[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE]
Chapter 2: The Sinner's Prayer

Flickering lights led the way down the tunnel, and Piper kept her hand ready on her pistol for any ferals that jumped out at them. She cussed whenever her foot caught debris and tried to follow in the exact footsteps of the giant that took point. Her temper lashed out and boiled when she knew exactly why Leo oh so kindly volunteered to be the one that followed behind her; she shot glares over her shoulder as a safety measure that he knew not to get any ideas.

Garrett was the only one allowed.

"Leo," Luki murmured, "take out the paint can. We should draw another arrow for the General here so he knows he's on the right track."

"Aye aye, sir!" Heels smacked together. Both Luki and Piper rolled their eyes at the playful man's antics.

"One of the Commonwealth's greatest mysteries: the Gunners actually accepting Leo into their ranks," Piper teased, and he shot a cheeky grin.

"There's a reason why I'm still just a Private. I've been with the company for about three years now, give or take."

"Seriously? Isn't that a recruit rank or something like that?"

"Yup!"

"Forget rank," Luki spoke over his shoulder, his dry delivery earning a snigger from Piper. "He's lucky nobody in the Gunners killed him. Yet. The Sergeant is damn close."

The Sergeant wasn't a gunner anymore, though.

...Right?

"And how long have you two been friends?" She watched as Leo 'masterfully' drew an arrow in the direction they were heading in, his theatrics and vitality something of an acquired taste. He wasn't such a bad guy, as long as he stopped flirting and riling her up. She tossed a pack of cigarettes when Luki took a quick break and propped his laser rifle inside a burned van, who shrugged as he and Leo exchanged curious looks themselves.

"It'll be coming up to a year, soon. We met sometime during the winter." Luki studied what she'd thrown him, and he tossed it back. "No thank you, smoking's not my thing."

"Ooh~ it's my thing," Leo piped up eagerly, and Piper groaned when he bopped as if he was part of some sort of whack-a-mole arcade game. If only she had a hammer to whack this mole. He wasn't ever short on enthusiasm, at least, and that was a refreshing change to the doom and gloom of the city. She rolled her eyes and opened the pack, taking out only one cigarette for him. He smirked wickedly. "Luki gets a whole pack but I only get one? I'm sensing favorites here, Boss."

"Took you long enough to notice," she shot back and playfully stuck out her tongue when he laughed, until Luki cut it short.

"Shh," he hissed sharply, "before we have a horde of ferals coming for us." He massaged his forearm and circled his wrist, stretching out various muscles. Piper hadn't ever seen anyone doing that before, and curiosity was fueled with every stretch. The moment Leo poked her, her innocent expression swiftly turned into a deadpan glare; an automatic response just for ever looking at him and acknowledging his existence.

Or the frequent bouts of stupidity that came out his mouth.

"Hey Lucky Charms, pay attention, will ya? Warm up your hips and stretch out your groin next. The Boss is making bedroom eyes at you."

Piper twisted and her fist snapped out, catching Leo hard in the shoulder as she scoffed. "Am not!" She ripped the cigarette out his mouth and snuffed it beneath her boot as revenge, huffing as she marched forward. She ignored the heat in her cheeks and refused to meet Luki's gaze; only Garrett was ever allowed to tease her like this, and she was ashamed Leo had gotten a rise out of her at all with all the training Mr. Handy put her through. That jerk had a lot to answer for, leaving her at the mercy of these men to be harassed relentlessly.

"You need to cut it out, man." Luki whispered, and Piper didn't dare turn her head to show she heard as she slowed down to stay within eavesdropping distance. "We're not in the Gunners no more and you have nothing to protect you."

Concern for Leo? Why not scold him on how incredibly rude and annoying he was?

"Aw, I'll be alright big guy. Thanks for worrying, buddy."

"That's not-" Luki sighed. "Just cool it. I'm not going to stop her if she decides to shoot your mouth off."

Duly noted. Locked in her brain forever. At least someone was on her side; finally a man and ally who was focused and professional, rather than hitting her up with a sleazy comment or leer every two seconds. All she needed now was Nick and Blue to catch up to them already, and figure out how they were going to get inside the Institute to rescue Garrett.

