It was considered an odd day if something was not happening in Vault 3. While the worst repeat offenders were kicked out to live in the above-ground territory, in-fighting or mishaps with the various chems in the Vault were still near-daily occurrences. As a result, a panic-stricken Fiend racing through the halls and tunnels received mere glances from those who could care less why he was running around like a beheaded chicken in the first place. Perhaps they thought Mauser was having a bad trip and he would wear it out of his system in good time, or others just assumed the behavior was part of the nervous Fiend's package. Some even found amusement in it.

To the few who did point him in the right direction, after he frantically asked where a certain Fiend was at, the tattoo-covered man eventually found his way towards the common room where pool tables, couches, and empty soda machines made up most of the décor.  Quickly, Mauser scanned the occupants for an orange head of hair, but the room was lacking that color. Bright red and dark blue were present, however, and they would have to do; there was no time to continue the search.

"Hey Re'toof, wa'th meh ma'th dis th'ot," the blue haired one, Cherry Popper, lisped to his friend.

Redtooth gave the other Fiend a mildly interested glance before directing his attention to the trick shot the man had lined up. A mischievous smile soon spread across the redhead's face, for some reason or another, but the skinny man was too focused on aiming to notice or suspect his friend was plotting something. The shot was soon made and the cue ball rolled towards a blue ball, clacking when it connected with a good amount of force. The blue ball would have hit an orange one into the pocket had Redtooth not deftly plucked it off the stained, green felt right before it could be hit, and the blue one bonked uselessly against the wooden wall surrounding the playing surface.

"Oops, you missed," the redhead teased, tossing the orange ball back onto the table. "And here I thought you were good at this game."

"Yu ath'ho'," Popper spit, lifting the pool cue as though he was about to crack Redtooth over the head with it, but the other Fiend grabbed an extra cue, holding it towards him and grinning all the while.

"A duel, good sir?" he laughed, but before anyone could see if a sword fight with pool cues would erupt or not, Mauser approached, interrupting the pair.

"Cherry P-popper, Redtooth, I-I need your help. Jack and the others… they're going to hurt Dimi," he uttered breathlessly, afraid.

The two stood there for a moment, taking in what had just been said. Cherry Popper's expression clearly displayed his wonder as to why Mauser was telling them this and not Knives, but Redtooth quickly realized the seriousness of the situation; he enjoyed relentlessly teasing the other redhead, but he would never wish any harm to befall her.

"Where are they?" Redtooth asked.

"Th-the dorms. I was supposed to be there, b-b-but…"

"Th'omeone li'ths Dimi. Don' le' Knive'th fin' ou'," the blue-haired Fiend teased, laughing as he hooked a thumb under the strap crossing over his chest; it secured a scoped rifle to his back. While Mauser's face turned a shade of embarrassed red, Redtooth gave the skinny Fiend a quick punch to the arm, causing him to utter a quiet 'ow' and pout at the other.

"Better start leading the way," the redhead commanded, and Mauser gave a nervous nod, turning to head back the way he'd come.

For a moment, Cherry Popper looked as though he was about to protest participating in the rescue mission, until Redtooth grabbed him by the waistband of his pants and yanked him along after the tattoo-covered Fiend.

-----------------------

The note was somewhat unexpected, but she was glad to receive it all the same. It had been delivered to her hands while she was spending some time in the cafeteria, reminiscing about her life in a Vault. Vault 3's cafeteria was laid out quite different from 101's, and was definitely dirtier, but the décor was the same; the same booths, the same chairs, and so on.
The note was an invitation from Honey Badger, requesting that Dimi come visit her in her room. She had not seen the unfortunate girl since she helped her mend her armor after the ordeal that ruined it, and that had been a few days ago, now. Making her way for the living quarters a level below her, Dimi did not suspect anything was amiss. With the knowledge that being Knives's girl was enough to prevent attacks on her person, she felt a certain feeling of immunity being amongst the Fiends these days. It was kind of nice to walk amongst them and feel like one of them, rather than the outsider she had felt like.

The dorms were quiet at this time of the day. Most of the Fiends were either socializing in the various common rooms and cafeterias located within the spacious Vault, or above ground, enjoying the fresh air in the cover of darkness. Those that did remain were few and were either in an 'occupied' state, or a drug-induced unconsciousness. The quietness was almost unsettling, and for a moment the girl was reminded of the 'abandoned' Vaults she and the gang had dared to enter on their adventures. As Dimi searched for the blond girl's room, she passed by two of the flooded stairwells located in the area, pausing at the second. The sight of the dark water gave her an eerie feeling every time she had to pass by, but her inner scavenger was always wondering what sort of treasures were down there, unaffected by the water and awaiting some brave soul's attempt to recover them. Alas, even if she could hold her breath for that long, the thought of where that water might have come from, and the ticking noises her pip-boy made whenever she got too close was a huge deterrent. A quiet sigh parted her lips as she turned away to continue her search, but suddenly someone stood before her, causing Dimitri to jump. Her heart began to race a little when she saw it was none other than Jack-Chain.

