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The Devil existed. That much has been known to the people of No Man’s Land for a very long time. Perhaps, some people have even known since The Big Fall itself. Perhaps, that was a simple truth everyone on this planet learned one way or another throughout their lives.
The Devil existed, David knew as much. Has known for a very long time, though he wouldn’t tell you for how long exactly if you asked him. He’d long lost the track of time.
The Devil existed. He’s seen that much with his own two eyes as he watched that independent destroy half of the fifth moon in one shot, only to disappear for years after that day.
He’s been wearing her jacket ever since. He found a weird comfort in having kept at least something from her. That, and her gun he never used in those years but still carried around, hoping he’d get a chance to return it to its rightful owner one day.
The Devil existed. Why else would they be suffering their whole lives if he didn’t?
“I’m telling you, this lady is crazy!” Some drunk shouted through the bar, cackling obnoxiously loudly with his friends.
“I know right? Who in their right mind opposes an entire gang just for the sake of a random child?”
“Damn those mom instincts,” the other supplied with a laugh. “Makes you wonder if she lost a child or something in the past.”
“Even if she did, taking a bullet for someone? That’s kinda crazy.”
David only half listened to the conversation as he played with the rim of his now empty glass, bored out of his mind. Two years. Today marked exactly two years since Lucy’s supposed death. Of course, he wasn’t allowed to believe in that, judging by how he was still sent out on missions in seemingly random cities even after he brought her to… ah, but perhaps this was but a lucky coincidence this time. He’d never know now.
Still, that didn’t stop a dull ache in his entire body as it remembered the shock wave that shook through Jeneora Rock that day. He only got to the spot minutes after it was over, foolishly looking for her in the rubble. Unsurprisingly, only her jacket remained, caught on the piece of metal near the destroyed building, caught in the shot.
Then, the local doctor rushing through the bar and muttering something about ‘that damn girl’ caught his mind. Really, he only went to investigate because he had nothing better to do.
“You still have this old thing?” Her laugh was hoarse after just waking up. David almost didn’t recognize her with the grown out hair covering half of her face. He’d never forget these eyes though. Sometimes he really hoped he could. “Man, you really are attached to the past.”
“Shut up,” he sighed, suppressing the near hysterical laugh as he handed her her gun.
“Man, I really liked living like this. Finally felt like I ran away from it,” Lucy drawled, dropping back to the pillows with a chuckle. She fiddled with the trigger of her revolver, shooting an empty shot into the ceiling. She didn’t miss his flinch at the action. “You’re not gonna let me stay, huh?”
“Wouldn’t think of it,‘ he rolled his eyes. “I missed you, you know.”
“I’m sorry.”
That’s me who should be apologizing here, David thought with a grim smile, but never said anything in return.
The Devil existed. He signed a contract with one.
He really should’ve just ran away when he still had a chance to.
“I like when you smile like this,” David said without much thought to it, watching through the smoke of his cigarette as Lucy waved her goodbyes to the local children. “It’s not often that you see someone do it.”
“What do you mean? I always smile,” she arched an eyebrow, glancing at her partner. They’d been traveling together like this for months now, and not once did she question their final goal in this journey, allowing him to take the reins. He really appreciated not having to lie through his teeth to her about it if he could help it.
He really wished he could tell her the truth someday. Maybe this way he’d be able to save her.
Oh who was he kidding. He’d only make things worse.
“That’s the point, Lu,” David huffed, shaking the ash off. “You always flash that empty smile to everyone you meet. It’s a rare sight when you smile genuinely.”
And that little moment made Lucy grin at him sadly, searching his face for something. He almost couldn’t take her gaze at that moment. Almost.
“Speaking from experience?” The independent asked, standing up from the ground.
David laughed instead of a proper response, shaking his head. Hell, maybe she was right.
Maybe that’s because it hurt even more to see her do the same.
“I just have one question,” Lucy said quietly as she holstered her revolver, stepping away from the dead body. It’s been what, a seventh mercenary sent after them? And a bunch of other guys too. “Why would you get yourself into this mess?”
