Lessons in Consequences
"I dunno, Boss." MacCready and I were discussing our options in the first room. We had taken Squire Von to rest and recover with the other captives, giving us some needed space to plan our next move. We still had one vertibird signal grenade left. Sending a message to Paladin Danse would be easy enough, and the signal grenade was vital for accurately homing in on our location. "Do you really want to bring the Brotherhood in on this?"
"No, but we have to get Von back to them. He needs medical attention that we just can't give him here. And they need to know what happened to their patrol." I held the small handful of Brotherhood dog tags in my palm, found stashed in the slavers makeshift camp as war trophies. "They also have the ability to swiftly transport all of us at once. I doubt too many of the others can walk very fast or far in their condition."
"Point." MacCready looked thoughtful. "We also have that deathclaw wandering about above the ridge."
"Oof, I had almost forgotten about that. Would it be likely to come investigate?" That's all we need, a murderous giant lizard and a buffet line of weakened people to snack on. "Extra firepower would be welcome just in case..."
"Yeah, I know." He pulled me against his side. "If we make enough of a commotion it probably would. Maybe more than one since they usually live in groups. I was kinda hoping we could just..." and he waved his arm vaguely, "free the captives and go on our way. But that would be as good as killing them- no weapons, no armor... I don't think I could live with the consequences." He sighed and tucked my head under his chin. "Most of the people in there have probably never stepped foot outside a settlement in their lives. And that poor boy... I can't stop thinking about it. You know, 'being a better man' is lot harder than I thought."
"You're doing just fine, RJ. The fact that you're thinking about these kind of things now shows how much you've grown, and I love you more every day for it." We savored the closeness for a moment before I spoke again. "So, alert the Brotherhood?"
"Way to ruin the moment, angel."
-0-
The double whump-whump-whump of approaching vertibirds was the signal we had been waiting for. MacCready was ready and waiting at the door, our rescued captives lined up in the hallway. I stayed at the back of the line, making sure we got everyone out and into the vertibirds as quickly as possible. As the noisy aircraft circled overhead, I could hear the thrum of a minigun spinning up. Guess the deathclaw was curious after all, I thought sourly. This may be the fastest, most efficient way to get everyone out safely, but it's awfully noisy.
One vertibird descended onto the broken road in front of the motel while the other continued to strafe the ridge above. Even before it made contact with the ground, a stocky figure jumped from the open bay door, sprinting for the discarded power armor. MacCready shouted back to us, "All right, move out!" and picked up Squire Von to dart towards the waiting vehicle. The seven remaining captives scuttled towards the beckoning promise of safety, keeping low and moving as fast as they were able. I stayed a few steps behind, keeping an eye on the man whose leg had been so badly wounded. In the time it took the eight of us to reach the vertibird, the Knight who had darted off came tromping back up in the salvaged power armor. He leaped into the open bay and proceeded to assist everyone inside, gesturing urgently for us to hurry. "Enemy incoming, move move move!"
It was a tight fit. There were too many others in the bay, some of whom were wearing Brotherhood uniforms. The vertibird wasn't really designed to carry so many loose bodies, especially with one wearing a full set of power armor. I had barely placed my feet on the skids, helping to lift the last of the captives inside, when the vertibird lurched into the air. Grasping at the handholds, I levered myself up and into the open bay next to the minigun position. We made it!
The next thing I knew I was falling through the air, a terrified scream torn from my throat. My hands clutched uselessly at the receding aircraft. I landed bone-jarringly hard, my scream cut off by the impact of falling into a collection of large metal barrels. My hearing faded into a crackling hiss and the world started to go dark.
No! Fighting with every ounce of willpower, I hung on to consciousness and tried to move my hand. It hurt, oh it hurt so much, but I inched along the scarred metal barrel to find the thigh pocket of my trousers. Groaning and gritting my teeth against the agony of simply breathing, must've cracked or broken some ribs at the very least, I teased out my last stimpak. MacCready's habit of always keeping some on him at all times had rubbed off on me and I was eternally grateful for it now. I fumbled with the injector one-handed nearly dropping it, catching it with a tormented hiss of pain that cut through the static in my head. The cooling healing spread of the miraculous drug dampened the pain and allowed me to move. But it wasn't quite enough to heal everything. Overhead, I could faintly hear the Brotherhood vertibirds, but didn't know if they were circling back or flying away. Don't leave me! Please!
I painfully rolled from my side to my hands and knees and vomited onto the ground, overcome with nausea. My head was still woozy and bursting with static, but I was able to shakily stagger to my feet, using the yellow-and-white barrels to prop myself upright. Yellow and white. That color combination was important for some reason, but the static in my head refused to allow me to focus.
