#and ohhhhhh the fallout that would cause! terrifying

[boarix]

Wraith in the Ruins: A Fallout 4 Story Part X

Kinship

Trigger Warnings: Canon violence/language/gun, drug & alcohol use. Suicidal thoughts. Threat of drowning. Suggestive/mature content.

Bloody Mess warning!

Please enjoy!

 The Gunners had made their final, ultimate mistakes. Reports, over Radio Freedom, came in announcing the abduction of settlers from Somerville Place and the members of the provisioner caravan from the Murkwater/Jamaica Plain route. Wraith was deeply concerned when she was informed that there, oddly enough, were no demands for ransom. Four Minutemen had lost their lives during the simultaneous attacks.

Wraith was done.

With the threat of snow looming, she organized a full assault/rescue mission and mustered her troops. In addition to the standard Minutemen soldiers there were 3 full units of the 1st Commonwealth Heavy Dragoons as well as the Gae Bulg Hounds. Not wanting to risk attacks on the rest of her settlements, Wraith had accepted offers from both Piper and Hancock to borrow security from their respective cities. Provisioner caravans were temporarily halted as well.

“If you release your captives now, and surrender peacefully, I will personally grantee your safety…” Resplendent in the Minutemen General’s uniform, a figure stood on a raised platform while speaking into a microphone.  Flanked by Danse and two other Dragoons, with Hancock on the right and MacCready on the left, the person in the uniform was actually Curie. Although not as tall, there was enough of a resemblance to fool most people at a distance. As such, Curie had agreed to masquerade as Wraith and pantomime a prerecorded message of mercy.

Preston had been less than excited about being told to remain at the Castle. He had given her a lecture, reminiscent of Deacon’s, about a general fighting on the front line. Wraith had been adamant however, saying this was something she must do herself. Not wanting to potentially lose the two highest ranking Minutemen officers, he was left to literally man the fort.

 Wraith and Deacon moved through the plaza’s corridors like liquid shadow. Their intent was to locate and secure all hostages, after which, Wraith had ordered the systematic removal of all remaining combatants by “ANY means necessary.” Deacon led the way, having infiltrated the facility before. They had several Stealth Boys between them and were hoping to extract the settlers without any confrontations.

Wraith had low expectations of any organized response from the Gunners. Captain Wes was long dead, having been killed by raider tribal leaders attempting to gain the top position in the hierarchy. The distraction outside was clearly working and she had to wonder if she and Deacon couldn’t simply stroll down the hallways like they belonged there. She wasn’t going to try it though.

Her stomach was in knots over the condition of her people. Wraith was having trouble not killing Gunner-raiders as the duo passed them; chanting a calming mantra over and over in her head as she merged from one shadow to the next.

Once on the basement level, Deacon indicated a door and Wraith picked the lock with practiced ease. Her stomach sank as soon as she opened it however, when the sickly sweet smell of death hit her nose.

Only 2 people of the 15 reported missing were still alive and each was missing a limb.

She surmised that the victims had been cannibalized, limbs removed systematically to avoid rotting. The butcher obviously wasn’t very good and it seemed, from the state of the bodies, many had died almost immediately. Despite the cool temperature of the basement the smell of decay was almost overwhelming. With the dead and rotting left among the living, Wraith had to wonder if the Gunners weren’t eating the rotten meat as well.

“Deacon… I want you to take these two out…” Wraith’s jaw bulged as she spoke between clenched teeth, her hands claw-like as she flexed them, “take them up and out… I’m going to… Those bastards are going to DIE for this!”

“You should come with me boss, help me carry ‘em.”

“I can still walk, and I’ll help you with Ben!” The survivors clearly liked the idea of Wraith ripping the life from their abusers, and both nodded enthusiastically despite Deacon’s dirty looks.

Wraith set her pack on the ground and pulled on the hood of her armored Marine wetsuit.  Her voice came out as a muffled, menacing growl, “Up and out Deacon.” She disappeared as she turned.

“It’s highly irresponsible, leaving them with just me! Wraith?! God damn it!”

“Don’t worry about her; she’s General Wraith the Undying, right?”

With his back to them, the survivors couldn’t see the effort it took to wipe the panic from his face, “Sure guy, ‘Undying’, right…” Deacon stooped to retrieve her kit and after a brief tutorial on the Stealth Boys, the trio began their exodus.

As they slowly moved through the building, they could hear anguished screams that would end as suddenly as they began. Occasional explosions could be heard as well, shaking the foundation and causing a near constant rainfall of debris. Deacon, naturally assuming the use of grenades and other incendiaries, couldn’t decide if they were being used against or by Wraith. In any case, she wasn’t even bothering to try and be quiet. Whether it was a tactical choice, or she had gone full berserker, he couldn’t be sure.

Once outside, Deacon made sure he headed to the Gae Bulg group, as he really didn’t want to explain to Hancock why Wraith wasn’t with him. As soon as the field medics had the survivors, he went straight to Strong and Cait, tossing Wraith’s pack to the young woman, “Radio-in that some of the hostages are clear but I’m going back in for more. Hey Strong, ‘ol buddy ‘ol pal, you wanna come with?”

“STRONG NOT PUNY HUMAN PAL!”

“Yeah that’s great, but your alpha really wants you inside, so…”

Unexpectedly, the super mutant gave a furtive glance at Cait, “ALPHA WANTS STRONG TO COME SMASH? NO MORE SNEAKY-SNEAKY?”

“Oy, Strong, jus shift yerself.” Cait gave Deacon a hard look, recognizing the pack and doing the mental math, “Seems things have gone tits-up.”

“No! Not at all, just want to make sure…” He was interrupted by a particularly loud explosion.

“What in the goddamn is GOING ON?! Cait, has Wraith reported in back there?” Hancock’s irritated voice crackled from the walkie-talkie on Cait’s saddle.

Motioning for Strong to follow, Deacon literally ran away. Fighting alongside a super mutant, in a building full of explosions, looking for a raging berserker seemed safer.

It didn’t take long to find her: Wraith’s path of blood and body parts reminded Deacon of a macabre Freedom Trail. Strong ran ahead, laughing manically, to join in on the group she was currently engaged with.

Having tossed aside a large Gunner as if he had been a ball, another thinking she’d be off guard, attempted to bowl her over. Grabbing him by his arms she fell backward, hooking her foot into his midsection and flipping him up over her head. Using their shared momentum, she completed her backward roll to straddle her opponent and punched him with enough force his head appeared to pop like a balloon.

Her previously discarded opponent foolishly re-engaged her, charging in with a wicked-looking combat knife. Seeming to fall away from him, she brought her left leg up, her heel connecting with his hand and sending the knife flying. Now standing, she easily caught his right hook and ripped his arm off with an almost imperceptible effort. Swinging the limb back around, she clubbed him upside his head, his neck breaking with an audible crack.

Strong actually clapped for that one.    

Standing back, Deacon couldn’t take his eyes off of her face, which had somehow remained gore free. Somewhere along the way she had either ripped off her hood or it had been lost in a struggle, and the mad light in her green eyes shone with spell-binding intensity. She moved with such terrible, reckless power, it reminded him of the ocean, raging in a storm.

She was terrifying. She was beautiful.

She isn’t yours. You can’t have her. She doesn’t want you, never did. It could never have worked.

Lie. Lie. Lie.

The spell was broken when a section of celling collapsed. Luckily, Strong saw it coming and was able to partially shield her. Deacon ran to her side, holding his hands up to ward her off as she spun on him. “Whoa! It’s okay, it’s Deacon. It’s time to go now boss, I think the building lost!” Her eyes still filled with madness, she stepped around him to continue her search for enemies. When he moved to try and block her path, she lashed out at him. She had never actually attacked him before, not even when Hancock had dragged her frothing and screaming off of the Prydwen. It scared him. Badly. “Wraith! Snap out of it!”

