Four
"Old lines and kisses from silver screens..."
He hadn't said a word to her since they arrived at the church. Once all was clear, it was an agonizing four hours until Old Man Stockton would show up with the "package". Artemis had been staring at him for about two, Deacon's back to her as he chain-smoked cigarettes while leaning against one of the windows and watching the Commonwealth. She studied him in the road leathers he was wearing, a black Pompadour wig atop his head. There was something about the way he stood, with his arms resting against the windowsill and how one of his knees bent slightly, the toe of his boot digging into the dirty floor below him. Something about it was just... Irresistible.
A loud groan left Artemis and she snapped her eyes shut, rubbing her face with her slightly dirty hands, leaving her glasses askew. What was wrong with her, why was she so into her partner? She knew next to nothing about him, he made sure of that and yet she couldn't stop thinking about him and she couldn't keep her eyes off of him.
She fixed her glasses and stared up at the ceiling as she laid down on her pew. However, she could barely fight the urge to look at Deacon again, knowing that she had gained his attention with her frustrated sigh. Artemis had never wanted anyone so badly just to be... Utterly and completely ignored.
She got off the pew then, keeping her eyes straight ahead and walked to the back of the church and up the stairs, trying to escape Deacon and the growing fire in her gut. Artemis had already looked through all the junk when her and Deacon first arrived, but it was something to keep herself occupied. Not even half an hour in, she was already bored and her mind was on nothing but Deacon.
"What is wrong with me?" She sighed to herself, while pacing around the upper floor of the church. She couldn't escape him and his cigarettes, a smell that use to be unsavory and even repulsive to her was now filling the church and she didn't mind, she liked it even.
Eventually, Artemis found herself as far as possible from Deacon and his cigarette smoke, high up in the church steeple. The sun had set by this time and Artemis was leaning against the peeling black painted wood, one of her legs out in front of her and the other dangling over the ledge. She had managed to calm herself down and felt like her head was slowly clearing when the smell of cigarettes suddenly hit her nose.
She started to sigh before being startled by a voice. "Looks like you found a sniper's paradise."
"Yeah, MacCready would love this place," Artemis loosened her tight grip on the wood around her as she kept her balance.
"I was thinking you and me," Deacon replied, hoisting himself onto the wooden wall that surrounded the steeple. "Could've sniped all those raider bastards from up here, no problem."
"Mac is a better sniper than you," Artemis teased him. She was just happy Deacon was talking to her. Maybe the boredom had gotten to him as well.
"That kid has nothing on me, Wanderer. I can out shoot him any day," Deacon responded but Artemis noticed something. Underneath his joking, laid back demeanor he looked... Irked?
"I don't know Deeks, I've seen him do some pretty amazing things with his rifle and a few fifty cals." What this what it took? Did she have to make him jealous just to keep his attention?
"Amazing?" Deacon laughed at her. "Sound's like someone's crushing."
On you, yeah. "Maybe," Artemis bit her lip, folding her arms over her chest.
Deacon rose his eyebrows behind his sunglasses, looking shocked. "Maybe?"
"He's hot okay?" Artemis falsely admitted. Sure MacCready was cute but the dude killed people for no reason other than he was paid to do it. Artemis looked away from Deacon, feigning embarrassment, but she wanted to watch his face, she wanted to see his reaction to the random admission.
"He... MacCready.. You think-?" Deacon didn't finish. She was almost afraid he saw through the lie, recognized what she was doing. Instead he continued with "Stockton's here." Artemis looked over to where Deacon had pointed and saw Old Man Stockton and another man, presumably the "package", nearing the church. "C'mon."
She followed Deacon back down through the church, meeting Stockton and the Synth near the entrance. "Everything looks clear," he greeted Artemis and Deacon. "This is H2-22. H2, these are the agents I was telling you about."
"Hey there buddy," Deacon smiled, but Artemis' eyebrows were pushed together with a slight frown.
"Hi," she greeted him, wondering why he didn't have an actual name yet, and why he looked so timid.
"I'll fire up the signal," Stockton said as he walked over to a lantern sat on some books in a window. The Synth refugee didn't greet Artemis and Deacon back, and in the dark she could see him shaking with fear. "It's time for me to go. Keep H2 safe. Someone will be here shortly," Stockton instructed and Deacon sighed.
"Yay, more waiting," he looked to Artemis as Stockton quickly left.
"Hey, are you alright?" Artemis asked the Synth.
