~~GM~~
Collab between myself @Amber Franklin & @Apothecary Bruce
Confused by Jeremy's offer for his coat, Alec finally realized the issue of her wearing nothing but a soaking wet, white T-Shirt that was clinging to her body and revealing quite almost everything underneath. "OH MY GOD!" She shouted, then grabbed Jeremy's jacket to wrap herself in.
"You didn't see a fuckin' thing!" She then shouted to Jeremy, struggling to button the jacket up with her shaky hands. And she was just starting to calm down again...
"Alright, okay, okayokayokay, uhhhh, right, okay," she was just muttering nonsense while doing mental gymnastics and pacing back and forth, "right, yeah, there's no way this is actually legitimate. We were drugged, we blacked out, we don't have any rings on, this is all just a shame wedding and there's no way we're actually husband and wife, it's all just one giant joke maybe! We-We must've been pretending, or or we were forced into it, I mean, it was probably just one of those drive thru wedding places people do as a gag, so there's no way this is enforceable! That's it, that's it, it was a scam and we fell for it, we are not actually married!" During all that talking, Alec didn't realize how quiet Abby got.
After handing over his duster coat, Jeremy stood and listened, reminded terribly of a similar event between two privates in his task force, back in Baja.
Baja, the Mojave - all taught him one thing. Take chances every once and awhile - you might not get another.
"I know this ain't quite my place, but you seem awful bent on discrediting the marriage. I can't tell if that's a lack of love, or just plain fear."
As luck would have it, Abby finds her boots amidst the rubble that had once been floor. She shakes out the debris, all the while thinking about the video. Why did she feel her heart jump like hitting the a jackpot at the slots seeing herself in that white dress? It was not her style at all. Yeah she had worn dresses for Alec before. Those had at least been sexy. But white? Pure, unblemished white. On her? It just did not fit. She has killed a lot pf people, and not all had deserved to die the way they did.
Abby sees Alec still freaking out when she returns with her boots on, Death Pod held in one hand with the barrel up. What does she say to her? Seeing Alec in distress as a woman had been funny, endearing at first. Now though, she feels different, sees Alec in a different light but cannot place it. Why does it matter anyway?
It does not, she decides, and is now more annoyed at Alec than concerned,
"Hey, thats nothing, we gotta get outta here before whoever-the-fuck-that-was, comes down. Now calm yer tits, Veronica." Abby says and catches herself immediately. "Alec. I meant Alec. Calm the fuck down."
"NO!" Alec was quick to shout back at Abby. Her mind was in several different places at this point. "This whole thing is FUCKED! All we came here to do was buy supplies, but what happened? I don't know, BECAUSE WE WERE DRUGGED!" Her face was as red as a tomato from the anger.
"Seemingly, from what I can gather, we had a drive thru wedding, Flynn started a cult by the looks of it, Anri is about three times her normal size, the city seems like its on the verge of a civil war just by looking out a window, and oh yeah, I'M A WOMAN! This whole thing started because you fucking had to go run off after Michael, some guy that, in the grand scheme of things, is an after thought from all the bullshit we've been learning about! And God only knows what went on with the others! Fuck, I wouldn't be shocked if Chika was now housing some demonic spirit that's the manifestation of evil!" She then turned to Jeremy.
"And you! FUCK YOU! I don't even know who you are, but if you're from the world she's from, then get fucked! Your world sucks, and like you know a fuckin' thing about our relationship!" She then turned back to Abby, "you can keep thinking you're still in that shitty wasteland like he does, but it'll only end up making things as bad as they are now! This is not the 'Mojave,' this isn't even the Earth you know, this is a fucked up situation you cannot keep thinking is as normal as you think it is!... AND WHO THE FUCK IS VERONICA!?"
A gauntleted hand slaps Alec across her face maybe a little harder than Abby would have normally, but behind the helmet she is fuming and also red in the face.
"SOMEOME WITH MORE BALLS THAN YOU EVEN WHEN YOU WERE A MAN!" She yells at him through the voice modulator, making it crack somewhat. "You're always bitching around when shit hits the fan you know that!? Something don't go right you break down! You wouldn't last one fucking day in our world. Bet that! One day, you miss a meal, you yell your fucking head off and a Deathclaw makes you the meal!" Abby raises her hand to slap her again, but refrains, huffs "I'm fucking glad we ain't married. You... you're..." She struggles to speak, shaking visibly "...a good person. Even if only I see it. I don't fucking deserve you anyway anymore than I deserved Veronica. Or anyone. Soon as we're back at the Pathfinder, send me back." Her voice breaks, but she holds her cry in, shakes it out of herself. "House will have me back. I know he will. That's all I deserve."
