Note: I'm working with the format. This is my first upload. I hope you enjoy this concept
The Brotherhood
Her hair was much longer than it was a year ago.
Those fiery locks curled down just below her shoulders, following her movement as she tilted her head to look over at the young child playing on the rusted playground. The clothes she wore were pristine, just like the women on the covers of those old pre-war magazines that she used to collect. Her hands were fiddling with the perfectly preserved book in her lap, her fingers flipping through the undamaged pages with just a lick of her thumb. She looked relaxed - tired- but utterly at ease with the ruined world around her. The hanging bench connected to the gazebo she rested within somehow survived two-hundred some-odd years of wasteland abuse. Hubflowers grew around the shelter, and he remembered a time where she would squeal whenever they crossed paths with the bush. She'd dropped whatever she was doing just to pluck every flower off the poor bush until it was bare.
"And why exactly are we stopping again? If it's another picnic, I left my blanket back at the last place."
"I can make a killing turning these into Psycho. All I need to do is crush the petals, boil them in a solution, reduce the concentration until - what? Don't give me that look. Caps are caps."
But these bushes were full of their flowers and her attention was elsewhere.
If it wasn't for the fact that the surrounding scenery was completely dilapidated from the years of radiation abuse, he'd almost believe she was perfectly safe with the small child.
Deacon's scope scanned the area around the playground for any signs of lingering ferals or raiders, but none were found. Knowing her, she probably took care of the surrounding area if she was going to let her child roam the play area. He turned his scope on the child. His eyes were wide like his mother's and his skin was a beautiful mocha blend of her pale skin and her late husband's darker complexion. The innocence in his face was misplaced in this world, not when so many deprived Commonwealth children would never experience that same glow. The child jumped from his perch and landed wrong, letting out a gentle squeak.
"Shaun!"
His scope turned back to the woman who tossed her book aside and started to get up, stopping when the child held his hands up, "I'm fine! It didn't even hurt!"
He watched her sigh through the scope, his eyes lingering to her soft smile that replaced the worried frown.
Just pull the trigger.
He had orders, simple orders. Track down Whisper and end her. There she was just sitting there practically begging for him to put a bullet in her head, but his finger sat frozen on the trigger. He took a deep breath and laid the weapon down in front of him, resting his head on the cold metal. After everything Whisper did to the Railroad, this would have been an easy order. The revenge and betrayal in his heart should have been enough to forget about their time together. He hated her - loathed her existence. He dreamed of being the one to stop her for betraying his friends and murdering his make-shift family. At night, he'd lay looking up at the concrete ceiling playing out every scenario of what would happen when he finally found her. Now that he was finally presented with the opportunity, he hesitated. Whether it was due to the child sliding down the slide, laughing as he hit each bump, or the memories they once shared, he couldn't shoot her.
Then something happened that made him rethink the anger he held in his heart. This traitor, this cold-blooded murderer, grabbed her son and twirled him around, covering his face with gentle, motherly kisses. Their giggles filled the air, melting the stone-cold heart the Railroad agent felt weighing in his chest. They chased each other around the park, climbing on the equipment, and sliding down the slide together.
After a few minutes of playing, she returned to her swinging bench and produced a meal for the two of them. Shaun took the meal and sat down next to her, munching away. Once the boy's meal was gone, he jumped back up and resumed his position at the top of the slide while his mother returned to her book.
He wasn't sure if it was his natural curiosity or the familiarity of the woman before him, but he found his hands pushing up from the ground and feet walking towards her. He slung his gun over his back and trekked down to where she sat, freezing when her head whipped in his direction.
Her eyes were wide with fear; her hand reaching into her bag for her gun. She rested it on her lap and his eyes were drawn to the typical Institute pistol that she resented during their travels. Her eyes darted to Shaun, who seemed oblivious to the exchange, before settling back at the man.
Now that he was here before his enemy, he didn't have a plan. He worked from the shadows, but here he stood in the light that always shined around her. His mind went blank and he hoped she'd be the one to make the first move. When she didn't say anything after a minute or two, he opened his mouth and blurted the first thing that he could think of, "I'm sorry to bother you. I was wondering if you had a Geiger counter."
