Elizabeth didn't know how this whole ordeal happened. She was tending to Stacy Cole, checking to see if she wasn't having a negative reaction to the Rad-Away, when she went in the back to get some more medicine, when she caught the blonde girl trying to steal some Med-X.
She dropped the medicine and stared at Elizabeth with fear in her eyes, scared and desperate for a fix, and Elizabeth calmly told her that yes, she could have some, and that she wasn't going to hurt her.
While in her high, the girl told Elizabeth about her time in a Vault.
She was born in the Wasteland, her dad took her into Vault 101 after her mother died and she grew up thinking she was born there. She was the shortest of her age group, and the smartest. She aced all her tests and built numerous (illegal) inventions by the time she was sixteen.
She had a violent streak, picking fight with both the security and what she called a "tunnel snake", which Elizabeth didn't ask what that was. She was 15 she developed depression, anxiety, and an unidentified eating disorder. She mentioned a girl named Amata, her girlfriend, and showed the other a picture that she taped to her Pip-Boy. She told her that things were starting to get better, then her dad up and left the vault.
"Just like that, just... fuckin' left me. For a stupid fucking project that wouldn't have worked without... me. I... fucking saved that shit, and he could've saved himself but nope! Gotta fuckin' be the goddamn hero of the story. That asshole was... He... he died for fucking nothing. Nothing. He could've lived, he could've been happy and alive and... Shit," The girl wiped away her tears and laughed hollowly, "Fuck, why the hell am I crying? Goddamn it. I... I hate him. He... He was so damn selfish too. I hate him."
Elizabeth rubbed her back gently, "You turned to drugs to stop the pain."
"I fuckin... hate doctors. You all sound so fuckin' arrogant. I hate all of you."
Elizabeth guessed that the girl's dad was also a doctor, and his professionalism got in the way of fatherly love.
"And what about you, huh? What's your story?"
She smiled, placing her hands in her lap, "I'm a doctor and a repairwoman. Some things get in the way of others, but that's ok. Um… let's see. There's nothing too special about me! Just a regular girl in a regular town."
"No, no way. There's always something impressive about people." Gloria stared at the roof as she spoke, and Elizabeth sighed, "You're not the only one who thinks so."
"Oh? You got a boyfriend or something."
The thought of having a boyfriend made Elizabeth sick. "No."
"Good. Boys are the worst. Are you gay?"
"...No."
The other girl obviously didn't believe her. Elizabeth didn't believe herself, either. So she tried again, "I'm engaged to a man, Christopher Bayer, if you… wanted to know that. Our wedding is in three days."
"Gross."
Elizabeth giggled; finally, someone agreed with her.
Even with her attempts at dissuading Chris, he still pursued her. He was persistent, she'll give him that, but she did not want to be with him. She didn't want to be with any men, ever. She twisted the ring on her finger, hoping one day she'll be able to cast it off into the desert and never see it again. But that day wasn't coming anytime soon.
"Hey, how about you kill him?" The girl offered. Her speech was slurred, but Elizabeth heard her clearly. She gulped, then shook her head, "I'm not a murderer."
"I am."
"You don't look like one."
The girl sat up and stared at the floor, "Alright."
Elizabeth didn't know what she meant, so she didn't reply.
"It's… I don't know. It's hard to pour your heart out to someone, much less a doctor, but… I trust you."
"Thanks." Elizabeth smiled at the other, but she didn't smile back. Her eyes were glazed over. It seems like she was too high to speak now. Elizabeth didn't mind, so she decided to do the same.
"The first person I ever loved was a girl named Daisy. She was a trader from… hm… somewhere. I don't remember. She died a few days after I kissed her. Hung in the town square for killing someone."
The girl blinked, processing her words, but didn't attempt to reply.
"I killed someone too."
The other girl hummed, "We all have."
"I'm a… I'm a doctor. I can't kill anyone, that's my job. To heal, to keep people from dying."
"What happened?"
"I was seventeen… He was bleeding so much and I froze and…" She gulped, "he died."
