Chapter Specific Characters: Porter Gage, Allen Lee, Captain Avery, DiMA, Chase (S8-49), H1-87, Faraday, Kasumi Nakano
Chapter Specific Tags/Warnings: Non-explicit sex, radiation mutations, synth racism? (kinda, sorta, better safe than sorry), arson, attempted murder
According to the information Ash could dig up about The Island, which was apparently what it was called, it was constantly blanketed in radioactive fog. Considering Ash didn't want to spend the entire visit in a hazmat suit, that meant he had some work to do on his and Gage's gear. Luckily, lead was pretty easy to come by and Ash was quite a handy person. A thin lead lining for all of their clothes and a couple cobbled together respirator masks later and Ash was feeling good about dealing with the radiation.
It took a full day to get all of their gear outfitted so Ash and Gage set off bright and early the next morning. It probably wouldn't have taken even half the time it did to get their gear finished, but Gage had been in a frisky mood that day, what with watching Ash tinker, and that had turned out to be very distracting. Regardless of set-backs, Ash coupled some calculations with some maps he found in Sanctum's database and figured out where to set his relay point. Worst case scenario, they'd end up on a random part of The Island instead of inside Far Harbor.
Despite it being bright and early at the time of the relay, it was dark when Ash and Gage arrived on the docks of Far Harbor, Ash's coordinates having been good. A quick check of his Pip-Boy revealed to Ash that not even a minute had passed yet so apparently that's just what Far Harbor looked like at eight-o-clock in the damn morning: not quite night time dark, more like before a storm dark, but still quite dark. Some voices coming closer drew Ash's attention from the sky and he spotted a man and woman coming down the docks.
"-saw it too. Blue-" The man who was talking paused when he spotted Ash and Gage, frowning deeply. "-lightning. Who the fuck are you two?"
"Allen!" The woman hissed scoldingly, coming closer and offering Ash and Gage an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that. Are you two lost? This is Far Harbor. We-" The woman paused as she looked around and frowned when she realized there weren't any new boats at the docks. "-don't get many visitors around here." She finished more quietly, now sounding a bit more suspicious and less welcoming.
"We don't need no freeloaders or more help, mainlanders." The man, Allen, took over, taking a step forward. "So you can get back in your- how did you even get here?" He demanded, seeming to notice the same thing the woman did. Or rather, the absence of that thing.
"Portal from Hell." Ash replied casually, resting his hand on the hilt of his knife and keeping an eye on Allen. "It's the best way to travel. Very convenient."
"What the fu-" Allen started reaching for the gun on his back before the woman grabbed his arm roughly and shoved him back, stepping between him and Ash.
"Allen! I can handle this, you're not helping." She said, pointing angrily up the docks and huffing when Allen left grumbling and muttering curses under his breath. Turning back to the duo, the woman noticed Gage had his gun drawn now but it was lowered, a quiet warning. "Sorry again. I'm Captain Avery. Like I said, this is Far Harbor. Despite what Allen would have you believe, everyone's welcome here, even mainlanders."
Humming softly, Ash eyed Avery a bit before nodding. "Overboss Ash. This is Gage." He introduced, motioning at Gage who nodded once in greeting, keeping up his serious all-business expression that Ash secretly loved. Even with the respirator mask covering the lower half his face, Ash could tell his jaw was clenched and his lips were all thin and set in that grim line that made him look oh-so intimidating.
Though she tried to get her smile back up to friendly, Avery still looked a great deal uncertain. "Any particular reason you two came here? I might be able to-" She started, getting cut off by a bell ringing further up the docks. There was some yelling and commotion from where the bell was coming from and Avery swore lightly before offering Ash and Gage an apologetic look. "'Scuse me, mainlanders." She said quickly before jogging off to see what the commotion was about.
"She's pretty spry for someone with liver spots." Ash muttered, smiling when that made Gage chuckle softly.
"You'll get there one day, whippersnapper." He said, laughing at the look Ash gave him, having gotten enough practice reading Ash's covered expressions to know it was shocked and offended.
"I'll have you know, Nate and Nora were like fifty when the bombs fell and Shaun was like seventy when I killed him so I have it on good authority that my looks are gonna keep, you saucy cowboy motherfucker." Ash informed, tone matter-of-fact and angry, though the anger was mostly for show, as he glared at Gage.