Her wide eyes softened and a small, sad smile formed on her lips, "Mine is in the shop."
"That's a shame. I really needed one."
"Would you like to sit?" She scooted over just enough for him to sit down.
He took the offer and sat down, laying his gun down on his lap. He wanted to meet her eyes, but for whatever reason, he could only stare at the energetic child that didn't seem to show any signs of slowing down. When he finally turned to look at her, he met her curious eyes. The woman didn't seem to recognize him which means he owed Dr. Suns a few more caps for doing such a bang up job on his face. His nose was thinner than when they traveled together. His hair was sandy blonde and gently curled atop his head. Freckles, much like hers, peppered across the bridge of his nose and his cheeks. His eyes were still bright blue, but no longer hidden behind his favorite sunglasses. The wrinkles around his eyes were no longer present giving him a youthful glow.
"Do you have a name?"
To see how she'd react, he used her old codename, "They call me Whisper."
She gave a breathy chuckle, "You don't say. My name is Nora." Her eyes lowered and the humor her voice held was gone, "How is everyone?"
The agent named Whisper looked down at his hands, "Someone murdered our leader a year ago. We've been searching for the person who did it, but she disappeared."
"I take it you're supposed to kill her?" Nora grabbed her gun and placed it in its bag. She turned her attention to the youthful agent and waited for his answer.
Deacon nodded, "You guessed it, but I couldn't seem to pull the trigger. Not with the kid over there."
"I appreciate that," The I would rather that Shaun was at home and not a few feet away from me when my head blows up. That type of thing tends to leave lasting scars on young children."
Deacon snorted, but the humor was short-lived. "I didn't expect Desdemona's murderer to be so motherly. That's why I couldn't shoot."
"Thank you for the complement. I searched long and hard to find him. I lost a few friends along the way, but whenever I see him smile, everything I did was worth it."
A flash of burning anger filled his chest, "The Railroad is in chaos after what you did!"
Nora turned to look at him and sighed, "It may have been worth it, but that doesn't mean I don't have regrets. How much do you know about Whisper? About me?"
"Not much," He lied. "I'm still fairly new to the whole operation. I joined up about eight months ago, but they filled me in with the basics."
"So they sent a recruit to kill a woman he's never met," Nora turned to him, her eyebrow arched up accusingly.
Deacon deflected her accusation and shrugged, "I may be new, but I knew who you were. I was a deck scribe for the Brotherhood of Steel while you were a Paladin. I'd seen you come and go whenever you boarded the Prydwen. I heard about how you spared Paladin Danse when he turned out to be an Institute synth and I guess you could say I was inspired. I left the Brotherhood and wanted to find the Railroad to help. I picked a good time to have an epiphany because the Prydwen was in flames a month or so later."
She seemed surprised, yet pleased with his answer. She was always gullible to his lies. She believed him when he told her he was a synth, and she laughed when he pretended to shut down when she read his 'recall code'. She was surprised to hear he was the true leader of the Railroad and flustered when that turned out to be a lie. What truly shocked him was the lack of anger after a really good lie. If anything, she loved it.
"You're creative, Deac. Maybe you should write a book."
Nora rummaged through her back and pulled out a bottle of purified water. She twisted the cap off and passed it to him, "You look thirsty. I have some Radaway if you need some. I hear the radiation storms have been awful lately."
He took a sip and the cool, lightly flavored water flowed down his throat filling him with pure serendipity. "What flavor is this? This is delicious!" He took sip after sip until the bottle was drained. Nora giggled, "It's green tea that I diluted with some water. The scientist at the Institute recreated it for Father," She paused to collect herself, "He was the old Director."
They sat in silence; the empty bottle lingering in his hands was their primary focus until Shaun interrupted.
"Hey mom, who's this?" Nora grabbed Shaun and sat him on her lap, "This is David. He's part of the Minutemen that patrol the Commonwealth."
Shaun extended his hand and shook 'David's' hand, "It's nice to meet you! Mom tells me about the Minutemen all the time. I wanna join them when I get older."
