Nothing's Free
"Uhh, sorry… don't have any."
Vega shirked away from the man sitting on the deck, pleading for clean purified water.
"Please… I'm dying."
"I'm sorry… I don't have any."
Alicia's hand hovered over her pistol, ready to fire if needed. The 10mm pistol was a lot bigger than her old Berretta but without any way of replenishing ammo, she'd left it along with the rest of their Earth Gear back at the Citadel so they could study it.
The unreality of the situation was beginning to get to Alicia, the wasteland was aptly named, and almost nothing useful remained out there. And even now as Colonel Sheppard negotiated to enter the city, Alicia felt her heart strings being tugged. She did have water, but the Brotherhood had told her to keep it no matter what as most water in the area was radiated. Alicia felt bad for the man begging her for help, but didn't want to end up like him.
"I'll die! Please, help me!"
"I said I don't have any…"
Alicia resisted getting angry, and moved over to where Sheppard was on the intercom. A voice on the other end muttered angrily.
"So you're looking for someone? How about you tell me who it is and I'll tell you if they're here?"
"I'm pretty sure he isn't actually here, but someone on this ship might know where I can find him."
John was getting frustrated, the man named Harkness on the other end was being difficult and didn't want to let them in.
"Hmm… so basically you're telling me that you're coming to interrogate the people here? Why should I let you on-board?"
John bit his lip and met Alicia's eyes, he sighed and muttered quietly.
"We don't wanna cause any trouble. We just need to ask a few questions, maybe trade for some better gear…"
"So you're traders now? Not rescuers?"
John rubbed his face frustratingly. This was getting very annoying. Alicia decided to put her input in and spoke up.
"We just want to find our friend, and have a safe place to stay tonight. We've got things we can trade in exchange. Please, we mean you no harm."
John held his breath, perhaps Harkness had a weakness for the ladies.
"Hmm… where did you guys say you came from?"
John nodded to Alicia and she quickly explained.
"We just came from the Citadel, a few kilometres upriver."
Almost instantly, the large bridge suspended by the crane began to move.
"Well why didn't you just say so? Brotherhood is always welcome here."
John smirked and patted Alicia on the shoulder, he shut the intercom off and chuckled.
"I think you're gonna come in handy Ally."
She cringed at the nickname John had given her. The bridge finally locked in place and they stepped out and towards the ship.
"Umm.. I know you said to keep ceremony to a minimum sir, but could you please not call me Ally?"
John felt kinda bad, and nodded.
"Alright, so what do you want me to call you?"
She sighed and peered over the edge of the bridge, they'd likely survive a fall, but from what she'd learned in the Citadel, and the constant ticking of her Pipgirl, it was heavily irradiated.
"Anything but Ally… reminds me of Al Bundy… and not in a good way."
John cracked and struggled to keep his laugh quiet. He took a few deep breaths and finally was able to speak.
"Al Bundy? As in Married with Children!?"
She shrugged.
"I grew up watching it… the other kids called me Ally Bundy. I hated that name."
He made an empathetic 'aw' and chuckled softly. They were approaching the deck and he figured he'd continue it later. The man named Harkness stood at the door with another 2 guards behind him, all heavily armed.
"Lemme make one thing clear to you, Brotherhood or not, I don't allow any violence inside this place. If you so much as breath on someone wrong, I'll toss you into the water and feed you to the lurks."
John nodded and kept his weapons holstered.
"That won't be a problem, but I could use some directions."
Harkness shook his head and motioned for the guards to let them through.
"Just follow the signs. Keep your weapons holstered and we shouldn't have a problem."
John kept nodding and opened the door to the interior, once out of earshot of the guards, he looked to Alicia.
"Alright, well since we're on the subject anyway, I don't think we should use our proper names anyway… the Enclave might have gotten our names from Rodney and I'd rather not leave bread crumbs."
She shrugged in agreement.
"Good idea, well… Leesha, should be different enough."
He nodded and tried it out.
"Leesha… Leesh, Leesa… Leese… Leese! That sounds nice. Leese."
She giggled and shrugged.
"Yeah it's good, so what do I call you?"
They had moved off to the side, letting someone wearing a giant ball shaped helmet pass by. John motioned it out and made a confused face. She smirked at him and giggled.
"Well I was thinking, you said I should give you a nickname, sooo... Sheppard, German Sheppard, Dog, Puppy…"
He opened his eyes wide,
"You're not calling me puppy."
She giggled and shook her head.
"While that would be cute, I was actually thinking of my old dog when I was a kid, Ricky. He kinda had the same hairstyle you have."
With his eyes still wide, John's eyebrows now raised. He ran five fingers through his hair embarrassedly.
"Ricky? Well… it's… different… how about Rick?"
