Sorry it's taken so long for an update. I've been utterly swamped with school work. It has been hectic to say the least. I've been writing a lot of essays, so writing my own stories has been less than appealing. However, I've cracked this chapter out and it's a long one just for you, audience! So I hope you enjoy it. But first! The very first question asked in Dead Man's Hand!

Q: The story seems Ava heavy at the moment. Are we going to be seeing more Knox?

A: Dead Man's Hand has a lot more characters than just Knox and Ava. It also has different groups doing different things at different places. Some chapters will have both, some will have one and not the other, some might not have either of them. However, the Shattered Illusions quadrilogy is mainly focused on Ava. It's her story. So yes the story will focus on her more, but Knox is definitely still a main character and you will see much more of him. The first couple of chapters here are just a tad misleading in that regard.

Anyway after a long answer, I want to remind you all: questions are welcomed and will be answered, reviews are appreciated and requested, and enjoyment is mandatory! Just kidding on that last one, but I do hope you enjoy.

May 14, 2280

14:30

REPCONN Test Sight

"I'll head down to the basement immediately. We'll figure this out and then I can put a bullet in Bright's radioactive ass."

Ava gave her PipBoy an odd look. Knox seemed more irate than usual. Sure Bright was really obnoxious, but shooting the ghoul seemed excessive. "Don't bother," she radioed back.

"Don't bother shooting him?"

"Don't bother coming down. I'm almost back up to the control center anyway."

To punctuate her statement she rapped her knuckles against the metal door to Bright's hideaway in REPCONN. The door slid open and Chris Haversam waved her in.

"Hurry it up, smoothskin. Don't want any of those lunatics following you up here."

Ava opened her mouth to let loose a scathing reply to the very human Chris, but he held up a rubber gloved hand and quickly said, "Don't bother, human. Go talk to Jason and quit bothering me."

Ava narrowed her eyes, but acquiesced and walked away without a word. It just made her so mad! Bright was using Jason and the poor man refused to accept it. Not that she particularly liked Chris. He was rude, bitter, and weak-willed. But that didn't mean some prophet figure should abuse him to get what he wants! Ava had come to accept a rather fluid definition of right and wrong, but she knew that Bright's actions were wrong, even if they were based in good intentions.

She sighed. Good intentions so often ended up twisted. They'd certainly paved her way to hell and back.

Ava strode down the metal hallway towards the room Bright frequented. It was most likely where Knox was even if the man thought Bright was unbearable. He'd found some way to hate the cult leader more than Ava which was remarkable on its own. She knew Knox had some history with the ghoul. Apparently this wasn't the first time Bright had caused trouble for Novac, but to her eyes it seemed to go beyond that. Knox was uncharacteristically impatient with the ghoul. She'd heard him mutter more than once, "the house won't wait forever."

What that meant or the significance of it was lost on Ava, but it seemed important enough to Knox that he had very realistically considered just leaving the ghouls, Nightkin, and people of Novac to figure everything out themselves.

Bright would deserve it. Manny Vargas would certainly deserve it. However, she was now finding it difficult to think about leaving Davison and his kin stranded in the basement. From what she'd gathered he hadn't exactly chosen his insanity. However, getting him to leave REPCONN was going to be problematic. Especially considering what she had just found out on the terminal Harland was guarding.

Ava spotted Knox leaning against a cabinet and tapping his foot impatiently. It was off-putting to see him so jittery. She had never been one to sit still, but Knox had always remained calm and collected. So seeing him here, itching to do something was just the slightest bit weird. He'd been different almost as soon as they'd gotten back to the Mojave.

And that worried her.

"Knox," she called, getting his attention.

His head snapped up on a swivel and he rose from his position. Before she could say anything, he grabbed her elbow and steered her back into the hallway away from the ghouls.

"Alright," he sighed, "give me the bad news."

"So, Davison is looking for Stealth Boys and-"

"Quick question. Who is Davison?"

"Leader of the Nightkin. That's not important. It's the Stealth Boys! He sent me to go get them. He had an invoice saying that a bunch were sent here to REPCONN. They checked everywhere, but in the room Harland (who's a real asshole by the way) was guarding-"

"So the Nightkin came here for Stealth Boys and they sent you to retrieve them," Knox interrupted.

"That's just it-"

"And they'll leave if we give them the Stealth Boys," Knox concluded, interrupting once more.

