Renewing a Nation

A Fallout 3 Fanfiction

Quest Added: Rebuild the Nation

Disclaimer: I don't own any aspect of Fallout or its affiliates.

Summary: With his conquests of the Capital Wasteland coming to an end, the Lone Wanderer (Daniel) had decided to settle down in any way he can in his 'luxury' apartment in Megaton. He is quickly called out of retirement by the Brotherhood of Steel to aid in the mass reconstruction effort for the Wasteland. Follows a very high karma Lone Wanderer. Romance: Lone Wanderer/Sarah Lyons.

Description of the Lone Wanderer (Daniel): Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Tan complexion. Small wave hair style.

A Note from the Author: Thanks so very much to those who reviewed! Your ideas and insight brought issues to my attention that I will need to fix! Let's start off from what sniper1250 said. First, I did screw up the gender of Cross. I'm sorry. It's been a while since I've played the game. Honest mistake. If you go back and check, I corrected the issue.

Secondly he posed the "rank" issue. I knew this issue was going to come up. To be honest, the whole rank system in the BoS is very sketchy. Each detachment from the Midwest to the East has different rank systems. So I have decided to incorporate this hierarchy: Elder, Head Paladin, Paladin, Sergeant, Knight, and Initiate. This is my final say on that.

He also brought up the fact that at the end of Broken Steel, the Lone Wanderer was only give the title of Honorary Knight. I admit I knowingly changed this up a bit to make a better storyline. Another issue was Elder Lyons's complete compliance with everything the Lone Wanderer had to offer. You need to do a bit of self reflection and interpretation. Why would a leader with the final say in everything be so compliant with the Lone Wanderer? You may think to yourself: He invited the LW out of his 'retirement' so to speak, to be a part of his plan. He knew that inviting the LW was a wise choice because he had been actively exploring the Wasteland more than most people, so he is obviously going to have great ideas on how to fix it.

He also criticized my writing style. Ok…I give in. I'll go ahead and give each person a different paragraph when they speak. The reason I did so was to keep readers on track because I like to shift locations a lot between paragraphs.

Lastly, he had the "house" issue. From the very beginning I said he was a high karma LW, so he quite obviously wouldn't have blown up Megaton, so that's why he resides in his house that looks like a hell hole! I hope I cleared up any confusion. Any more questions would always be welcomed! Once again, if you want to get a Story Alert or if you really think this story is interesting, please leave a damned review, I'm not getting any money because of this…so please let me know how you like it!

The last issue I'm going to address is the comment made by a loyal reviewer about the age difference between LW and Sarah. I guess you wouldn't be reading this if you thought the age difference between LW and Sarah was a huge deal.

Here we are:

Chapter 3

Daniel spent the rest of his afternoon at his desk typing up detailed plans to begin basic reconstruction. One major task was to get the power plant running again, as well as the construction of a fortified city for workers. As he typed, he wondered where his fellow Head Paladin was. He noticed it was awfully quiet, so he turned on the radio on his Pip-Boy.

Soon after the meeting ended, Sarah was asked to meet in private by her father.

"Dad? What's wrong?" Sarah said sitting down next to her father on the couch.

"Oh Sarah. You're thirty years old and I still think you're a springy 9 year old. Where has the time gone?" Elder Lyons said patting her knee.

"Daddy." She said pointedly. "What's wrong?"

Elder Lyons sighed. "When this whole reconstruction begins, I want you to be in the right place at the right time. We both know that even in a Wasteland-wide election, Daniel would win by a landslide as our next president. Even so, his election will solidify everything we are fighting for. When this happens, I want you to be on his side. You care for him and I know he cares for you. Once again, I ask too much of you." Elder Lyons said looking down.

Sarah was confused. "Daddy? What are you trying to say?"

Elder Lyons breathed a sigh. "Sarah, I want you to marry the Lone Wanderer."

Sarah couldn't believe what she had just heard. "You…you want me to marry him? Why?"

"Don't lie to me, Sarah. I see the way you look at him. I know that you have something for him. When he becomes the leader of the people, you will be his secondary image. Sarah, you're the smartest and bravest woman in the Capital Wasteland. The two of you, together, will bring this country back together." Elder Lyons said meeting her gaze.

"But…I don't even know if he loves me! Dad, the moment he decided to sacrifice himself and start the Purifier, I knew that I loved him. He looked at me in a way I've never seen. He sacrificed himself so that I could live. I almost feel as though I owe him my love." Sarah said looking towards her father who was deep in thought

Finally, Elder Lyons looked at his daughter and smiled putting his hand on her cheek. "My little girl's all grown up. I will talk with him." He said standing up.

Sarah was about to interject but Elder Lyons said, "Say nothing, Sarah. You know he won't say no. I know the way he looks at you."

Sarah seemed mentally exhausted. She was thirty years old and her father was trying to arrange her marriage. How wrong was that? She was just starting to accept that she was in love with the Lone Wanderer, but now her father had to take it to the extreme. Why? Two hours ago, the very last thing on her mind was marriage. What would the Pride think of her? Now she would be an attached weakling. All the respect she earned from the Brotherhood would be gone. Thinking of this she really wanted to go after her father. She shot up from the couch and walked off to find her father.

