Moira's footsteps echoed through the metal scaffolding of one of Megaton's numerous catwalks, her weathered, work boots clunking along with her meandering stride as she hummed tunelessly. She'd been walking around for about ten minutes after she'd discovered that her erstwhile helper, Chatterbox, had disappeared.
It probably had something to do with the fact that she'd promised to feed the girl sometime around noon. Of course the promise had been made while Moira was elbows deep in an engine she didn't fully comprehend, but that was neither here nor there and Moira had yet to connect Chatterbox's disappearance with her own scatterbrained focus.
But the sun had set and eventually it was Moira's own hunger that had forced her away from the components and circuit boards. The engine really was a magnificent beast of machinery. Moira hoped that it would be able to assist Walter in his upkeep of Megaton's water supply. The engine could certainly power the pumps and its built in computational systems could manage the water pressure for the whole town.
Seeing as the last help Walter had received with the pipes was, well, it was from the Lone Wanderer herself once upon a time. Everyone had been quite shocked to see it too. Shortly after she'd arrived in town (though she might not use 'arrived' after Stockholm shot her), Walter had asked her in passing for some assistance. While no one in town quite feared her at the time, she hadn't managed to ingratiate herself either. To most she was just a bitch with a hair trigger temper.
Then the water was working again.
Moira supposed that could have certainly been the root of everything in the town at least. The Wanderer had fixed the pipes. She'd just done it and while no one could be sure if it was out of the goodness of her heart or what, they certainly had running water again.
Her aimless walk took a sharp turn as she thought of the Wanderer and she started marching her way up towards her home. She couldn't think of it as anything other than her home even if the girl in question hadn't been seen in months. She doubted that her particular home would be given away anytime soon.
Unlike Jericho's. The hand written for-sale sign Simms had nailed to the door of Jericho's former domicile stood loud and proud even in the cool darkness of the evening. But not the Wanderer's. No… Moira thought Megaton had enough respect to leave that to her for whenever she eventually rolled back through town. Not to mention there was a robot armed with a flamethrower puttering about the inside that wouldn't let anyone else near the domicile.
So it was to Moira's delighted surprise that she saw Wadsworth floating about outside the home, his robotic arms flying around trying to corral two small dogs.
Chatterbox was seated on the ground staring up at the robotic butler with rapt attention as he rambled on and on. "And so I look to her and say, 'Mistress, what on earth are you doing?' and she turns to me with a grenade in one hand and a bloody rag in the other and says, 'Cleaning.' Hah! Haha!" Chatterbox grinned as the robot's spherical body shook with mechanized laughter. She didn't even notice Moira approach and plop down next to her until Wadsworth saluted her with one of his arms and cordially greeted her. "Good evening, Miss Brown! A pleasure as always to see you."
"Good to see you as well, Wadsworth," Moira returned as Chatterbox saw her and immediately started to clamber into her lap. Moira ruffled her hair and said, "Are you bothering Wadsworth?"
The robotic laughed once more, his eye sockets rolling. "Not at all, mum. Not even a peep from the young miss!"
Well, that would follow, Moira thought with a slight frown and a shrug. But Chatterbox didn't seem to mind the comment. Shifting Chatterbox to be more comfortably placed in her lap, Moira asked, "So she's just been keeping you company than? It's so nice to see you out and about!"
Wadsworth mechanized limbs all retracted slightly and the robot's thruster coughed once. "Well, yes, I mean, of course, mum," he stuttered to explain. "It's just- I heard these filthy mongrels-" His eyes shot up and he quickly corrected, "these fine specimens barking and well, I thought it might have been…"
The robot trailed off and his limbs drifted loosely again. The pups continued to try and bite at the robot, but without the constant flickering motion they lost interest and drifted over to Chatterbox and Moira. The brown one tried to climb up onto Moira as well, but Chatterbox swatted him on the nose and pointed imperiously at the ground. With a whine the dog sank onto his haunches even as his sister sat primly on Moira's opposite side.
Wadsworth chuckled at the sight. "She'll be a terror once she has them fully trained," he observed. "Just like her."
Moira's eyebrows rose a little at the robot's thoughts. Wadsworth had always been a little eccentric, but free opinions like that were quite far from his original programming. Moira reached forward and took hold of one of his metal pincers. "She'll come back. She always does."
