Hello, dear followers! I would like to thank you guys for your interest in this story, and I would especially like to thank tealeeches for the encouraging words!

Here is chapter 2!

Chapter 2 – Tattoos and Brahmin Soup

There was a door to the right, and Vane opened it. It was a small bathroom. The sink was cracked, as well as the mirror. The toilet wasn't in much better shape, but at least it looked operable. There was a bathtub as well, surprisingly without any cracks.

Vane began to take off his armor, and Kaya stood there, cringing away from him, expecting the worst. Once he was left in cotton boxers, he reached over to untie her wrists. He was solidly built, muscles defined from the wasteland, and Kaya immediately thought she didn't stand a chance.

"Please," she whispered, and he frowned.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he repeated, meeting her eyes, and reaching for her wrists again.

"How do I know you're not?"

He sighed, and grabbed Kaya's wrists with one swift movement. He expertly untied the knots, and she cringed at the sight. The rope had left burns and deep cuts, and she hissed at the pain. Vane took two Stimpacks out of a first aid kit, and injected one in each of her wrists. The cuts began to slowly close, and after a few minutes, only white lines remained, scars that would constantly remind Kaya of her ordeal.

Vane then turned on the water in the bathtub. As the water began filling the tub, he turned to her.

"We need to get you cleaned up."

She shook her head. "I'm not taking off my clothes with you here."

He shrugged. "Then I won't look." With that, he turned around, his arms folded over his chest.

After a few moments, Kaya began to hesitantly take off her clothes. Once she was naked, she stepped into the now-filled tub. Vane reached for a bar of soap by the sink, and extended it out to her, his back still turned. Kaya took it, and began to scrub herself off. Once she was finished, she rinsed herself, and Vane held out a large clean rag. Wrapping the rag around herself, Kaya coughed to let him know she was finished.

"I need clothes," she said when he turned around. He glanced at her dirty and ripped clothes on the floor of the bathroom and nodded. Vane disappeared into the room, and Kaya could hear him rummaging around. A grunt of frustration could be heard from him, as he opened the door to the room, closing and locking it behind him. After a moment he was back, clothes in his hands.

"These were all I could find," he said, holding them out to her.

The outfit consisted of a pair of black shorts, a white t-shirt several sizes too large, and a pair of worn boots. Kaya was relieved when she noticed they were clean.

"It's hard to find clean clothes around here," Vane commented when he saw her inspecting the clothes.

"Thank you," she mumbled, and Vane left the bathroom for her to change. Once she had the clean clothes on, Kaya dried her dark brown hair as best as she could with the rag, and walked into the room. Vane's eyes looked Kaya up and down quickly, before he looked away and gestured to the bed.

"You should get some sleep. You've had a rough day."

She nodded, and settled onto the bed, and covered herself with the thin blanket. Kaya could feel sleep coming, and she wondered why she wasn't more alert, more frightened. Sleep was quickly stepping in, taking over any rational thought she had.

Before she drifted off, she saw Vane sitting at the desk, reading a book.

"I want to go home," Kaya said, struggling to keep her eyes open.

"You need rest," Vane said, lifting his eyes from the book. He watched her for a moment, until her eyes started to close.

After a few minutes, he spoke again, "What's your name?"

His voice sounded far away as she stopped fighting sleep, and felt herself drifting off.

"Kaya," she mumbled, before sleep overcame her.

When she woke hours later, she didn't know if it was day or night. You couldn't see the outside world from the vault of course, and it felt like living in a coffin, or maybe a giant container. It wasn't a good feeling. Kaya yearned to see the sky, the stars… All she wanted to do was to be back at her family's farmstead. She missed her parents, and she still couldn't believe what had happened to them. The Fiends had killed them. But, did Vane do it, too? Kaya glanced around the room, and saw him still sitting at the desk, reading the book. Was he there the whole time?

Vane's eyes flickered over to her, and he put the book down. "How are you feeling?"

"Better than yesterday."

She wanted to ask him about her parents, but she wasn't sure if she should. In the end, Kaya decided she needed to know.

"Were you part of the group that killed my parents?" she asked him.

