Vaulted - A Fallout 4 Fan Fiction by Foxfire79 (Nora/Eventually Paladin Danse)
Disclaimer: Well obviously, if I don't work for Bioware, do you honestly think I'm going to work for Bethesda? Nobody wants to hire a hack writer like me. Any-who, all bitterness aside, I don't own anything related to the Fallout franchise except for the one or possibly two Sole Survivors I've created so far. I stuck with the default name Nora because, well, I like it. And as you can see from the pairing, she will eventually end up with Paladin Danse because hey! The guy gets around in an awesome looking armour! Why not? So as I progress the game, so shall the story progress, because I can't very well write about things I don't know. Unless...
Get started!
Every Day Is Friday - Part 01
Nora watched her dearly beloved wipe the steam from the bathroom mirror for the third time and smothered a grin. The silvered glass fogged up again almost immediately, and he let out a grunt of annoyance, running his fingers through his still damp hair. She stepped forward, wrapping one arm around his waist while reaching for the plastic bottle of liquid soap sitting on the edge of the sink.
"Wipe some of this on the glass and it won't steam over, My Love." Phil looked at the pump bottle in her hand, slightly bemused, then squeezed some of the softly scented liquid onto his hand, smearing it over the mirror. The glass stayed clear, though ever so slightly smudged.
"You're just making more work for poor Codsworth, you know?" Nora nudged his shoulder with forehead, playfully, then met his reflected gaze in the mirror.
"Codsworth doesn't mind, he likes to be busy. You've probably just made his day. In other words, you're welcome." Phil looked slightly down to meet her gaze, and smiled, then went back to smoothing his hair into place. He ran a hand over the rather dark stubble on his cheeks and frowned.
"What do you think, Honey? Beard or no beard?" Nora gazed at his reflection critically.
"Well, the people coming to the Vet Hall tonight are expecting to see a man shaped by war, someone that's experienced everything a battlefield has to offer. Now, your fancy-schmancy dapper haircut says 'Look at me, I've been domesticated', but that sexy as hell rough stubble of yours says 'I'm still a guy who knows what's what, and I could stab you to death with a rifle bayonet if it was called for'. But it's entirely up to you, of course." Phil looked at his reflection once more, smirking.
"Sexy, huh? Looks like I'm keeping the beard." He looked down at Nora and kissed the top of her head. "Do you really want the audience at the Vet Hall tonight thinking I'm some sort of dashing soldier of fortune? I don't want to glamorize the danger of joining up." Nora pushed him to the side slightly so she could fix her own hair in front of the now clear mirror. The almost-black waves barely brushed her shoulders, but at least at this length it remained neat most of the time. She still retained the pale complexion inherited from her English mother, and her pale skin and dark hair made her bright green eyes seem larger than they actually were. She gave her upper lip a small pinch to make it look a little fuller, and rubbed her cheeks to add a bit of natural colour. She threw a wink at her reflection before Phil chuckled at her and nudged her back out of the way with his hip. "Get out of here, you ridiculously perfect creature. Leave me to my petty insecurities." Nora spun on her foot and started out of the bathroom, then lingered in the doorway a moment.
"Don't worry about being too convincing during your presentation tonight, Love. There will always be people who'll sign up because they believe it's their civic duty, and others who'll do it to honor old family traditions. At least they're not conscripting yet. Just tell them about your experiences and answer their questions truthfully... Or at least as truthfully as you can without breaking any international treaties." Phil ducked his head, his reflection grinning at her as he ran his hands over the stubble on his chin and cheeks once more.
"Duly noted, Hon. Don't break any international treaties. This is why you're known as the smart half of this double act. Don't worry, I won't embarrass you, or your 'friends in high places'. Now go on and get some breakfast, I'll be out in a moment." Nora stifled a giggle, and looked through the open door of their infant son Shaun's room. She could hear him in his crib making content, happy baby noises. She decided not to intrude in his morning relaxing time, and edged her way to the kitchen where she could smell the full breakfast that their recently purchased Mr Handy robotic butler had cooked up for them. And there was the automaton itself, flitting happily about the kitchen readying the coffee pot.
