TW: The second half of the chapter has implied mentions of SA and pedophilia plus some graphic violence. If you are not comfortable with those topics I encourage you to not read it. I do not, in any way shape or form, endorse such vile actions and I hope that is visible through my writing.
The elevator doors of the Lucky 38's presidential suite opened to the cacophony of sounds that Six was now getting used to having in her residence. It was surprising how, in the span of a little over a week, Ruby had turned the relatively peaceful apartment into such a…lively place. It was exhausting.
The source of the noise was coming from the living room and Six was met with a peculiar sight. The three couches that served as beds for Boone, Cass, and Arcade had been pushed to the walls. The sheets and pillows from the couches - and Six assumed the other beds too - were laid on the floor with all her companions - minus ED-E of course - sitting on pillows in a circle, and a deck of cards in the middle.
The Courier stared in utter confusion at the sight before her.
"Six!" Ruby called out from the circle. "Come sit! We've been waiting for you."
This confused Six even more.
"What?" Was all she was able to verbalize, partly due to a raging headache induced by events of the night prior, partly because this was a bizarre sight.
"Raul found this old card game and we're playing!"
"On the floor?"
"It's more fun this way." She declared with the utmost confidence. "Now come sit! WAIT! Fudge, we forgot the snacks. Can you go grab them pleeeeeaasee?"
Six cocked an eyebrow at the Ruby. The scared little shit she'd found less than a month ago, was now bossing her around without a care in the world. Even her own companions, who usually bore scowls, resting bitch faces, or completely blank expressions - except Veronica - now looked at her expectantly.
"Hurry up Six! We haven't had breakfast yet. We're hungry." Cass loudly declared.
They're going along with it too?! Okay girl, what kind of witchcraft are you using? "Uh, s-sure…" She backed out of the living room and grabbed a variety of snacks ranging from a handful of boxes of Fancy Lad Snack Cakes, Dandy Boy Apples, Potato Crips, and the like plus a couple of sodas from the fridge. For the others, that is. As Six in a rare moment of self-care chose to brew herself a cup of sunflower tea.
Six brought the snacks and drinks to the living room. Placing it on the wooden round table next to the group - who promptly proceeded to clean it dry of all its contents - before going back to the kitchen to retrieve her hot mug of tea and return.
"Sheesh, shince you're the lasht one, there'sh only the shpot between Boone and Veronica left." Ruby pointed to the empty pillow as she stuffed her mouth with a Fancy Lad Snack Cake.
"Don't speak with your mouth full of food, I've already told you that." She took a sip of the tea. "Also, do I really have to do this? I'm really tired from last night."
Six almost choked on the tea she was shallowing when she noticed the blankest expression she'd ever seen Boone make as he stared at her. "If I have to do this, so do you."
"Speaking of last night, what were you doing? You left pretty late in the afternoon and never came back." Cass added.
"I was doing stuff, and it took a lot longer than I expected."
"What kind of 'stuff'?" Veronica sipped a Sunset Sarsaparilla.
"And where?" Added Arcade.
"Is this a fucking interrogation?" Six sighed and rubbed her eyes. A quiet 'Language' could be heard coming from Ruby. "Fine, I'll play." She sat down between Boone and Veronica with a quiet grunt. "What are we playing, anyways?"
"Truth or Dare." Ruby excitedly answered.
There were two reasons as to why Six did not immediately leave the room. One, she was exhausted, and sitting felt great. Two, Boone and Veronica were physically preventing her from doing so by grabbing her shoulders. And as soon as Ruby drew the first card, her fate was sealed.
"To the person to your right." She read and looked at Raul. "Okay Raul, Truth or Dare?"
"Verdad." Ruby looked at him confused. "That means truth in Spanish."
"Oooooh. Neat! Okay, what's the strangest thing you've ever eaten?"
The old ghoul brought a hand to his chin. "That's a difficult one. Hmmm… I suppose there was that one time where I ate bull cojones back, way back when."
No one seemed that phased by Raul's apparent strangest food, even a few 'I've had worse' and 'Fair enough' could be heard. Except Arcade and Ruby. Both eyed him with disgust.
"You ate…bull testicles…"
"Ewwwwww." Ruby's face contorted.
"They used to call it a 'delicacy'." He air quoted the last part. "Never really understood why. They tasted decent enough last I remember." The ghoul shrugged.
"Still, ew. I think I'm going to be sick just from that."
A couple rounds went by, and the cards were quickly discarded as it appeared some of the dares were definitely not PG 13. Regardless, the game continued. Embarrassing truths were revealed, like when Cass drank so much one day and woke up in another state. And dares were executed with reluctance, mostly by the two household's signature 'Grumpy Pants' - aka, Six and Boone. Still, everyone seemed to be having fun. This wasn't exactly horrible.
"Soooooo, Six. Truth or Dare?" Ruby asked the mail woman who was fiddling with her pip-boy while munching on some Dandy Boy Apples.
"I dunno. Truth I guess?" She shrugged.
"What did you want to be when you were little?"
Well, that was unexpected. So unexpected in fact, that Six even took her eyes off the pipboy and looked at Ruby, releasing a single "Huh?"
