I know I always apologize whenever I take so long to update, but I didn't even know I had this chapter finished and already in my docs, I thought I hadn't finished it. I feel so. . .blah!

Anyway, I still have the offers up that for anyone who has an OC you would like me to write on. If you want me to add it to this story, or New Vegas: A Ghoul's Perspective or even Once Upon A Dream, then I can do that. If you would like me to do something else with the character, then just message me or describe it in a review. A new character will be added to this story later, and he will appear in my Fallout 4 story Once Upon A Dream.

I think that's it. . .also, you can find me on Archive Of Our Own under the same pin as here (FloodFeSTeR) and on Twitter ( LikePicklez)


ALEXANDER


Slamming Burke into cold metal felt so good.

He hit the wall with what could have been a gasp, but thanks to Charon's punishment, it was hard to tell. He slumped against the wall, moaning softly beneath his breath but his lips didn't move.

I dusted my hands off on my coat, the blood sticking to even the insides of my gloves. I had discarded them already on the front desk as I drug Burke downstairs, past still feuding hoards of ferals; it was like walkin through one of those old zombie films. It hadn't taken as long as we thought it would to clear out this place, even with the raiders bouncing all over the place and a near army of feral ghouls. The guards were even more poorly trained than I had originally thought, only Gustavo had any sense about him and he was tied to a chair in the café.

Roy wanted to crack into him as personal justice.

I looked around as I paced back from the door, shaking my head at the pristine condition of this little underground network. I'm sure they had to keep it in working order because of all of the delicate inner workings that were down here. Purifier, generators, back up generators, escape routes and such. I bet this tower was untouched until Tenpenny got his hands on it, and then the money he had to have to keep it up . . .

I hesitated as I passed one of the closed doors, brow furrowing at the bright blue ring on it. I cocked my head as I approached, placing my hand against the center of it, expecting it to open like those in the Mojave bunkers. The ring glowed brightly for a moment, and then faded back to its placid florescence.

"What the actual Hell," I murmured, curling my fingers back from the door. "Not creepy at all, Tenpenny what did you get yourself into?"

There were bunkers all over D.C. for obvious reasons. It was the hub, it was the government, it was everything to America before the bombs. And it was also the place most bombed, for the very reasons I could think, including these bunkers. They held secrets and weapons, military grade, sector 7 grade, Area 51 level secrets and I knew of a few scattered around with plenty of juicy toys inside.

But under Tenpenny Tower? I understood hiding things under plain buildings, but the tower was like a beacon.

Would explain the elaborate tunnel system, even the rich didn't have such fortified escape tunnels.

I shook my head, turning back towards the door to the lobby, I'd bring Nevaeh and Charon down here later to try and get inside. Charon would probably be a DNA match for the door, given his training background.

I hope, I would love to know what was hidden down here.

The raiders were inside now, gleefully killing the ferals that got in their way, swinging bats and spitting bullets. Nezi was perched on the edge of the main desk, fiddling with my gun, which lit a warm fire under my ass.

"Oh honey," I swipe it easily from her hands, catching the broad grin she gave me. "Don't touch my guns."

"No one calls me honey," she cooed, smirking. "So, pre-war? You seem pre-war."

"Yep," I checked the clip, not one to put it past her stealing bullets. "I saw the bombs fall, what of it?"

She shrugged and hopped down from the desk, thumbs tucked into her belt. "The only other vet we got is Buckles, and all he does is sneer at me when I ask."

"If ya lookin for history lessons, I ain't given any out, lass."

"Sexy accent."

"Down girl."

Nezi chuckled. "Oh love, I'm just messin with ya. I don't like sausage, ya dig?"

I arched an eyebrow. "Diggin the clefts?"

"Oh yeah, and your lady Wanderer is so my type."

I snapped my fingers at her. "I knew it!"

Nezi chuckled. "Yeah, she gets all flustered when chickadees push her buttons, let me tell ya."

I snickered. "Nice."

I jumped though, when a raider crashed into my arm, jumping up and down and waving his bat back and forth like pendulum between his legs. Nezi's face went from joy to annoyance and I watched her leg slide out, quickly knocking the boy to the ground. He yelped and then groaned, staring up at her with utter betrayal and yet he was submissive, not removing his nose from the dirt.

"I was talking to our employer here," she gestured to me. "What have I told you about being so rude?"

"I-I'm sorry but-but-but -"

"Spit it out, boy," she snarled.

He pushed back when her boot slammed into the ground, clutching his bat like a lover. "Intruder! There's an intruder and she isn't a local! She's in leather and has a robot following her around!"

"That's not exactly unusual," Nezi sighed.

