Note: This might work. I think this will work!
The group of people from Megaton reached the school and found out quickly that there were still raiders occupying the outside area. A short and violent exchange of bullets left Megaton the victor.
"What do you think we ought to do now, Deputy?" Simms asked Emily, shouldering his weapon and crossing his arms.
"Wh―" She stared up at him, and blinked. Asking her, she was sure, was some sort of test. Emily never tested well. "I dunno."
"Make a guess, then."
Emily sighed and blinked her eyes rapidly in the heat of the day. Since she wasn't wearing a helmet, her eyes were half-blind and filled with dust. The school rose in front of them, pathetically blocking out the swirling devils that played about their feet, and she thought hard about how she would have gone about this sort of thing as her normal self.
If it were her―alone or with Char―she groaned and brought up her Pip-Boy, flicking the knobs until she reached the local map. "If it were me, I would use my Pip-Boy to map out the interior until I found―I guess, whatever the raiders were doing in the tunnels?"
"Good." Simms patted her heavily on the shoulder, knocking her off-balance for a moment. "Let's do that."
She led the way into the school, Simms and Jericho coming up on either side of her. Emily was steadfastly ignoring the old asshole, focusing more on Simms and the Pip-Boy maps. Jericho seemed to be ignoring her, too; at least, he wasn't staring at her ass again. She rolled her eyes and willed herself not to think about it.
They found the tunnels after a few moments' search. Simms examined the general area before he turned back to the group. "Jericho, Billy, me, and Emily are going down into the tunnels, to flush out any remaining raiders. Everyone else, stay here and keep eyes on both directions."
Emily sighed and moved down the tunnel, the men trailing behind her. It was rather boring until they reached a split in the path.
"Looks like the left might be a dead end," she said, squinting at the map. The green light reflecting off their faces made everyone look spooky. Emily smiled a little at that. It was hard for her to feel... happy, right now, but small things still amused her.
"We'll all go left first, no use in splitting up," Simms said. "If it's a dead end we can turn around and come right back."
They moved left, down the tunnel. Another junction came up, and they ignored it. It didn't appear that there was anything living in the tunnels at all. A bit disappointing, even if she hated trying to shoot anything. Emily wasn't the best shot. Wasn't even a good shot. But this was just boring.
She grumbled under her breath. Not even anyone to talk to, really, since she didn't know how to start a conversation with any of the three that wouldn't be awkward as hell.
She frowned and looked down at her Pip-Boy, and the rumbling began. Billy was going on about something related to the stability of the tunnels, and why the raiders hadn't made it into the town, when the ceiling began to fall in.
Dust rose around her, she couldn't see, and a large rock hit her shoulder. Emily yelped and moved, and felt the ground trembling under her feet―
Someone pushed her out of the way, knocking her to the ground, and the ceiling collapsed around them.
Emily swore from her position on the ground, a heavy body lying across her back. She put her hands over her head and waited for the rumbling to stop.
"Emily!" Simms was yelling. "You alive in there?"
She uncovered her head, staring out at the ground in front of her. Various rocks and piles of dirt covered the immediate area, and her. Coughing, she went to push herself up and realized whoever was laying over her back was both unconscious and not Sheriff Simms.
She pushed herself up onto her elbows, using her hips to dislodge the body, shaking dirt out of her hair. A blood-splattered rock to her right brought her attention to the bleeding head of the old asshole, who had apparently pushed her out of the way of harm, and got a knock on the skull for it.
Shit. Shit! She was trapped in this little corner of the tunnels with Jericho! ...And he was in a bad way. Blood poured from his head, covering his face and neck.
"I'm alive," Emily called, coughing. "Jericho got hurt, is Billy with you?"
"We're fine over here," Billy yelled. "Is that really a dead end?"
"Give me a minute!" Emily sat up, looking down at Jericho. Really should just let him die, he's old, he's a bastard, definitely earned death at some point―but she couldn't. It wasn't who she was. Reaching into a pocket, she pulled out a stimpak and moved his head into her lap, checking the skin where it was broken. Didn't seem his skull was cracked, just a nasty cut, maybe a concussion. She coughed, turned her head, and injected the stimpak into his neck.
"You dirty old man," she muttered, as he started coming around. "What the hell were you thinking." She had to inject him twice just to get the blood to stop.
Jericho coughed and spat, raised a hand to rub his head, then opened his eyes to look at the blood. "Fuckin' Christ," he groaned, and his brown eyes met her blue ones.
She waited for the evil slow grin she knew should come, but it didn't. Jericho dropped his hand onto his chest and sat up, staring at the rocks between them and the others. After a moment he laid back down onto her lap and then she saw the grin, and snorted in disgust.
"Oh, fuck you," she muttered.
"How about later," he replied smugly, putting his head right onto her thigh and closing his eyes.
"Ugh!" She pushed him off of her lap and moved up from the ground. She marched down the tunnel a little way, then came back. "Yeah, it's a dead end, Billy!"
A muffled conversation between the sheriff and the merchant went on, then Simms called back, "Don't worry, we'll get you out!"
Emily looked down at her Pip-Boy and wiped dirt from her eyes, ignoring the ex-raider making pained noises on the floor. "Sheriff, there's something coming up the other tunnel," she said, watching the motion tracker. "You guys get out of here, we're fine! Deal with the threat first!"