"THERE ARE NO STEALTH BOYS!" Ava shouted at him. She pinched her nose in frustration. Whatever it was that was bugging Knox was making working with him very stressful and she didn't handle stress well. Even less so when Knox wouldn't let her get a word in edgewise. "They were sent here by mistake and sent back. Knox, there… there aren't Stealth Boys."

Knox nodded thoughtfully. "I see what you mean by big problem," he said quietly. He cleared his throat and squared his shoulders. "What do you want to do about it?"

Ava looked at him with her mouth open. "What do I want to do about it? I came back up here to ask you! I don't know what to do!"

"Yes, you do," Knox countered. He held up three fingers. "Think it through."

Ava sighed and furrowed her brow. She fell backwards against the wall and slid down it to the floor until her legs were sticking straight out into the passage, making it impossible for anyone to conveniently move about.

"Kill the Nightkin like Bright wants."

Knox put one finger down. Ava violently shook her head at him. That was not going to happen.

"Next?" Knox pressured.

"Kill the ghouls like Manny wants." Knox lowered another finger. Only one remained and for the life of her Ava couldn't figure it out. She looked at him in confusion, silently requesting an explanation.

"We walk away," he said simply.

Ava's mouth fell open again. Sure Knox had been threatening to walk away, but it was all just talk, right? He wouldn't actually do it!

Would he?

"You can't be serious!" she cried, aghast. "After everything you've told me!" Ava got to her feet and jabbed her finger into Knox's chest. "After everything you've shown me. You just want to walk away! What happened to 'doing the right thing'?"

Knox leaned back against the wall and let out a breath he'd been holding in. "Sometimes… sometimes to do the right thing, you've got to walk past some bad things. You can't fix everything."

Ava threw her hands in the air in frustration. "I know! I know I can't fix everything. I tried that once. It didn't go so well for me, but… but…" Ava was struggling to put her angrily swirling thoughts into words. "But you said as long as I do what I can, then that's- that's all that matters."

Knox put a hand on her shoulder. "I did say that. And it's still true. But right now, what I can do, what we can do… it's bigger than this. It's way bigger. And the longer we waste time here, the harder it's going to be for us to fix things later."

Ava took a step back and slid out from under his hand. She looked at him suspiciously. "What are you talking about, Knox?"

Knox crossed his arms and chewed on his cheek. She could tell he was deliberating. "I… can't tell you."

Ava quickly crossed the distance between them and got right in his face. "What do you mean? We don't have secrets," she hissed threateningly.

Knox tried to shrug it off and nudge her away, but Ava stood her ground. Apparently she was quite serious.

"Ava…" he said slowly.

"We don't! You promised that to me!"

"I know!"

Ava looked shock when Knox snapped at her. She scowled and turned away from him.

"Ava…" Knox said again, but she'd already started to walk away. "Ava! Look I want to tell you, I do," he tried to explain as he followed her down the passageway back to the stairs. "But it's not my place. It's not my secret. It's someone else's."

Ava whirled back around, causing Knox to stumble backwards in surprise. "Whose? Whose secret?"

"Er… client confidentiality?"

Ava shook her head and turned to keep walking. "Don't follow me, Knox! I'm going to go fix this fucking mess! And I'm going to do it without one of your stupid fucking solutions!"

Knox watched her go, nearly knocking Chris Haversam over as she strode out the door of the command center in a determined rage.

"More power to ya, kid," he sighed. "More power to ya."

14:45

REPCONN Test Sight

Basement

"Stupid, Knox… keeping secrets… fucker…" Ava grumbled angrily to herself as she walked quickly down the stairs.

"Client confidentiality my ass!" she spat. Her anger hung about her head in a foul cloud. Knox and his stupid secrets. If he really wanted to tell her, he would! Not hint at it!

Somewhere amidst her rage-filled, mental musings Ava stopped looking where she was stepping and missed a stair. With a strangled cry she fell forward and down the stairs, clanging and clattering the whole way until she rolled onto the landing and smashed her forehead into the railing.

She rolled flat onto her back and gasped out a pained, "ow."

She struggled to sit up, stars winking in her vision. She gingerly touched her forehead. Her glove came away wet with blood. She growled half in frustration and half in pain. As awful as it would be, a conversation with Jason Bright might be in order. As miserable as talking to him was, his ever-present cloud of radiation would be very nice right now.

Ava struggled to her feet and nearly immediately doubled over and puked her breakfast out onto the metal grating. Her vision continued to swim.

