#OC au: Fallout

[callsignbaphomet]

Something cute and wholesome with Loke and Uthorim. I reeeeeaaaaally hope I did Uth some justice and portrayed him correctly. It's always nerve-racking to write someone else's character but goddamn is it not a fun experience.

TWs: None.

It was automatic by now, Uthorim would wake up and the first thing he would do is stretch his arms to gently place them on Loke. On a shoulder, thigh, chest or midsection, as long as there was some contact he would leave his hand on him. Loke was usually warm to the touch which was a soothing contrast to some of the cold nights and despite all the scars and how worn and beat down he was for his age he felt soft. Uthorim softly inhaled as the light from the rising sun peeked through the tattered curtains. Before he even opened his eyes he turned over and gently dropped his hand on where he thought Loke’s thighs would be. His smile quickly dissipated when his palm touched the cold sheets. He quickly opened his eyes and found Loke’s side of the bed empty, while disappointed he figured Loke had woken up and couldn’t go back to sleep so he got up. Uthorim decided to do the same and get started on breakfast though before he did he looked all over the cabin for Loke. When he didn’t find him in the cabin he figured Loke had gone out to hunt down some radstags or check to see if the traps had caught any fish. The nearby river was surprisingly low on radioactivity and the critters swimming within those waters seemed safe to eat.

After Uthorim washed up and made breakfast he noticed Loke hadn’t returned yet. A sharp pain slowly made itself known in the pit of his stomach when the thought of Loke having run off again quickly flashed through his mind. Before panic could set in he went back into the bedroom and found all of Loke’s things neatly tucked in the corner. As he exhaled in relief he leaned on the door frame. All those weeks without him felt like something reached inside of him and ripped everything out, he couldn’t go through that again, not after he found him again and vowed never to leave his side no matter what. Once he calmed down he grabbed his jacket and decided to look for him. He knew Loke was capable and his parents had trained him well but his right knee and shoulder were in pretty bad shape, going out to hunt on his own was a bad idea so Uthorim wanted to help him out in any way he could.

As soon as Uthorim opened the door he was stunned to see Loke sitting on the wooden swing that hung from the large tree in front of the cabin. When Uthorim first got to the cabin that swing was broken but out of boredom he decided to fix it as the mere sight of it gave him a delightful sense of whimsy he hadn’t felt since he first met Loke.

“Honey? What are you doing out here? It’s freezing.” Uthorim said as he made his way towards Loke.

Loke didn’t answer. He just kept his head down while his hands loosely gripped the rope. He wasn’t even swinging on the swing, he was just sitting on it.

“Loke? Baby, are you okay?”

“Couldn’t sleep.” Loke finally answered in a croaky tone as he kept his head down.

“It’s okay.” Uthorim crouched in front of Loke and gently tucked some of his hair behind his ear to get a better look at his face. Loke’s eyes were puffy and red as if he’d been crying. His pale green eyes avoided Uthorim but as soon as Uthorim placed his hand on Loke’s chin and slowly caressed his cheek with his thumb Loke looked at him and closed his eyes while leaning towards him. A thin stream of tears trickled down his cheeks. Loke opened his eyes again and looked right into Uthorim’s. His eyes looked so worn down and tired that for a second Uthorim thought Loke was going to faint right then and there.

As Uthorim opened his mouth to say something he noticed the sleeves of Loke’s jacket had fresh blood on them. A wave of panic washed over him and he quickly unzipped his jacket. Uthorim was horrified to find his shirt drenched in blood, he then noticed there was blood on the lower parts of his pants and on his boots. Uthorim lifted his shirt to check him for injuries but Loke grabbed Uthorim’s hands and in a monotone and low voice said, “It’s not mine.”

Confused and concerned Uthorim looked up at Loke and waited for him to clarify.

“It’s his.” Loke said as he pointed behind him.

Uthorim stood up and looked towards the direction Loke was pointing to. Several yards away the mangled and torn remains of a body sat up against a tree. He couldn’t see the details and preferred not to but by the looks of it it looked like a yao guai tore the person apart. Uthorim looked around in case whatever did that was still around but then knelt in front of Loke.

“What happened to them?”

Loke looked at Uthorim with a deadpan look on his face. He was devoid of any emotion which made what he said next almost terrifying, “Me.”

“Babe, what happened? Who were they?”

“Woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t go back to sleep. Had a dream that made me feel just really out of it. Think I didn’t wanna go back to sleep in case it came back, you know? Tossed and turned for a while but I got out and went for a walk. Kept walking and walking until I saw this other cabin further west, didn’t really think nothing of it until I saw a man sitting on the porch brooming it. I kept my distance in case he felt threatened enough to shoot first and then ask who the fuck I was. Never know how tweaked people are out here.”

“Smart, people tend to act out of fear.”

“Yeah. Thing is I had this gnawing feeling just eating away at me so I looked at him again and I recognized his face and this overwhelming burning sensation just took over. This was rage unlike any I ever felt before in my life. Without thinking I just walked up to him and as soon as he saw me he instantly recognized me. Bitch actually had the nerve to apologize to me for what he did. Like apologizing to me would take back what he and his friends did to…” Loke swallowed hard and took a deep breath as he tried to compose himself.

“Did what?” Uthorim asked with concern in his voice, “To you?” His tone turned stern as he grabbed Loke’s arms. The thought of anyone hurting Loke sent Uthorim into overdrive.

Loke couldn’t bring himself to answer. He wished what happened had been done to him instead. He would’ve switched places even if it meant carrying around more trauma, though he’d simply do what he does with his trauma: swallow it and pretend it isn’t even there. Anything to have spared a minor from experiencing something so horrific and cruel. Uthorim could feel as Loke began to shake and saw that he was visibly uncomfortable which made him all the more worried.

“Honey, talk to me, please. What did they do to you?”

“That caravan we traveled with hired a group of mercenaries to get them up north but they made everyone uncomfortable. Most of the time they were drunk and high off whatever they had, and could barely shoot straight. Spent almost every night shooting into the air and being loud enough to draw unwanted attention to the caravan. From the second Jela and I joined the caravan one of ‘em was eyeing Jela and tried to get close to him but I shot that shit down as soon as I noticed it. Told him he’s a minor, he told me to fuck off so I threatened to curbstomp him. Sometime later Jelani told them to fuck off with their bullshit ‘cause they were scaring some of the people. Then sometime after that happened the caravan lead came to us with a proposition: he’d pay those guys for their services and then tell ‘em to fuck off and hire us to take them as far north as we were comfortable with. We agreed and they left after making a scene and throwing threats around.”

