"Something on your mind hun?"

Burke sossed with the food on his plate in the Weatherly Hotel while Vera, the hotel owner and Rivet City's gossip monger, fussed around him.

"Oh, lots of things," he muttered.

He was thinking about Tenpenny, how gloriously satisfying it was to know he'd paid the ultimate price for his treachery. He clenched his hand into a fist briefly. He could still feel the man struggling against his grip. For a drunk in his eighties, he'd retained a surprising amount of strength. But he should have known. He was a shut in but not at all inactive, making his wasteland safari every day from the balcony. But his paranoid fantasies of conspiracy, when had they come about? Burke was a fool to have ignored him so long. Complacency. He grimaced at the realisation he had fallen foul of the word. Idiots got complacent and it would always be their undoing. Else they eeked out a pathetic existence, like those in Megaton, too complacent to move away from the bomb they knew could go off at any time, randomly or otherwise.

Ah, the bomb. It seemed so long ago now, and the pleasure he felt over convincing Talia to so perfectly initiate his plan was overshadowed by his failure to keep her in the tower. This was compounded by his discovery the Enclave had withdrawn all personnel from the purifier perimeter, meaning he didn't find Lieutenant Sloan or anyone else with whom he'd intended to start a negotiation for Talia.

If she'd never left, none of this might have happened. Though somehow he doubted it. The Enclave was here to stay. Numerous reassuring banners had appeared along thoroughfares toward the city, talking of rebuilding America's future. And more energy fences had sprung up throughout the city ruins, almost certainly to hinder movement of Brotherhood troops, but he'd already heard people mention how they kettled the supermutants into certain quarters, protecting those who had to travel to and from Rivet City. It wasn't the same as seeing Brotherhood knights blow them to pieces with a gatling laser, one resident had commented, but it was a lot easier to get around.

In or out of the Enclave's clutches, Talia would certainly still have a price on her head thanks to Tenpenny. Burke wished he could throttle Littlehorn in the same way, but her only real option was to cheat death again- or perhaps make a deal pleasing enough to Littlehorn that he waived the contract himself. A shiver danced across Burke's skin at the thought. He'd accepted the invitation to work for the agency many years ago, only later finding something ungodly about the man himself. Well, there was no leaving at that point, only going dormant, so he'd preferred to put in his best and see what came of such an ominous partnership.

It turned out as well for him as one might expect from a deal with the Devil himself. Caps, status, and contacts in abundance. There was nothing he couldn't achieve, nobody he couldn't reach. He even had the mercenaries of the infamous Talon Company at his beck and call. It had accelerated his standing with Tenpenny boundlessly. How could one man get so much done in his name? Tenpenny happily accepted that he'd partnered himself with an absolute gem of a man and let him get on with handling all of his business.

Everything was going so well that Burke had practically discarded his earlier misgivings. He was just a man like the rest of them. Until Littlehorn had landed him with his current dilemma, and Burke found himself unwilling to tempt whatever fate awaited someone falling foul of the devil. He knew he was probably being absurd. But even so, if all that found him was a run of the mill murder, he would still be unable to protect Talia from the contract the snake had approved. Littlehorn could have rejected it if he cared anything for his agents, but it only mattered that he had some. There were always more to be found, and something told Burke time wasn't an issue for the man.

Littlehorn had given Burke the contract, anticipating entertainment however he chose to handle it. If he didn't turn her in, someone else would. Or more accurately, they would try. Burke had no intention of letting that happen. Worst-case, Littlehorn would have to pay several times over for the both of them, and lose as many agents in the process.

"Well, I'm all ears if you need to talk about it," Vera chirped from over his shoulder, no doubt sifting for a story. The vengeance accumulating in his blood fizzled away and he remembered that Talia first had to be freed from the Enclave before she was at risk from hitmen.

"I'm sure you are. Well, I'm curious about the Enclave. There must be someone here that knows about them. Why they showed up now. Or maybe even is in contact with them? I wonder why have they not entered the city?"

