Bang.
There went one of the last few rounds.
Bang.
She was almost out of bullets. Aerostolia glanced down at the chamber of her pistol and frantically looked around for somewhere to hide.
Her and Gage had made way down to the Zoo after Gage told her he wanted to start clearing out the sections of Nuka World, so that they could distribute each piece of the properties out to the raiders. After all what was the point of staying in the amusement park if you didn't even have the whole place to run free in? Upon arriving though, they had met a man by the name of Cito. Though his English wasn't well he had explained to the two of them that there were 'monsters' running amuck the Zoo and that he had feared for his family's, a group of gorillas, well beings. Gage had anticipated just killing the idiot and taking the Zoo, because the fact someone was there could grow conflict, but Aerostolia on the other hand, begged and persuaded that Gage allow him to live as he had done no wrong and that if they helped, Cito may have no issue sharing the Zoo. Reluctantly Gage had agreed, only because he didn't wish to have a dispute over it while monsters ran about.
Only 45 minutes into wandering did they come across one of the first monsters, which looked like a rather large mutated Alligator. The large creature reared back on its hind legs and let out a blood curdling cry, one that sent chills down Aerostolia's spine. The creature's black eye fell upon Aerostolia and with speed that outranked the creature's torso, it had taken off After her. Gage grabbed Aerostolia by the wrist and quickly guided her away, his eye frantically searching the ruins of the Zoo for any safe haven. In his effort to dodge the creature's line of sight, he quickly turned and ended up in an old exhibit for bears.
The gatorclaw had quickly backed them into one of the corners of the cage and tried making a run at Gage. Out of fear for Gage's life, Aerostolia shot at it and thus put herself into the predicament she was in. She quickly rolled as a large clawed hand swung at her, just barely missing her face. Aerostolia tripped and tumbled to the ground, her back against the bars. Her eyes grew wide as the gatorclaw backed her into a corner, with no way to escape. She glanced at Gage who had jumped back at the mutated creatures attack and was aiming his rifle up to the creatures head. With a quick jerk, he fired a round into the animal's skull. Aerostolia held her breath as she watched the creature, which only glanced back to Gage and let out a blood curdling cry. It quickly averted its gaze back to Aerostolia, who had become the main target, it's large hand lifting high into the air before it lashed out with great exertion and speed. She had jumped up and tried to duck but let out a loud cry as the creature struck her side and sent her flying into the bars of the cage before she plummeted into the dirt.
"Aerostolia!" Gage screamed as he fired round after round into the creature's head, his vision overwhelmed with the heated red. With each hit the creature cried out until one smacked him straight into the eye, instantly silencing the creature, which then dropped into a pool of its own blood and dirt. Gage took a minute to catch his breath, panting hard, before he quickly dashed to Aerostolia, who was gasping and grabbing frantically at her side. His eyes widened at the sight, the amount of blood that was strewn about the ground and stained into her clothing. "Jesus.." he whispered, before yanking his rag from his back pocket out to press it tightly into Aerostolia's seeping wound.
Aerostolia let out a shrill cry, her back quickly arching at the pain as her eyes shut. She grit her teeth at the pain and let out a small whimper, her watery eyes barley making Gage's features. Gage's face had lost all colour and he seemed distraught and distracted as his eyes were looking over Aerostolia's wound and quickly glancing at the ludicrous amounts of blood she had lost. "Stay with me, princess.." he whispered softly, noticing the faded and somewhat hazy look that was looming over her eyes. "C'mon baby girl.. I need you to stay with me." He said louder, trying to keep Aerostolia's lidded eyes open. She glanced from his glossy green eye up to the top of the bars, where she swore she could hear his voice, humming sweet 50's music in her ear.
Nicky…
Aerostolia slowly sat up, the 50's music humming low in the background. Her eyes glanced down at the sweet glowing yellow ones below her, fingers dancing across his broad, weathered faux skin chest.
"Morning handsome."
She whispered in the softest of voices before leaning down to plant a tender kiss across his cheeks and forehead. A gentle groan came from below her, as Nick slid his hands, the metallic lining of the skeleton one causing goosebumps to arise over her skin, across her soft frame.
"How could I have ever been so lucky to have gotten you?"