"Morning Codsworth." Nora slid into one of the chairs and pulled herself in closer to the micah topped kitchen table. "What's on the menu today?" Codsworth's 'head' turned to look at her while the rest of his body remained stationary, floating in front of the stove stirring what appeared to be perfect scrambled eggs.
"Good morning, Ma'am. This morning I've decided on scrambled eggs, crispy bacon and pancakes. They are Sir's favorites and I wished to put him at ease before his speech this evening. I hope you don't mind, Ma'am?" Nora shook her head, and reached for her favourite coffee mug, smiling a little when she noticed the fresh daisies in her willow pattern vase in the center of the table.
"I don't mind at all, Codsworth. You're doing a fantastic job as always. And thank you for the flowers." Codsworth drifted closer to the table and filled her mug with coffee, while his other 'hand' flipped over the pancakes in the frying pan like a professional.
"Just doing my work to the best of my abilities, Ma'am. I do live to serve, after all..." Just then, Shaun's happy cooing changed to a louder, more insistent sound. Codsworth turned off the stove top, and placed two perfectly plated breakfast servings on the table where she and Phil usually sat. "And speaking of service, I believe young Master Shaun needs a nappy change. You enjoy your breakfast while it's hot, Ma'am. I'll be right back."
Nora watched the robot float down the hall towards Shaun's room, then shrugged and began eating. In the beginning she'd been a little suspicious of letting Codsworth interact with her tiny baby son, but when Shaun had laughed and reached up to grab one of the robot's handy arms, she'd settled into the idea a little better. And damn could that robot cook! She'd almost cleared her plate before Phil emerged from the corridor, freshly changed into a flannel shirt over a white singlet and jeans. He'd decided to keep the stubble after all, and it scraped against her cheek as he leaned down to give her a kiss.
"Breakfast looks good. Did Codsworth make it? Nora nodded, her mouth still stuffed full of pancakes. Phil smiled and looked down the corridor where they could hear the sound of their British accented robot playing peek-a-boo with Shaun in his room. "I'd say that was a ridiculously large amount of money well spent, wouldn't you Hon?" Nora nodded, swallowing then taking a large swig of coffee to wash everything down.
"Definitely. I don't know how we got by without him. Good old Codsworth." Nora stood, about to head down the hallway to collect Shaun, when there was a sudden knock at the door. She threw an annoyed look at the clock on the wall, then looked over at Phil, who shrugged, looking puzzled. "Who on earth comes calling at this time on a Saturday?" She moved toward the door and peeked through the peephole, immediately sliding to the floor and placing a finger over her lips. She mouthed the word 'salesman' to Phil, who almost choked on a mouthful of eggs. Sitting with her back against the door, Nora wished the man away, but to no avail. He knocked again, possibly louder this time.
"Hello? Is someone there?" Nora's eyes widened as she silently pleaded with Phil to change places with her and answer the door. He shook his head, and took a huge bite of bacon, chewing it as slowly as he could. She sighed, still refusing to stand up and answer the door. The salesman knocked again, this time a little lighter. "Uh, excuse me? I can see you both through the window, so one of you might as well just open the door and talk to me. It won't take long, scout's honour!" Nora climbed slowly to her feet, and opened the door, a resigned look settling across her features.
"Can I help you?" The man's smile looked practiced, which made Nora immediately wary as he stepped forward and grasped her right hand in a firm handshake.
"Good morning Ma'am! I've been trying to meet up with you for a while now, but your husband and your," he cleared his throat before continuing, "Ahem, butler, have been brushing me off all week." Nora could feel her cheeks growing pink. She glanced over at Phil who gave her a shrug which clearly said 'I tried', then looked back at the clipboard wielding salesman at the door.
"Well, I am a very busy woman. My family keeps me on my toes." The salesman nodded, his smile slipping into a forced look of understanding that in no way made her feel any better. She decided to get this ball rolling a little faster if she could. "Sooo... What's this all about today? Are you selling us something, or is one of our payments late? Some of my accounts are still under my maiden name, that's usually the issue..." The salesman pushed his hat back a little further on his head, and Nora could see the beads of sweat forming on his skin. A hat and coat in this weather? Seriously? Even if it was his company's protocol to wear the uniform door to door, there had to be some kind of 'weather permitting' clause.
