The fire crackled softly beside a heap of rumpled blankets. The moon had moved around the sky to illuminate only the rubble outside. Its cool light contrasted the orange glow within the arches beneath the bridge, giving the hideout an extra feeling of warmth.

Or that could be the body next to him. Burke pulled Talia closer as she stirred, ashing his cigarette onto the stone tiles to his side. But it seemed neither was she willing to break the comfortable silence into which they'd slipped. He gazed somewhere past the masonry overhead. It was rare he ever did nothing, but right now he wasn't itching to do anything beside lay here feeling the rise and fall of her contented breaths. Was this what people threw themselves at each other seeking? Was this love? He used to scoff, people were so predictable in their slavery to their emotions. Yet he felt as though he'd been living in the shadows and this was where the rest of the world resided.

"What are you thinking about?" A pair of smoky brown eyes peered out of the blankets through a mess of stray hair.

"Nothing," he lied.

"You're always thinking about something."

"Hm. Not right now."

"Oh… I've broken you." He could see the smile in her eyes and scoffed lightly, turning back to his cigarette. She may be right, but he couldn't be mad about it.

She let the silence return for a few moments and he begged it continue with a hand that caressed her from her ribs to her lower back. But she spoke on, albeit quietly.

"It's this situation isn't it? Just tell me, I'd rather know everything now than just know there's something."

"What? Oh… No, I told you there's no need to go into that yet. You're skin is so soft, you know. Did I tell you that?"

"Um, yes-"

"Well it's worth saying again. You're like silk. Are you?"

"Am I… silk?"

"Mmm."

She surfaced fully, puzzled amusement coating her words. "What are you talking about Robert?"

Burke peered down lazily. The name sounded pleasant rolling off her tongue. "You tell me. I've heard these Vaults had all sorts of experiments going on."

She giggled. The sound was like birdsong. "What kind of experiment turned me to silk?"

Burke raised an eyebrow in lieu of a shrug. "Fabrication mishap? I've heard of walking plants, you know."

"I got mutated into a walking silk plant?"

"Silkworm."

"Huh?"

"Silk is made by a silkworm."

She giggled again and the vibrations rumbled pleasantly across his torso. "Ew… Well I'm not a worm. Maybe I got off lucky, and the others got turned into giant worm-people, and they're wriggling around the Vault."

"Are they?"

"I didn't see any when I was there."

"Maybe they're shy."

"Makes sense. I know I would be."

Burke smirked, returning his gaze upward, and he felt Talia settle back against him. "Well you're the most attractive mutant silkworm I've ever met."

She just laughed, a question in the tone, but still as bright and pretty as the caged bird he'd once heard in the home of a business contact.

"I'm sure you would love it if I called you my little silkworm."

"Call me what you want. I think it's cool." She dismissed him with faux nonchalance, tracing her fingers over his chest beneath the covers.

The bird had been a trophy in a collection of rare items. The man curated his treasures as status symbols. The creature was beautiful, small and colourful, not at all like the carrion birds that could sometimes be seen around the old capital. It had probably found its best chance of survival after having somehow wound up in the desolate east. But it was a bird. No bird should be caged.

Burke savoured his cigarette before continuing. "No. Do you know what you are? You're a songbird."

"How come? It's not my singing."

"People seem to want to cage you. But you weren't born to be captive. You've shown that. And you won't be. Yes, you're my little songbird, and from now on you'll fly free. I'll make sure of it."

She made a shy little noise and went quiet, tucking herself even closer somehow. He closed his eyes. He noticed the slight breeze that found his exposed arm, but between the sheets and the fire they were completely comfortable.

"How?" Her voice barely broke the silence. "What's the problem? Why won't you tell me?"

He looked down again to find the shadow of worry returning to her brow. He frowned. "I'm not keeping it from you… I will tell you."

"Now?"

He squeezed the flesh at her waist between his thumb and fingers. "Do you really want to know now?"

She nodded.

Burke sighed, a sorry sound, lamenting that he must leave this timeless bubble in which they rested. "Fine." He took a final drag of his cigarette before flicking the butt into the fire. Then he reached into his coat which was bundled under his head to retrieve the note folded in a pocket. He handed it silently to Talia.

