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puhpandas · 1 year ago

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Watch

(2,984 words)

Gregory dies saving the Pizzaplex from the virus. In return, Evan saves Gregory by giving him the gift of life. Evan is done with just watching. (warnings: major character (child) death (gregory), implied murder, implied stabbing, blood.

Evan had to go fight his Father on his own.

Vanessa had been too incapacitated. Too distraught to come along. She'd woken up not too long after Gregory had freed her, hair greasy and wirey and body weak, knees wobbly. It had only gotten worse after she'd seen the cost.

Theres nothing Evan could have helped with. All he could do is finish things.

His Father had gone down easily. Theres not much you can do as an animatronic on the brink of collapse, no matter how much of your virus is spread across the network. No matter how many brute machines you have at your command. Its hard to kill somebody whose already dead. To hurt somebody who isnt tangible.

All Evan had to do was call in a favor.

The amalgamation hadn't needed any more than a promise. It had thrown itself at his Father, giving itself up to secure that his Father is gone forever. For good.

Evan had promised to set the fire. He knows that Freddy has a lighter in his finger. He knows that his Father is stuck, and is at Evan's will.

Evan has the power to take the call, here. He can set the fire whenever he wants. He gets to choose when it all ends.

He hasn't, yet. He just needs to see Gregory again.

Vanessa has barely moved by the time Evan phases through floors, arriving back in Vannys old hideout. Shes sitting up, but unmoving. Before, her shoulders shook harshly with barely contained grief.

Now, it's like shes empty. Like there's nothing left of her.

After what was lost to free her, Evan understands why.

He can barely look, once he floats next to Vanessa. Gregory is right where Evan had left him, still laid flat on the linoleum tile under Vanessa's hunched form.

Shes almost curled around him, as if to protect him. He cant be protected much, anymore. But he deserves to have whats left of him taken care of.

It hurts so much more than the others when Evan forces himself to look. Nothings changed; Gregory is still unmoving, eyes open and unseeing. The knife is discarded to their left, tossed in some corner to rot.

The floor is a mess. Gregorys blood stains every crevice. His blue shirt is barely recognizable, violent rips and tears litter the area near his stomach, and blood stains the fabric a sickening black.

Evan stares at his face. It doesnt so much as twitch.

He knows better than to beg. He knows better than to hope, or plead, or wish.

He's dead. Evan knows. He's known this whole time. He knew when he'd gone off to fight his Father. To get revenge.

Gregory's dead.

It hurts so much more than the others.

Evan floats downwards, sitting by Gregory's body next to Vanessa as much as he can as a ghost. She doesn't seem to register that hes there, just staring blankly at Gregory. At the empty husk of the boy Evan had just begun to know.

Shes already expressed her grief. She'd yelled and screamed and sobbed when he'd still been alive, clinging to life by a thread, but despite Vanessa's attempts, he'd died in her arms.

They'd only shared little words before it was over.

They'd watched as the life left his eyes. Evan watched as Gregory went still in that way only dead people can. He'd watched as Vanessa fell apart.

It hurt so much more than the others.

He'd just been getting to know Gregory. He'd only scraped the surface. He'd only known Gregory for six hours, but he'd felt like he'd known him for a lifetime.

He'd just been getting to know him, and Evan had been planning to stick around. He'd been planning to follow Gregory. He'd been planning to take the one child who'd been brave enough, smart enough, to survive, and lead him to the source.

Hed been planning on finally doing something. He'd been planning on ending it all, and saving one child out of it. He'd been planning on being done with watching, and doing something about it. He'd tried to help the others, to guide them where it mattered, help them survive, but they'd been snuffed out before they could begin.

And all Evan could do is watch.

He's so tired of just watching.

"Gr-- Gree-- Gregory..." Freddys voice filters out of the watch, crackling and glitching. "Gregor-- ory-- Please tell me you are saf-- fe. I cannot re-- each you--"

Something snaps in Evan, at that. Freddy doesn't know. Freddy had tried so hard, like Evan had, to save someone. To save one person after so many were lost.

Evan has seen Freddy. Hes seen them all. Hes seen how they all wake up the next day horrified at the blood under their claws, and the memories of murdering burned into their code. Evan has seen how all Freddy's been able to do is watch as he's hijacked, unable to fight back, and forced to sit backseat in his own body.

This time had been different. Freddy had been spared. Freddy had fought for Gregory. Freddy didnt just watch this time.

Evan doesnt want to just watch anymore.

Evan's stomach burns, normally, his soul is cold, as lifeless ghosts are. Just a figment of who he used to be.

