They stay a few days, more to get Sophia settled than for the rest. Gal is itching to get back to Little Lamplight and through to finding the GECK. Even though her days are spent helping someone else, every hour she spends not finishing her father's work feels like a betrayal. But there are clothes to buy, and people to introduce, and Gal wants to make sure Sophia gets through a couple days of work with no incidents. Nova, bless her heart, staunchly refuses to let her do any serving, well aware of the lewd comments and grabby hands that come with that line of work. Instead, Gob teachers her the ins and out of the still, and before long Sophia is soaking corn, bottling beer, and rolling out barrels with the best of them.
The hollow ache in Gal's chest dulls during the day somewhat, but it seems to be here to stay. If anyone was else in the house was in their right mind, they might have noticed, but Sophia and Charon struggle just as hard to adjust. Sophia tenses any time Charon appears in the main room, and Charon, now somewhat displaced, spends a lot of time out running errands. Gal basically moves into the living room so that everyone has their space, and she doesn't mind it so much.
When they leave, Gal sees both the sadness in Sophia's eyes and the relief. She's grateful at least that throughout this whole mess, she and Sophia have managed to stay friends. She hopes that doesn't change.
The heavy pressure of the situation doesn't register with her until they walk out the front gates of Megaton. She suddenly feels a dozen pounds lighter as she and Charon settle into their usual traveling routine, unconsciously glancing over shoulders to confirm each other's location, Dogmeat darting back and forth between them or disappearing into the bushes.
It takes them just over two days to get back to Little Lamplight. Those two days are blessedly easy; they take out some ghouls, a few molerats, not much else. Trouble almost picks up near the old fort on the way, but they skirt it successfully and before they know it, they're winding through the entrance to the cave. Just as before, Dogmeat whines and balks at the entrance, so Gal digs out his water dish and a can of Cram and leaves it for him behind a bush. It's not far to Vault 87 from Little Lamplight, according to the map, and they'll be coming back out this way anyway, so there's no harm in letting Dogmeat stay out here.
"You again." MacCready says as they come to a stop in front of the barricade. He doesn't sound any friendlier than before.
"Yeah, us again. A deal's a deal, MacCready. We got Penny, Sammy, and Squirrel out. Now let us through to the Vault entrance." Gal says firmly. The kid grumbles, but gestures to someone anyway. With a rusted screech, the gate begins to raise and they walk through and into Little Lamplight.
Mayor MacCready appears in front of them before they get too far in. He looks absurdly small in comparison to Charon's bulk, but to his credit, he doesn't even blink as he cranes his neck up to glare at him.
"Welcome to Little Lamplight. Thanks for saving Sammy, Squirrel, and Penny, but remember we're still keeping our eyes on you, and if you step out of line we're still going to blow your fucking heads off. Got it?" he growls. Gal's already noticed that there are still rifles pointed at them, and MacCready is standing well out of grabbing distance. These kids are way smarter than she'd given them credit for. No wonder they've lasted so long.
"We got it, Kujo. We're just passing through to the Vault, remember?" Gal reminds him.
MacCready snorts. "Good luck with that. The only way to the Vault is through Murder Pass, and there's monsters in there. Big ones."
Murder Pass? Monsters? That doesn't sound fun. She shares a look with Charon.
"What kind of monsters?" he asks. MacCready rolls his eyes.
"What, you think I asked them to fucking tea? They're monsters. Big, ugly, want to rip you apart kind? Feel free to go play with them if you want, but we're locking the door behind you if you do."
Gal's tempted to ignore the warning, considering the size of the person it's coming from, but MacCready is tough as nails and so are the rest of the Lamplighters. If they're scared to go through this pass, she and Charon should probably avoid it if they can.
"There's no other way? Anything?" she asks, a little desperately.
MacCready shakes his head. "No. There's another door, but it hasn't worked since before I was here. The computer's busted, and even Joseph can't make it work."
Computer? Gal perks her ears up at that. Computers she can work with. The computer might be salvageable, but even if it's rusted out, she can just install a new one, attach it to the old wiring. It's worth a try, anyway, before they resign themselves to risking their lives.
"Any idea where I can find Joseph?"
"I'm the Mayor, not a babysitter, Mungo. Beats me." MacCready answers unhelpfully. Then, clearly done with the conversation, he takes his leave and climbs back up the ladder to take watch. Gal and Charon look at each other, shrug, and continue on.