He cooed softly. Aerostolia smiled and gently slid her fingers across the bridge of Nick's nose. He had a point though. Most people wouldn't be interested in his type. A synth. A walking machine. But to Aerostolia he was just as man as everyone else. He had emotions, he felt pain, he felt happiness and guilt. That made you pretty human to her. She only had wished the poor man hadn't dealt so much damage to his outer covering. His wires were exposed in his throat on the left side of him and his right hand didn't even have the skin casing that was supposed to protect his titanium skeleton. But none the less, Aerostolia loved every inch of him.
"Stay with me.."
Why would she ever leave?
"Stay with me.."
She was dreaming again..
A gasping Aerostolia snapped out of her daze and shot up into a sitting position, her body looming in shakes. Gage was right behind her and gripped her shoulders, gently pulling her back against his chest to steady her. She whimpered slightly as she glanced down at the stimpak, still sticking in her chest where Gage had stuck her. "W-Wha.." She started. Gage shushed her gently and kissed at her temple, his hands tight around her waist. Her side had been bandaged by what appeared to be a torn rag and pieces of Gage's shirt. She looked back at Gage, an expression of confusion on her face. "Your heart stopped.." he said quietly, his eye unable to meet hers. He stared at her legs for what seemed like ages before he opened his mouth to speak. "I thought.. I thought maybe the stimpak.." he drifted off, as Aerostolia slowly reached up, her hand gripping the syringe before giving the item a quick tug. A loud sigh of relief mixed with pain fell from her lips. "Thank you, Sir."
Gage quickly jerked her back into his arms and buried his face into the crook of her neck. His body shook as his grip tightened around her waist, as if scared to let her go. "I was so… I thought you were…" he said in a quiet, broken voice. Aerostolia gently leaned back and slid her hand across his arm, her head turning to meet his.
"I'm here.." she whispered softly.
"What happened?" Aerostolia stared at Gage blankly over his question. She didn't know how to answer. She straightened herself slightly, to which Gage lightly released his grip, and cleared her throat. "I… I saw… My-Her.." she corrected herself, "Life. I finally.. I finally have a face to the man but I still don't understand who he is…" Gage only frowned slightly, having briefly heard Aerostolia talking in her sleep the other night about a man named, Nick. It had only made him…. Angry. It made his chest flare up and he felt heat rush to his face. "Nick right?" he stated, which only made her stare at him in shock. "You were talking about him in your sleep." Gage added, his eye unmoving as he stared at the ground. Aerostolia frowned and quickly retreated her hand from Gage's arm to nervously rub at her own. "I don't mean to Sir.. He's from her old li-"
"No. He is from YOUR life. YOU are still her. No matter how you deny it. You have her thoughts. her emotions and personality. Whether you wanted it or not, you are her… And he'll always be there.. won't he.." He frowned, his hands tightening against her waist. She cringed slightly and sighed, for the first in her life, unknowing of how to reply. "Sir.." she said quietly, to which Gage quickly corrected her whilst mumbling under his breath, "Just call me Gage.." Aerostolia a bit taken back gave a slight nod before rewording her sentence. "Ah… Gage…" she said quietly, though his name made her heart rate spike into her throat, "I don't understand a majority of what's in my head.. I don't understand he-.. My past.." she said as if it was now some foreign term to her. "I don't know who he is.. I can only put a first name and face to him.." Gage watched her intently, his eye following how nervously she held her body, shaking and frail, probably from the injury as well, which quickly made Gage forget his momentary anger. Before Aerostolia could finish her explanation, Gage had cut her off and forced her to lay back, his hand gently trailing down to the wound that still seemed to fight each stimpak.
"It's having a hard time healing," He stated. Aerostolia confused, stopped speaking of Nick, making the assumption Gage was too upset or angered to hear about her old lover. Especially since she now belonged to Gage.
Her body was his and of course he didn't want to think of another man touching what's his. It made him nauseous and quickly irate at the thought. His eyes traveled down to the collar around her neck, before trailing to her wound. "How are you feeling?" he asked quietly. Aerostolia glanced up from where she was laying and let out a small breath, that sounded rigid and hoarse. "I think I've had better days.. but sitting here isn't going to get this area.. I'm fine we can continue.." she started before being cut short by Gage. "No. Absolutely not. You can barely stand let alone walk and fight off these dumb creatures. I shut the door to this cage. Nothing else will be able to get in and our friend here is dead. I can start up a fire and make some use of the meat. We can stay here for tonight. I don't see that wound healing up anytime today. You need to rest." He stated before jumping up to his feet and wandering around to pick up scattered branches and twigs.
