[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE]
Chapter 4: The Lion's Legacy

Piper crossed her arms and cleared her throat very loudly to make sure she was heard above Magnolia's singing, trying to ignore the heat collecting at her cheeks when Leo still continued to make out with some random woman on a ratty couch; did they have any shame? Well, no one else seemed to care. She stepped closer and tried again, tapping the toe of her boot against his heel. He groaned exasperatedly and pushed himself up as he tossed a dirty look over his shoulder.

"I'm fuckin' busy he-" he stopped when his gaze connected with hers. He hadn't at all appeared nervous and his lips curled in a cat-like smile. "Oh. Hey Boss."

"Oh. Hey Leo." Piper glowered at the woman who continued to try and unbutton Leo's dress shirt, clearing her throat again. It went ignored. Piper tried to remain as calm as was humanly possible in this aggravating situation, and she kicked his boot until he shot off the couch completely, rubbing his nape as he chuckled.

"Sorry, sweet pea," he apologized to the stranger, "another time, yeah? Thanks for a good time to-"

Piper pinched his ear and began to drag him away before he kept stalling, uncaring whatsoever of what this did to his image as his ow's earned the notice of several amused eavesdroppers. She pulled and shoved him towards the bar as she marched hot on his heels. "Unbelievable... I'm babysitting two grown ass men. Do you just not care that your friend is in pain?"

"Does he care?"

"Half of him is burned! I'm pretty sure th-"

"Yeah, and I busted up my shoulder because that prick wanted to go 'pray', and look where that got us? He didn't even say sorry."

"So to get back at him, you lie to me and take our caps just to whore around with strangers? Yeah," she turned her nose up as she drawled sarcastically, "makes perfect sense."

"Our caps? We wouldn't even have them if I didn't take 'em off the raiders just because you two are too fucking holy to do it."

There was no staying levelheaded with this infuriatingly selfish man. She gritted her teeth and made sure her hand stayed down at her side before she laid it on him - specifically his face. She mockingly rose her hands in surrender as she took a step back. "My apologies for ruining your lovely evening out." She twisted around and stormed off, raving. "I will never understand how the hell you two are friends, or why anyone would stoop low enough to even kiss such a disgusting man like you." Her wrist was grabbed and she spun back, crashing into Leo. He wrapped an arm around the small of her back and she immediately beat her fist on his bad shoulder to force him to let her go.

Leo cried out and grabbed his shoulder, nostrils flaring as he hissed with agony burning bright in his eyes, bringing out different hues of blue. "You think he's such a great guy, yeah? Just because he's nice to you. Well, newsflash, lady: he's got two faces." He glanced around when more eavesdroppers began to take notice, and he gently pushed her towards a separate room.

Piper's hand slipped under the lip of her trench coat as she held on to the hilt of her gun just in case, glaring at him. "You're just jealous. Just like Gar - Gat. Maybe if you were less of a jerk and actually had some manners, then-"

"Manners? What fucking good is being a liar? I thought a 'reporter' like you would appreciate honesty instead, but you're all fucking over him. He's got you singing to his tune; you're not the first. Whenever we need information, we play the 'nice guy and asshole' routine to build trust faster."

"I wonder which one you are," she seethed sarcastically. "What the hell kind of information would you even need from me, anyways? Who do you two actually work for?"

Leo's mouth opened, then immediately snapped shut as confusion sprawled over his confusion. "Who do we work for?"

"He's meeting with someone right now. Before I came in here, I looked up at the hotel and saw someone else at the window." Piper's hand dropped from her gun, and she watched his expressions carefully. Her heart sank when his distant gaze fell to the ground. "You... Didn't know." His jaw rippled and his forehead creased, wiping a hand down his face with a dejected sigh. His voice was devoid of emotion and his shoulders caved in exhaustion. His mouth opened and closed repeatedly, and he lumbered over to the room's couch as he sat with a huff.

"We're dicks to each other," he admitted quietly, "but he's been the only person I've ever trusted. And now..." He looked up. "Whoever he's meeting, it's not the first time. I've caught him with a woman before - before you give me that look: not like that. Same chick, though. Twice. Chances are it's her again this time."

"You caught them? What did he say about it?"

