*Goodsprings, the night before*
Scott and Stiles were standing there, wrists bound in front of them as Peter rambled on and on... honestly Stiles had stopped listening... and the two Khans with him clearly didn't care for his rambling either, judging by their impatient shuffling. Beside Stiles, Scott kept trying to break the chains wrapped around his wrists.
"Don't bother Scott, the reason you got chains and Stiles here didn't is because I know your little secret," Peter cut in, tired of listening to him struggle.
Scott's eyes flew upward, wondering how he could possibly know about him being a Werewolf. He had learned how to keep his phases under control years ago- they couldn't afford the trouble of aggressive racists attacking them on sight.
Peter grinned evilly, "Did you think you could keep that secret from me, your own father as it were."
"What? You're not- I know who my dad was you asshole. He's dead, we buried him."
"Now, now, calm down, I simply meant that I'm the one that gave you The Bite," he explained with a roll of his eyes, "Aren't you excited about the gift I gave you? It was my action that gave you all your newfound powers! I've been waiting for a thank you for years now."
Scott's jaw dropped as he realized what Peter was telling him, "You? You're the one that attacked me when I was a kid? Why? Do you have any idea how shitty my life has been since then?!"
"Oh don't take that tone with me Beta, or should I call you Omega? It's not like you have a Pack or anything. Besides, it was hardly an 'attack'... I tackled you and Bit you, that's it. Don't be so dramatic."
Scott strained against the cold metal, wanting to rip Peter's throat out, "As soon as I'm free of these chains, I'm going to kill you!"
"It was you? All those years ago? Why the hell did you do it?" Stiles asked, completely dumbfounded by the revelation, forgetting the immediate danger his life was in. He had so many questions... Peter was absolutely right, he hadn't viciously attacked them back then. At the time it had been terrifying but all he'd done was knock Stiles to the side before jumping on Scott. Then he was gone. And now that he was talking about it all, it was starting to seem planned... not random like they'd always assumed.
"Because I knew my Bite would take, that the likelihood of a fatality was very low. Even as a young boy he was brimming with potential! I was hoping that he'd be intrigued by the gift I gave him and come looking for me... Needless to say I was disappointed when it became obvious that he wanted nothing to do with me- his own Alpha! But it wasn't like he was the only one that I gave the Bite to. But most of the kids that came looking for me were such letdowns... I had to get rid of them. A shame really, that none of them were strong enough... maybe if they had sought be out sooner, they wouldn't have been so weak!" Peter sighed to himself at the waste of his efforts. But he grinned down at his captives, continuing to explain,"Now Scott here, he still has potential- I never would have thought that a lonely Omega would figure out how to hide his Beta form. I think the only thing holding him back is you, a filthy Human that thinks he can be friends with a Were. That ends tonight though," Peter said, raising his gun.
"Don't you dare!" Scott bellowed, eyes suddenly shining in the darkness. "He's the one that trained me, that helped me to understand this so-called 'gift,' he didn't abandon me like the rest of my friends did when I became a freak! He's like a brother to me, you don't get to ridicule him- you don't have the right!"
Peter's eyes turned red, a snarl forming on his face, "You don't get to backtalk me Scott, I MADE you! You are MINE! I'll make you stronger, take you out of this menial existence as a petty wanderer. You'll finally flourish, unlike with this Human. Right now you're an Omega, you're nothing- weak! Become my Beta and gain power."
"No!" Scott snarled.
At his defiance, Peter growled, stepping towards Scott, trying to threaten him into submission... but somehow Scott stood strong and proud, snarling back at the Alpha. Peter cut off his growling, appraising the younger Were. He was just full of surprises! Not only was he able to appear Human, he wasn't easily cowed; Peter had really hit the jackpot with Scott. Now all he had to do was rein him in. "Tsk, tsk Scott, it's rude to defy your Alpha like that-"
"You are not my Alpha, nor will you ever be," Scott spat out, taking a step towards the dangerous Wolf.
Stiles was rooted to the spot... there was so much going on... Peter had been expecting Scott to go crawling to him after all these years? He was right that Scott had a lot of potential but that was in spite of Peter, they didn't need his help! And now he was looking down on his relationship with Stiles? A big mistake. Peter was greatly underestimating the bond that he and Scott shared; Scott would never abandon him. If he thought that this was the way to win him over, he was sorely mistaken.
Peter was done playing Scott's game, he didn't have time for an uncooperative teenager at the moment. It was nice to see how the boy was faring after all these years but he wasn't quite at the level that Peter needed him to be. Besides, there was important business to take care of at The Strip, Scott's progress would have to come second... although there was time for a quick attitude adjustment. The Omega needed to learn not to cross him. He leveled the gun at the Human's head and pulled the trigger, smirking to himself- that would catch Scott's attention.
Stiles felt the world slow down; he watched as Peter raised his pistol, slowly registering that it was pointed right at him... he tried to sidestep but was way too slow. All Stiles managed to was flinch away from the shot he knew was coming, eyes squeezed shut. He heard a loud scream before everything went quiet.