"Oh, yep," she moaned, "That's a concussion."

She tried to step forward and instead fell down the last few steps into the hangar. She lay there panting with her eyes closed and her limbs sprawling. She had stimpaks in her bag; her bag which was back at the top of the stairs.

Well, fuck.

The sound of a cloak depowering crackled next to her ear. Large, cloth-wrapped, blue feet materialized on either side of her head.

Double fuck.

"Human," growled the Nightkin in its gravelly voice.

Wonderful, now she was going to be eaten, she thought to herself humorlessly. As she thought it though, her hand was straying towards Perforator. If she blew out the mutant's kneecaps he might not fall on her. "Might" being the keyword.

The mutant knelt down and scooped his large hands under, lifting her like she weighed nothing more than a child. Which she probably seemed like compared to his stature. She remembered Fawkes carrying her like this before.

"Come on, human… Captain Davison has words for you."

Ava leaned her head back into the Nightkin's muscled chest. Just like when Fawkes carried her, she thought again, her concussion addled mind running in circles. She was only vaguely aware of the mutant carrying her back into the basement and to the office Davison had occupied.

"Captain. Reporting as ordered. Mission: completed, with human. Status: hungry, with human."

Ava's eyes widened, the last sentence sinking into her mind. Nope, nope, not getting eaten, thank you very much. Ava struggled to get out of the mutant's arms and after elbowing him in the jaw a few times he seemed to get the message.

He leaned over to set her down and she rolled out of his arms landed on her feet somewhat unsteadily. She looked up at the Nightkin captain, who was giving his soldier a stern look and motioned that he was dismissed. The Nightkin who'd carried her walked out of the room still muttering about being hungry.

"Human," Davison said curtly.

"Davison," Ava replied with a smile before loudly retching all over the floor.

Davison looked at her curiously as Ava moaned piteously, and pulled a chair over for her which she collapsed into gratefully, hanging her head between her legs.

"I had my kin fetch you when it was reported you in command center. You supposed to be getting Stealth Boys for Antler."

Ava snapped her head up and winced in pain at the movement. "I did! I mean, I tried."

Davison chuckled. "Talking to ghoul not work," he snorted.

"No, it didn't," Ava said trying to make a threatening face at the Nightkin, but the mutant just dismissed it. "But I still got into the room. There aren't any Stealth Boys there."

"WHAT!?" roared Davison. "But invoice note said Stealth Boys were here! Why can't that note be true!?"

"Quieter, please," Ava requested her face pained. The mutant's shouting was grating on her addled nerves.

Davison hunched over and repeated in a whisper, "Why can't that note be true?"

"The Stealth Boys were sent here by mistake. They were sent back." Ava held up the return invoice she'd printed off the computer in Harland's room.

Davison shook his massive head in denial until his attention was caught by Antler. "What, Antler? … But human could be lying! Stealing Stealth Boys for itself!" Davison pointed an accusing finger at Ava and pulled his massive sword out.

She slowly started to slide Clarity out of its sheathe in response. She didn't want to kill Davison, but in her state she didn't think she'd be able to run away. But Davison never attacked. Antler intervened.

Davison stomped his foot like a child and slung his great sword again. "Oh, Antler… You trust so easy…" Davison turned to Ava once more. "Your lucky day, human. Antler believe you." He snatched the note from her. "Nightkin will follow the new note to find Stealth Boys. Better be there," he grumbled.

Davison started to walk away from Ava without a second thought. He scooped Antler up from the desk and moved to the door. As he started to cross the threshold, he stopped and held Antler up to his ear.

"Yes, Antler? What? No, no. I ask."

Davison turned back to Ava with his brow raised. "Antler has question, human," he rumbled in his deep voice.

"Yes?" she replied hesitantly.

"How you get note? Talking didn't work and my kin tell me ghoul still alive."

"Oh!" Ava said startled. Well, that was an easy question. She stood up and without a thought of the danger of showing her stealth technology to the disappointed Nightkin, she activated her stealth suit.

After standing in silence for a few moments, she deactivated it and stood smiling in front of the bewildered Nightkin.

"You do have Stealth Boys," the mutant said quietly, his eyes locked on her. Eyes like an addict she recognized. "Give them to me! Give them to Antler!"

Ava stumbled backwards startled. "No, no!" she cried. "I don't have Stealth Boys!"

"You turn invisible! No one can see! You have Stealth Boys," Davison insisted, taking a threatening step towards her.

