Chapter Text
Six used to wonder if she'd gone mad, having fallen for a mutant. All she wondered now was if she'd ever want to be rid of her madness.
The bed beneath them creaked, on the very edge of it's capacity.
Marcus' girth was beyond a challenge for the courier's fingers. She massaged the thick, erect shaft with her slicked up palm, all the way up to the top to unite her hand with her lips that suckled on the bulbous tip as she laid on top of the mutant's stomach. She worked with such passion it would've made a scrawny Brotherhood Scribe nerd upset enough to pick up a minigun – better yet, Six would've paid to see elder McNamara projectile spit his morning coffee on a knight's face when he'd hear what his trustworthy outsider was up to.
Behind her, and also below her, Marcus held onto Six's thighs to keep them still around his head as he gave his rapt attention to her folds. His wide, hot tongue practically kneaded her pussy as it licked her from her swollen clit right to her hole, dipping inside to gather her excitement. She'd cum twice already, but as much as Marcus had already stretched her on his tongue and fingers, he wanted her to be properly prepared for what would come later.
Six absolutely reveled in the sounds the mutant under her tried to keep down. Licking and sucking the ridiculous girth of his length gave the courier obscene satisfaction, that much was evident as she pulled back only to catch her breath. Marcus rewarded the courier's enthusiasm with low, hearty groans against her hole, unable to stop himself from bucking his hips up – merely a couple of inches, fortunately, as any more would've made Six choke.
The courier's deep breath fanned against the massive cock as she felt an intense climax building up once more. She wanted him to be inside her when it hit, but Marcus felt so good she wouldn't object to coming one more time... Eyes heavy-lidded, she tried to keep pleasuring her lover but the warmth spreading in her lower regions just felt too good too fast, her hips twitching involuntarily. Sensing this, Marcus focused on her clit. Feeling her thighs squeeze and jerk he grabbed a tight hold of her hips so she couldn't move away an inch.
The courier's thighs clenched Marcus' head like a vise, knowing it would bother him none. Squeezing the mutant's firm and warm shaft she cried out a string of gasps as another orgasm crashed over her, bucking her hips against Marcus' tongue in the shock of her climax.
As Six came down from her third orgasm of the night, she went back to giving the mutant's member a few more loving rubs, feeling a demanding pulse against her palm.
"'M ready, big guy" she panted, voice hoarse and wanting. Marcus let out a grunt against her clit, equally out of breath. Six left one more open-mouthed kiss on his tip before she raised her hips from the mutant's face and crawled over his cock, letting the incredible stiffness drag along her stomach as she proceeded towards the end of the bed. Marcus let go of her thighs and hissed when his sensitive length sprang back, big and hard enough to knock someone unconscious if used in inappropriate ways. As if this wasn't seen as inappropriate to some degree...
Knees digging into the mattress Six lowered her upper body onto the bed, between the mutant's open legs. Marcus' view was something else as he peered at her from behind his desperately swollen cock. This human woman's naked body, moving seductively, calling to him. Equally tempting were the wet, puffy folds that Six once more revealed as she offered herself, waist up high. She rested her head on the mattress and reached between her legs to rub relaxed, wide circles on her mons.
"So soon? You sure?" Marcus breathed, but got up on his elbows already.
Six let out a breathy laugh. 'So soon', 'you sure'... Marcus was always so careful while she, on the other hand, would've given her entire body to the gentle mutant to use however he pleased. Still, Marcus always double-checked as if Six would suddenly, finally, come to her senses and put a stop to this oh-so-decadent affair. Not that Marcus wasn't content with his mutant body or that he didn't enjoy the courier's lovely human frame, but he had the wits to be aware of how their unity was – mildly put – less than common.
But Six knew Marcus would never let harm come to her.
Encouraging her lover, Six reached out her other hand to grab one of the mutant's thick fingers and guided him as Marcus moved to kneel behind her. Warm palms fell to rest on both sides of her ass, moulding her skin. Stretching it. Revealing her. The courier sighed in anticipation.
"When am I not sure?"
"In cases when you shouldn't – often," Marcus hummed as he aligned himself with the much smaller human, raising her hips a bit. The mattress sank down under his knees enough to not make the position entirely impossible despite the ridiculous size difference. Six moaned quietly, impatient, pressing against the cock she had so lovingly coated with a layer of lubrication.
"Not with you."
Marcus had accepted this – to his own demise, much likely. Right now, he gave himself permission to forget. He pressed the wide tip of his cock in between the courier's folds, against her slippery hole. Giving her hip a last preparing caress with his thumb he slowly, carefully, began to slide in.
