Chapter Text
Builder PoV:
I finally finished preparing the bait I was asked for, I can’t deny Ged's a weird...mole, but he actually helped us made some progress on the whole Logan shit, not that I was complaining. I was…weirdly into Logan. The moment I saw those wanted posters, I found myself wondering what he would be like.
I asked myself about him, what was his story? what happened to him? How could a bandit look that good? And damn if I didn't cringe a little at that last thought...but it was what it was, I liked Logan, especially after Elsie, Mi-an, and I went digging into his old home. Something felt off about the whole situation, and I couldn’t shake the feeling.
Anyway, I had work to do, Justice would've been near the water tower around that time. It was time to get on with it. The sun was only just prying over the horizon as I made my way to him, my mouth tasted like sand and worry, and my heart had already started beating abnormally.
“Mornin’, pardner,” Justice said cheerfully, greeting me before I could greet him.
Has he always been this upbeat? Or was I just overly tired and cranky? I wondered.
“Mornin’, Justice. I’ve got the bait ready. Let’s go chase this goat.”
“This is the stuff, Mari! With this, hopefully we can lure out Logan’s goat and follow it back to its hideout… could get messy. You ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I said, no turning back now.No matter what.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't expecting this new confrontation. I knew Logan was a good fighter. Him getting the upper hand that last time when he took the Minister just pissed me off, I didn’t even get a chance to fight him, so I was itching to actually fight him next time, and maybe, just maybe, win or do some real damag. I had relentlessly prepared for it, ignoring all the confusion in my head.
“Alright, pardner. I’ll round up the gang. We’ll meet at the location Ged told us about. Bring the bait. CIVIL CORPS, OUT!”
This was going to be a long fucking day, wasn't it? I asked myself. I was already exhausted and annoyed for some reason I didn't even understand. Maybe a little bit on edge too...if this led to him...well, I didn't know what was going to happen. I just knew, I wouldn't let him get away.
A while later, when everything and everyone was ready, we rode out into the Valley of Whispers, a dry, dusty stretch where the wind whispered through brittle grasses and rattled the sparse trees. It was just adjacent to the Badlands. Once there, we worked fast and efficiently, and set the bait.
“Now we play the waiting game,” Justice muttered as we finished.
Really, man? I thought to myself as I slightly rolled my eyes.
We had to just stand there and wait, which was, let's just say, not the best use of our time. But it's not like we had a choice, did we? We waited for a while, actual hours went by, and everyone was getting anxious, ready to leave already, when, out of nowhere, the damn goat actually appeared.
“How about that?” I whispered, surprised this actually worked. Here I thought this was a ridiculous plan, by a weird mole,but color me surprised. Damn.
The goat went straight to the bait, just like he thought it would. Justice and Unsuur tried to surround it, but it noticed.
“It’s seen us!" Justice shouted" It’s making a run for it. Follow the goat!!”
We mounted our horses immediately and chased after it at full speed. Justice and Unsuur were up ahead, and I followed closely behind.
Just as we entered deep into the Badlands, the goat’s saddlebag flung open, releasing several bombs that didn’t explode on the goat itself but seemed to home in on whoever chased it. They startled Justice’s and Unsuur’s horses, sending both riders tumbling to the ground. I saw them fall and hesitated, I wanted to stop and help, but Justice yelled for me to keep going, claiming they were fine, so I did as ordered and pushed forward into the Badlands, heading toward a cliff.
I saw the goat just ahead, then suddenly, it stopped and leapt straight into the canyon, a hot, metallic tang filled the air, adrenaline making my teeth chatter as I yanked my reins to keep us from going over the edge, but the horse halted so abruptly that I was thrown forward, and over. I could hear Justice and Unsuur yelling my name as I fell, and braced myself for impact, hoping for a quick demise if it had to happen, but it never came. Instead, I landed hard, but not on the ground, something besides the ground had broken my fall.
