MacCready woke up to the soft hum of the classical music station. He cautiously opened an eye and saw Juniper sitting on the head of the bed looking out the window through the wooden planks. She must have woken up before him and took a bath. Her hair looked clean wrapped up in a bun, only this time it was braided. Her fingers danced on the edge of the wood to the song playing. The soft morning light suited her features, the song came to an end as he pushed himself up on the couch. She looked over and turned to face him.
" I'm sorry did I wake you?" She must have changed clothes too, she was wearing a sleeveless shirt with navy shorts.
" No, I should be awake anyway. What time is it?" He put his face in his hands rubbing the sleepiness out of his eyes. She glanced at her pipboy.
" It's 11 on the dot. We don't have too much to do in town today, mostly just getting our caps from Charlie, and restocking supplies." She hopped down from the bed frame and walked over to her pack, the floor creaking with every step.
" I've never met anybody who actually listens to that station." He wanted to ask her about what she said yesterday. He watched for her reaction.
A vault dweller that's prewar
Juniper looked up and had a small mutfruit in her hand. " I don't know why, they're all beautiful compositions." She took a bite and shrugged. " When I grew up I had to memorize composers, and eventually I just started liking that genre." MacCready kept looking at her, waiting for an answer.
" When was that exactly?" He casually threw that out in the open, and she smiled.
" Do I stand out that much?" Juniper glanced down and smiled while she finished off her fruit.
"Like a sore thumb, to be honest" He smirked back at her. " As long as I know what I'm getting into, we won't have any problems. Besides I haven't had a job in over a week, because of those two."
Juniper wiped her hands on her shorts. " Those two from yesterday? Do the Gunners have that much influence?" MacCready nodded back at her. " Can I ask you something?" She sat down on the edge of the bed. He looked uneasy, and readjusted.
"As long as I get those caps, ask away." She frowned a little, and looked at her pipboy regretting asking.
He's not like Preston, at the end of the day hes an employee
She felt a ping of sadness, and stood up quickly. " Sorry I forgot I had an errand to do, meet me by the front gate at 12 sharp." She grabbed her pack and gave a brief smile. MacCready watched her exit quickly, and ran his fingers through his locks and sighed.
" It's better this way, just trust me." He grabbed his first boot to lace up and saw a small box of ammunition for his rifle. He felt himself smile a little as he tossed them into a smaller pocket in his washed up a little before he left, and went to meet her a little before 12.
Juniper didn't mean for it to be awkward but somehow they'd been walking for awhile in silence. Before she met up with him she had picked up her mended vault suit from Daisy who repaired the stitching. " Thanks for mending this, I wasn't sure that anybody knew how to use a sewing machine." Daisy looked at her sweetly.
"Don't mention it, us prewar gals have to stick together right?" Juniper nodded at that and smiled back at her.
" I'll clear that libary out for you, just give me a few days ok?" She put her pack back on turned to leave.
" Alright I'll be here, just don't get yourself killed over it." Juniper waved back to her and saw MacCready already waiting by the gate.
She walked over to him and pulled out a small sack of caps, handing it over to him. He took it and weighed it down in his hand.
" I'm not stiffing you, it's all in there." She tried not to sound as annoyed as she was. It wasn't his fault, she just was trying to get use to the idea of buying companionship. Ugh that's not fair to think that way either he's not an escort...kinda? It wouldn't be so hard, expect that she'd never had someone come to her aid when she was as hurt as she was at the warehouse. She wished he was a minuteman, so he would follow her and do odd jobs out of a sort of kinship.
" Didn't say you were, boss." He quietly stashed the caps into his pack and she turned for the door.
While they were walking neither of them said anything, she didn't notice the silence until the smell of salt water invaded her senses. Ugh I walked too far north again. She stopped and looked at her pipboy, wishing she could make little notes on what streets were actually passable and not blocked.
"Is everything alright?" His voice broke her concentration, and she shook her head.