Vane studied her for a moment before he spoke, his voice without feeling. "No. That was Cook-Cook's group. He sends them out to look for women."

"What do they do with the women?" she asked innocently.

He raised his eyebrows. "You don't know?"

Kaya shrugged. "I only know that Fiends are violent, but I don't know any details."

He sighed. "I might as well give it to you straight. A lot of Fiends rape the women they find, most of all Cook-Cook. He sends out his party to search for women for him. They brought you here for him."

"And you bought me?"

"Yeah. But, you were lucky that blonde girl came in when she did. I don't think Cook-Cook would have let you go so easily if she didn't."

"So is Cook-Cook right now…" her voice drifted off, and she couldn't finish her sentence.

Vane smiled grimly. "There's nothing we can do. It was already suspicious enough for me to challenge Cook-Cook yesterday. Almost no-one crosses him."

"Why?"

"Cook-Cook is a very important man here. If you try to defy him, it's almost guaranteed the whole Vault 3 will be after you."

Kaya paused, letting it sink in. Then she had another thought. "Why me?"

"Why you what?"

She groaned in frustration. "Why did you buy me?"

He shrugged. "Seemed like a good idea at the time."

Kaya sighed. She wasn't sure what she had expected him to say. I bought you because I thought you were pretty? I felt sorry for you? She didn't know this man, and she couldn't expect him to feel anything for her.

Vane seemed to notice her disappointment. "I'm not going to hurt you." He repeated for the third time in a low voice.

"Why don't you let me go?"

"I can't just let you run out of here. The rest of the Fiends would be on you in seconds."

"So what are you going to do then?"

"Where are you going to go?" he challenged, ignoring her question.

Kaya got up out of the bed and crossed her arms over her chest, standing up to him. "I can go anywhere I want, away from this place!"

He shook his head. "The whole Vault witnessed what happened yesterday. If they see you roaming the Mojave by yourself, you're going to be as good as dead." He picked at his fingernails, unsure if he should scare her any more than was necessary, but decided it was for the best. "There's always a chance that Driver Nephi could get you, then you would really wish you were dead."

"What do you propose, then?"

"You come to work with me for a while."

"And where do you work?" she asked sarcastically.

He looked almost insulted. "I'm a scavenger. I scavenge supplies for this place. I also sell any interesting things I find for some extra caps."

"And what do you spend your caps on?"

He crossed his arms over his chest, imitating her stance. "I don't use it to buy drugs, if that's what you mean."

"All Fiends take drugs."

"I don't."

She raised an eyebrow. "You don't?"

"No," he admitted.

"Have you ever?"

He sighed. "What do you think I'm doing in the Fiends, then? Of course I used to take them. My whole village had been burned down by the Legion when I was in my teens, and the Fiends found me. They brought me here. Gave me drugs. Years later, when I was scavenging, I visited a small town. There was a doctor there who offered to cure me of my addiction. Now I don't take them anymore. I don't find myself wanting to take them again, either."

"So why don't you leave this place?"

"It's hard to find a place where people will accept you."

"You'll never know if you don't try."

He ran his hand over his head in frustration. "You don't understand. All Fiends get a tattoo that marks you as a Fiend." He pointed to his neck, and just below his jaw was a large ram's skull. Kaya had seen other Fiends with the same tattoo, and wearing the skull on their helmets.

Kaya glanced at the tattoo, and then lifted her eyes to meet Vane's. "Despite what it's connected to, I actually think it's kind of neat…"

Vane scoffed. "Because of this, I can't live anywhere but here."

"I'm sure if people got to know you, they would look past-"

"No, they won't," Vane answered angrily.

"Do tattoos hurt?" Kaya asked, changing the subject.

He gave her an irritated look. "Of course they hurt. You've got some guy stabbing you with a needle for hours."

"Oh…" She looked over his tattoos, taking in the exquisite details. Obviously someone very talented had done them. "Do they mean anything?"

"Just the story of my life," he brushed off her question, and rose from his seat. "You should eat. Cook-Cook should have something ready in The Dump."

"The what?"

"That's where we eat," he said as if were obvious. Kaya decided it was Fiend language that she didn't understand, and followed him out the door.

