Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, Bethesda does. I'm just writing for fun.
A/N: This chapter includes an attempted rape scene. If you are sensitive, you can scroll to the bottom for a chapter summary.
Asha learns the Chief's daily routine so she can avoid him in the halls. He always looks at her suspiciously; she knows he doesn't trust her do-gooder reputation. At night he's always the same, dinner at Gary's Galley, followed by a two-hour watch at the Muddy Rudder to make sure the drunks don't get out of hand (they always do). She figures she's safe when she breaks into Sister's room that night. Sister would be drinking at the hotel for a few hours and Harkness was on the bottom level, as per routine. She never trusts a slaver and wants to know why the bastard is on this boat (and not leaving).
She slips in quietly and quickly searches the sparse room. Not much to find aside from a few paid contracts for bringing in slaves and a stray holotape. She pops it into her Pip-Boy and plays the audio. A new contract. The slavers are looking for that android. That much she already knew. What she didn't know is that the runner used to be a hunter, he'd chase other runners and bring them back. Seems he grew a conscience. For a brief moment, admiration passes through her mind, admiration of this android who stood up to his superiors for the moral right. It's quickly replaced by an urgency to find him (yes, him, the slavers didn't refer to the android as "it"), as well as a resolution to cripple the slavers.
She slips out of the room and locks the door, turning to run nose-to-chin into Harkness. "Breaking and entering now, hm? What'd you steal?" he asks shortly.
She glances at him sidelong. He should understand, security guards are supposed to be on the moral right, yes? "Information."
"What sort of information?"
"The slavers are after the rogue android. He realized his conscience and left, he was nothing but a slaver himself of other androids."
He scoffs. "A conscience? You believe that shit?" He notices her pulse quicken and her throat close up. "What the fuck is an android anyway?" he asks, already knowing the answer.
"A person. A person made synthetically, but a person nonetheless."
Her frankness and sincerity startles him. He stares at her, puzzled by this anomaly in front of him. This girl, woman, who grew up sheltered in a vault, surrounded by the same two hundred people for her entire life, suddenly thrust into the open, bleak world, strode with a moral confidence he did not often see. She knew she was right and she was damn well going to prove it to the world. A moment of admiration passes through his mind, quickly replaced by his sense of duty.
"I should bring you in for theft…" She looks at him questioningly, as if doubting the sincerity of his words. "But I won't. You're doing the right thing…so far," he adds hastily. "But I got my eye on you."
"Well don't wait up, I'm heading out in the morning. I need to do something about those slavers."
He startles. She can't possibly be thinking about taking on Paradise Falls, can she? That's suicide. "Don't, you'll get yourself killed."
She frowns at his apparent ability to read her mind. "Fuck if I'm going to sit here while innocent people are being hunted."
His mouth drops open and then claps shut. "Good luck," he finishes slowly.
"Thanks, I'll need it," she mumbles as she strides past him, back to her room.
The trip to Paradise Falls is long and arduous. Some frantic kid finds her when she passes too close to Grayditch (a mistake given the overwhelming population of enormous fire-breathing ants). She promises to ask his aunt Vera if she has room for him when she returns to Rivet City. She promises the kid she'll be back for him. His eyes follow her with a deep sadness as she departs. She gets about half a mile away when she realizes she just can't leave that kid there by himself, not now. She returns to collect him and take him to Megaton for the time being. He can just stay in her house for now where he'll be safe.
She eventually reaches the slaver town. She pays off the guard at the front gate so she can go in and scope it out first. Nearly thirty slavers are at home, with some well-fortified defensive positions. She talks to the slaves in the holding pens at the back. They explain she needs to deactivate the collars so their heads don't explode when the slavers get pissed. Sounds like the first order of business.
Eulogy Jones is fucking one (or both?) of his women when she slips in to find the terminal. She's so quiet he doesn't even notice above his grunts of pleasure. Sick bastard.