“PUNY HUMAN CAN NOT STOP ALPHA.”

“Clearly…” Following behind her he racked his brain, there had to be something…

Oh… this is a bad idea…

“Pippa…” He swallowed hard when she stopped, “Pippa, you have to stop; you’re going to get killed if you stay in here. The building is starting to collapse.”

Spinning, she practically flew at him while screaming, “GHAAAAA! I HATE, HATE, HATE, THAT NAME!” The floor collapsed under them just as she barreled into him.

  Coming to, Deacon was aware that the weight on top of him wasn’t hard stone, but a warm human body. Wraith’s warm, firm but somehow still soft, body.

Oh no. Oh no. Ohhhhhh nooooooo.

“Deacon, are you awake?”

“No.”

“Ha ha. Are you hurt?”

“Just my pride, ego and head and my back and my left elbow and my lip…”

Don’t freak out. Don’t freak out. She can touch you like this, it’s okay.

“I think your lip is from my forehead. Hey, I’m sorry I can’t get up. We are kinda pinned together here…”

“It’s okay. Everything is okay. I’m okay. Are you oaky?”

Don’t freak out. Do not freak out! Donotfreakoutrightnow…

“Wow, Deacon… you… you’re really close to my face right now…”

“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that. How’s my breath?”

“It’s not bad. Not bad.” Understandingly uncomfortable, she began to try and rearrange her limbs, and ended up with one of her legs sliding between his. Turning her head she tucked it into the nape of his neck.

Nope. Nope. Nopenopenopenopenope…

“Is this okay?” Her breath against his ear made him shudder, “You’re shaking! Oh, I’m so sorry Deacon. I know you don’t like to be touched! Tell me what I can do!”

Kiss me.

“Just, please stop talking, you’re tickling my ear.” She continued to move; sliding her body along his in her attempt to separate them. “Wraith, if you keep wiggling around on top of me there is going to be a very obvious… male response that we both might be embarrassed about later.” He had wrapped his arms around her to stop her movement and was now too self-conscious to let her go.

“I’m sorry!”

Deacon was terrified of the silence that followed.

I can’t be here like this with her! I can’t! Her goddamn wetsuit! I can feel her she’slikeasecondskini’mnotgonna…

“Deacon, you’re breathing really hard and your heart is going a million miles an hour! Don’t tell me you’re claustrophobic too? I’m sure they’ll be able to dig us out…”

Got to get her to talk about something! I can’t trust myself right now…

“It’s awful dark in here boss; why don’t you turn on your light?”

“Um… I don’t seem to have my Pip-Boy anymore. I… I think I threw it… at someone.”

“Why do you hate being called ‘Pippa’ so much?” He could feel her stiffen.

“Why… what…” Figuring that he was trying to ward off panic, Wraith indulged him, “Pimple. The kids at school called me ‘Pimple’.”

“Did you have pimples?” He could feel her shrug.

That’s the stupidest, fucking, stupidassholemoron…

“Of course, everyone did. Everyone does. I have some right now, but when you’re a twelve-year-old…” She relaxed, laying her cheek against his chest.

“Take it back.”

“What do you mean? Take what back?”

This is good. This is good. I’m okay…

“You liked that nickname before the mean kids, right? And call me crazy, but it’s literally been over two hundred years… so…”

“I suppose I am being childish… But, I’ve already warned people away from it and everyone knows me as ‘Wraith’ anyway. Who’s left to call me that? Bear calls me ‘Wolf’; Hancock calls me ‘Sunshine’ or ‘sister’. You and Mac call me ‘boss’…”

“The settlers call you ‘Wraith the Undying’.”

“Ugh, no…”

“I could call you Pippa; see how you like hearing it.”

What the hell are you doing?! You idiot!

She smiled in the dark, nuzzling his chest, “That’s sweet but, no. Pippa died a long time ago and you’re right; two hundred years is a long time to hold onto something so silly, so childish.”

Deacon’s voice was soft, “But it didn’t feel like two hundred years.”

“No, it didn’t.” The emotional weight in her voice was staggering, “It was like a slow blink…” She cleared her throat, “I’m sure the others are digging us out right now. Only a matter of time, right? I hope Strong is okay.”

“You… really like that big green monster, don’t you?” He was grasping at straws now.

She tried to see his face, to see if he was smiling, but the darkness was total, “He’s my big green monster and I love him very much, thank you.” His breathing picked back up when she stopped talking so she elaborated to try and calm him down, “And I don’t know if you’ve noticed but he has started to mellow a little. Super mutants are very social after all, and I don’t think I was able to pay him the attention that he needed. He certainly didn’t want to pal around with random humans. The Hounds give him that feeling of… unity? Kinship? I don’t know. He really loves those dogs though!”

“I think he might have a thing for Cait too.”

“You’re kidding? Oh dish! What did you see?”

“He’s throwing eyes at her like a wild man!”

Wraith chuckled, not sure how much Deacon had exaggerated a simple glance, but she liked the idea that Strong could have a bond with another human. Returning her cheek to his chest she closed her eyes and tried to control her own breathing. Deacon wasn’t the only one who was on the verge of panic. “I’m sorry about going… bonkers.”

“What’s it like?”

Her voice was a low whisper, “You know what it’s like. You might know better than anyone.”

“You’re brain bursts into flame and you can’t hear anything but… feedback. If you’re lucky, you don’t remember what you’ve done…”

“You’re lucky if you don’t hurt the people you care about. Christ, Deacon I’m so sorry. I thought…” She sniffled as the tears started, “that I was doing… getting, better.” She buried her face into his chest, her voice a muffled sob, “Those poor people… I told them I would protect them. I failed them so miserably. I’m such a fucking disaster!”

Deacon’s laughter made her start in alarm. It was rare to hear him truly laugh and he gripped her tightly to him in what might have been their first real hug, “You’re a disaster?! Holy shit, join the fucking club!” He coughed, choking in his mirth, “You have had your moments, that’s for sure, but the rest of us are the ‘Pantheon of Flaming-Disaster’. Think of all the synths and settlers who have survived because of everything you’ve done, everything you’ve sacrificed. If it wasn’t for you, we flaming wrecks of the Commonwealth would have burned ourselves to ash by now. You’re our favorite little super nova. The trick is to make sure we aren’t standing in your way when you blow.”

Wraith sniffled as she tried to believe him, “I could have killed you earlier! In fact, I still might have; who knows if they’ll be able to find us!”

“You keep wiping your snot on me and I’ll happily welcome the sweet embrace of death.”

“Oof, I’m serious! I don’t know why you put up with me. In fact I’m still a little confused on why you are here; this mission had nothing to do with Railroad business.”

“Was that a question? I didn’t hear a question.”

Frustrated by her inability to glare at him she reached a hand up to pat his face, hoping to annoy him, “Why did you volunteer to come with me?”

“YEEEUKY! Keep your bugger hands to yourself!” He tilted his chin in an attempt to ward off her touch, laughing in spite of himself at the sheer ridiculousness of it, “I’m always going to want to help you because… we… we are friends, right?”

And I love you.

“Right.” Filled with new determination she pulled her arms from his, wiped her nose on her sleeve and reached up to touch the debris overhead, “Well, I’m done with my pity party, so let’s get out of here. I’m going to try to crawl over your head, okay?”

“I get a vote?”

She grunted as a response and pulled herself forward over his body. Unable to see and using her arms to both propel herself as well as hold herself up, she couldn’t feel ahead and proceeded to bash her head into low-hanging, immovable stone. She dropped heavily on top of Deacon, her breasts directly in his face. “OW!” She lay there for a second, stunned, before inching her way back toward his feet, once again sliding herself with unintentional provocativeness along Deacon’s length.