"Y'know, like when you're a little kid and you have a dream job like I uhhh, being a Huntsman, or a pilot, or the President of the World. Y'know, childhood dreams."
"Oh. That sort of thing… Dare."
Now all eyes on that room were trained on her, and it was Ruby's time to be absolutely taken aback. "What?"
"I choose Dare. If you don't want to answer a Truth you do a Dare, right? I'll do a Dare." Why was her face starting to feel kind of hot?
The teenager's eyes narrowed as if she was trying to study Six. The Courier she wouldn't be able to pierce her cold iron curtain of neutrality. She was a difficult person to read, she made a point to be that way. So why the hell was Ruby smirking?!
"Okay, sure. Your Dare is… Throw yourself off the Lucky 38."
The eyes that were once locked onto Six snapped to Ruby. A series of 'Huh's' and 'What the hell's' and other utter flabbergasted looks were completely locked on the small, five foot-three tall, teenager who calmly drank from her second Nuka Cola. Even Six was taking far longer than she usually needed to process the words that just came out of Ruby's mouth.
Why would she say that? That-That's so out of character. I'd fucking die if I did that! She knows that.
"You could always answer the Truth you know?"
The room was engulfed in pure silence as all eyes were once again tracked on Six. Oh, that sly motherfucker!
"This game is stupid and a waste of time. I have better shit to." Okay, her face was definitely hot. What the hell was going on?
"C'mon Six, it can't be that embarrassing." Veronica beckoned.
No, don't take her side!
"We also disclosed our own stories we'd rather keep buried. It'd be rather hypocritical of you not to." Arcade cleaned his glasses.
Not you too Arcade! Boone! Boone didn't want to play in the first place, right? He'll also think this is stupid.
"If you don't trust us enough to tell us such a small thing, how can we trust you to have our backs out there? Trust goes both ways, Six." Boone's cold voice sent a shiver down Six's spine. Even he had turned against her. And she couldn't refute that logic!
"I…"
"C'mon Six. Pleeease?" Ruby unleashed her puppy eyes upon the already weakened Six.
"I…" Six felt like her face burned with the heat of the sun itself. "I wanted to be…"
This is so stupid
"I wanted to be a singer…"
All in the living room grew quiet once more, but this time not even the ED-E's floating made a noise as all seven of them stared in complete perplexity at a very red Courier 6. No one dared break the silence that was most definitely keeping them alive. That was, until Ruby burst out laughing and that was all it took for the entire party to follow. Even Boone quietly snickered.
"It's not funny!"
"I beg to differ, Six." Arcade managed to say between laughs.
"You looked like you were gonna die just by saying it." Veronica giggled.
"Yeah Six, the world ain't ending just because - hahaha - you wanted to be a great singer who - hahahahaha! Sorry, I can't, I fucking can't." Cass started once again laughing, even having to wipe some tears from her face, unable to keep her composure.
"I hate all of you." The Courier muttered and got up, heading for the door.
"Where are you going?" Ruby asked, her laughter having mostly died down.
"Out."
"What, you aren't even going to sing us a song?" Veronica playfully mocked.
Six shot the scribe a glance and opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came from her mouth. She instead clenched her fists and her brow furrowed deeper before she left the room.
The glass on Six's hand hit the counter with a loud thud as it was now devoid of all liquid. "Pour me another one." The Courier asked with a less than bemused face.
James Garret, co-owner of the Atomic Wrangler, reached for several bottles on the display behind the counter. He slid his finger across the bottles, before finally stopping on a dark green bottle. A good two-hundred-year-old Ardbeg scotch whiskey. He poured the Courier her drink, which she readily took to her mouth. "Y'know, you usually only come around here to go on your benders in the late afternoon. So color me surprised to see you here at– "he turned his head back to look at the wall-mounted clock. "Well at that. Not even midday. So, what's got you all riled up today?"
Six put the already half-empty glass down. "James, can we not do this today? I really don't feel like playing along with your wise bartender act."
The Garret shrugged. "Suit yourself. What 'bout you, little devil? Do you know what's got Six all riled up today?"
Six confusingly looked at the bartender and then almost choked on her drink when turned to the side to see who Garret was talking to. "Oh just something that happened earlier today James. You don't need to worry about it." Ruby replied with a smile as she drank her own purple drink with a straw.
"How long have you been here, Ruby? And what the hell are you drinking?"
"Not long, and it's a Fruity Splash, or something. What matters is that it is super duper tasty and not alcoholic. James promised."
Six gave the bartender a look. "What? I only sell alcohol to those that want it."
"Riiight. And what's with–" She pointed at the two back and forth. "This. How do you two know each other?"
"Well, your little friend here worked out a deal between the Wrangler and the Followers a day or two back."
Six cocked an eyebrow. "Did she now?"
"Yup. They help us with our distilleries, and we give them stuff they need. A win-win situation. I was skeptical at first, but the little rascal convinced me." Ruby's cheeks reddened slightly from the sudden praise and rubbed the back of her head with an embarrassed smile.
"Huh… Nice work I guess…Sooooo, you're helping out the followers?"
