"What do you mean 'he's not here'?" Kathleen asked, her voice tight.
"He went to the Jefferson Memorial. I told him not to but he went anyway." Dr. Li said, her arms crossed," I don't suggest following him, Project Purity is going to get him killed, and you if you pursue him."
"Project Purity?"
"We were trying to purify all the water in the river; James, your mother and I. It was going very well, until you were born and your mother died, then it all just fell apart." Kathleen could feel the accusation in Li's voice. She wrung her hands, looking up at Charon, who loomed behind her.
"I think we'll go, then."
"Go ahead," Li said, turning around and writing on a clipboard," don't let me stop you."
The pair walked across the metal bridge, and Kathleen could see the Jefferson Memorial in the distance," Maybe he's still there?" She mused, turning to look at Charon, who just shrugged.
Super Mutants confronted them on the walkways leading to the building, and the two quickly wiped them out, with minimal injuries. Charon had taken a bullet to the arm, and Kathleen had gotten scratched up when she dived out of the way of a nail board.
"Charon, come here, let me look at that." She said.
"I'm fine. Let's proceed." He said, and Kathleen frowned, grabbing his other arm, despite the almost horrified look he gave her, and pulled him closer to her. The bullet had ripped right through his forearm, so she wouldn't have to worry about pulling it out.
"I was being trained to take my dad's place as the vault doctor, so I know what I'm doing." She shrugged off her backpack, pulling out gauze and medical tape. She pressed down on it with a piece of the gauze, apologizing when Charon winced. It took a bit before the bleeding stopped, and she could clean it out with water and wrap it up. When she was done she had to rip the tape with her teeth, since she didn't have a pair of scissors. "You good?"
The ghoul nodded, and the two carried on, Charon pulling open the heavy door into the memorial and letting Kathleen duck under his arm, aiming her gun down the illuminated hallway. Then, Charon closed the door, and they were cloaked in darkness.
They could hear the distant voices of super mutants arguing and yelling. Charon looked over to Kathleen and pressed a finger to his lips, inching forward. She stayed behind him until they reached a terminal. The mutants hadn't noticed them yet, so Kathleen darted to the terminal, ignoring Charon's hissed," What are you doing?"
She quickly hacked into the terminal, the green light illuminating her face as she crinkled her eyebrows. Charon glared at her, coming up beside her and watching the terminal screen, his eyes flicking back to the mutants.
"I'm almost done." Kathleen murmured, quickly turning off the turret in the main room," We won't have to worry about that, now." She said, turning her head and grinning at the ghoul.
Charon nodded," Alright, let's go, then."
The two quickly darted into the room, taking down the super mutants quickly. More would hear the gunshots from the back and run up to them, shouting and waving nail boards and firing their weapons.
"Get down!" Charon yelled, pushing Kathleen down behind cover as a frag grenade was thrown at them. He threw himself over her until the grenade went off, the closeness alien to her. Then, he jumped up, firing his combat shotgun and taking out the last two mutants.
When he looked down Kathleen was gone, and he saw the door to the Rotunda closing behind her. In less than a minute she screamed, and Charon's breath caught in his throat. He sprinted to the door, throwing it open and running up the steps. He could see Kathleen in the Rotunda, ducking behind a console as a mutant swung a nail board. It broke in half against the metal, and the mutant roared.
"Charon!" She screamed, fumbling with her gun. Before she could even fire it, Charon came up behind her, bullets flying and lodging in the mutants head.
The mutant fell back with a thump, and Kathleen scrambled to her feet, brushing off her armor.
"Are you okay?" He asked, reloading and putting his shotgun back on his back.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." Her voice was small, and her face was pale. She put her gun on her back and stepped up to the console at the top of the steps. There were several holodisks scattered across it. They were labeled, so she sat down with her back against the console and listened to each one, and watched Charon walk around the Rotunda, then back out into the gift shop, then back into the Rotunda, checking over and over.
She couldn't tell, but the ghoul was experiencing a rare bought of anxiety. She could've died, and he'd never once lost an employer. Of course, he'd been sold, traded, lost in poker matches, and his contract had been taken by force once or twice, which didn't always end well for his former employer, but one had never died under his protection. If he hadn't gotten there in time, if she hadn't screamed, she would've been dead, and then what? It'd been so long since he'd been told the rules of his contract, and he had no idea what to do if his employer was killed, with no one to take his contract.
He sighed, pinching whatever skin was left between his patchy eyebrows. He didn't need to worry so much; it had been a close call, but he gotten there nonetheless, and the girl was still alive. That's what mattered.
"Charon." He turned, erasing any signs of emotion from his face as she stepped up to him, her wiping tears from her eyes. Hearing her father's voice again, and the disappointment of another false lead proved too much, emotionally, for her. "He went to Vault 112. I think I figured out where it is on my pip-boy, so we can head there now, if you're ready."
The ghoul nodded, following behind her as they scavenged through the rooms, then left the Memorial.