All three of his eyes zoomed in on the hand holding his and he was quiet for a moment. "Thank you, mum," he said softly. He snatched his hand away and with a burst of fire from his thruster bounced into the air. "But of course she will," he cheered more vigorously. "And there's so much to be done still!" He rotated on his axis and floated back towards the house. "Clean linens, clean floors, clean windows! Clean, clean, clean. And of course I'll have to try to get the stench of that four legged beast out of her bed. Don't know why she lets it sleep with her."
The robot's energy steeped off into dark mutterings about the Wanderer's dog as he retreated back into the house and closed the door after him. Chatterbox waved goodbye from Moira's lap before craning her neck back to look up at Moira. With a finger Moira bopped her on the nose and lifted her to her feet.
"Come on you, I promised you food like hours ago," she said, pushing herself up and taking Chatterbox's hand.
With hands swinging in between them and the dogs leading the way, they made their back down through the walkways of Megaton deeper and deeper into the crater until they touched dirt. The warm glow of the Brass Lantern illuminated the crater in a soft, orange light. The dinner rush must have just ended because the tables were mostly empty other than Billy and Maggie Creel seated together and what looked like Lucy West slumped at the bar. The Stahl siblings were scattered around the restaurant.
Leo gave a friendly wave and "Hiya, ladies!" as they walked up. Andy only nodded courteously and went back to the glasses he was drying. The door into the restaurant banged open as Jenny backed out through it, a crate of various bottles of Nuka and liquor clinking around in it. With some effort she set it down and slid it under the bar.
"Evening, Moira," she called, standing up with a groan and massaging her shoulder. "Bit late for a meal, isn't it?"
Moira shrugged with a grin and sat down on a stool next to Lucy. Chatterbox scrabbled up on the stool one more over before sidling across and depositing herself back in Moira's lap.
"Never too late for a healthy meal! Especially when you're busy growing up big and strong!" Moira patted Chatterbox's stomach. While Chatterbox was by no means 'well-fed', she certainly wasn't anywhere near as gaunt as she'd been when she'd arrived on Megaton's doorstep.
"You forgetting to feed that kid, Moira?" Billy called from his table. He was leaning back from his table, several empty plates littering it. His one eye narrowed suspiciously at the inventor. Despite her being the only one to volunteer to take Chatterbox in, Billy Creel never gave her any slack. He was in fact one of the most vocally dubious of her ability to raise a child. It probably had something to with his own adopted daughter, Maggie, who sat across from him.
But his constant jabs never got to Moira. It was just Billy's way of looking out for Chatterbox and Moira was perfectly fine with that. Even if others grew tired of his constant remarks.
"Billy Creel, you keep your opinions to yourself," Jenny warned from behind the bar. "Moira's doing just fine with the girl." Billy put a hand over his heart, suitably chagrined for his behavior and turned back to Maggie. Jenny fixed him with a stare for a couple more seconds before looking back to Moira. "I'm done for the evening, Moira, so if you two need food, talk to Leo."
Moira nodded enthusiastically as Jenny untied her apron and lit up a cigarette, stepping out from around the bar to relax. Leo stepped up in Jenny's place and asked, "What can I get for you?"
"Whatever's hot," Moira replied, once more trying to shift Chatterbox, but the girl stubbornly kept going limp so she could remain where she was. Leo chuckled at the behavior and whirled around to the grill to scoop up a few plates of whatever had been hunted that day.
"And here we are," he said, spinning back with two plates full of steaming hot Instamash and grilled molerat. He slid the plates down in front of them before feigning like an idea had just struck. "Ah! But I almost forgot." Leo bent under the bar and made a show of rummaging around for cans and stood back up with two in his hands.
He held them out to Chatterbox, one a can of Cram and the other a small tin of Abraxo cleaner. "I always forget… which of these is your favorite?" His grin faltered slightly as Chatterbox studied the two, a look of consternation on her face.
She pursed her lips and frowned at the foreign letters until Moira lightly tapped her on her left hand. Chatterbox glanced up at her before snatching the can on the left. Immediately she smiled as her fingers recognized the can's opening mechanism.
Moira thanked Leo who bowed graciously. He turned to Lucy. "And what about you, Lucy… anything else for you, or are you closing out for the evening?" he asked, placing his hand on the bar next to Lucy's head.
