Hel sighed at the hit note she'd pulled off one of the bodies. Not again. When will people learn? This wasn't a Regulator hit this time. She rifled through the rest of the bodies but couldn't find any clue as to who they were or where they'd come from. Their armor was a mix of combat, Talon Company, and Raider. Nothing on them marked them as a group. She reread the note, but it didn't reveal anything other than that this time, she was to be brought back alive.

They'd come from the same direction Burke had left in. There had to be some connection. Her heart lurched up in her throat at the thought of something happening to him. He'd said where he was going the people didn't take kindly to new faces, and she and Charon hadn't known about the place. The people there had to be dangerous for Burke to want to keep them away.

She hefted her pack on her back and checked her Pip-Boy. Nothing on the map seemed to cry out 'Check here!' but she knew she could retrace this groups steps fairly easily if she went carefully.

"Right," she straightened and headed out. She ignored any doubt that crept into her mind about whether Burke and Charon were alright. She couldn't afford to be worried. Instead, she kept her mind focused on the trail ahead. If they're hurt, God help the damned fools that did it.

…

Burke came to slowly, his ears ringing. Fuck, definitely a concussion. He was lying on his side on the hard ground, arms secured behind his back. He tasted vomit but didn't remember throwing up. Carefully, he brought himself upright, head spinning.

"Easy," a voice over him warned and he blinked up at a guard brandishing a baseball bat.

Burke couldn't formulate an answer, so he just sat there.

"Awake, are we?" Levi's voice brought his attention round to find the old man lounging back on his throne. The slave that had been a footstool earlier was between Levi's legs, head bobbing up and down to the sounds of slurping and gagging.

Burke felt along the restraints around his wrists. Rope, tied tightly too. It wasn't impossible to get out, but with the slugger standing over him, he wasn't going to be able to do much.

Levi moaned and Burke stared at the floor as the slave girl finished him off. The old man waved her away and stood, tucking himself back into his pants as he walked towards Burke.

"I hope your lovely little lady is a swallower, Richard. I can't stand a woman who wastes a good meal."

Burke glared up at him. He wasn't going to let him provoke him. Besides, Hel would bite off the man's shriveled little worm before she let him cum in her mouth. The thought made him smile.

"Something amusing?"

"You." Burke sat up a little straighter despite his head protesting. "She's not what you think she is."

"Really?"

"Really."

Levi shook his head, "Enlighten me then. What is she?"

"A force of nature. The Apocalypse in human form."

Levi raised an eyebrow, "When did you become so imaginative, Richard? I suppose you'll tell me next that she keeps Deathclaws as pets and has nuclear waste instead of coffee with her breakfast?" He laughed, "I'll show you exactly what I think of your little human disaster once she gets here."

"Which is when, exactly?"

The old man's eyes gave away his worry. There was no way for Burke to know how long he'd been unconscious down here, but it felt like it had been a long time. Whoever Levi had sent, they should have been back already. If he knew Hel, and he liked to think he knew her better than anyone, she was waging war on her way here.

"Tristan," Levi called one of the guards out of his hiding place, "Go up top. Inquire as to whether our guest has arrived."

The guard ran off and Burke grinned through the searing pain in his skull, "Worried, Levi?"

"Eager."

Burke moved to shake his head and immediately regretted it. His stomach roiled and pain lanced through him. Taking a shuddering breath, he looked up to find Levi grinning down at him.

"Ah, Richard, to think I once imagined you would be the one to inherit all of this from me. You were ruthless… How has a 'walking Apocalypse' tamed you? Shouldn't she have magnified you? Made you greater? You even let her talk you out of destroying Megaton. Pathetic."

A loud boom sounded from far off. Levi's eyes narrowed momentarily. Another boom, followed by yelling and gunfire.

Levi motioned two more guards forward, "Find out what the hell is going on out there!"

Burke laughed despite it feeling like another bat strike to the brain, "You know why I let her tame me, as you say?"

Levi glared down at him.

