Cherry stared up at the cracked ceiling above the bed she shared with her husband. It was still so strange to think of the sleeping man next to her that way, but that was the long and short of it. For better or worse, and whether she liked it or not, she was both his wife and his property. It had been a few months since her arrival on the Strip and only a few weeks since their official marriage, although she wasn't sure what difference a ceremony would make when she was already only one step away from wearing a bomb collar like the rest of the slaves who toiled their lives away fifty stories below them. The betrothal had been a luxurious, disgusting affair in which she had been wrapped in a gaudy dress like a Christmas gift and paraded down the middle of the cracked street while hundreds of silent soldiers, generals and slaves looked on. He'd thought it was a smashing success but Cherry could see the hatred in the eyes of every person who'd been in attendance. Slaves hated her for becoming elevated above her position, the other soldiers hated her because as far as they were concerned she was still lower than dirt.
She turned her head to look at him in silhouette as the first morning light broke through the curtains across the room, patterned by the metal bars that'd been fixed there to keep her from being able to jump to her death. He was handsome and treated her almost like she was the master and he the slave, but she still hated him. There was an undercurrent of insanity to the man that showed itself at times, just enough to keep her afraid and trembling in his presence. There was never any certainty which mood he would wake up in, whether he would bow at her feet or give her a black eye and send for a stimpak before the swelling could become too severe. When he was kind, she could almost picture herself loving him, but it never lasted too long. She wished she could make herself love him, for it would make things much easier.
Cherry slipped out of bed quietly and tiptoed to the bathroom, toes sinking into the plush carpet that lined the suite from wall to wall. The fixtures from the sink to the shower were brand new and made from shining stainless steel, thanks to a nearby factory that the Legion had been able to seize from a pack of raiders and return to working order. Despite all the savagery that the group was known for, she had to admit that they were helping to bring more civilization to the area; even though that civilization was very different than what most would hope for. She splashed water on her face and poked at the healing bruise on her cheek which was now a deep shade of eggplant. It wasn't too ugly, she supposed, but it was still a reminder to herself for the next time she felt herself slipping into the murky grasp of her husband's misplaced affection when he inevitably woke up and tried to mend things.
She jumped as a warm hand slid around her waist, which had thickened considerably since she had been brought to the Strip and began to have regular meals again. His breath was warm on her ear as he leaned down to brush a kiss against her neck, sending an unpleasant shiver up her spine. "You're up," she cooed in her most placating voice, already suspicious of the affection he was showing. A chuff of laughter ruffled her russet hair and she tried to gently extract herself from his grip, but found herself pressed between the sink and his body too firmly to do much more than crane her head to look at him. Caesar was a tall man, broad and heavy with muscle, and most would consider him handsome at first glance- Cherry included. His finely chiseled jaw morphed instantly from attractive to terrifying, however, every time the muscles in his neck tensed and she could tell he was clenching his teeth. The girl waited for him to do this now since he hadn't said anything to her yet, but his hand remained gentle on her hip and the profile of his face showed no hint of the usual fury that simmered under his skin.
"I think it may be beneficial for you to learn a trade with the other women," he started carefully, as if worried she might strike him. Cherry puzzled over this for a moment, would she be going outside finally? Before she could ask, he kissed her still damp cheek and stepped back so she could turn to face him. "You'll be escorted down to the infirmary to assist the nurses for a while today. Everyone has to earn their keep here, you included." She wanted to snort and bite out a reply that surely laying on her back for him whenever he wished was service enough, but Cherry knew better than to sour his perfectly good mood. The prospect of going out into the world again, albeit a world surrounded by razor wire fences and armed men in old football pads, was too tempting to pass up.
"O-of course, my love," she said, resisting the urge to curl her lip at the pet name she had taken to using for him. "Thank you! It'll be so nice to um," Leave this fucking dusty hotel room? She thought of a better way to finish the sentence before he got bored of listening to her- "It'll be nice to get some fresh air."
