For lunch Red sat by herself, lost in her thoughts as she ate. Today lunch was grilled fish. While she was eating she noticed someone sit down across from her. She looked up to see a girl, who was definitely not even eighteen, smiling at her. Red managed an awkward smile back.

"Hi, you're Red right? Came in with Raider Slayer a couple of days ago?" The words shot from the woman's mouth like bullets from a minigun.

Red nodded. "Yep, that's me." She braced herself for what she guessed was going to be an onslaught of questions about Alec. That wasn't what she got.

"Cool. My name's Montana. Montana Williams. Most people call me 'Mad Monty' though."

The name rang a bell in Red's mind. Sarge had mentioned a 'Mad Monty' the day she first arrived at Nordhagen. "Oh, I've heard of you."

The woman beamed. "Hard not to with a name like 'Mad Monty'" She began to eat her food almost as fast as she spoke. In between bites, she continued. "I'm in charge of the Nordhagen Security's weapons, ammo, armor. I'm also a bit of a tinkerer too. If you ever need your stuff modified, I'm your girl. My real passion, though, is for making explosives. Unfortunately, it's really hard to get the supplies you need to make them out here."

Red blinked. She was barely keeping up with this girl. "I can imagine." She swallowed another bite of fish before she finally fully realized what the girl had just said. "Wait. You're in charge of the weapons and you make explosives? You seem a little young to be doing that!"

Monty appeared to take offense at this. "I am sixteen! I am old enough to understand weapons and explosives safety! Besides, do you really think Sarge would put just anyone in charge of the weapons and explosives?"

"Good point."

Monty gave a victorious smile before returning to her food. Neither said anything for the remainder of the meal. When Red got up to leave, however, Monty followed her.

"Where you headed to now?" Monty asked her.

"Fort Strong. I'm meeting with Alec there."

Monty looked confused for a moment. "Alec? Who's- Oh, you mean Raider Slayer. I forgot that was his name before he was Raider Slayer. Not many people call him Alec anymore. Probably for the best. He's not really 'Alec' anymore. Hasn't been since he returned from that failed Minutemen expedition."

Red shook her head in disbelief. This girl seemed incapable of talking at a normal speed. Every word sped out of her mouth like she was on a time limit.

"So I hear. Do you know what happened?"

Monty shook her head. "Not a clue. No one does. Except for Slayer himself, I guess, and he ain't talking."

"Yeah. Did you know him before?"

"Not really. We didn't have a reason to speak to each other. After he came back we talked quite a bit though.

Now Red's curiosity was piqued. "About what?"

"His suit; or what would become his suit. He had a lot of very specific specs for a custom made suit so we ended up talking a lot. Never face to face, however, which I thought was odd. Gwen would deliver messages from him to me and vice versa. We didn't speak directly until after I sent him the finished suit and he was wearing it."

Red halted and turned to Monty. "You made the suit?"

"Yep. It was a challenge too, but I managed and I'm quite proud of my work."

"Why did he need a custom suit anyway?"

"I don't know. When I asked he wouldn't tell me. Anyway, I gotta go. I have a project I'm working on that needs to be done ASAP. Nice talking to you. Bye." And with that, she bolted away, leaving Red with more questions.

"I'm starting to see a pattern here." She muttered to herself. "The more I ask the more confused I get." Putting her questions aside for later, she made her way back to Fort Strong. As she crossed the bridge she saw Alec. At the moment, he was sitting down with his back to her, hunched over, looking at something. A mischievous grin crept onto her face. Carefully and quietly as she could, she tip-toed her way toward him. When she was about five steps from him she heard an ominous 'click' under her feet. Alec turned around to face her and pointed at her foot.

"If that had been a real mine, you'd be dead."

Red looked down and, sure enough, half buried in the sand was a mine. Had it been real, it would have exploded and torn her apart.

"Ok. Why did you put a fake mine there?"

"Being aware of your surroundings is critical to survival." He rose from his seat and scooped up the dummy mine. "Mine's are just one hazard you'll be facing." He tossed it aside.

