[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE]
Chapter 6: If You Can't Beat 'Em

Gat burned through his cigarettes as if he had minutes left to live. He fed Cowboy and 'Detective' lies, but he knew they were feeding him lies too; Piper left of her own volition, upset that he had, especially when the mayor of the city threatened to turn her and her little sister out - so was it the mayor or his fault? Get the story straight. Now Piper and Nat were together at some settlement and set up a new shop there.

Embers glowed brightly as Gat sucked on the smoke to stop himself from calling their bluff. It wasn't hard for him to play the part as if he was distressed and heartbroken, his leg racing as he massaged his forehead. He snuffed out his smoke and sucked a deep breath in.

Other than their little discrepancy, their lies were solid - but he needed to buy what they were selling in order for them to buy his. He kicked up his leg over his knee as he relaxed on the couch. "I get she don't wanna see me no more, but I wanna see she's okay with my own eyes. Y'both can tell me whatever the fuck you want and she could be dead in a ditch, for all I know."

"You didn't seem to care about that when you left," Cowboy muttered, and Gat struggled to let these jabs pass without passing a hook of his own. And failed.

"I didn't come back for a pissin' contest. I had my reasons for leaving."

Reasons he deeply regretted on a number of fronts; but he knew it would have all come down to this sooner or later, anyways. There was no way he would have been able to protect his family from the Institute with the technology they have at their disposal. It was just a matter of time - a ticking bomb - when he painted the bullseye on his back the moment he freed Piper from captivity. And it was just a matter of time - another ticking bomb - until he would bring her back into captivity.

"Even if you ain't gonna take me to her, I'll find her."

"What part of she doesn't want to see you don't you get?" Cowboy growled, and Gat sighed as he pushed himself off the couch. The detective blocked the exit - good thing there was more than one. Gat stepped out to the side to head out through the trailer, but Nick blocked the other exit. Cowboy came up from behind, his gun drawn. He jerked his head to the door. "You want proof? I'll give it to you - after you surrender your weapons."

Not taking chances. Good. At least he had good instincts - at least he still remembered how to protect. Not like Gat; and it hit him that he had never even thought to ask or look for Cowboy's family inside the Institute. It could have been the leverage, the piece of information that would unlock the door to trust and lead him straight to Piper.

Honestly, he was just going by the fly of his pants, anyways.

Gat slung a protective arm on his duffel bag. "Piss off. All of my babies have been collected for years. I ain't handin' them over to ya just 'cause you can't find and fix your own shite."

"I'm not going to use them," Cowboy groaned exasperatedly, running a hand through his luscious black hair; it just wasn't normal to have hair like that. Too perfect. Fucking pre-war... Knob jockey... Cowboy. "It's a reasonable request to ensure not just Nick and I's safety, but Piper and the settlement as well. Due to extenuating circumstances-"

The hell did extenuating mean? Where was Piper when he needed her?

Oh. Right. Probably not a good idea for her to be near him right now.

"-you are deemed high risk and a threat. Your weapons will be returned to you thereafter. It's Piper or the guns, Gunner."

Fantastic. His own nickname; one he wasn't entirely thrilled about, but it was still better than Asshole. At least, from Piper's mouth. He didn't care who else it came from.

"Alright. Say I turn over my guns... You'll let me see her?" Gat narrowed his eyes in suspicion and protectively hugged his bag of guns when Cowboy nodded. As bad as it all was, he couldn't squash his hope of just seeing her one more time - but squashed the need to kiss her; he couldn't afford to have that kind of attachment.

Why?

It wasn't like he had any humanity left to scavenge anymore.

This was for his family. That was all he could keep trying to sell himself, but he couldn't buy his own bullshit. Time ticked excruciatingly slow and he lit one last cigarette, struggling to willingly surrender his guns. "The things I do for that barmy bird," he muttered as he laid the duffel bag on the floor and turned away, just so that he wouldn't see his babies go. He could have sworn the synth rolled his weird glowing eyes. Also not normal. None of them were normal. Nick was a horrible reminder, though - a reality check.

