He knows that he should stay behind the cover their vehicle provides them, but the Rakyat apparently can't shoot for shit. Emboldened by this knowledge, and the fact that they have Becker's aid, along with that of the pirates he had retrieved from the outpost, he slinks out from cover and barely misses getting a bullet to his head. Vaas had yanked him back down in the nick of time, a fierce scowl set into the man's face.

"You trying to get yourself killed?!" He hisses out amazingly loud enough for him to hear over the gun fire. His pupils are dilated with his anger, not drugs, and he hauls him back up against the vehicle by the backside of his cropped top. "Don't you ever do something dumb like that again, Jason," Vaas growls into his ear.

The slight pressure of Vaas' presence against his side vanishes as the pirate lord stands up to return fire through the crack of the door and the body of the vehicle. His aim is true as two Rakyat crumple to the ground in quick succession, the amount of gunfire lessening drastically.

He huffs his indignation and peers around the outer edge of the door, making a quick mental note about the placement of their opposition. Dennis and Vincent aren't immediately visible, but the pallor of his once thought to be friend is apparent in the ranks of the Rakyat. He catches sight of them retreating, the cowards that they are, leaving behind the few Rakyat that accompanied to them.

Vaas picks off another of the Rakyat while Becker takes out two, leaving one more that is still firing in their direction. He has a clear shot and takes aim from his cover, as to not give Vaas any further reasons to chew him out, only for the man's head to practically explode. He's left staring at where the man had stood for a few seconds before his gaze flicks down to take in the sight of pooling blood and a gory mess where the poor schmuck's head once was. He knows the kill wound quite well, and the gaping hole is definitely from a Z93.

Who in the ever loving fuck has access to a sniper rifle of that caliber here? He hadn't gotten that until late into his exploration of the Rook Islands.

Silence descends upon their stretch of road with the Rakyat warriors dead, prolonging for several beats until a rather excited whoop shatters it from further down the road. Pirate red becomes visible as Grant leads a group of them out onto the road and heads towards them. The Z93 is in his brother's possession, because of course Grant would be the one to make that shot. The Pirates hadn't gained the ability to make shots like that overnight, but they're certainly celebrating like they had made the kill themselves.

He holsters his gun and stands up to lean against the Scavenger door, his expression twisting into a frown. This isn't something to celebrate, especially considering how easily the outpost had been taken over when he had been on the other side. His senses prickle slightly as a warm pressure settles against his back and arms wrap around him. "If we hadn't been here then those men would be dead instead of celebrating a victory that isn't theirs."

"So what do you want to do, Snow White?" Vaas' voice is a soothing rumble, and Jason contemplates the question even though they both know the answer to it. "You gonna give me that demonstration you were talking about yesterday?"

"Yeah," he responds, even though it's redundant. He takes a moment to just observe the Pirates, both sets now mingling as they pick the Rakyat corpses clean of their weapons and ammo.

Her Mistake, His Fortune

It was decided that the men assigned to patrol the outpost would give up their weapons and ammo for this training exercise. All of them had chafed against this, but he shut them up with a single look. Then he announced that he would be shadowing Jason for the duration of the exercise, which is how he ended up crouched in the brush next to the Californian as he observed the men making their rounds.

"So tell me how this went for you the first time." He wants to know more of Jason's experiences on Rook from the first go round, beyond the fragments of what he'd been told.

"Well, the first time I did this I was way out of my depth. I barely knew what I was doing then, but I knew enough that stealth was the only way I would make it through alive, so I took this path." Jason indicated to the brush they were sitting in going up the right side of the dirt roadway heading into the outpost. "Dennis and a few of the Rakyat went up to the outpost over there, and to be completely honest they weren't of much help." The brush across the road from them is motioned to before Jason moves on, creeping up alongside the perimeter of the outpost where they reached the sheets of metal that made up the fencing.

He can already see how the rest of it played out when they come upon a hole in the fence where they wait and watch a guard come up. He's disappointed when the guard ignores the glaring hole in the fence and turns his back on it as he crouches down to observe something on the ground. In that moment Jason makes his move and sneaks up behind the guard.

"You're dead," the American says in a low voice as he taps the guard on the shoulder. "Knife to the throat, no sound." With those words the guard slumps forward like a rag doll and pretends to be dead as ordered before the start of the exercise. Jason moves on, creeping behind the safe-house where they encounter the dog sniffing around a gap in the fence.

