Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Cold. So cold.

Her body trembled as she regained consciousness, becoming big shakes as she tried to move. Her vision was blurry and her movements felt as though she were underwater. Raising a hand to her face the girl touched her skin, barely feeling it through her frozen fingertips.

A hissing sound erupted from somewhere near her and the front of her cryopod trembled then slowly lifted.  She blinked rapidly, trying to force her vision to clear, and struggled with unwilling muscles to raise herself from the seat she was partially reclined in.

Where am I?

Not in the deepest winters had she ever felt such a bone-numbing cold and never had she felt such confusion.

Where is this place?

Fragmented images and memories suddenly shot through her mind and she squeezed her eyes shut as vertigo suddenly assaulted her.

"Can we take Shaun to the park Daddy?"

"Yes, we can. Let's get him changed and dressed then. It's chilly out."

Her father's kind eyes smiling at her as she brought her baby brother out to the living room. As always the television was on, her father following the stories of the military movements worldwide despite being retired.

Daddy.

Chaos. Screaming. People running everywhere.

Words, frightening words, coming at her from the television which suddenly shut off. Her father's face grim as he grabbed Shaun's diaper bag and threw her jacket at her.

"We need to get to the vault, NOW!"

"What's happening, Daddy? What was he talking about bombs for?"

"No time for this, Cassidy. Get that jacket on and follow me. No more talk!"

His voice was stern and commanding and as always she fell into step behind him. Daddy always knew what to do, how to handle every situation. She felt panic rising inside her, but her father's steady and sure movements were a comfort.

"What about mom? She just left! She can’t have got far! Daddy!”

She grunted with effort trying to rise from her seat. Still, there was no cooperation from her muscles. Frustration set in as more memories came to light.

Soldiers everywhere, clad in power armor, making them look almost alien. Vertibirds circling and shouting orders through speakers. Her father dragged her along, her baby brother held in his other arm. She felt the terror, remembered the cacophony. Her neighbors and friends, running with them.

Down the path. Over the little wooden bridge.

Old Mr. and Mrs. Able, a suitcase overturned on the ground, it’s contents strewn about.

"Oh Frank just leave it, let's go!"

"No this is all we have! Help me!"

She was crying, pulling at her father, asking him about her mother. She hadn’t been gone that long. She could be down the road, and coming back. They should wait!

A gate loomed up ahead, people pushing and screaming and shouting. Armed guards shoving them away forcefully and shouting orders. Her father bulldozing his own way to the front.

She recognized the salesman who'd visited them several times. A kindly man who'd played with Shaun and had supper with them.

"Mr. Davidson!" she called out, grabbing his hand. "What's happening?!"

He hadn't looked at her. His face was filled with horror and rage. He was yelling at the guard. Her father had roughly shoved the salesman aside and faced the guard himself.

"Colonel Nathaniel James Hartley, USMC! We're on the list. My daughter Cassidy Jasmine and my son Shaun William."

"Sir, yes sir!"

The soldier had given a salute then looked back at his list.

"Where is Tamara Leigh Hartley, sir? Is she present and accounted for?"

Her father had shaken his head.

"I don’t know! She left for Concord not long ago!"

“Daddy please!” Cassidy had cried. “Let’s wait for her, she’ll come right home! She’ll come here!”

She remembered how the man's face had paled, how his words were staccato, awkward.

"S...sir that is unfortunate, sir! We...we can’t wait! God be with us all!"

He stepped aside.

Other soldiers hustled them forward, Cassidy still crying about her mother.

A large, circular platform with some of her neighbors clustering on it, holding tight to each other. The Millers, the Stanfields, the Molyneux's...she saw the Framinghams running towards them.

Loud, obnoxious sirens sounded over the din of the vertibirds and the shouting and screaming. Mrs. Framingham, her best friend Lindsay's mother...but where was Lindsay?

"She's in Concord, God help her!"

Cassidy’s senses overwhelmed, and she clung to her father and Mrs. Framingham both.

Someone yelled and pointed. Everyone turned.

"We can't wait! Send it down! Send it down NOW!"

A rumbling beneath her feet then a sharp downward lurch. Her eyes had been squeezed shut and she thought her heart would beat it's way out of her chest and leave her dead on the hard cement with the yellow lines.

They went down. Down into the earth. Down into the unknown.

"Daddy..." We're ok. We'll be fine. This...this is home now, Cassidy."

She hiccuped, her body trembling.

“What was that sound? What happened daddy? What about mom? Will she come?”

Men and women in lab coats worked all around them, ushering them into a line across a metal bridge. A woman handed her a blue jumpsuit and pointed to a man in a lab coat.

"Follow the doctor."

They seemed to walk forever, down one hallway after another that turned and descended. Everything was so brightly lit. Neighbors were huddled together in clumps along the side of the walkways, comforting one another, other people in lab coats trying to move them along, but there was so much fear and horror.

What had happened?

As they walked she heard snippets of conversations. Someone had decided it was time to destroy the world.

And they had.

Shaun began to fuss and cry. She turned to him and did her best to make him smile. At 6 months old he was starting to appreciate his big sister. He smiled at her and she gave him a kiss.

"He will be fine, Cassidy. You get behind those crates there and put that suit on. Then you can hold Shaun while I do the same."

She had obeyed her father. Unlike her, everyone else just stripped down to their underclothes and changed where they stood, too shocked and numb to think. But not her father. He was in control. Looking out for her like he always had for the last 18 years. She placed her folded clothing beside her pod. The doctor indicated the strange device.

"This is just a medical clearance before we head deeper into the vault, and you get settled in."

“But my mom...she wasn’t home. Can she still get in?”

“Everything will be explained once we get you cleared,” the doctor said.

Looking uncertainly at her father, he nodded with a small smile.

She had gotten in and sat on the leather seat, reclining back. She watched her father and baby brother do the same in the pod across from her. He waved at her and blew her a kiss, then gave her a thumbs up.

Did something go wrong? Why am I so cold?

She rubbed her arms vigorously and moved her legs and feet. They were painful and stiff but they moved. Her vision cleared.

Silence.

No voices, no sounds of life.

She stared across at her father's pod. The glass was frosted over and she couldn't see him.

"D...Daddy..." she croaked. Her voice felt frozen as well. She swallowed and it was hard.

Then it hit her.

The man with the cruel, scarred face.

The oddly dressed woman grabbing Shaun.

Her father yelling and trying to fight back.

The gunshot.

"N...no! NO!" she screamed. The sound wrenched painfully from her throat and she lurched forward out of her seat.

Her feet weren't where they should have been and she fell forward, crashing onto the concrete ground which was wet, her forehead hitting her outstretched hands with a smack. She fought to gain her footing, blinking against the light and the pain in her head, focused on her father's pod.

"Daddy! Daddy!" she half croaked, half wailed.

She crawled through the cold wetness awkwardly, like a sloth moving across the forest floor, and tried to pull herself up on some piping. But it too was wet and she slid.

"H...help!" she cried weakly. "My daddy! Please!"

But there was only her voice in the air, and the sound of dripping water, the occasional hiss coming from somewhere else.

Panic started. Her chest tightened and breathing became difficult. Her heart was beating too fast as she struggled once more to stand.

Buttons. A console. The word open.

Getting to her knees she slammed her fist on the big red button. Something shook, white vapor shot out. Her father's pod door slowly lifted. She grabbed the mounting handle on the side and pulled herself to her feet.

"Daddy!" she shrieked brokenly.

She fell on the hard, inert body, saw an ugly wound in his forehead, the blood and fluid frozen solid.

Why is he frozen? What happened to him, to us?

"Daddy! No! No! Wake up, please!"

She shook him, she pounded on him, sobs rising up from her chest. She tried to pull him out, but he was stuck tight to the seat and wouldn't budge. She slipped again on the smooth wet concrete floor, banging her knee and elbow. Pain coursed through her whole body.

She cried like the little girl she had once been and felt like at that moment.

A lost child with no one in sight to help her.

"Daddy! They took my brother! Someone took Shaun!" she cried out, pulling at his frozen foot.

"We gotta find him! Please wake UP!"

She looked around then screamed again, for someone, anyone, to come to her aid.

No one came.

No answering shouts or sounds of running feet. No medical personnel ran to her father to thaw him and wake him and see to his injuries.

She crawled back to her pod and curled up on the floor.

Tired, so tired.

Pain, so much pain.

She had to get help. Someone would come soon, to check on the pods. The vault staff had to be somewhere. Hadn't the doctor said they would go deeper into the vault? He’d said the pods were for some medical clearance.

Had he lied? Had Vault tec done something to them all? She didn’t understand.

Maybe the bombs had compromised the vault and they had to save everyone, and they were hiding somewhere.

If her father remained in cryosleep then he could be helped before thawing him out.

That’s what cryopreservation is right? Freezing people who were sick so they could be treated and awoken?

Cassidy felt a surge of encouragement.

Yes, she would wait. She had to close his pod and keep him frozen and asleep. With great effort, she crawled back to the console and closed her father's pod, then returned to her own.

She slipped into unconsciousness.

Chapter Text

She dreamed.

“Mom I want to stay home with daddy and Shaun.”

“You do? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you turn down a shopping trip to Concord. I was going to stop in at Corvega and see how the new car is coming along.”

Her mother, who was actually her step-mother, smiled at her with soft brown eyes that crinkled merrily at the corners. She knew Cassidy’s excitement over the red sports car they had ordered. But her daughter seemed resolute.

“I’ve been so busy with the competitions. I haven’t gotten to spend any time with Shaun. I’ll make dinner for daddy and me so you don’t have to rush home. Uncle Ray’s been complaining about you not visiting him you know.”

Tamara Hartley laughed lightly and picked up her purse, jacket and keys. “Next time then my dear.” She gave her daughter a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Mom…”

Cassidy awoke, stiff and sore. Her head throbbed. Her mother hadn’t made it to the vault. Had she made it to Concord? Were there Vaults there? Did she survive somehow?

Please be alive, mom. I’m going to find you.

She listened carefully and only the dripping of the water and the ever pervasive hissing met her ears.

No one had come. Why hadn’t anyone come to check on them?

She rose up slowly, miserably, and set her feet carefully on the floor. It took several steps for her to steady herself. It was almost like learning how to walk.

She was in a long hallway, with pods lined up on both sides.

She called out into the silence but again there was no response. She rubbed her arms vigorously trying to warm up but it was useless. The cold seemed to radiate from inside her. She stopped and turned back to her pod. Hadn’t she left her jacket and clothing there? But it was gone.

A crackling, static voice suddenly erupted around her. “Critical failure in cryo chamber. Failure in manual release override.”

What does that even mean?

She turned to one of the pods. A figure could be seen through the frosty glass. She pressed the console button, expecting to see the pod door lift, but nothing happened. She pressed it again and again.

Then she looked inside, peering through the glass, and shrieked, stumbling backward in horror.

A partially decayed and desiccated corpse was slumped in its seat.

“What’s going on?!”

She tried to run, but that took more coordination than she could manage. As she passed several more pods, it was apparent that the people inside them were all dead. A wail rose up from her throat and she forced herself to keep moving. Stairs appeared, just a few, leading to a heavy hydraulic door. The voice on the speaker crackled and hissed again but Cassidy didn’t care to hear what it said.

She touched the release button on the door but nothing happened. She tried again, becoming more and more frantic. She was locked in with a whole bunch of corpses. A scream rose up inside her and she spun, seeing another door. Slamming her hand on that release, she heard it hiss and almost cried with relief as it opened.

The area beyond was more of the same, but there were no pods. Just a hallway with boxes, debris, dripping water and hissing pipes. She moved as fast as she could, occasionally calling out.

Where was everyone?

Had they abandoned us? Did they think we were all dead?

Something moved to her left behind a large window and she turned. What she saw filled her with revulsion. A bug. But not just any bug. A bug that was at least a foot and a half long.

“What the hell! Giant bugs? What is this?!”

Panic set in and she lurched forward. A strange hissing and skittering sound came from her right but before she could react, something slammed into her back, sending her reeling forward. With a yelp she turned and saw one of the bugs on the ground in front of her, its wings buzzing.

She screamed and lashed out with her foot, kicking it. It slid away but came right back at her, flying for her face. She flailed her arms and legs and sent it back to the ground, where she promptly stomped on its head. Nasty putrid looking ooze, that seemed to glow green, came from the ruined creature.

Cassidy stared in horror. It was like being trapped in a nightmare.

“Daddy!” she screamed. “What do I do?” Sobs wrenched from her chest and she turned, moving away from the dead bug as quickly as she could.

A small room opened up to her right, and on the table, she saw a pistol, a box of ammo spilled out beside it.

A gun!

She knew guns. She knew them and loved them. With shaking hands, Cassidy loaded the weapon. The rest of the ammo she shoved in her pockets and down her bra. It was uncomfortable but she had nothing to carry them with and she knew she’d need them.

“Vault residents must vacate immediately,” said the voice on the speaker.

Vacate. Out. Yes.

Cassidy turned this way and that, following one corridor after another, some dead-ended, some became rooms which were a mess. Overturned furniture and ruined mattresses, everything smelled moldy and musty, the wetness slowly eating everything away.

More boxes of ammo turned up, and she found a satchel of some kind.

Then she saw the bodies.

Skeletons, several of them with remnants of clothing still attached lay on the ground. Some had the tattered remains of lab coats, others wore regular clothing. She saw damage on some of them.

“What happened here? Am I the only one alive?”

Hearing her voice out loud, echoing off the emptiness, terrified her. What if she truly was the last person alive? Who would help her father? Who would help her?

“Malfunction in emergency door override,” blared the voice. “Contact a Vault-tec maintenance representative for service.”

More doors. More skeletons.

“Where is everyone? Is this all that’s left?”

She turned a corner and was suddenly stung by something and thrown to the floor with a surprised shriek. Looking up she saw arcs of electricity pulsing from the ceiling. Dead bugs littered the floor amongst a few skeletons. Crawling away, she pressed up against a bulkhead and shut her eyes. Panic welled up in her. She wanted to run, scream, cry….and wake up from the horrible nightmare she was in.

“I have to get out of here,” she said out loud. “I need to get help for daddy.”

The thought rallied her and she got to her feet. Opening another door, she moved through another corridor and suddenly stopped dead.

Bugs. Several of them sticking to the walls and crawling along the floor. Cassidy squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath to steady herself. She felt the cool metal of the pistol in her hand, giving her a focus.

One by one she dropped the bugs, and jogged past them, her body having warmed up and her muscles being more obedient to her wishes.

A door at the end opened up into a room. There was a desk there, a skeleton in a lab coat sprawled on an overturned chair. On the desk sat another box of ammo, another pistol, and two stimpaks. Her father had shown her how to use those. They had always been scary to her, the large needle used to deliver tiny nanites into the bloodstream to repair injuries. Cassidy considered her aching head and limbs but decided against using it.

There was a large door on the other side of the room, but she rifled through all the desk drawers and filing cabinets. Unsure of what she hoped to find, the action brought a sense of purpose. One of the cabinets held several wads of money. She cheered silently as she stuffed it all into the satchel.

There were packs of cigarettes which she also took, remembering all those holovids where cigarettes were used as currency, and a small assortment of candies. However, the door wouldn’t budge. Frustrated she turned back to the desk and noticed the computer monitor blinking. Thank heavens she had paid attention in school and listened to her father when he insisted she learn her way around computers. It had bored her initially but there was a certain thrill about being able to command the house robot to do silly things.

The terminal sprang to life with a host of choices but she had no interest in any of it but one: open evacuation tunnel. That choice sounded like the way to freedom.

The door hissed open and she ran for it, barely phased by the bugs that she quickly dispatched. They didn’t matter. Getting help for her father was the only goal.

A few more twists and turns and she found herself in an area she recognized. It was the way they had come in. She saw the metal walkways and the consoles. The massive vault door stood silent and unmoving.

“How do I open this part?” she said.

A skeleton in a lab coat lay beneath a control console. Its arm had fallen off, and on the boney wrist there sat a pip-boy. She knew all about them. The military used them extensively, as did Vault-Tec. Mr. Davidson, the Vault-Tec salesman, had brought one for them to see. Cassidy had thought it was the greatest thing. Primarily because you could play holovids, music, and games on it. Mr. Davidson had promised that all vault residents would receive one if the day came they ever had to enter the vault.

She toed the pip boy, not wanting to touch the skeletal hand.

“Oh come on,” she chided herself. “It’s just bones. You used to dress up the one in class.”

She held her breath and retrieved the pip-boy, snapping it onto her wrist and adjusting the padding to fit her. It was lighter than she remembered. The screen was filthy and she used her sleeve to clean it up, then pressed the power button.

Please turn on , she silently entreated.

For a moment nothing happened, but then the screen lit up with a pale orange Vault-Tec symbol, then began its startup sequence. It asked for her name and told her to plug into a source. She didn’t understand what it meant and examined it more closely. She pulled on a protruding section and it came free, still attached to a cord. The console in front of her had a space that might match...with bated breath she pushed the unit into it.

“Welcome, Cassidy Jasmine Hartley. Thank you for choosing Vault-Tec. How may we assist you?”

The pip-boy mascot appeared and gave her it’s thumbs up. Then the screen simply said ready. On the console, a button lit up. She pressed it.

The ground began to shake slightly, and a deep rumble began. In front of her, a strange looking mechanism began to whir and jerk back and forth. Old machinery came to life, a stream of oil and water shot forth. Then it began to move towards the massive vault door.

“Vault door opening sequence initiated,” said the voice. “Please stand back.”

The unit plugged itself into the vault door, and it rolled away to the side. The catwalk trembled and moved forward.

Cassidy’s sensitive eyes were momentarily blinded by a bright light.

She stepped onto the walkway and followed it to the area where the vault door had been. The elevator that had once brought them all down stood there, waiting for a command. The cage door surrounding it lifted and she slowly got on, then pressed the red button.

“Enjoy your return to the surface,” said the voice pleasantly. “And thank you for choosing Vault-Tec.”

Shuddering, lurching and grinding, the elevator rose slowly. It crept foot by foot, an alarm sound bleating rhythmically. Cassidy gripped her gun tightly.

“I’m getting help, daddy,” she said.  “I’m coming back for you. And I’m going to look for mom and Shaun.”

Bright, blinding sunlight. Warmth on her face. The caw of a bird and air, blessed fresh air that she gulped hungrily, eyes squeezed shut.

Barely daring to open them, she moved off the elevator platform.

Cassidy didn’t really know what she had expected to see. But when she did slowly open her eyes, the sight of the world around her wasn’t it.

Chapter Text

Big black crow-like birds cawed and flapped in the skeletal ruins of trees. Rusted, broken trailers rested among the debris of tires, boxes, twisted metal and shards of plastic. Piles of leaves dotted the almost desolate landscape. The high wire fence she remembered was torn and collapsed. And as before, more skeletons with remnants of military clothing.

Not everyone had been able to make it into the vault. So many of her friends and neighbors had died judging by the number of skeletons that littered the ground, and there had been no one left to bury them properly.

Vault-Tec had abandoned them, but why? They were all safe in the vault, weren’t they? Mr. Davidson had been so confident and proud when he told them about the technological miracles that were the vaults. He had used words like state of the art and l uxurious accommodations. He had listed off the names of doctors and scientists, as though they were celebrities. It had all sounded so impressive.

Her parents had gladly paid for the peace of mind, and oddly the price was very low. The vault was right in their neighborhood. They had planned to take a tour of it at some point, truly never believing that the day would come that it would be their last stop in the old world.

A bird landed on a tree stump and affixed her with it’s black, beady eyes, tilting its head this way and that.

“Well, if you survived, then I’m sure other people did too, right? So where do I find them? Huh?”

The bird cackled softly then flapped its wings, rising up and heading off in the direction of Sanctuary Hills. Of home.

“Home!” she cried and ran. Down the path past the fence opening, past the skeletons, over the little bridge the community had erected over the river to connect the resident vault to them. She had sat on that bridge and stared into the water so often. Writing in her journal or sketching or hanging out with her best friend.

She felt relief as the buildings of her community came into view, the beautiful Lustron “home of the future” designs luring new citizens to make the purchase. Cassidy and her family had lived just outside of Concord since she was born, and moved to Sanctuary Hills when she was 10. It had been a change from the city. She suddenly had open spaces to play in and explore. Forested areas and the river gave a natural, healthier backdrop for a growing girl.

She remembered all the fancy cars her neighbors had, and it was that which led her to her meeting everyone. She had crawled in and out of every single vehicle while the amused owners looked on.

Cassidy had met her best friend Lindsay the day they moved in. The other little girl’s curly hair had been tightly braided in cornrows with beads dotting the end. She held a coloring book and a pack of crayons. “Want to color with me?” she had asked. “We can go to the bridge!”

The girls had been inseparable. They attended school together, dance and art classes, and when Cassidy had discovered competitive shooting, Lindsay had been her biggest fan. Well, next to her parents of course.

They had made a plan to marry brothers and live next door to each other forever. Lindsay had met a boy in Concord and that was where she was that fateful day. Had she survived? Her parents hadn’t. The Framinghams had died in their pods. If she found Lindsay, she didn’t relish the idea of having to tell her about that.

Be alive Linds. We can get through this together.

Cassidy walked up the small incline and her heart sank.

Gone were the beautiful houses. Most roofs were devoid of their shingles. Gaping holes and rusted framework were all that remained. The once colorful metal siding which had once been Lindsay’s house had peeled away and lay in scrap heaps. Their little blue car had no wheels and lay on its side in the yard.

The little house where the elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Able had lived was a complete ruin. It had collapsed in on itself and was a twisted wreck. Ugly shrubbery dotted what had once been one of the most beautiful lawns in Sanctuary.

The Millers’ home was missing the carport and half the side.

Cassidy blinked back tears and stared at the ground. She was afraid. Afraid to look towards her own house and find it destroyed. Afraid to see what the bomb had done to her little home.

Then she heard it.

A voice.

The song seemed almost familiar to her and she looked up, scanning around her. Something metallic moved and glinted, gliding between the houses. Suddenly afraid she very nearly dove down behind a pile of tires. She gripped the gun and watched for whatever was out there.

The deep hiss of a propulsion jet accompanied the tarnished metal body of a domestic robot, designated Mr. Handy.

She stood up. “Hello? Bot?”

The Mr. Handy unit stopped dead, it’s occular stalks turning to her.

“As I live and breathe!” it exclaimed. “It’s...it’s really you!”

Cassidy’s heart nearly leaped out of her chest. She ran forward.  “Codsworth! You’re... still here! So...other people could still be alive too…”

“Well, of course I’m still here!” the robot happily exclaimed in his jaunty British accent. “You don’t think a little radiation could deter the pride of General Atomics International?”

Codsworth raised his pincer arm and gently tapped her head. “But you seem the worse for wear. Best not let your father see you in that state! Where is Sir, by the way?”

Cassidy swallowed. “T...they came into the vault. Someone. Maybe you saw them. They had guns and strange outfits.”

Codsworth bobbed up and down. “Miss Cassidy, what are you saying?”

“They took Shaun and shot Daddy. But he’s … he’s in cryosleep. I need to get help for him!”

Codsworth’s occular lenses blinked. “These things you’re saying. These...terrible things. I believe you need a distraction! Yes, a distraction to calm this dire mood!”

Cassidy stared at him.

“It’s been ages since we had a proper family activity!” Codsworth kept on. “Checkers. Or perhaps charades. Shaun does love that game. Is the lad with you?”

“Codsworth! Listen to me carefully! Have you seen him? Have you seen Shaun or mom?”

The bot blinked and bobbed again. “Why, Sir had him last, remember? And Miss Tamara had gone off to Concord to shop. Perhaps Sir took Shaun to the Parker residence to arrange a playdate? I’m sure he’ll be back with him momentarily.”

Cassidy couldn’t understand why the bot was acting so strangely. He hadn’t seemed to hear a word she’d said. Had the bomb fried his circuitry somehow? “No, I told you, he was taken from the vault. It doesn’t make sense. There’s just no reason why someone would take my little brother!”

Codsworth’s propulsion flame brightened for a moment and he rose a foot, then dropped again. “It’s worse than I thought. Hmm Hmm. You’re suffering from hunger-induced paranoia. Not eating properly for 200 years will do that I’m afraid.”

Cassidy felt the breath go out of her at his words. She struggled to inhale and stumbled back into the side of the house.

“200 years!? What?!” She began to tremble.

“A bit over 210 actually, Miss Cassidy. Give or take a little for the Earth’s rotation and some minor dings to the old chronometer! That means you’re two centuries late for dinner!” Codsworth bobbed and laughed merrily while a pale Cassidy could do nothing but stare and gulp air.

“Perhaps I could whip you up a snack?” continued Codsworth, completely oblivious to her distress. “You must be famished!” The robot began to hum and floated off into the house.

Cassidy curled up against the sun warmed siding. 210 years? They'd been in the vault for that long? It couldn’t be! But Codsworth wouldn’t lie. He couldn’t.

That would mean her mother...and Lindsay…

She began to sob, hugging herself. Now what? With her father still frozen and her brother missing, how could she even begin to find him? She had hoped to find her mother and Lindsay to help her. Who would do so now? Everything was decimated, she’d awoken centuries in the future to a world she had no bearings in. Aside from Codsworth, she was utterly alone.

The robot returned and found her, clucking soothingly and trying to comfort her. “There there, Miss Cassidy. At least we have one another. It’s been awful for me as well, two centuries with no one to talk to and no one to serve!”

He placed a worn looking box of Sugar Bombs next to her. “I spent the first ten years trying to keep the floors waxed, but nothing gets nuclear fallout out from vinyl and wood. Nothing!”

He tapped her head gently. “And don’t get me started about the futility of dusting a collapsed house. And the car! The car! How do you polish rust?”

Cassidy hiccuped and dragged her arm across her eyes. “What happened? When we went to the vault...what happened?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know much Miss Cassidy. You all left in such a hurry, then the bombs came. I thought for certain you and your family were...dead. I remained at my post, doing what I could. No one from the neighborhood returned. Sadly those who weren’t in the vault were killed.”

She sniffled and nodded, then slowly got to her feet. She looked at the box of Sugar Bombs but had no desire to touch them.

“So mom, and Lindsay...they never came back? You never saw them?” He’d already given her the answer. But she wanted to hear it again.

“I’m sorry Miss Cassidy. No one returned.”

“I need to find help for daddy. He’s injured but because he’s frozen he can still be helped, right?”

Codsworth bobbed again. “I...I can’t say for certain. The knowledge I do have of cryopreservation leads me to believe that it could be so. You could try Concord! I was only shot at a few times on my travels there.”

“Shot at? By who?”

“The usual. Raiders and other ne’er do wells. But you have your rifle. No raider has a chance against that eye of yours.  I’ve kept your rifle polished and in good repair although it hasn’t been fired in two centuries. A true antique now, Miss Cassidy!”

She brightened. Her rifle was her pride and joy. “Where is it? Is it in the Franklin’s bomb shelter?”

“Indeed it is. Shall we go get it together?”

Cassidy nodded, then looked off into the distance. “Have you seen anything dangerous?”

“Here?” asked Codsworth. “Just the usual pesky bugs.”

“Bugs...are they big, and look kind of like roaches?” she asked nervously.

“Radroaches yes, there are also some blood bugs and bloatflies about. I’ve done my best to keep their populations under control.”

Cassidy felt sick. “What are blood bugs and bloatflies?”

“Blood bugs are oversized mosquitoes. Bloatflies...well that is a bit of a horror show I’m afraid, Miss Cassidy. They have the nasty habit of shooting maggots about. Best to take care of them from a distance. Let me go first, and if there is anything about I’ll dispatch it quickly.”

Cassidy adjusted the satchel and firmly gripped her pistol. It would be nice to have her rifle again.

“Ok go, Codsworth. Let’s get this over with.”

The bot floated off, entering house after ruined house. Cassidy tried not to think too deeply about what she was seeing. It seemed like only yesterday that she had been in these houses visiting her neighbors.

“Codsworth,” she suddenly said, stopping.

Her Mr. Handy stopped moving and floated back to her. “Yes, Miss Cassidy?”

“How old am I? I mean...you said it’s been more than 200 years since the bombs fell but what month is it now?”

“Let’s see, based on my chronological parameters, with the appropriate adjustments, I would say it is the month of August and you are currently 228 years old, 7 months and 4 days old.”

She let that sink in, staring at a clump of dried grass. “I missed a lot of birthdays,” she whispered.

“That might be true, but we can certainly make up for that now! We can have a party!” The bot spun and bobbed merrily. But Cassidy wasn’t feeling very merry.

“With who, Codsworth?” she asked sadly. “Everyone’s dead. Daddy is frozen and I don’t know where Shaun is.” Tears stung her eyes again and her lip trembled.

“Now now, Miss Cassidy. First things first hmm? Let us get to the cellar and retrieve all the goodies your father stored there. You don’t even need the key. I’ve become quite adept at picking locks.” He held up one of his arms.

She nodded and followed him as he floated onwards.

She waited outside while Codsworth cleared some bugs out of a few of the houses. She didn’t go in and look at them, but the bot thought she should.

“They are dead and can’t harm you,” he said. “But familiarize yourself with them at least.”

She took one look at a dead bloatfly and threw up in a bush. A 200-year-old empty stomach didn’t have much to give but whatever there was, it came up. She heaved miserably, tears pouring from her eyes.

“This sucks!” she cried, dragging her arm across her face. “I don’t like this at all! I just want to get daddy out of that...that place! And find my brother! Stupid ugly bugs what the fuck is this?!” She wept.

“Miss Cassidy,” admonished Codsworth. “You don’t want your father to hear such language!”

She turned to him and stamped her foot, sending a cloud of dust and dead grass upwards. “He’s not fucking here! He’s frozen in that godforsaken vault and I’m stuck out here alone in this fucking fucked wasteland from hell!” She shrieked and picked up a rock, hurling it into the side of a house. Then she picked up another and another, cursing as loudly and as creatively as she could.

Then, she started laughing. Overwhelmed by stress, she fell over in the dirt and laughed until her sides ached and she couldn’t breathe.

“Well now,” said Codsworth. “Are you feeling better? I must say I’ve never heard such creative words from...well from anyone!”

Cassidy grinned at him. “I don’t think daddy would be mad considering the situation. Let’s just get my stuff now.”

Codsworth helped her to her feet.

The storm cellar was behind a neighbor’s house. The Franklins had built it believing full well that one day the end of the world would come.

Most had chuckled about it, but Corporal Hartley had helped finance the project and stored some items in it as well. Cassidy had never asked about it. Her mother just shrugged and smiled whenever it was mentioned. She also never believed things could happen as they did.

“It was all so sudden, Codsworth,” she said as the bot picked the lock. “We were going to go to the park. Everything was so...normal.”

“Indeed it was, Miss Cassidy. It was a shock to all of us I daresay.”

“Just that day...someone got up and decided we all had to die. Why would anyone want that? No one won this war!”

“No, no one did. Those left behind had to begin again. And it has been a struggle.”

She followed him down the steps, the light on his dome illuminating the way. The bot hit a switch and lights flickered on, dim at first then gradually getting brighter.

It was a larger space than she had imagined, with several shelves stocked with food. There was a cooking unit, a computer terminal, and crates of all shapes and sizes.

“Do you know what’s in all these?” Cassidy asked.

“I’m sorry I do not. Being what I am, I have no need of weapons, armor or food. I did have to travel to Concord to locate a fusion core when the one I found here ran dry.”

“I didn’t know you used fusion cores, I thought you used fuel!” She remembered the large canisters they had in the garage.

“I did, Miss Cassidy. But in these times the lack of such fuel required me to do some adjustments on myself. I’m due to seek out another fusion core soon.”

She nodded. “I’ll help if I can. As long as you kill all the ...fly things.”

Codsworth chuckled. “They are a lot to take in. In due time you will not even bat an eye at them.”

Cassidy looked around for a crowbar to open a crate. “Are there other awful things out here? Have you seen other weird beasts?”

Codsworth floated over and easily opened the lid. “I don’t wish to horrify you any further on this day. Suffice it to say that the radiation wreaked havoc on many forms of wildlife while obliterating others.”

“What about dogs and horses?” Cassidy had enjoyed taking riding lessons at a local stable since she was 8.

“There are mutated dogs yes. Sadly, as far as I know, horses are now extinct.”

Cassidy looked sorrowful and she didn’t want to think about it anymore. The crate before her was filled with what looked like grenades. She put the lid back on and went for another. Each box had some form of ordnance in it. Things she knew nothing about. Then she found one marked “Tamara”, one marked “Shaun” and one marked “Cassidy”.

Codsworth popped the lid open and she gave a little yelp of delight. “Daddy thinks of everything! Oh, thank you, daddy!”

She pulled out several boxes of her hair color. Like most teens, Cassidy had wanted to stand out and be different. She colored her hair a beautiful deep burgundy. Nate Hartley had been quite pleased that his daughter hadn’t decided to join the rockabilly scene, a group he quite strongly disapproved of.

There was a small makeup bag, the items duplicates of what she used to have. She hadn’t really worn it much if at all so it’s inclusion surprised her. She found a brand new hairbrush and comb, shampoos and conditioners, soaps and a few new toothbrushes. There were towels and blankets in her favorite color: pink. He had also included a few outfits of hers, all of them practical...and one dress. It made her smile. She also found a whole row of holotapes. They were simply numbered 1 through 10.

“Codsworth? Do you know anything about these?”

“No, Miss Cassidy. I didn’t open any of these crates, nor was I privy to Sir’s private activities. Your pip-boy can play them.”

She took the first one but put it on the table. “Let’s get my rifle first. And ammo.”

She didn’t open her mother’s crate. Nor her brother’s.

Codsworth went to a wall cabinet which housed her rifle and several others she had no idea how to use. Automatic weapons hadn’t been her thing. She felt a sense of comfort and relief as she picked up her trusty rifle, and retrieved her holster. A box of ammo was nearby.

In the back corner of the strange little bunker, Cassidy found a bed. The space hadn’t been completed yet, the bombs fell before the project ended, so the floor was still dirt. She sat down on the bed, Codsworth floating nearby, and popped the holotape into the pip-boy. It was her father’s voice.

Hello Cassidy. If you are hearing this tape, then the worst has come to pass. The bombs have fallen and I’m dead. I have no way of knowing if your mother and brother are with you, but I truly hope they are.

If you’ve survived then that means you made it to the vault. And now you’ve made it back to the surface.

I don’t know what the world will be like for you. I don’t know what year it is. I just know that your life will never be the same.

At this moment I’m upset at myself for not insisting on you learning some survival skills. I always let you make your choices and simply supported them. I wish now that I had been a bit more adamant that you have some sort of training lest this situation occur.

As I’m recording this I hope that this is all for nothing and I can play it for you when I’m old and grey and you have brought your children for a visit.

But I digress.

Cassidy, you will see 9 other holotapes. Each one is a video that will instruct you on the use of every weapon I have placed in this cellar. Watch them, learn them.

I’ve always been so proud of you. You’ve never disappointed me, and I doubt you ever will. I won’t be there to help you anymore, you’ll have to make decisions on your own, and some of them will be hard. Some of them will make you question yourself and what you stand for. Some of them...will be the wrong ones.

Follow your heart, listen to your gut.

I love you, Cassie.

And stay away from those rockabillies.

Cassidy smiled through her tears at the last part. “Daddy...always looking after me…”

She looked up at Codsworth. “But he isn’t dead! And I need to get help for him. Concord you said. That’s where I’ll go first.”

“I suggest you rest first, Miss Cassidy. Then tomorrow we can make up a pack for you.”

She pulled the blanket out of her crate and curled up on the bed. “I’m so tired,” she whispered. “This is a good idea. Codsworth can you sing that song again? The one you used to sing to Shaun when he was being fussy?”

She closed her eyes and imagined herself warm in her own bed. Out in the living room, her father would be watching television, and her mother would be reading a magazine. Codsworth was singing to her little brother. Outside it was sunny, and her neighbors were enjoying their day as they always did.

She was safe, she was loved, and best of all, she wasn’t alone.

Chapter Text

Cassidy awoke in pitch blackness. Panicking, she sat up and tried to look around, her eyes searching for a glimmer of light. A few feet away Codsworth hovered, his thruster on low, the layered blue,white,and orange glow of his flame bringing instant relief. She lay back down, snuggling the blanket beneath her chin.

She didn’t know what time it was, and she didn’t care. She knew that her father needed help, but he was currently in cryosleep and safe in the vault. She tried to remember exactly where her Uncle Ray had lived, and where her friend Lindsay’s boyfriend’s place was.

If they had survived the bombs, they’d died over 200 years ago, she thought. There’s no point in looking for them.

She sighed deeply, unhappiness flooding her. But if no one found them and buried them, they could be skeletons, left in the open, forgotten. The thought brought her to tears. And then there was Shaun. Where could she even begin to find information on where he could be? Was he even alive anymore? When had he been taken?

“Is everything alright, Miss Cassidy?” asked Codsworth softly.

“Nothing about this living hell is alright,” she answered. “But I have to get help for daddy. And find my brother. Where do I even begin with that? I have no idea who or why anyone would take a baby.”

Ever honest, Codsworth tried to soften the harsh reality of his words. “There is a lot of infertility in present times. The abundance of radiation from earlier generations seems to have passed down and many couples are unable to have children. I suppose perhaps he was kidnapped by such a family?”

She didn’t like that response but at least the idea he was wanted and most likely cared for was not the worst notion. But he was her brother. Her family. Not theirs. Not anyone else’s. And she told him that.

“Then find him we shall,” said the ever loyal bot.

Her father had initially been rather hesitant to purchase the Mr. Handy but had been pleased with it. Cassidy loved him from the start. The bot had played with her and helped her with schoolwork and a host of other things. When Shaun came along, Codsworth was an excellent helper for her mother. And now, he was all she had left.

“I’m going back to sleep,” she said. “I’m not ready to face that hell world up there.”

“As you wish, Miss Cassidy,” said Codsworth.

Morning used to be sunlight streaming in the window through her gossamer curtains and in summer it was accompanied by a breeze. Often the sounds of shouting children and barking dogs would float around her, or the sounds of her family in the rest of the house.

But that was no more. Cassidy awoke in blackness again comforted only by the soft hiss and glow of Codsworth hovering nearby.

“What time is it Codsworth?” she asked, stretching.

“8:30 am Miss Cassidy,” the bot responded, and slowly turned up the lights. “Shall we go back to the house and have a spot of tea and something to eat? There is a bit to choose from here. Were you still planning to head to Concord today? Shall I accompany you?”

Cassidy smoothed back her hair and sighed heavily. “Ok I’m starving so yes, I’d like something to eat and drink. Yes on Concord and I really want you to come with me but if something happened to you I’d be alone and I’d rather know you were here waiting for me to come home.”

“A wise assessment. I’ll remain here and tend to my duties as always.”

Cassidy filled her satchel with the items from her crate that she felt she needed, then chose something to eat. On her way out she spied a backpack. It had been her father’s. She snatched it up immediately. “This is so much better than this satchel and I can carry more in it since I’ll be holding my rifle in my hands.”

“You should carry the pistol in a holster as well, Miss Cassidy. Your rifle is a marvelous long range weapon but perhaps a short range one would be ideal as well?”

She smiled. “Thank you Codsworth, you’re right.” She picked a holster off a peg and walked to the ladder, the bot turning off the lights behind them.

Codsworth had said it was August, and there was a feeling of summer in the air but it was nothing like Cassidy’s memories. As she set off down the road to the north bridge, Codsworth floated along beside her.

“Do be careful Miss Cassidy,” he said. “The bridge has some damage to it, and mind what I said about bugs and raiders. Until you are certain, consider no one a friend. Stay hidden and as quiet as you can.”

“I...I’m scared, Codsworth,” she said softly, gripping her rifle tightly. “This world, it’s like a nightmare. Nothing is the same. Everything is dead and scary. If not for daddy I’d stay in the house and never leave again.”

She felt her eyes start to sting. She didn’t remember any time in her life when she’d been so close to tears so often. Life had been a happy adventure.

Codsworth had helped her pack and included food and containers of purified water. He warned her not to drink anything else. He’d given her a few stimpaks as well.

“I’m proud of you,” he said. “And your parents would be as well. I’ll see you when you return. I’m sure there must be someone in Concord who can help you.”

“I hope so,” she said and took a deep breath.

She carefully navigated the sturdier parts of the bridge and landed on the other side where the once pristine roadway was now a shattered mess. She ignored the skeletons of a person and what looked to be a dog and kept going.

Up ahead she spied the remains of the Red Rocket gas station and rest stop. She and her family had shared meals and snacks here so often over the years. Even she and Lindsay had often come to have a malt and watch the attendants pump gas. Cassidy had thought one of them rather cute. She grinned as she remembered his perfectly groomed pompadour hair and the dimples when he’d smiled.

“He’s a rockabilly,” Lindsay had told her. “Wait til you see him out of uniform. He’s glorious!”

And so he had been. With his black leather jacket and pants, Evan Toth had winked at her and called her “baby”. She thought she’d die. Her father, however, was very much not an admirer of the rockabilly scene and that ended any chance of her ever having a date with him. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway.

The world came to an end.

She stood on the road looking at the sad remains of the diner, wondering if Evan had lived or died when the bombs fell. She suddenly heard a sharp bark. Lifting her rifle she scanned the area.

From the garage a dog appeared. Her heart skipped a beat.

“Avery?” she whispered shakily. The dog was a German Shepherd, just as hers had been. He had run away one day in a storm and she hadn’t found him. Her family had looked everywhere and all the neighbors had helped. That was two months before the bombs, at the end of summer.

The dog barked at her again, his tail waving slowly over his back.

Avery had lived over 200 years ago. This dog wasn’t Avery. She swallowed hard.

“Hey, boy...or...girl. Are you a friendly dog? Yeah?”

The dog whined, barked and ran forward. He stopped a few feet away and spun around.

“Well, you don’t look rabid. Where’s your owner? Are you alone out here?” She saw he was a male and held out a hand. The dog walked over and sniffed her then gave her a small lick.

“I’m alone too. But I don’t have anything to give you, I’m sorry.” She patted his head gently and he sat beside her, looking up as though they’d known each other forever.

Cassidy sank down onto the ground and looked into the soft brown eyes and began to cry. She told the dog everything that had happened, and he put a paw on her shoulder and whined softly.

“Why is it that dogs seem to understand everything we humans say? And you all seem to care about what happens to us? I’m so glad we found each other! I’m too scared to be alone.”

The dog barked.

She sat there for a long time, stroking his fur, then decided it was time to go. She hadn’t expected him to do much more than bark and run back into the garage and she made a mental note to bring him food later, but to her surprise, he ran along with her.

Happy for the company, her step lightened. Concord wasn’t all that far away, but the open road worried her. Codsworth’s talk of bugs and raiders and heaven knew what else had frightened her and she began to move onto the sides of the road.

The dog dashed ahead barking and she saw him leap into the air at something.

Bugs.

She locked and loaded and took aim. A giant mosquito, the blood bug Codsworth had described, darted this way and that trying to avoid the dog. She shot it down and it fell, quivering. Another appeared and attacked the dog and once more she took it down. The dog ran back to her and barked.

“Thanks, boy, thanks a lot!”

She looked at the dreadful creatures as she walked by but didn’t stop to examine them too closely.

As they neared the Concord city limits a foul stench suddenly hit her. She stopped and wrinkled up her nose. “What the hell is that smell?” she asked.

The dog trotted to the side of a building. She followed and immediately regretted it.

The bloated corpse of a person lay there, a torn shirt and pants all that was left of their clothing. They had no boots, no weapon...and no head. She turned and saw the splattered remains of what must have once been the missing extremity, and her stomach heaved.

She threw up the contents of her stomach violently and without hesitation until her eyes watered and there was nothing left. Shaking, she turned away.

I can’t do this. I can’t just walk around in this world with all the monsters and the corpses. This is all so bad and wrong and I can’t do it!

Cassidy stood with her eyes closed, feeling the warm sun on her face. Tears crept free, partially due to her violent vomitting, and partially due to emotion. But she knew she couldn’t stand there forever, and her only choices were to go back home, or go forward to get help.

She wiped her eyes and looked at the rows of decrepit and dilapidated buildings. Somewhere in there was, or at least had been, her Uncle’s house. Lindsay’s boyfriend’s house. The mall her mother had gone to. And somewhere in there might be a person who could help her father.

“I gotta do this,” she said. “For daddy.”

The dog whined and walked ahead of her.

She stayed in the shadows, moving as slowly and quietly as she dared. She heard gunfire in the distance and shouts. How was she going to know who was a friend and who was a foe?

Cassidy crept around a building until she saw a hole in the wall and crept inside. She thought she remembered the place. It had been a general store. She’d bought comic books there several times and peppermint sticks. The old shelves were still there, rusted and full of bullet holes, burnt books and magazines littered the floor along with other detritus. Empty canisters, aluminum cans, and dirt were everywhere.

200 years could sure do a number on things. It had once been a cozy, happy place with two sweet shopkeepers and their son.

With a sigh, she proceeded, back outside and around the back of the building. Up ahead was the Museum of Freedom, one of her favorite places to visit. She had done so on several school trips and it was always interesting. She’d dragged her parents to it as well.

A commotion suddenly erupted in front of her and she flattened herself against the building. A man appeared on the balcony, and as he did so the dog ran forward, growling. A person wearing the strangest outfit she’d ever seen ran forward, shooting at the man. The dog hurled himself into the stranger, knocking him off balance with a snarl.

The stranger lashed out at the dog with the butt of his rifle, another strange looking affair. The dog yelped, and Cassidy felt a rage in her chest. Without thinking, she knelt and aimed. Her shot fired true, and the man fell dead.

Oh my god , she thought with horror. I’ve killed someone! I’m a murderer!

The dog limped back to her whimpering. “Why did you do that, boy? He could have killed you!”

She felt the shepherd all over for broken bones but found nothing. He’d been badly bruised if anything. He shook himself and stretched and seemed none the worse for wear after a few minutes.

“Hey!” called a voice.

She looked up at the man on the balcony. He was waving at her.

“That was a great shot! We need help!” he cried. “We’re trapped in here and the raiders have almost found us! Please!”

He disappeared inside before she could even try and tell him that she had no way to help anyone. She could barely help herself. But what if there were families in there? Parents with children who didn’t even have a rifle or any weapon? She had to at least try. Would it involve more killing?

I just killed someone already!

But Codsworth had said to her ‘kill them before they kill you.’

And the man had hit her dog.

Thinking more about it, Cassidy ran up the steps to the big doors and pulled them open, the dog at her heels.

It was barely lit and she immediately went to her knees, listening. The man had been up at the top, so he and his people had to be upstairs somewhere. She knew her way around the museum pretty well, but it was badly damaged and several sections of the floor had collapsed. She heard gunfire and shouts and knew that the building was inhabited by raiders. If she hadn’t seen the man on the balcony exchange gunfire with the one she’d killed, she’d never have come inside for fear it was a trap.  Codsworth had warned her about that too.

Sneaking as best she could, she moved through the museum. She saw raiders, again oddly dressed in thick leather and metal that looked like a cage around their head. And one had a sack with hoses sticking out. Another was wearing what looked like an old military flight helmet.

She was wearing nothing protective but a leather jacket that was too large which Codsworth had found somewhere, her paddock boots and a shirt and pants. She didn’t even have any gloves.

I don’t belong here, she thought. Someone is going to kill me and that will be that.

Then who would rescue her little brother and father?

I have to stay alive. For my family. Maybe that man can help me if I help him.

Bolstered by the thought, she moved on. Creeping slowly level by level, often climbing over debris, she found her way to the second then third floor, the dog at her side.

Suddenly he growled and his hackles stood. A raider came out of a side room and saw her.

“Who the fuck are you?” he snarled and raised his gun. The dog leaped and sank his teeth into the man’s arm, and the gun let out a bright flash of red. With a scream he fell, kicking at the dog.

Oh god here we go again , she thought and fired her rifle.

She wanted to tell the dog to stop attacking people but then what? The raider would have shot her, or worse. She shuddered. The dog had protected her several times now.

She didn’t look at the dead man as she crept by, exchanging her rifle for the close range pistol.

“We got you now you fuckers!” laughed a woman’s voice. “Thought you could hide from us?”

Up ahead Cassidy saw two raiders standing in a doorway.

“Give it your best shot!” came the reply and she recognized the voice as the man who had asked her for help.

“You ain’t got no weapons. What are you and these farmers gonna do? Hoe us to death?”

“The old lady’s gonna gum us into a pulp,” laughed the woman’s companion.

Cassidy brought out her rifle. She was aware of her racing heartbeat and the slight tremble in her hands. It felt so wrong to her to kill people but this world wasn’t the one she’d once lived in. She focused her breathing and took aim.

Two shots, two kills.

The raiders died before they knew what was happening. The bodies lay there, blood oozing from their wounds. Wounds she’d inflicted on them. Her breath came shallowly and fast.

How many people have I killed? More than three? I’m a serial killer now! Her mind reeled with horror. I can’t keep going on like this! It’s wrong! But this world...it’s like I have to or they’ll get me first.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm her quivering innards. At least she’d saved the people in the room.

She ran forward, unsure of who or what she’d find.

Chapter Text

A handsome black man with a militia hat and leather trench coat faced her with raised eyebrows.

“I don’t know who you are but your timing is perfect!” he exclaimed. “And damn you are one crazy shot! I’m Preston Garvey, leader of the Minutemen. What’s left of it anyway.”

He pointed to a well-muscled younger man beside him in dirty overalls, who was leaning over the desk reaching for something. “This here is Sturges. And over there is Mama Murphy, Marcy and her husband Jun Long.”

Mama Murphy was a senior, wearing a dirty old beaded blue jacket and slippers, of all things. She looked sad and tired, her face mottled by sunspots and her hair hidden by a turban.

Jun Long sat on the floor leaning up against an old desk, arms around his knees, and it looked like he was muttering under his breath. His wife Marcy, a Hispanic woman, would have been pretty if not for the cold scowl on her face.

“Great!” she snarked. “A little girl with a big gun. We’re dead for sure.”

“Hey,” said Preston. “This little girl just saved our lives. I, for one, am grateful to her.”

“Howdy ma’am.” Sturges stood up and faced her. “You know all of us , what do we call you ?”

Cassidy blinked. Sturges had soft brown eyes that were kind and his full lips seemed to turn up at the corners in a permanent half smile. His hair was thick and dark and styled very similarly to the rockabilly pompadour, just a bit shorter. For some odd reason, she suddenly imagined him in Evan Toth’s usual outfit: a black leather jacket, white t-shirt and rolled up jeans. She looked down at his feet and saw he already wore the boots. He had a soft southern drawl that she instantly found appealing. There seemed to be a pause in time as she looked up at him.

“Ma’am?” he asked.

“Uh,” hesitated Cassidy. “Cass...Cassidy Hartley. I’m looking for help for my daddy.”

“He get shot by raiders?” asked Preston.

She shook her head. “No. He’s … he’s in the …” she stopped then, unsure whether she should say another word until she knew what this ragtag group was all about.