The ranger crossed his arms, though still leaving the .44 hand cannon in view. "I was an officer of several eighteen year olds in Sin City, I've seen relationships that were worse, I can tell you that," Jeremy added, clearly still treating the event as humorous.
He, privately, became a little more serious when metal met flesh, but he didn't move any as Abby went off on her tirade. He was going to try and remind Alec that treating the world like the wasteland, given how wild the world was, probably was a smart move, but he didn't get the chance.
House. Well ain't that a kicker. He could mention it, even turn that .44 on her, drill her for answers and get sent back to the Mojave. Whatever story she spins or details she provides would make him an NCR hero.
But clearly things were bigger than NCR and Legion and even Mr. House. He had stumbled into something that very well may decide the fate of all worlds, something the little savages of his wasteland could hardly dream of. No, they could dream of it - and these people fought to protect those dreams, of worlds and places away and better than their wasted earth.
And that last hope was bickering. Typical. He was going to wait until the other woman, Alec, replied. If he acted like a bitch again, Jeremy would intervene, but he hoped he wouldn't have to. They wouldn't like Drill Instructor Welles, and he had no time to be his kind and considerate self.
Abby may have underestimated how hard the slap really was to. It was more like an open palm strike right on the cheekbone of Alec's face, and since her gauntlet was proper beskar steel, it was a wallop of a slap. Alec's vision went blurry the moment the slap happened, and considering she was still suffering from the effects of the hangover, down she went to the floor with a thud on her rear.
It took a moment to even see straight again, but Abby's voice sure came through loud and clear. Alec was dumbfounded, a much needed reality check to get him back on track, but one that came with pure venom and vitriol by Abigail. She just stared up at her with a shocked look, totally gasped and flummoxed by her partners rage. When she raised her hand to strike Alec again, Alec flinched. She raised her arm over his face to protect it from another blow, and when it didn't happen, she kept it up anyway as Abby continued talking.
It was after she stopped that Alec lowered it. Her face turned white, and a visible bruise was forming around her cheek. Alec now looked scared and concerned. "... A-Abby..." The Scotswomans voice cracked slightly once she spoke up again, but she hadn't a clue what to say.
Jeremy walked over, holstering his sidearm and kneeling next to Alec. "I'm also a medic," he said. "Let me check that wound."
The dumbstruck marine turned his head to Jeremy, though his fearful, shivering eyes remained on his 'wife.' Not a week in. I'd laugh if these two weren't my path to safety…and if it weren't so tragic.
When metal strikes flesh, with any meaningful power, flesh tends to lose. There was a gash where beskar plate scraped her skin.
A little less than Jeremy expected though. He'd fought Fiends, impromptu bludgeoning tools could burst open skulls, and while Abby didn't swing a sledgehammer at her friend, it was the same principle. Clearly though, the guy was superhuman - already the blood was beginning to clot, though it had streaked down her face already. She also didn't have any immediate signs of brain damage, which was promising.
"Definitely gonna leave a nasty bruise, but whatever you got running through the bloodstream is working its magic," the ranger said. "Look, I clearly don't know you two, but we shouldn't be bickering in unsecured, enemy territory. That's how people - whole squads - die. So let's keep it together and settle things once we get back to camp, alright?"
Hearing Jeremy assess Alec, Abby turns back around and is aghast, but all that would be seen from others is Abby looking down at her shaking hand. She had done it again.
"At least this time nobody died." Abby says in a quiet somber tone before balling that shaking hand into a fist and giving a groan of frustration.
"Ranger is right. Enough jawing." She identifies an exit to this floor, waves around for everyone to see her and follow.
"Shows over! Lets get moving before we--
SHUT UP!"
Alec scuttled across the floor thanks to that shockwave, and on top of the dizziness, she had now gone deaf in both ears. Will this headache ever cease? "AAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Alec shouted in pain, covering her ears to try and stop the ringing. Honestly, how could things possibly get worse? Well, this will for sure:
BANG
BANG
BANG
Something in the room nearby was trying to suddenly break its way out the front door; probably woken up by Xenon's screaming.
BANG
BANG
BANG.......
It stopped.... Maybe it couldn't escape--
BOOOOSH!
Speaking of Deathclaws. And look! With a light ding noise, the elevator doors opened up again, and coming out were more Advent! This time with Stun Lancers.