So unlike the chill hes used too, how unfeeling he usually is, warmth bursts in his stomach, at hot as fire, and it swirls. Unfurling and spreading.

It tingles, prickling and sharp, and to Evan, somehow, it feels like an invitation.

Evan had been the first. He'd been there for it all. He'd been there when Charlie had died. He'd been there when she had given life to the other children. He'd been there when they'd all lost their humanity. He'd been there for the first fire, the second, and soon, the third.

Evan had been the first.

His chest burns with intensity, hot and bubbling.

Gregory will be the last.

He welcomes it; the simmering feeling underneath the film of numbness. It claws to escape, and Evan let's it.

He curls inward, a burst of light shining from his body, and at its warmth, it's like Vanessa comes back to life. She jerks when a glow spreads across the room, twisting her neck to watch it with wide eyes.

He cups his hands gently, shutting his eyes and reaching inward.

The Remnant responds to him. It hears him. It hears his grief, his wishes, and his determination.

Like the others, Gregory never deserved to die. Like the others, he'd been lost to his Father. Like the others, he'd been lost to a long string of tragedy that began on the day Evan died.

His chest opens, a yellow, pinprick of light seeping out and into his hands.

Unlike the others, Gregory will be the last.

Evan holds the remnant gently as can be, and ignores the blatant emptiness inside of him. He ignores how much weaker he feels. He ignores how he essentially just halved his life force.

Instead, he offers the life to Gregory's body, like giving a gift.

It receives it.

The light seeps into Gregory's body, spreading across his injuries and soaking in. Light crawls across his skin, spiderwebbing and stitching skin and flesh together.

The light mends Gregory's body, fixing what had been broken.

Evan never thought that anything involved with his Father could be good. That it could help instead of hurt.

But when Vanessas lights up as Gregory's eyes ignite with life, all gifted by the warmth in Evan's soul, he thinks it's not the magic that's bad, but the man who wields it.

Its agonizing; waiting those few seconds for Gregory to wake up, but the shine that had re-entered his eyes only grows brighter when he gasps harshly, jerking to life.

With a cry of joy, Evan shoots forward, attempting a hug as much as he can as a ghost. At the same time, Vanessa sobs with barely contained relief and reaches out, pulling Gregory out of the puddle of his own blood and setting him gently against her chest.

Evan meets his eyes, and man, do they look exhausted, but they also look alive. Evan cant contain the grin on his face when Gregory's eyes dart to him, seeing but not. Hes still in that stage between floaty and aware, but Evan waits for him.

It only takes a moment for Gregory himself to understand, but then hes clutching back, breaths deep, life laced within every intake of air.

Vanessa is crying. Shoulder shaking sobs that leave tracks down the dirt and blood on her face, and snot smudged across her cheek.

He doesnt blame her. Evan feels more alive than he has in a long time.

"You--" Gregory rasps out before coughing, but despite the fact, it's the most beautiful sound Evan's heard in years. Compared to the last words Gregory spoke before now being goodbyes. "You saved me."

Evan knows that Gregory knows. He knows everything. When Evan shared a piece of himself with Gregory, it connected them. Their souls are entertwined, now.

Evan feels the remnants of true fear deep inside Gregory of truly dying. He feels the relief that its over. He feels the accomplishment that nobody else will be lost.

Evan knows Gregory knows his feelings, as well. Evan knows Gregory feels the grief for the others. He knows he feels the satisfaction of sending his Father back to Cassidy. He knows he feels the anger at being forced to observe for so long.

So Evan just nods, the permanent tears on his face growing thicker and inkier. "I did."

And it's as simple as that.

Gregorys tucked under Vanessa's chin, her stringy hair falling out of what used to be a ponytail. Shes still sobbing, and Evan doesnt think she'd be able to do much of anything right now.

That's okay. Evan knows Vanessa had cried for the others, too. He knows Vanessa had been horrified at the memories. He knows shed been lost for years.

"You're you?" Gregory asks, weak and thready. He brings up a shaky hand and sets it on Vanessa's arm. Shes still wearing the bunny suit; she hadn't had it in her to tear it off when the only thing shed been focused on was the kid who saved her dying in her arms.

All Vanessa does is nod, over and over, almost deliriously. "Yes--" She sobs. "Because-- Because of you."

And its right there that Evan let's himself relish in the fact that they're all here. After watching so much grief and tragedy take place, its finally over. Gregory saved them, and now Evan was able to save Gregory.

He laughs in delight, feeling more hope and warmth than he has in a long time.

Three victims sit in a circle, relieved and alive.

"Gr-r--" Gregory's watch sputters to life, staticky and warbling. "Gregory-- I'm so worried about yo-- you-- P-P-Please respo--"

Three sets of eyes blow open.