Preston waited for her to continue and when she didn’t, he did. “I’ve got maybe one round of ammo left in my gun. These guys here, they don’t have any weapons. We’re from Quincy. All that’s left of it.”

“Quincy’s gone?” asked Cassidy, shocked. She had shopped and visited there many times. It had been a nice little town.

“Yes, ma’am,” nodded Preston. “Taken over by raiders. We’ve been running ever since. There were more of us at first but now...well here we are.”

“You said you were with the Minutemen. I read about them in history.”

Preston smiled. “Protecting the people at a minute’s notice. But...I’m all that’s left that I know of. I’m not much of a leader.” His smile faded and he looked almost ashamed, staring down at the floor.

Cassidy felt eyes on her and glanced over at Sturges who was leaning against a desk with his arms folded across his chest, watching her. Usually she hated being stared at. In her shooting competitions the men often did so, sizing her up, sometimes making lewd remarks.

But there was no negative feeling from the gaze of the attractive man in the overalls. He had what looked like a small radio on a belt around his waist and a mic attached to one of his shoulder straps. A strange device was around his neck. He looked like a mechanic of some kind. Her eyes roamed back to his face. His gaze hadn’t wavered, and when he smiled at her showing straight white teeth, she couldn’t help but smile back.

“So...you want me to kill all the raiders, is that it?” she asked, mentally shaking herself and getting back to the conversation.

“Wish it were that easy,” answered Preston. “The truth is, there are only a few here. There’s more outside and with my lack of ammo, I can’t handle them all. One regular person can’t manage that many. But we’ve got a plan.”

“I hope it’s a good one because I’m not much of a fighter. At all actually. All I can do is shoot from a distance.”

She heard a snarky remark from Marcy but didn’t even look at her.

“There’s a crashed vertibird on the roof,” said Sturges, his eyes still locked on her. “It’s got itself a Gatling laser gun. Fast and powerful enough to take out a whole mess of raiders in one sweep. Thing is, no one can lift a weapon like that unassisted. Lucky for us there’s a power armor suit up there as well. With that suit, you could rip that gun right off the old ‘bird and wipe out those raiders.”

Cassidy blinked. “W...what? There’s at least two of you here that could do that way better than I could. Power armor? I’ve hardly even seen one up close much less gotten into one! I don’t know the first thing about it or laser guns!”

Sturges gave her a wry smile. “Here’s the kicker. The suit must have belonged to a little lady like you because it’s tiny . It’s way too small to fit Preston or me. You’re it, little sister. Almost like it was made for you.”

“This is ridiculous! I’m not a soldier. Not even close.” She shook her head and closed her eyes, leaning back against the wall. “I just want to help my daddy,” she whispered.

“Preston!” The old lady, Mama Murphy stood up, her eyes large and glassy looking. “Something’s coming!”

Everyone looked at her.

“What’s coming, Mama Murphy?” asked Preston.

“Something big,” she responded, fear in her voice. “And it’s angry! Very angry!”

“Where? What is it?”

“I don’t know...I don’t know…” she collapsed back into the chair with a 100-yard stare.

Cassidy chewed on her lower lip and looked towards the doorway. She wanted to get the hell away from these people and run back home, raiders be damned. She was probably faster than them with their weird armor anyway.

Preston looked at her, his eyes entreating. “I know it’s a lot to ask. Bunch of strangers that we are. But...you’re our only hope. And if Mama Murphy is right…”

“What was she talking about?” asked Cassidy. “What’s wrong with her?”

Preston took a deep breath. “She’s different. Has some kind of clairvoyance. Sees the future.”

They’re out of their minds, thought Cassidy. Off the deep end with weights attached.

“She’s a damn junkie is what she is,” barked Marcy. “Takes a hit and starts babbling all kinds of nonsense.”

“Now now, Marcy,” said Sturges kindly, a courtesy she certainly didn’t deserve. “You know Mama Murphy hasn’t been wrong yet. If not for her vision, we’d all have died in Quincy.”

That would’ve been a shame, thought Cassidy, still observing him.

“Some of us did die in Quincy, she sure didn’t see that did she?!” There was some deep anger in Marcy’s voice and Cassidy wondered what happened.

“That situation wasn’t Mama Murphy’s fault,” said Preston. “We all know what happened there. Let’s focus on the task at hand so we can get out of here.” He turned back to Cassidy. “Please ma’am say you’ll help us, or at least give it a try. As for what Mama Murphy said...I don’t know. Right now all we need to worry about is those raiders out there. So, will you help?”

Cassidy looked down at the floor. She felt wretched. Everything was out of control. Here she was, with a group of people who were most probably insane. But she couldn’t just leave them to die and if she left, that’s exactly what would happen. They had no food, no water, and no ammo. They would die a horrible death eventually if the raiders didn’t get them first.

And Sturges was cute.

What’s wrong with me? Thinking about guys when the world just ended and now I’m probably going to die. Daddy used to say that my brain would get silly when I was stressed out. That’s got to be it.

“OK. I’ll...I’ll see what I can do. But I can’t promise anything. I don’t know what I’m doing!”

Sturges clapped his hands and gave a happy exclamation. “Right! Now we’re cooking with gas! The first thing you need to do is retrieve a fusion core to power up the suit. There’s one in the basement. Do you know what they look like?”

Cassidy sighed. “Yes. Ok. I’ll get it and come back.”

She turned and looked for the dog but he was nowhere in sight. She hoped nothing had happened to him. She was sure he’d been right behind her.

Wasting no more time, Cassidy had to shoot one more raider on her way to the basement. The dog suddenly reappeared and bounded ahead, spinning at the metal door that held the generator that housed the core.  A computer terminal sat on the outside.

“That’s great,” she grumbled. “They didn’t bother to tell me that I’d have to hack into a system to get that thing. What if I couldn’t? I could have died coming down here for nothing.”

The dog whined and bumped her leg. She reached down and scratched his head.

She spent a few minutes hacking into the terminal, once more happy she’d listened to her father’s advice.

The fusion core was light and small and she popped it into her pack and headed back to the group.  The dog ran inside and straight to Mama Murphy.

“What do you know!” the old lady exclaimed. “Dogmeat brought her to us. What a good boy!”

Cassidy raised her eyebrows. “Dogmeat? That’s his name? So he’s your dog?”

“Oh no, kid,” said Mama Murphy. “He’s what you might call his own man. He chooses his friends and I can see that now he’ll be sticking by you.”

“That’s a horrible name for a dog! Especially such a beautiful and smart one.”

“He’s a special dog,” said Mama Murphy.

Cassidy turned to Sturges. “Ok, I have the core. Now what?”

“Head to the roof, pop the core into the back of the suit and turn it clockwise to lock it in. Give it a smack and the suit will open. Just climb on in. Grab the gun on the ‘bird. Just mow through the raiders on the main drag in town, the one in front of this place. You got all that?”

Cassidy nodded. “I have to leave my pack and my rifle here. It’s all I got in the world. Can I trust you?”

“Where’d we go with it, Cassidy?” asked Sturges gently, those kind eyes looking into hers. “We’re more trapped here than you are. I’m sure old Dogmeat will guard it anyway.”

As Cassidy put her things down and retrieved the fusion core, Dogmeat barked and wagged his tail, lying down right beside it. She petted him.

“Thank you, ma’am,” said Preston. “This means a lot to us.”

Cassidy nodded curtly and made her way to the stairs to the roof. She and her friends had snuck up there to eat their lunch on her last field trip to the museum many years ago.

Even longer ago now, she thought. I have to add 210 to everything.

As Sturges had described, there was the power armor, the crashed vertibird and the weapon. She had seen her father’s power armor once, a shining massive suit of metal that turned him into a juggernaut. The one in front of her was indeed very small, and covered in patches of rust. On the side of the vertibird, barely visible were the words ‘Capt. Kaylynn Grant, USMC’ .  She had lived and died and coincidentally left her tiny power armor behind for Cassidy to use and maybe save some lives.

Serendipity.

Cassidy shoved the fusion core into the opening, locked it in, punched it, and the suit opened. She gulped as she grabbed the mounting handles and stepped inside, then gave a little yelp as the suit closed her inside and the HUD powered up. She had no idea what all of it meant.

Thank heavens I’m not claustrophobic , she thought.

She took a step forward expecting it to be heavy or resistant but surprisingly it was easy. There was a strange springy feeling to walking, the suit had shock absorbers in the legs and feet. Her father had told her that power armor prevented you from being hurt when jumping from heights. Soldiers would leap out of vertibirds onto their enemies in combat, the suits creating a shockwave around them.

Her fingers inserted into rings that powered the hands of the suit which hung several inches below her own. She raised her hand and flexed her fingers and the suit obeyed. Things seemed to be working as they should.

Moving towards the vertibird, Cassidy stepped up and reached for the gun. Again she expected to exert some force and effort to remove the thing from its base but she lifted it as she would her own rifle.

Now what? She thought.

Her finger found the trigger and pulled. Nothing happened. She looked it over and found a series of buttons on the side.

Great, which one turns this thing on? Does it even have any ammo? If I press the wrong one will I blow myself up?

She tried the green button and the weapon lit up, a series of lights flashing then going steady. She tried the yellow one and a display flickered on with a number 675. She guessed that must be the ammo. She left the red button alone. Red usually meant stop.

Walking to the edge of the roof, she looked down. A volley of gunfire erupted from below her, flashes of red and blue that hit her suit. She hoped her father’s stories about the power armor shockwave and damage modifiers were correct as she leaped off the roof with a screech. But he’d never steered her wrong or lied about anything.

Landing, Cassidy saw the raiders suddenly fall over onto their backs. Raising the weapon she pulled the trigger but nothing happened at first. Panicking, she pulled it again. This time the weapon began to glow, the central chamber spinning. Then it began spitting out streams of bright light.

The raiders were obliterated.

As horrifying a sight as it was, she realized that they wouldn’t be able to hurt her or the people in the museum. The suit prevented all damage to her, or so it seemed.

Feeling unstoppable, Cassidy marched up the road, luring the raiders out. She felt like the hero in an action holovid.

The raiders came running from several directions, shouting and cursing and firing their weapons. She warmed up the gun and spun in a circle, mowing them down with ease.

Then there was silence.

Looking towards the balcony she saw the door open and Preston step out. He started waving his arms and she waved back. He was pointing energetically and she guessed he was yelling something that she couldn’t hear. Then the man started jumping up and down.

Yes, it was awesome, I know, she thought. I get it. You’re welcome.

Then the ground shook beneath her.

Puzzled, Cassidy looked around. She didn’t see any more raiders, and Preston had vanished from the balcony.

Another earth shake.

Then Cassidy heard a terrifying sound, unlike anything she had ever encountered. It sounded like a cross between a roar and a scream and it rattled her right to the core, almost taking her breath away.

She felt suddenly disoriented and stumbled forward, grabbing onto a street light with her free hand. Looking at the Museum she saw the door open and Dogmeat run out, his face a rictus of rage. He ran past her and she turned to follow him with her eyes.

She let out an exclamation of horror.

Never in her wildest nightmares had Cassidy ever imagined such a creature could exist as the one that met her eyes. It had to be at least 12-15 feet tall. Its skin looked like that of a dinosaur. It stood on two legs, with a huge powerful tail and massive arms that ended in terrifying claws. It had a snub nose and a set of curled horns and the mouth, the dreadful gaping maw, was filled with rows of teeth and the eyes were tiny glittering black things.

“What in the fucking fuck?!” she screamed.

Dogmeat leaped at it, bouncing off its side, forcing it to turn it’s back to Cassidy.  

She hefted the heavy gun.

It seemed to take forever to warm up before spewing forth its rain of light. The laser tore into the monster and it roared in pain and rage, swiping at the dog which repeatedly dodged and nipped it and ran around in circles.

Again Cassidy let loose with another volley. She aimed for its arms, trying to stop it from hitting the dog.

Please don’t be in the way Dogmeat , she begged silently. She had no control where the shots went and she was terrified of killing him accidentally.

The number on the weapon’s display was dwindling. She had to kill the thing or she could run out.

I could go for the head and hope it works, or just take out its legs so it can’t chase us if I can’t kill it.

She decided to take out its legs.

The beast fell with a heavy thud.

Then she emptied the last of the ammo into its heinous face.

Cassidy stood, panting, staring down at the thing from hell. Codsworth surely hadn’t mentioned such a horror. She looked up at Dogmeat who was licking his flank, a nasty gash from the creature’s claw bleeding profusely.

“Dogmeat! Oh no, boy!”

As she approached, his tail tip wagged weakly. He was in pain, whimpered and collapsed.  

Cassidy dropped the gun and picked him up. She had stimpaks in her backpack. Running in the power armor was an interesting feeling. Her strides were lengthened and she covered a lot of ground quickly. Kicking in the museum door she found Preston and the group just inside the foyer, her rifle and pack on the ground. She lay the dog down.

“Get me out of this thing! Get me out!” she screamed.

Sturges sprang forward and a moment later the suit opened and she very nearly fell out of it and was on her knees beside her dog, pulling everything out of her pack. He had lost a lot of blood and looked up at her weakly, his tail still managing to twitch.

“Hang on puppy!” she sobbed. “Hang on boy, I got you!”

“Dog’s as good as dead,” snipped Marcy.

Cassidy found a stimpak and stabbed it into her canine friend. “Come on boy, come on!”

She looked up at Marcy venomously. “You shut up! He just risked his life for you!”

She had never felt such rage before. Even watching her father being shot, and her brother being taken had filled her with fear and sorrow, not rage. It seemed as though all her trauma and terror had found a channel, and that channel was her love for a dog she had only just met.

She watched, sobbing, as her dog’s tail stopped wagging and he closed his eyes. She cried out and gathered him into her arms, his soft fur against her face.

She felt an arm around her shoulder.

“It’s going to be ok kid,” said Mama Murphy. “Dogmeat ain’t going anywhere. See?”

Just then the canine raised his head and whined. Cassidy wept as he licked her face.

“That’s great, yeah that’s great,” said Jun in his soft voice.

“Atta boy,” said Sturges.

“He’s a hero, like you,” said Preston to Cassidy.

She wiped her eyes and sat back on her heels,letting the dog sink to the floor gently. “I’m not a hero. Dogmeat distracted that...that...what was that thing? That monster!”

“Deathclaw,” said Preston solemnly. “When I saw it come up out of the ground I tried to warn you.”

“That was why you were waving and jumping up and down?”

“Yes. I thought you were dead for sure but figured Dogmeat wouldn’t forgive me if I kept him locked in with us so I let him out. He’s loyal to a fault.”

“Deathclaws live underground?” asked Cassidy.

“No, they don’t, but this one must have found some tunnels or something under the city. All the raiders probably pissed it off.”

“We need to go now,” said Mama Murphy. “To Sanctuary.”

“So we’re doing what she says again?” griped Marcy. “She gets into the chems and we just follow her like sheep.”

Sturges cleared his throat. “Anyone have a better idea? Now’s the time to speak up if so.”

No one spoke a word and Marcy simply scowled as she always did.

“Well then, Sanctuary it is,” quipped Sturges, helping Mama Murphy to her feet.

“What’s Sanctuary?” asked Cassidy.

“A place Mama Murphy’s seen in her visions,” answered Preston. “She says it’s a community just outside of Concord. It’s where we were headed when we got stuck here with the raiders.”

“You mean Sanctuary Hills?”

Mama Murphy nodded. “Yeah, that’s the one. You know it?”

Cassidy nodded but said nothing more.

“Will you come with us?” asked Preston. “You said you needed help. We help our friends. And after what you did for us today I’d be proud to call you mine.”

Cassidy shrugged. Sanctuary was her community. Her home. She didn’t know if she wanted these strange people there. But she couldn’t really stop them. They’d been headed there before she even unfroze.

But Preston and Sturges seemed like good folk. Mama Murphy, although very strange, didn’t seem like a bad person either. She didn’t like Marcy one bit, and she questioned Jun’s sanity. The man stared at the floor and muttered to himself constantly.

Any more monsters and nightmarish creatures and I might end up just like him, she thought.

“I’ll come with you,” she said. “As soon as Dogmeat can get on his feet.”

In response to that, the dog thumped his tail and heaved himself up. The wound had already begun to knit itself and though the poor beast would be stiff for a few days, the worst of it was healing.

Cassidy pulled her pistol free and handed it to Preston. “Use this until we get there just in case.”

He accepted it with a smile. “Thank you. I’ll take point and lead the way.”

Cassidy looked at the power armor. It might not be the worst thing to keep it. “How do I get myself out of it?”

“Just retract your hands out of the rings,” answered Sturges. “There’s a button in the arms you have to press. And if the suit is damaged in the fusion core it will open automatically as well.”

“Ok,” said Cassidy, and climbed back in the suit.

She followed along in back making sure Mama Murphy didn’t trip or fall. Jun shuffled along, Marcy often prodding him to move quicker.

Sturges turned around occasionally to look at her, always giving her a smile, and once a thumbs up.

They stopped at the dead Deathclaw and Preston whistled low under his breath. “Damn. I’ve never been this close to one alive or dead and I hope never to again. Heard the stories but ...the reality is far worse.”

“It really was big and angry,” said Mama Murphy.

Cassidy retrieved the Gatling laser. “Without this thing I don’t think I could have killed it.”

“Thank heavens you did, kid,” said the old lady.

It looked like Preston was going to head into the community the way she had come out, via the north bridge. Cassidy wanted to warn Codsworth to hide. She still wasn’t sure just how much she wanted to divulge to the motley group.

“Preston, when we get there I want to make sure the place is cleared ok? Before we go in.”

“Great idea, thank you,” he said with a nod.

It was getting darker, and Cassidy feared what might come at them in the night. However, luck was on their side and there were no incidents. She asked the group to wait and jogged further into the community.

She found her bot in front of her house.  “Codsworth. Get into that bomb shelter at the Franklin’s. I’ll explain when I get there.”

“Very good, Miss Cassidy. So happy to have you home.”

Cassidy stepped out of the power armor on the front step and left it there. She returned to Preston and the group.

“Ok, it’s clear. Don’t go in the house with the power armor out front. Umm...it might have traps inside.”

“I can disarm those,” said Sturges.

“No. Please just leave it alone. It’s dark and it's late.”

He looked at her quizzically for a moment but shrugged. “Fair enough. I could use some shut eye, to be honest.”

Cassidy nodded and turned away from them. “Goodnight,” she said curtly. She watched them enter the house across from hers then jogged off towards the Franklin’s on the other end of the street.

She crept into the shelter, Dogmeat at her side and crawled onto the bed with a box of Sugar Bombs. The canine sighed and snuggled close beside her.

“Are you ready to hear about my day, Codsworth?” she asked.

“Oh, most certainly Miss Cassidy. Let me get a pot of tea going for you. And I suppose the dog needs some food and water.”

“He can eat Sugar Bombs with me. I don’t think we have any dog food in here. But he desperately needs water yes.”

“Apparently your dog was still with us when sir put this cellar together. I found some dog food. Let’s hope it’s lasted the years!”

As the bot floated around seeing to his tasks, Cassidy began to regale him with her adventure.

Chapter Text

Cassidy stood awkwardly on the steps of her house beside the rusty suit of power armor. Codsworth floated quietly beside her, and Dogmeat leaned on her leg, panting and looking up into her face.

She faced the little ragtag group of survivors from the museum, gripping her rifle tightly. “So...I’m Cassidy Hartley. I know I told you yesterday but, hi and welcome to Sanctuary. I lived here when it was all new and beautiful.”

She swallowed against a sudden tightness in her throat as the group reacted to her words. “I...I loved living here,” she said softly.

“Are you saying you’re what...200 years old?” asked Preston, his eyes wide.

She gave a shy grin. “228 actually.” She reached for Dogmeat’s ears and massaged them gently.

“How’s that possible?” asked Sturges. “The only prewar people I’ve ever met are ghouls. And you sure don’t look like one of those.”

Cassidy blinked. “Ghouls? What are those? There are others like me? From before the war?”

Preston held up his hand. “Wait a moment. Let’s stay on track here. Cassidy, how is it you survived all these years?”

“Before the bombs fell, well...that day...my daddy and my baby brother and me we went to the vault. Vault 111. It’s back there on the hill.” She pointed behind her. “They froze us. Cryosleep... and then…” Cassidy blinked back the sudden rush of emotion. “Someone came and shot my daddy and took my little brother. I need to get help for him. For daddy. And find my brother.” She looked down at Dogmeat and tried to stay composed.

“Wow,” said Preston softly. “That’s one hell of a story. Your father, he’s still in the vault?”

Cassidy nodded miserably. She raised her eyes to his. “Please help me. I don’t know...this world…”

At that point, she failed to hold her tears back and she sank down to the step, her head on her knees, sobbing quietly.

Old Mama Murphy stepped forward and slowly got to her knees beside her. “There there, kid,” she said softly. “I can help. I got the sight. The sight never lies. Your little brother, I can feel his energy all around you. He’s alive.”

“Oh great,” snipped Marcy. “Here we go again.”

Cassidy lifted her head, hiccuped, and looked at the old lady. “What do you mean? His energy?”

“Everyone has energy,” said Mama Murphy. “Even animals and plants. You love your family. I can tell. Love has energy too. It’s what I see. I see your energy and your brother’s.”

“Where is he? Who has him?” asked Cassidy, wiping her eyes.

Mama Murphy shrugged and shook her head. “That I can’t say. But if I get some Jet, the sight might be able to tell me more.”

“We talked about this Mama Murphy,” said Preston sternly. “No more chems. They will kill you if you keep it up!”

She slowly stood up and faced him. “We all die eventually. I’m an old woman. If I die now then I can say I’ve had a good run. And our friend here, she needs the sight.”

Marcy rolled her eyes. “Just an excuse to get high, it’s crap.”

Sturges sighed deeply. “Marcy, you know she’s never steered anyone wrong. But I don’t like the chems either. We need to find another way to help.” He looked at Cassidy with a kind smile. “And we will.”

No one spoke for a few moments. Then Preston broke the silence. “Cassidy, is your father safe for the moment? You said he’s in cryosleep?”

She nodded.

“Well then,” he continued. “The most important thing we need to do first is get ourselves situated. This place looks safe enough but we need water, food, power and get some defenses set up. Need to find some more weapons. Everyone will need to carry one.”

“Preston, you know how I feel about that,” said Sturges.

“I know but this isn’t Quincy. We don’t know who and what can come our way. We all need to be as safe as we can. Until things get sorted out here. I want to rebuild the Minutemen. That means more people. And people come with risks.”

Marcy gave a strangled cry. “What? Letting other people in here? Are you crazy? We need to shut up about this place!”

Preston shook his head. “Sorry, Marcy. But we need all the help we can get out here. The Commonwealth is full of people needing help. One step at a time we can rebuild and that starts now.”

She glared at him and turned and stalked off. Sturges sighed and shook his head as Jun went after his wife.

Cassidy stood up. “Why is she so mean?”

“Aw she ain't really,” said Sturges. “Not before the whole Quincy thing happened.”

Cassidy tilted her head, waiting for the rest of the story. Sturges looked at Preston.

“Well, long story short, we were betrayed,” said the Minuteman. “That’s how Quincy fell.”

“Betrayed by who?” asked Cassidy. “Can you tell me the whole story? If...if you can.”

Preston nodded with a deep, sad sigh and Cassidy sank back down to the step, Dogmeat lying down with his head in her lap.

“Well, Mama Murphy and the others, they used to live in Quincy,” began Preston.

Mama Murphy nodded. “It was a good little place. But one day, the sight told me an attack was coming. I told Derrick, that’s Sturges there. Told him something bad was coming and we needed to get help.”

Sturges nodded. “I sent word to the Minutemen, asking them to come. Mama Murphy’d never been wrong about anything she’d seen. I didn’t question it.”

“I was under the command of General Ezra Hollis at the time,” said Preston. “A good man, he’d taken over after General McGann died at the Castle when it was overrun by Mirelurks.” He saw Cassidy’s confused expression and gave her a small smile. “I know you have questions and we’ll get them all answered in time. But first...the Quincy story.”

Cassidy nodded and sat quietly. She was aware of Sturges’ eyes on her, and Mama Murphy’s intense pale blue gaze, but avoided looking at either of them and focused on Preston.

“Anyway, when we arrived, a large raider group called the Gunners was attacking them. We counterattacked from the back and were lucky enough to drive them off.”

“Something didn’t feel right though,” said Sturges. “Gunners don’t just give up and move on. They always come back in larger numbers. So Ezra and the guys decided to hole up in the town with us. Problem was, there wasn’t that many of us all told and another attack would be too much. That’s when Preston and I decided to get the defenses up and we made these cool walkways between the buildings. He said being able to attack from above would help us out a heck of a lot.”

Cassidy saw Marcy and Jun come walking slowly back, but they stood outside of the group, Marcy with her ever-present scowl and Jun with his hangdog expression. She was afraid to hear the rest of the story. The fact that Quincy had fallen was enough of a clue that things hadn’t gone well.

“The Gunners did come back as Sturges had said,” Preston continued. “But we had enough ammo and our defenses were good. The General decided to request back-up from other units and sent one of our veterans, Clint. Day after day we waited. No one came. There had been a lot of internal struggles within the Minutemen, and I knew that, but didn’t figure it would stop them from doing their jobs.”

Preston stopped, and took a deep breath, Cassidy could see he was struggling. “You don’t have to tell me,” she said softly. “If it’s too hard, I get it. Believe me.”

Preston shook his head. “No. This story has to be told. We can’t hide from it. We were starting to wear down when Clint showed back up. I was so relieved. I was sure he’d brought the help we needed but…”

“He betrayed them,” said Sturges. “One of their oldest members and he had gone ahead and defected to the Gunners. He’d brought a group all right...a group of raiders.”

Preston nodded sadly. “He was leading them. One of our own. A man I’d served with for 10 years and trusted. Never even saw that coming. I’ve thought long and hard about it, wondering if there were signs along the way but I still don’t see where he snapped. I just can’t….” he looked away then.

“Guy demands the General and the mayor stand down,” said Sturges. “Actually thought they’d do it too. What an asshole.”

“This is so bad,” whispered Cassidy.

“Yeah,” agreed Preston. “It was. But the worst was yet to come. Don’t know if you’re familiar with the Quincy area but there’s a highway beside it. Overpass I believe you would’ve called it. Clint took the Gunners up there and waited until nightfall. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. They lit into us and we couldn’t defend against them. They had the upper hand.”

Marcy suddenly turned and walked quickly away, trailed by Jun.

“When the shooting stopped,” said Sturges quietly. “All the Minutemen were dead except Preston here. The Mayor was dead too….and when I found the Longs they were holding their little boy Kyle. He was dead. Only 8 years old. Nothing anyone could do. We ran. 19 of us that were left. Some had weapons, some didn’t. We were nearly out of ammo most of us.”

Cassidy understood Marcy now as tears crept from her eyes again. She understood the devastation of losing someone you loved. But her daddy wasn’t dead, Marcy’s little boy was. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, holding tight to Dogmeat.

“They took the General prisoner,” said Preston. “Until the moment Clint shot him Ezra couldn’t believe his friend had betrayed them.”

“It was over real fast,” said Mama Murphy. “Not even an hour and everything we knew was wiped out. The others we were with, well there were raiders everywhere. Most died along the way.”

Cassidy let her tears fall onto the dog’s fur. “What’s wrong with this world? It’s so horrible! I can’t believe I’m stuck here! It’s like a nightmare and I just want to wake up!”

Mama Murphy rested a hand on her head. “I know kid, I know. But there’s good here, too. We found you , and we found this place. This is home now.”

Cassidy looked up at her and nodded. “It is. You’re all welcome here.”

“It’ll be a lot of work but we can get this place going. Be just as nice as Quincy although smaller.” Preston did his best to smile, but Cassidy could see the grief on his face.

He took a deep breath. “So...you had some questions earlier I think?”

She shrugged. “It doesn’t even seem important anymore. I guess I’ll just find out the hard way. But the giant bugs are so scary.”

“There are way worse things than bugs,” said Sturges. “Like that Deathclaw you went toe-to-toe with. You’re leagues braver than I am.”

He realized he’d spent considerable time just watching her since they’d met. He admitted to himself that she was really pretty and that he’d like to get to know her better.

“I know what you’re thinkin’,” he said. “Oh, he’s a big guy I bet he’s mean as hell. Not even close. I’m a mechanic. I fix things. Power armor, power grids, water systems...project back in Quincy was a car.”

Cassidy’s eyes lit up. “A car? I like cars! We almost got a red Corvega Atomic 8 but ..the bombs.”

Sturges grinned. “Was trying to get a working engine for it. Never gave a thought to where I was gonna drive it but it was a little blue car.”

“Maybe you will make another one here. I even have the carport!” Cassidy felt the heaviness lift from her. These people had been through hell and they were still trying. She had to try too.

Sturges smiled widely for the first time in years. She’s adorable, she’s smart, and she likes cars. Perfection!

“I don’t know anything about anything,” said Cassidy dejectedly. “Well except how to shoot. I couldn’t keep my bean plant in school alive. And I can barely cook Mac ‘n Cheese without making a mess.” She sighed. “And I need to get a doctor for my daddy. And find my brother.”

“Listen,” said Sturges. “I’ll teach you things. If you want. Be fun I think. You’ll be ok, Cassidy. We’re all in this together now.”

She smiled up at him. “I’m glad I met you guys. We can build defenses to protect us, right Preston?”

The Minuteman nodded. “We sure can. But before we do that we need to get going on food.”

“I have some food. Not a lot but some . Until we can figure out what to do.”

“Miss Cassidy,” said Codsworth. “Are you sure it’s a good idea? Your father left that for the family.”

“Daddy liked helping people, Codsworth. He would approve. Let’s go and get some.” She stopped and looked at Mama Murphy. “And please no more chems!”

The three survivors watched her and Codsworth move down the road.

“She’s a sweet little thing,” said Sturges. “But scared. It’s like she needs protecting something fierce.”

“I’d be scared too if I lived back then and woke up now,” agreed Preston. “I can’t imagine how she’s feeling yet she stopped and helped us out.”

Mama Murphy nodded. “I’ve seen her destiny. She’s got a long road ahead of her the poor kid. We need to make sure we help her.”

“She gonna find her brother?” asked Sturges.

“I don’t know, Derrick. The sight introduced me to her and I know he’s alive but the rest...it’s dark. I need to use the sight to see more but you heard the kid. She doesn’t want me to use the chems. Why she cares about an old lady like me I can’t say.”

“People from her time valued life,” said Preston. “That’s as it should be.”

“Maybe we got a chance here, start over,” said Sturges.

“Sanctuary will be a vibrant community one day. I seen it. Before.” Mama Murphy looked at the two men.

“I’ll take that as a good sign,” said Sturges. “So what do we start with? I think water. I’ll start there.”

Preston nodded. “I’ll look into defenses.”

“I’ll do what I can about food,” said Mama Murphy. “I’ll get Marcy and Jun to help me.”

And just like that, the Quincy 5 found their new home.

Chapter Text

And so it began. Little by little the group carved themselves out a home in the ruins of Sanctuary Hills. The little community that Cassidy had loved was given a new lease on life.

They began by clearing away all the debris. Anything salvagable was stored, and the rest melted down or otherwise scrapped. Next came the residences: they fixed up holes and hammered the siding on the homes back into shape as best they could. Sturges showed Cassidy how to assess the home’s foundations and how to shore them up. She developed muscles she didn’t know existed. She experienced being tired in a way she never imagined.

Cassidy spent a lot of time with the mechanic, learning everything she could. She found him to be kind, empathic and a good listener. She would often think out loud and he'd smile and give her feedback. There was a gentleness about the big southern man that she liked very much.

Cassidy worked feverishly on her father’s bedroom, telling everyone about her wonderful daddy and how much he’d appreciate all of them. She was single-mindedly focused on putting her house back together, Codsworth constantly reminding her to stop and rest, drink and eat.

They tilled up the earth and planted a garden, then began construction on a greenhouse. One day a shabbily dressed woman showed up followed by a two-headed cow-like creature. Cassidy met her first trader and Brahmin. She was a bit put off by the smelly creature at first but it was a congenial animal and soon enough she’d warmed up to it.

The woman identified herself as “Trashcan Carla” and she opened up her boxes and barrels. Preston bartered some of their food for guns so that everyone had one, and ammo to see them through until Carla’s next visit.

Sturges initially balked at using his weapon, and Cassidy had to cajole him into trying it. In the end, he relented and let her show him some of the tricks of being a good marksman. As much as he hated to admit it, he did have a good time. Mostly because he was training with her . The more time he spent with her, the harder he fell.

At night after the evening meal was eaten, and everyone was settling down for bed, Mama Murphy would brush Cassidy’s soft hair and tell her a story about her time as a young woman. Unbelievably, she had been a raider. Some of the stories seemed completely outrageous, but who was to say they weren’t true?

“You were a badass, Mama Murphy,” giggled Cassidy.

“I sure was, kid. they called me Murphy the Madwoman. You’d never know it to see me now though.”

“I can still see it, don’t worry,” said Cassidy.

Preston began to open up about his guilt on the Quincy massacre. He felt he hadn’t done enough to protect the people who had followed him out. They had trusted him and he was haunted by the notion he’d let them all down. All the deaths weighed heavy on his conscience.

“It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have fought off all the raiders you bumped into. You’re just one man, Preston,” she told him.

“Logic says so. But my heart says otherwise. Just can’t shake the feeling that they shouldn’t have died.”

“There’s lots of stuff that shouldn’t have happened but it did and now we're stuck with it. You’re a good leader Preston. Everyone here thinks so. Even Marcy. Or she wouldn’t have stuck with you this long.”

Preston had appreciated her candor, but Cassidy saw that his heart was still heavy. Words just weren’t enough in some cases. She wondered if there would ever be any absolution for him.  She hoped so. He talked endlessly about rebuilding the Commonwealth Minutemen one person at a time. It was a goal he needed to have to keep him going.

“There are a lot of people out there needing a hand,” he said. “We can help create settlements and give everyone a fighting chance. Together we can get rid of all the raiders. Every last one.”

Jun Long concerned her the most. The man was a mess who could barely function day to day. Cassidy would often wake up at night to his terrible screams as he relived the massacre and his son’s murder. During the day he would mutter to himself and develop the hundred yard stare which no one could shake him from, not even his wife. Cassidy often overheard Sturges talking to Jun, asking him how things were going, and trying to comfort the man as best he could. But there was no true comfort for such a horrific trauma. How could words ever make it better? But words were all anyone had to offer.

Then there was Marcy...she was an entity unto herself, a cobra rising up and spitting when anyone came near her. Her deep pain was a venom, poisoning her. She never had a kind word for the group. Nothing anyone ever did was good enough and she found fault with everything.

Jun had tried several times to talk to her, needing to reminisce about their son, but every time he did she shut him down and ran away. Cassidy tried to get Marcy involved in the group’s activities but the woman just scowled or snapped at her. She pulled her weight but only on projects she could work on by herself. She was good with the gardens and Cassidy left her alone to tend to the plants. She could see Marcy’s deep anguish but was unable to get through to her.

“What gives you the idea that we’re friends?” Marcy would snap. “Go away and leave me alone.”

“I just want to help,” said Cassidy.

“I don’t want help. Get lost.”

Day in day out, every communication was filled with harshness. It wore on Cassidy and she was inclined to give Marcy a wide berth, but how could doing so ever help her?

“Don’t mind Marcy,” Jun had said to her once. “She’s dealing with the loss in her own way.”

The problem was, Marcy wasn't dealing with it. She was avoiding it.

The image Sturges painted of her from back in their days at Quincy seemed like a different person entirely.

“She was a teacher,” he’d said. “Everyone loved her. She was smart and fun and loved to share everything she knew. Soft-spoken and a really good person. Helped everyone that she could. I hope she can find herself again.”

But there was nothing anyone could do for someone who just wasn’t ready or willing to try.

Despite their individual situations, little by little, sunrise to sunset, the group worked on their new home. Cassidy’s little house was the first to finish, and then they built a garage for Sturges. He was so excited by it, and when the first power armor frame was set up, allowing him to work on Cassidy’s suit, she saw a big change in him. He seemed even happier and smiled often which she loved seeing.

They decided to fix up a house for the Longs next, on Cassidy’s insistence. Of course, Marcy snipped and snarked as always, but she did her part. When it was completed, she stood outside and looked at it.

“Well, it’s not a hole. It’s still not great but it’s something.”

Jun was grateful. He often thanked Cassidy for all her efforts to help them, and always he made excuses for his wife.

Mama Murphy didn’t want a house. She asked for a simple room she could put some plants in, a little space of her own. Preston thought making some guest houses would be a good idea. Dividing up the larger houses into rooms with a common kitchen and bathroom.

That’s when the issue of a proper septic and electrical system came up. “I can do the work,” said Sturges. “But we need to build all the bits and pieces and that’s gonna take all of us. Now, who wants to learn to weld?” His eyes fell on Cassidy and she raised her hand with a grin.

So the work continued. Sanctuary slowly began to look and feel like home and 6 strangers, a dog and a bot became a ramshackle family.

Chapter Text

“I need to get help for my daddy,” said Cassidy quietly one evening as she and Sturges sat by the fireplace in her house. “We’ve got a good thing going here, Carla said she’ll let people know about us. Preston is right, we can help make the world right again but...I need my daddy. I can’t look for my brother by myself.”

It had been several months, and although agitated by her own situation, Cassidy had gotten caught up in fixing up Sanctuary. But things had slowed down, the essentials were done, and now it was time for her to focus on her own needs.

Sturges nodded. “I get it. Family is important. I miss mine pretty bad too.”

“I’m sorry,” said Cassidy. “I know it’s not the same as blood ties but all of us here, even Marcy, see you as family.”

His dark eyes softened as he smiled at her. “That’s real nice, Cassidy. Thanks.”

“Was your family killed?” she asked gently.

“No, not killed. My mama died when I was a baby. She was sick. My daddy too when I was 17. Just me and my brother left. He’s still alive. Haven’t seen him in awhile.”

Cassidy gave a sad sigh. “I’m sorry Derrick. It sucks.”

“This is why you need to get your family patched up.”

“I’m going to try and get to that city, the one Carla mentioned.”

“Diamond City? That’s a ways from here!” he exclaimed. “You are ok going alone?”

Cassidy shrugged. “I’d love for you to come with me but that will leave only Preston to defend. The Longs are awful with guns and Mama Murphy isn’t as up to par anymore.”

His face lit up. “You’d actually want me to come with?”

She nodded. “Definitely. But I’ll have my dog with me. If it’s really a city then there will be a lot of people there and one of them has to be a doctor.”

Sturges nodded. “Yeah, they have a few if I remember right. Just makes me nervous you being alone out there. Dogmeat’s a good boy but I’d feel better if you had someone with you. Why not just wait for Carla and walk along with her?”

“I can move better on my own and be less of a target than someone walking with a big smelly Brahmin!” Cassidy grinned.

“Good point,” said Sturges.

She set out the next day with Carla’s crudely drawn map, and as she looked at it she realized something.

“Diamond City. That’s...that’s the ballpark!”

“Ballpark?” asked Preston.

“Where they used to play baseball. You know...baseball? Bats and gloves?” She swung an imaginary bat.

Preston shrugged. “I’m sorry I don’t know more about the old world. I wish I had bothered to learn more but I never did. Minutemen kept me busy.”

“It’s ok. It was a game and people would go there on Sundays with their families and watch. Cheer on their favorite team. It was...it was fun.” She smiled wistfully remembering the times her family had gone to watch a game. She’d loved the hot dogs and popcorn and sodas, the happy energy of the fans.

“The old world sounds so great to hear you tell of it,” Preston said. “DC is full of people. No doubt you’ll find help.”

She armored up Dogmeat thanks to Sturges and hefted her pack. “I have no idea how long I’ll be gone. I know how far things used to be, by car. It’s a whole new deal now. I wish we still had phones so I could call you guys and let you know I’m ok. How do people do that now? How do you know each other is ok?”

Preston shrugged. “We don’t. We just hope we see each other again. Usually we do. But...just be safe, Cassidy. We’ll be here waiting for you.”

She nodded and started walking towards the bridge. She stopped and turned around. Sturges was watching her, standing by his garage. He raised a hand slowly in a wave and she wanted to run back to him and beg him to come with her. But she didn’t.

It had started out a nice enough day, but somewhere along her walk, the sky turned a sickly green and the wind picked up. There was a strange sound in the air. Cassidy would have thought it was a thunderstorm but it didn’t sound anything like one. The air got hazy and visibility lessened considerably.

“What’s going on boy?” she asked her dog. “Why does it look and sound like this?”

Dogmeat barked and ran towards a dilapidated shack. She followed him inside just as the rain started. The horrible sound made her cover her ears and cower in a corner. She was afraid. She still didn’t understand the new world.

The rain came down in a torrent and lasted only a few minutes but it felt like hours. As it abated, the greenish cast and the haziness began to lift as well, and soon the sun was back out and it appeared as though nothing had even occurred.

“I didn’t like that too much,” she said as they set out. “I hope it doesn’t happen again.”

There were times on the journey that she heard gunfire, and she did her best to move away from it. She found places she had once recognized, that were now completely in ruins, or had been shored up by someone. Most of the places were abandoned and she avoided going into any of the larger buildings.

However at a certain point, her map insisted she head into part of an area that had a dense collection of buildings. It wasn’t Concord, or anywhere she remembered. It had to be an outlying town that had cropped up in the last 200 years.

“I don’t want to go in there,” she said nervously to the dog. The Shepherd’s front paws danced and he barked softly.

“I know you’ll look after me,” she said. “But I’m scared, Dogmeat.”

He whined softly.

She stood there for too long, debating finding another way to the city, but she wasn’t as familiar with anything anymore. 200 years could definitely change a place. She had no choice but to go forward and follow the map.

Cassidy hadn’t figured on nighttime. She’d been so focused on getting to Diamond City that she didn’t realize that she had left too late in the day to make it. Twilight brought a whole new set of fears.

“We need a place to crash,” she said. “Find a safe spot, boy.”

Dogmeat lowered himself suddenly and growled, staring into the darkness. Cassidy, trembling, raised her rifle but she didn’t see anything.

Something ran ahead of her. A dark shape, moving quickly.  She went down on one knee and prepared to fire but saw nothing. Flattening herself against a building she took a deep breath. The sounds of night were different. Voices carried, gunfire carried, and she heard all sorts of footfalls. Was she surrounded by raiders? How could she fight off more than one at a time? She had no hand to hand combat experience or training.

A strange rasping growl came from beside her and Dogmeat suddenly leapt forward with a snarl. He landed on a vaguely human shape, jaws snapping. Whatever it was flailed and made the most horrid sounds.

“Dogmeat! What is it?! What is that?!”

In the faint light of a nearby lantern, what she saw made her stifle a scream. It looked for all the world like the zombies she’d seen in the movies she hated. A dessicated human being with tattered clothing clinging to it. She took aim and fired, and the thing stopped moving.

Dogmeat walked back to her and sat down.

“What...?”

She didn’t want to look at it up close and backed away until her back hit another wall. She sank down and put her arms around the dog. She felt tears threaten but pushed them down. There was no time for crying. She needed to keep her wits about her. What else lurked in the darkness?

She wanted to go home.

“I can’t go back now. I have to keep going. I have to get help for daddy.” Hearing the words out loud gave her a bit of courage, but not enough to get up and move.

Cassidy put her head on her knees, rifle at her side. Dogmeat’s ears were focused forward and she feared hearing his warning growl again.

She must have dozed off a bit because she roused when Dogmeat’s cold nose pressed into the side of her neck. He whined insistently.

“I don’t want to get up, boy,” she whispered. “Not until the daylight. I can’t see in the dark like a dog.”

The dog didn’t let her be. He nuzzled, he nipped at her jacket. He was adamant that she move.

“There’s nowhere to go,” she said to him, pushing him away. “Lie down. We aren’t moving.”

She expected him to obey but he didn’t. His next move was to stand and growl menacingly into the darkness.

“Oh no...what is it?” she asked.

Two dark shapes filled in the little light there was.

“What do we have here?” asked a male voice.

“Looks like a lost kid,” answered his companion, a woman. “She’s got a pack. Let’s grab it and move on.”

“Shoot the mutt,” he said.

Horrified, Cassidy raised her weapon but in the darkness she had no way of seeing where to focus her shot. It went rogue.

“What the fuck?!” cried the man. “Bitch nearly shot my ear off!”

Dogmeat leaped. The woman screamed.

Cassidy pulled her pistol from it’s holster but again she had no visibility. The man ran forward and grabbed her, throwing her to the ground. She heard the click of his gun but he had the same problem with the darkness. Dogmeat was busy warding off blows from the woman, and trying to keep her down. Cassidy was on her own.

The man reached for her throat, intending to choke her to death. She kicked out, hard, making contact with some part of him causing a grunt of pain. However, it wasn’t enough to help her get away and only served to enrage him further. He came at her again and she lashed out with her pistol, again making contact. She fired, hoping to hit him but her shot missed.

She heard Dogmeat yelp and the woman curse. Fear gripped her as the man hit her in the face. She kicked him and scrambled backwards, trying to regain her footing.

She dropped her pistol.

“You’re dead, you little whore!” the man snarled.

He raised his fist and everything went black.

Chapter Text

Cassidy awoke slowly, her eyes adjusting to the dimness.

Her head hurt. Her face hurt. She tried to move but winced. “D...Dog…” she rasped.

A warm pile of fur nuzzled under her hand. She felt instant relief. “Where am I, boy?” she asked softly.

“You’re safe here. Just go back to sleep,” said a quiet male voice.

“Who are you?” she asked. “Where is this place?”

She heard a rustling as someone moved about. “I’m going to use this stimpak on you,” he said. “You’ve got a nasty head injury there but you’ll live. Now hold still.”

Keeping her eyes open was too hard, so she kept them closed as she felt her arm being pulled out and the sharp sting of the needle.

“Now for some chems to help you sleep,” he said next.

“N..no,” she protested. “I don’t want to sleep, I need to get to Diamond City…” She felt the prick of another needle and her body felt heavy.

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen for a while,” said the voice.

She felt Dogmeat crawl up beside her and lay his head on her shoulder, and the chems dropped her into a deep, healing sleep.

There was more light when she awoke the next time, but it wasn’t natural, outdoor light. She saw several lanterns on a desk, a few chairs and an old decrepit couch.  It looked like she was underground, the floor was dirt and the ceiling had roots sticking down into the space. She saw another cot beside the desk.

“There you are,” said the voice. “Welcome back.”

She felt no more pain although she did feel weak. Cassidy sat up slowly and from the floor Dogmeat raised his head. She saw a bowl of water nearby and realized that whoever the man was, he’d looked after both her and her dog.

She looked around for her rescuer. He was sitting beside her on the other side.

“Who ...who are you?” she asked softly.

He wore a white t-shirt and what looked like jeans, rolled up at the bottoms over a pair of boots. And despite being underground in dim light, he had mirrored glasses hiding his eyes.

“You can call me Deacon,” he said simply.

“I’m Cassidy,” she said. “And that’s Dogmeat.”

“Mmhm,” he responded, as though he already knew.

She liked his voice. It was friendly, and mellow. She couldn’t make out too many details on his face as he seemed to prefer sitting just on the edge of the shadows.

“You saved me, didn’t you?” she asked.

“You got yourself into it with raiders. Not the best plan. Should have listened to your dog. Lucky for you I was there.”

She remembered her pack and her rifle, and looked around for it.

“I got your stuff, no worries,” he said. “That feral you killed had some silver on it. I grabbed that for you too.”

“Feral? What’s a feral?”

“The feral ghoul? The thing you shot?” he sounded surprised that she had even asked.

“That zombie thing? You call it a feral ghoul?”

Deacon gave a little snort. “You got a lot to learn, Cassidy. First rule is never travel at night.”

“I need to get to Diamond City. I have to get help for my daddy.”

“We’ll get there,” said Deacon. “You need to rest up first though. Injuries like yours need more than a stimpak. I’ve fed your dog. Now relax.”

Cassidy curled up on her side, facing him. “Please take your glasses off I want to see your whole face.”

“No can do. Nothing to see here anyway.”

She sighed, then narrowed her eyes, trying to look menacing. “My dog will eat you if you try anything weird.”

“Go to sleep, Cassidy,” said Deacon.

She had no idea how long she slept nor how long she spent in that strange little underground room with the mysterious Deacon. He never removed his glasses, and he never came too close to her. He prepared food and found water for them and Dogmeat, but she never got a close look at him.

He gave her her rifle and her pack and she saw that he hadn’t touched it. The stimpack he’d used hadn’t even been one of hers.

“Where is this place?” she asked.

“Just a hidey hole of mine,” answered Deacon. “Once you can walk around without falling over we can move on to DC. Until then, this is home.”

“Ok,” she said.

 “Deacon, my arm is sore and stiff. Can you put my hair in a ponytail for me?”

He had finally felt she was well enough to travel, minus some stiff and sore muscles from the altercation and the lack of movement.

“I don’t know how to do that,” he said awkwardly.

“Please Deacon. I don’t want my hair in my face. Just gather it all up and tie it with my elastic. It’s not hard.”

He stood there looking at her, still wearing his glasses. With a sigh he reached for the elastic and stood behind her.

Cassidy’s hair was soft beneath his fingers. “Interesting color,” he said.

“I’ve had it like this since I was 12. I like it. It makes me different.”

Deacon was gentle. He didn’t pull her hair or tug on it. It might not have been the most perfect ponytail but it did the trick.

“Thank you,” said Cassidy happily. She turned around and looked up at him with a smile.

Deacon stepped back into the half shadows again, unnerved by her sudden closeness.

She’s just a kid , he thought. A lost little girl. She needs someone to look after her or she’s not going to survive out here.

“Can we go to Diamond City now?” she asked him. “You know where it is right?”

“I know where it is. Everyone here does eventually. Lots of people there.”

Cassidy wondered why he never asked her about herself. She had said things that ordinarily would open up questions, at least they had with her group back home. But Deacon didn’t ask about her and didn’t volunteer anything about himself either.

He had still never removed his glasses. And if she looked at him too long, he stepped back into the shadows. He was certainly a mysterious man. But he’d looked after her and Dogmeat for who knew how long, and strange or not, he was obviously not a bad person and she was grateful.

“How long have we been here?” she asked.

“About a week,” was the answer.

“A week! I should have been back home by now! My friends will be worried!”

Deacon picked up his pack. “Then they shouldn’t have let you go alone.”

Cassidy thought how worried Mama Murphy and Sturges would be. “There’s not enough people who can defend, and one of them is old,” she tried to explain, then stopped. Deacon didn’t seem curious about her in the least. Well, she was most certainly curious about him .

“Is this your home, Deacon?”

“No, I don’t have a home. I just crash wherever I can.”

“That’s sad. Everyone needs a home and people who care about them.”

She thought she saw the corners of his mouth tug upwards but in the soft light she couldn’t be sure. Her pack and rifle sat on the desk and he pointed to it. “Let’s get going.”

A folded up piece of paper was under her rifle and she glanced at it.

Join the Railroad!   It proclaimed proudly. There was a picture of a lantern, similar to the ones that lit the small space.