Little Lamplight, it turns out, is a maze. Passages twist and turn in every direction, lit by flickering candles or rigged lights. Most of the forks in the passages have signs, but since Gal and Charon have no idea where they're going, they can only guess where to start. Every group of kids they pass stares them down, some suspicious, some curious. They pass through a room filled with pools and tables with what looks like a bar at one end. Then the passage suddenly widens out and becomes a bridge under their feet instead of rough stone.
The cavern they find themselves in is massive. It must be a hundred, two hundred feet from top to bottom, and several times as wide. Buildings several stories tall crowd in the open space, criss-crossed by rope-and-wood bridges and staircases. Kids scurry back and forth across them at lightning speed, clearly uncaring of the height or the risk of falling.
"Wow." Gal says softly, stopping just before the edge of the bridge. Looking out across the space makes her feel a little dizzy. Then she makes the mistake of looking down.
The distance to the ground seems to get bigger and bigger as she looks, unable to tear her eyes away. She gets a little woozy, and stumbles backwards until her hands are pressed against cold stone. It's blessedly solid under her fingertips.
"That's really high." she says breathlessly.
"You afraid of heights?" Charon asks, a tinge of humour in his voice. Gal looks at him in surprise.
"Are you not? If you fell from there, even you would squash like a bug! How do those kids do that?" Gal exclaims, gesturing feebly at the figures scampering through the structures. Even just looking out across the edge makes her vision swim and her stomach flip painfully. What the hell is she going to do?
"Fear of heights is totally normal, especially for someone who was raised in small spaces like you were." Charon says. "Now quit being a baby and get over here. I'll help you."
She takes one look at the edge, breathes in deep, and pushes off the wall. Even though she's standing on the same ground as before, she feels way more wobbly, like the stone is shaking under her feet. Still, she makes it a few steps closer, and gratefully grabs Charon's hand when he extends it to her. Despite his jibing, he looks impressed with her determination.
" Quit being a baby, Gal. " she mimics as she ducks under his arm and lets him slot her firmly against his side. "Great pep-talk Charon, I'm feeling so much calmer."
"I can tell by the way you're shaking like a fucking leaf. We're going to start walking, nice and slow. You can't fall unless I do, alright? And we both know which one of us trips on her own bootlaces."
Her vision still swims, and she can feel her heart pounding in her chest, but having something to hold onto helps, and so does the joking. It gives her something to think about, other than what she might look like flattened against the stone floor.
"That was one time. Besides, I haven't had five thousand years to work on my cat-like reflexes, unlike some people."underneath them, the bridge sways a little bit from their combined weight. She very carefully looks straight ahead.
"I was born this graceful." Charon snarks back as they make it to a platform. "Let's keep going, you're doing great. Almost as good as your swimming."
Gal still doesn't look down, but she can see that with every bridge they cross, they're getting closer to ground level. It's relieving. "You've never seen me swim. I could be an excellent swimmer, for all you know. I could be a regular mermish."
"A mermaid, you mean?" he corrects dryly, poking her in the side with his elbow. "I think you're a little skinny to be enticing sailors to their deaths."
She bats at his arm, and just like that, they're standing on the ground floor of the giant cavern, with no pits of death in sight. Gal sighs in relief and nearly sinks to the ground, but Charon catches her and holds her upright easily.
"You swooning on me now, smoothskin? The hard part's over." he admonishes. She blinks and smiles up at him, enjoying the feel of solid rock under her feet.
"Isn't that what lovesick women do? Let me tell you, love sick is not the type of sick I'm feeling right now. More like pass out sick."
Charon's grip tightens in the middle of that statement strangely, but it's gone in a flash. She chalks it up to the haziness still clouding her head.
"Well now, here's something new," an unfamiliar voice calls. "What're two grown-ups like you doing in Little Lamplight? Don't tell me MacCready's going soft on us."
Gal turns, pulling out of Charon's hold. A kid, closer to teenager really, stands behind them, arms crossed. He has dark, curly hair and handsome features that look somewhat familiar. The look of distrust and stubbornness on his face reminds her strongly of Penny.
"Looking for Joseph. You know him?" Charon asks gruffly, his voice sounding a little strange. Gal shoots him a glance, but he doesn't look at her.
"That's me." he says. Then his eyes widen. "You're the two that saved my sister. You have my most sincere thanks. Now, what can I do for you?"
Gal tells him about Vault 87, and how they want to get through the broken door. He nods along.
"Well, I can turn the computer back on, if you want to look at it. But nobody has the password." he says doubtfully.
"Leave that to me. I'll get it open." Gal replies. Joseph looks unconvinced, but motions them to follow him anyway.
