Time passed since the fateful day Codsworth rescued Nadia.
In the frightful moments after fleeing with the infant, the distressed Codsworth knew he couldn't care for the child by himself. So, he hovered up to the cabin just north of Sanctuary, nestled in the woods and isolated from view. The cabin was owned by the only nearby survivor whom Codsworth could trust, the eccentric hermit who'd been working on his inner functions periodically for the past twenty years or so.
The man's name was Jim Hanson, a scraggly man with dark hair and wide brown eyes, sometimes tired from his long days of work, sometimes wide and alert whenever he'd pop a chem to give himself a boost during his tasks. He often liked to invent things, adding new mechanisms to his home in order to enhance the efficiency of all his products. He wasn't a mother by any means, but he did have a few brahmin out back, which he often used to sell milk to passing by traders. He was the only hope Codsworth had...
The moment Codsworth floated beneath the autumn trees and approached the cabin, Jim - who had been fidgeting with a bizarre contraption in his yard - slowly lowered his hands, placing his jumper cables aside and narrowing his eyes at the floating bot.
"I..." Codsworth's voice cracked, his biogel hot with anxiety as he drew closer, a single thruster arm cradling the baby close. "I realize I... I've never asked such a thing of you before, Jim... but I'm afraid, I... have nowhere else to turn."
Jim stood before him, gazing down at the baby and releasing a heavy sigh.
"I'm not sure what I... could offer," Codsworth uttered, truly troubled. "Perhaps more than the simple scavenging of fertilizer, like usual. I... I'd be willing to do anything, sir... if you could just... help me to look after her. I know... I know it's asking a lot, I just... I'll do anything. Is there anything you require of me? Is there-?"
"Give her to me," Jim muttered, his voice raspy and hoarse like usual.
"Beg pardon...?" Codsworth took back.
Jim's expression seemed to have flattened, his arms slowly extending. "Give her to me."
Codsworth hesitated. After a moment of surveying Jim closely, he slowly moved closer, allowing Jim to scoop the baby out of his grasp.
Jim adjusted his grip, gazing down at her and turning on his heel. He marched into his home with the baby Nadia tucked closely to his chest, vanishing into his cabin without asking Codsworth for a thing.
Twenty years passed since the day Codsworth handed the baby off to Jim.
Many things had changed about Sanctuary; the place was wholly transformed. Preston and his followers had long settled in the town, and over the past year, they'd been working with Nadia to fashion a great settlement, the end of the cul-de-sac now filled and primed with life, the homes fully inhabited, the circular stretch of road filled with shops like something of a flea market, the massive tree in the center complete with a huge treehouse Jim built for every Comonwealth orphan who wandered into town, guard dogs wandering about the property daily, and the bar sat just on the side of the road, gigantic and filled with pool tables and neon lights, always loud and bustling late into the evening. The newer two-story homes stood tall above the town, the walkways stretching over the streets, strings of dangling bulbs draping down from them and brightening the walkways after nightfall. The clinic was built further down the street, where the ghoulified Dr. Marcus worked each day. The schoolhouse sat near the waters, and the teacher - an older woman who'd seen her share of life lessons, Mrs. Kelly - assembled the children each day, teaching them to farm, hunt, read, and more. The entirety of Sanctuary was surrounded by ten-foot junk fences, finished with barbed wire and heavy laser turrets encircling the property, creating the safest and most secure Minuteman settlement in the Commonwealth.
Sanctuary had been home for Nadia, Jim, and Codsworth for many years now - but after meeting the remnants of the Minutemen during a scavenging trip in Concord last year, Nadia elected to help them, thoroughly transforming Sanctuary into a place of wasteland prestige.
The work was tireless, but Nadia quite enjoyed it. Between her aptitude for parkour and all the tinkering skills she'd learned from Jim, she was fully capable of climbing to tall places, squeezing through tight spots, and working on anything the settlers needed help with. Jim was willing to help, though he didn't much care for all the conversation, as he usually preferred to isolate himself at the cabin. Nadia, however, was thrilled to be out and about, thoroughly overjoyed to finally be surrounded by a community after so many years of isolation. In fact, she'd been working to help the Minutemen so much, Preston once jokingly suggested that she take on the role of general. She didn't know what she'd do with such a responsibility. No, she loved helping out, but she didn't think she could handle such pressure...
Nadia simply enjoyed being the smiling face wandering into town everyday, greeted happily by everyone she knew as she headed off to do her trading and her odd jobs. She loved to stop by the Minuteman house - the one Preston and his four companions first claimed a year ago - and chatting with Mama Murphy, listening to her stories of the old days. She adored wandering around with Dogmeat, watching him play and wrestle with the guards dogs around Sanctuary, and she loved visiting the bar - the Craken Pub - and speaking to her hometown bartender. The routine was always the same, gleeful and happy in a way that was rare for the wasteland. The routine remained mostly unchanged until today.