That taken care of, she slips on a Stealth Boy and takes out the few slavers she can see from her position. At first they have no idea what's going, where those shots are coming from, and why their comrades are dropping like flies. They rally and pin down her location. Fuck. Her Stealth Boy wears off and she preps her shotgun for her rampage before she notices the gas tank in the middle of the town. Something has to keep those generators running. She says a quick prayer that she won't kill herself or the slaves and sends three well-placed grenades towards the tank. The resulting fireball is downright impressive. She fights her way through the town and disoriented slavers, saving Eulogy for last. She savors putting her pistol against his head and pulling the trigger, watching his brains splatter back against his heart-shaped sex bed littered with empty whisky bottles.
The danger cleared (for now) she escorts the slaves out, young and old, except for the crazy old man who doesn't understand that he's free. She hopes he figures it out eventually, she doesn't have time to drag him out forcefully. Getting some distance from the partially destroyed town, they disperse to go their separate ways, heading to whatever homes they have left. Three brats express their gratefulness before heading back to Little Lamplight, saying they'll put in a good word, whatever the fuck that means.
She gets back to Megaton and people are clapping her on the back. The news made it to Three Dog, and now the entire Wasteland knows. The weight of all the killing hits her like a brick wall. Not guilt, exactly, they deserved what they got, just the enormity of the task and the resulting fervor that surrounds her. She didn't ask for this, she just did what was right.
She slinks off in the night back to Rivet City, arriving in the bright daylight. Reaching her room, she passes out exhausted from the trip, ready to sleep for days on end.
She doesn't even notice when a well-built man sneaks into her room at night while guard patrols are light.
She wakes to a blade pressed precariously close to the delicate flesh of her neck. "You fucked it up, you fucked it up real good," the voice hisses, quiet and low. "Now I'll never get the bounty." Sister. "I'll just take it out of you in kind." One hand scrambles for her pants, pajamas loosely drawn around her waist, while the other maintains a tight grip on the knife. She screams, but is quickly silenced when she feels the sharp edge of the blade draw lightly across her throat, splitting the skin ever so shallowly. She panics but can't fight back without getting killed.
Her pants are ripped off forcefully and she feels his weight settle between her legs, pushing her knees apart. She tries to push him away but he's just too heavy. He holds her back, stifling her screams with his large hand, as he primes himself.
She scrambles for something, anything to defend herself. She finds a boot. It's not heavy enough to hit him with, but she desperately throws it at the door, hoping she's lucky enough that someone will hear. Nobody responds. She tries to scream again, now that he's dropped the knife, but Sister's mouth is on her, stifling the noise as he bites down hard on her lip, drawing blood. He savors the taste.
"No one can hear you little girl, you're mine, and I'm going to take my time."
She scrambles for anything else to throw, finds the other boot and chucks it at the door before he can stop her. He quickly grabs both of her hands and thrusts them above her head, holding her arms taut. She feels him brush against her opening as he maneuvers into position with his free hand. She clenches at the feeling.
Finally there is a brief, polite knock before the door bursts open, the frame of a man dark against the bright light of the hallway. She looks at him, eyes bright with insane fear, her body exposed and vulnerable. Sister hasn't had time to take her, but he seems determined to no matter what.
Strong hands pull the beast off her and land a solid blow across his jaw. She pulls her tunic down past her hips and scrambles for a weapon. Sister spots her pistol on top of the dresser near the door and darts for it. The savior man grabs him from behind and they wrestle desperately in the middle of the room. She sees the gun get raised against a head, but in the dark she's not sure whose. The men are built similarly enough that they are indistinguishable in the dark.
The gun fires and there is a splatter of blood and brain-matter across the wall, bed, and Asha's body followed by a heavy thud. The figure approaches and she scrambles for the corner, gripping the knife Sister left in the bed.
"Stop." She knows that voice. It's not Sister. He flicks on the light, and she blinks back against the sudden blindness, struggling lightly as she feels warm hands on hers, gently pulling the knife away, before pulling her into an embrace. He cradles her head against his collarbone as she starts sobbing uncontrollably. "Did he hurt you? Did he…?" Harkness asks gently.