“There’s still trains here?” she asked curiously. “There’s no cars.”

“It’s not that kind of railroad,” said Deacon. “The one now, it’s an organization. It’s a huge secret. A real mystery. No one actually knows if it’s real or not.”

Cassidy’s eyes lit up. “But if it’s not real then why is there a flyer for it? And what is it? How come it’s such a secret? I love mysteries!”

“Supposedly,” said Deacon, changing the tone of his voice to sound conspiratorial. “They help synths who escape the Institute. Like the underground railroad from hundreds of years ago.”

Cassidy wrinkled up her nose. “What is a synth? What is the Institute?”

Deacon didn’t react to her lack of knowledge as she figured he would. This baffled her once more. He sat down on a rickety chair. “Cassidy, the Institute is a scary place. No one knows what they are or where they are. All we know is that sometimes people disappear and are replaced by synths. And synths are constructs, made by the Institute. They look exactly like humans and you can’t tell the difference until you kill them.”

Cassidy mulled that over in her mind. It sounded horrifying. “Why do they replace people?”

“No one knows. Just one day your friend or loved one isn’t themselves anymore. Little things give it away. You start to wonder what’s going on. Shit happens and someone kills them and finds out. Other times their relationships just fall apart and the synth moves on.”

“That’s awful!” exclaimed Cassidy. “But why does that Railroad want to help synths then? They’re evil!”

Deacon shook his head. “Not all of them. Just the replacements that are programmed to be someone else. See the Institute views them as slaves. Use them as workers and probably spies. Doesn’t see them as the human beings they created them to be. Some of them escape. The Railroad helps them get a new life. Or so it’s said.”

“I want to find them,” said Cassidy. “Slavery is wrong! I want to help free slaves!” She looked at the flyer and it said nothing more than Follow The Freedom Trail in bold letters on the bottom.

“I know what the freedom trail is,” she said. “It’s from my...umm...it’s from the underground railroad who helped slaves long ago like you said. It’s in Boston somewhere.”

She stopped herself short of talking about how she’d followed it once on a trip to the city with her daddy. But she never found the end of it, as they’d had to return home. Maybe being from the old world, she had an advantage. The thought excited her. The Railroad liked to help people. That meant maybe they would help her daddy too.

“You can try,” said Deacon, and again it seemed to her that he was smiling slightly. “I’ll make sure nothing kills you.”

“You’re going to stay with me?” she liked that idea.

“Mhm. For awhile. Until I know you won’t die out there.”

A huge smile lit up her face and he looked away. She’s just a kid, he reminded himself. Don’t get attached.

“Thanks Deacon. It’s nice to not be alone.”

“Let’s go. We need to hit DC before it gets dark.”

Chapter Text

Cassidy followed Deacon, and did as he instructed her. He knew things, saw things, and she did her best to take it all in. There were raider outposts everywhere, and Deacon didn’t engage them but kept to the shadows. She noticed he was good at staying unobserved.

“You’re really good at sneaking around,” she said.

“I have to be. It’s what I do.”

“What do you mean?”

He faced her. “I’m a spy.”

Her eyes grew large. “A spy, like in the holovids? Wow that’s really cool! If you tell me too many secrets you’ll have to kill me, right?”

His lips twitched. “Something like that, yeah. So don’t ask too many questions!.” He pursed his lips to stop from smiling. “I’ll be letting you do most of the talking when we meet people. But I’ll be nearby.”

She nodded, eyes still large. She had her very own secret agent. “Your name isn’t really Deacon then, right?”

“Bingo,” he said.

“Well, if we’re working together I need a spy name too.”

This time Deacon grinned. He had straight, white teeth and slight dimples in his cheeks. His lips were slightly pouty, the lower being fuller and the upper having a pronounced cupid’s bow. He didn’t look as old as her daddy, but he wasn’t as young as Sturges or Preston either.

Cassidy decided, seeing him in the light of day, that the mysterious spy Deacon was quite a handsome man, and his kindness made him even more appealing.

“Who said we’re working together?” he asked still grinning.

Cassidy giggled. “Because I want to be a spy too. And find the secret Railroad like you do.”

“How do you know I want to find it?” he asked amiably.

“You had the flyer there. And it just sounds like you want to and you need my help. I’m good at mysteries. So I need a name.”

Deacon tilted his head and looked at her for a moment. Her bright blue eyes were still wide with interest and she looked happy. He liked her open expression and innocence. In fact, were he to admit it to himself, he liked her quite a bit more than he cared to. “Charmer,” he said. “I think that suits you.”

Cassidy gave him a thumbs up. “I love it. Charmer and Deacon. Secret agents.”

“We aren’t going to solve any mysteries standing here. And if you like that kind of thing there’s someone in DC I’ll introduce you to. A detective.”

Cassidy gasped. “A detective! Someone like that can help me find my baby brother!” In her enthusiasm she realized she might have said too much. She clapped a hand over her mouth. She expected a slew of questions from Deacon, but he just nodded without a word.

It’s like he either doesn’t care or he doesn’t believe what I say.

“Don’t you have any questions for me?” she asked curiously.

His expression was deadpan. “Didn’t we just establish that questions are bad?”

“Oh yeah, we sure did. Ok. Never mind.”

Cassidy had a bounce in her step as they moved on, Dogmeat, as usual, sniffing and exploring. She noticed he’d bark sometimes and if she looked, there was usually a pack of ammo or a container of water. Occasionally they found a corpse and Deacon showed her how to search the body for anything worth taking.

“That’s nasty,” she said in distaste.

“You don’t go near the rotted ones. They don’t need this shit and you do. No sense in letting someone else get it. Survival comes first in the wasteland.”

Cassidy shook her head. “I’m not tomb robbing.”

“You will,” said Deacon. “Believe me.”

They found an old building and Deacon crept inside. She followed him and explored the main floor as he went upstairs. She found a safe that someone had cracked open and inside were four large stacks of bills! She nearly squealed with delight and shoved them into her pack. Money, and lots of it!

There was a small metal container with bobby pins. She shook it then put it down.

“You’ll want to take that,” said Deacon. “Use those to pick locks. You know how to do that?”

Cassidy shook her head.

“You need to learn. I’ll show you next time we find a lock. You know anything about computers?”

She nodded. “I can hack them pretty good. I learned how in school. Daddy insisted I take computer studies and I thought it was boring until I figured out how to reprogramme Codsworth! He’s my bot. He’s at home.”

Deacon nodded and tucked the box in her pack. “Come upstairs. You can hack the terminal up there. It’s too tough for me. I’m not great at it.”

“I thought spies were supposed to be able to do everything. Just in case.”

He didn’t respond. She followed him up a flight of rickety stairs she was afraid would cave in with each step. A computer sat on a rusted old desk. Beside it was a large safe.

Cassidy leaned over and looked at it. It was indeed a harder puzzle to solve. “It might take me awhile.”

Deacon sat down and lit a cigarette.

“Ew, that’s bad for you Deek,” she said.

“Life in the wastes is bad for me,” he responded.

She shrugged. He did have a point.

The hacking took a few minutes, but in the end the safe popped open. Unfortunately there were only a few bits of silverware, some old ledgers and a pistol. Deacon tucked the pistol into his belt.

“Grab what’s valuable and sell it to vendors in DC or ones you meet on the road.”

“One comes to my home. Her name is Carla. She has a Brahmin and all sorts of weird stuff.”

“They all have Brahmins,” said Deacon. “It’s the best beast of burden. There are a few kinds. Over towards the west areas there are these things called Brahmiluff. Black with drooping horns.”

“One head?” she asked hopefully.

“Two. All of those things have two heads. The cow species.”

“I hate the mutated creatures,” said Cassidy woefully.

“Wait until you see a Radstag then, I’ll leave it at that.”

Cassidy made a face. She was sure there were even worse things out there then two headed cows. The Deathclaw hadn’t been a walk in the park either. She didn’t think he’d believe her if she said she’d killed one of those.

Deacon continued to lead the way on the outskirts until they had to hit the city proper. Everything was dilapidated, ruined and covered with debris and detritus. There was raider graffiti all over.

The worst part was the bodies. There were bodies littering the ground, hanging over obstacles and some were even hung from chains. Most had no heads. Some had their entrails hanging out.

She felt her gag reflex act up and managed to control it, but then the stench hit her and she leaned against a wall and threw up.

“Takes some getting used to,” said Deacon. “You’ll get to it.”

“I shouldn’t have to!” Cassidy gasped. “This is so horrific! It’s like living in a horror vid and I hated those!”

Deacon said nothing, but he rested his hand on her back a moment in a gesture of comfort. His touch was warm and she appreciated it. Having been raised in an affectionate family, she realized with sadness that no one had hugged her since before the war. Probably no one will ever again, she thought. Unless I help daddy and find Shaun.

Cassidy took a deep breath. “Can you just lead us through this. I’m going to stare at your back and not look at this revolting mess.”

“You don’t want to go through the bodies for goodies?” he asked with a grin.

“Deacon!” she cried out.

“Come on then kid,” he said chuckling.

“I’m not a kid!” she said indignantly.

“Right. How old are you then? Let me guess.16.”

She wanted to say 228 but didn’t figure he’d believe a word of it.

“18. I’ll be 19 in February. Codsworth would know when that is.”

Deacon laughed. “Like I said. You’re a kid, Charmer.”

“I’m an adult,” she said. “I don’t appreciate being called a kid just because I’m young and don’t know everything.”

He chuckled again. “That sounds like a description of one!”

She scowled at him and he continued leading them.

Cassidy recognized the area around the city. It was definitely the old ball field.

“It was called Fenway Park,” she said.

“What was?” asked Deacon.

“The baseball diamond. Diamond City.”

Deacon faced her. “This area here is called The Fens. That explains it.”

He never asked how she knew that.

There were huge metal doors covering where the entrance used to be. There was a speaker off to the left, and a woman in a faded red trench coat was shouting animatedly into it.

“What do you mean you can’t open the gate?” she shouted. “Stop playing around Danny! I’m standing out in the open here for crying out loud!”

“I got orders not to let you in, Ms. Piper,” crackled the voice on the speaker. “I’m sorry. I’m just doing my job!”

“Just doing your job?” screeched Piper. “Protecting Diamond City means keeping me out, is that it? Oh look, it’s the scary reporter, boo!”

“I’m sorry but Mayor McDonough’s really steamed, Piper. Saying that article you wrote was all lies. The whole city’s in a tizzy.”

Piper grunted in frustration and stamped her foot. “You open this gate right now Danny Sullivan! I live here. You can’t just lock me out!”

She sighed heavily and turned around, seeing Cassidy. She beckoned to her. “You. You want into Diamond City right?”

Cassidy turned to Deacon, but he had disappeared. She walked over to Piper. “I...I guess so.”

She was about to say something else when Piper interrupted her.

“Shh. Just play along.” She leaned back towards the speaker. “What was that?  You said you’re a trader up from Quincy? You have enough supplies to keep the general store stocked for a whole month? Huh!”

She waited a moment as Cassidy stared at her. “You hear that Danny?” continued Piper. “You gonna open the gate and let us in? Or are you going to be the one talking to crazy Myrna about losing out on all this supply?”

Piper gestured wildly although Danny couldn’t see her.

The speaker crackled and Danny sighed heavily. “Geez, alright. No need to make it personal, Piper. Give me a minute.”

Piper grinned at Cassidy. “Better head inside quick before old Danny catches on to the bluff!”

There was a screeching of metal and the huge door began to lift. “Umm, you first,” said Cassidy. She didn’t want to go in without Deacon. Where had he gone?

Piper turned and walked off. Cassidy took a few steps towards the little turnstiles then looked back, hoping to see Deacon. He had told her he’d be nearby but that she’d be doing the talking. She just hadn’t counted on him being completely invisible.

“Piper!” exclaimed an annoyed male voice. “Who let you back inside? I told Sullivan to keep that gate shut!”

Intrigued, Cassidy went in. A heavyset older man, dressed in a faded brown suit and bowler hat faced Piper, a scowl on his face. He shook his fist dramatically.

“You devious, rabble rousing slanderer! The...the level of dishonesty in that paper of yours! I’ll have that printer scrapped for parts!”

“Ooh!” Piper cried, arms wide. “Is that a statement, Mr. McDonough?” She ran a hand across the air. “Tyrant mayor shuts down the press!” She turned to Cassidy.

“Why don’t we ask the newcomer? You support the news? Cause the Mayor’s threatening to throw free speech in the dumpster!”

Cassidy shrugged awkwardly. “What newspaper are you talking about?” she asked.

“Mine,” said Piper proudly. “Publick Occurrences, and we’re the hard look at the truth. So, are you with us or not?”

“I guess I always believed in freedom of the press,” said Cassidy.

The Mayor turned to her, his face suddenly a mask of congeniality that she was sure he wasn’t feeling. “Oh I didn’t mean to bring you into this argument, Miss. No no no. You look like Diamond City material.” He straightened his tie. “Welcome to the great green jewel of the Commonwealth. Safe. Happy. A fine place to come, spend your money, settle down. Don’t let this muckraker here tell you otherwise, alright?”

Cassidy gave a small smile. “Ok, thanks.”

He beamed. “Was there anything particular you came to our city for?”

“I’m looking for someone,” she said simply, not wanting to tell too much to a person she didn’t know if she could trust.

“We have stores, doctors, schools, power, running water, and the Wall as our sacred protector. You’ll learn more about the Wall soon I’m sure. So what exactly did you come here for?”

“Umm, who would I talk to about finding a missing person?” It was a vague enough request. No details needed. It didn’t seem like the man would let it go otherwise.

“Well whatever you do,” said Piper. “Don’t bother going to Diamond City security for help.”

The Mayor waved her away dismissively. “Don’t listen to her. While I’m afraid that our security team can’t follow every case that comes through, I’m confident you can find help here.”

Piper rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Diamond City has every conceivable service known to man,” continued the Mayor. “One of our great citizens can surely find the time to help you.”

“Like who?” asked Cassidy. “You must know everyone, who can help me?”

His expression softened considerably as he looked at her. There was most certainly something innocent and charming about her. “Well, there is one private citizen, Nick Valentine. A...detective of sorts, who specializes in tracking people down. Usually for debts or whatnot.”

Cassidy nodded. “Ok, thank you.”

The Mayor stood up straighter and fussed with his jacket. “Now, I have to get going. I’m sorry Diamond City security doesn’t have time to help, but I’m sure Mr. Valentine charges a reasonable fee.”

Piper let out an exclamation. “This is ridiculous! I want the truth McDonough! What’s the real reason security always shrivels away when talk of missing persons comes up?”

The Mayor scowled. “I’ve had enough of this, Piper. From now on, consider you and that little sister of yours on notice!”

Piper let out a barking laugh. “Yeah, keep talking McDonough. That’s all you’re good for.”

He grunted and waved as he walked away.

Piper smiled at Cassidy. “I’m impressed. Not everyone can claw information from McDonough’s tight-fisted hands. Hmm, why don’t you stop by my office after you see Valentine? I think I just found my next story.”

Cassidy was puzzled. Story? What story? She had no desire to go near the strange woman again. She had too much to deal with already. And where was Deacon? Was Nick Valentine the detective he’d mentioned to her earlier?

“It’s ok, Charmer,” said Deacon’s voice from the shadows. “I’m right here. Haven’t let you out of my sight.”

She spun around as he stepped into view. He was dressed like the security guard at the ramp leading into the stands. She blinked.

“Blending in is what I do best,” he said softly. “So you heard about Valentine.  That’s the detective you need to go and see.”

“How did you change so quickly?” she asked.

He smiled deviously and she sighed. “Right. No questions.”

Deacon indicated the ramp that led into the city. “After you, Charmer,” he said.

Chapter Text

The city, such as it was, astonished her. What had once been a baseball field was now a thriving metropolis. Although the buildings were ramshackle and horrible to look at, and the smell wasn’t much of an improvement, it was better than living out in the open.

She turned to Deacon. “Are you coming with me?”

“Charmer, I’m always with you. You might not see me but I’m here. Go find Nick. Explore the city. I have business to attend to and I’ll come find you. It’s safe here, you’ll be ok.”

Dogmeat stood at her side and looked up expectantly.

“You need proper food, I know,” she said. “Before I find Mr. Valentine, I’ll find you a nice juicy bone.”

Dogmeat barked gleefully.

She wanted to ask Deacon a question but when she turned back to him, he was already gone.

Well, she thought. Here we go then.

The first building she went into turned out to be a church of some kind. The priest was a scarred but kind looking man. There were people sitting in the pews, some praying, some just staring off into space.

“Welcome to the All Faiths Chapel,” he said gently. “I’m Pastor Clements. No matter what you believe, this is a safe place to be. You must be new here. I haven’t seen you before.”

“Yes, I’m...I’m new,” Cassidy said a bit awkwardly. She’d never been a church goer like many of her neighbors. “I need to find Mr. Valentine, the detective. Do you know where he is?”

The Pastor nodded. “I sure do. He’s helped so many of us out. His office is down the back way. Walk straight towards Moe’s shop on the main drag, then go left. You’ll see signs. Can’t miss them. You lose someone?”

Cassidy felt a quiet comfort in the Pastor’s presence, enough to respond. “My baby brother. Someone took him and I don’t know where to even start. And I need a doctor for my daddy. He got shot and needs help too.”

The Pastor clucked sympathetically. “You sure have had a hard go of it. Sorry to hear that. But if anyone can help you find your brother it’ll be old Nick. As for docs, we have Dr. Sun and Dr. Crocker. Crocker specializes in facial reconstruction though.”

Cassidy tilted her head. “Facial reconstruction?”

“Yeah. You know, when you want a new face, you go see him.”

She blinked. “People do that? Get new faces? Really?”

Pastor Clements nodded. “Don’t they do that everywhere? Figured it was a pretty common thing these days. What city you from?”

“Uhh, I’m from a Vault.” As she said the words, she wasn’t sure he would believe her.

“Land sakes, you don’t say! No wonder you look like a lost pup. Well you go see those people. Diamond City has it all.” He shook his head in amazement. “A vault dweller. Never thought I’d see one for real!”

Cassidy thanked him and went back outside. She saw the Publick Occurrences office, and a little girl out front standing on a crate and waving a paper in her hand.

“Get your copy of the Publick!” she called out. “Read about the truth about the Institute!”

Cassidy wandered over. “Hello,” she said.

“Free paper to newcomers,” said the child. “If the Institute grabs you in the night, at least we warned you!”

There was that name again. “The Institute?” asked Cassidy, wondering what the child would have to say about it.

The little girl’s eyes grew wide. “You ain’t heard of the Institute? They snatch people up in the night and no one hears from them again! It’s all in the paper. Better read up before they grab you, too.”

“Who’s gone missing?” asked Cassidy. Could there be more people like her brother?

“Drifters, residents, stadium seat snobs,” said the little girl. “Seems every year or so someone is gone, and we all know why.” She narrowed her eyes and tried to make her voice ominous. “So you better be careful newcomer. Institute’s out there, and they’ll grab you too. Like I said, it’s all in the paper.”

Cassidy shuddered slightly. “I believe you. Thanks.” She took the offered paper.

The little girl chuckled. “You’re a real lost lamb in the wolf’s den lady. So what are you doing in Diamond City anyway?”

“I came here looking for someone.”

“Let me guess. That someone’s gone missing right? That’s what I’m telling ya. So, who is it?”

“A baby boy. He was kidnapped.” Cassidy figured the little girl was Piper’s sister, the one the Mayor had mentioned. There seemed to be no harm in telling her about it.

“A baby...wow that’s a new one. Usually it’s adults,” said the child. “You’re in bad luck. No one tries to find missing people in Diamond City. Missing people means the Institute’s involved. And no one wants to get the Institute’s attention.”

Cassidy sighed. “You’re a smart kid. Isn’t there someone who isn’t afraid of this Institute?”

“Well,” said the girl. “There’s the detective, Mr. Nick Valentine. He’s not afraid of anything. If anyone’s gonna help you, it’s him.”

He seems to be the only one anyone thinks will help, Cassidy thought. I really hope they’re right.

“What do you know about Mr. Valentine?” she asked.

The girl shrugged. “I know all the adults who go there won’t admit it. Ain’t that the way it is? No one is ever grateful for the people who help out the most.”

Cassidy nodded. “Thanks. You were a big help.”

“Remember. The Institute’s out there, newcomer. Watch your back!”

Cassidy debated going inside to see Piper, but she didn’t want to get caught up in the newswoman’s drama. Plus she needed to find the detective. She walked further, seeing a man giving a woman dressed in a business suit a haircut. On the other side of the street she saw a sign with the word Doctor on it.

“Hello Doctor,” she said to the dark haired man who was stocking up a first aid box.

“What can I do for you? Radiation poisoning? Injuries?”

She shook her head. “No, my daddy needs help. He was shot but he’s in cryosleep.”

The doctor blinked at her, then frowned. “Do you find it funny, wasting someone’s time with such stories?”

“Stories?” gasped Cassidy, shocked at his adverse reaction. “It’s not a story! He’s in Vault 111. Please, he needs help!”

“Do I look like a fool to you?” asked the doctor, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Cryosleep. Vaults. Such things haven’t been heard of since before the war. Now begone before I summon security to have you removed!”

Cassidy felt her whole body quivering and her eyes began to sting with tears. “I’m not lying! Vault 111 put all of us in cryosleep when the bombs fell. Someone came down there and shot daddy and took my baby brother. I need a doctor to heal him so I can wake him! Please!”

A heavy hand fell on her shoulder. “This kid bothering you doc?” It was Deacon’s voice.

“She’s just looking for attention. She’s leaving now,” said the doctor and turned back to his work.

“Let’s go kid,” said Deacon, steering her away from the doctor, towards a bend in the walkway.

Cassidy pulled away from his grasp. “Deacon, I explained what I needed! He wouldn’t believe me, he said I was lying! I’m not!”

“Hey, Charmer,” said Deacon gently, cupping her chin. “This isn’t the way to go about it. People aren’t going to believe you too easily.”

“Did you hear what I told him?” she asked.

Deacon nodded.

“You believe me though, right?” Cassidy closed a hand around his wrist.

“Totally and completely. We’ll get you what you need but not this way. Trust me?”

She looked away, then back at him, not appreciating her own reflection in his glasses. “I hardly know you,” she whispered. “I need help for my daddy, though.”

“I know you do,” said Deacon. “Just trust me, ok?”

She nodded.

“Let’s go find your detective,” he said, and let go of her.

Nick Valentine’s office was in a narrow alleyway lit up by his neon sign, which said Valentine Detective Agency with a heart and arrow.

The big orange metal door stuck a bit when she went to open it, and Deacon leaned on it for her. “I’ll be out here waiting for you,” he said. “I’ll get Dogmeat that bone you promised him, too.”

The dog barked and spun around excitedly.

It was dimly lit inside, filled with boxes of files, filing cabinets and two desks. A woman in a ratty looking outfit stood at the far end, mumbling to herself and rifling through a box.

“Umm... hi?” said Cassidy.

The woman stood up with a heavy sigh. “Another stray, coming in from the rain.” She turned around and faced Cassidy with sad eyes. “I’m afraid you’re too late. Office is closed.”

“I know you must be busy, but I won’t take up much of your time, miss. It’s important.”

The woman pursed her lips. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude but it’s just...the detective. He’s gone missing.”

Cassidy’s heart sank. “Missing...oh no. What happened? Do you have any idea how I could find him?”

After hearing the stories about the Institute kidnapping people, she feared the worst.

“He disappeared working a case,” said the woman, crossing her arms disconsolately. “Skinny Malone’s gang had kidnapped a young woman and he tracked them down to their hideout in Park Street Station. There’s an old vault down there that they use as a base. I told Nick he was walking into a trap, but he just smiled and walked out the door like he always does.”

Cassidy had no idea who she was talking about. “Who’s Skinny Malone?”

“I don’t know much about him,” the woman replied. “He’s from Goodneighbor, that means he’s into the well pressed suits and machine gun school of thuggery.”

“Goodneighbor?” asked Cassidy.

“Yeah it’s a tough neighborhood. Northeast a ways. People with power there care about two things: style and body count.”

Cassidy’s shoulders slumped. They sounded like the gangsters from her time. People you didn’t mess around with no matter what. But Nick was her only lead to finding her brother. If she could find and help him, he’d hopefully be willing to do the same for her.

“I guess I’ll try and find him,” she said insecurely. “You said Park Street Station? As in the subway?”

The woman blinked. “Subway? I don’t know what that is, but there’s a vault down there somewhere. That’s all I know about it.”

“Ok,” said Cassidy. “I’m Cassidy by the way. Cassidy Hartley.”

“Ellie Perkins,” the woman replied with a small smile. “I’m Nick’s office assistant. I really hope you can find him. At least you know how to use a weapon. Me, not so much.”

Cassidy considered her rifle. “I can show you how to use them. They can be pretty fun. Well they were when it wasn’t a matter of life or death to use them.”

Ellie gave a wry smile. “There’s a story there. In fact the whole of you looks like a story waiting to be told. Please be careful. And good luck.”

Cassidy stepped out of the office and sighed heavily. Why couldn’t something just come together smoothly? Now she had to try and find a man she didn’t know, in a place she wasn’t familiar with. A vault of all things.

She had to find Dogmeat and Deacon.

Chapter Text

Park Street Station had seen better days. Cassidy used to love riding on the subway through the underground world of the city. Like everything else in the Commonwealth it had fallen to wreck and ruin. Debris and dirt was everywhere, not to mention an abundance of skeletons. However, they didn’t bother her nearly as much as the rotting dead did.

“No one ever bothered to bury the dead?” she asked Deacon.

“Like who?” he asked. “After the bombs fell there weren’t too many people left. Some of these skeletons have been here since then I’m sure.”

“It’s sad,” said Cassidy. “These were people. Friends and neighbors and someone’s parent or child.” She didn’t allow her mind to wander over the possible fate of her mother, her uncle and her friends.

“I get you,” said Deacon. “But when faced with survival, little things like burials go by the wayside. Population still hasn’t caught up to what it was then either.”

“But now, how come no one buries these skeletons and the other deads?”

“Why would they, Charmer?” he asked. “People don’t think the way you used to. It’s a hard life. They don’t care about anything but surviving. People do things that get them something. Burying the dead doesn’t.”

She didn’t like it but he was right. It was a whole new world.

“So there’s supposed to be a vault down here?” he asked, changing the subject. “Let’s find it.”

Deacon led the way down into the subway where the trains had once been. The tunnels had long since caved in, and a few trains were overturned or lay on their sides. There were holes in the walls where they could get through to connecting tunnels.

Cassidy saw more skeletons, some with suitcases beside them, others with empty chem containers at their side. She found a skeleton beside a baby carriage. She didn’t want to look too closely, and called Dogmeat back to her side so he didn’t disturb their final resting places.

“I’m sorry, Charmer,” said Deacon. “I imagine it must be really hard for you seeing all this.”

She stopped and turned to him. “Why do you say that? You don’t know anything about me! In fact you’ve never even asked me a single thing!”

“Did you already forget? I’m a spy. I know more than you think.”

She blinked. “So you know I’m from a vault? Vault 111? That I was asleep for 200 years? And that my daddy was shot and my baby brother was kidnapped? Do you know that I live in Sanctuary and I have friends there?” She stopped then, remembering that he said he’d overheard what she told the doctor in Diamond City.

Deacon let her talk, and simply watched her without a word.

“Ok you do know, at least some of it,” sighed Cassidy.

She stood there staring at the ground, then looked up at him. He remained silent. Cassidy felt disconnected then, from everything, as though she were some alien being from another world. Slowly she raised her hand and reached out to him.

Deacon hesitated for a split second, then took her hand, giving it a squeeze and holding it.

She’s totally lost. I can’t imagine how that would feel.

Cassidy wanted Deacon to put his arms around her and hold her. She wanted the safety of someone’s embrace, to feel like she wasn’t some ghost floating through another’s reality. But Deacon didn’t move. So she held onto his hand, feeling the warmth of it, the realness of it, of him. The contact grounded her once more.

“We ok to get going now?” he asked softly after a few minutes.

Cassidy took a deep breath and nodded, releasing his hand, following him through a turned over train and into a tunnel beyond. The once orderly subway environment became chaotic, with large bits of concrete and rebar laying everywhere.

“Dogmeat, be careful,” she said. “Don’t cut your paws on the stuff in here.” The shepherd whined softly but it seemed he understood, staying close by her instead of roaming off as he usually did.

Deacon moved stealthily, barely making any sound as he walked over the uneven ground. Cassidy did her best to do the same. As they reached the top of a debris pile, he held up a hand, and crouched down.

“Have a look out there,” he whispered. “See how many guys you can spot. We have to take out as many of them as we can fast because if they spot us and open fire we’re up shit’s creek. I hope you can use that fancy rifle of yours, kid.”

Cassidy bristled. “Again, I’m not a freaking kid, and yes I can.”

She took aim and searched through her scope. “2, 6, 7 and 9 o’clock,” she said. She steadied herself, pulling her energy and focus inward.

“Ok, which one do you want to take?” asked Deacon.

“Shh,” she said.

He was completely unprepared for what happened next. There was a series of sharp thwips and one by one, all four of the gangsters dropped, shot in the head one after another.

“Holy shit!” he exclaimed. “I thought we were gonna each take one! You’re way too good at that!”

She smiled proudly, glad that she had impressed him. “I was the best. In my time. I was a competitive shooter. I had a lot of awards for my marksmanship.”

“No kidding!” said Deacon even more impressed. “I know a guy who’s a sniper. Always letting everyone know how good he is. I think he’ll find his match in you...and you’ll find someone to relate to.”

She shrugged. “Most guys don’t like me. They thought competing against a girl was beneath them. They hated me more when I beat them.”

Deacon shook his head. “Nah this guy will be stoked to have someone to measure his skill against. I’ll have to introduce you. He hangs around Goodneighbor most of the time. Waiting for contracts.”

Cassidy raised her eyebrows. “He’s a hit man?”

“Mercenary, yeah.”

“No thanks. I don’t want to associate with hit men!”

Deacon sighed. “Listen, Charmer. This isn’t your time anymore. The days of tea parties and frilly dresses are over. You do what you have to do to survive. There’s a lot of really shitty people out there, you’ve met a few. Not everyone can fend for themselves and when faced with a bully sometimes there’s no choice but to pay someone else to do it for you. There are a lot of families out there who are vulnerable and raiders are cruel and ruthless. So don’t dump on people til you know their story.”

Cassidy felt duly chastised. He was right. She still thought about life the way it once had been. Civilized, genteel, lawful. Now, justice was found at the end of a weapon.

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” she said softly, taking his hand in both of hers.

The sudden contact surprised him.

Don’t let her get too close, he warned himself, and pulled his hand back, making a pretense of readjusting his holster.

“Don’t have to be sorry, Charmer. I get it. It’s rough. Just going to give you food for thought sometimes. Anyway, let’s move on.”

Deacon encouraged her to check the bodies for anything salvageable. She didn’t want to, but gave in and dug up a pocket watch and ammo that matched her rifle. Deacon picked up a few of the small pistols.

The area narrowed into a set of metal walkways that culminated in a huge vault door marked Vault 114.

A control panel sat in front of it. She pulled out the cord from her pip-boy and plugged it in, making a little lid pop open. A large red button was inside it.

“I never thought to ask how we were going to get into the vault,” said Deacon. “But obviously you had to get out of yours somehow.”

With a considerable amount of noise, the vault door receded and rolled away, the catwalk moving into place.

“Stay to the sides,” said Deacon. “If this is their hideout there’ll be a lot of them down here and they won’t ask questions before taking our heads off.”

Cassidy did as she was asked, and they slowly made their way forward, the dog staying behind Deacon in the shadows. There were guards posted, but they were bored and had no interest in paying attention, believing no one would be able to get into the vault anyway.

They were easy targets for Cassidy and she dropped them quickly without a sound. It shocked her how easily she could kill now, without that much of a thought.

“I never imagined I’d grow up to be a serial killer,” she said ruefully.

“I think pretty much everyone is a serial killer out here. I mean some of us killed more than three people before we hit 10. Different time and place Charmer.”

“That’s true but I don’t have to like it,” she said. “I don’t want to get used to being a killer. I just want to get help for my daddy and find my brother then go home and just live like normal.”

Deacon shook his head. “Do you really think that anyone can live normally in this world? There will always be dangers out there. It sucks I get it. But that’s reality for you.”

“I still intend to live like a normal family no matter what. Daddy will know what to do when he wakes up.”

Deacon said nothing. But his heart was heavy for her. Denial could offer some protection to the psyche, but it never lasted forever.

They made several wrong turns into dead ends and had to backtrack a few times. They nearly ran right into a patrol and luckily Deacon had the upper hand when Cassidy froze. She was no good up close and personal and he made a mental note to get her some hand to hand combat training or she’d never make it.

Finding where the detective was being held wasn’t too difficult. A mouthy henchman had been put on guard duty and was antagonizing someone in a room through a window.

This time it was Deacon who took out the guard. As the man’s head exploded in a show of blood and gore, a voice called out from behind the glass.

“Hey you! I don’t know who you are, but we got three minutes before they realize muscles-for-brains ain’t coming back. Get this door open!”

Cassidy saw a terminal attached to the wall. Thankfully the code wasn’t difficult and she got the door opened.

The detective was standing in the shadows. “Ahh my lady in shining armor. The question is why does she come all this way, risk life and limb, for an old private eye?”

He lit up a cigarette then, and Cassidy saw a skeletal metal hand. As he stepped into the light, she gasped. Two bright yellow pinpoints of light blinked at her out of a sallow colored face, whose flesh was barely clinging to a metal frame.

“Woah, what...what are you?!” she exclaimed, stepping back. She felt her body hit Deacon’s, and she turned her head to look up at him. He moved back.

“I’m a detective,” he answered. “I know the skin and the metal parts ain’t comforting, but it’s not important right now. The only thing that matters is why you went through all this trouble to cut me loose.”

“I need your help,” said Cassidy. “Someone shot my daddy and kidnapped my baby brother.”

“Missing kid huh? Well, you came to the right man. Name’s Nick. Nick Valentine if you already didn’t know.”

He took a long drag from his cigarette. “I’ve been cooped up in here for weeks. Turns out the runaway daughter I came here to find wasn’t kidnapped. She’s Skinny Malone’s new flame and she’s got a mean streak. Anyway, you got troubles and I’m glad to help. But now ain’t the time. Let’s blow this joint. Then we’ll talk.”

Cassidy couldn’t help but grin. He sounds just like the detectives from the old holovids mom used to like watching. “I like how you talk,” she said.

“Nice to know you approve,” said Nick, crushing out his cigarette.

He looked up at Deacon standing in the doorway. “And who might you be?”

“That’s Deacon,” said Cassidy. “He’s my friend. I couldn’t have found you without him.”

“Well now I know Deacon, and you know me , but I don’t have a name for you yet. Or this handsome fella here.” Nick reached down and petted Dogmeat, who looked up at him happily.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m Cassidy. Cassidy Hartley. And that’s Dogmeat.”

“Good to know you, Cassidy Hartley,” said Nick. “Could have picked a better name for the pup though. Now let’s get a move on.”

He led them through the vault, telling a bit about Malone’s gang. Cassidy wasn’t particularly interested in gangsters, to her they were bad news and she wanted to get away from them as fast as possible.

Any guards they came across were taken down quickly and quietly by her, and Nick commented a few times how deadly she was with that weapon.

“I shouldn’t feel complimented on my murder skills,” she said. “But thank you.”

Nick seemed to have a skill for opening doors. A few of the vault doors were stuck and wouldn’t open. He pulled open the control panel and using his skeletal metal hand, was able to manipulate it to open enough for them to get through.

Cassidy still couldn’t figure out just what he was. She’d heard stories in her time about androids but didn’t figure any had ever been built. Deacon’s explanation of synths didn’t fit either: Nick didn’t look human enough.

They followed the detective further into the vault. Stairs went down, and then went back up. By the third set Nick scowled. “More stairs? Who built this damn vault? A fitness instructor?”

Cassidy burst out laughing.

Nick grinned. “Got a sense of humor, this one,” he said.

A few more doors and they arrived at a large room. “Look, we’ll have to get through Skinny Malone and his boys,” said Nick.

“Great,” said Cassidy. “Gangsters? I don’t want to deal with those face to face! They’re dangerous!”

“Hopefully it won’t come to a fight. I’m gonna try and talk to him.”

Cassidy was dubious, but followed him anyway. There was really no other choice.

Nick stopped at another doorway and listened. “I think he’s beyond this door. Be ready for anything.”

As they stepped into a partially lit room, a sharply accented voice rang out.

“Nicky! What’re ya doin’? Come into my house. Shoot up my guys. You have any idea how much this is gonna set me back?”

A very large man in a clean dark suit stepped forward. His hair was cropped short, and his jowls protruded from his collar.

“I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for your two timing dame, Skinny,” retorted Nick. “You ought to tell her to write home more often.”

Beside Malone stood a woman in a sequined grey dress. Her dark hair was cut in a severe bob that matched the harsh angles of her face.

“Aww poor little Valentine,” she mocked. “Ashamed you got beat up by a girl? I’ll just run back home to daddy shall I?”

“Shoulda left it alone Nicky,” said Malone. “This aint the old neighborhood. In this vault, I’m king of the castle, you hear me?” He puffed out his chest. “I ain’t letting some private dick shut us down now that I finally got a good thing goin’.”

Darla wrinkled up her nose. “I told you we shoulda just killed him!” she screeched. “But then you had to get all sentimental. All that stupid crap about the old times.

Malone huffed at her. “Darla, I’m handling this! Skinny Malone’s always got things under control.”

“Oh yeah?” she barked. “Then what are these other two doing here? Valentine must have brought them here to rub us all out!”

Cassidy stepped towards the woman. “Darla,” she said. “Listen to me. You have a home to go back to. A daddy who loves you. I lost my whole family. I’d give anything to have them back. You don’t want to throw your whole life away with gangsters!”

Darla stared at her. The little girl with the wide blue eyes and odd colored hair faced her fearlessly. Most people were afraid of her. She’d worked hard to earn that reputation, especially among Malone’s crew.

“Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?” she barked.

“I’m no one,” said Cassidy. “Just a person who woke up one day and everything I knew and loved was gone. Family is everything. If you have a family, go back to them. Your daddy is so worried about you that he paid Mr. Valentine to come find you.”

Darla’s face fell. “Daddy did that? Is it true? You didn’t come here to kill us?”

Nick shook his head. “He’s beside himself with worry. He knows it can’t come to a good end if you hang out with guys like this, Darla. What do you say? Turn around and go home where you belong.”

Cassidy saw a woman’s coat and bag lying on the ground. She picked them up and held them out to Darla.

“Come on, just go. Get away from this guy.”

Stunned, Darla took the items. No one had ever shown her any concern. Certainly not her self-indulgent, ego-centric mother, and she’d believed her father hadn’t even noticed she was missing. His life had always been focused on making money.

Darla knew she’d followed Malone and the crew to punish him, but it was too easy to fall into the lifestyle once she was in it. All she’d ever wanted was for her father to notice she even existed. And apparently he did. “Daddy misses me? I’ve gotten all messed up!”

She accepted the coat and bag from Cassidy and started walking.

“Darla!” called Malone, surprise in his voice. “Wh...where are you goin’?”

She stopped and turned back to him. “Home, Skinny. Where I should have stayed in the first place. You never kept your promises anyway, so goodbye.”

Exasperated, Malone turned to Nick. “Come on Nicky! You cost me my men, now you and your friends cost me my girl?”

“My friend here just did you a favor, Skinny,” said Nick. “You always did have bad taste in women. Now that she’s not around to feed that temper of yours maybe you’ll see sense and let us walk. You still owe me for two weeks in the hole.”

Malone snorted with disgust. “You smug, overconfident ass! Alright! You get to the count of ten. I still see your face after that I’m gunning all of you down. The dog too!”

Nick nodded and looked at Cassidy. “We better get out of here, fast.”

She sprinted forward, Deacon and Nick behind her. Dogmeat ran ahead and she hoped he was leading them to the exit.

“There’s a service ladder nearby,” called Nick. “It’ll get us to the surface.”

She let him pass her. She had no idea where Darla had gone, and she didn’t have time to worry about it.

They hit the surface and the warm sun felt so good. Cassidy sat down on the bumper of a derelict car. “That was more adventure than I planned for. Do you think Malone will come after you Mr. Valentine?” she asked.

“No, that’s not his way. If he wanted me dead he’d have done it already. As for you, you can just call me Nick. I owe you a big thank you. I’m guessing Ellie told you where I’d gone?”

She nodded.

“I think I owe her a raise,” said Nick. “Now you had some questions back there. Could see it in those baby blues of yours.”

Cassidy nodded. “Just...just what are you, Nick?”

“You really don’t know? I’m a synth. Synthetic man. All the parts, minus a few red blood cells.”

Cassidy looked confused. “I thought synths were supposed to look human.”

Nick lit another cigarette. “Only the most recent ones. I got built, I got old, I got tossed. Then I opened up that little agency in Diamond City and it turns out people have plenty of problems to solve. Now, you have a case you need help with. Let’s go back to my office. I can see there are still plenty of questions but I don’t want to be out here when it gets dark.”

He turned and walked off quickly, Cassidy, Deacon and Dogmeat following along.

Chapter Text

Cassidy explained to Nick as best she could the situation surrounding her little brother’s kidnapping. It was rough going at times. Both Nick and Ellie were so kind and patient with her, which brought her to tears more than once.

As she heard herself tell the story, she felt more and more hopeless about the situation. Her brother was probably gone. It was a vast city, a huge world and he could be anywhere with anyone.

Nick was puzzled by the taking of a child. An infant that would need a lot of care. It didn’t sound like an emotional situation: the child hadn’t been taken to satisfy some wealthy person’s need for a baby. Not with the comments that were made toward Cassidy about being “the backup”.

No, her family had been targeted for a reason. And since they had lived in prewar times, it made even less sense.

“There’s a lot of groups in the Commonwealth who take people,” said Nick. “Raiders, Super Mutants, the Gunners, and of course there’s the Institute.”

There it was again. That dreadful Institute. From what she’d heard so far, it would not be a good thing if they were involved. No one knew anything about them!

“You don’t think they are involved do you?” she asked, fear in her eyes.

She felt Deacon’s warm hand on her shoulder, and sighed softly as a feeling of comfort stole over her, but when she raised her hand to make contact with his, she felt him withdraw back to the edge of the shadows.

“Well, they’re the boogeyman of the Commonwealth,” said Nick. “Something goes wrong, everyone blames them. It’s easy to see why. Those early model synths of theirs strip whole towns for parts, killing everything in their way.” Nick turned around and opened a new pack of cigarettes. “Then you got the newer models, good as human, that infiltrate cities and pull strings from the shadows.”

“But why?” she asked. “Why do they do that?”

“No one knows why,” he said, lighting up the cigarette and taking a deep drag. “Don’t know what their plan is, or where they are. Not even me, and I’m a synth myself! A discarded prototype anyway.”

“You’re a prototype?” asked Cassidy, that explained his unique look.

“As far as I know. Never seen another synth like myself. I’m somewhere in between the all metal ones that are dumb as rocks, and the ones that are indistinguishable from humans.”

“But you’re from the Institute right? You can’t remember anything?” She was so close to having answers of some kind about the mysterious Institute, whom she still hoped wasn’t part of her little brother’s kidnapping.

“Some kind of security setting strips or blocks out those memories. And it’s not just me. Any synth that gets trashed, left behind or escapes the Institute has the same problem. Probably some kind of failsafe.”

Cassidy looked downcast. “But I need to find my little brother. I have to find Shaun.”

“Yes. We need to focus. Is there anything you can remember about the kidnappers?” asked Nick. “You said the man came right up to your pod. I know it’s hard, but if you can, close your eyes and see if you can describe him for me.”

Cassidy didn’t want to remember that ghastly moment, but this was the only way. She closed her eyes.

“His voice. I’ll never forget it. Low and rough. Like sandpaper across your face. He...he had a gun. He shot daddy! Then when he came up to me...his face. It was thin and he was balding. Small eyes, beady and so cruel. And the scar...across his left eye.”

Nick suddenly looked up at Ellie. She raised her eyebrows.  “Wait...you didn’t happen to hear the name Kellogg did you?”

Cassidy opened her eyes. “You know him? Do you think he has Shaun?”

Nick sighed. “I’m not sure. Might be a coincidence but…” He turned to Ellie. “What notes do we have about the Kellogg case? Got to be around here somewhere, see if you can find it.”

Ellie turned to a filing cabinet and pulled open a drawer. “The description matches. Bald head, raspy voice, deep scar. Had a reputation for dangerous mercenary work but no one knows who his employer is.”

“He had a house here in town right?  And he had a kid with him didn’t he?”

Ellie nodded and pulled up a few file folders. “Yeah, that’s right! The house was in the abandoned West Stands. The boy with him was around 10 years old.”

Cassidy slumped. “It’s not Shaun. My brother is a baby, not even a year old.”

“It’s a start,” said Nick. “The kid might be his own son, or another one he kidnapped. Either way, they both vanished a while back.”

“What do you mean?” asked Cassidy.

“Mayor’s secretary came to see me. Said Kellogg hadn’t paid the upkeep for his place. She wanted to know if he was coming back or not so she could put it back on the  market. At that point he’d been missing for two weeks and no one had seen either him or the boy.”

“Don’t people leave all the time?”

Nick nodded. “They sure do. But she wanted to make sure she didn’t sell a place that was still occupied. Was jumping the gun a bit, it’d only been two weeks but she wanted me to check it out. She had to wait at least a month anyway. I still have the key. Why don’t you and me take a walk over there and see if we can’t dig up some clue to where he went. Before someone else moves in.”

“Security doesn’t really go to that part of town,” said Ellie. “But you two should still be careful.”

Nick smiled at her. “I always am,” he said.

Cassidy stood up. “Deacon, are you coming?”

He shook his head. “Nah you’re safe here in DC. I’ll go and have something to eat. I’ll find you when it’s time for the next step,” said Deacon.

He receded into the shadows as Cassidy followed after Nick, Dogmeat at the detective’s heels.

“Odd fellow,” said the synth. “Likes the shadows.”

“He’s really nice though. He saved my life from raiders. I would have died.”

“Death is the easy option when it comes to raiders,” said Nick. “You’re lucky he happened by.”

“It’s scary out here,” said Cassidy softly.

“Takes some getting used to. You’ll be ok though. You walked into the lion’s den without a thought to help out a guy you didn’t know. I’d say you’re 10 shades of alright.”

Cassidy smiled. The strange looking detective with the glowing eyes seemed like a good person as well. “I’m glad I did,” she said.

Kellogg’s house was in the abandoned part of the Upper Stands. Nick explained that the well-to-do had claimed those parts of the city as their own. The west side had been the first to be settled, but over time they abandoned it for the opposite end. The price of a home in the west had dropped and it was mostly transients who rented it out for a month or two. People like Kellogg.

“Did you investigate his place before, Nick?” Cassidy asked.

“Honestly? I went in and just looked for signs of foul play. Didn’t find any. Like I said, this area is used by transients. I figured he just up and left. I told Geneva that and suggested she wait out the month.”

They reached a doorway, and Cassidy didn’t see how the Upper Stands looked any better than other places in the city.

Nick used his key, and they stepped inside. It was dark and he pulled a flashlight from his pocket. “I guess they turned the power off. Makes sense. Now, we need to find some candles or something and go through this place with a fine tooth comb.”

Cassidy found some and Nick lit them. “What are we looking for exactly?” She asked.

“Anything and everything. Clues as to who this man was. Who the kid was with him. Where they were from and where they could have gone.”

Cassidy took the flashlight. The place was small and sparsely furnished. There were empty bookshelves, an empty filing cabinet, one ruined sofa chair, an old desk and a metal shelf with a few boxes and cans of food. Scraps of paper littered the floor, but had nothing written on them. Not even so much as a doodle.

“There’s nothing here,” lamented Cassidy.

“There’s always something,” said Nick. “The devil’s in the details.”

He tapped on the walls. “Sounds hollow back here. I wonder if there’s something to that.” He wandered back and forth, tapping and searching.

Cassidy shone her light around and went to the desk. There was nothing in the drawers but as she bent to close the bottom, something caught her eye.

“Nick there’s something here under the desk. A button of some kind.”

“Good work. Go ahead and press it.”

She balked. “What if it’s a trap and we blow up?”

The synth shook his head. “Any booby traps would spring the moment anyone walked in the door. I’ve already been here remember? Nothing here to protect. It’s fine.”

Gingerly she pushed the little red button and waited for something cataclysmic to fall upon them. There was not a sound for a moment then the wall Nick had been tapping on suddenly began to move.

“Well what do you know,” he said and stepped through.

A tiny gloomy room met their eyes. One shelf, an armchair and an end table was all it contained. The little table had an ashtray, a few bullets, a pack of cigars and an empty bottle of beer.

“Hmm,” said Nick. “San Francisco Sunlights. Interesting brand. Won’t lead us anywhere on it’s own though.”

“Any suggestions, Nick?” asked Cassidy.

The detective thought about it. “What about your dog? A Commonwealth mutt like him could track a man’s scent for miles.”

Dogmeat barked and turned in an excited circle.

“He seems eager enough for the job! Why don’t you let him have a whiff of the cigars? See if he picks up on the trail.”

Cassidy picked up the box.

“Hey before you do that,” said Nick. “I figure maybe you feel you need to do this on your own. If so, I get it.”

She stopped. “No, I want you to come with me! I know I have Deacon but you’re the private eye!”

Nick looked pleased. “Alright! Let’s get that bastard.”

She looked insecure. “I’m...I’m pretty scared of what might be out there.”

“It can be intimidating,” said the synth. “But with the four of us, everything will be ok.”

Chapter Text

Outside, Cassidy held the cigars out to the Shepherd. “Dogmeat, can you get the scent boy?”

The dog nuzzled the box then barked and danced around her. “You’ve got something? Ok good boy! Show me!”

He turned and ran off down the walkway. She followed him down to the main thoroughfare. “Deacon!” she called out, hoping he was within earshot. “We’re going!”

She didn’t see him anywhere, and Dogmeat was on the run. He’d stop and wait for her every now and then but he was motivated to keep going.

They followed him up the ramp and out of the city, into The Fens. Dogmeat didn’t stop and led them down the ruins of a road.

“Dogmeat!” called Cassidy. “Wait! I only have two legs and they’re tired!”

Dogmeat stopped and barked as she leaned against the remains of a car to catch her breath. He trotted back to her with a soft whine and sat down.

She saw Deacon trailing back a ways, no longer dressed as a security guard but wearing non descript clothing and of course, his ever present sunglasses. She felt a sense of relief at seeing him there.

“I wonder how far we’re going to have to run,” said Cassidy. “I’m not that great at running.”

“Gotta work on that stamina,” said Nick.

“Ew,” said Cassidy, but she stood up and pointed. “Ok Dogmeat let’s go!”

The dog trotted instead of galloping, letting Cassidy and her friends jog at an easier pace. She’d never been to this part of the area before, and wondered if she’d be able to find her way back to Diamond City if she ended up alone.