She walked down the halls of A Cell until she heard the voice of her father; she looked into one of the private living quarters to see her father looking at Daniel silently. She looked at the both of them, and they turned their silent gaze to her. At that moment she knew…he had already told him. She sped off to her office, cheeks beet red. How could her father do this? He caught her 100% off guard, but then again that was no excuse. As leader of the Lyon's Pride, she had to be on guard 100% of the time. The way her father spoke, it's almost like she didn't even have a choice to reject him.

She walked back to her office, sat down, and buried her face in her hands. She was truly embarrassed.

Daniel, on the other hand, was taken aback. Sure, he had been in love with Sarah Lyons since he attempted to sacrifice himself at the Purifier, but he always thought he didn't stand a chance with her. But now her father was telling him to marry his daughter! Things all of a sudden got really awkward. He was only 19 years old, and Elder Lyons wanted to marry his 30 year old daughter? To him, age was just a number, really. But he didn't know if Sarah felt the same. He almost felt as though he needed to talk with her one on one. But not tonight…all of this had made him so very tired. He simply turned off the light, hung up his uniform, and crawled into bed to be overtaken by sleep.

"…News Radio…this is Three Dog! Owwwww!" Daniel was awoken by the alarm on his Pip-Boy that was the radio. "This just in Wastelanders, so listen up! I have just been given a packet of information from the Brotherhood of Steel saying that the process of reconstruction is beginning! That's right folks! Time to come out of our holes and rebuild our lives in this godforsaken territory! From the Offices of the Brotherhood of Steel comes the report that the Lone Wanderer of Vault 101, savior of Megaton, conqueror of Point Lookout, liberator of The Pitt, and a bunch of other names I can't fucking remember. Anyway! He's apparently come up with the logistics and shit behind it!" This made Daniel shoot up in bed. He listened to Three Dog very closely. "The Lone Wanderer and the Brotherhood are asking all citizens of the Wasteland to listen closely in the next coming weeks for important information of how YOU can be 100 percent safe! How great is that! No more raiders or super mutants! Hurry up Lone Wanderer, we want change! We want change! He that's a good catch line folks…we should vote the Lone Wanderer our leader! Because you damn well know he'll get our shit in gear! And also! A message to all you Wastelanders who are making pilgrimages to GNR, the Lone Wanderer is NOT HERE! Those of you who constantly leave gifts should probably make your way to the Citadel. Thanks for listening children! This is Three Dog! Owwwww! You're listening to Galaxy News Radio!"

"What the hell?" Daniel said rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Daniel remembered that Scribe Rothschild said that a washroom with a tub down the hall was safe to bathe in. So he took off his sleeping shirt and underwear. Upon wrapping a towel around his waist, he opened his door and made his way down the hall. His dog tags jingled against his bare chest as he made his way down the corridor. Upon turning the corner he bumped right into the very person he was trying to avoid, Sarah Lyons.

"Ah!" They said in unison.

"Sarah. Hi." Daniel said somewhat in shock.

"Daniel…" She said catching a view of his well defined chest. Sarah immediately discovered that Daniel was a very fit man. However, his smooth defined abdomen was blotted by scrapes and cuts that would have been associated with life in the Wasteland. She blushed.

"Ummm…I was just going to bathe." Daniel said realizing she was checking him out.

"Oh, sorry. Yeah ok." She said and quickly sped off.

For once in a long time, he had been able to fully bathe. It relaxed him. The semi warm water felt amazing. He soon after dressed himself, put on his hat, and walked off to be briefed for the day's meeting.

Although the meeting went very well, Sarah seemed uneasy being forced to sit next to Daniel as the seat she normally sat at was occupied by Paladin Cross. This was a meeting where certain portions of the reconstruction project were divvied out to members of the council by Elder Lyons himself.

To Paladin Tristan was the task of drawing up plans to wire the area with electricity by means of the power plant and numerous downed wires that could be fused. He was also given the task of drawing up plans for underground, fresh water pipelines to provide easy access to fresh water.

Sarah was given the task of drawing up plans to build a "fort" to protect the workers and their families who would be providing labor for the reconstruction was. The Lyon's Pride was given the task of initiating the construction of the "fort" at a break neck pace once plans were approved.

Star Paladin Cross was in charge of accepting and training new volunteers into the Brotherhood to help beef up security when the time came to post Knights at the "fort."

Lastly, Daniel was given the political task. He was to be in contact with Three Dog as well as other Wastelanders. Essentially, he was the 'poster boy' for the entire project. Although he was a little 'peeved' he wasn't able to help out directly with blueprints, he remained satisfied with the rest of the Council's wishes.

The meeting adjourned early and Elder Lyons instructed everyone to go back to their offices or dormitories and begin their tasks.

Sarah returned to her shared office first. She diligently sat down, grabbed a pencil and a sheet of large paper, and began drawing out what she thought of as a well designed fortress city. About twenty minutes later, her heart began to race as she heard the door open. Daniel casually walked inside, shut the door, and removed his hat. "Sarah?" He asked.

She nearly jumped. "Yeah?" She replied looking at him trying to keep herself from blushing.

He smiled. "We need to talk." He said sitting pulling his rolling chair next to her desk, a mere three feet separating the two.

Sorry for the short chapter! I wanted to post something for all you lads soon! I hope you don't think I rushed anything. I think the way I wrote it made it all work out. Let me know what you think! Please leave a REVIEW! Also, let me know what YOU would like to see in the story! As I said before, if it sounds good to me, I'll try my best to make it work, AND I'll give you the credit for the idea! Cheers!

Now would be the time to click the review button!