Disclaimer: I don't own any of the rights to Fallout 3 in anyway. I'm just borrowing a few things for the sake of this story. Be warned that this will spoil the big plot twist of the Replicated Man side-quest. You have been warned.

Chapter 1 - Alone With Regrets

She wiped the sweat off of her forehead as she worked to repair a pistol to the best of her abilities in her home in Megaton. She listened to the jukebox playing in the background as Three Dog reported the news of the day. The Lone Wanderer, as she was called by many who had known of her reputation, looked at the laser pistol that was in desperate need of repair.

Others would go so far as to call her the Savior of the Wasteland after finally being able to fulfill her father's dream of starting the purifier and bring clean water to the D.C. area. Only a few people knew the truth of who she really was, but no one could understand how she felt when everything was said and done.

Mey had somehow been rescued from the radiation filled room from where she started the purifier and brought back to the Citadel to recover. The radiation had flowed into her bloodstream like a virus, going through her entire body in a matter of seconds. By all accounts, she should have been dead if it had not been for the Lyon's Pride and Fawkes.

While the Pride got Sarah, Fawkes, who Super Mutant genes allowed him to get through the room with no danger to himself, got Mey's unconscious body from the floor. The infirmary at the Citadel took extraordinary measures, but managed to bring her radiation levels down enough to keep her alive. After a few days of constant monitoring, she opened her eyes to find Elder Lyons and Sarah keeping vigil over her.

She didn't stay still for long though. After foiling the plans of the Enclave and reporting everything that had happened, Mey followed Dr. Li back to the lab at Rivet City soon after her ordeal. In the old rusted boat, people acknowledged what she had done and thanked her for everything. Even with all of the attention, she still felt alone.

The only family she ever had was gone. The people that she grew to know in Vault 101 banished her from ever coming back and her mother and father died for the sake of the project. Mey tried to keep a brave face and allowed herself to fall into busy work by helping Dr. Li with her experiments. Deep in her heart, she felt like the doctor hated her for what happened to her father. After all, it was for her sake that the project was abandoned all those years ago.

She had to put the repair tools down for a moment as she could feel the tears in her eyes break through. She left Rivet City shortly after doing a side job that left her too heartbroken to stay anymore. She had grown to befriend the head of security, Harkness and despite his tough demeanor; they spent a lot of time together. She didn't know why, but she couldn't stop thinking about him. There was something about the way he treated her that always made her smile.

It was a strange friendship, but he was someone that she could talk to. Even when she couldn't sleep because of the nightmares, he was always awake no matter what time she came by and would kindly let her into his room. He always lent an ear to her and before long, she felt herself being whisked away to the land of sleep in his presence. On that first morning, she would find herself comfortable in the bed while Harkness provided a sort of vigil over her sitting in a chair nearby. No matter what, she could always rely on him to fill the void of loneliness in her heart and she trusted him.

It felt like a dream but nothing was happening. There were no memories of her father dying or being attacked by the Enclave. It was a feeling like the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders and she was finally given a peaceful night's sleep. She hadn't noticed that time had passed until her body itself felt the need to wake up and get moving.

She opened her eyes slowly and stretched her body. When she sat up, she noticed that she was in a bed. Last thing she remembered, she had been sitting in a chair telling Harkness about her nightmares. Remembering about him, Mey quickly scanned to room only to take in the sight before her. Harkness was asleep, sitting in a backwards chair using his arms as a pillow.

Mey felt terrible for taking his bed. Pulling back the covers, she moved her legs to the side and found her shoes near the edge. After she put them on, she slowly stood up and walked the small distance over to him. Placing her hand gently on his shoulder, she shook him.

"Harkness? Harkness, are you awake?"

He stirred slightly before opening his eyes a bit. Remembering the owner of the voice, he became wide awake and looked up to her. He saw her smiling down at him.

"Mey…" He stood up from the chair and quickly grabbed her hand. "Are you okay?" She couldn't help but find it more calm with him watching her tonight.

"I'm alright. I better go and let you get some sleep on your bed." She gripped his hand a little bit harder then headed towards the door. Before she walked away, she turned to Harkness. "I'm sorry for being a hassle to you but in any case thanks for this."

He smiled back. "No problem, just come back if you need help again." She nodded and then went back to her room, leaving him to lie on the bed still warm with her body heat.

The pain started a few days later. It had been like any other mission she took up when a man name Zimmer asked Mey to look into the case of his missing android. She had gotten a weird vibe from him and his bodyguard nearby, but accepted the job anyway. She hadn't thought twice about it, figuring that if it in fact led to a dead end, like she thought it would, then it would be no skin off her nose.

After investigating further and acquiring holotapes from numerous medical facilities around the wasteland concern the android, the clues led to a doctor named Pinkerton who had been holding up in the abandoned part of the ship. After fighting her way through the poisoned water and Mirelurks, she finally discovered him and his lab.

When the secret had finally been revealed after a bit of persuasion, she immediately regretted her decision to continue investigating. Mey had figured that the android must have been looking to get plastic surgery to avoid his captors. Before she even knew who he was, Mey had grown sympathetic towards the android the more she put his story together.

His reasons for leaving the Commonwealth were justified and she had hoped that she didn't find out the truth so that he could be left alone. After a bit of persuasion, Pinkerton finally gave in and provided Mey a holotape showing the before and after pictures of the android himself. When she looked at it, she felt as though her legs were going to give way from under her.

It was him, it was Harkness! It was him all of this time. The doctor went on to explain that the procedure had been performed to overwrite his previous life's memories and offer him a better cover, but it was still buried deep inside his programming. He then gave Mey the command line to reactivate those memories, but also warned her that if she did this, there was a possibility that he would lose his 'Harkness' memories.

She walked disillusioned out of there and went back to the room she had in the Rivet City hotel. Her only real friend in the Wasteland was in grave danger. She didn't care about the fact that he was an android; Zimmer was so close to him that he would eventually figure it out himself. She just couldn't let that happen. Waiting until nightfall, Mey packed up her stuff and went to Harkness' room like she had done many times in the past.

Finding him asleep to her relief, she sadly placed a note on his bedside table that would explain everything without leaving her name. There would be no point since he wouldn't remember her. She then whispered the command phrase to him and walked out of his door without looking back to see the change.

Then she left, but not before telling Dr. Li her reasons for which she understood. It had been two weeks since then and now she was back in Megaton. She settled into the home she was given after disarming the bomb and helped the settlers with their weapon maintenance for a few caps a day. It became easier not to think about it, but she couldn't help but wondering what Harkness did after she left.

She shook the thoughts out of her head. She would never get her work done like this. Now she was haunted with new nightmares after she left. Mey wasn't able to get so much as two hours of sleep because now she only dreamed of Harkness being taken back to the Commonwealth and being forced into slavery again. To this day, Mey still wasn't sure if she had done the right thing by giving him back his old memories. She could only hope that he understood the letter, even if he had no idea who it was from and that he was okay.

A/N: Hey guys, this was a story that I had been sitting on for a while now after doing the side-quest in Fallout 3. I had a female LW and got this idea after doing the quest again. I just love this character, especially because I had a female character. I hope that you guys enjoy. This is only going to be a few chapters^^