I don't own RWBY or Fallout
Tossing the blood-soaked towel into the sink, Mercury was glad to be rid of the blood. Torturing people didn't bother him. Death and destruction were literally what he'd been trained for since he was five. The looks given to him by the traders and ghoul were starting to annoy him. It was like they'd never heard anyone be tortured before. Shrugging he watched Ruby pull on her jacket and raise an eyebrow at him. She was a kid still. Even during the war she never lost her hope in humanity. It was hard not to think of her as his partner for the moment.
The word partner meant so much to him. Emerald had been his partner and that had built one of the most precious relationships he'd ever had. There was a fear in him that Ruby would turn out just like Emerald. Just like Cinder. The thought of his leader caused his expression to fall slightly.
Cinder had hated her. At least for the two years after Beacon fell. After that, it was like the woman stopped caring about what Ruby did to her. It wasn't a secret either. Everyone on both sides knew what the girl did. Thinking back on it he had to wonder why she'd done it.
"Killing her would be easier," Tyrian cooed running his hands through Ruby's hair. The unconscious girl was soaked in her father's blood. The tattered remains of her father's cape clutched in her hands. Cinder growled her hands lighting up in flames and daring him to even try.
"Stand down Tyrian," Watts said softly but there was no mistaking the order in his voice. The faunus winced. Mercury glanced down at the girl for a moment. She looked tiny laying helpless on the floor and he couldn't help but feel pity. When she woke her father would be dead. To him, that was a boon but to her, it would be worse than death.
"But it's not fair," Tyrian pouted but withdrew his hand from the girl's hair.
"She saved my life," Watts snapped clutching his wounded side. She'd sacrificed the war to save his life. Cinder rolled her eyes at his weakness.
Mercury frowned. Moving past the arguing men he kneeled. Cuts and bruises marred her skin showing how hard she'd fought after losing her father. Picking her up gently he stood. Leaning her against the wall so she wouldn't be in the way.
She'd given up a chance to win the war to save Watts. When she could have just let him die and stop them from opening the winter vault she'd chosen to save her enemy. It was the reason that after that none of them actually tried to kill her. A life for a life. Hers for Watts. Even they'd had honor. Even Tyrian, despite how much he'd wanted to, never made another attempt on the girl's life.
"We need to move," Ruby said knocking him out of his thoughts and back to reality. Smirking at her he nodded. The traders glanced at each other nervously before falling into place behind her. She would be glad when she got rid of them. They were baggage.
"Wait, take Cait," Tommy said gaining her attention. Ruby looked at the woman curiously. The redhead was staring at him in disbelief before allowing her anger to take control.
"You can't be serious," she snapped reaching out to grab his collar.
"If you stay here you'll kill yourself Cait and I can't watch you do that," he said a pleading tone to his voice that made Ruby uncomfortable. This seemed like a private conversation that they really shouldn't be having in front of everyone. One glance told her that Mercury felt the same. Heartfelt displays weren't something either of them was good at. Not anymore.
"And what will you do once I'm gone," The redhead asked him. Tommy could see the worry in her eyes and honestly, he shared it just a bit. It might not be immediate but unless he got some defenses set up the raiders would be back. Looking over her shoulder at Ruby he made up his mind. Cait wasn't going to die here protecting him and he wasn't going to sit here waiting for the raiders to come back and kill him.
"I'll be heading to Goodneighbor, there's a guy there that owes me a favor or two," he said before easing her hand off his collar. Smiling at Ruby he said, "would you be interested in taking Cait's contract?"
"I will," Mercury said before Ruby could refuse. Frowning Cait glared at him, which only turned fiercer when Tommy actually reached into his coat and passed over the folded contract. Taking it Mercury shoved it into the pocket of his pants before nodding at Ruby to lead the way. The sniper shrugged before motioning for the traders to follow her.
Mercury fell back to cover the rear with Cait as Ruby unholstered her pistol. Starting the trek back to Diamond City gave the fighter long enough to glance over her new contract holder. She didn't quite know what to make of the man who just spent almost an hour torturing a guy for information. Who knows what kind of man he was and given that he turned right around and promised not to leave the woman who they were following, he just didn't make sense. No that wasn't right, he reminded her of the men who enslaved her. It was like he was a bomb waiting to go off.
Motioning for her to watch the traders he sped up until he was walking beside Ruby. The quiet empty streets set him on edge. Limping beside her he growled at the thought of his leg getting in the way. Hearing him she stiffened slightly before relaxing and looking up at him.
"Why did you take her contract," she asked softly so that he was the only one who could hear her. If it hadn't been for the curiosity in her tone he would have rolled his eyes.
"We'll need more than the two of us to take on a nest of raiders," he said. Seeing the logic she nodded. Turning her attention back to the task at hand she tightened her grip on her weapon. They would be nearing Trinity tower soon. Glancing back at the traders she wondered if they should take a different route. It wouldn't help to get her charges killed.