"Why, hello there," he purred at her. Dimitri did not return the greeting, too taken aback at having run into Jack, of all people. A second later, she felt the presence of others behind her; the gleeful giggle identified Frog before she even had to look upon his painted face. She was surrounded, she realized. One Fiend, an average sized man sporting a short, dark Mohawk was someone she did not recognize, but she did take note that Mauser was not amongst them, and that made a nervous feeling creep into her gut.

"Hey, man. I've got someplace to be, so if you'll just excuse me," she said, attempting to skirt around the large man, but found a thick arm blocking her path.

"Honey's not waiting for you, darling. She tucked tail and retreated topside a few days ago," he grinned at the taller girl, and it was at that moment that the redhead realized she had walked right into the trap. The note in hand was crumpled into a ball and tossed aside as she quickly weighed her options. Those custom gauntlets covered her knuckles, but Frog and Jack were no doubt prepared for her this time, and the third Fiend only complicated things further. Flight rather than fight was definitely the better choice. Dimi glanced back to find her escape that way mostly blocked by the painted Fiend and the other. Ahead, it was just Jack.

"Well then…" she started, but had no intention of finishing as she charged forward, aiming to squeeze her slender frame through the opening on the blond man's right, but he moved faster than she expected. A crushing embrace engulfed her and she hollered in angry protest, struggling in the man's arms in a desperate attempt to free herself, or at least free her arms so she could dish out some abuse.

"Quit standing around, you fuckers, and help me pin her!" Jack yelled at the other two, who shot into action after that command. Jack may have been stronger and more solid than she was, but Dimitri was proving harder to handle than he had anticipated. Frog and the other each went for a side, grappling onto and restraining arms first. The combined strength of the three men was more than enough to overwhelm her, but she continued to make things harder for them. The painted Fiend had a hard time keeping a hold of her arm and earned himself a bloody nose and lip. The unknown one on her right faired better, but he, too, struggled until Jack managed to avoid her attempts to bite him and curled a large hand around her throat, pressing her up against the wall. Dimitri tried to yell for help, but much like Honey Badger, her voice was muffled by hid free hand pressing over her mouth. She tried to shy away from the fingers painfully digging into her cheekbones, but it was useless; even her attempts to bite that dirty hand failed, and Jack just laughed when he felt her teeth graze harmlessly against his palm.

"Oh, she's an eager one, boys," he laughed, and his lackeys soon added to it with their own chuckles. Then, with little warning, he removed the hand from her throat and cuffed her upside the head. "That's for trying to bite, you naughty bitch." The blow made her flinch, but an angry heat crept up her body, fueling her struggles and a string of indiscernible cursing. Thinking a few slaps would cow her, Jack continued to backhand Dimitri until he grew frustrated with the lack of effect it had; in fact, it just seemed to make her angrier.

"Jack, I'm losing my hold!" Frog protested, and the larger man gave a frustrated sigh before resorting to less kinder options; the abuse-delivering hand drove into her stomach, forcing a muffled grunt of pain from Dimi. It was a winding blow, and for a long moment it seemed as if her nose could not take in all the air she needed to ease the panic and ache for breath, but this was what Jack had hoped for – a hit that stunned.

A grin then spread across his face, as though a thought just occurred to the man, and it was an amusing one. "So, Dimitri… if that really is your name… the boys and I were wondering why you have a man's name. Are you really one?" he asked, and something in his tone made Dimi feel more uneasy than she already was. She then felt a hand slip beneath her leather jacket, cringing as it felt over her chest. The large hand engulfed one of her small breasts, giving it a cruel squeeze that immediately had her crying out with pain into Jack's other hand. "Well, Cook-Cook has bigger tits than she does!" he exclaimed to the others, and soon all three of them were snickering while the redhead drew in hard breaths through her nose, and tried in vain to shift her chest from the man's painful and unwelcome grip.

"Frog bet you have a cock and that's why Knives likes you so much," he leered at her and finally removed that hand from her chest, but when it relocated at her belt, Dimi felt a dreadful panic grip her. She shook her head as best as she could and uttered the best 'no' she could manage, to try and deny the possession of male genitalia so they wouldn't need to check for themselves.
"No? So you have a cunt instead? Good, that's what I prefer. I'm not some cock-gobbler like your boyfriend," he laughed some more, working her belt loose.

Many thoughts were going through the girl's head at that point - the need to stop him, escape, the silent plea for help… but there was one feeling that had begun as a spark, and was now a roaring inferno within. Bright eyes looked to Frog and the other before they settled on Jack, and she did not need her words to convey her desire to kill them all.

