[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE]
Chapter 7: The Angels That Burn For Us
Trigger warning: attempted sexual violence

Ideas raced as Piper was shoved out her door. Her first idea backfired spectacularly.

"Luki!" She called out for help.

"Luki!" Came a moan at the same fucking time.

Piper wanted to scream, but Leo slapped his hand over her mouth and drilled the gun barrel into her ribs. Her cheeks flushed in both dismay and anger - this was the worst possible time that Luki and Sarah could be doing that.

"Try that again and I'll shoot your knees out. I'll drag you by your fucking hair if I have to." Leo hissed viciously, shoving her towards his room first. She reeled her head forward and jerked it back to slam into his nose, and Leo's yelp echoed in the hallway - as did his cusses. She didn't dare make the same mistake with Luki and Sarah, taking off running. She cradled her head when he fired a shot and rushed around the corner, hands chafing against the stone wall as she crashed into it in her haste to not fall to her death on the stairs.

"Get back here!" Leo yelled, and she haphazardly flailed a middle finger over her shoulder - uncaring if he actually saw it - as she rounded the first flight of stairs and stormed down the next, the railing cracking and giving way when she grabbed it. She vaulted over the railing and her heart thundered in her throat in panic.

"Get out the way!" Piper cried out, and pain shot up her shins when she had slammed down on the hotel's reception desk. The old woman slewed cusses at her but she couldn't afford to stop and apologize, rolling off the desk. She rubbed her shins before she took off sprinting the second another shot was fired. She barely heard Luki shouting - sounding panicked - before she exited the hotel and ran across the city, her lungs burning just as much as her legs.

Fear and adrenaline coursed through her, groping for what in the fuck she was supposed to do now. She had no weapon, no supplies, no caps, no allies. She was on the verge of tears and honestly had half a mind to just let Leo hand her off to the Institute - maybe hopefully see them execute the fucking backstabber to tie up loose ends, but not before she'd get to look him in the eye and say 'I told you so.'

Then she'd spit on his corpse.

Guards tried to intervene but she hadn't dared stop. She didn't know who to trust - she couldn't afford to trust anymore; and it broke apart what little calm and composure she had left. She charged down dark alleyways, praying she wasn't going to just end up in another shady asshole's hands, the world rapidly blurring and turning misty. She climbed up a trash bin and leaped for a ladder, cursing when arms locked on her waist and pried her off the moment she caught a rung. A gag was stuffed in her mouth before she had the chance to scream and she beat down with her fists, only for her wrists to be scooped up and pinned above her head.

"You're a lot more trouble than you're worth, 'Boss'," Leo seethed, sounding nasally. Streaks of blood ran down from his nostrils, dripping off his chin and down on her face. "You broke my fucking nose. I should shoot you in the head right now, you fucking bitch - but I'm gonna have some fun with you before I do that. Consider it payment for what it'll cost me to fix up my nose." The sound of a zipper being undone instantly froze her, and when she looked down - horrified to see Leo expose himself and wrestle on her pants, she shrieked at the top of her lungs, but the gag muffled her. She thrashed wildly and kicked with all her might, but the scrawny man drilled his knees into her thighs.

And then his body slumped on her.

The remnants of a gun shot pierced through her haze of fear, and she wasted no time to push Leo off, zipping herself back up as she spat the gag out. She scrambled and pried the pistol out of Leo's limp hand when racing footsteps thundered in her ears, still stuck in overdrive to escape by any means necessary. She cried out when calloused fingers snapped around her small wrists, and someone familiar was yelling at her, shaking her.

Dazed, she blinked her tears away, the noise in the world crashing back in her skull like a tidal wave. She hiccuped and wheezed in between weak breaths, and her eyes widened at who held her.

"Garrett?"

No, no, no. This had to be a nightmare. He wouldn't be here. There was no logical explanation for it, and she gaped at him in disbelief. His mouth was moving, saying something, but she couldn't hear him over the white noise blaring in her brain. His arms scooped under her knees and around her shoulders, cradling her close to his body as he lifted her and got her out of there.