She propped herself up on an elbow, eyeing him curiously as she took it. "A job?" she exclaimed as she recognised the Littlehorn & Associates contract.

"Sort of."

A straight face as she read it. Then a little furrow in her brow. A quirk of her lip. Disbelief. She stopped halfway. "But this is- I'm the target? What?"

"You are."

"But I'm- I thought I was on the team. How does that work?"

"My thoughts exactly. However Littlehorn was certain that this contract was valid."

"Bullshit."

"Quite… unfortunately he didn't see it that way."

She scowled at the rest of the note, balled it up in her fist and threw it into the fire. Then she looked at him expectantly.

"I wish it were that simple."

She sighed sharply. "Why would it be?"

Burke laid his other hand on her wrist. "I must say, you're taking this very well."

"Huh, right… I guess I expected something else to go wrong. Wait- why did you have the contract?"

"Littlehorn gave it to me."

"You? You mean-"

"Yes, he... eh, assigned it to me. Don't look at me like that. I'm not going to turn it in am I?"

She quietly frowned down at him. She had that endearing look about her again, as if trying to discern whether she should believe him. He turned his palm to the sky while stroking her back with the other. "Am I any kind of threat to you right now, songbird?"

"Why would he assign it to you if not?"

He frowned back, genuinely annoyed she would consider herself at risk in his company. "Well yes. That's what he wants. You should be grateful that you at least know about it this way."

"Oh, great. Why would you want me to know about it? So you can see me realise what I've done?"

"I didn't want to say anything. You asked me."

"Oh, so, what, I was just gonna go to sleep and not wake up, is that it?"

He grabbed her wrist before she moved away. She gasped and her eyes flashed with panic and he realised, not a moment too soon, it was the stress talking. He tried to douse the fire inside of him, thaw his expression, but it was difficult as she fought his attempt to pull her back down to the blankets.

"Is that what you really think? What tonight was all about?" She squealed as he succeeded, wrapping her in a tight embrace, ignoring her fists pushing back against his chest. "All those letters, all this effort to find you, just to lure you back so I can kill you for Littlehorn?" He almost whispered the last words into her ear, rubbing his thumb across the veins at her wrist as he kept her secured. It wasn't hard to let go of his anger when she was this close. When he could feel her body heat, her heartbeat, her breath on his neck. "Well?"

She remained motionless but he felt some of the tension drain from her body. "No," she whispered after a few moments.

"Good." He slid his hand up to enclose her own and tucked her head under his chin. "He intentionally presented me with a dilemma. Because he will enjoy watching whatever happens unfold. All these years of service and still he would insult me this way just to make things interesting. Not that I should expect otherwise. I'm glad you never met him. Aside from the odious personality, there's something… strange about him. Hm. Never mind."

"...Strange?"

"No, it's… Hmh! It would sound like the ramblings of a mad man."

"Try me. I've met a few."

He stared at nothing in particular until her fingers squeezing his roused him. "Hmm, well, there's just something... unnatural about him. It's as if he should be long dead already. I can't put my finger on it. And the office, his secretary. They never sleep. If they do, where? It's hours from any kind of settlement. There's something off about her too, the whole place, and she knows it."

"What are you talking about?"

Burke cut himself off with a grumble. "See. It sounds insane. Doesn't matter anyway."

"No, I just don't know who you're talking about… Every mutant out here shouldn't exist. And there's a, uh, 'cyborg' woman in the Citadel who should be long dead. Maybe he's like her."

"Hmm. Maybe."

"And maybe there's a whole bomb shelter under the shack? Or a Vault. That's not that strange."

Burke appreciated her attempts to rationalise. But it was more of a feeling, one he was glad she hadn't known. "I suppose. And you don't need a slave collar to keep an employee working like that. Chems and leverage work just fine."

He settled on the ordinary explanation and cast it from his mind. It didn't matter. What mattered was denying Littlehorn his win. "He knows I wasn't happy about this. I must assume he has already sent another agent to do the job."

