[SEQUEL TO GUN FOR HIRE]
Chapter 13: The Lyoness' Pride

Hairs fell in the sink as Luki shaved away the last of his beard, running a hand along his smooth jaw before he studied the razor. When was the last time he'd gotten to use one? He'd grown accustomed to his combat knife, but he never got as close to his skin as now - not unless he wanted to make confetti out of his cheeks.

Thoughts meandered as he reflected on this past week, musing on what vague objectives he'd been given by Sarah thus far. They needed to convene before he began his 'infiltration' and inject himself into the Brotherhood of Steel; what kind of information should he try to feed them, and what kind of information would satisfy the Institute enough to believe he was on their side? They had to have heard his conversation with Sarah when she outright stated their manipulation tactics to trick him into this mission, so they were going to try and sink their teeth in her next.

None of that worried him as much as what he was supposed to do in order to inject himself into the Brotherhood without immediately rousing suspicion, and perhaps even being killed as a precaution to protect the Brotherhood from the risk of such spies. Was he supposed to go with the identity he had before they escaped the Capital Wasteland, or was he supposed to make up an entirely new one? If he were to head in as himself, they'd probably suspect him to just be a synth.

Lying wouldn't get him very far either, though.

What if they remembered him, or someone from their old unit recognized him - or even Elder Maxson himself? Luki looked at his burned side in the mirror and stretched his neck. The scars were healing up nicely, but there were still visible chunks of his tribal tattoo; it'd easily identify him for the veterans of the Lyons' Pride. Knight Captain Colvin would know him even if he turned into a super mutant, for all the times they'd spent praying together and hanging out in the Lyons' Den during their R&R. Dusk would call him out the moment he aimed his rifle the way she taught him. Glade would pinpoint his stance the moment he got his hands on a gatling laser. Kodiak would taunt the way he held a super sledge. And Gallows...

Gallows was Gallows. That scary son of a bitch probably already knew Luki was in the Commonwealth.

How was he supposed to evade the detection of comrades whom he shed blood with, his closest friends that supported him - when they could have reported him - for vying for their commander's heart? God... Sarah... If his fake identity fell apart, what was Luki supposed to say regarding her true fate? They'll question him - maybe even interrogate him - until he fessed up on the details of whether or not she was considered MIA or KIA.

Every thought was making him more and more nervous, and that didn't bode well. He'd been injected in worse odds before, but it was nerve wracking to return to the Brotherhood and potentially see familiar faces again. He could only pray that they'd still trust him and understand why he disappeared from the Capital Wasteland.

Something caught his eye as a door hissed somewhere and he looked up at the mirror, but nobody was behind him. Not yet. He stifled his smirk and awaited the results of this cat and mouse game, turning on the sink to rinse the hairs away as he set the razor aside. A scant few seconds later, and he suppressed the urge to jump when a small hand ran along his shoulder, though he still tensed even when he knew - or rather, assumed - that Sarah was okay. Her eyes betrayed nothing, and he couldn't resist his urge to tease a little.

"I can't tell if I'm going to make it out alive with the way you're looking at me right now, Sentinel." Hopefully she'd give him permission to use her real name soon.

Mischief plucked the corner of her lips in the subtlest smile. She said nothing, pulling on his hand as she circled them so that she could hop up and sit on the bathroom counter. It was unsettling. Confusing. Encouraging. He didn't know what he was supposed to say or do, wholly at the mercy of faith and her command. She hooked her finger on the cross that clanged on his holotags, bringing it up to her lips to kiss just like how he did every time he'd just finished a prayer.

That didn't bode well for her, either. Was Sarah just as nervous? Had to be, even if she never looked like it. She still had all the composure and confidence in the world, but she had to have questioned the same things he did. Right? If only there was a way to ask without tipping off the Institute.

"I'm sorry we argued," she said loudly, and he damn near groaned. Could there actually be microphones in the bathroom? He felt sorry for the fellow who had to listen to them pee.

Sarah's arms slithered loosely around his shoulders and she spread her legs so that he could fit between them, burying her hand in the back of his hair as she gently nudged his head as a hint. He kissed her neck, and she tugged him by his waistband until their groins were intimately pressed together.

No amount of disciplinary training in the Brotherhood could ever prepare him for the tragedy that was about to happen.