For a moment, the question didn’t even register in David’s head as he leaned on his cross, taking a breath. It’s been harder to keep up with all of this, especially as he couldn’t heal himself right away without revealing a couple of secrets to her.
“Huh?”
“The Eye of Arasaka,” she nodded to the patch on her jacket. “You weren’t exactly subtle with the uniform back then, you know.”
Ah. Well, there it was. The moment she’d kill him after it finally dawned on her why and where exactly they were going. Or he’d finally snap and put her out of her misery.
Not that he really thought he’d be able to.
It was nice while it lasted, David sighed to himself.
Still, he felt kinda bad about it. He really hoped he’d keep the charade up for a little longer.
“I don’t think you wanna hear my sob story of getting into a cult as a dumb kid,” he rolled his eyes, finally straightening his back with a huff.
“Oh please, I am more than interested,” she drawled. “Besides, I know a place here that serves something better than the cheap booze you always get. My treat.”
“Really, Lu? Bribing me with alcohol when you can just kill me for betraying you?”
“Well, I can still decide to do just that after hearing your side of the story, can’t I?” She smiled, stretching her hand out. “Come on, David the Punisher. We have all night to ourselves.”
And that’s how they got there, huh. Sitting on the roof of a long abandoned building on the outskirts of the town, several bottles of beer (the nice, local one) between them and a pack of cigarettes passed around. And a couple of empty vials of the regenerative drug hidden in the pocket, taken while she was getting the drinks for them. Just long enough for the markings to fade again.
David sighed heavily, lying on his back now and staring up into the sky as Lucy fiddled with a bottle cap, waiting for him to start talking. The Punisher lay just a few feet back, covered with fabric so that the light wouldn’t startle the locals. Finally, after a third silent cigarette and what felt like an eternity, he propped himself up on an elbow, readying himself.
“So… my Mom and I actually used to live in July before uh…” he bit his tongue, glancing at the independent.
“Before I happened?” She raised an eyebrow with a huff.
“Yeah, basically. We were lucky though. Mom had a work trip and she took me with her as always. She raised me all by herself and we didn’t have any family there, so she didn’t really have anyone to leave me with, so there’s that. She was a doctor. A hella good too, and kinder than the word deserved. We weren’t too rich, but pretty average, I guess. I don’t know, didn’t look too much into how much money people made there. She would go out of the city to help with the poorer people who couldn’t afford a doctor in July. That’s how we escaped the whole thing, but… well. There wasn’t anywhere for us to go after. We lost everything on that day. Luckily, some of the people she helped out before directed her to an orphanage not way too far away from the city that would need her. Near December, to be more specific. So, having nothing better to do, we went there.”
He sighed again, shaking his head. Lucy silently passed a bottle of beer to him, which he accepted with a weak smile, taking a few gulps immediately.
“The deal with them was simple actually. Her services for living with them. It was kinda nice there, you know. Quiet and all like, one big family style. I didn’t get along with the kids too much being an outsider, but hey, at least nobody tried to bully me there like in July. So we lived there like this for a while, she would still go out to help others of course, except this time I stayed in the orphanage with the others. Well… one day someone else came there. People from the Eye of Arasaka were looking for new recruits to train and they promised good money for them. I didn’t even think twice when they deemed me good enough for them, I had to repay my Mom and the orphanage for what they did for us. And so I went. I trained. I let them experiment on me to make me a more efficient fighter. I really didn’t need that skill for a while though, not when Mom was still around. My job was usually more like accompanying their officials on the job for that time, but they still paid enough for me to send most of it back home. And then, well… Mom got into a crossfire of some gangs in December. Nobody got to her in time. I… I had to retrieve her body to at least bury her near the orphanage. I was really tempted to drop it right after it and fuck off in the sunset but… those guys came back. Only this time, they threatened to level the orphanage if I defected. I knew they could do that, and easily so. I’ve seen them wipe out entire villages a couple of times… something with an illegal business that messed with them. So yeah. I got my weapon and the new codename shortly after that and they made me their full-time operative for disposing of the trash and shit. That was, hm… ten, maybe fifteen years ago at this point? Don’t really know at this point. I lost track of time a long ago and just… did my job to keep them safe. And then… guess they caught wind of you or something and brought me back for a new mission. I had to find you and escort you to their base to let them do whatever the shit they needed to do. That was supposed to be my final mission before they’d finally release me and, I don’t know, finally let me live a normal life maybe? Well… not like it worked out anyways.”