Wait, that's not it. I reached up to feel my face. My glasses! Where are my glasses? I dropped to my hands and knees again, searching desperately. "No, no no!" I begged, feeling around. I'm practically blind without them! I can only see a few inches in front of my nose! As the stimpak's medicine finally dissipated, the static I thought was in my head slowly shifted to outside my body, resolving into a continuously deafening crackle from my Pip-Boy.
"Static?" I shook my head, staring at the STAT screen, still nauseated, weak and disoriented. "No. Rads!" Yellow and white, the color combination used for nuclear waste barrels! I had landed in an entire group of them, and the red bar of radiation poisoning on my Pip-Boy's screen was climbing rapidly. "Gotta move!" I ordered myself, painfully staggering away to collapse weakly on hands and knees, still crawling. "Move!"
Overhead, one of the vertibirds still circled. As I continued to inch further away from the collection of nuclear barrels, the minigun spun up a second time, firing frighteningly close to my own position. I couldn't see, could barely move from injury and rads, and hoped beyond hope that the Brotherhood saw me, but the deathclaw...
A terrifying roar shattered the air nearby. Looking up, I could barely make out an enormous blurry form moving... towards me? I couldn't tell, everything was out of focus! Maybe I can't see it right now, but if it gets close enough, I can try to hit it, I thought groggily, flipping over into a reclined position and readying my rifle. Another roar and the sound of gravel scattering helped correct my aim. I can't see, but I can hear! Above me, the minigun had ceased firing. RJ, I tried, I helplessly tossed the thought at him, knowing it would be my last. At least I'm going out fighting. I love you!
Another terrifying roar split the air as I saw the enormous form reappear, moving swiftly. The deathclaw was almost on top of me!
BOOM!
The shockwave threw me backwards against the ground. Simultaneously, the deathclaw screeched in mortal agony, the sound cutting off abruptly. My head was spinning, my whole body one giant wave of pain. I couldn't move, not even to sit up as the sound of heavy footfalls approached my position. All I could see was the fuzzy blue sky until a blurry shadow blocked my vision.
"Come on, Sarge," Paladin Danse's voice sounded like that of an angel sent from heaven itself. "Your fight isn't over yet." Gently, he picked me up, cradling my injured and irradiated body against the cold metal of his power armor.
By the time we made it to the Cambridge Police Station, the other vertibird had already unloaded its passengers and left. I was struggling to stay conscious, rapidly losing my fight against pain and radiation poisoning. Paladin Danse carried me out and onto the landing zone only to be rushed by a frantic MacCready. The young sniper pushed past the rest of the debarking crew only to be stopped by Danse's sharp, "At ease, citizen!" In a gentler tone, he continued. "She's alive, but badly injured."
"What happened?" My partner's voice strained past a choked sob. I couldn't see much more than a vague green-and-brown outline, and closed my eyes with a groan of weakness. I didn't have the energy to do more than listen, I was so tired.
"Fell out, apparently. Good thing we saw it, and I was able to land right on top of the remaining deathclaw making a beeline for her position and break its back." Danse's voice was full of pride. "In my power armor, I'm more than a match for a single deathclaw. We don't leave our own behind. Here, let me get help."
Cold metal was replaced with lean warmth as I was transferred into MacCready's arms. "Anne..." he sobbed into the curve of my neck, sinking down onto the tarmac of the landing zone. "Oh, angel, I'm so sorry..." He squeezed me hard, pulling a groan from me. In the background, I could faintly hear Danse giving orders and a flurry of activity from the outpost underneath our position. "You're so cold!" I felt so weak, too drained to even shiver.
"M..." was all I managed with the little breath I could get. With a exclamation that was half curse, half apology, MacCready loosened his embrace enough to allow me to breathe. "Mac... Rads..." I tried to explain in shallow gasps, twitching the arm that held my Pip-Boy show him.
"Shhh, you're going to be okay," he reassured me, or was it himself? He lifted my arm to look at the screen and gasped. "Shi—err..." he broke off. "Shit! We're getting you help, okay? Hang on, angel."
"Stay..." I begged him, the blackness overtaking my brain heralded by the sound of running feet.
-0-
Voices. Two voices.
They were indistinct, seeping through the velvet blackness of healing unconsciousness. Slowly, vague sensations returned. I hurt, still weak and nauseated, but it was slightly better than before. So tired. I was wrapped in a blanket, lying on my side slightly propped up against another body- a warm, familiar presence. My arm was extended, and I could faintly feel the cold trickle of an IV. The body beneath me shifted slightly, and my senses roused further. I was still too weak to do anything more than listen.