"Tease," Luki murmured below her ear, kissing along the outer shell of it. He cleared his throat when she jerked on his waistband - another hint. "Will you be joining my mission, then?"

"No."

...So what was the point of this tip-toeing?!

"I worked out a different deal with your handler." Sarah enunciated that to her greatest pleasure, and his greatest dread; he trusted her, but he didn't look forward to taking orders from the negotiator that murdered Piper and Leo without remorse. Even if they were synths... That shouldn't have been their existence. To be born just for the sole purpose of being executed? He wouldn't wish that fate upon anybody or anything.

"A different deal?"

"Mm-hm." Sarah took her sweet time as her nimble fingers played with his zipper. Down. Up. Down... Up... Down...

Maddening.

"Care to elaborate, Sentinel?" Luki nearly seethed through gritted teeth, his breaths already growing labored as something below grew between them. He sought revenge as he suckled on her neck, proving that - while she may be allowed the upper hand to guide this where she needed him to be - he would not be bullied around so easily. He groaned when she promptly reprimanded him as she pulled his hands down to rest on her hips, and within a fleeting second, she used his arms as cover to hide the swift hand that undid her zipper, exchanging a piece of paper from her fly to his. She leaned back as she zipped his pants ever so harshly, smiling ever so sweetly.

"No."

Maddening!

"Care to say why?"

Sarah shrugged. "I'm not at liberty to discuss confidential information with someone I consider my enemy." That greatly contradicted where her hands wandered as they snuck under his shirt, and she sank her blunt nails into him as she raked them down his stomach. He snapped and grabbed her wrists, using momentum as he pulled her right off the counter and threw her over his shoulder. He marched out and struggled to keep his smile contained when Sarah had actually cackled.

Curse this malicious woman. Why did she have to make everything so difficult? She could be so serious and so sadistic at the same time; they had to keep pretending, to keep up with this cat and mouse game with the Institute. Lucky for him, she was his inspiration and sole reason that he could even manage to pull off any kind of asshole act. There was a part of him that - though everyone else may have assumed it killed him to do this - Sarah knew he enjoyed it.

And he knew she enjoyed it just as much.

"Enemy, huh?" Luki tore off the bed sheets and allowed her to slip off his shoulder none-too-gently, slithering up her body as his elbows caged her head and trapped her against the bed. They couldn't afford to get too carried away lest whatever intel she'd slipped past his zipper would fall out; he had to get just as creative as her.

That wouldn't be an issue, considering she no longer hid any intel behind her zipper. He smirked when he teased her the same way she had, undoing and redoing her zipper - until her impatient hand undid her pants, and tormented him as she played with herself. He buried against the crook of her neck and shoulder as he suckled in a patch of her skin and bit hard, goading a delicious gasp. He tore her hand out her pants and roughly slammed it above her head, staring hard into her eyes. Her pupils nearly swallowed all the blue hues, her chest kicking in ragged breaths.

"Well, then... Until I receive my orders from my handler..." He smirked slyly, working his free hand in her pants to rub slow circles through her underwear. She caught on quick.

"Think you can torture me into submission?"

...He couldn't think of what to say. His plan lost it's bite, and he settled for a pitiful whisper. "No. I'll persuade you to defect."

Sarah laughed. Within seconds, she used his weight against him as she curled her ankle around the back of his knee, bumping her hips to throw him off balance. She handily zipped herself up and stood at the edge of the bed, smirking at him. For some reason, she took off her holotags and set it on the nightstand beside the bed.

Never before had such a simple action caused so much weight to sit on his lungs.

"You still have a lot to learn if you think you'll ever be able to break me." Sarah nonchalantly placed her finger on the bulge of his pants. "You won't last a day spying on the Brotherhood if this is all it takes to rile you up and break your focus, Paladin."

And she left.

She fucking...

"Fuck." Luki flopped miserably on the bed, lifting his head to look down at the strained zipper. Whatever paper she slipped was wedged very uncomfortably right now - a horrible reminder of their real priority. Did she have to be this merciless? Hopefully this style of sneaking intel or orders to him wasn't going to become a habit. There were plenty of other ways he could think of that didn't involve torturing him into submission; especially when he was tense enough on the cursed account of this entire mess.

Every spare thought he had immediately gravitated to her. He missed her terribly even when she was here - but knew she soon wouldn't be. He was used to spending his nights away from her, but he was also used to the fact that she was still with him, even from afar. It was always a comfort on it's own to know that she was watching over him and sleeping on the next rooftop.

