. There was a crazed little smile spreading on her lips. Lou stiffened and stood, that wasn't a sane look. The wasteland was a hard place to grow up in but she been trust into it. That look was the part of her mind that had broken, the part she couldn't always control.
"You didn't," she whispered. "I can tell…" she hauled him forward and slammed him back again, she was a lot stronger then he was and Wally was beginning to realizes that. He struggled but Ginger stepped to the side and yanked, sending him stumbling back across the room. Wally sprawled on the floor and groaned.
He spit blood onto the floor; he had a black eye with a broken blood vessels inside. Both his lips were split and his jaw was turning black and blue. Lou knew it was likely broken along with his nose.
ginger grinned, "I shot him in the gut and he was on his knees I blew his brains against the wall. You can see it splattered on the window from the atrium,"
Ginger grabbed to combat knife from the table and tossed one to Wally, holding the other in her fist like an experienced fighter. "Come on Wally boy, let's see if you can even hit me," she was grinning at him.
Wally snarled and grabbed the knife, charging her. Ginger dropped to her knees and swiped her knife, opening a long gash on his leg. Wally stumbled and turned, limping.
Ginger stood in front of him, shaking her hips and waving the bloody knife. "Oh come on Wally, you can do better than that,"
Wally took a step and whimpered. He was shaking, exhausted but too angry to stop. He lunged a few more times but each time Ginger dodged his clumsy attacks, opening a new gash on him. Lou could tell she was playing with the kid and the kid was losing fast.
Ginger grabbed him and forced Wally against the wall. He dropped the knife with the force she slammed his broken body against the steel wall. Ginger's knife tip danced from his temple to his cheek, a thin line of blood appearing in the blades wake.
"My father was a better man then anyone in this whole fuckin vault. You're farther was nothing in comparison, unfortunately the apple doesn't fall far from the tree as they say," Ginger laughed, "I'm tired of you, years of bullying from you and isn't it poetic that you'll die at my feet,"
Wally's eyes widened as her stared into cold green irises. Ginger lifted her blading, intending to swipe it across his throat but a rough hand caught her wrist a half inch from Wally's skin. Lucifer dragged her back and she snarled like an animal as Wally slid to the floor.
"Let me go! I am going to finish this!"
"It's finished!" Lou snarled, holding her tightly against his chest. For the second time he forced the knife from her hand. It clattered to the floor but Lou didn't let go of her. "Look at him. You've won Ginger, there is no way any of these kids could match you,"
Ginger struggled but Lou was stronger than she was, he held her tighter. Ginger slammed the back of her head into his chin and he stumbled back but didn't loosen his hold. Instead he bit the crook of her neck and growled, daring her to find a way to dislodge him. Ginger kicked her heel into his ankle and he bit harder, sending pain shooting into her skull and shoulder.
Finally Ginger stilled, breathing hard. He almost felt the switch flip in her head. Her breath evened slightly and he felt her eyelashes blink against his temple a few times.
"…Lou?" her voice was soft and more importantly sane.
He eased his teeth from her skin, slowly turning her so she could see his face. She looked up into his face and he searched her eyes for any of that terrible blood lust. He didn't see any.
"Welcome back smoothskin," He ran his fingers threw her hair and cradled the back of her head. "I lost you for a minute,"
She took a deep breath and nodded, "I'm back…did I kill anyone?"
Lou glanced over his shoulder and saw two boys helping Wally to his feet. "Not quite, you just beat the fuck out of him,"
Lou kissed his little smoothskin's forehead and let her go. She turned and found a dozen frightened eyes glued to her. Ginger blushed and scratched her ear. "Sorry about that…"
"You're not Anna," Amata whispered. Fear paling her dark skin.
Ginger shook her head sadly. "No, not anymore. The wasteland beat her down and when my father died…that was the end of any part I had left of the girl you grew up with."
Amata had tears running down her cheeks but she didn't seem to notice. "Who are you now?"
Ginger looked at the blood splattered on the wall, feeling nothing. "I'm…hell walking. I'm The Lone Wanderer for Vault 101."
"Is everyone like you?"
"No, I'm a hero or a demon depending on who you ask. But there are a lot of decent people out there. I think you should open the vault. Just do it quietly, and be careful." Ginger looked up at Lou. "We should be going beautiful."
"You should sleep," Lou insisted.
"I'll sleep when I'm dead and I'm sure it's coming. Lou they killed my father. I'm going to tear the Enclave apart."
Lou sighed, he couldn't stop her and he wouldn't leave her. "Are you sure you want to face down a whole army?"
Ginger's face was tired but she cocked half a smile. "I don't think I can do anything else. Come on Lou, Let's go start a war."