Panting, James struggled to keep up with his daughter who was all but running up the stairs.

"Sara…please…can we talk? It's so good to see you, honey."

She paused to push open the hatch that led from Vault 112 back into the garage.

"I'm not going to talk to you right now, Dad," she said with a forced calm. "Because if I do, I am going to say a lot of things that I don't actually mean."

"Can you at least tell me…ow…" James clutched at a stitch growing in his side as he climbed up onto the garage's concrete floor. "Can you at least tell me where you got this dog?"

A black and gray dog, perhaps some sort of cattle herding breed, was currently attached to Sara's side. It followed her footsteps with unswerving loyalty, and when she reached down to pet the animal or spoke to it, its tail rocked so hard James thought it was in danger of falling over.

"This is Dogmeat," Sara replied, disposing of a mole rat scuttling about in a nearby corner with a neatly aimed shot to the chest. "We found each other in a scrap yard north of here. He and I look out for each other."

"I never pegged you for a dog person," James said, trying to lighten the mood.

"No, I suppose you wouldn't. You were too busy lying to me about everything in my life."

Her words stung deeper than anything he had ever felt. He was not surprised that she felt abandoned, even betrayed, but to actually hear her say these words…He could explain everything, if she would just let him.

"Dogmeat, come here," Sara cooed to the dog. "You're limping. I've got a Stimpack for you, buddy."

James watched as she kneeled down and delivered the boost via syringe to the dog's hindquarters. The dog shook the sting off and gave her a grateful lick on the nose.

Seizing upon his chance, James kneeled down beside her and forced her into a tight hug. His instincts proved right. After a few seconds of futile struggling, Sara burst into tears.

"How could you?" she wailed, clutching his Vault 101 suit as he easily lowered them both into a seated position.

"Honey, I'm so sorry. I went about this whole thing in a terrible way. I just wanted to keep you safe."

"You ruined everything! They killed him, and they would have killed me too if Amata hadn't warned me!"

"Who did they kill?" James asked, strangling tendrils of dread blossoming in his throat.

"Dad, they beat Jonas to death because they thought he knew where you'd gone. Amata warned me, and I was able to escape before they got me too. I saw him…I saw Jonas dead. He was bleeding everywhere and…and he…"

Sara's words dissolved into incoherence. She was trembling against him as if freezing.

James tightened his grip on her and muttered a few half-hearted "Shhh"s, but his thoughts were no longer on his daughter. Jonas was dead.

The man who had been a friend to James long before he'd earned it. The man whose name was the first Sara ever successfully said when she was 16 months old. The man who had risked his security in the Vault to help continue small scale experiments for Project Purity. The man who James had made a promise to; a promise that he would get to see the Wasteland and help with Project Purity. He was dead, and it was all James's fault.

And the very same thing could have happened to Sara. His daughter could be dead right now; the life brutally beaten from her, and he would have spent the rest of eternity in the simulation never knowing. He had almost lost everything. He had almost failed Catherine in every way imaginable.

"I just wanted you to be safe," James spoke aloud. He was half speaking to Sara, and half trying to convince himself that the ends somehow justified the means. "I didn't want this for you—a life out here in this godforsaken warzone."

"How could you ever think I didn't need you anymore? I listened to your journals at the Memorial. I don't care how old I am. I always need you, Daddy."

She had not called him Daddy in at least eight years. He had been so very wrong all along. All those years of planning and behind-the-scenes preparation… he thought he'd been doing her a favor. He should have planned to take her with him. He should have brought both her and Jonas out into the light with him. Except he hadn't. Now Jonas was dead, and the young woman in his arms was crying harder than he'd ever seen her cry.

What had happened to her? There were so many horrors out in the Wasteland. A plethora of awful scenarios flashed through James's mind. His little girl could have been mugged, shot at, stalked, harassed, beaten, and even raped. He could not bear any of those thoughts. If any harm had come to her…

His life purpose was not Project Purity. It had never been Project Purity. Everything he had ever experienced or done had been leading up to the existence of this one girl. Whenever he had bled or cried or worked far into the night it had all been for her. Catherine had died for her. And he had been too blind…too damn blinded by the needs of ungrateful Raiders and mercenaries to see this until she was already broken.