And Blue's family.

Piper kicked herself in her head; she kept forgetting that fact and that was the reason she was helping Blue in the first place. Well, that, and finally a chance to demystify the Commonwealth's boogeyman, but... Her investigation was exactly why Garrett was in hot water. Nat could very well be next if Nick and Blue didn't find a safe location for her; and how long would Nat have to be in hiding? What about her friends and education and life? Piper had effectively ruined her little sister's teenage years.

Dad would be so disappointed right now...

"Ms. Wright?" Luki inquired softly, a tentative hand squeezing her shoulder. "Are you alright? You're, uh..." He patted himself down until he took out a creased napkin out of one of his pockets, offering it to her. It was then she became embarrassingly aware of the wet streaks down her cheeks; she grabbed his wrist when he began to turn to Leo, and she shook her head.

"It's not him. It's someone else."

"Oh. The Sergeant?"

"No," she sighed as she wiped her eyes with the napkin, then folded it and stuffed it in her jacket. "It's fine. I'm fine. It's just stress, I guess. I don't know what our next move is."

"It'll become clear when it's meant to." To her surprise, Luki took out a necklace from underneath his shirt. For a moment, she saw a bullet. Then she blinked. A small cross dangled alongside with something that resembled dog tags, and she found it peculiar to see a small screen on them. She itched to inspect them and see what kind of information was transmitted on there, but her gaze was drawn to the cross when Luki lifted it to his lips and kissed it, then stuffed the necklace back in his shirt.

"I've seen all sorts of weird shit in my life," she blurted; it really ought to have been her first obvious hint to shut the hell up, but the words kept tumbling. "But a faithful ex-soldier and ex-mercenary? Doesn't this lifestyle," she gestured to his gun, "contradict all that?"

"Glad to know I ain't the only one fucking confused about it all," Leo quipped quietly, and Luki chuckled. He never gave an answer and took point again.

Maybe he didn't know too, and was waiting on clarity for when it was 'meant' to show up.

x - x - x

Gat was escorted throughout the structure by the negotiator and two guards, and he had to keep shielding his eyes from all the bright lights in this place. It gave him a headache. The place was licked clean of dust and rust, and there were machines all over the place - both animated and not. Who actually knew, though; the machines hooked up to the walls could still be 'alive' with all the flickering lights, changing colors.

"This is our med-bay. First you will go into our decontamination pod before you are allowed to set foot in any of our wings," the negotiator stopped beside one of the pods and gestured to it. "Please strip here so that we may wash your attire. After that, we will escort you to your handler. Where you will have access to will be determined by him, and whether or not he will arrange a guard to accompany you throughout our facilities."

Gat looked around and noticed several people in lab coats were ogling at him. He shrugged and complied, biting his tongue to withhold his comments when the scientists gasped and covered their mouths. It still wrought a chuckle and he murmured under his breath, "I'm a fuckin' lab specimen already, and all I'm doin' is takin' my knickers off."

"For the duration you are employed in the Institute, we humbly ask that you mind your language and expect you to be respectful as well."

"Yeah." No. "Sure."

"We have children here, and it would be best-"

"Kids?" Gat's head snapped up. "Can my niece play with them, then? Will you fix up my sister's leg too?"

The negotiator frowned. "You are not in the position to make requests of us." He engaged the pod for the glass to open, then sighed. "But I will see what I can do and request those resources from your handler on your behalf."

"Resources? Kids aren't resources."

"They are assets owned by the Institute, committed and educated to further the Institute's legacy and secure our future."

"That's some fucked up thinking, mate."

"Language."

Gat sighed. "Jesus... Next yer gonna shake a swear jar and count how many fuckin' times I swear, too."

"If that is what is required for you to mind your words, then yes. I understand the value of the so-called 'caps' to you." The negotiator tapped the pod. "Please step inside and lay down; the Institute cannot risk your filthy odor contaminating anything else anymore."

"Ain'tcha ever hear the saying? A little dirt never hurt." Gat smirked when the man already seemed to be at his wit's end; he likely wasn't used to being defied this often, and it was clear he'd rather have a baton in his hand as his trusty tool, rather than his tongue. Gat could relate. Let the talking and negotiating be handled by the smartiepants like Piper. "We're not so different."