"Whatever you say, darlin'." Gage muttered, laughing when Ash shoved him. He loved how flustered it made Ash when he called him "darlin'".
"One of these days that's not gonna work." Ash grumbled, heading further up the docks and into Far Harbor.
"If you say so, boss." Gage replied smugly, following behind Ash.
The actual town of Far Harbor was strangely empty and it took Ash a moment to realize there were quite a few people up on the makeshift wall surrounding the town. Clearly something was up. Shrugging a bit, Ash walked over to the gate that would allow him to leave and found it locked. Frowning, Ash glanced around before crouching and picking the lock with only a little trouble. When the gates opened, Ash found a small group of people cowering outside them that looked relieved and showered him with thanks as they rushed into the town.
"Shit, the gate!" Someone up on the wall shouted, making Ash glance around. Whoops.
"There's no time! Look to the fog!" Another voice shouted as Ash stepped out of the town.
"Get out of there, mainlander!" Avery shouted form above, going ignored as Ash noticed some shapes moving around in the fog.
"Gulpers!" Someone shouted, the sounds of gunshots replacing the sounds of voices as the people up on the wall started firing at a wave of big-ass bipedal salamander-esque creatures.
Humming softly, Ash drew his shotgun and walked closer to the edge of the fog. He could sense Gage's tension as he got closer to the gunfire but Ash stopped a safe-ish distance from where the creatures were and started to help. When the direction the bullets were flying in changed, Ash began to advance again, coming right to the edge of the fog and clearing out the remaining gulpers while the townsfolk took care of whatever was happening on the other side.
As the last gulper fell, Ash glanced back to see how the other side was looking but his head snapped back into place when a wet gurgling noise came from the fog. There was a second where everything was real quiet and then there was shouting from the wall, likely trying to tell Ash to move, as some creatures that looked like a cross between a bulldog and an angler fish started to come from the fog.
Ignoring the shouts, Ash did his thing, Gage helping a bit whenever one of the creatures got too close for his taste, and then everything got quiet again. This time when no more creatures spilled forth from the fog, Ash rested his shotgun on his shoulder, tilting his head a bit. "I guess it still counts as adventure if everything here is as squishy and easy to kill as it is in the Commonwealth." He said calmly, turning when there was the sound of footsteps running behind him.
It was Avery, looking decidedly unhappy, and, a ways behind her, Allen, looking downright pissed. Joy, lecture time. "What were you thinking, mainlander?" Avery demanded, looking at Ash like he was crazy.
"I have a name." Ash replied blankly, resting his finger on the trigger of his shotgun even though he left it on his shoulder when Allen caught up.
"He coulda killed us all, opening the gate during an attack!" He shouted, clearly speaking to Avery but glaring at Ash. "This is why we can't trust mainlanders!"
Rolling his eyes, Ash sighed deeply. "Alright, look, I'm gonna tell you this because you people clearly don't keep up with current events on this little backwater island." He started, lowering his shotgun into his other hand and smirking when Allen raised his own gun, prompting Gage to take aim. "I'm sort of known back on the mainland and it isn't exactly for my patience, so I'm gonna have to strongly suggest you back off before I decide to stop being all calm and mature and shit."
"Was that a threat, mainlander?" Allen snarled, Ash suddenly realizing who he reminded him of. He had that same over-testosteroned, hyper-"alpha" energy that Mason had had.
Before things could escalate further, Avery stepped between Ash and Allen, holding her hands up defensively towards Ash. "This doesn't need to get ugly." She said, her voice surprisingly calm. "Ash here didn't know we were in the middle of an attack, Allen. You can't very well expect a mainlander to know what the bell means."
"Knows damn good and well what a lock means." Allen retorted, still glaring at Ash. "One of 'em had to have picked it to get out."
"He's got you there, Cap." Ash agreed, shrugging when Avery looked at him incredulously.
"That's it, I'm gon-" Allen started, pushing past Avery to get at Ash before crying out in surprised pain as a bullet whizzed past his head, taking a good bit of his ear with it.
"I wouldn't." Gage said coldly, eye glued to Allen and the barrel of his gun smoking a bit in the damp air.
