Hey, everyone!

I've been playing Fallout 4 again recently and got the itch to write a story after some ideas started swirling around in my head. I've always been a little bitter at the lack of real choice in your characters backstory and how you're mostly forced to follow the storyline if you wanted to realistically roleplay- so this is my take on a Fallout 4 world without the search for Shaun. Plus, I've got the hugest crush on MacCready and wanted to try my hand at a romance story involving him.

I'm being as lore friendly as possible with some added twists and I'll be writing the canon character as in character as I can!

1.

Manual override i nitiated. Cryogenic stasis suspended.

For the vault dweller there was nothing and then there was light.

The metal capsule she'd been encased in opened with a hiss and she immediately gasped for air, her eyes snapping open and staring upwards at the near blinding florecent lights. Everything was so grey. She realized suddenly how cold she was, her entire body shaking uncontrollably as her arms wrapped around herself. Why was it so damn cold in there? Her gaze trailed down and she locked eyes with someone standing there in front of her. Blue eyes, maybe green? She couldn't tell under the terrible lighting. If she wasn't mistaken, those eyes looked just as shocked as she felt.

"Holy sh-.. crap.." Was the last thing she heard before everything faded again, the image of the man in brown and green pulling farther and farther away, his arms reaching for her.

There was nothing again- for awhile, anyways.

"Hey...ugh, come on... HEY!" She shot upright from her laying postion on the floor, the voice bringing her back from unsonsciousness with a start. Everything seemed so bright and her eyes took a moment to focus, unable to make out much of anything but colours until they slowly sharpened. She wasn't in the capsule anymore, that was for sure, and beyond that she was clueless.

"Are you alright?" The man crouched next to her asked, leaning in to peer at her a little closer. Blinking up at him, she met those eyes again and recognized that whoever he was, he was definitely the same figure she saw when she'd first woken in that freezing tube.

"Okay, now you're just being weird about it." He stood up, extending a hand down to her, "Come on, let's at least get you up."

Nodding curtly, she reached up and grabbed his hand, noting how rough his palm felt and how small her hand felt in comparison to his. He pulled her up to her feet in a single pull and she stumbled forward. Her almost collapsed beneath her and she grabbed for the window sill to her right. The sill was so warm. Momentarily, she felt relief from the sensation- it was so different from the unbearable chill she felt when she first woke. She tilted her head up towards the sun, relishing in the heat. Letting out a long breath, she felt balanced enough to take a look around where she stood. That relief she felt? Gone. They were in a room that looked like it had seen much better days- parts of the walls missing, flooring peeled away, piles of debris scattered in the corners.

"Where..?" She turned to the man and stepped back quickly, her back towards the open window, "Where are we?"

He seemed to pick up on her sudden fear, raising his hands up with his palms out to her, "Hey, hey. It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you." Looking at her intently, as if to catch every one of her movements, he took a long stride back, "See?"

Unwilling to move away from the window, she looked him up and down, assessing him and her situation. He had brown hair tucked under what she figured was a military cap and was clad in a long brown jacket overtop some sort of military green outfit. Her eyes trailed further down and she looked ready to climb out the window, "Why do you have bullets strapped to you?!"

His eyes dropped instantly to the bullets in question and he sighed as if he had forgotten they were there, "They're for my rifle?" he said to her as if it were obvious, adding, "They're not for you if that makes you feel any better?"

He had his answer when she turned quickly and all but jumped out the ground level window, struggling to make it out and back on to her feet. She had to get away. She didn't know why, but she had to. Her legs were barely cooperating and she was thrilled when she managed to make it to a staggering run. She was heading down the street of some kind of suburb- one that had seen better days. The grass was dead, most of the houses she could see were practically demolished, and the cars were... why were they so rusted?

Her thoughts were cut off as she screamed, the mans arms wrapping tightly around her from behind, stopping her run dead. She couldn't move her arms at all because he had them pinned to her sides so she buckled her legs to try and throw him off balance. He didn't budge whatsoever and her legs kicked around- he was surprisingly strong.

"Will you stop?!" He grunted, refusing to relinquish his hold. There was a long breath and he said slower, softer, "Please, just stop. Calm down. Let me explain. Please."

The girl's attempts at escaping slowed and he carefully released her from his hold. There was something in his voice that made her want to believe he didn't mean her any harm. And at this point- if he was going to kill her, he was going to kill her. Hesitating for a long moment, she turned around to face him. She tugged at the sleeves of the blue jumpsuit she wore, taking a breath and looking up at the man. He was a good bit taller than her 5 foot 3 frame, his expression shadowed from the sunshine behind him. She wasn't certain but she thought she saw him flash a small grin as he spoke, "We good?"

"You wanted to explain? Please do." She was attempting to look less terrified than she was, her arms crossing over her chest.

"Alright.." He said, his tone ever so exasperated, "Look. The names MacCready and I found you down there in that vault stuffed in a fridge. I don't think anybody else down there survived. Figured I was doing you a favour by not leaving you in that graveyard."

MacCready continue, but she stopped hearing what he was saying. Her mind started going a mile a minute, trying to understand what he'd just said to her. Vault? Survived? Graveyard? Nothing he said made any sense.

His voice continued, whatever he was talking about coming to a close, "...so, what's your story? Why were you in there?"

Swallowing the lump forming in her throat, she tried to speak from her mouth that had gone instantly dry, "I..." She closed her eyes hard and tried with all her might to pick up anything from the darkness in her mind, "I don't know."

MacCready's brow furrowed, "Alright. Let's start small. What's your name?"

She supressed the urge to cry right then and there, looking up at him as if praying he had the answers she needed, "I don't know.