I landed on the goat. The GOAT. What kind of absurd cosmic joke was this? This was like a fever dream or something. Maybe I died or hit my head, and this was just a hallucination, I thought to myself.
Then, like it was some sort of bus, it literally carried me into some kind of weird underground hideout.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS PLACE?” I shouted, to no one in particular, probably a stupid choice, giving away my position, but I was overwhelmed by all of it and rusty. The old me would've known not to do that, but it was already too late to think about that. I had to get my head in the game.
"If that goat came directly in here, then this was definitely where Logan and Haru were hiding" I muttered to myself as I thought about what I needed to do. There was no turning back now. No way to go back up. I ran once more into danger, even after everything I've been through I still jumped headfirst. When will I learn? Damn it.
"No time for regrets, I can't do anything about it now, time to get on with it, Mari" I told myself.
The place was surreal, like something out of one of Catori’s theme park pitches, weird attractions all around, bizarre setups, and bombs, so many damn bombs. Sneaky ones, too, some even seemed to track you down before exploding, like the ones that jumped Unsuur and Justice. I avoided most of them, not all, so, I had to stop and use some of Fang’s medicine and bandages. My hands started shaking all of a sudden, the smell of blood bringing up unpleasant memories that I had to push down as I wrapped the last strip of cloth.
After tending my wounds, I kept going and eventually made it out of that part of the madhouse, running into what looked like a small lab. The place was filled with odd gadgets and tools, so I crept in, trying to remain quiet, but there was someone already there. He was standing across the room, tinkering with something.
Even though I’d been careful, he turned around as if he’d been expecting me.
“So, you really did show up,” he said, it was Haru, one of Logan's gang members.
Were they expecting me? Before I could finish thinking of a plan, he threw a bomb my way. I leapt out of the way just in time.
As I moved to his level, more machines sprang to life, launching explosives across the room. I had to change tactics fast; I made my plan quickly. I had to destroy all three bomb-launchers on the level before I could engage with him, so I took out my weapons and did as best as I could. Using the bombs they threw around and my tools I managed to destroy the machines. There was a fourth machine up above, but I couldn’t reach it, so I moved on. I had no choice.
It was now time to face Haru, he was the smart one, according to everyone in town, so I needed to be alert for more traps. I engaged quickly, before he could do more damage. He didn’t fight hand-to-hand. He was slower than me but had a large supply of explosives. If I wanted to survive him, I had to learn how to dodge, and fast, also despite his speed, the guy jumped like he weighed nothing.
We fought hard and for a long while, my adrenaline already threatening to abandon me, until I caught him off guard and had him flat on his back. I made my way to him, ready to arrest him, when he threw one last small bomb at me. I leaped, avoiding it and he got up and ran into the other room immediately.
“I’m done with this,” he muttered, as he ran off.
“Logan, get ready!” he shouted.
Was it a trap? Probably, but my feet were already moving, chasing him before I could think twice.
As I ran inside, I saw him, seated on a yakboy throne like something out of an old-world drama.
Logan.
He looked as imposing as ever…confident. He was definitely trying to intimidate me. Everything about him was a direct contrast to Haru, and still, I wasn't intimidated or scared. I was waiting for this fight. Fighting was the only thing I truly missed from my old life. And I knew he was a good opponent.
“Builder! We finally meet face to face. Heard you’re Corps now" he said, looking directly at me. I grinned at his provocation "So, you’ve come for my head?” He stood up slowly, towering over the throne. “Well, I ain’t gonna make it easy for ya.”
“Logan, this builder’s tough. I think…” Haru warned.
“It’s okay. Stay outta this one, Haru,” Logan said, cutting him off.
“Fine,” Haru grumbled and stepped back.
“DRAW!” Logan shouted, but I was already sprinting toward him, keeping my eye on Haru too. I managed to catch him off guard. I slashed my daggers toward him. Not trying to kill, but I did want to stop him. He dodged just in time, fast as lightning. If I was going to beat him, I couldn’t think, I had to act.
