Hello! Thanks for taking the time to read Chapter 1 of 'The Vacation Away. More chapters will be added as they come to me, which will probs be quick. Hope you enjoy!

"Aw, shit!" Nick looked around the basement they found themselves in. No exit. They way they came in has been blocked by the degraded cement that had been eroding inside the place since the bombs fell. At least where they were trapped was quite the spacious room.

"Trapped in here now, eh? What a birthday! I can though, think of a few things to do to pass the…" Cait said trailing off after glimpsing the weird looking protectron in the basement of the Shamrock Taphouse. "Is that what we were sent to get for the Rexford?"

"I think so. But now we don't have a way out. Could you look around to see if you can find an opening anywhere. I don't think that we'd run out of oxygen anytime soon, but it'd be nice to know that there is an outside source." Nick walked over and peered at the backside of the protectron. The control panel was slightly open, signifying that someone has been here before, but didn't know how to activate him. "Dammit. Parts are missing. Probably some lowly scavver."

He unhooks his knife holster and grabs his old prewar combat knife – the one he used in the trenches in Anchorage – and pried open the panel on the back. He studied the wires and technology for a minute, noting that whatever piece was taken was a vital piece to the robot's circuits. He studied them for a few more seconds before being interrupted by Cait.

"Hey, Nick. I found an opening to the outside, but we ain't gettin' through that. Also, this dead chump. Holding a circuitry part… and a guitar." Cait bent over a little suggestively, hoping that Nick would notice. "Here, catch."

She grabbed the part and threw it at Nick with accuracy that rivaled his own and he caught it with little to no effort. He put the piece back in the panel perfectly and closed the panel door. "Thanks. You said he has a guitar? You know how to play guitar?" He walked over and picked up the guitar and a note fell out of the dead scavver's hand. Cait picked up the note as Nick walked over to a chair in the basement and sat down. He started to tune the guitar as Cait read the note.

"Alright, lets see what this poor bastard's last words were: 'If you're reading this, then I am dead. The mole rats got me good. Don't think this one's a survivable injury. If you find this not, please take my guitar. It's my most prized possession. I'd hate to look down and see that it's gone to ruin in this God-forsaken basement, but hey, if someone got to it, then…' the n trailed off in a squiggled line. I think he died before he could finish his note. Oh well. His loss is our gain, eh, treasure?"

As Nick finished tuning the guitar, he put the strap around his shoulder, and looked at Cait. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Hey, you ever hear what a guitar sounds like?" He started to do strum the basic strings to get himself back to speed with the guitar.

"Only a few times. Back with the slavers we'd barely ever hear them playing the guitar. Never actually heard, what do you call it? A full set? So, I don't really know what it sounds like." She looks down at her feet, her face turning a slight shade of red of embarrassment at not knowing what guitar music sounds like.

Nick gets up from his seat. He slowly walks over to where Cait is slumping and puts his hands on each shoulder and reassures her that it's completely fine that she has barley an idea on how the guitar sounds. He pulls her in for a tight hug and heads back to his chair. "Hey, see if the scav had a blanket or a sleeping bag in his pack. Might come in useful if we can't get out of here tonight."

Cait started to dig through the scavver's pack, and found some 10mm ammunition, an old Grognak the Barbarian, a new version of the Wasteland Survival Guide, some dirty water, and just to their luck, a small sleeping bag. Made for one. But that wouldn't bother either of them, to be honest. Cait loved being so close to her lover. It was the only thing that made her feel safe in the wastes. She hasn't told Nick that yet, but she thinks that he knows it, and will do anything to keep her safe.

She grabs the water, ammo and the sleeping bag out of the pack and walks over to Nick, who's still fiddling with the guitar. "Found some water, 10mm and a sleeping bag, low and behold. I think we're good for the night, love. You still messing with the guitar?"

Nick doesn't look up from the guitar when he responds. "Sweet. Yeah, this guitar is in remarkably good condition. I don't think the dead guy was down here long before us. Good thing we cleared all the rats when we came in the front door… or what's left of it."

"Yeah, thanks, genius. 'I GOT THIS! I'll throw this Nuka-Grenade and take care of all the muties that followed us here. Aaaand the door as well.' Yeah, great plan there." Cait sarcastically says as she unrolls the sleeping bag. After she unrolls it she sits down in a bit of a seductive pose, to try and entice Nick. "Too bad this place didn't have too much of anything worth of caps in here."