...That Gat wasn't normal anymore, either.

x - x - x

Luki struggled not to smile when Sarah slung her leg over his thighs, and looked down to watch his sleeping beauty. He reached over and gently brushed a few strands of hair out her face, tucking it behind her ear. It still astonished him to this day how sleep had the capability to make even the more terrifying of dangers to appear so peaceful and at ease. He only wished she allowed herself to be that way when she was awake, too.

"You've been through a lot," he whispered tenderly, craning his neck to reach and kiss her forehead. He cradled her close to his side, the larger part of him empathizing with the woman who had this ripped away from her because of her work. He could imagine it happening to him and Sarah, but he didn't want to. He didn't want to lose her again, and again, and again - all because of missions and a job that was never done. There were always going to be people who needed saving.

"You've been through a lot too," came a sleepy murmur. He looked down and saw glinting eyes in the darkness, smiling when Sarah drummed her fingers on his chest. "What's on your mind? You need to ignore it to catch up on sleep. I'm kicking everybody's asses out of bed at oh-500, sharp."

Luki nibbled on the inside of his lip. He couldn't ignore this; not when this was probably the only time he'd get to debrief with Sarah on a personal note, before she went on full mission mode and took charge of an operation she was likely going to create soon. He adjusted the arm she used as a pillow and curled it around her a little more, tracing a fingertip up and down her ribs. He turned his head and buried his mouth in her hair. "I can't ignore this."

Tension rippled above him as her muscles locked down. She was in an unknown territory - consequently 'Ground Zero' within her mind, no doubt. "What can't you ignore?"

Hesitance marked every hitch and pitch of her tone. He took a deep breath and braced himself for what was likely going to be a hurtful conversation, but he couldn't cast it out of his mind for another day. "What's our future, Sarah?"

"I dunno," came the fast reply, a clear indicator that she was reacting and not thinking. "I'm a soldier, not a psychic."

Disappointment weighed Luki's heart down. It was always so damn hard to broach anything like this with her - and while he understood, and waited, and accommodated, and... He couldn't wait a day longer. He grabbed his holotags - hers, technically, and brought it between their faces so that the little blue screen illuminated enough of her for him to study her expressions.

"You know, back in the Vault, we had something called the G.O.A.T exam. Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test. Everybody was required to take it at 16, to determine their role and job in the vault. At the time I dreaded it, but I liked having a bit of certainty in the future." He smiled when her brow arched and she rose up to fold her arms on his chest, looking down at him in horror. "Hey, I'd say it's not that different from the Brotherhood."

"We still got to choose how to serve, though, and got to change paths. A cook could apply to be a scribe." The corner of her lip curled in amusement. "And a physician could apply to be a soldier, to chase after his crush on the battlefield instead of a building."

"And protect her, of course."

"Of course, sure; in your dreams, anyways." Sarah laughed, shaking her head. "God, I lost count how many times I had to save your ass. It turned out in the end, yeah, and you've become a better soldier since then." She looked at him with a growing mischievous smirk. "Well, some days that's debatable."

"Hey!"

"But I remembered how annoyed I was; I didn't know what my father was thinking when he assigned you to the Pride. Sentimentality's sake because of Project Purity, I guess."

No. He repeatedly begged to be in her unit - at least as a field medic - after she woke up from her coma. A secret he guarded close to his heart. He hated helplessly watching the way she struggled with rehabilitation, especially when it was because of that blasted project that had done that to her. Never again. Not if he could help it.

"Point is: you got to decide which road to take, Luki. The future changes anyways, regardless if you choose it or have it assigned to you." Sarah unfolded her arms and sat up, the darkness shrouding most of her, except the outline of her lean body. A lump grew in his throat and his mouth ran dry when the holotags illuminated her stomach. Her hands made thinking harder - fogging up the path he'd even wanted to take with this conversation - as she ran down his torso, the edge of her finger trailing over the ridges and grooves of his abs. "But instead of exercising your brain every day, you chose to train rigorously with your body. You chose to deliver shots with a rifle instead of a syringe. Not many get that liberty to, in life; apparently not in vaults either. What were you even supposed to be? Probably a doctor, like with us."