"I don't. I swear! I… uh… I don't need Stealth Boys?" she explained lamely. Holding her empty hands out to show she didn't have a Stealth Boy.

Davison cast a critical eye over the human standing in front of him. She indeed didn't have a Stealth Boy. "Explain," he commanded.

"Well, it's- it's a suit. I got it from a simulation in China! I mean, after doing a simulation against the Chinese, I mean," she babbled nervously as the mutant towered over her.

Clearly her explanation was not adequate as Davison said, "Do it again." But his voice was no longer harsh. It was more… amazed…

Ava gulped and activated the stealth field. Davison's eyes widened in awe as she reappeared.

"And no… voices?"

"Not anymore," she joked, but upon noticing the confused look on the Nightkin's face, she clarified, "No. No voices."

The mutant's eyes grew even wider. He suddenly dropped to one knee in front of her with a loud thud. "Please! Oh great one! Tell me your name, human."

"Uh, Ava," she said uncertainly as she looked at the top of Davison's head from where he knelt in front of her.

"Lord Ava-"

"Er, Lady," she corrected.

"Lady Ava. You will be my kin's new master!" Davison proclaimed from his knees.

"Okay… wait what!?" Master? Oh no. That was not something she was okay with. "Davison what are you talking about?"

Davison looked up at her. Tears were in his eyes. The eight foot tall, blue, death machine was crying.

"You are symbol to Nightkin everywhere! No voices! You no have voices! That's just… that's really great."

Well, shit. When he put it that way. "I… um… alright then?"

Davison held Antler's Brahmin skull aloft in front of him.

"Lady Ava, bless Antler!"

Ava stared at the skull, unsure of what to do. "Bless it?"

"Yes. Bless Antler," Davison repeated emphatically.

Ava stood unmoving. How do you bless a skull? How do you bless anything? Religion wasn't her thing. "Ummmmm…" Ava murmured before darting over to the desk. She brushed the papers away and tore into the drawers until she found what she was looking for. She stepped back over to Davison and Antler and held a black marker aloft in triumph.

Davison's awestruck eyes followed her hands as she uncapped the marker and wrote a simple "101" across the front of Antler's skull.

Ava stood back, her work done. "There," she said proudly. How was that for her first time blessing something?

Davison looked at the skull reverently as if it was some sort of holy object. "It's beautiful," he said softly before rising back to his full height. "Lady Ava! What is your command?"

Ava looked at him in surprise. "Er- command?"

"Yes. My kin and I are yours to command. What would Ava have us do?"

"I… well… could you get out of the basement?"

Davison bowed deeply to her before straitening and bellowing at the top of his lungs. Ava clamped her hands over her ears until he stopped.

"My kin and I will leave this place!"

And so they did. Ava could hear the Nightkin walking through the halls, their thundering footsteps slowly getting softer and softer.

'Thanks, Davis-" Ava turned to thank the Nightkin commander, but he'd disappeared. The massive mutant had followed his comrades out. "Huh," she said staring at the now empty room, "This has been very weird."

15:00

REPCONN Test Sight

Knox stood in the hangar waiting for Ava to return from the basement. He knew she'd shouted not to follow her and he hadn't. At least not all the way. But he felt bad about how their conversation had ended. She just didn't get it. And he'd love to explain, but he was under explicit orders not to and that was very infuriating indeed.

Ava was all fire and emotion which when trying to explain to her why he couldn't tell her something made communicating nearly impossible. Oh well. As soon as they reached Vegas he'd be able to clear everything up.

For now he just hoped that she was all right and he'd be able to help her out with her Nightkin problem. Knox could understand why she was hesitant to kill the Nightkin. Their history was almost some sort of cruel parallel to her own. Putting them down wasn't an easy option for her. Hopefully he'd be able to provide some useful information to help her out.

He heard the door to the basement clang open and sure enough Ava stumbled into the hangar. Knox could see her face bruising and she had a large gash on her forehead. Knox caught her as she nearly fell into his arms.

"Holy shit! What the hell happened to you!?"

"Hit my head… on the stairs…" she muttered, gesturing at the stairs behind Knox before pulling herself out of his arms and pushing him away. Knox sighed; apparently she was still mad at him.

"Ava," he started, reaching out to grab her arm until a large, blue mutant appeared between them.

"You do not touch the Lady Ava, human," Davison growled.