The courier's mouth fell open as she breathed out a moan into the quiet night.
"Marcus, I'm so sorry, I-I had no choice–" Trevor stuttered.
It dawned on the mutant much too late.
The helmet wearing guard raised his shotgun in a flash, aiming it straight at the merchant and Marcus. From behind the black visor, he responded to the distant high-pitched call with a tight, short whistle of his own.
Like a pack of tribals, one by one the rest of the raider group got up from their ambush spots up on the hills. There was little more than a handful of them, but considering every single one held a gun...
"Don't move." Muffled by the helmet the raider's voice was calm and collected – very unlike his buddy who nudged Six down from the back of the wagon, jumping out right after her. A push on her stomach with the shotgun's barrel was enough of a hint to make Six slowly raise her hands up, staring at the filthy looking raider into his wild eyes while she backed away one step at a time.
The twitchy raider had no apparent clan markings, no tattoos, no symbols or unique clothing. A vagabond, sticking to an unknown small-time gang looking to hit it big, the rest of which now pointed their guns at the courtyard. The wasteland was full of them – some got the power they craved, some were already amongst the rest of the bones that bleached under the Mojave sun.
The raider sniffed, agitated, and circled behind Six to shove her in the back to get her moving. She jerked forward, her hands held up on both sides of her head as she slowly walked towards the others, brows knit tight. Marcus' eyes met hers and she saw him nudge before the helmet wearing raider adjusted his grip on the shotgun as a warning.
The courier's 12.7mm was still in its holster. With the safety on and secured too far away from her hands, Six had no chance to retrieve it before she'd have to aim it without her head between her shoulders.
"Hold on..." The patchy-haired raider spun around, his head flicking through all of the armed mutants around the courtyard. His breathing huffed, equally tight and nervous as his expression as he turned to stare at his accomplice with the dark helmet. Something clearly wasn't right.
"What the fuck Caid, we were told there'd only be a couple of 'em!"
The raider with the helmet didn't respond to his partner in crime, but Six saw his head turn, as if assessing their surroundings. They hadn't expected such a numerous welcoming party. Not mutants, anyway. How was that possible?
"Someone told you wrong," Marcus said, catching what the raider meant. Six had never heard his voice this dark and serious. Still, Marcus had a knack to keeping his head cool in every situation. Even with someone's life on the line.
"Yeah? Yeah?!" the raider growled in reply. Six felt a hot pain as the shotgun's wooden grip bashed against the back of her head and made her jerk forward. Her vision hit black for a second, blinking made everything blur and double. After all sounds first muffled, her ears began to ring and pain rippled through her skull like it was being squeezed between a vise. With dots of light in her vision, vertigo took hold as she staggered on her feet. The only thing keeping the courier from falling to the ground was a rough yank around her throat as the raider caught her in a chokehold with his arm and forced her to stay upright.
Marcus couldn't help but to move forward out of instinct, but halted right as the ragged raider noticed him.
"Nah, you just stay right over there, mutie!"
"Gonna have a problem in your hands real soon if you keep that up," Marcus said, keeping his eyes tight on Six and her captor. He had to choose his words carefully. But there was no denying the group of raiders had made a huge mistake. All he needed to worry about were the humans.
The raider's nervousness spiked – out of fear or irritation, Six couldn't make out. She had trouble keeping on her feet, just tried to suck in breaths to remember to breathe through the pain rippling throughout her head. That one hit could spell worse than just a migraine. The raider let out a frustrated snarl in the courier's ear – Six felt his spit splatter against her ear.
"Which one of you's gonna show us that fat stack of Stealth Boys you're stashin' here, huh? We know you got 'em!"
Marcus stole his eyes away from Six only to turn them to look down at the merchant. Trevor slowly shook his head in shame, the genuine fear on his face clearly showing how he felt. Probably both because his life was or had been at stake, but also because there was a strong sense of trust between him and Marcus that was now at risk. And he couldn't face the mutant's heavy gaze any longer, moving to nervously swipe his face with his forearm.
"It wasn't me," he mumbled through his teeth. "Marcus, I swear on my life it wasn't me. They knew some- somehow, just took over and threatened to–"
"Hey shitstick, you shut the fuck up already, alright!" the raider holding Six yelled out. He was getting increasingly more on edge and made it very visible by squeezing the courier's throat tighter, so much that she coughed and instinctively shot up her hands to grab at the guy's arm.
"I swear– if we got lied to this ain't gonna end pretty!" Someone had told them about this place..? He emphasized his words by shoving the shotgun barrel against the courier's temple. Six bit down hard, well aware all of this was up to chance. To the raider's carelessness, comparable to a gust of wind.
