Chapter Text
Before anyone else at the Rexford had woken up, I was staring up at the dilapidated ceiling contemplating the day ahead. Mac was curled up against me and holding me close as we had done so the night before I left for the Sea in Homeplate.
I wanted it to be more but I felt that something had change between us, or maybe I had. His soft snoring used to be so peaceful when I woke, and the urge to run my hand along is jaw would be there to savour the moment.
Not this morning. Not anymore.
I wanted to move out and not waste any more time. Letting out a tired sigh, I got out of the bed and rolled over Mac who had pinned me to the wall protectively in his sleep. The moment the bed springs creaked I heard his waking breath come in and the morning after cuddles and romance of our reunion was gone forever.
“What time is it?” He groaned wiping away sand from his eyes.
“Just after eight. We need to get moving if we want to make good time.” I was packing up my gear and already in the midst of zipping up my vault suit. Last night I slept in my vest and shorts, being mindful to keep my bra on, as to not send any mixed signals to Mac. In truth I was still mad, mad at him and at myself for allowing a fantasy to build up inside my mind when there were more pressing matters to tackle. I fastened my boots, slung my bag over my back, pick up my guns all the while Mac was still trying to wake up.
“I’m going to wake up the others. I’ll see you at the gate.” I didn’t give him a chance to reply and I was out of the door quicker than a molerat in the sunlight.
Mac offered me his room the night before and a part of me wanted to try and rekindle what was doused in our argument, so I accepted. We kissed again under the sheets but like it was in the Rail, it lacked all the passion from before and we fell to sleep not long after, or at least I tried to.
With my back leaning against the door, I slowly blinked trying to rid the self frustration I had brought on. Eventually I pushed myself off and walked up the stairs and knocked on the door down the hall that Preston and Piper were staying in. The two were too drunk to notice that I hadn’t mentioned where I was staying the night before. But Hanco*ck certainly did. I could tell by the way he watched me leave with Mac that he knew all was not well between us.
“Rise and f*cking shine love birds!” I shouted through the wood, relentlessly knocking at the door until it was opened. I heard cursing from Piper and falling from one of them as they tripped over something. Preston soon opened the door in an unusual sleepy state.
“Morning, troublemaker.” I grinned knowingly at the disheveled state of my Colonel. Seldom did Preston ever have his hat off, or his shoes, and trousers for that matter but I pretended I didn’t see, or at least care. Though I did peak through the gap in the door and saw Piper with her back facing me and fiddling with her bra hook. “Morning Pipes.” I teased leaning into the darkened room.
“How are you so chipper this early in the morning?” Piper whined back.
“I had some Addictol before I went to bed.”
“Where did you even sleep last night?” Preston asked. I was about to answer when Piper threw a remark from behind the door.
“Hanco*ck, obviously.” I rolled my eyes but didn’t correct her. I wasn’t sure what she would think if she understood the truth of it all and why I didn’t stay there last night.
“I’m just going to run a few errands but meet me both by the gate as soon as you can. We’re doing a job with MacCready today, or do you two not remember that conversation?”
“No!” Piper swung the door open for her to see me, poor Preston was exposed like I had never seen him before, in his boxers and nothing less. Both Piper and I blushed at his undressed state. “Oh sh*t! Sorry.” Piper said a bit more tenderly. Now all of us were coating the same shade as the closing door. Preston moved behind it so he could get himself ready. “Why are we helping him?” Piper shouted through the door.
“It’s not him we’re helping, it’s his son. We got a lead on a drug that could cure his illness. We get this and then you can do whatever you want, Pipes.”
I left them to it and carried on with my task to see Hanco*ck before I met the others at the gate. Before that I stopped off at Kill or Be Killed and purchased a new waist holster as mine was falling apart. During my first few days out in the waste I took one off a recently dead raider but it was already in a poor state. Clearly the last owner never sought to care for their goods to make them last. KL-E-O commented that one holster wouldn’t be enough and ended up convincing me to take a thigh holster too. My vault suit belt could hold small pockets for rounds and caps. I even managed to tuck in some of my well earned claws but it did put unnecessary pressure on my abdomen. My old hip holster could hold two guns. Usually I would place my pistol in one and my combat shotgun in the other. Now with the added thigh holster I could place a second gun there.
“KL-E-O, darling, would you happen to have another thigh holster?”
“Are you planning on packing heavy?” She purred in her robotic tone.
“I think having somewhere else to store my knife would be wise. It can be a bit uncomfortable in the shoe.” She gave me the second holster and the extra rounds and shells for the guns, and I was three hundred caps lighter. I sorted myself out and put the knife in its new home before making my way over to the State House.
I left Dogmeat there the night before so I needed to collect him, but another a part of me wanted to explain my actions to Hanco*ck, maybe get a few things off my chest too. The Watchmen on guard nodded at me and I gave him a small smile as I made my way through the main doors, and towards Hanco*ck’s office.