“Their base was near July,” Lucy frowned. “We haven’t been heading in the wrong direction for months now. We’re actually headed South.”
“Yeah,” David huffed. “I’m not taking you to July after I just got you back.”
“Why?”
At this, he smiled and shrugged, averting his gaze to the sky. The independent searched his face carefully, but couldn’t find anything that indicated any malice in the mercenary. Only calmness and resignation.
“Because fuck them, that’s why. If they need you so much they’re willing to threaten children over this, they might as well come for us themselves and take you over my dead body,” he said simply.
The Devil existed, David reminded himself over and over throughout his life. And he was done with playing along with his stupid games.
“So what exactly are we doing in December?” Lucy asked as they hopped off the sandsteamer. It’s been a couple of weeks since their roof conversation and honestly, she was glad to see some of the weight lifted off her partner’s shoulder after this. There’s been a stronger air of trust between them now, which she appreciated.
She did feel glad about his increasing paranoia after he admitted to defecting from the Eye of Arasaka, though. Good thing they both have proven themselves capable of protecting themselves and each other, right?
“You’ll see,” David smiled at her, already navigating through the crowds with a practiced ease. She followed him without a second thought.
They walked like this for maybe an hour, getting farther and farther from the heart of the city until they reached the edge of a plateau with a couple of buildings in sight. She saw him smile softly with a nostalgic gaze as it dawned on her where they were.
“The orphanage,” Lucy muttered with a slight gasp.
“Still in one piece,” he sighed in relief and sprinted to one of the farther buildings. “Come on, I wanna show you something!”
It probably shouldn’t have come as a surprise to her that he was so enthusiastic about whatever it was there, she mused, deciding to walk there calmly. It was his home, after all.
What did it even feel like, to have a place in the world like this? She’d never know.
“Ahh, there it is,” she heard David say as she finally reached a slightly run-down house behind the main building of the orphanage. There was a sign with Dr. Martinez written on it on the door, the letters faded over the years.
Ah. That must be his last name. And his mother’s house… office? He never specified if they lived in the building itself. Perhaps, living just a few yards back was a smart choice, with her going away in ungodly hours, so that she wouldn’t wake the children by accident.
“What’s this?” Lucy asked with a tilt of her head as she walked over to the mercenary who held a box in his hands with an excited smile.
“Oh!” David grinned even wider as he stood up on his feet to place the box on a dusty table, unlatching the lock. “So, you know how Mom used to be a doctor? And you are kind of a doctor to the plants too, with your funky powers, like you did in Jeneora Rock! And other places, I guess. And uh, you kinda never asked for your jacket back and I just thought… I should give you something in return.”
With that, he opened the box to reveal a neatly folded grayish yellow jacket, clearly taken care of despite its evident age. Funny, it was the same blue on the inside of the collar as hers… Lucy recognized it. It was a part of July’s medical uniform back in the day. But that meant…
“That’s your mom’s jacket,” she frowned, looking over it. “And you want me to have it?”
“Yup,” he said simply and took the jacket out, turning to show it to the independent. “I think you of all people deserve to have something like this. You know, despite all the folk saying that you’re a humanoid calamity and stuff… and besides, that would mean that two of my closest people would meet each other, you know, symbolically… but no pressure!”
Closest people huh… She smiled softly at the thought. Who ever thought someone would think of her like this. With that, Lucy silently accepted the jacket and put it on carefully, slightly surprised with the softness of the padding, not at all hardened by the dried blood and vicious washing over years.
“Thank you,” she said, the smile still present on her face.
“Now we match, Lu,” David grinned in return and if Lucy felt like she belonged for the first time in her life, well. Nobody needed to know that.
After all, best not to admit to the Devil that you have something to lose.