"I'm sure Preston would love that," Deacon patted the kid's head, but stopped when he noticed Nora's confused gaze.
Crap.
"You know Preston?" That accusatory tone was back and so were his lies.
"I wandered around for a while after I left the Prydwen and ran into him at the Castle. We chatted for a bit and he tried to recruit me, but I declined."
Nora turned to her son and kissed him on the temple, "Here, take my Pipboy and go play for a few more minutes while mom talks."
She loaded up the old holotape she used to play when she was bored and sent him on his way. Shaun climbed up to the top of the jungle gym and tapped away, cursing when he must have lost.
"Language, Shaun!" She scolded and the boy apologized. Deacon shook his head, this woman had the mouth of a rogue pirate robot, yet here she was scolding the boy for saying 'damn'. Sitting next to her was making him forget she couldn't be trusted. He was slipping back into the old familiar feeling that he had when only she was around him - that carefree feeling that warmed his soul when he basked in her radiance.
Then he remembered the way Desdemona's lifeless eyes stared at nothing and the warmth he felt turn cold.
She chuckled under her breath and turned her attention back to her guest, "I'm sorry for what happened with the Prydwen."
It's easy to say to a stranger, isn't it? Are you sorry?
His lips pressed together in a firm line as he waited for her to continue.
"For a while, I was a sister to the Brotherhood of Steel. I met Paladin Danse after I heard his distress call. The place was overrun with Ferals and my Mr. Handy, Codsworth, and I did our best to clear them out. Danse was such a stern man, militaristic, just like my late husband." She let out an empty laugh, "They would probably be friends," She blinked slowly, probably lost in the memory of Nate. "I ran a mission with Danse and he believed I'd be a perfect match for the Brotherhood."
Nora pulled out a container with bits of melon chopped up, she offered one to Deacon, but he refused. "You sure? They're pure. Absolutely no radiation."
Deacon's curiosity won again and he plopped a piece in his mouth, once again surprised by the fresh taste. Before he had a chance to comment, she continued, "Scribe Haylen was always kind towards me. She was young and much in love with Danse whether she'd admit it or not. Rhys; however, can suck it. He was always a jerk to me."
"How did Danse handle the unrequited love?" Another sweet melon piece found its way into his mouth.
"I don't think he knew how she felt. He told me a story once about how he gave an order for her to put a comrade out of his misery. She knew it was the right thing to do, but by the end of it, she was in Danse's arms with tears in her eyes. When he told me that, I was surprised when all he said was that he held her until she was done. The man wasn't the best with his feelings."
Nora's eyes dropped to the container of melons in her lap, "He was so lost when they found out that he was a synth. Elder Maxson wanted me to kill Danse, but it was Haylen that begged me not to, not that it was ever my intention to kill him. She told me that she didn't care if he was a synth or human, Danse was the damn poster boy for the Brotherhood."
"Language, mom!" Shaun called out from the monkey bars. He swung from his legs with his arms crossed in a mock disapproval that his mother often did when he was in trouble.
"Kiddo, if you crack open your skull, I'm going to let Dr. Watson take care of you."
Shaun flipped back over to his feet and sprinted way. Nora turned her eyes to Whisper and sighed, "Watson is the worst."
Once again, they sat in silence. Deacon wanted to say something. Whenever there was a moment of awkward silence, he was there to break it and make her laugh. He made it his duty to never have awkwardness between him and another person, especially Nora.
But today he couldn't think of anything. He just waited.
"My biggest regret was killing Scribe Haylen. When they caught wind of how I helped the Institute snag a reactor they had their eye on, I was instantly blacklisted. When I returned to the Institute, Z1," She looked over to see if he knew the name, "A synth on the inside. He told me that the Railroad was in trouble. Sure enough, the Brotherhood was on their way to blow the biggest hole in HQ, but luckily I got there in time. Desdemona got everyone in order and we managed to take them down…'cept Glory. She wasn't so lucky."
Deacon finally found the courage to speak, "I heard she was a badass."
"Oh yeah, Deacon and I got the chance to fight with her once."
