Ellie looked torn having to choose between both MacCready and Michael. On one hand, she got to spend time with an old friend of hers who so happened to be another of her species, on the other she could stay with MacCready and they could get to know each other more. There was still so much she wanted to know about his life; all they had spoken about was little of the past and only little of his life now and what was going on. It was a tough choice, one she wished she didn't have to make. She decided to try and be reasonable and somehow have both.
"… Michael, why don't you stick a-around here? I'm certain there's… something we can figure out to do," Ellie tried to reason. "Surely you d-don't need to take me with your f-friends…"
"You want me to hang around Sanctuary?" Michael raised a brow and scratched his chin, the hand slowly moving to his head to scratch there, "no offence, Ellie, but… Sanctuary Hills is pretty boring."
MacCready gave a glare. He really didn't like the attitude that Michael seemed to carry with him. He was that sort of guy who you knew secretly hated everything and clearly didn't want to stick around anywhere you wanted – and surely wouldn't – if it wasn't for some girl. Some girl that was actually rather special, at least to MacCready. Michael probably only wanted her to stick around with him for 'their species' sake' since they both were the last of their kind (at least that was the thought). And MacCready wasn't getting a good vibe on that either, Michael seemed to have something else planned. He didn't know what, but he could definitely feel something – a second intention behind most of his words.
Michael looked ready to just pounce and take her away when a sudden laser shot near his feet. He flapped his wings, floating back a few feet with the powerful gusts his large wings delivered to the ground; kicking up some dust along with it. MacCready looked up to spy Preston and Nate; Preston holding his laser rifle up, aiming it at Michael. Nate had a double barrel shotgun out, looking ready to shoot at Michael's raiders.
"Do we have a problem here?" Preston spoke out, obviously ready to shoot the Night Angel. He was possibly surprised to see another of Ellie's species, but the fact that he was rolling with Raiders turned on the defensive mode and he brought out his gun. Nate didn't seem too concerned, ready to fire at the small group at any time. The only thing keeping him from it would have to be the fact that none of them had raised their weapons and began shooting back.
"No… we don't… as a matter of fact, my group and I were just going…" Michael grumbled, stepping back. He flapped his wings and looked at Ellie before turning and signaling for his Raider group to start moving, looking to head to Concord and then to wherever else they'd go. MacCready sighed with relief, hearing Ellie sigh the same way at the same time.
"You two alright?" Preston asked, approaching them with Nate following close behind. "I thought I heard some commotion going on and woke up the General; we headed down here as fast as we could."
"Y-yeah… just… some of Michael's Raiders d-decided to try and bring me to him… then he showed up a-and tried to take me with h-him…" Ellie spoke softly, brushing a hand through her white hair.
"Lucky you two showed up when you did. I don't think Ellie would still be here if you hadn't… Michael looked ready to just grab her and bolt," MacCready pointed out before he stretched his arms and gave a short yawn. He'd been up all night and was just about ready for a long nap.
"Yeah. Lucky for us that he didn't, I wouldn't want our little friend here to accidentally get killed. People might think she's a Raider, too, traveling with that group. As much as it was to see another Night Angel around, he didn't look all that nice," Preston nodded. He frowned at the merc. "You should probably get some rest, MacCready. You look really tired. It's not exactly healthy for you to stay up all night, you know."
"A nap sounds great…" Ellie murmured, stretching out her wings as she gave her own yawn. The sun was inching its way into the sky now, probably being 6 or 7 in the morning. MacCrady smiled and patted the Night Angel on the shoulder.
"I'll take Ellie back to Sanctuary Hills, we'll find a bed to sleep in," MacCready blinked, "… not… together but… you know what I mean…"
Preston chuckled at the mercenary's comment before he looked to Nate, "I heard of a settlement that's in need of help from some Raiders, speaking about this... We should probably get going while we're up, General."
"Again? Didn't we just help a settlement with a Raider problem?" Nate asked.
