They ate together in the lounge of the Grayditch house in silence. Glade had insisted on it arguing that they were a team, at least until this was all over and this would help them to bond by having the opportunity to talk. Not that there was much talking, Jack thought, but that was to be expected considering the present company. Gallows rarely spoke and even if he did it rarely went beyond single syllables, it was remarkable how much meaning the man could put into a gesture. As for Sarah it had been three days since their argument and he could tell that she was still furious at him. In order to avoid another confrontation Jack kept silent, trying to think about any of his contacts who could help point in the direction of the man paying the mercenaries not to kill super mutants.

The mercenaries themselves did not know if Reilly's situation was true for the Talon Company as well. According to her the job was delivered via courier to their base with and advance payment of 1,000 caps to sure the buyer was serious. All future payments were made via dead drop and Reilly also had orders to make sure the Talon Company refrained from killing super mutants. Jack had tried to track down the courier but the man had left the capital wasteland heading for the Mohave Desert.

The raider's involvement meant that whoever it was, they were powerful. The Raiders only respected one thing, strength, and if they were following someone else's orders it was because they knew that the guy could crush them if they didn't. this meant the mystery person had to be in charge of a effective military force and that cost a lot of caps, and that was on top of paying the raiders and mercenaries. So whoever it was extraordinarily wealthy.

The orders to protect the caravans was interesting, it meant that someone was using them to get supplies specifically weapons and armour, the mystery person's army perhaps or at the very least they were hoarding weapons and armour for said army, Jack was sure he would have found out if a significant armed force was gathering anywhere within the capital wasteland, besides there hadn't been an extra food sold to feed an army.

His best chance of turning up a new lead was tracing where the weapons went. He knew there was an increase in weapon and armour sales so perhaps he could find someone who actually knew what was going on or at the very least knows someone who does. Jack grinned, he had invested heavily in the caravans so they owed him big time, at least enough for the caravans to get a couple of new guards. After all these were dangerous times.

"It's been three days" Sarah's comment snapped him out of his internal planning

"He's been injured Sarah, he still is, give him time" Glade had been trying to play the peace maker all week. Jack was pretty sure Glade thought Sarah would kill him if they got at it as bad as last time. In his weakened state Glade was probably right, Jack admitted to himself.

"It just so happens that I have a plan" Gallows tilted his head slightly and stared at Jack. The man had finally removed his power armour after the heat had proved too much for even his supernatural endurance. Jack was surprised to see that he was an African-American with short black hair, then again it was Gallows, he'd have been just surprised to see a Caucasian with blond hair. Being in power armour just suited the man. Jack was glad they had removed it, the armour, inscribed with the Brotherhood's symbol wasn't exactly subtle.

"Jack" Glade tapped him on the shoulder "Your plan?"

"You and Sarah are going to become caravan guards for one Lucky Harith. He owes me a couple of favours so it should be easy enough getting you both a position."

"Why me and Glade" Sarah scowled "Are you too good for caravan work?"

"No" Jack kept his voice calm and tried not to sound condescending "But you and Glade aren't very good at stealth. Myself and Gallows will be shadowing the caravan. I think you'll agree we are best suited for the task." Gallows nodded in agreement and this prevented Sarah from arguing the point any further, she was a good commander and knew that she had to utilize her men's strengths.

"Why are we shadowing the caravans exactly" Glade asked

"Increase in weapons shipments coupled with the raider's being told to protect them points to someone wanting the caravans to get through so they can use them. I need to generate some leads and following the shipments seems to be the best course of action"

"So what we find a lead, we just wander with the caravan while you and Gallows chase the lead" Sarah asked, clearly not thrilled with being left behind

"That's how it has to be. We'll check in with you every three days, if we miss one you know we're chasing the lead and then we will meet in Moriarty's Bar in Megaton"

"How do we know you won't just skip out on us, you've already made it clear you prefer to work alone" Sarah asked bitterly, her distrust evident in her voice. In answer Jack jerked a thumb at Gallows who nodded in agreement. Sarah was satisfied by this answer.

"Look Sarah I'm in no position to do any undercover work" Jack pointed at his face which was still mottled by bruises "I'd stick out like a sore thumb. So you're going to have to get use to it for now, I give you my word that I'll keep you in the loop"

"I don't trust you, I trust Gallows" Sarah said staring angrily at Jack. Ouch that actually kind of hurt, Jack thought, clearly he'd hurt her more than he thought when he left the Brotherhood all those months ago.