"O-Oh, yeah. I've only done it for a couple of days when I'm not training with you or everyone else, and just go when Arcade goes, so that's that. But yeah, I've been helping around the Old Mormon Fort. Just wanted to help make a difference, y'know?" She went back to sipping her drink.
"Yeah… I get it. Just hum, surprised you didn't tell me."
The two grew quiet as they continued appreciating their respective drinks. The band playing on the stage did little to alleviate the oppressive awkwardness the two found themselves in.
"I hum, I do have an errand to run if you wanna come with me."
"Here in Freeside?"
Ruby paused for a moment then nodded. "Think so."
"What do you mean?"
"Julie said she needed help getting some supplies somewhere, and I offered to help."
"So a couriering job. Ain't that ironic. Sure, I'll go with you. Ain't like I got anything else better to do and I don't want you wandering alone to god knows where."
"Great!" Ruby jumped out of her stool and practically dragged Six with her to the exit and outside the bar, where Arcade stood leaning against the wall and reading a book.
"You done?" He asked the teenager as he put the book away in his satchel.
The Courier looked at Ruby with a slight scowl. "What? I did say I always came with Arcade." Six rolled her eyes and put her recently repaired modified riot helmet back on.
The three made their way across the busy streets of Freeside as they headed to the Old Mormon Fort. Freeside was always a peculiar sight to the unfamiliar with the region, a giant ghetto surrounding the shiniest jewel of the West filled with hundreds if not thousands of homeless, drug addicts, ruffians, and more. Not to mention the insufferably large number of NCR tourists trying to make it big in the Strip, who inevitably end up as said homeless, drug addicts, and ruffians. Now more than ever that number grew.
Why?
No one's blind enough to not see that the NCR and the Legion are going to duke it out in Hoover Dam soon. Maybe not tomorrow, or next week, but in the coming months things are sure to heat up even more. So it's no surprise those dumb enough to believe in casino-made fortunes try it now, before the big showdown. Then it was more NCR tourists bickering with locals, and even higher tensions, which led to deaths on both sides.
Six sighed. Thinking about this sort of stuff - the big picture - always tired her, especially since it reminded her of her job with House. Seriously, how in the actual fuck was she just supposed to sneak inside the Legion's main camp across the fucking river? Don't think about that now. You're helping the kid with a chill delivery job.
Speaking of her, Six finally took a good look at Ruby. She still wore her new more 'wastelandy' outfit which still included her -now slightly tattered- cape for God knows why. She even made a few new additions Six could instantly recognize, like a straw hat to shield her head from the sun, a pair of biker goggles that hung around her neck to protect her eyes from sand during sandstorms, and a backpack for extra carrying capacity. Very smart additions overall. Though there was a tiny little detail that was kind of, scratch that, very fucking disconcerning to the Courier. She had no weapons on her, not even Crescent Rose.
"Uhh Ruby?"
"Yeah?"
"Why are you not carrying any weapons?"
"O-Oh that. I hum well, you told me not to use Crescent Rose, so I left it back at the Lucky 38. And I don't really have any other guns since our run-in with the Legion, soooo… yeah." She bit her nails.
"You could've asked me for one. I got a pretty good stash of guns in the suite."
"I didn't want to bother you." Ruby turned her gaze to the side. Unluckily for Six, before she could press her about it, they arrived at the Fort. "Hey we're here, let's go talk to Julie."
Six looked at Arcade, expecting some sort of answer, but the doctor simply shrugged.
The Old Mormon Fort was - as always - crowded with victims of Freeside's degeneracy waiting for treatment. The Followers of the Apocalypse ran back and forth from tent to tent, scrambling to administer at least the very minimum medical help. It didn't take insider knowledge, or a great intuition, to know the Followers were always understaffed and under-equipped, sometimes even lacking the most basic necessities to administer medical care. The trio quickly spotted Julie, as she was in the middle of the camp giving out orders to other doctors.
"Hey, Julie!" Ruby greeted the doctor with a smile and waved her hand.
The doctor excused herself from the posse of physicians to meet the trio that'd just arrived at the fort. Julie was a mess. Dark bags dug deep into her - paler than normal - skin below her eyes, her mohawk was downed, messy and lacking any care, and her movements were slow and almost thought out. In other words, Julie was exhausted. "Hello, Ruby." She returned the smile. "What are… What are you doing here?"
Ruby tilted her head. "What do you mean? You said you needed help delivering something."
"Delivering…" She mumbled. "O-Oh! Yes, yes! I-uh-We are sending some supplies we were able to put aside from our stockpiled to the–" She yawned. "The Aerotech Refugee camp on the outskirts of Vegas. We have a doctor there that helps the refugees, but he didn't have any supplies."
Arcade and Ruby flashed the doctor a concerned look. "Julie, are you doing alright?" He asked.
"W-What? Yes, yes I'm fine. Just a little tired."
"Julie, you're very clearly exhausted. Maybe you should take a break."
"No. I told you Arcade, I'm fine. The supplies are over there. Just deliver them to Bert Gunnarsson, he's our doctor there. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have patients to attend to." Without allowing another word from Arcade or Ruby, Julie turned on her heel and marched to one of the tents.
"S-Should we do something?" Ruby asked Arcade with a worried look adorning her face.