Scott cried out in pain as he watched Stiles's head snap back right before he collapsed to the ground in a lifeless heap. With a sudden surge of anger, Scott finally managed to crack the chains that bound his wrists. He snarled as he turned back to Peter; the Alpha was standing right behind him and whipped him with the butt of his pistol. The force of the hit caused Scott's vision to blacken around the edges and he dropped to the ground.
"Let's get out of here, I got my chip, that's all I needed," Peter called out, signaling for the two Khans to follow him.
Scott tried to go after Peter but his body wasn't cooperating, the savage blow to his head was messing with his coordination... making his limbs heavy. He tumbled to the ground every time he tried to stand, legs unable to support him... his vision also kept blurring and dimming, making it hard to focus. Tears were streaming down his face, both from anguish and frustration; he gave up trying to stand, knowing that Peter would be way too far ahead for him to catch now. So he crawled back towards his brother, yelling out his name. As he came closer to Stiles, he thought he heard a heartbeat, but his own was thumping loudly in his ears so he couldn't be sure. Scott cradled Stiles in his lap, bending over him, wishing Stiles would wake up and wrap his arms around him. His mourning was interrupted by a low whirring noise, startling him out of his thoughts. Looking around, he saw a robot coming towards them, his face screen a beacon in the night.
"What's going on here stranger?" the robot asked.
"Help please, my brother, he's been shot, you have to help me!" Scott begged, unable to bring himself to look down at Stiles's pale face.
"Does he still have a heartbeat? We've got to get him to Dr. Deaton right away," the robot assessed, coming closer.
Scott grabbed Stiles's wrist and his sensitive fingers picked up a faint heartbeat. He sobbed out in relief, "Yea, he has a pulse, can you help me carry him? I- I don't think I can do it..."
"Not a problem, let's get going," he responded, hunching over and hoisting Stiles up with his mechanical arms.
Scott clambered to his feet and stumbled after the robot, head clearing just a bit; his heart was racing again- Stiles still had a chance! If this Dr. Deaton was a miracle worker then Stiles could come back to him. They moved through the dark town, Scott not even noting his surroundings... thankfully it wasn't long before they stopped at a house. The robot called out for the doctor while Scott knocked on the door frantically.
"What's going on? Is Bethany having her baby already?" a voice called out to them.
They heard some shuffling, then a light turned on, and the door opened; a man looked at the group with an alarmed expression on his face.
"Help," Scott whispered, suddenly unable to talk.
The man took in scene, quickly assessing the damage; he pulled open the door and ushered the robot in, "Over here, set him down on the table, nice and easy. What happened?" The doctor wasted no time, washing his hands and gathering all of his equipment while Scott tried to explained. All he did was nod his head and then he asked for privacy, pulling a small partition around the surgery table.
Scott slid to the floor, praying to whoever would listen for Stiles to be okay. He was so preoccupied that he didn't notice the robot hovering over him until his wheel came directly into his line of sight. Glancing up, he noticed that the robot had a cowboy face, which explained his accent.
"Howdy, my name's Victor by the way, nice to meet you."
"Scott, and in there is Stiles. Thanks for helping us, he'd probably be dead if it wasn't for you. I'm not sure how I could ever thank you Victor," Scott replied.
Victor waved his arm, "Think nothing of it, I'm happy to help those in need. But I best be going now, just wanted to introduce myself before I left. Your friend is in good hands."
And just like that Victor rolled out of the house, somehow managing to close the door behind him. Scott stayed on the floor, too worried to move; he could feel the stress sapping his muscles of strength.
*Graveyard, Present*
Stiles sat there, ignoring the tears running down his face as Scott finished recounting the night's events. Peter hadn't given his death a single thought, he just saw him as an annoying Human that had interfered with his project. Just like that he was ready to kill, if he deemed his target useless or in his way. Stiles was glad that he decided to leave Scott alive, clearly he saw Scott's potential and didn't want to kill him off yet. But Stiles didn't really understand Peter's thought process... he definitely wasn't going to win Scott's allegiance by killing his best friend right in front of him (as far as Peter knew, he was dead). He looked down at his hands, realizing he'd been twirling an old snow globe in his hands. "Thanks for saving me Scotty, I know it would have been easy to just assume I was dead and leave me there."
"I-I couldn't leave you there man. I mean, my first thought was ripping Peter's throat out, but I realized I couldn't catch him. When I felt your pulse I just felt this sensation in my chest, I couldn't believe it really, I had so much hope that I thought my heart would give out. Maybe hope isn't the right word, I had this need for you to live, if you were to die and leave me all alone, I don't think I could have gone on any more. Peter was wrong, you are my Pack Stiles, we're in this together, we always have been."
Stiles finally reached up to wipe his eyes, knowing that Scott would never tease him for crying, especially not when they almost lost each other. He grabbed Scott and pulled him into a hug, almost afraid to let go, but Scott held him just as fiercely. After a long moment, they pulled away and got to their feet, sniffling quietly; reliving it had taken more out of them than they would've thought.