His coffee table was litter with chems, as per; a mixture of used and unused varieties for any chemhead. However the room was empty of any souls so I made my way over to his quarters and dared to knock loudly against the closed door.
“What is it?” He was angry, no doubt from my rude awakening, and hungover from the sound of his rasping.
“It’s Nora, I wanted to see you before I go.” I heard running around the room and then his voice was back, a bit frantic.
“Why so soon? What did the kid do now?” A whine behind the door and I knew Dogmeat was waiting to be reunited with me.
“It’s not what he did.” I relented and opened the door but kept my eyes low looking for Dogmeat.
“Hey watch out!” I saw him dart away from my eyesight but I kept my focus and rubbing Dogmeat’s ears and neck, letting him lick my face as I couched down. “Right well if he didn’t do anything, what’s the problem?”
“Apparently he came to you for help, that true?”
“Yeah he didn’t say what for though. Was it important?”
“I would have said so. We’re on our way to go do just the thing. Then I’ve got to prepare for killing a Courser.” Hanco*ck paused his movements and came to view, thankfully he was dressed.
“I remember you saying last night, you got a plan for surviving that one? Gal like you ain’t going have the same luck twice. Glowing Sea only spat you back out because you tasted funny.” He nudged my shoulder while he tied his flag of a belt as we walked back to his office.
“If only, sweetie.”
“So, I saw you leave with him. Gonna give me the juicy details?” He grinned at me bringing out a smile.
“Believe me, there was hardly a kiss to tell.” Hanco*ck reach to the coffee table and hovered his hand over the vary of items before settling on Jet.
“You’re kidding? Poor kid.” He shock the can then inhaled the contents.
“Could say that.” I stood with my hands on my hips for a moment then spoke again. “I’m not sure when I’ll see you next but I’ll try and make it soon.” I pulled him into a hug and kissed his cheek, rubbing the back of his head like an old friend.
“Make sure it’s soon, Sunshine.” He patted mine in return.
“Wanna see me off?”
“I do hate to see you leave, but I love to watch you walk away.” He teased as I rolled my eyes.
“You’re terrible.”
“That’s not the worst thing a lady has ever said to me.”
_________
The three of them were waiting for me by the time I left the State House. Piper was occasionally sending death glares to Mac but otherwise had her interest on Preston who was trying to make small talk about the changes in the Commonwealth.
“…now with the Brotherhood, who know’s whats round the corner.”
“We’ll get some information about their impressive airship from Blue.” She reassured him as she clocked me coming closer.
“I don’t know what else is there to tell. They’re military and very similar to how it was in my day.” I added.
Mac had been watching silently as I approached the crew. I saw his brow raised at the comment of me being with the Brotherhood.
“So far, they hold no problems although I think there’s going to be a lot of meetings before we can settle with their desires. They were very interested once they found out I had been tracking the Institute.” I continued.
“What’s the Elder like?” Piper asked.
“Strong, in more ways than one I bet. He’s calculative but he’s relatively young and hasn’t quite learned when to keep his mouth shut.”
“What did he do?”
“Eh, we had a rocky introduction. I was coming of chems when we first spoke. I may have called him a dumbass.” I heard Mac hold back a snort which made my lip tug at one angle. “Okay, are we all ready?”
“Where are we going again?” Preston asked.
“Med-Tek. Crawling with ferals and somewhere inside is a cure for a sick child. We need to be quick and watchful when we’re there, no telling what we’ll come across. Has everyone got ammo and rations?” Hums of yes replied back and I nodded. “Then let’s go.”
We walked out the gate and the Watch closed it shut behind us. I looked over the map to see what route would be best and settled for the route off Bunker Hill to Country Crossing, then to Greenhouse Nursery. Boston was quiet for first thing in the morning, funny how in the nuclear fallout that the hustle and bustle of modern society life was gone. No one was rushing to get to work, or taking their child to school, no one running to grab a coffee at the local cafe before their shift began. Now it was whether or not the creatures of the wastes were awake.
“What the heck happened here?” Mac asked as we passed our route from the day before, bodies of raiders and mutants scattered around and not a mongrel in sight.
“We cleared this on our way over yesterday.” I said.
“I thought you came from Diamond city?” Mac questioned sliding closer to me.
“We did, then we got detoured and took the long way back.” I held back from discussing the Railroad out in the open. Deacon’s words about the Institute bribing folk with caps had made me double, no, triple check my surroundings before talking about how, or where we found the synth freeing organisation.
Piper and Preston held back and I could hear a few giggles leave the reporter every now and then. I was glad that whatever they had wasn’t a passing fling, it would be nice if the Minuteman and the Publickreporter manage to make it work in a world like this, although I did wonder how exactly.
We stopped off at Bunker Hill to drink and eat before continuing our path. I in that time, tried to check in with the Mayor to see if the Minutemen could offer any assistance but she outright refused to discus the subject, General or not. After that it was bartering with the stall owners and the traveling proprietors for food and ammunition.