" Sorry just thinking about the big questions, like what expired food i'm going to eat later." He had started to notice just how sarcastic she was, which was a nice change from his usual company. She smiled and looked up and noticing the scenery. Something felt familiar about this area, It wasn't just because she had been there before the war, she scrolled through her jobs and stopped abruptly. Those street names, Is that the Cabot house? She felt her head ache when she tried to remember, then for a second she saw the streets as they use to be. She remembered turning the corner and being at a grand house all the lights in the house lit up at night. This can't be the job location beret was talking about.
" Did you decide on something? Maybe Sugar bombs, or are y-" MacCready didn't finish before she started to sprint around the block. " Wait!" He charged after her for a few blocks and almost ran into her when she stopped. He looked up and saw something that didn't make any sense.
" This house, looks untouched. That's impossible isn't it?" She started walking and he walked besides her. Juniper paused for a second before she pressed the speaker button, and he wasn't sure but she looked nervous.
"Go away scaver" Juniper recognized the damaged voice.
" I'm expected aren't I Beret?" The door clicked and she smiled.
"Oh it's you, come on in." Juniper stood up and was about to open the door and looked behind her at MacCready.
" I don't know what's going to happen, but you might want to hang tight in the foyer." Juniper looked over at him. He nodded and followed her in.
Beret was standing by the entrance and eyed MacCready behind her. He raised his hand gesturing towards the main sitting area. " Ready to meet the boss?" Juniper inhaled and nodded.
" Lead on." Beret walked into the other room calling for Jack, and Juniper felt her stomach drop.
" MacCready wait here, I'll be right in the other room." She smoothed her hair down and turned to face the doorway.
" I'll be right on the other side of this door, If things get messy." He watched her nod, and she shut the doors behind her. She's acting weirder than usual, but maybe this is the usual. It's only been a day I guess. MacCready sighed and went to go sit on the stairs.
" Welcome to the Cabot house, I'm Jack…" He stopped in his tracks when he saw Juniper. " No, It can't be." Beret turned and looked back and forth at the two of them. Jack started to pick up the pace as he got closer. " Junie!" He grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug. Juniper reciprocated the hug, only because it was comforting to see a familiar face. Somehow she had started to remember jack the moment she saw him. She had felt something when she saw the house but it wasn't until she actually saw his face she remembered who the Cabots were. The new year parties, and the way their house smelled. It missed that after christmas pine smell, but she still could remember it so vividly.
" Jack I can't believe it's really you." This broke her concentration and the pine smell was replaced by the smoke on his lab coat and he pulled away and looked at her.
" How is this possible? It's been over 200 years." He kept looking her over as if he still was in disbelief. Beret cleared his throat, and Jack looked over at him. " Edward, This is Juniper. She's.. A very old friend of mine." He looked back over at her, " Is there anything you want, something to drink? Edward please brew a pot of coffee or do you prefer bourbon still? We can talk business after."
" Coffee is fine, thank you." Juniper watched as Jack motioned towards the curio at Beret.
The ghoul just nodded still eyeing the two of them and made his way to the kitchen.
" The last time I was here, it was before I went to rome I think." Juniper admired the preserved molding, and she smiled. For the first time in awhile she was remembering who she use to be, without having nightmares.
" It's been so long Junie, it feels like a lifetime ago." Jack nudged her arm. " Come sit down, tell me how this is possible." Juniper smiled and followed him to the couches.
" Do you remember Al?" She sat down and looked at him while he at across from her.
" Of course the Marine who you ran off with? It's been a long time but not long enough for that to fade away." His expression soured and Juniper laughed nervously.
" Well, he had been signed up for a vault. He was a veteran and our admission was guaranteed." She readjusted when she felt her mouth dry up.
" I don't see him with you, did you two have a lover's quarrel? I never expected him to last very long with you." He mumbled something else but Juniper wasn't listening flashbacks of his death kept coming back to her. She pressed down on her wedding ring that still hung from her neck under her vault suit.
" He actually didn't make it, so I've been rediscovering Boston by myself actually." Beret walked back over to them and put the undamaged pot down. He put the two cups next to the pot and stood back. In an attempt not to seem like he was interrupting.