Red's shoulders sunk in resignation. She wasn't sure she liked his way of teaching. Before she had met him she thought she knew a thing or two about surviving the Commonwealth, now she questioned how she and her old friends had survived as long as they had.

"How did you learn all this?"

"All what?"

"All this stuff about survival and fighting."

"I had a good teacher."

Red's eyes widened. "Who taught you?"

Alec shrugged. "You wouldn't know them."

"Them? You had more than one? Who were they and when did they teach you?"

"They were a married couple, I think. They taught me during my travels to the west a year ago."

"You became a killing machine in less than a year?"

Alec shook his head. "I was training before that. They helped me refine my skills."

"Wow, wish I could meet them. They must be absolute nightmares in a fight."

"They are." Alec motioned for her to follow him.

"Where are they now?"

"Still out west as far as I know. We parted once I began my journey back to the Commonwealth."

"Hmm, what were you doing out there anyway?"

"Hunting." Alec stopped in the center of what appeared to be a makeshift fighting ring, with rope on the ground serving as the border. Once he stopped Red noticed that he was holding something in his left hand.

"What are you reading?"

"An old book." He held it out for her to look at. At first glance, it looked like any other old-world book, perhaps a bit small, but not unusual. Curious, she opened it and read a few lines aloud.

'And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority'

She looked up at Alec with a confused expression. "What is this?"

"It's a religious text from the old-world." Alec took it back looked at the lines she had read. "I think it's talking about the end of the world."

"I never thought of you as religious."

'Then again,' she thought to herself. 'How would I know? You avoid talking about yourself as much as you can.'

"I'm not, but If you had seen what I have you would be at least be curious too."

Red shrugged. 'Maybe, but I'll never know since you won't talk about it.'

"Where did you get it?"

"It was a gift from one of my teachers. He was a little religious." He placed the book in his bag before kneeling down to pick something up.

"So, what are we doing?"

"Training." He handed her a wooden sword.

"A sword?" her confused expression returned. "We're training with swords? You do know we're fighting people with guns, right?"

"Yes." Alec was now holding an identical sword in his right hand.

"So, why are we practicing with swords?"

"Lots of things can be taught through swordsmanship." Alec swung the sword around, striking at imaginary enemies. "Balance, endurance, precision, hand-eye coordination; all of these can be learned by practicing with a sword." Alec picked up his pace. Now, he was whirling around, striking, twisting, and parrying in rapid succession. "Some raiders prefer hand-to-hand combat and if you don't learn it, you'll be at a disadvantage when they attack." He had become a blur of motion. He moved so fast Red couldn't keep track of what he was doing. "Bullets run out and in a world as unpredictable as the Commonwealth…" Before Red could react, the tip of his sword was a half an inch from her throat. "...a sword can be as valuable as any gun." Alec stepped back and rested his sword on his shoulder. Red's jaw was practically in the sand.

"How in the world do you move that fast?"

"Practice. Now, your turn." Alec took a defensive stance. "Attack me."

Red looked at the sword in her hand then back to Alec. "Attack you?"

"Yes."

Red shrugged. 'Okay.' she thought. 'Here we go.' Her first strike was at his midsection. She swung like was holding a baseball bat, and his torso was the ball. She fell over when she hit only air. When she looked up in consternation, It looked as if Alec hadn't even moved.

"What? How?"

Alec didn't answer. Red stood back up and swung again. This time she didn't put all of herself into the strike. Again, she missed; but this time she saw he did indeed move, if ever so slightly. Now growing frustrated, Red swung at him repeatedly as fast as she could. Again and again, Alec either dodged the swing or parried it with his sword. All the while moving very little in comparison to Red. After half a minute of swinging, Red stopped, hunched down and gasping for air.

"Ok. What am I doing wrong?" She looked up at Alec expectantly. Alec shoved the 'blade' of his sword into the sand and stepped up to her. For the next hour, Alec lectured her about posture and technique. She would make a few more attempts to hit Alec. Although Alec appeared to have to put more effort into deflecting her attacks, she still couldn't manage to hit him.