The large man was struggling to with the one-handed attempt on the belt, and it was a delay Dimi moved to take advantage of. Perhaps it was luck or a new found strength, fueled by the rage within, that allowed her to free her leg from the painted Fiend's grip. Frog uttered a warning, but it was too late for Jack when a boney knee connected harshly with his crotch. Their leader uttered a literal squeak before staggering away from them all, hands now clutching his privates. The redhead was still restrained by the other two, but began to struggle once again, aiming that mean kick for the unknown Fiend with little success, all while calling them all every name in the book. Frog clung to her left side, losing the battle with keeping her in place now that Jack was out of commission. However, without commands from their leader, Frog was beginning to formulate his own plans, born from fear and panic. He reached for the knife at his hip, loosening it from the crude sheath while wide eyes shifted from Dimi's neck, to her chest, and back again as that trembling hand lifted the weapon. The Fiend pulled his arm back, preparing to drive the blade into her heart before the redhead killed them all…

It was at that moment, many things seemed to happen in rapid succession; there was the sound of running footsteps echoing through the halls, followed by other familiar voices. The girl also felt Frog being ripped away and seconds later a scream pierced the air before it turned into gross, wet, gurgling sound. Eyes briefly looked to her left, but it was too quick to register the scene playing out there. Her attention was more focused on her right and the Fiend restraining her there, and now that her arm was finally free, she drove a metal-covered fist into the remaining Fiend's nose. A spray of red exploded from his face as he staggered back, releasing her as well to paw at his broken nose. It was then that Dimi focused her rage on the one who touched her; Jack was recovering from the blow to his manhood as a hand wrapped around his throat, and he could only watch as a spiked fist rose into the air. As a gun shot echoed through the halls, the first blow connected with flesh. Dimitri flinched at the sound, but even if she wanted to, she could not tear her focus away from the man at her mercy. She hit him again, and again, and again…

-----------------------

"Alright, alright, you can stop now!"

The voice, combined with being physically hauled off Jack-Chain brought her back to her senses. Dimitri felt disoriented, as if someone had just awoken her from a deep sleep. The girl clung to Redtooth, staring at the blood covered Fiend with a blank look. From there, her eyes lifted to the scene around her; Mauser had his back to them all and was shaking his head; Frog was lying in a pool of his own blood, a glistening smile on his neck replacing the one that was no longer present on his face. To her right, the unknown Fiend was also dead, but from a bullet to the brain. What had happened in the last fifteen minutes seemed temporarily lost to her, but pieces of the puzzle were slowly falling back into place. Suddenly, Dimi became aware of the smell of blood in the air, mingling with the damp, musty smell of the living quarters, combined with the scent of unwashed men. Even when she moved away from Redtooth, the smell of blood lingered around her, and that was when she directed her gaze towards her hands; everything was red, and chunks of hair and flesh clung to her gauntlets. Cherry Popper and Redtooth were speaking to her, but the horror of the sight of her hands deafened her to their questions and concern. The scene only grew more grisly as her eyes focused beyond her hands and to the floor - there was a lot of blood everywhere; splattered upon the walls, her clothing, and on the ground was a man whose face was nothing more than a broken mess of red and gore. Only when she saw the chain tattoos did the final pieces fall into place.

"Oh God," she gasped, back pedaling away from the body, but the narrow Vault halls only let her escape so far.

If Cherry Popper and Redtooth had any comments about what had just happened between her and Jack-Chain, they were keeping them to themselves. But they were raiders, after all; people more used to a savage lifestyle than a Vault dweller-turned-Wasteland wanderer. Still, they gave her an odd look at the sudden horror she displayed over her kill, unaware that it was the end result of a loss of control – a desperate need to preserve oneself. Dimitri found herself unable to take her eyes off the sight, and it was causing her stomach do all sorts of acrobatics. She turned her back to the men when there was little she could do to fight off the need to be sick.

"Co' on, i'th no' tha' bad. Ah've th'een wo'se," Popper commented when he heard the retching. The wave of nausea took some time to pass, and she was left feeling a bit faint. Bloody hands pressed against the wall for support while she closed her eyes and spit, trying to rid herself of the unpleasant taste left in her mouth. She had started to lift a hand to wipe away some spittle clinging to her chin, but caught herself before she smeared Jack's blood over her face. Uttering a distressed whine, the girl was suddenly overcome with the desperate need to get away from the scene around her. Everywhere she looked, there was a body or blood, and it only made her growing feeling of trepidation worsen.

Popper and Redtooth decided to give her some space since she was being non-responsive anyway, and the excitement of going through the pockets and pouches of their victims was currently occupying their attention. Redtooth was quite delighted to find a bag of pills on Frog's body, and since it seemed that Dimi wanted nothing more to do with Jack-Chain, Cherry Popper decided to loot the man's pockets in addition to the other he shot.

