Nick stumbled around a corner and dropped to his hands and knees, coughing violently as light blue coolant sputtered from his mouth. At this moment he really regretted that the Institute had decided to make sure he behaved as much like a human as possible- and that included feeling pain. Like a human, he felt the real, sharp pain shooting through his torso and arms in a pulsating rhythm of misery. There was no option to process it logically like a computer would, no switch inside him he could throw to shut off his pain receptors. He felt every bit of it, and the weight of it forced him to topple on his side.
Distantly he could still hear the shouts and rattling gunfire of the conflict he had just narrowly escaped from. Human cries of pain and adrenaline were punctuated by the heartlessly calculated communication of the synths that defended the very organization that they were enslaved to. Perhaps it was just his own imagination, but it seemed that the human cries were overtaking the synths, pushing them further back. The thought brought a wry smile to his lips.
Nick's vision began to darken and the sounds of combat grew fainter in his ears. He knew what was coming- he knew it deep in his gut as soon as he had felt the beam of energy cut through him, instantly scalding and frying his electronic insides. He had never bothered to think of what happened to synths after they died, and he had never been terribly keen to find out. A few voices rose above the clamor and reached him as he faded from consciousness, familiar voices rallying the ragtag group of militia forward. His friends were still alive… the voices brought memories to the front of his mind as he fell into the black.
-\^/-
"Sir! They have returned!" Codsworth's accented voice came through the doorway of Red Rocket Truck Stop, causing Nick to look up from the worn copy of Astoundingly Awesome Tales. Setting the magazine aside, the synth got up and glanced out the door to see a small group making their way back to the lone truck stop. In the center of the group, a bright blue jumpsuit was easily distinguishable even from this distance. Nick smiled and walked out to greet them.
"Hey there Nicky." Piper smiled and greeted the synth with a warm hug.
"Piper." Nick smiled and held the woman at arms' length. "You keep our mutual friend out of trouble?"
She laughed. "Aw Nick you know that's no fun for any of us."
"If you two are well and done flirtin' now we could use a hand." Cait grunted and set a backpack filled to the brim with supplies at Nick's feet.
"You sure you got enough for all of us?" The synth joked and shouldered the pack.
Nate smiled and set a hand on his friends shoulder. "Diamond City may have to ration what's left." They all shared a laugh, although Cait's was a bit forced.
"Master Nate, it is a pleasure to see you again." Codsworth greeted them at the entrance to the massive, cobbled together fence that surrounded the makeshift base. "I am pleased to see that no harm came to you or your companions during your journey."
"Good to see you too Codsworth." Nate replied before Dogmeat tripped him, running through his master's legs to bark and jump playfully at the robot.
"Yes, yes, a pleasure to see you too, pup." Codsworth raised one of his appendages to appease the dog, giving him something to jump and snap at.
"What, no one's gonna say they missed me?" Cait asked in mock offense.
"Would you say the same for any of us?" Nick replied. Cait only offered a knowing smirk.
"Well I don't know about you all, but I'm hungry, so can we get to cooking?" Piper walked up the stairs into the large, ramshackle commons area they had constructed. One by one, everyone murmured assent and filed in after her, each toting a bag of supplies. Soon the metal hut was filled with the sounds and smells of Wasteland cooking and the clamor of each of the friends' color commentary and laughter or comebacks in reply.
"Here ya go you mutt." Cait rubbed Dogmeat's head with a smile as she fed him a few scraps of meat while they gathered around the table. It was gouged and burnt and looked rather pieced together… of course everyone around it knew why that was. Piper always told the story about how she and Nate dragged the table from his old house whenever she got tipsy. It had been subsequently rebuilt, demolished, put back together, and the cycle repeated many times as members of the party lost tempers and made mistakes.
"Do be more gently with the… er… "silverware" this time, Miss Cait." Codsworth uncertainly commented as the Irish fighter carelessly threw out the plates and forks around the border, only half paying attention as she laughed at one of Nate's comments. "Oh dear." The Mister Handy swerved suddenly to catch a chipped piece of old china that had miraculously survived the apocalypse.
Finally after much bickering and distractions, everyone sat at the table and started reaching for food when Codsworth's voice once again cut through the din. "Might we say grace before eating?"
