When that kid first came into town Jericho had to stifle a laugh. He was leaning on the rail outside of Moriarty's bar when he noticed the gates opening at the front of Megaton. A cocky smirk played across the former raider's lips as he watched Lucas Simms hobble his old black ass up the hill ready to dish out his regular town greeting to whoever this idiot wastelander was. He never liked Simms. The man always kept too close of an eye on him, like if he turned his back Jericho would pop a round in the back of his skull.
Not a bad idea actually. Jericho drew on his cigarette and entertained the idea of putting Simms out of his misery while trying to get a look at Megaton's new "Permanent Visitor"… No luck. The old bastard was in the way.
"What the fuck'r you starin' so fixatedly at Simms for?" Colin Moriarty spat in his usual civil manner as he stepped out of the bar on one of his many daily breaks, "Ya turnin' inta a nancy boy on me?"
"Fuck you Moriarty," He didn't even turn to look at the Irish-man just kept staring at the front of the town, "I'm just trying to get a look at who the hell would be dumb enough to visit this shit shack." He flicked the butt of his finished nicotine stick over the rail, letting it land in the pool of irradiated water next to the unexploded atomic bomb below, "But my good buddy Simms over there won't move his ass."
No sooner were the words out of his mouth did Lucas Simms, town sheriff, decide then to turn and point in the direction of the tavern giving everyone who may have been looking clear view of the newcomer.
It was a kid, couldn't have been more than twenty, wearing naught but a blue jumpsuit and a red baseball cap to cover her short blonde hair and armed with little more than a 10mm pistol. Moriarty let out an amused chuckle, "Well you don't see that everyday."
"What," Jericho asked annoyed by the sound of the asshole's voice, "A dumbass in a jumpsuit? Have you ever met Moira?"
"Look she's coming this way," Colin pointed, "That jumpsuit she's wearing. Ya can only get one like that in a Vault… Oh shit," He slinked back towards his bar, "I think I know that kid's father…" With that he slipped around the back of the bar to his usual hiding spot.
Jericho, still watching the kid as she climbed the ramp over the Doc's clinic, shook his head, "A vaultie huh…" He turned, pushing his hands into his pockets and kicking the door open to Moriarty's Saloon, "Won't last a week out in the wastes."
It wasn't long before the chick came shuffling into the bar he had made his home. He didn't have to look very hard to see that the kid was scared out of her wits. He had heard stories of the sheltered little vault dwellers, not able to tell enemies from their asses. Speaking of asses… he wouldn't mind giving that girl a swift smack.
She approached the bar and nearly fell over at the sight of the bartender, "W-what the fuck are you?!" She exclaimed unable to restrain her surprise.
"Looks to me like you've never seen a Ghoul before," the bartender gave her the same exasperated sigh he usually breathed, "The name's Gob."
"I-I'm so sorry," She waved frantically, "Really, I was just surprised. My name's Cassie…" The girl held out a hand. Gob, having never been offered willful contact before, took it hesitantly, "It's nice to meet you!"
Jericho snorted into his drink, "Something funny mister?"
"Yeah," He growled slamming his bottle of scotch onto the bar, "And don't call me Mister I ain't your god damned math teacher," His piercing eyes darted from Gob to the Cassie kid, "Anyway, what I find funny is that you can pretend not to be disgusted by this leathery bag of bones."
"I'm not pretending anything," She shot back annoyed.
"Sure kid, whatever," He laughed again, a little harder this time, "I heard about you little brainwashed, delicate, vault-fucks. You're probably conditioned to be polite to ugly fucks like Gob here."
"I'm not… brainwashed," her hands dropped to her sides and her gaze to the floor, "I'm not."
"Keep telling yourself that kid," Jericho laughed even harder, "You guys are probably nothing more than a bunch of inbred assholes who fuck your own father's for a good---"
"DON'T YOU FUCKING MENTION MY FATHER!" The kid's hand shot to her pistol and aimed it straight at the ex-raider's face, "You don't know shit about me or him. Mention my father again and I'll kill you right here."
Jericho spread his arms wide and walked up so the barrel of the gun pressed up against his forehead, "Ooh did I touch a nerve there? Did I touch it like you're daddy did you?" He could feel the gun shaking against his forehead and saw tears welling up in her eyes.
"Stop it…" She pleaded, it was a whimper really.
"Come on!" He urged her pushing his forehead harder against the barrel of the 10mm pistol, "You said you'd fucking kill me so do it." He delighted in watching the tears roll down the frightened girl's cheeks. He won. He won and he knew it, "Thought so." In one fluid motion he grabbed her wrist, putting it behind her and forcing her to drop the gun to the floor with a thud before slamming her face down onto the bar and letting out another deep laugh. She tried to move out from under his body but all she could do was push back into him. Realizing exactly where he was behind her, the girl's face turned a bright embarrassed red.
"All right that's a-fuckin-nuff," Colin had a shotgun trained on the two trouble-makers and a look that suggested he could care less about killing either one of them, "If you're gonna kill each other, do it at the Brass Lantern. I don't want your blood staining my floors. Gob's behind enough on his work already."
Jericho grunted some form of retort but it was too low to make out and he released the girl from his grip. Slowly, Cassie lifted herself from the bar and scooped up her gun from the floor, "You the owner?" Colin nodded, lowering the shotgun, "You mind if we go in the back? I need information."
"You got about a hundred caps?" He asked. The girl nodded and he opened up the door behind the bar, "Come on then, I don't have all day."
Jericho, pissed off for being interrupted, snatched up his bottle of scotch and stomped out of the bar. He hadn't walked ten feet before a familiar voice sounded behind him, "Don't think I didn't see your little spectacle in there raider."
"Ex-Raider. That little 'X' in the beginning means I quit," He turned and glared at Megaton's sheriff, "Anyway that little bitch in there had it coming."
"Look, the kid's been through a lot," Lucas crossed his arms and leaned against the railing outside the saloon, "Do yourself a favor and stay out of trouble."
Jericho knew this was a serious threat. Lucas may have seemed calm and collected but he knew what the sheriff was really saying, "Just give me an excuse to blow you fucking skull off," or something along those lines.
"Look I don't need this shit. All I want to do is go home, drink my fuckin' scotch, and get off thinking about that naïve little vault girl," Lucas made a clicking noise with his tongue and pointed down to the unexploded atomic bomb in the center of town.
"You see that shit?" He growled, "That kid just de-activated that cursed thing for free. Took care of it like it was nothing!"
Jericho said nothing just took a swig of his scotch and listened carefully, "So what, she shuts off a bomb and I'm supposed to act like a fuckin' bitch?
"Whatever Jericho," He shot, "I'm just gonna warn you now. I'm giving the kid that empty house next to yours. If I get a single complaint, anything at all," Lucas was barely an inch from Jericho's face but the former raider didn't look away. His pride wouldn't let him, "I won't be afraid to pull the trigger."