Loke paused for a moment. He wasn’t sure how to navigate around the subject, especially without Jelani’s consent. He remembered how horrified Jelani felt when he found out other people aside from Loke knew what happened to him.

“A week later I woke up and Jelani wasn’t at the camp, he wasn’t anywhere. A few people from the camp and I went out looking for him and after almost two hours Dagny came running up to me. Her mouth was shut with duct tape but Jelani wasn’t with her. I panicked and got her to take me to him. Found him in some old run down house two miles from the camp. He was in the basement beaten and…” Loke knew he could trust Uthorim but remembering how he found him that morning was something that would haunt him for the rest of his life and the less he thought of it the better though he knew he couldn’t just ignore what happened. It hadn’t happened to him so ignoring it wasn’t an option.

“That asshole,” Loke pointed to the body, “and the others came back, grabbed him in the middle of the night, beat the fuck out of him and…when I found him I thought he was dead. There was so much blood and he was covered in bruises…found him with his jeans down to his knees and a lot of blood down his thighs.”

Uthorim circled the words Loke had said in his head for a bit, they felt heavy and rancid but the more he thought on what Loke had just told him the more his brows furrowed as he realized what Loke had just told him.

“No.” It was all Uthorim could muster as he understood what Loke was trying to tell him in a subtle way. Uthorim looked back at the body and understood why Loke had torn him up the way he did but part of him thought he’d gotten off easy. He felt the same way Loke did, apologizing to Loke instead of his actual victim, and after the fact as well, felt like an insult. Had Uthorim known and had he been there when Loke was tearing into that man he would’ve gladly helped. No one deserves to be subjected to such a brutality but he felt it was twice as brutal since it happened to a seventeen-year-old kid, to his family. What was worse was that Jelani wasn’t there, the need to hug him was overwhelming. Sure, it wouldn’t take back what happened to him and it sure as shit wouldn’t make him forget it happened or probably make him feel better but it was Uthorim’s way of letting him know he was there for him. Jelani’s absence felt all the more rotten now that he knew what had happened to him and why Loke was so worried about him.

“That shit happened to him because of me. Every choice I’ve made has been a mistake and he ends up paying for it.” Loke lamented as he began to cry.

“What? No! No, baby. It wasn’t your fault. They did that to him.” Uthorim pointed at the body with one hand while he used the other to lift Loke’s face so he could look at him to make sure Loke knew he was being truthful. “You have done everything you could to take care of him, you’ve put your own needs aside to make sure his needs didn’t go unanswered. You chose to risk your life so he could live. Not many people would do that. You’re an impossibility, my love, no seventeen-year-old kid who just lost his parents would’ve made it this far and in one piece much less with a two-year-old toddler.”

“Uth, look what happened to him. He was raped under my watch! I failed to keep him safe!”

“That doesn’t mean it was your fault and you didn’t fail him. Shit’s always gonna happen but it’s what we do after it happens that determines whether we failed our loved ones or not. You took care of him after it happened, I wasn’t there to see it but I know you, the second you found him you did everything you could to make sure his injuries were taken care of and you were right there with him to see to any and all physiological and emotional injuries too. I know you, I know what kind of person you are, I saw it the night we met at the fort. You were freezing because you gave all the blankets to Jelani, you didn’t leave his side for one second even though you were starving, you didn’t get any rest despite the fact that you hadn’t slept in days to make sure his fever didn’t come back. You were sick too but you didn’t say anything so the doctor’s attention was fully on Jelani. The love you have for your kid? I’d never seen dedication like that in my life. I think I fell in love with you that night. Everyone’s too busy taking and getting but hardly anyone gives of themselves like you do.”

Loke had no idea how to respond to that, he was overwhelmed by what he was feeling and what Uthorim was saying. There was truth to his words but the amount of guilt Loke felt was enough to choke him, he felt it was his fault for letting his need for revenge get the better of him when he saw Iain again. When he saw her all he could remember was the look on Jelani’s face when she shot him and at that moment he acted without thinking. If he hadn’t killed Iain neither of them would’ve needed to run away to avoid the NCR. If they didn’t need to run away Jelani wouldn’t have been assaulted and they certainly wouldn’t have been separated like they currently were. That sickening guilt that had been haunting him for fifteen years had reached its peak that morning when he found Jelani in a puddle of his own blood and since then it was lodged into his throat and no matter what Loke did it wouldn’t budge. He just wanted the two people he loved to be safe and happy.

Uthorim gently pulled Loke’s face towards his and softly kissed him. He didn’t need an answer, the look on his face was enough to let him know his words had reached him even if it would take a while for the realization of it all to manifest itself. Loke lazily returned the kiss. He felt spent and emotionally raw not to mention the fact that even if he wanted to he couldn’t stop crying.

“I’m sorry, love.” Loke whispered into Uthorim’s mouth as he kissed him back, his tears were sliding down his cheeks.

Uthorim picked Loke up from the swing and brought him back into the cabin. By that time breakfast had gotten cold and Uthorim was sure Loke wasn’t hungry and if he was to be honest with himself he was more concerned about Loke than he was hungry. When he first got to the cabin Uthorim had cleaned it up and fixed various things around the cabin to make it more livable, one of them being the bathroom, he managed to jerry rig the bathtub to act as a shower. When he noticed the river nearby was safe to use he kept several gallons of the water after boiling it. A neat little trick he learned from his days in the Brotherhood of Steel. He walked into the bathroom and undressed Loke who had gone mute, it was a response to stress he had since he was little, and turned on the shower. He walked Loke into the tub and as Uthorim reached for the soap Loke grabbed his hand and pulled him towards him. He understood the gesture and undressed to join him in the shower. Uthorim washed Loke and then himself, it would’ve been a bit easier had Loke not spent the entire shower hugging him but he didn’t care, Uthorim knew he was feeling vulnerable and as long as he could he’d offer whatever solace he needed. Once Loke stopped crying they shared kiss after kiss with the occasional light touching. It wasn’t meant to lead anywhere, it was just pleasant and soothing and even if it did lead to something else Loke wasn’t about to complain, he missed Uthorim more than he thought he could miss anyone.

Once Uthorim dried Loke and then himself he grabbed Loke and carried him back to the room where he sat down on the bed and placed Loke on his lap. Loke sighed as he wrapped both arms around Uthorim and leaned his head on his chest. Hearing his heart beating was the single most soothing thing he ever experienced. Loke wanted to tell Uthorim how much he missed his touch, how much he missed hearing his heartbeat, how he missed running his fingers through his hair and softly brushing the tip of his fingers over every inch of his body, how much he missed seeing his smile that could easily light up the night, and how much he missed holding him in his arms and being held by him. Tears began to form in Loke’s eyes again as he closed them and just took in Uthorim’s scent. He had so much he wanted to say but didn’t want to overwhelm him so he did the only thing he could think of that he knew for sure could summarize all that he was currently feeling and wanted to say. Loke wrapped his arms around Uthorim’s neck and nuzzled the side of his neck for a bit before he slightly opened his eyes and with a slight trembling in his voice whispered, “Jeg elsker deg.”

