Allen and Piper were on their way to Old North Church. They had been on the move for a while now and haven't said a word to each other. It was an uncomfortable silence to say the least, and usually Allen was comfortable even with uncomfortable silences, but there was something different about this one.
"I feel bad." Allen suddenly confessed, while helping Piper over some rubble.
"Not your fault." Piper mumbled, thinking he was referring to the rubble "you didn't make the buildings collapse."
"Not that, the Railroad." Allen clarified.
"Having second thoughts?" Piper asked, quizzically; Allen didn't seem like the type to have doubts.
"It's a sound tactical move but…" Allen paused for a minute, "I don't believe in the cause."
"You don't believe in Synth freedom?" Piper asked, even more confused. Allen hadn't shown any bigotry towards Nick.
"Abstractly yes," Allen tried to clarify, "Everyone deserves to be free, but I'm not personally invested like they probably are."
"And that makes you feel guilt?"
"I'm using them to find my son. This isn't the Minutemen, I wasn't asked to join. I sought them out and am going to use their resources for my own reasons."
"So you're not going to fight to keep Synths safe?" Piper asked leadingly; she was starting to understand Allen's guilt.
"I will fight, if that's the price I have to pay."
"You're not going to help the Railroad defy and destroy the Institute?"
"What are you getting at?" Allen asked.
"Nothing, just trying to get a feel for your thought process."
"If the Railroad helps me save Shaun, then I'll die for them," Allen answered the earlier question. "Take a bullet for a synth, jump on a grenade for an AI, whatever it takes."
"You'll do fine." Piper said with a nod.
"We'll see."
"I'm sorry, I need a what?" Allen said holding back laughter.
"Secrecy keeps us alive, codenames help with that." Desdemona justified.
Allen's eyes were bright with amusement, he felt like he was back in kindergarten playing "spy" with his friends
"Alright," Allen gave it some thought, "Call me 'the operative'"
"'Operative'?" Desdemona said, testing out the word.
"No, no" Allen interrupted, still holding back laughter, "'The Operative."
"The Operative." Desdemona repeated.
"I like it." Deacon commented. "Makes it sound like he's some kind of animal 'release the operative'" Deacon joked dramatically.
"Glad you're having fun." Desdemona scolded, "but you're right, he does get to pick his own codename."
"Do I need a code name?" Piper asked.
"No," Desdemona said, "Because you're not joining, in fact, I'd rather you just leave."
"She stays." Allen declared.
"C'mon, Des," Deacon pleaded, "We could use the good press."
"Secrecy is our weapon, the last thing we need is press coverage." Desdemona said, sternly.
"Who says you'll be getting the coverage?" Piper suggested. "I keep anything even resembling Railroad activity secret."
"Then what will you write?"
"I know how to keep a secret." Piper said. She noticed Deacon's disbelieving stare, "Just because I choose not to doesn't mean I don't."
"She's trustworthy." Allen vouched.
"Fine." Desdemona relented. "But If she outs us, it's on you."
"I'll be on my best behavior." Piper promised.
"Good." Desdemona said with a nod, "Deacon will show the two of you the ropes."
"You're really going to let him do that?" Carrington demanded.
"Hey, if you wanna keep below the Institute's radar you gotta nuke a few blood cells." Tinker Tom said, filling a syringe
"He's injecting you with battery acid."
"Wouldn't be the first time that's happened" Allen said with a shrug, rolling up his sleeve.
"When did that happen?" Deacon asked, tossing a ball in the air and catching it.
"Amsterdam 2071, probably." Piper interjected.
"What happened in Amsterdam?" Tinker Tom asked, injecting Allen.
"A lot." Allen evaded.
"If you are quite done indulging Tom's lunacy." Carrington said, "There's a job I need you to do."
"Sure." Allen shrugged, rolling his sleeve back up. Tom left to tinker on one of his pet projects.
"One of our field Agents, Old Man Stockton need's help with a runaway synth H2-22." Carrington explained, before going off on a tangent. "Once again, we have to deal with the problems that everyone else can't be bothered to fix themselves. Paranoid old bat won't even tell us the problem, insists that we get our intel from a dead drop."