"Can't you do anything? ...I haven't seen a Regulator since Lucky's."

"I would love to, but Regulators love to tell the world who they are. Agents are not so easy. They could be anybody, like you."

"You don't know them?"

"Some. But only Littlehorn truly knows how many are active. And anyway, killing off his workforce is not going to win me any favours with him."

"Oh. But what about… him?"

"Him? You mean… killing him? My dear girl, sometimes you astound me. I would love to wring the life from his neck, but… a mad man might say it can't be done. I say I'm not informed enough to risk it. There's no chance he doesn't have plans in place to destroy anyone who tries, successful or not." He let go of her hand to stroke the hair from her face, kissing the top of her head. He wished it were otherwise. If he could take the man's position for his own it was still years from now, but it didn't take the sting out of admitting his shortcoming.

"And it isn't worth the risk."

"Hm?"

"Oh, nothing."

But he'd heard what she said and how she said it. "No… no, that's not what I'm saying. You haven't met them. You haven't been there. You think I haven't thought about this? Talia-" he pulled back to look at her "-you think I haven't been working this angle since I joined? If I wasn't so involved I wouldn't know. But the deeper I got, the more difficult it proved to be. It's not the time."

She stared straight ahead into his collarbone. "And I had all this worked out when I shot the Overseer? It was the right time for Jonas to die and everyone else? No, shit just happened, and I had to deal with it. Sorry I didn't piss someone off at a better time for you. I was busy being in prison... I don't even know what I did."

"That is not what I meant." Burke's voice brimmed with choler and frustration at her short sightedness. "I can walk in there and shoot him if you like. And all hell would break loose. That's not the same as if he had a gun to your head right now. You think I haven't risked anything for you?" He leant up on his elbow, gripping her shoulder and pushing her back into the ground. "Well? Do you think you know what you're worth to me?"

She had the decency to look a little embarrassed, but her tired eyes said she really didn't know, or daren't wonder. It bothered him.

"I strangled that old fool Tenpenny when he told me he requested the contract on you. Ha! Oh, I'm glad he let that slip. That wasn't planned, my dear, but there was no chance I would let that pass. Now, if I take you back there you'll be a sitting duck for any agents, a prisoner in your own tower. We can go if you like, but I doubt you want to live like that. Which is why I handed the reins to Gustavo before coming out here.

"I'll do whatever I must to get you out of this situation, but spare me this sulking as if I have some other motive. I've given you vengeance. Do me the favour of trusting me."

He could practically see the cogs turning. At least she was listening. "Talia?"

She breathed in suddenly as if she'd forgotten. "I do." All sourness gone, a little sorry, and a timbre to her voice that intrigued him no end. "Tenpenny?"

"He thought I was shutting him out of some business venture we had together. Spiteful fool went behind my back to have you removed from the picture. Thought he could punish me, thought-"

And then he was tasting her sweet lips again, her hand pulling on the back of his neck as she lifted herself up to him, and his own snaked into her hair, his rancour dust in the wind, forgetting everything he was going to say. Forgetting everything but how she tasted, how she sounded, how her lips wetted as his fingers curled into a fist at her scalp. How it made him feel as she urged their bodies closer. How she made him feel.

How did she do it?

When he blinked his eyes open he found himself under her. He smiled, inhaled her scent, ran his hands up her back. "You'll have to give me twenty minutes," he chuckled into her shoulder as she lapped at his neck.

She laughed under her breath and gradually retreated, melting down to his side and back into their comfortable silence.

Later, the arm across his waist grew heavy and her breaths quieted as she gave in to sleep. Burke smiled.

Dawn was still over an hour away according to Talia's Pip Boy, but the jagged horizon of ruined D.C. was just visible as she looked out from her perch in one of the tall stone arches of the old bridge. Warm colours were beginning to leech into the sky behind the silhouettes of crumbling buildings, promising to wash away the sickly hue that saturated each day, but she knew that would not happen overnight.