Jim was hunched on top of his roof, rebuilding the rusted sides of his convoluted water-catching system while Codsworth trimmed the weeds away from his garden. The moment he heard the front door creak open, Jim perked up, leaning over the edge of the rooftop and hollering downward.
"Nadia!" he yelled hoarsely. "Bring me the box of nails on the trap box!"
Nadia strolled outside, smiling and stretching as the sunlight washed over her. She stood a little over five feet tall, red hair cut short with her bangs longer than the rest, crystal blue eyes hidden behind a pair of reflective sunglasses, her outfit dark and tightly-fitted. She rolled her neck, finished her stretching, and wheeled around to gaze up at the roof.
"Which one?!" she screamed.
"The yellow one - it's on the trap box!" Jim reiterated, leaning a bit too close to the edge and quickly pushing himself back, as he'd nearly lost his balance. "Oooh, shit..."
"Don't fall again," Nadia advised, laughing and heading back toward the front door. The trap box was a yellow fixture beside the front door inside the house, and it resembled a fuse box, but this one didn't control the electricity in the house. It was Jim's own invention, a box that controlled the traps inside the home, just in case they were burglarized by raiders.
Nadia grabbed the yellow box of nails off the trap box, marching outside again and gazing up at the roof. She stared up at Jim for a moment, then scanned one of the many trees around the home, the largest one close to her, growing tall and craning over the cabin. She took a deep breath, braced herself, and broke into a run - sprinting swiftly up the tree and grabbing a branch. She swung and hooked her leg on another branch, spinning upside-down and climbing the next branch, landing on the one just above the roof. She then leaped off and landed on the rooftop, straightening up and handing the box of nails off to Jim.
Jim was sitting straight up now, his eyes narrowed at her as his mouth hung slightly agape. "Heh... you're gonna kill yourself doing that one day."
"Yeah... if I sucked at it," Nadia giggled. "Which is why I should be on the roof and not you."
"What... you wanna do this for me?" Jim chuckled, tapping the metal pipe with his hammer. "Go for it."
"Nah... I'm good," Nadia teased, swatting at him. "That's all you, old man."
"Watch it," Jim snarked, jabbing the hammer at her. "You're not too old for me to tan your hide, young lady."
"Whatever. You gotta catch me first," Nadia snickered, reaching her feet and preparing to leave. "I'm going into town. Seeya, Dad."
"Bye, Nadia... don't fall."
"I'm not the one who falls."
"Shut uuup..."
Nadia laughed and swung off the branch, soaring off her two-story home and rolling briskly across the ground. She sprung back to her feet with ease, tossing her hairs back and preparing to head off for Sanctuary.
"M'um!" Codsworth called, floating out from behind the cabin. "Do you mind if I accompany you? Mr. Ben requested I deliver the moonshine Jim concocted..."
"I never mind, Codsy," Nadia smirked, waving for him to follow. "Ben can't serve drinks just off of the crap Trashcan Carla brings into town."
"My thoughts exactly," Codsworth agreed, jabbing his metal hand at her as the two of them began down the pathway. "As much as I detest alcohol, it does seem to improve morale... and that's quite priceless in our new day and age."
"Yeah... as long as the Longs don't get involved," Nadia remarked. "That crap always ends in a freaking screaming match..."
"Errhk, don't remind me. The last time that happened, I had a single hand and a buzzsaw. Not too easy to restrain two drunken humans with a razorblade for a hand, I tell you..."
"Thank God you have two regular hands now."
"Yes, indeed."
Codsworth now had four thruster arms instead of three, thanks to Jim's modifications. His two front arms were equipped with metal hands, both of them much more comparable to human hands than his old grabber hand once was. His rear arms were for defense. One still contained the buzzsaw for close combat, but the other had been changed. Jim removed the flamer and replaced it with a small laser for long-ranged fights. In fact, Jim's tinkering had completely improved Codsworth in numerous ways; his rounded torso now had a storage pouch on the back, similar to a backpack, and he had a crooked black bowler hat permanently fused onto his head, which contained all his upgraded defense protocols just in case a situation of combat arose.
The town of Sanctuary bustled with the life of a city now. Nadia had never been to a city before, but she liked to think she had a hand in creating a small one here; she and Codsworth ventured off the dirt path, marching into town and waving at all the familiar faces in passing. She stepped into the Craken Pub, nodding at the daytime drinkers and approaching the bar. The tall lanky Ben stood chatting with his usual customers, pausing briefly to take the moonshine from Codsworth's bag. After the delivery had been paid for, Nadia jokingly advised Ben to lock the doors if he saw the Longs coming. They all shared a laugh before Nadia and Codsworth left.