"Oh no, Ma'am, nothing of the sort. I'm from Vault-Tec." He said it like she should recognize the name, but nothing sprang to mind. Nora threw the man a quizzical look.
"Vault-Tec? Remind me...?" The salesman actually had the gall to look shocked at her answer.
"With the impending threat of nuclear war upon us, we at Vault-Tec have built custom made bunkers, Vaults if you will, strong enough to withstand the largest load atomic weapons created today. These Vaults are situated underground all over the United States, and indeed the entire world, should the worst case scenario come to pass. The Vaults are fully stocked with food, water, living facilities, why they're practically a home-away-from-home!" Nora gazed at him, completely nonplussed.
"A home-away-from-home?"
"Yes!"
"With all the comforts we've grown used to?"
"Yes!"
"But completely under the ground, with no sunlight, fresh air, or ability to contact people on the surface?"
"Errr... Yes? But you would be safe from the bombs! And any other atomic anomalies that could arise!" The Vault-Tec rep seemed to be running out of things to say that he assumed a 'housewife' would understand, so Nora sighed and reached for the clipboard.
"Sounds good. Anything to keep my family safe from the atomic anomalies. How much do you need?" The rep shook his head, his condescending smile once more plastered across his face.
"Oh, we don't need any money, Ma'am. Thanks to your husband's military service you've already been guaranteed a position in the local Vault, Vault 111. And of course your whole family is welcome, just not your robot, obviously." Nora could feel her jaw clenching as her grip on the clipboard tightened. Of course they would only mention Phil's military service, her work had been more covert and entirely off the books. She felt a presence behind her, and immediately calmed down as Phil reached in front of her and grabbed the clipboard deftly from her hands. Luckily, it was a digital form, so all they had to do was tick boxes and verify their names with the provided digi-pen.
"Vault 111, sounds classy. There's no-one I'd rather spend months underground with than you and Shaun, Hon." He finished entering his information, then passed the board back to her. "I'm sure you're a busy man, friend. Best get along to your next house quickly, before you realize the disservice you've paid to my wife." The Vault-Tec rep paled a little at the ambiguous threat and backed out of the doorway slightly. Nora frowned as she re-entered her name on the form for the third time, and it once again told her she didn't exist.
"This form isn't accepting my name, is there a problem?" The rep took the board and pen back from her and reset the form.
"These things can be troublesome sometimes. Oh, for the days of a good piece of paper and a pen! Alright then, here we go... Name?"
"Nora Shepard."
The rep frowned at the board, and looked up.
"Let's try your maiden name, sometimes the information on these databases can be a few years out of date... Ok, ready." Nora sighed, rubbing her forehead.
"Nora Garland."
The Vault-Tec rep entered her name, then choked a little when something popped up on the screen in front of him. He looked up at her, back down at the screen, then back at her, his mouth opening and closing like a caught fish. Nora raised a concerned eyebrow, leaning forward a little to try and see what the pop-up said. He hastily hid the board behind his back, his fake smile re-appearing but considerably more shaky than it had been before.
"I... Ummm... Forgive me, Ms Garland, I didn't realize you were a VIP as well. I'd like to thank you profusely for your work and once again thank you for choosing Vault-Tec as your 'go to' for war time safety!" He began edging backwards down the path, like he couldn't get away fast enough, but Nora followed him out.
"Hey, that's 'Nora Shepard' now! Has been for almost three years! 'Mrs Nora Shepard!' Update your database!"
The rep almost ran down the street back to his van, and Nora closed the front door behind him, shaking her head. Well, now they were proud owners of some Vault space, apparently. Hopefully they'd never have to use it. Phil had moved to the couch to watch the Saturday morning news and he reached up to grab her hand as she passed by, kissing the back of it before releasing her.
"Hey, it's peace of mind, right. Let's hope we never have to go down there." Nora nodded, walking over to the kitchen counter to finish her coffee when Codsworth came drifting down the hallway towards her.