#001022 #Uthorim/Loke #Oracle Corp au #OC au: Fallout #fo: Loke tag #Uthorim #friend's oc #au oc things

[clickbaitcowboy]

Finally finished this painting of Dallas and Cassidy in their Fallout universe!

I need to post allllll the lore for this fallout Texas project I’ve been working on! I’ve even been designing mascot posters! For those who’ve been here since my fallout days this is like a return to form lmao

#fallout #fallout ocs #dallas campbell #cassidy davis #my ocs #tyart #fallout au #the campbells

[acorncoffeeformysweetheart]

Falloutober day 1 - War never changes

#falloutober2023 #falloutober #fallout 4 #fo4 #lakeside au #oc: garlic loaf #lelyadraws

[necromosss]

Isekai, but make it between fandoms🌟 (sorry im just de-stressing)

Jon (fallout 4) -------> (BG3)

Mira (BG3) -------> (Fallout 4)

#oc: Mira #oc: Jonathon #fallout 4 #bg3 #crossover au

[breezypunk]

war never changes..

#cyberpunk 2077 #cyberpunk 2077 photomode #cyberpunk screenshots #cyberpunk aesthetic #cp77 #cp77edit #gamingedit #dailygaming #virtual photography #gaming photography #fallout #au: fallout 2077 #fem v #female v #fem v friday #oc: maggie borden #dogmeat #my screenshots #sorry for the obscene amount of fallout au... I wont stop <3 #she's searching for vaughn and goro :3

[lelelego]

had a dream and drew it :o)

#im NOT tagging this as fallout #but i will tag #craig boone #boone/courier #boone x courier #oc: eli #doodly thingy #nebulous slice of life modern au #fallout tag #im not even sure if this should go in my blogs fallout tag but i mean. boone _is_ from fallout. okay i dunno ITS GOING IN THERE #anyway yeah insano mode waking up in a cold sweat jumping onto my comp to draw a boone/eli dream.......... bg3 could never #speaking of bg3 though my tav/astarion also has me in a headlock maybe i should draw some of them :thinkie: #ALSO just a looser compared to what im used to and i really like it! if you know which artist i used as a ref point.. hehe #its hatters/arts her comics are insane i really love the way you can TELL how big her brain is by when she says shes taking shortcuts but #the shortcuts all come from having already done the work. VERY impressive and i love the style derived from it!! #OKAY SORRY IM RAMBLING

[artemispanthar]

Making OCs with their own extensive story that you never write and then spending an inordinate amount of time thinking up AUs (what if they lived in medieval times, what if they were dinosaurs, etc) with meticulous reasoning and specific scenarios, which you also never write

#artie thoughts #silly stuff #fell down a rabbit hole thinking about a speculative modern AU for my Fallout OCs lol #artie's ocs

[radicallymaxton]

Some OC doodles

#oc #original character #character art #digital art #fallout #fallout oc au #suits #character design #fantasy

[cloudofbutterflies92]

Eden and Ghost in Modern Warfare

Eden and Ghost in "Spiral"

Eden and Ghost in Fallout: New Vegas AU

Tagged by the lovely @inafieldofdaisies 💞💞

Picrew here

Tag: @chloekistune @graveyard-party666 @alypink @kaitaiga @statichvm @onehornedbeast @themotherofhorses @carlosoliveiraa @cassietrn @socially-awkward-skeleton @thewanderer-000 @thedeadthree @priceseyes @sinclxirx @alicedarkmair @strangefable @captastra @aceghosts @kikiharinezumi @katsigian @justasmolbard @dickytwister @theelderhazelnut @elderglocks @caelums-fate @chewbokachoi @yourluckyoswald @moosch @amalkavian @valyrra and you 💗

#eden park #oc:eden“spectra”park #call of duty oc:eden “spectra” park #pairing: ghost & eden #x: fire and gasoline #simon ghost riley #call of duty #cod oc #original character #call of duty oc #ghost x eden #ghost cod #x: spiral #x: children of the war #the cowgirl scientist #cod mw2 #call of duty modern warfare 2 #call of duty modern warfare 3 #fallout/cod verse #cod au #call of duty au #simon riley

[visceral-insects]

More of The Cowboy plus coloured in the other drawings.

#drawing #sketch #fanart #fallout art #fallout au #fallout 4 #fallout #nick valentine #nick fallout #cowboy #gay cowboy #oc #oc artist #oc comic #oc story #oc artwork #oc art #ocs #oc x canon

[beentobeetle]

Eeewww…. Ew Ew eeeewwwwww…….

#art #my art #fanart #sketch #gross unsanitary water drinking but also… kissing…. not as Ew! #fallout #fallout oc #fallout au #oc insert #character: donovan #cooper howard #the ghoul

[callsignbaphomet]

Part 1, Part 2

Didn't mention this before but I'll gladly make edits to fit in other OCs within the story/info. ESPECIALLY FOR UTHORIM! In fact, Uthorim gets mvp special treatment above all else tho.

Reminder, this has all sorts of TWs.

Boston:

After walking for who knows how long Jelani made his way into a building and barricaded himself in it. He spent days crying and sleeping whenever he could as the nightmares that had started after he was assaulted continued to get worse which meant he still wasn't sleeping much. The guilt was strangling him, he blamed himself for his brother's death. He spent days sitting up against the wall, not moving and crying, occasionally screaming at the top of his lungs. Eventually the guilt got so bad he grabbed one of the guns and put the barrel in his mouth but before he could pull the trigger he heard a loud whimper as Dagny pawed at his legs. He dropped the gun and held Dagny in a tight hug, she needed him and he couldn't just abandon her like that so after a few days he and Dagny emerged from the building and made their way into the thick of the Commonwealth.

The first few months he moved from one abandoned place to another. Eventually he came across the Wicked Shipping Fleet Lockup facility and cleared the ferals that had infested the place. He cleaned up the place, fortified it and called it home for a while. It wasn't until later he noticed that a merchant would come by the area, specifically up to the farm that was nearby. He had all the caps he and Loke saved up as well as most of the funds their parents left for them so occasionally he went over to the merchant to stock up on things. It just so happened that on one of those occasions a trio of raiders had followed the merchant and when she stopped at the farm they struck. Jelani had been making his way to the farm as he learned the schedule but when he got there the three raiders had held up the merchant, the farmer and his family. Short on patience and no real desire to deal with the mess, Jelani snuck up on the raiders and shot 2 of them in the back while Dagny took down the third one. The farmers and the merchant were thankful but all he wanted was to buy what he needed and left without saying a word.