The blonde doctor sighed. "Julie is a very stubborn and driven person. She likely won't stop until she collapses. Wouldn't be the first time. Let her be, there's no point in trying to talk to her."
Ruby wasn't exactly sure what to expect of the camp she was supposed to deliver these supplies to. It's not like she'd ever been to a refugee camp before. She pictured in her head a place where people who didn't have much went to get some shelter and food, receive blankets and have friendly faces all around. In short, she expected hope.
Hope was the last thing she felt in this camp.
The Aerotech Office Park - or Aerotech Refugee Camp as it had grown to more commonly known as of late - was packed with its dozens of destitute residents as they formed lines for small food tents as the early afternoon rolled in. A quick glance at those would lines one could easily spot the vast difference in origin of the unlucky many that lived there. Some wore worn down suits, others nothing more than some thin rags.
"Talk about bleak." She mumbled.
"It's a refugee camp, not exactly a five-star hotel." Six quipped.
"Well I know that, but y'know, shouldn't they be happy they can have a home and not be homeless?"
Arcade rested his hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Ruby, most of these people have lost everything. Their money, home, loved ones…" He trailed off. "It's hard to adjust. Especially when you see the place taking you in as just a dump that's offering you pity blankets."
"You talking experience?" Six asked.
"Yeah. In my early years as a Follower, back when Peterson sent NCR on that whole Baja venture against the Cartels, the Followers sent a small expedition. I worked at a camp like one of these." He sighed. "Pretty much the same, minus the angry mexicans."
"Then let's deliver these supplies before a bunch of angry Californians on our hands."
It wasn't hard finding the Follower doctor in the camp, as if the tent with a red cross and Followers of the Apocalypse symbols painted on it wasn't indicator enough. The tent itself wasn't very large and by the looks of it, it also did not have much in the way of equipment. Just a pair of beds and a couple sacks and boxes where the doctor probably stored his supplies, from what Ruby could see from the outside. Said ghoul doctor was currently standing right outside the medical tent, smoking a cigarette.
Ruby headed for the doctor, with Arcade right next to her. Six, however, did not. Electing to stay behind by the entrance and smoke a cigarette of her own.
"Sorry to bother you sir but, are you Bert Gunnarsson?" Ruby asked the ghoul.
"Yes, my child." He responded with a warm smile. "Do you require my assistance? Though I must say, your interesting company can probably be more helpful than I." He chuckled.
"Oh! Nonono, Julie sent me. She said you needed more supplies?"
"Miss Farkas sent you? That is very kind of her. And very kind of you as well to deliver them."
"It was nothing, just doing my part." She happily replied. "Let me help you with that."
"Excuse me ma'am." The unfamiliar voice of a man snapped Six from her thoughts. Turning around she saw a uniformed NCR trooper. The fact he was wearing a beret and not a helmet indicated he was an officer, a captain no less as his shoulder markings revealed.
"Can I help you cap'an? Or are you just gonna stare all day?" Six asked with the cigarette still between her lips.
"Sorry ma'am!" He stiffened his body. "I just wasn't expecting a ranger to drop by the camp today. Or, well, ever as a matter of fact."
"I'm not a ranger."
The captain blinked. "But the armor…"
"Not a ranger pal.
"Oh…" The captain cringed slightly. "I–...I apologize for the inconvenience ma'am."
"Eh, I've had worse. Lemme tell you, nine mil is a helluva inconvenience."
"I can imagine ma'am…"
"Out with it."
"Pardon?"
"It's obvious you were gonna ask me something because you thought I was a ranger. I might not be one, but I can more than handle myself." Six took a drag from the cigarette. "For a price of course."
The captain's brow furrowed and he crossed his arms. "A mercenary. Great. But I suppose you don't look at a gift Slippy in the mouth. Listen, this camp isn't the greatest place in the Mojave, but it's far from the worst. The NCR set it up to give people who pretty much lost it all here a place where they can go."
"The NCR made a camp to put its citizens in after said citizens lose all their life savings and more in the Strip." Six corrected the man.
The captain suppressed a sigh. "Yes. Anyhow, people have gone missing here. And I don't have the resources to send out people to look for them. I haven't seen any signs of violence or heard about any feuds, they just up and vanished."
Six's eyes drifted to the medical tent and Ruby. She seemed to still be talking with that ghoul doctor and hitting it off. She probably wouldn't be done for a bit. "Alright. Do tell."
"These disappearances, they never had much in common - that's why I didn't notice it sooner. Young folks, old folks, men, women…all disappearing. I remember this family, they had this little blonde girl. She…she never talked much, but she always carried a stuffed teddy bear."
"Have you considered, I dunno–" Six pursed her lips. "They just left?"
"That's just the thing. We've had people leave before, but they always take their things. These didn't."
A refugee to not take what little they had left with them? That was indeed strange. "Can you remember anything else?"
The blonde captain rubbed his chin. "I recall a lot of them did business with those scavengers over on the West Side - Dermot and Saint James."
Six hummed. Those names weren't familiar to her, but then again it's not like she knew all scavengers across Vegas. She only knew some of the ones from the Scavengers Union outside the walls, and even that was a bit of a stretch.