Scott noticed that Stiles hadn't put the trinket back by the grave. "You going to steal that?" he asked, nudging his friend.
Stiles gave the globe a closer look, noticing Vault-Boy standing in the foreground with a pickaxe and a barn-like building behind him, along with a windmill, along the base it had the name of the town, Goodsprings. "You know, I think I want to take this with us, to commemorate the town I almost died in! Sorry ghosty, but I'm going to have to take this, I hope you understand," Stiles said, turning back to the grave he had grabbed it from. Then he turned to Scott and unzipped the pack, tucking it inside.
"I feel weird carrying something like this, it's like stealing," Scott told him, shifting the pack like it was suddenly a lot heavier.
"Y'know, for how lawless it is out here in the Wastes, you certainly have really strong morals- who raised you like that?" he joked, grinning at Scott. "I don't understand how we ever became such good friends back in the vault, we were polar opposites!"
"Someone had to be the voice of reason, otherwise you might've ended up destroying the whole vault! Now you keep me around because you know I'll stop you from doing all the really bad things. And I keep you around to break the rules for me, that way my slate stays nice and clean," Scott smiled.
"Oh I see, I'm just here to take all the bad karma! How nice of you! Hey, wait a minute, that's probably the reason I got shot in the head then! It's your fault for making me rack up the bad karma!" Stiles complained.
Scott took it all in stride, "It's not my fault you are morally ambiguous and are okay with doing all the things that attract bad karma to begin with. Like digging up graves, or stealing."
"Shut up, that was for a job! It's not my fault we were hired to find a specific gun that someone had been buried with... nor that the asshole didn't actually know which grave was his brother's. You should've been helping me but nooooo, you kept talking about desecration and whatnot." Stiles rolled his eyes in mock disbelief... in truth it had made Stiles a little uncomfortable to be disturbing the dead like that- he'd made sure to cover everyone back up! And he didn't steal anything from them! The globe was just... special, and it had been left on top of the grave, not buried with the person... so he didn't feel quite as bad about taking it, under the circumstances. "C'mon, let's go back to Sunny so we can learn how to make us some healing powder, although I have a feeling I'm going to be needing it more than you."
The brothers laughed as they made their way down from the cemetery; on the way back to Sunny's campfire they made pit stops by all the water wells to skin the Geckos they had killed. They figured that no one else was going to harvest the meat so they might as well do it so it wouldn't go to waste. They had learned to stock up on meat whenever they found a fresh supply! By the time they returned to Sunny, their arms were full of the meat to cook and hides to roll up.
"I see you boys have been busy, did you have any luck with the plants?" she asked.
"Sure did," Stiles said as Scott took off his pack to rifle through it, pulling out the broc flower and xander root.
"Alright, now I can show you boys how to make some healing powder," she said, taking the ingredients from him and crouching over the campfire. ** In a few simple steps, she had the root ground up and then added in to flower, pulling out a small burlap bag to dump the mix in. Then she stood up and handed it to Scott, telling them how simple it was. "That's really the last thing I can think of to teach you. You're a capable shooter and I'm sure you've got other supplies that you carry regularly but now you can add some healing powder to your list of essentials! Although, you're free to stop by if you're ever in the area again, you never know when I might discover some new recipes!" Sunny waved and started heading back into town but she stopped and suddenly turned back around, "Oh, and stop by the saloon to say hi to Melissa before you leave town; she loves to greet any and all travelers. She'd be hurt to hear that I helped you boys out and didn't even send you to say hey. She might even have some information on the guy that gave you that scar," she added on, pointing to Stiles's temple.
"Thanks, we'll do that, right after we finish cooking up this meat so it doesn't go bad."
They waved again as she walked off, the boys stoking the fire to cook the meat. About an hour passed and the sun was finally starting to set when they had all the Gecko meat cooked and pack away, wrapped up in old papers.
"Time to go back to town and see what we can find out about Peter?" Scott asked.
"Yup, let's go."
Scott and Stiles entered the saloon, turning the corner to approach the bar when they saw a dark-skinned man in a Kevlar vest, NCRCF stamped across the back of it. They slowed down, not wanting to attract attention and Scott turned his head so he could focus on what he was saying.
"I'm done being nice. If you don't hand Ringo over soon, I'm going to get my friends and we're burning this town to the ground, got it?"
"We'll keep that in mind. Now if you're not going to buy anything, get out."
He abruptly turned around and pushed passed them, muttering, "What the fuck are you looking at?"
They watched him go before turning back to the lady he had been talking to, wondering what had just happened. Should they ask or leave it alone?
Before they could say anything, she spoke up. "You boys have been causing quite the stir, happy to finally meet you both, I'm Melissa; what can I help you with?"
Scott jumped in before Stiles could properly introduce them, "We couldn't help but overhear that argument, what was that all about?" It seemed like that guy was trying to cause trouble and there was no way he'd just walk away if there was something they could do to help.
