On their way back through the city Erica requests a stop at Diamond City so that she can rid herself of the jumpsuit that just reminds her of terrible days past. Even though it has many tactical advantages, she just can't bare to wear it any longer. Inside Fallon's Basement, she buys herself a milky pink belly shirt and some black suspenders. She trades the owner for the suit and even earns a pretty penny in return.

"So the next beer's on you, right?" Deacon says while eyeing her caps. "Seriously, how are you so good at that?"

"Charisma classes." She turns to Fallon. "Where may I get changed?"

The owner points to a folding screen in the corner of the room. Erica steps over to it and closes herself off inside. Deacon stands guard as he hears the zipper of her suit glide open. He becomes embarrassed finding himself imagining what she looks like outside of her suit. He has yet to see her without it so whatever she comes out wearing will be a whole new experience for both of them. He feels himself become hard then rests his hands over the front of his pants doing a poor job trying to hide it.

He clears his throat. "So... the open road isn't as bad with a buddy. To think, Desdemona almost chased you away. Sheesh."

Erica tosses the suit onto the screen. He now knows she is completely naked and the only thing separating them is a flimsy piece of wood and some fabric.

"Are you saying you're happy to have me as a partner?"

"Happy as hell. Sincerely glad you joined the Railroad. We can do a lot of good together." He laughs, "Last partner I had wound up going... well, a little insane. I think it was all my show tune medleys."

"Oh really? I've never heard you singing anything?"

"I've heard you." Immediately he realizes he should have confessed that.

"What was that?" She asks peaking her head around the screen to look at him.

"Nothing. I didn't say anything."

"You're such a liar." She continues to change. "The song is called Shoop Shoop by the way. Do you know it?"

"Never heard of it."

"What! No way! By Betty Everett." He doesn't respond. Written in 1964 by Rudy Clark."

He thinks to himself. "Um... nope. Doesn't ring any bells."

"Wow. That... that is just sad."

She finishes up then slowly reveals herself to him. The belly shirt rests just above her navel and the black suspenders hug around her tits so tight, that they actually press her C size breasts together just enough to form a bit of cleavage that sticks out from her low cut collar.

Deacon can't help but comment. "Is that really what you're going to start walking around in?"

"Yeah, why? Is something wrong with it?"

"I wouldn't say wrong per se, but aren't you going to get cold in that?" He rubs the back of his neck embarrassed from what he is about to say. "I mean, you're not even wearing a bra."

"Are you trying to tell me I need to wear one? Are my breasts too saggy for you?" She presents them to him and he shys away from her.

"Not at all. It's just, with that shirt being such a light color, it will only take a few droplets of rain and your..." He closes his eyes imagining her nipples sticking up hard and perky.

"You want to touch them, don't you?" She teases.

He panics, "No, I mean, yes, I mean... shit!"

"Come on Deacon. Lie to me. Tell me how you don't want to feel these soft mounds against the palms of her hands."

"Oh boy, you got me over a barrel here." He can't say he wants to touch them but if he lies and says he doesn't then he would be giving her what she is asking for, and that is not normally his style.

She giggles, "You don't have to get so embarrassed. I'm just teasing."

She grabs her suit then drops it onto Fallon's counter, before they head on their way.

Not long after they return Desdemona hits them with yet another job. This time it is an escort mission. The pick up point is at Fiddler's Green Trailer Estates. A recent runaway synth has been seen taking shelter in the area. Having barely gained back their strength from the last trip, they suit up and head back out.

The trip is not an easy one. Along the way they run into various wild creatures just looking for a chance to pounce on an unsuspecting meal. They blast past bloatflies, molerats, and radstags wearing them out before they can even reach their destination. Late in the afternoon they do finally arrive. They glance around the camper park but find no signs of life. Dead ghouls lay scattered on the ground.

"Someone was definitely here," says Deacon. "Where they are now is anyone's guess."

Erica notices a suspiciously closed up camper in the distance. "Come on. I think I see something."

They approach the camper's large, sliding, door. She knocks. There is no response. She takes out a bobby pin and works to get the lock of the door open. It takes her a moment but she is able to find the tumbler and shift it free from the lock.

"With skills like that, reminded me to show you a few places," Deacon says admiring her.

She hushes him then slowly pushes the door open. Through the small gap she peaks inside. There is no one. Just a small kitchen/bedroom setup that looks like it has not been touched since the bombs feel. She pushes the door all the way open to allow Deacon to see for himself.

"Nothing," Erica states. "The synth must have moved on."

"Agreed." Deacon sighs. "Well, we best make it back before it gets too late."

