A New Leader

Part Ten : Crunch Time

I had been moved from my previous position to the front gates of where the vault key was being charged, it was a tad creepy being there all day as I would hear a women's voice talking almost every five minutes. I wasn't allowed to go in the room, only to guard it which just upped the ante on how good I was supposed to be.

It felt like time would drag on, I knew that the vault hunters were getting closer day by day because Jack always seemed to be distressed. Helios was always giving wrong estimated days of arrivals, some days they would say it would be a few more weeks and other days they would say two days, he was very agitated. 

The side doors opened and I soon went on guard, pointing my gun in the direction, I wasn't good with close combat but I could definitely try.

"Wow, wow," Jack put his hands up defensively, "easy there princess."

I pointed my gun towards the ground and watched as he walked through the room, he seemed a bit more calm today.

"How would you like to have dinner with me?" He asked, giving his hand in my direction.

"Jack, I have to guard the door and you have to work on getting the vault ready." I stated, pointing my gun lazily towards the door.

"I know, but I just got an update from Helios and they say that we have a week till they get here."

"That's not that much time."

"Well I have almost everything ready to go, it wouldn't kill to take a break." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Is there a replacement for my post?" I asked hastily.

"Jeesh, you mean business." He laughed, signaling up his ECHO pad.

He called another guard to come and man the doors, not even five minutes later, two loader bots scanned themselves into the room and stood in front of the doors. I wasn't entirely sure why he couldn't do this before, no bother. I looked over at Jack before putting my gun in my holster and following him, a smile creeping across his face.

"As much as I hate this planet, there are some nice places to relax." He stated.

"Oh really?" I asked, "I think of this planet as home, I could think of plenty of places to relax."

"I bet you could."

I cocked my eyebrow as we continued to walk, our feet clacking against the metal floor and echoing off of the walls. We approached a strange device that brought up a map, he began tapping around on it before finally tapping on the suspected destination. He grabbed ahold of my hand as it seemed like the atmosphere moved past us at light speed, bright lights surrounding us, we were at the vault. I was surprised it even crossed his mind to bring me here.

"I've been meaning to take you here so you know where to come if everything goes to shit." He stated, walking over to his station.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, following him.

"Incase the vault hunters come, you know the secret passage to get here and help me out."

"Oh," my voice cracking, "that seems-"

"Dangerous?" He laughed, "kinda, but don't worry, I'll help you as you help me."

"O-Ok..." I stuttered.

I watched as his hand hovered over the ground before bringing up a stone table and two stone stools, I cocked my head to the side, he had everything ready.

"I know it's not much, but once we get back on Helios everything will be better." He smiled.

"That is unless I die."

"Don't say that, cupcake," he pulled me over to the table, "you'll survive through this."

"I'm a bandit, don't you hate me?" I asked sharply, changing the subject.

"I hate bandits, but I know you aren't like the others." His words making me second guess.

"Cause you saw me naked?" I crossed my arms.

"No!" He yelled before turning back towards the arch. "Sometimes you just feel like you need someone besides you when you know that your world is crashing down, you know that this person would do anything for you as you would do on to them."

I had nothing to say, this man was a trickster, this man knew how to pull people into his plans and scheme them. I didn't know if I should take pity in him knowing about what had happened to his girlfriend or if I should be cautious because I know what could happen to me. I was very hesitant to trust this man despite the fact that I looked up to him since I was thirteen, five years later I'm here as he's confessing his feelings for me.

I pulled off my mask as my face seemed to over heat, I felt tears rolling down my cheeks and the nearly healed cut on my cheek sting from them. He turned to look back at me as I wiped them away quickly, I tried to get the best look at him through my horrible vision, I could see that he really meant what he said.

"I've never had feelings for anybody romantically, I don't know what to do." I stated, wiping more tears away.

"That's ok," He laughed almost breathlessly, walking over and cupping my face, "it will be ok." He placed his lips against mine, taking me back.

The hot air surrounding us as our lips attacked each other's, he pulled me closer to his body and held onto the clothing that stuck to my body. My hands intertwined in his perfectly styled hair, messing it up almost instantly.

He pulled away and looked down at me, a smiled on his masked lips. He brought his hand up to my face and rubbed at the red mark that cascaded across my cheek, inspecting it once again curiously. I took his hand away, he looked at me strangely before he pulled me over to the stone table.