With their fingers intertwined, Piper could've honestly felt like she was in Heaven. Keira lay next to her, sound asleep, part of her head resting against her shoulder. But she couldn't shake the feeling of fear from a couple of days ago. With the assistance of Nicky and Dogmeat, they had made their way over to Fort Hagen, a place which looked to be completely secured – she'd expected to find Gunners, which would certainly explain the turrets mounted all over the place.
In her mind, it would make perfect sense for Kellogg to have some dealings with those mercs. But no, inside was a bunch of synths.
Kellogg came last.
The man had a reputation for dirty work. Hell, he was probably one of the most feared individuals in the Commonwealth. He was, for all intents and purposes, someone to be avoided at all costs. Even Piper wasn't willing to tango with a guy this dangerous, and that was saying a lot, considering what she had faced. But Blue was so insistent on seeing him. She had a single-minded purpose to hunt down Kellogg, regardless of the danger factor.
When the two of them finally met face to face, so felt fear in her heart.
Even now, as she lay in the bed next to her love, she felt a cold grip on her heart.
Because it wasn't Kellogg that she had been afraid of.
It was Blue.
The memories of their trip to Fort Hagen were vivid, as if refusing to let her forget that there was another side of her love that she never expected. And Kellogg…oh, that man – in the moment they were standing across from each other, guns drawn, it was like an electrifying sizzle threatening to explode into a raging storm.
The stale air in Fort Hagen was full of tension. Piper had her 'borrowed' Institute pistol out, but she could feel the palpable tension between the two standing in front of her. She could almost feel the rage boiling up in Blue – the optimistic, sarcastic, lovable, beautiful relic from 200 years in the past was gone, replaced by this vengeful being of destruction. Their trip through Fort Hagen was brief, but only because Keira hadn't scavenged any parts as she usually did.
No, she tore through anything that moved.
The more Kellogg spoke over the loud speakers, the faster Keira mowed down through the synths. Eventually, she stopped taking cover altogether, until their path was littered with the broken down parts of their synth opposition. Piper had even tried to talk to her, to try to get her to calm down, but it was to no avail. Keira heard her – but she was too determined to get to Kellogg to listen.
And now here they were.
Piper bit her lip.
Kellogg crossed his arms in front of him, weapon pointing straight at the ground. At this range, even Blue wouldn't be able to shrug off that bullet. It looked as though it would punch through the armor that Kent graciously laced through her black trenchcoat. "So, here we are. Funny, huh?"
Piper so desperately wanted to reach out to Blue, to implore her to stay calm. It felt as if Kellogg was mocking her, and she wasn't sure Blue could keep her rage contained long enough to find her son. She counted the two synths around the room fortunate – these models couldn't feel anything, so they surely wouldn't have known what could've possibly happened here.
"You murdering, kidnapping psychopath," Blue spoke slowly, as if trying to keep her voice low. Her shoulders tensed for a moment before she cautiously lowered her own weapon. She held the rifle at her side, but the fist clenched over the grip was trembling.
"Blue…" Piper murmured quietly, eyeing the synth to her right. They made no motion to take aim. But she would put one right between their eyes if a fight happened. No, not if.
When.
"Gimme my son," Keira continued. "Give me Shaun. Now!"
"Right to it then, huh? Fine," Kellogg shrugged, as if disappointed in something.
He began talking, but Piper was more focused on the two synths. In this room, there was no gas on the floor to ignite – she had some pulse grenades, but when the fighting started, a few of the laser shots would hit. She shuddered to think of how much it would hurt to be shot by one of those things. Regular red lasers didn't look too pleasing, given that they sometimes had a tendency to melt bodies. The shots on these things were blue – which may not have been a good thing to get shot by.
She was thinking of a plan to attack when Keira suddenly burst out, "God damn it, you mercenary motherfucker! Where. Is. My. Son?!"
The shout took Piper off guard and she took aim. The synth next to her still made no motion. As if it hadn't registered her as a serious threat. Robotic bastard, she wanted to say out loud. She was worried about Keira, but she understood that kind of rage. Not on a personal level, but she understood why Keira was so angry. The two shared further words, and it soon became apparent that there was going to be a fight.
Between these two, somebody was going to die here.
"So…you ready?" Kellogg said, still standing there, still shrugging his shoulders – no, he rotated them, preparing for a fight.
Piper heard Keira's response.
She heard a side of Keira that she didn't think was possible.
"In a hundred years, when I finally die," Keira said, taking aim. Still, Kellogg did not motion to defend or fight. "I only hope I go to hell again so I can kill you all over again, you piece of shit."
Keira fired the first shot.
The firefight that followed lasted maybe a couple minutes at best. When Kellogg finally dropped to the ground, it was Keira who was standing tall over him. The bullet-riddled mess that had been her target was only recognizable by his outfit. There was no head to speak of – Keira made sure of that, firing even as his body crumbled to the ground, letting a primal scream erupt from her throat as she fired until she had to switch magazines.
Piper approached her, but there was no trace of emotion in her. Only a cold blank stare as she eyed Kellogg's dead body.
She spat on the corpse, murmuring yet another swear before walking away.
Keira's last words disturbed Piper, because she felt that Keira meant every single word. Avenging parent or not, Keira hated this man. The way she stood a moment ago, it was almost as if she were waiting for him to somehow come back to life, just so she could make good on her promise to kill him.
The same feeling was affirmed when they returned to Nick's office.
All it took was for one phrase from Keira to silence the whole room.
"I'd kill him again in a heartbeat."
Piper squeezed Keira's hand as she turned in their bed to face her. Keira was sleeping quietly – perhaps not as peacefully as she was before the trip to Fort Hagen. But here, she didn't seem so…enraged…so different.
"Have you been this angry all this time?" Piper quietly said, kissing Keira's knuckles carefully so as not to disturb her sleep. "Or is it the Commonwealth that's getting to you?"
Piper wasn't sure what to think. She'd been so violent over the last few days. Thankfully, only towards their enemies, but Keira wasn't responding to her as happily as she had in the past. The sarcasm was gone and she seemed to only come alive when killing anything that was in their way on the trip back from Fort Hagen.
"Blue, don't change," Piper pleaded as she wrapped an arm around Keira. She kissed her forehead, letting her lips linger there for a long moment. "Don't become a monster, please."