Blue and Nick flooded her vision next, but the world wouldn't stop spinning - and she barely got the words out in time. "Let go. Puke. I need-"

A steel bucket was held beside her, and Nick held her hair out of her face as she vomited everything that could have possibly been in her stomach these past few days. She shivered like a leaf caught in a storm, quivering and sweating. Someone wiped her face. What happened? What was happening? Piper absentmindedly clung to Garrett as she looked over his shoulder, staring at Leo's corpse shrinking away in the alleyway as they walked away. Just like that. In a matter of minutes, the bloodshot crybaby went from moping, to threatening, to chasing and shooting and nearly raping-

"Oh god," she slapped a hand over her mouth, burying her face in not-Garrett's neck. It wasn't him, no matter how dearly she wished it to be. This was just a bad dream. It had to be. Luki's voice blended in with Blue's and Nick's, and Sarah was freaking out for some reason. Every time Piper blinked, the setting changed. She struggled to keep up and process the wealth of information.

Five minutes ago, she was in the hotel. Then she charged down the stairs, and pain shot up her shins when she jumped over the railing out of desperation. Then the city, whipping past the security henchmen and chemheads. Then Leo... Leo was going to...

And now she was back in the hotel.

Piper curled into a ball and hugged her knees on her creaky bed. The entire group was in her room, yelling at each other, and for some reason Sarah kept glaring at her. Or was it the man holding her? Nick kept casting suspicious looks. Whoever's arms were around her was shaking just as much as her. She stilled, paralyzed, when a familiar rough sensation scratched her cheek as the mystery man rested his chin on her shoulder. She wouldn't ever forget this feeling.

"Garrett?" Piper whispered ever so softly, but she closed her eyes. She couldn't look. She was afraid she'd just see what she wanted to see, and she needed to hear him; nevermind the part where she was probably just going to hear what she wanted to hear, too. It was worth a try.

And then a powerful sob wracked through her when a murmur flooded her ear.

"I'm here, Angel."

x - x - x

Gat scowled at everybody in the room as he protectively cradled Piper - who had cried herself to sleep - in his arms, holding and hoarding her like a dragon guarding it's pile of treasure. He didn't give a fuck who these new freaks were, getting their panties in a twist over that fucking dead prick. "Good fucking riddance. 'Bout time someone put a bullet between that shitwit's eyes. Been a long time comin' with the shite he pulled."

For some reason, the blonde woman turned red in the face and was absolutely enraged, but Luki held her back. It didn't stop her from spitting at Garrett. "Fuck you! You don't even fucking know what we've been through to protect him!"

"Protect that sack of shite? What about Piper, huh? What 'bout all the other fuckin' women he did that shite to? Or are y'just gonna turn a blind eye-"

"Enough," Cowboy interjected sternly. "What's done is done." He looked at the steaming blonde woman. "I'm not going to give my condolences for him; I don't regret killing him, either. I don't care who he was. Leo crossed the line. Piper has proven to be a steadfast friend and-"

"Bullshit," the blonde woman cut cruelly, "you just need her to help you get inside the Institute!"

"Sarah," Luki urged as he pulled her towards the door, "let's go. This isn't going to change anything. Let's just... Go. We can at least give him a burial."

"The hell are you so worked up 'bout that dead prick for, anyways?" Gat blurted before Luki had a chance to drag the woman out, and when her head snapped to him, blue eyes sheen with unshed tears, he almost felt sorry for her; but he felt sorry for a fate worse to her than that dead arsehole.

"He was family. My last one. A half-brother, but still family. Now they're all in a fucking grave."

Gat bit his tongue before he extended his condolences for her being related to Leo, and exchanged wary glances with Cowboy as Luki pulled the blonde woman out of the room. Gat sighed and leaned back as slowly as he could so the creaky bed wouldn't sing a little tune, resting against the bed frame as he adjusted how Piper slept against him.

"Will you be alright with her?" Cowboy asked with surprising tenderness as he approached them, slinging off the duffel bag of guns to set beside the bed.