He taunted me constantly, daring me to prove I was everything the town said I was, and weirdly… I wasn’t afraid, the more he taunted, the more fired up I got. His words lit that old fire in me. I wanted to win. I needed to.
He fought extremely fast, every move pushed me further, harder. I managed to throw one punch and knocked him off balance, I thought I had him, but he recovered quickly and pushed back.
After that, it was like a dance of blades, metal to metal. Every strike perfectly matched and damn if I didn't smile with every single one of them, like a real maniac. It felt, electric. We both charged one last time, daggers drawn, ready to finish it when something shifted, the space between us disappeared. We collided mid-lunge daggers clashing with a loud clang, but our bodies were too close to ignore. His chest brushed mine, no, pressed against mine and my breath hitched. I could feel his heartbeat hammering against me, feel the heat radiating off him, and my hands gripped my daggers tighter, though for a second, I almost didn’t care about the fight, and had to snap myself out of it.
We both took a subtle step back, just enough to give space for our weapons as we reset, both breathing hard before the fight surged forward again, faster, sharper, hit matching hit, until we were stopped.
“I think that’s enough!” someone shouted as they entered my field of vision and I froze, thinking I recognized the voice, my blade inches from his chest.
“Yeah, I’ve seen enough too, we picked the right person, Grace.” he said, looking directly at me and then turning around
I spun toward the voice.
“Picked? Grace? What the hell is going on?!”
My head was spinning; I could barely process what I was seeing or hearing. I held my daggers, unsure if she was the enemy too.
“Let’s talk,” Grace said calmly, pushing them down slowly.
"Grace! What are you doing here? And what the hell you mean let’s talk?!” I snapped, still catching my breath from the fight.
“Apologies, Mari. I had no choice but to hide my identity, I’ve been working with Logan all along.”
"What does this even mean?" I asked
“You passed, that’s what this means,” Grace said, not even flinching.
“Passed what?!”
"Our test, I'll explain in a moment. Look, I followed you inside" she sighed "I know this is a lot, but you’ve got to trust us. We’re not the bad guys here. We’re trying to protect Sandrock…and we need your help to do it.”
“I knew Logan wasn’t a bad guy!” I shouted before I could stop myself. Didn't even bother asking for information before my brain decided to stop working.
Wow, priorities, I scolded myself.
Logan stared at me and then shouted. “I like this builder already!.” taking me by surprise.
Grace looked at us like we were both idiots.
“Get on with it!” she snapped.
Logan cleared his throat and launched into the full story, he explained most of it. Including their plan to jack the train, a terrible, messy, hole-ridden plan that only worked by pure chance. He spoke quickly at first, then slowed down a bit when he saw how much information he was giving me at the same time.
“If it hadn’t worked, you’d be bandits for life,” Grace interrupted.
“Well, it did work,” Logan replied. “I don’t care about my name. I just want answers. I want to know what really happened to my Pa out there?" he was pensive for a moment "My only regret is draggin Haru…and now the builder into this mess.”
“I’m in this as much as you are,” Haru added. “I never regretted helping you, Logan. Or Howlett. Luckily, Grace found us, and now we’ve got a real motive.”
Grace stepped forward.
“Look, I’m not an archaeology student. I’m an ACI agent" she said as she showed me her credentials " I'm undercover in Sandrock.”
It looked real, I’d seen enough of them to know. Heck, I used to carry one before I got discharged.
“There’s a Duvos spy in Sandrock. They’re planning something big. And I believe we can trust you, Mari.”
“Why me?” I asked. Did she know about my past? Did they?. Did he?...
“I’ve been observing the town" she said "You’re one of the good ones, talented, loyal. You didn’t give up on Logan. You’ve put your life on the line more than once...I also know about your past, and you're the kind of person we need.”
She seemed to mean it...but we'll see.