Sara had always been strong for him, whether she had known it or not. She was the only reason he had not withered away from grief after Catherine's death. She had managed to bring a smile to his face, at the mere age of two, after the traumatic demise of Amata's mother. She had never truly hurt him and given him only the unconditional love of a child. And this was how he repaid her…with broken dreams and promises and hearts.

He had to be strong for her now, maybe for the first time in his pathetic life. They could not stay here on the floor of Smith Casey's garage. They had to get to safety in Rivet City. He had to speak to Madison right away.

"Come on, sweetheart," James whispered, stroking her hair. She had stopped shaking. "We can't stay here. We need to go to Rivet City where it's safe."

"Can we talk more once we get there?" Sara asked.

"Of course. I owe you a lot of explanations."

James rose to his feet, pulling her up with him. She seemed unwilling to let go of him, so he gently transferred her grip from his Vault jumpsuit sleeve to his hand.

"This brings back memories," he said, smiling.

"Yeah." She laughed as she used the back of her free hand to wipe her eyes. "I remember how you wouldn't let me go down the stairs into the basement without holding your hand until I was five."

"Well, it's a big Wasteland. I should have been there to hold your hand when you first came out into it. So let me make that up to you now, love."

It was dark when they emerged from Smith Casey's garage. Suddenly remembering the Pip-Boy attached to his arm, James flicked to the screen that displayed the current date and time as well as a general map of the D.C. area. It read 03:57, 09/21/77. September 21? He was fairly certain he'd entered Vault 112 nearly ten days ago. Had time really moved so slowly in the simulator?

"Dad?"

"Hmmm?"

He turned to the sound of her voice, hardly able to discern her shadow in the blackness.

"Is that one Mars or Venus?"

He stepped closer until he was able to see her face and followed her pointed finger and gaze up to the night sky. He allowed himself a moment to marvel at the blanket of stars, noting he had not taken the time to appreciate its ethereal beauty since exiting Vault 101.

"I don't think it's either of those, honey," he said, narrowing his eyes as he looked up for added effect.

"No," Sara insisted. "I'm sure that's a planet and not a star."

"I'm pretty sure that one is actually your mother looking down at us."

Sara scoffed, but he noticed the smallest of grins creased her lips.

"Dad, please, I'm not seven years old anymore."

Suddenly, Dogmeat was growling. James glanced around, seeing nothing. He remembered those dumb, wild dogs that scavenged around the Jefferson Memorial when Project Purity was first founded. They'd spent half their days barking at absolutely nothing.

"Come on, I don't see—"

"Shhh!" Sara hissed, holding up a hand to silence him. Her other hand was already on the pistol holstered to the tool belt wrapped around her waist. Reluctantly, James followed suit, pointing his gun out into what seemed like nothingness.

He and Sara heard the quiet rustling a few seconds later. She froze, and he reached out for her in the dark. Their hands met, and he clung to her fingers. A wild animal or a robot he could take down easily. He pleaded with the universe that it not be a gang of Raiders, or even worse, a Super Mutant. He was no match for them, and, although Sara had disposed neatly of the mole rat earlier, he doubted she could take on anything more than scuttling wildlife.

After a tense moment, the sound receded and then ceased completely. It took Dogmeat several more seconds to relax, but as soon as he did so did Sara. She reholstered her pistol and beckoned to James.

"Come on, Dad. Let's keep going."

They encountered very little resistance as they journeyed slightly southeast toward Rivet City. James could not wait to show his daughter the city sprung of an old battleship. He could not wait to see the look on Madison's face when he showed up with the baby she'd held nineteen years ago and incontrovertible proof that the G.E.C.K. was real. Most of all, he could not wait to return to Project Purity with the little girl he'd carried out of it nearly two decades earlier.