"You know what Coddy, you can do whatever you like." Cait tossed out callously and reached for the nearest plate when suddenly Piper smacked her hand away. The red haired woman glared but made no further comment.
Nate stood and suddenly all chatter stopped. "I think that's a good idea Codsworth. We all do know why we're here… and what's coming tomorrow." He sighed heavily and smiled, though it was a little forced. "So, I think it's only right we take some time and… appreciate this."
Piper cut him off with an insistent snort "If you say "It may be our last" I will kill you Nate." That earned a short, uneasy chuckle from the table, followed by another uncomfortable silence.
"You know, I'm just an old machine," Nick finally broke the silence, setting all four of his chair legs on the ground. "and most of the world wouldn't care what I think. Hell the people that created me tossed me out in the trash." He turned his head, looking each person in the eye one at a time while he spoke. "But you folks… you really made me feel worth something, you know? And if I'm going to die, I want to do it in a fight that means something, next to the people who helped me believe I meant something." The synth finished his speech meeting Nate's gaze.
Piper just smiled and set a hand on the detective's shoulder. "I'll second that Nick. You know how long I wasted my breath in Diamond City, calling for people to start pulling their heads out of the dirt and pushing back against the Institute?" She shook her head. "And no one did… but then I met you." She turned and slipped her hand in Nate's. "You listened, you helped me take the fight to those creeps… and introduced me to some of the best friends I'll ever have."
"Here, here madam!" Codsworth supplied with a jovial tone, sloshing a pitcher of water in a supportive gesture.
"I'll drink to that." Cait said with a wry smirk, glancing at her own cup of water. "Only cause of you I'm not guzzling more poison anyways."
Nate's smile grew bigger as he looked around the table at the faces who beamed back at him… until his gaze rested on the empty chair near the end. His smile faltered a bit. "You all know… I'm no stranger to loss. I woke up in that Vault, and I thought my life was over. I had lost nearly everything after the bombs fell. I was so sure… there was nothing left for me." He took a deep breath and stood, taking a bottle of Nuka Cola in his hand. "But slowly, over time I met all of you… and you gave me reason to keep fighting. To keep living. For everything I've lost, I've found more in you all. I owe all of you my life, in more ways than one, a dozen times over." He raised his drink in a salute. "To friends… even absent ones."
"To Miss Nora" Codsworth saluted.
"To Jennifer." Nick mumbled, raising his glass.
"To me parents." Cait took a pull from her cup before laughing darkly. "Nah I'm fucking with you all… eh, to Tommy I guess."
"To Nat." Piper smiled a little forlornly and squeezed Nate's hand.
The Vault dweller returned the gesture. "To Preston." He nodded to the empty chair as everyone chorused back the phrase.
"He sure was a right stubborn bastard wasn't he?" Cait coughed, turning her head away from the group after downing her glass.
"Ha, remember when you first let him borrow your Pip boy to play Red Menace Nate?" Nick chuckled. "He stayed up all night with that thing, could barely keep his eyes open the next day."
Nate laughed as he sat back down. "Yeah, I never did show him the rest of the games after that."
"Or when he tried to beat me in a drinkin' contest at the Dugout?" Cait turned back to the table, wiping her nose. "Poor boy… never stood a chance."
The group exchanged storied about Preston for several minutes before more stories about their adventures were tossed out, ranging everywhere from tales that invited roaring laughter to somber stories that invoked a quiet across the room. The sun dipped behind the horizon and gradually the feast grew smaller and smaller until just bones and scraps remained. At the same rate, the stories came less frequently until everyone sat, staring at the table, stomachs full and head full of the memories they had made together. Codsworth eventually busied himself with cleaning the mess left by his biological charges and his hums came faintly from the next room.
"Oh hey." Nate finally said after several minutes of thought filled silence. "I did pick everyone a treat up at the market…" He reached into the bag behind him and produced four glowing bottles of Nuka-Cola Quantum. Gasps of envy and surprise came and everyone accepted their bottle, cracking them open with the familiar pop and hiss. Soon the sounds of Codsworth's work was punctuated with sighs of satisfaction and the occasional shiver as the irradiated drink shocked their system.
"Nick how can you even drink this stuff?" Cait asked after a while, looking her half empty bottle over.
