We'll Meet Again.

Chapter One: An End and A Beginning.

Now...

So here I am, a long way from home, my skin and clothes scarred and dirted by the weeks I'd spent in the wastes. I hardly recognise myself every time I see my reflection any more. My eyes look sunken and tired. My nails bitten short and blackened with dirt and blood. But the thing which is most out-of-place is the gun I hold in my hand. The gun I am pointing at the man who took care of me, sheltered me... raised me.

Billy Creel. The man I am about to kill.

My name is Maggie. No... was Maggie. After today, after this, I'll be someone else. There's too much blood on my hands to pretend that I am still that little girl he "saved" all those years ago.

I look into his eyes as he holds his hands out to me, with no words on his lips but for the apology he keeps spouting over and over.

"I'm sorry, I hadn't meant to do it..."

"I know Billy," I tell him softly. And then I squeeze the trigger.

Before...

I slipped through the door at Moriarty's saloon almost unnoticed. Gob's eyes fell on me as I took my seat in the corner and I could feel his disapproval as I smiled warmly at Nova. The woman rolled her eyes at me, the cigarette in her fingers burning brightly, but I saw the small twitch of her lips that let me know she didn't hate me like she did most of the other women here in Megaton. The last ten years had been hard on Nova. Her skin was beginning to age, her hair loosing its former vitality and colour. Moriarty had already hired another "employee" to service the patrons in his bar. Nova kept what work she had left because of her... life skills, as Billy had once put it when I'd asked why she stayed.

"The wastes may be changing," he'd told me, his expression darkening as he rolled an unopened bottle of purified water between his hands, "Some people just can't change with it..."

A loud thud on the table beside me made me jump. Gob leant over me, his disfigured mouth pulled into a thin line. "Billy told me to kick you straight out of here."

I smiled as warmly as I could. Billy had only grown more protective of me as I grew older. According to Jericho, Moriarty had suggested one drunken night that I would be just perfect to take Nova's place as his saloon's prime entertainment. I was fifteen. It was the first time I'd seen Billy pull a weapon on another person who hadn't attacked him first. Luckily, Lucas Simms just happened to be passing by doing his nightly rounds as Billy jumped over the bar and slipped his knife into Moriarty's shoulder. It would have been his throat if Gob hadn't intervened.

I'd been banned from the bar ever since. Yet now and then, when I felt bored enough and Billy was busy with odd jobs he did to help Walter or with one of his lady-friends, I'd sneak in and listen to the town gossip.

"Come on Gob, Moriarty's with the traders outside. I won't stay long, I promise."

The ghoul began to shake his head until Nova crossed the room and slumped into the seat beside me. "Let her be Gob, I'll keep an eye on her."

Reluctantly Gob returned to the bar, wringing the dirty dish cloth in his hands anxiously. Everyone knew he had a thing for Nova, but the woman was good enough not to use it against him too often. I think it was why I liked her even though she barely gave me the time of day.

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me sugar. If I had any sense I'd be kicking you out that door too. But the night is long, I'm full of whiskey... to hell with what we should be doing."

It was as she spoke I smelt the alcohol on her breath and noticed the glazed look in her eyes. I shuffled in my seat uncomfortably. Rumour had it that Moriarty had turned a blind eye to her use of chems. Now he had his new prized piece of meat he didn't much care for Nova, other than his cut of her earnings, which grew smaller and smaller with each year that passed.

Nova shot a dark glare over my shoulder and I winced as a shrill laugh echoed around the bar. I glanced toward the staircase as a pair of perfectly tanned legs appeared, followed by Luna's lithe figure barely hidden beneath a lacy black corset and short leather skirt. Her hair fell halfway down her back, framing a face unblemished by the wastes. Luna was my age, although she appeared much older as she strode across the bar, wiggling her hips and pouting as she sank into the lap of yet another customer.

I heard the crack of glass beside me and turned. Blood seeped through Nova's clenched fingers as Luna's playful laughter filled the room. All eyes fell on the dark-haired girl. Nova sat forgotten.

I pulled a piece of cloth from my pocket which I'd taken from the wash rooms and gently took Nova's hand in my own. She snatched it back, her eyes finally leaving Luna to stare at me in disgust.

"I don't need your help you little-"

"Fine," I hissed as the men on the table shot us inquisitive looks, "just don't get blood on my new boots."

Nova's expression melted a little as she noticed the warm liquid in her hand. Stretching out her fingers I could see a long gash in her palm. Against my better judgement I pressed the cloth against it, mopping up as much of the blood as I could. Nova didn't swat me away like I expected. Instead she did something much worse.

She began to cry.

I sat, stunned. The older woman had never shown any sign of weakness before. Never a shed tear or so much as a wobble of her lip when Moriarty had shouted drunken abuse at her or punters had taken things too far.

"Shit Nova..." I whispered, "Look... why don't we go and get some air..."

Nova's hand curled around the rag as she quickly dashed the tears from her cheeks. "Fuck no sweetie. If that little bitch thinks she can waltz on in here and kick me outta my own home, she's got another thing coming."

I tried to smile encouragingly. "You should still see the Doc about your hand though... that cloth isn't exactly clean..."