Melissa sighed as she walked back behind the bar, "We apparently got dragged into some trouble... and I really wish we hadn't. This trader by the name of Ringo came into town about a week ago, said that he survived some kind of attack and needed a place to hole up for awhile. He told us some bad men were after him, but we didn't actually think they'd follow him here!"
Stiles scowled, "Great guy, bringing trouble to this small town. What are you going to do about it?"
"Not really sure, the town hasn't come together to talk about it yet... most of them have been trying to ignore it honestly. Some people like Sunny will probably offer him help, if he ever decides to ask," Melissa shrugged. "But personally I'd be a lot happier if he just snuck out one night and didn't come back; that way we'd all avoid some trouble. I really don't feel like dealing with the Powder Gangers."
Scott and Stiles looked at each other, "Powder Gangers?"
Melissa gave them a surprised look, "Don't know them? I guess they aren't super widespread yet, we're just unfortunate enough to be close to the correctional facility. They're a chain gang pretending to be a group of thugs- don't let them tell you otherwise. The NCR brought them in to work on the rail lines, hoping to get them up and running again..."
Stiles groaned, easily guessing where her explanation was going, "Did they seriously hand over a bunch of dynamite and blasting powder to inmates?" Both of them had worked on railways before, needing to make some quick cash, so they knew all of the tools involved for something like that. Was the NCR really that idiotic?
Melissa nodded her head, "Yup, and with it they managed some big escape not long ago... and now we're stuck dealing with them while the NCR sits around with their thumbs up their asses. And that man, Joe Cobb, seems to be the self-appointed leader of them."
"Why not just kill him then? Should make most of your problems go away," Stiles suggested.
Scott elbowed him in the ribs, "Stiles, do you have any tact at all?" Just throwing out suggestions like that would give them a bad reputation- he had no idea how Melissa felt about that kind of stuff! They weren't mercenaries and Scott really didn't want people thinking that they were...
"What? He's an asshole, the world won't miss him or anything, it's not like I'm suggesting that we torture him mercilessly. Just… dispatch him, and viola, problem solved."
Melissa shook her head, "Murder isn't how we solve things around here, even for scum like Cobb. That's just asking for more trouble down the line... we'll figure something out I suppose."
Scott leaned over the bar, "Where is this Ringo guy anyways?"
"Holed up in the abandoned gas station, just up the road from Doc Deaton's place," Melissa said.
"What if we decide to help this Ringo out?" Stiles asked. He already knew Scott wanted to- when Melissa had first mentioned someone was in trouble, Scott had given him the puppy eyes. Might as well find out what was in it for them while they were talking about it.
"Well, you'd definitely be helping the townsfolk out a whole bunch, so your reputation would skyrocket, which of course could lead to a discount here and there. But… if you decide to help him, the Powder Gangers are going to be mad, and they have a lot of friends out there. It's only fair to mention that too, we'd all understand if you prefer to stay out of it."
Scott growled, "They aren't people we'd want to be friends with anyways, so that doesn't matter. And at least if they attack us first, we'll be defending ourselves."
Melissa slowly nodded her head, giving the two boys an appraising look; they might be rough around the edges, but she could tell they had decent hearts. Not many people would want to get involved if a violent gang was threatening to take on a whole town. Not when it was just so much easier to skip out and keep their noses clean.
"We can go chat with him and see what's going on, no big deal. Oh, while we're here, do you think you could tell us a little about the guys that um, almost killed me?" Stiles asked, hoping that she'd have some information.
She nodded her head, "They did stop by in here, acting like they owned the place, even tried to get free drinks, but I made them pay up. Although one of the Great Khans decided to 'accidentally' knock over my radio and it's been broken since then. A shame too, I liked catching some outside information every now and again."
Scott perked up then, "I might be able to fix it."
Stiles tried not to smile- he was such a people-pleaser! Melissa was likable though so it wasn't surprising that his brother wanted to do something for her. If Stiles was good at tinkering he probably would've offered too, but he was better with computers.
"That would sure be nice of you, I'd give you caps for your effort," Melissa smiled. The radio hadn't even been busted for that long but she already missed the music that played from the nearby tower.
Scott went around the bar and started fiddling with the radio while Stiles asked a few more questions, "So, did that asshat happen to mention where he was heading?"
"Well, they were arguing about something, and I know I heard one of them mentioning coming down from Quarry Junction, but the guy in the fancy suit kept shushing them, so I didn't catch much. Although truth be told, if they came from Quarry Junction, I'm not surprised they won't be going back that way. That place is crawling with monsters you don't want to mess with. All the merchants that come through avoid that stretch of I-15 like it's radioactive… which it could be for all I know," Melissa said, looking thoughtful for a moment. She hadn't heard anything about contamination, just the big monsters... but that was just as possible as anything else.
"Right, note to self, stay away from Quarry Junction. Is it too much to hope that you may have heard their overall destination?"