Avery opened her mouth to say something but when her eyes glanced past Ash, she started, closed her mouth, and looked at him in surprise. "Oh, I see." She said quietly, nudging Allen hard as he cupped his ear and swore noisily in the background. Avery said something Ash didn't quite catch as he tilted his head and when Allen looked at him, his eyes widened a bit before narrowing. "Just go. Have Teddy look at your ear, I'll deal with this." She said quietly, Allen grudgingly leaving while he just kept swearing.
"You should've told me you were here for Acadia." Avery sighed, turning her attention back to Ash. "Normally I'd try to get you to take a guide, but I think you two can handle yourselves." Coming closer, Avery pointed off into the fog. "Just keep going straight until you find an old hiking trail. Follow that up, you'll find Acadia in no time."
Still quite confused, Ash didn't respond, but Avery didn't wait for one, going back inside the gate after she'd given the directions. "Well, that was weird." Ash muttered, frowning deeply. "Like, weirder than usual."
"Yeah." Gage replied slowly, also confused and slowly tearing his eye from Avery's retreating form to Ash. When he also started, his eye widening in surprise, Ash frowned even more.
"What?" He demanded, having been ready to brush it off as some weird Islander bullshit before Gage had the same reaction to looking at him.
"Your eyes are glowin', boss." Gage muttered, looking and sounding an equal mix of awed and concerned.
Confusion only growing, Ash stared at Gage for a bit before shrugging dramatically at him. "And?" He demanded, confusion quickly morphing into annoyance. "You know they do that when I get riled up, why are you-"
"No." Gage interrupted, looking around. "They're glowin'." Bending down, Gage picked up a shard of mirror from a nearby car's side-mirror. He wiped it off a bit on his jeans and then held it up for Ash.
Resisting the urge to snatch the bit of mirror because he didn't want to accidentally cut Gage, Ash took the shard and looked into it, nearly dropping it when it reflected a faint yellow-orange glow coming from under the low brim of his hat. Tilting his hat back slowly, Ash let out a breath, his eyes indeed quite literally glowing. "Whoa." He muttered, lightly touching the area around his eyes with his claws. "That's new."
"Do you feel alright?" Gage asked, coming closer and tilting Ash's head up so he could look at his eyes easier.
"Yeah." Ash muttered, letting Gage move his face about. "I mean, I was sort of figuring I was gonna have to fight that dock brute so I guess my adrenaline's a little high, but I feel fine."
"Breathe." Gage murmured, brushing his thumbs across Ash's forehead gently and watching his eyes dim slowly as he took calming breaths. "That was it." He said quietly, letting Ash's head go. "They're back to normal now."
"Huh." Ash huffed, slowly replacing his hat before laughing softly. "Guess that explains their reaction but I still don't know who or what Acadia is."
"Only one way to find out." Gage said, frowning when he looked to Ash for confirmation. "What's all that for?" He asked, looking as concerned as he could with most of his face covered.
Realizing his eyes must've started glowing again, Ash looked away in embarrassment. "Sorry." He muttered, already hating whatever the hell had caused the change in his eyes. "I just really love you."
Laughing in a confused sort of way, Gage shook his head. "You're lucky we can't take these masks off." He muttered, looking into the gloomy fog before reloading his gun. Just in case.
"You're lucky we can't take these masks off." Ash replied lowly, walking into the fog with Gage trailing close behind him. The fog touching Ash's exposed skin was an interesting sensation, sort of tingly and actually kind of pleasant. He was sure it was doing some damage since it was radioactive fog, but the fact that it didn't outright hurt made Ash feel good about his decision to refuse to wear a shirt that covered his midriff.
Following the path Avery had told them to take, Ash and Gage came across a group of not-quite-raiders, two separate packs of ferals, and a few scattered gulpers. Just as Avery had predicted, they handled every challenge with ease, making it to the top of the mountain within a few hours. By then, the Island had lightened up a bit, the sky only getting brighter the further up they went and looking barely gloomy, as opposed to decidedly foreboding, once they reached the peak.
Looking around, Ash took his respirator mask off. "Looks like the fog doesn't reach up here." Gage took his mask off as well and Ash stored both in his pack. "So I guess Acadia's a where, not a who or what."