"Re'toof? Do yu thin' any'un woul' twade meh fo' hi'th chain?" the skinny Fiend asked as he began to unravel the hooked chain from Jack's corpse.

"Probably," he replied, looking over the blade Frog had carried before wiping it clean on the dead man's pants. "Someone will want it."

"Me," it was Mauser who spoke, now. "I'll take it." The Fiend's voice sounded sad, but angry as well. Then again, the gang who had had his back, for the most part, was now lying around him, dead. No doubt when the tattooed Fiend asked for assistance in stopping the attack, it was most likely an attempt to save them from doing something stupid, not to see them all slaughtered.

"Ma' an offah," the blue-haired Fiend spoke, lifting a brow as he scratched at the bone piercing through his nose. When Mauser offered over some syringes of Med-x and a few caps, Popper eyed the offer critically. "It ithn't wor' tha' lil! Gimme th'ome a'thwa an'..."

The taller Fiend didn't let Popper finish before he shoved the chems and caps into the man's hand and wrenched the chain from the other. "I sh-shouldn't even be offering you anything. He was not your fucking kill to loot," he now spoke with a pure anger; a rare thing for Mauser. "I don't even know what Athwa is!"

For a moment, Cherry Popper was shocked by the change in the meek man, giving him a wide-eyed look. His brows soon lowered, giving the taller man a dangerous look. "Yu fu'ing ath'ho'. Gimme wha' i'th wor' t' meh 'r go fu' yer'th'elf."

Mauser continued to look defiant, clutching the chain within trembling hands. However, the Fiend wasn't used to standing up for himself, and his anger-fueled courage was fizzling out just as quickly as it appeared, especially after the muzzle of a rifle was jammed up under his chin. The tattooed one then felt the warmth of Redtooth press up against his back, followed by the tip of a cold steel blade pressing against his bare side.

"He said hydra, so the chain isn't yours till you can pay the full price. I'd give it back if I were you," Redtooth purred up at him, digging the blade into his skin to encourage the chain's quick return to its new owner. It was just enough pressure to draw a small amount of blood.

Mauser made no show of pain, but he felt the blade break the skin all the same, and its warning was more than clear. He shoved the weapon back into Cherry Popper's possession. "F-fine…"

"That's a good boy," the redhead slid away from Mauser, licking away the drop of blood that clung to his new knife while he scanned the area. Behind him, the tattooed Fiend had returned to his pushover self and was busy agreeing to a new price of two hydras when Redtooth noticed something.

"….Hey, where did Dimi go?"


She had come into the Vault that afternoon feeling untouchable; confident in the knowledge Knives's rank protected her. She never thought for a second that those feelings could be ripped away so easily in one terrifying moment, and her 'blackout' only shook her further. While her saviors were arguing over dead men's possessions, the redhead had slunk away. It wasn't them she wanted to be away from, but from the scene of death, and the smell of blood and stink. There was also a need to find water, and while one source was a part of the scene, the first of the two stairwells she had previously passed was now in sight. Ignoring the incessant ticking from her pip-boy, Dimi descended the few stairs that were still dry and dunked her hands into the murky water, doing her best to clean the drying, sticky blood off of skin and gauntlets.

Even though no one was around to see, she still bit her lip to try and stave off the want to cry; she had to be strong, in her mind. However, as the blood proved stubborn to wash off, and she had to spend more time washing in that disgusting water than she wanted to, frustration got the better of her and the tears broke through their dam. The first few sobs were uncontrollable, but Dimi was a champion of holding in her emotions. Just as quickly as they begun, she managed to silence them, letting the tears run their course while she left the stairwell and made her way towards the exit.

Wiping her eyes with mostly clean fingers, Dimitri glanced back, checking to see if she was being followed. The redhead had not forgotten about Cherry Popper and Redtooth, or the fact that she owed them a display of gratitude for their help. Unfortunately, she was not in the mood to deal with people, and the tears running down her cheeks only made her feel like avoiding every living person in the Mojave. At that moment, she had a single desire, and that was to retreat to someplace safe, but the large, circular door leading outside felt as if it was miles away, and Freeside felt further away still. There was one place within the Vault she could go to though, and she did not need to navigate populated halls to get there. Taking a different turn, the redhead made her way for the room Knives had claimed for himself, to deal with everything that had happened.

-----------------------

"Hey Redtooth, watch me make this shot."
"You asshole."
"Someone likes Dimi. Don't let Knives find out."
"Come on, it's not that bad. I've seen worse."
"Redtooth, do you think anyone would trade me for his chain?"
"Make an offer. It isn't worth that little! Give me some Hydra and…"
"You fucking asshole. Give me what it's worth to me or go fuck yourself."