There are more rope bridges, but they stay within ten feet of the ground this time so they don't bother Gal. Joseph leads them through a cavern filled with junk, filling them in a little bit on how Little Lamplight is run as they walk. He's excited to hear that they've been to Bigtown, especially because he's apparently nearly the oldest of the group and will be kicked out in the next few years. Gal doesn't tell him the part where Bigtown almost got erased off the map. They're doing much better now so it's only a little omission.
When they reach the computer, Joseph boots up the power and Gal gets cracking. He watches over her shoulder in interest as she flips through the files and programs on the computer and looks for a way in.
"Wow. I didn't even know it was possible to get a computer to work if you didn't know the password." he says admiringly as she sets about figuring out the password. "Guess there's some benefits to not being completely cut off from the outside world, huh?"
Gal barely hears him through her focus, but Charon picks up for her. "There's some drawbacks too. Lots of monsters. Most of them are two-legged."
Joseph takes that in good stride and grins up at Charon. Why can't everyone be as accepting as kids?
"Well, guess I'll have to get used to it. If you come back to Bigtown after I get there, you should teach me how to do this!"
Gals nods distractedly, and then with one more guess, she's in. A little harder than the average box, but doable. It's looking like they'll get to skip out on Murder Pass. Darn.
With a click, the door whooshes open. Gal gives Charon a smug look.
"Wow." Joseph says, peering into the next room. "What do you guys want in Vault 87 anyway?"
"It's better you don't know." Gal replies. She shoulders her pack and unstraps her rifle. The next room looks empty, but trouble always comes when you're least prepared. "But will you leave the door unlocked for us? It'll be our only way out."
Joseph shakes his head. "Can't do that. MacCready would have my head. But tell you what, I'll come by a couple times a day and call out. If I hear you on the other side, I'll unlock it and let you through. Sound good?"
"Sure. We don't think it'll take more than a day. Maybe two. See you soon, Joseph. Thanks."
Joseph waves them off as they step through the door, and then it whooshes shut and locks behind them. Charon and Gal make sure to have the flashlights strapped to their weapons turned on before they get plunged into the darkness.
They pause for a moment, listening for sounds of movement, but all that can be heard is the steady drip of water. The air is chillier here than it was in Little Lamplight. Like the other Vaults she's been to, it looks both eerily similar and eerily different. This one has the advantage of being rusted, which helps with the deja vu a little bit.
Silently, they creep through the rooms, keeping an eye out for traps or enemies. This vault looks like it hasn't been touched in a long time. There's pieces of half-decayed items everywhere: broken computers, snapped pencils, a toy car here and there. They probably don't have to be as silent as they are, but the darkness feels like it demands it. Once, Gal felt at home in cramped tunnels, but now she fears them. In the Wasteland, things are usually creeping in the dark or just around the corner, waiting for their chance to strike.
When one door whooshes open, Gal and Charon flinch backwards at the sudden appearance of a human shape. She grabs Charon's elbow before he fires; when they turn their beams on the figure, it turns out to be a mannequin. Her nerves fray a little bit more.
A few rooms over, they finally stumble over an inhabitant. A skeleton, or half of one, lying forgotten in the middle of the corridor. It's still wearing the remains of an old Vaultsuit. Charon kneels to examine it as Gal keeps watch down the corridor. He taps her on the shoulder and holds up a bone; teeth marks mar the end of it. Big ones.
Super mutants? she mouths, and he nods warily. Double alerted, they keep creeping down the hallway. So much for taking the murder out of the trip. It seems to find them wherever they go.
On the other side of a larger room, they hear a scraping noise through the door. Both freeze in place, eyes locked on the door, then automatically they move to flank the door and listen in.
More scraping, and a deep-voice grumble. Then another voice, different from the first. Definitely Super Mutants.
Charon carefully sets his pack down, silent as a shadow, and pulls a frag mine from it. He pantomimes setting it in front of the door and then retreating. Once it's in place, she reaches out with the butt of her rifle and scrapes it across the wall. It makes a satisfyingly loud noise.
"What? Someone there?" a gruff voice calls.
Gal and Charon sprint across the room and tuck themselves behind separate pieces of machinery. Just as she ducks her head down, the door whooshes open. There's a frantic beeping, and then an ear-shattering blast. She can feel the heat rush over the top of the machine, carrying bits of metal with it. Only after a count of three does she turn to peek out cautiously.