“Pippa, you are literally killing me right now…”

“Sorry, sorry! Wait… NO STOP THAT!” To her surprise she was able to scoot herself well past his feet, “I’m going to keep going… oh shoot! I wish I had my pack with me; I’d tie some string to your ankle and pull you along…”

“You had string in your pack? Wait, never mind; that’s a stupid question. I think I can flip over now and follow you anyway. Let’s hope that there’s someplace to go.”

As they pushed themselves along, the only sounds were their clothing scraping along the uneven floor and the occasional grunt of exertion. Deacon hated the near silence. He hated how much he missed her weight on top of him. He hated how badly he wanted to hold her in his arms again. He hated himself for wanting her.

She will never be with you. You don’t deserve her friendship, let alone her love. Besides, she already has two boyfriends…

“Deacon!”

He started guiltily, “AAHHH! What?! Don’t scare me like that!”

“Sorry, it’s just… the floor drops away…” She reached ahead of her toward him, “I want to hold onto your ankles and see if I can touch the next level down.”

“Down? Shouldn’t we be trying to go up?”

“I am trying to go anywhere we can! Gimme yer damn feet!”

Deacon rolled onto his back, letting her hang from him like playground equipment, “I haveta say, this might be one of the weirdest… This actually kinda hurts, can you reach?”

“Can’t… but it doesn’t feel like the floor is that far away…”

“Don’t you dare let g… WRAITH!” Fear surged through him as she released her grip.

It was much further than she thought.

Luckily, the wall tilted at an angle after about 10 feet and so rather than a dead stop, her initial fall ended in a chaotic tumble. She continued to slide and roll for several seconds before free-falling once again, 20 feet this time, into freezing-cold water. Confused and stunned she swam the wrong way and scrapped her face on the gravel at the bottom of the pool. Swinging her feet beneath her, she thrust upward powerfully. Breaching the surface, she blew like a walrus, gasping for air.

Treading water, Wraith spun herself in a circle. She had fallen into a cavern pool beneath the Plaza in which the narrow shore was illuminated by various types of glowing fungus. Backlit by their soft light, Wraith could make out the unmistakable silhouette of mirelurk nests. Lots and lots of mirelurk nests.

A hundred feet above her, Deacon was surprised with himself: with barley a second thought he pushed off the ledge to share in whatever fate Wraith had met.

You really are an idiot.

The sound of dislodged debris hitting the water proved to be sufficient enough warning for her to move out of the way. His tremendous splash when he hit the pool a second later, echoed throughout the cave. Wraith spun herself in another circle, checking for any sign of movement from shore. She was thankful that his rise to the surface was far more quiet than her own was, but was alarmed by the sound of both their teeth chattering. Pointing wordlessly at the ominous egg mounds, she swam as quietly as possible to a narrow, rocky outcropping with Deacon close behind.

As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, Deacon was shocked to see blood flowing freely from Wraith’s nose and brow. Patting himself down he found one of Curie’s special, super stimpaks and tried to pass it to her. She held up her hand and shook her head, thinking to herself that if that was all the medical aid they had, it would be best to wait and see what would happen to them next. She accepted his Gunner bandana however, and wrapped it around her forehead.

They were both freezing. Shaking uncontrollably, Deacon could hardly stand. Walking as softly as possible, he peeked into the nearest mirelurk nest and was relieved to see it empty. Motioning for Wraith to walk in the opposite direction the two made a full circuit to verify they were alone.

Wraith started slapping her arms, “We need a fire ASAP! Please tell me you have your lighter.”

“Llliiighter yesss, sstuff to burn…” He looked around for the standard trash piles that were so common in the Ruins, “Thiss haas got ttto be the tttidiessst hohole-in-the-ground ever!”

They made another circuit, both trying to ignore the fact that there didn’t seem to be an exit. With teeth clacking they made a pile of their meager findings and Deacon set about trying to light it. Wraith watched him fumble for a second before taking over. Her wetsuit had offered her a little more protection than Deacon’s Gunner disguise, and she was able to gain enough stillness to be successful.

“Take off your clothes.”

Deacon’s shaking momentarily stopped from shock, “Excuse me?”

“Your clothes are going to give you hyperthermia regardless of our little teacup trash fire.” So saying she turned her back to him and unzipped her suit.

OH NO! OOOOOOHHHHHHHNONONONONOOOOOO!

“I dddon’t know Pppippa, I’m pretty ssshy...” He knew she was right and would normally be able to keep things in perspective, but after their closeness, he was having a hard time playing indifferent to the prospect of their being naked together, “mighttt pisssssss off those mmmuuummen of yours.” He turned his back to her as she began the process of shedding her wetsuit: there was a lot of wiggling and shimmying going on.

“I’m sorry… nuhhget off… but I’m not going to let a little thing like modesty stand in the way of your survival. I promise I won’t look. Just, put your clothes on those cinder blocks close to the fire and then lay down over here facing it.” She cleared her throat and her voice dropped to a murmur, “We, a-hem, are going to need to share body heat too sooooo…”

“Oh yyyeah, Hhhhancock won’t kikill me for this, I’m suuure.”

“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt you. Now quit stalling!”

As soon as she lay down behind him, as soon as flesh met flesh, he started to hyperventilate. Wraith tried to calm him by stroking his arm, but stopped when he literally yelled at her touch. His anguished cry echoed through the cavern and she felt her heart might break in two.

“Deacon, I’m sorry you’re going to have to go through this. I can’t pretend to understand, but I’ll be damned if you die! I know it’s selfish but I can’t lose you! You are my friend and I love you!” Despite his weak struggling, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him to her chest, “I’m so sorry I told you to leave; who knows what that did to you. And I know that’s not what this is about but…” She trailed off when he started to sob.

“I can’t. I can’t. I can’t…”

Deacon’s shivering soon stopped and his breathing evened out. Wraith resisted the urge to nuzzle him deciding that it would be inappropriately intimate.

“Boss, we are going to have to get back in the water.” His voice was unnaturally calm, “Have to figure that the mirelurks came in and out that way.”

“Yeah, you’re right. As soon as your clothes are dry, I’ll put my wetsuit back on and see if I can figure out where the exit is. Really missing my Pip-Boy right about now…”

“How long can you hold your breath? On top of the radiation we’ve both been exposed to, we might end up becoming mer-ghouls.”

Wraith was relieved by his attempt at humor, “I can hold my breath for a very long time if I have a second to prepare. As far as the radiation goes… we should just concentrate on getting out of here first and trim the fins off later.” She had a feeling he was aware of her ghoulish nature but didn’t want to have more heart-to-heart time with him while so literally and figuratively exposed.

Finally warm, Deacon wasn’t surprised when Wraith drifted off to sleep; she would have had to be exhausted. Rather than taking the opportunity to escape her clutches he tortured himself by enjoying the feel of her. Her breasts were pressed into his back and her hips and legs were tight against his own as they spooned: it was wonderful and horrible.

You don’t deserve to feel good right now. Why does this feel so good? Why do you get to feel her like this? You shouldn’t be touched. You can’t be. You can’t.

Time passes slowly in the dark, when you are alone with self-deprecation. Deacon’s mind would’ve had him flinging himself back into the water to drown but for the thought that Wraith, who had lost so many, might blame herself and be sad.

The fire soon burned itself out and Wraith woke up soon after. “Oh, I’m sorry I dozed off there. Why don’t you check your cloths, I’m going to get dressed over here…”

“It doesn’t matter if they’re dry, boss; we are out of time.”

“Well at least they’ll be warm…”

After a brief wrestling match with her damp wetsuit, she walked to the water’s edge and almost jumped in but stopped when Deacon called out to her.

“Hey wait, what’s the plan here? You’re not going to last long in that water; not at that temperature. We don’t have any more fire-food, so… strategy?”