As luck would have it, a freak thunderstorm rolls over them and the sky becomes black. The two of them look at each other knowing they are about to be stuck in the middle of nowhere.

"So what do we do now?" Erica asks.

Deacon looks to the camper. "Trailer parks are a decent place to shack up for the night."

She gives him a smile. "Are you saying you want to shack with me tonight, Deacon?"

He gets all shy again not being use to someone actually playing along with his comments. "Well, I didn't really mean it like that. Oh whatever. Let's just get inside."

Rain begins to crash down over them. They quickly shut and lock the door before they end up soaked. Erica looks to Deacon still with lust in her eyes.

"So, here we are. Alone, with a bed," Erica says sensually.

"What has gotten into you, Eric?"

She laughs taking a step back from him. "I don't know. Ever since I took myself out of that vault suit... I just feel... I don't know. Freer I guess. I realize I have been acting weird and I just want to try to get back to my usual self. To move on. You know?"

"Can you ever truly escape your past? God, I hope so." Deacon's face falls sorrowful.

"Is there something you want to tell me?"

He shakes his head. "It's just, the safer I'm supposed to feel, the more paranoid I get."

"What do you mean safer? Are you talking about with me?"

He removes his gear then takes a seat at the small kitchen table. Erica immediately joins him by taking the seat across from him. He looks down at his hand and begins to fiddle with his fingers.

"I'm new to this "friends" thing." He looks up at her. She still can't get a read on him through his glasses. The tone of his voice shifts from serious to his more normal, joke like state. "There's perks right? Like, can I take out a loan? Say, 100,000 caps. I'll get it back to you. Promise."

Erica laughs but she takes his comment literally. "If that is how you want to define our relationship then sure. I can give you all the caps you need."

"Are you serious," he asks still half joking but he can tell she doesn't seem to be.

"Yes. Anything you want, I'll buy it for you the next time we're at a market."

"Wow. Thanks." They are quiet for a moment. "You know I was kidding... right?"

"I know, but I'm not." She places her hand over his and rubs her thumb along his fingers. "I want you to be happy Deacon. You deserve that. So I am willing to do whatever it takes to make it so. Just let me know."

"What do friends even do together these days, anyway? Poker? Camp fires? Mani petis?"

"I'd prefer if we could just talk. About us, about who we are. Our wants, our dreams." Erica's eyes fall to the table and her voice becomes tight. "It's been a long time since I've had that."

"I'm sorry. It never crossed my mind that you were once with someone." She pulls away from him and rubs her hands together as if she has just betrayed someone by touching him. "I didn't think that you would have had time considering you're so young."

"I had it all once," she mutters as she sets her hands against her face. She grits her teeth, "But those bastards..." Tears swell up in her eyes.

Deacon rubs her shoulder to try to sooth her. "Hey, hey, hey. It's okay. You got away. They can't hurt you now."

"I know it's just... they took everything from me."

The tears break the surface of her eyelids and now there is no taking them back. She holds her hand up to her belly and closes her eyes.

Deacon looks to her hand. He noticed she always places it in the same spot. "Why do you do that? Does something hurt? Do you need medical attention?"

"No." She wipes the snot from her nose. "I just wish every time that I put my hand there, I will feel a kick. But there is always nothing."

Deacon becomes shocked. He could have never guessed with how slender she is that she had ever been with child.

"You were pregnant?"

She nods her head. "Yeah, about four months."

"So what happened?"

She takes in a deep breath. "Death. So much death."

"Look. If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to."

"No, no. I want to. It's just... where to start." She clears her throat. "I guess I can tell you that a little over a year ago, all this happened because we were celebrating our graduation. My classmates and I. It was also our eighteenth birthday. Saying that now, it seems obvious that we should have known something was up. I mean, a group of twenty, all graduating at the same time, all on the same day. But back in the vault, we all just thought it was how things were. We all grew up together."

"It sounds strange, but at the same time it sounds kind of nice. To have all those people in your life throughout an entire childhood. Did you all get along?"

"Oh fuck no. There were clicks, rivalries, you know. The whole growing up thing. As far as I have learned is the only thing different about it was the lack of tolerance for it. Word got around about who liked or hated who, but it was always kept hush hush because our mentors, the scientists, would punish those caught doing so. And believe me, they did not go easy on those who spoke of anything except classwork and theories."

"Yikes. I guess that couldn't have been very fun."

"It was normal. It's all we knew. But that doesn't mean we always obeyed the rules either."

"Oh yeah, now that is what I'm talking about."