"Guess so." Gage agreed, gun still drawn and ready.
Putting his own gun away, Ash slipped his usual mask on. "Let's go see if whoever lives here is more friendly than those dock rats." He said almost excitedly, walking into the central building of Acadia and glancing around. There were a couple of doors on the hall, but Ash's attention was caught by what looked like some serious machinery in the room straight ahead. Walking forward and still looking around, Ash was startled as a man started talking.
"You know, when I first climbed this mountain, above the fog, I thought to myself: now here is a metaphor worth taking in." The man, or more accurately machine now that he was standing and coming closer and Ash got a look at him, said calmly, offering Ash an approximation of a smile. "You've entered a place of clarity. Understanding. Peace. I am DiMA, and while you're here in Acadia, synth-kind welcomes you, as long as you welcome us."
In that moment, it dawned on Ash that those dock rats must've thought his eyes were glowing because he was a synth. Smiling behind his mask and trying not to laugh, Ash nodded a bit at DiMA's greeting. "I'm Overboss Ash, this is Gage." He introduced, tone not betraying his amusement as he motioned back at Gage.
"It's a pleasure." DiMA offered, voice calm and kind and Ash finding it slightly grating for some reason. "What brings you two here, if you don't mind my asking?"
Deciding he could have fun with this, Ash tilted his hat back and conjured up some mental images that got his blood pumping, pleading eyes, sweat and blood smeared on a chest, skin parting under a knife, his eyes starting to glow shortly after. DiMA looked surprised and then nodded slightly, looking understanding.
"Ah, I see. How very fascinating." He said quietly, coming down the stairs of his raised platform and leaning in a little closer to Ash's face, just shy of invading his bubble. "I've never seen a generation three with eyes that still glow."
Shrugging, Ash tried not to let his smile get too out of control even though his mask hid it. Maybe whatever the hell was happening with his eyes wasn't so bad after all. "Well, you know how the Institute is." He offered, getting another surprised look from DiMA.
"So, you're aware of what you are?"
"Well, yeah." Ash replied easily, lowering his hat again. "That's why I came here."
"Of course." DiMA said, moving away from Ash and offering him another calm smile. "Well, we're always happy to take in another synth looking to live a peaceful life as who they are. Feel free to explore, all of Acadia is open to you, both of you."
Nodding once in thanks, Ash left the room, managing to keep from laughing until he and Gage were a fair distance from the main room. "What a sucker, holy shit." He muttered, chuckling under his breath.
"I didn't know you could act, boss." Gage muttered, sounding impressed as a small smile played his face.
Shrugging, Ash paused as a woman in a courser coat came out of a doorway and passed him in the hall. "Yeah." He muttered distractedly, turning to look at the woman. "That's a courser coat, right? I'm not seeing things?"
"Sure looks like one to me." Gage confirmed, frowning a bit. Most of Ash's coursers didn't bother Gage. They called him "sir", gave him the occasional non-committal greeting nod, and otherwise didn't do anything that stood out to Gage one way or another. There was one courser though that Gage couldn't stand and it sort of made him wary of all the other ones. The one Ash called on the most, H1-87, if Gage recalled correctly, bothered the hell out of him. Gage wasn't really sure what about them made him so uncomfortable exactly, just that when Ash called them in, he tried to stay out of the way.
Frowning a bit, Ash walked over to the woman who was now leaning against the wall in the hallway. "Hey. Is that a courser coat?" Never one for subtlety, Ash decided to get right down to business.
"It is." The woman replied, frowning suspiciously at Ash. "How did you know that?"
Quickly getting some mental images going, bodies hanging from a ceiling, a paintbrush dipped in blood gliding across a canvas, the swell and curve of soft skin, Ash got his eyes glowing, tilting his hat back briefly so the woman could see. She gave him the same surprised look everyone did and then nodded her head understandingly.
"Most synths don't make it out of a confrontation with a courser." She said, looking Ash up and down and then doing the same to Gage. "You two must be quite the team together."
Shrugging a bit, Ash put his hands behind his back, working blind to get a familiar code entered into his Pip-Boy. "I like to think we are." He admitted, hitting the button to send the code and hoping he'd done it right. Before an awkward silence could descend in the hall, there was a flash of blue beside Ash and he grinned. If the shock on the woman's face was any indication, he'd done it right.