"I'm going to scout ahead," she said, "can you watch them?"
"Of course, but be careful," he said. She tensed the concern she could hear simultaneously causing her to feel warm while sending shivers down her spine. Nodding she pulled her hood up before vanishing into the shadows. Shaking his head he turned to her charges saying, "We'll be settling in here until Ruby comes back."
Following his finger to the small building behind him they seemed to want to argue. The glare he gave them discouraged it. Cait scoffed at his attitude. Watching the traders walk into the small half destroyed dinner she turned to him for orders. When he simply pointed to the door again she walked inside but not before rolling her eyes.
Sighing Mercury wondered what he'd done to deserve this before walking in and lowering himself down to sit against the counter. He hoped he found Emerald soon. She was never one for violence and he hated that he wasn't there to keep her safe. He was supposed to keep her safe. It had been one of the first orders Cinder had ever given him. In time it had become less about orders and more about who she was.
"Who is she to you," Cait asked the curiosity in her voice pulling him out of his thoughts. Turning to her he tilted his head waiting for her to elaborate. Seeing the look she said, "the girl you two are after?"
"My sister," he said.
Blinking Cait compared him to a mental image of the woman she'd seen before deciding it would be better not to ask. She'd seen hundreds of weird families over the years. If he was going to this much trouble for the woman then it must not matter if she was his blood or not.
"And Ruby, who is she to you," Cait asked. Tensing Mercury sent her a warning look before leaning back and closing his eyes. Seeing that the conversation was over Cait sighed. Keeping one hand on his gun he resolved to have Ruby be the one to babysit next time. Rubbing his leg with his other hand he wondered how long it would take to fix this time.
Ruby crept forward sliding her gun into her holster in favor of unsheathing her knife. It was more silent giving her an advantage if she got into a fight. The area was quiet. Much too quiet to be natural. Trinity tower was one of the biggest Super Mutant outposts in the ruins. Given the fact that she couldn't hear any of them, it made her worry slightly. The only times when they were this silent were followed by raids.
Flipping her knife into a reverse grip she kept to the shadows as she moved forward closer to the tower. If the Mutants were prepping for a raid the mayor had to know, and if they'd been killed then that was something that needed to be shared too. Walking into the building the first thing she noticed was the blood. It covered the floor.
Frowning she moved toward the stairs. This much blood usually meant bodies, and there they were. The corpses of several Super Mutants were scattered around the edge of the staircase. It was safe to say they weren't preparing for a raid. Moving her scarf up to cover her nose she stepped over the bodies. Keeping close to the railing she moved upward.
By now she should be hearing gunshots. But it was quiet. Seeing something glitter against the dark pool of blood it rested in she kneeled. Picking up the bullet she rolled it in her hands. It was small and most of the corpses she'd come across were littered with bullet wounds. Laying it back down she stood. It was a given now that she wasn't the only human in the tower. Would this be enough information for the mayor? Probably not. Wiping her hand on her pants she kept moving. The dark corridor ahead did nothing to help her already fraying nerves.
It was like a horror movie. The investigator usually died in those. The thought caused her to roll her eyes. Was it arrogant to think she could take care of herself? Hearing a groan she froze. So there was something alive in here. Pressing her back against the wall she moved toward the sound slowly. The scent of gunpowder entered her nose as she entered the small side room.
Green skin flexed as the Super Mutant pressed its hands against the bullet wound. Stilling Ruby didn't know what to do as it tried to stop the bleeding. These things were the scourge of the wasteland yet here it was fighting to live. It had most likely killed hundreds of people so killing it now would be the right thing to do. Looking at it now struggling to breathe she bit her lip. Putting it out of its misery would be a mercy. Wouldn't it just die anyway?
"Damn it," she whispered. Fuck her bleeding heart. Sliding her knife into its sheath she moved into sight. It panicked reaching for the gun beside it the mutant aimed it at her chest. She stilled. Heart pounding she wanted to turn back instead she raised her hands in surrender saying, "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to help."
"Human help," it asked the gun wavering. Nodding slowly she waited. Scoffing it laid the gun down. Taking the movement for acceptance she walked toward it slowly. Mercury was so going to kill her.
Keeping her wary eyes on it she kneeled slowly beside it. The blood leaking out from under its fingers didn't give her much hope for its continued survival. Moving its hand gently she reached into her bag. Harsh green fingers clamped onto her arm as it growled at her. For a second she wondered if it could hear her heart pounding or see the sweat dripping down her forehead. Gods, what was she even doing? Still, it was too late to turn back now. Keeping her eyes on its own she pulled the small first aid kit from her bag.
"You can hold my arm or you can let me help," she said raising her chin. The grip on her arm tightened for a moment before it let go completely. Opening the first aid kit she reached into her bag for a bottle of water. Cleaning the wound she frowned at the condensed patch of bullet holes in its skin. The dark ring around the wound meant it was a point blank range too. Circling her hand around its body she made sure that the bullets went clean through the flesh. Seeing that they had she laid the water bottle to the side before grabbing the bottle of vodka out of her bag and pouring some on her hands and the wound.