"Fine, we have a plan. First thing tomorrow we head for Megaton. I'm afraid you'll have to leave your power armour there, it sticks out too much" This last remark was directed at Gallows who nodded reluctantly. "I can give you some combat armour from my armoury. We stay there one night and then we head to Canterbury Commons where we wait for Harith to roll into town" Jack grinned despite the tense atmosphere, finally he had a plan.


That…that man was so infuriating, Sarah thought angrily as she paced about the room she had taken as her own for the three days, it was a room Sarah had spent a lot of time in. She had refused to come out and Glade had delivered meals to her room instead of her eating with the others. She hadn't wanted to face the Wanderer because she was still so angry at him for insinuating she would have gone along with torture. She knew that in the course of her service to the Brotherhood that she had done things that were, at best, morally questionable. She lived it through without regrets because she believed that, without a doubt, the Brotherhood were a force for good. That and she lived by her own moral code which kept her from becoming just another thug with a gun. Torture would violate that code and the bloody Wanderer just ignored what he had learnt about her in all the time he had spent with her and just assumed she approved of torture. The cheek of it was mind-blowing.

Part of her reasoned that the man had been in enormous pain and unable to think straight and that's why he'd said what he'd said. He still was in enormous pain, the only reason he was moving around was because of his high pain threshold, willpower and a whole lot of med-X. But another part was unable to forgive him, this part felt that he should have known she never do something like that, unless he never really cared about her at all. As she re-played all her encounters with the Wanderer she had decided the latter was true, that she was just another of the Wanderer's famous 'contacts', someone he used to get what he wanted and then just left. Isn't that what he had done after all, used her and the rest of the Brotherhood to defeat the Enclave and get Project Purity running. After all that was accomplished he just left, coming back occasionally to speak to Rothchild about some new technology or trade with Knight Durga. Sure he'd stop by to talk, ask if she wanted to grab some lunch but he never stayed longer than he had to. It had hurt and she'd never understood until now, she was a 'contact' that he was keeping ready for some crisis. He'd made it perfectly clear he didn't have feelings for her.

So Sarah had come to a decision about the Wanderer and, on the third day, she had eaten with the rest of them. She had decided to treat him with a cold contempt; she would use him like he had used her. Once the super mutants were sorted out she would have nothing more to do with him, if he got himself captured again then he'd have to find some one else to break him out because she was done going out of her way to help him.


Jack pulled his battered body off of the sofa as his Pip boy alarm sounded off; telling him it was 6am, time to get ready to march. Pressing a button he ended the klaxon like sound emanating from the device. Jack groaned as he sat up, his ribs protesting at the movement. Reaching over to the end table he grabbed a syringe of Med-X and injected it into himself, he'd see Doc Church while he was in Megaton about his injuries; hopefully he'd have a treatment which would allow him to alleviate the pain without pumping himself full of drugs. He knew realistically that he should still be resting but there was no time for that, Sarah had been right yesterday, three days was too long to sit about and do nothing.

While his body was more or less numb Jack put new bandages on his torso and arms, knowing that he might not have time to do it later. He was slightly apprehensive about visiting Megaton as word was sure to get back to the Brotherhood about his location, hell if they were unlucky they might run into Brotherhood knights delivering water. While he knew that his temporary companions were good in a fight he doubted they'd be willing to fight Brotherhood knights which would make it difficult to subdue them. Still it had to be done, Sarah, Glade and Gallows needed new armour and weapons and he kept an armoury in his Megaton house where he could outfit them.

It took longer than usual to put on his battle armour, his injuries making his movements slow and erratic. Finally he pulled on his red baseball cap and strapped on his hunting rifle. This made him feel slightly better. It was sad but that baseball cap and rifle had been with him so long that they felt like they were part of him and he never felt whole without them.

He turned as he heard someone coming down the stairs and saw Gallows in his power armour. Jack had no spare clothes stored in the house so they would have to wear them until they got to Megaton where they would they would leave their precious power armour in the safety of his Megaton house. Jack nodded to Gallows as he checked his hunting rifle over, checking it was clean and undamaged from its brief stay in the citadel. Gallows took a seat opposite him and did the same with his laser rifle; there was silence as the two veterans completed the necessary checks that had saved their lives countless times. This was one of the few times when Jack was silent, focusing his attention on the job in hand, besides, Jack reflected, Gallows was no fun to tease anyway.

Finally when Sarah and Glade came down stairs, ready to go, Jack slowly stood up taking care so as not to aggravate his injuries and they left the house, heading north towards Megaton. It shouldn't, Jack thought, be a dangerous journey as there were few super mutants in this area and Raiders were not going to attack three fully armoured Brotherhood soldiers. And the chances of running into a Outcast patrol were pretty remote so Jack whistled slightly as they marched through the ruins confident that, for once, he'd have a peaceful journey.