Ah… he couldn’t move. His entire body refused to move after he’d been almost killed by this asshole.
Adam, was it..? Adam the Tri-Punisher of Death. He was in deep shit the moment the guy appeared here. But hell, what was he supposed to do? Give up the only place he considered home for almost twenty years? Or give up on Lucy, probably the only one who still cared about him, believed in him after everything he’s done? Shit. There wasn’t a right answer here, was there?
If only… If only he could reach for the vials…
“Pathetic,” Adam spat not too far away from him, sneering at his broken form. David couldn’t even glare at him in response. “Let me put you out of your misery, boy.”
Ah… but he still had things to do. Too bad he wouldn’t live through another hour at this rate.
But the bullets never came for him. There was the terrifying rattling of the gunshots and children screaming in the back, too mortified to run away. And… a gentle, somewhat familiar rustling of feathers.
Wait. Feathers?
“O-ho,” Adam laughed, taking a step back in surprise. “This thing reflected the bullets? That’s some cool stuff you have here, missy! I’m even getting excited!”
David put all of his remaining strength to reach for the vials and snap one of them with his teeth as the monster of a man continued talking. He needed to move. He needed to heal, he needed to get up and take the fight himself.
Lucy wasn’t supposed to be here. She needed to deal with…
“Hey, hey, can you hold for at least ten seconds if I keep shooting?”
Oh no.
He rolled out of the way on pure reflexes the moment the drugs kicked in. He didn’t even notice how he took all three vials in one go, but god was he grateful for their quick effects when it mattered.
The kids. If Lucy could occupy Adam for just a little while, he could get the kids to safety.
“Alright, chop-chop, guys! We don’t need a bunch of dead bodies here while the adults are working!”
Ah. Well, that settles it. But when did Rebecca get here too? Well. No matter. He trusted her to do the job.
“Come on, get inside!”
Though, the kids were definitely startled by a shortie with a shotgun over her shoulder…
“Don’t worry. We’re David’s friends. We’ll take it from here.”
He knew that’d do the trick. Which only left…
Adam. The thought of killing him did not feel right at all. Not after living in fear of the man for so many years. Nonetheless, he lunged for his Punisher and aimed.
The bastard didn’t budge, not from just a couple of bullets, but that gave them just enough time for Lucy to reach for Lucy to reach him and swing him in the air, allowing him to take out the forces just reaching them. He couldn’t help but grin at the face of utter shock on Adam.
What? First time seeing people actually trust each other in a fight?
“You really shouldn’t be here, Lu,” he breathed when his feet reached the ground. The independent grinned wildly in response.
“Hey, can’t a girl be worried? Besides, I think we came just in time.”
“Yeah… I guess you did.”
They needed to get the fight away from here. Away from the orphanage. Adam would kill them all without a second thought if they didn’t… ah, but that’d be pretty tricky here.
Unless…
“Hey Lu,” David whispered, watching the man between them and the orphanage carefully. They would have one shot in this. “I have one thing to ask.”
“What is it, David?”
“I need to do this alone. It’s more personal for him to get rid of me than anyone else here… you’ll have a shot at grabbing Rebecca and getting away while I take the fight somewhere safer.”
“Not a chance,” Lucy growled, charging her revolver. “Are you crazy? He’s going to kill you!”
“Or he’s going to kill all of us,” he countered, agitated. “Come on. We both know it’s the only way to minimize the damages.”
For a moment, she hesitated there, glancing between him and Adam from behind a destroyed wall. Only then did she realize that the wall was once of Gloria’s house… ironic, isn’t it?
“Promise me you’ll come back alive,” she said, the voice straining slightly with panic.
She didn’t want to lose him too.
“I’ll try,” David smiled softly, cupping her cheek. Perhaps it was the last time they’d be together at all. “And hey, Lu…”
He straightened his back and grabbed the Punisher more comfortably, sliding from behind the wall with a determined expression.
“I’ll destroy the fucker.”
“Are you sure that you’re alright?”
“Yeah, could’ve been worse haha… I’m fine with this outcome.”
She watched him walk away silently, the wounded sway to his steps still present. It could’ve been much worse though, after this fight…
“And, um… I’m glad you came, Lu.”