"I'm assuming you're a really good doctor." Allen guessed.
"And why would you assume that?"
"No reason, so what's our dead drop system?" Allen evaded again.
"I'll mark it on your map." Carrington said, motioning for Allen to hand him his pip boy, "You'll know it when you see it."
"I'm sure I will." Allen said, standing up. "On a related note, Tom!" Allen shouted, "How long is my blood going to burn for?"
"About an hour or so." Tom answered not looking up.
"Perfect," Allen winced.
"Serves you right." Piper said with a grin.
"Yeah, whatever." He winced again. "Deacon, you coming?" Allen asked.
"Sure, could be fun." Deacon said, adjusting his sunglasses, and grabbing his rifle.
"So walk me through the process." Allen requested of Deacon.
"Well, we know who our contact is, that's half the job already. We signal them via a code phrase." Deacon explained
"What's the code?" Allen asked.
"He'll ask 'Do you have a Geiger counter' and you respond 'mine is in the shop'"
"Wait, 'do you have a Geiger counter?' Those words exactly?"
"Yes." Deacon said.
"Piper remind me to have a talk with Sam next time we see him."
"I'm not your secretary." Piper objected half-heartedly.
"No, but you are the only one here with a notepad and a pencil."
Eventually, the trio made it to Bunker Hill and found their way to Old Man Stockton's stall.
"Excuse me sir," the old gentleman said, "but might you have a Geiger counter?"
"You know, I used to," The Operative said, "But the damn thing's busted, so I have to pray I don't get rad poisoning while 'mine is in the shop'." He finished pointedly.
"Well, what a coincidence, I have some a shipment coming in. 'Packages' full of Geiger counters." Stockton said, catching on to the ruse.
"When are you expecting to bring them in?" The Operative asked.
"Unfortunately, my 'trade route' is compromised." Stockton said.
"If you want me to, I can clear the route for you?" Allen offered.
"That would be good. There's a church nearby, I'll mark it on your map. My 'contact' will meet you there tonight."
Allen was climbing in the rafters of the church.
"The Operative?" Deacon called. "What are you doing?"
"I stashed some weapons here a while ago." Allen answered, "If we're escorting a noncombatant to safety we're going to need the extra fire power."
"We're not exactly harmless, Blue." Piper called back.
"Piper, you're carrying a 10mm. And Deacon, not for nothing, but your rifle isn't silence and this is night job. You might as well shoot a flare into the air."
"If you have any alternatives, I'm game." The other man declared.
"Deacon, catch!" Allen called as he threw down a rifle. "Barrett 50cal, silenced for, you know, for when you need to kill a building."
Deacon sang, "Happy birthday to me"
"Piper." Allen threw down two pistols and a tommy gun, then jumped back down to the ground floor.
"What's so special about these?" Piper asked.
"The non-silenced pistol is modified to shoot three round bursts. And a tommy gun is a good all-purpose weapon for amateurs."
"Hey!" Piper objected to the term 'amateur'.
"Piper, I've seen you shoot."
"Fine." She relented with a scowl, "So, what now?"
"Now we wait," Allen ordered. "Take a nap if you can manage."
"Don't mind if I do." Deacon said before stretching out over a pew.
Night had fallen, and Stockton had arrived with H2-22, now the trio was waiting for their escort to Ticonderoga safe house.
"Is it safe here?" H2 asked.
"Safe enough," The Operative answered, pulling on his skull bandana (he had taken it off so he could relax).
"Oh..."
"It'll be fine, H2" Piper comforted, laying a hand on H2's shoulder, "Right , The Operative?"
"Right," he said, slamming a fresh mag into his silenced MP5, "We'll keep you safe."
A moment later, Deacon called out, "Here's our contact."
A young man wearing a leather jacket came running in seconds later.
"Don't shoot!" He said, holding his hands up. "Deacon," he greeted with the Railroad agent with a nod. "And is this the new guy, heard you cleared the switchboard, impressive stuff."