"Yeah, I think so," Gat murmured, wanting to scream that he wasn't at all alright with her. He didn't know the extent of his upgrades and whether or not the Institute could see all this through him, through his eye implants; maybe he should have read up on all the details when Adam left him with a folder, but he just wanted to get a move on and see Piper again. Even if he shouldn't. He sighed and buried a hand in his hair, raking it back, rubbing his nape. He watched Cowboy and Nick linger near the door, blurting when the synth was the first to move for it. "No, I take that back. Can y'two stay? I think she'll feel better if she has more people she trusts stay with her."

God knew she couldn't trust him - even if she didn't know it yet.

"Someone needs to stand guard outside, just in case." Nick grabbed a pack of cigarettes from his trench coat, tossing it on the bed. "I'll guard - don't need to eat or sleep. Let her know she's welcome to that whole pack and more. I got two left." He bowed his hat as a gesture of goodbye, then slipped out of the room, closing the door as quietly as was possible.

"Alright. Thanks, mate." Gat looked at Cowboy next, who's mouth thinned in a frown. He came back and dragged a chair over, sitting and propping his feet up on the dresser as he turned his army helmet down to cover his eyes. Gat studied him, then down at the sleeping woman. He cradled her protectively and rested his chin on the top of her head, never taking his eyes off Cowboy. "Thanks for... You know... And whatever your name is. If you were just a minute late from finding her..."

"Best not to think about it," Cowboy murmured. "My only regret was being stupid enough for ever recruiting that guy into the Minutemen. Luki vouched for him. He's probably hurtin'."

"Not as much as that other woman, apparently." It was still mind-boggling that anyone would ever even grieve over that fucking prick. "What was her name, again?"

"Sarah."

"Right..."

Awkward silence fell between them, and Gat easily grew uncomfortable. He didn't know what to do, what to say - he knew he wanted to bring Leo back to life so he could be tortured for what he was going to do. Gat held Piper tighter and closed his eyes, angling his head so that he could breathe warmth into her scalp. She shivered, and he spotted goosebumps.

"Hey, Cowboy-"

"John."

"Huh?" Gat stared, puzzled, then pieced it together. "Oh. S'that your name, then?"

"No." Right. This was going to get real confusing, real fast. "I don't remember my name, but that's the one I've been going by. John Doe."

"What? That's daft. How did ya forget yer own name?"

John shrugged. "A side-effect from being frozen in the vault, I guess. I don't know. I only remember snippets of my past; my family is the only thing that's clear to me."

"Oh..."

"Anyways, you were about to say something?"

Blank on what that even was, Gat had a blank look and stared again. A shiver from Piper reminded him real fast. "Yeah. Is there anything in that dresser we can use to cover her up? She's shakin' like a leaf, here."

"Maybe she's still in shock? Never been too keen on medical stuff." John took his feet off the dresser and rummaged inside, coming up with only a handful of ratty t-shirts. He used them to cover her legs, then took off his duster and draped it over her shoulders. Gat took the sleeves and wrapped it around her to secure the duster, slowly adjusting until he had fully laid down so that she would be more comfortable, sleeping on top of him.

"That makes two of us," Gat mumbled, looking down at Piper. His heart hurt. How was that even possible? He was sick to his stomach that anything like this would ever even be attempted on her, and he wasn't around to stop it, or offer himself up again. He clung to her as if his life depended on it, and closed his eyes as tightly as possible when they began to burn.

What was he doing? What was he going to do? He had to take her to the Institute. John was his only excuse to give them that he couldn't kidnap her in front of witnesses. His family was on the line here. If they were watching all this from his eyes, then they'd know he was having a change of heart, and they'd take it out on his sister - or worse yet, Rose. What was he suppose to do?

He couldn't take her. Not now. Not after all of this. She was going through enough. How long could he afford to wait, though? How long would it take until she got over the shock and trauma about what was about to happen? His deadline was in half a week now. How long did it take him to get over his trauma?

He never really did.

"God, forgive me," he whispered in her hair.

And it stirred her.

"Garrett?" Piper mumbled sleepily, and the two men exchanged worried looks. He squeezed her in his arms and nodded so that she felt his chin bump against her.

"Still here, Angel. I'm not going anywhere."

Piper stiffened for a moment, then sat up, stripping the duster and shirts away as she twisted to look down at him. She looked so distant, her hazel green eyes haunted by ghosts. Her gaze lazily panned around the room until it landed on John. "Nat?"

