AN. Hi there, thanks for checking out my fanfiction. Before I dive into this I'd like to make a few notes on what to expect in this story. This is rated M, due to some violence, cursing, drug use, sexual content and some events that may be triggering to some people. I will make sure before each chapter to give a warning of anything in it. I'm going to try and keep most of the dialogue actual dialogue in the game. Sometimes it will not be the same, but I really wanted to keep this as close to the game as possible. Also, I want to make a note now; I am including music that may not be 'lore specific' notably Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. I felt the song fit the tone I was looking for, and I feel that the song, its tone, and the message is timeless. If this is a big deal for you I apologize but I will get my ways to make you think of Shrek in as much as I can. I will be trying to post weekly on Tuesday. I'm in University, so if I am unable to write I will leave a note at the top of the chapter. I currently have about 20 chapters already written so we should be good for a while. Any feedback is greatly appreciated! Anyways thank you for checking out my story, and enjoy.


MacCready was on his 3rd drink, it was 11 o'clock in the morning, and maybe for others that would be pretty deep in for that time, but for him, it was behind. He sighed leaning back in the chair, noticing the empty feeling in his jacket that as supposed to be full of caps. He was lucky he had an in with Hancock and Charlie was willing to let him start a tab. It was a big tab now, but that was fine.

He put his drink down when he heard the sound of footsteps. Customers. That was his hope. He'd been back for a week, his last job had been escorting some trader across the commonwealth, but the pay had been terrible. He'd decided this week to up his price to 250. So far all the traders had scoffed and walked out. He was getting ready to lower it when he heard the footsteps

Oh.

Standing before him was Winlock and Barnes. Old friends when he had been in the gun runners. Now new enemies. He sighed setting his drink down

"Can't say I'm surprised to find you in a dump like this, MacCready," Winlock said, his tone was flat like he was talking to a stranger.

"I was wondering how long it would take your bloodhounds to track me down, Winlock." he sneered at him, "It's been almost 3 months, don't tell me you're getting rusty." he teased, a laugh in the back of his throat. If there was one way to piss off Winlock though, it was to laugh at him. Didn't like feeling like he was the joke.

"Should we take this outside?" MacCready said but he didn't get up. He just leaned back in his chair looking at the two of them. Big men. Gunners had to be big. Had to be strong. Winlock was scrawny of the two and looked more disheveled. His red hair was shaved at the sides and slicked back, and his face was mean. He'd never gotten along with Winlock.
"It ain't like that, I'm just here to deliver a message," Winlock said, the threat clear in his voice. MacCready felt a strange sense of deja-vu. How often had he been the one to 'delivar' a message?

MacCready pulled himself up now, out of the chair, "In case you forgot I left the gunners for good." He knew how this scene played out. He knew better than to make himself seem defenseless or weak. Standing he was as tall as Winlock. Maybe not as strong, but he could look the man eye to eye.

Winlock didn't move, "Yeah I heard," MacCready took a step forward, glaring at Winlock, "But you're still taking jobs in the commonwealth. That isn't gonna work for us." The end was a low growl, the threat basically jumping out at him. That pissed MacCready off

"I don't take orders from you, not anymore, so why don't you take your girlfriend and walk out of here well you still can." he moved his arm to the door, glancing at it. That was when he noticed what appeared to be a figure, or two, in the hallway. He didn't think of it looking back at Winlock.

"What?! Winlock, tell me we don't have to listen to this shit." Barnes sounded annoyed. MacCready would've called him a friend once. Someone, he could joke too about his problems. Not anymore. The man looking at him didn't look like a friend anymore. His bearded face was in a scowl.

"Listen up MacCready," now Winlock was mad, his serious voice had come out, "The only reason we haven't filled your body full of bullets is we don't want a war with Goodneighbor. See we respect other peoples boundaries," he let out a scoff at that under his breath, "we know how to play the game. It's something you never learned."
MacCready clapped his hands together and grinned at Winlock "Glad to have disappointed you." he said, feeling like a child being scolded by a parent. Not that I know what that's like. Winlock chuckled.

"You can play the tough guy all you want, but if we hear you're still operating in gunner territory, all bets are off. You got that?" he said it like MacCready was stupid, and he felt the heat and anger start to boil up in his chest.

"Ya finished?" he spit it out, he'd tried to hide his anger but it didn't work out so well.

"Yeah. We're finished." Winlock started making his way out of the room, a low chuckle in his voice "Come on Barnes." Barnes looked at MacCready for a second, the anger in his eyes palatable before turning and walking out with Winlock. Anything you can walk away from.

He closed his eyes and started sitting back in his chairs when another set of footsteps approached him. He could tell, just from how they landed, and from the figure he had seen in the door, it was a woman.

"Look, lady, If you're preaching about the atom, or looking for a friend, you've got the wrong guy, if you need a hired gun, then maybe we can talk." he opened his eyes then, looking up.

