"Do you, um, talk?"
Kane shot Faith a baleful look.
Sighing, she planted her chin in the palm of her hand and looked around the room she had woken up in. It wasn't much, even by Wastelander standards. Cracked, peeling, moldy walls, a hard stone floor that was littered and uneven.
Mark had left her in here with Kane and only a brief explanation. He had 'purchased' Kane's services and had given her the easily seven foot and scary as hell Ghoul's contract. He had said something about how Kane would serve only her and that was about the time she had fallen back asleep.
Kane wasn't very talkative, as she was quickly discovering. He gave short, clipped answers or merely grunted, standing against the wall, next to the door as if expecting someone to just barge in and start shooting.
She had perused the 'contract' and didn't like it one bit, she was very tempted to tear the damn thing up but had no idea what Mark or Kane would do. From what she was able to decipher and understand, Kane was loyal without hesitation to his 'employer' and would do whatever he was told too, including die.
She definitely did not like that.
Mark did not trust Mister Crowley in any way, shape or form. His business with the Ghoul was concluded but he had followed the guy anyway, leaving Faith in Kane's very capable hands. He had no idea what those keys he had collected opened, or just what it was Crowley wanted so badly but he'd be damned if he didn't find out.
He also knew deep down that if it was anything that was worth more than what Crowley had paid him, he would shoot Crowley and take whatever it was himself.
Mark was just greedy like that.
Crowley led him to an old military fort, Fort Constantine if he wasn't mistaken and arched an eyebrow. He had been here before and made the attempt at getting in, suddenly the keys made so much sense. Keeping his rifle close to his chest, he pressed forward.
Kane had been against Faith leaving Underworld without 'Taker but he didn't protest against it either. He had merely grunted out a 'you should wait', when she had presented the idea of heading to Rivet City two days after 'Taker had disappeared.
He had various reasons for not wanting her to go out traipsing throughout the Wasteland. While she was his employer and he would follow her wherever she wanted him too, and do whatever she asked, he also knew 'Taker had been fairly firm on her staying put until he returned.
Secondly, she was a very pretty smooth skin who probably didn't know one end of a gun from the other, he didn't mind a fight but he didn't want to get shot all to Hell defending her from slavers.
But Faith had walked right out of Underworld with a satchel slung against her side and a few guns in various sheaths and holsters. He was fairly certain he had noted a razor sharp hunting knife on her hip and one tucked down by her ankle beneath the patched armor leggings she wore.
She had replenished her dwindling supplies of water and food (which he had been against until he learned she had a food and water sanitizer in that never-ending satchel of hers), ammo and Stimpaks. When she hadn't been looking, he had added some Rad-X and Rad-Away, just in case.
No point in them both being ugly.
Kane had gotten the impression from 'Taker that she was not only a walking danger magnet, but also incapable of taking care of himself.
Then Faith had blown those misconceptions out of the water when they were attacked by Super Mutants, just feet from the entrance to Underworld.
Knowing she could handle herself made Kane's job a bit easier.
Or would have, if she wasn't so damn stubborn.
Faith could only sit and watch as Kane paced back and forth, knowing damn well she was the reason he was beyond agitated. She had been so upset with Mark basically giving her a babysitter that would obey her every command, and knowing she wouldn't be able to tear up the contract, not until she knew Kane wouldn't go psycho on her if she did.
Her mind came sharply back to focus when the Ghoul kicked a rock viciously. She had been angry with Mark for what he had done and not really paid all that much attention to where she was going. They had had that fight with the Super Mutants, headed in the direction they didn't seem to be coming from only to get into another skirmish, this time with moronic raiders who had taken up residence in the non-human friendly city.
By the time they had left what used to actually be D.C., Faith was completely lost.
Kane had followed and fought beside her silently. It was his place to follow, not lead.
That had been a mistake.
He had never had an employer like her; he never WANTED an employer like her. She knew how to fight well enough to defend herself sure, but she had absolutely no sense of direction. She didn't even know where the hell they were going!
He had only spoken up when he seen the huge statue of a boy in checkered overalls and chubby cheeks, holding some kind of cone in his humongous hands. Paradise Falls.