Erica perks up a bit. "So as you can guess there was this guy. Since we were not allowed to really talk to each other about our attraction, we subtly made it our mission to meet up one night when we knew all the mentors would be busy with a meeting. We took refugee inside a utility closet of all places, hoping that would be one place where eyes and cameras couldn't find us." Her eyes roll to the back of her head as she recollects. "Oh, and the things we did in there... I swear it felt like nothing else in the world mattered. There was only us and that moment. All our studies, our skill sets, or classmates. None of it seemed to have any significance anymore. But we both knew the sad reality was, that once the mentors were to find out what we had done, he and I would never speak to each other again."

"Oh come on. They couldn't really force you guys to never talk. You just kept meeting in secret right?"

Erica shakes her head. "We never spoke another word after that day. Not even when I found out I was pregnant."

"I'm so sorry. That must have been very hard for you."

"I was mostly scared at first. I didn't understand what was happening to me. I felt sick all the time, my muscles and bones ached. I didn't want to say anything because I knew that the scientists would want to know what happened and punish not only myself but him as well. I couldn't let that happen. I held out as long as I could, but then the kicking started." She looks to Deacon who is staring at her with his lips shaped as if to linger on every word. She still wishes she could see his eyes.

"I take it that is when you finally went in for a check up?"

"Yeah. They ran some tests and scanned my belly to confirm that I had a little human growing inside me. I didn't believe it until they showed me a scan. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. I was creating life inside of me. I didn't even know that was possible."

"They never taught you about that stuff in your studies?"

"Not at all. I mean, we did learn anatomy but they never taught us anything about sex or reproduction. I guess we all just thought we somehow existed. We never questioned or at least I never questioned how."

"I can't imagine what that must be like. To grow up in a place where all you know is what some scientists want you to know. No way to gain information on your own. No outsiders to give you a different perspective. It's crazy frankly."

"Now to get back to what I was saying about graduation, is that we were all ranked by our test scores. Those who ranked the highest would go on to be mentors themselves, and since being a mentor was the highest rank we knew, it was what everyone shrived for."

"And what happened to those who didn't score the highest?"

"No one knew. We all mostly assumed we would just move on to new things. We didn't realize the terror that awaited behind those tests results. Basically it came down to two groups. You were smart enough to become a mentor, or you were expendable."

"What? You mean they just killed anyone who wasn't at the top of the class?"

She nods. Her body shakes with anxiety. "And I was one of the people at the top. The father of my child... was not."

She balls herself up and buries her face into her knees. She cries uncontrollably. Deacon stands up from his seat and steps over to her to wrap her in his arms. He becomes infatuated by the floral scent of her hair that also has a hit of metal to it. She is so soft and warm, he wishes he could just absorb all of her pain so that she doesn't have to bare it. He rocks her back and forth against his chest until she is able to calm herself enough to continue.

"When we found out what was going on, those of us left alive fought the mentors for control of the vault. A lot of people died. Most people didn't seem like they wanted to fight but I guess everyone was just so scared as to what lay beyond the vault that the idea of leaving was never an option. I wanted to though. I wanted to be away from those pricks as far as I could. So I did what I had to to escape."

"That is a very brave thing you did. Not many could find the courage to stand up to a higher power like that. But you did, and now you're free."

"Yeah, but I am not so sure if it was all worth it. During the fight, one of the scientists stabbed me in the abdomen with a scalpel. It literally felt as if my entire lower half was going to spill out from the wound. I had to keep pressure hard on the area or I was certain I was going to die. As soon as I was through the doors, I searched for any signs of life on the surface. Anyone who could help save me but more importantly my baby. Lucky there was a settlement just outside the boundaries of the school. I hurried over to them and they kindly took me in. They were the ones who explained to me that I had a large hole that cut deep into my abdomen. Including my uterus. There was an infection, and that infection spread to the fetus." She begins to cry uncontrollably again. "They couldn't save it."

Deacon begins to cry himself but he tries with all his might to hold back. "I'm so sorry. So so sorry."

She pulls away from his arms to look up at him. "What's worse is when I found out that my baby, would have been the first new born from that vault in over two hundred years."

"What do you mean?"

She shifts herself to stand up and Deacon takes a step back to give her some room. She lowers the hip of her pants and reveals to him a tattoo that is imprinted in black just above her V-line. It is just a simple number eleven in roman fount.

"You see this?" She asks pointing to the tattoo. "Can you guess what it stands for?" He shrugs his shoulders. "It's simple math. Two hundred and ten divided by eighteen. It means that every eighteen years, those bastards would grow twenty new specimens to place inside their world just so they could create the smartest, attractive, and physically fit humans in the world. We were all just puppets to them. Something to pluck DNA from and then just toss away in the trash." She lowers her head. "Though I am fake, just a product of life, my baby was real. It would have represented everything good that life has to offer. A miracle. But now that it is gone, my life is meaningless."