“Deacon, almost every one of all my, ‘best-laid plans’ goes to shit. So, yeah, I’m going to swim around in freezing cold water, looking for a dark hole. Then I’m going to come back for you. Then you are going to jump back into the same freezing water that you just recovered from and we are going to try to swim down a dark tunnel for who knows how long, until we reach air, all the while absorbing an unknown dose of radiation. Sound right?”

“Always good to have a plan!” He gave her the finger-gun salute and a huge, fake smile.

“Oh, I just noticed your sunglasses are gone. I’ll get you a new pair… when were safe.”

“Oh, so like, never?”

The water hit her like a thousand needles. Gasping, she swam vigorously, doing laps back and forth across the narrow pool in the hope that she could somehow get used to the temperature. It was all rather fruitless. She returned to the ledge, took several deep slow breaths and disappeared below the surface.

Deacon paced.

Wraith had never been lucky so she knew her first dive wouldn’t yield results. However, it’s hard not to hope when your life is on the line. After a few moments she returned to the surface, took several more deep breaths and tried again.

Deacon paced.

She was under for much longer this time, and Deacon debated jumping in after her. She finally surface and with her teeth clacking together, she sounded remarkably like a mirelurk, “Fffound it! Lllulllett me bbbreath…”

Although Wraith was against it, Deacon insisted they tie themselves together somehow. In the end she relented and he used his bootlaces and old discarded fishing line to create a makeshift rope. She hauled herself out of the water and concentrated on breathing as he tied it around her waist. To her surprise he embraced her, holding her to him so tightly it was painful.

“You are not allowed to die. You do not have my permission.” He pushed her back from him and stared intently into her eyes.

“Gee, I ttthought I was the bbboss around hhhere.” She smiled and clunked foreheads with him, forgetting her injury, “Ow.”

“No mer-ghoul is my boss, no way.”

Tell her. Tell her right now that you love her. Tell her!

But he didn’t.

And then he was in hell.

Dark. Pain. Cold, so fucking cold! Can’t breathe! It burns! Going to die! Going…

After 2 minutes, Wraith felt the line grow taunt and she knew Deacon had lost consciousness and that she was pulling him along. She swam on and on, her lungs burning for want of air. Her brain numb from fear and cold, she sustained only the thought of saving him. Nothing else mattered.

Air, what’s air? Warmth, ha!

20 minutes: that was the longest Wraith had been able to hold her breath. She had done it to impress Hancock.

Hancock.

Mac.

Shaun.

Everyone.

She screamed her defiance inside her head and surged forward with new determination… right out into the light of day. The rays of the sun cut through the water and she swam upward to meet them.

Choking, she managed to haul Deacon’s lifeless body up onto shore. She started CPR immediately while having flashbacks to the courser incident. “I saved you then and I’ll save you now!” Plunging the stimpak into his chest, she hopped the slightly longer needle would reach his heart. She thumped his chest trying to jar him back to life but in her haste she was too forceful and she felt some of his ribs break.

He sat straight up like a jack-in-the-box and threw-up all over her.

 As it happened they had surfaced just downstream from Somerville Place. The settlers there were able to help them and radioed the Minutemen that their general was alive and safe. Wraith assured the settlers that the Gunners Plaza had been raised to the ground and that their friends had been avenged. She was embarrassed by their grim but thankful pledges of reaffirmed loyalty.

  MacCready and Hancock were snoring. Loudly. Rather than being irritated, Wraith smiled happily up at the ceiling. Back in their bedroom in Sanctuary, the three had fallen asleep in a naked pile after some good ‘ol fashioned I-almost-just-died-again lovemaking.

Hancock’s snoring stopped as he was so in tune with Wraith’s breathing that he woke up soon after she did. Wraith giggled when she looked over at him: MacCready’s left hand was almost completely covering the ghoul’s face. He narrowed is eyes briefly in annoyance then sighed as he gently reached up to remove MacCready’s palm from his forehead.

“Boy, he has you wrapped, huh?” Her voice was a low whisper.

“Heh. Yeah, almost from the start.”

“Something that I’ve been wondering; you had mentioned before that Mac takes up the whole bed…”

Hancock pulled himself out from under the other man, gently disentangling himself from limbs and blankets to edge closer to Wraith. He kissed her deeply then leaned back and propped himself up on an elbow, “I knew him for a little bit before you came into the picture. He’d… get drunk and end up in my bed. Never went anywhere, never minded much. It was nice to wake up next to someone that I actually gave a damn about, you feel me?”

Looking into his great, dark eyes she smiled as she cupped his cheek, “Yes I do.” She trailed her hand down to his chest, enjoying the feel of his warm, textured skin.

Hancock thoroughly enjoyed when she touched him like this: almost as if she was petting him. He made a deep appreciative growl, low in his chest, looking at her through half-lidded eyes. He opened them when she stopped and was surprised to see a look of intense pain on her face. It passed almost as soon as he saw it and she pulled her hand away, making it into a fist and staring at it. “Something weighing on ya?”

“Deacon,” She chuckled at his scowl, “I broke his ribs, felt them buckle under my fist.” She dropped her hand to the bed, “I almost killed him, again.”

“Again?” Hancock took her hand in his and brought it to his lips and gently kissed her knuckles, “Seems to me you saved him, again.”

“Yes but, who put him in mortal danger in the first place?”

“Deacon. Deacon put Deacon exactly where Deacon wanted to be.” He gently opened her fist to kiss her palm and fingers, “Besides, Curie’s tender ministrations will set him to rights, and he’ll be running around, flapping his yap, in no time at all.”

“He left already!” Feeling aroused, Wraith’s tone was somewhat harsh, “You know it’s really hard to focus with you doing… that.”

“Course, ‘swhy I’m doing it.” Sighing when she pulled her hand away, Hancock’s tone was conciliatory, “You know he just went back to Goodneighbor. He has Amari and that asshole Carrington if he still needs treatin’.”

“He doesn’t have anyone. He’s… alone too much.”

“Once again, Deacon is right where he wants to be.” He moved closer still, arching himself over her and trailing kisses from her forehead down her nose to her mouth. He growled lasciviously when she gave in, opening her mouth to his and then nipping his lip.

“Fuck you, YOU BUBBLY FISH!”

Both Hancock and Wraith’s eyes flashed open at MacCready’s shout. Leaning away from her, Hancock open-palm slapped MacCready’s bare butt, “Way to ruin the fucking moment, ass!”

“What the frick, man?!” Rubbing his reddened rear, MacCready blinked owlishly, “What did I do?!”

“Th’ fuck you deamin’ about, ‘bubbly fish’?”

MacCready’s eyes narrowed at Wraith, “What the heck is he even saying? What chems are you guys on right now?!”

Laughing helplessly, Wraith could barely speak, “I love you guys, so, so much.”

The two men shared a significant look then turned to Wraith, huge smiles on both their faces.

“What? What’s up?”

“That was the first time you said it. The first time you said you loved us.”

“No? Really?” She blushed, “I’m sorry! That’s kinda sad.” She sat up on her knees and looked into MacCready’s cerulean eyes, “I love you Robert Joseph MacCready.” She kissed him passionately while running her left hand up his thigh. She turned to Hancock, reaching to cup his cheek with her right hand, “I love you John Hancock.” The kiss they shared left them both breathless, and Wraith decided additional physical evidence of her love was needed.

Much later, Hancock lay on his back with Wraith and MacCready each tucked under an arm and sharing his chest for a pillow. The ghoul chuckled as MacCready was already snoring.

Wraith reached over to gently caress the young man’s face, “I love you guys.”

“Love you too, Sunshine.”