Aerostolia watched Gage as he started up a fire, just close enough to her for warmth but far enough away that she wouldn't accidentally burn herself. She glanced up to the sky as Gage pulled out a knife and started sawing into the dead creature's body. It's not that it grossed her out, but right now she just didn't want to visually see that she'd be eating the thing that nearly killed her. After a few hours had passed and dinner had been eaten, Gage was wandering the cage, his eye glancing into the darkness surrounding them. Aerostolia knew he didn't trust running into another one of those creatures again.
"S-Err.. Gage," she quietly corrected, which resulted in the larger male adverting his gaze to her. "You can come sit here by me. If the cage is shut nothing will come. You said so yourself.. right?" Gage opened his mouth to debate against her but then quickly bit into his lip as she had been right and he didn't want to be seen as some hypocrite. He slowly walked over to her and dropped down beside her, his eye falling down to the blood soaked make-shift bandage on her side. "Does it…. Does it still hurt?" he asked softly, his face shadowing a sorrowful expression.
Aerostolia gently raised her hand, her fingers grazing across Gage's jaw line which caused him to lay his head against her hand. She smiled and leaned forward, giving Gage a tender kiss to his forehead. "It's okay. It'll heal. Besides I'm sure you can always distract me." She said innocently, though Gage's smirk said otherwise. He chuckled and looked Aerostolia up and down before he gently lied back against the ground, his head resting on his folded arms. "Should really think about your words before you say them, Princess." Aerostolia only flushed at this and lied back, her head resting on Gage's chest.
The two remained silent, both staring at the stars and clouds above them, though Gage's mind had much more on it. Nick. That was all he could think of. This other man who used to love Aerostolia, who used to touch her. It almost made him feel guilty, though he quickly shoved that thought to the back of his mind. "You won't ever just up and vanish on me, will ya?" he said quietly, his hue slowly making it's way to Aerostolia's face. She looked at Gage silently and perplexed, before parting her lips to speak. "What reason would I have?" but she knew the look on Gage's face. She knew all too well he was thinking of this Nick character. "Gage.. if you're asking about Nick.." she said, Gage quickly sat up, his eye drilled into her as he awaited her response, "As much as I wish I could understand my memories, I won't leave. I don't know who this Nick is. Or even where he is for that matter. As much as I know, he could very well be dead. Right now I'm here with you and so long as you do me no wrong I will loyally follow you anywhere in the wastelands.
Gage watched her features carefully, before letting out a small sigh which was followed by a light smile. "I had hoped you'd say that Princess.. And I believe you.. I believe you won't leave.." he whispered as he reached up to Aerostolia's throat, his fingers quickly unlatching the collar with ease. Once the collar dropped, a gasp left Aerostolia's lips. She slowly reached up and traced her fingers around the sensitive skin that had hidden below the black belt for so long. "You, You'd let me walk without a collar?" She said softly, her eyes nearly lit up at the thought that she could be trusted so much. "I will. I trust you won't leave. I'm granting you freedom, though from time to time, with of course a guard, I'm going to occasionally need you and some of my men to go into Diamond City. We got a guy up there who usually brings in some shipments of.. Well.. Let's just leave it at that. I trust you more then my bone headed dirt bags. But see I can't just go leavin' or Colter will throw a kid fit. So what ima do, is stock you up, Princess and you're going to lead the bone heads up to Diamond City and make sure I get my shit right. Of course we gonna need to finish up here and get that wound of yours fixed." He gestured. Aerostolia only smiled and gave a nod, happy that she was given a job that had more meaning then ratting on missing slaves.
"I'll be better by the morning." She smiled, before lying back against the dirt once more. Gage looked down at her and pushed her hair back from her face, his fingers tucking a bit behind her ear. "Get some rest. You got a long walk to Diamond City ahead of you doll." He said quietly, before leaning back against the cage bars behind him. Gage stifled a yawn and rubbed the back of his neck, his eye making it's way to the now sleeping female. "Damn… The hell are you doing to me…" he said softly, before kicking some sand over the fire to snuff it out.
'I don't want to set the world on fire, I just want to start a flame in your heart~'
Sang the Ink Spots in the background. Nick's hands rested on her hips as they swayed gently in sync to the music. Nick would occasionally take her hand and give her a spin, before slowly pulling her back into his chest, his chest vibrating with the low hum he made to the music. A metallic finger delicately cupped her chin and lifted her face to his.