"Yeah, uh… sorry again. Hey, at least we found the robot and this kickin' guitar. It plays beautifully. You know of any good songs that I could play to pass the time?"

Cait thinks back to when she was just a little girl. She never told Nick that she grew up in Ireland, and her parents forced her to move to the Commonwealth with them in search of the fabled "American Dream". During the trip, Cait could here her dad sing to her mother one of the only songs she knows the all the lyrics to, besides all the songs played on Diamond City Radio.

She tries speaking, but a lump in her throat prevents her from saying what she wants. Nick notices this and places the guitar on the ground and squats next to her, and says: "Hey, hey. What's wrong? You know you can tell me anything, right? If you don't want to say anything I'll pick a nice and relaxing song."

Cait looks up at his face and fights past the shitty lump in her throat. "Back when I was a little girl, me dad would sing this song to me mum while I was outside in the rain. They never gave me the time of day to be happy at home. Sure, they fed me, but they never cared for me besides that. The song I would like to hear, really, is one I think is called 'The Galway Girl'. I don't know who made it, but I secretly loved it and memorized all the words." Her eyes started to tear up a little when telling this story, but having Nick here made it worth telling, as she knew that he loved hearing stories from her, even if they were about her shite life living with her parents.

Nick knew exactly what song she was talking about and didn't say a word when she said the title. He knew the song from Nora, when he used to sing it to her every now and again. But now it's for Cait. The imperfect, red-headed Irish girl of his dreams. He smiled and went back to his chair, sat down and placed the guitar strap over his shoulder. Getting reacquainted with the chords, he strummed a few notes and looked Cait right in the eyes with a warm look and smiled as he started to play the song.

As soon as he started to play, Nick was a little nervous. He hasn't sung in front of anybody since before the bombs fell, even back before Shaun was born. But here, he knew that he was free from judgement from Cait. He started to sing the lyrics to the song and started to lose himself in the song, looking at Cait's expression changing throughout the song, even though his never strayed from a small, happy smile.

When Nick started playing, Cait smiled. A warm smile, letting Nick know that they were in their own little slice of heaven, albeit a basement in the middle of Boston. When he started to sing the words to the song, she's taken back to her childhood. Sitting out in the yard, listening to her father sing this song to her mum, silently crying to herself as she hid from the rain.

When she opened her eyes, tears streamed down her face. Tears of mixed emotions. Tears of sadness, anger, for her shite parents that didn't give a damn their own flesh and blood. But also tears of happiness. Love, for Nick. She knew that he cared for her more than anyone in the Commonwealth. That he'd be there with her until the day that… no. She didn't want to think about that. She just wanted to be with him.

When he finished the song, Cait got up from her spot on the floor and rushed to Nick, who was also standing from playing the song. She launched herself into his arms, gripping him in a tight hug, nuzzling her face into is neck. Nick did the same. Holding her tightly, he readjusted his arms in a locking position, letting her know that he's got her. She moves her head slightly, so she could whisper in his ear, quiet enough that he could barely hear it: "I love you. So, goddamn much. You know that?"

Nick raises his face slightly from her shoulder, and whispers back: "I know you do. I love you too." He sets her back on the floor, and she reels back a bit and looks him in his hazel eyes. She darts back and forth between the two, while Nick has a small smile displayed. He looks deep in her green eyes. Eyes that have seen too much. Too much death, eyes that have been through so much. Eyes that have never cried out of happiness before tonight.

After ten seconds of loving stares, she pulls him in for a long kiss. He pulls back after a few seconds and suggests taking it to the sleeping bag on the floor, to which Cait doesn't protest. She just pulls him down to the bag.

Flash. Anchorage. Cold. Oh man, It's real snowy here. How long we going to be camped out here? Hell, if I know. We've still three days until we can head back to base camp. These damn trenches are going to be the death of me, I swear.

"Whitaker! Where are you?"

"Right here, sir! You need something?" What does Geraldson want this time? To berate me again? Fuckin' guy thinks he is so high and mighty, being our squad leader. Here he comes.

