Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

When Nile entered the living room, she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw all the equipment and weapons.

Andy: "Your stack is that stack over there."

Andy pointed behind her.

Booker: "It's a starter kit. Look through it and let me know if you need anything else."

Nile walked over to her stack and looked through it. There were backpacks, a bulletproof vest, clothes for cold and warm weather, five pairs of boots, socks, two handguns, a riffle, and so many other things.

Andy: "Oh, I forgot. This is also for you."

Andy threw a helmet to Nile.

Nile: "Very funny, Andy."

Andy: "Hi, that way you can't complain if I accidentally shoot you in the head again."

They both laughed.

Nile: "Where do you have all these things from?"

Booker: "Some we buy, others we take and everything in between."

Andy: "What he said."

Booker: "We all have our favourite equipment and weapons."

Andy: "What he said. Oh, Book, why are there few pockets in my trousers?"

Booker: "Because you're leaving in an illusion, Andy."

If look could kill, Booker would have dropped dead on the spot.

Booker: "Okay, okay, I order you new trousers."

Andy: "Was that so hard?"

Booker resisted saying anything, and Andy left in search of something to eat.

Nile: "What did you mean with illusion?"

Booker looked behind him to check if Andy truly was gone.

Booker: "Andy loves her snacks, maybe even more than Nicky does. That is why whenever Andy has to wear trousers, she either buys them herself or asks us with a clear order that the trousers have to have a lot of pockets so she can fill them with snacks. The problem with Andy buying her own trousers is that she looks at the number of pockets before she looks at the size of the trousers and buys them, which often results in her falling in the long trousers legs and hurting herself. That is why I always tell her she lives in an illusion, that the trousers magically fit her."

Andy slapped Booker on his nape.

Andy: "We both know it's you who are living in an illusion by thinking you can fit jeans that are four sizes too small."

Booker muttering: "It's only two sizes."

While Andy and Booker discussed who was living in an illusion, Nile took a leather case and opened it. Inside were twenty small knives."

Nile: "Guys? What is this?"

Nile held up one of the small knives.

Andy: "That's throwing knives. You need a weapon that doesn't jam in a fight."

Nile looked closer at one of the small knives.

Andy: "Don't touch it too much. They are steeped in a nasty snake poison that will kill a mortal man on the spot. My idea was that you could use them in close combat."

Andy took two leather gauntlets and kneeled in front of Nile.

Andy: "Give me your arms, Nile."

Nile did it, and Andy strapped the leather gauntlets around Nile's arms.

Andy: "Besides being a way for you to carry the throwing knives, these leather gauntlets will also protect your arms, and you can get some nasty punches in during close combat. Sometimes old stuff can still work today."

Andy checked if she had strapped the leather gauntlets properly before she put the throwing knives into their holsters.

Nile: "Damn, it's heavy. I can't use my arms."

Andy: "That's why you are going to wear these gauntlets until they feel like a natural part of you. You can take them off while showering; otherwise, they stay on. Got it?"

Nile: "Got it, but who is going to teach me to hit my target?"

Andy: "That will be Nicky. That man can hit a moving target from 2,3 kilometres, and he is still working on getting better—something I also expect from you. And Joe will be the one training you to fight with gauntlets. He turned that into a fine art back in the days."

Nile promised.

Andy: "Your training with them begins tomorrow."

Booker: "And I'll teach you the tech stuff. I'm setting up your first laptop, which should be ready before this week is over. Could I say one thing about the gauntlets?"

Andy nodded.

Booker: "Maybe Nile should take the knives out before we go through security at the airport next week."

Andy: "For once, you're using your head. When was the last time?"

Booker rolled his eyes.

Andy: "Do you have any questions, Nile?"

Nile: "What will you teach me?"

Andy: "How to walk this Earth with only a loaf of bread and a water sack. That kind of stuff."

Nile: "You're kidding me, right?"

Andy: "No, you need to learn how to manage hunger if you go without eating for months. It's something we all have tried and will try again if something unexpected turns up."

Andy stood up.

Andy: "Call when Joe and Nicky are back from date night."

Andy left while Nile ran a hand over the gauntlets.

Booker: "You're going to do fine, Nile. You're more clever than me."

Nile: "Says the one who knows how to dismantle a nuclear bomb."

Booker: "There are different versions of clever. Remember that."

Nile nodded before she looked at Booker.

Nile: "What kind of weapons do you use that don't jam?"

Booker: "Whatever works, but I prefer my fists. When I was young, I learned to fight dirty in the taverns in Marseille. I think I was eight the first time I punched someone over a loaf of bread."

Nile looked horrified at Booker.

Booker: "Remember, it was a different time I grew up in. And still, there are places in the world that remind me of that time."

Booker closed his laptop.

Booker: "Now, what about some training? We both got new guns, and I'm itching to try them out."

Nile: "Sounds like a plan, but if we start firing guns, we'll wake Andy, and that is very dangerous."

They both laughed.

Booker: "Andy won't wake from gun firing. That woman slept through a bombing right next to her. I'll tell you more another day."