"Oh, I've only heard same as everyone's been asking. You think they could have spies here?" Her eyes widened with hunger.

Burke shrugged. "It would be worth a lot to me to find out." She'd probably dig just for the juice, but a little incentive couldn't hurt.

"Well I'll certainly keep my ears open… say, do I know you? You look familiar."

It had been bold of Burke to come here knowing the body of one of Talia's marks would have been found not long after their previous visit. But Vera's bar was the city gossip exchange. If anyone was Enclave, he'd find a clue here.

He quirked an eyebrow. "Do you say that to every man that drinks here? No madam, it's my first visit to the city beyond some brief business meetings."

Vera laughed out of embarrassment. "Oh- no, I wasn't- I just-"

"That's a very common line you know, you ought to use something less tired." Burke dismissed her with a look, going back to his dinner. Perhaps he'd explore exactly what she knew later, once she'd completely discarded the notion he had ever been here before.

Burke approached the Citadel main gate, walking briskly to generate some body heat, breath condensing in the cold evening air. He'd been unable to wait til morning. They must know what had happened. Perhaps their own men had been captured too. He must find out what they were doing about it, what they could do, what they knew.

Unfortunately, Paladin Bael didn't seem to agree. "I told you before buddy, you ain't comin' in. And I'm not answering all these damn questions- do I look like a Scribe?"

"What's a Scribe?"

Bael scowled.

"Bael, my dear fellow, I'm just trying to find a way to get my and possibly your people out of this mess. We're helping each other here, after all. We'd be much more effective together."

Bael shifted his personal minigun into a more prominent position. "I can see you're trying to appeal to my good nature. Pity for you I don't have one. Now get out of here before I fill you full of lead."

Burke glanced down at the weapon that would look more at home hanging out of a Vertibird. "Bit of an overreaction, don't you think?"

"You'll know when it's an overreaction. This is your polite warning. Now get the hell away from my gate."

Burke returned the guard's scowl and backed off contentiously. "How far away? This is a free country after all. Where does your gate end, Paladin? Because it looks all the way back there to me."

"Keep going," Bael urged Burke further.

"Oh you're having me on Bael. This is rubble! I can stand here if I want to wait for someone to come out who might actually be interested in some help."

"Says who? Now, come on, I can still see and hear you."

"Oh you'll hear from me alright. You best grow eyes in the back of your head Bael. Your days are numbered." Talon never turned down a job.

"Sentrybot! Standby."

Burke caved as the enormous robot swivelled its many armaments in his direction. They were more like a small missile array on wheels than anything. He retreated angrily from the gate. It was late, and a wind was picking up. Ahead, where an Enclave energy barrier had been erected on a surviving bridge across the Potomac River, he saw the illuminated stone arches of a space carved beneath the road as it rose to join the bridge. It would do, and ill-tempered as Paladin Bael was, he was close enough to deal with any trouble that might stop by while he slept.

When he reached the recess he could see it had previously been settled by others. It contained a bunk, several crates of general equipment and stores, and a spot clearly used for fire. Burke encountered a few of these places from time to time, sort of honour-system campsites for wasteland travellers. They were a welcome find and worked nicely, unless raiders moved in.

Burke gathered whatever he could find in the hideout that would burn and lit a small fire just to warm his bones. He found a bottle of terrible whisky too, but in tandem they managed to assuage his temper with the over-zealous gatekeeper quite well. When he could feel his fingers again he stood in the open archway and raised his bottle, yelling toward the Citadel gate.

"Can you still hear me Bael?! See you tomorrow!"

"Good morning. How was your evening?"

"Oh hey. Good, you know? I had some friends over, we ate pizza, and then we went down to the bar for shots. What about you?"

Dave smiled at Talia's joke as he shut the door behind him and joined her at the table in the interview room. "I have the same number of hours in my day as you, so I just went to bed."

"I don't believe it. You guys must have some cool stuff to do in this bunker."

"Who said we're in a bunker?"