She hugged Dogmeat closer and tried to focus on the sound of the river below, or think about the previous night, anything but the dreams he'd interrupted. Burke hadn't stirred when he woke her, so she'd got dressed and left him sleeping an hour ago. Too late in the morning to try to get back to sleep.

"There you are." She jumped at Burke's voice. She hadn't even heard movement from back there. "What are you doing out there?"

"Dogmeat woke me up." It wasn't untrue. She hoped she didn't look too tired, painting a smile on her face as she turned. A wasted effort, for she immediately turned back out of shock. "Oh- what are you-?" She knew why he was naked, it was just a bit strange to see him wandering about like that. "Why are you creeping around?"

"I'm not? I just woke up and had to see where you were. My apologies if I scared you."

"Yeah, you just… surprised me." She peered back. The fire had burnt out and it was still pretty dark, but she could make him out as he began dressing. He wasn't muscular like Gustavo and his men, but it was evident he had been, still lean, with some scars showing he'd been bested at least a few times in the past. Her gaze lingered on the tattoo she'd glimpsed a few times before. It stretched up to his shoulder, a jagged repeating pattern that had once marked his rank in some wasteland gang. She couldn't really imagine him being part of something that sounded so rough considering his stature now.

She swung her legs back inside and moved over to sit instead in the central arch. He was pulling on his trousers and she glimpsed a sad goodbye to his thighs. "You know, we used to draw tattoos on our hands."

"Who?"

"Me and some of my friends, in the Vault."

"Why?"

"We thought it looked cool."

He sent her a confused look and she laughed.

"This was when we were like ten or something."

"I see you never got any."

"No. I was designing one to get when I turned eighteen, but…" She shrugged, remembering how she'd torn up the designs Butch had drawn for her after he dumped her. Torn them up and thrown them all over his workstation.

"But what?"

"Moved out before I got round to it," she quipped.

"Do you draw?"

"No, no it was… someone else could. He was always designing ones for his gang, actually. I modelled a few in pen until he picked his favourite, ha." Naturally it was a snake. He got it embroidered onto his jacket too.

"A Vault gang?"

"I know right? I don't know how they got away with it, the Overseer was so strict."

"Well, a few heavies can be useful to someone who wants to keep their reputation clean."

Talia's jaw dropped. "No way…" But wasn't that what Amata had done when she couldn't appease Allen Mack with words? Send in someone else to do the job and take the blame.

"Well, shit. Ugh, I feel like such a dumb thug. You would have had them both figured out from the start."

"You're too harsh. You've come a long way."

She smiled at the compliment and watched him get into his coat, rubbing his hands together. "You want coffee? I found some stashed here. Only two hundred years out of date."

He gave her a lopsided smile that just melted her insides. "Thank you."

He went outside briefly and she got a fire going, shaking the whisky remnants from the mug. When Burke got back he sat on a crate close to the heat, got a cigarette going and just watched her work. She wasn't doing much but tending to the water, but it made her smile to be doing even that for him. Simple things, normal things. When would life be normal again? What even was normal?

When the coffee was ready she handed him the mug. He beckoned her over and guided her into his lap. She giggled a little shyly. "Everything okay?"

"For now." She couldn't tell if he was looking at her or the coffee like that. "Hmm, Gustavo was right."

"What about?"

"He said something along the lines of how you'd be good for me."

"Why was he talking about me?"

"I could ask you the same thing. He had lots of opinions on personal matters other than his own."

"Really?" She could swear Burke was analysing her right now. "Well he can be kinda nosy once he gets talking. I thought he just liked to know the gossip."

"That's true. Can't fault him for it though."

"Really? I thought you'd hate that."

"It's very good in a Chief of Security. Saved my hide once, too."

"Say what?"

"Yes. Did he tell you how he got the job at Tenpenny Tower?"

Talia shook her head and accepted the coffee mug once Burke had taken a few gulps.

"I'd hired his crew to retrieve an item of interest for Tenpenny- they were mercenaries for hire then you see- and at the same time I went out to meet a potential new business partner. The tower was in its early stages, a lot was up in the air, a lot to do. I should have known it was far too convenient for this man to pop up out of nowhere with exactly what we needed at the time. It was a trap."