"Excellent, get dressed and a guard will be here to escort you shortly. I sadly will not be able to take you myself, previous engagements unfortunately call." Caesar's face mimed what he probably thought disappointment looked like, but Cherry wasn't sure he was entirely capable of feeling real emotions and was just trying to mimic the idea of it instead. She looked at him for a moment, feeling a bit put off from the entire interaction, but quickly she remembered herself and stepped forward to wrap her arms around his thick neck in a strong hug. He returned her embrace and lifted her a few inches off the ground with a feigned grunt; she was half his size and his biceps were as big as her head, he had no real trouble lifting her. For a moment it almost felt nice, and she allowed herself to sink into the fantasy of it. If she closed her eyes, Cherry could almost imagine she was a farmer's wife living in the wastes, hugging her lover before he went out to the fields to start work for the day. When she opened her eyes and he released her, all she saw was a warlord who slept with a pistol under his pillow and laughed at the sight of a tiny slave child being whipped in the streets for stealing bread.
The moment now over, he bid her goodbye and whisked out of the suite with his armor and weapons already strapped into place as if there was a war happening just outside the high rise they lived in. Hell, for all she knew there might have been. Before his announcement at the bathroom sink, she'd never been allowed outside the four walls they shared aside from the day they'd been married. Cherry looked down at the sparkling red gem she wore on her ring finger. It was enormous and probably cost more than a Legionnaire's yearly wages, but she worried that if she took it off that word would somehow spread back to her husband and…it was just best to leave it on, she decided as she stepped into a pair of jeans found in the dresser near the front door.
The door locked from both sides but she never dared to lock it unless told to, lest he think she was trying to keep him out or hide something. What she could possibly hide, Cherry didn't quite know, but Caesar had shown suspicion toward her in the past and she decided it was best not to foster it. So when the guard on the other side slid the key into the outer locks, the thick metal door silently drifted open without even having to be pushed.
"Coming," she said, fumbling with the ties on a pair of boots that were at least a size too big for her. Cherry's frustration grew as she tried to force her fingers to cooperate and just tie the fucking laces, but even though her head was healed by now she knew that her fine motor skills weren't what they used to be. The open door blocked the view of the guards sent to retrieve her until one of them poked his head around, presumably to tell her to hurry up after checking that Caesar wasn't around to punish them for being rude to his wife. He always insisted that the Legionaries treat her with respect, but this seemed to invoke their ire even more and the men that rotated through door guard duties had made it somewhat of a sport to be as cruel as possible to her when they knew she was alone. Having mostly learned to accept it by now, she didn't even look up to receive whatever insult they'd concocted for her today, but none ever came. Finally, yanking the shoelaces into a random knot that she hoped would hold, Cherry moved to stand up and immediately fell back on her ass when she saw MacCready peering at her from the doorway. He was tanner than before, his neck and jaw visibly wider from having put on muscle, and he wore the dark uniform of a soldier, but it was unmistakably him.
He widened his eyes at her as if willing her not to say anything and she instantly realized that he must have come with others to get her for her new duties. Cherry's mouth was too dry at the moment to speak much anyways, but she still nodded in understanding and wobbled to her feet. MacCready, as if remembering where he was, straightened his posture and let his brow flatten into a look of distaste. "Hurry the fuck up, would you? We do have other shit to do today other than watch you," he said, barbs in his voice. Cherry flinched despite knowing it was an act, and she struggled not to stare at him as he guided her through the door and into the hallway where two other men stood in uniforms identical to her old friend's. She realized that they really couldn't consider themselves friends since they barely knew each other aside from the arduous journey here and the miserable time she'd spent in a cage at MacCready's camp, but familiarity was so rare in New Vegas that she would take what she could get.