"Just tried to play it off," Leo shrugged, "said she was his friend and they were catching up on old times, and that's it. Never saw them doing nothing though, they only ever talked. Friends? Bullshit. They had to be fucking. Ain't no such thing for a man and woman to just be friends if they ain't got no other friend to fuck, and they were always up close when they 'talked' - kissing distance close."

Piper's lips thinned in a sad smile. "It's not always about sex, you know." She bit her tongue before she blurted how she hadn't expected him to understand something like that, though. Not when he knew she was taken and still leered at her like she was just a piece of meat. She hesitantly approached and sat beside him on the couch, leaning forward to keep watching his face when he buried it in his hand. If Luki indeed fooled her, then she hadn't put it past Leo to lie straight out his ass at every turn for this too. She needed to get to the bottom of this now if she were to determine if it was safe to even travel and work with them anymore. She couldn't rescue Garrett if she was at risk of getting caught or killed herself.

"She's got to be tailing us," Leo mumbled, "she had to have followed right behind us and paid for a room if she was up at the hotel. Maybe she slipped in his room and hid there after we all separated? No other way to get up to the rooms without that old hag whinging about caps." He curled a fist and hit his temple, sighing. "I should've paid attention to our flank in the subway. Why the fuck did you have to walk in front of me?"

Piper's face fell flat as she deadpanned. "I didn't want to. You're the one who made sure I did." She relaxed back on the couch and stared at the peeling plaster on the ceiling, her brain racing to try and piece the puzzle together. "She had to have been in the room with him when I came back to him to tell him you were buying the alcohol, but... I don't know. I can't say she wasn't hiding if I didn't think to look for anyone hiding anywhere. Maybe the shadows? Under the bed?" She looked at him. "When was the first time you caught them?"

"Not too long after we met in the winter, so whoever they are, they've been doing this shit for almost a year." Leo bit his thumb and raked a hand through his pompadour, uncaring when it had fallen out of sorts. "That dick toyed with me for-"

"We don't know who they are. They might have a good reason for sneaking around."

"Yeah, Boss. For the Institute. What the hell else would they be doing it for?"

Piper chewed her lip and closed her eyes. The dots weren't connecting, and she shook her head. "I wouldn't be here then, and he wouldn't have pushed me in the church."

"Yeah, but he fell in a fucking fire and we saw the building collapse. Nobody jumped off that roof 'cept us; that ain't the first time he's survived fucked up shit, too. Maybe he got you out the way so he can trick you into thinking he's on your side, make it easier for the Institute or... I don't know. Something."

"I was alone with him in that room, Leo. And then that woman might have been there the second time - that was two chances to do whatever the hell the Institute even wants with me. I think it's safe to say they want to silence me." The beginnings of a headache throbbed, and she massaged her temples before she pushed off from the couch and turned to Leo. "Let's get Charlie's strongest alcohol and run back, crash their party to start our own. We can't give ourselves away if we don't catch them though."

Neither could she afford to let her guard down and trust Leo, even now.

x - x - x

"What happened to keeping your head down and trying not to do anything... Stupid?"

Luki smiled to himself. He turned after he locked the door and locked eyes with the woman who infiltrated his room - again - by climbing back in through the window. "Says the one who's best idea was to scale and hide outside the hotel." He closed the distance in a couple strides and framed her jaw, but her calloused hand - dirty and scraped from holding on bricks outside - landed on his chest and kept him away. "Don't do that ever again. You could have fallen off."

"You could have kicked her out faster." She hooked her hand on his good shoulder, her worried gaze sweeping over his wounds. "I wish I could help... Don't suppose you could convince them that you were able to do it all by yourself?"

"Doubt it, Ms. Wright's as sharp as a knife. If you have spare stimpaks then we can inject them now. I only have two and that's not going to be enough to cover everything."

Her mouth pressed thin. She slung over her satchel and sifted through the contents, and he interrupted her by tilting her head up to capture her lips. He smiled when she sighed, her finger hooking and curling on his necklace as she pulled him closer. "I expect a full debrief," she murmured in between kisses, a hand blindly searching for stimpaks in her satchel. He barely had any time to brace himself when she'd uncapped one and stabbed it just above his hip, and she kissed him harder to muffle his scream.

