All right, whats up wasteland fans? I got questioned about the cover art recently and yes, that is a depiction of Luther, though a much older and more weathered Luther than how he is presented in this story. Does that mean that we may be seeing more of our mercenary friends in other fanfics? Who knows?

Chapter 16

Nick curses and throws his hands up in anger! For last five minutes he had been doing nothing but argue with Luther about bringing Reilly out of her coma. Not that they were debating on if they should or not, they all agreed that they needed to talk to her, instead they were fighting over how exactly to preform the operation. Nick, with the knowledge of surgical methods, suggested one way, While Luther, with his apparent know how, suggested something totally different. "Luther," Nick says, trying to keep the anger out of his voice, "we don't have enough information about her condition to go through with you idea. It could kill her!"

Luther rounds on him, "And you think you know enough to risk your method? Your way could just as easily leave her brain dead! Then what use would she be to us?"

Nick gives up trying to be calm, "So you think that your way, where we skip vital steps, would end up any better!"

"Enough!" They all turn in surprise to Charon. The ghoul had barely said a word. "The two of you are giving me a headache."

Nick sighs and rubs his temples. Charon is right, this whole situation sucks. The Rangers need help, quick. Yet none of them feel comfortable leaving without getting some information when the opportunity is lying on a cot right in front of them. Nick's way will likely be the safest, but it still has its drawbacks. Luther's suggestion will get Reilly up faster, but it is more likely to cause her harm. If only there were some way for them to go ahead and set off to rescue the Rangers and get the info out of Reilly...

An idea begins to grow in his mind as he turns and regards Doctor Barrows. "You said you have all the equipment and resources you need, right?" The ghoul doctor nods, not quit getting what Nick is saying. Turning to Luther, he says, "What if I stay back and help with the operation while you and Tyler go ahead to the Ranger's location. Charon and I can radio you with anything we find out and then join up with you."

He watches as Luther and Tyler think it over. Luther looks over at Tyler and he shrugs his shoulders. "Fine," Luther finally says, "do it. But how are you supposed to contact us?"

"The Ranger's radio signal. Use that." Nick scribbles down the frequency Luther gives him and stuffs it into a pocket. "If Reilly has anything good then I will take care of it before joining up with you. That said, if I take care of my half of the job and don't hear from the Ranger's that you have yet to arrive, I will assume you two got yourselves backed into a corner and need me to rescue you."

Luther cracks a smile, "Sounds good. Don't worry kid, no Muties can bring us down, but I get what you are saying."

Tyler cackles, causing him to cough hard before managing to say, "Back me into a corner? No fucking way!"

Nick nods and turns his pipboy to the frequency. He looks up just as Luther and Tyler leave. A small pang of loss hits him. It takes him a few seconds to figure out why. Then it occurs to him. This is the first time since leaving the vault that he had willing parted ways with the two mercs. Sure there was that time he stormed off in anger, but Tyler was hospitalized and Luther locked up, so that does not count. The idea of being left behind, no matter if it is willingly, does not sit well with him. It takes him a second to figure out why, but the realization makes him shudder. It is his father. His father up and left him, and that caused him to get tossed into the wasteland. He shakes his head, no point on dwelling on it, not when he has work to do.

Nick groans as he stretches and fells his back crack in several places. He had been hunched over the operating table for almost an hour now, barely moving save for his hands which flew over Reilly's head as he worked. His labor, however, was well rewarded when Reilly opened her eyes after he finished and even let out a few noncoherent sounds. Doctor Barrows rolls a chair over to him and he sinks into it gratefully, watching as Nurse Graves helps a still groggy Reilly sit up in her cot. "Easy there," Nurse Graves coos in as gentle a voice as a ghoul can manage, "you need to take it slow. You've obviously been through a lot."

At the nurses words the red head sits bolt upright and looks around the room frantically. "Where am I? What happened? Oh shit, the rangers! I need to get out of here, they need my help!" She moves to leap off of the cot.