"Be careful, Emily," Simms yelled back, in a tone that reminded Emily of her father. She sighed in defeat.
"I can handle this," she said, and turned back to Jericho. "You try anything, you old asshole―"
"Hey, now, I just saved your fuckin' life, you little slut," he growled, rubbing his forehead.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "You did. Thank you, Jericho," she said, angrily.
"Huh," he replied, laying himself flat onto the ground. "That's three goddamn times and I still get the bitch face."
"Thr―" She made a frustrated noise. "What the hell are you on about―"
Jericho held a bloodied hand up and counted off three fingers―starting with his middle, of course, and Emily rolled her eyes at the man. "You was in my house when yours fell," he started. "Then you was gonna go running after it, and now this shit. You let me know when you wanna pay the tab, you can blow me anytime you want."
"Ugh, you are so disgusting," Emily said, crossing her arms and staring down at him. "Why you would bother saving me, I don't even know."
"I might be a fuckin' horn dog, but I ain't no goddamn idiot," Jericho said. He made no move to get up from the ground. "Ain't nothin' to do 'round that shit heap but get drunk or stir trouble." He grinned at her. "You're real good at makin' shit less boring."
"Is there something wrong with your legs?" Emily asked, trying to change the subject. She did not want to go down that road with the asshole again.
"I'm fuckin' tired," he groaned, covering his eyes and rubbing them. "I ain't no sweet young thing like you."
"What did I just sa―" she started, kicking his foot.
"Jesus, shut the fuck up," Jericho snarled. "Don't think you'd use your expensive shit on big bad me if you wasn't thinking sweet thoughts." He groaned and sat up.
Emily stared down at him and pressed her mouth together. "For your information, you ass―" She growled under her breath. "I'm not gonna let you bleed to death in some grimy old tunnel! That's something you would do, thank you very much."
"Hah, I don't doubt it," he muttered. Emily glared at him.
Jericho was quiet for a minute, then picked up a pebble and rolled it in two fingers. "Look... you and me could have something if you would just give up this stupid act." He sounded tired. Like all his―anger and male pride and whatever, was gone―like he was vulnerable, maybe.
She glared at him, wondering if it was a ploy. "Why in the hell would I ever want anything to do with you," she snapped. "You broke my damn nose, you bast―"
"I paid for that!" he snapped right back. "You and your fuckin' loud mouth, telling that goddamn cowboy sheriff I fucked you up!"
"You did!" she yelled, pulling back a leg and kicking him hard in the thigh. "You―nnnnghhhh!" She kicked him again.
Jericho's head turned with a snap, and in a moment he was up off the ground, had a hand around her neck and shoulder and was pushing her into the wall. "Far as I fuckin' see this―" he breathed on her face, God, he smelled like shit and bacterial infection "―we're even. You paid your debt for that goddamn zombie fuckin' with me. If you stop this stupid act you're playing at―" He breathed out onto her face and she gagged, covering her mouth. "I'll stop tryin' to fuck you up. Deal?"
"I didn't get you punched―" she sputtered out.
Jericho pushed her back into the wall harder. Emily let her hands fall to her sides and stared at his face, not two inches from hers. "You did what you fuckin' wanted to do," he said, spitting out the words. "We ain't so different, you and me. Doin' what we want, gettin' into trouble. Thing is, I can handle my shit. You can't. Keep actin' a stupid little slut, and you can't handle it."
"That's not―" she said, and pressed her lips together. It hadn't occurred to her that her actions back then, would go so far. "I know I'm a slut," she managed. "Can't you call my by my name, at least?"
"I can," he chuckled meanly. "I won't, if you keep being a fuckin' bitch. You gotta earn that shit."
"O-kay," she said, grumpily. He made no move to remove his hands. "O-kay! I'm sorry, Jericho."
"That's better," he said, relaxing his grip on her. "You being a damn slut is what got you into all this fuckin' trouble." Jericho's face moved closer to hers. "I respect that, you know. ...You."
Emily closed her eyes as Jericho moved his hand from her neck to her cheek and kissed her right on the mouth, softly. Was a lot more gentle than he'd ever been in the past. Goddammit, he knew his business―she felt her stomach bunching up and knew she was turned on. Why did she have to go and poke a stick at the only bastard in the wastes who was a bigger slut than she was―
"I told you," Jericho said, mumbling into her mouth. "You give me a goddamn chance and you'll see. A man can change."
She stayed limp under his hands. Knew better than to start a fight. She'd told Simms she could handle it, and if she came out of the tunnel with another bruise... she could kiss any consolation he might have for her, goodbye. Really did need something to do with herself, beyond drinking herself stupid. And Simms was right, she owed the town a little more than she'd ever given it. All she'd ever given them before was the occasional business and too much bullshit drama.
This drama with Jericho could end if they played nice, and maybe it wouldn't be... that awful.
And... dammit, she had a history of this sort of behavior. She couldn't change herself any more than she could ever change―
"Fine," she said, around his lips. "I'll give you one chance."
"That's a good girl," Jericho said, removing himself from her.
"Don't you go thinking this mean you can do whatever the fuck you want," Emily snapped, moving away. "I expect you to be civil. We'll see what happens."
"Been minding my p's and q's longer than you," he shot back. "You play nice, I'll play nice. Maybe we'll play together." He leered at her.
"What-ever," Emily grumbled. "Don't get your hopes up."