As I was waiting for everyone to meet me back at the monument I caught a glimpse of a pair of sunglasses watching me. Leaning on the wall was a drifter in farmland clothes consisting of a denim jacket, jeans, shirt and a farmers cap. The man was bald but he seemed familiar, very familiar. I kept my eyes on him as the others slowly gravitated towards me. I notice that his kept his standing, leaning on the wall up until we were out of sight of the defensive walls. I didn’t see him again there after.
We made the briefest of stops with the Amber’s, receiving a hard hug from Tim and a warm smile from Harriet. The farm was looking better defended and after introducing Preston to the couple, a discussion began about future plans to expand the farmland and get cattle on site. Harriet wasn’t too sure due to the lack of hands so Preston said about getting more settlers to live on the property. She wasn’t against it but she wasn’t for it either, Tim said they would talk to her about it and get back to us on our return journey.
“They’re just the type of people we need to protect.” Preston was up front with me discussing upgrades we could do for other settlements as we continued our trek.
“What we need is a base of operations.” Sanctuary was fine but it was so far away from everyone else.
“I’m glad you mentioned that. Years ago we did, used to have Fort Independence as the beacon for the Minutemen but we had to flee in the 40’s due to an attack from a Mirelurk Queen.”
“A what?”
“A huge sea creature that’s come up to shore.”
“Great.” I said sarcastically. “Hopefully it’s not still there.”
“I’ve actually been meaning to speak to you about taking it back, now that we have over ten settlements waving the flag, it would be great to get the old radio tower up and running.”
“There’s a radio tower?” That peaked my interests.
He nodded with a chuckle. “Yep. We get that working then we’ll be able to know if any settlements are in danger.”
“At a moments notice.” I grinned and he smiled back.
“You get the picture.”
“We’ll do that next then. Once we’re done with Med-Tek we’ll make arrangements to clear it and unify the base again. Now with the Brotherhood holding such a strong area, we need the same and we were here first.”
“What’s your plan after that?”
“I’ve got to chase down my lead for the Courser. Still have no idea how I’m going to pull that miracle out of my ass.” I felt a headache coming on and reached to my bag side pocket for a can of water, then offering the remainder to Preston who finished it. The cans were good and sterile but were utterly useless on the move seeing as you couldn’t close the lid back.
“What if you worked with the Brotherhood? You said they were interested in the Institute, maybe you could use that to your advantage?”
“The thought has crossed my mind. I’ll revisit it once we have Fort back.”
“The Castle, General.”
“What?”
“That’s what it’s called now, the Castle.”
“Fitting.”
We continued onwards up to Greentop Nursery before we made a turn to Malden, to Med-Tek. It was a passing visit, mainly for Preston to meet Opi and Lee and understand the potential their homestead had, along with the risks of an old Super Mutant nest nearby.
On our way to Med-Tek I decided to keep back and try and clear some air between Mac and I. He could sense the shift, and just like me he was avoiding the subject.
“Hey.” Mac had been checking behind us while we walked and had no interest in chatting away with Piper while Preston and I had been talking shop.
“Hi.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Nervous, you?”
“Bricking it, but I’m optimistic. I just hope we aren’t too late.”
“Me too.”
“Do we need to talk?”
“About?”
“Things. I feel like we’re not on the same page anymore.”
“What do you mean by that.”
“I don’t know, forget it. Have you got all the passwords from Sinclair?” He tapped his breast pocket.
“Never let them out of my sight.”
“You’re lucky you never lost that pocket along with your sleeve.” He chuckled.
“I’d have to be dead to lose it.” We walked in relatively happy silence as we made our way through Malden although we were both on edge being out in the open during daylight.
“I think we take a left before the hospital and then I’m pretty sure it’s down the road.” I said as I flicked through my map.
“There’s a parking lot near it and a few cars scattered at the front. We should think about how we’re going to get in.”
“How many ferals do you remember being there?”
“Too many to count. We should surround the building first, split up and take out the stragglers.” He sighed heavily. “Then it’s just inside.”
“What kind of facility was it beforehand?”
“No idea, but they must have been testing chems there.”
“We used to call them drugs. There must have been an outbreak of some kind. If Sinclair’s friend and Duncan got it then it must have been created before the war if they were already making a cure for it.”
“That or they made the outbreak just so they could fill their pockets with cash off it.”
“After my experience with deceiving mass corporations, I can’t say that it couldn’t be a possibility.”
“I didn’t want to ask last night, but what happened out in the Sea? Y’know, there.” He pointed to my shoulder.
“Deathclaw, the second one.” I clarified. “Killed another after that.”
“Must have been hibernating if you were able to take three down.” He grinned and nudged my scarred shoulder.
“Ow!” I feigned rubbing the shoulder. Mac seemed concerned so I laughed. “It doesn’t hurt silly. I’ve had enough time to get over it.”
“Where were you healing?”