Both Super Mutants are laying face down. One is in very small pieces. They keep silent, and hear no more movement, but where there's two Super Mutants, there's usually more. Hopefully not a lot more. The duo take a spare moment to frisk the bodies, and move on.
"You've got most of the grenades. If we end up in a shoot-off down a corridor, I'll lay down cover fire so you can throw." Charon says lowly as they maneuver through the next room. Gal murmurs her consent.
The good thing about Super Mutants and small spaces is that they don't go together well. Super Mutants are most dangerous in large, open areas. In smaller ones, they have trouble maneuvering, they get in each other's way, and they can easily be enticed into stupid mistakes. Several more fall at Gal and Charon's hands, and the only injury they suffer is some shrapnel that slices open the back of Gal's hand.
The unfortunate thing about Super Mutants is that they travel in packs. It feels like they've slain a dozen of them, but still they keep coming. Gal's getting worryingly low on ammo and Charon can't be far behind.
"We should be getting close." she says in a moment between waves, brushing a streak of blood off her cheek. "The Vault can't be too much bigger if it's like any of the others I've visited. I'm low on rounds though."
"Me too. Fucking Mutants." Charon curses, kicking the corpse at his feet when it produces nothing of value. "Too much longer and this shotgun will be nothing but a really heavy bat."
They make it up a set of stairs and through another door, and find themselves in another long hallway, blessedly empty. Still, long hallways are really dangerous, so they keep a sharp eye out as they creep down it.
The hallway is dotted with doors and terminals. When Gal passes the first one, she looks over curiously and blinks. Charon sense her stop and pauses to look back. Wordlessly, she points.
There's a window set into the wall that looks into the room. In the middle, a gurney sits, with a dead Super Mutant lying on top of it. It appears to be strapped down. Charon's brows furrow. He looks at Gal in question, but she just shrugs, as confused as he is. Why would Super Mutants have tied one of their own to a gurney? It couldn't have been there long; the rest of the bodies in the place have already been reduced to skeletons, but this one is whole.
They gaze for a moment longer, then move on.
The rest of the rooms are filled with equally puzzling things. Dead super mutants laying on floors, surrounded by bones. Another monstrous-looking dead creature, with hulking shoulders and a stretched-open, fearsome mouth. Gal's never seen anything like it. Charon pauses to stare too, his mouth set in a grim line.
Until a long, pink tentacle whips out and catches him around the throat.
Charon grunts, but the appendage wrapped around his throat squeezes and the sound is cut off. When he brings his shotgun up, the creature slams into him and knocks it out of his hands. It goes spinning down the corridor while the creature writhes on top of the ghoul. Another long, pink whip wraps around his wrist and pulls it away from the creature's vulnerable face.
Centaurs never fail to make Gal want to vomit. She can handle ghouls, Super Mutants, even Bloatflies, but Centaurs are abominations. This one is especially grotesque.
Their tongues are covered with radiation, which luckily won't affect Charon, but the lack of air sure will if she doesn't do something about it.
Gal tries to take aim, but the centaur has Charon wrapped around it and she's terrified that she'll hit him if she attempts a shot. Cursing, she throws the rifle to the side and draws her knife instead. Charon's eyes are wide as she rushes the pair; he tries to shake his head at her, in lieu of speaking. One hand braced on his chest, she leans in and hacks at the base of the tongue wrapped around his throat. The centaur flails, nearly knocking her off her feet, but the tongue snaps and Charon is able to rip it away and take a wheezing breath. Gal turns her attention to the tongue holding his arm and begins hacking at it as well.
The centaur, angered, slams into her this time. She's no match for its weight; it knocks her to the ground and the weight of its body on her chest is crushing and unmoveable. Gal finds that the knife is still in her hand and thrusts upwards with it into the bottom of the centaur as hard as she can. The centaur reacts by stomping on her chest, knocking all the air out of her lungs.
Then, suddenly, the weight lifts. Gal watches in disbelief as Charon bodily lifts the centaur up and heaves it off of her with a snarl. Gal looks around frantically and sees Charon's shotgun lying a few feet from her hand. She inches toward it, ignoring the burning in her lungs.
It comes back, last tongue reaching out to find purchase, but Gal reaches the shotgun and pulls it up to nestle in her shoulder. Her aim is true; the blast decimates the centaur's head. The body slumps forward and over her boot, spraying blood onto her trousers.
" God, " she breathes, lowering the shotgun. "Seriously, fuck Centaurs."
Charon nods his agreement, unable to speak, and lets out a hacking cough.