"We're peaceful," Marcus said. But the look he gave to the raider told something different. "To a point."
"So are we. To a point," the raider behind the darkened visor parroted back, seemingly unbothered like this was a normal situation for him; not something he very well might die from. Marcus had found his match.
"Doesn't look peaceful to me." Marcus raised his eyes beyond the town walls, to a couple of raiders who sat up on the hills, pointing their guns at them. The raider switched to lean on his other leg. He seemed confident – almost foolishly so. But the fingers on the gun adjusted. A sign of readiness. He was alert enough, and as such, not impulsive like his accomplice.
"This will be if you do as we say. And we're saying: give us the goods or we'll see just how big of a bang a wagon full of dynamite makes." There it was. The backup to his confidence.
Six stared at Marcus, her eyes telling him to forget diplomacy as soon as he looked back. Fuck peace. Fuck them. Fuck everything, just attack.
Because if he didn't, they would.
"..Pumpkin?"
Lily had walked over to the pen gate, closing it behind her still in confusion as she glanced across the active scene.
"Lily, don't." Marcus' tone was tense, giving no room for negotiation though he knew very well it alone would not stop her from approaching. From reacting. The twitchy raider mumbled something incoherent before feeling the need to yell out again.
"You as well, don't fuckin' come closer y'hear me! Fuck, why's that one blue, huh?"
The courier's pained expression twitched, almost went slack for a second. The raider didn't know about nightkin.
Six was a finger's slip away from getting blown to bits – both by the shotgun and the wagon stocked full of explosives. The raider had no sense of self-preservation as the gun was pointed straight towards it; just a bit of flesh, bone and brain in between.
Since nothing was happening, no one was giving in, the raider decided to take matters into his own hands.
"So we'll start with her limbs first, 's that it?" he snapped as he grabbed the courier's other arm up and in front of her, then was going to point his shotgun at the elbow before he noticed something much more interesting.
"Ooh, what's this then?" Six felt him rip at the Pip-Boy wrapped around her wrist. "Fuck yes..." he whispered to himself in excitement, like he'd found something worth more than the Stealth Boys they seemed to be after. But it was more important to Six herself than it would ever be to someone else. She flinched, instinctively reaching her other hand towards the device to make him stop–
"Ah-ah! You keep your hand to yourself or I'll blow your fuckin' head off!" Back to the ultimate threat as the raider pushed the metal barrell against her head. Six's eyes flicked back to Marcus, then Lily. The nightkin had stopped a fair distance away, but the courier could already see her confusion turn into irritation merely by the way she stood, her fingers curled into fists. It couldn't be helped, no matter how Marcus tried to soothe her with carefully chosen words Six couldn't hear all the way to where she was being held.
The air was getting more tense by the minute. The super mutant guards scattered across the edges of the courtyard stood watch, some letting their stoic glares sweep the hills around them. A silent understanding was evident – why nobody had yet fired a shot. Any human's chances were slim, be it friend or foe.
"Shhhit– how do you even get this off–" the raider huffed as he tried to yank at the old world device with one hand.
Something broke and clattered. Six looked back down to stare in silent horror.
The raider had bludgeoned the Pip-Boy enough to rip open a plate and some cables. And maybe the worst of all was how Six saw the most vital addition of it hang out of the device, nearly pulled apart. The worn keycaps scattering off, rows separated almost clean from the middle.
Six nudged out of instinct as if she could still save it, but the raider pushed the cold metal tighter against her temple.
"What did I just fucking say!! That's it, I've had en– GHkk-!!"
It was a flash of all-encompassing emptiness that spread through the courier's entire body, then.
A fraction of a second was all it took for her to truly believe that the teeth-grinding gurgle came up from her very own throat. It was over, she'd come to the end of her journey here, in the hands of some unknown raider as if it was a cruel déjà vu scene from her past. She'd die, wide eyes staring at Marcus across the still too long distance–
But Marcus wasn't looking back at her. Above her.
The dry gritting and crackling only got louder and the courier was pried out of her void. She was still here, she saw everything. Felt the cold barrel of the shotgun: not pumping hot iron into her brain, no, but instead drop from her temple. Immediately after, something clattered to the ground at the very same time as her captor's grip released her. A sharp crackle behind her, like a split tooth. Multiple.
Six had been so paralyzed by the acceptance of death she slumped to the ground without the caging support, catching herself with her hands. She turned around, slowly, shock making her head turn like rusty gears.
