I know I said the Castle visit was next but I had to do this first. I'm going for something a little different this time. Much like my other story The Cavalry, this was an idea that popped into my mind and just wouldn't let go until I got it out.
Enjoy.
So here they were at last.
Kellogg had been wondering when he was going to show up. Finding his current hideout, that one Kellogg hadn't seen coming. But he knew now that he'd been found nothing was going to stop the man from reaching him.
Over a dozen synths? They would be slaughtered without mercy. Even if they could beg for it, none would be given today. Not to them, and most certainly not to Kellogg himself. No, this intruder was out for blood.
And he was going to get it alright. But one question yet remained, whose blood was it going to be?
Standing face to face for the first time, without a glass sheet between them, Kellogg saw how the next few minutes were going to play out with this one.
Nathaniel, that was his name. He had made a small name for himself while hunting for Kellogg. The man was nothing if not relentless in his search.
Neither was he all that subtle either. At first Kellogg wondered if it was old world stupidity on Nathaniel's part to go around openly stating he was from Vault 111. That wasn't exactly something most went about openly declaring. Not only that, but he didn't hide what his goal was either. It was like hunting for an animal ten times your size but you stood in an open field yelling until it came after you.
Kellogg read the reports of this vault dweller that appeared from nowhere. How Kellogg didn't know, but he knew this was the same man he left on ice sixty years before. There was no evidence of it, but he just knew it.
Nathaniel had to be a quick learner to survive the Commonwealth for as long as he had so far fresh out of cryo-sleep. By the time of meeting Kellogg here, he must have know about the Institute and their reputation for being ever watchful.
It wasn't an act of foolishness that Nathaniel was so open. Kellogg figured that out pretty quick. It was a challenge, to whoever it was that had taken his boy. Nathaniel wasn't afraid of the wrong people overhearing him. If they did, and came for him, it would only make Nathaniel's search all the more easier. It was a debate for the ages whether this was courage or desperation though.
The fact that Nathaniel had tracked him here, to an abandoned ruin in the middle of nowhere, meant he was no soft relic of the old world. It came as no surprise when he ripped through most of Kellogg's synth guards. This man was on the warpath.
Last time they met, Kellogg had said only a single sentence before walking away. And Nathaniel probably didn't even hear him. But now they had their chance for a face to face chat.
So far, Kellogg was impressed. Not many would just stride out to talk this close to him. Kellogg was used to giving off an intimidating presence, people tended to keep their distance. But Nathaniel was far from intimidated. Not only that, Kellogg's remaining synths were spread out the room. Nathaniel was surrounded the moment he moved into the room. But did he seem to care? Not one bit.
Perhaps Nathaniel just didn't care, or maybe he thought his friend behind him was a quick enough shot the disadvantage wouldn't matter.
Come to think of it, he recognized the woman Nathaniel was with. Piper Wright, that self appointed 'reporter' from Diamond City. Kellogg thought she would be off somewhere causing more chaos with her newspaper. There was talk within the Institute that they were going to need to send Kellogg to shut her up permanently, but the order hadn't been given yet.
Regardless, she was not someone to be underestimated either. Even if Nathaniel had done most of the work, she was still alive. She had to have some skill with a gun to survive combat with synths.
Turning his mind back to the situation at hand, Kellogg examined the man before him. Many would be foaming at the mouth and lost in rage to find their missing child. Not this one, oh no. That rage was there alright, but Nathaniel was smarter than that. He would get his son back, or the information he needed, then he would try to kill him.
Until then he might put on a front of tranquility, but Kellogg knew better than anyone just how fast that facade could drop.
As their talk drew to its inevitable close, Kellogg did the math in his head. Himself, plus three synths against Nathaniel and that reporter. Kellogg had the numbers and the position of strength, but experience had taught him no victory was certain.
Especially now that Nathaniel knew his son wasn't here. All that bottled up anger and fury was about to explode like a grenade. He was done holding back and was eagerly looking for something to vent his frustration and hatred on.
And Kellogg was going to be the first target.
The instant the last word was uttered, all hell broke loose. Everything happened so fast, Kellogg was only able to see it thanks to his implants.
Nathaniel fired multiple shots from his rifle into the synth at Kellogg's right, the bullets tearing right through the machine. Behind Nathaniel, Piper unloaded her pistol point blank into the synth beside her. In the span of a heartbeat, Nathaniel and Piper had evened the numbers of the battle.
But Kellogg had plenty of tricks still to use.
As the first synth fell, Kellogg retreated and went for the stealth-boy hidden behind his back. But just as he went to flip the switch, Nathaniel dove forward and tackled the grizzled old mercenary. His momentum knocked both men backward and over a nearby desk. In the process, the stealth-boy and both their guns were flung from their hands.
