Author's Note:

Alright, another small update for everyone. I plan on sticking to the 2,500 words for each chapter for now. I have a couple of people who want it and I need to post the same question in the other main story I'm writing and shorter chapters will get a faster response.

So, as for an update schedule. I'll upload this chapter and the next, sticking to the once a week upload. Then this story is going on a short hiatus while I work on my other story. I'll still be uploading once a week but I'll be working on the other story until I've finished its arc. Then I'll switch back to this one.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters.

Remnants of a Courier

Chapter 10: Past Mistakes

How long had he been on Remnant now? Six wasn't completely sure but since he now had access to a browser, he could keep track of time. About a week passed since the Huntsman had shown up in Rhyt and subsequently "disappeared." Even if the academies sent someone to investigate, they'd have a hard time linking anything to him since the evidence was disposed of.

The more annoying issue that surfaced because of the incident was fixing his broken anti-material rifle. The Courier spent the week shifting tasks from assisting the Spring family, researching the world, fixing his gun, and preparing to leave.

The last point had been progressing slowly as he was simply gathering supplies and lien for his journey. Unfortunately, he earned little lien as he was working for Richter who was taking his living expenses out of his paycheck. Likewise, he'd ordered replacement parts for his rifle which weren't cheap being so far from the capital.

Once he got the replacement parts, fixed his gun, and earned a good amount of lien, he'd finally be ready to leave.

He had amassed enough knowledge about the general world and how it functioned that he felt he could hold a passing conversation without outing his lack of knowledge. This meant he could go to Beacon, gather supplies, and begin rebuilding his transportalponder.

Right now, he wasn't doing any of that. The former ruler of Vegas was currently holding Carmine's hand as the two walked down the street towards the market.

Richter needed groceries and supplies and the two were tasked with acquiring them which gave the Courier plenty of time to think.

After the Courier rested that day, he had gone to speak with both Carmine and Richter about the Huntsman. The red-headed girl took most of his answers in stride and even enjoyed his exciting story. The old man was the problem.

Six's story worked to mostly convince the elderly gentlemen that Logarius had indeed gone after the Grimm. After all, the Huntsman was the one who said he was hunting the source of Grimm activity.

But Joshua could tell, the old man's eyes still held a level of distrust. No one knew better than Carmine's father that Six kept many secrets. He doubted the old man would ever truly come to trust him.

"Joshua," the girl said turning her head to him.

Six turned towards her in turn before replying, "yes?"

"You've traveled a lot, right?" Now he was curious where her line of questions was going.

"Yes," the Courier said again as he turned away from her and looked out over the various stands and shops. He settled to get groceries first as the two walked towards a stand with a familiar-looking Faunus.

The girl tightened her grip on his hand and opened her mouth but was interrupted by the merchant.

"What're ya buying," the merchant said giving them a smile but eyeing Six. It was the bat Faunus the two had met during their first venture to the market. The one he had stared at to the point of making her uncomfortable.

Joshua glanced down at the list Richter had given them and realized that Scarred Tom was also on the list. Just a general supply run for some dust but…

His gaze shifted towards the girl at his side. "Here," Six said handing some lien and the list to her. "Buy the groceries on this list, I'll be right back so don't leave this spot."

She had gone to the market alone before so Six figured it was probably fine if he left her for five minutes. He just needed to go get the Dust from Tom and come back so she didn't have to see him and she'd get the groceries while he was doing that.

While he wasn't in his Elite Riot armor, the bandages of the Burned Man still made for an intimidating sight as Tom watched him enter the shop.

"Need some dust," Six said throwing some lien on the counter and staring the man down.

The shop-owner leaned down to grab something behind the counter as he replied, "what kind?"

"Nothin' fancy, just some plain ole dust, powder variety." The Courier's hand went to the counter after he spoke, tapping it slowly.

Another few moments of silence passed as Tom scrounged around for the dust. There was something that was eating at Six. Sure, a lot of the townspeople didn't talk to Carmine, but almost none of them were as openly hostile as Tom.

"Say," Joshua began as his fingers tapped faster, "you got a reason to dislike the kid so much?"

The merchant stopped moving behind the counter for a few moments as Six's words. There was the quiet sound of someone clicking their tongue before Tom straightened his back.

With a glare, the salesman placed the dust on the counter before replying, "if ya gotta know, she beat the shit out of my kid a year back. She's a troublemaker and her pa ain't any better. She and her pa should both be run out of town if ya as me."

Well, that explained part of it, his own kid was the one who had lost a fight with Carmine.

Six picked up the dust and stuffed it in a sack before replying, "you don't think that's a little unfair? It's been a year and she's doing her absolute best to make amends. Plus, without her father, the town wouldn't have the supplies needed to fend off Grimm."

Tom crossed his arms over his chest before shrugging. "Maybe, but I ain't in the business of bein' forgivin'."

"Just think about it," Six responded trying to be as diplomatic as possible. He did want to punch this guy in the face for being an ass but he figured that wouldn't help Carmine in the long run. Plus he was planning on taking off soon anyways.

"Sure, whatever," the shopkeeper replied as Six turned to leave. As soon as he got to the door, he saw two kids surrounding Carmine.

One of the kids had a rather large grin across his face and fiery red hair. The kid looked a little too happy to be standing behind Carmine.