Dogmeat veered off the road. A small, dirty pond appeared, a tree stump and crate next to it. He barked.

“Looks like he found something,” said Nick.

The remains of a cigar sat crushed out in the ashtray. An opened can of Cram lay on the ground with an empty beer bottle.

Nick sniffed the cigar. “San Fransisco Sunlights,” he said. “Unique brand. Imported from out west, so it comes at a heavy price. Our man here had expensive tastes.”

He let Dogmeat have a sniff as well and the dog took off up the road again.

Cassidy needed to stop. She called to the dog and he came trotting back. Putting down her pack she dug up a container of water.

“I forget sometimes,” said Nick. “That humans need to rest, eat and drink. Could use the reminder every now and then.”

“Deacon,” said Cassidy as he joined them. “You need some water too, here.”

He shook his head. “I got some on me. Not going to take yours, Charmer.”

In the bright sunlight, Cassidy noticed that his hair was an auburn color and his skin was slightly tanned. He obviously spent a considerable amount of time outside. She went and stood beside him.

“Are you ok Deeks?” she asked.

“Yeah, sure am. It’s all good.” He smiled at her for a moment and she shyly smiled back.

She has a big heart , he thought. She cares.

He’s so handsome, Cassidy thought. I love his smile.

Following a dog through all manner of terrain was not the easiest thing she’d ever done. She had to rest frequently and needed to ration her water as it began to run out.

“I wish I was a synth!” she exclaimed, staring up at the rock face that Dogmeat had just scaled.

“No you don’t,” said Nick. “Well at least not one like me.”

“Well I learned people have face reconstruction,” said Cassidy. “Maybe they have brain swaps too and my brain can be put in a synth body so I won’t get tired and hungry and irritated anymore.”

“You know,” said Nick. “That’s actually a thing. But it’s risky and you’ll still get irritated as a synth. Believe me. You’re just fine the way you are.”

Cassidy grinned and looked at him with appreciation.

Scaling the rock wall wasn’t too bad with Deacon and Nick helping her.

“What if that kid with Kellogg was my brother?” she asked suddenly. “What if this all happened 10 years ago, and Shaun isn’t a baby anymore? What if he doesn’t know anything about me and daddy and mom and he won’t want to come home with me!”

Fear flooded her features and she sat down hard on a fallen log. “There’s a whole bunch of things I’m missing, I can feel it. I mean it feels like it all happened in a few hours but it’s been more than 200 years!”

Feelings overwhelmed her and her mind spun out of control.  She covered her face with her hands. Deacon crouched down in front of her and pulled her hands from her face, holding them gently.

“Hey Charmer,” he said softly. “One thing at a time, ok? First we have to find Shaun. Then we deal with whatever we find. I get it, it might not turn out how you hope and that’s scary. But you’re not alone. Ok?”

Cassidy nodded, seeing herself in his mirrored lenses. Her hair was disheveled and coming loose from her ponytail. There was a smear of dirt across her cheek which she reached up and tried to rub away.

Deacon opened his pack and handed her his water. She shook her head. “No, I have my own.”

“I’m used to being out here, you’re not. Now drink it, Charmer.”

She took the water and drank as little as she could before handing it back to him. She reached up and pulled her ponytail tighter but it didn’t help too much. The rest of the day might make an even bigger mess of it.

“Want me to fix that?” asked Deacon.

Her eyes lit up and she nodded.

He stood up and pulled the elastic out as carefully as he could, then smoothed her hair with his hands and did his best to make a neat ponytail for her. “I’m still no good at this,” he said.

Cassidy reached up and felt it. “It’s perfect,” she said and gave him a smile.

His breath caught in his throat for a moment. There was something so special about her. She was beautiful, and had a mix of vulnerability and strength that he found very appealing. Gently, Deacon tucked a shorter stray strand of hair behind her ear and let his fingers rest on her jaw a moment.

Letting her get under your skin? The voice in his mind echoed. A voice that wasn’t his own. Oh, this will be fun, indeed. He silenced it, as he had many times before, but withdrew his hand and stepped back from her but his eyes didn’t leave her face.

“We good to go?” asked Nick, bringing him back to reality.

Cassidy nodded and stood up. Dogmeat turned and ran.

They entered the area around a collapsed building. It was made of concrete and stood alone in what appeared to be an empty field. There was a dead raider rotting in a stairwell, and around it, some bloody bits of rag.

Dogmeat barked and pawed at them.

“Looks like our mark had a scuffle with this raider,” said Deacon. “Pretty impressive pup you have there.”

Cassidy didn’t want to touch the rags. She toed them with her boot. “Find him, boy!” she encouraged.

Dogmeat took off up the stairs and back into the field, everyone in pursuit.

They broke away from any semblance of a road and traipsed through shrubbery and wild grass with fallen logs and rocks. Cassidy was envious of Nick, who jogged and leaped the obstacles without effort.

“I’m sure now,” she panted. “I want to be a synth! Makes me focused on finding the Railroad once I get Shaun home and daddy back on his feet.”

“We’re going to talk about all of that,” said Nick. “First things first though. Kellogg.”

Dogmeat led them to the remains of a wire fence. More bloody bandages were littered around it. After a quick sniff, the dog bounded off again.

A large imposing structure came into view, along with several other buildings. It was a town of some sort from the looks of it. The building in the center had a military feel to it.

“Fort Hagen,” said Nick, verifying Cassidy’s thought.

“Was it from the army?” she asked. “I don’t remember daddy ever mentioning it.”

“Definitely military,” answered Nick. “Don’t know much about it’s history but there’s supposedly some command center underground. Did some early warnings before the bombs fell.”

“The only warnings we got were these weird sirens then vertibirds shouting at us from speakers. Didn’t even have time to pack any bags or anything. Soldiers were on the ground herding us all to the Vault.”

“Everyone in your community was signed up with Vault- Tec?” asked Deacon.

“No. Some of my neighbors thought it was stupid and didn’t want to. Mom said that they didn’t believe what happened would actually happen.”

“So what did they do when they got to the Vault, if they weren’t signed up?” asked Nick.

Cassidy shrugged in discomfort. “The soldiers asked if they were on the list and if they weren’t they were told they couldn’t come in. Mr. Davidson, the man who sold us our space was told to leave and he wasn’t on the list either. He was a nice man. They should have let him in. We got told to stand on this platform thing and then...it went down and that’s when the bomb fell. Everything shook and there was this push of air sort of, then it went dark and we were underground.”

She stopped and hugged herself, staring at the ground, the terror of that moment washing over her.

She saw a shadow and Nick’s patent leather shoes, then felt his good hand on her shoulder.

“Alright Cassidy. No more. I’m a foolish old synth and should have thought before I spoke. It’s over now. You’re still here and we’re going to find out what happened to your brother.”

She was quiet for a few minutes until the emotions settled down. “Thanks Nick.”

“Anytime doll,” he said kindly.

Deacon stood a few feet away, wanting to take the vulnerable young woman into his arms. No one deserved to go through what she had and a surge of protectiveness went through him. He felt a sharp pang inside as he watched her and Nick, and his feelings surprised him.

All this time you’ve managed to keep away from others, he told himself. Don’t mess that up now. She doesn’t need your brand of bullshit in her life. But Cassidy was awakening a side of him he thought dormant and hoped dead. He was relieved when they started moving again and he could put his mind elsewhere.

They continued to move closer to Fort Hagen. There was no obvious way in. Dogmeat circled and barked, running this way and that. He had the scent, but had no way of following it.

“We need to find a way in. I’m betting this is where he’s holed up,” said Nick.

They searched carefully for any sort of opening or even a secret door but found none.

“Hey!” called Deacon. “Think I’m onto something up here!”

He’d found some scaffolding and climbed up. Nick and Cassidy found their way to him.

“Be careful,” said Deacon. “There are turrets up here. Active ones. So someone is protecting something. Charmer, can you take them out with your rifle?”

Cassidy nodded and crept forward. Scoping out the turrets, she started with one. It took several shots to blow it up. As it did so, it’s tracking was shared with the others and a hail of bullets rained down on the group.

“Well shit!” exclaimed Deacon.

“No problem,” said Cassidy and waited until the machines had to cool down and reload their magazines. There were four in all, and they were each reduced to smoldering ruins by the time she was done.

“Yeah you definitely need to meet MacCready,” said Deacon. “I’m already seeing how much fun you two will have.”

Cassidy smiled shyly. “He’s not as good as me though,” she said. “I’m the best.”

Deacon laughed. “You sounds just like him.”

She wrinkled up her nose. “But he’s wrong!”

Deacon shrugged with a lopsided grin. “Have to see how that turns out.”

He crept out slowly and carefully, but when no more shots rang out he stood up straight and the others followed. Dogmeat walked along behind, sniffing the ground.

A raised platform with two metal doors stood on the edge of one of the buildings. It was crossed with chains and a large rusty padlock.

“This could be an entrance,” said Deacon. “Seen these kinds of things before. Just have to get rid of the padlock. Charmer, this would be a good one for you to practice on.”

Nick stepped forward. “I can handle this nice and quick like.”

“Charmer doesn’t know how to deal with locks. She needs to learn how and why not now?”

Nick shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He stepped back as Deacon handed Cassidy a bobby pin. He began to explain what she was to do. He was patient and quiet while she fiddled with the lock, but she eventually got it.

“Good job. Not bad for your first one. It gets easier, trust me.” Deacon smiled at her and she pulled the padlock off and threw it aside.

As they opened up the doors, a ladder that descended into darkness met their eyes.

“Let me go first,” said Nick. “Then you Cassidy, and Deacon can bring up the rear. Close quarters in there so have your close range weapons ready.”

Cassidy pulled out her pistol and put away her rifle. “Dogmeat you can’t go down a ladder. You’ll have to wait here and be a good boy, ok?”

The dog gave a soft bark and lay down.

As Nick descended then called out to her, anxiety suddenly flooded her mind. She froze.

“It’s alright Charmer,” said Deacon softly. “I got your back.”

She nodded and headed into the gaping darkness.

Chapter Text

From the moment they entered and moved forward it became apparent that it would not be a quick and easy mission.

Laser fire erupted around them. Deacon grabbed Cassidy’s shoulder and pulled her down as Nick ducked behind a mound of debris.

“Hello?” said an electronic voice. “I know you’re there.”

Cassidy looked around the corner and the color drained from her face as Nick opened fire.

“What is that?!” she cried, horrified. “Deacon!”

A metallic skeletal construct strode towards them weilding a strange looking rifle. Red beams shot from it in Nick’s direction but the detective fired a well aimed shot straight into it’s head. Sparks shot out and the thing stuttered and fell to its knees, then toppled over backwards.

“That’s a Gen 1 synth,” said Nick. “The creepiest of the Institute’s creations. Be mindful of that laser fire. Those shots will hurt like hell.”

Cassidy squeezed her eyes shut and more laser fire erupted. Strange synthesized voices called out, some of them threatening.

“Take them down, Charmer. You’ll feel better.”

“I can’t!” she cried. “They’re freaking me out!”

She felt Deacon’s arms on her shoulders as he gave her a shake. “Snap out of it!” he exclaimed. “If the Institute has your brother you’re gonna have to get used to them, now shoot!”

Cassidy’s eyes were wide with horror but she pulled out her rifle again. Knowing what she would see through her scope, she sought out a synth and took aim. It was indeed satisfying to see the thing crumple to the ground in a shower of arcing electricity.

One by one the synths fell.

“They might look creepy,” said Deacon. “But they don’t rot and stink so you can grab components off them. That stuff sells for quite a bit if you don’t need them for anything.”

He pulled her to her feet. What was left of the interior of the room was a shambles like every other building Cassidy had come across.

“Where do we go?” she asked.

“Well, we came in from the roof,” answered Nick, moving forward. “So the only way for us is down.”

And down they went. Room by room, level by level, synth by synth.

By the third floor, the Gen 1’s had given way to the Gen 2’s. Cassidy hadn’t liked those either, but they at least looked more human. They had eyes like Nicks, glowing pinpoints of yellow light. But there was actually something behind Nick’s eyes, something the others didn’t have: the spark of life.

“Synths are getting more defensive,” said Nick. “That means someone’s got something they’re trying to prevent us from finding. I’m betting that someone is Kellogg.”

Nick was right.

As they descended yet further, a voice crackled on an intercom.

“Well, if it isn’t my old friend the frozen TV dinner,” it said, the voice gravelly and monotone. “Last time we met you were cozying up to the peas and apple cobbler.”

Cassidy stared at Nick, then Deacon. “Th...that’s him!” she croaked. “That’s the voice I heard in the vault!”

Nick nodded. “Good. We’re on the right track. Let’s keep moving.”

Cassidy chewed on her lower lip but didn’t budge. “I don’t think I can deal with him again,” she said sorrowfully. “He...he was evil!”

“That he is,” agreed Nick. “But he’s the only lead we have right now in finding your brother. You want to take a break? We can do that.”

Cassidy’s eyes scanned all around them nervously but then she shook her head. “No, we need...we need to find him.”

There were electrical traps in the ceiling of the next room, and a fork of lightning hit Deacon and he stumbled back with a cry.

“Deacon!” cried Cassidy and moved towards him.

“No! Stay there!” he called out but it was too late. A fork found her too, a sharp stinging pain that sucked her breath away. She fell to her knees with a yelp, and Nick ran at her, grabbing and dragging her into the hallway.

The trap petered out and Cassidy crawled to Deacon.

“Deeks, are you ok? What was that?”

“Tesla trap,” he said closing his eyes. “Nasty things. We have to be more careful. I’m usually better about this kind of thing. I’ll be fine though. How about you?”

She rubbed her arms. “My hairs are all standing up,” she said, then turned to Nick.

“Thank you. I’d have died if you hadn’t dragged me away.”

“No thanks needed. That’s why I’m here, doll. We need to take a breather after that. Get ourselves focused.”

Cassidy pulled her pack off and dug into it. “I got gumdrops. Anyone want any?”

Nick shook his head.

“That’s all you, Charmer,” said Deacon, leaning his head back against the wall.

The gumdrops weren’t quite as she remembered them but they were still pretty decent. She wasn’t sure if they were 200 years old or if they’d been made more recently but they were alright and the sugar gave her an energy boost.

Deacon got to his feet first, then held his hand out for  Cassidy.

“Look,” she said, pointing. “An elevator.”

“Let’s hope it’s working,” said Nick.

He pushed the call button and heard the whirring of the mechanisms. The door chimed and opened up. Nick stepped inside and jumped up and down. “Feels solid enough, come on in,” he said.

Cassidy wasn’t too sure, but what choice did she have?

The elevator bumped and ground down, opening out onto the basement. There were lights, not the brightest, but better than complete darkness.

“I’m sorry your house has been a wreck for 200 years,” crackled Kellogg’s voice. “But I don’t need a roommate. Leave.”

Cassidy tried to ignore him. They moved onwards, through more rooms and climbed over more debris. The synth attacks had stopped. She questioned that.

“He’s either got the rest of them wherever he is,” said Nick. “Or he didn’t figure on us getting this far. Let’s hope it’s the latter.”

“Huh,” said Kellogg. “I never expected you to come knocking on my door. Gave you 50/50 odds of making it to Diamond City. After that, figured the Commonwealth would chew you up like jerky.”

A long corridor faced them, and suddenly a barrage of laser fire bounced all around them.

“Shit!” cried Deacon. “Knew it was too quiet!”

These synths were tougher than the others. Kellogg was keeping his best close by. Cassidy was unnerved by his voice, and the cruel things he said. But what did she expect? The man was evil.

When the last synth lay smouldering, they pushed onwards.

“Look. You’re pissed off, I get it, I do,” said Kellogg. “But whatever you hope to accomplish in here? It’s not gonna go your way.”

A turret on the ceiling opened fire, hitting Nick. He grunted and went down on one knee, weapon pointed upwards. He fired several times in succession until the turret came apart in a shower of metal.

“Nick! Are you ok?” Cassidy called out.

The detective slowly got to his feet. “I’ll be fine. But this is why my skin looks like grated cheese.”

Cassidy had to smile at that. Nothing seemed to phase Nick Valentine.

Kellogg seemed to enjoy taunting her. “You got guts and determination, and that’s admirable. But you’re in over your head in ways you can’t possibly comprehend.”

Nick moved on, Cassidy and Deacon following him.

“It’s not too late,” said Kellogg. “Stop. Turn around and leave. You have that option. Not a lot of people can say that.”

They entered a room, which was in better repair than the rest. There was a strange mix of old and decrepit furniture and fixtures along with clean white and technological looking items.

“This has got to be from the Institute,” said Nick.

A clean bed sat in a corner, a desk, a computer, a shelf with strange looking items. All of it a sharp contrast to everything else Cassidy had seen.

“Ok. You made it,” said Kellogg. “I’m just up ahead. My synths are standing down. Let’s talk.”

Cassidy looked at Deacon. “I don’t believe him,” she said.

“Good,” he replied. “Never believe anything anyone says, even me. Especially me, actually.”

“That’s a jaded way to live,” said Nick.

“Living and surviving are two different things, Nick,” answered Deacon.

“Expect anything,” said Nick to Cassidy.

A metal door in front of them opened onto another long corridor. A few stairs led up into a large caged in room. It was dimly lit, a few Gen 2 synths in armor standing by.

“And there she is,” said Kellogg. “The most resilient woman in the Commonwealth.”

Cassidy walked forward slowly. The man from her nightmares stood beside an old console, looking exactly like he had that horrible day.

“You’ve come a long way. Let’s hear it,” he said.

“Where’s my brother? Where’s Shaun?” she asked shakily.

Kellogg snorted. “Kid, I’m just a puppet like you. My stage is a little bigger, that’s all.”

She frowned at his strange words. “What?”

“Shaun’s a good kid. So maybe he’s not quite a baby anymore. But he’s doing great. Only...he’s not here. He’s with the people pulling the strings.” Kellogg’s face betrayed no emotion. Even his eyes were flat and dead.

Cassidy decided right then that she hated him. She’d never hated anyone in her life. She’d always strived to understand others and why they behaved as they did. But the man standing before her didn’t deserve that compassion. It would be wasted on an emotionless husk like him.

“Goddammit!” she cried. “You...you mercenary fucker! Where is my little brother?”

Kellogg blinked. “What’s the cliche? So close but yet so far away? That’s Shaun.” A despicable imitation of a smile pulled the corners of his mouth up. “But don’t worry. You’ll die knowing he’s safe, and happy. A bit older than you expected but ah well. At least he’s in a loving home. The Institute.”

Cassidy gasped, her jaw dropping. She looked at Deacon, whose lips were set in a tight line. She could see the tension in his jaw. Although she had known the possibility existed, to actually hear that her brother was in a place no one could reach was like an icy hand squeezing her heart.

“So where is it? The Institute? How do I get there?”

Kellogg shook his head. “Haven’t you been paying attention? You don’t find the Institute. The Institute finds you.” He sighed. “You open the closet, it’s just a closet. You can never find the monster that hides inside. Not until it jumps out at you.”

Cassidy couldn’t breathe. She felt as though the walls were closing in on her. Her legs felt rubbery and she was sure if she tried to move, she’d slide to the ground as though her bones had disappeared.

Kellogg smirked slightly. “But I think we’ve been talking long enough. We both know how this has to end. So...you ready?”

She heard Deacon inhale sharply beside her.

She heard the scrape of Nick’s metal hand against his gun.

Kellogg reached to his side and unclipped his own weapon.

Cassidy slowly raised her rifle.

“Daddy’s little girl,” said Kellogg. There was no condescension in his voice. No mocking tone, no emotion.

She was daddy’s girl. She had been loved and cared for. She’d had a whole life planned out that ended in one fell swoop. And this man had contributed to that.

“Yes,” she said shakily. “That’s who I am. And I’m proud of it.”

“You’re growing up too fast,” said Nate. “Didn’t you have braids and bows last week?”

“Daddy! That was when I was 8. I’m 16 now. Teach me to drive I’ve been waiting forever!”

“You won’t pull that trigger, little girl,” said Kellogg, his dead eyes boring into her.

“You’re not a little girl anymore,” said Nate smiling at her in her graduation cap and gown. “I’m so proud of you.There’s nothing you can’t do. It’s a big world, you can do a lot of good in it.”

Cassidy took a long, slow, deep breath.

“I must have done something great somewhere to deserve a daughter like you Cassie,” said Nate.

“Nope,” she said laughing. “I’m the one who got lucky. I got the best daddy in the world!”

She heard the click as Kellogg released the safety on his gun.

Daddy’s little girl.

She pulled the trigger.

Chapter Text

Cassidy stood staring down at Kellogg’s body, her expression impassive. She was aware of Deacon and Nick making quick work of the few synths around them but she didn’t move.

“Check the body,” said Nick to Deacon. “I’ll have a go at this terminal here. There has to be clues.”

Deacon looked at Cassidy. “Hey Charmer, you ok?”

She didn’t move or look up at him, she just stared at the body.

“I’m going to see if he had anything on him ok?” asked Deacon. “Might be something.”

Cassidy still didn’t move. Deacon grunted with revulsion as he dug through Kellogg’s pockets. He had nothing. As he stood up, something caught his eye.

“Woah, what’s this? Nick, come over here!”

The detective looked up. “One second.”

Deacon held up a small bloody artefact. It looked half biological and half tech. “This was in his head. Any idea what it is?”

Nick pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and did his best to clean the object. He held it in his metallic hand and examined it. “Looks like a cybernetic bit to me. Not a traditional synth component.”

He bent over and poked through the pulpy mess that was the remains of the mercenary’s head. “Two more objects here. This man was heavily augmented but not a synth. I’ll take these with me. Got a feeling they might come in handy. You never know.” He wrapped them up in the handkerchief and put them in his pocket.

He faced Cassidy. “That took a lot of guts, doll,” he said. “He wasn’t going to give in. It was him or you. You did good.”

Deacon tilted her chin up. “Charmer, it’s going to be ok. I promise.”

“Deacon,” warned Nick with a slight shake of his head.

“No, it is. Yeah this is a setback but it’ll work out.” His thumb ran across her jawline.

Cassidy seemed to come back to life. She blinked, then a look of sorrow filled her eyes. “How? How can anything ever be ok again? My little brother is gone! If it was raiders or something then we had a chance. But the Institute? Everyone’s been saying how horrific they are! It’s like Hell rose up and just swallowed Shaun! This is so far from ok!”

“Hey,” said Deacon and allowed himself to step closer to her. Placing his hands on the side of her face he gave her a small smile. “Like I said this is just a bump in the road.”

Her expression softened. “Deacon,” she said and rested one hand over his.

“That would be me,” said the spy.

“Stay with me, ok?” she half begged, half asked and he felt his heart turn to liquid and slide down into his stomach.

“You betcha Charmer,” he said tenderly, smiling.

How sweet, said the voice in his head. Shall I take wagers on how long it will take for you to destroy her, too?

He squeezed his eyes shut, glad that the glasses hid the action. He dropped his hands, but Cassidy didn’t let go of his.

“I say we blow this joint,” said Nick. “Old Dogmeat’s probably pretty bored out there. I saw an elevator on the other end of the hall. Hopefully it’s working.”

He led the way, and Cassidy followed along, with Deacon picking up the rear. He grabbed some of the components off the fallen synths on their way out.

Night had fallen.

Cassidy took a deep breath of the outside air.

Deacon looked up. “What in the hell…”

Nick and Cassidy followed his gaze. Moving slowly through the sky, covered in lights, was the strangest dirigible they had ever seen. It was massive. Vertibirds hovered around it, twitching on davits before being released and flying off.

A loud voice emanated from the flying hulk. “People of the Commonwealth,” it boomed. “Do not interfere. Our intentions are peaceful. We are the Brotherhood of Steel.”

Cassidy felt a chill go through her. Nothing about the flying fortress looked peaceful.

“Deep into that darkness peering,” said Nick ominously. “Long I stood there, wondering, fearing.”

“Doubting, dreaming,” continued Cassidy. She knew the words well. “Dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.”

“Would you look at that,” breathed Deacon incredulously. “Damn.”

“Who are they?” asked Cassidy. “They don’t look very peaceful.”

“Flying that ship into the heart of the Commonwealth,” answered Nick. “Mark my words, the Brotherhood’s here to start a war.”

Cassidy hugged herself. “More war. Haven’t people learned? War destroyed the world and they’re still at it?”

Nick nodded. “Seems to be the nature of the beast. War never changes. Always someone else who wants what others have.”

“Back in Capital Wasteland the Brotherhood was a force to be reckoned with,”said Deacon. “But them plus a giant ship…” his eyes followed the zeppelin as it floated past, repeating it’s message. “Yeah nothing about this spells out peace to me either.”

“They’re from the Capital Wasteland? What is that? Where is that?” asked Cassidy.

Deacon nodded. “I’ve never seen them here before so I’m guessing so. The Capital Wasteland is what you probably called Washington in your time. Where your president was. Let’s get out of here. We need to find a place to lay low for the night.”

Nick agreed. “We could go back inside, to Kellogg’s room.”

“No!” cried Cassidy. “I don’t want to go near anything to do with him! I don’t care what’s out here, I’m not going back in there!” She turned and walked as quickly as she dared in the other direction.

She didn’t know where they had come out, but a sharp bark to her left let her know that Dogmeat had found her. She fell to her knees and hugged the dog.

“Let’s go home, boy,” she whispered shakily. “I want to go home.”

“It’s nighttime, we need to wait til daylight,” said Deacon.

A wracking sob erupted from Cassidy’s throat. She’d tried so hard to keep her composure but it was all too much. Kellogg, the Institute, and now a flying warship. Not to mention a little brother who was no closer to being found.

She felt torn apart. “No! I want to go home!”

Deacon reached out and gently tried to help her stand. “Let’s go sit somewhere,” he suggested softly.

Cassidy roughly pulled away from him. “Get away Deacon! I want to go home!” she sobbed miserably. “Nick, I want to go home!”

Nick pulled Deacon aside. “You know where she lives?”

“No, but I’m sure she’ll tell me,” he lied, knowing exactly where Cassidy had come from.

“Alright, I think it might be best if you get her home if it’s not far. I want to work some angles on this case, talk to some people. I’ll be in my office when she’s ready to come talk about things. Been a rough ride for the kid so far.”

Deacon nodded. “She’s not thinking straight right now. Nighttime...not a good idea to travel.”

Nick looked over at Cassidy. “Might have to put your foot down then. I’ll get moving back to DC. Catch up with you two later.”

Nick went to Cassidy and crouched down. “Look doll, I know you’ve had a huge shock. But you need to listen to Deacon here. He’s got a good head on his shoulders. I’m going to keep working on your case. When you’re ready you come on back to Diamond City, to my office, ok?”

Tearfully Cassidy nodded. “Thank you, Nick.”

He patted her shoulder and rose, walking to the edge of the building and dropping off.

Deacon sat down and leaned against a wall. “We’re not doing the nighttime thing, Charmer. The whole point is to stay alive to find your brother and help your dad right? Can’t do much of that if you’ve been eaten by something out there. At first light you show me where home is.”

She sniffled but nodded, still hugging Dogmeat.

“You wanted to know about the Capital Wastes? I’ll tell you about it,” Deacon said softly.

She looked so unhappy and tired, he felt awful for her.

As he started talking, Cassidy listened quietly, hiccuping occasionally. She liked the sound of his voice and the way he spoke. There was so much animation to his stories, and she could envision what he was talking about.

She grew tired, and crawled over to where he was sitting. Curling up beside him, she lay down and put her head on his thigh, looking up at him.

He stopped short, gazing down at her. I chose your name well, he thought. You’re nothing if not completely charming.

He rested his hand on her shoulder, then moved to her head, stroking her hair gently. He kept talking until he felt her breathing even out. Dogmeat lay down behind her, facing out, ever alert.

Eventually Deacon himself grew tired and closed his eyes, the sound of gunfire and shouting way off in the distance a strange lullaby.

Chapter Text

Morning came but didn’t bring the sun. It brought that sickly green sky with the horrible sound. The wind picked up and added an eerie haunting chorus as it whipped around the buildings. Cassidy had shifted in her sleep so her back was against Deacon’s legs and her head was on Dogmeat’s hip.  The sounds awoke her.

“Oh no, this thing again!” she cried.

Deacon got to his feet quickly. “You’re not going to like this but we’re going back inside until it passes.”

She shook her head. “No way, I’m not going back in there!”

He reached down and pulled her to her feet, not as gently as he would have preferred. She gave a surprised yelp as he dragged her the few feet towards the door they had exited the night before.

He shoved her inside ahead of him, Dogmeat squeezing in at the same time.

“ That is a radstorm!” he exclaimed. “Did you bring any Rad-X or Radaway?”

She blinked at him, confused. “Radstorm?”

She looked haggard. Her eyes were still swollen from crying, and her hair had seen better days.

“Have you been exposed to one of these before?” asked Deacon, taking her pack and digging through it.

Cassidy nodded. “When I left home, just before you saved me. What is it? What does it do?”

He pulled up a bloodbag with a rusty colored liquid. Attached to it by surgical tape was a slim sharp needle.

“Sturges packed my bag,” said Cassidy.” He said he put everything I need in there. What is that stuff?”

Deacon looked at her. “Did he give you any instructions how to use it? And when? I’m thinking not.”

Cassidy shook her head, staring at the item.

“Great,” muttered Deacon. “Please tell me you aren’t afraid of needles.”

Cassidy wrinkled up her nose. “I’m not excited about them but they don’t bug me. I give blood all the time. Well, I used to.”

Deacon sighed with relief. “Give me your arm, Charmer. You need a 5 minute treatment with this.”

She held out her arm and he rolled up her sleeve. As gently as he could, Deacon inserted the needle and stood up, holding the bag. “Alright. This is RadAway. Actually was invented before the war, but it was used by the military mostly. It’s a chem that bonds to any radiation in your system and flushes it out in the urine. Thing is, it can have side effects. They won’t be fun. Nausea, diarrhea, stomach pains and/or headaches. But that’s still better than radiation sickness, right?”

Cassidy looked up at him, her eyes huge. “It burns,” she said.

Deacon nodded. “Yeah it does. As for Radstorms, they flat out suck. We see less of them now then at first. Radiation from the Glowing Sea gets pushed into another area. The lightning spikes the radiation too which doesn’t help. Just have to get indoors and take this joyful stuff. The good thing is the storms don’t last out an hour.”

Cassidy drew her knees up and rested her arms and head on them. “I hate this world,” she whispered. Dogmeat whined softly and rested his muzzle on the back of her neck. She remained that way until Deacon removed the needle from her arm and taped it back onto the bag. He put pressure on the puncture for a few moments.

“My turn,” he said, pulling the chem from his own pack. “I’ll show you how to do it. So you can help others and yourself if you’re alone. It’s not hard.”

She watched and listened as he instructed her. “Shouldn’t we be sterilizing our skin before doing this?” she asked.

“Unless your friend put some alcohol in your pack, we just do what we have to. I didn’t see any in there. Never share your needle though. That’s the only rule.”

Cassidy made a face, but did her best to get the needle into his skin. She stood up and held the bag as he had done for her, letting gravity do it’s job.

“What’s the Glowing Sea?” she asked.

“It’s the spot where the bomb fell here,” answered Deacon. “It’s hell on earth as I hear it. Never went near it myself and never want to. It’s in the southwest I think.”

“Everything is hell on earth now,” sighed Cassidy.

“Can you believe there’s people who live there?”

“In the Glowing Sea?” she asked, aghast.

“Mhm. Children of Atom.”

“Who’s Adam?”

Deacon shook his head. “Not Adam as in the name, but atom. Like the atom bomb. They believe the radiation is holy or something. Don’t know much about them but they’re pretty messed up.”

“I’m not going there,” said Cassidy firmly. “That’s not for me.”

Deacon laughed softly. “Me either Charmer. Me either.”

When his treatment had completed, he put his RadAway back in his pack and leaned back against the wall, crossing his ankles. Cassidy sat on the other side and did the same. No one spoke for a few minutes.

“Deacon?” asked Cassidy.

“Whatcha need?” he answered amiably.

“Why do you always wear those sunglasses? Is there something wrong with your eyes? Are you gross under there? Are you Night of the Ghouls under there? Like all bloody veins and pus?”

Deacon let out a long, slow exhale. He lowered his voice ominously. “Something like that,” he said, expecting her to scoff at him. It surprised him when she didn’t.

Cassidy swallowed. “Well, can I see? I might as well since we’re together all the time.”

He made a show of staring right at her. “I don’t think so. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

She sucked in her lips and gripped Dogmeat but said nothing further.

They waited out the radstorm until Deacon decided it was safe to move out. When they did, the sun was out and it was nice. No evidence that anything awful had happened except for the wet ground.

“So there’s another chem, it’s called Rad-X,” said Deacon. “It’s a pill. You take it if you know you’re going to be hitting up some areas with high radiation. Can’t predict radstorms, but always keep Rad-X with you. It’s the bottle in your pack. Your friend did a good job packing you up. He just forgot the details of actually telling you how to use it and when.”

“You can teach me what I need to know,” she said. “Can you fix my hair again?”

“I make a mess of it every time, Charmer.”

“I don’t mind. It’s nicer when someone else does it for me. Makes things feel normal for a few seconds.”

Deacon couldn’t argue that. After the day she’d had, he wanted to do something positive for her. So he pulled the elastic out, gently hand combed her soft burgundy hair and put it back into it’s ponytail. This time he did a better job and when she reached up to feel it, she smiled.

“Thank you! You do it better than daddy. He always missed some and he even used a brush!”

“Your dad sounds like he was a good guy,” said Deacon as they walked along.

She frowned. “He IS a good man. He IS. I’m excited for him to meet you. He’ll be so grateful for how you’re taking care of me. You said you’d help me find a doctor for him. You still are, right?”

Deacon nodded. “I keep my promises,” he said.

“When?”

“I’ll let you know. Just need to chill for a bit, ok? Work through what you’ve experienced so far.”

Cassidy didn’t want to. She wanted to forget about the horror of Kellogg and the strange synths. The despair she felt about the mysterious Institute was weighing on her. Deacon was silent, which made it worse. There were no distractions from her own mind.

So close but yet so far. That’s Shaun.

How could the Institute pull off all those murders and kidnappings and yet no one ever figured out who or where they were?

You don’t see the monster until it jumps out at you.

It was like they were omnipotent. Everywhere, all the time. How could anyone fight an enemy they couldn’t even see?

She felt tears prickle her eyes. Remembering her little brother, how tiny he’d been at first and how he began to grow up into this adorable little man. She would tell him stories of the fun things they’d do together, how she’d always be his big sister and have his back no matter what.

It was Cassidy who’d received his very first smile.

It was Cassidy he reached for the moment she walked in the door.

Now he had grown into a little boy, without his parents or big sister who loved him. Other people had taught him to walk and talk and run. Others had watched all his firsts. People who didn’t know anything about him and who could never have loved him the way his family did.

How will I find you Shaun?

She sobbed as quietly as she could but said nothing, just kept on walking.

Deacon saw the battle raging inside Cassidy’s heart as she stoically walked along. He was staying quiet on purpose. She needed to deal with the situation. Needed to feel it, mold it into a call to action.

He saw so much potential in her. She was a mix of a girl and a woman. Strong as hell although she couldn’t feel it yet. But soft and gentle, like the women he’d seen in the holovids and old magazines. She was then, and she was now. He’d never met anyone like her in his life. Old emotions long buried stirred inside him and he twitched in discomfort.

She’s just a kid , he told himself yet again. No, she’s not. She’s a woman. And she needs someone to care for her.

Impulsively, Deacon reached out and took Cassidy’s hand. Her skin was so warm and soft and she squeezed him, then held tight. There was a neediness in her touch, and he suddenly wanted to fill that void in her.

You think she’ll want you once she knows what you are? That voice again. I can’t wait to see her horror when she finds out.

Deacon let go of Cassidy’s hand and slipped his arm around her waist instead, holding her against him.

Fuck off, he told it.

They walked on in silence.

Chapter Text

It was late afternoon when they passed the old Red Rocket diner. When the north bridge over the river came into view, Cassidy lit up. She grabbed Deacon’s hand and broke into a run, dragging him along.

Sturges was hammering a plate on the side of a house when he heard his name being called.

“Derrick!” she cried and dropped Deacon’s hand, running to him.

He caught her in a strong embrace and spun her around. “You’re alive! We were all so worried about you!” He looked up and saw Deacon. “That the doctor? You find someone to get your daddy up and at ‘em?”

Cassidy shook her head. “No, that’s Deacon!” Lowering her voice to a whisper she added, “he’s a spy. And I am too now. We’re working together to find my brother. I have a code name. It’s Charmer.”

Sturges put on a serious face and nodded. “I get it. Good name too, it suits you. You best go and see Mama Murphy. Without the sight to guide her she’s been a wreck. She’s in the cantina I think.”

Cassidy went back to Deacon and pulled him to Sturges. “Deacon, this is Derrick Sturges. Derrick, this is Deacon.”

They gave each other a fist bump.

“Thanks for looking after her,” said Sturges. “It’s good to meet you.”

“Likewise,” said Deacon, and Cassidy dragged him forward before the men could exchange another word.

She burst into the cantina. “Mama Murphy!” she called out. “I’m home!”

The old lady appeared around a corner, and her face brightened. “Hey kid! Mama Murphy’s as good as her word. No more chems! But without them I couldn’t see you. I was worried.”

“I made a friend. Actually two but the other one went home. This is Deacon. Deacon, this is Mama Murphy.”

Mama Murphy affixed her gaze on him, tilting her head slightly. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said. “Deacon.” She slowly spoke his name almost as an afterthought.

“Same,” answered Deacon. He felt slightly unnerved by her pale blue eyes and the way she seemed to be looking right through him, into those parts he kept hidden from the world.

You know, said the voice in his head. Others can see what you try so hard to hide.

Deacon squeezed his eyes shut for a moment to quell the notion that the old lady could indeed see his sins. Yet again he was glad that he had the sunglasses to hide behind.

Keep telling yourself those glasses work, it said, but he ignored it.

Cassidy asked Mama Murphy where Preston and the Longs were.

“Marcy and Jun are in the greenhouse,” she answered. “Preston, well you know him. He’s probably on patrol somewhere.”

Cassidy took Deacon’s hand again and led him down the road, pointing out each house and whose it was. She chattered happily about the work they had done and how far they’d come already. She shared her big plans for Sanctuary Hills. Deacon loved seeing her so joyful. The fear of the outside world had dissipated the moment she returned home.

Preston was overjoyed to see her.

“I feared the worst. Figured you’d have been to the city and back long before. We didn’t have much time to talk about things, make some real plans. I’m glad things worked out and you’re back.”

On meeting Deacon he shook his hand. “Have you thought about joining the Minutemen? Man like you with your experience out there would be a great asset to us.”

Deacon shook his head. “I’m not a military kind of guy. In fact I hate using guns to begin with. Necessary evil I do as little as possible.”

“There are other jobs in the Minutemen besides shooting. We need all kinds of people,” encouraged Preston.

“I gotta be honest with you,” said Deacon. “I never really much cared for the Minutemen. The idea sounds great. But you give small men big power and sometimes you'll pay for it.”

Preston sighed. “That is true. I admit the Minutemen have had a real rough time and forgotten just what they are supposed to stand for. They didn’t live up to the original ideals. But that’s over now. I’m looking to rebuild it. With good people who care.”

Deacon said nothing further, and Preston changed the subject. “Cassidy, I’m guessing you have a whole lot of things to share with us. We can do that over dinner tonight.”

Cassidy agreed, and went to find the Longs. As she expected, Marcy couldn’t care less that she’d returned, but Jun appeared happy to see her.

“I’m glad you’re back,” he said.

“How are you doing?” Cassidy asked him.

“Some days are harder than others, but even the hard days get easier than the one before.”

“I’m hoping I feel that way soon too. I’m no closer to finding my little brother but I was told he’s alive.”

Marcy snorted. “Well the fact that he’s alive makes your situation a whole lot better than others. Quit griping about it.”

Cassidy frowned at her. “The man who told me that was a psychotic mercenary. So no, I don’t know for sure. My little brother might be dead too. I’m sorry you lost your son. But your pain doesn’t make mine or anyone else’s less!”

She walked away. As she did so she heard Jun.

“Marcy you have to stop this. She’s done right by us. These people all have. She didn’t kill Kyle. The raiders did. You...you need to stop punishing everyone.”

“I don’t want to talk about it Jun,” she barked.

Deacon shook his head. “Hostile. She always like that?”

Cassidy nodded. “Since we first met. Her heart’s broken and she acts out. I just hope in time she sees it’s not doing her any good. We’re all in this together.”

She brought Deacon to her house and showed him her father’s bedroom.

“You can stay in here. Sanctuary has running water now so you can have a bath or a shower in my bathroom. Derrick Sturges is a miracle worker. He can fix anything .”

Deacon sat down on the bed. It had been a long time since he’d slept anywhere as comfortable. Sanctuary was a strange little place, everything looked like it was in decent repair. As if the real world could be held at bay there. Cassidy seemed to belong in it, caught between the old world and the new. It would be easy to live in such a suspension of reality. Comforting, really.

“You guys did a good job with this place,” he said.

“It’s home. Everyone needs a home to feel safe in. With people who care about them. That’s why I like the Minutemen. They help everyone who asks.”

Deacon unlaced his boots and removed his jacket and overshirt. “The idea of that shower sounds pretty great right now, Charmer,” he said. “So is this dinner like the old world? People get dressed up for it?”

Cassidy shook her head. “No we don’t do that but washing up is expected. You can wash your gross stuff in the laundry. It’s across from the bathroom.” She pointed to the dresser. “You can wear anything you want from in there.”

“Wow, you sure have everything here,” said Deacon. “And it’s nicer than Diamond City.”

She beamed at the compliment. “Thanks Deek. I’m going to go have a shower at Derrick’s so we can both be ready for dinner. I’ll see if Mama Murphy needs help to get it ready.”

Dinner was prepared by the old lady, but served by Codsworth in the Cantina. Everyone gathered around and filled their plates. Deacon was amazed by the variety they had.

“The greenhouse grows all the vegetables and grains we need,” said Cassidy. “Marcy is awesome at caring for plants.”

Marcy gave Cassidy a sidelong glance but said nothing.

“We have a brahmin for milk and we trade our vegetables for meats. The other food too.”

“So who goes for scavving runs?” asked Deacon.

“We don’t have enough people for that,” said Preston. “I’m hoping to set up a beacon to attract more settlers here, but there’s been opposition.” He looked at Marcy.

“Because more people means more trouble!” she snipped. “We need to keep our mouths shut about this place or god knows what will come walking in!”

Preston sighed. “We’ll be talking about this again later,” he said.

“This food sure is good,” said Deacon. “Thanks for sharing it.”

“Wasn’t my idea,” said Marcy coldly.

Deacon ignored her and turned to Sturges. “So you’re the guy who packed Charm...err Cassidy up. Good job. Saved her a few times.”

“That’s good to know,” answered the mechanic with a smile. “I’m glad you helped her out. Real glad.” He smiled warmly at Cassidy who smiled right back.

“So kid,” said Mama Murphy. “Tell us about what happened out there.”

Cassidy started her story with the radiation storm and they talked about that for a bit. Then she went on to meeting Nick Valentine and the rest of her adventure. The story grew dark and heavy when it came to Kellogg.

“I shot his face off,” said Cassidy. “He was a horrible, evil man!”

“Never expected to hear that,” said Preston. “There was no other way?”

“It was him or me,” said Cassidy. “And I don’t regret it.”

“Every death is regrettable,” said Preston. “But in this case I understand it.”

“So what now, kid? What will you do?” asked Mama Murphy.

“The detective has asked us to come back to see him,” said Deacon. “He’s going to keep on top of this case.”

“I want to find the Railroad,” said Cassidy. “Maybe they can help too.”

“The Railroad?” asked Preston. “Those guys are something else. They only care about synths though.”

“They’re crazy,” said Marcy. “Telling everyone machines are alive. Are they going to liberate toasters and washing machines next?”

“Gen 3 synths are alive,” said Deacon. “I say anything that can ask for it’s freedom should have it. So if your toaster starts talking about emancipation then yeah it’s alive enough to count.”

“Ridiculous,” scoffed Marcy.

“Anyone who fights back against the Institute are good,” said Cassidy. “ They are the bad guys.”

“Speaking of bad guys,” said Sturges. “Y’all see that big flying thing last night?”

“Brotherhood of Steel,” said Deacon. “We saw it alright.”

“Is it only me or does nothing about that thing say peace?”

“We got that same feeling,” said Cassidy. “It was really intimidating. I wonder where they went.”

“Don’t know,” Preston replied. “Eventually word will get here to us from the traders. Had quite a few vertibirds flying around it. Didn’t even think any were operational anymore.”

Deacon shared his experiences from the Capital Wasteland. “So I don’t know. They were a pretty serious deal back then. And now with this ship at their disposal we’re right to worry. Have to see how things pan out.”

The meal was completed and everyone pitched in to clean up, even Deacon.

“Want to look at some car mags?” Sturges asked Cassidy. “Bought some from Carla.”

She grinned. “I’d love that. Can Deacon come?”

Sturges glanced at the other man, then back at her. “If he wants.”

Deacon however, didn’t. “I’m really tired Charmer. I need to get a good night’s rest that doesn’t involve leaning against the side of a concrete building.”

“Ok,” she said and followed Sturges to his house.

She curled up under a blanket as he stoked the fire in the fireplace.

“I missed having you here,” he said. “The others, they don’t get my love of cars. I’d give anything to have lived back then. What was it like, driving?”

“It was awesome! Especially on the highways. You got to go faster on those. In a convertible with the top down it was the best feeling ever. I can’t believe I’m never going to experience that again,” she said sadly.

“Well the highways I can’t do anything about but I’m gonna make another car and this time it will have an engine. I’m gonna take you driving, Cassidy.”

She grinned. “The only road I’ve seen that’s even halfway decent is the one outside. Pretty boring drive.”

“We’ll find other places. It’s my new life’s mission.”

He handed her a magazine. “This one’s got some pages missing but the rest is in good shape.”

“Do you like Deacon?” she asked suddenly after a few minutes of leafing through the magazine.

“Well I only just met him,” answered Sturges. “He seems like a hep cat. Why?”

She shrugged. “He’s...kind of amazing. So smart. And when he smiles he just makes me all quivery inside. Like when I’d see Evan at the diner. From my world...”

“You’re saying you like him, huh?” Sturges tried to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

“Yeah. I do,” smiled Cassidy. “A lot. Like more than I even liked Evan. Deacon is wonderful and kind. I like being with him. I feel safe with him.”

Sturges leafed through the magazine he was holding. “He know how you feel?”

She sighed. “We only just met but I think he knows. I mean I hold his hand all the time. He’s really shy. And he told me he’s all messed up which is why he has to wear those sunglasses all the time.”

Sturges nodded. “Yeah I was wondering about that. Seemed rude to ask though. Figured he has something going on.”

“One day he’ll show me I’m sure. I wonder how gross it is.”

“Can’t be that bad since he’s not blind,” Sturges pointed out.

“Maybe he’s got cybernetics to let him see! He could be like half robot or something. That would be cool!”

Sturges laughed. “If you say so. Me, I’d rather have some real eyes to look into.”

His expression softened as he looked over at her. She became accutely aware of her own heartbeat at that moment and glanced at her magazine to break the gaze, then looked back at him.

“Did you love someone when you lived in Quincy?”

“Love? No. But there was a girl I hung out with back then.” He gave a slight smile. “My family and friends didn’t like her much though.”

“My daddy didn’t like Evan either. But we never got to hang out much before the bombs. Did your girl die in the massacre? I’m sorry if that’s bad to ask. You can ignore the question.”

“No, she left with her mom long before that. To be honest I didn’t miss her that much. I had my garage and the people of Quincy to look after. They needed me.”

“I never loved anyone in the romantic sense before,” said Cassidy. “I might have eventually had it bad for Evan but daddy doesn’t like rockabillies. I’m not sure if you know what that is...”

“Oh I know what that is,” Sturges grinned. “My good friends the Atom Cats are rockabillies. Best folks I ever knew.”

She made a face. “Try telling daddy that. He left me a tape and he even says to stay away from them. He thinks they’re gangsters but that isn’t true is it.”

Sturges shook his head. “Just people who like a certain kind of music and look. Maybe some are gangsters but that’s not because of the music. It’s because of themselves, you know?”

She nodded. “That’s how I see it. Daddy is just always worrying about me. He wants me to be ok in life. He said that a lot of times. I just wish he could try and open his mind a bit more about different people. He’s going to hate all the raiders now.”

Sturges got up and went to a cabinet. He came back with a few holotapes. “Here. Play these in that pip-boy thing some time. Just don’t lose ‘em. They’re all I got.”

“Holovids? There’s no scary ones is there?”

He shook his head. “Not holovids. Just play them. I promise there isn’t anything scary in there.”

Her pip-boy was back in her room. She was curious about the holos and wanted to play them.

“I think I might go play them now. I should get some sleep anyway. We can look at the mags another night, is that ok?”

Sturges was disappointed to see her go, but he smiled.

“Sure thing. I had fun just talking with you Cassidy. Enjoy the holos.”

Cassidy looked in on Deacon, who was sleeping peacefully on his back, sunglasses still on his face. She shook her head with a grin and went into her own room and shut the door.

Dogmeat was lying on his rug on the floor and looked up, his tail tip twitching. “Hey boy. Time to sleep, right?”

Curling up in her bed, she loaded the first holotape into the pip-boy.

A lively, guitar heavy song began to play.

Well I've led an evil life, so they say
But I'll outrun the devil on judgement day, I said
Move, hot-rod, move man!
Move, hot-rod, move man!
Move hot-rod, move me on down the the line, oh yeah!

Cassidy giggled with surprise and delight. “Derrick is a rockabilly!”

Dogmeat’s tail thumped on the ground.

“Daddy’s going to have a hard time with that one, I think.”

Cassidy listened with much amusement to the rest of the holotape. By the last few songs she’d drifted off and didn’t wake up until almost noon the following day.

Chapter Text

Deacon was patiently waiting for her in the living room, reading a book. He looked up with a smile.

“I’m a sucker for these old world books,” he said. “It must have been something living back then.”

Cassidy sat down beside him. “What’s mine is yours,” she said. “I’m kind of surprised so many books survived the bombs. Well daddy did bring some of them to the cellar. That’s the ones on the shelf there.” She pointed. “And yes, it was amazing before the bombs fell. It wasn’t perfect but it feels like it was looking back on it.”

“The way of it,” said Deacon. “The good old days aren’t that while you’re living them. You only feel that way after. Sort of means we should be living in the moment more, you know?”

I love the way he thinks , thought Cassidy.

“Very true. If I’d known this would all happen…”

“No, don’t do that,” he said softly. “You get mired in the past and you can’t move forward. No point thinking about what if . It’s...it’s just a bad scene.”

“You’ve lost people, haven’t you,” Cassidy said equally as quiet. “People you loved.”

Deacon seemed to be looking at her and it bothered her that she couldn’t see his eyes. She felt unbalanced being unable to read his expressions and emotions.