"Freddy!"

👻

Gregory and Evan had been alone together all night. Freddy wasnt able to follow them everywhere, and Gregory, with that determination that saved them that night, carried them far. Deep into the belly of the beast.

But its only when they finally haul themselves up when the clock gets a little too close to six, hop in Vanessa's car, and hightail it to her apartment that Gregory and Evan are alone again.

Vanessa, with a little more energy in her step, had followed through with her promise. Before they'd left, she said she would set the fire. All she wanted to do is take care of a few things. Freddy went along with her, wanting to collect his friends when they wake up free of the virus.

It's just the two of them, now. They're sitting (floating, in Evan's case) on Vanessa's couch, Gregory is eating some cereal, since its all Vanessa had on hand, and hes wearing one of Vanessa's too-big shirts when his had been too ruined to keep.

Theres some cartoon on the TV about a girl and a weird blue floating blob, but Evan isnt paying attention. Not when Gregory is staring at his bowl with furrowed brows, lost in thought.

Evan can tell he wants to say something, so he just sits patiently, and stays quiet when Gregory eventually starts opening and closing his mouth, trying to find the words.

"Evan--" Gregory begins eventually, and when Evan looks over, Gregory's looking at the carpet instead of him. "Um... can I ask you something?"

Evan nods. "Of course."

"Kay." Gregory responds, and then sighs, scratching the back of his neck and fiddling with the fold of fabric where his stomach is. "Uh... well..."

Evan stays silent, waiting for Gregory to gather his thoughts. Evan had hated it when people rushed him when he spoke while he was alive. He wasnt stupid, just nervous.

Eventually, Gregory throws his hands down and huffs, as if biting the bullet. He turns to Evan, looking him in the eyes as he asks, "Why did you save me?"

Evan blinks, and looks at Gregory, confused. They'd already communicated everything when Gregory woke up. "What do you mean?"

Gregory fidgets again, glancing to the side and looking frustrated. "Well-- I mean... just, why did you choose me?"

Evan furrows his brows. "Um... I dont understand."

Gregory growls, but Evan can sense it's not at him, just at Gregory's own scrambled thoughts. He rubs at his eyes, before, "I mean--!. eight other kids went missing before me."

Evan starts to get it. "Oh."

"Just... why did you save me?" Gregory asks again, a little more surely this time. "Like... you literally gave up half of your life force just so I wouldnt die. You met so many other kids that didnt make it... I... just want to know why you see me as so special to sacrifice for."

Evan shakes his head, twisting in place to better face Gregory. He tries to convey so much in one motion, his brain swirling with thoughts, and remnants of feeling from past memories.

"Gregory..." Evan glances downward, an old feeling of grief coming back. It's his old friend at this point. "...Nobody deserved to die. Nobody. But... in a way, some of us didnt. I'm still here, and I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. I'm technically living, arent I?"

Gregory nods, but he looks confused. "Yeah, I would say so. But what does this have to do with what I said?"

Evan looks at the couch, watching as his fingers phase through the cushion. "I mean... the others, they died, but they didnt leave. They were still there, but... they weren't living. Bit by bit, they lost themselves, until they really were as good as dead."

Gregory is silent, so Evan continues. "I didnt feel like I was living for a long time, even though I technically wasnt dead. I had my friend. That's what we had that the others didnt. That's how we held on. But when she left... I had to stay for her to, as well, and I was stuck. I couldn't see my family. I was living, but I didnt want to be. I was living, but didnt have a life."

Evan glances up, and sees Gregory's own face looking back at him, eyes sad. Evan frowns, feeling decades of memories creep back up on him. He shoves them down. "All I did was watch tragedy and death occur for years, while I was alone. And I couldnt do a thing about it."

"You were done just watching." Gregory mumbles.

Evan nods. "...I was. So when you came along, and you survived, and dodged death, and saved everybody... you didnt deserve to die. More than the others. After all youd done, you deserved to live."

Theres a stretch of silence, after that. Evan has patience to spare, so when Gregory just stares, probably turning Evan's words over in his head, he waits.

After a while, Gregory tries to set a hand on Evan's shoulder, but it phases through. Gregory frowns, eyes downcast as he stares at his body dissipating at Gregory's touch, falling away like sand. "You havent felt alive in a long time, huh...?"

Theres that connection, again. Evan's gonna have to get used to this; he hasnt been connected to someone this way since Cassidy.

He nods, but in the melancholy, he smiles, and looks pointedly at Gregory. "Yeah," He agrees. "but that changed."