"Set by who?"

"Ha, I never did work that out. I'd made enough enemies but always tried to leave them without the means or the motivation to come after me. Maybe a Regulator who was happy to bend the rules? Doesn't really matter. The contact was a stooge, I was the payoff. He held me for three days, presumably waiting for whoever was paying him to show.

"But he never got that far, because Gustavo turned up. You see, when he'd returned to the tower for payment, I wasn't there. He knew he was to deal directly with me. He wouldn't even hand over the gear to Tenpenny himself. But he didn't wait, he dug until they told him where I'd gone, and when they didn't know why I wasn't back yet he came looking himself."

"Aww..."

Burke chuckled. "He was certainly looking after his reputation as a professional. And I noticed. After his team realised the business meeting was anything but, they took over the building and found me in the cellar."

"And you had him protect you ever since?"

"You are dying for some sentimentality here aren't you? He showed the kind of distrust I was lacking during that particular period. And he'd proved himself a few times already with some other merc work. Plus I appreciated that he didn't hand off the merchandise to someone else just to get paid. That could be a trick too. You don't find diligence like that very often."

"Someone you can trust."

"Exactly."

She handed him back the coffee and toyed with the collar of his coat. "I'd… I'd feel bad breaking you two up."

He gave her a playful warning look. "You're lucky I enjoy this brass neck of yours."

She smiled back but it was heavy. "We can go back there, if you want. It's a fortress. I don't want to be a burden…"

"You're- Tali, Songbird, you're no burden. I told you, I told you everything last night…"

She dipped her eyes, but it was slightly easier to believe him today. She nodded in acknowledgement. "Okay."

"Besides," he continued, "Littlehorn will likely mark me too. We'll both be stuck inside, like another pair of pathetic old tenants hiding from reality. I don't know about you, but I don't intend on turning into one of those senile old shut-ins, no matter how comfortable it is."

She smiled genuinely. She didn't want that either. Although she wouldn't mind a month of staying in bed right now.

He took a big gulp of coffee and handed her the remainder. "I'd rather start something else altogether. Somewhere we're not known."

Her heart jumped to her mouth. The thought of starting all over again… It couldn't be as hard as coming out of the Vault. Plus, she would be with Burke. She washed it back into her chest with the last of the coffee. To run with Burke, a new life ahead, whatever they wanted. Her skin prickled at the thought.

"You would?"

"Yes. This place… there's a war brewing. Whoever wins, they're going to exert themselves over everything. It's not the land of opportunity it was. Better options for us elsewhere, with Littlehorn off our backs."

The way he was speaking… As if it wasn't easier for him to turn her in and make a deal with whoever won the war for the purifier. "Where would we start?"

"We'd have to disappear."

"Is that… easy?"

"I have a place. We go there, make sure we're not followed. From there I have enough caps to see us off in any direction."

Talia laughed. "You're unbelievable, you know that?"

"How so?"

"You have a plan for everything."

"Well, almost." He tempered her statement but it didn't stop her eating him up with her eyes, face full of something like reverence. Something flickered in his eyes and he continued. "Does anyone know you're here? We could disappear right now..."

Her heart leapt once more and stuck in her throat. Why not? He had everything planned. It was a relatively small leap in the dark. Her thoughts dwelled briefly on her life at Tenpenny Tower… but it was over, she'd seen the contract, she would be an easy target.

"No? What is it?" She must have taken too long as Burke called her attention.

"It's… It's things here. I don't know if I can just leave right now."

"You don't owe these people anything."

"No, but, my dad-"

"You don't owe him anything either, with all due respect."

"I owe him a burial. If they find him… The Brotherhood, they might take back the purifier soon. I just want to know if- what happened to him."

"I see. And if they don't take it back?"

"Agh… I don't know…" She looked at him longingly, heart racing, imagining all the possible futures they might have together. She shouldn't risk them. She didn't owe James that. He'd wanted her to live. "What should I do?"