"Nothing specific, but there was a lot of talk about The Strip, so I'm fairly certain that's where they're headed. But if they want to get there and avoid I-15, they're going to have to go east and take Highway 93 up."
Stiles slapped his palm down on the wooden bar, "Thank God you heard that, you're awesome Melissa! At least now we have a direction to go, and the safe way to get there."
Just then they heard a crackle and music started filling the room, Scott letting out an excited whoop- he'd gotten it to work. Melissa turned around and pulled him into a tight hug, thanking him over and over as she pulled a handful of caps out of her pocket and pressed them into his hands.
Stiles watched as Scotty beamed and hugged her back, happy to have helped a person in need; he really was such a nice person... he couldn't fathom why Scott stuck with him for so long. It wasn't hard to tell that Stiles had no problem doing questionable stuff, but Scott was so genuinely nice... it was surprising how little they argued about morality and stuff... "Well I guess we better head on out and see what's up with Ringo before we follow Peter's trail. He's already got quite the head start on us, it can't hurt to postpone it another day," Stiles shrugged.
"Please make sure that Cobb doesn't follow you, Ringo seems like a good kid, even if he did bring all this trouble here with him," Melissa asked, reaching across the bar to pull Stiles into a hug as well. She got the feeling that it had been a long time since either of them had really gotten affection from someone.
"Careful is our middle name!" Scott replied, draping an arm around Stiles as he straightened. Then he looked down and saw the scar and corrected himself, "Well, it's my middle name… Danger-Magnet is his middle name."
Melissa and Stiles both started laughing as soon as he said that, it was definitely appropriate, now more than ever. It prompted her to warn them again to be careful, not wanting them to get hurt. After they assured her that they wouldn't take any undue risks, they waved goodbye and went out the front door. They turned to the right and started heading up the small hill, easily spying the old gas station from the road. Scott was still beaming as they walked in silence; Stiles couldn't really be sure, but he was starting to believe that Scott truly got some kind of spiritual energy when he helped others. There was no other way to explain his happy moods, it just wasn't natural! But after all the drama during their travels, Stiles was happy to have his own personal ray of sunshine out in the crap-hole called The Wastes. When they got to the building, the boys scrounged around for a bit- Melissa had said it was abandoned so, in theory, they could keep whatever they found. There wasn't much though so they turned and went inside... the door slammed shut behind them as they stopped dead in their tracks... there was a guy pointing a gun at them, again.
"That's close enough. Who are you boys? And what do you want with me?"
Scott stepped in front of Stiles, hands raised, "Easy there, we're not looking for any trouble. I take it you must be Ringo?"
After a moment of consideration, he lowered his weapon, "You don't seem like you're with the others... sorry, I'm a bit on edge, and you just barged in here… can't really afford to take any chances you know? Let's start over, I'm Ringo, a trader from the Crimson Caravan Company. Nice to meet you."
"I'm Scott, and this is my brother Stiles, we came looking for you after we heard Cobb giving Melissa a hard time in the saloon. Did you know he's in town?"
Ringo rolled his eyes, "I figured he'd catch up before too long, although I notice he didn't make his appearance until after the sun went down. I know he's afraid that if I catch sight of him, I'll shoot him, which is true. I'm more worried about when all of his friends show up, I can't take them all on…"
"Wait, why are they even after you?" Stiles asked, coming out from behind Scott. Ringo said he was a victim but it could be a lie... they needed to know that they weren't helping a criminal that was just as bad as Cobb.
"The caravan I was in was on the way back from California, heading up to the New Vegas branch when we got jumped. They didn't even give us a warning, like you'd expect... they just started shooting. We did our best but we were outgunned and outmanned. I did manage to hit some of the bandits before I ran for it. I figure this is their friends coming after me for revenge. Or they don't want any survivors reporting to the NCR, but I don't know why they'd care about that, they're already convicts."
"What are you going to do about it?" Scott asked, a worried frown on his face. He hadn't heard any signs of a lie and he knew Stiles would guess that by his relaxed stance.
"Well, I'm hoping to just lie low for as long as I can, wait for things to blow over… assuming that the townsfolk don't just throw me to the wolves. I can't take on the whole gang by myself so..." Ringo said, shrugging hopelessly.
Scott shared a look with Stiles, and they both nodded; Stiles couldn't say no to Scott…who couldn't say no to someone in need. "We'll help you," Scott offered.
Ringo scoffed, "Yea, like the three of us would stand a chance, we'd just end up all sharing the same grave-"
Scott and Stiles both growled, although Scott's was more guttural; the thought of dying to some idiotic chain gang so soon after Peter wasn't acceptable.
"You severely underestimate our skills," Stiles shot back. "You really think a couple of bullets would put us down for the count?" he asked, pointing to his new scar.
Scott crossed his arms, "We've recently been to Hell and back, I wouldn't really test us right now. We've got a score to settle and nothing is going to get in our way of that."