A rock flies through the gap and lands out in the brush, and it takes him a moment to realize that Jason had thrown the rock while the dog runs off to investigate the noise it made. Here the American moves quickly, keeping to the back alley where it lets out into the brush and moving down the left side of the outpost where another single guard is on patrol.

Another knife takedown and the guard plays dead, and then to Vaas' amazement Jason uses another rock to lure one of the men forming the only pair of guards over to the dead Pirate. Jason moves quickly, executing the curious guard when he kneels down to examine the body of his comrade. In one smooth motion the American stands, giving away his location to the final guard, and announces, "Headshot, the outpost is now cleared and belongs to the Rakyat."

"Alright you fucks, get up and come here!" There's some minor grumbling from his men, but they get up and come over, save for the one that Jason took out with a headshot.

"That's some bullshit! That fucking marica blanca didn't even get me!"

He feels Jason's confusion at the insult, but he's not going to let his tiger's lack of understanding stop him from putting a bullet through that fucker's head. The three smart ones clear the way for him as he gives the façade of complete calm while he walks over to the dead man walking. "Cabrón, who the fuck do you think you're talking about?"

"Vaas?" Jason follows after him, concern etched into his voice.

"Not now, mi Reina. I have something to take care of," Vaas half growls and realization flickers over the pirate's face. It's much too late though, because he is not going to tolerate this shit from any of his men in the slightest.

"Wait, Bo-"

He doesn't give him a chance, drawing his gun and ending his life for real in the blink of an eye. He turns and faces the other three pirates, looking past Jason to do so. The American is wide-eyed and confused. "You fucks have anything negative to say about my Queen here and I will fucking end you like I ended that stupid chickenshit over there! Spread the goddamn word that Snow White is the motherfucking Queen of the Pirates!"

"What did he say?" Jason asks quietly as he reaches up to cup his face. The American traces his thumb along his cheek, the gesture sweet and comforting.

He doesn't want to reveal what was said, but he also can't hide anything from his tiger. Losing any sort of trust the American has for him would hurt too much. "He called you a white faggot, and I am not going to tolerate having any of my men degrading you, preciosa."

Understanding flits through Jason's gaze and he gives a gentle smile as he drops his hand and loops his arm around his neck instead. "Look at you, defending my honor and all that sappy ass bullshit. Makes me feel all special and shit."

"You are special, Cariño," he huffs out and pulls the american closer to wrap his arms around his waist. "You're turning me into a fucking marshmallow."

Jason's cheeks take on a pink tinge at that particular reminder and the American scowls at him. "You are not going to let that go, are you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, mi Reina," he teases, and Jason flushes a darker shade of pink. He presses a chaste kiss to the American's lips, and despite however slightly embarrassed Jason is he kisses back.

"J?!" Grant's panicked voice shatters their moment of serenity and the older Brody sibling is picking his way through the outpost. His expression turns into one of relief when he spots them and he slows down as he approaches them.

"Yeah, Grant?" Jason pulls back just enough to turn towards his brother to see what he wants. The American remains in his arms though, and settles for leaning into him.

Grant looks them over and he knows the elder brother sees the gun still in his hand. "I heard a shot go off…"

"One of my men insulted Jason here," he explains before Jason can say anything. He squeezes the American's waist then lets go of him to stand next to him. "I did not appreciate him degrading my Queen so I took care of him." He casually holsters the gun and folds his arms over his chest as he stares Grant down.

Grant pales slightly at the explanation and looks quite uncomfortable with what he probably considers to be a needless kill. "You didn't need him to cause a drop in morale and dissension amongst your men, I presume."

"If it helps, then yes. Anyone who undermines your brother is also undermining me, and we can't have that when we are in such a delicate position." His answer seems to relieve Grant, but he doesn't really care about that American's mental stability or his feelings.

"We should head back to the base camp, Vaas," Jason says softly, and he can feel a sliver of weariness from his tiger.

"As you wish, mi Reina."

Her Mistake, His Fortune

Their journey back to Vaas' island is slow, and it's mid-afternoon by the time they arrive due to the fact that they had to stop for food. That was a couple of hours ago and he's starting to feel better, his bone-deep weariness incurred from this morning thankfully gone.

"You doing okay, cariño? You've been really quiet since we left Amanaki." Vaas' voice is doing that soothing rumbling again and he shifts enough to glance up at his face from where he's slumped against the man's side where they're seated at the table to discuss the outpost and radio towers.

