Needless to say, there will be spoilers in this. Then again, EVERYONE has played Fallout 3, so it doesn't matter.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the delightful Wastelander Grey.

It had been less than an hour since Carmen had left Vault 101 to search for her father, and things had not been the best that they could have been.

Stepping out into the sunlight for the first time, she had almost stumbled blindly off of a cliff. Soon after, she was walking through the ruins of a town called Springvale when she saw a flying robot shaped like an eyeball. She tried to touch it as it floated by, but as soon as she did, it turned on her and started shooting lasers. She ran away and took refuge in a nearby building with rooms similar to the one where she had taken the G.O.A.T. Once inside, she was ambushed by leather-clad savages sporting mohawks and other ridiculous hairstyles. She managed to take out a couple with her pistol, but numbers soon got the better of her, forcing her to retreat.

One chase later, Carmen huddled behind a cluter of boulders listening for the sounds of her pursuers. Eventually, she summoned up her courage and peeked around the rock. There were no signs of anyone nearby, and she allowed herself to relax.

"Hey there."

Carmen bolted upright and pointed her gun at the man crouched on top of the boulder she had been leaning against. The stranger held up his hands in surrender.

"Whoa now! No need for that. I come in peace or whatever. Name's Grey."

The man calling himself Grey jumped to the ground and Carmen got a better look at him. He appeared to be her age with black hair wearing a dark brown jacket, tan pants, and black leather boots. He also had a pair of sunglasses and a some kind of pre-war hat, a "fedora." On his hip, he had a handgun Carmen recognized from an old magazine as a magnum with a scope.

"What do you want?" Carmen asked, never lowering her weapon.

"I was on my way to go scavenging in the old school when I saw the raiders chase you out. Judging by that jumpsuit you're wearing, you must have just come out of a Vault and didn't know what you were walking into. So congratulations on learning your first lesson of the Capital Wasteland: It's not safe to wander it alone."

Carmen started to lower the pistol, but didn't holster it just yet. "Then how come YOU'RE out here by yourself?"

Grey shrugged. "Just haven't found anyone crazy enough to join me."

Carmen decided she could trust this man, for now, and put away her pistol. "I think you just did. I'm looking for my dad, and having someone who knows his way around could come in handy."

Her new companion beamed. "Fantastic! But first, we're gonna need to get you some new clothes. That Vault suit won't protect you from much, and you stick out a mile away. There's a town called Megaton nearby. We can get you some stuff there, and somebody might have even seen your old man."

Grey led the way up a path dotted with signs. At the top of an incline, Carmen saw an enormous heap of metal several yards away.

"What's that?"

"That's Megaton. Or at least the wall around it. Now, if we're lucky, he should still be...Ah, there he is!"

Before Carmen could ask who he meant, Grey sped up and she hurried to follow suit. He seemed to be heading toward two people standing next to some kind of animal.

"Crow!" Grey called out.

One of the people turned around and smiled as they approached. "Back already, Grey?" he said. "I imagine you're here to repair your equipment after fighting so many-Who is this?"

"This is Carmen. She just came out of that vault by Springvale, and she needs some gear."

The merchant turned to Carmen and offered his hand, which she hesitantly shook. "Fear not, madame. I specialize in all forms of apparel for the wasteland traveler, and I believe I have the perfect selection for you."

He reached into one of the bags strapped to the animal behind him and pulled out a set of leather armor. "As fashionable as it is functional, I assure you."

Grey thanked the man and gave him a handful of bottle caps that Carmen assumed were a form of currency. She took the armor from Crow and followed Grey towards Megaton's security wall. With a horrendous screech of metal on metal, part of the wall raised to reveal a large pair of doors. Once through, Carmen got her first look of the town: a cluster of ramshackle buildings connected by rusty metal walkways and staircases.

Grey stepped forward and raised his arms like an inventor unveiling his newest creation. "What do you think? Not pretty, but it serves its purpose."

"I didn't expect to see anything like this when I saw the ruins. I guess it just goes to show how humans-Is that a bomb!"

Her gaze had of course landed on the undetonated atomic bomb in the center of town.

"Huh? Oh yeah, that thing. Don't worry about it, it's been disarmed. That's how I got my house."

"You disarmed that thing?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty good with my hands." He leaned in closer. "Something you may want to keep in mind."

Carmen rolled her eyes and shoved him with her foot. This caused him to lose his footing and roll down the hill in front of the town's entrance.

"I was just kidding!" he shouted as he struggled to his feet.

"Welcome home, sir," greeted the Mister Handy robot inside Grey's house. "I see you have company. Unfortunately, I am still in the process of cleaning the bedsheets from last night when you were with-"

Grey shut him up by pressing a button on the robot's back. The machine slumped to the ground as it powered down.