Kellogg would have thought Nathaniel would attempt to shoot him. His enhanced muscles should have allowed him to stop Nathaniel cold, but the charge was so sudden that Kellogg was caught off guard one of the few times in his life.
Rolling over the wooden surface of the desk, Kellogg recovered first and swung a punch aimed for Nathaniel's face. But the man dodged the attack and followed with a left hook to Kellogg's jaw, another landing into his gut. Kellogg barely felt any of it, perks of his enhancements.
Seizing Nathaniel by the throat, Kellogg knocked the man off of him. Jumping to his feet, Kellogg tried to grab his revolver from the desk. The moment he turned to fire on Nathaniel, the man in question swung a chair that again knocked the gun from his hand.
Once again recovering quickly, Kellogg caught the impromptu weapon and tore it from Nathaniel's hold when he tried to strike again. Throwing the chair aside, Kellogg charged.
Just as Kellogg suspected, Nathaniel was a quick learner. He didn't dare try to match Kellogg muscle to muscle. Kellogg might have had the raw strength, but Nathaniel had speed and flexibility. He couldn't block Kellogg's attacks, but he could dodge them. He would regularly find gaps in Kellogg's defenses and exploit them to land hits.
Nathaniel had training, Kellogg discovered that pretty soon. Most of the wastelanders Kellogg dealt with were brawlers at best, canon fodder at worst. Not many could endure a battle with Kellogg hand to hand for long. Nathaniel not only survived, he was a worthy challenge. Something Kellogg couldn't remember the last time he had.
No matter how well Nathaniel fought, Kellogg still couldn't feel the effects of his punches. The pain absorber did have its limits though, larger wounds he could still feel.
Such as when Nathaniel stabbed him in the arm with an old shard of rusty metal. It didn't hurt as much as it could have, but Kellogg could definitely feel it.
Growling, Kellogg shoved Nathaniel back and tried to rip the metal free from his limb. His implants would slow the blood flow once it was removed long enough for him to deal with Nathaniel. But Kellogg's opponent wasn't having any of that. Just as Kellogg took hold of the shard, Nathaniel was pressing the attack again.
"Blue get down!" Kellogg assumed his last synth had dealt with the reporter, but he hadn't taken his own mental advice and underestimated the woman.
Nathaniel dropped to the ground but Kellogg didn't have time to move. Piper opened fire with one of the synth's automatic laser rifles. But she was obviously not accustomed to the recoil of firing an automatic weapon. The bolts of energy flew all over the place, most of them missing their mark by a wide margin.
Kellogg was able to shift his body so that his armor took the brunt of the assault, but more than a few bolts were still able to hit his side and chest. One even managed to graze his cheek, the azure colored energy burning his flesh.
Piper fired until the battery in the weapon ran dry. When it did, she swore and tried to load another before Kellogg could recover.
The mercenary never had the chance to do so. Just as Piper's attack stopped, Kellogg felt a more normal bullet strike his knee. Like the metal still embedded in his arm, the absorber couldn't filter this completely.
With his knee shattered, Kellogg fell to the floor. He tried to rise with his good leg, but when he lifted his head he found the muzzle of his own revolver pointed right at him. Piper had abandoned the laser rifle to aim her own 10mm handgun but kept her distance.
Nathaniel didn't say a word, but even Kellogg had to acknowledge the irony of the situation. It was a fitting end, to be executed with his own gun. The same one he killed Nathaniel's wife with.
Kellogg had heard once that as you're about to meet your end, your entire life will flash before your eyes. The good, the bad, the mistakes, the missed chances. Everything that ever was coming back in one rapid instant.
Kellogg was a monster, he never had any illusions about that. Life was an unending string of jobs, when one was done he simply moved onto the next. Working for the Institute wasn't just a way of easy pay, neither did care less about their 'mankind redefined' bullshit.
Even though his life had been prolonged beyond normal human standards, the one thing Kellogg always wanted eluded him at every turn. The only real reason he did the Institutes dangerous dirty work.
The hope he could finally meet his end. It was the coward's way to turn the barrel on yourself, or to hurl yourself from a rooftop, and Kellogg was no coward. And so he would fight, he would kill and destroy, until something was put in his path that could at last bring him down.
Kellogg thought that day had come when he was given the mission of hunting down Virgil in the glowing sea. Surely something there would be tough enough to kill him. But he didn't expect his wish would be granted by a job sixty years ago.
Nathaniel slowly pulled the hammer back on the revolver. Kellogg couldn't help himself, he smiled. Even as he sat on the filthy floor, his arm bleeding from the stab wound and his knee a mangled mess, Kellogg was getting his greatest desire.
"Finally." Kellogg whispered as the shot rang out.
I just had to get this out of my head. Review and let me know how I did.
Okay now the next one should be the Castle trip. But I'm still looking for suggestions on ones people want to see. I have a really fluffy and sweet one planned after the Castle one.