" That's a shame, Junie. I'm sorry to hear that, truly I am." He poured himself a cup and took a sip.
" It sounds worse than it really is." Liar " But you haven't mentioned how you're still here Jack, Fountain of youth? Or is it something in the water nowadays?" Jack looked nervous and before he could say anything, a voice called upstairs for him.
"Jack, who are you talking to?" Jack put his cup down, and watched his mother almost have a heart attack when she saw Juniper. " My god, It can't be." She held her hand up to cover her mouth.
" Mother calm down, Juniper had been in a vault, I assume under cryostasis?" He glanced back over at her and she nodded. " Come down here and say hello." Juniper watched her walk down the stairs with her hand on her chest.
" I can't believe my eyes." She held her arms out for Juniper. " Come here child." Juniper got up and hugged the elderly woman carefully.
"It's good to see you as well." Juniper remembered how formal the woman was.
" Mother, by chance Junie here is our new employee. She took a job that Edward offered her, what are the chances?" He looked positively tickled by the situation, while his mother scowled.
" Juniper can't possibly." She looked back at her. " It's not true is it? This isn't the job for someone like you." Her words stung a bit but she smiled back at the woman.
" Don't worry yourself with me. I've been out here for awhile now, I know how things are." Jack moved over a bit.
" Mother do sit down, It's bad for you to get so excited." She shook her head and started back up the stairs.
" There's something she should have, I'll be right down." They watched her made her way back up the staircase and through the hallway. Juniper sat back down and poured herself a cup of coffee.
" Tell me about this job I was hired for. Ber- Edwards I mean told me it pays well?" Beret cracked a small smile at that slip up.
" Yes, Yes, It's just about a lost shipment. You can't mean you still want to do the job, do you? If you want you can stay here, with us. I'd appreciate the company, I never could get you out of my head you know. I'm not ashamed to admit that." He looked off to the side, just as Juniper did at times. Remembering the past as if it was a lifetime ago, sadly it was. " We could have everything like it was before the bombs, I'm not much of a party person but christmas is coming up soon isn't it?" He glanced over at Beret who nodded. Juniper felt her stomach tense up at the thought.
There are too many people who need someone, who really need help. I have to find my son and try to make a life for him, whoever I was before...I can't go back
" Jack, things are different now. I'm..Different." She watched his expression sadden a bit. " I know it's strange to ask but, I don't want to commonwealth to know about this. I don't want other people to know who I was before this." She looked at her reflection in the cup and sought out the warmth for comfort. She was hesitant to tell him that she couldn't remember, or that she didn't really want to anymore.
" Well Junie I don't know what for but I'll honour that request, because it's you." He stood up and walked over to the stairs and put his hand on the bannister. "The job is yours if you want it as well, my offer still stands." He started to walk up the stairs. " Edwards will explain the details of the job. Also Edwards send Junie home with one of the good bottles of bourbon, it's her favorite."
Juniper smiled, as Jack disappeared. You never get over your first love I guess
She saw Al's face for a second and she felt the sting again. She felt Jack's pain briefly and she felt guilty. Staying here wouldn't help him, It would be cruel to both of us.
" I don't know who you are to Jack, but I'll do you the same courtesy about your past." Beret had retrieved the bourbon and was offering it to her. " I have some information on the shipment, and all about the other jobs lined up for you. Only if you're interested of course." Juniper took the bottle and stood up.
" Let me mark the locations on my pipboy, and I'll be good to go." Beret smiled and started to show her the locations.
It had been a while and MacCready was getting uneasy. " Whoever lives here must have made a deal with the devil." He mumbled to himself, watching the dust float around in the air. He wanted to eavesdrop, out of curiousity but also didn't want to loose this contract. The doors opened and Juniper came out looking a little flushed, with the ghoul from earlier.
" Is this what you meant by the way, what you said about working under you?" MacCready couldn't see her face but he saw the ghoul's, he looked shocked.