"I'm from a Vault. I can tell we're underground."

"I see. Well all the same, I just ate and slept."

Talia rolled her eyes. "Fine. What did you eat? I bet it was steak night or something wasn't it? Aw, man…" She stared off into the distance as she fantasised. Her food here was edible but beyond dull.

Dave chuckled. "Why are you torturing yourself like this?"

"Just pretend. What would you do if you had all night?"

"Here?"

Talia shrugged yes.

Dave thought for a few moments. "Probably have a beer and watch a few movies."

Talia sighed, slammed her forehead on the desk, then peered up at him scornfully. "I meant something more exciting, you know."

Dave shrugged back. "That's how I relax."

"Okay, but what do you do for fun?"

"What's that?"

Talia scrunched her nose at him but appreciated him playing along, even if he was making it very difficult. She just wanted to feel normal for a few minutes, and maybe even the playing field. He knew things from her past only Amata would recognise. Plus, it could only help her if they got to know each other more.

"Okay… say I'm free tonight. I get a pardon or whatever. Where are you gonna take me?"

Dave folded his arms and the corner of his mouth twitched. "That depends. What do you want to do?"

Talia shrugged and twirled the ends of her hair, being careful not to get it caught in the cuffs as she had already managed to do. "That depends what's on offer around here. I don't wanna sell myself short asking for some outdated Vault date if this place has some cool futuristic shit I couldn't even make up."

"Oh it's a date now?"

"It's a special occasion," Talia corrected hurriedly. "I'm free, remember?"

"Okay… So what's a Vault date? So I know how low the bar is."

Talia smirked and looked down. It felt weird dragging back memories of Butch right now. "I dunno… Diner, jukebox… Sneak down to the reactor level if it goes well…"

Dave just raised his eyebrows.

Talia scowled. "Look, teenagers don't have their own places, alright?" Their rooms were fine if Butch's mom was passed out or her dad was absent. But both of them had preferred to just get away from their respective problems.

"Well, I'm not sure how I can beat that," Dave joked. "Though… steak night is actually tonight."

"Oh, really? Nice."

"How do you like it?"

"Er- in my mouth."

Dave gave her a sidelong look as a sly grin spread across his face. "I meant, rare, medium, well done?"

"...Oh." Her face grew hot as she caught his meaning but she laughed it off. "Hm. Yeah, um, medium rare," she corrected, leaning into her palms to hide her blushing cheeks.

She needn't have worried; it seemed to be going down rather well. The glint in his eye and smirk on his lips remained, and she thought maybe he'd forgotten about the objective for a moment and was enjoying himself. She made sure to return his grin, though it wasn't hard. After so many days of seriousness, such a stupid exchange even at her expense filled her with joy.

"Can we have wine?" she continued.

Dave nodded. "Although I'm not going to let you loose with the bottle. Something tells me you're trouble."

Talia giggled and shook her head. "Come on, I'm free! I want to get drunk."

"Alright, well we'll go to the disco. Proper drinks there. Fresh stuff. None of this two hundred year old booze you drink outside. You had a disco in the vault?"

"No? There was a bar, but it was more like another diner really."

"Well I guarantee you've never been in a bar like this. Music, lights, hundreds of people."

"Wow, sounds crazy. You dance?"

"Do you?"

Talia nodded.

"Alright, we can dance."

Talia smiled and sighed. "That sounds nice". It really did. Had she been here too long or was that a fair statement?

"Soon, huh."

Talia nodded, trying to look convinced that she could earn her freedom. First thing in the morning and she was already in knots over their exchange. Was he just dangling a carrot to keep her talking or was he really offering once this was over? Did it affect how she should respond? Fuck, she shouldn't spend too long thinking. "Then what?"

"Well by then it's well past my bedtime."

"Easy for you to say, you have a bed."

"Aw don't give me this. The cells kind of got forgotten about, okay?"

"Well, whatever. You're lucky to have one at all outside." She dismissed the idea with a wave of her hands but continued in the same breath. "Is it comfy though?"

