Arthur Maxson was running for his life, running as fast as his eleven year old legs could manage. He almost slipped scrabbled over a patch of rubble but he stumbled on flailing his arms to regain his balance. A small part of him wanted to stay and fight; after all he was a Maxson and a squire of the Brotherhood of Steel. The more sensible part of him urged him to keep running, he was an unarmed eleven year old boy and the odds of him killing his three super mutant pursuers were slim to none. He blinked back tears as he realised he was probably going die in these ruins and more than that he wished Sarah was with him, she would have been able to save him.

The day had started so well for Arthur when Elder Lyons had allowed him to accompany himself and the Lyons Pride to the dedication ceremony outside of Project Purity. The ceremony would honour those knights who had died to make Project Purity a reality, either defending it 19 years ago or the more recent assault to retake it from the Enclave. Duties prevented any sizeable number from attending but Elder Lyons, Sarah and the rest of the Pride would be there, which was reason enough to go in of itself. He loved hearing their war stories and if he was lucky he might even see them in action. It would also give him a way to get out of the citadel which was beginning to feel more like a prison as the weeks went on and he still had not been allowed to leave. Elder Lyons had only relented on this for two reasons which he had explained to the young squire. Firstly it would show him the sacrifices that the Brotherhood had made to help the people of the Capital Wasteland. The second he had added with a smile was that he could not imagine that Arthur could be in any danger with the Lyon's Pride protecting him.

So the squire had left the citadel in a suitably solemn mood, careful not to seem to excited at the possibility of seeing the Pride in action, he was still in love with Sarah after he watched her stab that 'Ugly' in the kidneys, he couldn't imagine how he feel if he saw her blast one into ash with a laser rifle. He did however regret, as they marched through the ruins towards the Jefferson memorial, that he had not been given a weapon. However after the 'incident' where he shot Sarah he had not been allowed to handle one outside the weapons range. He still thought they were over reacting after all it was only a flesh wound.

Arthur was also disappointed that the Lone Wanderer would not be attending the service. He was slightly in awe of the man and stayed up as late as possible every night in the mess hall listening to Three Dog's descriptions of the man's latest adventure. Still he didn't mention this admiration to the rest of the Brotherhood. They were all still angry at the Wanderer for his actions after he returned from the Pitt. Arthur had not seen what had happened himself and since no one would tell him he could only imagine what he had done to anger the Brotherhood so but though could imagine plenty of things he could believe that the Wanderer would do any of them. Even Sarah who had seemed very fond of him was angry when his name was mentioned, perhaps more so than the rest of the Brotherhood.

Arthur felt quite small during the service, well smaller than usual as it was hard to feel big when you spent your time surround by hulking knights that towered above you in a suit of power armour. It was a humbling experience to see the concrete obelisk unveiled, the names of the fallen etched into its side. They had to leave quickly as Sarah wanted to be back while there was still plenty of light to spot any trouble.

The light hadn't helped them spot the super mutant ambush though Arthur thought bitterly as he dodged down a side street in a desperate bid to through off his super mutant pursuers. He had been at the river getting a quick drink while Vargas' ankle was been examined after he slipped on what turned out to be Brahmin dung left by one of the water caravans. While Vargas swore angrily and the rest of Pride laughed at the man's misfortune he had moved ahead where the ground sloped gently to the waterside and he was able to quench his thirst.

He had barely had a mouthful of the radiation free water when he heard the gunshots and whirled around to see super mutants streaming out the ruins and cutting him off from the rest of the party. Three super mutant masters wielding sledgehammers spotted him and began to lumber towards him and Arthur Maxson ran for his life.

"Shit! Take cover, take cover." Sentinel Sarah Lyons soldiering instinct kicked in quickly after the initial shock of seeing the super mutant's pour out of the ruins. The only thing that saved them from being overrun was that they were being attacked in a bottleneck, a collapsed building and the river preventing them from being flanked. She wished Gallows was here, the man could sniff out a Mutie ambush a mile away however her father had sent him north to gather Intel on Vault 87. She raised her laser rifle and fired at the closest super mutant and began barking out orders to the Pride.

"Kodiak protect the Elder, Glade you make sure Maxson stays down, Dusk pull back to that rubble hill and started sniping over our heads"

"I don't see the squire Sentinel" Glade yelled back as his gatling laser began to spit beams of light into the super mutant's ranks.

"Where the hell is he?" Sarah yelled concern adding a shrill note to her voice; she was not going to lose the last of the Maxsons on her watch, especially when that Maxson was an 11 year old boy.

"We got a problem" Kodiak interrupted her thoughts and pointed upriver where Arthur Maxson stood staring wide eyed at the super mutants that poured out of the ruins howling and roaring as they engaged Sarah and the rest of her team. Sarah watched disbelievingly as three Master's broke off and chased the boy into the ruins. She couldn't believe this was happening, this had better be a fucking dream she thought furiously as she watched helplessly as a wall of super mutants cut of her view of Arthur Maxson.