" I um, I'll be waiting for you, erm the package." The ghoul turned and walked quickly back into the other room. He heard what sounded like a giggle. MacCready cleared his throat, and she turned quickly.
" Oh, hey MacCready. We got all the job information, and we're good to go." He raised an eyebrow. Right when he was about to say something snarky, an old woman brushed past him.
" Oh Juniper, I can't stand to see you go. Here She would have wanted you to have this, I sent Edwards to check on the locations of the people we use to know. He came back with things he thought were important." Juniper just stared at what was in the woman's hands.
" Thank you, I really must be going." She took it quickly and turned towards the door.
"MacCready." That's all he needed, and he caught up with her. He turned around one more time to take in the house, and saw a glimpse of the older woman's face. She held onto her sides, and looked heartbroken.
" Sorry about that, I just wanted to leave." Juniper broke the silence she once again accidently made. They had walked to the waterfront, and she stopped at the railing. " I know this is strictly business, but I don't want you to not know what you're getting into." MacCready leaned against the railing listening.
" Listen, You've been my boss for a day. You don't owe me anything, you paid me so here I am. I'd walk a thousand miles if it meant a pile of caps waiting for me at the end." Or if Duncan's cure was.
" I understand that, but you asked me before so I want to tell you. You had my back at the warehouses, so I do owe you something." She breathed out slowly, and faced him.
" I'm prewar, I was stuck in a cryostasis vault. I'm currently looking for the merc who took my son, that's what I hired you for. I've hardly had any training with weapons, and I'm still trying to get the hang of this place." She sighed and leaned back looking at the sun setting. MacCready whistled and looked up at the sky.
" Well, I figured not too much of a surprise. I thought you were going to say you were an alien or something. Now that would be a deal breaker." Juniper bursted out laughing, and he laughed with her.
" We should start moving, we still have to find the brewing machine, plus I have minutemen errands." She looked over her pipboy and selected the closest objective. In her other hand she looked at her mother's first wedding ring to her father. She wouldn't be able to forget that. She slipped it into the chest pocket of her vault suit.
"The sooner we get somewhere the better, we're like walking targets out here." MacCready eyed across the river at the Mirelurks in the water. Juniper started walking again.
" You afraid of some crabs?" MacCready scoffed.
" I hate getting wet, that's all." Juniper looked over her shoulder at him. He was wearing his goofy hat with bullets on the front.
" It's ok I know a lot of Mercenaries that are afraid of bugs, you're secret is safe with me."
" Ha ha, very funny." MacCready watched as Juniper started to kick a pebble of concrete while they walked. " What was up with you and that guy anyway? That ghoul too, do you all know each other?" Juniper almost tripped cursing as she missed the pebble.
" Jack and I knew each other because of our families, he was always so awkward though. I haven't seen him for years before the bombs dropped. He looked so tired.. I don't know how to describe it." He watched her look at a building they passed, as she sighed. " I use to drive down these streets so much, well get driven."
" Like in one of these?" MacCready kicked the rusted out frame that was left of a car. Juniper shrugged looking around.
" It's hard to tell what these cars even use to be." She ran her hand down the driver's door frame of the car next to them.
" Wait why hasn't Jack aged?" Juniper shrugged and started to walk again.
" That's the first question anyone would have asked right? Honestly there's so many things that people from my era have gone through to preserve themselves. I just don't want to even ask, knowing that family they could be eating people or something." MacCready's eyes widened. " Not that they are, just saying." She smiled at his reaction.
" That doesn't explain you're ghoul fetish by the way." Juniper stopped and stared at him, he put his hands up defensively. " Just curious, it's a long walk." She sighed.
" That's not it, knowing Jack they probably treat him like a slave." She remembered how they treated people they felt that were low born. " You know once at one of their parties, that old woman you saw slapped one of their maids, in the middle of everyone." She shook her head. "I can't even imagine doing that." They both stopped when they saw a couple raiders walking in front of them. Juniper got out her musket and MacCready pushed it down holding his finger to his lips.