Dave laughed again at her self torment. "Well I think so, but I don't have much else to compare with. You'd have to test it out."

Talia blushed furiously but laughed along with him. He wore that sly grin again. He had to be fucking with her for fun. No way this was taught in interrogation training in Autumn's army. The stick up his ass wouldn't allow it.

She shook her head at his audacity, but shot him a look that said she enjoyed the banter, that questioned if that's all it was. "Yeah, I'd sleep for days," she commented sincerely. If she was offered a real bed with pillows and blankets right now, she reckoned she'd cry. She moved to tuck her hair behind and ear but fumbled with her hands being cuffed. She really should be used to it by now.

Dave got up and stuck his head out of the door briefly. He turned back brandishing a key. "Let's pretend," he said as he motioned for her hands.

Talia gaped as he removed her cuffs, fastening them to his belt. She rubbed her wrists when they were freed. "Thank you."

"How's the lip?"

"Oh, yeah, not bad." Her hand graced the previously split flesh, quickly healed by the meds he'd brought her.

"Good. Okay, let's see where we left off…" He began flipping through his notepad.

"Will you get in trouble for this?"

"Hm?"

"I can deal with cuffs if you're gonna get in trouble."

Dave raised his eyebrows cynically. "Worried you'll get assigned to someone else?"

Yes. "No… well, yeah, but I mean, it's sweet, but don't get in trouble just for these little things. I- I can handle it."

He assessed her briefly. "You just worry about yourself. If I think you don't need the cuffs, I can make that call. Nice sweetheart act though."

Talia frowned. He seemed to think she was just worried about staying with the man who brought her coffee. Which was partly true. But she needed him to believe she was sincere, and hopefully he would be too. Realistically the Enclave teams could work out the code or Autumn could call off the operation at any time; she needed a friend, and she wouldn't make one if she came over as a fickle liar. Though given their conversation so far today, she thought he could just be teasing her.

On another note, she resented his disbelief. "I am sweet," she grumbled.

"Oh yeah?"

"I can be…" Not that it was ever ultimately returned. The pull was growing stronger the longer she languished in captivity, but she managed to drag herself back from the water's edge this time. The pool offered her answers, a place to endlessly dredge memories that proved something was wrong with her, to salvage moments passed that illustrated how little anyone cared. But she couldn't wallow now, she had to make him care. Focus.

"I can't do much to prove it here though. It's not fair for you to judge while I'm your prisoner." She stretched over the table, leaning her chin in her palm and smiling sweetly. She was a prisoner of the Enclave, but she mostly dealt with him, and honestly preferred to think she was his alone. It was scary to think it could be the people she didn't see who might make the call on whether she lived or not.

She watched for any reaction to the promotion her comment had given him, but he just watched her back. "I suppose not. Shall we start?"

"I…" Would it look too try-hard to protest her sincerity? His expression had already shifted, focussed on the task ahead, a comfortable confidence in his posture and the way he had asked her agreement despite the fact he was very much in charge. Whatever he really thought, he'd settled on it for now. She sat back and nodded acquiescence.

Burke sat down to lunch with a coil in his stomach. After an uneventful night under the bridge, he'd realised what poor judgement he'd exercised the night before. Banging on the Citadel's door after a full day of travelling and working the ship's residents. He had been tired, cold, and stressed. It was no wonder he got nowhere with Bael. And that wasn't the way to go about this. Pity for you, I don't have one. Bael had told him in his own words what he suspected. Much as they wanted to be seen as the saviours to the people in D.C., they couldn't afford to be kind for the sake of it. They were like any other organisation. If he could find what they needed, he might get something from them.

In the meantime, the letter in his pocket would hopefully gain the leader's attention. Burke could still access the unsold cache of salvaged weapons at Tenpenny Tower if needed, or even Tenpenny's orphaned wealth. Being divorced from the Brotherhood in the rest of the country and with the Enclave next door, the D.C. group would surely welcome aid wherever it came from.