“At first, with Virgil. On the way back I stumbled across the Brotherhood and they patched me up.” I decided not to tell him the full details of my stay in their blimp.
“When was that?”
“I think I was out of the Sea by the 13th. My suit was damaged on my last fight and I had radiation poisoning, again.” I laughed remembering my first meeting with the Elder and overhearing his conversation with Cade. “The Brotherhood thought I stole the power armour and questioned if I was a raider.”
“And they still helped you?”
“They saw the Minutemen logo and thought they’d broker a thief for a chance to chat to the General.”
“They didn’t know it was you?” I raised a knowing brow at him.
“I didn’t confirm until Preston dropped me in it over the radio.”
“Did they tell you what they have planned for the ‘wealth?”
“‘Preserving humanity’.” Mac blew air through his lips making a raspberry sort of noise.
“Nothing new then.”
“Do you know anything about Elder Maxson? He seems to be about your age.”
“Oh yeah, apparently he’s got a scar on his face from his first Deathclaw kill at thirteen.”
“That’s… impressive. Thought he got it from some battle.”
“You’ve met him?”
“Oh yeah, I was resting at their blimp when we met. Didn’t exactly make the best first impression.”
“What did you do?”
“What I said earlier, called him a dumbass.” Mac held back a deep belly laugh. It was the first time I had seen him happy since I returned, more so than our kiss.
“Wish I was there to see his face!”
“Well he wasn’t pleased, that’s all I can say. He did think I was filled with chems when I said it, didn’t make matters better when the medic confirmed I was only on pain relief.”
“That’s brilliant, glad you made it memorable.”
“Hopefully it doesn’t bite me in the ass.”
“You’ll find a way to make it work, even if it does.”
We got closer to the facility and all the fun left Mac and I as he started to organising the four of us, while the ferals up ahead wandered around the perimeter.
“I’ll take this hill, Nora go to the right side you should be able to get the few inside the parking lot. Preston and Piper if you both circle around the back and try and take out the ones not coming towards us, then maybe we could trigger some of the cars to explode when there’s enough of them together.” We nodded and accepted our roles and got into position. With the four of us tackling them, the ferals had no chance and we had them all killed in a matter of minutes. Most of the ferals were hiding in the parking lot and once Mac shot the first few rounds to the ones nearest to us, the ones in the lot began to dwindle out and investigate the noise. It was easy pickings and we didn’t even need to blow up a car, although I think Mac wanted to.
“Everyone good?” I shouted out as Piper and Preston came into view. “Anyone need a stim?”
“All good General, how about you?”
“We’re good. Let’s head in.”
Slowly the five of us crept inside. Dogmeat was next to me as he had done when we were sniping out the ferals, but this time he tried to keep ahead of me as I drew my pistol.
The place was far too quiet and from my years of watching horror holos I knew the worst was yet to come. Preston’s musket rang out so loudly that it brought out ferals on the floor towards us but these were less docile than their outside counterparts. As we cleared each floor we made the rounds to check if there were any stragglers that missed our announcement before we descending further down the floors below.
“What the f*ck?” I gasped as we came into some kind of lock up.
“Looks like they were running test down here.” Preston said as he came into the control office of the cells.
“They’re still alive, and trapped in there! No one freed them even as the alarms were going off.” I walked closer to the edge with my hands covering my mouth in shock. Watching the ferals trapped in their cages made me feel sick. Like the church in the Sea, this was a case of mercy rather than murder and we walked around the cells and killed them as quickly, and at my request, as painlessly as we could. It still upset me and I had to wipe my eyes quickly when I finished the last one.
“You okay, Blue?” Piper placed a hand on my good shoulder and rubbed it affectionately.
“Yeah, I’m okay.” I mumbled trying to hide my visible upset. “It’s just so cruel what happened to them, and for non ferals too. All of it is a cruel joke still being played out hundreds of years later!”
“I know.” She cooed bringing me into a hug. “But it’s the past now. They’re finally dead.”
“I know.” I repeated. “It just doesn’t make it any easier; I could have known these people and now there’s nothing distinguishing about them, nothing human left.” I turned to face her and she smiled at my sad face. “Why me of all people, Piper? Why did I get the easy way out?”
“You still have your own battle to deal with. Don’t let survivor’s guilt get in your way.” I nodded and reloaded my pistol, noticing Mac and Preston were watching at a distance.
I flicked the safety off and tightened my grip. “Let’s go.”
Through one of the cells we found a way to the lower floor. Unlike the others I paid attention to not stand on the recently dead feral who was once a human trapped in a cage. We found a working elevator and managed to get everyone inside for the one trip when we found the testing laboratory.
In there the ferals were worse than I had ever seen before. Two of them were similar to the charred ones I met out in the Sea but one of them was actively glowing and every time we thought we had it down, it would come back up.
“It’s using the radiation to heal!” Shouted Preston over the constant gunfire. We couldn’t afford to throw grenades so we stuck with pistols and rifles to take the glowing one down. I may have emptied my gun in its head for good measure.