He didn't waste a second as he took her holotags off the nightstand and slipped them on, worrying what the meaning was behind them. He also didn't understand her taunt that succumbing to her had anything to do with how he was going to infiltrate the Brotherhood either, but one thing was certain.

He deserved a war medal for surviving his commander like this.

"Somebody save me..."

x - x - x

Piper didn't bother to lift her head from her hands when she heard beeps at the door, accompanied by it hissing. She closed her eyes and paid careful attention to the footsteps - deliberate and light, but not clean and crisp like the coursers. Her insides twisted apprehensively at the sound of apathy. "Ms. Wright..."

"Ms. Wrong," she corrected venomously, looking up to glare at the old weathered gaze staring back at her with pity. "Y'know, in my experience - or, heh!" A wry and wounded laugh exploded from her chest, shaking her head as it fell back in her hands. "In the real Piper's experience, people don't change. I should have suspected what I was the moment you called me in for some stupid interview to make you and the Institute look like benevolent angels."

The Director inhaled sharply. "I realize that we've not been benevolent in the way we've executed our plans in the past, but I was truthful when I told you that I am willing to work to change that and sow the seeds to a future where the Institute and Commonwealth can co-exist peacefully, and hopefully one day cooperate." The couch weighed heavily as he had the gall to sit beside her, but at least he didn't fake some sort of sympathetic touch. "And I assure you, you are the real Piper Wright. I know that the Institute has a lot to work on, and yours is really the epitome of the Commonwealth's perspective of us. If we cannot convince you, we have no hope of convincing the Commonwealth that we are here to help."

"Because you're not. You're here to help yourselves. That's why you've copied me, because you know-"

"You are not a copy, Ms. Wright. I will admit there has been a copy made prior to my overriding that order, but that copy has since been..."

Piper shot a seething look up at him as her eyes narrowed. "Disposed of?"

"Not by us," he countered immediately, his shoulders squared away in defense. "She took her own life when she found out what she was, thanks to Mr. Butler."

Chills shot down her spine, and her throat tightened. Her fingers dug into her palm as they balled into tight fists, and she pushed herself off the couch to wedge distance between herself and the Director. She was frazzled, flustered, and in no state to think clearly as her brain continuously tried to nitpick him apart, to analyze and try to piece the puzzle together. Part of her wanted to believe the soft-spoken man, the other cried outrage that he was just a blind and obviously biased chauvinist.

The Director rose, and he motioned for the coursers in the room to leave. When they did, he approached her, though respected the space and invisible line she'd drawn. "I am well aware that it is my word - a stranger you have, by all accounts, every reason to distrust - against the man whom you trust wholeheartedly, but all I have asked before and all I will still ask of now is that you give the Institute a chance, Ms. Wright. I would not personally oversee this matter if I did not have hope in building the bridge between us and the Commonwealth. Consequently, if you truly were just a synth, you would be delegated to an entirely different division. I would not be here with you, especially when time is... Precious to me, right now."

"If that was true, you'd order a stop for all 'divisions' to stop kidnapping and copying people! You wouldn't be so worried as to keep me locked up in here if everything out there was genuine, and all your work was geared towards just 'helping' the Commonwealth. You'd want me out there to witness it - and instead you're hiding it from me."

"You are here because it was clearly recognizable that you were descending into a state of shock and distress. We have locked you here as a precaution for your own safety, until I could come and assure you that you are real and prevent any more unnecessary deaths - that consequently would once again traumatize other people." Traumatize other people? Just what the hell did the... 'Synth' Piper do? "As a result, Mr. Butler will not be allowed to communicate with you anymore and is being cleared to return to the surface as we speak."

That petrified her.

Every part of her felt like she was going to fall apart right then and there as heat quickly collected, burning her from the inside out. She wanted nothing more than to scream, to get all the garbage out of her system so that she could see all of this for what it truly was. Like: what if she was the one who was obviously biased here? What if there was a speck of truth in what Shaun was saying?