Gregory understands quickly. Evan pushed all of his feelings and earnesty towards that seemingly now permanent sense of Gregory presence, after all. He looks suprised, if his wide eyes are any indication, but then he finally sees the undeniable smile on Evans face, and Evan can sense that Gregory believes him.

Tears swim in Gregory's eyes, and he wipes at them half heartedly, grin on his face. He chuckles wetly. "Would you believe me if I said nobody has ever said something like that to me?"

Evan fractures, smiling. "Not really. I doubt you've met a lot of other dead people."

"Youd be right." Gregory replies. "Man, I wish I could hug you. It doesnt feel right just letting you sit there and be all... ghosty after saying something like that."

Evan chuckles at that, smile wide. "Put your arms around me."

Gregory raises a brow, but does it anyway.

It's funny. How Gregory, a boy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time saved the ones at the heart of the tragedy. He saved everyone without being involved himself, and Evan cant help but feel like Gregory saved him as well, in a way.

And Evan, who shuts his eyes and brings forth every ounce of power he has as a poltergeist, let's his body fall against another solid one, and sink into the hug.

ao3 link

#i kinda just wanted to explore evans character.#he isnt present in the day of security breach (he finally got some rest thank god)#but i imagine it would be even more miserable than before.#before #he had cassidy after a few years of being completely alone #but he had to watch the others become like animals #save for charlie.#now #he knows his family is dead #and that theyre waiting for him. but he has to stay tethered to the real world because of cassidy #shes determined to keep afton in hell #but when glitchtrap was created (its what we thought before ruin. w glitchtrap being afton but not actually him) he rained hell upon the pi #and hes forced to stay miserable and away from his family for her. plus he has to watch other children die without being able to do anythin #i just think it would be really awful. hes lost his tether #he probably felt empty for a long time. years and years. but then gregory comes along and he has somebody again :)#imagine 3 star fam happens as normal but now with evan!#he and gregory are soul bonded now and basically brothers lol. remnant brothers. golden duo just became golden triplets #flashlight duo #my fics #pandas writes #gregory and evan #evan afton #fnaf gregory #fnaf fic #blood warning #death warning #knife warning #stabbing warning #stabbing mention #implied death

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gabriellerudessa · 6 months ago

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Compass (Norm Maclean x OC) - Part IX

“Oh, relax, James! She’s gagged and tied, and look at him! And… Oh!” Nip-Nip’s hand flew towards Norm, the wall behind not giving him space to escape. He felt Nip-Nip’s fingers flick his ear. There was a touch of color in it. Deep red-pinkish. “Oh, boy, you have no idea, do you?!”

PLAYLIST ON YOUTUBE

Words: 4.078

Warnings: Threat of Rape. Black Widow talk. Wasteland typical violence.

Another man kept a gun trained on her as the first brought up a rag to her face, clearly intending to gag her.

“Oh, c’mon Nip-Nip, there’s no one for me to scream around here and you know.”

“And give you opportunity to work your Black Widow tongue? Don’t think so, dollface.”

Marigold frowned and paled, all at the same time, mouth tightening in a line. The man gagged her, pulling her head back violently to make the rag fit between her lips.

“Take their things, tie them both up and let’s go. If he makes a sound, shot him. And the cape covers her knives, don’t forget those.”

As someone wrenched his hands behind him, Norm looked from Marigold to Nip-Nip and back again. Her paleness had drifted away, only a heavy, furious scowl despite the gag.

What was a “Black Widow tongue”?

---------

They followed behind Nip-Nip, two of his men poking them with the tips of their guns. The one that carried her hunting rifle also carried his sidebag and Marigold’s backpack and bag-belt, and was the slowest moving of them all. And, while they had patted Norm searching for weapons, his boots were thick enough that they didn’t found his knife – they also hadn’t found the coat’s hidden pockets and the caps he had hidden in them, but he didn’t know what good those would do.

Only one knife between the two of them? Hands tied at their backs? Yeah, not good.

They meandered through the ruins, the pace fast and unrelenting, not a single turn wasted. Nip-Nip clearly knew the ruins. Maybe he was even the one keeping it so… Clean of residents.

Another turn and they were going down into an underground parking lot. Sheets of metal closed the bottom entrance, metal barricading it and a metal door in the middle, the rumbling of a generator felt against his feet the closer they got.

“I returned! Open this thing!” The door burst open, yellow artificial light spilling outside, and Nip-Nip strode inside without a thought or pause.

The other men made Marigold go first, then him, and someone kept pushing them inside until they were with their back against a wall and told to wait. Norm noticed backpacks, gym bags and tattered sleeping bags spread all around, two fires on different extremities, yellow lamps hanging from the ceiling and illuminating where the fires didn’t reach, all connected to an improvised generator, other entrances barricaded or blocked by rubble. A well-organized camp, no cars in it.

