Radiance Ch. 49

"People like him don't deserve a paradise-like that Seven, they'd fuck it up with bigotry and prejudice, their version of paradise is the world before the bombs fell and they'll do anything and kill anyone who gets in their way trying to relive the glory days" Faith said.

As it turned out the good cop bad cop routine worked rather well even outside of interrogations, Timothy leapt to his feet, "I am not like that!! I have never hurt anyone human or non-human!! I have never had a problem with a Ghoul nor have I never thought that they had a less of a right to life than me!!" he yelled angrily.

Faith rounded on him and was about to yell back when Seven planted his hand on Faith's shoulder stopping her retort dead, "Well then I think you should put your money where your mouth is" Seven said and Timothy cocked his head curiously.

"And how do I do that?" he asked and Seven smiled deviously.

"Simple, help us," he said.

"Help you how?" Timothy asked cautiously.

"Oh that's simple, we want to find out exactly what the Enclave and the Brotherhood are after exactly, if both groups are willing to go to the levels they are to get whatever it is it must be either valuable or dangerous most likely the latter and if that is the case, we want it destroyed and gone because it will most likely be a threat to non-human life and that is unacceptable to us," Seven said.

"We also want your help in figuring these things out," Wisp said suddenly and Seven turned to see her in the doorway holding one of the helmets that had been used to control the claws and he felt both Visa and Ven tense up from just the mere sight of the thing.

A low growl escaped both of them and Seven reached up and stroked the side of Visa's arm before slipping himself up and under them slipping his arms around her and allowing her to slip his head in-between her large breasts to comfort her.

"Yes, we would like that very much, preferably we want you to find a way to either disrupt them and free the enslaved claws turning them on their enslavers allowing us to step in and free them, failing that we want a way to shunt them down altogether without hurting the innocent claws sentient or feral they do NOT deserve to be anybody's slaves, they are proud and noble claws" Ven snarled.

Timothy looked conflicted as he glanced around at all of their ass they all turned to look at him expectantly but it appeared to be the second thing that was shining through Shauna's bright eyes that did the trick, hope that did the trick.

"O-O-Ok I'll help you but I need something from you first without it I won't do it," Timothy said and Seven turned to face him while still being held in place by Visa as she gripped his chest.

"Go ahead," he said.

" I want your solemn promise and word that you'll both protect me and take me with you," Timothy said and Seven's eyebrows shot upwards.

"I thought you'd want us to return you safely to the Brotherhood," he said in genuine surprise and Timothy shook his head.

"No I can't go back to them now, not knowing what I know, I'd slip up and get myself either imprisoned, exiled or executed, infact I'm as good as exiled now really so with nowhere to go and no place to call my own I ask you for your help, you said you and your group help whoever needs your regardless of who they then prove it, help me and I'll do the very same in return," Timothy said.

Seven smiled ruefully, it seemed that Timothy was a lot more shrewd than he'd given him credit for but he nodded all the same, "Alright Timothy, you got yourself a deal, you help us and we'll help you, you can earn your place among us" Seven said and Timothy seemed to sigh in relief.

"Are you seriously going to rust him Seven?" Faith asked and Seven nodded.

"Yeah but trust is earned so if he wants what he's asking for then when he earns it he'll earn our trust too," he said and Faith growled but then nodded.

"Fine I'll trust your intentions Seven but you, I'll be watching you and if I so much as think for a second you are going to betray us to your Brotherhood bigots I'll end you myself, I will not let you hurt either my people or theirs smooth skin" she snarled and with that, she stomped off.

Timothy watched her go and then turned to look at Seven with wide eyes and Seven nodded knowingly but he decided it was prudent to enforce on him that seriousness of this, "Don't worry Timothy we will not let her or anyone else hurt you unjustly but heed this, if you do betray us you won't have to worry about her, you'll have to worry about me and trust me when I say you hurt my people and I will make sure you don't live to tell the tale, understood?" he said and with that, he lifted out his hand causing a stone to hover from the ground before him before being crushed into powder that slowly drifted and floated down to the floor.

Timothy's eyes looked like they were about to totally encompass his entire head they were so wide, "U-U-Understood" he stammered and Seven smiled warmly.

"Good to hear because we look after our friends Timothy, trust me when I say this group would fight to the death for every single person who has claimed membership among us no matter their species, alone we are strong together we are unstoppable and you can have a place among us and the chance to seek out and make your own dreams come true and all you have to do is stay true to your word," Seven said.

"Exactly you can make your dreams come no matter how big, green and muscly they may be," Ven said with a salacious smile and it worked as Timothy looked startled ad shot a subconscious glance at Shauna who also caught the thinly veiled implication in the big claw boy's words and blushed again.

"Well then this will be your room but it is no longer a cell, it is unlocked and you can freely move about, but with some limitations, like I said trust must be earned, so I am appointing young Shauna here as your chaperone and lab partner, where ever you go she goes, plus you'll be working with her in the lab to figure these things out while also telling us everything you know about what was going on with that mission of yours," Seven said.