"Sorry to interrupt, Ms Nora, but Master Shaun just won't settle down after his change. I believe he needs some of that 'mothering' that you do so well." Nora threw back the last of her coffee and patted the robot on the head as she walked past.
"No problem, Codsworth, Old Chum. I'll get right on it." Codsworth returned to the kitchen to clean up the breakfast dishes, humming a tune to himself as he did so. She entered Shaun's room and caught him trying to swing one leg over the top of his crib to climb out. She deftly untangled him from the bars and cradled him in her arms, and he immediately started giggling, knowing he'd been caught.
"Hey now! Who taught you to do that?" Shaun blinked up at her, and tried to grab her hair, but its short length saved her. "Yeah buddy, that's why I got this haircut, because you kept pulling on it. Who's got a smart mummy? You do!" She heard a chuckle from the doorway, and saw that Phil had followed her up to Shaun's room. He leaned casually against the door-frame with his arms folded, staring at them with unabashed pride and love.
"There's my family. I was wondering where everyone had got to." He walked over and wrapped his arms around both of them, placing a kiss on Shaun's forehead before taking him from Nora's arms and placing him back in his crib. He gave the space shuttle mobile above the bed a push and it started to spin, making Shaun giggle again. "He is the best thing to ever happen to me. Well, second best after you of course, Hon." The faint music of the mobile still filled the room as Phil turned around and gently pulled Nora to his chest, gently swaying to the rhythm of the chiming toy. Nora chuckled, burying her face into his shoulder and wrapping her arms around him.
"So I'm still number one, but only slightly? I can accept that, I mean, Shaun is very cute. He pretty much runs this house, we barely get any time to ourselves any more..." When she mentioned this, Phil pulled her a little closer, and she realised he was in the mood for something a little more than dancing. "Oh my, I thought you wanted to go out to the park today..." Her words died away as his lips found the shell of her ear, and her eyes fluttered closed. "We can't do this in front of Shaun..." This seemed to break his mood for a second, as he pulled away and seemed to nod in agreement. Then he picked her up, threw her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, and almost ran out of Shaun's room and into theirs, with Nora laughing uncontrollably. He all but threw her on their bed, making the mattress bounce up from the bed-frame before it settled once more, slightly askew. He smirked down at her, and winked.
"Is this better, M'lady?" Nora sat up, winked back, and started unbuttoning her blouse. Phil took the hint, whipping his flannel shirt off and almost ripping his singlet in half in his ardour. He looked down at the woman who had completely captured his heart and shook his head, grinning. "Four years ago, I wouldn't have thought this kind of life was even possible for me, for us. We were both out in the field, you were doing recon and I was head of your security team... Now look at us. Mr and Mrs Normal. We even have a kid..." He stretched out on top of her, his left hand slipping beneath her bra to cup her breast as he paused to kiss her. Nora sighed into his mouth, drawing her knees up a little higher to hug his body more closer to hers. She couldn't help it, the guy was great at everything he put his mind to, and right now that was bringing her pleasure.
"We could have another kid, if you wanted to..." She managed to get the words out around kissing him, and they seemed to spur him on even harder. He slipped his free hand down her pants, his clever fingers finding her centre almost immediately. She gasped as his lips brushed her throat, and his fingers tweaked her nipple, still covered by the thin satin fabric of her bra. It was too much all at once, but it felt so good... He chuckled as his lips moved lower on her neck, his stubble scratching her but also adding to the entire experience.
"I thought that's what we were doing right now..." He gently pulled the fabric away from her flesh, and the cool morning breeze immediately made her skin pebble as he moved lower to lave her now rigid peak with his tongue. "I mean, that's what this usually leads to, the making of a kid... What are the best positions to get a baby girl?" Nora couldn't help the small urgent movements she'd begun making beneath him. They were both wearing too many clothes still. Had he just asked her a question? She thought quickly about an answer that would hopefully get them naked faster, and smiled once she'd come up with an answer.