"You learn quickly." He noted aloud. "That's good. Being a fast learner will save your life."

Red massaged her now aching muscles. "Thanks. My old buddies always told me I learned quickly. Of course, it was a matter of survival back when I was a-" Red's tongue froze in her mouth. In her fatigue, she had almost let slip her raider past. Alec, who had been cleaning up the target range they had used before lunch, looked back over his shoulder at her.

"A what?"

Red's mind raced. "Scavenger." She blurted it out more forcefully than she intended. She silently prayed he bought the lie.

"Hm." Alec returned to what he was doing, giving no indication he thought she was lying. Red breathed a silent sigh of relief.

'That was too close.' Satisfied her secret was safe, she helped Alec clean up the range. With the two of them, it only took a few minutes to complete.

"We're done training today," Alec told her once they finished.

"Okay. What are you going to do for the rest of the day?"

"I plan to do a light recon of the Gunner base. I need to do some planning first before I go, however."

"I'm not coming with you?"

"No. I'll do better alone. You won't be needed either. I don't plan on getting very close so there is little danger if I go alone."

Red felt annoyed that she was being left behind. "So what am I supposed to do while you're gone?" She placed her hands on her hips. "You're supposed to be training me, aren't you."

"I'll only be gone two days. You can practice by yourself while I'm gone."

Red shook her head. "No, I can learn more out there than I can in here. I'm coming with you."

Alec shrugged and made his way toward Nordhagen. "Very well." Red followed suit. Since it was only the middle of the afternoon Nordhagen was still bustling with activity. Most of it seemed to be focused on repairing the damage from the Gunner attack. As they walked toward the center of town they passed a man carrying a load of wood in his arms. Red didn't recognize him until he happened to look their direction. It was the gunner prisoner. Upon seeing them, more specifically, Alec, his face went white and he picked up his pace, putting as much distance as he could between them.

"If I didn't know better," Red thought aloud. "I'd say he's scared of you." She looked over at Alec. "Why is that?"

"I killed a gunner brigadier once."

"Brigadier?"

"They're the highest ranking gunners you'll meet on the field. Very talented and very dangerous."

"Sounds like a good story. Care to tell it?"

Alec shrugged. "Before I left the Commonwealth I discovered a car repair shop that gunners had repurposed into a command center. Their leader was Brigadier Kesselridge. He had a reputation for cruelty, even among the gunners. I wasn't skilled enough to fight them all like I did when I rescued you. Fortunately, I had found a mini-nuke not long before."

Red couldn't contain a laugh. "So you nuked them?'

"Essentially. I waited until three in the morning before I sneaked in and placed the nuke at a structurally unsound part of the shop. After retreating a safe distance I triggered it with a makeshift detonator that Monty had made for me."

"I spoke with her at lunch. She's… unique."

Alec shrugged and continued. "And talented. The mini nuke didn't kill everyone but those who were alive were both groggy and disoriented. I picked them off one by one. I let a few go after they got a good look at me."

"Why did you let them go? That seems a little dangerous. They might hunt you down later."

"They have tried. But letting a few go spread fear and an enemy that is afraid of you have already lost." He went silent, perhaps reliving that day in his mind.

Red thought about what he said as they resumed walking. In a few moments, they reached what she assumed was the Nordhagen market. She had seen it before but hadn't had time to stay long. Several booths were set up in a half circle and each one had a settler selling wares. It wasn't as big as the market in Diamond City and she doubted it had as big of a selection. Alec walked up to what Red guessed was the weapons booth.

"I need ammo, 308s, and 10mm." He told the settler manning the booth.

"How much?"

"Thirty of each"

The man ducked down behind the booth for a few moments before reappearing with two small boxes of ammo. After counting out the correct amount he slid the boxes over to Alec.

"150 caps, please."

