Ch#10

Michael woke up warm, happy and well rested. He opened his eyes to the half light in the room and felt a warm presence on him. He lifted his head to find Sarah laying on top of him stark naked and fast asleep. Her head was resting on his chest and her hair loose around her shoulders and head; her face was relaxed and her eyes closed as she breathed softly.

He reached over to the bedside table to check the time on his pip boy; 0615. He wasn't exactly sure when she usually got up but being the commander of the Lyons' Pride probably meant she was already late for something already. After watching her sleep and drinking in every feature of her beauty he reluctantly decided he should wake her up.

"Sarah, wake up your majesty. It's time to start the day." He said softly as he combed her hair out of the way with his fingers and rubbed a hand along her back. He saw as she began to stir and she sat up and stretched her arms above her head, giving him a full view of her perky breasts, pink nipples, and toned abdomen; before rubbing her eyes and looking around a bit confused. Her eyes widening a bit when she saw the mass of masculine muscles and scars on the torso underneath her, before moving her gaze up to see Michael's smiling face with his hands resting on her thighs.

She smiled warmly and rubbed her hands along his sculpted abdominal muscles. "Good morning Michael." her soft voice sending a wave of warmth and happiness bubbling through his chest so intensely he couldn't hold back a huge smile from spreading across his face as he responded. "Good Morning Sarah."

She brightened even further upon seeing his smile and slid her hands forward, then up and into his hair as she leaned down and kissed him. "You know, I think this is the best way I have ever woken up." he whispered to her between kisses.

"That's funny, I was thinking the same thing." she responded, kissing down his jaw line and nipping at his earlobe before moving to leave a trail of hickies on is neck. "Leaving your mark to claim me as your property, what a naughty princess." Michael said very much enjoying her kissing and the feeling of her fingers running through his hair.

Laughing and sitting up from kissing his neck— she ran her hands over her chest, "I guess I am just returning the favor;" she pointed to at least 5+ hickeys on her breasts and chest. "And you played with my nipples a little rough so they are a little bit tender." She directed his attention to her pink and swollen nipples; touching them lightly. "You didn't like me playing with them that rough?" he asked.

"Oh I loved it baby, I don't mind that they are a bit sore." She said quickly, and then adding with a bit of shyness; "I mean I am your girlfriend now or lover or whatever we decided on. Either way, you can play with any part of me as roughly as you want to. I think I like it a lot too…" She let her sentence trail off when she felt something pointing into her butt.

She looked back and found his large erect penis sitting right behind her; poking her as if trying to say good morning. She smiled and moved back so she was sitting on Michael's thighs so she could see it in front of her and her hands could gently rub his warm and firm manhood. "Well this big guy is certainly doing well after last night."

"Of course, you were amazing." He said slightly propping himself up on his elbows to watch her freely touch his member.

"Really?!" she said excitedly, obviously very glad she was able to please him so well on their first night together.

"Mind-numbingly so my dear." he said with a wink and a smile. Causing her to laugh and lean forward to hang her upper boy over him, propped up by her arms and started kissing him with building intensity. His large rough hands sliding up her back and pulling her down against his chest as they kissed. She felt the length of his hard member radiating heat, pressed along her stomach between them; causing her heart to race and her womanhood to quiver with desire.

Then Sarah noticed a blinking light on her power armor's helmet out of the corner of her eye and rolled out of his arms, much to his disappointment. Then slipped off the bed and padded silently across the room to her armor to put the helmet on her head. Michael tried not to laughed out loud at the strange scene of a stunningly beautiful, naked girl with a big armored helmet on her head.

She took off her helmet with a franticly look on her face. "Shit!" she said as she ran over to her discarded jumpsuit and sports bra beginning to pull them both on. "I am late to my 0630 brief with Three dog and my officers! and I have no bottom half underwear because you made me cum my brains out in them, and now I am wet again thanks to you!" She said throwing an annoyed look over to him as he sat smirking on the bed still naked and very much hard— watching her breasts and ass move and bounce as she got dressed.