Knox looked up at the mutant while slowly reaching for his gun so as not to draw attention to it. Ava quickly stepped in between the two, putting a hand on their chests.

"Whoa, whoa. Stop, stop! Davison! Leave Knox alone. Knox! Get your hand off your gun!"

Knox and Davison continued staring at each other until Davison huffed in irritation and stepped back. Knox looked bewildered, but took his hand off his gun. Davison turned to Ava.

"I will wait with my kin," he said. "You may talk to the human. If you need us to kill it, simply ask."

Ava smiled widely up at him. "That's okay. I don't need you to kill it, I mean him. At least not today."

Davison nodded at her and walked away, disappearing from sight after a few steps. Ava turned to Knox, a self-satisfied smirk on her face.

"Ava… that was… what was that?" he said softly, gesturing after the mutant in disbelief.

Ava shrugged, her smirk never leaving her face. "I'm their queen now," she said as if it was a sufficient explanation.

"You're their… You're fucking amazing," Knox said with an bemused smile flickering on his face.

"I am, aren't I?" Ava said as she brushed past him. Not mad enough to let a mutant throttle him, but still mad nonetheless.

"I'm sorry."

Ava turned around slowly, her smile widening. "What was that, Knox?"

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "I don't like keeping things from you." Ava snorted dismissively and went to turn away, but Knox quickly said, "Hey! Hey, please. Hear me out. I want to tell you. I want to so bad. I want to tell you everything. And I will. Just not yet. It's not up to me. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is."

Ava frowned, clearly displeased with Knox, but she appeared to be struggling with accepting his apology or not.

"I've got something else I can tell you though," Knox baited her. Ava's eyes flicked to his face, intrigued.

"What?"

"Your Nightkin pals? How would you like to get them some help?"

Ava cocked her head the side, fully curious. "What do you mean help?"

Knox grabbed her hand and pulled her along towards the entrance of the REPCONN facility. "There's a ski lodge up in the mountains," he explained. "It's become a super mutant refuge. There's a doctor there who specializes in neuroscience. He's been researching a cure for the Nightkin. You want to help them? Send them to Jacobstown."

Knox pushed open the door to the Mojave, both he and Ava flinched away from the bright light and dry heat, but stepped out of the cool shade anyway. They looked around, but saw no mutants.

"Davison," asked Ava to the empty air. She looked around.

Nothing.

"DAVISON," she shouted, her hands cupped around her mouth.

A resounding crackle of hundreds of Stealth Boys deactivating answered her call. Knox and Ava looked around in shock as the Nightkin horde decloaked. The entire building was surrounded by the mob of blue, super mutants. Davison stood a head taller in the pack and held Antler aloft, showing its new "101".

"THE LADY AVA!" he roared. His cry was picked up by the rest of his kin and soon the entire horde was chanting her name.

Ava looked at Knox with her mouth open, but he was equally shocked with his jaw just as slack. Davison strode towards Ava, the rest of the Nightkin parting before him. He glared at Knox briefly before saluting Ava.

"Lady Ava."

"Hi, Davison," she said quietly, still awed by the sheer size of the Nightkin horde. She cleared her throat. "Er, um, Davison," she said as authoritatively as possible.

Knox chuckled next to her at her effort, but she quickly shushed him.

"Davison, do you know where Jacobstown is?"

Davison nodded. "Other Nightkin are there. Safe place for mutants."

"I want you and your kin to go there. Wait for me, I'll follow you as soon as I can," she commanded before adding, "Is that okay?"

Davison saluted again. "As the Lady Ava commands!" He turned on his heel and bellowed at his kin. Moving as one the Nightkin saluted and activated their cloaks, disappearing as quickly as they'd appeared.

Knox and Ava stood quietly next to each other staring out into the empty desert, but neither could find hide nor hair of the Nightkin horde. Not a shimmer of light or a cloud of dust. The mutants were gone.

Knox nudged Ava with his elbow. "So, you weren't kidding about being their queen."

Ava grinned wickedly at him.

"I'm fucking royalty now."

Hope you all liked it! I've been dying to do the "Lady Ava" since before Ava made it to Tenpenny Tower. It's been a long time coming. I hope the more I talk about it, the more you all realize that I've got plans for the Nightkin. However, I hope I don't disappoint seeing as a huge chunk of those plans have to do with stupid oneliners and jokes. Oh well. If you've got thoughts, comments, suggestions, or professions of undying love feel free to leave a review! See you next time, audience.