A few days later the farmer went to the facility where Jelani was staying at and thanked him again for saving his and his family's lives. Jelani was dismissive but the farmer straight up asked him if he was a merc. Jela said he used to be but now he just wanted to be left alone. The farmer kept trying to make conversation with him but at one point Jelani just completely shut down and went quiet. Eventually the farmer got the message and left but not before leaving a few caps as thanks for the help.

The next time the merchant came back around she asked Jelani about his abilities with a gun. He knew what the next question would be so he shut her down but she kept insisting. Given what happened last time she was looking for reliable mercenaries to act as guards for her and her caravan. He was gonna turn her down but he thought that sitting alone in some shipping facility wouldn't help what he was going through so he relented but said that if she wanted him to tag along then Dagny had to go too. She agreed as long as she wouldn't bite her or her brahmin.

So for several months Jelani and Dagny were that merchant's own personal bodyguards. To say it wasn't as active as he thought it would be was an understatement. The most they dealt with were bloatflies and the occasional asshole trying to act tough. A teenager doesn't exactly instill much fear into adults but the hardware that specific teenager carried and his abilities with it did.

18-years-old:

Almost a year later Jelani and Dagny were still with the merchant. Eventually she changed her route which led her through Bunker Hill. One night he went to the bar to get shitfaced and blackout drunk just so the guilt brought on by his brother's death wouldn't hurt as much and to sleep. Due to constant disturbing nightmares Jelani barely slept and getting drunk was the only way he could get a full night's sleep. To say that's pretty bad for someone with trauma and one kidney is an understatement but at this point he just didn't care. As he drank he overheard a guard say they were gonna shut Bunker Hill until further notice due to some raiders threatening to start some shit. Jelani was not having any of it but the gates had been locked and no one could leave or enter until the issue was resolved.

Feeling like absolute shit due to the guilt of Loke's death alongside his other trauma Jelani was once again feeling extra suicidal. So he grabbed his mother's sniper (which he named Gungnir), Dagny, a couple of molotovs, and snuck out of Bunker Hill to deal with the raider problem.

The idea was to commit suicide by gunfire but those raiders were mostly drunk, high, disorganized and could barely stand on their own two feet. Those unlucky enough to not die by Jelani's bullets were mauled to death by Dagny and when the two ringleaders of that pack of raiders finally showed up Jelani and Dagny made short work of them. By sunrise Jelani was standing at the gates of Bunker Hill with two decapitated heads in his hands. Kessler and the rest of the population just stared as he dropped the heads at the gates and once they were opened he simply said, "There. Now keep the fucking gates open, assholes."

Impressed and a bit unsettled, Kessler stopped Jelani and asked to talk to him. She admitted they were all having problems with raiders in the area. The settlers were paying the raiders off but they kept getting greedier and greedier and were now threatening to kill them all if they didn't increase the caps. Kessler and Stockton offered a ridiculous amount of caps for every one of the raider leaders he killed. Kessler mentioned that once the leaders were dead the rest would scatter. Admittedly Jelani felt something when he went to hunt down those raiders, something he hadn't felt in a long time. He was reminded of New Vegas and going out on jobs with Loke. He also admitted that he felt he was getting rusty by simply escorting a merchant and only dealing with critters. He agreed but first spoke to the merchant about his plans. She understood but he told her that if she needed him all she needed was to ask.

The hits were done cleanly and effortlessly. Some just had him simply sit on the roof of a building and snipe them. He got creative with others, he'd infiltrate the gang by dressing up as them, sneak towards the leaders and quietly deal with them. Other times he'd simply crash into their hideout and have a good ol' fashioned shootout. After it was done the rest of the raiders cleared out of the area just like Kessler predicted. Jelani and Dagny were paid very well and the bar owner gave him a deep discount on drinks whenever he wanted to stop by. Word got around and soon plenty of jobs were falling on Jelani's lap, mostly hits and assassinations, but jobs nonetheless.

Now that he wasn't traveling around he figured he'd find a spot to crawl into though he did have that shipping facility but it was too close to the farmer and his family. He preferred to stay as far from other people as possible. He decided to look for somewhere else that was solitary enough but easy enough to find in case someone needed him for another hit, it wasn't like there were telephones anymore. A few miles south of Diamond City there was an old, abandoned military bunker that was mostly intact but filthy enough to make his allergies spike up (this is actually a mod I really liked when I played FO4 on Xbox. However I haven't found this mod on Nexus). Between jobs he'd spend his time cleaning and fixing the place, he also took to cleaning and restoring weapons. Except for pipe weapons, he thought those were an abomination and needed to be scrapped for parts. All of this was to keep himself as busy as he could so he wouldn't think about the guilt or the racing thoughts that constantly hounded him. Jelani was still very much suicidal, depressed, his drinking turned into a bit of a problem but when things got really bad he'd indulge in Med-X just to numb himself enough not to listen to his own suicidal thoughts. Sometimes, it was so bad that he took to hurting himself. Mostly he'd resort to cutting his arms. Sometimes he would put cigarettes out on his inner thighs and wrists. The relief was momentary and each time he self-inflicted wounds on himself the relief lasted less and less so the wounds got deeper, bigger and more frequent. At one point the pain was so bad he shot himself in his right calf and then dug the bullet out himself. Somehow the pain he felt inside was worse than digging out a bullet himself.

At some point he agreed to a contract to kill a gunner and wanting to take up the challenge Jelani agreed. It wasn't the epic fight he was expecting, this gunner was a coward who ran as far south as he could. He tracked him down to Poseidon Energy and as soon as he saw Jelani coming he figured he was there for him so he took off and ran into the FMS Northern Star for shelter not knowing it was occupied. The ghouls there made short work of him but Jelani had to bring back evidence that he was dead so he tried his best to sneak up to the body but was found. A gunfight ensued and in order to get the upper hand Jelani yelled, "Flankere dem!" Which was a command directed at Dagny.

Here's the thing about Dagny. Jelani trained her not in English but in Norwegian so that no one could understand what he was saying. All her commands were taught in Norwegian. So if you tell her to sit she won't understand much less obey that command. But if you say sitte she'll sit.