"I assure you, we quite are. You are nowhere near anything like me." The offended indignation was gold alone, and the annoyed negotiator puffed up his chest; duly noted. Trick locked in the brain forever. Gat chuckled when the pod was patted with a little more force. "Get inside before I order the coursers to assist you, and they will not care for any broken bones."

"Alright, alright, hold on to yer fancy panty. I'm gettin' in."

What the hell was a courser, anyhow? Maybe that was their fancy term for the guard dogs; of bloody course a place like this would sugar coat shite and try to sell it off as chocolate.

Gat stepped up on a ladder secured to the side of the pod and climbed in, grumbling with how small it was as he worked his leg inside tiny little slots at a time. Anxiety brewed in the pits of his belly when he laid down, his arms awkwardly squished in. "The fu-" he rolled his eyes when the negotiator cleared his throat. "The hell are these pods made for? Elves?" Would they even know what that was; would they read pre-war novels? They seemed to have created a lot of their own fantasies here. "Guess you eggheads don't need muscle down here, if y'got machines doin' all the work for ya."

No answer. The negotiator all too eagerly pressed the button for the pod's glass to pan over and close. Gat sucked in a shaky breath as one of his deeply seeded fears flared, and weight squeezed down on his lungs. Holographic numbers spun before his eyes on the pod's glass; some sort of diagnostics scan. A skeletal image popped up and he knew it was his when lines pointed to specific limbs, effectively reminding him of every injury he ever suffered.

Air depleted when his anxiety grew out of control, as if he were sucking through a straw. It was reflected on the scan as muscles and organs layered over the skeleton. Words were attached to different organs and the terms sounded medical - different from what Dr. Sun taught him, even displaying a specific amount of radiation that coursed through his system.

"Vitals: abnormal," a robotic voice chimed inside the pod. Gat rolled his eyes. "Heart rate elevated beyond acceptable measures." Yeah. What a mystery that was. "Decontamination procedure: incomplete." He watched the negotiator bring up a panel and Gat tapped the glass, but it didn't seem as though he was heard. His anxiety flared at that thought. He was trapped. "Override accepted. Decontamination procedure starting in five, four, three, two, one."

Sprays activated on the sides and Gat brought his arms up to shield his head, the pod flooding with some sort of crimson liquid that resembled blood. He panicked and the negotiator's voice came on the speaker inside. "The chemical solution is safe for consumption, you will be able to breathe but it will prove to be an uncomfortable and unnatural sensation."

"Fuck that! I know you're going to drown me! Fuck you, motherfuckers! I hope Piper fucks you all up!" Gat slammed his fists against the pod's glass, letting loose a hail of curses. The negotiator's cold eyes were the last thing Gat saw as red swallowed his vision and air was nowhere to be found, replaced by the liquid that he choked on when the pod filled completely. His lungs kicked and his heart hammered against his rib cage, white noise buzzing loudly in the brain that kept screaming at him to come up for air when every inhale was full of the solution instead. Fear gradually faded away as the strength from his muscles drained, his thrashing slowed.

Lights shut off in the pod and the glass panes turned dark. He slipped away into the abyss, smiling when he saw Piper. Her hand stretched out to him.

All felt right in the world when his fingers laced with hers, and he leaned down for a kiss.

"Let's go home, Angel. I wanna wake up to you in our bed."

x - x - x

Bullets chipped away at pews and Piper rolled over one, yelping when she slammed down on the bench and broke a chunk of decaying wood away before she hit the ground.

"So much for raiders sleeping!" Leo yelled somewhere within the church, and she rolled her eyes at the cuss thereafter. "Why the fuck aren't you shooting, Lucky?!"

"This is the Lord's home," came the dry delivery, and Piper groaned. The whole man of faith thing stopped being appealing in that instant.

"Well he's on fucking vacation!"

