Disclaimer: Don't own Fallout 3

When Zack Valerico awoke, he was utterly confused. He had no idea what happened, or where he was. The room made him feel noticeably alarmed. The text on the door read "Cell 4", so his apprehension was amply justified. He walked up to the rather intriguing door, seeking an escape. He pushed and pulled, but to no avail. It seemed to be as sealed as Vault 101's entrance was. Zack thought about the dilemma, and how it had happened. He had been leaving Vault 87 when something that appeared to be a blue grenade was thrown in front of him. It exploded before he could shout "Shit!". After that, he couldn't remember anymore. This frustrated him to no end, and he was rendered incapable of formulating any sort of plot to escape, all he could do was fume in the room.

His chagrin hadn't ebbed one bit before someone entered the room. She wore the standard Enclave Officer uniform, and to his surprise she was unarmed. This of gave him ideas. Zack wasn't feeling very chivalrous at the moment, and prepared to rush at the woman.

"I wouldn't attack me if I were you." She warned. When Zack showed no signs of easing up, she added "I'm unarmed, have no key, and am simply a messenger for President Eden. Attacking me would just make this entire base hostile towards you."

Zack slightly relaxed, but still glared. When it was obvious he wasn't going to speak, she decided to relay the President's message.

"President Eden has ordered me to deliver this message:

"Well, if it isn't the fabled Lone Wanderer, in my very home! I must say, and this may come as a surprise to you, I am honored." It was obvious that the message was meant for Eden to say himself, and it sounded alien coming out of the woman's mouth. She didn't even try to mimic his charm.

"I understand you're probably confused, despaired, hungry, and maybe, just maybe, the Hero of the Wastes is slightly frightened. But fear not, my friend, we mean you no harm. I hope you don't feel that you are a prisoner, but rather a guest in this wonderful military base. Since I'm sure this a lot to swallow, I won't expect you to come and chat just today. In fact, I plan on letting you choose to come to me when you feel that you are ready to talk. Whether it takes days, or even weeks for you to come to me. I'm afraid that I cannot let you leave your room unless you wish to negotiate with me, I'm sure you understand that, dear hero. If you have any requests that can be fulfilled by this officer, there is an intercom to summon her. She is under your command. You will be given complimentary meals throughout the day, but if you ever crave another snack, your officer can make the arrangements necessary. You can also listen to my fireside chats on the Enclave Radio whenever you like, and hear about America's bright, bright future.

"Now, we must part. I hope that I have shed some light on this unfortunate situation, and you are more comfortable with it. If you have any questions, but don't want to come to me just yet, my officer can act as a go between us. Feel free to ask me absolutely anything. Goodbye, my friend." She finished.

"Leave," Was his reply.

"Yes, sir."

Zack watched her leave, waiting for her to pull out some sort of key that would open the door, but she did nothing of the sort. She walked up to the door, it automatically opened for her, and stepped out, leaving him alone. He put his fingers to his head, and massaged his temples, stressed out to say the least. One word raced through his head.

"Fuck."

Zack did not usually think so simply, but he was in an unusual circumstance. It never had occurred to him that he was not invincible, his accomplishments had never had many consequences. He had never felt so vulnerable. He was at Eden's mercy, and that was the very last thing he wanted. Who knows what the crazy bastard was plotting? Going AWOL was his best option, and when he glanced at the intercom, an idea grew inside him. He approached it and held the button down.

"Can I get some food?" was his gruff requisition.

"Of course," came the reply.

As soon as the same officer entered the room with a tray of appealing food, Zack bolted out the door. It closed pretty quickly, but he had been waiting right by the entrance. However, he was greeted by an unpleasant surprise as soon as he cleared the first door; a small hallway with another door, and of course, it was closed. Naturally, the Wanderer wasn't too pleased with this, and without using any common sense, he punched the solid door. Once his fist made contact, he regretted his reckless decision.

He emitted a horrible sound that was best described as a howl. The door behind him opened and the officer stepped into the hallway.

"Sir, if you return to your quarters, I can go and fetch some medical supplies for your hand." She remarked professionally enough, but if Zack hadn't been so preoccupied he might have noticed that she was trying to stifle a smirk.

Holding his injured hand, he went back into his room and glowered at the wall. The officer went to go get the medical supplies, as promised.

She returned promptly with a syringe of Med-X, some wrapping, and two stimpacks. She was very impressed to see that the man had considerably calmed down. While she was bandaging him he even spoke to her.

"Why haven't you guys killed me?" his voice was somber.

"You can help the Enclave so much, with you, we would be unstoppable." she said this hopefully, but he looked in her eyes and could see that this woman hated him.

"Unstoppable isn't the same as right. I want to restore the Wasteland, not rule over it."

"Then we have the same goals."

"What do you mean?"

The woman laughed, "I meant exactly what I said. What, did the Brotherhood brainwash you into believing we want to destroy the wastes? The crap they spew..." she cut herself short once she remembered who she was talking to.

"What do you know about the Brotherhood?"