"Because when a force of nature comes at you, you don't resist. You get the fuck out of the way."

…

Hel wiped blood from her face. She wasn't sure which was hers and which belonged to the indistinguishable body parts that were now scattered all over the mine shaft. It didn't matter. She had to be quicker. She had to find Burke and Charon before these assholes did something to them. Please don't let me be too late.

Getting into the mine had been a hell of a lot easier than finding it, but that wasn't saying much. Night had fallen by the time she'd tracked back to the source of the mercenaries. She'd debated going in stealthily, but didn't know how she could do it and get both men out the same way. She was going to have to blast her way in or out, she guessed she might as well get it over with.

Most of the people inside had run once the fighting started. Only guards with the symbol of two rectangles on their armor actually fought back. There were a disturbing amount of slaves and most of them didn't run, even if she cut them loose and shoved them toward the exit. She'd never seen anything like it.

Injecting a stimpak as she huddled behind a stack of crates, Hel wondered how big this place really was. She was going to have to search the whole place for Burke and Charon. She hoped if she found one, the other wouldn't be far off.

A guard ran towards her with a shotgun raised, Hel took a deep breath and focused, time seemed to slow, and she shot him straight through the face with her hunting rifle before he took another step. On the exhale she heard a group gathering at the entrance to what appeared to be a lower level. She pulled the pin on a frag grenade and lobbed it into the opening. Ducking behind her cover as the concussive boom spread more gore around, Hel knew where she was headed next.

…

Charon bit down on his tongue to keep the screams inside. He'd forgotten Brenner's talent for inflicting the worst pain imaginable. A concoction of stimpaks and chems ran through his veins from the IV Brenner had set up. His torso had been flayed open and Brenner's hands were inside him, twisting and cutting his organs as the chems kept him from passing out or dying.

"It's alright, my son. I know you're loyal to your contract, you're doing so well," Brenner caressed his cheek with a bloody hand, "But I'm going to ask you again. Where is your owner?"

It was a sick dichotomy. Brenner wanted him to fail, but not to fail, but to fail… Charon was beginning to feel like he would forget what he was really supposed to be resisting and slip. He couldn't let Hel down. He had to hold everything in. Brenner's hands delved deep into him again and tears started to seep out of his eyes as his body went rigid with the retained screams. He kept Hel in his mind. Her smile, the way she laughed, the way she hugged him like he was another smoothskin.

"That's it, my son," Brenner murmured, dark eyes watching him, "Soon now… Soon we will know which piece of you I succeeded most in."

…

Burke watched Levi pace as the sounds of violence came closer and closer. None of the guards he had sent out had returned. It sounded as though Hel was only another level up, which meant she was facing a bottleneck of Levi's men. Burke felt his eyes drifting shut, the concussion attempting to lull him back into unconsciousness. He groaned and Levi turned to him.

"It appears your little Apocalypse has made it much further than I expected," he said.

Burke wondered at his confident tone. The old man should have been shitting himself by now. Burke knew there were escape routes he could take, but he also knew that it would mean Levi abandoning the Market. He had a feeling Levi would die before letting that happen.

Levi limped to his chair and lifted a pistol from under the cushion. He brought it back to Burke, "I can see you love her, Richard. It seems we're going to find out if she loves you just as much."

The door burst open and guards backed in, yelling to each other to hold their ground. Levi crouched behind Burke and leveled the pistol at his head, "Let her through!" he ordered.

The guards all froze. Some looked back at their employer as though he'd lost his mind. They all obeyed. They kept their weapons aimed at the doorway, but not one more shot was fired. A deadly silence enveloped them all as they waited. Movement in the doorway made trigger fingers tense, but no one fired. She came through covered in blood and black ash. Her eyes burned into everyone as she looked around the room. She looked terrifying, like a creature out of a child's nightmare. Burke thought she'd never looked so beautiful.

"Welcome, my dear," Levi greeted from his position behind Burke.