"It's probably safer if I don't say anything. I don't want to put you two in any more danger," He responded quietly and Artemis looked to Deacon again.
"You're safe with us bud, don't worry," Deacon reassured H2 with a carefree smile. "Wanderer here is a great shot."
"All Deacon's good for is talking," Artemis shrugged, smiling at H2 as well.
"Thank you," The Synth said politely. "You have no idea how nice it is just to talk to someone..."
"Hey," a fourth voice caught Artemis by surprise and her and Deacon both spun around to face the entrance with their weapon's drawn. "Don't shoot!"
"High Rise, shit man," Deacon said with relief, slinging his rifle over his shoulder to greet the newcomer with a casual handshake.
"Deacon, still got that same face, huh?" High Rise greeted him back. "Is this Wanderer?"
"Yeah," Artemis responded, lowering her pistol.
"Well well. I heard about you, walked the Freedom Trail, Cleared the Switchboard. Glad you joined the team, you're quite the catch."
Artemis smiled at him, this was perfect. Even if Deacon caught her bluff with MacCready, he couldn't deny this. "You look like quite the catch yourself," she admitted with her pistol in one hand by her side, her other on her hip and her head slightly cocked, sizing up the newcomer. She didn't fail to notice how Deacon's face fell straight to the filthy floorboards of the church. "Nice to make your acquaintance."
"The pleasure is all mine," High Rise responded and shook her outstretched hand, holding it slightly longer than he had Deacon's. "Let's have a look at our friend here," his attention was drawn to the Synth.
"He's hot," Artemis mouthed behind High Rise's back to Deacon and watched him fail to smile, the corners of his mouth only twitching. She wished she could see his eyes behind those sunglasses.
"Hey you. You okay?" High Rise asked H2, talking a few steps towards him.
"A little rattled. The other man... He said I shouldn't talk too much."
"He told you right H2. You'll need a real name, and a new face, but we'll get to that." He turned back to Artemis and Deacon. "There's some raiders behind me. Afraid we need a little more help.
"Sounds like fun," Artemis glanced at Deacon.
"Damn, you HQ heavies mean business," High Rise smiled at her again, looking from her pistol to her smile. "We need to get to Ticonderoga Safe House. My home."
"Lets get going then, ready H2?" Artemis asked and the Synth nodded. "Deeks?"
"Lady's first," Deacon had managed to wipe most of the shock from his face, his rifle back in his hands.
"So... There a reason HQ is calling her 'Wanderer'?" High Rise asked Deacon as Artemis and H2 headed up stairs for the beds.
Deacon turned to look at High Rise, his eyes narrowed but hidden behind his sunglasses. "Not for the reason you think," he answered with a low voice.
"She was laying it on kinda thick, did you piss her off or...?" High Rise asked rubbing the back of his head as he backed up and collapsed onto a nearby couch.
"She ain't mine," Deacon clarified further and took a seat next to him with a sigh.
"Why not?" High Rise sounded shocked. "Have you taken a look at her without those grimy shades?"
"You know the rules man," Deacon shook his head.
"There's nothing the alpha says that tells us agents we can't mingle a little."
"It's not a good idea. We're partners." Also I'm twice her age, she doesn't know anything about me, I'd never forgive myself if I caused her any harm, she's looking for a son she thinks is an infant but I know is at least twelve if not dead, by the way I stalked her for twelve years while she was frozen in Vault 111.
Deacon rubbed his forehead, feeling all the reasons he and Artemis shouldn't be together get pushed aside by sheer, and absolutely dangerous, desire.
"Okay man. I'll lay off her for you though. She's way into you," High Rise patted him on the back.
"Shut up," Deacon said flatly.
"Have you seen the way she looks at you?" High Rise asked with a laugh. "She either idolizes you or wants in your pants. Maybe both."
Deacon had noticed, he wasn't dumb. Half of him was thrilled and the other half was scared. He hadn't wanted to run from something so badly in years. The only reason he stuck around was because he couldn't imagine a day without Artemis now that he had her out and about with him. It was hard enough to stay away from her when she was frozen.
"Thanks," Deacon finally answered, not knowing what else to do or say. First Artemis was about ready to spill her heart about being in love with a merc, and now she was suddenly all over an agent he (almost) wouldn't hesitate to call his friend. He couldn't shake the feeling that this was all just a show for him, but then there was the very real worry that this wasn't just one of Artemis' ruses.