They walked in silence, MacCready to her right, one man to the left and the last one directly in front of her. The hallways were maroon and wallpapered with a filigree design that might have been fashionable at one point but now just cast the entire place in a bloody shade of red, and their heavy boots clumped along dully against the matching carpet. Her blood pounded in her ears as her mind spun around the revelation that he was actually here and she wasn't entirely alone anymore. Never mind that she didn't even know if he really gave a shit about her or if he just didn't want her to make it known that they had a history and end up embarrassing him or worse, drawing Caesar's attention to him. She stole glances at him as they made their way to the elevators at the end of the hall and he did not return the favor, his ramrod posture and unblinking gaze never deviating her way.
For a brief, wild moment Cherry considered snatching the pistol off his hip and shooting all three of the guards in order to attempt an escape, but she knew it was a fruitless fantasy that would just end in her own painful demise as soon as someone heard the shots from Caesar's suites. Plus, how would she escape the Strip? And if everything came together just perfectly so that she could get away from the city, how would she survive in the desert with no supplies or even an idea of where to go? The plan was foiled before it began, but it still gave her a sick pleasure to fantasize about blasting her way through hordes of Legion soldiers and riding into the sunset.
The group of them stood awkwardly in an elevator, shoulders bumping together as the large men tried to fit in around her, and the bumpy ride to the bottom only served to bounce her around some more between their bulky frames. Just as the silence began to ring in her ears, MacCready spoke at last. "Men, we'll meet you at the bottom. I have orders to stop on the thirtieth floor for supplies before we head to the infirmary." His voice was full of authority, his crooked teeth the only part of him that seemed the same as how she remembered him. It made her heart sink a bit to realize that maybe the indoctrination had worked on him just as it had all the rest of them, but then again she wasn't sure why she'd expect him to be any different.
The other two acknowledged him and they lapsed back into quiet, Cherry chewing her lip to keep from tearing up. To have a sliver of hope given and then snatched away so quickly was almost too much to bear, and she wished she could just go hide back in Caesar's room again instead of having to face the world after all. When they finally reached the thirtieth floor, MacCready guided her out with a hand on the small of her back and she was at least glad that it was him escorting her into the darkened wing of the hotel rather than a stranger. Cherry's throat still closed up if she was alone with the normal guards for too long. Alone with any men, for that matter. It was all she could do not to vomit every time she was forced to lay with her husband at night, and every time he touched her it was as if his skin was made of molten metal that intended to burn through her very skin. When he would pull his hand away, it was instant relief.
Despite this, her panic didn't set in now. The elevator doors rattled shut behind them, taking the two other guards with it, and the pair of them was suddenly alone in the dusty old place, which looked to be a row of multiple conference rooms back in the old days. Only rows and rows of boxed up supplies that lined the walls and every other square inch of empty space kept them company now. Cherry's eyes scanned the myriad of boxes and ammo canisters and dried goods kept here, wondering what they could be retrieving, and just as she turned to ask MacCready what he wanted her to carry she found herself swept into a bone-crushing hug, her feet dangling far off the ground and her arms pinned to her sides.
"I've been looking for you for so long. I thought I'd never find you." He said, voice thick with tears as he spoke into the fabric of her shirt. Her heart simultaneously dropped to her stomach and felt as if it had grown wings and was trying to fly out of her chest. Tears sprouted at the corners of her eyes and she struggled out of his grip, plopping back to the carpeted floor. Dust motes floated through the still air and their voices echoed off the walls despite keeping themselves to a whisper.
"I thought you forgot about me, you acted like you didn't recognize me," she said stupidly despite knowing why he had kept up the act. He scrubbed his watery eyes with the back of his hand, grinning down at her.
"How could I forget about you?!" He said, yanking her small body against his again in another hug. Cherry laughed brightly for the first time in a very long time, and all she could think of is that she would have never taken him for such a hugger.
Resting her head against his chest as he gripped her a bit longer, Cherry sighed. "What are we gonna do now?" To that, he didn't have an immediate response.