Then it was a matter of finding the cure.
Piper and I went to work reading papers that had been abandoned by the scientist we must have just put down. We scanned through the notes hoping to come across where the cure was located. Preston and Mac were searching the cupboards and fridge but came up empty, which made Mac frantic.
“Please don’t tell me it not here! Not after all of this!” He knocked a aluminium tray to the floor making a racket so I went over to ease him, placing both my hands on his shoulders and gave a soft squeeze.
“We’ll find it, don’t worry.”
“Hey, Blue.” Piper shouted over. “It’s pink, the serum. Notes here say it’s bright pink in colour.”
“Okay everyone look for something pink.” The three of us started looking all over the floors, the pockets of the dead and even outside of the lab. We were coming up short and I idly tapped at the counter hoping for some kind of realisation to come to mind.
“Piper, does it say anything about where it should be stored or if it was in the middle of testing?”
“Nothing, just that it’s call Prevent.” I grumbled and started to pick at the papers in front of me that I hadn’t gone through yet. I gather several of them in my hands when I saw it. Under several sheets of paper, the vial was lying on the table counter.
“RJ!” I shouted and he came running back into the lab after searching the external. “I found it!” I said triumphantly, grasping onto the vial that had one label on it in bold capitals PREVENT. Mac slowly took it out of my hands like a ticking bomb.
“You found it. You actually found it!” A large smile grew and he pulled me into a bone crushing hug causing me to laugh. “Duncan’s gonna be okay. I don’t know how to thank you!” He kissed my cheek so hard like a drunken auntie at a birthday party. He was ecstatic and picking me up in a spin which got us both laughing.
“Wait till I tell him the General of the Minutemen helped me!” He continued to laugh in the spinning.
“RJ I’m getting sick!” I protested slapping his back playfully. “Put me down before I go back in time!” He quickly dropped me, his hands on my hips easing me back to the ground.
“Now it’s just getting it to him.” And like a ballon popping, the happy mood came and went just as quick, and we were back in the VIP lounge at the Rail but this time I knew what was to come.
It was time for the end of whatever we almost were.
__________
“What’s your plans now?” Mac asked as we stepped through the doors of the abandoned testing facility.
“Preston and I were talking about retaking the Castle, so that’s on the books but it’s going to take some time to plan an assault if there’s still Mirelurks lingering around. Apparently it’s been empty for around forty years, it could be infested with them for all we know.” I sighed and leaned over the bolder I was resting on outside Med-Tek.
I undid my hair from the twisted plait I have done at the Brotherhood and ran my hands through my scalp. “But before all of that, I’ve got to meet a man about a dog.” Dogmeat yapped at the comment so I ruffled his fur. “Don’t worry boy, I’m not replacing you.”
“But you are replacing me.” Mac said grimly. His words made me sigh.
“I don’t like how you’ve worded that. You’re forgetting that you’ve got somewhere to be.”
“You’re pushing me away again.” I let out an angered breath and stood up to face him.
“I’m not. I’ve had time to think things through and right now I’m more focused on your son’s well being. I’m not going to lie RJ, I don’t like this development, and I think you know that things with us are different, much more than it already was.”
“So this is it? I’ll just head back and what we’ll never see each other again?”
“That’s not what I’m saying!”
“Well can you at least tell me if it’s worth me coming back?”
“That my feelings will change? RJ, if I knew then I would have given you an answer by now, but I can’t. I have no idea where I’ll be if you come back.”
“Then what can you tell me? How do you feel about us now?”
“Honestly?”
“That’s the point.” I sent him a hard glare.
“I’m mad, RJ. I’m mad that we aren’t the same, not like I first thought we were.”
“Ah, so I guess a step above comfort.”
“You can be really childish y’know?” He wouldn’t reply but he looked me dead in the eye as if checking to see what was layered under my wording. I picked up my bag and began rifling through it in search of my brush.
“So this really is it then.” Mac said after I started to comb my hair. It made me stop and consider what the next step for our relationship was.
“I do wish it didn’t turn out this way, I really do.” He kicked a loose stone on the road.
“Yeah me too.” He said solemnly.
“I’m sorry, for what it’s worth.” He waved it off.
“Look you saved my as-my butt, plenty of times and now Duncan’s life. I can never repay you for what you did but all the same I want you to have this.” He threw a purse at me and I heard the jingle jangle of the caps inside.
“Whats this?”
“What you paid me. Just know that it stopped being just about the caps after the first night.”
“I can’t accept this. Please take it back, give it to your boy and say it’s a gift from the General or put it towards the travel. I don’t need it.” I threw the purse back. “It was the night at Finch Farm for me.” I sent a sad smile and then I felt the tears start to come. “I woke up from a nightmare with your hand on me.” Mac came forward and wrapped his arms around me as I wept on his shoulder as quietly as I could. “I’m sorry, RJ.”