Burke looked at her a while, silent. When he was quiet he was thinking, and she ached to know how he reasoned out every situation so calmly. "It shames me to run rather than find a way to tie up these loose ends, destroy Littlehorn and even the Enclave Colonel, but… I have you in front of me, and we are looking at a window of opportunity that will only grow smaller with time. The Enclave are busy preparing for a Brotherhood assault, or vice versa, less so with manning the roads.

"I know what I want, and that's to take you someplace far from here, where the air is clearer, perhaps things even grow, where we can live happily as man and woman and build a better future with ourselves at the top of it, without harassment."

Talia tried to keep her expression steady, though she didn't know why because her cheeks were burning and her heart was thundering in her chest.

"At least until you attract some more trouble," Burke added more lightly.

She bit back a smile. She should be thinking logically. But that life, she could see it, she could reach out and grab it if she would just take Burke's hand.

She craned her neck to look over Burke's shoulder toward the Jefferson Memorial, the energy barrier gleaming in the twilight. "They probably cleared that place out right away, anyway…" she mused out loud. He was gone. Maybe it was time to swallow the bitter pill that her story was just another wasteland tragedy, like that of so many others.

She turned back to Burke, in awe that he was here, saying these things, and she suddenly felt light as a feather. "Anyway, I don't attract trouble. I always thought it just finds me."

"Well it will have to get through me from now on."

"And what if you are the trouble?"

"You're asking me? Even if that were true, I think you'd enjoy it too much to care... I should know."

She was smiling in the way she couldn't help around Burke, and it hurt her face to do so. It felt like it had been so long since every muscle in her body wasn't too heavy to lift without herculean effort. "Let's do it," she whispered.

"You mean- go?"

"Yes!" she called, jumping up and pulling at Burke's hand. "Let's just fucking do it, let's go. Now!" Dogmeat rushed over at her outburst, jumping excitedly at whatever was going on. "Yes Dogmeat, that's the spirit! Go pack your bags boy." He barked and turned on the spot, happy to be of help.

Burke blinked a little at the pair jumping with excitement in front of him. Then he smiled, rising suddenly to his feet. "Uh, I- alright. Excellent! Let's go."

They really only had to wrap up and pick up their gear, so Talia was standing on the precipice of the archway a few minutes later. "Which way?" she asked, biting her lip in anticipation.

"Go left, we'll skirt under the bridge and head north out of the city. We can eat at Grandma Sparkle's. She'll happily misdirect anyone looking for us, too."

Talia turned and hopped into the dirt. Her heart was racing, her stomach was knotted. Nerves? No, she was hungry. And excited. She watched Dogmeat bound into the open, followed by Burke stepping lightly down to the ground, pulling on his hat as he scanned the surroundings. This… this was a good idea. She caught his eye and once again couldn't contain an aching grin, one he returned.

Then, his eyes flicked past her. Dogmeat bellowed at something. Talia spun around to face a chestful of power armour. The shock sent her staggering backwards. She stumbled on the uneven ground and fell. She glared up at the Brotherhood Knight. Or was she a Paladin? Another stepped out beside her.

"For fuck's sake- what are you doing out here!"

The Knight smirked down at her. Or maybe she didn't, but her infuriating Brotherhood stoicism had the same effect. "We didn't mean to startle you, Miss Farley. We didn't want to interrupt if we didn't have to."

"What?" She took Burke's arm as he aided her back to her feet. "How long have you been out here?"

"Long enough."

Talia adjusted her gear, hissing sideways at Burke. "See, can't get five minutes away from these fucking weirdos."

The Knight or Paladin stood a bit taller. "I have orders to bring you in for debrief. Follow us and we'll take you to Elder Lyons."

"What? Ooh no, no no no. No. I'm done. I'm not going back in there." Blood was pounding in Talia's ears as she backed away, carefully. "Dogmeat! No! Heel!"

"Oh, hey boy." The second Knight greeted Dogmeat, who seemed to remember her from his stay while Talia was away.

"Hey, that's my dog, don't touch him!" Talia snarled.

"This doesn't need to be difficult, just come with us," the first Knight continued.

"Just talk to Sarah! She was there."

"The Elder wishes to speak with you personally. The Brotherhood needs to know everything you learned from being with the Enclave."