"Thanks, smoothskin." he wheezes, offering her a hand. She accepts it gratefully and lets him pull her to her feet. She can see the bruise from the tongue forming around his neck already. His face is red, from the lack of air or exertion, she doesn't know.
"You alright?" she asks worriedly. He breathes in deep, lets out another hacking cough, and nods.
"Yeah. I didn't even hear the damn thing." he replies as he accepts the shotgun back. She wipes her bloody hands off on her trousers as best as she can, but they're soaked from the waist-down in blood already. With a sigh, she retrieves her rifle and then shoves the centaur over, searching for her knife.
" This," she says in satisfaction as she pulls it out with a wet sound, "is a lucky knife. No doubt about it."
Charon goes to reply, but the crackle of a loud-speaker silences him. He immediately brings the shotgun to his shoulder and sights down the hallway, looking for danger. Gal backs up against the other wall and does the same.
"Hello? Is someone there?" a gravelly voice calls. "Please, if you're there, come up and use the intercom next to the window."
Gal and Charon exchange a look and then make their way carefully up the hallway. At the end, it intersects with another hallway running perpendicular; there's an intercom set into the wall opposite, and a large grimy window. Gal can see something large moving on the other side.
They stop, but nothing jumps out at them. The same voice comes over again, beseeching. Gal checks one side of the intersecting hallway while Charon watches the other; besides the sound over the intercom, all is quiet.
Close up, it's easy to make out the shape of a Super Mutant through the streak glass. He holds nothing in hands, and makes no move for the door. Surprisingly, the large figure squints at them and then rubs at its eyes, like it can't believe what it's seeing.
"Either you are quite real, or I am going quite mad." the super mutant says, one hand pressed against the glass. Gal straightens up and takes a few steps towards the intercom. She keeps her eyes locked on the mutant.
"Could you actually be a pure human?" he asks, a tone of wonder in his voice. Gal blinks, and reaches for the button on the intercom.
"Uh, I don't know about pure, but I am human. Who are you?" she asks. The mutant looks shocked by the question.
"Me? You care...who I am?" at her confused expression, the mutant shakes his head and rubs at his forehead with the heel of one hand. "Forgive me, but I'm not used to pleasantries. I'm more used to grunts and being struck about by the others."
Gal has never heard a three-syllable word come out of a super mutant's mouth before. Charon doesn't look at the mutie, busy keeping guard in case they're ambushed, but she can see he's just as puzzled.
"My name's Fawkes." the mutant continues. "I've lived in this… cage... all my life." he gestures to the room around him sadly. It looks like some type of scientific observation chamber. There's a bed, a sink, some things thrown about the room, and a terminal tucked into one corner.
"You speak so well, especially for a super mutant. Where did you learn?" she asks.
"Ugh. Please don't use that term." he says, sounding put off. He gestures to the terminal. "When they put me in here, they didn't realize that the terminal still worked. I've spent all my life teaching myself to read and speak based on the information stored on the Vault's mainframe."
She hears layers of emotion in his voice that she's never heard from a Super Mutant before. Annoyance, pride, and a little bit of sorrow. A mutant among mutants, an outsider among his own kind. It's a sad story, if it's true.
"We need to go." Charon says gruffly. "We don't want to get pinned down here if they're heard the fighting."
"Wait! Please don't go. You're here for the GECK, is that correct? I can help you!"
Gal hadn't even looked away from the mutant, but she's a little ashamed to feel how that statement makes her more willing to stay. She gestures for him to go on.
"That's the only reason anyone would come here. But all others before you have failed. I know what the GECK is, how to get to it, and if you let me out of here, I'll put it in your hands."
"Why the hell would we need you to get to the GECK?" Charon cuts in. The abrasive tone of voice doesn't even seem to ruffle Fawkes's feathers.
"The GECK is in a chamber flooded with deadly radiation. No human could survive the trip. But as a Meta Human, the radiation doesn't bother me. Will you help me?" his tone is pleading. Gal waivers.
"Are you really considering this?" Charon asks softly. "I can retrieve the GECK. This has trap printed all over it in capital fucking letters."
Gal glances back at the Super Mutant, her finger off the intercom button so Fawkes can't hear.
And what have you done, little girl? a little voice whispers to her. Who have you saved in your selfless travels through the wasteland?
"This isn't about the GECK." she answers, meeting his eyes. He gives her a long look, and his gaze drops away from hers.
"I know." he says softly. His fingers twitch towards her, but fall back onto his shotgun.
Gal presses the button.
"What do we do to get you out of there?" she asks.