"She's shiny! Shiny leather, all sparkly and pretty and scary!"

Nezi cooed. "Mmm, sounds like my kind of woman. I should go introduce myself."

I waved a hand at her, watching as she snapped orders on her way to the door. How did she manage to keep them all in line, especially when they were as hopped up as they were? Perhaps magic, that could really explain some things but there was that whole magic-isn't-real-thing, which was a real bummer. I had been taken hostage by raiders and their leaders regulated strong drugs to keep them in line, cutting them with other drugs, risking their men and women's lives to have them loyal.

I looked over my shoulder when I heard a ding, seeing Charon stepping out of the elevator. He still had bloody hands, that placid expression with a hint of confusion on his face; why was I suddenly feeling so hot around the collar, and not even in the fun way?

"Alexander, we need to talk."

"Nah."

"Now."

I frowned but nodded at him, shoulder-to-shoulder as he guided me towards one of the rooms off of the lobby. It had been the boutique, untouched by the fighting expect for a bloody trail at the door where someone had been drug out. Charon noticed the stain as well, shaking his head and rubbing a hand over his chest; blood smeared beneath his palm.

"There is still fighting in other parts of the Tower," he questioned, suddenly distracted, plucking up the empty shell casings.

I hesitated. "Um, yeah, yeah the raiders are gettin th' last bit of the arseholes all cleared."

He nodded. "Good," he sighed. "What did you do with her assailant?"

"Locked him downstairs like she said," I paused. "Found a . . . strange door too, shoulda seen it. I want you and th' lil lady to come look at it with me later."

"Are you sure he is secure?" Ignoring my words. . .

I chuckled at that. "Oh yeah, yeah between the beating you gave him and the locking mechanism, he is secured."

Charon nodded, popping the buckles on his gloves. "That is a relief, he shook Nevaeh pretty badly. And there is still the matter of removing the bodies and other pieces from the Tower. I assume you will be there to assist, unless you are going to guard Nevaeh while she readies those underground."

My brow furrowed. "Why wouldn't you be doin that?"

He straightened, gloves clenched in his hand. "She wants me to stay here and guard Michael and the woman tied to the bed until the slavers get here."

Okay, that was news to me.

"Excuse me?"

"The woman, Sarah, is a former slaver whore and her people want her back. So we are returning her."

"And we all agree that is logical?"

He narrowed his eyes. "She is not some innocent woman, she was one of those people and no matter her changes, she is still guilty of those crimes. I am not happy to be dealing with slavers either, but Nevaeh wills it so I must obey even if the woman were innocent. Which she is not."

"So you say," I scoffed but raised my hands. "Its cool, its cool, I believe ya. The lass doesn' seem one ta willingly work with slavers. Murder, sure, but human slavery is a big no," rule of the Wastes, apparently. "I think I'll keep the lass company downstairs, make sure none of the ferals strayed off. We didn't close those tunnels behind the horde."

"And there are more than we originally thought, Roy has the raider woman and her men cleaning house."

I pushed up on my toes a little. "Oy! There is a woman out there, Nezi went ta meet 'er. One of the boys was sayin she was shiny and all, ring any bells?"

Charon shook his head. "I need more to go on than shiny."

"Pristine leather, sounds like to me. And she supposedly has a bot with 'er, but that isn't exactly uncommon lately."

Charon hummed. "Yes, there has been an increase in robotic activity hasn't there?"

I could only agree to the side note. "I've noticed that, Tinker Joe down there has really been pumpin em out lately, hasn't he? I think he has mercenaries restorin the old factory."

"How could such a feat be possible?"

I shrugged, leaning back against the desk. "Outside help? There's only one set of friendly mercenaries in the Capital, and that's Reilly's Rangers. Outside ya got the Gunners if you catch em on a good day, the higher ups in Talon lend out their good boys every now and again. NCR is always lookin to expand their network, but they don' typically work with robotics. Then there's more secretive alliances."

"Brotherhood?"

"Maybe, but I would think they had suits down there."

"Not unless they didn't want to get raided by Outcasts or any of their other opposition," Charon hummed. "Perhaps your old employers?"

I cocked my head. "Previous . . . employers? Specifics, its been over two hundred years."

"Big Mountain."

Well . . .

"No," I shook my head. "No, no they wouldn't stretch this far for an old factory," I paused. "How did you even know about them?"

Charon shrugged. "You have mentioned things when you believed I was not listening, and perhaps you have told me of the place. I try not to linger on details like that," his turn to pause, even look a little hesitant. "Are they the ones that could help with the brain damage?"