“But what about the water tower? Why blow it up if you’re trying to help Sandrock?” I asked. If I was going to decide I needed to know it all.
“That was Pen!” Logan said, angry “Pretty sure he’s the real threat, he blamed the explosion on me.”
“He’s bad news,” Grace added.
"Fine, then what about Matilda's abduction?"
"We had to know for sure if the people at the church were involved" Logan answered "I went after Matilda, tried to get answers…we got nothin. Y'all showed up too soon,”
"It wasn't a completely wasted effort, she ordered an investigation, and the water tower numbers didn’t add up. Had to be someone in the Church, they’re the ones managing it all. I found out Yan built the storage beneath the temple,” Grace said. "That’s probably where they’re storing the stolen water, so I broke into his house and found the original blueprints and the plans for a hidden door.”
“But we couldn’t open the lock! We need a builder. We need ya!,” Logan exclaimed, staring at me with those damn blue eyes.
I stared back, like I was under a fucking spell or something.
Focus, Mari, focus! I told myself. Sandrock is in danger, just stop drooling over his eyes! I had to quickly force myself to look away in order to clear my thoughts. This was not the time for my brain to be behaving like that, damn it. I closed my eyes for a breath and felt the gravity of the ask settle, it was a dangerous plea.
In an effort to move on and center myself, I decided to keep going and asked about Andy. They told me how they’d found him alone in the desert, took him in, made him part of their family. No wonder he’d been devastated when they pushed him out. Even if it was for his own safety, it had hurt him deeply.
Now, one last question, the hardest one, I was already dreading it, but I needed to know.
“I'm sorry, but I need to know...what really happened to Howlett?” I asked.
Logan’s face fell. The sadness in his eyes was so raw it nearly knocked the air out of me. He explained it all. It seemed honest, it all sounded like a tragic accident. He sounded heartbreakingly honest, after that, there was a silence, heavy, honest.
“I don’t have any more questions,” I said softly after that.
Grace nodded. “Before you decide, know this: we’re going against Duvos...It’s dangerous. We’ll protect you as best we can, but we can’t guarantee your safety. That's the reason why we tested you here...we needed to know you can hold your own, and now we need to know if we can we count on you?”
The three of them looked at me, waiting for my answer.
And well…I can't really stop myself, always jumping into danger, headfirst, open hearted like an idiot, specially when Duvos was involved. I felt the need to stop them whenever I could, no matter what.
“Fuck, yes!.” I blurted.
They looked stunned by my enthusiasm.
“Perfect. Thank you for trusting us,” Grace said, smiling.
“Oh, yeah,” Logan said, though it came out weirdly flat, like he’d meant to sound cool but didn’t quite land it.
“We’ll be counting on you, Builder Mari,” Haru added.
Their faces looked tired, but relieved and hopeful now; it felt like the beginning of a terrible but necessary thing.
Grace then proceeded to explain the locking mechanism in detail, something about a diagram that the idiot Yan kept hidden in his house. Probably meant to use it as a bargaining chip if the whole thing blew up.
“It'll take some time, a lot of time, but leave it to me,” I told her.
“Great, we can stick around for a bit, but we should return to town before people get suspicious,” she said. “Go past Andy’s old room when you're ready to leave.”
Before heading out, I stopped her.
"So, thanks for trusting me, Grace, I'll do my best"
"You already are...and you know, I do know almost everything about you, glad to have you out of retirement again, even after everything you've been through"
"Yeah...it's like I can't help it, regardless of what's happened, like a crazy person"
"I like your kind of crazy; we'll work good together, I'll have your back" she said, trying to reassure me.
"Well, thanks, then, I'm counting on all of you"
"Perfect, we count on you too" she said as she started walking away "I'll be leaving now, and you know, let’s keep all this between pals, yeah?”
“Sure,” I replied with a knowing smile.