The girl placed a clammy hand on Elizabeth's, squeezing gently to comfort her. The action was thoughtful, but she pulled her hand away. The girl didn't protest.
"I learned that I'm afraid of death."
"Aren't we all?"
Elizabeth blinked, "I suppose you're right-"
"I'm not. I want to die."
Her heart sank. She didn't want to, but she could understand. The girl looked so bedraggled, it was a wonder she was still alive.
"I think I'm starting to sober up. Don't tell Butch or Stacy what I told you."
"Are you going to be okay?"
She nodded, "I've made it this far."
Her words weren't reassuring, but she couldn't dwell on that while Stacy wandered into the room and looked at the both of them before waving absentmindedly and plopping on the couch between the two.
"Get back to bed." The girl told Stacy, and Elizabeth stood up to check on Butch.
"Don't tell me what to do." Stacy snapped back.
"Holy shit. Good job, you finally stood up for yourself. Kind of." The girl said, and Elizabeth smiled. For how sick Stacy was, it was impressive she was walking around.
The night was spent making sure Butch wasn't bleeding, and pondering the events of the past twenty-four hours.
There was something about those kids, the Vault Rejects, who stumbled into town; she knew that these people were special.
The punk with the nice hair was a charmer, he was handsome, and had a certain way with words. He's talked her mother into letting them stay in their house. He's not too bad at cooking, and he's secretly a sweetheart underneath all the pomade and leather.
The girl with the silver hair is the nicest girl she's ever met. She's not too bright, but she's always offering her help for everything. Elizabeth decided that she wanted to be more like her.
Then, there was the girl with the scarred knuckles and the shaved head and the hurt in her eyes.
She's the most beautiful girl Elizabeth has ever seen.
Her eyes are a dazzling green that look both otherworldly and sad. Elizabeth has tried many times to ask what this girl was so afraid of, but the girl just gives her a smirk and a wave of her hand, and says "It's nothing" with that strange and beautiful accent and Elizabeth knows there's something. There is always something.
She haunts her in her dreams. The girl with the harsh look and red lips smiling at her, telling her that she's the only one for her.
Elizabeth doesn't even know her name.
And the girl doesn't know her's.
She decides, the day before her wedding, she should at least know her name.
Elizabeth's avoidant personality disorder gets in the way of many things, but she sure as hell won't let her get out of knowing that girl's name.
She barges into her room, heart pounding, body begging her to leave and never look the girl in the eyes again, clenching her fists and asking "What's your name?"
The girl sits up, hair a mess, mumbling out "Gloria Hill."
"Gloria Hill." Elizabeth repeats.
"Yeah." She says slowly, looking Elizabeth up and down, "Why?"
"My name's Elizabeth. Well, I mean technically it's Genevieve but that's too fancy so I just go by Elizabeth."
Gloria nodded, letting Elizabeth stammer on and finally interrupted, asking "Aren't you getting married today?"
Elizabeth stopped, mouth open, then she shut it and nodded solemnly, "Don't remind me."
"I told you to just kill him."
"That's-! …Not something I can do willingly."
Gloria shrugged, "I'll see what I can do." She rolled back over and promptly went back to bed.
What the heck was she talking about?
Suppressing her anxiety the best she could, Elizabeth exited the room and returned to her mother to try to fit into her wedding dress.
Being almost six-foot-three and over two-hundred pounds of pure muscle, there weren't many dresses Elizabeth could easily fit into. No one around was a seamstress, so the best dress they could make was out of bedsheets and ribbons. It looked okay for what little they had to use, and Lauren was in a hurry to marry her daughter off.
Not out of cruelty, but out of necessity. Christopher's family was descended from the founder of the town of Cranston, and the richest family in the small town. A clinic and repair shop could only bring in so much money from people who are healthy and don't break weapons easily anymore.
Elizabeth's heart was beating so fast when her father told them that Christopher was already at the church. Unlike marriages from the Old World, weddings now were done quickly, but still had that Old World charm to it. She followed her parents to the isle, where Christopher was waiting for her along with the priest.