There he was.
He was a gen 1 synth, though much more weathered. He had lived for well over 200 years after all. Eyes, an eccentric neon yellow, glowed dimly against the faint light the candles gave off in the smaller room. Though his wires were clearly visible through his neck, he couldn't be more handsome. Not to her anyways. Aerostolia slid her hands delicately across his jaw line, her thumb trailing the soft and skin like texture of his lips. Nick glanced into her eyes, gently pulling her by her waist against his body.
"I could've never done enough right in my life time, to ever deserve someone like you.."
Just like that he had filled the space between them and pulled her into a deep kiss, his hands trailing down her sides and the gentle curves of her back. She shuddered at his cold metal fingers and arched into the taller male, her lidded eyes glancing up into the hues of her lover.
"Nick Valentine… You have done ALL the right in your life to deserve me.."
Nick leaned forward, pressing his lips tenderly to Aerostolia's before sliding his hand down to squeeze her left one, his fingers toying with the gold band on her finger.
"You are so truly amazing.. I love you, Aerostolia Valentine…"
The next morning had been horrible on Aerostolia. She woke up with a healed wound, but essentially felt like shit due to how she slept the night before. All she could think about was Nick. His face. The weird memories. How he smelt of cigarettes and the wasteland. Oddly how his skin felt, almost like human's but more synthetic. How electrifying it was when he'd kiss her. All morning he was all she thought about and Gage could read it all over her face. She had been silent most of the day. They had no problems running into anymore Gatorclaws and had actually managed to shut down the machine that was breeding them, but through it all, she hadn't spoken one word to Gage and it was officially bothering him.
Gage quickly halted in front of Aerostolia which caused her to bump into his chest and topple backwards onto the ground. "Hey! What's the deal?!" She hissed, which quickly halted once she saw the angered look on Gage's face. "Yeah. Fucking right. The fuck's the deal. You nearly die, now you can't fucking talk to me? What realized you were too good for me?" he narrowed his gaze. Aerostolia gasped, taken back that he'd think so much of her. "No! I don't think I'm too good I've just been.. Distracted.." she trailed off.
"By what? What's so much you can't tell me?!" he yelled, his rage obvious. Aerostolia only stared at him and let a small sigh fall from her lips. "I dreamt of.. of him again." she said softly, only to notice Gage's expression turn from one of anger to one that was much harder to read. "So.." he started. Aerostolia only shrugged and let out a small breath she had been holding, "I remember his face.. His whole name.. And then there's something weird that I thought I saw.. but I can't tell if it's a memory or dream so my brain could be fooling me." Gage only stared at her and glanced down at his boot which he then kicked into the dirt, sending a few rocks flying across the ground. "What do you want to do about it." he asked bluntly, which confused Aerostolia.
"What do you mean?"
"Do you want me to find him for you? Do you want me to send someone out and get information? What do you want?" he asked again, though this time obviously much more seriously. "Tell me what you want Princess." he said softly. Aerostolia only stared at him, unsure if this was some sort of test, or if he genuinely wished to know. Either way she feared the outcome to her true answer. "No. I don't wish to do anything.. I want to finish our mission." she stated, only to get a look of shock, followed by an approving nod from Gage.
"Anything you want Princess."
After returning to Nuka World and getting her wound better looked at, Gage had stocked up a bag for her, along with 2 dumb goons he was sending with her. "Now remember the goal. Get in. Give him what he wants. Get our shit and get the fuck back here. In one goddamned piece. Ya fucking hear?" Gage said the last bit, specifically to the goons he was sending with Aerostolia. "I want her back in ONE fucking piece." he hissed, which was responded with by several nods from the goons. "We gotcha Gage." Gage quickly glanced to Aerostolia and vice gripped her into a hug, pressing his lips repeatedly into her temples and cheeks. "Be safe babygirl.." Aerostolia gave a sweet smile before pecking Gage's lips quickly. "I will come back Gage. I swear on my life." she smiled. Gage gave her one final kiss as he watched Aerostolia and his two goons, Dusty and Becker, leave Nuka Town.
