Kapitel 38: Rumours

It'd been a couple days after Christine had left, and most of the Brotherhood had heard of the incident. Due to Afton and Veronica having obviously been involved, they received many question and inquiries from the superiors about it, but both remained tight lipped... This was mainly due to the fact that Christine would be actively hunted down due to her "betraying the Chapter", she'd not decided to leave when given the choice, which by the Codex meant that her life belonged to the Brotherhood.

The constant attention on them had clearly been fraying Veronica, she was struggling to keep herself together as it is, but with never-ending questions concerning Christine Afton could see her breaking point in the distance.

Whether it was due to her no-longer spending time with Christine, or Veronica working to try and forget her, she spent significantly more time working with Elder Elijah on their "Project". Though, she still had no idea what it actually was.

Afton made it his personal duty to pull Veronica away from the Elder and have her relax for a while to prevent her overworking herself. These were the only times she actually had breaks anymore, which had Afton struggling to keep himself from walking up to the Elder and punching him as he was clearly taking advantage of her emotional state.

He was beginning to become even more disillusioned with the Brotherhood the more time he spent thinking about why Christine left, and why they were treating Veronica so poorly... There was a rumour going around that the two had been lovers, which only caused the more "devout" members to constantly pepper he with veiled insults.

Afton had been walking through the halls when he picked up on Veronica's voice, he stalked over and glanced down the hallway to see what was happening...

"Just leave, I don't have time to be dealing with you idiots again." Veronica states as she turns to walk away from the three men acousting her. Afton didn't know their names but knew they were all relatively knew Knights.

"Yeah, that's just like you isn't it Veronica? Following in your girlfriends footsteps and leaving, pathetic." one states, causing her to stop and grip her fists in anger.

They continue mocking her, ignoring the tell-tale signs of an incoming fight, "Yeah, It's a shame too, she was pretty good looking, I would've made her my woman if she didn't swing that way. Maybe if we catch her outside I'll still get the chance?" he says before laughing obnoxiously.

"She'd be good though wouldn't she? Never having had a coc-"

*PUCHI!*

Veronica whirls around and punches the one talking so hard in the face that teeth rocket out of his mouth like projectiles. They fall to the floor unconscious as the others jump into action, having expected her to retaliate.

One throws a kick at her which forces her to move, the other throwing a wide punch that misses completely, Veronica has her fists raised and her posture low in a kind of boxing stance. She blocks another punch and palm strikes one in the face before grabbing him and sweeping his feet out from under him.

His head collides heavily with the metal floor below, blood starting to pool out from the injury, Veronica is stunned momentarily at potentially killing a Brotherhood Knight, not being able to react as the last one attempts to attack her from behind.

Afton had already been moving when the attack started, and tackles the man before he hits her, struggling to hold the man against the wall due to their wide age disparity. He recieves a couple harsh uppercuts to his ribs before Veronica slams her own fist into the mans nose, breaking it and knocking them out completely.

Afton lets go of the unconscious man and falls backwards, sitting against the opposite wall while holding his ribs, "Are you already Veronica?" he asks through rough breathes, ignoring the pain reverberating throughout his body.

She glares at him, "Am I alright? Idiot! I should be asking you the same thing!"

"Who cares about me, you're the one who got attacked." he says, more worried about her mental state than his physical one.

Veronica bends down to examine him, applying pressure to his ribs which causes him to wince, "You've got a broken rib, come on, let's get you to the med-bay." she says as she helps him up.

"What should we do about these guys?" he asks, not liking how much blood is flowing from one man's head.

Veronica shrugs, "Someone will find them, I doubt they'll tell anyone about this... Getting beaten up by a woman and a twelve-year-old wouldn't be good for their pride." she says with a smirk.

Afton glances at her while they walk, "Do you get that a lot?" he asks tentatively.

Veronica sighs and nods, "I do... Don't worry about it though, they're just helping me get better at fighting." she says, not acknowledging how exhausted she was getting at having to deal with it.

"You know, if you're having trouble you could always talk to my dad, he'd be able to sort the problem out. I know he doesn't think the same way as those guys do."

Veronica shakes her head, "I don't want to bother him, its not serious enough to need him to intervene." she says, leaving out the obvious "Yet".

They arrive at the med-bay where Afton gets examined and treated, Veronica staying to make sure he's alright... Thirty minutes later the three men that'd attacked her were brought in on stretchers by other people.

It was kind of amusing to see them awaken and see the duo on the other side of the room, they tried to put up a tough front, but the man who'd lost most of his teeth was having a mini-breakdown at the fact he couldn't get them replaced. Serves the bastard right.