I turned to Haru. “Builder, Mari…I’m sorry we pulled you in like this. I wish there had been another way.”
“It’s fine, Haru, anything I can do to help. No real harm done, it's nice to finally meet you, man. People talk a lot about you in town...I must say, those bombs of yours are no joke, they can do some real damage, and you made those in here?" I genuinely meant it and his bombs definitely piqued my interest as a builder and lover of shit that blows up.
"Yeah...sorry about that"
"No, I'm not saying it's a bad thing, seems you have some talent for it...anyway, sorry, that's the builder in me talking."
"Oh...well, thanks? I do love chemistry, science, and building"
"Nice, well, you really seem good with it."
"Yeah...well, thanks."
"Sure, nice knowing a little about you even under these circumstances. Well, I'm gonna go now" I told him as I waved and started to walk away.
"You too..." he said, lowly.
Then I noticed Logan. He was standing near the canyon opening, lost in thought. His posture heavy with something unsaid. I considered leaving quietly but decided against it. We were going to be working together. Fighting together. The least I could do was talk to him.
I walked over, but surprisingly, he addressed me first.
“Builder, you’re one of us bandits now. How’re ya feelin’?” he asked.
“It’s Mari." I corrected. I never much liked when they just called me builder, like I had no identity outside of that "And I feel good, I just want to protect Sandrock.” The truth. I love the people in Sandrock, I love the town.
He looked at me, really looked at me and then nodded.
“Ya took to the town like a sandfish to quicksand. Makes me proud to see an outsider like yourself come and find kinship with the land I love. Lotta fair-weather folks turn tail when the goin gets tough, but not ya. They really threw us a bone, sendin someone like yourself. Finally, a little luck for our small town “
That was… sweet. way too sweet. Why did he have to go and be a smooth talker too?. I stared a second too long. He did the same. The silence stretched between us, heavy and charged.
Suddenly, his eyes flicked down, catching the dim cave light just right, and they went slowly over me like a hand, then, after, flicked back to my eyes. Just that glance sent a rush of heat crawling up my neck, prickling like sun on bare skin. I felt the heat on my face and had to force myself to speak.
“Logan… from what I hear, your Pa was a good man. The town still thinks so, and they still love you. They just… don’t understand.”
“Ya been askin’ around?” he said with a raised brow. “Thanks for sayin that, yeah, he was. Never shot anythin that didn’t need shootin. Always put the town ahead of himself. From the time I could walk, I wanted to follow his footsteps." He paused as if trying to hold back feelings, then cleared his throat.
"He taught me everythin I know" he continued "How to fight, how to hunt, how to be a decent man…And now, I’ll never get a chance to repay the favor”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up something painful.”
“No, it’s alright" he said "I like talking about him. And it’s good to know the townsfolk still talk about him…and me, without hate.”
“They do! Elsie never gave up on you. She’s gonna be so happy when she finds out the truth, FUCK!”
Logan chuckled softly at my use of “fuck” and then pretended it was a cough.
“That’s good to know. Elsie’s a good one.”
“Yeah… and I believe you are too.” I said, and somehow, I meant it, even though we'd just met. Maybe it was my gut telling me he was.
I could feel his gaze still on me, but I refused to look back at him. I was going crazy already. If I looked, I’d rip off that mask and kiss his stupid bandit face. First it was the face, the eyes, and now that voice, ugh. The voice, the damn accent, the drawl. For fucks sake, I needed to focus. I wondered what was wrong with me. Why now of all times?
"By the way,” I said, scrambling to change the subject, before got myself overheated “Now that I see this goat here, I’m reminded, the other one out there is so damn smart.He really played his part well on this ridiculous plan”
He laughed suddenly, like he agreed.
“Ridiculous it was...and yeah...he's as smart as he is stubborn. Rambo’s the brains, Merle’s here's the hothead. Both of ‘em take after Haru more than me. Haru’s always teachin’ them new tricks. Back when Andy was around, we used to train ‘em together.”