I nodded immediately. "Yeah, yeah they could repair the brain without having to extract it. Doing so would obviously, if it actually worked, turn us into different people. Different memories, different personalities," I chuckled. "You could even possibly be freed from your contract."

He gave me an odd look, which passed so fast I hardly noticed it. "I believe I should return to Nevaeh, I have discussed all necessary with you."

I opened my mouth to speak, closing it with a click of my teeth when he turned to the door. My fingers tightened on the edge of the counter behind me before I pushed off, seeing him already having disappeared from the lobby. I scratched carefully at the back of my head, feeling suddenly very nervous. Was I keeping too much from them? No, no I didn't know them that well anyway, and Big Mountain - anything over in that general area including the Mojave, that was all business they didn't need to know about. And when I returned to that desert? I didn't need them to have an excuse to follow, I actually liked this weird crew going on around here, my problems out West wouldn't tear them up like they had me.


NEVAEH


Alex and I were small time heroes to the people beneath the streets.

Of course there were a couple of 'took ya long enough's' in there, but the many, many 'thank you's' and 'thank the heavens' balances it all out.

"I can't believe you actually managed it," Gob shook his head, setting down the foggy glass he still didn't release; a small puddle of whiskey rippled at the bottom. "I thought for sure . . . well . . . "

I arched an eyebrow, right hand cradled in Alex's; he was having to bandage it, laser burns. "Thought what?"

He shrugged. "I thought you were just gonna fuck off some more on us. I know what you do out there isn't stuff you can wrap up in a moment. And we at least have the ground above our heads, while some are being locked in shopping carts ready to be shipped off to God-knows-where by super mutants. But, ya know . . . "

I waved my free hand at him. "I get it," I shook my head. "I just . . . guess I got a little lost there for awhile. But now we can move all of you in and now you have a roof over your head."

"Well, it'll be a day or two before we can move the kids in," Alex chuckled, patting his knees as he let my hand go. "Place needs a little TLC after that fight."

Gob chuckled. "Should have seen that Fat Man Bessie was toting."

"I felt it," I grinned. "Gotta love that girl."

Gob sighed and stood, stretching onto his toes as he did so. He was wearing armor, which I found odd to look at because Gob never wore armor. It was always doc scrubs here, raggedy shirts there, of course he had never needed to wear armor before. He was always behind a bar, hidden underground or - once upon a time - locked up in the Museum with the other sane ghouls.

"How is Charon holding up," he questioned, pulling a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his back pocket.

I shrugged, taking the one he lit first with an appreciative nod. "He's back there helping keep the twitchers in order while Nezi keeps an eye on this new girl that showed up. Said she wanted to talk to me, but I didn't have time to stop."

Gob hummed. "I'm guessing leather and a robot, right?"

I chuckled. "Knew something like that wouldn't slip by any of you here, she cause any trouble?"

Gob shook his head. "No, no we just saw her passing through a few days before you made it back here. If she noticed us watchin her, she didn't do anything about it."

I nodded. "Well, I guess I should introduce myself . . ."

"It would be best, yeah."

I groaned. "I was hoping you would talk me out of this."

He chuckled as I stood. "Then you don' know me as well as I thought you did."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm gonna go check on Nova," I pointed to Alex and then the floor. "Stay."

"What, do you want me to bark and lay down?"

"It would be an improvement."

He rolled his eyes at me, but a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as I walked away. I flexed my fingers of my wrapped hand, only able to feel the swollen tingle of the stimpak injected into my palm. Hopefully the burns would be healed by morning, and I could get back to that warm laser in my hand. Vault 112 wasn't far from the Tower, if I just got to this supposed garage, I would be home free. I knew there would be more than that to this, what with it being my fathers crusade and all, but I was content to live in my own fantasy of dumping him face-to-face.

The luxury he didn't even give me.

"You look sad, suga'," Nova smiled softly at me from her chair against the back of the bunk room. "Thinkin bout your dad?"

I nodded. "Read me like a book," I stopped in front of her. "Why you in here alone?"

"Headache."

"Ah," I paused. "Well, I say we get your stuff together, its time."

She lifted her head. "Really?"

I nodded. "Yeah, we cleared the tower. Its clean up time, but I don't want you down here anymore. It can't be good for the baby, I'm gonna get you into my room and then we'll get Church to take care of you in the clinic."

Nova nodded as she pushed herself up from her chair. "I gotcha, lets do this then. While my ankles don't ache so bad."

"Can I help?"

I looked over my shoulder at Alex, who was staring at us curiously. "Of course," I gestured to Nova, stepping out of his way. "If it comes to it, you can carry her. I can't do that," I did tell him to stay though.

"You wouldn't," Nova corrected.

"Right, I wouldn't."