She shakes her head briefly. "Just fucking scared the shit out of me, that filthy bastard!" She glances down at his deformed body, a sudden wave of nausea washing over her. She pulls away and vomits violently on the ground, coughing and dry heaving. She feels the arms around her again, gently pulling her off the bed and out of the room. He grabs a clean pair of trousers from the room and pulls her into a corner so she can dress herself. He takes off his jacket and wraps it around her shivering shoulders.
"Come on, let's get you to the doc."
"It's the middle of the night."
"Doesn't matter, this is important." He puts his arm around her for balance as she shakily progresses down the hallway. Doc's quarters are not far away. Harkness demandingly pounds on his door until the sleepy and irritated doctor rises and they hear the click of the lock.
"What in the fuck is wrong with you, boy?"
"She's been attacked," he says bluntly. "By Sister."
"I always knew that rat was trouble. He dead?" Harkness nods. "Good. Okay, let's go to the infirmary."
Asha glances at Harkness with fear in her eyes. She's hesitant to leave his side, lest something else happen. He glances at his watch and then decides to forgo sleep, putting his arm back around her to stay with her the rest of the night.
Doc patches her up and does a thorough examination for any latent injuries. She assures him Sister never got what he wanted, not really. "I think I would have noticed." He gives her some meds to sleep and recommends she get some needed rest, someplace safe.
"Harkness, you need stitches on that cut," he indicates the large gash in his forehead.
"Do it later Doc, there are more important things right now."
Asha puts her hand on his arm with a slight squeeze. "Let him do it, we can't have our Chief of Security injured." He reluctantly agrees, but denies an anesthetic to keep his clarity of mind.
"Seriously now, get some rest," he orders the woman after finished up with the stitches.
"I can't go back, not to that room, not now," she says quietly to Harkness after Doc Preston leaves to return to his quarters.
"I wouldn't expect you to. Let's…let's go to mine." She glances at him suspiciously, taken aback by his offer. "I don't mean…it's just safe and comfortable. Locks are secure."
She nods. "You have quarters? I thought you slept in the guard barracks."
He glances at her sidelong, wondering how she knows his habits. "I do, I feel more comfortable there, always ready. But yes, I have quarters, they're…handy to have. The bed's clean and all my stuff is there."
He keeps his arm around her shoulders as they climb the stairs to the next level and walk slowly down the hallway. He notes that she keeps glancing behind her, jumping at every noise. He's never seen her like this. She's usually so fearless, confident in her own abilities. Has Sister broken her? She's normally so strong, fearless; it's amazing really, given that she grew up in a hole in the ground. Maybe I was wrong, maybe she is a hero. Three Dog is calling her a Paragon, after all. Megaton, Paradise Falls, the list is growing. The least I can do is protect her. How many men would kill to be in my position? This beautiful angel of the Wasteland looking to me, of all the miserable men out there, for safety. He pauses to look at her while he unlocks his door. Beautiful? Yes, yes she is. Even when she has all her armor on, but especially without. God, why am I…
"Can I…do you have a clean shirt I could borrow?" She pulls lightly at her own, pulling him out of his traitorous thoughts. He looks down and notices for the first time Sister's blood splattered across the side and her own blood staining the top.
"Oh, oh yeah of course." Shit, why am I thinking about her like that at a time like this? He rummages through drawers, looking for a dark shirt so she doesn't feel uncomfortable given that she's not wearing underclothes. "Uh, trousers…probably not the most comfortable thing either." He hands her a pair of his own drawstring pants. They are far too large, but cinch up comfortably around her waist. He turns around to give her privacy as she changes, resisting the urge to catch a glimpse of her slender body.
"Okay, you can turn around now."