A young blonde girl approached his table with a menu. He'd come down to the marketplace, in the hangar deck, in order to meet, watch, and overhear more people in the city. This deck was thronging with a whole other class of people to the upper deck. People that worked for a living. Just like the tower, only more pronounced, people had divided themselves into groups based on their perceived social value relative to one another.

The girl tossed the menu on the table and chirped her rehearsed greeting, giving Burke a cursory smile but otherwise looking as typically disinterested as any teenager. "Hi, I'm Angela. Welcome to Gary's Galley. Let me know when you're ready to order. Would you like anything to drink in the meantime?"

Burke ordered a coffee and continued to muse on his options. When the girl returned he realised Vera had mentioned her the day before. "Angela… Angela Staley?"

She frowned. "Yeah. Do I know you?"

He shook his head. "Oh, no. Just heard a story about you and a priest." Vera said the teenager was completely smitten with a young priest in training. It didn't seem relevant, but he had asked for the dirt on everybody.

He began to apologise, suspecting he'd just ruined his chances of decent service, but the girl gasped and perched on the seat across from him. "Diego? Do you know him?"

Burke relaxed into a smirk at his new lunch companion. "Not at all… I was under the impression you did."

Angela's shoulders sagged. "Oh. Not as well as I'd like. For a second I thought you might be able to talk some sense into him."

Burke raised his eyebrows over his coffee. "Unfortunately you can't force a man's affections," he offered diplomatically.

Angela scoffed. "Yeah. Especially if he's a priest with a thick skull. Well I'm not giving up. I just know we're made for each other."

Burke blinked at the strange turn his day had taken. He'd never quite seen such a resolute crush. A priest! The girl obviously liked a challenge. "Really? Well they say if it's meant to be, it will all work out." He wasn't sure how this particular situation was going to work itself out.

"Right? That is so true. But I don't think he knows it. Ugh, sometimes it feels like he doesn't even know I'm there."

Burke found that hard to believe. "Well, you're a woman. Just- er- charm him." For once he was grateful the coffee hadn't arrived particularly hot as he busied himself with a big sip. She couldn't have been more than sixteen, but he'd automatically begun to offer solutions before that thought arrived at the party.

Angela huffed in annoyance. "Yeah right. I don't think I could get him drunk enough to do that."

Burke just managed to avoid spurting coffee down himself.

Angela continued thinking out loud. "I wish I had some ant pheromones. Trinnie says they make any man lose control. Do you know anything about that?"

Burke adjusted the roll neck of his sweater as she rounded on him. "Er, no… and I think a charming girl such as yourself ought not need to resort to superstition."

"It's not superstition. Trinnie says it's science. Ugh. It's just so hard to get his attention sometimes, let alone seduce him. He's so obsessed with the Church! But if the pheromones really work like Trinnie says…" She looked off to the side, presumably visualising what Burke was trying to avoid discussing any further. "Then he'd have to marry me!" she concluded. "We'd be so happy!"

Burke puffed his cheeks and sat back in the afterglow of her unscrupulous logic. "My dear girl… If you ever get tired of waiting tables, I may have some work for you." His favourite recruits had always been women. He enjoyed a more interesting approach over the brute force often favoured by men, and manipulation came far more readily to them.

The kitchen's owner yelled over from the bar and Angela jumped up, scurrying back to her duties. Burke set his eyes on the menu and hoped he'd find everyone else as talkative as her, only more relevant. But he only stared at the words as he heard Gustavo in his head, berating him for being as oblivious as the priest. He and Talia had had dinner here before. She was trying hard to learn what he was teaching her, to please him, and succeeding. He knew then she was special. And yet he behaved as though she would be at his side hanging on his every word forever.