“You can’t live in this world too long and not have that happen,” he replied. “It’s a sad truth. Which is why we have to soak up the here and now. Not worry about tomorrow so much.”

Cassidy fiddled with the zipper on her jacket. “Who was it?” she asked carefully.

Deacon took a long slow breath in. “Charmer….I’m not ready to get into that. Not yet.”

She nodded. “Ok.”

The silence hung like a wet blanket and Cassidy didn’t like the way it made her feel. She wanted to reach out and take his hand and just hold it. To let him know she was there and willing to listen and provide whatever comfort she could. But there seemed to be an invisible sort of wall between them and she didn’t have the experience to understand how to get past it. So she changed the subject.

“Are you hungry? As you can see I have a pretty awesome kitchen. I’m still learning how to cook things though. I’ll make you something simple if you’d like.”

Deacon smiled slightly. “I stole a Mutfruit from the basket. Hope that’s ok.”

“Of course it is. Like I said, what’s mine is yours. This is your home now too, Deacon.”

Something changed in his body language. He stiffened up and seemed to close off. “Nah Charmer this is your home. You and your pals there. I’m just passing through.”

“Everyone needs a home, Deacon. Even a wanderer like you. Eventually we all get tired of roaming. If living here with me isn’t your thing we can fix up one of the other houses. I told you Sanctuary isn’t close to being done yet.”

She expected a response. Any kind really. Positive or negative. But Deacon fell silent. He turned his head away and stared at the cold fireplace unmoving.

Why do I keep saying the wrong thing to him? Thought Cassidy. I just want to get to know him better.

“Forget I mentioned it, ok?” she said softly, going to the kitchen and opening the fridge. It still amazed her how Sturges had been able to get power and running water to the settlement. It almost felt normal again.

“I’ll make you a sandwich. I’m really proud of the bread we’ve been able to make due to the Razorgrain plants we bought. Soon ours will grow up too. I’ve got some slices of beef here too. Or Brahmin, whatever you call it now.”

She hummed quietly as she made up two plates, complete with slices of Mutfruit.

She turned around, and Deacon was gone.

“Deeks?” she called out. “Deacon! I’ve got your lunch!”

Puzzled, she stepped out the side door and looked in the yard. Nothing.

She stepped out onto her front step and looked around. Deacon was nowhere in sight.

“This isn’t funny Deacon, come on. Don’t waste food!”

Preston wandered past on his patrol. “What’s up Cassidy? You look bothered.”

“I am. I made lunch for Deacon and he totally just vanished. Have you seen him?”

Preston shook his head. “Did he know you were doing that? Maybe he went to the greenhouse.”

“He knew. I don’t like wasting food. Do you want it?”

Preston smiled. “That’s nice of you but I just ate not 10 minutes ago so I’m pretty full up. Don’t want to be too full walking around. Thanks though.”

Cassidy sighed and walked the few feet to Sturges’ house. He was in his living room digging through a toolbox.

“Derrick, do you want a beef sandwich?”

He turned around then stood up, a big smile on his face.

“Hey Cassidy! You listen to those holotapes?”

She nodded and couldn’t help but smile. “You’re a rockabilly!”

“I sure am. Been one since I was knee high to a Brahmin.”

“That’s so cool. I loved the holos. Why don’t you dress or talk like one? Can’t find any good clothing?”

Sturges took the plate she offered him and sat down after indicating she do the same. “I’ve got a great outfit from the Atom Cats garage. But with the kind of work I do, these dingy old overalls work better. As for the talk, well people who aren’t like us don’t understand what we’re saying. And I lived in Quincy a long time.”

“Well,” said Cassidy. “I’ll understand what you say, and I hope one day I get to see you wearing those clothes.”

He grinned widely. “Now that you say you want to see it, you can bet your bottom dollar I will. Where’s that fella of yours?”

Cassidy made a face. “I have no idea. I made that sandwich for him then I turn around and he’s vanished.”

“That’s mighty rude of him. His loss, my gain.”

They ate together, then Sturges handed her back the plate. She went home and rinsed them off then put them away.

She felt Dogmeat bump her with his muzzle. Scratching behind his ears, Cassidy looked around her living room, then wandered to her bedroom and sat on the bed.

She couldn’t understand what she’d said to make Deacon just up and leave like that. She’d invited him to become a part of Sanctuary. He liked the place. He’d been impressed with it. What on earth could be so wrong about asking him to stay? Having his own house or at least a room was leagues better than anything she’d seen out in the Commonwealth. Diamond City was a wreck and she wouldn’t want to live there under any circumstances.

She wanted Deacon to live at Sanctuary. She liked him a lot. He made her feel giddy. Hearing his voice, seeing him smile, just being around him filled her with happiness. He was handsome, kind and funny. Even her daddy wouldn’t be able to find fault with him.

Deacon had promised he’d help her with her daddy. Surely he wouldn’t break that promise!

Cassidy sat for awhile just thinking, then made her way outside to the Cantina. Mama Murphy was washing dishes.

“Hey kid,” she said with a smile. “You don’t look too happy.”

Cassidy sat down on a crate. “Mama, how do you know what to say to someone when you like them? I mean as in someone you are falling in love with.”

“I’m not sure I get what you mean,” said the old lady.

“I keep messing up everything I say. It’s like I say the wrong thing all the time and I can’t figure out what exactly I’m doing.” She sighed heavily.

“The wrong thing?”

“Yes like inviting someone to live here at Sanctuary. It’s an amazing place and we need more people, like Preston said.”

Mama Murphy rinsed off the last dish and dried her hands. “Are you talking about that fellow you brought with you? Deacon? Some people just can’t settle down. The thought of it makes them go squirrely in the head.”

“People are complicated,” lamented Cassidy.

“Yeah kid, they are. I’m thinking more so now than in your time. If you like someone you just have to come out and tell them. That’s always the best idea and the one thing people just never seem to do.”

Cassidy exhaled loudly. “Just like in TV shows,” she said and left the Cantina.

And sometimes, thought Mama Murphy, you pick the wrong person to fall in love with.

There was nothing she felt like doing but there was work to be done so Cassidy grabbed a tool box and went to one of the unfinished houses and got to work on shoring it up. She didn’t want to think that Deacon had gone away for good. Not before he made good on his promise.

She didn’t know how to talk to him. She wanted to ask questions about him and his life, to get to know him better. But it seemed that Deacon just didn’t like talking about that. Was it because he was a spy or because something horrible had happened to him?

She took her frustrations out on the bent and dented wall panels with her hammer.

“Hey Charmer,” Deacon said.

She’d been working for over an hour. She turned around and faced him.

Fuck, I’m an asshole , he thought. That sadness in her eyes is because of me.

The voice in his head laughed. And so it begins, so it begins.

“Derrick ate your lunch,” she said simply and turned back to her work.

“Look, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. Things just get heavy sometimes and I need to bug out. I’m working on that. I’ve just never had a partner before.”

She shrugged and kept on working, afraid of saying the wrong thing again.

“I get it,” she said eventually. “Grab a hammer and try and straighten out the panelling over there beside the window.”

Deacon did as he was asked, and wordlessly worked alongside her until Mama Murphy rang the dinner bell.

“I’m going home to wash up first,” said Cassidy.

“Good plan,” answered Deacon and followed her.

She washed up quickly and changed her clothing.

She was about to step out the door when Deacon stopped her. He pulled her to him, holding her against his chest for a moment. “I’m sorry, Charmer. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

She clung to him, breathing in his scent and listening to his heartbeat. “It’s ok, Deeks. It’s fine.”

Everyone except her and Deacon were seated and preparing to eat.

Codsworth placed the big plate of fish on the table with taters and fresh buns. Razorgrain bread was different than the bread in the old world. It was grittier but Cassidy thought it tasted far better. Mama Murphy liked to work in the kitchen and she did a great job.

“I need to learn from you,” said Cassidy to her. “I’m not really great at cooking.”

“It’s mostly just experimenting and hoping. I have to say since I’ve been off the chems I have a lot more patience for things.”

Preston began to discuss, once again, their need for more people and how he had asked Sturges to construct a homing beacon, identifying Sanctuary as a safe place.

Marcy complained as usual, but this time Preston put his foot down. He said he’d be interviewing anyone who came in and assigning them a task. Everyone would be required to pull their weight and help out in whatever capacity they could.

“I...I think that’s great,” said Jun.

“More hands make for light work,” added Sturges.

“We’ll get Sanctuary rebuilt quicker,” said Cassidy with a smile. “And new friends are always a good thing!”

Marcy just scowled and refused to speak the rest of the meal, which suited everyone just fine.

After dinner, Cassidy wandered to the greenhouse while Preston, Deacon and Sturges played a round of cards.

Marcy was transplanting some flowers into an old bathtub.

“Marcy,” she said. “I know you’re scared of raiders coming in.”

“Get lost, I don’t need you chattering in my ear,” said the other woman harshly.

“I won’t and you’re going to listen whether you like it or not. I get it. You’re scared. You thought you were safe in Quincy. You built a life there. Then you were betrayed by the very strangers who came to help you. It was a horrific situation. I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

“No one asked you for your opinion. Leave me alone.”

Cassidy shook her head. “I won’t. I’ve been leaving you alone, everyone has, and it’s hurting you, not helping you. We’re all in this together. Even old Mama Murphy is doing her part. Would Kyle want you to live this way?”

Marcy turned around, her lips tight and eyes narrowed. “You don’t get to talk about Kyle! Ever!”

Tears welled up in Cassidy’s eyes. “Kyle’s dead, Marcy. But you and Jun are still alive. You have each other, and you have all of us. You have the memory of Kyle to honor by living your best life. For him.”

Marcy’s harsh expression suddenly melted into one of deep guilt and sorrow. She sank to her knees in the soft tilled earth.

“He...he loved the Minutemen. Followed them around like a puppy from the day they arrived. I said to Jun it wasn’t a good idea, but he thought it was good for Kyle to see them in action.”

Cassidy went down on her knees beside Marcy.

“The first attack, it happened when he was out and about with one of them,” said Marcy. “He got shot in the leg but it didn’t hit the bone. We thought he got lucky. Jun gave him some chems. Did you know we owned the drugstore in Quincy? Well Jun ran it. We had everything there!”

Cassidy nodded and waited for her to continue.

A tear rolled down Marcy’s cheek. “We did everything we could for Kyle. But I was a teacher. I barely used a gun, ever. Jun too. We aren’t soldiers. We were villagers just...just surviving. Well...the second attack. It was bad. Preston said we had to run, to get out of Quincy. We tried but Kyle...Kyle was hurt so bad and he couldn’t move quick enough. So we hid in one of the houses. He was crying, scared and in pain. Jun gave him some more chems. We didn’t have any stimpaks because the Minutemen took them all.”

Marcy began to sob then, covering her face with her earth covered hands. “I was holding Kyle, holding him like a baby. I could feel the blood from his wound flowing all over me. Then he stopped crying. I thought the chems had helped him. Sturges showed up and was yelling at us to move, everyone left was leaving. There was screaming and gun and laser fire everywhere, and Kyle….he was so still. Then I heard Jun crying and he was on his knees beside me and shaking Kyle. Then Sturges bent down and listened to Kyle’s chest...he was saying something and he had tears in his eyes…”

Cassidy couldn’t stop her own tears from rolling down her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around Marcy and held tightly to her while the other woman sobbed.

“He...he was dead. My little boy...he was dead! He bled to death in my arms and there was nothing I could do! He was lying there, on the dirty floor, covered in blood. He was only 8 years old! And Sturges was dragging me away, and there was Preston and so many others. Everyone was so scared. We ran. We ran because we had to and I just wanted to take Kyle with us, so we could bury him properly. But no one would allow it. A body would slow us down and those raiders they wanted us dead. My baby boy...he’s still there in that house, unburied! Those raiders, are still there, living in our homes! After they destroyed our lives!”

Cassidy gave a sorrowful sob. She couldn’t even begin to imagine the horrors the Quincy survivors had faced. There had been so many of them and one by one they were murdered until there were only 5.

Anger, that began as an ember, began to burn white hot in Cassidy.

“I hate this world,” she said in low tones. “I hate raiders. I’m going to kill them, Marcy. Every single one of them in Quincy, I’m going to kill or die trying. I know it can’t ever bring your son back, but I’ll send them all to hell where they belong.”

She was shaking with rage. She couldn’t believe the ferocity of her emotions but she was determined to put it to work.

She would ask Deacon to help her and if he wouldn’t then she would do it alone, come what may.

Chapter Text

“It’s going to take more than just the two of us,” said Deacon. “I know, you’re great with that rifle but those are Gunners. They’re the worst of the worst...or the best of the worst.”

“I don’t want to recruit an army and get people killed,” argued Cassidy. “I’m good and so are you. It’s easier for the two of us to do this then to organize a bunch of people we don’t even know.”

Deacon shook his head. “I hear you. But I’m not talking about an army. One guy. That mercenary I know, MacCready. He used to run with the Gunners.”

Cassidy almost laughed. “Wait. Ok...so you’re suggesting we go do this with a mercenary, don’t they just go where the most money is...to a whole town filled with his former gang? How is this even any kind of good idea?” She walked to the other end of the kitchen and back. “Deacon, the Gunners managed to turn one of the Minutemen’s own veterans against them!”

Deacon watched her as she sat down opposite him. She was irritated, and he understood the feeling all too well. “I admit, it sounds bad. But MacCready isn’t your average mercenary. Sure he makes a living taking contracts but he left the Gunners. He said they were too psycho even for him. He’s good, Charmer. As good as you possibly. Better than me for sure. Let’s just talk to him. You can scope him out. See what you think.”

She fiddled with her clothing, then got up and paced the room in agitation. “I just want to go do this. While I’m still pissed off enough.”

“That’s how you get killed,” said Deacon calmly. “Letting emotions take over, forgetting to think logically. This isn’t a walk in the park, Charmer. You’re talking about a whole town of killers. That have been doing it far longer than you have. And fear? Fear is a good thing. It keeps you on your toes, keeps you alive. You need to have a good dose of fear over this.”

She frowned at him. “They’re what’s wrong with this world!” she cried.

“I’m not disagreeing,” said Deacon evenly. “But we need to have a better plan than guns a-blazin’ to pull this off.”

“Fine,” she grunted. “We’ll go talk to whatever his name is. Where is he? Close by? What if he isn’t there?”

“MacCready. He’s in Goodneighbor. Close by? Not really. But we go there prepared and we can hit Quincy right after if you want to.”

“You’ll come with me then? Just the two of us?” she asked.

“I said I would. Life is overrated anyway, right?” He tried to lighten the situation but it didn’t work. Neither of them could feel anything but the weight of the plan.

He was impressed with Cassidy. She’d been so afraid of everything from the moment he met her...and it was someone else’s story that lit the fire in her he knew she had.

Derrick Sturges appeared in the doorway. “Cassidy,” he said, deep concern in his eyes. “Marcy told me what you said...that’s a suicide mission. You need to ice this plan. I was there! I know how it was. You can’t do this!”

“Derrick, I have to,” Cassidy said. “For Marcy and Jun and everyone who was murdered there. It’s the right thing to do.”

“If you die, who’s going to save your little brother and your daddy?”

“I’m not going to die,” she said firmly. “Neither is Deacon or MacCready. If he comes with us.”

Sturges frowned. “Who’s MacCready?”

“Someone Deacon knows who’s a dead eye, like me.”

Sturges ran his hand through his thick dark hair. “The three of you against an entire town of Gunners. Not to mention how many more might have shown up. They could be living on that roadway thing too. They surround you and you’re on a trip for biscuits!”

Cassidy nodded. “The overpass. I know. You told me the whole story remember? Well I’m going to right that wrong. And bury Kyle so his parents can visit his grave one day. Plus I want to see that car you built.”

Sturges stared at her. “You can’t be making a joke at a time like this,” he said. “You’re not on the stick here, Cassidy.”

“It’s not a joke,” said Cassidy. “I’m taking this very seriously. I know how good I am. I know what I’m capable of.”

“Yeah I get that you might be good,” said Sturges. “I saw you take down that Deathclaw in Concord. But this goes way beyond that. What you’re proposing to do...Cassidy that’s just crazy!”

“The Deathclaw and all those raiders!” she exclaimed.

“Listen to me,” said Sturges. He reached out and took her hands and led her to the couch, pulling her to sit beside him. He was aware of Deacon staring at him, but he didn’t care. Why the man wasn’t trying to talk her out of it was beyond him.

“In most fights, you have a bit of play. One on one, two on one, hell even three on one, there’s a way you can get it done. This isn’t that kind of deal. These Gunners...if they see you they’ll put you down before you know what’s what. You shoot one and the rest will have their sights on you in a heartbeat. There’s no hiding from a setup like this. There’s no leeway. None.”

Cassidy looked into Sturges’ earnest dark eyes. She was touched by his concern. “I know what I’m getting into,” she said softly. “And I believe it’s the right thing to do.”

He sighed deeply and squeezed her hands before letting them go. “Ok I want to ask you to do something for me, before you go to Quincy. Say you will.”

“Ok, what is it.”

“Remember my friends the Atom Cats I told you about?”

She nodded.

“I’m going to make you a holotape. I want you to go to them first. I’ll put their location on your pip-boy. It’s right near Quincy. You give Zeke my tape. They’re going to help you out.”

Cassidy shook her head. “Derrick, no. I’m not willing to endanger people I don’t know! Bad enough I have to risk Deacon and this other guy...but no. No one else.”

“You know Deacon but you don’t know this other guy,” pointed out Sturges. “You’re taking him on someone else’s say-so. Well let my friends help you, on my say-so. They have power armor. Crazy stuff that they mod up themselves. I don’t suppose you’d let me mod that suit you brought back from Concord, would you?” Sturges looked hopeful.

Cassidy shook her head. “I can’t use power armor and do what I need to do. It’s far too heavy and awkward and awful.”

“I figured as much. Well those guys and gals there, they’ll wear them and they’ll be pleased as hell to help you out.”

“Why?” she asked. “They don’t know me.”

“The raiders attack them often enough and try to steal their gear. They’re sick of them, believe me. They lost friends in Quincy too.”

“Ok Derrick. I’ll take your tape to Zeke at the Atom Cats.”

He gave a sigh of relief. “At least I can worry that little bit less, Cassidy. I’m no good in a fight or I’d be right there with you. But Zeke and the others, they can kick some ass.”

Sturges stood up and walked back to his house.

“He sure cares about you,” observed Deacon.

“We’re all in this together,” said Cassidy.

“That we are,” agreed Deacon. “What a hell of a story this is going to be if...well, when ...we get back.”

Chapter Text

Preparations took longer than Cassidy had accounted for. Deacon insisted on specific gear and weapons, and that meant waiting for Carla to show up.

They busied themselves with work on Sanctuary.

Cassidy noticed that Deacon stayed close to her, and he often touched her hair or her face and smiled frequently. She began feeling more of an attachment to him, and didn’t want him far from her.

However, he was still hesitant whenever she reached out to him first, so Cassidy tried to avoid doing that as much as possible. But it was hard. She was falling in love with him and wanted to hold him every moment. She hoped that he felt the same way, but his hot and cold nature confused her.

Preston took Deacon with him on patrol one morning, and Cassidy continued her work on the houses.

Marcy approached Cassidy as she rested in the shade of a tree and sipped a cool drink.

“You don’t have to do this,” she said. “I’m...me and Jun...we’re grateful that you even said you would do it. The thought.”

Cassidy gave her a wry smile. “I know I don’t have to. But it feels like its what has to happen. Ever since the idea came into my head, it’s felt right. Those raiders, they have to go. And really if we ignore them they’ll make a whole city out of that place then it really will take an army to remove them. I think me and Deacon and maybe that other guy have a chance.”

She explained the plan to Marcy, right down to Sturges’ request, and the other woman approved.

“I like those Atom Cats,” she said. “I brought Kyle there once to meet them. They were doing this poetry thing, and my son wrote a poem. It...it was the last trip we made together. Sturges used to go there frequently. Picked up power armor bits. I wonder if...if they know...about Kyle.”

Cassidy touched her arm. “I’ll make sure that they know.”

“Jun was right. You’ve done right by us. More than anyone ever had. And I was a downright evil towards you and everyone else. I owe a lot of apologies. Swallowing one’s pride is hard.”

“You don’t owe anyone, Marcy. We are all aware of what happened, and we all understand. We’re just so glad that you want to be a part of this family now.”

“I’m sorry, Cassidy. For how I was. And thank you. For what you’ve done for us. You’re just a kid and you’ve got more heart than anyone I’ve ever met. Even Preston.”

Cassidy smiled. “I’m so totally not a kid.”

“You’re how old, 17? 18?”

“Good guess. 18, maybe 19. The whole birthday thing I’m not sure of. Codsworth knows though.”

“I don’t think our calendars are the same as they used to be. After the bombs fell, people sort of went into survival mode. Managing dates was not on the list.”

Cassidy nodded. “That makes sense really. I don’t even want to imagine how it was right after. We were in the vault, asleep while the world moved on without us.”

“Where did the other survivors go?” asked Marcy curiously.

“Me and my family are the only ones,” said Cassidy. “The other cryopods malfunctioned and everyone else died. I think Kellogg kept ours working. I don’t know why. Probably the Institute had something to do with it. He called me the back up whatever that meant.”

“I’m sorry about your brother.”

“Me and Deacon will find a way to get him back. He promised me we would find Shaun and get help for my daddy. The doctor in Diamond City was so mean.”

Marcy nodded. “Doc Sun? He’s an ass. Refused to help Jun when he got sick one time. Wanted to sell me chems for him. I told him we had all the chems we needed but it was pointless unless we knew what he had. The ass refused to come out see him and Jun was just outside the gates.”

“Why be a doctor if you don’t want to help people!” exclaimed Cassidy.

“That’s what I said. As for Jun, he had some food poisoning from a mole rate pie we ate. Some travelling doctor happened to come past while he was sitting there, gave him a once over and said it was all good. Jun bounced back and we never ate molerat again, ever.”

Cassidy made a face. “I’d eat molerat over bloatfly anyday. I’d starve actually, before eating bloatfly. Food in this world is so revolting I don’t know how anyone survives for long.”

“Maybe it’s an acquired taste. But I won’t eat any of the insects either,” said Marcy.

Cassidy laughed. “I think I better take bloatfly stew off the menu then. Mama just makes whatever is on the list that she has ingredients for. Though I haven’t seen a single bloatfly meal yet.”

“We don’t have any hunters,” said Marcy. “Or scavvers.”

“We will though. You heard Preston. He’s determined.”

Cassidy nodded. “He’s right about it.”

“I’m scared about that. About...well you know,” said Marcy softly.

“I know you are. I am too. I think everyone feels wary about adding new people. But all of us...we were strangers to one another too not that long ago. And now we’re a family. I trust Preston’s judgement. He’ll only accept the right people.”

“I’ll probably keep our door locked though. For awhile.”

Cassidy nodded. “It’s your home. You do what you feel right doing.”

Sanctuary had one basic rule: don’t be an asshole.

You kept your doors open and everyone was welcome to come and go and eat what they wanted and sit and relax where they pleased. They were welcome to use anyone’s bathroom. But if a door was closed...that meant keep out. No matter if it was a room or a whole house. A closed door meant stay away. And you never slept in someone’s bed unless they invited you to.

It was a family, a community, but there were boundaries. And so far, it had worked perfectly. They intended for it to remain that way.

“It’s going to be ok Marcy,” said Cassidy.

“I hope you’re right,” said the other woman.

Preston helped Cassidy and Deacon prepare the only way he knew how. He drew out a detailed map of Quincy for them, and showed where the battles had taken place, possible hiding spots, and what he knew about the overpass.

“That thing is the big unknown,” he said. “None of us ever went up there so we don’t know where the access point is. We don’t know if there are still raiders up there but you best assume there are.”

Cassidy nodded. “Ok. I want to hit them at night.”

“You need night vision gear then. Need to see them before they see you or it’s game over,” said Preston.

Cassidy looked confused. “I don’t...where do I get that kind of thing?”

“Military equipment,” said Deacon. “Not easy to come by at short notice. No worries though Charmer. We’ll be ok without it.”

She looked at him gratefully. “Thanks Deeks.”

He gave her a bemused half grin. “You know, I’ve never had a nickname before. I like it.”

“You said Deacon was a nickname.”

“I did,” he said. “But Deeks it’s like...a nickname of a nickname. And it’s good. Yeah.”

He was aware of her gaze on him for a moment. She’s trying to figure me out, he thought. Mission impossible. He saw her eyes soften and her lips turn up in a smile. Again, his breath caught in his throat, and he nearly forgot to smile back before she looked away.

Cassidy checked her pip-boy map and made sure all the required information was in there. She checked her pack which was heavier than she would have liked but was full of essential items. She made sure her ammo belt and holsters were in good repair.

“Ok, I’m ready now. How far to Goodneighbor?”

Deacon shrugged. “About 9 hours give or take.”

Cassidy’s jaw dropped. “9 hours?! We have to walk for like a whole day?”

Deacon laughed. “We can always take the car!”

“Well, shit,” said Cassidy, making him laugh again.

“You know, I’ll never get used to you cussing, Charmer.”

She grunted and made a face, heaving her pack into a better position. “Let’s get going then. I’m thinking we’ll have to rest along the way. Well I will. And I say again, I wish I were a synth.”

The group gathered around and walked with them as far as the bridge. There was no talking. Small talk seemed wasteful considering the gravity of the situation. Cassidy stopped at the edge for a moment, feeling the need to say something, anything, but no words came.

She felt someone draw her hair back, freeing some strands that had gotten trapped beneath her leather jacket and her backpack straps. She expected Mama Murphy but was surprised to see Sturges, looking rather sheepish.

“Maybe ought to tie that back some,” he said softly. “So the ferals can’t grab at you.”

She smiled. “I will. Thanks.”

“You come back now, y’hear?”

Cassidy nodded. “We’ll be back. And the world will be a whole bunch of raiders lighter.”

Marcy’s face was filled with sorrow, and Jun’s was creased with worry. Preston appeared as stoic as he could. Only Mama Murphy looked at ease and that comforted Cassidy greatly.

She turned to the bridge and took Deacon’s hand then started walking.

Sturges swallowed a sudden lump in his throat. “Is she coming back, Mama Murphy?” He asked as Cassidy and Deacon reached the other side of the river.

The old lady’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t know, kid. No more chems means no more sight. I’m as blind as the rest of you.”

“The Cats will help them,” he said, and went back to his garage to occupy his hands and his mind, as the girl he had lost his heart to walked off into an unknown fate.

Chapter Text

Twilight meant finding a place to hole up for the night. Deacon preferred a tiny space that was easier to defend. Cassidy didn’t argue about it and just followed his lead.

“I hate not having a car,” she lamented. “Do you like cars Deacon?”

He opened up a can of pork and beans and dug for his spoon. “Don’t know. I see them all over the place but they’re just husks of what they once were. You pre-war people had some awesome inventions.”

“We did,” she agreed. “Cars were the best. My daddy and mom ordered a Corvega. An Atomic 8. It was going to be red. I picked out the color.” She ate the remains of a sandwich then took a long drink of water. “The day the bombs fell Mom was going to stop at the plant and see how the car was coming along. If I’d gone with her, I’d have died too...I think sometimes dead is better.”

Deacon’s attention snapped to her. “Don’t ever say that, Charmer. I mean it.”

“It’s true, Deacon, you can’t say it isn’t.”

“Yeah it’s true. But not for you. Never for someone like you.”

Cassidy’s heart skipped a beat. She smiled at him. His lips turned up at the corners slightly, then he went back to eating.

“Get some sleep,” he said, tossing his can away into the darkness. “We’re hitting the road as soon as it’s light out.”

She arranged her pack into a pillow as best she could and used her jacket to cover herself up. But the night was cold and her jacket didn’t do much for warmth. Cassidy wriggled until her back was against Deacon.

He was on his back and looked over at her.

“You’re stealing my heat,” he said amiably.

“Exactly,” she answered. “I’m freezing. It sucks.”

Deacon wanted to move away. Sleep in a corner somewhere by himself. It was the proper thing to feel and do. But he couldn’t.

He turned over and gently lay one arm across her midriff, cupping her with his body, and the other he slid beneath her head. He breathed in the scent of her hair, then rested his chin on the top of her head.

Cassidy made a little sound of pleasure that sent a shockwave through him, and placed her hand over his.

I shouldn’t be doing this, he thought. She’s going to get the wrong idea. But Cassidy was soft and warm and he realized how deeply he’d missed having such a connection with someone. He squeezed her gently and fell asleep.

He regained consciousness while it was still dark, and he’d ended up on his back, with Cassidy sleeping on his chest, one leg over his, and his arms wrapped around her.

So, this is happening , he thought. And it shouldn’t be. But he didn’t move, and turned his head and nuzzled into her hair.

He fell back asleep trying to ignore the laughter that echoed in his mind.

Morning came and they set off towards Goodneighbor. There were no incidents, Deacon made sure they skirted around any raider outposts or incursions. He took the safest route possible, wanting to conserve their ammo as much as possible. He had no idea what they would be getting into in Quincy.

Cassidy was happy and animated and it made Deacon smile. She was a breath of fresh air in his dingy world. She told him stories, sang a little, and danced around him. A few times he caught her in his arms, just to feel her there, to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. He saw how happy the contact made her.

The area around Goodneighbor was a mess. The skyscrapers and tall buildings had all partially collapsed when the bombs fell or in the years thereafter. Grass and weeds grew up around the debris, old cars and trucks, remnants of an age long past, were everywhere.

They arrived at a wall made up of wood, tires, old fencing and anything else the residents could find to create a barrier.

“I know this place,” said Cassidy incredulously.

“You do? Goodneighbor was around back in your time?”

She shook her head. “N...no. Not Goodneighbor. This area though. Scollay Square, and the Old State House. There was a subway, and an old theatre. My mom took me to see a play here.”

She turned and looked at Deacon, pain in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Charmer,” he said softly. “This has gotta suck for you. I can go in and get what we need and talk to MacCready. We can hole you up somewhere if you’d rather pass on going in.”

Cassidy looked up at the makeshift fence. She closed her eyes for a moment, remembering how it had once looked. How lively and full of hustle and bustle the place had been.

“No, I need to deal with it. My world, the old world...is gone. It’s not coming back. Not ever.” She chewed on her lower lip, then took a deep breath. “Ok, let’s go.”

Iron butterfly, thought Deacon. Fragile and strong all at once.

He opened the door and they stepped through. A stone wall with old, ruined gaslights, damaged store fronts and the facade of the Old State House met Cassidy’s eyes.

It certainly wasn’t the Scollay Square she remembered.

The usual shabbily dressed citizens sat or meandered around. From around a corner a man sauntered over. He was dressed much like a raider in leather.

He looked Cassidy up and down, making her feel instantly uncomfortable. “Hold up there,” he said, lighting a cigarette. “First time in Goodneighbor? Can’t go walking around without insurance.”

Deacon stepped up beside her. “Hey, unless its keep dumb assholes away from us insurance, we’re not interested.”

The man took a drag of his cigarette. “Now don’t be like that. I think you’ll like what I have on offer.” He smirked. “You hand over everything you got in them pockets and packs or accidents start happenin’ to ya. Big, bloody accidents.”

A shadow appeared beside them. “Whoa, whoa,” said a man’s voice. “Time out. Someone steps through the gate the first time, they’re a guest. You lay off that extortion crap.”

Cassidy couldn’t see who was talking, Deacon had moved protectively slightly ahead of her. She could see only the raider as he turned away. She made to move forward, but Deacon held his arm out and pressed her back.

“What d’you care? They ain’t one of us!” griped the raider.

“No love for your Mayor, Finn?” asked the other man. “I said let them go.”

“You’re soft, Hancock,” said Finn. “You keep letting outsiders walk all over us, one day there’ll be a new Mayor.”

The one called Hancock gave a sigh and moved towards Finn. “Come on man,” he said. “This is me we’re talking about. Let me tell you something.”

There was a grunt, a scuffling sound and Finn fell to the ground, clutching his gut. “Now why’d you have to go and say that, huh?” asked Hancock. “Breaking my heart over here.”

He walked over and into the light. “You alright, sister?” he asked Cassidy.

She looked up and her blood turned to ice. Her breath froze in her lungs and every muscle in her body tightened up at once in horror.

Beneath a fancy old world tricorn hat was a face right out of a horror movie. Dessicated skin like that of a withered mummy, a gaping hole where a nose should have been, glittering black eyes and a lipless mouth. His teeth however were straight and white, a mockery of what should have been a human face.

It was a zombie. A walking, talking feral ghoul. And Cassidy knew what feral ghouls were.

She shrieked and stepped back. Hancock, puzzled, reached out a hand to her. “Hey, hey,” he said.

Cassidy dipped away, turned and ran. She ran past the old State House down an alley then turned, frantic, as it ended. She recognized the subway entrance, but another zombie-like man emerged. She squealed and ran past him, down the stairs.

There, another zombie faced her, dressed in a black suit and hat.

Running back up the stairs and outside, she was crying, and didn’t see the other man before she crashed into him.

“Woah, woah, woah!” he exclaimed, holding onto her. She thrashed frantically until he turned her around.

She looked up into a purely human face. Narrow dark blue eyes gazed at her in surprise beneath a green military style cap. He had rather pointy features and a goatee, but wasn’t unattractive. “What’re you running from?” he asked. “You look like a Deathclaw’s after you.”

“Zombies!” she hiccuped.

“Wha? Zombies? Like in the comic books?”

She nodded and he grinned, showing a few chipped teeth. “Cute. If you didn’t look like hell, I’d think you were trying out a new pickup line.”

Running footsteps caught her attention and she saw Deacon. With a cry she threw herself into his arms. “Did you kill it?” she cried.

He held onto her for a moment then took her by the shoulders and stepped back. “Kill what? Hancock?”

“That zombie back there!” She turned to the other man. “We came in and this horrible zombie killed a guy right in front of us then he tried to grab me!”

The man in the cap gave her a confused look. “Ok, you totally lost me there, cute stuff.”

Deacon nodded at the man. “Hey, MacCready. Still killing people for caps?”

“Depends,” MacCready replied. “Still pretending to be anyone but yourself?”

The two of them reached out and slapped each other’s hands.

Cassidy looked at Deacon. “Th..that’s him? That’s MacCready?”

Deacon nodded. “Let’s go somewhere where we can talk.”

“Hang on, “ said MacCready. “What was all this about zombies and killing?”

Deacon told him what had transpired at the door.

“You’ve never seen a ghoul before?” MacCready asked Cassidy.

“Of course I have!” she exclaimed. “I killed one already!”

“You’re thinking of feral ghouls, right? They don’t talk, run at you and try and eat your face? Different beast.”

Cassidy pressed closer to Deacon, eyes wide and disturbed. He placed an arm around her shoulder.

“Charmer, I think you need to meet Hancock,” said Deacon gently. “Never occured to me that you didn’t know there were two types of ghouls. Ferals are insane. They aren’t human anymore. But regular ghouls, well they’re just irradiated people. Radiation did something to them and they mutated. Many of them are pre-war. People from your time.”

MacCready shook his head slowly in amused disbelief. “Where the hell did you find this one?” he asked Deacon. “Living under a rock? Cute and all, but woah.” He tapped the side of his head.

“Would you believe she’s a cryogenically frozen vault dweller? She’s all shades of cool.” He dropped a quick kiss on the top of her head.

“Literally,” said MacCready. “Well, do you have a name? I’m Robert Joseph MacCready. Best sharpshooter in the biz.”

Cassidy tilted her head. “Not true,” she said softly. “I am.”

MacCready laughed. “Good one, kid. Nice to see you have a sense of humor. I think we should take you over to Daisy. Hancock’s a bit intense for a first timer.”

“Sounds fine,” said Deacon.

“Daisy? Who’s Daisy?” asked Cassidy, looking up into Deacon’s face.

He smoothed her hair back. “She’s from your time. But...she’s a ghoul. Now no screaming at her and running off. She’s a good gal. You’ll see.” He took a few steps forward.

Cassidy hung back. “I want to leave,” she said.

“Just come say hi to Daisy, and if she freaks you out we’ll go right away,” said Deacon. “Ok? Trust me?”

Behind him, MacCready snorted lightly at his last words.

Cassidy half shrugged, but held his hand and allowed him and MacCready to lead her back the way they’d come.

Chapter Text

Daisy’s shop was right near the entrance in one of the broken down buildings. Cassidy looked at the floor and refused to look up.

“Hey Daisy,” said MacCready. “Brought you a little treat. This here’s ...uhh...she never did give me her name. Anyway...she’s never met a ghoul before.”

“You don’t say!” exclaimed Daisy, her voice kind. “Well, I’m Daisy Mae Jenkins. Owner of this fine shop here.”

“Cassidy. Cassidy Hartley,” she said quietly, still afraid to look up.

“Nice to meet you,” said Daisy. “You’re going to have to look at a ghoul sooner or later, so might as well get it over with. We can be pretty horrible at first but you’ll see we’re no different than anyone else. Just older. A lot older.”

Cassidy slowly raised her eyes, then her head.

Daisy wore a simple suit, dirty in places. A wig sat on her head, the hair styled in a bun. She had the same dessicated skin, lipless mouth, the missing nose and the glittering black eyes, but there was a softness to them.

Cassidy lifted a finger to her lips and chewed the edge of her nail pensively. “Hancock killed someone,” she said.

Daisy nodded. “I saw that. Old Finn and his crap. He’d been warned a few times before. Lipping off Hancock though, that was the last straw. Still, we’ll miss Finn when an attack comes in. He was good in a fight.”

Deacon turned Cassidy to face him. “I’m going to go and have a talk with MacCready. You and Daisy get to know each other then we can plan the next step. Cool?”

Cassidy looked behind him for any sign of Hancock. Finn’s body still lay where it had fallen.

“Hancock went back inside. He lives in the old State house,” said Deacon. “I think you freaked him out too. He won’t come out, don’t worry. You going to be ok with Daisy?”

Cassidy looked at the ghoul for a long moment then nodded. As the men turned to go, she called out.

“Wait. Deeks. This is all my plan so you shouldn’t have to pay to hire him. I will.” She put her pack down, opened it up and dug out two stacks of old world money.

MacCready took one look at them and burst out laughing.

Cassidy frowned. “You can’t possibly be worth more than this! This is a lot of money!”

MacCready laughed so hard he had to steady himself against a wall. “Oh man, Deacon, you got a live one here! She’s comedy gold!”

Cassidy looked at Deacon in confusion. He looked up, straight up, then covered his face with his hands. “Oh Charmer,” he said. “Sweetheart...just…”

“Cassidy,” said Daisy. “That stuff, that old world money? It isn’t even worth the paper it’s printed on anymore.”

Cassidy looked crestfallen. “But...it’s all I have. How do people buy things, they just trade for them like we do at Sanctuary?”

Daisy reached behind her counter and pulled out a metal tin. In it were bottle caps. Nuka Cola bottle caps to be exact. “Caps,” she said. “That’s the new currency these days.”

Cassidy made a face. “I used to collect them when I was little. I’ve a ton of them at home. Daddy kept them all for some reason. Probably because it was my favorite thing to collect back then.”

She looked at MacCready who was wiping his eyes. “I didn’t know! You don’t have to laugh at me! I didn’t ask for any of this to happen!”

He calmed himself but the look of mirth on his face wouldn’t be erased. He held his hands up.

“Ok...ok...yes or no, Cassidy. Deathclaw?”

She nodded. “I killed one. In Concord.”

He almost started laughing again when Deacon piped up. “It’s true. Single handedly I might add.”

“She told you that?” asked MacCready. “She’s like you huh? Full of stories!”

“No man, I saw it,” said Deacon.

Cassidy frowned at him. “No you didn’t, we hadn’t met yet. I didn’t meet you until I left Sanctuary way later.”

Deacon looked down at his feet for a moment. “I saw it. But...that’s something we can talk about another time, ok? We got business to deal with now.”

Cassidy felt confused and hugged herself. Had Deacon been around her before they met? Had he been there intentionally when she’d been attacked, and not accidentally as she thought? Was it possible he’d been protecting her, looking out for her since before they met? If so, why?

She looked up at him, and he reached out and touched under her chin for a moment.

MacCready was fascinated. “So, you killed a Deathclaw. That’s...that’s impressive. I’ll give you that. Ever seen a Mirelurk?”

Cassidy shook her head.

“Ok how about super mutant?” asked MacCready.

Again she shook her head.

“Oh man,” said the mercenary. “We have to get you up to speed on things around here. You’re going to get eaten alive, kid.”

She wrinkled her nose up at him. “No I won’t. I’ve killed a lot. And I’m going to kill even more. And don’t call me kid. I’m not a kid.”

Daisy grinned. “Come on, Cassidy. I’ve got a nice room upstairs and some tea that’s calling my name. What say you and I go and have us a snack and a chat?”

“Go ahead, Charmer,” said Deacon gently.

“Ok,” said Cassidy and followed Daisy deeper into her shop and up the stairs.

Deacon and MacCready sat in a corner at the Third Rail and drank a round.

“You gotta be kidding me,” said MacCready. “The kid who just ran hell bent for leather from Hancock wants to take on a town of Gunners?”

“Yeah,” said Deacon. “I know you hate the bastards too. Figured we could use your help.”

“That could be a suicide mission. Makes the price go up but I’m not sure I’m cool with it. I got business to see to back home. Can’t afford to die.”

“I get it,” said Deacon. “But it’s not up to me anyway. I told Cassidy she had the final say on you.”

“So what’s her story? Crawled out of a vault and wants to take on the Gunners? Some personal vendetta?”

Deacon downed his drink. “That’s her story to tell. Don’t you mercs have an ask no questions rule?”

“Yeah,” said MacCready. “But it goes out the window when a cute girl is involved. She’s just a kid, man, Quincy is a pretty big town. That’s a lot of hiding places and potential for a lot of Gunners. Knowing them though, they didn’t put out an open call.”

“You think?” asked Deacon hopefully.

MacCready nodded. “They have issues with authority even among themselves. Keep the groups small, make it easier for the boss man to keep everyone in line. Groups get too big then you get infighting.”

“You think they moved into the overpass?” asked Deacon.

“What’s that?” asked MacCready.

“Section of roadway above the town. It’s where they stood when they razed Quincy.”

MacCready shrugged. “Yeah I heard that story. Pretty big bragging rights on that crew. They don’t play well with others so I don’t think they invited others in. Could be a small separate group moved up there though. I can’t say for sure.”

“You know them. We don’t. So, you in?”

“I dunno,” said MacCready. “The whole risk thing. Tempting though. If you two think you can afford me.”

“I’ll find a way,” said Deacon.

“You and her a thing?” asked MacCready motioning to the bartender bot to refill his glass.

“Uhh, no,” answered Deacon.

“Come on. I saw the way you are with her!”

“What? No. She’s a kid. She hates being called that but she’s only 18.”

MacCready snorted. “Like that’s ever been an issue for any guy. Well after seeing how she looks at you , I’m telling you man, she thinks you’re a thing.”

“You’re drunk MacCready,” said Deacon shaking his head. “I’ve been looking after her, making sure she doesn’t die out here. You saw for yourself. She doesn’t know one hell of a lot about this new world.”

“Why though. What’s in it for you? Aside from the obvious.”

“It’s not like that. Just something about her. She’s different. Better than this world, you know?” Deacon lit a cigarette, then considered another round.

“That sounds like a guy who’s got a thing ,” said MacCready with a grin.

“She sees me as a father figure I think. Hers is on ice. Don’t ask me more, ask her .”

MacCready laughed lightly. “She wants you to be her daddy alright.”

Deacon shook his head. “Right. Not happening, man. Now, are you in or not?”

Deacon heard the lies fall from his lips as easily as the bourbon went down MacCready’s throat. The mercenary saw right through him and he knew it. But he still felt the need to hide his feelings for Cassidy.

“Let me sit here and think about it,” said MacCready. “Maybe you can shoot a few more drinks my way to help me along.”

MacCready watched Cassidy from the shadows. Daisy took her to meet K.L.E.O, the oddball assaultron proprietor of the gun shop next door to her.

He was taken in by Cassidy’s wide eyed innocence and the way she easily smiled and gave a laugh. What Deacon had told him, the little that it was, had piqued his interest. She’d been afraid, terrified of Hancock, but was willing to get past her fear of ghouls. She didn’t seem to hold grudges. Well at least not of a certain kind.

Taking on Quincy...that was a whole other matter. One that he was getting dragged into.

He didn’t need a risky contract. He needed to make a whole lot of caps in very little time. Because he himself needed help. He needed the caps to hire someone to help him with his own situation. That and he needed even more to buy out the bounty on his head thanks to the Gunners.

MacCready sighed and lit up another cigarette. Since coming to the Commonwealth from the Capital Wasteland, things had been far from easy. His initial bad decision to run with the Gunners had paid him well but gave him nothing but grief. And he was no closer to his main goal.

He had thought about asking Deacon for help but he knew nothing about the man. They had met at The Third Rail one night and watched Magnolia’s show, drank and smoked then played a round of cards with the locals.

Deacon never took off those damn glasses, and didn’t say a word about himself. The man kept a low profile and alluded to being a spy of some kind. Heck MacCready didn’t even know who he worked for, but he’d come around with some caps and paid him for the odd job on occasion. Never anything major. Clear an area of ferals, which MacCready did gladly. Wipe out some raiders or gangsters. Easy, low risk stuff.

Now this.

Shows up out of the blue after a month, with a clueless girl who wants to clean out Quincy. Everyone had eventually heard of the Quincy massacre and the fall of the Minutemen. It was a bloodbath. Caravans were giving the area a wide berth or avoiding it all together. Settlers from around there had to travel to other areas to meet up with provisioners.

Then this kid comes along with a crazy plan that was doomed from the start and why in the hell was he actually considering it?

He watched Cassidy smooth back her hair as Deacon approached. Her body language said it all. The kid was in love with the guy. And Deacon didn’t look too put off either. He looked like a guy fighting to keep his hands off her.

MacCready took a long drag of his cigarette. There was something bugging him though. Cassidy was so young, so naive. And he’d seen a side of Deacon a few times that made him question the man’s sanity. Maybe it was just stress from life in the Wastes. Hell he had his own demons to deal with...but something was giving him a feeling of concern for Cassidy.

Be a shame to let her die out there. And she would, without proper guidance. Be a shame to let Deacon die too. He was the only one bringing MacCready any business lately. So…

“Deacon,” he called out, stepping from the shadows and approaching him. “Business proposition for you.”

Deacon looked up and left Cassidy with the assaultron. “You decide yet?”

“Yeah. Tell you what. I’ll go with you and make sure you two don’t die in Quincy. In return I want your help with something I need done. Deal?”

“Fine by me but it’s Cassidy’s say.”

Deacon beckoned to her. “MacCready will come with us. But we have to agree to help him with something after.”

She looked at the mercenary. He was shorter and thinner than Deacon, and his eyes had a sadness to them that he seemed to be fighting to keep hidden. He didn’t look particularly mean or angry. Just rather sad. But a merc was a merc.

“How do I know you won’t kill me and Deacon?” she asked. “If we see your old Gunner friends.”

“You don’t,” said MacCready with a shrug. “All part of the risk. How do I know you two won’t off me once we get things done?”

“I thought you and Deacon were friends,” she said.

“We know each other. He throws jobs my way sometimes. That’s about it,” answered MacCready.

“Well then none of us really know what’s going to happen. But this thing you want help with? What is it?”

“A walk in the park if we can pull off Quincy,” said MacCready. “Just can’t manage it alone.”

“I probably could,” said Cassidy evenly.

MacCready laughed. “You sure are full of yourself, kid.”

“I’m not. I just know what I’m good at. And shooting is it.” She turned to Deacon and held out her arm, the pip-boy map on the screen. “How far is it to the Atom Cats?”

“Hmm, I’d say about 4 hours.”

MacCready glanced at it. “What is this Atom Cats place? Why’re we going there?”

“My friend made me promise to go there first and give a holotape he made to one of the guys there. He said that they’ll help us. I don’t know why they would but a promise is a promise.”

“Well, it’s on the way to Quincy. If we’re hitting them up at night we’ll be in good shape,” said MacCready. “I’m telling you both right now though. If something feels off, I’m outta there. And secondly, you two need to listen to me.”

Cassidy made a face. “I don’t have to listen to you! We’re paying you to help. Sort of. But still.”

“Listen kid, you’re the one who ran away from a ghoul. I’m not feeling overly confident about your whole battle savvy right now. And in the interest of self preservation, I’m the one with the most experience.”

“You so aren’t!” exclaimed Cassidy. “Deacon’s older than you are I bet, which means he’s got more. And if I’m listening to anyone it’s him, not you!”

MacCready rolled his eyes. “Great. Is this whole trip gonna be my boyfriend’s better than you ? Because if so, count me out. Not putting my life on the line for a bratty little kid with a death wish.”

Cassidy’s jaw dropped. “Bratty little kid?! At least I’m going out there and trying to do some good, not sitting around in a bar waiting for someone to tell me what to do!”

Deacon took her by the arm and led her away. “Charmer,” he said. “We need his help, ok? Think you can just deal with it until we get it done? Yeah?”

She looked at her reflection in his glasses. “I’m sick of looking at myself when I talk to you,” she said. “I just want to see your eyes. It’s ok if its gross, Deacon.”

“Not going there,” he said firmly. “You going to agree to MacCready’s terms? I know you don’t want to listen to him but just play along. A good spy knows when to follow and when to go solo. Alright?”

Cassidy looked back at MacCready who was smoking a cigarette, not looking in her direction. Then she reached out and took Deacon’s hand. He let her hold it for a moment then pulled it back to fiddle with his pack.

“Fine,” she said. “Let’s just go to the Atom Cats.”

And so they began their trek.

Chapter Text

Cassidy refused to talk to MacCready on the long walk. She was already irritated with him and tired of being referred to as a kid. At least Derrick never treated her like one. Neither did Preston. Come to think of it none of her Sanctuary family did. Deacon initially had, but he’d changed quite a bit and she liked the way he treated her.

She thought about her father, still in the vault, and her little brother somewhere with the Institute. She couldn’t believe that he was a 10 year old now, and she’d missed out on all those years of his life. She also couldn’t believe she was actually going to try and wipe out an entire town of experienced killers.

“So this Quincy thing. Does it still feel right to you?” asked Deacon.

“Yes,” she said. “It does. I have to do it.”

“Fair enough,” said Deacon.

Cassidy could smell the ocean. It didn’t smell as good as it once had. That made her sad. Going to the beach was always a fun trip, but now there were no beaches. The once beautiful waterfronts were now nothing more than resting places for dead reeking things and garbage.

“Why doesn’t anyone clean anything up? In 200 years no one thought about doing that?”

“It’s like the burial thing we talked about before,” answered Deacon. “If it’s not directly related to survival, it doesn’t happen.”

“Doesn’t anyone care about the beaches and the ocean and the forests? Are there any proper forests anymore?”

She heard MacCready snort. “Regular nature-girl, aren’t you.”