“Me too, Nora.” He pulled away and wiped my cheeks and then held them one last time before bringing me into a long kiss. Finally it was the spark reappearing after being extinguished, however this was a goodbye, this wasn’t a rekindle. Like the wick of a dead candle, sparking and bringing enough hope to and then suddenly it was out. Just as fast as it came.
We broke apart and I hugged him one last time. “Can I ask a favour, for old times sake?”
He laughed. “Sure, but it will cost you-HEY!” I slapped his arm before he couldn’t finish but we were both smiling.
“Take Piper back to Diamond City? Where we are going she won’t be safe and I can’t have it that I’m third wheeling.”
“I thought Nora the exhibitionist would love to see a couple at it.” He winked and I swatted him again.
“I need Preston focused, if you must know!”
“Sure, keep telling yourself that!” He dropped his hands from me and started to pick up his gear, touching his breast pocket lightly to check the contents were still secure inside. Where the passwords from Sinclair once lived, instead now held the only hope for his son. I saw Piper speaking to Preston then he kissed her cheek as they parted. Adorable.
She started to walk towards us. I gave one last look at Mac, not quite sure how to put into a words just how much he meant to me, despite everything.
“I guess I’ll be seeing you.”
“Yeah, guess so.”
“Bye, RJ.” He tipped his hat and met with Piper on the road. I stood there and watch them begin their journey.
Wiping the tears that wanted to leak from the lids and turning the opposite direction, kinda, I hot tailed it for the road back to Greentop, taking the road towards Tempines Bluff. I could hear Preston catching up to me but only when we got to the sinkhole did I finally stop. Kneeling over like a sack of potatoes and nearly throwing up my guts.
“General,” he slowed himself down, “is everything okay?”
I heaved and begrudgingly spat out the remnants that took a pit stop in my mouth, now towards the sinkhole. Disgusting.
“I’m good, just want to get on with it. Now we’ll stop at Tempines quickly then head towards Lexington.”
“I thought you wanted to take the Castle.”
“We will.” I said affirmatively. “However, that was after we found a certain someone. I’m interested in what they have to show, and prove.”
“You doubt their claims about synths?”
“It remains to be seen. If the Institute is as bad as the rumours say then I need solid evidence, I need to know exactly what I’m up against when we scatter my molecular-whatever the f*ck it is-particles into the unknown.” I ruffled my hair and realised I hadn’t put it back up. “Look, I’ll see what they have to offer. I’m betting my ass that they might know more about synths than the Brotherhood.”
We walked past the empty mutant nest and headed for the main road as I carried on with my thoughts. “We’ll see if they are worth associating with. If everything goes according to plan and we build a better world to live in, then this will go down in history. Although I highly doubt that anyone is recording this for history purposes. This will get lost like the rest of history.” I waved limply around us and continued up the path.
“Do you think you’ll be able to get them to help you kill a Courser?”
“No. That’s where the Brotherhood comes in.”
“Go ahead.”
“I have a plan, a last pitstop before I go to them. There’s a company that went missing three years ago, I found one of the dead but there is still several more. During my time with the Brotherhood I learnt about how many they started out, so I’m gonna present to them a token of goodwill.”
A Mr. Handy came up to his and tried to get us to come inside but we bided him good day and he left us be. A trick I learnt in Codsworth troubleshoot leaflet, after he wouldn’t stop bothering me. According to the manual, the set up user has to manually change the setting during start up. It appears the user chose to keep this option, that or they didn’t know about it. We passed General Atomics Gallery unbothered by the bots and carrier on up the hill to the cross the bridge. I was a cool evening, way too warm for me to recognise as December.
I raised my arm once we got to the other side and I checked the date. 21/12/2287. There was no way I was seeing Shaun for Christmas. Unless some miracle happened, I’d be lucky if I’d reach my thirtieth with him back. But there was still so much to do.
The sun was almost resting, I checked the time. 16:54. We had time.
“Preston, change of plan. Quick stop then we go straight for the location.” I shouted up to him as he was chatting to the stationed Minutemen. I jogged up and got reacquainted with the men and introduced myself to the newcomers. Most of the guards came from the settlement and another three men who had recently joined. I asked about any women interested but they assured me those that wanted to join were too young.
“Good, I want it known that anyone can be a Minuteman. It doesn’t matter who or what you are, as long as you fight for what’s right.” I got a cheer from some of the men that brought blood to my face embarrassingly. I didn’t expect that.
“Alright men! Give the General some space.” Preston shouted affirmatively and the men went to go back to their stations.
“Actually, men.” I called them back. “Before we leave we are going to be retaking back the Castle and if any of you are willing to take the risk with us then we could use a hand. It’s early days to form a team to take it but I wanted to give you guys time to think it over. Have any of you ever seen a Mirelurk Queen?” A few nods but not many. “Well that’s what there, we think. A queen took residence some time ago so it’s an infestation job rather than kicking the ass of raiders or gunners.” A few snickers and grins. “Think it over, we’ll organise a team to come by to see who’s willing.” I looked towards the locals who had joined. “This is not for the faint hearted, it will be deadly no doubt about that.” I finished with a nod and dismissed the now silent group of watchmen.