"Cut 'em down, we need to reach the squire" She roared discharging her rifle into the massed ranks with renewed vigour before ducking down behind a mound of rubble to reload. Glancing around her she saw her father, firing his laser pistol into the crowd, his expression one of pain and anger as he began to realise that he had lost the final descendant of Roger Maxson. Kodiak pulled him back beneath the burnt out shell of a car they were hiding behind at the waters edge as volley of bullets whizzed into the space where he had been standing. Vargas was beside them hunched out of the way, unable to stand and fire his mini gun because of his ankle. Kodiak saw this and switched his laser rifle for the mini gun allowing Vargas to enter the battle. Glade was holding the right flank while Dusk had reached a point where she could fire her sniper rifle effectively without fear of hitting her team mates. The crack of her rifle adding to the whining sounds of the energy weapons.

At first it looked like they might break through and begin a rescue attempt but the bodies of the fallen built a barricade behind which the super mutant's could take cover and slowly the sheer weight of fire began drive the Pride back towards the Jefferson memorial where she hoped reinforcements were scrambling to reinforce them.

"Fighting retreat" Sarah yelled as she realised they could not hold, she hated herself for the decision as it effectively meant abandoning Arthur but there was nothing she could do. Glade and Kodiak retreated to dusk's position while the two Lyons and Vargas laid down covering fire. When Glade yelled back that they were ready the three retreated towards them Sarah and her father helping Vargas hobble as fast he could. This cycle continued for over 10 minutes until reinforcements with extra ammunition arrived and began to turn the tide. Too late for poor Arthur Maxson, Sarah thought bitterly as she blinked back tears at the thought of him being hunted down by bloodthirsty mutants. She couldn't show any weakness in front the men and so she did what she always did, she hid her emotions behind a soldier's mask and went to confer with her father.

Her father looked like a shadow of the man he had been this morning. He sat there ignoring the medic who was attempting to treat the gash to his arm. Instead he stared blankly upriver to where he had last seen the young squire. Sarah knew he loved the boy as his own and that he would always feels responsible for his loss, she knew that she would. She tried think of something to ease his pain but no words came to her, Sarah really wanted to give him a hug but part of her felt that would be inappropriate in front of the other knights. She settled for a hand on his shoulder and tried to convey all her love through that simple gesture. Elder Lyons didn't speak but simply reached up and patted her hand. They stayed like that for while staring upriver each lost in private contemplation and regret.

Deep in the ruins of D.C a lone man shifted through a pile of debris. He was clad in black boots and green ranger battle armor. A red baseball cap adorned his brown hair and he wore sunglasses to protect his eyes from the glare of the sun. On his back he wore a small rucksack. A hunting rifle was slung over the bag; the words 'Ol' Painless' etched in the wooden butt, underneath this in a more ragged manner were the numbers '21:6'. At his hip he wore an old 44 magnum revolver and a combat knife. To the casual observer he looked relaxed and totally at ease however his muscles were tensed and he constantly glanced around looking to identify the slightest sound. In the wasteland it never pays to let ones guard down

Jack, widely known as the Lone Wanderer, heard the cracks of the hunting rifles first. He had been scavenging for scrap metal in the city, just north of the Jefferson Memorial. On his last visit to Underworld Winthrop had informed him that Cereberus had been damaged in a Raider attack and the scrap was needed to fix him up before a fresh raid. Abandoning the scavenging he began to work his way through the rubble and skeletal remains of buildings to identify what was happening. As he got close he began to hear the whine of a gatling laser and the lower zaps of laser rifles. Brotherhood then he thought grimly to himself. It sounded like they'd blundered into an ambush. He stood there atop a mound of rubble contemplating whether he should go and help them, from the volume of rifle shots he knew they were heavily outnumbered.

If this was 6 months ago I'd already be there he reflected sadly but that was before he'd been to the Pitt. He grimaced as he recalled that stinking cesspit of a city. Still he'd managed to improve it slightly by helping Midea and Wernher kill that bastard Ashur. Not however before he'd learned the truth about the Scourge and what really happened that day. The way the Brotherhood had told it they had swept through killing all the bad guys and basically saving the day. Ashur however had painted quite a different story one that involved mass murder and indiscriminate shootings. He hadn't taken him and at his word of course, Jack had thanked him for his time promised his comments would be considered and promptly shot him in the head, which was one of his few good memories of the place if he was honest. After that he'd spent a week asking questions and knocking heads together to see if he could confirm Ashurs's tale. Unfortunately he'd been telling the truth.

In a fit of rage Jack had stormed back to the citadel, roared angrily at Elder Lyons and dumped his honorary Lyon's Pride armour, all in the middle of the bailey in front of a stunned audience of initiates and knights. He had then stormed out again breaking the arm and cracking the ribs of two outraged knights who had attempted to bar his way. Looking back he probably hadn't handled that as well as he could have, usually he was a lot more diplomatic than that but he had felt betrayed and lied to. It probably hadn't helped that he had never felt at home in the citadel, he was always the 'outsider'. That frustration of not being accepted had accentuated his anger and with that he lost the diplomatic outlook his father had tried so hard to instil in him. Getting booted out of Vault 101, again, had really made him desperate to find somewhere he felt he belonged, something he hadn't felt since his father had left vault 101 and he was beginning to feel he'd never feel again. So all in all he'd finally gotten to the end of his tether, snapped completely and completely fucked up his friendship with the Brotherhood, not bad for a days work.