"Listen, I can't exactly pay you, but I can put a good word in with a couple officer friends of mine."
"That won't be necessary. Let's just…let's just say you owe me one."
"Right. Sure. Oh, by the way. I'm Parker. Captain Parker." The soldier extended his hand.
"Six." She nodded.
Seeing as the handshake wasn't going to happen, the captain awkwardly pulled his hand back.
At that moment, Ruby and Arcade returned from delivering the supplies to the ghoul doctor. "We're back Six. Whatcha doin'?"
"Getting a job. People gone missing."
"Huh, Doctor Gunnarsson did mention something about missing people too." Arcade scratched his chin.
"Yeah that's right!" Snapped her fingers. "So, where are we going?"
"We?" Six raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. We're already out here. Three people cover more ground than one y'know. Pluuuuus, you did say I could join you on missions." She listed off each thing with her fingers.
"I never said yes."
"But you also never said no." She smirked. "So I ask again. Where are we going, Six?"
The Courier sighed before tossing the cigarette butt to the floor and putting on her helmet. "Westside."
Ruby had heard stories about Westside from Six and the others. How it was a tightly knit community that grew its own food and was constantly attacked by those Fiends people, yet fiercely kept their independence. This was actually the first time she had ever been to Westside and, well, Six was not lying.
The fortified district was actually kind of nice. It was far from a paradise, but at least it didn't have random corpses on the street like Freeside did or heaps of drug addicts - that Ruby could see at least. Still, the mean look the residents and the militia people were giving her weren't exactly welcoming.
"Westside, huh?" Arcade commented. "I passed through here with another Follower a while back, Anderson. The locals were having a lot of trouble getting water through."
"Oh no…Well, maybe we can help with that?" Ruby expectantly turned to the Courier who simply shrugged.
"Who knows? If the pay is decent." That made both Ruby and Arcade frown. "But not today."
Not long after originally starting her travels with Six, Ruby had quickly learned that the Courier had a more mercenary attitude towards life. A 'I'll help you if you help me' type of thing. Six did work for Mr. House, and according to the others, he wasn't exactly the nicest guy. So it didn't exactly surprise her that Six cared about money, but it didn't exactly mean she liked it either.
But just because Six was like that it didn't mean she was a bad person. Right? She was just…complicated to deal with. Yeah.
"Ruby."
A bad person would do bad things. Like rob people and kill people! Err, Six did kill people though…But only raiders! And that was self-defense so it wasn't bad.
"Ruby…"
And looting bodies was just a normal thing here, so it wasn't like she was defiling the dead. So yeah! She was, without a shadow of a doubt, not a bad person!
"Ruby!" The teenager jumped back as Six practically shouted in her ear. "Did you hear what I say?"
"Uhhhhh, you see… About that…" She let out a nervous chuckle.
The older woman sighed. "Right. We're at the place where those scavengers are crashing in. If you were paying attention instead of daydreaming the entire time, you'd have heard our less than helpful conversation - if you could call it that - with Saint James." Ruby swore she could feel herself shrink a bit. "So, we–" A loud moan came from one of the upstairs rooms of the building that had its windows opened. "... I'm gonna go inside and search their rooms for clues."
"Why can't me and Arcade go with you?" She tilted her head.
"I would really prefer to not take you inside a place filled with prostitutes." She deadpanned.
"...What's a prostitute?"
"My point exactly."
Ruby's eyebrows burrowed into a frown. "But then we'll take longer to search for clues. What if in the time we lose doing this, they come back to their rooms and find you mid-ransacking their place?"
"Her logic isn't…terrible."
Six crossed her arms and repeatedly tapped her foot until she finally relented with a groan. "Fine. But don't talk to anyone. Or see anything. Or touch anything." She turned to Arcade. "How are you okay with this? You, of all people?"
A small smirk grew on the corners of Arcade's lips. "It's rather therapeutic seeing you struggle like this."
"Fuck you."
The three entered the brothel and well, it was loud, sort of dirty and had the smell of cigarettes everywhere. So, not the place she'd rather be in, but the one she had to be nonetheless. She could hear noises coming from behind many of the closed doors. She'd be lying if she said didn't imagine what was going on behind each of them, causing her cheeks to slightly warm up a bit.
Six gave her and Arcade a stopping motion before she walked up alone to another woman - probably a couple years younger than Six - leaning against the wall smoking a cigarette. What's everyone and smoking in the Mojave? The two talked for a bit before she saw Six give her a small pouch, earning a small grin from the other woman before she gave Six something Ruby couldn't quite discern.
The Courier returned to the duo and hucked a small key at Arcade. "That's the key to Saint James' room. It's at the end of the hall on the right. I'll check Dermot's. Ruby you're with Arcade."
Ruby brought her hand up in a mock salute. "Aye-aye ma'am."
The three once more split up, with Arcade and Ruby heading down the corridor to check the room of this Saint James fellow.
The rented room didn't look all that different from any other low stars motel rooms from the movies she watched back on Remnant, just a plain bedroom with a dirty bed, a bedside table, a fridge, a desk, a bookshelf and a bathroom. Arcade elected to check the bathroom first, leaving Ruby to search the rest of the room herself, which honestly wasn't much.