He noticed only now he was alone how miserable a place it was. If she was here now he would have their dinner served on the flight deck, the whole runway cleared just for the two of them. An evening beneath the night sky with the entire wasteland stretching horizon to horizon around them. She could point any direction and he'd take her to the farthest thing he could see, and beyond. Knowing how she loved the night sky she'd probably point to the Moon or the Milky Way. He readied a cigarette as he contemplated how it would be possible, because he would be willing to go that far. Too much, much too late a voice in his head said.

He waved away Angela who had returned to take his order. He'd barely glanced at the options yet.

"Don't wait too long, the specials sell out real quick," she warned.

You already waited too long, the voice told him.

Talia chewed on her thumbnail as Dave passed another potential code to the guard outside, who would run it to whoever tested them.

"Why so nervous, girlie?" Dave asked as he turned back.

Because it might be the last wrong guess she was allowed. Or it might work. "What will happen if it's right?"

"Well, they'll send word and we'll be done here."

"And me?" she clarified hoarsely.

"I've sorted all that, alright? You'll either be free to go, or... maybe you can stay here, help us with some other things. It's cold out there, so personally I'd take the latter option."

Talia blinked. He said it so casually, but she realised she had been swimming upstream toward a boat that had already sunk. The only way was downriver to his raft. A prisoner forever.

"I don't mind the cold," she lied, shaking her head. She hadn't seriously entertained the idea she would never see Dogmeat or Burke or those stupid guys on the gate again. She'd been too preoccupied with avoiding execution to consider what the alternative looked like.

"Not right here, silly thing" Dave clarified. "You'd be… a colleague."

"You guys don't recruit. I heard all about you, you're purists or something."

Dave smiled and shook his head. "Who told you that? The Brotherhood of Steel? Those guys in D.C. are the odd ones out, Talia. The rest of the Brotherhood all over the country are purists. Even the Outcasts in D.C. could rival Lyons' lot. And you know what they care about..."

Talia cradled her elbows as he waited expectantly for her to finish his sentence. "Technology," she conceded with a sigh.

"Right. Above all else. This idea that we're somehow the bad guys for wanting to actually use our technology to rebuild is disingenuous, and you know it. Hey, don't frown, I know you don't believe Lyons and his crew are here to save the world."

"It's not that. I… I don't know that word you said."

"Oh. It means dishonest. I forgot you've been outside killing brain cells with that ancient booze. Another reason to stick around huh? Drink that won't make you go blind or stupid."

Talia forced a weak smile but couldn't hear herself think over the roar of the river.

"I can see you're not convinced. What if I told you one of the scientists from the purifier is already working here?"

Talia cocked her head. "Really?"

Dave nodded cooly. "Anna Holt?"

Anna. One of Li's team. Talia hadn't spoken with her much, then she failed to show at the sewers where they made their escape. "I thought she died at the monument?"

Dave shook his head. "Gave herself up. She was brought in. Once she saw what we were about and what she could achieve with us, she agreed to join the science team."

Talia said nothing as she took this in. But Dad had been so stubborn from the very minute the Enclave showed. He must have had a reason. Right? "Wait. Why am I being ragged around a prison cell and she already has a job? Maybe she knows the code!"

"Calm down, alright? She was questioned just like you. She offered up a lot of other useful information. The purifier wasn't finished when you left, was it? We're trying to do something here, Talia. Can you see yet? There's no reason for us to just get rid of people."

Talia bit her lip. Maybe Dave was lying. But maybe he was making a whole lot of sense. Anna could have given them everything about the purifier except the code. Maybe they were missing the code because Autumn alone was an impatient, entitled idiot who had backed the head of the project into a corner.

"Useful people," she countered. "What do I know that would get me out of here so quickly? What if we never work this out?"

Dave tilted his head and smiled at her doubt, something that would annoy and soothe her all at once. "Have a little faith, baby. Come on, I believe you'll think of something. You haven't let me down yet. I'd like to see you as a new citizen of the Enclave."

The thought from the previous day darted around the shadows of her mind again, tossing forward morsels of what she knew of the Citadel. Is that what Dave was thinking too? She couldn't help but recall her first meeting with Burke. A dirty deal made with a charming stranger because he could get her out of a hole, because he made her feel hopeful.