Preston guided me to the farmers and their growing amount of workers who joined the settlement. We had a drink and some meat they had on the fire and left soon after. A cheer of goodbyes echoed behind us as we jogged on towards Starlight. Time to show off the newest prize.
________
“I give you, the future!” I shouted into the empty parking lot of the old drive in, preforming like the old salesmen on tv trying to sell spaces in vaults with my arms out stretch and a smile only a snake could love on my face.
“This is the latest?” Preston asked.
“Don’t sound too bummed out by it! She’s got loads of secrets.” I looked on at the screen and then to the booth. “C’mon, I’ll start with the obvious.” We walked up to the booth. “This could be an excellent resting spot for caravans or travelling traders, we could use this as shelter or possibly build some kind of housing, like flats.” I highlighted the shaded structured roof that still stood upright. “And over here,” I walked over to the other side. “This patch of land would be perfect for corn, grain, or mutfruit. The land isn’t straight so no point planting tatos or melon.”
I could see Preston taking it all in, like me he was a silent contemplator and I could almost see the cogs moving inside. We continued on towards the screen.
“That there is a tool shed. I haven’t had the chance to break into it, but I can imagine that this place needed a lot of upkeep so we should find some goodies in there.” We edged along the radioactive pool and cars and walked up to the screen. “Natural water source over there.” I pointed to our far right. “Now I saved the best for last.” I grinned and unlocked the storage shed that was still lined up with the provisions that Mac and I left behind.
“Wow.” I heard Preston gasp behind me, I continue to grin enjoying the wonderful audience member that he was.
“I know.” I said proudly. “Think of the potential this place could be, if we play our cards right and get the defences good enough then we could even challenge Diamond City.”
“This is not as fortified.”
“I know, but it’s still possible. Even if it’s another hub for traders like Bunker Hill. It’s in prime position in the northern part of the ‘wealth, not too close to the Sea, or Boston city, only down fall is the neighbours in Lexington.” I felt Preston slap my shoulder from behind.
“If anyone can make that dream a reality, it’s you.” I touched his hand.
“That’s means a lot, thank you sweetie.” He blushed terribly. I guess I was used to Mac taking my compliments so well on the chin, I forgot Preston was the opposite.
I continued the tour, showing the small bedsit on the other side and then the view from the top of the screen. After that we gathered some supplies from the storage room and made our way across the outskirts of Lexington, keeping mind to stay close to the North. I wasn’t sure where Deacon was hiding but he said by the freeway, and I had no intention to waste bullets on ferals if they could be avoided.
“I wonder how long he’s been waiting.” Preston asked as we walked along the fields.
“I bet you he’s been keeping an eye on us and only recently gone to the checkpoint.” I turned grinning at Preston who only looked confused.
“You think?” I nodded confidently.
“He knew a lot about me, more than just being at the right place at the right time. No, he’s been actively keeping an eye on me. Question is since when? He knew about Kellogg and that isn’t public knowledge, I didn’t even mentioned that in Piper’s story.” A twinge of a memory burst through the surface and my hand went to tap the compartment that the pistol laid deep inside my pack. I never went for it in a fight and I hardly considered it a weapon when it was more of a trophy. I really needed to sort out my bag and leave momentous at Homeplate. Maybe after the Castle.
I held back from talking about the man at Bunker Hill. There was no point, even if I was sure it was the spy. I told Deacon I had things to do before I helped him out. I particularly invited him to watch us on our journey.
Mac’s teasing tone was in my mind and I giggled silently to myself.
Maybe he was right, maybe I do like an audience.
I shook my head to rid the thought and carried on with our trek to the unknown location. In the time we passed a small herd of ferals and mongrels, but otherwise we were undisturbed in our travels.
We followed the freeway until we saw the collapsed road. Up ahead was the outskirts of Lexington with the old Slocum Joe’s in the distance. There leaning against a column under the freeway was the spy. Wearing the same getup as I saw him in Bunker Hill.
“Deacon?” He turned and face us, then producing a wide smile.
“Like the disguise? I call it ‘Wastelander Camo’. ‘This is my pile of garbage, asshole. Back off!’” He laughed to himself. “Good right?”
“Terrifyingly accurate.” I gave my best unimpressed look, which only caused the spy to grin more. It was a task not to mirror him and unlike my training of how to connect with people. Deacon seemed to be on the same wavelength, even with the little I knew of him.
“You’re lucky I didn’t do one of my face swaps too!”
I raised a brow. “Seriously?”
“I’m always serious.” I hummed disbelieving him. “Colonel.” He nodded to Preston who tipped his hat back in response, Deacon then urged us to follow him up the freeway away from Lexington and got us up to date.
