Chapter Text
Over two hundred years of bullshit had led him here.
Stood across the way from Henry MacLean. The little overly enthusiastic shit that collected his ex-wife’s dry cleaning once upon a time.
Hair now thoroughly greyed and lines had etched their way into his face. Looking like he’d lived a whole lifetime since Cooper could last picture seeing him before the bombs dropped. Henry did seem to be lacking his little blonde sidepiece, however. Cooper guessed the Vegas wedding didn’t last.
The sheer significance of seeing him in the flesh ignited something fierce in Cooper’s withered carcass, and jealousy too. He’d lost his daughter and the world he knew to men like him who got to sit in cryopods and wait out the end of the world. He’d spent the last thirty or so years trapped in a wood and silver box, cut off from the moon and the other creature inside him whilst this a-grade asshole had a cushy experience somewhere in a hole in the ground. Cooper’s other side reared its ugly head in anger, his nasal cavity taking in all the subtle notes of Henry’s scent. Memorising it in case he decided to do a runner. Cooper wouldn’t mind that, he never did shy away from a good hunt.
But as gratifying as this moment was giving him a sliver of hope, it was soon dashed away as Henry locked himself into a Brotherhood set of T-45 and jetted off from the massacre behind him at Griffith Observatory. Leaving Cooper behind with his eyes honing in on a vault dweller shaking a seemingly lifeless body of the man who’d provided Henry his means of escape before taking a hit to the head minutes ago.
“No, no, no. Stay with me, please Max.” Her silent pleas went unheard by the man she was holding, only gunfire and the soft growls of a ghoul parked at the dining table nearby filled the room. Feeling a bit anxious about the gunfire from Brotherhood weapons getting louder, Cooper moved with a bit of haste towards the pair on the floor before him. “Well there young Vaultie, I think time’s up on the Brotherhood comin’ a’knockin’.” His thick accent drawled through his weathered lips. Amidst all the chaos surrounding them, another odd scent made it’s way up Cooper’s nose. Whether his severed connection with Demon was to blame, or his nose isn’t what it used to be, subtle hints were overtaking the aromas around him. Oil, smole, lasers, metal, leather, and the faint scent of the unknown hovering above, Demon was curious about it.
Cooper stepped back a bit from the scene in front of him, trying to give his nose a break from the sensations hitting it. He wanted to walk away from it all, but something nagged at him to stay. Whether it was a desire to end his lonely travels or Demon acting up, he couldn’t say. Either way, he pulled his duster back and placed a hand over his holster in case the Vaultie made any sudden movements. “Now listen an’ heed my words girl, that fella you’re spillin’ your pretty lil’ heart over is part of these here forces stormin’ this stronghold.” He took a deep breath in, exercising caution as to how she would react to him. “Now y’can die here when his superiors get through the last of the NCR stationed here, or you can make it t’tomorrow and find that man who wronged you.” His shoulders tensed a little, but it eased a bit in the awkward silence that followed.
Hearing nothing from her Cooper turned to walk away, despite Demon’s protests to stay near the scent. No sooner had he taken a couple of steps, the sound of a 10mm pistol firing echoed around the atmosphere. A twinge of surprise blossoming in his chest at the realisation the Vaultie hadn’t shot him. The moment was short-lived, however, as the fighting going on between whatever was left of the NCR and the Brotherhood forces raged on. The skeletal ghoul parked up at the dinner table had ended her battlesong, skull knocked back with a new hole present above what once held her left eye. Cooper tilted his head back slightly back to the right, curious to see what the Vaultie was doing after taking the shot.
Lucy holstered the 10mm pistol at her hip and knelt down to Maximus, cupping his cheek and stroking her thumb down it gently. She kissed his forehead and leaned in closer to his ear so the Ghoul in front couldn’t hear her. “I’ll find you Max, I won’t forget our promise.”
Cooper did hear her, and felt guilty for it. Perks of being a werewolf with superior hearing, downside being he couldn’t switch them off on cue.
Lucy then turned to face the Ghoul, noticing his head tipped to the side slightly looking at her. “That man who wronged me is my father, let’s move then before we get shot.” She shot him a glare as his eyes followed her walking in front of him, stopping briefly to look at the rubble and let out a whistle.
A bubble of frustration ebbed to the surface for Cooper, questioning how she knew exactly what he was, and why in seven hells she thought whistling for him to come was appropriate. The nerve of this Vaultie! He soon put a stop to those thoughts hearing an abrupt bark and telltale sound of paw pads on concrete. The canine’s silhouette running up to the vault dweller. She ruffled the dog’s head and looked at him expectantly like she was asking which way to go. He wound his neck in before saying anything and tilted his head off to the right to signal their direction, instincts taking over as he took the lead of their little group. His nose guiding their way out of the observatory, keeping him alert to danger, the less he could smell laser pistols the safer they’d be.
Minutes had passed since Lucy, the dog, and Cooper had escaped from the observatory. Minutes before the Brotherhood had taken down the last NCR soldier and stormed the room Maximus found himself awake in. As his vision slowly corrected, a figure was hovering over him. Thinking it was Lucy, he felt a brief reprieve, but it changed to one he couldn’t explain when his eyes focused and saw it was Dane looking over him. Concern plastered all over their face.
“Max, Max, are you with me? You need to wake up, now.” They gently shook his shoulders while they pleaded with him, the weight of the battle looking like it would break them if they lost him too.
“Hey Dane, I’m here.” Max let out a small “oof” as Dane pulled him into a crushing hug, letting him go as the echo of footsteps got closer. Max took a moment to look around the ruins, feeling confused and concerned about Lucy’s whereabouts. He turned back to Dane with worry etched in his features, “Dane, was there a girl and a dog up here?” his face gave him away but Max tried to keep his voice level. Who was he kidding? Dane knew immediately, they hadn’t been best friends for nothing in their years together.
“Uhh no Max, just you, this woman and a ghoul.” Dane lifted the body of the woman that had died, noting the gunshot that had killed her. Relief surged across his features seeing that the woman wasn’t Lucy, he knew she was alive at least. But his eyes didn’t linger too long, drifting to focus on the glowing blue vial she had still in her hand. Max took it from her feeling a little sick at the cold feeling of her hands, holding it up to the moonlight as it dawned on him exactly what it was. “The artifact…” Dane let out a breath they hadn’t realised they were holding and quickly dropped the woman’s body to the side of them. “Yeah, the artifact, she must’ve got it out of the head huh…” Max’s confusion was evident on his face at exactly how that had been stored in his head in the first place, but he couldn’t finish those thoughts as a squadron of Knights in power armour burst through the doors.
Dane looked at Max with panic written all over their face, looking back at the woman and then at Max again. They knew Quintus had already threatened to kill him over the false head, so they made an adrenaline-fueled decision. Dane turned to the squadron and before Max could stop them, they begun shouting.
“Look on this before you! Their leader is dead. The artifact is secured!” The concern on their face wiped away as the words they shouted grew in confidence.
“All hail Knight Maximus, That shalt be Knight hereafter!” Dane begun the chant holding Max’s hand with the diode in the air.
Under the light of the crescent moon, Knights and Squires alike joined in the chant with Dane. Confidence plastering their features, fear on Max’s. His only comfort being that he knew Lucy and Four had made it out alive somehow.
Their worlds as they knew them had changed. The players keeping their hands close to their chests.
The games had begun.