"Do you have a Geiger counter?" The question was short, followed by the lifting of his rifle.
"Right you are," the man said calmly, "'Mine is in the shop.'"
"I'm The Operative."
"High Rise," The man introduced himself, shaking the Operative's hand
"This is H2-22"
"Hey H2," High Rise said, gently, "how you holding up?"
"A little rattled, but really I've never been better." H2 responded.
"So, High Rise," Deacon interrupted, "How's the route looking?"
"To be honest, rough." High Rise said, kicking at the air. "Raiders, couple of ferals, I'm pretty sure I even overheard some Super Mutants at some point."
Everyone looked to The Operative for advice.
"Alright," he declared, "Our biggest priority is the safety of H2, so we need to walk softly. Use silenced weapons, no talking, and watch your step," he ordered, "High Rise, if things get too hot I want you take H2 and bug out, hunker down somewhere safe, we'll find you."
"Gotcha, boss." High said with a nod.
"Pied," The Operative said, looking towards Piper "Stay close to H2. You and High Rise are his personal guards."
"Can do," Piper said with a firm nod.
"Deacon, you're our advanced scout so warn us if something ugly starts heading our way."
"Uglier than you? Don't think anything like that exists boss." Deacon joked.
"Look in a mirror, you'll find it pretty quickly." The Operative said without missing a beat, "Now move out, step lively but quietly."
"Why does nothing ever go smoothly?" The Operative grunted to himself, stabbing his arm with a stimpack.
Truthfully, it hadn't started too bad, a couple of raiders, a feral or two. But then they'd wandered within smelling distance of a super mutant hideout and the mutts had sounded the alarm, and soon all hell was breaking loose.
"Deacon!" he shouted, "Give me a sitrep."
"A few more uglies inbound, eight o'clock but that's it." He heard from beside him, Deacon was still using his stealth boy.
"Thank fuck. Give me some suppressing fire, I'll see if I can't find 'em."
"Go get 'em, tiger."
Fortunately, The Operative's objective proved redundant, as by the time he found the mutants, they were corpses and Piper was standing over them.
"Well done," he complemented the reporter.
Piper shrugged. "Amatuer, huh?"
"Is this gonna be another thing held over my head?" Allen asked, pulling his bandana down to show his grin.
"Nah, I think you've learned your lesson about this one." Piper replied, reloading her tommy gun.
"Wow, you HQ heavies mean business." High Rise said, flopping down on a chair in Ticon safehouse.
"Just doing our part." The Operative said, also sitting down.
"I think I'm going to like you even more than Glory." High Rise told him with a chuckle. "If you ever need anything, Ticon's got you back."
"I appreciate it," The Operative said, standing back up "But we need to report in with HQ." He turned to H2 and clapped him on the shoulder. "Take care, H2, if you ever need anything, let me know."
"Thanks." H2 said meekly.
The trio were walking away from Ticon when the sun started to rise.
"Long night." Piper commented.
"Longer without any coffee," Allen responded.
"So, now that you had the chance to see a bit more of our operations, how do you feel about the Railroad?" Deacon asked. Allen got pensive for a moment before changing the subject.
"You know, Allen Marks is technically already a codename."
"What?" Piper exclaimed.
"When I joined the CIA, they faked my death." Allen explained, "before then I was Nathan Wake." Allen hadn't told anyone that.
"I'm guessing that means the Railroad makes you nostalgic." Deacon deduced.
"Now why would you think that?" Allen demanded, genuinely surprised at the observation.
"No reason." Deacon said, adjusting his glasses and giving the other man a sly grin.
"So, should I start calling you Nathan?" Piper asked, returning to the important part of the conversation.
"No, no," Allen said with a chuckle, "You can keep calling me Blue."
"Alright then, 'Blue,'" Deacon said, "Let's get back to HQ before Des sends a search party."
"Uh uh, you don't call me Blue."
"Fine, 'The Operative', hope you can run." Deacon took off.
"Faster than you." Allen replied, quickly catching up.
"Spies," Piper mumbled with a roll of her eyes before running after them, resigning herself to trailing behind.