Thank you so much for reading! Like what you read? Looking for more? Please have a look-see in my bio for the  Wraith in the Ruins master-link. Normally i’d make it easy for ya’ll with a link right here... stuff is kinda weird on tumblr right now... If you do find yourself face to face with the master-link, please consider reblogging it, I could really use the signal boost. =^..^=

[boarix]

Wraith in the Ruins: A Fallout 4 Story Part X

Kinship

Trigger Warnings: Canon violence/language/gun, drug & alcohol use. Suicidal thoughts. Threat of drowning. Suggestive/mature content.

Bloody Mess warning!

Please enjoy!

 The Gunners had made their final, ultimate mistakes. Reports, over Radio Freedom, came in announcing the abduction of settlers from Somerville Place and the members of the provisioner caravan from the Murkwater/Jamaica Plain route. Wraith was deeply concerned when she was informed that there, oddly enough, were no demands for ransom. Four Minutemen had lost their lives during the simultaneous attacks.

Wraith was done.

With the threat of snow looming, she organized a full assault/rescue mission and mustered her troops. In addition to the standard Minutemen soldiers there were 3 full units of the 1st Commonwealth Heavy Dragoons as well as the Gae Bulg Hounds. Not wanting to risk attacks on the rest of her settlements, Wraith had accepted offers from both Piper and Hancock to borrow security from their respective cities. Provisioner caravans were temporarily halted as well.

“If you release your captives now and surrender peacefully, I will personally grantee your safety…” Resplendent in the Minutemen General’s uniform, a figure stood on a raised platform while speaking into a microphone.  Flanked by Danse and two other Dragoons, with Hancock on the right and MacCready on the left, the person in the uniform was actually Curie. Although not as tall, there was enough of a resemblance to fool most people at a distance. As such, Curie had agreed to masquerade as Wraith and pantomime a prerecorded message of mercy.

Preston had been less than excited about being told to remain at the Castle. He had given her a lecture, reminiscent of Deacon’s, about a general fighting on the front line. Wraith had been adamant however, saying this was something she must do herself. Not wanting to potentially lose the two highest ranking Minutemen officers, he was left to literally man the fort.

 Wraith and Deacon moved through the plaza’s corridors like liquid shadow. Their intent was to locate and secure all hostages, after which, Wraith had ordered the systematic removal of all remaining combatants by “ANY means necessary.” Deacon led the way, having infiltrated the facility before. They had several Stealth Boys between them and were hoping to extract the settlers without any confrontations.

Wraith had low expectations of any organized response from the Gunners. Captain Wes was long dead, having been killed by raider tribal leaders attempting to gain the top position in the hierarchy. The distraction outside was clearly working and she had to wonder if she and Deacon couldn’t simply stroll down the hallways like they belonged there. She wasn’t going to try it though.

Her stomach in knots over the condition of her people, Wraith was having trouble not killing Gunner-raiders as the duo passed them. Chanting a calming mantra over and over in her head, she merged from one shadow to the next.

Once on the basement level, Deacon indicated a door and Wraith picked the lock with practiced ease. Her stomach sank as soon as she opened it however, when the sickly sweet smell of death hit her nose.

Only 2 people of the 15 reported missing were still alive and each was missing a limb.

She surmised that the victims had been cannibalized, limbs removed systematically to avoid rotting. The butcher obviously wasn’t very good and it seemed, from the state of the bodies, many had died almost immediately. Despite the cool temperature of the basement the smell of decay was almost overwhelming. With the dead and rotting left among the living, Wraith had to wonder if the Gunners weren’t eating the rotten meat as well.

“Deacon… I want you to take these two out…” Wraith’s jaw bulged as she spoke between clenched teeth, her hands claw-like as she flexed them, “take them up and out… I’m going to… Those bastards are going to DIE for this!”

“You should come with me boss, help me carry ‘em.”

“I can still walk and I’ll help you with Ben!” The survivors clearly liked the idea of Wraith ripping the life from their abusers and both nodded enthusiastically despite Deacon’s dirty looks.

Wraith set her pack on the ground and pulled on the hood of her armored Marine wetsuit.  Her voice came out as a muffled, menacing growl, “Up and out Deacon.” She disappeared as she turned.

“It’s highly irresponsible, leaving them with just me! Wraith?! God damn it!”

“Don’t worry about her; she’s General Wraith the Undying, right?”

With his back to them, the survivors couldn’t see the effort it took to wipe the panic from his face, “Sure guy, ‘Undying’, right…” Deacon stooped to retrieve her kit and after a brief tutorial on the Stealth Boys, the trio began their exodus.

As they slowly moved through the building, they could hear anguished screams that would end as suddenly as they began. Occasional explosions could be heard as well, shaking the foundation and causing a near constant rainfall of debris. Deacon, naturally assuming the use of grenades and other incendiaries, couldn’t decide if they were being used against or by Wraith. In any case, she wasn’t even bothering to try and be quiet. Whether it was a tactical choice, or she had gone full berserker, he couldn’t be sure.

Once outside, Deacon made sure he headed to the Gae Bulg group, as he really didn’t want to explain to Hancock why Wraith wasn’t with him. As soon as the field medics had the survivors, he went straight to Strong and Cait, tossing Wraith’s pack to the young woman, “Radio-in that some of the hostages are clear but I’m going back in for more. Hey Strong, ‘ol buddy ‘ol pal, you wanna come with?”

“STRONG NOT PUNY HUMAN PAL!”

“Yeah, that’s great but your alpha really wants you inside, so…”

Unexpectedly, the super mutant gave a furtive glance at Cait, “ALPHA WANTS STRONG TO COME SMASH? NO MORE SNEAKY-SNEAKY?”

“Oy, Strong, jus shift yerself.” Cait gave Deacon a hard look, recognizing the pack and doing the mental math, “Seems things have gone tits-up.”

“No! Not at all, just want to make sure…” He was interrupted by a particularly loud explosion.

“What in the goddamn is GOING ON?! Cait, has Wraith reported in back there?” Hancock’s irritated voice crackled from the walkie-talkie on Cait’s saddle.

Motioning for Strong to follow, Deacon literally ran away. Fighting alongside a super mutant, in a building full of explosions, while looking for a raging berserker, seemed safer.

It didn’t take long to find her: Wraith’s path of blood and body parts reminded Deacon of a macabre Freedom Trail. Strong ran ahead, laughing manically, to join in on the group she was currently engaged with.

Having tossed aside a large Gunner as if he had been a ball, another thinking she’d be off guard, attempted to bowl her over. Grabbing him by his arms she fell backward, hooking her foot into his midsection and flipping him up over her head. Using their shared momentum, she completed her backward roll to straddle her opponent and punched him with enough force his head appeared to pop like a balloon.

Her previously discarded opponent foolishly re-engaged her, charging in with a wicked-looking combat knife. Seeming to fall away from him, she brought her left leg up, her heel connecting with his hand and sending the knife flying. Now standing, she easily caught his right hook and ripped his arm off with an almost imperceptible effort. Swinging the limb back around, she clubbed him upside his head, his neck breaking with an audible crack.

Strong actually clapped for that one.    

Standing back, Deacon couldn’t take his eyes off of her face, which had somehow remained gore free. Somewhere along the way she had either ripped off her hood or it had been lost in a struggle and the mad light in her green eyes shone with spell-binding intensity. She moved with such terrible, reckless power, it reminded him of the ocean, raging in a storm.

She was terrifying. She was beautiful.

She isn’t yours. You can’t have her. She doesn’t want you, never did. It could never have worked.

Lie. Lie. Lie.

The spell was broken when a section of celling collapsed. Luckily, Strong saw it coming and was able to partially shield her.

Deacon ran to her side, holding his hands up to ward her off as she spun on him. “Whoa! It’s okay, it’s Deacon. It’s time to go now boss, I think the building lost!” Her eyes still filled with madness, she stepped around him to continue her search for enemies. When he moved to try and block her path, she lashed out at him. It scared him. Badly. “Wraith! Snap out of it!”