"Actually, I was to become the vault's chaplain," he croaked, licking his lips when her finger ghosted down to rest between his hips. Sarah's throaty laughter did things to him. Her weight settled on his hips and she sat on his groin, leaning down until he could see a shadowy smile right up at his face. She rolled her hips and a show of white teeth broke the darkness.

"Mm, yeah, I can see you as one," she sniggered. "Could, rather. Not anymore. Definitely not right now..." He bit back a groan when the friction converted all that pent up tension into pleasure within seconds, and he wanted nothing more than the release he hadn't had in who knew how many months - even by his own hand. She lowered and tenderly nipped the good unburned side of his neck, husking. "Most nights I watched and waited until you fell asleep, before I would. You've been saving yourself." She hooked a finger on his holotags and twisted them. "Just like the beginning. Don't you know better than to do that to me? You made me feel guilty - and frustrated - when I couldn't do the same."

A simple admission that aroused him to no end, but one he couldn't truthfully claim the same. "That's not true. I did it a couple times too."

"A couple?" Sarah laughed again, enunciating it with a hard bite. "God, you're such a goodie two-shoes. If only you knew how often I did." She undid his zipper and reached between the flap of his boxers, and it sent tingles washing over his entire body as her fingers wrapped around his girth. He bucked against her hand when she stroked roughly, forcing her tongue in his mouth. He tried to take her hand away - wanting to please her first - and she let go completely, sitting up. He could perfectly imagine what kind of expression she was making just by her impatient tone. "What are you doing?"

"Ladies," he rasped, wincing and swallowing to soothe his parched throat. "Ladies first."

"Manners? Now?" Sarah sighed. "You're hurt. Badly. You're in no shape tonight, not unless you want to rip your scabs open and bleed all over. Just let me do this for you."

"No. I want to be able to share this moment with you or not at all if it's just me, Sarah." He grabbed his holotags and rattled them, his next words thick on his tongue, nervous of how she was going to react to this. "My vow. I haven't changed it and I don't plan on ever changing it."

Silence reigned down and Sarah tensed on him again. It seemed to click, but it didn't click in the place he wished it could. His heart fell when she slowly laid down on his side, and he hastily adjusted himself, zipping up his pants. The entire atmosphere shifted and weighed down the moment his hand fell, and she blurted. "I don't see myself as anything but a soldier in my future."

Luki closed his eyes and smiled sadly, whispering. "I know."

"Then why are you still here? If you're not happy-"

"I never said I'm not."

"Clearly you are, if you keep bringing this up." Was it wrong to desire some certainty? "I'm not some woman who's going to settle down and pop out a vault full of kids."

"I never expected that either, Sarah. I just want to know our future. Us. To know if you'll be and stay a part of my future. If we split up again..."

"We have a mission - to find out how to infiltrate the Institute - and your biggest concern right now is if we're dating or not?"

"Married," Luki reminded, feeling the beginnings of frustration and despair, now that he knew where this was going to go.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Sarah grumbled something and her head fell on his chest. "If you really consider swapping holotags marriage."

One deep breath. He took it, clung to it, closing his eyes as he tried to hold on to patience. This wasn't the first time she was hasty with her words, and she often proved to bear an immense amount of guilt. It took forever for her to forgive herself; if only she understood and considered his feelings just as much as he did for her. If only she understood his desire for her to acknowledge that they were together, or if he should break things off between them to stop this cycle where they only hurt each other more than they had added to the other's life.

Terrifying, it was. It hurt just to think about ending things; he was too scared to do it. Not after everything they had been through, and survived - but it had been ten years, and some days he felt as if there was still another part of her locked away, defending it at all costs. Even from him.

"I'm not the enemy, Sarah." He ran his hand down her side to rest on her hip. "If you don't consider our vows and swapping holotags as marriage, then let's-"

"We don't have time," she interjected gently; it still hurt to hear, however rare such softness from her even was. "I hear you, and I understand, but the fact of the matter is: we still have a job. There's just no way we can run off and find - what would we even need to make it 'official'? A priest? D.C. is a week away on foot; and that's pure logistics, not counting about who knows what we'll run into in the wasteland. We just can't afford to leave for Rivet City right now."