"After that, I will adhere to your request of allowing you to tour our facilities once your new guard is prepared for you, and as a gesture of faith, I will also issue an order to the Robotics division to stop acquiring and replicating DNA." Acquiring? Was that how he really saw all of this? What in the world prevented him for recognizing that the Institute was destroying, and not replicating? "We should have enough genetic diversity in our database that-"

"I can't listen to this anymore," she croaked, catching the nearest chair when her legs gave out underneath her. She ran her hands along her face and sighed, trying to gather a hundred different thoughts; she couldn't make sense of a single one. "Please don't kick Garrett out," she mumbled, feeling more warmth pool and throb behind her eyes. "I need him."

"Even if he does not see that it is you?"

"I'll convince him that I am who I am."

"Even if he is plagued by fear and doubt? It is highly likely that he suspects everybody around him is a synth, and we cannot risk him disturbing the peace if he antagonizes others."

"Please," she begged, and looked up at the Director. "If you want me to give you a chance, then you have to give him a chance. Let me convince him."

Shaun's posture caved, and he looked so tired. It was another surreal and baffling realization all on it's own to remember that he was Blue's son. How was John even coping with this information? If his baby boy was already well into his senior years, what did that mean for... His wife...?

All questions that burned on the tip of her tongue, but this was not the man to ask. She waited as patiently as she could for the Director to bite.

And he did.

"How do you intend to, Ms. Wright?"

"Move him here. I want him to stay with me - and I also want your assurance that we will have privacy. I know you're watching and listening in on me from somewhere."

The Director's lips thinned in a frown at that. "I'm afraid that in order to have Mr. Butler here, then - for your safety - we would need to retain visual on you."

"Audio, then. No visual." Piper pretended to blush, embarrassed - which wasn't too difficult with what she was about to imply. "To answer your question about how I intend to convince him: through physical means, and I don't want strangers seeing me. I hope this isn't too unreasonable of a request." And, just to make sure she could sell it and see if there was any ounce of empathy in this place, she landed her killing blow. "I can't imagine anyone in the Institute would be comfortable, knowing them and their loved one could be recorded during their acts of intimacy."

Shaun's brow arched, though he still managed to stay composed. She prayed with all her might he wouldn't press any further. He pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed his forehead, then nodded with a heavy sigh. It took all of her not to pump her fist in victory for finally getting the one-up on this man; though it arose an entirely new issue to brew inside of her as she continued to wage war over the authenticity behind his words and gestures.

"Very well, I agree to your terms. I will delegate this task directly to our Chief Engineer of the Facilities Division and she will oversee the appropriate arrangements to be made tonight." The Director left for the door, gesturing to the coursers to follow. "I will also cancel the lockdown and you will regain full access to your apartment." He stopped, casting a look over his shoulder. She struggled not to beam a grin and rose from the chair as she clasped her hands in front of her, her pride struggling just as much to convey her sincerest gratitude.

"I have to admit, this definitely caught me by surprise. Thank you for taking the time to come check on me and to listen to me, Director."

"Shaun, please." He smiled small, adding to the rubbery looking wrinkles to his complexion. "You have been a good friend to my father, and any friend of my father's is a friend of mine. Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you." He tucked his hands inside the pockets of his lab coat, his spine hunching forward as his display of confidence and dominance seemed to be no longer deemed needed, revealing the consequences of age. He maintained manners all throughout the end. "Good evening, Ms. Wright. May you sleep well."

"You too."

Relief washed over her and flooded out the tension the moment all doors were unlocked, and she was left alone. She let go of a breath she hadn't even known she held, dumping herself back in her chair as she buried her head in her hands. She'd gone off and fired a plan she hadn't even come close to formulating fully, and it hurt to breathe just knowing how many challenges awaited her and Garrett. She wasn't going to get anywhere if he couldn't trust her, real or 'not'.

"I'll convince him that I am who I am."

How was she supposed to when she still didn't really know? She wasn't just going to gobble up the Director's word for it, no matter how badly she wanted to believe it. She needed proof; but did it matter? It did to her. The staple of her core being was truth, and if she wasn't truly Piper Wright, then she had no right to assume that identity.

Neither did the Garrett the Director would send her have any right to assume his.

x - x - x

Luki looked around in the bathroom before he stood in front of the toilet. He couldn't be seen diving under the bed covers every time Sarah and him met - regardless of how she visibly frustrated him. If there were cameras that watched him from the side, he was screwed, but he'd hoped the Institute had a little more modesty than that.