Hel looked at them and for a moment, the cold mask slipped from her face and Burke saw her fear. Don't worry about me, love. Just a bump on the head.

"Who the fuck are you?" She glanced at Levi, the anger taking over again.

"My name is Leviticus. I'm somewhat of an admirer of yours."

"An admirer?" She arched an eyebrow.

"Yes. Richard here has been telling me all about you, and I couldn't wait to meet you. I sent a welcoming committee. Did they reach you?"

Hel glanced at Burke and narrowed her eyes at the pistol in Levi's hand. "They did."

"Wonderful. I'm happy you could make it."

Burke slumped forward as his brain tried to shut off. Levi grabbed him and pulled him upright, the gun butting up against the base of his skull. Hel took a step forward and raised her rifle, "Don't," she snarled.

Levi chuckled, "Oh, very feisty. I can see why you like her so much, Richard." Then to Hel he said, "Lower your weapon, or I'm afraid I'll have to show you the inside of your lover's skull."

Hel licked her lips. She flicked her eyes around the room and back to Burke. "Alright," she lowered the rifle and raised one hand in front of her, palm out. "Just don't hurt him."

"That all depends on you, dear."

"What do you want, Leviticus?"

"I want you, my dear. I want you to be my very own little pet. Agree, and I'll let him go free."

"Where's Charon?"

"Ah, the big ghoul, I assume? Two for the price of one? Hmmm, I suppose you might be worth it."

Hel remained silent. There was an ominous stillness to her. Burke had never seen her in action before, he knew about this side of her only from third hand accounts. Her eyes seemed to absorb the whole room at once. Her posture made her look like she could move in any direction in an instant. He wondered at how someone like her could let someone like him take control over her. She was bottled up chaos, and she willingly handed that over to him of all people.

He felt Levi shift behind him, "Go and tell Brenner to bring the ghoul up."

The guard with the bat took off, Hel's eyes watched him go, then turned back to Burke. She gave a sad smile and a very small shake of her head. He didn't know what she was trying to convey. He wasn't going to be any help if she was trying to signal him. He could barely stay awake.

"I love you," she mouthed to him, then whipped her rifle up to her shoulder and shot him.

…

Hel kept her breathing slow and steady. Her first shot ripped through Burke's shoulder, the same one she'd shot him in just yesterday. The bullet kept going into the shoulder of the old man, forcing him to drop the gun. Burke slumped to the ground out of Leviticus' grasp and she shot the old man through the eyes. She swung the empty rifle onto her shoulder and pulled out her shotgun, spinning around to blast at the guards gathered at her back. A bullet lodged itself into her left leg and she grunted, but still kept her aim steady. It was mayhem, guards were running into each other, some trying to get away, others trying to come at her. She used their confusion to her advantage. With one hand she stabbed a stimpak into her wounded leg, the other still pulling the trigger as bodies fell around her.

She backed up slowly towards Burke. Please be alright, please don't be dead. She felt her foot bump a body and took a second to glance down. Burke laid there, not moving. She knelt and jabbed a stimpak into his neck. He didn't react. Fuck. No, no, please.

More guards flooded into the room and she dragged the body of Leviticus up over Burke before diving for cover behind a gaudy red couch. She tossed a frag grenade and reloaded her rifle and the shotgun. Burke still hadn't moved. She couldn't get close enough to check him for a pulse while she was fighting. She had to clear out the enemy first. She peeked around the side of the couch. The remaining guards had also taken cover after her grenade. She counted roughly ten, but knew there could be more. Taking a deep inhale, she closed her eyes and pushed her concern for Burke to the back of her mind.

She opened her eyes and leaned past the couch and took out another two guards. The doorway the man had gone through to get Charon was past the guards. Kill everyone, check Burke, go after Charon. She was never a fan of using chems, but at this point she didn't have the luxury of taking her time. She dug in her pack and pulled out one each of jet, buffout and psycho.

"Here goes," she muttered and injected the drugs into her system.