The fridge was devoid of anything, minus for copious amounts of alcohol.
There were some caps in one of the desk's cabinets so there was that.
The bookshelf was mostly barren of books and pulling one did not activate a secret door - much to Ruby's disappointment.
The bedside table only had a spent magazine and heaps of small colorful plastic rectangular packets.
The bed didn't have anything hidden under the mattress or inside it as a matter of fact - she remembered seeing that in those cop movies the bad guys always hid stuff inside the mattress. Then, an ingenious idea struck Ruby. So blatantly obvious yet genius.
She kneeled down on the dirty floor and peered into the darkness under the bed. The golden outline of something caught her eye, so she reached out into the void and grabbed it. Was it the condemning proof they needed to get these criminals to justice? Perhaps even a recording! She excitedly yanked the object back to reveal…a teddy bear. Like the toys little kids play with.
Not that only little kids played with stuffed animals! Stuffed animals were cool and huggable and cute and made for great nightly companions!
Arcade exited the bathroom with a frown. He probably must've also not found anything. "Did you find anything?"
Ruby sighed defeated. "Nothing that can help us. Just heaps of booze, some caps, these funky little plastic packets and this teddy bear."
Arcade looked at her confused, then he glanced at the opened bedside table. His eyes widened and all color left his face. He quickly brought a hand to cover his mouth and even leaned on the desk with his free hand.
"Arcade! Are you okay?" She quickly got up and ran to his side.
The doctor took a moment to recompose himself and stand straight again. Then another to finally respond. "Yes. I-I'm fine. I think we have everything we need. L-Let's check on Six."
The two left Saint James' room without saying another word to each other. Arcade seemed to be bothered by something but wouldn't tell Ruby what it was. This obviously left her worried and a bit sad he wouldn't confide in her. Sure she might be an adult, but they were friends, and friends talked to each other about these types of things. Still, she didn't press him about it.
They arrived at Dermot's room and boy was a mess. Six must've really ransacked the place for all its clues since pretty much everything was either out of place or completely thrown across the room. The courier in question was on the other side of the room, right in front of Ruby and Arcade, with her back turned to them and she looked like she was…reading a book?
"Did you find anything Six?"
Six didn't respond. In fact, she didn't even look in their direction, she just kept reading that book.
"Helooooo? Earth to Six?"
"…Did you find anything?" She finally said with a low tone.
"Not really. But I found this teddy bear. It's kinda funny a ground man would sleep with one right?" She giggled to herself.
Six dropped the book to the floor and faced Ruby and Arcade. No…her gaze, even with the lenses she could notice, Six wasn't looking at her. She was looking at hands. At the teddy bear. Okaaaaay, something's definitely going on.
Then without saying a word, Six walked out of the bedroom despite Ruby repeatedly calling out to her.
A pout grew on Ruby's face. Why the heck was Six ignoring her? Sure she sometimes acted all annoyed and groaned and stuff, but she at least always dignified her with an answer. She reached for the book Six had dropped. Surely whatever got her in such a bad mood had to be there for her to drop - what she thought was - a key piece of evidence.
"Ruby don't!" Arcade practically shouted.
"Chillax Arcade. Whatever's in here can't be that…bad…"
TO MOTOR RUNNER:
Teen girl - 500 caps
Adult man, 38 - 0 caps
True to his word paid top money for the girl. Plus bonus for first delivery. But paid nothing for girls father who took a swing at him when untied. Got to keep em more secured. Also keep SJ off the girls as even fiends dont want used goods.
TO MOTOR RUNNER:
Adult woman (28) - 250 caps
Old woman - 25 caps
Old man - 25 caps
Baby (boy?) - 0 caps
Got to be more careful selecting what we deliver. Runner liked the woman of course but the babys worthless except to make sure the woman does as shes told. Her parents next to worthless. Shouldve killed and left them. On the bright side Runner says we can start dealing with fiends closer by so no more dragging folks all the way to vault three.
TO NEPHI:
Teen girl - 400 caps
Teen boy - 150 caps
Child girl (7?) - 50 caps
More like it. Learned from past and got rid of mom and dad along the way. Tried to get more for the young one I said hey give her time to sprout. But Nephi wouldn't have it. Kept SJ off the girls so long as he got his damn teddy. Hes a sick one but I guess the work calls for it.
TO COOK COOK:
Adult woman - 200 caps
Teen girl - 400 caps
Teen girl - 400 caps
Teen boy - 100 caps
Did not like dealing with this cook cook. Didn't know if hed pay us or burn us. I guess what they do with them once they got them is up to them isnt my business but he didn't even wait for us to turn the corner before he was torching the boy and making the womenfolk watch. Lets hope to deal with Nephi next time.
There weren't words in the Remnite or English dictionaries that could describe what Ruby Rose was feeling. Disgust was an approximation, sick was…close. Yet, yet none of these carried enough weight. Ruby is a smart person, even for her age she's considered to be a prodigy in some fields, so she is far from stupid. She can, no, she does read inbetween the lines. She knows what this, this, this sick and disgusting person meant.