The ghouls obviously heard him and one of them, a ghoul named Varg, asked Jelani if he spoke their language. Everyone stopped shooting and Jelani answered back in Norwegian. Varg approached him and in broken English said he was curious as to how he knew the language. Jelani explained that his father's side of the family knew the language and had been teaching it to their children and their children's children and eventually his father taught it to his older brother and his brother taught him. He was fluent in it, could read it and write it but he didn't know what it was called. Varg told him it was Norsk (Norwegian) and that his ancestors were more than likely from Norway, by the accent Varg was sure they were from northern Norway just like he was. When Varg asked what his last name was, a great, big and goofy smile formed on his face. Long story short Jela made a new friend who he kept in contact with as it was nice to have someone to talk to in Norwegian again. He managed to get evidence off the body and got paid. Occasionally he'd stop by the Northern Star with supplies and to just chat for a while.

Several weeks later Jelani was on his way back home from another job and on his way he was ambushed by some raiders. To be more specific raiders that once belonged to the group that were harassing Bunker Hill. It wasn't planned out, they just saw him walking nearby, recognized him and acting on impulse they surprised him. This time they were very sober so one of them grabbed a sack and threw it over Dagny, tied the sack and tossed her in the water. Jelani freaked out and tried to get to her but one of the raiders hit him hard enough on the back of his head that he was disoriented enough to fall to the ground. As the ringing in his ears subsided he could make out some yelling and shooting and when he came to a group of weirdly dressed raiders had gunned down the ones that had attacked him. Thinking he'd have to fight off these other raiders he went for his gun but one of them, a skinny, pale guy with long champagne blonde hair walked up to him with Dagny in his arms and said in a very heavy southern accent, "Hey, this yours?"

Dagny was soaking wet but she was fine. Jelani tightly hugged her and with an almost quivering voice he thanked the raider for saving her. The rest of the raiders petted Dagny and played with her a little and one of them gave her a small purple plush toy which she gladly took.

Now, these raiders weren't running around the Commonwealth helping people, they were after THOSE specific raiders and now that they were done they headed back to where they came from. However, the raider that brought Dagny to Jelani turned around after telling the rest he'd catch up later and walked back to Jelani. He noticed he was bleeding pretty badly from the back of his head and after examining it he said he needed stitches. Jelani just waved him off but the raider said he had friends nearby that could help him. He helped Jelani to his feet and helped him to Kingsport Lighthouse. He introduced himself as Angelus Malakhov.

Angelus "Hellhound" Malakhov:

Born somewhere in the southern parts of the wasteland Angelus, back then known as Irina, was the only child of a woman who lived with her mother on a farm. His mom had met a caravan guard and 9 months after a very drunken night Angelus was born. The woman did her best even though HER mother was not happy about the pregnancy and how it happened. She barely even acknowledged her grandson. Still he and his mom were happy and that's all that mattered. Eventually both moved out and had very little contact with his grandma.

When he was 6-years-old he told his mom he felt like he was a boy and his mom was supportive of his decision. He didn't wanna go by Irina anymore and his mom suggested the name Angelus cuz she read it somewhere and thought it was pretty. He took to it and was known as that since.

At 14 years of age his mom got sick and she wasn't getting any better. She was afraid it would get worse and having no one else to turn to she and Angelus moved back in with her mother. She was not supportive like his mom and called him by his previous name and tried to get him to act like a girl.

At 15 his mother died and his grandmother became crueler and blamed him for his mother's death. Not wanting to take care of what she deemed a "weird and broken girl" she sold him to an old merc that sometimes stopped in the nearby settlement.

*** In the original version it was Angelus's dad that sold him to his grandmother. It was sort of like "I'll sell this to you in exchange for leaving me and my wife alone. Do whatever you want to him but leave us alone."

The old merc actually turned out to be a decent person who recognized that Angelus wouldn't be safe there so he took him off her hands. He taught him how to shoot, steal, pickpocket, pick any lock and taught him how to fight. He respected his new identity and even helped him on that end. He knew of a doctor whose partner was a pretty good surgeon. After he recovered the two of them lived a simple but happy life.

When he was 18 the old merc went out on a job and never came back. After half a year passed Angelus figured he was dead so he packed up his things and left. Before leaving the state he was curious and stopped by his grandma's farm and found the place in disrepair. He went in and found her rotting corpse at the end of the stairs. He thought he'd feel something but all he did was chuckle and then proceeded to steal anything and everything that wasn't bolted down. He sold everything and made himself plenty of caps.

He traveled North and joined a raider gang. He quickly became one of the top earners as well as a reputation for being very fucking easy. He stayed until he was 19.

At 19 he joined another raider gang, this time he decided it would be fun to be part of the prostitutes the raider gang was known for peddling. On top of selling himself he was good at stealing from customers which grabbed the attention of the gang's leader. He took him off the work line and kept him in the hideout to take care of his needs and that of other gang leaders he deemed were worthy enough to share his spoils with.

At 21 he grew tired of the routine of being one of the gang leader's boy toys and being passed around. Don't get it twisted the man has a super high sex drive and he enjoys putting it to good use but he also loved the killing, the stealing and the fighting. So he made his way further North and joined a raider gang known as The Mad Ones. Now this gang he loved! He was free to join in on raids whenever he wanted, he could also sell himself to earn caps for himself and the gang and had no problems tending to his gang's needs. The gang was swimming in caps, alcohol and chems. It was a dream come true...until several rival gangs joined forces and basically wiped out the majority of The Mad Ones. Angelus along with a handful of others survived but he looked to one of his clients who was a member of The Pack to see if he could get in. His client vouched for him and he's been in that gang since.

Now at 25 he is comfy and having a blast in a gang that was similar to The Mad Ones pretty much doing the same things he was doing before. It wasn't as intense but it was fun. He even found the animal motif quirky. So much so that he joined in on the trend of reshaping and sharpening his teeth to look like fangs and wore sharp, metallic "rings" on the tip of his fingers to resemble claws. This earned him the nickname of Hellhound. That and his propensity to bite people in fights.

He also had the freedom to come and go as he pleased, mostly to do hits for the gang and Nuka World as a whole. During one of these hits he noticed a small group of women being attacked by a yao guai. To this day he has no fucking idea what compelled him to do so but he jumped in to help the women. The rescue didn't go as smoothly as he hoped and ended up being almost clawed to death by the creature but he did manage to kill it. Among the women were Ginger and her wife Abigail who were the leaders of the Kingsport Lighthouse settlement. They quickly brought Angelus back with them and tended to his wounds. After this an unlikely but strong friendship was formed between them. Angelus visited them whenever he could and would help out in anything they needed help with. That's where he took Jelani.