"That's not true, Eric. You can have that feeling again. You can start over."

"That's not entirely so. Every doctor I have been to says that there is a very low probability that I could ever get pregnant again. Between the scar tissue and the damage from the infection, they just don't see it happening."

"Egh, you know doctors. Their just quacks. All of 'em."

"Thanks, Deacon. I appreciate you trying to cheer me up."

"Oh is that what I was doing?" He jokes.

"You're such a jerk," she chuckles. "So what about you?"

"About me?"

"Yeah. I mean, you can try to hide it all you want but I can tell there is something weighing on your mind."

"The only thing on my mind... is dinner. I'm starving."

Erica can tell he is once again dodging the question. "Alright then."

Deacon grabs his pack and pulls out some cans that Erica can only assume is dog food considering the labels are no longer legible. He pops open the can and the smell is even worse than she imagined.

"Oh jeez. What is that?" She waves her hand to try to rid the air of the odor.

"What? It's just canned meat."

"No, no, no. This is our first meal alone together and I will not have it spoiled by the smell of old gravy, and... I don't even know what."

She takes the can from him, unlocks the front door, and tosses it out into the storm.

"So then what are we suppose to eat?" Deacon protest.

"This isn't my first time on the road you know. I will cook us something worth eating. Just because we live in a post apocalypses doesn't mean we need to stoop eating anything."

She searches the camper for anything edible. She finds a few preserved boxes of pasta and rice, then she digs into her bag and pulls out a can of sauce along with some canned chicken. Deacon admires the view as he studies her every movement as she works in the tiny kitchen. Her hips sway as she shuffles a frying pan over the electric coil. Her beasts bounce ever so slightly with each of her movements. He can even see that her nipples have become fully hard from the cold, just as he tried to warn her about. Once again he feels himself becoming hard. He wants so badly to press his crotch against the soft mounds of her butt. To cup her breasts delicately in each hand, as he kisses at the nape of her neck. She soaks a cloth under the sink then looks over her shoulder at him.

"Do you mind wiping down the table?"

It takes him a second to snap back into reality. "Oh, sure. No problem."

She holds the cloth out to him and he steps over to take it from her. As she continues to get their meal ready, he uses the cloth to clear all the dust from the table then tosses it back in the sink.

"Alright. It's ready," Erica announces.

Deacon returns to his seat as she brings over two bowls filled to the brim with the home cooked concoction. She sets the two bowls down on the table then rejoins him. Deacon takes a moment to appreciate the presentation. It is just stir fry, but it looks more appetizing than anything he has eaten in a long time.

"This looks delicious," he compliments.

"Egh, any primitive mind can see that it is just an amalgamation of oryza sativa, pasta corta, and gallus gallus domesticus." She looks at Deacon with eyes that demand conformation from him.

He has no clue what she just said. "Uh, right." He answers politely.

She laughs, "I'm just fucking with you."

He laughs back still feeling a bit overwhelmed. "Oh. Of course."

"Thanks by the way." Her eyes glisten as she smiles at him. "Now dig in before it gets cold."

"Yes ma'am," he obeys happily.

They help themselves to a few more servings considering they would not be leaving any time soon. Once stuffed, they sit in silence for a bit just enjoying the sensation of having full bellies. Deacon finds the moment to become more and more awkward the longer they remain quiet.

"That was really something. Thanks for making dinner."

"Any time."

"So I guess all that's left to do now is sleep. Like two bears preparing for hibernation. You can have the bed. I'll just sleep on the couch."

He shifts to stand up from the table but Erica places her hand on his arm to stop him.

"Deacon," she says softly.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"I have to ask you something." He nods a bit worried what she is about to say. "I just... I'd like to know... is there someone special in your life? A girlfriend? Or even a boyfriend? Anyone?" She looks to him waiting impatiently for an answer.

"My one true love... is... curling up with a good book and a cold beer."

She sighs, "Come on Deacon. Can you please be serious with me for once? This is something I would really like to know about you."

"I don't know what you want me to say?"

She stares at him still with eyes that beg for a proper response. He doesn't give her one.

"Okay, fine," she huffs. "I guess I'll just say goodnight." She stands up from the table and heads towards the bedroom.

"Good nig-"

Before he can finish she slides the bedroom door closed aggressively. Both of them decide it is best not to push each other any further and head straight to bed. After a few minutes Deacon can hear her humming her favorite tune that fades to silence about half way through. It comforts him to know she has fallen asleep and soon drifts off himself.