The growl from beside her caused her to flinch. She probably should have warned it first. This thing could literally kill her with two fingers what was she thinking? The simple answer she wasn't. Still, she pushed away her reservations and got to work. This was not how her day was supposed to go. Finding a few traders yeah she could deal with that. Seeing Mercury again, hey her day just got better. Trekking through a tower filled with Super Mutants to see if this could become a new savage point for Diamond City and get a bonus, ok that was possible. Stitching up an injured Super Mutant, fuck the world.
Mercury must never find out about this. He would laugh at her until he got sick. Maybe she wasn't as immune to death and pain as she thought. So much was wrong with this situation. Hands shaking she wiped the thin sheen of sweat from her brow before cutting the medical thread with her knife. Stupid foolish girl with too much empathy. The description caused her to snort as she remembered Cinder saying something similar.
Glancing up at her patient she winced at the dark eyes staring down at her. Looking away quickly she finished wrapping the bandages around its body before shoving her things back into her bag. Using the last of the water she washed the blood off her hands. Now all she had to do was make it out of the tower without running into whoever did this to it. She doubted they would take well to her undoing their work. The bottle in her hand crinkled as she crushed it. Her ears picking up a sound she really wished they hadn't.
There were footsteps coming this way. Dropping the crushed bottle to the ground she moved. It was an instinctive thing that caused her to pull a table in front of the injured mutant. Giving it a warning look she motioned for it to be silent as she hid it from view completely. Pressing her back against the wall beside the door she stilled.
What was she doing? Saving the mutant was one thing but protecting it was another. If she did this there was no way to undo it. Still, choices made couldn't be taken back. What if she led them away from the room? The thought caused her to still. Shoving her knife back into its sheath she waited until she heard chuckling to step out of the room.
Her feet froze in place as the four people in front of her did the same. For a second none of them moved, then she pulled a Blake. Spinning Ruby bolted. Rushing away from them she barely wasted a second to hear if they were following before she smirked. No one could catch her when she was running. Even without her semblance, she was faster than most humans. Boots crashing down onto the tiled floor she heard someone shout not to shoot before a bullet hit the wall in front of her.
Now they were shooting at her. Great, she was going to die in a tower littered with bodies all because she was too empathetic. Fuck that. As one of the last survivors of Remnant, she wouldn't die unless it was to one of her own. These people could go screw themselves.
Her rifle bounced against her shoulder as she dove around the corner. Cursing she felt her foot slide to the side as she slipped on the pool of blood she'd investigated earlier. Probably shouldn't have forgotten about that. Yelping she rolled to the side her eyes widening as she impacted the railing of the stairs. Well her shoulder was going to hurt in the morning. Cursing she glanced up barely seeing her pursuers clear the corner. Pushing herself up she gripped the railing. The guns trained on her were not something she wanted to go off. Gods she was an idiot. Tightening her grip she met the blue eyes of the man in front of her.
"Listen we're not your enemy," he said stepping forward. Biting her lip she kept herself from speaking. Narrowing her eyes she shrunk back her eyes darting over his shoulder to the Super Mutant following him. Seeing her look he said, "Strong's not your enemy either I promise. So why don't we just calm down and talk about this?"
"Clarke, she could be a raider," the man beside him snapped. Okay, that was insulting. Glaring at him she twisted barely hesitating as she jumped over the railing. It was either escape or punch that man in the face for comparing her to a raider.
"Macready," Clarke snapped his tone scolding. Rushing forward he gripped the railing as he looked down. He expected to see her broken on the floor below but instead, she was dusting off her arms.
"Neat," his sister stated. Leaning against the rail his twin smirked saying, "I didn't know people could survive that."
"They can't, Kandy," he stated. Seeing the woman look up he didn't hesitate to meet her silver eyes. Ruby scoffed. Turning away from him she moved. Jumping out one of the broken windows she vanished into the ruins.
Ruby took a deep breath. Leaning against the wall of a building a few yards away she panted. At least now she knew she was still the same reckless little kid. A laugh brushed past her lips as she pulled down her scarf. The warrior who fought for justice still existed. It was surprising honestly. She never expected to find a part of herself that she'd forgotten even existed. Pushing away from the wall she couldn't keep the smile from her face as she headed back.
Mercury opened his eyes as Ruby entered the ruined building. She seemed lighter than when she left. Looking her over he noted the blood under her nails and the smear on her forehead. Her scouting mission was more interesting than he'd thought it would be. From her joy-filled silver eyes though he could tell she was happier.
"All clear," he asked gaining a nod. Smirking he pushed himself up. Standing he patted her shoulder before nudging Cait with his foot. The fighter growled at him before opening her eyes slowly while Ruby went to wake her traders.