Nick is there before she can, grabbing her arms and pinning them to her sides. He puts as much force behind his gaze and words as he can. "Sit down!" Without a any resistance, she does. He keeps his eyes glued to hers as he speaks. "We know about your men, we heard their radio hail. We have people already on the move to aid them. You have been in a coma for a while now. You need to rest. That said, any information you can provide me may save the lives of your people and mine."

She narrows her eyes at him suspiciously. "Just who they hell are you to give me orders?"

Nick thinks of how Luther often adopts a cold emotionless mask that seems to scare people more than pure rage. Doing his best to imitate that, he lowers his voice to a neutral, but still hard, tone. "I am the one who spent the last hour working to pull you out of that coma without causing you permanent brain damage. I am also the one whose friends are currently fighting their way to your men. I also happen to be the one who can relay any information you give me to both your men and mine. Now drop the bravado and give me something to work with."

She stares at him, her mouth hanging a little open. "Well," she stars, "you've got some balls, talking to me like that. Fine. We were pinned down. It was my fault, I led them into that dead end. So I decided I was going to make a run for it, try and get some help. On the way I was hit, several times. I don't know how I even managed to get all the way here, I assume this is Underworld?" Nick nods. "Right," she continues, "I had hoped I would be able to retrieve some additional ammo from one of our people who was killed during the fight, but I got sidetracked. As it is, my best hope is to get back to our compound and get some supplies from there."

Nick nods and rubs the thick stubble on his chin. "Fair enough. Lets get you up and then we can get moving."

"We?" she demands.

Nick looks at her with a level expression. "We." his tone leaves no room for argument. Reilly rolls her eyes but does not press the point any further. Nick takes some med x and presses it into her arm. "That should numb the pain, but you are going to have to take it easy. Tell me where your compound is and I will make sure that the both of us arrive there alive."

She huffs and motions at his pipboy. He holds his arm out and she takes it, pressing a few keys. She shoves his arm back at him when she is done. "There," she snaps, "I programmed your pipboy with the location. We are likely going to have to face off with some Supermutants, possibly some Talon Company mers." She looks at him out of the corner of her eye, sizing him up. "Think you can handle that?"

Nick rolls his shoulders, bringing attention to the assault rifle slung across his back. "I am not one for boasting. If you are ready, lets get moving." He waits patiently as the woman slowly makes her way over to a locker that Nurse Graves says all her equipment is in. He watches as she opens the locker and then pulls her shirt off over her head. the Nurse and the Doctor both avert their eyes, but Nick does no such thing. Instead he keeps an impassive look on his face. Reilly seems to deflait a little, which confirms his reasoning that she only removed her shirt in the hopes of shocking him. The redhead pulls on her green combat armor and takes out a 10mm submachine gun. "Ready?" he asks, and she nods. "Lets get moving."

They two of them make their way out of Underworld. Charon and Dogmeat are waiting for them at the museum exit. Reilly gives Charon an appraising look, appearing to be a little uneasy about the tall ghouls presence. "Don't worry," Nick reassures, "he is on our side. Though I would be happier if he would just accept the fact that he is free and not insist on following me around."

Charon grunts, "You hold my contract, that means you are my employer. You saying otherwise doesn't change that."

A though occurs to Nick as they walk. "So I could rewrite your contract and then you could be free, or at least a little less bound, right?"

The ghoul looks troubled by the prospect and does not answer. Reilly steps up beside Nick, "I doubt that would work. From what I have seen of brainwashing, granted I've only seen a little, but the actual piece of paper doesn't matter. It is just symbolic. Hell, that paper you have with you could get destroyed and he would still serve you, though you would have to find a replacement or something bad might happen to his mind."

Nick gives her an odd look out of the corner of his eye, "What do you mean by, 'something bad'? Will he go insane?"