In her peripheral vision, there was a dull blue figure standing out among the rest. Gloria, Butch, and Stacy had managed to make it after all. The thought calmed Elizabeth a tiny bit, but her parents ushered her forward towards her almost-husband.
Standing in front of Christopher, she did her best to avoid eye contact, but he grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him, smiling in a way that made her sick to her stomach. This was it. This was the end of her freedom.
"Christopher and Genevieve Bayer," the priest stated, paraphrasing the speech to make it even shorter, "these two are to be wedded. Any objections?"
A loud crash sounded, and everyone in the church looked around for the source. Gloria stood in the aisle, whiskey bottle in hand and a scowl on her face, "I do, actually. Chris… how could you? How could you leave me for… her!" Gloria stumbled up to the podium, casting a hateful glare at Elizabeth.
"What? I've never- who are you?" He asked and Gloria shoved him back "How dare you! After all we've been through! You- fuck it, you know what? Whatever. I don't care. Go off with your new wife and forget all about me!" She swung the bottle at him and he moved his head out of the way, causing Gloria to crash into Elizabeth, who promptly caught her.
Gloria shoved something cold and metal into Elizabeth's palm, then stood up and brushed herself off, taking a swig from the bottle and shook off Butch's hands, claiming she can walk by herself. Stacy and Butch escorted her out, giving Elizabeth a nod before closing the door behind them.
The cold metal object pricked her finger when she tried to get a feel for it, hiding it in the folds over dress and she worried that her blood would stain it.
"Well, now that's over with, do you, Christopher, take Genevieve as your wife?"
"Yeah," he smiled at Elizabeth once again, causing her to nearly gag.
"And do you, Genevieve take Christopher as your husband?"
"…yeah," She really couldn't turn back now.
"Then I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride."
Christopher grabbed Elizabeth by the waist, pulling her down to his height and kissed her on the mouth, sloppy and wet, surprising her with how utterly repulsive it was.
Nothing against the man, but she couldn't be with him. She didn't
After the short ceremony, Chris leads her into their house and locks the bedroom door behind them. Elizabeth's grip on the knife hadn't faltered, even as Chris takes her free hand and leads her to the bed.
"Do we… I-"
"Of course we do, my love. We're married."
"No. No, I don't want to have sex with you."
He blinked, "Genevieve-"
"Shut up! Shut up, never, ever call me that," She stood with her arms to her sides, clenching and unclenching her free hand.
"I'm sorry," He looked away from her, at his feet, "Elizabeth, it's okay."
"No, it's not." She finally let herself sob, sinking into the chair in the corner of the room, "I have to get out of here. I can't be married to… to a man. It's disgusting."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm a lesbian! I don't like men, at all, in any way. I can't believe I agreed to this marriage." She wiped at her eyes, laying the knife down at her side
"I… I understand. Elizabeth, I want you to be happy."
"Do you?"
He knelt beside her, "Of course I do."
"Then… Then let me get out of Cranston, out of Arizona. Please, Christopher, I can't stay here anymore."
He stared at her for a few moments before nodding, "Yeah, yeah okay. Let's get you out of that dress. I'll get you some clothes I think you'll fit."
He returned with a simple grey t-shirt, blue jeans, boots, and a brown vest that fit Elizabeth perfectly. She was rather surprised at this, but he explained that these clothes belonged to a relative who was as tall and buff as she was.
"I guess this is goodbye?" Christopher asked as she stood at the back door, backpack slung over her shoulder and a brand new 9mm pistol strapped to her thigh.
"Yeah… I'm sorry Chris-"
"No, don't be, I want you to be happy, Gen- I mean, Elizabeth. I love you."
Elizabeth smiled, "You're not that bad as I thought you were."
"Thanks… I guess." He returned her smile, wishing her well and closing the door behind her when she left.
Elizabeth took a breath full of the hot desert air, finally feeling free at last.
A/N: slkjdfhghlskfjh was that ok? Idk I'm super glad I made chris a bro instead of a bad guy lmao ok anyway. Now we get into fnv!