“PUNY HUMAN CAN NOT STOP ALPHA.”

“Clearly…” Following behind her he racked his brain, there had to be something…

Oh… this is a bad idea…

“Pippa…” He swallowed hard when she stopped, “Pippa, you have to stop. You’re going to get killed if you stay in here. The building is coming down!”

Spinning, she practically flew at him while screaming, “GHAAAAA! I HATE, HATE, HATE, THAT NAME!” The floor collapsed under them just as she barreled into him.

  Coming to, Deacon was aware that the weight on top of him wasn’t hard stone but a warm human body. Wraith’s warm, firm but somehow still soft, body.

Oh no. Oh no. Ohhhhhh nooooooo.

“Deacon, are you awake?”

“No.”

“Ha ha. Are you hurt?”

“Just my pride, ego and head and my back and my left elbow and my lip…”

Don’t freak out. Don’t freak out. She can touch you like this, it’s okay.

“I think your lip is from my forehead. Hey, I’m sorry I can’t get up. We are kinda pinned together here…”

“It’s okay. Everything is okay. I’m okay. Are you oaky?”

Don’t freak out. Do not freak out! Donotfreakoutrightnow…

“Wow, Deacon… you… you’re really close to my face right now…”

“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that. How’s my breath?”

“It’s not bad. Not bad.” Understandingly uncomfortable, she began to try and rearrange her limbs, and ended up with one of her legs sliding between his. Turning her head she tucked it into the nape of his neck.

Nope. Nope. Nopenopenopenopenope…

“Is this okay?” Her breath against his ear made him shudder, “You’re shaking! Oh, I’m so sorry Deacon. I know you don’t like to be touched! Tell me what I can do!”

Kiss me.

“Just, please stop talking, you’re tickling my ear.” She continued to move; sliding her body along his in her attempt to separate them. “Wraith, if you keep wiggling around on top of me there is going to be a very obvious… male response that we both might be embarrassed about later.” He had wrapped his arms around her to stop her movement and was now too self-conscious to let her go.

“I’m sorry!”

Deacon was terrified of the silence that followed.

I can’t be here like this with her! I can’t! Her goddamn wetsuit! I can feel her she’slikeasecondskini’mnotgonna…

“Deacon, you’re breathing really hard and your heart is going a million miles an hour! Don’t tell me you’re claustrophobic too? I’m sure they’ll be able to dig us out…”

Got to get her to talk about something! I can’t trust myself right now…

“It’s awful dark in here boss; why don’t you turn on your light?”

“Um… I don’t seem to have my Pip-Boy anymore. I… I think I threw it… at someone.”

“Why do you hate being called ‘Pippa’ so much?” He could feel her stiffen.

“Why… what…” Figuring that he was trying to ward off panic, Wraith indulged him, “Pimple. The kids at school called me ‘Pimple’.”

“Did you have pimples?” He could feel her shrug.

That’s the stupidest, fucking, stupidassholemoron…

“Of course, everyone did. Everyone does. I have some right now but when you’re a twelve-year-old…” She relaxed, laying her cheek against his chest.

“Take it back.”

“What do you mean? Take what back?”

This is good. This is good. I’m okay…

“You liked that nickname before the mean kids, right? And call me crazy, but it’s literally been over two hundred years… so…”

“I suppose I am being childish… But, I’ve already warned people away from it and everyone knows me as ‘Wraith’ anyway. Who’s left to call me that? Bear calls me ‘Wolf’; Hancock calls me ‘sunshine’ or ‘sister’. You and Mac call me ‘boss’…”

“The settlers call you ‘Wraith the Undying’.”

“Ugh, no…”

“I could call you Pippa and you could see how you like hearing it.”

What the hell are you doing?! You idiot!

She smiled in the dark, nuzzling his chest, “That’s sweet but, no. Pippa died a long time ago and you’re right; two hundred years is a long time to hold onto something so silly, so childish.”

Deacon’s voice was soft, “But it didn’t feel like two hundred years.”

“No, it didn’t.” The emotional weight in her voice was staggering, “It was like a slow blink…” She cleared her throat, “I’m sure the others are digging us out right now. Only a matter of time, right? I hope Strong is okay.”

“You… really like that big green monster, don’t you?” He was grasping at straws now.

She tried to see his face, to see if he was smiling, but the darkness was total, “He’s my big green monster and I love him very much, thank you.” His breathing picked back up when she stopped talking so she elaborated to try and calm him down, “And I don’t know if you’ve noticed but he has started to mellow a little. Super mutants are very social after all and I don’t think I was able to pay him the attention that he needed. He certainly didn’t want to pal around with random humans. The Hounds give him that feeling of… unity? Kinship? I don’t know. He really loves those dogs though!”

“I think he might have a thing for Cait too.”

“You’re kidding? Oh dish! What did you see?”

“He’s throwing eyes at her like a wild man!”

Wraith chuckled, not sure how much Deacon had exaggerated a simple glance but she liked the idea that Strong could have a bond with another human. Returning her cheek to his chest she closed her eyes and tried to control her own breathing. Deacon wasn’t the only one who was on the verge of panic. “I’m sorry about going… bonkers.”

“What’s it like?”

Her voice was a low whisper, “You know what it’s like. You might know better than anyone.”

“You’re brain bursts into flame and you can’t hear anything but… feedback. If you’re lucky, you don’t remember what you’ve done…”

“You’re lucky if you don’t hurt the people you care about. Christ, Deacon I’m so sorry. I thought…” She sniffled as the tears started, “that I was doing… getting, better.” She buried her face into his chest, her voice a muffled sob, “Those poor people… I told them I would protect them. I failed them so miserably. I’m such a fucking disaster!”

Deacon’s laughter made her start in alarm. It was rare to hear him truly laugh and he gripped her tightly to him in what might have been their first real hug, “You’re a disaster?! Holy shit, join the fucking club!” He coughed, choking in his mirth, “You have had your moments, that’s for sure but the rest of us are the ‘Pantheon of Flaming-Disaster’. Think of all the synths and settlers who have survived because of everything you’ve done, everything you’ve sacrificed. If it wasn’t for you, we flaming wrecks of the Commonwealth would have burned ourselves to ash by now. You’re our favorite little super nova. The trick is to make sure we aren’t standing in your way when you blow.”

Wraith sniffled as she tried to believe him, “I could have killed you earlier! In fact, I still might have; who knows if they’ll be able to find us!”

“You keep wiping your snot on me and I’ll happily welcome the sweet embrace of death.”

“Oof, I’m serious! I don’t know why you put up with me. In fact, I’m still a little confused on why you are here. This mission had nothing to do with Railroad business.”

“Was that a question? I didn’t hear a question.”

Frustrated by her inability to glare at him she reached a hand up to pat his face, hoping to annoy him, “Why did you volunteer to come with me?”

“YEEEUKY! Keep your bugger hands to yourself!” He tilted his chin in an attempt to ward off her touch, laughing in spite of himself at the sheer ridiculousness of it, “I’m always going to want to help you because… we… we are friends, right?”

And I love you.

“Right.” Filled with new determination she pulled her arms from his, wiped her nose on her sleeve and reached up to touch the debris overhead, “Well, I’m done with my pity party, so let’s get out of here. I’m going to try to crawl over your head, okay?”

“I get a vote?”

She grunted as a response and pulled herself forward over his body. Unable to see and using her arms to both propel herself forward as well as hold herself up, she couldn’t feel ahead and proceeded to bash her head into low-hanging, immovable stone. She dropped heavily on top of Deacon, her breasts directly in his face. “OW!” She lay there for a second, stunned, before inching her way back toward his feet, once again sliding herself with unintentional provocativeness along Deacon’s length.