"All of them. So we'd best get started..." Phil chuckled into her neck and began pulling her pants down. Nora raised her hips to assist him, then stopped, pushing his hands away, as she heard the theme music for the news come back on loudly on the television. "Wait, Phil, stop, something's wrong..." He moved off of her immediately, reaching for her blouse and his shirts where they'd been thrown on the floor earlier. They righted their clothing and rushed into the hallway, almost running into Codsworth who seemed to be hurrying down there to find them.
"Sir! Ma'am! You need to see this!" Phil veered into Shaun's room, grabbing him up from the crib as they hurried into the living room, where Codsworth had turned the television's volume even louder. The newsreader was looking at the paper before him in shock, before reading out the words in a stilted voice. Nuclear attack? Bombs going off in every major city? Multiple deaths? Phil looked at her, shocked, then ran back to Shaun's room, grabbing his travel bag. They could hear what they could only assume was the Nuclear raid siren going off outside. Codsworth opened the door for her, then stepped back respectfully. "The Vault-Tec representative said no robots, Ma'am. I will be perfectly happy waiting here for you, until you return. Hopefully it won't be too long a wait, I do so enjoy chatting with you and your family. I'm very fortunate that you chose my model from the store..." Nora could feel her eyes tearing up, and she just couldn't help herself. She threw her arms around the robotic butler, placing a kiss on his titanium encased head. His arms flailed wildly for a moment, then the robot seemed to calm down. "I'm not programmed for human/robot relations, Ma'am. What would Master Phil think?!" Nora chuckled wiping her eyes, then gave Codsworth a friendly pat on the head.
"Oh Codsworth, I'm going to miss you. We'll see you once we get out. For all we know, this is just a drill." Codsworth crossed the fingers on his multi-digited hand, and backed away from her embrace.
"Finger's crossed, Ma'am. I'll prepare dinner, just in case." Nora might have imagined it, but it seemed the robo-butler's voice sounded a little teary. But that was meant to be impossible, right? Robots with human emotions? Phil reappeared cradling Shaun in the wearable baby carrier while carrying his travel bag full of nappies, baby wipes, food and formula. He grabbed her arm and almost ran out the door, calling out a swift goodbye to Codsworth as they hurried up the street towards Vault 111. Codsworth closed the door behind them, and began cleaning up the mess from breakfast. It just wouldn't do for his family to return to a dirty kitchen. He hummed one of the songs he'd heard on the radio that morning as he worked.
"So this day isn't turning out quite as we'd planned, huh?" Nora looked over to her right, at the man and child who were her entire world now, and couldn't help smiling. If this day had turned out the way they'd planned, they'd be making love in their comfortable bed right now, hopefully creating a baby sister for Shaun, then heading out for a leisurely stroll in the park, followed by a picnic, then Phil's speech at the Veteran's Hall. Now, it appeared they were running for their lives. They'd passed a few of their neighbours, also heading toward the Vault, dragging suitcases and heavy bags with them. Their family seemed to be only one travelling this lightly. The siren in the background was getting louder as they approached the mesa where Vault 111 was situated. There was a large group of people standing at the gates leading into the field, yelling at the group of soldiers that were only letting a chosen few people trickle through, it seemed. This was fine, both she and Phil knew how to deal with the military, both being ex-military themselves. Phil strode forward, heading toward the soldier holding the holo-clipboard. "Shepard, family of three. Or possibly Shepard, family of two and Garland." Phil threw her a wink and she looked away, sighing. The unsmiling soldier looked down at the board, and checked two boxes.
"Go ahead. And hurry, the Vault gets locked down in less than a minute." The soldier did a quick double take while looking at her, and Nora gave him a hard look. He glanced away nervously, then caught her her arm as she began to walk through the gate. "You're really her, aren't you. Nora Garland. It's an honor, Ma'am!" He snapped her a quick salute before releasing her. Nora looked down at her arm, bemused, before Phil grabbed her and made their way toward the large platform which would, they assumed, lower them down into the Vault. They could see Boston City off in the distance, the sun glinting off the high-rise glass buildings as it rose higher in the sky. Phil wrapped an arm around her as they looked off into the distance, then nuzzled the top of her head with his chin.