…

Charon registered the sound of fighting far off, but his brain didn't allow him to piece together why it was happening. His entire focus was on Brenner elbow deep inside of his guts.
"You're so good," Brenner breathed, his face enraptured, almost as if he were making love to Charon instead of eviscerating him. "My perfect boy. Yes."

Charon was holding onto himself by a thread. Hel's voice in his head repeating his name over and over was the only thing that kept him from slipping into madness. The door to the Conditioning Room burst open and a guard ran towards Brenner.

"Let him go! Let him go!"

Brenner straightened, his face going from joy to rage, "What the fuck do you mean let him go? What's going on?"

"She's here!" the guard yelled, "Leviticus sent me to get him," he indicated Charon, "And the next I know there's a massacre going on behind me!" The man moved to the table and started releasing the shackles around Charon before he looked down at him. "Jesus fucking Christ!" He jumped back, "What are y-" he turned and heaved, the sound of vomit splattering all over the floor accompanying his retching.

Brenner gave the man a look of disgust. He turned to Charon, "You must be very precious to her indeed, my son." He moved to Charon's side and began gently putting his organs back in order. "Watch the door," he ordered the guard, "Warn her this is a delicate situation, if she barges in, it could compromise my putting him back together."

The guard obeyed, eager to get away from the horror show that was Charon's body. Charon felt Brenner stitching pieces of him back together. The pain was still excruciating.

"You did so well, better than I ever imagined," Brenner murmured, "I can only hope to ever make another such as you, Charon."

Let me up from this table and you won't have the chance. Charon listened to the sounds of gunfire and explosions above. He knew she'd come, he was grateful it had been so soon. He hadn't been sure how much longer he could fight against the urge to give Brenner any answer he wanted if he would just stop. The fool thought his programming had given Charon the ability to resist his torture. That line of defense had fallen early on. The thought of Hel had been what kept him from giving in, only her.

Brenner held up a glowing syringe, "This will help you heal," he injected it straight into Charon's arm. Setting the empty syringe aside, he began sewing Charon's flesh back together over his insides. "She will need to be gentle with you for a few days, child. You will be very sore."

He spoke to Charon with the bedside manner of a concerned doctor instead of the demented maniac he really was. Charon ignored him and listened as the gunfire lessened, then died down. An eerie quiet made him worried. Had they managed to kill her? He tugged at the shackles at his wrists. He would destroy them if anything happened to her.

…

Burke was floating in darkness. Snippets of his life would swirl around him; his only memory of his mother as she stood in the kitchen, his father beating him, kissing Hel for the first time. They came and went like dust clouds. He was aware, barely, of pain in his shoulder. He had a vague recollection of Hel shooting him there. Again?

That seemed odd. Why had she shot him? He heard screams but didn't know who was making them. Then silence. Something heavy slid off of him, the rope that bound his hands was cut, then gentle hands rolled him onto his back.

"Burke?" Hel's voice. He tried to answer but he was stuck in the darkness as though it were mud. "Burke!" She was crying. He had to get to her, had to find out what was wrong.
He forced his eyes to blink open, but he still saw nothing but black. He groaned and fought to roll his eyes around in his skull. Hadn't there been an incident with a baseball bat?

His movements brought a choked gasp from Hel, "Burke? Thank fuck, oh God, Burke," she pressed her lips to his and he felt her tears stream down his cheeks.

His eyes slowly started to focus and he smiled up at her when she pulled back, "Hey."

"Hey," she beamed at him, still crying.

"You shot me," his eyebrows came down.

"I know, I know, I'm so sorry. I had to get you out of the way," she kissed him again, "I'm sorry. But you're alright now, right? Can you move?"

He grunted and wiggled his toes. Pushing himself up to his elbows, he felt a dull soreness in his shoulder, but it really only felt like he'd slept on it wrong. His head felt stuffed with cotton, but it didn't hurt. The last few hours came back to him now. He sat up completely with her help.