Back to Jelani:

At the lighthouse Angelus asked the girls for some help which they gladly offered. It took about 8 stitches and they offered both Jelani and Angelus to stay for dinner and overnight to keep an eye on Jelani but he refused and left after thanking them. Hey, Jelani's severely depressed, suicidal, bitter, and dead inside but he ain't rude.

Time goes by and Jelani keeps his regular visits with Varg who has chosen to get out there more and explore the Commonwealth to learn of the people and get a better grasp of the English language which Jelani gladly helped him with. Varg had a natural talent and a devious charm about him. He could talk his way into and out of anything as well as get info out of anyone and he gladly shared his knowledge with Jelani. The two of them kinda partnered up and with time they trusted each other.

Varg also put Jelani in contact with other clients who were more than happy to pay him to get rid of certain elements which broadened his reach to the South, Southwest and Southeast ends of the Commonwealth.

One of these clients turned out to be a high ranking gunner who contacted Jelani through Varg. He had an officer under him who went rogue and joined the Minutemen. Now, this high ranking gunner had put in a good word for this guy and vouched for him so if word got out he'd be in deep shit so he was filed as KIA. He knew where he was so he paid Jelani to kill him and paid extra to keep all the info he got from the job to himself. He even said he'd pay even more for the death of the Minuteman that turned him. He agreed.

This ex-gunner was located in Sunshine Tidings Co-op so it wasn't too far. On his way Dagny was trying to get his attention. He isn't one to ignore her as the last time he did it ended badly for him. He told her to lead and they soon started to hear sounds of someone struggling. In the distance Jelani and Dagny found what looked like three settlers attacking someone. One had a knife drawn and pointed at a man while another settler held the man and pulled on his hair hard enough to tilt his head back and exposed his throat. The other had a baseball bat at the ready. Upon closer inspection Jelani realized it was Angelus who was being attacked. He wasted no time and ordered Dagny to sneak as he silently crept closer to get a better shot. Jelani dropped the man with the knife with a single shot to the side of the head and Dagny went for the throat of the man holding the bat. When the third settler loosened his grip on Angelus he broke loose and snapped the settler's neck. He saw Dagny and quickly recognized the little snake coyote dog thing and saw Jelani emerging from the tall grass. Jela checked in on him but aside from a few bruises to the face he was okay. Jelani asked if he could drop him off somewhere but Angelus asked if he could go with him for a bit.

Jelani usually prefers to be by himself but he agreed to let Angelus go with him and Dagny. He let him know he was on his way to finish a contract and Angelus volunteered to help out as thanks for helping him. Jela gave him some of the details specifically who the targets were but not why they were targeted. The hits were surprisingly done quietly and they managed to bring back evidence of both kills back to the gunner who hired him. As promised the payout was huge. Since it was so late Jelani offered to let Angelus sleep at his place and split the payment in half since Angelus helped to kill the second target.

Once at the bunker both got cleaned up, ate and stayed up drinking and chatting away till late at night. Now, Angelus is a lot of things and one of them is not knowing how to properly express himself unless it's through sex (if it's with men, remember he's gay). He did thank Jelani for helping him but he had something else in mind. He leaned over to Jelani and started to kiss him. Jela on the other hand was caught off guard. He's surprised and quite frankly nervous but he kisses him back though he's already on high alert. He definitely took a liking to the raider and was attracted to 'im but you know, trauma struck him hard and his immediate response to physical touch was nervousness. Jelani tried his best to fight through the nervousness that was building up as Angelus leaned closer but when Angelus put his hands on Jela's hips he immediately started to cry and begged Angelus to stop. Angelus stopped immediately and saw Jelani was crying, frozen in place, breathing hard and gripping the couch so hard he was shaking. Angelus backed away and asked if Jelani was okay but he couldn't even talk. So he got up and got him some water and apologized for making him uncomfortable but all Jela could muster was a shaky, "I can't..."

Angelus didn't really understand what was wrong with Jelani but he remained by his side and tried to comfort him as best as he could. Eventually Jelani stopped crying and fell asleep next to Angelus who went to get a blanket and a pillow to make sure Jela was comfortable.

When Jelani woke up he found Angelus asleep at the other end of the couch. To say he felt 1,000% embarrassed about his reaction the night before was an understatement but as he usually did he tried to ignore it and moved on. He made breakfast for both of them and when Angelus woke up he checked in with Jela but Jela said, "Just forget it happened." Which highly confused Angelus but he didn't bring it up again. They shared a mostly quiet breakfast and then the raider left.

That night was kind of a big setback for Jela. For days the nightmares were intense and the intrusive flashbacks were pretty graphic. Med-x or drinking himself to sleep were the only things that somewhat prevented them and even then the effects of the alcohol just exacerbated his ideations of suicide.

#OC au: fallout #Oracle Corp au #au Jelani tag #au Angelus tag #au Dagny tag #au oc things

[clickbaitcowboy]

“You’re dyin’ sweetheart…”

Some concept art for my fallout stuff 🥺

#fallout #fallout ocs #fallout au #my ocs #tyart #cassidy davis #dallas campbell #and yes that is dally #a 50s lounge hallucination while you’re bleeding out after getting your arm ripped off

[w98pops]

sparkbird — envy

#fallout #fnv #fallout new vegas #oc: wendy #oc: sharky #sharky = anchovy??!?!?!!? question mark #also sparkbird is such a hidden gem. what a wonderful artist #please check them out #animal death #? maybe #aletus courier au

[necromosss]

Jonathon McReady

#oc: jamie #fallout oc #idt i could say this is his pre-war looks bcus mf dresses like this in every au i put him im

[anarchy-n-glitter]

The Good, The Bad, and...

Summary: Lucy and The Ghoul encounter a shadowy figure from his past while on their way to New Vegas. This stranger, nicknamed Red Eyes, is intent on collecting a bounty on The Ghoul as a means to settle a feud between the two after they were betrayed by him. Will Red Eyes succeed, or will they have a change of heart based on their complicated feelings toward the man? (Cooper Howard x OC/reader) Words: 2,941

A/N: I forgot to post chapter 1 of this on here sorry guys. Anyway this is low key a Star Wars AU because as a Cad Bane fan I simply could not help myself so this is technically kind of a follow up to this fic. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

From the Desert Comes a Stranger

“I’ve taken down so many of dese clones over da years…” Her father began in his heavily accented manner, sighing, and pushing his hat back with his pointer finger as he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. The red of his irises were somehow muted by the red lenses of the goggles he wore, which made it hard to see the look in his eyes as it was. He quickly dropped to his knees and with a single swipe of his knife he removed something from the clone’s body. She couldn’t quite make out what it was before he pocketed it.

He turned around quickly, pointing his gloved finger up at her. She straightened up.