"S8-49?" H1-87's familiar monotone said quietly, voice almost showing surprise.
"Skye." The woman breathed, eyes wide in shock.
"Oh, you know eachother?" Ash asked chipperly, looking between S8-49 and- Skye? He mentally set that aside to be dealt with later, choosing to focus on the reunion he'd apparently orchestrated instead.
"She died a long time ago." H1-87 replied quietly, eyes narrowing just a fraction more than their usual resting-bitch-face. "Or not, apparently."
Meanwhile, Gage had slowly made his way around the mess currently unfolding in the hall and was standing behind Ash. It all happened as quickly as he'd been expecting when S8-49 pulled her gun from the holster and took aim at H1-87 who was just as quick on the draw. Before lasers could start flying, Gage yanked Ash out of the way, huffing out a sigh. "God damn trouble maker." He muttered, watching the two coursers stare eachother down, each with their weapon aimed at the others head.
"I haven't even gotten started." Ash muttered back, flashing Gage a glimpse of a metal cylindrical object in his hand before he tossed it behind himself, putting enough force behind the throw to get it into the main room down the hall but doing it underhanded so as to try not to draw attention to himself.
Looking back with a frown, Gage located the object and quickly faced forward again, cringing and preparing for the blast. He hadn't gotten a good look at the object, but he knew a grenade when he saw one. When the explosion came, it actually wasn't that bad, more like a particularly violent lightning strike and Gage's eye widened when he realized what sort of grenade that had been.
"Wonder what kind of damage a pulse grenade would do to all that fancy equipment in there." Ash said casually, H1-87 and Gage looking at him while S8-49's wide eyes remained on the room in question.
"No." She breathed, breaking away from the group to run down the hall.
Just as S8-49 passed the other door on the hall, it flung open and a man came running out, looking and sounding quite panicked. "What was that!? What happened!?" He demanded running into the room with her.
"Get a team together, round up all the synths on the property and figure out what their designations are." Ash said, not bothering to look at H1-87 as he watched the two people further down the hall navigate through the sparking machines in the room. "Recall all of them and get them wiped. Assign them wherever it looks like they're needed."
"Right away." H1-87 replied coldly, a bit of extra ice in their tone as they started entering commands into their wrist device.
Drawing his shotgun, Ash walked down the hall towards the room he'd bombed, Gage following close behind him. The sparking was starting to die down, but alot of the machinery was clearly fucked up from the blast and when Ash located the man and S8-49, he grinned. He'd succeeded in getting the machine he'd been aiming to hit the hardest with the blast, DiMA laying still in the man's arms who was trying desperately to turn him back on.
"Guess it was quite alot of damage." Ash said, his voice calm despite his grin and glowing eyes.
S8-49's head snapped up when he spoke and she raised her gun, Gage also raising his. "Why!?" She demanded, eyes shiny though she wasn't crying. "Why would you do this!? Acadia was a place of peace!"
"Peace is overrated." Ash replied, managing not to flinch when Gage fired beside him, shooting the gun from S8-49's hand just as her finger moved to the trigger. That didn't seem to deter her very much and she looked like she was about to charge Ash unarmed when H1-87 entered the room, drawing her attention.
"S8-49 initialize factory reset." They said calmly, looking up from the device on their wrist to S8-49's wide, panicked eyes. "Authorization omega five nine delta." Walking further into the room, H1-87 also rattled off the man's recall code and then had the two deactivated synths relayed from the room before leaving without so much as a glance at either Ash or Gage.
Once they were gone, Ash spoke up. "They're so cool." He muttered, shaking his head a bit.
Snorting, Gage looked at Ash like he'd lost his mind. "Seriously?"
"They are." Ash confirmed, sighing a bit and looking at Gage. "You don't think so?"
"Creepy's more like." Gage muttered back, shaking his head and suddenly pulling Ash close by the waist. "Have I mentioned lately how sexy you are when you're destroyin' lives?" He asked, smirking as Ash's eyes went from a dim glow to practically lighting up his face.
"Maybe." Ash muttered, blushing darkly under his mask. "I like hearing it though."
"Fuckin' love watchin' you work." Gage practically growled, removing Ash's mask to kiss him.