Once she was done fastening her chest armor and leg armor on she walked over to him quickly and kissed him before stopping and looking down at his body and bitting her lip. She felt her womanhood quiver again and quickly kissed him and ran over to her power armor before she decided to say 'fuck it' and rip her clothes off and tackle him into bed.

Before leaving out the door she turned and said, "You should probably at least put underwear on. The medics will probably come and check on your condition sometime soon…Also, thank you for an amazing night last night." She blushed and looked away for a second before saying, "I hope we get the chance to do it again soon." Unlocking and leaving the room before he could respond.

He just laughed and laid back for a few minutes before he got up to find his underwear his hard-on not really wanting to calm down just yet. He had just picked them up when the door opened admitting a female medic; as soon as she entered the room her eyes did a casual scan and immediately locked onto his large erection. Her eyes went as wide as dinner plates and her jaw dropped to the floor and she just said, "Holy Shit Its Huge!" After which, Leo quickly tried to cover it with his underwear and tried to think of what to say; understanding a bit of how Sarah felt last night when Vargas walked in while she was naked.

Realizing she just said something incredibly inappropriate and that she was still staring openly; she slammed the chart she had in her hand over her eyes before yelling out "I'M SO SORRY, !" while she ran out of the room as fast as she could and slammed the door shut.

His face bright red he just thought, 'I really hope she doesn't talk about that to anyone; I don't even think she noticed my face.'

—

Not wanting to face the medic again he got dressed in his dirty armor and put on his mask and the rest of his gear and made his way out of the room. Looking back at the bed for a second, seeing a few scenes of last night flashing through his mind; making him smile under his mask before turning and walk down the hall to find a place to clean and mend his armor.

That place, turned out to be the barracks which were pretty much empty except a few sleeping soldiers who had been on watch through the night. After he finished and his armor looked clean again, he found Sarah's bag under an untouched bunk and slipped the dirty underwear from the night previously that she had left behind this morning.

Once he put it in her bag and zipped the bag back up he made his way out of the building and stopped briefly in the courtyard to tell a brotherhood soldier on watch that he was heading out and would be back in a few hours. The guard nodded silently and then added, "The armor column is leaving at noon, so if you want a ride back to the citadel be back before then."

"Thanks I'll make sure I am back before then." Leo said as he departed into the ruins to find something to kill. From not being able to fool around this morning and the thing with the medic and everything last night he had a lot on his mind. He needed to let off some steam. So he climbed up to a vantage point on top of a ruined building and looked for trouble. He spotted a large raider encampment not far away being attacked by super mutants. 'Perfect, looks like a party.' He thought to himself.

—

A few hours later he walked back into the plaza of the GNR a little more relaxed, with a few light sprays on blood on his armor and a few new fingers in his regulator pouch. After exchanging waves with the guard, Leo preceded inside to see if Sarah needed help with anything. He didn't notice the guard continue to stare at him as entered and talk in a low voice to the other soldier's on duty.

As he walked through the corridors he noticed those he passed giving him a mixture of odd looks; most of the females would either blush or smile— one or two even winked, which was much more friendly reaction than he was used to. However most of the males would have overtly angry or passive aggressive looks painted on their faces; although he got a smile and a wink from one or two males as well.

He went to the restrooms and cleaned off the blood splatter from his uniform and looked for anything that was out of the norm but, couldn't find anything. So he ventured through the building in search of his new secret girlfriend/lover.

Leo discovered the girl in question speaking around a table mapping out a course back through the city to the Citadel as well as papers talking about current activity reports in the area. The meeting was coming to an end as Leo walked in and was greeted by the Sentinel and her officers; some of which were again giving him strange looks, but said nothing besides regular greetings and introductions.