“Fuck, this thing is heavy!” He looked over; the man that carried their things had plopped down, the bag-belt heavily hitting the ground as he took Marigold’s backpack from his shoulders.

Norm looked at Marigold, raising an eyebrow. If not for the gag, he was pretty sure she would be giving the extra trouble cheeky grin.

“Sit down, Marigold.” A man appeared in front of them, head shaved and a black scarf covering the lower half of his face, leather armor over his dark-gray clothes. A hand gripped Norm’s upper arm and made him turn. “A Vaultie.” Marigold gave a step. “I said for you to sit down.” There was something sharp against the side of his neck, and Marigold slowly did it, eyes not leaving the man.

The sharp thing disappeared, as did the weight of his Pip-Boy. He felt the man pulling the neckline of his coat then let it go and turned him again.

“Sit down. Vault 33 opened up, then?” Norm remained in silence even as he did as ordered, to the left of Marigold, eyebrows frowning as he stared at the man. A thin stiletto appeared in his free hand, pressing against Norm’s cheek. “Answer me.”

“… No. I ran away.”

The stiletto disappeared and the man walked away, fiddling with the Pip-Boy and going towards their things. The man that had carried those slowly and carefully raised and went out of the man’s way, walking towards Nip-Nip without giving his back. The man that had opened the door remained where he was, relaxed, as did two others, playing some type of game of cards.

Huh. Curious.

“I can barely believe my luck.” Nip-Nip squatted in front of them, attracting all the attention, that weird, uncomfortable smile still in place.

“Don’t go running your mouth!” The other man said from where he was going over Marigold’s backpack.

Marigold tensed beside him, a leg kicking up towards Nip-Nip’s chin. The other man, James, was suddenly there, pulling him by the rainbow scarf and out of her reach, Nip-Nip sprawling on the ground.

“I told you.” And James was away again.

Nip-Nip kept smiling, even as he got up and shook the dirt away.

“That was naughty, dollface!” He straightened to his full height and stared down at her. “I gather you didn’t hear the news.”

Marigold leaned her head to the side, eyebrows frowning at him, and Nip-Nip went to one of the bags.

Movement made Norm look towards James, seeing him open one of the boxes of Fancy Lads Snack Cakes. The man put one bellow his scarf, delivered one to the man leaning close to the door and the ones playing cards, before putting it back in the sidebag. Nothing towards Nip-Nip or the other men that had escorted them to the camp.

Weird.

“Congratulations!” Nip-Nip’s voice, too cheerful, and he shoved a piece of paper in front of them. It had a surprisingly good depiction of Marigold in it, even the cheeky grin missing a tooth, but whoever had done it gave her a short haircut. “You missed some raider last time and now you have your own bounty, dollface!”

Norm let his eyes drift to the lines under it: “3000 caps if alive, 2000 caps if dead. Body must be as intact as possible. WARNING: BLACK WIDOW.”

That term again. He decided to ask later, once they were out of that mess, and forced his face to be as impassible as possible.

So not the water pump. Or at least not only it. A bounty for Marigold. Considering that Nip-Nip hadn’t just killed her, he really wanted the higher reward.

The paper retreated as fast as it had appeared. Nip-Nip was still smiling, something in it somehow sinister. Maybe it was just the knowledge of his reason that made Norm thought so.

“You know the worst, dollface?” Norm noticed Marigold raising an eyebrow, unimpressed – he suspected she hadn’t been able to actually decipher the words in time. “Almost a year visiting you, seeing Goose… And never once had actually thought to see if there was a bounty for her! Just verified after I saw this! And, you know, it’s easy to miss hers, next to your so gorgeous scars!”

Norm hated the sarcasm with which he talked about Marigold’s scars and had to consciously unclench his jaw.

A second paper, old and yellowed; Goose’s portrait was easy to recognize, even if she looked like a scared teenager, a bulky metal collar around her neck. Crossed out rewards under it, the most recent and uncrossed said “5000 caps. Alive and Intact”.

“The Agency told me it came from Legion lands. Almost didn’t believe that she managed to run from there!” This time Marigold’s kick hit Nip-Nip, the heel of her boot sinking between his legs.

He collapsed, cursing.

“I told you!” James again, sitting and deftly fiddling with Norm’s Pip-Boy, not even raising his eyes. He looked… Familiar with the technology.

Probably the one to put that holotape in the terminal.

Had he been mistaken about the water pump, and it was really just about two bounties?