Vacation? More like cessation, after the world - His 'creation' or whatever - was blown to smithereens. She got pissed off whenever she accidentally deleted her progress on an article and often just abandoned the subject all together, depending how much work she put into it; omnipotent or not, there was no way anyone would stick around after who knew how many centuries of putting His work into something that was hellbent on destroying itself anyways.

Piper crawled to the end of the pew and took pot shots around the corner before she made a mad dash to be further away from the other two, spreading out so they wouldn't be surrounded. In the hail of gunfire, she deciphered shouts about lighting 'it' up. She glanced over the pew and helplessly watched in despair as a bottle with a flaming cloth was thrown. She dove to the ground, protectively cradling her head as she yelled. "Molotov, get down!"

Glass shattered and flames roared, spreading and chewing the rotten pews as if it they made of paper. The raiders cackled maniacally and safely pulled out through the church's exit, but the three were trapped. Piper coughed and stayed low when the putrid thick smoke choked the air, crawling as fast as she could to where she thought the other two were.

Hands grabbed her bicep and hoisted her up. "Follow-!" Leo yelled, the rest drowned out by the roaring fire and splitting wood. He pushed her incessantly and pointed when she couldn't find the giant, panicking when she finally spotted Luki by some stairs at the back.

"We'll still be trapped even if we go up, and the smoke will choke us!"

"Go, or we're leavin' without ya. Being roasted like radroaches ain't on our agenda today, Boss."

Piper didn't need to be told twice - not that she had a plan herself, anyways. She may not have been faithful in the Lord, but she sure as hell had a lot more faith in something - someone - tangible, and trusted Luki to have a plan to get them out of here. He ought to have, if churches were his thing. Her mind had a horrible hobby of wandering even in adrenaline-inducing and life-threatening conditions, hearing the Demon in the back of her mind.

"We should go to the church here; at night, though, when nobody else is there."

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Garrett probably never expected this kind of interpretation though; and to be fair, he didn't mean just any old church.

"You're gonna be in the right place when you start praying."

Church or no, she was praying with all her fucking might every single second of the day. He unwittingly turned her into one of the faithful just by getting his own damn arse kidnapped; she didn't expect any sort of divine intervention though. Especially not for them, but a sinner could still pray, right? She raced up the stairs after the other two and yelped when the stairs buckled and caved to the side, recovering on the next step with too much force. Her foot broke right through and she was trapped, tugging and howling when splintered wood ripped into her ankle.

Luki pushed Leo aside as he yelled, "keep going up; you'll hit the bell, then slide down the roof. There's a truck on the side of the church!" The giant rushed down and grabbed her arms, slamming his boot down beside hers to make an even bigger hole. They stumbled back and the railing crumbled, throwing them over the edge. Luki pushed her to the wall.

...Before he fell into the fire.

"Luki!"

Screams of agony pierced the air, and Piper tried to run back down, but Leo grabbed her wrist and tugged her up. "We have to get out of here before we're next, Boss!"

"Let go of me, we have to help him!" She thrashed uselessly, dragged against her will. "How can you abandon your friend?!" She shot him a heated look, only for her world to grow misty when she saw how sheen Leo's eyes were.

"Because Lucky wouldn't want us to abandon our lives," Leo choked out, tugging her insistently. "We have to go. Don't let that asshole's sacrifice mean nothing."

They ran up, and Piper kept wiping at her eyes to try and see; not that she could, with the thick smoke rising quickly. She coughed and choked, tugging on her collar to cover her nose. The church bell was finally in sight and Leo jumped to pull himself up on the roof, then laid down and extended his hand to help her climb over. They peered offside to see where the truck was and carefully slid down; Piper winced at how hot the roof was and yelped when it cracked under her weight. "Hurry! The roof's giving away, Leo!"

They scrambled to their feet and leaned back as they ran down, and her heart surged to her throat when Leo lost his balance and tripped, rolling down and off the edge of the roof. She rushed when she heard a loud thud, followed by his cusses, and braced herself when the roof began to cave in behind her. She leapt off and pain shot up her shins when she slammed down on the truck, grabbing the handle of his backpack as she dragged him off with all her might before the church collapsed on them. He cried out and slung curses about the pressure from the backpack's straps as he held his shoulder, slumped abnormally. If only Luki could walk away with just a broken shoulder.