“I’m talking to Deacon,” she said flatly. “And what would you know about the world before the bombs? No one now seems to know what it means to care. Just the pre-war ghouls like Daisy.”

“Kid,” said MacCready. “We care about things. Things that matter. All this out here doesn’t. Staying alive. That’s the new trend.”

She bristled. “This is part of why I don’t want to talk to you. My name isn’t kid . It’s Cassidy. Got it?”

“Ok so if calling you kid is just one part...what’s the other part? Just wondering…” He looked at her with a quirky smile. He was well aware he was pushing buttons.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “The fact you have nothing useful to say. Now be quiet.”

MacCready laughed. “Touchy touchy. This is gonna be a long assignment.”

“The Minutemen will clean things up,” said Cassidy, taking Deacon’s hand and swinging it. “Preston is going to rebuild them better than they were, you’ll see.”

“You put a bunch of people together, there will always be issues,” said Deacon. “But I hope they do, for you.”

“Not if it’s the right people,” said Cassidy.

“Even then, it’s a group of separate personalities with their own motivations.”

They were nearthe area on the map which showed the Atom Cat’s garage. It appeared to be on a point of land near the water. MacCready stopped walking and held up his hand.

“Wait. Listen a moment.”

Sounds of gunfire and shouting.

“I think your friends are under attack,” he said.

“We have to help them!” cried Cassidy and began to move forward quickly.

MacCready caught her by the arm. “Woah, you don’t just go running in! Let’s check it out, get into position. Find out who’s who. Come on, basic stuff.” He shook his head in amazement.

He led them to a debris pile, then from it to the husk of a car, from there they moved to an old bus shelter. Cassidy saw laser fire going back and forth.

The garage itself was exactly that. An old Red Rocket gas station and garage. It had an old wire fence around it and derelict cars piled up one on top of another.

“Gunners,” whispered MacCready. “Their highest ranking stay the furthest out. That’s who we’re going after first.”

He pointed to a grassy area. “There’s fire coming from there. Put your money where your mouth is, kid.”

Cassidy muttered the word asshole testily but got down on one knee. Raising her rifle she peered through the sight. A lone raider, hiding in the grass. She watched him a moment, and when his head came into view, she pulled the trigger. A spray of blood signalled his demise.

She scanned through her scope. Another raider was creeping towards the fence line. She fired on him, missed her shot when he ducked, but hit him the second time. However it wasn’t a fatal shot and he turned in their direction.

Sturges’ words came back to her. You don’t get any leeway with them.

She fired again and this time he went down.

Beside her, MacCready was working on a few raiders closer by. Deacon, carrying a closer range weapon was out of the fight for the time being.

A voice shouted over the din. “Someone’s out there helping us!”

“Cool!” came the response.

The three of them moved closer. Inside the compound were people in power armor exchanging fire with some heavily dressed raiders.

“I got this,” said Cassidy and got into position.

“I’ll cover and correct if you miss,” said MacCready.

“Not going to happen,” she answered and fired. Three shots, three kills. Deacon gave her a thumbs up. MacCready didn’t even say a word.

Silence descended on them.

“Whoever you are out there, show yourselves, jack!”

Cassidy got up and was about to move in through the gate when Deacon stopped her.

“There’s three of us!” he called.

“I’m here to see Zeke!” said Cassidy.

“Right on little sister, come on in!”

She didn’t hesitate another moment. Standing just inside the compound were several people all wearing power armor. They looked like juggernauts towering over Cassidy.

One of them stepped out of his suit. He had black greased back hair and blue eyes. He wore jeans, boots and a black leather jacket with a white t-shirt. There was something familiar about his face but she couldn’t figure out just what.

“I’m Zeke. Welcome to the Atom Cats, the coolest Cats in the Commonwealth. You’re one cool little sister to help us cream the Gunners like that.”

She grinned. “My name’s Cassidy. Cassidy Hartley.”

Zeke looked at her and tilted his head. “There’s more isn’t there. Cat like you’s gotta have an exotic name. Let’s hear  it.”

“Cassidy Jasmine Hartley.”

He reached out and took her hand with a big grin. “And there it is. Nice to meet you.”

“This is Deacon and the other guy is MacCready.”

Zeke nodded to them. “What brings you cruisin’ our way? Warwick send you over?”

She shook her head, put down her pack and dug up the holotape. “My friend Derrick Sturges asked me to give you this.”

A murmur rose up from the Atom Cats.

“Derrick is alive?!” He fist pumped the air with an enthusiastic yeah.  “I hoped little brother was too cool to go down. Quincy got the royal shaft that night. Bad scene.”

“There’s only 5 people who survived in the end,” said Cassidy sadly. “They’re all in Sanctuary to the North.

Do you remember a little boy named Kyle Long?” she asked.

Zeke nodded. “He was a hep cat. He get out too?”

She shook her head. “His parents Marcy and Jun did but he was killed.”

Zeke’s expression fell and the others in his group gave a sad murmur. “Breaks my heart,” he said softly. “Let’s reflect.”

They stood in silence for a few moments.

“So what’s your tale, nightingale?” he asked Cassidy.

“Maybe you should listen to Derrick’s tape first,” she suggested. “I don’t know what’s on it but I’m hoping it explains things.”

Zeke nodded. “Me and him were tight. I miss him bad. Used to hang out and listen to sounds, talk about cars...you like cars CJ?”

Her eyes lit up and she nodded vigorously. “Yes! We almost got a Corvega Atomic 8 but then the bombs fell!”

Zeke blinked. “What’s that you say? Before the bombs fell? Aww you’re having one on old Zeke! Good one little sister!”

She shook her head slowly. “I’m from Vault 111. They froze us.”

They all stared at her, dumbfounded.

“It’s true,” said Deacon. “She’s pre-war.”

“So you’ve actually seen real cars, been in them?” asked Zeke, enthralled. “That makes you the most, CJ.”

She loved the nickname. No one had ever thought to call her by her initials. Now she understood why Derrick spoke so highly of his friends. Zeke certainly looked and sounded like a rockabilly. She even heard the soft strains of familiar songs coming from somewhere inside the garage.

A woman stepped out of her power suit. “I’m Rowdy,” she said. “I’m the mech around here. I work on the suits and anything else that needs fixin’.” She waited for a big black man to step out of his suit. “This here’s Johnny D. Beside him is Duke.” Duke removed his helmet and nodded with a friendly smile.

“Somewhere around here is our newest girl, Roxy. She’ll find you eventually,” said Rowdy. “She doesn’t do the suits. Yet. I’m working on that!”

“I’m going to give you over to Blue Jay here,” said Zeke. “He’s gonna take good care of you while I listen to this holo, you dig?”

Cassidy nodded and another man, similarly dressed in the jacket and jeans, stepped out of his power armor. “I’m the guy who’s got the goods,” he said amiably. “Come with me.”

Cassidy, followed by Deacon and MacCready went deeper into the garage.

Zeke looked at the tape in his hands. “Johnny D,” he said. “Get the suits back in black while I go listen to this.”

“Righto boss,” was the reply.

Zeke went out to his trailer and sat back on a chair.

He smiled as Sturges’ voice filled the space.

Hey Zeke. It’s me. Derrick. By now you know what happened to Quincy. It’s gone. 19 of us made it out and now we’re 5. The Longs lost their little guy. It was a bad scene. Look, the girl that gave you this tape. She’s real special to me. As in I’m hoping one day she’ll be my girl. But she doesn’t know that. Yet. Came in out of the blue while we were holed up in Concord without a prayer. Wiped out the raiders and a Deathclaw. She’s different Zeke. Not from our world but she’s one of us if you know what I mean. Well anyway this is the first chance I’ve gotten to get a message to you. I’m asking for your help. This sweet gal has a big idea. She wants to take on the raiders at Quincy. She might have a guy or two with her but that’s it. I want her to come back to me in one piece. That’s where you and the Cats come in. Help her out, Zeke. I know you hate those bastards as much as we all do. She’s not even doing this for herself, but for us. She’s one in a million. I’ll owe you bigtime brother. So that’s about it. I’m hoping you Cats are still cool and everything’s good over there. Til next time.

Zeke smiled. He was a sucker for a love story.

As Cassidy and her friends rested and ate, he summoned the Cats together.

“Look, we got ourselves a real serious mission. Well, two. First, we gotta talk up Derrick. We gotta make sure that when CJ goes home she’s gonna be head over heels in love with him. You dig?”

They laughed and agreed.

“Next is serious business…”

They gathered closer to hear what he had to say.

Cassidy and Deacon were playing around with the jukebox when Zeke returned.

“CJ, some of us are going to come with you. We’re not going to allow a possible future Cat to go down. We’re a family. Derrick’s family too and that makes you one of us.”

Cassidy felt as though she would cry. What had Derrick said on the holotape to make these total strangers be willing to risk their lives for her?

“I don’t know what to say...thank you seems like it’s not enough.”

“The Atom Cats stand by their own,” said Zeke.

“Is Derrick an Atom Cat?” she asked.

“He sure is!” exclaimed Zeke. “He just chose to live out there, and help the folks in town out. Few too many squares there for me but he liked them.”

Cassidy wondered why Derrick hadn’t returned to the garage after the massacre. It was something she meant to ask him about later. Living with the Atom Cats in rockabilly heaven would be so perfect. She looked over at Deacon and wondered if he’d be willing to stay. If they asked. Zeke did say she was a possible future Cat. She loved that idea.

Then she remembered her father and his loathing for rockabillies. Well he’d have to get to know them. You can’t hate someone you don’t know. He’d even taught her that.

She wondered if she’d be happy living anywhere but Sanctuary. So much work had been put into it.

She forced her thoughts back in line.

“We’re attacking them at night.”

“I figured that,” said Zeke. “Problem is I don’t have any extra suits. None that will fit you and MacCready. Deacon I can work with.”

“I won’t need one. I’m a sharpshooter. I can’t do my job wearing that big thing,” said Cassidy.

“Yeah. What she said,” MacCready agreed.

“I’ve never used one,” said Deacon. “I’ll pass on it though.”

Zeke nodded. “Righto. We’ll suit up then. Time to put an end to those germs. They’re not cool enough to be allowed to hang around.”

Cassidy felt anxiety building up inside her. It had been easy to ignore it while all the preparations were being made but now at the 11th hour things were getting real and she was scared.

What if MacCready was right and she was just a bratty kid with a death wish? She’d be responsible for sending everyone to their doom.

It’s better to die for something than live for nothing.

Where had she heard that before?

Taking back Quincy was the right thing to do. Even if they just managed to take out a few of the raiders, that was still a victory.

“Last chance to back out,” said Deacon.

“I’m not backing out,” she replied. “I know you and MacCready think I’m just a dumb kid. Maybe Zeke does too. But someone has to do this. What will happen if the raiders take over the Commonwealth? We’ll all be slaves or something worse. This city was my home. I have to defend it even if it’s the last thing I do.” She shuffled her feet. “I hope it’s not, though.”

Deacon’s expression softened and he smiled. “You’re one of a kind, Charmer.”

It warmed her heart to hear him compliment her. She looked at him and avoided seeing her reflection. She wanted to hug him, but didn’t think he’d be ok with that in front of others. Instead she just took his hand and smiled.

“Hey, when you two lovebirds are done with your thing, ” interrupted MacCready. “We need to get organized.”

“What did I tell you about that?” Deacon asked him, clearly annoyed, letting go of Cassidy’s hand.

MacCready waved him away dismissively. “Yeah, yeah.”

Zeke, Johnny D, and Rowdy made the decision to accompany Cassidy to Quincy. The others would stay behind.

“There’s so much for us to talk about little sister,” said Zeke. “When we come back it’ll be party time.”

Cassidy swallowed and nodded.

It was time.

Chapter Text

The Atom Cats had quite the skill in walking quietly wearing the heavy power armor. Zeke was a natural leader and he instantly took point, which Cassidy could see irritated MacCready, and that made her smile.

She walked in the middle of the line behind Deacon, ahead of the mercenary. Johnny D brought up the rear.

“We’ll clear the overpass first,” said Zeke.

“Do you know the way up?” asked Cassidy.

“Sure do,” he answered, his voice tinny behind the power armor helmet.

They walked in silence as he led them to the broken sections of roadway that formed a ramp. They had to jump over the broken bits and do a bit of climbing but it wasn’t too terrible.

Cassidy was so grateful to all of them for coming to help her. She knew that if she’d gone herself she wouldn’t have come back. A few raiders would have died to her bullets but in the end they’d have gotten her too. She didn’t like knowing that maybe the person she’d been before wasn’t enough to survive the new world. Being a competitive shooter didn’t seem to be as great as she’d once thought.

Zeke held up his hand to stop them. He pointed into the darkness.

Cassidy searched through her scope. “Yeah, I got one in my sights,” she whispered.

“It’s not that one you have to worry about,” said MacCready. “It’s all his buddies. So find them all.”

He searched as well. “I got three of them.”

“I’ll take them out. Four shots, four kills,” said Cassidy.

“You’re not great with moving targets,” said MacCready.

She put down her rifle and gave him a dark glance. “That’s a total lie!”

“I saw you miss when that raider moved earlier,” said MacCready. “Have to anticipate their moves. You don’t have that learned yet.”

Cassidy narrowed her eyes at him. “Go to hell. This is my operation. You’re here to help not boss me around and insult me.”

MacCready lowered his weapon. “Look here kid,” he emphasized the word. “This isn’t a game. It’s a kill or be killed deal. I’m not insulting you, I’m giving you the facts. Deacon told me you used to get prizes or something for shooting. That was probably pretty cool back then but this is different and if this is gonna be a dog and pony show, I’m walking.”

He was right. She had missed, and the raider’s attention had turned to them. Her competitive skills were on targets. Stationary targets. She clearly had a weakness. And swallowing her pride was difficult.

“Fine. We can both handle the same targets that way if one of us misses then the other can catch it.”

“You mean if you miss,” corrected MacCready.

That irritated Cassidy. “Why do you have to be an asshole?”

“Alright you two,” said Deacon. “Can we just do this thing? I don’t like being out here like this. You can duke it out later.”

MacCready and Cassidy went into position.

“In 3,2….” he said and fired. Cassidy did the same. They waited for return fire but there was not a sound.

“Far out!” said Zeke. “Let’s move on.”

They carefully explored the overpass. The few raiders that were scattered around fell quickly and quietly, their companions unable to react before a bullet ended them.

“This is the easy part,” said MacCready. “The worst will be the town.”

“Well we got your back, jack,” said Rowdy.

They went back down.

“What the fuck?” a startled raider cried as they rounded a corner and saw the group. His companion raised his rifle and fired, hitting Johnny D. who cursed about the burn mark on his power armor.

“Not cool!” cried Zeke and let loose a volley of laser fire. The first raider fell and the other went down just as quickly to Deacon’s shots.

MacCready and Cassidy had silencers on their weapons. Not so for the Atom Cats and Deacon. The surprise attack activated the raiders in Quincy.

There were shouts and footsteps. Curse words breached the darkness.

“Well shit,” said Deacon. “This isn’t good.”

“Find cover!” exclaimed Zeke.

“Until they think it was an attack elsewhere,” said Johnny D. “And calm down.”

MacCready and Cassidy began their sweep through their scopes.

“I’ve got three,” she said. “Be ready.”

“Don’t miss,” said MacCready. “I don’t see them. You’re on your own.”

Cassidy took a deep breath and centered herself while she heard the shift of the others readying their weapons.

She squeezed the trigger. But the raiders were close together and reacted at the murder of their gang member. They opened fire into the darkness. Luckily for Cassidy and her group, the raiders didn’t have their bearings and had no idea where to aim.

“Damn it,” muttered MacCready. “They’ll run and hide now.”

He fired in their general direction but the raiders were hidden. Cassidy saw one of them peek up and run. She repositioned and fired again. But moving targets were not her strong suit.

The raiders were now onto them and Cassidy panicked. She couldn’t focus herself and every little movement saw her pulling the trigger.

She heard MacCready grunt in frustration  beside her which didn’t help her emotional situation.

“Cut the gas,” said Zeke. “Let them think they got us. Then we waste them.”

Cassidy was shaking, and Deacon lay his hand over hers. She was comforted by the warmth of his skin and her heart rate slowed so she was able to focus again.

They waited until the raiders went silent. It seemed like forever.

“Righto,” said Zeke in a whisper. “Get your peepers out.”

Cassidy looked through her scope, the partial moon her only source of light. She was aware that everyone was counting on her and she was so afraid of messing up again.

Please don’t move , she mentally told the raiders.

She found three, close together again but it couldn’t be helped. She would have to hit one after the other in perfect succession. There was no room for error.

She took a breath, centered herself, and squeezed the trigger.

Three shots, three kills.

“Way to go little sister!” exclaimed Zeke. “You’re an awesome rifleman...err...riflewoman? You get what I mean!”

Cassidy grinned with relief that she hadn’t failed again. “Thanks, Zeke.”

She promptly stuck her tongue out at MacCready.

“And you say you’re not a kid,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“Their pals are going to find their bodies at any time. We need to move on,” said Deacon.

They had no idea where any of the raiders were. Quincy wasn’t a small area and the ruined buildings gave rise to a lot of places that someone could hide.

A vile rotting stench suddenly hit Cassidy like a brick wall and she retched.

Deacon crept through the shadows to find the source.

“They’ve got a body pile,” he reported. “Here’s the problem Charmer. If you wanted to bury Marcy’s son, he might or might not be in that mess.”

“Dead bodies are the most un-cool thing there is,” said Johhny D. “These aren’t all from the massacre. That was months ago. They got fresh victims in here.”

“We’ll have to burn or bury them all after,” said Deacon.

“The Cats can do that,” said Zeke. “We got the suits and don’t have to suck up the reek.”

They crept through the town, taking down the patrols and the guards. That was the easy part.

“Look, there’s the pharmacy that Jun owned,” said Cassidy, pointing. “They lived there. I’m going in.”

Deacon followed her while the others stood guard. There was nothing left of the pharmacy’s stock. She hadn’t expected there to be but it didn’t hurt to check. Going upstairs she found the remnants of a life lived in a ruined section of the building. There were no walls and barely any roof.

On one side was a child’s bed and dresser. On it was a ballcap, and a toy truck and car. A lump formed in her throat. Kyle’s room.

She picked up the items and put them in her backpack immediately. In the other room, presumably Marcy and Jun’s she found a school text book, a teacher’s syllabus and a silver bracelet. There was a photo in a frame on the ground, the glass cracked. A happy Marcy and Jun looked out from better times, a sweet little boy between them, grinning widely.

Cassidy’s eyes brimmed with tears. She added the mementos to her pack.

“Damn,” whispered Deacon behind her. “This shit is heavy.”

“It’s breaking my heart,” Cassidy said. “It was one thing to hear their story but to see what’s left of their lives...it’s devastating.”

“A lot of kids died here. Kyle wasn’t the only one. What a sin,” said Deacon softly.

Cassidy wrapped her arms around his waist, needing the contact, the comfort. Deacon held her close, dropping a kiss on top of her head. “It’ll be ok, Charmer,” he whispered.

Of course it is, said the voice in his head. She doesn’t know she’s being held by the biggest monster of all.

“Die,” he whispered almost imperceptibly.

Cassidy heard him and ground her teeth in anger. “You’re right. Those Gunners need to die. Now.”

She let him go and went back downstairs.

They slunk into an old decrepit church. A power armor frame stood in one corner, and rows of shelving with nondescript parts lined the edges of the walls. Remains of once beautiful stained glass windows littered the floor.

At the back, nearest the old pulpit was the husk of a little blue car. Someone had shot at it and bashed it with a blunt object.

A cry escaped Cassidy’s throat. “Oh no...Derrick’s little car! ”

She ran her hand along the roofline, the paint a bright beautiful blue. She could feel the love and care that had been put into the project and remembered Derrick’s pride when he’d talked about it. “Poor Derrick,” she whispered.

“Tragical,” said Zeke. “Let’s reflect.”

They stood in silence for a moment over the dead car.

Cassidy looked around for any personal items that might have belonged to Derrick. She grabbed some of his tools, a few magazines that looked intact, and a pair of cleaner overalls.

“They must have taken all his stuff,” she said sadly, thinking there should have been much more.

“Derrick didn’t have much. He was too cool to hang onto stuff,” said Zeke. “He gave most things away to others who needed them. He was ...he is the most. Would do anything for you.”

“And then some,” added Johnny D.

“He could fix anything. Make anything,” said Rowdy. “Could sing too. Remember open mic night?”

Cassidy smiled. “Derrick can sing? Really?”

Zeke noticed her pleased curiosity. “He sure could little sister. His voice was fab.”

“Always wondered why he never got circled,” said Rowdy. “Be a hep dad to a bunch of curtain climbers.”

Cassidy looked confused. “Circled?”

Rowdy raised her hand and pointed to her ring finger. “You know, circled? Hitched? Married?”

“Oh,” said Cassidy. “He told me about one girl he liked.”

“She was fast!” laughed Johnny D. “A real gas, but not for anything serious. No, D-Man was too good for a round heel like her.”

“Let’s hit the road,” said Zeke, suddenly feeling concerned. “Standing in one spot isn’t cool.”

They raised their weapons and prepared to leave the church and move through the town.

It was quiet. Too quiet. Even for nighttime there should have been more patrols, more Gunners up and about.

“I don’t like this,” said MacCready.

“Think they’re layin’ dead?” asked Johnny D.

“They’d have to have expected us for that,” answered Rowdy.

“Could have seen the attack on the patrol and are waiting to ambush us,” said MacCready. “It’s a technique we used often.”

Fear crept up Cassidy’s spine and she shivered.

“This place gives me the zorros too,” said Zeke to her. “Let’s jet.”

MacCready hung back. Something was bothering him.

“Wait. Stop.”

They turned to him.

“Let’s go out the back.”

No sooner had they started going back across to the pulpit when something landed on the floor. Something that landed hard and rolled.

“Get down!” MacCready shouted.

Deacon grabbed Cassidy and threw her to the floor, covering her with his own body. The Atom Cats knelt down in front of them, acting like a shield. MacCready dove behind an overturned pew.

A loud, blinding explosion filled the room. A shelf leapt up and landed nearby, and gun and laser fire erupted from everywhere. A debris pile was uprooted and rained down on them. Something chemical was spilled and lit up, spreading fire across the room.

The concussion momentarily deafened them all and caused confusion.

“Trapped like rats!” a voice laughed mockingly. “Ah, the smell of roasting flesh in the morning!”

There was more laughter, more gunfire and to Cassidy, more fear.

Chapter Text

Terrified, Cassidy tried to crawl away but Deacon held onto her. “Stay down, Charmer,” he said, his lips against her ear.

The Atom Cats returned fire, but they couldn’t see where the attacks were coming from.

“Out the back!” MacCready motioned to Deacon.

Deacon let go of Cassidy and crawled with her towards the stairs behind the pulpit. The fire was growing, encroaching upon them.

They hit the door and figured they could get outside and run.

“You guys with the PA go out first,” said MacCready.

Zeke moved forward but the moment he opened the door, they were met with a barrage of gunfire. The bullets and laser shots danced and ricocheted off their metal and he ducked back inside.

“Bad scene! There’s a lot of them out there!”

A voice yelled out at them. “You fucking assholes thought you could come into Gunner territory? Your funeral!”

Cassidy looked at Deacon, her eyes huge and frightened. Without the cover of darkness and distance, she was useless and she knew it.

“Deeks, what do we do?” she asked.

“We get upstairs while these guys engage down here. Then you can take them out from above. Best idea I got.”

MacCready backed up towards the stairs. “It’s a good plan, let’s go!”

They went upstairs while Zeke, Johnny D and Rowdy traded fire with the Gunners.

There was no window or access on the inside. The only way to gain line of sight was to go outside through a hole in the wall and creep along a narrow ledge barely 2’ wide.

Cassidy looked at it, fear flooding through her. There was a good chance she wouldn’t be coming out of this battle. Things weren’t going that great.

“We killed a lot of them, right?” she asked softly.

“We did,” answered Deacon.

She looked at the ledge. “Well, that’s a few less to hurt anyone else.” She swallowed hard and began to climb out.

“Thanks for trying to pull this off with me,” she said and crawled to the edge, then lay down on her belly, her rifle ready.

She knew the moment she shot one of them the others would know where the shot had come from. It was the very scenario Derrick had warned her against. But there was no other way. At least if she could get rid of the ones below, the Atom Cats could get away.

She chose a raider at the back of the group. She counted 6 of them. They were partially hidden but in order to shoot they had to expose themselves. She waited.

She drew in a steadying breath.

She fired.

The raider fell backwards over a rock wall. None of his companions turned. They either didn’t notice or figured the shot had come from one of the Cats. She heard movement behind her.

“Don’t turn around,” said MacCready. “I’m gonna kneel behind you.Lift your feet.”

“Ok,” she said, glad to not be alone. She lifted her feet, hanging them over her butt, and felt him settle behind her.

Her next shot went rogue, having ricocheted off something metal the raider was wearing. It hit the guy behind him, grazing his cheek.

MacCready aimed and fired but missed when the second guy suddenly crouched down. This time it was Cassidy who corrected and took the raider down a split second after finishing off the first one.

“Now we’re even,” she said.

The Atom Cats below them made it outside, and ran at the remaining raiders. The heavy power armor ploughing into them came as a surprise, and Cassidy and MacCready laid waste as the raiders scrambled.

“Hell yes!” cried the mercenary.

Everything went quiet and no one moved. “Did we get them all?” whispered Cassidy.

“The ones down there yeah,” he answered. “Let’s get back inside and get out of here.”

He crawled back first, then Cassidy.

Deacon was sitting against the wall. “You gotta show me how to use a rifle your way,” he said. “Sorry I didn’t do much.”

“I will,” said Cassidy smiling at him. She wondered how he could see in the dark with those glasses.

Outside, the Atom Cats were assessing their power armor.

“I’ll be busy for days with this damage,” sighed Johnny D.

“It’s cool daddy-o” said Rowdy. “We’ll get it done.”

“It’s all good,” said Zeke. “Let’s agitate the gravel. I’m done with this square place.”

They walked carefully towards the roadway. They thought they’d be home free within minutes.

They were wrong.

A shot rang out, making them freeze. “You wouldn’t leave without paying homage to the boss would you?” A woman’s sharp voice rang out.

Bright, shocking spotlights appeared and illuminated them.

MacCready blinked. “Tessa, that you?”

“Well well well, if it isn’t MacCready,” said the woman. “It’s a good night if I get to take you out.”

“Don’t count on it,” said MacCready.

“As I see it, I’m up here and you’re down there and I know you cant even see me.”

“I can smell your skanky ass though,” said the mercenary with a smirk. “Still pissed off I turned you down, huh Tessa?”

She laughed. “Still thinking you’re some big prize. Some things never change. Except how wrong you always are.”

Cassidy’s heart was beating a mile a minute. She was sure it would suddenly just stop and she’d die right there on the spot. How could they get out of this mess? She’d dragged 5 people with her into it.

I thought we got away with it.

She reached behind her for Deacon’s hand, hers trembling. She backed into him.

“Not a bad haul,” said Tessa. “3 Atom Cats, one pain in the ass, shades there and some kid.”

“It was supposed to be a happy ending,” whispered Cassidy tremulously.

“This world doesn’t have many of those,” said Deacon softly. He wrapped his arm around her, his hand on her belly, pulling her close so his lips were next to her ear. “Listen to me, Charmer,” said Deacon under his breath.

“I’m going to distract them. When I do I want you to run into that building right in front of you, under where they’re standing. I can’t see them but that’s where her voice is coming from.”

“Deacon, no...they’ll kill you.” Her hand tightened in his.

“When you get out of this, find the Railroad.”

“Daddy-O,” said Zeke. “I got a suit on. Let me distract them.”

“You get Cassidy out of here,” said Deacon. “Take care of her.”

Cassidy’s lip quivered. “I’m so sorry everyone. This was dumb. I really am just a stupid kid.”

MacCready reached out a hand and touched her arm. “You’re one brave kid. Color me impressed. We’ll get them. I’m running with you. I owe Tessa bigtime.”

Deacon squeezed Cassidy tight for a moment then let go. He walked off to the side away from her her. “Hey look, I’m really bored with all this,” he shouted out. “Let’s bust open a Nuka Cola and have a pow-wow. We can talk about your daddy issues.”

There was no response for a moment, then a shot rang out and Deacon flew backwards, a red, angry stain blooming across his chest. He hit the ground and lay motionless.

Horrified, Cassidy screamed. She saw Johnny D. run to him, Zeke and Rowdy opened fire and she felt MacCready drag her forward.

She was sobbing hysterically. MacCready shook her, hard. “Stop it! Shut up, Cassidy! Look at me!”

She sobbed and hiccuped, unable to catch her breath, repeating Deacon’s name over and over.

“You can’t do anything for him now! Don’t let him have died for nothing! Let’s kill these fucking assholes and send them straight to hell!”

She couldn’t compose herself, the vision of Deacon dying in front of her was too much.

MacCready slapped her. Not too hard, but hard enough to shake her out of her hysteria.

Stunned, she stared at him, her hand on her cheek.

“Follow me!” he snarled. “And get ready to blow off some heads.”

Tessa was standing on a broken bit of roof, two men beside her. One wore the remains of a long Minuteman coat. She was in a suit of power armor, no doubt stolen from the Atom Cats at some point as evidenced by the remains of a flame paint job.

“See the guys? You hit them. Two shots, two kills,” ordered MacCready. “Tessa’s mine. I owe her a death.”

“I...I can’t..” hiccuped Cassidy, her breathing ragged.

“You don’t have that choice,” said MacCready. “That guy there with the long coat? He’s the Minuteman traitor. He caused all those people to die. That’s your vengeance right there. You came here to do this. Now make good on your word. Do it for Deacon.”

Cassidy went down on one knee, her hands and body shaking.

For Deacon.

I love you, Deeks. I’m so sorry.

She held her breath and aimed, then squeezed the trigger. The first man fell off the ledge, and the others turned. The traitorous Minuteman reached for his gun but was dead before he could pull it free. His body tumbled over the edge too.

With a screech, Tessa raised her weapon: a flamer. A jet of intense heat erupted from it and lit the wood around them on fire. MacCready shoved Cassidy aside and her rifle skidded away as she stumbled and fell, the flames narrowly missing her.

“Still trying to be hot, Tessa? This is as close as your ugly ass will ever get.” MacCready gave a sharp barking laugh.

Scrambling to retrieve her rifle, Cassidy heard him cry out. The edge of his duster was on fire. He clocked Tessa in the head with the butt of his rifle, making her stumble back with a curse.

“Still not smart enough to wear a helmet?” taunted MacCready. “Be an improvement.”

She snarled and lunged at him with the flamer as it went into cool down. The hot metal made contact with MacCready’s arm and he yelped in pain. He fell against the wall and raised his foot, shoving Tessa hard and forcing her back. The flamer would be ready to fire again and he had to kill her before she had a chance to let loose with it. If she did, he would be toast. Literally.

Cassidy waited. MacCready had said Tessa was his mark. But she readied a shot in case the Gunner boss tried to light him up.

“Die you little asshole!” Tessa screamed.

“You first!” he shouted back and clocked her across the face with his rifle again. This time she stumbled off the edge onto the ground below. The power armor stopped her from dying, but MacCready raised his rifle and shot her in the head as she tried to get up.

Cassidy could see the Atom Cats half in shadow, gathered close. She turned and ran back down the stairs and across the road to where they were.

Sobbing, she fell to her knees beside Deacon.

“Deacon! I’m sorry!” she cried. “I’m sorry!”

She fell across his chest crying pitifully, his blood staining her face and jacket. “I’ll find the Railroad. I promise!”

She felt a hand on the back of her head. “Can I come with?”

She raised her head and looked at him. “D...Deacon?”

His lips curved into a lopsided grin. “Hey Charmer,” he said weakly.

She wiped tears and blood from his face, not even realizing that his trademark sunglasses had vanished somewhere. “How are you alive?! I saw you die!”

“Us spies are notoriously hard to kill!”

“Oh Deacon!” She hugged him tightly but he groaned in pain.

“Easy little sister,” said Johnny D. “That shot jacked him up. I hit him with a megastim right where he landed. A second later and he’d have been a goner.”

“You’re gonna be out of commision for awhile,” said MacCready to Deacon. “I don’t know if you’re crazy or brave.”

“I’ll take care of you Deeks,” said Cassidy softly stroking his face.

“Let’s get back to the garage,” said Zeke. “I’ll carry our hero here.”

Rowdy looked at Cassidy. “Well, we pulled it off. These germs are off to the boneyard!”

“We’ll come back and eyeball the place, deal with the bodies,” said Johnny D.

Deacon grunted in pain when Zeke picked him up. They had an hour trek back to the garage. Daylight was starting to appear.

MacCready slung an arm around Cassidy’s shoulders. “You did good. Real good,” he said.

She looked at him with appreciation. “Thanks MacCready. I learned I’m not the greatest after all.”

“Give it time. You got a lot to learn but I’ll work with you anytime. Me and you? We could make a lot of caps.”

“No way I don’t want to be a merc,” she said. “It’s way too scary for me.”

“Still helping me with my mission?” he asked.

“I gave my word, so yes. But not now, not until Deacon’s healed up. Me and Deacon, we’re a team. I’ll tell you a secret. We’re spies.”

MacCready chuckled. “I don’t think you’re supposed to tell anyone that. But I’ll keep your secret. Charmer .” He winked and she smiled.

Chapter Text

Cassidy looked down at Deacon as he lay quietly in the bed. There was a soft light in the room provided by a lantern similar to the ones he’d had in his hideout.

They’d dosed him with different chems to relieve him of his pain and to help clot the blood. Zeke thought it would be better if he stayed asleep so he moved around less. The megastim Johnny D had given him would do it’s best work over the coming 24 hours. Stims were great, he’d explained, but they could only do so much. The body needed time to heal itself when the injury was so great.

The gunshot had hit him in the upper chest, nearer his shoulder, beneath his collar bone. It was an ugly wound that would leave some kind of scar.

Cassidy gently ran her fingers across his forehead. She wished she could see the color of his eyes. He looked so different minus his glasses.

She’d been washing the wound and changing the bandages. She did it carefully so as not to hurt him even though he remained in an almost comatose state thanks to the chems.

She sat down on the bed beside him and curled up on his uninjured side. With gentle hands she ran her fingers through his auburn hair. “I love you Deacon. I’ve never loved anyone like this before and it’s scary. I thought I’d lost you.”

Tears filled her eyes and crept down her face. “I think I’d die too if you did.”

Cassidy sighed and pressed her lips to his temple, then carefully slid an arm beneath his neck and held onto him.

Rowdy walked past and looked in the room. She sighed. “Hey, little sister you need anything?”

Cassidy raised her head. "No thanks, Rowdy. We’re just going to sleep.”

Rowdy wandered back to where Zeke was sitting playing checkers with Duke.

“Zeke, I don’t think she’s going to fall in love with Derrick. I think she’s got it bad for Deacon.”

Zeke had to go see for himself. He saw Cassidy peacefully sleeping, holding onto him carefully. “She thought he died. That messes with your head. He’s a lot older than her. Sees him as a daddy maybe.”

“I never carried on that way with my daddy,” said Rowdy. “Looks like love to me.”

Zeke shrugged. “Could be. But we gotta try. For Derrick. He’s perfect for her. I mean Rowdy...she’s one of us. Deacon not so much.”

“Zeke, you know how it is. The heart wants what the heart wants.”

Three days passed, and when Cassidy returned from her bath, Deacon was awake. His eyes were big in the soft light and the smile he gave her was as large as it always had been. “Hey Charmer,” he said.

She stared into his eyes. They were a pale blue, not set too deep, and slightly elongated but not as narrow as MacCready’s. There was nothing gory or disgusting about them. Aside from a few crow’s feet in the corners, his eyes looked perfect.

“You said your eyes were all bloody pus and gore,” she said accusingly.

“No, I didn’t. You did. And what did I tell you? Don’t believe anything anyone says. Especially me.”

“Nuh uh,” Cassidy shook her head. “When I asked you you said something like that. And you don’t have anything wrong with them at all! You just lied!”

Deacon’s gaze was impassive. “Don’t take it personally Charmer. I lie. That’s what I do.”

“Is it a spy thing? I don’t lie about anything. It’s rude.”

“Well yeah, a spy has to be able to lie. But...I’ve been doing it so long I don’t even know I am half the time. So...just...yeah.”

“But why would you lie to someone you’re not even spying on? Like...me…”

Deacon’s expression didn’t change and that bothered her. He rubbed his eyes for a moment. “Charmer like I said it’s just become a habit now. So...don’t take it personally.”

She shifted uncomfortably and changed the subject.

“I love your eyes,” she said. “I can figure what you’re feeling. That’s a thing for me. Maybe don’t wear the glasses indoors anymore. When we’re together.”

“I’m light sensitive,” he said. “Zeke said he’d give me another pair.”

“Do I believe that?” she asked.

“He did say that and yes the light sensitive thing is true. Been that way since ...since...I can’t remember. As far as I’m concerned they’re just like any other bit of clothing I wear now.”

“Well when we’re alone at night then. Please Deacon? I like looking into someone’s eyes. Especially yours.”

He didn’t answer either way. I don’t need you seeing my feelings. I don’t want you seeing them and knowing my darkness, my shame.

“Are you hungry?” Cassidy asked him, not wanting to push him any further. She could see he wasn’t comfortable. “Thirsty?”

He shook his head slightly. “No, just tired. Some of those chems knock me out.”

“Sleep heals,” said Cassidy. “It’s good for you. I’ve been watching over you and caring for your wound. It’s healing up but slowly. It’s bad, Deacon. We all think you’re going to have a scar there.”

He gave a small shrug with his good side. “We all have them. Inside and out. At least the outer ones aren’t hidden.”

“You’re still gorgeous even with scars and if you had gross mutated eyes.”

“You...you shouldn’t think of me like that, Charmer,” he said softly. “I’m not what you see. I’m not what you think.”

She gave a heavy sigh. “I might be young but I’m not entirely dumb. Maybe about battles I am, but I know a good person when I see one and you’re one of the best. As for your being gorgeous, I’m not blind either. If you didn’t know you were before, well now I’m telling you and you know I don’t lie. Now get some sleep. Johnny D. wants to start getting you up and around more now.”

She left him there. Deacon watched her go, his heart heavy. I need you, he thought. I want you...but I can’t have you. It would be wrong on so many levels. He closed his eyes and sighed. But really how much more can I be damned?

That voice laughed. The question isn’t about you. It’s about how much being with you will damn HER.

Deacon scowled and rolled over.

Outside, Peepers, the eyebot pet the Atom Cats had built, hovered up to her and blinked and beeped.

“Hi Peepers,” she said. “I can’t understand a word you ever say.”

Peepers let out a series of blips and spun around, bobbing merrily in front of her. Cassidy reached up and tapped it on the front. The bot let out a long whistle making her laugh, then it turned and dashed away. She wanted to follow it, to see where the thing went but she just stood still and let her thoughts flow.

Cassidy didn’t care how much Deacon dumped on himself. She’d realized after nearly watching him die that she was totally in love with him. She’d sat at his side nearly 24/7 caring for him and she’d continue to do it for as long as it took.

She felt sick with guilt over the entire Quincy thing. She’d been so cocky and sure of herself, only to be shown, almost tragically, how wrong she’d been. Others had to fill in for her mistakes. And the worst part was that they didn’t put her down for it. She didn’t deserve such good friends.

She began to bond with the Atom Cats. They unfolded their stories little by little, and talked quite a bit about Derrick and another one of their group named Andy who had sadly died in a raider attack. Andy had been in love with music, and had made many holotapes of the best songs he could find. His music played through the garage from sunup til sundown every day. Cassidy figured that the tapes Sturges had lent her came from him.

One of the Cats, the girl named Roxy, finally did approach her. She had a chest full of rockabilly clothing and Cassidy squealed with delight when she saw it.

“You’ve got to pick some of these out to take home little sister,” she said. “You’re a Cat now, and us Cats are cool. We dress to show our pride!”

“My daddy would never forgive me for becoming a rockabilly,” said Cassidy sadly.

Roxy made a show of looking around. “I don’t see anyone here but us. You can’t hide your cool. You are who you are. One of us . And you’re not a kid anymore. Besides, all daddies are supposed to love their little girls no matter what.”

The words rang true and made Cassidy happy. She let Roxy dress her and fuss over her, giving her an outfit similar to the guys: leather jacket, t-shirt and jeans. Then she gave Cassidy a few dresses and hair accessories. She fawned over her unique hair color and Cassidy explained that one day she wouldn’t have it any more as there were no chemists who could make hair dye like that.

Rowdy showed her how to work on the power armor and she helped repair the damages to the suits they got during the battle at Quincy. The best part was painting the flames. It looked just like the ones on the cars back in her own time. Cassidy loved doing that part the best and the Cats all praised her work. She didn’t think it was that good but they were kind and encouraging.

Her relationship with MacCready, that had started out pretty rocky, smoothed out.

MacCready had worked with her a bit on moving targets. She was awful at it but improving. She’d initially avoided him for the most part even after their amiable walk back to the garage from Quincy. But after a bit of rest, it was MacCready who had broken the ice.

The afternoon after they returned, he found her making a sandwich for lunch. She had a rather angry red mark on her cheek where he’d slapped her.

Gently, he touched it with the back of his fingers. “I’m sorry I had to do this,” he said.

“You had no other choice, I was out of it,” she said. “I just watched the man I love die. Or so I thought.”

MacCready raised his eyebrows. “Yeah but I didn’t think I hit you hard enough to cause this mark. I’m sorry. So you two, you’re a thing?”

She nodded. “I think so. We’re always together. And I love him. I’m sure he loves me too. If he didn’t why would he stick around? And almost die for me?”

“You ever tell him you love him?” asked MacCready.

She shook her head. “He’s really shy. But sometimes you don’t need to say stuff to feel it. Right?”

MacCready nodded. “But sometimes people are walking on two totally opposite tracks. Not saying something can sometimes make things go badly.”

“I’m sure we’re fine,” said Cassidy. “He’s...just...amazing.”

“If you say so,” he shrugged. “Don’t really know him. He’s not the most talkative guy. At least not with me.”

“Spies don’t say much,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, there’s that I guess,” MacCready shrugged. “Who for though. Spies work for someone right?”

She thought about that. “That’s true. I don’t know. He never told me. One day he will though.”

MacCready opened up a bottle of bourbon, took a swig than offered it to her. Cassidy made a face and shook her head.

“No thanks.”

“More for me than,” he said and took another pull. He lit a cigarette. “Heading back to wherever it is you’re from after this?”

“Probably,” she answered. “I kind of like it here though. I like Zeke and his friends. I feel like I fit in here better than I do there. Like...Sanctuary is part of my past and this is more like my future. But I miss Derrick too. He’s at Sanctuary.”

MacCready nodded. “Mind if I come with? When you go back.”

“If you want. I thought you’d go back to Goodneighbor.”

“It was wearing out it’s welcome.”

Cassidy eyed him carefully. “You just want to come with us so we can go do your mission. I already said we’d do it. I keep my word. I just want Deacon to be better first. Stims can only do so much.”

“I wasn’t thinking of that,” he said. “Just want to get away from Goodneighbor. Didn’t you notice it’s not the friendliest place?”

She shrugged. “It suits you, though.”

MacCready turned away. “You’re judging a guy you don’t even know.”

“You’re a merc.” As soon as the words left her mouth she realized she sounded like her father. He judged all rockabillies as gangsters, and here was Zeke and his friends who’d waded into danger with her based on a holotape.

“Yeah. I am. Survival, remember? You do what you gotta even if you’d rather not.”

“Like joining the Gunners. And you knew that woman with the flamer from when you were with them?”

He crushed out his cigarette and put down the bourbon. “Yeah. Tessa. Just one of many ass...idiots in the Gunners. Each one wants to be the boss.”

“Why do you stop yourself from cussing all the time?” she asked curiously.

Something shifted in his expression. “It’s because of a promise I made to someone I love. To try and be a better person.” He saw the look in her eyes. “Ironic right? I kill for a living. But I can’t help that. I can help the words I use though. It’s not much but it’s a start.”

“The promise you made, was it to your girl?” she asked softly.

He shook his head, then watched her quietly for a moment, assessing her, wondering if it was alright to tell his story.

“My son, Duncan.”

Cassidy raised her eyebrows in surprise. “You’re a dad?”

“Oh don’t look so shocked! Don’t think a merc can be a dad?”

She shook her head. “No...not that...it’s just...you don’t seem like a dad type to me that’s all. I’m not trying to be rude.”

He sighed. “The mission. The one I need help with. It’s...it’s to save my son’s life.”

“What? Where is he? What’s wrong with him?

MacCready looked downcast. “Capital Wasteland. Where I’m from.”

“Then what are you doing here? Aren’t there merc jobs in the Capital?”

He nodded. “It’s not about the jobs. Duncan...he’s sick. Real sick. Was playing out in the fields at our farm when he came down saying he wasn’t feeling too good. Broke out in these blue boils all over his body. I met some guy who said the same thing happened to his buddy and that there was a cure in the Commonwealth. Some place called MedTek Research. His buddy died before he could get the cure so he told me about it. Duncan was so weak...I couldn’t ask him to come with me.”

Cassidy couldn’t believe how horrible his story was. “Is he still alive? Do you even know? How old is he?”

“I don’t know, Cassidy. I don’t know a damn thing. I just know that the MedTek building is swarming with ferals. I couldn’t manage it on my own. Damn Gunners refused to help me out. That’s not what they do. It’s every man for himself. One guy did go with me. Died in there. My son would be 6 now. Left him with my wife’s family.”

Cassidy sighed softly. “Her family? Not her?”

“Lucy...she...when Duncan was still a baby we made the mistake of holing up in an old subway system. There were ferals. They...uhh...they killed her. Tore her apart right in front of me before I could get my gun locked and loaded. Took everything I had to get out of there with my son.” His lips tightened as he fought with his emotions.

Cassidy felt her own eyes prickle. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I’d never have thought…”

“That a dirty old merc could be a husband and father?”

She nodded miserably.

“Cassidy,” he said. “What you see isn’t always what you get.”

“I’m seeing that,” she agreed. “I’m seeing a lot of things I never did before. My daddy...he always handled everything. He decided things for me when I couldn’t or didn’t want to. He took care of me so I didn’t have to deal with anything.”

MacCready gave a nod towards the room Deacon was resting in. “Kind of like Deacon there. Takes care of you.”

She nodded. “He’s wonderful. He saved me and keeps doing it. I hope I can make him as happy as he makes me. I don’t know much about being a wife or a mother but I know I’ll love it. I miss my family. I need a family of my own.”

MacCready took a pull from the bourbon. “You’re how old?”

“Not this again,” she frowned. “Everyone keeps judging me by my age. I’m 18. Maybe 19. Don’t know the date.”

“No judgements here. I was 17 when my son was born. I didn’t know anything about the world either. Was raised in a cave with other kids. Left when I was 16. Of course I thought I knew it all. Well...I didn’t. And you don’t either. At least you had a family. Mine didn’t last too long and I never knew my parents.”

Cassidy tilted her head. “A cave? In the Capital Wasteland?”

MacCready nodded and proceeded to tell her about Little Lamplighter and his stint as Mayor.

“I can’t believe that!” Cassidy exclaimed. “A whole cave of kids! Just kids! Wow. I can’t imagine.”

“It’s all I ever knew. I can’t imagine living in a house with a mother and father. No one cares about me except me.” He sighed heavily. “I miss Lucy so much.”

Cassidy swallowed hard. “I miss my daddy too. I need to get help for him so we can wake him up. I don’t want to live in this crappy world without him.”

She shared her story with MacCready, who listened quietly and nodded. She talked about the kind of man her father was, her loving stepmother, and then explained about her little brother.

“That’s some story,” he said. “I hope you can find him. Anything with the word Institute attached freaks people out. It’s not good, I won’t lie to you. Guessing that’s why Deacon told you to go find the Railroad. They save synths. Synths are created by the Institute. Railroad hates them so you have a common enemy. Most people in the Commonwealth don’t believe they exist. Pretty shadowy group.”

“There’s some riddle to finding them and I think I know how. Because I’m from your past.”

His eyes lit up. “Yeah? That would be cool. I hope you find them and get what you need. We all need a break in this world. I’m hoping mine was meeting you.”

She smiled. “I’m wondering if we shouldn’t go for that cure ourselves. It might be awhile before Deacon can come with us. And your son...you can’t afford to wait, right?”

“I’d go in there with you,” said MacCready. “We could be good together.”

“As long as I listen to you, right?” she smirked.

“Well yeah, that goes without saying. Kid.”

“You’re hardly older than me MacCready,”’ she griped. “Stop calling me kid or I’ll think up a horrible nickname for you too.”

He laughed.”Go for it. I think I’ve heard it all by now.”

“Hmm,” she tapped her lower lip. “I could call you Blamco…”

He gave a laugh. “What?”

“MacCready...Mac...Mac ‘n Cheese...Blamco. But that’s not horrible. Calling me kid is horrible to me so…” She studied him a moment. “Well, you’re scrawny and dirty...like a weasel. A yucky little animal from my time. Yes...I got it...garbage weasel!” She giggled.

He blinked then burst out laughing. “That’s a new one! Good one kid.”

“I can be creative, garbage weasel . And for sure you need a bath before we go anywhere. You smell a bit bad.”

MacCready shook his head. “Have you noticed that there’s a lack of decent water? And what there is, we drink.”

Cassidy rolled her eyes. “Diamond City has running water. Sanctuary has running water. The Cats have it. It’s purified somehow too. At home our mechanic is so completely amazing. I don’t know how he does it but Derrick can do anything . He’s even going to build a car one day. That little blue one in Quincy...that was his. Anyway...bath time garbage weasel.”

MacCready waggled his eyebrows. “I’ll gladly have a bath if you join me.”

Cassidy made a face. “Ew! No! Why would anyone want to bathe with a garbage weasel like you?”

“You’d be surprised, kid. ”

“Yes. I would be.” She performed an over the top shudder.

In truth, she thought MacCready was cute. There was something good about him, that lay beneath the rough surface. And his devotion to his son spoke volumes. His wife had seen enough in him to marry him. And it was obvious he’d loved her deeply.

“So, about your mission...when Deacon awakes I’ll have a talk with him.”

MacCready smirked. “That’s what you’re calling IT these days, huh? A ‘talk’.”

Cassidy wrinkled up her nose. “Why are you so lewd? Me and Deacon don’t do that. Not yet anyway. We haven’t been together long. You don’t do that until you’re committed to each other.”

He shrugged. “It’s not the same these days. People need an escape. Sex is one of them. Nothing wrong with it if everyone’s willing. Good on you for following your own rules though.”

But in his mind he was wondering how she would feel if things didn’t go her way. From what Deacon had said, it seemed to MacCready the two of them seemed to be on totally different pages of the same book. Come to think of it, they might be on different books all together. Maybe not even in the same library.

But it wasn’t his business. His was getting the cure and going home. If Cassidy were willing to run through MedTek with him then that would be all the better. It meant getting back to Duncan all that quicker.