Only Dave didn't feel all that strange anymore. She snickered a little at the pet name he'd let slip, happy at least that she might have banked herself some support whatever happened with the code.

Unless he was a total psychopath, and she'd come to think they weren't that rare. This is me talking.

"Can't you think of something?" she pined.

"For you to do around here? Well sure, but first you'll have to tell me everything you're good at."

Talia smothered a furtive grin and quashed the fluttering in her stomach, in disbelief at herself at a time like this. "Heh… ahem… I feel like I've told you everything I've ever thought. You might have to scoop out my brain and dissect it to get anything else."

"I think the labs have a machine that can do that you know."

"Oh… no, I'm fine. I'm just getting tired."

"Well, lucky for you it's lunch time. I think." He leaned back on his chair and pulled the door open to ask the guard outside. "Hey, anybody there?" He whistled but got no answer.

Talia leaned over to peer through the gap. No one was out there. "Charlie wouldn't abandon me," she joked. He must still be out with the code. Dave stepped out and looked up and down the corridor. Only when she noticed how different it felt, with the usually muffled sounds streaming in from outside did Talia realise she was staring at an open door. Unguarded. Wearing no handcuffs.

How far would she get? Where would she go? She knew her way back to her cell by feel now, but that was no help. And Dave wouldn't trust her anymore. Shit, maybe this was a test. But he seemed to be getting really quite friendly with her, maybe he just… forgot.

Just as quickly as her mind had raced out of the bunker, reality came crashing back into the room as she heard Charlie confirming the time with Dave from down the hall. Dave stepped back inside and closed the door behind him. He seemed oblivious. "You okay?"

Talia realised she was perched on the edge of her seat and holding her breath. She nodded.

"You'll need these." He took the handcuffs from his belt.

She held out her hands while he put her back in cuffs. She'd need them for the walk back to her cell. Charlie escorted her back as usual, and once inside she sat by the door to wait for her dull but welcome lunch. Whenever Dave was ready she'd be taken back to the interview room and they'd continue the rest of the day.

The nerves had made her thirsty. Her heart was still pounding. She wondered if she should have chanced it. But it made no sense, she didn't even know where to go. She obviously didn't work around here, bedraggled, bruised, and wearing nothing but socks and overalls. But she was also unnerved at how she'd let an opportunity pass by like that. She just sat and thought about it. She could have deliberated the moment forever. She must make herself act.

Her lunch arrived and she took a gulp of water first. One good thing about this place was the water was pure, and there seemed to be plenty of it. Tenpenny Tower had its own purification system, but smooth operation was intermittent. The Vault's purifier being temperamental was the best case scenario, given the age of the equipment.

The tidal purifier really would change everything. She didn't know why James had objected to Enclave involvement so strongly, although she had to admit she would have told Autumn to go fuck himself too, rolling in and demanding the keys like that. But her dad should have had more control than she did. He was supposed to be the doctor. She figured she must have got her temper from him, and Mom had been the calm one.

Your mother's dream. Talia froze mid sip. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. She stared into her cup. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life.

"Holy shit."

How did she not see it already? The water purifier, Mom's dream, the fucking framed Bible passage James told her she used to love.

Revelation 21:6.

"Holy shit," she repeated to her dinner plate. That could be it. That had to be it. He didn't pick random or stupid passwords. With something this big, with his crazed obsession over completing something he started with Mom. It had to be symbolic. It had to be linked to her.

216.

She'd barely touched her food when there was a hammering on the door to signal it was time to go back to the interview room. She shovelled as much into her mouth as she could while getting into position for pickup. What was she going to tell Dave? Did she really have a new life here if it worked? How much time until they figured out such a simple code without her help? What the fuck would happen to her if she waited too long?

What if Dave found out she'd kept it hidden?

Charlie almost had to drag her down the hall. She was suddenly very heavy, and not just from the mountain of corned beef hash settling in her stomach all too quickly.