As he undid his zipper and yanked his boxers down, he took out the paper she snuck to him and held it beside his penis as he peed - sorry, fellow who had to listen to this. Luki must never tell Sarah about this... Creative... Method of reading her order - or intel. He unfolded it precariously and tried to stall, stopping himself and going, stopping himself and going; it was a lot harder than he imagined. He nearly froze outright at the list scribbled down - and what had him stuck was seriously not what should have been his top priority.

1. Insert yourself into the Brotherhood of Steel as Paladin Luki Lyons.
2. Don't let them perform a medical exam on you, and do not ever get injured around them while exposed to radiation.
3. If they ask about me, confirm that I'm dead and give them my holotags as proof - but say you found them. Not my body.
4. If they ask why you went missing, say you were distraught by the loss of your wife and struggled to return to your duties, and instead became a gun for hire.
5. They will likely perform a psychological exam. Agree to it and say whatever it takes to get cleared to serve again.
6. Dominate any test they throw at you to determine if you are fit to retain and resume carrying the rank of Paladin.

Remember that YOU ARE. You've been trained by the best of the best.

7. Say hi to Colvin for me. That old codger better be a Sentinel by now. And find out Gallows' real name. I still have a bet to win.

Seriously, at least he wasn't the only one with skewed priorities. He bit his tongue before he read seven out loud and fought through the urge to roll his eyes. He folded the paper and hastily tucked it back in after he finished, catching it on his zipper so that it wouldn't fall out when he walked. The inside of his cheek grew sore and stung the harder he bit it to stop himself from grinning like a fool. He was going to kiss the hell out of her the second he saw her again, and if she warned that it trifled with their cover, he'd just insist he missed her terribly - which was true no matter what angle they played.

Holotags clicked and clanged together, and he looked down as he thumbed over the ones Sarah gave back - his, originally. Something caught his eye and he flipped them to read the screen; for the second time, he nearly froze, and had to force himself to keep walking to the bed. All this time, he craved to have a more concrete confirmation of their relationship - their future.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. If you really consider swapping holotags marriage."

Lord Almighty, did she ever give it to him. She reprogrammed the information on his holotags - something she would have had to have done only in possession of the Brotherhood's technology that would have enabled her to accomplish this. Did she do it herself, or did she ask a scribe? He could only see her trusting and asking Rothchild so as not to confirm the rumors of their fraternization and subject them both to punishment for it.

God... For ten years, she wore this...

Last name: Lyons
First name: Luki
Registration: LL-216P
Blood Type: O negative
Religion: Christian

"Sarah," he breathed in reverence, and he lifted the holotags to his lips as he closed his eyes. His heart was ready to chisel it's way out of his ribs. That cruel, inspiring, terrifying and terrifyingly sweet woman. She knew how to kill him, and she did it well; one shot, one kill. What a fool he must have looked like back then, when he issued his new vow to her.

"I'm marrying you, Sarah Lyons. And I'm taking your name."

That devil already assumed he would. It was a wonder she had not gloated to the heavens, though executing calculated plans was always more her pride and style. It was no wonder why she wore that ineradicable smug smirk the entire time they made love, though... And to think he was so foolish as to credit it to saying the Brotherhood would revere the Lyons as much as the Maxsons. She never cared for credit. Only results.

Finally, for the first time, Luki went to sleep knowing there was something worth fighting for; not just the Commonwealth's future, or his future...

But the future of the Lyoness' Pride.

Author's Note

Thank you very much for taking time to review, neverquitelogistical! This is my biggest endeavor at weaving a whole bunch of small storylines together so I definitely appreciate the feedback, as I'm trying to balance between exploring what every character is going through, and at the same time, keep moving along to tie the knot with the plot. With stories I've written in the past (Gun for Hire being the easiest example), I've only centered on just the main characters and how the world reacted to them, rather than building the world around them and have them react to it.

As you've questioned with Nick, I've yet to explore that in greater depth, along with what both Sarah and John are doing on the sidelines in the mean time (and the deal John's worked out with Shaun. Suffice to say, Piper will not be thrilled). We're still at the tip of the iceberg, but I'll do my best to strike a balance between exploring characters and rolling the plot along in everybody's respective factions, while trying to solve the great mystery behind justification.

Because bad guys don't always believe they're the bad guys ;)

That's it, that's all! Sorry for the long winded AN there but thanks again for the review. Hope everybody enjoyed this chapter and see you next time, have a lovely day. Cheers!