“Now, Ciella, what ya need to know is…” He handed her the bloodied knife, closing her fingers around the hilt and holding her smaller hand in his. It was one of the only times he made a tender gesture towards her other than the odd hug here and there. 

“Once you figure out one da rest are easy.” She had to wonder what the point of all this was. 

When they arrived on the site - an old, decrepit warehouse with a caved-in roof - her father was quick to corner the clone that now lay dying before them. He tried his best to grab the gun that was strapped to his leg, fumbling with it and managing to point it in her father’s general direction before he was gunned down. Two shots in the chest from the looks of it, shots that left the man (clone) heaving and wheezing on the floor with blank eyes, and she knew that’s what he wanted to happen. If he wanted to shoot the man in the head he would have. He was the fastest shot in the Wasteland, and it would stay that way for many years. 

“Now, I want ya to take dat knife dere and,” He finally stood and moved her closer to the dying man. “Yer gonna have to cut his throat, unless ya want to hear him scream. I’m not against it but it’s best dat we keep him quiet. Don’t want any stragglers comin’ in and takin’ us by surprise.”

Ciella drew in a deep breath as she knelt down beside the man. His blank eyes suddenly held so much emotion, it was a look she’d seen in her own eyes a few times before. Mostly on dark nights in the Jewel as she listened to the way men spoke to her mother… and the way her father spoke to her at times. It was the look she saw in the mirror after she saw how her mama took care of those men - their purple, mangled faces contorted in pain and their eyes bloodshot staring up at her, and their hands clutched around their throats. 

This man was in pain, and he was afraid of dying. 

There was a large tattoo on the side of his face, around his eye. It was a symbol, most likely belonging to whatever faction he belonged to since escaping his vault. From what she overheard her dad discussing, Vault 66 seemed to be defunct, with the clones created within revolting and escaping into the Wasteland. He had been hunting down the clones for the last five years, among other things. She never quite understood why anyone would flee a vault to live on the surface. 

Her father took the respirator off of his face, letting it hang below his chin. She felt more at ease at this, happy to hear his own, unmodified voice walking her through what she was about to do. Her heart was beating fast and felt like it had leapt into her throat. She glanced at the open ceiling and focused on the large, white moon that hung in the deep blue sky. 

Perhaps the sky full of swirling stars would be enough to comfort her.

“When he’s dead, cut off da part of his face with da tattoo and hand it to da Tin-Man. Den we can go home.” He instructed. Ciella hesitated. 

The clone looked at her, stared her down, silently begging her for mercy. He was just a clone, and he was wanted so he must have done something bad, right? She looked back at her dad, who had pushed his goggles up onto his forehead, revealing his bright red eyes staring back at her expectedly. Tufts of navy blue hair peeked out from under his hat and over his goggles and his lips were curved into a small smile. 

He actually looked like a supportive father for the first time in his life.

Ciella made her decision at that moment, and the girl at only eight years old turned around and drove the knife into the clone’s throat. His eyes widened and met her gaze for a moment and she felt her heart drop. He groaned and wheezed, the blood gurgling in his throat as the crimson substance dribbled from the corners of his mouth. A sputtering cough had his blood spraying across her face and she wasn’t sure if it was on purpose or not. She tried not to heave at the disgusting feeling. 

On instinct, she pulled the knife from his throat and drove it back into his flesh. Over and over. A larger, warmer hand wrapped around her wrist and stopped her mid motion. 

“Dere ya go.” Her father smiled wider as pride swelled in his chest. His baby would be a killer, just like he was. “After dis I’ll teach ya everyding I know.” 

☠☠☠☠☠☠☠

The sun bore down unbearably upon the duo traveling along the Mojave Desert. It had been miles and miles of desert between the Griffith Observatory and the place the Ghoul was certain Lucy’s father was heading. The vaultie was starting to fall behind, clearly tired from the constant moving. It was hard to find shelter all the way out here, and unfortunately for her the Ghoul didn’t feel comfortable stopping out in the open. 

They had traveled through a few settlements at that point, each one growing more and more decrepit and sparse. The people were quieter and hid away in their own corners of the small towns, eyeing the Ghoul and his traveling companion wearily. The whispers and glares of the different townsfolk hardly made for good hospitality, if anything it was that fact that drove him away from each place. Something was happening, someone said something, and he felt it was too risky to stop for a few nights in any of the settlements.

The last place they’d been to was a day’s walk away at this point, and the talk amongst the people in that saloon made him deeply uncomfortable. Then there was the body. 

In the sandy dunes of the last settlement they had been to laid a man with sun kissed skin and snow white hair stained at the temples with red. The poor man had his brains blown out, by who…  well, let’s just say he had a good idea of who it was. It was clear the job was done quickly, the man clearly didn’t see them coming, and the fact the man’s armor and other supplies went untouched raised even more alarm bells. He got them out of there quickly and quietly.

Unfortunately for Lucy, the Ghoul was one-track minded at the moment. His family was out there, he could feel it. There was a reason he kept going for over two hundred years, and he would not let those years of anguish be in vain. 

He would kill anyone who tried to get between them. 

“There’s gotta be somewhere we can stop, right?” Lucy sounded hoarse, tired. He wished he could answer her truthfully. He hadn’t traveled this far into the desert before, and the way the sun seemed to hang so high in the sky for so long made him question whether anyone ventured that far, let alone set up shop. He shrugged.

The dunes seemed to stretch on for miles and miles, with only a few rocky formations on the horizon. A few dried plants littered the ground here and there, somehow finding the strength to grow in such a harsh climate. It was a wonder anything was able to grow and flourish after the bombs. Maybe he should have sent the vaultie to ask for some sort of transport back at the saloon instead of being stubborn like he usually was. 

“Maybe that person’s coming from a settlement down that way?” The Ghoul froze, feeling himself go numb. 

Among the dancing heatwaves stood a dark-clad figure on the horizon. 

They stood still, any discernible features hidden by a wide-brimmed hat and respirator over the figure’s mouth. The wind blew and kicked up dust and whipped the figure’s coat to the side, revealing the large holster against their hip. Their dark attire starkly contrasted with the bright blue sky and pale sand. 

The words of the men in the saloon ran through his mind. 

Someone’s lookin’ for a ghoul just like ya! There was a bounty put out not too long ago, I think it’s been taken offa the board. A lotta caps goin’ for that guy. He considered that a warning at the time. 

Anyway, it looked like the guy who took the bounty was Red Eyes. He had the goggles an’ everything, but we all thought he was dead. 

And Red Eyes was supposed to be dead. He died around five or six years ago. 

The figure in front of him was a ghost. 