Her XO was Paladin Captain Vargas— who he was already well enough aquatinted with. Paladin Glade— Commander of the 1st battalion, one of the oldest members of the Pride. Paladin Greg "Kodiak" Bear— Commander of the 2nd battalion; something about the way he looked and his last name seemed so familiar but Leo couldn't quiet place the connection, he would try and talk to Kodiak and get to know him and it might come to his mind sooner or later. Lastly and the most newly promoted was Paladin Gallows— He was the silent and strong former knight captain and had been very recently promoted to Paladin and no first name that was said but, Leo didn't question it.

The officers took their leave after introductions were made, leaving just Sarah and Leo to talk about the next coming journey. "Well, I am glad that meeting is finally over with." she said rubbing her eyes and leaning over the table again and went over the maps and showed him a new purposed route that would only take 2 days rather than near a week and avoid trouble spots. Only problem was that they were going to have to clear the path with their hands and the guns of the tank.

"So here is the proposed route," she said tracing her finger across the map. "We head south by southeast from GNR, then after passing Georgetown North Metro entrance we cut west by southwest just past this place called Dukov's place to the river, then finally we cross the newly filled in ford across the river to the Citadel."

"Well that sounds promising, is this settlement; Dukov's place, friendly?" Leo said, being that it was the only settlement between them and the river, it would be imperative to have good relationship with the settlement.

"Unknown at this point, I don't have any reports on it's inhabitants— just that it is right there." She said pointing to the marker on the map.

"I can take care of it for you if you want." seeing give him a weird look he clarified, "Scout it, that is, I can wait on your go ahead if you decide want to eliminate it."

"I think it is a little bit of a dangerous policy to eliminate any settlements in the way of the objective Leo but, as long as you let me have the final say in the action I guess its fine." She said, a little perturbed that his first instinct was to eliminate the settlement but upon reaching the settlement later that day she would understand Leo's thought process.

—

Night had descended by the time the column had reached the settlement and as Sentinel Lyons, Paladin Kodiak, and Leo approached the wooden barricades in front of the 8 story square building they started seeing empty whiskey bottles, spent shells of all kinds of ammunition, and a skimpy pair of women's underwear. The group shot confused glances at each other and continued to move.

After knocking for a few minutes without any answer they opened the doors and walked in and were immediately assaulted by an assortment of smells that over all almost made them gag. Cigarettes, whiskey, vomit, old food, piss, and a fleshy musk none of them could quiet identify.

The sight that greeted them wasn't much better; many different empty bottles of alcohol— primarily whiskey— and trash, as well as a slew of women's lingerie strewn about across furniture. The most amusing this was above the main room with some furniture and a bed was a chandelier in the shape of two people having amorous congress in the missionary position. The two soldiers' jaws dropped and Leo just laughed.

They were soon joined in the room by a beautiful and voluptuous red haired woman as she walked down the stairs, stark naked. Again the two soldiers' jaws dropped to the ground and were stunned into silence but this time so was Leo. She grabbed some lingerie and threw it on and turned to them and said, "Dukov is busy with Fantasia up-stairs; he will be down in a few minutes. I am Cherry by the way; I am getting a drink do you want anything?" Sarah recovered first and responded. "No, Thank you. We will just wait her for Mr. Dukov down here."

"Alright suit yourself girly, also keep your guns holstered Dukov is drunk and has a fast draw and obviously not a very good impulse control." after those words she turned down the hallway but, not before sending a smile and a wink at Kodiak— who tried to remain stone faced but ended up turning as red ad a tomato and stared at her swaying hips as she walked away.

The Sentinel she rubbed the bridge of her nose and shook her head. "ugh…Kodiak try to keep it together."

"I am gonna go have a chat with her." Leo said casually before starting down the hall.

"WHAT?!" Came the Sentinel's voice much louder and angry than she intended to be, "Leo what do you think—"

Leo interrupted her with a raised hand and a relaxed and casual tone. "Relax Sentinel, I am going to try and get some info of Dukov before we meet him." seeing his point she begrudging relented with a dismissive wave of her hand and a frown.