"Good luck with her," High Rise clapped Deacon on his leather clad shoulder. "Get some rest, we had a long night."
Deacon only nodded at him, watching High Rise slowly make his way up the steps from the lobby they were in. Deacon himself sunk further into the couch with a sigh. He didn't feel like he would get much sleep that night.
Still, the next morning Deacon woke up with a start as he heard a sharp "ding!" as the elevator was powered up.
"There's beds upstairs, you know," he heard Boxer's voice call down to him and Deacon rubbed his eyes beneath his sunglasses.
"Yeah, I know," he yawned, noticing a sharp ache in his neck. He rubbed at it with his hand as he stood up.
"Breakfast," Boxer nodded, indicating Deacon to follow her. "That new heavy that's with you, Wanderer? She's great. You should have stopped by sooner," Boxer continued, walking at Deacon's groggy pace.
"Yeah, you know I love me some long, lazy, dull days. Not Wanderer though," Deacon admitted.
"That why they call her Wanderer?" Boxer asked him.
"Should be. Every day she makes me walk at least five miles," Deacon rubbed at his neck again as he caught sight of Artemis seated at the bar in the kitchen next to H2-22, with High Rise frying something up on the stove.
"That's a complete lie, don't listen to him," Artemis sounded over the Diamond City Radio playing from her Pipboy. "He's never heard music before, like ever," Artemis continued, meaning the Synth.
"Really now?" Deacon asked, acting surprised, but he has seen it before. This was Artemis' first Synth escapee, for Deacon it was closer to his twentieth. Even more for Boxer and High Rise.
H2-22 shook his head "no" as the next song kicked in.
"You've got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative," High Rise sang in tune with the music. Deacon watched Artemis join in slightly off key and started dancing in her seat. It was a humorous sight, a show for H2, but Deacon was the one who was enthralled.
"You've got to spread joy up to the maxim-!" Artemis continued on, noticing how much H2 was enjoying it. She was cut off, however, gasping the last syllable of the lyric as High Rise set a mug down in front of her and poured her a hot cup of coffee.
"Is this real?" Artemis picked the mug up and smelled the coffee inside.
"'Course it's real, only the best from ol' Slocum's for my guests," High Rise answered, winking at her as he poured his sister a cup as she sat next to Artemis.
In an instant Deacon went from stable to fuming, almost feeling as if something had physically snapped inside of him.
"H2, want to try some coffee?" High Rise continued.
"N-no thank you," the Synth answered politely.
"Deacon?"
"Thought you were gonna lay off the caffeine, High Rise," Deacon answered, trying to conceal his sudden flare of emotion.
He looked over at Deacon as he poured a cup and his face dropped. "Oh yeah. Special occasion though," High Rise shrugged, walking to Deacon to give him his mug.
"Lay off caffeine? What the hell?" Boxer asked, gingerly sipping the hot coffee she had as she rose an eyebrow at her brother.
"Mild insomnia, keeps me up later than I'd like," High Rise lied quickly and Deacon pushed off the door frame he was leaning on to follow and lean on the kitchen counter instead so he'd be directly in front of Artemis.
"Because you drink it at six in the evening," Boxer mumbled back.
"Institute keeps us on our toes," High Rise defended himself.
"Oh, I know what you mean though," Artemis said, half of her coffee already gone. Deacon shaking is head caught her attention and she stopped and switched gears. Deacon glanced at Boxer, who had an old magazine in front of her, and at High Rise, who was busy frying up some mirelurk steaks. He trusted these folks with everything but personal information, especially Artemis' personal information. He already knew the Institute had a piked interest in her, so the less anyone knew about her the better.
"H2, you should really try some coffee," she handed her mug to him. "You'll regret it forever if you don't," she pressed and the Synth took the mug.
"Cheers buddy," Deacon rose his own mug in a small toast. "It's hot," he added, unsure if H2 had ever had anything warm to eat or drink before.
H2 was cautious as he took a sip from Artemis' mug, and Deacon wanted to laugh at the face he made. "It's horrible," he handed Artemis back the mug with a cough.
"Well..." Artemis too the mug back and finished the coffee off herself. "It's black, no sugar or milk," she defended the drink.
"Ew," Boxer cut in. "Coffee doesn't need anything to be great, huh Deacon?"
"Never had it any other way," Deacon agreed, smiling at Artemis. She returned it, positively beaming at him and for that moment, everything was alright for him.