He could hear his breath wheeze as he slowly pulled himself towards the men's restroom, every step was fresh pain. He was in an unknown substation and he was no longer trying to find a way to get out. He could feel his blood drip off his fingers as his broken arm hung limp at his side. He gripped his empty revolver tighter as he pushed the door open, praying it was empty or rigged to explode.
Either way he was ready for death. He had evaded it long enough. His hand on the empty revolver relaxed a little when the light flickered and nothing attacked him. This was it, this was where he was going to die.
He paused as he turned and locked the door behind him. If this was going to be his tomb then he was going to die on his terms and not as ghoul food.
He slowly shuffled his way to the sink leaving a trail of blood behind him and tried to turn the water on.
Nothing.
He sighed as he looked up and saw the man he had become. His hair was no longer its dark chestnut, but a dark grey. The black and white war paint that covered his scars and cuts was thick on his face. He was no longer the veteran that had retired to raise a family. He was staring into the eyes of a cold blooded killer. He laughed at the cold blooded part and winced as his chest protested the sudden movement.
For a little over 200 years of his long life his blood did run cold, frozen to be exact. He closed his eyes and tried to remember what Nora looked like, but It was so long ago that he last seen his wife. How happy she looked as she sat on the hospital bed holding Shaun.
He slammed his fist into the mirror and yelled with rage as memories of watching her getting murdered and Shaun being kidnapped years ago. The pain he felt as he stared at his dying wife and felt the cryo unit turn on forcing him to stare at her lifeless body for years before being thawed out again.
He lowered his head and felt a tear fall as memories of loosing Shaun a second time flooded his memories. The hate and pain his son's eyes held would always haunt him. He didn't want Shaun to suffer and ended his life with one bullet before he destroyed the institute.
He had destroyed the institute in hopes that life for the commonwealth would be better. He had enlisted with the brotherhood trusting Arthur to do what was right for the future of humanity.
Nathan looked back up at his reflection in the mirror. He should of known Arthur would go to far. A few years after destroying the institute he had ordered GoodNeighbor to be wiped from the map.
Thankfully Hancock was able to save a good majority of ghouls as they escaped through the same tunnels he had helped Bobby dig so many years ago.
When he had received word about what Arthur had done he knew immediately what needed to be done.
Nathan stumbled as he tried to shift his weight so he could sit on the floor before falling to it. He mumbled as pain reverberated around his body as he held on to the sink with his good hand and lowered his self to the floor. He let out a sharp hiss and held back a barrage of cuss words as his hand touched the ground and made the broken bones in his arm and hand grind together.
He knew he was loosing a lot of blood from the shrapnel that was dug deep in his arm and leg, but he was out of medical supplies.
He had came down to this cesspool trying to find a raider gang that had kidnapped a young woman.
He gaged at the memory of finding the gang and what they had done to the poor woman. In blind fueled anger he had used all his ammo to kill every last raider he could find. Nathan glanced down at the blood seeping from under him and shook his head.
The last Raider thought it was fucking funny to throw a damn grenade at him but he had survived the blast and had caught up with the asshole. The asshole wasn't laughing much after he cuffed him to a pole and duct taped a grenade into his mouth. Nathan grinned. He had left him alive, with a string attached to the pin. As long as the asshole stays standing he should live.
Nathan closed his eyes and leaned back as the pain throbbed through his old wore out body.
The minuet men and the rail road were a big help in destroying the Prydwen. Nathan hated doing it but it was necessary to keep everyone safe. The destruction of GoodNeighbor was proof enough that the brotherhood could never be trusted again.
As the years went on the commonwealth became more peaceful. Hancock became the new mayor of Diamond city, naturally ghouls were welcomed again.
Nathan smiled as memories of trying to love another woman again bubbled into his thoughts. He had married Piper and had fathered a few more kids. Nathan smiled as he remembered the oldest would be 20 next month. Nathan shook his head as he corrected his self. Shaun, the oldest would have been in his late 80's next month. Nathan felt his body weaken as the pool of blood spread wider under him.
He unclipped a small leather bag from his belt and emptied it just to see what might be hiding in the bottom. He found a mentat tin, a used stimpack, a handful of bottle caps and a bullet.
He picked up the bullet and looked at it as his blood dripped from it. Maybe he could end his pain a bit quicker. He felt dizzy as memories of lost loved ones and loyal friends drifted through his mind as it slowly fogged with a slow darkness.
Piper had passed away after a hard labor with his youngest. Nate, Pipers sweet little sister stepped up and helped him take care of the kids as he mourned for piper. She would later marry Preston.
Cait had kicked all her habits and was able to buy the combat zone turning it into a nice bar and lounge.
Nick…Nathan grinned. Uncle Nick had loved playing with the kids as they grew. One day Nick sat on the couch and just smiled as his eyes flickered and went out. He never moved again. Amari tried to repair him but just shook her head when she said his memory was corrupted and gone.
Codsworth loved chasing after the kids when they were just toddlers. He too had just stopped working one day.
Curie was the new Dr at Diamond city and always offered her services in exchange for medical supplies or caps. She had a high success rate of survival so she was always busy.
Deacon was still going strong with the rail road. He had a few little ones of his own running around. Though they all didn't share the same mother.
Danse was upset about destroying the Prydwen, but even he agreed it was necessary. He worked with Preston on helping him build the minuet men into a stronger force.
Nathan reached for his gun and opened the chamber to slide the last bullet in. He closed it and started to cock the gun when the doorknob started to rattle.
Nathan sat still as the rattling stopped for a moment. He could hear a bobby pin move around as the knob rattled again. Nathan blinked trying to clear his vision as the weight of the gun in his hand got heavier.
Nathan aimed the gun at the door. It slowly opened and Nathan saw the end of a familiar sniper rifle push through. Nathan let out a silent sigh of relief and dropped his gun as MacCready's face appeared.
He looked at Nathan and dropped his gun as he let out a rare word. "Fuck!"
Nathan could barely speak as his strength faded and he let his head rest on the wall. "I promise not to tell Duncan I heard you say that."
MacCready knelt in Nathans blood as he quickly opened a bag and pulled out a super stimpack. "Duncan probably uses worse then that I'm sure," He looked at Nathans broken arm and saw a piece of metal was sticking out of his leg. "How the hell did you end up like this Nate!" MacCready readied the super stimpack as he started to lean closer to use it.
Nathan held his hand up stopping MacCready from administering the stimpack. "Don't waste it…you and I both know that's not going to work at this point." Nathan took a deep breath as he watched MacCready drop the super stimpack into his blood.
Nathan watched as he shook his head and used the back of his arm to wipe something from his face before looking back up at Nathan. "This just…no, you cant die like this! You've done so much for everyone and this is how you leave us? It's just not fair! "
Nathan gave him a week smile as he reached for a small pack on his belt. He opened it and reached into it and pulled out a small wooden soldier. "I've held on to him all these years. I've slowly come to think of you as the son I never got to have. I'm proud and happy to of known you, and all the others. You're a damn good father Joseph, don't ever doubt your self."
MacCready took the blood stained wooden soldier and held it in his hand for a moment. He grabbed Nathan's hand and held it as he looked at the aged old man before him. He wanted to say so much, but could only watch as tears clouded his vision and saw Nathan's smile fade as his hand became limp in MacCready's hand. He shook his head as Nathan let out a raspy breath and the rest of his body relaxed like he had finally fell asleep after a long day.
MacCready gently placed the old hand on Nathan's lap and reached up to close the eyes of his oldest friend "I'll miss you old man. The entire commonwealth will miss you too."