"Safe in one of my most fortified settlements, and I have a trusted friend watching over her. She has children to play with there too - and education."

A noisy breath left her and she buried her face in her hands, then inhaled deeply. Gat slowly sat up and she ran her hands up her face, through her hair. He didn't know what to do. Was it okay to touch her? Was it okay to kiss her? He wanted to comfort her, but in a few days, it would just become another nightmare for her - a memory she wished she could purge from her mind.

"Take another breath," John encouraged. "Keep taking them, and don't let any one of them be the last one before you turn cold. Fighting the demons will take time."

What was this priestly shite? Gat gawked at the man who had as serious of a face as ever, approaching and kneeling by the bedside as he reached for Piper's knee. She flinched from his touch and he respectfully withdrew, casting an apologetic look to Gat; every part of him screamed to pummel John down the moment she reacted that way.

Hypocrite. He had no right to be her protector. Not anymore.

Piper blindly reached behind until she felt Gat's hand, pulling it around her midriff. It was bittersweet. He hurt more than he was relieved, that he was the only one allowed to touch her. He shouldn't be. He didn't know how to tell her. He didn't know when to take her. His family was going to die because of this. Her tiny little fingers interlaced with his and she squeezed weakly. "I'm sorry."

"W-what?" Gat croaked, licking his dry lips. He exchanged confused looks with John. "What could y'possibly be sorry for, luv?"

Silence, and then the smallest little chuckle skipped in the hitch of her breath. "I said your name. Blue isn't the only one that knows now. Luki does too."

Seriously? That's what she was worried about right now? His brows furrowed and he stared at the back of her head in disbelief, only moving to action when John blinked exaggeratedly at him and gave him a stern look. Right. He probably shouldn't let her suffer any longer - not like this. Even though she was going to.

This was driving him batty.

"That don't matter, Angel. I don't care. I'm just glad you're..." Okay? She wasn't okay. Gat took a shaky breath and scooted closer, cautiously wrapping his other arm around her. She grew rigid, but minute by minute, her muscles melted against him.

"Blue." Piper looked over at him, and Gat could only see the half of her face. What he saw tore him apart. Her voice was as flat and emotionless as her face. "Is he actually here, or am I going crazy? Are you even here? I feel like I'm stuck in a nightmare."

"Cowboy better be the part that's the nightmare; I'm your dream come true, yeah?" Gat blurted, cringing when he - as always - chose the worst fucking possible time to joke.

And, surprisingly, she laughed.

Piper shifted to her side to look at him, her gaze wandering and searching his face. She reached and cupped his cheek, running the backs of her fingers along his beard, and he grinned when she pinched his ear. She continued to inspect and test him, going so far as to squeeze his nose. And then her eyes narrowed. She reeled her fist back and shot forth to punch his stomach, and he nearly doubled over from the unexpected surprise.

"Ow! What was that for?"

Nevermind the part that he deserved way worse than this.

"For leaving me," she hissed, "for not coming back sooner. For driving me crazy these past few days, or wait, no, for always driving me crazy, and for... For everything! What the hell were you thinking, Gat? What even happened to you?" She looked over at Blue. "Did you already get inside the Institute or what?"

"No," John shook his head, stepping back to give them space - and probably just not get punched himself. "Nick and I staked your house after we dropped Nat off."

Myriads of expressions flickered across her face, and her piercing gaze settled back on Gat. He smiled lopsidedly and shivered at her glower. "That'd give deathclaws-"

"Really not the time to joke."

"R-right." Gat chuckled nervously as he rubbed his nape. This was it. If anyone could ever spot a lie, it was her - doubly so, since she knew how he lied; the only way out of this was to tell the truth. Parts of it, anyways. "I, uh, well I was ambushed on the way to my bounty, but I broke free. Y'remember that arsehole that kept using your article as a place mat?"

"Yes." Flat, with no hint of whether or not she was buying his story or not. Technically he was telling the truth, right?

"Well, it was her and a couple goons. Guess she wanted to get back at me?" He hastily undid his pants and ignored her fierce blush.

"This isn't the time, Gat!"

