Chapter 2 - The G.O.A.T.

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Boredom. One word summed up life in the cold sterile world of steel they inhabited. Two men in blue reflected off shaded windows as the pair made rounds for what seemed the hundredth time, same view, same lack of stimulus or activity. An endless parade of day to day that made even radroach duty seem pleasant. Chris had spent childhood here, playing in endless steel corridors and wondering what lay beyond the vault door. Adulthood hadn't brought many answers and the ones that had been revealed left him restless and searching.

Security detail had been a no brainer, Overseer looking for the biggest and baddest of the males and as a teen the brazen male saw it as the only escape from monotony available. He'd been partially correct, small pockets of tumult in a tiresome parade of routine. Just like today. Closed environment, nothing new making it's way into the dull grind save the machinations of a few females that at least kept the ennui away. Still, he had hope that another foray into the wasteland was on the Overseer's books soon, Chris feeling stagnation like a disease creeping in.

A nudge from Hunter brought him back to the present, gaze swinging first to his friend then down the corridor indicated by a jerk of a chin. What was slowly unfolding there brought a raised eyebrow and a smirk. Chris answered with a nod and the pair began to slowly walk towards the growing ruckus with hands resting on the batons at their waist.

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Arianna was pissed. No other way to put it and it showed in the line of tension that brought her up to her full though puny height of a whole two inches above five feet. She'd seen Butch and his lowlife crew giving Amata hell as soon as she turned the corner by the classroom hall. Her guess, it was more lust unrequited than actual anger at her friend but still, no excuses for it and as usual, Arianna rushed ahead without a single thought other than aid. Hell all that was waiting was that damned GOAT and her attempts at pulling a fast one had been caught and quashed.

So, heedless of the odds, she'd given Butch a shove from behind and sneered in a perfect copy of his own tone. "God Butch, stop acting like an asshole." Sidling up to Amata's side, brown eyes the color of warm chocolate stared up at the bigger teen as her feet planted, offset and shoulder width apart. Arms still relaxed at the side but there was a stillness there, watchful, predatory and completely calm.

Butch glared back. "Mind your own Arianna, this is between me and Amata." Shifting gaze back to the darker of the pair, he grabbed her arm a second time. "You're uppity as hell. Overseer's daughter with all the privileges." Amata tried to jerk free, face set in panicked lines as the grip just wouldn't break. He leaned in so close lips nearly touched. "You need to come down a few notches Amata. Maybe I'm the one to do it."

Arianna dropped a knife edge of her hand down, hitting the nerve laden forearm and breaking the grip by virtue of sending his fingers into spasm. Balanced on the balls of her feet, her grip sent Amata behind her, back to the wall and facing the four Tunnel Snakes with no hint of fear. "Back off Butch, no more warnings." Peripherally, the slender girl kept track of the other males, waiting to see just who got stupid first and decided to push the envelope.

Amata broke her silence, tone hushed but firm. "She's right Butch, this isn't going to end well once my father gets involved."

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Interest flared in that blue gaze, not for the coming fight but in the diminutive female at the center of it. Small, something that wasn't that odd in the vault but the girl was delicate in a way that defied description, something that her defiant stance seemed to bring into sharp relief with the group of taller males surrounding her. It took a moment or two of mental gymnastics to place the female, a sharp intake of breath as it dawned on him who she was. He'd been eighteen when Doc Talos' daughter had her tenth birthday, the standout bloodying of the the same male nose that currently faced off against her had been vault gossip for months. She'd been a pretty little kid then but damned if puberty blessed the girl with stellar results, curves in all the right places and the sensuality to match in every line of lean muscle.

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