"The Institue probably thought people would think it odd if they're human-snatching synths couldn't eat or drink." He took another pull of his own beverage and smacked his lips appreciatively. "Sure am glad for it."
Another moment of silence passed before Piper set down her near empty bottle "So this is really it, huh… we're gonna go and fight the Institute." She snorted and shook her head. "Almost doesn't seem real."
"Yup. We are so gonna die." Cait burped and set down her empty bottle with a hearty slam. "But damn it if I'm gonna let them treat this place like their playground for one more day."
"We might make it." Nate supplied, perking his head up with a challenging look at the Irish woman. "Come on, we've been through bad situations before. Remember Quincy?"
"Oh grow up Nate, this is completely different. This is the fucking Institute!" She stood, her voice rising. "These people have been untouchable for centuries and you think our little band of heroes is gonna be able to take them down without losing our heads?"
"Damn right I do!" Nate matched her tone, standing suddenly and instantly commanding the attention of everyone in the room. "And I wouldn't lead my best friends in the world into a meat grinder if I didn't think we had a chance of making it out the other side, together!"
Cait opened her mouth to retaliate but just sat back down under his stare, thoroughly cowed.
"I believe in us." The man's voice softened, unaware that Codsworth had fallen silent too. "It's not going to be easy. And we probably are going to lose people… but we can do it." He looked around as the doubt on each person's face faded and slowly matched his determination.
"Um, just in case we don't, you know, make it back… we should take a picture together." Piper offered tentatively, trying not to set off her lover again. "I mean even when we totally all come back and laugh about how easy it was… we'll at least have a picture of us all together."
Nate thought about it for a moment and nodded, smiling. "That… is a great idea Piper. Let's do it."
"Aw I hate taking pictures…" Cait grumbled as she followed the group outside, grabbing Codsworth by the appendage to drag him along.
Piper disappeared into her living quarters and emerged a few moments later holding one of her most prized possessions- an almost brand new, undamaged camera that Nate had found in an old Vault. Codsworth and Nick had helped her set up a space to develop the film, and it had quickly become a regular addition to both her newspaper and hobbies. Almost instantly she began barking orders, herding everyone into their spot while she carefully set up the camera on the bar that opened up to the outdoor section of the pump section. With varying degrees of enthusiasm, everyone followed the journalist's instructions until she issued a command to stop moving. Setting the timer, she darted back to the group, taking her place beside Nate with his arm around her. Nick stood on his other side, a hand resting on his friend's shoulder and Cait took the outer edge with Piper, arms crossed sulkily but participating under Nate's instruction. Codsworth hovered with Nick and Dogmeat laid out in front of everyone, panting happily.
"This'll certainly be something to remember in a few years, huh?" Nick murmured to Nate.
"Yeah… years." Nate replied quietly, staring at the camera.
"All right everyone, smile!" Piper smiled enthusiastically and everyone followed as the camera emitted a brief flash.
-\^/-
Nick gasped violently as light cut into his open eyes again, the movement bringing a fresh wave of pain over his chest and starting a fresh bought of coughing.
"Nick! Nick stay with me; don't you dare go into the… whatever the hell synths see!" A figure was propping him up against the wall and ripping open his mangled shirt to inspect the battered plastic beneath. Very faintly through the blinding light, the synth could just make out the blue jumpsuit streaked with red his savior was wearing.
"N… Nate?" He wheezed, struggling to raise his arm to touch his friend to make sure he wasn't malfunctioning.
"Yes, now shut up and don't do anything… you got hit pretty bad." The sounds of combat still roared in the background and the occasional flash of a laser streaked by the hallway the pair had taken cover in.
"Nate… d-don't waste your time on me. I'm just a-" Nick's protest was suddenly cut off by another bout of coughing and more coolant sputtered from his lips.
"Shut up Nick." Nate muttered feverishly, taking a moment to glance up and face his friend. "There's no way I'm leaving my best friend behind to die in a hellhole like this."
Nick blinked in confusion… the sounds of battle had faded almost entirely and Nate's voice was starting to sound oddly distant. In fact he saw the man's lips move but no sound came out… darkness was starting to tease the edges of his vision. He caught one last echo of Nate calling his name before the darkness closed in entirely.