"No, no, just wanna show ya somethin'." And distract her busybody mind from thinking and asking any questions. He yanked the lip of his pants down without thinking, to show the bruises on his thighs from the baton, and looked up at John when he cleared his throat loudly. Cowboy jerked his head towards Piper, and when Gat looked over, that haunted glaze was back in her eyes. This wasn't how he was supposed to distract her. He scrambled to do his pants up and framed her jaw. "Piper, Angel, look at me. I'm sorry. I'm so..."

Tears grew, and he wanted to shoot himself for being the perpetrator of them this time. He knocked their foreheads together and closed his eyes when tears burned for him too, and John quietly excused himself from the room. Gat slew a flurry of cusses in his mind, but all he could think of was her.

"I'm sorry," he choked out, and something inside of him broke. "I'm so fucking sorry, luv. I should have never left. I should have been there to protect you all. I should have... Fuck." No matter how tightly he kept his eyes shut, the tears leaked out. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and buried his face in her neck, chanting his apologies over and over and fucking over again in between hiccups as his lungs kicked against his chest. "I fucked up really bad, and now I don't know what to do. This was never supposed to happen to you. I don't want to hurt you." She pulled away to frame his head and drew it to her chest, soothingly stroking her fingers through his hair. "I don't know what to do anymore. I'm sorry, luv, I just... I don't..."

"Shh," she cooed softly, "it's alright." Why was she comforting him? They had this all arseways again. And yet, despite that, he selfishly soaked up every scrap of comfort she offered. "I'm just glad you're okay. I assumed the worst when I ran into that woman and saw her with your rifle - and it turned out she was working for the Institute too."

Gat was ready to go off the rails about his rifle being tainted, but there was something else that worried him. One word: was. He withdrew from her. "How did you find out?"

Piper's eyes darkened, as if a light bulb suddenly died in them. "I tied her up and interrogated her." A kick to the chest. "I tortured her." A shot to the heart. "And I killed her myself."

"I don't like shooting people who are unarmed or surrendering."

Someone bloody shoot him already.

"Piper..."

She looked away. Her voice was as cold as her eyes. "I'd do it again."

"Don't. Never again. Y'hear me, luv? Never. Again."

"You'd do the same for me. And others."

"Because I'm already well beyond bloody saving, luv. I've crossed that line long ago; ain't no salvation for me, and I ain't lookin' for forgiveness. I need this." He poked her chest. "Yer bleedin' heart."

What did it matter?

He'd be the reason why it would be bleeding.

"Leave that shite for people like me, 'cause we've already paid the price. This world don't need more devils runnin' around."

Piper looked down and reached for his hand, fidgeting as she ran her finger over his calloused knuckles. A weak smile tugged the corner of her mouth. "You call me an angel, but that's you, you know. A fallen angel." She shot a stern look up at him and slapped a hand over his mouth before he burst out laughing. "Don't you dare make fun of me."

"Wouldn't dream of it," he teased, relishing in the feeling of her warm palm against his lips. He selfishly took a chance and leaned forward just the slightest bit, holding her palm to his mouth as he kissed it tenderly, then moved to plant one on each dainty little fingertip, calloused from writing and typing. She withdrew her hand and he didn't react fast enough - or was it because he just didn't want to? - when she came up on her knees and hunched over, her hands cradling under his jawline as she gently pulled for him to look up at her.

"I've missed you so much," Piper whispered as she came down and captured his lips, her eyes slipping shut the moment tears flowed again. "Take advantage of this while you still can - there is going to be hell to pay for you leaving me alone that long. And leaving me alone at all. But for now..." She took the hem of his shirt and forced his arms up as she pulled it off, straddling his thighs. "Make me forget, Garrett. I only want to think about you and nothing else right now. Not even the Institute."

"Piper..."

"Please."

He still didn't know what to do, and a war was waged inside as he screamed whether to stop this or revel in it.

"Piper, you were almost..." He trailed off, a lump choking him off at his throat. He couldn't bring himself to say it. Not for her. It was almost funny how one word could suddenly change, the weight of it all more drastic just because of a person who made his world.

"Exactly. Make me forget." She took it upon herself to take his hands and rest them on her hips. "Remind me what it's like to be touched by someone who loves me."