"I'm alright, love." He glanced at Levi, the old man's eyes dead and staring. "We need to get to Charon," he stumbled to his feet, woozy but not completely incapable of moving.

Hel didn't wait for further confirmation that he was alright. She held out a shotgun and some shells. "Do you know where they took him? I saw the guard run through there."

Burke nodded, his head clearing up the longer he was on his feet, "Levi had him sent to Brenner. We need to get to him, quickly."

Hel nodded and took off towards the door Burke had watched Charon disappear through. He followed close behind, keeping an eye out for any survivors. Two of the sex slaves were huddled behind Levi's chair, but they didn't move a muscle as the pair ran past. The door opened up onto a long corridor lined with doors.

"Keep going straight ahead," Burke said, "He's most likely in the torture chamber."

Hel started running and he barely kept up, his legs not quite sure how to propel him forward anymore. A guard stood in the doorway of the Conditioning Room. At the sight of them, he held his hands up.

"Wait, wait, wait! Brenner says you can't go in yet. He's fixing him."

Hel glanced to Burke and he shook his head. She raised her rifle and shot the guard, barely slowing down. They barreled through the door and into Brenner's hell hole. Burke stayed back at the door to watch for anyone trying to come up behind them.

"Charon?!" Hel screamed.

Burke looked, fearing the worst, but he saw Charon sitting up, alive. His eyes fell to the ghoul's torso and his momentary relief evaporated. It looked like he'd been torn to shreds by a Deathclaw and stitched back together. There was blood everywhere, on his clothes, dripping off the table and on the floor. Hel was halfway between them, trembling. He couldn't tell if it was rage or sorrow.

"Kid," Charon rasped.

"This is her?" Brenner stepped out from behind Charon. He looked at Hel like a zealot would look at their idol.

Charon nodded and clumsily slid off the steel table, swaying as his feet touched the ground.

"It is an honor to meet you," Brenner took a step towards Hel and both Burke and Charon took a step his direction. Neither of them wanted him anywhere near her.

"You did this?" she asked the new ghoul, "You're Brenner?"

"Yes!" He was elated. "Charon is my proudest creation. I cannot tell you how honored I am that the Scourge herself owns his contract."

"He… What do you mean, creation?"

"Why, I made him the indispensable tool he is today. I molded him, helped him give up pesky things such as free will. I gave him his purpose."

"You made him a slave?"

"Well, not technically. He was already a slave. I made the ultimate slave. He never wants to escape, he's completely loyal to whoever holds his contract, but he's not like those brain dead people you must have seen above. They don't even know to eat unless they're told to. Charon is perfection. Sadly, I've yet to create another like him. I hope you appreciate what a rarity you own."

Hel's fist clenched at her side, "You… He's more than that," she said the words like she was biting into them, "You didn't make him what he is. He did. You tried, tried to turn him into something like those- things up there. But you couldn't break him down all the way. He's not who he is because of you, he's who he is in spite of you!"

Brenner's smile had slowly disappeared as she spoke. The adoration turned to malice. Burke took another step toward them.

"You don't understand," Brenner hissed, "I thought of all people, you would appreciate what I've accomplished with him. Stupid bitch," he lunged for her and Burke moved, but Charon got to him first.

The big ghoul spun him around, "Don't fucking touch her!" Brenner stumbled backwards into Hel and she grabbed his arms, pinning them behind him. Burke came up beside her and pulled her combat knife out of its sheath at her side.

He held it out to Charon, "You should do it. I've seen what he does. If you're one of his victims… It's only right."

…

Charon stared down at the knife in Burke's hand. He looked up at Brenner writhing in Hel's grasp.

"Charon, you can't-" he cut off when Hel kicked the back of his knee and he fell to the floor. She kept hold of him and looked up at Charon, waiting.

He licked his lips and reached for the knife. It felt like he was moving through water. Why am I hesitating? Gingerly, he lowered himself to his knees in front of Brenner. The monster that had tortured him was babbling, pleading, begging for mercy.