Nip-Nip got up, and Marigold managed to look smug while he forced a smile.

“You’re lucky you’re worthy more alive than dead, dollface.” He straightened, bunching the paper. “It’ll be good to finally have a good reason to get rid of your sorry family, never gave me a fucking discount after a year of trading. Kill, sell, don’t matter. I’m only sorry that whoever put a bounty on Francesco died, he would’ve left me 5000 caps richer, dead or alive.”

“Finished?” James, finally raising his eyes to them.

“Yeah. What?”

“Ever saw a bounty for some Norman Maclean?”

---------

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck.

She hadn’t learned James’ name before that day, but she recognized him, and every time he had appeared with Nip-Nip, her instincts screamed “sadistic motherfucker”.

That day was just proving it. If he concluded Norm would be just a strain on resources, he was dead dead and she wouldn’t see it coming and would be unable to do anything.

Fuck. She would take the ferals again and gladly.

She was kneeling and crawling to put her body between Norm and them before she actually stopped to think about it.

“Well… No, but you’re seeing, James!”

Nip-Nip laughed at her, but she kept her eyes on James. His stiletto was out – she hadn’t seen him taking it –, the blade tapping his temple, dead eyes straight back at her.

Marigold knew she was giving them something against her, something they could use to control her, but fuck it, it was Norm’s life. He had been trusting her with it since the first moment they met, she couldn’t not do anything.

“I see it.” The blade disappeared, and James rose to talk with his own men, dismissing them both.

Marigold sighed, going back to sitting, letting her arm press against Norm’s, and felt him return the pressure. As her heart slowed, she noticed: Norman was his actual, birth name.

She liked Norm better.

---------

Norm seethed on Nip-Nip’s words. “Get rid” of the Bears, no matter how. It was the Vault all over again.

And this time, while not hidden, he was tied down and still without ways to do something. Damn it, he didn’t even know if they would get out alive of that. Damn it.

As the hours passed, Norm forced himself to watch, and think. He wasn’t strong or fast, but he was finally starting to get that even on the surface he didn’t need to be, as long as used the tools he had well. It was how Nip-Nip had managed to remain under the radar and do his stunt with the Bears’ power distribution. How Marigold’s family had survived.

They just needed an edge, enough to give them a chance to remain alive. The both of them had sisters to find, damn it.

The group started packing, talks of leaving the next morning floating by the camp. And still Norm noticed how the men didn’t mix up, each group doing their tasks as far away from each other as possible.

The ones that had brought them, Nip-Nip’s men, intentionally remained as far away from the ones that had been in the camp, James’ men – those seemed to just not care. And still, the two acted almost like partners…

Except when James was subtly sharing Norm’s and Marigold’s foods with his men but not Nip-Nip. There wasn’t even a question of “are you served?”

It happened, again and again, until the box was empty and a packet of dried radstag was done for. If partners, why resources weren’t being shared?

The more he watched and thought, the more Norm thought that maybe James knew about the water pump. It had become clear that he was deft and fast with his fingers, it would be easy to verify under the box and put it back and still have time to open the padlock, do his thing with the terminal, and close it all again. Do the planned, and nothing more.

He hadn’t shared some pre-war food that costed less than 10 caps. Hadn’t shared dried radstag from their target. Why would he talk about a water pump for purified water?

And if he hadn’t told, even if he didn’t knew…

‘It wasn’t my intention to question your leadership, Overseer.’

---------

Why was her luck so… Determined to be thoroughly rotten when it decided to cause problems, as if both of them didn’t had places to be and people to find? It wasn’t enough the giant ants the previous day or noticing a pack of Deathclaws to the south of the ruins, the constant backtracking, fucking ferals in the only moment they decided to enter a building…

Nip-Nip had to be in the ruins, scavenging, from what she had seen. With papers for a fucking bounty on her and Goose. Fucking hell.

The weird thing was that, while she recognized the guard-scavengers following Nip-Nip as the ones always flanking him when he stopped by the ranch… She had never seen the ones hanging by James’ words. They looked like mercenaries.

She didn’t like that. Mercenaries were harder to fight than the typical raider. Not as troublesome as professional Bounty Hunters, but still a pain in the ass.

And fuck. Not only her previous binoculars had been broken last time she had needed to go “sex for survival”, but a fucking raider had managed to escape and put together enough caps for a bounty. Fucking fuckity all.

Marigold tried to move her hands, but the ropes were tight against her wrists. They knew what they were doing, she gave them that.

Fucking hell. She needed… An opening, something. She didn’t know how long they would keep Norm alive to try and control her, or how long until they delivered her wherever they needed to once they started moving.