That was when Kane had begun questioning her.
Come to find out, he had been following an idiot. A sheltered little girl who had only been out of some Vault for three, maybe four months, who definitely had never strayed this far from Megaton before. He also realized she had come to rely heavily on the Undertaker -now that was the dumbest thing a person could ever do, her idiocy was cemented- when it came to navigating the Wasteland.
Or her Pip-Boy, which did a marvelous job of providing directions, assuming of course she had coordinates to key into it, or a map to try to chart from.
Idiot Girl.
Crowley had basically dragged his ass through Fort Constantine for some old armor, not even good armor. Mark inwardly growled as he watched the Ghoul run his rotting fingers lovingly over the rusted old crate that could -somewhat- be called armor. He had seen this type of armor before, only in much better condition.
This one was an antique.
He was going to murder Crowley.
This was taking him away from Faith at a most inopportune time. Of course, he had needed to get away from her for a bit, reassess himself, maybe get rid of the nagging, pesky attraction he had been feeling for her. But also, it made him uneasy.
Mostly because she was such a magnet for danger.
Of course, he didn't bother speculating on why he even cared. No, that would have been venturing into still mostly unknown mental territory and he wasn't willing to risk his tentative grasp on sanity just yet.
"A Ghoul and a smooth skin.., well, well, well." Carolina Red arched an eyebrow as she stared through her scope at the pair. The smooth skin was sleeping, curled up into a ball on the ground while the Ghoul seemed to hover protectively over her. "From the looks of it, the smooth skin might be decent enough to go to the Pitts. If she's not turning into a ghoulie."
Jotun didn't say anything.
Jotun hardly ever said anything.
Which was why Red liked him, he was rakishly handsome, reluctant to do his job and quiet. He needed someone to boss his pretty backside around. Red loved to be bossy, and occasionally murderous. "Come on; let's go see what pretty beasties we can catch today!"
Jotun simply shook his head as she whistled a disturbingly cheerful tune, all the while preparing the slave collars.
It was the sound of gunfire that woke Faith up. Any residual sleep that might have been lurking quickly disappeared when Kane none too gently kicked her in the thigh to get her moving. "What the hell?" She shrieked, trying to get into a standing position, all the while suffering a very painful Charley horse.
"We got visitors."
She managed to make out two people approaching, one of them a woman with a nearly bald head save for two tufts of hair that had been greased into what appeared to be tiny Devil horns. She was grinning like a maniac, letting off a round or two as they drew nearer. "Slavers?"
"Yes. Look, you need to run and let me try to-"
Faith shook her head, refusing to let him try anything for her. He wasn't doing it out of charity or nice feelings but because of that damn contract, a piece of paper that he believed gave someone the right to control his life. "Shut up, Kane."
He opened his mouth.
"That was an ORDER."
He shut up.
She really hated doing that but… he wasn't going to get blown all to hell and she sure wasn't going to be able to outrun the bullets. Faith slowly, and with more confidence then she felt, shouldered her assault rifle, arching an eyebrow. "Who the fuckin' hell are you?" She growled, adopting a rough and gritty tone of voice that she usually associated with Mark.
That made the woman skid to a halt, her slightly sadistic smile fading into a pout while the man beside her merely looked bored. "M'name's Carolina Red and I'm the one about to sell your pretty little ass for a pretty penny." She cooed, holding out what was unmistakably a collar. "Now, you can-"
Faith had become a fairly quick draw, she had always had accurate aim, so when she shot the collar right out of the devil bitch's hand, she smiled in satisfaction. "I'm not here to become property; I'm here to acquire property." She said grimly. "Now unless you want to find your ugly ass six feet under while still breathin', you'll take me to Eulogy Jones."
"Or what?"
"Or my husband," -Faith internally winced at the one, having had blurted it out without even thinking twice. "Might not be too fuckin' happy when he gets here."
Red's narrowed eyes strayed to Kane, who was standing mutely right behind Faith.
Faith snorted, shaking her head. "Not the fuckin' ghoulie."
"Then who's your hubby and why the fuck should I care?"
Right then and there, Faith finished telling the biggest lie in history.
Red's jaw dropped.