She nodded and motioned towards the stairway.
"That's good… Rick."
"You too… Leese."
"So tell me Rod, what's it like in Atlantis?"
He shrugged and stuffed his face full of the meat sandwich he'd taken. Dr Manning had been surprisingly nice and managed to get Colonel Autumn to forgo with the constant guard. Rodney had given up on a quick rescue and now diverted all his effort to working on Project Purity instead of weapons research. For the moment, it had served him well.
"Well, it's… different. Think of a floating island, with an entire city on top of it, a giant tower dominates the center and is surrounded by other smaller spires…"
She was rapt in attention, her eyes wide and glossed over.
"It sounds beautiful… I'd love to see it one day."
He shrugged, and downed the Enclave equivalent of coffee.
"Well if I live long enough, and our people don't end up going to war, then maybe…"
Rodney was trying to be witty, He'd seen Sheppard do it a million times, seemingly talk down to a girl and they'd lap it up and give him even more attention.
It had the opposite effect though, as Dr Manning suddenly became very standoffish.
"Don't talk like that Dr McKay; Autumn was just defending us from an unknown ship. If a ship suddenly appeared over your city and bypassed every defence you had, wouldn't you feel threatened?"
Rodney felt the offence he'd caused, and he did actually know what it was like. The lost tribe of Asgard had done the very same and even went further. He drooped his shoulders and tried to sound apologetic.
"uh well… I guess if you put it that way… I just miss my friends…"
"We're looking for them Rodney."
He dropped the fork… again.
"What? You're looking for them? Why wasn't I told?"
She made a motion for him to keep quiet.
"Shh! Keep it down… do you promise not to talk to anyone else about this?"
She became soft again, shyly looking around to notice any eavesdroppers. She leaned forward and took his hand again, softly caressing it.
"We've begun Rodney… it's finally happening."
He'd gotten used to her touch, something that made him feel like he was betraying Jennifer. He spent so much time thinking of how we was going to explain this to her when she read the report.
"Uhhh... ok… what's finally happening and how are my friends involved?"
She leaned in even closer and drew him in, she whispered in a barely audible tone.
"We're out there now Rodney, It was just the Memorial to start but it's finally happening. We're taking back the wasteland from the mutations."
Rodney was confused.
"What? Mutations? You mean those super mutant ghoul things? What about everyone else?"
She smiled.
"We're saving them Rodney, everyone who is still healthy, still human; we're saving them all… I was going to tell you tomorrow, but if you really aren't sure about us yet then I'll tell you now. Our President wants to meet with you, he wants to tell you our plans and get your uncoerced support."
"Your president? You mean there's an actual government?"
She nodded gingerly, her prior offendedness completely forgotten, she sighed and mused.
"President John Henry Eden… he's such a brilliant man."
"Ahhh Fresh Meat and Brotherhood at that! What's the matter up there in that bunker'a yours? Running outta ammo?"
The man named Flak was obviously an experienced salesman in arms. John couldn't help but feel a bit drawn to him.
"Not a chance, we're in it to finish. But I could use some information."
John was doing his best to fit in; Vega stood next to him with a combat helmet on to obscure her face and hair. She was very worried about the kinds of people they'd meet. She stood guard as if she were protecting John.
This market place was quite large, it housed the entire magazine the Aircraft Carrier had for its ammo, and each shop sported a different specialty. Flak and his associate Shrapnel who was taking a nap on the couch behind him specialized in weaponry.
"Ahhh you're one of those customers. Well I'll tell ya, I got some of the best killing equipment known to mankind, but what you're asking for isn't nearly as tangible. And it's definitely not gonna be cheap.
John had expected this, and having found that the Laser Rifle was grossly underpowered, put it on the table.
"Payment I have, practically new."
Flak picked up the rifle and examined it, despite trying to downplay the obvious good condition of the rifle, John still noticed his interest.
"Hmm… not bad… but I'm gonna have to know what information you want before I can price it."
Vega kept her back to John, constantly watching the nameless guards and citizens of Rivet City walk by. One in particular, a big dark haired man gave her lascivious looks from afar. She made sure her pistol's holster was open, just in case.
"I'm not too sure it's something I wanna talk about in public… anywhere around here we can chat without… distractions?"
Flak growled, as if sensing the possible danger.
"I think something can be arranged… but I can tell you right now that it's gonna be worth more than a decent condition laser rifle."
John narrowed his eyes; he could tell he wasn't going to like this.
"Don't think I won't just leave. You're the first I'm asking, how sure are you someone won't give me what I want for less?"
Flak surveyed Sheppard, and saw the determination and lack of intimidation. He acquiesced and waved him in closer.