"He was joking," Grey explained. "Wadsworth here has a terrible sense of humor."

"Riiiiight." Carmen edged away and found a room upstairs where she could change.

Wadsworth woke from his temporary shutdown after a few seconds and Grey turned to him.

"Why do you always say that when I bring someone over? Even when they're guys?"

"I was just trying to lighten the mood, sir."

"Well knock it off. We just met, and she's already having a hard time trusting me. I don't need her mistrust fueled by thinking I'm some kind of sexual deviant."

The sound of a door opening caused the adventurer and his robobutler to turn and watch as Carmen walked down the stairs to get their opinion on her new appearance. Grey made a special note of the way the tight leather shaped to her body. How it accentuated the curves of her chest and hips. She had also used one of his knives to cut her hair . Where the ginger locks had previously hung down to her shoulders, it now reached just above the base of her neck. In a way, Grey actually thought this look suited her better.

Naturally, Wadsworth took it upon himself to ruin the moment in his charming English accent.

"Sir, my sensors detect that blood flow to your face has increased significantly. The same thing also seems to be happening to your-"

Grey mashed the robot's shutdown switch so violently that Carmen almost expected it to break. The man coughed nervously and adjusted his shades.

"Well...I suppose you'll want to get on with the search for your dad. Soooo I guess you should just ask around town and see what people say."

Carmen was glad for the change of subject. "Sounds good. What are you going to do?"

"I am going to take a nap while I wait for you to return. Maybe I'll have a dream that shows me where Wadsworth's humor circuits are so I can rip them out."

Carmen left the house to conduct her own version of meeting the neighbors: Sheriff Lucas Simms, the Stahls that ran the Brass Lantern restaurant, Billy Creel, old Walter in the water purification plant, and several others. But no matter who she asked, they all seemed to have the same answer. Talk to Colin Moriarty, the local bar owner.

That evening, after hearing the suggestion for the umpteenth time, Carmen climbed to the highest part of Megaton and walked into Moriarty's Saloon. Her eyes drifted around the establishment until something behind the bar caused her to freeze. It looked human, but it had green skin that looked to be rotting right off. The creature narrowed its eyes when it noticed her staring.

"What's the matter with you? Never seen a Ghoul before?" the barkeep asked in a harsh, raspy voice. Carmen could only shake her head. "Basically, we're just people that were exposed to huge amounts of radiation after the bombs fell. So now I suppose you're going to run away screaming into the night or something."

Carmen took a deep breath to overcome her original shock and approached the bar. "Sorry about that. I was just surprised is all, it's nice to meet you."

Now was the Ghoul's turn to be surprised. "Wow. Most people are real bastards to my kind just because we're different. It's nice to have a change of pace. By the way, the name's-"

"Gob!" A man with an Irish accent stormed out of the back room. "What did I tell you about talking to customers?"

"Sorry, boss." Gob lowered his gaze and started wiping down the counter.

The man noticed Carmen and approached her. "I don't believe I've ever seen you before. Name's Colin Moriarty, owner of this fine establishment. What brings you here?"

"I'm looking for my dad, and I was told he'd been here recently."

"Oh my god. You're her. James's little girl. Oh, I can still remember the time you and he stayed here before disappearing into that Vault." Moriarty got a far-off look in his eye as he was absorbed in the memory. He shook his head to bring himself back to the present. "Yeah he was here, and I even know where he went. However, in this world, information costs caps. A hundred caps to be exact."

Carmen's eyes widened. She had figured that bottle caps were used as money, but she hadn't found a way to get any for herself yet. Right before she gave up and left the building, a voice spoke up from behind her.

"Moriarty, you old dog, are you hassling the young lady?"

Carmen turned around to see Grey standing in the doorway.

Moriarty stepped away from the bar and in front of Grey. "Not at all, Mr. Hart. I was simply conducting a simple business transaction."

"Come on, Colin. She's fresh out of the Vault, looking for her father, and you want to make her pay with money she hasn't even had time to raise?"

"I never said I was proud of what I did."

"How about we make a deal then?" Grey walked over to Carmen and laid a hand on her shoulder. "You give my friend the information for free. In return, you won't lose one of your best customers."

Moriarty scowled, but agreed to the deal. Afterwards, Carmen and Grey left the saloon and made their way back to the house.

"Thanks for the help back there," Carmen said as they walked.

"We're partners now, right? We need to look out for each other."

"That's awfully sweet of you."

"Yeah. Just don't tell anyone, I've got a reputation to uphold. Besides, that stunt probably just earned me more piss in the liquor than usual. Good thing I stocked up at home."

The two of them laughed, and as night fell on the Wasteland, Carmen was thankful that she wouldn't have to undertake this journey on her own.

Well, that's the first chapter of my first fanfic. Was it good? Did it freakin' suck? Review and tell me what you think.