As they neared the edge of the downtown D.C. ruins, he noticed Sara was dragging her feet.

"Everything all right, honey?" he asked, trotting forward to catch up with her. He placed a concerned hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine, Dad," she reassured him, the slightest bit of exasperation evident in her tone. "I'm just getting sleepy. I haven't slept in…well…a long time. Can't we have some downtime in Rivet City before we get to work?"

James did not want to wait a second longer than was necessary. The fulfillment of his dream had never been so close. All they had to do was pick up Madison and take the quick walk over to the Memorial. Surely, Sara could wait to take a short nap when he and Madison were working to restart all their old equipment.

"We'll see, honey," he told her; unable to just give her a solid "No" after all she'd done for him in the past few hours. Maybe they could at least grab a bite to eat before setting off. He realized how famished he felt.

She seemed to realize this was his nice way of saying "No" and remained stubbornly silent for the rest of their trip. The sun was beginning to rise when the highest points of Rivet City became visible over the horizon. It was a stunning view as they neared the tidal basin: the gloriously bright rays of light reflecting off the water. Dogmeat darted forward to splash in the irradiated waters.

"This is Rivet City," James told Sara as they came to the very edge of the shoreline, and the entirety of the old aircraft carrier loomed in the distance.

"Yeah, I know," she replied, unimpressed, shielding her eyes against the sun to gaze out across the basin.

"You've been here already?" he asked.

"How do you think I found your trail at the Memorial, Dad? I talked to Dr. Li. She didn't seem too happy with you."

"No…"James replied. He found he was disappointed that his child's first introduction to Rivet City would not be with him. "No, I can't imagine she would be."

Sara turned her gaze away from the basin and back to her father, who was standing just a few feet behind her. Her eyes suddenly grew large with surprise, and she let out half a shriek before a blinding stab of pain shot through the back of James' head and he fell, forward, onto the sandy bank.

Sand shot into his mouth as he landed, and he gagged violently. What had hit him? His head felt tender, but he didn't think there was an actual injury. He took a moment and waited for the dizziness to pass, until the potential severity of this situation came crashing down on him like a bomb.

Half-blinded by sediment, he got to his hands and knees, coughing. He blinked furiously to try and clear his sight. The basin finally swam back into view and, slowly, its surroundings followed. He blinked again and saw a Raider, clad in full pain spike armor, crouched over Sara who was also on the ground.

"Hey!"

James' voice came out as little more than a gargle of spit and sand, but it was enough to catch the Raider's attention. He withdrew his hand from Sara's canvas bag, where he was shoving her bottle caps into his own pockets by the fistful. The two men's eyes met.

The Raider gave James a radiant grin and extracted a knife from the depths of his armor. Both men lunged toward one another at the same moment. James groped for the pistol at his side, and upon locating it, brought it up to collide with the Raider's jaw.

The Raider fell back, yelling in pain, and catching his foot on Sara's legs as he stumbled backwards. He went down, swinging his knife out wildly toward James. Instead the blade made contact with Sara's face, cutting a deep gash up her cheek and stopping where the top of her ear met her head.

Her screaming jarred James into drastic action. He only knew his little girl was in pain, and the bastard who had caused that pain was lying at his feet, looking up the barrel of James' gun. He owed Sara so much now. Had he ever done anything right for her? He'd left her behind in the Vault, only for her to be forced out into the Wasteland without a soul in the world to rely on. James pulled the trigger three times, firing three rounds directly into the man's skull before he could even really think about what he was doing.

The bullets caused the man's head to split open, spilling his brain out onto the sand. James stared down in horror at the dead man, sickeningly aware of what his overwhelming desire to protect his child had driven him to do.

He knelt down beside her and helped her into a sitting position. Blood was dripping freely from the wound on her face. She was futilely trying to stem the flow with the sleeve of her Vault 101 jumpsuit.

"Sweetheart, we have to get you to the clinic in Rivet City right now."