Chapter 1: holiday.

Sanctuary Hills at night was quiet. Nobody wanted to waste the power the generators put out on domestic lights and nobody wanted the settlement lit up like a Christmas tree - Super mutants may not come this far north, but Raiders certainly did and they weren't picky about whose settlements they attacked; although come to think about it, the settlements that signed up to the Minutemen didn't get attacked nearly as much as the ones who hadn't. That was the thing about the rag-tag group's leader - news like her got around.

It wasn't surprising, therefore, to Piper Wright; star - and so far only - journalist of Publick Occurrences that the house she was sneaking up on was dark. She resisted the urge to look around guiltily - someone, somewhere could be watching and the last thing she wanted to do was draw attention to herself right now.

Althea Shapiro never locked her front door, which always made Piper tut in disbelief. Her front door was never locked - but the door to Shaun's room was locked and bolted. That spoke more about priorities than it really should.

'Blue?' She called out as she eased into the living room and closed the door. 'You ready to go?'

There was a muffled answer from deeper in the house and Piper followed the noise. She found her in her meticulously neat bedroom, suitcase already on top of the made bed but open. Althea was currently at her desk and scribbling something on some of Piper's pulped paper. Beside her sat a halfway clean glass of whiskey. She looked up with that halo of black hair and smiled all the way up to her blue-green eyes when she saw the woman in the familiar red trenchcoat. 'I'm almost done.'

Piper sighed. She loved Althea to death, absolutely, but if she left her to her own devices, then the Sole Survivor would be in here writing what looked -to her trained eye - like a list of reminders and instructions til dawn and any hope they had of getting out of Sanctuary without a detour would be distinctly unlikely. Althea had a huge heart and Piper loved that about her - she just wished that sometimes Blue would say no to a few things and let them find their own way of doing it.

'Blue, whatever you're doing, stop right now and lets go.' Piper warned.

'But -' Thea seemed torn.

'The whole idea of this vacation is to let everybody else handle it for a change.' Piper reminded her. 'You're no good stressed out and even you agreed that you need this break.'

Althea seemed hesitant to leave the desk - or indeed the house judging by the half-packed suitcase. 'Piper, I'm not - are you sure they aren't going to ….implode without me?'

'Blue, give them some credit.' Piper replied.

'I'm afraid they might bankrupt me,' Thea murmured. She caught the confused look on Piper's face and elaborated 'It's an old bank joke.'

Piper put her hands on her hips, a tactic she had seen Thea do on more than one occasion when she came up against something or someone to butt heads with. 'You need this break, Thea. You've been running around looking after everyone else but who's looking after you?'

'I just don't feel comfortable up and leaving.' She sighed. 'I have a lot of responsibilities. I'm the leader of the Minutemen, part of the Brotherhood, helping Hancock keep the peace, Solving some of Nick's cases -'

'See?' Piper waved a hand. 'This is what I'm talkin' about Blue! You're doing way too much. You. Need. A. Break. And I got us the perfect little place!'

That got Thea's attention. 'Really?'

Piper nodded. 'I know a guy who knows a guy who knows some people who came from an island close to the Atom Cats Garage. It's meant to be abandoned after a raider attack. An island to ourselves, Blue! Nothing but surf, sand, and serenity!'

'I haven't seen Zeke in a while.' Thea murmured to herself.

'Oh no! We are not getting drawn into doing something insane for other people - Again! This is vacation time, not helping time.'

The Sole Survivor sighed and leaned back in her chair. 'I get it, I get it.' She chided. 'But I'm taking Firecracker.'

Firecracker was her most beloved gun. An incendiary modded shotgun that stayed glued to her back no matter where she went. Piper also knew that Thea stashed it under her pillow at night - just in case. There was more than one incident of Piper having woken up eyeball to barrel with Firecracker. Getting her to part with that thing was going to be a deal-breaker. 'Alright.' She conceded. 'This is the Commonwealth after all.'

That seemed to mollify the Sole Survivor somewhat. She finally put the paper down, finished off her drink and stood to close her battered, stained suitcase. 'This island,' She mused. 'It's near the Atom Cats, right?'

'Yep!' Piper agreed.

Thea Hmmed in a preoccupied tone. 'Is there really nobody else there?'

'Not for miles, Blue! But we've gotta go now before someone catches on that you're taking time off and lugs us with something.'

'Alright, alright.' Thea laughed and zipped up her suitcase. 'We'll go now.'

Piper bounced slightly, eager to get going as Thea picked up the suitcase and the note. Outside was as quiet as ever. The reporter fancied she could hear Preston's patrol on the other side of the settlement. She fancied she could hear Cait fighting with Codsworth over access to Thea's "secret" stash of booze and guns - newsflash: it really wasn't that secret - and the winds had shifted, bringing a taste of salt air.

They were heading out.

With the note attached to Thea's peeling front door - Piper took the Sole Survivor's free hand in her own and smiled. 'They won't even know we're gone, Blue.'

A/N: Historyman14 requested Piper and Althea disappear and the companions turn the Commonwealth upside down looking for her - in reality, she's on vacation. I hope the first chapter is everything he hoped for. Sorry it took me four months to get out!