At least she was thinking about this and planning it at all. That was a hopeful sign.

"After our mission with the Institute is over, then." Luki twisted until she had rolled off of him and on to her back. "We come clean with Leo - no ifs, ands, or buts. We've stalled enough and life is too short to keep on the way we have." He hovered over her side, claiming her lips as he whispered ever so tenderly. "I'm marrying you, Sarah Lyons. And I'm taking your name." He would suffer no protest and silenced the risk of them as he kissed her ardently, propping himself up with his bad arm so that he could touch her with his good hand; she deserved nothing less. Her breath hitched and she angled her hips towards him when he undid her belt, slipping inside her pants to touch her. He smirked when she gasped, but only after he made his new vow.

"One day, in our future, we will make the Brotherhood of Steel revere the Lyons just as much as the Maxsons."

x - x - x

Knocks alerted Piper and she shot up in her bed, cringing at the series of creaks that sung a little tune along the way. So much for subterfuge. She rolled out of bed and took her pistol out it's holster, hiding it behind her hip as she stuffed it in her waistband. She approached the door warily as she called out. "Who is it?"

"Leo," came the miserable croak. She chewed her lip, not really wanting to open the door, but curiosity and concern betrayed her. She took a deep breath to steel herself and opened the door, frowning. The slim man hadn't the decency to wear a shirt - not that he even seemed to be aware of it, with how bloodshot his eyes were and how much his breath had reeked of alcohol. He invited himself in without waiting for her to even step aside or say anything. For some reason, something kept rustling and clacking in the now-bulging pockets of his pants. Were those bullets or what? She never paid attention before.

Everything screamed at her to just kick this man out and be done with it, but the way he moped just on the walk to her bed called out to the humanity and concern inside of her. She tried to bury that voice, to reason that he wouldn't do this for her, but it won over her. She set her pistol on the desk and cautiously took a chair to sit across from him.

"Is everything alright, Leo?"

"No," he mumbled, laying down and turning to face the wall. Great. He was going to stink up her noisy bed too. "Nothing is even close to being alright."

Silence weighed the mood down and dragged even her down to a sullen degree; she tried to chalk it up to the sleep she wasn't going to be getting any time soon, but the part that had actually worried over this decrepit man still won over. God, if Garrett were here, he'd probably just shoot Leo and say it was a mercy kill to end his miserable existence.

The idea was tempting.

"What am I doing with my life?" Leo inquired, reluctantly rolling back towards her. "Chems, booze and women used to be enough to help me get through the night, especially if I'm pissed off. Even gambled a bit with what little we had and won a ton." He fished in his pockets and out spilled handfuls of caps; that explained the clacking. Her eyes lit up at just how much he had actually won when she saw nuka-quantum caps in the mix. Where was this wonderful gift when they all needed it?

"I'm impressed, that's a lot," she noted, arching her brow up at him. Her heart sank when he just shrugged sullenly. She took a moment to think on what questions would help him find the answer for himself more than simply answering her; she still didn't expect him to be wholly truthful, but apparently he surprisingly possessed the capability to actually reflect on himself. "If this is something you've always done, then why are you questioning it now? Why do you think it's not helping you tonight?"

Leo stared at her, and she wondered if he was even in a state where he could fully comprehend her - much less remember their conversation when morning light broke through those windows. He turned again to face away from her and she smiled at just how sulky he was. Another big baby - well, much scrawnier than the other two. She was surrounded by them, and felt like she had to babysit more than actually lead; to be the Boss.

"Because of 'Lucky Charms', man," Leo sighed. "All this time, I thought I knew him. Turns out I didn't know him at all. Lucky's unlucky. Joke's on me now."