"You know what else isn't exactly clean?" came a husky, unwelcome voice behind me. My head snapped up as Luna came to a halt beside us, her hands planted firmly on her hips, "Word is the only prick you can get lately comes from Leo's Med-X stash. Is it true you give the little cretin a free ride in exchange for a-"

I ducked as Nova leapt across me, grabbing two full handful's of raven hair as the pair tumbled to the ground in a flurry of fists and screeching curses. Gob bellowed for them to stop, everyone else either clearing out of their way or shouting encouragement. Jericho was saying something about placing a bet on Nova to win, giving his in-put as he told her to "gouge out that bitches eyes."

I shot him a dark look. It had been him that had followed Luna down the damn stairs not five minutes ago. His weakness for Nova only reached so far apparently.

I pulled myself to my feet and tried to help Gob separate the pair. He practically had Nova in a head-lock, suddenly looking unnerved as people began cat-calling and jeering. I stood firmly between the two women, trying to steer Luna toward the back room as Gob dragged Nova outside.

This, of course, left me as Luna's only target. She sneered at me as our audience finally fell silent.

"Little bitch," she hissed, "I should cut her damn face clean off."

"Don't you think you've done enough to her Luna?" I tried to say without anyone overhearing. Hard to do when every pair of ears in the room were all straining to catch our every word. Luna laughed, throwing her head back.

"Is it my fault she's getting old? She should just pack up and leave with whatever dignity she has left. Or up the dose of her next fix and just get her sorry excuse of a life over with."

I didn't see Jericho jump from his chair at her words, or hear the Saloon door burst open behind me. I was too busy throwing Luna against the bar as hard as I could, crushing the broken bottles beneath my boots as she slumped to the ground. I'd never been in a fight before, and honestly, you could tell. I stumbled and fell to the ground as Luna kicked out at me, falling hard on a broken glass. I cried out as it pierced the skin on my back. Luna was on top of me in an instant, something glinting in her hand. I heard the shouts and footsteps around me as the knife she must have grabbed as she'd fallen against the bar glinted in the bar's light. My heart beat with such speed all I could hear was the sound of my blood rushing in my ears. My hands searched the floor around me for something, anything, to defend myself with.

My fingertips stung as they gripped the broken glass Nova had cut her hand on before. Someone had their hands wrapped around Luna's wrist, stopping her from bringing that knife down into my chest but it didn't stop me slashing the glass through the air and across her face as the sound of people's cries finally reached my ears. I heard Luna scream, the clatter of the knife against the floor as both her hands covered her face, now dripping red on my chest.

"What the FUCK?" Moriarty's bark silenced everyone.

"Hey, it was self-defense Moriarty," said a voice that cooled the hot blood in my veins. Billy... when had he gotten here?

Lifting myself up on my elbows I looked up at Billy's face, his concern and fear slowly being eroded by fury. It had been his hand holding Luna's wrist. I looked away, ashamed. I was suddenly no better than the scum Billy hated rubbing shoulders with in bars. But if he would just let me explain how Luna had provoked Nova, the things she'd said...

Luna's sobs quickly dampened my sense of righteousness. I could still feel the cool glass in my hand as Moriarty pulled her from my lap and moved the hands from her face. The skin in her left cheek hung loose, a gash opened up the flesh above her eye. I couldn't see clearly through the blood, but her eye...

"Get that bitch out of my sight before I throw her off the walk!" Moriarty ordered.

I felt hands pulling me up, pushing me toward the door. I stared at my feet, ignoring the red stains in my top and the feel of Luna's blood drying between my fingers. Billy didn't say a word as he all but dragged me home. I risked a look over my shoulder and saw Jericho watching me beside Nova as she leant over the railings, shivering. He grinned and offered me a thumbs up.

For some reason, I found myself smiling back. The shock and shame of what I'd done fading as I looked at Nova's sad figure clinging to the rail for support. Perhaps I'd gone a bit too far. I hadn't meant to blind Luna... but I had no doubt she'd have plunged that knife into my face a hundred times if she'd been given the chance.

I made sure the smile was gone by the time Billy had slammed the front door shut behind us, bolting it for good measure.

"No doubt I'll have Moriarty at my fucking door tomorrow. What the hell where you thinking girl?"

I stood in the middle of the room and stared at my feet, frowning. Honestly, I hadn't been thinking. If I had then I wouldn't have gotten involved in the first place.

"Well, say something!" Billy demanded.

I shrugged, my nineteen years suddenly reversing back so I felt like a child again beneath his disapproving gaze. "I'm sorry..." I offered up, not a hint of sincerity in my voice. Billy's feet appeared in view, his hands suddenly pressing down on my shoulders.

"Maggie... look at me..."

The anger was still there, but for now relief and worry danced over Billy's face. His one good eye fixed me with a hard stare. "You won't go near that bar ever again, you hear? You stay away from Nova, Luna and Moriarty. God knows what he's going to do about this... I'll have to pay him off I guess... shit..."

For the first time I felt a niggling sense of fear begin to creep in. Moriarty. There was no way he'd let my maiming of his most valuable asset go unpunished.

"Go to your room and stay there."

It had been years since Billy had sent me to bed like this, but as his fists unclenched and ran roughly through his hair I decided it best to do as I was told for once. I stripped down to my underwear and slid beneath my sheets. The heat of the night meant my room was full of bugs crawling over the small light by my bed, but still I shivered uncontrollably.

Trying not to think about the day to come, I fell into an uneasy sleep. My dreams filled with blood, screams and smiling face...

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Fallout 3 or any of its characters.