"You won't hurt the Brotherhood will you? There are a lot of good people there Seven, they aren't all as bloodthirsty as some of the Paladins, there are good people there too" Timothy said and Seven smiled.

"Look we don't want a war with the Brotherhood and we sure as hell won't start one, that's not what we're about, so as long as they do not attack us we will leave them be unless we see them going after innocent Ghouls or non-humans, but if they let us be we will do the same, simple" Seven said.

"Good enough I guess, thank you," Timothy said and Seven nodded.

"Well we'll leave you in the big green and very capable hands of our resident super mutant scientist here let us know when you two have something," Seven said.

"And as hard as it maybe try to keep your eyes on your work and off her big green ass," Ven said making both Shauna and Timothy flush both red and deep green but they also shared a look.

"I-I-I would never insult a lady by doing something so vulgar and base!!" Timothy spluttered and Ven instantly seized on that.

"Well you see her as a lady, good start, now you're making progress Timmy, keep it up and we'll make a card-carrying non-human lover in no time, trust spread enough time around this one right here and it just happens, like a little claw-shaped cupid sneaking up to stab you in the heart and before you know it your naked, sweaty and pinned to the bed by a pillar of scales and muscle or green flesh," he said and Shuna's face went right through embarrassed and into mortified in a heartbeat.

"Ven!!" she exclaimed and he simply winked at her.

"Well good luck you two I've got a human boy who's hiding his sexy human ass from me somewhere and he's in need of some serious need of some hot sweat claw love," he said and with that, he simply vanished like a fart in a hurricane.

"Well, you can always trust that brother of yours to crank the shit up to eleven" Seven said.

"Wait did he just say, human boy? Isn't he a boy as well?" Timothy said sounding confused and Seven simply smiled at him.

"Yup Ven is bisexual and his mate Gregory is gay, problem with that?" he said the smile never leaving his face as Timothy baulked as he realised he'd just slapped his balls on the trigger plate of a bear trap.

"Nope none I was just surprised was all, I never imagined a gay or bisexual claw but I guess if it can happen to humans then it could be just as easily as present in other sentient species," he said with genuine curiosity in his voice and Seven nodded.

"Yup, trust me the more time you spend with us the more possibilities you will realise are simply made possible by the will to simply make them so," Seven said and with that and a final wave he and the rest of the group turned and left Timothy and Shauna alone to get to know one another and to get to work.

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Shauna turned to Timothy who still had a rosy blush on his cheeks and neck from his embarrassment torrent that Ven had unleashed on them both, "I'm so sorry about Ven Timothy he can be Ummm somewhat base and crude at times, but he is a genuinely nice person and loyal friend, but his sense of humour takes some getting used to, it's ahem somewhat on the nose at times" she said and Timothy smiled somewhat shyly.

"I-It's ok you forget I was raised in a military environment, I grew up in the Brotherhood it's all I've ever known really, so I'm kinda used to crude humour not to mention fart jokes, the paladins aren't exactly known for their eloquence," he said, Shauna laughed and smiled.

"Yeah I can understand that the soldier who protects Rivet city was much the same, they were crass but they were good and honest people," she said and Timothy nodded in agreement.

"It's much the same in the Brotherhood really, yeah sure there are some bad people who just use the power they are entrusted with as an excuse to hurt those they don't like but the vast majority are not like that, they are people just like me who want nothing more than to make the lives of average people better while at the same time trying to prevent another war from happening again, that's why we go after technology that we deem too dangerous for your average person to have, now I know it sounds conceited and arrogant but we were just trying to prevent any more disasters and yes I know the Brotherhood is heavy-handed but after dealing with people like the Enclave can you blame them?" he said and that's when Shauna smiled and he caught it.

"What?" he asked curiously.

"You said them, not us," she said and he baulked slightly before realizing she was right.

"Huh I guess I did, shit do I already not think of myself as part of the Brotherhood despite having grown up in it?" he said and Shauna saw a chance and her smile widened.

"Perhaps you never did, perhaps you've always realised what they were doing was wrong and went against who you truly are inside, so now maybe here with us, you are seeing who you truly can be if only you allow yourself to believe in it," she said.

This seemed to shock Timothy and he looked genuinely startled by this reasoning, "Wow maybe you're right, now you mention it I have always kinda felt like something was simply missing from my life, but given it was something I never had I never knew what it was to pursue it" he said.

"Well maybe now with us you'll finally find it," she said and he smiled.

"I hope so Shauna I truly do, a whole new beginning sounds real nice, well let's get to work on those helmet things shall we? he said and she smiled at him warmly.

"Gladly," she said feeling her heart sparkle at his warm smile, he truly was such a pretty man and she was really looking forwards to getting to know him as well as working with him, it would be good to speak to a fellow scientist and to take the problems of the world with logic and reason rather than fists and guns again, well that and he was a really pretty man so there was that too.