Human trafficking. Sexual Assault…Pedophilia…
She was familiar with the words, with what they meant. At Signal they were taught the whole 'Stranger Danger' thing, to be careful when walking alone at night. But-But still, she never thought a person could do such horrible, vile things.
I was in his room…I was in that monster's room…
She felt like throwing up.
The ledger dropped out of her shaking hands and she quickly, desperately stepped away from it, as far as possible. Her retreat was cut short though by her bumping into Arcade. She shrieked at Arcade's touch, curling herself into a ball as if something was about to take her away.
"Ruby, Ruby. Calm down. It's me." He made her face him. "It's me…You're okay."
Ruby's breathing steadied somewhat. She was still shaking but at least she wasn't freaking out anymore.
"H-How? W-Why? Why would anyone do that?" The teenager shakily asked the older man.
"Some people…Are just truly rotten inside."
Ruby threw herself onto the doctor, wrapping her arms around his torso and burying her face in his chest. Arcade responded in kind, accepting the hug, even if tentatively. The two stayed there for a moment, merely hugging one another, but Ruby eventually broke it off.
"L-Let's go find Six." She wiped her reddened eyes.
"I…I don't know if it's a good idea to be outside."
"Can't be worse than this place. Can we just leave?"
Arcade sighed. He looked at the exit then back at the little girl before him. "Okay. Let's go."
The two walked out of Dermot's room and then onto the streets outside. The fresh air felt nice, a lot better than the cramped suffocating smell of ashes and cigarettes. Fortunately it wasn't hard to find Six. Unfortunately, it was a matter of just following the screams.
Six found Dermot and Saint James rather quickly. Those fuckers hadn't even left their little spot on Westside's main street.
A sick smile grew under that riot helmet.
"Oi!" Dermot shouted, reaching for his hostler as he saw Six approach them. "Didn't we tell you to–" Courier Six threw Chopper at Dermot's shoulder. She wasn't going to let that thing let another noise out of his mouth that weren't screams.
And how satisfying it was to hear that pig scream.
Courier Six quickly closed the distance between her and the two pigs. Saint James tried to get a hit with his power fist but she was to fast, and he too fucking predictable. She easily dodged it and grabbed him by his hair and repeatedly slammed his face against the brick wall of the building he was once leaning on. Dermot despite the pain, reached for his holster and pulled out his sawed off double barrel shotgun. Problem was, said pain made him take too long to aim. Courier Six threw Saint James to the floor and returned to her first target, dodging at the exact moment Dermot pressed the trigger. She placed both hands on the pig's arm and wrist before pushing them in the opposite direction. The only thing masking the sound of the sickening crack that Dermot's arm made were his blood-curdling screams.
She withdrew That Gun from its holster and delivered a bullet to each of Dermot's thighs making him fall right on time for Courier Six's armor plated knee to crash onto his face. Dermot collapsed on the floor, cupping his face and endlessly cursing at Courier Six.
"Pathetic."
Courier Six spat, that single word filled with nothing but disgust and venom and the thing below her. She brought her boot to his neck and slowly applied more pressure to it. The red uncaring lenses of her helmet reflected off Dermot's pitiful stare, as he went from angry violence to unadulterated fear. She could pinpoint the exact moment he realized he was going to die, as he'd started clawing at her leg.
The sound of scared scampering and running would bring Dermot's slow death to an abrupt ending though. She glanced over her shoulder, it seemed Saint James was ditching his partner and trying to make a run for it. Nothing a well placed shot to the leg with That Gun wouldn't fix.
She looked back at Dermot and hummed at the pathetic little pig. She lifted her boot up for a moment, before it came crashing down on the traficker's neck, right at the hyoid. She removed the cleaver, Chopper, from his shoulder - it took a little bit more force than she was expecting - and watched as he pitifully grabbed his neck, trying his hardest to not choke on his own blood. Too bad, the hyoid had already ruptured the muscles and lodged itself on the spine.
Courier Six slowly moved on to her next victim. It was almost amusing seeing Saint James try to crawl away. Almost. She holstered back all her weapons, then took out a new toy. A single piece of spiked knuckles with the word 'HATE' forged on it.
She didn't even realize several pistols and rifles were aiming at her.
She grabbed the man by the collar and punched him in the gut, earning a scream from the man. "So, tell me, Saint James." Her voice oozed with venom. "Did it feel good? What you did to those kids?" She shouted.
"I-I-I-"
"You, you, you, you what?!"
"I don't know what you're talking ab–" Another blood-curdling echoed across the street as Courier Six punched him again, this time, a jab straight to the face.
"See your partner there Jimmy? I can make it ten times worse for you. The more you lie, the slower it gets. So please, by all means, lie again." She raised her bloodied fist again.
"Okay, okay, okay I admit it, I admit it! We kidnapped refugees from that NCR camp outside of Vegas. A-And we sold them."
"TO WHO?" She shouted once more.
"T-To the Fiends! We sold them to the Fiends!" The shouted, his voice trembled and tears trickled down his cheeks, mixing with his blood and open wounds.
"But you didn't just do that, did you Jimmy? You didn't just sell them did you? You needed to have your fun with them right?" He nodded his head frantically and she punched him again. "Answer me!"
