The chilly breeze bit Phoenix's face as she looked up to catch a glimpse at the TV hanging in the store. It had taken a while for her to figure out exactly where she and MacCready had ended up, but she knew it wasn't post-apocalyptic Boston. It wasn't even alternate dimension Boston, it was alternate dimension New York.

She had no idea what happened that caused the both of them to end up here. All she remembered was waking up in a semi-destroyed alleyway with her hired merc, or new friend, who did not recollect their arrival either.

It took a bit for them to figure out that they weren't in the right universe, dimension, whatever the fuck people wanted to call it. When they arrived, everything looked about the same as the Wasteland. Destroyed buildings, dead bodies. It was when MacCready took a sniper's position and watched people that he realized that the people here were just scared, and seemed all too harmless. Phoenix also noticed that the skyline did not match to her beloved home

Also, they didn't have these kinds of aliens back home. Not that Phoenix knew, anyway.

MacCready had a bit of an existential crisis. He was essentially saved from his own personal hell. However, the thought of being in a world unlike their own, one that Phoenix had lived in before, seemed to be all too much for the mercenary.

Phoenix had to think fast. They had too many weapons, too much armor, and too many drugs to be ordinary citizens. As much as she wanted to scream for help, anybody's help, she knew it was too risky.

Being a college graduate meant that Phoenix knew too much about how to pass the feds. The technology is this world was both lacking and far beyond that at home, but she soon figured it out. In the following weeks, she made some fake IDs for herself and MacCready, maintaining their names due to lack of previous criminal records. Although she soon found more casual clothes, she got some strange looks as she wandered about in her vault suit and was strapped in a bunch of combat armor. She also made herself some credit cards and managed to swipe some cash from destroyed ATMs. After swiping some cash, for the first time she caught sight of the news. They were detailing the attack that happened to occur at the same time that the pair arrived in their current predicament.

Apparently, this world had it's own group of super heroes. They defended the city from an alien attack. Funny, she had the world destroyed by nuclear fire and these people were trying to make a big deal out of some aliens. Yeah, they destroyed New York, but her entire planet was destroyed. Their whole predicament made her bitter, although she knew she was just jealous.

As she made it back to the pair's shady apartment, she started formulating a plan. When they first arrived on the new planet, she thought she never want to leave. Then, she thought back on what she'd done in the Commonwealth. She was the General of the Minutemen. She wholeheartedly believed Preston could take over if he truly wanted to, but she feared that if he were forced the position, he might crumble under pressure. She needed to go back. All those people believed in her.

She came into their apartment to find MacCready scoping out the window. He didn't turn when she opened the door. "You know, I know nobody will be trying to kill me today, but I have to know what's going on," He said, explaining himself without need.

"I think I want to try and go back," She said in reply, completely off track of the previous 'conversation.'

He turned away from the window to give her a sour expression. "You want to what?"

She put a hand to her temple. "I know, I know, and I won't make you come with. It's just...too many people over there are counting on me. I can't just abandon them. Not like this. But I don't expect you to walk right back into hell with me."

He sighed deeply. "I'm going to regret this, but I would go anywhere with you. It's not just them that believe in you,"

While this made her quite happy, it also pissed her off. "MacCready, please, don't do that to yourself. You could have a life here. You could know what it's like to be pre-war…"

He furrowed his eyebrows. "This is pre-war? Holing up in some dingy apartment, paranoid about every little thing because that instinct will never go away? I have no issues with stealing, boss, but I can't live like this. This isn't how pre-war people did it, and you know it."

"Some people did…" She tried to defend herself.

"But you didn't, did you?" He accused her. That stung. MacCready knew that bringing up her past was not her favorite topic, and she liked to actively avoid it. Now?

"I guess not," she said, and MacCready knew his mistake.

"Look, I'm sorry, it's just that I don't want to be here when this isn't my place to be. Not if you're leaving here. So, what's the plan?"

She felt better. Getting an apology out of him always brightened her mood, considering he didn't exactly believe in forgiveness. "I saw these super heros on the news. The Avengers, they like to be called. They are the ones who thwarted the attack. I think we might be able to ask them for help."

MacCready smirked. "And how are we going to do that?"

She smiled, teeth and all. "I guess we have to get their attention."