The ride back to the station had felt long and the walk past Sanctuary Hills felt even longer. They had made their way down towards College Square but came to a halt when many feral ghouls were heard screaming in the distance, followed by loud gunshots. Aerostolia quickly ducked behind a nearby broke down car and gestured for Dusty and Becker to do the same. Dusty had somehow gone missing and Becker, in a state of panic started raising his voice, which only made the ghouls turn their attention to him. Becker started firing his gun wildly into the crowd of ghouls behind Aerostolia, the look of fear evident on his features. One whizzed right by her face, ricocheting off the car and splitting the window right beside Becker.
"Becker! Calm yourself!" Aerostolia screamed, only to no avail as ferals ran from behind her and started lunging at Becker. Aerostolia watched in horror as her help was torn apart in front of her, then as if on queue bullets came flying from behind her and into the crowd, downing the majority of the ghouls. Aerostolia stared bewildered at the dead ghouls and at the body of her dead comrade. The entire world fell silent for those few seconds. She dropped to her knees, her ears no longer registering sound as she grew lost in her head. How will she get back? How will she survive alone and be safe? Where was Dusty? Why had he vanished shortly before Becker's demise? Had he known this would happen? Would he run to Nuka World and simply say Becker and her had died? So would they even be looking for her? Suddenly reality started moving as normal as a now taller male in large armor stood in front of her. Aerostolia's eyes slowly slid up the frame of the armor to the alien like mask in front of her.
"Are you okay?" She had heard past the suit. Aerostolia couldn't speak or move. Her legs had frozen and all words had left. She still couldn't register or process what had just happened. "Paladin Danse, she isn't quite responding." said the Brotherhood Knight. A woman slowly appeared by her side. She wore a different outfit, not quite armor, but some kind of uniform. "Are you okay? Can we get your name?" the woman asked, in an almost honey like voice. "A-Aerostolia.." she managed to barely speak. "Aerostolia, my name is Scribe Haylen. This is Knight Shredder, Knight Rhys is in the Cambridge station with our Paladin, Paladin Danse. Please come with us to the station. We need to have you looked out. You shouldn't have been out in the middle of this fire." Haylen gently grabbed Aerostolia's arms and helped her stand before leading her towards the police station.
At the front, two men in armor were patrolling with larger scoped rifles. Aerostolia watched them stare at her as she followed beside Haylen towards the police station. As she passed by she heard one of the men whisper about her eyes, before noticing Haylen staring at her. Aerostolia swallowed. That was it, the BOS. If they knew she was a synth, she would be executed. Haylen gave her a small smile then looked back towards the doors of the station. "I had a friend of mine get your surgery before." she added softly, which caused Aerostolia to stare at her shocked. "My friend used to be blind and visited Doc Crocker. He gave her synthetic eyes so she could see again. That's why you got them right?" she added. Normally Aerostolia wouldn't lie, but she felt her life to be in danger and in these strangers very hands. "Yes. Yes." she smiled and nodded, "I used to be able to see and went blind in a bad accident. He helped me see again." She added softly, only to get a reassuring squeeze to her shoulder from Haylen. "Don't worry. Paladin Danse knows her too and he will understand. He's an amazing man and will take care of you. I promise."
Aerostolia only frowned nervously as she entered the large building with Haylen and was sat on a cot in a small room, that was likely a make-shift infirmary. After what felt like hours, though Aerostolia severely doubted it, Haylen returned to the room, followed by a taller, fit man. He was wearing a suit, an orange suit that was probably some sort of uniform for their organization. The taller male approached Aerostolia and quickly froze, his icy blue eyes locked desperately to her face. Haylen quickly leaned up and whispered into the male's ear. He nodded then slowly walked over to Aerostolia, sitting in a chair that was directly in front of her. "You must be Aerostolia." the male said. Aerostolia only stared up at him, her eyes following his features carefully. He had dark hair, icy blue eyes, a few scars on his face and a surprisingly well groomed goatee. He was handsome to say the least. Aerostolia only nodded at him and looked back down.
"My name is Paladin Danse of the Brotherhood of Steel." Aerostolia glanced back at Danse, his features softening.
"We have been searching quite a bit for you." Aerostolia's eyed quickly widened.
Oh no.
(A.N)
Anything you guys would love to read about or any ideas you have would be great. I will be updating this more often ^^ I do also use a mod for Danse! Adding Link so you guys can check it out for yourself. Also please like the user if you enjoy and use the mod!
/en/mods/fallout4/mod-detail/1056379 Mod for Danse :D