"You know I love you, right? You and Shaun, you're the most important people in my life. If you hadn't said yes when I'd asked you out all those years ago... I probably wouldn't be here today." Nora snuggled into his side, watching the city shine.
"Don't talk like that, My Love. This isn't a goodbye. We're all together, and we're all going to be fine..." As she uttered the words, the city seemed to explode in flames. They didn't even see the bombs drop, but they could see the familiar form of a mushroom cloud blooming from the now ruined golden city. "Oh god..." The trees and houses on the outskirts of the city started to bend, forced by the pressure of the nuclear wind. The trees around them were starting to whip around as well. Near the gates they could hear agitated shouts as the people not on the Vault 111 list started to grow desperate.
"I work for goddamn Vault-Tec, I should have free reign down there! This isn't right!" The Vault-Tec rep who'd been at their home less than an hour earlier tried to make a break for the group, but one of the unsmiling guards pulled out his sidearm and shot him, dropping him to the ground. Just as the group began to react, the ground beneath them started to drop, and they were soon beneath the ground, sealed in by metres of thick steel. Shaun had been surprisingly quiet during the entire drama, and now reached out to grab her hand, looking at her wide-eyed. He wasn't fond of the dark, and the Vault was quite dark. Nora hoped he wouldn't start screaming now. Before they could do anything though, more military types appeared as what appeared to be emergency lighting turned itself on.
"People, if you would please listen to me, file into the next room and outfit yourselves with your new Vault attire. The jumpsuits have medical capabilities and will keep away small amounts of radiation that may filter down into the Vault from the outside. Your names will be checked, and then you will head into the next room for decontamination. Have I made myself clear?" The small group nodded numbly, and began to move into the next room, where they were handed their new 'suits' of clothing, bright blue one piece bodysuits with a bright yellow '111' printed on the back. At least they had dividers set up so they had a little privacy to get changed. Nora and Phil shrugged and headed into the same cubicle, bringing Shaun with them. They stripped off their clothes (for the second time that day) and pulled on the bodysuits, zipping them up snugly to their necks. Both having been through decontamination procedures before, they knew that every little bit of body covering helped. They left Shaun in his onesie as there didn't seem to be any bodysuits fit for a one year old, and moved into the next room to have their identities checked, again. A bespectacled woman already wearing one of the gaudy bodysuits looked down at her holo-clipboard then up at them, expectantly. Phil shrugged and stepped forward.
"Shepard, family of three..." He left off there, to see if the changes to Nora's name had been made. The woman frowned a little and looked up again, squinting.
"I have a Shepard family of two..." Nora sighed, and stepped up.
"It's Shepard family of three, but technically Shepard family of two plus Garland. Because someone didn't update their database information regularly." She felt a little bad after adding that last jibe, as they had just seen the very man get shot as he was making a run for it, but the deed was done now. The woman looked down again, and her eyes widened as she saw whatever the pop-up was that everyone was receiving regarding 'Nora Garland'. Nora craned her head forward, but the woman hugged the board to her chest, almost shaking.
"Uh, alright, just head on through please. And thank you for your work, Ms Garland!" Nora grimaced, glancing at Phil, and he took her hand as they headed into the next room.
"Did they declassify my file? Can they do that without my permission?" Phil's brow furrowed in concern at this thought.
"I don't think they can do that for years, Hon, not until we've been out of the service for a lot longer. And yours would be an entirely different story, seeing as your 'friends' may have been mentioned in them. And I assume 'they' wouldn't want their names' bandied about all willy-nilly. Maybe it's just a system glitch?" Nora squeezed his hand back, and looked up as they walked into the decontamination room, then frowned a little. Something seemed... off about this room. Where were the showers, the 'clean' rooms? She could tell Phil was looking for the same features as he scanned the room beside her, still cradling their son in his arms. One of the technicians came towards them, dressed in a white lab coat over normal clothes. Ah, no bodysuits for the scientists then. Double standards. The man stopped directly in front of her, and motioned her forward.
