*I know that I don't have to tell you how that movie drove me nuts. This is my start at an attempt to fix the wrongs and mend the broken bridges.*

Fallout Shelter

( right after end of bg movie)

*fixin all the broken*

PART 1

"Mrs. Witham. Can I speak with you?" Gladys heard the shake in her voice. It wasn't wrong of her to want more of an explanation by now. She had told her almost everything but there were certain words left out, certain feelings redacted for the sake of time being of the essence.

"Lorna, I'm-" She was ready to gush.

"Bigones Mrs. Witham. I'm here to offer you your job back." Lorna seemed strong, as she always did.

"But- Mrs. Corbett-"

"No butts. Do you want it or not?" It had occurred to Lorna long ago that things changed after Betty. There was a chance here to fix things. With the sabotage and the second shift, and the thought of her being tossed out on her heiney, Lorna knew that now, more than ever, the factory was in need of good workers, good women.

"I- well. Yes." Gladys decided. "At least, for now, if that's okay."

"It's perfectly fine, Mrs. Witham. The factory was always lucky to have you." Lorna turned to leave but Gladys grabbed her by the wrist to stop her.

"Mrs. Corbett. You're family to me." It tumbled out of her mouth willingly and lay there in the air, a gift that Lorna relished, though she showed little signs of doing so.

"I know, Mrs. Witham." Lorna's eye flashed a sparkle. In an instant a wash of relief flushed over Gladys Witham. People had been giving her second chances so often these days.

PART 2

Vera was gone. Really gone. That letter had been a shock to everyone. No one more than Betty.

It was true that Marco had been dating Vera. It was true that Marco had even proposed. But it was also true that Vera and Betty were once alone in Toronto, together. Completely alone, no family, no friends. When Vera first met Betty it had all but changed her life. Some people have no clue how entirely they can fix someone, give their life meaning, and make them feel whole. It wasn't sexual and for Betty that was the best thing about it.

"New here?" Betty had asked when Vera ignored all the other girls to sit alone, with her.

"First day." Vera confessed.

"Well, you'll get used to it. It happens fast." Vera watched as Betty ate ravenously, not caring about her posture or the way the other girls seemed to stare.

"She sure favors you. Did you notice?" Vera wasn't sure if she should pry or overstep her bounds. There were plenty of women she could talk to at the factory but most of them looked at her with sneers. Vera blamed her poor choices. Who wears perfume to a bomb factory?

She had done her hair in braids like Pocahontas and her make-up was immaculate. It just wasn't what she was expecting and the girls laughed at her right away. It didn't help either that there were more men at the factory in those days and they had all stared at Vera with wanting eyes. Girls got jealous. Girls judged. They always did.

"Mrs. Corbett?" Betty said grumpily, trying to feign interest in idle talk. Betty had given up long ago on making friends with the other women. Only girls who ever gave her the time of day were Edith, Moira, and Lorna Corbett. Betty liked older women anyway. It was good riddance to the rest of the lot. The young ones were petty and unpredictable, somehow nothing like her despite her gender.

"Yeah, she's done nothing but pay you compliments all morning. Where do I sign up?"

"She helped me." Betty confessed, she wasn't sure why she felt so truthful all of a sudden.

"Oh? That's rare." Vera noted.

"When I came here, I had nothing. Kicked out by my folks. Sicka my home town. Lorna took one look. Knew I was a runaway." There was a pause, "She took me in."

"You were younger?"

"Just a year or so." Betty sat up straighter. She felt strength in the fact that she had grown.

"No offense but, you don't seem like a runaway. You don't seem like a trouble-maker either. Home-life must've been rough." Betty smiled at that, she could never get used to compliments or people seeing anything in her at all. It had been hard. It was over now.

It was their first day together and the first day in which Betty felt she had a friend who was close to her own age, a friend she could relate to. She never knew why Vera sat with her that day, or why she talked her ear off, or why when Gladys and Kate came around the four of them seemed to form an actual family. All Betty knew was that Vera, like Lorna, had helped to make her life feel whole for the very first time. All of that was over now. Jail had taken a lot but Betty would stay in jail for years if it meant she could eventually bring Vera Burr back to life.

"You miss her." Gladys said, noticing the extra sorrow, the kind of battle that was so internal it somehow looked different from the outside.

"We all do." Betty said, a dry lump in her throat, her eyes on the verge of drowning, yet again.

"Come on, I'll take you home." Betty would need looking after.

"I'll come to. If you let me." Kate chimed in. Her and Gladys were both cheerier now that the VicMu service for Vera was all over. They had already been mourning and the funeral only made everything worse because it made it official.

"Which home? What home." Betty couldn't hold it anymore. She shrugged Gladys off from her and sat down on a bench nearby. "Do you even know what she meant to me? Have you any idea? Oh, you don't know!"

"Betty. It's okay." She had sounded drunk but it wasn't alcohol that weakened her, it was sorrow. Gladys watched her, wondering what Vera did mean, wondering how they became friends and why they were close. The factory couldn't be the whole of it. There was always more than Betty would say. Always more, no matter the topic.

"No it isn't." Betty said weakly, looking up with that stare that bore into Gladys and made her feel a dirty frozen mistake, a child who shouldn't be meddling, a fleck in the air that just shouldn't be.

