Ella slumped back against the wall, yanking the welding goggles down around her neck. She hung up the arc welder carefully on its hook on the power armour station and wiped sweat from her forehead with the back of her arm. The shade of the carport did nothing to protect from the blanketing heat of the day. She tugged one of her thick leather gloves off with her teeth and reached for the thick hardcover book she'd pushed over to the side, away from any drifting sparks. She flipped it open to a spot marked with a scrap of paper, and stared hard at the dense page of black and white text.

She was almost grateful when she heard footsteps approaching.

"Hey there," said Piper.

"Piper," said Ella. "Have you come to take me away from all this?"

Piper handed her a nuka cola. "Uh - metaphorically, I guess. I was wanting to hear about your latest adventures."

Ella cracked the top off with a hiss and gulped down half of it gratefully. "Anything in particular?"

"Maybe," said Piper. "You've met Maxson. What's he like?"

Ella raised an eyebrow. "That's an interesting question." She hauled herself to her feet against the yellow frame of the power armour station, got up onto her tiptoes, then peeked around the side of the house.

"Nah, he's all the way down by the bridge," said Piper, grinning. "Come on, you think I don't know how to protect my sources?"

Ella pulled off the other glove and dropped both of them on the workbench behind her. She sat down again on the concrete edge of the carport, legs dangling into the long dry grass below. "He's - uh, very intense," she said. "This is off the record, right? Because it's going to be really obvious who this is coming from if you quote me verbatim."

"It'd be good for them," said Piper, sitting down next to her. "They need their cages rattled a little."

"Rather not deal with a court-martial," said Ella. "But that's just me."

"That's fair." Piper shrugged. "So, what do you mean by intense?"

"I mean-" Ella tilted her head to one side contemplatively. "He's very serious. Talks a big game."

"Well, that's funny," said Piper. "I mean I don't know any other super-serious Brotherhood types."

Ella covered her grin with her hand. "No, I mean - it's more than that. When he talks to you it's kind of like he's giving a speech all of the time. He's always on. I don't think it's disingenuous, exactly, but there's something just a little bit - off." She paused. "Maybe it's that he's trying to act older than he really is? He's like twelve years old."

"He - excuse me?" Piper stared.

Ella shook her head impatiently. "Not literally twelve years old. But I mean he's barely out of his teens. He grows this huge beard, I think to hide how young he is, but - he's very young."

Piper leaned closer. "How old is he?"

"Twenty," said Ella. "Twenty years old. How old is that Diamond City Radio DJ? Travis, isn't it?"

"He's-" Piper hesitated. "Twenty-four, I think."

"Yeah," said Ella. "So, four years younger than Travis. I mean, I get life expectancy has dropped by a lot, but he's not even old enough to drink. Well, he wouldn't have been."

"Wow," said Piper.

"Yeah," said Ella again. "You give a kid that young a lot of big ideas and a lot of big guns and don't be surprised if you get a lot of trouble."

"You surprise me," said Piper. "I really thought you believed in the Brotherhood more than this."

"It's hard to believe in much of anything these days, to be honest," said Ella. "But don't get me wrong. The Brotherhood wants to clean up the Commonwealth, and to be fair, no one else looks like they're going to do it. Maybe it's trading some liberty for security, but I have a feeling old Ben Franklin didn't have super mutants in mind when he came up with that line."

"Oh," said Piper, deflatedly. "Why'd you have to go and get my hopes up like that, Blue?"

"I just - feel like you don't really understand what we've lost," said Ella. "It was - walking down the street without getting shot at. Not needing to own at least six different guns for use in different situations. Never knowing anyone who'd died violently. Never seeing a dead body. Public transport, garbage collection, street sweepers. I get that things can't go back to the way they were - for another couple hundred years at least, probably - but this way is going to be a lot quicker than any other way, as far as I can tell." She shrugged. "Of course, Americans of my generation have a certain faith in the military, which may or may not be misplaced but it's hard to get rid of," she continued. She nodded across the street. "That's our 'support our troops' bumper sticker on that station wagon over there. So maybe it's that and I'm just looking for familiar things again."