"Ms Garland, if you'll follow me...?" Nora openly glared at the man, and refused to budge.
"It's Mrs Shepard, and no, I don't think so. This doesn't look like any decontamination chamber I've ever been in. Something is going... on here." Before she could raise her voice, the 'scientist' lifted his lab coat and flashed her a look at the Beretta in the holster at his hip, before smirking at her and once more gesturing further into the room. She glanced at Phil, who hadn't noticed the previous display and moved a few steps further into the room. "What are you playing at? What..." Then she got a closer look at the decontamination 'chamber' and froze.
"These are our new state of the art decon chambers, Mrs Shepard. You'll be our first participant, of course. Everyone will follow once they see a perfect example of a young wife and mother stepping forward to get ready for her new future. All you have to do is step inside, and take a seat." Nora licked her lips nervously as she eyed the one-person chamber before her. This wasn't a decon chamber at all. It was a cryogenic chamber.
"Oh god, you're going to freeze us all..." Nora was still whispering, well aware of the gun beneath the man's coat. She wasn't going to cause it scene if it meant her or her family's death. "The Vault-tec rep, everything he told us was lie. 'A home away from home', and all the comforts we're used to... You son's of bitches..." The scientist reached into his pocket and half pulled out a large syringe. She couldn't tell what it was filled with, but the threat was certainly there: Either get in, we'll make you get in. "Let me say goodbye to my son and husband first, please." The man in the lab coat nodded, stepping aside. She reached out, wrapping her arms around Phil and Shaun, praying that she wasn't going to leak out the angry tears she was trying desperately to keep at bay. "See you on the other side, my sweet boys. I love you both." Phil looked slightly confused, but was still happy to receive a passionate kiss before she stepped away to kiss Shaun on both of his cheeks.
"We're just going to be right across from you, Hon. We'll see you in a few minutes. They told me I'd be fine just holding Shaun, there's no need to worry. Love you too. Wave to mum, buddy!" Shaun raised his arm, and opened and closed his hand a couple of times, in his version of a wave. Nora backed away from them, and sat in the chamber, clinging with angry fists to the bars within. The man leaned in, doing up her belts to make sure she remained as comfortable as possible, and moved to close the door. She stopped him with a single look. He almost faltered with the door lock, then looked down at her, his gaze softening a little, finally.
"How long are we going under for?" The man looked away, then licked his lips nervously before looking back at her.
"It will only feel like a few minutes, Ms Garland. Do you really need to know?" She looked away, the tears finally escaping her eyes as she looked at Phil and Shaun entering the chamber across from hers, also getting strapped in. She saw her friends and neighbours following suit, all the way down the aisle. Oh lord, this was all on her now. They were only getting in because she had. And now there was no time to get back out. The lab technician closed the door, turning the round wheel to lock it, and looked through the small viewing window at her. He hesitated, then flashed ten fingers at her, twice, through the glass, before moving along to lock the next door. Two lots of ten... Twenty. Twenty years? They were going under for twenty years! The photographs of prototypes and information she'd retrieved on her missions had shown the basic models of these cryo chambers, but none of them had been created to hold someone in suspended animation for twenty years! She could already start to feel the cold seeping into her skin through the bodysuit, and knew that it wouldn't be going away any time soon. Hopefully she'd be asleep soon anyway. Then they'd all be woken up, and be able to continue their lives from where they'd left off. Only twenty years later, after all the fallout had dispersed. She felt her eyelids growing heavy, and gave one last glance through the now heavily iced over window towards Phil's chamber. His eyes were already closed. Then the window froze over completely. Her eyes fell closed, and her last clear thought was a faint questioning of if she would dream over the next twenty years. She'd soon find out...
END OF PART 01
Yep, so I've been playing a lot of Fallout 4, but I haven't really come across any stories following the game story line, so here ya go! Of course, I went the sassy route for Nora, and I've given her a kick-ass back story where she's a secret agent. I mean, a graduate from law school is all well and good, but that doesn't really explain all the weapons training and fighting techniques, so secret agent it is! Hope you guys enjoy this! As always read, review and enjoy!
Foxfire out!