Vane grabbed a hold of her hand as he led her down the Vault halls.

"I'm not a kid you know," Kaya mumbled. Vane's calloused hand held hers tightly, and she tried to pull away, but it was useless.

"I bought you, remember?" Vane said quietly, "I have to make it look like you're mine, or else the other guys are going to start getting ideas."

Kaya nodded and followed him into the cafeteria. Cook-Cook stood at a stove, cooking an unknown substance in a large pot. He turned around when they walked in, and scowled at their clasped hands.

"I take it you're happy," he said, stirring the mixture.

Vane rolled his eyes at Cook-Cook's back. "Yep," was all he answered.

"Soup's ready," Cook-Cook said, and poured them two bowls as they sat down in a booth.

"What kind of soup is it?" asked Kaya.

"Brahmin," Vane answered, dipping his bread in the soup.

Kaya was so hungry, she thought it was the best thing she had eaten in her life. When she finished the bowl before Vane, Cook-Cook poured her another with a scowl.

"I take it you're hungry from all the excitement last night. Heh heh heh," Cook-Cook chuckled nastily, his voice like sewage.

Kaya tried not to gag as she finished her second helping. Vane's knuckles turned white as he held onto his bread and spoon, but said nothing.

Cook-Cook laughed. "Typical Vane. Always so quiet, always so serious." He picked up their empty bowls and tossed them into the sink with a heap of others. "At least now you've got yourself a woman. It's about time you got yourself laid. You spend way too much time reading those stupid books."

"Let's go," Vane said abruptly, lifting Kaya out of the old diner seat by the wrist and leading her out, his arm moving to settle itself around her waist.

As they walked through the halls, Vane stopped in front of a door. "Wait here. I'll only be a second. Before I head out, I usually get an order list from Dagger."

Kaya nodded and he stepped inside the room, closing the door behind him. While she waited, a young Fiend walked up to her. His body shook slightly, and he walked unsteadily.

"So, you're Vane's new girl, eh?" he said, running a hand through his greasy, roughly chopped blonde hair.

"Uh-huh," Kaya said, trying to show some confidence.

The Fiend waved his arm in the air lazily. "Vane thinks he's better than all of us. Not taking any drugs, actually talking to outsiders and not killing them… Motor Runner even gave him his own bathroom, for some stupid reason.

"Motor Runner likes him though," he continued, "Always keeps on top of his orders and all that. Motor Runner can trust him, you know? I think that's why he keeps him around.

"Anyway," he drawled, "We recently got a new shipment from the Khans. Want to go with me to take a hit of their latest jet? I hear it's a killer."

Before Kaya could open her mouth to speak, Vane stepped out of the room, a scowl on his face. "Get lost, Mutt," he said calmly, and the Fiend scurried away.

Vane took Kaya by the hand and led her back to his room. "That's the last time I'm leaving you alone," he said, opening the door and closing it behind them.

"When can I go home?" Kaya said obliviously, her thoughts drifting to her family's farmstead. Living in the Vault was alien to her, as were its occupants. The dangerous Mojave was no better. She longed to be home.

"There's nothing left at your home," Vane said impatiently. "Everything is gone. Dead."

For the first time since she had arrived, what had happened to her seemed to sink in. She brushed away a few tears that fell down her cheeks, and turned her back to Vane, refusing to let him see her cry. It was hard to grasp that she would never see her parents again. She hadn't been apart from them her whole life, not even for a day.

"What am I going to do now?" Kaya mumbled to herself, "I've never really been in the Mojave before."

Vane patted her shoulder awkwardly. It would seem that this girl was more sheltered than he thought. What had he done, buying her? Now she was his responsibility. He wasn't sure if buying her was a good idea or not. Did he really need to take care of someone, and someone so sheltered?

"If you come work with me, you can earn some caps to get you back on your feet," Vane said, trying to cheer her up. She looked so helpless, and he began to feel sorry for her. "I'll watch out for you in the desert, so you don't need to worry."

Kaya dried her tears with the edge of her baggy t-shirt and sighed. "I guess I have no choice."