“Deacon might worry about me but he’ll understand. Is it ok if I tell him about Duncan and why we can’t really wait for him?”

MacCready nodded. “Yeah I don’t mind. Guys been decent to me so why not.”

“Ok,” she said. “I’ll wait until after dinner tonight. I need to go and collect some taters from the garden. Want to come?”

MacCready gave a half smile. No one had ever invited him to do anything before that didn’t involve killing or gambling.

He followed her.

Chapter Text

“Hey,” said Preston as he walked into Sturges’ house. “I think there’s a water problem in the greenhouse. I told Marcy you’d check it out.”

Sturges looked up from where he was sitting on his couch. He had a drawing pad in front of him. “Will do,” he said and put it down on the coffee table.

Preston looked at the drawing and gave a low whistle. “Wow. I didn’t know you could draw. That’s pretty damn good.”

Sturges shrugged. “There’s a lot of things I like doing that I haven’t in years. Thanks though.”

“It looks exactly like her. Like she’s going to walk right off the page.”

The drawing was of Cassidy, sitting on the rock wall near the river. She was smiling, Dogmeat beside her looking up with his shining eyes.

The actual dog was currently lying beside Sturges on the couch and his tail thumped at Preston.

“You ever tell her how you feel?” asked the Minuteman.

Sturges tried to feign surprise but failed. “What do you mean?”

“Oh come on,” said Preston. “Everyone sees it. You like her. But did you ever say anything about it?”

Sturges sighed. “That obvious huh? Well no. I never said a word. She’s got it bad for that Deacon. I’m not the kind of guy to get in between two people, you know?”

“I get it,” nodded Preston. He sat down and leafed through a car magazine. “She’s been gone some time now. No word’s come through the grapevine about Quincy. Don’t know if that’s good or bad.”

Sturges’ eyes betrayed his next words. “I’m sure she’s fine. She’s got Zeke and the Cats. Be home any day now.” His words sounded confident but his expression told a different story.

Preston nodded again, playing along. “Yeah I guess you’re right. Long trek and all. You’re sure that your friends would have helped her out?”

“I’d stake my life on that,” said Sturges. “If she had the Cats at her back, she’s coming home, Preston.” Quietly he added. “She’s just got to.”

Marcy appeared in the doorway. “Carla’s coming in,” she said. “Maybe there’s word.”

Trashcan Carla hadn’t ever seen so many people descend on her as she walked in through the security gate. Sanctuary Hills had a few new faces she’d noticed last time. Business was picking up.

“Carla,” said Marcy. “Any word from the Commonwealth?”

She nodded. “Yeah there’s a few stories floating around. Can’t verify any of ‘em but trade route to Quincy supposedly opened up. Whatever raiders were holed up in there got their asses handed to them. Whoever pulled it off though… no word on them. Could have been another gang but who knows. It’s hard to verify since the routes too far southwest for me. Anyways...who wants to trade?”

Excited chatter went up from the group.

“Something else too,” said Carla. “That big flying thing that showed up...Brotherhood of Steel. Seen their vertibirds around the city. They’ve been laying into the synths. Word is they’re out to get the Institute.”

The group didn’t care overmuch about the Brotherhood. They were ecstatic that the Quincy mission had been completed...but where were Cassidy and Deacon?

“So there’s no word at all about any of the attackers of the Quincy raiders?” asked Preston. “No rumors? Nothing?”

Carla shook her head. “Nothing other then the Gunners have lost a big part of their organization. They’re running a bit scared. You know how it is. Stories just get crazier over time. They’re gonna lay low for awhile which is fine by me. Maybe whoever did it can finish off the rest of the Commonwealth filth.”

Sturges gave Mama Murphy a thumbs up. The old lady nodded and walked slowly back to the Cantina. Sturges caught up to her.

“Cassidy’s gonna come home Mama Murphy,” he said. “I knew she could do it. She’s one in a million. I told Zeke that. The Cats were part of this, I know it.”

“She’s a special kid. I saw that the day we met. So did you.” Her eyes sparkled and she did her best to hide her smile.

“First Preston, now you. I’m thinking everyone saw how I felt except Cassidy,” he said.

“That other guy, he’s not right for her,” said Mama Murphy.

“Might be so,” agreed Sturges. “But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have it bad for him. She’s pretty far gone on that guy. I just want her to be happy. When you care about someone, that’s the way of it.”

“I know,” nodded Mama Murphy. “But you still can have a say.”

“Nah, I’m not that guy who gets in between people, like I told Preston.”

Mama Murphy gave him a knowing look and he wondered if she wasn’t sneaking chems behind everyone’s back, or if her strange abilities went beyond needing them. If it were the case, the old lady wasn’t saying a word about it. She went into the Cantina and set about her business.

Sturges wandered over to the greenhouse to check out the water problem. He’d done his best to stay busy while Cassidy was away, but the truth was she never left his thoughts.

From the day she’d walked into the museum, confused and frightened, he’d lost his heart. He figured she’d spend her days at Sanctuary quietly living her life. Never had he imagined that she’d light up with the fires of hell and take on the worst raider group in the Commonwealth.

It made him ashamed for himself. He hated guns and killing, and avoided all of it as much as possible. He knew he’d killed before in self defense or in defense of those he cared about. But he hated it. And here was this beautiful little girl with the big blue eyes who didn’t think twice about wading into hell to avenge people she hardly knew.

“I think I need to step up my game,” he said to Dogmeat. “She’s showing all of us up!”

Dogmeat whined softly and wagged his tail.

“I get it,” said Deacon softly. “You two are well matched. Just be careful. I’m going to need just a bit more time to get over this.”

“Thanks Deeks,” said Cassidy with a smile. She picked up a glass of water and gave it to him. He drank it gratefully. She always seemed to know what he needed. He was finding that he liked being cared for.

“Going to be quiet around here without you,” he said, handing her back the glass.

“We’ll be back as soon as we can. We have to get back to Sanctuary because I think Derrick and everyone will be worried about us.”

Deacon shook his head. “Worried about you , Charmer.”

“Both of us. They care about both of us. MacCready asked to come with us.”

This surprised Deacon. “Yeah?”

“Mhm. I thought it was because of his mission thing but he said it wasn’t. He wants to get away from Goodneighbor.”

“It’s a rough neighborhood. I guess he needs a break. What did you say to him?”

Cassidy shrugged. “I don’t care if he comes with us. But if he hangs around he’ll have to do his part like all of us. You won’t though, not until that wound is completely healed.”

She brushed a stray strand of hair off his forehead. Deacon closed his eyes. It had been too long since anyone had touched him that way. I’m enjoying something I don’t have a right to, he told himself unhappily.

Every breath you take is an affront after what you’ve done, reminded that voice.

“You should go join the others,” he said. “I’m feeling tired again.”

“I like being with you,” said Cassidy. “I didn’t leave your side the whole time you were unconscious you know.”

His light blue eyes affixed on her. “I appreciate all that,” he said as Cassidy continued to stroke his hair. He sighed.

“You and MacCready though. You’ve got work to do. Probably should get some rest too if you’re heading out soon. Tomorrow morning or what’s the plan?”

Cassidy took his hand in both of hers and stroked his fingers. A sensation similar to an electrical current suddenly ran through him and he pulled his hand back, making a pretense of needing it to steady himself to roll over. She makes me feel things that I can’t allow.

Since when have your feelings ever stopped your actions? Your feelings are damned. A chill ran through him as the voice seemed to cut him with a fine razor’s edge. He squeezed his eyes shut, the action often serving to silence it.

He let his eyes roam Cassidy’s face. The wide blue eyes gazed back at him undaunted. Unlike the old lady at Sanctuary, Cassidy’s gaze didn’t unnerve or disturb him. I need her, he thought. Maybe that’s the answer. Maybe she can purge this darkness from me with her light. His own thoughts sounded too poetic and outrageous. But they represented a possibility. A chance to be free of himself.

Cassidy kissed his hand, seeing him shut his eyes tightly, she thought he was in pain. “Let me get you some more of those chems Deek.”

“No, stay with me,” he said softly. “I’m fine. Just...just a little dizzy is all.”

She rested her cheek against his hand. “I’ll never leave you Deacon.”

He contemplated disappearing while she was on the mission with MacCready. But he’d said to her that he’d help her with her father. He couldn’t just leave. Plus the look in her eyes when he’d taken off while at Sanctuary for a few hours that day...it still haunted him.

Cassidy was taking over his mind and even his dreams. He’d told himself she was just a kid, but he knew she wasn’t. Those thoughts had left his mind quite a while ago. Naive though she was, Cassidy was a force to be reckoned with as she adjusted to her new life. He wanted to be there to witness it. He wanted to be with her.

She doesn’t know what I am, he reminded himself. No one should be burdened with my sins. Except me. It’s my penance.

“I’ll talk to you later Charmer,” said Deacon, closing his eyes, making a great show of being tired, which he surely wasn’t.

Cassidy stood up. “Ok. I’ll save you some dinner.” She began to walk away then stopped and returned, bending down and kissing him lightly on his temple.

I think I’m fucked, Deacon thought. No, I’m actually sure I am.

“Hey CJ, listen to this,” said Zeke, tossing her a holotape. She put it in her pip-boy. Someone was crooning a popular tune. She smiled. “That’s really nice. Is this you?” she asked.

Zeke laughed. “That’s my brother Derrick! Can you dig it?”

Cassidy’s jaw dropped. “That’s Derrick?! He sounds so amazing!”

“His voice is fab little sister. Derrick is the ultimate cool. He got all the talent in the family.”

Cassidy stared at Zeke a moment. She hadn’t seen it before, but she sure did now. “When you say brother, you mean by blood don’t you!”

He laughed and nodded. “You got it! Derrick’s my little brother.”

“He never told me that. He always called you The Cats.”

“Because that’s who we are!” Zeke exclaimed with a big grin.

“Zeke Sturges,” she said, testing it out.

He gave her a thumbs up. “He needs to come home. Been gone too long. You could do old Zeke a favor and bring him home. You’re one of us CJ. You need to live here.”

A huge grin lit up her face. “You mean it? You want me to stay?”

“We all do!” cried Roxy from behind the bar. “You belong here! Can’t you feel it?”

Cassidy did indeed feel it. “But I have friends at Sanctuary too. I couldn’t leave them!”

Johnny D looked up from his drink. “Split the time!”

“You mean live in both places?”

“Little sister, your heart will tell you where to settle down. And if your heart is cool, it will tell you this is home.” Johnny D raised the glass to her before downing it.

“I have so much to do,” sighed Cassidy. “I can’t even think of settling down to live anywhere. And Deacon too. Can he stay?”

Zeke shrugged. “He’s not like us, but if he’s your beau, he’s welcome.”

Cassidy was happy to hear it. She didn’t want to go anywhere Deacon didn’t go.

Zeke picked another song on the jukebox. “Bring Derrick home with you when you come back, jack.”

“If he’ll come with me I will. But he’s our mechanic. We need him. Maybe once we get more people...I don’t know Zeke. It’s hard to say. There’s just so much stuff to do. Everywhere. I need to find my little brother too….and my daddy…”

“That’s right, you’ve got a tale to tell. Spill it, CJ,” said Zeke, sitting down and pouring himself a beer.

MacCready wandered in from outside, grabbed a bottle of bourbon and sat down at the bar.

The Cats gathered around as she started telling about her situation.

“I think we should help you CJ,” said Zeke. “We might be few but we’re mighty.” He turned to Duke. “You’ve got your ear to the ground, maybe cast an eyeball around too. Out there.”

Duke nodded. “Right-o boss.”

He looked at Rowdy. “Let’s set her up with some sweet mods. This little kitten needs all the help she can get to go ape on the Institute. Those cat’s are very un-cool.”

Cassidy made a face at him. “I know what you just said. I’m not a kitten!”

Everyone chuckled.

“No shame in it little sister! Kittens grow up to be big cool Cats! Now...give Rowdy that sweet piece of yours. You too MacCready.”

The mercenary shook his head. “I’m not giving up my gun to you guys, are you crazy? This thing is all I got.”

Cassidy handed hers over to Rowdy. “It’s ...it’s from my time. I don’t want it changed too much. Please.”

“Cassidy. Your weapon is your life. Shouldn’t mess with it,” said MacCready cautiously.

She sat down with him. “Zeke is Derrick’s brother. As in for real. Derrick is absolutely amazing, and he’s always trusted the Cats with everything. If Rowdy says she can make our weapons better, I believe it. But it’s up to you.”

He patted his rifle. “I’m good the way things are. No offense intended.”

“None taken,” said Zeke with a nod.

As Rowdy worked on Cassidy’s rifle, she went back to sit with Deacon. He ate what she brought him and gratefully washed it down with a rather watered out Vodka.

“Johnny D said the vodka might react with the chems,” she said. “So I had to water it out some. I’m sorry Deacon.”

“It’s all good,” he smiled. “I need a bath though.”

“You don’t smell bad,” Cassidy said.

“If you could smell me from that distance, I’d think I was rotting or something.”

She laughed. “I’ve been sleeping beside you pretty much every day. You aren’t bad, trust me. I told MacCready he needed a bath because he is reeking.”

Deacon blinked. “You’ve been sleeping here?”

She nodded. “You seemed to appreciate it so I kept on. Why do you look so shocked about it?”

He swallowed hard and wished there were some more Vodka, watered out or not. “I appreciated it, what do you mean? I was out like a light wasn’t I? I mean I don’t remember much.”

She went and sat down on the bed beside him. “I crawled behind you and held you. You always snuggled up to me. You’re a snuggler Deacon!”

His heart started racing and he felt the room closing in on him. Breathing became a chore. “Ok, Cassidy,” he said haltingly. “No more, alright?”

“No more what...holding you? Are you ok? Do you need more chems? You don’t look so great and you called me Cassidy not Charmer.”

She placed a hand on his forehead to check for fever. Deacon moved his head away. “I’m fine. Just...I’d prefer it if you didn’t sleep with me anymore. No offense.”

She moved herself to the chair, watching his eyes carefully. She didn’t understand his abrupt mood change.

What did I do wrong? We've gone to sleep together plenty of times on the road.

“Nothing happened, Deacon. I liked being nearby so if you woke up or needed something I’d be right here. I didn’t mean for it to upset you. I’m sorry.”

He saw the hurt in her eyes, the confusion. She was so innocent of everything. So loving and kind. Getting close to me is the worst thing anyone could ever do, he thought.

Someone doesn’t need to be close for you to destroy them, said the voice.

He shut his eyes tight to silence it.

Cassidy was watching him closely.

“I think you need more chems,” she stated. “Your color went away and you look a bit messed up. I’ll get them and some more water for you too. Rowdy is making my rifle better. MacCready didn’t want his done. I don’t think he trusts the Cats.”

“Shouldn’t trust anyone,” said Deacon, not looking at her.

“You have to. Or you’ll always be alone and that sucks. I trust you .”

There’s your first mistake, he thought.

The voice in his head laughed.

“I trust MacCready too,” continued Cassidy. “And the Cats and my Sanctuary family. Even Daisy. She’s good people too. But I’m still getting used to looking at ghouls. They’re weird.”

She was so full of enthusiasm, despite the trials she already was facing. And still she kept reaching out to others and helping them openly and without guile.

Deacon knew their time together was limited and it saddened him immensely. He wished at that moment he could be anyone else in the world.

Someone worthy of Cassidy Hartley.

Chapter Text

Deacon stood with the Cats as MacCready and Cassidy set off for the MedTek building. Rowdy’s enhancements to her rifle had blown her mind and even the mercenary had to admit he was impressed.

“I’ll do yours too,” said Rowdy. “Stop being so square!”

“Maybe when we come back,” he said. “If Cassidy’s doesn’t blow up on her I’ll think about it.”

“Be safe little sister,” said Zeke.

Cassidy looked at Deacon, and wanted to hug him, to feel his arms around her. She felt safe in his embrace. But after his reaction to her the previous day she hesitated. He was wearing new sunglasses Zeke had given him and she couldn’t see his emotions. Im sure he won’t want me to touch him right now, she thought. She settled for a little wave.

Deacon could see it in Cassidy’s eyes that she was still hurt and confused. He mentally kicked himself for it and had been doing so most of the night. He hadn’t slept well, missing her warm, soft body next to his. For all of his wanting to care for her, he was now succeeding in hurting her instead.

He wanted to reach out to her, but her expression told him he’d better not. Instead he gave her the best smile he could muster and a rather weak salute before she and MacCready left the garage.

“It’s going to be weird for me to not have Deacon,” she said suddenly.

“I’m better than he is at combat,” said MacCready pointedly.

“It’s not the combat part. He’s fine with that. It’s everything else. How he just knows things. And...I love him.”

“About that,” said the mercenary carefully. “What if he doesn’t feel the same?”

She grinned. “Of course he does. If he didn’t feel the same he’d leave. He’d have done that long ago. In fact after saving me he would have gone his own way. But he didn’t. He’s been with me every moment since then. And he’s really sweet to me. Very much a gentleman.”

“You two need to talk about it,” he said.

“Why do you keep bringing that up?” she asked. “You’ve said it before about him not liking me. Did he say that to you? Did he say he didn’t love me or want to be with me? I know he’s a bit older than me but who cares about all that? Love is love.”

MacCready shook his head. It wasn’t his business to gossip about his conversation with Deacon. But damn it, he was starting to care about Cassidy.

“He doesn’t talk about his private life. Hell, guys never talk about feelings to begin with.”

“Then stop saying things that confuse me,” she said with a frown.

“Yeah you’re right. I need to stay out of it. Don’t want to see you get hurt I guess. Just...just be careful alright?” He wanted to say more, to tell her of his concerns about Deacon’s stability but aside from a few incidents he had no proof, just a gut feeling. And that wasn’t enough to go on.

MacCready’s words touched Cassidy. “That’s sweet of you. Thanks, MacCready. Garbage Weasel .” She giggled.

He smiled at her. “Nice, kid. Nice. So you going to meet Hancock next time you go out to Goodneighbor?”

“He killed that guy right in front of us! Like me and Deacon walked in the door, he didn’t know us, and just bam...murder right there. It freaked me out.”

“Goodneighbor’s name is a lie,” he said. “When I said I wanted to go with you because I was bored of it, that wasn’t exactly the whole truth.”

Cassidy kicked a rock nonchalantly. “Yeah? Everyone has secret stuff they don’t share. It’s ok. I said you could come with me.”

“The Gunners were pissed when I left. People don’t usually leave unless they die or move. Well I didn’t do either. They decided that I was taking contracts in their territory.”

“That’s gangsters for you. Everything is their territory.” Cassidy rolled her eyes.

“Exactly. I need to make a living too. People come to me, I do the work. Well two of their goons, Winlocke and Barnes...been harrasing me in Goodneighbor. Trying to threaten me and squeeze me out. Started to get old so I figured I might as well hang out elsewhere for now. While we’re working together.”

“MacCready you’re a merc. Just hunt them down and take them out. Like Tessa.” She picked up a rock and threw it as far as she could. Which wasn’t far at all.

“Their hangout is on one of those roadway things. I’m good but it would be like taking on Quincy by myself. Can’t do it. So...I was trying to make enough caps to buy out the contract they have on me.”

She shook her head. “Maybe things are different now, but doing that usually doesn’t work and you get murdered anyways.”

“It’s still that way. Yeah it’s a risk, I get it. But it was the best I could think of. Just tired of them harassing me. They won’t start anything as long as I’m in Goodneighbor. Hancock only has a few rules and one of them is play nice. In town you don’t start trouble. Like that guy he killed. Finn. That one was always pulling extortion on the people. Pisses Hancock off. And you don’t ever piss Hancock off.”

“Because he’s dangerous and that’s why I’m happy to stay away.”

“No,” said MacCready “because he doesn’t take crap from anyone. He’s fair. A good mayor really. Cleaned the place up as I heard it.”

“I guess I’ll have to meet him formally eventually,” she said with a sigh.

“I think you’d like him. Give him a chance. He’s got a story too. Like everyone.”

“What is it?” she asked.

“He can tell you himself,” answered MacCready. “Hey look, some old buildings. Let’s scav it up.”

“Scav?”

“Scavenge. Look for stuff to sell.”

“Ok,” said Cassidy. “But no corpses.” They went inside the first one. She poked through several old boxes and crates, turned over a few shelves and found nothing but a few bobby pins and a pack of cigarettes. She handed them to MacCready.

“Here. Something to kill yourself with.”

He took them with thanks. “What do you mean?”

“Come on, MacCready. Everyone knows smoking is bad for you.”

He looked puzzled. “Why? It’s just some plant dried up and rolled.”

She took the package back from him and looked at it. It didn’t look like any of the ones from her time. The packaging was crude and looked recycled. “Well in my time they put a whole bunch of chemicals in the tobacco. But this...I haven’t seen any kind like this before. I guess things change in 200 years. But the ground is full of radiation so all the plants might be too. I don’t know.”

He opened the package up. “These were started up by a company about 75 years ago. They have a factory down towards the Capital Wastes. No chems just plain old plants. There’s others in the West. There were shops opening up again. Like it used to be. But there were too many raiders and things didn’t work out. You only find packs like these on accident sometimes. Gotta buy from the caravans and they aren’t keen on carrying too many for the same reasons.”

She sighed. “This world sucks. No one fights back.”

“Yeah they do. But there’s always another guy wanting to join up to take the place of the ones we kill off.”

“They need to be killed faster and more at once. Like Quincy. I’m glad the Minutemen are coming back.” She wrinkled up her nose. “I can’t believe I’m standing here talking about being glad to kill people.”

MacCready shrugged. “Better than your old world ways. Putting them in a cage so they can get out and do it again.”

“Sometimes people are just lost and do stupid things. Locking them up doesn’t help I agree but...some had a chance to fix their lives up.”

“Not in these times,” said MacCready. “Raiders are bad news. Period.”

“What about Rowdy? She was a raider!”

MacCready raised his eyebrows. “Yeah? What’s her story?”

“She got into a bad fight and they left her for dead. One of the Cats found her and brought her around. They showed her that there’s a better life than being a raider. She was just a lost person. Now look at her.”

He shook his head. “Story like that is few and far between. I’d never trust…” he suddenly stopped as she tilted her head and and raised her eyebrows.

“I’m one of those stories,” he said softly.

“Mhm and you wanted me to trust you . Insisted on it in fact. But you’re right. Your kind of stories are rare.”

He lit one of the cigarettes. “Let’s get out of here,” he said curtly.

They had some small skirmishes to deal with. Luckily they saw the raiders before the raiders saw them. Cassidy also met her first feral dogs and was horrified. MacCready told her that the mutant hounds harbored by the super mutants were worse. Far worse.

It was twilight when they reached the Med Tek building and it was surrounded by soldiers in power armor.

“Damn it,” said MacCready.

“Who are they?” she asked.

“You heard anything about a flying thing, a blimp that showed up a few weeks ago? Well that’s them. Brotherhood of Steel. Knew about them in the Capital Wastes.”

“Yes we saw them fly in. Deacon sort of mentioned them but he didn’t say much. Are they bad?”

“They’re a pain in the ass. They want all the technology out here for themselves. Don’t want anyone else having any because they think they’re the only ones entitled to it. They’d rule us and keep us in the dirt if they had their way.” His expression was full of distaste.

Cassidy watched the soldiers for a few minutes. They didn’t move, just stood there.

“Let’s talk to them,” Cassidy suggested. “We don’t want any technology, just the cure for your son if it’s here.”

MacCready’s heart had already sunk but he followed her. He knew the Brotherhood to be elitist towards anyone not within their ranks. If they’d scoured MedTek already, they probably would have taken anything that looked remotely important.

“Hi!” she said, standing before a towering metal soldier.

“Move along, civilian,” came the tinny reply.

“I need to get into MedTek.”

“Brotherhood business only. Now move along.”

“We don’t want any technology. We are looking for medicines. We’ve come a long way. Please.”

Another soldier joined them. “This building has been claimed by the Brotherhood of Steel. If you’re interested in joining our ranks, then you need to find Paladin Danse at the Cambridge Police Station.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to join, I just want to find some medicine. In there.”

The first soldier waved her away. “If you aren’t Brotherhood then you’re nothing. Now get going, civilian.”

She grit her teeth and MacCready cringed. She wasn’t going to start a fight with them was she? He was about to reach out and pull her away when she stamped her foot and stared up at the soldier.

“No!” she exclaimed. “Our little boy is very sick and might die! MedTek used to make a medicine and it’s my only chance to save him!” She burst into tears.

Another soldier, a woman not in power armor, walked over. “What’s the issue here?” she asked.

“Civilians trying to gain entrance to the building. Something about medicine and a sick kid.” Said the soldier.

She sighed. “The place is overrun by ferals. It’s not safe for you in there. That’s why we’re clearing it out first. Go see Paladin Danse at Cambridge. Tell him Scribe Grainne McGann sent you. He’ll have medicines there.”

Cassidy kept crying. “It’s not regular medicine! It’s something only MedTek made! Please!”

“I’m sorry we can’t allow civilians inside this building,” she said not unkindly. “Go see the Paladin.”

Cassidy turned away, wailing dramatically. MacCready was confused but gave the soldiers the finger. “You suck!”

“Do we have someone guarding that tunnel entrance?” one of the soldiers asked the other.

“What tunnel entrance?” asked his companion.

“The one on the map. Out by that old book shop.”

“No point. No one’s coming through there.”

Cassidy kept crying as they walked away, then she grabbed MacCready’s hand and pulled him into an alley.

“Hell I tried,” she shrugged. “Works in holovids. I guess new world soldiers are immune to tears, but did you hear what they said? Secret entrance by the book shop. Let’s go!”

“I was wondering why the heck you were crying all of a sudden!” grinned MacCready. “Good job. Deacon’s taught you well. But we can’t fight those guys. That power armor is hard to break through.”

She nodded and wiped her eyes and face. “I know, but Deacon also taught me how to be stealthy. We can get in there and get out without them seeing us if we’re careful.”

He looked doubtful. “I don’t know Cassidy. It’s risky. The place is crawling with ferals. We can’t hide from them and the Brotherhood.”

Cassidy looked determined. “If they catch us they’ll just throw us out and we’ll find another way. I don’t think they’re outright murderers, are they?”

MacCready shook his head. “Unless you’re a synth or a mutant of some kind. They hate anything non human.”

“Ok, let’s go then. We have to try, for your little Duncan.”

MacCready looked at her with admiration. She had more balls than he did that’s for sure. In general, he wasn’t a risk taker. He liked easy jobs for fast pay. But Cassidy didn’t seem to worry about risk.

Cassidy knew where the book shop was. Her old world knowledge was a good advantage and they found the tunnel. Although there was some digging and wiggling involved, they managed to find themselves in the MedTek building.

They could hear the soldiers stalking about above them. The building was, as usual, a ruinous mess and the heavy power armor thumping about was loosening bits of the ceiling.

“We need to find a computer,” said MacCready. “St. Claire said that you have to unlock a specific part of the factory in the basement which is why he believed that no one had gotten it yet. He gave me the password.”

“Do you trust him? I mean he could have been lying, right?”

“Yeah I trust him. He wouldn’t have given it to me if his friend hadn’t died. He believed in it 100%.”

Cassidy hoped he was right. She had a lot of questions, but they didn’t matter. The cure might or might not be present. “Let’s hope wherever he got the info from was honest too.”

“It’s my only chance for Duncan,” said MacCready softly. “It’s got to be here.”

They crept from room to room as quietly as possible, listening for ferals and Brotherhood. The soldiers had entered from the main floor, Cassidy and MacCready were already near the bottom so it worked to their advantage.

“If we get ferals, bash them,” said MacCready. “Don’t use the guns.”

Cassidy blinked. “Bash them? With my rifle? Or what? I’m not very strong if you hadn’t noticed.”

“Then let me do it and stay out of the way. But don’t die or get eaten. Please. Use the rifle if you have to but it’s best to be as quiet as we can.”

Ferals did indeed activate as they explored further. They grunted and growled and Cassidy squeezed her eyes shut and tried to sink into a corner as MacCready bashed them in the head. He also took out their legs so they fell and couldn’t reach them.

“I still can’t look at them,” she shuddered. “They freak me out so bad. Why did they get like this and the other ghouls didn’t?”

“The other ghouls can turn like this at any time,” said MacCready. “But the longer they are the other way the lesser the chances of it happening. A regular ghoul will turn fairly soon after, and these things don’t attack them either. So travelling with a ghoul is sometimes a good plan.”

“So Daisy is safe?” she asked with concern.

“Yeah, she’s ok. She’s prewar after all. Come on.”

They had almost despaired of finding a working computer, when MacCready found one facing the wrong way on a dilapidated desk. They quietly and carefully turned it around. He handed her a piece of paper. “Here you hack in. I’m no good at that.”

He stood by nervously as she got to work. “Ok, I think I’m in...now to test this password.”

MacCready closed his eyes. Please. Just please let this work. I’ll never ask for anything again.

He realized he was holding his breath when Cassidy gave a low hissing yes and he exhaled.

“Ok I unlocked the doors,” she said “Hopefully it’s the one we wanted and there’s an airlock here too according to the computer. Unlocked that as well. So, you said we need the basement? I saw an elevator back there. Cross your fingers that it works and won’t kill us.”

He led the way, and they heard the loud footsteps of more Brotherhood that sounded close. Cassidy stopped, and her arm hit a piece of loose metal debris, sending it crashing to the ground with a clang.

“You hear that?” asked a soldier.

“Probably more ferals, let’s find them.”

The footfalls came closer and MacCready grabbed Cassidy and dragged her behind an overturned desk. They would be caught if the soldiers thought to check the room.

We’re so close, she thought. Just keep walking soldiers, just keep walking.

And they did.

Cassidy and MacCready quite nearly ran to the elevator and pushed the button. The whirring of old mechanisms could be heard beyond the door and a few moments later it opened.

“Looks safe enough...at this point we can’t go back,” said MacCready and pulled Cassidy in behind him.

They both stood nervously as noisy old gears bumped and ground them to the lower levels. An unintelligible computerized voice tried to announce the floor but it came out as a garbled static.

It was pitch black beyond. Cassidy turned on her pip-boy light. “This will help us see but it will stop us from being too stealthy now,” she said.

“We’re far enough down that if we use our rifles no one should hear us.”

Despite that truth, each time they fired a shot, they stopped and listened. Moving forward was slow and they had to be careful. At a certain point the darkness seemed to abate and they found themselves in an annex where there was some fluorescent lighting. Lining the walls were dozens of tiny cell like rooms with glass windows.

To their disgust, Cassidy and MacCready saw that they were inhabited by feral ghouls. The husks looked like they had been there since before the war. Remnants of clothing still clung to their bodies. They saw Cassidy and MacCready and lunged at the windows, snarling and growling. 200 years of being trapped.

“I hope they turned quickly,” she said. “I can’t imagine how horrific it must have been when the bombs fell and they weren’t killed.”

“Let’s hope that glass holds,” MacCready said.

“I’m more worried about having to let them out to continue on,” said Cassidy. “Look.” She pointed and there was a heavy locked door at the far end of the room. A computer sat at a desk.

“I knew none of this would be easy,” groaned the mercenary. “When I tried to come here with that Gunner we didn’t make it past the entry way before he got his face eaten off by ferals. I was out that door in a heartbeat and haven’t been back til now. This won’t be fun.”

Cassidy activated the computer. “Ok, good news and bad news. The bad news is that we do have to open the doors. The good news is that we don’t have to do them all at once. I just don’t know which code here opens up the door we need.”

“Just pick one and I’ll start taking them down.”

Cassidy chose the first set of doors and the ferals stumbled out. MacCready shot them down before they could get a bead on them.

She repeated it again. Same action. Eventually all the doors were then open, and the ferals dead...but the main door was still locked.

“Let’s check the rooms,” said MacCready.

Cassidy didn’t believe that there would be a computer in the cells, but she found a section of caved in floor in one of them. “We can fall through here, and not bother with that door. I don’t know where the terminal is for that one anyway.”

She crouched down and shone her pip-boy light into the hole. “It’s not too far a drop. We should be ok.”

MacCready picked up a bit of debris and dropped it in the hole. It made a thump. He waited to see if any ferals activated. “Ok, let me go first,” he suggested. “I can catch you.”

Cassidy giggled. “I just had a cartoon image of me falling on you and flattening you! You’re just a little guy, MacCready.”

“Nice,” he said. “Let me tell you, I’ve got one pretty big reason why I don’t mind being called the little guy .”

“Ew!” she exclaimed. “I don’t need to hear about your body parts!”

“Hey, you started it,” he chuckled.

“I never mentioned a single thing about privates!”

He lowered himself down into the hole. “Guess I’m really a garbage weasel after all!”

He stood on the ground and held his arms up. “Ok kid, come on down.”

She hung onto some rebar and lowered herself, dangling for a moment before letting go. MacCready caught her easily and set her down. “I’ve had meals that weighed more than you,” he said, and held onto her a bit longer than she liked.

Cassidy wriggled away from him and shone the light around. They had fallen into another cell like room, but the door was open and the other cells had nothing in them. Where the door leading onward had once been there was nothing but debris and they climbed over it.

The room they entered was large, with viewing windows all along the top, and metal scaffolding leading down. In the center was a long lab table littered with scientific equipment. There was a sign marked airlock exit on the far side.

There were ferals lying on the floor, most likely inert and not dead.

“Well, let’s get rid of them,” said MacCready and raised his rifle. Because their shots were so quiet, the others didn’t react too quickly and it wasn’t long before the husks were dispatched.

“This has to be the lab. The meds have to be here somewhere,” said MacCready. “Open up all the drawers and cabinets...everything.”

He frantically began to search, his desperation growing as his efforts didn’t reveal anything.

Cassidy stood still and looked around. The skeleton of a scientist, still wearing his lab coat, was slumped over the table, a gun in his hand and a hole in the side of his head. At his other hand was a metal tray with a strange looking object on it. It looked similar to the jet inhaler. She picked it up.

“MacCready?” she called out. “Come here.”

He looked flustered and scared but walked over to her. She held the inhaler out to him. “Is this it?”

He took it and turned it over. “Yeah! Yeah this is it! Just like St. Claire described! Aw Cassidy, we did it! We gave Duncan a fighting chance!”

He raised his eyes to hers, and they were brimming with tears. Seeing him that way made her eyes misty too. “Now you can go home and give it to him!”

He held the dispenser to his chest, eyes closed, and a single tear crept from his eyes and moved down his cheek.

Cassidy reached out and brushed it away. “I’m so grateful I could help you with this!”

There was gratitude and softness in his eyes when he opened them. “Thank you, Cassidy. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you for this, but I’ll find a way. I swear it.”

He held out his arms, and she went to him. MacCready embraced her gently. “It’s a debt I’ll gladly repay.”

She hugged him back. “We still need to escape and not get caught by those soldiers,” she said. “Let’s try that airlock exit.”

They moved swiftly to the door and it opened out into a corridor. As they stepped in, the door shut behind them and jets on the ceilings began to spray a soft mist.

“Decontamination process begun,” said an electronic female voice. “Complete in 5,4,3,2…”

As it reached 1, the jets shut off and another door opened ahead of them. A dingy hallway with an elevator was on the opposite side.

They ran and called the elevator. “I hope it doesn’t open up right in some soldier’s face!” said Cassidy.

It opened up on the main floor at the end of a corridor.

“Oh hell,” said MacCready. “Now what?”

Cassidy grinned, her nose wrinkling up. “We do the super secret spy technique.”

“Kid, I don’t think we can sneak past all those guys out there.”

“Of course not. But we can run like a bat out of hell and be gone before they can react!”

“They’re soldiers, they’re trained to think fast! We can’t just run! Cass! Oh shit!” There was no other descriptive that fit the moment as Cassidy took off running down the corridor. MacCready followed wondering if she was insane. He fully expected to be grabbed, knocked out or shot at.

She dashed across the main floor, the soldiers exclaiming in surprise. Laser fire went over their heads but someone shouted to stand down. There was a flurry of activity as the soldiers tried to catch them but Cassidy and MacCready were far more agile without the heavy, cumbersome power armor. She slammed into the exit door with all her weight and it opened.

Laughing, MacCready at her heels, she leapt from the stairs and ran past the soldiers whom she had spoken to earlier.

“What the…?” one of them exclaimed.

“Isn’t that the civilians we talked to earlier?” asked the other.

Cassidy dashed down an alley.

As he followed, MacCready gave the Brotherhood the finger. “You still suck!” he yelled.

Cassidy ran through buildings and out into a field dotted with rocky outcroppings and dead trees. She was still giggling like a schoolgirl.

“Cassidy! Ok! Stop!” cried MacCready, breathless.

She slowed down and turned, making sure no one had followed them. The Brotherhood hadn’t deemed them important enough to follow, just as she’d thought.

“They don’t think anything of us,” she panted, resting her hands on her knees and catching her breath. “Probably thought we were just screwing around to prove we could get in there. I didn’t think they believed my story about the meds and dying kid. Even though it was at least partially true. That was awesome though, right?”

MacCready grinned. “Yeah I gotta give you that, though I thought you’d lost your damn mind when you started running. How did you know where the exit was?”

“Big red sign, big red doors…”

“But we couldn’t see that room from the elevator!” exclaimed MacCready. “You ran blind!”

Cassidy laughed. “Yep I sure did! I knew it was the main entrance though by that statue thing in the middle. I saw that right away. So I’m not completely crazy.”

MacCready slung an arm around her shoulder. “You’re something else. Let’s get back to the Cats. I’m sure you’re missing Deacon.”

“I felt weird at first without him but I have to say, you’re pretty cool to hang with.”

“Feeling is mutual, kid,” he said affectionately.

Laughing, they turned and headed back in the direction of the garage.

Chapter Text

“So there she was running for the exit,” said MacCready laughing, describing to the Atom Cats the adventure they’d had.

“He thought I was nuts!” Cassidy added.

“So you got the cure?” asked Zeke.

“Sure did,” answered MacCready.

“That’s the epitome of cool,” said the Atom Cat leader. “So now it’s time to go home and give it to him?”

MacCready nodded. “It sure is.”

“You gotta let Rowdy mod up that gun,” he said.

MacCready nodded. “Yeah, ok. Go ahead.”

Rowdy gave him the thumbs up.

Cassidy had gone to see Deacon right away. His eyes were brighter, and he moved around with a bit more ease.

“Did you miss me?” she asked.

“Always,” said Deacon. “It was too quiet around here without you. We should go back and check with Nick. Remember he said he was working on your case still.”

She nodded. “I’m not going anywhere until you’re better. It’s a long way, Deacon. My little brother’s been in the Institute for 10 years. A few more days or weeks won’t change anything. And daddy’s safe in his pod. I should actually go and check on him too to make sure.”

Deacon nodded. “You still game to try and find the Railroad?” he asked.

She nodded. “Definitely.”

“Good,” he said.

“Have you been looking for them a long time?” she asked.

“They’re kind of the good guys these days,” he responded without actually answering her question.

“Anyone is better than the Institute or that dreadful Brotherhood!” Cassidy exclaimed.

“Mhm that’s a fact.”

MacCready appeared in the doorway. “Hey, could I talk to you guys? Won’t be long, I know you probably have things to do.”

Cassidy rolled her eyes. “Garbage weasel,” she said.

“That’s me,” grinned the mercenary, sitting backwards on a chair. “So, I’m going to go back to the Capital Wastes. Get this cure to my son. But...I’m going to go with a caravan. Offer my services and make a few caps. Daisy works with a guy who goes to the Capital every month. Leaves out of a place called Bunker Hill. I was uhh...hoping you’d go with me as far as Goodneighbor and the Hill.”

He didn’t meet anyone’s eyes, but looked down at the ground, leaning on the back of the chair.

“Of course we will, right Deacon?” said Cassidy brightly. “I’m so happy that we found that cure. And gave the Brotherhood the finger too!”

MacCready laughed. “Yeah gave it to them coming and going. Not a fan of those guys.”

“Me either,” agreed Cassidy. “And I don’t even know anything about them. Did you know they actually said if you aren’t Brotherhood you’re nothing to us? It was so rude!”

Deacon nodded. “I believe it. They started getting arrogant, taking what they wanted from whomever they wanted. Heard a rumor that they took the power supply from Rivet City to power that flying atrocity.”

Cassidy looked aghast. “They took a whole city’s power?”

Deacon shrugged. “I don’t know for sure but it was a story that went around.”

“I don’t like them one bit,” she said scowling.

“I’d like to torment them some more,” said MacCready. “But I got things to do, places to go.”

“Would have been fun maybe,” said Cassidy. “I’m kind of sorry to see you go. I mean I know we only just met but like I said you’re cool to hang out with. I’m going to miss you, garbage weasel.”

He smiled warmly. It wasn’t something he did often and hadn’t in a very long time. “I’m going to miss you too, kid.”

She turned to Deacon. “I’m going to ask Johnny D when he thinks it’s ok for you to travel again.”

“I’m feeling a lot better, Charmer. Haven’t been taking as many chems. I can move my arm now with only a bit of pain.”

“I’d still like his opinion. I know how you hate sitting around in one place and want to be on the move. You’ll have to suck it up if it’s better for you. But MacCready…” she looked at him. “Maybe you and I should go to Goodneighbor. I don’t want you to miss the caravan!”

He shook his head. “I don’t want you having to travel back here alone.”

“I’ll be fine. I have a kickass gun now remember?”

“Still. No deal. We go when Deacon’s ready.”

Cassidy sighed. “I don’t want you putting your son in danger longer though.”

“It’s all good,” he said, getting up. “I’ll leave you two to talk now,” he said chuckling.

“What’s that all about?” asked Deacon.

“MacCready being a garbage weasel. I decided that since he calls me kid which is awful, he needed a gross nickname too. That’s what I decided on.” She grinned.

“Why does it bother you being a kid? Wish I were one again.”

She made a face. “Because I’m not one. I haven’t been a kid since I was 12. It bugs me when people judge me because of my age. They think I don’t know anything and can’t do anything.”

He nodded. “Ok, I can get behind that. People act that way to older folks too.”

Cassidy stood up and stretched. “Yeah, but not in the same way. Kids don’t get taken seriously and that pisses me off. I’m going to go talk to Johnny D now.”

Two days later, the three of them were outfitted for the journey to Goodneighbor.

“Hate seeing you agitate the gravel,” said Zeke. “You tell that brother of mine to get his candy ass back here. You too little sister.”

“He’s pretty brave Zeke,” said Cassidy. “He just doesn’t like fighting.”

“I know, I know. He’s good at all sorts of things. Gets cranked up over tools and machines. No love for the suits though. Fixes them like a dream but won’t wear them.”

“I can totally understand that. I don’t like them either.”

Zeke made a wounded face and stumbled back clutching his chest. “Ahh! That’s like saying you don’t dig cars! These suits are our cars, CJ!”

Cassidy laughed. “Cars were cooler. I’ll tell Derrick to come see you.”

“Stay cool, kitten,” he said, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. She hugged him tightly.

“Now remember,” said Johnny D to Deacon. “Rest when you need to. Stim up tomorrow, you dig?”

“I got it,” said Deacon. “And thanks. For everything.”

Johnny D nodded and went off to do his perimeter patrols.

Cassidy and the ladies exchanged some pleasantries, then after a quick hug or two they were off.

“Feels like I’m leaving home or something,” said Cassidy. “It’s the weirdest feeling. I never felt that when we left Sanctuary and that was my real home before the bombs.”

“That place, it suits you,” MacCready said. “The garage I mean. Those guys. Maybe it’s time for you to relocate.”

“It’s hard because I love my Sanctuary family too,” she said.

They reached Goodneighbor and headed right to Daisy.

“I’m sorry MacCready,” said the ghoul apologetically. “Old Man Stockton’s caravan left a week ago. His next one isn’t due to leave for another month. About 3 weeks at this point.”

His expression fell. Cassidy felt sorry for him. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “Can you find another caravan maybe?”

He shook his head. “Gotta travel with people you trust. I just have to wait.”

“I’ll send a message to Stockton that you want to go along,” offered Daisy. “Where can I reach you if something changes?”

Cassidy spoke up instantly. “Sanctuary Hills. We’ll be there. It’s in the north end.”

Daisy nodded. “I know of it. Hang in there, MacCready.”

“Yeah,” he said sadly. “Thanks Daisy.”

Cassidy put her arms around MacCready in a hug. “I feel so bad for you. But it’ll be ok. We can go to Sanctuary and you can check it out. You’ll love it. Lots of nice clean water and great food.”

“Hey, I had a bath the other day,” he said.

“We have laundry facilities too,” she added with a grin.

“Yeah ok I get it,” he said. “Bratty kid.”

“Smelly garbage weasel.”

“I knew you two would love each other,” said Deacon with a grin.

“Ew no,” said Cassidy. “No one could ever love a garbage weasel.”

“Or a bratty kid with a death wish,” added MacCready.

“Let’s go,” said Cassidy. “We won’t make it there today but at least we can get halfway. You guys agree?”

“Works for me,” said the mercenary.

They waved goodbye to Daisy and were off.

Chapter Text

A strange face met them at the brand new Sanctuary security gate.

“Trader or settler?” he asked.

“Neither,” Cassidy answered. “I’m Cassidy. This is Deacon and MacCready. We live here.”

The man’s expression changed. “Hartley?” he asked.

When she nodded he reached down and brought out a flare gun and shot it straight into the air.

“What’s that for?” she asked, puzzled.

“I dunno,” he answered. “Sturges just told me to shoot this off if someone named Cassidy Hartley showed up here.”  He stood back and opened the gate, letting them in.

The flare had barely faded when she saw Sturges running towards her, followed by Mama Murphy and the Longs.

Sturges reached her first, grabbing her in a tight hug and spinning her around. “Cassidy! I can’t believe you’re alive! And finally home!” He didn’t let go for the longest time, until Marcy pulled her away, embracing her.

“You had us all scared shitless!” she cried. “Carla told us that the Quincy settlement opened up for trading, but not a word about you!”

“I’ve got so much to tell all of you!” exclaimed Cassidy.

“Glad to see you again kid,” said Mama Murphy affectionately, embracing her as well.

Jun gave her a quick hug, and then Preston showed up at a jog. Other people Cassidy had never seen before came around, curious about the commotion.

“Am I ever glad to see you again,” said the Minuteman leader. “It was rough going for us here. All those stories but not a word about you.”

“I’m ok and back,” said Cassidy, smiling so widely that her face hurt. “Lots to talk about. I’d like you to meet RJ MacCready. He’s my friend. He helped us with Quincy!”

Sturges, who’d stood back a bit while she greeted the others, stepped forward again, putting his arms around her once more. “Did they help you? The Cats?” he asked, finally letting her go.

She nodded, her eyes shining. “Oh they did! Zeke is so wonderful! You didn’t tell me he’s your brother!”

Sturges laughed. “He’s my big brother all right. Wasn’t cool with me living at Quincy though.”

“He told me I had to bring you back home!”

“If you come with me, I’ll go see him.”

Cassidy nodded excitedly. “Yes! I love them so much, all of them!”

She animatedly told him about his brother and his friends and how much she loved their garage. Sturges’ eyes were filled with adoration. She was nothing if not perfect in every way. He didn’t even pass a thought over Deacon who was watching him like a hawk.

“You’re probably tired,” said Marcy. “Why don’t we go to my place. I’ll make you some food. We can talk.”

Preston turned to Deacon and MacCready. “Why don’t the two of you come with me to the Cantina. We can eat there. You can tell me about Quincy.”

“You got any good Bourbon?” asked MacCready.

“We do,” answered Preston.

“I think Deacon needs to have some sleep after,” said Cassidy. “He got a very bad injury that almost killed him.”

Deacon sighed. “Charmer, I’m fine.”

“I promised Johnny D I’d look after you properly. So I am. Eat then sleep, Deeks!”

Deacon smiled at her and nodded. “Alright, I will. Promise.”

Cassidy hesitantly and gently put her arms around him for a moment. Awkwardly, he patted her back, then Marcy took her hand and led her away.

“I’ve got some things for you,” said Cassidy softly as she opened her pack on Marcy’s couch.

“So glad you made it back,” said Jun in his soft voice. He looked much better than when she had last seen him.

Cassidy pulled out Kyle’s toys and his ball cap and placed them on the table along with the picture and the silver locket.

Marcy gave a cry, her hands over her mouth. She picked up the ball cap then each of the toys, tears streaming from her eyes.

“The Atom Cats are going to bury him,” said Cassidy gently. “And you’ll have a grave to visit if you ever want to. They’ve promised to look after all the graves there.”

Jun picked up the cap gingerly and looked at his wife. She  nodded through her tears and he put it on his head, sitting with his hands clasped, leaning on his knees.

“T...thank you for this,” he whispered.

Cassidy nodded, trying to blink her own tears away. Marcy wiped her eyes and embraced her friend.

“We can’t ever repay you for everything you’ve done,” she said. “I know that killing all those raiders can’t bring Kyle back. But it feels right knowing they’re rotting away now. It’s...it’s like a closure for us. Thank you, Cassidy.”

Cassidy let a few tears seep from her eyes, then the three of them sat quietly for awhile, lost in their own thoughts.

“We need to eat now,” said Marcy, getting up and finishing up the meal preparations. She placed it nicely on the table as though it were a formal feast from the old world.

Cassidy gratefully sat down with them and ate and drank, talking about more pleasant things, and the new people who’d shown up.

Marcy still wasn’t keen on them, but Preston had interviewed them all and found them a good fit for Sanctuary.

“He didn’t let everyone stay who came,” said Jun. “Some of them weren’t right for us. He asked them to leave. One guy tried to steal from the Cantina.”

“Yes,” agreed Marcy. “Some of the people were crazy. Sturges had to pull a gun on one of them.”

Cassidy gaped. “Derrick did? What was that all about?”

“We think the guy was a raider spy or something. Was in the garage filling his pockets with ammo and trying to steal a few guns in the middle of the night. Dogmeat caught him and Derrick held him at gunpoint to put everything back. Then Preston and Seamus escorted him out.”

Cassidy couldn’t believe it. To allow someone to have a safe place to live, just to have them try and steal from you. It was another horrendous truth of the new world.

Dogmeat appeared then, and smothered Cassidy with kisses, his tail knocking noisily against the table and chairs. She laughed and cuddled him, telling how she’d missed him and that he was a good boy to take care of her family.

“But the other people...they’re ok?” she asked.

“Yes,” said Marcy. “They listen to the rules and pull their weight.

“Who was the guy at the security gate?” asked Cassidy.

“That was Seamus. He’s a pretty good fighter to hear him tell it. Haven’t had to fight anyone yet though. No one seems to mess with us here.”

“Must be all the turrets everywhere,” said Cassidy with a grin.

“Everyone here has a gun now. Even me. Hate it.”

“Me too,” said Cassidy. “I never dreamed I’d grow up to be a serial killer.”

“It must be so terrible to go from your world to this,” said Marcy.

“It is,” agreed Cassidy. “But when daddy wakes up and gets better, life will be good again. He’ll help us get things sorted out and teach us about all the weapons and armor. Even power armor.”

“He sounds like a great dad,” said Jun.

“He is! He’ll love everyone here. He’ll be so pleased at everything we’ve done. I just hope he doesn’t think too badly of me being a killer now.”