When H1-87 returned, Gage had Ash half naked and pinned down and they cleared their throat pointedly, watching with a neutral expression as Gage cringed and let Ash up, looking embarrassed. Ash just looked annoyed as he sat up, frowning at H1-87. Deciding it best not to make Ash ask what they wanted, H1-87 spoke. "We've finished collecting the synths that were being harbored here, but there was a human among them. She says she came here under the belief she was a synth but my scanners indicate otherwise."
Groaning, Ash flopped his head back, his hat getting smushed under his head and cushioning him from hitting the metal floor. "Dismissed." He grumbled, waving his hand at H1-87 and sitting up after a bit of pouting. "Guess I have to go deal with that." Ash sighed, zipping his shirt up and putting his belts back on.
"Guess so." Gage agreed, standing and adjusting himself discreetly now that it was just him and Ash.
Standing as well, Ash fixed the rest of his clothes and stalked off, finding the woman in question easily. She was in the room Ash assumed H1-87 had corralled the synths in, sitting on the floor and looking rather shaken. Despite the fact that there weren't any guards in the room, she didn't seem intent on leaving. Rolling his eyes, Ash walked over, Gage flanking him like he always did. "Bit of a jarring day for you, huh?" He started, snickering softly when she started at his voice.
Looking up at Ash, the woman seemed to search him for something and then looked back down. "It's funny, you look like a man, not a monster." She muttered, actually managing to surprise Ash. "But only a monster could've seen this place and thought it needed to be destroyed."
"Well I haven't destroyed it yet." Ash muttered, frowning a bit under his mask.
"Yet?" The woman asked incredulously, head snapping up to look at Ash angrily. "What more could you do? You've already enslaved all the people here who were just trying to live their lives!"
Rolling his eyes, Ash looked unmoved. "No, I reclaimed my property. Those were synths, not people."
"Did you even talk to them!?" The woman yelled, standing and not seeming to care that Gage leveled his gun on her. "They were as good as human, every one of them! More human than you!"
"Not a high bar to clear." Ash replied blandly, shrugging in the face of the woman's indignance. "Look, lady, I didn't come down here to argue the morality or synth slavery with you, I came down here to tell you to fuck off. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here."
Letting out an unsteady, disbelieving laugh, the woman shook her head. "Fine." She huffed, wiping away some unshed tears and storming past Ash towards the stairs.
"Yeesh." Ash muttered, shaking his head a bit. "Bleeding heart, much?"
"No kiddin'." Gage muttered, holstering his gun and smirking at Ash. "Now, where were we?"
It wasn't even ten minutes later when Ash and Gage were interrupted once again, this time by the unmistakable smell of smoke. Laughing in a decidedly unhinged way, Ash sat up. "I swear to god if that's fire, I'm going to lose my shit." Gage simply sighed, equally tired of being interrupted but getting up regardless and walking with Ash up the stairs that would take them to the main hall once they were both decent again. Sure enough, halfway up the stairs, there was the telltale orange glow of fire.
Getting as close as he could, Ash saw that the entire hall, or at least all he could see of it from the safest landing, was on fire, blocking the only door. Gritting his teeth in anger, Ash got out his and Gage's respirator masks and handed Gage his, putting his own on. He then took a moment to do some mental math before setting up a relay and grabbing Gage's hand. When they came out of it, they came out on the trail that led up to Acadia and the woman Ash had told to leave almost ran into them a few moments later.
Stopping abruptly, the woman stumbled back, losing her footing on the damp ground and falling on her ass. She looked up at Ash and Gage in mingling shock, confusion, and fear. "You- b-but I- how?"
Sticking his shotgun in her face, Ash glared down at the woman. "A fire? Really? Did those machines really mean that much to you?" He asked angrily, eyes as bright as the fire that they'd left to consume Acadia.
"They were people!" The woman screamed, knocking Ash's gun away from her face only to cry out in pain when Ash flipped it around and swung the butt like a bat, connecting it squarely with the side of her head and knocking her down into the mud.
"People don't have little chips in their brains that let them be controlled!" Ash screamed back, holstering his shotgun and taking out his knife instead. "I can't enter a command into my Pip-Boy and make a person get me a drink! I could make any synth under my command shoot themself in the head with a single line of code! You can't do that to people! Synths aren't people!"