"W-what the ff-fuck–" The raider with the motorcycle helmet had his feet stuck to the ground in horror, unable to move as he was now facing the courier. If he had been absolutely emotionless before, that was no longer the case by the sound of it. The grip on his shotgun was slowly getting slack, the barrel soon pointing at the ground.
The entire courtyard watched the twitchy raider get pulled up in the air by his head, an invisible force steadily holding the body that jerked and writhed in agony. His temples were being pushed inwards, sudden bleeding under the skin blotting his face with purple. His mouth jutted wide open in the bodiless grip that dislocated his jaw into a slant with a nauseating crackle. The eyes, they bulged in horror, turned upwards as if their last attempt was to see the very thing that would end him.
And it did. It ended him with a squeeze.
Six heard the crush, followed by a stomach-turning squelch, and watched as the raider's head collapsed inwards.
The limp and irreversably dead body fell to the ground with a heavy slump. Whatever was left of the guy's brain splattered to the ground, or lolled inside the broken bowl of his skull, or – as death above him incarnated from thin air into a tangible body – was still stuck to a massive, bloodied hand.
Keene's massive, bloodied hand.
The nightkin's eyes met Six from up high with such cruel calmness and coldness it was obvious he was made for this. For violence. Raw, unrestrained power. Six's breath faltered as she still collected herself to get it through her throbbing head that she was still alive – because of Keene. Of all things.
A breath of the cool wind, and the massive nightkin disappeared into thin air once more.
A shocked cry would be the last thing to wake Six up.
"Shit, forget it– fucking kill everyone!"
Just as the first shot from up in the hills hit the ground next to the courier's feet, so did an immense force scoop her up in the air.
"When were you gonna tell me about the injury," Marcus said totally out of the blue. They sat on a bench in the courtyard, side by side, the gap between them wide enough to not suggest unspoken intimacy.
It had been a day since Six had gotten back from her recent scavenging trip. The time spent apart had felt... unusual, for both.
The courier had gotten used to travelling for weeks without seeing a familiar face, it wasn't a challenge in the slightest. But now, something always felt missing whenever she extinguished the small campfire and laid down on her sleeping bag, a troubled frown between her brows when she closed her eyes under the stars. Longing had begun to replace the purifying feeling of total freedom.
The courier's heart gave an extra beat to that knowing tone. The jig was up – why she'd been avoiding getting too intimate with him. Six had a massive, sore bruise on her side and all she was certain of was that she hadn't broken any ribs. She hadn't wanted to worry Marcus for nothing, though, so she'd chosen to hide it, pretend she was just tired and wanted to relax and talk rather than spend the night together. But he must've seen a glimpse, or noticed her grimace when he'd touched her.
"I wasn't, 'cause it's nothing," she said plainly. There was no use lying, she knew that. Marcus let his gaze pan the courtyard.
"I see."
Marcus straightened his back like he was going to stretch, but instead spread his massive arm on the backrest behind his lover. He was just 'clumsy' enough to nudge Six on her side as he did. Six flinched visibly and grit her teeth, pushing air through them with a choked huff.
"Ow–!" Pain pulsed in her ribs and forced her to lean forward as she clutched her stomach. Wow, point taken, Marcus meant business. A mere nudge was bad enough to force her to collect herself. "No need– nh, to beat me up more," she coughed, brows knit in discomfort.
Marcus relaxed his arm behind the courier's back, on the backrest. To anyone else it looked like he was just getting comfortable. He wanted to touch her shoulder to say he was sorry, but chose to set his fingers around one of the wooden boards instead.
"Gonna show me this 'nothing'?" The mutant lowered his gaze on her. Marcus did feel bad for proving his point this way, but it wasn't going to kill her. Just like whatever had caused her the injury yet hadn't. The courier breathed for a second before she carefully rested back against the bench.
"Well– not here," she murmured with a frown and looked around a bit. It was cold and she didn't want to start taking her shirt off because the bruise was too big for just a little peek. That, and it hurt too much for her to be able to undress properly. The injury wasn't just 'nothing'. Six admitted her defeat. "Later."
Well, at least it meant she was willing to let the mutant close again. Marcus was content with that; not like he could undo the damage or judge the injury better than she could – he was no medic.
"Where'd you get it," he inquired. He had his usual suspicions.
Six was an okay liar to people who didn't know her; she had no trouble keeping her serious, flat expression when the situation required it – to survive. But the problem with letting someone close was that she couldn't hide herself anymore.