The other was a kid with black hair and a sneer that looked like it would never come off his face. Where had Joshua seen that before? A quick glance back towards Tom revealed everything he needed to know. Black hair, pale complexion, the forever frown. That had to be Tom's kid.

Carmine looked like she was on the verge of tears at whatever the two were saying.

Six turned back to Tom deciding to be diplomatic about it and not going out there to beat some ass. "Hey Tom, come get your kid before I go out there and throttle him," Joshua said before holding the door open for him. Six figured Tom was a man of pride based on the way he had spoken to the two of them. This way they'd stop picking on Carmine but nothing would come to violence and make the girl look bad.

There was a quick glance of curiosity from the shop-owner before he moved over to the door. The look from curiosity to absolute fury made Six smirk. This was going to be good.

"Dust damnit boy," Tom shouted as he flew out the front door in a rage. "Ya know you ain't supposed to be doing that kind of shit anymore! Get inside now before I give you a whoopin' that'll leave you limpin' into next week!"

The merchant, who Six realized wasn't all that nice to his kid, grabbed his boy by his black hair before yanking him back towards the door. Joshua gracefully stepped aside as the red-haired boy fled and Tom's son was dragged inside.

With the sound of the door slamming, Six figured everything was settled as he made his way back towards Carmine. The look on Carmine's face told him otherwise.

The girl was still nearly in tears and he didn't want her breaking down in the middle of the square. The pieces of shit around him didn't even bother to try and comfort a girl getting bullied. Assholes.

"Hey kid, come with me," Six said taking her by the hand and leading her away from the market. They had the groceries and the dust, that was enough for today.

The Courier led Carmine a block away from the market before turning a corner onto a relatively quiet road.

"You okay," he asked kneeling down in front of her and setting the dust down. Carmine followed suit setting the groceries down before shaking her head no.

She was sniffling and wiping at her eyes as Six sat there rather awkwardly. He still wasn't used to the whole "comforting others" thing. Joshua carefully wrapped his arms around her.

"It's okay, it's okay, why don't you start by telling me why they were messing with you." The former ruler of Vegas could handle hordes of raiders but could barely connect to a little girl. Veronica would probably laugh at him right now.

"Th-They don't like me. When I still… Hurt people… I hurt Pine bad and his dad never let it go." Carmine's words were shaky as her small arms tried to wrap around him.

Joshua let her gain her bearings a bit more before asking, "and the red-haired boy?"

Her hands squeezed his vest as she answered, "he's always been mean. Pine was always a bully but he never hurt anyone until he started listening to Cerise."

"When papa, was sad, and everyone was mean to him, I was mad at them. Then I saw Pine and Cerise being mean to everyone and I got really angry." Her words were coming in a little clearer now as she tried to compose herself. "One day, they went after me, and I hurt them. After that, I couldn't stop."

Six's hand went to her head as he slowly patted her. "They were calling me a monster today, saying I hurt people, I know they just want me to fight so the adults will get mad again." At least she was smart enough to not fall for their tricks.

"Then we'll make them stop, Pine I already in trouble with his dad and Cerise has parents somewhere I'm sure," Six replied doing his best to comfort her.

In response, Carmine shook her head before replying, "that's not why I'm crying. I… I was angry. I was so angry at them that I thought I was going to hurt them until Tom came out. Now that it's over, I'm scared that I'll go back to how I used to be. That I'll disappoint Papa and you."

Okay, this was something she definitely needed to talk to her father about and not some stranger she'd know for a month and a half.

"Hey, it's okay, it's not easy to get over who you were before. Of course you're going to have moments where you want to go back, but do you know what the important thing is?" Six stopped his words to glance down at her.

The red-haired girl glanced upward with tear-filled yet curious eyes. "No?"

"That you stopped yourself," he answered doing his best to smile through his bandages. "As long as you can keep stopping yourself when you feel that anger, eventually it'll get easier. It's not about being perfect but improving yourself every day, a little at a time."

A small smile crossed the girl's face and Joshua figured he was doing something right. She buried her face into his vest before replying, "thanks, Joshua."

"No problem" he replied sitting there and waiting for her to be ready. They could stay like this as long as she needed.

It didn't last that long though as within a minute she had pulled back to wipe her eyes. Carmine took a few deep breaths before saying, "I-I'm ready to go home."

"That's fine, we've got everything we need," Six replied picking up both the dust and the groceries in one hand before offering his other had to her.

Carmine took his hand before glancing towards the horizon and saying, "Joshua."

"Yeah," he responded with a curious glance down at her.

"Do you think I'll ever get to explore the world like you," she asked her eyes losing their focus.

He shrugged before responding, "if you work hard enough and want to."

A small smile crept across her face as she wiped her eyes one last time. "Let's go home," Joshua said as the two walked back towards the Spring home.

Author's Note:

One more chapter before my first planned "arc" for the story is done!

Current Gear:

Burned Man's Armor

Elite Riot Gear

Modified Stealth Suit Mk. II

Light Shining in Darkness

Mysterious Magnum

Rebreather

Maria

Survivalist Rifle

Modified Anti-Material Rifle.

YCS/186 Gauss Rifle variant.

C4 – Plastic explosives (10)

Detonator.

Frag Grenades (5)

Frag Mines (0)

Combat Knife.

Plasma Grenades (10)