Reilly shrugs her shoulders, "It is possible. It depends on the depth of the connection forged between him and the contract. Brainwashing is all about tricking the mind, conditioning, that sort of shit. Think of it like this. Someone trained his mind to believe that he has to serve whoever possesses what he believes is his contract. Now, there is probably a lot more to it than that, but that is just the general idea."

Nick ponders her words. It seems strange that a person could be manipulated into such a strange circumstance. It seems strange that someone could be so heavily tied to an object that they would serve whoever holds it. As they descend into the metro tunnels, careful to be on the lookout for ferals, Nick finds himself thinking back to the vault. More specifically, the Overseer.

He once told Luther and Tyler that the vault hierarchy was set up the same as everywhere else. The Overseer, guards, and then everyone else. Now though, he can't help but feel that it isn't that simple. All through his childhood, the idea that the Overseer is the one who protects and shelters all the inhabitants of the vault was hammered into his head. There were the posters, the radio broadcasts, and all the times in school when they watched those promotional videos. Looking back on that, and how so many people bought into it, he can't help but feel that maybe his vault wasn't as innocent as he once thought it was.

Dogmeat brushes against his leg and he smiles down at the dog. Then a dark thought occurs to him, has the dog been brainwashed as well? He hadn't really stopped to think about the dog ever since it saved him in the metro. He didn't do anything to earn its trust, hell he didn't even find it, it found him. So why had it decided he was the master? Why not Luther or Tyler?

He shakes his head. All these theories about brainwashing make his head spin. The concept just seems to outlandish and just plain wrong. To him, it is too similar to slavery. In a sense, it is slavery. He glances over his shoulder at Charon. The tall ghoul has his combat shotgun out and is scanning the dark tunnel before them for any signs of danger. Nick feels that the ghoul would do everything in his power to keep him out of danger, but is he right to think that? Did Charon kill that other ghoul, Az something, because he was his master and he was freed from him? Did that make Nick a slaver? The idea sickened him.

"Hey," Reilly's voice pulls him from his thoughts, "you said you had some people going to rescue my crew. Who exactly are they?"

Nick smirks,"They are mercenaries, like me." The fact that this is the first time he has openly said he is a mercenary briefly strikes him as odd, but he pushes the thought aside. "I hooked up with them, hmm, maybe a few months ago. Their names are Tyler and Luther. Real serious sorts..."

"Shit," Reilly interrupts at hearing their names. She turns on her heals and levels her sawed off shotgun at his chest. Charon stops and aims at her head. Nick freezes in place, caught off guard by the red heads sudden anger. Beside him Dogmeat growls low, crouching as if ready to strike. "Call off your watchdogs." Reilly's voice is hard, leaving no doubt that she means business. Nick motions for Charon to lower his rifle and reaches down to grab Dogmeat's fur. "What do you want? Where you planning on killing me when I got you into the compound? Speak!"

Keeping a tight grip on Dogmeat with one hand, he holds out the other in a gesture of peace. "All right, easy. I don't know what you are going on about, but keep in mind that we are the people trying to help you. Hell, Luther seemed panicked when he told us your men were in danger."

Reilly tenses at the mention of Luther's name. He tries to read her expression, but her face is set in stone. "You don't know do you?" She lets out a short, bark like, laugh. "He didn't tell you." Nick still has no idea what the woman is talking about and is beginning to think that maybe he did damage her brain during the operation after all. Reilly shakes her head, her weapon still pointed at him. "That, man, Luther. We tried to help him once. Then we found out who he is. We found out about the things he had done. He told us that was all in the past, that he was different, and we believed him! Then he gets us a job, which turns out to be a trap set for us by Talon Company! Some of my best men got killed in that trap, and the rest of us barely made it out. The Rangers have been a shadow of what we once were ever since. And it is all because of him!"

And there you have it. another big slap to the face! Who are Luther and Tyler? What have they done to get Reilly so pissed off at them? Find out, by reading more...