"Are you doubting my decision anymore?" Gal pants, one hand clutched around her injured arm. There's a roar of rage ahead, and then a sound like a meat cleaver, thunking into flesh. Charon pulls her hand away from the gunshot wound and hums at the bloody mess.
"I wasn't doubting you in the first place. The strays you pick up are always strangely good at murder." Charon inspects the underside of her arm, ensuring the bullet isn't lodged, and digs for a stimpack. "You should try getting shot less."
"Ow ow ow OW!" Gal hisses as he jabs the stimpack in, glaring. "That's not what you used to say. Oh, Mistress, thou should let thy servant clear the area so thee can stay safe and pure from all evil - SHIT! That was on purpose, you asshole."
Charon half smiles at her and pours a little more vodka over the knitting flesh. Gal hisses again. "Maybe you should stop making fun of the one who's fixing you up then, kid."
Gal jerks her arm back, still mock-glaring. Charon just gives her an amused look and hands her her rifle back.
"Humans are so fragile." Fawkes notes as he tromps back towards them. His sledge hammer is dripping with blood. "It must be inconvenient to bleed so much. The chamber is right up here."
They make their way up through the carnage, Gal flexing her fingers to make sure everything's in order. The hallway spills into one final room with a door set into the opposite side. The terminal is unlocked and powered; all that's left is for Fawkes retrieve the GECK.
"Alright. You stay here. I'll get the case and bring it right back."
Gal nods and settles against the table in the middle of the room to wait. Fawkes stomps over to the terminal, opens the door, and steps through. She can see a poisonous green pool of liquid spreading across the floor on the other side, but then the door closes behind him.
"Moment of truth." she says conversationally. "Think he'll come back?"
Charon shrugs. "He killed at least ten Super Mutants for us. That's a good sign. Good riddance if he doesn't though."
They wait in silence for a few moments. Finally, there's the sound of heavy footsteps coming back. Both of them back away from the door, but when it opens, it's Fawkes on the other side. He has a silver briefcase in one hand. The smile he attempts as he holds it out is both surprising and terrifying.
"Here's the GECK, as promised." he says. Gal takes it from him and looks it over. It's much smaller than she'd thought it would be. Emblazoned on the side is the acronym 'G.E.C.K' in bold letters. It seems impossible, that the secret to clean water for the whole Wasteland is contained in a briefcase that weighs less than ten pounds.
"I hope it's worth it." Fawkes says. Gal swallows, her throat suddenly tight, and hugs it to her chest.
"Me too." she says numbly. Graciously, Fawkes doesn't remark on her sudden quietness.
"Well, I'm afraid this is where you and I part company. I'll find my way out of this place, don't worry." he says, actually sounding a little disappointed. "Maybe we'll meet again somewhere in the Wasteland."
"Wait, you're leaving? Are you sure you don't want to stick together for a little while?" Gal says quickly. Fawkes thinks it over and shakes his head.
"No. You two have been kind to me, but I'd put you in danger if you were seen with me. I can take care of myself, and there is a lot of world out there for me to see. I thank you for what you've done."
Gal looks up at the ferocious man and is surprised to find a pang of sadness at the thought of him leaving. She knows he's right, that she can't just walk him into Megaton like she did Charon, but it still feels like losing a good friend. There's every chance that he'll set out into the Wasteland and be gunned down before he even finds what he's looking for.
"Be careful out there, Fawkes. We'll see each other again." she says, smiling. He gives her that scary smile back, claps a friendly hand on Charon's shoulder, and then disappears into the maze of hallways. Gal watches him go and does not, does not, blink back tears.
"Do you think he'll be okay?" she asks. Charon comes up beside her and knocks her elbow with his.
"Did you miss the part where he threw a mutant his own size through a solid wood fucking table? He'll be fine. Give it a couple months and you'll have him sleeping on the couch in Megaton just like all your other strays."
She imagines Fawkes curled up on their couch, knees sticking out over the coffee table, and snorts. It lightens the mood.
"Yeah, you're probably right. Let's get out of here. We've got a GECK to deliver."
To her credit, Gal does think to herself that things seem to be going too easy before the flash of white that sends her, dazed, crashing to the ground. She even manages to keep a grip on the GECK as a pair in power armour stride in. It's only when her vision starts going black that she feels it tugged away from her weak fingers.
A/N:
WARNINGS: Nothing special.
This wasn't the exciting chapter I promised. Next time for sure! I mis-remembered the end of the Fallout 3 storyline, and so the next few chapters went through major overhauls. But ultimately I think the story becomes more interesting. We'll see.