"I probably shouldn't be talking about this to you."

"That doesn't make any sense, am I not here to have my mind changed about the Enclave? If I were to ever consider helping any of you, more information is a necessity. Because as far as I'm concerned, you're a cult dedicated to a dictator in a president's disguise. Eden may be a smooth talker, but that means very little to me. I want results, and I've gotten that with the Brotherhood, not the Enclave." he said this harshly, making sure she could see the other side of things.

She had a look of surprise on her face. "You truly believe all of that?"

"Yes. Don't you know what's going on with the Enclave? You probably know that I've killed many Enclave soldiers, and there's a reason I haven't lost a minute of sleep over it. Every time we encounter the Enclave, we witness the crimes your men and women commit. The worst is when the Enclave scientists are involved. Have you seen what they do to Wastelanders in the labs they have? You don't want to."

Her eyes narrowed and she finished bandaging his hand. "I'm not going to sit here and be told by an outsider what the Enclave is. Your hand should heal quickly, but don't do anything so imprudently again."

He watched her leave, slightly disappointed he scared his only guest off. It wasn't hard to brush off though, she wasn't very good company. Turning to his untouched food, he eyed it hungrily. He figured he was as good as dead anyways, so poison didn't pose much of a problem. The food was delicious, it seemed to be pure, or at least more pure than your average meal in the wasteland. It was a large Brahmin steak with a bottle of water. As he ate he wondered if Three Dog was right about the Enclave having a truck full of Brahmin. Hell, if they fed the prisoners Brahmin, he couldn't imagine how much they had to spare. Once he finished, he laid back down on the bed, and thought for a while, then drifted into a light, uneasy sleep.

He slept for a long time, which was strange given the circumstance. He was surprised he had even surrendered himself to sleep at all. When he awoke, he walked over to the intercom and paged his "servant".

"Um, hey." he spoke, wondering how he should address her.

"What do you need?" she replied in her usual no-nonsense tone.

"Change of clothes, food, and a piss." he stated.

Slightly taken aback by the last item on the list it took her a moment before replying.

"You do have an actual bathroom here, right?"

"Yes. I'll show you how to use it when I come in with your food and clothing."

"Thanks."

Shocked by his politeness, she lingered a moment, realized it was too late to reply, and walked off to go fetch his things.

"I'm not going to wear that." Zack said as soon as he saw the clothes she brought him. It was what Enclave trainees wore.

"You must."

"Nope."

"Then stay in your current clothes. Bask yourself in contamination, I don't care."

Zack frowned, then got an idea. "That doesn't fly well with me either. Tell you what, I'm not putting that bullshit on, and I'm taking my clothes off. No matter what."

"This is all I'm offering you. Take it or leave it." She said, obviously not understanding what he had implied.

Zack simpered and started to remove his shirt, and it widened when he saw the look on her face.

"Can't you change when I leave?"

"I'm not changing."

Then she understood. "Y-you can't go around naked in an Enclave base!" she exclaimed.

His smirk still present on his face, he finished removing his shirt and dropped it to the ground. As soon as his hands moved down to his pants, she gave in.

"Alright, fine. I'm sure we have some old pre-war clothing somewhere around here. Don't expect to have it very quickly though." she turned to leave, but Zack stopped her.

"Sweet. But first, teach me how to pee?"

Inwardly rolling her eyes, she walked to the corner of the room, which had a small handle on the floor. She slid it open, and revealed a squat toilet.

"That's the toilet?" he frowned.

"Yes. Is that all?"

"Well, one more thing. What's your name?"

"Hope."

Zack laughed, and when Hope got defensive he said that he really thought it was a nice name, just ironic.

"I'll return with your clothes momentarily."

Although Zack seemed pretty cheery when Hope was around, inside he didn't feel so hot. He obviously wasn't leaving, or getting any sort of weapon. He thought of how the door opened every time Hope approached it. That could possibly mean his room was under surveillance and someone opened the door when they saw her walk towards it. He didn't like the thought of someone watching his every move, but expected as much. He took his food to his bed so he could sit and eat. Then, he did the only two things he could do; eat and think.

I've got to get the hell out of this place. I only have one real option so far, and it's not one that I'm too keen on. I don't want to talk to Eden, I don't want to think of what he'll want me to do. I guess I'll milk my stay here as long as I can, and hope to get rescued. When Eden gets too impatient, I'm not sure what I'll do. Probably just break for it as soon as I get out of this room. No matter what I do, I don't like my chances of getting out of this thing alive.

Actually thinking about the situation dampened his mood, and he couldn't greet Hope with a triumphant smile when she returned with his clothes.

"President Eden isn't pleased with your refusal to wear Enclave attire."

Zack shrugged. "What's Eden like? He a big guy?"

"I wouldn't know,"

"You've never even met him?"

"For security purposes, Colonel Autumns is the only man allowed to receive direct orders. Besides," she added "he's much too busy for such trivial things."

"Before you were assigned to taking care of me, what did you do?"

