A/N: Dear God this chapter fought me. I had about two pages of it written for forever before getting the urge to finish it *sigh*. This one's not as good as the last and I'm not sure where to go from here but I'll figure it out…somehow.
Desmond was just beginning to wonder if the little whelp had managed to get herself killed when the front doors to the mansion burst open. The vaultie looked less than pleased to see him and didn't extend the courtesy of saying hello; instead Jane threw herself onto the couch and popped open a nuka cola. The ghoul felt a tinge of annoyance at her silence. She'd been gone three days and now that she was back she wasn't being a good little pup and giving him the information he wanted.
"Well?" He hissed.
Jane made no attempt to reply but continued to sip her drink and ignore him. Desmond couldn't see her face since she had the goddamned hood back on, with an annoyed growl he grabbed the piece of cloth and yanked back on it, hard. That got her attention.
"Desmond!" The vaultie tried to jump up but he held fast to her hood, eyes widening at her new hairdo, or to be more specific, her lack of any hair at all and the rather hastily stitched wound that ran down the front of her skull.
"The fuck happened to you?"
"The initiation ritual required a little more than some chanting and drug taking." Jane growled. "Fuckers cut me open and took out a chunk of brain."
"Boo fucking hoo princess, did you find out why they're attacking me?" He ignored the dirty look she shot him as she brushed his hand away and moved further over onto the couch, just out of reach he noticed.
"Fuck off. I just had my head cut open by some backwater asshole that probably did permanent damage to my frontal lobe."
"Well you're still standing and you don't seem to be any more of a moron than you were before." The ghoul grinned at her as the girl glared.
"Enough." The woman stood and faced him with rage in her eyes.
Desmond glared right back at her. He'd had just about enough of her crying. "They didn't take out the part of your little brain that follows orders did they? Because I still need to know why those mudlovers keep blowing holes in my mansion!"
"Maybe they took out the part that held me back from putting a bullet through your skull you jackass!" Jane screamed at him.
"Think that scares me do you? I've been shot before, so you better fucking make it count or that bit they cut out won't be the only hole in your head." Desmond actually felt a tinge of surprise when the girl pulled out her gun and with a scream unloaded it into the opposite wall, flinging the weapon with force when it clicked empty.
"Done?"
"Fuck you Desmond"
"Very original." The ghoul rolled his eyes.
'Says the man who uses the word in every other sentence," Jane fell back onto the couch and sighed. "It's cathartic."
"Well if your little therapy session is over could we please get back to business?" He draped himself over the armchair across from her, waiting impatiently as she took a deep breath and gathered herself.
"Met an old friend of yours." The vaultie smiled when the man across from her raised an eyebrow. "Just as charming as you are too." He sneered at her.
"Calvert." The name was hissed through gritted teeth.
"Who is that…brain?"
Desmond sighed and began as short an explanation as he could about his rivalry with Professor Calvert. Jane listened with interest, especially when he spoke about bashing in the bastard's head, figuratively of course. He then set about the more pleasant task of barking at the girl to jam up Calvert's brainwaves. However he was annoyed when instead of jumping up from the couch to take care of business Jane simply laid down and closed her eyes.
"The fuck do you think you're doing? Get out there and get to work!" Desmond growled.
"Did I forget to mention Calvert thinks I'm working for him now?" Jane turned her head and smiled at Desmond's raised eyebrow. "The ball's in your court, he won't make another move until you do."
She had him there, but he sure as hell wasn't going to admit it, but the smug grin on Jane's face made him think she already knew.
"Just let me get a few hours rest and I'll get moving at dawn. Besides, the view from that big wheel at dawn should be something to see."
"Won't be able to see much, the fog in the morning is especially thick." Desmond gave her a cruel smile when he saw her enthusiasm falter. Jane caught this and rolled her eyes before reaching for her bag and pulling out a weatherworn and dog-eared book.
"You know this might be the first time I've seen a waster reading."
"I grew up in a vault, we had books." Jane replied casually. It wasn't quite the outburst he was expecting.
"Ah, so that is yours and not just the prize pickings off some poor bastard's body." The ghoul drawled. He was bored, and if he was forced to spend the evening with this brat then he was going to make her as miserable as he was. The girl merely nodded though, apparently doing her best to ignore him.
"What could possibly interest a waster anyway? That's not one of the survival manuals I've seen littered around D.C."
Jane sighed and tossed him the book, sitting and resigning herself to the fact that he wasn't going to let her read in peace.
"Paradise Lost?" Desmond was actually surprised at the oddly fitting reading material the girl chose to carry. "Ironic. Where did you get this? Loot a library?"
"Yes actually, but that's not where I got that specific volume. There's a ghoul city in D.C.–"
"Underworld, I'm…familiar with it." Desmond had actually spent a week or so there before heading to Point Lookout, trading one hell hole for another. He had not been impressed with the Museum's residents, finding them cowardly for hiding away from the world. He did not allow the ignorance of the world to keep him from going where he wanted or getting what he needed.
"A girl there, Tulip, she gave me a copy of the book. It is a rather fitting book…in more ways than one." Jane looked away at that last bit, the ghoul caught a far off look that he knew meant she was recalling something.
"Why did you leave the vault? From what I understand those that are still operational usually aren't the ones filled with horrific experiments. It would have been safe."
"I didn't leave." The girl snapped, looking very uncomfortable under Desmond's steady gaze. "You don't care, so why are you asking?"
"I'm bored, and if you're not going to be good company then you're more than welcome to go and do as you were told."
Jane looked like she wanted to argue, but she didn't want to loose the prospect of a good night's sleep, so she sighed and continued.
"To make a long story short I was kicked out because my father left and caused a riot among the vault residents. The Overseer wanted to kill me to make an example but I escaped with the help of his daughter. She stayed." The room was filled with a tense silence as Jane finished, glaring at the floor.
"Why did he leave?" Desmond actually enjoyed the way the girl squirmed under his constant questioning; it was what she got for refusing to just follow orders.
"To save the world apparently, though to be more specific to save the Capital Wasteland, anyone with half a brain could have told him the world is beyond saving at this point."
"And you would certainly be the expert on that." The ghoul chuckled at the glare Jane threw at him. "Where is he now?"
"Dead, Enclave got him, will probably get me too in the end."
Desmond grunted in response, knowing enough about the players in the Capital Wasteland to know the Enclave were not people you wanted to piss off. He couldn't see how the young woman in front of him could possibly be of interest to them, her father's work must have been rather important for the Enclave to take him out.
They fell into an awkward silence as Jane lay back down on the couch, this time with her back to the ghoul. Desmond was at least thankful she hadn't burst into tears on him crying about her dead daddy, he probably would have kicked her out at that point. He took the book in his hand and tossed it back at her, smirking when she jumped then turned her head to stare daggers at him.
"If you want me to be in fighting form to take on Calvert tomorrow I suggest you let me sleep." She saw his face go rigid and softened, "Please."
Desmond stood and started walking towards his control room, pausing by the couch to look at the girl.
"As you wish, but you'd better not fail me kid. I've been waiting centuries for this moment."
"Don't worry Desmond, I rarely disappoint." Jane replied to his retreating form, and the tone made Desmond smirk, there was a wicked edge to it that intrigued him, perhaps she wasn't as dimwitted as he'd originally thought.