Ringo looked them over, "If you've so recently gone through a hard time, all the more reason to be careful right now. Being reckless is only going to get you to your graves faster. If we got more of the townspeople involved then we'd be much better off, don't you agree?"
Stiles fumed, starting to get irritated by the guy's attitude- there they were trying to offer some help and he basically threw it back in their faces… who was he to assume they weren't good enough to take on some lame gang? Stiles clenched his fists, if only he still had his baby, the convicts would be dead in seconds. He'd just have to find himself a nice vantage point and they wouldn't even know what hit them. Literally. And Scott would be down in the action to sweep up any stragglers, but no, this guy wanted to put innocent townspeople in danger. It seemed a little selfish, especially considering that the others were only stuck getting involved because he chose their old gas station to hide out in.
Scott picked up on his anger easily, putting a calming hand on his back, knowing exactly what Stiles was thinking, "We can ask around, but you really shouldn't be expecting these innocent people to put their lives on the line for you. I wouldn't expect much if I were you."
"Start by asking Sunny, she's been real nice, more so than the others in town, let me know what she says," Ringo told them, ignoring Scott's comment.
Stiles just turned away and pushed his way back out the door, stomping down the hill, Scott right behind him. "Can you believe that jackass? He's ready to try and recruit the whole town to his side, to fight his battle for him. If he can't take on his own enemies, he's not going to get far!"
"I know, but it can't hurt to ask; anyone that doesn't want to help can stay in their homes, we won't be forcing anyone. The more that decide to help, the easier it will be," Scott tried to placate.
"If I still had my damn gun, this would never even need to be an option- I don't want Sunny to get shot just because she thinks she needs to help this guy. It's bad enough that you might get shot Scotty, and I know you'll heal," Stiles practically shouted, throwing out that last part as a rushed whisper. "We may joke about my moral ambiguity, but at least I don't needlessly risk other people's lives! Just my own..."
Scott watched as he took a few deep breaths to calm himself, hands reaching up to massage his eyes. He shrugged his shoulders, "Let's just go ask her. I mean, if I had to guess, I'm sure she'd probably get offended if we let this fight go down without her. If she's willing to fight, we can't just make her choice for her, you know that. Besides, Ringo will try to skip out on the fight if we don't get at least one more capable person on our side. Since he's the one that brought the Powder Gangers here, it's only fair that he participates in the showdown."
Stiles nodded his head and the two pushed their way back into the saloon, hoping to find Sunny there. They didn't see her right away but they heard Cheyenne barking, who must have smelled them because she came bounding around the corner to greet them.
"Hey, sticking around for awhile longer?" Sunny asked as she came around the corner to see who Cheyenne had found.
Stiles nodded, but let Scott talk, he knew he'd have a bitter tone if he was the one to bring it up.
"We're uh, thinking of helping Ringo out, and he's worried that just the two of us aren't enough-"
"Quite the rude assumption," Stiles muttered, interrupting his friend, unable to help himself.
"I'm sure he'd feel more at ease if you were to lend us a hand," Scott finished, not so subtly knocking Stiles in the ribs.
Sunny snorted, "Well, considering that you two were recently almost in a grave, he might have a point."
"That's only because he was a Were- an Alpha, and we didn't know it… the guy that had us delivering the package failed to tell us it was a highly sought after item… cheapskate! If he had mentioned that, we would have been more prepared. But thanks to trying to save some caps, we were left in the dark!" Stiles ranted, obviously a little bitter that they had been lied to and had almost died because of it. "With this we know the guys are coming- big difference."
Sunny nodded in understanding, a frown pulling at her lips, "Sorry, I didn't actually know any of the details... just that you'd been shot and patched up by Deaton. It really sounds like someone gave you the short end of the stick... Even so, you have to realize that not a lot of people are comfortable with being outmanned- he doesn't personally know your skill so of course he's going to want more help. Don't hate him for it. But to actually answer the question, I'd be more than happy to help. I want those guys out of our hair for good, they'll learn soon enough that we aren't a town of pushovers."
"Well that was easy, Ringo should be plenty happy now," Scott grinned.
"I do think it would be good to get a few more hands involved, at least to show the Powder Gangers that we stand together as a town. Everyone really looks up to Melissa, why don't you ask her what she thinks about this, and if she'll join us. If she does, a lot of others will too."
"Whoa, I don't want Melissa getting hurt," Stiles cut in, looking uneasy.
"She knows how to handle herself, don't you worry," Sunny smiled. "We should also ask Easy Pete to share some dynamite... And I know Chet over in the general store just got some leather armor, we should talk to him as well."
"I guess we can, if you really think so," Scott offered, trying to please everyone. It wasn't really the plan to ask that many people for help but Sunny was the one that lived in Goodsprings with them... if she thought they were worth talking to then the least they could do was try. Like he had told Stiles, it wasn't their place to decide for them if they wanted to join the fray.
"Oh, and, maybe talk with Deaton, see if he has any extra stimpacks lying around, we'll probably need those. Can never be too careful when it comes to a gunfight," she added on before excusing herself to get ready.