"Hang in there," she wheezed, "we're almost there. Just a few more meters until we're safe."

Gunfire exploded and she hastily hit the ground as she drew her pistol. Leo groaned as he rolled on his stomach, and they fired blindly... Only to see that the raiders weren't in the alley with them. Piper didn't waste another second as she got back to dragging Leo away by his good arm until they sought cover around the adjacent building, collapsing against the wall to watch the fire raze the church down as they fought to catch their breaths.

Cusses rang out nearby, but they were numb to the threat of the raiders. Piper squeezed Leo's shoulder when he buried his face in his hand, a silent sob wracking through him. She looked away and squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as possible. She didn't know what to say. She hadn't known Luki long, and it still stung like hell. She could only imagine Leo's agony, losing a close - and likely his only - friend.

Just like how she lost Garrett. How much more would God take from them until He was satisfied?

"That fucking asshole," Leo rasped, "that fucking... Asshole. He asked to go in that stupid church to do his stupid prayers, and look what that got him? The fucking 'Lord' took him instead. Fucking asshole. The fuck is the point of praying, is this some kind of sick joke? What, is death better?" He cocked the hammer of his revolver back and shot at the sky. "Fuck you! I hope you're real fucking happy now, ya dick!"

Footsteps rapidly neared as someone towards their position, and Piper weakly lifted her gun, her aim shaking from adrenaline. A wounded raider ran past them. She jumped, startled, when he was shot from behind, a laser strike through his head; blood sprayed forward and the limp body crashed a meter away. They held their breaths and Piper tapped at Leo, pointing at a trash bin for them to crawl over and hide inside. He gave them away when he turned and accidentally brushed his bad shoulder against the wall, his cuss viciously repressed in the back of his throat.

Heavy feet thudded against the ground, staggered and sluggish. She tried to quell her shaking grip by grabbing her pistol with both hands, the trigger squeezed halfway.

And a sinner's prayer was answered.

"Ms. Wright..." The voice came around the corner, and she saw a bulky arm come out the side, a laser rifle slowly lowered to the ground. "Look away, or you'll be scarred."

Piper didn't care. She scrambled up on hands and feet as she rushed to see the miracle with her own eyes; and scarred, she was - but not as much as him. She immediately shut her eyes as she spun on her heels, stammering. "S-sorry! Leo, um, Luki's going to need new clothes."

"Stimpak first. As many as we've got before these blisters get worse, or wound care will take weeks." Luki tiredly heaved along, and she stole glimpses at a time just to see where he was going. Her cheeks flushed when she got an eyeful of a cheek, though her weary heart ached at the sight of the burns that swallowed the tribal tattoos all along his right side from his neck down, wrapping around his ribs and the side of his entire torso to his... Cheek. His arm bled profusely and skin peeled like a snake shedding it's skin, fleshy sacs of blisters already formed. She smiled sadly when Luki held out his good hand to Leo. "Hey. Get up, asshole."

"Hey. Gimme a minute, dick."

All tough and gruff, these two.

"Jeez," Piper chuckled. "Just hug it out, guys. Leo was crying his eyes out a minute ago."

"Was not! And he's naked. I'm not gay," Leo huffed defensively. Of course a guy like that would still make things sexual and physical; he wasn't that different from Garrett.

"You don't have to be gay to hug," she rolled her eyes. "It's not like it's exclusive to anybody; it's a human thing to do. Even synths hug - like Nick."

"Just take my damn hand and get your lazy ass up already," Luki grumbled. "You don't need your shoulder to stand. I'm the one on fire here, so quit being a baby."

Piper crossed her arms and watched with great amusement as they tip-toed around each other, and she fixated her gaze on Luki's upper body to avoid any additional scarring. It wasn't until she decided to pick up Luki's laser rifle and 'hid' around the corner, stealing peeks; she was immensely proud to see them embrace the second they believed they were safe from her eyes. She leaned against the wall and looked up at the sky, stretching her hand out towards it.

"Thank you," she mouthed silently, smiling as her arm fell to her side.

And the Angel prayed for the Demon's embrace.