She turned back to Kodiak had an annoyed look on his face too; glad she had someone feeling them same way she said, "Can you believe him? going of with whores while we deal with this drunken moron."

Kodiak grunted in agreement but, for a totally different reason. He was jealous.

—

Leo finally caught up with Cherry in the kitchen as she was drinking straight from a bottle of vodka facing away from his current position in the doorway. He watched her for a minute more before saying, "Hey." She jumped with a start and coughed up a bit of the vodka.

As she turned around Leo saw that she had tears streaming down her face as if she had been crying. She quickly wiped her face and said, "Dukov doesn't like us to talk to other men without his permission sweetie." Her voice a bit hollow and the vodka bottle still clutched in her hand shook slightly.

"Are you alright?" he said in a soft tone.

She avoided his stare and looked anywhere in the room but at him. "I am fine, better than I would be if I was out there…better than if I was dead." After she said this her eyes started to water up and she wiped them fiercely and took a long draw of the vodka.

"You're really fine with this? you don't want to leave and go anywhere else?"

She let out a harsh laugh and spit out, "Of course I'm not fucking fine with it! Of course I want something else but how the hell am I supposed to even make it anywhere else? How could I even get away from Dukov…" she stopped talking and drank more of the Vodka; now freely crying again.

"If I could take you to Rivet City to make a life for yourself, would you want to go?" he asked seriously.

"You couldn't take me if you wanted to…Dukov wouldn't let me leave here alive and if you tried to take me you would just end up dead too." she looked up at him slightly, still crying, becoming increasingly intoxicated. "Thanks for the offer though…somethings in life just aren't meant to be." and up-ended the bottle again before Leo walked over and grabbed the bottle out of her hand.

"Nothing will change if you don't take a stand when the chance comes." He said firmly as he looked down at her

Her face contorted with anger, "You think I haven't tried?!" hitting his chest armor pathetically. "I tried to get away and he beat the shit out of me and chained me up in the basement and said if I ever try to leave again, that I will end up like all the other girls down there…Dead and Rotting! chained up and forgotten…I don't want to end up like that…" finishing with her head in her hands crying her eyes out. 'There it is' he thought to himself.

"Where are these girls?" she looked up at him. "Show me where they are"

"Fine maybe then you will give up and leave me to drink myself into a coma." she lead him further down the hallway, swaying from the alcohol consumption.

They finally arrived at the basement door and Cherry threw it open and stumbled down the dark stairs and threw on the light to a large room with rotting corpses in various stages of decay— chained to the walls. Most were clad in some kind lingerie like Cherry. After a quick check around the room Leo found that they were all long dead.

"See? If you try to leave, then you end up here— just like them." her words slurred as she spoke. "If you piss him off, you end up here. If you don't satisfy, him you end up here. If he gets tired of you, you end up here."

Leo stood from checking the last body and pulled Cherry up and out of the basement; back into the hallway before letting her go. "Go and pack whatever you give a shit about and get ready to leave." he said before turning off back down the hall towards the main room with Sarah and Kodiak.

"Didn't I just tell you that Dukov wouldn't let me leave?" she said towards his back.

"He won't be a problem anymore, just go." He said with a voice so cold she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up straight and ran to go follow his instructions.

—

He walked to the end of the hallway and stopped just out of sight and caught part of the conversation between the semi drunk Dukov and the beautiful Sentinel.

"Why don't you ditch your friend over there and stay here miss Lyons longer to discuss a mutually beneficial relationship; I promise I will teach you a new kind of diplomacy." Dukov's voice coming out suggestive and a little slurred.

The thought of Sarah in this place was to much for him, he exited the hallway and made straight for the man standing in front of his lover, wearing some kind of silk sleepwear probably just because he could take them off the easiest; Dukov.

Before Sarah could answer in disgust to the filthy man in front go her; she saw Leo coming at a fast pace right towards Dukov and knew something was wrong. "Leo whats going on?" she said as she at him over the man's bald head.