"Gemme another round," Lucy slurred, the stench of alcohol permeating her breath.
"I think you've had enough," Andy said, fixing Leo with a stern look and shaking his head ever so slightly.
Lucy pushed herself up onto an elbow. The struggle causing her to sway. Both Chatterbox and Moira leaned away as it looked like the blonde was going to topple right from her seat.
"I said another," Lucy repeated, emphasizing her point with a fist to the bar. "Bitch takes my money and disappears, I deserve to get a little *hic* drunk." She tried to reach forward over the bar, but her motions kicked her own stool out from under her and dropped to the ground.
"Fuck it!" she shouted from flat on her back.
Billy hopped to his feet to help her up, grabbing one arm as Leo came around the bar and grabbed her other.
"Enough of that language, Lucy. Kids are present," Billy chided, but Lucy wasn't having any of that as the two men tried to pull her to a chair.
"Fuck you, Billy! And fuck her too in every fucking hole!" Lucy grumbled loudly as she stumbled against them.
Moira's eyebrows shot up as Lucy ripped into a drunken tirade, Chatterbox perfectly mimicking the expression. "Is she going to be alright?" Moira asked out of the side of her mouth to Andy.
The eldest Stahl sibling sighed and frowned sternly as his brother and Billy tried to prop Lucy up. "She hired the Wanderer to check on her family in Arefu weeks ago. Hasn't heard anything since."
If anyone had been paying attention to anything other than Lucy's antics they would have noticed Chatterbox stop copying Moira's faces and look to Andy with eager attention at the mention of the Wanderer.
"Well, no one ever knows when she comes in right?" Moira asked, puzzled at how extreme Lucy's reaction was.
"Traders came in with news," Andy replied, continuing to wash dishes. "Arefu was wiped out. One survivor and he says a woman fitting the Wanderer's description was the last one to pass through." He set the plate he was scrubbing down and braced his hands on the bar. "Said she threatened him."
Moira rolled her eyes and giggled. "Well, that's not unusual at all," she said. "She threatens everybody." Moira made another bemused face and started tucking into her meal.
Andy dismissed her incredulity and went back to his dishes, hoping the conversation was over and he could get on with his evening, but Lucy was still shouting at Billy and Leo.
"That fucking whore killed my family!" she yelled. "I know she did! I know it!" She tried to shake Leo and Billy away, but failed miserably. She turned her irate eye on Billy. "Oh, come the fuck on Billy, it's not like you like her!"
Billy shrugged and kept a restraining hand on Lucy. "Doesn't change the fact that you're drunk. I mean, I wouldn't put cold-blooded murder too far out of her wheelhouse, but-"
The sound of Jenny's hand slapping loudly against a table cut him off and drew everyone's attention over to the shadowed corner of the restaurant that she'd been trying to relax in. She was glaring fiercely across the restaurant.
"I don't care what you think you know…" she said, her voice low and warning. "There will be no bad mouthing the Lone Wanderer in my restaurant."
At the bar Andy nodded in agreement as did Leo. The Stahl's were uniform on this and the look on Jenny's face dared anyone to go against them on it. Billy raised his hands in surrender and made his way back to his seat.
That just left Lucy.
"Oh, come on, Jenny. Just cause that bitch stopped Jericho from dropping your pants, doesn't mean-"
"Lucy! Shut your fucking mouth!"
To everyone's surprise it was Andy who finally snapped. The usually reserved Stahl stood fuming at the bar, his face twisted in anger. Even in her drunken condition, Lucy was so stunned that she slowly closed her mouth and lapsed into silence.
The bar stilled in the silence. Even Moira had stopped eating after the outburst, her generally unstoppable cheer subdued somewhat.
Lucy was stepping on some mighty shaky ground by bringing up Jenny's very near rape at Jericho's hands. It wasn't something that the town of Megaton liked brought up because it didn't particularly paint any of them in a favorable light.
She should know, she'd been there just like everyone else.
It was no secret that Jericho could handle himself in a fight. Megaton had come to rely on him as a security measure. His past as a raider had earned him some credibility in the Wasteland and that kept some danger far away from the town. Evergreen Mills seemed to just let them alone as a sign of some sort of respect.