Garvey shrugged, "Raiders don't stop doing what they do, Nate. They're always around and just want to make living here harder. We'll be making the place safer if we deal with as many Raider groups as we can. Anyway, MacCready and Ellie, you two go get some rest. We'll be back later in the day, depending how long this'll take us."
"Alright, s-see you, Preston," Ellie smiled and gave a small wave to him before turning to MacCready and giving him the same smile. "S-so… a nap sounds wonderful…"
"Yeah. Come on, I'll walk you there - unless you want to fly yourself and I'll meet you at the end of the bridge," MacCready shrugged.
"… I'll w-walk. I'm too tired to fly…" Ellie murmured.
The two began the short walk back to Sanctuary Hills from the Red Rocket Station. They were both silent, Ellie listening to the water below the broken bridge as they crossed it together. MacCready didn't know what to really say as much as he wanted to start up a conversation with the winged woman. It was a good thing they were heading back now, it seemed liked some clouds were beginning to roll in and it would soon start to rain. A few drops began to fall from the sky as they made it all the way across the bridge.
Ellie outstretched her wing and held it over MacCready's head as the rain picked up within seconds, her other wing covering her own head so the rain didn't soak both their clothes like it had just a few days ago and made sleeping a lot more uncomfortable. He looked to her and gave a soft smile, chuckling as well.
"Kinda wish you did this back when I saw you at your little cave," he said playfully.
"It d-didn't' cross my mind to do so. Sorry."
They fast-walked to the house that held a great deal of the beds in it, Ellie flapping her wings outside to get some of the water off of them the best she could. She sighed and looked around, making a face as she stared at the beds. MacCready blinked and looked at the Night Angel as he sat on a bed close to the corner of the house. Why did she look so confused? It must have been the fact that the beds were bare and there wasn't much on them, something she probably wasn't used to since she seemed to enjoy having a little 'nest'. He sighed and patted the spot next to him, a silent gesture for her to come and sit beside him. She walked over, being careful not to whack MacCready in the face with her wings as she took the spot.
She wrapped her wings around the both of them, resting her head against his shoulder in a sleepy manner, her eyes shut. The merc chuckled, resting his head atop of hers.
"You know, I still remember the first time we met…" MacCready murmured. "Then again, it's kind of hard to forget… Not every day you see a kid with wings."
"So do I… you swore a lot m-more back then," she giggled. "Such a little thing, but you had t-the mouth o-of a sailor a-as my parents used to say…"
"Heh… yeah… not entirely something I'm proud of. Been trying to get out of that habit…" He rubbed the back of his neck, some of the, oddly soft, feathers tickling what was exposed of the flesh of his neck.
"Any special reasons?"
MacCready was slightly caught off-guard by the question, even while he should have expected it. He decided now was as good of time as any to tell her. He took one of her hands in his own, she looked up at him with such an innocent face – confused and slightly intrigued by what he may say. He wanted to brush the hair that had been covering her left eye away so he could stare into both of them, but instead settled for brushing a few strands of loose hair back behind her right ear.
"Okay… Ellie, I should have said something earlier. I… made a promise to my son Duncan to try and-"
"You have a kid?" She seemed surprised, her wings retreating and folding behind her back as she stared at him. She waited to hear him out, almost feeling hurt but knowing there had to be more to it than that.
"Yeah… he came down with a disease a little while ago; luckily, Nate helped me to get the cure for him, hopefully it got there before anything bad happened or it got too bad… Anyway, I should tell you my story… I met this wonderful woman, Lucy, I told her I was a soldier cause, well, let's be honest: There would be no knowing what she'd think if I told her I was just… a killer for hire. I didn't want to lose her because of it, " his grip slightly tightened on Ellie's smaller, more soft hand. MacCready frowned but went on, "a few years ago, we decided to hold-up in a metro tunnel, which was a terrible idea. It was infested with Ferals, we had no clue… they were on her before I could even get a shot… I grabbed Duncan and got out of there as quick as I could before they noticed us. I'll be honest, I didn't want to leave her… maybe it would have been better if I did stay. Didn't feel right, you know…"
Ellie's arms were suddenly around him - her wings were as well. He sat there and wrapped a hand around him, shutting his eyes and enjoying the embrace for as long as she offered it.