At least they didn’t know that the plan regarding the ranch hadn’t worked out. And the wound in her forehead had stopped bleeding, at least for the moment. Hopefully it wouldn’t get infected until she could actually deal with it.

Nip-Nip approached them, holding two bottles of clearly unpurified water, one of his men following while the others stored the scavenged goods, and she raised an eyebrow. He only shrugged, still giving that smile.

“I don’t want either of you dying from dehydration on the trip tomorrow. Hopefully your Vaultie can deal with some radiation in water.” He made a signal to the man behind him as he squatted closer to her. “Shoot him if she tries anything. Not to kill, please.”

Fuck him.

Nip-Nip pulled the gag down, and Marigold enjoyed the moment to move her jaw, trying to make the stiffness go away. God that had been tiring.

Nip-Nip got hold of her chin and made her tip her head back before touching the open bottle to her lips. She hated the heated look in his eyes, hated how he used the grip to slide a finger against her skin back and forth.

She still drank, because water was water and she would need her strength.

“You know, dollface, I was thinking of making a move before seeing this bounty.” He started, retreating the empty bottle.

“You would never be able to handle me, Nip-Nip.” She didn’t try to keep the disgust from her voice.

It only made him laugh, capping the bottle again.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t have thought of tying and gagging you before.” His smile got predatory. “Now… Well, you only need to be alive. It would be fun, at least for me. Hell, maybe even for you, it really seems to be what you like.”

God it was always this. Men like Nip-Nip never got it was a “Kill or be killed” situation, not because she liked. Quite the opposite, actually. Dipshits.

“Nip-Nip…” She gave her feral smile. He frowned, but the smile remained. Idiot. “I would’ve bitten off your cock and feed it to you before tearing off your throat with my teeth and you would be crying for you mama the whole time. Some ropes and gag wouldn’t stop me. I’ve done it before and I would have absolutely no problem with doing it again, so unless you want to briefly experience life as a eunuch before dying… Don’t you fucking dare.”

The only, single thing that kept her from throwing her face ahead and biting the air in front of him as her go-to intimidating trick was the gun fixated on Norm.

Fuck, she hated Norm was seeing her like this, hated that he had heard that awful term, “Black Widow”, being used for her. He would ask, at least, and she was a terrible liar.

She doubted whatever small spark that made him blush when she teased would survive.

It never did. Not with decent people.

---------

Nip-Nip cursed at Marigold before pulling the gag back. She didn’t let down the feral smile, the gag making it seem almost crazed as her whole body remained tense besides him.

Norm was also starting to have a notion that “Black Widow” involved sex, but how exactly? As a weapon? It was what was sounding like. He didn’t know what exactly to think about it. He just knew that he hated how Nip-Nip used his position to hold Marigold’s chin, clearly against her will, and hated even more how slowly his brain processed the un-worded threat of rape – consent was something heavily taught and reinforced in the Vault.

Whatever it was that Nip-Nip thought and implied about “Black Widow”, Marigold’s words and body language… They had been the most closed off and angry Norm had seen her. Granted, he didn’t know her for long, but most of the time she had been, emotionally, an open book.

Nip-Nip looked at Norm, something in the smile more strained than before, and Norm forced his shoulders to relax. He could deal with whatever that term was once they were out of that situation, preferable with both of them alive and Nip-Nip dead. With his hands cut off. Maybe eyes ripped off too.

And that James guy, dead too.

“I would say ‘do not try anything’ but… Well.” Nip-Nip looked him up and down and laughed. Norm forced a shrug, and tried not to think about the fact that the water was contaminated by radiation as Nip-Nip touched the other bottle to his lips. “It’s obvious you don’t know with what you’re dealing, Vaultie.” He chuckled, and somehow Marigold got tenser. “She would’ve eaten you alive.”

The bottle retreated. Norm did his best to ignore how weird its aftertaste was.

“The same as James with you, right?” He kept his voice low, praying James didn’t have that good of a hearing.

Nip-Nip’s smile dropped. Finally. He was tired of looking at those Vault-like teeth.

“What’re you talking about?”

“Well… He is the boss, right? He acts like it.” Don’t be smug, Norm, don’t be smug.

“I’m the one that has always been on the command.” Nip-Nip frowned at him.

Norm let out a pensive hum, forcing his body to relax. Nip-Nip and the man with him looked over their shoulders at James and the three men with him, sitting around a fire and eating. The division between them and Nip-Nip’s men couldn’t be clearer. Nip-Nip looked again at him, tipping his hat back a little.

“What do you mean, he acts like it?”