“Thing is, we’ve been using the Church as a base of operations for a short while. We had a nice set up at Solcum’s but that was until the Institute found us and nearly finished us off. Only a few of us managed to make it out, we lost some good people.”
“That’s sounds terrible.” I mussed and Deacon nodded with a low hum.
“It was a disaster with a capital D. The survivors didn’t have time to grab anything, so our task is to get what we had to leave behind.”
“How do you wanna do this?”
“First we got to see a tourist, they have information about the base and we need to pump them for information before we dive in. For now, I’ll let you take point.” He armed himself and continued walking on, talking about their use of Railsigns and what each one meant before we got up the broken part of the freeway, and passed derelict cars along the way. He pointed out the trail the tourist left behind for us to navigate through, killing the odd feral that was lingering under the wreckage of cars.
“There’s an ally sign, that means they are close by. I’m going to let you take point but just remember whatever they say just say ‘mine is in the shop’.”
Soon enough we saw a man perch on a chair over looking the city and coffee shop below. His knuckles were white from the death grip he had on his rifle and he was borderline spitting feathers when he saw us.
“Thank god! Have you got a gieiger counter? Have you got a goddamn geiger counter?!” He near roared at us, storming towards our way.
“Mine is in the shop.” I said unsurely, however as soon as I spoke the man started to easy and begin breaking down his observations of the situation. Deacon held back from leading the conversation, I guess wanting to see how well I’d cope under pressure. Little did he know I was trained for it.
Our goal was simple: get in and get out quickly, but there was the high chance that Switchboard was overrun with synths so we had to be tactical about it. I settled for using the escape route in the tunnels and managed to convince the tourist, Ricky, to distract the synths outside by triggering their mines.
“I need Codsworth to find a way to wash the grime out my suit when I see him next.” I groaned as sewage water splashed up the sides of my legs.
“That’s your Mr. Handy, right?”
“Yes.” I said begrudgingly. “Have you got an encyclopaedia all about me?”
“No, unfortunately the origin story is still unknown and the publisher has yet to give a release date.” He smirked but I wasn’t in the mood for the banter. Up ahead we heard the synths chatter to each other and the occasional movement between metal walkways. The four of us slowly made our way through the facility taking out the synths as quietly as we could until we reached the headquarters of Switchboard.
Once used as the US Government for covert operations, then the Railroad and now fallen into the hands of the Institute. How poetic.
We sneaked in, keeping Deacon at our front while Preston checked our six as we made our way through the base, all along the corridors were littered with more mines up until we managed to get into the storage room Deacon was searching for. He approached a terminal and played a tape recorder into the speaker and then typed in the password.
“Open says me.” He chuckled to himself.
“Do you always talk?” Preston asked as the doors began to open.
“Always, question is whether any of it is true.” I saw Preston sent a questioning look my way but I waved it off. With the doors now fully open the four of us made our way inside and saw another body of a fallen Railroad member.
“So Tommy Whispers didn’t make it out.” Deacon crouched down to the body and gave it a quick pat. He got up and sighed. “He died protecting our secrets. Here,” he passed me the tiniest pistol I had ever seen. “Tommy would want you to have his hand cannon. Don’t be fooled by its size, that thing packs a punch, and God did he love it.” I flipped the pistol over and saw the etching on the metal. Whispers.
“Thank you, but are you sure someone else wouldn’t want it?”
“Tommy was always a good judge of character, trust me, it’s only fitting for you to have it.”
“You’re putting a lot of trust in me.”
“I’ve seen enough, I think I’d like to know how you work.” I hummed not sure how to respond as Deacon moved around the storage room collecting whatever we came here to get. “There’s an elevator still working, we can leave that way.” We walked on and followed Deacon. Taking out the remaining synths still left behind. As we got up to the highest floor we heard an almighty bang from outside followed by gunfire.
“He kept his word.” Preston whispered as we went up the stairs of the basem*nt towards the shop floor.
“There’s a trick with speaking with men, it’s a second language to women of my time, clearly still translates to this day.” I winked over to my bewildered friend.
“Does the island of men know about this language or are they a lost civilisation?” Deacon shouted over to us from behind. I merely rolled my eyes at him and continued forward. Ricky had done a good job at eliminating all the synths waiting for us outside, as well as triggering all the mines they placed. I hadn’t realised but we had been at Switchboard for a good two hours and by the time we reached outside, it was dark and in the depths of night.
“We make a good team.” Deacon came over to me while Preston checked the area.
“I guess. Do all missions look like this?”
“No. This was an exception, one that needed to happen but we didn’t have the team for. When you come back to HQ we’ll discuss it more. I’ll be seeing ya.”
I laughed. “Yeah, sure. I bet you will.” He sent an overdramatic wink and walked on out to the waste while I waited for Preston to return.
“He’s gone?”
“Yep. Now for the next task, shall we start at Sanctuary?” He nodded and the three of us made our way north to formulate a team ready to take back the Castle.