"Lord Almighty," he rasped, "are all women this happy to stab me?"

"You deserve nothing less after the stunt you pulled. Do you think I was happy to just sit back and watch? I was ready to run into that burning church and drag you out myself; that civilian should be hauling ass to help you right now." She pulled away and snapped the needle off the syringe against the dresser, then went to open the window and threw the empty container out. She took out another stimpak from her satchel as she turned to him, blue eyes narrowing in a menacing glare. "Why are you even doing this? You and I both know that we can't save them all."

"We can still try."

"Have you forgotten your promise? That comes first."

"Leo's on a better path now; or would you rather we go back to the Gunners?"

"You won't be able to change him."

"We can still try." Luki viciously repressed another scream deep in his chest when she stomped to him - only to stab the next stimpak in his bicep, depressing the entire canister's contents. The fluid pulsed and rushed before the feeling faded. "I can't just sit back and watch, Sarah, and I know you can't too." He sucked on the corner of his lip and chewed, sighing when she extracted the needle. He reached for her jaw, but she twisted away and got to work to discard the empty stimpak. "We swore an oath and-"

"And we broke that oath." She ripped out another stimpak and tore off the safety cap. He braced himself when she stomped up to him, but the stimpak hadn't torn into him as viciously as he expected, when her worry blended with frustration. Her eyes softened and she gently lifted his burned arm by the elbow, hovering the needle over his ribs. "This one's really going to sting. Brace yourself, and try not to bring your arm back down."

Pain burned just when she tightened her hold on his elbow and she positioned herself so that her shoulder was under his arm. It was agony for the melted flesh to be stretched even to this degree, and he squeezed his eyes shut as tightly as possible when the lightest touch of her thumb sent scorching hot lava searing down his nerves.

"Alright, on the count of three. Ready? One... Two..."

Luki buckled when the stimpak sank in, her bloody 'three' drowned out by the agony. He came to on his knees, in tears, her supple mouth enveloping his as she passed on her apologies through the motion of her lips. She broke away with an urgent command. "Get on the bed, soldier."

"W-what? Now? Here?"

"Not that," she laughed quietly, pulling on his good hand until he stood. "They're coming back - I spotted them through the window. I've got to go. Keep the door unlocked and pretend you're sleeping when they come in." She discarded the last stimpak under the bed and marched over to unlock the door, then looked back at him. She rushed to steal one last swift kiss, and he was left with nothing but the hollow sounds of her holotags clacking and the ghostly sensation of her lips on his as his memory; his reminder of his mission.

Luki lumbered along to the bed and carefully laid down on his good side, eternally grateful and already feeling just a little bit better, knowing he had an abundance of stimpaks hard at work inside. The healing process would be a lot quicker and there shouldn't be any risk of infection any more. Stiff joints popped and sung a tune along with the creaky bed, and he closed his eyes as he tried to erase every thought and emotion Sarah stirred inside of him.

God, but he missed her. He could relate to how much Piper was hurting - and at the same time, not at all. He didn't know what he'd do if the Institute ever kidnapped Sarah.

Maybe that's why he needed to see this through. Maybe, just maybe, this would teach Leo what it meant to be human.

Knocks alerted him, and he sucked in a slow breath as he bit his tongue to stop himself from answering when Piper softly called out on the other side. "Luki? We're back." The knob rattled and the door opened, followed by two sets of footsteps. They lightened and he knew it was her that snuck up to him, whispering to Leo. "Should we wake him up?"

"Yeah. He needs to get that shit taken care of before it gets infected. Could just poke 'im with the stimpaks now, but it'll be safer if he's awake so he doesn't kill ya for it."

Luki pretended to be roused awake and slowly turned, wiping the 'sleep' out of his eyes as he yawned. He blinked blearily at the woman who hunched over him, and he immediately turned when he noticed her gaze was on the holotags again - she was too damn curious for her own good.

Too damn confrontational, too.

"Sarah," she stated flatly, straightening. She shook her head when he faked confusion. "No. I'm not falling for that anymore, and I want answers. Who are you, and who's Sarah?"