“Pippa, you are literally killing me right now…”

“Sorry, sorry! Wait… NO! STOP THAT!” To her surprise she was able to scoot herself well past his feet, “I’m going to keep going… oh shoot! I wish I had my pack with me. I’d tie some string to your ankle and pull you along…”

“You had string in your pack? Wait, never mind, that’s a stupid question. I think I can flip over now and follow you anyway. Let’s hope that there’s someplace to go.”

As they pushed themselves along, the only sounds were their clothing scraping along the uneven floor and the occasional grunt of exertion. Deacon hated the near silence. He hated how much he missed her weight on top of him. He hated how badly he wanted to hold her in his arms again. He hated himself for wanting her.

She will never be with you. You don’t deserve her friendship, let alone her love. Besides, she already has two boyfriends…

“Deacon!”

He started guiltily, “AAHHH! What?! Don’t scare me like that!”

“Sorry, it’s just… the floor drops away…” She reached ahead of her toward him, “I want to hold onto your ankles and see if I can touch the next level down.”

“Down? Shouldn’t we be trying to go up?”

“I am trying to go anywhere we can! Gimme yer damn feet!”

Deacon rolled onto his back, letting her hang from him like playground equipment, “I haveta say, this might be one of the weirdest… This actually kinda hurts. Can you reach?”

“Can’t… but it doesn’t feel like the floor is that far away…”

“Don’t you dare let g… WRAITH!” Fear surged through him as she released her grip.

It was much further than she thought.

Luckily, the wall tilted at an angle after about 10 feet and so rather than a dead stop, her initial fall ended in a chaotic tumble. She continued to slide and roll for several seconds before free-falling once again, 20 feet this time, into freezing-cold water. Confused and stunned she swam the wrong way and scrapped her face on the gravel at the bottom of the pool. Swinging her feet beneath her, she thrust upward powerfully. Breaching the surface, she blew like a walrus, gasping for air.

Treading water, Wraith spun herself in a circle. She had fallen into a cavern pool beneath the Plaza in which the narrow shore was illuminated by various types of glowing fungus. Backlit by their soft light, Wraith could make out the unmistakable silhouette of mirelurk nests. Lots and lots of mirelurk nests.

A hundred feet above her, Deacon was surprised with himself: with barley a second thought he pushed off the ledge to share in whatever fate Wraith had met.

You really are an idiot.

The sound of dislodged debris hitting the water proved to be sufficient enough warning for her to move out of the way. His tremendous splash when he hit the pool a second later, echoed throughout the cave. Wraith spun herself in another circle, checking for any sign of movement from shore. She was thankful that his rise to the surface was far more quiet than her own was, but was alarmed by the sound of both their teeth chattering. Pointing wordlessly at the ominous egg mounds, she swam as quietly as possible to a narrow, rocky outcropping with Deacon close behind.

As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, Deacon was shocked to see blood flowing freely from Wraith’s nose and brow. Patting himself down he found one of Curie’s special, super stimpaks and tried to pass it to her. She held up her hand and shook her head, thinking to herself that if that was all the medical aid they had, it would be best to wait and see what would happen to them next. She accepted his Gunner bandana however, and wrapped it around her forehead.

They were both freezing. Shaking uncontrollably, Deacon could hardly stand. Walking as softly as possible, he peeked into the nearest mirelurk nest and was relieved to see it empty. Motioning for Wraith to walk in the opposite direction the two made a full circuit to verify they were alone.

Wraith started slapping her arms, “We need a fire ASAP! Please tell me you have your lighter.”

“Llliiighter yesss, sstuff to burn…” He looked around for the standard trash piles that were so common in the Ruins, “Thiss haas got ttto be the tttidiessst hohole-in-the-ground ever!”

They made another circuit, both trying to ignore the fact that there didn’t seem to be an exit. With teeth clacking they made a pile of their meager findings and Deacon set about trying to light it. Wraith watched him fumble for a second before taking over. Her wetsuit had offered her a little more protection than Deacon’s Gunner disguise, and she was able to gain enough stillness to be successful.

“Take off your clothes.”

Deacon’s shaking momentarily stopped from shock, “Excuse me?”

“Your clothes are going to give you hyperthermia regardless of our little teacup trash fire.” So saying she turned her back to him and unzipped her suit.

OH NO! OOOOOOHHHHHHHNONONONONOOOOOO!

“I dddon’t know Pppippa, I’m pretty ssshy...” He knew she was right and would normally be able to keep things in perspective, but after their closeness, he was having a hard time playing indifferent to the prospect of their being naked together, “mighttt pisssssss off those mmmuuummen of yours.” He turned his back to her as she began the process of shedding her wetsuit: there was a lot of wiggling and shimmying going on.

“I’m sorry… nuhhget off… but I’m not going to let a little thing like modesty stand in the way of your survival. I promise I won’t look. Just, put your clothes on those cinder blocks close to the fire and then lay down over here facing it.” She cleared her throat and her voice dropped to a murmur, “We, a-hem, are going to need to share body heat too sooooo…”

“Oh yyyeah, Hhhhancock won’t kikill me for this, I’m suuure.”

“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt you. Now quit stalling!”

As soon as she lay down behind him, as soon as flesh met flesh, he started to hyperventilate. Wraith tried to calm him by stroking his arm, but stopped when he literally yelled at her touch. His anguished cry echoed through the cavern and she felt her heart might break in two.

“Deacon, I’m sorry you’re going to have to go through this. I can’t pretend to understand, but I’ll be damned if you die! I know it’s selfish but I can’t lose you! You are my friend and I love you!” Despite his weak struggling, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him to her chest, “I’m so sorry I told you to leave; who knows what that did to you. And I know that’s not what this is about but…” She trailed off when he started to sob.

“I can’t. I can’t. I can’t…”

Deacon’s shivering soon stopped and his breathing evened out. Wraith resisted the urge to nuzzle him deciding that it would be inappropriately intimate.

“Boss, we are going to have to get back in the water.” His voice was unnaturally calm, “Have to figure that the mirelurks came in and out that way.”

“Yeah, you’re right. As soon as your clothes are dry, I’ll put my wetsuit back on and see if I can figure out where the exit is. Really missing my Pip-Boy right about now…”

“How long can you hold your breath? On top of the radiation we’ve both been exposed to, we might end up becoming mer-ghouls.”

Wraith was relieved by his attempt at humor, “I can hold my breath for a very long time if I have a second to prepare. As far as the radiation goes… we should just concentrate on getting out of here first and trim the fins off later.” She had a feeling he was aware of her ghoulish nature but didn’t want to have more heart-to-heart time with him while so literally and figuratively exposed.

Finally warm, Deacon wasn’t surprised when Wraith drifted off to sleep; she would have had to be exhausted. Rather than taking the opportunity to escape her clutches he tortured himself by enjoying the feel of her. Her breasts were pressed into his back and her hips and legs were tight against his own as they spooned. It was wonderful and horrible.

You don’t deserve to feel good right now. Why does this feel so good? Why do you get to feel her like this? You shouldn’t be touched. You can’t be. You can’t.

Time passes slowly in the dark, when you are alone with self-deprecation. Deacon’s mind would’ve had him flinging himself back into the water to drown but for the thought that Wraith, who had lost so many, might blame herself and be sad.

The fire soon burned itself out and Wraith woke up soon after. “Oh, I’m sorry I dozed off there. Why don’t you check your cloths, I’m going to get dressed over here…”

“It doesn’t matter if they’re dry, boss. We are out of time.”

“Well at least they’ll be warm…”

After a brief wrestling match with her damp wetsuit, she walked to the water’s edge and almost jumped in but stopped when Deacon called out to her.

“Hey wait, what’s the plan here? You’re not going to last long in that water; not at that temperature. We don’t have any more fire-food, so… strategy?”