Red Eyes stopped a good twenty feet in front of them, standing perfectly still. The wind shifted again and from beneath the wide-brimmed hat came a tuft of navy blue hair that blew in the breeze. The desert was all too quiet now, and it felt like something from one of his old movies. Red Eyes felt like an old western villain, dark and ominous, seemingly a force of nature. He worried the figure wasn’t only after him. 

“Lucy, you should head back.” The Ghoul muttered, putting a hand out to stop her from moving any further. She stared at the figure for a moment, suddenly afraid because of the Ghoul’s reaction. 

“It’s only one person.” She muttered. “Maybe they’re lost?” The Ghoul stayed silent. He would not repeat himself.

Her doe-like eyes flickered to him and she noticed the way his mouth was set in a seemingly permanent frown. His whole body looked stiff, like a cornered animal. She nodded, understanding finally, before turning on her heel to make a run for it. 

The Ghoul watched as the stranger glanced in Lucy’s direction. Red Eyes observed her, seemingly studying her like an unbothered predator eyeing a nearby animal knowing it couldn’t do anything to stop it. He grit his teeth and took a few steps forward, spurs jangling with each stride. 

This was not good. 

“Now I know that fancy getup you got on is not yours.” He began through a false bravado, flashing teeth that used to be a pearly white. It was so easy for him to slip back into a role, something he had been doing this entire time. Yet, this time, he was given the chance to play the good guy. It felt unfamiliar somehow, after all, it had been several years since he’d done such a thing. He was almost grateful for this stranger’s theatrics. “Who might you be? Cause you sure as hell ain’t Red Eyes… he’s dead.” 

He knew all too well who this was. 

Red Eyes looked up, the red goggles reflecting the bright sun and making it impossible to see past their lenses. More of the stranger’s hair seemed to flow from behind them, long strands of navy waving in the wind like a flag. Their stance shifted from one of leisure to subtly looking like they would pounce. The stranger moved their coat away from their hip, revealing the large gun strapped to their form. 

“I’d be careful where I was sticking my nose if I were you.” The heavily modulated voice called out. “Or lack thereof.” 

The Ghoul bit his tongue. “I’m assuming that corpse we found back there was you, then? Certainly wasn’t the handiwork of any ol’ fiend.” 

“Wasn’t much work.” Red Eyes spat quickly. “Was a clone. They're easy. Woulda gotten in my way.” Their accent, even through the voice changer, was thick. Louisiana, most likely from the New Orleans area. 

“You’re here for me.” He didn’t feel the need to ask. He threaded his thumbs through the belt loops on his trousers, opting to seem more relaxed than he was. He knew Red Eyes would see right through his guise.

“Isn’t that obvious?” Their hand twitched beside their gun. He eyed them wearily.

“Well, I’m not goin’ willingly.” A low, rumbling chuckle sounded from the stranger. 

“I never said I was gonna take ya in alive.” They answered, voice cold with an edge to it. He fought the urge to argue, to call their bluff, for doing so would be too risky.

Truthfully, Red Eyes had every reason to want him dead. It had been a few years, five to be exact, since they last saw each other. Five long years since he turned the fellow bounty hunter in for killing a crime lord. Five years since he left them for dead. This would be a fitting end for their little rivalry, even if it wasn’t always that way. 

But he wouldn’t go down just yet. Not without a fight. 

He had to find another way to fight them. A quick draw duel would mean a death sentence for him, unfortunately. Red Eyes was and still is the quickest draw in the Wasteland. He would have to throw them off somehow, say something to really disarm them. 

He did the only thing he could think of, and instead of indulging in the stranger - instead of going for his gun - words that he never thought he would say slipped from his dry, cracked lips.

“Ciella, I’m sorry.” 

Red Eyes froze. Their hand was still dangerously close to their gun’s grip. Over the wind, he vaguely heard the sharp, uneven intake of air from the figure. The breeze picked up again, blowing open the stranger’s coat to reveal the figure of a woman. 

“It’s a bit late fer that, isn’t it, cher?” It most definitely was her. “I came ta finish the job. I shoulda known a coffin wouldn’t hold yer ass.” 

Cooper held back a laugh. Ciella Bane was an ally at one point, and maybe even a friend, but the moment her picture was up on one of those boards he knew their partnership was over. Someone was offering a hefty reward for whoever could bring the bounty brat in, preferably alive. 

That was his mistake. He knew he probably should have killed her while she was sleeping and taken the smaller reward for her corpse. Killing her like this would be a pain in the ass. 

“You wanna take off that ridiculous getup and let me see you?” He taunted, much to Ciella’s dismay. He just had to hit her where it hurt, get her emotional and in her head so she missed when she inevitably shot at him. However, it had been a few years, he couldn’t be sure that trick would still work.

Though with dear ol’ daddy not around to give her more of his tips and tricks he doubted she would have improved much more than the last time they brawled. 

Ciella scoffed. “The last thing you’ll see are these goggles. Everyone’s gotta know it was Red Eyes who took ya out, ghoul.” She spat, though there was a sadistic playfulness in her voice. Cooper rolled his eyes. 

“I got places to be, girl.” Cooper countered with equal venom. He was getting antsy, and he felt she was wasting his time. “Let us through and…” He stopped.

What would he do? What could he do? What could he possibly offer her where she wouldn’t be on his trail while he and Lucy trekked the Wasteland on a wild goose chase? Ciella coming back from whatever corner of the world she ran off to after burying him alive was the last thing he wanted. 

“Let us through and we can finish this some other time. I’ll tell you where I’ll be and you come find me.” He offered finally, feeling the weight of his words in his chest. He wouldn’t give up finding his family so she could have her petty revenge, but maybe one day, when everyone around him was gone and he knew his daughter was safe and could live a happy life, he would go to Ciella and let her put him out of his misery. 

“We do this here and now.” The bounty hunter replied. “That head o’ yers is fetchin’ a pretty penny. Figured it was better I did it than some chem addicted fiend on the street.” Her words were purposefully inflammatory. She was doing the same thing he was. 

She straightened up again, mimicking the stance of a cowboy in a western getting ready to draw, and Cooper knew what it meant. She wasn’t giving him a choice. They’d done this dance once before, and unfortunately for him it didn’t end well. 

The Ghoul sighed and moved his coat from his holster, and he mirrored her stance. “This ain’t gonna go the way ya think it will, sweetheart.”

“I doubt that.” That same, robotic voice answered, yet he knew she was still all too human underneath. 

#cooper howard x oc #cooper howard x reader #cooper howard x you #star wars au #fallout fanfic #cooper howard #the ghoul #the ghoul x reader #the ghoul x oc #fallout #cad bane mention!!! #so #cad bane #fallout tv series