I don't know if it was the white leather jacket or the shock white hair that caught my attention first. There is also the possibility that is was the enormous hog of steel she had strapped to her thigh that caught my eye. In the nearly 3 weeks I had been defrosted I hadn't seen anyone, man or woman that made me stop and ask myself "Who is that?!" This woman did.

She wasn't tall, but she wasn't short either. She was athletic in build, had chiseled facial features and unbelievably clear blue eyes. Her muscle tone and the way that she presented herself while speaking with Arturo screamed merc at me. Not a wasteland merc, but a merc from before the bombs dropped. She looked completely comfortable, yet seemed out of place.

"Cain!" Arturo had spotted me and was waving for me to come over to his shop. I walked over trying to look as nonchalant as possible.

"Arturo." I braced his hand shake in both of my hands. "How are you today?"

"Good. Good. I was just telling this enchanting young woman about your pistol. You should see the treasure she has!" Clearly he was trying to strike up a rapport with her.

I took a closer look at the gleaming iron she was strapped with and almost let out an involuntary "Daaaamn!"

"Holy shit... Is that an M29?"

She flashed a smile. Perfect white teeth - definitely not from around here.

"It is! You have obviously seen one before?" She unsnapped the retaining strap, grabbed it and handed it to me, grip first. Muscle memory. She knew her way around weapons. In fact, nothing she did was in any way awkward. I presented My RSh to her in the same manner. We each stood there for a few minutes an appreciated one another's weapons. She snapped the RSh open, then closed and brought it into her firing position. Perfect form... and she was wearing skin tight leather leggings.

We started to hand the weapons back to one another and said "Impressive!" at nearly the exact second. The coincidence made us both laugh nervously.

"Where did you find that?" I had to ask.. literally. It was the only thing that came to mind.

"Pulled it off a raider I dusted. Dumbass was standing there yammering at me and threatening this and that, so..."

"You shot him.." I completed her sentence for her.

"Yeah... I never figured out why he didn't just shoot me... I mean he was strapped with a fucking M29!"

"Arturo?" I said, leveling a glare at him.

"I said nothing! I swear!"

I told her about getting the Desert Eagle that Arturo was wearing.

"Yeah, what is it about these assholes? It is like hearing themselves talk is more important than actually killing the person they are harassing."'

I think I loved her.

"What brings you to town?" Lame. Lame. Lame...

"Mainly, ammo, but I like looking at what Arturo has. He has always been one of the best stocked gun brokers in the Commonwealth. I was running security for a couple of packages that were being transported out of the Commonwealth from Bunker Hill via caravan."

"Nice. Did you find everything you were looking for?" Oh my GOD.. What was wrong with me?!

"Yeah.. and then some!" she gave a wink at Arturo. She smiled at me again. I felt something weird in my gut.

"That's great! Would you like some noodles?" I wanted to, literally, punch myself in the mouth.

We sat down and I noticed her looking at my face.

"Tiger." I said it out of the blue to see if she new she had been caught.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare." Quick girl. My brain was getting back on track.

"I see it every time I look in the mirror, so I am used to it... When I first got it, I used to stare at it to. No need to apologize."

"Where the hell did you get mauled by a tiger?" Clever girl - picked up on apparently anomalous statement.

"North China."

"Bullshit!" She said it and laughed at the same time. "Ok... So, when were you in North China." Brave girl.

"Before the war." I was waiting for something, but I didn't know what.

"Before what war, the Great War? Over 200 years ago?" I was watching her read me now. There it was. She was looking as well.

"That's be the one." I wanted to see how she reacted to the truth.

"Bullshit..." No laughing this time. "What the hell were you doing in Northern China before the war?"

"Black ops... Wet work. Assassinations. Interrogations. That kind of thing." I slurped a noodle in, watching her.

"Are you fucking serious? Why would I believe that?" No "bullshit" this time. She isn't doubting now - she is looking for proof.

"Tell you what..." I smiled at her. "We are going to be around Concord this weekend. Ever been there?"

"Yes..." There was a hint of curiosity in her voice.

"We'll make it a point to be at the History Museum, Sunday morning... I can show you a few things to convince you."

"Cain..." She didn't see the trap I just laid for her. "I met you less than an hour ago and while the conversation has been interesting, to say the least, why the hell do you think that I would travel all the way out to Concord to see if some crazy story is true?"

"Because, crazy or not, you are interested." I watched her eyes dart to the left. Now it was time.. "Well, that and the people that you work for will want to know as well."

I watched her eyes widen for a moment, and then she let out one of the best laughs I have ever heard.

"Holy fuck... you are good." She stood up and extended her hand - I took it and shook it. "Yeah... I will be there. You can count on it."

"Bring your boss... and whoever else you feel you need to."

"Good.. Good!" She gave me a little salute. "Then it is a date!"

"I never caught your name..." My turn to dig a little.

"Call me, Glory." She smiled when she said it.

"Well, Glory, after our "date", it'll be my turn to ask you a few questions."

"Deal." That was the last thing she said before she turned and walked away.

I sat there and pondered what had just happened and what I had learned.

I grilled Arturo for a few minutes about my new friend and all he knew was that she had been there a few times and that she said she was looking for a heavy hitter for some work and had asked if he knew any. When he saw me, he waved me over. That seemed reasonable enough. The important thing was they were not looking for me specifically. By the time I had wandered back over to Home Plate, Heather and Xao had been waiting for me for a few minutes.

"Come on, Mr. Punctuality." Heather yelled as I approached.

I went inside, grabbed my gear and we headed out. I knew that within the next hour I was going to find out if I screwed us or not. I figured that is Glory was some kind of Institute scout that we would be ambushed between DC and the Cabot house. By the time we got to the Cabot house I was convinced that we were going to be ok. Unless the Institute was sending bonehead raiders out to do its dirty work, there was no sign of anything that I would call a discernible threat.

The Cabot job was cake. We needed to go north, meet with his people, get a little info, and then recover a package. For the life of me, I don't know why the hell they need to pay me to do it. It sounds like they 10-15 mercs at the Parson's Asylum that would have no troubles getting the shitbags who stole the package. Whatever, it was easy money. Bunker Hill was about a 20 minute walk.

Once in Bunker Hill we made contact with the caravan owner, Mr. Stockton, and got the info. We were supposed to link up with his man "Honest Dan", in or around Concord and help him with the investigation that he was running. More cake.

We opted to stay the night in Bunker Hill and got to know a few of the locals. Not a bad group of people. I did pick up a tidbit of intel from an argument that the bartender and his son were having. Apparently there is a group in the Commonwealth called the Railroad that is fighting against the Institute. When we get back to DC, I am going to need to poke around to see what I can find out.

Looking out over the skyline, I am noticing that things are starting to become strangely familiar now. My mind is finding it easier to adjust to the changes and I am getting my full sense of direction back. It has been, all things said and done, an interesting day.