“Deacon, almost every one of all my, ‘best-laid plans’ goes to shit. So, yeah, I’m going to swim around in freezing cold water, looking for a dark hole. Then I’m going to come back for you. Then you are going to jump back into the same freezing water that you just recovered from and we are going to try to swim down a dark tunnel for who knows how long, until we reach air, all the while absorbing an unknown dose of radiation. Sound right?”

“Always good to have a plan!” He gave her the finger-gun salute and a huge, fake smile.

“Oh, I just noticed your sunglasses are gone. I’ll get you a new pair… when were safe.”

“Oh, so like, never?”

The water hit her like a thousand needles. Gasping, she swam vigorously, doing laps back and forth across the narrow pool in the hope that she could somehow get used to the temperature. It was all rather fruitless. She returned to the ledge, took several deep slow breaths and disappeared below the surface.

Deacon paced.

Wraith had never been lucky so she knew her first dive wouldn’t yield results. However, it’s hard not to hope when your life is on the line. After a few moments she returned to the surface, took several more deep breaths and tried again.

Deacon paced.

She was under for much longer this time, and Deacon debated jumping in after her. She finally surface and with her teeth clacking together, she sounded remarkably like a mirelurk, “Fffound it! Lllulllett me bbbreath…”

Although Wraith was against it, Deacon insisted they tie themselves together somehow. In the end she relented and he used his bootlaces and old discarded fishing line to create a makeshift rope. She hauled herself out of the water and concentrated on breathing as he tied it around her waist. To her surprise he embraced her, holding her to him so tightly it was painful.

“You are not allowed to die. You do not have my permission.” He pushed her back from him and stared intently into her eyes.

“Gee, I ttthought I was the bbboss around hhhere.” She smiled and clunked foreheads with him, forgetting her injury, “Ow.”

“No mer-ghoul is my boss, no way.”

Tell her. Tell her right now that you love her. Tell her!

But he didn’t.

And then he was in hell.

Dark. Pain. Cold, so fucking cold! Can’t breathe! It burns! Going to die! Going…

After 2 minutes, Wraith felt the line grow taunt and she knew Deacon had lost consciousness and that she was pulling him along. She swam on and on, her lungs burning for want of air. Her brain numb from fear and cold, she sustained only the thought of saving him. Nothing else mattered.

Air, what’s air? Warmth, ha!

20 minutes: that was the longest Wraith had been able to hold her breath. She had done it to impress Hancock.

Hancock.

Mac.

Shaun.

Everyone.

She screamed her defiance inside her head and surged forward with new determination… right out into the light of day. The rays of the sun cut through the water and she swam upward to meet them.

Choking, she managed to haul Deacon’s lifeless body up onto shore. She started CPR immediately while having flashbacks to the courser incident. “I saved you then and I’ll save you now!” Plunging the stimpak into his chest, she hopped the slightly longer needle would reach his heart. She thumped his chest trying to jar him back to life but in her haste she was too forceful and she felt some of his ribs break.

He sat straight up like a jack-in-the-box and threw-up all over her.

 As it happened they had surfaced just downstream from Somerville Place. The settlers there were able to help them and radioed the Minutemen that their general was alive and safe. Wraith assured the settlers that the Gunners Plaza had been raised to the ground and that their friends had been avenged. She was embarrassed by their grim but thankful pledges of reaffirmed loyalty.

  MacCready and Hancock were snoring. Loudly. Rather than being irritated, Wraith smiled happily up at the ceiling. Back in their bedroom in Sanctuary, the three had fallen asleep in a naked pile after some good ‘ol fashioned I-almost-just-died-again lovemaking.

Hancock’s snoring stopped as he was so in tune with Wraith’s breathing that he woke up soon after she did. Wraith giggled when she looked over at him: MacCready’s left hand was almost completely covering the ghoul’s face. He narrowed is eyes briefly in annoyance then sighed as he gently reached up to remove MacCready’s palm from his forehead.

“Boy, he has you wrapped, huh?” Her voice was a low whisper.

“Heh. Yeah, almost from the start.”

“Something that I’ve been wondering; you had mentioned before that Mac takes up the whole bed…”

Hancock pulled himself out from under the other man, gently disentangling himself from limbs and blankets to edge closer to Wraith. He kissed her deeply then leaned back and propped himself up on an elbow, “I knew him for a little bit before you came into the picture. He’d… get drunk and end up in my bed. Never went anywhere, never minded much. It was nice to wake up next to someone that I actually gave a damn about, you feel me?”

Looking into his great, dark eyes she smiled as she cupped his cheek, “Yes I do.” She trailed her hand down to his chest, enjoying the feel of his warm, textured skin.

Hancock thoroughly enjoyed when she touched him like this: almost as if she was petting him. He made a deep appreciative growl, low in his chest, looking at her through half-lidded eyes. He opened them when she stopped and was surprised to see a look of intense pain on her face. It passed almost as soon as he saw it and she pulled her hand away, making it into a fist and staring at it. “Something weighing on ya?”

“Deacon,” She chuckled at his scowl, “I broke his ribs, felt them buckle under my fist.” She dropped her hand to the bed, “I almost killed him, again.”

“Again?” Hancock took her hand in his and brought it to his lips and gently kissed her knuckles, “Seems to me you saved him, again.”

“Yes but, who put him in mortal danger in the first place?”

“Deacon. Deacon put Deacon exactly where Deacon wanted to be.” He gently opened her fist to kiss her palm and fingers, “Besides, Curie’s tender ministrations will set him to rights and he’ll be running around, flapping his yap, in no time at all.”

“He left already!” Feeling aroused, Wraith’s tone was somewhat harsh, “You know it’s really hard to focus with you doing… that.”

“Course, ‘swhy I’m doing it.” Sighing when she pulled her hand away, Hancock’s tone was conciliatory, “You know he just went back to Goodneighbor. He has Amari and that asshole Carrington if he still needs treatin’.”

“He doesn’t have anyone. He’s… alone too much.”

“Once again, Deacon is right where he wants to be.” He moved closer still, arching himself over her and trailing kisses from her forehead down her nose to her mouth. He growled lasciviously when she gave in, opening her mouth to his and then nipping his lip.

“Fuck you, YOU BUBBLY FISH!”

Both Hancock and Wraith’s eyes flashed open at MacCready’s shout. Leaning away from her, Hancock open-palm slapped MacCready’s bare butt, “Way to ruin the fucking moment, ass!”

“What the frick, man?!” Rubbing his reddened rear, MacCready blinked owlishly, “What did I do?!”

“Th’ fuck you deamin’ about, ‘bubbly fish’?”

MacCready’s eyes narrowed at Wraith, “What the heck is he even saying? What chems are you guys on right now?!”

Laughing helplessly, Wraith could barely speak, “I love you guys, so, so much.”

The two men shared a significant look then turned to Wraith, huge smiles on both their faces.

“What? What’s up?”

“That was the first time you said it. The first time you said you loved us.”

“No? Really?” She blushed, “I’m sorry! That’s kinda sad.” She sat up on her knees and looked into MacCready’s cerulean eyes, “I love you Robert Joseph MacCready.” She kissed him passionately while running her left hand up his thigh. She turned to Hancock, reaching to cup his cheek with her right hand, “I love you John Hancock.” The kiss they shared left them both breathless and Wraith decided additional physical evidence of her love was needed.

Much later, Hancock lay on his back with Wraith and MacCready each tucked under an arm and sharing his chest for a pillow. The ghoul chuckled as MacCready was already snoring.

Wraith reached over to gently caress the young man’s sleeping face, “I love you guys.”

“Love you too, sunshine.”

  Thank you for reading! Like what you read? Looking for more? Please see my Wraith in the Ruins master-link in my bio. =^..^=