"She's... An old dear friend. A woman and senior officer I admired - as many others had - back when I was serving the Brotherhood. She was pronounced killed in action shortly before I left the Capital Wasteland." Luki propped up on his elbows as his mind raced for a suitable enough explanation to satisfy her. He knew he was done as soon as she was suspicious; there was no lying to her, but there was no telling the full truth to her, either.

"So you're still serving?"

"No. I left the Brotherhood when I left that wasteland; that was and still is the truth." Luki caught the exchange of looks between Piper and Leo. His friend made himself comfortable in the shadows and watched him closely. Why were they both suspicious? Something wasn't adding up. Leo never pieced anything together even when he saw Sarah, so this had to be Piper's doing.

"How was your friend killed?"

Every question was weaving a bigger lie, but Sarah drilled him countless nights to help him prepare for any line of questioning from any kind of person - civilian or soldier. Before he opened his mouth, however, Leo cut in coldly. "Friend? Bullshit. You two were fucking like dogs."

Piper shot a glare at Leo, but Luki saw through the routine right away - the asshole and the nice guy. It hadn't stopped him from wanting to snap at the man to show respect to Sarah, but Leo hadn't known who she truly was. Not yet. He sighed and cautiously pushed himself up into sitting, disappointed to see Piper step away from him as her hand lingered near her gun. "Let's stop wasting time with these games. It's clear you two know something." Luki held up his hand as a silent plea when Leo's mouth opened. "Just hear me out first, before you two accuse me of whatever it is you're thinking. However, I beg that what I say right now stays in this room and-"

Knocks immediately set all of them on high alert, and they all reached for their weapons when the door opened. Luki's eyes widened when Sarah stepped in, and slowly closed the door when she leaned against it. She subtly shook her head at him and took command of the situation, as she always did, looking at the other two. "Whatever issue you two have with him should be taken up with me. My name is Sarah Lyons, and let me begin by stating: we are not your enemy. I would appreciate it if you stopped treating him like one."

Tension rose and the atmosphere shifted into something honestly terrifying; and Luki had survived many grueling battles of all forms in his lifetime. He shifted nervously as he bit his tongue, trying not to ask Sarah what in the world she was thinking. She wasn't ready. This was jeopardizing everything...

But he had already done that the moment he allowed Leo and himself to get involved in this mess.

"If you're stating that, then you're already aware of how I see all of this right now," Piper murmured, taking out the notepad from her pocket. She looked at Luki and still addressed him instead of Sarah. "You put this in the wrong pocket. If you're not my enemy, then why do you want to see what I've got?"

Sarah sighed loudly and drew the attention back to her. She pushed off from the door and approached Piper, who's hand hovered ever closer to her gun. Sarah's piercing gaze flickered to that hand and clasped her wrists behind her as she stood at attention like a soldier, the position ingrained in every muscle of her body.

"We're not with the Institute, nor are we with the Brotherhood anymore. I was a Sentinel until promoted to the rank of Elder when my father passed away, but we escaped from the Brotherhood when Luki uncovered a plan to assassinate me, as most of the Brotherhood felt that my father betrayed the core tenets. They knew I shared his vision and would have carried on his legacy. But Luki and I came to the Commonwealth, because..."

Luki silently prayed she wouldn't say it, and saw her struggle. He rose quietly and bowed his head as he approached her and reached behind, grabbing her hand in hopes it would somehow grant her strength. She squeezed his fingers the moment they interlaced. Sarah looked up at him, smiling bravely.

Piper raked a hand through her hair and slipped her notepad back inside her pocket; Luki cussed at himself for making such an amateurish mistake. It was probably the catalyst that sparked her suspicion and turned her hawk eyes on him. The reporter had a frightening intuition, but that made her a formidable opponent to the Institute. Piper looked at Luki, her lips spreading in a weak smile as she quipped, "are there any more friends you're hiding? We can use all the help we can get."

"What the fuck?" Leo blurted, stepping out to her side as he angrily gestured at Sarah. "Don't tell me you actually believe this shit? They'll say anything they want!"

Within seconds, what vitality was left in the young woman was completely drained, and exhaustion seeped from every part of her posture. "I don't have the luxury to turn help away, no matter why they're here. They've had plenty of chances to prove they're a threat and they haven't. I just want to find the Institute, and I'll do it with or without Blue."