"Yes! I did! I-I'm sorry."
"Oh, you're sorry? You're SORRY?!" She punched him twice again. "'Sorry' doesn't cut it pal. 'Sorry', doesn't suddenly forgive you for what you did. 'Sorry, doesn't change the fact you're a disgusting piece of shit!" She'd lost count at this point how many times she'd punch the man. It didn't matter how many times she'd punched him anyway. He deserved more, much, much more. So she kept punching and punching and punching. She was going to make him feel the dread those girls must've felt. She was going to make this piece of shit wish he was never born. She–
"Six?"
Six looked up to see Ruby frozen in place with a horrified look on her face. Her eyes were swollen. She'd been crying. Who made her cry? It was probably those pieces of shit. Yes. It can only be them. She glanced back at Saint James, or what once looked like Saint James. He wasn't even breathing anymore.
She let go of the corpse's collar and took off her spiked knuckles. There was no point in beating a dead man. She glanced around and finally realized she'd drawn a crowd. The militia, residents and traders. All had a mixture of anger, disgust and horror adorning their faces, but no guns were aimed at her. Not anymore.
One of the militiamen approached Six, she could see his hands were shaking slightly. "T-Thank you for your …service to the community. We'll hum, w-we'll make sure nothing like this ever happens again."
"Yeah, you do that."
"R-Right…" The militia member turned back and ordered the crowd to disperse and a couple others to grab the bodies and drag them away. With just a few moments, everyone had gone back to their lives, leaving Arcade, Ruby and Arcade alone.
Arcade was the first to break the silence. "Are you okay Six?"
"Yeah. Just peachy." Six answered dryly as she wiped the lenses of her helmet with her coat's sleeve.
"I'll hum, I'll go back and tell Captain Parker the situation's resolved. You two should go back to the Lucky Thirty Eight."
"Sure."
The elevator dinged upon reaching the cocktail lounge. The old doors slid open and Ruby stepped inside the old dusty bar. She'd guessed that Six had gone there since she wasn't in the suite. And well, she guessed correctly. Because by the large glass pane windows that circled all around the lounge, Six was sitting in a chair knee deep in what looked to be her third bottle of bourbon and the ashtray on the small table was filled with cigarette butts. On the floor next to her was the still bloodied helmet. In fact, it didn't seem like Six had cleaned her armor at all.
"What do you want, Ruby?" She asked, her speech slightly slurred.
"How do you…"
"I took a guess. Seems I guessed right." She brought the bottle to her mouth.
"Right…"
"Just say what you came her to say and leave."
Ruby took a deep breath and stepped forward, stopping right behind Six's chair. "Everyone's worried about you."
"Well, I am fine as you can see. Just enjoying the view of the city."
"Don't, don't be like that. You're obviously not okay. T-The way you acted back there you looked like–"
"An animal? A psycho? Deranged perhaps?"
"What?"
"It's what you were going to say isn't it? Well save it. I've heard it all before."
"I wasn't going to say that!"
"Yeah, sure." She drank the remains of the bottle.
"It's true! I was going to say you looked angry and sad and, and I don't know." She sighed. "I'm not good at people. They're complicated and weird and sometimes I would really just want to speak to my guns to be honest. But it doesn't take a genius to figure out that you don't like talking about yourself. So that's why I organized that game this morning. To get us all to talk to each other, even if just a little bit."
"Why are you doing this?" Her voice had a hint of annoyance.
"Because I'm worried about you Six."
"You don't need to be. I'm fine. I just need to be left alone."
"I won't leave you alone! You have friends you can talk to. You can–"
"I said." Six gritted her teeth. "Leave me. The fuck. ALONE!" She flipped the table next to her as she stood up, sending the bottles and ashtray crashing to the floor. Ruby stumbled backwards seeing those golden angry eyes pierce her skull. "Do you never just shut the fuck up?! You're always yapping and yapping and yapping, god damn! Just…let me be."
Ruby quietly stood back up, her eyes didn't meet the Courier's. She just stared at the floor. Her vision was getting blurry and a few droplets of water ran down her cheeks. "Okay Six. I'll…I'll leave you be. I'm sorry for bothering you." Before Six could get a word in, Ruby used her semblance to quickly get her to the elevator.
She stood there for a moment, before reaching for her flask and taking a seat once more.
Then the elevator doors closed.
HOLY FUCK…That was much harder to write than I anticipated. Like dam. It's hard writing about these kinds of serious topics without sounding super cringe or getting it wrong. And I might've gotten it wrong all things considered. Funnily enough, the last scene was the one I struggled with the most. I debated with myself (and my betas readers) for a good bit on whether or not they should've just talked it out. But I think I'm glad I ended up going this route. Makes the answers all the more gratifying when you get them.
I know some of you are going to criticize Six a lot. And well, you should. She's mostly definitely in the wrong here. I guess I can't do much but ask you to be patient.
I also just wanted to thank you all for commenting, liking and well, just reading this fic. It means a lot to me and I love reading you guys' comments.
Until next time, Tom out.
Edit: Did some editing on spelling and stuff that SOMEONE failed to tell me were there. All good now.