"…MacCready… I… I'm so sorry…" she whispered softly, backing away slowly. "… You've been raising Duncan all alone? I-it must have not b-been easy… nor must it h-have been easy t-to lose someone like t-that."
"I… I did have help from a friend of mine who's still watching over him… I've been thinking about going back to get him; maybe even stay there when I get enough money. I make sure to write to him occasionally and try to send him things when I'm able."
"…" Ellie looked down, hands gently resting in her lap. MacCready blinked, trying to look her in the eye. "… When I lost my parents, I did a lot of wandering around, like you… I-I feared all humans, e-especially those i-in suits of armor like the B-Brotherhood…" she grabbed the hem of her shirt, gently tugging at it, "I avoided h-humans at all costs – no m-matter what I tried t-to stay away from them. Of c-course, I found Little Lamplight t-through all that… even then, I-I didn't feel safe," She looked up at him. "I left Little Lamplight because I couldn't t-trust even kids my age; in all honesty, I j-just needed a place to feel safe, and I did but not fully so I left. I traveled a lot around the Capital Wasteland and just… everywhere. I made my way to… I believe i-it used to be called New Vegas. I m-met someone there w-while I was scavenging in an a-abandoned little town… his n-name was Ryan. He t-took me in after convincing m-me he wouldn't harm me and w-would make certain n-no harm came to me, either. Gave me a place to s-sleep and all the b-books I could read. He u-used to be a simple Courier he told me, but then he managed to work his way up to running the e-entire place after a-a few complications that h-he never really told m-me – he even ran the Brotherhood that was there…"
"Why didn't you stay there? Sounds like a great place to live. I mean, friends with a guy that's high and in-charge like that? You had everything you needed… Why leave?" MacCready questioned, feeling he already knew why she was here in the first place.
"… To see if I could find more of my species… I knew I-I couldn't be the last one around, even when I-I knew the Enclave tried to kill off e-every last one of us… I told Ryan I w-would be gone for a l-little while… I couldn't go back to New Vegas – not when I saw that g-giant ship fly through the sky. I-I thought it w-was the Enclave or s-something worse…" Ellie brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, the long sleeves of her shirt dangling slightly. "I was t-trapped here."
"Well, you know it's not now, it's just the Brotherhood of Steel… you can finally leave without troubles – right?"
She shook her head. "Not right. Th-they still have t-those flying machines a-and could s-shoot me down. Something f-flying through the air like me? T-they wouldn't w-want that around."
"… I'm glad that we both could share our pasts with each other…" MacCready mumbled, causing Ellie to look up at him, "I mean… sure we've told each other little things… but not… big things like this."
Ellie laid back and stared up at the ceiling, stretching her arms and her wings, "… Yeah…" she shut her eyes and sighed heavily, "… I'm s-still sorry about your wife… Ghouls – Feral ones – have always been a terrible problem… I've r-ran into a few… thank goodness I have wings otherwise I w-would have died already, especially when I-I was a kid."
"Hah, yeah… you can just fly away from them." MacCready chuckled, lying down on his side, propping his upper body up with his elbow. He smiled gently, feeling like he just had a weight lifted off his shoulders. He told the Sole Survivor his story before, but this time it felt a little bit different.
"And just what a-are you smiling about?" Ellie teased, sitting up some.
"Hm? Oh, nothing," MacCready shrugged.
"Sure…" she stood up and her wings gave a flap. She walked to the bed next to the one the merc was lying on and flopped onto that one, getting comfortable on her belly before her wings folded and tucked into her sides a little to keep her warm. "… See you when you wake up… or the other way around. Whoever wakes up first."