Without a word or so much as a grunt he grabbed to unsuspecting Dukov by the back of the neck and picked him up off his feet and propelled him across the room, to smacking into a support pillar with a sickening thud and then flopping to the ground with a pained groan.

Leo the turned to the girl he assumed to be Fantasia; who was looking at him silently with wide eyes and a mouth slightly agape just like the two soldiers in the room. "Go pack anything you care about— I am taking you and Cherry to Rivet City, sound good?" He said; to which she nodded and quickly got up and with a quick glance between Dukov— who was currently writhing in pain on the ground— and the large armor and weapon clad man, she ran off down the hall to her and Cherry's room.

Sarah spoke up after the girl left the room, "Leo, what was that? what is going on?"

Leo explained as he walked over to Dukov and took any weapons he had on him. "I had a chat with Cherry and she showed me his basement; whose walls are currently adorned with at least 10 half naked bodies of girls he chain up and left to die."

"Where is the basement? I can get the medics—" The Sentinel started to say, but was interrupted by Leo's cold and hard voice. "They are all dead, I checked each one…All thats left alive are the two up here." He said as he moved the furniture out of the middle of the room and against the walls leaving the floor under the giant sex chandelier bare except for a few carpets. He then dragged the struggling and yelling Dukov into the middle of the room directly under the chandelier and put a boot on his chest; pinning him to the ground while he struggled and yelled.

"Once they come back direct them outside, then you two should probably head outside as well…" He said as he grabbed one of Dukov's hands that was currently trying to move the boot off his chest. He stretched it out until it was straight out to the side along the ground palm up. He then took a knife from a hidden sheath on his person and slid it slowly through Dukov's hand; pinning the now screaming man's hand and arm securely to the ground. He continued until all of Dukov's arms and legs were pinned into the ground by his knives.

He then went to work and slowly and methodically breaking all of the bones in Dukov's hands and feet. He didn't react to the girls coming back or the movement of the power armored soldiers only registering it as background noise but eventually there was silence. Then he didn't pay attention to anything else except making Dukov beg for death. "You know why I am doing this right Dukov?" He said in a cold and dark voice; devoid of any emotion.

"Fuck you, Motherfucker! I don't even know you!" Dukov spat in pain and anger.

"I am what you fear most Dukov." He said as he went about crushing and snapping all of the bones in his arms and legs. "I am what you try to hide from under your big chandelier. I am what you try to drink away. I am what you try to forget when you fuck until you can't think anymore. I am what you hid away in your basement along with those girls. I am your recompense. I am your punishment. I am your fate. I am the dust. I am the darkness." He stood over the broken man with his feet planted on the floor of either side of his torso staring down at him.

"Tell me what I am Dukov." Dukov started sobbing and calling for mercy and shaking his head, as if saying it would bring it forth.

"TELL ME!" the figured yelled from above the broken and bleeding man.

Dukov— with tears, snot, and blood pouring from his face, croaked out; "You…are Death."

The dark figure kneeled down planting one knee on Dukov's shoulder, pinning it to the ground as he struggled weakly, and planted a foot on the ground above Dukov's other shoulder so that he was kneeling above the other man. He slid a hand onto Dukov's forehead pinning it against the ground. "Thats right Dukov. I am the Reaper."

He slid his hand into Dukov's mouth muffling his cries for mercy and tightened his grip on his mandible. "I am Death." He said with finality. Then without another word he slowly pulled on Dukov's jaw; feeling the tendons and ligaments snap, the joints dislocate, and the muscled and skin tear— as he removed Dukov's mandible from his head while he shrieked in pain and stared up in fear at the mask above him.

Once again the jaw tore skin and flesh of the neck with it rupturing Dukov's arteries and spurting blood onto the mask above him painting the thin carved smile red once again. Leo stayed close to Dukov with his hand still on his forehead making him look at the smiling, blood-stained mask. The spurts slowly died down and the gurgling ceased and the light faded from the tortured man's eyes forever. After he was sure he was gone Leo stood looking down at the mangled gore with the dripping jaw still gripped in his hand.