Deacon froze at his name, but she didn't seem to notice. Then he realized she hadn't even mentioned him. Not even once. Maybe she didn't actually care about him in the way that he…
"I made her a promise. I told her, as she sat there fading away, that I would do whatever I could to free the synths."
Nora passed over the last bits of melon to Deacon, encouraging him to finish them. She sat in the swing, pushing against the concrete so they were gently swaying. Her fingers threaded through her hair and a sweet, clean smell perforated the stagnant air and filled his senses. There were weeks that they'd go without bathing, much to her dismay, and any bar of soap they came across on their travels was quickly pocketed for use later.
"What's wrong Whisper? Not a fan of Mother Nature's hottest line of cologne?"
"No, God, you smell awful. I smell awful. Why does everything smell like a preteen's body odor?"
"I still remember the look in Haylen's eyes when I raised my gun at her. So many different emotions graced her face in such a short amount of time."
Nora paused and took a deep breath, "Relief when she saw me because she knew I was there to help like I did once before. Confusion when I started shooting her brothers and sisters. Fear and Panic when I turned the gun on her. God, she was so young and so kind. She didn't deserve that fate."
Deacon finished the last of the purified fruit before passing the container back to its rightful owner, "They attacked the Railroad first."
Nora looked at him with a pained expression, "Just like the Railroad, they were just following orders. For the most part, they were good people that wanted to make a difference."
"I'm sorry. That was insensitive."
Her soft hand patted his knee, startling him. For a woman that had killed so many people, she had the softest touch. Deacon stared at the hand, not daring to move even though he wanted nothing more than to grab it and hold it in his own. Even after she retreated her hand, the warmth lingered.
"My stomach was in knots when I boarded the Prydwen with Deacon. I tried to hide my nervousness, but I think he knew that I was reluctant to fight my brothers. How they didn't recognize us, I'll never know, but we managed to plant the bombs with little effort on our part. It was supposed to be an easy mission, but then this child comes up to me asking all sorts of curious questions. He was missing a couple baby teeth, had the brightest eyes, and cutest little freckles. Even under his helmet, I could see tuffs of blonde hair."
Nora stopped when Shaun came running to her. He wrapped his little arms around her and squeezed, "You okay, mom? You look like you were crying."
Sure enough, a couple of tears rolled down her cheek. She wiped them away and laughed to cover up the pain, "I took too big of a yawn, dear. I'm almost done talking to Mr. David, and then we'll go home."
Shaun nodded and ran off once again. When he was out of earshot, Nora finally spoke, "I murdered that child for the Railroad. I murdered so many innocent people for revenge and while everyone cheered for our success in taking down the Prydwen I wanted nothing more than to shoot myself and end it all."
Deacon whipped his head up in shock. After that mission, she was quiet, but didn't comment much on what happened. If she was hurting, he couldn't tell. Perhaps his cause for celebration clouded the despair she felt.
"How did your friend handle the news?"
"He didn't," Nora leaned forward, hiding her face in her hands, "When I returned to our base, he was waiting for me outside my room. No power armor – just him. From our settlement, you could see the smoke rising in the sky so I know he saw everything. He said to me, 'Tell me you didn't cause that' and all I said was that I was sorry. He punched my wall with so much force that he broke the boards. I tried to calm him down, but he shoved me away, told me he hated me, and left. I watched him climb into his power armor and walk away. He didn't even look back."
A sickly crack of thunder sounded in the distance, telling Nora it was time to go. The sky in the distance was accumulating thick, nasty green clouds meaning another radiation storm was brewing. She ruffled through her bag and pulled out another bag of Radaway and passed it over to her listener.
"I know you have a mission, but I have to get Shaun home. Shaun!"
Shaun hopped down from his spot on the jungle gym and trotted over to his mother, "Is it going to storm?"
"Yeah, it's time to head home."
She turned her attention back to Deacon and smiled, "I come here often if you'd like to talk more, Mr. David."
"Bye, Mr. David." Shaun lifted his hand to high-five the stranger and Deacon returned the gesture.
With her son on her hip, Nora waved good-bye and disappeared in a bolt of lightning.
All he had to do was pull the trigger.