"Keep your voice down. You'll wake her." MacCready spoke in a low murmur. Other than the nearby voices, there were no other sounds of activity.
"I'm surprised she's even alive after she fell out when we took off." The second, sullen voice was female and vaguely familiar. Trudy, my idling consciousness provided, the girl who has a thing for RJ.
There was a long silence. I could feel MacCready's body tense, and he suddenly felt warmer than when the voices woke me up. He was holding me against him on a long couch from what I could tell based on our positioning. My head was cradled against his chest and my legs were lightly curled along the length of the cushions while he sat slouched in the corner of the armrest. A few feet away I could make out the sound of awkwardly shifting feet. Mac's arm around my shoulders tightened protectively.
"Fell out, huh." The usually melodic baritone voice was flat, making a quiet statement. The body beneath me starting shaking slightly. In my half-conscious, groggy state, I couldn't figure out what was going on, and was too lethargic to move, not even to open my eyes.
Trudy stepped towards us, her footsteps scraping along the dusty floor, and I felt MacCready gesture suddenly. "No!" he warned quietly, but very intensely, "Don't touch me, and leave her alone!"
"MacCready..." Trudy's voice was full of anguish. I could hear the tears threatening to flow. Even if I had the energy to move, I wouldn't have been able to see her had I tried to look.
"The Boss didn't fall out of the vertibird, did she?" All the emotion was leached from that simple question; it was practically a flat, quiet statement of fact. But the trembling of his body intensified even as he kept his voice low and cool. He was angry- very, very angry. I couldn't wrap my rad-addled thoughts around what he had said. Wait, what?
A gasp was his only reply.
"You pushed her." I had never heard my partner, my love speak so unemotionally before. It was a truly frightening indication of the towering fury barely contained behind those quiet tones. "Mona told me what happened. No! Don't. Move."
Trudy started sobbing quietly. "But she wasn't... You were... I thought we had... we were..."
Another sharp gesture jostled the couch and the stammered babbling cut off. My leg twitched involuntarily and I could feel MacCready gently pull me closer, settling my head more comfortably against his chest. "Just because I let you and Mona do your jobs and drape yourselves all over me- and every other man who'd let you by the way- doesn't mean there was anything between us. You were part of the entertainment at the Third Rail: like Magnolia, but with less class. That's all."
The quiet sobs grew angry. I heard the stamp of a foot. "No! You loved me! I-"
"You were fooling yourself, Trudy, into thinking I cared more about you than a casual contact. That's bad enough, but I can take it." Now the anger that had been held at bay started to show. "But you went and attacked the person who rescued you from slavers because you saw her as a rival for my affection. Affection you never had in the first place, despite what you may have imagined in your delusional brain. You tried to murder my partner," he paused until Trudy's crying quieted down, "and the woman I love. I will never forgive you for that.
"You're going to face the consequences of your actions, one way or another. Now, you're just lucky the Boss here not only survived, but has been trying to teach me compassion. So here's the deal. You turn your backstabbing self around right now, and walk out the front gate of this outpost. Keep walking. Leave the Commonwealth and never come back. If I, or anyone in our now rather extensive friends' list ever sees you around here again, you'll be killed on sight."
"Or?" the sobbed rejoinder held one last desperate attempt at bravado.
The endeavor fell flat as I heard the cocking of MacCready's pistol from the vicinity of my hip. "Or I can kill you right here, right now for what you did. You can thank the Boss that I haven't already. You have ten seconds to make your choice."
"Fuck you MacCready! Fuck your 'Boss,' and fuck your so-called 'compassion'!" Trudy screamed, whirling around and sprinting for the front door. Her sobs faded rapidly into the distance.
Digging deep for the willpower to move through my rad-sickness, I slowly opened my eyes and tried to raise my hand. "RJ?" I breathed weakly.
"I'm here." A series of gentle kisses plastered my face. "Don't move yet, you're only on your second dose of RadAway" he murmured, tightening his embrace. "You've still got two more to go. It's late. You need to rest."
So many? "I feel so weak," I groaned quietly in agreement, but I needed to know, "Trudy... She pushed me?"
I felt him nod. "It figures you heard that part. I'm so sorry. She saw you as a threat... and had always seen me as the perfect combination of protection and a meal ticket wrapped up in a leather duster. She never cared about me in the slightest, not the way you do. Oh angel, you were so hurt... and your radiation level... You almost..." Another gentle kiss. "She's gone now, and you'll never see her again. I promise."
"Thank you for staying." It was getting harder to form words as my fatigue grew. "I love you so much."
"I'll never leave you, angel. Love you too. Go back to sleep now." His warm arms held me close as I spiraled back down into unconsciousness.