They made a few more stops; Dogmeat galloped out of the Minuteman house and followed them around as Nadia stopped off to do some trading, she and Codsworth repeatedly pausing to pet the dog and play with him. After gathering all the parts Jim asked her to buy, Nadia stuffed them all into her leather backpack, turning and seeing that Dogmeat had dashed away. She blinked, only just noticing that Preston was standing close by, eyeing her with a serious expression on his face.
"Hey... Nadia," Preston uttered, giving her a nod. "Can we talk?"
"Sure," Nadia agreed, sitting on the nearest bench. "What's up?"
Preston sat beside her, releasing a heavy cloud of breath. "Well, it's..."
"No, wait - don't tell me," Nadia smirked, holding up a hand. "Another settlement needs my help?"
Preston let out a faint laugh, then slowly shook his head. "No, it's... actually a bigger problem than that."
Nadia fell silent, reading his face and knowing something intense was on his mind.
Preston was quiet for several seconds before speaking on.
"Honestly... I kinda thought it was rumors," he sighed. "For a long while there, I never knew for sure... but now I do. Now I know they're really out there..."
Nadia narrowed her eyes at him. "What's wrong...?"
Preston met her gaze, frowning deeply. "Our settlements keep getting attacked... right when they just start getting on their feet, someone sweeps in and attacks them. At first, it was just raiders, and our people started teaming up... getting stronger, fending 'em off. But now... now I know it's not just raiders. Look at this."
He reached into his pocket, pulling out a bizarre round chunk of technology and placing it in her palm.
Nadia stared down at it, then gave him an odd look. "What's this...?"
"That's a synth component," Preston told her grimly. "Found on the last group of people who attacked Tenpines Bluff. We weren't sure it was a synth component... until this weird group of robo-looking people showed up at Starlight Drive-In, and all hell broke loose. After the settlers killed 'em off, they searched the broken robot people... and they found another one of these. Some kind of neurological control device. They were synths, too. A lot more basic than the ones that attacked Tenpines Bluff... but definitely still synths."
Nadia went quiet, biting her lip and pondering on this. She'd heard whispers and rumors about the Institute and their synths before, but she'd never seen any proof of their existence until now. And - judging by the look on Preston's face - he was thinking along the very same lines. Nadia had been traveling to places near Sanctuary, helping settlers to get on their feet and expanding the Minutemen - but if this legendary Institute and their synths were threatening the safety they were working to build, this posed a very big problem. Especially since the Institute was the biggest and most mysterious faction of the Commonwealth.
"Our people are scared to death now," Preston informed. "They're all turning to me for a solution."
"Yeah," Nadia murmured slowly, giving him a curious squint. "And... what did you tell them...?"
Preston shrugged and nodded sideways. "Well, I... might've proposed an idea. It was the only thing I could think of. I figured we... we could send someone out to Diamond City to find more information about this Institute. We need to know more about these people... and how to fend them off for good if they attack one of our settlements again. I know the people in Diamond City have had a synth attack at least once before, so... someone there should know."
"'Kay. Who are you gonna send there?"
Preston paused, meeting her eyes again and brandishing a pleading sort of smile.
Nadia slowly took back, Codsworth hovering closely behind the bench now, placing a metal hand on it as his three large eyes seemed to hone in on Preston.
"What... are you serious?" Nadia uttered. "Me...?"
"Of course," Preston laughed. "You can travel easier than anyone I know. You're perfect for this."
"But I j... I'm just some random wasteland orphan," Nadia mumbled. "I know I'm grown now, and I can travel, and everything... but I don't know anything about the Institute. I've never crossed paths with them before..."
"Look. I'm just asking for eyes and ears," Preston assured. "I want you to go see if anyone in Diamond City can tell you anything about the Institute. Maybe... you can do a little digging on them. We lost people in those fights, Nadia. I don't wanna lose more."
"But... I..."
"Nadia." Preston leaned closer, giving her a firm look. "Can you imagine what would happen if they came here?"
Nadia fell silent again, her expression darkening. The thought of her father, Jim... her friends, Ben, Mama Murphy, Carla, and so many others... all dying...
"I know... I know you've done a lot for us already, and I hate asking," Preston told her sincerely. "But the Institute's proven that they're willing to attack and kill us. We need to make sure nothing happens to us here. We're all a family here now... and we've got a shot at making the entire Commonwealth finally safe and secure. We can't let them take that away from us."