It wasn't a woman. Couldn't be.

Her skin was pale, too pale, and she had long auburn hair tied in a long ponytail down her back. Her hair was full, not limp like everyone else. Her eyes were large deep green pools, with no hints of yellow looking at him, her nose pointed up and straight like it had never been broken before. Her lips were large, and he could see that the top lip was smaller than the bottom, making her face look almost like it wasn't real. It was like she had never been touched by the wastes. He'd never seen anyone like that since…

Then he noticed the suit. A dweller. That explained it. Explained why her body was fuller in places than most other women out there weren't. He leaned back in his chair looking at her. That was when the dog ran out from behind her, running up and sniffing him. He put his hand out and stroked the dogs head. He liked dogs. They had one when he was a kid, named Pete. He noticed now behind her was a woman who clearly was from the wastes. She wore a red cap and had dark brown hair that was lanky. She had wide lips, but she was still pleasant to look at. He moved his eyes from the woman behind the dweller, who was whispering something in her ear, back to the dweller who seemed to listen before opening her mouth.

"Maybe. Why don't you tell me who those guys were first." Her voice was smooth as she asked, curiosity in her voice. He smiled to himself before leaning forward in his chair.

"A couple of morons, looking to climb the ladder of success by stepping on everyone else on the way up," he realized he was divulging too much about himself and his past, reigning it in quick, "Shouldn't be a surprise though, that's how it goes when you run with the gunners."

She looked at him confused, "Never heard of the Gunners. Who are they?" her question was straight and hard. MacCready had to stop himself for a second to process what she was asking. Didn't she know who the gunners were? Oh yeah, vault.

"They're one of the biggest gangs in the commonwealth. Got a rep for being crazy you know...so tightly wound, you'd think they were a cult or something." He'd given too much of himself away and sighed leaning back in his chair and looking up at the curious eyes "Stuck with them for a while cause the money was good, but I never fit in. That's why I made a clean break and started flying solo." Might as well tell a bit about himself. He could see as she looked down at him that she was a serious customer. The caps were still a question but she looked genuinely interested which was something he hadn't seen in a week.

"Now what about you? How do I know I won't end up with a bullet in my back?" The woman looked at him with what appeared to be alarm. Like she had never heard that question before. Probably hadn't, seeing as she came from a vault. She seemed to process the question though, and a smile spread across her face. Her teeth were perfect. Jesus.

"You don't. That's what part of the risk right?" The way she said it. Sent a weird feeling down his spine. This woman said it like she was asking a question. She was new to this world, he had to give her that, she probably didn't know what the 'risk' was. He smiled to himself.

"Can't argue with that," he stood up from his chair, "I'll tell you what. Price is 250 caps up front. And there's no room for bargaining," He was a bit taller than her, not much but enough that now he was the one looking down at her, "What do you say?"

The woman had smile cross her lips and she folded her arms "Everything's negotiable. Would you take 200?"

Normally he would've told her to scram, but the fact she had the balls to even say that peaked his interest. Not to mention this was the only interested customer he had in a week, and after what had happened with Winlock and Barnes, he felt like being on the road was a safe place to be.

"You drive a hard bargain, but you just bought yourself an extra gun." he stuck his hand out at her. She placed her hand in his. It was soft. Too soft. Like she had never felt a weapon before. No calluses, just smooth skin. She reached her other hand in a pocket in her suit and pulled out 4 small bags, each with caps.

"There's 50 in each bag," she said and he took the bags placed them in his own pocket.

"All right boss. Let's get out of here." he smiled at her, and the dog padded back to the woman, who patted him on the head. He heard her praise the dog for his good behavior, and the word dogmeat. Weird. The second person he had met who named their dog that.

The woman turned walking her way out into the bar. He followed behind her, noticing that she was wearing a long trench coat. The sleeves were rolled up, and her pipboy free of the world to see. The dweller made her way to the table where the other woman was sitting, drinking a Nuka-cola

"You all set up?" the woman asked the dweller, an accent on her voice that MacCready recognized as one from the Commonwealth.

The dweller nodded "Yeah, Hopefully, Nick was right about this guy," he was right behind her, "you sure I can't take you back to Diamond city?"

The woman shook her head, standing up, "There's a caravan I've traveled with before heading back in a few hours. I'm going to take a look around this place, see if theirs any good stories. Probably not, but good to look around for," the woman stretched looking at MacCready "Take care of this girl." she said looking at him with skepticism.

"That's what she paid me for." he chuckled, the woman shook her head.

"Good luck Anne." She said turning and waving her hand, making her way out of the third rail.

Anne. Her name was Anne.

"MacCready," he said and Anne turned looking at him confused.

"My name. You never asked. It's MacCready." he looked at her, and a large smile was on her face. He didn't expect that.

"Good to meet you MacCready." She turned heading towards the door of the rail, and MacCready suddenly had a realization hit

What have I gotten myself into?