“Well, it’s clear that he decided not to kill me of his own volition, you didn’t have any bearing on his decision. Those men there also clearly follow him. He’s the one that contracted them, I guess. Besides, there’s the water pump-”

“What water pump?” Nip-Nip cut him.

Jackpot.

Norm blinked.

“In the ranch. He knows about it. He didn’t tell you?”

Nip-Nip breathed in, opened and closed his mouth, then got up and strode away to the other fire, the man following him.

Norm felt an elbow in his side, and Marigold had the most “the fuck you’re doing?” expression; he mouthed a “trust me”. She frowned and nodded after a moment, her body relaxing besides his.

---------

Norm noticed Nip-Nip talking with his men, all huddled together around their fire, someone occasionally throwing a look at the other group. James was fiddling again with his Pip-Boy, thin eyebrows frowning at it occasionally. He tapped a finger at it and got up; Nip-Nip’s group stopped and watched, and went back to talk only when James walked towards him and Marigold.

“Where were you going?”

James squatted in front of them, the stiletto out and touching his temple, eyes dead going from one than the other. His position was way more relaxed than Nip-Nip had been, and Norm felt his shoulders tensing.

“…Close to the Observatory.” Norm relented, even if James probably already knew. Norm had put a giant mark on the map so he always knew towards where they should walk.

“I gathered as much, but… The Bears aren’t neither NCR nor Brotherhood, never were. And you don’t have that much to trade, and even if you had, too far away, Filly’s right next to the ranch. Why?”

The stiletto was under Marigold’s ear, a thin line of blood dripping, even as James still looked at him. For her credit, she just slightly raised her head, eyes dangerously glinting towards James.

Norm forced himself to stare back, to keep breathing even as the man’s speed surprised him, his hands curling into fists behind his back.

“… Nip-Nip left a tip. Something about holotapes and bringing Catarina to take a look, I don’t know the details.”

He hoped James took the despair and strain in his voice as pure worry and fear for Marigold, and not because he was also stretching the truth.

James eyes got big and looked over his shoulder towards Nip-Nip. The stiletto disappeared, not without leaving a long cut and making Marigold hiss, and James left without another word, sitting with his men.

That was weird. No follow up question, nothing?

He hopped that worked. In the Vault, it had led to a fake-election for Overseer.

Norm was almost afraid of what it would result in the surface.

---------

Marigold noticed how things got tense after Norm’s words. If something close to a gang war was his plan, well, she bet he had been successful. The way both James and Nip-Nip threw looks at each other, how tense their men were…

Those two wouldn’t talk with each other to try and solve things. Too independent, even if they travelled and traded together. And, she was starting to suspect, both too trigger happy and anxious for an excuse to eliminate the other and get full control of whatever-operation that was.

She looked around. She couldn’t see if James was talking, but his eyes hadn’t left Nip-Nip. That look she recognized: hatred. As long it wasn’t focused on her and Norm, they were fine. Nip-Nip, on the other hand, was talking and gesturing, occasionally throwing looks. More worry and fear than anything else in his eyes.

Things were boiling, and if the two groups started shooting, Norm and she were sitting ducks.

Marigold slowly bent her legs towards her, knees up. She needed her hands at least in front of her body if they were to have a chance.

God, that would hurt, she didn’t have Regina’s flexibility and doing it while sitting… Fuck.

She pressed her chest against her knees and lower back against the wall, dropping her shoulders. Verified again where their captors were looking, and used the wall to help curl her body more, raising her ass and forcing her hands under it.

Ooooh, fuck, that hurt!

Either her shoulder was now back in place or totally fucked up, she couldn’t say, but at least her hands now were under her knees. And the groups hadn’t noticed a thing, too engrossed in suspicions and machinations.

Before Marigold thought of how to do the next step without attracting attention, Norm pushed his foot slowly ahead and close to her tied hands, eyes never leaving the groups.

Oh, the knife, she wanted to high-five past-Marigold. Also, thank-fucking God that James hadn’t patted Norm, she was pretty sure the knife wouldn’t have passed him.

Marigold took the knife, and Norm’s foot retreated. She twisted it blindly and slowly, handle in her palm, blade between her wrist and edge up, and started sawing at the knots, doing her best to not attract attention.

Now, when things twisted for the worst, because they would, she would be ready.

#norm maclean #norm maclean x oc #fallout #fallout series #fallout prime #this is a heavier chapter #while still Wasteland typical I think it's better to properly warn #BUT I'LL TELL YOU ALL #I had so much fun writing Norm doing his best to pull the strings as he did in the Vault meeting #Also Marigold showing her Very Colorful Vocabulary when she wants to threat somebody was Fun #Nip-Nip's threat Was Not Fun

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