Anyone else stupid enough to come calling in the town or try and cause trouble, well, Jericho was one of the meanest, sons of bitches around and he was always ready to throw down. So he was a hell of a deterrent.
That led to him getting an overinflated ego and sense of worth. Jericho had a house nicer than most of the residents in Megaton. A place to lay his head that was nicer than the Wasteland, so he'd never be tempted to go raiding again. He drank for free at Moriarty's and ate what he wanted at the Brass Lantern, not that either business were fans of that.
Point being, Jericho got used to having his way within the walls of Megaton, so after one evening of drinks at the Saloon, he came calling on the Brass Lantern and decided he wanted something that wasn't on the menu.
Past this, Moira couldn't say for certain what had happened, she'd been fiddling with a new contraption to filter radiation by the bomb. Other members of the town filled it in from there. Jericho wasn't exactly secret about his advances. But no one made a move to stop him. They were all too nervous to try, afraid of pissing him off and sending him on his way. Instead, most people just started to give the restaurant space and back away.
Jenny's brothers were the only ones who got in his way, but Jericho had dropped them in a matter of seconds. Neither man was an accomplished fighter and Jericho was ruthless.
To Jenny, it had about seemed that was it, that Jericho was going to have his way with her. Except there was still one person seated at the bar, the new girl in town, the Lone Wanderer.
She had just kept eating as Jericho made his way through Andy and Leo, ignoring the scuffle. But as soon as he'd so much as brushed a finger along Jenny's arm, she had reached over the bar and hauled him across it.
It was the sound of Jericho slamming into the ground that had finally snapped Moira away from her work. She watched as the Wander calmly placed the knife she'd been using to eat at his throat and lean down to whisper something in his ear.
Sheriff Simms had intervened before blood was spilled, but Moira (and the rest of the town for that matter) had no delusions that the Wanderer was more than prepared to slit Jericho's throat that day. That was only the first of many times that she'd tried to kill him.
Since then any bad mouthing of the Lone Wanderer was sacrilegious at the Brass Lantern. At least it had been up until Lucy opened her drunken mouth.
"Wait until she saves your neck, Lucy," Jenny hissed. "Oh wait she has. Multiple times. So show some respect." She turned her shoulder and went back to her cigarette.
No one wanted to move even as the chilled moment started to just become an uncomfortable silence as everyone did their best to ignore one another. Except Chatterbox who was glancing around in frustration as no one would talk more.
She crossed her arms with a huff and slid deeper into Moira's lap, slouching with a fierce frown. Moira tried to coax her with a bite of food, but Chatterbox refused to open her mouth and swatted the morsel away.
As her hand brushed it though, a monstrous rumble tore through the air like thunder. Plates and glasses shook and the sound could be felt more than heard. Chatterbox stared in shocked wonder at her hand even as everyone else looked to the southwest where the sound had come from.
A red and orange streak was lighting up the sky, but the sun had set several hours prior. Another explosion could be heard and the light intensified.
Around the square and all across Megaton, doors opened and their residents stepped out cautiously, hesitation etched onto their sleepy faces.
"The hell was that?" Leo Stahl asked, looking to his brother. Andy shook his head, equally stunned.
"Wait- what are you-" Moira cried as Chatterbox slid off of her and scampered away. "Chatterbox!"
Everyone watched as the girl dashed off towards the wall. They looked at one another before running after. The people of Megaton flocked to their wall, massing around the stairs and ladders leading up its side. Ahead of them, Chatterbox nimbly climbed up the exposed bars and grates, pulling her body up even as the adults behind her lagged behind.
She pulled herself up and over the lip onto Stockholm's sniper platform. The man was standing wide-eyed as he looked out into the Wasteland, his rifle lying forgotten by his chair.
"My god…" he gasped, his eyes locked on the horizon.
Slowly, the top of the wall filled with more and more. Moira, found her way to Chatterbox and picked her up, holding the girl tight to her chest. The Stahls, Billy Creel, Lucas Simms, even Moriarty, they all stood there, all equally silent.
Below them, the residents of the shanty were leaving their tents and amassing as well, a ripple of apprehension running through the former slaves as they collectively tensed.
Even the townspeople could feel it, the sense of creeping foreboding.
Tenpenny Tower was burning.
A/N: Oh me. Oh my. What's this? An event that wasn't seen in "Shattered Illusions"? Things be getting cray-cray after this.