"Please, my son."

"You never gave mercy. Why are you worthy of it?"

Brenner shook his head, "You don't understand. I gave you purpose."

"No," Charon placed the point of the blade against Brenner's stomach. He glanced at Hel over Brenner's shoulder. She smiled reassuringly and nodded. He looked back to Brenner,

"My purpose was never yours to give." He told his arm to move forward, to plunge into the guts of Brenner, but it didn't budge. Shocked, he looked down at his own limb as it shook against his will, refusing to do as he said.

"Charon?" Hel said softly.

He met her gaze, desperate for an explanation. Brenner chuckled.

"So it worked," he grinned at Charon, "You can't kill me, boy. I made sure none of my children could harm me. No one's ever managed to try before. It's good to know that little piece of programming stuck with you."

Charon shook, still trying to force his unyielding arm forward, "You don't hold my contract. It shouldn't matter."

"No, this is something extra. My insurance policy."

Burke moved round behind Charon and knelt next to him. "Relax, big guy," he said, putting his left hand on Charon's shoulder. He leaned forward and wrapped his right hand around the hand Charon held the knife in. "Don't try and stab him, just hold the knife."

Charon turned to look at the smoothskin. He did as he said and his arm stopped shaking.

"It won't work," Brenner sneered, but his eyes were wide, darting back and forth between Charon and Burke.

"Relax," Burke repeated, his fingers dug into Charon's shoulder and he shifted his weight to put it behind the knife. "Just feel it," he said softly, and shoved Charon's arm forward.
Brenner screamed as the knife cut into his body just below his navel. Charon felt the tug of muscle as Burke forced the knife up to the hilt in Brenner's flesh. Then he was pulling Charon's hand up with a sawing motion. Hel had to hold tight as Brenner convulsed and kicked, his screams reverberating off the walls. Burke turned Charon's hand sideways and sawed to the left, then the right, cutting a 'T' into Brenner's abdomen. Blood and chunks of guts oozed over the knife and their hands. Brenner went slack and Burke pulled the knife out. He raised their hands up to Brenner's side and set the point between his ribs under his left arm, aimed right where his heart would be.

"More?" he asked, tilting his head to look at Charon.

"Yes," Charon gave a ragged gasp.

Burke shoved the knife into Brenner again, letting Charon feel the blade bite against the rib cage. Blood gushed out, spraying Charon and Burke. Neither flinched or pulled away. Burke helped him twist and carve a hole in Brenner until he could see pieces of the destroyed organ that used to pump life through the ghoul slipping out the wound. Hel had long since stopped holding Brenner's arms and simply held him upright for them.

Burke pulled the knife out again and Charon loosened his hand so it fell to the floor. Burke took his hand away but left the hand on Charon's shoulder.

"Thank you," Charon managed, glancing at Burke.

The smoothskin gave a sideways smile and squeezed Charon's shoulder once, "Don't mention it." He straightened and Hel let Brenner's corpse slump to the floor. She reached for

Charon and he pulled her into his arms.

"Thanks, kid."

Hel half laughed, half sobbed, "Fucking hell, I can't let you two out of my sight ever again."

Charon grunted and pulled back. Hel loosened her arms and stood. Burke leaned down and put Charon's arm over his shoulders and wrapped his arm around Charon's back, "Up we go." Charon stumbled to his feet, leaning on Burke as little as possible.

"Let's go home," Hel sighed.

I wanted to give an honest heads up to you all.

I currently have two fanfictions that I'm writing and both have come to pretty critical moments in the stories. I'm struggling with juggling both and so updates haven't been monthly like I had hoped. I've decided that the best thing for me and you guys is to choose one to focus on and go at it until it's done. Unfortunately I still haven't really decided which one that is going to be.

So this may be in a hiatus while I update the other or vice versa. I apologize for the wait and especially for any possible wait in the future. No matter what, I will try to keep the wait as brief as I can.

Thank you all for reading.

Much love,

Meg