Choking on a sob, the woman glared up at Ash, crying openly but still looking angry. "You don't get to decide that! Just because they were created, doesn't mean they're not people! They have thoughts and feelings! That makes them people!" She argued, moving to get up and gasping in pain when Ash kicked her hard in the chest to keep her down.
"Dogs have thoughts and feelings too, does that make them people!?" Ash shouted, stomping down on the woman's chest and leaning over her, the bulk of his weight pressing down on her. "I gave you a chance to run, to go back to whatever it was you left to come here, but now you've pissed me off." He growled, pushing off of the woman's chest only to drop down on top of her, his knees pinning her arms down painfully as he straddled her chest and pressed his knife to her throat.
"Fuck you, you fucking monster!" She screamed, thrashing against Ash despite the knife.
Snarling, Ash pressed down with enough force to bury the full width of the knife in the woman's neck and jerked his arm to the side, getting spattered with blood and watching with an ugly, though hidden, smile as she choked on her own blood and died quickly. Huffing, Ash wiped his knife off on a part of her shirt that wasn't too muddy and got up, holstering the long blade. Gage's arms wrapping around him from behind made Ash tense up momentarily before his mind caught up with him and he let out a shaky sigh, relaxing and laying his head back against the taller man's shoulder.
"Y'alright?" Gage murmured, lightly squeezing Ash's chest and noting in the back of his mind how much more of Ash there was to squeeze than the last time he'd noticed the teen's weight so long ago up on the roof of the power plant in Nuka-World.
"Yeah." Ash breathed, turning and hugging Gage back. "I'm alright."
Pulling back a bit, Gage jerked his head lightly towards the top of the mountain. "Wanna go watch Acadia burn for awhile?"
Smiling and forgetting all about how angry he'd been mere moments ago, Ash nodded, holding Gage's hand as they walked back up to the top of the mountain and found a spot a safe distance away to sit and watch Acadia burn. They took off their respirators and soon the innocent watching of a building burn to the ground turned to kissing and then Ash and Gage finally got to finish what they'd started.
Afterwards, the couple lay cuddling in the muck while the fire still raged on, apparently able to find plenty of kindling to feed itself within the building. Gage had his arm around Ash from behind and was watching the fire when the orange glow reminded him of something. "We should probably see a doctor about your eyes, boss." He muttered, looking down and noticing that Ash's eyes were indeed currently faintly glowing. Or maybe the fire was just being reflected in them. It was hard to tell until Ash looked up at him, the glow not vanishing even when he angled his head away from the fire.
"You think so?" He asked softly, humming a bit when Gage nodded, looking serious and just a tad concerned. Ash turned back to the fire, lacing his fingers with Gage's hand. "Alright. I'll talk to the doctor in Diamond City about them."
"Why not the one in Nuka-World?" Gage asked, nuzzling his face into Ash's neck.
"Don't trust her." Ash replied, sighing contently and closing his eyes.
"Fair." Gage mumbled, going quiet after that.
Both men fell asleep to the sound of Acadia burning and were only woken up when Ash's Pip-Boy started to trill, letting him know that it was dinner-time. Turning the alarm off, Ash sat up slowly and groaned. "What a terrible place to sleep naked." He muttered, getting a tired laugh from Gage.
"We've done worse." He pointed out, sitting up and cringing a bit at all the grime he could feel in places that really had no business being grimy. "On second thought."
Laughing, Ash looked over at Gage. "Put on some underwear or something, I'm relaying us to Sanctum."
"Yes, boss." Gage replied playfully, getting up to put his underwear on and laughing softly when Ash smacked his ass.
Standing up as well, Ash helped Gage collect the rest of their clothes and then relayed with him, both men separating once they were inside Sanctum so they could scrub the grime off themselves. Once they were finished, they ate together and then climbed into Ash's large bed. They weren't tired per se, not after having just slept and eaten, but they managed to entertain eachother and work up some fatigue, getting to bed at a decent hour with a combined effort.
For it being the first day, and even though he hadn't been the one to start the fire that had taken Acadia, Ash felt he'd been very productive in terrorizing The Island and was excited for day two.