He stepped over the body and turned toward the door only to be stopped in his tracks by bright blue eyes staring back at him. Sarah stood, out of her armor, with her hands clenched and arms by her sides. She looked at him with fire burning in her eyes and an unreadable expression on her face. She took a step towards him; and then another.

"You shouldn't be here." Leo said as he took a half step back and she took a full step forward, without saying a word. He dropped the severed jaw from his shaking hand as he took another step back and her another step forward. "Don't…" he said hesitantly taking another step back and stumbling to fall on his ass as she steadily closed the distance between them and kneeled between his legs in front of him.

"You…aren't supposed to see this…" he said weakly, feeling his throat constricting— making it harder to talk. Finally she spoke.

"I told you I wouldn't turn away from you." She said softly. "I won't look away from even your darkest parts Michael."

"Because," She reach up and pushed his hood back off his head. "you are not the darkness."

She then slipped his blood stained mask from his face. "You are not death."

She looked at his face and brushed a few stray hairs behind his ear. "You are a man, Michael."

She took his face gently in her hands and smiled as tears fell from her eyes. "You are a good man; made of flesh and blood, Michael."

He felt tears spilling over, rolling down his face as she continued. "You are a hero, light in the darkness and hope in the storm. You are a warrior, honorable and true. You are my lover, gentle and kind." Her words making his shaking hands find hers on either side of his face as he looked back at her. "Come back to me."

She leaned in and gently kissed his lips and kept kissing him for a few minutes before leaning back and looking into his eyes again.

"Thank you, Sarah." he said

She smiled brightly and rubbed her thumbs across his cheeks. "You're welcome Michael."

After wiping their eyes they stood up and turned to the body. "Well at least there is one less asshole in the world now." Michael said rubbing the back of his neck.

"He go what he deserved, Its just that I would rather you not suffer to give it to him." She said as she reached over to put a hand on his arm and squeezed gently. "Well, we better clean this up, you guys will probably set up an outpost here right?" Michael said as he quickly yanked all his knives out of the body and ground; wiped them off and slid them back into their hidden sheaths.

"Ya probably, this will be our new halfway point when heading to GNR. It is considerably shorter than the previous way, and safer too." she said as she started to help him roll the body up in the carpet it was on. Once it was rolled up, Michael walked over and grabbed his mask off the floor, turning it over to look at the blood splattered face. He felt Sarah put her hand on his cheek and turn his face to look at her. "Whether you wear it or not, won't change who you are underneath baby; don't forget that."

Michael leaned down and kissed her then slipped on the mask saying, "I won't." He slipped on his hood and watched her climb back into her armor and make her way to the door. "I am gonna send in a squad or two to clear this building and start establishing a checkpoint here; make sure you dump that body in the river." The Sentinel said before leaving out the door.

He laughed as he made sure the carpet was secure before throwing it over his shoulder. Turning towards the door to see 2 squads filling in, looking around at their new checkpoint/outpost. As he was walking over to the door one of them yelled out, "What the Fuck is that?!" pointing to the severed jaw on the ground.

"Oops!" Leo said, walking over, bent over to grab it off the ground; then looking back and holding it up the bloody mandible. "Sorry, forgot to pick that up." he said casually, as if he had dropped his house keys on the ground.

"What is that?" a Knight asked. "I saw teeth on it!" another knight said from behind the other one.

Leo nodded and held it towards them so that they could see better— making more than a few take a step back. "It's a mandible." He said simply

"Well who's is it and why is it on the floor?!" the first knight asked.

"It belongs to the previous owner, this guy." Leo said patting the rug on his shoulder. "As for the why…well I forgot to pick it up and throw it in the rug with him to toss in the river."

"How did it get from his face to the floor?" another one asked as Leo made his was towards the door.