Later he'd realised it was probably for the best if he was alone, he was after all the Lone Wanderer and the myth was ruined slightly if he was wandering round with a bunch of Brotherhood knights. Being alone allowed him to be more impartial, allowed him to mediate more disputes and try to keep some sort of peace in the wasteland. Jack had also figured out he may end up fighting the Brotherhood, he'd already had a couple of clashes with the Outcasts when they'd tried to take technology from the 'local wildlife' otherwise known as wastelanders. And as Lyons had admitted when they'd first met the Outcast was probably more like the West Coast Brotherhood than the DC Brotherhood were. It was further complicated by the fact that he knew many knights were sympathetic to the Outcasts; they had stayed only out of loyalty to Lyon's. So he'd distanced himself to avoid any attachments realising he had to be alone if he wanted to protect the wasteland. He figured if he had no friends then he would never have to shoot one, or watch them die, he lost enough loved ones over the years, his dad, Jonas, Dogmeat and Amata. Well technically she wasn't dead but she might as well be, he thought to himself scowling. That one had hurt most of all he had wandered back in to save the day and thought he could finally return home. That certainly hadn't happened he been kicked to the figurative sidewalk as soon as they were sure they didn't needed him any more without so much as a thanks for stopping us from killing each other.

Jack smirked slightly let those snooty Brotherhood bastards fight it out themselves and he turned to walk in the opposite direction when an image of his father lying dead in the control room of Project Purity appeared. Jack swore softly and did a 180 degree turn, he'd just make sure it wasn't a water caravan, didn't want his parent's life's work to be ruined by a bunch of incredible hulk wannabes (he had found a comic book store in DC and that particular one's resemblance had amused him). A hint of a smile appeared as a thought entered his head, talk about parenting from the grave, his dad was long buried but he was still able to make him do the right thing.

Jack had climbed up the remains of an old office block in order to get a better view of the battle that was raging on by the river side. It was as he had suspected a fight between the Brotherhood and a bunch of super mutants. He was about to leave when he spotted a child running into the ruins about two blocks away pursued by three super mutant masters. He swore again and hurtled down what remained of the staircase. Looking at his mental map of DC he figured out the route that the child would take and ran to intercept as he got closer he was relieved to hear the heavy footsteps of the super mutants, it meant that he was on the right track. He sprinted down an alley, easing out his combat knife as he ran. The alley opened up onto what had been a high street. To his left a building had collapsed blocking the road, turning to his left his saw the child racing down the road. The kid had not seen him yet as he was glancing backwards at the super mutants that were quickly gaining ground now that they were out of the narrow side streets which had encumbered them before.

"Oi kid over here" Jack shouted at the kid head darted round and a look of relief flooded onto his face. Jack's eyes widened in surprise as he saw that it was that Maxson kid from the Brotherhood, why the hell was he wandering around DC it was dangerous for knights let alone 11 year old boys. Dismissing the thought he shouldered off his pack and threw his knife point first into the dirt by his feet. He kneeled and brought up his hunting rifle and aimed at the rightmost super mutant, as he exhaled he squeezed the trigger. With a sharp crack the rifle spat out a bullet which struck its intended target in the eye, the now dead super mutant crashed into the other two making them stumble and buying Squire Maxson enough time to race past Jack where he collapsed exhausted. The other two dived into the side streets before Jack could get off another shot. Standing up Jack stepped back a couple of paces to stand by the squire. Hearing his wheezy gasps for air he knelt down watching the side streets. He fumbled around in the bag before he found a bottle of aqua pura. He tossed it the kid and straightened up again. Hearing a crunch on his right he whipped around and fired catching the super mutant in the chest and knocking it back a couple of paces. The second bullet struck between its eyes, putting it down for good. The other mutant picked that moment to charge as it lumbered towards him it hurled its sledgehammer at Jack. Jack dodged out the way but the sledgehammer stuck his weapon knocking it out of his grasp. He rolled backwards towards his knife which he then hurled towards the super mutant. It slashed into its kneecap causing the mutant drag its leg grotesquely behind. The mutant roared angrily but Jack causally drew his revolver and sent to bullets smashing into the super mutant's skull causing it to crash to the ground. Turning round he saw that Maxson was looking at him with an expression of awe on his face. Jack couldn't help but grin back at the kid.

"Sup...Arthur?"

"It's you. The Lone Wanderer. We met...once...n the citadel. Do you remember me?" Arthur Maxson gabbled excitedly.

"Course I do. You hooked me up with Vargas' Guns and Bullets" Jack winked conspiratorially at the young boy as he retrieved his knife and replaced his bag upon his back. Finally he grabbed his rifle and slung that over his shoulder by its strap. Noting the boy's exhausted state Jack also picked him up and began to stroll down the high street. He didn't have much good to say about the Brotherhood any more but one thing he would say was that they made great Mutie magnets, DC was virtually deserted, he had a 'Safehouse' in abandoned garage about a mile off and he felt the kid could use some rest before he dropped him at the citadel.