He was standing up on a hill, about 20 feet away from Amber as she stripped down to take a bath in the irradiated water.
MacCready made a point to watch her without actually watching her. He wasn't going to deny the fact that she was an attractive girl but she was his boss and he chose to respect that. He just wished she'd wrap up her bath so they could get moving.
"Mac, how's it looking?" Amber called to him
"All clear from here, boss." He replied. He glanced down at her and wished he hadn't. She was waist deep in the water, her bare breasts exposed to the air. Her small pink nipples puckered against the breeze. He looked quickly at the sky, his shoes, the dead tree beside him, anywhere but her.
"I saw that, kid!" She snorted, and MacCready felt his ears heat up. Before he could respond, a familiar groan hit his ears. Ghouls.
Mac has his scope to his eye faster than hell, scanning the waterline. He spotted the glowing one with ease and took a shot at its head. Amber scrambled backwards, barely realizing she was naked in front of her employee. The glowing one was gaining on her fast. She'd almost made it to her belongings when it grabbed her hair, pulling her to the ground.
"No!" MacCready shouted, flashbacks of Lucy blinding his vision, causing him to miss the ghouls head, winging it in the shoulder. Luckily this loosened its grip on Amber's hair. She dodged its other arm stiffly, rolling to the side and grabbing her shotgun. MacCready was running down the hill, shooting as he went. He just reached Amber's side as the ghoul closed the distance between them.
BOOM! The ghouls head exploded, raining bright green muck over Amber's naked skin and smoking shotgun. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and let the shotgun hit the ground at her feet.
"You all right, boss?" MacCready asked, removing his duster and wrapping it around her cold, wet skin. He put his hand on her chin, examining her face and wiping the green goo from her cheek.
"It tore out some hair." She stated flatly, running her fingers through her now uneven locks. The left side still running down her shoulders, while the right curled around her ear. She sighed and pulled a switchblade from MacCready's duster pocket, slicing through the longer half of her hair, leaving it slightly lopsided.
"It'll do till we get back to diamond city. Irma said Nick Valentine is our best bet. Might as well go meet the guy." MacCready sighed and lowered his head.
"I'm real sorry, boss." He said, barely above a whisper.
"For what? You didn't put the glowing one in the water. You didn't mess up my hair. Don't blame yourself, kid. You're worth every cap." She pressed her forehead to his and patted his shoulder. "Now turn around so I can get dressed. Unless you wanna see your boss's naked ass. Which frankly, who could blame ya?" She winked and bumped him with her hip, chuckling. MacCready scoffed and shook his head, but turned as he was told. It was probably best. Amber didn't need to see the tears in his eyes, or the shaky breath that escaped his lips.
"Hey, let's rest a sec. I wanted to see how things were between us." Amber said as they entered the gates of the great green jewel. MacCready had been almost silent the whole walk over. No surly comments about her scavvy habits. No dorky jokes. Nothing.
"I think we're doing fine. Good to be out of Goodneighbor. But the best place to set up shop, but the gunners usually don't hassle me too much. Afraid of Hancock. I just wish I didn't have to worry so much. I've been scrounging for caps. Hoping to pay them to go away."
"Is that what's eating at you? Don't pay them off. Chances are they'd take the caps and then cap you one for good measure. I say kill them and be done with it." Amber said with a wave of her arms. MacCready couldn't believe this scavvy young sniper with the mind of a professional merc could have ever been a pre war lawyer. He shook his head with a dry chuckle.
"You read my mind, boss. But chances are two to one they'll roll in with everything they've got. I can't fight them all off." He said as they walked up to Arturo's weapon stand. Amber nodded thoughtfully.
"No, probably not. But THAT can."