He turns around and takes in the picture of this woman, looking like a young girl dwarfed in his clothing. She's already slumped down onto his bed, knees drawn up tight under her chin. There's something appealing about seeing her wearing his clothing, languishing in his bed. He kneels next to the bed and pulls the blanket up as she lies down. Her eyes drift close as he tucks the blanket in around her. "I'll be right here, don't worry." He settles into a torn-up and stained armchair, propping his head up with his arm, to catch as much sleep as he can before his shift. His restless sleep is plagued with dreams of the attack and how much worse it could have gone. He wakes up several times feeling helpless, only to see her curled into a tight ball on the bed, facing the wall. Those pills Doc gave her must have really worked.
She wakes with a start at the feeling of calloused hands on her arms. "Shh, shh, it's just me," he comforts, gently brushing a lock of hair out of her eyes, using a tenderness he almost forgot he had. "My shift starts soon, but just stay here. I'll send Danvers up later with some breakfast. She can stay with you, if you like. Try to get some rest. Let me know if you need anything."
"A gun. J-just in case," she stutters.
"Of course." He pulls a sidearm out of a drawer and sets it down next to the bed. "Full clip."
"Thanks." Her green eyes meet his dark ones, warm with gratitude…and something else, but he's not sure what. A wan smiles passes across her face as she relaxes and runs a hand down his arm.
A bolt of lightning strikes through his body at her touch. No, not now, not her. She's hurt and vulnerable, you'd just be taking advantage.
He smiles weakly at her as he steps out the door, locking it behind him. Fuck. What an awful way to start out the week. Fuckfuckfuck, how could something like this happen on my watch? I need to double patrols, something. I can't risk something happening to her…the rest of the city…ever again. He stops again at this thought. Really, had he thought of her first? Shit.
Danvers knocks on the door a few hours later. Asha stirs from the armchair to cautiously open the door, 10 mil in hand. Danvers flashes a smile. "Just me! Brought food. Can I come in?"
An awkward silence sits between them as Asha picks at her food slowly.
"Men are assholes," Danvers says slowly.
Asha looks up, grateful for the conversation. "Not Harkness."
"Not Harkness," Danvers affirms with a smile. "He's always there to look out for you, er, for everyone," she adds hastily.
Asha raises an eyebrow. "He seeing anyone?" she asks as casually as she can.
Danvers smile broadens at the question. "No, I've never seen him with anyone as long as I've known him…Two years now, I think."
"Just how old is he?"
"He's never said, but I think he's in his late 20s. He joined the army just out of school and was only in it for a few years before the…freezing, you know. He told you about that, right?" Asha nods. "I guess he was married during that time, but during the tension of the war his wife left him. Stupid bitch."
"Sounds like you have a thing for him," Asha asks tentatively.
"Me? Ha! He's, uh, not my type."
"You like women?"
"Oh, no no, that's not what I meant. I thought about it for a while, but the Chief is just too straight laced. I like 'em wild. Right now I've got a thing for Crazy Wolfgang. I've been trying to get into his pants for a while but he's so damned clueless. Doesn't help that I only see him for a day every fortnight. Why, you thinking about Harkness?"
Asha shrugs.
"Well, just between you and me," she gives a brief glance around the room, "he takes more notice of you than he does all other women on this boat combined."
Asha has to laugh at that. "I think that's just because he doesn't trust me. He was so fucking suspicious when I got here, thinking I was just in it for the glory and would turn out to be a bad apple."
"He doesn't think that," Danvers chides. "Believe me, a lot of women on this boat would give their right arm to get a smoldering glance from Harkness when he thinks they aren't looking, but he's never given anybody one…until you came aboard."
"What, really?"
"Asha, I'm the closest thing he's got to a friend in the city and I can definitely tell he's smitten."
A/N: I took liberties with the layout of Paradise Falls to fit my fight scene flow.
Chapter Summary: Asha goes to Paradise Falls to take out the slavers. She frees the slaves there and kills everyone in the town. Three Dog hears and touts her as a hero across the Wasteland. Upon returning to Rivet City, she is attacked in her sleep in her room by Sister (who is mad that he won't be paid should he capture the android), but rescued by Harkness who kills Sister. Harkness takes her to his room since it is safe. Danvers tells Asha that Harkness has feelings for her.