"Alright… you make a good point. But I'm not stupid either, you want Enclave don't you?"
John fought his natural reaction, the bluffing game's stakes just got higher.
"Maybe, what's it to you?"
Flak smiled, and licked his lips as if enjoying a taste.
"Profit… and maybe a little stock up. I'll tell you what; you guys look like you're in for a fight… so I'll make you a deal. Bring me a few of those Enclave Plasma weapons and I'll outfit you better than that cheap Brotherhood stuff. The more you bring, the more I give."
John looked to Vega, it was a hard but fair deal, they were looking for Enclave anyway and this might help them in more ways than one. But they'd need to plan it out first.
"What about the info I want? You don't even know what I'm after."
Flak shrugged.
"Agree to the deal, tell me what you want, and by the time you get back I should have something."
John made a motion to give him a minute; he turned and pulled Vega to the side. He was careful to make sure no one heard them.
"You think he might know something?"
She breathed in and sighed.
"He might… but he's got quite an arsenal. We can use the gear if the Enclave is as powerful as they say they are."
John clicked his tongue and thought about it for a moment, and then turning back he faced Flak's smiling face.
"Alright, deal. Now the info I want… I'm looking for any big bases the Enclave might have nearby, somewhere they'd be doing scientific research."
Flak grunted.
"Well fuck, they stomped on Dr Li's old playground by the Memorial. But I guess if that's what you were looking for you wouldn't be here… Alright… I'll put a few feelers out and see what I can find. Just bring me back as much of their tech as you can and we'll work it out."
John nodded and shook Flak's hand in agreement. Shrapnel on the couch grumbled and rolled over, his voice hoarse and obviously drunken.
"Arrgh… the cake is a lie!!!"
Vega raised an eyebrow and looked to Flak.
"The hell is he talking about?"
Flak simply shrugged.
"Beats me."
"Robert told you to come here? What a sweetie."
John shrugged and smiled, his face felt a bit strange as he hadn't shaved in almost 3 days now. Vera Weatherly in front of him smiled and handed him the key to his room at the same time she counted out the bottle caps John had given her.
"Yeah, I'm glad I got to meet him. I hear he's quite the popular man around here."
Vera nodded, and motioned to her Mr Handy robot.
"You could say that, He saved my cousin Bryan when his parents were killed in some freak science experiment. He won't talk about it much but he says Robert is his hero."
The Mr Handy robot, Mr Buckingham, moved towards the door and swivelled its arms around gleefully.
"Good Evening Sir, Ma-am! I shall escort you to your room!"
Vega stood unusually close to John as they followed the Robot, John only realising she was still a bit nervous around these tentacled robots when it opened the door with one arm, and motioned them in with the other two.
"Here you are Sir! Have a pleasant stay with us here at the Weatherly Hotel! If you require food or beverage, come see me in the main room!"
"Uhh… thanks."
The Robot nodded cheerfully and hovered around John and Alicia back towards the main room. They stepped in and saw a typical navy bunkroom, but with lots of useless adornations and a single bed. John gave Vega a sidelong glance.
"What side of the bed do you want?"
"Umm… sorry… I kinda was paying attention to the clipboard… could you maybe umm… repeat that last bit?"
Rodney gulped, this wasn't exactly what he'd been expecting.
"I said I'm going to head up to the tower and I'd like you to join me."
Dr Manning wasn't in her usual attire; in fact she looked like just any other woman he'd seen in Pegasus. Except of course for the well done hair, the makeup and the seductive scent of perfume. Her red dress like clothing accented her white skin very nicely.
"Oh… uhh… I guess I can. Will storm trooper number 1 be joining us as well?"
The guard nearby growled, and tightened his grip on the Gatling Laser he held, his fingers hovering over the triggers.
Dr Manning shook her head and sat down on the bed where Rodney was trying to sleep. He didn't have pants on and kept the blanket over his naked legs.
"No… just us. I want to show you something."
Rodney gulped and smiled a weak smile.
"Uhh… okay… but I uhh… I kinda need to get changed."
The guard grunted in amusement, his smile hidden behind the almost demonic mask of his armor.
Dr Manning patted him through the blanket on his thigh; Rodney flinched and felt almost offended by her laugh.
"Don't be so tense Rod. I'll wait for you outside. Don't take too long."
Dr Manning fluttered her eyes and stood up, her hair bouncing gently as she moved, along with her buxom. Rodney gulped and felt like the night was either very young, or about to get very bad.
"These maps Flak had aren't too accurate. But with Rob's maps I guess we should be ok."
Vega yelled agreement from the washroom, along with curses from the cold water she had showered in. John chuckled and fluffed his pillow, glad to have the armor off. He rubbed his newly shaved chin and winced at the 2 cuts he'd gotten from the dull razor he'd been forced to use. At least the bed was better than the Brotherhood bunk he'd used previously.