"I was mostly in charge of supplying the troops with necessities, so it's not much different. I've also been in charge of the new recruits, I'd even help train them. I serve the Enclave wherever I am needed."

"Do you?" he sounded amused, "How does that treat you?"

"It gives me a satisfied feeling. Why do you continue to ask me such personal questions?" Hope didn't like his tone, he seemed to be mocking her.

Zack snorted, "I wouldn't call this personal, Hope. I could be asking much more intruding questions."

"Since when were we on a first name basis? And what else could you possibly ask me?"

"Since I learned your first name, Hope. I can ask you about your life away from... work. Or the Enclave, whatever you consider it to be. You have a family, Hope?"

Hope's flinch was noticeable, and Zack immediately regretted his question.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to..." he said softly.

"I have no family, I'll leave it at that." she replied, quickly covering any emotion.

"I'm sorry, really. I shouldn't prod you like that." Zack's apology was sincere.

"What about your family?"

Zack stared at her for a moment, he couldn't believe she actually wanted to know something about him.

"My mother died the day I was born, and I've been looking for my dad, but you probably knew that."

Hope nodded, she had heard all about his story, she thought most of it was bullshit. Sounded too incredible, and no one in the Enclave trusted Three Dog's broadcasts, they all thought it was propaganda that was rotting the wastelanders' brains. The man had no plan on changing the Wasteland, anyways, he just reported the news, with no promises. The Enclave took action, and though this man said otherwise, she believed it was all ethical.

"Do you hate me?" Zack asked her.

It took a while for her to answer, wondering if she wanted to answer this truthfully. It could make her current assignment more difficult if there was even more bad blood in between them, but she wanted to speak her mind. She was ordered not to be too harsh, and stay professional, but that was hard to carry out. No once could hear what she said to him, anyways. As long as he didn't complain to President Eden, she would be fine. But, she decided to dance around the word "hate" just in case.

"I do... experience intense dislike for you," she replied a little too coldly.

Zack's head dropped a little, and she decided to lessen the blow.

"But it's not a character flaw from what I can see. I suppose you're much more civil than I expected. I had the notion you were some savage with no concern with the destruction you caused. I see now that you're ignorant to your bane. Perhaps with President Eden's guidance, you can do more than undo your damage."

He chortled "Damn! That was pretty callous, don't you think?"

"What I think, Mr. Valerico, is that you deserved every word." she said firmly.

"And I think you're lucky that I'm used to being treated with such contempt."

"You know, there could be a reason for that."

This squeezed a smile out of him "Now you're just trying to provoke me. Can't you at least give me a chance? I'll bet you're really tight," he taunted.

"What?" his joke went right over her head, which cracked him up.

Though she didn't like to be teased, she didn't interrupt his fit. Sincere laughter was something rarely heard in Raven Rock, and she tried to savor the sound.

"You must be pretty sheltered here," he presumed.

"Yes, all thanks to President Eden, we are safe from the wastes here."

"That's exactly what they would say about the Overseer in Vault 101," he mused.

He sat quietly, and seemed to be transfixed on nothing, so she could see that he was engrossed in his own thoughts. Since he didn't seem to want to talk anymore, she said "If you need anything, you know how to contact me." and he was alone once more.

Zack thought about the resemblances of the Enclave and his old home. He knew from hacked terminals that the Enclave wasn't just a bunch of average Wastelanders with great tech and training. They were supposed to be pure, mutation-free elites. Descendants from the great people of the past. Somehow, they were allowed to be exposed to radiation without being considered impure, unlike in Vault 101. He was almost positive that if any of them started showing physical anomalies, they were discarded immediately in the Enclave. But in both the Enclave and Vault 101, they had been indoctrinated that they had an omnipotent leader who could solve anything. The Enclave took it further, and said that their idol would go on to perfect the world. He empathized with their belief, he knew it all too well. Though he never truly believed the Overseer was that great due to remarks from his dad, almost everyone he cared for in the Vault did. He thought it must be nice to have someone to believe in so much, even if it was out of naivety. There wasn't really anyone whose intentions he could fully trust, save for his father. That man was his one and only role model. He liked the Brotherhood of Steel and all of them, but he couldn't shake the feeling that it would only take one order for them to gun him down. His introspection came down to one conclusion: If you were seeking integrity, the Wasteland shouldn't be the first place to begin your search.

And for Christ's sake, don't put anyone on such a high pedestal that you can't even see whether or not they're off their rocker.

First off, I would like to apologize. This chapter is very undescriptive, boring at parts, and simple (plus some crappy dialogue). I'd also like to beg your pardon for the cheesy title, and description, I truly couldn't think of anything better. My excuse is that I was in a horrible mood, I wrote it in an airport in Atlanta. Long story short, it had been an excruciatingly boring day for me, and I was oh, so close to throwing a temper tantrum like a child. NEVER FLY AIR TRAN. Seriously.

If one of you were to... say, write a new, better description for this, that would be really swell of you. I'd appreciate it a ton.