He paused. “Heh… look at me ramblin’.”
“It’s okay. I ramble all the time too.” I laughed nervously. “So yeah… that’s fine.”
“Good to know. You’re an interestin’ person, if I may say so myself.”
“ Ha!… well, maybe you won’t think that. You’ll probably say I’m weird once you find out I fell in love with you the moment I saw your wanted poster, and then I saw you after the water tower and you looked even better. I was…”
Oh no!. Fuck, I blurted without thinking. My hands flew to my mouth. Oh no. Oh NO.
Logan stared at me, blinking slowly. “Huh? But we’ve only just…”
He paused, clearly flustered. “Let’s… let’s save anything like that for after the mission.”
“Yeah. I’m gonna go now,” I said quickly, trying to not embarass myself further, but at the same time, I was weirdly not too ashamed that I said it.
He nodded.
“I think we’ve made ourselves clear,” Logan added. “If you’ve still got doubts, I don’t know what else we can do. But I’ll do anything to earn your trust.”
He looked toward the exit. “We’ll stick around here for a bit, but we gotta keep movin’. Be seein’ ya...darlin’.”
My brain got stuck on that darlin’...Why did he have to say that like that? My face betrayed me, I could feel the violent heat on my cheeks. I turned away before he could see how red I probably was, but I could still feel his eyes on me, so, I just moved toward the exit.
At the last moment, I decided to follow an impulse. I looked back, flashed my biggest smile, blew him a kiss, and said:
“ See you, yakboy.”
And then, I walked away. I cringed a little at myself, but I was also proud. I didn't care if he knew I liked him. Yeah, it may have seen crazy or ridiculous, but it was the truth. I don't run from my feelings, not anymore. When I have feelings, people will know..., and even though I kept people at arm's length for some time, my feelings were always in the open...Plus, I didn't want to keep him at arm's length or keep my feelings from him., even though we'd just met.
For a short moment, I let myself smile, small, private and felt lighter for it, like a weight had shifted in my chest, after all that, I finally made my way outside, found Rambo and rode back to town without a problem.
As I rode there, he was the only thing my mind.
Fuck.
He was in there already...Logan, what the hell have you done to me? I was out here acting like a full-on fangirl, a Logan groupie. What's wrong with me?
The ride back had a weird aftertaste of triumph and exhaustion, every bump in the trail pulling me out of my own head, even so, that exasperation stayed with me until I got back in town. Somehow, they were already giving a funeral speech after just a few hours, which was kind of crazy, but at the same time, so Sandrock. I walked into town, and everyone stared, stunned, but they actually let me be after I made up some story about my accident. Owen was the first to recover and invited everyone to celebrate with Grace’s “funeral omelets.”
I looked around and saw Fang there, so unusual of Him, so I immediately went to him. He was my best friend in this town, and it had taken so much work to get him to open up, when I saw him, I could tell he had cried, even though he tried to act like he didn't, but when our eyes met, I saw relief. He pulled me into a hug, we didn’t have to say much. He was just happy I was back.
Grace and I pretended we hadn’t just seen each other, she gave a convincing performance, mourning my 'demise'
Pen approached me too, he was as concerned as Pen can be, but something about what he said regarding the bandits made my stomach turn, something about his voice when he said it just felt wrong. I’d have to keep an eye on him.
Justice was the hardest, because he apologized again and again...I had to lie to him, which hurt, because he trusted me with his life, and I trusted him with mine, but this mission… it was important.
After that, I talked to almost everyone, their grief had been real. It broke my heart to make them feel that way even if it was temporary, they had embraced me like one of their own already.
This town… was my home now. And I would fight for it.
As I walked home, I turned one last time to look back at Sandrock, at the people gathering under the lights of the Blue Moon.
“I will protect them,” I whispered to myself.
Then I paused and added: “I will fight with him...for him, and help him get his town back…