He lowered himself to steady his aim, If he did this fast enough he could take them both out at once. She mimicked him, and crouched next to him watching him. He slowly inhaled and held it one after the other he fired his rifle, hitting both targets. He stood up and glanced over.
" Impressed yet?" he grinned. She rolled her eyes and went to go collect what she could from the dead raiders. He followed behind her watching the rooftops for anymore that could pop out.
She was pocketing some shotgun shells and she saw a box of rifle ammunition on the other body. She tossed a box to him. " Just in case you need it, couldn't hurt."
" I'm not one to turn down ammo." He pulled them out and attached them to his bullet belt on his leg. " You still didn't answer me by the way. You were all over that guy..Edwards?" She turned red, and threw an object at him. He didn't dodge it in time, and picked it up after it bounced off his leg. Cram?
" There's a thing of cram, so you can cram it." Her eyes stood out more because of how red she was. " If that's what we're doing then tell me the last time you got laid?" MacCready glared at her.
Ok maybe a bad thing to ask, he started it though. She bit her lip, and looked at his shadow from the moonlight.
There was a pause, and Juniper stood up and chewed on some of the bubblegum she found. "Whatever you say it doesn't beat 200 years." After a few minutes, MacCready sighed.
" Okay on that you got me beat." She smiled and the tension from earlier seemed to dissolve as they made their way to diamond city.
Once they got there, Juniper spent days doing favours for people. Getting things for the science center, Helping an old guy paint the green wall, and she kept spending the extra caps to get him his own room. She can't still feel bad for that one night at the Rexford, it's been almost 2 weeks now that I think about it
" Hey, do you have a second?" She looked up from her noodle bowl she had grabbed from Takahashi. It had just stopped raining and her hair was started to come unraveled from her braid.
" Sure, did you want some of these?" He shrugged, and she ordered another one. " We can talk once we get back to the Dugout." She grabbed the new bowl nudged him with her frame to move. For a second all he could smell was Juniper. It's not that it was unwelcome, that's the problem. She was already a few steps ahead of him and he struggled to keep up with the full bowl in his hand.
" How come you haven't bought that house the mayor offered you?" He looked over at it then she did too.
" It just doesn't look like home, to me anyways. Besides I've been away from Sanctuary for too long." MacCready followed her through the Inn entrance. She mentioned she started a few settlements, we've never been there though... we haven't been to any of them.
He watched her eye the preserved pie as they walked by. Everyday she tries to get that thing. For some reason she's dead set on getting it, but she only tries when nobody is in the lobby. Sometimes he has a hard time falling asleep and he listens to her sneak down the hallway from room 3. She went to walk around the corner and he stopped her.
" Here my room's closer." She turned and he opened the door for her.
.The noise of the bar area died down once the door was shut, Juniper sat on the small arm chair and put her noodles on the table. He sat down on the couch next to her.
" Look you've always been straight with me, so it's only fair to be straight with you. I don't know if those Ass- I mean jerks Winlock and Barnes are ever going to leave me alone. Before you I hadn't had a job in weeks, not to mention I couldn't even come to Diamond city without them chasing me out." Juniper watched him and he sighed.
" Is that why you need caps so bad?" She felt bad for him, they hadn't even done the thing she hired him for.
" If I could just pay them off, they would stop bothering me. I could finally get more jobs. Knowing the Gunners like I do though, that may not even be enough." He paused for a few second, and they both didn't say anything. He started to smile devilishly, and Juniper looked at him nervously. " Unless.. We took the fight to them. They wouldn't even see it coming, then I'd be free of the Gunners for good." Juniper looked down into her bowl quietly.
" Look I wouldn't be asking you or even mentioning it to you if I didn't trust you." She's always been upfront with me. " These past week I've started to feel like you actually care what happens to me, which is an unfamiliar feeling." He ran his calloused finger along the edge of the chipped bowl. " You seem like a genuinely good person, which is rare nowadays."