"I can't even imagine what that must be like," said Piper quietly.

"I don't mean to go on about it," said Ella. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine," said Piper. "It's only natural to compare your life then to your life now. I'm just sorry it seems to be such a disappointment."

"It's not really helpful, though, is it?" Ella sighed. "Guess I just need to focus on the future."

"What are your plans for after you get your son back?" asked Piper.

"I have absolutely no idea," said Ella. "I mean, I don't even know if I'll stay. I heard things are a lot better out west, and I'm not going to lie to you, I am not cut out for this kind of life. Do you think they need lawyers in California? I really miss avocados."

"You talk about food constantly," said Piper. "Is it really that bad?"

"I do not," said Ella. "But if I did it would be totally justified. What the hell is a tato? They're disgusting."

"I read somewhere it was two old world vegetables crossed together. But I don't remember which."

"Logically it's a tomato and a potato," said Ella. "But that doesn't even make sense. I mean, I guess they're both nightshades, but they're not even the same parts of the plant, they shouldn't just get mashed together into one edible fruit. Semi-edible fruit. What are you even meant to do with them?"

"They're not bad in a soup," said Piper. "Adds texture. I'll let you get back to it, though, I've taken up enough of your time."

Ella settled back down, staring balefully at the book.

She wasn't sure how long it was before she heard a familiar clanking.

"So this is what you've been carting all that junk around for," said Danse. "I've been wondering."

"Why else would I need to carry around like eight batteries?" asked Ella sharply, looking up. "Because I enjoy dealing with unexpected sulfuric acid leaks?"

"I'm impressed you're undertaking this work yourself," he said. "This isn't easy."

"Well what are my other options?" asked Ella. "Call up Teagan on the phone and ask him if he's got any pieces lying around? I'm not hiking to the airport and back on the off-chance he's got some pre-made."

He crouched on the other side of the suit she was working on. "Tell me what you're doing."

She grimaced. "I'm just doing the lead-lining. Seems to be the easy bit."

"Did you weigh the lead first?" he asked.

"Of course I did," she snapped. "What did you think I was going to do, nail a handful of lead to the outside and call it a day?"

He narrowed his eyes cautiously. "Why don't you take a break?" he suggested. "Let's go for a walk."

"Why don't you-" she began, but cut herself off. "Okay." She climbed to her feet, stretching out her aching shoulders.

"Why don't I what?" he asked, as they began to walk to the end of the street.

She grinned self-consciously. "Didn't have anything in mind specifically," she said. "I just realised halfway through saying it that taking a break was probably a pretty good idea."

"Having some trouble?" he asked.

"Why would you think that?" she asked. "This is great. I love physics, which is why I became a lawyer."

"Power armour is designed to be highly modifiable," began Danse.

"I know," she said. "Which is fantastic for me because of how much I love physics."

"One of the benefits of this," he continued, patiently. "Is if you're making relatively minor changes, you only need to factor in the effects of the increased weight on the servomotors, rather than recalculate the required power output for the entire unit."

"You - no," she said, stopping. "What, really?"

He turned to face her. "Yes. I was concerned you may have been - overcomplicating things."

"Well, that - that's going to make this a lot easier." She raked her fingers through her hair, damp with sweat. "I'm not used to being completely incompetent at things, you know?" she asked. "This brand new world and I can't do a goddamn thing in it. I really miss the whole 'division of labour' concept."

"I'd say you've been remarkably adaptable, given the circumstances."

She gave him a confused smile. "Uh - thanks? I feel like I've largely survived this long by depending on the kindness of strangers."

"Don't sell yourself short," he said. "I see a lot of potential in you."

"If it's a compliment I'll take it," she said, shrugging a shoulder. "Thanks for the pep talk. And, you know, for talking me down."

"You about ready to get back to work?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said. "Think so."