Wasn't this messed up? Wasn't this just going to hurt her even more? He didn't understand what was going on in her mind, or what was going to go on in her mind. This whole bloody fucking situation was messed up. Who knew what the Institute wanted to do to her? Likely kill her - effectively killing him. He didn't want to lose this, lose her, lose anything; but that was the path they were on now. This world was hellbent on ripping every angel's wings out, turning them into devils.

Except it wasn't the world that was going to rip out her wings - it was him.

Gat held on to her tightly, slipping his hand around her nape, burying his fingers in her thick tresses. He kissed her with everything he could muster, and just brushing her lips broke him apart inside. Tears leaked out and he loathed himself, tearing away from her. The guilt was too much. "I can't do this, Piper. I can't. I'm sorry." He slid off the bed and moved for the desk, but kept his eyes squarely on the window so there was no potential for the Institute to see anything through him.

"Garrett..." She sounded so frail, on the verge of falling apart. It was agony to hear, and he needed to put an end to this - or was he just being selfish, ending his own misery?

Gat blindly searched through the desk's drawers for something to write with, and she came up behind him, pushing a notepad and pencil into his hand. What a godsend; how she thought to do this, he didn't know or care. He blindly scribbled down his warning about him and his job and held it out to her, using the Institute as an excuse not to look at her. He just couldn't. He couldn't bear seeing any more betrayal and pain and those empty eyes all over again.

Every part of him trembled when she sucked in a sharp breath, then exhaled ever so slowly. She hooked a hand on his shoulder and squeezed him. What was that supposed to mean?

"Garrett," she said a little more sternly; and it was a surprise that she still used his name at all. He stole a quick glance when he felt something soft rest between his shoulder blades, and saw her raven hair. She kissed his spine, holding on to his shoulders as she rose on her toes and kissed his nape.

How in the world was she still kissing him? He just admitted he was to take her back to the Institute; and then he was gutted by her words.

"I already knew the moment you said you should have been there to protect us all."

Footsteps echoed as she circled around him, and his heart thundered in his ears when she came to stand in front of him with a warm smile on her face. She loosely hooked her arms around his shoulders and rose on her toes to kiss him, whispering against his lips. "It's okay, Garrett. I understand. I'd do the same for Nat."

Just like that, a weight was lifted off his shoulders - but it hurt even more now. She knew, and she understood, and she forgave, and he didn't-

"I don't fucking deserve this," he hissed, but she simply smiled as she kissed him. "You should be running away from me, or killing me, or... Why?"

"Because I'd do the same thing as you." Piper pulled on his hands and led him back to the bed. "Love me one last time, Garrett. Then we'll go, as long as you'll be there every step of the way with me, and as long as you're sure they'll release your family and you; and promise me you'll do whatever it takes to take care of Nat."

"Piper you can't-"

"I've dragged enough people into this because of my actions. Others shouldn't pay the consequences for me - or end up dying because of fear, and doing something stupid because of it. I can't do this, knowing they'll target not just the ones that I love, but the ones they love too. The Institute will never stop." She sucked in a deep breath, and though she still smiled - smiled to be strong for him - he saw the fear in her eyes too.

She was the angel that willingly walked to the fire, instead of running away from it. She burned for everyone.

Well, that was just bloody daft.

"I'm not going to let them kill you," Gat promised ardently, and the tears shone brighter in her eyes - eyes that no longer had any hope. He was going to change that.

"What are you going to do to stop them? You can't."

"I can. And I know just the way to do it, not surprised you don't. Quit bein' a barmy bird and start thinking 'bout self-preservation a little bit, luv. Y'seriously needa learn that skill."

Piper's mouth dropped and she gawked at him, her anger flaring as her fist came out and connected with his ribs, her habit revived. "Of all fucking times to be an asshole, you choose now! I'm trying to be all romantic here and... And you're just...! Ugh!" She clenched her fists and held her head high as she marched to the desk and grabbed a black trench coat, wrestling it on. He grinned merrily even when she shot deathly glares at him.

"Black looks real sexy on you, luv."

"Shut up, stupid Mr. Handy!"

Life was back in her bones, and the embers of her soul have reignited once again.

This was the way the angel should have burned for them.