"I believe I can help with that," Sarah offered, settling back into her old stoic and business-like self. Part of Luki was still wary as to which direction this was all going to head now, and the other part was utterly relieved that they wouldn't have to hide and wait for secret meetings to be with each other again. "I've investigated and gathered intel on the organization that call themselves the Railroad."

Piper gawked in surprise. "They aren't just rumors? They're real?"

Luki gawked in surprise for an entirely different reason. "When did you even have the time to do this?"

Sarah simply smirked at him. Ten years later, and she still terrified him. She looked back at Piper. "They're real, and I'm willing to bet they'll have the means to decrypt the information on the chip attached to those wires you've got."

"Chip?" Piper arched her brow, then dug in her satchel until she extracted the wires and inspected them. The chip was minuscule, and Luki started to sweat nervously the more confident and commanding Sarah had grown. "When did you even-?"

"It's best not to ask those questions," Luki blurted, "because those answers are scary."

Sarah laughed, pleasant and light; it had been so long since he'd heard it and it lifted his heart - only for it to fall when Leo scoffed and sneered. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and stormed out the room, ignoring Piper when she called out for him to stay. Exasperated, she sucked in a slow breath as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Luki and Sarah exchanged concerned looks but neither made a move to chase after Leo. Sarah stepped close to Piper as she lowered her voice. "He's our mission - we're to watch over and protect him, and we would appreciate it if you maintained that secret."

Piper's brow pinched in confusion as she looked at Luki, and he smiled meekly. "I've always sucked at following her orders."

"And why Leo?" Horror suddenly dawned on Piper's face. "Please don't tell me that guy is like some sort of key to saving the world from imminent destruction."

"No, nothing of that sort. Could you imagine?" Luki chuckled, wincing when Sarah drilled her elbow into his ribs - his burned side.

"I'll answer only as much as the information is necessary to you," Sarah stated bluntly, "otherwise, it is our business. You can rest assured that it will not conflict with your mission to infiltrate the Institute." That didn't seem to satisfy Piper judging by her frown, and though Luki could empathize, he followed Sarah's lead for a reason. There was no other commander he would ever rather serve. "Be thankful I've decided to come to you with the truth in good faith, rather than allowing Luki to spin a lie. That we're trusting you to maintain the secrecy of our mission should say much of our commitment to make this partnership work - it's a mutually beneficial relationship."

Silence stretched between them as Piper took a few steps back, her gaze flicking between the two. Assessing for threats? Reviewing the information, to determine if there were any holes in their story? It was a lot to take on in good faith, especially when Luki had basically indirectly confessed that he had - at least partially - been lying up to this point. He didn't know if it would help, but he turned to Sarah and reached into her shirt through her collar, grabbing her to keep her close when she tried to swat him away.

"Not the time!" Sarah hissed, until she saw what he'd pulled out of her shirt.

His holotags.

"This is why I'm here to help," he stated, grasping the holotags he wore in his other hand. Sarah's. "It began with the General, and I couldn't imagine what it would be like if I lost Sarah the way he lost his family. Then I met you. I saw how much you've been hurting too, and I've kept thinking to myself what if that was me? If it's hard to believe our story, then believe in this." He beat a fist against his heart. "No matter how harrowing the odds: leave no man behind. The Sergeant will come home, and we will put an end to the Institute once and for all. They aren't just a threat to the Commonwealth; their influence stretches beyond that. I've had dealings with them back in the Capital Wasteland as well."

Sarah's head snapped to him at that. "What? You never told me this."

Piper all too eagerly rolled over the desk chair to the bed and patted the mattress, whipping out her notepad. "And you are going to tell me everything."

"Uh..." Luki smiled nervously as he took his seat, and Sarah stood in front of him with crossed arms. His gaze flickered between the two frightening women. After everything he had ever survived in his life, and still it was formidable women like this that had scared his nightmares away. He winced when he'd bent too far over on the side and glanced down at his injuries, then up at them. "I mean, I'll survive... But this hurts. A lot. Any chance I can take care of this first?"

"No," they replied in perfect synchrony. His head dropped in defeat.

Women really were happy to stab him.