Kate knelt down in front of Betty and held at Betty's hand. She knew there wasn't much she could say or do, so she just stayed there the way a pet would: silent, patient, intuitive, kind. Gladys sat down too. No point in leaving. No point now.

"Lorna gave me Helen's job." Gladys blurt out. "If you want it Betty, I'll just thank her and leave."

"No more bombs." Betty said.

"She's fired, you know. Lorna's been fired." Gladys made sure to say.

"Akins will fix that," Betty was sure. "This place can't run without Lorna."

"Betty, they'll need someone in the mean-time. She didn't offer me her job."

It was gross and disgusting to be talking about work. What did it matter if Betty could get a promotion. Kate was right, she was right about everything. They were building bombs. That's what they did. They were making it possible for people like Vera to be killed. A bomb killed Vera. A bomb.

"She was alone." Betty said sudden, shaking and looking frail. Kate wanted to hold her but she knew it wasn't the place. To Kate, Betty had seemed so frail ever since prison, her body was different, her cheeks thin and skin warn. She had lost weight and gained sadness. It wasn't just the fighting and Kate knew that. Prison must've been hellish. When she thought about it more she swallowed anger deep inside. It was all her fault that Betty was broken.

"Betty, lets go home" Kate said. "Please." She begged. "I just want to take you home."

Home. There's that word again. Betty thought sadly. They had a home but what did it mean? They had a home but Vera was dead. They had a home but Kate had a dream. They had a home but nothing was like it used to be.

"Kate, you can't stay here for me." It was sudden and sure, as swift and effortless as a bird flying by.

"Betty, I don't-" Kate shook her head.

"You wanna sing. You want to go."

"Betty, please." Kate said, her eyes drifting up to Betty and actually getting through to her. "We have time to talk and think. About all of this. Decisions take time. Right now, we need to be home." It was simple as anything ever could be. And Betty did notice, she did hear, when Kate used the word: we.

The room had been filled with similar little scenes. Mourners on benches weeping and holding one another. Mourners standing up, admiring the late Vera Burr's undeniable beauty. It was alright now to talk about these things.

Betty hated to think of Marco. He'd be gone soon just like her. Gone like Vera. Gone like James. Gone like everyone who ever touched a uniform and decided to be noble. A sudden unexpected flash appeared in her mind, Teresa Hill standing before her life a ghost, her smile infectious, her wise eyes twinkling.

Without warning Betty burst into sobs. She burst and Gladys held her. Mrs. Corbett came quick and sat beside Betty. As soon as she did, Betty moved to cry on Lorna's lap.

"I know." Lorna muttered, tears rushing to her eyes too. "I'm here." Lorna was the mother that Betty wished she had. It was a cruel thing to think but even crueler, that thought was fact.

PART 3

After a long while of waiting by Betty, the room had almost emptied and the candle burning in front of Vera Burr's portrait had gone down by a third.

"Mrs. Corbett, I can take her home." Gladys whispered. Kate looked up from the ground where she had remained kneeling before Betty with hands in hers and a face hidden on purpose. In a similar way, she too had been mourning.

"Come on girls. Sleep helps." Lorna said. Betty felt broken. Her ribs ached from that fight. A spot on her face had an open sore that just wouldn't heal. But all of that meant nothing to the pain of losing Vera.

"I'm sorry." Betty muttered, realizing she had just cried out her pain for a solid half an hour at least. And all onto Lorna Corbett's dress.

"Don't be silly." Lorna said. "Nothing to be sorry about." Deep inside Lorna was wishing she could tell Betty more about the miscarriage. Ever since Gladys and the lie that made her burn, for a very short while, Lorna had been wanting to talk, needing to talk to someone. "We stick together. Always have."

They all stood, feeling their bones sore from sitting. Lorna helped Betty up, seeing her shake.

"Sleep is important for hardworking girls like you and the factory will be closed tomorrow in honor of our Vera. Our soldier. We can all take a nice long weekend. And you can always stop by, if you like." It was an open invite. She didn't extend it often but the three of her girls could always come by. Their used to be four but now there were three. Lorna noted it in her mind and that note alone made her liable to shriek. She held back all she could, letting out an odd and unexpected poof of air.

"Might take you up on that." Betty muttered, her eyes not wanting to remain open without tears spilling out. Kate walked beside her ready to brace her but knowing that Betty wouldn't let her, she'd much rather fall onto Gladys or Lorna. It kicked Kate just a little, she relished being the one that Betty could lean on and yet Betty rarely leaned, not in that way. Kate allowed herself to drift to the side as Lorna and Gladys both steadied Betty and got her to stand and start walking.

Ambling to the car they passed others who were smoking and crying. Almost everyone loved Vera. Carol had even left the service straight away, finding it impossible to muffle her own cries. Gladys had chased after her but stopped once she had seen Carol's new boyfriend there outside waiting, it was pointless to chase more. What a mess.

Betty insisted that they go to the house. It was her house now and she had to start living in it eventually. Lorna had helped her find two beds and Betty had already moved almost all of her stuff out of the Boarding House at VicMu. Gladys had been so busy with the fallout of Clifford's plans that she hadn't been around to find out about the house at all. Betty hadn't even told her. But they all had a lot on their minds. Gladys was sure of it.