Stiles groaned but nodded his head; he really didn't want to ask favors of all those people but she seemed hell-bent on getting their help... which meant that Scott was going to do it. As he was starting to formulate a plan, wondering who to approach first, Sunny turned around again.
"Um, just a few words of advice, Melissa is going to feel more secure if she knows we have a solid plan. Chet won't just let his armor go either, even if the town is at stake, so be prepared to barter… And Easy Pete, he's pretty protective of his stuff, he won't be handing it over unless he's sure you know how to handle yourself. So if you can't get help from everyone, I understand."
That was definitely all good information to have and they were glad that she thought to warn them. They looked at each other and silently reached a consensus- might as well ask Melissa first. It seemed like there wasn't much point of continuing if they didn't get her on board. And they were already in the saloon so they should at least see if she was still up. And she was, they found her behind the bar, wiping it down.
"Hey, Melissa, could we ask you for a favor?" Scott opened, sliding onto one of the stools.
She gave him a knowing look, "You're going to take on Cobb and his friends right? You're taking a big risk, but I suppose you boys know what you're doing."
"Yea, and since you seem to be the pseudo-matriarch of the town, it wouldn't be right if we didn't ask for your help. Sunny is sure it's going to be exciting, and she says you know how to handle yourself. It might be fun."
Melissa chuckled, "Well, it has been some time since I've had to pull out my old shotgun..."
"And once we get a better idea of who all wants to help, I promise we'll formulate a battle plan," Stiles added on, remembering what Sunny had said. He didn't want to lie though... they didn't have a battle plan yet. But they'd have something in place before the fight, he was sure of it.
"Alright, alright," Melissa conceded, "I guess I can't let you kids have all the fun. You're right, I feel responsible for the town so I can't just sit here with my head in the sand. Outright murder isn't how we do things but we will defend ourselves. You can count me in."
Scott and Stiles both smiled, liking Melissa even more than before- she wasn't afraid to stand and protect her home. They stayed just a few more minutes to plan with Melissa; she promised to ask around while they went to talk to the other people on Sunny's list. She was hopeful that most of the people would be willing to stand together, at least if she was the one doing the asking rather than two strangers. As they left to go talk with Chet, she gave them the same warning Sunny had, that he was a cheapskate. But none of them could argue against the fact that he had supplies they could use. Since it was getting late, they hurried next door to the general store, hoping it was still open; Chet was in the back room, getting ready to head to bed but he hadn't actually locked the door yet- good enough!
"Hey, sorry to catch you so late but, Sunny and Melissa were wondering if you'd be willing to help us out in a pinch?" Scott asked, smiling hopefully in an effort to butter him up.
"Is this about that Ringo fella? My opinion: we should just hand him over. We don't need to get mixed up in his problem," Chet answered, crossing his arms. "But don't go thinking I'm a chicken for saying that! We're all survivors here and I'd fight tooth and nail along with everyone else if push comes to shove. I just don't think we should go looking for trouble is all."
"But, we were hoping you'd be able to give us some supplies to help out in the fight," Scott mumbled, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. "Sunny mentioned that you had some leather armor and stuff?"
"Whoa, like I said, I'm not voting for the fight... so why should I have to give up good supplies and hurt my business? We aren't fighters, we're farmers... it's a bit of a long shot in the first place," Chet argued.
"Come on man, the town is at stake here- do you really think a few supplies are worth more than your neighbors? If we lose, you can bet the Powder Gangers aren't going to go easy on you just because you weren't a part of the fight. They're going to try and take over this town whether you hand Ringo over or not. I know their type, they think they're badasses because they escaped from prison and they want to show everyone how tough they are. This isn't really the kind of fight you can just sit out Chet... we're gonna need your help dude," Stiles pushed, wanting him to understand.
Chet groaned, but Stiles could see that his argument had won him over, "Alright, you've made your point, I can provide some people with leather armor and extra ammo… I hope this is all worth it. But make no mistake, I'm going to be guarding my store while all of this is going on, my business comes first."
"Thanks a lot man, Melissa and Sunny sure will appreciate this!" Scott exclaimed. Stiles was so much better than him when it came to convincing people... he could do a good sad face but that was it. Stiles would talk at people until they saw his point! Although, Scott was a little surprised that Chet wasn't going to make everyone pay for the items, it sounded like he was agreeing to give it out for free. Maybe Chet wasn't quite as cheap as everyone thought... at least not if someone made him feel guilty enough!
Chet just rolled his eyes as he shooed them out of his store... it was obvious that he still felt like it was an awful idea.