"Yeah. I was just tired is all," he says softly in response and gives Vaas a faint smile. "Stressful morning and all." His lips curve a little more and he rubs his cheek against the pirate lord's arm. "I'm feeling better now."

"Then I'm happy to hear that. You want to go do something else?" There's something meaningful to Vaas' tone that piques his interest and makes him straighten up.

"Sure. What do you have in mind?" The smile that Vaas gives him makes him blink and he innately knows that the pirate lord isn't going to reveal his intentions so easily. It must be something special. Really special.

"Come with me." Vaas stands and offers his hand for him to take, which he does.

He wobbles slightly thanks to the damn heeled boots he had to put back on once they had arrived, only for Vaas to sweep him up into his arms bridal style. He huffs slightly and bites back his complaints about the stupid boots, instead opting to loop an arm around the pirate lord's neck. "You're excited about something."

"I think you'll like what I have in mind, mi Reina." Vaas carries him across the yard and towards the warehouse. "I had Carlos set everything up for us while we were out."

He frowns thoughtfully and wracks his brain for anything that could have Vaas this excited. He immediately dismisses the thought of sex, and there's really very little else…unless. He's going to start on the Tatau? "Can I guess what it is?"

"Sí, preciosa." Vaas cuts through the warehouse and heads down the hallway leading towards their room.

"The Tatau?" Happiness curls through him and it takes him a few seconds to realize that it belongs to Vaas. Pride follows as Vaas sets him down outside of a door he hasn't been through yet. "What will it look like?"

"You'll see." Vaas pushes the door open and motions for him to head inside. The room is incredibly clean considering the state of the compound, and smells faintly of chemicals. It's also insanely well lit.

He steps inside and eyes what looks to be several different chairs towards the back of the room. To the right of them is a cart with better tattooing equipment than Dennis had, along with an assortment of dyes. Hanging on the back wall is various drawings of creatures and wildlife, but a particular one catches his gaze. It's of a white tiger and a blue serpentine dragon forming a circle. "Is that…"

"Sí, mi tigresa. You like it?" Vaas shuts the door behind them and presses a hand against the small of his back to guide him further into the room.

"It's beautiful." And it is. The colors are vibrant and both creatures are well done, but there is a considerable extra amount of detail to the dragon that makes it seem like a daunting undertaking. "You're gonna put that on my back as is?"

"With something extra." That statement makes him pause and look back at Vaas, a grin stretching across the pirate lord's face.

"Extra?" His face scrunches with a frown and he wonders at what Vaas considers extra for the Tatau. It sounds like he's going to add something, and considering he's already agreed to receiving Vaas' Tatau it's not something he's going to really argue against.

"Yes, extra, now take off your shirt and go sit down." Vaas waves him off towards the selection of chairs and takes a detour to a cabinet he had missed in his initial survey of the room.

"Fine." He gives a slight roll of his eyes and pulls his top off, which really doesn't deserve to be called a shirt by any means, then walks over to the variety of chairs. He immediately dismisses the generic chair that looks like it belongs in a dentist's office and outright ignores the gurney-like massage parlor chair. He settles on the most obvious choice for where Vaas wants to place the Tatau, a chair on wheels that more resembles a stool and the segmented backrest can turn into something for him to lean against while his back is getting worked on.

"Now, I want to know that you are certain that this is what you want, Jason. If you say yes there is no going back from this and I don't want it to be because I said so." Vaas comes over with a few things in hand, the most notable of which is an unopened bag of disposable razors and a bottle of rubbing alcohol.

"Does it work the same way that Citra's does?" It's the only question he can think of asking, and it's the most important thing he needs to know. Sure, he's given himself to Vaas, but he doesn't want to be stripped of his will.

"No, Cariño, no. The difference between my Tatau and her's is that you will always have a choice. Yes, it will enhance your body and your skills, but you having the ability to choose what you do is more important." Vaas sets his bounty down on the supply cart then pulls the whole thing over to where he's seated.

"So you won't be able to make me do something I don't want to do…. Then yes, I accept your Tatau, Vaas." With those words, with his confirmation and acceptance, he feels like there's a shift in the world around them. Let me be your balancing point. Vaas had said those words to him before, and now he sees what the pirate lord meant by them. "The balancing point."

"Sí, Cariño." Vaas grins and grabs up a fresh pair of dark latex gloves to pull on, then he pops open bag of disposable razors. "Now let's get started."