"Whitaker! I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry way I've treated you in the past. It wasn't fair for me to single you out for ridicule. You're one hell of a soldier, Nick. I hope we can move past what we've said and thought in the past, to make the squad more efficient."

Wow. Ain't he a saint? Sigh. "Alright, sir. You got yourself a deal. Honestly, it's been fun being under your command."

Flash. Woah! That one almost got me. Too close. Where's Geraldson? He should be here by now with my back up!

"Hello? Anyone read me? I need immediate back-up on my position immediately! These fuckin' Red bastards are everywhere! I's surrounded, copy!"

Nothing. Yet. Oh wait, there's some static!

"We read you, Whitaker! We're sending in Geraldson and the squad for back-up at your position ETA two minutes, copy?"

"Fucking two minutes? They're all around me! I am not going to survive two more fucking minutes in goddamn trench!"

Three. Two. One. That's two minutes. Where are they? It's been two goddamn minutes and they ain't here yet! Oh my God. I'm going to die here. I'm going to die…

"Someone call for backup, skipper?"

"Fucking finally! Where've you been? Two minutes past ten seconds ago!"

"Sorry to disappoint. These damn Reds are everywhere. Command says they're holed up in a bunker not far from here. We need to get moving! Now!"

"Sir yes sir!"

Oh, finally. Man, those Reds were hard to sneak by, especially with a company this big. This bunker is going to be a piece of cake. Only a few hundred meters. We'll get there. Forty meters. Ten meters. The door is quite big, if I do say so myself.

"Three… Two… One… Breach! Breach!"

What the hell? It's empty. Even the defense turrets are offline. This is making me uneasy. There's going to be something wrong happening soon. I'm sure of it.

"Command! The bunker is secure. Relaying position back to you in three- "

HOLY FUCKING SHIT! His head just exploded! What the fuck?

"GO GET OUT! GET OUT OF HERE! AMBUSH! AMBUSH!"

Nick awoke from his perpetual nightmare screaming, scaring Cait awake abruptly. L She looks around, noting every detail in the room is not in any danger to them. Still though, why the hell did he awake screaming? Nick's sitting up in bed, breathing heavily and sweating profusely from his chest and face.

"No. No. No. Not again. Oh my god. Not again. Fuck me, it happened again." Nick got up from the sleeping bag and sat on the chair, leaning over his knees and placing his face in his hands as he begins to cry. Cait slowly gets up as well from the sleeping bag, having no clue as to why he woke up screaming bloody-fucking murder. She squats down in front of him, placing her hands on his knees, looking up at his hands, tears coming down through the cracks in between his fingers.

"Hey, hey! What happened? Why did you wake up screamin' like that? You scared the shite of me!" She rubbed his knees as he continued to bawl in his hands. "Everything is going to be okay. You're in a safe place, love."

Cait quietly listened to the softening sobs, noticing that he quietly repeated the same phrase over and over again. She perked up on her knees and placed her forehead on his, hearing the phrase that he was saying under his crying.

"They all died." He said softly. Cait had no idea what he meant. Maybe it was the memory of destroying the Prydwen giving him bad memories? She thought she'd never figure this one out. "They all died."

"What are you meaning by 'They all died.'? I don't know what you're saying here, Nicky. You are making me very nervous." She pulled him in close for a hug. The same hug that he gave her the day before, reassuring him he's in a safe place. That no one will hurt him, at least not in the way his nightmare did. "What happened in your dream, love? I'd like to hear what is making you stress like this."

He wraps his arms around Cait's back and rests his chin on her should. "You don't know this, but before the bombs fell, I was in the United States Army." He pulled away from the hug and sat back on the chair, this time sitting back, looking down at the ground in front of where Cait sat.

"What was it like? I've never met anyone from the Army. Pre-war, let alone," She jokes, giving herself and Nick small chuckle.

"It was like no other experience I've had before the Commonwealth. Every day, I'd take out the picture that I kept with me of Nora. Shaun was born when I was deployed to Anchorage, that's what the drea- nightmare, was about." Nick's voice wasn't in his usual happy-go-lucky storytelling voice that Cait loved so much. It was more of a solemnly remorseful one. One that you could tell behind the voice, was a broken man. One so broken by the atrocities of war, Cait thought to herself that what she went through in the combat zone, seemed like it could've been a breeze.