After talking with Chet, they decided to go look for the dynamite master, Easy Pete. He wasn't at his usual spot at the front of the saloon... but it was rather late. Neither of them knew where he lived and they weren't about to go around knocking on doors, not at that late of an hour. Just as they decided that maybe they should focus on finding their own place to crash, Scott spotted a rancher out tending to his animals so they asked him. Thankfully he knew where Pete lived and was willing to tell them; the boys headed straight over, hoping he would answer and not be too grumpy about the time. They swallowed in apprehension before knocking on the door. They waited patiently as they heard some groans and the creak of a mattress; eventually the door opened and Easy Pete was there, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"Hey, sorry to wake you but time is kinda of the essence... umm, we were wondering if you'd be willing to help us out with the Powder Ganger situation? Sunny said you were the guy in town when it comes to dynamite... if we could get our hands on some, we'd definitely have the upper hand," Scott asked.
"Too dangerous, gonna kill yourselves if I let ya touch it, no, it's better off buried. A lot safer that way."
Scott deflated but Stiles stepped forward, not willing to give up that easily. "Sir, we've worked on the rail lines before, so we've handled dynamite- we know all about the safety and handling procedures."
They held their breath as he looked them over, eventually deciding that they were telling the truth, "Alright, I'll go dig it up, have it ready by the time the fighting starts up, but you best be careful with it!"
"Thank you so much, I promise we'll be the only ones handling it, that way no one in the town gets hurt," Scott said, reaching forward to shake the older man's hand.
They bid him goodnight and decided to head on over to Deaton's house, figuring they might as well get it out of the way and not wait... they didn't actually know when the gangbangers would show up. Stiles just hoped that he wouldn't be too put out by their request. When they knocked on his door, he answered it rather quickly... which meant he hadn't been asleep and was probably expecting someone.
"Oh, it's you two- you don't need to be patched up again already do you?!"
"No, no, nothing like that," Stiles assured him as they were welcomed inside.
"We don't want to take up too much time, you seem like you're waiting for company... it's just that the Powder Gangers are coming into town and we're all going to make a stand. Do you think you could give us any spare medical supplies?" Scott explained, feeling bad for asking.
Deaton sighed, "I don't have much, but I'll give what I can, these folks are my friends after all. I'd hoped it wouldn't come to this, but maybe with you two helping out there won't be much bloodshed… at least on our end."
They waited just inside the door as he left to go round up some supplies, both boys feeling really guilty about it. When he came back, he handed over 5 stimpacks and a few rolls of bandages, which Scott carefully tucked away.
"We'll pay you back for this Deaton, I promise. I know you're doing it for the good of the town, but we understand how scarce these supplies are. Plus we still have to repay you for saving my life. Whenever we head back this way, we'll make sure to drop some stuff off," Stiles promised, not wanting to take advantage.
"Oh you don't have to do that, really. Just help make sure the town doesn't get taken over by those bullies," Deaton told them, not really believing they'd come back to visit Goodsprings. Why would they, there wasn't much around. He'd get more supplies when the next trader came through, just like he always did.
"We'll wipe them all out, that's a guarantee," Stiles nodded solemnly.
He stood at the door, watching as they went further up the hill, something about those two boys intrigued him, but he pushed the thought away... reminding himself that they'd be leaving after the fight.
Scott knocked on the door this time before entering the gas station, wanting to avoid getting shot. Inside they saw Ringo and Sunny, both looking at them expectantly. "Good news, we got everyone on the list to help out! Melissa even said that she'd ask around to see who else might want to lend a hand. Pete said he'd have the dynamite ready by the time the Gangers show up," Scott told them.
Ringo relaxed, leaning back against the wall in relief, and Sunny congratulated them, "I'm sure it wasn't easy to convince him to hand over his explosives, but I'm glad you did. And Chet probably gave you a hard time too, but their help will definitely make a difference."
"Yup, now all we have to do is wait," Stiles shrugged, looking around.
"Yea, I doubt they'll be attacking at night, not when they don't know the area... but on the other hand, gathering from how pissed Cobb was earlier, they'll probably be here first thing in the morning, so we should get some rest," Sunny suggested. "You boys could crash at my place, I only have a couch to offer, but it beats the floor right?"
"That sounds great, we've definitely slept on worse. And that way we'll be right there when the bad news rolls into town."
"Come get me in the morning, and we'll take 'em down," Ringo stated, feeling much more confident now.
"Yea, whatever, bye Ringo," Stiles said over his shoulder. He could really care less about him, he was more worried about protecting the town right now.
They followed Sunny back to her place, and she gave them a spare blanket to share and bid them goodnight before disappearing into her bedroom. Scott and Stiles wasted no time, pulling off their shoes and lying on the couch, ready for sleep. They decided to just spoon on the couch, figuring that would be the best way to conserve body heat and share the blanket; it wasn't like they were embarrassed by it. Scott offered to take the inside of the couch, he had a higher body temperature so he'd be able to keep Stiles warmer that way. After they shifted around to get comfortable, they easily fell asleep after their long day, and tomorrow sounded like it was going to be exciting.
A/N: 9-2-2018: I'm still slowly going through and editing the fic while also heavily planning out the future chapters. So far I haven't changed much in terms of the plot, mostly just added in extra dialogue and stuff but I do feel like it adds a lot to the plot so I hope someone out there is reading my updated chapters even though this fic is pretty old... XD