Alec handed him the amount and walked over to another booth. For the next half hour, Alec walked around purchasing supplies. Red was content to browse at the different booths. She didn't have any caps but, then again, she didn't need anything at the moment either. When she was a raider, they would often have to go without a lot of things when pickings were slim, so she was used to it

"I need to speak with Gwen," Alec told Red as he placed his last purchase in his pouch. "I'll get you tomorrow morning when it's time to leave."

"Ok. I guess I'll have to find something else to do the rest of the day." Before she turned to walk away, a thought struck her. This one made her smile. "You know, when I first met you I could barely get three words out of you. Now, I'm getting quite a few."

"Hard to train someone with three-word sentences."

Red laughed aloud. "I guess so. Bye."

"Bye."

Red stayed a few more minutes at the market before making her way to her shack. After all the training she had done today, she felt the strong urge to take a short nap. Supper wouldn't be for a few more hours and she didn't have anything better to do, so she saw no reason why she shouldn't. When she arrived she set the old alarm clock the shack had to wake her in a few hours before she dozed off.

"So, you're set on doing this?" Gwen asked. Alec sat on a chair in front of her as she sat on the couch. He nodded as he injected medicine into his arm.

"Yes. The longer we wait, the more likely the Gunners will attack again."

"What will you do when you return?"

"I'll gather what volunteers we have and attack the base."

"A strong defense is a good offense."

"Yes."

Gwen mulled over the plan in her head. Alec was the most experienced one in Nordhagen when it came to fighting raiders, gunners, mutants, and whatever else roamed beyond their walls. She knew whatever plan he came up with was probably the best one they would get. However, she still didn't like the plan.

"You'll be putting yourself in a lot of danger."

Alec shrugged. "Not new."

"Anyone you bring with you is likely to be seriously injured or killed. They're not as talented as you."

"We have no other alternatives."

Gwen slammed her arm on the end table. "There has to be an alternative!"

"Not that I can see."

Frustrated, Gwen stood up and paced around the room. "I'm tired of you putting yourself in danger! I'm tired of not being able to do anything! I'm tired of feeling helpless!"

"You're not helpless. They wouldn't have elected you mayor if you were. You protect them"

Gwen threw her arms in the air. "And yet I can't protect you from yourself!" She collapsed back onto the couch and buried her head in her hands. "I wish we could go back. Back to when you were just a scavver. Back when the most dangerous thing you did was steal duct tape from strung out raiders." She fought back the tears she could feel building in her eyes,

"I wish we could too." Alec got up from his chair and sat down next her, placing a comforting hand on her leg. Gwen placed her own hand over his.

"But there is no going back." The tears fell free. Alec said nothing. The two of them sat in silence for several minutes before Gwen felt in control enough to speak. "Could you take off your mask? I want to see your face." She knew she was asking a lot. Any time his mask was removed, breathing became painful. She would understand if he refused. But he always obliged her whenever she asked and this time was no exception. Without hesitation, he removed his mask and helmet. Most of his scars never fully healed and his face was covered in them. It was as if a deathclaw tried to tear it off. His skin had gone pale from lack of sunlight, giving him a permanently ill-looking complexion. His hair had gone snow white not long after he had returned from Dunwich and it looked as ragged and unkempt as the rest of him. His most defining facial feature was, however, his eyes. Black as coal. Gwen could never figure out what could cause such a violent change in eye color. It was a shame too. He used to have such lovely green eyes. Gwen placed a gentle hand on his face. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more."

"You did what you could. No one could ask more." Even in his monotone voice, Gwen knew those words were honest and heartfelt. Although Alec had changed greatly, he had not changed as much as others thought he had.

"Be safe and don't keep me waiting. I hate waiting."

"I know." Alec moved to get up but before he could Gwen grabbed the top of his chest piece, holding him down. Before he could question her she planted a quick kiss on his lips. Alec's lips twitched upward, forming a half-smile. Alec returned the favor before standing up and placing his mask and helmet back on. "I'll return as quickly as I can." With that, he walked out the door.