"Repconn." Six brushed some nonexistent snow off her knee before she carefully crossed her legs, lifting her gaze to the courtyard as the corner of her mouth twitched in pain. "Sentry," she specified, because that would've been the mutant's next question. "Wasn't even fully functional, just took a swing at me as it was booting up," she said and mimicked with a carefree handwave that majorly downplayed the true events. Another tell was that she used the hand on her healthy, pain-free side.
"Were you alone?" Marcus didn't know which was worse – her alone or with suicidally stupid company.
"'Course not. Bran took care of it – and saved me from much worse."
Marcus had conflicting feelings. He was forced to trust the courier's life to someone who was deadly careless and unreliable at worst, but jawdroppingly selfless and brave at the same time. With drugs stirring the pot. Marcus would have to make up his mind on whether he'd stop worrying altogether or continue to always anxiously wait if Six would come back to him alive. But risking your life and the lives of those closest to you was a part of the daily life in the wastes. Marcus made a sound, deep – just an acknowledgement.
"One day he might not." He turned to look at her. It was in no way meant to be a warning; only a reminder. Marcus wouldn't tell her what to do, who to travel with. But he would always tell her how he felt about it.
Her bruise was the result of a successful scavenging trip. All the danger, the thrill – for the Stealth Boys. To give everyone an excuse to not wonder why she and Marcus always hovered around each other. Six looked down at the snow for a moment before she turned her eyes back to the mutant. Her expression had softened.
"Nobody's forcing me to bring the Stealth Boy parts, y'know," she said.
Marcus' brow lowered. Serious, he looked back at her. That wasn't exactly true, but Six gave herself the permission to smooth out the bumps of the deal, just this once; to drive home her point. It wasn't the caps she wanted, anymore. Whatever, whoever, surrounded them in the courtyard at that point might as well have been nonexistent at that very moment, yet Six spoke softly.
"I can always quit."
Marcus sat dead still. Then he turned to look at the courtyard, took a very deep breath and exhaled like the air had weight. He was afraid 'quitting' was out of the question, now. This had gone on for too long.
He should've never let this deal be made in the first place.
"Could just come to visit." Six almost didn't go on. Then she remembered she could. She could be vulnerable. "To see you."
Marcus didn't have an answer to give. If he agreed, Keene might go off and bring down Jacobstown with him. If he didn't, Six would continue to bring herself in harm's way. And this was not the time or place to think about it – the courier was injured and they were in the middle of the courtyard. Later, as she'd put it.
"If only you'd visit without the wounds and bruises," the mutant finally said. With that, Marcus saw an opportunity to switch the subject, his expression clearing a little. "Have I ever told you about how Jacob and I used to fight?"
The courier's mouth moved a little, her teeth grazing the inner part of her lower lip. She had half-expected Marcus to agree – maybe not off the bat, but she had wanted him to at least react positively. He was hesitant with the way they should present themselves, that was clear and she didn't mind that. It didn't stop her from feeling a slight jab at the way he sometimes restrained the way she would've given him all of what she was. It was an old habit, sure, but she felt Marcus was finally the one to not betray her trust.
"Some bits." Six knew how they'd travelled together, but not much beyond that. Jacob had made Marcus see another way – after some scuffling, or so she'd understood.
"That guy could take a punch. Like you." The corner of his mouth curved a little as Marcus huffed to himself. Six looked at him with a warm smile as he began to tell his story.
At the same time, something stirred nearby; a deep rumbling sound, barely audible.
Six glanced over her shoulder but saw nothing. The area was quiet, only the wind blew gently on the trees, and bighorners scraped at the ground in their pen. She tried to listen, but the sound was disturbed by everything else around them. Six didn't notice how Marcus had stopped talking for a moment until his voice faintly called her name. But the words fell on deaf ears as Six zoned in on the sound.
"You alright?" But the courier kept her eyes on the snowy courtyard, brows furrowing. It had almost sounded... like–
Six noticed the air fibrillate in the corner of a nearby lodge just as something touched her shoulder.
"Hey."
Six got startled out of her distracted state and turned back to look at Marcus. The mutant had laid his palm on the courier's shoulder, his large thumb brushing against the side of her neck. A subtle display of intimacy, only for a fleeting moment before his hand already retreated. He tilted his head a bit as he examined the human's expression.
"Tell it to me straight: I'm boring you," he smiled, half of him believing it to actually be true.
"Oh c'mon," Six gave him a breathy laugh. "No, I just uhh..." She shook her head, not quite catching on to the feeling she had just had.
She peeked over her shoulder for a glimpse of whatever she thought she had seen, but whatever it was, it was now gone. Only the wind, now, blowing some snow off the tree branches, the white powder falling on where she'd been focusing her eyes on. Six felt a shiver go up her neck.
"Never mind."