"Hey, at least you aren't under constant threat of being examined by Sawbones!"
The stepped out in her BDU's, her other brotherhood underclothes soaking in the soapy water filled sink. Despite what Rob had told her she refused to stink if she could help it.
"Ugh… don't remind me."
John chuckled and rested his head back on the pillow. Vega quickly tossed her armor into the corner where they kept their equipment and ran her fingers through her hair multiple times. It had gone from its usual straight and proper to a curly wave as it flowed down her neck. John, unable to resist his boyish charm, had to comment.
"You know, you look better with your hair like that."
She smirked and gave him a smile.
"You think so? I dunno… I always think it looks like such a mess."
"Nah, it looks nice, gives you more of a natural look. Then again I've only ever seen you while on duty."
She shivered a bit, and rubbed one of her arms while fingering with her hair with the other.
"Well… I usually keep it straight just to keep it from getting tangled."
John smirked and yawned, resting his head on the fluffy pillow.
"Well unless we find some hair gel, I guess I'll get to enjoy it for now. We can see if they have any combs in the market before we leave tomorrow."
He'd already closed his eyes and prepared for the sweet bliss of sleep when he felt Alicia sit next to him on the bed. She shivered and rubbed her arms again.
"You mind sir? I'm kinda chilly after that shower."
John resisted gulping and scooted over on the bed. It seemed a bit comfortable for her to just rest her head on his chest and pull both his arms, and the blanket around her. John did note though that she did feel pretty cold.
The implications of possibly spending a few days like this were starting to worry John. Atlantis should have sent a rescue party already and if anything, already found them with their subcutaneous transmitters. Maybe something was impeding them, but for the moment he had to remain civil, and remain objective about his mission to rescue Dr McKay.
John had to admit, it was hard to ignore the very attractive Captain shivering beside him. Bur he pushed those thoughts aside and closed his eyes again, using his foot to switch off the lights to the room. Tomorrow was going to be a hell of a day and he needed to get a good night's sleep.
"Oh my god… where are we?"
Rodney leaned out from the railing and looked around, the barren and rocky terrain was desolate and unmarked. Dr Manning put her arm around him as it to hold him back.
"We call it Raven Rock… it was an outpost for our intelligence community before the war… I often wonder what it looked like back then…"
She murmured quietly and with very smooth moves, rested her head on his shoulder. Rodney had gotten accustomed to her touchy feely ways but he still didn't want her to think he was doing anything of his own.
"Uhh…Dr Manning…"
"Please… call me Dephy."
Rodney gulped and tried to keep civil.
"Uh well… okay… Dephy… uhh… there's a good chance that…well if project purity works… well… you might get to see it like that one day."
She smiled and made a contented sound.
"I hope so, with your help I think we might be able to do it."
He kept quiet, and watched as Vertibirds took off below, dozens of Enclave troops were loading and unloading supplies, and what looked like either prisoners or refugees, he couldn't tell which. Truth be told he would help these people, he couldn't imagine what it was like to live in a desolate wasteland like this. The worst feeling of it all though was that to a certain point, he appreciated the help and care that Dr Manning gave him.
"Rod… I'm not making you uncomfortable am I?"
He gulped, and decided honesty was the best course.
"Well to be honest… yeah a little…"
She sighed, feeling bad.
"I'm sorry Rod… it's just… I haven't met anyone like you ever."
She let go of him and leaned her back on the railing, staring intently at him.
"It's so strange… all I've ever known in my life is here in Raven Rock, and almost everyone else here is so… angry. I know it's only been a few days but I see something in you… something I haven't ever seen in a person."
She looked away from him and bit her finger. Rodney was worried now, he'd heard nothing was worse than a woman scorned.
"I think there's a lot neither of us knows. And a lot both of us need to see."
She turned back to him, the moonlight gleaming from her moistened eyes.
"Wow, that's the deepest thing I've ever heard."
Rodney blushed, he just wanted to try and say something neutral. But the look she was giving him made him nervous.
"Uhh… I think I should get to sleep now… I have to meet with President Eden tomorrow and I wanna be…" She wrapped her arm around him and gave him a gentle hug. "uhh… I want to be fully rested… you know, mentally fresh?"
He hoped that was enough to hold off her advances, he'd have to come up with something tomorrow as the look she gave him clearly told him her intentions.
"Yeah… I know what you mean… I'll walk you back to your quarters and… let you get some sleep."
Rodney knew his thoughts wouldn't let him sleep, the constant praying and wishing that John and Alice-what's her face would come and save him. He also prayed the Jennifer never found out about this ordeal.