Cait smiled a small smile. "You still haven't told me what happened yet, love. I need to know if I can maybe help you." Her comforting words did little to help Nick's situation, much to his dismay.

"You and the others call me the 'Sole Survivor of Vault 111.' Truth is, that's not the only instance I'm the sole survivor of." Cait demeanor changed in that moment. She rushed and sat on Nick's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the forehead.

"If you don't want to share, I won't hold it over you." Cait said, leaning her head on his. She was honestly worried about him more than she has ever been for anyone, even herself. She didn't know how to explain it to herself, but it didn't matter. She loved him for who he was, all the perfect imperfections and cracks in his psyche. And he loved her.

"No, you have to know, so you can help if- no, when it happens again. Back when I was stationed in Anchorage, I was a Private First Class in the 108th Infantry Regiment in the U.S Army. I was sent ahead to scout a couple of bunkers that were pinning a squad of T-51b's. Waiting for my reinforcements to arrive, I noted that a shit-ton of Reds were coming my way, strangely away from the bunkers. I hid the best I could, hoping that none of them would see me hiding right under them." He pauses to collect himself.

Cait rested her head on his. "Why were they all going away from the bunkers?"

"We'd soon figure that out. I called for reinforcements, and they said that they'd get to my position in two minutes. The longest two fucking minutes of my life. I was trying not to breathe heavily as to melt the snow around me, and possibly give away my position. When the reinforcements got to me, there were no Reds in the immediate vicinity, so we snuck our way to the first of the bunkers, breaches the door, and stormed it, laser weapons primed and ready to engage. Only to find out that the bunker was empty, and the turrets deactivated inside." He swallowed worryingly and took a deep breath, preparing for the final element of his memory.

"Ambush?" Cait guessed.

"Bingo. Our squad leader, Captain Geraldson, was in the middle of reporting back to command when his head exploded… right in front of me. I tried to get everyone… my squad back to base ASAP, but I couldn't. They… Avilez, Bakari, McCoy, West. They all died. Because of me. I didn't think to report the strange activity of the Reds. Didn't think it was worth it. That cost me the lives of my squad. My friends. All dead." His voice trembled, the last three words of his story, just whispers. "Because of me."

He started to cry again, as Cait pulled his head into her chest, rubbing the back of his head, as his arms lay at his side. She didn't say a word for a few minutes, letting him calm down from his episode. After a few minutes, she broke the silence.

"Did you tell Nora when you got back home? She must've had known about this."

Nick just slightly shook his head, still resting on her front. He didn't want to say anything for the rest of the day.

"Oh my… she died not knowing about this. You must've… no not prying. If you don't feel like talking anymore today, you don't have to. You've said enough. I'm so fucking proud for you for telling me this. It must have been hard, reliving that memory over again." Cait's words were relaxing to Nick's ears. He needed to hear them "But, we need to get out of this room, and get the bloody robot back to Goodneighbour and get paid. Can you fix us up an explosive to break up then rubble at the door?"

He looked up at Cait, who was looking down at him, meeting his gaze with a soothing smile. She stood up from his lap, and he stood up from the chair, giving her a kiss. That's all she needed to know he was going to be alright.

They got dressed and Nick jury-rigged an IED from and old terminal next to the protectron. He activated the protectron, and it whizzed to life. He programmed the Rexford's coordinates into its navigation and planted the explosive at the base of the collapsed door. He quickly walked over to where Cait was hiding and hid with her while he triggered the explosion with a well-placed 10mm bullet.

The rubble was cleared with ease, and the way out was open. Cait and Nick grabbed their things, slinging their packs over their shoulders. Cait walked over to Nick, reached around his head and pulled him into a long kiss. After, she pulled away, pressing her head against his, looking straight into his eyes and smiled.

"I love you, and I couldn't be any happier than at your side."

Nick returned her gaze and smiled back. "I love you too, Cait. Thank you. I hope it was a good birthday."

They slowly walked out of the broken Shamrock Taphouse, hand in hand, the protectron not far behind, and set a course for Goodneighbour.

"The best."

I don't own the property of 'The Galway Girl'. It was just used for entertainment purposes. The only OC is my character, Nick Whitaker, and his squad. Hope you enjoyed Chapter 1!