“Ohh, really?” She couldn’t help but tease, trying to ignore the faint blush on her cheeks. Damn him with his irresistible…
“Nah, I’m fuckin’ with you, of course,” he rolled his eyes with a laugh. “Whatever. You know, we haven’t been drinking together in a while. Shall we?”
And so here they were. Two bottles of beer in hand, a pack of cigarettes in the pocket, a couch that stayed intact in the rubble by some pure miracle. And them. Just a couple of idiots who got into all this bullshit instead of literally anything better. They laughed. They told each other stories of their lives. They shared the things they regretted they didn’t do when they had a chance.
But at some point, David quieted down, opting to watch her and listen to her instead. That was the moment when he spoke for the last time that night.
“Smile, Lucy,” he said. “It looks good on you when you do. And… I’m sorry I couldn’t help you run away like I promised.”
She couldn’t smile at him, not this time.
He fell silent after this, his head dropping low and his bottle left unfinished. She still sat there, watching in the distance as the lump in her throat grew bigger with each moment, the tears already pricking at her eyes.
They sat on the couch still, when it suddenly dawned on her at its fullest.
David was gone.
And with him, was the last fuck she ever gave about humanity.
The Devil was real. Lucy knew as much.
If he wasn’t, then why would she have to suffer this much, losing everyone she cared about?
It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that she had to go through this over and over again.
Gloria’s jacket felt heavier than ever after that night. It clung to her shoulders ever since, weirdly resembling an embrace as her heart burned with rage and sorrow. She clung to it protectively with one hand.
It wasn’t fair.
A familiar coat was finally spotted in the distance and she started running towards it, gun out of the holster and finger already on the trigger.
It wasn’t fair that she got to smile after Lucy lost the last person she cared about.
“Oh? Throwing tantrums already?” The woman in front of her cocked an eyebrow, not at all startled by the malicious intent clear in her every movement. “And where’s your human pet, Lucy?”
“Shut up!” She growled, throwing the first punch with her prosthetic, the metal colliding with the bone with a sickening crunch. Kiwi grunted in response, but didn’t fight back. She wasn’t going to give in to this childish display.
Even though it’d be fun to taunt her a little more.
“Ah, I see you already took him under, then? I knew I could rely on Adam,such a gifted boy he is. Where is he, by the way? Surely he’d be able to deal with the little traitor by himself.”
“Yeah? Well I ripped him apart while he was out of it! He deserved as much!”
That made Kiwi stop in her tracks, taking in the independent’s appearance. Oh. Her eyes didn’t deceive her, Lucy’s hair did grow even blacker this time. Only a patch of white remained, barely a quarter.
Ah, that explained the reports about sudden thunder in December.
She sighed, resigned.
“You’re going to kill yourself like this,” she chided, dodging from another blow.
“Not before I kill all of you first!”
“And go against your nature like this? I thought you’d be smarter. You might be an independent, but you’re still a plant, you exist solely to serve humans, remember? The least you could do is atone for your sins by serving your purpose!”
“Like you’re the one to talk!” Oh. That was dangerous. She almost missed the markings appearing on her this time.
Though, wasn’t there something else she was forgetting?
Bang.
Ah, there it was. Of course. She still had her gun.
With a shuddering breath, Kiwi fell to her knees, distantly registering the blood pouring out of the wound. Well, there it was, it seemed, her final moment.
At least she made it quick. That really made things so much easier for them both.
“You really got attached to this boy, huh?” She rasped, shaking her head. All the hard work for nothing.
“Well then, at least go through with it til the end, will you?”
That was the last this world had heard of her.
Lucy smiled at her grimly, holstering the gun as she averted her gaze to the long abandoned ruins of July. Somewhere there was her place of destination.
She couldn’t help the ironic laugh that erupted from her.
“Hey, David, looks like you did your job after all,” she muttered, stepping over the now dead body of Kiwi, walking towards the ruins.
“Now watch me do mine.”
The Devil existed. They knew as much. He kept the peace away for way too long.
Now all she needed to do was take it back.