"He's still the same-"

"Don't feed me bullshit, Boss. He's just being the guy those two need us to see; that asshole and nice guy routine I was tellin' you about? He pulls off an asshole way better than I can on daily basis. It's bugging me that they'd hide this long, and then she pops out a year later. Why? The fuck are they even around for? What, all we had to do was crap on the doorstep of some shady assholes, and then she just happens to know people that can help us? Nothing's adding up, Boss."

"Why is it bothering you to this degree?" Piper struggled to remain elusive and relevant at the same time, but she was already running out of words and questions to choose from that wouldn't tip Leo off. "I'd imagine the Gunners had sketchier operations and hadn't given you any information about them whatsoever."

"Well, I ain't a merc no more. I'm a gun, yeah, but now I'm a gun that wants to know what the fuck he's aiming at. I don't wanna be buried six feet under and rust away."

"You won't."

"How the fuck can you say that? The Sarge got kidnapped, and all he was doing was fucking you."

Piper's temple twitched at the crude language, but she was no longer a stranger to vulgarity. She pinched the bridge of her nose and sucked in a deep breath to stay calm. "Then why are you really here, Leo? It sounds like you've already got your mind made up in all of this." Her innards shook and screamed at her not to say what she was about to say, for she needed all the allies she could get; but she couldn't manipulate this man into staying, to make sure the other two wouldn't leave after him for whatever mission they were on.

"If you don't want to be here anymore, then nobody is stopping you, Leo. You're free to leave."

"And be kidnapped by them just for having any contact with you? No thanks. I ain't waiting to be tortured to cough up whatever information they need to hear."

Wonderful. Someone admitting they would sell her out in a heartbeat, too. Rattled, Piper rose from her chair and dug in her jacket for another pack of cigarettes. She went to the window to smoke, raking a hand through her hair. "If you stay, you're a target. If you leave, you're a target. We're all targets here - have been even before I made a stink about the Institute, because nobody has ever been safe from them whether they knew it or not. Did you think Blue knew? No. He was frozen in a freaking vault and didn't do nothing to the world or the Institute; but they still went out of their way, somehow found him, and took his family anyways. So what the hell do you want, Leo?"

"I don't know what I want," he hissed, and his boots hit the floor. She twisted around as nonchalantly as she hadn't felt, her gaze flickering to the pistol on the desk. He approached her, nostrils flaring. "But I know the Institute wants you. If you care sooooo fucking much about everyone, then you should stop hiding and turn yourself in. Stop dragging everybody in your fucking mess and getting them killed."

That stung, but the truth always did. She wasn't a stranger to the guilt that gnawed away from her inside, and her shoulders caved in exhaustion. "If it would save-"

"Bullshit! If you wanted that, you'd have done it; but you're trying to break in instead. The fuck are you gonna do after, Boss? They'll know you're in there, wherever the fuck they are. Think they'll just let everybody go if you piss them off even more? No. You know what up Top did in the Gunners if someone so much as looked at them the wrong way? They shot 'em, or ordered other gunners for a hazing - even if it was their own buddies, but you had to if you wanted to live too. That's just the way things work in life. It don't matter what wasteland you're in; and I been a part of too many hazings to start caring for some dumb broad that went looking for trouble to piss off the Institute on purpose."

Leo's predatory eyes screamed sinister intent as he approached her, and she turned, back flattening against the window. The moment she launched for the desk, he stole the pistol before she could and aimed it at her. "Sorry, Boss. I ain't gonna turn into a robot or food for sick experiments. It's every fucking man for himself out here. You've done it and were going to do it to me too, and I'm just beating you to it." He jerked his head to the side. "Go on. We're going for a little walk."

"What's your plan, Leo?" Piper hissed through gritted teeth, trying to quell the shaking inside of her as she postured to be tough. "You have none. You think the Institute is just going to pop up in the streets and you can just hand me off to them with a happy goodbye? They've hid in the shadows all this time and nobody knows a thing about them. There's a reason for that. You'd just be a loose end for them to tie up."

"Not unless I offer my gun to them."

"You'd work for them?!"

"Hey, if you can't beat 'em." He shrugged, grabbing her shoulder to shove her towards the door. "Join 'em."