"Sir," Codsworth interjected. "Have you spoken to Jim about this at all?"
"No... Jim never comes into town," Preston answered. "Besides... Nadia's grown now, like she said. And she's proven she can survive out there. She's no stranger to traveling, or killing, or surviving. The decision is all hers."
"If I might," Codsworth said insistently. "I didn't bring her to Jim as an infant just to have her gallivanting off to-"
"Cods," Preston barked, raising his hand again. "I know you're worried, and you have a right to be - but the decision is hers. Plain and simple. She's not an abandoned baby in the wasteland anymore. She can do what she wants."
A tense silence fell over the three of them, Nadia glancing off to the side and watching as the people of Sanctuary carried on with their routines, each face she recognized, each name she knew...
So much hard work went into creating this place, and she'd been working with her adoptive father and her robot butler for many years to maintain some level of safety around here. Their strange little family - as well as all these people - it would all be for nothing if the Institute decided to wipe it all out. The mere thought of it put a festering knot in the pit of her stomach. No, she'd never allow that...
"Okay," Nadia uttered, turning to Preston and nodding. "Okay... I'll go."
Preston closed his eyes, releasing a huge breath of relief. "Oh... thank you. Thank you."
"Yeah... no problem," Nadia replied with a smirk. "We'll figure out something to do about the Institute. Hell... it's still morning. I've still got enough daylight to get a lot of traveling done. I've just gotta go grab some stuff from home."
At that, she said her goodbyes to Preston, wandering out of town and following the dirt path back home, Codsworth hovering silently along behind her. By the time she returned to the cabin, Jim was safely off his rooftop, fidgeting with wires as he sat in the rocking chair on his porch. Nadia explained everything to her father. Once she was done, Jim was simply staring at her, his mouth slightly open and his eyes narrowed intently at her.
"Are you sure?" Jim exhaled. "You really wanna travel that far...?"
"I kinda have to," Nadia shrugged in response. "But I don't really mind... honestly, I've kinda wanted to see Diamond City forever."
Jim gave her a long, hesitant stare, his large brown eyes shining with perturbation.
Nadia spotted the concern amidst his visage, sparing him a smile. "Stop worrying."
"Can't help it," Jim sighed. "I don't want you to go."
"It's okay," Nadia assured him. "It's not gonna be any different from every other time I've left town."
Jim grumbled out a groan, reaching his feet and roping her into a tight embrace. Nadia returned the hug, coiling her arms around him closely, Jim meeting Codsworth's eyes from over her shoulder.
"I've gotta pack a couple things," Nadia said, pushing the front doors open and vanishing into the house.
In the seconds after her departure, Jim released a cloud of breath, pocketing his hands and slowly turning to Codsworth. The two of them shared a deep, intense stare.
"I did try to talk him out of it," Codsworth informed, lowering his voice. "But Mr. Garvey was quite insistent."
Jim wore a grim visage, distant and disturbed. "Do you think he's still looking for her?"
Codsworth hesitated. "I... don't know, sir. I really don't know."
"Well... let me tell you something, Cods," Jim uttered in a dark, raspy tone, sauntering closer and staring into the robot severely. "The bastard that tried to take her when she was a baby... he was definitely Institute, and he's definitely still alive. Now... I've made damn sure you're well-equipped to fight off the world out there. I don't know if he's still looking for her or not... but if he ever, ever comes around... then I'm trusting you to end him."
Codsworth gave him a salute. "With extreme discrimination, I will."
Jim replied with a definitive nod. Out of all the people in Sanctuary, Jim and Codsworth were the only two people who knew of Nadia's true origins - that she was a baby stolen from cryo-sleep, that her biological parents had been killed by a mysterious kidnapper, and that Codsworth had narrowly managed to rescue the infant Nadia before the kidnapper could abscond with her. As far as Nadia knew, she was simply an abandoned baby that Codsworth found out in the wasteland - and nobody needed to know the full truth as of now.
The screen door flew open, Nadia strolling outside and strapping her backpack fully on.
"M'um... I plan to accompany you to Diamond City," Codsworth stated, jabbing a metal finger at her. "And I don't want to have to argue with you-"
"Codsy," Nadia interrupted, cocking her head and smiling coyly at him. "How many times have I told you... I never mind you coming with me. I need you."
"Oh." Codsworth slowly withdrew his hand. "Well... then... good. Good, then. Shall we be off...?"
Nadia nodded and spun around to her father, giving Jim one final hug. Jim held her tighter and longer than usual, seeming hesitant to release her. When she finally stepped back, Nadia gave him a smile and a wave, she and Codsworth venturing down the dirt path.
Jim continued staring after them even long after they were out of sight.