"MacCready, If you need me to help you I will. I'm sorry that we haven't even been to Fort Hagen, I've been sidetracked and also I just don't know if I should really go." She pinched the bridge of her nose. " For all I know, my baby isn't a baby anymore. All the things that could be wrong, I don't know if I'm ready to find out." She laughed a bit and leaned back trying to steady herself. " I don't want to seem like I need reassurance or that I can't handle myself. It's just when it comes to Shaun I just don't know what to do." God I must sound so pathetic. She felt her eyes start to burn. Don't cry. She felt her leg radiate with heat. His hand was just above her knee and he was rubbing the side with his thumb.
" Don't think like that, these past two weeks I've had you're back and you've had mine. You don't need to act like a...what is it….hourman? No..Minutemen! Some minutemen general." Juniper Smiled and laughed. " Besides you're only human, nobody asked for you to say yes to everyone that asks for help. Especially the ones that don't pay." She glared over at him.
" Yeah you pushed me into trying to bribe Abbot for money!" She was trying not to laugh. " He's an old man trying to paint a wall, he doesn't have much going on." MacCready started laughing. He moved his hand away.
"Hey, caps are caps." He raised his arms defensively. She smiled looking away, but she still felt his hand on her knee. Oh god that's all I need right now. She readjusted in her seat, and grabbed the noodle cup.
" We should eat these before they get all mushy." She started to wrap noodles around her chopstick.
" There's one more thing, something that's been bothering me. It's nothing too serious, so don't worry." She nodded and listened. " Ever since the Rexford you haven't bought just one room, that's been almost 150 caps just wasted." She looked away and counted using her fingers then looked back over horrified.
" You're right oh my god, I just didn't want you to sleep on the couch." MacCready shrugged.
" It's up to you but that's alot of caps." Juniper nodded, and he picked up his bowl and started to slurp the contents. She looked over at him and gave him a look. She had almost finished her noodles when she stopped and looked back over.
" Vadim the other day asked you about someone named Lucy?" MacCready stopped and just stared at the bowl. Fuck, is that his girlfriend? Wife? Daughter? " I'm sorry you just never mentioned her, I don't know when the last time you saw her was. I don't want to keep you away from her." He looked up and his expression was soft, but he looked like he was in pain.
"My wife.. she didn't make it. That's all I really want to say about it right now." He got up and grabbed his bowl. " If you're done I'll take yours back too." She nodded and thanked him. She watched him until he shut the door, even then she kept looking at the wood. That means we're both widows, I never even asked him before this. Should I have? She sighed and rubbed her hands over her face. She leaned over and dug through her bag and set a few boxes of ammunition on the couch cushion. They had also while running around doing favours for people found preserved pillows and blankets. She frowned seeing them and gave him the nicer of each set. Juniper took the smaller blanket and sat on the mattress, while unravelling her braid. She ran her nails through her scalp and laid down. We're both windows then..Did he keep his ring too? She thought about this as she drifted into a deep sleep.
When he came in later, MacCready saw the stash on the couch walked over to it. She always has to try and one up me I swear. He picked up the blanket and went to go switch it with the smaller one. There's no way he was going to let her use the worse of the two. Juniper Sometimes slept with the blanket over her head, which scared the crap out of him at first. He slid the blanket down and he watch it drift over her curly locks and then down her now tan skin. She never use to be this tan, she's finally looking more and more like a wastelander. That wasn't completely true though, she still had features that looked otherworldly to him. The kinder she was to him the more he wanted to do to help her, she was a good person. She most of the time didn't ask for money when they did jobs, which bothered him at first. Now he just shook his head and waited for her to say where they were going, or saving. The blanket was almost off and she grabbed his hand, he felt her soft hand over his knuckles. MacCready looked at her face hesitantly and watched her face relax.
" Mac-Cready.." She said softly, and he felt his body melt. He quickly draped the nicer blanket on her and she looked peaceful. Slowly he slid his hand away and he went and sat down. He sighed as he kicked his boots off and laid down looking up at the dirty ceiling. After Fort Hagen we need to talk about our contract.