Talia stepped forward again, face burning. "I wasn't with the Enclave, I was a fucking prisoner. Something you seem to think I am to you. Well I'm not, and you can tell the Elder to kiss my a-"

"I think what the Knight is trying to say," Burke interrupted smoothly, "is that the Elder would be very much obliged if you could enlighten him on any of the information you may have gleaned, no matter how small, given that until recently he had no idea the Enclave were even in existence." He directed a pointed look at the first Knight.

"I'm sure it's something like that. I have orders to ask you to come with us."

Burke sighed and wafted a hand the same way he did whenever Talia missed his point.

"Ask me, or tell me?" Talia probed. Her trigger finger itched.

"You don't want to pick that fight, Miss. Just come back inside with us."

"No, you really don't," Burke reinforced, physically standing Talia down.

"I'm not going back in there Burke. We just said. He'll just try to send me somewhere else and I don't like him and I don't like them. Let's just go."

"I know, I know," he soothed. "But he can't order you on any mission, you're not under his command. Isn't that right, Knights?" They affirmed his statement with their silence. "And if he just wants to talk… it won't take that long."

"No- you're not serious?" But something in his face had changed. Gone were the misty eyes she'd lost herself in during the night. Back was his familiar sharp, analytical gaze.

"We can talk to the Elder, nothing more. And then we part ways." He looked back to the Knight.

"No, we can't," Talia griped up at him.

"I only have orders for her, sorry sir," the lead Knight responded.

"You want her, you get me too. That's non-negotiable."

"No," Talia protested, "they don't get me at all." But apparently no one could hear her.

"Fine. But I'll have to clear it at the gate."

"As you wish."

"Dogmeat!" Talia waited for her dog then stepped around Burke. "You can go make friends with the Elder, I'm going. You gonna stop me, Knights? What are your orders now, huh?" The lead Knight signalled to the second to pursue her. "Are you gonna follow me forever?" Talia taunted the second Knight as she closed in. "Or are you going to shoot me? The Brotherhood doesn't shoot civilians."

"I don't need to shoot you, I just need to get you inside. But if you touch that weapon..."

Burke was hissing at her to come back.

"What would Three Dog say?"

"He wouldn't say anything. He wouldn't know what happened out here."

Fuck, the Knight was right. "Well- I'll tell him what Brotherhood aid really looks like."

"Go ahead. We're the only reason he can broadcast at all."

Reality came crashing back in to view, like when Tenpenny locked himself on the balcony and so blew out the door handle with his sniper rifle. She wasn't nearly as clever as she thought. She needed Burke. "I'm an honorary member of the Lyons' Pride, you can't treat me like this!"

The Knight laughed.

"Fuck!" She threw her hands to show the Knight she'd given up and stormed back to Burke. "Fine, let's go," she huffed. "But fuck you. And you," she growled at each of the Knights in turn.

"My dear, don't worry," Burke cooed.

"I thought we were going," she grumbled.

"We will, but we'll be safe, don't worry. I doubt our… friend knows anybody inside."

"No point, they could never get us alone."

"Anyway, I didn't realise you were in such demand. It will be good to smooth things over. It would not help us to have Brotherhood asking around after you. Do you understand?"

She did. They were trying to disappear. If he could convince Lyons to forget about her, they could do it. "Yes," she sighed, grabbing his hand as they walked between their Brotherhood escort. "I'm not going in without you."

"No."

"And if they don't want to let you in, let's not argue too much, huh?"

"Ha!"

"And I'm not going on any mission, no matter what he says."

"Absolutely not. I promise you, after this, Elder Lyons will not have one single word more to say to you."

Paladin Bael observed the approach of two Knights with two wasties in tow. It was unusual, but then it was unusual times. Having an enemy with real weapons and more than two working braincells had given him something to be excited about, so he could care less who the Elder wanted to talk with.

But as they got closer he thought he recognised the civilians. Yep, that was the doctor's kid alright. And with her a man he could swear he'd seen before.

"Oh. No. Not you again. Knight, tell me he is not coming in here!"