Leo laughed and said, "Judging by your faces, I don't think you want to know. Just don't think about it." then walking out the door, leaving the soldiers to look at each other in confusion and fear. Then Leo quickly popped his head back through the door.

"By the way, I don't know if the Sentinel told you or not but, this guy had some nasty habits so you should steer clear of that basement. Anyway, have a nice night guys." He finished then disappeared out the door again. His instructions were later disregarded and within a minute of entering the soldiers would come sprinting out gasping for breath in the hallway. Never daring to go back down to the basement again.

—

After Leo was finished dumping the body and the mandible into the river, her took a moment to wash the blood off the mask and the front of his armor again, then stood and looked over the river thinking about his dad. After thinking for a while he came back into the makeshift camp set up in front of the building. A large bonfire was placed a little ways in front of the front doors with the wooden barricades and vehicles lined up in a half circle to protect from attack. The two squads sent in earlier were clearing out the rest of the structure and would come out to assign rooms later.

For now Leo made his way over to Sarah and sat down next to her as she ate and said, "I am gonna take those girls to Rivet City tonight, if we move now we can be there by morning. Also moving in the night with just the three of us will let us slip by anything real nasty anyway. I might need to borrow a couple of blankets for them so they aren't just running around in lingerie."

Sarah continued to eat her food and nod in agreement. Until his next words came out. "Sarah…I need to go to the Jefferson memorial soon…with or without backup." causing her to choke and cough on her food before saying, "Leo! No way! I thought we agreed on this. Even you shouldn't be going into that without at least one person to watch your back."

"Well, I can't keep waiting forever." he took a breath then continued. "I have been looking for my dad the entire time I have been out here and now that I actually have a solid lead, I keep passing by that fucking place just to wait some more. I am tired of it Sarah; if my dad isn't dead in there then he is out here somewhere probably getting farther away, I just can't…I just need to find him." He said before getting up and walking back towards the back of the building to look over river, unable to face her.

Sarah quickly put her food to the side and ran after him. She came up behind him as he stared out over the river. "Leo, please don't do this. Just give me time, then at least I can go with you."

Not looking back he said in a serious tone, "He is out there Sarah, I can feel it. He could be out there needing help while I am sitting around."

She came around him and stood in front of him and put her hands on his chest. "You aren't going to get there any faster if you are dead! Just give me time; I can go to the council tomorrow and tell them you want to join the Brotherhood. You would have to appear before them to make your case and you would probably have to take off your mask at least in front of the council and my father, but then I will be assigned as your sponsor and I can go with you!"

"Sarah what if you got hurt? chasing after some stupid family issues…how could I live with myself if you ever died for something like that?" He said looking down at her and taking off his mask.

"It isn't stupid if it means this much to you! People die out here everyday for a myriad of reasons, I want to go because I don't want you to be one of those…please Michael, please just wait for just one more day. If I were to lose you I don't know what I would do…" she let her head fall against his chest, "…I am so afraid that you will never come out of there…please just one day is all I ask, come to the Citadel tomorrow after you drop the girls at Rivet City. Everything will workout I promise, just…please baby…" she was on the verge of tears of desperation.

He let out a breath and finally relented. "Fine, I'll go to the front of the Citadel tomorrow." he head flew up to look at him with hopeful eyes. "I really don't think I will be in that much trouble but if it puts your mind at rest to come watch my back then I will wait. I mean really, how can I say no when you are looking at me with that face?" he said while he smiled down at her. With a relieved laugh she jumped and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you Michael, thank you I promise I will make the council move their asses."

"Alright princess, then I'll see you outside the Citadel tomorrow. Now I probably need to head out soon if I want to make it to Rivet City by morning" he said.

"You can wait a little bit longer." Sarah said as she brought her lips to meet his. They stayed there, kissing and holding each other under the moonlight for a long time before finally separating.

"Stay safe out there big guy." Sarah said as he put his mask back on.

"I'll try." he said with a smile.

They both walked back from the riverside and back to the bonfire, then Leo gathered the girls and set off into the night.

—

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