“It’s how things are now. You adapt. Do what you have to,” said Marcy. “It’s the new reality. He’ll learn just like you did.”

Cassidy nodded. “You’re right. Everything is so different now. When I find Shaun though...things will seem more normal.”

They talked for a bit longer, then Cassidy realized she was exhausted. Excusing herself, she wandered back to her own house, closing her door, letting her family know that she wasn’t to be disturbed. Her bed had never looked more inviting and perfect.

With a sigh, she curled up, Dogmeat on the floor beside her.

She slept fitfully then awoke, missing Deacon. She wanted to feel his warmth beside her. Since his strange reaction to her, things had seemed a bit strained between them. Cassidy wanted to ask him what was going on, but she felt insecure and out of her element.

She’d never had a relationship before and didn’t know how to navigate those waters. What if she said the wrong thing again? What if touching him would freak him out? What if he left her?

The thought of carrying on without Deacon gave her anxiety. She felt safe with him, she relied on him to always be there.

Maybe I just need to try harder, she thought. I don’t know much about being a girlfriend but I have to learn.

She invited Dogmeat up on the bed and held onto him, falling asleep with her face in his soft fur.

Chapter Text

“I know you’re worried about me,” said Deacon. “But we need to hit up Nick’s office. I can handle the trek to DC.”

Cassidy tilted her head and watched him a moment. “I don’t know, Deeks. I think you’ve been doing too much already.”

“We’ve been here for two weeks. It’s all good. Let’s go.”

MacCready downed the last of his bottle of Bourbon. “Where we going?” he asked.

He’d settled in at Sanctuary very nicely and everyone had liked having him around. He had a smart mouth sometimes but mostly it just brought a round of laughs.

Cassidy appreciated having his help in working with her moving target issues. He also showed her how to use her rifle to bash. She didn’t feel up to doing that in a combat situation but he insisted that one day it might save her or someone she cared about.

Cassidy and Deacon had worked on the Sanctuary houses, going out and scavving up more furniture and appliances for Sturges to work on. She also found another power armor suit which thrilled him. Deacon had to wear it back which he absolutely hated, and his running commentary left her in peals of laughter more than once.

However, she still felt their relationship was strained. She yearned to touch him, to hold his hand the way she used to, but she was afraid to. Deacon could be warm and complimentary one moment, then distant and quiet the next.

Nighttime wasn’t as fun as it once had been. Cassidy usually had her bath or shower then went to bed. Deacon didn’t spend time in the living room reading, he did his evening routines and went to bed, closing the door.

She’d asked him if he was alright one night, if he needed anything, but he said no and didn’t engage with her any further. She’d leaned against the wall beside the door, tears in her eyes. She wanted, more than anything, for him to hold her.

Her confusion over Deacon led her to spending more time with Sturges, who was always asking her to do something with him.

They consequently spent quite a bit of time listening to music, reading about cars, talking about cars, and dreaming about cars.

“I like cars,” said Cassidy. “I was going to be a designer for them one day. Stupid bombs.”

“Might not be the same,” he’d said. “But we can do that now. Heck there’s a lot of dead cars all over. We can make something cool out of that. I bet I can even get an engine working for one. Was close with the one in Quincy.”

She shrugged. “And drive it where? There’s no roads anymore.”

“There’s concrete,” said Sturges. “And if there’s concrete there’s a way to make a road. A track even. I say we try it.”

Cassidy had smiled softly and her eyes met his. She always liked the way he looked at her. There was such kindness in his face. He genuinely seemed to care about her and the others. He often asked how Deacon was feeling and how MacCready was enjoying Sanctuary.

“I guess we can,” she said.

He’d beamed and begun preparations for a road. To start with, the cracks and crevices in the Sanctuary roads were going to be fixed, to test the concrete.

“I’ll handle that while you’re off looking for your brother,” he’d said.

Of course, there were always other, more pressing situations to deal with, and the roadway took a backseat to everything else.

Preston had been actively recruiting more Minutemen from the settlers that had showed up and shown interest. He’d also had to turn away several people for unsuitability. It was a full time job but he seemed to thrive on it. The work gave him motivation and hope.

Cassidy got to know Seamus and some of the other settlers, and felt that Sanctuary was in good hands.

“Alright Deacon,” she said. “Everyone here seems to have things to do and we might as well go to DC.”

“I’ll get my pack,” he said.

Without a word, MacCready did the same.

They walked into a scene the moment they hit the DC marketplace.

“Kyle!” cried a man, his hands raised. “I’m your brother! Put the gun down!”

Opposite him another man, similarly dressed, was holding a rifle, aimed at him. “Don’t move, synth!” he shouted. “What have you done with the real Riley? Where’s my brother?”

Riley was terrified. “I swear I’m not a synth! Don’t shoot! For God’s sakes we’re family!”

A security guard walked over. “Put the gun down, now! ” he demanded.

“He’s a synth!” yelled Kyle. “He’ll kill us all!”

Suddenly a gunshot sounded and Kyle crumpled to the ground in a spray of blood.

“Kyle! No!” Screamed Riley.

“Ok, show’s over,” said the security guard. “There are no synths in Diamond City, hear me? Just you folks and your damn paranoia!”

Cassidy couldn’t believe what she’d witnessed. “Hey,” she said to Riley.

“He...he pulled a gun on me! My own brother!” said the pale faced Riley, staring at the body on the ground.

“You’re safe now,” said Cassidy gently. “That’s all that matters.”

“I’m...I’m not a synth. I told him. I kept telling him. Why didn’t he listen to me?”

Cassidy shook her head sadly. The security guard moved to the body but Riley stopped him. “I...I need a minute…” he said sadly.

The guard looked at Cassidy. “I need you to step away scavver,” he said.

“I understand officer,” she said politely. “I just want to know what happened.”

“What you didn’t hear the shouting? Guy pulls a gun on his own brother, thinking he’s a synth.” The guard snorted. “It’s that newspaper’s fault. Got people all riled up, thinking their own family might be replaced by machines. Look, I’m sorry you got caught up in all this, but it’s over, ok? Just go about your business like nothing happened. Better that way.”

Another guard appeared and waved the onlookers away. “What’s everyone still standing around for?” he shouted. “Go back to your own damn business!”

Deacon gently pulled Cassidy away. “Let him grieve. Damn shame how people act sometimes.”

“Why does that happen? People being replaced like that.”

“No idea. No one does. It just happens sometimes.”

She looked sorrowful. “It’s evil! Now his brother’s gone and he’s alone. I hate the Institute!”

“You and pretty much every single person in the Commonwealth who isn’t one of them,” said Deacon. “Come on, let’s go find Nick.”

Piper, the news reporter, was in Nick’s office speaking with him. They looked up when Cassidy and her friends walked in.

“There she is!” said Nick amiably. “Good to see you again Doll. Piper and I, we’ve been talking about your case.”

“The Institute,” said Piper. “Whoo boy...that’s not a good sign. I’ve been investigating these creeps for over a year now. The Commonwealth’s boogeyman. Feared and hated by everyone.”

“We just saw a guy try and kill his brother for being a synth. The guards shot him!” exclaimed Cassidy.

Nick nodded. “Not the first time. Paranoia’s running fast these days.”

“What do you know about them, Piper?” asked Cassidy.

“Sometimes they snatch people in the middle of the night. And sometimes they leave old synths behind to remind us that they’re out there. But to this day there’s one thing nobody really knows…”

“Where the Institute actually is,” finished Nick. “Or how to get in.”

“Exactly,” agreed Piper. “But there’s one person who must know, right? The guy who handed them Shaun.”

“Yeah, Kellogg,” said Nick.

“He had access,” said Cassidy. “But...he’s dead.”

“So...murderer and kidnapper gets his brains blown out by an avenging sister,” mused Piper. “It’d be a great ending if we didn’t still have the biggest mystery in the Commonwealth to solve.”

“He wouldn’t have helped me even if I had a way of forcing him to come with us,” said Cassidy miserably. “He was twisted and evil. It made him glad to taunt me.”

“Hmm…” said Nick thoughtfully. “Brains blown out...brains. You know, we might not actually need the man himself after all.”

All eyes turned to Nick.

“You’re talking crazy here Nick,” said Piper. “Got a fault in the old subroutines?”

“Look,” said the detective. “There’s a place in Goodneighbor called the Memory Den. Relive past moments in your mind as clear as the day they happened.”

He paced the room while everyone waited to hear his next thoughts. “If anyone can get a dead brain to sing, it’ll be Doctor Amari, the mind behind the memories.”

“But...we don’t have his brain,” said Cassidy.

“Geez guys,” said Piper. “That’s so gross!”

“Luckily I found something on him,” said Nick. “Had this thing in his head. Cybernetic piece. We might have just won the lottery.”

“Well whether we’re riding this crazy brain train or not,” said Piper. “We can’t all go to Goodneighbor. Cassidy it looks like you’ve got a whole posse with you already.”

“I have to go to the Memory Den either way,” said Nick. “if I’m going to introduce you to Amari. If you want to travel together just say the word.”

“Yes please,” said Cassidy.

“Don’t worry,” said Nick reassuringly. “We’re gonna get your brother back. Just a few more steps.”

Cassidy nodded. She appreciated his positive sentiment but unfortunately she wasn’t feeling it.

“Right. Let’s get a move on,” said MacCready. “Don’t like the idea of being out there at night.”

They set off.

Chapter Text

The Memory Den at Goodneighbor was as dingy as every other place. However, it’s proprietor, Irma, had done her best to decorate it in the sumptuous styles of days gone by.

Heavy velvet burgundy curtains and swags hung from the ceilings and an ancient crystal chandelier, covered in dust hung from a chain in the center of the room. On either side of a red carpet were strange looking pod-like devices.

“Those are the memory loungers,” said Deacon.

“This place can help you or hurt you,” said MacCready. “Never used it myself. It would be bad for me.”

“Yeah probably a bad idea for me too,” agreed Deacon.

Cassidy was amazed by it. To be able to relive memories! To see her family and her friends again! The idea excited her but MacCready’s words rang true. Sometimes memories could hurt too much.

At the end of the room was a slightly raised platform with a deep burgundy chaise lounge. On it reclined a woman, dressed in a fancy outfit complete with a feather type boa. Her blonde hair was elaborately curled and put up and her makeup was immaculate.

Her voice was low and sultry as she looked at Nick with a smile. “Well, well Mr. Valentine,” she crooned. “I thought you had forgotten about little ol’ me.”

“I may have walked out of the Den, Irma, but I’d never walk out on you,” replied Nick with an appreciative smile. “Here to see Amari.”

“Mmm,” purred Irma. “Amari’s downstairs, you big flirt.” She gave Cassidy an appraising glance. “Whatever you and Nick are up to I don’t need to know,” she said. “Just don’t let the big metal softy hurt himself, alright?”

“I won’t,” said Cassidy with a tentative smile.

She followed Nick down the stairs into a room with a red and white checkerboard floor. There were two more of the memory loungers as well as rows of computer banks and equipment.

“Doctor Amari?” the detective called out to a woman in a lab coat with her back to them.

She turned around and nodded to Nick. “I take it this isn’t a social call. Not with a whole group like this behind you,” she said.

“Hi,” said Cassidy, and introduced herself. “Nick said that you can extract memories from brains, right?”

Dr. Amari raised her eyebrows. “Oh he did, did he? Normally we only allow our clients to experience their own memories. What’s this all about?”

“We need a deep dig Amari,” said Nick. “But it’s not gonna be easy. The perp, Kellogg, is already cold on the floor.”

“Are you two mad?” asked the doctor. “Putting aside the fact that you’re asking me to defile a corpse, you do realize the memory simulators require intact living brains to function?”

“There must be some way to make it work!” exclaimed Cassidy. “I’m trying to find my little brother. The Institute kidnapped him!”

“This dead brain had inside knowledge of the Institute, Amari,” said Nick. “The biggest scientific secret of the Commonwealth. You need this, and so do we.”

The doctor sighed heavily. “A missing child...Fine. I’ll take a look. But no guarantees. Do you...have it with you?”

Nick reached into his pocket and drew out a handkerchief. He handed it to Amari who opened it up and held the strange object. It looked cybernetic with a lump of flesh attached.

“What’s this! This isn’t a brain!” she exclaimed in dismay, then holding it up and peering at it she blinked. “Oh...wait...that’s the hippocampus! And this thing attached to it...a neural interface?”

Nick leaned close and examined it. “Hmm those circuits look awfully familiar,” he murmured.

“I’m not surprised,” agreed Amari. “All Institute technology has a similar architecture.”

“Nick’s an older model synth,” said Deacon. “Would he be compatible with this thing in any way?”

Amari nodded. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. If we’re lucky, it should hook right in.”

She studied the implant carefully. “But, even if this works, Mr. Valentine would be taking a tremendous amount of risk. We’re talking about wiring something right to his brain.”

“Don’t worry about me Amari,” said Nick firmly. “Let’s do it.”

“I don’t...I don’t know if it’s a good idea if it might hurt you,” said Cassidy. “Is there another way?”

“No idea,” he responded. “But we got a missing kid on the line. That’s worth the risk.”

“Thanks, Nick,” said Cassidy softly.

“Ok then. Whenever you’re ready Mr. Valentine, just sit down.” Dr. Amari pointed to a chair. Nick sat himself down and removed his hat.

Nick chuckled. “If I start cackling like an old grizzled mercenary, pull me out, ok?”

“Let’s see here…” The doctor brought out several tools and a small hand held device. She opened up the back of Nick’s flesh covering and began her work.

Cassidy, Deacon and MacCready watched, silently, not daring to move.

“I need you to keep talking to me, Mr. Valentine,” said the doctor. “Any slight change in your cognitive functions could be dire. Are you feeling any different?”

“There’s a lot of flashes…” answered Nick. “Static. I can’t make sense of any of it, doc.”

Dr. Amari stood up. “That’s what I was afraid of. The mnemonic impressions are encoded. It appears the Institute had one last failsafe. There’s a lock on the memories in the implant.”

“How do you lock memories?” asked MacCready.

“The implant is encoding all the mnemonic activity in the hippocampus. Think of it like...computer encryption. And we don’t have the password.”

Dr. Amari looked out over their heads thoughtfully. “Let’s see...a single mind can’t crack it...but what if we used two? We load both Cassidy and Mr. Valentine into the memory lounger. Run your cognitive functions in parallel.”

She thought further then nodded. “He’ll act as a host while Cassidy’s consciousness drives through whatever memories we can find.”

“What...any idea what I’m going to see in there?” Cassidy asked cautiously.

“Are you sure this is safe?” asked MacCready. “I mean we don’t want her brain all scrambled over this.”

“Kind of concerning to me too,” added Deacon. “She’s not going to be much use to her brother if her mind’s fried, right?”

“I won’t lie,” said the doctor. “I’ve never done this procedure before. It isn’t risk free. As to what you’ll see, I have no idea. Considering we only have a small piece of the medial temporal lobe, and not the whole brain, I doubt it’ll be cohesive.”

Cassidy looked at her friends.

“All this science stuff hurts my brain,” said MacCready.

“It’s up to you, Charmer,” said Deacon. “I’m with you whatever you decide.”

Cassidy could have kissed him. He was always supportive and kind no matter what.  She loved him even more for it and wished she could tell him.

She took a deep breath. “Ok. Let’s do it.”

The doctor nodded. She pointed to a memory lounger. “Just sit down in there, and keep your fingers crossed.”

Nick got up and went to the lounger on the other side of the room. “See you on the other side,” he said.

Cassidy climbed into the pod. The clear metal dome lowered slowly. Deacon and MacCready came to stand beside it, one on either side.

A screen sat in front of Cassidy, with a black and white pattern that said please stand by.

“Initiating brain wave migration between the transplant and the host,” said Amari, working on a terminal behind them. “Mnemonic activity coming from the transplant!” she said excitedly. “It’s degenerated, but it’s there!”

The screen brightened. “We’re going to load you into the strongest memories we can find. They might not be stable...just hold on!”

Suddenly everything went white. Cassidy couldn’t see the screen anymore.

“Can you hear me?” Amari’s voice seemed to come from inside her own mind. “The simulation appears to be working. Raise your hand for me if you can hear this.”

Cassidy raised her hand.

“Ah good,” said the doctor. “The memories however seem to be fragmented.”

Cassidy raised her hand and looked at it. It was as though she were actually standing in some strange place. There was a pathway. It was made up of what looked like neurons to her. Things she’d seen in a science book long ago.

Everything around her was black aside from the strange objects.

“I’ll try and step you through the intact memories,” said Dr. Amari. “And hope we find one that gives us some clue to the Institute’s location.”

The pathway began to light up, and one at a time, the things Cassidy was standing on began to clasp to the one in front, leading her. “There,” said the doctor. “This is the earliest intact memory I can find.”

Cassidy carefully walked on the neurons, following them.

A platform opened up, and she saw a young boy sitting on a bed with his mother in a chair behind him.

And so began her journey through the twisted mind of Conrad Kellogg.

Deacon and MacCready knew it wasn’t going to be good. The last of Kellogg’s nasty memories began in a vault. Both of them were privvy to Cassidy’s awful story.

“Hey!” called MacCready. “You got to wake her up or whatever! Don’t let her see this! Not this!”

“What do you mean?” asked Dr. Amari.

“This last part, this is where she wakes up in the vault. Where they attack her father and kidnap her little brother! Get her out!”

Deacon saw Cassidy’s agitation. Her hands clamped and unclamped on her jacket and she shuffled her feet restlessly.

“Shit, this isn’t good,” he said, watching the screen. He didn’t want to see it. Didn’t want to see her nightmare.

Dr. Amari tried a series of commands. “It’s not working. She’s too agitated! She won’t let go!”

“Aw hell,” moaned MacCready.

Because there was nothing they could do, all three of them watched in rapt horror as Kellogg and his Institute counterpart identified and opened Corporal Nathaniel Hartley’s pod.

“Is it over?” Nathaniel coughed, shivering, holding his baby son close who began to whimper and cry. “Are we safe?”

“Almost,” said Kellogg in his dead, emotionless voice. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

The technician reached for Shaun. “Come here,” she crooned. “Come here, baby.”

Alarmed, Nathaniel held on tighter, pulling Shaun to his chest. “No. Wait. No, I’ve got him.”

Kellogg frowned. “Let the boy go,” he snarled. Then he raised his pistol. “I’m only going to tell you once!”

“I’m not giving you Shaun!” yelled Nathaniel.

A loud, echoing shot rang out, and Nathaniel collapsed, a nasty bullet wound in his head. The technician grabbed the little boy.

“Goddamn it!” barked Kellogg. “Get the kid out of here and let’s go.”

The pod door lowered, a hissing jet of white vapor rising from it as the cryopreservation began again.

Kellogg walked to Cassidy’s pod. “At least we still have the backup,” he said, tapping on the glass as though he were studying a fish in an aquarium. Inside her pod, Cassidy was screaming and pounding on the glass and he watched her impassively before pushing a button on her pod.

“Cryo sequence reinitialized,” said an electronic female voice and the same white vapor rose up.

“Holy shit,” said Deacon. “I didn’t want to see that.”

“I didn’t want her to see that!” exclaimed MacCready. “Amari, get her the heck out of that thing!”

“I can’t,” said the Doctor. “I can’t reach her. Her brainwaves and heartrate are skyrocketing. Until it settles down, there’s nothing I can do!”

Inside the simulation, Cassidy began to run. She ran away from the pod that contained her father, away from the pod that contained her terrified self.

She stepped onto the neuron pathway, not caring where she went. It twisted and turned and went upwards, ending up in a dingy, dirty little room.

A little boy, about 10 years old sat on the floor reading magazines. Kellogg sat in a chair.

“Cassidy? Can you hear me?” asked Dr. Amari. “This is a very recent memory. It might be good news. That little boy, is that your brother?”

Cassidy stared at him. “S...Shaun?”

Of course, he couldn’t respond, but she sat down on the floor beside him.

Suddenly there was a flash of light, and a man appeared. He wore a heavy black leather jacket. He himself was black, with short cropped hair and mirrored glasses. He was tall and imposing.

“Kellogg,” he said, his voice softer than she would have imagined.

“One of these days you’re going to get your head blown off just barging in here like that,” snarked Kellogg.

“Minimizing my exposure to civilians is a priority,” said the man.

“So what’s the big crisis this time, X6?” asked Kellogg.

“New orders for you,” said X6. “One of our scientists has left the Institute.”

“Left...as in…?”

“He’s gone rogue,” said X6 in his quiet, even voice. “Names Virgil. Dr. Brian Virgil. We know he’s hiding somewhere in the Glowing Sea. Here’s his file.” He handed Kellogg a plain colored file folder.

Kellogg snatched it from him. “Wow. Some heads are gonna roll for this.” He leafed through the documentation. “Capture and return or just elimination?” he asked.

“Elimination. He was working on a highly classified program.”

Kellogg shook his head. “No kidding. One of the top bioscience boys? Damn.”

He threw the file on the desk and looked at the boy. “So. I guess you’re taking the kid back with you.”

“Affirmative,” agreed X6. “Your only mission is to locate and eliminate Virgil.”

The little boy got up. “You’re taking me home to my father?” he asked.

X6 turned to him. “Yes. Stand next to me and hold still.”

“Okay,” he said obediently and did as he was asked.

“X6-88 ready to relay with Shaun,” said the man.

The little boy waved to Kellogg. “Bye, Mr. Kellogg. I hope I see you again sometime!”

Two flashes of light erupted and X6 and Shaun vanished.

“Bye” said Kellogg dispassionately.

“Teleportation!” said Dr. Amari excitedly. “Now it all makes sense! Nobody’s found the entrance to the Institute because there is no entrance!”

Cassidy got up from the floor, her face a mask of sorrow. In the pod, her physical self’s eyes leaked with tears.

“Cassidy, let me pull you out of there. As soon as you’re ready.”

Cassidy felt a pulling sensation, and everything went white around her again. She felt as though she were floating. Slowly the screen in front of her reappeared with its please stand by message. Then she felt her body again. She looked frantically around, and as the pod opened up she lurched out of it.

“Hey,” said Dr. Amari. “Slow movements ok? I don’t know what kind of side effects this procedure might have. No one’s ever done this before!”

Cassidy turned around and saw Deacon, throwing herself into his arms, sobbing. “Daddy! And Shaun! I saw my brother!”

Deacon made a soothing sound and held her awkwardly.  

MacCready rolled his eyes. “You’re hopeless,” he said, and pulled Cassidy from Deacon, embracing her tightly against him.

“We saw everything kid, all of it. Damn you’ve been through hell. But we got leads now. It’s gonna be ok.”

Cassidy sniffled and hiccupped, burying her face in his chest. Slowly she regained her composure.

She wiped her eyes with her sleeve, and looked up at MacCready. His eyes were filled with compassion and he smoothed her hair back from her face. “You ok, Cassidy?” he asked gently.

She hiccuped some more, then nodded.

“Dr. Amari...you’re a doctor...can you help my daddy?”

The doctor looked puzzled. “Help him? I don’t understand…” Her eyes met Deacon’s and he slowly shook his head as did MacCready.

“Yes,” said Cassidy. “I need someone to fix his injuries before we wake him back up.”

Dr. Amari looked away. “I’m sorry Cassidy but I’m a scientist. I’m not a medical doctor. There is nothing I can do for him.”

Cassidy’s shoulders slumped. “Oh...I didn’t know that. My poor daddy!”

“We learned some things on this journey,” said Dr. Amari changing the subject. “Let’s talk about them.”

“That man, X6,” Cassidy said. “He said things. About a Dr. Virgil. And the Glowing Sea. And him...is he a synth? He didn’t have a name.”

“How do you feel?” asked Dr. Amari, intercepting any responses.

“I’m...I’ll be ok,” said Cassidy. She looked around. “Nick! What about Nick! Is he ok?”

“I’m fine doll,” said the detective. “Everything is ok here.”

“Did you see?” she asked. “Did you see everything too?”

Dr. Amari steered her gently to a chair, and gave her a glass of water. “We need to keep monitoring you, to make sure there isn’t any long term damage.”

Cassidy drank greedily, not realizing how dry she’d been.

“I saw it all,” said Nick. “I’m really sorry about your family Cassidy. But now we know about the teleportation. Their greatest secret has finally been revealed.”

Dr. Amari sighed. “But that only leads to more questions. How does it work? Where do we go next?”

“I’m thinking Virgil,” said Deacon. “The guy in the Glowing Sea. We should find him.”

“You’re right!” said Amari. “A rogue Institute scientist could answer all kinds of questions! But...the Glowing Sea...no one goes there. Not ever. Not even if they were desperate.”

“Why?” asked Cassidy. “Deacon told me people live there though.”

“The word glowing should give you a clue,” said MacCready.

“Your friend is right,” agreed Amari. “The name says it all. Radiation. So much that nothing there could possibly live. Nothing...pleasant.”

“The Children of Atom live there,” said Deacon. “Or so the rumor goes. No one actually comes back who heads out their way.”

“I’ve heard those stories too,” said the doctor. “Never met one and probably never will. Navigating radioactive hazards is nothing new, but the Glowing Sea can kill an unprotected person in seconds. That’s why it doesn’t make sense. Virgil fleeing into that hell...the exposure alone…” She shook her head.

Cassidy took a deep breath. “If we need to find him, then I’m going to go.”

“If so, you need to be prepared,” said Dr. Amari. “You’ll need some way to combat the radiation there.”

“I’ll find a way to deal with it. I have RadX and Rad-Away.”

“You’ll need more than that, I’m afraid,” said the doctor. “If you can find a suit of power armor and have it modified, that would be your best bet.”

Cassidy sighed. “Yuck, I hate them but I do have access to one. And my friend at home can modify it I’m sure.”

“Good luck,” said Amari. “And be safe.”

Cassidy thanked her and turned to go. “Back to Sanctuary I guess, and I have to see what Sturges can do for me. I have to go alone unless we can find another power armor for one of you.”

“My vote is for MacCready,” said Deacon. “I’m not so great in a fight and there’s some nasty stuff out there I’ve heard. Charmer needs someone good.”

MacCready shrugged. “I’ll always have your back, kid,” he said. “But let’s get there before the caravan leaves though.”

Dr. Amari touched MacCready’s sleeve. “Could I speak to you and your friend for a moment?” she asked. “Cassidy why don’t you and Nick have a talk with Irma. You could use some wine I think.”

As Cassidy and Nick headed back upstairs, the doctor faced Deacon and MacCready.

“What was all that about her father?”

“When we met her, she told us her father was injured. She’s been trying to find a doctor to heal him. She said he’s in cryosleep,” said Deacon.

“No, he’s dead,” said Dr. Amari. “He was shot while he was awake. They put him back under after the fact. You all saw it.”

“I know,” said MacCready. “Thing is that isn’t what Cassidy believes. To hear her tell it is totally different than what actually happened.”

“You can’t let her go on like this with a false hope!” exclaimed the doctor. “You are her friends, you have to come clean about it.”

“She won’t accept it from us,” said Deacon.

“Well you’re her man, Deacon,” snipped MacCready. “It’s your job to tell her shit like this.”

“I already told you about that ,” said Deacon curtly.

“Quit your lying for once. This isn’t the time for your bullshit. You two are a thing and you have to tell her. I just met her. She’s not going to take it from me!”

“That is unacceptable!” said Dr. Amari. “Find a way, gentlemen. I’d rather have her hear it from the two of you, as you witnessed it, than from some stranger like myself.”

“One thing at a time,” said Deacon. “She’s rattled enough right now as it is. Waiting on this won’t hurt her.”

Dr. Amari shook her head in disgust and shooed them out of her space.

“Well,” said Deacon. “This is a clusterfuck of epic proportions now.”

“Yeah. It sucks,” said MacCready. “And worse because you can’t man up and admit you’re a thing and tell the poor kid the truth.”

“Look, I’ll get to it. But you really want me to put her through that right now? On top of everything else?”

MacCready scowled but he had to admit it would be cruel to do so.

Cassidy and Irma were talking over a glass of wine with Nick adding his sentiments every now and then.

“Let’s head out,” said Deacon. “Get back to Sanctuary and start work on that suit of yours, Charmer.”

Cassidy put her glass down. “Thank you for the wine, Irma,” she said politely.

“Aren’t you just a peach,” said the finely dressed lady. “Come and visit me anytime. And bring Mr. Handsome here with you.” She nodded to Nick.

Nick gave Irma a nod, and followed the others out.

Chapter Text

Despite the fact they had all shared in Cassidy’s memory, there was little to no talking on the trek back to Sanctuary. MacCready was annoyed at Deacon about the situation, Deacon was still feeling awkward about his feelings for Cassidy, and Cassidy herself was still feeling unbalanced by her experience.

They voted to hole up for the night and found a cave. Nick made the call to go back to his office in DC and they parted ways after he made Cassidy promise to keep him updated on her progress. He was still going to keep working on things from his end and wished her luck with Virgil.

MacCready curled up closest to Cassidy, and Deacon covered her with his jacket when he saw her shivering through the night. What he wanted to do was warm her up by holding her, but he couldn’t seem to bridge the gap that had grown between them.

When they reached Sanctuary the following morning, Cassidy had a soothing bath, a regenerative sleep, and went to find Sturges.

“I need your help,” she said.

He was welding a broken lawnmower and put the tool down, removing the welding helmet.

“Anything for you, Cassidy!” he said brightly.

“I need you to make that power armor of mine into a radiation shield. I have to go to the Glowing Sea. Also...can we find another one that will fit MacCready? If we can get this done before he has to leave he’s coming with me.”

Sturges whistled. “The Glowing Sea...and another power suit. I’m sorry honey but one alone will take me a week to prepare. And we have that frame there but no armor for it. What about Deacon?”

She shook her head and he noticed her downcast expression. “He doesn’t want to go. He feels he wouldn’t be too much help because he isn’t as good in a fight with guns like me and MacCready.”

Sturges shook his head. “I don’t want you going out there alone.”

“I don’t have a choice, Derrick,” said Cassidy, and proceeded to tell him what had transpired at the Memory Den.

Derrick listened with rapt attention and offered his sympathies for her pain. It strengthened his resolve to do whatever he could to help her out, and make it a priority.

“I’m gonna send out a few guys to scav for another suit,” he said. “In fact, I might just send them to Zeke. I know he has one. Thing is, it won’t fit MacCready. It’s mine. So...if you’ll have me, I volunteer go with you. Always wanted to see the place where the bomb fell here.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You’d brave the Glowing Sea with me?”

“Uh huh. Lots of stories come out of there. Be cool to see it for real. So what do you say? You want me to come with?”

Cassidy nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, please!”

The mission that she’d been dreading suddenly seemed like it might actually be interesting and fun.

“You have to take and possibly use a gun Derrick,” she reminded him.

“Yep of course I do. Don’t like it much, but I gotta keep my best girl alive, right?” He suddenly cringed inwardly. He hadn’t meant to sound so bold.

“Am I really your best girl?” she asked, grinning.

“You bet your bottom dollar you are,” he said. “Now go on. Being a beautiful distraction won’t get your suit rad free anytime soon!”

Laughing, Cassidy went off to find someone else to hang out with.

It was a few days before the scavving team returned with the power suit. It hadn’t fit either of them too well either but they managed to get it back to Sanctuary. It was a beautiful suit with the Atom Cat’s fancy paint job.

“Well isn’t she a sight for sore eyes!” exclaimed Sturges. “I’d forgotten how fab this suit is!”

“Why do you have one if you never want to fight?” asked Cassidy.

“Zeke insisted on it. Plus there are times when everyone has to fight. I just choose not to do it unless I have to.”

“Makes sense I guess,” said Cassidy. “Can you paint mine up like yours? I’m a Cat after all.”

“If we have time, I sure can.”

“I helped Duke with his repairs and paint, but I don’t think I’m really good at it.”

Sturges grinned. “I can teach you and we can work on it together, deal?”

She nodded.

“Now,” he said. “I need to make up some of that radiation paint. Got the lining almost done but I’m running out of materials. I hope Carla shows up soon.”

Sturges worked night and day on the suits. Cassidy would make him meals and bring it to him, then sit with him, listening to his music on the holotapes.

It didn’t take Cassidy long to learn all the words for the rockabilly songs he had. One day a new settler wandered over with a few other music tapes. It was the popular tunes from Cassidy’s time.

“Preston told me about you being prewar,” he said shyly. “My mom loved anything prewar and made these tapes. She died...and I’d like you to have them.”

Cassidy was shocked. “I couldn’t take these from you! They were your mom’s!”

“Well she’d want them to go to someone who loved them as much as she did. See I’m more of a country and western kind of guy myself.” He grinned as Cassidy accepted the holotapes.

“That’s mighty generous of you,” said Sturges. “Be nice to have different tunes going. Something for everyone!”

Deacon wandered out of the cantina and sat down on the grass beside the garage. “Looking good Sturges,” he said. “Charmer is right. You sure are good at this stuff.”

“Thanks!” said the mechanic. “It’s easy to be good at something you’re really into.”

“That’s true,” said Deacon. He looked at Cassidy, her hair hanging loosely around her face, the breeze moving it around occasionally. His breath caught in his throat and he thought how beautiful she was.

He was feeling things for her he knew were wrong, things that he promised himself he would never feel. Despite his efforts to distance himself from her, he couldn’t.

He’d hoped she and MacCready would hit it off. They had, but not in the way he’d hoped. Cassidy saw him as nothing more than a friend, and she’d made it obvious that her heart lay with Deacon. And now the mercenary was leaving the Commonwealth. It didn’t help Deacon’s viewpoint of himself when he learned that Sturges had volunteered to go to the Glowing Sea with her. Deacon knew it should be him, and he wanted to go with her...but he’d backed out hoping she’d go with MacCready. He couldn’t change his mind now, could he?

“Hey Charmer,” he ventured. “Since MacCready isn’t going with you, I’ll go. I can fit that suit I think.”

Sturges looked at him. “This suit is my own custom job. It wouldn’t fit you. We just don’t have enough time to rustle up a whole new suit. No worries though. I’ll keep Cassidy safe.” He turned away, afraid that both Cassidy and Deacon would see his obvious lie. It was most certainly possible for the suit to fit Deacon, but Sturges wanted to go. He told himself it was for the adventure of the Glowing Sea, but in truth it was to spend time with Cassidy.

I’m turning into a bird-dog, he thought. But every guy can be selfish just once in his life, right?

Cassidy grinned. “More like I’ll keep you safe!”

“That’s going to be very true,” he said.

Deacon didn’t know how to respond. He’d heard the stories of the things that lived in that irradiated wasteland. People who went there never came back. He’d never met a soul who’d ventured there and then returned. He didn’t hold out much hope that Virgil would even be alive. Even if the man had made it there, surviving was another matter all together.

“Too bad we don’t have the Cats here to mod a weapon for you Sturges,” he said, trying to sound amiable about it, when in truth his insides were churning.

“Rowdy modded me up one ages ago. It’s the only one I’ll use. I’m alright, Deacon. Everything will work out just fine.”

“Well,” said Cassidy. “Unless Virgil is dead and we go all that way for nothing.”

“It wouldn’t be for nothing!” exclaimed Sturges. “Think of it as a tour of the bomb site!”

She laughed lightly. “I’m glad you’re so excited about it. I’m actually a little scared. Ok...I’m a lot scared.”

A shadow fell across her. She didn’t need to look up to know who it was.

“What? Scared? You?” said MacCready. “Don’t you always say how great you are? Why would a few irradiated critters scare off the great Cassidy?”

“You suck so bad,” she lamented. “Just go away garbage weasel.”

“Actually that’s what I came here to tell you. It’s been three weeks. Time for me to head off to Bunker Hill and meet up with the caravan.”

She felt a pang in her chest. “Really? Already?”

“Yeah. Duncan needs his cure. I need to go. I’d love it if you walked with me there but that’s a waste of time when you got so much to do.”

Cassidy fell silent. She didn’t want to see her friend go. She’d come to rely on Deacon and MacCready both always being there. She knew he had to go...but part of her wished he didn’t have to.

He shifted and the warm sun hit her once more.

“Hey look, uh...there’s another thing I wanted to ask,” he said hesitantly.

“Anything,” said Cassidy.

“Well...the Capital wastes...I mean yeah I was born there and lived there my whole life, but ...the truth is there isn’t anything there for me except Duncan. I’d be alone. Well just the two of us. I uhhh….” he looked down and kicked at the ground.

“MacCready, I’d be very happy if you and Duncan came back here to live with us,” said Cassidy softly.

“Yeah? You mean it? We can come live here?”

She nodded and stood up, putting her arms around his waist and hugging him close. “Just be safe ok? Go get your boy and come home.”

The mercenary swallowed hard. He didn’t dare say a word for fear of his emotions coming apart on him. He had been alone so long since his wife had died, and he hated it terribly. He loved having Cassidy and the people of Sanctuary around. She was becoming the best friend he’d had in years.

MacCready held onto her until his emotions were under control again. “You should try this Deacon,” he said with a smirk. “It’s pretty awesome.”

“Pretty sure I know that,” said Deacon.

“When are you going?” Cassidy asked.

“Tomorrow morning,” said MacCready.

“Then we have to have a party for you tonight!”

“Aww you don’t have to do that,” he said with a grin. “But I’ll take any donations of Bourbon you want to throw my way.”

Sturges grinned. “I can see it now. Pack full of spirits and nothing else!”

“Sounds about right,” said MacCready.

“I’ll go tell Codsworth and Mama Murphy,” said Cassidy, getting to her feet and trotting off.

“I’m gonna miss this place,” said MacCready. “Motivation to get there and get back quick. Hey Sturges...make sure you look after her out there. The Glowing Sea...that even makes me nervous. Cassidy...she’s not great with moving targets. She’s trying but...needs work.”

Sturges nodded. “Good thing that I grew up shooting molerats and other things that liked to beat feet. It’ll be ok. We’ll be right as rain.”

MacCready looked at Deacon, opened his mouth to speak then shut it again.

They sat and watched Sturges mix and apply the radiation paint, letting the music float around them, but each lost in their own thoughts.

MacCready left in the early hours of sunrise. Cassidy knew that the world was a scary and dangerous place, and it wasn’t lost on her that she might never see her friend again.

Sanctuary was still asleep when she walked with MacCready as far as the Concord border, Dogmeat at her side.

“I wish I could go with you,” said Cassidy.

“Yeah me too,” he responded. “But you gotta get that little brother of yours. Duncan’s gonna need a friend when we get back. Besides...there’s stuff in the Capital Wastes I wouldn’t want you to have to see.”

She tried to smile but her sadness was too sharp.

MacCready put his fingers beneath her chin and tilted her face up. “Hey,” he said gently. “I’m coming back. I made it here by myself. No caravan.”

“Garbage weasel,” she whispered tremulously. “Dirtiest man alive.”

“Bratty kid with a death wish,” he responded affectionately. “Make sure that rockabilly there watches your back. You suck with guns.”

She rolled her eyes and pushed him away. MacCready reached down and patted Dogmeat, then started walking.

“See you soon!” he called out, waving without looking back.

“Damn right!” she called out.

She stood and watched him until he walked down an incline and disappeared.

“Come on, boy,” she said to her dog.

Cassidy walked into her house and listened to the silence. Then she went to Deacon’s room. The door was open and she put her head inside. He was asleep on his left side facing her, one arm hanging over the side of the bed.

She walked in quietly and crawled up on the bed behind him, lying down with her head in the niche of his hip and ribs.

“I don’t really care if you hate this or not,” she whispered, more to hear the words out loud than for him. “But I feel really crappy right now and I need you, Deacon.”

Deacon was instantly awake, his brain screaming at him to get up and get away...but he didn’t. He was tired of fighting his own thoughts. Cassidy had been through so much already and she now had to let go of someone else she cared about. He rolled onto his back.

“Come here, Charmer,” he whispered.

She crawled up and lay her head on his chest. Deacon put his arm around her, and softly stroked her hair.

A little comfort won’t hurt either of us, he thought.

It didn’t take too long for Cassidy’s breathing to even out as she finally fell asleep.

For a long time Deacon just lay there, wishing time wouldn’t advance. Wishing he weren’t who he was and didn’t have the demons he did.

Chapter Text

Cassidy felt the emptiness of MacCready’s absence in the weeks to come. She stayed very close to Deacon most of the time, if she wasn’t with Sturges learning from him about the power armor, or teaching him how to use a rifle.

“I rather kill stuff before they see me,” she said.

“Sounds good to me,” the mechanic agreed.

He was always amiable and easy going. He never got upset or frustrated. The man was eternally patient it seemed and he offset her more high strung nature. He was a lot like Deacon in that respect and she enjoyed spending time with him.

Her suit was finally completed, and he suggested they go on a scavving run to some radioactive areas to test it out.

Cassidy was nervous about leaving Deacon. She’d grown so attached to him, and found it increasingly difficult to leave Sanctuary without him. But she’d felt the same way travelling with MacCready to MedTek and that had turned out wonderfully. Deacon had accepted her affection more readily since she’d crawled into bed with him the day MacCready left, and she was feeling more secure about their relationship.

He sat on a rock wall, and Cassidy stood between his legs, her arms around his waist. “Deeks I wish you were coming with me. I like Derrick but I don’t want to be away from you.”

He dropped a kiss on her forehead. “It’s going to be ok Charmer. I really think even Sturges is better with a weapon than I am. I’ll look after Dogmeat while you’re gone.”

She lifted a hand to take his sunglasses off but he moved his head. “No, Charmer. It’s too bright out here.”

“Oh, that’s true, I’m sorry,” she said apologetically.

“No biggie,” he answered, hugging her close. “It’s weird, I get it.”

Sturges found them and tried not to let the sight of Cassidy and Deacon together bother him. But it did.

“Hey Cassidy,” he said. “I got Rad-X and RadAway for us, and attached a geiger counter to the suits. I’m ready whenever you are.”

“Where are we going?” she asked him.

“I know of a real radioactive place,” said Sturges. “Has feral ghouls. They love that radiation so we’ll have a good run with the suits and practice with my rifle.”

“Where is it?” she asked.

“It’s like a crater, looks like a town sunk down into it. I’d almost want to say a mini nuke went off in there but I don’t rightly know for sure what it’s all about. As long as the radiation protection on the suits works, the ferals can’t hurt us in them.”

She made a face. “I hate those feral things. They gross me out so bad and I think they always will.”

“MacCready ever tell you about some of the critters in the Capital Wastes?” Sturges asked her. “Never seen any myself but I sure heard stories. If I ever saw one I’d haul ass outta there like lightning. Greased lightning.”

Cassidy laughed. His speech wasn’t as colorful as the rest of the Cats but he had some phrases that really got her going.

“MacCready said he didn’t want me to have to ever see the stuff there. I’m curious though. Hearing about them is ok though so tell me.”

“Let’s get our shit together. I’ll tell you on the way.”

Suited up and sufficiently prepared, they started walking.

“Well. I know how you love bugs,” began Sturges. “There’s things there called Cazadores. Flying things. Poisonous, fast...nothing would get me laying a patch quicker than seeing that. Heck if it can outrun me I’d rather not deal with it at all.”

“Bugs. I hated them in my time and I hate them worse now. Bloatflies made me throw up after I first came out of the vault. Those Caza-whatevers makes me have the heebies just thinking of it.”

Sturges chuckled. “There’s something worse I could tell you about,” he said. “But I wouldn’t want to give you nightmares.”

“Well,” she said. “If it does I’ll just put the blanket over my head and hold onto Deacon.”

He gave her a sideways glance. He didn’t want to imagine her in that position. “Because if you can’t see them , they can’t see you , right? It’s a rule you know.”

She giggled. “Exactly! Monster snorkel! When I was little I took my snorkel in bed with me and covered up my whole self with just the breathing thing sticking out.”

Sturges laughed. “Cause they aren’t smart enough to put a big ol’ hairy paw down right on that tube….”

She squealed. “I’m so glad I didn’t know you back then! I’d have never slept again!”

He looked over at her. They were carrying their helmets for the time being as Cassidy hated the feeling of having it on her head. She relied on her peripheral vision and the helmets were rather occlusive.

“Let me paint you a visual,” said Sturges. “Imagine a creature so terrifying...it has a human head and torso, and crawls across the ground with arms for legs and venomous tongues flailing from its mouth!”

“What the hell!?”

“Mmhm,” said Sturges nodding sagely. “Centaurs they call ‘em. Had someone show me a drawing once. Some things you wish you could unsee that’s for sure. To hear him tell it, they were pets for the super mutants.”

She shuddered. “I don’t even know what a super mutant is and the idea they have something like that for a pet makes me never want to ever meet one.”

“Super mutants are dumb, green, huge. Violent as the day is long. Thing is, they’re everywhere. We could end up meeting up with some so we need to be ready for that. Fought them before. They sure ain’t easy to take down. Then you can get the crazy ones that carry a bomb. Suiciders.”

“I’d run like hell,” she said.

“Nah. You shoot the arm off so it blows up before it gets to you. If you’re lucky it ends up taking out a few with it.”

“I just really wish I could go to Sanctuary and just stay there and never have to deal with any of these horrible things!”

Sturges smiled. “It’s a bad scene. But there’s cool things out here too.”

She shook her head. “No, there isn’t. There is nothing out here that is good and beautiful. Maybe if you lived in this time from the very start sure you could find something...but for me? I’ll never see anything in this world as beautiful.”

He stopped and looked down at her. “You don’t think your dog is beautiful? Or hearing your friends laugh? I’ve seen some sunsets and sunrises that take my breath away. Made me wistful I didn’t have anyone to share it with.”

The most beautiful thing so far , he thought. Is you.

She looked up into his kind, soft brown eyes, and the perpetual upwards tilt to the corners of his lips. Sturges always looked happy and content. How could anyone be that way in hell?

“You will,” she said softly.

I already have, he thought. She just doesn’t know it yet.

“I guess there are some good things...like what you said about Dogmeat, and friends. When Deacon smiles...it just makes my heart stop. Like for a split second everything freezes. And when he hugs me. It’s the best feeling in the world to love someone.”

Sturges sighed softly then started walking again. “It can also be the most painful thing you ever experience.”

“Oh yes,” agreed Cassidy. “I’m sorry your girl went away. I imagine that must have been so hard for you.”

He shrugged although she couldn’t see the action. “She was alright yeah, but it was more like...teacher and student. Does that sound kookie? I mean, I wasn’t on the hook with her. She was a bit older...and fast.”

Cassidy gave a confused expression. “Ok you lost me a bit there. You Cats talk funny sometimes.”

“I wasn’t in love with her. She was a …” he thought about it a moment then his eyes lit up. “A runaround sue, get it?”

“That’s what fast means?” she asked.

“Yeah someone who sleeps around. Not someone you’d want to be serious with. I was pretty young and when a girl thinks you’re fab...us guys are pretty weak!”

Cassidy laughed lightly. “One day I’ll understand all of Cat speak. I’m still a kitten after all!”

That made Sturges chuckle as well.

Their Geiger meters began to click, the numbers fluctuating wildly.

“This is a good sign,” said Sturges. “See how the meter’s saying that there is rads here? Well the mods I made are countering it. Get your helmet on.”

“You’re amazing,” said Cassidy, when she saw that the moment her helmet was placed the numbers stabilized.

“Well thank you Miss Cassidy,” he said kindly.

“Zeke started calling me CJ,” she said. “I kind of like it.”

“CJ...what’s the J stand for?” he asked.

“Jasmine. Cassidy Jasmine.”

“Trust Zeke to dig out that little tidbit of personal info. He was always so good at that. CJ. It suits you. I like it. Mind if I call you that too?” Sturges asked.

“I was hoping you would,” answered Cassidy happily.

They walked a bit further and she saw some buildings that were on a strange slant, some having tumbled halfway into a crater just as he’d described earlier.

She looked at her pip-boy. “This is Cambridge,” she said. “Well part of it anyway. It used to be nice here.”

“The Cambridge Crater,” said Sturges. “Well now at least it has a name. Story goes that some ghouls tried to live here. Make it home. But the ground caved in and the excessive rads turned them all feral. Raiders would send new members here to see how close they could get, and make them kill a few ferals for their initiation. Heard a story that one of them turned feral and killed his whole group. Kinda liked that story.”

Cassidy nodded. “Me too,” she agreed.

“Looks like the suits are working. Numbers staying stable. Let’s get closer,” Sturges suggested.

It was hard for Cassidy to move quietly in the suit. She didn’t have the Cat’s skill yet. And she knew as long as she avoided using one she’d never become proficient at it.

Well maybe I don’t ever want to be, she thought. Maybe I just want to live like a normal person in a town and pretend the world doesn’t suck.

Sturges raised his rifle. “I’m gonna take out that one there, beside the rock.”

Cassidy watched him, offering a few suggestions, then waited for him to take the shot. He did, and the feral’s head disappeared.

“Good one!” she exclaimed. “My turn.”

She described her mark, and fired. The feral dropped. But it had been close to another one which turned in their direction. Sturges took aim and fired. This time he missed, and Cassidy shot one of it’s legs off. “Finish it off,” she said.

They circled the crater, watching their meters and taking out ferals. It seemed that there were far more than she’d imagined. Many were inert, lying around the glowing green pond at the bottom, or scattered around the buildings. Some just stood and stared, others walked about slowly, stumbling awkwardly like the zombies in the holovids.

“This is kind of too easy,” she said after a while.

“We can finish them all off,” said Sturges. “but more will be attracted here over time. Just how it is. Rads attract them. Ferals aren’t exciting til they run at you!”

Just as the words left his mouth, something barrelled into Cassidy. It put her off balance but the suit absorbed the impact quite well. She turned to see a feral clawing at her head, snarling and growling.

“Ew!” she screamed and lashed out with the butt of her rifle. The feral fell, twisting and flailing on the ground.

“Yuck!” she cried and lifted her foot, bringing it down on the thing’s head, a nasty pulpy mess oozing out.

She danced back, wiping her foot on the ground. “I hate them! I hate them! Let’s go!” she squealed and set off as quickly as she could towards the road.

Turning, she saw Sturges following her, but didn’t hear him laughing until he got closer.

“What’s so funny!?” she exclaimed. “That was so gross!”

“If only I had a holovid of that!” he laughed. “I’m busting a gut over here! The look on your face, and that little dance you did! CJ, you rock my world!” He bent double trying to catch his breath.

“Can we just go home?” she asked, still scratching vehemently at the dirt with her foot.

He saw the action and it sent him into another laughter loop. “Now here you are shucking the ground like a Brahmiluff bull!”

She wrinkled up her nose at him. “You’re so weird!” she cried and turned for home.

Sturges plodded along behind her, trying to regain his composure but losing the battle with the laughter loop. “Oh my ribs are gonna be a mess tomorrow from all this laughing. We’re going to have a load of fun I can tell already!”

“I’m so glad that I amuse you so much!” said Cassidy.

“No doubt about that,” laughed Sturges.

He sent himself into peals of laughter again later that day describing to Preston and company what Cassidy had done.

“Well, it was really gross,” she said meekly as everyone laughed.

Sturges had put an arm around her shoulders. “This was the most fun I’ve had in...well...that I’ve ever had!”